________________________ Best in the State Washington Post's The Fix, 2011, 2009 Best in Pittsburgh Region PoliticsPA, 2011 "[W]idely cited as one of the oldest and most-read political blogs in the city" Pittsburgh City Paper, 2007 ________________________ 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 sign asking persons to dress modestly that was in the Machsanei HaShuk supermarket in Ashdod was removed after Israels Reform Movement filed a complaint. The sign, as is often seen, was at the entrance to a supermarket in a frum community. According to the Center for Religion and State, which is affiliated with the Reform, such a sign is illegal. The campaign has also detected a sign elsewhere in Ashdod, in the Gimmel neighborhood, which is about half chareidi. That sign is on the street and once again, the Reform Movement has filed a request with the mayor to remove it. Mayor Dr. Yechiel Lasri was reminded the sign if illegal and the city is ultimately responsible for its removal. The left-wing Meretz party has joined in, also sending a request to Mayor Lasri for the removal of the sign. (YWN Israel Desk, Jerusalem) Likud MK David Amsellem has come out loud and clear expressing his objections to police questioning Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. He explains that Mr. Netanyahu has been probed over and over again and nothing has come of the slanderous statements against him but the investigation hamper his ability to run the nation. Using Facebook to get his message out, Amsellem explains he is moving forward with a bill that would prohibit police questioning a ruling Prime Minister. He explains that the fact Mr. Netanyahu is Prime Minister has police checking every move he makes and it has reached the absurd and must be halted. MK (Yahadut Hatorah) Yisrael Eichler told Kol Berama Radio on Tuesday morning 5 Teves This is what is necessary in a police state, which this is. The police maintain control and this is the methodology used to stymie or oust a leader, reminiscent of the USSR. Arent you aware this is how Israel works he concluded. Amsellem adds that the many opponents of the Prime Minister inside and outside of Israel are funding a great deal of effort to leak dirt to the media in an effort to unseat him, citing these efforts are highly motivated. He stated if one wishes to replace a prime minister, one does so in an election, not like this. The bill is actually an effort to amend the nations Basic Law, which is Israels constitution, sponsored by Amsellem and Machane Tzioni MK Yoel Hasson. (YWN Israel Desk, Jerusalem) President Rivlin on Tuesday 5 Teves met with a visiting French official and used the forum to set the record straight regarding Israels position on tenacious French efforts to host a peace summit in Paris with the US and the PA against Israels wishes. President Reuven Rivlin met is his residence in Jerusalem with President of the French Senate Gerard Larcher, who was visiting Israel. President Rivlin welcomed Mr. Larcher and spoke with him of the challenges faced by Israel and Europe, and democracies around the world. In reference to the proposed French summit on the Israel-Palestinian conflict, President Rivlin said, We appreciate Frances concern, and attempts to bring an end to the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. Yet, it must be very clear, there are no shortcuts in the Middle East. The solution to the conflict requires two things; to build trust between the sides, and direct negotiations between the two sides, and added, Without trust, no solution will work. Without negotiations, no solution can be reached. President Rivlin spoke in relation to UNSC Resolution 2334, and noted The current debate in the international arena and the UNSC decision especially are not helping us build trust. This is pushing us further away from peace. Mr. Larcher thanked the President and said, Thank you Mr. President for your important analysis of the current challenges. I remember well your most successful visit as Speaker of the Knesset, and am pleased to visit here after 12 years during which there has not been a visit of a President of the French Senate. He continued, I have come with a message of friendship. Even when there are disagreements we must continue to speak. You have described the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians as a tragedy, a tragedy which can be ended through speaking. It is important that between friends we can speak openly. We understand how important direct negotiations are for Israel and it is the role of the international community to create the conditions to advance these direct negotiations. (YWN Israel Desk, Jerusalem/Photo Credit: Mark Neiman, GPO) 9:00AM IL: [VIDEOS IN EXTENDED ARTICLE] The verdict in the case of IDF Sgt. Elor Azariya will be announced this morning, Wednesday, 6 Teves at a hearing held in the Defense Ministry beginning in one hour, at 10:00AM. Supporters of Azariya are outside this morning calling for a not guilty verdict in the manslaughter trial, in which the defendant shot a wounded Arab terrorist dead in Hebron on Purim. (YWN Israel Desk, Jerusalem) 11:35AM IL: A verdict of guilty has been handed down in the manslaughter trial of IDF Sgt. Elor Azariya. The verdict was announced by the IDF military court in the Kirya (Defense Ministry) moments ago. The trial lasted for nine months and over 50 defense witnesses were heard. In her opening statements, leading justice Colonel Maya Heller stated it was Azariya firing at the terrorist Fatah al-Sharif at close range that killed him, rejecting the main witnesses presented by the defense, including pathologist Prof. Yehuda Hiss, who stated the terrorist was dead before Azariya fired at him. Colonel Heller added that his opening fire at the terrorist was contrary to open-fire orders. Heller points out that he fired at the terrorist, at close range and there is no controversy surrounding these facts after hearing from all involved. The court determined the terrorist was not killed by the gunfire which neutralized him by the first soldier but by Elors gunfire, rejecting the defenses expert witnesses and their testimony to the contrary. Heller added that Hiss based his testimony on that of Prof. Shimoni and the moment the latters testimony was rejected, it invalidated the statements made by Hiss as well. The court then reviewed all the video footage to determine if Elor felt threatened as he explained to be the case based on his subjective evaluation of the situation. The court however feels this was not the case and he did not feel that he was in life-threatening danger as he later stated to have been the case. The court rejected statements made by Elor during the trial that his claimed to colleagues immediately following the shooting that it was an act of revenge, explaining during his testimony it is not what he meant and his words were taken out of context. The court does not believe he felt a life-threatening danger when he fired at the terrorist as he later reported to be the case. Heller added however, the court cannot turn back the clock and really know what went through his head and must rely on the statements made and the testimony given to the court. His company commander spoke with him immediately following the shooting and T.M. was witness and there was much contradiction between his statements to the commander and other commanders later in the investigation. The statements from the company commander were in line with the videos taken at the scene. The court finds Elor Azariya guilty of manslaughter as charged. The sentencing hearing will follow in the coming weeks. The court ruled he acted out of revenge and this is not self-defense. Reading of the verdict continued for over two hours but it became clear relatively early on that the verdict was one of guilty. Hundreds of police are outside the courthouse on Kaplan Street in Tel Aviv trying to maintain order as hundreds of protestors try to shut down the major vehicular thoroughfare. Arrests are being made and hundreds of police including Yassam commandos are trying to maintain order. Protestors have succeeded in blocking Kaplan Street for brief periods. (YWN Israel Desk, Jerusalem) There has been much discussion about the new mandatory savings plan for children in Israel but with the start of 2017, it is now law. That means, a minimum of NIS 50 is deducted from monthly child allowance payments for all children in Israel and placed in a high-interest account, locked, until the child reaches at least 18. A parent has the right to increase the amount taken but one may not have less than the state-mandated NIS 50 deducted for long term savings. The problem lies with the fact that these provident accounts are viewed as Passive Foreign Investment Companies (PFIC) by US tax officials; the Internal Revenue Service, and that means, the accounts are taxable before the gains are realized in the US and the holder of the account is required to file annually. If one fails to file/pay taxes, then one begins accumulating fines and interest so by the time the child reaches 18, the first option to withdraw the money, s/he will owe considerably more than the account is worth, not to mention being in hot water with tax authorities. This is because the bilateral agreements and tax treaties between Israel and the US do not cover these provident accounts. Parents of children with US citizenship are urged to contact a US/Israel tax expert quickly to make the necessary arrangements to best benefit from the new arrangement and avoid complications in the coming years. (YWN Israel Desk, Jerusalem) Chareidi lawmakers are working to prevent more chilul Shabbos in Tel Aviv chas vsholom. A joint letter was sent by Ministers Aryeh Deri and Yaakov Litzman along with MK Moshe Gafne, calling on Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu not to accept the recommendations of the committee of directors-general weighing the operating of stores in Tel Aviv on Shabbos. The three asked Bayit Yehudi party leader Naftali Bennet to sign the letter but he refused. They explain in the letter that they cannot be a part of increasing sanctioned chilul Shabbos, calling on Mr. Netanyahu to postpone accepting the report at the weekly cabinet meeting as planned. They insist the existing religious status quo must be maintained and the recommendation of the committee would lead to some 160 businesses operating on Shabbos legally in Tel Aviv. The committee has decided, as expected, to support permitting a limited number of service businesses operate in certain areas of Tel Aviv on Shabbos and Yomim Tovim. (YWN Israel Desk, Jerusalem) By Rabbi Yair Hoffman for the Five Towns Jewish Towns IT IS FRUSTRATING TO see thoughtlessly and or illegally parked cars. It is also quite maddening to see someone who parks his car so inconsiderately that he is making it difficult for others to get through a narrow crossway or parking lot. To address this issue, some entrepreneurs have conceived of a sticker that can be placed upon the offenders windshield or drivers side window with an extra-strong glue-backing. The stickers take quite some time for the driver to remove. The upshot is that a driver will think twice before parking inconsiderately again. THE DRIVER IS A THIEF It must also be noted that parking illegally is technically considered trespassing, which is a form of actual theft. How do we define trespassing? From the perspective of American law, trespassing is the act of illegally going onto somebody elses property without permission, which could just be a civil law tort (allowing the owner to sue for damages), or it could be a criminal matter. What exactly is the halachic violation? The violation is actually that of stealing. The Talmud (Bava Basra 88a) records a debate between Rabbi Yehudah and the Sages as to whether borrowing an item without permission renders a person a gazlan, a thief, or whether he simply has the status of a borrower. Rabbi Yehudah maintains that he does not have the halachic status of a thief, while the Sages maintain that he does. The Rif and the Rambam both rule in accordance with the Sages-that he is considered a thief. Indeed, this is also the ruling of the Shulchan Aruch in four different places (C.M. 292:1, 308:7, 359:5, 363:5). Is the considered a thief designation applicable in all cases? Generally speaking, borrowing an item has a value associated with it. In the case of trespassing, there may be no particular value per se in setting foot on the persons property, or in parking improperly. While this may be the case, the Chazon Ish (B.K. 20:5) writes that the prohibition of shoel shelo midaas (one who borrows without permission) applies even when the item is not something that generally has a market value, and even if the value is less than that of a perutah. How do we know that borrowing without permission also applies to being on someones land, or parking illegally? Maybe, it can be argued that in order to borrow, you have to physically take an object; here, you are just taking up space on someones land. THE PROOF The Rashbam in Bava Basra 57b discusses a case of a piece of property owned by two partners. The Rashbam writes that we are lenient and assume that one partner allows the other to place his animals on the land even without explicitly giving permission. In such a case, he would not be considered a shoel shelo midaas since they, in general, are partners, and would let the other do what he wants with their property. According to the Rashbam, therefore, when not dealing with two partners of a property, trespassing would be subsumed under the concept of shoel shelo midaas. Therefore, the one who parks in such a manner is guilty of theft. So clearly, no one is arguing then that the person has a right to park in that manner. The question is, may we sticker him? The temptation to sticker an offending automobile is quite great, indeed, almost overwhelming. And, of late, some Shuls have posted signs to that effect that if anyone is either illegally parked or is blocking or partially blocking accessthey will be stickered. Nonetheless, it seems that it is clearly forbidden. [The reader should note, by the way, that neither this author, nor any of his family members were ever stickered. This article is strictly an exercise in halachic discovery.] The Shulchan Aruch (CM 378:1) writes: It is forbidden to damage the property of his friend, and if he does so he must pay full damages. The Sma points out that the Shulchan Aruch mentions both a prohibition as well as a financial obligation to pay in order to highlight that both of these issues are pertinent it is both a halachic prohibition as well as a financial issue. The Gemorah (Bava Kamma 48a) discusses a case where a person brought his bull into the private property of another and the owner of that property damaged the bull the owner is exempt from paying damages. Rav Pappa, however, qualifies it and says that it is only true when the owner damaged the bull without knowing about him. But if he damaged the bull knowing about it the owner of the bull may say, Granted you have the right to throw me out, but you do not have the right to damage me. The statement of Rav Pappa is wholly applicable in our case. The placing of a sticker on the windshield or window is damaging because the glue must be carefully removed and the time that it takes to remove it is not insignificant. Let us keep in mind that the prohibition to damage another is equal, whether it is smashing his windows and slashing his tires or merely placing a difficult to remove sticker on his window. SIX POSSIBLE COUNTER ARGUMENTS 1. One might point to the Shulchan Aruch (CM 412:2) where it states, If someone had filled and placed pitchers across the public thoroughfare in a manner that others cannot pass, even if another broke them with his hands that person is exempt from payment. The problem is that in the Shulchan Aruchs case, the breaking of the pitchers serves to allow access. Here, however, the stickering of the car does not help anyone get through. So it is tantamount to just plain damaging or vandalizing. 2. One might also make the argument based upon the Gemorah in Bava Kamma (28a) that a messenger of a Beis Din is even permitted to damage if there is no other way to save an item (See Sma 8:25). But again, the stickering does not help the situation now and, secondly, the shul officers are not a Beis Din. 3. What about the shul acting in a capacity to enforce halacha? There is a debate between the Nesivus and the Ktzos HaChoshen (CM Chapter 3) in regard to whether individuals can take upon themselves to stop someone from doing something wrong. The Nesivus is of the opinion that individuals do have this Citizens Arrest type of power. The Ktzos HaChoshen, however, writes that this power is unique to Beis Din, and the halacha is in accordance with the Ktzos. 4. A fourth argument can be made that if a warning sign is placed on the parking lot, then when one parks there he is tacitly agreeing to allow himself to be damaged. The assumption is that he certainly does not wish to be considered a thief, therefore, he is an agreement that he may be stickered. The counter to this argument is that he may respond, I never agreed to submit to this damage. I had thought that what I was doing was not so nice, but not theft. If so, we do not have any indication that the driver was amenable to be stickered and it would still constitute damaging him. 5. Perhaps there is another angle. There is a halachic tool called an Anan Sahadi which literally means the entire world testifies. The Anan Sahadi is not a tool of little consequence. In theory, one can argue that there may be a legal form of acquiescence here. How so? One could perhaps make an argument that there is an Anan Sahadi that a person would rather be stickered than be towed, and, therefore, there should not be a prohibition in stickering their car. The counter to this is that, when dealing with a shul, the person parking is expecting that the shul administration will perhaps be upset, but they will not tow him. The Anan Sahadi, therefore, does not really exist. 6. There is one last attempt. If we look at the driver as not just someone who is damaging now, but someone who does so continuously, then perhaps we can utilize the principle of Rav Nachman (Bava Kamma 27b) entitled, Avid Inesh Dina dnafshai that a person is allowed to take action outside of court in order to prevent himself from sustaining damage. However, it is clear that the parameters of Avid Inesh Dina dnafshai that a person is allowed to take action outside of court is only in terms of taking back his own item but not in causing someone damage. The Sfas Emes (Brachos 5b) states this specifically. MORE THAN HALACHA Stickering a car may also be illegal in New York State. When a person destroys or damages property illegally it is not called Vandalism in New York State it is called Criminal Mischief. There are four levels of Criminal Mischief in New York State. They range from the lowest level, Criminal Mischief in the 4th degree, which is a misdemeanor to Criminal Mischief in the 1st Degree, a felony. The lowest level covers any destruction of property for vandalism with a value up to two hundred and fifty dollars. It is a separate criminal charge if someone is caught with possession of graffiti tool. The question whether the sticker is considered a graffiti tool or not would be what the judge would decide. Regardless, this is a misdemeanor and is punishable by up to one year in jail with the possibility of probation, community service and fines. The next level of criminal mischief is Criminal Mischief in the 3rd degree, a felony. The violator faces a minimum of a year and a day in prison. This covers destruction of property of over two hundred and fifty dollars and up to fifteen hundred dollars. Criminal Mischief in the second degree is damage to property over $1500.00 and is a Class D felony. The final level of Criminal mischief is Criminal mischief in the 1st degree which is a Class B felony. This occurs when property is destroyed by use of explosive. Hopefully, shul officers are not so angered that they would resort to this level of a deterence. LAST ISSUE There is one final issue. Depending upon the intention of the stickerer, he could very well be violating a Torah prohibition of seeking revenge (See Rambam Hilchos Deyos 7:7). What would be the halacha if he has two intentions one of revenge and the other of trying to prevent further parking abuse? The Mishna Brurah 38:24 cites a Magen Avrohom about a persons double intention when performing a Mitzvah, and states that it generally follows ones main intent. The reader should know, however, that there aresome Rabbis who disagree with the position presented here and have adopted one of the six rationales expressed above. Each shul should follow the ruling of their Rav in this matter, however, this author consulted with two major Poskim who agreed with the positions set forth above. One of them was unsure, however, about the counter to explanation #4 above. So what should and could be done? A note should be left on the car explaining that it is wrong and that the license plate was noted, and next time a tow truck may be called. If the car is blocking access, towing would be permitted according to the Shulchan Aruch. (CM412:1). According to what was discussed above, however, stickering would not be permitted. The author can be reached at [email protected] Savers who use social media to complain to their banks about technical glitches are having their details snatched by crooks. Criminals are lurking online waiting for banks to suffer technical problems so they can dupe unwitting customers into handing over information. The crooks set up fake Twitter accounts that mimic genuine ones belonging to the bank. Customers are told to click a link, which sends them to a website that looks similar to the banks. Online scam: crooks set up fake Twitter accounts that mimic genuine ones belonging to the bank But when they enter their bank details to log in, the information is snatched by fraudsters. Last month NatWest suffered the latest in a series of attacks by fraudsters using Twitter after it suffered technical problems. The fake Twitter account was shut down though a number of customers had responded to it. The bank would not confirm whether any customers had cash stolen. It will decide on issuing refunds on a case-by-case basis. The Twitter scam is the latest ruse used by crooks to con bank customers. Other tricks include vishing, where a fraudster contacts a customer over the phone. The criminal pretends to be a police officer or a representative of the bank and dupes the account holder into handing over details. But in many cases victims do not receive a refund because banks deem they enabled the fraud by handing over information. Consumer group Which? has called for the payments regulator to force banks to do more to help fraud victims recover losses. The FTSE 100 surged to an all-time high yesterday as traders kicked the New Year off with a bang. Britains blue chip index jumped to 7205.45 in early trading, rising above a previous intra-day peak set last month. And although it later fell back slightly, the Footsie nonetheless gained 0.5 per cent, or 35.06 points to reach a record close of 7177.89. All time high: FTSE 100's record-breaking run continues It means the index is up 13.3pc since the eve of the Brexit vote in June adding 211.6bn to its value and giving lie to economists predictions of a crash if Britain chose to quit the European Union. Connor Campbell, a financial analyst at Spreadex, said: For now, at least, investors are ignoring the potentially disruptive events littered across 2017. Financial stocks led the march upwards after the Basel committee of top central bankers postponed a meeting to decide on reforms which would hit lenders profits. The market rose despite a strengthening in the pound, which gained 0.3 per cent against the euro thanks to better-than-expected manufacturing data. Research group IHS Markit said December was the best month for UK manufacturers for two-and-a-half years as British industry ended 2016 on a high. Normally, a stronger currency pushes down the Footsie as many leading UK firms earn their profits abroad and these will be worth less when translated back into sterling. But Joshua Mahony of IG said traders were clearly keen to celebrate the start of a new year. He said: 2016 is going to be a hard year to top, with an incredible amount of high-risk events going against expectations. However, despite the fact that 2017 has fewer game-changing events of note, todays open reminds us that we are likely to face another year of substantial volatility. The positive mood even led to speculation the index was in for a year-long bull run with one analyst claiming it could breach 9000, gaining 20 per cent. 2016 is going to be a hard year to top, with an incredible amount of high-risk events going against expectations Naeem Aslam of Think Markets said: If Theresa May adopts a more flexible approach and we have soft Brexit, then we could expect the FTSE 100 to perform very well. We would expect the FTSE 100 to close the year with more than a 20 per cent gain and touch the 9000 mark. Concerns: Next boss Simon Wolfson Simon Wolfson is the sage of British non-food shopping so when he says the future is not looking bright we have to take him seriously. That is why Next shares were flung into a 14 per cent reverse following the company's post-holiday trading statement, damaging the whole sector with M&S down 6 per cent, and Associated British Foods, owner of Primark down nearly 4 per cent. Both M&S and ABF have food operations to offset disappointment in clothing. But are things really as bad at Next as the market reaction would suggest? Wolfson always is on the cautious side and we should never be surprised if negative profit guidance of 2 per cent to 14 per cent down in the next year turns out to be in single digits. We should also be fully aware that Wolfson is not prepared to damage healthy profit margins (although there is plenty of space) and will be passing through an expected increase in import prices of 5 per cent arising from the fall in the pound. One suspects other less financially fastidious retailers will be prepared to absorb some of the damage. Among the big UK high street chains Next has done far better than most in adapting to the online world. This is not surprising given the history of the Wolfson clan and the Next catalogue. Indeed, the speed and quality of its online services means that catalogue sales were up 5.1 per cent year-on-year. The weakness in Next's armoury is that it has not fully made the adjustment from laptop to mobile and that is going to require new investment in the current year. Britain, as the old cliche goes, has always been a national of shopkeepers. But what the bricks and mortar retailers are also discovering is that the UK consumers have adapted to online shopping faster than most of its European competitors. So Zara owner Inditex with its spread of shops across Europe, where online take-up has been much slower, still receives most of its income through physical stores. In the past Wolfson has suggested that British consumers have enough clothes and things, and sustaining growth at the same pace as in the past is going to be tricky. Nevertheless, near-record unsecured borrowing of 1.9billion in November indicates Brits have not lost the spending habit. More significant, perhaps, is the way more cultish retailers, from Sweaty Betty and Reiss in fashion to Tiger and B&M in things, are challenging the existing players. Next has sought to address this by the inclusion of upmarket brand names in its catalogue. What it doesn't have is the significant international operations of Zara, Sweden's H&M and more luxury brands such as Burberry. The new chief executive of M&S Steve Rowe has decided to highlight expansion on food and to try and turnaround the UK clothing operations, which remain leaders in many categories but are haemorrhaging sales. He has kind of decided that much of what M&S does globally is too costly and is narrowing operations. That seems senseless when M&S is competing with companies with international ambition. M&S has more name recognition than most British firms overseas and that ought to be a real competitive advantage. It should be stepping up investment for the long-haul, rather than pulling back to little Britain. After all, Brexit should mean seeking more global horizons. Sand in wheels A more activist approach by the Competition & Markets Authority to overseas takeovers in Britain's much prized Fintech sector must be the right thing to do. The CMA is to probe the proposed absorption of London-based VocaLink Holdings by New York-based Mastercard for 735million. As one of a handful of technology providers behind the Link system of cash machines VocaLink is both critical to Britain's cluster of financial technology firms as well as a local rival to Mastercard. Removing it as a competitor could result in higher costs to UK high street banks and retailers offering Link services. The CMA could also add a review of Lloyds Banking Group's 1.9billion bid for the UK arm of American credit card firm MBNA to its inquiries. Lloyds has a robust credit card operation and dominant positions in mortgage, retail banking and savings. At a time when consumer borrowing is at record levels such a deal raises prudential concerns. Most importantly it knocks a competitor out of a market where consumers face brutal interest charges. Regulators should roll their sleeves up and take a close look. Golden goodbye No need to spare a dime for Rex Tillerson the ExxonMobil boss and distinguished Eagle Scout selected by Donald Trump as his Secretary of State. In a nice parting gesture the board of the oil giant has decided to buy out the 2million shares in Exxon due to Tillerson over the next decade under option arrangements. That means a cool payout of 146million to go into a blind trust. Clampdown: FxPro has shelved plans for a stock market flotation Currency trading broker FxPro has shelved plans for a stock market flotation as financial spread-betters brace for a clampdown. The group has decided to remain in private hands after the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said last month that it may impose stricter rules on firms selling 'contract for difference' (CFD) products. FxPro, which has operations in London and Cyprus, is understood to have told proposed non-executive directors that the planned initial public offering will no longer take place. Spread-betting firms have seen their share price take a hammering on the London market after the FCA said that it could tighten rules around CFD products to prevent investors racking up heavy losses. The financial watchdog also wants to prevent providers from using any form of trading or account opening bonuses or benefits to promote products. Online CFD trader Plus 500 previously warned that the new FCA rules would result in a financial hit for the company. The boss of JP Morgan has called for the City to remain Europes leading financial hub after Brexit. Jamie Dimon notoriously warned he might shift up to 4,000 roles to the Continent at the height of the Project Fear campaign. But he has rowed back on this threat saying it was a worst-case scenario and that he would rather keep staff where they are. Remain: Jamie Dimon, chairman and chief executive of JP Morgan wants to stay in London after Brexit takes effect The New Yorker also claimed the European Union would lose out if it sought to punish Britain by hurting its financial sector. I wish we could keep it all in London, he told Financial News. A major fear to me about Brexit is that it causes the EU to fail down the road. Belgian tool firm TVH has refused to give up hopes of buying rival Lavendon. TVH increased its offer for the Leicestershire-based cherry-picker operator to 261p per share after markets closed on December 30 a penny higher than French rival Loxam. Belgium equipment firm TVH has increased its offer to buy British-owned Lavendon It means the proposed bid for Lavendon stands at 444million, up 2million from Loxams offer last week of 442million. As well as raising its bid, TVH yesterday announced it had acquired an additional 5.9 per cent stake in Lavendon through its investment subsidiary Libra Bidco to promote its takeover of the firm. Mobile phone giant Three is ripping off customers who cancel their contracts early, Money Mail can reveal. Customers locked into one or two-year contracts are being over-charged by up to 230 if they leave before the end of their agreement, an investigation has found. Three, which has six million customers, is accused of pocketing millions of pounds in unfair termination charges because of a loophole in contracts. Mobile phone rip off: Telecoms watchdog Ofcom is investigating Three's VAT scam We have handed over the findings to telecoms watchdog Ofcom, which has launched an investigation. The rip-off centres on Threes 12 and 24-month mobile phone contracts, rather than its pay-as-you-go deals. With these types of mobile deal, you must pay off the remainder of your contract if you want to get out of the arrangement early. For example, if you cancelled a 45-a-month contract six months early, in theory youd owe the phone company 270. However, tax rules state that the 20 per cent VAT you are normally charged should be deducted from the final bill. This is because you will no longer be receiving a service, so therefore you shouldnt be paying sales tax on it. Most phone companies, including O2, EE and Vodafone, automatically deduct the VAT from the monthly price. That means someone on a 45-a-month contract would be charged only 37.50 for every month left on their contract leaving a bill of 225 for cancelling six months early. But we discovered Three was not passing on this saving and is instead shaving as little as 3 per cent off peoples bills. Customers locked into one or two-year contracts are being over-charged up to 230 In the example, a customer would have to pay as much as 43.65 for every month remaining on their agreement. The total for cancelling six months early would be 261.90, or 36.90 more than it should be. The extra money appears to go straight into Threes coffers, as the taxman says it never asks a company to hand over VAT when customers buy out their mobile phone contracts. Michael Green, a Cambridge law graduate and founder of CaseHub, a firm that launches class actions against corporations, says: It is disgusting that Three is overcharging customers to cancel their contracts as the rules are quite clear that the VAT discount should be passed on to the customer. Three is the only network doing this, which sends a clear message that it should change its policy, To expose the catch, Mr Green and his colleague Megane Demayo took out contracts with Three, cancelling the deals after a month. CaseHub, fonded by Michael Green, launches class actions against corporations The 20 per cent VAT included in their bill should have been waived. But instead they were offered varying discounts by Three which still left them up to 30 out of pocket. An Ofcom spokeswoman says: Its important people wishing to leave their mobile contracts early are fairly treated. We are contacting Three to ask it to explain its policy. VAT is a 20 per cent sales tax collected on behalf of HMRC by companies when a member of the public buys any goods or service. All phone contracts are subject to VAT. Customer service: O2 charges VAT on cancelled handset-only contracts Normally, your bill shows a set monthly amount for your contract plus a separate charge to the government for VAT. For example, it might show 37.50 for the contract plus a separate 7.50 charge for VAT. These are usually shown as a single price on adverts for mobile phone deals. However, Three bundles these two costs into a single charge on the bill. That means the customer is contractually obliged to pay 45 a month for the entire length of their deal. Typically, the contracts state: Charges on your bill are shown inclusive of VAT (where appropriate), unless youre a business customer. So the charge for cancelling early would be calculated at the full 45 a month. Three says it gives customers who leave their contract early a discount of between 3 per cent and 10 per cent. But this still leaves people worse off than if the VAT charge was removed. An HMRC spokesman says: Some contracts require the customer to pay compensation when the contract is terminated early. VAT is not due on these payments. The only exceptions is when a customer received additional goods or services, such as a handset, and payments are outstanding. VAT can apply to those payments, HMRC says. For example, O2 charges VAT on cancelled handset-only contracts. This is when the mobile phone is paid for on a separate contract to the monthly network tariff. VAT applies to the mobile phone because they are still receiving the goods. A spokesman for Three insists it does not charge VAT on cancellation fees, but could not explain why it did not deduct the equivalent of VAT from its bills. Neither would it say what happens to the portion of the fee that normally covers VAT. The way we calculate early termination fees is clearly set out to customers when they join us and is available in our price guide and terms and conditions, says the spokesman. The revelation comes just weeks after it emerged Three suffered a major cyber attack in which fraudsters used a staff members login details to access the firms upgrade system and ordered 400 handsets, which were then stolen in store or intercepted. Tesco senior director Richard Cousins has made a shock departure from the grocer, days before it reveals Christmas trading figures. Cousins, chief executive of catering group Compass, has been in the role for just two years and his abrupt departure will be seen as a blow for the chain. He joined Tesco as a non-executive director in October 2014 in the wake of an accounting scandal which saw the supermarket giant overstate its profits by 326million. Tesco senior director Richard Cousins has made a shock departure from the grocer, days before it reveals Christmas trading figures The 57-year-old became senior independent director in April 2015 after the retirement of Patrick Cescau. In a stock market announcement Tesco said Cousins, who was paid 115,000 last year, had resigned with immediate effect. There was no statement from Cousins but speculation grew yesterday that he had clashed with the board and Tesco boss Dave Lewis. Cousins is well regarded in the City and had been a successful chief executive at Compass. Waving goodbye: In a stock market announcement Tesco said Cousins, who was paid 115,000 last year, had resigned with immediate effect His first task at the catering group in 2006 was to resolve a scandal involving a UN contract. John Allan, Tesco chairman, said: On behalf of the board I would like to thank Richard for his contributions to the deliberations of the Tesco board over the last two years, and particularly for his insights and invaluable advice as we have delivered an unprecedented level of change across the business. His exit comes just days before Tesco publishes a trading statement on the festive season on January 12. Deanna Oppenheimer, former Barclays UK boss, will replace Cousins as senior independent director. Chinese goods are coming to London by freight train for the first time in history in a 7,400-mile journey along an ancient trading route. A diesel engine has set off from the manufacturing town of Yiwu in east China bound for Barking in London with 34 carriages and 4million of socks, clothes, bags and suitcases in tow. The trip will take it over mountain ranges, around deserts and across the vast Russian steppe. And the goods will finally arrive in Britain via the Channel Tunnel in a fortnight, after crossing seven countries. It is part of China's One Belt, One Road initiative, aimed at reviving the fortunes of the ancient Silk Road. In medieval times and even earlier, the route was used by merchants bringing their exotic wares to Europe from the Orient. The trains are operated by China's Yiwu Timex Industrial Investment, and will run once a week during a trial period. They join a twice-weekly service to Madrid in Spain via the German city of Duisburg, which was launched more than a year ago. Oscar Lin, manager of the new line's UK agent Onetwothree Logistics, said: 'This cargo train service highlights the important trade partnership between the UK and China post-Brexit.' The journey will pass through Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus, Poland, Germany, Belgium and France. The train will eventually arrive in Britain via the Channel Tunnel, alongside the daily Euro Tunnel services ferrying passengers ro and from France It starts with a locomotive East Wind named after a famous quote from tyrannical Chinese dictator Mao Zedong: 'The east wind will prevail over the west wind.' But the goods will have to be moved on to a selection of different carriages en route due to several changes in the gauge of the railway. The trip will be faster than a container ship and half the price of air freight, and will make London the 15th city to be directly linked to China. MBABANE Miss Tourism Swaziland, Nadia Nascimento is raising the flag high as she has just received a proposal to be the face of international cosmetic brand La Nor Cosmetics. The Chief Executive Officer of renowned La Nor Cosmetics in Malaysia, Noor Zawatil Isyqi and the organisers of the Miss Tourism International event were thrilled to meet the Swazi beauty. This was during her visit to the country in December where she had gone to represent Swaziland in the Miss Tourism International pageant. Nascimento, together with the other participants in the event took a tour around the famous city of Langkawi also known as The Jewel of Malaysia. Miss Tourism Swaziland thanked the special envoy of Princess Sikhanyiso for a warm family gestured welcome in Malaysia. She will always remember the sweet hospitality of Malaysians, the beauty pageant committee said while exchanging greetings. Miss Tourism Swaziland was presented with Christmas gifts by the CEO of La Nor Cosmetics. The CEO said they will be working on a proposal for appointing Miss Tourism Swaziland as La Nor Cosmetics brand Ambassador. We are the manufacturer of exclusive cosmetic products targeted at specific customers, and the range is especially liked by the royal families around the world. Our plan to appoint a brand ambassador from Swaziland is based on our love, respect and gratitude for the Swazi Royal Family, said Isyqi. The beauty queen is yet to disclose when she will sign the contracts and do her shoots in Malaysia. MANZINI Textile workers anticipate staging a major strike to demand at least 25 per cent salary increment. The workers said they wanted 25 per cent salary increment because they last received a better salary raise in 2008 and that was after they engaged in a protest action, which lasted for three weeks. They were awarded a better increment of 10 per cent. They said they had been getting an average of five per cent salary increment, something which they view as an insult because the increase was equivalent to E0.14 cents per hour, E1.26 per day and E12.60 per fortnight. They want to engage in the strike anytime within the first quarter of the year. This is the period when their increment would be negotiated. Their gazette is usually released during the month of March. Their main argument is that the round table negotiations were not doing them any good because their representatives were not consulting with them. We have resolved to take it to the street because it worked for us the last time we did it in 2008, said one of the workers union members who preferred to remain anonymous. She said the decision was taken in one of the meetings they had where they deliberated about the matter. In fact, they said the strike was long overdue because they had spent so many years getting peanuts. They based their reasoning for the strike action on the fact that prices for basic needs and commodities have been increasing rapidly over the years and life was difficult for them. Meanwhile, Amalgamated Trade Union of Swaziland (ATUSWA) Deputy Secretary General Zweli Sihlongonyane said they were aware of the frustration faced by their members. He said it was true that they were struggling to sustain themselves and their families with the money they earned. Ezulwini Town Board CEO Vusumutiwendvodza Matsebula during his second appearance before the commission of inquiry yesterday. (Pics: Ntombi Mhlongo) EZULWINI There are situations where you hear gossip about people who are dating but it becomes a problem when there is no proof. These were the words of Ezulwini Town Board Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Vusumutiwendvodza Matsebula when he made his second appearance before the commission of inquiry yesterday. Matsebula was responding to allegations that he was involved in intimate relationships with his subordinates, including the Town Planner Zwakele Dlamini and one Xoli Sibandze, a former employee. Before responding to the allegations, Matsebula enlightened the commission by stating that it was important to talk about something and the proof of it instead of focusing on gossip and slander. He made an example of when he joined the organisation and was informed of a senior employee who allegedly used to be visited by a male companion in the office. According to him, staff members relayed to him that during the visits they would find the office in a mess with tables upside down. He alleged that he did not make conclusions on the issue until a time when there was a reported blocking of a sewage at the organisations premises. Even though he did not name what was found, he alleged that they discovered something which raised suspicions that a lot had been going on in the office of the employee. I did not make that a big issue, which is why I did not even rush to the newspapers because I did not have the proof. I wouldnt want to waste my energy on something that I cannot prove, Matsebula said. MBABANE Aspiring teachers will have to be patient as government will not be hiring any at the moment. This was said by the Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Education and Training, Pat Muir, during an interview yesterday. Muir said they were satisfied with the number of teachers at the moment and were not looking to hire more. However, Secretary General of the Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT) Zwelithini Mndzebele said the stance not to hire teachers would compromise the quality of education in the country. He said he did not understand why there would be no hiring of teachers. He said with the introduction of Free Primary Education they expected personnel to be increased as there would be more pupils in the education system. If there will be no hiring then we are in a serious problem, it means work will be compromised because there will be more pupils and less teachers, said Mndzebele. He said the workload would be too much for them as they would have to do more than expected. He said that would in turn jeopardise the quality of education. He said the teacher-to-pupil ratio of 1:33 was scientifically proven and was not just a thumb suck. MBABANE Unlike in past years when pupils who obtained Third Class passes in the Grade VII examination were shunned by various schools, some schools have stated that they will admit them. High schools such as Mater Dolorosa, Woodlands, Mhlatane and others, who are still continuing with the admission process, have called upon pupils who obtained Third Class passes to come to them. Woodlands High School Head teacher, Lizzy Manyatsi said they still had spaces in Form I. She said they had space for 120 pupils and the admission process had already begun. Most schools have a criterion for admitting pupils but Woodlands High School has none of that sort as they admit every child, regardless of their passing grade. Here we believe that every child deserves a chance, regardless of the grade they have obtained. However, there are some instances where the grade matters. If the pupil obtained very poor grades, then that is when we decide to start admitting others first, and if there is still space available thereafter, we attend to him/her, Manyatsi said. The school has dedicated three days to admitting Form I pupils, starting from yesterday to Thursday. Since the Form III results will be out soon, we have planned that by the time pupils come looking for places in Form IV, we will be ready for them. This will allow us to deal with them specifically. Three days will be allocated for admitting them as well, she said. However, if the pupils are still coming after the three days and the spaces are still available, Manyatsi said they would continue admitting both Form I and IV pupils simultaneously. MBABANE Mthunzi had nothing to do with the good performance of KaBoyce pupils. These were the words of KaBoyce High School Head teacher Lungelo Nhlengetfwa after the school topped in the Junior Certificate (JC) results. Simon Mthunzi recently retired as head teacher at the school. According to Nhlengetfwa, it was the teachers who were determined and hard working, which is why the school continued to produce good results even after Mthunzis departure. Interviewed yesterday at the school, Nhlengetfwa said it was the head teacher who left the school, not the teachers who did what they had to do. They continued in the same manner in which they did even during the time of the former head teacher. We will continue to produce good results even next year and the years to follow, he said. Nhlengetfwa highly commended the teachers and said they had no time to waste as they were always determined to teach. The teachers have sacrificed a lot, they sometimes conduct classes from as early as 7am and would teach during weekends when necessary, which is not done in most schools, he said. Nhlengetfwa added that the teachers ensured that on the first day of school, unlike many other schools, the teachers start conducting lessons. He refuted allegations that they only accepted best performing pupils from primary level at the school. He said they used a certain criterion to admit pupils to the school which had nothing to do with the result they obtained after sitting for Grade VII final examinations. EZULWINI The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Ezulwini Town Board, Vusumutiwendvodza Matsebula, has accused former Inspector of Works Dumisa Zwane of attempted fraud. During his third appearance before the commission of inquiry yesterday, the CEO said Zwane was a stuntman who could fit perfectly well in the role of the once popular Rambo of American movies. Zwane is the same man who wept uncontrollably during his appearance before the commission a few weeks ago where he accused former Councillor Zweli Jele of being a devil. While sharing different old quotations with the commissioners, the CEO alleged that Zwane had a tendency of committing illegal acts when it came to procurement of services of the organisation. He was one person that you had to keep an eye on all the time and not take anything for granted. He did everything fast and would make you sign for the purchase of material or equipment yet not all was real. Most of the quotations were fake, Matsebula alleged. These are allegations whose veracity is yet to be determined by the commissioners. He alleged that Zwane played a role in the controversial developing of an area situated at Mantenga which had initially been approved for the construction of four flats but ended up being eight. The CEO alleged that the developer, Nqaba Dlamini, admitted in a recorded conversation that he and Zwane committed the act of changing the plan for the project from four flats to eight and that they were aware that what they were doing was wrong. MANZINI The former pupil from Sebenta Informal school, who made a name for herself after passing her Grade VII with flying colours at the age of 29, has done it again. Lydia Nakuze, a mother of three who is now 31 years old and originally from Rwanda, sat for her Junior Certificate (JC) exam last year and obtained a merit pass. Nakuze is the same pupil who was rejected by several schools in the country because of her age. She was eventually accepted at Mbekelweni Lutheran High School by the then schools Head teacher ,Mduduzi Bhembe. Bhembe was later suspended as the head teacher of the school and also President of the Swaziland Principals Association (SWAPA). The pupil sat for her Grade VII three years ago and obtained a merit pass. She arrived in the country in 2011 and stayed with his unemployed father in a rented flat in Ezulwini. Bhembe, in earlier interview, had said he admitted Nakuze using the Ministry of Education and Trainings School Guide Regulations and Procedure, Appendix B 4.1 (d), which stipulated that no person above the age of 17 years should be admitted to Form I without liaising with the ministry. Nakuze is now one of our pupils pending the response from the ministry because after talking to her, we wrote a letter to the ministry. She is allowed to go to class as long as she is prepared, Bhembe said at the time. According to one of the teachers at the school, Nakuze had been excelling in her studies for the past three years and she was a well-behaved pupil, who always respected teachers and other pupils. Sign up for our amNY Sports email newsletter to get insights and game coverage for your favorite teams By Patrick Donachie Hunter College student Faiza Masood, who lives in Middle Village, is one of the recipients of this years Marshall Scholarship, offered to a select number of students throughout the country. An Islamic Studies major, she hopes to offer a fresh and independent voice to intellectual conversations on her faith. It was such an extensive process and it took a lot of time, Masood said in an interview about the famed scholarship, founded in 1953 in honor of the late Secretary of State George C. Marshall. It was a miracle and I was so grateful. Masood is one of only two students in New York state to receive the scholarship this year, out of a nationwide group of 40 students. She is the first Hunter College student to be granted the honor. Masood intends to use the scholarship to earn a masters degree studying Islamic law with an emphasis on gender studies and family law at the University of London or Oxford. Masood said she knew she wanted to major in religion from her freshman year and was also interested in exploring different religions and her Muslim faith from different perspectives. She also learned Arabic to study advanced scholarship texts and studied abroad in Morocco and Jordan. She hopes to bring a unique perspective to Islamic scholarship. We need more female opinions within this field. I feel like I represent a Muslim and female voice within Islamic scholarship and that means a lot because there are very few Muslim women in this field, she said. If males are dominating the field, theyre not going to highlight womens issues and family issues. Masood attended a small religious school in Queens with 10 students in her graduating class, according to Hunter College. Her parents emigrated from Pakistan, with her father working in candy stores for much of his life and her mother serving as a homemaker. Masood has three older sisters, including one named Hajara, who is also studying religion at Hunter College. Masoods parents did not take a vacation so they could save money for their childrens education. Masood credited several professors at Hunter College for helping her to prepare for the interview process in attaining a Marshall scholarship, including Barbara Sproul and Christopher Stone, as well as Professor Bert Breiner, who she said inspired her to go into the field of religious scholarship. She would eventually like to be a professor at a public university like Hunter College, part of the City University of New York system. Masood said she emphasized the lack of available voices in Islamic scholarship in public institutions like Hunter during her Marshall scholarship interview. Many Ivy League schools, she said, have strong Islamic Studies programs, but often those programs and universities are unaffordable for many students. As a religion major, she wanted to offer people the opportunity to learn about her religion through the prism of faith. People are curious and want to learn about Islam. They ask questions about Islam to me, and I just wish there were more opportunities to learn, because unfortunately most people hear about Islam from the news or other media outlets, she said. Thats whats motivating me in my studies to be part of that dialogue. Masood will graduate from Hunter next year. In addition to her major, Masood has minored in Arabic Studies and Asian American Studies. Sign up for our amNY Sports email newsletter to get insights and game coverage for your favorite teams By Gina Martinez A Queens native was crowned the NYC Youth Poet Laureate for 2017. Sharon Lin performed her original poem A Footnote on a Hollywood Blockbuster about the lack of Asian representation in Hollywood at the eighth annual Youth Poet Laureate spoken word competition earlier this month at the New York Public Library in the Celeste Bartos Forum. Her poem read, If Scarlett Johansson in a black wig and contacts is enough to replace the thousands of Japanese Americans interned away for your film. For the millions of Asian girls who never see themselves, except as exotic sex toys on television. The first Chinese-American woman elected to Congress, and the Senate both in the same year. Why have we waited so long? The 18-year-old Corona resident and senior at Stuyvesant High Schools writing has appeared in Muse Magazine, the Asbury Park Press, KidSpirit and The Feminist Wire. She has appeared in Voice of America, de Volkskrant, and Fusion Magazine. She is also a Congressional App Challenge winner for the app iVOTE. The Youth Poet Laureate spoken word competition is a partnership between NYC Votes and Urban Word NYC. As the Youth Poet Laureate, Lin will work with NYC Votes to reach young voters across the city by promoting voting and civic engagement at public events. I am so honored to be the 2017 New York City Youth Poet Laureate, Lin said. I am incredibly grateful to have a platform to inspire other youth voices and to communicate the importance of self-expression through art and poetry. The 2017 New York City Youth Poet Laureate Ambassadors were also announced at the event. Ambassadors TaShea Parhaml from the Bronx and Brooklyn residents Keanna Hunter, Ianna Hayes and Khalin Vasquez will help Lin reach young voters through the 2017 citywide elections. In this charged political season, the poets that touched the stage for the annual NYC Youth Poet Laureate Competition represented the beauty of our citys diversity and culture. Not only did they bravely speak their truths, but they also reminded us what our democracy is about, said Michael Cirelli, executive director of Urban Word NYC. I am hopeful that partnerships to support these important platforms will only elevate our dedication to the good and service of all New Yorkers. 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United Arab Emirates United Kingdom of Great Britain & N. Ireland Uruguay, Eastern Republic of Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of Viet Nam, Socialist Republic of Wallis and Futuna Islands Western Sahara Yemen Zambia, Republic of Zimbabwe Police in the southern Indian city of Bangalore detained at least six suspects Wednesday after several women said they were groped and molested during New Year\s Eve celebrations in the city that is the country\s information technology hub. City police first denied that any sexual harassment had taken place during the late-night celebrations. But on Wednesday, police officer Hemant Nimbalkar said at least six men were detained after several video clips of women being attacked by groups of men spread on social media. The incident highlights the persistent violence against women in India despite tougher laws against sexual assault imposed after the December 2012 death of a young woman who was gang-raped on a bus in New Delhi. SOURCE: AP 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. The following capsule reviews of recent releases, long runs and revivals come from various wire services, as noted: RATINGS: G - Suitable for all ages. PG - Parental guidance recommended. PG-13 - Parental guidance strongly suggested. R - Restricted; anyone under 18 must be accompanied by adult. NC-17 - No children under 17. Excellent Good Fair Poor Assassin's Creed Action. Video game adaptations go highbrow with the "Macbeth" team of director Justin Kurzel and stars Michael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard reuniting for this tale of a criminal who learns he is part of an ancient legacy of killers. It seems like quite the left turn, and while the results aren't as striking as the previous outing it's pretty uneven the film is thoroughly stamped with Kurzel's unique visual style, which makes for an exciting, if strange ride. If the story sounds hokey, it is, and somehow the writers have managed to write a script that is at once far too complicated and extremely shallow. (PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action, thematic elements and brief strong language) 1/2 (Katie Walsh, Tribune News Service) Collateral Beauty Drama. Will Smith stars as a man whose life is upended by tragedy. Edward Norton, Kate Winslet and Helen Mirren are among the people who try to help him. It's possible to like people that we know are just no good, and every so often we're reminded that the same is possible with movies. "Collateral Beauty" just isn't successful. In the end it all seems a little too glib, too easy and not quite true. (PG-13 for thematic elements and brief strong language) (Mick LaSalle, Hearst Newspapers) Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them Adventure. Eddie Redmayne stars as the author of one of the textbooks Harry Potter would go on to read 70 years later at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in this adaptation of J.K. Rowling's best-selling novel. "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" protagonist Newt Scamander is amiable, sheepish and surprisingly capable. Eddie Redmayne's performance is emblematic of a spinoff that manages to clone the vibe of the "Potter" films (especially the latter ones) even as it aggressively distances itself from Hogwarts. It's a safe, crowd-pleasing and frequently enchanting experience. (PG-13 for some fantasy action/violence) (Peter Hartlaub, Hearst Newspapers) Fences Drama. Viola Davis is the early favorite in the best supporting actress Oscar race for her performance in this adaptation of August Wilson's Pulitzer Prize-winning play about race relations in the 1950s, directed by and starring Denzel Washington. They both won acting Tonys for the 2010 Broadway revival. ''Fences" must be added to the short roster of great American plays that have been made into great American films. The faces of the actors are radiant in their humanity. The characters go right down to the depths, a hallmark of 20th-century theater. Director Denzel Washington captures the rhythms, the poetry and the velocity of playwright August Wilson's text, and the result is an experience of exuberance and richness. (PG-13 for thematic elements, language and some suggestive references) (M.L.) Jackie Drama. Oscar winner Natalie Portman takes on First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy following the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, as she fights through grief and trauma to regain her faith, console her children, and define her husband's historic legacy. Laughably off-key and relentlessly dull, "Jackie" offers a post-modern vision of Jacqueline Kennedy, in which the tall, elegant first lady is depicted as a small, be-wigged nervous wreck. It is a mess of a film, botched but also misconceived, with a central performance by Natalie Portman that evokes nothing about Jackie Kennedy, beyond the stylish clothes and the secret smoking. (R for brief strong violence and some language) (M.L.) La La Land Musical. Get ready to be very happy. Writer-director Damien Chazelle's ("Whiplash") song-and-dance musical about two aspiring artists (Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling) who fall in love lives up to the hype. Good movies come in waves and patterns, but great movies are usually from Jupiter. They come from out of nowhere, led by a singular vision, and that's the case with "La La Land." It's a beautiful and hopeful film at a time when there isn't much beauty or hope in our movies, and it's a type of sprawling, exuberant musical drama that hasn't been seen in decades. (PG-13 for some language) (M.L.) Lion Drama. A 5-year-old Indian boy gets lost on the streets of Calcutta, eventually being adopted by a couple in Australia; 25 years later, he sets out to find his lost family. Stars Dev Patel, Nicole Kidman and Rooney Mara. The first half of the film is short on dialogue, but eloquent in storytelling. Dev Patel plays the grown-up boy in the second half and his performance carries the weight of the second half of the film so well, you may overlook how badly the two parts of the film are married. Patel delivers a definitive, star-making performance, one that fills in all the considerable gaps in the script and re-affirms his versatility as an actor. (PG-13 for thematic material and some sensuality) (David Wiegand, Hearst Newspapers) Manchester By the Sea Drama. After the death of his older brother, a man (Casey Affleck) is shocked to learn that he has been made the sole guardian of his teenaged nephew. It's not a new thing for Casey Affleck to be great in a movie. But in "Manchester by the Sea," Affleck's performance is too outstanding and too at the center of everything to escape recognition. It's a role that calls upon his rare ability to convey absolute focus a jittery, locked-in, volatile kind of attention with a quality of distraction, of some troubling thought weighing on him in the background. "Manchester by the Sea" deserves honors for being so different, and for working on the mind in a particular way: To remember this film, days later, doesn't feel like remembering a movie. It feels like remembering actual people you once knew. (R for language throughout and some sexual content) (P.H.) Moana Animated. In Disney's 56th animated feature, a young princess on a mystic island in Polynesia is a born navigator who sets sail in search of a fabled island of mysterious secrets, teaming up with her hero and legendary demigod Maui (Dwayne Johnson). With music by Lin-Manuel Miranda. Disney's decades-long struggle with its princess addiction finally reaches the acceptance stage in "Moana," the latest satisfying musical from the animation giant. "If you wear a dress and have an animal sidekick, you're a princess," the God Maui tells the reluctant heroine midway through the movie. A slow start keeps "Moana" from reaching "Frozen" or "Beauty and the Beast" levels of excellence. But the comic self-awareness, engaging songs and a fulfilling finish are enough to merit a strong recommendation. (PG for peril, some scary images and brief thematic elements) (P.H.) Moonlight Drama. The critics' favorite chronicles the life of a young black man from childhood to adulthood as he struggles to find his place in the world while growing up in a rough neighborhood of Miami. This is the second film from writer-director Barry Jenkins, and it's time to get excited. "Moonlight" tells a sprawling story from America's depths, and it deals with a young man who comes to understand that he's gay. ''Moonlight" comes at you in three distinct waves and is very much a full meal. It has a comparatively modest running time of 110 minutes, but the movie feels more as though it were three hours long, and for once that's a good thing. It takes audiences to a new place and renders it in such detail that there's the sense of having traveled somewhere. (R for some sexuality, drug use, brief violence, and language throughout) (M.L.) Office Christmas Party Comedy. Jennifer Aniston, Jason Bateman, Kate McKinnon and Olivia Munn are among the revelers at an office holiday celebration that gets way out of control. There are problems with the R-rated comedy, including the telegraphing of almost every plot point. Too many moments elicit a polite half chuckle, when the screenwriters are trying for uproarious laughter. But it benefits from an excellent cast who seem to be all in. And whenever there's a stretch of extended mediocrity, it's almost always saved by an unexpected moment of politically incorrect inspiration. Through a series of aggressively senseless plot turns, the repressed and morale-starved branch can only be saved if they throw the most raucous office party in history. "Office Christmas Party" could have used one more sharp rewrite. (R for crude sexual content and language throughout, drug use and graphic nudity) 1/2 (P.H.) Passengers Adventure. Two passengers among thousands sleeping on a spacecraft traveling to a distant planet are awakened 90 years early. "Passengers" is a pleasant surprise. What looked to be yet another science fiction movie turns out to be one of the year's few romantic dramas, one which just happens to be set aboard a space ship. It's a film with shades of Genesis, that's redolent with metaphor, but none of that would have much impact but for Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt, who make it tangible and give it emotion. (PG-13 for sexuality, nudity and action/peril) (M.L.) Rogue One: A Star Wars Story Adventure. Gareth Edwards directs this prequel to "A New Hope" about a band of resistance fighters (led by Felicity Jones) who try to steal the plans for an under-construction Death Star. With "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story," it's officially time to start missing George Lucas. This comes as a surprise. After all, last year's "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" showed how good a Lucas-less "Star Wars" could be. But now comes "Rogue One" to remind us of the good things that are lost to the series, such as naivete and the sort of loopy sincerity that lent integrity even to the worst elements. 1/2 (M.L.) Sing Animated.: A koala (Matthew McConaughey) has one final chance to restore his theater to its former glory by producing the world's greatest singing competition among all kinds of animals. Featuring the voices of Reese Witherspoon, Seth McFarlane, Scarlett Johansson and Taron Egerton. "Sing" is a tribute to struggling live theater. A highly produced, expensive and corporate-financed tribute to struggling live theater that will pack movie theaters. (PG for some rude humor and mild peril) (P.H.) Why Him? Comedy. An uptight father (Bryan Cranston) is aghast to discover his daughter (Zoey Deutch) is dating a Silicon Valley billionaire (James Franco) who lacks even a semblance of manners and social grace. "Why Him?" takes a comic situation and then does everything it can to undermine it. There was potential here in the story of a father who meets his daughter's boyfriend and hates him on sight. But the filmmakers don't have a clue as to how to exploit that. (R for strong language and sexual material throughout) No stars (M.L.) Chris Helcermanas-Benge "Blair Witch": It wasn't a smart script or great acting that made "The Blair Witch Project" a box-office sensation in 1999. It was the creative way the movie was put together and promoted that created buzz around the quirky indie. Even before "The Blair Witch Project" opened, there was a website and a cable special that related the story of a group of young people who went missing in some Maryland woods. The only thing left was shaky footage that gave insight into their night of terror in the woods. The found-footage style was original when it was used with "The Blair Witch Project." It not only offered a different way of looking at a horror film, it added to the suggestion that the movie was the product of a group of people with cameras running for their lives that was finally stitched together. But today, it's so overused it makes films annoying and cheap. "Sleepy Hollow: The Complete Third Season": This is the most under-appreciated series on Fox since "The Adventures of Brisco County Jr." The series that brings Ichabod Crane (Tom Mison) to the 21st century has been on and off the network. Now you can catch up before the fourth season opener Friday. The third season takes place nine months after Abbie Mills (Nicole Beharie) and Crane have gone their separate ways. But they come back together with Abbie now an FBI agent. Among the battles the pair face are a demon who kills anyone with a dark secret and an undead army. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Saratoga Springs Commissioner Skip Scirocco takes issue with the Charter Commission recommendation to change the city's 100-year-old form of government. There is "no justification" to change the government's commission form to that of a strong mayor or city manager when "there is no more successful city in the state of New York," Scirocco said at Tuesday night's City Council meeting. Charter Commission Chair Bob Turner said the panel voted 12-3 last month for a special election in April on a new charter. Still under consideration is what form of government strong mayor or city manager it will suggest. Turner said the commission is devising a budget for the vote. "It's ludicrous," said Scirocco. "You are trying to shoehorn this in without information on the government." Turner tried to reassure Scirocco and other members of the council that the process has been deliberate and took in many points of view, including Scirocco's. Leaders discussed if there was enough time to set a special election in April and how much it will end up costing the city, which must pay for the vote. Some, including Accounts Commissioner John Franck, thought that putting the charter on the November ballot might be sufficient because fewer voters come out for a special election. Turner disagreed, saying it is important to separate politics from a new charter vote. After the meeting, Turner said he will take the council's concerns back to the Charter Commission for consideration. "We value their concerns," said Turner. "We are open to considering their recommendations." Saratoga Springs voters have rejected changing the commission form of government. In 2006, 62 percent voted it down. In 2012, 58 percent said no. wliberatore@timesunion.com 518-454-5445 Albany Gov. Andrew Cuomo wants to start a college affordability revolution that will seem familiar to supporters of Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders. Cuomo on Tuesday proposed a Sanders-style free state college tuition program for students from families with what he characterized as middle and low incomes, which the Vermont senator himself called revolutionary. The Cuomo program would cover full-time students from households that earn up to $125,000 and is aimed at addressing what the governor said is, in many ways, the most important issue facing the state and the country: rising student debt. "It should be a wake-up call to this nation. To say if you really want to be competitive globally, we have to have the best-educated workforce, and that means we have to have college for every child, man or woman, who wants to attend," Cuomo said at an event in Queens. "Other countries have already done it. It's time this country catches up. It's time this country says to every citizen, you can be whatever you want to be in America." Under Cuomo's Excelsior Scholarship proposal, students enrolled in SUNY or CUNY would be eligible to participate in the state Tuition Assistance Program, which awards grants that do not need to be paid back. The new program's funding would cover remaining tuition costs after TAP and federal grants are subtracted. Tuition/a> to a four-year SUNY school is $6,470. Tuition to a two-year SUNY school is $4,350. Other costs of college on top of tuition, namely $12,590 for room and board at a four-year school, which would not be covered. Sanders said Cuomo's proposal would reverberate across the nation and other states will follow New York in the coming years, should the Legislature approve the plan this year. "What today's message is about is if you are in the fourth or fifth grade, if you start studying hard, you will in fact be able to get the college education you need to make it to the middle class regardless of the income of your family," the Democratic Vermont senator said. "That is revolutionary." The cost of the free tuition plan is estimated at $163 million annually based on enrollment projections. The administration estimates that more than 940,000 households with college-age children would qualify for the program. Of those who might actually take advantage, the administration estimated that just more than 200,000 students about half of current enrollment numbers would receive an Excelsior Scholarship. The program would be fully implemented in 2019. Under the proposed phase-in schedule, New Yorkers making up to $100,000 would be eligible for the fall of 2017 and those making up to $110,000 would be eligible in 2018. In an interview, SUNY Chancellor Nancy Zimpher said Cuomo has "put a whole new lens on the free college discussion." "Our tuition rates are the lowest in the Northeast already," she said. "Short of free, we are really at an affordable threshold like no other, but that's not true of the entirety of the higher education sector. So for us, this really makes even that tuition affordability that SUNY has, even more likely for more students to be able to afford that tuition." The fiscally conservative Empire Center for Public Policy's Research Director E.J. McMahon faulted the proposal. "The peak problems are college readiness and completion rates," McMahon said. "It's not clear that there is an issue with affordability of community college or the first two years of college. And so spending a few hundred million dollars in order to say you've addressed affordability when it actually is not that big a problem and you're not really providing essential help to people who need it or who have earned it, that's kind of an expensive way to make a point." The progressive Fiscal Policy Institute's Executive Director Ron Deutsch was cautiously supportive. "I think it's great," Deutsch said at the People's State of the State held outside the Capitol on Tuesday. "The question really is how do we pay for it?" Where exactly a new $163 million fits into the state budget is not clear. The state faces a revenue shortfall for the current fiscal year, and the governor acknowledged in December that "the budget is going to be tighter than in past years." Politically speaking, the proposal is a winner if Cuomo harbors national political ambitions. His announcement comes as Republicans take control of Washington, D.C., and marks his leftward tack since re-election in 2014. As the governor continues parrying national Republican rhetoric, particularly that of President-elect Donald Trump, this proposal could strike a better balance between progressive rhetoric and realistic chances of passage than other higher-education plans that he and other state Democrats have pushed in recent years. For example, while Cuomo and Assembly Democrats have been on board with the DREAM Act, which would allow undocumented students to receive state financial aid for college, state Senate Republicans have been averse to the idea. With Cuomo's proposal not covering undocumented immigrants unless the DREAM Act also is passed Senate Republicans seemed warm to the idea. "Under Sen. LaValle's leadership, Senate Republicans have been fighting for years to expand TAP eligibility to ensure more money goes to many more middle-class families," Senate GOP spokesman Scott Reif said in a statement. "While we will have to review the specifics when the governor releases his executive budget, this proposal appears to move us in a positive direction." More broadly, Cuomo's agenda faces obstacles this year. Some legislators, who are set to return for the start of the legislative session on Wednesday, have fumed over last month's unsuccessful negotiations on raising lawmakers' pay. The free tuition plan is one of the first pieces of Cuomo's 2017 State of the State address to be unveiled. He will give six regional speeches across the state, including one in the Capital Region, at some point this month to fully roll out his 2017 plans. He must submit his executive budget proposal by Jan. 17. mhamilton@timesunion.com 518-454-5449 @matt_hamilton10 This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate A Wednesday roundup of State Police warrants includes a Saratoga County woman wanted by eight police agencies on shoplifting-related charges. Robyn A. Taylor, 27, is wanted in Malta for misdemeanor petit larceny. Taylor stole nine cases of beer and several boxes of frozen food from a Price Chopper in 2015, State Police said. The town of Malta issued an arrest warrant in June 2016 and Taylor has seven other outstanding warrants from other police agencies for similar crimes, State Police said. Taylor is described as a 5-foot-6 white woman with brown hair and eyes, weighing 225 pounds. Her last known address was in Corinth. Anyone with information about wanted individuals is asked to contact State Police immediately. Citizens should not take any police action other than contacting troopers by calling (518) 899-2225 or emailing Crimetip@troopers.ny.gov. State Police highlighted nine other defendants sought statewide in their social media post: Lawrence Ebert, 52, is wanted in Nassau County for felony driving while intoxicated and numerous traffic violations. Ebert was arrested for drunken driving after being involved in an accident on the Northern State Parkway in 2015, State Police said. He was driving a blue Chevrolet at the time of his arrest, troopers said. Ebert is described as a 5-foot-7 white man with brown hair and eyes, weighing 165 pounds. His last known address is in Panama City, Fla., but he has also lived on Long Island, State Police said. Jennifer M. McIntyre, 32, is wanted in Cold Spring, Putnam County, for driving while intoxicated, aggravated unlicensed operator, speeding and no vehicle inspection. McIntyre was stopped for speeding on Dec. 14, 2014, and charged with drunken driving and numerous traffic violations, State Police said. She failed to appear in court Dec. 6, 2015, troopers said. McIntyre is described as a 5-foot-6 white woman with red hair and brown eyes, weighing 170 pounds. Keegan Olton, 27, is wanted in Rochester for DWI, aggravated operation of a motor vehicle and other traffic violations. Olton was arrested on I-490 westbound in August for drunken driving and driving with a suspended license, State Police said. Olton is described as a 5-foot-9 white man with brown hair and blue eyes, weighing 190 pounds. Paul R. Arce, 25, is wanted in Endwell, Broome County, for endangering the welfare of a child, unlawfully dealing with a child and petit larceny, all misdemeanors. Arce was arrested in connection to two unrelated incidents in 2009 and failed to appear in court on the charges, State Police said. On July 18, 2011, Union Town Court also issued a warrant for his arrest. Troopers said the Broome County Sheriff's Office is also seeking Arce on multiple warrants. Arce is described as a 5-foot-3 Hispanic man with black hair and brown eyes, weighing 175 pounds. He has "Cristina" tattooed on his right hand and "Isaac" on his left forearm, State Police said. Lenny A. Barr, 44, is wanted by the State Police troop that patrols the Thruway for misdemeanor criminal possession of a controlled substance and unlawful possession of marijuana, a violation. On Feb. 9, 2015, Barr was stopped by a trooper on the Thruway for a traffic violation and was found with heroin and marijuana, State Police said. Barr is described as a 6-foot-1 white man with brown hair and eyes, weighing 165 pounds. D'Zhanre Herring, 21, is wanted in Cortlandt, Westchester County, for felony criminal possession of stolen property and misdemeanor possession of burglar tools. During a November 2015 larceny investigation, detectives found Herring with more than $1,000 worth of stolen merchandise and arrested her, State Police said. She failed to appear in court in May 2016, troopers said. Herring is described as a 5-foot-6 black woman with black hair and brown eyes, weighing 165 pounds. Her last known address was in Marlborough, State Police said. Michael A. Potter Jr., 38, is wanted in Syracuse for felony criminal contempt. Potter violated an order of protection during a domestic incident, State Police said. The city court issued an arrest warrant Nov. 3. Potter is described as a 5-foot-10 white man with brown hair and eyes, weighing 155 pounds. Lyra M. Travis, 28, is wanted for felony burglary and violation of probation. Travis broke into a relative's home and stole jewelry, which she pawned in Monticello and sold at a Cash for Gold store in Middletown, State Police said. Travis is described as a 5-foot-6 white woman with blonde hair and brown eyes, weighing 135 pounds. Ronnie A. Tellstone, 38, is wanted in Dannemora for four counts of felony criminal possession of a forged instrument. Tellstone used a forged credit card to make four different purchases at the Stewart's Shop on Aug. 2, 2013, State Police said. Tellstone is described as a 5-foot-7 white man with brown hair and eyes, weighing 160 pounds. THE ISSUE: The governor has used his executive powers to help some New Yorkers who committed crimes in their youth. THE STAKES: He must now help broker legislation to raise the age.Facing persistent resistance from the state Senate in efforts to reform how our justice system deals with 16- and 17-year-olds charged with crimes, Gov. Andrew Cuomo has done the next best thing pardoning more than 100 New Yorkers who turned their lives around after criminal convictions at that young age. More Information To comment: tuletters@timesunion.com or at http://blog.timesunion.com/opinion See More Collapse The compassionate action follows through on a pledge the governor made a year ago that could affect an estimated 10,000 people who were convicted of crimes committed when they were 16 or 17. Because of the 101 conditional pardons granted last week by Mr. Cuomo, the recipients will no longer have a public criminal record, removing a huge obstacle to finding jobs and housing and pursuing higher education. New York and North Carolina are the only two states that still treat 16- and 17-year-olds accused of crimes as adults. When these young offenders are processed through the adult criminal justice system and sent to prison, they end up 34 percent more likely to later be arrested for a violent crime compared to youth whose cases go through a Family Court type system and are held in a juvenile facility, according to research by the National Juvenile Justice Network. This recognition has given rise to a "raise-the-age" movement that would provide an array of options to law enforcement and the courts now only available to those younger than 16. Handling these cases through Family Court enlists the help of a young person's family as well as social and mental health services, all aimed at addressing the causes of the criminal behavior. In cases where incarceration is ordered, the youths are held with their peers in facilities that offer rehabilitation programs instead of being assigned to jails and prisons where they would be influenced by hardened criminals. Other states have found these alternatives provide a path away from a life of crime, but New York's youth remain behind the curve in this regard. That's because proposals to make these necessary changes come up year after year, but never make it out of committee in the state Senate. Sign up for The Knick Get the latest news and features with our afternoon newsletter. The governor deserves credit for his response. In addition to offering conditional pardons which require the recipient to stay out of trouble Mr. Cuomo has also taken the commendable step of ensuring that those 16- and 17-year-olds convicted of crimes and order incarcerated serve the time separately from the adult prison population. Still, these steps are not enough. In particular, Mr. Cuomo should use his political skills to pressure those Senate Democrats who align themselves with the chamber's Republican leadership the Independent Democratic Conference to get the "raise the age" legislation out of committee so it may be considered by the full Senate. Then it will be up to advocates of this important legislation to use the compelling documentation available to convince the lawmakers to do the right thing for New York's youth by adopting the overdue reform. First Data, the US global financial company are to start recruiting the first of the 300 jobs promised for its R&D centre at Stereame in the next few weeks. Local TD and Labour Spokesperson on Jobs and Enterprise Alan Kelly has confirmed that First Data will open a new recruitment office in the town centre early in 2017. This is in preparation for the opening of the facility in the town which is expected to commence construction in the coming weeks. I have been speaking with the senior executives in First Data constantly and a number of them have been to Nenagh during November and December. The construction of the new facility will commence in the coming weeks. It will be a great milestone for the town to see this happening as we welcome one of the largest fin-tech companies in the world to the Nenagh. "Personally, it is very satisfying for me to see this day come having worked night and day on this project for two years. The company has decided to open a recruitment office for the jobs. It will open in a number of weeks and be town-centre based so prospective candidates will be able to go and discuss all the opportunities that become available. It shows First Data's commitment to their new facility and Nenagh, he said. Deputy Kelly thanked Tipperary County Council, Nenagh Chamber of Commerce, third level institutions and local schools for working with him over the last few months in preparing for the arrival of the First Data to Nenagh. Three months ago, on a visit to South Tipperary General Hospital, Minister for Health Simon Harris T.D. described conditions at the hospital as utterly unacceptable, said solutions had to be found and promised a decision before the end of the year. Now in January 2017, despite the best efforts of staff, there is horrendous chaos at the hospital, says Independent Deputy Seamus Healy. On an almost daily basis the hospital has been at near the highest trolley numbers in the country. Patients on trolleys have no dignity or privacy and lack access to adequate bathroom and washing facilities. Staff are run off their feet and are struggling to provide a safe service in a hugely pressurised atmosphere. On 3 occasions recently, we have had the outrageous situation of hospital management having to advise the public not to attend the hospital due to overcrowding. Meanwhile, Minister Harris sits on his hands, makes no decisions and breaks his promises. His lack of action, in his own words, is utterly unacceptable and can fairly be described by the old saying fiddling while Rome burned. South Tipperary General Hospital has been in crisis for the last 5 years or more experiencing savage budget cuts in funding and staffing, while all the time increasing its hospital activity at emergency department, outpatient and inpatient levels. The Hospital is bursting at its seams. It is operating at about 130% occupancy. The Medical Department occupancy rate is even higher at 150%. Full occupancy is regarded as 85%. As a priority, 40 additional acute beds are urgently required, yesterday, at the hospital to meet the demand for admissions. Additional stepdown, convalescent and district hospital beds are also required. Our Ladys Hospital, Cashel was specifically upgraded to provide this type of accommodation, Capital funding must also be provided this year to commence the Phase 2 Development and upgrading of the hospital. The People of South Tipperary are entitled to a quality hospital service. Minister Harris must face up to his responsibilities and must immediately approve and announce these 3 essential and urgent initiatives. Any further delay by the Minister will have to be met by a determined Campaign of People Power, concluded Deputy Healy. An Erasmus students short stay at Cloncannon Biofarm near Moneygall, has inspired her to international artistic success and acclaim. Following a short stint at Sean O'Farrell's Cloncannon Biofarm at Knockanroger near St. Ruadhan's Church in north Tipperary, French student Helene Copin has gone on to win a prestigious art award at a French University. Helene's touching and funny depictions of life on Sean's farm won her the Coup De Cur International (Coup International Heart Award), for her book Un Erasmus a Dublin (An Erasmus in Dublin) from the University Blaise Pascal Clermont Ferrand. Blaise Pascal University organises the international student award for the Student Travel Journal, which distinguishes a student's best travel journal. Open to all persons registered in an institution of higher education in France or abroad, the competition encourages students to transcribe an experience during a trip in text and images, showcasing the creativity of its author. Sean told the Tipperary Star that he was contacted by 23-year-old Swiss student Vincent Huron in early 2016, and agreed that he and Helene could experience rural Ireland first-hand if they helped out on the farm over the weekend of the 19th to the 24th of March. Vincent and Helene arrived, says Sean. They participated in the farm work, sowing seeds indoors for later transplanting, tending to trees in the woodland, and caring for the donkeys, geese, goats, chickens, cows and calves. They witnessed for the first time a cow giving birth. They went hiking up the Devils Bit mountains. We enjoyed good organic food and wine and sharing stories. Helene had quite an interesting way of keeping a daily diary through drawings and images. Sean describes Helene in action: I was carrying out my normal duties on the farm. I had a syringe. She was in the cattle shed, and free hand, she did a sketch of the animals putting their heads out through the feed barrier, where they can eat their silage. She added a comic bit though it, with a farmer coming through the air with a syringe in his hand to treat the animals, said Sean. During the Summer Helene forwarded some drawings sketched at Cloncannon Biofarm to her University and about three months later Sean received correspondence saying Helene had won a top prize for her efforts. Helene told Sean she was really happy for that. I got 350, a few presents and, best of all, the possibility of being edited. I even met a man who is beginning a new web journal about travels and who would like me to participate on the next issue. Readers can see more of Helene's artwork online at www.univ-bpclermont.fr Cloncannon Biofarm's mission is to inform and stimulate interest in healthy soil, animals, plants and society. The farm works with many groups such as Active Retirement, Macra na Feirme, Women in Farming, Farmer groups, Youth Development/Scouts, Tidy Towns, and school students. For more information email: ofarrejf@tcd.ie Following reports of heightened racial tensions in the community, several groups and private citizens have decided to take a stand. [January 04, 2017] Iron Bow Technologies Launches New Call Center in Tampa Iron Bow Technologies, a leading technology solutions and services provider, announced today the official opening of its most recent expansion office in Tampa, Florida in support of the company's growing Service Select portfolio. Today's ribbon cutting ceremony celebrates the grand opening of the new office, welcomes new team members, and demonstrates the company's commitment to the Tampa Bay business community. Over the last few months, Iron Bow has hired approximately 130 local residents and is working to fill another 45 positions by March. The new facility allows for flexibility for expansion as the company continues to establish a presence in the Tampa Bay area. The Iron Bow Tampa office supports a contract with CareFirst's Blue Cross Ble Shield Consumer Direct business. CareFirst awarded the contract to Iron Bow in October 2016 to outsource call center operations for CareFirst customers and their healthcare benefits. The operations include a comprehensive turnkey facility, client service staffing and management, and network and systems infrastructure. "CareFirst selected Iron Bow because of its proven performance in call center and help desk solutions, backed further by its long standing industry reputation as an innovative information technology solutions and services provider to government and commercial enterprises," said Rodney Baylor, Director of Operations, CareFirst Consumer Direct. Headquartered in Chantilly, Virginia, Iron Bow has a national footprint with the Tampa office joining five other offices in Virginia, Colorado, Washington, Maryland and Hawaii. The Tampa office includes 24,000 square feet of newly built, modern office space equipped with high-tech training facilities and the latest in technology infrastructure. "The Tampa locale was a logical choice for this operation, offering access to both client service and information technology talent," said Rene LaVigne, President and CEO of Iron Bow Technologies. "We are looking forward to getting involved in the local community as we have done across the country, and introducing Tampa residents to the great culture we have at Iron Bow." The Iron Bow office is located at 4502 Woodland Corporate Center, Suite 105, Tampa, Florida. About Iron Bow Technologies: Iron Bow Technologies is a leading IT solution provider dedicated to successfully transforming technology investments into business capabilities for government, commercial and healthcare clients. Our depth of technical expertise, global reach and strategic partnerships with leading OEMs as well as disruptive technology partners uniquely positions Iron Bow to target the right solution to ensure your successful business outcome. We partner with our clients from planning and implementation through ongoing maintenance and management to deliver solutions that are strong, flexible and on target with your mission. Regardless of how your organization consumes technology, Iron Bow can help you innovate. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170104005858/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 03, 2017] Stewart Names Clifford Allen Bradley and Frederick H. Eppinger to Board of Directors Stewart announced today the appointments of Clifford Allen Bradley and Frederick H. Eppinger to the company's board of directors. Until his retirement in 2016, Bradley served as chairman of Amerisafe, Inc., where he previously served as its CEO from 2003 through 2015. Eppinger most recently served as president, CEO and director for The Hanover Insurance Group until his retirement in 2016. Bradley assumes the Stewart board position after more than two decades in executive positions at Amerisafe, a leading specialty provider of workers' compensation insurance. He was responsible for managing Amerisafe's underwriting operations beginning in 2000. He also served as general counsel from 1996 to 2000 and as chairman of Amerisafe's board of directors from 2005 to 2016. Eppinger comes to the Stewart board with more than 35 years of experience in finance and strategic marketing in the insurance industry. Eppinger's experience includes serving as partner for the global management consulting firm McKinsey & Company (News - Alert) from 1985 to 2000. Most recently, Eppinger led Hanover's significant financial turnaround and unprecedented growth, more than doubling the company in size, from 2003 to 2016. Hanover provides a wide range of property and casualty services and is currently ranked in the top 25 property casualty insurers in the United States. "We conducted an exhaustive search for individuals who would broaden our board's breadth of talent and are thrilled with the selection of these two individuals. I look forward to working with both of these highly accomplished executives," said Tom Apel, chairman of the Stewart board. "I would also like to thank retiring board members Governor Frank Keating and Laurie Moore-Moore for their many years of dedicated service. We owe them both a debt of gratitude and wish them all the best." "Allen and Fred together bring a record of strong operational and strategic experience that generated exceptional results at their respective companies and will greatly complement our board," said Stewart CEO Matt Morris. "Their combined financial, legal, operational and insurance industry knowledge, along with their appreciation of the title space, are welcome additions, and I look forward to working closely with them both in their new roles." Bradley received his bachelor's degree from Southeastern Louisiana University and earned his law degree from Louisiana State University. Eppinger graduated from the College of the Holy Cross and earned his MBA at Dartmouth's Tuck School of Business. About Stewart Stewart Information Services Corporation (NYSE-STC) is a global real estate services company, offering products and services through our direct operations, network of Stewart Trusted Providers and family of companies. From residential and commercial title insurance and closing and settlement services to specialized offerings for the mortgage industry, we offer the comprehensive service, deep expertise and solutions our customers need for any real estate transaction. At Stewart, we believe in building strong relationships - and these partnerships are the cornerstone of every closing, every transaction and every deal. Stewart. Real partners. Real possibilities. More information is available at stewart.com, subscribe to the Stewart blog at blog.stewart.com, or follow Stewart on Twitter (News - Alert) @stewarttitleco. Trademarks are the property of their respective owners. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170103006366/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 04, 2017] Technical Enterprises Promoting China-South Korea Technical and Cultural Exchange BEIJING, Jan. 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- In 2017, China-South Korea Young Scientists Exchange Program will continue to be held under the support of technical departments of both countries. This Program aims to improve scientific capability and accumulate research experience so as to elevate technical level of both countries, strengthen technical talent cultivation and drive cooperative research among research institutes, universities and enterprises in both countries. China Education Association for International Exchange (CEAIE) will actively promote cooperation and exchange in education and scientific research. The China-South Korea Young Scientists Exchange Program actively drives cooperation in the electronic information field, with cloud computing as its trend. Cloud Computing has been widely recognized by the world as an important development direction of the new generation information technology, which has been highlighted by both China and South Korea. With the active promotion of governmental policies, the South Korea government has developed an Overall Revitalization Program on Cloud Computing. As a result, South Korea has become a world-class cloud computing power, with application of cloud computing playing a guiding role in areas like education. The Chinese government has also attached great importance to the development of cloud computing, and developed a number of plans to support the cloud computing industry, and promote actively its application in the area of education. Presently China has seven cloud companies, namely Baidu Cloud, Tencent Cloud, Ali Cloud, Huawei Cloud, Sina Cloud, Microsoft Cloud and Phoenix Education Cloud. Phoenix Education Cloud of Jiangsu Zhongyi Internet of Things Technology Co., Ltd., is a platform for learning and training of vocational skills, a digital cloud platform integrating advanced and practical content, methods and modes for learning and training. It has computer software copyrights issued by the National Copyright Administration of the People's Republic of China. Virtual simulation technology and intelligent BI, provided by Phoenix Education Cloud, can meet the needs of virtual simulation experiments, virtual simulation game development, human-computer interaction, intelligent analysis and data simulation tests. It provides an immersive simulation teaching for vocational teaching. CEAIE will support a host of outstanding technical enterprises like Jiangsu Zhongyi Internet of Things Technology, to play their role in educational and technical research in South Korea and China and support school-school, school-enterprise and enterprise-enterprise exchange and cooperation in both China and South Korea. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 04, 2017] Vocera Secures $14M Contract with U.S. Department of Defense SAN JOSE, Calif., Jan. 04, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Vocera Communications, Inc. (NYSE:VCRA), the leading healthcare communications company, announced that it was awarded a $14 million contract from the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), and deployments will begin in January 2017 in U.S. Army Medical Command (MEDCOM) facilities around the world. This agreement with the DoD marks the largest contract in Voceras history. Under the terms of the contract, Vocera will equip care team members with its unique wireless, hands-free communication solution in 23 facilities across MEDCOM. Vocera is proud to be the standard for wireless hospital communication for the U.S. Army Medical Command world-wide, said Brent Lang, president and CEO of Vocera. In mission-critical environments such as hospitals, its vital for mobile workers to have reliable technology that connects them instantly with the right person or information at the right time to deliver high-quality care and ensure patient safety and satisfaction. The DoD selected Vocera after extensive research was conducted by the Army showing several benefits of the communication solution. At Evans Army Community Hospital in Colorado, the hands-free technology helped improve operational efficiencies, and the emergency department reported a 50 percent decrease in the number of patients that left without being seen. In the family care ward, Vocera technology helped improve workflow, sped up nurse response times by 75 percent, and reduced patient falls by 81 percent. In the hospitals primary care and specialty clinics, a time and motion study showed that nurses gained anadditional 1.5 hours per day and primary care physicians gained 40 minutes after implementing the technology. These results demonstrated a strong return on investment, which the Army used to validate the purchase of the Vocera system across its medical facilities. In 2015, The Vocera Communication Platform was awarded an Authority to Operate (ATO) from the DoD based on compliance with the security and risk management requirements specified by the Department of Defense Information Assurance Certification and Accreditation Process (DIACAP). In addition, The Vocera Communication Badge is a hands-free communication system that meets all government requirements, is FIPS 140-2 compliant, and Joint Interoperability Test Command (JITC) certified. Proven to reduce steps and save time, the Vocera Communication Platform enables mobile workers to connect with the right person, group and information instantly. It also integrates with more than 120 clinical systems, including electronic health records, nurse call systems, physiologic monitors, ventilators and real-time location systems. About Vocera Vocera Communications, Inc. offers the most robust clinical communications system in healthcare. Vocera delivers secure, integrated and intelligent communication solutions that enable care teams to collaborate more efficiently by delivering the right information, to the right person, on the right device, in the right location, at the right time. Vocera solutions provide hands-free voice communication, secure text messaging, patient engagement tools, and integrated clinical workflow with EHRs, nurse call systems, physiologic monitors and ventilators. These solutions help improve operational efficiency, quality of care, safety and satisfaction across the continuum of care. In addition to technology solutions, Vocera drives thought leadership and new standards in care to elevate patient, family, nurse and physician experiences via the company's research collaborative, the Experience Innovation Network. Vocera is led by President and CEO Brent Lang and is headquartered in San Jose, California, with offices in San Francisco, Tennessee, Indiana, Canada, India, United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom. Robert J. Zollars is the Chairman of the Board. For more information, visit www.vocera.com and @VoceraComm on Twitter. The Vocera logo is a trademark of Vocera Communications, Inc. Vocera is a trademark of Vocera Communications, Inc. registered in the United States and other jurisdictions. All other trademarks appearing in this release are the property of their respective owners. CONTACTS: Investors and Analysts: Sue Dooley Vocera 408.882.5971 [email protected] Media: Tara Stultz Amendola Communications 440.225.9595 [email protected] [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 04, 2017] The WeedLife Network Launches Mobile App Building Platform to Help Cannabis and Hemp Businesses Connect with their Customers DENVER, Jan. 04, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Social Life Network, Inc. (OTC:WDLF), a business social network and digital marketplace company with media properties in the rapidly expanding legal cannabis industry, is pleased to report the successful launch of The Weed App mobile application platform. The launch activates the Companys latest revenue generating subscription service for businesses in the cannabis industry that are looking to better connect with their loyal customers in the U.S. and world-wide. The Weed App is a do-it-yourself mobile application platform which allows any small business to create, edit, and manage its customer loyalty mobile app online without any programming knowledge. ? The Weed App is making mobile apps affordable and simple for business owners in the cannabis and hemp industry world-wide, says Shawn Tapp, CEO and co-founder of The WeedLife Network. We're unique in that we're the only mobile app building platform focused exclusively on the the cannabis and hemp industry. We understand the nuances of this market and have programmed from scratch an elegant platform for cannabis business owners to execute an aggressive e-commerce strategy in this rapidly evolving industry. The Weed App provides the necessary features and functionality that any business owner needs to make their mobile app a successful marketing tool for the company. A Weed App mobile application will allow a business to successfully expand their presence into the mobile marketplace, correlatng to a direct increase in revenue from their loyal customers, and increased communication with their vendors. With an estimated two hundred thousand new businesses in the cannabis and hemp industry world-wide as of December 2016, we are now able to provide them with a simple to use mobile app builder that will cost them less than $200 per month to reach their customers anytime through the push of a button, says Andy Rodosevich, CFO and co-founder of The WeedLife Network. The Weed App mobile application builder is a marketing tool that is offered as a stand-alone product or it can be purchased in a bundled monthly service subscription with other robust marketing tools such as WeedSite website builder and ProListings monthly dispensary subscription service. To add Weed App and other services from WeedLifes offerings please visit www.TheWeedApp.com or call 1-844-420-4208 Sales: Ext. #2. About WeedLife TheWeedApp.com is part of the WeedLife Network which is a wholly-owned property of Social Life Network, Inc. which trades on OTC Markets under the symbol: WDLF. Social Life Networks, Inc. is a group of over 40 free-to-use and subscription based social websites and marketing apps specifically designed to accelerate the growth of the cannabis industry and shorten the business learning curve for new companies entering the marketplace. More information can be found at http://www.social-life-network.com. Disclaimer This news release may include forward-looking statements within the meaning of section 27A of the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and section 21E of the United States Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, with respect to achieving corporate objectives, developing additional project interests, the company's analysis of opportunities in the acquisition and development of various project interests and certain other matters. These statements are made under the "Safe Harbor" provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and involve risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements contained herein. For More Information Please Contact: James S. Painter III Emerging Markets Consulting LLC www.emergingmarketsllc.com 321-206-6682 [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] APX Group Holdings, Inc. Schedules Conference Call to Discuss Vivint Flex Pay APX Group Holdings, Inc. ("Vivint" or "Company") announced today that the Company will host a conference call and simultaneous webcast at 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time on Thursday, January 5, 2017, to discuss its plans to offer Vivint Flex Pay to qualified customers in 2017. The live webcast may be accessed at Vivint's Investor Relations website at investors.vivint.com. Conference Call Details Date: Thursday, January 5, 2017 Time: 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time Dial-In: 1-877-201-0168 (US and Canada) 1-647-788-4901 (International) Conference ID: 47818936 Webcast: http://investors.vivint.com/events-presentations/events A replay of the webcast will be available on the investor relations page of the Company's website at investors.vivint.com until January 31, 2016. About Vivint Vivint is a leading provider of smart home products and services in North America. Vivint delivers its integrated smart home products and services with in-home consultation, professional installation and support delivered by its Smart Home Pros, as well as 24/7 customer care and monitoring. Dedicated to redefining the home experience with intelligent products and services, Vivint serves more than one million customers throughout the U.S. and Canada. For more information, visit www.vivint.com. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170103006363/en/ [January 03, 2017] California Life Sciences Association Applauds Reintroduction of Bill to Fully Repeal Medical Device Tax, Spur Medical Innovation California Life Sciences Association (CLSA), the premier statewide public policy and business leadership organization representing California's leading life sciences innovators, issued the following statement praising the reintroduction of bipartisan legislation that fully repeals the 2.3 percent excise tax levied on medical device firms as part of the Affordable Care Act. This statement can be attributed to CLSA President & CEO Sara Radcliffe: "California Life Sciences Association (CLSA) applauds the reintroduction of legislation to permanently repeal the ill-conceived 2.3 percent medical device tax, which could further hamper innovation and investment in medical technology research and development, if not fully rescinded. "California is home to more than 1,700 medical device firms, more than any other state in the nation, employing nearly 75,000 people, making the impact of the tax on our state particularly troublesome. While the tax is currently suspended, fully scrapping the medical device tax will help ensure that the U.S. does not jeopardize our position as a global leader in medical technology innovation. "With over 220 Republican and Democratic cosponsors, a majority of the House of Representatives, the Protect Medical Innovation Act of 2017 is a common-sense solution we can all agree on that will rescind this ill-conceived tax. We thank Reps. Erik Paulsen (R-Minn.), Ron Kind (D-Wisc.) and the 21 bipartisan members of California's congressional delegation for supporting this critically important bill." Members of the California Congressional Delegation Supporting the Protect Medical Innovation Act of 2017: Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-Redlands), Rep. Ami Bera (D-Sacramento), Rep.Julia Brownley (D-Thousand Oaks), Rep. Ken Calvert (R-Corona), Rep. Paul Cook (R-Apple (News - Alert) Valley), Rep. Lou Correa (D-Santa Ana), Rep. Jeff Denham (R-Modesto), Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Temecula), Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Vista), Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Fremont), Rep. Steve Knight (R-Simi Valley), Rep. Doug LaMalfa (R-Redding), Rep. Tom McClintock (R-Roseville), Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Clovis), Rep. Scott Peters (D-La Jolla), Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Huntington Beach), Rep. Ed Royce (R-Brea), Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Menlo Park), Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Pleasanton), Rep. David Valadao (R-Bakersfield) and Rep. Mimi Walters (R-Irvine). To learn more about California's life sciences industry, visit www.CALifeSciencesIndustry.com. About California Life Sciences Association (CLSA) California Life Sciences Association (CLSA) is the state's largest and most influential life sciences advocacy and business leadership organization. With offices in Sacramento, San Diego, South San Francisco, Los Angeles and Washington DC, CLSA works closely with industry, government, academia and others to shape public policy, improve access to innovative technologies and grow California's life sciences economy. CLSA serves biotechnology, pharmaceutical, medical device and diagnostics companies, research universities and institutes, investors and service providers throughout the Golden State. CLSA was founded in 2015 when the Bay Area Bioscience Association (BayBio) and the California Healthcare Institute (CHI) merged. Visit CLSA at www.califesciences.org, and follow us on Twitter (News - Alert) @CALifeSciences, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170103006372/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 03, 2017] TREEHOUSE SHAREHOLDER ALERT by Former Louisiana Attorney General: Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC Reminds Investors with Losses in Excess of $100,000 of Lead Plaintiff Deadline in Class Action Lawsuit Against Treehouse Foods, Inc. - THS Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC ("KSF") and KSF partner, the former Attorney General of Louisiana, Charles C. Foti, Jr., remind investors that they have until January 17, 2017 to file lead plaintiff applications in a securities class action lawsuit against Treehouse Foods, Inc. (NYSE: THS), if they purchased the Company's securities between February 1, 2016, and November 2, 2016, inclusive (the "Class Period"). This action is pending in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. What You May Do If you purchased securities of Treehouse and would like to discuss your legal rights and how this case might affect you and your right to recover for your economic loss, you may, without obligation or cost to you, call toll-free at 1-877-515-1850 or email KSF Managing Partner Lewis Kahn ([email protected]). If you wish to serve as a lead plaintiff in ths class action, you must petition the Court by January 17, 2017. About the Lawsuit Treehouse and certain of its executives are charged with failing to disclose material information during the Class Period, violating federal securities laws. On November 3, 2016, Treehouse lowered its full-year adjusted earnings per share forecast due to underperformance of the Private Brands acquisition and over softness in the private label manufacturing business. Treehouse also disclosed the closure of a plant and reported job cuts at one of its facilities. Treehouse further announced the resignation of its President, Chris Sliva, who had been President for less than six months, and the appointment of a new Chief Financial Officer. On this news, the price of Treehouse's shares plummeted. About Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC KSF, whose partners include the Former Louisiana Attorney General Charles C. Foti, Jr., is a law firm focused on securities, antitrust and consumer class actions, along with merger & acquisition and breach of fiduciary litigation against publicly traded companies on behalf of shareholders. The firm has offices in New York, California and Louisiana. To learn more about KSF, you may visit www.ksfcounsel.com. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170103006290/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 04, 2017] State Bank of India Chairman Launches a Digital Platform and Mobile App Developed by Manipal Global Education BANGALORE, January 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The App Will aid the Monitoring of SBI's Probationary Officers and Trainee Officers - Manipal Global's digital platform organises the data available with the bank on HRMS, POTOMAS, and iTRAMS systems with respect to the Probationary Officers and Trainee Officers' training life cycle. The intuitive mobile app provides a learning dashboard for the learner. - The platform provides rich analytics to bank leadership including Circle Management on progress and performance of the Probationary and Trainee Officers by integrating information from multiple learning systems of SBI. - The platform enables the Circle Management to monitor the registrations in each of the branches under their control. It also helps them monitor performance and progress by drilling down to view details at lesson level, Probationary or Trainee Officer Level. - The Probationary or Trainee Officers can stay connected on the mobile app with all the latest developments inside the bank and the world around them, keep track of their progress and access inspiration videos from the State Bank of India leadership team. Ms Arundhati Bhattacharya, Chairman, State Bank of India launched a digital platform and mobile app powered by Manipal Global Education Services' (MaGE) EduNxt Platform. The State Bank of India's analytics dashboard app acts as a digital mentor to Probationary Officers and Trainee Officers right through their training lifecycle. Manipal Global's digital platform provides data driven, deep insights on the Probationary Officers and Trainee Officers' training life cycle for the officials of State Bank of Idia. The intuitive mobile app provides a learning dashboard for the learner. (Photo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/453669/PRNE_SBIManipal_Image.jpg ) Present on the occasion from SBI were Ms Arundhati Bhattacharya, Chairman; Mr B. Sriram, Managing Director (Corporate Banking); Mr. Rajnish Kumar, Managing Director (National Banking Group); Mr. Dinesh Kumar Khara, Managing Director (Associates & Subsidiaries); Mr Prashant Kumar, Dy. Managing Director & Corporate Development Officer and Mr Debashish Sarkar, CGM & Head, Strategic Training Unit and from Manipal, Mr Bimaljeet Singh Bhasin, Head - Enterprise Business; Mr Balaji Sankaran, GM - Technology Group and Ms Neelam Prasad, AGM - Corporate Education. Mr S Vaitheeswaran, MD and CEO, MaGE said - "We are delighted and humbled that SBI has chosen our digital platform to track/analyse and improve the PO program efficiency. As a responsible Banking Academy, we continuously strive to improve the learner experience and this platform is a digital initiative towards this goal." About MaGE (http://www.manipalglobal.com) Manipal Global Education Services (MaGE) is a leading international provider of high-quality higher education services. As a leader in the higher education industry, MaGE believes that industry relevance is imperative for career-focused education in India. This has led to innovative partnerships with leading Indian banks like ICICI Bank, Bank of Baroda, Punjab National Bank, Andhra Bank, Axis Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, RBL Bank and others to establish academies of banking & finance. MaGE has also partnered with City & Guilds, London, UK to launch Manipal City & Guilds. Headquartered in Bangalore, MaGE provides a wide range of higher education services to institutions in India. These include corporate training programs in partnership with leading enterprises, vocational training across a number of sectors, as well as technology-driven services in areas such as testing and education delivery. It is also the dedicated service provider/operator of university campuses in Malaysia, Antigua in the Caribbean, Dubai and Nepal. It services and supports over 400,000 students, many of them through its award-winning large scale technology platform, EduNxt. Its other strategic investments include MeritTrac, India's leading testing and Assessment Company Manipal Global Academy of IT (MGAIT) is an initiative from the group to empower the IT industry with cutting-edge learning solutions. MGAIT is driven by the best academic and IT industry professionals, state-of-the-art infrastructure and technology support. Media Contact: Priyanka Bali [email protected] +91-9620562361 PR Consultant Integrated Brand-Comm Pvt Ltd [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 04, 2017] Alliance Data Schedules Fourth-Quarter and Full-Year 2016 Earnings Conference Call For January 26, 2017 DALLAS, Jan. 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Alliance Data Systems Corporation (NYSE: ADS), a leading global provider of data-driven marketing and loyalty solutions, will host a conference call on January 26, 2017, at 8:30 a.m. ET to discuss the Company's fourth-quarter and full-year 2016 results. Hosting the call will be Ed Heffernan, president and chief executive officer, and Charles Horn, chief financial officer. The conference call will be available via the Internet at www.alliancedata.com. Additionally, there will be several slides accompanying the webcast. Please go to the website at least 15 minutes prior to the call to register, download and install any necessary software. Please contact FTI Consulting by e-mail: [email protected] with any questions. About Alliance Data Alliance Data (NYSE: ADS) is a leading global provider of data-driven marketing and loyalty solutions serving large, consumer-based industries. The Company creates and deploys customized solutions, enhancing the critical customer marketing experience; the result is measurably changing consumer behavior while driving business growth and profitability for some of today's most recognizable brands. Alliance Data helps its clients create and increase customer loyalty through solutions that engage millions of customers each day across multiple touch pints using traditional, digital, mobile and emerging technologies. An S&P 500 and Fortune 500 company headquartered in Plano, Texas, Alliance Data consists of three businesses that together employ more than 15,000 associates at approximately 100 locations worldwide. Alliance Data's Card Services business is a leading provider of marketing-driven branded credit card programs. Epsilon is a leading provider of multichannel, data-driven technologies and marketing services, and also includes Conversant, the leader in personalized digital marketing. LoyaltyOne owns and operates the AIR MILES Reward Program, Canada's premier coalition loyalty program, and holds a majority interest in Netherlands-based BrandLoyalty, a global provider of tailor-made loyalty programs for grocers. Follow Alliance Data on Twitter, Facebook, Linked In and You Tube. Contacts: Investors/Analysts Tiffany Louder Alliance Data 214-494-3048 [email protected] Media Shelley Whiddon Alliance Data 214-494-3811 [email protected] To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/alliance-data-schedules-fourth-quarter-and-full-year-2016-earnings-conference-call-for-january-26-2017-300385245.html SOURCE Alliance Data Systems Corporation [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 04, 2017] MaxLinear and MStar Develop Reference Design for Next-Generation Ultra High Definition Smart Cable Gateway Set-Top Boxes MaxLinear Inc. (NYSE: MXL), a leading provider of radio frequency (RF) and mixed-signal integrated circuits for cable and satellite broadband communications, the connected home, data center, metro, long-haul fiber networks, and wireless infrastructure, and MStar Semiconductor today announced a joint reference design that allows Chinese cable operators to deploy the next generation of ultra-high definition (UHD) smart cable gateway set-top boxes (STB). The MStar gateway platform uses MaxLinear's MxL254C Full-Spectrum (News - Alert) CaptureTM (FSC) cable receiver IC, which digitizes the entire cable spectrum, performs the digital tuning and demodulation of up to four cable channels reducing power consumption, complexity and cost. The MxL254C also includes a parallel transport interface to the MPEG system-on-chip (SoC) providing an additional option for the serial transport interface. The smart gateway STB reference design enables cable operators in China, using MaxLinear's leading FSC technology, to develop STBs with competitive features such as fast channel change, multi-screen share and remote network monitoring. The reference platform combines MaxLinear's MxL254C cable receiver with MStar's 4K MSA6Z18 SoC to offer cable operators the best-in-class UHD smart STB solution in a power and cost-optimized design. MSA6Z18 is a highly integrated, high performance UHD SoC fulfilling various CA/DRM requirement for STB application. With built-in high performance CPU, 3D GPU, VP9/HEVC decoder/encoder and full coverage of HDR (News - Alert) technology, it provides the best complete solution for a rich features gateway. "The reference design combines two cutting-edge products into one and giving customers a ready solution to deploy in the market efficiently," said Wayne Tsai, Marketing Director at MStar. "The MStar/MaxLinear UHD smart cable gateway demonstrates how multi-channel contents on multi-screen with fast zapping capability could enhance user experience." "MaxLinear is extremely pleased to be a strategic partner to MStar to target the next-generation smart cable gateway set-top box market," said Will Torgerson, Vice President & General Manager, MaxLinear Broadband Group. "MaxLinear's multichannel FSC cable receiver in conjunction with MStar's high performance audio/video decoders, provide cable operators with compelling features such as fast channel change, multi-screen share and remote network monitoring in a very low power, simple and cost-efective design." The joint reference design will be on display at CES (News - Alert) 2017, January 5th - 8th 2017, in MaxLinear's private suite at The Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas. Availability The MxL254 device is available for sampling and is in mass production. Contact the MaxLinear sales team at [email protected] for details. About MStar MStar Semiconductor, Inc. ("MStar") is a world-class leader in application specific ICs (ASIC) with a focus on consumer electronic products and communication applications. Since its inception in 2002, MStar has established a strong brand and leadership position in LCD controller, analog and digital TV and set-top box markets by fully leveraging its core expertise of cutting-edge design capabilities, continuous innovation and premier customer-focused services. Headquartered in Taiwan, MStar has a comprehensive global footprint of international R&D and customer support centers to provide a full range of total solutions for various consumer electronic applications. For more information, please visit www.mstarsemi.com. About MaxLinear, Inc. MaxLinear, Inc. (NYSE: MXL), a leading provider of radio frequency (RF) and mixed-signal integrated circuits for cable and satellite broadband communications, the connected home, data center, metro, long-haul fiber networks, and wireless infrastructure markets. MaxLinear is headquartered in Carlsbad, California. For more information, please visit www.maxlinear.com. MxL and the MaxLinear logo are trademarks of MaxLinear, Inc. Other trademarks appearing herein are the property of their respective owners. Cautionary Note About Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements include, among others, statements concerning or implying future financial performance or trends and growth opportunities affecting MaxLinear, including statements related to the performance of MaxLinear's MxL254C Full-Spectrum CaptureTM (FSC) cable receiver IC. These forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from any future results expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on management's current, preliminary expectations and are subject to various risks and uncertainties, including (among others) risks relating to integration of our acquisitions of assets from Microsemi (News - Alert) Corporation and from Broadcom; intense competition in our industry; the ability of our customers to cancel or reduce orders; uncertainties concerning how end user markets for our products will develop; our lack of long-term supply contracts and dependence on limited sources of supply; potential decreases in average selling prices for our products; currently pending intellectual property litigation; and the potential for additional intellectual property litigation, which is prevalent in our industry. In addition to these risks and uncertainties, investors should review the risks and uncertainties contained in MaxLinear's filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, including our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015 as amended by Amendment No. 1 filed with the SEC (News - Alert) on April 28, 2016; our subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2016, June 30, 2016 and September 30, 2016; and our Current Reports on Form 8-K. All forward-looking statements are qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. MaxLinear is providing this information as of the date of this release and does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this release as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170104005475/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 04, 2017] KIWA Bio-Tech Products Group Reviews a Successful 2016 CLAREMONT, Calif., Jan. 04, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Kiwa Bio-Tech Products Group Corporation (OTCQB:KWBT) is pleased to announce the successful completion of 2016 business goals. Following the completion of a reorganization at the end of 2015, the Company is successfully completed milestones pertaining to growth and profitability. As of December 31, 2016, KIWA achieved product sales well in excess of its projected levels in its 2016 business plan. Specifically, the company reported total product shipments of more than 55,000 tons and total sales of nearly US$9,000,000. The level of both product shipments and revenues significantly exceed comparable prior periods. The Company also applied for fertilizer registration certificates for its newly developed fertilizers. The Company believes that this will also facilitate growing sales in 2017 and beyond. During 2016, KIWA successfully established several strategic marketing relationships. These included partnerships with CCOOP Group Co., LTD, Joyvio Great Northern Wilderness Holding Company, Hunan, Hainan, Shandong and Hebei Provinces and several other distributors who are evaluating and testing the Companys new line of products. In addition, KIWA is poised to further expand sales in 2017 through two new subsidiaries, which are focused on Shenzhen, Guangdong Province and Guan, Hebei Province. These relationships should support and provide sales channels for the launch of new Kiwa fertilizr products for sale across the distribution network in 2017. In September 2016, company had signed an acquisition agreement with the Tangshan Deruifeng Technology Co., Ltd., but ultimately decided to terminate the acquisition as the target was not able to meet the financial requirements of a USGAAP audit. Currently, KIWA is in negotiation with two additional manufacturing facilities in China that the Company believes will be able to meet the requirements of a USGAAP audit. The Company believes that with its improved technology and bacteria fermentation ability, KIWA will be able to sell its patented products to other producers and continue participating in the rapid growth of the bio-fertilizer industry in China. To increase its operating capacity, the company also completed the issuance of 1,775,000 shares of common stock, with net proceeds of almost $1.42 million US dollars. Overall, the company was very successful in implementing its goals for 2016 and is poised to do so again in 2017. For more information on Kiwa and its products, please refer to the Companys website at www.kiwabiotech.com or the Company filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, available for free at www.sec.gov. This press release contains information that constitutes forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Any such forward-looking statements involve risk and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from any future results described by the forward-looking statements. Risk factors that could contribute to such differences include those matters more fully disclosed in the Company's reports filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The forward-looking information provided herein represents the Company's estimates as of the date of the press release, and subsequent events and developments may cause the Company's estimates to change. The Company specifically disclaims any obligation to update the forward-looking information in the future. Therefore, this forward-looking information should not be relied upon as representing the Company's estimates of its future financial performance as of any date subsequent to the date of this press release. CONTACT: Kiwa Bio-Tech Products Group Corporation Yvonne Wang [email protected] [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 04, 2017] Epicor Acquires Leading Enterprise Content Management Software Provider docSTAR and Expands Cloud-Based Solutions Portfolio AUSTIN, Texas, Jan. 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Epicor Software Corporation, a global provider of industry-specific enterprise software to promote business growth, today announced that it has acquired privately-held docSTAR, an award-winning developer of document management software based in Schenectady, New York. The transaction closed on Jan. 3, financial terms were not disclosed. The acquisition brings docSTAR collaborative cloud-based enterprise content management (ECM) and automated accounts payable (AP) solutions to the Epicor enterprise resource planning (ERP) solutions portfolio. Founded in 1996, docSTAR has over 20 years of experience delivering solutions that enable organizations to increase productivity, reduce cost and transaction cycle times through business process automation. Today, nearly 2,000 organizations in North America rely on docSTAR solutionsavailable as a cloud hosted service or on premises. docSTAR enables customers to streamline business processes with smart enterprise content management, document management, automated accounts payable and electronic forms technology that integrates with third party ERP solutions. docSTAR solutions are suitable for a number of industries including insurance, financial services, healthcare, real estate, manufacturing, legal, non-profit, education and the public sector. docSTAR customers include Allison Marine Contractors, Inc., Crescent Crown Distribution, the Cleveland Indians, Mohawk Fine Papers, Inc., and the United Way of Greater Knoxville, to name a few. "The acquisition of docSTAR supports our strategy to strengthen and expand our cloud offerings to continually enhance customer experience and the value we deliver to our customers," said Kathy Crusco, chief operating and financial officer, Epicor. "docSTAR brings valuable knowledge and experience in the development and implementation of cloud-based document management software, with a successful track record integrating its solutions with leading ERP offerings. A near term focus following the acquisition will be on extending docSTAR integration to Epicor ERP." With the close of the acquisition, former President and CEO of docSTAR, Tom Franceski, will lead the document management business at Epicor as general manager reporting directly to Crusco. "We are excited to join forces with Epicor, a recognized leader in the global ERP market, as we share a commitment to enhance the customer experience through cloud offerings that automate business processes and promote growth," said Franceski. "The increased scale gained as part of a global organization will enable us to further technology innovation to deliver greater value to customers." About Epicor Software Corporation Epicor Software Corporation drives business growth. We provide flexible, industry-specific software designed around the needs of our manufacturing, distribution, retail, and service industry customers. More than 40 years of experience with our customers' unique business processes and operational requirements are built into every solution?in the cloud, hosted, or on premises. With this deep understanding of your industry, Epicor solutions manage complexity, increase efficiency, and free up resources so you can focus on growth. For more information, connect with Epicor or visit www.epicor.com. Epicor and the Epicor logo are trademarks of Epicor Software Corporation, registered in the United States and other countries. Other trademarks referenced are the property of their respective owners. The product and service offerings depicted in this document are produced by Epicor Software Corporation. Forward-Looking Statements Management of Epicor Software Corporation believes certain statements in this news release may constitute forward-looking statements including statements regarding the transaction, including potential synergies, the expected impact of the transaction, future operations of the combined entity, and other statements that are not historical fact. These forward-looking statements are based on currently available competitive, financial and economic data together with management's views and assumptions regarding future events and business performance as of the time the statements are made and are subject to risks and uncertainties, including, without limitation, risks associated with Epicor's ability to integrate this acquisition and recognize expected synergies, Epicor's ability to continue to support and add functionality to the acquired technologies and continued market acceptance of our new product and service offerings. Actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements. As a result of these factors the business or prospects expected by Epicor as part of this announcement may not occur. Epicor undertakes no obligation to revise or update publicly any forward-looking statements except as required by applicable law. Contact: Lisa Preuss Senior Director, Corporate Communications Epicor Software Corporation +1 949 585 4235 [email protected] To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/epicor-acquires-leading-enterprise-content-management-software-provider-docstar-and-expands-cloud-based-solutions-portfolio-300385478.html SOURCE Epicor Software Corporation [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] FIRST Robotics Competition Global Kickoff Event FIRST Who: FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) will be joined by numerous public figures to launch the 2017 season of the FIRST Robotics Competition - FIRST STEAMWORKSSM - with a worldwide Kickoff event originating from Manchester, N.H. The 2017 season will include over 3,340 teams (83,500 high-school students), grades 9-12, participating in 145 Regional and District events. At Kickoff, teams will be shown the FIRST STEAMWORKS game field and challenge details for the first time, and will receive a Kit of Parts made up of motors, batteries, control system components, construction materials, and a mix of additional automation components - with limited instructions. game field and challenge details for the first time, and will receive a Kit of Parts made up of motors, batteries, control system components, construction materials, and a mix of additional automation components - with limited instructions. Teams will have six weeks to design and build a robot to meet this year's engineering challenge. Dignitaries and public figures will deliver remarks on video and in-person, including: Senator Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) Manchester Mayor Ted Gatsas Dean Kamen, President, DEKA Research & Development and Founder, FIRST; Dr. Woodie Flowers, FIRST Distinguished Advisor, and Co-Chair of the FIRST Executive Advisory Board; Pappalardo Professor Emeritus of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Distinguished Advisor, and Co-Chair of the Executive Advisory Board; Pappalardo Professor Emeritus of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Donald E. Bossi, President, FIRST ; ; FIRST students & special guests What: Accomplished inventor Dean Kamen founded FIRST in 1989 to inspire an appreciation of science and technology in young people. The FIRST Robotics Competition is an annual competition that challenges high-school students - working alongside professional Mentors - to construct a robot and compete in the ultimate Sport for the Mind that measures the effectiveness of each robot, the power of teamwork and collaboration, and each team's display of Gracious Professionalism. Through their participation, students experience the excitement of science, engineering, technology, and innovation; build well-rounded life capabilities such as self-confidence, communication, and leadership; and qualify for $30 million in college scholarships. When: Saturday, January 7, 2017 10:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. Eastern Time, Local Remarks (LIVE Manchester, N.H. only) 10:30 a.. to 12:00 p.m. Eastern Time, Twitch Livestream Where*: Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU), 2500 North River Road, Manchester, N.H. *OPEN (News - Alert) TO ALL MEDIA: If you would like to attend as media, please contact Haley Dunn at [email protected] or Brooke Blew at [email protected]. 123 Kickoffs in cities worldwide: U.S. and international FIRST teams will tune in via Twitch livestream. Access the webcast via http://firstinspires.org/robotics/frc/2017-broadcast teams will tune in via Twitch livestream. Access the webcast via http://firstinspires.org/robotics/frc/2017-broadcast To locate teams in your area, visit http://www.firstinspires.org/team-event-search or contact your FIRST Regional Director http://www.firstinspires.org/find-local-support. 2017 FIRST Robotics Competition Kickoff Event Locations: For a listing of local Kickoff locations, visit: http://www.firstinspires.org/robotics/frc/kickoff. Photo Opp.: FIRST will unveil the details of the new 2017 robotics competition game after the speaker program. Students take measurements on the new game field and inspect the challenge in order to develop strategies for robot construction, and to determine if they will play offense, defense, or both. Livestream Link: http://firstinspires.org/robotics/frc/2017-broadcast Media Notes: High resolution photos of previous FIRST competitions are available in the Photo Gallery: http://www.firstinspires.org/node/1961. Photos available day of event after 2 p.m. Eastern Time by contacting [email protected] or [email protected] . Interviews with speakers at the Kickoff event in Manchester, N.H. available by contacting: Haley Dunn at 603-494-5688 or Brooke Blew at 585-315-9045 on the day of the event. competitions are available in the Photo Gallery: http://www.firstinspires.org/node/1961. About FIRST Accomplished inventor Dean Kamen founded FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) in 1989 to inspire an appreciation of science and technology in young people. Based in Manchester, N.H., FIRST designs accessible, innovative programs to build self-confidence, knowledge, and life skills while motivating young people to pursue opportunities in science, technology, and engineering. With support from over 200 of the Fortune 500 companies and more than $30 million in college scholarships, the not-for-profit organization hosts the FIRST Robotics Competition for students in Grades 9-12; FIRST Tech Challenge for Grades 7-12; FIRST LEGO League for Grades 4-8; and FIRST LEGO League Jr. for Grades K-4. Gracious Professionalism is a way of doing things that encourages high-quality work, emphasizes the value of others, and respects individuals and the community. To learn more about FIRST, go to www.firstinspires.org View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170104005949/en/ [January 04, 2017] New Energy Efficiency Regulations Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Costs for Consumers OTTAWA, Jan. 4, 2017 /CNW/ - Improving the energy efficiency of household appliances and commercial equipment helps Canadians save money while reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Canada's Minister of Natural Resources, the Honourable Jim Carr, today announced an amendment to the Energy Efficiency Regulations that will increase energy performance standards for 20 products, from household appliances like refrigerators and clothes washers to commercial equipment such as ice makers and electric motors. The amendment will save Canadians about $1.8 billion in energy costs by 2030 and result in the reduction of about 0.7 megatonnes of greenhouse gas emissions in that year. This will also help to align Canada's energy efficiency standards with those of the United States by 2020, as agreed by Prime Minister Trudeau and President Obama in the March 2016 Joint Statement on Climate, Energy and Arctic Leadership. Energy efficiency regulations are recognized as one of the most cost-effective tools for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and are used in almost 50 countries as a cornerstone of national climate chane policies. The amendment to the Energy Efficiency Regulations was published on December 28, 2016, in the Canada Gazette Part II, following a 75-day public comment period. The regulations, which reflect input from business and consumer stakeholder organizations, will come into effect six months after publication. This amendment is one of many initiatives undertaken by the CanadaUnited States Regulatory Cooperation Council to increase regulatory transparency and coordination between the two countries, while maintaining high levels of protection for health, safety and the environment. Quotes "This amendment to the Energy Efficiency Regulations is good news for Canadian consumers and industry. It will save energy costs, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and, by harmonizing standards with the U.S., facilitate trade while reducing costs for product testing." Jim Carr Canada's Minister of Natural Resources "As part of Treasury Board Secretariat's responsibility for overseeing Canada's regulatory framework, I am pleased that we are taking steps to align and improve appliance and equipment efficiency standards by 2020. This is good for businesses and consumers on both sides of the border." Scott Brison President of the Treasury Board Related Links Canada Gazette Part II Follow us on Twitter: @NRCan (http://twitter.com/nrcan) NRCan's news releases and backgrounders are available at www.news.gc.ca. SOURCE Natural Resources Canada [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 04, 2017] NOXXON Pharma Licenses and Assigns Preclinical Spiegelmer Programs to Aptarion Regulatory News: NOXXON Pharma N.V. (Alternext Paris:ALNOX), a biotechnology company whose core focus is on cancer treatment, has today announced an agreement with Aptarion biotech AG to license enabling technology, assign certain preclinical and technology research programs and transfer lab assets in exchange for cash, royalties and an equity stake in Aptarion. NOXXON has maintained exclusive rights to Spiegelmers binding to the targets of its clinical-stage programs. Otherwise, the agreement allows both companies to use the Spiegelmer technology, and a cross-licensing provision provides for continued access to new enabling inventions to be used by both companies. "This agreement is another step on the transition of NOXXON to a clinical-stage oncology company. With our focus on clinical development of our programs in oncology, we made the decision to spin-out the other assets ad this agreement with Aptarion is, we believe, the best opportunity to see them successfully developed," commented Aram Mangasarian, CEO of NOXXON. About NOXXON NOXXON Pharma N.V. is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on cancer treatment. NOXXON's goal is to significantly enhance the effectiveness of cancer treatments including immuno-oncology approaches (such as immune checkpoint inhibitors) and current standards of care (such as chemotherapy and radiotherapy). NOXXON's Spiegelmer platform has generated a proprietary pipeline of clinical-stage product candidates including its lead cancer drug candidate NOX-A12, which is the subject of a clinical immuno-oncology collaboration agreement with Merck & Co. / MSD (NYSE: MRK) to study NOX-A12 combined with Keytruda (pembrolizumab) in pancreatic and colorectal cancer. NOXXON is supported by a strong group of leading international investors, including TVM Capital, Sofinnova Partners, Edmond de Rothschild Investment Partners, DEWB, NGN and Seventure. NOXXON has its statutory seat in Amsterdam, The Netherlands and its office in Berlin, Germany. Further information can be found at: www.noxxon.com View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170104006109/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 04, 2017] Flashback Technologies Announces U.S. FDA De Novo Clearance to Market the First Medical Device Containing Its Compensatory Reserve Index (CRI) Algorithm Flashback Technologies, Inc. ("Flashback" or the "Company"), a privately held predictive data analytics technology company, announced today that it has been granted a de novo request by the U.S. FDA to market the first device with its algorithmic product, the Compensatory Reserve Index (CRI (News - Alert)). CRI is a breakthrough hemodynamic parameter that provides real-time noninvasive measurement of a patient's ability to tolerate changes in intravascular volume, such as blood loss. The FDA granted CRI a new product device classification known as an "adjunctive cardiovascular status indicator." This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170104006116/en/ Gordon Van Dusen, CEO, Flashback Technologies (Photo: Business Wire) "This clearance is an important step for an emerging class of precision algorithms and a significant accomplishment for Flashback, which has developed CRI over the past several years primarily with grant funding from the U.S. Department of Defense," commented Gordon Van Dusen, President and CEO at Flashback. "We are enthusiastic about the FDA's clearance of CRI and the creation of a predicate, against which other CRI based products can be cleared. Flashback's commercial launch ofits first CRI product is expected in 2017. We look forward to getting CRI into the hands of healthcare providers to help them improve the care of their patients." CRI provides an indication of an individual patient's ability to compensate for intravascular fluid loss (e.g. blood loss). The algorithm uses continuous PPG (photoplethysmogram) signals, which capture the pulsatile component of the cardiac cycle to estimate CRI values. These are displayed as a simple-to-interpret "fuel gauge" with a trend line. CRI is an adjunctive cardiovascular indicator for areas of care that place a high priority on monitoring hemodynamic status and fluid management, enabling the potential for earlier life-saving interventions and reducing healthcare costs. "All of the hard work and effort that went into developing and validating CRI has led to this important milestone. Clinicians and their patients will benefit from CRI's use as an adjunctive cardiovascular indicator of acute changes in blood volume," said Dr. Steven Moulton, Director of Pediatric Trauma and Burn Services, Children's Hospital Colorado and Co-Founder at Flashback. "We believe the Compensatory Reserve Index will have a tremendous impact on the speed and accuracy of monitoring and managing patients who suffer acute blood loss." About Flashback Flashback Technologies is a predictive data analytics technology company whose feature selection and machine learning platform, CipherSensor, is being applied to noninvasive vital sign waveform data to develop products that bring precision monitoring to the medical marketplace. Flashback's near-term focus is developing and commercializing algorithms that enable real-time individual-specific monitoring and management of critically ill and injured patients. The Company's first product, the Compensatory Reserve Index (CRI), has received U.S. FDA De Novo clearance for marketing and is the first algorithm to be classified by the FDA as an adjunctive cardiovascular status indicator. It was developed with support from the US Army, for noninvasive monitoring of acute blood loss. Flashback is located in Boulder, CO, and collaborates closely with several leading medical research institutions including various groups within the U.S. Department of Defense and the University of Colorado, Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO. For additional information, please visit our website at www.flashbacktechnologies.com. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170104006116/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 04, 2017] IGT Extends Contract To Provide Instant Ticket Printing Services To The Idaho Lottery LONDON, Jan. 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- International Game Technology PLC (NYSE:IGT) announced that its subsidiary, IGT Global Solutions Corporation (with International Game Technology PLC, hereinafter "IGT"), has extended its multi-year contract with the Idaho Lottery ("Idaho Lottery" or "Lottery") to continue providing Scratch GamesTM printing services through March 2019. This is the second, two-year extension that has been exercised on the existing contract and was unanimously approved by the Idaho Lottery Commission during their regular meeting on November 17, 2016. In addition to providing Scratch GamesTM printing services to the Idaho Lottery, IGT will continue to support the Lottery with related products and services including game planning, ticket design, marketing support, and analytics. IGT currently provides over 70 percent of printing for the Idaho Lottery's Scratch GamesTM, resulting in responsible, incremental sales growth year after year. Together, IGT and the Idaho Lottery have worked closely to deliver a portfolio of games with fun, new play styles to benefit the people of Idaho. In 2016, the Idaho Lottery broke records, returning $49.5 million to Idaho public schools and the Permanent Building Fund, a 10 percent increase from 2015. "The Idaho Lottery has a positive and productive relationship with IGT for the development and delivery of Idaho Scratch Games. We are pleased to continue this partnership," said Jeff Anderson, Idaho Lottery Director. "IGT's lottery industry expertise and leadership, along with their ability to develop new and innovative products, has helped us deliver a portfolio that produces an appealing mix of games for our players and benefits for the people of Idaho." "IGT values the opportunity to continue collaborating with the Idaho Lottery," said Michael Chambrello, IGT Chief Executive Officer, North America Lottery. "Together we will work to deliver pioneering games and solutions to Idaho Lottery players which drive sales and maximize funds generated for Idaho's good causes." About IGT IGT (NYSE:IGT) is the global leader in gaming. We enable players to experience their favorite games across all channels and regulated segments, from Gaming Machines and Lotteries to Interactive and Social Gaming. Leveraging a wealth of premium content, substantial investment in innovation, in-depth customer intelligence, operational expertise and leading-edge technology, our gaming solutions anticipate the demands of consumers wherever they decide to play.We have a well-established local presence and relationships with governments and regulators in more than 100 countries around the world, and create value by adhering to the highest standards of service, integrity, and responsibility. IGT has over 12,000 employees. For more information, please visit www.IGT.com. Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This news release may contain forward-looking statements (including within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995) concerning International Game Technology PLC and other matters. These statements may discuss goals, intentions and expectations as to future plans, trends, events, dividends, results of operations or financial condition, or otherwise, based on current beliefs of the management of International Game Technology PLC as well as assumptions made by, and information currently available to, such management. Forward-looking statements may be accompanied by words such as "aim," "anticipate," "believe," "plan," "could," "would," "should," "shall," "continue," "estimate," "expect," "forecast," "future," "guidance," "intend," "may," "will," "possible," "potential," "predict," "project" or the negative or other variations of them. These forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties, many of which are outside International Game Technology PLC's control. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should any of the underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may differ materially from those predicted in the forward-looking statements and from past results, performance or achievements. Therefore, you should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements include (but are not limited to) the possibility that the businesses of International Game Technology (Nevada) and GTECH S.p.A. will not be integrated successfully, or that the combined companies will not realize estimated cost savings, synergies, growth or other anticipated benefits or that such benefits may take longer to realize than expected; unanticipated costs of integration of International Game Technology (Nevada) and GTECH S.p.A.; the possibility that International Game Technology PLC will be unable to pay future dividends to shareholders or that the amount of such dividends may be less than anticipated; the possibility that International Game Technology PLC may not obtain its anticipated financial results in one or more future periods; reductions in customer spending; a slowdown in customer payments and changes in customer demand for products and services as a result of changing economic conditions or otherwise; unanticipated changes relating to competitive factors in the industries in which International Game Technology PLC operates; International Game Technology PLC's ability to hire and retain key personnel; the impact of the consummation of the business combination on relationships with third parties, including customers, employees and competitors; International Game Technology PLC's ability to attract new customers and retain existing customers in the manner anticipated; reliance on and integration of information technology systems; changes in legislation or governmental regulations affecting International Game Technology PLC, including as a consequence of the announced withdrawal of the U.K. from the EU; international, national or local economic, social or political conditions that could adversely affect International Game Technology PLC or its customers; conditions in the credit markets; changes in the top management team; risks associated with assumptions International Game Technology PLC makes in connection with its critical accounting estimates; the resolution of pending and potential future legal, regulatory or tax proceedings and investigations; and International Game Technology PLC's international operations, which are subject to the risks of currency fluctuations and foreign exchange controls. The foregoing list of factors is not exhaustive. You should carefully consider the foregoing factors and the other risks and uncertainties that affect International Game Technology PLC's business, including those described in International Game Technology PLC's annual report on Form 20-F for the financial year ended December 31, 2015 and other documents filed from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"), which are available on the SEC website at www.sec.gov and on the investor relations section of International Game Technology PLC's website at www.IGT.com. Except as required under applicable law, International Game Technology PLC does not assume any obligation to update the forward-looking statements. Nothing in this news release is intended, or is to be construed, as a profit forecast or to be interpreted to mean that earnings per International Game Technology PLC share for the current or any future financial years will necessarily match or exceed the historical published earnings per International Game Technology PLC share, as applicable. All forward-looking statements contained in this news release are qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. All subsequent written or oral forward-looking statements attributable to International Game Technology PLC, or persons acting on its behalf, are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. Contact: Robert K. Vincent, Corporate Communications, toll free in U.S./Canada (844) IGT-7452; outside U.S./Canada (401) 392-7452 James Hurley, Investor Relations, (401) 392-7190 Simone Cantagallo, (+39) 06 51899030; for Italian media inquiries To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/igt-extends-contract-to-provide-instant-ticket-printing-services-to-the-idaho-lottery-300385811.html SOURCE IGT [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 04, 2017] Gawker Media Pays Dr. Shiva Ayyadurai, Inventor Of Email, $750,000 Settlement BOSTON, Jan. 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Gawker Media has paid Dr. Shiva Ayyadurai a $750,000 settlement payment and later this month will permanently remove its libelous article about him, which denied Dr. Ayyadurai's invention of email. Victory over Gawker Media "This is a historic victory for truth," declared Dr. Ayyadurai. "Americans have no tolerance for fake news, lies or cyberbullying. A 14-year-old kid working in Newark, New Jersey in 1978 invented email. This settlement honors that innovation." There is no reasonable dispute that Dr. Ayyadurai is the inventor of email. The full press kit contains more than 20 testimonials from leading technology experts and numerous Ph.D.s. The press kit also includes two extensive research papers prepared by well-respected academic university professors and scientists explaining why Dr. Ayyadurai is the inventor of email, and how the few doubters are wrong. New Lawsui against TechDirt.com On January 4, 2017, Dr. Ayyadurai filed a new lawsuit against TechDirt.com for defaming him in 14 different articles published from September 2014 through November 2016. Dr. Ayyadurai seeks a minimum of $15 million in damages in the new lawsuit. Dr. Shiva Ayyadurai Dr. Shiva Ayyadurai holds four degrees from MIT, including a Ph.D, and is a world-renowned systems scientist, inventor and entrepreneur. He is founder and CEO of multiple successful businesses including CytoSolve, Systems Health and EchoMail. He has published in major scientific journals such as IEEE, Nature Neuroscience and CELL's Biophysical Journal, and has authored ten books, including the just-released The Future of Email (General Interactive, LLC, Nov. 2016) which discusses the history of email, its present and its future. Dr. Ayyadurai is represented by attorneys Charles J. Harder of Harder Mirell & Abrams LLP in Los Angeles, California, and Timothy Cornell of Cornell Dolan, P.C. in Boston, Massachusetts. Full Press Kit: www.InventorOfEmail.com/PressKit To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/gawker-media-pays-dr-shiva-ayyadurai-inventor-of-email-750000-settlement-300385899.html SOURCE Harder Mirell & Abrams LLP Starting 5: State's D-1 basketball top games for 2022-23 We asked writers across our statewide network 5 questions regarding teams they cover ahead of this college basketball season. Today, top games. [January 03, 2017] Healthcare's Digital Divide Widens, Black Book Consumer Survey TAMPA, Fla., Jan. 3, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Black Book's national panel poll of consumers aims to judge patient adoption and acceptance of technology, as well as measure those impacts on the healthcare industry. The survey, conducted from September through December 2016, asked consumers to evaluate the technology they were exposed to, know of or interacted with as an active patient in the last twelve months. 57 percent of consumers with contact experience to hospital, physician or ancillary provider's technology in 2016 report being skeptical of the overall benefits of health information technologies such as patient portals, mobile apps, and electronic health records mainly because of recently reported data hacking and a perceived lack of privacy protection by providers. The national survey which included 12,090 adult consumers. Key findings include: Fear of Breaches Depresses Health Data Sharing As the amount of available health data increases so does the hesitancy for consumers to share that information due to industry privacy and security issues. The unwillingness of patients to comprehensively divulge all their medical information rose to 87 percent in Q4 2016. Fewer consumers at this point in time do not want their digital health histories to extend beyond their physician and hospital, previously measured in 2013 at 66 percent who were willing to divulge all personal health data to achieve enhanced care. Especially alarming to respondents were the concerns that their pharmacy prescriptions (90 percent), mental health notes (99 percent) and chronic condition (81 percent) data is being shared beyond their chosen provider and payer to retailers, employers, and or the government without their acknowledgment. In a follow up to an Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) survey, Black Book found this year that 70 percent of American distrust health technology, sharply climbing from only 10 percent in 2014. 89 percent of consumers with 2016 provider visits report withholding health information during visits. 93 percent responding expressed concerns over the security of their personal financial information, as high deductible Obamacare plans and co-pays have more banking and credit card data passing from providers. 69 percent of patients confirm their belief that their current primary care physician does not demonstrate enough technology prowess for them to trust divulging all their personal information. Partial Patient Records Degrade the Reliability of Analytics Patients are becoming more demanding of information, clinical alternatives and improved outcomes at the same time where pressure is on government and providers to reduce costs. Until the payment model moves to truly pay for value, some of the very innovative and effective health technology solutions may continue to be a hard sell to hospitals and physicians, according to survey results. "Incomplete medical histories and undisclosed conditions, treatment or medications raises obvious concerns on the reliability and usefulness of patient health data in application of risk based analytics, care plans, modeling, payment reforms, and population health programming," saidBrown. "This revelation should force cybersecurity solutions to the top of the technology priorities in 2017 to achieve tangible trust in big data dependability." Conversely, survey respondents related that more technology the physician is perceived as using to manage the patient's healthcare, the higher the trust level patients had in their provider. 84 percent of patients said their trust in their provider is influenced by how the provider uses the technology, rather than only 5 percent of consumers had any issue in trusting in the actual technology. Overworked Hospital Nurses get another Duty Patients discharged from hospitals under 200 beds report being the most challenged by the patient portals, engagement tools and monitoring systems provided. 92 percent of patients express difficulty understanding the instructions or use of the technological applications. Hospitals over 300 beds have the most success with patient technology satisfaction and usability. "We can likely attribute this to the role of patient technological education falls on discharge nurses in large facilities, "said Brown. The responsibility of mediating between patients and technology usually falls on nurses because they have the appropriate culture and clinical background to recognize actual patient needs and computer mastery." 92 percent of nurse leaders in hospitals under 200 beds related there is no staffing time factored into the discharge process to improve patient tech literacy as compared to 55 percent of large hospitals which include patient portal orientations at discharge. Physicians Don't Want all that Information 94 percent of physicians responding to the provider section of the survey find all that data overwhelming, redundant and unlikely to make a clinical difference. In contrast, 91 percent consumers with wearables believe their physician practice's medical record system should store any health related data they request. 96 percent of physician office patients said they left their visit with poorly communicated or miscommunicated instructions on patient portal use. 94 percent with health or activity trackers said their physician, when asked, informed them the practice had no capability or interest in coordinating their outcomes currently via their EHR. 98 percent of patients using a nutritional or weight loss app had similar responses from their doctors. Conversely, 82 percent of physicians surveyed report that some highly literate patients surfing healthcare internet sites collect both valid and invalid information about their condition, often complicating diagnoses and exceeding time allotments for visits currently under the current system. Four in ten patients attempted to use the portal provided by their physician, but 83 percent found it difficult to navigate when at home. 85 percent of doctors lamented that the addition of EHRs and other technologies has made patient care too impersonal. Yet a larger disengage between doctors and patients is occurring, noted by the 89 percent of consumers surveyed demanding access to more information and choices in their treatment providers, locations and alternatives. "In this age of healthcare consumerism people want to receive care through technologically enabled alternatives like telemedicine visits, secure email communications with their practitioner, and immediate access to records and scheduling," said Brown. 91 percent of patients who find their apps and devices relevant to their health improvement felt slighted by their providers who would not accommodate their personal data. Patient Technology Illiteracy is the next road block to achieving population health success Patients who have higher health literacy rates are also the most skeptical about sharing data because of the lack of cyber security measures, particularly among medical groups, clinics and ancillary facilities according to survey results. 94 percent of providers recommend government funded programs to afford and enhance health technology literacy training to patients. "With so many consumers skeptical of the benefits and security of HIT, the software developers must address a wider targeted patient population as we move forward in modeling, analytics and accountable care. About Black Book Black Book, its founders, management and staff do not own or hold any financial interest in any of the vendors covered and encompassed in the surveys it conducts. Black Book reports the results of the collected satisfaction and client experience rankings in publication and to media prior to vendor notification of rating results and does not solicit vendor participation fees, review fees, inclusion or briefing charges, consultation requirements, and/or vendor collaboration as Black Book polls vendors' clients. Since 2000, Black Book has polled the vendor satisfaction across over thirty industries in the software/technology and managed services sectors around the globe. In 2009, Black Book began polling the client experience of now over 540,000 healthcare software and services users. Black Book expanded its survey prowess and reputation of independent, unbiased crowd-sourced surveying to IT and health records professionals, physician practice administrators, nurses, financial leaders, executives and hospital information technology managers. For methodology, auditing, resources, comprehensive research and Outsourced Revenue Cycle vendor ranking data see: http://www.blackbookmarketresearch.com 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/healthcares-digital-divide-widens-black-book-consumer-survey-300384816.html SOURCE Black Book Research LLC [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] A nasty new Android Trojan isn't targeting your smartphone, but your home Wi-Fi router instead. (Image credit: Casezy Idea/Shutterstock) The malware, spotted by Kaspersky Lab researchers late last month and dubbed Switcher, pretends to be either of two legitimate Chinese-language Android apps one for the Baidu search engine, and the other a common app for sharing Wi-Fi network details. Once installed on an Android phone, Switcher will bombard the user's Wi-Fi router with a laundry list of default administrative passwords, then change the router's settings if it gets in. MORE: Best Android Antivirus Apps North American users may not have to worry yet, as Switcher lives in off-road app markets catering to mainland Chinese customers. (The Google Play store is restricted in the People's Republic, and many users there install apps from dodgy sources.) But we've seen new attack methods spread from China to other parts of the world before. According to a document spotted by Kaspersky researchers on the Switcher command-and-control website, nearly 1,300 home Wi-Fi networks in China have already fallen victim to Switcher. To make sure you're not infected by this malware, go into your Android settings menu, select Security and make sure Unknown Sources is toggled off. That way, you won't be able to install any app from outside the Google Play store. All Android users should also consider running Android antivirus software, as even Google Play isn't immune from malicious apps. However, none of that will protect your home Wi-Fi router, which may still be using the default admin credentials. Dig out your router instruction manual, log into the administrative screen and make sure the administrative username and password are something you came up with, not something that was set at the factory. While you're at it, check to see whether any firmware updates are available for your router. You may have to download something to a PC, then upload it to the router, but even if so, your resulting peace of mind will be well worth the effort. What's so bad about changing a router's settings? Put it this way: He who controls the router controls the network. A bad guy in charge of your will be able to hijack your entire internet experience, from stealing your personal information to sending you to malicious websites. Intels latest enthusiast class Z270 chipset made its debut at CES 2017, and Asus didnt waste time refreshing its motherboard lineup. The hardware designer announced 10 new Z270-based boards from four distinct model lines. Asus maintains a variety of product lines that cater to different needs. The ROG Strix series caters to gamers; the TUF series features military grade components for longevity and resistance to the elements; and the ROG Maximus is suited for enthusiasts who dip their toes into extreme overclocking, exotic water cooling installations, and custom PC modding. New for 2017, Asus introduced a line called Prime, which offers a more conservative configuration. The Prime lineup inherited Asus popular -A motherboard variant. The Prime Z270-A offers Asus 5-Way Optimization technology, which can automatically overclock your CPU and tweak fan and power profiles. The Z270-A also includes an audio solution that can power high-end headphones without an additional amplifier. RGB All The Things Asus entire Z270 motherboard lineup includes Aura Sync RGB lighting, which can be controlled with Asus Aura Sync software. Asus also includes headers on each board to extend the Aura lighting to a LED strip. Asus Z270 ATX motherboards include two headers, except for the Z270-A, which has only one. Prime Z270-A TUF Z270 Mark 1 Strix Z270I Gaming Strix Z270G Gaming Strix Z270E Gaming CPU support Intel Socket 1151 for 7th/6th Generation Core i7/i5/i3/Pentium/Celeron Processors Intel Socket 1151 for 7th/6th Generation Core i7/i5/i3/Pentium/Celeron Processors Intel Socket 1151 for 7th/6th Generation Core Intel Socket 1151 for 7th/6th Generation Core Intel Socket 1151 for 7th/6th Generation Core Chipset Intel Z270 Intel Z270 Intel Z270 Memory 4 x DDR4 up to 3866 4 x DDR4 up to 3866MHz 2 x DDR4 up to 4266MHz 4 x DDR4 up to 4000MHz 4 x DDR4 up to 3866MHz Onboard VGA outputs 1 x DVI-D 1 x HDMI (1.4b) 1 x HDMI (1.4b) 1 x HDMI (1.4b) 1 x DVI-D 1 x HDMI (1.4b) 1 x DP (1.2) 1 x DP (1.2) 1 x DP (1.2) 1 x HDMI (1.4b) 1 x DP (1.2) 1 x DP (1.2) PCIe 3.0 x16 slots 2 (supporting x16, x8/x8) 2 (supporting x16, x8/x8) 1 2 (supporting x16, x8/x8) 2 (supporting x16, x8/x8) PCIe 3.0 X 16 (x4) slots 1 1 - - 1 PCIe 3.0 X 1 slots 4 3 - 2 4 Multi-GPU 2-way SLI/CrossFireX 2-way SLI/CrossFireX - 2-way SLI/CrossFireX 2-way SLI/CrossFireX Gigabit Ethernet 1 x Intel 1 x Intel 1 x Intel 1 x Intel 1 x Intel Wireless - - 2 x 2 802.11ac 2 x 2 802.11ac 2 x 2 802.11ac Wi-Fi Wi-Fi Wi-Fi Bluetooth v4.1 Bluetooth v4.1 Bluetooth v4.1 Storage 2 x M.2 2 x M.2 2 x M.2 2 x M.2 2 x M.2 6 x SATA 6 x SATA 4 x SATA 6 x SATA 6 x SATA USB 3.1 1 x Type-C 1 x Type-C 1 x Front panel connector 1 x Type-C 1 x Type-C 1 x Type-A 1 x Type-A 1 x Type-A 1 x Type-A 1 x Front panel 1 x Front panel connector Audio Crystal Sound 3 Realtek S1220A SupremeFX S1220A SupremeFX S1220A SupremeFX S1220A Aura lighting Onboard + 1 x strip header Onboard Onboard + 1 x strip headers Onboard + 2 x strip header Onboard + 2 x strip headers Form factor ATX ATX Mini-ITX m-ATX ATX Price $169 $249 $180 $199 $199 The Asus Aura Sync software lets you configure how the lighting behaves. It can be set to react to music or play a preconfigured animation, for example, and the tool has been updated to link a CPU's load to specific color profiles. Asus took Aura Sync to the next level with the Z270 lineup. Aura Sync currently lets you configure independent colors for the motherboard lighting and the RGB strips. ROG Maximus motherboards also let you configure both 5050 headers with different colors. The new version of Aura Sync can also control the RGB systems on other devices, such as graphics cards, peripherals, and Aura Sync-ready cases from the likes of DeepCool, NZXT, and InWin. Asus even worked with G.Skill to include support for Trident Z RGB memory, and it's working with Avexir, Corsair, and Kingston to support future RAM kits from these companies. GPU Temps Effect Fan Profile In a similar vein to supporting the lighting of other devices, Asuss 200-series motherboards can interface with other components, namely Asus graphics cards, to manage the systems fan profile more efficiently. Asus Z270 motherboards can read the temperature sensors from select Asus graphics cards and use that data to more effectively manage fan rotation speeds. Asus fan control software can assign up to three thermal sources to each fan header, and the software will determine which source is the hottest and react accordingly. Intels Z270 chipset offers more PCI-E lanes, which allowed Asus to include two M.2 slots on each Z270 motherboard in its lineup. Asus said it took more care in the placement of the M.2 slots for the latest generation motherboards: On the Z170 motherboards, the M.2 slot was often located directly below the primary PCI-E slot; Asus made sure not to place the M.2 slot of Z270 boards so close to heat generating components. To get around that problem with the mini-ITX motherboards, Asus created a heatsink system for M.2 drives to keep them cool. Asus entire Z270 lineup include SafeSlot PCI-Express slots, which feature steel plates that reinforce the outer walls of the slot. SafeSlot slots are also fastened to the motherboard with additional solder points to ensure a strong connection. The extra reinforcement is meant to protect the motherboard from damage when you transport your PC. Make It Yours Asus is embracing customization to a new degree with the Z270 lineup. The company previously experimented with neutral colored motherboards that include RGB lighting and it found that its customers appreciate the ability to tweak their builds appearance to suit their desires. Select motherboards in the new lineup include mounting points for 3D printed parts. Image 1 of 7 Asus collaborated with Shapeways to provide 3D printing services for Asus customers. Shapeways is opening a dedicated Asus shop where you can purchase, download, and customize components, such as IO shrouds, nameplates, cable combs, SLI bridge covers, and M.2 fan mounts. "Our previous generations have been validated, praised and awarded by the media and our customers, confirming ASUS is the number-one motherboard brand for all your needs, said Joe Hsieh, ASUS Corporate Vice President and General Manager of Motherboard Business Unit & New Product Planning Division. For our Z270 generation, weve taken innovation and customization to the next level, with personalization features such as Aura Sync RGB lighting, exclusive EFI controls and support for 3D-printed components. Weve also co-operated with Shapeways to launch a dedicated ASUS shop where users can purchase, download and customize and 3D-printable accessories worldwide so theyll have options to customize their systems in ways not previously available. Its time to unlock the power of 7th Generation Intel Core processors and an ASUS Z270-series motherboard is the perfect way to do just that!" The Z270 series of Asus motherboards hits worldwide store shelves on January 5. Prices range from $169 for the Prime Z270-A to $389 for the Maximus IX Formula. The company hasnt released the price for the Maximus IX Extreme, but expect it to command a significant premium over the Formula model. Its just like a dream, really. If you asked me when I was three years old what I wanna to do when I grow up, Id say exactly what Im doing right now. Tash Sultana certainly knows that this is her moment, as evidenced by the mini-documentary she posted on Facebook, chronicling her past year, in which she has travelled to Germany, England, Holland, America and elsewhere in support of her singular music, a blend of earthy Australian roots, reggae, and soul. I project my art out into the world, and they project their appreciation back onto me, she notes, moments after a clip in which she is visibly shocked to have sold out a show in Amsterdam. Check out the mini-doco below, and heres to a massive 2017 for Tash! Tash Sultana has had one fantastic year. The former busker has gone from playing to the pedestrians of Melbourne to sold-out tours both locally and abroad, and her hot streak continues with the news that shes sold out her upcoming U.S. tour over a month in advance. Its no surprise that Tash is looking good for her U.S. push, though; she had a sold-out run of shows in Europe earlier in the year, and America is next in her sights. Itll help her chances that Unified CEO Jaddan Comerford has come on board to join her management team of Regan Lethbridge and David Morganin from Lemon Tree Management in promoting her in the territory. Its great to be able to announce these dates as SOLD OUT over a month out from the first date, Comerford told The Music. What a way to start 2017. And all this without any label support in the territory. He stresses that this early taste of U.S. success comes off the back of her incredible year so far and own self-promotion, rather than any sort of label push thats yet to come. This is just the beginning of what is going to be a huge year for this amazing artist. The tour sees Tash kick things off in Boston and moving through NY, Philly and DC before hopping coasts to finish the tour off in LA, San Fran, Portland and Seattle, with frequent tour-mate Josh Cashman in support. Not a bad run by any stretch and, while these venues arent stadiums just yet, we know its just the start for an artist who has already proven herself as a festival mainstay at home. Lets just hope nobody loses her baggage on the way over. DEVELOPER MIKE BURKE REFUSES TO HAND OVER 'TERM SHEET' FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE TO CITY COUNCIL!!! Northland Council Member Heather Hall asked for the term sheet during business session on Dec. 22. Mike Burke said he wouldn't share it with her - It's on the record. Council Lady Heather Hall has said to all of the local reporters and, again, on the record: "I'm uncomfortable using $35 million public dollars without full disclosure. $35 mill makes our taxpayers a pretty big shareholder. " KANSAS CITY TAX FIGHTERS ARE FUMING MAD AT THE SECRECY OF THE CONVENTION HOTEL PLAN AND CALLING OUT 'FAKE NEWS' REPORTED BY THE STAR ABOUT AN 'UNDISCLOSED' DEAL!!! "Should City Manager Troy Schulte be fired?" Voting Taxpayers and our City Council duped once again by the Downtown Hotel Developers and our very own City Manager. The fight over the Downtown Kansas City Convention Hotel scheme is raging behind the scenes as the deal crumbles amid scrutiny.First and foremost . . .This isn't behind the scenes gossip. It's part of the public record that mainstream media news isn't reporting.The facts . . .And now a bit of double trouble . . .Remember that the "undisclosed" reporting led to an important discussion among our blog community. Now, the title of the latest CFRG presser pushes the issue in no uncertain terms . . .Here's the case they're making against this deal and supporters. Checkit:We tried to give Mr. Schulte the benefit of the doubt when he gave he developers of the downtown hotel plan a green light based on their financing package. He told us he had seen the term sheet and there was in fact a deal.. The lender was undisclosed" at the time and still is today. Mr. Schulte then stated, the developers were able to continue on without approval of the current City Council because they had fulfilled the terms of the agreement. We do not see how there could possibly be an agreement or a deal and since any deal would include $167,000,000 of taxpayer money, the taxpayers are entitled to see the terms of the deal and everything related to it.Several on the Council asked to see the term sheet and were stonewalled. CFRG has requested a copy of the term sheet from the City Manager and the LCRA, both have stonewalled us. Not even the courtesy of a reply to our request.It is interesting the developers admit they dont have a cost on the construction portion of the project which makes us wonder how can they have a deal if they dont have the cost of construction? We also ask if the project was put out for bid as is called for by the city charter? No response to the bid question.Last week several members of the City Council were ready to introduce a resolution limiting the City Managers authority on making decisions for the hotel project, suspecting a possible conflict of interest. These Council Members were mostly the newer Council Members who were not in office when the original hotel ordinance was voted on. They are very suspicious of the project as is the voting taxpayers of the city. Their resolution was tabled when the fake deal was announced. It is now time to bring the resolution back to life. When our City officials, elected and otherwise, do not act in the best interest of the voting taxpayers, it is time for the voting taxpayers to act. These public servants work for us and for the city council and should be held accountable by both.We call on the good men and women on our City Council to do something!Citizens for Responsible Government###############Developing . . . Today Prez-Elect Trump celebrates double social media victories.Take a look at more American job celebration . . .And then some well-deserved fist shaking at the GOP . . .These are both great moves that deserve high praise . . . But after social media glory, reality hasn't been so kind to the Prez-elect and this debate has a local implication . . .While MSM political news has tried to play it safe. Much more blunt tech news isn't afraid call so many bold Twitter claims into question . . .Admittedly, tech news isn't perfect but they don't play around when it comes to industry data and this bit of follow-up on bold Twitter claims is important among so much partisan debate over the ongoing and worthwhile fight to bring more jobs to the U.S.You decide . . . [January 04, 2017] DevOps and Software-defined Storage Pioneer Evan Powell Joins CloudByte as Chairman SAN JOSE, California, January 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- CloudByte Names Evan Powell, Former CEO of StackStorm, Nexenta and Clarus Systems, as its Chairman CloudByte Inc., a leading software-defined storage company, today announced the appointment of Evan Powell as its new Chairman. Evan is a well known serial entrepreneur and builder of open source communities with successes at Clarus Systems, Nexenta and recently StackStorm. (Photo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/453665/PRNE_EvanPowell_CloudByte.jpg ) Since its inception in 2011, CloudByte has successfully delivered storage solutions to service providers and enterprises deploying private clouds. CloudByte's flagship product ElastiStor's unique capabilities include per volume QoS management, enabling it to eliminate the noisy neighbor problem. A free 25TB edition of the ElastiStor virtual storage appliance is available at http://www.cloudbyte.com; all flash hardware solutions are also available as are other solutions from partners including Q5 and Wipro. CloudByte recently released an early version of OpenEBS, an Apache Licensed 100% open source storage project addressing the needs of today's DevOps environments with native container integration and other capabilities. The OpenEBS project leverages some of the technology developed by CloudByte including the ability to control QoS from and for continerized storage controllers. Evan said, "The next wave of storage disruption is upon us and over the months and years to come you'll see CloudByte and the OpenEBS project delivering a new combination of technology, business model, and community to improve the lives of DevOps architects and operators. I'm already enjoying working with the CloudByte team and the growing OpenEBS community." "We are excited to have Evan join us as Chairman," said Uma Mukkara, Co-founder and CEO of CloudByte. "Storage requirements have changed with containers reaching mainstream. I am looking forward to working with Evan in building CloudByte and specifically in growing the OpenEBS community." About OpenEBS (http://www.openebs.io) OpenEBS (@openebs) is a new containerized storage platform for container-based environments. It addresses the challenge of large scale storage management faced by many container users and provides ease of use in part through its close integration with Kubernetes, Docker and other orchestration projects. About CloudByte (http://www.cloudbyte.com) CloudByte is the provider of Software-defined storage software and appliances. CloudByte's patented technology has been helping large storage deployments to realize significant cost savings. Established in 2011, CloudByte has development offices in India and Switzerland and customers world-wide. About Evan Powell Evan has been the founding CEO of three enterprise infrastructure software companies, Clarus Systems (RVBD), Nexenta Systems, and most recently StackStorm (BRCD). As founding CEO of Nexenta Systems, he helped to reimagine the storage industry as one in which the value of software and freedom from vendor lock-in would predominate. Under his leadership, Nexenta became the leader of the OpenStorage movement and the software-defined storage sector, with thousands of customers and hundreds of millions of dollars of annual partner sales. As founding CEO of StackStorm, Evan helped to create the event driven automation category, building a vibrant open source community leveraging and improving upon approaches used by the largest operators such as Facebook. Prominent StackStorm users include Netflix, Cisco, and Dimension Data. Brocade purchased StackStorm in early 2016. Currently Evan serves as an advisor and investor in a number of start-ups, including the emerging leader of intelligent object storage, Cloudian (http://www.cloudian.com), as well as Keewi, TextIQ, Journey Software and others. CloudByte Media Contact: Niti Suryawanshi [email protected] 4300 Stevens Creek Boulevard Suite 270 San Jose, CA 95129 SOURCE CloudByte Inc. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] "The Women's March in Kansas City is a grassroots event that stands in solidarity with the Womens March on Washington. The rally is being held at on January 21st from 1 PM - 3 PM at Washington Square Park (Pershing and Grand Blvd) in Kansas City, Missouri." "This rally is a grassroots response to the unacceptable rhetoric employed by the President-elect during this election season, which left many in our community feeling even more afraid and marginalized. There is strength in our united numbers and together, we demand full representation of our diverse experiences. This election targeted people of color, the LGBTQ community, immigrant communities, our Muslim brothers and sisters, women and their Constitutionally protected reproductive rights, people with differing abilities, and those impacted by poverty. We recognize that from our individual pain comes the discovery of our collective power. We stand together as one community and by doing so harness much more power than the oppressor. This is only the beginning. We vow to move forward from this rally holding accountable those providing leadership in our communities to represent our diverse needs and long established constitutional rights. We are truly stronger together." The upcomingthreatens inauguration attempts at creating unity andthe protests against Prez-Elect Trump won't have to travel far to join the fight.Experts claim. . . Locally, in the heart of Red State Country, there's more interest than any Hillary event but turnout probably depends a lot on the weather . . . And if people still want to partner with theafter the group was integral to the demise of Missouri Democrats this year.Check the Description . . .The "values statement" takes aim @ Prez-Elect Trump . . .You decide . . . Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias ruled out on Wednesday the possibility of failure in the top-level talks on Cyprus which will be held in Geneva next week Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias ruled out on Wednesday the possibility of failure in the top-level talks on Cyprus which will be held in Geneva next week, saying they can only be delayed or postponed. The minister was speaking to journalists after his two-hour meeting with the UNs Special Adviser on Cyprus, Espen Barth Eide, in Athens. Even if negotiations need to halt at some point, this will not be a disaster but an element of the process in order to continue later [] Talks can only be postponed or delayed. Theres a difference. Failure means a negotiation stops without any results, Kotzias said. We have received assurances from the United Nations that this negotiation will be what we call in international debates open-ended, which means it will be a negotiation which, even if it stops, it will not be viewed as having collapsed, but that it can continue in the future with more preparation, he added. One way this could be done is if the three leaders propose that talks continue on an experts level, he continued. But they may also agree from the first moment but this remains to be seen. Asked about whether there will be a meeting between Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Cyprus, the minister said a lot of meetings are being held to prepare the top-level talks which will be held before or after Geneva. Greece and Cyprus have a common front [] Especially in Greece we have managed to form a common line that we support Cyprus and we support the abolition of guarantees, the intervention of any country in Cyprus domestic affairs and the withdrawal of the occupation army, he noted. He also expressed his certainty that British Prime Minister Theresa May will be at the Geneva meeting, but also on Thursday, during his meeting with Foreign Office Minister Sir Alan Duncan and during the dinner with his British counterpart Boris Johnson in London, between his visit to New York and Geneva. Asked whether hes worried ahead of the Geneva meeting, Kotzias replied negatively, saying it is the ministrys and the governments responsibility to prepare for all possible outcomes and propose alternatives. 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 Farmers from around Greece asked the Minister of Agriculture Development to take responsibility for the changes in their social security and taxation Representatives of farmers from around Greece asked the Minister of Agriculture Development Vangelis Apostolou on Wednesday to take responsibility for the changes in their social security and taxation, during a meeting which they described as ?crucial? for determining their future labour action. "What we have done so far in the farming sector, from the payments to the managing of development programs, to those we are planning in the next few months, we believe they create [?] an environment which is very special for the agricultural sector, compared to what the rest of society is experiencing," the minister said after the meeting. Earlier, the farmers representatives submitted a letter to Parliament President Nikos Voutsis in which they requested a debate in parliament over their issues. "Our decision to appeal to the parliaments presidency...in order to invite the plenum to a scheduled debate on the issue that concerns the future of our countrys agricultural production was imperative," the farmers wrote in the letter. 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 UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres will be participating at the conference on Cyprus on January 12 The new UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres will be participating at the conference on Cyprus on January 12, CNA has learnt on Wednesday. Guterres presence at the conference was also confirmed by UN Secretary General Special Adviser Espen Barth Eide after his meeting with Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias on Wednesday. Earlier on Wednesday, Guterres met with the UK Permanent Representative to the UN Matthew Rycroft. Rycroft said in a twitter post that he was a great meeting with Guterres, and that they discussed Syria, South Sudan, and Cyprus. Britain is a permanent member of the UN Security Council and the country that prepares the report for UNFICYP. The report will be delivered on permanent members of the Security Council on Friday. Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias said earlier on Wednesday that he would meet with the UK Foreign Minister in New York to discuss the Cyprus problem. CNA has learnt that the meeting will take place on Thursday and Friday, and that the UK would meet with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu as well, along with the UN Secretary General. CNA has learnt that the UK, in its capacity as one of the three guarantor powers in Cyprus, will meet with The meeting between Guterres and Cavusoglu was confirmed today by deputy UNSG speaker. 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 Oman's Special Economic Zone Authority (Sezad) said the permanent accommodation being built for the staff of contracting companies in the Duqm region at a cost of RO75 million ($194 million) will be ready in the first quarter, said a report. A joint initiative with Renaissance Services, a leading integrated facilities management company based in Oman, the Duqm Permanent Accommodation for Contractors (PAC) project, will include residences, an entertaining club, restaurant, medical clinics and retail outlets besides a mosque, reported the Oman Observer. The fully-developed complex will be maintained and operated by Renaissance and will be able to accommodate more than 16,000 employees, stated the report, citing company officials. A key player in Oman, Renaissance provides comprehensive support services encompassing design, build and operation of camp structures. Starting from conception of the project, its scope of work includes engineering and design, project and construction management, procurement, transportation, site preparation, installation and commissioning. Duqm PACs complex will offer quality accommodation at competitive prices instead of the traditional temporary portacabins, said the officials. The room rates will range from RO4.62 ($12) for sharing to RO9.24 ($24) on a daily basis.There will be higher-end ranges too, they added. Dubai World Trade Centre has awarded a Dh725-million ($197 million) contract to Al Futtaim Carillion (AFC) for delivering Phase 1A6 of One Central, a major integrated real estate development located between the current Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre and Emirates Towers in the heart of the citys central business district. This latest phase of One Central has a built-up area of 182,500 sq m and comprises two Grade A office buildings of 12 and 8 storeys. The contract will begin this month and is scheduled for full completion by the end of 2018. AFC has already completed an earlier Phase 1A2 of this development, which is currently being leased and is currently delivering the contact for Phase 1A5, which was awarded in October 2015. This latest award takes the overall value of AFCs contracts for the One Central development to Dh1.8 billion ($489 million). On the contract win, Carillion chief executive Richard Howson said: "We are delighted to have been selected for Phase 1A6 which is the third phase of the One Central development, where we continue to see good opportunities coming to market for which our capabilities and reputation for delivering to high standards of quality, safety and reliability are important to customers." "We look forward to continuing our close relationship with Dubai World Trade Centre to deliver this important development," he added. Gurjit Singh, the senior vice president (real estate), DWTC, said: "We are pleased to continue working with AFC, which has successfully delivered the Phase 1 Offices that are now operational and almost fully leased. Our ongoing relationship with the company will establish Grade A office properties of a world-class standard in Dubai's commercial corridor." "These high quality, flexible commercial offerings provide a compelling value proposition in Dubai's central business district," he stated. One Central is being designed to best-in-class quality standards and this phase will comprise international Grade A quality offices, which has achieved Leed Gold precertification from the US Green Building Council the industry benchmark for green building performance covering design, construction, operations and maintenance. The technology solutions and infrastructure being planned are aligned with the Dubai Government's Smart City strategic agenda, which was launched by Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. "Through One Central's free zone status under Dubai World Trade Centre Authority, we are uniquely positioned to propose a professionally-managed destination that is conducive to business," remarked Singh. "As demonstrated by the resounding success of the leasing of our Phase 1 Offices, One Central serves as a strong incentive for blue-chip multinationals to headquarter their regional bases in Dubai," he added.-TradeArabia News Service [January 04, 2017] Intel to Showcase Amazing Experiences at CES 2017 At CES 2017, Intel (News - Alert) will highlight new technologies that power every segment of the smart, connected world. We're expanding the boundaries of technology - via computing breakthroughs in artificial intelligence, 5G technology, virtual reality and self-driving cars - to make the most amazing experiences possible. This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170104005002/en/ Gary Shapiro (News - Alert) (left), Consumer Technology Association president and CEO, welcomes Brian Krzanich, Intel's chief executive officer, to the stage for his keynote presentation at the 2016 CES (News - Alert) (Consumer Electronics Show) on Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2016 in Las Vegas. Krzanich will present a news conference on Jan. 4, 2017, at CES 2017, one of the world's largest gathering places for all who thrive on consumer technologies. (CREDIT: Intel Corporation/Bob Riha Jr.) Press Conference - A Virtual Reality Experience Intel CEO Brian Krzanich will host a unique press conference. He will immerse you in virtual reality to experience how Intel technology is extending far beyond consumer electronics to define almost every aspect of our lives and transform industries. Please note, there is limited seating and virtual reality set-up requirements - doors open to press and analysts at 3:45 p.m. Where: Mandalay Bay, Level 2, Ballroom E When: Jan. 4, 4 p.m. - 4:45 p.m. Livestream: Watch the livestream on the Intel Newsroom website Visit Intel in the Central Hall South (Booth #10048) Stop by our booth to immerse yourself in the amazing experiences made possible by Intel technology. Where: Las Vegas Convention Center, Central Hall South, C2 lobby entrance. When: Jan. 5: 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. Jan. 6 and Jan 7: 9 a.m. - 6 p.m. Jan. 8: 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. Seek Refuge at Intel's Media Lounge We have a media-only lounge upstairs in our booth where you can relax, snack, quench your thirst and use our dedicated Internet access. Can't Make it to CES 2017? Visit our newsroom at https://newsroom.intel.com/2017-CES/, and follow us on social media at @IntelNews, @Intel and www.facebook.com/intel. Intel and the Intel logo are trademarks of Intel Corporation in the United States and other countries. *Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170104005002/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] More than 200 leading organisations, including Honeywell, Emerson Automation Solutions, Verwater, Endress+Hauser, Siemens and Silverwing, will showcase their latest solutions at StocExpo Europe 2017, to be held later this year in the Netherlands. StocExpo Europe 2017, a leading international event for the tank terminal industry, will take place from March 28 to 30, at the Ahoy Rotterdam convention centre and arena, in Rotterdam. The event will feature innovation spanning the entire supply spectrum from pumps and valves, loading equipment and coatings through to roofing, tank cleaning and degassing, said a statement. Implico Group will be introducing its new handheld solution for railcar handling. By allowing staff at trackside to be directly connected to the terminal management and automation system OpenTAS - workers can enter current loading data without detours or delays, speeding up the entire process, it said. Michael Martens, managing partner, Implico Group, said: The event is more than just a trade fair for us. Weve been exhibiting our software and cloud solutions for the optimisation of terminal management processes at StocExpo for many years. We feel connected to the people and the industry. Its always like coming home, he added. Pascal Vande Velde, CEO and founder at Avalon Automation, said: We are attending the event because we simply cant afford not to. It is the must-attend event for anyone playing a significant role in the liquid storage industry. Avalon Automation will be presenting the latest release of Alias, its configurable TAS solution which offers contracting, order management, scheduling, inventory control, order based loading, order to cash, conditional billing, KPI reporting, and more. It helps to drive down risk, avoid human errors, and structurally reduce operational costs, it added. After listening to its community of operators Arflu has designed a Dual Expanding Plug valve that eliminates the common problems that occur during operation. Being showcased at the upcoming event, the valve has a backseat, the stem packing is accessible from the outside and it can easily be changed even under pressure. The Lightning Master stand will feature its movable arm grounding system Mags. This patented bypass conductor system for external floating roof tanks is simple, gravity-powered and reliable, having been through a simulated wind test in excess of 2,000,000 cycles without wear or failure, said a statement. Jennifer Evans, director of marketing at Lightning Master Corporation, said: We view the event as the worlds premier industrial exhibition focused on bulk storage of petrochemical material. Many of the industrys best and brightest gather here to exchange new ideas and information, he said. FSP-Tech produces tank safety showers for indoor and outdoor applications. It will be demonstrating how these showers, made from stainless steel, save costs and increase safety when compared to conventional safety showers, it said. Verwater will be displaying its full spectrum of industrial and tank-related maintenance and project services, such as jacking, civil works, piping and mechanical, turnarounds, protective coatings, E&I, panel building and engineering, it added. StocExpo Europe 2017 provides Jabitherm Rohrsysteme with the perfect platform to showcase its pre-insulated pipes which are ideally suited for those involved in the chemistry and oil/gas/LNG-transfer industries. Nick Powell, portfolio event director, StocExpo & Tank Storage, said: We have such a diverse level of innovation on show this year covering the whole tank storage supply chain. I think this year more than ever we have something for everyone. We are thrilled to have the major names on board, but we are also very pleased to have so many smaller, highly innovative first-time exhibitors signing up for the show, he said. This mix means decision-makers at our show will not only meet all of their major potential suppliers under one roof, but theyll have access to a supply base which they might otherwise, never have the time or opportunity to see, he added. TradeArabia News Service Technip has been awarded by Socar GPC a service contract for the ethylene and cryomax technology licenses for a petrochemical complex and for the NGL recovery section of a gas processing plant, part of a new gas and petrochemical complex in Azerbaijan. Technip has also been awarded a contract for the development of the process and engineering design of all the process units included in the gas and petrochemical plant, as well as the design of the related utilities and off-sites. The scope of work covers the engineering design of: a new gas processing plant with capacity of 10 BCMA single train highly integrated; a new petrochemical plant including a steam cracker with a capacity of 610 KTA of ethylene and 120 KTA of propylene. In addition, the utilities and off-sites scope includes the design of all the necessary units to operate the plant efficiently while respecting the required safety and environmental standards. Technips operating center in Rome, Italy, will execute this contract, scheduled to be completed during the second half of 2017. Marco Villa, president of Technip Region EMIA, commented: We are proud of this award which reinforces the leading role of Technip in the Oil and Gas market as licensor and as engineering contractor in particular in the gas and petrochemical sector. This achievement consolidates also our long term relationship with a key client like Socar and at the same time reinforces our presence in Azerbaijan, considered a strategic market for Technip. TradeArabia News Service Oil futures edged higher on Wednesday, rebounding from the prior days sharp selloff on signs that major oil producers are sticking to their pledge to cut output. February West Texas Intermediate crude CLG7 rose 14 cents to $52.47 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while March Brent LCOH7 added 16 cents to $55.63 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange in London, reported Market watch. On Tuesday, prices for WTI and Brent crude staged a sharp reversal from their highest levels in about 18 months to mark their lowest settlements in about two weeks. The selloff came as traders grew anxious about whether members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) and other oil producers will scale back output as part of a deal agreed in late 2016. The accord kicked in on January 1. However on Wednesday, state-owned Kuwait Petroleum Corporation moved to dispel some of that anxiety, saying it was committed to curbing output and had notified clients that the production cuts would be in effect from the start of January and for the whole first quarter, according to Reuters. Brent crude prices climbed about 52 per cent in 2016 to post their first yearly increase in four years. WTI prices rose about 45 per cent last yearthe first rise in three years. Dubai-based Emirates airline will resume its flagship A380 service between Dubai and Narita, Japan, from March 26. This follows the airlines recent A380 deployment to Moscow, and will take place after the upcoming launch of A380 services to Johannesburg. It will also coincide with the launch of A380 services between Dubai and Casablanca. Narita will join more than 40 destinations on Emirates extensive global network served by its highly popular A380 aircraft, including Paris, Rome, Milan, Madrid, London and Mauritius. Emirates currently operates a three-class Boeing 777-300ER aircraft on its daily flights between Narita and Dubai. The resumption of Emirates A380 service to Narita makes it possible for Japanese travellers to fly only on A380s to their final destinations, particularly when travelling to European cities, via Dubai. Emirates will deploy its three-class A380 on the Narita route, offering a total of 489 seats, with 14 private suites in First Class, 76 mini pods with lie-flat seats in Business Class and 399 spacious seats in Economy Class, increasing capacity per flight by more than 135 passengers compared to the current Boeing 777-300ER. With the reintroduction of the A380, EK318 and EK319 will offer First Class customers the one-of-a-kind service with Emirates iconic onboard shower spa and First and Business Class customers can comfortably socialise or relax in the renowned Onboard Lounge on the upper deck. Additionally, First and Business Class customers, as well as Platinum and Gold members of Emirates Skywards departing from Narita can take advantage of The Emirates Lounge, the first airline-owned lounge in Japan. Providing an experience of seamless luxury and comfort for guests, the lounge offers a complimentary selection of fine beverages and a wide range of hot and cold delicacies from a gourmet buffet. The double-decker A380 is the worlds largest commercial aircraft in service and it is extremely popular with travellers around the globe, with its spacious and quiet cabins. - TradeArabia News Service It's a fact that we all want to have all the practical information handy way before we land in a new country. And even though you might have visited it before, you certainly didn't get the chance to see all the places that are to be seen. Which call for a handy guide with a trove of information. Travel apps are always your best friend in this case. According to Forbes, So here is an app that does just that, "TripScout" as its website states "Travel on your terms" so what does the app do? To entirety it up, it gives you the flexibility to explore destinations all alone and at your own particular pace. The application takes a shot at an offline map with global positioning system permitting you to discover and investigate new neighborhoods, eateries, social sights and so on while you find out about nearby history as you come. The best part is you absolutely never need to haul out a guide or a manual again, which spares you a considerable measure of time Reported by thecopenhagentraveler, "TripScout" offers Curated Sites; instantly have the top sites, neighborhoods, and activities on your phone, it also has Audio Tours which offers engaging stories from locals about history, culture, and food at your own schedule and pace. Each guide costs only $4.99 far cheaper than a guidebook and TripScout donates 10% of the revenue to charities. Such as projects in Guatemala and Honduras. Last but not least is the customizability of the app which offers Pinning of additional points of interest like restaurant recommendations or your hotel. Beyond incorporating guides for new cities, Konrad Waliszewski, TripScout's founder, and CEO said, TripScout is considering adding information about restaurants and hotels, as well as building a community around the app. But the focus will remain on created local tours. See Now: The U.S. had the highest number of Most Wanted properties, dominating the Hotels.com Loved By Guests Awards 2018 "Aurora Borealis" is derived from Latin "Aurora" which means "Roman goddess of the dawn" and "Borealis" meaning "northern." It's another name for Northern Lights, which is a natural phenomenon represented by reddish or greenish lights streaming across the night sky. This is typically seen around the southern or northern pole and is caused by the collision of the atmosphere's gas particles and the charged particles from the sun's atmosphere. The result is amazing, a streak of breathtaking colors strewn across the night sky best seen in these spots! Canada's Northern territories extend till the Arctic Circle. Home to other natural wonders such as the Niagara Falls, Canadians are also blessed with the view of amazing Northern lights in these places: British Columbia, Alberta and Yukon. Best seen from November until the month of February, Northern Lights can also be seen in Iceland. Visitors and locals alike can enjoy the lights in Vik I Myrdal, Reykjavik, Landmannalaugar and its parks such as Vatnajokul National Park and Thingvellir National Park. During the months of December until March, Alaska's nights are darker and longer, making the amazing lights even more distinguished. The best time to watch the Northern Lights are from 10 p.m. until 3 a.m. and they are best seen in Denali, Fairbanks and Anchorage. In Finland, Utsjoki, Nuorgam, Ivalo, Luosto, Kakslauttanen and Nellim can also enjoy the amazing lights all the way from August until April. In Saariselka village, The Kakslauttanen Artic resort offers visitors the best way to enjoy the lights with glass igloos! Though visible from the later part of September all the way until April in some areas in the Swedish Lapland, winter season in Sweden is the best time to enjoy the Northern Lights which is during March up until late April. The light show is most distinct from 10 p.m. until 1:30 a.m. These are Sweden's best spots: Torne Valley, Laponia, Lulea, Porjus, Jokkmokk and Abisko National Park. Even in continental U.S., it's also possible to see the Northern Lights. Apparently, there were four reported sightings in 2014 in Pennsylvania's Cherry Springs State Park. Take note of these spots so just in case you happen to be near these areas in one of your adventures. Who knows? You might just be one of the lucky ones to spot them! See Now: The U.S. had the highest number of Most Wanted properties, dominating the Hotels.com Loved By Guests Awards 2018 Day 1: Singapore Landmarks Start your day at the Merlion Park where you can see Singapore's most famous landmark the Merlion. From the Merlion Park, visit the ArtScience Museum located at the Marina Bay Sands Hotel. Since you're already in the Marina Bay Sands Hotel, check out its casino or just splash at its gorgeous infinity pool which is the highest and largest in the world. End your day marveling the sight surround the world's largest giant observation wheel, the Singapore Flyer. Day 2: Temples, Parks & Safari Begin the day by visiting the Sri Mariamman Temple, the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple and Museum, and the Thian Hock Keng Temple. These temples are accessible by just walking since they are situated not less than a kilometer apart. Rest and relax at the Esplanade Park after visiting the Temples, and then visit the River Safari. You can end your day by touring the Night Safari. Day 3: Take A Trip Through Singapore's Rich History Day 3 starts with a stroll to the Fort Canning Park and then retracing the colonial history of Singapore by visiting one of the three quays on the Singapore River, the Clarke Quay. From these historical sites, you can visit the Armenian Apostolic Church of St. Gregory the Illuminator and the CHIJMES (chimes), formerly called the Caldwell House. The last stop for the day is the Singapore Art Museum which has the largest collections of Singapore, Southeast Asian, and East Asian contemporary art. Day 4: Explore Resorts World Sentosa Resorts World Sentosa is located on the island of Sentosa and has an area of 49 hectares. Within the park, you can feast your eyes on the Marine Life Park, the S.E.A. Aquarium, and the Maritime Experiential Museum. Interact and learn about the bottlenose dolphins at the Dolphin Island, and splash around the Adventure Cove Waterpark. End the day by walking through a museum and interact with the art work in the Trick Eye Museum. Day 5: Universal Studios Singapore Universal Studios Singapore is divided into 7 zones, visitors can enjoy cutting-edge rides, shows, and attractions based on blockbuster movies and television series. The zones include the Hollywood, New York, Sci-Fi City, Ancient Egypt, Lost World, Far Far Away, and Madagascar. Singapore is a small country with its many attractions within walking distance from each other. While some of them are farther away, they can easily be reached via Singapore's public buses, trains, and taxi's. Visit our website for more travel hacks. See Now: The U.S. had the highest number of Most Wanted properties, dominating the Hotels.com Loved By Guests Awards 2018 The audience here is very targeted and you can really build relationships with providers and business' here. It's a good place to network and meet new partners. Audiocodes Spain has been ranking top due to its distinguished science of cooking seen in Barcelona and San Sebastian. The capital city of Andalusia, Seville have amazing cuisine and peculiar for the making of Tapas. Tapas a collective term for snacks and appetizers in Spain, are of course great in Seville but not all locations in Seville serve the best Tapas. There are four must go places to get the best Tapas which are recommended in here. According to Forbes, marked for its creativity and magnificence in food making "La Azotea" is the first restaurant highly recommended for the best-served tapas in Seville. La Azotea does not take reservation and right after serving begins the whole restaurant gets filled up. To spare yourself a spot, consider American dining time and not Spain time. They serve a variety of dishes including Iberian pork rip and almond soup but the best is red giant prawns. Owned by an adventure liking owner, "Puratsca" is the second must eat restaurant in Seville. It is located in Triana neighborhood across the river. The restaurant is small but good enough and permits reservations. Having changed the chef in June last year who increased the science of cooking through increasing Andalusia ingredients, "Cruo" ranks third in serving best tapas in Seville. The best-served tapas is octopus and beet gazpacho. Cruo has a bar and a food truck that is hoisted to the roof of a store by means of a crane! As reported by Theroadlessforked. having the magic of holding everybody's attention and generating the enthusiasm of studying the seafood on the display, the two months old restaurant "Canabota" is also recommended for serving best tapas in Seville. Preparing and serving the freshest seafood made by the owner Juanlu Fernandes, the masterpiece for this restaurant is charcoal grilling. Despite feeling the heat from grilling when seating at the bar, viewing the preparation is extremely great. See Now: The U.S. had the highest number of Most Wanted properties, dominating the Hotels.com Loved By Guests Awards 2018 Being a great year with great events and commemorations, 2017 leaves an alarming question on every traveler's Mind on where to travel to this year. Should you join Canadians in celebrating their 150th anniversary or should you travel to the US to witness the solar eclipse? But what about Zika free beach that is totally terrorist do not touch zone? The answers to all these are summarized in categories based on recommendations from various writers, travelers and magazine articles. According to Fayobserver, the first category comprises of events and anniversaries that will happen throughout the year. The early January event is the swearing-in of the new president of America, Donald Trump that will be on 20th and 21st January. February is not exciting although Houston will host bowling. Skipping to June is the Americas sailing cup and in august 21st is the most awaited solar eclipse that will last for over 2 minutes in South Carolina. Alaska and Canada have their 150th anniversary with Alaska celebrating its breaking free from Russia and Canada being free from Canada federation colonies. While Germany will be celebrating 500 years since Luther had criticized them, Russia will be commemorating 100 years of Czar's revolution that led to communism and 100 years of Finland's independence from Russia. Reported by Telegraph, the second category is the destination darlings. These include Portugal which is blooming for its food and wine replacing France due to its attack since it costs less and has a rich cultural heritage. Cape town in South Africa is marked for the new opening museum and lastly Cuba which is hoped to be the last chance for a Tango dance in Cuba before Trump prevents travelers to Cuba. The last category is the theme park. Travelers to Disney land will get a chance to see the new land being created called Pandora which originates from the Avatar movie. Also, a replacement of the twilight zone with mission break out and a privilege to see the star Moana. In addition, there will be an overwater ride called Krakatau aqua coaster by Orlando resort. See Now: The U.S. had the highest number of Most Wanted properties, dominating the Hotels.com Loved By Guests Awards 2018 Angelina Jolie and her kids went on a ski trip in Crested Butte, Colorado to celebrate New Year. From the photographs, it looks as though, the trip has changed the family's general emotion after the September divorce brouhaha. Angelina Jolie naturally distanced herself from the grief of 2016 as she hit the slopes with her on a family ski trip to a luxury $4million home in Crested Butte, Colorado. For this luxury trip, she has leased a six-bedroom mansion in which guests can ski from the slopes straight to the chalet. Eyewitnesses claim Angelina struggled to uphold her composure during ski moments despite her sporty frame. Daily Mail reported that the "Beyond Boarders" actress seemed to be struggling on the mountain and was seen occasionally falling on the steep parts of the slopes. Later, she opted to take off the skis and walk the rest of the way back to the bottom. She was also reportedly seen wearing electric thermal foot warmers. After the ski session, Angelina Jolie and daughter Vivienne took some time to travel around the winter resort. They went out for an ice-cream, where they are viewed as the picture perfect duo in matching ski wear as they hand-in-hand to indulge in the tasty treat. The pair were seen stopped by at the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory for a hot chocolate and an ice-cream to take away. While Vivienne happily feasted the creamy dessert, Angelina picked a coffee as they carry on to the toy store around the corner for a spot of shopping. Crested Butte is a famous place for skiers and snowboarders. The places also offer many other things to see and do the whole year round. If traveling with kids in Crested Butte, Colorado visits the Trailhead Children's Museum, or the Crested Butte Mountain Heritage Museum. You can also explore Gravity Groms, and Meridian Lake where you can swim and hike are fun activities during summer, says, Trip Advisor. See Now: The U.S. had the highest number of Most Wanted properties, dominating the Hotels.com Loved By Guests Awards 2018 A woman with a pseudonym made a name by driving through 75 countries in a Ford Model T. She was known as Aloha Wanderwell who once epitomized the excitement of travel in a world where cars were new. Idris Galcia in real life was born in Winnipeg, Canada. Her father was a British Army reservist who died during World War I. After the war ended, she went to school in France where she drove her teachers crazy with her tomboyish ways and her rebelliousness. In 1922, she came across an ad in the Paris Herald, the European version of a New York paper, that is looking for a lucky young woman with beauty, brains, and breeches which will be rewarded with a world tour. A man named Captain Walter Wanderwell placed the ad in the paper. It was a pseudonym of Valerian Johannes Piecynski who opted to change it to a worldlier and less Polish name. Wanderwell was a self-made man, a mysterious figure whose name was linked with World War I espionage and has a taste for intercontinental travel. The sixteen-year-old Hall was fascinated and when Wanderwell met her, the feeling was alike. Immediately he asked her to work as his secretary supporting the Work around the World Educational Club (WAWEC) for International Police during an around-the-world tour, says Time. The aspiring around-the-world WAWEC tour was apparently aimed at ad hoc international peacekeeping in a world withered by war, but its real purpose was to make money from a group of volunteer cadets whose dues financed the publicity-laden trip. Wanderwell also got funding for the journey from the Ford Motor Company, which contributed Model T's for the journey. Hall's mother arranged for Wanderwell to declare her his ward and for her daughter to take on his last name. He re-christened her Aloha, and they went out on a trip called The Million Dollar Wager. Wanderwell would contest against his wife, Nell, in a race around the world with two Model T teams. The journey took Aloha and her boss from Asia to Africa and beyond. They funded their tour by creating films of the sights they come across, speaking in public and signing up volunteers for the WAWEC. Together, the Wanderwells they encountered indigenous cultures, wild animals, dangerous terrains and swaying bridges. Aloha was often behind a camera, detailing her amazing and often dangerous journey. Aloha Wanderwell continues to travel, write memoirs, make movies, and about her adventures until her death in the 1990s. The historic footage she gathered considered to be groundbreaking as well as her movies can be found in both the Smithsonian and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' film archive. The girl with a palate for adventure was also a woman who demonstrated what a fearless traveler with a Model T and a camera could accomplish. See Now: The U.S. had the highest number of Most Wanted properties, dominating the Hotels.com Loved By Guests Awards 2018 The year 2017 started things right when the Akagera National Park in Rwanda announced that they would be reintroducing black rhinos back to the wild. The Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs committed 200,000 to the rhino project in the park with the vision to see 'black rhinos restored not just to a park, but to an entire country.' In the early 80's, the animals were considered extinct due to excessive poaching by hunters. About 50 rhinos were last seen in the Akagera National Park in 2007. Ten years later, the Dutch Ministry, African Parks and Rwandan Development Board are taking steps to translocate 10 rhinos safely in the land. The organizations noted that the national park is the perfect location for the animals because it is the only safe savannah region in the country. They see the 10 rhinos to populate the area in a few years' time. Akegera has also relocated seven lions in 2015 after 20 years being gone in the park. According to them, if the organizations successfully relocated the rhinos, the savannah will be the home of The Big Five - rhinos, lions, leopard, buffalo and elephant - and will become a potential tourist destination. According to Safari Guide, Peter Fearnhead, CEO of African Parks said that the reestablishment of the black rhinos to the national park is a 'story of hope and homecomings.' "We thank the Dutch Government for their generous contribution and congratulate our government partner, the RDB on receiving this support and the role they have played in the ongoing success of Akagera," he said. The Akagera is the oldest national park in the country and is home to more than 8,000 mammals and 500 bird species. Plans for the park include managing and rehabilitation of wildlife, restoring the savannah ecosystem, and wide practicing of conservation and tourism policies. See Now: The U.S. had the highest number of Most Wanted properties, dominating the Hotels.com Loved By Guests Awards 2018 Beyonce and family have explored Italy, Cuba, and other places, which she shared through social media. For those who wish to travel like Beyonce here is a rundown of the things to do and the places to go. Visit the Amalfi Coast Queen Bey appears to love Italy more than anywhere else in the world. Most travelers cannot afford to spend $900,000-a-week yacht while in a foreign country. As an alternative, try the 8 Days-Rome-to-Florence small-group tour. It is a group package so you can still marvel at those same places that Beyonce and her family visited at a very different price. You will have the chance to travel to Rome, Florence, and the Amalfi Coast to find out why Beyonce fell in love with this beautiful country. Enjoy the Beautiful Sardinia Drift to paradise on the second-largest Mediterranean island and stay at the Grand Resort Ma&Ma. The place lets you experience a stay in contemporary luxury, without the five-star price. They also offer a five-star stay, including breakfast, discounts, shuttle-bus carriage to the city center and more. Since Italy is Beyonce's favorite European destination, it would be a miss if you do not visit Sardinia. Moreover, Sardinia's beer consumption per capita is double compared to mainland Italy, so expect beers and more beers. Cruise to the Mediterranean Sail away through Croatia by boat and stopover at Hvar. It is one of Beyonce's favorite places. Beyonce even named her daughter after a tree she saw in the town. There is a travel package by Topdeck which includes one of the most beautiful countries on earth which happens to be the Hollywood couple's favorite too. Furthermore, make sure to go to the Hula Hula bar in West Hvar. This is the place where Beyonce and Jay-Z were seen drinking their cocktails through the night. See Now: The U.S. had the highest number of Most Wanted properties, dominating the Hotels.com Loved By Guests Awards 2018 The United Arab Emirates, America, New Zealand, United Kingdom, Australia and other countries have raised travel warnings for tourists planning to journey or are currently in Turkey. After a nightclub shootout in the capital of Istanbul, the countries have issued statements to postpone travel for travelers with booked flights and itineraries and warned citizens in the country to remain vigilant and fly out of the country at the soonest possible time. According to Fox News, the UAE had issued its statement on Tuesday night. In a short statement in Arabic, all UAE travelers to Turkey are requested to postpone their travel plans "until further notice." In their respective foreign travel websites, the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Denmark and other European countries have cautioned would-be travelers to remain vigilant during their travels and asked citizens already in Turkey to stay away from public gatherings and popular tourist spots likely to be targeted by criminals. The Turkish government is presently on a manhunt to find the gunman who had opened fire inside popular tourist nightclub Reina in Istanbul. According to Express UK, the gunman went on a rampage during New Year's Eve killing 39 people and injuring 69 other individuals. The news website added that the UK's Foreign and Commonwealth Office warns tourists only to stay away from Turkish parts near the Syrian border. The militant group Islamic State had claimed the attack as one of their own. Authorities believe the attacker was well-trained in guerrilla warfare and may have trained in Syria -- currently the central operating area of the militant group. The official Islamic State statement said the Reina nightclub in Istanbul was a gathering point for Christians and the act was "revenge for Turkish military involvement in Syria." Currently, Turkish authorities have two photographs of the gunman. The photographs revealed him to have no facial hair, black-haired and wearing a dark winter coat. Despite the Islamic State's claims, Turkey did not mention any specific terrorist group during its statement that it would "fight against terrorism." See Now: The U.S. had the highest number of Most Wanted properties, dominating the Hotels.com Loved By Guests Awards 2018 New York City just etched history again, this time having Sugar Factory American Brasserie as "2016's Most Instagrammed Restaurant In New York." Effortlessly, it's one of the celebrities most favorite to go sweet stop. Clearly, everyone must get a closer look on this eye-candy food shop and make it their next destination. Surely, its food playful colors, large servings, and high-calorie blends will get anyone's attention. In a recent report, Sugar Factory got thrillingly crowned by USA Today. It's being on the list of the most restaurants most Instagram users go. Actually, it focused on 50 US States, and each place got one top place. Technically, the sweet shop snatched New York City's Most Instagrammed Restaurant. What's so special about the "2016's Most Instagrammed Restaurant In New York"? founder Charissa Davidovici said: "[They] get a lot of love on Instagram because of their vibrant colors, playful presentation, and larger-than-life size."Supposedly, people liked a lot the signature size, whimsical color, and unusual presentation of the confections. Celebrities frequenting "2016's Most Instagrammed Restaurant In New York" like Kylie and Kendall Jenner, Britney Spears, Drake, Nicole Scherzinger, and more added frenzy. Of course, with their status people got curious about Sugar Factory, indeed it dosed the widespread of attention. The fun isn't over yet keep taking snaps of their explosive dessert. Some of their most Instagrammed sweets are Caramel Sugar Daddy Milkshake, Bacon Cheeseburger Milkshake, and Strawberry Ice Cream Drizzle. Definitely, Sugar Factory's original King Kong Sundae is also a must-have. Instagrammers would have a field day with its 24 variety of ice cream scoops lingered with three syrups, fruits, marshmallows, chocolates, whipped cream, and huge lollipops. To conclude, "2016's Most Instagrammed Restaurant In New York" delivers a new standard for the food industry and traveling. People now like to try brand new things. For more travel news, keep following Travelers Today. See Now: The U.S. had the highest number of Most Wanted properties, dominating the Hotels.com Loved By Guests Awards 2018 The first chapter of a whole new year is just starting and every new chapter, people may want to start a new life. New life, a new chapter and new opportunities, and everyone believe that there is nothing much to find if one is only staying in one place. Usually, people would want to migrate to a different city or country to either find a new job, a new opportunity or to just get out of their old place to try their luck this 2017 in a new place. Which is not a bad idea, after all, there are still so much that the world can offer. Here are the best and cheapest countries to relocate to this year: Bolivia. Living in this South American country would not cost much. Sure the housing can be pretty expensive but in the Capital Sucre for example in which the CPI is 37.60, there are affordable one-room apartments to stay in that would only cost a person around $226 a month. Meanwhile, the monthly utility bill will only reach an average amount of $42. Everybody knows how expensive the lifestyle can be in Europe, little did they know that the Eastern Europe can be pretty cheap as well. For instance, Bulgaria which is an Eastern European country is the twenty-ninth most affordable country to live in, in the world. The CPI remained 37 since 2015 and a one-bedroom rental located in central Sofia only costs $300 per month. $11 can already be a three-course meal at a restaurant and a one-way metro ticket is $0.85. Albania. Another European country that would be perfect for those who are looking for a new place to resettle in. One-bedroom rents can be as low as $155 a month. A meal in a nice restaurant can be as cheap as $6 and a one-way bus ticket is $0.31. One-bedroom rental can only cost $76 and one can only spend around $2 for a good meal in a restaurant. Nepal had been one of the most affordable places to live in. Check out Travelers Today for more travel news and tips. See Now: The U.S. had the highest number of Most Wanted properties, dominating the Hotels.com Loved By Guests Awards 2018 When we travel, safety is of utmost importance especially these days where violence and terrorism are rampant. However, these shouldn't hinder us from having an adventure. There are some safety tips on how to minimize hazards when you are planning a trip to Europe. Hurt or injury often happens in the bars. If you can't avoid going to the bars in Europe to socialize, just walk away from confrontations. There are incidents that were reported worldwide about the increasing violence in parts of Europe associated with a large concentration of tourists. Be vigilant all the time. Due to the endless war in religion and politics, there's an increase in terrorist attacks in Europe. So, how can you plan a safe vacation in Europe? Consider a rural vacation and head to smaller cities and towns. The countryside has a lot to offer, just be appreciative of nature and the nice culture that you'd be able to experience with the locals. Just like in other major cities in the world, street hazards is something to watch out for when you are traveling to Europe. In Rome, Florence and Barcelona which are the major tourist destinations, pickpockets is very common. Women are discouraged to carry a purse while men must not put their wallet in the back pocket. Everyone must carry their valuables like money, passport and credit cards in a secure below-the-belt wallet. A common scene in a crowded subway are women with over-swaddled babies. It's more likely that hiding somewhere inside the excess cloth are her wandering hands ready to whatever valuables you may have at her reach. Don't get distracted and move! If you come across with a group of dirty kids carrying a piece of cardboard with all the rubbish written on it, don't be distracted. It's their way to steal from you. It's fine to push them away. It's always better to be safe than sorry. If you can avoid or minimize hazards on your trips, then, by all means, do it. Most importantly be alert all the time. See Now: The U.S. had the highest number of Most Wanted properties, dominating the Hotels.com Loved By Guests Awards 2018 Porto's appeal may be the colorful tumble down dream with medieval relics, soaring bell towers, extravagant baroque churches and state of the art buildings piled on top of one another, narrow lanes and staircases zigzagging to nowhere Though in those areas hide the best bars and coolest pubs of the town. These famous bars and pubs serve everything from Porto's namesake drink, port, to speciality beer and cocktails, and make the ideal spot to chill after a long day in the town. Here are some of the hippiest bars to visit in Porto, Portugal. Capela Incomum. Take a trip off the bustling Cedofeita shopping area down a highway backstreet to find an old chapel converted into the trendy Capela Incomum wine bar. On the ground floor of the bar you can find small tables surround a wooden altar while a comfortable upstairs area features additional seating. Pair one of the century old wines with a platter of Portuguese cheeses and cured meats. trust me its delish. Catraio. According to Lonely Planet, this bar is known as the city's first dedicated craft beer bar. The Bar includes a mix of alfresco tables and indoor seating, it has over a 100 varieties including a rotating selection of tap beers. Catraio primarily supports domestic producers of alcohol and wine but also serves a range of international brews. New Yorker Bar. This bar is an great venue where guests can look forward to a calm, intimate and chill atmosphere. According to The Culture Trip, it also has a fine selection of wines and spirits including, of course, the well known and famous port wine for which the region is so renowned. Passos Manuel. This place was a former theater converted into a bar. Here the you could find the best Porto clubs in terms of DJs and bands plus it also puts on a program of alternative events such as theater performances and film screenings which make the crowd more interested. With all its accomodations it offers, this is a pleasant venue in the busy center of the nightlife area. Triplex. This classy venue which functions as a restaurant most of the time converts into a bar and club at night where people can chill. The venue is set in a 19th-century villa that has been remodelled with in a fashionable contemporary style, this is a somewhat hidden option which will satisfy customers far into the small hours at night. For more of the latest news and current events around the world, feel free to visit Travelers Today. See Now: The U.S. had the highest number of Most Wanted properties, dominating the Hotels.com Loved By Guests Awards 2018 Prince Harry likes going to Africa as he feels more like himself in the continent "than anywhere else in the world." The prince was there last August to assist African Parks, a non-profit conservation organization, in relocating 500 elephants to another wildlife reserve. Klara Glowczewska of Town&Country said they accompanied Harry in that trip for six days to observe what the prince will be doing and they also featured him on the cover of their February 2017 issue. Prince Harry was there for three weeks to actively participate in the relocation. The relocation was done by the Conservation Solutions, which specializes in the capture and transport of large animals. Kester Vickery, the co-founder of the company, said that what they're doing is "the future of elephant conservation in Africa." He adds that their company "can move thousands, even, from overcrowded areas to safe ones where their populations can continue to grow. It is better than culling." Glowczewska said that while in Africa, Harry is just one of Vickery's crew, sleeping where they sleep and getting up when everyone else gets up at dawn. The prince said staying in the army for 10 years taught him how to sleep rough. Harry met Peter Fearnhead the CEO and co-founder of the organization in 2015, during his annual trips to Africa and instantly fell in love with the organization. He said that African Parks get things done, "and they stick to principles." He adds that he goes to Africa to surround himself with people working in conservation and to support them. Glowczewska adds that the trip last August was Harry's first time to see African Parks in action. Harry has been fond of Africa, telling Glowczewska that he feels more like himself whenever he's on the continent. He adds that Africa gives him a sense of normality and relaxation, being with the people who are dedicated to conservation and no agendas or ulterior motives. Helping elephants is not the only thing that Prince Harry does in Africa as he tries to use his royal role to make an impact. In a December report, ITV shared some of the things the prince talked about in the documentary about his charity work in Lesotho through the Sentebale, a charity he co-founded with Prince Seeiso of Lesotho. The prince no longer fights against his royal role, as he now feels "fired up and energized to be lucky enough to be in a position to make a difference." Check out the "Prince Harry in Africa" documentary below. In other news, Prince Harry's charity work has helped him develop a friendship with celebrities such as Rihanna. The two recently went to the Caribbean for the World AIDS Day, and some said it was like a scene from a romantic comedy. See Now: The U.S. had the highest number of Most Wanted properties, dominating the Hotels.com Loved By Guests Awards 2018 The International Tourism Fair in Spain (FITUR), taking place on January 18-22 in Madrid, comprises a number of events organized by the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO). Activities will have a special focus on sustainable tourism, including the official presentation of the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development 2017 on January 18. UNWTO has prepared a number of events to be held at FITUR, starting with the presentation of the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development 2017. Also on January 18 the 13th Edition of the UNWTO Awards on Innovation and Excellence in Tourism will commend some of the best examples of sustainable tourism around the world. Preceding the ceremony on January 16, the Awards Forum will serve to present the 12 projects shortlisted from 139 initiatives that were received from 55 countries. In addition to the presentation of the International Year and the UNWTO Awards, more than 20 ministers of tourism from Africa will debate the opportunities that the sector can bring to the continent. The Tourism Investment and Business Forum for Africa (INVESTOUR) will focus on the role of sustainable tourism to foster social inclusion and prosperity. The Forum, organized in cooperation with Casa Africa, will this year include two round tables: Technology and design of new touristic products and Capacity development for youth and women in tourism. The potential of tourism in the MENA region will also be examined during FITUR through a ministerial discussion forum jointly organized by UNWTO and Casa Arabe. The event will focus on sustaining growth and strengthening the resilience of tourism in the Middle East and North Africa. Additional information: Provisional programme of UNWTO activities at FITUR Official webpage of the International Year UNWTO Awards Daily News Delivery Join your colleagues and stay up to date on the latest Travel industry news and trends. Subscribe 2022 Travel Industry Wire This Account has been suspended. Search News Archive : Fast Travel News Promotion Via Search, Social Media + Email Follow Us On : LIVE AS A LOCAL IN LUXURY ON LAKE COMO Industry: Accommodation IC BELLAGIO PRESS RELEASE (TRAVPR.COM) ITALY - January 4th, 2017 - With Italy remaining in the 5 most visited countries last year, a holiday to the blue waters of Lake Como remains an ideal place for travellers this year. 2017 is set to be an exciting year for everyone at the Palazzo Vice Del Re, with even more guests expected. This lakeside historic palace located one of the worlds most exclusive destinations offers guests the opportunity to live as a local, in luxury on Lake Como. The Palazzo Vice Del Re boasts a 100% Excellent rating on TripAdvisor. Guests will understand why when they experience the elegance of a historic property with the comfort of a luxury home from home. State-of-the-art sound systems, modern bathrooms, high-speed Wi-Fi and deliciously comfortable beds, blend seamlessly with the ornate ceilings, marble fireplaces and period antiques. It is also perfectly located to explore the regions cultural highlights, natural beauty and water based adventures. Andrea Grisdale, Chief Executive of Palazzo Del Vice Re said: Travellers looking for luxury, comfort and a unique atmosphere where they can truly live as a local will love this boutique property. With history, character and spectacular views set on the banks of Lake Como, the Palazzo Del Vice Re is an ideal home from home for your 2017 holiday. To book visit: www.palazzodelvicere.com Prices start from Euro 280 per room, per night including breakfast, service and taxes -ENDS- ### 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: Andrew Company: IC BELLAGIO Phone: +447918122062 Email: andrew@icbellagio.com 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. Tribune News Service New Delhi, January 3 With demonetisation impacting the economy and growth, some states have put up a demand for higher compensation under the GST regime, which constitutes a new challenge to the rollout and timeline for the biggest indirect tax reform. In the seventh meeting of the GST Council today, which will resume tomorrow, some non-BJP states demanded taxation rights for sales in high seas and also increasing the number of items on which cess is to be levied to compensate the states to deal with revenue loss estimated at Rs 90,000-crore, post- demonetisation. This is much above the initial estimate of a Rs 55,000-crore GST compensation fund that was proposed to be created by levying cess on demerit or sin goods and luxury items. Some states like West Bengal and Kerala said post-demonetisation, the compensation amount is expected to go up to Rs 90,000 crore as most states have seen revenue decline of up to 40%. West Bengal Finance Minister Amit Mitra said the state revenue had declined post-demonetisation and demanded a higher sum as compensation. Also, some of the coastal states pressed for rights to levy GST on trade of goods within 12 nautical miles offshore, which led to the holding up of finalisation of the draft law for the levy of Integrated-GST (IGST) on inter-state trade. The meeting did not take up the contentious issue of control of assesses which had been till now holding up rollout of GST regime. It would be discussed tomorrow. Some states pointed out that it is difficult to meet the April 1 deadline for the GST rollout. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has pointed out that September 16 is the last deadline as the current indirect tax structure will cease to exist and it is a constitutional compulsion to roll out the GST before that. New Delhi, January 3 People thronging the RBI office to exchange old Rs 500 and 1,000 notes returned empty handed as the central bank is allowing the facility only for NRIs or those who were abroad during the 50-day demonetisation period. People were seen arguing with security guards at designated RBI branch saying that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had promised that old notes could be exchanged till March 31, 2017 at RBI. Even the RBI on November 8 statement said, Any person who is unable to exchange or deposit the specified banknotes in their bank accounts on or before December 30, 2016 shall be given an opportunity to do so at specified offices of the RBI or such other facility until a later date as may be specified by the Reserve Bank. The central bank on December 31 designated its five offices Mumbai, New Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata, and Nagpur to exchange defunct currency notes post 50-day demonetisation period that ended on December 30. Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his address to the nation on November 8 had said, There may be some who for some reason, are not able to deposit their old 500 or 1,000 rupee notes by December 30, 2016. They can go to specified offices of the RBI up to March 31, 2017 and deposit the notes after submitting a declaration form. RBI has imposed conditions for availing extended facility for note exchanges. It had said that NRIs and Indians returning from abroad will have to physically show the junked 500 and 1,000 rupee notes to Customs officials at the airport and get a declaration form stamped before they can deposit the demonetised currency in RBI during the grace period. Indians who were abroad during November 9 to December 30 have been given a 3-month grace period till March 31 to deposit the junked notes, while for the NRIs, it is 6 months till June 30. While there is no limit on deposit of defunct notes by an Indian national who was abroad when the 50-day window was in operation, NRIs can deposit only Rs 25,000 as per FEMA law restrictions. However, this facility is not available for Indian citizens resident in Nepal, Bhutan, Pakistan and Bangladesh. PTI Tribune News Service Chandigarh, January 3 Eighteen persons were injured, two of them seriously, when a speeding private Volvo bus, on its way from Manali to Noida, overturned at the Sector 42 roundabout this morning. Sources said the bus driver, Raj Kumar, was driving rashly and lost control over the bus, leading to the accident. The driver fled from the spot, but was later arrested from a nearby forest area. Passersby informed the police about the mishap who rushed to the spot. PCR vehicles took the injured to Government Multi-Specialty Hospital (GMHS), Sector 16. While 16 injured were discharged after a few hours, the remaining two, Kuldeep Singh of Delhi and Nasir of Noida who were seriously injured, were referred to the PGI. While Kuldeep suffered a serious injury on his foot, Nasir suffered a head injury. Abhilash, one of the passengers, said the bus was being driven rashly and some passengers had advised the driver to drive safely. Police officials said the driver was medically examined and he was not found drunk. His blood sample has been sent to the Central Forensic Science Laboratory, Sector 36, for examination, which will confirm whether or not he was under the influence of some drug, the sources said. A case has been registered against the bus driver at the Sector 36 police station. He was arrested and later released on bail. Sandeep Rana Tribune News Service Chandigarh, January 3 A day after Chandigarh Tribune highlighted how touts were fleecing traffic offenders coming to the District Courts to pay the challan amount, judges today swung into action. District and Sessions Judge Balbir Singh today took a round of the courts to check touts. Judges, including Civil Judge (Senior Division) Barjinder Pal and Chief Judicial Magistrate Akshdeep Mahajan, held a meeting to find ways and put an end to the practice. Officials of the UT Vigilance Department have been directed to remain present in the court complex in civil dress to keep an eye on the touts. People come to the court in connection with their challans, hoping to get some relief. However, they get cheated and are made to pay through their nose by the touts, said a court official. The touts had a field day yesterday as over 200 persons came to pay the challan amount for drunken driving and get their impounded vehicles released. A few touts charged more than thrice the challan amount. They promised the offenders that they would get their vehicles released in a hassle-free manner and in case their help was not sought, the court might take stern action against the offenders such as asking them to stand till the rising of the court. Sources said around 15 middlemen were operating at the District Courts where a large number of traffic offenders come to pay challans. Pay challan yourself, avoid trouble The authorities of the District Courts have exhorted people to appear in the court to pay the challan amount and not to go through touts. There is a misconception that violators are jailed for the first drunken driving offence, which does not generally happen, said an official. KC Singh AS 2017 dawns, economic anxiety in India and strategic uncertainty abroad prevail. A number of inflexion points loom that can bring change for the better or worse. In India, it is still unknown if the demonetisation will benefit or harm the BJPs electoral prospects. The RBI remaining silent on the quantum of money returned with rumours it may equal or even exceed estimates of cash in circulation escapes logic. Its independence as fiscal manager is being questioned openly, thus colouring the perception of India as a reliable destination for foreign investment. The Election Commission, like the RBI, has compromised by delaying the election date announcement for the crucial elections, particularly in UP which gave the BJP a quarter of its total Lok Sabha members. In 2012, the announcement had come around Christmas. The schedule was adjusted to the governments needs, till after the PMs January 2 UP rally. Meanwhile, the Samajwadi Partys infighting persists, with the son and CM Akhilesh Yadav confronting the ageing father. Akhileshs gamble is that by rebelling he becomes the anti-incumbent, despite being the CM. UPs victor may lead the Opposition in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Thus the BJP must succeed to stymie young leaders like Arvind Kejriwal who can capture Punjab and Akhilesh Yadav who may re-conquer UP. If the BJPs defences are breached in UP, Punjab or Goa, the floodgates may open in the PMs home state Gujarat, where elections follow and unease is apparent after the post-Patel agitation. The world too is at a crossroads. The Economist captures the Western dilemma in the Schumpeter column titled Slow growth, social division and populist revolt. It argues that a wave of populism is rapidly destroying the foundations of the post-war international order and is likely to generate instability. In 2017, elections will be held in Germany, France and perhaps Italy. Iranian presidential elections are in May and will be a plebiscite on the P5+1 nuclear deal. China also faces the 19th National Congress, which will address major leadership changes. Trump, of course, ascends to presidency on January 20. German Chancellor Angela Merkels defeat, Frances Marine Le Pens victory or the rise of disruptive forces in Italy can destroy the EU, fractured by the Brexit vote. Polands populist government is already reversing two decades of democratic progress. The Economist dismally surmises that wealth is generated but captured by a few, new technologies destroy jobs that evaporate and the underclass is beyond help or redemption. Consequently, leaders like Donald Trump are emerging, incoherent ideologically, but with populist prescriptions. Take his approach to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Although Richard Nixon, during the 1968 election, approached Vietnam to stymie President Lyndon B Johnsons peace initiative as did Ronald Reagans electoral team contact Iranians to delay the American hostages release, which incumbent President Jimmy Carter desperately sought the recent spat between President Barack Obama and Trump is unprecedented. For the US to name the Russian government as guilty of hacking and mass deport some diplomatic staff and Trump thereafter dubbing Putin not retaliating very smart is breaching barriers between domestic politics and foreign policy. The America First slogan of Trump has yet to be translated into policy and thus leaves allies and foes guessing. If the US core interests are redefined, all trade and strategic partnerships are up for recalibration. First is Trumps desire to recalibrate US-Russia relations. It is unimaginable that Putin would not treat that as US acceptance of Russias core interests in former communist countries abutting its border, including annexation of Crimea, reduced support for the Ukrainian government and the Baltic republics, and the new red lines between NATO and Russia. In exchange, Trump would want Russia to align its West Asia policy largely with US interests, rein in Iran and not converge strongly with China. Trumps China policy could thus reverse the 1972 detente whereby the US aimed to exacerbate Sino-Soviet differences and isolate the USSR for easier containment. Now, Russia is to be weaned away from China by accommodating its interest in the West. This is premised on Putin naively trusting the US. President George Bush also had at one stage gazed into Putins eyes and found a kindred soul, a position from which he later recanted. Putin will take a call depending on whether oil and gas prices stabilise and the US is seen as unable by its shale gas production to undercut the OPEC plus cartel. Russias new foreign policy concept paper has some significant modifications compared to the past. One, it emphasises status projection i.e. restoring Russian prestige and power and push back against Russian containment. Two, it validates the wise use of military power like it has in Syria to achieve the first. Three, it emphasises international law, challenging new concepts like Responsibility to Protect (R2P) that NATO has used to justify intervention in states. This does not sound like a pliant Russia about to be US B-team. Concomitantly, Trump has challenged Chinese trade practices. Can he do that while ignoring Chinese assertiveness in the East and South China Seas? Mixed signals are being tested by China, seizing a US maritime drone in international waters, and are confusing ASEAN countries. Some, like President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines, are breaking ranks with the US. Thus as liberalism, free trade and less government is challenged globally and democratic institutions seem dysfunctional, it is for defenders of those values in politics and civil society to circle their wagons. In the US, in 1938, the government spent a quarter of the GDP on itself. Now the number is 38 per cent in US, 51 in Italy and 57 in France. In India, under the garb of chasing black money and terrorists, tax inspectors are being unleashed. Peoples trust in government machinery being low, privacy issues cannot be ignored in the mindless pursuit of e-transactions, handing personal data to private players and governments for possible misuse or leak. It remains to be seen if a Merkel, despite Russian danger of more hacking to undercut her, an Akhilesh, overturning caste and clan, can turn the tide. As Shakespeare said sometimes peoples and leaders must Meet the time as it seeks us. The writer is a former Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs Faizan Mustafa GOD is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him. Yet his shadow still looms, said Nietzsche. India is a secular country with religion occupying centre stage. Accordingly, religion and religious propaganda are used in every election in spite of the fact that an appeal for votes in the name of religion or religious symbols is a corrupt electoral practice.What to say of religion, ultra-nationalists may be shocked to know that appeal to even national symbols such as the National Flag or the national emblem in electoral battles is also prohibited by the Representation of People's Act,1951.(RP Act). India's failure in erecting much-needed wall of separation between religion and the state was the first blunder of our Republic.BJP should forever remain indebted to Jawaharlal Nehru. Even in the 2014 elections, the Har Har Modi slogan was all over even though the development was the main plank of the party. After the results, the Vishva Hindu Parishad President Ashok Singhal declared that a proud Hindu is in power in New Delhi after 800 years. Gandhiji did not favour even the continuance of political parties and advocated the dissolution of the Indian National Congress so that people vote on the merit of the candidates. Though the bench did not agree to reopen the erroneous Hindutva judgment of 1995, authored by J.S. Verma, on the technical ground that such a question was not referred to the seven-judge bench. In retrospect, all is well that ends well as in the view of the three judges disagreeing with the majority on the limited question of the meaning of the pronoun his. Had the Hindutva judgment been reconsidered, the decision could have gone either way. In any case, since the BJP governments, as Justice MadanB.Lokur rightly said surprisingly favoured a narrow construction of the prohibition of appeal in the name of religion. The primary question in this case was whether appeal in the name of religion or other three prohibited grounds must be confined to just the religion, language, caste or the community of the candidate contesting an election or the prohibition extend to appeals in the name of religion etc. of his election agents, any other person or even voters. Those who have been the primary beneficiaries of use/misuse of religion or religious symbols such as rightist parties naturally argued that the Section 123 (3) of the RP Act as amended in 1961 be confined just to the appeals in the name of the religion of the candidates. They further argued against a broader interpretation on three grounds: First, the consequences of being found guilty of corrupt electoral practice are too severe which include not only the election being declared void but also being further disqualified for six years; secondly, freedom of expression is not to be curtailed by the election law during the election campaign and thirdly the court should not unsettle the legal position as to the meaning of his which is settled for decades whereby appeal cannot be made in the name of religion of the candidate. The Supreme Court did not accept the narrower interpretation argument of the BJP-ruled states and favoured purposive interpretation of the expression his. Justice Lokur, with whom Justice Nageshwar agreed, held that in the interpretation of law both text of law as well as social context in which the law in question was enacted are to be taken into account. The amendment to Section 123(3) was made to control communalism as the requirement of systematic appeal in the name of religion etc. was too heavy and people making stray statements were escaping from the prohibition of the use of religion. He rightly said that the task of the court is to give effect to the Parliaments purpose. Words are to be given their meaning but let us not make a fortress out of the dictionary. Every statute does have some purpose or object to accomplish. On the basis of simultaneous addition of Section 153A in the Indian Penal Code to control misuse of religion in creating enmity or hatred amongst citizens, mischief which 1961 amendment to Section 123(3) o by deleting the expression systemic appeal, statement of objects and reasons clause, Justice Lokur concluded that pronoun his would include not only the candidate but his election agent and even voters if such an appeal had the consent of the candidate or his agents. Thus no candidate can escape from the bar simply on the ground that the appeal to vote or refrain for voting was not made in the name of his religion. Justice S.A. Bobde went a step further and held that even textual interpretation of expression his in Section 123(3) would lead to the same conclusion. Chief Justice TS Thakur, in his concurring opinion reiterated that India is a secular state is no longer res integra and religious activity cannot be mixed with secular activity. Mixing of religion with the state power is not permissible. He conceded that secularism is not only the basic structure but the core constitutional objective. Those who have been arguing that secularism was not there in the original Constitution and was just inserted in 1976 by Indira Gandhi would naturally be hugely disappointed to read his judgment. The dissent has been authored by Justice DY Chandrachud,with whom Justice AK Goel and UU Lalit agreed. There was no disagreement on the issue of secularism. Justice Chandrachud favoured literal interpretation and held his in Section 123(3) refers to the person who is the real beneficiary of the appeal and, therefore, it must be confined to just the candidate. He also made a reality check by asserting that religion cannot be obliterated from public life. If there have been some injustices faced by a group, they should be entitled to indulge in social mobilisation and prohibition of expression of their legitimate concerns in an election would reduce democracy to an abstraction. Asad Owaisi's reaction to the judgment does give an idea about the anxiety of dissenting judges. With this judgment there is now an urgent need to specifically overrule the Hindutva judgment of 1995. Otherwise we would be in strange situation as no appeal can be made in the name of any other religion. The Shiv Sena and the BJP may continue to polarise elections in the name of Hinduism and Hindutva, which the court had held are just ways of life not religion. In fact, this interpretation is patently discriminatory and is violative of equality of religions which is the very essence of our secularism. If Hinduism is not religion, can a law made by the state favouring Hindus be upheld under Article 15(1) which prohibits discrimination only on the basis of religion? The writer is the Vice Chancellor of NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad. The Supreme Court has ruled that seeking votes in the name of religion, caste or community amounts to a corrupt practice and the election of a candidate guilty of this can be set aside. The split verdict of the seven-judge Constitution Bench headed by Chief Justice TS Thakur said: Election is a secular exercise and therefore a process should be followed.the relationship between man and God is an individual choice and state should keep this in mind. Asserting that this almost amounted to a judicial redrafting of the law, the dissenting judges said: Law does not prohibit dialogue or a discussion of a matter which concerns voters. Opinion is and will remain divided. Since it is the majority view that prevails, the law is clear whether one agrees with it or not. Questions are being raised about the apex court not revisiting the 1995 judgment which had held that seeking vote in the name of Hindutva or Hinduism did not prejudicially affect any candidate. A three-judge Bench headed by Justice JS Verma had then upheld the election of Shiv Sena leader Manohar Joshi, saying Joshi's statement that the first Hindu State will be established in Maharashtra did not amount to appeal on the ground of religion. The Bombay High Court had nullified Joshis election for violating the constitutional commitment to secularism. Since there was no mention of Hindutva in the case in hand, the apex court has tactfully refused to reopen the Hindutva judgment. Mondays judgment will have a significant bearing on the coming state elections, particularly in UP and Punjab. The use of caste, community and religion for electoral gain is rampant countrywide. Not just the BJP and the Akali Dal, almost all major political parties are guilty of steadily and calculatedly eroding the secular foundation of the Constitution. The Constitution mandates a secular State and, as a corollary, a secular electoral process. Still, a clear constitutional stipulation has not prevented the communally-inclined politicians from invoking religious feelings, symbols and metaphors. The apex courts ruling can itself be turned around by the clever politician to score a religious goal. Nonetheless, the courts formulation is reassuring and timely. Sushil Manav Tribune News Service Chandigarh, January 3 After razing their houses at Hasanga village of Fatehabad in Haryana, the district authorities have now initiated steps to rehabilitate the 27-odd uprooted families by giving them 100-yard plots for construction of houses. Rajesh Koth, District Development and Panchayat Officer (DDPO), Fatehabad, today said a meeting of the gram sabha had been convened for January 5 to take up the matter. We have convinced villagers and the elected members of the panchayat to pass a resolution for providing 100-yard plots to the uprooted families. Once the gram sabha passes the resolution, it will be sent to the state government for approval, said Koth. Under Rule 13-A of the Punjab Village Common Land Rules 1964, the gram sabha, with the concurrence of the state government, can give 100-yard plots for residential purposes to landless people. The district authorities swung into action after The Tribune had reported in these columns on Sunday that Fatehabad authorities had razed the houses of 27 families built on encroached land in Hsanga village. The report described how hapless women and children had been living in the open after their houses were demolished. At least five children had taken ill due to cold weather and among those living in the open was a newborn who came to the world on the day of the demolition drive. We have provided temporary shelter to these families in the village primary health centre so that they could save themselves from cold weather, Koth said. He said blankets and warm clothes had also been provided to the affected families to save themselves from the cold weather. Tribune News Service Yamunanagar, January 4 A Sub-Inspector (SI) and an undertrial were injured when two persons fired at them in the Jagadhri courts complex here today. One of the attackers identified as Sahil Rana of Shahzadpur village in Ambala district had been apprehended. However, other attacker Gaurav Rana of Barwala in Panchkula district managed to escape. The police recovered two unlicenced pistols and 10 cartridges from the possession of Sahil. Injured SI Joginder Singh and undertrial Shamsher Singh alias Monu Rana of Thamber village in Ambala district were rushed to a private hospital from where Shamsher was referred to the PGI in Chandigarh due to his critical condition. Shamsher is an accused in a case of attempt to murder registered at the Farakpur police station of the district on October 21, 2015. He was brought here by the Ambala police. Superintendent of Police (SP) Rajesh Kalia said that he was produced in the court of Additional Sessions Judge Sandeep Garg here. Sahil opened fire at him when he came out of the court at 11.15 am, he said. The SP said the SI tried to catch hold of Sahil but in the meantime, the other attacker fired at him. He said that two bullets hit Shamsher and one the SI. Sources said after opening fire, Sahil and Gaurav ran away. They were chased by policemen Yashpal, Pawan Kumar, Kuldeep Singh and ASI Devinder Rana. However, Sahil was overpowered from outside the court complex. The SP said that the attackers came on a motorcycle without number plate. He said that Shamsher was facing 19 criminal cases, including four in Yamunanagar district. He said that he was lodged in Central Jail, Ambala, and Sahils brother Lovely was also lodged there and both had a quarrel over some issue. The SP said that the attacker and the victim were both gangsters. The Sahil was associated with the MR group, while Shamsher was a member of the BR group of Ambala. The SP said that DSP Ajay Rana had been asked to inquire into the incident and three teams had been formed to nab the absconding attacker. Ravinder Saini Tribune News Service Jhajjar, January 3 The Bahadurgarh Municipal Council and UHBVN officials are at loggerheads over the issue of overhead high-tension electricity lines passing through various localities in the Linepaa area of Bahadurgarh town. Sources said the council authorities had recently written to the UHBVN officials, urging them to send them an estimate for shifting the power lines. The officials said they could not do so without getting right-of-way (RoW) for the shifting of the lines. It is not for the first time that the council has approached the power officials regarding the shifting of the lines. It has written four letters in a year, but to no avail. The council has also given reference of all these letters in its latest communique. You (SDO) have not yet provided the details of the estimated cost of shifting of the 11-kV HT power lines in the locality. Fatal accidents have taken place in the locality due to these lines. You are again requested to send the estimated cost for shifting of the line at the earliest, said the communique by the councils secretary to the SDO, UHBVN. The UHBVN has recently put hundreds of people on notice for constructing buildings and other structures under high-voltage electricity lines in violation of the Indian Electricity Rules, 1956. They have been directed to remove their buildings/structures within 15 days to avoid action against them. The notice receivers are now demanding shifting of lines. Chander Prakash, SDO (UHBVN), said the council had sent a letter, but did not mention anything about the RoW for shifting the lines. The power lines cannot be shifted without the RoW. How can we prepare an estimate in this situation? said the SDO. Meanwhile, Vazir Rathi, chief of the High Tension Lines Hatao Sangharsh Samiti, said they would block protest if the UHBVN failed to take any firm decision about shifting of power lines by January 10. Aditi Tandon Tribune News Service New Delhi, January 4 The Congress woes in faction-ridden Haryana are far from over. So it seems from the developments at an internal party meeting held here last night to discuss the AICCs scheduled demonetisation protests in the state. Chaired by Congress general secretary Kamal Nath, the meeting witnessed more discussions on the need for state leaders to stay united during the January 6 and 9 protests on the note ban rather than on the nature of the protest itself. Congress sources say Nath was extremely concerned over the lack of coordination between the Hooda and Tanwar factions during past AICC protests and asked the participating leaders to avoid factionalism during the partys anti-demonetisation programme. Nath told top Haryana leaders to work together on January 6 when the AICC has called for pan-India district-level agitations on demonetisation and also on January 9 when the Mahila Congress wings hadbeen asked to hold their agitations. This plan was drafted at a meeting Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi chaired recently. Nath is said to have told Haryana leaders that the demonetisation protest is a programme personally driven by Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi and no factionalism will be tolerated during this agitation and its roll-out. Kamal Nath asked leaders to call him directly in case someone doesnt cooperate, a participant in the meeting said. Present at yesterdays meeting were Haryana Congress President Ashok Tanwar, Congress Legislature Party leader in Haryana Kiran Choudhry, Congress chief spokesperson and Kaithal MLA Randeep Surjewala, Rohtak MP and former state CM Bhupinder Hoodas son Deepender Hooda, former state unit chief Phool Chand Mullana and four zonal coordinators, including HS Lucky from Chandigarh appointed for the purpose of the Congress demonetization protest schedule in Haryana. Bhupinder Hooda was absent from the meeting but he was learnt to have informed the leadership of his engagement elsewhere. Most Haryana leaders, however, feel Naths message is not enough to assuage deep-rooted rivalries between Hooda and Tanwar, something which is damaging the partys political prospects in the state. Kamal Naths past warnings on indiscipline and factionalism have not led to any action against anyone. Party cadres are yet to hear of the findings of the Sushil Kumar Shinde report, which looked into the alleged thrashing of Tanwar by Hoodas supporters on October 6 last year. Kuldip Chauhan Tribune News Service Shimla, January 3 The clamour for anti-hail guns has gained ground among apple growers in the belt. They have demanded that anti-hail guns should be funded under the Rs 1,143 crore horticultural modernisation project as anti-hail nets prove costly and have failed to withstand the storms. After farmers in the Baghi-Ratnari apple belt installed the anti-hail guns last year, apple farmers, under the Kotgarh Vikas Manch, accompanied by AICC member and apple grower Kuldip Rathaur, today met Horticulture Minister Vidya Stokes in the presence of HPMC vice-chairman Prakash Thakur and Principal Secretary JC Sharma. The minister assured them that the government would consider their demand of anti-hail guns either at Galu or other suitable site in the area, revealed insiders. The government must install the hail-suppressing system in all hail-prone areas as it is a question of saving farmers from 30 per cent to 50 per cent losses that they suffer due to hailstorms every year in the apple belt, Rathaur said. The Balsan Fruit Growers Association, the Mahasu-Kufar-Shila-Gaon Association and Kullu-Manali Growers Association have also joined hands on the issue. We have formed a society to collect funds to install the anti-hail guns at Deha and Alidhar that may cost Rs 1.5 crore,, said Gyan Singh Verma, a member of the Balsan Fruit Growers Association. The farmers said the government was giving subsidies up to 80 per cent subject to the ceiling of Rs 1 lakh, but nothing for the support system, whose cost was high. On the other hand, apple farmers said the anti-hail guns had turned out to be an effective tool to check the hailstorms in Baraonghat, Reoghati, Dakal and Kiari panchayats in Jubbal-Kotkhai, saving their crops from the hails over the years. The hail-suppressing system was installed by former horticulture minister Narender Bragta at Baraonghat, Deorighat and Batargalu during the BJP regime. Tribune News Service Shimla, January 3 A policy will be formulated for School Management Committee (SMC) teachers and they will not be replaced by regular teachers in their place of posting, said Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh while presiding over a convention organised by the committee teachers association here today. He said keeping in view the services they had provided in tribal areas, the government would take adequate measures to fulfil all other demands of teachers. He also assured them of taking up the issue of preparation of leave calendar for the SMC teachers. He said the SMC teachers association was the brain child of the Congress government so that no child was bereft of education in tribal areas. State Youth Congress president Vikramaditya Singh, addressing a gathering, said their grievances would be addressed on priority. The prime focus of the government had remained to strengthen the education sector was supplemented by the efforts of the SMC teachers, he said. He said the government was alive to the problems of para teachers, primary assistant teachers, computer teachers, PTA and SMC teachers. He also supported the demands of enhancement of honorarium of the SMC teachers and not to replace them on joining of regular teachers at their place of posting. Earlier, president, SMC, Anil Pitaan demanded a policy for the SMC teachers that they should not be replaced by regular teachers, besides enhancement of honorarium and leave period. Kuldeep Chauhan Tribune News Service Shimla, January 4 Already in distress over unsettled insurance claims of 2015-16, farmers recently got another shock from the Meteorological Department. It asked farmers to cough up Rs 1,500 per day as charge for providing them the weather data of the previous year. Apple farmers allege that private and state-run insurance companies are not paying them even half of the amount they paid as premium under the Weather-Based Crop Insurance (WBCI) for 2015-16. Farmers recently approached the India Meteorological Departments Meteorological Centre in Shimla, seeking weather data of the previous year to contest the insured amount being offered to them. The centre agreed to provide the data, but, shockingly, at a charge of Rs 1500 per day, rued the farmers. Since WBIS is jointly run by the state and the Centre, farmers have demanded an internal mechanism to share and cross-check data collected from automated weather stations of the insurance companies with that of the met department. We wanted to cite the IMD data to insurance companies to contest their claims, a farmer said. The farmers paid their WBCI premium for 2016-17 in December. However, it is shocking that the insurance claims for 2015-16 havent been settled yet. We are not getting even half of the cost of the premium that we paid to the companies in 2015-16, said Lakshman Thakur, chairman, Ecohort society of farmers, Nandpur. Farmers claim weather from December, 2015, to July, 2016, was one of the driest and it also was one of the leanest apple crop years due to the vagaries of weather. Over 1.28 lakh farmers sought insurance cover under WBCI in 2015-16. The farmers said the mandatory chilling hours were not complete, rains and snowfall were deficient and wind and hailstorms caused a large-scale damage to apple trees in Shimla, Kullu, Mandi and Kinnaur apple belts. The farmers resented that the state government had not covered the natural hazard of fire under the WBCI scheme despite the fact that wildfires ignited in the forest department-run chil plantations devastated many apple orchards at Chopal and Rohtan in Jubbal-Kotkhai and other areas last year. Horticulture Director HS Baveja couldnt be reached despite repeated calls, but insiders said the department was in the process of paying the insurance claims to farmers. As far as the amount of claims was concerned, they get weather data from the automated weather stations installed by the insurance companies, they revealed. Pratibha Chauhan Tribune News Service Shimla, January 4 After several failed attempts to acquire the 125-year-old Bantony Castle, the summer palace of the erstwhile rulers of Sirmaur, over the last few decades, the government has finally decided to acquire the heritage property on The Mall here to convert it into a museum and heritage zone. The decision was taken by the Cabinet at its meeting held here today under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh. The government, with the consent of the owners, has decided to acquire the Bantony Castle for Rs 27.84 crore and set up a museum, cafeteria and walking trails after conserving the old structure, said Virbhadra Singh. The Himachal Institute of Public Administration (HIPA) had prepared the Social Impact Assessment Report of the property. Although these structures cannot be categorised as assets in their present existing condition, they have immense cultural, architectural and archaeological value. Moreover, renovating or reconstructing these structures to preserve its original cultural, aesthetic and architectural value may turn them into invaluable assets, read the report. The entire property, spread over 19,436.83 sqm, including the main wooden structure, expansive lawns and thick deodar forests, will be acquired and a Detailed Project Report will be prepared so that it can be turned into a vibrant Heritage Zone, showcasing Himachals rich culture and traditions, said Anuradha Thakur, Secretary, Irrigation and Language, Art and Culture. She said it was in August that the owners had expressed willingness to sell the property following which the acquisition amount was worked out based on Section 26 of the Acquisition Act, 2013. Vishwanath Sood, one of the 11 owners of the property, said he welcomed the acquisition of the Bantony Castle so that it could be put to some good use. He, along with other owners, had filed objections against part acquisition of the property. Efforts had been made to acquire the castle in 1968, 1975, 1986, 2004 and latest in 2013. The owners had entered into an agreement to sell it at a cost of Rs 45 crore with London-based NRI Ranjay Trehan in 2010 which failed to materialise. Tribune News Service Jalandhar, January 3 An IPS officer of the Uttar Pradesh cadre, Mukul Goel (52) today assumed the charge of Inspector General, Border Security Force (BSF), Punjab Frontier. His predecessor Anil Paliwal has moved to the BSF headquarters in Jodhpur. A BTech in electrical engineering from Delhi IIT, Goel is also an MBA. He joined the Indian Police Services (IPS) in 1987 and has a vast experience of serving in the UP Police in various capacities. He served as SP and SSP at Azamgarh, Varanasi, Gorakhpur, Saharanpur and Meerut. In the rank of DIG, he had served in Kanpur, Agra and Bareilly. He has also served in the ITBP on deputation. As IG, he served in the NDRF on deputation and the Bareilly zone in Uttar Pradesh. As ADG, he had rendered his services in the railways, CID, ADG (Law and Order) and DGP HQ, Uttar Pradesh Police. Recipient of medals for distinguished services Goel is a recipient of the Police Medal for Gallantry in 2003, Police Medal for Meritorious Services in 2003 and the President Police Medal for distinguished services in 2012. He brings to his new assignment a rare combination of being a brilliant policeman as well as an expert administrator. His expertise will be a highly contributing factor to the border management on this highly sensitive border of Punjab, reads a release issued by the BSF today. Arun Joshi Tribune News Service Jammu, January 4 In the opening days of the Budget session, treasury and opposition benches have given the impression that the current session is all about the slain Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani and there is nothing else happening in this state. Lawmakers have pegged the destiny of the state to the death of the militant on July 8. It appeared from the speeches and protests in both Houses as if Burhan, who led a campaign against the Indian nation, was immortal. Metaphorically, his killing in an encounter has been seen as a cardinal sin that should have never been committed. They are not sure who Burhan was: a terrorist, Robin Hood, martyr or freedom fighter. The different ways in which he is being described speaks of the competitive politics in Kashmir. There was a race to blame the security forces and the government for what happened in Kashmir since Burhan was killed. Many of these lawmakers who had shifted to Jammu, Delhi and other places in the country, or confined themselves to their fortified residential enclaves, were perhaps trying to compensate for their absence from their constituencies. The six-month unrest, which many in Kashmir prefer to call an uprising, brought a long spell of bloodletting to the Valley. This was an important issue and it was discussed in both Houses, but the narrative rarely shifted away from Burhan. Former CM Omar Abdullah in his well-argued and measured speech made all necessary points to extract an admission of failure from Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti for the 2016 turmoil in which, he claimed, more than 100 people were killed. This appeared to be his sole agenda. Even he was not clear how to describe the militant leader. His dilemma also stemmed from the fact that the government, from the Chief Minister down to ministers, was unable to come out with a consensus on the militants death. BJPs state president Sat Pal Sharma was rebutted with a loud retort from the opposition benches when he called Burhan a terrorist. Burhan was not a terrorist came a loud voice from the opposition benches. In the Legislative Council, a legislator of the National Conference called the militant leader a martyr. The Mehbooba Mufti government bungled in handling the situation. Omar had some valid points to make, which he did. The former CMwas meticulous while recalling different and contradictory statements of Mehbooba and her ministers. Even as he put exact dates to the events, Omar made a significant but an odd statement. I never blamed Pakistan and parents for the protests and killings and disturbances in 2010. Of course, he had not uttered even a single word against Pakistan in 2010. This time, he was at pains to give a clean chit to Pakistan for its role in the 2016 unrest. The 2010 unrest, which happened during Omars tenure as the CM, had started with the killing of a teenaged student Tufail Mattoo in a teargas explosion. Tufail was returning home after tuition. He had not picked up the gun, nor had he given a call for killing or snatching weapons of policemen, nor had he spoken to Lashkar founder Hafiz Saeed. Nor had Pakistan observed a black day for his martyrdom. The Prime Minister of Pakistan had not mentioned Tufail as young leader of Kashmir who was murdered by the Indian forces at the UN General Assembly. He, however, spoke these words for Burhan. That is the difference. That is why Pakistan came in for criticism in 2016, particularly after Pakistani leaders made inflammatory speeches. It was during the unrest that many terror attacks took place in the Valley the most devastating among them was the September 18 terror attack in Uri in which 20 soldiers were killed by Pakistani terrorists. The less said about the hysterical speeches by other legislators, the better. If this is the prologue of this Budget session then the epilogue can be well imagined. Jammu, January 4 Vice Chancellor of the Central University of Jammu Prof Ashok Aima called on Governor NN Vohra, who is also the Chancellor of the varsity, at Raj Bhawan here today and briefed him about the functioning of the university. The VC Aima informed the Chancellor that 13 national and two international memorandums of understanding had been signed by the university with various universities and organisations so far, while 81 teaching positions of the total 160 sanctioned posts had been filled. He also informed the Governor that the university had shifted its administrative, examination and engineering wings and the Departments of Education and Environmental Sciences to its permanent campus at Bagla village and in 2016-17. The university is offering 34 programmes consisting of a diploma course, two undergraduate, four integrated programmes, 15 postgraduate and 12 research-level courses, he added. Highlighting the achievements in the field of research, the VC told the Governor that Pawan Kumar of the Department of Nano Science and Materials had received a research grant of Rs 49.99 lakh from the Science and Engineering Research Board and a faculty start-up research project of Rs 10 lakh from the UGC, Tanuj Kumar from the the Department of Nano Science and Materials had received a research grant of Rs 12 lakh from Inter University Accelerator Centre, New Delhi. The Governor emphasised the need to ensure the establishment of essential facilities on the campus within a tight time frame and stressed the importance of continuing hard work by the faculty and students, achieving the highest standards in teaching, research and extra-curricular activities. TNS Amir Karim Tantray Tribune News Service Jammu, January 3 After forcing the coalition to admit the adjournment motion, moved by the Opposition to suspend normal business to hold a discussion on the five-month Kashmir unrest, National Conference working president Omar Abdullah today dared Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti to take responsibility for the 2016 turmoil in the Valley which claimed nearly 100 lives. Initiating debate on the adjournment motion on the Kashmir situation, Omar minced no words in attacking his arch-rival Mehbooba Mufti for shifting responsibilities onto others for the bloodshed and the destruction. If you are not willing to take responsibility for the 2016 turmoil in Kashmir then you have no right to remain in the chair, Omar said while reminding treasury benches that when he was the CM and Kashmir was on the boil in 2010, he never blamed anybody else for the disaster but himself. You (Mehbooba Mufti) held everyone responsible for the situation, be it the National Conference, Pakistan, separatists, parents and your own officers. But, unfortunately, you have never taken responsibility as the head of the government, Omar said. During 2010, I didnt blame parents, Pakistan, separatists or anyone else but took full responsibility, Omar said while mentioning that some people were trying to compare the present turmoil with that of the 2010 unrest. We are more concerned and worried about the prevailing situation, he said, adding that the National Conference is still playing a similar role when it was in the government and you (PDP) are still behaving like you are in the Opposition. Leading the charge from opposition benches, the NC working president took the Chief Minister to task for her contradictory statements since Burhan Wanis killing on July 8. You are not yet clear what happened on July 8, Omar quipped while quoting the contradictory statements given by the coalition partners and the police department. He accused the government of taking the post-July 8 situation lightly and focusing only on Wanis native area and failing to control the situation elsewhere in Valley. Omar hit out at Mehbooba for criticising the Oppositions efforts to meet the President, Prime Minister and other leaders in New Delhi when Kashmir was burning. We had not gone there to ask for your resignation and destabilise the government, which you did during 2010, but we wanted the leadership to take concrete and credible steps towards the Valley, he said. You (Mehbooba) said if you will fail, you will step down. It has been proven that you have failed in controlling the situation, so what decision have you taken, he said, adding that he knew that the PDP leader would never step down. The NC leader also blamed the government for the deaths of an ATM guard and a school lecturer, claiming that they were innocent and murdered. He sought a probe into the cases. Show sympathy, take responsibility, this is what we expect from you, said Omar. Congress Legislature Party leader Nawang Rigzin Jora in his address said the unholy alliance between the PDP and the BJP had increased alienation among the masses. He said there was a feeling among people that both coalition partners had betrayed them. Peoples Conference member and minister in the coalition government Sajjad Gani Lone countered Omar during his speech. Lone regretted that the Opposition was trying to settle political scores over human tragedies. A majority of us present in the House are victims of violence so it is very unfortunate that we are indulging in petty politics on the issue, Lone said. He said it was the Congress, not the BJP, which was the main culprit for the prevailing situation in the Valley. Tribune News Service Jammu, January 3 Calling for a collective and concerted effort to address the socio-economic concerns of the states youth and contain the increasing alienation, Governor NN Vohra has said the Legislature has to take a lead to find ways in which the new generation will be the vanguard for reducing the political, ethnic, regional, and ideological differences. This was stated by Vohra in his address to the joint sitting of the state Legislature on the opening day of the Budget session on Monday, with a stress on talks between India and Pakistan. The Governor also called for working towards the resolution of conflicts, within the civil society and in the polity. J&K has potential to become a developed state in the country and for that to achieve, there is a need to resolve all our disagreements. Asking the youth to get involved in societal and civil issues and problems, the Governor said new generation must start actively participating in the socio-economic developmental programmes and processes, as this will, hopefully, lead to the evolution of fresh ideologies and political participation. While it is important that the India-Pakistan dialogue gets resumed early, it is equally important that conversations happen within families, across villages, in towns and cities to build a social and moral consensus so that a congenial atmosphere is created for the government to take the required initiatives for securing peace and development, Vohra said. He said it is in the larger interest of the state and its people to urgently embark on the mission of protecting the psyche of the future generation from being fractured by the unprecedented civil strife, political disruption and chaos, while enormous progress is taking place in other parts of the country. No responsible society can afford to stand by and see the alienation of its youth. Let us not forget that our young people, aged from 15 to 30 years, account for around 40 per cent of our total population. The government needs to address the matters which concern the youth and it must not forget that the new generation is faced with fears and challenges of economic insecurity and uncertainty which lead them to turn inwards and pursue negative approaches, Vohra said. Our greatest intellectual challenge is to find a new ideological consensus based on our past history and heritage. This is important for enabling meaningful contributions by the mainstream polity and for the protection and survival of our social moorings. What has been happening on the streets in the past months in Kashmir is a manifestation of our political problems which have affected our socio-moral moorings and the societal order, he said, adding that the new political discourse has to move away from being exclusivist to be effectively inclusive. Amarjot Kaur The news of mass molestation of women in Bengaluru, in the presence of police, on New Years Eve may come as an eye opener to North Indians just as much as it should to the entire nation. The new and radical wave of feminism, initially propelled in 2012 by Nirbhayas gang rape, had only started to pick up steam in 2016 with films like Pink and Dangal; it was illustrated in art by young Instagramers like Priyanka Paul, and it tasted victory with four Indian women bringing the Olympic medals back home. Not only did the country welcome New Year with the news of Bengaluru mass molestation, the statements by leaders that followed later were nothing short of disgrace. Just a day after the incident took place, Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara remarked that youngsters' western ways were reason behind the incident. A day later, Samajwadi Party MLA Abu Azmi on Tuesday blamed 'short dresses' of women for the mass molestation. For a nation that thrives on democracy, which is mostly defined by the interests of a majority, the sex ratio of women in India is 940 females per 1000 males according to the Population Census of 2011. The shocking disparity is quite equally proportional to shocking statements made by the leaders of the nation. So, are waiting to raise a voice when another Jessica Lal would be shot dead, or for another Nirbhaya to be brutally raped to death? Would the echoes of the shouty feminism be any good without actions? There are many questions that seek answers and, this time, silence wont prove to be golden... Politically correct One needs to understand that most Indian politicians and bureaucrats have a very patriarchal mindset that reflects in their backward opinions about women. Even those who have a progressive mind have layers of intellectual elitism and no actions, so their words mostly sound phoney. On the New Years Eve, every metropolis prepares itself for the celebration, and this incident is very shameful. Women, society, judicial system, and police should come forward and condemn this incident. As far as politicians are concerned, it is none of their business to comment on the personal lives of people and about what they should wear. The National Commission for Women must take strong actions against these leaders whose statements are anti-women. Mahavir Gandhi, MP, Patiala An insult to women These two statements are absolutely uncalled for and earlier too people would wear short clothes; even women wearing sarees and suits are subjected to molestation and harassment, what have clothes to do with all this? These statements and the incident indicate towards absolute narrow-mindedness and anti-women attitude of our leaders and society as a whole. What has been said is an insult to all Indian women. Rajni Talwar, Right Way Child and Women Welfare Society Slogans are not enough This is shocking. Bengaluru is progressive, unlike Delhi where one would imagine and expect such incidents to happen. With our policies like beti bachao, beti padhao on one side and saying things that point to She deserved it on the other, I feel its the boys in our country who need to be educated, not girls. In India, if you are a girl, you are constantly looking behind your back. I remember, on my way to Delhi the custom guy at the airport looked at the pepper spray and smiled while he said, So, you are going to Delhi. There was a murder in Punchkula on the New Years Eve too. This shouty feminism wont work until men believe in feminism. There needs to be a change in mindset. Mandvi Dogra, Research Investigator, IDC Is this development? As opposed to betio bachao, beti padhao and Selfie with daughter, what happened in Bengaluru and the statements said thereafter reflect the chaotic degradation of our values and morals. It punctures the claim of India becoming a developed nation. Police does try its level best to avoid such cases from happening, but sometimes it gets outnumbered. So, it's important to increase the strength of manpower in policing at pan-India levels as well as resuscitate the fear of law and punishment in the minds of the offenders. Just playing with words and blame shifting wont help. Gurjot Singh Kaler, DSP State Crime, Punjab Foot in the mouth Well, this is not the first time that our leaders have used dangerously irresponsible statements. The following foolhardy comments about women, from our leaders, and on grievous issues like rape speak volumes about our choice of leaders for the democratic nation that we are... * "One should not be adventurous being a woman." Sheila Dikshit, chief minister of Delhi * One of the reasons behind the increase in incidents of eve-teasing is short dresses and short skirts worn by women. This in turn instigates young men. Chiranjeet Chakraborty, Trinamool Congress legislator * Girls should be married at the age of 16, so that they have their husbands for their sexual needs, and they dont need to go elsewhere. This way rapes will not occur * Om Prakash Chautala, former chief minister, Haryana * To my understanding, consumption of fast food contributes to such incidents (rape). Chowmein leads to hormonal imbalance evoking an urge to indulge in such acts. Jitender Chhatar, a Thua Khap Panchayat leader on rape * Ninety per cent rape cases are Consensual Dharamvir Goyat, Haryana Pradesh Congress committee member * Rape is mainly prevalent in urban India due to western influence and such crimes against women do not happen in rural Bharat Mohan Bhagwat, RSS chief * If you cant prevent rape, enjoy it Ranjit Sinha, head of Central Bureau of Investigation Tribune News Service Kolkata, January 4 A special court in Bhuvaneswar today sent Trinamool Congress MP Sudip Bandopadhyay to six-day CBI custody. Bandopadhyay, TMC leader in the Lok Sabha, was arrested by the CBI in Kolkata yesterday in connection with the multi-crore Rose Valley chit fund scam. During the hearing, Bandopadhyay told the court that he was being targeted for his opposition to demonetisation during the recent session of the Lok Sabha. Meanwhile, TMC members today took to the streets in various parts of West Bengal to protest Bandopadhyays arrest. In Kailash Bose Street in Kolkata, they tried to break into an apartment complex where Union Minister Babul Supriyo owns a flat. BJP state unit chief Dilip Ghosh said 17 incidents of attack on BJP workers by the TMC had been reported from various parts of the state today. One BJP functionary has sustained serious injury and has been admitted to a hospital, Ghosh claimed. He talked to reporters outside the Raj Bhavan where he had taken a delegation of party functionaries to meet Governor KN Tripathi. The BJP functionaries urged the Governor to send a report to the Centre on the growing lawlessness in the state. BJP national secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya, who came to Kolkata today to meet party workers injured in the attack yesterday on the BJP headquarters, issued a veiled threat to CM Mamata Banerjee. The TMC is strong only in Bengal but the BJP is present everywhere. It is capable of making life difficult for Mamata whenever she steps out of the state, Vijayvargiya said, adding if the TMC continued in this fashion, the BJP would be forced to demand President Rule in West Bengal. Kolkata/New Delhi/Bhubaneshwar, January 4 Violence marked the Trinamool Congresss protests against Member of Parliament Sudip Bandyopadhyays arrest, as suspected activists went on a rampage vandalising and even hurling bombs at offices and leaders of the BJP in several places in West Bengal on Wednesday. Party leaders, MPs and workers held protests outside the Central Bureau of Investigations offices at Kolkata and Bhubaneshwar as the leader was produced in court. Some people suspected to be TMC workers beat up two BJP leaders and set the partys office afire in Chinsurah Mandal. The violence prompted a BJP delegation to meet West Bengal Governor KN Tripathi for imposing President's rule in the state. "Our party offices have been ransacked throughout the state. Bombs have been hurled at homes of various party leaders. The police is just a mute spectator," BJP national secretary Rahul Sinha said. Some TMC Parliamentarians even unsuccessfully tried to lead a march to Prime Minister Narendra Modis residence in Delhi. "We are protesting against Bandyopadhyay's arrest, demanding Modi's resignation and inquiry into his taking money from Birla and Sahara groups. We are also demanding Babul Supriyo (Union Minister) for his involvement in the Rose Valley scam case," TMC Parliamentarian Sugata Roy told reporters at Tughlak Road police station where they were under detention. "We were marching peacefully towards the Prime Minister's residence, but the police detained us mid-way and manhandled few of our MPs." The MPs were released later in the evening. Bandyopadhyay TMC's face in New Delhi is the second person to be arrested for the Rose Valley Chit fund scam, ponzi scam involving an estimated Rs 15,000 crore. On Tuesday, three suspected Trinamool Congress workers hurled bombs at the house of state BJP general secretary, Krishna Bhattacharya, in Hooghly district, the leader claimed. They later forcibly entered the house, vandalised the place and assaulted her, she claimed. The attack came hours after TMC workers went on a rampage at state BJP headquarters in downtown Kolkata on Tuesday. BJP national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya threatened the TMC to "mend its ways or face consequences". "We may not be as strong as TMC in Bengal. But in the entire country we are the strongest political force. I wonder if BJP workers in Delhi decide that TMC MPs would not be allowed to enter Delhi, would they be able to enter Delhi? "The answer is no. If BJP workers decide to protest across the country, would Mamata Banerjee be able to roam the country freely? If TMC doesn't mend its ways, we will also not sit silently," Vijyavargiya, who is also BJP observer in-charge of West Bengal, told reporters in Kolkata. A court in Bhubaneshwar meanwhile turned down Bandyopadhyays application for bail and sent him to CBIs custody for six days. PTI Tribune News Service Lucknow/New Delhi January 3 It was yet another day of futile parleys between Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav and his son Akhilesh Singh Yadav with a three-hour meeting in Lucknow ending in nothing. After Mulayam met the Election Commission on Monday, his cousin and Akhlilesh supporter Ram Gopal today met the EC to stake claim to the party symbol (cycle), insisting it was their group that represented the real party. He was accompanied by senior leaders Kiranmoy Nanda, Naresh Aggarwal and son Akshay Yadav. Ram Gopal said: We told the EC that 90 per cent of the party functionaries, who attended the National Convention, backed Akhilesh and made him party president, replacing Mulayam. Hence, the party symbol legally belongs to the faction headed by him. Sources said on the initiative of senior minister Mohammad Azam Khan, Mulayam spoke to Akhilesh over the phone from Delhi this morning. As soon as Mulayam arrived in Lucknow, Akhilesh called on his father for the first time after dislodging him as national president. The one-to-one meeting lasted over an hour after which uncle Shivpal joined them. Sources said the three worked on a peace formula, which was Mulayam would be again made national president, Akhilesh would be allowed to select the party candidates for the Vidhan Sabha poll and Shivpal would be given a national post and moved out of Uttar Pradesh. But with Akhilesh quietly leaving the meeting through the backdoor, it was evident that all did not go well. Within minutes, Ramgopal issued a statement in Delhi, saying talks at this juncture were meaningless as he had already visited the EC which would now decide the symbol dispute. Ajay Banerjee Tribune News Service New Delhi, January 3 The Indian Army has been tasked to maintain a strict vigil along the contentious Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China while presenting a friendly face to their counterparts from across the Himalayan divide. Newly appointed Army Chief Gen Bipin Rawat, in an interview to The Tribune today, gave his opinion on maintaining peace at the LAC: Maintain a vigil while presenting a friendly face. Gen Rawat, who took charge of the 1.3-million strong Army on December 31, was responding to a question as to how would he ensure that peace was maintained along the 3,488-km-long LAC, the de-facto boundary between the two nuclear-armed neighbours. The soldiers of either country patrol in areas perceived as their own and often come face-to-face. Asked whether the recent restructuring by China of its commands into theatre commands one man commands resources of all three services would be done in India too, Gen Rawat said, We are studying the Chinese format. We will also have our own format to operate jointly with the IAF and the Navy, which may not necessarily be a theatre command format. On the probability of a two-front collusive war with Pakistan and China, the Army Chief said, A two-front war threat does not loom immediately, but is very much a possibility and we are preparing for it. That is the mandate. The Army, Gen Rawat said, was also looking for a new tank beyond the T-90 from Russia and the indigenous Arjun. At present, we are upgrading T-72 and T-90 tanks and getting newer infantry carrying vehicles (these are armour-plated running on tank-type tracks). Asked whether the new tank would be of Russian parentage, he said, We will design and develop on our own. We have the capability. The Army, like the Navy, recently opened its own design bureau, which aims to work closely with the DRDO. On building infrastructure in the Himalayas, which is needed to rapidly move troops and equipment, Gen Rawat said, We have identified spots where tunnels need to be built to ensure all-weather access to remote areas. The Mountain Strike Corps was coming up as per plan, he said. New Delhi, January 4 India today said it is relying on China to hear the voice of the world and hoping that China can be persuaded to see the evil of the menace to change its stance on Indias bid to get Masood Azhar, chief of the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), designated as terrorist at the United Nations. China recently used its veto at the UN Security Council to oppose Indias bid. MoS in Ministry of External Affairs MJ Akbar in response to a question said India expected China to hear the voice of the world and not just India. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) China has its own problem of terrorism. China recognises it. China addresses them in bilateral agreements. We hope and are sure that China can be persuaded to see the depth and evil of the menace, Akbar said, adding India would continue to point out absurdity of the decision of the 1,267 sanctions committee of the UN of not designating Azhar a global terrorist. TNS Suresh Dharur Tribune News Service Tirupati (AP), January 3 India would be among the top three countries in the world in science and technology by 2030, the Prime Minister Narendra Modi said today. Inaugurating the 104th Indian Science Congress in this temple town in Andhra Pradesh, he said the country was on course to become one of the most attractive destinations for the best talent in the world. At present, India ranks sixth in the world with respect to peer-reviewed scientific publications and is growing at a rate of about 14 per cent as against the world average growth rate of about 4 per cent. I am sure that our scientists will further meet the challenges of enhanced quality of basic research, its technology translation and its societal connect, he told a gathering of scientists at the Srinivasa Auditorium in Sri Venkateswara University. Over 18,000 delegates, including nine Nobel Laureates, scientists and policy makers from all over the world, are participating in the five-day annual event. The theme of this years meet is Science and Technology for national development. Pledging his governments commitment to supporting different streams of scientific knowledge, ranging from fundamental science to applied science with emphasis on innovations, the Prime Minister hoped that Indias best scientific institutions would strengthen basic research in line with global practices. Calling for a greater coordination among the research institutions, academia, industry and the ministries, he said, Translating the basic knowledge into innovations, start-ups and industry will help us achieve inclusive and sustainable growth. Pointing out how the science teams had contributed strongly to the strategic vision of the country and how the ongoing space programme had placed India in the top space-faring nations, he said, While we excel globally, we also need to develop local solutions that fit our unique context. There is a need to develop appropriate micro-industry models for rural areas that use local resources and skills to meet local needs and generate local enterprise and employment. The Prime Minister also emphasised on addressing the rapid global rise of cyber-physical systems. This has the potential to pose unprecedented challenges and stresses to our demographic dividend. But we can turn it into a huge opportunity by research, training and skilling in robotics, artificial intelligence, digital manufacturing, big data analysis, deep learning, quantum communication and Internet-of-Things, he said. Modi said there was a need to develop an inter-ministerial national mission in the cyber-physical systems to secure the future by creation of basic R&D infrastructure, manpower and skills. New Delhi, January 4 Former Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit on Wednesday said she favours a pre-poll alliance with the Samajwadi Party led by Akhilesh Yadav, and that she is ready to step aside as Congress chief ministerial candidate for Uttar Pardesh. I am in favour of an alliance with the SP. I am ready to withdraw from contention as CM candidate if there is an alliance," Sheila Dikshit told the media here. Akhilesh Yadav is a much better chief ministerial candidate than me. Would be happy to step aside for him," Dikshit added. The senior Congress leader said nobody in her party had spoken to her about a possible alliance in the state where elections will be held in seven phases from February 11. There have been speculations about ongoing parleys between the Congress and the Samajwadi Party for alliance in Uttar Pradesh ahead of the assembly elections. Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Manipur and Goa will elect new assemblies between February 4 and March 8. Uttar Pradesh -- the country's most populous and politically significant state -- will go to elect its 403-member state assembly in seven phases: February 11 (73 seats), February 15 (67 seats), February 19 (69 seats), February 23 (53 seats), February 27 (52 seats), March 4 (49 seats) and March 8 (40 seats). IANS Tribune News Service New Delhi, January 3 The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has asked banks to ensure that at least 40 per cent of notes are supplied to rural areas, observing that the current supply is not adequate. In a circular today, it said that bank notes being supplied to rural areas were not commensurate with the requirements of the rural population. To ensure at least 40 per cent bank notes were supplied to the villages, banks maintaining currency chests have been advised to take steps, including liberal issuance of the existing stock of other denomination notes below Rs 100. Banks should advise their currency chests to step up issuance of fresh notes to rural branches of regional rural banks (RRBs), district central cooperative banks (DCCBs) and commercial banks, white label ATMs and post offices in rural areas on a priority basis, the RBI said. Banks have been told to adopt a need-based approach as rural requirements could vary from district to district. Rs 5 discount for online LPG booking New Delhi: After petrol and diesel, buying cooking gas (LPG) online will fetch consumers a discount of Rs 5 per cylinder. State-owned fuel retailers, Indian Oil Corp (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL), will offer an upfront discount of Rs 5 on every LPG refill to all LPG customers who will book and pay for it online, an official statement said. The oil companies have been told to pay consumers 0.75 per cent discount on cashless fuelling of petrol and diesel at petrol stations. This has now been extended to LPG. PTI New Delhi, January 4 Aiming to give a technological edge to the small and medium businesses (SMB) in India, Google CEO Sundar Pichai on Wednesday announced two initiatives. "Small businesses are the backbone of India's economy. Internet is for everyone," Pichai said while addressing the media here. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) He said Google, along with the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci), have developed a training programme called 'Digital Unlocked'. The programme would be certified by the Indian School of Business, Hyderabad. It would offer online and mobile courses to SMBs across the country. "We plan to impart 5,000 training workshops in 40 cities in three years," Pichai added. The global search giant also started another initiative 'My Business Website'. Its a free tool, which would help make a website in 10 minutes. "Any small business can sign up. It will first start in India (later this year), and then will be launched in other countries," Pichai said. Only six per cent of small businesses in India has website. IANS Sarbjit Dhaliwal Tribune News Service Chandigarh, January 3 Alarmed at the Union Governments proposal to present the Union Budget on February 1, political parties in Punjab, including the Congress, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the CPI, today urged the EC to ensure a level playing field to all parties in the coming Assembly elections in five states, including Punjab. The parties apprehend that the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre may announce sops, such as lower income tax slabs, to influence the voter in BJPs favour. They demand that the government be allowed to present a Vote-on-Account instead of a full-fledged Budget. The EC should make sure the BJP and its allies do not resort to undemocratic and unfair means to swing the voters in its favour, said CPI national executive member Dr Joginder Dayal. Congress leader Manpreet Singh Badal said presenting the Budget before the elections would be against the spirit of fair and free elections. The EC must direct the Union Government to present a Vote-on-Account. The regular Budget should only be allowed after the polling in the five states, he said. AAP spokesperson Sukhpal Singh Khaira claimed the BJP government at the Centre had already started spreading the word that it would lower the tax rates. This is obviously meant to woo the voter. The Opposition fears that the government may announce benefits for various sections, including the employees, farmers and traders, who constitute a huge chunk of voters. The EC must not allow the BJP any such advantage. It must be ruthlessly fair, said Patiala MP Dharamvira Gandhi. The Annual Budget is usually presented at the end of February. But this year, the Union Government may convene the Budget session on January 31 when campaigning in the five states will be in full swing. At this juncture, announcing concessions could mean advantage BJP and its allies. The Vote- on-Account should be strictly for routine expenditure, say political parties. New Delhi, January 4 The Government on Wednesday approved an agreement between India and Uruguay on co-operation and mutual assistance on Customs matters. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) The decision was taken at a meeting of the Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi here. "The agreement will help in the availability of relevant information for prevention and investigation of Customs offences. The agreement is also expected to facilitate trade and ensure efficient clearance of goods traded between the countries," an official statement said. The draft agreement takes care of Indian Customs' concerns and requirements, particularly in exchange of information on the correctness of the Customs value declared, authenticity of certificates of origin of goods and description of the goods traded between the two countries. PTI R Sedhuraman Legal Correspondent New Delhi, January 4 Justice Jagdish Singh Khehar today took over as the 44th Chief Justice of India (CJI) after being sworn in by President Pranabh Mukherjee at the Rashtrapati Bhavan here. The first Sikh to occupy the post, CJI Khehar will be at the helm of affairs of the Indian judiciary for about eight months before retiring on August 27. Among those present at the brief swearing-in ceremony held in Darbar Hall at 9 am were Vice-President Hamid Ansari, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Cabinet colleagues, including Arun Jaitley, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Rajnath Singh and Venkaiah Naidu, besides the wife and other family members of CJI Khehar. Opposition parties went unrepresented. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) Immediately after taking oath, the CJI conducted the proceedings in Court No. 1 of the Supreme Court along with Justices NV Ramana and DY Chandrachud from 10.30 am without any delay. The apex court proceedings generally commence slightly late on days the new CJI is sworn in. The CJI court finished hearing the 30 cases, mostly fresh litigation, listed for the day in just 70 minutes and rose for the day. In the evening, CJI Khehar offered prayers at the historic Gurdwara Bangla Sahib on the eve of the 350th birth anniversary of Guru Gobind Singh. CJI Khehars immediate challenge is to convince Justice J Chelameswar on the need to attend the meetings of the SC Collegium comprising the five seniormost judges, including the CJI. Justice Chelameswar, the third seniormost, has been refusing to attend Collegium meetings meant for choosing High Court and SC judges unless the minutes are prepared. Informed sources said the CJI had an open mind and would make fresh efforts to get Justice Chelameswar on board. The other problems he would have to grapple with are the memorandum of procedure (MoP) for the appointment of high judiciary judges and filling vacancies of HC judges. The MoP is hanging fire due to the differences over its provisions, particularly the governments move to have the final say in the appointments on one pretext or the other. CJI Khehar became an SC judge on September 13, 2011. Born on August 28, 1952, he graduated in science from Government College, Chandigarh, in 1974 and got an LLB from PU in 1977 and completed LLM in 1979, getting the gold medal. He was appointed as a Judge of the Punjab and Haryana HC on February 8, 1999, and as Acting CJ of the same HC twice. He was elevated as the Chief Justice of the Uttarakhand HC on November 29, 2009, and was transferred as the CJ of the Karnataka HC, where he assumed his office on August 8, 2010. Amethi (UP), January 4 A man allegedly hacked to death 10 of his family members and then committed suicide in Mahnoa locality here, police said Wednesday. Jamalu (45) first fed pesticide to 12 family members and later hacked to death 10 of them. He then hanged himself, Superintendent of Police, Santosh Kumar Singh said. All the 11, including Jamalu, died on the spot, while two others were admitted to a hospital where their condition was stated to be critical. Police are probing the matter. The victims included two women, one man and eight children. A huge police force was rushed to the crime scene as thousands of villagers and people from adjoining areas gathered at the spot. Agencies Tribune News Service Lucknow, January 3 BSP supremo Mayawati has taken the lead by unveiling her strategy of a Muslim-Dalit alliance for the forthcoming Uttar Pradesh Vidhan Sabha polls by announcing to allocate almost 45 per cent ticket to these two communities. While the Samajwadi Party remains locked in an ugly family feud and the BJP and the Congress still far from deciding on candidates, the BSP has already given a clear picture of its poll strategy. Addressing mediapersons today, Mayawati warned Muslim voters of not wasting their vote by backing either of the two factions of the SP. It is only the BSP which could keep the BJP at bay she claimed. Declaring the caste-community break-up of her final list of 403 candidates, she said 97 (24 per cent) ticket would go to Muslims and 87 to Dalits (21 per cent). This is the highest number of ticket share for Muslims kept aside by the BSP. In 2007, when the BSP won a landslide victory she had allotted 61 ticket (15.13 per cent) to Muslims and 89 (22 per cent) to Dalits. Similarly, in 2012 when she lost to SP she had given 85 seats (21 per cent) to Muslims and 88 seats (21.83 per cent) to Dalits. To woo the OBCs, Mayawati has kept aside 106 (26.30 per cent) tickets for them which is less than the 113 seats (28 per cent) given to them in 2012. This time Mayawati has kept 113 (28 per cent) tickets for upper castes. The representation to Brahmins, however, has gone down and the BSP had given only 66 (16.37 per cent) tickets to the community which had got 74 (18.36 per cent) of seats in 2012. Panaji, January 4 A 200-year-old ancestral house in Margao town is getting spruced up to welcome its family member and Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa during his Goa trip on January 11-12, which is part of his India visit. Christmas has just concluded, so right now I have to clean up the house. I will spruce up the house a bit. We will prepare a meal for him. But it would be a private affair. During his India visit, he needs private time with his family where he can talk to us and rest a bit, said Anna Kaarina Costa, the first cousin of the Prime Minister, who currently lives at the Costa house located on Abade Faria Road of Margao. For 55-year-old Costa from Portugal, which ruled the state till 1961, this would be his second visit to the house, the first being when he was a teen and had come with his parents. Anna, who is a hospitality industry professional, would be cooking for her cousin, whom she describes as a very low profile person. I really dont know what his favourite food is but he is quite a foodie himself, she says, remembering the time when she met him in April last year in Lisbon, soon after he was elected as the Prime Minister of Portugal. He is the only cousin I have. For me he is my cousin first and then the Prime Minister, she said. At Costa House, Anna lives with her mother, husband and a daughter. PTI Ajay Banerjee Tribune News Service New Delhi, January 4 The Election Commission on Wednesday announced elections to state assemblies in Punjab, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Goa and Manipur. Elections in Punjab for the 117 Assembly seats will be conducted in a single phase on February 4. UP will go to polls in seven phases starting February 15. Uttarakhand will go to polls on February 15, Goa on February 4 and Manipur in two phases on March 4 and March 8. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) Counting will be held for all these states on March 11. Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi announced the polls and said that the model code of conduct came into force with immediate effect. Central police forces will be deployed in these states. Final electoral rolls of Punjab will be published on January 5, and in UP on January 12. The polls will see a total of 16 crore electorate and 1.85 lakh polling stations in these states. Identification of voters at poll booths will be mandatory. Zaidi said a voter guide would be distributed to each family about identification documents which could be used at polling booths. The limit of expenses per candidate is Rs 28 lakh in Punjab, UP and Uttarakhand. It is Rs 20 lakh in Manipur and Goa. There will be separate polling stations for women in areas where women due to social practice shied away from interacting with men. Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) will be used. In certain identified constituencies, voters will be provided with paper trail. The ballot papers will have a picture of the candidate. Voters in military and paramilitary forces will be allowed voting through electronic transfer. Candidates will be required to get a no-demand certificate that all payments of government facilities had been made by them. All chief election officers in states are on the social media. The Press Council of India will participate in identifying paid news. Channels owned by candidates or parties will be monitored and expenses will be added to the party or the candidate. Tribune News Service New Delhi, January 4 The elections to Punjab, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Goa and Manipur Assemblies will be held between February 4 and March 8, while the verdict will be out on March 11. An announcement to this effect was made by the Election Commission of India here today. The polling for the 117 Punjab Assembly seats will be conducted in a single phase on February 4, for which the notification will be issued on January 11. Edit: Over to poll panel The polling in Uttar Pradesh will be held in seven phases between February 11 and March 8, while Uttarakhand will go to the polls on February 15, Goa on February 4 and Manipur on March 4 and March 8 (two phases). The model code of conduct has comes into force with immediate effect. Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi confirmed that the commission had received a letter questioning the timing of the Union Budget (proposed to be presented on February 1), just three days before the polling in Punjab and Goa. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) These elections will see 16 crore voters, including 1.92 crore in Punjab, 73.81 lakh in Uttarakhand and 13.85 crore in UP, cast their votes at 1.85 lakh polling stations in five states. The identification of voters at polling booths will be mandatory. Zaidi said every family would be given a voter guide detailing relevant information about these elections, including the list of identification documents that can be used at polling booths. The limit of expenses per candidate is Rs 28 lakh in Punjab, UP and Uttarakhand. It is Rs 20 lakh in Manipur and Goa. Separate polling stations will be set up for women in areas where women, due to social practice, shy away from interacting with men. Electronic voting machines (EVMs) will be used for polling and voters will be provided with paper trail in specified constituencies. Ballot papers will have the pictures of candidates. Voters in military and paramilitary will be allowed to cast their votes through electronic transfer. The Press Council of India will participate in identifying cases of paid news. Channels owned by candidates or parties will be monitored and the expenses of publicity propaganda, if any, added to the accounts of the party or the candidate concerned. The commission also assured a quick decision on Samajwadi Partys poll symbol cycle. UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and his father Mulayam Singh have staked claim to it. Zaidi said, We will examine the documents before us and take an appropriate decision at the right time. Kolkata, January 3 The CBI today arrested Trinamool Congress Parliamentary Party leader in the Lok Sabha Sudip Bandopadhyay in connection with the alleged Rose Valley chit fund scam, triggering violence in the city. A livid Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee accused the Centre of vendetta politics. Bandopadhyay, who arrived at the CBI office here at 11 am, was grilled for more than four hours and later arrested. Mamata has announced nationwide protests against the Narendra Modi governments vindictive attitude. Bandopadhyay's arrest comes close on the heels of the arrest of Trinamool Congress MP Tapas Pal on Friday. Paul, an actor-turned politician, is now in CBI custody in Bhubaneshwar. I also run a government and I too have the powers to arrest certain people who are thieves, hooligans and extortionists, warned Mamata. As news of the MPs arrest spread, hundreds of Trinamool activists took to the streets. Suspected activists of the TMCs student wing hurled stones at the BJPs state headquarters here. The police quickly cordoned the area and chased away the protesters. Later, the Rapid Action Force was deployed in the area. Trinamool supporters raised slogans and blocked all entrances to the BJP office. Some cars parked in the alley leading to the office were vandalised. Petrified, BJP workers alleged the attack was pre-planned. Senior BJP leaders condemned the attack, which they claimed was expected. The Trinamool Congress is scared after the arrest of its Lok Sabha leader and is resorting to violence. This shows who is practising 'vendetta politics' in the country, said BJP state chief Dilip Ghosh. Agencies Aman Sood & Manish Sirhindi Tribune News Service Patiala, January 4 Patiala city looks set for a clash of two former Army officers. The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) has almost made up its mind to field General JJ Singh (retd) from Patiala to ensure that PPCC chief Capt Amarinder Singh is kept confined to Patiala. Sources within SAD said that the entire Patiala cadre has been told to work all out for the party choice as it has come from none other than Sukhbir Badal. The message to the leaders is very clear. They have been told to work for JJ Singh and ensure that the contest is made tough for the Punjab Congress chief, who usually leaves his canvassing to his family members and tours the state to help other candidates, they said. General Joginder Jaswant Singh today started his political campaign by paying obeisance at Gurdwara Dukhnirwan Sahib. The General said that he has come loaded with political missiles that would be launched at the Patiala royals, who, he said, have been ignoring the masses for decades. JJ Singh said that he would ensure that his political opponents feel the heat in the coming few days. Amarinder served for a few years in the Army and therefore does not know that when an officer who retired as Army Chief decides to fight a poll, he gives it his everything, he said. Backed by a battery of retired Army veterans, JJ Singh wants this battle to be a decider. Capt Amarinder says it is his last election and I will ensure he goes out losing, he warns with a smile on his face. While the Akalis plan to confine Capt Amarinder to Patiala to ensure that he holds few rallies outside his home turf, Amarinders wife Preneet Kaur, who is a former Member of Parliament, is a force to reckon with as she enjoys a good rapport with local voters. I come to Patiala only two or three times. My family takes care of canvassing in Patiala. Even this time, if the Akalis think that they can hold me in Patiala by giving ticket to a parachute candidate with an Army background, they need to think again, said Amarinder. Not impressed with SADs choice, Capt Amarinder Singh said that the Akalis could not have given him a better candidate as JJ Singh is yet to settle down and know Patiala properly. Jitendra K Shrivastava Tribune News Service Patna, January 3 Punjab Congress chief Capt Amarinder Singh, who was in Patna today to attend the 350th birth anniversary celebrations of Guru Gobind Singh, praised the Bihar government for its preparations for the grand function. Capt Amarinder, who was accompanied by Bihar Congress state chief and state education minister Ashok Chaudhary, first offered prayers at Takht Sri Harmandir Ji Patna Sahib Gurdwara before he arrived in Gandhi Maidan tent city where the replica of Patna Sahib has been set up. He also paid obeisance here and served food to devotees during langar. Interacting with mediapersons, the former Punjab CM said: I have not seen such an arrangement made by any government so far. On being asked whether he prayed for his victory in the Assembly elections, Capt Amarinder said: I prayed for world peace and tranquility. I have come here with faith and dont want to do any politics. He was accompanied by former Union Minister Shakeel Ahmad. Later, Capt Amarinder met Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar over lunch today. Sources said he invited Nitish to campaign for the Punjab Assembly poll. The Congress is an ally of the ruling grand alliance government in Bihar. Sevadar Subendra Singh from Tarn Taran said: We are pleased with the state governments management as we do not feel any problem in running the langar. Jitendra K Shrivastava Tribune News Service Patna, January 4 Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, who arrived in Patna on Wednesday to attend the 350th birth anniversary celebrations of Guru Gobind Singh, said: We will win three-fourth of the total Assembly seats in the Assembly polls in Punjab as there is no opposition against us. He along with his family members reached the Patna airport, where he was greeted by his Bihar counterpart Nitish Kumar. Badal and his family members are yet to offer prayers at the gurdwara. It is expected that they will pay obeisance tomorrow. Praising Nitish, Badal said: "Nitish personally took interest and reviewed the preparations for the celebrations. We don't have words to praise the arrangements he made for Sikh devotees in Patna." Delhi govt offices to close today for Parkash Utsav New Delhi: Delhi government offices will remain closed tomorrow as Lt Governor Anil Baijal today approved holiday on the occasion of the 350th birth anniversary of Guru Gobind Singh. The birth anniversary of the 10th Sikh Guru is being celebrated across the country with special festivities lined up in Patna Sahib where he was born. The Delhi government had recently sent a file to the LG office, seeking declaration of holiday on the occasion. The Lt Governor has approved declaration of holiday tomorrow on the occasion of 350th birth anniversary of Guru Gobind Singh ji, an official said. Since he took charge, it is perhaps the first proposal of Delhi government that Anil Baijal's office has approved. Earlier this week, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had gone to Bihar to pay obeisance at Patna Sahib. Kejriwal's Patna visit during 'Parkash Parv' assumed significance as his party is eyeing to do well in the Punjab Assembly election to be held on February 4. Tribune News Service Anandpur Sahib/Nangal, Jan 3 Launching the second phase of the Vijay Sankalp Rath Yatra after paying obeisance at Keshgarh Sahib here, Union Minister and state BJP chief Vijay Sampla said the developmental works would continue if the BJP-SAD alliance form the government again in the state. The yatra, which started on December 30 from Hussainiwala, will conclude in Amritsar on January 8. BJP workers welcomed the yatra at different places en route Nangal. Lauding Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Sampla said the Union Government had taken historic and brave decisions under his leadership. The Central government brought in progressive policies and the states Akali-BJP alliance government has carried out developmental works. Hence only the Akali-BJP alliance has the right to seek votes from voters of Punjab, he said. Lashing out at the Congress, he said its state president Capt Amarinder Singh had no time for the state public. He said the Congress leader was busy in playing host to his overseas friends. He did not spare the AAP as well and alleged that it was a party full of people hungry for money. Amaninder Pal Tribune News Service Chandigarh, January 3 The police have only managed to arrest 2,000 of the total 21,623 criminals registered as proclaimed offenders (PO) in various police stations of the state even as the Election Commission of India is all set to announce dates for the Assembly poll. As many as 19,623 POs are yet to be apprehended by the police. This figure is part of the latest status report on the states law and order scenario submitted to the commission by Punjab Chief Electoral Officer in a meeting held today at Delhi. The report has figures till January 2. Significantly, Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi had last month said that the high number of POs in Punjab was a serious issue and can be used to influence voters. The commissioner had also disclosed that at least 8,000 POs most of whom have not been nabbed were involved in heinous crimes. The report submitted today revealed that of the total 7,759 POs declared under Section 88-89 of the CrPC, the police could arrest just around 627 accused. Similarly, there are at least 13,864 accused who have either disappeared during trial or didnt report back after they were granted bail by trial courts. Of them, the police could arrest only 1,373 POs. The state police have arrested 2,000 POs since September 1 the day the ECI directed the Punjab Police to regularly submit status of all the POs and absconders and told the state to act against such accused. The figure of POs this time is higher than in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, when 18,094 accused had been declared as POs. However, the polices performance is better in executing non-bailable warrants (NBW). Of the 14,774 NBWs issued so far, the police have executed 13,387 NBWs till January 2. Jitendra K Shrivastava Tribune News Service Patna, January 4 Three Sikh devotees who are in the city to attend the 350th birth anniversary of Guru Gobind Singh were arrested on Wednesday for carrying alcohol. The suspects, identified as Amandeep Singh from Bathinda, Hakam Singh from Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh and Narinder Singh from Siddhartha Navarro in Uttar Pradesh, were caught with bottles of liquor in their bags at tent city in Gandhi Maidan. "While they were entering at the Gate Number 7 on Tuesday night, the security forces checked their bags and found two bottles of liquor from each of the suspects. They were sent to jail today. They told us they didnt know it was against the law, Amir Anand, station House Officer at Gandhi Maidan tent city, said. Security as been heightened in the city with Prime Minister Narendra Modi scheduled to visit on Thursday. The Bihar Government banned alcohol on April 5 last year. There have been several raids conducted across the state as part of the state governments crackdown on alcohol. Bharat Khanna Tribune News Service Mansa, January 3 Two workers engaged by the Forest Department, allegedly beaten up by senior SAD leader Balwinder Singh Bhunders supporters on Monday, today alleged that the police tortured them in custody. Raja Singh and Jalandhar Singh of Dulowal village were taken into custody around 12.30pm yesterday after they raised the demand for dues during Rajya Sabha member Bhunders function. They were released around 9pm after other daily-wagers protested outside the police station. The police beat us up with wooden rods. Our fault was that we requested Bhunder saab to listen to us. He refused. When we insisted, he ordered his supporters to assault us. Within minutes, the police reached the spot and beat us up. Then, we were taken to the police station where we were tortured again at the MPs behest. We are frightened, but will continue fighting for our wages, Raja Singh alleged. The wages of daily-wagers are pending for eight months. An inquiry report has brought out that officials embezzled Rs 78 lakh. The report was submitted to the Mansa DC around a month ago, mentioning that money was siphoned off against the names of fake beneficiaries. Gurmel Singh, SHO, Kotdharmu police station, refuted allegations of torture. The two men were drunk. We let them off after a warning. We did not book them. Bhunder refuted allegations of police torture, saying the accused were found drunk. Mansa CPM secretary Kulwinder Uddat said he would file a complaint with the Punjab Human Rights Commission against the police torture. Meanwhile, the protest by daily-wagers outside the DCs office here entered 49th day today. The annual Illinois Specialty Crops, Agritourism, and Organic Conference (ISCAOC) will be held Jan. 11-13 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Springfield. The conference provides opportunities for specialty crop growers and small farm owners to learn best management practices, marketing techniques, pest management, food safety and production practices. The program features nearly 100 speakers and 60 trade show exhibitors, and will again host four concurrent preconference workshops on Jan. 11. The preconference workshops offer intensive learning opportunities in four areas, including Cover Crops, Nutrient Management, and Soil Health; Digital Marketing Strategies; Growing and Marketing Tomatoes and Peppers; and Designing and Operating Irrigation Systems for Vegetable and Fruit Crops. In addition, a special opportunity for farmers is scheduled as part of the Wednesday agenda. As part of the pre-conference, the ISCAOC is hosting the North Central Region Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (NCR-SARE) Farmers Forum program. This traveling annual event gives farmers, ranchers, and others funded by NCR-SARE grants the chance to share information about their sustainable agriculture research, demonstration, and education projects. The projects highlighted in these presentations and the Farmers Forum are funded by grants from North Central Region-Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (NCR-SARE), a USDA-funded program that supports and promotes sustainable farming and ranching by offering competitive grants and educational opportunities. On Thursday, Jan. 12, the convention's keynote speaker, Adam Nielsen, Illinois Farm Bureau's director of national legislation, will provide insight into the challenges agriculture is faced with in developing national agricultural policies under a new administration. The breakout sessions offered on Thursday, Jan. 12, and Friday, Jan. 13, will feature sessions in six major areas: Agritourism and Marketing, Fruits, Vegetables, Herbs, Organic Foods, and Emerging Issues and Opportunities. During the conference the 28th annual Apple Cider Contest and 15th annual Hard Cider Contest will be held, with winners being announced during Thursday evening's banquet. If you are interested in registering for the conference, you can do so online at www.specialtygrowers.org. Pre-registration completed by Dec. 31 guaranteed lunch availability. After the deadline you can still register at the conference, but lunch availability is not guaranteed. If you have questions contact Jim Fraley with the Illinois Farm Bureau at 309-557-2107 or jfraley@ilfb.org. If you have other questions about agriculture and natural resource topics feel free to contact the University of Illinois Extension office in Charleston at 217-345-7034, or drop me an email at dshiley@illinois.edu. For more information on University of Illinois Extension programming in Coles, Cumberland, Douglas, Moultrie and Shelby counties, visit our website at http://web.extension.illinois.edu/ccdms/index.html or call us at 217-345-7034. Tribune News Service Dehradun, January 3 The court of Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate, Kotdwar, today rejected the bail application of sixteen persons, including JCT Mills chairman Samir Thapar and industrialist Jayant Nanda, who were arrested by the police for forest trespass, possessing illegal arms and ammunition on Sunday. They were apparently celebrating New Year illegally. The accused were booked under Section 26 of Forest Conservation Act for trespassing reserve forest area and staying inside the Kolhuchaur forest guest house in the Lansdowne forest division without permission. A Germany-made 300 bore automatic rifle, 23 live cartridges, expensive telescopes and 167 bottles of foreign liquor were recovered. Meat, including some uncooked, was also seized. Since the accused include Samir Thapar, who is the chairman of JCT Mills, and Jayant Nanda, the arrests created furore in the Forest Department that ordered a high-level inquiry. Meanwhile, the Forest Department, in a damage control exercise, suspended Mayank Shekar Jha, Deputy Conservator of Forests, Lansdowne forest division. However, forest employees associations have expressed resentment over Jhas suspension, describing him an honest and sincere officer. Forest staff associations held an emergency meeting in Kotdwar wherein they threatened to go on strike if the suspension was not revoked at the earliest. Such an incident cant occur without the connivance of forest officials, say sources. Meanwhile, wildlife conservationist and Union Minister of Women and Child Development Maneka Gandhi has lauded Pauri SSP Mukhtar Mohsin for taking a prompt action against poachers. I am happy that you have taken a firm step to end trespassing and poaching in the forests of Uttarkhand. By your prompt action, you have not only brought habitual offenders to book but also prevented poaching of wildlife, Gandhi said in her letter to the Pauri SSP. Tribune News Service Dehradun, January 3 BJP leader and former chairman of the Uttarakhand Rajya Niram Andolankar Parishad Ravindra Jugran today said complete prohibition of liquor was the need of the hour, particularly due to the upcoming Assembly poll. Jugran, while addressing a press conference in Dehradun today, said the Nainital High Courts recent directions to the Election Commission to take a decision on prohibiting liquor during upcoming Assembly election was a welcome development. Jugran had filed a public interest litigation (PIL) in the Uttarakhandl High Court regarding the same. He said political parties had a golden opportunity to join the fight against liquor which had destroyed the state. A consensus could be reached within political parties to at least implement a complete prohibition on liquor from the day of notification for the Assembly poll till the declaration of results. Liquor is used during elections in a big way which needs to be checked, he said. It is under the influence of liquor that all violence and other crimes take place during poll, he said. Tribune News Service Dehradun, January 3 The Harish Rawat-led Congress government today left the politically-volatile issue of creation of new districts to the next government, but announced the setting up of Rs 1,000-crore corpus fund for the reorganisation of districts. Chief Secretary S Ramaswamy, while briefing mediapersons, said, The Cabinet discussed the issue threadbare and decided to first make a financial allocation for the reorganisation of districts. Now, the next government will take up the issue. Later, Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Indira Hridayesh said there was a proposal for more than 12 districts, but all these issues were left to the next government. It will be good that the people repose faith in us the second time so that we can take the matter to its finality. Without making financial provisions, no further step can be taken, she said. The state government also announced setting up a one man inquiry commission under Justice MS Chauhan (retd) to probe the 2013 disaster scam that first came to light through an RTI inquiry. He will be probing the issues taken up by former Cabinet Secretary N Ravi Shankar, said Ramaswamy. In another decision, the Cabinet has given nod to a new scheme Mukhya Mantri Savablambhi Yojana to provide self employment to the unemployed youth registered with the states employment exchange. The youth will be provided skill development for carrying out sericulture, agriculture, horticulture and herbi-culture for which Rs 1.5 lakh assistance for groups and individual assistance of Rs 25,000 will be given. The nodal office for the activity will be the Department of Rural Development, said Manisha Panwar, Principal Secretary, Department of Rural Development. The Cabinet also approved upgrade of the Rishikesh Nagar Palika Parishad to Nagar Nigam and Bhimtal Nagar Panchayat to Nagar Palika Parishad. To provide relief to farmers affected due to delayed rains for rabi crop, the government has decided to bear 50 per cent of the tube well charges incurred by the farmers during the rabi sowing season and also pay the farmers part of the premium of crop insurance. Some of the other decisions are State government to recommend to the Centre to include Sikligar community in the SC list. Scholarship scheme of Rs 50 lakh to be set up for children belonging to the Chand Bardai community for promoting education among them. Announcement of completion of Chakrata Road Redevelopment plan. Families affected by Lakhwar Beasi Dam to be settled at Jevan Garh on the land belonging to the Horticulture Department. Setting up of Uttarakhand Khadar Development to look into the problems of people due to submergence of areas near the Solani and the Ganga. Offer to absorb 52 guest lectures attached with Srinagar Garhwal University which has now become a Central University. They are being given a choice to either join degree colleges in the hilly areas or those colleges affiliated with Sridev Suman University on a contractual basis, provided they fulfil the UGC norms. Department of Personnel has decided to give relief to those employed through outsource agencies in various state as well as on Central government projects. They will be given preference in selection on vacant posts in departments for which the government will also make separate rules. Rules for setting up educational institutions of higher education simplified. Now, those with an annual turnover of Rs 2 crore will be given permission. Ajay Ramola Tribune News Service Mussoorie, January 3 Rhododendrons (called Burans) blooming in low-lying forest areas have surprised experts but they have come as a boon for children who are making full use of their school winter vacation by collecting flowers and selling them to tourists on roadside near Kempty. Karan, 12, a student of Government School, near Happy Valley, is elated at the early blooming of rhododendrons this year. He wakes up early in the morning without having to worry about attending the school and goes to the forest to collect rhododendron flowers. He sells the flowers to tourists for Rs 30 to earn pocket money. This year, Karan and his friends are able to collect a large number of flowers and sell these at a nominal price to tourists. Rhododendrons bloom around February and March but this year they have bloomed quite early to the delight of all schoolkids. In March and April they have to worry about their studies as their schools remain open and they collect less number of flowers. This year, rhododendrons have bloomed in January and they can devote more time in collecting and selling these to tourists, adds Karan. We wish that the flowers bloom in January when we have school vacation, says Karans schoolmates accompanying him. Agriculture and forest expert Kundan Singh Panwar says climate change can be one of the reasons for the early bloom of rhododendron flowers this year. Trees such as apple and apricot shedding leaves during the winter and experiencing flowering early can be attributed to climatic change, as for the past four months the area has not witnessed rains and the temperatures have been comparatively higher in December and January. This premature flowering is not good for the flower as the dry conditions will lead to less juice content. The absence of snowfall this year so far will also affect the flowering process, says Panwar. Tehri Garhwal District Horticulture Officer Amar Singh says branches that matured but did not flower last year have bloomed much early in January this year due to the temperature suitable for their growth. The Horticulture Department has set up food processing centres in the district where people can process juice of rhododendron flowers, which is said to be good for curing heart ailments. Rhododendron is also the state tree of Uttarakhand and contains several medicinal qualities, he adds. Washington, January 4 A record five Indian-Americans took oath as members of the US Congress, scripting history for the minority ethnic community that comprises just one per cent of Americas population. Kamala Harris, 52, whose mother was from India and father from Jamaica, was sworn in yesterday as the Senator from California by outgoing US Vice-President Joe Biden. She is the first Indian-American to have ever served in the Senate. She was accompanied by her husband Doug Emhoff, sister Maya Harris and other members of her immediate family during the swearing-in ceremony. Harris, who before the swearing-in held the position of California Attorney General, replaced Senator Barbara Boxer, who decided against seeking re-election. She is one of the seven new Senators to have taken office in the new Congress. Today I was sworn in to the US Senate. I am humbled and honoured to serve you and the people of California. Lets get to work, Harris said. After her elections, she has made it clear that her top priority would be to fight out the alleged divisive policies of the Republicans who are now in the majority in the House of Representative and the Senate. A few hours later, the focus of the community shifted to the House Chambers wherein as many as four Indian-Americans were sworn in as its members, including Congressman Ami Bera, who has been re-elected for the third consecutive term. In the process Bera, 51, equalled the record of Dalip Singh Saundh, who exactly 60 years ago became the first Indian-American to be elected as a member of the US Congress. Joining Bera was young and dynamic Ro Khanna (40) representing the Silicon Valley. He was sworn in on a bicentennial edition of the Constitution on loan from the rare books division of the Library of Congress. Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi, 42, who won the election from Illinois, took the oath on Gita. He is the second US lawmaker after Tulsi Gabbard from Hawaii to take the oath on Gita. Gabbard, the first ever Hindu to be elected to the US Congress, took the oath for third consecutive term. Having created a national niche for herself even before being sworn in, Pramila Jayapal (51) is the first Indian-American woman in the US House of Representatives. Her 78-year-old mother, who especially came in from India, watched the proceedings from the gallery. Today is not about me. Its about we. It is about the movement of hundreds of thousands of people in Washingtons seventh Congressional District, a diverse coalition of people from all walks of life, who want to ensure that we continue to provide opportunity for all, she said. In the Congress, I pledge to draw on my experiences as a woman of colour, as an immigrant, and as a Washingtonian to speak out against injustice, even when it is not popular, to push for creative solutions to peoples everyday problems, and to find the common ground where it can be found, said Jayapal, who is one of only 23 Members of Congress born in another country apart from Krishnamoorthi. Less than a mile away, Indian-Americans from across the country gathered later in the night to celebrate the historic occasion at a gala organised by Indiaspora. This is a historic moment. Today, we are celebrating from success to significance, said MR Rangaswami, eminent investor, philanthropist and entrepreneur. The best of the (Indian-American) community is yet to come, said eminent Indian-American Ashley Telis at a pre-gala news conference, adding that more is in store from the next generation of Indian-Americans. Indian-Americans running for office and winning for the Congress is historic, said political activist Neera Tanden. PTI Meet first Somali-American legislator Ilhan Omar, 34, became the first Somali-American and second Muslim-American to be elected to Minnesotas House of Representatives. My election win offers a counter-narrative to the bigotry in the world, she said. London, January 3 Booker prize-winning English novelist and pioneering art critic John Berger has passed away at the age of 90. A lifelong Marxist intellectual, Berger died at his home in the Paris suburb of Antony on Monday. The writer, who won the Booker Prize in 1972 for his novel G, famously gave away half the prize money to the radical African-American movement, the Black Panthers. He is equally famous for his BBC series Ways of Seeing that brought a new political perspective to art criticism. My father #JohnBerger died today. Neither scared nor reckless, but focused, curious & eager to find out the rest of the story. A true writer, his filmmaker son Jacob tweeted. Bergers director friend Simon McBurne paid tribute to the author calling him his guide, philosopher and friend. PTI London, January 3 Britains ambassador to the European Union Sir Ivan Rogers, who courted recently controversy by saying that a UK-EU trade deal might take 10 years to finalise, today unexpectedly resigned from the post weeks before crucial Brexit negotiations with the economic bloc. The senior diplomat had been expected to lead the UKs Brexit negotiations with the 28-member EU but was in the eye of a storm following the leak of an internal memo in which he claimed leaving the EU could take up to a decade. The UK Foreign Office confirmed the resignation today but declined to give any reasons behind the move at this stage. Labour MP Hilary Benn, who chairs the UK Parliaments Brexit Select Committee, said the resignation had come at a crucial time. It couldnt be a more difficult time to organise a handover, he said. Rogers occupied the post of the United Kingdom Permanent Representation to the European Union (UKRep), which represents the UK in negotiations that take place in the EU. UKRep is one of the busiest posts, with a team sourced from over 20 UK government departments working to ensure that UK policies are explained to other EU member states, the European Commission and members of the European Parliament. Rogers, a veteran civil servant, was due to leave his post in November 2017 but is stepping down early. Last month, the BBC revealed he had privately told ministers a UK-EU trade deal might take 10 years to finalise. The leak of the private memo is believed to have caused him a lot of embarrassment and strained relations with Downing Street. PM Theresa May has announced her intention to invoke Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty to trigger official talks for Britains exit from the EU by March-end. Rogers was expected to play a central role in those deliberations. PTI Istanbul, January 4 Turkey has established the identity of the gunman who killed 39 persons in an Istanbul night club on New Years Day, its Foreign Minister said on Wednesday, as the police rounded up more suspected accomplices. In an interview with the state-run Anadolu news agency, Mevlut Cavusoglu gave no further details about the gunman, whom Turkish officials have not named. The Turkish police, meanwhile, detained five suspected Islamic State militants believed to be linked to the attack, the state-run news agency reported. The operation was launched in the Aegean port city of Izmir and was ongoing, Anadolu Agency said. The attacker shot his way into the exclusive Reina night club on Sunday then opened fire with an automatic rifle, reloading his weapon half a dozen times and shooting the wounded as they lay on the ground. Turks as well as visitors from several Arab nations, India and Canada were among the dead. The Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it was revenge for Turkish military involvement in Syria. Turkish media reports have said the attacker is believed to be an ethnic Uighur, possibly from Kyrgyzstan. The shooting in Istanbuls Ortakoy neighbourhood, an upscale district on the Bosphorus shore, came after a year in which NATO member Turkey was shaken by a series of attacks by radical Islamist and Kurdish militants and by a failed coup. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed that the country wont surrender to terrorists or become divided. He said the attack, which targeted a club popular with local celebrities and moneyed foreigners, was being exploited to try to divide the largely Sunni Muslim nation and that the state never meddled in how people lived. There is no point trying to blame the Ortakoy attack on differences in lifestyles, he said in a speech to local administrators at the presidential palace in Ankara. Turkeys Religious Affairs Directorate, which condemned the attack in its immediate aftermath, had issued a statement in December saying celebrating the New Year did not fit with Muslim values, triggering criticism from some parts of Turkish society. Such calls have made many secular Turks suspicious of the Islamist background of Erdogan and the ruling AK Party, seeing them as bent on eroding the secular principles of the modern republic founded in 1923 by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk after the fall of the Ottoman Empire. Erdogan rejects such suggestions. Agencies Lahore, January 4 Over 100 clerics were arrested in Punjab province on Wednesday for attempting to hold a rally in Lahore to celebrate the sixth anniversary of the assassination of the then Punjab Governor Salmaan Taseer. Taseer, Governor of Punjab and an outspoken advocate for reform of the blasphemy laws, was showered with bullets by his own bodyguard Mumtaz Qadri. Demonstrators belonging to the various Sunni groups planned the rally. The clerics were given a go-ahead to hold a rally on Mall Road but not in Gulberg in Lahore. Heavy police contingents were deployed at Kalma Chowk and roads blocked with containers. The Metro Bus Service was suspended after a few clerics and their followers entered its track. Taseer, who had angered religious zealots with his statements against the countrys controversial blasphemy laws, was killed in Islamabads Kohsar Market on January 4, 2011. His assailant, Mumtaz Qadri, who later admitted the killing, was subsequently executed in Rawalpindis Adiala Jail in 2016. IANS Washington, January 3 The Republican-led US Congress began its first session of the Donald Trump era in turmoil on Tuesday as the House of Representatives backed away from a decision to defang an ethics watchdog after a public outcry, including a dressing-down from the president-elect. With Trump set to be sworn in as President on January 20, Republicans will control both the White House and Congress for the first time since 2007, and they were set to begin laying plans for enacting his agenda of cutting taxes, repealing Obamacare and rolling back financial and environmental regulations. But the moment was overshadowed by a surprise move by Republicans in the House of Representatives in a closed-door meeting late on Monday to weaken the independent Office of Congressional Ethics, which is in charge of investigating ethics accusations against lawmakers. Trump, who campaigned on a pledge to "drain the swamp" and bring ethics reforms to Washington, was not pleased. "With all that Congress has to work on, do they really have to make the weakening of the Independent Ethics Watchdog, as unfair as it may be, their number one act and priority," he said on Twitter on Tuesday. "Focus on tax reform, healthcare and so many other things of far greater importance!" The ethics office was created in 2008 following several corruption scandals but some lawmakers have charged in recent years that it has been too quick to investigate complaints from outside partisan groups. Lawmakers wanted to have greater control of the watchdog, and inserted changes into a broader rules package, set to pass when the House convenes on Tuesday. Even before Trump's tweet, many House Republicans, including top leaders, opposed the measure and worried about its ramifications. Trump's tweet prompted an emergency meeting and a quick change of course by Republicans. It was taken out by unanimous consent ... and the House Ethics Committee will now examine those issues, said AshLee Strong, a spokeswoman for House Speaker Paul Ryan. Since his election on November 8, Trump has made clear he wants to move swiftly to enact proposals he outlined during the campaign such as simplifying the tax code and slashing corporate tax rates. He also promised to make good on a Republican pledge to repeal and replace Democratic President Barack Obama's 2010 signature Affordable Care Act, a law better known as Obamacare. In the first step of a process that could take months, Republican Senator Mike Enzi on Tuesday introduced a resolution to provide for the repeal of the law. House Republicans were set to clear the decks later for Obamacare repeal by tucking a measure to prevent Democrats from slowing or stopping repeal legislation into a vote on rules governing House procedures. But Republicans face a dilemma on a replacement programme to provide health insurance to people who do not have a plan at work or cannot afford private coverage. Republicans have said it could take years to develop a programme. Reuters Paul Ryan re-elected as House Speaker US lawmakers voted on Tuesday to retain congressman Paul Ryan as Speaker of the House of Representatives, making him a critical player in Congress as Donald Trump prepares to assume the presidency House members voted 239 to 189 to re-elect Ryan to the key post over the top Democrat, former Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Five lawmakers voted for other figures Ford scuttles Mexico plant as Trump targets GM WASHINGTON: Ford scuttled a plan to build a $1.6 billion plant in Mexico on Tuesday following criticism from Donald Trump, and just hours after the president-elect attacked General Motors and threatened to impose a big border tax for making its Chevy Cruze model in Mexico. Ford said it was spiking a plan to build a plant in San Luis Potosi, and would instead invest $700 million in four years to expand its Michigan plant. AFP Belmont University announces dean's list NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The following students achieved the Dean's List at Belmont University for the Fall 2016 semester: Stephen Gibson of Tuscola Adrienne Haupt of Paris Eligibility is based on a minimum course load of 12 hours and a quality grade point average of 3.5 with no grade below a C. Approximately 30 percent of Belmont's 7,700 students qualified for Dean's List. Vail awarded scholarship CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. -- Bethany Vail of Effingham has received the Community College Scholarship and Midwest Achievement Award to attend Southeast Missouri State University beginning in spring 2017. Vail is the daughter of Jeff and Melissa Vail of Effingham. She is a 2014 graduate of Effingham High School and will be a 2016 graduate of Lake Land College. Paige named to dean's list LAMONI, Iowa -- Ryan Paige of Effingham has been named to the fall 2016 dean's list at Graceland University. Graceland University students with a GPA between 3.25 and 3.64 are named to the dean's list. ISTANBUL, January 4 Turkey has established the identity of the gunman who killed 39 people in an Istanbul nightclub on New Year's Day, its foreign minister said on Wednesday, as police rounded up more suspected accomplices. In an interview with the state-run Anadolu news agency, Mevlut Cavusoglu gave no further details about the gunman, whom Turkish officials have not named. The attacker shot his way into the exclusive Reina nightclub on Sunday then opened fire with an automatic rifle, reloading his weapon half a dozen times and shooting the wounded as they lay on the ground. Turks as well as visitors from several Arab nations, India and Canada were among the dead. Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it was revenge for Turkish military involvement in Syria. Turkish media reports have said the attacker is believed to be an ethnic Uighur, possibly from Kyrgyzstan. The shooting in Istanbul's Ortakoy neighbourhood, an upscale district on the Bosphorus shore, came after a year in which NATO member Turkey was shaken by a series of attacks by radical Islamist and Kurdish militants and by a failed coup. President Tayyip Erdogan said the attack, which targeted a club popular with local celebrities and moneyed foreigners, was being exploited to try to divide the largely Sunni Muslim nation and that the state never meddled in how people lived. "There is no point trying to blame the Ortakoy attack on differences in lifestyles," he said in a speech to local administrators at the presidential palace in Ankara. "Nobody's lifestyle is under systematic threat in Turkey. We will never allow this," he said in comments broadcast live. It was his first public speech since the shooting. Turkey's Religious Affairs Directorate, which condemned the attack in its immediate aftermath, had issued a statement in December saying celebrating the New Year did not fit with Muslim values, triggering criticism from some parts of Turkish society. Such calls have made many secular Turks suspicious of the Islamist background of Erdogan and the ruling AK Party, seeing them as bent on eroding the secular principles of the modern republic founded in 1923 by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk after the fall of the Ottoman empire. Erdogan rejects such suggestions. More detentions The attacker appeared to have been well versed in guerrilla warfare and may have trained in Syria, a security source and a newspaper report said on Tuesday. The Haberturk newspaper said police investigations revealed that the gunman had entered Turkey from Syria and went to the central city of Konya in November, travelling with his wife and two children so as not to attract attention. On Wednesday, police in the western city of Izmir detained 27 people who had travelled from Konya, citing suspicion of links to the attack, the Dogan news agency said. They included women and children. Video footage showed some of them being brought out of an apartment building to waiting vehicles. Seven Uighur Turks were also detained at a restaurant in the working-class Istanbul neighbourhood of Zeytinburnu, where the gunman was thought to have gone by taxi after the attack and asked to borrow money to pay the driver, Haberturk said. The newspaper said raids had been carried out on 50 addresses in the district, where many Uzbeks, Kyrgyz, Kazakhs and Uighurs live, and 14 people detained in total. Reuters 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 ... The world faces the prospect of more tension with China over trade, security and human rights after Xi Jinping awarded himself another five-year term as leader of the ruling Communist Party and called for self-reliance in technology, a stronger military and protection of core interests abroad. At a party congress, Xi gave no sign of plans to change the "zero-COVID strategy that has frustrated Chinas public and disrupted business and trade. He called for faster military development and announced no change in policies that strain relations with Washington and Asian neighbors. Xi is tightening control at home and trying to use Chinas economic heft to increase its influence abroad. CHARLESTON -- A man who was one of three arrested for drug possession after a search of their vehicle in Charleston last summer became the second of the suspects to receive prison time. Ian J. Kearns pleaded guilty on Tuesday to charges of possession of methamphetamine and obstructing justice in connection with the Aug. 18 incident that included the vehicle search at a Charleston gas station. Kearns, 19, for whom court records list a Chicago address, was sentenced to three years in prison with the agreement reached in his case. The charges to which he pleaded guilty accused him of having methamphetamine and lying to police about his identity. The more serious of the two charges had a maximum possible prison sentence of five years but prison time wasn't required for either offense. The agreement also included dismissal of more serious drug charges, one of which would have required a six- to 30-year prison term. The plea agreement reached Tuesday also requires Kearns to pay about $1,300 in fines and court fees. Coles County Circuit Judge Brien O'Brien accepted the plea agreement and imposed the sentence based on a joint recommendation from Assistant State's Attorney Tom Bucher and Assistant Public Defender Jesse Danley. Kearns and two other men were arrested after police stopped and searched their vehicle at the Mach 1 station at 702 W. Lincoln Ave., Charleston. One of the other suspects, Kenneth M. Ghaziani, also reportedly fled on foot from the scene of the stop and was later located and arrested at the County Market store at 551 W. Lincoln Ave. Ghaziani, 23, whose address on record is in Chicago, formerly of Mattoon, received a 7 1/2-year prison sentence when he pleaded guilty in November to a charge of possession of methamphetamine with intent to deliver. The case against the other suspect, Brian D. Allen, 38, for whom records also list a Chicago address, is pending and his next court appearance is scheduled for next week. Case records say police stopped the suspects' vehicle after seeing them leave the Unique Suites motel in Charleston, which followed several reports of the men being involved in drug activity there. The records say 28 bags, each containing about a third of an ounce of methamphetamine, along with about a quarter-ounce of cocaine were found in the men's vehicle during the search. Police identified all three men as having ties to a street gang, and also say Allen faces pending charges of attempted murder and armed robbery in Colorado, the records also say. Ghaziani is on parole from a prison sentence that resulted from a Cook County weapons conviction. He also served prison sentences for earlier Coles County convictions and court records show previous addresses for him in Mattoon and Charleston. Donna Mitchell Donna Jane Mitchell was born October 21, 1935, in Collinsville, Oklahoma, to Fred Rufus and Chloia Cecil McGill Eck. She died Sunday, December 25, 2016, in Tulsa, Oklahoma, at the age of 81 years. Donna was reared and educated in Poteau, Oklahoma, and graduated with the Poteau High School Class of 1954. She was married May 29, 1964, in Owasso, Oklahoma, to Leroy "Mitch" Mitchell. She spent most of her working life in management with Southwestern Bell. Donna was a longtime faithful member of Silver Creek Church of the Nazarene, formerly Owasso Church of the Nazarene. She was always active with her church and especially enjoyed singing. Other pastimes included camping, sewing, and crafts, but most important was her family. Loving family members include; Six children; Dan Casey and wife Patty, of Medford, Oregon, Doug Casey and wife Pamela, of Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, Kenny Casey and wife Sherrie, of Tulsa, Oklahoma, Darrell Mitchell and wife Candy, of Oologah, Oklahoma, Frances Scivally and husband Jim, of Owasso, Oklahoma, Brenda Smith and husband Mark, of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. A host of grandchildren and great grandchildren. Two sisters; Freda Reed and husband John, Elizabeth Neff, all of Poteau, Oklahoma, Special friend; Ralph Barr, of Owasso, Oklahoma. She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, Mitch, and two sisters, Selma Ruth Eck, and Darlene Best. Visitation was held from 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Thursday, December 29, 2016, at Mowery Funeral Service in Owasso. Funeral services were held 1:00 Friday, December 30, 2016, at the Silver Creek Church of the Nazarene with Pastor Brian Loderhose officiating. Serving as casket bearers was Jon Wynkoop, Brad Snoddy, Chris Kendall, and Larry Barr. Honorary casket bearers was Andrew Casey and Brian Scivally. Committal service and interment followed at Fairview Cemetery in Owasso. The family requests memorial contributions be made to the Silver Creek Church of the Nazarene Mission Fund, 9000 North 145th East Avenue, Owasso, Oklahoma, 74055. Arrangements and services were entrusted to Mowery Funeral Service of Owasso. www.moweryfs.com OKLAHOMA CITY Rep. Dan Kirby on Tuesday questioned the $44,500 the House spent on a settlement to his former assistant and her attorneys to resolve a sexual harassment and wrongful termination grievance. In an interview with the Tulsa World, Kirby said a House investigation into the matter revealed there was no sexual harassment. I dont understand why there was a payment, he said. If there was no sexual harassment, why was there a payment? It was revealed late last month that the House had paid the settlement in November. Kirby resigned amid a hailstorm of criticism but then rescinded his resignation. On Tuesday, he briefly addressed the matter on the House floor during organizational day, in which Democrats made a failed attempt to not have Kirby seated, or formally recognized as a member, until additional information about the legality of the issue was made public. Kirby, who was re-elected in November, said he welcomed a second investigation into the matter, ordered by House Speaker Charles McCall, R-Atoka. I want it to be transparent, Kirby said. I want the truth to come out. Kirby said he had a good working relationship with Hollie Anne Bishop, his former executive assistant. He said he was not made aware of the allegations until after the legislative session. She was decent, Kirby said. She was good. I had no problem with her work. I had no problem with her. That is why it was a total surprise to me. Kirby said she asked to take a picture with him on the last day of the session and signed it, saying she enjoyed working with him and to keep up the good work. He said he did not approve nor was he consulted on the settlement agreement. Former House Speaker Jeff Hickman, R-Fairview, said the investigation found no sexual harassment but that it was cheaper to settle than go to court. Hickman said Kirby got bad advice to rescind his resignation a comment Kirby said was a mystery to him. I never asked her out, Kirby said. I never came on to her. There was no such thing as an advance she had to rebuff. During the four months they worked together, Bishop never told him he was out of line, Kirby said. After the allegations and settlement were made public, Kirby said he was under a lot of public pressure, including from social media, to resign. He decided to rescind the decision because it was made in haste, would leave his constituents unrepresented and would cost additional dollars for a special election, Kirby said. Bishop alleged that after she reported the sexual harassment she was fired. Kirby said he did not recommend she be fired and did not fire her. Executive assistants are hired and fired by the House and Senate. An attorney for Bishop, Justin D. Meek, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A Princes Town homeowner says he believes a water leak is to blame for a landslip affecting their home. He tells our reporter Cindy Raghubar-Teekersingh that his investigations reveal that it' a WASA leak, and although he's made numerous reports to the authority, they continue to ignore his complaints. Julia Morris Stars from ABC, Seven, Nine, TEN, SBS & Foxtel have taken to iPads, iPhones, video walls and even cupcakes to celebrate 10 years of TV Tonight! Thanks to everyone for getting in the spirit of this milestone with birthday selfies. Take note of these faces folks, they support your friendly neighbourhood blog. Look for more birthday posts today and beyond .and feel free to use the #TVT10 hashtag! Cheers, David! Nadine Garner & Craig McLachlan Samantha Armytage Sandra Sully Tom Williams & Sarah Cumming Leigh Sales Claudia Karvan Pete Smith Josh Thomas & Hannah Gadsby Charlie Pickering Peter Hitchener Michael Rowland & Virginia Trioli Angela Cox & Larry Emdur Tommy Little Dr. Chris Brown Shaynna Blaze Marc Fennell Joel Creasey Adam Zwar Chrissie Swan Livinia Nixon Issa Supernerd Schultz Ryan Phelan Peter Maddison Jeremy Fernandez Scott Tweedie Rebecca Maddern Ricardo Goncalves Tom Gleeson Mark Beretta Debra Lawrance Adam Liaw Jaynie Seal Mal Walden Andy Trieu Peter Berner Bruce Campbell ..and if there is any more talent who would like to be included just hit me up via my Contact page, I may run another next week. Tomorrow: Industry celebrates 10 Years of TV Tonight (Execs, producers & more!) MATTOON (JG-TC) -- A Chicago man who is accused of domestic battery was injured recently when his alleged victim reportedly fought back with a knife. A Mattoon Police Department press release reported that Steven A. Terry Barron, 21, of Chicago was arrested at 1 a.m. Monday in connection with this incident. The incident reportedly began when police responded to a domestic disturbance Sunday evening in the 1800 block of South Ninth Street. The press release reported that the arriving officers found Barron to be injured by lacerations from a knife. Barron was subsequently transported to Sarah Bush Lincoln Health Center for treatment of injuries that were non-life-threatening, the police department reported. An investigation revealed that Barron allegedly struck a woman and that he had also battered her with a broom stick, the press release reported. The victim allegedly obtained and used a knife as a defensive weapon in order to stop the attack, the police department reported. Barron was arrested for domestic battery upon his release from the hospital, the press release reported. An Illinois Department of Corrections parole hold warrant of arrest was also obtained at that time for Barron. The warrant alleges that Barron was on parole from prison for aggravated armed robbery with a firearm at the time the new offense was allegedly committed, the press release reported. Barron was taken to the Coles County jail. In other matters, Mattoon police arrested Joshua D. Metcalf, 37, of Mattoon at 1:47 p.m. Friday in the 1000 block of Rudy Avenue on a charge of domestic battery. The charge alleges that he battered a female. Minor injuries were reported. Metcalf was taken to the jail. Hi, my name is Scott C. Waring and I wrote a few books and am currently a ESL School Owner in Taiwan. I have had my own UFO sighting up close and personal, but that's how it works right? A non believer becomes a believer when they experience their first sighting. You witnessed it, your perceptual field changes, so now you need to share it. I created this site to help the UFO community get a little bit organized. I noticed that there was a lot of chaos when searching for UFO sighting reports, so I hope this site helps. I wanted to support those eyewitnesses who have tried to tell others about what they have seen, yet were laughed at by even closest of friends. More and more each day the governments of the world leak bits and pieces of UFO information to the public. They have a trickle down theory in hopes of slowly getting citizens use to the idea that we are not alone in universe and never have been. The truth is being leaked drop by drop until one day we look around and find ourselves neck high in it. The discovery of alien species in existence is the most monumental scientific event in human history, suppression of that information is a crime against humanity. About me: I live in Taiwan. I OWN MY OWN ENGLISH SCHOOL, AND ONCE HAD 5 SCHOOLS. Am Former USAF at SAC base (flight line). Age: 42 Educ: BA in Elem ed. Masters in Counseling ed. I had two UFO sightings, (30+bus size orbs) in military and in 2012 personally saw the UFO over Taipei 101 building on New Years Day (and recored it). Picture use Unless otherwise stated all photos on this site are copyrighted Jim Budd. They should not be used without authorisation and due credit. Please contact me on budmac@btinternet.com for all use. There will usually be a charge for use in commercial publications papers, magazines, websites etc. and for other commercial uses. Photos that are used for commercial use without permission will be charged double the fee for the use of photo and for breach of copyright. Commercial organisations asking to use photos for no payment may not always receive a polite response. President Petro Poroshenko has congratulated President of the People's Republic of China Xi Jinping on the 25th anniversary of establishment of diplomatic relations between Ukraine and China. This has been reported by the press service of the Head of State. "I am confident that the key acquisitions of relations between our countries include strong friendship of the Ukrainian and Chinese peoples, mutual support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity, mutual respect, and equal and mutually beneficial cooperation. These things are a reliable basis for further development of strategic partnership between Ukraine and the People's Republic of China," Poroshenko said. ish The sanctions imposed on Russia by the European Union due to occupation of Crimea should remain in force until the peninsula is de-occupied. Foreign Minister of Ukraine Pavlo Klimkin said this at a joint briefing with President of the OSCE Sebastian Kurtz in Mariupol, an Ukrinform correspondent reports. "It is very important, and I want to stress that the sanctions imposed on Russia due to temporary occupation of Crimea should remain in force until Russia leaves Crimea," the minister stressed. He has recalled that sanctions are necessary to make Russia fulfill the Minsk agreements. Klimkin also thanked the Austrian partners, who supported the UN General Assembly resolution on the human rights situation on the territory of temporarily occupied Crimea. ish Austria will allocate additional EUR 2 million in humanitarian assistance to the people in eastern Ukraine. Sebastian Kurz, the OSCE Chairman, Federal Minister for Europe, Integration and Foreign Affairs of Austria posted this on his Twitter page. Austria provides additional 2 million euros for humanitarian aid to people in eastern Ukraine, he wrote. According to the minister, he visited the water filtration plant in Mariupol which provides clean water for over 400,000 people in Mariupol thanks to the support of ICRC. Kurz also wrote that Charitable Organization Caritas Austria plans to provide medical and health services to people in eastern Ukraine and expects to reach over 1,200 persons in the region. As earlier reported, Foreign Minister of Ukraine Pavlo Klimkin and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Austria Sebastian Kurz are on an official visit to eastern Ukraine since yesterday. iy A group of bipartisan senators is preparing a bill that would offer sanctions against Russia, lawmakers confirmed as the Senate convened a new session of Congress on Tuesday. Maryland Sen. Ben Cardin, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said that he was working on the bill with a "broad group" of bipartisan senators, CNN reported. "It will be a comprehensive bill that will provide congressional authorization for additional sanctions against Russia," Cardin said. The move comes as Russia has been a central focus in Washington. The White House and US intelligence community have said they are confident that Moscow sought to interfere in the US election through the hacking of Democratic political groups and sowing of distrust in the US government. Cardin said the sanctions legislation would focus in part on Russia's actions in Eastern Europe, including its annexation of the Crimean region of Ukraine, and also for its role in the Middle East, where it has been working to support the Assad regime in Syria. On 3-5 October 2017 Kyiv is going to host the Space and Future Forum to network international experts and youth, many of whom will also participate at the first CosmoHack in the world. Joinfo provides media coverage of the Forum, and some of its topics were already discussed ... A lot of times, we often think that the wisdom and knowledge of the past are not applicable in modern times. However, it has been proven time and again that there are basic truths that have endured and will remain relevant no matter the technology advances. One of those is the Mahatma Gandhi's take on goal setting and success. Most, if not all, have already heard about the quote how beliefs can evolve into thoughts, words, actions, habits, values, and eventually, your destiny. Often mistaken as spoken by Margaret Thatcher, this Mahatma Gandhi quote holds a very powerful concept that can revolutionize your life yet often not applied in real life. It shows the power of beliefs, but most of all the power of your mind to control your destiny. If all people will be able to grasp and apply the truths in these words, then there will be no regrets at the end of the new year because of unmet goals, unproductive moments, and lost opportunities. Moreover, you will not see the same old goals you have on your list year in and year out. Gandhi started with a belief that might represent something that is important to you. You simply cannot believe in something if you think it's not important. Therefore, if you really want your goal-setting to work begin by asking yourself which is more important to you. Furthermore, it is not easy to forget what is important to you and the transition from belief to thought is easier. However, thinking about it is not enough, you have to continually affirm and confirm that every day. But come to think of it, when you are sold out to an idea, it is not difficult to talk about it. A good metaphor for this is perhaps when you fall in love with someone. The thought of the person consumes you and you just can't stop talking about them. That person even becomes the center of your life and you will not stop until that person becomes yours. The same thing goes when you really want something. Therefore, if you want your goal to work, take time to list down the things that are most important to you and begin building your goals on those things. Before you even noticed it, you have already fulfilled them. Nvidia is expected to draw a lot of attention at the upcoming CES 2017 event in Las Vegas on January 5, 2017. The GPU giant is set to take center stage at the annual big tech event to showcase the latest developments in artificial intelligence, gaming and self-driving technology. What To Expect From Nvidia At CES 2017 The CES 2017 event has always been a trade show about the latest developments in technology and its endless possibilities. This also covers wildly impractical dreams about computing and how it could be appled to real world. Going into this year's Consumer Electronics Show (CES) event, the crowd could expect three big techs to play out in the said event. The first one is the processor upgrades that push the boundary of today's computing and reimagine to what possible in ever-smaller gadgets. Then there's the self-driving technology that's has gone from a far-fetched technology to a technology that's actually real and working. The third one is the fast-emerging AI technology that brings the tech closer to the mainstream. Nvidia is expected to create lots of buzz and excitement at CES 2017 event due to the sheer reach of its core products. Recently, it tweeted a teaser image which could give some an idea of what to expect from the GPU firm. This was quickly followed up by an official announcement on the company's official website. Were setting the stage for something big on Jan 5th. 8 days to go. #CES2017 pic.twitter.com/vU0HUt0PtI NVIDIA UK (@NVIDIA_UK) December 28, 2016 As stated on Nvidia's official website, the company will be demonstrating the latest development on self-driving technology, with a trailer showing systems that can detect nearby cars. It will also discuss and tackle the latest development in the world of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and gaming. The Nvidia CES 2017 keynote will start on January 4, 2017, with Nvidia CEO Jen-Hsun Huang addressing the Nvidia keynote. In earlier reports, Nvidia has confirmed the existence of the unannounced GeForce GTX 1080 Ti, which has been first spotted at a LinkedIn job listing. However, it doesn't make any further comment about the specifics of the upcoming graphics card. But the expectation is very high for the company and that Nvidia might reveal the full details of the GeForce GTX 1080 Ti at the upcoming Nvidia CES 2017 keynote. Rumors are also rife on the web claiming that Nvidia might be showing the Nvidia Shield at CES 2017 event. However, there's still no hard evidence to support this kind of speculation. How To Watch Nvidia CES 2017 Live Stream So when and how can the users watch the Nvidia CES 2017 live stream? According to PC Advisor, Nvidia CES 2017 keynote is set to start at 6:30 p.m. PST on January 4, 2017, from Las Vegas, Nevada. People can watch the Nvidia CES 23017 keynote at Nvidia website where the GPU stalwart will be hosting a dedicated live stream for its millions of Nvidia fans and customers around the world. Luke Evans is an actor known for his work as Bard the Bowman in "The Hobbit" trilogy. He is also starring as Gaston in the upcoming Disney movie, "Beauty and the Beast." Now, he is using his influence to help kids with Bulgari. The Italian jeweller, Bulgari, has teamed up with Luke Evans to support the UK-based charity called "Save the Children." In 2009, Bulgari decided to make jewels that will benefit "Save the Children." They did this by creating a ring that can be worn by both men and women. What makes this ring special is the engraving on it. The ring is based on the B.Zero1 design and has a black ceramic set into silver. It cost 420, as reported by The Jewelry Editor. This ring made a huge difference. Every 60 taken from the purchase price has helped Bulgari raise over 50 million. The funds raised has helped kids in 33 different countries. In total, their efforts has helped over one million underprivileged kids around the world. What made this charity even more promising is the help of many A-list actors like Luke Evans, as reported by Save the Children. Evans is a Bulgari brand ambassador as well as an ambassador for the charity group. On November 2016, the "The Girl on the Train" actor went to India to raise awareness regarding "Save the Children's" education program which included the Mobile Learning Center. According to reports, 18 million kids do not have access to education. This is considerably the highest number globally. Luke Evans personally went to Mumbai and Pune to check out how the Mobile Learning Center has helped shape the future of these kids. Luke Evans realized that these kids may have never had the opportunity to read a book. After seeing the smiles on their faces, he knows that they will have a better life. For this "Beauty and the Beast" actor, his visit to India will stay with him forever. Bulgari and "Save the Children" also created the #RaiseYourHand campaign. Check out the Fashion TV video below: Jewish school Hebrew Union College has become the latest victim of racist vandals. Its college sign was defaced with a swastika which was found on Tuesday. Local source WVXU.org reported that Cincinnati police are already investigating the incident. The hate symbol was painted on a sign at Hebrew Union College. The school's associate dean, Rabbi Ken Kanter, described the vandal as disturbing. However, he also acknowledged that it was a "minor nuisance" compared to what other people are going through in the nation or around the world. Authorities were quick to respond. The image has been removed. Rabbi Kanter expressed his thanks to Cincinnati police who arrived immediately. Officials are still reviewing security footage to identify the possible suspect. Hebrew Union College issued a statement on the incident. President Rabbi Aaron Panken said that the act of hate should not alter their work and that they will continue to "build a just and humane world." According to Cincinnati.com, the school was founded in 1875. It is the first permanent Jewish institution of higher learning in the U.S. Cincinnati mayor John Cranley said that he is "deeply offended and disturbed" by the act of hate. He assured everyone that the city is working towards building a more welcoming and inclusive environment. This is the latest in the surge of hate acts committed across campuses in the United States. Last month, Hitler and swastikas posters were found at two locations on the University of Chicago campus. It was noted that a neo-Nazi group may be the culprit behind the racist messages. The name of the symbol of The Atomwaffen Division was on the posters. A student from Nassau Community College has been arrested for reportedly drawing swastikas and other anti-Semitic images in the school. He 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 Dec. 17. NASA officials are not scared of a possible funding cut by the Trump administration. They are confident that their work and achievements will speak for themselves. Last November, The Guardian reported that NASA's Earth science division is expected to go through a funding cut. This is because the president-elect wants the agency to focus on deep space exploration instead of studying climate change. His senior adviser, Stephen Miller, has said that Donald Trump is set in eliminating all climate change research done by NASA as part of the administration's efforts to crackdown "politicized science." It was revealed that the president-elect wants the focus to be on space exploration with the goal of being able to explore the whole solar system by the end of the century. Donald Trump has continued to appoint climate change deniers to office. He has previously tweeted that "the concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive." According to The Christian Science Monitor, Thomas Zurbuchen, the leader of NASA's Science Mission Directorate, has said that the concerns over NASA's future under Donald Trump is just based on noise and "not signal." During the annual Earth Science Town Hall meeting at the American Geophysical Union conference in San Francisco last month, he told leaders that they should be a "source of signal, not a source of noise." Michael Freilich, NASA Earth Science Division director, noted that scientists should continue with their work even if the space agency's Earth science program is dropped. They should do even better instead of thinking about what could have been. Zurbuchen added that scientists should continue to produce high-quality research. He reminded his colleagues that they should always do the right thing. This is not the first time that NASA has experienced a budget cut. During the early years of George W. Bush's presidency, the space agency's overall budget was dropped from approximately 11 percent of its budget to six percent. SpaceX Falcon 9 is getting ready for its relaunch. After some technical fixes and a beauty makeover, it is going to redeem itself since the launch failure at Cape Canaveral, Florida on September 9, 2016. But will SpaceX be able to avoid the same failure? The company has found the root cause of the problem. After careful examination, SpaceX has determined that the explosion was caused by a complex process that involved changing temperatures. It appears that a mixture of broken fibers and cold oxygen caused Falcon 9 to catch fire. According to Physicist Scott Manley, Elon Musk's SpaceX rocket exploded due to warm weather. Something SpaceX most likely did not fully account for. The changing temperatures caused a shift in the rocket. He points out that the helium tank rupturing is just one of the things that happened, as reported by the Daily Caller. Manley explained that the densified propellant warmed and the expansion from the changing temperatures stressed the rocket. How did this happen? Falcon 9 was left outside a little bit longer than it needed. The area around the tank warmed. But regardless of their previous failure, SpaceX is still going to bring Falcon 9 back to the launching pad. It looks like SpaceX is going to start the 2017 new year with a bang with SpaceX Falcon 9 because it is going to relaunch on January 8, 2016, as reported by Popular Mechanics. Still, NASA's Space Station Advisory Committee is deeply concerned about the company's safety standards. NASA hopes that SpaceX will review its procedures and policies before going into launch again. The announcement came earlier today and many hope that there will not be any delays to the launch. Because if the rocket fails again, then that means it already lost a $60 million rocket and a $200 million satellite payload twice. Want to know more about SpaceX Falcon 9's launch failure? Check out Manley's video explanation below. Asus has partnered with Google for a phone that has both virtual and augmented reality. The Asus Zenfone AR will be revealed at the company's press conference in CES 2017 this week. The Asus Zenfone AR will be revealed on Wednesday, Jan. 4 in CES 2017, according to a recently leaked announcement from Qualcomm. The leaked post indicated that the device is the world's "first Tango-enabled smartphone to be powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 processor" that goes along the likes of Google's Pixel phones. The Asus Zenfone AR is also the first mobile device to be "both Tango-enabled and Daydream-ready." Popular leaker Evan Blass revealed the Asus Zenfone AR's press render on Twitter recently. Check out the phone's look below. ASUS ZenFone AR (2nd Google Tango phone) pic.twitter.com/ctKQ9IKfeC Evan Blass (@evleaks) January 2, 2017 The photo showed the Asus Zenfone AR's camera array as smaller than Lenovo's first Project Tango phone called the Lenovo Phab 2 Pro, CNET pointed out. Asus' upcoming handset also has a faster processor than the Phab 2 Pro. The Asus Zenfone AR combines Google's Daydream View VR platform and Tango's advanced 3D depth-sensing cameras. The merger is what Clay Bavor, Google's vice president of virtual reality, has been planning for since Daydream and Tango became one in 2016. The Asus Zenfone AR is designed to accommodate VR with "high-resolution display, ultra-smooth graphics and high-fidelity sensors for precise head tracking," Qualcomm's blog post added. Snapdragon 821 is responsible for delivering "cutting-edge visual, audio and interactive technologies required to deliver truly immersive mobile VR experience for leading Android smartphones." With the Daydream View headset and controller, the Asus ZenFone AR will be able to support various apps such as Google Street View, YouTube, Netflix, HBO and Hulu. Games like "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them," "Gunjack 2," "LEGO BrickHeadz" and "Need for Speed," among others, can be accessed by users too. Tango's depth-sensing cameras and sensors play at "inside-out tracking" or area mapping. Tango is capable of learning about spaces and track movement and place items over reality. Daydream, on the other hand, is a hardware and software platform that Google hopes will become the standard for mobile VR someday. To accomplish VR in mobile devices, Daydream needs a high-end Android smartphone with a VR mode, a lightweight headset and a Google-designed motion controller, according to a separate report from CNET. Aside from Asus, other tech companies have gone onboard to create Daydream-ready phones, including Samsung, LG, Huawei, HTC, Alcatel, ZTE and Xiaomi. What do you think of the Asus Zenfone AR so far? Tell us below! A university in Pennsylvania is offering a first-of-its-kind course in a rare victory for intellectual diversity, news reports say. Lock Haven University will be offering a "Conservatism 101" course that will cover modern conservatism in America, One News Now reported. This new course is timely as according to Diane Gramley, president of the Pennsylvania Chapter of the American Family Association, there is a hunger among students for the subject the course will focus on. Gramley said she believes that there are conservative students in college who feel isolated with their interests in learning conservatism being ignored. Instead of learning that, they're being "indoctrinated" with "liberal theology." Speaking to Campus Reform, Professor Kimberly Johnson, who is scheduled to teach the course when it begins, said that although the course examines the history of conservatism in the U.S., students from all "political perspectives" will benefit from it as well. To do that, the course will allow for open discourse, application, and debates during class hours. Johnson said the aim for each class is to present specific aspects of conservative theory to students, and then promote healthy and respectful discussion over each aspect. The course will cover four areas of thought, namely traditional conservatism, social conservatism, neo-conservatism, and libertarianism. The course received support from the LHU administration, Johnson said. In fact, her department chair approved the course to be taught "without delay," she says. In her opinion, Johnson says, departments at other universities and colleges aren't as open to a diversity of ideas in the way LHU is, given that it has allowed her to teach the rarely-offered course. And because LHU has decided to offer the conservatism course, other universities that don't offer it yet, including its 13 sister schools in Pennsylvania, might follow suit. Gramley, the AFA President, hopes that LHU students will be open to discussing conservatism as much as LHU's administration is supportive of its new offering. This will give an interesting opportunity for discussion which is not present in many college campuses today. While there is a desire to build better AI machines, there is also a fear that if machines become smarter and more efficient than humans, they might take over us humans, which seems to be the case in Japan. During the beginning days of AI research, people were worried that machines would take over jobs, especially those in the production industry. However, as AI becomes more sophisticated, it seems like even salespeople and other white collar jobs aren't safe as well. In fact, a Japanese insurance firm has already chopped off 34 of its human employees and replace them with IBM's AI - Watson Explorer. The Japanese insurance firm Fukoku Mutual Life Insurance said that it will be able to save $1.1 million annually after it replaces its 34 salaried human employees with the Watson Explorer, which costs $1.7 million to install and $128,000 per annum in maintenance. The AI will take over sorting and scanning hospital records of those who are filing claims and determine how much the payout will be. Officials of the insurance company said that by automating these tasks, it will be much faster to process the final payout. Some US companies are also using the software in their customer service. One of the biggest benefits they have from the AI is its ability to detect and understand customer voice when they become frustrated. According to the Harvard Business Review, more knowledge jobs will soon be automated because most of the tasks involved in these types of jobs can be translated into code based on clearly formatted data. According to reports, three more Japanese insurance firms are following suit and are testing the AI system. Meanwhile, an Israeli insurance company is also raising money to replace its human brokers and other employees with bots and AI machines. The Apple FaceTime app is currently the subject of a lawsuit. Parents of a daughter who died in a vehicular accident blamed the app for her death. Vehicular Accident Details James and Bethany Modisette and their two daughters Moriah and Isabella were driving near Dallas, according to ABC News. The fatal tragedy occurred around two years ago on December 23. Their car was hit from behind by another vehicle driven by Garret Wilhelm. Apparently, he was distracted with the FaceTime app that he failed to slow down or notice the car in front. Unfortunately, the collision resulted in the death of Moriah Modisette who was only five at that time. James was in crictical condition while Bethany and her daughter Isabella also received injuries. Lawsuit Directed Against Apple The Modisette family later filed a lawsuit against Apple in a California court. They contend that Apple failed to put software lock outs that would have prevented Wilhelm from using the FaceTime app. If the Cupertino Company placed the safeguards the fatal accident would not have happen. Meanwhile Garret and his family offered their condolences to the Modisettes through their lawyer. They also contend that the iPhone and the FaceTime that he was using was not the cause. They simply called the fatal tragedy as a vehicular accident. Apple has yet to comment on the case as of press time. The lawsuit has attracted a lot comments and attention from online and social media outlets. Many have voiced their opinions that Apple is not at fault in such accidents. Nevertheless, it's now up to the court to determine the merit of the case. FaceTime Details FaceTime is an Apple proprietary app that enables users to communicate with others using its video and telephone features. It runs on iOS and available on all iPhones, tablets and even Mac computers, according to the Apple website. There's also a FaceTime Camera and FaceTime Audio. Although Apple developed the software, it bought the "FaceTime" name from another company called FaceTime Communications. Union Pacific Acquires Railex LLC Assets Food trains serve up growth in food and beverage industry Union Pacific today announced acquisition of Railex LLC's refrigerated and cold storage distribution assets in Delano, California; Wallula, Washington; and Rotterdam, New York. Acquisition does not include Railex Wine Services LLC. Railex, a refrigerated rail service and third-party logistics leader, plays a key role in Union Pacific's Food Network transporting fruits, vegetables and other temperature-sensitive cargo across the United States. "The Railex team developed a fantastic business changing how fresh food arrives on America's tables, offering food shippers fast, reliable door-to-door rail based transportation solutions," said Brad Thrasher, vice president and general manager Agricultural Products. "The integration of their highly efficient cross dock facilities and logistics capabilities into Union Pacific's broader Food Network allows us to offer our customers increased access to a wider range of capacity and service solutions in a rail-centric cold chain." Union Pacific Food Trains directly serve Railex's Delano and Wallula facilities, located in the heart of major agricultural production regions. The Food Train network provides a fast and reliable service from these growing regions to the Midwest consumer base via Chicago and further into the heart of the Northeast region via the CSX. Railex will continue managing facilities during the transition and integration of its operations with Union Pacific. More about Union Pacific's Food Train network and services are available at up.com/customers. About Union Pacific Union Pacific Railroad is the principal operating company of Union Pacific Corporation (NYSE: UNP). One of America's most recognized companies, Union Pacific Railroad connects 23 states in the western two-thirds of the country by rail, providing a critical link in the global supply chain. From 2006-2015, Union Pacific invested approximately $33 billion in its network and operations to support America's transportation infrastructure. The railroad's diversified business mix includes Agricultural Products, Automotive, Chemicals, Coal, Industrial Products and Intermodal. Union Pacific serves many of the fastest-growing U.S. population centers, operates from all major West Coast and Gulf Coast ports to eastern gateways, connects with Canada's rail systems and is the only railroad serving all six major Mexico gateways. Union Pacific provides value to its roughly 10,000 customers by delivering products in a safe, reliable, fuel-efficient and environmentally responsible manner. The statements and information contained in the news releases provided by Union Pacific speak only as of the date issued. Such information by its nature may become outdated, and investors should not assume that the statements and information contained in Union Pacific's news releases remain current after the date issued. Union Pacific makes no commitment, and disclaims any duty, to update any of this information. Local residents are seeing the highest gas prices to start a year since 2014. According to AAA, the average price of unleaded gasoline in Lincoln on Tuesday was $2.39 a gallon, up 27 cents from a month ago and 37 cents from a year ago. It's also the highest price to start off the year since 2014, when local prices were above $3 a gallon. Gas prices typically decline this time of year because of low demand, but AAA says they are increasing because of concern over the decision last fall by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Companies to cut production. That announcement has caused oil prices to increase, and they currently are about $10 a barrel higher than they were at this time last year. Nebraska drivers also have a 1.5-cent increase in the state gas tax that went into effect Jan. 1 to thank for higher prices. Those hoping for relief from the higher prices shouldn't hold their breath. GasBuddy, a website that tracks fuel prices, said Tuesday it expects prices to average almost $2.50 a gallon nationally this year, 36 cents higher than last year. That will mean that consumers as a whole will spend $52 billion more on gasoline this year than in 2016, GasBuddy said in a news release. The list of factors being mixed into the yearly forecast has never been larger. This year will see a new administration take over, perhaps the most oil-friendly in some time, and with so many unknowns in regard to policy changes, well be keeping a keen eye on such along with taxation changes," said Patrick DeHaan, senior petroleum analyst for GasBuddy. "But forecasting fuel prices, especially this year, remains a challenging balance of science and art. Published: January 04, 2017 Lectores Series Shines with MacArthur Fellows, Pulitzer PrizeWinning Authors For seven nights, a mix of University of Tampa MFA faculty and award-winning visiting authors (with accolades including the Pulitzer Prize, MacArthur Fellowship and National Book Award) will be featured in UTs MFA in Creative Writing speaker series, Lectores. For a writer, there are few things more inspiring than seeing someone living that writing life that you're working so hard to achieve, said Erica Dawson, the MFA program director. Being able to meet these masters of craft allows our students to learn more about the stories they have to tell, more about how to tell those stories. The series, which runs Jan. 512, kicks off with a reading by Colson Whitehead, the No. 1 New York Times bestselling author of The Underground Railroad (an Oprahs Book Club Selection). Whitehead is a National Book Award winner and recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship. The series continues on Friday, Jan. 6, with David Finkel, author of Thank You For Your Service and The Good Soldiers, and editor and writer for The Washington Post. Among Finkels honors are a Pulitzer Prize in 2006 and a MacArthur Fellowship in 2012. The series also features readings by Poet Laureate of Florida Peter Meinke as well as Sarah Domet, Gina Frangello, Steven Thomas Howell, Stefan Kiesbye, Kevin Moffett, Aimee Nezhukumatathil, Jason Ockert and Phillip Williams. A steering committee of UT English and Writing faculty works to invite authors to campus, and in the last five years of the programs existence has been able to benefit from the programs growing reputation. It also helps to have a good network of friends. I'll do anything to bring the most amazing authors for our students and the Tampa community, Dawson said. Thinking back to my own days as an MFA student, I remember the authors who visited campus offered so much practical advice about composition, revision and the business of writing, in general. Listening to them helped me become a real working writer. They helped me develop my own style, motivation and goals. The UT MFA in Creative Writing program works by bringing students for 10-day residencies in January and June and then facilitating individual mentorship between students and writing faculty from a distance. Throughout each residency, Lectores speakers give a 4550 minute evening reading, followed by a book-signing. The next morning, the author gives a 6070 minute seminar, on a topic of their choice, for the programs student body. I believe Colson plans on having a casual Q-and-A session with the students, giving them a chance to ask about his writing routine, his huge range when it comes to subject matter (everything from slavery to zombies) and how he brings his curiosity to the page, Dawson said. I believe David (Finkel) plans on talking with students about different kinds of narratives and the necessary inquiry involved in telling your own, or someone else's, story. She said in June, another MacArthur winner, poet Terrance Hayes, spoke about the ways music, particularly jazz, influences his writing. Last January, novelist Lidia Yuknavitch talked about how to find the courage to write about extremely difficult subject matter, the kind of political and personal stuff that makes you cringe but you still want to share with others. It's so awesome that our Lectores authors are happy to read their work to the public and meet with our MFA student body for a morning seminar, Dawson said. It's an early wake up call, and they always bring their A game. For a full listing of Lectores events, visit www.ut.edu/mfacw/lectores. Published: January 04, 2017 UT Names David Gudelunas as Dean of the College of Arts and Letters David Gudelunas, currently professor of communication at Fairfield University, has been named by The University of Tampa as the dean of the College of Arts and Letters (CAL). As dean, Gudelunas will oversee the departments of art; communication, English and writing; languages and linguistics; music; philosophy and religion; and speech, theatre and dance. Gudelunas said he is excited to promote the exceptional scholarship, creative activity and pedagogy that are happening across the disciplines and departments. The value of the arts, humanities and communication in contributing to cultural and information literacy, media competency, critical thinking and the full expression of human potential is increasingly self-apparent, and I think the UT College of Arts and Letters is well positioned to be a leader at this particular cultural moment, Gudelunas said. I look forward to getting to know the UT community and working with the greater Tampa Bay community to demonstrate what the value of a quality liberal arts education is. Gudelunas has been a member of the faculty at Fairfield University since 2004, serving in various roles, including professor of communication, chair of the communication department, associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, and director of women, gender and sexuality studies. Additionally he is the founding director of the Fairfields School of Communication, Arts and Media. Gudelunas research is focused on the areas of emerging media, critical and cultural studies, gender, sexuality and communication, media history and communication industries. He is the author of Confidential to America: Newspaper Advice Columns and Sexual Education and is widely published in the areas of popular and consumer culture as well as the intersections of sexuality and communication. David Stern, UT provost and vice president for academic affairs, said Gudelunas academic and leadership experience position him perfectly to lead UTs programs in CAL. David will be a prominent public advocate for the value of the arts and humanities, and I anticipate that he will collaborate with faculty and with community partners to enhance the contributions of CAL to our students educations and to the cultural life of the Tampa Bay region, Stern said. Gudelunas received his bachelors degree from the University of San Francisco and his masters and doctorate degrees from the Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania. He will begin his post at UT on June 1. 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. January is usually the slowest month of the year for live music in Lincoln, and most everywhere else for that matter. But with two Pinnacle Bank Arena concerts, some notable national touring stops and Hear Nebraskas annual Take Cover affair, theres a good lineup of shows coming in the next three weeks. It starts on Jan. 13 with Eric Churchs return to the arena, where he holds the record for the largest concert crowd ever. Im guessing 15,823 people wont be able to pack into PBA this time around -- the stage configuration likely will prevent a record crowd. But Lincoln will get to see Churchs Holdin My Own tour show first. Church is opening the tour in Lincoln, and he and his band will play two sets with an intermission and no support act here. And the arena will be used for tech rehearsals a couple days before the show. The other Pinnacle Bank Arena concert is set for Jan. 20 with the Red Hot Chili Peppers and -- Im looking forward to this -- special guest Trombone Shorty & Orleans Ave. Club shows worth checking out include: August Burns Red, playing its Passengers album at the Bourbon Theatre on Jan. 18; Kansas City rapper Tech N9ne at the Bourbon Jan. 19; Finnish DJ/Producer Darude, who just played to 150,000 at a festival, at Vega on Jan. 26 and Drive-By Truckers making their first Lincoln appearance in years at the Bourbon on Jan. 28. Hear Nebraskas Take Cover is set for the Bourbon on Jan. 27. At the show, a local band does a cover of a song by another Nebraska artist, then one of their own songs. The lineup for this years event is still being finalized. But organizers say it will be diverse and, hopefully, not repeat bands from 2016. Thanks to Ameritas, which is sponsoring the show, Take Cover will be free with suggested donations going to support Hear Nebraskas operations. Best of Country Music 2016 For the last 17 years, Ive voted in the annual Country Music Critics Poll, which had its voting deadline Dec. 31, the day I compiled my list (of course). Its easy to overread trends, especially from critics and those who eschew mainstream country. But from my view of 2016s best, it appears that what I call real country music continues its resurgence, sending the bros into something of a retreat. Even Florida Georgia Line, bro-countrys originators, backed off a little on its 2016 release. It was also, again, a female-led year with fine records from Margo Price, Lucinda Williams, Miranda Lambert, Maren Morris, the genres top newcomer, and the great Loretta Lynn. All that said, the only arena-level artist on my best albums list is Lambert -- although the Dixie Chicks and Beyonce made my singles list and Thomas Rhett could be headlining in arenas soon. Heres how I voted in the poll thats run by Nashville Scene: Best Country Albums of 2016 1. Sturgill Simpson, A Sailors Guide to Earth 2. Margo Price, Midwest Farmers Daughter 3. The Cactus Blossoms, Youre Dreaming 4. Robbie Fulks, Upland Stories 5. Jon Pardi, California Sunrise 6. Lucinda Williams, The Ghosts of Highway 20 7. Miranda Lambert, The Weight of These Wings 8. Loretta Lynn, Full Circle 9. Hayes Carll, Lovers and Leavers 10. Maren Morris, Hero Best Country Songs of 2016 1. Jon Pardi, Head Over Boots 2. Margo Price, Hands of Time 3. William Michael Morgan, I Met a Girl 4. Sturgill Simpson, In Bloom 5. Miranda Lambert, Vice 6. Brothers Osborne, 21 Summer 7. Little Big Town, Better Man 8. Thomas Rhett, Die a Happy Man 9. Maren Morris, My Church 10. Beyonce and the Dixie Chicks, Daddy Lessons The word of the day was "unprecedented," even though most people knew anything could happen and there were bound to be surprises. The 105th Legislature got off to a beginning like no other Wednesday, the start of a 90-day session. It elected three freshmen senators to committee chairmanships, senators who have never introduced a bill or voted on one. And one senator then tried to have the presiding officer of the Legislature, Lt. Gov. Mike Foley, who is a member of the executive branch, allow a legislative rule to be defined as unconstitutional. It is a definite separation of powers problem, declared Omaha Sen. Burke Harr, and a threat to the nonpartisan nature of the Legislature, said Lincoln Sen. Kate Bolz. Conservative senators also came close to sweeping the leadership of the speaker position, Executive Board and committees, from Agriculture to Business and Labor, Education, Health and Human Services and Revenue. Sen. Jim Smith of Papillion, who became chairman of the Revenue Committee, saw that conservative tone move through the elections. "If you look at it as anti-establishment, pro-conservative, well what you saw here today was pretty much anti-establishment," he said. It reflected the mood of the state, said Sen. Mike Groene of North Platte, who was elected chairman of the Education Committee. It all trickled down from the national political movement, with non-politician citizens stepping up to run for office, as Trump did. Sen. Jim Scheer of Norfolk defeated Sen. Matt Williams of Gothenburg for speaker of the Legislature on a 27-22 vote. Scheer said he sees great challenges and great opportunities in the coming session, and he will guard the independence of the Legislature as a separate but equal branch of government. "Rest assured that I cannot nor will not be intimidated by anyone or any group," he said. "Having said that, the citizens of the state expect all three branches to work together for the betterment of this state." Sen. Dan Watermeier of Syracuse took the Executive Board chairmanship from Sen. Bob Krist, who had led the board for two years, on a 28-21 vote. People who have been around the Legislature for more than 40 years say they have never known freshmen senators, who haven't previously served in the Legislature, to take committee chairmanships. Now, three committees have chairs who have never sat on a legislative committee. New Sen. Justin Wayne of Omaha will lead the Urban Affairs Committee, defeating Sen. Sue Crawford of Bellevue. Sen. Joni Albrecht of Thurston will chair the Business and Labor Committee after taking it from former Chairman Burke Harr of Omaha. And Sen. Mike Hilgers of Lincoln will chair the Rules Committee. Those senators may be new but are not complete novices, Smith said. They have served in elective office or are knowledgeable of government, and walk in the door with some level of experience, he said. With term limits, and the four to eight years they can serve, more is expected of new senators, Scheer said. Sen. John Kuehn of Heartwell said at the beginning of the day Wednesday he would not attempt to change the Legislature's temporary rules to allow for an open vote of speaker and committee leaders, as some feared would happen. But as the day drew to a close, he asked for roll call of the last chairmanship vote, essentially calling for a decision from the Legislature on whether the rules as adopted -- in particular the secret ballot on leadership -- were in compliance with the state Constitution. When Foley ruled that Kuehn's motion was in order, the ruling was challenged and overruled. "I've been in this place over four decades," Omaha Sen. Ernie Chambers said. "I've watched all kinds of schemes. I've watched groups clump together. I've watched individuals ... allow themselves to be used as pawns." The senators who just arrived have been misled, he said. "What you do today can poison the rest of the session," he told the senators. He cautioned that undercutting and undermining the Legislature was being done for the sake of a political party, in particular the Republican Party. Lincoln Sen. Adam Morfeld argued that constitutional questions should be resolved by the courts, and the Legislature should not act as a court of law, ruling on constitutional challenges. Bolz defended the nonpartisan nature of the unicameral Legislature. "I see this effort as a threat to history and tradition. It is a threat to the way we do business in Nebraska, which is rooted in the ideas of populism, in the ideas that we are here to represent the people of this state. The people and their best interests," she said. Senators voted 29-19 to overrule Foley's decision, and the vote for Rules Committee chairman proceeded on a secret ballot. "Today, I think, only further polarizes the Legislature," said longtime lobbyist Walt Radcliffe. "The level of contentiousness has risen considerably." Radcliffe said it will be far more difficult for senators to reach a consensus than in previous years. In the next few months, people will mend fences, he said. "But there needs to be incentive to mend fences, and people are going to have to mutually find that incentive," he said. B&B Ristorante at The Venetian will host a first for Las Vegas: a multi-course feast centered around the first pressing of extra virgin olive oil from the Medici-era villa, Tenuta di Capezzana (Italian for the estate of Capezzana). The dinner will take place on Wednesday, Jan. 25 at 7 p.m (Pictured: Dry-aged Bistecca Fiorentina Photo Credit: Batali & Bastianich Hospitality Group). Guiding the guests through this journey incorporating unique flavors and dishes will be Beatrice Contini-Bonacossi, whose family owns Capezzana, the 345-acre farm that has produced olive oil and wine since the times of Charlemagne (742 814). During the dinner, she will discuss the unique history of the estate, as well as the oil-making process. Located in Carmignano, Tuscany, at Capezzana, olives are picked before the first frost. Within 24 hours of the harvest, they are immediately crushed, which reduces the possibility of oxidation of the picked fruit. Continuous cycle olive processing is Capezzanas extraction technique of choice. The mash is then put through a double centrifugal decanting, a milder means of separating the solids from the oil. The oil is then stored for a few weeks to decant naturally. Capezzanas processing produces an extra virgin olive oil remarkably low in oleic acid, rarely exceeding 0.2 percent. The unfiltered, estate-grown oil is then bottled and sold. Its tasting notes include an aroma of fresh-cut grass and almond. A buttery, mild, fruity beginning fills the mouth with a delicate flavor of herbs and green olive with a delightful spicy note at the finish. The one-night-only menu will include: First Course Trio of crostini-chicken liver, cavolo nero and traditional Fettunta Second Course Insalata Pinzimonio Third Course Tuscan Ribollita Fourth Course Tordelli with Swiss chard and ricotta Fifth Course Dry aged Bistecca Fiorentina carved tableside with fagioli a la fiasco and sauteed mixed baby kale Sixth Course Schiacciata alla Fiorentina and Olive Oil Gelato Earlier this year, I was fortunate to travel to Italy to see the estate and watch the pressing in person, says Chef Nicole Brisson, culinary director, Batali & Bastianich Hospitality Group. Our team had a wonderful time partnering with Manicaretti Italian Food Importers to put together this menu and look forward to seeing our guests for this unique dinner after the new year. New Guidelines in Effect for Issuing Work Permits The Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA) issued Circular No. 40/2016/TTBLDTBXH providing guidance on implementation of Decree No. 11/2016/ND-CP, effective December 12, for work permits issued to foreign workers in Vietnam. The key change is the transfer of authorization from The Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (DOLISA) to MOLISA for certain types of enterprises. MOLISA will be responsible for approving proposals for using foreign laborers, identifying unlicensed foreign workers, reusing and revoking work licenses and deportation of unlicensed foreign laborers. The organizations under the authority of MOLISA are state agencies, business associations established based on legal regulations, foreign non-governmental organizations, foreign entities in Vietnam, operational offices of international organizations in Vietnam and projects with foreign investment. Public organizations functioning under the ministries, ministerial-level agencies, organizations established by the government and the Prime Minister, also fall under the scope of MOLISA. DOLISA will still be the authority for approving demand for foreign laborers from contractors. Employers are therefore required to inform either MOLISA or the Chairman of the Provisional Peoples Committee 30 days prior to hiring foreign laborers or if there is a change in demand for such workers. RELATED: Payroll and Human Resource Administration Services from Dezan Shira & Associates New Regulations for Enterprise Registration The Ministry of Finance issued a Circular effective January 1, 2017 regulating the amount, method of collection, managing and using the fees for providing business information and registration of enterprises for organizations and individuals. For enterprise registration, the fees for a new registration or reissuance of a registration certificate or the change of contents of previous registration certificate will cost US$8.78 (VND 200,000). New issuance and amendments to the certificate of operation registration for representatives offices and branches will be US$4.39 (VND 100,000). The Investment Registration Agency is the responsible agency for collecting fees for the enterprise registrations and must submit 100 percent of the collected amount to the state budget. For providing business information on business registration certificates or certificate of operation for representative offices and branches, the fee is US$0.88 (VND 20,000) while providing information about the registration files or financial statements will cost US$1.76 (VND 40,000). Information about the businesss registration dossier and general reports will incur a cost of US$6.59 (VND 150,000) while seeking information on the enterprise registration contents is set at US$13.18 (VND 300,000). The stipulated fee for information as per registered accounts for at least 125 documents per month is US$219.60 (VND 5,000,000). The Department of Planning and Investment will be responsible for collection of such fees. The Business Registration Supporting Center under the Agency for Business Registration, which performs business registration support to organizations and individuals nationwide, has the authority to collect 85 percent of the collected fees for providing information about enterprises with the remaining amount allocated to the state budget. Businesses changing information due to changes in administrative locations, registering for dissolution of the entity, termination of operations of representative offices and branches, online registration and any requests by state agencies are exempted from the aforementioned fees. RELATED: Vietnams Visa and Work Permitting Procedures New Fee Structure on Competition Cases The Ministry of Finance issued Circular No. 251/2016/TT-BTC, effective January 1, 2017 on regulating the amount, mode of collection, management, and use of fees for the handling of competition cases for organizations and individuals. The Vietnam Competition Authority, which falls under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, will be responsible for the collection and management of the charges and all charges will be on a case-by-case basis. The charge for an act of unfair competition will be US$439.20 (VND 10,000,000) while acts for restricting competition will be US$4,392 (VND 100,000,000). Fees for handling independent claims of persons having rights and obligations is US$439.20 (VND 10,000,000) while the charge for the dossier assessment for solving a competition case shall be US$2,196 (VND50,000,000) per application. 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. The facility, which is secured over a portfolio of FE Credits consumer loan receivables, will help further the companys ambition to be the leading consumer finance organisation in Vietnam. We are very pleased to have such a positive response from our international banking partners in the facility, said Kalidas Ghose, CEO of FE Credit. This facility enables the company to raise capital for our growing business and provides strong support for our business operations. It demonstrates the trust that international banks have in the business performance, and the sustainable growth vision of FE Credit. Over the past six years, FE CREDIT has served nearly three million Vietnamese customers across Vietnam who is often neglected by banks, in providing the advanced products, from personal loans, two-wheeler loans and consumer durables loans to credit cards. FE CREDIT was awarded by the Global Brands Magazine (United Kingdom) the title of Best Consumer Finance Brand, Vietnam 2016 and awarded by the Global Banking & Finance Review (United Kingdom) the title of Best Consumer Finance Company Vietnam 2016. Shoppers at Co.opmart Ha Tinh - Photo VNA/VNS Hoang Nga Currently, the chances of imported goods taking over the market are low. Foreign retailers in Viet Nam are fighting for market share within modern retail models, while domestic retailers continue to dominate traditional retail mediums, Nguyen Thi Thu Trang, Director of the World Trade Organisation Centre of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said. Modern retail models such as shopping malls, supermarkets and convenience stores, which largely incorporate mixed-use retailing, account for 25 to 30 per cent of the Vietnamese retail market, whereas 70 to 75 per cent are traditional retail models such as wet markets, box stores and grocery stores. The main supply source for domestic retailers is local producers, who have advantages such as lower logistical cost because of smaller distances, cost benefits owing to the absence of import tariffs, and the opportunity to sell fresher products. So the chances of imported consumption goods overthrowing domestic products in the retail market is slim in the near future. However, there are worrying signs within the agricultural products and household goods sectors. For example, as of the end of 2016, Viet Nam had spent US$365 million on import of vegetables and fruits from Thailand, almost twice the amount compared to the same period in 2015 ($189 million). These imported Thai products are available both in large supermarkets and small retail stores all over Ha Noi. Despite being sold at higher price than their Vietnamese and even Chinese counterparts, Vietnamese consumers are choosing Thai products. An employee of a fresh fruit store on Ba Trieu Street, Ha Noi, said that it could be because the imported products look better and are packaged better, coupled with consumer xenophilia. The Ministry of Industry and Trade has amended several laws related to taxes, such as value added tax and special consumption tax, to help domestic businesses cope with price competition and work to improve product quality and their distribution network. These laws, however, also ensure that domestic producers are subject to the same taxes as foreign businesses importing products, to establish a fair ground. The ministry had also issued directions on the distribution of goods before the upcoming Tet (Lunar New Year), urging local authorities, businesses and agencies to actively monitor demands for goods and ready a steady supply before the shopping rush begins, in addition to careful selection of imports and close watch on frauds, with help from the agriculture and rural development ministry. Thach Khe Iron JSC (TIC) was established nine years ago with the purpose of investing into and exploiting Thach Khe mine, dubbed the biggest iron ore mine in Southeast Asia. Since the companys establishment, many original shareholders have withdrawn or refused to submit their committed capital volume. As a result, the company has yet to be able to start operation. According to its latest report, Vinacomin has put in the whole committed VND1.076 trillion ($48.25 million) capital. The other shareholders, namely Thang Long Minerals and Metals Co., Ltd., Ha Tinh Minerals and Trading JSC, Vietnam Steel Corporation (Vnsteel), and Bitexco, either failed to put in capital at all or did not put in the committed amount. The total amount currently in the project is VND1.8 trillion ($80.7 million). According to Truong Thanh Hoai, director of the MoIT's Heavy Industry Department, the project needs another VND7 trillion ($310 million) to start. Vinacomin is requesting permission from the MoIT, which represents the states stake in the company, to put more capital into TIC, so that the project can start again. However, according to Hoai, Vinacomin itself is not entirely financially capable. Vinacomin currently has a large inventory and is itself not in an easy situation. If it could solve its own problems, then the MoIT would consider permitting the capital contribution, Hoai said in a recent interview with newswire Bizlive. Hoai said that many investors have expressed interest in joining the project, but they all vied for a controlling stake. The MoIT, meanwhile, does not want a controlling shareholder for the project. On the other hand, leaders of Ha Tinh are concerned about the potential environmental impact of the project. Most recently, the provincial Party Committee proposed to the Central Committee that the project stay inactive for a while longer. Hoai said the MoIT is going to work with the province to keep them informed and assure them that the mine is not going to harm the environment. An earthquake with a magnitude of 7.2 struck 284 kilometres off the coast of Fiji on Tuesday, the US Geological Survey said. The quake hit at a depth of 15 kilometres, some 221 kilometres from Nadi and 283 kilometres from the Fijian capital Suva and was followed by two smaller aftershocks. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre initially said hazardous waves were possible within 300 kilometres of the epicentre, but later reported the threat had passed. Geoscience Australia said structural damage from shaking was possible only within an estimated 110 kilometre radius, well away from the nearest land. Residents in Nadi on the western side of the main Fijian island of Viti Levu said they felt a slight shake but there were no reports of damage. "It was 200 kilometres off the coast which was a saving grace in terms of shaking and damage," Geoscience Australia seismologist Jonathan Bathgate told AFP. The area lies on the Pacific "Ring of Fire", a highly active tectonic zone that frequently experiences earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. A deep 6.3-magnitude quake hit south of Fiji on Monday while a 7.9 tremor struck near Papua New Guinea last month. There is rarely any damage and Bathgate said the activity was largely driven by movements in the Australian tectonic plate. "It is moving seven centimetres to the northeast every year and that's what causes the quakes in the (Pacific) region," he said. "They are usually quite deep. What was unusual about this one was it was quite shallow." Kathy Bale did not know what the new license plate she was getting for her car would look like when she lined up Tuesday at the Lancaster County motor vehicles office. "It's different. It's generic," she said of the new Sower plate. If a small sampling of people at the office Tuesday morning is an indication, the new plates may be more acceptable than social media would have one believe. Chelsea McCoy prefers them to the ones they are replacing, which have a meadowlark perched on a goldenrod branch. "I don't know. It's simple," she said. John Riley said the plates look nice. "Simple. Elegant." How a person feels about a plate may be about more than simply how it looks. Daham Shwani, who is Kurdish and has been in Lincoln for six months, had no complaints. "Everything is nice here," he said. Nam Nguyen came from Vietnam and has been in Nebraska for more than 40 years and worked for decades for the Nebraska Department of Revenue. "I used to work at the state Capitol, inside of that, so I love that (Sower)," he said. Phil O'Donnell liked the Sower plates, especially the preprinted 2017 sticker on the upper right hand corner. "I think it's fine," Cody Hasse said with a shrug. "I like the fact that I don't have to put a sticker on it." While the Sower plates aren't bad, the new mountain lion conservation plates apparently have been a hit. Angela Maughan said a friend told her she shouldn't get that "grabber guy," referring to the Sower on the 150th state anniversary plates. "I just heard that nobody likes them," she said. Maybe, Maughan speculated, the "grabber guy" was a ploy by the state to generate more revenue. "Yeah, you get something nobody likes and it forces people to buy something else," she said. The first design of the Sower for the new license plate got a bad rap for awkward placement of his hand on the satchel slung across his shoulder, his other arm looking like he was about to throw a bowling ball. It caught the attention of national comedians who said it appeared sexually suggestive. Criticism grew until the artist, Jeff Heldt of Omaha, came forward and said he used elements from a sower featured on the bell tower at Michigan State University, rather than the more graceful one atop the Nebraska Capitol. The Nebraska Sower now graces the plate. Still, Maughan opted to pay a little extra for the mountain lion plates approved in the last legislative session via a bill (LB474) introduced by Omaha Sen. Ernie Chambers, who represents District 11 and "all creatures great and small." Don Arp, Lancaster County Motor Vehicles manager at the North 46th Street location, isn't a big fan of the Sower plate. It's too plain, he said, not as colorful or jazzed up as those in other states. He understands Gov. Pete Ricketts wanted a symbol of the state for its 150th birthday, he said. But he's noticed the specialty plates have "really taken off." Prices depend on the plate and whether a person wants a special number or word on it. The specialty plates include one that says "We Don't Coast" from the Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce, a breast cancer plate that says "Early Detection Saves Lives," Fire and Rescue, The Beef State, Nebraska Cornhuskers, Omaha Mavericks, Creighton and military honor designs. "People use their cars as a form of expression," said Arp, a hunter who practices conservation and has the mountain lion plate. "Yeah, they're real pretty." Betty Johnson, vehicle services administrator for the state, said applications for specialty plates have doubled, partly because more designs are available. In 2015, the number of new applications for specialty plates was 12,171. In 2016, it was 24,597. Applications for military honor plates for active service members and veterans, which have been around for 13 months, have hit more than 11,000. "That subsection of Nebraska residents have been asking for those plates for a very long time," Johnson said. The mountain lion plates have done better than expected, she said, with 2,118 applications, partly because regular alpha-numeric plates with the design are just $5 extra. "They are pretty plates," she said. "And that's really the first time that Nebraska really jumped into having a plate that is that photographic." Doctors provide vaccinations for children in Central Highlands ak Lak Provinces Dak Lieng Commune. The country expects to successfully produce six-in-one vaccines this year or in 2018.-VNA /VNS Photo Duong Ngoc Viet Nam already manufactures 11 out of 12 vaccines used in the nationwide expanded free immunisation programme for children, including vaccines against tuberculosis, diphtheria, whooping cough, tetanus, measles, poliomyelitis, hepatitis B, Japanese meningitis B, cholera, typhoid and rubella. In November 2016, Viet Nam announced the successful production of a measles-rubella vaccine (MR) for the first time. Viet Nam is one of only 25 countries in the world that can produce vaccines and is the fourth in Asia to manufacture the MR vaccine, following Japan, India, and China, the Nhan Dan (People) weekly reported. This is the first vaccine that has been produced in Viet Nam by the health ministrys Centre for Research and Production of Vaccines and Biology (POLYVAC) under a technology-transfer project launched by the Japan International Co-operation Agency (JICA). In 2015, the WHO certified that Viet Nam has a fully-equipped national regulatory authority (NRA) system that ensures the safety and efficacy of vaccines produced and used in Viet Nam. Deputy Health Minister Nguyen Thanh Long said the NRA achievement would open up opportunities for Viet Nam to export vaccines and contribute in the fight against global epidemics. In a recent NRA assessment, the WHO said that four of Viet Nams vaccines Japanese B encephalitis, measles, hepatitis A, and hepatitis B can apply for WHO pre-appraisal before being sold in bulk to international organisations. Local vaccine manufacturing facilities can currently supply enough doses for both domestic needs and export demand. In recent years, the Company for Vaccine and Biological Production No.1 (VABIOTECH) has exported over three million doses of Japanese B encephalitis vaccine to India. Japanese encephalitis vaccines are also penetrating the market of East Timor. In addition, 32,000 doses of hepatitis A vaccine have been exported to the Republic of Korea and 115,000 doses of oral cholera vaccine to Sri Lanka, the Philippines and India. Viet Nam currently has four factories producing vaccines, using equipment and technology that meets CGMP-WHO standards: VABIOTECH; Pasteur Da Lat Vaccine Company (DAVAC); POLYVAC; and the Institute of Vaccines and Medical Biologicals (IVAC). However, challenges remain ahead for the vaccine production. Viet Nam is able to produce only single vaccines or certain types of material for mixed vaccines (multi-function vaccines that have from four to six vaccines in one dose). In 2019, Viet Nam will no longer receive support from the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI) in regard to the five-in-one vaccine that protects people from diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, polio, and Hib disease. The health sector is making efforts to produce five-in-one and six-in-one vaccines but is still encountering difficulties relating to technology and capital. Deputy Minister Long said the research and production of five-in-one and six-in-one vaccines was among the top priorities of the country, and urged the supply of improved technology to produce such vaccines. Representatives of Finance Ministry and Vietnam Airlines at the opening ceremony of Vietnam Airlines share trading on Unlisted Public Company Market.-File Photo At this rate, the company occupied about 11 per cent of the market's capitalisation. Listed as HVN, it is +/-40 per cent fluctuation on its debut day. Before listing, it traded at around VND40,000 per share. On January 1, Vietnam Airlines announced a syndicated profit of VND2.5 trillion in 2016, a year-on-year increase of 140 per cent and exceeding 7 per cent of its annual target. Its syndicated revenue was around VND76 trillion, up 10 per cent over the previous year. Of this, the parent company Vietnam Airlines, which has subsidiaries such as Jetstar Pacific and Vietnam Air Services Company (VASCO), earned around VND59.1 trillion in revenue and VND1.6 trillion in pre-tax profit, which is 5.6 times higher than in 2015. Vietnam Airlines said it had contributed around VND4.9 trillion to the State budget, a 11 per cent rise from the previous year. Vietnam Airlines operated around 133,000 flights carrying 20.6 million passengers in 2016, up 18.7 per cent over 2015. It transported 264,000 tonnes of goods, exceeding 10 per cent of its annual target. The corporation has a number of subsidiaries so it can develop and diversify service packages and maintain its lead in the market. The carrier focuses on offering four-star quality service on its domestic and international routes to southeast and northeast Asian countries, European Union and Australia. Jetstar Pacific operates mainly on domestic routes, so it offers highly competitive prices, as well as on short-distance international routes. VASCO offers aviation services and exploits small local airports incapable of receiving big aircraft. As per the latest data from the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA), on the biggest domestic route between Ha Noi and HCM City, Vietnam Airlines and its subsidiary Jetstar Pacific occupy 63 per cent of the market share. Of which, 45 per cent is with Vietnam Airlines. The corporations overall market share stands at 60 per cent. In 2017, Vietnam Airlines said it would continue focusing on safety and security for passengers and maintaining four-star quality service. It will work closely with its subsidiaries Jetstar Pacific, Cambodia Angkor Air and VASCO to offer quality services to meet the increasing demands of fliers. You have permission to edit this article. Edit Close 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. 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 Former residents of the Borei Keila community clashed with security forces during the fifth anniversary of the violent eviction of the village at the hands of military and police forces after they attempted to occupy a building on the site. The attempted occupation of the building on Tuesday was followed by demands for compensation from the Phanimex company, a construction conglomerate with ties to the ruling Cambodian Peoples Party, which they claim has not been forthcoming or adequate. Khiev Lai, a former Borei Keila resident now living in the Phnom Bat community, said many of the residents had received little or no compensation. More than 140 families were forced to move and they will gather and move back to the building if the company does not compensate them from five to 10 thousand dollars, she said. There is no water supply nor infrastructure. They rely solely on sponsorship. If there is no sponsorship, they will have no food to eat and their children are now begging in order to support the family. Security forces managed to move the protesters from the building on Tuesday. No serious injuries were reported. Kim Sarun, another former resident, said she had been struck in the scuffle, called on the government to advocate for more compensation for the evictees. It is a violation of human rights. Where is justice? Where is democracy? she asked. Prak Hak, head of the district security force, said he was following orders in using force to prevent the group from occupying the building. They were disturbing us. They were moving their daily living wares into houses that are already owned. Following the governors order, I was told to inform them to leave, and if they resisted, I had no choice but to force them to leave, he said. The Phanimex Company, owned by tycoon Suy Sophan, pledged to build 10 buildings for the former residents, but has so far only constructed eight. Am Sam Ath, monitoring director at local rights group Licadho, said the principle of development is to improve the living standards of people, not undermine the living standards of people. Am Sam Ath stated that the clash occurred because the company did not fulfill and the government did not try to solve the problem. He said: the principle of development is to improve the living standard of people, not undermining the living standard of people. Activists did not march to commemorate the third anniversary of a deadly crackdown on striking garment workers this year, fearing a violent response from the authorities. Vorn Pao, president of the Independent Democracy of Informal Economy (IDEA) association, said the decision was made not to hold a public commemoration event because they feared a repeat of previous crackdowns on the event. In 2016, we saw that freedom of assembly was totally restricted, forcing us to hold this ceremony at our offices this year, he said. Last year Pao led a parade to commemorate the strike, which left at least five dead after security forces opened fire on garment workers, but the event was shut down by the authorities. A day after the parade was shut down Prime Minister Hun Sen warned that legal proceedings against Pao could be initiated as a result. Pao was among 23 workers and activists who were detained in 2014 on charges of violence, damaging public property and harming social order and security. Am Sam Ath, monitoring manager at local rights group Licadho, said that there were no signs a supposed investigation into the killings and beatings had produced any results. Activists and workers say they will never forget the mistreatment at the hands of the security forces, such as the Special Forces Division 911 on January 2. January 2 is a historical day for me and many other activists. Its a history of suffering, Pao said. We were hurt by paratroopers of Division 911, whose role is to defend the people and the country. [They] didnt defend the country, instead they grabbed clubs and slingshots and weapons to beat us. On that day they clearly intended to kill me, he added. Theng Savoeun, secretary general of the Coalition of Cambodia Farmer Community Association (CCFCA), urged the government to stop resorting to violence to solve problems. The government should come up with options for negotiation and seek to solve problems more peacefully, he said. Chap Pheakdey, commander of Division 911, declined to comment, while general Khieu Sopheak, Interior Ministry spokesman, could not be reached. A rare opportunity for one-party leadership in Washington got under way Tuesday, as Capitol Hill returned to work for the first day of a Republican controlled government. But the partys ambitious legislative agenda fell to the wayside as a move by House Republicans to change the rules for ethics investigations of lawmakers dominated the days discussion. VOAs Katherine Gypson reports from Capitol Hill. Indonesia says it has suspended military cooperation with Australia over an alleged insult of Indonesia's state ideology. Indonesian military spokesman Maj. Gen. Wuryanto said Wednesday that cooperation between the militaries has been suspended indefinitely. Wuryanto, who goes by one name, said the decision was made after reports emerged of an Indonesian instructor saying that a laminated paper displayed at the Australian Special Forces base where he worked was insulting. Indonesian media reports said the paper contained words that demeaned Pancasila - a set of vague principles that mandates belief in one God and unity among Indonesia's 250 million people. Military cooperation between the two nations had been improving since 2013, after Indonesia downgraded its relations with Australia over spying allegations in 2009. The killing of 56 inmates by fellow prisoners in Brazil's deadliest jail uprising in decades was a butchery foretold by escalating turf wars between drug gangs that threatens to plunge a chaotic penitentiary system deeper into violence. Prior to this week's massacre of members of the First Capital Command (PCC) in the Anisio Jobim penitentiary in the jungle city of Manaus, security experts warned for months about intensifying clashes in prisons between Brazil's two most powerful drug gangs the Sao Paulo-based PCC and the Red Command, based in Rio de Janeiro. Now they fear the feud will escalate in prisons and on the streets of the South American nation of 207 million people. Rio, Brazil's most popular tourist destination, is particularly vulnerable, along with major cities in the north and northeast, the experts say. This situation is tense, very ripe for new tragedies, said Camila Dias, a sociologist at the Federal University of ABC in Sao Paulo, who is an expert on Brazil's prison system and author of a book on the PCC. "This was a butchery foretold." Uneasy working relationship For more than two decades, the PCC and Red Command maintained an uneasy working relationship to ensure a steady flow of marijuana, cocaine and guns over Brazil's porous borders and into its cities. But in June the partnership ended with the killing of Jorge Rafaat Toumani, a powerful Brazilian drug lord based in Paraguay who controlled trafficking routes along Brazil's southeastern border. While Toumani was not publicly affiliated to one group or another, and details of his death remain murky, Paraguayan officials believe he was killed at the PCC's behest so it could seize his lucrative trafficking routes. What is clear, security experts say, is that the PCC has taken control of Toumani's former domain. As a result, relations between the PCC and Red Command fell apart. Gangs clash in three prisons Communications between the factions' leaders obtained by police and leaked in October, revealed a race to become Brazil's dominant gang. That same month, clashes between gang members in three prisons elsewhere in Brazil's Amazon left 22 dead. Control of the drug gangs' turf has been increasingly divided in recent months. That has left the Red Command weaker and allowed the PCC powered by proceeds from their base in Sao Paulo, Brazil's richest city to encroach on their turf in Rio. Brazilian intelligence services say that in response, the Red Command is strengthening ties with smaller groups elsewhere, like the North Family gang that carried out the slaughter of PCC members in the Manaus prison this week. More gang fights feared Few now expect the PCC to turn the other cheek after dozens of its members were killed, including many who were decapitated. Videos of the slaughter have spread widely on social media. Within the criminal code of conduct, an act like what we saw in the Manaus prison will never go unanswered, said Rafael Alcadipani, a public security expert at the Getulio Vargas Foundation think tank in Sao Paulo. He predicts gang battles in prisons across Brazil and on the streets of northern cities and Rio. The civilian population will be at the mercy of this coming war, he said. Gang leaders transferred Brazil's justice minister, Alexandre Moraes, and other government security officials have played down such fears, saying they are transferring imprisoned drug gang leaders to maximum security jails, where they will remain in isolation. In theory this will stop them from handing down orders to underlings, but in the past isolated gang leaders have still managed to retain control over their networks. Whether run by the state, or privately operated facilities like the one in Manaus, most Brazilian prisons lack resources which allows prisoners to easily take control of them and carry out massacres like the one seen this week. Horrific conditions and abuses are well documented. There are 622,000 inmates in Brazil's prison population, ranking only behind the United States, China and Russia, according to the University of London's Institute for Criminal Policy Research. Tough numbers Poor financing and administration mean that even in Sao Paulo, Brazil's wealthiest state, a single guard oversees 300 to 400 prisoners in some prisons, said Dias, the sociologist. When the prisoners want to have an uprising, they have an uprising, she added. The Justice Ministry did not respond to requests for comment, but just last week the federal government announced it was immediately freeing 1.2 billion reais ($372.50 million) in funding for states to improve or build jails. Sergio Fontes, the top security official in Amazonas state, where Manaus is located, insists the state government has not lost control of the penitentiary system. Many public security experts disagree. They argue that the prisons mirror an overall lack of security in a country where authorities have long tolerated high homicide rates. Humanitarian challenges continue to mount in Cameroon, as refugees continue to flow in from Nigeria and the Central African Republic. The government and the United Nations are concerned about acute food shortages in the year to come. The number of officially registered refugees in Cameroon has climbed to about half a million, with fresh arrivals coming from both Nigeria and the Central African Republic. Thats in addition to the over 200,000 people registered as internally displaced by the Boko Haram conflict. But Najad Rochdi, coordinator of United Nations aid efforts in Cameroon, says the actual numbers of refugees and displaced people are much higher. Some people are still being registered, while others have sought shelter outside of camps. The U.N. estimates the total number of refugees and displaced people in Cameroon to be as many as 1.6 million and warns that the number could climb to as high as 2.7 million. Both the government and the U.N. say $310 million is needed over the next three years to meet the needs. She said their highest worry is the increasing number of people vulnerable to food insecurity and malnutrition since more than two million people are already exposed to food insecurity. Rochdi said on Cameroon's northern border where Nigerian refugees are found, there have been unpredictably long dry seasons, floods and unfavorable climate conditions that have hurt farmers. She said such factors are having direct impacts on the humanitarian situation of refugees and displaced persons so they have to look for means to handle it now. Armed groups continue to operate freely in the Central African Republic, in particular in the countryside. Not only do refugees not want to return home, but as many as 20,000 more have arrived in the past 10 months. And Cameroonian authorities have warned that despite recent military successes against Boko Haram, the war against the terrorists is not over. Cameroon's minister of territorial administration, Rene Emmanuel Sadi, said host populations near the border with Nigeria are abandoning their farms for fear of insurgent attacks. That has aggravated the food crisis. He said Cameroon is counting on international donors, friendly countries and the U.N. to execute the emergency response plan it has prepared to take care of both refugees and internally displaced persons. The Boko Haram insurgency, now in its eighth year, has spilled over to Cameroon, Chad and Niger. According to the United Nations, more than 25,000 people have lost their lives and over two million have been displaced. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau reached out in a video address to the new U.S. Congress on Tuesday to stress how tightly linked the economies of Canada and the United States are, amid fears of a protectionist Trump administration. U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, who has promised to either renegotiate or scrap the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), has said overhauling trade policy will be a top priority after he takes office on January 20. Canada sends 75 percent of its exports to the United States and could suffer from changes to NAFTA, which also includes Mexico. Ford Motor Co. on Tuesday scrapped a planned Mexican car factory and added 700 jobs in Michigan following criticism by Trump, who turned his attention toward General Motors Co. with the threat of a "big border tax" over compact cars made in Mexico. In the video address, Trudeau and David MacNaughton, the Canadian ambassador to Washington, stressed the closeness of ties between the neighbors. "We've built an economic relationship that supports jobs in every congressional district. We are the largest international customer for goods and services made in the USA," said Trudeau, who was filmed in his office in front of the U.S. and Canadian flags. MacNaughton said Canada was ready to work with Congress to make the lives of citizens in both nations better and more prosperous. Christine Constantin, a spokeswoman for the Canadian Embassy in Washington, said ambassadors had sent video greetings to the two previous opening sessions of Congress. Trudeau, who has made ties with the United States a priority, was asked by the embassy to appear in the video, she said. Trudeau spokesman Cameron Ahmad declined to elaborate on the video, saying the prime minister's message spoke for itself. In the runup to the 2016 U.S election, Canadian diplomats fanned out across the country to stress that Canada is the top export destination for 35 U.S. states and that 9 million U.S. jobs depend on trade with Canada. China and the Vatican have been holding talks in recent months that could eventually re-establish diplomatic ties after more than 60 years, analysts say, meaning a likely break in the papal state's relationship with Chinese rival Taiwan and a major blow to Taipei's slipping recognition overseas. Last month the Chinese governments head of religious affairs told a meeting of the official Catholic Church in the vast Communist country that he hoped the Vatican would try to improve relations by adapting to his society. China and the Vatican dispute who should have power to appoint bishops, each seeking to exert more influence than the other. The Vatican's recognition of Taiwan has helped the Asian government show other countries that it values religious freedom, different from the reputation of China, and that it has a powerful friend in Europe that China cant get, analysts say. Taiwans other 20 diplomatic allies are small, mostly poor countries in Africa, Latin America and the South Pacific. They look to Taiwan for development aid. China sees self-ruled Taiwan as part of its territory rather than a state with the right to foreign relations. To be a small country, we still have to build up some formal diplomatic relations with some countries, and that is proof that Taiwan is a sovereign state, so I would say the Vatican is a small country but it has a very profound political, symbolic meaning to Taiwan, Wu Chung-li, a political science research fellow at Academia Sinica, a university in Taipei. China severed relations with the Vatican 1951 two years after the Communists had won a Chinese civil war that also sent the Nationalists to Taiwan where they re-established their government. Since then, China has closed churches and imprisoned priests, according to news reports from Beijing. Catholics may legally practice religion in state-sanctioned churches not overseen by the Vatican. About one-third of an estimated 12 million Catholics in China worship at underground churches. Pope Francis is described in Taiwan as being particularly keen to form relations with China, which Catholic News Agency described in October as a major effort of this papacy though also challenged by the question of recognizing Taiwan. China-Vatican discussions last year focused largely on who could appoint bishops, Taiwan Vice President Chen Chien-jen told a news conference in Taipei Saturday. He called ties with Taiwan normal and said it made sense for Chinese Catholics to seek bonds with the Vatican. I think relations with Taiwan are continuing to develop in a stable way, Chen said. As for the Vatican-China talks, we think for mainland Chinese Catholics is quite important because every Catholic will want to have the Vaticans blessings. A possible Sino-Vatican agreement last month was set back when a bishop who was supported by the Beijing government -- and who had been excommunicated by the Vatican -- participated in the ordination of new bishops. China and the Holy See had communicated earlier last year on the same topic. Taiwans relations with the Vatican have given the island valuable international exposure when its president attends the funerals of popes, said Fabrizio Bozzato, an associate researcher specialized in international affairs at Tamkang University in Taiwan. The Vaticans recognition of Taiwan also bestows a moral imprimatur on the island, he said. An alliance with the Vatican also may help Taiwan keep the recognition of six predominantly Catholic Latin American countries, Wu said. Those governments might otherwise feel free to recognize China instead, he said. China does not allow its 170-plus foreign allies to recognize Taiwan. Last month Taiwan lost an ally in Africa, the island nation of Sao Tome and Principe, to China. China would not normally be hurrying to form ties with the Vatican, a 44-hectare (110-acres) district inside Rome, but because of poor relations with President Tsai Ing-wen in Taipei it might speed things up, Bozzato said. Tsai has upset Beijing since she took office in May by declining to see Taiwan as part of one China, a prerequisite for any dialogue. Beijing particularly expressed anger when Tsai called U.S. President-elect Donald Trump Dec. 2, raising the possibility of a closer Taiwan-U.S. relationship during Trumps term. A Vatican switch to China would point to a failure by Tsai to keep a particularly prized diplomatic relationship, said Alex Chiang, international relations professor with National Chengchi University in Taipei. It would send a signal to some, he said, that Tsai should find a way to open negotiations with China. It hurts because weve tried to keep the ties with the Vatican for many, many years, Chiang said, describing a scenario where the Vatican has broken off relations. But, he cautioned, the pope is very interested in establishing a relationship with China just for the reason that there are a lot of Catholics in mainland China. Priests from Cuba's Afro-Cuban religion forecast a prosperous 2017 in their New Year's prophecy and told Cubans to be hopeful despite the economic and diplomatic headwinds the Caribbean island-nation faces. The ritual-filled Santeria religion, which fuses ancient African beliefs brought to Cuba by slaves with Catholicism, is practiced by millions of Cubans, many of whom eagerly await guidance from its annual forecast. "This [reading] forecasts a favorable development from the point of view of economic management," priest Lazaro Cuesta, clad in white as a symbol of purity, told a news conference Tuesday in Havana. That forecast contrasted with President Raul Castro's gloomy depiction of the economy last week. He told the National Assembly that Cuba entered a recession last year in tandem with the crisis in Venezuela, a key ally, although the economy might eke out growth in 2017. It also flew in the face of darker prophecies in recent years. The Santeria priests, known as babalawos, had predicted an explosion in migration and social unrest in 2015 and 2016. Asked about the future of U.S.-Cuban relations given U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's threat to end the fledgling detente, Cuesta used an image to suggest both sides would continue to negotiate. Cuesta said the reigning Yoruba deity Oggun, god of iron, tools and weapons, would use his machetes to cut down the plants preventing communication. "Independently of the instability anyone might feel, of the political happenings in the world, the letter of the year gives the Cuban people, and the world, hope," he said. "If we are capable of hearing, expressing, understanding, contributing, the results without doubt will arrive." The babalawos recommended Santeria devotees wear white, avoid the excessive consumption of alcohol, and pay attention to possible acts of corruption. They advised followers to protect coastal areas from waste and to encourage economic and sociocultural exchanges between countries. Senior babalawo Bebo Padron said this year's prophecy called for Cubans to unite, possibly a reference to opposition to the country's government and those who have emigrated. Two of the six slogans for 2017 chosen by the faith were "Only one king governs a people" and "no hat can be more famous than a crown." Santeria followers have believed their gods were on the side of the Cuban revolution ever since a white dove landed on the shoulder of late revolutionary leader Fidel Castro during a victory speech in Havana. The Nebraska Bankers Association is offering up to $15,000 for information leading to the arrest and convictions of the armed robbers who held up an east Lincoln bank last week, the group announced Tuesday. On Dec. 28, two robbers, who remain at large, entered the Union Bank & Trust branch at 6801 O St. between 5:20 and 5:30 p.m., Lincoln police said. One of the robbers carried a handgun and fired two shots in the direction of employees, and officers found bullet holes in the bank's ceiling and in a flat screen TV, police said. No injuries were reported. They left with an undisclosed amount of cash and a red dye pack that had exploded. An attempt to track them using a police dog wasn't successful. A detailed description has not been released. The association's reward comes in addition to the $1,000 offered by Lincoln-Lancaster County Crimestoppers in the case. Anyone with information should call 402-475-3600 or report it online at www.lincolncrimestoppers.com. The death toll in Monday's twin suicide car bombings near Mogadishu international airport has risen to nine after rescue workers Tuesday found two bodies under the rubble of the Peace Hotel targeted by one of the bombers. Regional officials told VOA's Somali service that the bodies of a man and a woman were found after the hotel's security cameras showed them standing near a wall at the impact of the explosion. At least 21 people were injured in the attacks. The al-Shabab militant group claimed responsibility for the attack. This was the second time the group used the tactic of back-to-back suicide vehicles, with the first meant to provoke panic and the second meant to cause maximum casualties. The first of the two explosions targeted a checkpoint manned by Somali national security forces about midday local time. Immediately after the first explosion, a second car drove at high speed through the checkpoint and detonated outside the Peace Hotel opposite the airport, residents said. Both explosions took place near Medina Gate, one of the main entrances of the airport. Officials said the explosions also destroyed about 10 houses in the area. They said families had contacted rescue workers to report missing children, but none of those bodies have been found. "First I heard gunshots, then a car explosion and then we took a duck," said a witness who could not be named for security reasons. "When we came out to help the wounded, we saw a big truck drive through it [checkpoint], and it exploded." The second explosion was caused by a truck bomb, and it exploded at the road between the airport and the Peace Hotel, witnesses said. The Peace Hotel sustained massive damage, said Abdulkadir Mohamed Abdulle, a reporter for VOA's Somali service. The hotel is often used by Somali ministers, NGO workers and Somalis from the diaspora. Ahmed Ali, one of the residents in the neighborhood, told VOA one of his neighbors was killed when a home collapsed. The victim's sister and brother, a child, were wounded. A spokesman for the Mogadishu administration, Abdifatah Omar Halane, told VOA that "this was the biggest, loudest explosion ever to happen in Mogadishu. Thank God it took place in an area where there are not lots of civilians." Mogadishu ambulance services confirmed the death of one government soldier. The two suicide bombers were among those killed. Somali Foreign Minister Abdusalam Hadliye Omer, who was in Nairobi, told VOA he had been living at the Peace Hotel for the past two years. He condemned the attack as "evil." "This is a terrorist act carried out by a group that does not want to see peace and governance in Somalia," he said. Britain's outgoing ambassador to the European Union has strongly criticized the government's approach to Brexit negotiations in a blistering farewell email to his staff. Ivan Rogers said Prime Minister Theresa May's government has been hindered by ill-founded arguments and muddled thinking in its approach to the upcoming talks to pull Britain out of the EU. His harsh critiques, likely to embarrass the government in the run-up to complex negotiations with the other 27 members of the EU bloc, were made public when the email was published by British media Wednesday. Rogers' abrupt departure reveals the deep uncertainties within the government about how to best protect Britain's national interest as it leaves the EU. May on Wednesday evening appointed Tim Barrow, a former U.K. ambassador to Russia, as Rogers' replacement. EU Commission spokeswoman Natasha Bertaud said Rogers would be missed. We regret the loss of a very professional, very knowledgeable, while not always easy interlocutor and diplomat who always loyally defended the interests of his government, she said. Unknown priorities In probably the most damning passage of his farewell email, Rogers said that senior civil servants don't know what the May government's priorities are in the talks, which will set the course for Britain's relations with Europe once it leaves the bloc. We do not yet know what the Government will set as negotiating objectives for the UK's relationship with the EU after exit, he wrote. That implies he is unsure whether May seeks to keep Britain in the single market or the customs union, or to have the country sever those economic relationships. Rogers also said that Britain, unlike its EU adversaries, does not have the serious multilateral negotiating experience needed for the task. The email was sent Tuesday, when Rogers resigned months earlier than expected. Goals intentionally unclear May took over after Prime Minister David Cameron resigned following his failure to convince Britons to remain in the EU in the June referendum. She says Britain will formally trigger Article 50 the legal process to kick off the process of leaving the EU by the end of March. She has repeatedly refused to spell out the government's goals, saying that to do so would weaken its hand in negotiations. Her government faces a lawsuit that would require it to obtain parliamentary approval before starting the process. The Supreme Court is expected to decide shortly whether to overturn a lower court's ruling that Parliament must approve before Article 50 is invoked. Rogers had earlier warned it would take longer than expected to reach new trade deals with Europe and that the process might ultimately fail because it would require parliamentary approval from each member state. Chaos erupted on the first day of a new U.S. Congress on Tuesday as majority Republicans in the House of Representatives first plotted to change ethics oversight rules, then scrapped the plan amid outcry across Capitol Hill and a scolding from President-elect Donald Trump. House Republicans planned to establish congressional control over the independent, nonpartisan Office of Congressional Ethics, a move that could have limited the watchdog group's ability to investigate lawmakers suspected of ethical or criminal breaches. In a statement backing the changes, House Speaker Paul Ryan said the OCE "is in need of reform" but insisted it "will continue to operate independently to provide public accountability to Congress." Hours later, he and other House Republicans reversed course amid a hail of protest from both ends of the Capitol. "This is incredibly disturbing and a very bad sign of things to come," newly sworn-in Senator Chris Van Hollen told VOA. The Maryland Democrat served seven terms in the House before his election to the Senate in November. "They are talking about dismantling the independent entity that takes ethics violations charges and reviews them," Van Hollen added. "It's increasing the size of the swamp and giving it more power." Trump had repeatedly promised to "drain the swamp" in Washington a reference to the capital's countless power brokers and the cozy relationships among them. Trump himself weighed in Tuesday on Twitter, questioning the need to weaken the OCE in light of "all that Congress has to work on. The controversy diverted attention from the customary pomp and ceremony of swearing in House and Senate members at the start of the 115th Congress. Health care Even as new and re-elected lawmakers raised their hands and took the oath of office, political undercurrents foreshadowed battles to come. Republicans, who control both chambers, are planning swift action to repeal President Barack Obama's health care law, known as Obamacare. "The first job the new Congress will have is to repeal Obamacare," said Republican Senator John Cornyn of Texas. "I believe the verdict of the American people is that Obamacare has failed." Democrats are insisting on a replacement plan that continues health care coverage for Obamacare participants before the program is scrapped. "We're going to kick 30 million people off the health care rolls in this country with no plan about how to replace it?" asked Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia. "That's the combined population of 19 [U.S.] states." Middle East Republicans in both houses have also crafted measures denouncing a recent United Nations resolution demanding an end to Israeli settlements. "I'm all for that," Republican Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah told VOA. "The president [Obama] and the administration did great damage [by abstaining on the U.N. vote]." Asked in what way damage was inflicted, Hatch said, "Well, in screwing up the Middle East." "A [congressional] resolution is not enough. I want to go after funding [for the United Nations]," Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina told VOA. "It's become a body that has lost its way. America's not going to invest in an international body that singles out the only democracy in the [Mideast] region." Democrat Kaine said he would reserve judgment until he saw the text of the Senate resolution, but expressed frustration over the stalled Middle East peace process. "I've been extremely disappointed over the last years," Kaine said. "The U.S. has stood, and the U.N. has stood, for the notion of two states, Israel and Palestine, living peacefully side by side. What is the right role for the United States in trying to promote progress? That's the thing that I'm looking at." Russia Meanwhile, at least two congressional committees are expected to hold hearings on Russia's cyber activities, possibly causing friction with Trump, who has downplayed evidence compiled by the Obama administration that Moscow hacked and released data to affect the U.S. presidential election. "[I want] as much public disclosure as possible about what Russia has done," Graham said. "This is a tactic they are using all over the world." Exposing the full extent of Russian cyberattacks and taking steps to discourage them are rare points of agreement among prominent Democrats and Republicans on Capitol Hill. "There's going to be more material put out by the Obama administration about what happened [during the election season]," Kaine said. "I've been briefed on this. I think the intel [intelligence] is beyond question that Russia attempted to influence the outcome of the election. We have to get the facts on the table." Cabinet nominees In the legislative battles to come, Republicans will have a two-seat Senate majority and more than a 20-seat advantage in the House. Their slim Senate majority will be put to the test during confirmation battles for some of Trump's more controversial Cabinet picks. Democrats cannot block nominees on their own, but are promising rigorous scrutiny of Trump's choices to fill key positions. "Looking at the [proposed] Cabinet, which is stacked with billionaires, corporate executives, titans of Wall Street, and those deeply embedded in Washington's corridors of power, it seems many of his [Trump's] campaign themes are being abandoned," said Democrat Chuck Schumer of New York, the Senate's new minority leader. For their part, Republicans urged common purpose and bipartisanship in Congress wherever possible. "Let's not let our desire to fight for fighting's sake get in the way of our ability to work together," Cornyn said. When Michelle Obama helps recognize the school counselor of the year later this week, it will also mark her final White House event as first lady, aides said Tuesday. Mrs. Obama has presided over a White House ceremony each January since 2015 honoring school counselors, who she says are often the "deciding factor" in whether a student attends college. She joked last year that Friday's ceremony might be one of the last White House events "before they kick us out in January of 2017." President Barack Obama's term ends at noon on January 20, exactly two weeks after Friday's ceremony. School counselors from across the country are meeting at the White House at the end of the week to be recognized and to help honor Terri Tchorzynski, the 2017 School Counselor of the Year. She is a counselor at the Calhoun Area Career Center in Battle Creek, Michigan, according to the website of the American School Counselor Association. Before Mrs. Obama's remarks at Friday's event, guests will attend a panel discussion featuring Education Secretary John B. King Jr., former Education Secretary Arne Duncan and actress Connie Britton, who played a high school guidance counselor on the network television series "Friday Night Lights," among other participants, the White House said. Mrs. Obama established the recognition ceremony for school counselors to highlight the work they do with young people and the conditions under which they operate. The average counselor is responsible for more than 470 students, said Eric Waldo, executive director of Reach Higher, Mrs. Obama's initiative to encourage students to continue their education after high school. Recognition for school counselors is part of that initiative. Mrs. Obama also modeled the school counselor ceremony after the annual Teacher of the Year event that's been held at the White House for decades. She hopes future presidents will continue to recognize the contributions of school counselors. "Much like Teacher of the Year has become a 50-year tradition for the White House, regardless of party, we certainly think counselors are deserving of the same accolades," said Tina Tchen, the first lady's chief of staff. With two simple words I do Ilhan Omar began her term as a lawmaker in the Minnesota House of Representatives, accomplishing what few people thought possible during an election year where Muslim-Americans were at the center of heated political debate about immigration and terrorism. "The Muslim community needs a win," says Asad Zaman, executive director of the Muslim American Society of Minnesota. "This entire election cycle has been dominated by negativity towards immigrants and Muslims." A day of firsts Zaman was one of dozens of supporters who filled the Minnesota State Capitol on the opening day of the new legislative session, shuttling between events marking Ilhan Omars historic first day on the job as state lawmaker, which included a ceremonial oath of office complete with a commemorative Quran on the House floor. "I think it says a lot about the ethos of America," Zaman told VOA, "that [constituents] can embrace a Somali-American, hijab-clad Muslim woman as their representative, as the most qualified person to speak for them in the state capitol." A symbol of hope for Muslim women Its been an unlikely journey from a Somali refugee camp in Kenya to the Minnesota State House of Representatives, but 34-year-old Ilhan Omars historic rise to become the first female Somali-American legislator in the United States is now a beacon of hope for Muslims, and particularly Muslim women, around the world. "There are many countries that have had women as heads of state, especially Muslim majority countries who've had" them, Nausheena Hussain, from the Reviving the Islamic Sisterhood of Empowerment, explained to a crowd of Omar supporters gathered at the state capitol building. "So, we may not have shattered that glass ceiling in electing a president or head of state in our country, but for me, and the thousands of Muslim women, and women of color, Ilhan Omar is that ceiling thats been shattered for us." The negativity of the 2016 presidential election campaign, marked by calls for a ban on Muslim immigrants entering the United States, is now a footnote for Omar, who views her role in the national conversation about Muslim Americans as a positive one. "It sort of provides a counternarrative to say that all is not bad," she told VOA. "That there is good, and if someone like Ilhan who has all the odds against her can succeed, then we are able to see that as a country we do have a balance of good and bad and we need to find a way to come together to amplify the voices of good." Going outside the community for support Ilhan Omars campaign provides some insight into her wider appeal across racial, ethnic and religious divides. She did not win her election due to overwhelming support of Somali-American voters in her Minneapolis district. A majority voted for her primary challenger, Mohamud Noor. Omar won her election by courting other voters outside that diaspora. "Politics is the art of inclusion," Asad Zaman explained. "Ilhan Omar has practiced inclusive politics as shes been able to put forth a candidacy that is attractive to a largely white liberal group of voters and she has convinced them she is the best candidate." Election inspires Africans Omar is also convincing others beyond Minnesota that anything is possible, something she says was reinforced on a recent visit to the Horn of Africa. She was "hearing about young people who are running for elected office in Kenya and Somalia because they were inspired by my race," she explained to VOA. "And I think messages like that truly put things into focus and amplify the level and magnitude of what weve been able to do here." The magnitude of her contributions as a state lawmaker in Minnesota is yet to be measured, but Asad Zaman says Omar now has the attention of more than just the voters in Minnesota. "I have had interview requests from Turkey and Al Jazeera in Qatar," he told VOA. "So this is a big deal and I think the whole world is watching what we are doing here today." Which is why Ilhan Omar says one of her biggest challenges now is living up to the hopes and expectations people have for her as she continues to chart an historic path forward in Minnesotas House of Representatives. Warplanes under the command of a rival Libyan army general have attacked an air base under the control of the U.N.-backed government in a central area south of the country's Mediterranean coast, officials said Wednesday. In a statement late Tuesday, the Tripoli-based government said "several" government-allied troops were wounded when an aircraft they were traveling in was struck in the attack by the eastern-based forces. Libya fell into chaos following the 2011 ouster and killing of longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi. It remains divided between east and west, with no effective government and a multitude of rival factions and militias. Field Marshal Khalifa Hifter, the military strongman in question, answers to Libya's parliament that is based in the east. That parliament does not recognize the U.N.-brokered Tripoli government. Internal conflicts are escalating even as Islamic State militants have been driven out of the central coastal city of Sirte, which had been the extremist group's last bastion in the country. The Libyan National Army, led by Hifter, said the attacks hit Al Jufra Air Base in Waddan on Tuesday and Wednesday, destroying a C-130 military aircraft that was carrying ammunitions and forces loyal to Misrata militias when it landed. The army said a militia leadership meeting also was struck, resulting in one killed and eight wounded. The militias nominally back the Tripoli government and are thought to receive arms from Turkey. Withdraw or face more attacks At a news conference in the eastern city of Benghazi, Colonel Ahmed Mosmary, a spokesman for the Libyan National Army, demanded the militias withdraw from the south or face continued attacks. In a statement Wednesday that did not mention the attacks specifically, the U.N.'s envoy to Libya warned against the risk of escalation leading to renewed conflict in the North African nation. "I urge all parties to act with restraint and to resolve issues through peaceful dialogue," Martin Kobler said, urging renewed efforts to find solutions to the political crisis and the Tripoli government's difficulties in exercising authority over the country. On Monday, Musa al-Koni, a prominent member of the presidential council of the U.N.-backed government, resigned, citing the inability of the government to rule the country a major blow to the fledgling body. Last week, the deputy head of the presidential council, Fathi al-Mijabri, issued a decree to appoint one of his loyal supporters as the head of the intelligence services, stoking the ire of other members who called his move illegal. In a separate televised news conference, also Wednesday, Prime Minister Fayez al-Serraj rescinded recent decrees issued by al-Mijabri, including all appointments of security officials, and urged al-Koni to reconsider his departure. Former Nigerian rulers have banded together to sing a hymn for peace in their troubled nation, with some acknowledging they had a role in creating the "mess." Their video wish for 2017 is getting scornful comments from many on social media. The former leaders, many white-haired and in their 80s, sing "Oh God Our Help In Ages Past" in sometimes shaky tenor and bass. They include former military rulers Olusegun Obasanjo and Yakubu Gowon, former interim leader Ernest Shonekan and current Vice President Yemi Osinbajo. One Twitter user calls the VIP choir a "rogues' gallery," while others accuse them of being responsible for the woes of a resource-rich country impoverished by endemic corruption. In comments made after singing the hymn, some of the former leaders acknowledge responsibility. "In spite of the mess we made of the country, he (God) manages always to rescue us," said Alex Ekwueme, vice president from 1979 until the first of many military coups in 1983. Ebitu Ukiwe, vice president under a dictatorship in 1984-1985, said: "I am grateful to almighty God for accepting us despite the mess we have made of ourselves and the country." Africa's largest economy and the continent's second-biggest oil producer is currently in a recession caused by a looted treasury, low oil prices and massive shortages of foreign currency. Nigeria also is beset by deadly violence including Boko Haram's Islamic uprising in the northeast, attacks by oil militants in the south, demands by separatists for an independent Biafra in the southeast and clashes between mainly Muslim herders and Christian farmers. Gambias electoral chief has fled the country after he received threats for declaring longtime President Yahya Jammeh the loser of last month's election. According to relatives, Independent Electoral Commission Chairman Alieu Momar Njai fled to Senegal after he received word that Gambian authorities were plotting against him. In another development, Reuters reports that Gambia's army chief has reaffirmed his loyalty to President Jammeh. General Ousman Badjie wrote a letter to Jammeh published Wednesday in a pro-government newspaper. Jammeh, who has ruled the tiny West African country for 22 years, was declared the loser in Gambias December 1 election. Initially he accepted the results of the election, but Jammehs political party filed a legal complaint against the electoral commission about a week after the election, citing voting irregularities. Gambias Supreme Court is expected to rule on the case on January 10. Despite Jammehs objections, opposition candidate Adama Barrow, who was declared the winner in the election, says he will continue to plan his inauguration for January 19. The United Nations and several other African leaders have asked Jammeh to step down peacefully. The White House says U.S. President Barack Obama plans to transfer abroad more suspected terrorists held at the U.S. detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, before he leaves office January 20, rebuffing President-elect Donald Trump's call to end such releases. There should be no further releases from Gitmo, Trump said Tuesday, using a nickname for Guantanamo in one of several comments on Twitter he made on a variety of issues. These are extremely dangerous people and should not be allowed back onto the battlefield. Just hours later, however, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said, I would expect, at this point, additional [prisoner] transfers before Obama ends eight years as the U.S. chief executive and Trump is sworn in as the country's 45th president. When Obama took office in January 2009, he vowed to close the prison in southeastern Cuba, saying the detention facility did not reflect American values to the world because many of the prisoners there have been held for years without trial, and some had been tortured. Detainee population greatly reduced Guantanamo, a large area in Cuba that has been on long-term lease to the United States since before Fidel Castro's communist revolution, was designated a detention center by former President George W. Bush after the 2001 terrorist attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people in New York and Washington. The camp was intended to house prisoners captured by the U.S. and its allies in the fight against al-Qaida and other terror groups in the Middle East and Afghanistan. At its peak operation, 779 prisoners were held at Guantanamo; when Bush handed over control of the government to Obama the number had been reduced to about 500 detainees. Obama has subsequently sharply whittled down the number to 59 returning some detainees to their home countries for prosecution, sending others to third countries for resettlement and releasing others without trial. However, Obama's stated goal of closing the detention center outright has been been thwarted by a variety of political and legal obstacles. Transferring some or all of the remaining prisoners to secure facilities inside the United States to await trial was considered a possible way to facilitate the camp's closure, but many members of Congress have strongly opposed such tactics. Evidence flawed by torture Military prosecutors who would prosecute suspected terrorists detained on faraway battlefields have been stymied because evidence against them was obtained through the use of torture, including waterboarding to simulate drowning practices that Obama subsequently banned. About 20 of the remaining prisoners have been cleared for release, but finding other countries willing to accept them has proved difficult. About 30 percent of the onetime Guantanamo detainees have, as Trump suggested, either returned to Middle East battlefields to fight against the U.S. and its allies or are suspected of resuming terrorist activities. During his lengthy campaign for the U.S. presidency, Trump vowed to keep Guantanamo open, saying at one point that when he became the country's commander in chief, he would load it up with some bad dudes, believe me. We're gonna load it up. The U.S. State Department has released another 1,031 emails sent or received by Hillary Clinton in her official capacity during her tenure as Secretary of State. The agency was ordered by a federal court to process 1,850 pages of material received from the FBI by Tuesday. The released emails were part of those documents. Many of the documents are near duplicates of documents Clinton provided to the State Department in 2014 and have already been made public, State Department spokesman John Kirby said. A near duplicate, according to the agency, would include emails identical to previously released chains that were forwarded from Clinton to aides with the note "Please print," for example. Clinton deleted about 30,000 emails from the private server she used while secretary of state, saying they were not work related, before turning over thousands more to the government. But during its investigation, the FBI recovered some additional emails that could be relevant to the Freedom of Information Act request that has been driving the release. Most of the questions circulated at the American Geophysical Unions fall meeting in San Francisco in mid-December seemed innocuous enough, one University of Nebraska-Lincoln research professor who attended the conference said. But among the scientists and professors doing research into global climate change, some of the 74 questions put to the U.S. Department of Energy raised eyebrows, like this one. Question No. 40: Can you provide a list of Department employees or contractors who attended any of the Conference of the Parties (under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) in the last five years? Other questions asked what the department would do if it was asked to cut its budget by 10 percent. Or they asked respondents to provide a list of the research and development grants awarded to private companies or universities over the past five years, or list professional society memberships held by staff. The questions came from the transition team for President-elect Donald Trump, who once tweeted that climate change was a concept created by the Chinese to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive, and it has scientists entering a period of uncertainty. David Billesbach, one of two researchers studying climate change through Department of Energy grants awarded to UNL, said he doesnt know what to expect, but he believes change is on the horizon. I suspect there will be a change in research policy, and I suspect there will be something of a pull-back from the science weve been trying to do and it wont be funded as generously as it has been, Billesbach said. Most of the climate change research being done by UNL is funded through grants from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) or from NASA. Those grants are awarded to the University of Nebraska Board of Regents and used to pay for the salaries of researchers like Billesbach as well as for labs or facilities used by the staff. In addition to overseeing the countrys nuclear arsenal and energy production, the U.S. Department of Energy sponsors research in the physical sciences -- including climate change. UNL has three running grants from the department totaling nearly $1.1 million to study climate change. All three grants, awarded in 2009, 2012 and 2015, are set to expire Sept. 30. Billesbach works with about 100 researchers from the Lawrence-Berkley National Lab to measure the transfer of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and methane between land and the atmosphere at stations in north central Oklahoma and the North Slope of Alaska. One thing we can do is tell how much plants are growing, how much carbon they are pulling out of the air and compare that to the light, rain, soil moisture and temperature, he said. Along the Arctic Circle, in Barrow, Alaska, Billesbach said, he is collecting data on the release of carbon from a melting permafrost, energy frozen for 2,000 years that could result in a large pulse of carbon entering the atmosphere. Another researcher, Andy Suyker, oversees a climate research station at UNLs Agricultural Research and Development Center near Mead that measures the transfer of gases in a Nebraska-specific agricultural research system. The data collected -- often by automated instruments left to record changing conditions for years at a time -- is later made available to researchers and the general public around the world. Billesbach said the raw data he has recorded in the past 15 years indicates the climate is in a state of change -- an interpretation based on decades of scientific experimentation and observation, and not on economics or politics. One thing we really try very hard to do is not put politics into what were doing, he said. Were doing science and if you try to inject politics into it or personal philosophies, youre going to do a bad job. The almost universally accepted conclusion that the climate is changing and humans are responsible for a good part of the change has met with external resistance, however, as Billesbach acknowledges. The original moniker global warming adopted by scientists in the 1980s and '90s was a failure, he said. The U.S., he said, is becoming less and less of a science-based society than it used to be. But the evidence is still there. Overall, the planet is warming. The climate is changing is what were finding out, he said. Some places are going to be drier, some are going to be wetter. That changes patterns of plant growth, and agriculture is going to have to follow that. Last Wednesday, a bipartisan committee of state senators issued a recommendation that the Nebraska Legislature establish a panel to "create an evidence-based, data-driven climate action plan" for the state. In February, the university published a 55-page report summarizing a series of roundtable talks held in 2015 in response to a study that shows temperatures in Nebraska will rise between 4 and 9 degrees by the end of the century while average soil moisture will drop by as much as 10 percent. Billesbach said continuing to follow the changes in climate variables in hot years, cold years, wet years and dry years requires uninterrupted work -- work that requires ongoing funding. As the federal government has gridlocked over appropriations, issuing continuing resolutions instead of budgets, Billesbach said scientists working through government contracts have come to expect some uncertainty with year-to-year research funding. With a new president set to take office in a few short weeks, that uncertainty is growing, he said. This may have longer-term implications. The U.S.-led coalition has doubled to 450 the number of advisers assisting Iraqi forces fighting Islamic State militants. The top U.S. spokesman for the campaign to retake Mosul said Wednesday that the additional forces will help accelerate the battle. "We have increased the number of advise and assist forces that are there with the ISF [Iraqi Security Forces] command elements to help advise them as they move forward and to synchronize operations," coalition spokesman Colonel John Dorrian said in a videoconference from Baghdad. There are about 5,000 American military personnel in Iraq, according to the coalition, and U.S. special forces personnel also have fought IS on the ground. More than 125,000 Iraqis have been displaced since the Mosul offensive began in October, according to the United Nations. The Pentagon estimates there are still 3,000 to 5,000 IS fighters in Mosul. The Islamic State reportedly has tightened its grip over internet access in its de facto capital in Syria, imposing tougher penalties and applying new tools for restrictions as it comes under increased pressure from U.S.-backed Syrian forces who are advancing toward Raqqa. After the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) began their offensive to free Raqqa in November, IS set up a special unit within its "security office" to monitor internet usage. Since then, the unit "has arrested many online activists on charges related to cooperating with the [U.S.-led] coalition and other anti-IS forces," said Sadradeen Kinno, a Syria researcher who closely follows IS activities in Raqqa. Some of those detained by Islamic State forces have been executed, Kinno said. The unit also includes female IS members who investigate women by searching their cellphones, personal computers and other devices, local reports say. Surveillance IS monitors have increased their surveillance of illicit internet use, roaming the streets in vans with devices designed to pinpoint internet usage and providers, according to reports from inside Raqqa. "They have also obtained advanced Wi-Fi detectors from Turkey by which they can spot unpermitted internet users," said Dlshad Othman, a cybersecurity expert in Washington who co-authored a report on internet freedoms in Syria for Freedom House, a U.S.-based research center. Othman, who has contacts in Raqqa, said that he knew a young man who was executed by IS in recent weeks for using an application to communicate with his relatives in a Kurdish-controlled area. Internet service in Raqqa is strictly controlled by IS. Residents are told they can access the web only at public cafes that are under the direct watch of IS, which monitors what sites are accessed and limits the ability to communicate with the outside world. "Owners of these cafes can't operate without obtaining licenses from IS," said Hussam Eesa, a member of Raqqa Is Being Slaughtered Silently, an activist group that reports on IS abuses in Raqqa. Owners of internet cafes must regularly report to IS on suspicious customers who could be in contact with anti-IS groups, Eesa said. Punishment Several cafes were recently shut down after IS found that their owners were providing internet access to nearby households, the activist group said. One man, who escaped IS rule in Syria two months ago, said that he had faced a severe punishment for frequenting a website affiliated with Syrian rebels. "I spent two months in an [IS] prison for visiting a Europe-based website that is affiliated with the [Syrian] opposition," said a 34-year-old Syrian man from Deir Ezzor, an IS-held city not far from Raqqa. "I was tortured and almost saw death with my eyes," said the man, who spoke to VOA on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution from IS. He now lives in Turkey. "I was released after I signed on paper not to visit those types of websites anymore." Since September 2016, IS has arrested more than 19 people in Raqqa and its countryside for possessing satellite internet devices, reported Smart News, a pro-rebel Syrian website. Observers believe that IS will increase its suppression on internet users and limit access to information as its territorial gains decrease. And with the SDF fighters only miles from Raqqa, IS tries to keep their advances from people inside the city. "They don't want people under their rule to see that their caliphate is diminishing," cyber expert Othman said. Activist Eesa said IS is attempting to keep locals from being online "to hide their military losses from their supporters and local residents." After 15 years of development, an Israeli tech firm is optimistic it will finally get its 1,500-kg (1.5-ton) passenger-carrying drone off the ground and into the market by 2020. The Cormorant, billed as a flying car, is capable of transporting 500 kg (around half a ton) of weight and traveling at 185 km (115 miles) per hour. It completed its first automated solo flight over terrain in November. Its total price is estimated at $14 million. Developers Urban Aeronautics believe the dark-green drone, which uses internal rotors rather than helicopter propellers, could evacuate people from hostile environments and/or allow military forces safe access. Just imagine a dirty bomb in a city and chemical substance of something else, and this vehicle can come in, remotely piloted, and decontaminate an area, Urban Aeronautics founder and CEO Rafi Yoeli told Reuters. Still plenty of work to do Yoeli set up the company, based in a large hangar in Yavne, central Israel, in 2001 to create the drone, which he says is safer than a helicopter because it can fly in between buildings and below power lines without the risk of blade strikes. There is still plenty of work required before the autonomous vehicle hits the market. The Cormorant, about the size of a family car and previously called the "Air Mule," is yet to meet all Federal Aviation Administration standards, and a test in November saw small issues with conflicting data sent by onboard sensors. 39 vehicle patents With 39 patents registered to create the vehicle, Yoeli has little concern about competitors usurping him. One industry experts said the technology could save lives. It could revolutionize several aspects of warfare, including medical evacuation of soldiers on the battlefield, said Tal Inbar, head of the unmanned aerial vehicle research center at Israel's Fisher Institute for Air and Space Strategic Studies. An Israeli military court convicted a young soldier of manslaughter Wednesday for shooting and killing a wounded an apparently helpless Palestinian terrorist last year in the West Bank. The verdict was the culmination of a turbulent series of events that captivated and divided the nation. In a rare move, the army condemned a soldiers actions during a Palestinian attack; while much of the public was appalled that a young Israeli fighting terrorism in the field was hauled into court like a common criminal. The fact that the man on the ground was a terrorist does not justify a disproportionate response, said Colonel Maya Heller, who delivered the verdict. On Thursday, police arrested two people on charges of encouraging violent retribution on social media against the three military judges who convicted the soldier. A police spokesman said a man in Jerusalem and a woman in the southern town of Kiryat Gat posted remarks on Facebook that amounted to "incitement to violence" against the judges. The drama began nine months ago in the West Bank town of Hebron during a wave of attacks that Palestinians had dubbed The Intifada [Uprising] of the Knives. A Palestinian had stabbed a soldier and was neutralized by Israeli forces, lying immobile on the ground. Then, a cellphone video caught 19-year-old Sergeant Elor Azaria aiming his assault rifle at the attacker and shooting him in the head. The soldier claimed that he feared the Palestinian was booby-trapped with a bomb, but commanders quickly disputed that, saying the attacker posed no threat and Azaria had violated the armys code of moral conduct. That account was backed up by the court. Natanyahu wants pardon After the verdict, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu posted a Facebook statement saying he would like to see a pardon for Azaria. "We have one army that is the basis for our existence," Netanyahu wrote. "IDF soldiers are our sons and daughters, and they must remain above all disputes. I purport granting a pardon to Elor Azaria. President Reuven Rivlin is the only one who can make that decision. His office says the president wants the judicial process, including any appeals, to play itself out before he considers a pardon. Unacceptable action The ruling shows that professional commanders and professional judges, although they play different roles ... reached the same conclusion, namely, that this was a most unacceptable action on the part of the soldier, said professor Asa Kasher, co-author of the Israel Defense Forces Code of Ethics. It is legally, ethically and morally unacceptable. But many Israelis are furious over what they see as a false sense of moral equivalence. They say soldiers are being put on trial in order to protect terrorists. Its a serious rift, because traditionally the army has been a strong source of unity in a country with deep political, religious and cultural divisions between left and right, hawks and doves, religious and secular, and European and Middle Eastern Jewry. Tomorrow there is no IDF! a female relative of the Azaria family shouted at the judge before being escorted out of the courtroom. The IDF is over! This is not something thats going to be particularly very good for Israel, said Israel Television commentator Arieh OSullivan, noting the trial exposed a deep rift in Israeli society and government. We had members of the Knesset [parliament] and generals taking both sides; we had a former defense minister and present defense minister taking a [different] side; in fact, we had the prime minister calling up Azarias father and offering him support. So, we have a situation that touched upon the fissures of Israeli society, OSullivan concluded. Its not going to be over with todays verdict and its going to be with us for a long time. Rules and values Kasher, on the other hand, is more optimistic. I dont think it will have a long-range effect on Israeli society or the IDF, he said. Its a special event, its a rarity. Commanders and soldiers know very well what are the rules of engagement, what are the procedures, what are the values of the IDF, which include the purity of arms and the sanctity of human life. ... And the society now sees that all the commanders and the judges reached the same conclusion. The verdict even won rare praise from one of Israels harshest critics. Todays conviction of a member of the Israeli forces is a rare occurrence in a country with a long record of using excessive and unwarranted force, and where soldiers who may have committed crimes under international law very seldom face prosecution, said Philip Luther, Research and Advocacy Director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International. The verdict is a small step in the right direction and offers a glimmer of hope that soldiers who commit unlawful killings may no longer go unpunished. Elor Azaria faces up to 20 years in prison. He will be sentenced at a later date. Kenya's Electoral Commission says political wrangles and tension related to biometric voter technology may delay preparations for the country's upcoming elections. The opposition is threatening protests over a proposed amendment to Kenya's electoral law. Kenya's Senate legal committee is reviewing public comments about a controversial amendment to the electoral law the lower House passed late last month. The bill would allow manual voting and also allow the commission to manually submit election results in case biometric voter technology fails during the August election. Electoral commissioners said they requested the amendment because they do not want to lock out some voters who might not be identified by the biometric registration kits. Former Council of Governors chairman, Bomet County Governor Isaac Rutto told the Senate legal committee the manual system could be manipulated. Out there Kenyans want just fairness. They are not interested in the tyranny of your numbers inside the houses. The real issue is the voters who do not turn up and ended up voting for them manually, identifying them manually, said Rutto. This is not the only Electoral Commission request that has been challenged. Voter registry A Kenyan court stopped the electoral body from awarding a bid to auditing firm KPMG to clean the voter register. The court also suspended $25 million tender for printing ballot papers given to a Dubai- based company, saying the bid was marred with irregularities. Electoral Commission deputy head Betty Nyabuto said political players are making preparations for the election difficult. I think we are largely prepared for this election I really do not see any huge challenge. The huge challenge will basically be out there with the external players they need to give us that operational space for us as a commission to do our work, said Nyabuto. Political commentator Martin Andati warns any quick fixes to the electoral process may result in post-election violence. If you are doing amendments haphazardly the way [we] are doing we are bound to have problems during the voting time ... so that will cause a problem and if we do not have [a] credible and accepted election then we are bound to have chaos, he said. Registration process The electoral body plans a mass voter registration from January 16 to February 14. The registration activities may be affected by opposition plans to start street protests if the Senate passes the electoral law amendments. The Senate is to meet Thursday to debate the amendments and vote on the recommendations from the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission. One day in May 2015, James Gitau Mwangi was reading in the library at the American Reference Center in Nairobi when he overheard a conversation that changed his life. The center's assistant director, Nashon Akello, was calling for English teachers to come to a webinar and Mwangi asked if he could attend, telling Akello, "Im an English teacher!" Soon Mwangi was sitting with a group of Kenyan English teachers watching two American teachers give an online teleconference. The webinar was organized by the U.S. Embassy in cooperation with VOA Learning English. Called "Writing for the Internet," the course explained how to write factual stories in a simple style of journalism, like the stories featured on Learning English. The teachers at the webinar were invited to write a story for a contest. The winning stories would be published on VOA's website and on the U.S. Embassy's site. While at the U.S. Embassy, the teachers heard about other U.S. Department of State programs. One was the Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistant Program, which is open to young teachers of English who've earned a college degree. The program sends foreign instructors to teach their native language and culture to American students at universities. At the same time, they learn language teaching methods that will improve their English teaching skills when they return home. Mwangi says that although his fellow teachers were interested in the program, some were too old. "But you need to be under 30 years, so most of my friends were like, 'You go. Go and do it. Because it's a great thing but we can't do it,'" Mwangi says. "So I applied. I followed through the process -- it was very hard -- but I was so happy when they called me back in August, the same year." Mwangi says he was required to take the TOEFL, an English language test, and waited almost a year to learn whether he'd been accepted into the program. While he waited, Mwangi went back to teaching and directing the Mavens Education & Chess Centre, a school he started with a fellow teacher, Tom Amwai. Mwangi wrote a story about how students must deal with the terrible traffic in Nairobi and entered it into the writing contest he'd learned about at the American Reference Center. He won and his story appeared on VOA's Learning English website. That success inspired Mwangi to keep writing in English, although he had started with little confidence. In September 2015, Mwangi's second story for VOA, about a teachers' strike in Kenya, was published. When Mwangi learned he'd received a Fulbright grant, his business partner encouraged him to go to teach in the U.S. He is now teaching Swahili at Bennett College, a private four-year historically black liberal arts college for women located in Greensboro, North Carolina. During his winter vacation from Bennett College, Mwangi is touring universities like Harvard University in Massachusetts. He will return to Kenya at the end of the school year in May, and plans to use his experience to improve his school. "I want to go back with all of these things that I have and experience and just build thatI want to go back and build the school now. I hope when I go back that dream will come to life." It was a new look for the White House: illuminated in rainbow colors to celebrate the Supreme Court decision allowing same-sex marriage nationwide. President Barack Obama, who was inside, felt the glow on that June night in 2015. "To see people gathered in the evening outside on a beautiful summer night, and to feel whole and to feel accepted, and to feel that they had a right to love that was pretty cool," he said a few days later. "Pretty cool." That might be a fair description of how Obama himself is viewed by legions of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Americans who consider him, among all of the nation's presidents, the greatest champion of their rights and well-being. The relationship was slow in developing. Obama took office in 2009 as a self-described "fierce advocate" for gay rights, yet for much of his first term drew flak from impatient, skeptical activists who viewed him as too cautious, too politically expedient. They were frustrated he wouldn't endorse same-sex marriage Obama cagily said he was "evolving" and wanted him to move faster on several other issues. But the pace of Obama's actions steadily accelerated. Military service In December 2010, he signed legislation enabling gays and lesbians to serve openly in the military. In 2011, he directed government agencies to combat LGBT rights abuses internationally. By May 2012, soon after Vice President Joe Biden set the example, Obama endorsed gay marriage. His administration also stopped defending the Defense of Marriage Act, which denied federal recognition to same-sex couples. That move helped clear the way for the Supreme Court's historic same-sex marriage ruling in 2015. In the nationwide marriage debate, Obama was not a pace-setter. A Gallup poll showed a majority of Americans supporting same-sex marriage a year before he did. But rather than pause at that stage, the president continued throughout his two terms to find ways to support the LGBT community, even when Congress was in partisan deadlock. According to a tally by the Human Rights Campaign, Obama's administration has made more than 125 changes to regulations and policies to expand LGBT rights, and Obama appointed more than 250 openly LGBT people to federal positions, including 15 judicial appointments and nine high-level diplomatic posts. Kate Kendell, executive director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, said the policy achievements tell only part of the story. "More than all of this, he honestly and without reservation embraced and celebrated our community as part of the human family," she said. "He was not perfect, but he leaves a legacy that will be hard to beat." In the past year alone, there were several telling moments. On June 16, Obama traveled to Orlando, Florida, to meet with the families of the 49 people killed four days earlier by a rampaging gunman at an LGBT nightclub. "This was an attack on the LGBT community," Obama said. "Americans were targeted because we're a country that has learned to welcome everyone, no matter who you are or who you love." Stonewall Inn Eight days later, Obama designated the first national monument honoring LGBT rights: the site of the Stonewall Inn in New York City, where a 1969 community uprising in response to a police raid helped energize LGBT activism nationwide. And in November, Obama gave a warm embrace to Ellen DeGeneres, who boldly came out as a lesbian in 1997, while awarding her the Presidential Medal of Freedom. "Her courage and candor helped change the hearts and minds of millions of Americans," said the White House citation. While supporters of LGBT rights are extolling Obama's record, some religious conservatives say the president went too far in some cases, infringing on the religious liberties of Americans whose faiths disapprove of same-sex marriage. "The Obama administration has waged an aggressive and unnecessary culture war," Ryan Anderson, a senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation, wrote in a recent column. He urged President-elect Donald Trump to make clear that his incoming administration "will never penalize any individual or institution because they believe and act on the belief that marriage is the union of husband and wife." Professor and author Ed Stetzer, executive director of the Billy Graham Center for Evangelism at Wheaton College, recalled how Obama had reached out to evangelicals during his first presidential campaign in 2008 an outreach that troubled LGBT activists. But Stetzer said many evangelicals became disenchanted by Obama's later advocacy of same-sex marriage. "He has tried to wade through some of the issues, but many evangelicals feel he didn't strike the right balance," Stetzer said. "They genuinely feel that their religious liberty is in jeopardy because of a shift on LGBT rights." Fears of reversals Since Trump's election victory, LGBT rights activists have expressed fears that the new Republican administration will reverse some of Obama's supportive executive orders and back legislation allowing some forms of discrimination against LGBT people if it's based on religious beliefs. Among those unsettled by the presidential transition is Cari Searcy of Mobile, Alabama, who along with her wife waged years of litigation seeking joint parental rights to their son. Their lawsuit overturned Alabama's ban on same-sex marriage. "After fighting such a long, hard battle for equal protections for our family, it is a very real concern that those rights could now be taken away," said Searcy. As for Obama, Searcy said he "revolutionized the way America sees us." "The policies and protections that our community gained under his administration changed our daily lives and included us in the national conversation," she said. "We have come so far under his leadership, and for that, I will forever be grateful." If youre in the market for a life size and realistic statue of former U.S. presidents, mark January 14 on your calendar and make your way to historic Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Thats when the Hall of Presidents and First Ladies Museum will put its entire collection of 44 president and First Lady statues up for auction. The First Lady statues, it should be noted, are not life size. In early 2017, there will be an opportunity for the public to own a piece of this historic museum. Contents will include life-sized wax figures of all 44 Presidents of the United States and their First Ladies in 1/3 scale 3 10 (117 cm) tall, according to the Pa. OnSite Auction Company, which is holding the auction. The statues heads are made of liquid vinyl plastic, while the torsos are made of fiberglass and styrofoam. The moving arms are wooden, and the eyes come from an optical supply company. The life size president figures were created by several sculpture artists including Ivo Zini who has worldwide recognition for his work in cosmetic prosthesis, according to the museum's website. The auction comes in the wake of the museum deciding to close after nearly 60 years due to dwindling crowds. "It was kind of its time," said Max T. Felty, president of Gettysburg Tours Inc., in an interview with the Baltimore Sun newspaper. "We were hoping that, with the Gettysburg sesquicentennial [in 2013], we'd see the attendance go up. But it really didn't increase much." The museum will also be auctioning off other associated memorabilia. If you cant make it to Gettysburg, you can bid remotely. Mozambique's Renamo opposition party said on Tuesday it had extended a cease-fire by two months to allow talks with President Filipe Nyusi's government, raising hopes for a nascent peace process. Both sides have clashed sporadically since Renamo challenged the results of the southern African nation's 2014 elections. Analysts say competition over natural resources could also be exacerbating unrest Mozambique is on the verge of developing huge offshore gas reserves which could transform one of the world's poorest countries into a middle-income state. Renamo leader Afonso Dhlakama announced a seven-day truce a week ago after what he described as a long and constructive telephone conversation with Nyusi. The cease-fire extension followed another call between the two rivals. "It is reassuring that both sides [agreed to the cease-fire] so things can go well and provide peace for Mozambicans," Dhlakama, who is in hiding, told reporters in a teleconference. "I am the head of the family. I am Mozambican and we are really doing this to reduce the deaths in Mozambique." Members of the current government and Renamo fought on opposing sides in a civil war from 1976 to 1992 that killed an estimated 1 million people. Dhlakama and Nyusi have not met face-to-face since February 2015 and distrust between the two has led to several cease-fires collapsing since Nyusi won the disputed 2014 vote. Since the poll, Renamo has demanded it rule in the six provinces where it won the most votes, while the government has called for the opposition to disarm before opening discussions. Fighting between the two sides usually takes place in the remote interior, making it difficult to assess the extent of the conflict. Early last year, tens of thousands of Mozambicans fled across the border into Malawi to escape violence and alleged human rights abuses. Afghan Taliban seem to have solidified their position on the ground in Afghanistan in 2016. Their confidence is evident from recent statements announcing that they are moving the remaining Taliban leadership from Pakistan to Afghanistan. Even though the Afghan government has rejected these claims, the next year may bring additional challenges that the government seems unprepared to handle. Ayesha Tanzeem reports from VOA's South Asia bureau in Islamabad. The celebrated but recently embattled medical director of trauma at Bryan Health quit in late December, the hospital told the Journal Star on Tuesday. Dr. Reginald Burton submitted his resignation from the medical staff Dec. 20, saying hed made the decision to relocate his practice, said hospital spokesman Edgar Bumanis. The move comes several months after Burton was escorted out of the hospital and placed on a leave of absence, though neither Burton nor the hospital has said what led to the separation. The hospital did issue a short statement in early October, saying its policies allow it to review a physicians professional conduct through a confidential peer-review process. It added that it had forwarded information to the state Department of Health and Human Services. But its unclear if Burton is facing disciplinary action by the states Division of Public Health, because active complaints are confidential. As of Tuesday, his physicians license was still active, according to the states website. Burtons attorneys wouldnt elaborate Tuesday on the doctors resignation or his relocation plans. Nor would they say what had changed since October, when one of Burtons lawyers released a statement saying Burton expected to return to his regular schedule and full hospital privileges at the end of the investigation. On Tuesday, Lincoln attorney Mark Fahleson issued a two-sentence statement calling Burton a well-respected, highly credentialed surgeon who is pursuing new opportunities to lead and nurture trauma care programs that can grow and develop with his expertise and experience. Fahleson would not provide further details. Three years ago, Burton faced action by the state Department of Public Health, accused of having demonstrated poor professional boundaries with patients. His license could have been suspended or revoked, but he ultimately signed an assurance of compliance. Without admitting wrongdoing, he agreed to maintain professional boundaries with patients. The 56-year-old joined Bryan as its director of trauma and surgical care in 2002, and has served as chairman of its surgery department since 2012. Hes been active in the region, helping train police and first responders, testifying at the Legislature in favor of motorcycle helmet requirements and stricter seat belt laws, and winning multiple awards including the Lincoln Police Departments Citizen Exceptional Service Award this summer. The hospital appointed Dr. Stanley Okosun as the trauma centers medical director, Bumanis said. Okosun, who had been associate medical director, practices with the medical group Nebraska Trauma and Acute Care Surgery, of which Burton is listed as president, secretary, treasurer and director in documents filed with the secretary of states office. U.S. President Barack Obama, a Democrat, and Republican Vice President-elect Mike Pence rallied their political colleagues in Congress on Wednesday for the coming fight over Republican efforts to repeal and replace the national health care reforms that were Obama's signature domestic achievement. Obama met with Democratic lawmakers, urging them to stand against attempts to undermine what Americans know as "Obamacare," which has added 20 million people to the health insurance rolls, but sometimes left them with costly premiums. Meanwhile, Pence huddled with Republicans who have vowed to repeal the 2010 law that required Americans to buy health insurance or pay a fine if they did not, although they have yet to agree on a replacement plan. "Don't rescue" Republican efforts to replace the law with something worse, Democratic lawmakers quoted Obama as saying. He leaves office in two weeks, but he has been trying to shore up support for his policies, many of which President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to overturn, including Obamacare. Pence said he told Republican lawmakers to "be careful" as they move quickly to repeal the law that Democrats passed without a single Republican vote when they had majorities in both houses of Congress. Now that Republicans control Congress, and Trump and Pence take office January 20, repealing the law is their first legislative effort. Replacement plan Pence said Republican lawmakers must remember "we're talking about peoples' lives" and their health decisions and how to pay for medical care. He called for a replacement plan that "reflects the compassion of the president-elect." He said the replacement must "lower the cost of health insurance without growing the power of the government." House Democratic Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi scoffed at Republican efforts to replace the law. "They have no replacement plan," she said. "They don't really know what they're doing." Some Republican have suggested they could repeal the law, but not agree on a replacement for up to three years. Pelosi rejected that idea, saying, "Repeal and delay is an act of cowardice." The big majority of Americans get their health insurance through plans offered by their employers, with the remainder buying individual policies, sometimes with the help of government aid. Key provisions All Americans are affected by some provisions of the law, however, such as the requirement that insurers cannot deny coverage because of a customer's pre-existing medical condition and that young people can stay on their parents' insurance plans until they turn 26. Trump says he wants to keep the two provisions, but insurance companies could balk if the mandate to buy insurance is ended, as Republicans want. The dueling Obama and Pence meetings highlight one of the major upcoming battles as the American government transitions from Obama to Trump. "The first order of business is to repeal and replace Obamacare," Pence told reporters. Trump has called Obamacare a "lousy" program that costs far too much, and while he has not laid out specifics of a plan to replace it, he has made it clear he wants to. He continued to criticize what he called the "failed Obamacare disaster" on Twitter Wednesday. White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters Tuesday that Obama would discuss with Democrats how to counter the Republican goal of repeal. "The President has long been open to the idea that if there are Republicans who are genuinely interested in reforming the Affordable Care Act in a way that would strengthen the program, the president would be strongly supportive of that effort," Earnest said. "But that's not what Republicans have offered." A focus on the contrasting policy positions of Obama and Trump will likely be on display next week when the president gives his farewell address, followed the next day by Trump's first major news conference since being elected in November. Trump announced the January 11 "general news conference" in a Twitter post Tuesday evening. He had planned to talk to reporters in December to detail how he would address potential conflicts of interest involving his business, but that meeting was postponed. It is not clear how much he will speak about the issue, though that may depend on what questions he is asked. Trump has said he will leave the business in control of his adult sons and other executives. Amid reports that Charles Manson has been taken from his California prison cell to a hospital, a state corrections official would confirm only that the 82-year-old killer and cult leader was still alive. Both TMZ and the Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday that Manson had been hospitalized. TMZ said he had been taken to a medical center in Bakersfield, about 60 miles south of Corcoran State Prison where Manson was being held. Late Tuesday night, three vans from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation were parked outside Bakersfield's Mercy Hospital Downtown, where state prisoners have been treated before. But CDCR spokeswoman Terry Thornton said only that Manson is still alive and still assigned to the prison in Corcoran. She declined to say whether he was at the hospital in Bakersfield, citing safety privacy laws prohibit her from discussing an inmate's medical situation. Manson was convicted of orchestrating the 1969 murders of pregnant actress Sharon Tate and six others. Tate's sister Debra Tate told The Associated Press on Tuesday night that, as a Catholic, she makes "no ill wishes" for the people who killed her sister, and will reserve her feelings until hearing Manson has died. "I would probably say a prayer for them and shed a tear and ask God to have mercy on their souls, but so far I haven't allowed myself to feel anything because it's unsubstantiated," Tate said. "I'm not allowing myself to feel anything until I know that it's true." Manson was convicted of leading a cult in which disaffected young people living in a commune followed his orders and were ultimately turned into killers. Manson and three female followers, Susan Atkins, Patricia Krenwinkel and Leslie Van Houten, were convicted of murder and sentenced to death for killings at two gruesome scenes in the summer of 1969. Another defendant, Charles "Tex" Watson, was convicted later. All were spared execution when a U.S. Supreme Court ruling temporarily banned the death penalty in 1972. Sarah Ardalani of the Los Angeles County district attorney's office said in an email that the agency had no information on Manson. The office prosecuted Manson and has objected to his release. He was most recently up for parole in 2012 - his 12th bid for freedom. The California State Prison, Corcoran, has medical facilities to treat inmates requiring urgent or emergency care as well as in-patient hospital stays. "In general, inmates are sent to outside hospitals if they need surgical services, emergency care, or diagnostic services of an acute nature," said Joyce Hayhoe, a spokeswoman for the federal receiver who controls prison medical care. "These services are not provided in state prison facilities." In November, the state inspector general, which monitors the corrections system, characterized care at Corcoran as "inadequate." Hollywood stars Tom Hanks and Nicole Kidman were among the actors honored at the Palm Springs International Film Festival on Monday night as the 2017 awards season began. Oscar winner Hanks received the Icon Award for his portrayal in drama Sully of pilot Captain Chesley Sullenberger, who in 2009 carried out a successful emergency plane landing in the Hudson River. Kidman took the International Star Award for Lion, in which she plays an Australian woman who adopts an Indian child. Also honored at the festival's Film Awards Gala were Andrew Garfield with the Spotlight Award for his role in Mel Gibson's war drama Hacksaw Ridge and Natalie Portman who received the Desert Palm Achievement Award, Actress for her portrayal of Jacqueline Kennedy in Jackie. Manchester by the Sea actor Casey Affleck took the Desert Palm Achievement Award. Arrival actress Amy Adams was given the Chairman's Award, Annette Bening was honored with the Career Achievement Award and Moonlight actor Mahershala Ali took the honors in the Breakthrough Performance category. Picking up the Vanguard Award which went to musical La La Land, actor Ryan Gosling paid tribute to the late Debbie Reynolds. The 84-year-old Singin in the Rain star died last week, a day after the death of her Star Wars actress daughter Carrie Fisher. We watched 'Singin in the Rain every day for inspiration and [she was] truly an unparalleled talent, so thank you to her for all that inspiration, Gosling said. Several NAACP protesters led by their national president were escorted away in handcuffs by police after staging a sit-in Tuesday at the Alabama office of Sen. Jeff Sessions, the nominee for U.S. attorney general, the civil rights group said. The organization held the demonstration to protest Sessions' nomination by President-elect Donald Trump, saying Sessions has a questionable record on civil rights and "can't be trusted to be the chief law enforcement officer for voting rights.'' "We have an attorney general nominee who does not acknowledge the reality of voter suppression while mouthing faith in the myth of voter fraud,'' Brooks said by phone earlier in Tuesday's protest. The sit-in at Sessions' office in Mobile, Alabama - the city the Republican senator calls home - began around after 11:00 a.m. Tuesday. Demonstrators refused a request by the building manager to leave when the building closed for the day at 6:00 p.m. Police could be seen on video footage coming and handcuffing at least five protesters and escorted them to a police van. "We all are aware of the laws of trespass. We are engaging in a voluntary act of civil disobedience," Brooks told the officers who arrived at the scene. The NAACP broadcast the events live on the organization's Facebook page. Patricia Mokolo, a spokeswoman for the Alabama chapter of the NAACP said the demonstrators including Brooks were arrested, but she did not know of a charge. A police spokesman could not be immediately reached for comment. The all-day protest ended in handcuffs but without confrontation. Brooks shook the hands of the officers and the officers allowed the protesters to kneel and pray before they were led away. Brooks criticized Sessions' prosecution of African-American voting rights activists on voter fraud charges when he was a U.S. attorney in Alabama. The group also raised concerns about the future of the Voting Rights Act under Sessions and noted allegations - raised decades ago in Sessions unsuccessful 1986 confirmation hearing for a federal judgeship - that Sessions made racially insensitive remarks when he was a U.S. attorney. Sarah Isgur Flores, a spokeswoman for Sessions, said in a statement that the nominee has dedicated his career to upholding the rule of law, ensuring public safety and prosecuting government corruption. "Many African-American leaders who've known him for decades attest to this and have welcomed his nomination to be the next Attorney General. These false portrayals of Senator Sessions will fail as tired, recycled, hyperbolic charges that have been thoroughly rebuked and discredited,'' the statement added. In testimony at the 1986 confirmation hearing, Sessions was accused by some hearing witnesses of saying the NAACP was "un-American'' and saying he thought Ku Klux Klan members were "OK until I found out they smoke pot,'' Sessions said during the hearing that the Klan remark was a joke and that other remarks were mischaracterized. What he had said, Sessions said, was that civil rights groups hurt themselves when "they take positions that people think are un-American they hurt themselves.'' He then praised the work of the NAACP. The demonstration marked the latest criticism of Trump's pick for attorney general. Sessions' confirmation hearings are expected to begin next week, highlighted by a vigorous push both by those favoring the nomination and those opposed to it. Former Democratic Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, who was part of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund team representing the black civil rights activists in the voter fraud prosecution, on Tuesday urged U.S. senators to reject Sessions' nomination. Sales of Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf have soared since a special edition of the Nazi leader's political treatise went on sale in Germany a year ago, the German publisher has said. The book, titled Hitler, Mein Kampf. A Critical Edition, outlines Hitler's ideology that formed the basis for Nazism and sets out his hatred of Jews, which led to the Holocaust. The new edition is the first reprint since World War II, released last January after a 70-year copyright on the text expired at the end of 2015. It includes explanatory sections and some 3,500 annotations, and has sold 85,000 copies to the surprise of its publishers. "These sales figures have taken us by storm," Andreas Wirsching, who heads up the publishers, the Institute for Contemporary History (IfZ), told German news agency dpa. "No one could really have expected them," he added. Hitler wrote Mein Kampf, which translates as My Struggle in English, between 1924 and 1926. It was banned by the Allies at the end of World War II. Hitler wrote most of the first, highly autobiographical, volume while incarcerated in Landsberg prison after his failed Munich coup attempt in 1923. After his release, he wrote much of the second volume at his mountain retreat near Berchtesgaden. A bestseller after he became chancellor in 1933, Mein Kampf had by 1945 sold 12 million copies and been translated into 18 languages. Four security guards working for the United Nations have been wounded after a car bomb explosion near their compound in Mogadishu, Somali officials said. All the victims are Somalis. One of them, the chief of the local security guards, suffered severe injuries, officials said. Reuters news agency reports that the militant group al-Shabab claimed responsibility for the attack. The explosion occurred in a garage next to the compound of the United Nations Development Program in the capital. An intelligence official who went to the scene told VOA Somali that the bomb was planted in the car at the parking lot of the garage which is used by UNDP. The car entered the parking lot Wednesday morning, sources say. Immediately after the driver got out of the car the explosion went off, says the official who does not want to be identified. Nine people have been arrested in connection with the blast. Officials said most of those arrested were detained from another garage where the car was parked overnight. U.N. humanitarian organizations and other NGOs often rely on local security guards while operating outside the heavily fortified African Union Headquarters in Mogadishus airport. The U.N. compound is located close to the airport. Twin explosions near the airport on Monday killed nine people including six civilians. Al-Shabab claimed responsibility for that attack. New United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres spoke with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday, and the two had "a very positive discussion on U.S./U.N. relations," said a U.N. spokesman, a week after Trump slammed the world body on Twitter. Guterres, a former Portuguese prime minister and U.N. refugee chief who began his five-year term on Sunday, spoke by phone with Trump, who will take office on January 20, said U.N. spokesman Farhan Haq. "This was an introductory phone call during which they had a very positive discussion on U.S./U.N. relations. The secretary-general said that he looked forward to engaging with the president after his inauguration," Haq told reporters. Trump took to Twitter to disparage the 193-member world body after the United States abstained in a December 23 U.N. Security Council vote, allowing the adoption of a resolution demanding an end to settlement building by U.S. ally Israel. Trump, who had called on the outgoing Obama administration to veto the resolution, warned that "things will be different" at the United Nations after he takes office, without offering any details. He followed up with another tweet on December 26: "The United Nations has such great potential but right now it is just a club for people to get together, talk and have a good time. So sad!" Guterres responded in an interview with Snapchat on Tuesday: "President[-elect] Trump also said the U.N. has an enormous potential. That's exactly what I feel. My job is to make sure that potential becomes a reality." In an address to U.N. staff in New York on Tuesday, Guterres acknowledged that in some parts of the world there was a resistance and skepticism about the role of the United Nations. Trump spokesman Sean Spicer said on Wednesday that the president-elect would work with Rex Tillerson, his secretary of state nominee, and Nikki Haley, his choice for U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, to "demand some reform and change." Both Tillerson and Haley must be confirmed by the U.S. Senate before taking office. The United States is the largest contributor to the United Nations, paying 22 percent of the $5.4 billion core U.N. budget and 28 percent of the $7.9 billion U.N. peacekeeping budget. Following passage of the U.N. resolution on Israeli settlements, a top U.S. senator threatened to work to cut U.S. funding. "This gives Guterres a reason for going big on reform quickly," said a senior U.N. diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity. "He needs to make sure he is reforming the U.N. fast enough and radically enough in order to engage the incoming U.S. administration." The Trump Organization has no plans to build in Buenos Aires, a spokeswoman told Reuters on Tuesday, ending speculation a new Trump office tower would soon appear near the landmark Obelisk in the heart of Argentina's capital. The city government said in late November it had declined to authorize a permit to build an office tower linked to the U.S. president-elect, clarifying that developers would have to file new paperwork for it to be reconsidered. The Trump Tower project made international headlines after a local news report that Trump mentioned the proposed office complex when Argentine President Mauricio Macri put in a congratulatory call to him after his November 8 election win. The Macri administration said the report was untrue and that the project was not mentioned during the call. Macri knew Trump from his days working as a businessman but had said before the election he preferred Democrat Hillary Clinton. "There are no plans to build in Buenos Aires," said the Trump Organization spokeswoman, who asked not to be named. Trump, a businessman who has never held public office, has real estate and leisure holdings all over the world, sparking concerns his investments could color his decision-making after he becomes president on January 20. He has said he will remove himself from day-to-day business operations before taking office, avoiding potential conflicts of interest by transferring control of his businesses to his three eldest children. His company pulled out of a hotel venture in Rio de Janeiro last month. Developers YY Development Group, which built a nearly completed Trump Tower at the Punta del Este resort in Uruguay, told the Argentine paper La Nacion this week that the Buenos Aires project had been called off for now. The Buenos Aires city government said in November the Trump project first surfaced in early 2007 when a firm identified as Kubic S.A. filed a building request for a plot of land now used as a downtown parking lot. The plan was approved, but expired when construction did not begin within a stipulated three-year period, the city's statement said. Last August, the city said, a firm called Repetto Oeste SA sought to revive the 2007 plan, but the request was not authorized. Two days before he will receive a highly anticipated intelligence briefing, U.S. President-elect Donald Trump is mocking his political opponents, criticizing the country's mainstream news media and continuing to question the view that Russia meddled in the presidential election by hacking confidential infoprmation and leaking it selectively before Americans voted last month. In a string of Twitter comments Wednesday, 16 days before he will be inaugurated and take over the White House, Trump asked why the Democratic National Committee was "so careless" that hackers could copy thousands of emails to and from John Podesta, the chairman of Hillary Clinton's losing presidential campaign, and why the party did not have a "hacking defense" like the Republican National Committee. Some of the Podesta emails, from long before she lost the election to Trump, revealed embarrassing details of a behind-the-scenes effort by Democratic leaders to help ensure that Clinton won the party's presidential nomination. The president-elect quoted WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who is holed up at the Ecuadorean Embassy in London to avoid facing sexual assault charges in Sweden, as saying that "a 14-year-old could have hacked Podesta," and "also said Russians did not give him the info!" WikiLeaks released thousands of the Podesta emails in the days leading up to the election, but has not revealed its source. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, a Trump critic, sharply questioned the president-elect's reliance on Assange. "Assange has a record of undermining the United States," Graham said on Twitter. "I don't believe any American should give a whole lot of credibility to anything Julian Assange says." Slams democrats Trump, who will be sworn into office January 20, also assailed Democrats for not responding to revelations in the emails, which he described as the "terrible things they did and said." He cited one instance in which a question was leaked to Clinton ahead of a primary election debate she had with Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, whom she defeated for the Democratic nomination. The incident was widely reported last year, but Trump called it a "total double standard! Media, as usual, gave them a pass." He quoted Assange as calling U.S. media coverage "very dishonest," and conservative talk show host Sean Hannity as saying the mainstream media are "more dishonest than anyone knows." A U.S. official confirmed to VOA on Wednesday that the intelligence community's review of potential foreign interference in the U.S. elections was now complete. The official also said President Barack Obama would be briefed about the matter Thursday, with Trump to receive the same briefing Friday. Again via Twitter, Trump indicated Tuesday that he believed the intelligence briefing was delayed because the experts' review of "so-called 'Russian hacking' " was still in progress. However, a U.S. official told VOA on the condition of anonymity that, given the sensitivity about the president-elect's intelligence briefings, "there was no delay" in briefing him. Hacking report U.S. Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Homeland Security released a joint report last week blaming Russia's intelligence agencies for hacks intended to influence the election in Trump's favor. Acting on the conclusions of the report, Obama imposed sanctions on Russian intelligence agencies, expelled 35 Moscow agents from the United States and closed two facilities housing Russian operations. Trump has cast doubt on the conclusions of Clapper's report and suggested it was delayed because "more time [was] needed to build a case. Very strange!" Central Intelligence Agency chief John Brennan told the Public Broadcasting Service, "I would suggest to individuals that have not yet seen the report, who have not yet been briefed on it, that they wait and see what it is that the intelligence community is putting forward before they make those judgments." "He does receive routine intelligence briefings," the official added, indicating Trump was briefed Tuesday, although there might have been a "disconnect" regarding Trump's expectations for the briefing. Last week's statement by U.S. security officials expanded on the intelligence community's public assertion in October that Russia directed the hacks of U.S. officials and political organizations and the subsequent leaks of the material to websites like DCLeaks.com and WikiLeaks. The statement blamed the activity on Russian intelligence services and said it was "part of a decade-long campaign of cyber-enabled operations directed at the U.S. government and its citizens." Senator John McCain, an Arizona Republican, called the Russian interference "an act of war." "If you try to destroy the fundamentals of democracy, then you have destroyed a nation," McCain told reporters on Capitol Hill. "And by the way, there are various gradients of acts of war. I'm not saying it's an atomic attack. I'm just saying that when you attack a nation's fundamental structure, which they are doing, then it's an act of war." His inauguration less than three weeks away, President-elect Donald Trump worked to fill senior posts in his administration Tuesday as he began to press his agenda at home and abroad. The incoming president tapped as U.S. trade representative a former Reagan official who has condemned Republicans' commitment to free trade. Trump indicated that Robert Lighthizer, who is expected to take a hard line against China, would represent "the United States as we fight for good trade deals that put the American worker first." The new administration's specific plans for crafting new trade deals, spokesman Sean Spicer said, "will come in time." While several hundred high-level White House posts remain unfilled, just a handful of outstanding Cabinet-level vacancies remain, specifically in the departments of agriculture and veterans affairs, as well as a director of national intelligence. Trump's private meetings Tuesday included one with Leo MacKay, a senior executive at a military contractor who previously served in the Department of Veterans Affairs under President George W. Bush. "The president-elect is up on the issues," said MacKay, a senior vice president at Lockheed Martin Corp., citing "first-class health care" for veterans as one of his priorities. 'Apprentice' contestant The president also tapped a familiar face from his former reality show to join his administration. Omarosa Manigault, a contestant from the first season of "The Apprentice," is expected to focus on public engagement in the White House, according to two people familiar with the decision. They insisted on anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the hiring process publicly. Details about Trump's plans have been hard to come by, both before and after his stunning election victory, but he declared late Tuesday on Twitter that he would hold his first formal news conference as the president-elect on January 11 in New York City. Trump has already waited longer than any other president-elect in the modern era to hold his first news conference. Most have held such events within days of their elections. While tending to his staff, the president-elect and his senior advisers also worked to craft a domestic and international agenda while huddled behind closed doors in his Manhattan skyscraper. Ethics board move He signaled Tuesday that he would not bless all of the GOP's priorities on Capitol Hill, however, openly questioning the timing of the House Republican push to gut an independent ethics board just as the new Congress gathered in Washington. "Do they really have to make the weakening of the Independent Ethics Watchdog, as unfair as it may be, their number one act and priority?" Trump tweeted. The House GOP later dropped the push. The clash underscored Trump's ability to influence the GOP's priorities on Capitol Hill. Once Trump is inaugurated on January 20, the Republican Party will control the House, Senate and White House for the first time in nearly a decade. Vice President-elect Mike Pence and Trump's pick for secretary of state, ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson, were planning separate visits with lawmakers Wednesday. Ahead of those meetings, Pence issued a direct challenge to Washington Republicans. "The president-elect has a very clear message to Capitol Hill. And that is: It's time to get to work," he said Tuesday. "And it's time to keep our word to the American people." Pence said the administration's initial focus would be "repealing and replacing Obamacare" along with legislation to cut government regulation on businesses. Trump's team has yet to say whether millions of Americans covered under the health care law would lose health care insurance altogether once it is repealed. China, North Korea At the same time, Trump faced questions about his foreign policy, having issued a sharp statement about North Korea and China on Twitter the night before. The president-elect charged that China "won't help with North Korea," a country working to develop an intercontinental ballistic missile. "It won't happen!" Trump tweeted, without expanding. Senior aide Kellyanne Conway said Tuesday that Trump was putting North Korea "on notice," but he was "not making policy at the moment." She declared that as president, Trump "will stand between [North Korea] and missile capabilities." The aggressive stance prompted a warning from Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang, who said China's efforts and commitment to the dismantling of North Korea's nuclear program are "consistent and clear." "We hope all sides can refrain from speaking or doing anything that can aggravate the situation and work in concert to pull the issue back to dialogue and negotiation," Geng said. Secretary of State-designate Rex Tillerson and ExxonMobil have agreed to a $180 million retirement deal that will see Tillerson give up several million dollars in cash bonuses and put the equivalent of two million company shares into a trust. The agreement came about as a way for Tillerson to comply with conflict of interest requirements set forth by federal ethics regulators. As part of the agreement, Tillerson will forego collecting more than $4 million in cash bonuses he was set to receive over the next three three months, and he will give up 2 million company shares. In exchange, ExxonMobil agreed to place a cash payment equal to the value of those shares into a trust. "The net effect of the agreement is a reduction of approximately $7 million in compensation owed to Tillerson," the company said. Tillerson will also have to sell more than 600,000 shares he currently owns in ExxonMobil and he will be banned from working in the oil and gas industry for the next 10 years. President-elect Donald Trump nominated Tillerson secretary of state last month. Tillerson worked as the CEO of ExxonMobil for 10 years before announcing his retirement on December 31. Even in the best of times, the government of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has had a strained relationship with the Internet. Ankara repeatedly has tried to restrict various news and social media sites such as YouTube and Twitter during times of political stress or just to block content it finds insulting. Traditionally, the blocks arent long lasting or very effective, as many web users in Turkey turned to tools like DNS or Tor to evade the blocks. But following recent events the bombing of an Istanbul nightclub, the assassination of Russian ambassador Andrey Karlov, and Julys attempted coup detat by a faction in the military the Erdogan governments posture toward the internet may be hardening permanently. Specifically, analysts and civil society organizations say the Erdogan administration has begun moving aggressively to restrict internet and mobile phone access to the rest of the web and for the first time, is showing no signs of backing off any time soon. 'Devouring force' Erdogans antipathy towards the web and social media is nothing new. "There is now a scourge that is called Twitter," Erdogan said at a 2013 rally. "To me, social media is the worst menace to society!" He has called Facebook "immoral," YouTube "a devouring force," and has promised to "eradicate" Twitter. In an article she wrote in 2014, cyber-law researcher Zeynep Tufekci wrote: "Erdogans strategy is to demonize social media. It is a strategy of placing social media outside the sacred sphere, as a disruption of family, as a threat to unity, as an outside blade tearing at the fabric of society." The U.S. State Department has been critical of past efforts by Turkish authorities to block certain websites or social media portals, calling such actions an encroachment on free speech. And in the past, such restrictions were typically short-lived, creating only temporary blockages. Analyzing earlier blocks and bluster from Mr. Erdogan, Tufekci wrote that Ankara is trying to set or control the narrative, steering attention away from embarrassing stories online and casting the internet as a bed of scoundrels and lies. Erdogan likely still has enough supporters to win elections, but to continue to win, he needs to keep them off social media. His game is to scare them about all that comes from social media." With Turkey facing near-historic pressures internally and externally, however, some cyber-researchers fear the Erdogan governments recent crackdown on free expression online and off is a sign of worse censorship to come. Persistent restrictions "When there's an attack, say an explosion, nationwide restrictions are often imposed, said Alp Toker, a censorship researcher and spokesperson with the organization Turkey Blocks. Just minutes after the Karlov assassination, for example, Toker says they documented a government throttling back of Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and WhatsApp. The Turkish government regularly blocks tens of thousands of websites; among them blogs, news sites, and civil society organizations, such as opposition parties. Whats new and more troubling, according to Toker, is that these restrictions now also are accompanied by new efforts to restrict or block access to Tor and VPN providers popular tools among Turks for evading online censorship. This was the first time a social media shutdown has been implemented since sophisticated new controls were introduced a couple of weeks ago to restrict VPN and Tor circumvention services, he told VOA. For many users in Turkey, this was the first time they were totally blocked off from social media without recourse to their usual means of getting around the censorship. Toker and his fellow researchers say it appears the VPN and Tor blocks are here to stay. And that, along with renewed rounds of journalists being sent to prison, has people worried about what they can say. "People are afraid of speaking up, especially online, Toker said. Until recently, opposition groups felt things have been tough, but there are still institutions that can help out. In the last few months, it looks like the government is ready to go all the way. People are backing away; from what I've seen, people are afraid of getting involved." Defending digital liberties Despite efforts by the Erdogan administration to control speech and seize as much power as possible, free speech advocates say there may be hope on the horizon. First, not all of Turkeys telecommunications and ISPs blocked social media sites following Amb. Karlovs murder by an off-duty Turkish policeman. That could possibly indicate that not all in the government, or in Turkeys tech sector, are fully on-board with increasing blocks and throttling back web speeds. And second, as researchers at Turkey Blocks documented recently, the website of Netherlands-based broadcaster NOS was blocked for a week following the Karlov shooting without any government-issued order or judicial decree. That block violated Turkish law, and internet advocates may challenge the legality of that and other website blocks in court. For the moment though, the internet and mobile phones are not a free speech zone in Turkey. Turkey Blocks Alp Toker says his nation can still win back its internet freedom, but only if lawmakers and tech companies the world over start to take notice of whats happening now. The rest of the world, particularly the U.S. and Europe, would be well advised to take a look at the situation in countries like Turkey and step up the effort to defend their own digital liberties, said Toker. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Wednesday authorities have identified the gunman who killed 39 people in a New Year's attack at a nightclub in Istanbul. Cavusoglu made the announcement during an interview with the state-run Anadolu news agency, but did not give the attacker's name. Authorities have been searching for the shooter since early Sunday when he fled the Reina nightclub. Turkish media broadcast video Tuesday of a man they said was the suspected gunman walking around Istanbul's Taksim square. It was unclear when the video was recorded. Authorities had earlier released a grainy image of the suspected shooter taken from security camera footage. Anadolu also reported Wednesday authorities had detained five more people in connection with the attack. The five were suspected to be members of the Islamic State group and were taken into custody in the western city of Izmir. U.S. President Barack Obama expressed his condolences Tuesday during a phone call with Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The White House said the two leaders agreed that Turkey and the United States must continue to stand united in order to defeat terrorism. Obama also praised Turkeys ongoing efforts to work with regional players to facilitate a nationwide cease-fire in Syria and a return to political negotiations between the Syrian regime and the opposition. The attack began early Sunday with the gunman killing a police officer and a civilian outside the nightclub before going inside. There were about 600 people, many of them foreigners, in the club at the time. In addition to those killed, about 70 people were injured. In a statement Monday, Islamic State said one of its heroic soldiers carried out the attack and that it targeted Turkey for siding with countries of the cross." The group said the night club was targeted because it was a place where Christians celebrated their apostles. "It was certainly expected that Islamic State would one way or another be linked to the attack, said political analyst Sinan Ulgen, of EDAM, an Istanbul-based political research group. "Looking at both the nature of the target, a popular night club, (and) the timing, New Years Eve, made it likely to be Islamic State. In a video released last week, Islamic State called on its supporters to launch attacks in Turkey. The video came against the backdrop of the Turkish militarys ongoing battle to wrest control of the strategically important Syrian town of al-Bab from the jihadist group. Citing security sources, Turkish media reported Monday that the gunman in the nightclub attack is believed to have come from a Central Asian country, either Kyrgyzstan or Uzbekistan. Many Islamic State fighters are drawn from Central Asian countries and have used Istanbul as a base before traveling to fight in Syria. Experts say Turkey is paying for the governments earlier Syrian policy. Turkey did choose to support Islamist-leaning groups of the Syrian rebel opposition, with the view and expectation that support would accelerate regime change in Syria, notes analyst Ulgen. What we have seen is these groups have taken advantage of the position of the Turkish government to set up (terror) cells within Turkey, which are now being used against Turkey. Local media, citing a police report, said that three days before the nightclub attack, 63 suspected Islamic State militants were detained across Turkey, including in Istanbul. The same report said many of those held were from foreign countries and that the same jihadist cell that carried out Junes attack on Ataturk airport could be behind this latest deadly attack. Ukraine indicated on Wednesday it would bar French presidential candidate Marine Le Pen from entering the country after comments she made that appeared to legitimize Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014. Kyiv is nervous about the shifting political landscape in 2017. U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has adopted a friendlier tone towards Russia while another French presidential candidate, Francois Fillon, favors lifting sanctions against Moscow. Relations between Ukraine and Russia soured after Russia's annexation of Crimea and the subsequent outbreak of pro-Russian separatist fighting in eastern Ukraine that has killed around 10,000 people, despite a ceasefire being notionally in place. Alluding to Le Pen, the Ukrainian foreign ministry said in a statement: "Making statements that repeat Kremlin propaganda, the French politician shows disrespect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine and completely ignores the fundamental principles of international law. "In this regard, we remind that such statements and actions in violation of the Ukrainian legislation will necessarily have consequences, as it was in the case of certain French politicians, who are denied entry to Ukraine," it said. Le Pen was quoted by French television as saying Russia's annexation of Crimea was not illegal because the Crimean people had chosen to join Russia in a referendum, a position Kyiv vehemently disputes. The referendum was also declared illegal by the United Nations General Assembly. An outbreak of typhoid in Zimbabwe's capital has killed two people and is affecting dozens more, raising fears that the southern African country's water and sanitation problems are far from over. Officials say that so far, 126 cases of typhoid have been confirmed in Harare since the start of the rainy season in Zimbabwe about two months ago. There are more than 1,000 other suspected cases nationwide. But Dr. Prosper Chonzi, who heads the Harare health department, said there was no need to panic. "What we are doing is to educate the public on awareness issues to do with typhoid what it is, how it is spread, how to avoid getting it," Chonzi said. "We are also discouraging people from consuming food from undesignated premises." Harare city crews, he added, were clearing blocked sewer pipes in Mbare township and trying to ensure supplies of fresh water in affected areas. Problems persist However, a visit to those and other parts of Harare on Wednesday told a different story. Faucets were dry, sewer water could be seen flowing, and some people were using water from open sources like lakes and rivers. Itai Rusike, executive director of the Community Working Group on Health, said President Robert Mugabe's government did not learn much from the 2008-09 rainy season, when an outbreak of cholera killed more than 4,000 people in Zimbabwe. "The fundamental health issues that were supposed to have been attended to from the earlier crisis have not been attended to," Rusike said. "Authorities are taking advantage of the outdated Public Health Act that we are using, enacted in 1924. Public health trends have changed [since then]. This is why you find that it is easier for the city of Harare to pollute our water bodies and pay the fine, [a] very small fine." The pollution he referred to is raw sewer water discharging into rivers, which some people rely on for daily use. Those using the contaminated river can easily contract waterborne diseases such as typhoid and cholera. Typhoid, an infectious bacterial fever, can be treated with antibiotics, but it still kills more than 220,000 people worldwide each year, according to an estimate from 2014 reported by the World Health Organization. In this photo released by the Spanish Guardia Civil on Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2017, a 19 year-old migrant from Gabon is photographed in a suitcase, in Ceuta, Spain. Border guards have recently detained two Moroccans for attempting to smuggle migrants concealed in a suitcase and in a car as they crossed the border into Ceuta, Spains enclave in North Africa. Custom officials found a 19 year-old migrant from Gabon hidden in a suitcase pushed on a trolley by a woman who tried to cross the land border from Morocco on December 30, said a spokesman with the Guardia Civil in Ceuta. (AP Photo/Spanish Interior Ministry, via AP) Doctors estimate one in four Zimbabweans battles depression or anxiety, but there are just 12 psychiatrists treating the entire population of 14 million. "We cannot possibly go the route of training psychiatrists and psychologists because it would take 15 years, said Dr. Victoria Simms of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. How are we going to provide treatment?" Local doctors have come up with a simple, but seemingly effective, answer. Wooden seats, or friendship benches, were installed on the grounds of several health clinics in Harare. Visitors were offered six one-on-one counseling sessions with lay health workers, known as grandmother health providers. Those women were trained "to offer problem-solving therapy, Simms said. And so the patient explains what all their problems are, and it is opening up the mind in the sense of allowing the patient to see that they can do something about their problems." The study involved more than 550 patients. After six months, 14 percent of the patients in the friendship bench group reported symptoms of depression, compared to 50 percent in a control group. They were also five times less likely to have suicidal thoughts. The range of benefits were far-reaching, according to the co-founder of the program, Dr. Dixon Chibanda of the University of Zimbabwe. "Not only a mental health sort of package, but a package that actually improved outcomes of things like hypertension, diabetes, and adherence to medication for people living with HIV," Chibanda told VOA via Skype. That success has led to friendship benches being rolled out at 60 clinics in Harare and two other cities. The Canadian government is helping fund the expansion through its Grand Challenges Canada aid program, making it one of the biggest programs in sub-Saharan Africa. Researchers say it could be a blueprint for mental health in low-income regions, and could even offer lessons for treatment in richer countries. We accept many different kinds of announcements. Just click on the button below and submit a form. Go to forms Theres little doubt that the giant chicken processing plant Costco plans to build near Fremont will be an economic bonanza to the community and area farmers who will raise the chickens. Those short-term benefits are obvious. Whats less clear is whether the huge plant will have long-term negative effects on the environment, such as degradation of the quality of drinking water supplies for Lincoln and Omaha. State and local officials need to examine existing regulations and monitoring to ensure the continued health of people who could be affected by the plant and the chicken-raising operations that go with it. The state of Nebraska has no experience with mammoth chicken-processing plants like this. The project would boost the number of chickens raised in Nebraska by almost 20 times. In 2012, the most recent year for which statistics are available, 909,000 broiler chickens were raised in Nebraska. Costco wants to raise about 17 million for this plant alone. The chickens will be raised under contract with about 100 farmers, using a combined total of about 450 barns. The operations will produce millions of pounds of chicken manure every year. Plans call for the manure, which is rich in nitrogen, to be spread on nearby fields as fertilizer. As Lincoln author Mary Pipher pointed out in a Local View column (LJS, Nov. 22, This deal stinks), wellfields in the Platte River that supply drinking water to Lincoln and Omaha are downstream from the planned Costco plant, which would be less than a mile from the river. Sand and sediment layers in the riverbed provide filtration for drinking water supplies, but critics justifiably are concerned about how long the natural treatment system will protect water quality before it is overloaded. It allays some concern that Costco has pledged to adhere to high environmental standards. For example, company officials said they will require chicken farmers to file for state permits on pollutant discharge even though the permits are not required by state law. Wastewater from the plant will be treated by the city of Fremont, which is spending $25 million to upgrade its treatment facility with the help of $1 million a year in revenue from Costco. The city already has approved the plans for the $275 million chicken processing plant, which is eligible for more than $18 million in tax increment financing. Experience teaches that communities should be vigilant and assertive when it comes to protecting the quality of their air, soil and water. The best time to ensure that is now, before construction of the plant begins this spring. We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form Closing Gibraltars World Heritage Year and Looking Forward to 2017 2016 marked the successful inscription of Gibraltars first World Heritage Site. The Gorhams Cave Complex became the United Kingdoms 30th World Heritage Site, significantly in the year that marked the 30th anniversary of the first United Kingdom sites to be inscribed. To commemorate the landmark, Historic England recently organised a reception in the House of Lords which was hosted by Baroness Young of Hornsey OBE. The reception brought together the 30 World Heritage Sites, including Gibraltar, and was well attended by members of both houses. Among the highlights of the evening, in which Gibraltar was represented by Professor Clive Finlayson and Dr Geraldine Finlayson, was the screening of a video showing the wide range of heritage encompassed by the United Kingdom sites. The Gorhams Cave Complex featured alongside such emblematic sites as the Tower of London and Stonehenge. Later, on the 15th December, Professor Finlayson gave the ICOMOS-UK Christmas Lecture, also in London. This was an opportunity to present the new World Heritage Site to an audience of heritage specialists, decisions makers, managers and a wider public. Overall, these events have served to project Gibraltars heritage to a wide audience as well as establishing new contacts within the United Kingdoms community of World Heritage Sites. Commenting at the start of 2017, new heritage Minister Dr John Cortes said that he looked forward to a fruitful 2017 in the field of heritage. Although the success of 2016 would be hard to match, he saw the coming year as one of consolidation and of taking the opportunity that World Heritage presented for Gibraltar. Having Heritage in the same Ministry as the Environment and Education also offered great scope in a variety of fields for the benefit of society. Dr Cortes said that Urban renewal, environmental regeneration and heritage education are examples of how quality of life can be improved and the sense of identity strengthened, particularly significant in the year which commemorates the 50th Anniversary of the 1967 Referendum. the inside game The Most Important Senate Race Is Also the Most Ignored The Most Important Senate Race Is Also the Most Ignored Photo: Charley Gallay/2011 Getty Images Sure, playing a NASA honcho in Hidden Figures is nice and all, but Kevin Costner has dreams of returning to another frontier. Costner the star of Silverado, Open Range, and Dances With Wolves still has more to say about cowboys, gunslingers, pioneers, and their ilk. Costner told Variety that hes been working on another Western, and it is 10 hours long. Perhaps realizing that a feature of that length would take longer to watch than looping Waterworld three times (a feat no human should attempt, even if they are trapped on a boat in a postapocalyptic world), Costner conceded that the epic oater could be divided up. Maybe Ill make three features out of it, Costner said. Theres a fourth one, too, so its truly a saga. I could do TV, or I could also make it like every six months, have a big western thats tied together like Jean de Florette and Manon of the Spring. I think those are fun to watch. So, there you have it, Hollywood. Costner is ready to buckle his holster and hop on a horse for a TV series, film franchise, or ten-hour epic, whenever you are. From "The cost of a can of beer" (Jan. 1), we learn that Nebraska beer policies in Whiteclay are not only immoral, contributing to epidemic rates of fetal alcohol syndrome on the Pine Ridge Reservation and the lowest male life expectancy in the entire world, but that the four Whiteclay beer stores are costing hard-working taxpayers a fortune. The same day, in the story "Ricketts eyes tax cuts, heralds Donald Trump," our governor claims he wants to provide tax relief to Nebraskans. Come on, folks, connect the dots! Whiteclay is costing us tens of millions of dollars. What do we get in return? An immoral national embarrassment that we cannot afford. The beer stores in Whiteclay should be shut down. To admit as a culture that our acts can set a river on fire, kill a lake, poison our food supply, mutate our genes is a difficult knowing. My mind veers sharply away from it, but then skitters painfully back. Rachel Carson wrote "Silent Spring" 54 years ago. Many good things arose from her work yet we continue to act irresponsibly. On Dec. 26, the Fremont City Council unanimously approved a one-third increase in the scope of the Costco/Lincoln Premium Poultry operation (" Costco Chicken operation to grow ," Dec. 29). Suggestions seeking further discussion and finding consensus were offered from the floor. These included setting up an outside, site-specific, monitoring group for baseline measurements of air, water, ground statistics and continued monitoring after operations begin, creating a plan that addresses future pollution contingencies, a call for increased federal monitoring and conferencing with Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future before a vote was taken. Do we really want this behemoth? Its influence, with rural barns and associated facilities will extend through much of eastern Nebraska. How can the Fremont City Council make these decisions for so many of us living outside the city limits? We dont have to raise our food in a monoculture environment. We dont have to crowd animals into a prison-like space. We dont have to live strictly by the bottom line. We must give up on the idea of growth simply for growths sake. We have the resources, the ingenuity and the technology to do things differently. Waco Civic Theatre, 1517 Lake Air Drive, will present Almost, Maine at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 27-28 and Feb. 2-4. Matinees will be presented at 2:30 p.m. Jan. 29 and Feb. 5. Ticket prices range from $16 to $20. For tickets, call 776-1591 or visit www.wacocivictheatre.org. DRT meeting The Daughters of the Republic of Texas, Sterling C. Robertson Chapter of Waco will meet at 1 p.m. Thursday in the meeting room of the West Waco Library and Genealogy Center, 5301 Bosque Blvd. Baylor University history professor T. Michael Parrish will present The Borders of the Republic of Texas and the Santa Fe Expedition. For more information, email susieperkins06@gmail.com or call 749-2342. Singing Seniors sign-up The Baylor Singing Seniors, under the direction of Phillip Sitton, will have registration for the spring semester and its first spring rehearsal Monday at First Baptist Church of Woodway, 101 Ritchie Road. Registration will start at 8:15 a.m. outside the churchs choir suite, with rehearsal to start at 9 a.m. Membership in the Singing Seniors is open to all senior adults, with a suggested age of 55 and older. No musical training or audition is required. Themes for the spring music are Portraits of Redeeming Love and Rodgers and Hammerstein on Broadway. For more information or to register online, visit www.baylorsingingseniors.org or call 210-887-5370. Iigurubando Con The Fairfield Band Boosters are having a Iigurubando Con event from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Jan. 14 at Fairfield Junior High School, 701 Post Oak Road in Fairfield. The event will feature artists, comic book writers, publishers, filmmakers, anime, cosplayers, video games and Magic: the Gathering. Attendees are welcome to dress up for the cosplay contest. Tickets cost $20, with proceeds to support the Fairfield band program. For tickets, visit www.ictx.webs.com. NEW YORK (AP) Donald Trump's election as president has made many small business owners more upbeat about 2017. Dean Bingham says he's cautiously optimistic because business picked up at his auto repair shop after the election people who had put off fixing their cars have decided it's time to get them serviced. "Over the last month, customers have been coming in with optimism that they didn't have the last few years," says Bingham, owner of a Mr. Transmission/Milex franchise in Greenville, South Carolina. The shop has been so busy Bingham's looking to hire a seventh employee to help out in the front while he works on cars. While many business owners are more confident because their revenue looks to increase in 2017 due to the overall improving economy, they're also optimistic because they expect Trump to deliver on promises to lower taxes and roll back regulations including parts of the health care law. But owners may not be expecting overnight relief many recognize it will take time to see what the administration's plans are, and what it will accomplish. Business owners were considerably more optimistic about 2017 in a survey taken shortly after the election. Forty-six percent of the 600 questioned in the Wells Fargo survey said the operating environment for their companies would improve next year; that compares to 30 percent two years ago, after the last congressional elections. Just over half the owners said actions that Trump and Congress will take next year will make their companies better off. Twenty-six percent said the government's actions would have no effect, and 17 percent said their businesses would be worse off. Nick Braun expects his pet insurance business to benefit because he thinks consumers will feel more comfortable about buying nonessentials like health coverage for their pets. "I truly believe that 2017 will not only be a great year for our business, but the U.S. economy in general," says Braun, whose company, PetInsuranceQuotes.com, is based in Columbus, Ohio. Braun thinks promised changes to the health care law will be one factor encouraging consumers to spend on things that aren't their top priorities. He's also hoping that changes to the law will make it easier for him to buy insurance for his six staffers, which he provides even though the law doesn't require him to. He says he's had to change carriers several times because many insurance companies haven't wanted to write policies for small businesses. Some companies that cater to other small businesses see the hopefulness in their customers, and it's infectious. "The election does give me more optimism than I would have had otherwise," says Kurt Steckel, CEO of Bison Analytics, which does software consulting. Bison's inquiries from prospective clients, small companies that are looking to expand, have nearly doubled since the election. Steckel is also upbeat about an overhaul of the health care law. He says the cost of his small group insurance rose sharply when the law went into effect, and he had to stop offering coverage to his 10 staffers. He says if insurance were to become more affordable, he'd restore coverage. Among the other laws and regulations that small business advocacy groups want to see eliminated or changed are the Department of Labor's overtime rules that were scheduled to go into effect Dec. 1, but were put on hold by a federal court in Texas. Trump's nominee for labor secretary, fast-food company CEO Andy Puzder, opposes the regulations. "The decision to appoint Puzder as labor secretary is a big indication that there's going to be a significant rollback of Obama administration initiatives," says James Hammerschmidt, a labor and business lawyer with the firm Paley Rothman in Bethesda, Maryland. Federal laws and regulations are only part of the requirements that small businesses must comply with state and local governments in some parts of the country have more stringent laws and rules. For example, while the federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour, many states and some cities have a higher minimum, with plans to raise it to as much as $15. "Small business owners whose companies are located in more progressive jurisdictions or operate across local or state borders will have to deal with a patchwork of local and state employment laws that may be difficult, time-consuming and likely aggravating to navigate," Hammerschmidt says. Many owners may be cautious in the first half of 2017 while they wait to see what the government does, particularly with health care, says Walt Jones, owner of a management consulting business, SEQ Advisory Group, whose clients include small companies. He also expects owners who do business with the government wait to see if federal agencies increase the number of contracts they award to small companies. Jones is optimistic that Trump's pledge to improve the country's roads and other parts of its infrastructure will mean more government contracts, and in turn, more business for his company. "As long as the administration sticks to the promises he (Trump) made during the campaign, I definitely see opportunities for small businesses," Jones says. _____ Follow Joyce Rosenberg at www.twitter.com/JoyceMRosenberg . Her work can be found here: http://bigstory.ap.org/content/joyce-m-rosenberg The new GOP era in Washington started on an awkward note Tuesday as House Republicans, including Wacos congressman, abruptly dropped plans to strip powers from an independent congressional ethics board. U.S. Rep. Bill Flores, R-Bryan, was among the Republicans who caucused in secret Monday and moved to rein in the Office of Congressional Ethics and place it under direct control of legislators. Facing a backlash from Democrats, some GOP lawmakers and President-elect Donald Trump, Republicans met again and voted without opposition to remove the measure from the proposed House rules. Flores, who is finishing his term as the chairman of the powerful Republican Study Committee, blamed the news media for turning public opinion against the measure. Because of the way headlines read, some members got worried about the rules package, and there was some chance we might not have the votes, Flores said. The headlines said we gutted it, he said of the watchdog office. We were trying to reform it to fix it. Flores said Trumps tweets about the issue also might have weakened some lawmakers resolve. With all that Congress has to work on, do they really have to make the weakening of the Independent Ethics Watchdog, as unfair as it may be, their number one act and priority, Trump asked over Twitter on Tuesday morning. Trump, who will take office Jan. 20, said the focus should be on tax reform and health care, and he included the hashtag #DTS, for Drain the Swamp, his oft-repeated campaign promise to bring change to Washington. Flores and other GOP lawmakers defied Speaker of the House Paul Ryan and House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy in attempting to rein in the Office of Congressional Ethics. The office was created in 2008 after a bribery scandal involving lobbyist Jack Abramoff led to the criminal conviction of three lawmakers. The nine-member nonpartisan office, overseen by an independent board, investigates complaints against legislators and staffers and presents preliminary findings to the House Ethics Committee. It has launched more than 100 inquiries, dropping two-thirds of them. The reform measure proposed by U.S. Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., would have put the office under the jurisdiction of the House Ethics Committee, allowing the committee to shut down inquiries. It would prevent the office from taking up investigations that might involve criminal charges, bar its officials from talking to the media and end the use of anonymous complaints. Flores said the inquiry process violates the constitutional due process rights of lawmakers, depriving them of the right to answer accusations. The problem is that the organization was structured badly with a bad set of operating processes that strip away your rights as an American citizen, Flores said. He also accused the office of leaking information to the media. They would try you in the press even before you got your day in court, so to speak, he said. Flores said he has never been the target of an accusation but has seen other careers damaged by inquiries, even if no disciplinary action resulted. But opponents of the change said it sent the wrong message. A very bad start We were elected on a promise to drain the swamp, and starting the session by relaxing ethics rules is a very bad start, GOP Rep. Tom McClintock of California said. Flores said he hopes to work in the next few months on a bipartisan reform of the ethics office. The OCE has been harder on Democrats than Republicans, he said. Flores said he is excited about working this session on an ambitious agenda that includes dismantling the Affordable Care Act. He said the Republicans will replace it with a plan that ensures that insurers cant deny people for pre-existing conditions and that grown children can stay on their parents insurance until age 26. Other Flores priorities include strengthening border security, reforming the tax structure and cutting regulations. Theres a sense of optimism, not only here but across the country, Flores said. In the House, lawmakers easily re-elected Ryan, of Wisconsin, as their speaker. The House will number 241 Republicans and 194 Democrats. Among the members are 52 freshmen. It is the first time since 2006 that the House, Senate and White House have been under Republican control. The people have given us unified government, and it wasnt because they were feeling generous, its because they wanted results, Ryan said. How could we live with ourselves if we let them down? The Associated Press contributed to this story. Local librarians are hoping to learn as much as they can about how to better serve Wacos special-needs community by offering a free, inclusive atmosphere for movie lovers starting this weekend. South Waco Library, 2737 S. 18th St., will host a sensory-friendly matinee the first Saturday of every month, with the first showing at 2 p.m. this weekend. The program is the second sensory-friendly activity Waco-McLennan County Library branches have offered and is part of a growing trend of libraries offering more resources and outlets for special-needs visitors. This is very much an experiment for me, but I plan on learning a lot from this, said Barbara Frank, the South Waco Library branch manager. Im so excited. I hope the families will come because I would like for them to teach me and for me to understand their needs in their family, and let the library provide services geared toward them. The idea was inspired by a special-needs volunteer who used to work with Frank. Frank also handles the Author Alley series at the Central Library, which focuses on discussions between authors and visitors about various topics. For February, the authors book focuses on adoption and foster care. The child thats the focus of the book was also diagnosed with autism, so it got me thinking about autism and special needs, Frank said. I got to looking on the Internet, primarily how libraries can interact . . . and make sure we were filling the needs. Plus, I had a longtime volunteer. Our former directors child is autistic, and he has volunteered with me. I had known him quite well and was so pleased with interactions with him, so this was kind of a pet idea. As she continued her research, she discovered some AMC theaters throughout the U.S. participate in the AMC Sensory Friendly Films program with similar goals, but Wacos AMC Starplex Galaxy 16 theater does not, she said. Thats when she knew she could take on the concept herself, and the library could fill the gap. The new program will offer family-friendly movies in a meeting with parameters where parents and children dont have to worry about a theater being too dark or too loud and where children arent expected to be still and quiet during the film. The first show will be Disneys Mary Poppins, and the library also will offer animal crackers for snacks and stuffed animals for special-needs children who might need therapeutic tactile devices while they watch the film. This library is so quiet and out of the way and laid-back, I thought what a perfect spot for customers who dont want big, loud, noisy, boisterous places, Frank said. Its very laid-back and easygoing. It allows kids, even kids with ADHD, who are a little more active and spontaneous and dont always fit in and like to talk and discuss. Its really for anyone. A whole family can come. Wacos youth services librarian, Stacy Phillips, said she has seen an increase statewide in librarians focusing on ways to serve people with special needs, she said. Austin and San Antonio public libraries offer special-needs programs and equipment, and two workshops at a Texas Library Association conference she attended a couple of years ago were specifically geared toward sensory-friendly activities, Phillips said. This ultimately encouraged her to create Sensory Storytime at the West Waco Library, but before that year, the topic wasnt something often featured at the conferences, she said. National level On a national level, more libraries during the past few years have started creating and funding opportunities for sensory-friendly activities, with programs popping up in states including Illinois, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Connecticut, according to an article published Wednesday in the School Library Journal. What its taught me is there are no two kids alike, Phillips said. Theyre all different, on a wide spectrum, but the things they need most are love and attention. Thats all. If you give them that, they need it, and what a great place to do that in the library. We have the time, the facility and the capacity to do that, so we should be doing that. Sensory story time When Frank called Phillips to ask for advice on how to host the matinee, Phillips was ecstatic about the idea. She has led a sensory story time the second Tuesday of every month at the West Waco Library for two years, and she provided the stuffed animals for the matinee meeting room, she said. Im sending 15 stuffed animals for them, but this is cool because when they come, they know this is event is really set up for them, Phillips said. They can have that stuffed animal and feel really comfortable. When kiddos hold a stuffed animal, its like theyre holding love in their hands, and it comforts them. The matinee, similar to her story time, is another opportunity for children and families who might feel excluded to be anything but, she said. Through the years, Ive seen the need for story time for special-needs children, and the reason is because parents are reluctant to bring them to a regular preschool story time because they dont want them to interrupt, not because we dont allow them, Phillips said. This allows parents to bring them in, and these kiddos can feel free to be themselves. If they need to blurt out, thats OK. If they need to talk during story time, thats OK. Frank doesnt know whether the matinee idea will catch on at other libraries, but even if it or the sensory story time dont expand, Frank hopes this is one more step toward Waco libraries offering more programs geared toward the special-needs community, she said. The events are free for anyone. For more information or to register for the event, visit www.waco-texas.com/cms-library. This is going to say the library wants everyone to come and be a part of the library. Please come, were having events for you to come. Use youre library, thats what were here for, Phillips said. With these events, that can draw in more people and (help them) feel more accepted. WINNEBAGO Authorities have confirmed the death of a man injured by an explosion and fire at his northeast Nebraska home. The Thurston County Sheriff's Office said Tuesday that 88-year-old Tony Pycha died Friday at an Omaha hospital. Pycha was found in the wreckage of his home south of Winnebago on Dec. 19. The Sheriff's Office and fire investigators say a malfunctioning propane heater caused the blast and resulting fire. McLennan County Commissioner Will Jones, who remains under a bribery investigation, started his second term in office Tuesday by filing his oath of office and a sworn anti-bribery statement. Jones acknowledged in January that he offered to reimburse his Republican primary opponent, Ben Matus, the cost of his filing fee if Matus would withdraw from the race. Eight months later, McLennan County District Attorney Abel Reyna asked the Texas Rangers to investigate if Jones offer constitutes a criminal act, recused his office and asked a judge to appoint Assistant Attorney General Amy Cadwell to handle all matters relating to the involvement of Jones in the alleged bribery or attempted bribery in McLennan County. Jones responded to questions Tuesday about his oath and accompanying anti-bribery statement by repeating the same eight words three times. I signed the oath because it is true, Jones said, repeating it twice before adding, and that is all I am going to say about the issue. He declined to say if he thinks he has opened the door to a possible perjury charge by filing the sworn documents. Jones defeated Matus, an auto repair instructor at Texas State Technical College, in the primary with 56 percent of the vote and won 83 percent of the vote in the general election against Libertarian challenger David Reichert in November. Anti-bribery statement As part of their oaths of office, county and state officials are required to file what is known as an anti-bribery statement, which says, in part, that they have not directly or indirectly paid, offered, promised to pay, contributed or promised to contribute any money or thing of value, or promised any public office or employment for the giving or withholding of a vote at the election at which I was elected or as a reward to secure my appointment or confirmation. Jones talked to the Tribune-Herald in August about the oath, saying, I still feel comfortable taking the oath. I dont have any problem with the oath whatsoever. Attorney generals office spokeswoman Kayleigh Lovvorn said she could not discuss the case Tuesday as we do not comment on ongoing investigations. Texas Ranger Patrick Pena, who was investigating the matter after Cadwell was assigned, did not return a phone message Tuesday. Matus taped his phone conversations with Jones and saved text messages from him, which he shared with the Tribune-Herald. He declined comment Tuesday. Jones acknowledged in January that he offered Matus a personal refund of his $1,250 filing fee if Matus would withdraw from the race. Matus did not report the offer to authorities but posted his exchange with Jones, which he recorded on his cellphone, on his campaign Facebook page. Matus said last year that Jones texted him several times and called him in December 2015. He was serious. He offered to pay me to drop out of the race, Matus said at the time. He kind of blindsided me. He told me I was wasting my time and money, and I kind of got agitated. It is my time and my money. He said it is a losing cause, but it made me want to run against him even more. Jones said in January he doesnt think his offer constitutes a bribe, calling it a simple business transaction. I did say that I would refund his money and I told him that would be a good idea for him, Jones said at the time. There is no way it could be considered a bribe. There is nothing wrong about it. After Matus said he was told that his filing fee was not refundable, Jones said on the recording, I will refund your money. My wife and I have talked about this, and if you want out, I will refund your money. Matus also has a text message sent by Jones on Dec. 15, 2015, that says: You can still withdraw your name today. My offer still stands. Attorneys hired Jones said Tuesday that he doesnt think the bribery investigation has been dropped and confirmed that he has hired Fort Worth attorney Jeff Kearney to assist Waco attorneys Jim Dunnam and Thomas West in his defense. West and Dunnam declined comment Tuesday. Kearney did not return a phone message to his office. Kearney represented longtime McLennan County Tax Assessor-Collector Buddy Skeen, who pleaded guilty in 2012 to five felony counts involving misuse of county property and vehicles. Skeen served six months in jail before starting a 10-year probation term. According to the Texas Penal Code, a person commits the offense of bribery if he intentionally or knowingly offers, confers, or agrees to confer on another, or solicits, accepts, or agrees to accept from another any benefit as consideration for the recipients decision, opinion, recommendation, vote or other exercise of discretion as a public servant, party official or voter. A political candidate is considered a public servant under Texas law. Bribery is a second-degree felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison. Attempted bribery is a third-degree felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison. By almost every measure for the incoming Trump administration, Ryan Zinke, the president-elects pick to run the U.S. Department of Interior, has the perfect resume. Hes a former commander in the Navys Seal Team Six special-forces branch, which among other things took out Osama bin Laden. Hes the lone congressman from Montana, where the Interior Department figures large because it owns significant swaths of land used for grazing and mining. And Zinke is all for developing and exploiting resources on public lands, earning him a lifetime score of just 3 out of 100 from the League of Conservation Voters. But for those who still embrace the goals of the Sagebrush Rebellion, a loose coalition of ranchers, miners, drillers, hunters, off-road enthusiasts, libertarians and anti-government die-hards, Zinke is a heretic. The reason is that he is an unshakable foe of selling federal lands or transferring them to the states. Repeatedly, Zinke has joined Democrats in opposing legislation that would require the department he has been named to head to shed its vast real-estate holdings. In July 2015, he voted for an amendment to block funding of extralegal ways to transfer federal lands to private owners. Earlier in the year, he voted against a Republican-sponsored budget resolution that would have set up a fund to do the same thing. As Zinke, 55, explained it at the time, he grew up hunting and fishing in Montana and sees the value in making sure that whats public stays public. This year, he voted to block the sale of a couple of million acres of federal forest land for logging. Zinke has been so at odds with his party on this point that he resigned from the committee that drafted the Republican Party convention platform because, as usual, it included a passage about selling some of the 640 million acres owned by the federal government. As was reported when Trump nominated him, Zinke was personally vetted for the Interior post by Donald Trump Jr., an avid hunter and angler. And though you cant imagine the president-elect himself in a deer stand, on the campaign trail he said he would work to preserve access for hunters to public land. The confounding thing about the argument for transferring federal land to the states or selling it to private owners is that those who make it might have the most to lose. States such as Utah, Idaho and Nevada, where the federal government owns a majority of the land, often say they can do a better job of managing the real estate within their borders. In Utah, for example, legislation adopted in 2012 and ignored by the federal government demanding a massive land transfer said the state would benefit because cumbersome federal rules, regulations, processes, and management policies often prevent development of these resources, resulting in diminished revenue to the state and its citizens. Leaving aside the question of whether state employees are any more productive than federal employees, one implication is that the state would get a higher return for use of the land. That actually wouldnt be hard to do, although ranchers, miners, loggers and others might not like it very much. As a rule, the federal government charges users much less than market rates. The same is true for other uses of federal land: The prices the U.S. government charges are way below market rates. As such, this represents a considerable subsidy to the private sector, particularly in Western states. Other studies have concluded that the states might rue the day they assumed ownership of federal lands because expenses would outweigh potential sources of revenue. Someone would have to pay for maintaining roads, dams and other infrastructure not to mention the hefty cost of fighting forest fires or remediating the environmental harm and pollution caused by mining, deforestation and erosion. If states wind up owning large chunks of what is now federal land, it isnt hard to imagine a time when legislatures see real-estate holdings as an easy asset to sell for closing a budget gap. Once the land is out of the public domain, its gone for good. There is a lot that conservationists dont like about Zinke, who supports more extraction and exploitation of the natural resources on federal property. But at least he isnt on board with getting rid of the land that all Americans should consider part of their national birthright. James Greiff is an editor for Bloomberg View. 24 pigs were killed after a shed caught fire in Fort Kent. The Fort Kent Fire department say they got the call around 10:30 in the evening on New Year's Day. The fire was on Blaine school road, right off from North Perley Brook Road. The shed was owned by Carroll Theriault, and his son owned the pigs. Fire Chief Edward Endee said the shed was engulfed when the crew arrived, and the fire had caved in the roof. Endee said because of the complete destruction of the building. There was no way to make a positive determination on what caused the fire. We can speculate, there was electricity in there and there were things in there to keep the animals warm, but by looking at the physical evidence there was no way to determine anything with what went wrong. Endee also said, this fire is considered accidental, and there is nothing suspicious about it. No humans were injured in the fire. The building is a total loss. ASHLAND A grant will partially fund a housing study to gauge future needs in the Ashland area. The City of Ashland and the Ashland Area Economic Development Corporation (AAEDC) learned last week that they have received a grant from the Nebraska Investment Finance Authority to fund 49 percent of the $14,000 housing study. The AAEDC will pay for the other 51 percent, according to Lenora Isom, AAEDC executive director and building official for the City of Ashland. It is a joint project between the city and the economic development corporation, Isom added. Hanna:Keelan Associates, PC, a community planning and research consulting firm, applied for the grant for the city and AAEDC. Hanna:Keelan has performed more than 50 such studies for Nebraska communities over the past several years. Timothy Keelan with Hanna:Keelan said the housing study will highlight trends for the local populations, as well as pertinent income, economic and housing data. The study, which will take five months to complete, will document a five-year target housing demand for future housing development, according to Keelan. Keelan said the study will also include a housing action plan that will highlight specific housing development activities for the community, with an emphasis on workforce housing. The study will also look for potential local, state and federal housing funding sources. A housing study is necessary for a community looking to expand economically by finding ways to house employees of new businesses, Isom said. Having a housing study completed brings legitimacy to the fact that the city is really thoughtfully looking forward toward future growth, she said. It shows youre serious about providing housing for employees. The housing study will document the current housing situation in the Ashland area. Isom, who serves as the citys building inspector and zoning administrator as well as the economic development executive director, said the community has an inventory of houses on the market or being planned, but most are at higher price points. We have a lot of $350,000 homes, she said. All the new stuff being built is high-end. As a result, more affordable housing is lacking in the community. It is hard to find a home here for $150,000, Isom said. Now that the grant has been approved, the next step is to begin collecting demographic, economic and housing data by examining information provided from local, state and federal sources, Keelan said. The study will also include a comprehensive citizen participation program. In the studys first month, the organizers will form a housing steering committee made up of local citizens. In the second month, a community-wide survey will be conducted to provide more input. Once the study is complete, the City of Ashland and the AAEDC will be able to use the information to secure housing grant funds for future housing development projects, Keelan said. ASHLAND Interest in agriculture and a desire to travel took an area youth all the way to Taiwan. Ashland-Greenwood High School senior Jared Stander spent a week in Taiwan in early December courtesy of the Nebraska Agriculture Youth Institute student exchange program. Stander is the first AGHS student to have been chosen for the program. A total of nine students from Nebraska, Kansas and Missouri were selected. Nebraska had the largest number of students with three. I had such a great experience learning and experiencing something completely different and completely new, said Stander. It was amazing and awesome and I had such a good time doing it. One of the first things Stander noticed about the Asian country was how different it is from his home state of Nebraska. The cities are compact, he said. There is very little space. Agriculture in Taiwan is also very different from that in Nebraska. There are no farms, he said. That doesnt mean there isnt agriculture in Taiwan, Stander said. He and the other exchange students visited two agriculture-based businesses. The first was an organic sprout-growing operation that has grown to become one of the largest growers in Asia and is aiming to eventually sell to the U.S. market. The sprouts are grown in vast greenhouses without soil, something that is important to the environmentally-conscious Taiwanese, Stander said. They also stay away from using fertilizers. The thing about Taiwan is they really care about the environment, he added. The growers also employ a unique way to start the seeds, using pressure to speed up the growing process and create stronger plants. The founder of the company told the students that they hope to expand to lettuce growing in the near future, even giving the youth a taste of the product to show illustrate their future plans. He had us pick a lettuce leaf and eat it, Stander said. Seeing the innovative growing techniques employed by the sprouts grower left a mark on Stander, who plans to study agronomy in college next year. We were only there a few hours but it was amazing, he said. The students visited a massive orchid growing operation, where the delicate flowers are grown in huge greenhouses set in the middle of a city. The producers use temperature variations to create better plants, Stander said. For example, they use warmer temperatures to create larger plants and then cool things down to force the flowers to bloom. They totally manipulate all these orchids to grow in a massive production, Stander said. Stander and the other students were given some hands-on instruction in flower arranging during their tour. Split up into teams, they competed to see who could create the best arrangement. Stander said he has little to no skills when it comes to flower arranging, and his team did not win. But the effort was not wasted. It was a fun experience because we actually got to work with the plants, he said. Stander also enjoyed the three days the students spent at a Taiwanese high school that focuses on agriculture. It was a large school, with 2,000 students, who greeted the Americans with cheers and applause everywhere they went. A group of students went to so far as to follow them around and ask for pictures. They were under the impression we were celebrities, Stander said. When they werent being treated like movie stars, the students spent time going to classes, including a class where the Taiwanese students were being taught English. That was the most English we caught from the students, Stander said, referencing the ongoing language barrier they faced during their trip. The American students also attended a handful of vocational agriculture classes. In the culinary arts class, the visitors were put to work in the kitchen, It was a place where Stander felt very out of place, especially when they handed him a sharp knife. That was not a good idea, he said with a laugh. Despite his lack of culinary skills, Stander wielded the knife without losing any blood, and managed to cut out decorated carrots to be used as garnish. Stander also helped create some Taiwanese dishes, including fried fish balls, pumpkin noodles and fried tofu. The end results were tasty, he said, perhaps because his cooking contributions were minimal. More than anything, I just made a mess, he said. Throughout the trip, Stander tried to adapt to the cuisine, which was much different than the Chinese food served here. I wasnt used to anything they had there, he said. The hosts would make suggestions, and in many cases they were fine, Stander said. There were a few exceptions, however, including a dish with congealed pork blood. Sometimes theyd steer us wrong, he said. Like his cooking experience, Stander was also lacking the skills necessary during the landscaping class he attended. He and the other visitors had to create model trees. Lacking any crafting skills, Stander said he struggled with the wire and glue, but was eventually successful. The school campus was filled with a variety of crops, including plants that are similar to ones grown in Nebraska and others that are very different, Stander said. One plant that looked like ragweed is used to make a tea, Stander said. He also saw a new plant he had never seen before dragon fruit which he found to be delicious. Stander believes these types of crops could be used to help diversify agriculture in the Midwest. Here in Nebraska were pretty strictly corn and soybeans, he said. During the rest of their tour of the school, the American students relied on broken English and hand signals to overcome the language barrier. The Americans made an attempt at learning the language, however. They were teaching me a little bit of Chinese, Stander said. Throughout the week, Standers hosts also taught them some Chinese phrases to help them communicate. I tried to learn as many words as I could on the trip, he said. The Americans used their new-found language skills during a flag raising ceremony at the school. Each of the students was taught a phrase to say as they introduced themselves. I said, Hello, how are you? and they just went nuts, he said. During the trip, Stander realized he knew little about the country of Taiwan. We didnt know much about their culture or their food, he said. While learning about the Taiwanese, the students also spread a tiny bit of American culture during their trip. They handed out seed company hats and other gifts to their hosts. Stander left Taiwan with souvenirs and new friends, including the other Americans in the exchange program. It was a great group of people to go with, he said. The Americans also befriended their Taiwanese hosts, which included college students and teachers. We had to completely rely on the Taiwanese hosts that we had, Stander said. One of them was a student who had visited Nebraska last summer. She used the American name Lucy while she was in Nebraska. It was a joyful reunion when Stander and the two other Nebraska students saw Lucy in the hotel lobby. She came up and gave us a giant hug, Stander said. Her reaction just made my day. Having the opportunity to travel to Taiwan will not only help Stander with his plans for a career in agriculture, but also as he gets ready for college, where he will not know a lot of people, like on this trip. (The trip) got me used to being in that setting, having to communicate and getting to know the people around me, he said. Travel was never something Stander had really thought about before, but now that hes had his first international trip under his belt, hed like to do more, including the possibility of studying abroad during college. Id consider more trips like that, he said. Struggling dairy group Bellamy's Australia is to hold a meeting of shareholders before the end of February to consider a push by the company's largest shareholder to take control of the board. If the move succeeds, it will result in one of the company's earliest shareholders, Kathmandu's Jan Cameron, joining the board. The push to overhaul the board comes amid a lengthy suspension to the trading in the company's shares as it seeks to renegotiate supply agreements. The largest shareholder in Bellamy's, Black Prince Private Foundation with a 14.5 per cent stake, has sought a shareholder meeting be held to force the removal of four independent non-executive directors and replace them with its own nominees. Jakarta's decision to suspend military co-operation between Indonesia and Australia has all the hallmarks of being a storm in a teacup. The suggestion is that an Indonesian instructor felt materials on display at a joint training facility were insulting to Pancasila, the philosophical foundation of the Indonesian state. This is hard to imagine, not least because it is in Australia's national interest to do everything in its power to support that philosophy, rather than insult or undermine it. Pancasila underpins the Indonesian constitution and rests on five guiding principles: a common belief in humanity, in one God, in national unity, in democracy and in social justice. Name: Mike Harris Age: 56 Current town/city of residence: Wind Point Connection to Racine County: Born and raised in Racine. Graduated from Horlick High School and then UW Parkside. Occupation: CEO of Patina Solutions Title of book and publisher: Career 180s, Advantage of South Carolina Synopsis of book (plot): The book includes 10 inspiring and real stories of bold career changes told in the first person. We learn about the decision-making process that went into making a major change in ones career. It includes learning of discussions with family and friends during the decision making process, and how making the change has positively impacted the lives of these 10 people and many people around them. Note: it might be nice to name a few of the folks in the book like Anne Reed and Jim Berbee (both in Wisconsin). Is this your first book? Yes. Why did you write the book? My company Patina Solutions has created a new way for highly experienced executives to work what I call a Work 180. That inspired me to write a book about people who had a successful career and decided to make a change to an entirely new career and to chronicle the doubts, challenges and rewards from doing so. How long did it take you to write the book? About 18 months. It features people from Wisconsin as well as Ohio, Illinois and Massachusetts. How did you get interested in writing? This is my first book. I certainly plan to do more books as it is rewarding and fun. Where is the book available for purchase? Amazon and other online outlets. Is the book available at the library? No. Website or Facebook page readers can visit for more information: www.career180s.com. Former One Nation senator Rod Culleton is out of hospital following a scuffle outside a Perth court. Senator Culleton was discharged from the Royal Perth Hospital on Tuesday afternoon after an X-ray cleared him of a broken wrist. He was involved in an altercation outside Perth Magistrates Court when potential One Nation candidate Anthony Fels tried to serve him with a creditors' petition. Senator Culleton quit One Nation in December and is fighting a bankruptcy court ruling that threatens to end his political career. Jerusalem: In a trial that has split the nation, an Israeli soldier was found guilty of manslaughter on Wednesday for shooting and killing a Palestinian assailant as he lay unarmed and wounded on the ground in Hebron last March. As the verdict was read out, violence broke out among several hundred right-wing protesters who had gathered outside the military court in Tel Aviv to show support for the soldier, Sergeant Elor Azaria, 20. A supporter of Sergeant Elor Azaria is detained by police outside the Israeli military court in Tel Aviv on Wednesday. Credit:AP They, and many others in Israel, believe Azaria acted bravely killing a terrorist and should not have been put on trial for manslaughter but rather given a medal for his actions. "This is not how we should treat our soldiers. A trial should not have happened in the first place, we are talking about a combat situation in which a terrorist was killed," said Culture Minister Miri Regev. She said she would push for Azaria to be pardoned. Manila: About 100 armed men with links to Muslim rebels stormed a prison in the southern Philippines on Wednesday, killing a guard and freeing more than 150 prisoners, some of them Islamic militants, officials said. The Southeast Asian, majority Roman Catholic nation has for decades been plagued by insurgency by Muslim rebels in its southern islands. Filipino inmates remain in their cell at the North Cotabato District Jail in Kidapawan city. Credit:AP The gunmen opened fire at guards at the North Cotabato District Jail in Kidapawan, prison warden Peter Bongat said on radio. Of the jail's 1511 inmates, 158 managed to escape, he said. Eight prisoners had since been caught, two had surrendered, while six were killed, according to the office of the president. Washington: Donald Trump rightly reprimanded House Republicans on Tuesday for their move to disembowel the Office of Congressional Ethics, but let's not be duped or dumb. This was like a crackhead dad fuming at his kids for smoking a little weed. Their conduct hardly measured up to his, which obviously encouraged it. When they look at him, here's what they see: a presidential candidate who broke with decades of precedent by refusing to release his tax returns and thus shine a light on his conflicts of interest. A president-elect who has yet to spell out how he would eliminate those conflicts and who has, instead, repeatedly reminded reporters and voters that he's under no explicit legal obligation to eliminate them at all. A plutocrat whose children have toggled back and forth between his government activities and his corporate interests, raising questions about the separation of the two. Is it any wonder that House Republicans felt OK about trying to slip free of some of their own ethical shackles, no matter how ugly the optics? BURLINGTON For the first time since 1985, William Campbell will not be on the ballot for School Board for the Burlington Area School District. Its been great, I dont have any regrets at all, Campbell said. Ill let the younger people run the place. Campbell, 83, currently serves as vice president of the School Board and his term will end in April. Ive been on the ballot 11 times and won every time, Campbell said. Weve got some new people coming on that are great (the district is) going to be just fine. Originally from Dodgeville, Campbell attended Barneveld High School, a little one-room country school house. After graduating, he went on to the University of Wisconsin-Platteville for one year before getting drafted into the U.S. Army in 1954. Campbell served until 1958 when he returned home and got married. Campbell came to Burlington, when he took a job as a heavy equipment operator at what was slated to be the Richard I. Bong Air Force base in Brighton; that project was later abandoned. Then he bought a farm equipment dealership. He would work there until he sold the dealership in the early 1980s and went into selling insurance for Mangold Insurance. Encouraged to run Over the years, Campbell said people would regularly tell him that he should get on the School Board. He had children in the district at the time and waited until they graduated before running for a position. Once he was voted in, he said, thats when Campbell really discovered how the district worked. The more you get into it, the more interesting it got, Campbell said. You dont realize all the things that go into all the problems that come up. It was very challenging you really had to think things through. Looking back, Campbell said the $29 million referendum to build Burlington High School and Winkler Elementary School in 1997 was one of the biggest accomplishments the School Board had during his time. Before that referendum, the district had a string of failed referendum questions, so the tension was high, he said. Yeah I was nervous, Campbell said. Especially after getting shot down on those three other (referendums). Nervousness gave way to relief as the Aurora Wellness Center and Gateway Technical College Burlington Campus were later built on the property. Just one thing after another was falling into place, Campbell remembers. We now have high school students that can go straight to Gateway to take college classes. Dedicated to education Burlington Area Superintendent Peter Smet has worked alongside Campbell in one office or another since 1988. He always was a calm and steady leader, Smet said. When different things came up and you talked to him about it, he would put it in proper perspective. Smet said Campbell worked hard to get that 1997 referendum passed. Hes been a very dedicated School Board member for many, many years, Smet said. We meet almost every Monday night and hes had outstanding attendance. Smet is the sixth superintendent Campbell has worked alongside during his time with the board. Campbell said hes going to miss the people of the district the most. Theres been some hard discussions about different things but everyone was very reasonable and fair, Campbell said. Thats one of the reasons why I stayed so long. Road trip After his term finally ends, Campbell said hes going to spend more time with his wife and family. Hes also a member of a classic car club and owns a 1956 Chevrolet Bel Air, a 1964 Chevrolet Impala and a 1989 Chevrolet Camaro convertible. Campbell said the club plans on taking a trip to Kentucky in the summer. You got to be careful because you cant go too far with them, Campbell said. You might need a tow home. No longer will Campbell have to sacrifice his Monday evenings for the School Board, but neither will he work alongside those hes admired over the years. Im going to miss it but Im not going to miss it, Campbell said. I was always impressed with the dedication people had to education. RACINE A 58-year-old Racine woman is facing two felony bail jumping charges and misdemeanors for disorderly conduct and obstructing an officer for allegedly threatening a woman with lighter than looked like a gun. According to the criminal complaint: On Thursday, the victim and another person were arguing at a home in the 200 block of Memorial Drive when Lyliana L. Reyes-Medic, also of the same street block, pointed what appeared to be a small silver revolver at the vicitm and exclaimed Ill (expletive) kill you. When police arrived later, Reyes-Medic reportedly stated that she had pointed her phone at the woman, pretending it was gun. An officer who later searched the defendants home reportedly found a lighter that looked like a small silver revolver hidden in the basement. Asked about the incident Reyes-Medic reportedly said she knew it was stupid, but just wanted the victim and the other person to stop fighting. A preliminary hearing for Reyes-Medic has been scheduled for Jan. 11 at the Racine County Law Enforcement Center, 717 Wisconsin Ave. 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 quarter of 2016 was gloomy for natural gas producers in Canada. But as an unusually hot summer precipitated record levels of natural gas burn for power consumption, the commodity rebounded 48% over the rest of the year. Multiple analysts expect another strong year for the resource in 2017, and challenges faced by US producers could be the opening Canadian producers need, according to a piece published on the Financial Post. For Canadian natural gas producers, the future has brightened considerably from what seemed to be bleak prospects just 12 months ago, GMP FirstEnergy commodity analyst Martin King said in a year-end research note. Natural gas will undergo a multi-year bullish price run, according to King, who said that Canadian natural gas markets are well placed to push growing supplies into a hungry US market for the next couple of years. The surplus of stored natural gas in the US is evaporating, Piper Jaffray & Co. senior analyst Pearce Hammond said in a note published Dec. 22. Another bullish signal, according to Hammond, is the fact that storage levels in the country were set to fall below their five-year average. Some analysts are cautiously optimistic. We expect prices to see further gains next year, but a sustained move above US$3.30 per million British thermal units is unlikely given the probability of a rapid supply response from domestic shale drillers, wrote Scotiabank commodity economist Rory Johnston in a different report. However, King is not convinced that US domestic shale suppliers will be able to satisfy demand for natural gas. Most of the countrys natural gas is obtained from the Marcellus and Utica shale formations, where drilling capacity may be insufficient to meet the demand in the market. Pipeline constraints, along with challenges to new pipelines posed by environmental groups and state legislators, are another hurdle for US producers. All in, we expect that 2017 and 2018 will prove to be one of the most immense challenges in terms of growing US domestic natural gas supplies since the late 1960s, King said. With the US market facing immense challenges, we think there are plenty of opportunities for Canadian natural gas supplies lining up over the current heating season and for the balance of 2017 and 2018. King estimates that natural gas production from Canadas Deep Basin in Alberta should increase by 500 million cubic feet per day in 2017, compared to last years gain of 400 mmcf/d. Related stories: Exports buoy natural gas ETFs New resource-linked ETF launched RACINE COUNTY Village presidents in Mount Pleasant, Sturtevant and Waterford will face challengers on April 4, with all of them facing incumbent board members in their villages. The deadline for filing paperwork to be included on the spring ballot for municipal and school boards in Racine County was 5 p.m. Tuesday. The general election wil be Tuesday, April 4. Primaries, where needed, will be held Tuesday, Feb. 21. In Mount Pleasant, Village Trustee Dave DeGroot will try to unseat incumbent Village President Jerry Garski. Garski was elected Mount Pleasant president in 2015, while DeGroot has served on the Village Board since 2013. The two have split on many issues, such as special assessments, the Highway V water and sewer project and former Village Administrator Kurt Wahlens employment. They were also at odds during recent budget deliberations. Garski noted he helped lead efforts on stabilizing the bluff in the Lake Park neighborhood, where severe erosion threatened about 20 homes, and he touted new commercial development in Mount Pleasant over the past two years. I have no personal agenda, Garski said. Im here to help everybody just like you see with the Lake Park people, the Highway V people. Whatever other issue comes up, we look at tackling it. DeGroot said he has put Mount Pleasant residents first despite loud opposition at times. He said the board has been plagued by a leadership vacuum during Garskis tenure, pointing to a recent history of reopening issues settled by previous Village Boards. At best it makes us look indecisive, at worst we are pandering to special interests, DeGroot said. This has to stop. It is bad public policy. In the Village of Sturtevant, long-time Village President Steve Jansen will be challenged by incumbent village Trustee Jayme Hoffman. Jansen ran unopposed for president in 2015, his seventh term as president. In 2013, Jansen defeated Trustee John Johnson while a case for felony stalking was pending against Jansen and before he pleaded no contest to lesser charges. Hoffman, a Racine firefighter and EMT, was first elected to the Village Board in 2012, and re-elected in 2014 and 2016. Hoffman said he has nothing against Jansen or how Jansen has led the village, but simply wants to give village residents an option. Many times I have heard residents said that they would like to have a choice, Hoffman said. Maybe some people want to have a new face and a new perspective. Im willing to step to the plate and give residents an option, Hoffman added. In the Village of Waterford, incumbent Village President Tom Roanhouse, who also serves on the Racine County Board, will be challenged by incumbent village Trustee James Schneider. Other races of note In the Town of Dover, incumbent Town Chairman Tom Lembcke will face a challenge from longtime Kansasville businessman and frequent Dover critic Mario Lena. In the Village of Caledonia, incumbent Village Trustee Dave Prott will face opposition for his Trustee No. 1 position from Jay Benkowski. Incumbent trustees Kevin Wanggaard and Jim Dobbs will run unopposed, as will Village President Bob Bradley. In the Village of Rochester, six candidates will vie for three open trustee seats. Incumbent trustees Nick Ahlers and Gary J. Beck are running again for the two-year terms, as well as four challengers: Thomas Beck, Robert Gerber, Mark Tamblyn and Douglas Webb. Incumbent Trustee Mike Weinkauf last month filed notice that he did not plan to run again. Incumbent Rochester Village President Ed Chart is the only candidate for the presidents seat. In the Village of Wind Point, incumbent Village President Pete Christensen will not seek re-election. Susan Sanabria has filed to run for the position. In the City of Burlington, longtime District 1 Alderman John Ekes will not seek re-election, but nobody had filed to run for his post by the time of Tuesdays deadline. Feb. 21 elections In the City of Racine, the eight odd-numbered districts are up for contention this spring, and six of them will have contested races. One of them the 15th District attracted three candidates and will be on the Feb. 21 primary ballot. The top two vote-getters will advance to the general election in April. Also during the Feb. 21 primary, the Waterford High School District will ask voters to approve spending $12.2 million to renovate and expand the districts fieldhouse. The same referendum failed in the November 2016 election. S&P 500 3,719.89 DOW 32,001.25 QQQ 260.49 Harnessing Neuroplasticity Allows You to Actually Change the Way You Think. Here's How. 5 Diamonds in the Rough (Ad) eBay or Etsy: Which Is The Better Buy? Paypal Shows Promise With Strong Buy Rating 5 Diamonds in the Rough (Ad) Energy Transfer Raises Guidance, But Stock Lower On Revenue Miss Papa Johns Falls Flat On Earnings, Shares Set To Rise The Safest Option in Trades! (Ad) Bank of England makes biggest interest rate hike in 30 years Mid-Caps CommScope, Dycom Outperform Broader Telecom Industry S&P 500 3,719.89 DOW 32,001.25 QQQ 260.49 Harnessing Neuroplasticity Allows You to Actually Change the Way You Think. Here's How. 5 Diamonds in the Rough (Ad) eBay or Etsy: Which Is The Better Buy? Paypal Shows Promise With Strong Buy Rating 5 Diamonds in the Rough (Ad) Energy Transfer Raises Guidance, But Stock Lower On Revenue Miss Papa Johns Falls Flat On Earnings, Shares Set To Rise The Safest Option in Trades! (Ad) Bank of England makes biggest interest rate hike in 30 years Mid-Caps CommScope, Dycom Outperform Broader Telecom Industry S&P 500 3,719.89 DOW 32,001.25 QQQ 260.49 Harnessing Neuroplasticity Allows You to Actually Change the Way You Think. Here's How. 5 Diamonds in the Rough (Ad) eBay or Etsy: Which Is The Better Buy? Paypal Shows Promise With Strong Buy Rating 5 Diamonds in the Rough (Ad) Energy Transfer Raises Guidance, But Stock Lower On Revenue Miss Papa Johns Falls Flat On Earnings, Shares Set To Rise The Safest Option in Trades! (Ad) Bank of England makes biggest interest rate hike in 30 years Mid-Caps CommScope, Dycom Outperform Broader Telecom Industry S&P 500 3,719.89 DOW 32,001.25 QQQ 260.49 Harnessing Neuroplasticity Allows You to Actually Change the Way You Think. Here's How. 5 Diamonds in the Rough (Ad) eBay or Etsy: Which Is The Better Buy? Paypal Shows Promise With Strong Buy Rating The Safest Option in Trades! (Ad) Energy Transfer Raises Guidance, But Stock Lower On Revenue Miss Papa Johns Falls Flat On Earnings, Shares Set To Rise The Safest Option in Trades! (Ad) Bank of England makes biggest interest rate hike in 30 years Mid-Caps CommScope, Dycom Outperform Broader Telecom Industry S&P 500 3,719.89 DOW 32,001.25 QQQ 260.49 Harnessing Neuroplasticity Allows You to Actually Change the Way You Think. Here's How. 5 Diamonds in the Rough (Ad) eBay or Etsy: Which Is The Better Buy? Paypal Shows Promise With Strong Buy Rating The Safest Option in Trades! (Ad) Energy Transfer Raises Guidance, But Stock Lower On Revenue Miss Papa Johns Falls Flat On Earnings, Shares Set To Rise The Safest Option in Trades! (Ad) Bank of England makes biggest interest rate hike in 30 years Mid-Caps CommScope, Dycom Outperform Broader Telecom Industry S&P 500 3,719.89 DOW 32,001.25 QQQ 260.49 Harnessing Neuroplasticity Allows You to Actually Change the Way You Think. Here's How. 5 Diamonds in the Rough (Ad) eBay or Etsy: Which Is The Better Buy? Paypal Shows Promise With Strong Buy Rating The Safest Option in Trades! (Ad) Energy Transfer Raises Guidance, But Stock Lower On Revenue Miss Papa Johns Falls Flat On Earnings, Shares Set To Rise The Safest Option in Trades! (Ad) Bank of England makes biggest interest rate hike in 30 years Mid-Caps CommScope, Dycom Outperform Broader Telecom Industry The following companies are subsidiares of Ingersoll Rand: 13125882 Canada Inc., 211 E. Russell Road LLC, 4458664 Canada Inc., ACCUDYNE INDUSTRIES ASIA PTE. 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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 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 The following companies are subsidiares of Prudential Financial: 210-220 E. 22nd Street SSGA Owner LLC, AIG Edison, AIG Star, AREF Cayman Co Ltd., AREF GP II Pte. Ltd., AREF GP Ltd., ASPF II - Feeder Fund GmbH, ASPF II - Verwaltungs - GmbH & Co. KG, ASPF II Management GmbH, ASPF III Scots L.P., ASSURANCE, AST Investment Services Inc., Adlerwerke CB Investment LLC, Administradora de Fondos de Pensiones Habitat S.A., Administradora de Inversiones Previsionales SpA, Aoba Life Insurance Company, Aoba Life Insurance Company Ltd., Asia Property Fund III GP S.a.r.l., Assurance IQ LLC, Assurance Intelligence LLC, BSC CP LP, Braeloch Holdings Inc., Braeloch Successor Corporation, Brazilian Capital Fund GP Limited, Broad Street Global Advisors LLC, Broome Street Holdings LLC, CB German Retail LLC, CLIS Co. Ltd., COLICO INC., Capital Agricultural Property Services Inc., Chadwick Boulevard Investment Holdings Co. LLC, Cibecue LLC, Coconino LLC, Colico II Inc., Columbus Drive Partners L.P., Commerce Street Holdings LLC, Commerce Street Investments LLC, Coolidge LLC, Coral Reef GP, Coral Reef L.P., Coral Reef Unit Trust, Cottage Street Investments LLC, Cottage Street Orbit Acquisition LLC, DICKENS AVENUE HOLDINGS VI LLC, DICKENS AVENUE PARTNERS VI Ireland L.P., DICKENS AVENUE PARTNERS VI US L.P., Dale/P Minerals Limited Partnership, Don Cesar Investor LLC, Dryden Arizona Reinsurance Term Company, Dryden Finance II LLC, EVP II GP S.a r.l., EVP II Horizon GP S.a r.l., EVP II Sprint GP S.a r.l., Edison Place Senior Note LLC, Essex LLC, EuroCore GP S.a r.l., European Value Partners GP S.a.r.l., Everbright PGIM Fund Management Co. Ltd., Flagstaff LLC, GA 1600 Commons LLC, GA 333 Hennepin Investor LLC, GA BV LLC, GA Bay Area GP LLC, GA Bay Area Investor LLC, GA Belden LLC, GA CLARENDON LLC, GA Cal Crossings LLC, GA Collins LLC, GA E. 22nd Street Apartments Holdings LLC, GA East 86 Street LLC, GA JHCII LLC, GA MENLO PARK INVESTOR LLC, GA Manor at Harbour Island LLC, GA Metro LLC, GA TRITON INVESTOR LLC, GA W Paces LLC, GA/MDI 333 Hennepin Associates LLC, GIBRALTAR BSN HOLDINGS SDN BHD, GIBRALTAR INDIA SOLUTIONS LLP, Gateway Holdings II LLC, Gateway Holdings LLC, German Retail Income CP LP, Gibraltar BSN Life Berhad, Gibraltar International Insurance Services Company Inc., Gibraltar International Service LLC, Gibraltar Reinsurance Company Ltd., Gibraltar Universal Life Reinsurance Company, Glenealy International Limited, Global Portfolio Strategies Inc., Gold GP Limited, Gold II L.P., Gold L.P., Graham Resources Inc., Graham Royalty Ltd., Green Harvest Asset Management LLC, Green Tree GP, Green Tree L.P., Greenlee LLC, Halsey Street Investments LLC, Hirakata LLC, IVP Fund GP LLC, Impact Investments Bridges UK S.a.r.l, Inter-Atlantic G Fund L.P., Inversiones Previsionales Chile SpA, Inversiones Previsionales Dos SpA, Ironbound Fund LLC, Jennison Associates LLC, Kyarra S.a r.l., Kyoei Annuity Home Co. Ltd. Kabushiki Kaisha Kyouei Nenkin Home, LINEUP LLC, Lake Street Partners IV L.P., Lotus Reinsurance Company Ltd., MC GA COLLINS HOLDINGS LLC, MC GA COLLINS REALTY LLC, MC Insurance Agency Services LLC, Manor at Harbour Island LLC, Marble Canyon LLC, Maricopa LLC, Market Street Holdings IV LLC, Montana Capital Partners, Morenci LLC, Mulberry Street Holdings LLC, Mulberry Street Investment L.P., Mulberry Street Partners LLC, Mullin TBG Insurance Agency Services LLC, MullinTBG Insurance Agency Services, National Family Assurance Group LLC, New Savanna, Northbound Emerging Manager Fund A LP, Northbound Emerging Manager Fund II - A LP, Orchard Street Acres Inc., PAI Bay Farm LLC, PAI Bayrock Groves LLC, PAI Belvidere Farms LLC, PAI Big Cypress Farm LLC, PAI Corcoran 640 Ranch LLC, PAI DeKalb Farm LLC, PAI Delano 1500 Ranches LLC, PAI Desert Falcon Farms Manager LLC, PAI Flicker Orchard LLC, PAI Good Hope Farm LLC, PAI Hawk Creek Ranch LLC, PAI Hills Valley Ranches LLC, PAI Holly Hill Groves LLC, PAI Hunt Farm LLC, PAI Jackson Bayou Farm LLC, PAI Lake Placid Groves LLC, PAI River Bend Ranches LLC, PAI Wallula Gap Vineyard LLC, PCP V Cayman AIV GP L.P., PEREF II Co-Invest 1 GP S.a r.l., PEREF II GP S.a r.l., PFI EM-Tech Fund I LLC, PG Business Service Co. Ltd, PG Collection Service Co. Ltd., PG Friendly Partners Co. Ltd., PGA Asian Retail Limited, PGA European Limited, PGI Co. Ltd, PGIM AC Co-Invest GP Pte. Ltd., PGIM AVP IV GP S.a r.l., PGIM Advisory Shanghai Co. Ltd., PGIM Agricultural Investments GP LLC, PGIM Australia Pty Ltd, PGIM Broad Market High Yield Bond Fund L.P., PGIM Broad Market High Yield Bond Partners LLC, PGIM Capital Partners Management Feeder VI LLC, PGIM Capital Partners Management Fund VI L.P., PGIM Custom Harvest LLC, PGIM DC Co-Invest GP Pte. Ltd., PGIM DC JV GP Pte. Ltd., PGIM DC Solutions LLC, PGIM European Financing Limited, PGIM European Services Limited, PGIM Financial Limited, PGIM Fixed Income Alternatives Fund II L.P., PGIM Fixed Income Alternatives Fund L.P., PGIM Fixed Income Alternatives GP LLC, PGIM Fixed Income Alternatives II GP LLC, PGIM Foreign Investments Inc., PGIM Holding Company LLC, PGIM Holdings Limited, PGIM Hong Kong Ltd., PGIM INDIA ASSET MANAGEMENT PRIVATE LIMITED, PGIM INDIA TRUSTEES PRIVATE LIMITED, PGIM IRELAND LIMITED, PGIM Inc., PGIM International Financing Inc., PGIM Investments Ireland Limited, PGIM Investments LLC, PGIM Japan Co. Ltd., PGIM Korea Inc., PGIM LTIF Berlin GP S.a r.l., PGIM LTIF Berlin MLP S.ar.l., PGIM LTIF GP S.a.r.l., PGIM Limited, PGIM Loan Originator Manager Limited, PGIM M Campus GP S.a r.l., PGIM Management Partner Limited, PGIM MetaProp Investor LP LLC, PGIM Netherlands B.V., PGIM Overseas Investment Fund Management Shanghai Company Ltd, PGIM Private Capital Ireland Limited, PGIM Private Capital Limited, PGIM Private Placement Investors Inc., PGIM Private Placement Investors L.P., PGIM QUANTITATIVE SOLUTIONS LLC, PGIM REF EUROPE SCSp, PGIM REF Europe GP S.a r.l., PGIM REF Europe Member LLC, PGIM REF Intermediary Services Inc., PGIM Real Estate CD S.a.r.l., PGIM Real Estate Capital VII GP S.a r.l., PGIM Real Estate Carry & Co-Invest GP LLC, PGIM Real Estate Carry & Co-Invest GP S.a r.l., PGIM Real Estate Carry & Co-Invest L.P., PGIM Real Estate Carry & Co-Invest SCSp, PGIM Real Estate Co-Invest Holdings LLC, PGIM Real Estate Debt GmbH, PGIM Real Estate Finance Holding Company, PGIM Real Estate Finance LLC, PGIM Real Estate France SAS, PGIM Real Estate Germany AG, PGIM Real Estate Global Debt GP LLC, PGIM Real Estate Global Master Fund GP S.a r.l., PGIM Real Estate Inmuebles II S de R.L. de C.V., PGIM Real Estate Inmuebles S. de R.L. de C.V, PGIM Real Estate Italy S.r.l., PGIM Real Estate Japan Ltd., PGIM Real Estate Loan Services Inc., PGIM Real Estate Luxembourg S.A., PGIM Real Estate MVP Administradora IV S. de R.L. de C.V., PGIM Real Estate MVP Administradora V S. de R.L. de C.V., PGIM Real Estate MVP Inmuebles IV S. de R.L. de C.V., PGIM Real Estate MVP Inmuebles V S. de R.L. de C.V., PGIM Real Estate Management Luxembourg S.a.r.l., PGIM Real Estate Mexico S.C., PGIM Real Estate S. de R.L. de C.V., PGIM Real Estate U.S. CORE Debt Fund GP LLC, PGIM Real Estate U.S. Debt Fund GP LLC, PGIM Real Estate UK Limited, PGIM Scots Limited, PGIM Securities Investment Trust Enterprise, PGIM Senior Loan Opportunities Management (Feeder) I LLC, PGIM Senior Loan Opportunities Management Fund I L.P., PGIM Shanghai Company Ltd., PGIM Singapore Pte. Ltd., PGIM Strategic Financing LLC, PGIM Strategic Investments Inc., PGIM Taronga Investor GP LLC, PGIM U.S. Agriculture Fund LP, PGIM USPF VI Manager LLC, PGIM Wadhwani LLP, PGIM Warehouse Inc., PGLH of Delaware Inc., PIFM Holdco LLC, PIIC Limited, PIISC Holdings UK Limited, PIM KF Blocker V Holdings LLC, PIM USPF V Manager LLC, PLA Administradora Industrial SRL, PLA Administradora LLC, PLA Administradora S. de R.L. de C.V., PLA Asesoria Profesional II S. de R.L. de C.V., PLA Asesoria Profesional S.de R.L. de C.V., PLA Co-Investor LLC, PLA Mexico Industrial Manager I LLC, PLA Mexico Industrial Manager II LLC, PLA Retail Fund I Blue LP, PLA Retail Fund I Manager LLC, PLA Retail Fund II Aggregating Manager LLC, PLA Retail Fund II LLC, PLA Retail Fund II LP, PLA Retail Fund II Manager LLC, PLA Retail Fund II U.S. Carry/Co-Invest LP, PLA Services Manager Mexico LLC, PLAI Limited, PMCF Holdings LLC, PMCF Properties LLC, PPPF General Partner LLP, PR GA SCP Apartments LLC, PRAMERICA LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY LIMITED, PRAMERICA PRECAP VI GP LLP, PRAMERICA PRECAP VI GP SCOTS FEEDER LLP, PRECO Account IV LLC, PRECO Account Partnership IV LP, PRECO III GP LLP, PREFG Hanwha Manager LLC, PREI Acquisition I Inc., PREI Acquisition II Inc., PREI Acquisition LLC, PREI HYDG LLC, PREI International Inc., PRIAC Property Acquisitions LLC, PRICOA Management Partner Limited, PRISA Fund Manager LLC, PRISA II Fund Manager LLC, PRISA II Pooled Manager LLC, PRISA III Fund GP LLC, PRISA III Fund PIM LLC, PRREF Debt Fund Manager LLC, PRREF II Fund Manager LLC, PRU 3XSquare LLC, PRUCO LLC, PRUDENTIAL CAPITAL ENERGY PARTNERS MANAGEMENT (FEEDER) LLC, PRUDENTIAL MORTGAGE SKP MEMBER LLC, PRUDENTIAL MORTGAGE SKP REIT LLC, PRUDENTIAL MORTGAGE SKP VENTURE 2 LLC, PRUDENTIAL MORTGAGE SKP VENTURE LLC, PT PFI Mega Life Insurance, Passaic Fund LLC, Pine Tree GP, Pine Tree L.P., Platinum GP Limited, Platinum II L.P., Platinum L.P., Pramerica Business Consulting Shanghai Company Limited, Pramerica EVP CP LP, Pramerica Financial Asia Headquarters Pte. Ltd., Pramerica Financial Asia Limited, Pramerica Fixed Income Funds Management Limited, Pramerica Fosun Life Insurance Co. Ltd., Pramerica Holdings Ltd, Pramerica Hong Kong Holdings Limited, Pramerica Insurance Agency China Company Ltd., Pramerica Luxembourg CP GP S.a.r.l., Pramerica PRECAP I GP LLP, Pramerica PRECAP II GP LLP, Pramerica PRECAP III GP LLP, Pramerica PRECAP IV GP LLP, Pramerica Pan European Real Estate Scots LP, Pramerica Real Estate Capital I GP Scots Feeder LLP, Pramerica Real Estate Capital I Scotland Limited Partnership, Pramerica Real Estate Capital II Scots Limited Partnership, Pramerica Real Estate Capital III Scots Limited Partnership, Pramerica Real Estate Capital IV GP Limited, Pramerica Real Estate Capital IV GP Scots Feeder LLP, Pramerica Real Estate Capital IV Scots Limited Partnership, Pramerica Real Estate Capital V Netherlands GP LLP, Pramerica Real Estate Capital V Scots Limited Partnership, Pramerica Real Estate Capital VI Scots Limited Partnership, Pramerica Scots CP GP LLP, Preco III Scotland Limited Partnership, Pru 101 Wood LLC, Pru Alpha Partners I LLC, Pru Fixed Income Emerging Markets Partners I LLC, PruVen Capital Partners Fund I L.P., Pruco Assignment Corporation, Pruco Life Insurance Company, Pruco Life Insurance Company of New Jersey, Pruco Securities LLC, Prudential 900 Aviation Boulevard LLC, Prudential Affordable Mortgage Company LLC, Prudential Agricultural Property Holding Company LLC, Prudential Annuities Distributors Inc., Prudential Annuities Holding Company Inc., Prudential Annuities Inc., Prudential Annuities Information Services & Technology Corporation, Prudential Annuities Life Assurance Corporation, Prudential Arizona Reinsurance Captive Company, Prudential Arizona Reinsurance Term Company, Prudential Arizona Reinsurance Universal Company, Prudential Bank & Trust FSB, Prudential Capital Energy Opportunity Fund L.P., Prudential Capital Energy Partners L.P., Prudential Capital Energy Partners Management Fund L.P., Prudential Capital Partners Management Fund IV L.P., Prudential Capital and Investment Services LLC, Prudential Chile II SpA, Prudential Chile SpA, Prudential Commercial Property Holding Company LLC, Prudential Equity Group LLC, Prudential Financial Inc., Prudential Fixed Income Global Liquidity Relative Value Partners LLC, Prudential Fixed Income U.S. Relative Value Partners LLC, Prudential Funding LLC, Prudential General Services of Japan Y.K., Prudential Gibraltar Agency Co. Ltd. Prudential Gibraltar Agency Kabushiki Kaisha, Prudential Global Funding LLC, Prudential Holdings of Japan Inc., Prudential Huntoon Paige Associates LLC, Prudential IBH Holdco Inc., Prudential Impact Investments Mortgage Loans LLC, Prudential Impact Investments Private Debt LLC, Prudential Impact Investments Private Equity LLC, Prudential Insurance Agency LLC, Prudential International Insurance Holdings Ltd., Prudential International Insurance Service Company L.L.C., Prudential International Investments Advisers LLC, Prudential International Investments Company LLC, Prudential International Investments LLC, Prudential Investment Management Services LLC, Prudential Japan Holdings LLC, Prudential Legacy Insurance Company of New Jersey, Prudential Mortgage Asset Holdings 1 Japan Investment Business Limited Partnership, Prudential Mortgage Asset Holdings 2 Japan Investment Business Limited Partnership, Prudential Mortgage Capital Asset Holding Company LLC, Prudential Mortgage Capital Funding LLC, Prudential Mortgage Capital Holdings LLC, Prudential Multifamily Mortgage LLC, Prudential Mutual Fund Services LLC, Prudential Newark Realty LLC, Prudential QOZ Investment Fund 1 LLC, Prudential Realty Securities Inc., Prudential Retirement Financial Services Holding LLC, Prudential Retirement Holdings LLC, Prudential Retirement Insurance and Annuity Company, Prudential Securities Secured Financing Corporation, Prudential Seguros Mexico S.A. de C.V., Prudential Seguros S.A., Prudential Select Strategies LLC, Prudential Servicios S. de R.L. de C.V., Prudential Structured Settlement Company, Prudential Systems Japan Limited, Prudential Tax Services LLC, Prudential Term Reinsurance Company, Prudential Trust Co. Ltd., Prudential Trust Company, Prudential Universal Reinsurance Company, Prudential Workplace Solutions Group Services LLC, Prudential do Brasil Seguros de Vida S.A., Prudential do Brasil Vida em Grupo S.A., Prudential/TMW Real Estate Group LLC, Pruservicos Participacoes Ltda., QMA JP EM All Cap Equity Partners LLC, Quartzsite LLC, Residential Services Corporation of America LLC, Rio CP LP, Rock European Real Estate Holdings S.ar.l., Rock Global Real Estate LLC, Rock Kensington Limited, Rock Marty GP S.a r.l., Rock Oxford S.a r.l., Rock UK Real Estate II S.a.r.l., Rockstone Co. Ltd., Rosado Grande LLC, Ross Avenue Energy Fund Holdings LLC, Ross Avenue Minerals 2012 LLC, SCP Apartments LLC, SENIOR HOUSING PARTNERS VI GP LLC, SENIOR HOUSING PARTNERSHIP FUND VI GP LLC, SHP IV Carried Interest LP, SHP V Carried Interest L.P., SMP Holdings Inc., SVIIT Holdings Inc., Sanei Collection Service Co. Ltd. Kabushiki Kaisha Sanei Shuuno Service, Senior Housing Partners V LLC, Senior Housing Partnership Fund V LLC, Sterling Private Placement Management LLP, Stetson Street Partners L.P., Strand Investments Limited, TBG Insurance Services Corporation, TENSATOR HOLDINGS LTD, TF Proveedora S.C., TMW ASPF I Verwaltungs GmbH & Co. KG, TMW ASPF Management GmbH, TMW Management LLC, TMW Real Estate Group LLC, TMW Realty Advisors LLC, TMW USPF Verwaltungs GmbH, TRGOAG Company Inc., The Gibraltar Life Insurance Co. Ltd., The Keynes Dynamic Beta Strategy US Fund GP LLC, The Prudential Assigned Settlement Services Corp., The Prudential Brazilian Capital Fund LP, The Prudential Gibraltar Financial Life Insurance Co. Ltd., The Prudential Home Mortgage Company Inc., The Prudential Insurance Company of America, The Prudential Life Insurance Company Ltd., The Prudential Real Estate Financial Services of America Inc., The WMF Group, Thurloe Commercial Guernsey Limited, USPF V - Verwaltungs - GmbH & Co. KG, USPF V Carry LLC, USPF V Co-Invest LLC, USPF V Investment LP, United States Property Fund VI GP S.a r.l., VIP Australia Holding Company LLC, VIP Australia Trustee Pty Ltd, Vailsburg Fund LLC, Vantage Casualty Insurance Company, Wabash Avenue Holdings V LLC, Wabash Avenue Partners V L.P., Wadhwani Capital Limited, Waveland Avenue Holdings I LLC, Waveland Avenue Partners I Ireland L.P., Waveland Avenue Partners I US L.P., Wellness Services Ecossistema De Bem Estar Ltda., Wellness Services SRL, Yamato Life, and Yavapai LLC. Read More PHOENIX With her son Rory, 2, facing the prospect of wearing an eye patch every day for the better part of the next decade, Racine native Jennifer Krienert did what any parent would. She made Rory feel better about it. We never want him to feel different than other kids, Krienert said. We just wanted him to have confidence in wearing it. But instead of offering traditional encouragement, Krienert, who now lives in Phoenix, took it a step further. She created a clothing line called Rock Your Different with the goal of helping kids and their families positively accentuate the struggles that make them unique. People say they love the idea of it, to celebrate being different, Krienert said. Ive heard on social media from people that I dont even know, or know how they heard about it. The website currently sells hats, tank tops and T-shirts with various designs promoting the Rock Your Different slogan. Its only been around for about two months, but Krienert said shes already sold 200 shirts. Ive been blown away, she said. Hopefully with more exposure, itll just keep getting better. A portion of the proceeds from the shirts go to support Phoenix Childrens Hospital, where Rory has spent a lot of time because of his eye condition. Another source of inspiration Krienert also is expanding the line of clothes to support kids with autism and Type 1 diabetes. Racine resident Stephanie Cronwells daughter Emma Barber, 12, was diagnosed with diabetes in February, and her longtime friend Krienert cited Emma as one of the inspirations for adding Type 1 to the clothing lines mission. Weve been lifelong friends and weve stayed in contact, Cronwell said. As it grew, she talked about wanting to do that in regards to children with type 1 diabetes. Cronwell also called Krienerts dedication to Emmas cause inspiring and an honor. Rory remains at the heart of Kreinerts business plan. The concept for the business started with eye patch designs to make Rorys struggle fashionable. We put (the eye patch) on him and do knuckles and say rock it, Kreinert said. Thats how it started. As Kreinerts hopes to grow her business, raising more money for charity and taking on more causes, Rory will be ever present, both literally and figuratively. My son is always with me, she said. Hes gone on meetings with me. Hes gone to everything. Even if Im just mailing out shirts, hes with me. Sir, I note there is discussion again concerning a third edition of that terrible carnival, but no confirmation from this disastrous government that they will NOT be funding the 2017 event. I am hoping against hope that those three honourable and highly respected Bahamian businessmen; Messrs Gowon Bowe, Michael Maura and Nathaniel Beneby - who were hijacked by our Prime Minister to raise multiple millions of dollars, from international sources, for Hurricane Matthew Relief - did have the foresight to have a caveat in their agreement that this government will not be funding, in any way, this ridiculous carnival. If this government does fund this latest event how on earth is Mr. Christie going to explain the need for huge funding for Matthew but its OK to syphon off so many million for a party; those three gentlemen will never again be able to hold their heads high in any international financial endeavor, their respective reputations will be finished! Forever in disgust, Harry Strachan The views expressed are those of the author, and not necessarily those of WeblogBahamas.com (which has no corporate view) or its Authors. Fort Polk, LA (71446) Today Cloudy in the morning with scattered thunderstorms developing later in the day. High 84F. Winds SSE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 40%.. Tonight Thunderstorms likely. A few storms may be severe. Low 58F. S winds shifting to WNW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 100%. 1 to 2 inches of rain expected. Governor: Kentucky on course for record budget surplus again 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. By West Kentucky Star Staff Jan. 03, 2017 | 05:17 PM | PADUCAH, KY Two people were arrested on drug and other charges Tuesday following a traffic stop.The McCracken County Sheriffs Department says detectives stopped a vehicle on Mississippi Street Tuesday afternoon driven by 63-year-old James Leidecker. Deputies said Leidecker had a suspended license.During the traffic stop detectives reportedly found marijuana on the passenger, 51-year-old Brian Strozzo. Strozzo was later arrested on an unrelated arrest warrant for assault. Detectives said they also found Hydrocodone doses and meth on Leidecker. During a search of Leideckers vehicle, detectives located additional baggies of methamphetamine.Detectives then executed a search warrant at Leideckers South 28th Street home, where they said they found evidence of meth trafficking as well as additional meth paraphernalia.Both Leidecker and Strozzo were arrested and booked into the McCracken County Jail.Leidecker was charged with driving on suspended license, possession of a controlled substance 1st degree, possession of marijuana, and possession of methamphetamine.Strozzo was charged with the warrant for Assault, possession of marijuana, and possession of drug paraphernalia.Deputies say more charges and arrests are possible. Advertisement By West Kentucky Star Staff Jan. 03, 2017 | METROPOLIS, IL By West Kentucky Star Staff Jan. 03, 2017 | 04:42 PM | METROPOLIS, IL Two men were arrested on various charges after a traffic stop last week. The Metropolis Police Department says an officer pulled over a vehicle at 3:18 on Wednesday because its headlights were off. A computer check revealed that the license plates were invalid due to lack of insurance, and that the driver, 50-year-old Ricky W. Henson of Benton, Kentucky, had a suspended driver's license. When asked to identify himself, the passenger in the vehicle gave a name and birth date for a person who was dead. When officers asked the passenger to get out of the vehicle, he ran away. More police were called to help search for the man, and with the assistance of the Massac County Sheriff's Department, 35-year-old Dustin A. Alderdice of Melber, Kentucky was arrested. Alderdice was wanted on warrants from McCracken County for contempt of court and a probation violation. He was also charged with obstructing identification, resisting arrest and obstructing justice. Henson was arrested for driving with a suspended license, no registration, and failure to use headlights. Both men were taken to Massac County Detention Center. Rita Redmond was a true lady who felt that every pupil had something to gift to the world After watching their parties install historically big majorities Tuesday, Republican leaders of the state Assembly and Senate pledged to pursue an ambitious conservative agenda while also diverging on key issues for the upcoming legislative session. Assembly Speaker Robin Vos and Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald outlined their priorities for the upcoming 2017-18 session, agreeing to consider toll roads to boost transportation funding and a breakup of the state Department of Natural Resources into smaller agencies. But the two also were notably apart on key issues like how to fund school districts and the University of Wisconsin System for the two years starting July 1 and the possibility of medical marijuana being legalized in Wisconsin. The GOP now controls the executive and legislative branches of state and federal government for the first time in nearly five decades, and Republicans now hold near-unprecedented majorities in the Capitol, with a 64-35 seat majority in the Assembly the largest since 1957 and 20-13 in the Senate the biggest since 1971. Assembly leaders and Fitzgerald, R-Juneau, on Tuesday were optimistic about the prospect of President-elect Donald Trump and a GOP-controlled Congress devolving government functions back to the states. Were obviously excited about the prospects of more power being distributed or devolved back to the states, said Assembly Majority Leader Jim Steineke, R-Kaukauna. Thats something that we look forward to. Vos, R-Rochester, also said he plans to do a better job of ensuring broad public support exists for controversial proposals like allowing concealed carry permit holders to bring weapons to college campuses before the bills hit the floor. Assembly Minority Leader Peter Barca, D-Kenosha, said the pledge was welcome news but expressed skepticism all legislation would be passed with more public support given the way Republicans have pushed significant changes through in the past. I think it would be fantastic, said Barca. If they hold true to their commitment. Vos pledge comes as the GOP has kept its control of state government for six years, during which lawmakers have passed a number of sweeping changes notably Gov. Scott Walkers signature law known as Act 10, which all but eliminated collective bargaining for most public employees and enacting a right-to-work law. Barca said if history is any guide, Republican lawmakers are not talking about the biggest measures they will pass this session. Senate Minority Leader Jennifer Shilling, D-La Crosse, called for increased education funding and policies to strengthen the middle class. Campus carry Vos pledge for more transparency and to find broad public support for legislation came when asked by reporters on Tuesday whether he supports controversial legislation that would allow concealed carry permit holders to bring weapons to college campuses. I think its incumbent upon the legislators who have an idea to spread across the state, find people to support it, get groundswells of support to bring an idea here, not just convince a bunch of people in our caucus to pass a bill without making sure the public is where we are, said Vos on Tuesday. Fitzgerald said GOP senators would take a look at campus carry legislation but was noncommittal about its odds of passage. Vos said hes open to the idea, but that the caucus hasnt discussed it. Rep. Jesse Kremer, R-Kewaskum, introduced the bill last legislative session but it failed to get a hearing and drew significant opposition from college students and faculty. The Republican lawmaker has said in recent months he would like to bring the proposal back, prompting opposition on the UW-Madison campus. On Tuesday, Kremer said it was not his first priority. This bill itself campus carry isnt something Ive even been promoting the last few weeks, Kremer said. Its something UW has been doing a great job of promoting for me. Kremer said if the legislation comes forward this session he will make sure he has enough support, but that members of his caucus are already discussing other bills related to the Second Amendment. Kremer noted that the previous piece of legislation addressing concealed carry on college campuses went through the Speakers office. He said he had supporters ready to testify on the bill, but a hearing was not scheduled. School funding Also Tuesday, to reporters and in a speech to the Assembly, Vos said a top priority for the upcoming session is to revise the way the state funds school districts. But Fitzgerald said such an effort wouldnt be successful. The age-old discussion around here has been trying to change the school aid formula, said Fitzgerald. But because that doesnt seem like something that is going to happen the reality of getting that piece of legislation through either house, I think, would be very difficult. Vos said because more than half of school districts are experiencing losses in enrollment, the current way the state sends schools money on a per pupil basis isnt working. He said he plans to convene a committee to look at ways to change school funding but didnt commit to the change taking place this legislative session. We just need to step back and not rush into a quick solution, said Vos. State Superintendent Tony Evers has proposed several times to revise the states funding formula, also in part to address declining enrollment and school districts finances, but Republicans have rejected his proposal in the past. Evers said he looks forward to the work. Its very difficult to make changes fundamental changes in the funding system during a budget and having some time to think through some good ideas is appropriate and I agree with him, Evers said. Transportation funding Fitzgerald expressed skepticism at the odds of passing a gas-tax increase in the Senate an option Vos has stressed should be on the table to resolve the states transportation-funding short- fall. Gas tax, I just dont have a handle on that right now, whether or not thats palatable, Fitzgerald said. I certainly have an idea that the caucus is somewhat divided on that. Walker has said any tax increase would need to be offset by a tax cut of equal size elsewhere in the budget. Fitzgerald said Tuesday that seems to be the model for any plan to boost transportation fees and taxes in the upcoming session. He added that implementing toll roads the subject of a recent Department of Transportation study should be considered as a long-term option. Vos previously indicated he would consider that option as well. Medical marijuana Vos also said on Tuesday that he isnt personally opposed to legalizing medical marijuana, but that his caucus is instead focused on passing right-to-try legislation, which would allow people with terminal illnesses to gain access to experimental drugs and getting Senate approval for a bill that would allow parents to purchase CBD oil, a marijuana extract, to treat epileptic children with limited options for treatment. Fitzgerald said lawmakers in the Senate may have found compromise in passing a bill allowing use of CBD oil, but also said hes not eager to consider legalizing medical marijuana. I wouldnt support it right now, Fitzgerald said, adding that he has no idea where (GOP senators) would be on the issue. Breaking up the DNR Vos and Fitzgerald both said they are open to the idea of breaking up the DNR, spreading oversight of parks, forestry, environmental, hunting and fishing programs among three existing agencies and two new ones. If the idea is to make sure we have a more responsive agency in a way that does not harm the environment, I think its worth looking at, Vos said. Contact Molly Beck at 608-252-6135 or mbeck@madison.com and Mark Sommerhauser at 608-252-6122 or msommerhauser@madison.com. Last year was the deadliest year for police officers killed by gunfire in five years. More than 60 officers across the country were shot and killed in the line of duty in 2016. According to the Officer Down Memorial Page, of those more than 60 officers shot and killed, two served in Virginia. Prince William County Police Officer Ashley Guindon was killed in February on her first day on the force. Virginia State Trooper Chad Dermyer was killed in April in a Richmond bus depot. Local police say the trend is troubling, and while officers were killed responding to incidents, some were ambushed. "You had several police officers who were gunned down and their assailants didn't even know them, they just were wearing a uniform and the person who killed them just wanted to kill a police officer and they were the first person they came across," said Sgt. Brian Edwards with Wayneboro Police. Local police say some of the attacks were out of anger towards law enforcement, and they encourage people to not judge a profession based on the actions of a few officers. Sgt. Edwards added, "Don't let the actions of some officers really kind of show or be the message that all officers because the majority of law enforcement officers in the United States really want to give back to their communities and are really members of their communities." Sgt. Edwards says even though no officers were killed in the Valley, here and across the country overall, officers are seeing an uptick in violence towards them. In Waynesboro this year, a suspect bit off part of an officer's ear during a disturbance. You can learn more about the officer who had part of his ear bitten off, and his recovery, State Superintendent candidate John Humphries has been hired as a consultant by the same district he resigned from in December. The Dodgeville School Board approved Humphries resignation on Dec. 12 and hired his consulting company in the same meeting. Humphries had worked as the districts director of state and federal programs until his resignation, which was effective Dec. 31. His new contract requires him to provide the same services but on a schedule that will accommodate his campaign to challenge Tony Evers, the state superintendent. The primary election will be held Feb. 21, with the top two vote-getters advancing to the April 14 general election. Humphries firm, BrainDance LLC, will receive $650 per day of services or up to $39,000 as part of a contract of up to 60 days, according to the districts agreement with Humphries firm. The contract lasts between January and June. Humphries said Wednesday he resigned to spend as much of my time campaigning as possible and to have a clean break between my professional and political responsibilities. I am interested in insulating my political activities from my professional duties so that there can be no confusion about my role for the Dodgeville community, by the voting public, or any accusations by my political opponents, Humphries wrote in a Nov. 28 email to Dodgeville School District superintendent Jeff Jacobson proposing the idea. This proposal will allow me to handle my professional duties as a contractor who has a job to complete, without worrying about hours of employment, etc. The Wisconsin State Journal obtained Humphries consulting firms contract and emails about his resignation under the states open records law. Humphries said Wednesday that his role will be to help the districts administrative team transition to taking on the roles he held previously. Consulting work is not new for Humphries, he said. After he ended his job as a consultant for the Department of Public Instruction in 2011, he held contracts with school districts in Kansas and regional school district organizations in Wisconsin to provide youth suicide prevention training and school improvement services, Humphries said. Humphries was hired by the district in 2012 and earned $94,360 annually at the time of his resignation, according to Jacobson. Jacobson said the two have not discussed whether Humphries will be rehired permanently if his bid for superintendent is unsuccessful. Evers did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Fellow candidate Lowell Holtz, former Whitnall School District superintendent, said he does not work as a consultant currently. Scot Ross, executive director of liberal advocacy group One Wisconsin Now, which tracks campaign spending in the race, said Humphries decision to resign during the campaign is putting his political ambitions before kids. This is a sleazy deal that lets a candidate for public office keep getting paid by taxpayers, with no oversight for how he spends his days, said Ross. All the while promoting selling out our public schools to chase campaign cash from the private school voucher industry and the billionaires that support it. Humphries said Ross comments were unfortunate. Running for office is quite challenging if you are not independently wealthy and I am making a very serious commitment to this effort while also trying to sustain my family, he said. I hope Mr. Ross could recognize this. Humphries is one of two candidates backed by conservatives seeking to defeat Evers in his bid for a third term as the head of DPI. He is backed by Assembly Education Committee chairman Rep. Jeremy Thiesfeldt, R-Fond du Lac, and Rep. Jason Fields, D-Milwaukee. Both lawmakers, whom Humphries referred to as his campaign co-chairmen, have been supportive of the expansion of taxpayer-funded vouchers for private schools. Evers, the states highest-ranking constitutional officer backed by Democrats, has been at odds with the Republicans who in his first term took control of almost every part of state government except his: the state Department of Public Instruction. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 03/01/2017 (2131 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. The University of Manitoba has not ramped up recruiting efforts south of the border despite widespread reports of American students checking out Canadian schools in the wake of Donald Trumps election triumph. Lisa Kachulak-Babey, the U of Ms director of student recruitment, said Tuesday that the university has not altered its plans for the coming academic year. In light of the election, we have not changed our recruiting strategy in the U.S., said Tuesday. That isnt a factor. BORIS MINKEVICH / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS University of Manitoba already attracts many students from Minnesota thanks to a reciprocal agreement under which each accepts the other's students at the resident tuition rate. We have been seeing a steady increase of students year-over-year for the past three or four years. Were suspecting the drop in the Canadian dollar has helped. The U of M does not break down its American student population by state, but said that most come from Minnesota the Province of Manitoba and State of Minnesota have for decades had a reciprocal agreement under which each accepts the others students at the resident tuition rate. Americans from the other 49 states pay international tuition, two to three times the amount Manitobans pay. In 2015-16, the U of M had 138 American students enrolled, including 45 for the first time. The university recruits in the U.S. for both fall and spring terms, Kachulak-Babey said. American universities and high schools academic grade years vary; some universities accept students in Grade 11. Some American students come north for specific programs, and some because of limited space in their local universities, she said. Even with the international surcharge, we can be far more economical. The University of Winnipeg had no data available Tuesday, and no one who could speak about future recruiting efforts. A spokesman pointed to previous statements that reported more online traffic to the university website in the four weeks following the Nov. 8 U.S. election. Manitoba Education provided a link to the Minnesota Office of Higher Education, which shows that in 2014-15, 86 Minnesota post-secondary students enrolled here and 40 Manitobans went south 16 to the University of Minnesota Twin Cities campus, the rest scattered widely around the state. The numbers of Manitobans going to Minnesota have been fairly steady for more than a decade. The U of M registered 73 of the 86 Minnesota students and the U of W 10. Two Minnesotans attended Providence University College and one went to Universite de Saint-Boniface. As of two years ago, Brandon University hadnt registered a Minnesota student since 2008, and it has been since 2009 for Red River College. nick.martin@freepress.mb.ca Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 04/01/2017 (2130 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Amici and Bombolini sibling restaurants that in their heyday helped put Winnipeg on the North American culinary map served their last plate of risotto on New Years Eve. The restaurants have closed after close to 31 years in renovated space in an old building on Broadway where it was once part of the vanguard of the revitalization of downtown Winnipeg that is still ongoing. Amici, the upstairs fine-dining big brother to the casual dining downstairs at Bombolini, was a regular on best Canadian restaurant lists a decade ago, but competition and changing tastes made it a tough go for the past few years. JOHN WOODS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Amici restaurant is closed after 30 years in business. Owner Brian McKnight said the decision to close was made after careful consideration. Its been a five-year battle, and we lost, he said. McKnight was gracious about the support hes had from his landlord, the Rivard Group, who he said was very supportive over the years by trying to come up solutions while business was declining. We had it all going for us amazing landlord, staff, suppliers and clientele but in the end, it just did not work, he said. Whereas it was once a mainstay in the influential Where to Eat in Canada publication, the combined 170-seat restaurants were clearly having a tough go maintaining the originality and quality that finicky restaurant-goers demand. In her most recent review of Bombolini in the Free Press in 2015, former Free Press food critic Marion Warhaft used words such as disgracefully hard, anemic and dud in describing the food, adjectives any restaurateur would surely cringe at seeing. McKnight said a good portion of his approximately 30 staff whose numbers have dwindled over the years will be offered positions at Wow Hospitality, which has taken over the former Amici catering business. Not surprisingly, McKnight could not put his finger on what caused the downturn in the restaurants fortunes, but he did say the location was a factor. We needed to relocate, to find a new space, but we just never did, he said. Our space needed to be updated many years ago, and we just couldnt do it. When you struggle like we have been, its hard to put money back into the space The numbers just did not add up. The potentially unwieldy combination of fine and casual dining along with a long-standing catering business did not seem to be its downfall. McKnight who worked for former owners Heinz and Johanna Kattenfeld since before he was even old enough to be a server and then bought the restaurants in 2001 said they served different niches and each helped support each other. When Amici opened, the northern Tuscan-inspired fine Italian dining establishment had fewer pretenders in town to contend with. But competition in the Winnipeg market has increased. There are some beautiful new restaurants out there, said McKnight. Rob Walker, the chairman of the board of directors of the Manitoba Restaurant & Food Services Association, said, Money being tight, fine dining gets hit more than others. People just have so many more options now. It likely could also be said trends have shifted from the kind of white-tablecloth rooms featuring large meat dishes at which Amici excelled. When asked what the current restaurant trends were in an interview in enRoute Magazine in 2015, former Winnipeg chef Ron Shaw mentioned a couple of things that ran counter to Amicis offering. Theres a continuation of a couple of trends: the decline in fine dining and the increase in menus featuring locally produced, organic vegetables or proteins. People seem to want to go out and share plates more. Theyre not into really formal service and white linens. McKnight refused to blame the challenging parking scenario as one of the factors that influenced the closing of his Broadway and Hargrave Street location. We have been here for 30 years, and it has always been difficult, but we did very well even when it was difficult, he said. The draw to come back downtown to come to Amici just did not seem to be there anymore. martin.cash@freepress.mb.ca Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 04/01/2017 (2130 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. OTTAWA The man who guided the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) to its conclusions says a year after he delivered the final report he is encouraged by efforts made to respond to its calls for action, but says the federal government has failed to show the kind of leadership necessary to drive reconciliation forward. Murray Sinclair, the chairman of the TRC who was appointed as a senator from Manitoba last spring, said there has been some positive work in governments at all levels. That includes new courses in universities to teach students about residential schools and training at municipal governments, law schools and police forces. Every province except Quebec has begun introducing residential schools into public school curricula. But he said what is missing is an overarching direction from the Prime Ministers Office to set both the tone and priority for reconciliation. That includes adopting the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People as a framework for reconciliation, and a plan of action for doing that, both of which were among the 94 Calls to Action contained in the TRCs final report. ADRIAN WYLD / THE CANADIAN PRESS FILES Sen. Murray Sinclair, is chairman of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission The lack of a plan leaves senior officials in government without a proper sense of direction and without a proper feeling of accountability, he said. While he says he has spoken twice now to deputy and assistant deputy ministers on how to address reconciliation, he also feels there are too many who say they cant do it or that they dont have the time or the resources. Its almost like were asking them to change their gender, he said. If the government, the Prime Ministers Office or the cabinet were to issue a directive that by a certain point in time there are expectations about where things will be at and the success of managers is going to be measured against that success, or that what you have done in your department to advance reconciliation is a factor in the annual bonuses that senior managers get, people would start moving on that very quickly. Last month, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told chiefs at an annual December meeting in Gatineau, Que., that his government was acting on 35 of the 46 calls to action that were directed at the federal government. A list provided by his office does not include what action the government has done on them. Some are clearly underway, such as an inquiry into the high rate of murdered and missing indigenous women. Others, like repealing the section of the Criminal Code that allows teachers and caregivers to physically discipline children, have been promised but not done. Others are not being done the way indigenous communities feel is proper. The government says it is moving on implementing Jordans Principle, for example, which calls on Ottawa and provinces to stop forcing First Nations children to wait for care while the governments argue over which one is responsible for paying for it. Some work has been done on it but the government is still fighting against funding for some children. Sinclair notes the government has invested more money into on-reserve health facilities, education and water and wastewater infrastructure, which help address many of the social gaps plaguing reserve residents. He said there are definitely signs that thinking and actions are changing toward indigenous people, pointing to the recent apology by Winnipeg Police Chief Danny Smyth for comments made about an indigenous murder victim at a news conference about the arrest of her alleged killer. The comments were deemed to have been blaming the victim for putting herself in a situation that led to her death but you should be entitled to expect that systems and how systems respond to that are improved, said Sinclair. A year ago, there were very high hopes for how the new federal government would relate to indigenous communities, with Trudeau promising a renewed commitment to a nation-to-nation relationship. Twelve months later there are cracks forming. Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak Grand Chief Sheila North-Wilson said there is growing frustration that so far, nation-to-nation seems mainly to be meetings with the Assembly of National Chiefs, not meeting bilaterally with chiefs from across the country. She said the new investments made in education, suicide prevention and housing are positive, with finances provided to allow organizations like hers to do the preparatory work to determine where the biggest priorities are, but they havent had an indication yet what will happen once that work is done. After decades of promises made but not fulfilled, there is a lot of skepticism the real work will actually follow. North-Wilson said she has a great relationship with Indigenous Affairs Minister Carolyn Bennett, which is helpful. I am happy with the open dialogue and open relationship I have with minister Bennett, she said. That is the only reason I have any hope right now. I find it hard to put much faith in the prime minister. mia.rabson@freepress.mb.ca Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 03/01/2017 (2131 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Friends and families of missing and murdered indigenous women have been called to help the national inquiry lay the foundation for upcoming hearings in a form letter that ended up on Facebook this week. The letter from the inquirys chief commissioner Marion Buller, dated Dec. 22, reinforced the inquirys mandate from Ottawa: to focus on the causes of violence against indigenous women and put the womens families at the centre of the process while they do it. In naming the five-member commission last August, Ottawa said the $53.8-million inquiry will be empowered to examine the systemic causes of violence but it would lack the power to compel police to reopen old cases or make findings of police misconduct. DARRYL DYCK / THE CANADIAN PRESS FILES Marion Buller, commissioner of the National Inquiry on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls Early in the new year, we want to begin our process within communities to build relationships with families, women and girls across the nation, wrote Buller, who was the first indigenous woman appointed as a provincial court judge in British Columbia; she retired last summer to head the commission. She addressed the letter to, Dear friends and families of missing and murdered indigenous women and girls. The three-paragraph letter said the inquiry wants to collect stories about missing and murdered women directly from their families and friends. We are building a team of people to work in communities and are creating a path to ensure grassroots people can influence our policies and the design of our hearings. In order to be sure we hear from you, please be in touch. Let your networks know our contact information and check our website, the letter said. The outreach approach follows a pattern set by federal Liberal cabinet ministers last year in holding consultations with friends, families and community leaders across the country prior to setting up the national inquiry. NDP MLA Nahanni Fontaine, Manitobas special adviser to the former Selinger government on aboriginal womens issues, said the letter is the second signal to the public that the inquiry is active. The first, in the fall, announced the inquirys website, which includes a crisis phone line for families, background on the issue and, currently, four job postings, two of which are in Winnipeg. Thats not a big public presence for an issue thats so emotionally traumatizing, Fontaine said, adding that relatives she came to know through her work forging a public presence for missing and murdered indigenous women, girls and their families across Canada have shared similar concerns, citing the need regular updates on the inquirys progress. Im not criticizing the national inquiry and I appreciate the enormity of what they are doing and that theyre in the being stages of making it happen, but they need to do a little better, she said. Many relatives are traumatized to the point that daily life making rent, finding money for groceries and keeping a family together is a challenge, she said. If youre working with families you have to reach out in a thoughtful, thorough and targeted way, with a social media site, Facebook, a contact name and number and my ending to that letter would have been, Im more than willing to come and meet with you and heres my direct line.' Inquiry officials did not respond to media inquiries Monday and Tuesday. Indigenous women and girls are disproportionately affected by violence in Canada. Demographically, they make up four per cent of Canadas females but account for 16 per cent of the women and girls murdered in Canada between 1980 and 2012. Nearly 1,200 women and girls went missing or were killed in that time period, an RCMP overview concluded in 2014. The inquiry is required to issue an interim report next fall, followed by a final report by Dec. 31, 2018. alexandra.paul@freepress.mb.ca Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 04/01/2017 (2130 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. A 22-year-old Toronto man who is wanted in Thunder Bay, Ont., and Edmonton managed to show up for his Winnipeg court date with a bag of drugs in his pocket. Cameron Arthur Tymoshyk was sitting in a courtroom at the Law Courts Building in November when sheriffs officers were notified there was a warrant out for his arrest. Facing counterfeiting and breach charges, as well as an unrelated charge that led him to court that day, Tymoshyk bolted when he saw the sheriffs officers approach him. MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES He ran even as they shouted for him to stop, tossing a 1.83-gram bag of methamphetamine over the third-floor railing and heading for the elevator, only to be met by sheriffs officers on the main floor. Tymoshyk admitted in court Tuesday to uttering a counterfeit document, breaching a reside condition, resisting arrest and possessing a controlled substance. He was fined $300 for drug possession and has one month to serve after being given credit for three months in custody. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 03/01/2017 (2131 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Manitoba has some of the longest waits in the country for cataract surgery, and the problem is only getting worse. Dr. Lorne Bellan, a Winnipeg surgeon and head of ophthalmology at the University of Manitoba, said wait lists continue to climb with no end in sight. He said Tuesday that at Misericordia Health Centre, where the bulk of cataract operations in the province are performed, it would have taken 9.6 months to clear the entire backlog of patients awaiting surgery as of Nov. 30 if no new patients were taken on in the interim. JOE BRYKSA / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES Dr. Lorne Bellan (left, with Louise Patenaude) predicts wait times for cataract surgeries will continue to climb. In July 2015, the clearance time at Misericordia was 6.0 months. This is a progressive problem. It just keeps increasing over time, Bellan said, adding that the main issue is funding. Misericordia has been authorized to do about 9,000 cataract surgeries per year for the past few years. Last year, it performed 9,159 of the 12,607 operations in Manitoba. The (Winnipeg Regional Health Authority) says this is the total number of cases that can be done per year. We could do more than that, but we dont because were under instructions not to, Bellan said. The team at Misericordia controls its surgery totals through the use of periodic shutdowns in which surgeries are limited to emergencies and enough elective surgeries to keep a reduced team busy for an entire shift. Asked for comment, Health Minister Kelvin Goertzen said in a statement that cataract surgery is one of the priority procedures being examined by the Progressive Conservative governments recently formed wait-times task force. The wait time is too long and has been for years. I would expect that a number of issues will be considered and examined, Goertzen said. While funding of procedures may be one of them, other issues such as how surgical wait times are disclosed by individual surgeons and co-ordinated must also be examined to ensure the system is both transparent and working in a co-operative way overall, he added. There are several ways in which surgical waits are tracked, and comparisons between provinces can be tricky because of variations in methodology. According to statistics kept by the WRHA, there was a 16-week wait for cataract surgery at Misericordia in November, and a 21-week wait in October. In both November and December of 2015, the WRHA listed the wait at Misericordia as 12 weeks. For several years, the Canadian Institute for Health Information has ranked Manitoba as having among the longest waits for cataract surgery. In 2015, only 41 per cent of cataract surgeries in Manitoba were completed within the benchmark period of 112 days, CIHI says. That was the worst performance in the country. Across Canada, 76 per cent of cataract surgeries were performed within the benchmark time. According to Bellan, the average patient requires cataract surgery at about 74 years old. So as members of the baby boom generation hit their early-to-mid 70s, the issue of long waits will only get progressively worse unless action is taken. Complicating matters is that Manitoba has one of the lowest ratios of ophthalmologists per population in the country, Bellan said. While surgical capacity hasnt been a major limiting factor here so far, it could in the future, he said. If funding became more abundant, more opthalmologists would be needed, he said, given that surgeons need to spend a portion of their time providing medical care outside of the operating room. larry.kusch@freepress.mb.ca Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 03/01/2017 (2131 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. The diminished NDP caucus is tentatively scheduled to meet next Tuesday at the legislature to decide the future of suspended MLA Mohinder Saran. The NDP confirmed Tuesday the longtime MLA for The Maples who has been the subject of two allegations of sexual harassment will learn whether he will be readmitted to the caucus or face further discipline that could go as far as permanent expulsion from the party. Sources said the meeting will also be an opportunity to get greater insight into how interim leader Flor Marcelino handled the scandal. It appeared that after learning of the most recent allegation against Saran, Marcelino waited days if not weeks before revealing the details to the other members of elected caucus. MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES NDP MLA Mohinder Saran, suspended from caucus, will earn his fate after a meeting Tuesday. Sources said Marcelino had tried to mediate some sort of resolution between Saran and the young woman who made the allegation. That raised the spectre of the interim leader attempting to persuade the woman not to make a formal complaint, an allegation Marcelino has since denied. Sources said members of caucus reduced to 12 with Sarans suspension and the imminent resignation of Point Douglas MLA Kevin Chief are still unclear about exactly what transpired before the allegations became public. People are very, very concerned and dont really know what happened here, said one well-placed party source. The meeting on the 10th will allow people to get all the information they need and make an informed decision on Sarans future. Caucus has been divided on the issue of Sarans future, according to sources. New Democrat MLAs Nahanni Fontaine, Wab Kinew, Andrew Swan and Matt Wiebe have been pushing for a resolution to deal with the matter head-on and decisively, explained a party source. Some within that faction want to see Saran expelled from caucus, said a source who did not want to single out any specific names. Meanwhile, sources say other members of caucus such as Jim Maloway, Rob Altemeyer, Ted Marcelino and Flor Marcelino have shown more loyalty to Saran, as well as concern the party could lose The Maples in the future or in the event of a byelection if Saran resigns. Saran narrowly won his seat on April 19, with only 127 votes between him and Progressive Conservative candidate Kaur Sidhu. Its unclear which side, if any, former premier Greg Selinger who Saran backed in the 2015 NDP leadership race and helped deliver 117 delegate votes from The Maples has taken. Saran was not suspended immediately following the official complaint. Marcelino, who was the first person in the caucus to learn of the allegation, withheld that information for a period of time. When it was finally revealed to caucus the week of the throne speech, sources said she still had no clear idea what to do about it. The recent allegation against Saran became public in mid-December. Sources confirmed that a young woman who had been working in Sarans constituency office had filed an official human resources complaint alleging sexual harassment. The woman has since been transferred to another job, away from Sarans staff. Marcelinos performance underwent further scrutiny when she inadvertently identified the complainant in an email erroneously sent to the Free Press. Multiple sources within the party believe her handling of the Saran situation has put her leadership ability into question. Saran has not made any public comment about the allegation. His lawyer released a statement in December indicating that the veteran MLA was undergoing sensitivity training and expected, upon completion, to be readmitted to caucus. dan.lett@freepress.mb.ca kristin.annable@freepress.mb.ca Opinion Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 04/01/2017 (2130 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. As 2016 ended, the Liberal partys first full year back in power since it was defeated in the 2006 election also came to a close. The year 2016 was one the Liberals are likely delighted to bid farewell to, one in which Justin Trudeaus government struggled to a degree thats unusual for a government still relatively young. Thinking about the party back in power, I took advantage of the holiday to return to what will surely become a classic: R. Kenneth Cartys Big Tent Politics: The Liberal Partys Long Mastery of Canadas Public Life, fortuitously published along with the Liberal partys return to power in 2015 after its long period in the political wilderness. Cartys book places Trudeaus Liberals in a long historical perspective, and helps to understand some of what were now seeing from the party. It would make a very fine retroactive stocking stuffer for that aunt you forgot during Christmas shopping. The first thing that can be said about the Liberal party is its historical success is nothing short of remarkable. The party was in power at the federal level in Canada for most of the 20th century (the provincial level is a different but equally interesting story). As Carty notes, this record places the Liberals among the most successful parties in the democratic world. SEAN KILPATRICK / THE CANADIAN PRESS FILES While Justin Trudeau campaigned on the left, he appears to be acting as a broker as prime minister. The Liberal partys achievement is all the more extraordinary considering it occurred within the context of a country that changed significantly during the 20th century. From 1900 to 2000, Canadas population grew by roughly 25 million. Over time, Canadians concentrated in cities, transforming the country from a rural former colony into a highly urbanized modern state. Further, that population shifted west, reducing Ontario and Quebecs previous demographic dominance in the federation. Whereas the division between English-speaking Protestants and French-speaking Catholics characterized early Canada, the countrys identity diversified in a number of ways throughout the 20th century. Yet, throughout this change and upheaval, Liberal electoral triumph was a near-constant. The story of Liberal success is therefore one of Liberal adaptation. And just as the Liberals successfully manoeuvred these changes to the country, so too were they responsible for many fundamental changes themselves. For example, Carty notes it was Liberal governments that established both the Yukon Territory in 1898 and, a full century later, Nunavut in 1999. What type of Liberal party developed to achieve this record of success over time? While most parties in the democratic world exist to take sides, the Liberals instead became a brokerage party: one committed to balancing interests and building coalitions over time between different groups in Canada. (Thus Cartys big tent: the party welcomed almost anyone who wished to join.) The thinking behind this approach was that Canada was too young and fragile to have real conflict between parties, which would surely tear the country apart. Instead, party elites tried to paper over rather than exacerbate divisions within Canadian society, especially the division between French, Catholic Quebec and the rest of Canada. The result was what Andre Siegfried, a visiting French aristocrat who published his observations in 1906, called unwholesome caricatures of real political parties. The Liberal party was a party that fiercely campaigned and often won, but which eschewed adherence to particular groups or ideas in favour of appealing instead to a wide swath of the electorate. It was also a party in which the role of leader which Carty refers to as the chief broker would be essential. Indeed, its difficult to imagine the success of the party in the absence of its most important leaders: Wilfrid Laurier, William Lyon Mackenzie King, Pierre Trudeau and Jean Chretien. The question to ask of the partys 2015 comeback is, therefore, how did the party adapt in order to win again? And, given that the circumstances leading to its win in 2015 were not entirely under its control, how is the party adapting as a government to win again? Can we understand the Liberals 2015 comeback as a triumph of brokerage politics over the ideological politics of the Conservative party and the NDP? Im not so sure. On one hand, leadership appears to have been crucial to the Liberals success in 2015. Polling by the Local Parliament Project during the campaign showed that Justin Trudeau performed well in the leaders debates. As Trudeaus personal approval among Canadians trended sharply upwards in the last two weeks of the campaign, so too did the partys chances of winning. On the other hand, Trudeau did not particularly behave like a broker in 2015. Instead, he ran a progressive, centre-left campaign that was likely designed to edge out the NDP on the left. While NDP leader Thomas Mulcair promised to run balanced budgets, for example, Trudeau promised to spend lavishly on infrastructure, adding to the deficit in the process. Trudeaus left-of-centre campaign seems to have helped to win him the election. Local Parliament Project data demonstrate that, midway through the campaign, Trudeau became the tactical choice of centre-left anti-Harper voters. As expectations that the Liberals would form a government increased, voters hoping to see Harper defeated abandoned the NDP and embraced the Liberal party as the best hope of doing so. So: Trudeau has more than a few obligations to voters on the left. Campaign on the left, govern on the right is a common adage applied to the Liberals. And it seems to apply here: while Trudeau campaigned on the left, he appears to be acting as a broker as prime minister, balancing interests in such a way that some policy decisions are likely to have left many past voters regretting their decision to cast their ballots for him. This is because brokerage is often impossible when confronted with zero-sum issues. A good example is the Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain pipeline expansion through suburban Vancouver, which the government recently approved despite strong opposition. In this case, pipeline opponents won and pipeline opponents lost. Still, brokerage politicians particularly the Liberal partys chief broker can be expected to present decisions as both balanced and moderate even when they are not. On cue, Trudeau explained, Were actually able to approve pipelines when everyone wants protection of the environment, as though that will provide comfort to environmentalists, First Nations and others who opposed the pipeline. Liberals might respond to this critique by pointing to the climate pact the federal government has recently persuaded most provincial governments to accept. Environmentalists might have to tolerate a few pipelines, so the brokerage argument might go, but in return they get climate change action they could only have dreamed of under the former Conservative government. This is an argument one could imagine Mackenzie King making (in private, of course). At the same time, Trudeaus government still appears to be getting the hang of brokerage. As with its pipeline approval, the Liberals governing instincts, in sharp contrast to their campaigning instincts, seem to cut to the right. In October, Finance Minister Bill Morneau raised eyebrows by suggesting Canadians would have to get used to job churn (non-stable, short-term employment and multiple career changes), a seeming departure from Trudeaus claim that his government promoted economic growth that works for everyone. And, even as indigenous pipeline protesters in Standing Rock, N.D., were being sprayed by water cannons and having German shepherds sicced on them, Canadas natural resources minister, Jim Carr, responded to a question about how the Canadian government would react to non-peaceful pipeline protesters by threatening to call in police forces and defence forces. By this point, many strategic voters who cast their ballots for Trudeau in order to remove former prime minister Stephen Harper from office might be feeling very sheepish indeed. There were also the partys clumsy attempts to square its aggressive fundraising techniques with Trudeaus lofty sunny ways campaign rhetoric from 2015. Trudeau himself appears oddly comfortable with what opposition politicians (not unreasonably) refer to as cash-for-access banquets. Further, he appears willing to spend some of the substantial goodwill he enjoys from Canadians by protesting that such events are legally, if not politically, sound. Just as the Liberal party has had to adapt to new realities in the past, so too does it now have to adapt to fundraising rules that render obsolete its traditional use of party bagmen dispatched to collect large contributions from moneyed donors. After nearly a decade of being shellacked in fundraising by the Conservatives, who have long since mastered the art of raking in small contributions from many donors, the Liberals must now either find ways to make that system work for them or make the changes necessary to allow it to work for them. Already we hear rumours the Liberals will resurrect the state subsidies that financed parties until the former Conservative government abolished them. The year 2016 was one of adaptation in power for the Liberal party, one in which it tried to walk the tightrope of brokerage politics and was often in danger of falling off one side. In 2017, the prime ministers brand of brokerage leadership already distinguishable from that of his predecessors will become even clearer. The Liberals are, overall, in a weaker position now than they were throughout most of the 20th century. The forces that knocked them from power in 2006 and into third place behind the NDP in 2011 havent disappeared. The degree to which Trudeau succeeds in his new role of chief broker will, to a great degree, determine whether the Liberals have staged either a genuine comeback or one last gasp in power. Royce Koop is an associate professor and head of the department of political studies at the University of Manitoba. Opinion Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 04/01/2017 (2130 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. It is hard to know how best to memorialize Carrie Fisher, who died at age 60 on Dec. 27. For her fans, there is a certain reverence that has always accompanied her name. She is famous for many reasons being the daughter of Hollywood royalty, as a talented novelist, screenwriter and script doctor and, of course, for her iconic portrayal of Princess Leia in the Star Wars franchise. She was larger than life, a supernova of energy and humour, and its hard to fathom a world without her brilliant voice and ingenious presence. When her mother, screen legend Debbie Reynolds, died 24 hours after Fisher did, the tragedy of Fishers death seemed forever encapsulated in her mothers terminal heartbreak. As Leia, Fisher changed the way women were perceived in a previously male-dominated genre. In her first appearance in A New Hope, Leia, like Fisher at the time, is only 19 and already leading a massive rebellion against the galactic Empire. She is brash and opinionated and she assumes command of her own rescue mission with confidence and skill beyond her years. HANDOUT / TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX Carrie Fisher (centre) as Princess Leia Organa in the original 1977 Star Wars film. Fisher sardonically embraced the absurdity that Leia brought to her life: the hairdo, the infamous golden bikini, and the resulting merchandise that saw her likeness featured on everything from action figures to toothbrushes. She understood Leia was a part of her and that she was Leias custodian. She was often photographed raising her middle finger toward adoring audiences, statues of Jabba the Hutt, or talk-show hosts, a fond salute that seemed to come with a wink and a grin. In her numerous appearances at pop-culture conventions, she would anoint her fans with the glitter pens she kept at her table. Leia was an empowering figure to so many, and Carrie Fisher celebrated rather than shunned her place in the lives of her fans. At 24, she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, and in the years after, she became something of a self-appointed champion for mental health-care awareness. Fisher appeared fearless, shedding any pretence of stigma associated with addiction or depression. In her 2008 memoir, Wishful Drinking, she wrote, At times, being bipolar can be an all-consuming challenge, requiring a lot of stamina and even more courage, so if youre living with this illness and functioning at all, its something to be proud of, not ashamed of. They should issue medals along with the steady stream of medication. She spoke openly about her treatment plan and her relapses with an assurance that seemed to challenge anyone who would dare try to shame her. In The Force Awakens (2015), Fisher returned to the role of Leia, this time no longer a princess, but a general older, wiser, a woman who devoted her life to a cause she believed in. And just as Leia ably shouldered this new mantle, Fisher marched through the world with the same hard-earned wisdom. She was always accompanied by her therapy dog, Gary, a French bulldog who only added to her quirky persona. Except Gary was not an accessory; he served as yet another symbol of Fishers unflinching role as a mental-health warrior. With Gary by her side, Fisher carried with her visible evidence of her ongoing battle. And Gary became as much a celebrity as his owner, appearing on movie sets, next to Fisher on talk shows and in numerous pictures with fans. For illnesses that often carry such stigma, Fisher and Gary rewrote the script and provided a positive, public face, for those living with mental illness. CHRIS PIZZELLO / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILES Actress Debbie Reynolds (left) and her daughter Carrie Fisher died within a day of each other last week. There is no doubt Fisher would have had a cuttingly witty response to the outpouring of public grief, the lightsaber vigils or the numerous celebrity statements regarding her passing. It all feels too serious for a woman who was surrounded by laughter. The tears are appropriate, as are the accolades. But in true Carrie Fisher style, it would seem more apt to playfully raise a middle finger skyward and feel gratitude toward a woman who was unabashedly herself. Her bravery, her vulnerability and her honesty made it safe for others to follow suit and that makes her eternally heroic both in this galaxy and whichever galaxy is now lucky enough to have her. Lauren Chochinov is an instructor of English literature at the University of Winnipeg. Opinion Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 04/01/2017 (2130 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Canadas trade authorities are polishing their strategy for trade negotiations with the incoming Donald Trump administration in Washington. They are inviting the U.S. side to work on improvements to the existing trade treaties that will benefit all the parties. Whether the parties include Mexico, the newest party to the North American Free Trade Agreement, remains to be seen. One strand of Mr. Trumps discourse has been America First. That slogan may mean something when a politician is talking to a local audience, but it doesnt take you very far in a trade negotiation. If Canada demands a deal that puts Canada first and the U.S. insists on America first and Mexico insists on Mexico first, then there can be no deal, and the negotiations will quickly end. The purpose of negotiating is to find terms advantageous to all the parties. So if America first cannot in fact be the U.S. bargaining stance, some other principle will have to guide the U.S. negotiators. The exercise around the threatened Carrier furnace-plant closure in Indianapolis may provide some clues. DARRON CUMMINGS / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILES U.S. president-elect Donald Trump Carrier, a subsidiary of United Technologies, built a plant in Mexico and told its 2,000 Indianapolis furnace-makers the work would be moved there for the lower wages. Mr. Trump objected to the move during the election campaign. After he won the election, he called the company and asked them to keep the Indiana plant open. The state of Indiana, meanwhile, offered the company special tax incentives. Carrier agreed to keep the plant open with 850 workers. Mr. Trump announced he had saved 1,000 American jobs and visited the plant to receive applause on the shop floor. The wage structure and other forces that continue to push U.S. jobs to Mexico remained in place. Mr. Trump was hazy about the details of the Carrier deal. What he called 1,000 jobs was actually 850, maintained by state tax incentives. A plant with 2,000 people was still being scaled back to 850. That was enough for Mr. Trump to issue a tweet about his success and travel to Indianapolis to receive applause. This is worth keeping in mind as Canada talks trade rules with the new administration. U.S. trade officials have vast experience and knowledge of trade policy, but they will work for a president who mainly wants the applause, even if he doesnt really know the details. What his negotiators have to deliver for their boss is opportunities for tweets and applause. The Canadian team should keep a close eye on Mr. Trumps Twitter feed and imagine what tweet he wants to issue the day a new trade deal is concluded. It might be something along the lines of Weve torn up the terrible Clinton trade deal that was destroying American jobs. This is how we make America great again. If the process gives him the chance for a tweet like that, hell probably sign. Mr. Trumps instinct is to erect barriers to trade. These will drive up prices for the cheap goods American consumers buy in Walmart and will tend to sustain the most inefficient U.S. producers. Canada cannot, however, compel the Trump administration to defend the U.S. consumers interest in freer trade. What the Canadian side can do is protect this countrys interest in freer trade and give Mr. Trump the tweet material and the applause lines he wants. In the wake of controversy regarding his academic credentials, Winona Area Public Schools superintendent Stephen West has offered his resignation effective 11:59 p.m. Thursday. Wests resignation will be considered by the school board as their first order of business at their regular meeting Thursday night. According to the terms of the separation agreement to be voted on by the board, Wests resignation will be irrevocable upon acceptance. He will be paid for accrued and unused sick days, vacation time, and paid leave at his regular rate of pay, not to exceed $26,819. The district will make a $4,400 contribution to Wests health savings account and cover his family health insurance premiums to the end of June 2017. The agreement further specifies that its acceptance may not be construed as an admission of liability or wrongdoing by either party and that the parties agree not to make any disparaging comments or statements about one another. This agreement follows Wests announcement in November that he would be resigning as the superintendent, effective June 30. Wests resignation announcement followed public questions regarding the authorship of his 2009 doctoral dissertation African Americans Motivations for Becoming Principals. It was alleged that significant portions of Wests dissertation included material that was extremely similar to portions of a dissertation titled Career Development of African American Male High School Principals, published in 2007 by Dennis Leroy Humphrey at the University of Georgia. A side-by-side comparison of the abstract of Humphreys dissertation and the summary of Wests, as published in the MnPALS Union Catalog, reveals significant similarities between the two documents, including research questions and descriptions of methodologies and findings that differed only in details of word choice. Wests dissertation was listed in the Saint Marys University library catalog at both the Winona and Twin Cities campuses. However, the copies have been removed from the library shelves, and when a request to view a copy of the dissertation was presented, the university responded that the material is not available in our library catalog, either online or in written format. According to a Dec. 19 statement issued by Saint Marys University, Mr. West does not hold a doctoral degree from Saint Marys University of Minnesota. Previously, Saint Marys affirmed that West had been awarded a doctor of education degree in 2009, and celebrated him as a successful alumnus in the fall 2014 issue of Saint Marys Magazine, shortly after West was hired as WAPS superintendent. The university does affirm that West holds a masters degree in education, granted in 1998. A university spokesperson said that legal constraints intended to protect the privacy of educational records prevented the university from disclosing details of the situation surrounding Wests dissertation and doctoral degree. When contacted in December, West said he was not at liberty to speak about the matter, and has since made no public statement regarding the allegations. West has led the school district since the Winona Area Public Schools board approved his contract in spring 2014. This summer the board voted unanimously to extend his contract for another three years, following strong performance reviews. He inherited an uncertain facilities future among rising maintenance costs in aging buildings, a widening achievement gap and slipping test scores, and a pair of upcoming referendums to for operating and technology funding, among other key initiatives. He and consultants led the board through the difficult decision to close three elementary schools in December, saw the approval of both referendums in November, and has implemented innovative programming, like AVID, to address the achievement gap Four people were injured in separate rollover accidents two miles apart on an icy Interstate 90 in Winona County Monday afternoon. Around 2 p.m., Jared D. Leis, 32, of La Crosse, was eastbound near mile marker 265 with Sara Severson, 34, of La Crosse, when he lost control of the vehicle and it rolled into the median. Both Leis and Severson were taken to Gundersen Lutheran in La Crosse with non-life threatening injuries. The Nodine Fire Department and Tri-State Ambulance responded to the accident. The Minnesota Department of Transportation assisted with traffic control. Later that day around 4:45 p.m., Cherily Jorgensen, 22, of Owatonna, Minn. was eastbound near mile marker 263 with Nicholas Edmond, 21, of Rochester, Minn., when she lost control of her vehicle and rolled into the median. Jorgensen and Edmond were taken to Winona Health with non-life threatening injuries. A government attorney on Tuesday defended his handling of a case in which he did not enforce a Sauk County mans removal from property deemed a health hazard. Before an oversight committee, Sauk County Corporation Counsel Todd Liebman addressed the case of Christopher Scott Mueller, 64, who was found dead in his town of Bear Creek trailer in October. Liebman also had a face-to-face confrontation with a county supervisor who has criticized his handling of the matter. The two exchanged words before a crowd of about 20 people. People have the right to live how they live, if theyre competent, Liebman said to members of the Sauk County Boards Executive and Legislative Committee. Mr. Mueller lived the way he chose to live. Were sorry for what happened to him. Records show county officials had declared Muellers property a public health nuisance nearly two years before to his death. They alleged he didnt have a working septic system, was dumping human waste, and had an illegal junkyard outside his unpermitted mobile home. In November 2015, Liebman had Mueller served with an abatement order demanding he vacate and clean the property within 30 days, or face legal action. The countys environmental health ordinance says Liebman has a duty to prosecute and enforce such orders. He never did so in the 10 months prior to Muellers death. In addressing the committee, Liebman said a zoning enforcement case was not the appropriate way to provide human services to an individual. He also said he could not discuss the Mueller case in detail due to privacy concerns. People are going to continue to die, Liebman said, adding that he believed the county took extraordinary steps to help Mueller. Its part of life. It happens. No one on the five-person committee questioned Liebman about the matter. But one non-committee supervisor in attendance took issue with Liebmans assertion that concern over the case was disingenuous, and part of a vendetta against him. This was not a vendetta directed toward you, Todd, said Supervisor Jean Berlin of Hillpoint, whose district includes Muellers property. You did not follow up on the abatement order. During a tense exchange, Liebman asked Berlin why she didnt do more to help Mueller, considering she lived nearby and serves on the countys Human Services Board. Did you ever bring him a hot meal? Liebman said. The fact that he died is no more my fault than it is your fault. Berlin said constituents familiar with Mueller brought the issue to her attention, and asked why the county didnt do more to help him. A zoning inspector wrote memos to Liebman in which he detailed Muellers poor health, and notified Liebman that Mueller had not complied with the 30-day abatement order deadline. Liebmans office has removed those documents from the zoning file, citing attorney-client privilege. In a prior interview, Liebman said he believes that if the county had ejected Mueller, he would have died elsewhere. Sauk County Coroner Greg Hahn ruled that Mueller died of natural causes, but also said he was unsure whether environmental factors played a role, because no autopsy was done. The BP Gas Station at 1112 S. Madison St., Beaver Dam, was robbed for a second time in a week at 9:13 p.m. Tuesday and now a $500 reward is being offered. Dodge County Sheriff Dale Schmidt announced the reward in a news release Tuesday night. He said the station owners are offering the reward for credible information leading to the arrest and conviction of the man who robbed the station. The suspect is described as a white male, between 5 feet 7 inches and 5 feet 10 inches tall, with a thin build. He was wearing a bandana or similar item over his face, a hooded sweatshirt and jeans. Those with Information should contact the Dodge County Sheriffs Office at 386-3726 ext. 4. An undisclosed amount of cash was taken Tuesday. No weapon was displayed in the robbery, but Schmidt said the clerk acted appropriately not knowing if the suspect may have been hiding a weapon. Video cameras are being reviewed but no images are available to be released at this time. The suspect fled on foot in a northerly direction from the gas station toward the Lakecrest Drive apartment complexes. The BP station was robbed at 9 p.m. on Dec. 31 by a suspect with the same description as in the Tuesday robbery. The man demanded money from an employee in that robbery and was given an undisclosed amount of cash before leaving. The station has become a target with robberies reported Dec. 8, 2015, and Jan. 19, 2014. If you are like me, you bristle at some of the trendy terms, but then we end up using them anyway. One phrase that came into being over a decade ago (so actually it is not very new and probably not trendy anymore) is new normal. In fact, you know when it is on its way out when someone writes a book with the phrase as the title. New Normal has been in a number of books since 2004, with topics ranging from careers to investments and business. Several books with that title are fiction with conflict, romance and tragedy. One is about brain transplants to prolong life. That really would be a NEW normal. The New Normal, by Peter Hinssen, 2010, was about the digital society and how businesses need to reinvent themselves (another buzz word of the time). He did a great job of explaining what the next era might look like and what the new rules will be. Staying relevant and incorporating all the innovative solutions is required of all of us and not just in business and industry. We all have been adjusting to new normals all our lives. When my parents bought a television set in days gone by, they plugged it in, adjusted the antenna, and had all the stations available from then on for the cost of a TV. Now we can buy a television any size screen we want, but it does nothing of value until we sign on to a monthly contract to get channels. The more we want, the more we pay. Now add a fee for Netflix, another for Amazon, and dont forget the Blue Ray player and voila. Viewing in the comfort of our own homes like nothing before a new normal. Another new normal is new laws in a number of states. Legal marijuana sold in corner shops are popping up all over Colorado, Oregon and California. They look just like donut or craft stores. People spent jail time, lost their jobs, were kicked out of school and had their lives destroyed by doing what now is legal and accepted in some states. The New Normal television series is about what once might have been referred to as a non-traditional family before it became as traditional as whatever was considered normal. Growing up in my village a normal family had two parents, four to 12 children and maybe a few miscellaneous relatives who were working as hired hands on the farm. One such relative was not actually related at all. He was called uncle by my friends family rather than cousin Bettys boy who never quite got a real job. Our family wasnt normal, because we only had three children, two parents and a grandpa who lived with us one-fourth of the year as he moved from daughter to daughter after his wife died. We also had a cousin live with us in her teen years so that padded our numbers, but we still were on the low end of the curve. Smaller families with a single parent, or multiple families living together are all normal today. There is no one normal. So, when your child asks you what is normal, you can answer honestly, Just a setting on the dryer, dear. In 2006, the organization World Vision reduced carbon emission by funding a tree planting project in Ethiopia. Offsetting more than 22,000 tons of carbon dioxide, this project created jobs, restored 12 water springs, and increased soil fertility. One local citizen said, We used to eat twice a day, now we eat three times a day. For them, that is their new normal and it will change their lives forever. The New Normal is also a blog to guide businesses, investors, and governments through the volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity created by todays New Normal of globally ageing populations. Wow, I didnt even know I needed guidance of this magnitude. Whatever the new normal, I think we can adjust. We all know what the final frontier of new normal is; the Cubs winning the World Series. Or was that hell freezing over? Green Party presidential nominee Jill Stein said a roughly $1.5 million refund from the Wisconsin recount could go toward a new voter advocacy effort in the state. Stein, who received about 1 percent of the vote and gained 66 votes in the recount, held a rally Tuesday at the state Capitol to address the results of the states historic recount, which her campaign paid $3.5 million to initiate, and launch Count My Vote Wisconsin. The event drew a few dozen people, though many of them were reporters. The recount added 131 votes to Republican President-elect Donald Trumps victory over Democrat Hillary Clinton. It also corrected more than 11,000 erroneously counted votes out of nearly 3 million cast, but found no major structural problems with the states voting system. Steins campaign raised more than $7 million in a short period to fund recounts in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania. Only the Wisconsin recount made it past court challenges seeking to halt all three. Stein said there are still some litigation costs her campaign must pay, but that any surplus will pay for advocating for changes such as replacing voting machines with hand-marked ballots read by optical scanners, ensuring audits of elections take place and requiring recounts in close races. She said the groups advocacy will also include fighting against voter ID laws and interstate voter registration cross-check systems that have been used to purge voter rolls in some states, implementing a voting method that allows voters to rank candidates rather than pick one and replacing the commission that oversees presidential debates with something that would be friendlier to third-party candidates. The Wisconsin Election Commission said Tuesday the actual cost of the recount stands at $1.8 million, with two counties yet to report final costs (Brown and Kenosha counties combined estimate was about $368,000). Altogether thats about half of what the counties originally estimated. Stein said it shouldnt take a bake sale on steroids to ensure the integrity of an election. Its not the only instance in which we the voters were told if we the voters wanted to have a verified vote it was going to cost us an obscene amount of money, Stein said. It seemed like this was part of a broader resistance to transparency and accountability in our vote. Stein also criticized the recount for not being done completely by hand. More than 55 percent of the votes were recounted by hand, but Milwaukee, with higher poverty and potentially more ballot issues, was one of the counties that did a machine recount. Wisconsin Elections Commission spokesman Reid Magney noted the machine recount still identified errors and didnt simply replicate the original count, as Stein suggested. Thats because officials and observers conducting the recount in Milwaukee could still flag ballots that machines didnt read properly the first time. There are improvements we can and will make for training and other materials, Magney said, but added, most of the errors were human and not machine. Three suspects are in custody and police are working to apprehend a fourth in the shooting death of Jason Laack. Laack, 22, of rural Rio, was shot to death in an alleged drug dispute Dec. 18 at the Cattail Lodge in Portage. Elisha M.D. Bias, 20, and Marcus S. Johnson, 23, both of Madison, were taken into custody before the new year and have since been transferred to Columbia County Jail, Detective Dan Garrigan said Wednesday. Mario Brown Jr., also of Madison, was arrested Dec. 19 and made his initial appearance in court Tuesday. Details regarding Bias, Johnson and the fourth suspect were withheld by police until Wednesday to ensure the investigation of the fourth suspect wouldnt be impeded. Late Wednesday afternoon, Garrigan reported that police had identified the fourth suspect as Christopher A. Bolin, 23, and were working to apprehend him. Brown, 24, faces life imprisonment if he is convicted on charges of first-degree intentional homicide as party to the crime and use of a dangerous weapon. Garrigan expects the other suspects will face similar charges. Assisting Portage police in the arrests were the Wisconsin Department of Corrections Probation and Parole, Madison Police Department, McFarland Police Department and the Dane County Sheriffs Office. Neighborhood canvassing conducted by Portage police resulted in security camera images of the suspects and their vehicle, a silver 2003 Mazda 6, Garrigan said. Portage police traveled to Madison to assist in the separate arrests of Bias and Johnson. Anyone with information about this crime is encouraged to contact the Portage police at 608-742-2174. According to the criminal complaint, police responded to a report of a shooting at 7:57 p.m. Dec. 18 at the Cattail Lodge, 1721 New Pinery Road, where officers found Laack unresponsive on the floor. Emergency life-saving measures were taken by the officers and then by emergency medical technicians who arrived later at the scene. Laack was declared dead by a Columbia County medical examiner at 9:30 p.m. An autopsy performed at the Dane County Medical Examiners Office found Laacks cause of death to be injuries from gunshot wounds. Also present at the scene were the victims sister and her boyfriend. According to the complaint, Laacks sister told officers she knew Brown from school and had arranged for him to come to the Cattail Lodge to purchase a quarter-pound of marijuana from her brother. Brown reportedly arrived at the apartment with three other people. Brown and another man entered the apartment, where a dispute over the drug transaction ensued. The man who entered with Brown took a handgun and pointed it at the boyfriend, cocked the gun and pulled the trigger, but nothing happened. Brown was then handed the gun, at which point Laack placed himself between Brown and the boyfriend. Laacks sister and her boyfriend reportedly ran to the bathroom and called the police. While in the bathroom, they heard gunshots and what sounded like a struggle. When they came out of the bathroom, Laack was laying on the floor alone in the room and told them hed been shot. According to the complaint, Browns past convictions include disorderly conduct, multiple instances of burglary and robbery, battery and felony bail jumping. PARDEEVILLE Barry Pufahl observed that his work as a Pardeeville village trustee doesnt end when the third-Tuesday-of-the-month Village Board meetings are adjourned. At Lions Club meetings, at the Pardeeville Curling Club, or when he plays cards with friends and neighbors, Pufahl hears concerns and complaints about the villages operations. And its getting harder, he said, not to take the comments personally. Thats why Pufahl who has been a trustee or village president off and on since 1985 has declared that he doesnt want another two-year term. Im not getting out because I hate the community or hate the job, he said. It was time to take a break, cool down and enjoy being a citizen. Pufahl, 76, said hes a little old and a little tired since undergoing cancer treatments. And he and his wife, Margo whose retirement from United Community Bank will happen soon would like to travel, including to warm-climate destinations. Brandon Bledsoe, Pardeevilles village clerk, said there is a full slate of candidates on the ballot for the April 4 non-partisan election. The other two incumbents whose terms are up Jim Buckley and Connie Pease have declared their candidacy, as has a newcomer, Craig Crary. Pufahl said younger adults, perhaps those with young families, have a strong stake in the future of any community and should participate in the decision-making process though he acknowledged the time demands of elected municipal service, even in a small community, can be daunting for people with children and a full-time job. The hardest thing for an elected village official to do, Pufahl said, is to make decisions, and try not to take it personally if a citizen disagrees. His advice: Listen. Try to explain, Dont argue. And try not to take it personally. Pufahl who is retired from the Pardeeville School District, where he taught a variety of subjects at the middle-school level and was the assistant principal said this advice has held him in good stead in his work as a Columbia County supervisor, a job he hopes to hold onto for the foreseeable future. (All 28 supervisors stand for election in April of even-numbered years.) For example, he said, people who raised concerns to him about the countys $45.51 million building project usually are satisfied once he tells them of the space struggles experienced by the Department of Health and Human Services and the security concerns in the courts. In other election-related news, Pardeevilles race for village president will be a rematch of the race two years ago. Trustee Bob Abrath, who has a year left in his term, is again seeking to unseat Robert Becker, who is vying for his fifth term. The 2015 election ended with Becker prevailing by just five votes. The 200-195 tally was confirmed in an April 2015 recount, in which each ballot was re-tabulated by hand. 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. 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. Between a rock and a hard place As final negotiations take place among the mainstream parties over the current political deadlock, considerable challenges remain ahead for Nepali politics. Fortune Brands Home & Security, Inc. provides home and security products for residential home repair, remodeling, new construction, and security applications. It operates in three segments: Plumbing, Outdoors & Security, and Cabinets. The Plumbing segment manufactures, assembles, and sells faucets, accessories, kitchen sinks, and waste disposals under the Moen, ROHL, Riobel, Victoria+Albert, Perrin & Rowe, and Shaws brands in the United States, China, Canada, Mexico, Southeast Asia, Europe, and South America directly through its own sales force, as well as through independent manufacturers' representatives to wholesalers, home centers, mass merchandisers, and industrial distributors. The Outdoors & Security segment offers fiberglass and steel entry door systems under the Therma-Tru brand; storm, screen, and security doors under the Larson brand; composite decking and railing under the Fiberon brand; and urethane millwork under the Fypon brand. This segment also manufactures, sources, and distributes locks, safety and security devices, and electronic security products under the Master Lock and American Lock brands; and fire resistant safes, security containers, and commercial cabinets under the SentrySafe brand. It serves home centers, hardware and other retailers, millwork building products and wholesale distributors, specialty dealers, and remodeling and renovation markets, as well as locksmiths, industrial and institutional users, and original equipment manufacturers in the United States, Canada, Europe, Central America, Japan, and Australia. The Cabinets segment manufactures custom, semi-custom, and custom cabinetry, as well as vanities for the kitchen, bath, and other parts of the home directly to kitchen and bath dealers, home centers, wholesalers, and builders in North America under the AOK, Diamond Brands, Homecrest, Kitchen Craft, Omega, and EVE brands. The company was incorporated in 1988 and is headquartered in Deerfield, Illinois. EnerSys provides various stored energy solutions for industrial applications worldwide. It operates in three segments: Energy Systems, Motive Power, and Specialty. The company offers uninterruptible power systems applications for computer and computer-controlled systems, as well as telecommunications systems; switchgear and electrical control systems used in industrial facilities and electric utilities, large-scale energy storage, and energy pipelines; integrated power solutions and services to broadband, telecom, renewable, and industrial customers; and thermally managed cabinets and enclosures for electronic equipment and batteries. It also provides motive power products that are used to provide power for electric industrial forklifts used in manufacturing, warehousing, and other material handling applications. In addition, the company offers mining equipment, diesel locomotive starting, and other rail equipment. Further, it provides specialty batteries for starting, lighting, and ignition applications in transportation; and energy solutions for satellites, military aircraft, submarines, ships, and other tactical vehicles, as well as medical and security systems. Additionally, the company offers battery chargers, power equipment, battery accessories, and outdoor cabinet enclosures, as well as related after-market and customer-support services for industrial batteries. The company sells its products through a network of distributors, independent representatives, and internal sales forces. The company was formerly known as Yuasa, Inc. and changed its name to EnerSys in January 2001. EnerSys was incorporated in 2000 and is headquartered in Reading, Pennsylvania. Valley National Bancorp operates as the holding company for Valley National Bank that provides various commercial, retail, insurance, and wealth management financial services products. It operates through Commercial Lending, Consumer Lending, and Investment Management segments. The company offers non-interest bearing, savings, NOW, money market, and time deposit accounts; commercial and industrial, commercial real estate, residential mortgage, and automobile loans; loans secured by the cash surrender value of life insurance; home equity loans and lines of credit; and secured and unsecured other consumer loans. It also invests in various securities and interest-bearing deposits with other banks; and provides international banking services, such as standby and documentary letters of credit, and related products, as well as foreign exchange transactions, documentary collections, foreign wire transfers services, and transaction accounts for non-resident aliens. In addition, the company offers investment services for individuals and small to medium sized businesses; and trusts and custom -tailored investment strategies for various retirement plans. Further, it provides trust services, such as living and testamentary trusts, investment management, custodial and escrow services, and estate administration to individuals; tax credit advisory services; property and casualty, life, health, and title insurance agency services; and health care equipment lending and other commercial equipment leasing services, as well as owns real estate related investments. Additionally, the company offers online, mobile, and telephone banking services; and overdraft, drive-in and night deposit, automated teller machine, remote deposit capture, and safe deposit facility services. As of December 31,2021, it operated 232 branch offices in New Jersey, New York, Florida, and Alabama. The company was incorporated in 1927 and is headquartered in New York, New York. Govt fix land compensation amount for Budhi Gandaki The compensation determination committee has fixed the compensation amount for land to be acquired by the Budhi Gandaki Hydroelectric Project in 13 VDCs of Dhading district. Govt working to attract youths in agriculture Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has said that the governments policy is to increase the attraction of youths towards agriculture by making quantitative growth in production in the sector. Morgan Stanley is the 6th largest financial institution in the US. The company is ranked 61st on the Forbes Fortune 500 list and is the 39th largest bank in the world. A financial holding company, Morgan Stanley provides a full range of financial services to clients around the world. Morgan Stanley was formed in 1935 as a result of the Glass-Steagall Act. Glass-Steagall separated commercial and investment banking in a way that forced the then-largest bank J.P. Morgan & Co to split into two groups. J.P. Morgan & Co. chose to retain the commercial side of the business while partners Henry S. Morga, grandson of J.P., and Harold Stanley took the investment end. In its first year, Morgan Stanley did 24% of the IPO business and maintains a lions share of the market to this day. The original company existed and grew through acquisitions until 1987 when it merged with Dean Witter Discover & Co. The new Morgan Stanley Dean Witter Discover & Co existed for 14 years until 2001 when the name was shortened back to Morgan Stanley. The bank is credited in part with both beginning and ending the financial crisis of 2007/2008. The Process Driven Trading unit lost $300 million in one day due to a short-squeeze that popped the bubble in the housing market. After teetering on the brink of failure Morgan Stanley agreed to become a bank holding company regulated by the Federal Reserve, a key factor in the original decision to split from parent J.P. Morgan & Co. Ironically when given the chance, present-day J.P. Morgan refused to buy Morgan Stanley but that was for the better. Today, Morgan Stanley operates through three segments via offices in 41 countries and employs more than 75,000 people. Revenue in 2021 topped $49 billion and total assets topped $1.15 trillion. The operating segments are Institutional Securities, Wealth Management, and Investment Management segments. The Institutional Securities segment is by far the largest and most profitable. It offers a range of services and products for businesses, institutions, and entities that include capital raising, strategic advisory, underwriting, advice on M&A, restructuring, and real estate. The Wealth Management segment provides brokerage and investment advisory services for individuals and employers. The services include brokerage, financial planning, company stock-plan administration, insurance, mortgage loans, lines of credit, and retirement planning. The Investment Management segment provides investment products to a range of institutions, organizations, corporations, and governments. The following companies are subsidiares of Accenture: 2nd Road, ?What If!, ?What If! China Holdings Limited, ?What If! Holdings Limited, ?What If! Limited, ACN Consulting Co Ltd, AD.Dialeto (Digital Agency acquired by Accenture), AFD.TECH, AGS Business and Technology Services Limited, AIG Shared Services Business Processing Inc, ASM Research Inc., ASM Research LLC, ATAN, Accenture (Botswana) (Proprietary) Limited, Accenture (China) Co. Ltd., Accenture (Shenzhen) Technology Co. Ltd., Accenture (South Africa) Pty Ltd, Accenture (UK) Limited, Accenture 2 Business Process Services S.A., Accenture 2 LLC, Accenture A/S, Accenture AB, Accenture AG, Accenture AS, Accenture Africa Pty Ltd, Accenture Agencia Interativa Ltda, Accenture Australia Holding B.V., Accenture Australia Holdings Pty Ltd, Accenture Australia Pty Ltd, Accenture B.V., Accenture BPM Operations Support Services S.A., Accenture BPM S.C.R.L., Accenture BPS Services S.p. z o.o., Accenture Branch Holdings B.V., Accenture Bulgaria EOOD, Accenture Business Services for Utilities Inc, Accenture Business Services of British Columbia Limited Partnership, Accenture Business and Technology Services LLC, Accenture C.A., Accenture Canada Holdings Inc, Accenture Capital Designated Activity Company, Accenture Capital Inc, Accenture Central Europe B.V., Accenture Chile Asesorias y Servicios Ltda, Accenture Cloud Services GmbH, Accenture Cloud Software Solutions Limited, Accenture Cloud Solutions Australia Pty Ltd, Accenture Cloud Solutions LLC, Accenture Cloud Solutions Pty Ltd, Accenture Co Ltd, Accenture Co. 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Ltd., Avanade Asia Pte Ltd, Avanade Australia Pty Ltd, Avanade Belgium SPRL, Avanade Canada Inc, Avanade Consulting Poland S.p. z o.o., Avanade Denmark A/S, Avanade Deutschland GmbH, Avanade Europe Holdings Limited, Avanade Europe Services Limited, Avanade Finland Oy, Avanade France SASU, Avanade Holdings LLC, Avanade Hong Kong Ltd, Avanade Inc, Avanade International Corporation, Avanade Ireland Limited, Avanade Italy S.r.l., Avanade Japan KK, Avanade Malaysia Sdn Bhd, Avanade Middle East Limited, Avanade Netherlands B.V., Avanade Norway AS, Avanade Poland S.p. z o.o., Avanade Schweiz GmbH, Avanade South Africa Pty Ltd, Avanade Spain S.L., Avanade Sweden AB, Avanade UK Limited, Avanade do Brasil Ltda , Avanade Osterreich GmbH, Avenai, Avieco, Axia Ltd., BABCN LLC, BCS Consulting, BCT Solutions, BCT Solutions Pty Ltd, BENEXT, BPO Servicos Administrativos Ltda, BRIDGE Energy Group, BRIDGEi2i, Beacon Consulting Group Inc., Beijing Genesis Interactive Technology Co. Ltd., Beijing Zhidao Future Consulting Co. Ltd, Benext, Berico Technologies LLC, Bionic, Bionic Solution LLC, Blue Horseshoe, Boomerang Pharmaceutical Communications, Bow & Arrow, Bow & Arrow Limited, Brand Learning, Brand Learning Group Limited, Brightstep AB, Byte Prophecy, Byte Prophecy Private Limited, CAS, CRMWaypoint, CS Technology (Australia) Pty Ltd, CS Technology (UK) Limited, CS Technology Group LLC, CS Technology LLC, CadenceQuest Inc., Callisto Integration Europe B.V., Callisto Integration Europe Limited, Callisto Integration LLC, Callisto Integration Ltd, Capgemini - North American health practice, Capital Consultancy Services Inc, Certus Solutions Consulting Services Limited, Certus Solutions Ltd, ChangeTrack Research Pty Ltd., Chaotic Moon Studios, Chengdu Mensa Advertising Co. Ltd., Cimation, Cirrus Connect Australia Pty Ltd, Cirrus Connect Limited, Cirruseo, Clarity Insights, ClearEdge Partners, Clearhead, Clearhead Group LLC, ClientHouse GmbH, Cloud Sherpas, Cloud Sherpas (GA) LLC, Cloud Sherpas Japan G.K., Cloud Sherpas New Zealand Limited, Cloudeasier SAS, Cloudpoint Limited, Cloudsherpas Inc, Cloudworks, Cloudworks Consulting Services Inc, Cloudworks Technology LLC, Computer Research and Telecommunications LLC, Concrete Desenvolvimento de Sistemas Ltda, Concrete Solutions, Concrete Solutions Ltda, Context Information Security, Context Information Security LLC, Context Information Security Limited, CoreCompete LLC, CoreCompete Limited, CoreCompete Private Limited, Corliant Inc., Creative Drive LLC, Creative Drive US LLC, CreativeDrive, CreativeDrive Digital Content Services (Shenzhen) Co Ltd., CreativeDrive EMEA Limited, CreativeDrive Singapore Pte Ltd, CreativeDrive UK Group Limited, Cutting Edge Solutions Limited, Cygni AB, Cygni Norrsken AB, Cygni Stockholm AB, Cygni Syd AB, Cygni Vast AB, Cygni Ost AB, Cygni Ostersund AB, DAZ Systems Inc, DAZ Systems LLC, DAZSI Systems (India) Pvt. Limited, DI Futures Corporation, Data Essential SARL, Davies Consulting, DayNine Consulting, DayNine Consulting (New Zealand) Limited, DayNine Consulting LLC, Declarative Holdings LLC, Decora Marketplace LLC, Decorado Marketplace Ltda-EPP, Defense Point Security, Deja vu Security, Design Strategy and Research de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Designaffairs LLC, Digiplug S.A.S., Digital Results Group LLC, Double Digit Limitada, Double Digit Pty SA, Droga5, Droga5 LLC, Droga5 Studios LLC, Droga5 UK Limited, Duck Creek Technologies, ESR Labs, ESR Labs AG, EdenOne Solutions Limited, Edenhouse ERP Holdings Limited, Edenhouse Solutions Limited, Enaxis Consulting, Enaxis Consulting LP, End to End Analytics LLC, End-to-End Analytics, Endorphin Medici (M) Sdn Bhd, Energuia Web S.A., Energy Management Brokers Limited, EnergyQuote JHA, Enimbos, Enimbos Global Services S.L., Enkitec, Enterprise Infrastructure Solutions LLC, Enterprise System Partners, Enterprise System Partners B.V., Enterprise System Partners Bilisim Danismanlik Ticaret Anonim Sirketi, Enterprise System Partners Global Corporation, Enterprise System Partners Limited, Enthusian Pty Ltd, Entropia, Entropia (M) Sdn Bhd, Entropia Holdings Pte Ltd, Entropia Intercraft Sdn Bhd, Epylon, Ergo, Espedia S.r.l., Ethica Consulting Group, Ethica Consulting S.p.A., Evopro Group, Exactside Limited, Experity, Exton Consulting, Exton Consulting Spain Strategy&Management S.L., Exton Germany GmbH, Exton International SAS, Exton Italia S.r.l., Exton SAS, FGM LLC, Fairway Technologies Inc, Farah BidCo Limited, Farah MidCo Limited, Farah Topco Limited, Filmproduction ApS, First Annapolis Consulting Inc., First Annapolis Consulting LLC, Fjord, Focus Group Europe, Formicary, Founders Intelligence, Fruendo S.r.l., FusionX, Future State Consulting LLC, FutureMove (Beijing) Automotive Technology Co. Ltd., FutureMove Automotive, FutureMove Automotive Co. Ltd., GRA Supply Chain Pty Ltd, Gagel Group S de R.L. de C.V., Gapso Servicos de Informatica Ltda, Gapso Servicos de Informatica Ltda., Genfour, George Group Consulting L.P., Gestalt LLC, Gevity, Gren utvikling AS, H.B. Maynard and Co. Inc., HRC Retail Advisory, Hagberg Consulting Group, Hahntel Ltda, Halo Partners LLC, Hamilton Holding Company S.A, Hangzhou Aiyunzhe Technology Co. Ltd., Happen, Happen GP Limited, Happen Limited, Headspring, Hjaltelin Stahl, Hjaltelin Stahl A/S, Hjaltelin Stahl K/S, Hytracc Consulting AS, Hytracc Consulting AS, Hytracc Consulting Malaysia Sdn Bhd, IBB Consulting, ICM.S S.r.l., IMJ Corp, IMJ Corporation, INSITUM, IQSP Consulting LLC, IT One Company Limited, ITBS Servicios Bancarios de Tecnologia de la Informacion SL, Icon Integration, Icon Integration (NZ) Limited, Icon Integration Pty Ltd, Imagine Broadband (USA) Limited, Imagine Broadband USA LLC, Imaginea Inc, Imaginea Technologies LLC, Industrie IT (Hong Kong) Ltd, Industrie IT (Singapore) Pte Ltd, Industrie IT Group Pty Ltd, Industrie IT Pty Ltd, Industrie&Co, Infinity Works Consulting Limited, Infinity Works Holdings Limited, Infinity Works Management Limited, Infinity Works Midco Limited, Informatica de Euskadi S.L., Innotec International EAD, Innotec International S.p. z.o.o., Innotec Marketing GmbH, Innotec Marketing International Ireland Limited, Innotec- Marketing Spain S.L, Insitum Consultoria Argentina SRL, Insitum Consultoria S.A. de C.V., International Biometric Group LLC, International Biometric Group UK Limited, Intrepid, Intrepid Futureworks Sdn Bhd, Intrigo Systems Inc, Intrigo Systems India Pvt. 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If you're having trouble locating a destination on Womenofchina.cn, try visiting the Womenofchina Home page Man shot at, robbed of Rs 500,000 An unidentified group shot at an operator of a Biratnagar-based money changer at Pipalchowk along the Biratnagar-Jogbani road section on Monday night. China agrees further Russian fuel reloads for fast reactor 04 January 2017 Share Russian nuclear fuel manufacturer TVEL has signed a contract with the China Institute of Atomic Energy (CIEA) for the supply of fuel to the Chinese Experimental Fast Reactor (CEFR). The CEFR (Image: China National Nuclear Corporation) The sodium-cooled, pool-type fast reactor was constructed with Russian assistance at CIEA, which undertakes fundamental research on nuclear science and technology. The reactor has a thermal capacity of 65 MW and can produce 20 MW in electrical power. The CEFR was built by Russia's OKBM Afrikantov in collaboration with OKB Gidropress, NIKIET and Kurchatov Institute. The new agreement, which was signed during a visit to China by a delegation from TVEL last month, covers the supply of two additional batches of fuel assemblies in 2017-2018 with loading into the reactor in 2019. In a statement on 28 December, TVEL said the contract will enter into force on 10 January and has a value of more than $50 million. TVEL and CIEA have worked together since 1999 on fuel supply to the CEFR. During their meeting last month, the two sides confirmed their willingness to deepen their collaboration, TVEL said. The Russian company has invited managers from CIEA to visit its enrichment plants in the first half of this year, while the Chinese side has invited TVEL president Yury Olenin to visit the institute in April. The CEFR was started up in July 2010 and was successfully operated at full capacity for the first time in December 2014. Core height is 45 cm, and it has 150 kg Pu (98 kg Pu-239). Temperature reactivity and power reactivity are both negative. The CEFR project was approved by the Chinese State Council in 1992, with final approval given in 1995. The China Experimental Fast Reactor is one of the major energy projects under the national high-tech research and development program of China's "National 863 Program". CIAE, which is based near Beijing, is the organizer of the project's construction. Researched and written by World Nuclear News Related topics The Republic of Azerbaijan is located in the crossroad area of Southeastern Europe and Southwest Asia known as South Caucasus. Azerbaijan is bordered by Armenia, Russia, Iran, Georgia, and the Caspian Sea. Azerbaijan has a population of more than 9 million with 52% being urban population while 48% being rural population. The vast majority of the country's residents are ethnic Azerbaijanis, while Lezgins are the largest ethnic minority. There are some other minority ethnic groups in Azerbaijan. Ethnic Groups Of Azerbaijan Azerbaijani The Azerbaijani also known as Azerbaijani Turks are an ethnic group that is found in the independent Republic of Iran and Iranian Azerbaijan. Azerbaijani are the second most populous ethnic group among the Turkic peoples after the Anatolian Turks. The Azerbaijani are also known as Azeri which refers to the Turkic people of Azerbaijan who were initially referred to as Turkmens, Turks, Ajam, Muslims, and Persians back when religious identification prevailed over ethnic identification. The Azerbaijani are predominantly Shia'i Muslims with a mixed cultural heritage which includes the Iranian, Turkic, and Caucasian elements whose official dialect is Azerbaijani. The Azerbaijani are the largest ethnic group in Azerbaijan with a total of 92% of the population. Lezgins The Lezgins are the second largest ethnic group and the largest ethnic minority group in Azerbaijan. Lezgins mostly reside in Northeastern Azerbaijan and southern Dagestan and their primary language is Lezgian. The present day Lezgins are more familiar with the Northeast Caucasian dialects. Lezgins are both linguistically and culturally closely related to the Aghuls and distantly related to the Tabasarans, Tsakhurs, and Rutuls and together with the people of northern Azerbaijan make up the indigenous Lezgic people. The Lezgins are predominantly Sunni Muslims with a small group of Shia Muslims. The Lezgins are best known for folk art including folk dance and music, and they account for 2% of Azerbaijan's population. Russians The Russians are the second largest minority group in Azerbaijan. The Russians first arrived in Azerbaijan during the first half of the 19th century as civilian Settlers after the Treaty of Turkmenchay was ratified. In the other half of the 19th century, Orthodox Russian immigrants started settling in the South region of Caucasus without any authorization. Interethnic conflicts together with the suppression from the Azerbaijan army led to most of the Russian population moving to the North of Caucasus. Russian is the main dialect for the Russians of Azerbaijan, and they are predominantly Orthodox Christians. Russians in Azerbaijan account for 1% of the population. Armenians The Armenians of Azerbaijan once lived in large numbers in both modern state and Soviet Azerbaijan. Due to the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict, most of the Armenian ethnic group in Azerbaijan had to flee the country with the remaining living in the Nagorno-Karabakh which is controlled by the breakaway region. Most of the Armenian population in Azerbaijan are either married to the Azeri or are of both Armenian and Azeri descent. The Armenians on Azerbaijan are at risk of Azeri attacks and the ongoing Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. The Armenians account for 1% of Azerbaijan's population. Talyshi The Talyshi are an indigenous ethnic group that is shared between Azerbaijan and Iran. The Talyshi speak the Talysh dialect in the southern parts of Azerbaijan. The Talyshi originated from the southwest region of the Caspian Sea. The Talyshi are said to have anthropologically belonged to the Iranian Indo-European people. The Talyshi accounts for 1% of the Azerbaijan population. Demographics Of Azerbaijan The demographic trends in Azerbaijan saw a notable change caused by both the Nagorno-Karabakh War and the fall of the Soviet Union which resulted in a significant number of ethnic minorities in Azerbaijan leaving the country. Apart from the primary ethnicity in Azerbaijan being Azerbaijani, there are some other minority ethnic groups aside from the three mentioned above. The other ethnic minority groups in Azerbaijan include the Avars, Ashkenazi Jews, and Georgians who account for 2% of the population. Mobile app for PP application launched Foreign Minister Prakash Sharan Mahat on Tuesday launched a mobile app in a bid to make the passport acquiring system more tech-friendly. What Is Avocado? Avocados are dark green, pear-shaped fruits that grow in 60-foot tall trees. Inside, the avocado has one large pit surrounded by soft flesh that has an almost butter-like texture when ripe. It is native to southern Mexico but can be found in tropical and Mediterranean climates all over the world today. Uses Of Avocado Avocado has many culinary uses from sandwich toppings to guacamole dip. It has become increasingly popular around the world, particularly in the US where per capita consumption has increased from 2 pounds to 7 over the last year. Additionally, avocado is used to produce cooking oil, cosmetics, and some soaps. This fruit is high in potassium and vitamins K, B6, B5, B9, and E. It also has a high monounsaturated fat content, which makes it a good substitute for vegetarians or people without access to meat and dairy products. Cultivation Of Avocado The avocado tree grows best in humid, tropical weather with well-draining soil. It is commercially cultivated around the world and produces 7 metric tons for every 2.5 acres on average. The fruit is cultivated while still hard and only ripens when off the tree. This tree species is difficult to propagate via pollination. To ease the process, most cultivators graft onto producing trees. When cultivated by seed, the plant takes between 4 and 6 years to produce fruit. These trees are particularly susceptible to viral, bacterial, and nutritional diseases. Top Avocado Producing Countries Mexico Mexico is the top avocado producing country in the world. The total avocado production area is around 415,520 acres, which produces 1.52 million metric tons every year. The majority of the avocados in Mexico, 86%, are grown in the following states: Puebla, Morelos, Michoacan, Nayarit, and Mexico. Unfortunately, drug cartels control much of the state of Michoacan, where they charge avocado producers a protection fee to avoid damage to the crops. Not only does this country produce more avocados than any other country in the world, but it produces more per acre as well. The avocados are harvested by hand by using poles and baskets. This country has been increasing both production and exports over the last few years. The avocado industry provides 40,000 jobs and 70,000 seasonal jobs. Dominican Republic The second largest avocado producing country in the world is the Dominican Republic. It produces 420,000 metric tons annually, a number that has been steadily increasing over the last few years. A large percentage of this production is consumed nationally rather than exported. In 2011, this country exported $23.9 million worth of avocados, when it was only number 8 in global production. The Dominican Republic is currently planning to plant more avocado trees in an effort to reforest the island and to increase export potential. Other significant avocado producing countries include Peru, Colombia and Indonesia. Wrexham Glyndwr University Unveils New Policing Degree With Support of North Wales Force This article is old - Published: Wednesday, Jan 4th, 2017 Wrexham Glyndwr University has launched a policing degree as forces across England and Wales look to modernise the way they train officers. In December 2016, it was announced that all new and existing officers in both countries will have to be educated to degree level from 2020 onwards. In advance of this, the University has unveiled a BA Hons Policing (subject to validation) for the 2017/18 academic year. The programme will recruit students to learn about policing during periods of accompanied foot patrol with more experienced constables and in taught classes with academic and police staff on Wrexham campus. The move has been welcomed by North Wales Police and Crime Commissioner Arfon Jones, who said it was important officers were educated with the right skills as the role has changed so much over the years. Dr Iolo Madoc-Jones, a Reader in Social and Criminal Justice at the University, explained the qualification will be run with the co-operation and support of North Wales Police to meet their requirements. Policing is a very demanding job that requires considerable skills and knowledge, and the ability to work with people in difficult circumstances, said Dr Madoc-Jones. This degree is as much about recognising the learning police staff already have to do, and the skills they come to possess, as much as it is about teaching them new things. Dr Madoc-Jones said public concern over the possibility of officers disconnecting from their communities is misplaced, believing the move will bring them closer together. He added: The indication is that from 2020 everybody who works as a constable will have to be educated to degree level, including existing police, and some will seek to do that through accreditation of prior learning, which our programme allows for. Our course is slightly in advance of that as it seeks to bring special constables up to the same level of knowledge, understanding and competency in practice as their regular uniformed colleagues. There is no guarantee of a job as a regular constable at the end, but this full and part time programme will make them more attractive candidates in future because they will have had every single piece of training a regular constable would get after being appointed. These graduates will be considerably less expensive to employ because theyll be job-ready and wont need as much training. Its a Welsh programme for a Welsh force so were looking forward to building on what is already a strong relationship with North Wales Police. Echoing his words, Mr Jones said: I wish Wrexham Glyndwr University well with their new degree course. In addition to having the right personal qualities, it is important that we equip our officers with the right skills to the job in an increasingly complex world. While officers need be streetwise, knowing where crime goes on and how to react, a great deal more training is required these days because policing is changing so much. I very much hope that the curriculum contains modules on the new crime types like online child abuse and modern slavery, as well as training their students to identify the signs of domestic abuse. I am particularly pleased the degree course is based within North Wales and Wrexham Glyndwr University are aiming to recruit candidates from the communities served by North Wales Police. Plans for all police staff to be educated to degree level have been drawn-up by the College of Policing, which is responsible for setting training standards for the police service. The Colleges Chief Constable Alex Marshall said there was currently not enough investment in training new officers, and only 38% of those entering the police arena have a degree or postgraduate qualification. He said: At the moment, it is very lopsided and we dont do a lot of professional development in policing. We dont think the investment has been made in policing in terms of professional development and this is one of the ways that we start to address that. For more information, call the Universitys enquiries line on 01978 293439 or email enquiries@glyndwr.ac.uk Morcha hails court ruling The Supreme Courts refusal on Monday to issue a stay order against the constitution amendment bill has drawn cheers from the Madhes-based parties, which claim that the order validates the move. In January 1917, French novelist Henri Barbusse published his novel Under Fire: The Story of a Squad (Le Feu: Journal dune escouade), [1] which related the experiences of a French army unit in the First World War. The book was based on the writers own experiences in the trenches facing the German lines in northern France, where he served for 17 months. The novel had been published in serial form toward the end of 1916, and appeared as a book in the first month of the new year. After the passage of 100 years, Under Fire remains one of the most compelling works of art from the early part of the 20th century, and the firstand, in some ways, the most psychologically revealingof the antiwar novels that the war of 1914-1918 produced in Europe and America over the next two decades. Perhaps more importantly, the novel itself became a factor in the struggle against the war. It expressed, in the very middle of almost unimaginable destruction, the thoughts and feelings of millions of workers, small tradesmen and farmers from Europe, Canada, Australia and the colonies, and soon from the United States, as those around them were dying in fetid trenches, by poison gas, artillery bombardment and sniper or machine gun fire. Under Fire provoked an immediate reaction from hundreds of thousands of readers, and mirrored the revival of an antiwar movement in the French working class. After the war, Lenin was to remark that Barbusses novels [Le Feu and Clarte (Clarity)], may be cited as particularly graphic corroborations of the mass phenomenon, observed everywhere, of the growth of revolutionary consciousness among the masses. [2] A year and a half of war produced a monumental shift in the opinions and sentiments of millions of people in Europe, both soldiers and civilians. It was inevitable and necessary that artists began to treat these earthshaking experiences in their fullest human dimension. 1916 was the bloodiest year in European history up to that point. The Russian Brusilov Offensive during the summer, in what is now Ukraine, cost 1,600,000 dead and wounded, mostly Russian and Austro-Hungarian. The Battle of the Somme (from the River Somme, in northwestern France), fought from to July 1 to November 18, 1916, killed or wounded 1 million Germans, French, British, Australians, Canadians, Indians and New Zealanders. On the first day of the battle alone the British suffered 57,470 casualties. The Somme was notable for one of the first military uses of the new horror of air power. The Battle of Verdun (February 21 to December 18, 1916)fought in northeastern France primarily between German and French forceswas the lengthiest battle of the war and drew in nearly three-quarters of the French army. Estimates of the casualties range from 700,000 to 900,000 men, about half German and half French. One historian of the latter battle, Alistair Horne (The Price of Glory: Verdun 1916), notes: Though other battles of the First War exacted a higher toll, Verdun came to gain the unenviable reputation of being the battlefield with the highest density of dead per square yard that has probably ever been known. [3] By the end of the year, over a million French soldiers (out of a male population of 20 million) had died in the slaughter of the first imperialist war. French government censorship did not allow accurate reports of the scale of destruction to reach civilians behind the front lines, but reports trickled in from soldiers on leave. And by 1916, living standards behind the lines in France were deteriorating, with food shortages and steep price increases for staples such as flour and eggs. Rank-and-file members of the Socialist Party were increasingly discontented with the abject pro-war attitude of their partys leadership. Party officials sought to suppress knowledge and discussion of the socialist antiwar conference held in Zimmerwald, Switzerland in September 1915. Dissatisfaction among French workers would erupt in a strike wave the next year. The French government sought to ban Leon Trotskys antiwar Russian language newspaper Nashe Slovo, and succeeded in expelling Trotsky from France in March 1916. Barbusse enlisted in the French army in 1914, at the age of 41, in the midst of the patriotic fervor. In a letter that month to the pro-war Socialist Party newspaper LHumanite, he wrote that he supported the war as a fight against the sabre, the jackboot, and the crown of German militarism. Barbusse was raised in a household devoted to the ideals of the Enlightenment. He lived in the artistic Bohemia of the pre-war years, had a career as an editor and published poems in the symbolist style. His one early novel, Hell (Lenfer, 1908), is about man in a boarding house who can spy upon his fellow-boarders though a hole in the wall. What he sees is generally unflattering to humanity, although there are passages critical of nationalism and militarism, growing tendencies in France at the time. During the war Barbusse served as an enlisted man, not an officer, and was awarded the Croix du Guerre for bravery and reassigned from the front for health reasons in 1916 (pulmonary damage, dysentery and exhaustion). By all accounts by 1915 he had become thoroughly disillusioned with the war and began to take a pacifist attitude. While working in a clerks position behind the lines, Barbusse began to turn his painful experiences into a novel. The characters in Under Fire make up a single army squad (14 to 16 men), each from a different region of France and each a worker, farmer or small tradesman. A soldier who is apparently an intellectual narrates, but he stays in the background for the most part, letting the experiences and thoughts of his comrades take center stage. The novel begins with the mundane details of life in the trenches for the poilu (ordinary French soldier): the dirt, the cold and the disease. Soldiers write letter to their wives, search for food, grumble about rations. Generally, the soldiers show a mixture of sympathy for and anger at their German counterparts. Many blame the war entirely on German militarism. Some of them are not above killing a stray German for his matches, but German soldiers smuggle one French soldier, a fellow Alsatian, who has helped them bury their dead, behind the lines to see his family. The novel progresses through more and more devastating scenes, both emotional and physical. The chapter called First-Aid Post shows a field hospital full of the wounded and dying. It is bombarded and light comes though the demolished roof: In it you can see the faces flaming or morally pale. Eyes closing in agony or blazing with fever, bodies wrapped in white, patched in monstrous bandages. All these things that were hidden are brought into the light. [4] The violence of the war reaches its climax in the chapter Dawn, one of the most harrowing depictions ever written of the hell of the First World War, or indeed any war. After a bombardment and a heavy rain, the trenches have been decimated and the ground is strewn with dead men, many of whom who perished by drowning. Of the dead, both German and French, the narrator says: All their efforts to escape from the ditch, with its sticky embankment, slowly, fatally filling up with water, only served to drag them further to the bottom. They died holding on for support to the earth as it slid away from them. [5] The chapter is especially tragic because the beginnings of an understanding among the soldiers of the meaning of this experience, that is, of the real character of the war, has begun 60 pages earlier. The narrator, as he wanders in the midst of this dark chaos, [6] meets Corporal Bernard from his squad who is sitting on the embankment of a trench. He has recently killed German soldiers in battle and says, How will they who come after us ... how will they think of these massacres, these deeds, when even we who commit them dont know whether they are like the exploits of heroes ... or the doings of bandits! And yet, he went on, there is someone who has risen above the war and who will shine out for the beauty and extent of his courage He exclaimed in a clear voice: Liebknecht! [7] Critics have termed this scene incongruous. [8] But it is just the opposite: it bears, more than almost any artistic depiction of the First World War, the imprint of the historical logic at work in the war: the emergence of the social revolution. This logic was fully apparent only to a few in 1916, including the man named in this passage, the German Marxist Karl Liebknecht, leader of the antiwar tendency in the German working class. The handful of internationalist socialist leaders included Liebknechts comrade, Rosa Luxemburg, imprisoned since 1915; the Bolshevik leader, V. I. Lenin, who was still in exile in Geneva; and Leon Trotsky, who would shortly be expelled from France by a government which could sense where events were heading. In March 1917 the Russian working class would begin a series of revolutionary actions that would cumulate in the seizure of power in November under the leadership of the Bolsheviks. At the end of April 1917 large sections of the French army would be racked by mutinies as a result of the failed Nivelle Offensive, although the March Revolution in Russia and antiwar dissent in the working class behind the lines were also influences. In one protest, French soldiers bleated like sheep as they paraded past their officers to show they knew they were being led to the slaughter. The role of Under Fire in fanning this sentiment cannot be discounted. Under Fire ends with a passionate discussion among the squadthose who remain aliveabout social equality. The people are nothing and should be everything, one soldier says. [9] The narrator remarks, These men of the people are the Revolution greater than the other [the French Revolution of 1789], with themselves as its sourcerising already, rising in their throats, repeat Equality. [10] The novel sold tens of thousands of copies, and won the most prestigious French literary award, the Prix Goncourt. Many French soldiers testified to the authenticity of Under Fires descriptions. Particularly striking for the time was the frank language of the poilus that he reproduced. Because of the popularity of the novel and because of his exemplary war record, Barbusse could not be persecuted by the government. After the war the novelist identified himself with the Russian Revolution and the young French Communist Party. His association with the October Revolution was part of a broader tendency of opposition not only by the French working class, but also artists who ranged from bourgeois pacifists such as the novelist Roman Roland to the poet and revolutionary syndicalist, also later a prominent member of the French Communist Party (and still later a supporter of the Left opposition), Marcel Martinet. [11] Barbusse used proceeds from the novel to found a veterans association, which had an antiwar outlook. He also founded in 1919 a league of artists sympathetic to the Communist International called Clarte. In November 1922, Leninnow seriously illwrote to the group, It is worth devoting ones whole life to the struggle against this kind of war; it is a struggle in which one must be ruthless and chase to the furthermost corners of the earth all the sophistry that is uttered in its defence. Barbusse published another novel, also entitled Clarte, about the growth of socialist sentiment in a young clerk who joins the army. After the occupation of Germany by French troops during the Ruhr crisis of 1923, which brought Germany to the brink of socialist revolution, he formally joined the Communist Party. Unhappily, the rest of Barbusses history is bound up with the tragic bureaucratization of the official Communist movement under the impact of Stalinism. He seems to have been initially sympathetic to the Left Opposition inside the Russian Communist Party, led by Trotsky, but by 1927 he was merely waiting to see which way the wind was blowing in the struggle between Stalin and Trotsky. Barbusse was concerned, above all, to disguise opinions he could no longer express openly, according to Victor Serge. [12] Barbusse eventually threw in his lot with the Soviet bureaucracy and, whats worse, became the official biographer of Stalin. He died in 1935 before he could further disgrace himself by supporting the Moscow Trials. Recent scholarship has indicated that he played a more prominent role than has previously been believed in subordinating the struggle against war after 1932 to the foreign policy needs of the Stalinist bureaucracy. [13] Under Fire remains his greatest work, although a great deal can be learned from Clarte and his short stories of this period. The former book is one of the great indictments of imperialist war, one of the first, and one of the most insightful. [1] All references to Under Fire are to the 2003 translation published by Robin Buss: Barbusse, Henri. Under Fire. Translated by Robin Buss. Penguin Books, 2003. [2] Lenin, V.I. Collected Works, Volume 29. Progress Publishers, 1980, p. 509. [3] Horne, Alistair. The Price of Glory: Verdun 1916. 1962. Penguin Books, 1993, p. 1. [4] Barbusse, p. 269. [5] ibid. p. 298. [6] ibid. p. 236. [7] ibid. p. 237. [8] King, Jonathan. Henri Barbusse: Le Feu and the Crisis of Social Realism. The First World War in Fiction, edited by Holger Klein. Macmillan Press, 1979, p. 216. [9] Barbusse. p. 311. [10] ibid. p. 312. [11] The revolutionary antiwar poems of Martinet, also published during the war, can be found in: Pazais, George. Marcel Martinet: Poet of the Revolution. Francis Boutle Publishers, 2007. [12] Serge, Victor. Memoirs of a Revolutionary: 1901-1941. Oxford University Press, 1963, p. 238. [13] Ducoulombier, Romain. Henri Barbusse, Stalin and the making of the Cominterns international policy in the 1930s. French History, Volume 30, Issue 4, pp. 526-545. The author also recommends: The Good Soldier Svejk: A classic satire about World War I [14 April 2015] All Quiet on the Western Front: A generation haunted by war [5 August 2016] One dead as over 150 inmates escape in Philippine prison break More than 150 inmates have escaped from a south Philippines prison after gunmen launched an attack. In his New Year message, UK Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn presented himself as an anti-establishment figure leading a party committed to taking on corporate interests to stand up for people. Following the electoral wipe-out of Labour in the 2015 general election, after it campaigned on a programme of continued austerity, Corbyn was elected party leader by a landslide. He won with the backing of hundreds of thousands of Labour members and supporters after standing as the nominal left candidate opposing both austerity and war. Following an attempted coup against him last summer, he was re-elected in last September by an even bigger margin of victory. Corbyns New Year message confirmed once again that he has no intention of honouring his campaign pledges. Rather he continues to loyally serve as frontman for a party that is still dedicated to waging war on the working class and war against the opponents of British imperialism throughout the world. The Labour leader drew attention to worsening social inequality in Britain. Elderly people are not receiving the care at home they deserve, which was putting huge strain on them and their family. People were waiting longer in accident and emergency units or on trolleys because our National Health Service and social care system is at breaking point This Christmas, he added, 120,000 children didnt have a home to call their own. There was massive insecurity at work too, with millions of people unable to plan their lives because whether on temporary or zero hours contracts they dont know what job or what hours theyll have from day to day, week to week or month to month. And for many, pay is so low that it doesnt make ends meet. After delivering this litany, Corbyn declared, Ive spent over 40 years in politics campaigning for a better way of doing things, standing up for people, taking on the establishment, and opposing decisions that would make us worse off. The reality is that for more than 30 of the 40 years he refers to, Corbyn sat on Labours backbenches as the party lurched sharply to the rightmaking his token protests while loyally defending Labours grip on the working class. Today, as party leader, he can no longer hide his personal responsibility for what his party does behind a pose of individual opposition. Corbyn speaks of the political system letting down the people of this country; how decisions made in Westminster are making peoples lives harder, without passing mention of the fact that his party and his MPs have been just as instrumental in making those decisions as the Conservative Party. Austerity measures were initiated by the Labour government of Gordon Brown following the 2008 global financial crash. Brown bailed out the banks and super-rich to the tune of 1 trillion, a sum which is now being clawed back through the destruction of jobs, wages and conditions. Corbyn and his closest ally, Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell, even now insist that local Labour councils abide by the law and continue to impose massive spending cuts. Corbyn continued by stressing that Labour accepts and respects the result of last Junes referendum vote to leave the European Union. We wont be blocking our leaving the European Union, but we wont stand by as a Brexit that protects the bankers in the City and continues to give corporate handouts to the biggest companies is not good enough. This attempt to put a left spin on Labours pro-capitalist Brexit agenda will not wash. The central demand of Corbyn over Brexit is that British capital retains access to the European Unions Single Market. Speaking in November Corbyn said, We will be pressing for full access to the European single market as part of the Brexit negotiations. Labour would seek to amend any vote on Brexit in parliament on this basis. The emphasis placed by Corbyn on continued access to the Single Market reflects his desire to defend the strategic interests of the British ruling class. An earlier message Corbyn sent over the holiday period serves to underscore his and Labours pro-imperialist agenda. On December 22, the Forces TV website ran a video titled, Jeremy Corbyn's Christmas Message To The Forces. Their web page noted that in his message The Labour Party leader praised the sacrifices, courage and professionalism of serving personnel, home and abroad Corbyns support for Britains military was wrapped in calls for veterans and their families to have proper access to housing, health care, and school places, but his central message was to support the ongoing operations of the military abroad. He told the Armed Forces, We thank you for not only being prepared to defend the country, but also saving lives, like the valiant crew of HMS Enterprise, who bravely rescued more than 9,000 refugees and migrants, fleeing war and persecution for a better life. Time after time Corbyn has capitulated in the face of Labours pro-war right wing, granting a free vote in November 2015 in support of bombing raids on Syria and on the renewal of the Trident nuclear weapons programme. His populist turn takes this a step furtherto the point where he now delivers eulogies to the sacrifices, courage and professionalism of the armed forces. He never explained that the reason refugees are fleeing their homelands is as a consequence of the invasions and wars of the last 25 years, in which British imperialism, as the junior partner of the United States, has played a central role. For more than a year, the Royal Air Force has been escalating its military operations over the skies of Iraq and Syria under the guise of fighting terrorism. In December, the Telegraph reported, RAF jets busiest for 25 years as they pound Isil [Islamic State] positions in Iraq and Syria. The article continued, A year after MPs voted to expand Britain's military activity against Isil from Iraq to Syria, the Royal Air Force is operating at its most intense for 25 years, far outstripping UK involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan The Telegraph reported that the RAF has also dropped 11 times more ordnance on Syria and Iraq in the past year1,276 strikesthan during any year in the Afghanistan war. Massive resources are being drained from society to finance these operations. In answer to a parliamentary question, the government stated in September that between November 2014 and the end of August 2016, there have been 473 Hellfire missiles used in Iraq and Syria, with the estimated cost of these missiles at 44.455 million. Corbyn sends his best wishes to the MoD even as they prepare a massive escalation of militarist violence. On December 25, the Telegraph reported, The RAF is preparing to mount a major offensive in Syria next year Senior military sources said that from next Spring the RAF is likely to pivot its focus from Iraq to Syria as it seeks to bolster rebel forces fighting Syria. RAF jets have mounted just 60 air strikes in Syria compared to 347 in Iraq, it adds. Britain hopes that Mosul will be re-taken [from Islamic State] by Spring of next year, enabling RAF Typhoons, Tornados and Reaper drones to mount a fresh offensive in Syria. This operation risks a direct confrontation with the military forces not only of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad but with his Russian backers who control Syrias airspace. At a session of Cubas National Assembly held last week, Cuban President Raul Castro and Economy Minister Ricardo Cabrisas disclosed that the countrys economy contracted nearly 1 percent in the past year. This is the first time a recession has officially occurred since 1993, following the dissolution of the USSR and the collapse of the economic relationships that had subsidized the Cuban economy for several decades. Remarks by Castro and Cabrisas made clear that the Cuban government aims to accelerate its program of laying off public sector workers and throwing them to the growing private sector while inviting foreign investors to take advantage of Cubas low-wage labor force. The main reason for the contraction is the continued low price of commodities, particularly oil, nickel and sugar, resulting from the ongoing global economic crisis. This has manifested in Cuba as a massive drop in economic support by Venezuela, as that countrys economy reels from the impact of low oil prices that supply nearly all of its export earnings and a substantial portion of its state revenue. In particular, Venezuela has not been renewing contracts for medical services provided by Cuban doctors and other professionalsCubas main source of export earningsand has even reportedly fallen behind on payments. In addition, estimates are that shipments of Venezuelan oil to Cuba have dropped from 90,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 40,000 bpd toward the end of the year. The drop in oil supplies has led to cutbacks in public lighting and bus service and the imposition of large decreases in fuel usage by state workers, including through reductions in working hours, and may also lead to the closure of a refinery in Cienfuegos resulting in the loss of hundreds of jobs. The reduction in oil shipments has also led to a further fall in hard currency income, and thus imports, as Cuba was reselling a portion of its subsidized oil for desperately needed dollars. The Cuban governments strategy to deal with the collapse in support by Venezuela is to turn to austerity and an expansion of market relations, particularly through foreign investment. Aside from cutbacks in energy consumption and imports, including of food, austerity is also being pursued under the guise of efficiency and the cutting of dispensable expenses. More and more workers are being shed from the public sector and turned into cuentapropistas, or self-employed workers. The number of cuentapropistas has skyrocketed since they were legalized in 2010, and now amount to some 550,000, or around 10 percent of the labor force. All told, roughly one-third of Cubas labor force is now involved to some degree in private sector employment, with 50,000 or so employed in joint ventures with foreign investors. One theme repeated by Castro during his speech at the National Assembly was that Cuba needs to get over its obsolete mentality, full of prejudices against foreign capital and investment and eliminate the excessive delays in the negotiating process that have hampered growth in this area. Just recently Haier, a Chinese company, announced it would open a factory in Cuba to manufacturer low-cost tablet and laptop computers. Castros speech further indicated that the country has been delaying payments to suppliers while it works on renegotiating its external debt, having restructured around $50 billion in the past few years. Even so, Cabrisas stated that Cuba would look to sell bonds in the coming year to help overcome a deficit in the just-approved budget that he said amounted to 12 percent of GDP. If increased revenue targets from exports and tourism are not reached, social spending will likely be slashed to make up the rest of the budgetary shortfall. The Cuban government is also looking to increase its own domestic oil production capabilities in the future, and has been working closely with Australian and Russian companies to expand existing operations. It is also exploring the possibility of expanding drilling operations in the Gulf of Mexico, thought to potentially harbor the equivalent of billions of barrels of oil, and has hired a Chinese firm to conduct a seismic exploration of the area. The situation in Cuba would be much worse were it not for a large increase in the number of tourists, especially Americans who are now more easily able to travel to the island following the normalization of relations and relaxation of travel restrictions. A report by the Ministry of Tourism indicated 4 million tourists visited Cuba in 2016, a 13 percent increase over the previous year, with 137,000 Americans visiting in the first half of the year alone. The increase in tourists has, however, also reportedly exacerbated shortages of food stemming from reduced imports. Despite Castros claims that with these measures Cuba is not going, and will not go, toward capitalism, the ruling strata around the Cuban Communist Party hope to use the expansion of foreign investment to move Cuba towards a system more like Chinas, in which their rule and privileges are secured while they offer up the impoverished Cuban working class to be exploited mercilessly by US and global capital. A fire, which engulfed an Indonesian passenger ferry travelling from North Jakarta on Sunday morning, has killed at least 23 people. Another 17 passengers remain missing, prompting fears that the death toll will continue to rise over the coming days. At least 32 survivors were taken to hospital to be treated for injuries, including the effects of severe smoke inhalation and burns. Nine remain in hospital. While information is scanty, there are already indications that the tragic toll from the blaze was likely compounded by an excessive number of passengers, a lack of life jackets and other lax safety practices. According to officials, the Zahro Express, which was transporting holidaying Indonesian nationals to Tidung Island, a popular tourist destination, left the port of Muara Angke at around 8:50 a.m. on New Years Day. Within half an hour of its departure, a fire began on the vessel and spread rapidly. The ship was just 1.6 kilometres from shore. Spokespeople for the ministry of transportation have stated that the fire may have been caused by a short circuit in the crafts engine room. Passengers said that they first saw smoke coming from the engine. Officials have said that the speed with which the blaze spread may have been due to flames reaching the vessels fuel container, causing an explosion. It is not clear if the ship was equipped with fire extinguishers or whether they were used. Survivors have described scenes of chaos and panic as the ship was rapidly engulfed by flames, leaving them with virtually no time to escape. Evi, a female passenger told the local media outlet Metro TV: Fifteen minutes after the boat set sail, people at the back of the boat started making noise... Then I saw smoke, there was more and more, the boat was crowded and people were fighting for life jackets. One passenger, quoted by Reuters, said: All passengers panicked and ran up to the deck to throw floats into the water. In a split second, the fire becomes bigger coming from where fuel is stored. Juju Rukminingsih, another survivor, indicated that there were not enough life jackets for all of the passengers. When we wanted to go, I panicked because I saw my son jump off the boat without a [life jacket] because somebody else had taken it, she said. Despite the chaos, survivors have reported stories of bravery and heroism, with passengers assisting one another during the disaster. According to Jakarta Coconuts, one of the victims, Jackson Wilhelmus, gave his life-jacket to a pregnant colleague, before drowning. Other passengers reported having to leave the vessel without a life jacket. Many of them, including children, did not know how to swim. Between 194 and 224 survivors were plucked from the sea, the bulk of them by private boats fishing in nearby waters. Rescue operations have continued. The wreckage of the boat was towed to shore on Sunday. Twenty of the 23 people who perished in the blaze received burns that were so severe that they could not be identified without an analysis of DNA and dental records. Some had been trampled or overwhelmed by smoke. On Sunday, the Jakarta Disaster Mitigation Agency revealed that while the ship was carrying upwards of 200 passengers, its manifest had registered just 100 people and six crew members. The practice, which is common in Indonesia, allows private ferry operators to take full fares, without having to pay port operators or government taxes. Port officials are often involved in the scam. It appears that the government is moving to scapegoat the captain and crew of the vessel, in order to prevent a broader examination of the widespread conditions that gave rise to the tragedy. On Monday, the captain, Mohammad Nali, along with three other crew members were detained by Jakarta. Port officials are also reportedly being questioned. On Tuesday, Nali was identified as a suspect over the discrepancy between the manifest and the ships actual number of passengers. The captain and some crew members have also been accused of being among the first to leave the ship after the fire began. Nali faces possible charges carrying substantial financial penalties and up to 10 years in prison. In a bid to assuage mounting anger over the accident, Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi announced on Tuesday that the government would provide survivors and families of the deceased with compensation. He gave no further details. Sumadi also declared that state-owned shipping lines would begin passenger services to the Thousand Islands, an island chain to the north of Jakarta that includes Tidung Island. Ferry accidents, often involving substantial casualties, are a regular occurrence in Indonesia, with private operators slashing costs and neglecting the most basic safety practices, in order to maximise profits. Workers and the poor have no choice but to undertake the perilous journeys on faulty vessels to travel between the archipelagos islands, which number more than 17,000. Last December, 20 people were killed in a speed boat explosion in Bali, thought to have been caused by a malfunctioning battery near a fuel tank. In December 2015, at least 80 people died after a ferry sank off the island of Sulawesi when its engine was overwhelmed by large waves in heavy seas. Other disasters have claimed even more lives. In 2009, over 200 perished after a ferry went down between Sulawesi and East Kalimantan. Relatives held protests denouncing the limited search and rescue operations conducted by the government. In December 2006, 400 died in a sinking off the coast of East Java. Ferry disasters in 2000 and 2003, each claimed up to 500 lives. There is no indication that these disasters have had any impact on safety practices or government policy. According to the National Transportation Safety Commission, the total number of maritime accidents increased from 15 in 2015 to 28 in 2016. A report by the Worldwide Ferry Association in 2015 found that since 2000, Indonesia had experienced a higher number of ferry accidents than any country, aside from Bangladesh. Maritime deaths are one tragic expression of a broader transport infrastructure crisis. Over 30,000 Indonesian nationals are estimated to perish in traffic accidents each year. A McKinsey report in 2011 pointed to the culpability of successive governments, noting: In Indonesia, infrastructure investments dropped from 5 percent to 6 percent of GDP in the early 1990s to 2 percent to 3 percent of GDP for much of the last ten years. At least 1,152 people were killed by police in the United States in 2016 according to the tracking site killedbypolice.net. While the total number of killings documented is slightly down from 2015s total of 1,208, police continued to kill at the rate of three people every day. The number of people killed by police every year in the United States far dwarfs those killed by police in every other major advanced capitalist country. In 2015, for example, US cops killed 100 times more people than German police, despite the US having only about four times Germanys population. Meanwhile in the UK only 14 people were killed by police in 2014. Paul Hirschfield, a sociologist at Rutgers University, found that the US police shot and killed at a ratio of 3.42 people per million inhabitants per year. In contrast, Denmark had a ratio of 0.187; France, 0.17; Sweden, 0.133; Portugal, 0.125; Germany, 0.09; Norway, 0.06; Netherlands, 0.06; Finland, 0.034; and England and Wales, 0.016. The overwhelming and often deadly violence meted out by American police is, among other things, an expression of the brutal and tense state of class relations in the US. Large sections of the working class live in or near poverty with basic needs like clean water, nutritious food, a job, healthcare, a good place to live and an education beyond reach. The state, in turn, has responded with brute force, cutting access to basic social services and spending billions of dollars upgrading and militarizing the nations police force. This has included the mobilization of the National Guard and the imposition of states of emergencies to quell protests against police violence in recent years. The United States is a country where fraud, bribery, deception and outright theft, all on a massive scale, are standard business practices for the major banks and corporations. Meanwhile the working class is held to an entirely different standard, in which execution without trial by a police officer is an increasingly common punishment for the smallest of misdemeanors. The end of the year is an opportunity to assess this mass loss of life and clarify the political issues at stake in this state sanctioned murder. According to the Washington Post, which runs its own database on the number of people shot and killed by police (not just killed), 24 percent of the victims of police shootings and killings were black in 2016. That is 232 people out of 957 total shot and killed. In 2016 African Americans were shot at a rate double their percentage share of the total population. While the media discussion around police killings and the protests by the Black Lives Matter organization has focused on the disproportionate rate at which blacks are killed by police, the largest share, 48 percent, are white. As the World Socialist Web S ite has emphasized, Blacks are killed by police at a much higher rate than their proportion in the population, an indication that racism plays a significant role, but the number of white victims demonstrates that class, not race, is the more fundamental issue. The exclusive focus on race by the pseudo left and the Democratic Party establishment conceals the most fundamental issue, that of class. While the Post does not track the class of those killed going through each killing, though, case-by-case, one would be hard pressed to find people from the upper classes, let alone better off sections of workers and professionals, regardless of the color of their skin. Those who are killed are often from the lowest sections of the working class, and often its most vulnerable layers: the unemployed, the mentally ill, those living in the poorest neighborhoods, both rural and urban, and the homeless. For example, of the 957 killed, 240 had clear discernible signs of mental illnessthat is, 25 percent of the victims. Of the victims, 441 were not armed with a gun, 46 percent of those killed. One-hundred seventy people were armed with a knife. And, 44 had a toy weapon of some kind. Forty-seven were neither armed nor driving a car in a way the police deemed dangerous. Sixty-five were driving cars, causing the police to categorize the vehicle as a weapon. However, in many instances there is no evidence to show that a vehicle acted as a weapon. For example, Christian Redwine, a 17-year-old white male, was shot after a car-chase in which Redwine crashed. He was unarmed and was suspected of stealing the vehicle. Another notable fact is that 329 of the victims were fleeing, about 34 percent of the victims. These cumulative statistics show the willingness of police to quickly kill people who pose little to no threat to them. Police killings should be considered in the broader context of punishment for the most vulnerable and impoverished. In the United States, over 2 million people are in federal or state prisons. Furthermore, 4.75 million are on probation or parole. This means that about 7 million people, 3 percent of the adult population, have been or are in prison. As in the case of police killings, many of these people have been locked up for shoplifting, grand theft auto and robbery. Many others are incarcerated for drug possession and use. While millions of destitute and hopeless people in the US are brutally punished for relatively minor infractions, the real criminals, those in the Bush and Obama administrations responsible for wars of aggression that have cost the lives of hundreds of thousands in the Middle East, as well as the bankers who crashed the economy in 2008, have reaped the benefits of their much more serious crimes. No amount of police training, community engagement or racial bias classes will end police killings. The deaths are born out of much more fundamental political and economic realities than what this or that police officer feels and thinks. In 2017, amidst a worsening political and economic crisis, the state will be even more ready to kill, harass and imprison the poorest section of the population. In a joint measure announced by the City and County of Los Angeles in late December, a $10 million fund has been proposed to provide legal assistance to residents facing deportation proceedings. The fund, which is to be publicly and privately funded, follows similar measures in large cities around the country, including Chicago and San Francisco, in the wake of the election of Donald Trump. Similar proposals have also been made in California and New York on a statewide level, but it is not yet clear what funding is proposed and how it will be allocated. The two-year fund for the Los Angeles measure would be made up of $3 million from LA County, $2 million from the city, and an additional $5 million from private donors, including the California Community Foundation, the Weingart Foundation and the California Endowment, Californias largest private health care foundation. While it is still unclear exactly how the funds will be allocated, officials have stated that the support will focus on immigrants in the county that already have temporary legal status under the Deferred Access for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), military families, unaccompanied minors and refugees. Los Angeles alone is home to approximately 1 million of more than 11 million undocumented immigrants across the nation. Undocumented immigrants make up approximately 10 percent of the population in Los Angeles and perform the most onerous work at the lowest rates of pay. The vast majority of these workers have no access to health benefits, Social Security, pensions, or other forms of social assistance and fear constant reprisal from employers and the government as a result of their immigration status. The World Socialist Web Site previously interviewed two immigrant workers in Los Angeles about their conditions. According to a 2011 report by the National Immigration Law Center, the US government used a policy known as stipulated removal to deport more than 160,000 noncitizens without hearings before immigration judges in the decade preceding the report. It goes on to state that the federal government has used stipulated removal primarily on non citizens in immigration detention who lack lawyers and are facing deportation due to minor immigration violations. These noncitizens were given a Hobsons choice: Accept a stipulated removal order and agree to your deportation, or stay in immigration detention to fight your case (emphasis in original). In 2014, following the massive surge in children fleeing Central America, Politico reported that 94 percent of child migrants that were deported between July and October of that year were not represented by attorneys at deportation hearings. Numerous reports have been published of the abuse inflicted on immigrants in detention centersmany of which are private entities subsidized by the federal government with little or no oversightwhile individuals await deportation proceedings. In many cases, the victims are children or individuals who do not know English, and immigrants are frequently given inaccurate or misleading information about their rights, the laws, and the deportation process. Various statistics from immigrant rights advocates and attorneys show that defendants with legal representation are three to five times more likely to win deportation cases than those without attorneys. Attorney fees for individual removal proceedings cost between $100 and $350 per hour and can range from $1,500 to more than $7,500. In most cases, the immigrants themselves are penniless and cannot afford representation. Detractors of the recent measures have accused the proponents of the fund of using public money that should be allocated to services that would benefit US citizens. Furthermore, they have rebuffed the proposal as a challenge to the federal government and have warned of possible vituperative reprisals from the incoming Trump administration in the form of federal funding cuts to social services. The director of policy studies at the Center for Immigration Studies, a right-wing Washington, D.C., think tank, reported to the Los Angeles Times, Immigration proceedings are a civil matter, not criminal, and no Americans who are defending themselves in civil proceedings are entitled to taxpayer-funded representation. In an opinion comment, Robin Hvidston, executive director of We the People Rising, similarly told the Times, The federal government should withhold federal funding for Los Angeles since it continues to flout federal immigration law. In San Francisco in 2014, a small sum of $2.1 million was allocated to fund legal services for immigrants facing deportation, an amount that was renewed in 2016 for another two years. Following the surge in immigration in 2014 and the ensuing expedited rocket dockets for unaccompanied children and family deportation cases, hundreds were unrepresented by attorneys in San Francisco courts. An estimated 44,000 undocumented immigrants reside in the Bay Area. In Chicago, Democratic Mayor Rahm Emanuel diverted a paltry $1 million from a property tax rebate fund to create a Legal Protection Fund for immigrants in the city. The funds were part of $20 million that had been set aside by the city for rebates to allay residents anger after property taxes were increased by $588 million. The derisory $1 million sum now diverted to the new defense fund would potentially cover the legal fees for around 3,000 people. This in a city that is home to approximately 150,000 residents without legal status. All the richer is Emanuels record at the White House, where he fought against immigration reform first as an adviser to President Bill Clinton and most recently as Obamas chief of staff in 2009-2010. In 1996, Emanuel advised President Clinton to claim and achieve record deportations of criminal aliens and for the National Guard to coordinate with their Mexican counterparts to avoid the charge of militarizing the border. The latter claim has truly come to fruition in the past two years under the Obama administrations joint venture with the Mexican government titled Programa Frontera Sur, under which nearly 1 million refugees have been apprehended while fleeing gang and military violence in El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala. As immigration laws are federal, the objectives of measures implemented by city and state governments to assist immigrants remain nebulous and, in many cases, ineffective. Furthermore, the buildup of repressive measures by Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has been vastly accelerated in recent years with the assistance of state and city authorities. Although federal officials have claimed that deportation proceedings prioritize convicted criminals and threats to public safety, border security and national security, hundreds of thousands have been deported without trial and have committed no crime whatsoever. According to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Immigration and Nationality Act 237, one may be deported at any time if one is Inadmissible at time of entry or of adjustment of status or violates status. The legislation further details that this includes immigrants in violation of any US law or in violation of nonimmigrant status, those whose conditional permanent residence has been terminated, anyone guilty of marriage fraud, drug abuse or possession for ones own use of 30 grams or less of marijuana, failing to report a change of address to USCIS within 10 days of moving, and document fraud. The recent efforts at setting up defense funds have been spearheaded by Democratic officials seeking to distance themselves from the incoming Trump administration, largely in a self-serving attempt to save face with Latino voters and to cover up the bipartisan anti-immigration policies that have taken place over the eight years of the Obama administration and whose origins date back to the Clinton presidency. A year-end report released December 30 by the Department of Homeland Security documented removing or returning a total of 450,954 individuals during fiscal year 2016. Of these, 415,816 were apprehensions by the US Border Patrol (USBP), up from 337,117 in 2015, and 114,434 individuals arrested by ICE compared with 125,211 in 2015. This brings the total deportations under the Obama administration to more than 2.7 million, more than any other administration in history. The report boasts: Although apprehensions by the USBP in FY 2016 increased from FY 2015, they remain a fraction of the number of apprehensions routinely observed from the 1980s through 2008. The report goes on to state that a greater percentage of removals and returns were from apprehensions at ports of entry, as opposed to those within the US, and priorities have heightened ICEs focus on the greatest threats to national security, public safety, and border security. Included in ICEs top priority category, however, are individuals convicted of offenses of illegal entry or reentry, and there is no breakdown on the criminal offenses of which immigrants have been convicted. While there is justifiable fear of the incoming Trump administrationwith the stated goal of deporting as many as 3 million more immigrants and cutting off funding from so-called sanctuary citiesthe Obama administration has been busy duplicitously pursuing reactionary immigration policies all down the line during the presidents entire tenure. Obamas policies toward sanctuariescities that claim to be more welcoming to immigrants by loosely granting various protections or services to immigrantshave been virtually the opposite of how they have been presented in the media. Cities have decided not to turn over immigrants convicted of minor crimes to federal authorities in response to Obamas harsh policies on immigration. The Obama administration is well aware of the unpopularity of its deportation polices within US communities over the past eight years under programs such as Secure Communities, which focused on uniting federal, state and local law enforcement agencies to assist with deportations of individuals already living and working in the country, as opposed to those apprehended at points of entry. Although this program was initiated under George W. Bush, it will go down in history as part of Obamas legacy and helped him to earn the moniker Deporter in Chief. Despite some pushback from local communities, many of the largest jurisdictions known as sanctuary cities have already capitulated to DHS efforts to beef up interior deportations. As an article in the Washington Times put it, The Obama administration has made significant headway in cutting down the number of sanctuary cities. Of the 25 largest jurisdictions that offered sanctuary a few years ago, 21 have started to work with ICE in some capacity since Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson made a major push to establish better cooperation. As to Trumps demand to build a wall and make Mexico pay for it, the Obama administration and official media plead amnesia for the last quarter century of bipartisan efforts to successfully erect the most massive barrier and border patrol agency the world has ever seen. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama previously voted in favor of the 2006 Secure Fence Act, which enacted the vast buildup and militarization of the US southern border, a process that has now been completed. Two Russian warshipsAdmiral Tributs, an anti-submarine vessel, and the sea tanker Boris Butomadocked in Manila on January 2 for a goodwill visit to the Philippines, the first official navy-to-navy contact between the two countries. During the visit, Rear Admiral Eduard Mikhailov, head of the Flotilla of the Russian Navy Pacific Fleet, proposed joint military exercises with the Philippines in the South China Sea. In a speech delivered to the welcoming ceremony at the port, Mikhailov explained that, Were very sure that in the future well get such exercises with you, maybe just the maneuvering or maybe use some combat systems and so on. He added that the joint exercises in the South China Sea should be expanded in a few years to include not only Russia-Philippines, but Russia, Philippines, China and maybe Malaysia together. While Mikhailov claimed that the exercises would be focused on maritime piracy and terrorism, the geopolitical stakes involved in joint drills involving Moscow, Beijing and Manila in the disputed waters of the South China Sea were explicit. Mikhailov pointedly told the assembled reporters that Manila can choose to cooperate with the United States of America or to cooperate with Russia, but from our side we can help you in every way that you need. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has announced that he is open to joint military exercises with Russia in the South China Sea. This stands in stark contrast to his declaration that he would no longer be carrying out such exercises with the United States in the disputed waters. Under Duterte, who took office in mid-2016, the Philippines has emerged as a focal point of geopolitical instability. In an editorial on December 28, entitled A perilous moment for Asias peace and stability, the Financial Times wrote Manila is the first of the wobbly dominoes the Trump administration must deal with. Duterte is attempting to restore Manilas diplomatic and economic ties with Beijing, which had been drastically eroded by the provocative policies of the US pivot to Asia, implemented with the full support of his predecessor Benigno Aquino. To do this, he effectively ignored the arbitral ruling issued in The Hague against Chinas territorial claims in the South China Sea. Washington sought to bring pressure on Duterte by raising human rights concerns over his murderous drug war, a program that the US initially funded, and which has seen over 6,000 alleged drug dealers summarily killed in the past six months. Duterte responded by denouncing Washington, threatening to end joint military exercises with the United States, and seeking arms and aid from Beijing and Moscow. The political stakes in Manilas geopolitical reorientation are heightened by the fact that the Philippines will serve as chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 2017. Duterte has, over the past month, muted most of his vulgar rhetorical flourishes against the United States. President-elect Donald Trump spoke with Duterte by phone on December 2 and declared his support for the drug war, a fact which Duterte heralded to the press, declaring that he would happily work with the new American president. The crisis between Manila and Washington, however, has far deeper geopolitical roots than the Obama administrations tepid human rights posturing. That this former colony of US imperialism is in the process of distancing itself from Washington and forging ties with its longstanding rivals is an expression of how far the decay of American economic might has advanced. Washingtons attempts to shore up this decline by military means are bringing the world to the brink of a global war. It is in this context that Manila seeks arms and aid from China and Russia. The expanded ties between Manila and Moscow were initiated during a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Duterte in November in Lima, Peru, on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit. In early December, Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Perfecto Yasay and Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana traveled to Moscow where they met with their counterparts. Yasay informed the press that the growth in relations between Moscow and Manila was an expression of the Philippines' move away from the United States. Because of [our] special relationship with the United States we were not able to really pursue that kind of warm and mutually beneficial relationship with Russia. Now, its changing, he stated. Yasay initiated arrangements for a state visit by Duterte to Moscow in April or early May. He discussed expanding Philippine agricultural exports to Russia and securing increased Russian investment and technology in areas such as mining, oil exploration and communications, possibly including surveillance. Lorenzana meanwhile worked to negotiate the purchase of 26,000 assault rifles for Dutertes war on drugs, in the wake of a US announcement that it would be delaying or perhaps canceling a planned sale of arms to the Philippines over human rights concerns. Moscow also offered to sell a submarine and drones to the Armed Forces of the Philippines. At the same time, Manila is negotiating the acquisition of arms from Beijing. Incoming Philippine ambassador to China, Chito Sta. Romana told the AFP on Monday that the Philippines was engaged in a strategic shift in our foreign policy. He continued, The Chinese viewed the Philippines as a geopolitical pawn or Trojan horse of the US. Now they look at us as a friendly neighbor. Washington continues to exercise immense economic and political power within its former colony. There is no section of the ruling class, or any of its political operatives, including Duterte, that desire a break with the United States. Washingtons military campaign to secure its economic dominance in the region is a reckless drive to war, and any move by the countries of Southeast Asia to shore up relations with China in this context can only occur in opposition to the dictates of US imperialism. Washington will not tolerate the loss of its former colony, and it will pursue all means, legal and extralegal, to secure again the unwavering allegiance of Manila. The Victorian state Labor government has announced it will recruit an additional 3,100 police officers in the next four years, expanding the size of the force by 20 percent. Unveiling the reactionary program that will cost more than $2 billion, Premier Daniel Andrews declared on December 4: Business as usual wont cut it anymorewe are delivering in full the officers that Victoria Police tell us they need. Andrews made the announcement alongside police Chief Commissioner Graham Ashtonwho lauded the policy as the greatest commitment to policing in Victorias historyand secretary of the Police Association Ron Iddles, who described the governments initiative as a game changer. The Labor government has issued press releases boasting of its commitment to so-called law and order nearly every day last month. Together with the additional police recruits, the government is constructing new police stations and upgrading existing ones, purchasing three new police helicopters and a plane, and building a new $27 million training base for the paramilitary Special Operations Group. In addition, the government has moved to enact a new raft of repressive laws. These include multiple measures specifically targeting young people, including restricting youth parole eligibility and increasing the maximum period of detention that can be imposed by the Childrens Court, from 3 to 4 years. Four new offences have also been createdcarjacking (maximum sentence 15 years), aggravated carjacking (maximum 25 years), home invasion (maximum 25 years) and aggravated home invasion (maximum 25 years, with a minimum non-parole period of three years). Police will now also have the power to take DNA samples from alleged suspects, without first securing a court order. Few details have been released on this new measure, though a government press release explained that police would soon be collecting ten times as many DNA samples as they currently are. Young people are the immediate target of the governments law and order crackdown, particularly those predominantly immigrant and refugee youth in Melbournes impoverished outer eastern suburbs. For more than a year, the political and media establishment has been waging a hysterical scare campaign over a purported youth crime wave. In March, an incident in central Melbourne during the annual Moomba festival was exaggeratedly portrayed as a riot organised by the Apex gang, supposedly a group of teenagers of Sudanese origin from the outer suburb of Dandenong. The Murdoch press has spearheaded the effort, with near daily, lurid front-page headlines that have targeted the so-called Apex gang and young black people more broadly. The racist campaign was stepped up in November in response to clashes involving teenage inmates at a juvenile detention facility in inner Melbourne. The government responded by imprisoning the child detainees in maximum-security adult prisons. Victorias Supreme Court ruled on December 21 that this was illegal, with the Court of Appeal upholding this ruling and rejecting a state government appeal on December 29. The government has nevertheless refused to comply with the court orders and has kept 11 boys imprisoned at the adult Barwon prison. In an Orwellian legal manoeuvre, after the Court of Appeal ruling the government rebranded part of Barwon prison as a youth justice facility and remand centre and now insist that court orders ordering the childrens relocation do not apply. Lawyers for the youths told the courts that prison guards had warned their clients that any misbehaviour would be met with the use of teargas, firearms and dogs. The children were initially held in lockdown for 23 hours a day, and denied access to education courses and resources they previously used. Department of Health and Human Services official Ian Lanyon told the court that children had been transferred to the Barwon adult prison before safety risks had been resolved. He reported that one boy had self-harmed using a porcelain sink in his cell. The government is determined to impose a ruthless and illegal collective punishment on the alleged youth rioters to send a warning more broadly to young people and the entire population. Police have been issued an effective blank cheque to harass targeted young people. ABC News reported in early December that youth worker Deng Maleek was travelling to a meeting with police to discuss issues facing the Sudanese community when he was pulled over by officers and asked to provide his registration papers. He said that the police implied he was a member of the Apex gang. Young people of Sudanese background find themselves constantly being stopped, Maleek said. Young adults, not [just] kids, who were engaged in education or working part time and congregate in public spaces and just to socialise, will be randomly checked [to see] if they are gang members. The Labor governments build-up of the states repressive powers is proceeding in tandem with the federal governments ongoing crack down on democratic rights under the framework of the bogus war on terror. Daniel Andrews seized on the alleged Christmas Day terror plot to again laud the police and pledge his governments commitment to deliver whatever resources police commanders demanded. The ultimate target is the working class as a whole. Under conditions of escalating social inequality, job destruction, and attacks on workers living conditions, the ruling elite is preparing to meet the coming social and political upheavals with police-state repression. PM Dahal, speaker Gharti discuss contemporary issues A meeting has been held between Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal and Speaker Onsari Gharti at the former's official residence at Baluwatar in the Capital Tuesday morning. BAINBRIDGE, GA (WTXL) -- Severe weather in the Southeast Monday night left considerable damage in south Georgia. Bainbridge resident Maryann Green said she's lived in the region her whole life, but she'd never seen anything like the overnight storm. "I couldn't believe it -- the way it come," Green said. "It, all of a sudden, just hit the house." Green lost power and spent Tuesday picking up the pieces. "It didn't sound too great out here," she said. "It was raining and lightning and thundering." Wind wreaked havoc, leaving parts of town a mess. Bainbridge Public Safety had a command unit deal with the damage. "They started arriving in the west Bainbridge area and pretty much all the streets in Bainbridge," said fire chief Doyle Welch. "We were compiling a list of down power lines and down trees." On Dothan Road, fences were flattened by falling branches and strong winds. Across the street, a vacant mobile home for sale was torn from its foundation and flipped on its side. Not far from there, Bryan Hall was doing damage control. The manager of Jimmy's Auto Sales rushed to his business Monday night. "We were here until after 2 o'clock in the morning, just securing the property and trying to clear debris," he said. The storm destroyed five of his buildings and dozens of cars. "I do have six to seven that are completely totaled out," Hall said. "Crushed." Fortunately, all of them are insured. Hall said despite the damage, the business will be fine. "We've got a bunch of good people and a bunch of good friends," he said. "I've even had some customers show up to say, 'What can I help you guys do?'" City officials say no injuries were reported, and debris has been cleared from all roads. A few power outages were left over from Monday night, but Georgia Power and city crews spent Tuesday working to restore service to all customers. Police seize 91 kg marijuana Police on Tuesday seized 91 kg marijuana from Nijgad in Bara district along the East-West Highway. Submit An Obituary Funeral homes often submit obituaries as a service to the families they are assisting. However, we will be happy to accept obituaries from family members pending proper verification of the death. Go to form The White House says President Barack Obama has offered his condolences to Turkey's leader over a pair of deadly attacks, including at a nightclub on New Year's Eve. Obama and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan also agreed during their telephone conversation Tuesday that their countries must "stand united" to defeat terrorism. The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for the Dec. 31 shooting at Istanbul's Reina nightclub that killed 39 revelers. Obama also expressed sorrow over a Dec. 17 attack on off-duty Turkish soldiers in the central province of Kayseri that killed 13 troops. A wing of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party has said it was responsible. The White House said Obama also welcomed Turkey's efforts to help implement a nationwide cease-fire in Syria as well as the resumption of political talks between the Syrian government and the opposition. The military court on Wednesday will hand down its ruling in the trial of Sgt. Elor Azaria, who faces manslaughter charges after shooting dead a seriously wounded terrorist in Hebron last year. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter If Azaria is found guilty of manslaughter, he will be sentenced in about a month and could face several years in prison. Central Command Chief Justice Col. Maya Heller will read out the verdict at 10am at the special military court at the Kirya IDF headquarters in Tel Aviv. Sgt. Elor Azaria in court (Photo: Motti Kimchi) The court hearings have so far taken place at the Jaffa military court, but due to explosive nature of the hearing it was moved to the Kirya and will be held under tight security. Azaria's supporters, who have been protesting outside the Jaffa court throughout the trial, will be outside the base's gates and far from the courtroom. Only authorized personnel and the soldier's family members will be allowed into the courtroom. Azaria entered the courtroom on Wednesday morning to cheers and applause from his family. He was smiling as he hugged relatives and his girlfriend. Azaria supporters outside the court. The judges might choose to convict the soldier of a less grave offense, such as forbidden or negligent use of a firearm. The Military Advocate General's Office has been considering asking the court to send Azaria to prison immediately if he is convicted of manslaughter and not wait for the sentencing. Azaria filmed shooting the terrorist dead in Hebron (: . ) X Azaria has spent the nine months of the trial under open detention at his brigade's base near Rosh HaAyin, where he has been doing maintenance work. Sources close to the soldier who spoke to him in recent days claim he sounds "strong and optimistic and is not showing signs of breaking." Azaria's mother arriving in court on Wednesday (Photo: Motti Kimchi) These sources did express concern of the fact that the judges, particularly Judge Heller, have shown little patience towards Azaria and the defense's witnesses during the trial. Azaria's lawyers, Eyal Beserglick and Ilan Katz, attacked prosecutor Lt. Col. Nadav Weisman and the Chief Military Advocate General Brig. Gen. Sharon Afek in a letter to Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman on Monday, in which they demanded to ensure the IDF's top command has no influence on the trial. Azaria's father arriving in court on Wednesday morning (Photo: Motti Kimchi) An acquittal could cause a crisis of trust towards the chain of command in the IDF that has been condemning Azaria's actions clearly and in no uncertain terms since the incident. In the case of conviction, right-wing politicians are expected to call for a lenient sentence. Meanwhile, Azaria's defense team said they intend to appeal a conviction at the military court of appeals. This could drag the trial out for at least four more months and even longer if another appeal is filed to the Supreme Court. ANKARA - The identity of the gunman who killed 39 people in an attack on an Istanbul nightclub on New Year's Day has been established, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said in a televised interview with the state-run Anadolu news agency on Wednesday. The gunman, who fled after the attack, remains at large. Anadolu has said some 20 people have been detained as part of the investigation into the shooting. Cavusoglu did not identify the attacker. Reduce power consumption in the morning Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has urged the private sector to support the state-owned power utility in its drive against load-shedding by operating factories at half their capacity during peak electricity consumption hours in the morning. An 18-year-old man is not everyones child or a baby who has been taken captive, IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot said Tuesday. It was a very correct statement, a pivotal statement, in the wrong timing, on the eve of the ruling in the Elor Azaria trial. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter I assume that the chief of staff wished to speak before the debate that would being on Wednesday, after the delivery of the verdict. Its a shame he couldnt resist the temptation. Nonetheless, he was essentially right. Elor Azaria is not everyones child. Most importantly, he is not a child. If he were a child, he wouldnt have been given a weapon capable of killing. If people his age were children, we wouldnt be putting them on a plane that costs some $100 million or on a tank that costs millions. We wouldnt be trusting them with our lives and we wouldnt be expecting them to risk their lives for the country. Elor Azaria will always be his parents child, but this has nothing to do with the responsibility required from him as an IDF soldier (Photo: Motti Kimchi) Azaria is of course his parents child, but he will be his parents child even when he is 45 years old. This position has nothing to do with the responsibility required from him as a soldier in the Israel Defense Forces. In our minds, IDF soldiers have become helpless children, babies who have been taken captive. This is the result of a process that has lasted for years and reached its peak in the campaign for the release of kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit. There were many partners in this process, starting with innocent Israelis who failed to understand the extent of the damage they were causing, to politicians who understood very well but favored their own personal benefit. Media outlets made their own contribution to this process. Not because of their fondness of the Left, not because of their fondness of the Right, but because of their addiction to kitsch. Look how far we have fallen: As the latest military conflicts against Hamas in Gaza have proved, the Israeli society is more sensitive today to the death of soldiers in battle than it is to the death of civilians. This is a distorted, groundless prioritizationand in the long run, its even fatal. First of all, it hurts soldiers dignity. Every parent should remember what he thought about himself when he was 18 years old. Was he prepared to be treated like a child hiding behind his mothers skirt? I dont think so. The circumstances in which Azaria shot a terrorist 11 minutes after he was neutralized required a Military Police investigation and a trial in a military court. Such a serious incident cannot be settled within the unit. The law does not allow itand rightfully so. The incident took place in the middle of the "knife intifada," which put the entire Israeli society to a difficult test. Dark impulses were unleashed. The defense attorneys built their initial line of defense on that, and the politicians dived in. The things that Avigdor Lieberman and Naftali Bennett said on the day Azaria was detained on remand bordered on incitement and permission to kill. Eisenkot and then-Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon responded with emotionally charged words of their own. Their legitimate desire to protect the military authority, the law and the fighting norms in the army, and to prevent war crimes claims in the international community, dragged them into statements that were considered as an interference in the judicial proceeding. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus attempt to be in both places left an even worse taste. This commotion likely won Azaria many new Facebook friends, but I doubt it gave him the legal defense he deserved. With all the drama, the importance of this trial should not be overestimated. The laws, the values and the norms the IDF is based on are not determined in one soldiers trial. The soldiers will continue to do what they are tasked with on the ground, based on the training they receive from their commanders, the briefings they receive and their own feelings. The protestors signs outside the General Staff headquarters and the social media chatter are one thing, while the reality on the ground is another thing. Maj. Hagai Ben-Ari, who was critically wounded during the 2014 Operation Protective Edge and had been unconscious since then, passed away on Tuesday. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter In his passing, he became the 68th IDF soldier killed in the Gaza war. His funeral will be held at 2pm Wednesday at Moshav Haspin's cemetery. The 31-year-old officer was highly-regarded and was supposed to be appointed the commander of the Paratrooper Commando Unit. Ben-Ari with two of his children. He was airlifted to the Soroka Medical Center in Be'er Sheva, where he underwent a series of operations in an effort to save his life. Eventually the doctors determined his injury was so severe he had no chance of recovery and said it was a miracle he was still alive. Hagai Ben-Ari In the two years that have passed, Ben-Ari's body was able to overcome complications and infections, but he remained unconscious and did not communicate with his surroundings. He remained fairly anonymous until October 2014 when, after his condition deteriorated, the then-commander of the Paratroopers Brigade, Col. Eliezer Toledano, decided to symbolically appoint him the commander of the Paratrooper Commando Unit, where Ben-Ari filled many key positions. Hagai Ben-Ari The Ben-Ari family was on vacation in Israel's southernmost city of Eilat when Operation Protective Edge broke out and Hagai was called to fight. "I cried a lot when he went to fight, not because I thought something would happen to him but because I was left alone with the three children in Eilat," his wife, Moriya, said in a past interview. "When I saw how bummed out the children were, we decided that not only were we going to stay, we were also going to make it fun." Hagai Ben-Ari with his wife and children Moriya said that in the week that followed her husband's injury, "we still had hope. But very quickly we realized there wasn't any hope. That realization was so hard." Shortly before the war, Hagai and Moriya finished building their home in Moshav Nov in the Golan Heights, where they were both born and raised. After he was injured, the Defense Ministry funded the construction of a small unit for Hagai outside his parents' home, equipped with everything needed to take care of him. In July 2015, a year after he was injured, Hagai returned home. The spacious room was decorated with a lot of photos of him in uniform, with his children, with his soldiers, and with his parents. Hagai Ben-Ari His soldiers admired him. Even long after he was injured, friends kept visiting, coming to embrace him, talk to him, and encourage him. "There is something about Hagai," one friend explained in a past interview, "which makes us want to be near him, not leave, not settle for our daily routine. He is part of this routine and will remain that way." "Hagai had a rare quality of being able to touch people," Moriya said in an interview with Ynet's print publication Yedioth Ahronoth in October 2015. "Make them feel that they're his best friend. A kind of exceptional emotional intelligence that made people admire him and want to share their deepest secrets and plans with him and seek his advice. I'm not surprised by this. We've been together since we were 16 and I know who Hagai is." Sgt. Elor Azaria was convicted of manslaughter on Wednesday after shooting dead a seriously wounded terrorist in Hebron last year. Azaria will be sentenced in about a month and could face several years in prison. Azaria has spent the nine months of the trial under open detention at his brigade's base near Rosh HaAyin, where he has been doing maintenance work. The Military Advocate General's Office has been considering asking the court to send Azaria to prison immediately without waiting for the sentencing. Azaria's defense team said they intend to appeal the conviction at the military court of appeals. This could drag the trial out for at least four more months and even longer if another appeal is filed to the Supreme Court. ISTANBUL - A Turkish-backed offensive by Syrian rebels to take the Syrian town of al-Bab from Islamic State should be finished soon, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday. In a televised speech, Erdogan also said he was determined that other areas of Syria, including the town of Manbij, should be cleared by the Turkish-backed forces, referring to a town 50 km (30 miles) east of al-Bab. JAKARTA - Indonesia said Wednesday that it has suspended military cooperation with Australia over an alleged insult of Indonesian state ideology. Indonesian military spokesman Maj. Gen. Wuryanto said that cooperation has been suspended indefinitely, and that the decision was made after considering many matters. Although Wuryanto, who like many Indonesians uses one name, declined to give the exact reason for the decision, he said among the factors were reports of an Indonesian instructor saying that a "laminated paper" displayed at the Australian Special Forces base where he worked was insulting. "This is not a protest ... we would like to establish a useful cooperation for the two nations based on mutual respect," Wuryanto told The Associated Press. "Technically, it is not running well." Australian Defense Minister Marise Payne said in a statement that Indonesia had informed Australia of the decision. Some interaction between the two militaries "has been postponed until the matter is resolved. Cooperation in other areas is continuing," Payne said. A number of senior ministers voiced their opposition against a unanimous decision reached Wednesday morning to convict Sgt. Elor Azaria for manslaughter after shooting dead a seriously wounded terrorist who carried out a stabbing attack just moments earlier in Hebron last year. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter Speaking after the verdict had been reached, Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman expressed regret at the outcome, saying "I don't like the verdict", but urged everyone to respect the legal judgement. Avigdor Lieberman ad Naftali Bennett (Photo: Alex Kolomoisky and Yair Sagi) We are all obligated to show restraint. What is important is that despite the verdict, the security apparatus will assist the soldier and his family in any way possible," he promised. Lieberman also called upon the public to refrain from attacking the security system, the IDF and Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot The calls that I have heard in the last half hour is fundamentally wrong. The chief of staff is the commander of the army. He really works day and night, 24 hours, 7 days a week for the security of IsraelAny attacks on the IDF or on the chief of staff have no place." Bayit Yehudi leader Naftali Bennett also came out swinging against the decision, calling on authorities to grant immediate pardon to Azaria. Elor Azaria with his father Charlie I expect the Defense Minister to be loyal to his endless promises and grant immediate pardon to Elor Azaria so that he does not sit even a single day in prison, the minister of education said. Today the soldier, who killed a terrorist who deserved to die and who tried to slaughter a soldier, was put in handcuffs and found guilty. We need to say the truth. The process was contaminated from the beginning. The terrible statements made by the political establishment even before the investigation was opened, the absence of the soldier himself from the military investigation itself and more, caused irreversible damage to Elor, he added. Bennett's comments were made in reference to remarks made by former Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon who immediately made public declarations condemning Azaria after the incident. Minister of the Interior Aryeh Deri (Shas) said that while he respected the decision and that the court had done the work required of it, from here the right way is granting pardon. The conduct of the trial and the suffering that the soldier and his family endured justifies the granting of a pardon. Aryeh Deri (Photo: Motti Kimchi) Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid, released a statement decrying what he deemed inflammatory statements by politicians, and urged the population to refrain from violence I call on everyone to end the violence and stop the irresponsible statements coming from within the political system. Its not the way of the Jewish people, of the State of Israel or of the IDF," he said. "The court has made its decision and now we also have a role; to prevent a rift in our society and to ensure that no harm comes to the peoples army. The State of Israel is powerful because of our wonderful military, our officers and our soldiers and because we are a country of law and order. Yair Lapid (Photo: Motti Kimchi) Also commenting on the results of the trial was MK Amir Peretz (Labor) who insisted that the decision was not one deserving of celebration. This is not a day for cheering. I call on everyone to respect the court ruling. Its independence and authority is part of the army's resilience and moral standing," the former defense minister said. The IDF has always been and will continue to be a moral army. Among other things due to the complete separation of politics, public opinion and its professional considerations." Amir Peretz (Photo: Yoav Dudkevitch) Echoing the sentiments by Lieberman, Peretz came to Eisenkots defense: "Heading the army is a brave Chief of Staff, who understands his overall responsibility, an outstanding combatant and a moral and dignified man. We must honor the chain of command starting with him down to the last and most recent recruit." Peretz added: "Every soldier must know that the chain of command and rules of ethics apply also to the reality of the West Bank and should ignore reckless politicians who scatter statements and call for opening fire and shooting to kill without any actual authority. "I expect right wing MKs to honor the verdict and cease their irresponsible assaults of the IDF and its commanders" MK Shelly Yachimovich (Zionist Union) was among the MKs coming out in support of the verdict: The conviction of Elor Azaria is justified, and anyone who attacks the court now is harming the very heart of Israeli statehood. However, at the end of the legal process it will be right to weigh up pardoning Azaria. Lebanese President Michel Aoun dropped a bombshell during a government meeting on Wednesday when he claimed the Israeli Mossad might be involved in the assassination of a Lebanese businessman in Angola, Amin Bakri. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter "Recently a Lebanese businessman was assassinated in Angola," Aoun said. "The Foreign Ministry is monitoring the issue and collecting the data in light of information the Israeli Mossad might be behind this crime." The Facebook page of Kfar Sir, a town in southern Lebanon where Bakri was born, posted on Monday that two unknown assailants shot several bullets at the businessman in Luanda, the capital city of Angola. Amin Bakri The post said Bakri suffered injuries to several areas of his body, and that he succumbed to his wounds at a local hospital. Lebanese newspaper An-Nahar reported that the assassination occurred after he had completed a tour of a furniture factory he owns in the Luanda area. According to the paper, Bakri entered his car with a friend and drove off, but a "gang of thieves" was ambushing him nearby. Three young men, the report claimed, ambushed the businessman and opened fire at him. He tried to drive away but one of the men hit the car's windshield, breaking it, and shot one bullet into Bakri's head. It was unclear what happened to the friend who was with Bakri in the car. The businessman's brother told An-Nahar that Bakri owned several factories manufacturing furniture, oxygen tanks, and other medical equipment. "He became a successful businessman, but it didn't hurt his modesty. Until his last moment, he had good morals and felt pity for every poor or needy person," the brother said. The Lebanese TV channel Al-Mustaqbal reported that Bakri's body is due to arrive in Lebanon on Thursday and will later be flown to Iraq and buried in Najaf, a city considered holy by the Shiites, in accordance with his will. "He had no political affiliation. He was a patriot," a relative of Bakri claimed. A verdict reached on Wednesday morning convicting IDF soldier Sgt. Elor Azaria of manslaughter after shooting dead a seriously wounded terrorist who carried out a stabbing attack just moments earlier in Hebron last year, has made headlines the world over. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter While most of the headlines in international mainstream media outlets referenced the fact that Azaria had indeed been found guilty of manslaughter, many omitted any mention whatsoever of the fact that the Palestinian had gone on a stabbing spree just moments earlier. CNN coverage CNN and Sky News, for example, referred to the killing of a "wounded Palestinian suspect" while the BBC spoke merely of the "Hebron death." BBC coverage Sky News The New York Times The Telegraph BERLIN - A Syrian asylum-seeker went on trial in Germany on Wednesday accused of being a member of the Islamic State group and scouting out Berlin landmarks for a possible attack. The hearing began two weeks after an attack on a Christmas market in the German capital, in which 12 people were killed and dozens more were injured. The Islamic State group said one of its members, a 24-year-old Tunisian who was shot dead days later by Italian police, carried out that attack. Prosecutors don't believe that Shaas al-Mohammad, the 20-year-old defendant now on trial, was involved in the Christmas market attack, but cited it as one reason for allowing the public to observe the trial. Judges rejected a defense motion to exclude the public due to the defendant's young age. VIENNA - President Reuven Rivlin has told Jewish representatives that he strongly opposes contacts between his country's officials and European parties with a history of anti-Semitism. Rivlin said he will "never condone" meetings between representatives of Israel and "European parties of the far right that are tainted with a history of anti-Semitism, Holocaust denial ... or the promotion of racial hatred or intolerance." Vienna's Jewish community emailed a copy to The Associated Press on Wednesday. Dated Dec. 20, the letter is in response to one sent in November by World Jewish Congress Vice President Ariel Muzicant and Oskar Deutsch, the head of Vienna's Jewish community, complaining about contacts between Austria's Freedom Party and Israeli political figures. The party said Wednesday that it doesn't consider Rivlin's comments as applying to it. RPP to host reception on Prithvi Jayanti The Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) is to host a reception on coming January 11 or Push 27 as per the Nepali calendar on the occasion of the Prithvi Jayanti, the birth anniversary of King Prithvi Narayan Shah, the unifier of modern Nepal. Lawmaker Teuvo Hakkarainen from the nationalist Finns party was fined on Wednesday for a Facebook post calling for a Muslim-free Finland which a district court said amounted to agitation against an ethnic group. Hakkarainen, whose party is part of the country's coalition government, made the call in a comment on the truck attack in France last July that killed 86 people. Prosecutors said the Tunisian-born driver had radical Islamist views. "All Muslims are not terrorists but all terrorists are Muslims," the parliamentarian wrote in the comment. Central Finland's district court in Jyvaskyla imposed a 1,160 euro ($1,210) fine for Hakkarainen, who accepted the verdict. Local media quoted his assistant telling the court that the lawmaker was not aware of the legislation in question. On December 23rd, 2016, we watched as nations convened to promote, and to permit, the passage of UNSC Resolution, 2334. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter That the resolution was ratified by a group within whose ranks sit several perpetrators of occupation, of wars of highly questionable legality, and of military campaigns that have ravaged countries and populations far beyond their sovereign boundaries, is an irony worthy of comment and exploration indeed. Moreover, the fact that the very governments who have demonstrated nothing more than boundless ineptitude and indecisiveness regarding the broader Middle East now arrogantly exhibit total and utter certainty as to how, when, and why Israel must affect policy - for Israel's own sake no less - reflects a dynamic that ought to beggar belief. Sadly, such hypocrisy is standard procedure at the United Nations. Of far greater concern to me, however, was the speech made by Secretary of State John Kerry, less than a week thereafter, in which he demonstrated a stubborn, absolutist adherence to the two state solution; the essential tenets of which include further land concessions by Israel and the division of our capital in the hope of a peace that has thus far eluded us. Photo: EPA Indeed, the secretary's perception is best evinced by his opening declaration that: "The two state solution is the only way to achieve a just and lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians." Responses to the speech came thick and fast; both from within and beyond the State of Israel. Some were congratulatory, others condemnatory. Regrettably, far too many focused upon the secretary himself; a futile endeavor indeed. On matters such as this, Israel ought to undertake two things above all. Firstly, we ought to present responses demonstrative of strategic thought, deliberation and direction. Secondly, Israel should assign the best of our talent and attention to the 'message,' not the 'messenger.' Specifically, we must vigorously challenge the manner in which peacemaking for Israelis is prescribed by others. If current events in the middle east prove anything at all, it is that nothing is certain, much less singularly so. Messengers come and go. Policies, unchallenged, endure. We ought to be deeply disturbed by the willingness of many to trumpet the two state solution, with all of its pitfalls, as the only possible solution. With particular reference to our friends overseas, and to those individuals by whom you are represented, I thus propose a series of questions for you to ask of yourselves; the answers to which ought to engender a deeper understanding and internalization of the dilemmas facing the people of Israel and the potential ramifications upon which many of us rightly focus. These questions are informed by simple realities that are too often forgotten, dismissed or overlooked by many throughout the international community. We in Israel do not have the luxury of averting our gaze from such considerations. We should not be expected to do so. Question 1: Is the two state solution geographically practicable and implementable? Can you stand over an open map of the land that lays between the Jordan river and the Mediterranean sea and demonstrate how a fully contiguous state for the Palestinian Arabs - incorporating Judea & Samaria and the Gaza Strip - can be established without breaching the contiguity of northern and southern Israel? Question 2: Is there proof, evidence and precedent suggestive of the idea that further concessions of land to the Palestinian Arabs will result in a peaceful, secure reality for the state and people of Israel? Having withdrawn from the Gaza strip in 2005, in the pursuit of peace, Israelis have fallen prey to thousands of rockets launched upon towns and cities from the very territory vacated. Today, at least two-thirds of the state of Israel is rendered within range of rocket attacks emanating from Gaza. Terror tunnels dug by Hamas into Israel have morphed from a tactical threat into a strategic asset. Does this reality inspire confidence in the continuation of the land for peace policy? This question calls for answers predicated upon proof and evidence. It does not call for hopes, dreams and conjecture. Question 3: Are you certain that the majority of Israelis are ready, willing and prepared to divide our capital city, Jerusalem? For millennia, the people of Israel yearned to return to Jerusalem. Unlike the national anthems of many other countries, a full throated reference to our capital city marks the crescendo of the Israeli anthem. For millions of Israelis, Jerusalem constitutes the magnet, the pulse and the very heart of our national, cultural and religious existence. As just one citizen, I reject as absurd any suggestion proclaiming that only by carving up that very heart is the survival of the broader organism assured. Capital cities signify state sovereignty. A sacked capital signifies a defeated state. Whether a capital is sacked by gunfire or by diplomatic pressure, the result is the same. The Kotel (Photo: Police Spokesperson's Unit) Israel's citizenry has known generations of war and so we are uniquely willing to travel the road that leads to peace. Yet even at the outset of that journey we can clearly discern certain features that are more than worthy of being defended, both now and in the future. For me, and for many like me, Jerusalem, is one such feature. I am willing to defend it jealously, proudly and unabashedly. You may well suggest that it ought to be partitioned. I simply ask that you refrain from doing so as though your suggestion is reasonable. To me, it is not. In insisting upon the preservation of my capital, I am neither unique here in Israel, nor markedly different from citizens of other sovereign countries who would respond with equal possessiveness regarding their nation's capital. Question 4: If the two state solution is implemented, unsuccessfully, would you be prepared to live with the consequences of that failure as is expected of the Israeli people? Since Israel's withdrawal from Gaza in 2005, three defensive operations have been launched by the IDF in response to acts of terror from the Strip. Such operations required the repeated, mass mobilization of the I.D.F. reservists. These citizen-soldiers are our fathers and our mothers. They are our doctors, professors, lawyers and innovators. They are our business owners and our civil servants. They are just like you. For more than a decade now, they have been caught in the cause of putting right that which legislators made so very wrong. Even as such legislators enjoy their retirement from public life, having vacated the international stage, the citizens of Israel are called upon to preserve our safety and security. Our ability to do stems from a direct and personal obligation to defend our homes and our families. Such citizen-soldiers move forward on pain of death. Would you be willing to risk a reality such as that? Question 5: If the two state solution is implemented, unsuccessfully, would you be prepared to have your own children face the consequences of that failure as is expected of Israeli children? Israel's sons and daughters constitute the first line of defense against attacks upon our cities and civilians. Oftentimes, due to Israel's lack of strategic depth, our defenders can literally see the towns they defend from the forward lines of the battlefield. Israel's sons and daughters face a clear cut choice, therefore. If they stand fast, the people behind them will live. If they fail to do so, some of those people will die. It really is that straightforward on the line. The past four major, cross-border operations have come as a direct consequence of the land for peace formula. With that in mind, would you bet the safety of your children upon the policy whims of foreign governments? Or is the courage required to engage in such a wager something you uniquely expect from the parents of Israeli teens? Rocket fired from Gaza (Photo: Avi Rokeah) Question 6: In Israel, parents and children alike report to the field of combat. They do so with a very heavy heart. Is it truly reasonable to believe that Israelis require international pressure in order to sedulously pursue a peaceful existence for ourselves and for our loved ones? Within Israel, the debate as to how we ensure a life of peace, safety and security is alive, well and intense. It is Israel's to have. We will continue to exercise our democratic right to demand of our legislators that they do all that is possible and practical to bring about an end to this conflict, without paying a pyrrhic price. No pressure from overseas is needed when it comes to appreciating the urgency of peace making. What accounts for your belief that it is? The UN Security Council (Photo: AFP) Friends, these are my questions to you. They are posed with my insistence that anyone unable to return a resounding 'yes' to all 6 must move away from the land for peace policy and instead consider new, imaginative and viable alternatives . A stubborn unwillingness to do so would demonstrate an alarming readiness to demand of the people of Israel that we accept upon ourselves a standard that no other people would be so much as asked to consider. It will not be the legislators of distant lands who immediately bear the consequences of the policies they espouse. Rather, it will be the citizens of Israel to whom the task is uniquely assigned. Do not impose upon Israel a future that you would never accept upon yourselves. Allow us instead to chart our own course, both this year, and in the years to come, as we move toward the realization of our most sincere prayer, that of knowing Shalom Al Yisrael. Yousri al-Sharif, the father of Abed al Fatah al-Sharif, the terrorist who had been seriously injured when he was shot to death last March by Sgt. Elor Azaria, watched Azaria's verdict being read live with his family on Wednesday. Azaria was unanimously found guilty of manslaughter by the three judges presiding over the case. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter It took presiding Central Command Chief Justice Col. Maya Heller nearly three hours to deliver the verdict. "I was exhausted and tense," he said. "I smoked two packs of cigarettes while watching the verdict." "I feel good. It is fair," responded Yousri after Azaria was found guilty. "It is an achievement for the court that it condemned the soldier." That said, al-Sharif's family expressed concern and some criticism over receiving justice during Azaria's impending sentencing. "The Israeli public should also demand justice," said al-Sharif's family, who also worried that the public outcry against the conviction might cause the court to deliver a lighter sentence. "The court should have handed in its final sentencing today instead of (merely) convicting him, as his conviction has been clear for nine months, since the beginning of the case," said the family. "We understand there is a conviction, but where is the sentence? When will they hand it in?" his uncle asked. Al-Sharif's family watches a report on Azaria's conviction "All the demonstrations that were held outside the courtroom create a very heavy pressure on the court regarding the sentencing. We, as his family, shouldn't be the only ones to demand justice; the Israeli public should also demand justice," the uncle added. "If Israel is indeed a emocratic state that champions justice and equality, then we demand that there be equality between the punishment of a soldier and the punishment of others convicted of manslaughter," interjected a member of al-Sharif's family. The military court at the IDF Headquarters in the Kirya is due to hand in Azaria's sentencing in about a month. Azaria's attorneys have already announced that they plan on appealing the decision. During the trial, the prosecution repeatedly rejected Azaria's attempted lines of defense. As Chief Justice Heller read out the verdict on Wednesday, Azaria's testimony was found to be "unreliable" and his shooting of al-Sharif to be without justification. The IDF has assigned a security detail to protect the three judges involved in the trial of Sgt. Elor Azaria who, on Wednesday, convicted him of manslaughter of a Palestinian terrorist. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter Security guards have also been assigned to the chief military prosecutor in the case, Lt. Col. Nadav Weissman amid fear of violent reprisals of angry supporters of the soldier. Photo: Yoav Zitun The judgesCentral Command Chief Justice Col. Maya Heller, Col. Carmel Wahabi and and Lt. Col Yaron Sitbon will be escorted by security guards throughout the coming days. From left to right: Lt. Col Yaron Sitbon, Col. Maya Heller and Col. Carmel Wahabi (Photo: Motti Kimchi) Following the steady flow of harsh reactions to the decision to convict Azaria, the State Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit issued a special statement defending the rule of law. Israeli law enforcement system, including the military justice system, fulfilling its role independently, impartially and devoid of bias, and according to legal and professional considerations only. Respect for the state legal system and judicial decisions is a fundamental rock of Israeli democracy. Claims that law enforcement officials supposedly act according to external reasons are unfounded, irresponsible and must be fully condemned. Lt. Col. Nadav Weissman (Photo: Yariv Katz) In the afternoon, Weissman also met with Chief Military Advocate Brig. Gen. Sharon Afek and are expected to meet once again to discuss the punishment that will be imposed on Azaria. The convicted soldier is expected to be sentenced in approximately one month. Outside the courtroom, hundreds of protesters gather in solidarity with Azaria. However, some of the chants raised concern, particularly when combined with some of the violent actions taking place. You havent yet heard the last word. We will shake up the country, was the message that the enraged protesters transmitted to the family. But the four main actors in the case were not the only ones to fall prey to the violent threats of angry mobs. Channel 2 aired footage of some protesters chanting "Gadi, Gadi beware, Rabin's looking for a friend," referring to the Israeli prime minister who was assassinated. Following Sgt. Elor Azaria's conviction of manslaughter for the shooting of neutralized terrorist Abed al Fatah al-Sharif, former Defense minister Moshe Ya'alon went on the attack, in a video posted to Facebook where he focused on the support that Azaria received from politicians. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter "This is a hard day for Elor and the Azaria family, for Israeli society and politics and myself, as well," said Ya'alon at the beginning of the video. "I am proud of our commanders and soldiers acting according to IDF values, who were tasked with the responsibility of handling this irregular and regretful incident. I want you to know that I always have your considerations in mind." Ya'alon (Photo: Zvika Tishler) "Today, with the verdict already be given, one can already state that the IDF and the Azaria family have been seriously injured by politicians who have betrayed their jobs," continued Ya'alon. "The criminal procedure that the soldier Elor and his family experienced was too tough to bear and should have looked and been managed differently. And the reason it was conducted in a way that made it difficult for all those involved was the cynical exploitation of the case by self-interested politicians looking out for their own personal gain." A still from Ya'alon's video "Instead of leading," said Ya'alon. "They used Elor and his family as a political pawn for a few extra mandates. They have lied to you. And I am ashamed of those politicians." Ya'alon called on Israel's defense authorities to continue with their work while holding on to their humanity. "To all those taking part in the sacred duty of protecting Israel's security, keep on facing our enemies with determination, while maintaining our values. It is this that makes us unique among the nations and an example to all peoples. It is the source of our strength, it is our greatness," said Ya'alon. "Just as I have physically protected the citizens of Israel from those who wished to hurt us, so will I not hesitate to defend Israeli society from those who seek to harm its values. This is not a matter of right or left, nor is this not a political game. It is a matter of understanding the importance of the values that define us as a society." Shortly after Azaria's case was made public last March, Ya'alon came out strongly against Azaria , calling him a "transgressing soldier" and stressing that "He simply took the law into his own hands. He opened fire without justification." Ya'alon added that it was important for the Israeli top military and political echelon to come out against such a case, "to show that we're not like the other side." At the time, Ya'alon also harshly criticized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's actions in the matter, which included Netanyahu calling Azaria's father, Charlie to console him . "When the Hebron shooting affair just happened, Netanyahu had agreed with me that we needed to let the military prosecution investigate and handle this," Ya'alon said at the time. "And then, when he noticed the public mood, he changed his mind. As a minister, I had to back the IDF chief, but I felt like Netanyahu abandoned me." "Someone who committed a transgression needs to pay the price," stated Ya'alon. A day after a series of shooting events took place in the city of Haifa, there is a growing suspicion among security forces that they were both connected and carried out due to nationalistic motives. A manhunt continued on Wednesday through the Halisa neighborhoodwhere the police's main suspect is fromas its residents call on the suspect to turn himself in. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter Security forces in Haifa The investigation into Tuesday's Haifa shooting incidents had a surprise development, moving from a suspicion that the shooting spree was focused on harming rabbinical judges, to suspicion of nationalistic motives. Earlier Wednesday, the police scanned an abandoned house in Halisa for three hours in search of the suspect. Approached by Ynet, the suspect's mother refused to give a response, beyond stating "I have nothing to say." The suspect With a large number of police personnel still in the neighborhood, residents of Halisa expressed their concern that their houses will be searched during Wednesday night, as they were on Tuesday. "We don't want another Nashat Melhem," said a resident of the neighborhood, referring to the manhunt carried out after Melheman Arab from the northern Arab town Ar'ara went on a deadly shooting attack in Tel Aviv in January of last year. "It's extremely scary to see armed policemen enter homes with their faces covered. It's like in times of war. It would be better for the suspect to turn himself in, otherwise he will be putting an entire neighborhood at risk." Rafat Asdi, a resident of Haifa's Halisa neighborhood Rafat Asdi, another resident of the neighborhood, voiced his surprise upon hearing the suspect's identity. "This is a completely normative family, an exemplary family without a single criminal entanglement. The suspect everyone is talking about is an honors student, and the entire neighborhood is really surprised. We'll be wiser after the investigation develops further." He added that "If the suspect is involved, I call on him in the name of the whole neighborhood to turn himself in." British Prime Minister Theresa May appointed a senior career diplomat as envoy to the European Union to replace an ambassador who quit with a scathing resignation letter that exposed frustration among officials over her strategy. Tim Barrow, political director of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and a former ambassador to Moscow, would take up the post next week, May's Downing Street office said, following the abrupt resignation of Ivan Rogers. The selection of Barrow, a 30 year veteran diplomat, could disappoint some Brexit campaigners who would like to see a known eurosceptic in the post, but may reassure Britain's cadre of civil servants that their expertise is still valued. Barrow has served as first secretary at Britain's embassy in Brussels but is not known to have taken a strong public position on Brexit. Tinker Citizen Airmen Deploy to Turkey Ninety-Four Citizen Airmen from the 507th Air Refueling Wing here departed for a deployment to Incirlik Air Base, Turkey to support Operation Inherent Resolve with KC-135R Stratotanker air refueling support. The group of Reserve Airmen, made up of a mix of operations group and maintenance group professionals is one of the largest groups to leave from Tinker this year to support ongoing operations against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. The nations business is why we are all here, said Col. Travis Caughlin, 507th Maintenance Group Commander. Weve spent a long time training and preparing and its very worthwhile when you get to go execute whats really going on. It doesnt get any more real than this. The group plans to be deployed two months, which is shorter than previous deployments in Air Force Reserve Command. This realignment is partially designed to improve operations by keeping maintenance and operations teams together both during the deployment and when training at home station. While the deployment may be shorter, the 507th ARW will be deploying again with a large contingent of the wing deploying again in the summer of 2017. With operations in Southwest Asia continuing, support from the Air Reserve Component is vital according to wing leadership. Im convinced tankers are the key to global reach, Caughlin said. If we dont get there, fighters, bombers, and airlifters wont get there without the tanker. Weve got to get that gas to the warfighter. Since standing up in 2012, the 655th Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Group has come a long way in its growth and continues to pave the way for future Air Force intelligence initiatives. The 655th ISR Group is an independent group under 10th Air Force that ensures the training and readiness of Air Force Reserve Command intelligence squadrons engaged in multiple diverse and complex intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance mission sets. Stood up Oct. 1, 2012 here at Wright-Patterson as Detachment 2, 10th Air Force, with just 38 people, the 655th ISR Group has grown from being a detachment and now consists of 14 classic associate unit intelligence squadrons spanning across seven states conducting 13 different missions with more than 1,000 people and an FY16 economic impact of $68 million among all 14 squadrons across the country. The 655th supports Air Combat Command; Air Force Materiel Command; Air Force Special Operations Command; National Air and Space Intelligence Center; Defense Intelligence Agency; National Security Agency; and National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency with classic associate intelligence squadrons embedded and working daily with their active duty counterparts to further the intelligence capabilities of the U.S. Air Force. Col. John McKaye, 655th ISRG commander, said the unit has grown a lot since its activation, expanding from five squadrons to 14 today, with an emphasis on cyber intelligence. Cyber intelligence is a growing requirement for the nation to be able to both defend and be able to potentially determine the correct response to a threat in the cyber world, said McKaye. Our new squadrons will focus on intelligence to support the cyber world. Those squadrons will be helping to do that and thats part of the whole investment that the nation is making in the cyber mission force. As an independent group, the 655th is a wing equivalent organization with more than 1,000 Citizen Airmen and civilians assigned. With the Group expanding, the next focus will be on meeting the requirements and timelines to become an ISR-Wing, according to McKaye. The overarching plan is to stand up an additional ISR Group on the east coast in FY19, currently planned to be located at Fort Meade, Maryland, McKaye said. This additional group would provide justification for an ISR Wing to be located at Wright-Patterson. It is unprecedented for one Group to organize, train and equip 14 squadrons and our ISR Group is larger than several Wings in AFRC, said McKaye. The 655th ISR Group is comprised of a group headquarters, 14 intelligence squadrons and an Intelligence Support Flight. Three squadrons are co-located with the Group: the 64th Intelligence Squadron, responsible for human intelligence collection and reporting; the 71st Intelligence Squadron, responsible geospatial and measurement and signatures intelligence analysis and production; and the 14th Intelligence Squadron, which provides intelligence supportability and ISR expertise in support of Air Force acquisitions. Three squadrons are located at Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia: the 42nd Intelligence Squadron, responsible for targeting intelligence; and the 63rd and 718th Intelligence Squadrons, responsible for multi-discipline Distributed Common Ground System ISR operations. Beale AFB, California is home to two of the groups squadrons, the 38th and 50th Intelligence Squadrons, both of which are responsible for multi-discipline DCGS ISR operations. Offutt AFB, Nebraska is home to the 49th Intelligence Squadron, responsible for crypto linguistic intelligence support and a new targeting squadron. The 16th Intelligence Squadron conducts signals intelligence and an additional new squadron supports Cyber-Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance and they are both located at Fort Meade. The 28th Intelligence Squadron is located at Hurlburt Field, Florida and is responsible for ISR support to Special Operations Forces. Finally, the newest squadron is located at Joint Base San Antonio, Texas, and is also conducting Cyber ISR. McKaye is proud of the men and women in his group and the results of their role in the Air Force Reserve that they bring to the table every day. The great thing about these jobs from a reserve standpoint is that most of these jobs are here in the United States at operations centers so our reservists can do their civilian job during the week then come to work on the weekend and work missions from here. In 12 out of our 14 squadrons, it is possible for us to do those types of activities from the U.S. on operations floors that are in the fight here. Its a great role for reservists, McKaye said. McKaye said his Airmen make a difference with what they do for national defense. Information that his reservists have worked on has gone not only to combatant commanders, but to the Chief of Staff of the Air Force, the Secretary of the Air Force and to the President himself. The intelligence products that our reservists have worked on have spanned that chain of command. Its impressive when you start looking at the impact that these 1,000-plus Airmen have in being able to support national defense. Stacy Vaughn of the 445th Airlift Wing Public Affairs office contributed to this story. Vietnam veteran and former Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel returned to the Pentagon today to join Defense Secretary Ash Carter in officially opening an exhibit honoring the estimated 9 million Americans who served in the Vietnam War. A two-time Purple Heart recipient, Hagel joined Carter and other Pentagon officials for the official ribbon cutting of the display, which spans a swath of a third-floor corridor. Todays unveiling and the governmentwide commemoration that accompany it are an important part of our commitment to honor veterans from Vietnam and their families, for service, for valor, for sacrifice, Carter said. Carter, who served as Hagels deputy, described the 24th defense secretary as one of modern Americas finest public servants. From his bravery and sacrifice in Vietnam to his continued leadership in and out of elected office and here as secretary of defense, Chucks been dedicated to those who serve, to bringing home those still missing, and to making sure we remember the lessons of yesterdays wars so we can ensure the continued excellence of todays military and DoD, Carter said. Standing before large models of Huey helicopters and other life-size combat depictions, Carter noted that while the hallway displays celebrate some of the militarys finest accomplishments, they also aim to serve as reminders of difficult lessons learned along the way. Hard Lessons Learned Hagel elaborated on some of these lessons. This exhibit really and truly represents the service of a generation of citizens who were asked to do something for their country at a difficult time, as difficult a time as probably weve seen in our lifetimes, he said. At the wars peak, some 500,000 U.S. troops were in Vietnam. Hagel acknowledged the wars lack of popularity, -- noting that it drove a president from office when Lyndon B. Johnson chose not to run for re-election in 1968, and that America saw the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Sen. Robert F. Kennedy that same year as cities went up in flames during riots. There was tremendous social unrest everywhere, and that too was happening in our armed forces, Hagel said. It was a difficult time inside those armed forces for our officers, our enlisted and with a real question as to what the clear purpose of the war was. Hagels Reflection of War Hagel reflected on his personal role in the conflict as a witness to uncommon courage and quiet heroes, draftees from across the country with little understanding of why they were there, though steeled with a commitment to the mission. It took many, many years before our country and our history was corrected and probably most importantly, the warrior was separated from the war, Hagel recounted. This exhibit very much reflects all that and pays tribute to men and women who never asked for anything in return. They never came back to any expectations -- they wanted to get on with their lives and put that war experience behind them. Presidential Proclamation, Exhibits Impact By presidential proclamation issued May 25, 2012, the 50th anniversary commemoration extends from Memorial Day 2012 through Veterans Day 2025. The Vietnam War Commemoration staff, in collaboration with the Pentagon corridor committee, Office of the Secretary of Defense graphics experts and service historians, helped to bring the exhibit project to fruition. Vietnam-era veterans and their families have helped America learn those lessons to ensure we never forget them, Carter said. Throughout this hallway, and the ongoing commemoration of the Vietnam War and those who served, future service members and civilians will continue to remember those lessons for years to come. Official-Fact-Sheet-Vietnam-Veteran-Lapel-Pin.pdf Official-Fact-Sheet-Certificate-of-Honor.pdf SC upholds NEA board reshuffle The Supreme Court has upheld the decision of the government to sack three board members of the Nepal Electricity Authority. This has been a long time in the making, but in our continuing pursuit to bring only the best of firearms, 2nd Amendment and defence related news to our readers, we are very excited to announce the next step in our evolution as a company. As of 2020, Minuteman Review is now the proud owner and operator of Your Defence News, a website with a long history of breaking huge news stories and investigative journalism. We hope you are equally as excited as us. This means that now the teams of Minuteman can combine with the firepower of Your Defence News to stay at the absolute forefront for our readers. Keep an eye. Big things are coming soon. We couldn't be more excited. In the meanwhile, here are some of our most popular posts and categories to keep you busy. Happy shootin' my friends! Buying Guides: Firearms Firearm Accessories Ammunition Gun Safes Scopes & Optics Hunting Air Rifles Best AR-15 Best AR 15 Scope Best Hunting Rifle Best Gun Safe Best AK 47 Best AR 10 Best Glock Triggers Best Glock Best Home Defense Shotgun As a homeowner, you probably already know that you should be working to maintain your home. But, chances are, you Read More Sluggish development Residents of Kathmandu have been awaiting water from the Melamchi river for the last two decades. Over the years, the Asian Development Bank-funded project has suffered numerous delays for one reason or another. Tripartite pact signed with 87pc of registered families: NRA The National Reconstruction Authority (NRA) has completed signing tripartite agreements with 87 percent and distributed the first installment of the private housing rebuilding aid to 74 percent of the 626,036 families registered in 14 most affected districts by the Gorkha Earthquake in 2015. Bhopal gas tragedy is back in the news again nearly 26 years after this ghastly incident took place. Over 20,000 people were killed within days and people continue to suffer till today. Everybody is appalled at the verdict because it seems that the incident has been treated like a road accident.

Every media channel, whether online or offline, is abuzz with discussions about the tragedy. Media is leaving no stone unturned to blame the government for its inaction. But, a closer look and the media would realize that it is a failure on its part as well. How? The kind of media attention that this incident is getting now could have been given earlier also. Media is very powerful. Had it kept the issue alive, then the government could have been pressurized to act earlier and faster. This has happened in the past in cases of Jessica Lal, Nitish Kataria, 26/11, tiger conservation, Rouvanjit Rawla etc. It is widely known that had the media not followed these incidents, these too would have died their natural death.

There is no written rulebook for media coverage for such incidents but, it is the medias moral responsibility to act on such issues. Unfortunately, media too is driven by TRPs. That is why some channels prefer to give more coverage to Amitabh Bachchans religious pilgrimages, Shilpa Shettys wedding shopping, the Ambanis handshake etc.

It is not that the media has not given coverage to the incident but, the focus is event driven. The focus has shifted back to the Bhopal gas tragedy because of the recent verdict. A few weeks down the line, this issue would again fade away. After all, the law of diminishing returns applies to them as well.

Back in the eighties, media was not so powerful but, now that it is, it can act as a catalyst in bringing a change in our society. After all, well done is better than well said. What has happened in the past cannot be changed, but going forward the media can learn from the same and make sure that this issue does not die down till it reaches its rightful conclusion. It is not the light that we need but, the fire. UML urges govt to move in consensus The main opposition CPN-UML has claimed that the constitution amendment bill registered at the Parliament Secretariat lost significance following the Supreme Courts verdict, urging the government to withdraw it. The siege in Mumbai has finally ended, with all the terrorists holding the city to ransom gunned down.

However, before the Taj Hotel siege came to en end on Saturday morning, the attacks that began at around 9.35 pm in the countrys financial capital on Wednesday night turned out to be Indias biggest horror story, leaving at least 160 people dead and over 327 injured. Terrorists holding innocent people, including MPs and foreigners, hostage at three places and killing many of them; top Mumbai police officers sacrificing their lives in the battle, including state Anti-Terror Squad chief Hemant Karkare; and blasts and firings throughout the three-day-long battle were all part of the drama that unfolded in Mumbai.

These were not just any other terror attacks that India sees every other day and has become immune to; these were attacks on an unprecedented scale. Till Wednesday, 1993 Mumbai serial blasts were considered to be the biggest attack ever on Indian state. However, whats happened in Mumbai over the past three days has surpassed any such attack by leaps and bounds. Never before has the country seen a terror attack on this scale fidayeen terrorists, guns, bombs and grenades, hostage situations have all been part of these highly co-ordinated attacks carried out to inflict maximum damage on Mumbai, the countrys economic hub. If I may say so, the attacks appeared to be a WAR on Mumbai and seem to be planned on the scale of September 11, 2001 attacks on the US.

Terrorists specially targeted foreigners in their attacks foreign nationals were both killed and held hostage in the incidents. Some reports suggested that two US intelligence officials were also caught in the attacks on the posh Taj and Oberoi (Trident) hotels. Another Greek millionaire also succumbed to his injuries. A top French nuclear physicist is reported to have escaped from one of the two hotels. Israeli nationals were also held at gunpoint at a Jewish headquarter in the city.

Why Im calling this as a war because never before in the Indian history, a terror attack on a city has carried on for these many hours. In fact, Army, Navy and NSG teams were involved in the operations to flush out terrorists holed up inside hotels and try and save the hostages. What made matters worse is that the terrorists did not demand any ransom. According to government sources, they seemed determined to hold the state to ransom and their main motive appears to be deaths of innocent men and women, and not money or safe passage.

The consequence of the attacks was immediately seen Mumbai was virtually shut on Thursday; the Bombay Stock Exchange, schools and colleges remained closed; curfew was imposed in various parts of the city. On a bigger scale too, the damage seemed to have been done. Visiting England cricket team has already called off its remaining tour, the upcoming T20 Champions League has been deferred after participating foreign teams expressed reluctance to play in the city. Mumbai is one of the three venues for the Champions League matches and four of the eight participating teams were supposed to stay at the historic Taj Mahal Hotel, one of the flashpoints of the deadly attacks.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh travelled to Mumbai on Thursday to take stock of the highly volatile situation. He also addressed the nation that day.

What the country needs at this delicate moment is political unity and pro-active approach by the administration to sit down and find out how a few determined enemies managed to hold the country to ransom and wage a war on Mumbai a symbol of a modern, progressive India. Will ensure 10pc free beds in private hospitals: Thapa Health Minister Gagan Thapa said on Tuesday that the provision of free treatment for 10 percent patients visiting private hospitals would be enforced. Chonmipem Horam `Music expresses that which cannot be put into words and that which cannot remain silent`- Victor Hugo Can you imagine a life void of music? Absolutely NOT! Whether you admit it or not, music permeates our daily life, weaving its beauty and emotion through our thoughts, activities and memories. Music is harmony and music is beauty. Music has the quality of expressing the inexpressible. One cannot approach music with ones own peculiar likes, dislikes or tastes, which are all a part of ones own conditioning. Music is something both extraordinarily complex and incredibly simple at the same time.Roots of World Music day World Music Day also known as Fete de la Musique, was a music festival that began in France in 1982.The idea was conceived by French Minister of Culture, Jack Lang in 1981. Since then June 21st has been celebrated every year as World Music Day. Today, it has spread to Argentina, Australia, Britain, Luxemburg, Germany, Switzerland, Costa Rica, China, India, Lebanon, Pakistan and many other countries. On this day, the musicians perform for free in open areas. Free concerts are organized in parks, museums, train stations, castles etc. This is done to promote music, making all genres of music accessible to the public. It gives an opportunity to communicate and share special bond through music. The term World Music includes traditional as well as non-western music. It is folk music of any culture, created and played by indigenous people. It is a classical form of music accompanied by traditional ethnic instruments, some prominent forms are Japanese Koto music, India raga music, Tibetan chants and South African `township music`. Genres India, being a land of unity in diversity with various cultures, traditions, art forms, every region has its own unique musical form. While there are various genres, Indian classical music has been divided into North Indian tradition known as Hindustani music and Carnatic music belonging to South India. But apart from these, there are varied forms such as Bhangra, Bhajans or devotional, Ghazals and Qawwalis, Indi-pop, Folk, Tribal, Film songs, Remixes, Fusion. While, Bhangra is a dance oriented folk music, Bhavageete (literally `devotional song`) is a form of expressionist poetry and light music. Qawwali is a Sufi form of devotional music based on Hindustani classical. And in the West, we have Metal, Punk, Rock, Hip-Hop, Hard Rock, alternative, Experimental, Country, Disco, Funk, Classical, Progressive, Trance, Techno, Ska, Reggae music. Trance Music was developed in early quarters of 20th century and is generally played in club houses and dance floors. Indigenous Country Music born of the US is in form of folk, Celtic, church, gospels and tribal music, while, Pop Music is both classical and folk. Reggae is a music genre developed in late 1960`s. Its lyrics deal with faith, love, sexuality, relationships, injustice etc. Hip-hop is both a cultural movement and genre of music developed in New York City in 1970`s by African Americans and Latin Americans.The good, the bad and the ugly Music is an important form of communication. Its a reflection of society in a particular time and place. Music needs no boundaries, it bonds us irrespective of who we are, and where are we from. Not only its a source of entertainment but it also acts as a medium to convey messages, of how things are, and what lies ahead in the future. Michael Jackson`s song `Heal the world sounds beautiful as well as inspiring as it echoes noble thoughts. There`s A Place In Your Heart, And I Know That It Is Love, And This Place Could Be Much Brighter Than Tomorrow, And If You Really Try You`ll Find There`s No Need To Cry,In This Place You`ll Feel There`s No Hurt Or Sorrow There Are Ways To Get There If You Care Enough For The Living Make A Little Space, Make A Better Place... Heal The World, Make It A Better Place, For You And For Me And The Entire Human Race There Are People Dying, If You Care Enough For The Living, Make A Better Place For You And For Me If You Want To Know Why There`s A Love That Cannot Lie Love Is Strong, It Only Cares For Joyful Giving If We Try, We Shall See In This Bliss We Cannot Feel, Fear Or Dread We Stop Existing And Start Living Then It Feels That Always Love`s Enough For Us Growing So Make A Better World Make A Better World... And The Dream We Were Conceived In, Will Reveal A Joyful Face And The World We Once Believed In Will Shine Again In Grace Then Why Do We Keep Strangling Life Wound This Earth, Crucify Its Soul Though It`s Plain To See, This World Is Heavenly Be God`s Glow We Could Fly So High Let Our Spirits Never Die In My Heart, I Feel You Are All My Brothers Create A World With No Fear Together We`ll Cry Happy Tears See The Nations Turn their Swords Into Plowshares We Could Really Get There If You Cared Enough for The Living Make A Little Space, To Make A Better Place... You And For Me Music also grants us the freedom of expression. Like in late 1980`s and 90`s, young black Americans coming out of the Civil Rights Movement used this to show the limitation of the movement. It used Hip-hop to voice their issues. It lets them the world to be noticed. But inspite of all these social impacts, there have been negative aspects as well. Some of the most popular songs in Hip-hop genre have negatively influenced violence, drugs, alcohol, sex and disrespect for authorities, which is detrimental to the lives and education of the youngsters.Festivals There are many World Music festivals and jazz/folk/roots/new age crossover events. The Ariano Folkfestival is the biggest World Music festival in southern Italy, is held in mid August. The California World Music Festival is held each July at Nevada County Fairgrounds. The World Sacred Music Festival is held annually in Olympia, Washington State. FloydFest in Floyd, Virginia, USA. The Finger Lakes GrassRoots Festival of Music and Dance in Trumansburg, New York, USA. Rainforest World Music Festival is another world music festival held in Malaysia. Stern Grove festival is a San Francisco celebration of musical and cultural diversity. The Starwood Festival in New York has been held in July every year since 1981. Ford is adding 700 US jobs and investing $700 million during the next four years to expand its Flat Rock Assembly Plant in Michigan US automakers found themselves in the political hot seat Tuesday, with President-elect Donald Trump lambasting GM for importing Mexican-made cars into the United States and Ford scrapping plans for a new plant south of the border. Trump, who won the presidency in part with tough talk on trade, has shown his willingness to single out individual companies by name if they displease him, and Ford seems to be the latest to fall in line. Also on Tuesday, Trump nominated Reagan-era protectionist lawyer Robert Lighthizer to serve as US trade representative, signaling he intends to make good on pledges to renegotiate trade deals he blames for killing millions of American jobs. The moves likely will loom large over next week's Detroit auto show, when the US industry's top executives gather to show off their new models. The president-elect, who has previously taken to Twitter to slam Boeing and Lockheed Martin, made GM his latest target in a breakfast-hour tweet threatening to impose tariff on imports of a small number of Mexican-made Chevy Cruze models into the US. - About-face at Ford - A couple of hours later, Ford announced it was scuttling plans for a new $1.6 billion factory in San Luis Potosi, and instead invest $700 million over the next four years to expand its Flat Rock Assembly Plant in Michigan to build electric and self-driving vehicles. The Ford decision was an about-face after the second-biggest US automaker repeatedly rebuffed Trump's criticism over its plans for the Mexico plant during and after the presidential campaign. Ford chief executive Mark Fields said the decision reflected the hope that Trump's policies will boost the US manufacturing environment. "It's literally a vote of confidence around some of the pro-growth policies that he has been outlining and that's why we're making this decision to invest here in the US and our plant here in Michigan," Fields told CNN. He said company chairman Bill Ford spoke Tuesday morning to Trump, and that he himself had spoken to Vice-President-elect Pence about the move, which Ford said would result in 700 new US jobs over four years. Story continues The new plant, announced in April, was expected to employ 2,800 by 2020. Mexico's government said it "regrets" Ford's decision, and that the company gave assurances it would repay "any expenditures made by the state government to facilitate this investment." - Another win for Trump? - Trump took to Twitter again to crow about the Ford reversal: "Instead of driving jobs and wealth away, AMERICA will become the world's great magnet for INNOVATION & JOB CREATION." Ford's decision creates a "political headline win for Trump, Ford and the UAW," yet the diminished demand for small cars also makes it a positive decision in terms of business rationale, investment bank RBC Capital Markets said in a note. Meanwhile, GM responded to Trump's Twitter attack with a statement emphasizing that the vast majority of its Cruze cars sold in the US are made in Ohio, with just a small percentage imported from a plant across the southern border. "All Chevrolet Cruze sedans sold in the US are built in GM's assembly plant in Lordstown, Ohio," the auto giant said. Of 190,000 Cruze cars sold in the US, only 4,500 were hatchbacks made in Mexico, said a GM spokesman. - Trade war coming? - Tough talk on trade helped Trump win election, and on the campaign trail he threatened to impose a 35 percent import duty on cars produced in Mexico. He has also pledged to tear up the North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico, blaming NAFTA and other trade agreements for the loss of millions of American manufacturing jobs. The appointment of Lighthizer as his top trade negotiator suggests Trump plans to follow through on that rhetoric. Lighthizer served as deputy US trade representative in the Ronald Reagan administration in the 1980s, when the focus was on attacking Japan for its huge exports into the US market. But leading business lobbies such as the Business Roundtable have cautioned that US trading partners could retaliate against any new tariffs, threatening key US markets. "Any significant tariff increase within the North American region would impact the auto industry greatly and that just really makes the industry... much less competitive," said Christopher Wilson, deputy director of Mexico Institute at the Wilson Center, a Washington think tank. Automakers are also worried that Trump's tough rhetoric towards China could trigger a full-scale trade war if the Republican makes good on threats to impose punitive tariffs on Beijing. A crane of the shipyard Fincantieri is seen January 3, 2017 in Castellamare di Stabia near Naples A South Korean court handling the bankruptcy of STX Offshore and Shipbuilding Co. said Tuesday that Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri had been named preferred bidder for STX's profitable French unit. "The court reached the decision this afternoon," Judge Choi Ung-Young, who acts as a spokesman for the Seoul Central District Insolvency Court, told AFP. He said Fincantieri would now conduct field research on the shipyard and agree a price with the South Korean firm before signing a deal for a 66.6-percent stake. Fincantieri, Netherlands-based Damen Shipyards Group and French state-controlled naval shipbuilder DCNS had initially expressed interest in acquiring STX France. But the Italian shipbuilding giant was the sole bidder to submit a binding proposal last month. Fincantieri later issued a brief statement confirming it had "been selected as the exclusive buyer" of a two-thirds stake in STX France. STX in 2008 bought a two-thirds stake in the huge shipyard in the western French port of Saint-Nazaire, later renamed STX France. It is currently the company's only profitable unit. The French state holds the remaining stake and is extremely concerned about the future of the shipyard, a major local employer with a healthy order book for cruise liners and also military ships. Fincantieri competes in the same sector of shipbuilding, and French trade unions on Tuesday expressed concern about any move to "eliminate duplicate positions" in the companies' workforces. STX Offshore's creditors last month narrowly approved a debt restructuring plan, avoiding the imminent liquidation of what was once South Korea's fourth largest shipbuilder. US Secretary of State-designate Rex Tillerson, pictured in 2015, has agreed to sever all ties with Exxon Mobil, the company he headed until last week says Secretary of State-designate Rex Tillerson has agreed to sever all ties with Exxon Mobil, putting deferred stock awards in an independently managed trust, the company he headed until last week said. The agreement was reached in consultation with federal ethics regulators to comply with conflict of interest requirements, it said in a statement late Tuesday. Under the arrangement reached with Exxon Mobil's board of directors, Tillerson will place the value of some two million company shares that he would have received over the next ten years in an independently managed trust. He will give up $4.1 million in cash bonuses that had been scheduled to be paid out over the next three years, as well as other benefits. "The net effect of the agreement is a reduction of approximately $7 million in compensation owed to Tillerson," the company said in a statement. Additionally, Tillerson has committed to selling the more than 600,000 Exxon shares he currently owns. The trust will not be permitted to hold Exxon stock, and Tillerson will be barred from working in the oil and gas industry for the next 10 years. Tillerson, who was nominated last month to be President-elect Donald Trump's chief diplomat, retired December 31 after more than forty years at Exxon Mobil, the last ten years as CEO. Although highly respected as a globe-trotting dealmaker for Exxon Mobil, Tillerson is regarded as a controversial choice as secretary of state because of his close relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin. He has also been criticized for deals struck on behalf of Exxon Mobil that were at odds with US foreign policy. SALT LAKE CITY, UTMost mainstream news outlets pooh-poohed the idea that anything harmful would come from Utah having passed Resolution 9, the National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE)-written resolution that declared sexually explicit material"pornography"to be a public health crisis. However, those more familiar with how both conservative governments and religious pressure groups deal with the material were less sure how "benign" the resolution would turn out to beand now, state Sen. Todd Weiler has proposed a state law that would allow Utah citizens to sue producers of adult internet content if they felt they have been harmed by viewing it or in some other way being exposed to it. Apparently still in the "drafting" stage, Weiler says his bill would be intended to "send a message to the pornography industry," though exactly what that message is, beyond "don't post porn online or you'll get sued," is unclear. "I'm trying to kind of track the same path that was taken against tobacco 70 years ago," Weiler told KSL-TV in Salt Lake City. "It's not government coming in and saying what you can and can't watch. It's just basically a message to the pornography industry that if someone in Utah can prove damages from the product, that they may be held liable financially." To date, of course, no one has ever proven in court that he/she has been damaged by viewing sexually explicit conduct ... but this is Utah, and while Weiler, an attorney, has stated that he doubts whether the "first 30 or so cases" would be successful, he suspects that once enough lawsuits have been filed, at costs of upwards of $100,000 to each company being sued, at least one of them will turn out to be successful. "I think, eventually, the tide will turn," he said. Weiler claims the proposed legislation would focus on "porn addiction" among minors and the reality that the internet makes it easier for children to be exposed to porn, he told the Daily Dot, adding that hes just "trying to protect [childrens] innocence for a few more years." Weiler also said that the law would not be aimed at performers, as California's recently defeated Prop 60 was. "The legislation is still being drafted, but I don't see it pertaining to someone who films themselves and uploads it. It's more targeted to websites that are hosting it and charging a fee for distribution, or a production company that acquired the content," he said. "Its aimed more at a for-profit business that are making money from basically distributing." In fact, he claims the law wouldn't even be targeting U.S. production companies, but rather sites "outside the U.S." that don't require age verification before being able to access explicit content. "Right now porn is available without any warnings and labeling, without any protections online," Weiler told The Salt Lake Tribune. "This would just open the valve for a cause of action. Let these attorneys go after these cases." It's unclear how Weiler or any Utah plaintiff could successfully sue a non-U.S. adult producer for the content it puts on its website, but for those looking to cater to a particular constituency, it's just getting such a law enacted that's the real goal. It's also possible that the $50,000 which Utah Gov. Gary Herbert wrote into his 2017 budget, which will be given to the Utah Coalition Against Pornography, an NCOSE-allied group, may be used to promote and/or fund such lawsuits. Currently, Virginia state Del. Bob Marshall has proposed his own "porn as a public health crisis" bill to his state's legislature, and South Carolina state Reps. Bill Chumley and Mike Burns have prefiled a bill to force all computers sold in the statethat bill having been written by anti-porn former attorney Chris Sevier, who has versions ready to go for 22 other states as well. All of this bodes poorly for the adult industry in the coming years under an ultra-conservative federal government, as well as some state governments. BTW: Weiler also thinks he can put porn filters that actually work on all Utah library computers. CALGARY, ALBERTA--(Marketwired - Jan. 3, 2017) - AltaGas Ltd. ("AltaGas") (ALA.TO) announced today that it has reached a positive Final Investment Decision ("FID") on its Ridley Island Propane Export Terminal (the "Ridley Export Terminal"), having received approval from federal regulators. AltaGas has executed long-term agreements securing land tenure along with rail and marine infrastructure on Ridley Island, and will proceed with the construction, ownership and operation of the Ridley Export Terminal. The Ridley Export Terminal is expected to be the first propane export facility on Canada's west coast. The site is near Prince Rupert, British Columbia, on a section of land leased by Ridley Terminals Inc. from the Prince Rupert Port Authority. The locational advantage is very short shipping distances to markets in Asia, notably a 10-day shipping time compared to 25-days from the U.S. Gulf Coast. The brownfield site also benefits from excellent railway access and a world class marine jetty with deep water access to the Pacific Ocean. "We are consulting and working with the First Nations whose traditional territory the Ridley Export Terminal is located within," said David Harris, President and CEO of AltaGas. "Collaborating closely with First Nations and communities to create sustainable social value is of paramount importance to us and we look forward to a long and mutually beneficial relationship with the First Nations in the region." "The project is a reflection of how we do business in B.C. - balancing environmental protection with economic development, creating opportunities and real partnerships with First Nations, and putting British Columbians first," said Premier Christy Clark. "This export facility is another promising development for our province, connecting producers in northeast B.C. to markets in Asia." The Ridley Export Terminal will be designed to ship 1.2 million tonnes of propane per year and is estimated to cost approximately $450 - $500 million. Along with FID, AltaGas will be offering a third party the option to take an equity position of up to 30 percent in the Ridley Export Terminal. Story continues "Propane exports off of Canada's west coast pulls together our vision of offering Canadian producers a complete energy value chain," said Harris. "Together with our northeast B.C. infrastructure, once the Ridley Export Terminal is built and operating, we will give producers new access to premium Asian markets for their propane." Based on production from its existing facilities and forecasts from new plants under construction and in active development, AltaGas anticipates having physical volumes equal to approximately 50 percent of the 1.2 million tonnes. The remaining 50 percent is slated to be supplied by producers and aggregators in western Canada. AltaGas expects to underpin at least 40 percent of the Ridley Export Terminal throughput under tolling arrangements with producers and other suppliers. As previously announced on May 24, 2016, AltaGas LPG Limited Partnership entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with Astomos Energy Corporation ("Astomos") contemplating a multi-year agreement, for the purchase of at least 50 percent of the 1.2 million tonnes of propane available to be shipped from the Ridley Export Terminal each year. A definitive agreement has been finalized with Astomos containing the key commercial terms for the sale and purchase of these volumes of propane. Commercial discussions with Astomos and several other third party offtakers for further capacity commitments are proceeding. "Astomos is one of the largest LPG players in the world providing great access to Asian markets for Western Canadian producers," said Harris. "We look forward to maximizing our relationship with them." AltaGas began the formal environmental review process in early 2016, which included submission of the Environmental Evaluation Document, review and final determination by federal regulators under terms and conditions that will allow the project to proceed. AltaGas has engaged and worked closely with First Nations throughout the process and will continue to do so as it moves forward with the Ridley Export Terminal. Construction is expected to begin in early 2017 in compliance with the approval, and will proceed under the self-perform model successfully used by AltaGas to build its other projects on time and on budget. The Ridley Export Terminal is expected to be in service by the first quarter of 2019. The Ridley Export Terminal will support long-term economic stability in the region through the diversification of products at Ridley Terminals, and employment opportunities for area residents and First Nations. It is estimated that 200 to 250 construction workers will be hired during the construction phase and 40 to 50 permanent jobs created once the facility is operational. The Ridley Export Terminal will provide enduring community benefits along with employment and contracting opportunities during both construction and operations phases. AltaGas is an energy infrastructure company with a focus on natural gas, power and regulated utilities. AltaGas creates value by acquiring, growing and optimizing its energy infrastructure, including a focus on clean energy sources. For more information visit: www.altagas.ca. This news release contains forward-looking statements. When used in this news release, the words "may", "would", "could", "can", "will", "be", "intend", "possible", "plan", "develop", "anticipate", "target', "believe", "seek", "propose", "proceed", "continue", "estimate", "expect", and similar expressions, as they relate to AltaGas or an affiliate of AltaGas, are intended to identify forward-looking statements. In particular, this news release contains forward-looking statements with respect to, among other things, the proposed Ridley Export Terminal (including being the first propane export facility on Canada's west coast, the construction of the terminal and building on time and on budget, alternatives and benefits for producers, access to new markets, diversification of products, sources of supply, expected supply volumes, relations with First Nations and Astomos, potential for third party investment, facility specifications, processing capacity, handling capability, service area, cost, and timeline for construction and in-service, shipping timeline, tolling arrangements, offtake arrangements, purchase and sale of LPG from the terminal, expansion of trade, and employment opportunities and other community benefits), AltaGas' views with respect to the conditions imposed by the federal regulators on granting its approval, the quality of Asian markets, Asian demand for clean energy, AltaGas' construction of new plants and development of new projects, business objectives, expected growth, results of operations, performance, business projects and opportunities and financial results. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results or events to differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements. Such statements reflect AltaGas' current views with respect to future events based on certain material factors and assumptions and are subject to certain risks and uncertainties, including without limitation, changes in market, competition, governmental or regulatory developments, general economic conditions and other factors set out in AltaGas' public disclosure documents. Many factors could cause AltaGas' actual results, performance or achievements to vary from those described in this news release, including without limitation those listed above. These factors should not be construed as exhaustive. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should assumptions underlying forward-looking statements prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described in this news release as intended, planned, anticipated, believed, sought, proposed, estimated or expected, and such forward-looking statements included in, or incorporated by reference in this news release, should not be unduly relied upon. Such statements speak only as of the date of this news release. AltaGas does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update these forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. oil sands 16_9 The monumental slump in crude which has lasted far longer and been deeper than many pundits predicted is on the cusp of moving into its fourth year with no clear signs of a significant recovery in sight. Many well-known investors and political figures claim that Canada?s vast oil sands reserves are well on their way to becoming stranded assets. One of the most prominent investors was hedge fund manager Jeremy Grantham, who in 2013 declared that Canada?s oil sands were stranded assets. There are signs that this prediction could very well become true as even greater pressures are being applied to Canada?s oil sands industry. Essentially, a stranded asset is one that has prematurely lost its value because of economic, social, or technological change and innovation. The asset becomes worthless or, in some cases, a liability. Because of the growing pressures being applied to the energy patch, there are signs that the oil sands may become stranded assets faster than many pundits have anticipated. Unsurprisingly, this has yet to be priced into the value of oil sands companies. When this finally occurs, it is highly likely that the value of those companies will diminish sharply once the costs associated with owning such assets are recognized by the market. Now what? One of the major issues facing oil sands is growing environment pressures. Concerns about global warming and the impact of carbon emissions have brought the spotlight firmly on to the high carbon costs associated with Canada?s oil sands. It has been estimated that it takes three to four times more energy to extract and refine oil sands than it does conventional crude. This has been recognized by the U.S. Energy Information Administration, which has stated that producing oil from bitumen emits roughly three to four times as much greenhouse gases than conventional oil. Now that the Paris Agreement on climate change has entered force, there are even greater pressures on the signatories, including Canada, to limit carbon emissions. The agreement essentially seeks to limit global warming to less than two degrees Celsius by reducing global greenhouse gas emissions. It seeks to do this be eventually removing fossil fuels from the global energy mix. Story continues Analysts have estimated that up to $220 billion worth of Canada?s oil sands reserves are unrecoverable. Even oil sands giant Suncor Energy Inc. (TSX:SU)(NYSE:SU) has recognized that in such an environment the extraction of some oil sands reserves is uneconomic. In August 2016, Suncor stated that it was working with Alberta?s government to strand those oil sands assets it believes are the least economic to extract. Oil sands are recognized as being among the costliest sources of crude. According to industry analysts, new oil sands projects have breakeven costs of US$75-100 per barrel, which is more than double the breakeven costs for U.S. conventional and shale oil production. This means that in an operating environment dominated by sharply weaker prices, where West Texas Intermediate is trading at about US$53, much of Canada?s vast oil sands reserves are uneconomic to extract. So what? During the years of the oil boom, the energy patch was a popular destination for investors, but the sharp collapse in crude coupled with growing environmental pressures and high extraction costs have seen that popularity wane. The Exclusive Buy "Signal" You Can't Ignore Over the course of The Motley Fool U.S.'s 23 year history, this rare buy "signal" has generated massive wealth for those that have been smart enough to pay attention to it. It's so rare, that it's happened less than two dozen times... but when it does - it's made investors undoubtedly rich. If you're interested in knowing the stock behind this rare buy "signal" - and you're excited to take advantage of this golden opportunity, then you're going to want to read this. Click here to unlock all the details behind this new recommendation from Stock Advisor Canada. More reading Fool contributor Matt Smith has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Exclusive Buy "Signal" You Can't Ignore Over the course of The Motley Fool U.S.'s 23 year history, this rare buy "signal" has generated massive wealth for those that have been smart enough to pay attention to it. It's so rare, that it's happened less than two dozen times... but when it does - it's made investors undoubtedly rich. If you're interested in knowing the stock behind this rare buy "signal" - and you're excited to take advantage of this golden opportunity, then you're going to want to read this. Click here to unlock all the details behind this new recommendation from Stock Advisor Canada. Fool contributor Matt Smith has no position in any stocks mentioned. TUESDAY, Jan. 3, 2017 (HealthDay News) -- To predict someone's risk of becoming a victim of gun violence, a new study offers a suggestion: Look at the company they keep. Researchers report that gun violence may actually be "contagious," with social networks acting as a breeding ground for the spread of gun exposure and violence. "Those at the highest risk of gun violence are the individuals with the most associates who have recently been shot," said study author Ben Green, a doctoral candidate at Harvard Law School, in Cambridge, Mass. But that risk is also a function of timing and the nature of the relationships, Green added. "When someone gets shot, his influence on [his] associates decreases over time," he explained. "Additionally, the strength of the contagion risk depends on how close one's relationship is with that person. For example, a friend being shot creates more risk for you than does a friend of a friend," Green said. "So, the set of individuals at highest risk changes over time, as gun violence spreads over the [social] network." However, the study did not prove definitively that gun violence is "contagious." While an average of more than 200 Americans end up shot each day, gun violence is not evenly spread across the country, the researchers noted. Most shootings take place in poor, urban neighborhoods. And gun fatalities are roughly 10 times higher among young black men than among their white peers. The research team set out to see whether gun violence is contagious based on the beliefs, attitudes and behaviors of one's immediate network of friends and peers. The investigators focused on more than 138,000 Chicago residents who had been arrested at some point between 2006 and 2014. More than 80 percent were male, and three-quarters were black, with an average age of 27, the findings showed. Roughly one-quarter included members of a gang, and just shy of 10,000 were involved in more than 11,000 incidents of gun violence. Almost 18 percent of people who had a close friend who had been shot were themselves victims of gun violence, the researchers revealed. The study authors concluded that 63 percent of the 11,000-plus incidents of both fatal and non-fatal gun violence could clearly be attributed to aspects of a "social contagion." For example, on average, individuals ended up being shot just 125 days after the shooting of their friend or peer who had been most directly associated with gun violence. But study co-author Andrew Papachristos, an associate professor in the department of sociology at Yale University, in New Haven, Conn., noted that the impact of social networks on gun violence risk isn't just about whether friends are shot, but also on their level of access to guns, whether or not they carry a gun, and/or whether they are involved in the kind of risky behavior that might involve guns. Still, the research team found that the most accurate way to predict any individual's personal risk for gun violence was actually by looking at both who they had been hanging out with and where that individual lived. Papachristos noted that "such data analytics can, and should, be used to direct services to those at most immediate risk to reduce the trauma associated with gun violence, to potentially stop the 'spread' of gun violence victimization, and to help address the epidemic more broadly." That point was strongly seconded by Charles Branas, author of an editorial that accompanied the study. He is a professor of epidemiology in the department of biostatistics and epidemiology with the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, in Philadelphia. "We have now successfully used [computer] models that have been applied to diseases like measles or Ebola for decades to better understand gun violence," he noted. Ultimately, such an approach could help public health officials craft "some very inexpensive and straightforward interventions" that focus on how and why gun violence moves not just from person-to-person, but also from group-to-group and place-to-place. The findings were published online Jan. 3 in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine. More information There's more on gun violence prevention at the American Psychological Association. 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 Why has Trump chosen people who know nothing about the Departments they are supposed to lead? Perry for Energy, Carson to HUD, etc. I think it is because he has to be the smartest person in the room, and cannot long tolerate someone who knows more about a subject than he does. So he has to fill the cabinet with people who will either hide their intelligence and knowledge and grovel, or who are genuine ignoramuses about their area of appointment. This also suggests that the ones who can learn quickly on the job are going to be the first ones gone, which allows me to predict that the longest tenured of them all will be Perry and Carson. I don't think these choices are political or strategic at all, I think it is much more about Trump's psychology and need for mastery at all times on all topics. Like his tweets. Your thoughts? 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 Wael Shalaby who resigned from his post as Secretary General of Egypts State Council on Saturday before being arrested a day later killed himself on Monday while in custody. His lawyer Sayed Beheiry claimed his client hanged himself using a scarf he was wearing. A terrible psychological state during his questioning which has deprived him of sleep for nearly 40 hours contributed to the act, the lawyer said. An autopsy has been ordered by the public prosecutor. Shalaby was arrested as part of a corruption probe and was placed under a 44-day detention pending investigation but his lawyer argued that the arrest was illegal because there was no arrest warrant. The circumstances surrounding his death are still blurry and authorities have issued a gag order on the local media from reporting the details. The former Secretary Generals involvement in corruption is yet to be determined. His lawyer Beheiry nevertheless explained that it is very hard to be a big important judge and suddenly you lose everything and sit in front of an investigator being accused of taking a bribe. Shalabys resignation came days after a procurement manager at the State Council, Gamal El-Laban, was arrested and charged with receiving bribes worth millions of Egyptian pounds. Local media reported that police found millions in Egyptian pounds, euros and dollars when they took El-Laban into custody. The public prosecutor said the two arrests are part of the anti-corruption Administrative Control Authoritys investigations. The number of deaths while in custody has increased in Egypt over the years. Activists claim that it is common for law enforcement authorities to deflect responsibility for the deaths of detained individuals. They claim that independent investigations should be encouraged to ensure the safety of detainees. Important stuff you won't get from the liberal media! We do the surfing so you can be informed AND have a life! Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga has released the 2016 National Senior Certificate results, revealing a matric pass rate of 72.5%. However, the official pass rate does not tell the full story ignoring the large percentage of students who drop out before they write the matric exams. Equal Education describes the matric pass percentage as a superficial and misleading indicator of public education quality. The pass rate reflects only the performance of those learners who managed to stay in school for 12 years and obscures how many dropped out along the way, said Equal Education. It said the Basic Education Department has systematically failed to address learner retention. For a broader perspective, you must use a cohort matric pass rate, it said. Equal Education defines the cohort matric pass rate as the percentage of learners in grade 2 who pass matric 11 years later. South Africas true pass rate Of the 1,081,652 grade 2 cohort class enrollment, only 668,612 students made it to the matric final exams. This is a dropout rate of 38.19%. The 2016 cohort matric pass rate referred to as the true pass rate is therefore 44.8%. The table below shows the cohort matric pass rate over the last five years, using Equal Educations calculations. Equal Education has said that the matric pass rate fails to account for learners who never make it to the end of high school and that the real numbers point to an education system in crisis. The Basic Education Department has systematically failed to address learner retention, said Equal Education. The matric pass rate announced by Minister Angie Motshekga each year only captures the percentage of learners who have written the National Senior Certificate exam. It fails to account for learners who never make it to matric or for the differences in the quality of performance among those who pass the exams. The matric pass percentage is therefore a superficial and misleading indicator of public education quality, said Equal Education. Because of the obsession with the matric pass rate, there is a persistent overinvestment in Grade 12 when the largest investment is needed in the early school grades. Big dropout rate The latest figures from the department show a big dropout rate for the class of 2016. This dropout, said Equal Education, is fuelled by various factors, including: The absence of a solid early schooling foundation. Learners fall behind academically, making learning a demotivating and stressful experience. Schools discouraging or withholding weak learners from writing matric. Poverty forcing learners to leave school to find work. This is exacerbated by the lack of reward for a mere matric pass. Attending school is costly and burdensome. The table below shows the dropout rate for the 2016 matric cohort from Grade 2 and Grade 10, to matric. Grade 2 Dropout Rate Year Grade 2 cohort Grade 12 cohort who wrote matric Dropout rate 2016 1,081,652 668,612 38.19% 2015 1,118,690 668,122 40.28% 2014 1,109,201 532,860 51.96% 2013 1,111,858 562,112 49.44% 2012 1,012,892 511,152 49.54% Grade 10 Dropout Rate Year Grade 10 cohort Grade 12 cohort who wrote matric Dropout rate 2016 1,139,872 668,612 41.34% 2015 1,146,285 668,122 41.71% 2014 1,103,495 532,860 51.71% 2013 1,094,189 562,112 48.63% 2012 1,039,762 511,152 50.84% Now read: Big Matric 2016 upward mark adjustments YEREVAN. AIn 2016, four doctors in Armenia have been convicted on charges of murdering patients and were founded guilty. Three of them were sentenced to prison. Armenian News - NEWS.am presents briefly details of prosecutions and sentences imposed by the courts. Marine Hakobyan, a pediatrician of Hrazdan Medical Center, was sentenced to 2 years in prison in connection to death of 40-day baby. As the indictment states, Marina Akopian, who had 30 years of experience as a pediatrician, knew that little Manes doctor Melania Yeghiazaryan diagnosed her with " a possible bacterial infection and intensive syndrome." Marina failed to follow direction N 90-A made by the Minister of Health on January 22, 2013 on childrens hospitalization. She manifested a careless attitude and did not fulfill her professional duties, refusing to keep the child in the hospital. For this, she referred to the fact, that there was not enough equipment in the hospital. Though, it was possible to hospitalize the child and provide a medical assistance without any medical equipment, which would have prevented the rapid progress of her disease. Marine Hakobyan did not agree with the verdict of the court and applied to the court of appeal. Nazani Malkhasyan, a radiologist of Gyumri medical center, is sentenced to 2.5 years in prison. According to the indictment, the patient Levon Darbinyan died due her careless and negligent attitude toward her duties. The Court of General Jurisdiction of Shirak region deprived Nazani Malkhasyan of the right to practice medicine for three years. The doctor submitted an appeal. The head of the infectious department of Armavir Medical Center Anahit Petrosyan was sentenced to 3 years in prison in connection to the death of two children: 4-year-old Karine and 5-year-old Eric. The court deprived Anahit Petrosyan of the right to engage in medical practice for 1 year and 5 months. Both children were taken to the hospital on the same day, with different complaints. One had a preliminary diagnosis of acute intestinal infection and was in a moderate condition. In the evening, her condition sharply deteriorated. She was transferred to the intensive care unit, where she died. 5-year-old Eric was taken from the hospital of Armavir to Yerevan in a critical condition. The child was in a coma for 18 days, after which he died. As his mother tells, the child fell into a coma, after Anahit Petrosyan had put an IV in him. The Court of Appeal supported the verdict. The parties intend to apply to the cassation court. The court found obstetrician-gynecologist of Armavir Medical Center Hasmik Hakobyan guilty of the death of pregnant Narine Sharoyan and sentenced her to 2 years of imprisonment. The sentence is handed down conditionally. Narine Sharoyan, who had symptoms of poisoning, was taken to the medical center of Armavir on June 29, 2015. She was on the 19-20 the week of pregnancy. The woman was transferred to the infectious disease clinic. Later, gynecologists diagnosed complications and bleeding. She had a caesarean section, and her uterus was removed. After the surgery, Narine was moved to Yerevan Armenia Medical Center, where she died on July 2. Narine had a 7-year-old child. The investigation revealed that the operation was carried out with a delay. According to experts, given the diagnosis, the woman had to be hospitalized to obstetric instead of infectious department, where it could have been possible to identify the complications associated with pregnancy and save her life. Relatives of Narine accuse the surgeon Armen Vardanyan in her death. Armen Vardanyan is a witness in the case. Interestingly, he left Armenia. The Court of Appeal supported the verdict. The ophthalmologist of the medical center Malatia Anna Gasparyan was sentenced to pay a fine of 150 thousand drams for the damage caused to the patient's health. At the same time, the otolaryngologist of Medical Center Chambarak Rosa Amalyan was justified. According to the indictment, she was included in the military medical examination commission and examined Nver Hovhannisyan not enough conscientiously and did not set, that he did not fit for service. Thus, the young man was conscripted but then released from the service. As of 2015, two doctors in Armenia were sentenced to prison. Doctors of Medical Center Arabkir Lilit Vardanyan and Zarine Ayvazyan were accused of the death of 2-year-old Lea. The child was hospitalized on December 31, 2014. The court sentenced Lilit Vardanyan and Zarine Ayvazyan to 2 year and 2.5 years in prison. They were later released under amnesty. Doctors convicted in 2014 were released under amnesty as well. The urologist of medical center Abovyan Vahagn Kirakosyan did not diagnose the patient, schoolgirl Mariam Arshakyan, with a fat embolism, due to which she died. YEREVAN. The ballet dancer Armina Khachatryan settled in Armenia accidentally. After completing her service in Israel, Armina, who came to Armenia only for a month, never thought, that she would no longer want to return. The Israeli military servants keep a tradition to go for a holiday with friends, after their service is completed. So, I decided to come to Armenia for a month. I also wanted to participate in the project Dance if You Can. I came to Armenia, and I stayed, said Armina. Armina moved to Israel when she was 2 years old. It was first difficult for her to live in Armenia. She remembers, that there was no Armenian community in the Israeli town her family moved to from Ashtarak. The Israeli children did not understand her and mocked her for her Armenian habits. Even one day, when she went to school dressed in a black and white uniform, her classmates mocked her, saying that she had a Halloween costume. My parents had been called to school and said, that I was very active and had too much energy, which kept me from concentrating. They decided to take me to dances. I had attended ballet classes, before I became 10. I had a flatfoot, and therefore, failed to receive any performance role. I remember, I came home, turned on Tchaikovsky and imagined, that I am on the stage, dancing ballet ... My teacher did not allow me to wear ballet shoes. Instead, I took a lid of the washing liquid, put on my legs, and began moving. My mother was saying, that I was crazy. I had to leave the ballet, but I was always thinking about classical dances. My teachers used to say, that I would not do it, but I kept practicing at home, said Armina. Armina did not refuse form her dream of dancing ballet. When she was 20, she finally decided to make her dream a reality at any cost. She was accepted to a dancing school and participated in project When Stars Are Dancing. Everyone was younger than me at college. It was funny, but I really wanted to do ballet. My teachers told me, that I could. They believed in me, and I began working. Every day I came home from classes, studying all night. In the morning, again I attended classes. Armina told, that she did not fit for ballet physically. In general, it is surprising, when a ballet dancer who has a flatfoot and usually gets injured receives roles of a ballet dancer. Armina believes, that it is thanks to her hard work and willpower. She decided, that in parallel to advancing dancing, she will establish an art school for needy children, who suffer pressure from their surroundings, constantly hearing that they will not achieve anything. Armina, faced with the unanimity of some of her teachers, knows herself what harm each false word can do. I want, that children who have psychological problems and who do not believe in themselves have a possibly to learn music, painting, dance at this school. Many of the children I see are broken. I want them to show how they can fight, stand up, as I did. There is still a lot to do to make dreams come true. 25-year-old Armina does not give up. She fulfills a small part of her dream even today, conducting dance classes in orphanages free of charge. Armina succeeds in making even children who refuse to communicate with people in general dance. These children smile, she goes silent for a few seconds, then slowly continues, it seems difficult to find words. When I help others, it opens up some room in my heart. Although it is difficult for Armina and her brother to live away from her family, on a small wage, she has never regretted to accidentally moving to and connecting all her dreams and goals with Armenia. There are people who think that Armenia is not a place to live. No money. I agree. It is difficult to live here. However, if we think right, just think ... we can rise here, even after falling... I want to know, that I have made changes in this world, even if very small. What is important for me is to know I helped some people. If you cannot change the whole world, change the world of one person, said Armina. Biden: We're gonna free Iran World oil prices dropping Wizz Air to launch new flights between Venice, Yerevan EU assesses Armenia, Azerbaijan border commissions meeting in Brussels as constructive Artsakh President convenes enlarged working consultation Envoy: China supports Armenians Azerbaijan MOD disseminates disinformation, Armenia army did not fire Quake jolts Turkey Newspaper: Armenia PM once again manipulates topic of negotiations, Karabakh conflict Newspaper: Studies underway on Armenia MPs business involvement US wants to prevent Germany, other allies from working together with China Protests turn violent in Iran's Alborz Province 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 YEREVAN. Armenian soldier Hovhannes Poghosyan, who was severely wounded in Nagorno-Karabakh by the Azerbaijani armed forces, is recovering slowly but surely. Everything will be fine, he said. Hovhanness mother spoke in his stead. Ms. Gayane recalled that her son was wounded twice. First, on April 3, he had sustained a shrapnel wound in Talish village, but returned to the outposts, after spending a few hours in hospital. And the second time was on May 13, again in Talish. Hovhannes had approached a fountain to wash, and that is when he sustained a severe head wound by the adversary. Even though doctors said he was in a very critical condition and his family expected the worst, the military serviceman proved to everyone that he will live. He came out of the coma 26 days after his injury. And sometime thereafter, he was transferred to the Red Cross rehabilitation center in Armenias capital city of Yerevan where, owing to persevering exercises, he finally began to walk again. At present, his mother is sorting her sons documents, in order to receive disability pension. Ms. Gayane wants for the Ministry of Defense to pay due consideration to her son. Hovhannes Poghosyan is from Vanadzor, but his family lives on rent in Yerevan. New Year passed by Kachotyans house this year: the door of Armenian Kachotyan family whose members were killed at home in July in Vachiani village, Javakheti Province of Georgia, remained closed. This year the door was closed, unlike previous years when the house was full of guests during New Year holidays After returning from Russia the father of the family could not find strength to enter the house, where his wife and three children were killed. Nodar Akopov, 24, a resident of the same village, was accused of the murder of the Kachotyan family. He pleaded guilty to having committed the murders, and presented the respective details. He committed suicide in the prison, but the father of the family, Vaghinak Kachotyan, did not believe the version of suicide noting that it was staged and he was alive. As Armenian News- News.am reported earlier, four members of Armenian Kachotyan familythe mother, 37, and three children, 5,13,18 years oldwere found dead in their home by their neighbors, on July 10. According to preliminary information, the assailant had killed the mother and her daughters with a blunt instrument, and strangled the boy to death. News Story not available This story has been published on: 2022-11-04. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. This story is no longer available on our site. YEREVAN. - The visit of the Iranian President Hassan Rouhani was fruitful in terms of quality. Chair of the Iranian Studies at the Yerevan State University (YSU), Vardan Voskanyan, told the aforementioned to Armenian News NEWS.am. ''The expectations from Rouhani's visit to Armenia were satisfied. It should be stressed that the Armenian President greeted President Rouhani exactly at the airport, which is indicative of the highest level of relations between the two states, this worrying some of our ''friends'' in the region. This first of all concerns the Azerbaijani Republic, whose media outletsalmost during the entire day of the President's visitworked in the context of the Armenian-Iranian relations and published not only anti-Armenian materials, but also those with anti-Armenian content, this also indicating that the Armenian-Iranian relations are positively progressing,'' the expert said. According to him, the cooperation between Armenia and Iran is at a very high level in terms of politics, the economic treaties signed in the framework of this visit tending to fill in the gap of economic relations. In Voskanyan's words, this will give Armenia an advantage in the region. ''By developing our relations with Iran, we first of all solve economic issues, but the solution of those issues will lead to a key achievements, namely overcoming the Azerbaijani-Turkish blockade. If Azerbaijan and Turkey aim to keep us out of the regional programs, conducting policy aimed at the isolation of Armenia with apparent hostile approaches, we can actually leaving these countries out of the play through implementing our plans of turning the Persian Gulf-Black Sea axis into reality,'' he said. In Voskanyan's words, against the backdrop of the Armenian-Iranian railway project, Azerbaijan is trying to prepare propaganda traps, presenting the Iranian-Azerbaijani railroad cooperation as an almost established fact, this not correspond to reality. ''There is a propaganda balloon among us, which is fed by Azerbaijan on that Iran and Azerbaijan will soon join by railroads. The Iranian side has not yet completed Qazvin-Rasht section of that large project in Iran, whereas in the area from Rasht to Astarawhich is the border point with Azerbaijannot even a step has been made towards constructing a railroad. Moreover, there is an issue related to funding that railway. In this context, the Iranian side no longer believes the promises of the Azerbaijani side to fund the program at least partially,'' Voskanyan noted. The expert also noted that unlike the aforementioned project, the Armenian-Iranian railway project is a precisely outlined one, but it requires funding. ''The Armenian-Iranian railroad project is a precisely formulated proposal: the ways of its implementation have been outlined. It is possible to carry out everything from technical standpoint but the implementation of the project is postponed merely because of financial matters,'' he said. Turkologist Andranik Ispiryan has presented details to Armenian News NEWS.am from Istabul in connection with the attack in the citys renowned Reina nightclub. Like in many countries, people in Turkey also celebrate New Year in restaurants and clubs. On the very first day of New Year, the first news appearing in global media outlets related to the terrorist attack in Istanbuls Reina nightclub. This news was a cold showerespecially for the Turkish citizens. The society, which had not yet recovered after several bloody attacks at the end of the year, was once again taken aback on the New Year night. An armed man had entered the aforementioned nightclub in Ortakoy neighborhood of Istanbul and started firing at everyone with a rifle. He had first killed a policeman and then those who were in the club. The criminal then managed to escape the site. Hours after the incident, the nightclub owner stated that the US intelligence had announced about a possible terrorist attack because of which the nightclub surroundings were under beefed up control during the last ten days, but the police were not able to prevent the bloody slaughter. After the Reina massacre, all the Turkish TV channels, press and radio were flooded with news regarding the incident. Different analysts talked about the incident on almost all the TV channels, trying to link it with Gulen followers and outside forces, who wish to hinder the Russian-Turkish agreement, stressing especially the steps of Turkey and Russia towards establishing ceasefire in Syria. On the festive days the only topic of discussion in all the shops and different institutions of Istanbul is the Reina attack. Part of the citizens agree with the government propaganda that this incident was aimed at establishing ceasefire in Syria along with Russia, while the other part merely rebukes the authorities for turning the country into Afghanistanand chaos. We lived very well. What does Turkey have to do in Syria and Iraq? Let the authorities there do whatever they want. As a result of this shortsighted policy they have turned Turkey into chaos and center of terrorist attacks,different citizens say, commenting on the policy conducted by Turkey. A special topic of concern is that the architect behind the armed attack is still on the loose: the police have only managed to gather information on him, as well as detain his wife and dozens of persons suspected of having ties with the terrorism. It was found out that the terrorist, who is a Kyrgyzstan citizen, arrived at Istanbul airport with his wife and two children on November 20. He then left for Konya city on November 22, where he rented a house by 1100 lira monthly via a real estate agency, paying the rent for three months. The agency workers have been detained. They informed that the Kyrgyz man had said he had come to Konya to look for a job. They also stressed that foreign citizens also mediated in the issue of finding a house for him. However, they quickly left Konya after the incident. The detained wife of the criminal insisted she was not aware her husband was an Islamic State member. Some Turkish media outlets noted that while storming the club, the terrorist used Flash Bang type hand grenade, which is used by special intelligence service workers. The aforementioned grenade produces a blinding flash of light and a loud sound of over 170 decibels (dB). After the incident, the nightclub owner told reporters that the criminal left the club, since nobody was left alive. That is, he was able to commit a massacre and quietly leave the club without any hindrance. Soon after the incident, Reuters informed that the Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack. The 39 victims of the attack were citizens of Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Kuwait, Azerbaijan, Morocco, Tunis, Lebanon, Syria, Israel and India. But one thing is especially interesting here: Most of those killed by IS are citizens of the countries, which according to Syrian and Iranian officials are the main supporters of IS. Leader of opposition Republican Peoples Party (CHP), Kemal Klcdaroglu, made an interesting comment regarding the incident. He slammed the authorities, noting that the weapons sent to Syria by trucks to support the Islamists in order to overthrow Assad, have now come back and are used against Turkey. YEREVAN. Armenian soldiers Avetis Zargaryan and Roland Sahakyan, who were seriously wounded in April war and are still in hospital, welcomed the New Year at home. The relatives of the soldiers told Armenian News NEWS.am that they feel better at home, in the surrounding of their family members and friends. After the holidays the soldiers will return to hospital to continue their treatment. They were wounded in Talish village of Karabakh and were moved to Yerevan in critical condition. It is only recently that these soldiers condition has stabilized. Currently, the issue of sending them abroad for treatment at the expense of the Government is under discussion. Airline Industry Achieved Record Operating Profit in 2016 The airline industry is expected to end 2016 with another record operating profit of around $60 billion and an operating margin of 8 percent, ICAO reported Jan. 2. The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) has released preliminary figures showing a total of 3.7 billion passengers traveled on scheduled services during 2016, representing a 6 percent increase from 2015. Total departures rose to approximately 35 million globally and world passenger traffic increased by 6.3 percent to 7,015 billion scheduled revenue passenger-kilometers (RPKs), although that rate was down from 7.1 percent achieved in 2015. "Over half of the world's tourists who travel across international borders each year were transported by air. Air transport carries some 35 percent of world trade by value. More than 90 percent of cross border Business to Consumer e-commerce was carried by air transport," ICAO reported Jan. 2. ICAO reported the forecast of world real gross domestic product (GDP) growth in 2016 was expected to be at around 2.4 percent, down from a 2.9 percent projection at the start of the year. "The revision is due to sluggish growth in advanced economies, stubbornly low commodity prices, weak global trade, and diminishing capital flows. Despite the weak economic conditions, global passenger traffic continued to grow helped by the lower air fares owing to the fall in oil prices," the organization reported. North American domestic scheduled air services rose by 6.2 percent in 2016, down from 7.3 percent growth recorded in 2015. But growth in the Asia/Pacific region was 10 percent year over year. Low-cost carriers accounted for approximately 28 percent of total world scheduled passengers in 2016, carrying more than 1 billion passengers in all, while worldwide scheduled freight traffic measured in freight tonne-kilometers (FTK) grew by 2.6 percent in 2016, a slight improvement from 1.7 percent growth registered in 2015. ICAO said fuel accounted for nearly one-fifth of the industry's operating costs in 2016 after accounting for one-third in 2015. "Significant decrease in fuel costs helped airlines to maintain their operating profit at the same level as the previous year: the airline industry is expected to end 2016 with another record operating profit of around USD 60 billion and an operating margin of 8.0 per cent. This comes after an operating profit of USD 58 billion and an operating margin of 8.0 per cent in 2015. For a consecutive year, more than a third of the profits are expected to come from the carriers of North America, whose domestic market represents 66 per cent of their total operations. Improving economic conditions forecast by the World Bank will see traffic growth and air carrier profitability momentum continuing in 2017," the organization reported. ICAO will publish final figures in July 2017 in the annual report of ICAO Council. - Buhari is a dictator claims the Indigenous People Of Biafra (IPOB) - IPOB says Buhari's dictatorial leadership will ruin Nigeria - The pro-Biafra group warns Nigerians that a very intense crisis is looming Nigeria is soon to experience severe crisis, claims the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB). IPOB says that Nigeria could face crisis over President Muhammadu Buharis alleged dictatorial style of leadership in the country, stressing, as an example, his refusal to release its leader, Nnamdi Kanu, from detention. Biafar Panic: IPOB gives Nigerians very serious warning regarding Buhari Vanguard reports that this was contained in a statement signed by the Media and Publicity Secretary of IPOB, Comrade Emma Powerful, on Tuesday, January 3. Powerful also said the release of explosive videos by IPOB about wrong-doings in the country would continue to expose the hidden truths that would sink Nigeria as threatened by Nnamdi Kanu beginning with the latest video showing the grand conspiracy on the part of Dr Yakubu Gowon and the British government to commit premeditated genocide during his time in office. It said: The expose will continue unabated with more compelling revelations in the coming weeks. All the hidden secrets of the atrocities and crimes against humanity committed against the people of Biafra during the war of genocide from 1967 to 1970 will become the most talked about topic within diplomatic circles around the world. These revelations will not stop until the likes of Gowon, Buhari and others are carted off to The Hague to face trial for crimes they committed against humanity. Nnamdi Kanu is prepared to sink Nigeria with the truth hidden from public that people around the world have never heard before about Nigeria and the amalgamation in 1914 by British merchants. This was what he meant when he said that he had evidence to sink Nigeria if allowed to give testimony in court. Many more evidences are presently being compiled by his team of researchers in Europe, that is about to explode in a very short period. Buhari and co must, therefore, come to the realisation that he is wasting his time and destroying Nigeria along with the likes of Gowon and himself if he continues to hold our leader Mazi Kanu. Those advising Buhari on the continued detention of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu will be consumed by the fire they are now stoking. These cabals should remember the aftermath of the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand and how many millions died as a result of the First World War that followed. Plans are now underway to circulate this latest damaging evidence to world leaders, every leading human rights organisation and the United Nations. All will be sent a copy of this evidence of premeditated genocide carried out against the Biafran people by the likes of Olusegun Obasanjo, T. Y. Danjuma and Muhammadu Buhari. MASSOB, BIM petition AIG In a related development, the Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) and its sister organization, Biafra Independent Movement (BIM), have urged the Assistant Inspector-General (AIG) of Police in charge of Zone 9, Mr. Hosea Karma, to intervene and ask the authorities of the Anambra state Police Command to release one of their members, Mr. Eze Israel. " READ ALSO: PHOTO NEWS: Nnamdi Kanu's parents receive August visitor The group said Eze Israel, the MASSOB-BIM Zonal Information Director of Enugu West and Group Regional Information Director of Oji River in Enugu state, was arrested on December 15, 2016 and detained at the Awka Central Police Station. In a similar vein, The Archbishop of the Anglican Diocese of Enugu, Emmanuel Chukwuma, is warning the federal government under President Muhammadu Buhari against the continued detention of leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu. The News Agency of Nigeria reports that Archbishop Chukwuma, a member of the South East Elders Forum, made the appeal in Enugu on Tuesday, January 3, 2017 while supporting the call by some leaders in the zone for Kanus release. According to Chukwuma, leaders and elders in the south-east are ready to contain Kanu and his group to bring lasting peace to the country if he is eventually released. Source: Legit.ng - The APC national chairman John Odigie-Oyegun is being considered for an ambassadorial job - Former governor Adams Oshiomhole is being considered to take over his position - Oyegun's tenure is due to end in 2018 but some APC bigwigs want him to complete his tenure The former governor of Edo state, Adams Oshiomhole may be the next national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC). The Nation reports that the current chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, is being considered for an ambassadorial position by the presidency. Oshiomhole may take over from Oyegun as APC chairman Odigie-Oyeguns tenure as chairman expires in 2018 but some top people in the presidency are pushing for a choice ambassadorial appointment for him. This is to appreciate the role he played in the defeat of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2015 general elections. A source said: From the look of things, Oyegun may get an ambassadorial posting which will make him to technically vacate office. They said Oyegun deserves a befitting appointment for leading an opposition party to defeat a ruling party. Some forces in the Presidency are looking forward to Oshiomhole as a respectable figure who can fit into the big shoes of Oyegun." READ ALSO: Dino Melaye challenges Buhari, Tinubu in fresh outbust However, some APC leaders want him to complete his tenure in office instead of being compensated. The source said his supporters are against the nomination which they see as a plot to remove the APC national chairman. His supporters see ambassadorial appointment for a politician as a sort of exile. If he accepts the ambassadorial posting, Oshiomhole will take over from him. Some APC governors want Oshiomhole to take over the position because of his antecedent as a labour leader. Oshiomhole met President Muhammadu Buhari behind closed doors at the State House in Abuja on Tuesday, January 3. This was his first visit to the president since he handed over to Godwin Obaseki in November. His visit fuelled speculations that he was being considered for a ministerial appointment. However, Oshiomhole said he was just paying a courtesy visit to the president. Recall that during Buharis two-day working visit to Benin City on November 7, he said if Oshiomole was allowed to leave politics shortly after his tenure as a state governor, it would result to wasting his energy. He said: It will be a pity to waste his energy by him retiring. I hope there will be a higher assignment for him to do more for the nation. Watch Oyegun commend Oshiomhole below. Source: Legit.ng - The minister of science and technology, Dr Ogbonnaya Onu, says the APC has dismantled all machineries used by the PDP in rigging elections across the country - The minister states that those instruments used by the PDP in writing results are no longer in their control - Onu urges party members in Ebonyi to be focused and dedicated to the APCs on-going registration exercise in the state The minister of science and technology, Dr Ogbonnaya Onu has said the instruments used by the PDP in writing results are no longer in their control. The minister of science and technology, Dr Ogbonnaya Onu, has said the era of winning elections through rigging was over. READ ALSO: Federal government set to announce board appointments Onu also said the All Progressives Congress (APC) has dismantled all machineries used by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in rigging elections across the country. According to the Daily Post, the minister made the statement in an address to party faithful in his hometown of Uburu, in Ohaozara local government area of Ebonyi state, during his New Year party for APC members on Tuesday, December 3. The minister urged party members to be focused and dedicated to the partys on-going registration exercise. He said those instruments used by the PDP in writing results are no longer in their control. READ ALSO: Oshiomhole may be next APC chairman as Oyegun gets another appointment The minister said: We will give total defeat to the PDP. We must remain focused and if we dont generate enough registration numbers, the national party will not take us serious. We must make sure we have strong men and women in every polling unit in the state; the era of writing results is behind us because we are in control. Why must you work for them (PDP) to be where they are, when you can be there yourself. We dont want to be the crying baby of Ebonyi state. Let us rededicate ourselves to the party. We are doing it for ourselves, our people and our children. There is no reason we will not win any election even local government council election. Onu called on party members to accord our new entrant in the party respect and welcome them with an open hand It is clear to me that this is the right omen that tomorrow will be bright for Ebonyi State. We must thank God for what He did in 2016. Ebonyi requires the right leadership that will take it to the comity of states; we believe that will happen when APC takes over power in 2019," he said. Meanwhile, some presidency officials are said to be disturbed over the visit of some governors of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to Rivers state governor, Nyesom Wike and Akwa Ibom state governor, Udom Emmanuel, who are of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). The Nation reports that the APC governors, who visited their PDP counterpart, are: Abdulaziz Yari (Zamfara), Aminu Waziri Tambuwal (Sokoto) and Atiku Bagudu (Kebbi). The governors also jointly hosted Wike in Sokoto, an action that sent disquiet among APC members who are interpreting the visits as a major political plan was on. According to reports, the visits are causing suspicion in the APC because of the talks of a new party ahead of the next general elections, though, the direction and planners of the mega party remain unknown. Source: Legit.ng - There is a chance that Gambia might be headed for war, following rifts over election results - The head of Gambia electoral commission has fled to Senegal - The incumbent president who was defeated in a recent election, says he awaits the ruling of the Supreme Court Alieu Momar Njie, the chairman of the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) has fled to Senegal after he got information that the Gambian authorities were plotting against him and his team. Gambia on the verge of war, as head of electoral commission flees Njie's son, Momodou informed the BBC about the commissioner's exile. The self exile comes a month after declaring President Yahya Jammeh lost elections following 22 years in power. "Some of his team members have also left for Senegal," a relative told newsmen. READ ALSO: Gambia crisis: APC slams Ekweremadu for making 'anti-democratic' statement There was no immediate comment from Senegalese authorities. Njie had declared opposition candidate Adama Barrow the winner of December 1 presidential elections and pleaded with all parties to respect the result. Gambia on the verge of war, as head of electoral commission flees Jammeh's party later lodged a legal complaint against the electoral commission and the country has since been in political deadlock. The 51-year-old Jammeh, who took power in a bloodless coup in 1994, has said he will await a Supreme Court ruling in the case, delayed until January 10, before ceding power. Jammeh's refusal to step down, despite initially conceding defeat in the election, has stoked international concerns about the future of the tiny west African country. Both the United Nations and African leaders have called for him to step down. In the same vein, Senator Ike Ekweremadu has warned that a military action in Gambia, following that countrys presidential election, could plunge the country into bloodletting and threaten the peace of the sub-region. According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the deputy Senate president gave the warning on Tuesday, December 3, in a statement issued by his special adviser on media, Uche Anichukwu. Ekweremadu, who is a former speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament, urged the ECOWAS heads of state as well as the international community to explore dialogue and to allow Gambian laws to prevail as a sovereign nation. He called for sanctions to be considered in line with the traditions and relevant Protocols of ECOWAS in the event that dialogue and judicial options fail to resolve the Gambia crisis. Source: Legit.ng - The All Progressives Congress (APC) has been accused of exploiting the fight against corruption - This was the view of the leader of the Nigerian community in The Netherlands, Chief Lambert Igbonugo - Igbonugo said it is the party's strategy to win Nigerians to join its fold The All Progressives Congress (APC) has been accused of exploiting the fight against corruption to attract politicians to its fold. This is the submission by the leader of the Nigerian community in The Netherlands, Chief Lambert Igbonugo. APC national chairman, Chief John Oyegun According to The Authority, Igbonugo said it is the party's strategy to win Nigerians to join its fold. He said people were being victimised for their past political opinions, adding that the chances of the APC in the 2019 general elections depend much on how they handle the anti-corruption war without prejudice or nepotism. READ ALSO: Report exonerates Babachir Lawal over alleged contracts fraud His words: While the government continues to do otherwise, those politically exposed individuals will continue to be impediment, bad influence and distraction to change begins with me until they are reined in according to the rule of law. By the way, in a country where more than 85 percent of the population is said to be corrupt and all institutions corrupt, it will be futile to fight the hydra headed monster without fighting dirty. He further stated that Nigeria can never win the war against corruption through media trials, selective justice or through rob my back I rob your back tendencies either. APC will kiss 2019 goodbye if those politically exposed persons whose cases had been lingering in court since the days of Nihu Ribadu as EFCC boss knows no finality. It will be an irony if the same tinted individuals become the arrow head of APC campaign come 2019 when Nigerians will know to do the needful, Igbonugo concluded. READ ALSO: OPINION: Who is afraid of the AGF's investigation? Meanwhile, a senior lecturer at the Nigerian Institute of Journalism, Mr Amaso Jack has called on the Muhammadu Buhari administration to initiate a well thought-out policy to enhance its anti-corruption fight. According to Jack, the anti-corruption fight without a policy, is like the blind folded symbol of the judiciary, to identify those coming to justice. Source: Legit.ng Senator Ben Murry Bruce has called on the President Muhammadu Buharis administration to be focused on taking Nigeria out of recession in 2017 rather than focusing on blaming Goodluck Jonathan. In a live video streamed via the facebook page of Jonathan, the senator said it was a shame that some people were peddling allegation that the former president did no achieve anything. Ben Bruce calls for end to blame game in 2017 Ben Bruce highlighted some of the successes of Jonathan and said the focus for 2017 should be on how Nigeria can get out of recession. READ ALSO: Why Buhari failed to get Nigeria out of recession in 2016 - Ben Bruce He also said he was ready to provide ideas that can positively affect the nation and called on the current administration to channel its strength towards positive things rather than futhering the blame game. He said: In 2016, we placed too much emphasis on blaming the immediate past administration of former president, Goodluck Jonathan. The blame knew no bounds with some alleging that Jonathan did not achieve anything by way of infrastructure 1 The railway we now enjoy nationwide including the super-fast 187 kilometre Abuja-Kaduna rail that enables you to work in Abuja and live in Kaduna was built by Jonathan. He also revived the Lagos-Kano rail, the Port Harcourt-Enugu rail and the Markurdi-port Harcourt rail. 2 He raised N58 billion for the victim of terrorism 3 Thanks to Jonathan, there is no Nigerian state without a federal university 4 He also took hundreds of thousands of youths from the streets of northern Nigeria when he built 165 Almajiri schools 5 One of the major challenges of northern Nigeria is that it is land-locked and Jonathan drive the river Niger up to barrow port in Niger to help industrialise the north. READ ALSO: Senator Sani slams Ben Bruce, others for giving awards to politicians 6 Many youths today own businesses because of the You Win policy of the Jonathan administration that gave 4000 Nigerian youths grant of up to $65000 to start their own businesses. 7 You will appreciate the work he did on the Benin-Ore road and the Lagos-Ibadan expressway Watch video below: Source: Legit.ng Inventory needs to be managed and managed well, or you are going to get in recurring trouble, and lose your credibility and hard-earned conversions, whether Read more An Iraqi attack helicopter crashed Wednesday south of the Mosul battlefield, killing all four crew members, security officials said. "During an army aviation mission this morning, an aircraft crashed due to a technical failure," the Joint Operations Command coordinating the fight against the Islamic State jihadist group said in a statement. An official in the JOC said the entire crew was killed in the crash. "The crew of four -- two pilots and two technicians -- was killed," a captain in Iraq's army aviation told AFP. "They were heading to Qayyarah on a routine mission," he said, referring to an area that has been the main military hub south of Mosul since the launch on October 17 of an operation to retake the city from IS. The helicopter was a Russian-made Mi-35 gunship, he said. He said that the intensity of the war on IS recently meant that the necessary maintenance work on such helicopters was not always satisfactory. "There is a lot of strain on these aircraft, that have ust kept flying lately," the captain said, speaking on condition of anonymity. With just over a month to go until Valentine's Day, National Geographic has published its guide to the world's 50 most romantic destinations. For a Valentine's Day getaway, a wedding destination or an anniversary trip, there are plenty of romantic destinations out there for lovers. National Geographic has picked 50 particularly romantic places for a new visual guidebook, packed with stunning photos offering travel inspiration before you even book an air ticket. More than 200 photos give star-crossed travelers food for thought, with a taste of what to expect from each destination. The American publication has included classic lovers' haunts such as Paris and Venice, as well as paradise destinations that are the stuff of dreams, such as the Bahamas and Bali. The guide also features a selection of lesser known romantic destinations to discover, taking lovers off the beaten track to the picturesque canals in the old town of Liijang, in the Chinese province of Yunnan, for example. Romantic vacationers can even choose destinations by season, for a festive trip amid snow-filled scenery or cozying up in an igloo in Iceland. National Geographic lists a host of great places to watch sunsets and sunrises. While there are thousands of places in the world to enjoy this ultimate romantic experience, certain places stand out with spectacular views, or outstanding locations. In California, for example, the guide recommends Pacific Grove, and, more precisely, Lovers Point, where lovebirds can watch the sun rise up over the sea. Machu Picchu in Peru promises another stunning sunrise. In fact, Peru looks like a prime destination for lovers, since National Geographic also recommends Lima's Parque de Amor, home to a competition for couples who sustain the longest kiss. "The World's Most Romantic Destinations: 50 Dreamy Getaways, Private Retreats, and Enchanting Places to Celebrate Love" - National Geographic - $25 AFP News Former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan was recovering in hospital Friday after a gunman shot him in the leg, with his supporters vowing the assassination attempt will not derail his "long march" bid to return to power. The attack on his convoy, apparently by a lone gunman, killed one man and wounded at least 10, significantly raising the stakes in a political crisis that has gripped the South Asian nation since Khan's ousting in April. Khan "was stable and he was doing fine" at Shaukat Khanum hospital in the eastern city of Lahore, his doctor Faisal Sultan told AFP Friday. Seemi Bokhari, a lawmaker with Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, said after visiting Khan the former premier was in high spirits. "The doctors are allowing him to move ... He is feeling perfectly well and he will soon be discharged," she told AFP. The 70-year-old former international cricket star had been leading a campaign convoy of thousands since last week from Lahore to the capital Islamabad when he was attacked. Khan suffered at least one bullet wound to his right leg when a gunmen sprayed pistol fire at his modified container truck as it drove slowly through a thick crowd in Wazirabad, around 170 kilometres (105 miles) east of Islamabad. "Everyone who was standing in the very front row got hit," former information minister Fawad Chaudhry, who was standing behind Khan, told AFP. Senior aide Raoof Hasan said it was "an attempt to kill him, to assassinate him". Chaudhry said party officials would meet later Friday to discuss the immediate fate of Khan's campaign march. "The real freedom long march will continue and the movement for people's rights will remain until an announcement on the general elections," he tweeted. - Threats - Party officials also called for supporters to stage rallies and marches across the country after Friday afternoon prayers, the most important of the week. Protesters lit fires and blocked roads in several cities late Thursday as news of Khan's shooting spread. His campaign truck has become a crime scene for now, cordoned off and guarded by commandos as forensic experts comb the area. Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb said Thursday the attacker had been taken into custody. Officials shared an apparent confession video that was circulating online. "I did it because (Khan) was misleading the public," says a dishevelled man in the leaked video, shown with his hands tied behind his back in what appears to be a police station. He says he was angry with the procession for making a racket during the call to prayer that summons Muslims to the mosque five times a day. Pervaiz Elahi, the chief minister of Punjab, said officers who leaked the video would be disciplined. Pakistan has been grappling with Islamist militancy for decades, with right-wing religious groups having huge sway over the population. It has been no stranger to assassination attempts during decades of political instability, and the powerful military has led the country several times. Pakistan's first prime minister, Liaquat Ali Khan, was shot dead at a rally in Rawalpindi in 1951. Another former prime minister, Benazir Bhutto, was killed in 2007 when a huge bomb detonated near her vehicle as she greeted supporters in the city of Rawalpindi. - Kicked from power - Khan was booted from office in April by a no-confidence vote after defections by some of his coalition partners, but he retains huge support. He was voted into power in 2018 on an anti-corruption platform by an electorate tired of dynastic politics, but his mishandling of the economy -- and falling out with a military accused of helping his rise -- sealed his fate. Since then, he has railed against the establishment and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's government, which he says was imposed on Pakistan by a "conspiracy" involving the United States. Khan and Shehbaz have for months traded bitter accusations of corruption and incompetence, raising the political temperature in a nation that is frequently at boiling point. Khan has repeatedly told supporters he was prepared to die for the country, and aides have long warned of unspecified threats made on his life. The attack drew international condemnation including from the United States, which had uneasy relations with Khan when he was in power. "Violence has no place in politics, and we call on all parties to refrain from violence, harassment and intimidation," US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement. sjd/fox/ecl/pbt/dhc By Radu-Sorin Marinas and Luiza Ilie BUCHAREST (Reuters) - Romania's Social Democrat-led coalition government won a vote of confidence in parliament on Wednesday, as expected, returning to power after a one-year break. Led by Prime Minister Sorin Grindeanu, the new cabinet won by a vote of 295 to 133, parliament's ballot count data showed. The leftist coalition has an outright majority in the legislature. The Social Democrats (PSD) were ousted in November 2015, after a deadly fire in a Bucharest nightclub led to nationwide protests over graft and slipshod public administration. In various alliances, it had governed for a total of about 17 years since the fall of communism in 1989. "You will find in the governing programme all the measures presented during the campaign by the PSD leader," Grindeanu said. "In a normal country, the government seeks higher wages for citizens, not smaller wages in the hopes that more foreign investors will come," he said. "We want foreign investment, but one that offers well paid jobs for Romanians." Led by an official convicted in an election-rigging case, the PSD appears to have won the support of many Romanians with promises of increased social spending and economic security. However, its four-year term with junior coalition partner ALDE will be closely watched by Romania's partners in the European Union, because of concerns over government spending and a weakening of an anti-graft drive. Some economists warn the new government is likely to breach the EU's ceiling on the public deficit of three percent of GDP this year. A previously approved reduction in value-added tax of one percentage point went into effect this month. Two other levies were scrapped. The PSD has also promised a 16 percent increase in the minimum wage. Increases in pensions and wages in the public health and education sectors are already approved. The cabinet also wants to raise minimum pensions by 30 percent to 520 lei ($125) a month, increase welfare spending and scholarships and scrap several other taxes. During committee hearings on Wednesday, Finance Minister Viorel Stefan reaffirmed plans to boost spending. Estimated annual growth of 5.5 percent, better tax collection and EU development funds should allow for more social spending and keep the budget deficit below the EU's 3 percent ceiling, he said. Earlier on Wednesday, Justice Minister Florin Iordache told lawmakers he would propose to Grindeanu legal revisions, including changes in the criminal code. It was unclear what the revision would entail Together with other deputies, Iordache has backed several legislative initiatives to weaken a drive against graft. Romania is considered one of the EU's most corrupt states, and along with neighbouring Bulgaria, its justice system is under special monitoring by Brussels. (Reporting by Radu Marinas and Luiza Ilie; Editing by Larry King) AFP News Zhang Yao recalls the moment he realised something had gone deeply wrong at the Chinese mega-factory where he and hundreds of thousands of other workers assembled iPhones and other high-end electronics. In early October, supervisors suddenly warned him that 3,000 colleagues had been taken into quarantine after someone tested positive for Covid-19 at the factory. "They told us not to take our masks off," Zhang, speaking under a pseudonym for fear of retaliation, told AFP by telephone. What followed was a weeks-long ordeal including food shortages and the ever-present fear of infection, before he finally escaped on Tuesday. Zhang's employer, Taiwanese tech giant Foxconn, has said it faces a "protracted battle" against infections and imposed a "closed loop" bubble around its sprawling campus in central China's Zhengzhou city. Local authorities locked down the area surrounding the major Apple supplier's factory on Wednesday, but not before reports emerged of employees fleeing on foot and a lack of adequate medical care at the plant. China is the last major economy committed to a zero-Covid strategy, persisting with snap lockdowns, mass testing and lengthy quarantines in a bid to stamp out emerging outbreaks. But new variants have tested officials' ability to snuff out flare-ups and dragged down economic activity with the threat of sudden disruptions. - Desperation - Multiple workers have recounted scenes of chaos and increasing disorganisation at Foxconn's complex of workshops and dormitories, which form a city-within-a-city near Zhengzhou's airport. Zhang told AFP that "positive tests and double lines (on antigen tests) had become a common sight" in his workshop before he left. "Of course we were scared, it was so close to us." "People with fevers are not guaranteed to receive medicine," another Foxconn worker, a 30-year-old man who also asked to remain anonymous, told AFP. "We are drowning," he said. Those who decided to stop working were not offered meals at their dormitories, Zhang said, adding that some were able to survive on personal stockpiles of instant noodles. Kai, a worker at in the complex who gave an interview to state-owned Sanlian Lifeweek, told the magazine Foxconn's "closed loop" involved cordoning off paths between dormitory compounds and the factory, and complained he was left to his own devices after being thrown in quarantine. TikTok videos geolocated by AFP showed mounds of uncollected rubbish outside buildings in late October, while employees in N95 masks squeezed onto packed shuttle buses taking them from dormitories to their work stations. A 27-year-old woman working at Foxconn, who asked not to be named, told AFP a roommate who tested positive for Covid was sent back to her dormitory on Thursday morning, crying, after she decided to hand in her notice while in quarantine. "Now the three of us are living in the same room: one a confirmed case and two of us testing positive on the rapid test, still waiting for our nucleic acid test results," the worker told AFP. Many became so desperate by the end of last month that they attempted to walk back to their hometowns to get around Covid transport curbs. As videos of people dragging their suitcases down motorways and struggling up hills spread on Chinese social media, the authorities rushed in to do damage control. The Zhengzhou city government on Sunday said it had arranged for special buses to take employees back to their hometowns. Surrounding Henan province has officially reported a spike of more than 600 Covid cases since the start of this week. - Distrust - When Zhang finally attempted to leave the Foxconn campus on Tuesday, he found the company had set up obstacle after obstacle. "There were people with loudspeakers advertising the latest Foxconn policy, saying that each day there would be a 400 yuan ($55) bonus," Zhang told AFP. A crowd of employees gathered at a pick-up point in front of empty buses but were not let on. People in hazmat suits, known colloquially as "big whites" in China, claimed they had been sent by the city government. "They tried to persuade people to stay in Zhengzhou... and avoid going home," Zhang said. "But when we asked to see their work ID, they had nothing to show us, so we suspected they were actually from Foxconn." Foxconn pointed to the local government's lockdown orders from Wednesday when asked by AFP if it attempted to stop employees from leaving, without giving any further response. The company had on Sunday said it was "providing employees with complimentary three meals a day" and cooperating with the government to provide transport home. Eventually, the crowd of unhappy workers who had gathered decided to take matters into their own hands and walked over seven kilometres on foot to the nearest highway entry ramp. There, more people claiming to be government officials pleaded with the employees to wait for the bus. The crowd had no choice as the road was blocked. Buses eventually arrived at five in the afternoon -- nearly nine hours after Zhang had begun his attempt to secure transport. "They were trying to grind us down," he said. Back in his hometown, Zhang is now waiting out the home quarantine period required by the local government. "All I feel is, I've finally left Zhengzhou," he told AFP. bur-tjx/oho/je/mca/cwl There are plenty of options out there for snack foods. But the entrepreneurs behind Bens Soft Pretzels think their options stand apart from all the rest. The company uses an old Amish recipe to make huge soft pretzels and other treats. You can learn more about the business and the journey of these entrepreneurs in this weeks Small Business Spotlight. What the Business Does Sells soft pretzels and other menu items. Scott Jones, CEO and co-founder of Bens Soft Pretzels told Small Business Trends, Bens Soft Pretzels is home of the legendary, Amish-inspired Jumbo Soft Pretzels that are nearly twice the size of other soft pretzels and have a fluffy, melt-in-your mouth taste. In addition to Bens signature Jumbo Soft Pretzel, we also offer artisan pretzel bites called Buggy Bites, Pretzel Stix, an All-Beef Pretzel Dog, and Pretzel Pocket sandwiches. Customers can pair their fresh baked pretzels with our eleven gourmet dipping sauces including cheese, Amish sweet mustard, and a variety of other options. Business Niche Size and flavor. Jones says, Our pretzels are nearly double the size of our competitors and feature a fluffy, melt-in-your mouth flavor that none of our competitors come close to achieving. How the Business Got Started By perfecting an old family recipe. Jones says, Ben [Miller, co-founder of Bens Soft Pretzels] and his wife, 3rd generation Amish bakers, perfected the Amish/Dutch dough recipe that is used to this day in all Bens Soft Pretzels locations. The first Bens Soft Pretzels bakery opened in Concord Mall in Elkhart, Ind. and has since grown to 79 locations in eight states. Biggest Win Partnering with major retailers. Jones explains, One of our biggest wins was negotiating and executing our master lease agreement with Walmart and our master license agreement with Meijer. These agreements allow us to open up pretzel bakeries in Walmart and Meijer stores throughout the country. Biggest Risk Buying a building. Jones says, We recognized that we were going to need a distribution chain to build our business. However when you are an emerging brand it is tough to get your proprietary products to market without self-distributing. We did this by using small leased warehouse spaces for a few years. Then we decided to buy a building. This was a big investment and risk. If our business didnt grow we would be saddled with a large real estate purchase. The risk has paid off as we now partner with Gordon Food Services to distribute our proprietary items and have a FDA approved kitchen to produce them in. We will continue to use the building for years to come. Lesson Learned Training is paramount. Jones says, When we first started franchising, we would have provided a more comprehensive training program for our employees and franchise partners. I think those pioneers who were early to our business helped us get better quickly and we now have those processes in place. How Theyd Spend an Extra $100,000 Supporting Franchisees. Jones explains, I would spend it on a system like Profit Mastery for our franchise partners to better understand and develop tools to digest the financial reports that are associated with their business. I would also spend any remaining money on a local marketing expert training for our franchise partners. This would allow them to exceed in their communities with local marketing and community involvement. Favorite Quote Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved. Helen Keller * * * * * See Also: Why Analytics Are the Hot Topic at This Small Business Conference Find out more about the Small Biz Spotlight program In those states allowing recreational marijuana use (including the four that passed legislation this past November), existing medical cannabis dispensaries as well as new market entrants may plan to serve both recreational and medical cannabis users to reach the broadest base of consumers and drive sales volume. These companies may give little consideration to the effect a single, or parent brand has on brand equity and positioning. In many cases, serving both consumer segments under a single brand is NOT the best means for capturing market share and establishing consumer loyalty. Serving the largest consumer base, regardless of the business model employed behind it, is not necessarily the best means to grow revenue. In that regard, the following examines the differences between medicinal and recreational users, identifies the drawbacks of marketing to both groups under a parent brand, and introduces an alternative strategy for consumer marketing by cannabis dispensaries that creates clear competitive advantages. Targeted Marijuana Marketing Strategies Unique Consumer Profiles Lets begin by exploring the consumer profiles of recreational and medical cannabis users. Recreational users are typically characterized as having: A strong interest in the psychoactive effects of cannabis; A high willingness to experiment with cannabis in a variety of forms; An inclination towards new product adoption; Sensitivity to product pricing; and Greater reception for more than one method of administration. On the other hand, medical cannabis patients are often: Loyal to a particular product or category of products; Purpose-driven to treat their condition and improve overall quality of life; More personally connected to the dispensary agents/staff, whose product guidance they come to rely upon; Concerned with quality, product consistency and predictable effects; Three times as likely as recreational users to use cannabis on a daily or almost daily basis; and Higher consumers of non-psychoactive products. As evidenced, these groups are remarkably different. They have very dissimilar objectives which, in turn, is reflected in their purchasing decisions. Therefore, a one size fits all approach to serving both user groups is undoubtedly sub-optimal. The Disadvantages of Marketing to Both User Groups Under the Parent Brand There are a number of drawbacks to marketing a parent brand to both medicinal and recreational users, that can ultimately weaken the brand, create consumer confusion and reduce pricing power. Firstly, there is the risk of possible brand degradation. The credibility of the dispensary agents product recommendations to medical patients may be called in to question. This may give rise to a disconnect with the patient base and make efforts to build patient loyalty increasingly more difficult. The dispensarys unique selling points may become diluted, resulting in product offerings that disregard consumers specific needs. Even more, in light of the nascent cannabis industry in so many states, dispensaries may still be looking to develop their brand equity. When these negative associations come in the infancy stages of brand development, this can jeopardize the dispensarys very existence. Secondly, brand messaging may become confusing and divergent. For recreational users, there is an emphasis on the social aspects of cannabis consumption. For medical patients, there is a focus on compassion and healing. Advertising dollars spent to convey both of these messages may be unclear and confuse potential consumers, producing a low ROI through marketing channels that are oftentimes quite costly. Additionally, the positioning of the brand at the store itself, when it caters to both groups of users, ignores the need for distinctive retail experiences. As an example, an interior design resembling a head shop may be better fitting for recreational users whereas medical patients may prefer a pharmacy type of layout that endorses simplicity and privacy. Finally, consumers may fail to recognize the value of the product offerings and resort to the bottom line of price. Competing on price alone commoditizes the product and squeezes margins. These margins may already be tight if the dispensary is not vertically integrated (or, in other words, does not have full control over the plant from seed to sale) and must account for an inflated cost of goods. This perception of product non-differentiation can stunt growth and alienate medical cannabis patients altogether. An Alternative Strategy for Consumer Marketing As an alternative marketing strategy, I propose bifurcating the consumer base and creating extensions from the parent brand to best meet the needs of each user group. Dispensaries that engage in bifurcation, or segmentation, will improve consumer retention, generate enhanced profitability, and maximize market share. For those dispensaries already operating in medical cannabis markets where recreational cannabis programs exist, they can make best use of their established brand by launching product extensions for the recreational market that generate logical and meaningful associations to the parent brand. For instance, lets say there is a medical cannabis dispensary called CannaPure. When CannaPure decides to enter the recreational market, they may be better off extending their category of products under a line called CannaPure Social. Although there is a clear link between the two brands, they are notably distinct, making them more understandable and compelling for consumers. Competitive Advantages Realized Through Market Bifurcation and Extension of the Brand Dispensaries that exploit this strategy of consumer bifurcation and brand extension will realize market-leading competitive advantages including: Greater goodwill and loyalty through a closer connection with the patient; Enhanced opportunities to strengthen the brand, i.e. for medical patients with credible members of the medical community; Improved target compatibility, as dispensaries that segment out medical cannabis patients may be perceived as offering more efficacious treatment than ones that cater to both medical and recreational consumers (of particular significance with the anticipated passing of cannabis as an FDA approved drug within the next 10 years); Differentiation through niche marketing amongst a sea of dispensaries serving both consumers under a single, parent brand; and Superior performance in marketing campaigns, for example, via a focused approach toward healthcare practitioners and condition-specific ailments. Best Meeting the Needs of Your Target Market Heres the bottom line: In the burgeoning cannabis industry, dispensaries should carefully consider the consequences of marketing to both medicinal and recreational cannabis users under a single brand. Marketing under a single, or parent, brand can negatively impact brand equity and positioning. Enduring and successful dispensaries will be those that most ably meet their consumers needs. Dispensaries can better serve consumers by segmenting the market and shying away from one-size-fits-all branding in favor of more appropriately, and simply tailored brands and offerings. Augmented Reality South Korean Company Maxst Unveils Two New AR Products at CES 2017 Maxst, a Seoul, South Korea-based augmented reality (AR) company, is introducing two new AR products Thursday at the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. This years convention runs Jan. 5-8. Vivar is an AR-based video call platform that allows the sharing of 3D contents, video clips and images during a call. Vivar also features a drawing function which allows users to view AR drawings simultaneously. As one user draws on a screen, the other user(s) can see the drawing being made to scale in real time. The second product Maxst will unveil and demonstrate is AR smart glasses called Revelio. Revelio is a pair of stereoscopic smart glasses and a standalone device that does not require any other accessories like a controller. It is simple to use, the company says, and designed to be lightweight (less than 190 grams), while providing features such as Octa core CPU, 2 G memory, 40 degrees field of view and a 720-pixel display. We decided to exhibit our new products at CES 2017 in order to show the world the superior AR technology of Maxst while seeking a chance to find a new business partner, said Maxst CEO Jaewan Park in a statement. Even after attending CES, we will keep developing AR products that will make our life more convenient. Maxst is the only Korean exhibitor among AR companies to showcase at the booths of CES 2017, the company said in a news release. Maxsts booth is in the Las Vegas Convention Center, South Hall 2 26637. For more information on the company, visit maxst.com. The company also has a YouTube channel, and has posted a demonstration of its Revelio smart glasses here. DUBLIN, Jan 4 (Reuters) - Ireland (Other OTC: IRLD - news) 's Finance Ministry said on Wednesday it expected its budget deficit to be around 0.9 percent in 2016, in line with the last official forecast in October but weaker than Finance Minister Michael Noonan suggested in comments last month. "Budget 2017 forecast a General Government Deficit for 2016 of 0.9 percent of GDP. The exchequer figures for end-2016, released today, support that forecast," the ministry said in a statement. The 2015 deficit was 1.9 percent. Noonan last month told journalists that the deficit could fall as low as 0.7 or 0.8 percent if tax receipts were strong enough, but December's tax returns published earlier on Wednesday were weaker than forecast. (Reporting by Conor Humphries; Editing by Alison Williams) If you have opinions about the subject matter of posts on this blog please share them. Do you have a story about how the system affects you at work school or home, or just in general? This is a place to share it. WASHINGTON A day of pageantry to open the 115th Congress and usher in a new period of Republican governance was overtaken Tuesday by an embarrassing reversal on ethics oversight, with the GOP gripped by internal division and many lawmakers seeking to shield themselves from extensive scrutiny. The 19 hours of tumult was set in motion the night before behind closed doors at the Longworth House Office Building, where Republican lawmakers decided over the objections of Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., to amend House rules to effectively gut the independent Office of Congressional Ethics. They awoke Tuesday to an intense public outcry. Social media lit up with criticism of representatives trying to rein in the ethics office created a decade ago in the aftermath of scandals. Angry constituents inundated their representatives offices with calls of protest. Journalists peppered lawmakers with questions. The halls of the Capitol felt chaotic. Then, at 10:30 a.m., came the loudest objection of all: A pair of tweets from President-elect Donald Trump scolding Congress for making the weakening of the ethics watchdog its number one act and priority. He punctuated his second tweet with the hashtag DTS shorthand for drain the swamp, one of his campaign-trail mantras. With Washingtons latest power dynamics in their nascent state, Tuesdays events illustrated the weight of Trumps voice in discussions on Capitol Hill. The president-elects tweets hovered over everything and helped turn what might otherwise have been an insider-driven rule change into a national ruckus over government ethics. The events were fast-moving Tuesday morning. As Trump was using his political capital on Congress, Republican House leaders were meeting in Ryans office contemplating just how the day had gotten away from them and what they might do to salvage it. Ryan would soon be sworn in for another term as speaker, and his wife and children, dressed up for the occasion, lingered outside. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., told the leaders that the rules legislation with the ethics amendment would have trouble getting the 218 votes needed to pass the floor and they decided it must be scrapped. The leaders called an emergency meeting of Republican House members in the Capitol basement. McCarthy pointedly asked the members whether they had campaigned last fall on decimating the ethics office or on repealing President Barack Obamas health-care law and changing the tax code. The windowless room fell silent, according to several lawmakers in attendance. McCarthy gave them an ultimatum: Reverse course now, among fellow Republicans, or take a public floor vote. He asked for unanimous consent to remove the rules change and shortly after noon, he got it. The push to amend ethics rules was now dead, or at least fast asleep. I can tell you the calls weve gotten in my district office and here in Washington surprised me, meaning the numbers of calls. People are just sick and tired, Rep. Walter Jones, R-N.C., said of the simmering outrage over the proposed change. People are just losing confidence in the lack of ethics and honesty in Washington. For the lawmakers who had supported the rules change, the OCE had become an unaccountable office with little transparency. Rep. Peter Roskam, R-Ill., who was the subject of an OCE referral over a 2011 trip he took with his wife to Taiwan, likened the office to Old English royal courts that dictated harsh and arbitrary sentences to powerful figures. Its a star chamber, said Roskam, who was cleared by the Ethics Committee in 2013. It needs to be reformed. House Republicans have not abandoned an OCE overhaul entirely, but any changes are being put off until later in the year. Tuesdays actions disrupted a day of ceremonial rituals, as Ryan was easily reelected as speaker with the support of all but one Republican far fewer defectors than when he first won the speakership in 2015. Most Democrats voted for Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., who will remain the minority leader. Members of the new House and Senate were sworn in throughout the afternoon. Republicans will hold a 52-48 advantage over Democrats in the Senate, and 241-194 in the House. Delivering his inaugural floor speech as Senate minority leader, Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., vowed to fight Trump on issues where Democrats disagree. It is not our job to be a rubber stamp, Schumer said. It is our job to do whats best for the American people, the middle class and those struggling to get there. But in a sign of his partys diminished influence, Schumer spoke to a mostly empty chamber save for several dozen of his Democratic colleagues. Sens. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., and Ted Cruz, R-Texas, stood on the floor whispering to each other, ignoring Schumer. The House rules package that ultimately passed Tuesday contained a controversial provision that will impose fines on members using electronic devices to take photographs, record audio or video or conduct livestreams on the House floor. The provision came in response to House Democrats staging a sit-in last summer aimed at forcing votes on gun control legislation. At issue earlier in the day were changes to the Office of Congressional Ethics, which was created in 2008 following the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal to address concerns that members of the House Ethics Committee had been too timid in pursuing allegations of wrongdoing by fellow lawmakers. The amendment, proposed by Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., would have renamed the office as the Office of Congressional Complaint Review and prevented it from investigating anonymous tips or referring criminal wrongdoing to prosecutors without the express consent of the Ethics Committee. It also would have prohibited the office from employing staff to communicate with the public or the media. House leaders knew days in advance of Monday nights meeting of Republican lawmakers to finalize the House rules package that Goodlatte would seek to undermine the independent ethics office. The leadership made an effort to head off the proposal before the meeting, but Goodlatte refused to budge. As the meeting started at 5:30 p.m., aides were confident that members would reject Goodlattes proposal once Ryan and McCarthy weighed in against it. That did not happen. Goodlatte was backed by a chorus of rank-and-file lawmakers many of whom had been targeted by OCE probes or feared they might be next who were emboldened to make changes. The measure passed handily, 119 to 74. Dozens of other members were absent because they were not yet in Washington. Rep. Trent Franks, R-Ariz., echoed the views of many colleagues in saying changes to the OCE were long overdue. Theres no due process, he said. An anonymous source can destroy your life, put you on the front page of the newspaper and when its too late, youre completely exonerated. Ive watched that happen to close friends who were straight as an arrow. Others foresaw the political toll that could be exacted for a decision to make gutting ethics oversight the first act of the new Congress. I had cautioned some of my colleagues last night that that one provision would create quite a public stir and it did, Rep. Charlie Dent, R-Pa., said with a slight chuckle. Ryan and McCarthy initially seemed resigned to accepting the will of their members, even though they understood the less than optimal message it sent to voters nationally, especially following an campaign during which Washington was vilified. Before GOP members could meet to change course, McCarthy had to face a conference room full of skeptical reporters. Were a collective group of individuals, he said. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. The development blindsided Trump transition officials, prompting Ryan staffers to explain to Trump aides late Monday night and into Tuesday morning what exactly House members had voted on and why they did it. Early Tuesday, one of Trumps top advisers, Kellyanne Conway, partially defended the proposed changes to the ethics office in an appearance on MSNBC. But that was before she discussed the matter with the president-elect, and a few hours later it became clear he disagreed with what House Republicans had done. With all that Congress has to work on, do they really have to make the weakening of the Independent Ethics Watchdog, as unfair as it . . . may be, their number one act and priority. Focus on tax reform, health care and so many other things of far greater importance! Trump wrote on Twitter Tuesday morning. Trump spokesman Sean Spicer said the president-elect was not taking a position on the merits of the ethics rules changes, only on the prioritization. Its not a question of strengthening or weakening, Spicer told reporters. I think its a question of priorities and the presidents belief that with all that this country wants and needs to have happen, this really shouldnt be the priority. Ryan and Trump eventually spoke by phone following the conference meeting and during the vote for speaker, per aides. But earlier, as Trump was firing off tweets, McCarthy reflected on the discord that had engulfed the Congresss first day. During the morning news conference, McCarthy was flung questions from journalists including one about whether the days events signaled weakness on the part of House leaders. Man, McCarthy replied, welcome back. The Washington Posts Sean Sullivan, Paul Kane, Ed OKeefe, David Weigel, Kelsey Snell, Scott Higham and Karoun Demirjian contributed to this report. Federal authorities and airline officials are investigating the odd flight of baggage handler who wound up in the cargo hold of a plane for more than 300 miles. The Federal Aviation Administration said it hoped to talk to the man on Tuesday. The agency said it would determine whether the mans cargo-loading company followed proper procedures to make sure that all employees were out of the cargo hold before the doors were closed and the plane took off. The man was found unharmed after the United Express flight from Charlotte, North Carolina, landed Sunday at Dulles International Airport outside Washington, D.C. The cargo hold was temperature-controlled and pressurized, United Airlines spokeswoman Erin Benson said. The Embraer jet was in the air for about 80 minutes and reached an altitude of 27,000 feet, according to the FlightAware tracking service. The plane was operated for United by Mesa Airlines, but the bag handler works for a Mesa contractor, G2 Secure Staff, Benson said. G2, which is based in Irving, Texas, issued a statement saying that its employee traveled in the cargo hold on accident and that it is cooperating with investigations into the incident. Phoenix-based Mesa did not immediately respond to phone and email messages. Rob Yingling, a spokesman for the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, said that medics met the plane when it arrived Sunday afternoon but determined the baggage handler did not need treatment. Dulles Airport police conducted a brief investigation. Since the man had proper identification as a Charlotte airport employee and was not charged with a crime, he was released, Yingling said. The Washington Post identified the bag handler as Reginald Gaskin, and said it reached him by telephone. I thank God. He was with me, he told the newspaper, then said a lawyer advised him not to say more. Reached by The Associated Press at his Charlotte home Tuesday, Gaskin declined comment. This isnt the first time an airport worker has wound up flying in a cargo hold. In 2015, an Alaska Airlines plane made an emergency landing in Seattle after pilots and passengers heard someone banging on the cargo hold beneath them after takeoff. The man said he had fallen asleep while loading bags also in a pressurized part of the cargo hold. Menzies Aviation, the contractor who employed the man, said he had broken their rules by napping in the plane. There have also been stowaways. In 2014, a teenage boy flew in the wheel well of a Hawaiian Airlines jet from California to Hawaii, surviving thin air and freezing temperatures. The boy said he hopped a fence at the airport in San Jose to reach the plane. He was spotted wandering the airfield after the plane landed. Safety experts say such incidents should prompt airlines to improve security procedures. They say crews should not close the cargo doors until everyone is accounted for. Charles Colgan, an aviator and businessman who became the longest-serving member of the Virginia Senate, where he was known for his advocacy of the development of Prince William County and for his steady-handed stewardship of state finances, died Jan. 3. He was 90. His daughter, Mary Finnigan, confirmed his death in an email. Other details were not immediately available. Colgan, a Democrat, was elected to the Virginia Senate in 1975 and represented fast-growing areas including Manassas and Manassas Park, in addition to parts of Prince William County, Virginia. As the founder of Colgan Air, a regional commuter airline based in Manassas, he jokingly claimed the distinction of being the general assemblys sole licensed airplane mechanic. Until his retirement in 2015 at age 89, he held his seat throughout population shifts and redistricting, drawing the support of Republican voters as well as Democrats with his moderate and, at times, maverick voting record. In Richmond, where he served as Senate president pro tempore and in the influential role of budget conferee, he was widely known for his collegiality and pragmatism. He was really a landmark figure, not just in Prince William County, but in the entire commonwealth, said Stephen Farnsworth, a political-science professor at the University of Mary Washington. Hes a reminder of a more gentle and centrist era of Virginia politics, when Richmond was proud of the fact that it did not have Washington-style gridlock. It never bothered us that we represented different parties, if we were working for the same goals, said John Watkins of Powhatan, a Republican who also retired in 2015 after decades in the Virginia legislature. Thats the way he saw fit to make it work. Colgan co-chaired the Senate Finance Committee and counted among his achievements the sound financial management of Virginia, Farnsworth said. He took particular interest in the economic and educational development of Prince William County and the surrounding area. He was credited with bringing Northern Virginia Community College campuses to Manassas and Woodbridge as well as helping lead the establishment of George Mason Universitys location in Manassas. He was one of the people who put George Mason on the map, said Senate Minority Leader Richard Saslaw, D-Fairfax. That whole community, Prince William County, is where it is today because of Chuck Colgan. Outside of education, Colgan devoted much of his legislative efforts to transportation, an issue of extreme concern to residents of his region who commute to and from Washington, D.C. He sought funding for the Virginia Railway Express and was credited with prevailing on state officials to widen a segment of I-66 west of Manassas, among other projects. As a legislator, he was low-key and soft-spoken, which may be one of the reasons he was so well-liked and successful, said Larry Sabato, the director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia. He wasnt wont to call press conferences or get up on the soapbox. When he spoke, people really did listen. He was considered a reliable Democratic vote, but, as a Catholic, he opposed abortion rights and voted with Republicans on that issue. To avoid a government shutdown, he supported Republicans in a highly fraught budget debate in 2012, voting for an $85 billion budget package despite its exclusion of a $300 million appropriation for the expansion of Metrorail to Dulles Airport. We cant just be concerned about Dulles, he told The Washington Post at the time. You cant worry about this project and not the rest of the budget. As for Democrats angered by his vote, he quipped, Theyve been mad at me before. Charles Joseph Colgan was born in Frostburg, Maryland, on Sept. 25, 1926. When he was 5, his mother died of complications from a miscarriage. Shortly thereafter, his father died of pneumonia. Colgan spent the rest of his upbringing with his maternal grandparents on a farm in Grantsville, Maryland. Colgan joined the Army Air Forces at the end of World War II, serving in Italy as an airplane mechanic. He later became a pilot and settled in Virginia. In 1965, he joined other investors in founding a flight school and vendor of aircraft and fuel. The company, which he sold and reformed, grew into Colgan Air, a multimillion-dollar family business that provided commuter flights for airlines including Continental and US Airways. The outfit included dozens of planes by the time it was sold in 2007 to Pinnacle Airlines. Colgan launched his political career when he joined the Prince William Board of County Supervisors in 1972, representing Gainesville, where a high school named in his honor opened in 2016. He served as board chairman before moving to the Virginia Senate. Colgans wife of 52 years, the former Agnes Footen, died in 2001. Survivors include his wife of eight years, Carmen Alicia Bernal, of Gainesville; eight children from his first marriage, Charles Colgan Jr. of Nokesville, Virginia, Ruth Willis of Brewerton, New York, Michael Colgan and Dot Chaplin, both of Gainesville, Raymond Colgan, Mary Finnigan and Patrick Colgan, all of Manassas, and Timothy Colgan of Warrenton, Virginia; a brother, Robert Colgan, of Manassas; 24 grandchildren; and 22 great-grandchildren. Amid the 2012 budget standoff, Colgan called on his colleagues to restore the cooperative spirit that he had known as a new senator, and that many observers considered increasingly rare in an era of ever more divisive politics. Ladies and gentlemen, it is not like it used to be, he said in remarks reported by the Washington Times. Never . . . have I ever seen so much animosity or heard so much criticism. He paraphrased the aphorism about politicians, who are concerned about the next election, and statesmen, who look ahead: We should be concerned about the next generation, he said. The Washington Posts Jenna Portnoy and Laura Vozzella contributed to this report. When Democrats and progressive groups discuss their strategy for a 2017 comeback, they consider an X-factor that no opposition party has ever had to contend with. What will the president tweet? Donald Trumps ability to massage, manipulate, or completely upend the news cycle, which ended up flummoxing Democrats in 2016, emerged anew in the half-day furor over a change to the Houses ethics rules. It was the Trump story in miniature Democrats first rejoicing at how the president-elect rumbled his fellow Republicans, then Democrats realizing how Trump had steered the story, and the credit, toward himself. The change to effectively bulldoze the Office of Congressional Ethics, a 2008 creation of Democrats that made it easier to file charges against members of the House and Senate, broke last night after a surprise Republican meeting. The news climbed up Twitter trends, and at the same time, MSNBCs Rachel Maddow tore up her script to spend the second half of her show discussing it. It sounds like a bureaucratic change, but what that means is theres no independent ethics oversight of Congress, said Maddow. This means lawmakers themselves now get to police themselves now for ethics. And this means no ethics investigation information will have to be released to the public. They can police themselves now. Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., who was about to be reelected to lead House Democrats, was quick to condemn the change. On Tuesday mornings TV news shows, the spin from Trumps camp was that the rules change did not mean very much. Youre still going to have an Office of Complaint Review, said Trumps campaign manager Kellyanne Conway on ABCs Good Morning America. In other words, its not like were taking away everything. Look, theres a very ambitious agenda to push forward. Hours later, Trump himself tweeted about the change but did so in two complementary tweets. Anyone who saw the first only saw Trump ask if Congress needed to weaken the Independent Ethics Watchdog. He tweeted, With all that Congress has to work on, do they really have to make the weakening of the Independent Ethics Watchdog, as unfair as it In the second tweet, four minutes later, Trump finished the point weakening the OCE, unfair as it may be, was not a major priority. He said, ..may be, their number one act and priority. Focus on tax reform, healthcare and so many other things of far greater importance! #DTS But even in those four minutes, Democrats were rejoicing about yet another case of Trump wrecking the GOPs careful messaging. In the next hour, House Speaker Paul Ryan put out a statement that said the OCE was in need of reform, and Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy told reporters that the public had gotten the wrong idea about what the reform did. An hour after that, Republicans were heading into a surprise, short meeting one where they learned that the amendment to gut the OCE was dead. And when they moved over to the House, to vote for speaker, they rolled their eyes at Democrats who explained their votes for Nancy Pelosi as votes for ethics. But Trumps intervention had changed the story. Suddenly, instead of Democrats holding the Republicans accountable, the Republicans had caved for a number of reasons. Among the reasons, some admitted, was Donald Trump. Yes, there had been angry phone calls, and plenty of angry tweets, but Trump, as usual, pushed everything into a circus tent. By the afternoon, in some media coverage, the Democrats were basically cut out of the story. On cable news, the chyrons were all about Trump; one columnist saluted his easy win. Amy Davidson, a New Yorker columnist who is no Trump apologist, framed the story as Trump scoring over his own party, and maybe even over Democrats who would have benefited from weak ethics rules. If they thought that Trump would cover for them, and help make them look good, the picture is that much more pathetic, Davidson wrote of the GOP. But Trump had not called for the OCE amendment to die. Democrats had done that. Late Tuesday afternoon, they began taking credit that no one was willing to give them. Rep. Keith Ellison tweeted, Democrats and activists organized against @HouseGOP closing the Ethics Office. Zephyr Teachout, a 2016 congressional candidate and progressive organizer, made the same point but gentler. Now thats powerthe Republicans just pulled the Amendment that was going to gut the Office of Congressional Ethics! We think thousands of people called their rephundreds from this facebook page alone!! And hell, it made a big difference. Thank you SO much to all who called. Accountability. Teachout was trying to share credit with a coalition of good-government groups that had called on voters to call members of Congress, and demand both 1) a public record of who did and didnt support the OCE amendment and 2) that the member oppose the new language on the floor. But in plenty of mainstream media coverage, the Democrats played no role in the successful campaign to reverse the OCE decision. NPRs story, headlined After Backlash, Including From Trump, House GOP Drops Weakening Of Ethics Office, quoted only three members of the backlash former Republican Rep. Bob Ney, former Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff, and conservative legal watchdog Judicial Watch. A CNN story, House Republicans pull plan to gut independent ethics committee after Trump tweets, quoted only one Democrat, in the form of an embedded tweet from Pelosi. According to members of Congress, had Trump said nothing, the OCE decision might well have stuck. Trumps intervention was news in a way Democrats oppose GOP move would not have been. Yet it was the sort of news that blotted Democrats out completely, just as they are searching for ways to become, once again, the party of opposition. Caleb Calandro, already in jail and facing charges for the non-fatal shooting of a man he was riding around Santa Fe with in a van Dec. 17, now is charged for the murder of a second shooting victim who was killed in the early morning of the same day. Calandro, 33, or 34, was charged Tuesday in Magistrate Court with first-degree murder and tampering with evidence in the death of 37-year-old Rustin Radcliffe . A judge imposed a $1 million cash-only bond. Radcliffe was a longtime Santa Fean recently released from the Florida prison system. His body was found at the city parking lot at Water Street and Don Gaspar Avenue around 12:30 a.m. Dec. 17. Late that same day, Samuel Dillon, 28, was shot several times. He has told police Calandro shot him after Dillon teased Calandro during the ride around town in a van. Calandro was arrested in Albuquerque two days after the two shootings. In documents released last week, police had disclosed that crime lab results revealed that .40-caliber casings found at both shooting scenes came from the same weapon and that an anonymous tipster who provided Calandros cell phone number said Calandro had bragged about shooting two people. SANTA FE A Santa Fe man who was shot five times in the chest with a .40 caliber handgun last month told police that he was just teasing the alleged shooter before the gunfire, but his story contradicts what another suspect in the case said to police. Caleb J. Calandro, 33 or 34, has been arrested for shooting 28-year-old Samuel Dillon on Dec. 17 as they and two other men, Miguel Austin and Aireyon Pero, were driving around and drinking beers in Austins white Chevrolet van. Police also suspect Calandro in the death of 37-year-old Rustin Radcliffe. The body of Radcliffe, a longtime Santa Fean recently released from the Florida prison system, was found at the city parking lot at Water Street and Don Gaspar Avenue around 12:30 a.m. on the same day that Dillon was shot. In documents released last week, police had disclosed that crime lab results revealed that .40-caliber casings found at both shooting scenes came from the same weapon. Police have said Calandros last known address was in Kansas City, Mo. A court document released Tuesday has two dates of birth for Calandro, who is Anglo: June 22, 1982, or Jan. 31, 1983. An online site of jail booking photos shows that Caleb Joseph Calandro, a black man also with a date of birth of Jan. 31, 1983, was booked into the Johnson County, Kan., jail for aggravated assault in 2012. Johnson County is just outside of Kansas City. SFPD spokesman Greg Gurule could not immediately say Tuesday if Calandro may be using someone elses identity, someone may be using his or if there is any mix-up. In a search warrant affidavit to obtain DNA swabs from Calandro made public Tuesday in state District Court, SFPD officer Jimmie Montoya wrote that Dillon was breathing and talking on his own after being shot multiple times Dec. 17 and wanted to speak with law enforcement about what happened. Dillon said he and others he was riding around with like to tease each other and that he and Calandro were in the back seat of a van when he turned to Calandro and said, Hey Caleb Im a cop, just to (expletive) with him. Dillon said Calandro replied by saying, What did you say? Before Dillon could say anything back, Dillon said Calandro pulled out his gun and shot him. But Pero told police Dec. 18 after he and Austin were arrested at an Albuquerque apartment for tampering with evidence that Dillon started yelling at Calandro and got up in his face because he saw a gun on Calandros hip. Calandro got out of the van and ran after Austin came to a stop. Austin and Pero then drove Dillon to the Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center. Pero told detectives that Calandro lived out of his car. SANTA FE The city of Santa Fes Immigration Committee gave itself a round of applause after unanimously approving a proposed resolution that reaffirms the citys status as a sanctuary city and incorporates policies that protect immigrants against deportation. The genesis of the resolution was a group of about 50 immigrant families in Santa Fe concerned about their futures after the election of Donald Trump as president, who campaigned on creating tougher immigration laws, according to committee member Marcela Diaz of Somos un Pueblo Unido, a nonprofit that advocates for immigrant rights. They wanted to know what can we do to make us safer? she said. What positive steps can we take to make sure the future of our families is protected? The resolution, co-sponsored by City Councilors Joseph Maestas and Renee Villarreal, includes 10 policies intended to strengthen Santa Fes position as a sanctuary city, including keeping the immigration status of any person confidential, refusing access by immigration agents to city property, and establishing a working group made up of city, county, public school and community college representatives to consider methods of providing protection and support to immigrant workers, families and youth in our community. This is doubling down, Maestas said. Were thumbing our nose at this incoming administration. A dozen people, including former mayor David Coss, spoke in support of the resolution. While Trump has threatened to withhold federal funding to cities that have sanctuary city policies, If thats all were worried about, shame on us, Coss said. Thats not what Santa Fe is about. He said if Santa Fe doesnt stand up against the threats, 400 years of progress will be erased. While the City Council passed an anti-discrimination resolution in 1999, Jim Harrington, a retired attorney who has done volunteer work for Somos un Pueblo Unido, said, This resolution puts us in a more defensible (legal) position than current sanctuary policies. He said the U.S. Supreme Court has restricted how the federal government can use funding cuts to enforce policy. The resolution next goes before the Finance Committee on Jan. 17. If approved there, it will come before the City Council for adoption on Jan. 25. Some musings about poverty in New Mexico: New Mexico is 50th in poverty at 21.3 percent (thank God for Mississippi at 21.5 percent); 51st in child poverty at 29.1 percent (Mississippi came in at 29.0 percent); 44th in income inequality; 48th in high school graduation; and 49th in higher education attainment (Center for American Progress 2105 report). How we talk about this may be part of the problem. Who is doing the talking may be a larger part of the problem. Heres an analogy: You are trying to describe how to screw two pieces of wood together to someone who has never seen a screw or a screwdriver. And because you are busy working to pay for your house, car, groceries, kids dental braces and tutoring, you obviously dont have time to take a screw and screwdriver to them, and show them how they work. And, anyway, you really avoid going near their part of town for anything. Blaming the poor for our lack of understanding or appreciation of what they live in and dont have experience with lets us off the hook for any of their problems. I mean, its their life; its their responsibility to figure these things out for themselves, right? So we get to be right because theyre obviously unmotivated, unwilling and uncaring. And they get to be frustrated and belittled by their unwitting lack of knowledge. Again. Here, from A Framework for Understanding Poverty by Ruby H. Kane, are some select differences between us as business owners, homeowners, legislators, savers, investors and the poor. 62 percent of U.S. poverty individuals are white (non-Hispanic whites are about 62 percent of the U.S. population). We worry about civic groups, clubs and volunteering; the poor worry about jobs. We worry about retirement; the poor worry about housing. We ask, How did you like your dinner?; the poor ask, Did you get enough? We know the best names in brand clothing; the poor know how to keep clothes from being stolen at the Laundromat. We know how to decorate for different holidays; the poor know dumpsters where they get discarded food. We plan for vacation six months in advance; the poor know at least one person in jail or on probation. And we wonder for decades now why our good intentions and ideas havent made much difference in our poverty rates, and complain about the socio-economic results and costs. Maybe our good intentions and ideas simply dont match well with the ground-truth needs and realities of our poor population of families and kids? So New Mexico gets to continue being around 50th in poverty, 51st in child poverty, 44th in income inequality, 48th in high school graduation and 49th in higher education attainment. Whats that again about the definition of insanity? WASHINGTON One of the hallmarks of our democratic system is its commitment to the peaceful transition of power. This practice comes with two important, linked corollaries that fall under the umbrella that there can be only one president at a time. The first is that the incoming president, especially in the arena of foreign policy, takes care not to trespass on the prerogatives of the incumbent. The second is that the outgoing president, once departed, remains largely mute, giving his successor space to operate unimpeded by post-presidential backseat carping. President-elect Donald Trump must have missed this memo. Not bothering to wait for the constitutionally mandated hand-over, Trump has inserted himself into policymaking, from bullying U.S. manufacturers to barging into foreign affairs, including shaking up U.S.-Chinese policy and intruding into the Obama administrations dealings with Israel at the United Nations. This public tussling is as disturbing as it is unprecedented. President Richard Nixon, at a news conference a week after being sworn in, was asked whether he would stick with judicial nominations submitted by his predecessor, Lyndon Johnson. Nixon noted that, in conversations as president-elect with Johnson administration officials, he had scrupulously followed the line that we have one president at a time, and that he must continue to be president until he leaves office on Jan. 20. Bill Clinton bookended his presidency with this same point. During the transition that is now beginning, he said the day after his election in 1992, I urge Americas friends and foes alike to recognize, as I do, that America has only one president at a time. Eight years later, asked about his plans as he prepared to leave office, Clinton invoked the one-president theme again, saying that he wanted to find a way to be a useful citizen but to do it in a way that does not get in the way of my successor. As president-elect, Barack Obama employed the one-president-at-a-time mantra 10 times, by my count. In the midst of a financial meltdown, Obama was assertively involved in lobbying for the auto bailout and in shaping the contours of a stimulus package that would be enacted on his watch. But Obama who had been criticized during the 2008 campaign for some of his dealings with foreign leaders steered decidedly clear of weighing in on issues like the escalating crisis in the Gaza Strip. We cant have two administrations running foreign policy at the same time, he said on Jan. 7, 2009. Except Trump can. At the end of the day, hes not someone thats going to sit back and wait, Sean Spicer, the incoming White House press secretary, told CNN, defending Trumps involvement with the UN vote. Obama and his aides have, rather gently, made the one-president point. After Trump took a phone call with the president of Taiwan, Obama observed: Since theres only one president at a time, my advice to him has been that before he starts having a lot of interactions with foreign governments other than the usual courtesy calls, that he should want to have his full team in place. Not only did the president-elect fail to heed the message he bristled at it. With typical Trumpian gall, he managed to take umbrage at Obamas conduct during the transition. Doing my best to disregard the many inflammatory President O statements and roadblocks, Trump tweeted. Thought it was going to be a smooth transition NOT! Trumps definition of a smooth transition: one that goes entirely his way. So what were these inflammatory statements that set Trump off? Just about anything can trigger his wrath. Perhaps it was Obama, at Pearl Harbor with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, exhorting Americans to resist the urge to turn inward or to demonize those who are different. Perhaps it was Obama boasting he would have beaten Trump if allowed to run. Well, thats certainly inflammatory. How dare Obama? Maybe Trumps disrespectful conduct toward Obama shouldnt be so surprising. After all, long before the election, Senate Republicans acted as if the Obama presidency had already ended, refusing even to consider his Supreme Court nominee. In that sense, Trump is merely following an especially ugly, anti-constitutional party line. Imagine how President Trump, in office, would respond to such incursions on his authority and how President Trump, on his way out, would deal with a successor behaving this churlishly. Email: ruthmarcus@washpost.com. Copyright, Washington Post Writers Group. Stiffer penalties for people convicted of drunken driving and making it easier for police to testify at DWI hearings are among a package of proposals Gov. Susana Martinez unveiled to combat New Mexicos longstanding drunken driving problem. Weve got to make sure there is some significant punishment, Martinez said at a news conference Tuesday. DWI is a problem and New Mexico has weak laws. Martinez has repeatedly called for stricter punishments for drunken drivers in New Mexico, which has a significantly higher rate of drunken-driving deaths per capita than the nation as a whole. The state also sees many DWI cases dropped at the court level due to various reasons, including police officers having to appear in person at the hearings. In Albuquerque in 2014 for example, 1,920 of 3,853 DWI cases, or about 50 percent, were dismissed, according to an annual DWI report. One of the changes would allow police officers to attend DWI court hearings by video conference. I think we can prevent a lot of DWIs from actually being dismissed. There are a lot of cases that are being dismissed because they dont get through the system in a timely manner, Martinez said. You have multiple hearings that require the appearance of one officer in multiple hearings on the same day. Martinez announced the proposed changes to state DWI laws at the Office of the Medical Investigator, which investigates sudden and unexpected deaths, including fatal car wrecks. After enforcement and legislation, we have the Office of the Medical Examiner. And unfortunately thats where a lot of people are ending up, said Tom Church, Cabinet secretary for the New Mexico Department of Transportation. Republican Reps. Tim Lewis of Rio Rancho and Sarah Maestas Barnes of Albuquerque are backing the legislation and appeared at the news conference in support of the proposed legislation. Sen. Daniel Ivey-Soto, an Albuquerque Democrat, said that while he hasnt seen any of the legislation the governor is proposing, tough-on-crime bills and a bill to allow officers to appear in court electronically were killed in prior sessions. He said its crucial that the credibility of all witnesses can be evaluated by judges and juries. You just cant do it when its by video, he said. The legislation Martinez is calling for would increase the jail or prison sentences for certain repeat DWI offenders. She proposed that a person convicted of their fourth DWI, which is a felony, would be sentenced to 18 to 30 months in prison. The current penalty is six to 18 months of incarceration. A fifth would call for two to three years in prison and a sixth would mean a 30-month to 42-month sentence, also lengthening current sentences. Martinez is also in favor of increasing the fines and community service for first, second and third drunken driving convictions. She also said felony DWI convictions should be used to enhance the prison sentences of people found to be habitual offenders, the state should crack down on people who lend their vehicles to people with revoked licenses because of a DWI conviction and it should allow officers to obtain search warrants to test the blood of people suspected of being impaired with drugs. Ivey-Soto and Matthew Coyte, president of the New Mexico Criminal Defense Attorneys Association, said they favored other ways of trying to address crime instead of just increasing the punishments. Increasing prison sentences has shown to be a costly and ineffective way of tackling crime, Coyte said. I just think we need a more comprehensive approach, Ivey-Soto said. Lewis said all the legislation will include some sort of treatment plan for alcohol and drug addicts, but did not go into specifics. Treatment and prevention are always in these packages, Lewis said. We make sure we include that. WASHINGTON The 115th Congress opened Tuesday under a cloud of controversy as House Republicans besieged by angry constituents and admonished by President-elect Donald Trump abruptly reversed a decision to strip an independent congressional ethics panel of significant powers. The controversy erupted late Monday after House Republicans, who control the chamber, voted secretly to neuter the independent Office of Congressional Ethics and place its key functions under lawmakers control. As U.S. House members made their way into the Capitol on Tuesday for the first day of the new Congress, many were bombarded with constituent phone calls complaining about the move. Trump also weighed in on Twitter, admonishing his fellow Republicans for the timing if not the substance of the decision. With all that Congress has to work on, do they really have to make the weakening of the Independent Ethics Watchdog, as unfair as it may be, their number one act and priority, Trump tweeted Tuesday morning. A couple of hours later, House Republicans called an emergency meeting and unanimously voted to rescind the ethics panel changes they adopted the night before. The episode was a powerful illustration of the sway Trump may hold over his party in a Washington that will be fully under Republican control for the first time in a decade. Lawmakers who have felt unfairly targeted by the ethics office had defied their own House GOP leaders with their initial vote to gut the body, but once Trump weighed in they backpedaled immediately. The Republican vote Monday night would have barred the ethics panel from considering anonymous tips against lawmakers and revealing its investigative findings to other branches of government or the public. It also would have reportedly kept the ethics watchdog from investigating criminal activity and directed the office to refer any hint of such actions to a separate lawmaker-controlled ethics panel. Rep. Steve Pearce, a New Mexico Republican who in the last Congress introduced a failed bill to deny the Office of Congressional Ethics a funding increase, was among House Republicans voting in favor of weakening the ethics panel Monday. Pearces chief of staff, Todd Willens, said Tuesday that the congressman did not lead the House effort to strip the panel of its power, but that he supported the move to shift its power to the House Ethics Committee, a separate panel. Steve is in favor of changes that strengthen the ethics of the House and allow the committees to operate according to their stated missions, Willens said, adding that the action was aimed at becoming part of a larger House rules package. This amendment struck that balance. Since it has been struck from the rules, the issue is done and it is time to get on to other important items awaiting congressional action. The Office of Congressional Ethics was created in 2008 in response to several bribery and corruption cases in the House, but lawmakers of both parties have complained about the way it operates. Bipartisan critics Lawmakers were angered by an investigation of members of Congress from both parties including Democratic Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham of New Mexico who went on a 2013 trip to Azerbaijan paid for by that countrys government. Lawmakers said after the investigation was made public in 2015 that they did not know the trip was paid for by Azerbaijans government, and the House Ethics Committee ultimately cleared them of wrongdoing. Once the ethics controversy was dispensed with on Tuesday, lawmakers in both chambers of Congress returned to ceremonial business. As set out in the Constitution, both chambers gaveled in at noon, and as storm clouds threatened outside, the halls of the Capitol filled with lawmakers children, friends and spouses on hand to witness the procedures. The day had a festive feel of the first day back at school, as new arrivals roamed the halls with more experienced members. In the Senate, Vice President Joe Biden administered the oath of office to seven new members, as well as those who had won re-election. The Senate will be controlled 52-48 by the GOP and includes two new Republicans and five new Democrats. Biden remains president of the Senate until Trump becomes president Jan. 20; then Vice President-elect Mike Pence will take over. In the House, lawmakers filled the chamber to elect their speaker, Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin. The House will number 241 Republicans and 194 Democrats; among the members are 52 freshmen. The first week of the new Congress will be a preview of the hectic pace planned by Republicans for the start of Trumps term. The GOP is eager to turn to the business of dismantling Obamas health care law, and that effort is to begin with a procedural vote later in the week in the Senate. Obama plans a rare trip to Capitol Hill on Wednesday to meet with congressional Democrats and discuss strategy for saving the health care law. Pence will meet with Republicans. Votes also are expected on resolutions to denounce the United Nations for condemning the construction of Israeli settlements. The Associated Press contributed to this report. LA MESA Authorities say a 23-year-old father who was wanted after abducting his 2-year-old son surrendered Tuesday afternoon. Dona Ana County sheriffs deputies say Sergio Guadalupe Jacquez turned himself in at the main station. He was accompanied by his attorney, and authorities said he was cooperating with investigators. Authorities said he was facing charges of arson, aggravated burglary, unlawful taking of a motor vehicle, child abuse and battery. Sheriffs Office spokeswoman Kelly Jameson said Jacquez went to a mobile home in the 100 block of Powell in La Mesa, south of Las Cruces, about 1 p.m. Monday where his sons grandparents live and demanded to take his son, who was inside sleeping. She said the grandfather refused to let 2-year-old Ethan Jacquez go so Jacquez struck the older man repeatedly, knocking him to the ground. Then, Jameson said, Sergio Jacquez forced his way inside the mobile home, doused it with gasoline and set it on fire, completely destroying it. When the smoke forced the woman and the boy outside, Jacquez reportedly shoved the woman to the ground and took his son, she said. Jacquez fled with his son in the grandparents white 2001 Ford F-150. Deputies worked with the New Mexico State Police to issue an Amber Alert, believing Jacquez was headed south to Mexico. Several hours later deputies confirmed that the toddler had been returned to his paternal grandmother in Anthony. Jameson didnt say where Ethan had been found. He is reportedly in good health and unharmed, Jameson said. SANTA FE New Mexicos bleak financial situation could see a ray of light in the coming budget year, as positive investment returns are expected to lead to roughly $60 million in additional funds for public schools, hospitals and other programs from the states two large permanent funds. The increased funds wont help with the projected $69 million budget deficit for the fiscal year that ends in June, but they could help cushion the blow of a prolonged downturn. The state has depleted most of its cash reserves and is on track to have nearly $300 million less next year than was originally approved for spending this year. Anytime we have positive revenue generation, thats good for the state, Sen. Carlos Cisneros, D-Questa, vice chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, said Tuesday. I think this will help to mitigate the negative impact the (budget) shortfall will have. New Mexicos two large funds are now valued at a combined total of nearly $20 billion after posting investment returns of more than 7 percent in 2016, according to preliminary figures from the State Investment Council. The two funds the Land Grant Permanent Fund and the Severance Tax Permanent Fund make annual distributions to the state to help offset spending on education, health care and other programs. Based on unofficial projections, the roughly $15 billion Land Grant Permanent Fund will pay out a record-high $688 million for public schools and other beneficiaries in the coming budget year or more than 11 percent of the total state budget despite having its distribution rate drop to 5 percent last year under the terms of a 2003 constitutional amendment. It had been at 5.5 percent for the previous four years. However, the size of the permanent funds at a time of budgetary belt-tightening lawmakers approved sweeping budget cuts last fall, and more reductions could be on tap could prompt a new round of debate at the Roundhouse about how they should be used. Some Democratic lawmakers have pushed in recent years for a plan to increase funding for home visiting and other early childhood programs by taking more money from the Land Grant Permanent Fund. Already, two separate proposals have been filed in advance of the 60-day legislative session that begins Jan. 17. One calls for an additional 1 percentage-point distribution or 6 percent total earmarked for early childhood programs, while the other would increase the annual distribution rate by 1.5 percentage points. In announcing one of the two proposals last month, Rep. Antonio Moe Maestas, D-Albuquerque, cited the states high poverty rates and low ranking in child well being measures. We cannot grow as an economy until we deal with the social conditions of our children, Maestas said at the time. Both proposals would have to be approved by a majority of elected members in both the House and Senate and by voters statewide, likely in the 2018 general election, to take effect. Opponents of the early childhood proposals say they would sap the funds future value and argue that distributions from the Land Grant Permanent Fund should be kept at a lower level so theres more money in the fund for future years. The bigger the fund, the bigger the income earned and benefits provided long term, State Investment Council spokesman Charles Wollmann told the Journal . Without the two funds, the average New Mexico household would have to chip in an additional $1,100 annually in taxes or current state services would have to be curtailed, according to the SIC, which oversees the investment of the funds. Distributions from both funds are determined by a formula that relies on a five-year rolling average of the funds value. Overall, the expected distribution increase from the Land Grant Permanent Fund in the coming year would be the fourth in five years it went down last year when the distribution rate decreased. Money going into the permanent funds comes primarily from royalties and taxes associated with oil and gas drilling. The building withstood. Though soaking in stinky, soggy ash from a Monday fire that gutted the sanctuary, the structure of the Joy Light Church of God in Christs building survived. No one was injured in what parishioners are hearing was probably an electrical fire in this building that holds a special place in the citys history. The building housed one of the states oldest black congregations, Grant Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church. The pueblo-style building, with a tall ceiling and bold beams, was constructed 64 years ago. It served as the hub of the 1950s black civil rights movement in Albuquerque. A lot of people pass that corner and they dont know what was done there, the history, said parishioner Lorraine Lucero-Smith. That history didnt burn, the memories didnt burn. The church building has held up. Lucero-Smith was on a committee at the Joy Light church working to get the building placed on the citys historic registry. The committee turned in its final application and paperwork last month after nearly three years of research. Its unclear how the fire will affect that effort, but Lucero-Smith and Joy Light Elder Daryl Bell, the pastors son, said at this point the congregation, about 30 core members, is just trying to get a grasp on where they will gather Sunday, and the logistics of insurance and renovation. Thats our church. Were proud of it. It has a lot of history, a lot of heritage, and hopefully we can reconstruct and still help the community which were in, Bell said. The Pentecostal congregation bought the building about 25 years ago and has been struggling to upgrade the aging structure. Church leaders were hoping the historic status could generate some grants to bring heat to all parts of the building and build handicap access ramps, doors and bathrooms. This just comes at a time when we just did not expect it, Bell said. A longtime congregation member and pastor of a sister church died Sunday, Bell said. So the next day for the church to go on fire, it was just a lot, Bell said. But, as believers, we believe all things happen for a reason and something good will come out of this. If the building can be reconstructed then the insurance will pay for the roof and carpet and things like that, and maybe even help us restructure things about bringing it back to code. Bell said the congregation hopes to reconstruct the building and move back in. But the group will need new chairs and musical instruments, including something to replace its vintage original Hammond electric organ. Weve had it for years. We purchased it from a church in Belen that had one when we were looking for one. We use it every service, Bell said. They say the fire started close to that instrument and, in the picture I took inside, I could already tell it was completely ruined. It was made out of wood. In addition to recovery costs, the church also has staff to pay. Church leaders have started a GoFundMe account, Joylight Church Fire Recovery Fund, to help offset the costs associated with the fire. Mayor Richard Berry reached out to the church Tuesday by contacting parishioner Yvette Kaufman-Bell, who is the director of the states Office of African American Affairs. I just wanted to reach out and let them know the community is with you and standing with you, Berry said. And he offered the full cooperation of the citys permitting department as the church rebuilds. The building was erected in 1952 by the states first black congregation, which established itself in New Mexico in the late 1800s and moved around until establishing this location in the South Broadway neighborhood, according to records from the citys Office of Diversity and Human Rights and blackpast.org, an online collection of African-American history. At that time, Lucero-Smith said, the neighbors were predominantly black residents. The church, then called Grant Chapel, became not only a community center, but also the meeting location for the local chapter, and visitors to the NAACP and other civil rights groups. They did a lot for the community. Thats where people wanted to get married. It was important socially and politically, and for worshipping in the black community, Lucero-Smith said. We just picked up on the legacy and we continue. You know, I think we can still build there. What you see now is just smoke and water damage, but there is still hope and were hoping to rebuild it. WASHINGTON Every president taps a legislative affairs director to work with Congress. President-elect Donald Trump appears ready to use a legislative whip like none other: Twitter. On the opening day of Congress, Trump demonstrated the power of his 18.5-million Twitter followers and the clout of his populist credentials. With just a couple of tweets, the president-elect helped achieve what GOP leaders could not the night before, successfully pressuring House Republicans to reverse course on a plan to essentially scuttle an independent congressional ethics board. The move, only hours before Congress was sworn in, likely offered an early preview of how Trump intends to use his tech-savvy bully pulpit to persuade lawmakers who share his party but not all of his policy priorities. If Tuesdays tactic is an example, the days of private back-channel negotiations and behind-the-scenes arm-twisting may be giving way to a new era of lobbying by social media shaming. Virtually everything he does is a different style than Washington is used to, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said of Trumps lobbying style. Hes going to be very public, very aggressive. By Trumps standards, the tweets that piled pressure on lawmakers were relatively mild. After House Republicans voted in a closed-door session on Monday evening a federal holiday to undercut the independent Office of Congressional Ethics, government watchdogs and Democratic lawmakers railed against the move and people began calling their representatives. House Speaker Paul Ryan and Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy had opposed the changes, fearing exactly the kind of backlash that emerged. Then Trump weighed in with two Twitter messages Tuesday morning, writing, With all that Congress has to work on, do they really have to make the weakening of the Independent Ethics Watchdog, as unfair as it may be, their number one act and priority. The incoming president urged fellow Republicans to focus on top agenda items like a tax overhaul, health care and so many other things of far greater importance! His tweet ended with (hashtag)DTS a reference to drain the swamp, a popular catch-phrase during his outsider presidential campaign. About two hours later, House Republicans, facing a deluge from angry constituents, dropped their plans to place the ethics board under their own control. The original rules author, Virginia Rep. Bob Goodlatte, saw his Facebook and Twitter pages bombarded with hundreds of critical messages. After Congress reversed course, Virginia resident Ed Heresniak celebrated on Goodlattes Facebook page, writing: Dead. Trump killed it with a tweet.' Trump wont rely on Twitter alone as his means of communicating with Congress. Vice President-elect Mike Pence, a former Indiana congressman, is expected to be a key conduit to lawmakers and was to meet with House Republicans on Wednesday. Trump has taken steps to fill out a more traditional congressional outreach team. Hes hired Rick Dearborn, a former aide to Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions, as a deputy chief of staff and Marc Short, a top Pence aide, as the White House legislative affairs director. Both previously served in chief of staff positions on the Hill. Theyll have no shortage of work to do. Republicans in Congress differ sharply from Trump on major issues, including trade, Russia policy and entitlements. Trump seems ready to use the lobbying approach that fueled his campaign. As a candidate, he ridiculed his political opponents and detractors on Twitter, often in cutting personal terms, in a manner that his supporters said they found refreshing and direct. Fear of a Trump Twitter tirade could help congressional leadership, which has chafed with its own membership in recent years. That brash approach appeared to tame for now a rowdy group of House Republicans who have flummoxed both former House Speaker John Boehner and Ryan at times. I dont think theres any question that the present-elects tweet this morning absolutely shifted the debate on this to where yesterdays decision was reversed. Theres no two ways about it, because as of last night it was a done deal, said Rep. Chris Collins, R-N.Y., one of Trumps earliest and most vocal supporters in Congress. Collins, who serves as congressional liaison to the Trump transition team, said he didnt receive any heads up about Trumps opinion on the rules change before the president-elect tweeted. House GOP leadership aides said Ryans office was in touch with Trumps transition team about the changes on Monday evening but Trumps views were not clear until he fired off the tweets. It was also done in true Trump fashion, allowing some supporters to read into it what they want to believe. Trump didnt flatly oppose the decision he questioned the timing and the prioritization of it and his tweets did not chastise lawmakers on the merits of their plan. By suggesting the watchdog apparatus under siege from lawmakers might be unfair, Trump spoke to lawmakers who have complained that they have been unfairly targeted by the independent ethics office. Trump had few admirers in Congress when he launched his campaign about 18 months ago but his tactics appear to be working for now. Im not with him on everything, but on drain the swamp, I will work with him on anything he wants to do, said North Carolina Rep. Walter Jones, a Republican. My hope is that his involvement will open a door for us. Im not sure how wide, but a crack is better than no crack. ___ Associated Press writer Jill Colvin contributed to this report. An AP News Analysis. LAS CRUCES Las Cruces City councilors voted 5-2 Tuesday not to pursue law changes that would have raised the cost for public access to government records. Separately, councilors passed a resolution asking state lawmakers to research the possibility of building a state mental health hospital in southern New Mexico. City administrators had proposed going into the meeting that councilors consider backing a statute change to allow the city to charge for time spent by city staff up to $100 per request for fulfilling records requests under the New Mexico Inspection of Public Records Act, one of the states key government transparency laws. City Attorney William Rusty Babington told councilors Tuesday the city has seen a dramatic increase in requests for public records from 158 in the 2013 calendar year to 686 in 2016. About two-thirds of the requests are relatively simple to fill, but about one-third take a lot of staff time. Of those time-consuming requests, many relate to police body camera footage, which must be reviewed for possible legal redactions, such as private medical information, he said. City Manager Stuart Ed argued that other cities absorb the costs of responding to records requests only up to a certain amount. But beyond that, then to be absorbed by the taxpayer becomes quite a financial burden, he said, meaning the citys costs beyond a certain amount should be paid by the requester. I think capping it at $100 is very generous of the city to do that. Frankly, when you look at other municipalities, I think thats very reasonable. However, City Councilor Jack Eakman disagreed, saying he believes the costs of fulfilling records requests should be borne by the city. I think the citizens have the right to look behind the curtain, he said. We should not put any barriers in place. I think we should be open to inspection, welcoming to inspection, as best we can. Ed said the city is taking steps to become more open-records friendly, such as by reviewing New Mexico Foundation for Open Government guidelines and posting more data online so fewer requests are needed. The proposal before city councilors, had it passed, would not have resulted in an automatic fee increase for public records. Rather, city staff were seeking permission to push for a law change in the state Legislature that would have allowed for such an increase. City Councilor Ceil Levatino asked Babington how many of the time-consuming requests stem from organizations, versus individuals. Several times, when IPRA requests cross her desk, she said shes googled the requesters name to find that theyre part of a news outlet. Theyre not just the average citizen requesting the information, she said. Babington estimated that among the time-consuming requests, about 65 percent stem from some type of organization, including businesses or media outlets, while the remainder were from individuals not affiliated with an organization. Mayor Ken Miyagishima opposed the resolution, saying access to public records is the bedrock principle of our democracy. To do anything to harm it would harm our great system we have here, he said. City Councilor Kasandra Gandara expressed concerns about residents being able to pay the fee, if the city raised its rates to get IPRA requests filled. There are a lot of folks I know who cant afford this, she said. Miyagishima said he would support the city boosting infrastructure, such as by providing copy machines, that would allow residents to do more of the processing work themselves. But it has to be available; bottom line, it has to be available, he said. Councilors voted 5-2 in opposition to the proposal with Levatino and Mayor Pro Tem Greg Smith supporting it. Diana Alba Soular may be reached at 575-541-5443, dalba@lcsun-news.com or @AlbaSoular on Twitter. 2017 the Las Cruces Sun-News (Las Cruces, N.M.) Visit the Las Cruces Sun-News (Las Cruces, N.M.) at www.lcsun-news.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. _____ LAS CRUCES The city council continued its quest for a state mental hospital in southern New Mexico on Tuesday, voting 7-0 to request that the state Legislature to consider studying the possibility during their first meeting of 2017. Local officials have long-discussed the proposal as a way of improving the quality and accessibility of mental health care. The proposed facility would be aimed at improving care for adult residents especially the uninsured with mental illness who periodically require involuntary hospitalization for days, weeks or months at a time to be stabilized after a psychiatric collapse, officials have said. Now, such hospitalizations which are ordered in serious instances by a district judge happen at the state-run psychiatric hospital in Las Vegas. Councilor Ceil Levatino referenced the Las Vegas state hospital, noting that its the only state facility now. While there are other private hospital beds for mental health care in southern New Mexico, there arent state beds. I think thats the big line in the sand here, she said. County Health and Human Services Director Jamie Michael, whos involved in mental health improvement projects, told city councilors that a starting place could be to ask for state-funded mental health beds in southern New Mexico, as opposed to building a new facility. Also Tuesday, city councilors: in a 6-1 vote passed a measure asking the Legislature for amendments to the states civil asset forfeiture law. OKd a proposal backing a legislative change to allow city police to work outside the city for certain purposes, such as carrying out an investigation. passed an intergovernmental agreement with Dona Ana County aimed at countering child poverty and improving well-being. Assistant City Manager David Dollahon said the proposal is to invite 125 subject experts to a summit, tentatively set for Feb. 28 and March 1, to examine the problem and develop funding priorities for the next three to five years. issued proclamations recognizing both National Mentoring Month and Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The meeting took place at Las Cruces City Hall, 700 N. Main St., Las Cruces. Diana Alba Soular may be reached at 575-541-5443, dalba@lcsun-news.com or @AlbaSoular on Twitter. 2017 the Las Cruces Sun-News (Las Cruces, N.M.) Visit the Las Cruces Sun-News (Las Cruces, N.M.) at www.lcsun-news.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. _____ WASHINGTON The Latest on Congress (all times EST): 5:30 p.m. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer says Democrats have identified eight of President-elect Donald Trumps most troublesome Cabinet picks and are hoping for fair hearings on those nominees. Those potential nominees are Rex Tillerson for secretary of state, Tom Price for secretary of Health and Human Services, Steven Mnuchin for Treasury secretary, Scott Pruitt for administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, Mick Mulvaney for director of the Office of Management and Budget, Jeff Sessions for attorney general, Betsy DeVos for education secretary and Andrew Puzder for labor secretary. Missing from the list are Trump choices who are expected to have an easy time winning Senate confirmation, such as James Mattis for defense secretary and John Kelly for Homeland Security. Schumer says a fair hearing means at least two days, and says all of the paperwork on the nominees background, tax returns and other disclosures must be in. ___ 5 p.m. House Republicans have passed legislation that would allow Congress to overturn, with a single vote, executive branch regulations finalized near the end of an outgoing presidents term. The bill was approved Wednesday by a 238-184 vote. It is part of the GOPs efforts to block or undo scores of regulations and executive orders issued by President Barack Obama. Republicans say the bill would stem what they call a growing trend by presidents of both parties to impose costly midnight rules during their last few months in office. The bills chief sponsor, Rep. Darrell Issa of California, says it would strengthen executive-branch oversight and ensure that unaccountable, last-minute regulations dont continue crippling our economy, crushing small businesses and raising costs on middle-class families. The bill now goes to the Senate. ___ 4:40 p.m. The Obama administration says at least 8.8 million people signed up through Dec. 31 for 2017 coverage under the presidents health care law. Thats about 200,000 more than at the same point in the last open enrollment season. Wednesdays numbers are partial, for 39 states using the federal HealthCare.gov website. Others including major states like California and New York were not included because they run their own insurance markets. Independent expert Caroline Pearson says it will be a stretch for the administration to meet its nationwide target of 13.8 million sign-ups. Pearson is with the Avalere Health consultancy. The administration says demand is strong and growing, heading toward the end of open enrollment Jan. 31. The report comes as the Republican-led Congress is moving to repeal the health care law. ___ 4:35 p.m. A Republican-run House panel created to investigate Planned Parenthood and fetal tissue research wants to halt federal payments to the organization. The recommendation was included in the special committees final report and was no surprise. Many Republicans hope that with Donald Trump becoming president, Congress will cut off money to the womens health organization. Most GOP lawmakers have long opposed the organization because many of its clinics provide abortions. Their antagonism intensified after anti-abortion activists released secretly recorded videos in 2015 showing Planned Parenthood officials discussing how they sometimes provide fetal tissue to researchers. Democrats say Planned Parenthood payments should continue and say House GOP investigators have unearthed no evidence of wrongdoing. Planned Parenthood has denied breaking laws and says the videos were doctored. ___ 4 p.m. Republican Sen. Rand Paul is blasting his party for a budget blueprint that would increase the national debt by almost $10 trillion over the coming decade. The Kentucky lawmaker gave a speech on the Senate floor Wednesday in which explained why he opposed taking the first step toward repealing President Barack Obamas health care law. He says the vote would have been an endorsement of an unbalanced budget. Paul, who hails from the GOPs small-government, libertarian wing, is lambasting his party for ignoring the nations debt problems in the very first piece of legislation brought up in the era of Donald Trump. Paul asks, Is that really what the Republican Party represents? The Senate is debating the budget measure, a precursor to a bill to repealing the health care law. ___ 1:49 p.m. Add another confirmation hearing to the growing list of Senate hearings next Wednesday. The Senate Intelligence committee will hold its hearing on President-elect Donald Trumps pick for CIA Director, Rep. Mike Pompeo. The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions will holds its hearing on Betsy DeVos, Trumps choice for education secretary, the same day. Separately, Senate panels plan confirmation hearings that same day for Sen. Jeff Sessions, the choice for attorney general, and Rex Tillerson, the pick for secretary of State. Even though Trump wont be sworn in until Jan. 20, Senate Republicans are intent on moving swiftly to get his Cabinet and other agency leaders in place. ___ 1:35 p.m. The top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee says Rex Tillerson told him he supports the Paris climate agreement to reduce carbon emissions. Ben Cardin of Maryland spoke with reporters Wednesday outside his Senate office after a one-hour meeting with Tillerson, the Exxon Mobil CEO whom President-elect Donald Trump has tapped for secretary of state. Cardin says Tillersons backing of the international pact to combat climate change was encouraging to hear. He says Tillerson stressed his background in science and told Cardin that he is a believer in science. During the presidential campaign, Trump said he would pull the U.S. out of the Paris accord. But since being elected, hes shifted that stance and now says he is studying the agreement. Tillersons Senate confirmation hearing is tentatively scheduled for next week. __ 1:20 p.m. The Senate has taken its first vote on the way to repealing so-called Obamacare. The 51-48 procedural tally broke mostly along party lines and officially begins debate on a special budget measure that is a precursor to a follow-up bill to repeal Obamas health care law. Kentucky Republican Rand Paul opposed the measure since it endorses large budget deficits. Once Wednesdays legislation passes both House and Senate, Republicans controlling Congress could pass the follow-up measure without the threat of a filibuster by Senate Democrats. The vote came after both Vice President-elect Mike Pence and President Barack Obama trekked to Capitol Hill to rally their respective sides for the looming fight. The preliminary measure is on track to pass both House and Senate next week, but details on the binding repeal bill are still being worked out. __ 1:10 p.m. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer is sending a warning to President-elect Donald Trump: Democrats will oppose a Supreme Court pick with everything we have if a nominee isnt what they consider mainstream. Schumer in an interview explains his concern. He says with the hard right running the show, the likelihood of the nominee being mainstream is decreasing every day. The New Yorker made the comments one day after saying on MSNBCs The Rachel Maddow Show that Democrats will absolutely do their best to keep the vacant Supreme Court open if Trump doesnt nominate someone Democrats support. The seat has already been open for 11 months since the death of Justice Antonin Scalia. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell blocked consideration of President Obamas nominee, Judge Merrick Garland. ___ 12:30 p.m. House Republicans say they will begin introducing legislation on Jan. 30 to repeal a series of Obama administration regulations, with the early focus on environmental rules. Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy says GOP leaders havent yet picked which agency regulation Congress will seek to overturn first. He said he expects swift action on invalidating a rule designed to reduce methane emissions and another designed to reduce the environmental impact of coal mining on the nations streams. McCarthy says the two rules limit our energy production. Republicans will also seek to repeal regulations implementing an education reform bill that some state officials have complained erodes local decision-making. Before the House goes after specific agency rules, McCarthy says it will tackle the regulatory process itself to give Congress more control. ___ 11:13 a.m. Look out for the American people. Those were President Barack Obamas parting words after a lengthy closed-door meeting with House and Senate Democrats about preserving his health care law. Republicans are pushing ahead on repealing the law while they work on a replacement. Virginia Rep. Gerry Connolly says Obamas message was to make sure that every American who loses his or her health care knows that the Republican repeal vote did that. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer warns that repeal would throw the insurance marketplace into chaos. ___ 10:30 a.m. Democrats say President Barack Obama is making the case for keeping his health care law. Obama made a rare trip to the Capitol on Wednesday to meet with House and Senate Democrats. New York Rep. Louise Slaughter says Obama focused on how well the law is working, and on how many letters hes gotten in support of it. She calls it a very nostalgic speech. Maryland Sen. Ben Cardin says Obamas message is that the individual parts of the law are popular, and that repealing it would affect all Americans. We need to personalize this, Cardin says echoing the president. Republicans promise to move quickly to repeal the law, but theyve failed to coalesce around a replacement. ___ 10 a.m. Once hes sworn in, President-elect Donald Trump will move swiftly to undo Democratic President Barack Obamas policies. Thats the message from Vice President-elect Mike Pence to House Republicans at a Capitol Hill strategy session Wednesday. On Jan. 20, Trump will use his power through executive orders to target the health care law and other policies. New York Rep. Chris Collins and Missouri Rep. Ann Wagner specifically mentioned health care, though its unclear what changes could be made through executive order on the nearly 7-year-old law. Texas Rep. Blake Farenthold says Pence told the GOP: What can be done with a pen and a phone can be undone with a pen and a phone. ___ 9:40 a.m. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee is holding a closed-door briefing Thursday for members to learn more about the Obama administrations response to suspected Russian interference in the 2016 election and harassment of U.S. diplomats. Also, U.S. intelligence officials, including national intelligence director James Clapper, are set to testify Thursday in an open session by the Senate Armed Services Committee. President Barack Obama struck back at Moscow last week with a set of punishments targeting Russias leading spy agencies that the U.S. has accused of meddling in the presidential campaign. The U.S. also kicked out 35 Russian diplomats in response to what the White House says has been Russias harassment of American envoys. ___ 9:30 a.m. President Barack Obama is at the Capitol to give congressional Democrats advice on how to combat the Republican drive to dismantle his health care overhaul. Vice President-elect Mike Pence is meeting with GOP lawmakers to discuss the best way to send Obamas cherished law to its graveyard and replace it with well, something. The separate strategy sessions come on the second day of the new GOP-led Congress. In 16 days, Republican Donald Trump replaces Obama at the White House, putting the partys longtime goal of annulling much of the 2010 health care overhaul within reach. WASHINGTON The Latest on President-elect Donald Trump (all times EST): 6:35 p.m. The Trump Organization is canceling talks over possible projects in Brazil, Argentina and India as the president-elect pulls back from deal-making less than three weeks before taking office. Trump lawyer Alan Garten says the company has cancelled a memorandum of understanding to continue discussions with local partners over a possible office tower in Rio de Janeiro. He also said the company wont continue exploratory talks over projects in Pune, India, and in Argentina. The moves follow the cancellations late last year of licensing deals for hotels in Brazil, Azerbaijan and the neighboring country of Georgia. Trump has pledged to do no new deals while president and to leave management of his company to his two adult sons. He has promised to offer details at a news conference next week. ___ 6 p.m. Congress has distributed free tickets for Donald Trumps Jan. 20 inauguration, but some people are trying to turn them into cash. Websites including Craigslist and GreatSeats.com have tickets to the swearing-in on sale for $490 or more. Thats not OK with the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies, which gave inaugural tickets to congressional offices for free distribution to the public. Laura Condeluci, communication director for the joint committee, said Wednesday the panel is working with sites like eBay and StubHub to prevent such sales, as it has done in the past. Condeluci says, Tickets to view the swearing-in of our next president are meant to be free, and it should remain that way. There didnt appear to be any tickets to the swearing-in available on eBay or StubHub. ___ 4:20 p.m. Donald Trump has hired a political adviser whom New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie cut ties with two years ago in the fallout from the George Washington Bridge lane-closing scandal. Trump on Wednesday named Bill Stepien as deputy assistant to the president and political director. Stepien wasnt charged in the so-called Bridgegate case. But the governments star witness testified that the close Christie adviser knew about the plan to punish a Democratic mayor who didnt endorse Christie. Stepiens attorney has said his client had no role in the scheme. David Wildstein also testified Stepien knew about plans to use the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey for political favors to gain endorsements from Democrats. Two former Christie allies were convicted in November and are to be sentenced next month. ___ 3:40 p.m. A Mexican presidential candidate has staged a one-man protest at Trump Tower. Gerardo Fernandez Norona on Wednesday sat down in the lobby of the Manhattan skyscraper and briefly refused to leave. He held a map of the United States labeled Mexico in 1830 and showed it to the reporters and photographers gathered in the lobby. Norona was then escorted from the building. He later tweeted that he was satisfied with the nonviolent protest. Norona, a politician and sociologist, has staged similar demonstrations in his native Mexico. A spokeswoman for Trump, who lives in the skyscrapers penthouse, did not respond to a request for comment. Many Mexicans are nervous about relations with Trump, who began his campaign by suggesting that many of them who entered the U.S. illegally were rapists. ___ 3:30 p.m. Donald Trumps choice for ambassador to China is demurring about whether the president-elect may be making his potential future assignment more difficult. Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad says, It would be inappropriate for me to comment. Branstad has known Chinese President Xi Jinping since early in their political careers. He says he hopes the relationship will help me to be able to communicate to the Chinese the changes that are taking place in American foreign policy. Since the Nov. 8 election, Trump has irritated Chinese officials by talking with the president of Taiwan, violating the U.S. one-China policy. Earlier this week, Trump complained that China wont help the U.S. effort to prevent North Korea from developing an intercontinental ballistic missile. The Chinese government has urged Trump to tone down such remarks. ___ 2:30 p.m. Its a big hiring day for the incoming Trump White House. President-elect Donald Trump has picked Katie Walsh as deputy to chief of staff Reince Priebus (ryns PREE-bus). Walsh worked for Priebus at the Republican National Committee and helped with party fundraising. Rick Dearborn, who used to work on Capitol Hill, is taking over a top job dealing with Congress. Joe Hagin whos worked in three GOP White Houses is coming on board as deputy chief of staff for operations. The White House political director is Bill Stepien, a former political adviser to New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. Stepien was fired by Christie in the wake of the Bridgegate scandal. Omarosa Manigault, a former contestant on The Apprentice, will focus on public engagement in the White House. And Keith Schiller, Trumps longtime personal security guard, will be director of Oval Office operations. ___ 1:50 p.m. White House press secretary Josh Earnest says he found common ground with President-elect Donald Trumps pick for press secretary during a meeting at the White House. Earnest says he and Trump aide Sean Spicer had a long conversation on Tuesday, joined by Obama communications director Jen Psaki. Earnest says hes considered it a genuine honor to serve in the role and that Spicer sees it the same way. He says the meeting focused on the complicated logistics of working in the White House and the approach that he and Psaki took. Earnest isnt commenting on Spicers suggestions he may make changes to the tradition of a daily, televised White House press briefing. __ 1 p.m. The United Nations says the new U.N. secretary-general had a very positive discussion with Donald Trump on U.S.-U.N. relations. U.N. deputy spokesman Farhan Haq says Antonio Guterres called the president-elect on Wednesday and their introductory conversation went well. Trump criticized the U.N. last month after the United States allowed the Security Council to condemn Israeli settlements in the West Bank. He tweeted: As to the U.N., things will be different after Jan. 20th inauguration day. A later tweet said the U.N. has such great potential but right now it is just a club for people to get together, talk and have a good time. So sad! Haq told reporters Guterres and Trump discussed a number of avenues for participation and cooperation between the United States and the United Nations ___ 11:15 a.m. The CIA and FBI directors along with the director of national intelligence will brief President-elect Donald Trump on the investigation into Russias alleged hacking efforts during the 2016 election. Transition officials say CIA Director John Brennan, FBI Director James Comey (KOH-mee) and national intelligence chief James Clapper will meet with Trump in New York on Friday. Trump has cast doubt on the case being made by U.S. intelligence agencies that Russia was behind the hacking of the Democratic National Committee. Trump has blamed the DNC itself and sided with WikiLeaks founds Julian Assange (ah-SAHNJ), who claims Russian wasnt involved. This will be Trumps first meeting with Comey since Comeys October announcement that the FBI was reviewing additional emails connected to Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. Many Democrats blame the letter for turning the election to Trump. ___ 10:55 a.m. President-elect Donald Trump wants Wall Street lawyer Jay Clayton to be chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission. Trump says in a statement that Clayton is a highly talented expert on many aspects of financial and regulatory law. Trump says his nominee will work to ensure that financial institutions can thrive and create jobs while playing by the rules at the same time. The Senate must OK the nomination of Clayton, a partner at Sullivan & Cromwell LLP. Clayton is the latest Trump pick with deep ties to Wall Street having represented Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Barclays Capital Inc. Trump says he wants to undo many regulations that he says have stifled investment in Americans businesses. Clayton says hell carefully monitor the financial sector and set policies that encourages companies to create jobs. ___ 9:30 a.m. Donald Trump is warning Republicans against letting Democrats escape blame for problems with President Barack Obamas health care law. The president-elect is making his views known in a series of new tweets and hes taking aim at the Senates Democratic leader, New Yorks Chuck Schumer a top defender of the health overhaul. Trump has this advice for fellow Republicans: Dont let the Schumer clowns out of this web. And Trump says massive increases in health costs will occur this year and Dems are to blame for the mess. Trump also says the law will fall of its own weight be careful. Trumps tweeting comes as the new GOP-led Congress begins initial steps toward dismantling Obamas law. Obama is holding a Capitol Hill strategy session with congressional Democrats about how to combat the Republican effort. Vice President-elect Mike Pence is meeting separately with GOP lawmakers ___ 7:24 a.m. President-elect Donald Trump is suggesting the Democratic National Committees carelessness led to the hack that roiled the 2016 presidential campaign. Why was the DNC so careless? Trump tweeted early Wednesday. He was referring to the hacking last year of the committees private email traffic, including emails of John Podesta, a top adviser to Hillary Clinton. Trump said WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange said a 14-year-old could have hacked PodestaAlso said Russians did not give him the info! Assange has said his source for the emails WikiLeaks released was not a state, but that left open the prospect that he acquired it from a third party. The U.S. intelligence community, along with numerous Republicans and Democrats, allege that Russia did the hacking. ___ 3:45 a.m. President-elect Donald Trump is raising new questions about the nations intelligence community, tweeting fresh criticism at the same people who will help inform his most sensitive decisions once he takes office. Trump charged Tuesday on Twitter, without evidence, that the timing of an upcoming intelligence briefing on suspected Russian interference in the 2016 election had been delayed. Perhaps more time needed to build a case. Very strange! he wrote, using quote marks around the word intelligence. Trumps tweet, in line with repeated criticism of his nations intelligence leaders, caused confusion among intelligence officials, who said there was no delay in the briefing schedule. JERUSALEM An Israeli soldier was convicted of manslaughter Wednesday for fatally shooting an unarmed Palestinian assailant as he lay wounded ending a trial that sharply divided Israel and could bring more showdowns as backers push for a hero-style pardon. The 10-month trial of Sgt. Elor Azaria a rare prosecution of a soldier for acts during unrest cut deeply into Israels views over security, the role of the military and frustrations over the ceaseless conflict with Palestinians. To some, the 20-year-old Azaria was a brave soldier facing danger in the West Bank town of Hebron last March. To others, he represented a worrisome disregard for military codes and human rights during a time of increased violence and hardening views among both Israelis and Palestinians with peace efforts effectively shelved. During his personal testimony, Azaria told the court last July that he felt the supine assailant still posed a threat. In the end, Judge Maya Heller called the shooting of Palestinian Abdul Fattah al-Sharif needless. We found there was no room to accept his arguments, said Heller, reading the decision by the three-judge panel in Tel Aviv. His motive for shooting was that he felt the terrorist deserved to die. Outside the court building, scuffles broke out as several hundred right-wing protesters who gathered to show their support for the Army medic tried to gain entrance to the court and turned their anger on journalists. A manslaughter charge can carry a jail term of up to 20 years, although legal commentators have suggested a sentence of four to five years is more likely. Azarias legal team said they would appeal, and some top Israeli leaders said they would find a way for a pardon from the president, who has the sole power to make such an order. Israels president, Reuven Rivlin, left open that chance. In a statement, he said a pardon would only be considered if it is requested in accordance with standard practices and after recommendations from the relevant authorities. Azaria was videotaped on March 24 shooting the wounded and unarmed Sharif a short time after the Palestinian and a friend had attacked Israeli troops with knives, wounding one soldier. Both attackers were shot. One, Ramzi al-Qasrawi, died instantly. But the video shows Sharif moving slightly, twitching his head and hand. It also captures Azaria pulling his rifle off his shoulder, aiming and firing at Sharif as a dozen soldiers, officers, medics, ambulance drivers and Jewish settlers mill about. The incident took place in one of the most tense settings in the occupied West Bank a military checkpoint that protects 850 of Israels most ideological Jewish settlers, who live in the heart of old Hebron surrounded by 200,000 Palestinians. The shooting came during a wave of stabbing, shooting and vehicular attacks by Palestinians against Israeli civilians and troops. It would likely have slipped away quietly except for the video, filmed by a Palestinian volunteer from the Israeli human rights organization Btselem and distributed to the media. David Enoch, a professor in the faculty of law and philosophy at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, said the trial and the public debate surrounding it marked a horrible deterioration in Israeli society. Its not as if racism or violence against Palestinians is new, but at least in the past there were attempts to be civilized. There was at least some sanity, Enoch said. Now, many of those asking for Azaria to be pardoned have not mistook the facts of the case. They just see an Israeli Jewish soldier shooting a Palestinian terrorist, and they dont care about anything else. Even before the final verdict was read, some Israeli leaders, including senior government ministers, called for the soldier to be pardoned. He should not sit one day in jail. We expect the defense minister to stick to his promises and initiate an immediate amnesty for Azaria, read a statement from the ultra-right Jewish Home party, headed by Education Minister Naftali Bennett. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wrote on Facebook that he also supported a pardon for Azaria, calling the nations soldiers our sons and daughters. At the start of the trial, before being appointed defense minister in May, Avigdor Lieberman came to the military court to show support for the soldier. He called the legal proceedings a theater of the absurd and wrote on Facebook that he hoped Azaria would be acquitted. It will be clear to everybody that it is the right of every Jew, and especially of a soldier, to protect himself from a terrorist who has come to kill him, Lieberman wrote. After the verdict, Lieberman told reporters: This is a difficult judgment. But I ask of everyone, even those who do not like the judgment to respect the legal decision and maintain restraint. But Azarias parents, Charlie and Oshra, and other members of his family left the hearing visibly upset and highly critical of the proceedings, accusing the army of abandoning their son. Those inside the courtroom said Azarias mother cried and screamed at the judges: You should be ashamed of yourselves. Sharon Gal, the familys media adviser, said the judges preferred Btselems version of events over the version of an [Israeli Defense Forces] fighter. I felt that the court picked up the knife from the ground and stabbed it in the back of all the soldiers, said Gal, a former parliament member. Military prosecutor Nadav Weissman said the verdict was important, clear, decisive and speaks for itself. This is not a happy day for us. We would have preferred that this didnt happen. But the deed was done, and the offense was severe, he said. Azarias trial has been one of the most debated in Israeli history. It has raised harsh questions and doubts about the place of the army and its role vis-a-vis its young recruits. Military service is mandatory for most Israelis at age 18, and after nearly 50 years of Israeli military occupation, society dictates almost blanket support for its troops even in tough ethical situations. Throughout the trial, Azarias family and their supporters have repeatedly pointed out that Israeli parents send their most precious possession to the army in good faith. The trials outcome could now determine how much faith other parents place in the military. I dont think the trial will have a long-range effect on Israeli society or the army. It is a rare event. Commanders and soldiers know what the rules of engagement are. They know what the values of the army are, said Asa Kasher, co-author of the Israeli armys code of ethics. He said there had been similar cases to this one in both the American and British armies. I think the legal and ethical norms of the Israeli army are on par with those of all other Western democracies, in particular the U.S. and U.K., he said. TEL AVIV, Israel The rare manslaughter conviction Wednesday of an Israeli soldier who fatally shot a badly wounded Palestinian attacker exposed a deepening rift between proponents of the rule of law and a burgeoning nationalist movement. The military court verdict against Sgt. Elor Azaria marked a victory for commanders seeking to preserve a code of ethics, but it also brought calls for a pardon from prominent hard-line politicians, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who expressed sympathy for the soldier or depicted him as the victim of a detached elite. In a statement on Facebook, Netanyahu urged the public to act responsibly toward the military, Israels most respected institution. We have one army that is the basis for our existence. IDF soldiers are our sons and daughters, and they must remain above all disputes, he said. But making no direct mention of the military court, he said: I support granting a pardon to Elor Azaria. With the statement, Netanyahu plunged into a visceral dispute that has deeply divided Israel, where military service is compulsory and support for young soldiers is widespread. Since the March shooting, the military leadership has come under unprecedented criticism, as members of Netanyahus coalition accused top generals of abandoning a serviceman on the battlefield. The uproar helped fuel the resignation of Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon, who staunchly defended the army from the assault from within. It is rare for a military court to rule against a soldier over lethal action taken in the field, not only in Israel but also elsewhere in the world. But for a country that claims to have the most moral army in the world, it had no choice but to come down hard on a soldier that the top brass was convinced had strayed, said Amichai Cohen, a senior fellow at the nonpartisan Israeli Democracy Institute think tank. If you want the justice system to be taken seriously, you have to punish something like this, he said. The court cant be influenced by the changing political climate. Azaria, an army medic, was caught on video by a human rights worker fatally shooting Abdel Fattah al-Sharif, a wounded Palestinian attacker who had stabbed a soldier in the West Bank city of Hebron. Al-Sharif was on the ground, unarmed and virtually motionless, when Azaria fired a single bullet in his head as other soldiers milled about. The head of the three-judge panel, Col. Maya Heller, broke down Azarias defense arguments in painstaking detail in delivering the verdict over nearly three hours. She said there was no evidence to support his conflicting claims that the attacker was either already dead or had posed a threat. She called Azarias testimony unreliable, said he could not have both sides of the stick, and concluded the shooting was needless. We found there was no room to accept his arguments, she said. His motive for shooting was that he felt the terrorist deserved to die. That made little difference to Azarias many supporters. Outside military headquarters in Tel Aviv, hundreds of his backers held large Israeli flags, banners supporting Donald Trump and others that said the nation neglected a soldier on the battlefield. They periodically scuffled with police, and some chanted veiled death threats against the Israeli military chief, Lt. Gen. Gadi Eizenkot. The Ynet news site said the judges and prosecutor would receive bodyguards. The army declined to comment. Netanyahus evening announcement came hours after other members of his coalition called for Azaria to be pardoned immediately. Today, a soldier who killed a terrorist who deserved to die and who had tried to slaughter a soldier was put in handcuffs and convicted like a criminal, said Education Minister Naftali Bennett, head of the pro-settler Jewish Home Party. The coalition has had disputes with the legal system, trying to delay an order to uproot an illegally built West Banks settlement outpost and seeking to retroactively legalize dozens of other illegal outposts. Azaria is scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 15 and could face up to 20 years in prison, though he is expected to receive less than that. Netanyahus call for a pardon fueled what will be a heated debate over whether Azaria deserves leniency. Under the law, only Israels largely ceremonial president can issue a pardon. President Reuven Rivlins office said he would decide only after the legal process, including an expected appeal, runs its course. The heightened tensions were on display in the cramped, stuffy courtroom. The 20-year-old Azaria entered smiling and appeared confident as he was embraced by a few dozen relatives and friends. But his mood quickly dampened as the judge began tearing apart his defense. As the verdict was delivered, he stared gloomily ahead as his supporters clapped sarcastically with some shouting, Our hero! A female relative was kicked out for screaming at the judges, while another woman stormed out, shouting: Disgusting leftists. After the judges walked out, Azarias mother, Oshra, screamed, You should be ashamed of yourselves. Azaria tried to comfort her as she wailed. Another family member whipped his jacket at a reporter, missing his target and hitting another relative. The shooting of al-Sharif occurred at the height of what has become a more than yearlong wave of Israeli-Palestinian violence and highlighted the difficulties facing young recruits operating in densely populated areas amid Jewish West Bank settlers, Palestinian civilians and potential attackers. Azarias supporters said he fired in self-defense. But his detractors, including senior military commanders, have said his actions were unbecoming of a soldier. The uproar put the army in a delicate position. The military almost always defends the actions of its troops, but the strong video made the incident impossible to ignore. The army also is wary of becoming politicized, and in several cases, leading generals have feuded with hard-line political leaders. One of Azarias most vocal supporters, Cabinet minister Miri Regev, herself a former military spokeswoman, said the verdict could deter young Israelis from serving in combat units for fear of being abandoned. Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman, who had visited Azaria in court in solidarity, tried to temper tensions by saying that while he disagreed with the difficult verdict, it must be respected. We must keep the army outside every political argument and keep it in the widest consensus in Israeli society, he said. Israeli rights groups have accused the army of failing to prosecute soldiers who commit unnecessary violence against Palestinians. It was just the second such conviction in recent years, the army said. The first involved a soldier convicted in the death of a pro-Palestinian British activist in 2004. I felt that the court picked up the knife from the ground and stabbed it in the back of all the soldiers, said former legislator Sharon Gal, who is now the Azaria family spokesman. Palestinians and rights groups praised the verdict, but called it an anomaly, given the many other questionable shootings that have gone untried. Yusuf Mahmoud, spokesman for the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, said the conviction proved the sincerity of the Palestinian narrative and the lies of the Israeli narrative. ___ Follow Aron Heller on Twitter at www.twitter.com/aronhellerap It took grit and gumption for Donald Trump to call out House Republicans yesterday. Maybe he did not fully comprehend the risks of criticizing the very lawmakers who he needs most to advance his agenda, but two tweets from the president-elect were pivotal to saving the Office of Congressional Ethics from being declawed and neutered. The bottom line is that there will be more rigorous oversight of lawmakers than there would have been otherwise, because he chose to speak up when he could have stayed silent. Yet so many on the left are so determined to deny Trump any victory, or even legitimacy, that they wont give him any credit for challenging his own party even when they agree with his aim and wanted the outcome. In that way, yesterday offered a window into how difficult it will be for Trump to govern in the year ahead: to get eight Democrats for major initiatives in the Senate, especially, but also to pick off House Democrats for an infrastructure package that may repel deficit hawks on the right. As Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., told CNN in an interview that aired last night, The only way were going to work with him is if he moves completely in our direction and abandons his Republican colleagues. Think about how Schumer would have responded if Mitch McConnell made that statement about a President-elect Hillary Clinton. . . Trump tweeted, With all that Congress has to work on, do they really have to make the weakening of the Independent Ethics Watchdog, as unfair as it ..may be, their number one act and priority. Focus on tax reform, healthcare and so many other things of far greater importance! #DTS Yes, Trump technically criticized the timing of the House GOPs move not the substance of it. Yes, his wording was mealy-mouthed. Yes, many ethical questions swirl around him too. Yes, thousands of people were already calling House offices to complain to their lawmakers before Trump tweeted. All these points are relevant, but they dont mean that the intervention was irrelevant. A few Republicans claimed that Trump had nothing to do with the decision to scuttle the change. Liberal writers cited them as evidence. But of course they would say this. Who wants to publicly acknowledge that they just kowtowed to Trump? There really is something to the idea of Trump Derangement Syndrome. He operates so far outside the norms of how business has always been done in Washington, and his manner seems so gauche, that he provokes a visceral, occasionally irrational, reaction in serious, normally sober-minded people. Recall Ruth Bader Ginsburgs attacks on Trump last summer, which the justice subsequently apologized for. Or that Hunter College professor who got escorted off a JetBlue flight last month after screaming your father is ruining the country at Ivanka as she traveled with her three kids for the holidays. Normally smart analysts are so personally uncomfortable with Trump that they are unable to see how savvy and astute some of his moves have been from a political perspective. Even two months after the election, neutral stories about the president-elect can still provoke hundreds of liberal activists to email that we are normalizing Trump. Most Americans, who have day jobs and are not watching their Twitter timelines all day, have a very impressionistic view of politics. Thats why the Carrier deal, while problematic for a myriad of reasons, was such a political coup for Trump. Same with the attacks on Boeing and all the jobs announcements. Regardless of whether he deserves credit in many cases he does not he looks like a man of action. Calling out his own party on ethics is very on-brand for Trump. Millions of people gravitated to him because they wanted an outsider. They bought into an early riff in his stump speech that because he used to buy off politicians with campaign contributions, he knows how to go after the corrupt ones. Many believe that he will close the loopholes which he has taken advantage of over the years. Helping to preserve the OCE is a talking point Trump can use through November 2020. Jesse Ferguson, one of the lead spokesmen for Hillary Clintons presidential campaign, warns his party against obstructing Trump for obstructions sake. Simply opposing Trump because Republicans opposed Obama isnt a winning political strategy for Democrats, he explains in a USA Today op-ed. If one thing is crystal clear from the last 36 years since Reagans election in 1980 its that the more voters hate government, the more Republicans benefit. Thats their strategy. We cant play into it. To quote Admiral Ackbar, Its a trap. If our only plan is to make government nonfunctional like Republicans did to us, then we will end up invalidating the basic progressive thesis: that government action can improve peoples lives. We cant win the public debate in elections about a progressive agenda if we end up proving the central hypothesis of the conservative agenda that government cant get things done to be true instead. More Washington Post team coverage of the Day One donnybrook: Ten Post reporters fed a TICKTOCK about the chaos in the Capitol: As Trump tweeted, Republican House leaders were meeting in Paul Ryans office contemplating just how the day had gotten away from them and what they might do to salvage it. Ryan would soon be sworn in for another term as speaker, and his wife and children, dressed up for the occasion, lingered outside. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) told the leaders that the rules legislation with the ethics amendment would have trouble getting the 218 votes needed to pass and they decided it must be scrapped. The leaders called an emergency meeting of Republican House members in the Capitol basement. McCarthy pointedly asked the members whether they had campaigned last fall on decimating the ethics office or on repealing President Obamas health-care law and changing the tax code. The windowless room fell silent, according to several lawmakers in attendance. McCarthy gave them an ultimatum: Reverse course now, among fellow Republicans, or take a public floor vote. He asked for unanimous consent to remove the rules change and shortly after noon, he got it. Noting that nearly two-thirds of House Republicans have never served with a GOP president, Dana Milbank compares leading the conference to having 239 children. And if this fractious bunch cant agree without a brouhaha on the routine matter of a rules package, wait until they get to tough stuff, such as replacing Obamacare and funding the government, Dana opines. The Trump effect has landed forcefully on Capitol Hill, Paul Kane writes in a smart analysis. By aiming his social-media fire hose on fellow Republicans even as he assembles a Cabinet filled with billionaires and insiders Trump made clear that he intends to continue giving voice to the anti-establishment outsiders who propelled him . . . That may give Trump leverage over those members of the Republican conference who have claimed the outsider mantle for the past six years, a period when the most conservative Republicans have gained stature back home by flouting leadership . . . They operated on the assumption that the only likely political penalty was a primary challenge from the right. Now, their partys leader wields a Twitter account with 18.5 million followers. As he prepares to enter the Oval Office in little more than two weeks, Trump is far more popular in their districts than they are. He employs as his chief strategist the former leader of Breitbart News, a conservative media outlet that has included among its top targets the skewering of Republicans not deemed suitably conservative. . . As a result, the first day of the 115th Congress served as a sort of beta test of how some Republicans will react when Trump sics his media power on them. If the most conservative flank tries to buck Trump on a pricey infrastructure deal, how will they handle the heat from Trumps Twitter feed? If moderate Republicans try to block his moves on health care, will they withstand the heat if Trump goes to Breitbart to attack them by name? On Tuesday the answer came fast: Run for cover. David Weigel relays that many Democrats are frustrated that they did not get more credit for organizing and mobilizing opposition to the rule changes. Among them: Rep. Keith Ellison, a candidate for DNC chair. Ellison tweeted, Democrats and activists organized against @HouseGOP closing the ethics office. They stopped it not a tweet from @realDonaldTrump. Jena McGregor, an expert on leadership, says Republicans like Rep. Bob Goodlatte blundered by ignoring the power of first impressions: If you want to send a message, the first one is the most crucial. . . . To put weakening that capability at the top of any agenda sends a strong signal about whats important. This is why new CEOs give so much attention to what their first moves will be at the top. Why new leaders talk about spending their first few weeks in power listening to their employees or their constituents. . . . It sets a tone for the tenure or the term that gives people a sense of whats on the horizon. It draws the battle lines for the coming months and years, puts a stake in the ground for what the priorities are, and provides a point of reference that people will repeatedly turn back to for measuring progress and achievements. It tells people what leaders think is most important. Robert L. Walker, a former chief counsel and staff director of the Senate and House ethics committees, writes in an op-ed published by The Washington Post that the OCE needs changes but not the ones Republicans proposed. Two other smart takes: What weve learned from GOPs ethics fiasco, by Politicos Jake Sherman and John Bresnahan: A new day in Washington? Not even close. Five political dynamics have become abundantly evident: The GOP is still willing to defy its leadership. . .but leadership is willing to strike back. . . . Republicans arent immune to overreach. . . . Trump isnt interested in Hill shenanigans and could make members of Congress pay. . . . Shortsightedness could be an issue. The New York Times reviews previous efforts by lawmakers to avoid being held accountable by an independent watchdog. From Eric Lipton and Matt Flegenheimer on A1: In 2011, Representative Melvin Watt, a North Carolina Democrat who later left Congress to join the Obama administration, tried to cut the agencys budget by 40 percent, a proposal that failed on a 302-102 vote. The House Ethics Committee, the only body that has the power to actually punish lawmakers, also frequently clashed with the office, which serves more as a grand jury that investigates allegations and issues findings to the Ethics Committee of probable cause of misdeeds. For example, the committee tried in 2015 to force the Office of Congressional Ethics to shut down its investigation into allegations that nine House lawmakers trips to Azerbaijan in 2013 had been improperly paid for, in part, by a foreign government entity. Some of the lawmakers also accepted improper gifts during the trips, including rugs and crystal. A big loophole: House rules require the Ethics Committee to act on recommendations by the Office of Congressional Ethics within 90 days, with the expectation that it will either formally clear the targeted lawmakers or create investigative committees to determine if rules or laws have been violated. But in recent years, the committee has increasingly relied on a loophole that allows it to informally continue to review allegations without closing a case, a step it has taken in 21 of the 68 cases referred since 2009. Most frequently, that means an end to the matter, at least as far as the public is aware, even though the Ethics Committee never formally announces that it has closed the investigation. As of this week, cases in such a limbo include allegations against Representatives Mark Meadows, Republican of North Carolina; Roger Williams, Republican of Texas; Markwayne Mullin, Republican of Oklahoma; Cathy McMorris Rodgers, Republican of Washington; Bobby L. Rush, Democrat of Illinois; and Luis V. Gutierrez, Democrat of Illinois. With The Washington Posts Breanne Deppisch. When pollsters interrupt peoples dinners to ask about their New Years resolutions, very often the top three responses are get in shape, lose weight and save money. Find a deal on a gym membership, and you can do all three. Heres how. Basic strategies: Time it right: The end of the year is a great time to join a gym at a discount, as people spend more time lifting a glass than lifting weights. Another timing tip, according to Consumer Reports, is to sign up late in the month any month when health club sales teams are trying to meet their monthly quotas. Look for daily deals: Never, ever join a gym without quickly searching daily-deal sites such as Groupon and Living Social. Gym memberships and other exercise classes are one of their most common offers. There were 534 exercise deals on Groupon when I checked. Ask work about your workout: Many employers have negotiated discounts with nearby gyms. If yours hasnt, why not band together with co-workers and do it yourself? Negotiate a custom deal: Speaking of negotiating, it pays to play hard ball. Make sure the gym you want to join knows that youre talking to other gyms, too, and ask for a price match. Then, see if it will waive the initiation fee. Planning to use just one location in a chain? Request a discount for that. Dont need included services like child care? Ditto. If you cant get the gym to give you a lower price for less stuff, try to get more stuff for the quoted price, such as free personal training or massages. Pay as you go: Better yet, dont join at all. Sometimes it makes more economic sense to get an exercise class card or pay daily rates as you go, especially if youre unsure how committed you are. Paying daily or month to month may cost more, but it will save you money if you decide to bail out. Im not a fan of long-term future services contracts that you can get out of only if you can document that you moved away or got injured. Advanced strategies: Head to the hospital: You know that failing to exercise can land you in the hospital, but did you know that you can exercise at the hospital? Thats right, many hospitals have fully equipped fitness facilities that welcome the public. Best of all, most do not require ironclad long-term contracts. For example, Sibley Memorial Hospital in Northwest Washington offers memberships for $80 a month. And Providence Hospital in Northeast runs all sorts of fitness series, from aqua aerobics to Zumba, for about $8.50 a class. Go to college: Colleges and universities are another often-overlooked resource. Most now have elaborate exercise facilities to attract students, and many offer memberships to the community. In the D.C. area, one example is Trinity Washington University, which charges Brookland neighbors $520 a year to join its Trinity Center gym. Compare that with the roughly $600 to $1,200 a year some of the big D.C. gym chains charge, according to Consumers Checkbook. Exercise your health insurance: Insurance companies have caught on that keeping people healthy saves them money, so many now include some sort of gym benefit as part of their plans. For example, Aetna says it offers discounted rates at more than 10,000 gyms. And United Healthcare will reimburse you $20 each month that you visit one of its participating fitness centers at least 12 times. Additionally, if you are exercising to overcome an illness or injury, gyms such as Medical Fitness Pros in Texas will work with you to submit claims to your insurance company. Try apps that pay for wellness: Mobile apps such as Pact and Wellcoin will actually pay you to exercise. Pact rewards you with cash paid by other members who didnt meet their goals. When you use Wellcoin, you earn points you can use to buy products on the site, including gym classes. The payments arent huge, but theres an intangible motivational value that some consider priceless. Ask for fitness financial aid: Not sure you can afford a commercial gym? The YMCA offers financial assistance and says it never turns away members who cant pay. There are 2,700 YMCAs in the United States and 15 in the D.C. area. Leamy is a 13-time Emmy winner and 25-year consumer advocate for programs such as Good Morning America and The Dr. Oz Show. WASHINGTON The Senate education committee has scheduled a confirmation hearing for Betsy DeVos, President-elect Donald Trumps pick to helm the education department, for January 11. DeVos, who has spent more than two decades advocating for charter schools and taxpayer-funded school vouchers, is one of eight Trump nominees that Democrats have singled out for additional scrutiny. Two of the others are Sen. Jeff Sessions, Trumps pick for attorney general, and ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson, Trumps pick for secretary of state. DeVos hearing is scheduled to take place on the second day of Sessions scheduled two-day hearing with the Judiciary Committee and the same day that Tillerson is tentatively scheduled to face the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. A billionaire power broker and major Republican donor, DeVos has not held elected public office nor worked as an educator. She is likely to face questions about her advocacy track record, particularly in her home state of Michigan, where she played a key role in shaping a fast-growing charter-school sector that even many charter-school supporters criticize as lacking in oversight and quality. Senators also are likely to ask her about her support for using public money to pay tuition at private and religious schools one of the most polarizing ideas in education. But committee members also likely will use the confirmation to question DeVos about her views on a range of other Education Department subjects about which she has previously said little or nothing publicly. Those include her view of for-profit colleges, which have faced intense scrutiny under the Obama administration; her plans for implementing the new Every Student Succeeds Act; and her plans for the Office for Civil Rights, which is responsible for enforcing anti-discrimination laws in schools and which some Trump surrogates have said should be stripped of power. Many Republicans are hopeful that DeVos, an avowed conservative, will oversee a shrinking of the federal footprint in education. Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., previously said he hoped that she would implement the new law fixing No Child Left Behind just as Congress wrote it, reversing the trend to a national school board and restoring to states, governors, school boards, teachers, and parents greater responsibility for improving education in their local communities. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., ranking member of the education committee, has said that she will ask DeVos to explain her plans to expand early childhood education and address college affordability and student debt. Murray also said she will press DeVos on her views of campus sexual violence, which many colleges are now handling very differently under pressure from the Obama administration, and school bullying. Right now students, parents, teachers and school leaders across the country are demanding to know how his Secretary of Education will ensure the safety and respect of all students, of all backgrounds, all across this country and I will be focused throughout this process on how his nominee intends to do just that, Murray said in a statement in November, when Trump named DeVos as his nominee. WASHINGTON Some of Americas biggest cable companies are asking the government to roll back a landmark set of privacy regulations it approved last fall kicking off an effort by the industry and its allies to dismantle key Internet policies of the Obama years. In a petition filed to federal regulators Monday, a top Washington trade group whose members include Comcast, Charter and Cox Communications argued that the rules should be thrown out. They are unnecessary, unjustified, unmoored from a cost-benefit assessment, and unlikely to advance the Commissions stated goal of enhancing consumer privacy, wrote NCTA The Internet and Television Association. The rules, which passed by a 3-2 partisan vote favoring Democrats at the Federal Communications Commission in October, are meant to keep Internet providers such as Comcast, Verizon and others from abusing the behavioral data they collect on customers as they regularly use the Internet. Information such as your Web browsing history, your geolocation logs and even the content of your emails offer service providers a rich source of potential advertising revenue. That data, along with your health and financial information, can also be sold to marketers and data brokers interested in building a profile of you as a consumer. The FCCs rules restricted Internet providers ability to use and share this information, in what privacy advocates hailed as a historic victory. But now the fate of those regulations lies in question as Republicans prepare to take control of the nations top telecom watchdog. Consumer advocacy groups vowed Wednesday to oppose the cable industrys petition. Nothing in this election changed Americans fundamental rights, or their need for privacy, said Matt Wood, policy director for Free Press, an advocacy organization. The election only gave more power to the party that would seemingly rather side with Comcast and other cable lobbyists than with their own constituents. Opponents of the rules point out that the FCCs regulation created an imbalance in the law: While Internet providers must (for now) obey the restrictions, nothing forces Web companies such as Google and Facebook to do the same. For the past three years, the FCC under Democratic leadership has repeatedly vowed not to regulate Web companies, giving rise to complaints by telecom and cable lobbyists that the FCC was biased in their favor. At the same time, defenders of the FCCs privacy rules argue that Internet providers are uniquely positioned to see everything a customer does with his or her connection unlike services such as Facebook, whose understanding of user behavior is generally limited to the boundaries of its own platform. Politically, the industry petition comes at a significant time. It was filed days after the departure of one Democratic commissioner, Jessica Rosenworcel, and just weeks before the agencys most senior Democrat, Tom Wheeler, is due to step down. Both moves will leave the FCC with a two-Republican majority and a one-Democrat minority, allowing the GOP to begin repealing regulations almost as soon as President-elect Donald Trump is sworn into the Oval Office. Republicans at the FCC were already anticipating the opportunity last month. We need to fire up the weed whacker and remove those rules that are holding back investment, innovation and job creation, said Republican FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai in a December speech to a conservative think tank. The FCC now has 90 days to respond to NCTAs petition. The International Criminal Court will consider a petition by Kasese district leaders in regard to the November 2016 clashes between government forces and supporters of the Rwenzururu kingdom in which more than 100 people were killed. At a press conference, Kasese district leaders say they have received communications from the office of the prosecutor in the international criminal court in regard to their petition over Kasese killings. Addressing journalists in Kampala, the Kasese Woman MP who is also the leader of opposition in Parliament Winnie Kizza says on December 23rd, 2016 they petitioned the ICC over the Kasese killings and they have received the letter indicating the receipt of their petition. She says the ICC has indicated willingness to look into the petition and this will be done in accordance with the provisions of the Rome statute. If The Hague based Court reaches a decision on the matter, the petitioners will be informed in writing. Kizza notes that they petitioned three people over committing crimes against humanity including President Yoweri Museveni and Ministers Asuman Mugenyi and Peter Ecweru to give individual accountability for the lives lost in Kasese. She says they are optimistic that the ICC will respond positively on this issue for justice to prevail. SANTA FE The head of a state business group filed a defamation lawsuit against the Republican Party of New Mexico on Wednesday, the latest chapter in a dispute sparked by anonymous emails and party infighting. Carla Sonntag, president and founder of the New Mexico Business Coalition, filed the civil suit in the Albuquerque-based 2nd Judicial District Court, several weeks after demanding that state GOP leaders apologize for singling her out as the source of the anonymous emails and make other concessions. The emails in question levied allegations against several prominent Republicans in the run-up to the election of a new party chairman last month. They were described as slanderous attacks in a message sent last month by GOP officials to state Central Committee members that also alleged the emails had been sent from accounts registered to Sonntag and her family. The lawsuit asserts that neither Sonntag nor her family members were behind the emails and says the GOPs claim that they were has caused her personal humiliation, mental anguish and suffering. It also alleges some donors have suspended their ties with the New Mexico Business Coalition in response to the GOPs claim. Republican Party of New Mexico leaders will regret careless assaults on pro-market activists who choose to stay out of party politics, Sonntag said in a Wednesday statement. An attorney for the state Republican Party said last week that the party had tried to resolve the dispute with Sonntag amicably, but would not say whether it stood by its claim that Sonntag or any of her relatives sent the anonymous emails. In a Wednesday interview, John Anderson, the Republican Party attorney, said he had not seen the lawsuit and declined to comment on its allegations. We want to handle this in the court system and not in the media, Anderson told the Journal. In addition to other Republicans, the emails in question targeted Republican National Committeeman Harvey Yates Jr. and Ryan Cangiolosi, who was elected Dec. 11 as state party chairman. They were sent unsigned, attributed only to Concerned Republicans for New Mexico and, in another case, New Mexico Republicans for Fiscal Responsibility. After being singled out by the state GOP as the alleged source of the emails, Sonntag said she would file suit unless Republican Party officials retracted their claim, apologized and provided her with research the party said it had done. The lawsuit seeks unspecified punitive damages, in addition to a court order barring the state Republican Party from further linking Sonntag to the emails. Copyright 2017 Albuquerque Journal New Mexico again ranked 49th for educational quality in a national review of measures like high school graduation rates, Advanced Placement exam results, school finances and pre-K enrollment. Education Week magazines latest Quality Counts study rated the Land of Enchantment just ahead of Mississippi and Nevada overall. New Mexico has held onto 49th place since 2014 among the 50 states and the District of Columbia. The report compiled annually by the D.C.-area trade publication examines three broad areas: college and career outcomes, K-12 achievement and school finances. In its worst showing this year, New Mexico came in dead last on the college and career metric, dubbed the chance-for-success indicator, which reviews 13 measures that span a persons life from cradle to career, including family poverty levels, parent education, kindergarten enrollment, high school graduation and steady employment. Poverty actually increased here over the past year, and the state also fared badly on parent education only 39.3 percent of children live in a household where at least one parent has completed a postsecondary degree. There are systemic issues, particularly those related to poverty and the economic stress that many students and their families face, said Sterling Lloyd, senior research associate at the Education Research Center. We look at that because stability for students, based on the resources their parents are able to provide, can really contribute to academic success. On K-12 achievement, New Mexico edged out Mississippi for 50th place with a D-minus grade, a result that reflects dismal standardized test scores. New Mexico was at the bottom for fourth-grade reading, and 47th place for eighth-grade math. Fewer than 25 percent of the states students were proficient in either subject. Those are certainly striking results, and results that would be of concern to many educators in the state, and residents and parents in the state, Lloyd said. One bright spot: New Mexico outperforms most of the nation when it comes to closing the achievement gap between low-income and more affluent students. It earned a B+ and 11th place on that measure, which is factored into the K-12 achievement result. Another positive, New Mexicos funding is distributed relatively equitably across districts, earning the state a C- and 31st place on the school finance metric. Overall, the New England region came out strongest in the study: The top five states are Massachusetts, New Jersey, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maryland. Still, the best performers only earned Bs. There were no A states, and the nations average is a C. Robert McEntyre, Public Education Department spokesman, said the results indicate that New Mexico needs to implement reforms like ending the reckless practice of promoting kids who cant read onto the next grade level. New Mexico Education Secretary Hanna Skandera has long pushed for a policy that would hold back third-graders who havent met reading benchmarks, a model pioneered in Florida, where she was formerly deputy commissioner of education under then-Gov. Jeb Bush. SANTA FE Another court challenge by off-road vehicle users against a 2012 travel management plan for the Santa Fe National Forest has been rejected. Last month, Senior U.S. District Court Judge James Parker of Albuquerque dismissed the latest court petition by the New Mexico Off-Highway Vehicle Alliance. The 2012 plan reduced the number of trails and roads open to motorized vehicle use and barred motorized off-road travel. The same ATV group failed in a similar 2012 suit that ultimately was decided in April by the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver. The appeals court found that the off-road vehicles group had no standing because it had failed to allege that any of its members had used a particular route affected by the new forest plan. In a Dec. 23 decision, Judge Parker dismissed the latest challenge on grounds of preclusion, a legal bar to retrying an issue that has been litigated and resolved. Parkers dismissal order said the off-road vehicles group has not alleged any facts that were not available at the time its first lawsuit was dismissed. The Western Environmental Law Center, representing a coalition of environmental groups, intervened in the original litigation and had filed to intervene in the more recent case. We are very pleased to see this case seeking to undo vitally important landscape protections for the Santa Fe National Forest dismissed, said John Mellgren of the Western Environmental Law Center. The Santa Fe is such a special place, and preventing environmental degradation at the hands of off-road vehicle enthusiasts is an important step towards preserving the forest and its unique values for future generations. A news release from the law center, WildEarth Guardians and the Sierra Club said the 2012 forest plan protected key wetland and forest wildlife habitat. The 2012 travel management plan also protected more than 440,000 acres in the Santa Fe National Forest from crosscountry motorized vehicle use, and removed motor vehicle use from more than 5,000 miles of routes, paths and trails, said the news release. The plan allowed motorized vehicle use to continue on more than 2,400 miles of routes in the forest, according to the release. The Santa Fe National Forest comprises about 1.6 million acres in northern New Mexico, including four wilderness areas. In 2015, a pregnant Kim Kardashian posted an unusual Instagram photo of herself holding a bottle of pills. OMG, she wrote in the caption. Have you heard about this? As you guys know my #morningsickness has been pretty bad. . . . I talked to my doctor. He prescribed me #Diclegis, I felt a lot better and most importantly, its been studied and there was no increased risk to the baby. The photo made headlines when the Food and Drug Administration cracked down on the drugs manufacturer for not disclosing risks in its marketing. Diclegis is in the news again today, but this time its not just the advertising thats in question: Its the effectiveness of the drug itself. For more than 40 years, pregnant women around the world sought help for morning sickness through a combination of the two main ingredients in Diclegis: pyridoxine and doxylamine. An estimated 35 million are believed to have taken the medication, which is endorsed by health agencies and obstetricians worldwide. Could their faith in the treatment be based on flawed data? That unsettling question is raised by an analysis published Wednesday in PLOS One by researchers in Toronto who reviewed more than 7,200 pages of data from a clinical trial in the 1970s that had never been made public before. The information was obtained from the FDA through the Freedom of Information Act and is part of a global initiative by the scientific community to bring to light or restore invisible and abandoned trials (RIAT). The effort began in 2013 following a call by Peter Doshi, then a postdoctoral fellow at Johns Hopkins University, and others for researchers to publish data sitting around on their computers or in file cabinets. Science magazine described it as a stark warning to drug companies that if they dont publish their data, others will. Nav Persaud, a family physician and researcher at St. Michaels Hospital who is the main author of the new analysis, said the trial in question was key to obtaining the drugs approval in Canada, where it is sold as Diclectin. The old clinical trial was conducted by Merrell-National Laboratories, which no longer exists, and involved 2,308 patients at 14 clinics in the United States who were in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy who complained of nausea or vomiting. They were randomized into eight groups that tested different medications. Women were asked to take two tablets at bedtime and, if necessary, another in the morning and midafternoon for seven nights. Doctors were asked to note the frequency of vomiting and hours of nausea. In the medical literature over the past few decades, Persaud said that this study, which was never finished, had been referred to as being a success but with no details. However, he said, when he looked at the raw data it contained critical flaws, including the fact that some information that was supposed to be obtained during patient visits was not, the criteria for reporting improvement were unclear, outcome data was unavailable for 37 percent of participants in the placebo group and about 30 percent of the patients were lost to follow up despite the fact that the trial lasted only a week. In an interview, Persaud called these unusual and striking problems. Ron Vaillancourt, a spokesman for Duchesnay, which sells the drug in Canada (Duchesnay USA sells it in the United States), said that it is the only prescription medication for the treatment of nausea and vomiting of pregnancy approved by Health Canada and that its two active ingredients are the most studied drug combination used in pregnancy. He cited 16 cohort studies, two meta-analyses, an ecological study, a neurological development study and numerous others that support its use. He said that in 2016 a Health Canada advisory committee reiterated its position in a safety review. We have complete confidence in the safety and efficacy of Diclectin and are very proud to provide it as a safe and effective treatment option for women suffering from nausea and vomiting of pregnancy, Vaillancourt said in a statement responding to questions from The Washington Post. Persaud said his interest in the drug started with a pregnant patient. She asked whether it was a good idea to take it. I assured her it was and it was the first-line treatment. After she left I was a little bit unsettled by the conversation, he recalled. He went back to the guidelines and noted that they didnt cite studies but only provided a reference to a product monograph that had been provided by the pharmaceutical company. So he began digging. Persaud contacted the Canadian health agency, the company that sells the drug, and even tried to reach out to the researchers who conducted the original study. Most of them had passed away. He was surprised by the difficulty he had in getting basic information. Ive been looking into this [for the] last five years and found no good reason to prescribe this medication over others. Astonishingly, Ive found the study that is supposed to be the basis of the claim this medication is effective is problematic, he said. Persaud said he no longer prescribes the drug to his patients and called on the FDA, Health Canada and medical groups that issue clinical practice guidelines to conduct their own reviews. He is releasing all of the information he obtained online so that others can do their own analyses. He said there are several alternative medications for morning sickness that have undergone rigorous clinical trials that have been published with more transparency. Everything related to this medication should be revisited, he said. Until there is clear evidence this medication is effective, clinicians should stop prescribing it and the implications are that patients should stop taking it. Albert F. Turner Jr., the son of civil rights activists who were prosecuted by Republican Sen. Jeff Sessions in a controversial voting fraud case 32 years ago, said Wednesday he supports the Alabama lawmakers nomination to be attorney general. My family and I have literally been on the front line of the fight for civil rights my whole life, said Turner, a county commissioner in Perry County, Alabama. And while I respect the deeply held positions of other civil rights advocates who oppose Senator Sessions, I believe it is important for me to speak out with regard to Senator Sessions personally. He is not a racist. Turners endorsement is the latest salvo in the growing battle over President-elect Donald Trumps nomination of Sessions, 70, an Alabama senator for the past 20 years, whose Senate confirmation hearing is scheduled to begin Jan. 10. Six NAACP protesters, including the NAACPs national president, were arrested Tuesday night after they held a sit-in at Sessionss Mobile, Alabama, office. Former Massachusetts governor Deval Patrick, a former assistant attorney general for the Justice Departments civil rights division, sent a three-page letter urging the Senate Judiciary Committee to reject Sessions. More than 100 former U.S. attorneys who served under Democratic and Republican presidents wrote to the Senate this week in support of his confirmation. A group of more than 1,100 law school professors from 170 law schools in 48 states sent a letter opposing him. On Wednesday, the American Civil Liberties Union, which does not take positions supporting or opposing nominations, released a report that is highly critical of Sessionss record on immigration, abortion and criminal justice. Jeff Sessions is a strident conservative and consistently opposes progressive policies and nominees, the report concludes. The ACLU also criticizes Sessions on his civil rights positions and highlights the Perry County case that involved Turners parents. Sessions brought the voting fraud case against Evelyn Turner her husband, Albert Turner Sr., an aide to Martin Luther King Jr., and another civil rights worker, in 1985. His office charged the Marion Three named after the Perry County town where the fraud allegedly took place with tampering with absentee ballots cast by mostly elderly black voters to favor their candidate. A jury of seven blacks and five whites found the defendants who faced decades in jail not guilty. I have known Senator Sessions for many years, beginning with the voter fraud case in Perry County in which my parents were defendants, Turner said in a statement. My differences in policy and ideology with him do not translate to personal malice. He is not a racist. As I have said before, at no time then or now has Jeff Sessions said anything derogatory about my family. He was a prosecutor at the federal level with a job to do. Turner said that he believes Sessions will be fair in his application of the law and the Constitution; as such I support his nomination to be the next attorney general of the United States. Evelyn Turner, Albert Turner Sr.s widow, has spoken out against Sessions and she dismissed her sons view of him. She said that her son did not understand what she and her husband had gone through. He was in college, at Birmingham, she said. He was not in the house. Evelyn Turners son has advised her to forgive Sessions, but she told him, you werent indicted. For the first confirmation hearing of a Trump nominee, Sessions will come before the Senate Judiciary Committee where he where he has been a member for many years. Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa), chairman of the committee, is apparently so confident of Sessionss confirmation that when he released the names of new and returning members of the committee Tuesday, Sessionss name was no longer on the list. Ellen Nakashima contributed to this report. PHOENIX The owners a massive coal-fired power plant in northern Arizona are considering options that include keeping it open but also closing it within the next few years, a spokesman for the plants operator said Wednesday. Salt River Project spokesman Scott Harelson said officials of the power district recently met with Navajo Nation officials to discuss the Navajo Generating Station located on the reservation near Page. The plants lease with the Navajo Nation expires Dec. 31, 2019 but the plant could be closed well before then if its owners take that course, Harelson said. A Navajo environmental advocacy group, Dine Citizens Against Ruining Our Environment, accused SRP of talking about possibly closing the plant as early as 2017 to extract lease concessions from the Navajo Nation. We are concerned that SRPs sudden move to talk about full closure of NGS as early as this year may be a scare tactic by the plant owners to intimidate (the) Navajo Nation and extract financial concessions from Navajo officials. If any such bluff or blackmail is indeed taking place, it needs to be called out and rejected, the group said in a statement. Harelson said the groups characterization of SRPs recent talks with Navajo Nation officials were absolutely incorrect. SRPs decisions with the Navajo Nation and other entities are just an attempt to keep those entities aware of circumstances of the plant at this time, Harelson said. The reality is the economics of coal generating (are) changing rapidly. That is what is driving this latest analysis and potential scenario for the plant. The owners hope to decide the plants future by spring, Harelson said. The plant employs 500 people, mostly Navajo, and is considered important to the local economy. A Peabody Energy coal mine that supplies the plant employs 430 people. The federal Environmental Protection Administration announced in 2014 that the plant could either shut down one of its three 750-megawatt units or reduce power generation by an equal amount by 2020 to cut haze-causing emissions of nitrogen at places like the Grand Canyon. Additional emission control equipment would be needed by 2030 on the two remaining units. Dine CARE is among several groups who went to court to challenge the EPAs decisions, which gave the plants owners more time to implement pollution controls and cuts emissions beyond the agencys original proposal. The plants owners, besides SRP, are the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, Arizona Public Service Co., Tucson Electric Power and Nevada-based NV Energy. The bureau uses electricity from the plant to power the Central Arizona Project canal system that delivers Colorado River water to Phoenix and Tucson. LAS CRUCES, N.M. Dona Ana County authorities say theyve determined that a shooting last year by a New Mexico State University police officer on campus was justified. According to investigators, Officer Jarrod Colliver was responding to 911 calls about a 28-year-old man carrying gun at an apartment complex and making threats on Nov. 14. Despite the officers commands, the defendant refused to put down the weapon. Police say Colliver fired multiple shots and struck the man once in the leg. County District Attorney Mark DAntonio cleared Colliver after meeting with the Officer-Involved Shooting Task Force on Dec. 15. The task force is a multi-agency unit that includes members of the New Mexico State Police, Las Cruces police, Dona Ana County Sheriffs Department, New Mexico State University Police and 3rd Judicial District Attorneys Office. ST. GEORGE, Utah Six additional members of a polygamous group based on the Utah-Arizona border took plea deals Wednesday to avoid jail time in a multimillion-dollar food-stamp fraud case. The six pleaded guilty to fraud Wednesday in St. George, Utah, leaving only fugitive leader Lyle Jeffs and two others with charges still pending in the case filed February against 11 people. They faced up to 25 years in prison. Prosecutors accused them of all of participating in a scheme to misuse $12 million in food stamps, though defense attorneys argued they were following religious beliefs by donating benefits to their church. The southern Utah hearing came after high-ranking leaders Seth Jeffs and John Wayman pleaded guilty in Salt Lake City and were released from jail after six months. Like Seth Jeffs and Wayman, the six wont be required to pay any restitution as part of their deals, the Spectrum newspaper in St. George reported (http://bit.ly/2hU4vMR). Federal prosecutor Robert Lund said the plea deals lay a foundation for future prosecution for similar offenses while allowing the suspects to be rehabilitated. They must all take a class on proper uses of food stamps. Defense attorney Aric Cramer called the case religious persecution that should have never been filed. Its like Vietnam the government declared victory and got out, and everyones benefited for it, Cramer said. So I think (the plea agreement) is a wonderful deal. The six who took the deals worked in different roles managing the two convenience stores where prosecutors say the fraudulent transactions occurred or the community storehouse where food bought by food stamps was brought, with leaders deciding how to distribute it. They were: Kimball Dee Barlow, 52; Kristal Dutson, 55; Winford Johnson Barlow, 51; Rulon Mormon Barlow, 46; Ruth Peine Barlow, 42: and Hyrum Bygnal Dutson, who turns 61 this month. Lyle Jeffs, the accused ringleader of the scheme, remains on the run. He escaped home confinement this summer and has not been found. He is the brother of Warren Jeffs, the sects leader who is serving a life sentence in Texas for sexually assaulting girls he considered wives. Known as the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, the group believes polygamy brings exaltation in heaven a legacy of the early Mormon church. The mainstream Mormon church abandoned the practice in 1890 and strictly prohibits it today. ___ Information from: The Spectrum, http://www.thespectrum.com BOISE, Idaho Six Mexican veterinarians who say they were recruited to work at an Idaho dairy farm as animal scientists have filed a federal human trafficking lawsuit against the dairys owners and the lawyer who arranged work visas, claiming they were instead forced to work as laborers, milking cows and shoveling manure for about a year. The veterinarians had been promised that they would oversee animal health and reproduction programs at Funk Dairy Inc. in the small southern Idaho town of Murtaugh and were brought to the U.S. on TN visas for professionals from Mexico and Canada, said the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Boise on Tuesday. Named as defendants were Funk owner David Funk, manager Curtis Giles and attorney Jeremy Pittard, who the lawsuit said arranged their visas. The telephone rang unanswered Wednesday at the dairy. Pittard, a public defense and family immigration attorney, said he did his job after being asked by Funk Dairy to help arrange the visas but could not comment on working conditions for the veterinarians. The lawsuit claims the veterinarians were illegally forced to work as general laborers despite having professional worker visas, received substandard housing and lower wages than promised and were threatened with deportation if they did not do their assigned work well. They are seeking unspecified monetary damages under federal laws to fight human trafficking and target criminal conspiracies. The alleged trafficking scheme represented the fraudulent recruitment of professional Mexican veterinarians for the purpose of evading U.S. immigration laws and hiring workers as low-wage, general laborers, the lawsuit said. Veterinarians Cesar Martinez-Rodriguez, Dalia Padilla-Lopez, Mayra Munoz-Lara, Brenda Gastelum-Sierra, Leslie Ortiz-Garcia and Ricardo Neri-Camacho also claimed in the lawsuit that their employers exploited their fear, inability to speak English, and unfamiliarity with the American legal system to force them to stay at the dairy from 2014 to 2015. Im not sure I can speculate as to why the company chose this route, but in general agriculture companies have been struggling with labor shortages, said the lawyer for the veterinarians, Edgar Ivan Aguilasocho . As far as we can tell, this criminal conspiracy was aimed at providing a makeshift solution to that kind of shortage. The veterinarians said they were promised pay of $10 an hour with an opportunity for higher pay, transportation to work, living accommodations, a $2,000 bonus after one year of work, one week of paid vacation and reimbursement for travel back to Mexico. Most are in their 20s and learned about the job from postings from prospective employers at three different Mexican universities that have veterinary schools, Aguilasocho said. The pay offered was similar to what young veterinarians make in Mexico, he said, and all saw the opportunity to work on an American dairy farm as a promising way to gain valuable career experience. Munoz-Lara said she was heartbroken when she started her first day at work and learned she would be doing 12-hour shifts milking cows, moving cattle around, cleaning pens and collecting garbage. It was a total disappointment because we had hoped to excel in our field, she said, adding that she and the other veterinarians hope publicity about their case serves as a warning to other Mexican professionals to be wary about U.S. recruitment opportunities. The veterinarians said in their lawsuit they were placed in dirty and overcrowded housing, then charged rent after being moved to better housing. The veterinarians also said they were denied meal breaks, were forced to eat meals at unhygienic work stations around cows and that there wasnt enough protective equipment and portable toilets at the site for all of the dairys workers. When one veterinarian suffered a back injury and another had part of a finger amputated in an on-site accident, they said they were not provided adequate medical treatment or time off, the lawsuit said. They left after the dairy terminated their contracts in late 2015, the lawsuit said. Munoz-Lara said she waited until she was awarded the $2,000 bonus and quit, staying so long at the dairy doing menial work because she had debts she had to pay off. Several of the veterinarians subsequently found work as animal scientists at other U.S. dairies and one is now doing veterinary work in his home Mexican state of Jalisco, Aguilasocho said. Pittard said Funk Dairy had referred him to another lawyer in a different state for guidance on arranging professional visas for the veterinarians. He declined comment on working conditions at the dairy because he did not visit it but said the operation has a reputation for being proactive and taking care of its workers, and that the lawsuit came as a surprise. I believe the dairies are just trying to find ways to have a legal workforce, he said. I didnt do anything wrong, I just filled out the paperwork. I helped people get here with a visa. ___ Associated Press Writer Alan Clendenning in Phoenix contributed to this report. SAN JOSE, Calif. For several years now, Americas malls have seen a growing number of incidents around Christmas starring young people behaving badly, often near food courts or theaters, sometimes featuring items like soft drinks thrown at security officers, and usually resulting in fist fights and general mayhem. Malls, in response, are stepping up their security game, increasing staffing for the day after Christmas, when teenagers have run amok in selected properties across the nation. But some operators are also instituting curfews or total bans on unaccompanied minors at certain times, prompting outrage not only from the young shoppers and their parents but from civil-rights activists who say such bans are unfair and illegal. In the latest example, the Arden Fair mall in Sacramentos decision to ban teens on Dec. 26 drew strong criticism from the American Civil Liberties Union, which claims such a move is discriminatory and violates California law. Its illegal, said Michael Risher, a senior staff attorney for the ACLU in San Francisco. California for decades has had the Unruh Civil Rights Act which prohibits any business from arbitrary discrimination against people based on sex, race, religion and sexual orientation as well as other categories, including minors. The law says you must treat people as individuals, not as a class, so if you have individuals causing problems at a mall, of course they can take action against them. Risher said a similar ban at a Fresno mall in 2007 was reversed after the ACLU, along with the city of Fresnos attorney, wrote letters to complain. The California Supreme Court has said that while some kids may behave that way, you cant ban all children from a business, said Risher, adding that I cant imagine that more than a tiny percentage of minors are creating problems in these malls. Risher was referring to a 1982 decision against a Los Angeles County landlord who sought to prevent families with children from living in his building. The justices wrote that a property owner may not ban an individual who has committed no such misconduct simply because he or she falls within a class of persons whom the owner believes is more likely to engage in misconduct than some other group. But officials at Arden Fair disagree, along with security staff at the estimated 100 other properties that have instituted periodic bans on unaccompanied teenagers. In an interview Tuesday with The Sacramento Bee, a spokeswoman for Arden Fair defended the new policy, which mall officials describe as a pre-emptive measure designed to ensure the safety of everyone at a mall that in recent years has experienced brawls after Christmas. This season, guards and Sacramento police officers were staged at mall entrances, enforcing a blanket ban on minors not accompanied by a parent or guardian. Other Northern California malls say theyve not seen similar problems. We have no bans at either Westfield Valley Fair or Westfield Oakridge, said spokeswoman Caran Fisher. The holidays are a high-traffic time for families and teens and I can tell you that we did increase our security and traffic control this year to ensure the safety of everyone. Teens are a big part of our customer base and we want to make sure everyone is safe and happy. Stephanie Cegielski, vice president of public relations for the International Council of Shopping Centers, said about 100 malls in the United States have reportedly used curfews or bans periodically throughout the year. Thats a relatively small number, given the trade group representing owners of malls and shopping centers has 53,000 members in the United States. Still, she said the number of holiday incidents appears to be on the rise, with a disturbing number of mall fights around the country this holiday season. This year, the day after Christmas saw a series of fights that broke out, mostly among young people. Some of this comes from the long holiday weekend and teenagers maybe being bored and then going to the mall to cause some mayhem. Cegielski said her group has not heard of other malls being singled out by civil-rights groups as the Sacramento mall has experienced. I think property owners are concerned, she said, and theyre looking at the day after Christmas and theyre putting these bans into place as a means of crowd control. They just want to make the malls safer for everyone. Security officials are increasingly concerned that social-media tools like Facebook and Twitter are being used by teens to coordinate meetups at malls that lead to gang fights and other problems. Activists are worried that security guards may be using racial profiling in enforcing the ban on minors, singling out young blacks, for example, when they decide who can come inside and who cant. Its not clear whether the ACLU will go after Arden Fair or any other mall implementing bans. We have a lot on our plate right now and well have to monitor and see what happens, said Risher. But unless these fights become such a pervasive problem, and you can say that most youths are coming to malls to make trouble, then you cant ban all teenagers from the property. Bring in more security if this is truly a problem and not just an exaggerated fear. By Benjamin Jumbe The executive director Uganda media Center Ofono Opondo has described former FDC presidential candidate Dr Col Kizza Besigye as a time waster and un-serious individual. This is after Besigye set terms for talks with president Museveni, among which was having a respected foreign mediator, structured framework and getting to the national dialogue as equal parties. Opondo tells KFM that Besigye should not continue wasting Ugandans time but concentrate on building his party which clearly is falling part. The Minister of information Frank Tumwebaze earlier said there was no need for dialogue on political issues because there is a constitutional framework that specifies how things should be done, adding that Besigye is living in denial. SAN DIEGO Rep. Duncan Hunter used campaign funds to pay for $600 of airline fees to fly a family rabbit, one of the more colorful expenses to surface in an ongoing review of his practices. Hunters staff told the Press-Enterprise newspaper that the House Office of Congressional Ethics questioned the pet expenses offered as an example of over-reach by the agency. The ethics offices independence was nearly clipped this week as one of the first orders of business for the GOP-controlled House, until President-elect Donald Trump and others questioned the move. Critics saw the proposal as weakening an important check on legislative abuses of power. Hunter spokesman Joe Kasper defended the proposed procedural changes, according to the Press-Enterprise. The concerns are strong enough that it nearly prompted a significant structural change, Kasper said. The ethics office last year conducted a review of Hunters campaign expenses. Release of the report, and any follow-up action by the House Ethics Committee, was recently postponed pending swearing-in of the new Congress. Hunter, a California Republican, has reimbursed his campaign about $62,000 in campaign expenses that were personal in nature or lacked proper documentation, including oral surgery, a garage door, video games, resort stays and a jewelry purchase in Italy. The expenses came to light after inquiries by the Federal Election Commission and The San Diego Union-Tribune, and Hunter then hired a law firm to conduct a review that has not been made public. Use of campaign funds for personal benefit is prohibited by federal law, as it might give undue influence to contributors. Most of Hunters campaign funds come from defense and transportation companies whose business is affected by committees upon which he serves. In the Press-Enterprise, Kasper criticized the as-yet-unreleased ethics office report on Hunter, saying findings or implications are significantly misrepresented or even exaggerated. As an example, Kasper mentioned the family rabbit transportation fees. (The office) has in their report $600 in campaign expenditures for in cabin rabbit transport fees, Kasper said. Since travel is often done on (airline) miles which is entirely permissible the credit card connected to the account was charged several times even when his children were flying. Hunter has reimbursed more than $6,000 to United Airlines for personal or undocumented uses of campaign funds. His accounting of the repayments did not itemize pet travel costs. This was nothing more than an oversight. In fact, its such an obvious example of a mistake being made but (the office) wants to view it through a lens of possible intent. The same goes for many other expenditures, Kasper said. Many of Rep. Hunters repayments had to do with mistakes under specific circumstances, and in other cases there were bona fide campaign activities connected to expenditures that (the office) was not aware of and didnt account for. Hunter has previously explained problems with campaign spending that included the campaign charge card being blue and therefore confused with a more appropriate card. 2017 The San Diego Union-Tribune Visit The San Diego Union-Tribune at www.sandiegouniontribune.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. _____ 7 Massachusetts metro areas among largest over-the-year unemployment rate declines in November 2016 Over the year ending November 2016, three metropolitan areas had unemployment rate decreases of greater than 2.5 percentage points: New Bedford, Massachusetts (2.8 percentage points); El Centro, California (2.7 percentage points); and Yuma, Arizona (2.6 percentage points). In addition to these areas, four other metropolitan areas had unemployment rate decreases greater than 2.0 percentage points, all of which were located in Massachusetts. In total, 7 Massachusetts metropolitan areas experienced unemployment rate declines of 1.7 percentage points or greater between November 2015 and November 2016. Chart Image Chart Data Metropolitan area unemployment rate change, November 2015November 2016 Metropolitan area November 2015 unemployment rate November 2016 unemployment rate(p) Percentage point change(p) New Bedford, MA NECTA 6.5% 3.7% -2.8 El Centro, CA 23.0 20.3 -2.7 Yuma, AZ 19.3 16.7 -2.6 Barnstable Town, MA NECTA 5.6 3.1 -2.5 Leominster-Gardner, MA NECTA 5.3 2.9 -2.4 Pittsfield, MA NECTA 5.3 3.0 -2.3 Springfield, MA-CT NECTA 5.3 3.1 -2.2 Worcester, MA-CT NECTA 4.7 2.8 -1.9 Boston-Cambridge-Nashua, MA-NH NECTA 4.1 2.4 -1.7 Grants Pass, OR 7.6 5.9 -1.7 Lake Havasu City-Kingman, AZ 7.5 5.8 -1.7 Merced, CA 11.2 9.5 -1.7 Albany, OR 6.8 5.2 -1.6 Florence, SC 6.1 4.5 -1.6 Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach, SC-NC 6.8 5.2 -1.6 Rockford, IL 7.4 5.8 -1.6 Waterbury, CT NECTA 6.3 4.7 -1.6 Kankakee, IL 7.1 5.6 -1.5 Bowling Green, KY 4.7 3.3 -1.4 Carson City, NV 6.7 5.3 -1.4 Decatur, IL 7.3 5.9 -1.4 Madera, CA 10.4 9.0 -1.4 New Haven, CT NECTA 5.1 3.7 -1.4 Norwich-New London-Westerly, CT-RI NECTA 5.4 4.0 -1.4 Sumter, SC 6.3 4.9 -1.4 Danville, IL 7.7 6.4 -1.3 Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT NECTA 5.0 3.7 -1.3 Reno, NV 5.5 4.2 -1.3 Sierra Vista-Douglas, AZ 6.8 5.5 -1.3 Springfield, IL 5.6 4.3 -1.3 Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, CT NECTA 4.9 3.7 -1.2 Carbondale-Marion, IL 6.4 5.2 -1.2 Champaign-Urbana, IL 5.7 4.5 -1.2 Cumberland, MD-WV 6.3 5.1 -1.2 Elizabethtown-Fort Knox, KY 5.0 3.8 -1.2 Peoria, IL 7.0 5.8 -1.2 Spartanburg, SC 5.1 3.9 -1.2 Bend-Redmond, OR 5.6 4.5 -1.1 Charleston-North Charleston, SC 4.5 3.4 -1.1 Columbia, SC 4.9 3.8 -1.1 Hanford-Corcoran, CA 10.4 9.3 -1.1 Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise, NV 6.2 5.1 -1.1 Medford, OR 6.2 5.1 -1.1 Modesto, CA 9.0 7.9 -1.1 Owensboro, KY 4.8 3.7 -1.1 Pine Bluff, AR 5.8 4.7 -1.1 Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA 7.2 6.1 -1.1 Danbury, CT NECTA 4.0 3.0 -1.0 Fayetteville, NC 7.1 6.1 -1.0 Greenville-Anderson-Mauldin, SC 4.6 3.6 -1.0 Jonesboro, AR 3.9 2.9 -1.0 Lexington-Fayette, KY 4.0 3.0 -1.0 Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA 5.5 4.5 -1.0 Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN 4.5 3.5 -1.0 Providence-Warwick, RI-MA NECTA 5.2 4.2 -1.0 Salem, OR 5.6 4.6 -1.0 Salinas, CA 7.6 6.6 -1.0 Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA 5.3 4.3 -1.0 Yuba City, CA 9.8 8.8 -1.0 California-Lexington Park, MD 4.6 3.7 -0.9 Chico, CA 6.8 5.9 -0.9 Clarksville, TN-KY 5.8 4.9 -0.9 Davenport-Moline-Rock Island, IA-IL 5.7 4.8 -0.9 Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Beaufort, SC 4.7 3.8 -0.9 Hot Springs, AR 4.9 4.0 -0.9 Jackson, TN 5.7 4.8 -0.9 Memphis, TN-MS-AR 6.0 5.1 -0.9 Morristown, TN 5.8 4.9 -0.9 Redding, CA 7.3 6.4 -0.9 Salisbury, MD-DE 6.5 5.6 -0.9 Stockton-Lodi, CA 8.7 7.8 -0.9 Terre Haute, IN 5.5 4.6 -0.9 Tucson, AZ 5.2 4.3 -0.9 Wilmington, NC 5.4 4.5 -0.9 Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD 5.0 4.2 -0.8 Bloomington, IN 4.8 4.0 -0.8 Greensboro-High Point, NC 5.6 4.8 -0.8 Gulfport-Biloxi-Pascagoula, MS 6.3 5.5 -0.8 Janesville-Beloit, WI 4.6 3.8 -0.8 McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX 7.9 7.1 -0.8 Napa, CA 5.0 4.2 -0.8 Ocean City, NJ 11.3 10.5 -0.8 Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ 4.9 4.1 -0.8 Prescott, AZ 5.1 4.3 -0.8 Vineland-Bridgeton, NJ 7.0 6.2 -0.8 Augusta-Richmond County, GA-SC 5.8 5.1 -0.7 Beckley, WV 7.0 6.3 -0.7 Bloomington, IL 5.3 4.6 -0.7 Burlington, NC 5.1 4.4 -0.7 Cleveland, TN 4.8 4.1 -0.7 Colorado Springs, CO 3.9 3.2 -0.7 Eugene, OR 5.5 4.8 -0.7 Flagstaff, AZ 6.2 5.5 -0.7 Fond du Lac, WI 3.6 2.9 -0.7 Fort Smith, AR-OK 4.9 4.2 -0.7 Fresno, CA 10.0 9.3 -0.7 Greeley, CO 3.3 2.6 -0.7 Hattiesburg, MS 5.4 4.7 -0.7 Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC 5.4 4.7 -0.7 Jackson, MS 5.2 4.5 -0.7 Michigan City-La Porte, IN 5.8 5.1 -0.7 Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN 4.3 3.6 -0.7 Racine, WI 5.1 4.4 -0.7 Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA 6.2 5.5 -0.7 Rocky Mount, NC 7.5 6.8 -0.7 Sacramento--Roseville--Arden-Arcade, CA 5.6 4.9 -0.7 San Diego-Carlsbad, CA 5.0 4.3 -0.7 San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles-Arroyo Grande, CA 4.5 3.8 -0.7 St. George, UT 3.4 2.7 -0.7 Vallejo-Fairfield, CA 5.8 5.1 -0.7 Winston-Salem, NC 5.2 4.5 -0.7 Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC 5.1 4.5 -0.6 Eau Claire, WI 3.7 3.1 -0.6 Fort Wayne, IN 4.2 3.6 -0.6 Grand Junction, CO 4.9 4.3 -0.6 Great Falls, MT 4.0 3.4 -0.6 Greenville, NC 5.7 5.1 -0.6 Hagerstown-Martinsburg, MD-WV 4.7 4.1 -0.6 Indianapolis-Carmel-Anderson, IN 4.2 3.6 -0.6 Jacksonville, NC 6.0 5.4 -0.6 Johnson City, TN 5.7 5.1 -0.6 Kokomo, IN 4.7 4.1 -0.6 Lafayette-West Lafayette, IN 4.1 3.5 -0.6 Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway, AR 3.8 3.2 -0.6 Manchester, NH NECTA 3.0 2.4 -0.6 Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, WI 4.6 4.0 -0.6 Muncie, IN 5.2 4.6 -0.6 New Bern, NC 5.8 5.2 -0.6 Oshkosh-Neenah, WI 3.9 3.3 -0.6 Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA 5.6 5.0 -0.6 Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA 5.3 4.7 -0.6 Santa Rosa, CA 4.3 3.7 -0.6 St. Louis, MO-IL 4.4 3.8 -0.6 Wausau, WI 3.7 3.1 -0.6 Anniston-Oxford-Jacksonville, AL 6.7 6.2 -0.5 Boulder, CO 2.7 2.2 -0.5 Charleston, WV 5.6 5.1 -0.5 Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN 4.3 3.8 -0.5 Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO 3.1 2.6 -0.5 Durham-Chapel Hill, NC 4.7 4.2 -0.5 Florence-Muscle Shoals, AL 6.6 6.1 -0.5 Fort Collins, CO 2.8 2.3 -0.5 Green Bay, WI 3.8 3.3 -0.5 Kahului-Wailuku-Lahaina, HI 3.5 3.0 -0.5 Knoxville, TN 4.9 4.4 -0.5 La Crosse-Onalaska, WI-MN 3.6 3.1 -0.5 Laredo, TX 4.7 4.2 -0.5 Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA 4.8 4.3 -0.5 Raleigh, NC 4.5 4.0 -0.5 San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA 4.1 3.6 -0.5 Visalia-Porterville, CA 11.3 10.8 -0.5 Weirton-Steubenville, WV-OH 6.9 6.4 -0.5 Wichita Falls, TX 4.4 3.9 -0.5 Albany, GA 6.2 5.8 -0.4 Appleton, WI 3.5 3.1 -0.4 Asheville, NC 4.3 3.9 -0.4 Beaumont-Port Arthur, TX 6.8 6.4 -0.4 Burlington-South Burlington, VT NECTA 2.7 2.3 -0.4 Canton-Massillon, OH 5.3 4.9 -0.4 Columbus, IN 3.3 2.9 -0.4 Corvallis, OR 3.8 3.4 -0.4 Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX 3.9 3.5 -0.4 Decatur, AL 5.8 5.4 -0.4 Dover, DE 4.5 4.1 -0.4 Dover-Durham, NH-ME NECTA 2.7 2.3 -0.4 El Paso, TX 5.0 4.6 -0.4 Elkhart-Goshen, IN 3.7 3.3 -0.4 Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, AR-MO 3.0 2.6 -0.4 Logan, UT-ID 2.6 2.2 -0.4 Madison, WI 3.1 2.7 -0.4 Morgantown, WV 4.0 3.6 -0.4 Ogden-Clearfield, UT 3.0 2.6 -0.4 Provo-Orem, UT 2.6 2.2 -0.4 Pueblo, CO 4.7 4.3 -0.4 Salt Lake City, UT 2.8 2.4 -0.4 San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA 4.0 3.6 -0.4 Sherman-Denison, TX 3.8 3.4 -0.4 Urban Honolulu, HI 3.1 2.7 -0.4 Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV 4.1 3.7 -0.4 Atlantic City-Hammonton, NJ 7.4 7.1 -0.3 Bakersfield, CA 9.5 9.2 -0.3 Binghamton, NY 5.3 5.0 -0.3 Brownsville-Harlingen, TX 6.9 6.6 -0.3 Chattanooga, TN-GA 5.1 4.8 -0.3 Columbus, GA-AL 6.3 6.0 -0.3 Dayton, OH 4.5 4.2 -0.3 Dubuque, IA 2.9 2.6 -0.3 Elmira, NY 5.4 5.1 -0.3 Evansville, IN-KY 4.2 3.9 -0.3 Huntington-Ashland, WV-KY-OH 5.5 5.2 -0.3 Ithaca, NY 3.7 3.4 -0.3 Jefferson City, MO 3.3 3.0 -0.3 Killeen-Temple, TX 4.5 4.2 -0.3 Lubbock, TX 3.3 3.0 -0.3 Mansfield, OH 5.4 5.1 -0.3 Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL 5.1 4.8 -0.3 Missoula, MT 3.6 3.3 -0.3 Parkersburg-Vienna, WV 5.5 5.2 -0.3 Rome, GA 5.8 5.5 -0.3 San Angelo, TX 4.2 3.9 -0.3 Sheboygan, WI 3.5 3.2 -0.3 Texarkana, TX-AR 4.6 4.3 -0.3 Trenton, NJ 3.8 3.5 -0.3 Utica-Rome, NY 5.0 4.7 -0.3 Abilene, TX 3.8 3.6 -0.2 Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY 4.1 3.9 -0.2 Ames, IA 1.9 1.7 -0.2 Austin-Round Rock, TX 3.2 3.0 -0.2 Brunswick, GA 5.4 5.2 -0.2 Cheyenne, WY 3.7 3.5 -0.2 Coeur d'Alene, ID 4.8 4.6 -0.2 College Station-Bryan, TX 3.4 3.2 -0.2 Columbus, OH 3.9 3.7 -0.2 Duluth, MN-WI 5.0 4.8 -0.2 Gadsden, AL 5.8 5.6 -0.2 Kingsport-Bristol-Bristol, TN-VA 5.2 5.0 -0.2 Kingston, NY 4.3 4.1 -0.2 Las Cruces, NM 6.9 6.7 -0.2 Macon, GA 5.6 5.4 -0.2 Midland, TX 3.8 3.6 -0.2 Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL 4.6 4.4 -0.2 Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, FL 5.4 5.2 -0.2 Panama City, FL 5.2 5.0 -0.2 Portsmouth, NH-ME NECTA 2.6 2.4 -0.2 Rapid City, SD 3.1 2.9 -0.2 San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX 3.7 3.5 -0.2 Santa Fe, NM 5.2 5.0 -0.2 South Bend-Mishawaka, IN-MI 4.4 4.2 -0.2 Springfield, MO 3.5 3.3 -0.2 Springfield, OH 4.9 4.7 -0.2 Syracuse, NY 4.8 4.6 -0.2 Tyler, TX 4.4 4.2 -0.2 Valdosta, GA 5.2 5.0 -0.2 Waco, TX 3.9 3.7 -0.2 Wheeling, WV-OH 5.9 5.7 -0.2 Akron, OH 4.6 4.5 -0.1 Albuquerque, NM 5.9 5.8 -0.1 Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA 4.9 4.8 -0.1 Auburn-Opelika, AL 4.8 4.7 -0.1 Boise City, ID 3.8 3.7 -0.1 Buffalo-Cheektowaga-Niagara Falls, NY 5.0 4.9 -0.1 Cedar Rapids, IA 3.2 3.1 -0.1 Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI 5.4 5.3 -0.1 Columbia, MO 2.7 2.6 -0.1 Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin, FL 4.3 4.2 -0.1 Dalton, GA 6.0 5.9 -0.1 Daphne-Fairhope-Foley, AL 5.3 5.2 -0.1 Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach, FL 5.3 5.2 -0.1 Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA 3.0 2.9 -0.1 Dothan, AL 5.7 5.6 -0.1 Glens Falls, NY 5.1 5.0 -0.1 Harrisonburg, VA 3.9 3.8 -0.1 Huntsville, AL 5.0 4.9 -0.1 Idaho Falls, ID 3.2 3.1 -0.1 Iowa City, IA 2.2 2.1 -0.1 Jacksonville, FL 4.8 4.7 -0.1 Kennewick-Richland, WA 6.7 6.6 -0.1 Lewiston, ID-WA 3.8 3.7 -0.1 Lewiston-Auburn, ME NECTA 3.6 3.5 -0.1 Longview, WA 7.0 6.9 -0.1 Montgomery, AL 5.5 5.4 -0.1 New Orleans-Metairie, LA 5.1 5.0 -0.1 New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA 4.6 4.5 -0.1 Portland-South Portland, ME NECTA 3.2 3.1 -0.1 Rochester, NY 4.6 4.5 -0.1 Savannah, GA 4.8 4.7 -0.1 Sebring, FL 6.9 6.8 -0.1 Sioux Falls, SD 2.3 2.2 -0.1 Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA 5.9 5.8 -0.1 Toledo, OH 4.6 4.5 -0.1 Winchester, VA-WV 3.6 3.5 -0.1 Amarillo, TX 3.0 3.0 0.0 Bangor, ME NECTA 3.8 3.8 0.0 Billings, MT 3.1 3.1 0.0 Birmingham-Hoover, AL 5.2 5.2 0.0 Cape Coral-Fort Myers, FL 4.6 4.6 0.0 Cape Girardeau, MO-IL 3.9 3.9 0.0 Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI 5.1 5.1 0.0 Gainesville, GA 4.1 4.1 0.0 Goldsboro, NC 5.7 5.7 0.0 Grand Island, NE 3.0 3.0 0.0 Hammond, LA 6.1 6.1 0.0 Kansas City, MO-KS 3.8 3.8 0.0 Lakeland-Winter Haven, FL 5.7 5.7 0.0 Lima, OH 4.5 4.5 0.0 North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton, FL 4.6 4.6 0.0 Odessa, TX 5.3 5.3 0.0 Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent, FL 4.9 4.9 0.0 Pocatello, ID 3.5 3.5 0.0 Punta Gorda, FL 5.4 5.4 0.0 Sebastian-Vero Beach, FL 6.2 6.2 0.0 St. Joseph, MO-KS 3.6 3.6 0.0 Tallahassee, FL 4.8 4.8 0.0 Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL 4.7 4.7 0.0 Warner Robins, GA 5.4 5.4 0.0 Watertown-Fort Drum, NY 6.3 6.3 0.0 Youngstown-Warren-Boardman, OH-PA 5.7 5.7 0.0 Bellingham, WA 5.6 5.7 0.1 Charlottesville, VA 3.3 3.4 0.1 Fairbanks, AK 5.6 5.7 0.1 Hinesville, GA 5.5 5.6 0.1 Homosassa Springs, FL 6.7 6.8 0.1 Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX 4.8 4.9 0.1 Lake Charles, LA 4.4 4.5 0.1 Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI 2.9 3.0 0.1 Mobile, AL 6.6 6.7 0.1 Monroe, LA 5.6 5.7 0.1 Mount Vernon-Anacortes, WA 6.4 6.5 0.1 Naples-Immokalee-Marco Island, FL 4.8 4.9 0.1 Ocala, FL 5.9 6.0 0.1 Olympia-Tumwater, WA 5.5 5.6 0.1 Omaha-Council Bluffs, NE-IA 2.8 2.9 0.1 Port St. Lucie, FL 5.3 5.4 0.1 Richmond, VA 4.0 4.1 0.1 Roanoke, VA 3.8 3.9 0.1 Shreveport-Bossier City, LA 5.9 6.0 0.1 Sioux City, IA-NE-SD 3.0 3.1 0.1 St. Cloud, MN 3.0 3.1 0.1 The Villages, FL 6.9 7.0 0.1 Topeka, KS 3.6 3.7 0.1 Tuscaloosa, AL 5.3 5.4 0.1 Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC 4.5 4.6 0.1 Walla Walla, WA 5.2 5.3 0.1 Yakima, WA 8.2 8.3 0.1 Anchorage, AK 5.6 5.8 0.2 Baton Rouge, LA 4.5 4.7 0.2 Bloomsburg-Berwick, PA 4.2 4.4 0.2 Corpus Christi, TX 5.4 5.6 0.2 Fargo, ND-MN 1.9 2.1 0.2 Gainesville, FL 4.2 4.4 0.2 Grand Forks, ND-MN 2.2 2.4 0.2 Lynchburg, VA 4.2 4.4 0.2 Mankato-North Mankato, MN 2.2 2.4 0.2 Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD 4.4 4.6 0.2 Rochester, MN 2.4 2.6 0.2 Staunton-Waynesboro, VA 3.8 4.0 0.2 Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA 3.7 3.9 0.2 Wenatchee, WA 5.8 6.0 0.2 Wichita, KS 4.0 4.2 0.2 Ann Arbor, MI 2.7 3.0 0.3 Bismarck, ND 2.1 2.4 0.3 Flint, MI 4.4 4.7 0.3 Grand Rapids-Wyoming, MI 2.8 3.1 0.3 Lafayette, LA 6.0 6.3 0.3 Lansing-East Lansing, MI 3.1 3.4 0.3 Lawrence, KS 3.0 3.3 0.3 Lincoln, NE 2.2 2.5 0.3 Muskegon, MI 4.3 4.6 0.3 Saginaw, MI 4.1 4.4 0.3 State College, PA 3.2 3.5 0.3 Victoria, TX 4.4 4.7 0.3 Williamsport, PA 5.3 5.6 0.3 Alexandria, LA 5.5 5.9 0.4 Athens-Clarke County, GA 4.7 5.1 0.4 Battle Creek, MI 3.7 4.1 0.4 Bay City, MI 4.0 4.4 0.4 Blacksburg-Christiansburg-Radford, VA 3.9 4.3 0.4 Chambersburg-Waynesboro, PA 4.2 4.6 0.4 Gettysburg, PA 3.2 3.6 0.4 Joplin, MO 3.3 3.7 0.4 Kalamazoo-Portage, MI 3.4 3.8 0.4 Lawton, OK 4.0 4.4 0.4 Lebanon, PA 3.7 4.1 0.4 Longview, TX 5.1 5.5 0.4 Monroe, MI 3.2 3.6 0.4 Scranton--Wilkes-Barre--Hazleton, PA 5.0 5.4 0.4 York-Hanover, PA 3.7 4.1 0.4 Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ 4.3 4.8 0.5 Altoona, PA 4.3 4.8 0.5 Bremerton-Silverdale, WA 5.0 5.5 0.5 Jackson, MI 3.8 4.3 0.5 Lancaster, PA 3.3 3.8 0.5 Manhattan, KS 2.6 3.1 0.5 Cleveland-Elyria, OH 3.9 4.5 0.6 East Stroudsburg, PA 5.2 5.8 0.6 Harrisburg-Carlisle, PA 3.5 4.1 0.6 Houma-Thibodaux, LA 5.4 6.0 0.6 Midland, MI 3.5 4.1 0.6 Niles-Benton Harbor, MI 3.8 4.4 0.6 Oklahoma City, OK 3.5 4.1 0.6 Pittsburgh, PA 4.5 5.1 0.6 Reading, PA 3.9 4.5 0.6 Johnstown, PA 5.3 6.0 0.7 Tulsa, OK 4.1 4.8 0.7 Casper, WY 5.2 6.0 0.8 Farmington, NM 7.1 7.9 0.8 Erie, PA 4.7 5.9 1.2 Erie, Pennsylvania (+1.2 percentage points), was the only metropolitan area to experience an unemployment rate increase greater than 1.0 percentage point over the year. Overall in November 2016, 271 metropolitan areas had unemployment rates that decreased over the year, 26 areas had no change, and 90 areas had unemployment rates that increased. These data are from the Local Area Unemployment Statistics program and are not seasonally adjusted. Data for the most recent month are preliminary. See "Metropolitan Area Employment and Unemployment November 2016" (HTML) (PDF) to learn more. President Museveni has pledged to establish an irrigation scheme and piped water from River Kagera for the people of Isingiro. The president was speaking during a meeting with FRONASA veterans in Isingiro at Kikagate Primary School. The president also visited Maria Augustine Mutahangawa the lady whom he says helped him offer sanctuary from soldiers who were hunting for him during IDD Amins regime. The president said the long dry spell that has hit Isingiro district was a price being paid for the environmental degradation because of encroachment on wetlands, forest reserves, river banks and lake shores and interfering with the ecological system. He has asked the people of Isingiro to consider planting drought-resistant crops like cassava, millet and Irish potatoes and those with financial means to procure solar-powered water pumps to do their irrigation. He also asked encroachers to leave peacefuly as government will help resettle them. By Samuel Ssebuliba The Auditor General has released a new audit report for the financial year 2015/16 indicating Ugandas skyrocketing domestic debt. While handing over the report to the Speaker Rebecca Kadaga, the Auditor General John Muwanga said Ugandas domestic debt had increased by Shs 446 billion from Shs11.6 trillion by June 2016 to slightly over Shs12 trillion. The report further shows that Shs168 billion was spent on items which do not reflect the nature of expenditure. The Auditor Generals analysis of the government payroll revealed that Shs11.3 billion was paid irregularly by accounting officers in local government authorities through over payments, wrong salaries payments and unsupported pension payments. However Muwanga says although they are trying to weed out corrupt officials, the task has become more complex due to syndicated tactics deployed by perpetrators. Published On Jan 04, 2017 03:19 PM By Rachit Shad FCAs Toledo Assembly plant in Ohio will be its birthplace Jeep Wrangler has been one of the most celebrated marques for the company over the last decade. Introduced back in 2007, it won hearts across the globe with its rugged looks and no-nonsense off-road capabilities. Jeep, part of the Fiat Chrysler Automobile (FCA) group, will unveil an all-new model of the Jeep Wrangler later this year, post which, production will begin in FCAs Toledo assembly plant in Ohio, USA. Unlike in India, where Jeep entered in 2016 with just three models, the company has more than 10 models on sale in America. To accommodate an all-new model, FCA will take some time for shifting of stuff in its currently operational production plants. Currently, Jeep manufactures the Cherokee at the Toledo plant. To make room for the all-new Wrangler, FCA will shut a part of the production plant from April 2017 for six months and modify the assembly line. The Cherokees production will be shifted to Jeeps Belvidere, Illinois, facility. The current Wrangler model will remain in production in Ohio alongside the new one until March 2018. Post that, it will go out of production to make room for the new Jeep pickup. Since the full-fledged production is slated to begin in November 2017, Jeep will unveil the all-new model much earlier than that. The new Wrangler will most likely be offered with an option to choose between three engines, two transmissions, several roof configurations and an updated list of in-car gadgetry. In India, Jeep currently sells the Grand Cherokee, Grand Cherokee SRT and Wrangler Unlimited. All the models are brought to the country via the CBU route. This year Jeep will launch the highly anticipated Jeep Compass in India. It will be the first Jeep product to be manufactured at FCAs Ranjangaon facility, near Pune. American fundraising platform GoFundMe has appointed a director of communications in the UK as part of its European expansion plans for the coming year. The American-based digital fundraising platform announced the appointment of John Coventry to spearhead its communications in the United Kingdom today, and said his appointment was likely to be the first of several expected to join across Europe this year, as part of the organisation's planned expansion. Coventry is the organisations first employee outside of the United States of America, and will join the organisation from digital campaigning platform Change.org, where he is currently the managing director of global communications. The organisation said that Kelsea Little, media director at GoFundMe, currently based in California, will relocate to the UK in order to help Coventry boost the operation in its early stages. A spokeswoman for GoFundMe said that Coventry will be the organisations head of UK communications and is set to take up his new role as of January 2017. He will report directly to Dan Pfeiffer, vice president of policy and communications at GoFundMe. GoFundMe already has the best part of 75,000 campaign organisers in the United Kingdom and has raised over 57m. In 2016, over 38,000 UK-based pages raised over 37m, including the 1.9m raised for causes supported by Jo Cox, the murdered Labour MP. The spokeswoman confirmed however that donations made to GoFundMe pages in the UK are not eligible for Gift Aid, and said that the organisation currently has no plans to change this. She said that the organisation was also currently hiring in both Spain and France. Commenting on his new appointment, Coventry said: The power of the internet to give everyone the tools to stand up for the issues they care about is one of the defining stories of our times. GoFundMe is changing the way people raise and give money, and the team and product are incredibly impressive. Its great to be joining at such an exciting stage of growth and I cant wait to get started. GoFundMe launched in the US in 2010 and has raised over $3bn in that time, making it the worlds largest social fundraising platform. Kirsty Weakley takes a look at some of the issues charities can expect to be grappling with in the coming year. Making predictions is a difficult and dangerous business, and if 2016 taught us anything it was that relying on polling can be very dangerous. That said, here are some things that might happen. Data, data, data and more data How charities collect, store and use information about individual supporters is only going to become more of a focus over the coming year, with new European Union rules requiring all organisations to ensure that they have explicit consent set to come in in early 2018. Towards the end of the last year the Information Commissioners Office fined two large charities after finding they had misused supporter data over a sustained period. Many more investigations are ongoing. So if you get it wrong its costly, both in financial and reputational terms. It took a while, but many big charities have come around to the idea that they have to get their house in order, and quite quickly. Media pressure The Daily Mail has been running an increasingly vitriolic campaign against the international aid sector for the last year. It has certainly been difficult to escape the almost daily front page attacks on those that work for aid charities or the Department for International Development. With Development Secretary Priti Patel seemingly sympathetic to the Mail, this looks set to continue through 2017. Its unlikely the Mail will give it up until DfID is abolished and it can declare victory. Other sectors should take note of the systematic and organised way that the Mail has gone about building its case against the international aid sector. If it can happen to aid, whats to say the next target wont be the environment? Or children's charities? Its worth noting that this is part of a wider and ongoing issue about the charity sectors relationship with the media. Is the media attacking the sector? Is it right to do so? And what effect is this having on public trust in individual chariites and in the wider sector? These are likely to rumble on throughout the year. Im afraid I dont have any answers. Charity Commission will use its new powers As part of the Charities Act last year the Charity Commission was awarded new powers to warn charities and disqualify people from trusteeship. These powers came into force in the autumn. But the initial draft of its guidance on both these issues was met with widespread concern from sector umbrella bodies. Sector representatives were much happier with the tone and content of revised guidance published at the end of the year. The challenge now will be to see how these powers are used in practice. Big challenges for the Fundraising Regulator The brand spanking new Fundraising Regulator came into existence last year. It has the support of government, umbrella bodies and fellow regulatory bodies but now has to get genuine buy-in from the fundraising sector. Letters asking charities to pay the levy started going out in the autumn the regulator now needs the sector to pay up, and to do what it tells them. Another significant challenge for the regulator will be the setting up of the Fundraising Preference Service which many believe to be a crucial part of getting the public to trust fundraisers again. The deadline on this has already been pushed back from April 2017, and the regulator will now only say it is expected at some point in the year. Relationship with government The charity sectors relationship with government hit something of a low point when the Cabinet Office proposed introducing a new clause to grant contracts that would prevent charities using government money to campaign. For a long while it seemed the government was ignoring the concerns of the sector, with a letter signed by more than 100 charity chief executives going unanswered, and Rob Wilson, the minister for civil society, largely absent from voluntary sector events at the Conservative Party Conference. However new Prime Minister Theresa May has spoken supportively of the sector. While the Office for Civil Society has been shunted from the centre of government to the Department for Culture Media and Sport, Wilson went to great pains to stress that it was still very much at the heart of government. May has also appointed Charlotte Lawson, previously development and strategic partnerships director at the Centre for Social Justice, to run a new policy unit within Number Ten, although details are few about what this unit will do. The anti-advocacy clause ended up being watered down and incorporated into a broader set of government grant standards, which NCVO, Acevo and Social Enterprise UK said marked a step in the right direction. So it seems that the sector and the new government are enjoying something of a honeymoon period, though how long this will last is anyones guess. The sector should be alert to the possibility that as government begins the unwieldly process of leaving the European Union that issues they're concerned about could be sidelined. Then again theres also less opportunity for the government to inadvertently do something detrimental. The Uganda national teachers union has challenged the proposed changes to the education curriculum that seek to scrap off Agriculture among other subjects that are taught in Secondary schools at Ordinary Level. This follows the proposal which was made on 21 December, 2016 during a meeting at State house Entebbe between the president, university vice chancellors, ministry of education officials and technocrats from the National Curriculum Development Centre. The union secretary general James Tweheyo says such subjects should have been more concentrated in the learning process of the high school asserting that this will affect the agricultural sector. Two-thousand-seventeen is a milestone year for Canada, marking the 150th anniversary of Confederation. Events will be held across the country throughout the year as Canadians reflect on the past and look ahead at whats to come. In honour of Canadas sesquicentennial, Communications and Marketing (in collaboration with Dals 200th anniversary planning committee) invited members of the Dalhousie community to weigh in: what does it mean to be Canadian? Who comes to mind? What does Canada taste like? What is Canada, to you? Answers varied greatly, and with a desire to keep things to 150 words one for each year since Confederation it was impossible to include everything that makes our students, faculty, staff, alumni and others in our campus community proud to be Canadian. But theres still an awful lot of love to go around. Help celebrate the many people, places and things that define Canada by sharing the video online and telling the world what Canada means to you. Dont forget to include the hashtags #MyCanadaIs and #Canada150. Heres to you, Canada! Mars Chocolate UK Launches Billboard in London for World Braille Day 2017 Published: 2017-01-04 Author: Jodie Hitch | Contact: freuds.com Peer-Reviewed Publication: N/A Jump to: Main Digest | Publications Synopsis: Mars Chocolate UK launches one-off special build billboard in London to mark World Braille Day 2017. Mars Chocolate UK Continues Commitment For Greater Inclusivity With New Maltesers Advert For World Braille Day 2017 - In support of World Braille Day. MALTESERS returns with its next step in the 'Look on the Light Side' campaign, as part of Mars Chocolate UK's ambition to champion greater inclusivity through its advertising. The one-off special build billboard; created by AMV BBDO, will go live in Farringdon from January 4th-15th 2017. advertisements Main Digest Mars Chocolate UK Continues Commitment For Greater Inclusivity With New Maltesers Advert For World Braille Day 2017 - In support of World Braille Day. MALTESERS returns with its next step in the 'Look on the Light Side' campaign, as part of Mars Chocolate UK's ambition to champion greater inclusivity through its advertising. The one-off special build billboard; created by AMV BBDO, will go live in Farringdon from January 4th-15th 2017. Mars Chocolate UK will today launch a one-off special build billboard in London to mark World Braille Day 2017. The advert is part of its ambition to use the MALTESERS brand to champion greater inclusivity in advertising and communications, and better represent disability in media. The new ad, created by Mars Chocolate UK and AMV BBDO, takes the form of a poster made entirely of Braille; a tactile writing system used by people who are visually impaired, with the dots formed of model-made MALTESERS. The advert will be accessible for all through a combination of audio description and a translation hosted on the Maltesers UKFacebook page. This is the latest creative in the MALTESERS 'Look on the Light Side' campaign, which saw three TV adverts featuring disability debut during the Opening Ceremony of the Channel 4 Paralympic Games on Wednesday 7th September 2016; including the first ever TV ad to air entirely in sign language. The adverts, inspired by real-life stories, celebrated a universally awkward situation from a disabled person's perspective-- where the best thing to do is simply 'look on the light side of life.' Inspired by a real-life story from a focus group led by MALTESERS and Scope - the UK's disability charity, the new billboard celebrates the lighter moments in the lives of those who live with a visual impairment. Michele Oliver, VP of Marketing at Mars Chocolate UK: "As one of the UK's biggest advertisers, we have a responsibility and a role to play in championing greater inclusivity in our advertising and communications." "MALTESERS is the brand that looks on the light side of life and this scenario is just one example of the real-life, everyday experiences of people affected by sight loss; and in this case from Michelle in Glasgow. This small-scale activation is a natural next step in our ambition to get closer to our consumers; by normalising disability in advertising and communications, and using humour to challenge preconceptions." Danielle Wootton, Head of Marketing at disability charity Scope, said: "This is a brilliant initiative from MALTESERS. Disabled people often tell us they rarely see their lives reflected in advertising campaigns and the media and that mainstream advertising remains inaccessible - this innovative billboard challenges both issues." "We are also delighted that MALTESERS have continued their campaign to shine a light on the awkwardness that all too often surrounds disability. Scope's own research shows that half of the British public don't personally know anyone disabled and two-thirds of people admit to feeling awkward about disability. Campaigns like these are vital in helping to overcome this awkwardness and ensuring that disabled people are more visible in the media and public life." Disabled World is an independent disability community established in 2004 to provide disability news and information to people with disabilities, seniors, their family and/or carers. See our homepage for informative news, reviews, sports, stories and how-tos. You can also connect with us on Twitter and Facebook or learn more about Disabled World on our about us page. advertisements Disabled World provides general information only. The materials presented are never meant to substitute for professional medical care by a qualified practitioner, nor should they be construed as such. Financial support is derived from advertisements or referral programs, where indicated. Any 3rd party offering or advertising does not constitute an endorsement. Cite This Page (APA): Jodie Hitch. (2017, January 4). Mars Chocolate UK Launches Billboard in London for World Braille Day 2017. Disabled World. Retrieved November 4, 2022 from www.disabled-world.com/news/uk/braille-day-2017.php Permalink: Mars Chocolate UK Launches Billboard in London for World Braille Day 2017 Results from a first-in-human phase 1 study reveal a weakened form of the malaria parasite safely activated strong immune responses in 10 healthy volunteers, whose antibodies completely protected mice from malaria infection. Scientists tamed the parasite by deleting three genes critical to liver infection, offering a promising whole parasite vaccine candidate to combat the disease. Half of the global population currently lives at risk of malaria. In 2015, an estimated 214 million people were infected with the disease, leading to 584,000 deaths. The most clinically advanced vaccine in development contains fragments of the malaria parasite and is only partially protective. Vaccination with whole, live-attenuated parasites offers an alternate approach, but its potential to cause breakthrough malaria infection poses formidable safety challenges. To overcome these hurdles, James Kublin and colleagues created genetically attenuated parasites (GAP) by knocking out three genes (GAP3KO) in Plasmodium falciparum that arrested its development within the liver, thereby preventing its advance to blood infection, the stage of malaria that triggers disease symptoms. The GAP3KO vaccine was administered through infected mosquito bites in a controlled setting. The participants, none of whom developed malaria symptoms or signs of infection in the blood, showed strong protective antibody responses. When transferred into humanized mice, these antibodies blocked malaria infection in the liver. These promising results pave the way to a phase 1b trial of the GAP3KO vaccine candidate using controlled human malaria infection, the researchers say. ### The Engine for Likelihood-Free Inference is open to everyone, and it can help significantly reduce the number of simulator runs. Researchers have succeeded in building an engine for likelihood-free inference, which can be used to model reality as accurately as possible in a simulator. The engine may revolutionise the many fields in which computational simulation is utilised. This development work is resulting in the creation of ELFI, an engine for likelihood-free inference, which will significantly reduce the number of exhausting simulation runs necessary for the estimation of unknown parameters and to which it will be easy to add new inference methods. 'Computational research is based in large part on simulation, and fitting simulator parameters to data is of key importance, in order for the simulator to describe reality as accurately as possible. The ELFI inference software we have developed makes this previously extremely difficult task as easy as possible: software developers can spread their new inference methods to widespread use, with minimal effort, and researchers from other fields can utilise the newest and most effective methods. Open software advances replicability and open science,' says Samuel Kaski, professor at the Department of Computer Sciences and head of the Finnish Centre of Excellence in Computational Inference Research (COIN). Software that is openly available to everyone is based on likelihood-free Bayesian inference, which is regarded as one of the most important innovations in statistics in the past decades. The simulator's output is compared to actual observations, and due to their random -nature simulation runs must be carried out multiple times. The inference software will improve estimation of unknown parameters with e.g. Bayesian optimisation, which will significantly reduce the number of necessary simulation runs. Applications from medicine to environmental science ELFI users will likely be researchers from fields in which traditionally used statistical methods cannot be applied. 'Simulators can be applied in many fields. For example, a simulation of a disease can take into account how the disease is transmitted to another person, how long it will take for a person to recuperate or not recuperate, how a virus mutates or how many unique virus mutations exist. A number of simulation runs will therefore produce a realistic distribution describing the actual situation,' Professor Aki Vehtari explains. The ELFI inference engine is easy to use and scalable, and the inference problem can be easily defined with a graphical model. 'Environmental sciences and applied ecology utilise simulators to study the impact of human activities on the environment. For example, the Finnish Environment Institute (SYKE) is developing an ecosystem model, which will be used for the research of nutrient cycles in the Archipelago Sea and e.g. the impacts of loading caused by agriculture and fisheries to algal blooming. The parametrisation of these models and the assessment of the uncertainties related to their predictions is challenging from a computational standpoint. We will test the ELFI inference engine in these analyses. We hope that parametrisation of the models can be sped up and improved with ELFI, meaning that conclusions are better reasoned,' says Assistant Professor Jarno Vanhatalo about environmental statistics research at the University of Helsinki. ### ELFI was developed by Antti Kangasraasio, Jarno Lintusaari, Kusti Skyten, Marko Jarvenpaa, Henri Vuollekoski, Aki Vehtari and Samuel Kaski of Aalto University, at the Helsinki Institute for Information Technology (HIIT) and the Finnish Centre of Excellence in Computational Inference Research (COIN), which are jointly run by Aalto University and the University of Helsinki; Michael Gutmann from the University of Edinburgh; and Jukka Corander, who represents both the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at the University of Helsinki and the University of Oslo. The Academy of Finland is funding the research project. ELFI can be found online at http://elfi.readthedocs.io Bremerhaven/Germany, 4 January 2017. The thawing and erosion of Arctic permafrost coasts has dramatically increased in the past years and the sea is now consuming more than 20 metres of land per year at some locations. The earth masses removed in this process increasingly blur the shallow water areas and release nutrients and pollutants. Yet, the consequences of these processes on life in the coastal zone and on traditional fishing grounds are virtually unknown. Scientists from the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) urge to focus our attention on the ecological consequences of coastal erosion in the January issue of the journal Nature Climate Change. According to the scientists, an interdisciplinary research program is required, and must involve policy-makers as well as inhabitants of the Arctic coasts right from the onset. The difference could hardly be greater. In the winter, when the Beaufort Sea is frozen around the Canadian permafrost island of Herschel Island (Qikiqtaruk), the sea water in the sample bottles of the AWI researcher Dr Michael Fritz looks crystal clear. In summer, however, when the ice floes are melted and the sun and waves start to wear the cliff away, the water sample of the Potsdam geoscientist contains a cloudy broth. "Herschel Island loses up to 22 metres of coast each year. The thawed permafrost slides down into the sea in the form of mud slides and blurs the surrounding shallow water areas so much that the brownish-grey sediment plumes reach many kilometres into the sea," reports the polar researcher. His observations of Herschel Island can now be transferred to large parts of the Arctic. 34 percent of the coasts around the world are permafrost coasts. This means, especially in the Arctic, that its soil contains a large amount of frozen water, which keeps the sediments together like cement. If the permafrost thaws, the binding effect fails. The sediments as well as animal and plant remains, which are frozen in the permafrost, are suddenly released in the water and are washed away by the waves. In this process, greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane are released and lead to even greater global warming. The eroded material also contains a lot of nutrients and pollutants such as nitrogen, phosphorus or mercury. These substances enter the sea, where they are further transported, degraded or accumulated and permanently alter the living conditions in the shallow water area. "We can until now only guess the implications for the food chain. To date, almost no research has been carried out on the link between the biogeochemistry of the coastal zone and increasing erosion and what consequences this has on ecosystems, on traditional fishing grounds, and thus also on the people of the Arctic," says Michael Fritz. For this reason, Michael Fritz, the Dutch permafrost expert Jorien Vonk and AWI researcher Hugues Lantuit call on the polar research community to systematically investigate the consequences of coastal erosion for the arctic shallow water areas in the current issue of the journal Nature Climate Change. "The processes in the arctic coastal zone play an outstanding role for four reasons. Firstly, the thawed organic material is decomposed by microorganisms, producing greenhouse gases. Secondly, released nutrients stimulate the growth of algae, which can lead to the formation of low-oxygen zones. Thirdly, the addition of organic carbon increases the acidification of the sea, and fourth, the sediments are deposited on the seabed or are transported to the open ocean. This has direct consequences for the biology of the sea," the authors say. The urgency of the topic also increases with the warming of the Arctic: "We believe that the erosion of the Arctic coasts will increase drastically as a result of rising temperatures, the shrinking of the protective sea ice cover, and the rising sea level," says AWI permafrost expert and co-author Professor Hugues Lantuit. He adds that "during the ice-free season the waves can hit the coast higher and affect more land". An erosion of that magnitude will without a doubt alter the food web in the coastal zone, and will affect those people who depend on fishing and who cultivate their traditional way of life along Arctic coasts. The main reason why research on this topic has not been carried out so far is linked to logistics. Much of the arctic coastal and shallow water zones are not accessible either by car or plane, or by large icebreakers. There is also no arctic-wide station network at the coast that could be used by researchers to collect reliable data. "Politics and science must find common solutions here, for example within the framework of the EU research program Horizon 2020. In order to make concrete statements on the consequences of erosion, we need an interdisciplinary research program that includes policy-makers and the Arctic population from the beginning," says Michael Fritz. ### PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] -- Judging by their name alone, orange puffball sea sponges might seem unlikely paragons of structural strength. But maintaining their shape at the bottom of the churning ocean is critical to the creatures' survival, and new research shows that tiny structural rods in their bodies have evolved the optimal shape to avoid buckling under pressure. The rods, called strongyloxea spicules, measure about 2 millimeters long and are thinner than a human hair. Hundreds of them are bundled together, forming stiff rib-like structures inside the orange puffball's spongy body. It was the odd and remarkably consistent shape of each spicule that caught the eye of Brown University engineers Haneesh Kesari and Michael Monn. Each one is symmetrically tapered along its length -- going gradually from fatter in the middle to thinner at the ends. Using structural mechanics models and a bit of digging in obscure mathematics journals, Monn and Kesari showed the peculiar shape of the spicules to be optimal for resistance to buckling, the primary mode of failure for slender structures. This natural shape could provide a blueprint for increasing the buckling resistance in all kinds of slender human-made structures, from building columns to bicycle spokes to arterial stents, the researchers say. "This is one of the rare examples that we're aware of where a natural structure is not just well-suited for a given function, but actually approaches a theoretical optimum," said Kesari, an assistant professor of engineering at Brown. "There's no engineering analog for this shape -- we don't see any columns or other slender structures that are tapered in this way. So in this case, nature has shown us something quite new that we think could be useful in engineering." The findings are published in the journal Scientific Reports. Function and form Orange puffball sponges (Tethya aurantia) are native to the Mediterranean Sea. They live mainly in rocky coastal environments, where they're subject to the constant stress of underwater waves and tidal forces. Sponges are filter feeders -- they pump water through their bodies to extract nutrients and oxygen. To do this, their bodies need to be porous and compliant, but they also need enough stiffness to avoid being deformed too much. "If you compress them too much, you're essentially choking them," Kesari said. "So maintaining their stiffness is critical to their survival." And that means the spicules, which make up the rib-like structures that give sponges their stiffness, are critical components. When Monn and Kesari saw the shapes of the spicules under a microscope, the consistency of the tapered shape from spicule to spicule was hard to miss. "We saw the shape and wondered if there might be an engineering principle at work here," Kesari said. To figure that out, the researchers first needed to understand what forces were acting on each individual spicule. So Monn and Kesari developed a structural mechanics model of spicules bundled within a sponge's ribs. The model showed that the mismatch in stiffness between the bulk of the sponge's soft body and the more rigid spicules causes each spicule to experience primarily one type of mechanical loading -- a compression load on each of its ends. "You can imagine taking a toothpick and trying to squeeze it longways between your fingers," Monn said. "That's how these spicules see the world." The primary mode of failure for a structure with this mechanical load is through buckling. At a certain critical load, the structure starts to bend somewhere along its length. Once the bending starts, the force transferred by the load is amplified at the bending point, which causes the structure to break or collapse. Once Kesari and Monn knew what forces were acting on the spicules and how they would fail, the next step was looking to see if there was anything special about them that helped them resist buckling. Scanning electron microscope images of the inside of a spicule and other tests showed that they were monolithic silica -- essentially glass. "We could see that there was no funny business going on with the material properties," Monn said. "If there was anything contributing to its mechanical performance, it would have to be the shape." Optimal shape Kesari and Monn combed the literature to see if they could find anything on tapering in slender structures. They came up empty in the modern engineering literature. But they found something interesting published more than 150 years ago by a German scientist named Thomas Clausen. In 1851, Clausen proposed that columns that are tapered toward their ends should have more buckling resistance than plain cylinders, which had been and still are the primary design for architectural columns. In the 1960s, mathematician Joseph Keller published an ironclad mathematical proof that the Clausen column was indeed optimal for resistance to buckling -- having 33 percent better resistance than a cylinder. Even compared to a very similar shape -- an ellipse, which is slightly fatter in the middle and pointier at the ends -- the Clausen column had 18 percent better buckling resistance. Knowing what the optimal column shape is, Monn and Kesari started making precise dimensional measurements of dozens of spicules. They showed that their shapes were remarkably consistent and nearly identical to that of the Clausen column. "The spicules were a match for the best shape of all possible column shapes," Monn said. It seems in this case, natural selection figured out something that engineers have not. Despite the fact that it's been mathematically shown to be the optimal column shape, the Clausen profile isn't widely known in the engineering community. Kesari and Monn hope this work might bring it out of the shadows. "We see this as an addition to our library of structural designs," Monn said. "We're not just talking about an improvement of a few percent. This shape is 33 percent better than the cylinder, which is quite an improvement." In particular, the shape would be particularly useful in a new generation of materials made from nanoscale truss structures. "It would be easy to 3-D print the Clausen profile into these materials, and you'd get a tremendous increase in buckling resistance, which is often how these materials fail." Lessons from nature The field of bio-inspired engineering began at a time when many people viewed adaptive evolution as an unceasing march toward perfection. If that were true, scientists should find untold numbers of optimal structures in nature. But the modern understanding of evolution is a bit different. It's now understood that in order for a trait to be conserved by natural selection, it doesn't need to be optimal. It just needs to be good enough to work. That has put a bit of a damper on the enthusiasm for bio-inspired engineering, Kesari and Monn say. However, they say, this work shows that nearly optimal structures are out there if researchers look in the right places. In this case, they looked at creatures from a very old phylum -- sea sponges are among the very first animals on Earth -- with plenty of time to evolve under consistent selection pressures. Sponges are also fairly simple creatures, so understanding the function of a given trait is relatively straightforward. In this case, the spicule appears to have one and only one job to do -- provide stiffness. Compare that to, for example, human bone, which not only provides support but must also accommodate arteries, provide attachment points for muscles and house bone marrow. Those other functions may cause tradeoffs in adaptations for strength or stiffness. "With the sponges, you have lots of evolutionary pressure, lots of time and opportunity to respond to that pressure, and functional elements that can be easily identified," Kesari said. With those as guiding principles, there may well be more ideal structures out there waiting to be found. "This work shows that nature can hit an optimum," Kesari said, "and the biological world can still be hiding completely new designs of considerable technological significance in plain sight." ### The work was supported by the National Science Foundation (1562656). A study led by researchers at Children's Hospital Los Angeles demonstrates what lead investigator Bradley Peterson, MD, calls "a critical mass of evidence" of a common underlying lifelong vulnerability in both children and adults who stutter. They discovered that regional cerebral blood flow is reduced in the Broca's area - the region in the frontal lobe of the brain linked to speech production - in persons who stutter. More severe stuttering is associated with even greater reductions in blood flow to this region. In addition, a greater abnormality of cerebral blood flow in the posterior language loop, associated with processing words that we hear, correlates with more severe stuttering. This finding suggests that a common pathophysiology throughout the neural "language" loop that connects the frontal and posterior temporal lobe likely contributes to stuttering severity. Peterson, who is director of the Institute for the Developing Mind at CHLA and a professor of the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California, says that such a study of resting blood flow, or perfusion, has never before been conducted in persons who stutter. His team also recently published a study using proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy to look at brain regions in both adults and children who stutter. Those findings demonstrated links between stuttering and changes in the brain circuits that control speech production, as well as those supporting attention and emotion. The present blood flow study adds significantly to the findings from that prior study and furthermore suggests that disturbances in the speech processing areas of the brain are likely of central importance as a cause of stuttering. According to Peterson, the new study - published on December 30 in the journal Human Brain Mapping - provides scientists with a completely different window into the brain. The researchers were able to zero in on the Broca's area as well as related brain circuitry specifically linked to speech, using regional cerebral blood flow as a measure of brain activity, since blood flow is typically coupled with neural activity. "When other portions of the brain circuit related to speech were also affected according to our blood flow measurements, we saw more severe stuttering in both children and adults," said first author Jay Desai, MD, a clinical neurologist at CHLA. "Blood flow was inversely correlated to the degree of stuttering - the more severe the stuttering, the less blood flow to this part of the brain," said Desai, adding that the study results were "quite striking." ### Additional contributors to the study include Ravi Bansal, Children's Hospital Los Angeles and the Keck School of Medicine of USC; Yuankai Huo and Zhishun Wang, Columbia University; Steven C. R. Williams, David Lythgoe and Fernando O. Zelaya, King's College, London, UK. This work was supported in part by Children's Hospital Los Angeles, the National Institute of Mental Health grant K0274677, the Milhiser family fund and the Murphy endowment at Columbia University. About Children's Hospital Los Angeles Children's Hospital Los Angeles has been named the best children's hospital in California and among the top 10 in the nation for clinical excellence with its selection to the prestigious U.S. News & World Report Honor Roll. Children's Hospital is home to The Saban Research Institute, one of the largest and most productive pediatric research facilities in the United States. Children's Hospital is also one of America's premier teaching hospitals through its affiliation since 1932 with the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California. For more information, visit CHLA.org. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and LinkedIn, or visit our blog at http://researchlablog.org/. Cornell University researchers and a global team of astronomers have uncovered the cosmological source of a sporadically repeating milliseconds-long "fast radio burst." Once thinking these bursts had emanated from within the Milky Way galaxy, or from cosmic neighbors, the astronomers now confirm that they are long-distance flashes from across the universe - more than 3 billion light-years away, according to a new report published Jan. 4 in the journal Nature. "These radio flashes must have enormous amounts of energy to be visible from over 3 billion light-years away," said lead author Shami Chatterjee, Cornell senior research associate in astronomy. Other Cornell researchers on this paper, "Direct Localization of a Fast Radio Burst and Its Enigmatic Counterpart," include James Cordes, the George Feldstein Professor of Astronomy; and Robert Wharton, doctoral student in astronomy. Astronomers appreciate this breakthrough news, Cordes said: "Now we can do real astrophysical analysis on the burst source and the galaxy that harbors it." Fast radio bursts, or FRBs, were first seen about 10 years ago. In November 2012, Cornell astronomers using the Arecibo Observatory captured its first FRB - which lasted three one-thousandths of a second. Laura Spitler, discovered it as a postdoctoral researcher sifting through radio telescope data. It was called FRB 121102. Until then, only the Parkes Radio Telescope in New South Wales, Australia, had discovered a handful of previously known FRBs. Rising just ahead of the winter constellation Orion, FRB 121102 - the one discovered at Arecibo - has a home in the pentagon-shaped constellation Auriga. "There's a patch of the sky from which we're getting this signal - and the patch of the sky is arc minutes in diameter. In that patch are hundreds of sources. Lots of stars, lots of galaxies, lots of stuff," said Chatterjee. To locate the source of this sporadic flash, astronomers blended detective work with modern telescope technology, while combing through terabytes of data. The Arecibo radio telescope has a resolution of three arc minutes or about one-tenth of the moon's diameter, but that is not precise enough to identify uniquely the source. Needing higher resolution to find it, the astronomers sought the help of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory's Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array, near Socorro, New Mexico, which provided more than 80 hours of observation time. The radio telescope array - a collection of dishes aimed at the cosmos - allows for better than one arc-second resolution. After 50 fruitless hours of staring, the scientists hit the jackpot. "We caught the fast radio burst in the act," said Chatterjee. The astronomers used a full range of telescopes to observe that sliver of sky, including NASA's Chandra X-ray satellite, Chile's Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array, and the Gemini optical telescope in Mauna Kea, Hawaii. "With the Gemini telescope, this optical blob looks like a faint, faint, faint galaxy - and this faint, fuzzy blob corresponds with, smack onto, the radio source," Chatterjee said. Other telescopes around the world helped to plot the light spectrum. "It's got a detectable signal of very particular colors of hydrogen, oxygen and other elements - but Doppler-shifted," said Chatterjee, explaining that the shifting wavelengths denote cosmic expansion and provide clues for the source distance. The next big question is the nature of the source: What powers these bursts and are there other ones that repeat? "We think it may be a magnetar - a newborn neutron star with a huge magnetic field, inside a supernova remnant or a pulsar wind nebula - somehow producing these prodigious pulses," said Chatterjee. "Or, it may be an active galactic nucleus of a dwarf galaxy. That would be novel. Or, it may be a combination of those two ideas - explaining why what we're seeing may be somewhat rare." ### Cornell University has television, ISDN and dedicated Skype/Google+ Hangout studios available for media interviews. DURHAM, N.C. -- Contrary to popular belief, increasing politicians' paychecks is not likely to encourage more working-class people to run for office, new research from Duke University finds. Reformers often say that low legislative salaries are a big reason why wealthy or retired Americans are far more likely to hold office. However, a study by Nicholas Carnes, assistant professor at Duke University's Sanford School of Public Policy, and Eric Hansen, a Ph.D. candidate at UNC-Chapel Hill, found in states that offer more pay, legislatures remain dominated by white-collar professionals. The study, "Does Paying Politicians More Promote Economic Diversity in Legislatures?" was published online in the American Political Science Review on Dec. 28. "On a lot of measures, politicians who are paid more perform better," Carnes said. "Research shows they have greater expertise, show up for votes more often and are more productive. Reformers argue higher pay also would have the benefit of increasing economic diversity in our political institutions. Our research shows this isn't true." What reformers overlook is the extraordinary cost of campaigning -- in money, time and energy, Carnes said. "Running for office takes months and months. Candidates have to attend dozens of public events, and get educated about different issues. They have to make campaigning a full-time job, and that is the barrier that keeps out people who are not wealthy. If you would lose your home while campaigning, it doesn't matter whether the job -- if you win -- offers $10,000 or $80,000." Previous research has shown white-collar professionals are over-represented in government office relative to the general population, and that the economic background of legislators affects their decision-making while in office. More than half the country works in manual labor or service industry jobs, yet just 2 percent of congressional seats and 3 percent of state legislative seats are held by people who had blue-collar jobs before getting into politics. The shortage of blue-collar representatives leads to economic policies that favor affluent Americans, research has found. The new study examined data on the salaries and employment backgrounds of state legislators in all 50 states. The data included Carnes' 2012 National Candidate Study, which surveyed 10,000 candidates who ran for state legislative offices that year, whether successful or not, as well as data compiled by the National Conference of State Legislatures in 1993, 1995 and 2007. Those data mirrored a 1979 survey by the Insurance Information Institute on the occupations previously held by state legislators nationwide. Results were consistent across all the years studied, Carnes said. Legislative salaries vary widely from state to state. New Hampshire and New Mexico are on the low end, paying, respectively, $200 per two-year term and nothing but a $150 per diem while in session. On the other end of the spectrum, California, New York and Michigan pay more than $75,000 a year. The number of former blue-collar workers holding elected state offices was lowest -- about 2 percent on average -- in states paying the highest salaries, and highest -- about 7 percent -- in states that pay the least. "Rather than making political jobs more appealing to lower-paid people, it appears higher salaries make them even more attractive to higher-paid professionals and make it even more difficult for working-class people to break into politics," Carnes said. ### Citation: Nicholas Carnes and Eric R. Hansen. "Does Paying Politicians More Promote Economic Diversity in Legislatures?" American Political Science Review 110(4) 699-716. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S000305541600054X This spectacular new image is one of the largest near-infrared high-resolution mosaics of the Orion A molecular cloud, the nearest known massive star factory, lying about 1350 light-years from Earth. It was taken using the VISTA infrared survey telescope at ESO's Paranal Observatory in northern Chile and reveals many young stars and other objects normally buried deep inside the dusty clouds. The new image from the VISION survey (VIenna Survey In Orion) is a montage of images taken in the near-infrared part of the spectrum [1] by the VISTA survey telescope at ESO's Paranal Observatory in Chile. It covers the whole of the Orion A molecular cloud, one of the two giant molecular clouds in the Orion molecular cloud complex (OMC). Orion A extends for approximately eight degrees to the south of the familiar part of Orion known as the sword [2]. VISTA is the world's largest dedicated survey telescope, and has a large field of view imaged with very sensitive infrared detectors, characteristics that made it ideal for obtaining the deep, high-quality infrared images required by this ambitious survey. The VISION survey has resulted in a catalogue containing almost 800 000 individually identified stars, young stellar objects and distant galaxies, This represents better depth and coverage than any other survey of this region to date [3]. VISTA can see light that the human eye cannot, allowing astronomers to identify many otherwise hidden objects in the stellar nursery. Very young stars that cannot be seen in visible-light images are revealed when observed at longer infrared wavelengths, where the dust that shrouds them is more transparent. The new image represents a step towards a complete picture of the star formation processes in Orion A, for both low and high mass stars. The most spectacular object is the glorious Orion Nebula, also called Messier 42 [4] seen towards the left of the image. This region forms part of the sword of the famous bright constellation of Orion (The Hunter)(constellation). The VISTA catalogue covers both familiar objects and new discoveries. These include five new young stellar object candidates and ten candidate galaxy clusters. Elsewhere in the image, we can look into Orion A's dark molecular clouds and spot many hidden treasures, including discs of material that could give birth to new stars (pre-stellar discs), nebulosity associated with newly-born stars (Herbig-Haro objects), smaller star clusters and even galaxy clusters lying far beyond the Milky Way. The VISION survey allows the earliest evolutionary phases of young stars within nearby molecular clouds to be systematically studied. This impressively detailed image of Orion A establishes a new observational foundation for further studies of star and cluster formation and once again highlights the power of the VISTA telescope to image wide areas of sky quickly and deeply in the near-infrared part of the spectrum [5]. ### Notes [1] The VISION survey covers approximately 18.3 square degrees at a scale of about one-third of an arcsecond per pixel. [2] The other giant molecular cloud in the Orion Molecular Cloud is Orion B, which lies east of Orion's Belt. [3] The complete VISION survey includes an even larger region than is shown in this picture, which covers 39 578 x 23 069 pixels. [4] The Orion nebula was first described in the early seventeenth century although the identity of the discoverer is uncertain. The French comet-hunter Messier made an accurate sketch of its main features in the mid-eighteenth century and gave it the number 42 in his famous catalogue. He also allocated the number 43 to the smaller detached region just north of the main part of the nebula. Later William Herschel speculated that the nebula might be "the chaotic material of future suns" and astronomers have since discovered that the mist is indeed gas glowing in the fierce ultraviolet light from young hot stars that have recently formed there. [5] The successful VISION survey of Orion will be followed by a new, bigger public survey of other star-forming regions with VISTA, called VISIONS, which will start in April 2017. More information This research is presented in a paper entitled "VISION - Vienna survey in Orion I. VISTA Orion A Survey", by S. Meingast et al., published in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics. The team is composed of: Stefan Meingast (University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria), Joao Alves (University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria), Diego Mardones (Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile) , Paula Teixeira (University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria), Marco Lombardi (University of Milan, Milan, Italy), Josefa Groschedl (University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria), Joana Ascenso (CENTRA, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal; Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal), Herve Bouy (Centro de Astrobiologia, Madrid, Spain), Jan Forbrich (University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria), Alyssa Goodman (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge MA, USA), Alvaro Hacar (University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria), Birgit Hasenberger (University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria), Jouni Kainulainen (Max-Planck-Institute for Astronomy, Heidelberg, Germany), Karolina Kubiak (University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria), Charles Lada (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, USA), Elizabeth Lada (University of Florida, Gainesville, USA), Andre Moitinho (SIM/CENTRA, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal), Monika Petr-Gotzens (ESO, Garching, Germany), Lara Rodrigues (Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile) and Carlos G. Roman-Zuniga (UNAM, Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico). ESO is the foremost intergovernmental astronomy organisation in Europe and the world's most productive ground-based astronomical observatory by far. It is supported by 16 countries: Austria, Belgium, Brazil, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Finland, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, along with the host state of Chile. ESO carries out an ambitious programme focused on the design, construction and operation of powerful ground-based observing facilities enabling astronomers to make important scientific discoveries. ESO also plays a leading role in promoting and organising cooperation in astronomical research. ESO operates three unique world-class observing sites in Chile: La Silla, Paranal and Chajnantor. At Paranal, ESO operates the Very Large Telescope, the world's most advanced visible-light astronomical observatory and two survey telescopes. VISTA works in the infrared and is the world's largest survey telescope and the VLT Survey Telescope is the largest telescope designed to exclusively survey the skies in visible light. ESO is a major partner in ALMA, the largest astronomical project in existence. And on Cerro Armazones, close to Paranal, ESO is building the 39-metre European Extremely Large Telescope, the E-ELT, which will become "the world's biggest eye on the sky". Links Approximately 359 million light-years away from Earth, there is a galaxy with an innocuous name (PGC 1000714) that doesn't look quite like anything astronomers have observed before. New research provides a first description of a well-defined elliptical-like core surrounded by two circular rings -- a galaxy that appears to belong to a class of rarely observed, Hoag-type galaxies. This work was done by scientists at the University of Minnesota Duluth and the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences. (You can see video about this research at https://youtu.be/F5ds04xtRdY.) "Less than 0.1% of all observed galaxies are Hoag-type galaxies," says Burcin Mutlu-Pakdil, lead author of a paper on this work and a graduate student at the Minnesota Institute for Astrophysics, University of Minnesota Twin Cities and University of Minnesota Duluth. Hoag-type galaxies are round cores surrounded by a circular ring, with nothing visibly connecting them. The majority of observed galaxies are disc-shaped like our own Milky Way. Galaxies with unusual appearances give astronomers unique insights into how galaxies are formed and change. The researchers collected multi-waveband images of the galaxy, which is only easily observable in the Southern Hemisphere, using a large diameter telescope in the Chilean mountains. These images were used to determine the ages of the two main features of the galaxy, the outer ring and the central body. While the researchers found a blue and young (0.13 billion years) outer ring, surrounding a red and older (5.5 billion years) central core, they were surprised to uncover evidence for second inner ring around the central body. To document this second ring, researchers took their images and subtracted out a model of the core. This allowed them to observe and measure the obscured, second inner ring structure. "We've observed galaxies with a blue ring around a central red body before, the most well-known of these is Hoag's object. However, the unique feature of this galaxy is what appears to be an older diffuse red inner ring," says Patrick Treuthardt, co-author of the study and an astrophysicist at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences. Galaxy rings are regions where stars have formed from colliding gas. "The different colors of the inner and outer ring suggest that this galaxy has experienced two different formation periods," Mutlu-Pakdil says. "From these initial single snapshots in time, it's impossible to know how the rings of this particular galaxy were formed." The researchers say that by accumulating snapshot views of other galaxies like this one astronomers can begin to understand how unusual galaxies are formed and evolve. While galaxy shapes can be the product of internal or external environmental interactions, the authors speculate that the outer ring may be the result of this galaxy incorporating portions of a once nearby gas-rich dwarf galaxy. They also say that inferring the history of the older inner ring would require the collection of higher-resolution infrared data. "Whenever we find a unique or strange object to study, it challenges our current theories and assumptions about how the Universe works. It usually tells us that we still have a lot to learn," says Treuthardt. ### An uncorrected proof of the peer-reviewed paper, "A photometric study of the peculiar and potentially double ringed, nonbarred galaxy: PGC 1000714," was published online in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society by Oxford University Press on Nov. 30, 2016 and will appear online at http://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stw3107. The paper was co-authored by Mithila Mangedarage and Marc S. Seigar of the University of Minnesota Duluth. Burcin Mutlu-Pakdil received funding for this work from the Swenson College of Science and Engineering at the University of Minnesota Duluth. Computational equipment was provided by the Theodore Dunham, Jr. Fund for Astrophysical Research. Note to Editors: The study abstract follows. "A photometric study of the peculiar and potentially double ringed, nonbarred galaxy: PGC 1000714" Authors: Burcin Mutlu Pakdil, University of Minnesota Duluth and University of Minnesota Twin Cities; Mithila Mangedarage, University of Minnesota Duluth; Marc S. Seigar, University of Minnesota Duluth; Patrick Treuthardt, North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences Published: Nov. 30, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society DOI: 10.1093/mnras/stw3107 Abstract: We present a photometric study of PGC 1000714, a galaxy resembling Hoag's Object with a complete detached outer ring, that has not yet been described in the literature. Since the Hoag-type galaxies are extremely rare and peculiar systems, it is necessary to increase the sample of known objects by performing the detailed studies on the possible candidates to derive conclusions about their nature, evolution, and systematic properties. We therefore performed surface photometry of the central body by using the archival near-UV, infrared data and the new optical data (BVRI). This current work has revealed for the first time an elliptical galaxy with two fairly round rings. The central body follows well a r1/4 light profile, with no sign of a bar or stellar disc. By reconstructing the observed spectral energy distribution (SED), we recover the stellar population properties of the central body and the outer ring. Our work suggests different formation histories for the galaxy components. Possible origins of the galaxy are discussed, and we conclude that a recent accretion event is the most plausible scenario that accounts for the observational characteristic of PGC 1000714. BOSTON, MA USA (January 4, 2017) - How humpback whales use marine habitats off the eastern coast of Africa is only partially understood, and that has become a conservation concern as offshore energy exploration expands in the region. However, a new study published in Marine Ecology Progress Series found that humpback whales that were satellite tagged off the coast of Madagascar during peak breeding season are traveling much further in the southwest Indian Ocean than previously thought. This research can help define potentially sensitive areas that should be protected from the disruption of seismic testing or other industrial development that could be destructive to the humpback population and this globally important marine habitat. For this field research, twenty-three humpback whales were satellite tagged off Madagascar during the height of breeding season, a scientific first. The study was led by the New England Aquarium's Dr. Salvatore Cerchio, while working with the Wildlife Conservation Society in New York, in a broad international collaboration with the University of Paris Sud, the Madagascar-based NGO Cetamada, and NOAA's National Marine Mammal Lab in Seattle. The research team sought to examine movements of humpback whales in the southwestern Indian Ocean where they breed and calf during the southern hemisphere's winter months, after migrating from their sub-Antarctic summer feeding waters. "It's our hope that this work will help us understand more accurately the breeding and migratory behavior of humpback whales in the southwest Indian Ocean," said Dr. Cerchio who is also affiliated with Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. "As more development and industry encroaches on their habitat, it will be important for us to know how these potentially sensitive areas should be protected for this vital species." Among the more significant discoveries was that males and females had different movement patterns. Males were more localized as they seemed to establish preferred areas from which to broadcast their famous songs, while females - quite unexpectedly - showed more long distance travel patterns presumably in search of more mates. Two areas along Madagascar's 900 mile length were also found to be important and possibly distinct breeding habitats. Whales tagged in northeastern waters spent more time on the central east coast, while whales tagged in the southwest frequented the southern coast of the world's fourth largest island. Several whales from the northeast study group swam westward across the Mozambique Channel to near the African mainland where there is also another significant sub-population of wintering humpbacks. This is a movement corridor that was previously unknown. An historic humpback first was also documented as a male cruising up the east African coast swam all the way to southern Somalia. En route, he crossed the equator making him the first known humpback to do so in the Indian Ocean. Humpback populations are found around the world in both the southern and northern hemispheres feeding during their respective summers in high latitude, cold waters then migrating to tropical waters for the winter to breed and give birth. Humpbacks have been documented crossing the equator in only two other parts of the world. "This was very exciting" added Cerchio, "because there is a highly endangered population of humpback whales in the northern Indian Ocean that is believed to be completely isolated from the Southern Hemisphere populations. That this male from Madagascar crossed into the northern Indian Ocean was very unexpected." Another impressive long distance traveler was a mother and calf tagged off of Madagascar that swam all the way to Kenyan waters. The movement of individual whales from Madagascar to East Africa suggests there is more to learn about the mixing of regional humpback populations across the southwest Indian Ocean. This has direct relevance to efforts by the International Whaling Commission to more accurately assess the recovery of humpback whales in the region after their depletion by commercial whaling in the 20th Century. Dr. Laurene Trudelle of the University of Paris Sud noted, "Breeding areas of humpback whales are typically located in coastal habitats and are generally subject to strong human pressures that affect the quality of these breeding habitats." Recently, the southwest Indian Ocean has experienced expanded industrial development with more oil and gas exploration and production, mineral mining, and coastal development. Major processing of mined materials around the central and southern Madagascar coast is occurring, and seismic surveys are increasing throughout the region, which is commonly known to disturb humpback whales and their singing breeding behavior. Trudelle added, "Providing knowledge on the movements and the distribution patterns of humpback whales off Madagascar and more broadly in the southwestern Indian Ocean can be used to assist future management decisions." Dr. Trudelle published a companion paper on the influence of environmental parameters on the tagged whales in Royal Society Open Science, as part of her doctoral dissertation at University of Paris Sud using data from the collaborative study. ### This research was funded by contributors to the Wildlife Conservation Society, the Total Foundation to NeuroPSI and the University of Paris Sud. Researchers have long known that collaboration and help seeking are keys to boosting productivity and producing better work. But few tools currently exist to facilitate these behaviors in effective ways. Northwestern Engineering's Elizabeth Gerber and Haoqi Zhang have developed a new online platform to help fill this void. Launching today, Pair Research is free and available at pair.meteorapp.com. The tool helps its users overcome productivity blocks and build teams. "Sometimes students don't realize that they need help," said Zhang, Allen K. and Johnnie Cordell Breed Junior Professor of Design and assistant professor of electrical engineering and computer science in Northwestern's McCormick School of Engineering. "And when they realize they do need help, they don't know where to find it. We wanted to develop a way for our students to better support each other." Pair Research simplifies the process of asking and receiving help. After visiting the online platform, a user types in a request for help and how much time is needed to accomplish the task. The user might need someone to, for example, proofread a paper, test computer code, or motivate them to stop procrastinating. Other users then respond to the request, rating their ability to help with the task on a scale of one to five. A matching algorithm then recommends the most optimal pairings for collaboration, informal learning, and productivity. "It makes use of expertise in the most effective way possible," Zhang said. "Pairs are matched to help each other, so reciprocity is built into the system. Over time, this reciprocity builds a more supportive community." The idea behind the Pair Research platform was formed in 2014 in Zhang and Gerber's Delta Lab, an interdisciplinary research lab and design studio that aims to improve the way people design, work, learn, play, and interact. Along with colleagues at MIT and Georgia Tech, Zhang and Gerber coined the term "pair research" to describe a new type of interaction in which students were paired up weekly to work together on each other's projects. At the time, the prototype for managing the pair research pool was little more than a spreadsheet. The team developed it further into a fully functional online platform that can be accessed from anywhere. The tool was then tested for several months with undergraduates, graduate students, and faculty members in the Delta Lab. "The spreadsheet was difficult to share," Zhang said. "We want research groups everywhere in any field to be able to use the tool to promote collaboration and communication." Student and faculty members of the test group have already found value in the new tool. "It's a great way to share expertise and learn more about what other people are working on," said Michael Horn, associate professor of computer science and education and social policy. "We used Pair Research at our department party to make new connections among labs," said Steven Franconeri, professor of psychology in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences. "And I left with a new collaborator." Not only does Pair Research help students with productivity, it also helps them collaborate with unexpected partners. The algorithm is tweaked to favor new pairings thus exposing students to different perspectives and skill sets with each match. Zhang said he has watched the culture within his lab shift to becoming more of a community or even family. "Many students feel like they need to lead their own project," Zhang said. "Normalizing the struggle of working alone and not asking for help is detrimental to productivity and learning. I want my students to be willing to help each other. Who wouldn't want that?" ### HOUSTON - (Jan. 4, 2017) - A few nanoscale adjustments may be all that is required to make graphene-nanotube junctions excel at transferring heat, according to Rice University scientists. The Rice lab of theoretical physicist Boris Yakobson found that putting a cone-like "chimney" between the graphene and nanotube all but eliminates a barrier that blocks heat from escaping. The research appears in the American Chemical Society's Journal of Physical Chemistry C. Heat is transferred through phonons, quasiparticle waves that also transmit sound. The Rice theory offers a strategy to channel damaging heat away from next-generation nano-electronics. Both graphene and carbon nanotubes consist of six-atom rings, which create a chicken-wire appearance, and both excel at the rapid transfer of electricity and phonons. But when a nanotube grows from graphene, atoms facilitate the turn by forming heptagonal (seven-member) rings instead. Scientists have determined that forests of nanotubes grown from graphene are excellent for storing hydrogen for energy applications, but in electronics, the heptagons scatter phonons and hinder the escape of heat through the pillars. The Rice researchers discovered through computer simulations that removing atoms here and there from the two-dimensional graphene base would force a cone to form between the graphene and the nanotube. The geometric properties (aka topology) of the graphene-to-cone and cone-to-nanotube transitions require the same total number of heptagons, but they are more sparsely spaced and leave a clear path of hexagons available for heat to race up the chimney. "Our interest in advancing new applications for low-dimensional carbon -- fullerenes, nanotubes and graphene -- is broad," Yakobson said. "One way is to use them as building blocks to fill three-dimensional spaces with different designs, creating anisotropic, nonuniform scaffolds with properties that none of the current bulk materials have. In this case, we studied a combination of nanotubes and graphene, connected by cones, motivated by seeing such shapes obtained in our colleagues' experimental labs." The researchers tested phonon conduction through simulations of free-standing nanotubes, pillared graphene and nano-chimneys with a cone radius of either 20 or 40 angstroms. The pillared graphene was 20 percent less conductive than plain nanotubes. The 20-angstrom nano-chimneys were just as conductive as plain nanotubes, while 40-angstrom cones were 20 percent better than the nanotubes. "The tunability of such structures is virtually limitless, stemming from the vast combinatorial possibilities of arranging the elementary modules," said Alex Kutana, a Rice research scientist and co-author of the study. "The actual challenge is to find the most useful structures given a vast number of possibilities and then make them in the lab reliably. "In the present case, the fine-tuning parameters could be cone shapes and radii, nanotube spacing, lengths and diameters. Interestingly, the nano-chimneys also act like thermal diodes, with heat flowing faster in one direction than the other," he said. Rice graduate student Ziang Zhang is lead author of the paper. Ajit Roy, a principal materials research engineer at the Air Force Research Laboratory in Dayton, Ohio, is a co-author. Yakobson is the Karl F. Hasselmann Professor of Materials Science and NanoEngineering and a professor of chemistry. The Air Force Office of Scientific Research and its Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative supported the research. Calculations were performed on Rice's National Science Foundation-supported DAVinCI supercomputer administered by the Center for Research Computing, procured in partnership with the Ken Kennedy Institute for Information Technology. ### Jeff Falk 713-348-6775 jfalk@rice.edu Mike Williams 713-348-6728 mikewilliams@rice.edu Read the abstract at http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.jpcc.6b11350. This news release can be found online at http://news.rice.edu/2017/01/04/nano-chimneys-can-cool-circuits-2/ Follow Rice News and Media Relations via Twitter @RiceUNews. Related materials: Yakobson Research Group: http://biygroup.blogs.rice.edu Rice University Department of Materials Science and NanoEngineering: https://msne.rice.edu Images for download: http://news.rice.edu/files/2017/01/0109_CHIMNEY-1-WEB-1xcw3y4.jpg Simulations by Rice University scientists show that placing cones between graphene and carbon nanotubes could enhance heat dissipation from nano-electronics. The nano-chimneys become better at conducting heat-carrying phonons by spreading out the number of heptagons required by the graphene-to-nanotube transition. (Credit: Alex Kutana/Rice University) http://news.rice.edu/files/2017/01/0109_CHIMNEY-2-WEB-1upt22p.jpg Simulated nano-chimneys created by scientists at Rice University could help keep next-generation nano-electronics cool by enhancing heat dissipation. (Credit: Alex Kutana/Rice University) Located on a 300-acre forested campus in Houston, Rice University is consistently ranked among the nation's top 20 universities by U.S. News & World Report. Rice has highly respected schools of Architecture, Business, Continuing Studies, Engineering, Humanities, Music, Natural Sciences and Social Sciences and is home to the Baker Institute for Public Policy. With 3,910 undergraduates and 2,809 graduate students, Rice's undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio is 6-to-1. Its residential college system builds close-knit communities and lifelong friendships, just one reason why Rice is ranked No. 1 for happiest students and for lots of race/class interaction by the Princeton Review. Rice is also rated as a best value among private universities by Kiplinger's Personal Finance. To read "What they're saying about Rice," go to http://tinyurl.com/RiceUniversityoverview. Boulder, Colo. -- January 4, 2017 -- NASA has selected Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) to lead Lucy, a landmark Discovery mission to perform the first reconnaissance of the Trojans, a population of primitive asteroids orbiting in tandem with Jupiter. The Lucy spacecraft will launch in 2021 to study six of these exciting worlds. "This is a unique opportunity," said Dr. Harold F. Levison, a program director and chief scientist in SwRI's Boulder office and the principal investigator of the mission. "Because the Trojans are remnants of the primordial material that formed the outer planets, they hold vital clues to deciphering the history of the solar system. Lucy, like the human fossil for which it is named, will revolutionize the understanding of our origins." Lucy will use a proven Lockheed Martin spacecraft and remote-sensing instrument suite to study the geology, surface composition, and bulk physical properties of these bodies at close range. The payload includes three complementary imaging and mapping instruments, including a color imaging and infrared mapping spectrometer from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), a high-resolution visible imager from the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, and a thermal infrared spectrometer from Arizona State University. In addition, Lucy will perform radio science investigations using its telecommunications system to determine the masses and densities of the Trojan targets. "One of the most puzzling characteristics of the Trojans is that they are very different from one another," said Levison. "This diversity was caused by the evolution of the outer planets and, as such, can be used to detangle their history." To realize the full scientific potential of the Trojans requires studying all types. "Understanding the causes of the differences between the Trojans will provide unique and critical knowledge of planetary origins, the source of volatiles and organics on the terrestrial planets, and the evolution of the planetary system as a whole," said Dr. Catherine Olkin, a planetary scientist in SwRI's Space Science and Engineering Division and the mission's deputy principal investigator. "The Lucy mission is one of those rare moments where a single mission can have a major impact on our understanding of such fundamental questions," added Dr. Keith Noll, chief of the GSFC Planetary Systems Laboratory and a project scientist for the mission. Lucy will launch in October 2021 and fly by its targets between 2025 and 2033. In all, Lucy will study six Trojans and one main belt asteroid. SwRI is the principal investigator institution and will lead the science investigation. GSFC will provide overall mission management, systems engineering, and safety and mission assurance. Lockheed Martin Space Systems of Denver will build the spacecraft. ### Editors: Image to accompany this story: http://www.swri.org/press/2017/nasa-lucy-mission-jupiter-trojan.htm LA JOLLA, CA - January 3, 2017 - A new study led by scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) sheds light on how the brain stores memories. The research, published recently in the journal eLife, is the first to demonstrate that the same brain region can both motivate a learned behavior and suppress that same behavior. "We behave the way we do in a specific situation because we have learned an association--a memory--tying an environmental cue to a behavior," said Nobuyoshi Suto, TSRI Assistant Professor of Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience, who co-led the study with TSRI Professor Friedbert Weiss and Bruce Hope, a principal investigator at the National Institutes of Health's National Institute on Drug Abuse. "This study provides causal evidence that one brain region can store different memories." Scientists know that our memories are stored in specific areas of the brain, but there has been some debate over whether a single brain region can store different memories that control opposing behavior. For example, can the same region store the meanings of red and green traffic lights--the memories that make a driver stop a car at a red light, then hit the gas pedal at a green light? Suto's research focuses specifically on the brain circuits that control motivation. In the new study, he and his colleagues set out to examine how rats learn to press levers to get sugar water--and where they store those motivational memories. The researchers first trained the rats to press a lever to get sugar water. The researchers then trained the rats to recognize two colored lights: one signaling the availability of sugar reward, and the other signaling the omission of this reward. As a consequence, the animals learned to change their behavior in response to these cues: the cue signaling availability promoted the lever-pressing, while the cues signaling omission suppressed this reward-seeking behavior. Based on previous electrophysiology studies, Suto and his colleagues speculated that memories associated with these two lessons were both stored in a region of the brain called the infralimbic cortex. "We've seen correlational evidence, where we see brain activity together with a behavior, and we connect the dots to say it must be this brain activity causing this behavior," said Suto. "But such correlational evidence alone cannot establish the causality--proof that the specific brain activity is directly controlling the specific behavior." So scientists took their experiment a step further. Using a pharmacogenetics approach, the researchers selectively switched off specific groups of brain cells--called neural ensembles--that react to select cues signaling either reward availability or reward omission. The experiments demonstrated that distinct neural ensembles in the same region directly controlled the promotion of reward-seeking or the suppression of that behavior. Without those neurons firing, the rats no longer performed the behavior motivated by the memories in those ensembles. At last, the scientists appeared to prove the causality. Suto called the findings a step towards understanding how different memories are stored in the brain. He said the research could also be relevant for studying which neurons are activated to motivate--and prevent--drug relapse. He said he'd next like to look at what other regions in the brain these infralimbic cortex neurons may be communicating with. "Brain regions don't exist in a vacuum," he said. In addition, he also would like to determine the brain chemicals mediating the promotion or suppression of reward seeking. ### In addition to Suto and Weiss, authors of the study, "Distinct memory engrams in the infralimbic cortex of rats control opposing environmental actions on a learned behavior," were co-first author Amanda Laque (a joint post-doctoral fellow in the Weiss/Suto labs), as well as Genna De Ness, Grant Wagner, Debbie Watry and Tony Kerr of TSRI; Eisuke Koya of the University of Sussex; and Mark Mayford of the University of California, San Diego. This study was supported by extramural and intramural funding from National Institute on Drug Abuse as well as National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, National Institutes of Health (grants R21DA033533, R01DA037294, R01AA023183, 344 R01AA021549 and ZIADA000467). Laque was supported by a Ruth L. Kirschstein Institutional National Research Service Award from the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (grant T32AA007456). 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 Academies of Sciences, 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. Jan. 4, 2017 (Seattle, Washington) -- A clinical trial with human volunteers has found that a next-generation malaria vaccine that uses genetically attenuated parasites shows a favorable safety profile, is well tolerated and stimulates an appropriate immune response, according to a study published today in Science Translational Medicine by scientists at the Center for Infectious Disease Research (CIDR) and Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. Malaria is caused by Plasmodium parasites that are transmitted to humans by a mosquito bite and first infects the liver and then the blood, leading to over 200 million infections and nearly a half-million deaths worldwide in 2015. While control measures, such as insecticide-treated bed nets and antimalarial drugs, are making headway against the disease, it is generally accepted that an effective vaccine will be required to completely eliminate malaria. With this new vaccine candidate, CIDR and Fred Hutch are at the forefront of malaria vaccine design. The new study describes the use of a genetically engineered malaria parasite that is weakened by removal of three specific genes that are required for the parasite to successfully infect and cause disease in humans. These genetically attenuated parasites, or "GAPs", are incapable of multiplying in the human liver, but are alive and effectively stimulate the immune system to build up defenses that can protect against a real malaria infection. 'Attenuation' is a commonly used strategy for making vaccines and has been used for viral and bacterial vaccines dating back to Edward Jenner's very first vaccine against smallpox. However, attenuation in most previous vaccines was achieved by growing the virus or bacteria in culture for long periods of time until the organisms lost some of their virulence, or by using a highly related but non-pathogenic organism. The GAP malaria vaccine was instead created using precise genetic engineering of the malaria parasite and is a unique approach in combating parasitic diseases. "This most recent publication builds on our previous work," said Sebastian Mikolajczak, Ph.D., CIDR Principal Scientist and GAP project leader. "We had already good indicators in preclinical studies that this new 'triple knock-out' GAP (GAP3KO), which has three genes removed, is completely attenuated. The clinical study now shows that the GAP3KO vaccine is completely attenuated in humans and also shows that even after only a single administration, it elicits a robust immune response against the malaria parasite. Together these findings are critical milestones for malaria vaccine development" "This report is a major advance in malaria vaccine development by providing the first evidence that genetically attenuated Plasmodium falciparum parasites are safe and immunogenic in humans," said Robert Seder, M.D., Chief of Cellular Immunology at the Vaccine Research Center at the National Institutes of Health. "Future studies demonstrating protective efficacy will be the next critical milestone for continued development of this promising vaccine approach". Seder was not involved in the study. The GAP3KO trial was conducted at the CIDR Human Challenge Center, which is part of the Seattle Malaria Clinical Trials Center, an inter-institutional collaboration that includes CIDR and Fred Hutch, among others, in an effort to combat malaria through clinical trials of candidate vaccines and drugs. "We are very fortunate to have the human malaria challenge model to take the critical next step evaluating the efficacy of GAP3KO in preventing malaria in people," said James Kublin, M.D., M.P.H., the Medical Director of the Seattle MCTC and a Fred Hutch scientist. "The Hutch is looking forward to bringing its expertise in clinical trial design and management to the next stage of tests for this vaccine. The collaborations we have with CIDR and other nearby institutions is what makes Seattle a world leader in the malaria vaccine development and the human challenge model." ### ABOUT THE CENTER FOR INFECTIOUS DISEASE RESEARCH CIDR is the largest independent, non-profit organization in the U.S. focused solely on infectious disease research. Our research is the foundation for new drugs, vaccines and diagnostics that benefit those who need our help most: the fourteen million who will otherwise die each year from infectious diseases, including malaria, HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis. Founded in 1976, the Center partners with key collaborators around the globe and strives to make discoveries that will save lives. For more information, visit http://www.cidresearch.org. ABOUT FRED HUTCH At Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, home to three Nobel laureates, interdisciplinary teams of world-renowned scientists seek new and innovative ways to prevent, diagnose and treat cancer, HIV/AIDS and other life-threatening diseases. Fred Hutch's pioneering work in bone marrow transplantation led to the development of immunotherapy, which harnesses the power of the immune system to treat cancer with minimal side effects. An independent, nonprofit research institute based in Seattle, Fred Hutch houses the nation's first and largest cancer prevention research program, as well as the clinical coordinating center of the Women's Health Initiative and the international headquarters of the HIV Vaccine Trials Network. Private contributions are essential for enabling Fred Hutch scientists to explore novel research opportunities that lead to important medical breakthroughs. For more information visit fredhutch.org or follow Fred Hutch on Facebook, Twitter or YouTube. MEDIA CONTACTS Jacque Seaman Center for Infectious Disease Research 206.838.92912 jseaman@feareygroup.com Jonathan Rabinovitz Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center 206.667.6906 206.658.7612 jrabinov@fredhutch.org One of the rare and brief bursts of cosmic radio waves that have puzzled astronomers since they were first detected nearly 10 years ago has finally been tied to a source: an older dwarf galaxy more than 3 billion light years from Earth. Fast radio bursts, which flash for just a few milliseconds, created a stir among astronomers because they seemed to be coming from outside our galaxy, which means they would have to be very powerful to be seen from Earth, and because none of those first observed were ever seen again. A repeating burst was discovered in 2012, however, providing an opportunity for a team of researchers to repeatedly monitor its area of the sky with the Karl Jansky Very Large Array in New Mexico and the Arecibo radio dish in Puerto Rico, in hopes of pinpointing its location. Thanks to the development of high-speed data recording and real-time data analysis software by a University of California, Berkeley, astronomer, the VLA last year detected a total of nine bursts over a period of a month, sufficient to locate it within a tenth of an arcsecond. Subsequently, larger European and American radio interferometer arrays pinpointed it to within one-hundredth of an arcsecond, within a region about 100 light years in diameter. Deep imaging of that region by the Gemini North Telescope in Hawaii turned up an optically faint dwarf galaxy that the VLA subsequently discovered also continuously emits low-level radio waves, typical of a galaxy with an active nucleus perhaps indicative of a central supermassive black hole. The galaxy has a low abundance of elements other than hydrogen and helium, suggestive of a galaxy that formed during the universe's middle age. The origin of a fast radio burst in this type of dwarf galaxy suggests a connection to other energetic events that occur in similar dwarf galaxies, said co-author and UC Berkeley astronomer Casey Law, who led development of the data-acquisition system and created the analysis software to search for rapid, one-off bursts. Extremely bright exploding stars, called superluminous supernovae, and long gamma ray bursts also occur in this type of galaxy, he noted, and both are hypothesized to be associated with massive, highly magnetic and rapidly rotating neutron stars called magnetars. Neutron stars are dense, compact objects created in supernova explosions, seen mostly as pulsars, because they emit periodic radio pulses as they spin. "All these threads point to the idea that in this environment, something generates these magnetars," Law said. "It could be created by a superluminous supernova or a long gamma ray burst, and then later on, as it evolves and its rotation slows down a bit, it produces these fast radio bursts as well as continuous radio emission powered by that spindown. Later on in life, it looks like the magnetars we see in our galaxy, which have extremely strong magnetic fields but rotate more like ordinary pulsars." In that interpretation, he said, fast radio bursts are like the tantrums of a toddler. This is only one theory, however. There are many others, though the new data rule out several suggested explanations for the source of these bursts. "We are the first to show that this is a cosmological phenomenon. It's not something in our backyard. And we are the first to see where this thing is happening, in this little galaxy, which I think is a surprise," Law said. "Now our objective is to figure out why that happens." Law, team leader Shami Chatterjee of Cornell University and other astronomers on the team will present their findings today at the American Astronomical Society meeting in Grapevine, Texas, in the scientific journal Nature, and in two companion papers to appear in the Astrophysical Journal Letters. Looking for transients Fast radio bursts are highly-energetic - though not energetic enough to blow a star apart - and very short-lived, lasting one to five milliseconds. These bursts of radio waves have remained a mystery since the first one was discovered in 2007 by researchers scouring archived data from Australia's Parkes Radio Telescope in search of new pulsars. The burst they found occurred in 2001. There now are 18 known fast radio bursts, all discovered using single-dish radio telescopes that are unable to pinpoint the object's location with sufficient precision to allow other observatories to identify its host environment or to find it at other wavelengths. The first and only known repeating burst, named FRB 121102, was discovered in the constellation Auriga in November of 2012 at the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico, and has recurred numerous times. Law has been working for the past few years on methods to quickly find transient radio bursts like these, which require collecting about one terabyte of data every hour. At the VLA, he currently uses 24 computer central processing units (CPUs) in parallel, both to record and search the data for brief radio bursts. "The overall theme, first with the Allen Telescope Array and now with the VLA, is to use these interferometers as high-speed cameras, taking the sensitive imaging capabilty of the telescope, cranking up the data rate and improving our algorithms to get access to these millisecond time-scale transients," he said. "We really pushed hard to capture this terabyte-per-hour datastream reliably and set up a real-time platform for extracting these very faint fast bursts from that massive datastream." The first burst was found in the data just a few hours after it was recorded on Aug. 23, Law said. "We observed for about 40 hours earlier last year and saw nothing," he said. "Then we started a new campaign in the fall of 2016, and in our first observation we saw one. Then we observed for another 40 hours or so and saw eight more bursts. So this thing just suddenly turned on." Law hopes soon to switch to 64 dedicated and more powerful GPUs - graphics processing units - so that real-time analysis is possible. While Law has his pet hypothesis about the origin of fast radio bursts - a magnetar surrounded by either material ejected by a supernova explosion or material ejected by a resulting pulsar - there are other possibilities. One alternative is the galaxy's active nucleus, with radio emission coming from jets of material emitted from the region surrounding a supermassive black hole. The source of the fast radio burst is within 100 light years of the continuous radio emissions from the core of the galaxy, suggesting they are the same or physically associated with one another. "Finding the host galaxy of this FRB, and its distance, is a big step forward, but we still have much more to do before we fully understand what these things are," Chatterjee said. Other members of the team are the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, a facility of the National Science Foundation operated under a cooperative agreement by Associated Universities, Inc.; West Virginia University; McGill University in Montreal, Canada; and the Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy. ### Discovery allows scientists to connect the last major vertebrate group to the tree of life High-definition CT scans of the fossilized skull of a 280 million-year-old fish reveal the origin of chimaeras, a group of cartilaginous fish related to sharks. Analysis of the brain case of Dwykaselachus oosthuizeni, a shark-like fossil from South Africa, shows telltale structures of the brain, major cranial nerves, nostrils and inner ear belonging to modern-day chimaeras. This discovery, published early online in Nature on Jan. 4, allows scientists to firmly anchor chimaeroids--the last major surviving vertebrate group to be properly situated on the tree of life--in evolutionary history, and sheds light on the early development of these fish as they diverged from their deep, shared ancestry with sharks. "Chimaeroids belong somewhere close to the sharks and rays, but there's always been uncertainty when you search deeper in time for their evolutionary branching point," said Michael Coates, PhD, professor of organismal biology and anatomy at the University of Chicago, who led the study. "Chimaeras are unusual throughout the long span of their fossil record," Coates said. "Because of this, it's been difficult to understand how they got to be the way they are in the first place. This discovery sheds new light not only on the early evolution of shark-like fishes, but also on jawed vertebrates as a whole." Chimaeras include about 50 living species, known in various parts of the world as ratfish, rabbit fish, ghost sharks, St. Joseph sharks or elephant sharks. They represent one of four fundamental divisions of modern vertebrate biodiversity. With large eyes and tooth plates adapted for grinding prey, these deep-water dwelling fish are far from the bloodthirsty killer sharks of Hollywood. For more than 100 years, they have fascinated biologists. "There are few of the marine animals that on account of structure and relationships to other forms living and extinct have as great interest for zoologists and palaeontologists as the Chimaeroids," wrote Harvard naturalist Samuel Garman in 1904. More than a century later, the relationship between chimaeras, the earliest sharks, and other early jawed fishes in the fossil record continues to puzzle paleontologists. Chimaeras--named for their similarities to a mythical creature described by Homer as "lion-fronted and snake behind, a goat in the middle"--are unusual. Their anatomy comprises features reminiscent of sharks, ray-finned fishes and tetrapods, and their form is shaped by hardened bits of cartilage rather than bone. Because they are found in deep water, they were long considered rare. But as scientists gained the technology to explore more of the ocean, they are now known to be widespread, but their numbers remain uncertain. After a 2014 study detailing their extremely slow-evolving genomes was published in Nature, interest in chimaeras blossomed. Of all living vertebrates with jaws, chimaeras seemed to offer the best promise of finding an archive of information about conditions close to the last common ancestor of humans and a Great White. Like sharks, also reliant on cartilage, chimaeras rarely fossilize. The few known early chimaera fossils closely resemble their living descendants. Until now, the chimaeroid evolutionary record consisted mostly of isolated specimens of their characteristic hyper-mineralized tooth plates. The Dwykaselachus fossil resolves this issue. It was originally discovered by amateur paleontologist and farmer Roy Oosthuizen when he split open a nodule of rock on his farm in South Africa in the 1980s. An initial description named it based on material visible at the broken surface of the nodule. It was carefully archived in the South African Museum in Cape Town, where its splendor awaited technology able to unwrap its long-shrouded secrets. In 2013, when the University of the Witwatersrand Evolutionary Studies Institute obtained a micro CT scanner, Dr. Robert Gess, a South African Centre of Excellence in Palaeosciences partner and co-author of this study, began scanning Devonian shark fossils while he was based at the Rhodes University Geology Department. Coates encouraged him to investigate Dwykaselachus. At the surface, Dwykaselachus appeared to be a symmoriid shark, a bizarre group of 300+ million-year-old sharks, known for their unusual dorsal fin spines, some resembling boom-like prongs and others surreal ironing boards. CT scans showed that the Dwykaselachus skull was remarkably intact, one of a very few that had not been crushed during fossilization. The scans also provide an unprecedented view of the interior of the brain case. "When I saw it for the first time, I was stunned," Coates said. "The specimen is remarkable." The images, one reviewer commented, are "almost dripping with data." They show a series of telltale anatomical structures that mark the specimen as an early chimaera, not a shark. The braincase preserves details about the brain shape, the paths of major cranial nerves and the anatomy of the inner ear. All of which indicate that Dwyka belongs to modern-day chimaeras. The scans reveal clues about how these fish began to diverge from their common ancestry with sharks. A large extinction of vertebrates at the end of the Devonian period, about 360 million years ago, gave rise to an explosion of cartilaginous fishes. Instead of what became modern-day sharks, Coates said, revelations from this study indicate that "much of this new biodiversity was, instead, early chimaeras." "We can now say that the first radiation of cartilaginous fishes after the end Devonian extinction was chimaeras, in abundance." Coates said. "It's the inverse of what we've got today, where sharks are far more common." ### The study, "A symmoriiform chondrichthyan braincase and the origin of chimaeroid fishes," was supported by the National Science Foundation, the National Research Foundation (NRF) / Department of Science and Technology South African Centre of Excellence in Palaeosciences, and the NRF African Origins Programme. Additional authors include John Finarelli from the University College Dublin, Ireland, and Katharine Criswell and Kristen Tietjen from the University of Chicago. About the University of Chicago Medicine The University of Chicago Medicine & Biological Sciences is one of the nation's leading academic medical institutions. It comprises the Pritzker School of Medicine, a top 10 medical school in the nation; the University of Chicago Biomedical Sciences Division; and the University of Chicago Medical Center, which recently opened the Center for Care and Discovery, a $700 million specialty medical facility. Twelve Nobel Prize winners in physiology or medicine have been affiliated with the University of Chicago Medicine. Visit our research blog at sciencelife.uchospitals.edu and our newsroom at uchospitals.edu/news. Twitter @UChicagoMed, @ScienceLife Facebook.com/UChicagoMed Samuel Hellman, MD, the former Dean of the Division of Biological Sciences and the Pritzker School of Medicine at the University of Chicago, "cannot remember a time when I did not want to become a doctor." The field of cancer research is glad he felt that calling. Many patients worldwide have benefitted from innovations during his distinguished career in cancer care, research, teaching and administration. The short list of his career highlights includes roles as co-editor of seven editions of the world's leading cancer textbook, former physician-in-chief at the nation's top cancer center, former chairman of radiation therapy at the Harvard Medical School and past president of two of the country's most influential cancer organizations. Graduating from Allegheny College and SUNY Upstate Medical College, he received postgraduate training at Harvard and Yale, and a fellowship at London's Royal Marsden Hospital. Along the way, he published scores of academic manuscripts, editorials, essays, opinion pieces and reminiscences in an array of high-impact medical journals as well as more general magazines. Selected publications that are accessible to a general audience, plus a few unpublished pieces, have now been compiled into a book, Learning While Caring: Reflections on a Half-Century of Cancer Practice, Research, Education and Ethics, published in January 2017 by Oxford University Press. The title, Learning While Caring, is instructive. Physicians have no choice but to continue their professional education while practicing medicine, Hellman argues. "Lifelong learning is essential," he insists, but keeping up with the literature and presenting at meetings must be combined with skills learned more informally through the experience of caring for patients. Much of what is taught in medical school needs to be revised or modified or even discarded throughout the physician's career. "Medicine is a learned profession," he wrote, "but perhaps more important, it is a learning profession." The book includes three dozen essays and commentaries, presented in five sections - medical ethics and learning, academic medicine, research, perceptions of cancer, and heroes - with each section organized chronologically. The section on ethics, the longest, focuses on the author's "uneasiness" with the process of randomized clinical trials. In such trials, the immediate interests of a patient may compete with the long-term benefits to society, placing the physician in a position that Hellman describes as "ethically intolerable." It is a doctor's primary responsibility, Hellman insists, to "act as a patient's agent." This "takes precedence over his responsibility as a scientist." He also argues that medicine should not be intellectually or physically separate from other academic activities in the university. Patient care draws as much from the humanities and social sciences as from the biological and physical sciences. And a good general education must include some medically related science. "You can't consider genetic engineering of plants or animals, including humans," he insists, "without understanding what a gene is and how it functions." The section on academic medicine features a humorous interlude, "Tales of the Unnatural," published in JAMA shortly after Halloween in 1998. This essay, should be required reading for up and coming physician-scientists considering leadership roles. Hellman sets the tone by pointing out that altering just one letter converts the title of dean into dead - a transformation that suggests how the office holder is subsequently perceived by former friends and colleagues. He next describes the hierarchy of the academic nobility. Department chairs and senior faculty, for example are vampires of available resources. Lower ranking faculty, administrators, board members and even donors are all endowed with comparably ghoulish titles. Although a few of the selections in the section on research contain some scientific or medical jargon, they remain quite readable. Much of this section focuses on the gradual, grudging evolution of breast cancer treatment. Hellman was among the early advocates for replacing radical mastectomies in patients with early-stage disease with much less disfiguring operations - limited tumor removal followed by radiation therapy. Over time, this became the preferred approach. As part of this crusade, Hellman and his Harvard and University Chicago colleague, Ralph Weichselbaum, coined the term "oligometastasis," referring to an intermediate spectrum of states between confined and widespread disease. Controversial at first, oligometastasis is now generally accepted and has considerable therapeutic importance. The next section is concerned with the perception of cancer by the general public, the patient and even the different medical specialties and providers. This is affected by is its metaphoric use in western culture. In order for cancer to be properly considered, Hellman stresses, it must be demythologized. The book ends with Hellman's carefully considered thoughts about two of his medical heroes: Thomas Hodgkin, for whom Hodgkin's disease was named and a model for the scholarly physician; and Marie Curie, who won the Nobel Prize twice, for the discovery of radium, essential for early radiation therapy, and its chemistry. Both were chosen not only for their scientific distinction but also for their involvement in the important affairs of their time. In a closing summary, Hellman shares some pithy advice, acquired during a 50-year revolution in biology and medicine that brought practical, philosophical, and societal issues with which academia, medicine and cancer care continue to grapple: The strict application of market principles to medicine is not in the best interest of patients, health care professionals or society at large. Medical science is general, but patient care is individual. Beware of mediocrity. There is a great difference between competence and excellence. Love and value what you do, and, Have modesty; don't be too sure! ### "Devastating" and "dismal." That's how leading researchers describe the present outlook for malignant brain tumors. The median survival rate for patients with glioblastoma multiforme, or GBM, is a mere 14.2 months. New research out of the University of Michigan supports combining two approaches to fight back against gliomas: attacking the tumor with gene therapy while enhancing the immune system's ability to fight it, too. The paper was recently published in Molecular Therapy, the official journal of the American Society of Gene & Cell Therapy. "We hope the implementation of our gene therapy strategy for gliomas, used in combination with immune checkpoint blockade, will eventually provide successful treatment for patients with this devastating brain cancer," says Maria Castro, Ph.D., co-senior author and U-M professor of neurosurgery and cell and developmental biology. Interrupting the cancer cells' plan Tumors escape from the fighter T-cells that would otherwise attack them, by tricking the immune system and making an environment ripe for tumor growth. The goal of cancer immunotherapy, with several treatment options now approved by the FDA, is to spark the immune system back into action. Once the immune cells recognize the cancer cells, they're empowered to attack and kill them. "Immune checkpoint inhibitors amplify T-cell responses and are currently being tested in the clinic to increase T-cell-mediated tumor killing," says Pedro Lowenstein, M.D., Ph.D., co-senior author. The U-M team used immune checkpoint blockade combined with gene therapy to block the cancer cells from hijacking the host immune system. Researchers report the accumulation of immunosuppressive cells, MDSCs, within the glioma environment is one of the ways glioblastomas block the immune system. The team also set out to deplete the large supply of MDSCs, and to explore whether that would allow immune-mediated gene therapy to eradicate glioblastoma in mouse models. "For the first time, we proved that a type of immunosuppressive cells within the tumor environment play a major role in determining the impact of immunotherapies," Castro says. Addition of gene therapy Castro and Lowenstein's team combined the immune checkpoint blockade approach with gene therapy. This entailed injecting adenovirus vectors carrying herpes simplex 1 thymidine kinase into the tumor, followed by an antiviral, to elicit tumor cell death. This was used in combination with another adenovirus vector carrying an immune stimulatory protein, cytokine, to recruit immune cells into the tumor. Researchers found the gene therapy approach had stronger results when used in combination with either depletion of immunosuppressive cells from the tumor mass or with immune checkpoint blockade. A formidable pair Castro and Lowenstein's team used what's called the "Sleeping Beauty" technique to insert mutated genes known to be involved in cancer into stem cells in the brains of newborn mice. These cancer stem cells were used to create preclinical models relevant to human glioblastoma. "We report much higher therapeutic efficacy in preclinical brain tumor models using the combination of both therapies, leading to an increase in median survival," Lowenstein says. "This effect is not seen with either approach on its own." Testing the approach "Our work has shown that overcoming brain tumor-induced immune suppression is critical for enhancing efficacy of anti-tumor immunotherapies," says first author Neha Kamran, Ph.D., a U-M neurosurgery research fellow in the Castro/Lowenstein Lab. "This knowledge will help us in guiding the development of immunotherapies for patients with this dismal disease." Implementation is straightforward, the authors say. It would involve gene therapy delivered at the time of surgery and systemic delivery of the immune checkpoint inhibitors, such as through IV injection. A clinical trial is active at U-M in adults with glioblastoma, testing a combination approach with a different form of immunosuppressive treatment. And immune checkpoint inhibitors have FDA approval and continue to rise in popularity, although they are cost-prohibitive for many patients who are not part of a trial that provides the medication. Patients also have to deal with side effects of a very active immune system such as rashes and diarrhea. Castro hopes these recent advances will mean a quick progression toward submission for FDA approval of her team's novel combination approach. ### Funding for this study was provided by the National Institutes of Health/National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, Leah's Happy Hearts and the U-M Department of Neurosurgery. For patients with atrial fibrillation, the most common form of heart arrhythmia, a main goal of treatment is stroke prevention. Which is why most Afib patients are prescribed a blood thinner such as warfarin, also known by the brand name Coumadin, to combat the potential for blood clots that could lead to stroke. But warfarin is tough to manage, and some patients have trouble adhering to any medication. A new research letter published in JAMA Cardiology finds Afib patients are even more likely to discontinue warfarin therapy if they've had a recent procedure done to address their arrhythmia. "We don't know if changing the heart to a normal rhythm, by either cardioversion or ablation, always removes the risk of stroke," says Geoffrey Barnes, M.D., M.Sc., one of the University of Michigan researchers and a cardiologist at the U-M Frankel Cardiovascular Center. "It's an ongoing debate, whether to continue the patient on blood thinners after a procedure." Afib procedures as predictors of warfarin discontinuation Researchers from U-M and other institutions that are part of the Michigan Anticoagulation Quality Improvement Initiative analyzed 734 Afib patients across the state who started warfarin therapy between 2011 and 2013. The researchers found 36.8 percent of subjects were off warfarin within one year of starting it. "When we took into account whether the patient had undergone a recent Afib procedure, the numbers look very different," says James Froehlich, M.D., M.P.H., also a researcher with the collaborative and a Frankel center cardiologist. "This may or may not be good news, because when someone's had a recent procedure, there may be good reason to interrupt anticoagulant therapy." When either electrical cardioversion or radiofrequency ablation was performed, more than half of subjects (54.1 percent) were not on warfarin after a year. Electrical cardioversion shocks the heart back into a regular rhythm. Radiofrequency ablation scars the damaged parts of the heart to prevent the dangerous rhythm. Subjects who did not undergo an Afib procedure were much more likely to continue warfarin therapy, with less than one-third (29.5 percent) discontinuing it. Although the numbers are much higher for those who underwent a procedure, 29.5 percent is still a sizable proportion of Afib patients discontinuing warfarin therapy, Barnes says. Reasons may vary, from advice from a physician to side effects such as bruising or a patient's desire to avoid having blood drawn. "We need to understand why they are stopping warfarin and figure out what other medications might be better adhered to in order to prevent strokes," Froehlich says. A need for consensus "Once someone has Afib, we don't yet know when it is safe to stop anticoagulation therapy," Froehlich says. Yet every day, cardiologists must make recommendations to their patients with the condition. "We need more data to help us understand what the risk of stroke is after cardioversion or ablation, to inform physician decision-making and guidelines," Barnes says. In the past couple of decades, it was typical to stop anticoagulants after a patient underwent cardioversion, Froehlich says, but new data are needed -- along with more data about ablation. The facts from the anticoagulation collaborative allowed the researchers to identify practice patterns statewide, working toward improving the care of patients across Michigan who are taking anticoagulants. ### Funding: The Michigan Anticoagulation Quality Improvement Initiative is funded by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan. Disclosure: Barnes received research support from Bristol-Myers Squibb/Pfizer and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (grant T32-HL007853) and consulting fees from Portola and Aralez. Froehlich received consulting fees from Merck, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Pfizer, Sanofi-Aventis and Janssen and grants from Bristol-Myers Squibb/Pfizer. Co-author Scott Kaatz, D.O., M.Sc., received consulting fees from Boehringer Ingelheim, Janssen, Daiichi Sankyo, Bristol-Myers Squibb and Pfizer and served on the speaker's bureau for Janssen, Boehringer Ingelheim, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Pfizer and CSL Behring. Montreal, January 4, 2017--The University of Montreal Hospital Research Centre (CRCHUM) has been awarded a grant of US$2 million from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to pilot the Canadian component of a study to determine the optimal amount of blood to transfuse in anemic patients who have suffered a myocardial infarction. "Most people who suffer a first infarction do not need blood transfusion, but for those who do, the mortality rate is higher. These are often elderly patients who sometimes have other diseases. The problem is that we don't know how much blood we should give them," says Dr. Paul Hebert, head of the medical department at CHUM and co-principal investigator of the study known as MINT, for Myocardial Ischemia and Transfusion. MINT is a vast clinical trial directed by Dr. Jeffrey Lee Carson, professor of medicine at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical in New Jersey (United States). This randomized trial conducted in more than 70 hospitals in the United States and Canada will compare two blood transfusion strategies--liberal and restrictive--in 3,500 patients at risk of myocardial infarction. "We are going to determine whether giving more blood to keep the patient at a threshold of 100 g/L hemoglobin is preferable to giving less blood with a threshold of 80 g/L. We will see the impact on mortality after 30 days," says Dr. Hebert, also a professor in the Department of Medicine at Universite de Montreal and holder of the Hema-Quebec - Bayer Chair in Transfusion Medicine at Universite de Montreal. A pilot trial on 110 patients published in The American Journal of Cardiology showed that mortality was higher after 30 days in patients who received less hemoglobin compared with those who received more: seven people died in the restrictive group compared with just one in the liberal group. The researchers therefore believe it is better to give more blood to patients affected by myocardial ischemia, that is, heart disease caused by a cessation of, or decrease in, irrigation of the heart. Yet in a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 1999 that revolutionized blood transfusion practices around the world, Dr. Paul Hebert and his colleagues demonstrated that people hospitalized in intensive care have a greater chance of survival if transfusions of hemoglobin are limited. "This generally is true, but the heart is a special organ that needs constant irrigation with oxygen. We think that if you have a heart attack and are also anemic, this is a concern and more blood must be transfused," Dr. Hebert says. Blood transfusions are not without risk of infection or immune responses. Some believe that when a patient truly needs a blood transfusion, it is always preferable to limit the hemoglobin administered. "This clinical trial is the logical follow-up to our research on transfusion thresholds going back more than 30 years. It will help us resolve one of the last major issues in the field," says Dr. Jacques Lacroix, an intensivist at Sainte-Justine Hospital, professor at Universite de Montreal, and contributor to the MINT study. The MINT team will also assess whether the amount of hemoglobin given to cardiac patients affects the risk of complications such as thrombosis or pneumonia. "Our findings will definitely influence practice and ultimately save lives. We can be more effective when an anemic patient suffers a heart attack, and prevent recurrences," Dr. Hebert concludes. The World Health Organization says that cardiovascular diseases account for some 17.5 million deaths a year. Myocardial ischemia is the leading cause of death and the risk of dying is especially high among elderly and anemic patients. ### About this study The Myocardial Ischemia and Transfusion (MINT) trial is headed by Dr. Jeffrey Lee Carson (RBHS-Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital) and funded by the National Institutes of Health (project: 1U0HL13387-01). Dr. Paul Hebert (CRCHUM, Universite de Montreal) is heading the Canadian component of the study, with the support of Dr. Jacques Lacroix and Dr. Philippe Jouvet (CHU Sainte-Justine and Universite de Montreal). For more information: bit.ly/2f3sjOw Source: University of Montreal Hospital Research Centre (CRCHUM) Information: Isabelle Girard Information advisor, CRCHUM 514-890-8000 #12725 Isabelle.girard.chum@ssss.gouv.qc.ca | @CRCHUM crchum.com Northern domination of science relevant to climate-change policy and practice globally and lack of research led by Southern researchers in Southern countries may hinder development and implementation of global agreements and nationally-appropriate actions. These are the findings of an article just published in the international journal Nature Climate Change authored by 10 of the World's most eminent scientists from Southern countries in consort with researchers from Sweden and the UK. They go on to recommend a set of practical steps in both Northern and Southern countries for spanning the divide, identified specifically in relation to a wide range of actors at global, regional and national scales. November saw World leaders meeting in Marrakech for the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. The meeting sought to further implementation of last year's Paris Agreement, which heralded a new bottom-up approach to the establishment of emission-reduction targets with countries providing their own Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). However, co-author Prof. Saleemul Huq from the International Centre for Climate Change & Development in Bangladesh and a leading member of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) says that, as a consequence of the divide "Southern countries may have limited ability, on the one hand, to pose evidence-based questions as to whether Northern NDCs are equitable and, on the other hand, to accept positions put forward by Northern countries and justified by Northern research that Southern countries may perceive as biased towards Northern countries' vested interests". Richard Smithers from Ricardo Energy & Environment, one of two lead authors and an expert in national adaptation planning, is particularly concerned that Southern countries do not have the science base to respond to climate change: "Understanding of local contexts is facilitated when research is led by researchers from a country relevant to the investigation. This may be essential if scientific outputs are to be viewed as having been generated inclusively and as reflective of socio-political and cultural circumstances, thereby encouraging decision-makers to translate results into locally-sensitive policy and practice". The study's senior author, Dr Grzegorz Mikusi?ski from the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, who has previously collaborated with Southern researchers in India and Nepal, notes that "Some of the practical steps are already being implemented to bridge the North-South divide in research in ways that can be built upon. But, despite efforts to address the problem, improvement in the situation has progressed in slow motion. So, we would advocate that the practical steps that we have identified should be comprehensively implemented in order to catalyse a paradigm shift from a northern-dominated research culture that underlies the divide to one that supports the equitable involvement of Southern researchers in scientific development". Dr Malgorzata Blicharska, lead author from the Natural Resources and Sustainable Development research group at Uppsala University further notes that "Ultimately, it should be borne in mind that Southern countries may have wider needs for socioeconomic support and development that present more fundamental limitations to countries' abilities to engage meaningfully in scientific endeavour. As such, only the development of national capacity will eventually put the South on an equal footing with its Northern partners." ### Reference and link to article Blicharska, M.; Smithers, R.J.; Kuchler, M.; Agrawal, G.K.; Gutierrez, J.M.; Hassanali, A.; Huq, S.; Koller, S.H.; Marjit, S.; Mshinda, H.M.; Masjuki, H.H.; Solomons, N.W.; Van Staden, J. and Mikusi?ski, G. (2017). Steps to overcome the North-South divide in research relevant to climate-change policy and practice. Nature Climate Change 7. DOI: 10.1038/NCLIMATE3163 Contacts: Grzegorz Mikusi?ski, Grzegorz.Mikusinski@slu.se, +46 70 7757 161 Malgorzata Blicharska, malgorzata.blicharska@geo.uu.se, +46 76 8226 616 GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (January 4, 2017) -- A comprehensive analysis of 559 esophageal and gastric cancer samples, collected from patients around the world, suggests the two main types of esophageal cancer differ markedly in their molecular characteristics and should be considered separate diseases. The study, published today in Nature from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) Research Network, includes two key takeaways. First, upper esophageal cancers more closely resemble cancers of the head and neck, while tumors further down in the esophagus are virtually indistinguishable from a subtype of stomach cancer. Second, cancer clinical trials should group patients according to molecular subtype--in general, grouping lower esophageal tumors with stomach cancers, while evaluating upper esophageal cancers separately. "These findings add several layers of depth and sophistication to our current understanding of esophageal cancer genomics," said Adam Bass, M.D., co-leader of TCGA's esophageal cancer study and physician-scientist at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. "Our hope is this work settles several long-standing uncertainties in the esophageal cancer field and will serve as the definitive reference manual for researchers and drug developers seeking more effective clinical trials and new treatment approaches." Physicians have known for decades that esophageal cancers, when looked at under the microscope, fall into one of two categories--adenocarcinomas, which resemble stomach or colorectal cancers, and squamous cell carcinomas, which are similar to some lung, skin, and head and neck cancers. What remained unknown was the extent to which adenocarcinomas and squamous esophageal cancers differ molecularly and the relationship between esophageal adenocarcinoma and stomach adenocarcinoma. "We have shown that these clinical subtypes differ profoundly at the molecular level," said Peter W. Laird, Ph.D., a principal investigator in the international TCGA Research Network and a professor at Van Andel Research Institute. "These findings suggest that whether the tumor originates in the esophagus or the stomach is less relevant than the molecular characteristics of the individual tumors." Esophageal cancer represents just 1 percent of new cancer diagnoses in the U.S. However, it kills 4-in-5 patients within five years of diagnosis, and current treatment approaches often fail to help. Additionally, cases of esophageal adenocarcinoma have skyrocketed over the last four decades, increasing seven-fold since the mid-1970s. Within the field, there has been great uncertainty regarding the relationship between this growing burden of esophageal adenocarcinoma and adenocarcinomas that occur in the stomach. Results from this new report argue against the need to continue to debate the demarcations of esophageal and gastric adenocarcinoma and instead view gastroesophageal adenocarcinoma as a more singular entity, analogous to colorectal cancer. Specifically, this study revealed that esophageal adenocarcinomas have striking molecular similarity to a class of stomach cancers called chromosomally unstable tumors, the hallmark of which are significant structural chromosomal aberrations. Oncologists say this nuanced view of the disease, including the detailed molecular taxonomy of esophageal adenocarcinomas, will likely change their approach to studies and treatment. "It is clear from the TCGA data that esophageal squamous and esophageal adenocarcinomas are completely different diseases and should never be included in the same therapeutic trial," said Yelena Y. Janjigian, M.D., a gastrointestinal oncologist from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center who contributed samples to the study and served as a co-author. "In esophageal adenocarcinoma, it is likely a combination of pathways and therapeutic strategies that will be successful. The therapeutic significance of these alterations will be explored in follow-up studies." Members of the TCGA Research Network team say these studies represent the work of dedicated collaborators, who seek to maximize results in search of new ways to battle cancer. "Studies from TCGA transcend the work of any one institution or individual," said Ilya Shmulevich, Ph.D., a principal investigator in the international TCGA Research Network and a professor at the Institute for Systems Biology. "These are massive undertakings that are possible only through contributions from hundreds of specialists and scientists around the world--people dedicate years of their lives to these projects in the hope of finding new treatments for people who are very sick." ### About Dana-Farber Cancer Institute From achieving the first remissions in childhood cancer with chemotherapy in 1948, to developing the very latest new therapies, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute is one of the world's leading centers of cancer research and treatment. It is the only center ranked in the top 4 of U.S. News and World Report's Best Hospitals for both adult and pediatric cancer care. Dana-Farber sits at the center of a wide range of collaborative efforts to reduce the burden of cancer through scientific inquiry, clinical care, education, community engagement, and advocacy. Dana-Farber/Brigham and Women's Cancer Center provides the latest in cancer care for adults; Dana-Farber/Boston Children's Cancer and Blood Disorders Center for children. The Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center unites the cancer research efforts of five Harvard academic medical centers and two graduate schools, while Dana-Farber Community Cancer Care provides high quality cancer treatment in communities outside Boston's Longwood Medical Area. Dana-Farber is dedicated to a unique, 50/50 balance between cancer research and care, and much of the Institute's work is dedicated to translating the results of its discovery into new treatments for patients locally and around the world About Van Andel Institute Van Andel Institute (VAI) is an independent nonprofit biomedical research and science education organization committed to improving the health and enhancing the lives of current and future generations. Established by Jay and Betty Van Andel in 1996 in Grand Rapids, Michigan, VAI has grown into a premier research and educational institution that supports the work of more than 360 scientists, educators and staff. Van Andel Research Institute (VARI), VAI's research division, is dedicated to determining the epigenetic, genetic, molecular and cellular origins of cancer, Parkinson's and other diseases and translating those findings into effective therapies. The Institute's scientists work in onsite laboratories and participate in collaborative partnerships that span the globe. Learn more about Van Andel Institute or donate by visiting http://www.vai.org. 100% To Research, Discovery & Hope About Institute for Systems Biology The Institute for Systems Biology is a nonprofit biomedical research organization based in Seattle, Washington. It was founded in 2000 by systems biologist Leroy Hood, immunologist Alan Aderem, and protein chemist Ruedi Aebersold. ISB was established on the belief that the conventional models for exploring and funding breakthrough science have not caught up with the real potential of what is possible today. ISB serves as the ultimate environment where scientific collaboration stretches across disciplines and across academic and industrial organizations, where our researchers have the intellectual freedom to challenge the status quo, and where grand visions for breakthroughs in human health inspire a collective drive to achieve the seemingly impossible. Our core values ensure that we always keep our focus on the big ideas that eventually will have the largest impact on human health. ISB is an affiliate of Providence Health & Services. About the Cancer Genome Research Atlas Network The Cancer Genome Atlas Research Network represents a collaborative effort of the National Cancer Institute (NCI), National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), and more than 100 medical and research centers on six continents. The Atlas is generating comprehensive, multi-dimensional maps of the key genomic changes in 33 types of cancer that pose immediate public health issues or are poorly understood. January 4, 2017 - A yoga program for children with cancer can be carried out even during cancer treatment, and has quality of life (QOL) benefits for the children as well as their parents, suggests a study in Rehabilitation Oncology, official journal of the Oncology Section of the American Physical Therapy Association. The journal is published by Wolters Kluwer. "Our findings support the notion that yoga for pediatric cancer patients during active treatment is feasible and potentially helpful in improving both patient and parent well-being," according to the new research, led by Dr. Andrea Orsey of Connecticut Children's Medical Center, Hartford. The report is part of a special issue focused on Pediatric Oncology Physical Therapy and Cancer Rehabilitation. New Research on Benefits of Physical Therapy for Children with Cancer In a pair of preliminary studies, Dr. Orsey and colleagues evaluated the feasibility and effectiveness of a yoga intervention for children with cancer and their families. Yoga has emerged as an effective complementary therapy for adults with cancer--but few studies have evaluated its benefits for children undergoing cancer treatment. In an initial survey, 20 children and adolescents with cancer and their parents expressed interest in doing yoga during treatment. They also perceived several barriers to such a program, including concerns about side effects, pain/discomfort, and physical limitations. With these barriers in mind, the researchers developed a yoga intervention for pediatric cancer patients, delivered by certified yoga instructors. The program was designed to be performed in a variety of settings and tailored to the children's physical condition or mobility issues. A pilot evaluation included ten children with cancer and their family members/caregivers. Although limited by its small size, the study suggested improvements in health-related QOL for both parents and children, including social and emotional QOL. Both parents and children were highly satisfied with the yoga program and said they would recommend it to others. One mother cited several benefits of yoga for her daughter: "It gave her more energy and made her more positive!" The pilot study will help to guide future efforts to provide the benefits of yoga to children with cancer and their families. A key issue will be coordinating yoga sessions with the medical demands of chemotherapy. The special issue highlights the growing body of evidence to guide rehabilitation and physical therapy for children with cancer. While more children are surviving cancer, they face long-term effects on health and functioning due to their disease and its treatments. "Physical therapists are uniquely suited to design and implement interventions that target these impairments," according to an introduction by Guest Editor Kirsten K. Ness, PT, PhD, FAPTA. Other topics in the special issue include the safety of using symptoms, rather than blood counts, to determine whether children with cancer can safely undergo physical therapy; a community-based exercise program for childhood cancer survivors; and specific exercise programs for children bone cancer (osteosarcoma) and leukemia. Kirsten Ness adds: "These data are exciting and provide a good starting point documenting original research in pediatric oncology rehabilitation." ### Click here to read "Results of a Pilot Yoga Intervention to Improve Pediatric Cancer Patients' Quality of Life and Physical Activity and Parents' Well-being." Article: "Results of a Pilot Yoga Intervention to Improve Pediatric Cancer Patients' Quality of Life and Physical Activity and Parents' Well-being" (doi: 10.1097/01.REO.0000000000000052) About Rehabilitation Oncology Rehabilitation Oncology is the official quarterly publication of the Oncology Section of the American Physical Therapy Association. The journal is the primary peer-reviewed, indexed resource for advancing oncologic physical therapy practice and cancer rehabilitation through the dissemination of definitive evidence, translation of clinically relevant knowledge, and integration of theory into education, practice, and research. About the Oncology Section The Oncology Section of APTA advances physical therapist practice to maximize the lifelong health, well-being and function of persons affected by cancer and HIV. The association consists of professional Physical Therapists managing the musculoskeletal, neuromuscular, integumentary and cardiopulmonary rehabilitative needs of patients resulting from the treatment of active cancer disease. This encompasses acute secondary sequela of cancer treatments such as surgery, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy; long-term secondary sequela of said treatments and palliative care. About Wolters Kluwer Wolters Kluwer is a global leader in professional information services. Professionals in the areas of legal, business, tax, accounting, finance, audit, risk, compliance and healthcare rely on Wolters Kluwer's market leading information-enabled tools and software solutions to manage their business efficiently, deliver results to their clients, and succeed in an ever more dynamic world. Wolters Kluwer reported 2015 annual revenues of 4.2 billion. The group serves customers in over 180 countries, and employs over 19,000 people worldwide. The company is headquartered in Alphen aan den Rijn, the Netherlands. Wolters Kluwer shares are listed on Euronext Amsterdam (WKL) and are included in the AEX and Euronext 100 indices. Wolters Kluwer has a sponsored Level 1 American Depositary Receipt program. The ADRs are traded on the over-the-counter market in the U.S. (WTKWY). Wolters Kluwer Health is a leading global provider of information and point of care solutions for the healthcare industry. For more information about our products and organization, visit http://www.wolterskluwer.com, follow @WKHealth or @Wolters_Kluwer on Twitter, like us on Facebook, follow us on LinkedIn, or follow WoltersKluwerComms on YouTube. Latest blog posts Spanish Customs, Explained On the blog Lenox Posted Sunday, October 30, 2022On the blog Spanish Shilling by Halloween around Spain On the blog Thomas Oliver Posted Thursday, October 27, 2022On the blog I Wonder Why...? by The Potshot Kid On the blog Lenox Posted Thursday, October 20, 2022On the blog Spanish Shilling by Alexium International Group Ltdhas signed an initial contract with New York-based Pegasus Home Fashions Inc, which it expects to bring in US$10 million in ongoing revenue per year.Under the initial contract, Alexium is to supply its Alexicool chemistry to Pegasus for the bedding pillows market across the United States.Alexium is a specialty chemicals development company, headquartered in Perth. The company describes Alexicool as a cost-effective chemical finish for fabrics that absorb heat while providing a cool-to-touch feeling.Alexium says it is also working to finalise agreements to sell Cool Touch pillows to three of the USs largest commercial retailers, which would place Alexicool-treated Pegasus-branded pillows on the shelves of over 6,500 locations.Alexium posted a net loss of $15.4 million at 30 June 2016. Which Phone shoots better - Pixel 7 vs iPhone 14 Pro, Pixel 7 review! https://youtu.be/GqY2T-Os5Y8 via @YouTube Haiti - Chicago : The diaspora commemorates the independence of Haiti Sunday 213th anniversary of Haiti's independence, during the solemn Mass celebration at the Church of Our Lady of Peace, on South Jeffery (Chicago) Lesly Conde, Consul General of Haiti in Chicago delivered his traditional speech to the many Haitians who came to celebrate. Speech of the Consul Lesly Conde : "Distinguished members of the Congregation, Dear compatriots, Dear friends of Haiti, Friends of Haiti, My brothers and sisters, Ladies and gentlemen, This year, we are gathered here to commemorate the 213th anniversary of the independence of the First Black Nation of the Americas. Once again, I am immensely proud to be in your company in the house of God, and to bring you brotherly greetings from the Consulate General of Haiti in Chicago. I am quite pleased to observe that, despite all the challenges our country has been facing since its birth, in a world that has been insensitive, to say the least, you have remained proud; proud to be Haitians. Since the first day of January 1804, we have been lonesome, misunderstood and largely unknown. Our valiant ancestors are ignored by the rest of the world, even though their exploits ignited the fire of freedom far beyond our borders. It is our job to keep the fire of dignity burning, and to embrace our ancestors' noble ideals that led to the birth of Haiti. On this day when we are commemorating the 213th anniversary of a nation that has always struggled to barely stay alive, it is our duty to think about what life will be for our children and our children's children. After experiencing two major natural disasters in the course of one decade, Haiti is, today, facing a time when great courage and pragmatism must come to the rescue of human dignity. Let us ask the Lord to grant us the wisdom we need in order to act in such a responsible way as to guarantee our children and children's children a Haiti our ancestors can be proud of. As we are welcoming a brand new year, I wish you courage, health and much success. On behalf of the Chicago Haitian Community, I will never stop thanking the Church of Our Lady Of Peace and the Haitian Catholic Mission of the Archdiocese of Chicago for their invariable solidarity. My dear friends, whatever you do, always remember Haiti. Thank you." See also : https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-19651-icihaiti-diaspora-message-from-the-consul-general-of-haiti-in-chicago.html HL/ HaitiLibre New Delhi : In a major statement, Indian Army Chief Bipin Rawat on Tuesday said that further strikes against Pakistan cant be ruled out. Further surgical strikes against Pakistan cant be ruled out; the strikes were meant to send out message, Army Chief Bipin Rawat said in a conversation with NDTV. The statement by the new Army Chief comes two days after he said that the role of the force is to maintain peace and tranquillity at the border but it will not shy away from flexing its muscles, if the need be. Also, talking to news agency ANI, Rawat said, Want to modernise operational logistics, ammunition depots being modernised, computerisation of ordnance inventory being done. On OROP, Rawat said, Demands till a certain extent fulfilled, would like to urge those veterans sitting at Jantar Mantar to return home. Priorities My 1st priority is to boost Indian Armys moral and make every jawan believe that they empower our force, Army chief Gen Bipin Rawat told ANI. 2nd priority is to technologically advance and modernise equipment and weapons, so that jawans protect borders even better, Rawat added. Ready for wars PM Narendra Modi had said that the wars in future will be brief and intense, we are ready for it; staying alert is important, Rawat said. (PM ne bhi kaha tha jo aane waaley yudhh hongey, intense aur chhote honge, is ke liye hum tayyar hainsatark rehna zaroori hai) On war Were always ready for war, its our job but life of civilians in border areas will be badly affected by such things, Army chief Gen Bipin Rawat said. We are emphasising on army aviation, want to include armed, attack helicopters here, Rawat added. Gen Rawat Rawat took over as the 27th Army chief on Saturday. General Rawat had superseded two senior most Lt Generals Praveen Bakshi and P M Hariz. Source : Zee News This image released by Roadside Attractions and Amazon Studios shows Casey Affleck in a scene from "Manchester By The Sea." On Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2016, Affleck was nominated for a Screen Actors Guild award for outstanding performance by a male actor in a leading role for his role in the film. (Claire Folger/Roadside Attractions and Amazon Studios via AP) The actress-activist celebrated her birthday by joining #BankExit. Don't forget how successful the divestment movement was in bringing down Apartheid, she said. Later, a round dance took place in the busy intersection of Sunset and Vine, paralyzing traffic in all directions for several minutes (pictures following article). Los Angeles -- Around mid-December, Jane Fonda announced her desire to divest from Wells Fargo as part of a call-out for people to #BankExit on December 21 (which was also her birthday). Lydia Ponce of the American Indian Movement (AIM), Southern California, said the event--Fonda's bank exit-- had to be planned in only four days, but AIM was more than happy to undertake it.Fonda's plan was to divest publicly, but Wells Fargo locked its doors--and in the process locked Tongva elder Gloria Arellanes in. (She had gone in ahead of Fonda.) They may not let Gloria out, and they wouldn't let us in, but we can still take our money out, said Fonda.Unable to read her statement to Wells Fargo representatives, Fonda read it to the crowd (and parts of it got into mainstream news). As a customer of your bank, I reject the notion of my money helping to support your [honks of support by passing vehicle] investment in the Dakota Access Pipeline, her letter began, which is an inherently dangerous and unjust oil pipeline that threatens air and water quality in many states and violates sacred lands of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. The fact that Wells Fargo has invested money in DAPL indicates gross corporate irresponsibility and hypocrisy. As a signatory to the Ecuador Principles, how can Wells Fargo be associated with these companies?Even minimal due diligence shows that Energy Transfer Partners [truck honks in support; the crowd cheers] and Sunoco, the companies that own and operate the pipeline, have the worst oil spill record in the United States. How can I trust a bank that was not aware of this? She mentioned lawsuits against Energy Transfer Partners regarding various forms of contamination in Vermont, Texas, Oklahoma, Hawaii, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Missouri, Ohio, Puerto Rico, and Louisiana.After reading the excerpt of the letter, she pointed out the success of the divestment movements against Apartheid in South Africa.Also present were Lily Tomlin (Fonda's friend and co-star in 9 to 5 and the current internet series Grace and Frankie), who'd already withdrawn her money; Frances Fisher (a prolific actress often associated with Titanic), who spent two weeks in Standing Rock; actress Catherine Keener (known for Into the Wild, Being John Malkovich, et al); and Dolores Huerta.Huerta observed that the bank's money is the people's money, and the people don't want their money spent on this planet-destroying scheme.Gloria Arellanes, now finally freed from the bank, described her experience. Most of the bank employees were very kind, they were actually waiting for us, she said, but one man. who got very nasty, forbade her from exiting through the front doorsthe way she came in. (The bank locked its doors and covered its windows when the demonstrators arrived.) When Gloria explained that she needed to use the front doorshe has a disability and walking is hardhe replied (not nicely), That's too bad. She had to call 911 (my tax money at work) and wait for police to come and let her out. (Her full recounting of this event can be seen here, just under 12 minutes into it, not too long after Huerta speaks): https://www.facebook.com/PeopleForBernie/videos/1912734525613419/ .)The irony of Gloria being detained on her own people's land* was not lost on various demonstrators.She then encouraged others to divest. I've been with a credit union for 30 years and have never had a problem. (She later mentioned having had loans with them.)Everyone proceeded to march down Vine to Sunset Boulevard, where a rally was held in front of Chase. Gloria encouraged everyone to tell their families and friends to change how they do thingsthe world is so full of toxins (even in our food and air), and it's getting worse.We were joined by still another actor-activist, Mike Farrell (M*A*S*H). I am one of those Americans who regrets the fact that the history of this country is replete with instances of torture and devastation of the Native Americans, he said, and I believe that we need to recognize our history and stop the continued despoiling of this land and stop the continued despising of the fundamental indigenous people who were here and have lessons to teach us. . . . The Standing Rock Sioux impressed the hell out of me, as they did a great number of people around this country, by standing up to the exploiters and the destroyers. . . . (Farrell was one of multiple speakers who stressed the need for non-Natives to start learning from Natives, as should have been done in the beginning.)Frances Fisher spoke eloquently about the Standing Rock camp: there were tents for sewing, tents for food, tents for mental health, and people were sharing firewood. She wondered why more communities can't be that way. Yet she also witnessed one of the brutal, heavy-handed assaults on the peaceful Water Protectors. (Greywolf of AIM SoCal was in the throes of that and shared his memories. He thought he was going to die. It was the worst thing he'd experienced in all his years of activismgoing back to the '60s.)A few minutes later, Dolores Huerta, who also visited Standing Rock, spoke along similar lines as Fisher and continued the thought**. Thank you, Francis, for painting that beautiful picture. When I went there to Standing Rock and I went to the camp, I thought, 'My, this is what society should look like.' Everybody is there in peace with a vision. The vision, of course, was to stop the pipeline from going under the Missouri River. Everybody was sharing. There were people that came from everywhere: Wisconsin, Washington state, from Canada... They came, and they were sharing food, helping each other build their shelter[s]. I thought, 'When we go through the Los Angeles streets we see so many homeless people.' I thought, 'Hey, why can't we do this for the homeless? Right? Give them shelter, give them food, and have this whole idea of co-operation,' which are the Indigenous values. Indigenous values are co-operation, Indigenous values are sharing; Indigenous values are not about domination, right? Or about greed or about corruption. I think this is what Standing Rock meant to me when I was there. I could see a society where we could not only share and care for each other but also work together on the issues that we need to solve in this society. She also spoke of the continued need to oppose the death penalty in California, despite the setback in November's election.At one point, Jane Fonda was presented with a birthday cake featuring a likeness of Barbarella (a space heroine Fonda played in the '60s) but with the title Bankarella. The crowd sang Happy Birthday. There was enough for everyone. It was the best-tasting cake I recall ever eating. Pizza was also provided.Then, something started happening in front of Bank of America across the street. What seemed like several dozen people began a round dance in the busy intersection of Sunset and Vine, stopping traffic for several minutes (and many light changes). Some cars honked (though not as many as I would've expected). The police, already present because of the rally, emitted a siren a few times as warning. Finally, three officers went over (one holding the baton on his belt), and the round dance appeared to end peacefully. Come back to the dark side, Lydia called as the dancers returned to Chase.Standing Rock is everywhere, Lydia later reminded us. In our backyards, in Wilmington, Buscaino has plans to continue to further ruin the land, typically where socio-economically-challenged people, people of color are living, children of all ages and those not born yet (more here: http://grist.org/cities/the-sad-sickening-truth-about-south-l-a-s-oil-wells/ ). So you don't have to go far to find Standing Rock in our own backyards. Standing Rock is everywhere. We need to also be vigilant about what's happening in our own backyards. . . .Fonda was subsequently interviewed by Larry Smith on KPFK's American Indian Airwaves, along with Huerta, Fisher, and 13-year-old Standing Rock activist Tokota Iron Eyes. It can be heard here: https://soundcloud.com/burntswamp/aia_22dec2016 #bankexit #defunddapl-----*The general area of the event was originally the village of Cahuengna, meaning land of foxes, according to Larry Smith of American Indian Airwaves ( http://www.kpfk.org/index.php/programs/43-american-indian-airwaves#.WF2RZZC8pHc ). Airwaves is a weekly radio show recently rescheduled to Thursday nights at 7-8pm on KPFK (90.7FM).**I recommend hearing Huerta and Fisher speak themselves: https://www.facebook.com/PeopleForBernie/videos/1912734525613419/ . Huerta's statement starts at about 104:00, or shortly after Fisher; Fisher's at about 59:30 or after Mike Farrell and Angela Mooney D'Arcy. Health Minister Simon Harris has warned that the country's hospitals are facing into a very challenging time because of a flu outbreak, writes Daniel McConnell, Irish Examiner Political Editor. Mr Harris, speaking at his department this afternoon, was speaking after the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) said 612 patients were admitted for care on trolleys in hospitals around the country this morning. The figure marks a record high for the amount of people on trolleys at Irish hospitals, according to the INMO. Mr Harris said winter is normally a challenging time for the hospital sector but he said the challenges being faced are not just the challenges of a normal winter. Mr Harris has rejected an assertion by the Irish Association of Emergency Medicine that this situation was "entirely predictable". It is interesting that everybody says something is predictable after it has happened. Perhaps next time they will tell us in advance, he said in response. Dr Fergal Hickey, a spokesperson for the IAEM, said the situation could have been avoided and that the Government has repeatedly been told there are not enough beds available. According to Dr Hickey, Britain and Ireland, both of which have a crisis currently, have 2.6 beds per 1,000 of the population whereas most EU countries have at least twice that. Mr Harris said he will now begin a bed capacity review, although he said while there are calls for extra beds it is important there is extra staff. My department will commence a bed capacity review of the beds in our acute hospitals and across our health service and I want it done in time for the mid term review. But to have beds you have to have staff. And it is important before we open new beds that we ensure every bed within the system is adequately staffed, he said. He added that he will meet with the HSE on Thursday for a further update on the situation. An Israeli advocacy group has criticised what it called an "exceptionally low" prosecution rate by the Israeli military in cases of violence committed by soldiers against Palestinians. The report by Yesh Din, a human rights group that is often critical of the Israeli military, came a day before a military court's verdict is to be delivered in a high-profile manslaughter case against a soldier. In its annual report, Yesh Din said the army opened 186 criminal investigations into suspected offences against Palestinians in 2015, but just four of those investigations yielded indictments. The group said the 2015 figures, based on official army data, were the most recent available. In the autumn of 2015, a wave of Israeli-Palestinian violence erupted, characterised by Palestinian stabbing and car-ramming attacks on Israelis. The report said that of 76 Palestinians killed in clashes with soldiers in the West Bank in 2015, only 21 deaths resulted in investigations. "The fact that in 55 incidents no criminal investigation was considered necessary raises doubts about the implementation of Israel's declared policy on investigating civilian fatalities," the report said. It said the data signalled an "inability and unwillingness" to address unlawful conduct. The Israeli military did not respond to requests for comment. On Wednesday, a military court is to deliver its verdict in the manslaughter case of a soldier who was caught on video last March fatally shooting an incapacitated Palestinian attacker in the West Bank. The case of Sergeant Elor Azaria (pictured below), who has argued that attacker still posed a threat, has deeply divided Israel. Yesh Din spokesman Gilad Grossman said the manslaughter charge against a soldier was "very rare", but that the public uproar sparked by the video made it impossible to ignore. "There was no way to look aside and not investigate," he said. The latest Investec Ireland survey of purchasing managers in Irish factories showed output jumped in December from November and expanded at its fastest pace since late spring in 2015, suggesting that the worst of the pressure seen in the aftermath of the UKs Brexit vote has passed, Philip OSullivan, chief economist at the bank, said. Activity in Irish factories has now returned to something of the rude health before the UK voted in June to quit the EU. That pickup appears to be driven by the British economy, which having defied the worst fears it was facing into an economic slump, has been helped, in part, by the slump in the value of sterling lifting demand for its exports. Sterling had slumped sharply in the aftermath of the Brexit vote and despite clawing back some losses, has lost about 12% if its value against the euro since the eve of the referendum. Yesterday, sterling gained up to half a percentage point to trade at 84.8p. Thats still sharply lower from 73.6p this time a year ago. On Ireland, within the release we see ample reasons to be cheerful, Mr OSullivan said, citing the strongest expansion in new orders in Irish factories since January 2015. Signs of improvement in Irelands closest neighbour helped to support a sharp monthly rise in new export orders, he said, adding that the recovery from the precipitous drop in the aftermath of Brexit shows that the sector has gotten back on track, presumably aided by the kicker from a strong US dollar and ongoing domestic strengthening. According to the survey, Irish factory output rose to 55.7 from 53.7 in November, where any reading above 50 means manufacturing output is expanding. A similar survey of UK manufacturing, also published yesterday, showed growth there climbed to a two-and-a-half-year high last month, fuelled by new orders from the UK and abroad and adding to signs the economy ended 2016 strongly. The Markit-CIPS manufacturing purchasing managers index rose to 56.1, the strongest reading since June 2014, from 53.6 in November. That exceeded all forecasts. Britains economy has fared much better than many economists predicted, with consumer spending strong and companies continuing to perform well. The UK manufacturing survey showed domestic and export order books grew, but so did cost pressures facing factories something that will increasingly feed into consumer prices next year. The boost to competitiveness from the weak exchange rate has undoubtedly been a key driver of the recent turnaround, while the domestic market has remained a strong contributor to new business wins, said Rob Dobson, senior economist at IHS Markit. He said higher costs were the flipside of sterlings fall. Of the companies citing a cause of higher costs, 75% linked the increase to the exchange rate, Mr Dobson said. US manufacturing also expanded in December, at the fastest pace in two years. The US Institute for Supply Management said its index increased to 54.7 from 53.2. n Additional reporting by Reuters and Bloomberg The unlikely sequence was pulled out of the drum in the lotto of the GAA club Aodh Ruadh in Donegal. Noelle Downey from Higginstown was the mastermind who picked the numbers one to six in the lotto winning her a very respectable 7,700. Don't know which is stranger, the @aodhruadh lotto numbers sequence or that someone actually picked it and won! pic.twitter.com/n5wuH0hkyg Frank Craig (@FrankCraig13) January 3, 2017 According to the Aodh Ruadh club this is the first time these numbers were pulled out of the drum since the club lotto began 21 years ago in 1995. Time for Noelle to get some new lotto numbers we think! Enda OCoineen, 60, who was bidding to become the first Irish sailor to sail solo around the world, spoke of his devastation yesterday after the mast on his vessel snapped clean off on New Years Day. Im not in distress and I dont want to declare an emergency, but I am drifting about 150 miles south of New Zealand. Like a space capsule, I have enough food to last me for a few weeks, he told the Sean ORourke Show on RTE Radio One. Im wrapped up in two sleeping bags and about four layers of clothes I feel more like a spaceman in a cockpit. Mr OCoineen, from Galway, was Irelands first entry in the solo round-the-world Vendee Globe race described as the Everest of sailing when his 60ft vessel, Kilcullen Voyager, suffered irreparable damage on New Years Day, 59 days into the race which started off France in early November. He had covered some 13,00 nautical miles over 55 days, had overcome severe weather, rigging and electrical issues, and was in 15th place when the mast snapped during a severe squawl about 180 nautical miles south-east of Dunedin in New Zealand. He was uninjured but said he was lucky to survive the incident. I am devastated. Things were going quite well. I was in good shape. Having got this far I felt we could handle anything. There was just that little malfunction of the self-steering that set a whole train in motion. I have to accept responsibility. What happens, happens, he wrote on his race blog. This should not have happened. However I took the risk, its my responsibility and I am heartbroken for all who have supported the challenge. He is in regular contact with his technical team, and with the race directors who are assessing his situation, as well as with the New Zealand coastguard. He told Sean ORourke the nearest fishing boat is 180 miles away, the nearest passenger research vessel is 320 miles away, and that the coastguard helicopter range is 150 miles: I am focusing on survival. I want to be self-contained and get myself to safety. I have enough food to last a few weeks. Im just waiting for the right wind, its a matter of patience. With southerly gales forecast over the coming days, he is hopeful that he will be blown towards New Zealands south island, where he hopes to find a safe port, and assess his options. Futures climbed up to 2.8% yesterday in New York after adding 45% last year, the biggest annual gain since 2009. Officials from Oman and Kuwait told local media theyre cutting oil production in January, fulfilling pledges that they and 22 other producers made on December 10. Prices also advanced as Chinas manufacturing purchasing managers index stabilised near a post-2012 high, signalling demand may be supported in the worlds second-biggest oil user. Oil advanced for the first time in three years in 2016 as the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries and 11 other nations agreed to cut output starting this month in an effort to reduce bloated global stockpiles. Prices, which eased in late December, are surpassing the peaks reached just after the deal was finalised, as Kuwait and Oman give the first signs the curbs are being implemented. The markets moving on expectations that the production cuts are going to be both real and effective, Bill OGrady, chief market strategist at Confluence Investment Management in St Louis, said. This move assumes there will be a significant drop in inventories, he said. Brent for March settlement climbed $1.45, or 2.6%, to $58.27 on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. The global benchmark touched $58.37, the highest since July 15, 2015. Brent rose 52% last year, the most since 2009. Opec member Kuwait has reduced output by 130,000 barrels a day to about 2.75 million a day, Al-Anba newspaper reported, citing Kuwait Oil chief executive Jamal Jaafer. Oman is cutting 45,000 barrels a day from 1.01 million, the oil ministrys director of marketing Ali Al-Riyami said on Oman TV. Opec nations and non-members including Russia and Mexico have agreed to trim output by about 1.8 million barrels a day. Iraq will start implementing cuts by reducing heavy and medium grades, the nations oil minister Jabbar al-Luaibi told Kuwaiti daily al-Jarida. Chinas manufacturing purchasing managers index edged down to 51.4 in December from 51.7 in November, while a gauge of factory input prices surged to a five-year high of 69.6. The big upside came after the release of the Chinese PMI numbers, which were just stellar, John Kilduff, a partner at Again Capital, a New York-based hedge fund that focuses on energy, said. Bloomberg The Office of the Information Commissioner (OIC) has ruled that the response of the university was inadequate to a request made under freedom of information legislation and ordered it to reconsider the request for such information. A transparency organisation, Right to Know, sought details of all contributions which UCC had received either directly or indirectly from Apple to research projects since January 2011 under the Freedom of Information Act. The university failed to issue a decision within a four-week deadline stipulated under the legislation and also did not respond within the same timeframe when Right To Know appealed the original refusal. UCC only informed the group after it had sought a review by the OIC that it was refusing the request on the basis that its accounting system did not record the requested information on Apple. It also claimed that it was refusing the request on the basis that conducting other searches would cause a substantial and unreasonable disruption to its work. The OIC said it was clear that UCCs searches for the requested information had fallen well short of what was required under FOI legislation. The OIC said the fact the university had also relied on a section of legislation that related to time spent on searching for information indicated that UCC believed the relevant records might well exist. It ruled that UCCs efforts at simply running a search on its accounting system was not enough to satisfy the requirements of the FOI Act. The information commissioners office said UCC had made no efforts to assist Right to Know with its request as it was obliged to do under the legislation. It ordered the university to annul its initial ruling and consider the request for information on Apple afresh. UCC can lodge an appeal against the OIC decision on a point of law to the High Court within four weeks. Welcoming the decision, Right to Know said it was interested in finding out what support, financial or otherwise, Apple, as one of the largest employers in both Cork and Ireland, is giving to UCC. It pointed out that the US technology giant was at the centre of one of the most significant state aid cases ever in the history of the EU after the European Commission ruled last year that Ireland should recover 13bn from Apple in illegally foregone taxes. Right to Know spokesman, Gavin Sheridan, said the views of universities and academics are often reported without question as independent and objective. To maintain that reputation, transparency in respect of private funding is important so that the public can know what interests are at play, said Mr Sheridan. He stressed there is no indication that Apple exerted any influence on UCC but said that Right to Know feels it is important that any supports that were given to the university are known given the public controversy over the companys operations in Ireland. GLORIOUS SUSHI LTD Biography: A small company based in Waterford, producing a range of Japanese foods for the Irish market. It is a reflection of Irelands changing palate that a company producing sushi in Waterford is going from strength to strength. When Tetyana Zhemerdyey moved to Ireland from Ukraine, she already had a passion for Japanese food but found herself unable to buy it here. In my early 20s, I worked part-time in a sushi bar called Yakitoria. My passion for sushi and everything Japanese flared and became somewhat of an obsession. Id practise endlessly making classic sushi rolls and Asian salads at home while perhaps inventing some new ones along the way. After moving to Ireland and working in a local factory, I kept remembering about how much I loved making sushi for my family and friends. There was no sushi bars, and no store sold anything Japanese food-related. Thats when I saw my opportunity, she says. Tetyana already had a degree in marketing and, after undertaking a Waterford Area partnership course, started the company Glorious Sushi in 2011. She continued to grow her knowledge by taking specialised courses in Asian food in the UK. The business expanded from its beginnings in her family kitchen to a factory in Dunhill, despite initial reluctance from some. It was tough going in the beginning, with many sleepless nights trying to create what sushi Id want to impress my customers with as many were a bit sceptical of trying sushi for the first time. After a while, our sushi were gaining popularity, with us having tasting days in various stores where a customer could sample the produce before purchase, but also really taking control of social media, she says. The hard work has paid off, with Glorious Sushi now supplying SuperValu stores around Munster as well as some independent shops and fishmongers. They also supply products to Aldi stores, making a little taste of Japan available nationwide. WHITE DEER BREWERY Biography: Based in the West Cork Gaeltacht, this recently-opened brewery is producing a range of beers, ales and stouts for the Irish market. Engineer Gordon Lucey and publican Don OLeary have found growing success in the brewing market, thanks to a carefully planned rollout and a focus on responding to customer demand. Gordon developed an interest in brewing while working in various locations abroad over the years and joined up with Don, owner of The Mills in Ballyvourney, Co Cork, to see if they could make a serious business of producing craft beers. Their research persuaded them they could and they started their 9 White Deer Brewing Company with one product, Stag Ban IPA, in June 2014. Rather than launching with six beers, we knew wed have to put a lot of effort in to get one up and running getting it right and getting it accepted, Gordon explains. Despite their determination to take their time and manage each stage, their range has expanded rapidly, to six, including the award-winning Saor, a gluten-free beer. No one knew it was a gluten-free beer at the Blas na hEireann awards, because its blind tasting. It is a good beer that just happens to be gluten free. They have received such a positive reception to Saor they are planning a range of five gluten-free products, including a red ale and an IPA. Feedback has been unreal, every week we are getting emails from people saying thank you. They were sick of drinking cider or wine at barbecues. Its kind of our niche in the market, its something we looked at from the start as Don is gluten intolerant. Weve grown it nurtured it. Everyone has a unique selling point and ours is that. Rather than make what we think people want, weve decided to make what people actually do want. Its working and we feel that this range will add a lot to our portfolio, Gordon says. POITIN TODDY MARMALADE Biography: An award-winning range of marmalades, produced by husband and wife team Betty and Jim Smith from their home near Bandon in Cork. Anyone interested in a cottage industry making jams should consider heading to Bandon, Co Cork, although they will have to prepare for a lengthy apprenticeship. Making Poitin Toddy Marmalade keeps Betty Smith, 80, and Jim 83, busy, but despite their ages, they have no desire to stop anytime soon. Their enthusiasm might be traced back to having only come to their thriving business in retirement. Betty laughed when I asked if about a background in food preparation. The former scientist says: Im not a cook, Im not that domesticated. Their first batch was created to help get them out of a financial sticky spot. We ran up a large vet bill for one of our dogs and couldnt pay it. We had a bottle of (legal) poitin at home so that was the start of it. The marmalade proved so popular that they have since expanded their range to include a version with cinnamon and cloves and another with ginger. They are all selling well and particularly popular with tourists. They dont understand initially what poitin is but once you explain it they love it. American tourists, once you mention moonshine they know exactly what it is, says Betty. The original bottle is long gone, and they now source poitin from West Cork Distillery in Skibbereen. However, all manufacturing still takes place at their home in Bandon. Their main outlets are Supervalu stores in Cork although they also supply some independent shops in the county. And Betty believes there is plenty of potential for their award-winning product. I dont really know how to go about handing it over or selling it on but the potential is great. Were in Supervalus in Co Cork but thats just one county. Weve got all the rest to go at, Betty says. DINGLE DISTILLERY Elliot Hughes from Dingle Distillery. Picture: Sasko Lazarov/Photocall Ireland Biography: An Irish-owned distillery using Kerry spring water to create a range of whiskeys, gin and vodka. Entrepreneur Oliver Hughes built his Porterhouse business up through brewing and bar ownership before making a detour to the top shelf. The former barrister had kept a house in Dingle for many years and saw the Kerry town as a natural home for a distillery. And when he brought a Scottish expert on board to help, the Dingle location worked its magic on him too. Oliver took on the services of John McDougall to help, who had a 50-odd year career in distilling in Scotland, explains Dingle Distillery general manager Mary Ferriter. John came to Kerry and fell in love, not with the scenery but with the fog and the wind and rain. He was very excited about the quality of the water. So a decision was made to create a triple-distilled single malt whiskey. Dingle Distillery uses Kerry spring water to create a range of whiskeys, gin and vodka Production began in November 2012 with the first cask filled the following month. With a three-year wait for the spirit in the casks, the company turned their hands to gin and vodka. Mary again credits the Kerry spring water for being the crucial component in their five-times distilled award-winning vodka and gin that promise a taste of the Kerry landscape. In December 2015, the first whiskey casks were opened and the company released its first batch of single-malt whiskey, with more to come in limited amounts in 2107. The company suffered a tragic loss this year while they waited for their first batch to mature, with the unexpected death of Mr Hughes at the age of 57. But the legacy he left behind in Dingle is deeply appreciated. I liken him to a farmer, he came here to west Kerry and he dug up deep. There is a craft here now that will go from father to son, please God, says Mary. PIP & PEAR Irene Queally of Pip & Pear, Chilled baby food, says people want real food for their babies. She believes texture is as important as taste, which is reflected in the products produced by the company. Biography: Started in 2014, Pip & Pear has grown from a menu served in a single restaurant in Waterford to producer of broad range of baby and toddler foods sold nationwide. Irish baby food company Pip & Pear originated when founder Irene Queally started her family with husband Bill, and found the food available to buy far from what she would choose to feed her babies. When my own children were born, I didnt feel like anything that was in the market was close to the kind of food that I would eat and feed the kids, it just wasnt the same quality or flavour. It all started from there, says Irene. Irene and Bill also own the No 9 Barronstrand Street restaurant in Waterford. She began using the restaurant kitchen at night to prepare her own recipes and they decided to offer a limited menu for babies. Despite the meals being in competition with free baby bowls, the initial range of five choices was hugely popular. I think now more than ever people want real food for their babies. People were buying multiple portions to takeaway and use at home or freeze. The feedback was so positive she entered the Blas na hEireann awards, where they won Gold at their first attempt and also met with supermarket buyers. Three years on and their range is now stocked in SuperValu and Aldi, with Tesco due to come on board in 2017. The initial five recipes have grown to a broad range catering for babies and toddlers up to three years. Irene believes texture is as important as taste, and that is reflected in the companys products as children mature through the age ranges. A lot of pouches and jars, theyre blitzed to nothing so theres no chewing involved and babies need that for development. So we start with a puree but then move to a mashed consistency. And because of feedback from mums, weve added a toddler range from one to three, which is much chunkier in texture, Irene said. J&J OLEARY FAMILY BUTCHERS Staff members Sophie OLeary, Shane Cremin, James OLeary, Stephen Condon, Jerry OLeary and Olga Firek of OLearys Family Butchers, Millstreet, Co Cork. Biography: Millstreet butchers who have built up a national reputation thanks to an award-winning and constantly evolving product range. Brothers James and Jerry OLeary took over the thriving butchers shop from their father but have added their own stamp with their prepared meats and award-winning sausages and burgers. Despite only selling products from their premises in Millstreet, OLearys have developed a range impressive enough to have claimed a number of national prizes. We took the business over from my father 15 years ago, weve been butchers all our lives, Jerry says. In the last few years weve gone through a transition into more value-added products, trying to hold on to our traditional butchers business but also trying to change things around. What chefs have done to restaurants, were trying to bring to the butchers. We try to make it flashier and fancier and also make it easy for people to cook. So were always coming up with new products. This year we introduced our mushera venison burger, coming from the Millstreet National Park. They have also seen a growing trade in prepared meals, with OLearys doing the hard work for their customers. They change their range constantly, but offer shoulder of lamb as a recent example. That product we marinated for a week first, with all our own herbs and spices. Then we vacuum pack it in a roasting bag and all the customer has to do is go home and put it in the oven. Its taking restaurant-style cooking to the home and keeping it simple. Their innovation has seen them reaping awards on a regular basis, with the venison burger earning a gold Blas na hEireann award at this years competition. Given the success, have they considered branching out into supplying other business? No, Im a bit selfish like that, Jerry jokes. I keep them to myself. WESTERN HERD Ian Garry, Maeve Sheridan, John Eustace, Michael Eustace, and Adam Orrick, of Western Herd Brewing, which operates out of a former hay shed on the family farm Biography: A Clare microbrewery producing a range of beers and ales on their converted family farm. Clare siblings Maeve Sheridan and Michael Eustace have found success bringing an American west coast beer sensibility to the west of Ireland. Maeve was living in Luxembourg but keen to move home with her family, while Michael managed a bar in Dublin. Noticing the growth in craft brewing around Ireland, the brother and sister decided that was a possible use for the outbuildings on their farm in Kilmaley, which has been in the family for eight generations. The hay shed is nearly 100-years-old so it was nice to repurpose it, Maeve says. We have all the brewing equipment in there. We broke through into the milking parlour and we have our labelling machine, a bottling line and cold storage in there. Theres little waste, with the spent grain being fed to cattle still kept on the farm. With no direct brewing experience, the siblings knew the had a lot to learn: Its like a home cook trying to open a Michelin star restaurant. They enlisted a master brewer from the US who spent a year working with them and an apprentice they took on under the now-defunct Jobbridge scheme. With his help they started brewing, and have found a ready market for the products on their doorstep. There was no one in Clare doing it [craft brewing], even though more than a million tourists pass through the county each year, Maeve explains. Maeve says they can tell a bars tourist profile from the beers that sell well there. In OConnors in Doolin, its all IPA for the Americans, while in Spanish Point, its the wheat beer and Foxcatcher for the Germans and French. Not that they are neglecting their west of Ireland base one of their most popular brews is Blue Jumper IPA, a Father Ted reference and the perfect nod to the locals. ST PATRICKS DISTILLERY Cyril Walsh, of St Patricks Distillery, receives the Prestigious Award from Brian Nation, master distiller Biography: Incorporated in 2014, the company are based in St Patricks Mills in Douglas and are producing a growing range of high-quality spirits. St Patricks Distillerys business idea was born from the growing market for gluten-free products but the business have found that exceptional flavour is the real driver of their business. Founder Tom Keightley worked in the pharmaceutical industry and saw the growth of products catering to those with food intolerance. The company started producing gin and vodka made from a product that has zero gluten potato. Both found a market very quickly, winning awards in their first year of production, and now produce three different gins. General manager Cyril Walsh says no sooner had they catered to that demand, when another appeared. As soon as we ht the market with product, we were asked straightaway about whiskeys. Clearly whiskeys are not gluten-free so we outsourced elements of production, although we retain key control areas like blending. We started with oak-aged Irish whiskey, which was very well-received and we now have a total of three whiskeys, including a single malt and a cask-strength whiskey. The company concentrate on the export market, with their name an invaluable marketing tool, particularly in the US where they intend to focus for 2017. Having a strong brand name like St Patricks Distillery, we believe we have a great opportunity to capitalise on the awareness of St Patrick as intrinsically Irish and instantly recognisable. Were very fortunate to be able to trademark the name; the fact that were based in St Patricks Mills in Douglas probably helped in that regard, Tom says. Their next product launch also harks back to Irish tradition, a 50% proof poitin distilled from a traditional recipe of malted barley and potato. Were using a traditional recipe, from Croagh Patrick in Mayo, where poitin has been produced for millennia. Vancouver, British Columbia (FSCwire) - Noram Ventures Inc. (TSX-Venture: NRM / Frankfurt: N7R / OTCBB: NRVTF) (Noram or the Company) is pleased to announce its wholly owned subsidiary Green Energy Resources (Green Energy) has re-mobilized its drilling contractor to complete the balance of the Phase I drilling program on its Clayton Valley, Nevada lithium clay property. The Phase I core drilling program is focused on Norams South Block claims with some 50 holes being drilled in the main target area that measures approximately two and a half miles (4.1 km) by one and a half miles (2.4 km) on the Zeus claims and border of the Zeus Extension claims (Photo 1). And an additional five holes being drilled on the adjacent Hades claims around the historical shaft where lithium values over 1,000 ppm were sampled from the spoil pile (Photo 2). Analytical results from drill core samples will be incorporated into a National Instrument 43-101 resource estimate. We are delighted to kick off 2017 with the continuation of our Phase I drilling program in Clayton Valley, said Mark Ireton, President and CEO of Noram. We completed 20 holes prior to the holiday break and the drill crew commenced work today on the balance of the 55 hole program. We should be completed within the next 3 weeks, weather permitting. The technical information contained in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Bradley C. Peek, MSc and Certified Professional Geologist, who is a Qualified Person with respect to Norams Clayton Valley Lithium Project as defined under National Instrument 43-101. About Noram Ventures Inc. Noram Ventures Inc. (TSX-Venture: NRM / Frankfurt: N7R / OTCBB: NRVTF) is a Canadian based junior exploration company, with a goal of becoming a force in the Green Energy Revolution through the development of lithium and graphite deposits and becoming a low-cost supplier for the burgeoning lithium battery industry. The Companys primary business focus since formation has been the exploration of mineral properties. Current projects include lithium properties in the Clayton Valley of Nevada and the Hector Lode in San Bernardino County, California; and the Jumbo graphite property in southeastern British Columbia. Norams long term strategy is to build a multi-national lithium-graphite dominant industrial minerals company to produce and sell lithium and graphite into the markets of Europe, North America and Asia. For further information, please visit www.noramventures.com. VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - Jan. 4, 2017) - West Kirkland Mining Inc. (TSX VENTURE:WKM) ("West Kirkland" or the "Company") announces an early-2017 drilling program at the Hasbrouck Gold-Silver Project, which consists of the phase 1 Three Hills pit and the adjacent phase 2 Hasbrouck pit. The Company has contracted Boart-Longyear for drilling services at Three Hills and the recently-leased Hill of Gold properties (see details below). At Three Hills a 1,300 meter RC drill program will explore targets identified by previous drilling and geophysical surveys to the east of the permitted open pit by stepping out from hole MW14-01 (40 meters @ 1.36 g/t, 55 meters below collar), and TH12R-15 (66 meters @ 3.3 g/t, 76 meters below collar). Drill targets at Three Hills are adjacent to some of the best intercepts on the property. These earlier holes are located within the permitted pit boundary, but are not located within the current Mineral Reserve boundary. Step-out and in-fill drilling will also be performed at the recently-leased Hill of Gold property which lies three kilometers immediately south of Three Hills and between the Three Hills and Hasbrouck Mines. Earlier drilling at the Hill of Gold totals 29,926 feet from 83 reverse circulation holes and 6 core holes. A small historical resource was estimated at Hill of Gold based on past results. Core crushed to 1-1/2 inch was tested by McClelland Laboratories Inc. in columns with gold recovery from cyanide leaching projected at 81.0% and 86.7% after 62 to 79 days. Drilling performed at Hill of Gold in 1993 in the area to be targeted by WKM for follow-up included hole 93-63 which intercepted 32 meters of 0.5 g/t gold, 58 meters below collar, and hole 93-61 which intercepted 41 meters of 1 g/t gold, 70 meters below collar. Drilling in this same area in 1996 included hole HG96-5 which intercepted 29 meters of 1.2 g/t gold, 55 meters below collar and hole HGC96-6 which intercepted 17 meters of 2.9 g/t gold, 59 meters below collar. Modelling by West Kirkland suggests that these intercepts are open for further expansion near surface at potential open-pittable depths. The Hill of Gold host rocks and geological setting of gold mineralization are similar to the Three Hills deposit. The Hill of Gold property was leased and is now being explored as a target for possible trucking to Three Hills for processing at the permitted heap leach site there. Hasbrouck Mine Permitting Advancement of permitting for Phase-2 construction and mining at the Hasbrouck Mine is also to continue in early 2017. Phase-1 construction and mining at the Three Hills Mine is fully permitted at federal and state levels. The Company has commissioned EM Strategies (formerly Enviroscientists Inc.) to continue permitting the Hasbrouck Mine. This work builds on previous biology and cultural base-line studies with the intent of submitting a Plan of Operation to the BLM in Q3 2017. The Hasbrouck Mine is the second and larger part of the Hasbrouck Gold-Silver Project, and has a Probable Mineral Reserve of 588,000 ounces of gold and 10.6 million ounces of silver, (32 million tonnes at 0.6 g/t gold, 10.2 g/t silver, per Mine Development Associates' Technical Report dated September 1, 2016, www.sedar.com). This work is being commissioned now to ensure that Hasbrouck Mine permits will be in hand when needed before mining at Three Hills is complete. "The Hasbrouck Mine will require the typical amount of permitting for a mining operation in Nevada, including the completion of an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). There appear to be no biological, cultural, hydrology, or geochemistry issues that would otherwise delay or disrupt the timely process of applications for development", states Richard Delong, president of EM Strategies. About West Kirkland Mining Inc. West Kirkland owns a 75% interest in the Hasbrouck Gold Project in Tonopah, Nevada. A Pre-Feasibility Study and Environmental Assessment with construction-level drawings and all federal and state permits for the phase-one Three Hills Mine provides a ready-to-construct gold project. West Kirkland also holds a 60% interest in the open pit heap-leach TUG Gold Project in Utah in Joint Venture with Newmont. Chung Yoo-ra, the daughter of President Park Geun-hye's confidant Choi Soon-sil, gets out of a police car after her court hearing in Aalborg, Denmark, Monday. While the court ordered her to be detained there for four weeks, the Korean authorities are trying to get her returned to Korea for questioning over her involvement in the Choi scandal. / AP-Yonhap By Jung Min-ho The special prosecution team investigating the Choi Soon-sil scandal is unlikely to be able to get her daughter extradited from Denmark any time soon. Chung Yoo-ra was detained Sunday (local time) with four other Koreans, including her son, in the northern Danish city of Aalborg on charges of staying in the country illegally. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, she attended a hearing the next day at a local court, which ordered her to be kept in custody for four weeks. This may mean a long battle ahead for the independent counsel team, led by special prosecutor Park Young-soo, which has been trying hard to have Chung return promptly for questioning over her involvement in the wide-ranging corruption scandal. The most realistic way for them to bring her back is via an extradition request by the Ministry of Justice. Depending on her legal response, the process is expected to take from several weeks to months. The Danish Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, which handles extradition requests from other countries, said in a statement that it has not received a request yet and asked the Korean ministry to make one. If she takes the extradition issue to a Danish court, she may be able to stay there for months to avoid questioning here. LifeStyle The best LifeStyle shows are right here, from Australia and around the world. Catch up with the experts on home design and interiors, food and cooking, the property market, and get fresh ideas with the savviest of renovators. Whether you need inspiration for cooking up a storm, to refresh a tired room, or tips to sell your property, Foxtel LifeStyle will always something new for you to watch. Enjoy your favourite experts like Andrew Winter and Neale Whitaker, or Deb Hutton and Jamie Oliver live or On Demand. Get Foxtel 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. 04.01.2017 LISTEN The 4th edition of this years Miss unique Ghana is here, the search for the next queen has began, and this years audition will be held in two Regions namely, KUMASI & ACCRA. The CEO of Miss Unique Ghana brand Mrs. Estelle Ruth O. Gyekye has said, This years auditions will take place on Saturday 14th January 2017 in KUMASI at the CEETA-KEL HOTEL (STADIUM-OPP STADIUM HOTEL) and on the 21st January 2017 in Accra at the PALOMA HOTEL (SPINTEX ROAD OPP ICGC) respectively, 7:30 am on the dot. Miss Unique Ghana for the past four (4) years now has crowned three adorable queens namely, MISS HANNA OFORI-KITI ELLIE BEING THE MAIDEN QUEEN,MISS EVELYN OHEMAA YAA BOATEMAA BEING THE 2ND AND MISS ROSE KERSTINE OTOO BEING THE 3RD AND REIGNING QUEEN. The queens in their various capacities used their crowns to impact positively into the lives of some Ghanaians especially the vulnerable and the less fortunate in the society. Our reigning queen becoming the ambassador for the intellectually and developmentally disability (IDD), donated some wheel chairs ,cash drugs and other equipments for the kids of the intellectually and developmentally disability home in the Eastern Region, Koforidua during her project launch on 17th of September 2016. GLAMOROUS EVENTS CONSULT, The organizers of the MISS UNIQUE GHANA also reiterated. The 2017 edition promises to be better in all its activities than the past editions; The quest for searching for the next AMBASSADOR FOR THE LESS FORTUNATE is here and you can only join if you are between the ages of 18-27 years, the GRAND PRIZE for the 2017 winner is AN ALL EXPENSES PAID TRIP TO THE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES (DUBAI), AN OFFICIAL CAR, CASH PRIZE, A YEAR MAKEUP & BEAUTY PRODUCTS, SPONSORSHIP GOODIES, BRAND AMBASSADOR, THE PRESTIGIOUS CROWN and the Miss Unique Ghana 2017 title with all its perks and glamour. Miss Unique Ghana is powered by Glamorous Events Consult with support from ANGEL GROUP OF COMPANIES,ESTELLES BOUTIQUE AND JEWELRY, BAFFA IMAGERY,ALPHA COSMETICS, APRILS BEAUTY SHOP,SMULLEY DESIGNS,WILDOUT CREW GH, GORMAN COUTURE, AKOC MEDIA, LONDON STYLE BEAUTY PARLOUR. MISS UNIQUE GHANA; its all about empowering ladies.!!!! William Ramzy Amui, popularly known as Ramzy, first runner-up in the first edition of music reality show, Stars of the Future' has been released from prison. The budding musician, who saw his dream cut short abruptly in 2007, was freed from the Nsawam Maximum Prison last Thursday. In 2007, Ramzy and eight others pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy, armed robbery and dishonesty receiving under Article 29, Clause 146 of the criminal code. A Tema based businesswoman, Cynthia Koda, on January 23, 2007 reported an armed robbery attack to the Tema Regional Police. She said her 4x4 Toyota Highlander with registration number GT 6409X and an amount of GH300 were taken from her at gun point at her community 11 shop the previous evening. Ramzy, who was the 8th accused in the company of his friends, Francis Amuzu and Jerry Boampong, approached a businessman at Abeka Lapaz, a suburb of Accra apparently to sell the said vehicle. They were arrested and put before court and was given a 10-year jail term. Before his incarceration, Ramzy was fast rising in the Ghanaian music industry. He placed second at the Stars of the Future in 2006 and also auditioned for the M-net West Africa Idol contest in Nigeria in 2007. He was arrested in February 2007, after returning to Ghana after he qualified to take part in the singing competition and just days before he was scheduled to go back to Nigeria. JoyNews Seth Kwame Boateng, who visited the musician while in prison, posted on Facebook that, This my GOD!!!!! Praise be to God. Our God is alive and he is still in the miracle business. He decided to bless me with this good news. Our brother, Ramzy of the Stars of the Future fame is out of prison now. God thank you. He heard the prison officials call his name. He responded and the follow up message was that "pack your things, you are going home today". So after 10 years of his stay in the prison and still singing to glorify God, He decided to reward him. God did not allow him to finish his 20 year jail term. God will do same for you wherever you are. Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com | Ernest Dela Aglanu (Twitter: @delaXdela / email: [email protected]) 03.01.2017 LISTEN The Social Security National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) has increased pension benefits of pensioners by 18%. This is however 2 percent lower than that of 2016 which was 20 percent. In 2016, the pension benefits per pensioner was increased from GH230.00 to GH296.89. The current minimum pension for pensioners on the SSNIT pension scheme is GHc276.00. But per the new review, it has been increased to GHc334.81. Explaining the revision to Citi Business News, ccording to SSNIT with effect from December 2016, pensions have been increased by a fixed rate of 15% plus an additional flat amount of GHc17.41 per pensioner. Speaking to Citi Business News the Corporate Affairs Manager of SSNIT, Eva Amegashie explained the breakdown of the 18% increment. On the whole there has been an 18% increment for 2017. There is a fixed rate of 15% which everybody is going to collect of whatever salary you are earning plus GHc 17.41 and this will equal the 18 % increment, the Corporate Affairs Manager of SSNIT, Eva Amegashie explained to Citi Business News. Meanwhile all fresh pensioners from January 2017 will receive a minimum monthly pension benefit of GHc276.00. In a related development SSNIT has urged all pensioners who have not yet re-registered for their biometric smart cards to do so by 28th February 2017. A statement by the scheme indicated all unregistered pensions will have their pension payment delayed if they do not re- register for their smart cards. Speaking to the issue, Madam Eva Amegashie reiterated the importance of the biometric smart cards. It helps us to know those on the pension scheme and you can even use the biometric card for any identityWe have moved into a new environment so even those who are not pensioners are advised to get the smart card, she stated. By: Anita Arthur/citibusinessnews.com/Ghana 03.01.2017 LISTEN GNA Reporter Accra, Jan. 3, GNA - The Board and Members of the Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana (PFAG) have congratulated the President-elect, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and elected Members of Parliament. The Association also congratulates the outgoing President, John Dramani Mahama for his magnanimity in conceding defeat. A statement issued by Abdul- Rahman Mohammed, the National President of PFAG commended the Electoral Commission and indeed, Ghanaians for conducting a peaceful election. It said the election of the President-elect has come at a time that agriculture transformation in Ghana was at a crossroad and hence the need for a committed leader with focus on agriculture, especially small holder agriculture. It said the local agriculture sector was experiencing a decline in growth partly due to inadequate investment in the sector, changes in weather as result of climate change and a corresponding low income for producers. It expressed the hope that the President-elect would address these challenges and bring agriculture to the next level and beyond as envisioned in his 2016 Manifesto. The statement said Peasant farmers noted 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. It also noted with excitement about the 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, which were 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,' it added. It said the promise to work to achieve the UN-recommended ratio of one extension officer to 500 farmers, with emphasis on recruiting female extension officers was particularly exciting news and would go a long way to increase technology dissemination and uptake. The statement called on the yet to be constituted government to consult widely and formulate policies that would regulate the activities of nomadic herdsmen to ensure there was peaceful co-existence between crop farmers and livestock farmers specifically the 'Fulani' herdsmen. '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 bases for the massive support from farmers,' it said. GNA By Iddi Yire, GNA Accra, Jan. 3, GNA - The Police Hospital in Accra on New Year's Day recorded 14 new babies; made up of seven boys and seven girls. Twelve of the babies were delivered through normal birth, whilst the other two: a boy and a girl were delivered through Caesarean Section (CS). However, 2016 ended on a remarkable note with the delivery of triplets - girls- by CS at the facility. The Public Officer of the Police Hospital, Corporal Faustina Nunekpeku, speaking to the Ghana News Agency in Accra, advised mothers to appreciate their children and give them the best attention and care. They should take care of their health needs, especially during the harmattan season so that they would not contract any related diseases. She urged them to avoid cold food, alcohol and sweets. "We are grateful to God for ushering us in to a New Yearwe are again appreciative to our clients who have patronised our hospital to access our facilities," she stated. GNA 03.01.2017 LISTEN By Joyce Danso, GNA Accra, Jan. 3, GNA - Peter Mensah, a trader, who was accused of defiling a nine-year old pupil in an uncompleted toilet facility twice at Shipontele, near Amasaman in the Greater Accra Region has been discharged by an Accra Circuit Court. The Court however explained to Mensah that his discharge did not mean he was innocent. 'It has not been established that you are innocent or guilty. If you want to have sex look for your age mates. Children are out of bounds,' Mrs. Abena Oppong Adjin-Doku warned the accused person. Mensah did not understand what the trial judge said until it was interpreted to him in Twi. Mensah then bowed to the Court and thanked the trial judge. Taking his seat at the courtroom, Mensah made a sign of the cross and yelled out in Twi 'Awurade Medawase,' meaning 'I thank God.' Mensah's discharge came after prosecuting Detective Inspector Kofi Atimbire had told the Court that the complainant had called him saying she was outside Accra and was no more interested in the matter. The Court therefore discharged Mensah for want of prosecution amidst the warning. Charged with defilement Mensah has pleaded not guilty before the Court on September 26, last year. Inspector Atimbire who read the fact earlier on said the complainant is the father of the victim who resides at Akyem Segyimase in the Eastern Region. The victim resides at Shipontele, near Amasaman with her mother. The accused person lived at Toman also in Amasaman. Prosecution said during the month of July, while the victim was playing with her friends in the night in front of their house the accused called her under the pretext of sending her on an errand but lured her into an uncompleted toilet facility, near the victim's house and asked the victim to stoop and he had sex with her. Prosecution said after the act the accused person warned the victim not to inform anyone else she would die. A week after the accused invited the victim to the same place and had sex with her. On July 28, this year, the victim visited her father at Akyem Segyimase where she was taken ill and was rushed to the Kibi Government Hospital and she disclosed her ordeal to the complainant. Detective Inspector Atimbire said the complainant reported the incident to the Police at Asiakwa where he was given a police extract and Police medical endorsed form to the Police at Amasaman and accused was picked up. GNA HUNTERTOWN Wastewater plant discussions, personnel changes and road projects dominated the discussion at Huntertown Town Council meetings during 2016. January Pat Freck was elected president for the third consecutive year. Freck was nominated by Mike Stamets, which was quickly followed by a nomination of Gary Grant by councilman Brandon Seifert. Since Stamets nomination came first, its vote came first and Freck was elected. The bond ordinance for the wastewater treatment plant project was approved by the council. The State Revolving Fund (SRF) loan came with a not to exceed amount of $20,550,000 and also rolled in the towns recently completed flow equalization basin project. Construction on the plant began in the spring. February A committee was formed to look into replacing the towns Christmas decorations, which were in such poor shape that they were not installed in 2015. Freck and resident Betty Lavachek headed the committee, which rolled out new decorations in late November. The council approved a utility waiver for the Huntertown Family Park, allowing it to hook into the towns system without paying the $2,000 area connection fee. Park construction blossomed in 2016, including a Christmas tree, a restroom facility and a storage facility that will double as a nature center. March A pair of residents, David Hood and Bryan Hand, sent a letter to Huntertown leaders asking for the towns attorney, Dave Hawk, to step down citing a conflict of interest. Their request was in response to some town council members gathering enough signatures on a petition to get a vote put on the May primary ballot asking Huntertown voters to abolish the utility board. Both Hood and Hand said that Hawk should step away since he represents both entities separately. The council did not believe there as a conflict and no action was taken. The town received $450,000 in additional federal funding for the Carroll Road reconstruction project, which is scheduled to be bid later this month. Construction should be complete by the end of the year. Utility Service Board President Andrew Conner briefly had his status with the Allen County Democratic Party revoked. Conner last voted as a Republican in 1996, according to Democratic Party Chairman Jack Morris. Conner left the board later in the year and Chris Miller was appointed to his seat in July. April Councilman Dave Garman resigned his seat on the board 16 months into his 4-year term. Garman moved out of Huntertown to Grabill, forcing his resignation since councilmen must live within the towns corporate limits. Its very emotional, Garman said. Its a tough job. There is a lot that happens that people dont see. We go through a lot of email every day. There are issues that pop up every day that people have no clue that we deal with. Its been an enlightening experience and its been challenging, but I am surely glad I did it. The town officially broke ground at its wastewater treatment plant site along Hathaway Road on April 20. A crowd of nearly 30 people gathered at the site, including town and county leaders and employees and representatives of both contractors. The $15.9 million wastewater treatment plant project should be complete in 2017. May For the third time in its existence, the Huntertown Utility Service Board survived a public vote determining its future. As part of the primary election, Huntertown voters stood firm against a referendum question asking the Huntertown Town Council to create an ordinance to abolish the towns three-person utility board. The question failed with 64 percent of the voters (1,191-670) choosing to keep it. Mike Aker was chosen at a caucus of the Allen County Republican Party to fill the town council seat vacated by Garman. Aker served on the town council from 2011-2014 and was re-elected in 2014 to serve another four-year term. In December 2014, however, Aker announced he was forced to resign because of Indiana Code 3-5-9-4, which prohibited him from serving on the town council because he is serving as a volunteer firefighter for a volunteer fire department or a fire department that provides fire protection services to a unit (meaning a county, city, town, or township). A caucus was held before the end of 2014 to fill his spot and Pat Freck was selected. In July 2015, House Enrolled Act 1264 was signed into law which alters the previous code and allows the executive or member of the fiscal body of a city, town, or township (unit) to serve as a volunteer firefighter for a volunteer fire department or a fire department that provides fire protection services to the unit. The change in law allowed Aker a second chance, once a seat became available. June/July/August Through Senate Enrolled Act 67 (SEA 67), which provided $430 million to local governments for improvements to local roads and bridges, the town was awarded $82,326.99. In August, the town was awarded $112,000 through the Community Crossing Grant. The council voted to use both to repair a section of Old Lima Road in 2017. The Welcome to Huntertown digital sign along S.R. 3 was taken down. September Brandon Reichert, resource officer for the town, said he will be focusing very intently on enforcing the curfew laws in Huntertown. The law prohibits youths ages 15 to 17 from being in public places between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m. on weekends (Friday and Saturday) and after 11 p.m. or before 5 a.m. on weekdays (Sunday through Thursday). Children under age 15 cannot be in a public place between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m. any day. October Council members voted to adopt the $2.17 million budget for 2017. The budget is divided among the following funds: casino/riverboat ($20,000); rainy day ($35,000); COIT special distribution ($82,327); general fund ($311,090); local income tax ($12,859); lease rental payment ($180,048); local road and street ($70,000); motor vehicle highway ($285,500); cumulative capital improvement ($20,000); cumulative capital development ($80,000); and economic development income tax CEDIT ($920,000). The current tax levy for those funds is being advertised at $333,525 and the maximum estimated funds to be raised for those funds is $340,732. November The council approved an ordinance to finalize the alignment of the towns zoning ordinance with Allen County and the city of Fort Wayne. Paul Blisk, deputy land use director of the department of planning services for Allen County, said the majority of residents wont notice any changes. He said the alignment will help standardize and modernize the towns ordinance, which hadnt been touched since the 1970s. December The Huntertown Family Park hosted its first Christmas celebration, which included a tree lighting celebration. Approximately 350 people braved the snow and cold to attend the event, which included a visit from Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus. Five Huntertown Elementary School students Kiley Bieszke, Evie Wagner, Carter Merideth, Kennedynaing JJ Kokoanaing and Jordyn Freed each took part in the tree lighting after winning an essay contest at the school. Town employees were given a 4 percent raise for 2017. Employees did not receive a raise in 2015. Jim Fortman, a 21-year veteran of the Huntertown Town Council, was appointed to serve a 3-year term on the Huntertown Utility Service Board. Fortman was one of three applicants for the seat formerly occupied by John Widmann. By Kwabia Owusu-Mensah GNA Kumasi, Jan 03, GNA - The National House of Chiefs (NHC) has congratulated Nana Addo Dankwah Akufo-Addo on his election to lead the nation and pledged their unflinching support. The chiefs said they were ready to partner his administration to bring progress and transform the lives of the people. A statement signed by its President, Togbe Afede XIV, reminded him to appoint capable people to assist him to run an efficient government to satisfy the aspirations of the population. The chiefs noted that Ghanaians wanted change and therefore the need to develop policies and programmes that would meet their expectations. Nana Akufo-Addo, they said, would require men and women of great expertise and experience to help him achieve his vision as stated in his party's manifesto. The statement pointed out that the task ahead would demand that, every Ghanaian stood solidly behind the President-elect to succeed. To make this to happen, the House counselled that space was created for all, irrespective of political, religious or ethnic affiliation, to contribute to the political governance of the country. The chiefs applauded President John Dramani Mahama for 'graciously conceding defeat' and the promise to ensure smooth transition of power. They also congratulated the Electoral Commission (EC) for the successful and credible conduct of the presidential and parliamentary polls. The House urged the people to continue to work together to sustain the nation on the path of peace. GNA By Patience Gbeze, GNA Accra, Jan. 3, GNA - The Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) Management Secretariat Office Block has been inaugurated to accommodate the 56 officers on the programme. The GHa1.3 million World Bank-funded-edifice has an open office to seat about 50 staff, two other offices, kitchenette, archival office, and two wash rooms on the ground floor. The top floor also has a 30-seater conference room, an office each for the Coordinator, Deputy Coordinator and the IT Manager, a server room, and an ante-room for preliminary discussions before conference. Nana Oye Lithur, the Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection, inaugurating, said LEAP was launched in 2008 as Ghana's flagship programme for the National Social Protection Strategy. She said the LEAP was mandated to target 2.2 million extremely poor Ghanaians, who on the basis of two months, would have to be given financial support. She said the programme had so far taken care of one million beneficiaries from 213,000 households and it would be increased by an additional 50,000 households in due course. The Minister said over the past four years, LEAP had delivered beneficial support for the poor and had worked together to ensure that the less privileged had a stipend to improve their livelihoods. She commended her Deputy, Mrs Dela Sowah, the Chief Director, the staff of the secretariat and the World Bank for their support and encouragement. Nana Oye Lithur said it was her hope that anybody who would work in the secretariat would do nothing else than good work for the people of Ghana. Mr Dzigbordi Agbegbornu, the National Manager, LEAP, said the new office block would enhance productivity because it would address some of the challenges hindering the efficient execution of the programme. Hitherto, most of the staff were in different locations and this made it difficult for them to work. He announced that the Secretariat had migrated from a manual payment system to bio-metric and it had also shifted to electronic data collection, which had made the exercise very robust, leading to more than 9000 beneficiaries being registered in 2016. He said the next frontier was linkages for complementary services and children in the School Feeding programme. GNA Ho, Jan.3, GNA - Three babies were born on New Year Day at the Volta Regional Hospital in Ho. They were; a female and two males. The Nurse in charge who sought anonymity told the Ghana News Agency that all the babies were born through Spontaneous Vaginal Delivery (SVD), also known as 'normal delivery'. She said two of the three mothers were recovering whilst the third had been discharged. The same births were recorded on the December 31, 2016, also, two males and a female. The Nurse said on December 31, one expectant mother had a caesarian section. She said all the babies and their mothers were doing well at the recovery wards. GNA Accra, Jan. 3, GNA - The Presiding Bishop of Western-West Africa Episcopal District of the AME Zion Church, Right Reverend Dr Hilliard Dela Dogbe has urged the Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo's administration, to sustain the dialogue with religious leaders. This, he said would facilitate the harmonisation of development. He said Ghana's constitutional democracy was growing by the day with peaceful transfer of power and that the peace and stability of the country and the sub-region should be paramount. In his New Year's message copied to the GNA, Rev Dr Dogbe said the new government should lead the crusade for national unity by ensuring that the resources for development were distributed fairly to all parts of the country. He said in Parliament, the legislators were expected to build consensus in their deliberations and put Ghana first in every bill they passed. In Africa, he said, political leaders must learn to bow out honourably when they lost elections to preserve the peace in their various countries. He said the leadership of the Western West Africa Episcopal District of the AME Zion Church appealed to the political leaders in The Gambia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to put the interest of their fellow citizens first and work toward peaceful handing over process. 'Africa deserves a break from violent conflicts due to political disagreements. 'Our leaders in Africa need to create economic opportunities for the youth. This will discourage them from embarking on hazardous and perilous journey to Europe through the Sahara and Mediterranean high seas,' he stated. Rev Dr Dogbe said the ugly scenes of seeing Africa's productive age group leaving the continent in droves to embark on painful and dehumanising journey to Europe should be reversed in the New Year and beyond. He commended the out-going President John Dramani Mahama for steering the Ship of State safely and his readiness to peacefully hand over to President-Elect Nana Akufo Addo on January 7. The Electoral Commissioner, Madam Charlotte Osei and the security forces were also commended for their efforts in handling the December 7 general election. GNA By Hafsa Obeng, GNA Accra, Jan. 3, GNA - The Chief Justice (CJ), Georgina Theodora Wood, on Tuesday, urged the Government to provide funds for building new court houses, and for renovating and refurbishing the old ones. She said it would provide the requisite work environment for the administration of justice, adding that most court houses across the country did not inspire much public confidence, as they remained in deplorable conditions. Speaking at the inauguration of the renovated Supreme Court and Court of Appeal Building, she explained that that situation hampered the administration of justice and undermined the fundamental right of access to justice. Chief Justice Wood said although justice was founded on the integrity and legal capabilities of those who administered it, the building and physical space from, which justice was administered added to the trust and confidence issues. The importance of the Third Branch of Government in the socio-economic development of the nation, she said, could not be underestimated, adding that judicial reform initiatives were really geared towards the national goal. Giving the background of the Supreme Court Building, she said the construction of the monument, with its large and elegant ionic columns, began in 1927 and was completed in 1929, accommodating only four main purpose built court rooms, which served as templates of justice from which some of the best and finest judicial minds and legal brains of the nation administered justice. She said for close to nine decades the building had successfully served as the nerve centre of the operations of the Judiciary, contributing in no small measure to the sustenance of the rule of law and the stability of the nation. The Chief Justice said currently the Supreme Court building accommodated the Supreme Court, and the Criminal and Civil Divisions of the Court of Appeal. However, she said, the building had not received any interior renovation since its inauguration in 1929. 'This necessitated a major renovation of the 'look and feel' of these court rooms, conference rooms to reflect their dignity and proper role in the hierarchy of the administration of justice, whilst providing a modern working environment for the Justices and court room staff,' she explained. She stated that the advantages of a modern, user friendly, safe and conducive work environment were very laudable so the investments, especially to improve the quality of justice delivery of the two very important second instance courts. 'The actual work undertaken include, builders' work, interior dAcor, electro-mechanical services, ICT installation and minor roof repairs,' she said. Chief Justice Wood said all these modifications, which started in August 2016 and ended in December 2016, were done without compromising the building's Victorian architecture, with the entire work being financed through Internally Generated Funds. She gave the assurance that they would continue with the other phases of renovation by carrying out works on the whole of the fourth floor, which accommodated the former Supreme Court, a number of offices, which served as Judges' Chambers and other offices. It also housed the Supreme Court Library, while the ground floor housed the Judicial Service Clinic Annex, among others. She pledged on behalf of the Judiciary to continue to improve their work and deliver with integrity, firmness, fairness and courage, saying effective justice administration is a collective responsibility of all citizens, the Bench, and the Bar. The Chief Justice also expressed appreciation to the Judiciary for their patience and understanding during the renovation, and appealed to all to be law abiding, resist the temptation of flouting court orders with impunity and use legal processes to address their grievances. Later, a citation and presentation was made in honour of Justice J. B. Akamba, a Justice of the Supreme Court, on his retirement, in recognition of his 40 years service and contribution to the Judiciary and the Judicial Service. GNA 04.01.2017 LISTEN "It is better to be a messenger of a party in power than being the General Secretary of a party in opposition" - H. E. J. A. Kufuor.... Having the opportunity to complete SHS in 2008 - Ofori Panin Senior High, considering the difficulties I faced as being catered for by a single parent and considering the struggle some of my mates took to get their fees paid, above all, having the opportunity to exercise my franchise as a first time voter, considering the pro-poor policies initiated by the NPP government under the leadership of President Kuffour and the Free SHS policy highlighted by Nana Akufo-Addo in his 2008 campaign manifesto, I opted to vote for NPP to bring a total relief to Ghanaians especially, the mass youth (graduates and SHS Leavers) who were enjoying the good breeze of Youth Employment right from school. It was very disappointing when we lost the 2008 election but I was not discouraged. I hanged my hope on the notion that "political power is never permanent". In 2010 I had admission to the university where I joined Tescon - Tertiary Education Students Confederacy of NPP. In my first year, I became the Tescon Level 100 rep moving from hall to halls to get my colleagues involved. Thanks to Mr. Sumaila Nambe the then Tescon President of UDS Wa Campus for giving me media opportunity to represent Tescon and NPP on some FM stations in the Upper West regional capital. Developing a greater interest in politics, in my second year, I became a member of the Tescon Communication team and a vibrant NPP youth activist in Atiwa. I recall telling some friends of mine to vote for the NPP in the 2012 election because "I believe in the capitalist orientation of job creation" adding that if NPP wins, we would not complete school to join the Association of Graduates Unemployed but all they could tell me was "we will give the old man a compulsory retirement" - thanks to God that they graduated to join graduates unemployed under the stewardship of the youthful John Mahama whom they voted for in 2012. I played a very significant role in the 2012 election both on campus and in the Wa central community as well as Atiwa (East and West). Although our lost was again disappointing but I knew very well that President Mahama was going to fail woefully hence with youthful exuberance and determination, the NPP was going to win the 2016 election. In 2012, I was appointed the Tescon Communication Director and on 31st March 2013, I was elected Tescon President. I saw my political obligation as becoming huge. The role I played in Atiwa in the 2012 elections earned me the position of acting Youth organizer when Atiwa was divided into East and West prior to the 2012 elections. With remarkable records, on 14th December 2013, I was elected Atiwa West NPP Youth Organizer. Thanks to some of my political and social media friends such as Hon. Anthony Karbo, Hon. Annoh Dompreh the then Eastern regional youth organizer, Kwame NPP, Wofa Yaw Mekoe who were always encouraging me to climb the ladder despite my age. Having understood the political nature of the NDC, I thought it wise to use the media - both electronic and social media to expose them. The greatest loophole in Mahama's government came when he cancelled the Trainees allowance. I saw it as a suicidal move by Mahama's government hence I decided to assist the party's communication team in a different way. The issues surrounding the trainees allowance became much mentioning when Mr. Asiedu Nkatia said "if the trainees will not stay on campus to be trained as teachers and nurses without the allowance, they should pack and leave". This statement by the NDC general secretary was very insulting hence with some friends like Peter Ackah, Darlington and Kwame Sam, we punched the NDC to death. We finally buried the NDC on the trainees allowance when the President himself said "he prefer to lose the 2016 election than to restore trainees allowance". All we could say was - so be it. Thanks to Lady Gee of Amansan Fm Uk (Host of Menam na metete) who gave me the backing on my trainees allowance fight. The youth of NPP were much determined to win the 2016 election. We formed many groups eg- together with Nana Asem Bi Nti and Kwasi Bediatuo, we formed Eastern Patriots to dismantled the NDC Propaganda machinery which focused on "Agenda 50:50" in Eastern Region. The NPP Boardroom is one of the most influential youth groups which campaigned vigorously for the party's victory. Boardroom which I am part, campaigned in different constituencies in different regions eg; New Edubiase in Ashanti region, Ofoase-Ayirebi in Eastern region, KEEA and Cape Coast (north&south) in central region. It was believed that the NPP was not going to villages. We (the youth in NPP) organized ourselves, contributed monies then we moved to the villages while we controlled Social media in addition. We battled and conquered the NDC on social media argument while others were on guard writing articles, press release and short notes to expose the lies of the Mahama led government. We did so because President Mahama had said "Ghanaians have short memory" so we needed to write to constantly remind Ghanaians on the diplomatic failures of President Mahama. Thanks to President Mahama - we dwelled on his failures to write to Ghanaians. The overwhelming economic hardship, massive youth unemployment, rampant corruption involving the President himself, arrogance that characterized his appointees, the fall of the Kuffour initiated pro-poor policies under Mahama's watch, dumsor, high taxes and President Mahama's own distasteful utterances caused his defeat. Considering the economic management team of the NPP headed by indefatigable Dr. Bawumia, the political experience of H. E. Nana Akufo-Addo and the lesson the NPP bigwigs have learnt from the Mahama's government, I can conclude that the NPP will manage Ghana with caution and NPP's ability to fulfill half of its campaign promises will turn Ghana to a democratic one party state. We pray for God's guidance to the Nana Akufo-Addo led NPP administration. Long live NPP Long live Ghana. ............... Signed... Nana Ofori Kissi Ratina Atiwa West NPP Youth Organizer 04.01.2017 LISTEN President Biya of the Cameroun Republic made his New Year wishes to his people promising to deal severely with the uprisings in the Southern Cameroons, AKA Ambazonia. His message came almost three months after Common Law Lawyers and teachers trade unions started sit down strikes, which quickly attracted other segments of the population. Without violence from the population, the police and paramilitary provoked the peaceful protesters into running street battles. The military used life bullets ending in a very high death toll, rape, torture and kidnapping of some protesters who have since been unaccounted for. Beyond all expectations, President Biya refused to sympathize with the grieving families in his New Year speech. He instead promised to deal with protesters who have desecrated the symbols of the Cameroun nation like burning the flag and destroying property. In reaction to Biyas end of year message, Ambazonians condemned the arrogance and violence of the occupying forces of the Cameroun republic, accusing them of stagnating progress in West Cameroon for 55 years. Ambazonia has been treated like a colony conquered by the Cameroun Republic. All our institutions (Cameroon Bank, Powercam, Marketing Board, Wada, Santa Coffee etc) have been dissolved. We would have been an emerging country if we were allowed to manage our affairs. David Njousi Abang, a Southern Cameroons activist said. Other activists and sympathizers of Ambazonia conclude that 55 years is a very long time for a supposed brother to oppress his counterpart with deceit, contempt and such nefarious crimes. In his speech, Biya promises dialogue with the teachers and lawyers associations. The reality on the ground is that the quotas of those attending the dialogue are tipped with an overbearing majority of Francophones who have no sympathies with or understanding of the Anglophone problems. We are afraid the charade of dialogue, which has been hijacked by Francophones is deceptively projected as the abundant goodwill of the Cameroun Republic to listen to Ambazonia. This is proof of bad faith. Njousi David opined. Biya proposed the use of the institutions of the republic which provide for peaceful protest. Unfortunately, the antiterrorism laws voted by parliament in 2015 proscribe any unlawful assembly of more than five people or any street marches. The 2015 laws abrogate the 1996 constitution which in its preamble provides for freedom of speech, assembly and guarantee the right to protest. The comparison of the activities of Common Law lawyers and teachers to the terrorist activists of Boko Haram, suggests that Biya would continue treating the Anglophone protest marches as terrorism. Biyas emphasis, that Cameroon is one and indivisible, flies in the face of logic and history. History teaches us that the act of union between the Cameroun republic and Southern Cameroons was never done. Cameroon has never been one and indivisible. Muhammed Tikwrit, Deputy Secretary General of the United Nations Organization, in 2010, presented two distinct maps of the Cameroons to Paul Biya, reminding him of the distinctiveness of both countries. One map was that of the Cameroun Repblic and the second map was that of Southern Cameroons. In the highest legislating offices of the world, the Cameroons carry an s pointing to two separate Cameroons which according to the United Nations records have never been united. This fact should never be disputed by pseudo historians and the proto intellectuals that Biya surrounds himself with. The Professors Fame Ndongo (greatest devil around Biya) Professor Abwa and Victor Julius Ngoh have failed to educate this old man who has forgotten the history of Cameroon. If Biya professed willful blindness, he must borrow a leaf from the Episcopal letter from the bishops of the Bamenda Ecclesiastical Province, who have canceled their colonial pact to support the administration and businesses to oppress citizens. They have succinctly summarized the Cameroonian story for anybody who hates to read and be instructed by history. Let us imagine that Biya is right that our forebears signed a blood pact of unity with the Cameroun Republic, would we be going against their wishes to ask for an improvement of our status? Has Biya forgotten that Dr. John Ngu Foncha resigned from the Cameroon Peoples Demolition Movement (CPDM) because of the suffering of the Anglophones? Should we remind Biya that before transiting from this world, Foncha and his pro-unification allies tried to right their wrongs by taking a big delegation to the United Nations Organization? In fact, Foncha and Muna died with a deep pain in their hearts seeing what mess they took their people into. This must be reversed. The rest of Biyas speech was filled with the same platitudes of his three decades in power. He ventured apologies for inertia, bad governance, inability to emerge in spite the huge human and natural resources in Cameroon. Promises for development projects need no commentary as this only creates avenues for his friends to embezzle money from state coffers. These woes might soon be blamed on Southern Cameroonians and the hidden hands from abroad, as Biya hinted. For the New Year 2017, Ambazonians would have to redouble their efforts to free themselves, knowing that freedom is never negotiated with the oppressor. The oppressor must be beaten to his game. Any retreat means permanent persecution, murders and kidnappings. Cameroun Republic considers Ambazonians as Biafrans (Nigerians) and enemies in the house but they do not want us to go because they would be losing all our wealth and natural resources. Ambazonia has an abundance of oil, water, forests and farmlands. Cameroun has been signing contracts and selling our lands at giveaway prices to foreign concerns without consulting us. Herakles Farms (aka SG-SOC or Sithe Global Sustainable Oils Cameroon) was given 73,000 hectares by Cameroun government dispossessing 40,000 Ambazonians of their livelihoods and homes for 99 years. If we were one country, Cameroun would not lease out a hectare of Ambazonia land in Mundemba, Toko or Nguti at 250 F (US 50 cents) as surface rents a year, while a similar hectare in Penja and Njombe is leased at 150,000 to 200,000 FCFA (US 445 dollars). If Biya loved Ambazonians he would not allow herders to travel from Mali and Niger through Ngaoundere to come and destroy food crops in the North West Region of Cameroon and his administrators and security protect these grazers. Biya could not love Anglophones and make it difficult for them to enter professional schools. Less than 5 percent of Anglophones succeed in getting into professional schools. They are presented as less competent, but the few Ambazonians who manage to leave Cameroun, emerge as the best in their fields all over the world from America through Canada to England. In spite these gross discrepancies and marginalization that Anglophones took to the streets to dramatize, Biya ended his speech without saying how he was going to resolve their grievances. Biyas end of year speech was a missed opportunity. It came close to pouring petrol on the fire when he chose to bully the protesters. Ambazonians would wake up with a bleak dawn not knowing what would happen the next moment. Such an atmosphere is very unproductive and resembles a trap. Fon Christopher Achobang Social Commentator, Human rights activist The Cameroons On 7 January 2017, there will be tears of joy in the eyes of many Ghanaians who have looked upon the past four years of NDC rule with disbelief. These people have watched helplessly as their nation's exchequer has been rampantly robbed and the proceeds banked in Dubai and other places. How can a Government be so detached from its own electorate that when the citizenry complain of corrupt practices and the inefficient delivery of services, they are told by propagandists with contempt in their voices that Yenntie obiara! (We won't listen to anyone)? How can a person who calls himself the leader of an intelligent populace declare himself a dead goat who cannot feel the pain that is supposed to afflict anyone subjected to incessant public criticism because of failures in his governance of the country he is supposed to lead? Well, all that will become history on 7 January 2017. A new sheriff will arrive in town, and every cowpoke who had hitherto strutted his stuff in local saloons with impunity will be on notice of good behaviour or else. Smiles will replace the scowls on the faces of the men-and-women-in-the street. And the horses will neigh with contentment, untroubled by deliberately-started fires and the sound of gunshots. But we shouldn't let it end there. Ourb state institutions will, of course, do their bit to try ad make usrejoice. But are long speeches and parades of uniformed personnel enough? I don't think so. As soon as the Cabinet starts its work, it should begin to plan to mobilize the populace behind it in a way that has not been seen since that auspicious day, 6 March 1957. Ghana shall be 60 years old in March this year, and the occasion should be used not for the inane celebrations we are used to, but to engage the populace in a series of nation-wide durbars that will enable the people to convey to their rulers, their ideas for prioritising developments they feel they need in their communities. The alienation of our communities from their Government has, of course, been largely caused by the over-centralisation of government imposed by the ability of the President to appoint regional and district administrators, who play such an important role in carrying out rural development. I was very glad to hear that the President-elect intends to make profound changes in the current authoritarian system. In the durbars I envisage, constituency MPs as well as elected and unelected officials would all be brought together, under the chairmanship of specially deputed individuals of good standing (preferably drawn from outside the immediate communities, to discuss local affairs and make recommendations to the Central Government on the priorities they've identified in their areas. Of course, the existing administrative structure in the rural areas will insist that they have already drawn up their own priorities. But this should be disregarded, because I am sure those priorities were drawn up with narrow political ends in view. One example: how many MPs in the last Parliament were able to speak against galamsey? According to ore of their own number, every time he discussed the issue with his colleague MPs, he was told it was a no-go- area, for they would lose votes if they attacked those who engaged in galamsey. So the destruction of our water-bodies and farmlands a systematic nationalisation of our environment that poses an existential threat to all Ghanaians was not seen as a priority. Now, a Chinese-speaking film-maker has told us that it's probably too late to save our water-bodies and farmlands. What do our local folks say? Let the Government listen to them. At a public durbar. This is only one way in which the Akufo Addo regime can seize the moment and infuse into the populace, the same enthusiasm that suffused throughout our country in the years immediately following our independence. The CPP under President Kwame Nkrumah identified national priorities through its First and Second Development Plans, and published the plans for nation-wide discussion. Tere could not have been, for instance, anyone who had not heard about the Volta River Project before Akosombo power came online. We knew what was supposed to be achieved by Tema Harbour; factories were established with a rational objective in mind for them within an overall national development goal. Of course, mistakes were sometimes made I the implementation of the Plans. In particular, an over-dependence on foreign inputs for many of the projects marked them out to fail, as soon as our foreign exchange earnings crashed disastrously, following the steep drop in the world price of cocoa in 1965. But therein lies our current strength: we have first-hand experience of what leads to failure, and ought not to make the same mistake again. In this connection, I am pleased that the President-elect is strongly wedded to the idea of Government/private partnership in creating projects. Here again, we have great experience of how private partners can screw us by directing our purchases of foreign inputs through overseas connections of which we may not be aware. I was told, for instance, that by one of its own employees that a local cutlass-manufacturing company used to buy its raw materials from a company abroad to which it was affiliated. This foreign company consistetly over-invoiced the Ghana operation for years and years. The senior Ghanaian employees were, however, silent because every year, they were sent on holidays to the country where the raw materials were imported from, and always came back with purchases of goods for their personal use that were in short supply in Ghana at the time. This indicated clearly that some money had been surreptitiously saved abroad for them. All these practices can be eliminated now, because our experience directs us to carry out a thorough due diligence study of foreign companies before going into partnership with them. If the Akufo Addo Government is able to reintroduce the Nkrumah-type dynamism into our economy, while at the same time, staying loyal to the principles of participatory democracy which is its avowed backbone, it will be able to usher Ghana into a new era of self-confidence and can-do patriotism that will at last do justice to our pride as a black nation that can match all others in achievement. Is what I am proposing possible? Yes: I am writing this article on a Lenovo computer made in China. At the time Ghana became independent, if anyone had suggested that one day, China would be able to manufacture computers that equalled the quality of those made by IBM of the USA, he would have been laughed out of court. Today, China not only makes its own Huawei smart phones but is also reported to be able to provide facilities that enable Apple Corporation of the USA to make 500,000 I-Phones per day in China! These were arrangements that the Chinese agreed to in tough negotiations with the Americans. What others have done, we too can do. But we must put on our thinking caps. Too many of us are sunk in a stupor that diverts out energies into fatalistic avenues, that lead us to regard failure as an Act of God to which we as mere mortals, do not contribute. No, the deity doesn't want us to fail! We have brains: let us use them. We have manpower: let us mobilise it for national development. We need to remember that God helps those who help themselves! The time is now; we have the regime that can propel us forward. What are we waiting for? Only selfishness and laziness can thwart us. So let us eschew those two evils, among others. And Ghana can become sweet again under President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo. Banjul (Gambia) (AFP) - The head of Gambia's electoral commission has fled to neighbouring Senegal fearing a plot against him, a month after declaring President Yahya Jammeh lost elections following 22 years in power, one of his relatives said. Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) chairman Alieu Momar Njie "fled to Senegal after he got information that the Gambian authorities were plotting against him and his team" one of his relatives told AFP late Tuesday. "Some of his team members have also left for Senegal," the relative said, speaking on condition of anonymity. The relative did not elaborate on how Njie fled or say who had gone with him. There was no immediate comment from Senegalese authorities. Njie had declared opposition candidate Adama Barrow the winner of December 1 presidential elections and pleaded with all parties to respect the result. Jammeh's party later lodged a legal complaint against the electoral commission and the country has since been in political deadlock. The 51-year-old Jammeh, who took power in a bloodless coup in 1994, has said he will await a Supreme Court ruling in the case, delayed until January 10, before ceding power. Jammeh's refusal to step down, despite initially conceding defeat in the election, has stoked international concerns about the future of the tiny west African country. Both the United Nations and African leaders have called for him to step down. AdzopA (CAte d'Ivoire) (AFP) - As many African women spend much of their spare time in hair salons, Ivory Coast's chief librarian, also a woman, came up with a brainwave scheme to help them read and learn to read. Crammed on shelves between hair extensions, untangling creams and straightening lotions, a total 23 hair salons now offer customers a range of books on loan from the National Library. "Libraries are practically non-existent in our suburbs and the ones that do exist get very few visitors, and rarely women," said chief librarian Chantal Adjiman, who launched the project in 2012. With little time on their hands between work and childcare, most women simply do not have the opportunity to seek out books. So the library decided it was best to take books to one of their "regular meeting-places". Hairdressers style the hair of a client reading a book from a mini-library in a salon in Abidjan "Ivorian women are charmers," said Adjiman. "They can spend more than an hour and a half in a hair salon." At the National Library building, where 1,750 books have been set aside for the hair salons, staff pack novels, children's books and also essays about women's or children's rights into boxes. 'I come here just to read' Outside one of the hair salons, located in a market, a young woman sits reading on a bench oblivious to the noise or the banter of the traders nearby. "I've got no money to buy books so I often come here just to read," she said. A woman reads a book from a little library at a hairdresser's in Abidjan as she gets her hair done Inside the salon, where a woman under a hood hair dryer thumbs a novel, owner Benedicte Ouguehi says the presence of the books has attracted new customers. Even hairdressers working out in the open come by the salon to borrow books for their clients, she adds. In Abidjan's well-heeled district of Cocody, 66-year-old salon owner Justine Inagohi says she immediately agreed to sign onto the scheme. "Women gossip under the dryers, I'd rather they did something more educational," she said. Inagohi has even set up a reading corner for children, used both by children accompanying their mothers and those who live in her own building. The presence of the books, whether they be for children or for adults, gives women who cannot read and write the incentive to learn, and even men are beginning to turn up in women's hair salons to borrow them, said librarian Adjiman. "Ivorians love reading but have no access to books," she said. More businesses are registering to participate in the biggest business trip for 2017. The Hello Kigali Trip, involving Citi FM and private sector delegation, is to expose businesses to a first-hand experience of how a country with a recent genocide history, has turned around its story making it an investment hub within sub-Saharan Africa. Despite the impact of Rwanda's genocide story on the country's political and socio-economic fundamentals, major reforms have made it one of the most sought after economies in Africa and around the globe. For instance, the World Bank's latest ease of doing business report indicates that the introduction of online registration platforms in starting a business has moved Rwanda 33 points up from the 109th to the 76th position. In addition, other reforms in getting electricity, trading across borders and registering property have equally placed Rwanda 56th out of 190 countries worldwide. Participants of the Hello Kigali trip, will be meeting key policy makers including the Registrar General of Companies, Commissioner for Domestic taxes, Mayor of Kigali. Discussions will centre on investment climate in Rwanda, mortgage registration, issuance of construction permits. Others will include; paying taxes, government online services as well as enforcing contracts. The team will also visit the Genocide Memorial in Kigali. The various agencies to facilitate the trip are the Rwandan Development Board, Rwandan Natural Resources Authority and Rwanda Revenue Authority. For $2,450, participants would be treated to a four star hotel accommodation, visa, return trip tickets and lasting business ideas to grow their respective organizations. The five day experience of the Rwandese success story is just twenty days away; from 24th to 28th January 2017. To register and be a part, interested individuals could visit www.citibusinessnews.com. By: Pius Amihere Eduku/citibusinessnews.com/Ghana The Speaker of Parliament, Edward Doe Adjahoe, will today [Wednesday], take delivery of some security installations donated to the House by the Chinese government as members resume sitting after breaking for the Christmas holidays. The House is expected to wrap up activities of the sixth Parliament of the fourth Republic, which will be dissolved on Friday, January 6, 2017. Speaker of Parliament, Edward Doe Adjaho The Deputy Director of Public Affairs of the House, Kate Addo, indicated to Citi News that before this Parliament comes to an end, legislators will also consider some Bills already before it, including the Right to Information Bill. The Right to Information Bill is still being discussed. It is at the stage where people are bringing out the flaws of the Bill in order to ensure that we have a law that when is passed is air tight. Apart from that, we have the Spousal Property Rights Bill which has also not been passed, the Chieftaincy Bill too. We have quite a number of Bills that have not been finished, Kate Addo added. If this Parliament is unable to exhaust them, the Next Parliament may have to table the Bills all over again, she noted. Kate Addo also outlined the business activities and protocol of the House before its dissolution to Citi News. On Thursday, we have the State of the Nation Address which is a constitutional requirement of the President as per Article 67 of the 1992 constitution. Then on Friday at midnight, the House stands dissolved, so the life of the sixth Parliament will come to an end on the midnight of the sixth. Minutes after the life of the sixth Parliament stands dissolved, the next one is activated by the inauguration ceremony that will take place on the midnight of the seventh, she explained. By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana A German-Ghanaian Islamic State defector who claimed in news interviews to have refused to commit violence for the group has been charged by German authorities with murder and war crimes for his role in a mass execution in Syria in 2015. Harry Sarfo, a 28-year-old German citizen, appeared in front-page articles and television broadcasts last year in which he offered a sanitized version of his involvement with the Islamic State and condemned the group's tactics. But his account began to unravel after The Washington Post obtained and published a video that showed Sarfo helping to move prisoners into position for a public execution in the ancient city of Palmyra, and apparently firing his own weapon as the men fell in a barrage of machine-gun fire. Sarfo's case highlighted the challenge facing European security services as they evaluate hundreds of returning fighters, many of whom have sought to obscure their ties to the Islamic State and involvement in violence. Harry Sarfo is serving a three-year prison term in Germany on terrorism charges. He was once a soldier for the Islamic State but says he avoided participating in the groups violence. Video provided to The Washington Post by a source inside the Islamic State casts doubt on Sarfos claims. (Souad Mekhennet, Greg Miller, Jason Aldag/The Washington Post) The German federal prosecutors office in Karlsruhe issued a statement announcing the new charges against Sarfo, who appeared before a federal judge in Germany on Tuesday. The accused, who was armed with a pistol, personally took one of the detainees to the execution spot and prevented the others from escaping, the statement from German officials said, according to a report by Reuters. Sarfo, who is of Ghanaian descent, had been serving a three-year sentence at a prison in Bremen after being convicted on lesser charges of belonging to a terrorist organization and violating German weapons laws. But German authorities opened a new investigation after the release of the video, which was captured by Islamic State propaganda teams and provided to The Post by an individual with ties to the group. Sarfo had repeatedly denounced the Islamic State in interviews from prison that were approved by German authorities. He told German investigators that he had said no to the killings in Palmyra and made more categorical claims to news organizations. I refused. I did not raise my hand, Sarfo told the German broadcaster ZDF last year. ZDF worked with The Post on follow-up reporting about Sarfo's account after the new video surfaced. Washington Post With barely three days to the final handing over of political power to a New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration, President John Dramani Mahama seems to have cleared his office desk at the presidency to make way for the incoming president, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo. In a picture which has since gone viral on social media, the desk of President Mahama at the Flagstaff House, which is usually occupied with a heap of files and documents, has been completely cleared with not even a tiny pin in sight. He is seen in the picture speaking on his cell phone, with other cell phones, his dark pair of spectacles and blue water flask on the desk. The president is reported to have almost packed out of his official residence located at No. 1 Prestige Avenue in Accra, which originally used to be the residence of former Vice President Alhaji Aliu Mahama. Preparations Meanwhile, all seems set for outgoing President Mahama and the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) to hand over the affairs of the country to President-elect Nana Addo Dankwa-Akufo-Addo to lead a new government. At a press briefing in Accra yesterday, co-Chairperson of the Transition Team's Sub-Committee on Inauguration and Member of Parliament (MP) for Tamale South, Haruna Iddrisu, said, Pursuant to the 1992 Constitution and the Transition Act of the Republic of Ghana, all is set for the inauguration of the President-elect, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and Vice President-elect Alhaji Mahamudu Bawumia before Parliament. Swearing-In The event is expected to be preceded with the dissolution of the current parliament and the swearing in of the new parliament [275 parliamentarians] at midnight of January 7, 2017 in the House. That is when the new speaker of the House and his two deputies as well as leadership of the House [majority, minority leaders] would be determined accordingly. The event is expected to start off in parliament between 10:00 pm and 1:00 am. Parliament will reconvene later in the morning at the Independence Square where the swearing in and official handing over ceremony are expected to take place. Mr Haruna Iddrisu was hopeful of a smooth transfer of power from the outgoing administration to the incoming one. Preparations He thus, assured that adequate preparations had been made to usher in the new government. So far, 11 heads of state and governments have confirmed their participation, two vice presidents, 13 government representatives, five representatives of international multilateral organizations and a number of ex-presidents from the West African sub-region and other parts of the world, co-Chairperson of the Inauguration Committee, Shirley Ayorkor Botchway, revealed. Dignitaries Ivorian President Allasane Quattara is expected to be the special guest of honour for the occasion, with Chairperson of the Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS) and Liberian President, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf as well as the Presidents of Guinea (Alpha Conde), Nigeria (Muhammudu Buhari), Benin (Alpha Talon), Togo (Faure Gnassingbe), Gabon (Ali Bongo Ondimba), Zambia (Edgar Lungu) and the Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Hailemariam Desalegn, would all be in attendance. Arrangements On the day of the event, members of the public and all guests, except those classified as 'very important personalities' (VIPs) are expected to be seated at the Independence Square by 8:30 am, spokesman of the NPP side of the Transition Team and MP-elect for Ofoase-Ayirebi, Kojo Oppong-Nkrumah, indicated. The main activity is expected to start at 10:00 am. Members of the public would be administered in the stands at the Square that accommodates as many as 6,000 people, with the media and all other persons who would be performing specific duties on the day expected to be carrying the necessary accreditations. Security In view of the nature of the programme and its accompanying tight security schedule, no vehicles, except those with specially designed pass, would be allowed beyond the Accra International Conference Centre (AICC), Osu cemetery traffic lights, the 28th February road traffic lights and the traffic lights at the headquarters of the Customs, Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS) headquarters at the ministries area. Over 5,000 men drawn from the various security agencies would be on duty on the day providing security and screening people. Events Subsequent to the swearing in ceremony, there would be a banquet at the State House at 1:00 pm for the president, vice president, visiting heads of state and dignitaries with attendance being strictly by invitation. Later in the day at 6:00 pm, there would also be a cocktail party at the presidency, followed immediately with a dinner for the dignitaries at 8:00 pm at the same venue. Mr Oppong-Nkrumah also announced a musical concert dubbed, 'One Ghana' scheduled for 10:00 pm the same day at the Independence Square. By Charles Takyi-Boadu It is becoming apparent that the centre cannot hold among Members of Parliament (MPs) on the ticket of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) over the selection of leaders for the minority with just a few days to the inauguration of the 7th Parliament. While the 25 NDC MPs from the Volta Region have resolved that the minority leader for the incoming parliament ought to be the MP for Ketu North, James Klutse Avedzi, there are media reports of an intense lobbying and jostling by other members for the same position. Last week, several media reports quoted supposedly 'deep throat' sources as saying that the NDC MPs had unanimously agreed that the Tamale South MP, Haruna Iddrisu should be made the minority leader. Speculations also suggest that Alban Kingsford Sumana Bagbin, Nadwoli Kaleo MP, is lacing his boots to become second deputy speaker of the house. Nii Lantey Vanderpuye, MP for Odododiodioo and outgoing Minister for Youth and Sports, is also tipped for the position of minority chief whip, snatching it from Muntaka Mubarak, MP for Asawase. According to NDC Greater Accra Regional chairman, Kobina Ade Coker, the Accra caucus of the party has put forward Nii Lantey for the top job. However, MP for Keta, Richard Quashigah, in a statement, expressed worry that the ongoing lobbying, and the way it is being done in the public eye could create some problems for the NDC in parliament. Even before the Seventh Parliament swings into action on Saturday, January 7th, it appears there is jostling for who makes it to the leadership of the NDC minority in the house, creating discomfiture among the elected members. Sources of information by the media are not clearly defined except for allusions being made to the party leadership. The resort to the media by certain faceless elements in the party to fly kites and to test public opinion among party faithful can create confusion and disorganise the incoming minority front in parliament. I would imagine that more mature and reasoned procedures will be followed in the selection of those who make up the minority leadership in parliament, Mr. Quashigah declared. The Keta MP expressed his opinion on the ideal minority leader for the incoming parliament. For the NDC minority in parliament to glitter and hit the parapet, it will require a strong sense of unity of purpose and the striking of the required chemistry among all the segments. Attaining this unity and cohesion in order to hold the feet of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to the fire demands high levels of transparency, collective consultation among the leadership of the party and the Members of Parliament. To this end, a very astute, sharp and meticulous minority leadership acceptable to both the generality of the party and more importantly, the elected Members of Parliament, should be a key driver. A well balanced and thoughtful selection is what the NDC in parliament needs in order to inspire in them the needed confidence, energy and strength to play forth the noble but critical role against incipient abuse of NPP 'majoritarian' intolerance and its likely consequences of constitutional despotism. Mr. Quashigah suggested that a dialogue with all elected MPs on the subject matter would be critically important and that there is also the need to seek the views of some particular persons and groups, including the outgoing president and leader of the NDC, the Council of Elders, most importantly, the founder or founding father of the party, depending on which terminology suits ones' ear. He also emphasized the need to seek the views of outgoing NDC MPs and said regional leaderships of the party should be asked to interface with their elected MPs before submitting proposed names to the national leadership for further deliberation. By Halifax Ansah-Addo Paris (AFP) - A French court agreed on Wednesday to adjourn the corruption trial of the playboy son of Equatorial Guinea's leader at the request of his defence team. Dates for the resumption of the trial, which opened on Monday, were being discussed, with the presiding judge in favour of June 19. Teodorin Obiang, his country's vice-president, is suspected of using more than 100 million euros ($106 million) of state money to buy a mansion on one of the swankiest avenues in Paris as well as a collection of Italian supercars. The trial is the first arising out of an unprecedented investigation into the French assets of a trio of African leaders accused of leading a life of luxury abroad while their citizens live in poverty. Obiang's defence team had argued that the hearings for the trial, initially scheduled for the next few weeks, gave them too little time to call witnesses and prepare their defence. Obiang, 47, the son of President Teodoro Obiang Nguema, has attempted to prevent the case coming to court and claims he is innocent. He says the money came from legitimate sources, not bribes or embezzlement as suspected by prosecutors. 04.01.2017 LISTEN The religious lamp differs, but the light is the same! No two ways, there are many religions in the world with each having a sizeable number of followers including secret societies. Because of clarity, I've taken the pain to research into the major religions in the world with their place of origins as well. Namely, Christianity (Palestine), Islam (Mecca), African Traditional Religion (Africa), Buddhism (India), Hinduism (India), Confucianism (China), Shintoism (Japan), Sikhism (India), Judaism (Israel), Zoroastrianism (Persia) and Taoism (China). The fact is, all the believers in the various religious sect believe that there's a Supreme Being that transcends over everything below and above the earth. In simple terms, they're all worshiping the same God Christians know, worship and believe. Therefore, why judge and scare me with Heaven' because I'm a Buddhist, Hinduist or an African Traditional believer? Mind you, the religious sect or denomination you belong to is as a result of accidental birth! Thus, your place of birth mostly determines your religious affiliation. The probability that a child born in Saudi Arabia will turn to become a devout Muslim is very high than becoming a Christian. Also, a person born in India will surely become a believer of Buddhism or Hinduism than becoming a Muslim. If that's the case, where from the unnecessary condemnation from the camp of some Christians? Why do Christians have the conviction that the only way to attain salvation is by becoming part of their religion? The truth is that, there is no way all people under the sun can join only one religion or better still become Christians. I'm born and nurtured in India, therefore, I'm a devout Buddhist which I did not caused it because it's the religion of the land. Then, why do you condemn me saying I will not go to heaven during the judgement day upon all my good deeds? Truly, most people are Christians not because they desire, but as a result of the fear of hell' as the believers have been told to exist by their authorities. On a more serious note, religion must be geared towards the promotion of brotherliness and goodwill among our neighbours. True religion goes beyond what we've been told by our Prophets, Pastors and Imams in the various chapels and mosques. The core duty as believers must be the one where we live in peace with our neighbours. Thus, making sure that the welfare of those around us becomes our prime focus. Sadly, religious people become pure, holy, saint or pious only in the place of worship in an enclosed building. Right after church service, the story cannot be told here! This is hypocrisy at the highest level on the part of contemporary Christians. Realistically, going rounds saying that being a Christian is the only way to attain salvation doesn't guarantee you a place in the abode of the Supreme Being. It's like, staying inside the garage doesn't make you a car, likewise going to Church everyday doesn't make you a true believer or a true Christian. It's time Christians develop the habit of showing love and care to the vulnerable. For the Book of James chapter 2:15 -16 sum up the true meaning of Christianity. The truth hurts, but it shall forever be told by people who hates hypocrisy. More importantly, I'm not a Buddhist, however, this is the hard truth most religious people are afraid to talk about. Don't judge me because I'm not part of your religion. We're all looking up to the same God. #God is one, no matter your religious affiliation!! Adu Sarpeah [email protected] 0241210870/0506140870 UCC Men of God are hallowed personalities whose words should hardly be questioned or even mocked especially when these are steeped in divinity. Before the reformation, such personalities in a section of the old churches were considered infallible. Not when their remarks smack of integrity doubts as in the case of Archbishop Duncan-Williams' bill of good integrity he has lavishly doled out to Charlotte Osei. His reason for the testimonial to the lady he chooses to call his daughter stems from what for him is her excellent performance even when most Ghanaians had doubts about her propensity to deliver an integrity-driven polls in the country. We do not think that Ghanaians, who demanded change, have rescinded their conclusion about the woman whose stubbornness could have cost us the serenity we are enjoying as a people today. We do not have the experience of civil strife except for the isolated cases of inter and intra ethnic engagements in some parts of the country. That is why when we were pushed too close to the precipice by the negative signals from the performance of the Electoral Commission (EC) under the aegis of Charlotte Osei, we wondered why she could not care the hoot. Maybe it was because she could easily fly out to New Jersey in the US. Anyway Ghanaians love their country so much that anything which shows symptoms of altering the status quo would be resisted by all means including hurling of invectives as they did to the EC Chairperson. We wish to inform Duncan-Williams that Ghanaians have not and would not show any remorse for associating Charlotte's performance with a mindset of serving the interest of one of the players on the political plane come what may. To suggest, as Duncan-Williams seeks to do by his testimonial, worthless as it is anyway, that our EC Chief was above board through her deeds is to throw dust into the eyes of the good people of this country. We have traversed many milestones in our democratic journey that we would not brook any attempt at querying us when we were, especially, justified in crying wolf against the backdrop of Charlotte's disturbing body language. We were justified in frowning when Charlotte's abuse of the independence of the EC was going beyond acceptable reading. That we have come out unscathed and posting electoral results without blemish is suggestive of the vigilance of the people of Ghana who have been once beaten and twice shy. The electoral reforms which the Supreme Court suggested to the people of Ghana would not have come to being but for the insistence of the serious Ghanaians. Charlotte was overwhelmed by the desire of Ghanaians to have a clean election. The outcome was the result of the resolve of Ghanaians to deny Charlotte her parochial interest, period. See what we mean by the bad testimonial posted by the Archbishop! Chief Justice Georgina Wood in a hand shake with Justice Joseph Bawa Akamba Joseph Bawa Akamba, a justice of the Supreme Court, has retired from the judiciary after 40 years of service. He joined the Judicial Service in 1977 as a magistrate and was promoted to the Circuit Court, High Court, the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court through diligence and excellence. At a ceremony in Accra to officially bid farewell to Justice Akamba, the Chief Justice, Georgina Theodora Wood, said his (Akamba's) integrity was impeccable. Justice William Atuguba, a Supreme Court judge, said the record of the retiring judge was full of pluses and also had a good record during his service in The Gambia. He noted that Justice Akamba was frank and always straightforward. Justice Jones Dotse, another justice of the apex court, citing excerpts from Justice Akamba's judgments, said Bawa, as he called him, is a first-class gentleman, man of integrity, sociable, honest, intelligent, hardworking and has the appetite for finding solutions to intractable legal problems. Justice Sulley Gbadegbe, among other things, stated that Ghana's judiciary would be missing one of the finest judges. Bension Nustupui, President of the Ghana Bar Association (GBA), in a remark said the outgoing judge is a humble person who did not exhibit arrogance, although the law was said to be in his bosom. Justice Akamba in a remark, said in 1977 when he took the step to join the Bench, it was a step of faith and that the Lord had seen him through. He said he would not attribute his successes to himself but rather to God. A citation of honour to Justice Akamba among other things, reads, You served your colleagues on the Court of Appeal, Ghana, well when you represented them in the Judicial Council. It further states, Your elevation to the Supreme Court of Ghana in 2012 was a justifiable reward for your demonstrable competence and conscientious attitude towards your judicial functions. In 1994 while on the High Court Bench, Justice Akamba was appointment on secondment in The Gambia as a Director of Public Prosecutions. He has also served as the Director of the Judicial Training Institute (JTI) and led it to produce Bench Books for Magistrates on Civil and Criminal Procedures, Juvenile Justice and Family Tribunal. In 2012, Justice Akamba was the president of the Association of Magistrates and Judges and also member of the Judicial Council, was among the team that negotiated with the government for an improvement in the conditions of service for the Lower Bench. By Jeffrey De-Graft Johnson [email protected] 04.01.2017 LISTEN The Management of the Ghana Education Service (GES) would like to appeal to Senior High Schools (SHSs) in the three regions of the north; Northern, Upper East and Upper West regions to re-open whiles management takes urgent steps to facilitate the immediate release of feeding grants to all the schools that enjoy such scholarship. Actions have already been initiated by the Ministry of Education and the Scholarship Secretariat to the Ministry of Finance for the quick release of these bursaries to the respective schools before the start of the academic term. We would exceptionally want to also appeal to the major stakeholders of education at the secondary level in the regions under reference to continue to be patient and hold on to their partnership with management in the running of the schools whiles management continue to push for the express release of the grants. Management would further want to assure specifically Heads of schools, Parent-Teacher-Associations (PTAs) and Conference of Heads of Assisted Secondary Schools (CHASS) that funds will be released on or before the scheduled re-opening date of 5th January, 2017 to prevent the closure of the schools as being speculated in the media. Sgd: JACOB A. M. KOR DIRECTOR-GENERAL Daniel Bugri Naabu 04.01.2017 LISTEN Investigation conducted by DAILY GUIDE has revealed that there is mad rush as well as lobbying for various positions by members of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the Northern Region. A reliable source told the paper that the Northern Regional Chairman of the party, Daniel Bugri Naabu, had expressed shock about the number of persons interested in various positions in the region. The outspoken chairman was alleged to have fled the region due to the pressure. Bigwigs of the NPP in the region have reportedly submitted their curriculum vitae (CVs) for positions like Regional Minister, Metropolitan and District Chief Executives and Coordinators of government institutions. The Northern Regional ministerial position has become very competitive, according to sources. The Tamale Metropolitan Chief Executive position is also one of the most sought after positions by some big guns in the party. As at the time of filing this report, the District Chief Executive position in the various districts had about 20 persons reportedly vying for that post. Before Presiden-elect Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo is sworn in as President of the Republic of Ghana on Saturday, January 7, he has already mentioned some people who will be made ministers in his government. Some Northerners whose names have been penciled for ministerial appointments include Abu Jinapor, a brother of the outgoing deputy Power Minister (John Jinapor), who would likely be appointed as Deputy Chief of Staff. The NPP National Womens Organizer, Otiko Afisa Djaba, is likely to be made the Minister of Gender, Women and Children Affairs whiles Mustapha Hamid is penciled for Minister of Communication. Hajia Alima Mahama, MP-elect for the Nalerigu Constituency, might take the portfolio of Minister for Local Government and Rural Development. MP for Bimbilla, Dominic Nitiwul, is expected to be appointed Minister for Defence whiles MP-elect for Nandom and former Upper West Regional Minister, Ambrose Dery, is most likely going to be the Minister for the Interior. FROM Eric Kombat, Tamale Domestic airlines are counting their losses following the harsh Harmattan which forced them to cancel majority of their flights at the latter part of 2016. According to them, the unfavourable weather condition has impacted negatively on their operations. We have had to cancel some flights and have lost money as a result. If people book to travel and we can't take them we lose money. The same thing happened last year although it was worse, Chief Operating Officer of Africa World Airlines, Captain Samuel Thompson told Citi Business News. We operate fully when visibility is good. We have been able to operate most of our flights to Kumasi and Tamale, and we have been going to Lagos regularly, he added. At least five to six flights were cancelled each day between December 26th and 28th, 2016 with the onset of the Harmattan. Flights from Accra to Takoradi, Tamale and Kumasi were affected. On Thursday, December 29, 2016, the visibility in Accra was below the minimum but subsequently it has been fine in Tamale and Kumasi so that has been sorted out, Captain Thompson further explained. The meteorological service is however yet to provide information to guide the planning by the various airline companies. The meteorological service has not been able to tell us when this whole weather phenomenon will stop but the Harmattan is a season so maybe it will prevail for another month or so but whenever the visibility is good enough, we will fly, the airline companies stated. CEO of Starbow Airlines, James Eric Antwi, who also spoke to Citi Business News, said they have so far been operational throughout the Harmattan. Source: Citifmonline.com The Business Year (TBY), a leading research firm and publisher of annual economic resources on national economies, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the British Chamber of Commerce Qatar (BCCQ) to promote business activities in Ghana. BCCQ, the leading organization dedicated to promoting bilateral trade and investment between the Qatar and the UK, will partner TBY to develop the most comprehensive English-language publication on the countrys economy, The Business Year: Qatar 2017. The MoU was signed in December in Doha between Peter Cook, Managing Director of the BCCQ and Michael Jorgensen, TBY Country Editor for Qatar. The agreement details collaborative efforts for the upcoming publication. TBY will analyze all major sectors of the economy through interviews with top political, commercial, and industrial leaders, while the chamber will assist with research via its extensive knowledge of Qatars investment climate. TBYs COO, Laila Bastati, added that TBY is looking forward to partnering with one of the most influential bilateral organizations in the country. This is an important step that will assist TBY in providing quality coverage for Qatar in 2017. The Business Year: Qatar 2017 will be TBYs fourth annual edition on the country. Notable interviewees include HH Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani, Emir of the State of Qatar; HE Dr. Mohammed Bin Saleh Al-Sada, Minister of Energy and Industry; HE Sheikh Faisal Bin Qassim Al-Thani, Chairman of Al Faisal Holding; and Ali Ahmed Al-Kuwari, CEO of Qatar National Bank, among others. Present in over 25 countries, TBY provides first-hand access to the people and ideas shaping business and policy throughout the world. Each country-specific edition contains a comprehensive range of interviews and analysis, offering an inside look at doing business in the world's most dynamic economies. TBY's interviewees, readers and partners comprise an international network of thought-leaders, who are helping to define the future of the global economy. The outgoing Western Regional Minister, Paul Evans Aidoo, has commended journalists in the region for cooperating with the Regional Co-ordinating Council (RCC) in its quest to bring development to the region and the country at large. Speaking at a press soiree at the residency in Sekondi yesterday, the Regional Minister disclosed that the extensive coverage of the activities of the RCC by the media in the region during his tenure was highly commendable. Here I want to mention in particular the coverage of development activities in the region and my tour of various districts since my assumption of duty. You also covered the various security and security-related issues that cropped up in various parts of the region as well as the National Sanitation Days organized in the region and the 2014 National Farmers Day which was held at Sefwi Wiawso in the region, he added. He pointed out that roads, which were deplorable in the Sekondi-Takoradi metropolis, had been given a facelift to befit the status of the oil city. He indicated that commuters in Sekondi-Takoradi would heave a sigh of relief when ongoing road rehabilitation works on major road linkages in the twin city of Sekondi-Takoradi were completed. The Regional Minister urged the media to continue to undertake their watchdog role to ensure that major projects that had been initiated by the outgoing government would be completed by the incoming one. He told journalists that he would officially hand over to the Regional Coordinating Director on Monday, January 9, 2017. I will however be around to offer the needed support to the incoming regional minister with regards to the running of the affairs of the region, he said. The outgoing NDC Regional minister commented: We are not going to fight the government but will criticize constructively when necessary. Mildred Siabi-Mensah, the Western Regional Treasurer of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA), thanked the Regional Minister and the Regional Co-ordinating Council (RCC) for recognising the enormous contributions of journalists in the area. She was optimistic the RCC, opinion leaders and the people in the region would continue to cooperate and assist the media to promote the development of the region and the country as a whole. From Emmanuel Opoku, Sekondi Paris (AFP) - A French court agreed Wednesday to adjourn the trial of the playboy son of Equatorial Guinea's leader, giving him six more months to prepare his defence against charges he embezzled more than 100 million euros. Teodorin Obiang, his country's vice-president, is suspected of plundering his oil and timber-rich country to buy a mansion on one of Paris' most exclusive avenues as well as a collection of supercars. When the trial opened on Monday, lawyers for the 47-year-old son of President Teodoro Obiang Nguema argued that they had had too little time to call witnesses and prepare their defence. Judges agreed and said the trial would now resume on June 19. The case is the first arising from an unprecedented investigation into the French assets of a trio of African leaders accused of leading a life of luxury abroad while their citizens live in poverty. Obiang had attempted to prevent the case coming to court and claims he is innocent. He says the money came from legitimate sources, not bribes or embezzlement as prosecutors allege. The prosecution and anti-corruption group Transparency International, one of the plaintiffs in the case, called the defence's request for an adjournment a "delaying" tactic. Assets belonging to Teodorin Obiang have been seized in several countries. His house on Paris' exclusive Avenue Foch, which boasts a cinema, spa, hair salon and taps covered in gold leaf, is estimated to be worth around 107 million euros ($112 million). Equatorial Guinea When French judicial officials first launched raids in Paris in 2011, they hauled away Bugattis, Ferraris, Rolls Royce and other cars. The case sets a precedent for France which has long turned a blind eye to African dictators pouring their ill-gotten gains into Parisian real estate and luxury products. Californian villa It came about after nearly a decade of lobbying by Transparency International and another group, Sherpa. "In the beginning, there was simply no political will in France to listen to us," William Bourdon, a lawyer for Sherpa, wrote in September. Equatorial Guinea, Africa's only Spanish-speaking nation, is the continent's third-biggest oil producer but more than half of its population live below the poverty line. It is regularly criticised by human rights groups for its repressive laws, corruption, as well as unlawful killings and torture by its security forces. Obiang is not expected to attend the trial or serve a jail sentence even if he is convicted of the charge of laundering funds obtained from corruption. US officials said he had "shamelessly" looted his country in 2014 and forced him to forfeit property including a villa in Malibu, California, and some of his collection of Michael Jackson memorabilia. In November, Swiss prosecutors said they had also opened a money laundering probe targeting Obiang and seized 11 luxury cars in Geneva, including a Bugatti Veyron worth around two million euros. 04.01.2017 LISTEN President Donald Trump is wondering what is better ... Man of the Year? Or Person of the Year? Man of the Year? Or Person of the Year? He has no idea that they are planning to eliminate him just like they eliminated Hitler. Lets take a look. Something interesting Did you know that Adolf Hitler was named the man of year by Time Magazine in 1938? World War II started one year later and America started bombing Germany 5 years later. The same magazine gives the same award to Donald Trump. Trump is obviously loving it. A fun fact: They made him sit in the same type of chair for the photo. Look closer ... even the design of the chairs is similar. They are also clearly writing on the cover page of how America will fall ... President of the Divided States of America. Stab in the Back Hitler often talked about the stab in the back. Do you know what is the stab in the back that he talked about? Heres the thing ... before World War I ... Jews were very well settled in Germany. Germany hosted the largest Jewish population in Europe ... that was 500,000 plus. Jewish groups owned most of the industries and banks ... they were very active in almost every business ... they were given equal treatment as German citizens. But what our wonderful Jewish Bankers did was ... during World War I ... they asked Britain for land to create the State of Israel and in return promised to bring America in the war to destroy Germany. Before this, Germany was winning the war ... but once America bombed Germany ... they lost the war. Jewish Groups were given everything ... despite that they stabbed Germany in the back and destroyed Germany. This is the stab in the back that Hitler used to talk about. Trump thinks that running a country is like running a business. He has no idea of the deceptive games that some groups play out there. If Trump keeps his guard down then a stab in his back can take down the entire country. World War I Banks Why did they need Israel so urgently? What was the need that they left the most developed country in Europe for a piece of desert land in the Middle East? Why was Israel more important than Germany? Because our lovely Central Bankers ... had setup the Federal Reserve System ... and they were reaping in trillions from several countries. They needed a country of their own to store those reserves. They wanted to protect their loot ... with a military and air force of their own ... to protect themselves from the Christian European countries. Just in case ... these guys were busted with this massive reserves of wealth ... then everything would be taken away. The only way for them to stop it with maximum aggression was creating the State of Israel ... and creating its own army and defense force. Shark Eats Shark Jewish Bankers dont give a damn about Common Jews What you should note here is that ... these guys dont give a damn ... of who you are or what you are. They follow a criminal ideology ... their business style is shark eats shark. Germany was a wonderful Christian country that gave them support in every way possible ... embraced them in every way. But for their own plan and to secure their malicious interest ... they gave the finger to Germany. And not just Germany ... these wars are banker wars ... Germany was hosting the largest Jewish population. They didnt give a rats ass about the common Jews living in Germany. Forget about Christians and Germans ... they didnt give a damn about their own fellow Jewish brothers and sisters. Shark eats shark ... is what they follow. These guys are criminals ... just like a lower gang member has to sacrifice his life to protect the boss ... they sacrifice the common Jews in the same manner. World War II Communism and Corporations World War I was all about the Federal Reserve and creating the State of Israel. But when Hitler came to power ... he followed a Nationalistic approach ... he followed National Socialism. The major issue in Germany ... before Hitler came to power was that ... the country was going massively in debt. They were manufacturing everything ... German goods were being sold all around the world ... but still the country was going in debt. To address this issue Hitler moved Germany out of the World Monetary System that only created debt for the country ... and he printed his own money. That was a punch in the gut for the Central Bankers. And the next thing he does is nationalizes all industries ... he brought all of the manufacturing under government control. It created massive employment and progress for the country ... but it also took all of the banks and manufacturing out of Jewish hands. The cash flow went to the country and to the people ... the Jewish Establishment became non-existent in Germany. Hitler was terribly famous ... to the extent that he was named Man of the Year by Time Magazine. Initially, the Establishment themselves promoted Hitler because he was running a form of Socialism ... and Socialism was a political system designed by Karl Marx, a Jew. They wanted to promote Socialism around the world ... so they promoted Hitler. But when they saw the extent of his success and how he Nationalized everything ... there was an urgent need to terminate Hitlers Germany. Mass Killings of Germans in Poland These asshole Bankers are war designers. They sit there and hatch up ideas of creating mass killings and wars. They needed another war to destroy Hitlers Germany. So, they started mass killings of Germans living in villages in Poland at the border with Germany. Hitler resisted initially ... but they started doing this more and more and more. More mass murders and they started rooting out Christian Germans from their lands ... literally inviting Germany for a war. These mass murders are an open invitation for war. It is all freaking preplanned. Today you are seeing ISIS ... it is run by Israel ... they are following the same concept ... run by the people of the same ideology. They go out there and kill Americans, French and Germans ... why? Only to invite military action from these countries. Massive Demonization in the American Media Everything was fine with Hitler ... but once Hitler moved his forces in the Soviet Union in 1941 ... then they immediately changed the whole story. From praising Hitler ... they started demonizing Hitler in the American media. Hitler is killing children, Hitler is killing Jews and bla bla bla ... only to save the Communist Soviet Union. They wanted America to bomb Germany again ... this time it was only to save their Communist Soviet Union. If Hitler had taken over the Soviet Union then Communism wouldnt stand a chance even in China. Communism would have been totally eliminated from the world. They switched their theory and they carried out massive demonization of Hitler only to invite America in the war. Accomplish Total Termination They accomplished complete and total termination of Germany. This way they saved Israel from Hitler and Communism from Hitler. It is claimed that Hitler placed dead bodies, faked the suicide and fled to Argentina ... where he lived his remaining life in secrecy. Todays America and our lovely President Donald Trump Well, history teaches us lessons ... some people say. Lets take a look at todays America: All major banks are owned by Jewish groups ... just like in Germany before All major corporations and industries are owned by Jewish groups ... just like in Germany before The country is going massively in debt ... just like in Germany before And then we have our lovely President Donald Trump: He loves his country ... just like Hitler did He loves his people ... just like Hitler did He wants to make his country great again ... just like Hitler did He has a nationalistic approach ... just like Hitler did He aims high job creation ... just like Hitler did They cannot demonize Trump for bringing jobs back to America. Thats why they gave him racist policies against Blacks, Muslims and Latinos. And they exposed his personal life to a maximum extent to assassinate his character ... only to facilitate revolt, protests and media criticism of Donald Trump ... and create chaos in the country. If we allow the Jewish Establishment to do what it wants ... very evidently History will repeat itself. Today they already have a secure State of Israel where they house their reserves from the Central Banks. Today they have already shipped most of the worlds manufacturing to China. They have already secured their banks and manufacturing industries. Thus Christian countries like America and Europe ... are worthless for them. They dont give a damn. They have extracted everything that they needed ... now these countries are crashing in debt. Very soon the focus will come on the Establishment. So their plan is instead of that happening ... lets just destroy these countries or maintain them in chaos. Which is why Radical Islam is at the top of their agenda ... it helps them maintain America and Europe in chaos, fear and insecurity. And to use any and every excuse to worsen relations with Russia. A conflict with Russia will just do the job for good. Russia is also useless for them ... Communism has been eliminated and it does not house the Central Banks. So, pitch Christians against Muslims to maintain them in chaos ... and then pitch one Christian country against another to facilitate total termination. While they sit in Israel and China ... and watch the fireworks. Some Fun Facts Vampire Movies. You know that most of Hollywood is run by Jewish groups, right? Do you know why they make so many vampire movies and serials? These guys think themselves as vampires. A human species that is superior, more talented and capable ... that preys on other humans. Thats what their religion actually tells them ... it teaches them to be wolves and to treat other humans as sheep. Thats why they see themselves as vampires that prey on other humans. And the fun fact is that ... they use this concept to make money out of it. They create a lot of vampire movies and serials ... show it to the Christians that they prey upon ... and then make money out of it. Their religion teaches them to make money and this is one technique. And we dumb Christians and non-Jews sit and watch this and give them awards for this work. Awesome. Zombie Movies. Do you know what are these zombie movies? Dead people rising ... who are half eaten or decayed ... and fighting against living human beings. Do you know what that is? Thats the nuclear war that they are planning ... they already know that these countries will crash in debt and the way to destroy them is via a nuclear war ... obviously between NATO and Russia. And when Israel and China will have a fabulous survival in this war ... the Christian NATO and Russia will realize that all of this massacre was created by Jewish groups. When these Christian countries will realize this ... they will rise and fight against those who destroyed them ... namely Israel and China. These Christian countries will rise like zombies ... half eaten and decayed ... because they were nuked and their countries became radioactive wastelands. These Christian people will look like zombies on the rise ... and they will shoot them down as easy as shooting down a dead corpse walking. They already know that this is going to happen and they have already made preparations for the same. The fun fact is that ... they are making movies and serials on this concept ... showing it to us and making money out of it. Awesome. Note for President Barack Obama We spent several years guiding you on this one. Dont remain silent because your term is over and that the next President is Republican. Dont hold back in order to enjoy Trumps fall. Because it wont be only Donald Trump falling ... it will be America falling. If we allow the Jewish Establishment to run its course then expect the worst ... because these mass killings and military action will only lead towards chaos and destruction. If Trump falls, America falls. A great Donald Trump will lead to a great America. And you know that he cannot do it on his own. The best advantage that we have right now is ... Russia is on our side ... America and Europe is on our side ... and we have the technology to easily facilitate a global movement to end this Establishment crap for good. We have caught them red handed and we have the advantage in every way on our side. We can win this. You need to be able to move forward with or without Trump. If Trump supports the program then well and good. If he does not then you need to have alternate strategy to move ahead without him. Elizabeth Warren will be a fantastic lead to work with on this. If you allow Trump to move into a chaotic direction then it will be the end of America. I am sure once Trump knows the policies and the changes that we will make ... how beautiful America will be ... and how massively it will be supported by the American people ... he himself will support the program. Don't sit and wait for the nod from Trump. Move ahead. Trump has a lot to learn ... prepare to lead. The National Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service has taken over investigations into a shooting incident that claimed two lives at Miotso in the Ningo-Prampram District. The gun battle over a piece of land also resulted in six other persons sustaining gunshot wounds. They are currently receiving treatment at the Tema General Hospital. Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Juliana Obeng, Tema Regional Police Public Relations Officer (PRO), confirming the incident to the media, said the National CID had taken over investigations into the shooting incident. ASP Obeng said the Tema Command was therefore waiting for the National CID to put out information from further investigations. She stated that the bodies of the two deceased persons had been deposited at the Police Hospital morgue for preservation and autopsy. According to her, the Tema Command received information on the gun battle between residents of Miosto and Dawhenya and therefore dispatched men to the area to restore sanity. Sixteen persons, she noted, were helping in investigations into circumstances leading to the gun battle between the two communities. ASP Obeng disclosed that the Command retrieved two pump action guns, a pistol, a AK47 rifle with double magazine, Jeep Cherokee and Mercedes Benz. She assured residents of Dawhenya and Miotso that the Tema Police Command had deployed men to the area to ensure peace and calm so people should go about their normal business without fear. GNA Rome (AFP) - Tunisian suspect Anis Amri smuggled the weapon used in the Berlin Christmas market attack across borders to Italy and used it in the shoot-out in which he was killed, Italian police said Wednesday. Meanwhile, German police were trying to establish if a 26-year-old Tunisian -- who has been arrested in Berlin on an unrelated charge -- was an accomplice of Amri. Italian police said ballistic tests proved the gun fired at an officer in Milan was the same as the one used to kill the Polish driver of the hijacked truck which Amri is believed to have ploughed into the crowd on December 19 in an attack that killed 12. "The weapon that killed the driver of the Berlin massacre truck is the same as the one Anis Amri used to wound a policeman in Milan," forensic police said in a statement. An investigation was underway to see whether the weapon had been used "in other criminal episodes, in Italy or elsewhere". Amri, 24, the prime suspect in the Berlin Christmas market attack, was shot dead after travelling through several European countries before heading to Italy. Dutch prosecutors revealed Wednesday that based on CCTV images they now "have a clear picture of Amri's movements in The Netherlands" on December 21 when he arrived in the town of Nijmegen, and then took a train to Amsterdam's central station. "In the late afternoon, he then boarded a train directly for Brussels, and travelled to Belgium," the prosecution said in a statement. Italian police and forensics experts gather around the body of suspected Berlin truck attacker Anis Amri after he was shot dead in Milan on December 23, 2016 Belgian prosecutors confirmed in a statement Amri had arrived in Brussels North on a train from Amsterdam at about 7:00 pm (1800 GMT) where he had stayed until about 9:00pm (2000 GMT). They gave no further information. It had earlier been thought that Amri had travelled to Lyon in France directly by bus from Nijmegen, which is close to the German border. The Tunisian was then approached in the early hours of December 22 by two policemen as he loitered outside a Milan train station. He fired at one officer before being shot dead by the other. German authorities have been trying to establish if Amri acted alone and on Tuesday carried out raids targeting two of his acquaintances. One of the two had met Amri for a meal in Berlin on the eve of the attack, said a spokeswoman for federal prosecutors, adding that the two "spoke intensively". "We suspect that the 26-year-old Tunisian was possibly involved in the act or at least knew about the plan for an attack from Anis Amri," said the spokeswoman Frauke Koehler. Giving the finger Prosecutors do not have sufficient evidence to place the man under arrest over the allegation, she said. The suspect is nevertheless in police custody over an unrelated case of defrauding the social welfare system. Investigators are examining "means of communication" collected during Tuesday's raids of the man's living quarters in an asylum seeker shelter, said Koehler. Meanwhile, the spokeswoman said a surveillance image captured Amri at a rail and subway station close to the site of the attack. Amri appeared to be aware of the camera, Koehler said, as he raised his index finger in its direction, in what appeared to be the salute used by Islamic State jihadists. The Berlin rampage was claimed by the Islamic State group, which released a video in which Amri is shown pledging allegiance to IS chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. 04.01.2017 LISTEN Dear Mr. Incoming President, Investments into Technical and Vocational Training In just a few days you will be inaugurated to the high office as the president of the republic of Ghana. Congratulations and well wishes. Among the many things that are dear to my heart, is the needed investment into technical and vocational education in our country. It is very evident that when it comes to technical and vocational skills development and implementation we are not doing well as a country. There are several literatures that attest to this fact. One of this was a news item that was reported in the national newspaper the Graphic on January 4, 2017 which was titled Survey records low enrollment in technical and vocational training. According to the report following a baseline survey which was conducted in November in some 12 districts, confirmed that data available at the educational management and information system for 2015 which indicated a decline of about 10,000 enrollments in TVET. Again in the daily graphic of December 22, 2015, there was a news item which stated that Ghana is paying dearly for the neglect of technical and vocational education and training since foreigners take over jobs that require technical skills. This the report says was captured in a strategic plan of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET). The issue of Technical and vocational education training has been poor patronage, relevance to the job market in the country and poor quality of content and delivery as well. The neglect of technical and vocational education in the country characterized with other factors contribute to poor workmanship, lack of employment, poor productivity, foreign artisans taking over our skilled areas of work etc. Several governments have attempted to solve this canker of neglecting technical and vocational education. There has been a number of policies on technical and vocational education in this country and only God knows when these fine policies will travel beyond their existence in books to proper implementations. From the Ghana Shared Growth and Development Agenda (GSGDA), 2010-2013 on TVET, a number of similar policies were outlined some of which are Construction and rehabilitation/upgrading of facilities in all public technical vocational Institutes in each District across the country Repositioning TVET in education and Human Resource Development and strengthening linkages with Industry. R-organisation and expansion of the current national apprenticeship programme, providing opportunities for trainers in Technical and Vocational Institutes to undertake further studies. Mr. Incoming president, in addition to implementing the 3 policies above, I would like to propose the following for consideration to improving technical and vocational education in the country. Establishment of a national award scheme for artisans and craftsmen and the Provision of scholarships for Technical and Vocational Education Training to encourage patronage by the youth Establish technical resource centers at the circuit level to support the practical aspects of Basic Design Technology at the basic level. Implement apprenticeship policy for Junior High School dropouts as indicated in the 2006 Education Reform Commit 10% of the education budget into Technical and Vocational Education Training. Provide full support and backing to COTVET to enable them execute their mandate as stipulated in ACT 718. As you look at the many areas of interest and concerns to the development of the country please consider technical education since it will help in a long way. Yours faithfully, Samuel Otenadu (The writer is a construction engineer and a member of Institution of Engineering and Technology, Ghana who is into private practice) Leaders of Russian business and industries hope to strike corporate deals with local Ghanaian partners and strengthen economic cooperation in the region during the Russian-African Forum (RAF 2017), scheduled for March 13 to 14 in Accra. Organizers of the the forum say the event would be arranged as an exclusive business event where senior executives meet for high level negotiations and interaction in the headquarters of major industry players. The economy of Ghana is one of the fast growing in the region. The key focus of the country is to meet the ever growing demand for housing, power, infrastructure, skills development, food safety and trade development to supply the domestic market with consumer goods. Russian companies have developed a vast expertise in those areas and are ready to participate in infrastructure, energy, mining, agriculture and other projects. Russian business sees Ghana as a promising business partner, the statement said. Topics to be highlighted at the business programme of the RAF 2017 Ghana, include Energy projects, power generation, transmission equipment and power engineering services. Others are transportation, which would discuss motor vehicles, buses, and construction machinery, railway transport and equipment; aeroplanes and related equipment, passengers and cargo ships and vessel engineering, procurement and construction of transport, power and pipeline infrastructure. The rest are Food safety to cover chemicals and fertilizers, grain storage, machinery, food processing, Oil and gas production, handling and services equipment, Mining exploration and equipment and Financial and legal services. During the Forum, participants would explore some of the key topical issues facing the industry, drawing on the latest information and feedback from companies in the cutting edge. There would also be business visits organised by Ghanaian companies to increase knowledge and share experiences of business and investment developments in the region. The first meeting of the Russian-African Forum took place in Kenya's capital Nairobi on January 27-31, 2015. Leading Russian export companies and business representatives from Kenya and Rwanda joined in the discussion of cooperation opportunities in the East African region. The second Russian-African Forum was held in 2015 in the city of Ekaterinburg, the industrial heart of Russia as an integral part of the international industrial fair Innoprom, supported by the Ministry of Trade and the Industry of the Russian Federation. The Russian-African Forum 2016 held in Tanzania in April, hosted a large group of Russian government representatives, industrialists and business tycoons headed by the Minister of Trade and Industry of the Russian Federation, Denis Manturov, for a mission to a continent widely reputed for its vibrant and steadfast improvement in business environment. GNA Some newly constructed schools and hospitals in the Volta Region would be locked by Friday if government fails to pay contractors whose certificates for payment are outstanding. Secretary for the Association of Building and Civil Engineering Contractors in the region, Secretary Emmanuel Afetorgbor, said members have vowed they would lock up the facilities they have put up for government for which there are outstanding payments. The Vice Chairman of the Association, Addison Badu said they have resorted to this action because government promised to pay all outstanding certificates before the elections and reneged on her promise to the contractors. The contractors cited the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) as "the major defaulter" which owes unpaid certificates spanning a period of six months and above. In the early hours of Tuesday, some contractors picketed at the Finance Ministry, the Controller and Accountant- Generals Department (CAGD) and the Head Office of the GETFund in Accra to demand the payment of outstanding debts amounting to about GHC300 million. But the Finance Ministry said the government had already paid GHC110 million out of its indebtedness to the GETFund, while an additional GHC106 million would be released for disbursement to the contractors today. They said government's indebtedness to members of the Association has had a serious toll on their businesses. "This action by government has rendered most companies redundant with debts lingering on their heads. It is interesting to note that government does not pay interest on delayed payments in the building sector," they stressed. Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com |Hubert Mawuli Yevu-Agbi 04.01.2017 LISTEN Ohio based Deliverance FM USA a Ghanaian community online radio station on January 3rd 2017 took their outreach program to the Catholic Charity Shelter. They provided the homeless with several boxes of food and administered the Word of God to them as well. The Catholic Charities located at 1736 Superior Avenue, Cleveland OH provide services to counties of the greater Ohio area which include, but are not limited to homeless prevention programs, mental health counseling, services for older adults and senior citizens, emergency services, employment opportunities for teens, hot meals, and a food pantry. They work closely with religious bodies, churches, public and private organizations and others to help the most vulnerable in any way they can. Rev. and Mrs. Dumfeh were joined on the mission by Ms. Rose Mensah known in Ghanaian Show business as Kyeiwaa to fete the homeless as part of their New Year outreach mission. Deliverancefmusa was established in 2014 as an online community radio station by the couple to provide an avenue to reach out to the global community to build a prayer sustainable way of life and pursue spiritual warfare leading to breakthrough and redemption. Through their ministry many souls have been won, yolks have been broken and testimonies are shared on their station on a daily basis. They have held successful outreach deliverance programs in many cities in the United States including Bronx, New York, North Brunswick, New Jersey, Cincinnati and Cleveland, Ohio. Over the last 2 years they have made donations to several orphanages in Ghana on their mission trips. The residents of the Shelter and the Management expressed their profound appreciation to the couple for their kind gesture and for reaching out to them. Ms. Rose Mensah (Kyeiwaa) assisted Rev. Harry Dumfeh and his wife Rev. Mrs. Bertha Dumfeh to dish out meals to the residents. Deliverancefmusa can be found at http://www.deliverancefmusa.org, and also on Facebook and on Tunein radio. 15879534 1353113968073473 1812801902 N 15895022 1352852751432928 4121768253399199352 N By Florence Afriyie Mensah, GNA Kumasi, Jan 04, GNA - The National Board for Small-Scale Industries (NBSSI), has called for strong government support to help strengthen its operations. Mr. Bashir Manu, the Ashanti Regional Manager, said the Business Advisory Centres (BACs) across the districts, needed to be adequately resourced to become more functional - to provide technical assistance to local enterprises. Making the call through the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Kumasi, he said these enterprises must be assisted to adopt best management practices to growth and achieve optimal performance. It was by so doing that they would make vital contribution to the fight to reduce poverty and joblessness. Mr. Manu asked that the in-coming political administration went to every length to promote the growth of the private sector to anchor the development of the country. He expressed the readiness of the Board to play key role in the successful implementation of the government's planned 'one district one factory' policy. The NBSSI was determined to offer the requisite technical support to make the policy, a dream come through, he added. He underlined the need for African leaders to show the political will to develop the private sector to lift the population out of poverty. Mr. Manu reminded the BACs to work closely with local enterprises to help them to achieve high level of efficiency and boost their profitability. He urged the Centres to focus priority effort on exposing the enterprises to best practices to become more competitive. GNA Bangkok (dpa/GNA) - The Thai government on Wednesday denied rice exported from Thailand contains plastic, following a Facebook post from the United States that went viral online claiming rice from Thailand is mixed with plastic. A Facebook user by the name Felicity Prak posted two photos and one video in December showing the before-and-after effect of roasting rice from Thailand. The grains got burnt and stuck to the frying pan. "We don't usually use three lady brand. We got 2 50lb bag as a gift (from sisters). We open one bag to see if the rice is with mixed with plastic or not and this what we got [sic]. This is too crazy," Prak wrote in her post, which has received more than 72,000 reactions from other Facebook users and was shared over 15,000 times. Duangporn Rodphaya, Director General of Thailand's Department of International Trade assured reporters on Wednesday that rice exports from Thailand were not fake. "I confirm [Thai rice] and the Thai jasmine rice from this well-recognized brand [Three Ladies] is of premium quality," Duangporn said. "The person who made the video clip has an intention to harm Thailand's image," she added. Many Facebook users from Thailand have left harsh comments - some abusive - on Prak's Facebook profile, saying she cooked the rice wrong and that plastic actually costs more than rice. Thailand is the world's second-largest rice exporter after India. The country exported over 9 million tons of rice in 2016. In recent years, fake rice from China made from potatoes, sweet potatoes and poisonous plastic was exposed, sparking concerns worldwide. GNA By Benjamin Mensah, GNA Accra, Jan 3, GNA - Ms Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, Co-chairperson of the Inauguration Sub-Committee of the Transition Team has announced that preparations are almost complete for the inauguration of the President- elect Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo- Addo next Saturday. She said Ghana was ready for the historic event at the Black Star Square in Accra, at which the President of neighbouring La Cote d'Ivoire, Mr Allassane Dramani Outarra was expected as the Guest of Honour. Presidents, Vice Presidents and high profile dignitaries would also be attending the ceremony at which outgoing government of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) under President John Mahama would hand over power to President elect Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo of the incoming government of the New Patriotic Party. Addressing a media conference in Accra ahead of the event, Ms Botchway said:'We will be receiving about 11 heads of states and governments, two vice presidents, 13 government representatives, five international representatives of multilateral organizations, and a number of ex-presidents from West Africa and other parts of the world.' She added: 'Let me add that this is not expected to be the final figure; we will have a final figure about 24 hours to the event.' According to Ms Botchway, leaders included those from Togo, Gabon, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Zambia, Benin, Nigeria and Guinea. Nana Akufo-Addo, having won the December 2016 presidential polls would be the fifth President of Ghana under the Fourth Republic, which began since 1992. Incumbent President Mahama's second term bid at the polls suffered a defeat with over one million vote difference. Mr Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, Spokesperson of the Transition team on the side of the NPP, said about 5,000 security officials were expected at the event. The inauguration is expected to begin at 10:00 am on Saturday and will see over 6,000 visiting heads of state, diplomats and other dignities and personalities from within and across the world. Mr Nkrumah cautioned that vehicles not accredited for the event would not be allowed at the venue of the inauguration. Dress rehearsals to ensure a perfect handing over ceremony will begin on Wednesday to Friday Meanwhile, Mr Haruna Iddrisu, Co-Chair of the Inauguration Sub-Committee on the side of the Outgoing Government has called on Ghanaians to support the event to prove to the world Ghana's democratic credentials. He said 'All is set for the inauguration of President-elect Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and Vice President-elect Alhaji Mahamudu Bawumia before parliament. Beginning from the midnight of 6 January, 2017, parliament will usher in the new MPs-elect who will be sworn into office, after which the Speaker and Deputy Speakers and leadership will be determined accordingly,' he said. Mr Iddrisu stated further: 'Parliament will then reconvene at the direction of Mr Speaker at the Independence Square for the major ceremony of the inauguration of the President-elect subsequent to the presidential and parliamentary election conducted on 7 December and the outcome of it reflected the sovereign will of the people of Ghana recognised by the Electoral Commission of Ghana. 'We expect a very dignified and honest ceremony. We expect the Ghanaian public's support and cooperation and we want the outcome of this event to add to the [record] of our country as one of the enduring democracies in Africa, if not one of the best, and to deepen our democratic ethics and values by witnessing a smooth transfer of political power from one government to the other'. GNA Accra, Jan. 3, GNA - The U. J. Esuene Stadium came alive when the Ghana Carnival Queens defied the stormy weather to place second at the recently held second Carnival Calabar International in Cross River State Capital of Calabar in Nigeria. The 'Chale' chanting audience at the stadium with the mention of Ghana stood still enjoying the Steady performance from the Ghana Carnival Queens. The sultry dressed Ghanaian carnival beauties along with the talented quartet of acrobat rocked the half packed stadium with guests such as the Executive Governor of Cross River State, Professor Ben Ayade and other dignitaries. Nana Kwame Dadzie, the Artistic Director and Leader of the Ghana Carnival Queens, told the GNA that he was grateful to the Cross River State for inviting the group twice to showcase Ghana's version of the carnival. He said the Ghana Carnival Queens was poised to do more with this feat. The highly patronized Calabar International carnival brought together 14 countries with Marquee guests and crowd pullers the Tobias Vai Vai Samba Band from Brazil leading the pack with Rwanda, Burundi, Ethiopia, Spain, Croatia, Kenya, South Africa, Ghana, Turkey, The month long celebrations was the 12th edition of the carnival and was held on the theme: 'climate change.' It was to create awareness of the effects of climate change on the environment. Highlights of the events featured the culture carnival display with the penultimate of the annual event being the Carnival parade and float and the grand arrival international performance at the E.J Eussne Stadium. Prof Ben Ayade, the Executive Governor of Cross River State, addressing the various groupings said, the carnival, which had gained international recognition over the years had grown bigger and better. He said the carnival represented the true vitality, unity and harmony that signified the growth of Africa. 'As we have started today, this is the beginning of a new dawn in Africa. Calabar Carnival remains the largest street party in Africa,' he added. He said as a government, they would continue to promote and sustain the hospitality and tourism that the state was known for. He also described the annual Calabar Carnival as the melting pot of Africa's hospitality. The International Carnival is a new introduction by the Executive Governor of Cross River State Professor Ben Ayade last year. It is held on the 29th of December a day after the main Street Party. The wrap of the very successful carnival Calabar was the green carnival which saw the myriad display of the greenery of our environment and the need to keep our environment clean. GNA By Iddi Yire, GNA Accra, Jan. 05, GNA - The Ridge Hospital in Accra on New Year's Day recorded 19 new born babies; which comprising eight males and 11 females. Ten of the babies - three males and seven females - were delivered through normal procedures; while nine - five males and four females - were through Caesarean section. Ms Clarice Ntim-Adu, a Senior Nursing Officer, Ridge Hospital, advised mothers to give new borns proper attention due to their fragile and tender nature. She urged them to keep the babies warm and well oiled, and to practice exclusive breast feeding for the next six months. She also advised fathers to give mothers the needed support in taking care of the babies. GNA Adentan, Jan. 4, GNA - Naa Kobluga Wuni Bukari II, Mamprusi Chief of Adentan, have presented smocks to Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo- Addo, the President- Elect and Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, the Vice President-Elect. He made a similar presentation to the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament for Adentan, Mr Yaw Buabeng Asamoah. Naa Bukari, who personally made the presentation to the three personalities in their homes, expressed the hope that the new administration of the NPP would live up to the campaign promises to facilitate the development of the country. GNA By George-Ramsey Benamba, GNA Accra, Jan 4, GNA - It was a delight to watch, when President John Dramani Mahama and President -elect Nana Addo Dankwa Akuffo Addo met at the Flagstaff House as part of the on-going transition exercise. The meeting at the Presidency was at the behest of President Mahama whose objective was to conduct President -elect Nana Addo Dankwa Akuffo Addo to various departments and offices at the Flagstaff House, Kanda. Before the rounds, President Mahama said Ghana had earned an enviable reputation in Africa and beyond and this year's general election demonstrated the willingness of Ghanaians to deepen it further. He said since the December 7 polls, both the National Democratic Congress administration and the incoming New Patriotic Party had exhibited maturity and tact that would linger on the political history of the country forever. President Mahama said:"Governments will always come and go, but Ghana must always progress for our benefit". The President said the introduction of the President-elect would give him an idea of the happenings at the Presidency and make Ghana an admirable country in the international world. President-elect Nana Addo Dankwa Akuffo Addo promised that his administration would work hard to make the interest of Ghanaians the main focus. He said the world would once again applause Ghana for the decent transition and he would ensure that the institutions are strengthened to take up future challenges. "I want to thank you and all Ghanaians for the cooperation we received since the December 7 to date, and I will do everything possible to enrich the democracy we are enjoying," he added. Both President Mahama and President-elect Nana Akuffo Addo introduced some of the officials they had been working with over the years. GNA By Joyce Danso, GNA Accra, Jan. 4, GNA - The Ghana Bar Association (GBA) says the strike action embarked on by State Attorneys was affecting justice delivery in the country. According to the GBA, the strike had not affected rights of remand prisoners but accused persons who are on trial. It has, therefore, appealed to members of the Association of State Attorneys to return to work to afford the incoming government the opportunity to acquaint itself with their grievances and concerns over their condition of service and employment. State Attorneys had been on strike for over the past two months over condition of service. In a statement signed by its National President, Mr Benson Nutsukpui, and National Secretary, Justine Amenuvor in Accra, the GBA noted that the issues leading to the strike had been long standing. The GBA said it was important for the incoming administration to expeditiously deal with matters of the striking attorneys especially in the areas of condition of service and terms of employment. The GBA recalled that the year 2016 had been challenging but ended up in a positive note with Ghanaians demonstrating to Africa and the rest of the world their democratic credentials, love for peace and resolve to govern by the rule of law. On the environment, the association expressed regret about the indiscriminate and rampant pollution of water bodies by small scale miners also known as galamsey. 'The GBA notes with concern the pathetic response of state institutions to deal with illegal foreigners and their accomplices in small scale mining,' it said. The association stressed the need for institutions to crack the whip so that dangers associated with severe water crises as result of water pollution would be curbed. On the international front, the GBA condemned the action of President Yahya Jammeh of the Gambia who had purportedly annulled the election results in his country and had declined to hand over power to the winner of the election, Adama Barrow, at the expiration of his constitutional term. It, therefore, appealed to lawyers and judges in Gambia not to be part of any charade or judicial chicanery aimed at perpetuating the stay of the defeated candidate against the freely expressed wishes of the people of Gambia. The GBA said it was resolved and committed to working towards entrenching democracy, support for the rule of law and open government in African countries in the spirit of transparency and accountability. It further appealed to its members to be committed to the principles of professional integrity, ethical conduct enshrined in the Anti-corruption Compact Agreement aimed at fighting corruption and protecting judicial integrity. GNA Atebubu Students and Scholars Union (ATSSU), a non partisan, nondenominational, and non-profit making union wishes to congratulate the President elect, Nana Addo Dankwah Akufo-Addo for his victory in the 2016 elections and the outgoing President, H. E. John Dramani Mahama for his contribution to the nations development. We further wish to congratulate our Member of Parliament elect, Hon. Kofi Amoakohene for his victory in the just ended parliamentary elections, and we also want to acknowledge the outgoing Member of Parliament, Hon. Sanja Nanja for availing himself to the service of our dear Constituency and the country at large. We humbly appeal to all stakeholders and the appointing authority to as a matter of necessity, consider and appoint as a DCE, a person who will selflessly work to ensure progressive development of our District (more specifically one who will prioritize education; Girl Child Education). As a growing and developing District, we face myriad of challenges in the education sector with very noticeable ones that we pray for an immediate attention to. Some among others are; 1. inadequate classrooms and toilet facilities for some schools in the District, 2. lack of support for planned vacation classes, 3. ineffective District mock examination for B. E. C. E. candidates, 4. teenage pregnancy, 5. poor water systems for the Atebubu College of Education, Atebubu and Amantin Senior High Schools, etc. Statistics from the Girl Child Education Unit of GES in Atebubu-Amantin District indicate that, Girl Child Education in the District keeps declining, for example in 2013/2014 the Gender Parity Index (GPI) indicates completion rate in percentage for boys and girls in KG as 100% and 92.8% respectively. And as they move to Junior High School the percentage indicates 51.3% and 35.9% for boys and girls. In 2014/2015, boys and girls in KG indicates137% and 138.9% and as they move to Junior High School the completion rate indicates 54.1% and 41.9% for boys and girls. We therefore appeal to all stakeholders to participate in ensuring that this menace is controlled if not completely eradicated, to help promote education in the Atebubu-Amantin District especially Girl Child Education. We pray and hope that, Atebubu-Amantin District will see more development especially in education by the in-coming administration. Long live ATSSU Long live ATEBUBU-AMANTIN DISTRICT Long live GHANA Opoku Mensah Seth (President) 0243909215 Amoako Kwadwo Godwin (Secretary) 0207102859 Eric Owusu Addo (P. R. O.) 0208713621 The bible says whatever two or three people agree on here on earth is agreed on in heaven; and the voice of the majority of the people in faith, is the voice of God. The public euphoria following the election of Nana Akufo Addo, the modern day Joseph, Moses or David of biblical times, goes to tell how the heavenly angels were joyously singing in unison with Ghanaians over the election of the most incorruptible, selfless, dynamic and farsighted Son of Ghana, a man of perfect integrity. On Saturday 7 January 2017, God Almighty himself will take absolute control over the official inauguration of Nana Akufo Addo as the President of the 4th Republic of Ghana. The enemies may plot against him as they had always been but they will be defeated and shamed by God. Those within and without NPP who embarked on deliberately malicious agenda to scupper the chances of Nana Akufo Addo becoming the President of Ghana for their own selfish aspirations, are now by the grace of God bowing down their heads in shame before him. They proposed evil but God disposed of their evil intentions. Nana is a unifier but not a divisive person. Subsequently, he is colour blind as to whether one is an NPP, NDC, PPP, CPP or an independent candidate and whether they voted for him or not. All that he sees is he is the father of all Ghanaians without distinction, unlike the Outgoing President Mahama who saw himself and claimed to be the father and the leader of the NDC faithful hence treating them more favourably than others. When we come to our Akan or Ghanaian tradition with regard to Nana Akufo Addos unprecedentedly unrivalled election as the President of Ghana, beating an incumbent President by such a wide margin, one can only see the following roles being played in his favour. Like in our traditional setup, the NPP Congress that nominated him as the partys flag bearer played the role of a queen. After selecting him out of the many contestants, he was given to Mrs Charlotte Osei, the Chair of the Electoral Commission to have him vetted as to whether he was credible enough to become the chief, in which case the President of Ghana. By our tradition and custom, they check if a contestant for a vacant stool has not slept with some other mans wife, thus, not raped anyone; not stolen from anyone, thus, if he is not a thief, or has not caused any murder in his life. Similarly, Nana Akufo Addo was vetted according to the criteria set by Mrs Charlotte Osei whom I personally perceived to be biased against him. However, he passed the vetting. He was then given to the Kingmakers and the youth (Nkwankwaa) to decide if they actually wanted him to become their chief-elect. The kingmakers and the youth were the Ghanaian electorates and all those who voted and supported his election so massively as never seen in the history of Ghana. As a chief-elect, thus President-elect, he will officially be sworn in by the Chief Justice, Mrs Theodora Georgina Wood, as the confirmed Chief, thus, President of Ghana with constitutional powers and a four-year mandate to govern Ghana. During his swearing-in, he will in turn pay allegiance to the people of Ghana and promise to serve them to the best of his ability, be truthful to God, and be sincere to them and to the nation. The election of a President goes through almost the same procedures as that of a traditional chief. Therefore, Nana Akufo Addo is the Supreme Chief and President of Ghana hence being called, the First gentleman/person and Commander-in-Chief of Ghana. For his gentility, honesty and preparedness to serve his people and nation in truth, all the angels of Heaven are jubilating same as Ghanaians in their multitudes will jubilate across the globe on Saturday 7 January 2017. A Leading member of the Mahama Must Go movement that campaigned tirelessly with other Ghanaians for a change of government from NDC to NPP will fly to Ghana to celebrate Nana Akufo Addos presidential inauguration along with all Ghanaians. I wish I could be there in person to witness and participate in the Onaapo and Kalyppo celebrations but unfortunately, I cant. My job and other personal obligations/constraints wont permit my going back to Ghana shortly after returning from our successful campaign that brought Nana Akufo Addo and NPP to power. I wish His Excellency President Nana Akufo Addo good luck in all his intents and endeavours to make Ghana a prosperous nation on earth. I stand solidly behind him and will not cease to redirect his steps should I ever see him to be veering from the godly path. I have a duty towards him and Ghana to succeed according as he has planned and resolutely determined to therefore I shall not hesitate to make sound suggestions to him, advise him or correct him when the occasion demands. Rockson Adofo When I became a born-again Christian in 2008, I started studying the bible word for word. I would spend hours a day reading all commentaries for all the verses I studied. The more I studied the bible the more I realized that most of the Christians around me did not believe everything that was in the bible. It was either they did not know half of the bible or they knew and chose to ignore. As a person who always thought deeply about things, it was crystal clear to me that half of the bible was very disturbing to the human mind. If today people lived by the bible rules from Genesis to Revelation, they would be deemed mentally unstable, barbaric or even evil. If a man raped a woman, their punishment was to marry the woman by paying a dowry to the father. It was irrelevant whether the woman loved the man or not. There was no such thing as human rights as we know today. In wars, the Israelites would kill their enemies, including the women and children without mercy, and would take the virgins to be their wives. Bible character Lot offered his own virgin daughters to be gang-raped by men of Sodom so that the angels of the Lord would be spared. But in the eyes of God, he was a righteous man. There are a lot of other practices and laws in the bible which today are seen as beyond barbaric. The Christians of today will skip all those disturbing scriptures and cherry-pick on the ones which are positive and makes them feel good, both in the New And Old Testament. One of the biblical scriptures that remain untouched today is SLAVERY. The hard truth is that both in the New and Old Testament, slavery was never condemned by God. The biblical era itself was an era of slavery. Slave masters were told how to buy slaves and how to treat them. In the New Testament, slaves were simply ordered to obey their masters. Jesus Christ himself was mute on the issue of slavery, He never said a word against the practice, which was very common in His day. He could have simply told the slaves of His day to start social movements to fight against the injustices of slavery. Slaves could have started a Slaves Lives Matter movement, protesting in the streets, but Jesus Christ never encouraged such. The new Christians themselves had slaves. In the book of Philemon, the Apostle Paul sent a slave who had escaped back to his Christian master, because it was the right thing to do. When I first became a Christian, I remember writing about the topic of slavery according to what the bible said, and the article was obviously not well received. Now, this brings me to the black man, the white man, and slavery. Today black people are always looking for answers as to why they are still suffering and why they were enslaved. But the truth is the white men did not introduce slavery to the world. It was there since the beginning of time. In fact in Africa, slavery was rife way before the white men landed there. Black people had black slaves. When the white men got to Africa, they were introduced to the concept of slavery by the black men. It was the black people/black masters who sold their own slaves to white people. Black people were fighting each other, tribe against tribe, enslaving the defeated tribes. The white men simply saw an opportunity and beat the black people at their own game. The whites had something the blacks did not have, the BIBLE. The good book gave them the authority to overpower the black race. The white men taught the black men the bible, and with scriptures like these, they were justified to enslave. Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to curry their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord. Colossians 3:22 Today the black men still cry that they were enslaved by whites, but will not accept the fact that they played a huge part in the trans-Atlantic slave trade. In no way am I saying the white men were justified in what they did, but I believe the bigger blame is actually with the people who sold their own brethren into slavery. Who is more to blame, the slaves who bought Joseph or his own brothers who sold him into slavery? Black people will never get anywhere unless they stop preaching half-truths about racism, colonization, and slavery. We have to confront our own history and deal with it. Our forefathers allowed themselves to be indoctrinated by the bible so that they could be enslaved. They were not smart enough to think for themselves at this point. They were even more in numbers than the whites, yet with the bible, they were conned into slavery, in one of the greatest evils ever done to mankind. If black people are asked to think critically when holding the same bible that enslaved them, they refuse to question what's in the bible as they fear they will be sinning against God. The white slave masters were bible believing sincere Christians. They went to Africa to spread the gospel and saw an opportunity to enslave black people to make their lives better using the very gospel they were spreading. Today the white man has finished with the bible, in fact they are finished with God. They have removed God from their schools and systems. They are now the masters of atheism. They call the bible an evil uncivilized book. However, they are still reaping the benefits of what the bible gave them, slavery and colonization. They are the most privileged people in the world, and the only reason why they are privileged is because their forefathers used the bible to enslave black people and better their lives, and that is the inheritance of white people. As for black people, still divided today, still suffering as hell, still experiencing the after-effects of colonization which will probably never end, they will hold and defend the bible till death. The blacks are forever trying so hard to get to where the white man is today, but no matter how the blacks try, they are not able to catch up. Africa seems to be getting worse by the day, black people are going mad with Christianity, some even drinking sewage because their pastor says so. Last year in Nigeria a pastor and his congregation were burnt to death after he poured petrol on himself and the congregation and lit the room on fire saying God would not allow them to burn. Even though I am a black woman, I fail to understand black people. All I know is there is something seriously wrong with them, and it only comes out when they hold the bible. I do not understand why we are now the main defenders of the religion that was used to enslave us? I do not understand why it is only us who refuse to put the bible down for even 10 minutes just to think. I do not understand why we moan about racism, slavery, and oppression when the bible we love so much clearly does not condemn it. If you want to be where the whites are today, the only solution is to do what the white people do today; which is to question everything and think. Remove the bible from your head for just one hour and question and think. Its not being demon-possessed and its not being evil, its called freedom. Unless you will ever get to this place, as black people you will forever be in chains. And it is clear to me that even in 2017, black people are not ready for freedom. As I finish this article, I leave my readers with only two questions. Why are black people so obsessed with the bible, which is the book that caused their suffering? And why is it that they are the only people who when holding the bible refuse to question anything or think? This Article first appeared on www.jeangasho.com 04.01.2017 LISTEN Scientists say the location of schools along major roads, industrial zones and automobile shops poses health risk, especially, to children. The results of a study published in the global journal, Cogent Chemistry, says the potential of learning difficulty among such risks. Researchers collected and analyzed heavy metal in dust from 20 selected nursery and kindergarten classrooms in Kumasi. Construction of roads and the establishment of industrial hubs may provide good markers for sitting school, but the long-term effect on humans and environment could be unwelcoming. I collaborated with a friend in Switzerland about three years ago on levels of toxic substances in street dust. So from that research I said if there could be that many toxic substances in street dust why dont we extend it into classroom? the lead scientist and first ever Fayzah M. Al-Kharafi prize recipient, Dr Marian Asantewah Nkansah of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology said. Ive observed a collection of dust anytime these classrooms are swept and I wanted to find out if these kids are exposed to something harmful, he added. Dust samples were analyzed for the presence of cobalt, chromium, mercury, lead and cadmium. Some amounts of all these metals were present in some of the samples except cadmium, which was not detected. Exposure to such heavy metals, potentially, has serious health implications as they may find their way into the human body and destroy the central nervous system and other internal organs. The study team found cobalt, chromium, mercury and lead levels below World Health Organization (WHO) acceptable standards, which means they pose no immediate health threat. Though levels pose no significant danger, we are concerned continuous exposure may be harmful, Dr Nkansah noted. Schools in and around Suame in Kumasi are found to have lead and chromium levels above 19 other areas studied. Activities at automobile mechanic shops sited 10 metres away from the schools are found to be the cause. Exhaust fumes, engine wear, leaks and spillage from batteries and radiators, among others, release lead into the environment. As much as possible there should be a radius within which schools are sited, Dr Nkansah recommends. "As far as manufacturing industries are concerned, especially for children, they are not exposed to these potentially harmful substances, she concluded. Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com |Kwasi Debrah |Luv FM Justice is yet to be served a 31-year-old man bedridden for six years after he was hit by a stray bullet fired by an angry police officer in 2011. Stephen Arthur is paralysed from the waist down and has been on admission at the Police Hospital at Cantonment, which serves as his home. The police Constable who was angry with the victim for failing to give him a "Christmas gift" fired into a vehicle, an action that has left Mr Arthur paralysed for life. Doctors at the Hospital say he has urinary incontinence, fecal incontinence, erectile dysfunction and has his muscle power reduced. Their judgment was that Mr Arthur would be "permanently dependent for the rest of his life," adding there is no hope of regaining lost functions in his muscles, kidney and anal. The Attorney-General's Department has failed to pay a compensation to him after it agreed to an out-of-court settlement in February 2013. The Police Intelligence and Professional Standards Bureau (PIPS) condemned the Constable's action, but before punitive measures could be taken, he absconded. The Service took care of the medical bills of Mr Arthur and put him on a monthly allowance of GHC500. No compensation package has yet been given him since 2011. The allowance was not given him in December, 2016. No explannation has yet been given for that. In an interview with Joy News' Ernest Manu Wednesday, Mr Athur said he has been unable to eat because of what he described as the neglect he is suffering in the hands of the police. "For now my condition is bad, I am not feeling happy. I am passing through a lot because I can't move now. The wheel chair I sit to move around is broken down," he said. He said his family members have stopped visiting him after learning his condition might not get any better. "I am here alone," he let out tears, adding, but for the courtesies of some nurses he would not get some things. Mr Arthur said he has been told the Inspector General of Police (IGP), John Kudalor is yet to sign his compensation package. "I want him to do that for me." Asked what he would do with the package if approved, he said he would "start a new life." Mr Arthur is obviously an unhappy man. "I am tired of lying in bed." Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com | Austin Brakopowers How did President John Dramani Mahama and the National Democratic Congress lose the December 7 polls? Did the New Patriotic Party put up superior strategy to outweigh the much-touted unprecedented achievements of the outgoing ruling party? Could it also be that the NDC willingly gave away power even if unknowingly? These are among critical questions many Ghanaians, particularly supporters, sympathizers and activists of the NDC mesmerized by the partys humiliating defeat at the polls are struggling to find answers to. To the NDC, the party had at its disposal everything to win the elections, but, was it for recklessness? A 13 member committee led by former Minister of Finance and Chairman of the National Development Planning Commission, Prof Kwesi Botchway, has since been constituted to investigate the NDCs defeat. The committee has been given a 90-day ultimatum to present findings from the investigations. The team however has the mandate to consult with members of the public who may have suggestions regarding the possible causes of the defeat. The inauguration of this committee is probably testament to the fact that Ghanaians have become so used to the idea that incumbent Presidents seeking second term in office should win elections automatically. And anything short of this must be thoroughly investigated. The defeat of President John Dramani Mahama and the National Democratic Congress at the December 7 polls has therefore come as a surprise to many. What was even shocking was the scale of defeat out-going President Mahama and the NDC suffered at the hands of Nana Akufo-Addo and the New Patriotic Party. Whiles the NDCs painful exit from office has come as surprise to many, others who saw it coming arent any surprise. One of such persons is former President Jerry John Rawlings. According to him It was obvious a long time ago that we wouldnt make it. Our general negativity, impunity, disrespect and corruption was taking us further and further downhill. About the time when most were living in the painful reality with stress and anger, thats when some of us chose to be more impervious to reality. We had lost so much goodwill,he added. Addressing a ceremony to mark the 35th anniversary of the 31st December revolution at the Revolution Square in Accra, the NDC founder added that I dont think I was the only one who saw the writing on the wall. Many people from our very own party I believe could see the writing on the wall that we were going to lose this past election. Meanwhile, following the NDCs excruciating defeat by the Akufo Addo led NPP; the party has been locked in heated blame game over who and what caused it. Several post-election analyses point to varieties of factors including apathy, allegations of corruption, complacency and ineffectiveness on the part of some government appointees; even as the actual cause(s) remain unknown. While the National Organizer and Campaign Coordinator, Mr Kofi Adams has accepted full responsibility for the partys poor performance; Greater Accra organizer of the ruling party, Mr. Anthony Nukpenu has put the blame on former President and NDC Founder, Jerry John Rawlings. But the NDC founder has rubbished that claim, saying "in spite of the defeat some handlers want to promote a lie about the reason for our failure." According to former President Rawlings "...Rather than facing why we lost, Rawlings was made a scape goat," he stated and blamed the "impunity, disrespect, and corruption" by government officials for the defeat. He said the uncouth ones did not even have "cognitive intelligence" to recognize the nurtured ones in the party. Again, while some have also singled out Communications Minister, Dr. Edward Kofi Omani Boamah as the cause of the partys defeat; other party activists are pointing to appointees they tagged arrogant. Alhaji Bature Iddrisu and Amos Blessing Amorse take readers down memory trip to find out whether the supposed cause(s) of the defeat of the NDC and President Mahama in the just concluded elections were not earlier predicted? 04.01.2017 LISTEN The next two special reports were dedicated to analyzing voting trends in the various regions and constituencies. In all, we analyzed constituencies in the Greater Accra, Western Eastern, Central, Upper East, Upper West and Northern regions. In each of the constituencies analyzed, we highlighted the problems of both the NDC and NPP and how the parliamentary candidates of the two dominant political parties will perform in the election. In these analyses, we were unequivocal with our prediction that the NDC will be worse hit with possible fall of their candidates. For instance, we raised red flags over the NDCs control of the Ablekuma Central, Bortianor Ngleshie Amanfro, Madina and Adenta seats. We also predicted that the NDC cannot win the Weija, Tema West, Tema East, Ayawaso Central and Ayawaso West Wuogon seats it had targeted to snatch from the NPP. In the Central region, we said the NDC will snatch the Komenda/Edina/Eguafo/Abirem seat from the NPP, but we stated that there were no safe seats in the Central region and that any of the two political parties could win any of the seats. In the Western region, we placed premium on how the NDC had lost the trust of cocoa growing areas like Sefwi Wiaso, Sefwi Akontombra, Juaboso and other cocoa growing areas, particularly in the Western region. We cited the NDCs performance in the Amenfi West bye election as a foretaste of what could befall the party in the election. The general complain of these rural dwellers who have kept faith with the NDC for some time now was that COCOBOD under the aegis of Dr. Stephen Opuni deprived them of herbicides, Pesticides, fertilizers and other items they needed to enhance their farming business. In the Eastern region, we warned that the needless infighting among party supporters in the region may affect the party even in its strongholds. We did not mince words on the chances of Hon Baba Jamal in this years election. The Northern, Upper East and Upper West fell on our radar as regions that the NPP could make serious inroads into NDCs strongholds. Dr Bawumias appointment as running mate for the third time was tipped as one of the factors that will play to the advantage of the NPP. Infighting among kingpins of the NDC in the various constituencies flowing from the partys primaries to elect parliamentary candidate was one of the factors we highlighted as possible cause of defeat for some of the parliamentary candidates. On November 24, 2016 we published our last but one special report on the heels of Mr Donald Johnson Trumps stunning victory in the American election. Following Mr Trumps victory, the NPP and its media surrogates started drumming the long standing history that anytime the Republican Party won in America, the NPP also succeeds in Ghana. Based on this assumption, and how it was gaining ground, we decided to draw the attention of the NDC to the fact that this historical facts should not be taken lightly. This publication also highlighted some of the sound notes Nana Akufo-Addo and his party were likely to prosecute in its last minute campaign to topple the NDC. We emphasized that the third-term argument and the pent-up feeling for change fed into the NPPs narrative of change. We warned that if the NDC does not take immediate steps to address issues of hardship, discontent among party supporters, opulence and appointees arrogance, the election could spell doom for the party. To our amazement, and usual of the NDC, they ignored our warnings and instead discredited these reports. In some instances, hired media attack dogs were goaded to throw mud at managers of the paper as seeking the downfall of the NDC and ex-President Mahama. Convinced that we were on the side of truth and was discharging our journalistic duties without malice, the paper published the last special report on December 6, 2016 headlined Toaso or Change? JM,Nana To Make History after tomorrows election. In this report, we made the point forcefully that irrespective of the outcome of the election, the two leading candidates will make history. President Mahama, we indicated, if he loses, will become the first one term President in the history of the country under the Fourth Republican constitution. We however stated that in the event Mr Mahama wins the election, he will not only become the first president to have taken the presidential oath three times, but also the first Northerner to secure a second term in office. And the NDC under his control will also become the first political party under the current dispensation to have won three elections on the trot. On the part of Nana Akufo-Addo, we made the point that if he wins the December 7 election, he will become the oldest person in the countrys history to have occupied the seat of government. However, in the event he loses, he will be the only leader of the NPP to have led the party into three unsuccessful consecutive battles. We highlighted the positive attributes of the Mahama government and how economic analysts across the world had praise its handling of the economy which will translate into impressive economic growth next year. But we cautioned that this high card would not necessarily translate into automatic win for the NDC. ..rumours have it that Ghana's inability to secure natural gas from Nigeria, a country endowed with abundant natural gas to feed Asogli thermal plant or any other pertinent thermal plant/s in the country to generate supplementary electricity energy to add to national grid is economic one.. But it doesn't seem likely from all logical point of view, because we could have used just a fraction of the amount inccured in Almeri deal (Turkey power barges' deal) to defray the debt and that would have paved way for gas supply from Nigeria Nevertheless, for any well meaning Ghanaian both in Ghana and abroad, it will be very embarrassing and frustrating to note, after 60 years of independence we are still unable to adequately deal with fundamental problems associated national amenities like sustainable water and electricity supply at affordable tariff and modernized sewerage disposal system Over the years, we have ignored the call to boost electricity generation at national level to keep the pace with population growth. We heavily relied on hydro-electric generation mainly by one source, the Akosombo or the Volta dam Akosombo dam generates 1020 megawatts of energy and Ghana as a nation, Togo and Republic of Benin are entitled to 20% of the total generation of Akosombo dam while VALCO, American owned Aluminium Company in Tema, Accra harnesses the rest 80% for its operations What kind of agreement is this, why is nobody, (government officials, civil society groups, consumer protection agencies, Ghanaian intellectuals, Bar Association, etc.) complaining of this agreement? What makes this agreement very disturbing, by terms of contract Ghana was allegedly obliged to pay more than 50% of the total cost of the money accrued in Akosomba dam construction work I have tried very hard to understand the terms of agreement and its aftermath benefits to the nation but can't come to any logical conclusion. At least by now, the portion or proportion that the VALCO pays to Ghana as benefit financially and employment wise would have increased by big margin but not a significant paradigm shift Moreover, when it comes to all these companies savvy in technology to explore our resources, the shady terms of contract must be reviewed or renegotiated very well The more reasons why some us do not trust 10% allocation of oil revenues from companies exploring our oil wells currently, am worried about the flimsy justification of terms of agreement is marked by international laws The so-called international laws, even, they are made by technologically prone countries like US and its rich allies, somehow there is no telling that they will go all their lengths not to manipulate or use their powerful influences to bend the laws in their favor And this makes the more reasons why l have serious doubt that we are going have transparent trials in maritime, oil field dispute with Cote d'lvoire in Hamburg, Germany, a country which sees France as european 'sister' whose oil giant Total is behind the oil field dispute Hence, we ought to have our perspective as to how to explore our resources even without the technology readily at hand, with the kind of intellectuals we have, we should be able to ascertain the cost involved to explore our oil wells so that when it comes to terms of agreement we will get a fair share of the deal Or rather, the fair deal will give us sufficient natural gas from our own fields - l can't fathom the necessity to rely on foreign countries when we have our own oil and gas reserves - to run the our termal plants as we boost and consolidate Mix-energy generation With Keta basin soon coming on board, the drillship would have served a milestone role in exploration. Those who hastily sold the drill ship to defray unwarranted judgement debt and shared the rest of the money among themselves must bow their heads in shame Now, out of the 20%, from Akosombo or Volta dam, which is 200 megawatts or so, of hydro-electric energy which we have to share with Togo and Benin, we are only able to deal with 60% or more of domestic needs, and that is the main reasons why we need extra megawatts to add to national grid to make it to 100% and 'reserve' However it is very important to note, dear reader, that if VALCO, a company at Tema, Accra, needs 80% of the total hydroelectric energy generated by Akosombo or Volta dam to function, or rather if it will have to take more than 4x the megawatts on national grid to operate just one company You could have better understanding of the deficit, if we should have 10 'VALCOS' or 10 companies of which each with electricity consumption capacity equals that of VALCO in one region or all the ten regions in the near future Well, am highly optimistic (high expectations ethos), that incoming government headed Nana Akufo-Addo's promise of one district, one factory or private sector empowerment economic strategy will succeed but he can't succeed if Dumsor and erratic water supply are not effectively and permanently dealt with! Agobodzo, Richard Email contact; [email protected] or, www.facebook.com/Agobodzo Richard Bangui (Central African Republic) (AFP) - Two Moroccan peacekeepers died after gunmen attacked their convoy in the Central African Republic's remote southeast, the UN mission said Wednesday. The attack Tuesday took place about 60 kilometres (35 miles) from the town of Obo, as the troops were escorting a convoy of fuel trucks sent from Zemio, MINUSCA said. "Two peacekeepers died and two others were injured," it said. "The attackers fled into the bush." Landlocked and chronically poor, the Central African Republic is struggling to emerge from a civil war that erupted in 2013 following the overthrow of former president Francois Bozize, a Christian, by Muslim rebels from the Seleka coalition. The 12,500-strong MINUSCA peacekeeping mission was deployed in December that year under the aegis of the African Union and with the support of France, the former colonial power. Militias are still flourishing given the weakness of the state. The notorious Ugandan group, the Lord's Resistance Army, has been operating in the Obo region for several years. Cairo (AFP) - Egyptian prosecutors ordered Wednesday that 12 people held during a protest against the controversial transfer of two Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia be detained for four days, officials said. They were arrested during a rare demonstration in central Cairo on Monday, renewing protests from earlier this year against the transfer of Tiran and Sanafir islands. The 12 are accused of staging a protest without informing the interior ministry beforehand, said judiciary and security officials and lawyer Ahmed Othman, who is defending one of those held. Under a 2013 law, demonstrators are required to tell the ministry they are planning a protest, and the ministry is then able to grant or refuse permission. The 12, who are also accused of attacking policemen and destroying public property, are being held pending further investigation and possible charges. The transfer of the islands was part of a maritime borders accord signed during an April visit to Cairo by Saudi Arabia's King Salman. This is being disputed in Egyptian courts, with the government pressing to approve the transfer, saying the islands were Saudi to begin with but leased to Egypt in the 1950s. The deal prompted accusations that President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi had "sold" the islands in return for Saudi investments, and led to rare protests in Cairo. James Fogarty, the new conservation officer for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, has always wanted to be a game warden. I thought I would fit well in that role, so I went for it, he said. It took me 13 years to get there. Three years in LeSueur County as a correctional officer while working simultaneously as a dispatch patrol part-time patrol deputy led to 10 years in Carver County. It was there Fogarty worked his way up from patrol deputy on the west side of the county to detective in Chanhassen. It used to be you had to have five years of experience in law enforcement jobs, thats how you get your foot in the door, he said. I started from the bottom and had to work my way up, like all jobs. Fogarty, 35, who grew up in Belle Plaine, has always loved the outdoors. Although his immediate family members were not hunters, Fogarty has hunted, fished and worked with Pheasants Forever since his childhood. I stopped hunting things that I dont like to eat, he said. When youre a young hunter, youre excited to hunt everything. When youre older, you dont have as much time to hunt everything. People like myself with three little kids, a full-time job and a healthy marriage, theres just less time. Currently, Fogarty likes to fish in open water and ice fish, as well as elk hunt in Colorado and New Mexico and fish and pheasant hunt in North Dakota. He has three children ages three and under. Fogarty applied for the conservation officer position at the La Crescent station three times. Third times the charm, he said. The La Crescent station spans across the area east of Hwy. 76 in Houston County and Winona County south of Interstate 90. Fogartys work in standard law enforcement has taught him valuable skills to use for conservation law enforcement. Working as a correctional officer, I would recommend it because you learn how to deal with people, Fogarty said. When I worked as a detective, it was fun. I like to dig and find everything I can. I am very detail-oriented. The couple pages report you would submit as a patrol deputy turns into an 18-page narrative. You get to close cases as a detective. When Fogarty accepted the position, one left open after former warden Scott Fritz retired, he was sent to a 12-to 14-week training academy that followed with 16 weeks of field training. I lived out of a duffel bag for 16 months, he said. My wife was a single parent for that time. I only got four days off out of 14. I would have to drive six hours to two-and-a-half, depending on where I was staying, but thats a sacrifice you make for this job. If you want the job, you have to go through the training. The conservation officer training emphasized skills needed specifically for conservation law enforcement. Fogarty learned things like how to check in on hunters, the paper process after seizing evidence like deer or fish, and firearm training. After training, Fogarty was thrown into the fire, starting his new position almost immediately. He began work on Nov. 15 right after gun season started for deer hunting. Fogarty works alone, although he is always out talking to those enjoying the outdoors. This is my dream job. I get to be out talking to people who love the same things I love, he said. It hasnt felt like a day of work yet. After selling their home in Belle Plaine in a five-day period, Fogarty and his wife are renting in Caledonia. Its amazing because Ill be going around to the taxidermist or snowmobile training and Ill meet someone who grew up in the next town over (from Belle Plaine) and theyve been down here for 15 years, he said. They tell me that youll be down here for a year and never want to leave. Fogarty is currently looking for people in the community to teach ATV operation classes. Feel free to contact him with questions or concerns at 507-312-3290 or james.fogarty@state.mn.us. - Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has written a letter to the Awujale of Ijebuland - In the letter, the former president accused the king of lying and spreading rumours about him in a book written by the king Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has written to the Awujale of Ijebuland, Oba Sikiru Adetona, describing the monarch as a serial liar and a manipulative rumour monger. Obasanjo blasts Awujale of Ijebuland READ ALSO: Leaked video: Nigerian soldiers speaks on why they protested in Sambisa In the letter dated December 30, 2016, but obtained by Premium Times on Wednesday, January 4, 2017, Obasanjo described the claims made about him by the Awujale in his autobiography as a tissue of lies and untruths. In the book, entitled Awujale: The Autobiography of Alaiyeluwa Oba S. K. Adetona, Ogbagba II, the Ijebu monarch had accused Obasanjo of having used the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to blackmail and extort during his tenure as president. The book was published by Mosuro Publishers in 2010, but the aspect about the former president was extracted by unknown persons and widely circulated in the past few weeks. Obasanjo has now written to Oba Adetona, saying his claims in the book and the spreading of falsehood about him was unbecoming of a monarch of his standing. In the letter, Obasanjo said: Kabiyesi, I believe that I should set the record straight for posterity and to caution you from engaging in unedifying rumour-mongering and untruth. Your assertion in the publication was a tissue of lies and untruths. READ ALSO: Closure of Abuja airport shifted to March 8 Meanwhile, the former president Olusegun Obasanjo, former Attorney General of the Federation, Mohammed Bello Adoke and current minister of Steel and Solid Mineral Kayode Fayemi have been allegedly fingered in a shady deal associated with the August 1, 2016 modified reconcession agreement of Ajaokuta Steel Company of Nigeria (ASC). You can read some parts of the letter below: FORMER PRESIDENT OBASANJOS LETTER December 30, 2016 His Royal Highness, Oba Alaiyeluwa S. K. Adetona, The Awujale & Paramount Ruler of Ijebuland, Oba Adetona Road, P. O. Box 263, Ijebu Ode. The extract from your Autobiography Awujale: The Autobiography of Alaiyeluwa Oba S. K. Adetona, Ogbagba II, published by Mosuro Publishers 2010, pp. 187-195, which I attach to this letter was presented to me for my attention. Your assertion in the publication was a tissue of lies and untruths. Olopade is one of my best friends and yes, I would be at his birthday celebration but I would not have invited Mike, your cousin, to meet me anywhere other than my office or official residence as President of Nigeria. Kabiyesi, do you think I would set the press up to capture me and Mike in a photograph for the newspapers? That would be puerile of me as President. Of course, I could not say that Mike could not do that. That you think that I, as President of Nigeria, would descend to such depravity makes me think of you much less than I thought of you, until now. Under my watch, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, was free to do its job as it saw fit. Common sense would suggest that wild rumours should not be perpetrated by an Oba of your calibre. Kabiyesi, your cousin did not tell you that My Chief of Staff, Abdul Mohammed, put his reputation on line by assuring EFCC that Mike would go nowhere and they should trust him to give him his passport. I did not even know that Abdul had done that until the Chairman of EFCC, Nuhu Ribadu, reported the case of my Chief of Staff seemingly colluding with Mike to run out of the country. But I had implicit confidence in my Chief of Staff and I was to resolve the issue. Should your cousin not have mentioned to Abdul who guaranteed the release of his passport his fears and intention to go on exile? On several occasions, Nuhu Ribadu has asserted that, under my watch, he was a free agent to do his work as he deemed fit. Where it was necessary, he reported the outcome of his work to me and the subsequent or follow-up actions he intended to take. On no occasion did I guide, lead or direct him on what to do. It is not only in the case of Obajana Cement that you were rumour-mongering about me. You have done that repeatedly on many occasions. The latest one you did in 2016 was you telling me that you heard that I had gone to Rasak Okoya to seek to marry her daughter, Abiola, when it was the girl that came to appeal to me to intervene to placate and appeal to her father to forgive her for all her misbehaviour to her father. I did and the father and daughter were reconciled. I told you even then that it was unbecoming of an Oba. I owed nobody any apologies in the course of doing my work as I believe I should do it or in the course of defending the interest of Nigeria and defending my integrity. As I could not open the treasury for S. O. Bakare for your so-called political support to me, I did not regard that as an offence. To the extent that I believed and regarded as proper, I instructed Tony Anenih as Minister of Works to patronize S. O. Bakare as a Peugeot car dealer Kabiyesi, the type of hate propaganda you have tried to project in that section of your book against my person is grossly unbecoming of an Oba let alone an Oba of your status and stature. However, I still accord you the respect which I believe an Oba should be accorded and one for that matter who I presume to be a friend. In spite of your unfortunate projection, my position remains the same respect for you as an Oba and a friend. Kabiyesi, I believe that I should set the record straight for posterity and to caution you from engaging in unedifying rumour-mongering and untruth. Accept the assurances of my highest consideration. Watch a video of Obasanjo having fun with a young lady below: Source: Legit.ng Happy 2017! Going from the last early deadline of 2016 to the first early deadline of 2017 is proving to be interesting, as I am trying to remember all the happenings in and betwixt the two. It certainly has been another holiday season to remember. The weather and road conditions cooperated so I could attend my brother Jims retirement party Dec. 22, held at Bruce Mound. I had only been there attempting to ski once in my entire life, and the place had really changed since then. I loved the chalet at Bruce Mound and got a chance to visit with a few people I hadnt seen in ages. There were lots of people on hand to wish him well and there were lots of fun memories shared. I have to admit to feeling a tad old when I thought of my younger brother retiring. He likes retired life, though. Like he said with a grin, Its great when the only decision I have to make is whether to have corn flakes or Cheerios for breakfast! Enjoy your retirement, bro! Taking advantage of the fact that family was here for the party, I invited them all for brunch the next morning, and the house was full of Steiners, Galls, Smagaczs and Johnsons. I am now a fan of serving egg casseroles and thanks to my friend Jane for sharing her recipe with me. It was a wonderful, if short gathering for the brunch, as work schedules called them home early, but Jim, Jean, Amanda and Bryan stayed the entire day. Didnt envy any of the family their drive back home with all those huge snowflakes and slippery roads. Winter in Wisconsin! It was a little bit quieter Christmas this year without the boys both here with their usual high spirits and high jinks but it was nice just the same. This will be the year we will remember having to take down and put up Christmas lights on the tree three different times because of light malfunctions, and literally tearing the house apart for a whole day trying to locate the elusive DVD remote so we could hold our movie and snacks night as usual on Christmas Eve. Imagine hearing thunder during the rainstorm the greeted us on Christmas. We spent the day all cozy in the house, opening gifts, enjoying a perfect turkey dinner, being glad we didnt have to travel in the soggy weather and hoping it wouldnt be a skating rink out there when Jason had to leave the next day. The day was made complete with a long phone visit with TJ who was enjoying his first Christmas in Colorado. It was an extra special holiday for Matthew Sedelbauer and Sharonna Burright who announced their Christmas engagement. Congratulations and all the best wishes to you both as you plan for your big day. Congratulations to Alex Hentsch for making the final six in the Geography Bee at Black River Falls Middle School. Nice job! Sounds like Susan Grotjahn and her familys holidays were nice and busy, and full of decorating. Says Susan We had three school programs and one concert with the grandkids. Then it was the church program, Christmas Around the World. We had our family Christmas that day, but with the ice and snow not everyone could make it this year. We had plenty of meatballs and lefse, and of course lots of treats! Last Friday in that snowstorm, Toms girlfriend Madi was in an accident and sent to the hospital. She is recovering, along with the others involved in the accident. Glad that everyone will be fine. This weekend all my kids, but Greg and Mel, who are in Idaho, will be at our home for Christmas. It gets crowded, but we all enjoy our time together. Later my kids will leave and the grandkids will spend New Years Eve with Grandpa and Grandma. A great way to end the year and begin a new year! Speaking of beginning a new year, does anyone have any unusual resolutions to make. I always have a few, and I am proud to say, every once in awhile I actually stick to some of them. This year among the usual, I am going to add: honoring my mom by baking one batch of bread completely from scratch. Mom was a wonderful cook and baker, but I kind of fell short on the baking end. I am also going to gather up my fears and try to make a prime rib for the first time. When, I dont know, but I have several good recipes and all I have to do is get up enough nerve to pick one and try it! I always enjoy getting feedback from readers of my columneven when I goof and I get a call to let me know it so it gives me a chance to redeem myself. Well, when I goof, I do it big time. Apparently when I reported about our area Century Farms earlier this year and again, as a highlight of the year, I completely butchered a name. Something as important as a Century Farm deserves to have everything correct when reported so I was very glad to get the call. Had a nice phone visit with Loren Schleusener about the Century Farm that he and Tammy Svoboda own. Its wonderful enough for a family to still be in possession of a home place for all those years, but extra special when a family member is still living there. Not only did I find out a little about the process followed to recognize a century farm, I also found out that Tammys mom Joyce Svoboda still lives on the family owned property and has for more than 50 years. Im so sorry for the spelling error but glad for the opportunity to correct and learn more. I hope I got it right this time! The Bunnell ladies made a special trip to the Ronald McDonald house in Rochester with one of the largest donations of pop can tabs, and other needed items they have ever taken over, which they and other people from the area have gathered over the last few weeks. This is something which they do on a regular basis, so I can take over the pop tabs that I forgot to give them this time. January Happenings: Happy Anniversary to Kirk and Aleisha Olson, Mike and Amy Modjeski, Pete and JoAnn Laufenberg, me and hubby, Ron and Ingrid Demers, and Rick and Brenda Hentsch. Happy January birthdays to: Glay Nordahl, Lucas Johnson, Edman Michael LaBar, Shannon Bergerson, Garrett West, Candy Janke, Jonathan Jay Helstad, Jody Hodge. Laura Simonson, Lucas Johnson, Mike Osegard, Betty Johnson, Howard Ripp, Debbie Pyka, Syress Laufenberg, Jordan Zillmer, Claire Bush, Jennifer Johnson, Mary Johnson, Anna Patricia Deml, Glay Nordahl, Bonnie Brynjulfson-Filla, Sharon Soppa. Fhoenix Rose Jelinek, Duane Jarrett, Rhonda Hudson Amman, Kendall Casper, Carah Kettner Bunnell, Mandy Langan, Marlene Skaar, Charlene Moe, Christopher Ripp, Melinda Hudson, Jeff Shoemaker, Ada Klute, Cathy Lien Stalheim, Kris Lien, Rich Fredrickson, Dennis Shramek and Ben Alan Sedelbauer. Remember, if you have friends and family members who didnt get on this list, and you would love to have their special day acknowledged, please give me a call at 715-963-2531 or email me at hixtonhappenings@yahoo.com. Make that one of your new years resolutions to make sure all your family members special days are on the Happenings list! Who will be nominated for the coveted Jackson County Women in History award this year? Rules are: a resident of Jackson County who must be at least 60 years of age. They must be making a difference in someones life and in a community in Jackson County, and volunteer their time and talent to benefit the community. Nomination forms are available at Jackson County Health and Human Services, the Jackson County Sheriffs Department, and Jackson County Interfaith Caregivers. Nominations must be submitted no later than Jan. 30 and mailed to Women in History 2016, P.O. Box 354, Black River Falls, Wis. 54615. Sympathies are extended to the family and friends of Pearl Leisgang; Pearl passed away Dec. 23. My family has suffered a loss with the passing of Harold Holub who died Dec. 21 at the age of 75. Services were held on Dec. 27 at St. Joseph Catholic Church in BRF. Hugs and sympathy to Arlene during this sad time. nnn Words of Wisdom: 201712 new chapters365 new opportunities! nnn That aging thing: The great thing about getting older is that you dont lose the ages you have already been! nnn Ive Learned life is better when youre laughing! nnn Word of the Week: Gripple means greedy or miserly, or maybe grinchy? nnn Natural High: Welcoming the family to my house and having my brunch turn out. nnn Tip of the Week: Another tip to help save up for next Christmas. Buy a gift card every month from January to November and use the gift cards for Christmas shopping. Make sure there isnt an expiration date or penalty for not using right away. nnn Fun Fact of the Week: The tallest Christmas tree ever cut was a 221 foot Douglas fir that was displayed in 1950 at the Northgate Shopping Center in Seattle. nnn Smoky Mountain Breakfast Casserole 10 eggs 2 1/2 cups milk 1/2 cup chopped onion 1/4-1/2 Cup Chopped red bell pepper 1/2 to 1 Cup fresh mushrooms 1/2 cup Velveeta cheese 1/2 cup Kraft shredded sharp cheese 3 slices bread buttered and cubed 1 cup bulk pork sausage Instructions Brown sausage with onion and pepper. Cook fresh mushrooms a minute or so. Drain sausage mixture on paper towel. Blend eggs and milk. Butter 9x13 baking pan. Put bread cubes in bottom of the baking pan. Spread cheese over bread. Then sprinkle sausage mixture over all. Refrigerate over night covered. Preheat oven 350. Bake for 45 min-1 hour or until set. This will serve around 6 adults. Other ingredients can be used or meat can be omitted or other meats substituted. Pierogi Casserole 3 boxes of Cheddar Pierogies. 4 cups of chicken broth. 1 (8 oz) block of cream cheese. 1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese. 1 pound of sliced kielbasa. Salt and pepper In the crockpot, mix all of the ingredients together and cook on high for 3 to 4 hours or on low for 6 hours. Serve this pierogi with kielbasa warm with some fresh green salad and crusty bread. nnn Quote of the week: We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called opportunity and its first chapter is New Years Day. Edith Lovejoy Pierce. nnn With the end of the first column of 2017, again, my New Years wish for you is 12 months of happiness, 52 weeks of fun and laughter, 365 days of success, 8760 hours of good health, 5,256,00 minutes of peace and 31,536,000 seconds of joy! Happy New Year! The Nigerian Army has announced the discovery a bomb-making factory left behind by fleeing Boko Haram insurgents. Army says a huge Boko Haram bomb factory where Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) like these are made has been uncovered at Ngoshe in Borno. This was revealed by the Army at a press conference in Maiduguri, Borno state capital, on Wednesday, January 4. READ ALSO: Nigerian Army deploys troops in Southern Kaduna to stop killings According to Major-General Lucky Irabor, Operation Lafiya Dole theatre commander, the Camerounian Army operating at Ngoshe, close to the border with the Central African country, made the discovery. Some of the things that were seized at the factory included vehicles, several motorcycles and bomb-making materials. On its part, the Nigerian Army also presented some of the members of the Boko Haram insurgents that it captured and those that willingly surrendered to the Army. Some of the captured Boko Haram bomb fighters and those that surrendered to the Nigerian Army who were presented to the press. Some of the repentant fighters expressed their gratitude to the military that took them in after they surrendered. Meanwhile, there are reports that Nigerian soldiers allegedly revolted against their superior officers inside the dreaded Sambisa forest in December in protest against poor treatment meted out on them by military authorities. Source: Legit.ng - The former governor of Abia state visited the parents of the leader of Indigenous People of Biafra Nnamdi Kanu - The former governor met with His Excellency Eze I.O Kanu and his wife at their palace in Afara-Ibeku, Umuahia - They discussed issues surrounding Kanu's release, Legit.ng has gathered Former Abia Governor Orji Uzor-Kalu with Nnamdi Kanus father A former governor of Abia state Orji Uzor-Kalu on Tuesday, January 3, visited the parents of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) Nnamdi Kanu. During the visit, Legit.ng gathered, the former governor discussed the need for the release of Kanu with His Excellency Eze I. O Kanu and his wife Ugoeze Sally Kanu. Sources within the family said Uzor-Kalus visit to the palace of Eze Kanu was met without much difference from the reply the former governor got from the IPOB leader in Kuje. READ ALSO: PHOTO NEWS: Nnamdi Kanu's parents receive August visitor Orji-Kalu had in December 2015, visited Kanu in prison. The former governor during his visit told Kanu that he has to be released He also based his discussion on the analysis that a prison facility is not befitting for the IPOB leader. However, Legit.ng further gathered that while Kanus parents were determined to ensure unconditional release of their son, they were also worried disobedience to court orders by the federal government. See photos from the visit on Tuesday, January 3, below: Former Abia Governor Orji Uzor-Kalu in a handsake with Nnamdi Kanus mother Former Abia Governor Orji Uzor-Kalu with Nnamdi Kanus family They want justice to be done and said they look forward to welcoming OUK (Orji Uzor-Kalu) back which is the tradition in Igbo custom when a visitor brings you information that requires a response, the source said. READ ALSO: Nnamdi Kanu allegedly releases DEEP secrets against Buhari, Gowon (video) He also said the family is waiting to hear terms the federal government would list for Kanus release while making it clear that the president should be negotiating with Kanu and not them (his parents). No discussion will take place until their son is released and the issue of asking their son to renounce Biafra is impossible and cannot be done because they believe it's what his God has asked him to do. They are hoping for a peaceful resolution to the matter but are not cowed by the predicament of their son, the source added. READ ALSO: ALERT! IPOB sends STRONG message to members over Biafra Kanu was arrested in Lagos on October 14, 2015, on his arrival from United Kingdom by the Department of State Securities. He is accused of treasonable felony, mismanagement of an unlawful society and concealing of goods in a container alongside three others. Kanu will appear before Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court in Abuja on Tuesday, January 10, for the commencement of his trial. Source: Legit.ng - In less than 24 hours, the Nigerian Army has foiled an attack and killed three Boko Haram suicide bombers in Adamawa state - The chairman of Madagali local government and Badare Akintoye, the spokesperson of the Armys 28 Task Force Battalion in Mubi have confirmed the foiling of the two attacks Army says it killed 3 suicide bombers in Adamawa just about 24 hours after repelling an attack in the same state. The Nigerian Army has killed three female suicide bombers in Adamawa state to avert a massive attack in the northeast region so early into the new year. Premium Times reports that the bombers were shot dead in Bakin Dutse village, Madagali Local Government Area of the state. READ ALSO: Nigerian Army deploys troops in Southern Kaduna to stop killings The women were caught in the village which is five kilometres from Gulak where hundreds of people are gathered for the market day at the headquarters of Madagali local government. The incident was confirmed by Badare Akintoye, the spokesperson of the Armys 28 Task Force Battalion in Mubi. We gunned down three female suicide bombers. Our soldiers are on alert and commercial activities are going on there, the army major said. On his part, chairman of Madagali LG Yusuf Gulak said: Our local vigilantes that are now assisting the soldiers saw the three female suicide bombers who were on a mission to strike in the market. READ ALSO: BringBackOurGirls threatens showdown with Buhari over remaining Chibok girls On seeing them fast approaching, they asked them to stop but the girls declined instead running faster, so one was instantly gunned down and the bomb on her body exploded. So also the second girl. The third girl attempted to run but could not succeed as she was also shot dead. This is the second attack on Madagali in 24 hours. Recall that Nigerian Army troops early on Tuesday, January 3 repelled Boko Haram fighters who tried to attack Dar village, also in Madagali local government. Source: Legit.ng - A group, Grassroot Mobilisers for Buhari, has appealed to information minister, Lai Mohammed, to facilitate the release of a journalist in DSS cell - He was arrested for publishing an alleged libelous report against Petroleum Minister, Ibe Kachikwu - The journalist has been in DSS cell for over 90 days in Abuja A group under the aegis of Grassroot Mobilisers for Buhari, south south zone, has appealed to the Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed, to intervene and influence the release of the publisher of Ughelli Times Magazine in Delta, Prince Daniel Ekiugbo, who was whisked away from his private residence on October 25, 2016 by a crack team of men of the Directorate of State Security Service (DSS). DSS operatives The appeal was made by the Director of media and publicity of the group, Barrister Fred Latimore Oghenesivbe, where he said though the DSS is saddled with the responsibility of cracking down on criminal elements perceived to threaten the unity and peace of the nation, the discharge of its functions must not infringe on the fundamental rights of citizens under investigation by the service. READ ALSO: INVESTIGATION: How Delta College of Education sacked 45 staff after 5 years of service Oghenesivbe further asserted that Prince Ekiugbo was said to have published certain offensive and libelous articles tending to portray the minister of state for petroleum, Ibe Kachukwu, in a bad light as reported, hence the suspect was arrested for questioning nearly three months ago. The story, according to Oghenesivbe, took a different twist when the Delta state chapter of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) intervened, prompting a protest visit of about 50 practicing journalists led by its chairman, Comrade Nobert Chiazor to the Asaba office of the DSS. But the protesting team was informed that the suspect also got his fingers soiled in other criminal activities linking him to certain criminal elements involved in militancy and pipeline vandalization in the Niger Delta. Information Minister, Lai Mohammed Oghenesivbe explained that though certain offences against the Nigerian nation are not bailable, he said the order for continuous detention must be issued by a court of competent jurisdiction, adding that in the case of Prince Ekiugbo, the DSS has not been able to bring charges against him to enable the court examine the basic ingredients of the alleged offences so as to determine whether or not Prince Ekiugbo deserves bail. In the light of the above, the group said it is not comfortable with the continuous detention of a citizen protected by chapter IV of the constitution of Nigeria, 1999 as amended and in the same token urged the high command of the DSS to urgently do the needful to protect and advance the principles of rule of law, natural justice and good conscience. READ ALSO: Why Iboris men turn London to their second home Oghenesivbe and his group are demanding for either the unconditional release of Prince Ekiugbo since no charges have been brought against him or in the alternative charge him to a court of competent jurisdiction where his alleged offences could be viewed with the eyes of the law to determine his freedom or otherwise. The group is of the opinion that petty political squabbles within Delta APC family must not be overstretched so as not to delay the genuine reconciliation among vexed stakeholders in timely preparation for greater tasks ahead, including the takeover of Delta by the ruling party in 2019. The group therefore called on Lai Mohammed, the national president of the NUJ as well as the Director-General of the DSS to review Prince Ekiugbo's case and ensure that the rule of law prevails to stop the continued infringement on Ekiugbo's fundamental rights to liberty, fair hearing and freedom of speech. Source: Legit.ng Good morning, Senator, said a Capitol staffer. It took me a moment to realize the man was talking to me. That was ten years ago. This week fifteen new lawmakers raised their right hand and swore to uphold the Constitution. They celebrated with a day of family, photos and receptions. I recall how exciting the day was and how that excitement quickly turned to the daunting challenge of adjusting to my new role of Senator. Following Election Day, the new legislators-elect attend orientation sessions, which provide vital information relating to all aspects of the Legislature. I remember thinking there was too much information packed into a few days. I realized, as my new colleagues will, the orientation is simply a glimpse of what they will need to learn over the course of the coming months. Most new legislators come into office with ideas about changes they want to see in state government. Fresh ideas can be a good thing. Wisconsin does face difficult problems that require innovation. However, its hard to innovate when, as a rookie legislator, you are just learning the language. There are new acronyms, new processes and new agencies. Our state government consists of nearly 40 agencies and state authorities. Add in another 200 or so commissions, councils and boards. These groups serve critical roles and provide citizen input in state decisions. For example, the Medical Examining Board oversees the practice of medicine, and the Council on Veterans Programs gives veterans input. Five support agencies help lawmakers. For instance, the Legislative Fiscal Bureau (LFB) prepares nearly 100 information papers on key programs. Whether learning about school funding or transportation, citizens and lawmakers alike can access the work of the LFB. As budget deliberations progress, LFB analysts write over 700 budget papers providing lawmakers with critical information during deliberations on the state budget. Working on complex budget issues dominates a lawmakers workload in the first six months of a new legislative session. Many hours are spent reading the LFB summaries or the Cliff Notes of the state budget bill. Last budget, the final summary was over 900 pages. All this to say a new lawmaker has quite a lot of information to master in a short time period. At the same time, hundreds of new friends will want to visit. Wisconsin has some hundreds of statewide associations from AAA (automobile drivers) to WWOA (woodland owners). Many groups hire lobbyists or send their own members to visit legislators. Nearly every group that visits their legislators brings a leave behind a one-page summary of the issue(s) about which they are concerned. Given that a new legislator may have eight or 10 visits in a day on topics ranging from livestock feed to prison reform, leaving behind details is essential. The challenge for all lawmakers comes in understanding the agenda of those leave behinds. What is the need? What story is not told? Who speaks for the other side? Who is the other side? Many of the details discussed in those meetings either are or will become bills. Last session, members of the Assembly introduced 1,026 bills and Senators introduced 804 bills. Those bills are examined in greater detail during legislative public hearings. The deliberative process of public hearings in both houses of the Legislature gives us all the opportunity to learn about how a bill might help Wisconsin citizens or have unintended consequences. A vital part of a legislators role is communicating with constituents. Every senator represents some 170,000 people. About 5,000 of these people (with some exceptions) will be engaged in offering an opinion or needing some assistance. Most of the help requested by constituents involves working with the myriad of state agencies and local governments. For some, we must seek assistance from federal officials. To help constituents, the lawmaker and his or her staff must navigate both relationships and the complexities of the law. And to change the law takes teamwork. You will need a yes vote of 17 senators, 50 assembly members and a governor who will not veto your plan. Congratulations to all our new lawmakers. Just like the rest of us, those new legislators will need you, those whom they represent, to be involved and be in touch! About 7 repentant Boko Haram insurgents on Wednesday, January 4, appealed to their fellow members still in Sambisa forest to lay down their arms and embrace peace. Some of the captured Boko Haram bomb fighters and those that surrendered to the Nigerian Army who were presented to the press. Joseph David, one of the insurgents made the appeal when the Nigerian army presented them at a press conference in Maiduguri, Borno state capital. David, who is also known as Ibrahim Alhaji, said he chose to lay down his arms to embrace peace. READ ALSO: Nigerian Army deploys troops in Southern Kaduna to stop killings He said: I have chosen to lay down my arms to allow peace reign in the country. We have been accepted by the Nigerian Government, contrary to what we were told by the sect leaders. Another suspect who also appealed to the rest still hiding in the Sambisa forest to lay down their arms and embrace peace. The sect leaders told us not to surrender to the government because we will be killed, but to our surprise, nothing happened to us. The Nigerian government has accepted us and is taking good care of us, he said. Maj. Gen. Lucky Irabor, the Theatre Commander of Operation Lafiya Dole, said four of the repentant terrorists were from Mamman Nurs camp, while six were from the Shekau faction. He said the repentant sect members would undergo a deradicalisation programme to enable them become responsible citizens. READ ALSO: Nigerian soldiers speaks on why they protested in Sambisa In a related development, the Nigerian Army has announced the discovery a bomb-making factory left behind by fleeing Boko Haram insurgents. According to the theatre commander, the Camerounian Army operating at Ngoshe, close to the border with the Central African country, made the discovery. Source: Legit.ng - In the face of military action threatened against President Jammeh by the ECOWAS leaders, Gambia's army chief Ousman Badjie has declared support for the leader - Badjie affirmed his loyalty and the support of the Gambia Armed Forces for Jammeh in a letter to pro-government Daily Observer newspaper - There are serious indications that Gambia might be headed for war following rifts over election results Gambia Army dares Ecowas leaders, declares support for The Gambia president Following threat of military action against the country by President Muhammadu Buhari and other ECOWAS leaders, Gambia's army chief Ousman Badjie has declared his loyalty to President Yahya Jammeh. BBC reports that, in a letter he sent to the pro-government Daily Observer newspaper, Badjie affirmed his loyalty and the support of the Gambia Armed Forces for Jammeh. Jammeh has maintained that he will not step down when his term ends on January 19. READ ALSO: Gambian president attacks Buhari, others for declaring war against his government He wrote:"May I please seize this opportunity to renew to your Excellency the assurance of the unflinching loyalty and support of the Gambia Armed Forces." In the event that Mr Jammeh does not hand over power to President-elect Adama Barrow on January 19, ECOWAS says its troops in neighbouring Senegal are ready to intervene in Gambia's political situation. Recall that the Gambian president had initially accepted defeat in the December 1, 2016 election but later backtracked. The president had also warned that any attempt to intervene in the political situation of his country will be an act of war. READ ALSO: Gambia on the verge of war, as head of electoral commission flees BBC also reports that the country has not enjoyed a swift transition since its independence from Britain in 1965. There are serious indications that Gambia might be headed for war following rifts over election results. The head of Gambia electoral commission has already fled to Senegal alleging threat to his life. Source: Legit.ng - A Boko Haram suspected from Sambisa forest was apprehended in Ibadan - He confessed that some of the members of the group were in Lagos - The suspect was recognised as one of the chief bomb makers of the terrorist group A suspected Boko Haram terrorist who simply gave his name as Alkali has been arrested by security operatives in the Ibadan area of Oyo state after he confessed that he fled Sambisa forest. The stronghold of the terrorists was dislodged in December, 2016 by troops on Operation Lafiya Dole with many of the terrorists fleeing the forest. Tribune Online reports that the suspect was apprehended on Sunday, January 1 in Alalubosa GRA of the Ibadan metropolis following a tip-off from residents. READ ALSO: Army kills 3 suicide bombers, foils second attack on Adamawa in 24hrs A police source who spoke on the condition of anonymity said the suspect was in detention at the state CID and confessed to being a key member of the sect. He reportedly confessed to being in charge of the dangerous weapons at the disposal of the group, including grenades and dynamites. The source said: The man was arrested on Sunday night by security agents from the Iyaganku Division of the Oyo State Police Command. This followed a tipoff by the people of the Alalubosa GRA who were curious of his sudden appearance in the neighbourhood. The man, who said his name is Alkali, claimed that he ran from Sambisa Forest after the place was captured by the military. He was found roaming about in the Alalubosa GRA by the people who lodged a report with the law enforcement agency. Under investigation at the Iyaganku Division, he confessed that he fled from Sambisa Forest in Borno State and got to Mobil, Ring Road, Ibadan on foot. He was immediately accosted by some Hausa people who are plying their trade there. They immediately called the attention of their leader who subjected him to a round of interrogation. He however fled from them under questioning, only to be seen at the Alalubosa GRA area by some residents who were curious of his appearance and way of dressing. The residents of Alalubosa GRA immediately notified the Iyaganku Division of the state police command who sent a team of security personnel to effect his arrest and he was eventually taken to the police station. READ ALSO: Massive Boko Haram bomb factory uncovered at Ngoshe Under interrogation at the police station, he made some confessional statement, claiming that he is a Boko Haram member from Borno State and that he fled from the Sambisa Forest, following the invasion and capture of the place by the Nigerian Army. He is presently held in the inner custody of the cell at the state CID as he said he was not the only person that escaped from Sambisa Forest. The suspect said he came to Ibadan with some other members of the Boko Haram sect, adding that some are already in Lagos. Source: Legit.ng The federal government has released fresh information concerning the disbursement of N5000 to poor people in the country. The federal government had announced the payment of the promised stipends to poor people in the country although Governor Ayo Fayose of Ekiti described it as mere propaganda. READ ALSO: FG to start payment of N30,000 monthly stipends to N-Power beneficiaries The Ekiti governor claimed the fund was provided by the World Bank and that the federal government was only contributing a little. The government however explained that the World Bank has not provided funds yet as it was part of the proposed plan to borrow yet to be approved by the National Assembly. Read the statement below: The CCT Sum is N500 per household per month, paid directly to the household caregiver, to improve consumption in the family. READ ALSO: Osinbajo reveals why Buhari's government is slow The World Bank has approved $500m for conditional cash transfers and livelihood support for Nigeria but it is part of the borrowing plan that is yet to be approved by the National Assembly so the funds are yet to be released. The funds currently being utilised for the CCT are from the N500 billion appropriated by the National Assembly for the purpose Source: Legit.ng Sorry! This content is not available in your region By: ASCAYA Niya Rivera Media Contact Sarah Thornton Public Relations Sarah Thornton sarah@sarahthorntonpr.com Sarah Thornton Public RelationsSarah Thornton End -- ASCAYA welcomes Niya Rivera as its artist in residence during the month of January. Rivera's installation will officially open January 11 from 3-6 p.m. during ASCAYA's weekly Vino With A View event. Following the opening, the installation will be open for public viewing during ASCAYA office hours through the end of the month."We are thrilled to welcome another talented and local artist to showcase their work in our beautiful sales pavilion," said sales manager Darin Marques. "Our first installation with sculptor Dorit Schwartz was very well received and we look forward to offering many more opportunities for artists to showcase their work in this unique setting."Rivera will donate 20 percent of sales from artwork purchased at the opening to a non-profit organization.Rivera's installation at ASCAYA will include several abstract pieces in her signature free-flow stylings. "Each piece is a unique experience,"said Rivera. "I love to include acrylics to highlight vibrancy, color and sparkle with all of my work. Some pieces came together relatively effortlessly and some I have been working on for more than a year."Rivera said her grandmother Princellar was her biggest influence in her career as an artist. "She passed in 2014 at the age of 81 and said her only regret was that she didn't pursue her art career," said Rivera. "I'm happy that I'm fulfilling her legacy and doing what I was meant to be doing."The installation will be open for public viewing from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily from January 12-31. Rivera's artwork will be available for purchase with prices starting at $1,500. For more information, visit www.ascaya.com.Nestled into the desert landscape, ASCAYA is a collection of 313 estate plots that will boast Southern Nevada's most coveted and opulent housing development. ASCAYA is located nine miles south of the Las Vegas Strip on the McCullough Range in Henderson, Nevada. It rises nearly 1,000 feet above the Las Vegas Valley and features breathtaking views of the city and surrounding mountains.Follow ASCAYA on www.facebook.com/ascaya, Twitter ( http://www.twitter.com/ ascayanv ) and Instagram ( http://www.instagram.com/ ascayanv ) for the latest news and updates. INDEPENDENCE Leslie Flores, 18, of Independence died Sunday, Jan. 1, 2017. Funeral services will be held at 6 p.m. Thursday at Holy Family Parish in Arcadia. Visitation will be from 1 p.m. to time of services Thursday at the church. Burial will be Saturday in St. Stanislaus Cemetery in rural Arcadia. Wozney-Killian Funeral Home Arcadia is assisting the family with arrangements. Certification of 3D printed prototype helps win contract extension By: ADAPT Adapt Contact Aaron Stebner ***@mines.edu Aaron Stebner End -- ADAPT, the Alliance for the Development of Additive Processing Technologies, a research consortium focused on developing technologies to accelerate the certification and qualification of 3D printed metal parts, has helped member company Reaction Systems win a two-year, $750K SBIR contract extension."This early success shows the value of collaboration between ADAPT members," said ADAPT Technical Director Aaron Stebner.With a Phase II SBIR project with the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) to develop a hypersonic jet engine part and a need for specialized additive manufacturing expertise, Reaction Systems turned to founding member company Faustson and ADAPT to create a prototype and keep moving the project forward.David Wickham, Reaction Systems' president and senior project manager, said, "The part has an intricate interior channel that can only be made this way. As it moves forward, our production volume will grow, and we'll need ADAPT's expertise to show the part can withstand rigorous conditions. They've already demonstrated they can provide useful data to help us do that, and membership helps us expand our capabilities and expertise in using catalysts on complex surfaces."Small manufacturers can't justify the expense required to adopt emerging additive metal technology without a resource like ADAPT. Real-time monitoring costs hundreds of thousands of dollars they simply don't have. ADAPT membership and access to shared resources, world-class expertise and peer organizations with complementary needs and services make it affordable for Faustson, Reaction Systems, and other small manufacturers to successfully invest in this emerging technology."We had no experience with additive manufacturing, and started looking around to find the expertise and resources we needed," noted Reaction Systems COO Jeffrey Engel. "A contact at Mines connected us with founding member Faustson and ADAPT. That enabled us to quickly manufacture the part with the internal geometry it requires, something we could not have done with traditional machining techniques."Heidi Hostetter, ADAPT Industry Board Chair and VP of Faustson, said, "AFRL was right when they asked it to be made additively. A complex part, accelerated schedule, and low volume was tailor-made for 3D metal printing."Faustson worked with Reaction Systems to make the part in a few days on its Concept Laser machine. The R&D team at Mines then used the ADAPT lab equipment to characterize the part to show it met design specifications. The result was a two-year extension of the Reaction Systems contract, worth $750,000, to continue work on the part.The Alliance for the Development of Additive Processing Technologies (ADAPT) is a research and development organization dedicated to the creation of next-generation data informatics and advanced characterization technologies for additive manufacturing technologies. ADAPT uses these tools to help industry and government qualify, standardize, assess, and optimize advanced manufacturing processes and parts. Several levels of membership to the ADAPT consortium are available. Founding industry members include Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Faustson Tool, Lockheed Martin, Citrine Informatics. Grant funding from the Colorado Office of Economic Development & International Trade (OEDIT) was provided to Manufacturer's Edge and The National Institute of Standards and Technology's Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership. For more information, find ADAPT at http://adapt.mines.edu , on LinkedIn, Facebook, or Twitter.Reaction Systems, located in Golden, Colorado, develops leading-edge technologies, creating new products and processes and turning them into real commercial products. Much of this work is done through the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program and carried out by conducting research, securing patents, and cultivating commercialization partners. The company has developed a way to improve scramjet engine ignition; created a membrane that separates carbon dioxide from a spacesuit environment to enable longer space walks; and invented a way to map and remove coke deposits to improve rocket engine performance. For more information, visit www.rxnsys.com Five Nine Solutions, Inc. Contact Five Nine Solutions, Inc. Human Resources Department careers@fiveninesolutions.net 281-829-8926 Five Nine Solutions, Inc.Human Resources Department281-829-8926 End -- "Your level of success is determined by your level of commitment,"says Ricky Malone, President and founder of Five Nine Solutions, Inc. Closing up their daily morning meeting, Malone offers a few closing remarks, and the management team breaks to tackle the day's tasks. Moving their headquarters office to Houston, Texas, Ricky and team have wasted no time in taking on the Lone Star State. Previously located in Louisiana, Five Nine Solutions quickly outgrew their hometown roots last fall and have steadily continued to expand across the south.Currently, the organization boasts nine locations centered in Texas and extending throughout Louisiana and Oklahoma. Recently released projections predict further growth occurring before the second quarter of 2017.As Five Nine Solutions, Inc. makes the move to Houston, they prepare to take on their fourth, and most prolific client yet. This new client, being the owner of the Houston Texans stadium, has the largest brand in the state."The shift in focus is going to be swift and articulated,"says Malone. "Up until this point, we have never represented an energy company in a de-regulated energy state. We made sure to become absolute masters at our craft before making the move and so far, we've hit the ground running."Because of the new partnership, Five Nine Solutions, Inc. ( http://www.FiveNineSolutions.net ) is projected to triple their overall national footprint and double their local territory in Houston by the end of the year. "The growth this company has experienced up to this point has been record breaking, but the future growth of Five Nine Solutions is going to be unprecedented,"Malone suggests."The driving force behind the company's rapid growth thus far," as explained by Malone, "has been our associates seeing the success first hand. Once we became a well-oiled machine, momentum was easy to maintain. Success breeds success in the marketing and sales field. If you see that others are achieving it, it makes it more tangible and achievable. Our associates began to push harder than ever."As the pressure for expansion mounts, Five Nine Solutions, Inc. prepares to open their doors for the hiring process. For more information regarding career opportunities, visit http://www.FiveNineSolutions.net. Christmas isn't over yet! Russian Christmas is celebrated worldwide on the 7th of January and to make it special for our Russian guests, HMH Hospitality Media Contact Marketing Pro Junction ***@gmail.com +971502093801 Marketing Pro Junction+971502093801 End -- Christmas isn't over yet! Russian Christmas is celebrated worldwide on the 7of January and to make it special for our Russian guests, HMH Hospitality Management Holdings has unveiled a superb offer on its website.This offer entitles bookers to a 10 per cent discount when they book a three nights stay or more.Due to the high enquiries by our guests, this exciting promotion was extended to anyone booking through the website at any of the group's properties in the UAE, Oman, Lebanon, Jordan, Saudi, and Sudan. 10% off on our Best Available Rate Minimum stay of 3 nights required Offer Valid during Weekend days upon Availability For more information central.reservations@hmh.emailThe hotels offering this promotion include The Ajman Palace Hotel, Coral Beach Resort Sharjah, Coral Dubai Deira Hotel, Coral Beirut Al Hamra Hotel, Coral Muscat Hotel & Apartments, Corp Amman Hotel, Coral Al Ahsa Hotel, Coral Jubail Hotel, Coral Khartoum Hotel, Coral Port Sudan Hotel and EWA Khartoum Hotel & Apartments.Chris Bradley, Head of Sales, HMH Hospitality Management Holdings, stated, "It is the holiday season in the CIS countries with school winter holidays until the 10of January, 2017. At this time of the year a lot of families and couples from the Russian region travel to popular destinations in the region to enjoy the sunny weather and celebrate Russian Christmas. Since CIS is one of our significant markets, our 'Stay 3 Nights & Save 10%' offer has been thoughtfully conceived to reward guests who make direct bookings through our brand website".To book the 'promotionvisitFounded in 2003 in Dubai, HMH Hospitality Management Holdings is a fully integrated hotel management company that prides itself for being one of the pioneers among local groups that are specialized in the dry segment. Being the largest operator in the sector within the region, HMH provides hotel owners and developers a broad spectrum of world-class management solutions with five distinct, yet complementary, hotel brands catering to varied market segments from luxury to budget. These include The Ajman Palace Hotel, Coral Hotels & Resorts, Corp Hotels, EWA Hotel Apartments and ECOS Hotels.HMH's strategic expansion in the Middle East and North Africa has been successful in unlocking a world of opportunities while creating value for its stakeholders, associates, staff members and customers. The existing portfolio is located in some of the most desirable destinations across the MENA region, with a pipeline of hotels under development to grow HMH's regional footprint even further. Take part in the latest in independent film making and movie culture. By: Palm Beach International Film Festival PBIFFPar ty Contact Transmedia Group ***@transmediagroup.com Transmedia Group End --is back. Get in on the latest in independent film making and movie culture as Yaacov Heller's Gallery 22 hosts the 2017 Kick-Off Party. On January 15th, this year's Kick-Off Party will have a Latin flair, featuring a preview by Ms. Latina International Fashion Show and music by Tenor Warren Tesh and Soprano Anna Nicotra bringing the best songs of music films. Gallery sales proceeds will benefit PBIFF. RSVP by January 13! Visit www.PBIFilmFest.org or call 561.362.0003 for more information about PBIFF.The Palm Beach International Film Festival is unlike any other film festival in America. It's renowned for showing filmmakers and filmgoers a good time with parties and glittering special events. In 2015, over 120 films were screened, including 50 outstanding foreign films, representing 24 countries.In 2016, nearly 80 features were presented, including 30 World, International, North American, and US Premieres. Over 60 filmmakers and actors attended, many made the trip here at their own expense, from countries such as Canada, Israel, Spain, the United Kingdom, and Venezuela, to meet our Florida patrons.Unlike other South Florida Festivals, PBIFF has unique partnerships with two of the world's leading film festivals. In a first-ever collaboration of its kind, the world-renowned Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) joined forces with us in 2014. In addition, our partnership with the Sundance Institute is a first for this esteemed organization. Partnership also include Keiser University and G-Star School of the Arts ( http://www.GSTARSchool.org ) which provides PBIFFwith additional space, technical facilities for screenings and production, as well as film educational outreach.The presence of filmmakers from around the world, along with South Florida patrons, press and cinemaphiles from throughout the region, help ensure PBIFF's place as one of America's top film festivals in the world. C.G. by Alex Kanevsky photo courtesy of Hollis Taggart Galleries Contact Leigh Zona ***@ccabedminster.org Leigh Zona End -- The Center for Contemporary Art is pleased to announce the opening of two new exhibitions. "The Figure: Clothed and Unclothed," features the work of Robert Bunkin, Alex Kanevsky, Scott Noel and Jenny Tango. This exhibit is curated by Mel Leipzig, a realist painter who has focused on portraiture for over 40 years, and is among New Jersey's best known and most visible artists. Also on view is "Oscar Peterson: Unbound." Both exhibitions will open on Friday, January 13th and will remain on view through February 25th. The opening reception and artist talk will take place on Friday, January 13th from 6-8 p.m. and are free and open to the public."The Figure: Clothed and Unclothed" brings together four of the finest figurative artists today. Robert Bunkin is an art historian and studio instructor on the faculty of Borough of Manhattan Community College and art curator at the Staten Island Museum. Alex Kanevsky, born in Russia, came to the United States and settled in Philadelphia and teaches at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. Scott Noel, originally from Charlotte, North Carolina, also a resident of Philadelphia, teaches painting and drawing at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. Jenny Tango attended Cooper Union, NYU Institute of Fine Art, and Brooklyn College. She was an active participant in the Feminist Art Movement of the 1970s. Her column,, has appeared insince 1992.In an excerpt from Mel Leipzig's curator statement he states, "The figure and portrait painted in a realistic approach has been the subject of major American painters from the time of the founding of the Republic in the 18th century thru the 19th century and into the Post-Modernist period of the 21st century. From Copley through Eakins to Fairfield Porter and Philip Pearlstein. The four painters in this exhibition, Robert Bunkin, Alex Kanevsky, Scott Noel and Jenny Tango, each one in their individual way, continue this American tradition.""Oscar Peterson: Unbound" is part of The Center's faculty exhibition series. Mr. Peterson was born in Harlem, New York, raised in Brooklyn, NY, and is currently a resident of Millburn Township, NJ. He has worked as a professional art director and designer/illustrator for various corporations and non-profits, and as a commissioned fine arts painter who specializes in portraiture. An alumnus of Pratt Institute and The Art Students League of NY, Peterson has studied with such leading realist painters as Nelson Shanks, Max Ginsberg, and Costa Vavagiakis. Mr. Peterson has taught painting and drawing at The Center since 2014. When asked about the name of the exhibition and how it is reflected in his work, Peterson pointed out that, "We are all 'bound' by one thing or another. Our limitations, other people's expectations. Being 'Unbound' means having the freedom to do what you want to do with limitless goals, and without outside expectations."Jpeg images are available upon request.Founded in 1970, The Center for Contemporary Art is a vital regional art center with a vibrant studio art school, extensive exhibition program and important community outreach component. The Center for Contemporary Art is committed to enablingvisitors to experience its classes and workshops, exhibitions and public programs. Visitors requiring an accommodation or service should contact The Center at least two weeks prior to the scheduled visit. The Center is located at 2020 Burnt Mills Road in Bedminster, NJ. For further information, please call (908) 234-2345 or visit The Center for Contemporary Art online at http://ccabedminster.org/ Monday Thursday 9:00 a.m. 5:00 p.m.Friday & Saturday 9:00 a.m. 3:00 p.m.Closed Sundays and major holidays.The gallery is also open during the evening when classes are in session.Leigh Zona, Communications and Development ManagerThe Center for Contemporary Art2020 Burnt Mills RoadBedminster, NJ 07921(908) 234-2345 ext. 104 By: Zaria Salon Zaria Contact Cheyna Pierre ***@berelations.com Cheyna Pierre End -- The owners of Zaria- a new high-end natural hair salon located at 2730 Hollywood Blvd, Hollywood, Florida 33020, are proud to announce its official grand opening scheduled for Sunday, January 15, 2017 from 1p.m. to 5p.m., and you are invited.After wrapping up a successful two weeks soft-opening, Zaria Salon is officially opening its doors to its patrons for service. The first 100 guests will be greeted at the door with light refreshments, a gift bag and free raffle giveaways throughout the afternoon. Festivities will continue with a meet and greet with our experienced hair stylists on site for one-on-one consultations. If you're new to natural hair; you are more than welcome to join us and our stylists will provide guidance for your transition. After choosing your stylist you will be able to set your next appointment before you leave.Zaria Salon is a new 1,730 square foot salon that specializes in natural hair styling and products. Zaria Salon was designed to give our patrons the best experience a salon has to offer from the minute they walk through our door. Upon entering the salon you will be greeted at our reception desk by our friendly staff. We have two couches in our waiting area to accommodate guests. For the total upscale salon experience; we've also included a bar section where you will be treated to refreshments. If you like the products we carry, you can also purchase them at our retail area. The salon consists of 8 styling chairs and a shampoo area that sits 4 customers. We have two manicure and pedicure chairs and a makeup artist on site."At Zaria we celebrate natural beauty and we are dedicated to offering our clients a luxury experience while focusing on health & wellbeing," Stefanie Berry ~owner.Zaria caters to people with natural hair no matter the texture. Our stylists specialize in over 30 different hair styling methods which include wash & blowout, starter locs, loc maintenance, flat twist updo, permanent color, haircut and nail care. You can also count on us for various protective styling, such as 2-strand twists, crochet, and box braids. Zaria carries top of the line all natural and organic products to ensure that you get safe and effective beauty services all while protecting the environment.Mark your calendars for Sunday January 152017 from 1pm to 5pm for Zaria Salon's grand opening. We are currently taking appointments;book yours by calling the salon at 954-613-8876. You can also visit our website at http://www.zariasalon.com . Check us out on all social media under the handle, Zaria Salon. Full hours of operation are as follows; Closed Sunday and Monday, Tuesday thru Saturday from 10:00 AM 6:00 PM. Former Cracovia hotel building will belong to the National Museum in Cracow. The sale agreement was signed at the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, in a presence of deputy prime ministry, minister of culture and national heritage professor Piotr Glinski. In the future, the new owner plans to use [] Hero MotoCorp Hero MotoCorp also reported a dip in demand with sales down 33.91% in December 2016. Total company sales stood at 3,30,202 units as compared to 4,99,665 units sold in December 2015. The companys 3 plants in Gurgaon, Neemrana and Haridwar were shut for annual maintenance during December 26 to 31 2016. Taking total sales over the past calendar year into account, Hero MotoCorp sold 67,62,980 units, up 4.3% against 64,86,103 units sold during January to December 2015. Bajaj Auto Pune based two wheeler makers, Bajaj Auto Limited noted a dip in sales to the extent of 22% during April to December 2016 when the company sold 2,25,529 units as against 2,89,003 units in the same period of the previous year. Domestic sales of motorcycles in December 2016 dipped 11% to 1,06,665 units as compared to 1,20,322 units sold in December 2015 while exports dipped 24% to 96,647 in December 2016 as compared to 1,27,460 units exported in December 2015. The commercial vehicle division of Bajaj Auto noted a degrowth of 46% with 22,217 units sold in the past month as against 41,221 units sold in December 2015. In mid-December 2016, Bajaj Auto introduced the Dominar 400 at a starting price of INR 1.36 lakhs. Dec-16 Particulars Dec-16 Dec-15 Change % Highlights MOTORCYCLES DOMESTIC 1,06,665 1,20,322 -11 EXPORTS 96,647 1,27,460 -24 SUB-TOTAL 2,03,312 2,47,782 -18 COMMERCIAL VEHICLES DOMESTIC 13,060 23,204 -44 EXPORTS 9,157 18,017 -49 SUB-TOTAL 22,217 41,221 -46 TOTAL (MC + CV) DOMESTIC 1,19,725 1,43,526 -17 EXPORTS 1,05,804 1,45,477 -27 TOTAL 2,25,529 2,89,003 -22 YTD Particulars Apr-Dec 2016 Apr-Dec 2015 Change % Highlights MOTORCYCLES DOMESTIC 15,87,852 14,30,175 11 EXPORTS 9,31,063 11,75,558 -21 SUB-TOTAL 25,18,915 26,05,733 -3 COMMERCIAL VEHICLES DOMESTIC 2,03,189 1,83,866 11 EXPORTS 1,56,219 2,31,524 -33 SUB-TOTAL 3,59,408 4,15,390 -13 TOTAL (MC + CV) DOMESTIC 17,91,041 16,14,041 11 EXPORTS 10,87,282 14,07,082 -23 TOTAL 28,78,323 30,21,123 -5 TVS Motor Company TVS Motor Company recorded a substantial fall in sales. 1,84,901 units were sold during the past month as against 2,02,021 units sold in December 2015. Total two wheeler sales stood at 1,79,508 units in December 2016 as compared to 1,94,001 units in the same month of the previous year. Taking only scooter sales into account, the company sold 55,536 units in the past month as compared to 65,025 units sold in December 2015 while motorcycle sales stood at 58,189 units last month as against 71,435 units sold in December 2015. Yamaha Yamaha Motor India sales increased 32% the past year 2016. Total domestic sales stood at 7,86,000 units as against 5,94,000 units sold 2015. Taking only December 2016 sales into account, sales in India and Nepal increased by 28% to 49,775 units as against 38,833 units sold in December 2015. The company introduced the MT-09 superbike, Cygnus Ray-ZR and Yamaha Saluto RX during the year while expansion of customer base in Tier II and Tier III cities also enhanced sales. Royal Enfield Royal Enfield sales were not affected due to demonetization as the company reported a 42% increase in sales. Total sales of the company stood at 40,453 units in December 2015 which increased to 57,398 units in the past month. Exports of the company were notably good in December wherein a 160% increase was noted. The company exported just 416 units in December 2015 which increased to 1,082 units in December 2016. Vehicle sales DECEMBER YTD 2016 2015 Growth 2016 2015 Growth DOMESTIC 56316 40037 41% 477688 354025 35% EXPORTS 1082 416 160% 10574 5943 78% TOTAL BUSINESS 57398 40453 42% 488262 359968 36% Note Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India (HMSI), Mahindra Two Wheelers and Suzuki Motorcycles have not revealed sales figures for Dec 2016 yet. The post will be updated once they release their numbers. Yamaha India has been missing all the action from one of the fastest growing segment the 200-250 cc segment. Not only this segment is seeing good sales, but has also been reporting exponential increase in sales over the past few years. Finally, after a wait of many years, Yamaha India today announced the launch of FZ250. This new Yamaha FZ250 has been designed and developed for the Indian consumer. Entering the performance segment in India for the first time, Indian Yamaha Motors brings in the new Yamaha FZ250 street fighter at a sparkling event held at the Capital. Targeting the next generation Macho, this bike is bolder, bigger and faster while it is set to rival the likes of the Mahindra Mojo, Bajaj Pulsar NS200 and Honda CBR 250R along with the KTM Duke 200 and TVS Apache RTR 200 4V. Yamaha FZ250 Design Yamaha FZ250 is based on a 250cc motorcycle which is already on sale in Japan. But this is an all-new motorcycle which has been launched first in India. Design features inlcude LED headlamps, musculine fuel tank, split seats and a sculpted tail section with LED taillights. Light in weight at 148 kgs and agile in its stance, Yamaha FZ250 targets the young, urban rider, exuding macho styling, while it will be highly competent on the most challenging of road conditions. High in fuel efficiency and comfortable both for rider and passenger, the bike is quick and responsive. The Target Customer Catering to the comfort of the rider, Yamaha has introduced a wider handle bar which are lowered by 15mm and foot pegs set further to the rear while the bike is noted with disc brakes at the front and rear and telescopic forks in the front and mono shocks at the rear. On board equipment includes a digital LCD instrument cluster, LED pilot lamps besides automatic headlamp on. Yamaha FZ250 Engine Yamaha FZ250 sits on new 17 alloy wheels fitted with MRF Revz tyres and receives a BSIV compliant 249cc single cylinder, air cooled, 4 stroke, SOHC, fuel injected engine offering 20.9 bhp peak power at 8,000 rpm and peak torque of 20.4 Nm at 6,000 rpm mated to a 5 speed gearbox. Excellent startability is the highlight of this engine. Yamaha FZ250 Specs Yamaha FZ250 measures 2,015mm in length, 779mm in width and 1,075mm in height. Seat height is at 759mm while it sits on a wheelbase of 1,360mm and has ground clearance of 180mm along with a fuel tank capacity of 14 liters. Tyre sizes stand at 100/80-17M/C 52P tubeless in the front and 140/70-17M/C56S tubeless at the rear. Hydraulic single disc brakes in the front and rear and telescopic fork suspension in front along with swingarm suspension at the rear is also evident. Shock absorbers at the front and rear are of coil spring hydraulic damper. Sadly, ABS is not on offer even as an option. But, Yamaha India confirmed that ABS variant will be launched at a later date. Section Items Details Dimension & Weight Overall length 2015mm Overall width 770mm Overall height 1075mm Seat height 795mm Wheelbase 1360mm Minimum ground clearance 160mm Wet(with oil and a full fuel tank) 148kg Performance Minimum turning radius 2.5m Engine Performance Engine type Air cooled, 4-stroke, SOHC, 2-valve Cylinder arrangement Single cylinder Displacement 249cm3 Bore & stroke 74.058.0mm Compression ratio 9.8:1 Maximum horse power 15.4kW(20.9PS)/8000r/min Maximum torque 20.0N?m(2.0kgf?m)/6000r/min Starting system type Electric starter Lubrication system Wet sump Engine oil capacity 1.55L/1.63usqt/1.36Imp.qt Fuel Fuel tank capacity 14L/3.7usgal/3.1Imp.gal Carburetor Type/Fuel supply Fuel injection Electrical Ignition system type TCI (transistor controlled ignition) Spark plug model DR8EA Battery voltage/capacity 12V,6.0Ah(10HR) Battery Type ETZ-7 Transmission Final drive Chain Primary reduction ratio 3.083 (74/24) Secondary reduction ratio 3.067 (46/15) Clutch type Wet, multiple-disc Gear ratio Transmission type Constant mesh, 5-speed Shift type Return Gear ratio-1st gear 2.571 (36/14) Gear ratio-2nd gear 1.684 (32/19) Gear ratio-3rd gear 1.273 (28/22) Gear ratio-4th gear 1.040 (26/25) Gear ratio-5th gear 0.852 (23/27) Chassis Frame type Diamond Caster angle 2430? Trail 98mm Steering Angle Left:37, Right:37 Tire size(Front) 100/80-17M/C 52P Tubeless Tire size(Rear) 140/70-17M/C 66S Tubeless Rim size(Front) 17M/C MT2.50 Rim size(Rear) 17M/C MT4.00 Brake Brake type(Front) Hydraulic single disc brake Brake type(Rear) Hydraulic single disc brake Diameter of brake disk(Front) 282mm Diameter of brake disk(Rear) 220mm Inside diameter of drum / Effective radius of disc(Front) 257mm Inside diameter of drum / Effective radius of disc(Rear) 191mm Suspension Suspension type(Front) Telescopic fork Suspension type(Rear) Swingarm Shock absorber Shock absorber assembly type(Front) Coil spring/Hydraulic damper Shock absorber assembly type(Rear) Coil spring/Hydraulic damper Wheel travel(Front) 130mm Wheel travel(Rear) 120mm Inner tube diameter of front fork 41.0mm Bulbs(voltage/wattagex quantity) Headlight bulb type LED Headlight LED Auxiliary light 12V,5W1 Brake/tail light LED Turn signal light(Front) 12V,10W2 Turn signal light(Rear) 12V,10W2 Meter Speedometer Digital Tachometer Digital Odometer Liquid crystal Trip meter Liquid crystal Fuel gauge Digital Clock Digital Fuel consumption indicator Equipped Yamaha FZ250 Colours Yamaha FZ250 is offered in three color options of Ballistic Blue, Warrior White and Black Knight. The model will be on sales from February 2017. Yamaha FZ250 Exhaust Note News Release Deputy PM meets chairman of Yemeni Club to coordinate with BRICS SANA'A, Jan. 03 (Saba) Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs Dr. Hussein Abdullah Maqboli met on Tuesday with chairman of the Yemeni Club to coordinate with BRICS Ali Ahmed Eshaq. Maqboli heard from Eshaq the idea of founding the club and the activities carried out by the BRICS project and a line of silk maritime and the benefits could help Yemen from this project. Maqboli talked about that speaking of joining to any bloc or economic project is depended on the start of essential ingredients of economic development to prepare Yemen to join. " We have to pay more attention to the development, navigational services and optimal investment of the available human and natural resources in the country, he said. Maqboli said that Yemen owns a competitive sidewalks regionally, like Ras Issa, Zuqr island in the red sea. He noted that a partnership with a private sector in several aspects of the natural and human ingredients as well as infrastructure development. The deputy minister also noted the importance of partnership with civil society organization to complete the attitudes of the national salvation government in order to achieve economic and social development for Yemen. Chairman of the Yemeni Club to coordinate with the BRICS explained the importance of speeding up the establishment of the National Committee to coordinate with the BRICS of the official sectors and the concerned ministries and the membership of the Yemeni private sector and the club as a representative of civil society organizations. He called on the Government of National Salvation to move towards to take benefits of the projects and economic blocs as well as restoring the Yemeni sovereignty over the entire sea route. The chairman talked about the importance of empowerment and partnership with various sectors and social parties in order to reconstruct Yemen and benefit from the international orientation of the BRICS countries in this aspect. HA Saba Facebook Facebook Twitter Twitter Whatsapp Whatsapp Telegram Telegram Email Email Print Print [03/January/2017] 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. Vice President of SPC meets Moral Guidance Department director SANA'A, Jan. 04 (Saba) - Vice President of the Supreme Political Council Dr. Qasim Labuza stressed on Wednesday the importance of the Moral Guidance Department of the Armed Forces' role in mobilizing members of armed and security forces and popular committees to strongly continue to confront the Saudi brutal aggression that breaching all norms of the international laws. During his meeting with the director of the Moral Guidance Department of the Armed forces the brigadier Yahya al-Mahdi, Labuza pointed out that the Moral Guidance is based on the bedrock to boost the national morale and create course national consciousness towards personnel of the armed forces and security. He noted that the Moral Guidance Department must play its role in clarifying the facts for Yemeni people that receives fake media by the US-Saudi aggression that mislead the domestic and international public opinion. He praised the role of Moral Guidance Department to highlight the momentum of victories achieved by the army and popular forces in the fields of military confrontation and at the level of the steadfastness of the Yemeni people and raise their morale. HA Saba Facebook Facebook Twitter Twitter Whatsapp Whatsapp Telegram Telegram Email Email Print Print [04/January/2017] Feral cats cover over 99.8% of Australia's land area, including almost 80% of the area of our islands. These are just some of the findings of new research which looks at the number of feral cats in Australia. The research was undertaken by over 40 of Australia's top environmental scientists and brings together evidence from nearly 100 separate studies across the country. "Australia's total feral cat population fluctuates between 2.1 million when times are lean, up to 6.3 million when widespread rain results in plenty of available prey," said Dr Sarah Legge from The University of Queensland. The study also looked at what causes variation in cat densities. Cat densities are higher on islands, especially smaller islands. Inland areas with low rainfall and more open vegetation had higher cat densities than most coastal, wetter areas, but only after extensive rain. advertisement In a worrying finding for conservation managers, cat densities were found to be the same both inside and outside conservation reserves, such as National Parks, showing that declaring protected areas alone is not enough to safeguard our native wildlife. "Our study highlights the scale and impacts of feral cats and the urgent need to develop effective control methods, and to target our efforts in areas where that control will produce the biggest gains" says Dr Legge. "At the moment feral cats are undermining the efforts of conservation managers and threatened species recovery teams across Australia. "It is this difficulty which is pushing conservation managers into expensive, last resort conservation options like creating predator free fenced areas and establishing populations on predator-free islands. "These projects are essential for preventing extinctions, but they are not enough -- they protect only a tiny fraction of Australia's land area, leaving feral cats to wreak havoc over the remaining 99.8% of the country." The research has been funded by the Australian Government's National Environmental Science Programme and will be important to developing effective strategies for controlling cats and their impacts. advertisement "This new science shows that the density of feral cats in Australia is lower than it is in North America and Europe, and yet feral cats have been devastating for our wildlife," said Mr Gregory Andrews, Australia's Threatened Species Commissioner. "Australia is the only continent on Earth other than Antarctica where the animals evolved without cats, which is a reason our wildlife is so vulnerable to them. This reinforces the need to cull feral cats humanely and effectively. "With feral cats having already driven at least 20 Australian mammals to extinction, I'm so glad the Threatened Species Strategy is investing in science like this. "This science reaffirms the importance of the ambitious targets to cull feral cats that I am implementing with the support of Minister Frydenberg under the Threatened Species Strategy," said Mr Andrews. According to Dr Legge, "As well as strategically targeting areas for cat control in bushland to maximise the conservation outcomes, we also need to address the issue of feral cats living in heavily urbanised areas, where their densities can be 30 times greater than in natural environments. "As well as preying on the threatened species that occur in and near urban areas, these urban feral cats may provide a source of feral cats to bushland areas." The research was funded by the Threatened Species Recovery Hub of the Australian Government's National Environmental Science Programme. It has been published in the research journal Biological Conservation. One of the rare and brief bursts of cosmic radio waves that have puzzled astronomers since they were first detected nearly 10 years ago has finally been tied to a source: an older dwarf galaxy more than 3 billion light years from Earth. Fast radio bursts, which flash for just a few milliseconds, created a stir among astronomers because they seemed to be coming from outside our galaxy, which means they would have to be very powerful to be seen from Earth, and because none of those first observed were ever seen again. A repeating burst was discovered in 2012, however, providing an opportunity for a team of researchers to repeatedly monitor its area of the sky with the Karl Jansky Very Large Array in New Mexico and the Arecibo radio dish in Puerto Rico, in hopes of pinpointing its location. Thanks to the development of high-speed data recording and real-time data analysis software by a University of California, Berkeley, astronomer, the VLA last year detected a total of nine bursts over a period of a month, sufficient to locate it within a tenth of an arcsecond. Subsequently, larger European and American radio interferometer arrays pinpointed it to within one-hundredth of an arcsecond, within a region about 100 light years in diameter. Deep imaging of that region by the Gemini North Telescope in Hawaii turned up an optically faint dwarf galaxy that the VLA subsequently discovered also continuously emits low-level radio waves, typical of a galaxy with an active nucleus perhaps indicative of a central supermassive black hole. The galaxy has a low abundance of elements other than hydrogen and helium, suggestive of a galaxy that formed during the universe's middle age. The origin of a fast radio burst in this type of dwarf galaxy suggests a connection to other energetic events that occur in similar dwarf galaxies, said co-author and UC Berkeley astronomer Casey Law, who led development of the data-acquisition system and created the analysis software to search for rapid, one-off bursts. advertisement Extremely bright exploding stars, called superluminous supernovae, and long gamma ray bursts also occur in this type of galaxy, he noted, and both are hypothesized to be associated with massive, highly magnetic and rapidly rotating neutron stars called magnetars. Neutron stars are dense, compact objects created in supernova explosions, seen mostly as pulsars, because they emit periodic radio pulses as they spin. "All these threads point to the idea that in this environment, something generates these magnetars," Law said. "It could be created by a superluminous supernova or a long gamma ray burst, and then later on, as it evolves and its rotation slows down a bit, it produces these fast radio bursts as well as continuous radio emission powered by that spindown. Later on in life, it looks like the magnetars we see in our galaxy, which have extremely strong magnetic fields but rotate more like ordinary pulsars." In that interpretation, he said, fast radio bursts are like the tantrums of a toddler. This is only one theory, however. There are many others, though the new data rule out several suggested explanations for the source of these bursts. "We are the first to show that this is a cosmological phenomenon. It's not something in our backyard. And we are the first to see where this thing is happening, in this little galaxy, which I think is a surprise," Law said. "Now our objective is to figure out why that happens." Law, team leader Shami Chatterjee of Cornell University and other astronomers on the team will present their findings today at the American Astronomical Society meeting in Grapevine, Texas, in the scientific journal Nature, and in two companion papers to appear in the Astrophysical Journal Letters. advertisement Looking for transients Fast radio bursts are highly-energetic -- though not energetic enough to blow a star apart -- and very short-lived, lasting one to five milliseconds. These bursts of radio waves have remained a mystery since the first one was discovered in 2007 by researchers scouring archived data from Australia's Parkes Radio Telescope in search of new pulsars. The burst they found occurred in 2001. There now are 18 known fast radio bursts, all discovered using single-dish radio telescopes that are unable to pinpoint the object's location with sufficient precision to allow other observatories to identify its host environment or to find it at other wavelengths. The first and only known repeating burst, named FRB 121102, was discovered in the constellation Auriga in November of 2012 at the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico, and has recurred numerous times. Law has been working for the past few years on methods to quickly find transient radio bursts like these, which require collecting about one terabyte of data every hour. At the VLA, he currently uses 24 computer central processing units (CPUs) in parallel, both to record and search the data for brief radio bursts. "The overall theme, first with the Allen Telescope Array and now with the VLA, is to use these interferometers as high-speed cameras, taking the sensitive imaging capabilty of the telescope, cranking up the data rate and improving our algorithms to get access to these millisecond time-scale transients," he said. "We really pushed hard to capture this terabyte-per-hour datastream reliably and set up a real-time platform for extracting these very faint fast bursts from that massive datastream." The first burst was found in the data just a few hours after it was recorded on Aug. 23, Law said. "We observed for about 40 hours earlier last year and saw nothing," he said. "Then we started a new campaign in the fall of 2016, and in our first observation we saw one. Then we observed for another 40 hours or so and saw eight more bursts. So this thing just suddenly turned on." Law hopes soon to switch to 64 dedicated and more powerful GPUs -- graphics processing units -- so that real-time analysis is possible. While Law has his pet hypothesis about the origin of fast radio bursts -- a magnetar surrounded by either material ejected by a supernova explosion or material ejected by a resulting pulsar -- there are other possibilities. One alternative is the galaxy's active nucleus, with radio emission coming from jets of material emitted from the region surrounding a supermassive black hole. The source of the fast radio burst is within 100 light years of the continuous radio emissions from the core of the galaxy, suggesting they are the same or physically associated with one another. "Finding the host galaxy of this FRB, and its distance, is a big step forward, but we still have much more to do before we fully understand what these things are," Chatterjee said. Other members of the team are the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, a facility of the National Science Foundation operated under a cooperative agreement by Associated Universities, Inc.; West Virginia University; McGill University in Montreal, Canada; and the Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy. High-definition CT scans of the fossilized skull of a 280 million-year-old fish reveal the origin of chimaeras, a group of cartilaginous fish related to sharks. Analysis of the brain case of Dwykaselachus oosthuizeni, a shark-like fossil from South Africa, shows telltale structures of the brain, major cranial nerves, nostrils and inner ear belonging to modern-day chimaeras. This discovery, published early online in Nature on Jan. 4, allows scientists to firmly anchor chimaeroids -- the last major surviving vertebrate group to be properly situated on the tree of life -- in evolutionary history, and sheds light on the early development of these fish as they diverged from their deep, shared ancestry with sharks. "Chimaeroids belong somewhere close to the sharks and rays, but there's always been uncertainty when you search deeper in time for their evolutionary branching point," said Michael Coates, PhD, professor of organismal biology and anatomy at the University of Chicago, who led the study. "Chimaeras are unusual throughout the long span of their fossil record," Coates said. "Because of this, it's been difficult to understand how they got to be the way they are in the first place. This discovery sheds new light not only on the early evolution of shark-like fishes, but also on jawed vertebrates as a whole." Chimaeras include about 50 living species, known in various parts of the world as ratfish, rabbit fish, ghost sharks, St. Joseph sharks or elephant sharks. They represent one of four fundamental divisions of modern vertebrate biodiversity. With large eyes and tooth plates adapted for grinding prey, these deep-water dwelling fish are far from the bloodthirsty killer sharks of Hollywood. For more than 100 years, they have fascinated biologists. "There are few of the marine animals that on account of structure and relationships to other forms living and extinct have as great interest for zoologists and palaeontologists as the Chimaeroids," wrote Harvard naturalist Samuel Garman in 1904. More than a century later, the relationship between chimaeras, the earliest sharks, and other early jawed fishes in the fossil record continues to puzzle paleontologists. advertisement Chimaeras -- named for their similarities to a mythical creature described by Homer as "lion-fronted and snake behind, a goat in the middle" -- are unusual. Their anatomy comprises features reminiscent of sharks, ray-finned fishes and tetrapods, and their form is shaped by hardened bits of cartilage rather than bone. Because they are found in deep water, they were long considered rare. But as scientists gained the technology to explore more of the ocean, they are now known to be widespread, but their numbers remain uncertain. After a 2014 study detailing their extremely slow-evolving genomes was published in Nature, interest in chimaeras blossomed. Of all living vertebrates with jaws, chimaeras seemed to offer the best promise of finding an archive of information about conditions close to the last common ancestor of humans and a Great White. Like sharks, also reliant on cartilage, chimaeras rarely fossilize. The few known early chimaera fossils closely resemble their living descendants. Until now, the chimaeroid evolutionary record consisted mostly of isolated specimens of their characteristic hyper-mineralized tooth plates. The Dwykaselachus fossil resolves this issue. It was originally discovered by amateur paleontologist and farmer Roy Oosthuizen when he split open a nodule of rock on his farm in South Africa in the 1980s. An initial description named it based on material visible at the broken surface of the nodule. It was carefully archived in the South African Museum in Cape Town, where its splendor awaited technology able to unwrap its long-shrouded secrets. In 2013, when the University of the Witwatersrand Evolutionary Studies Institute obtained a micro CT scanner, Dr. Robert Gess, a South African Centre of Excellence in Palaeosciences partner and co-author of this study, began scanning Devonian shark fossils while he was based at the Rhodes University Geology Department. Coates encouraged him to investigate Dwykaselachus. advertisement At the surface, Dwykaselachus appeared to be a symmoriid shark, a bizarre group of 300+ million-year-old sharks, known for their unusual dorsal fin spines, some resembling boom-like prongs and others surreal ironing boards. CT scans showed that the Dwykaselachus skull was remarkably intact, one of a very few that had not been crushed during fossilization. The scans also provide an unprecedented view of the interior of the brain case. "When I saw it for the first time, I was stunned," Coates said. "The specimen is remarkable." The images, one reviewer commented, are "almost dripping with data." They show a series of telltale anatomical structures that mark the specimen as an early chimaera, not a shark. The braincase preserves details about the brain shape, the paths of major cranial nerves and the anatomy of the inner ear. All of which indicate that Dwyka belongs to modern-day chimaeras. The scans reveal clues about how these fish began to diverge from their common ancestry with sharks. A large extinction of vertebrates at the end of the Devonian period, about 360 million years ago, gave rise to an explosion of cartilaginous fishes. Instead of what became modern-day sharks, Coates said, revelations from this study indicate that "much of this new biodiversity was, instead, early chimaeras." "We can now say that the first radiation of cartilaginous fishes after the end Devonian extinction was chimaeras, in abundance." Coates said. "It's the inverse of what we've got today, where sharks are far more common." The lower a neighborhood's socioeconomic status is, the more likely its black residents are to develop heart disease and stroke, according to a new Drexel University-led public health study. While many neighborhood-level public health studies focus on physical aspects of a neighborhood -- such as the availability of affordable, healthy foods or the walkability of the location -- this study examined how a neighborhood's social and economic makeup was linked to the development of cardiovascular disease. "This is an important contribution because it is the largest study among blacks to look at the link between neighborhood socioeconomic status and adverse neighborhood conditions such as violence and disorder in relation to cardiovascular disease," said Sharrelle Barber, ScD, a research fellow at Drexel's Dornsife School of Public Health, who led the study published in the American Journal of Public Health. Barber and her team -- which included Dornsife School of Public Health Dean Ana Diez-Roux, MD, PhD -- looked at heart disease and stroke incidence from 2000 to 2011 among black men and women who participated in a National Institutes of Health project called the Jackson (Mississippi) Heart Study. This information was linked to data on neighborhood poverty, unemployment and other socioeconomic indicators from the 2000 U.S. Census, along with other data on violence and disorder. Barber and her team found that every step down on an established disadvantage scale resulted in a 25 percent increase in risk of cardiovascular disease. When they measured violence and disorder levels in neighborhoods, there was a similar increase in risk of cardiovascular disease for each negative step on the scale. "For decades, centuries, even, researchers have linked adverse neighborhood economic and social conditions to health," Barber said. "For example, in 'The Philadelphia Negro,' a groundbreaking study conducted by W.E.B. DuBois, mortality rates among Blacks in Philadelphia at the turn of the 20th century were higher in the poorest wards of the city." When it comes to examining chronic disease risk, Barber feels it is "critical" to delve deeper and identify true root causes so that policies and strategies can be as effective as possible. Among the issues that clearly need addressing are violence and disorder. "These are symptoms of the broader issues of racial and economic inequality that is rampant in urban areas across the United States," Barber said. "These issues arise from decades of persistent, concentrated poverty and disinvestment in communities of color, including limited opportunities for good jobs, proper education and other resources necessary for the full wellbeing of individuals and communities." "One way of addressing this issue is to invest in economic and social policies at the neighborhood level -- such as creating jobs and educational opportunities -- in tandem with evidence-based efforts to reduce violence," Barber concluded. Discover Colombia Colombia has risen from the ashes of decades of political conflict and is quickly gaining a dedicated cohort of champions who have visited and fallen in love with this magnificent country. Discovering everything Colombia has to offer would take several lifetimes, but you can start with a vacation. Flights to Colombia El Dorado International Airport (BOG) near the capital of Bogota, is the biggest and busiest airport in the country, and its where most international travelers arrive. It serves more than 25 million people every year, and is the main hub for Avianca, the national airline of Columbia. Aviancas agreements with airlines such as Delta Air Lines, Iberia, Air Canada, Lufthansa, and Air France make it simple to arrange flights to Columbia from most major cities around the world. The major domestic airlines in Columbia are COPA Colombia, LAN Colombia, Empresa Aerea de Servicios, Satena, VivaColombia, and ADA, which all have well-kept fleets and regular flight schedules to destinations all around the country. What to do in Colombia From the lush rainforests of Amazonia to the heart-rending rugged beauty of the Andes, Columbia has an endless array of beaches plains, forests, lakes, and wetlands scattered throughout the vast country. The cities are all lively and modern, while retaining a historical richness at their hearts. Bogota is enormous, comparable in scale to NYC, and blends contemporary skyscrapers with stunning colonial plazas and buildings. Cartagena de Indias is ridiculously beautiful, a confection of flower-strewn balconies and cobblestone streets, spiced with a Caribbean spirit. Cali is the salsa capital of Latin America where the dancing and music blaze on into the wee hours every night. Advice for Tourists Visiting Colombia If youre traveling outside the cities, you should stick to bottled water, take antimalarial drugs (they are very cheap and available without a prescription) and get vaccinated for yellow fever in advance. Youll need a valid passport before you book flights to Colombia, but citizens of most western countries dont need a tourist visa for stays of up to three months. If you decide to extend your stay, (you lucky thing!) you can apply for a 90-day extension. The official language is Spanish, and youll want some lessons or at least a good phrasebook in your pocket to get by, but you may meet Colombians who are happy to practice their English with you. The currency is the Colombian peso, though they use a $ symbol. The climate is as varied as the landscape, and you can probably find whatever weather youre looking for at some point somewhere in the country at any time, so anytime is a good time to visit. Whenever you decide to go, try Skyscanners free hotel price comparison tool to make sure youre getting the best price on a great room. 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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. MEDITERRANEAN SEA (Dec. 12, 2016) Sailors aboard the guided-missile destroyer USS Roosevelt (DDG 80) make preparations for a replenishment-at-sea. Roosevelt, deployed as part of the Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group, is conducting naval operations in the U.S. 6th Fleet area of operations in support of U.S. national security interests in Europe. (U.S. Navy Photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Taylor A. Elberg) X 0 20 Help Keep Us Soaring We need your help! Our subscription base has slowly been dwindling. We need your help in reversing that trend. We would like to add 20 new subscribers this month. Each month we count on your subscriptions or contributions. You can support us in the following ways: by Austin Bay January 3, 2017 In March 2013, when Austin, Texas appeared on a map displaying a North Korean missile strike plan, dictator Kim Jong Un's ballistic missiles couldn't reach the Lone Star State. For the record, Honolulu, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. appeared on the same map. Hello, 2017. Almost four years have passed -- four years filled with the Kim regime's usual threat, paranoid belligerence and murder, along with trial and error missile testing. In his 2017 New Year's Day message, the rotund Kim announced his country is on the verge of fielding an intercontinental ballistic missile. According to Kim, "We have reached the final stage in preparations to test-launch an intercontinental ballistic missile." In 2016, North Korea conducted 20 missile tests -- despite international economic and political sanctions forbidding the missile tests. At least two of the missile tests demonstrated that North Korea was extending the range of its boosters. The February 2016 test suggested that North Korea was on the verge of developing a missile that could carry a 1,300-pound warhead some 7,000 miles. Similar stiff sanctions regimens have likewise failed to deter North Korea's nuclear weapons program. In September 2016, Pyongyang tested a nuclear device that had a yield between 10 and 20 kilotons. The blast was far and away North Korea's most successful nuclear weapons test. By way of comparison, the Hiroshima bomb had a yield of 15 kilotons. North Korea has yet to prove it can master the complex trick of mating a ballistic missile with a nuclear warhead that will work as it makes the high-speed plunge towards its target. Many experts doubt that North Korea can put a working nuclear warhead on its shorter range Rodong ballistic missiles. However, the Rodong can easily strike South Korea and Japan. North Korea possesses intermediate range ballistic missiles (IRBMs) that can reach the U.S. territory of Guam. Let's return to the 2013 target display. In 2017, Honolulu is within North Korean missile range. A souped-up IRBM might hit Los Angeles. Field an ICBM and the range fan approaches Austin and Washington. Both cities are about 7,000 air miles from North Korea. There has been an unfortunate tendency in some media outlets to dismiss North Korea's ballistic missile and nuclear weapons program as a bluff. These outlets tend to be populated by the "Never Star Wars" crowd -- trapped-in-sap left-liberals who scorn U.S. missile defense programs as a Ronald Reagan fantasy and a waste of money. This is the crowd that believed Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter's 1994 "Agreed Framework" deal with Pyongyang would end North Korea's nuclear quest. This same bleating menagerie applauded when the Nobel committee awarded Jimmy Carter its 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, in part for Carter's role in negotiating the 1994 nuclear non-proliferation agreement with North Korea. With malice aforethought, North Korea violated the Clinton-Carter agreement. Despite snark and scorn from the Never Star Wars, the U.S. military continued to pursue defensive anti-ballistic missile systems. U.S. Navy and Japanese Aegis ships deploy Standard missiles with ABM capabilities. A Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery defends Guam. Despite intense Chinese objections, South Korea will deploy THAAD. South Korea intends to acquire ABMs for its Aegis ships. Japan and South Korea both field Patriot PAC-3 short-range ABMs. I have just described three "layers" of missile defense -- short (Patriot), medium (THAAD) and longer (Aegis missiles). The U.S. has a very limited number of long ranged Ground-based Mid-course Defense (GMD) missiles in Alaska and California. This is a thin shield. Given that diplomacy has consistently failed to stop North Korea's strategic weapons program, the missile defense shield must be expanded and strengthened. Never Star Wars snark provides neither deterrence nor defense. A tiny implantable drug pump designed to prevent infection by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is getting a big boost from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The Gates Foundation is investing $140 million to help Intarcia Therapeutics, a Boston-based biopharmaceutical company, develop the implantable pump. The pump uses Intarcias Medici Drug Delivery System, which delivers HIV preventive medicine to healthy patients. The miniature pump can hold six or 12 months supply of medicine and is designed to deliver microdoses continuously to patients. The pump is embedded just under the dermal layer of the patients skin in an in-office procedure by a trained physician. Get Warning: Undefined variable $CompanyName in /home/thecerbatgem/public_html/wp-content/themes/responsalambre/single.php on line 65 alerts: The investment has been divided into two parts. The first $50 million is for an equity stake in the company. The other $90 million is tied to grants for Intarcia achieving certain milestones in developing the device. Additional grants in the future may also be in the cards. The money is part of $1.5 billion fund created by the Gates Foundation to invest in private sector technologies that advance the foundations mission. According to UNAIDS, 2.1 million people became newly infected with HIV worldwide in 2015. There is no cure for the disease. HIV is an epidemic in sub-Saharan Africa. An estimated 24.7 million people in the region were living with HIV in 2013. Health officials try to prevent the spread of HIV through a strategy called pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). Under this strategy, people who are at a very high risk for HIV can take HIV medicines daily to lower the chances of becoming infected. A daily dose of PrEP can reduce the risk of contracting HIV from sex by more than 90 percent. Getting patients to take the drug daily is critical for preventing HIV effectively, but it is difficult for patients to maintain the regiment. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, PrEP is highly effective for preventing HIV if used as prescribed, but it is much less effective when not taken consistently. The device is still in development and will take several more years to reach the market. The plan is for the device to be sold in the United States and other developed nations, as well as ensuring access to the pump in the developing world. Which HIV preventive drug to use in the pump has not yet been decided. Intarcia is also developing a version of the pump to treat type 2 diabetes. In November, the company filed an application with the US Food and Drug Administration to market the device, called the ITCA 650. Intarcia has raised $206 million in a second close of its Series EE financing. The Boston-based company previously closed a $215 million round in September. According to a statement, the company plans a final close in the first quarter. PROS Holdings, Inc. provides solutions that optimize the processes of selling and shopping in the digital economy worldwide. The company offers PROS Smart Configure Price Quote that improves sales productivity and accelerate deal velocity by automating common sales tasks; and PROS Smart Price Optimization and Management that enables businesses to optimize, personalize and harmonize pricing across the complexity of their go-to-market channels in the context of dynamic market and competitive conditions. It offers PROS Airline Revenue Optimization; PROS Airline Revenue Management solution that delivers algorithmic forecasting and network optimization for the travel industry; PROS Airline Real-Time Dynamic Pricing that offers accurate booking class availability and seat prices; and PROS Airline Group Sales Optimizer which enables airlines and their travel agent partners to create and manage group bookings, contracts, and policies. Further, it provides PROS Digital Retail, a configurable end-to-end solution for airlines to optimize the traveler experience from inspiration to post-trip; and PROS digital offer marketing solutions provide performance content management and search engine marketing tools that enable businesses in the travel industry. Additionally, the company offers software-related services, such as implementation, configuration, consulting, training, and maintenance and support services. It sells its software solutions to customers in various industries, including automotive and industrial manufacturing, transportation and logistics, chemicals and energy, food and beverage, healthcare, high tech, and travel. The company markets and sells its software solutions through its sales force, as well as through partners, resellers, and systems integrators. PROS Holdings, Inc. was incorporated in 1985 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas. Little Paijo was rescued just in time. International Animal Rescue The baby orangutan was only about 3 or 4 months old. He had wide, oval-shaped eyes and a halo of fuzzy red fur. He was also tiny - so tiny that his human caretakers could cradle him in the palm of one hand. International Animal Rescue As adorable as Paijo is, he shouldn't be in the care of people - he should really be living in the wild with his mother. But unfortunately for Paijo, living with his mom is no longer an option. Dodo Shows Adopt Me! Scared Little Dog Is So Full Of Joy Now And Looking For A Family International Animal Rescue The team at International Animal Rescue (IAR) rescued Paijo last week after getting a tip-off from a man living in a village in West Kalimantan, Borneo, Indonesia. "The man who handed him over has helped us with orangutan rescues in the past so he knows to call on our team for help," Lis Key, PR and communications manager for IAR, told The Dodo. International Animal Rescue While it's not clear what happened to Paijo's mother, it's safe to assume that she was killed in some kind of human-animal conflict. For instance, it's quite common for villagers in Borneo to kill adult orangutans while tearing down forest to plant palm oil. If the orangutan has a baby, people will often sell the baby or keep him as a pet. International Animal Rescue Whatever happened, Key is positive Paijo is an orphan. "Mother orangutans will never willingly give up their babies," Key said. "So behind every baby we rescue lies a tragic story and the death of a mother." International Animal Rescue Paijo is the youngest - and smallest - orangutan baby currently at the IAR center, according to Key. International Animal Rescue Since Paijo is so young, he's receiving special care at the IAR rescue center. "He is still a tiny baby and needs to build up his strength after being deprived of his mother's milk," Key explained. "Like a human baby, he will need feeding regularly around the clock. A member of the veterinary team will be monitoring him 24/7 and I'm sure he will be in need of food at least every two or three hours day and night." International Animal Rescue Paijo also has a wound on his finger, which the vet team is keeping a close eye on. "The wound ... could have been caused when he was caught from the wild," Key said. "We have other orangutans in our centre, like Rickina, who have machete wounds likely sustained when their mothers were attacked and killed." International Animal Rescue Paijo will need to stay with his human caretakers for several years before he can be released back into the wild. After an 8-week quarantine period, Paijo will go to forest school, where he'll get to socialize with other orangutans, and learn important survival skills like foraging, climbing and making nests. International Animal Rescue "He will be encouraged to play and climb to help him learn how to be an orangutan," Key said. "He will go to baby school out in the forest each day and, with the coaxing and support of the babysitters, will learn to forage for food hung on the climbing frame and up in the trees." International Animal Rescue Paijo may not have his mother, but IAR expects him to make a full recovery - and plenty of friends at forest school. International Animal Rescue Of all the excuses for not making the bed, Rocky Schwartz and Jay Shooster may have the best of all. In fact, the couple, from Brooklyn, New York, have four. There's Biscuit. Bambi ... Ginger ... Dodo Shows Faith = Restored Woman Tries Every Day For A Month To Rescue This Dog And, of course, there's Rose. Together, they make a family - three Chihuahuas and a chicken. And all of them join forces to make it near impossible for Schwartz to get fresh sheets on the bed. But they all share one reason for cherishing the warmth of their favorite humans' bed. Each one of them came from a cold, hard place. "Bambi and Ginger were abandoned together on the New York City subway last spring," Schwartz tells The Dodo. And Biscuit, the Chihuahua with the dangling tongue, was dumped at a grocery store with a broken leg. The dogs all found their way to the local animal shelter where Schwartz works. And from there, they found their way to her home. "They all passed through," Schwartz says. "I'm completely smitten with them." It didn't take long for these dogs to discover that home is where the bed is. "Chihuahuas are kind of renowned for sleeping a lot," Schwartz explains. "They're kind of like the cats of the dog world. They sleep for like at least 12 hours a day. They're very adamant about being under blankets," she adds. "So as soon as you put any piece of fabric down - on the floor or on the bed - they immediately run up to it and get under it." Bambi is particularly finicky about not being disturbed when she's swaddled in blankets. And then there's Rose, the chicken who was on her way to a very different ending before Schwartz found her. She's a refugee from kapparot, an ultra-orthodox rite that involves swinging chickens in the air before brutally slaughtering them. "In Brooklyn, they kill about 50,000 right out on the street," Schwartz says. Just not Rose. While protesting the ritual over the summer, Schwartz convinced one of the participants to forgo the slaughter. Instead of a brutal death that day, Rose came home with Schwartz - and a beautiful life truly began. Like her new furry siblings, Rose revealed a taste for the soft life. But for a very difficult reasons. Outside, a chicken will often give herself a dust bath, basically flapping her wings in the ground and whipping up a storm of dirt. "She'll have the indoor version of a dust bath on the bed," Schwartz says. "She likes to do it right on the fabric of the bed." It's not just the fabric that lures Rose to those linen folds - but also the feeling of family. The world's largest ivory market is in China - and it's about to shut down forever. Last week, China announced a timeline that would end its domestic ivory trade by the end of 2017, with the first ivory factories closing as early as March. People who have been fighting to save elephants from extinction are celebrating the news as "the greatest single step that could be taken to reduce poaching for elephants." The decision could be our biggest hope of saving African elephants - here's why. Shutterstock People have been killing elephants for their ivory for centuries, but the bad news got worse in 2007. That's when the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) allowed China to buy stockpiles of ivory from four African countries, despite a 1989 international ivory trading ban. The hope was that flooding the market would decrease ivory's value and therefore demand and poaching. The result was the opposite: An ivory frenzy was unleashed that would take countless elephant lives. Dodo Shows Odd Couples Kitten Isn't Sure About His Pittie Brother At First "I literally saw the whole disaster unveiling in front of my eyes," Grace Ge Gabriel, Asia's regional director for the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), who has been working to save elephants for 20 years, told The Dodo. "The trickle of demand in China turned into a flood." Now it's estimated that an elephant is killed for his tusksevery 15 minutes. So many orphaned elephants are left behind when their parents are killed by poaching that people are raising baby elephants in orphanages. The Dodo spoke with Gabriel to understand how China's announcement could actually save elephants from extinction. Driven by the huge ivory demand created when the market opened up in 2007, poachers used gruesome tactics to kill as many elephants as possible. "Poachers came in on horseback with machine guns," Gabriel said. "A lot of the elephants they killed were baby elephants. Entire families were killed." Gabriel followed the ivory that was eventually seized by governments to try to understand where all the tusks were even coming from. Shutterstock "The tusks got smaller and smaller - either they were forest elephants or they were baby elephants," Gabriel said. Ivory values skyrocketed. Traders told people that if they bought ivory, the price would triple in a year. "Shop owners were saying they couldn't keep enough ivory on the shelves," Gabriel said. "We needed to reduce consumer desire for ivory, period." There is no word for tusk in Chinese; ivory is translated as "elephant teeth." Gabriel said that this is one of the reasons that Chinese consumers have no idea that the ivory they're buying is tainted with blood. A 2007 IFAW survey found that 70 percent of Chinese people didn't know ivory came from dead elephants. So IFAW started an advertising campaign telling people why buying ivory kills elephants. The impact was stunning. According to the survey, 83 percent of people said that they wouldn't have bought ivory if they had known. An email from an artisan who carved ivory was especially memorable, Gabriel said. "He said, 'I have other materials - I don't have to use a material that takes a life.'" But the public education campaign wasn't enough. The legal market was giving criminals opportunities to sell illegal ivory from newly killed elephants (not stockpiles from poaching already committed), Gabriel explained. And this confused consumers and made enforcement of the legal trade pretty much impossible. That's why the Chinese government had to finally take a stand. In 2012, ivory was banned from being sold at auction in China - and the value of ivory plummeted. Gabriel believes that further restrictions, along with decreasing value and a more enlightened public, will make desire for ivory pretty much nil. "I think this policy will drop the price and also stigmatize ivory consumption," Gabriel said. Last year, when Chinese President Xi Jinping first promised to phase out the domestic ivory trade - along with the U.S., the world's second largest market for ivory, which banned its domestic trade last year - it was unclear when and how this would happen. Now that China's concrete plan to shut down the ivory market has been released, Gabriel and her colleagues are breathing a huge sigh of relief. "It's something I've worked on for 20 years ... It was so emotional when this announcement came out," Gabriel said. "We have pushed for this day for so long." There's still more to be done. Now Gabriel would like to see the decree that ends the ivory trade in China officially written into the country's wildlife law, along with plans for enforcement and punishments for those who break the law. And sights are set on Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, and other countries that contribute to demand, to end their trade. WINNIPEGDiscount air carrier NewLeaf Travel says it is cancelling plans to offer flights between Alberta and the Phoenix-Mesa airport in Arizona this year because another airline copied the idea. Jim Young, president and CEO of the Winnipeg-based company, made the announcement Tuesday on the companys Facebook page. He said within hours of NewLeaf announcing the Arizona route, another airline lowered its fares and offered service to an airport it had previously ignored for over a decade. He called it a classic case of the big guy squishing the little guy so that the big guy can profit more. He said NewLeaf will also be postponing its service to Florida from Hamilton, Ont. WestJet announced back in November that it would begin flights between Calgary and Edmonton and the Phoenix-Mesa airport on Jan. 19. The airline business is more challenging than it seems and this airline appears to be blaming one airline for their woes in a particular market without providing the travelling public the full story, WestJet spokeswoman Lauren Stewart said in a statement Tuesday. Young said NewLeaf is in the process of issuing refunds to customers. We sincerely hope and in fact challenge the other airlines to keep the fares low for you so that you can still travel south for the winter, he said in the Facebook post. Understandably, you are upset, and so are we as it was the last thing we had hoped to do. But I will be honest and state that because we are so committed to being here for the long run we must focus our efforts on our Canadian destinations. Last month, a federal court ruled that passengers who lose luggage or encounter cancelled flights while flying with NewLeaf Travel need to take it up with the flight operator Flair Airlines, not the discount ticket reseller. In a decision on Dec. 15, the Federal Court of Appeal dismissed a motion by passenger advocate Gabor Lukacs, who had argued that consumers rights were unprotected because NewLeaf is permitted to operate without an air licence from the Canadian Transportation Agency. The three-judge panel disagreed, ruling that travellers are still protected because the flights are run by Kelowna, B.C.,-based Flair Airlines, which is licensed under the CTA. Read more about: SHARE: The Toronto International Film Festival is paying tribute to Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds with a screening of a new documentary about the mother-daughter stars. Saturday at 8 p.m. the TIFF Bell Lightbox will simulcast Bright Lights: Starring Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds, directed by Fisher Stevens and Alexis Bloom. It will also air at that time on HBO Canada. Fisher, 60, died Dec. 27 after suffering a heart attack on a Christmas Eve flight and her mother Reynolds, 84, died the next day after a stroke. The TIFF screening will be followed by an audience conversation about the mother and daughter, two heroines who broke ground for women in the movie industry. It will be led by Jesse Wente, director of film programs at the Lightbox, and Lainey Lui, co-host of CTVs The Social and founder of LaineyGossip.com. Audience members who still want to talk about Fisher, who is most famous for playing Princess Leia in Star Wars, and Reynolds, whose many roles included Singin in the Rain and The Unsinkable Molly Brown, are invited to a reception in the TIFF Lounge. If you feel moved to come dressed as Princess Leia or Singin in the Rains Kathy Selden, youll be more than welcome, TIFF said on its website. Tickets, already on sale to TIFF members, go on sale to the public Thursday at 3 p.m. pending availability. SHARE: NORTH OF CHURCHILL, MAN.-Thats pretty close. When the armed guide whos protecting you from the worlds largest land carnivore says that to a polar bear named Bob as in Big Old Bear you will stop breathing and visualize the end of your life. It takes just seconds for Bob to go from peaceful lounging to abruptly standing, sniffing the air and striding towards us, albeit with a poker face. Jennifer, get back, Derek Kyostia orders, motioning for me to bridge the gap between where Im standing to photograph our group and where the group is standing to shoot Bob. Stuart, get up, he instructs the guy crouched for a professional shot. Everyone get in a straight line. A single line of seven travel writers and two guides looks like one large being to the hungry animal at the top of the Arctic food chain whos waiting for Hudson Bay to freeze so he can hunt seals on the ice. Thats pretty close, Kyostia says with mounting concern as Bob continues ambling our way. Handsome devil. Are you going to pose for us? Nothing can prepare you for this moment. We have come to Seal River Heritage Lodge, half an hour north of Churchill by bush plane, for Canadas only walking polar bear safari. We are on foot, weighed down by parkas, snowpants and winter boots, and Bob is closing in at 25 metres. Thats pretty close, Kyostia says in a loud, sharp voice. I lower my camera to make myself the least desirable target in our group. Running from this massive breeding male is not an option. Inexplicably, I keep taking notes, perhaps knowing that our only instructions are to obey our well-trained guides Kyostia and Josh Wright. Were here to observe and to witness, not distract and disturb, Kyostia has promised. Were dealing with the lord of the Arctic here. Polar bears are hungry and losing weight as winter approaches, but theyre also conserving energy in a walking hibernation and will avoid conflict. We will follow a strict protocol. Kyostia will talk to the bear in a calm voice to get its attention and then escalate to a sharper, louder voice. These sounds usually deter animals used to near silence. If not, Kyostia will pull two rocks from his pocket and bang them together. Yes, we use two rocks to control the lord of the Arctic, Kyostia has bragged. Ninety-nine per cent of the time youll see the south end of a northbound bear. This is one of those 1 per cent times. Kyostia can now throw the rocks at Bob, who is usually solitary and not used to being touched. Or he can blast a marine air horn, use bear spray or fire a cap gun full of noisy but harmless bangers and screamers. The real gun, a Remington 870, Kyostia has vowed, is a last resort. The bear has to essentially be eating someone before we take it out. It is loaded with two slugs and three shells with bird shot. The first slug goes in the air. The second at the bears feet. Then its shoot to kill. Seal River staff have never fired a gun since Churchill Wild started leasing this Crown land on the polar bear migration path and starting safaris. Bob is now 10 metres away. Wright has pulled his shotgun off his shoulder, but is holding it calmly at waist level. The bear shoots us a final sideways look, paws a pile of kelp into a daybed and lies down with his back turned. That was pretty awesome, breathes Kyostia. Everybody exhales. So, did anybody get pictures? quips Wright, breaking the tension. Almost everybody did, and one guy shot a video of this mind-blowing two-minute and 45-second encounter. Its not going to get much better than that, Kyostia declares. On these walking safaris, 50 per cent of bears will remain a dot on the horizon, and another 25 per cent will stay at least 200 metres away. The final 25 per cent of bears will tolerate 50 to 100 metres, and its the rare bear like Bob that moves in closer. Polar bear walking safaris are Canadas ultimate animal adventure. At $10,000-plus for a week, theyre a bucket-list trip for high-end eco adventurers whove done African safaris and Galapagos cruises. For me, theres a patriotic pull to experience the Arctic tundra. (Seal River technically sits between the true tundra and the true treeline in a sub-arctic taiga area, but lets not quibble.) Theres a greeting card in Churchill that says it best: When you look a polar bear in the eye it changes your life. The sensation washes over me when we spill out of the regional jet from Winnipeg to Churchill and board a 10-seat, chartered Turbo Otter DHC-3T. Alberta bush pilot Jesse Clayton, 31, whos here with his girlfriend for the adventure, flies us the last 60 kilometres to the lodge. Its late October and theres a dusting of snow on the otherwise barren land. We see Hudson Bay, caribou and polar bears from just 90 metres above the ground before landing on the lodges gravel airstrip. Its impossibly romantic, a northern adventure with a substantial safety net and all the creature comforts of a place that has just been named one of National GeographicsUnique Lodges of the World. Seal River has a 2.5-metre electrified bear fence, viewing tower and two viewing decks, but were not to step outside without notifying staff or take food or drink outside. A fed bear is a dead bear, we are warned. Inside there are eight guest rooms for 16 guests. Theres no cell service, Wi-Fi is spotty and we must be mindful about water. We while away the indoor hours feasting and talking in the two-tiered lounge with sweeping views of Hudson Bay and, quite often, polar bears. Coffee is ready at 7, breakfast at 8 and lunch at 12:30. We hike for several hours every morning and afternoon. Cocktails and hors doeuvres are at 6, dinner at 7. Theres a nightly talk and the chance we might be roused for northern lights. Seal River, part of family-owned Churchill Wilds portfolio of three lodges, is renowned for its food and has award-winning cookbooks. Executive chef Mike Stauffer and pastry chef Veronica Favel stuff us with cheese biscuits, caribou bacon wraps, jalapeno snow goose breasts, spaghetti with moose sauce, Nanaimo bars and cranberry cake with warm butter sauce. Manitobas Red River Cereal shows up in porridge and rolls. Why did Stauffer leave his comfortable chef gig in Burlington, Ont., for a remote lodge with insane logistical challenges? Theres a 1,000-pound polar bear right outside my window is his reply. There are barely 25,000 polar bears left in the world and two-thirds live in Canadas North. Manitoba has opted out of the bear hunt. We are fascinated by these intelligent creatures, but Im almost as thrilled to spot my first lemming. For others in our global group of writers, its the aurora borealis, Arctic hare, ptarmigans, berry-filled bear scat, bear paw prints, first snowflakes or first slide across an icy pond that gets recorded in the safari journals the lodge gives out. The close encounter with Bob cant be topped so we create silly wish lists full of sparring bears in courtship battles, moms cuddling cubs, and bears playing with wolves. We lament the fact we can only see polar bears in October and November, because we could see bears and swim with beluga whales in July and August. We take five coastal and tundra hikes over three days, an abbreviated version of what guests get, and lose count of the bears that mostly ignore us and nap. The guides later reveal were actually just seeing Bob, SWF (Single White Female) and a male named Scarface over and over. Its SWF who gives us a spectacular goodbye, wandering right up to the electrified fence after our final breakfast. Bears seem to take comfort in the fence that puts us in the the human zoo, says guide and acting manager Terry Elliott. We are mindful of our lessons. Every bear is dangerous. This could be its first human interaction. Think about the consequences of our actions. We dont speak to SWF or reach through the fence, though she looks like a friendly Labrador retriever that wants to be petted. Quiet tears fall and this last moment reminds me of something Kyostia said after that close encounter with Bob: Im drunk on love, because I love polar bears. I am drunk on love, too, for Canada and our wondrous North. Jennifer Bain was hosted by Travel Manitoba and its partners, none of which reviewed or approved this story. When you go Do this trip: Youre on your own flying to Winnipeg. From there, Churchill Wild has three lodges and nine packages that run from July to November in northern Manitoba. It will take care of flights, meals, Winnipeg and lodge accommodations and activities. I did an abbreviated Polar Bear Photo Safari at Seal River Heritage Lodge, which is slated to run Oct. 25 to Nov. 16, 2017, with seven days/six nights for $10,395. Winter gear rentals are available. Summer trips include polar bears and beluga whales. Details: churchillwild.com Read more about: SHARE: VICTORIAHealth officials on Vancouver Island are asking the federal government for permission to open a supervised drug consumption site in downtown Victoria. Island Health says the application was sent to federal Health Minister Jane Philpott on Tuesday and two more are in the works. Officials say the site would be part of a centre offering public-health and mental-health services, and would include a consumption area with up to 10 booths. There are currently just two safe consumption sites open in Canada, both located in Vancouver, but a deadly overdose crisis across B.C. has prompted calls for new sites to be created. B.C. Health Minister Terry Lake enacted a ministerial order last month that allows for the creation of overdose prevention sites, where people can use drugs under the supervision of trained professionals equipped with overdose-reversing medicine. Island Health says there are two overdose prevention sites open in Victoria, and another is set to open soon, but the long-term goal has always been to have supervised consumption services that are client-centred. Read more about: SHARE: OTTAWA Almost three-quarters of veterans using medical marijuana will feel the impact this spring when the federal government imposes a new limit on the amount of weed for which it will pay. A new report says 74 per cent of veterans whose medical pot is covered by the government consume more than three grams per day which will put them over the three-gram daily maximum the government is poised to impose starting in May. The report says one in three uses 10 grams the current maximum daily allotment. The figures are contained in an internal Veterans Affairs Canada audit that raises broad questions about the use of pot by veterans, including claims that it reduces the use of painkillers and other addictive drugs. The government has pointed to skyrocketing costs and a lack of scientific evidence about the drugs medical benefits in defending its decision to scale back the amount it will cover, which the audit suggests will affect hundreds of veterans. But critics have questioned how the government decided on three grams per day and theyve raised concerns about the impact on veterans who require more than three grams to deal with physical or mental injuries. Veterans Affairs has paid for medical marijuana for veterans since 2008, following a court decision requiring reasonable access when authorized by a health-care practitioner. The number of clients and the associated cost has exploded since 2014, when regulatory changes at Health Canada and a new Veterans Affairs policy allowed up to 10 grams per veteran per day. According to the audit, more than 1,700 injured ex-soldiers were being reimbursed for medical marijuana as of the end of last March. Just 26 per cent were getting three grams or less each day. The auditors did not say why such large amounts of marijuana were being authorized, but they did find that hundreds of veterans had started with between eight and 10 grams per day right off the bat. Interviews with front line staff, meanwhile, found veterans taking one to two grams per day, at appropriate times, are managing well. The question of how much medical marijuana is enough has been hotly debated since November, when Veterans Affairs Minister Kent Hehr said he was scaling back the maximum limit. The move came amid revelations that the cost of medical marijuana for vets had grown from $408,000 in 2013-14 to more than $20 million last year, and after auditor general Michael Ferguson flagged the program as being out of control. Hehrs spokeswoman defended the change Tuesday, saying in an email that the three-gram allotment was established after wide consultations and a review of existing research. We developed a policy that balances the anecdotal experience of the beneficiary and the medical communitys opinion on the risks of use of cannabis for yet unscientifically proven treatment regimes, Sarah McMaster said. This policy has the health and well-being of veterans and their families at its heart. Anyone requiring more than three grams can submit an application to the department along with a note from a medical specialist. Still, Conservative veterans affairs critic John Brassard said the audit shows just how far-reaching the new policy will be on those veterans who use medical pot, and why more research is needed before reducing the maximum allotment. The change to this policy has potentially serious implications, he said. It cant be a one-size-fits-all approach. NDP veterans affairs critic Irene Mathyssen said she has heard personally from veterans and their families, who have seen the benefits of medical marijuana and worry about the new policy. It should be on a case-by-case basis, she said. Part of the challenge has been the widespread anecdotal evidence from veterans about the benefits of medical weed versus the lack of scientific proof, particularly when it comes to mental injuries like PTSD. Yet the report does appear to undercut one of the main arguments put forward by those pushing for access to medical marijuana, namely that it reduces the use of painkillers and other drugs among veterans. The auditors found a negligible change in the use of prescription drugs, including narcotics and opiates, by injured ex-soldiers who started receiving medical marijuana. The report also found that more than 200 veterans had received authorization for medical marijuana from a doctor or nurse who was outside their home province. One possible explanation was that the veteran worked in a different province than they lived, the report said, though it was also possible their regular doctor would not approve them getting pot. SHARE: EDMONTONA judge is questioning the credibility of a man convicted of killing two missing Alberta seniors and dismissed part of a constitutional argument that his rights were violated in custody. A sentencing hearing continued Tuesday for Travis Vader, who was convicted of manslaughter in the 2010 deaths of Lyle and Marie McCann of St. Albert, Alta. The Crown is seeking a life sentence for Vader. The defence wants four to six years and, because of alleged mistreatment while in custody, suggests it should be reduced to time served. Vader testified over several days that his rights were violated with an unlawful strip search, was denied proper access to a lawyer and was assaulted by guards and subjected to other cruel conditions while behind bars. Justice Denny Thomas dismissed part of the application dealing with the strip search and said written reasons would come later. But the judge pointed out that Vader claimed he was humiliated as he stood naked for five minutes as people walked by his open cell. A video showed it was actually 30 seconds and no one passed by. The Crown argued the search was appropriate as police needed to seize Vaders clothing and search for weapons. Some of these incidents, of course, are just Mr. Vaders version and theres some credibility issues here, said Thomas. He also questioned why it took Vader so long to complain about the strip search. The McCanns, in their late 70s, vanished after leaving their home northwest of Edmonton on a camping trip to British Columbia on July 3, 2010. Their burned-out motorhome and a vehicle they had been towing were discovered several days later. Their bodies have not been found. Vader was arrested and held on other charges as a person of interest in the case, although he wasnt charged with the killings until 2012. Following a lengthy, high-profile trial, Thomas determined that Vader was a desperate drug addict who came across the couple in their RV near Peers, Alta., and killed them during a robbery. The judge initially convicted Vader of second-degree murder but, because he mistakenly used an outdated section of the Criminal Code, later changed the verdict to manslaughter. The Crown has said Vader deserves life in prison because he was on bail and on the run on other charges when he killed the vulnerable seniors and disposed of their bodies. He also showed no remorse, using their cellphone to call a girlfriend and their money to buy beer. Prosecutor Ashley Finlayson told court Tuesday that Vaders list of abuse accusations are not believable. Vader testified guards attacked him in 2010 and 2011, but he didnt file complaints. A video of the earlier allegation only shows Vader on the ground. We dont know how he got there, added Thomas. Defence lawyer Nathan Whitling told court that Vaders rights were also violated when he wasnt allowed to meet his lawyer in private because Mounties refused to leave the room. Finlayson said the lawyer was only there to tell Vader that he was no longer representing him. Read more about: SHARE: OTTAWAThe federal governments push to close bilateral health-funding deals with individual provinces and territories appears to be losing momentum. After talks to establish a national funding framework fell apart last month, the feds reached side deals with New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador. But health and finance ministers from the 10 other provinces and territories are now repeating their call on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to meet face to face with the premiers to resume those discussions. In a letter to their federal counterparts, they say they rejected Ottawas latest offer increasing health transfers by 3.5 per cent per year and $11.5 billion in targeted funding over 10 years because it simply wasnt enough. A Trudeau spokeswoman says there are no immediate plans for a first ministers meeting on health. The feds have argued that they put forward a historic offer that was the best they could do within the confines of their own narrow fiscal framework. Federal Health Minister Jane Philpott says Ottawa wants to transform the system because health-care outcomes in Canada are average compared to similar countries even though Canadians pay some of the highest per-capita costs in the world. The federal efforts to reach bilateral deals appeared to drive a wedge between provinces and territories. After the federal-provincial talks collapsed in Ottawa, the provinces seemed united in their opposition to the federal proposal. However, three provinces broke ranks and inked their own deals with the feds. Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard has called the federal governments divide-and-conquer approach on health care deplorable. In the letter released Tuesday, the provinces also repeated their request for what they described as an evidence-based annual increase in federal health transfers of 5.2 per cent. Canadians expect and deserve their governments to provide long-term sustainable support so that public health care is strong today and for future generations, reads the letter. The new federal government was elected, in part, on a mandate to engage in a constructive dialogue with provinces and territories to secure the future of health care. SHARE: Happy New Year, Patrick Brown. The Ontario Conservative leader figured hed start 2017 by swatting an easy pitch out of the park. Unfortunately he wound up batting himself in the face. To celebrate the new year, Brown decided it was time for some clarity on his climate-change policy. This should not have been hard. If asked to pick the thing that upsets them most about the Wynne government, most Ontarians would begin by marvelling at the broad range of available choices, before finally settling on energy costs. And it is indeed true that as of Jan. 1, Wynnes cap-and-trade plan for limiting carbon emissions is, in effect, adding to the cost of driving and home heating. It wont add much. The Ontario Energy Board says about $6.40 a month for the average Enbridge customer, $6.98 for NRG and varying amounts for Union Gas customers. For drivers, the cost is about 4.3 cents a litre. Ordinary market-price fluctuations in recent years have been far larger than the new incremental cost at home or at the pump. And there are all kinds of decisions most homeowners and drivers can take that would reduce fuel use and cut those costs. In fact, thats the point of inflicting the cost. But Ive made that argument in this space before, and all it got me was the wrath of Star readers on my head. Never let anyone tell you the readers of this paper are reflexive Liberals. Many believe their fuel needs cant be compressed, that the cost will be bigger than advertised anyway, that the money will go straight into Kathleen Wynnes pockets and that the whole effort is wasted because climate change isnt real, or isnt caused by human activity, or is caused by the Chinese and Ontario cant stop it. Thats Browns target voter market, and it seems vast. On Monday he set about exploiting it. In a note on the PC partys website and on his Facebook page, Brown lamented the plight of the struggling Ontario homeowner. Were begging for relief, he wrote, but instead of looking for ways to make life more affordable, Premier Kathleen Wynne has implemented a new cap-and-trade scheme that will make life more expensive. From there, the rest of the communique pretty much writes itself. Quote the highest price in the OEB report, $13.54 a month, and leave the impression every family will pay that much. Call Wynnes plan a scheme three times, a cash grab three times and a slush fund once. Refer once in passing to unspecified scandal. Brown did all of that. But there is a vestigial sense of responsibility in the PC leader, or an unhealthy fondness for sucking and blowing at the same time, that made him promise hed reduce carbon emissions, too. Of course he promised to do it by magic. If he is fortunate enough to become premier, he wrote, I will ensure a revenue neutral plan that will reduce emissions and put money back in the pockets of Ontarians. Perhaps there are voters out there who believe you can get money in your pocket from a revenue-neutral plan. (Probably, however, theyll wonder why Brown doesnt just bring in two revenue-neutral plans to generate twice the money.) And there may even be voters out there who believe a low-emission, money-in-your-pocket solution to climate change exists, and that Kathleen Wynne is hiding it from us out of spite. But judging from the comments on his Facebook page, a lot of longtime Conservative supporters arent interested in such fine distinctions. Theyd just finished reading Brown calling carbon prices seven different kinds of bad names, and they were not impressed that he plans to have his own carbon policy. Any policy at all. If you still support Any type of carbon taxes we will Not support you! the first comment under Browns post said. Nearly 600 other comments elaborated on the theme. This guy is Wynne in a suit. You need to grow a pair and lead Ontario back from the brink of hell! Your support of any carbon pricing is showing you are not a conservative but rather, you are Liberal lite. Time for you to be replaced. For the partys sake step down & let someone else take your place. More than a dozen writers told Brown he would lose their Conservative vote. For what its worth, I suspect most will forget that vow when the real election comes. Theres a good chance Brown will be the first Conservative in five elections to manage not to blow the campaign. Voter fatigue with the Liberals is deep and, in many ways, richly earned. But Brown keeps finding ways to be on both sides of big issues, in ways that seem to satisfy nobody. His partys voter base doesnt seem to have his back. Its unusual for a leaders honeymoon to end two years before he wins an election. Read more about: SHARE: The family of a Canadian killed fighting for Kurdish forces in Syria has launched an online campaign to bring his body home for a proper burial. Nazzareno Tassone, 24, died Dec. 21 near Raqqa, Syria, according to a letter from the Kurdish Peoples Protection Unit (YPG), which hailed him as a hero. The respected Tassone family lost their beloved son, and we The YPG lost our daring and courageous companion, the letter to his family said. The letter said his body is still in the hands of Daesh, also known as the Islamic State, ISIS or ISIL. I want him home because hes Canadian, his sister, Giustina Tassone, 21, said in a telephone interview from Niagara Falls, Ont. Hes a Canadian citizen. Even though hes dead, he deserves proper treatment. I dont want to bury an empty coffin. Tassones family has launched a Facebook page called Bring Nazzareno Tassone Home. Giustina Tassone said her mother has trouble talking to anyone now and she particularly needs to have her sons remains close to her. She wants to have her son with the rest of the family, Giustina Tassone said. Tassone was born in Newmarket and raised in Keswick, Ont., and Niagara Falls before moving to Edmonton. He worked as a parking officer there before he left for Syria. He told the family he was heading to Syria to teach English. He was a goofball, she said. He was a major goofball. He always made me and my friends smile. He knew how to make me laugh. He was a funny guy but he could also be serious. Among the Facebook posts is one that reads: My brother was killed on December 21st by ISIS in Rojava Kurdistan. Please make this page go viral so the CANADIAN GOVERNMENT knows to bring my brother home now. He died for something he stood for, another post reads. Rest in peace nephew I was always proud of you, wrote his uncle, Frank Tassone of Keswick. His aunt, Marina Cocco Vazzana of Oshawa, wrote of her pride in her nephew. God Bless your soul brave hero! she posted. Thank you for your ultimate sacrifice! May you be returned soon to your proud family, and back to your Canadian home. We will be forever grateful. Theres also a photo of the YPG letter to his family, which notes four others were also killed alongside Tassone. The website also includes photos of Tassone mugging and joking with his family, long before he went to war. His own posts include one from July 2, when he wrote: Internet will cut out soon, so if I disappear again, dont worry . . . just the Middle East. He attempted to calm nerves of his loved ones on July 9 when he posted: Still alive. Read more about: SHARE: EDMONTONA judge is to deliver sentencing later this month anywhere from time served to life in prison for a man convicted of killing two Alberta seniors who disappeared on a camping trip. Travis Vader was found guilty of manslaughter in the 2010 deaths of Lyle and Marie McCann. The couple, in their late 70s, vanished after leaving their home in St. Albert, northwest of Edmonton, on a camping trip to British Columbia. Their burned-out motorhome and a vehicle they had been towing were later discovered. Their bodies have not been found. A sentencing hearing that began in December wrapped up Wednesday. Justice Denny Thomas said he will be ready with a decision Jan. 25. Thomas has described Vader as a desperate drug addict who came across the McCanns in their motorhome near Peers, Alta., and killed them during a robbery. The seniors were truly innocent users of the highway before they met up with the 38-year-old stranger, the judge said. The Crown is asking for a life sentence, saying Vader was out on bail and on the run on other charges when he killed the vulnerable couple. He also showed no remorse after the killings, using their cellphone the same day to call an ex-girlfriend and their money to buy beer and a phone card. The defence is arguing that Vader should receive four to six years but get at least six years credit for pre-trial custody. The circumstances of this case very much boil down to speculation. Nobody knows what occurred, lawyer Nathan Whitling explained to reporters outside the courthouse. The McCanns remains have not been found, there were no witnesses there at the time and so it is impossible to say exactly what actions resulted in their deaths, he said. Given that the onus is on the Crown to prove aggravating circumstances, our view is that the matter must be presumed to be in the lower category of offences. The time Vader has spent in custody on the case is complicated. He was arrested on outstanding charges when the McCanns disappeared but was not charged in their deaths until 2012. The Crown stayed murder charges before a trial in 2014, then reactivated them months later. Vader has also been released on bail and had bail revoked, and has been convicted and sentenced and various other charges. Whitling is further arguing that Vader should receive extra credit at times three-to-one credit because his constitutional rights were violated while in custody. Vader testified over several days that he was subjected to a humiliating strip search, was denied proper access to a lawyer and was assaulted by guards and suffered other cruel conditions while behind bars. Thomas dismissed part of the application dealing with the strip search, saying Vader has credibility issues, but has yet to rule on the other two grounds. Bret McCann has said its absurd that the defence is suggesting such a low sentence for the man who killed his parents. McCann has been a fixture throughout the trial and sentencing hearing but, because it went longer than scheduled, has gone to Australia with other relatives. Thomas ordered that the family be able to watch his sentencing decision by video link. Read more about: SHARE: A city councillor is urging the TTC to use cameras to nab drivers who blow past open streetcar doors. Councillor Mike Layton, who represents Ward 19 (Trinity-Spadina), took to Twitter on Tuesday to call on the TTC to look into the idea, which he said would work similar to red light cameras. In an interview, Layton said that he became frustrated on his walk to work Tuesday morning when he saw a driver speed past a stopped streetcar. I think its a serious problem, he said. Ask anyone getting off a streetcar whether or not they think that enoughs being done to protect them from cars going by and I think it will be quite clear that most people agree that theres not. Under the provincial Highway Traffic Act, its illegal for cyclists or drivers to come within two metres of streetcar doors while the transit vehicle is loading or unloading passengers. The penalty is a $110 fine and three demerit points, according to the Toronto Police. Layton said drivers often violate the law and police cant be expected to be on the scene to catch every offender. A spokesperson for the Toronto Police couldnt immediately provide statistics on how often drivers illegally pass streetcars. But Sgt. Brett Moore of traffic services agreed the problem is very prevalent in the city of Toronto. In one high profile incident last March, a driver struck a young girl as she stepped off a streetcar at Dundas St. East and Parliament St. He was charged with careless driving. According to information presented at the TTC board in 2015, the last time the transit agency tracked such incidents was in 1999, when it recorded that drivers failed to stop for open streetcar doors on 9,000 separate occasions over two years. Anyone who rides the TTC knows people slide past the doors all the time, Moore said. Last summer, the police launched a crack-down on drivers who illegally pass streetcars. Moore said the service plans to conduct a similar campaign this spring. According to TTC spokesperson Brad Ross, transit agency staff are already studying streetcar enforcement cameras thanks to a motion put forward in 2015 by TTC board member Councillor Glenn De Baeremaeker. Ross said there is no timeline for when staff will report back. While streetcars are already equipped with surveillance cameras, the transit agency doesnt have the technology to capture an offending drivers licence plate, as red light cameras do, Ross said. And the proposal would likely require changes to provincial legislation, he added. Ross said that measures the TTC already uses to deter drivers from passing open streetcar doors include flashing red lights, signage and announcements on the agencys new streetcars. The older vehicles have signage, but no flashing lights. Operators also keep an eye and warn passengers, but ultimately stopping is the responsibility of the car driver or cyclist. Its the law, Ross said. De Baeremaeker said although hes still waiting for the TTC staff report, he believes cameras on streetcars would be as effective as red light cameras in deterring dangerous driving. According to the citys website, as of this month, there are cameras at 79 intersections to identify and ticket drivers who run red lights. The city says statistics collected from across Ontario suggest the cameras reduce serious collisions by 25 per cent. I certainly think the time has come for us to use the technology we have available to help protect peoples lives, De Baeremaeker said. There are some people, (who), for very selfish and stupid reasons, speed past the streetcars when the doors are open. They could kill somebody. Why? Because you want to get to the next stoplight 30 seconds faster. SHARE: Mike Conlin was at the wheel of his minivan in a ditch on the side of the road, gasping for air after suffering a massive heart attack. What followed was a perfectly timed and executed series of efforts by passersby to keep him alive. His doctor hopes Conlins story will inspire more people to take a CPR course because, he explained, it works but timing is everything. On Nov. 3, Troy Brady and two of his colleagues spotted a minivan oddly positioned off the road heading out of Darlington nuclear station in Clarington, Ont., while driving back from training. Brady along with Don Morrison and Mike Penney all off-duty firefighters who work at the site stopped to see if they could help. There they were met by Julie Metcalf, an off-duty security guard who was the first to come to Conlins aid. Ben Sipe and Alvise Bernardi also stopped to help and were trying to pull Conlin out of the car to better perform CPR. I dont think hes breathing, Brady later remembers being told by Metcalf, who had also told him shed called 911. I checked for a pulse and he had no pulse, Brady recalled. He tried to open Conlins airways, while others helped with CPR. Emergency responders from the site, including Danielle Shank, soon arrived at the scene with a defibrillator and took over CPR. Local paramedics and firefighters came next. Brady recalled that by the time local emergency services showed up, they were able to find a pulse. Its such a fluke the way it all happened, said Brady, explaining that every step of the response had played out in Conlins favour: from the initial emergency call, those who stopped leaving the site, to him and his colleagues driving by at the right time. On Wednesday, a recovered Conlin and his family met with the people who stopped on the side of the road and saved his life. They had a chance to thank everyone, and gifted them each with a keychain engraved with a heart and the date of the rescue. What a great outcome it was, that they were all there for him, Conlins wife Rita said of the passersby, as well as the emergency responders and hospital staff who contributed to saving her husbands life. If it wasnt for them being where they were at the time, Mike wouldnt be here. Dr. Subodh Verma, the heart surgeon who performed a quadruple bypass on Conlin a few days later at St. Michaels Hospital in Toronto said Conlins story is proof that CPR is extremely effective and can save lives if performed right. He explained that when someones heart stops, as Conlins did, every second after that counts. The time that goes by quickly impacts the survival prospects and future brain functioning of the person involved. Since his cardiac arrest and subsequent open-heart surgery in the fall, Conlin has healed with no lingering brain damage. His doctor says that result is telling of the adequacy and timeliness of the CPR performed on him on the side of the road. Its quite profound to see someone who was going to die who is now living a second life, Verma said. While Verma said the operation he performed on Conlin contributed to his recovery, he knows it would have meant nothing if his patient hadnt arrived at the hospital alive and breathing. He said the people who got to Conlin first that day are to thank for that. The story is a success story of the survival chain, he said. Though Conlin doesnt remember everything that happened that day, he said hes living proof that CPR works, and is very grateful to everyone that helped him survive. He said if they all hadnt been there then, he wouldnt be here now. SHARE: After failing to make the cut to sponsor his parents to Canada in January 2016, Daniel Dodero began compiling their 2017 application package early last summer. In November, in order to have a better chance at securing his parents a coveted spot in the first-come, first-serve system, he hired a courier to make sure the application would be hand-delivered to the Immigration Departments Mississauga processing centre on Tuesday as soon as the office opened its door to accept applications. Then just before Christmas, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada announced an overhaul of the intake process for the 2017 parent and grandparent sponsorship program. Instead of continuing the old system that usually saw spots run out within days, officials have adopted a lottery system to award the spots and will randomly draw 10,000 individuals from the pool and invite them to submit full applications. That means all the efforts Dodero made in the last few months to compile documents for his parents in Venezuela are in vain, with a new application kit and guide coming next Monday. Dodero has already spent $250 on the mailing fees and another $200 to a local courier. The expenses are nonrefundable. We missed the cut last time and we planned in advance this time. We are just totally disappointed. If the government was going to change the process, it should have let us know in June, said Dodero, 35, an aircraft maintenance engineer who immigrated to Toronto in 2009. All our documents for the applications are already signed (and notarized) and they are all going to be useless if we have to reapply again in 2017. Under the new system, applicants have between now and February 2 to complete an online form on the immigration website to enter the draw. If selected, they have 90 days to submit the full application. Officials said the new system was introduced partially to address the concerns over applicants paying as much as $400 to hire couriers to be at the front of the line each year. Were ensuring everyone can access the application process by giving them the same chance to have their name chosen, Immigration Minister John McCallum said in a statement. For years, since the former Conservative government capped the annual number of parents and grandparents sponsorship applications to reduce backlog, competition for one of the 5,000 parent and grandparent sponsorship spots had been intense. Applicants would pay courier services hundreds of dollars to line up outside the immigration office hoping to make the cut as soon as the door was open. Applications that didnt make the cut would be returned and resubmitted. Lawyer Avvy Go said the Tories created the quota system because they did not recognize the importance of family reunification and viewed the parents and grandparents of immigrants as a burden. By replacing the quota system with a lottery system, the current government is replacing one discriminatory scheme with another. The result is still the same. Parents and grandparents are still treated as second-class immigrants, said Go. If the Liberals really wanted to help Canadians reunite with their parents and grandparents, they should have lifted the quota and put in the necessary resources to process these sponsorship applications. Dodero said he has mixed feelings about the departments new intake system. The good thing about the lottery system is you dont have to waste your time and resources before you get chosen. But someone ineligible can be picked and it will waste that spot for someone eligible, said Dodero, whose father, Jose, 77, and mother, Migdalia, 68, live by themselves in Caracas. But if you have really bad luck and dont get picked each time, you can never get your parents here. Read more about: SHARE: Border officials first became suspicious of the young woman when they saw her using a trolley to carry just one rolling suitcase. They were guarding one of only two land entrances to Spain (and thus, the European Union) from Africa, and have witnessed their fair share of desperate smuggling tactics. Last month alone, more than 1,000 migrants from across Africa tried their luck at Ceuta, a small Spanish enclave at Moroccos northern edge. When the officials approached the woman Sunday, she showed an evasive attitude, according to CNN. They opened the suitcase and found a 19-year-old man from the central African nation of Gabon. He was immediately taken to a hospital. On Monday, authorities in Ceuta discovered two more migrants using a potentially life-threatening method to smuggle themselves across the border. A Guinean man and woman, both in their early 20s, were found stashed into hollowed-out portions of the back seat and dashboard of a stolen Volkswagen. The Moroccan driver was arrested. In 2015, an 8-year-old boy from Ivory Coast was discovered in a suitcase by an X-ray scanner. The phantom-like image, released by the Spanish Interior Ministry, is perhaps even more shocking than that of the Gabonese man. After the 8-year-old was found, a Spanish court ordered the detention of his father, who tried to cross the border just hours after his son was found. They also arrested a 19-year-old Moroccan woman who had been carrying the suitcase. The incident this Sunday was only one small part of a larger drama that played out at the border in Ceuta. The enclave is surrounded by a 6.5-metre (20 feet) wall. That day, at least 800 migrants stormed the wall in a collective effort to overpower Moroccan and Spanish guards. None of them actually made it across, but five Spanish police officers and 50 Moroccan officers were injured, 10 severely, according to the Spanish government. Dozens of the migrants made it to the top of the fence, but they were removed back to the Moroccan side by cranes. In early December, 400 migrants successfully climbed the wall in the biggest breach in more than a decade which may have served as inspiration for those making the latest attempt. The two Spanish enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla lie just across the Mediterranean from the Spanish mainland. Despite the harrowing tales of climbing huge walls and asphyxiating in suitcases, the crossing at these footholds is widely seen as the safest option for migrants from Africa. Most others take the riskier, but more often successful, sea route to Italy from Libya. Almost 5,000 migrants drowned in those seas in 2016, making it the deadliest year there since records have been kept. Read more about: SHARE: The majestic bronze statue of Neptune, the Roman god of the sea, has towered atop the fountain in the centre of the Piazza del Nuttuno square in Bologna, Italy since the 16th century. The historic sculpture has been a tourist attraction for years. And it appeared to violate Facebook policy. The social media site faced criticism after it banned an image showing the nude statue, saying it was explicitly sexual. Elisa Barbari, who posts about the history and culture of Bologna on her Facebook page, uploaded a photo of the nude sculpture in late December. She was shocked to receive the message from Facebook saying it violated its advertising policy. Barbari told the Star it was absurd of the social media giant to censor art. She added that the statue, commissioned by the Papal State and created by sculpture Giambologna, is a symbol for the city. It is a part of us, of our culture, of Bologna, she said. How can a work of art, our Neptune, be the subject of censorship? she posted on Facebook. After venting about the ban online, she received hundreds of messages from people around the world, which she said encouraged her to continue this battle against Facebooks censorship. Facebook has since apologized, saying it incorrectly banned the photo of the nude statue. Our team processes millions of advertising images each week, and in some instances we incorrectly prohibit ads. This image does not violate our ad policies. We apologize for the error and have let the advertiser know we are approving their ad, a spokesperson said in a statement to the Star. But Barbari said she has not received a message from Facebook about the banned photo. The only message she received was an apology for temporarily suspending her account, which she says did not happen. I wish there could be a happy ending. Id like to be able to use my image of Neptune . . . for an advertisement without being censured. Because its absurd to censor art, Barbari said. This is not the first time Facebook has come under fire for censoring content. In September, Facebook was heavily criticized for removing photographer Nick Uts Pulitzter-Prize winning picture of a naked Vietnamese girl, Phan Thi Kim Phuc, running down a road after being injured in a napalm attack in 1972, citing child pornography concerns. The social media website eventually backed down and agreed to allow the posting of the iconic photo. In 2013, Facebook refused to remove a graphic video of a beheading. A spokesperson from the social media website said at the time the content was being shared to condemn it, which we think is productive. Read more about: SHARE: THANE, INDIABetsy Broder, who tracks international fraud at the Federal Trade Commission, was in her office in Washington last summer when she got a call from two Indian teenagers. Calling from a highrise building in a suburb of Mumbai, they told her, in tones that were alternately earnest and melodramatic, that they wanted to share the details of a sprawling criminal operation targeting Americans. Broder, who was no stranger to whistleblowers, pressed the young men for details. He said his name was Adam, she said, referring to one of the pair. I said, Your name is not Adam. What does your grandmother call you? He said, Babu. Babu was Jayesh Dubey, a skinny 19-year-old with hair gelled into vertical bristles, a little like a chimney brush. He told her that he was working in a seven-story building and that everyone there was engaged in the same activity: impersonating IRS officials and threatening Americans, demanding immediate payment to cover back taxes. If they reached a person who was sufficiently terrified or gullible this was known in the business as a sale they would instruct that person to buy thousands of dollars worth of iTunes cards to avoid prosecution, they said; the most rattled among them complied. The victim would then send the codes from the iTunes cards to the swindlers, giving them access to the money on the card. As it happened, the U.S. government had been tracking this India-based scheme since 2013, a period during which Americans, many of them recent immigrants, have lost $100 million (U.S.) to it. Though India had no reputation as a large-scale exporter of fraud in the past, it is now seen as a major centre for cyberfraud, said Suhel Daud, an FBI agent who serves as assistant legal attache at the American embassy in New Delhi. Several trends have converged to make this happen, he said: a demographic bulge of computer-savvy, young, English-speaking job seekers; a vast call-centre culture; superefficient technology; and what can only be described as ingenuity. They have figured all of this out, Daud said. Put all of these together, with the Indian demographics in the U.S., and its a natural segue. Whatever money youre making, you can easily make 10 times as much. Pawan Poojary and Jayesh Dubey, best friends and college dropouts, were impressed with the Phoenix 007 call centre in Thane, a suburb northeast of Mumbai. The interviewer carried an iPhone; there were racing sport bikes parked outside, and, as Poojary put it, girls roaming here and there. The monthly salary was average for call centres, 16,000 rupees (about $230), they said, but the bonuses were double or triple that, based on sales. The two friends had been playing a video game for up to eight hours a day, pausing occasionally to eat. They wanted in. At that time, in my mind is that I want money, Poojary, 18, said. Thats it. I want money. Thats why. They said they showed up for training in a room of young Indians like themselves, the first in their family to be educated in English. They were a slice of aspirational India: Poojarys father, who owned two welding shops, was adamant that his son would rise to a higher place in society, an office job. Poojary was afraid to tell him he had dropped out of college. The trainer assigned them names, Paul Edward and Adam Williams, and handed out a six-page script that started out, My name is Shawn Anderson, with the department of legal affairs with the United States Treasury Department, the teenagers said. We read the script, and I asked, Is this a scam? Poojary said. He said, Yes. At that time I am money-minded. I thought, OK, I can do this, he said. Preying on Fear Inaben Desai, of Sugar Land, Texas, came home from grocery shopping, and her mother handed her the phone, eyes wide with alarm. Someone was on the line from the government, her mother said. They had called three or four times while she was out. Desai, 56, worked as a cashier at Wal-Mart. When she picked up the phone, a gruff-voiced man told her that she had failed to pay fees when she got her U.S. citizenship in 1995, and that unless she did so she would be deported back to India, she said. When Desai said she needed to call her husband, a woman got on the phone, speaking sympathetically, in her native Gujarati. She said, If you involve your husband, theres going to be more problems, Desai said. Your husband is going to get in trouble, too. Dont involve your husband. Desai had begun to cry. Still on the line with the woman, she took all the cash she had on hand and drove to a nearby grocery store, where she bought $1,386 in prepaid debit cards. Then the woman instructed her to go to her bank, transfer close to $9,000 to the account of someone named Jennifer, in California, and then fax confirmation and confidential details about her account. The bank lady tried to stop me, and she said, This is your personal information, Desai said. But Im scared, and I faxed it to them because Im scared of what would happen to my family. The swindlers, who now had access to her bank balance, called back to demand another sum close to $9,000. Desai had to drive to another bank branch to make the transaction. The total amount she transferred, $17,786, was nearly all her savings. Poojary was not the person who called Desai, whose case dates to 2014. But a similar conversation prompted him to contact the U.S. government. He recalled the womans name as Regella, and said that when she begged him to give her a little time, Poojary felt so sorry for her that he went to his supervisor, who told him to push harder. I just feel guilty at that time, he said. We are also Indians. We also dont have money. They also dont have money. The so-called Mira Road scam, named for the street the building was on, had moved into a single floor of the seven-story highrise in early 2016. By summer, it filled the whole building. It got big, Daud, the FBI agent said. And when it gets big, you leave bread crumbs. Nitin Thakare, a senior police inspector at the crime branch in Thane, will not say much about the person who contacted him in September with a tip about Mira Road. But he will describe the raid, in loving, cinematic detail: How at 10 p.m., after the last of the call centre staff had arrived for the night shift, 200 police officers streamed up the main staircase, blocking every exit and detaining all 700 people who worked inside. These are the youth of our nation, Thakare said. They were misguided. For the first few days it seems glamorous. Someone is teaching them an accent, people are smoking, there are women. Theres freedom and night life. The youth love that. The police said that others, like the landlord who had rented the building to the swindlers, wondered why the authorities cared in the first place. He said, What happened? said Parag Manere, a deputy commissioner of police. We are not cheating people in India! We are cheating people in the U.S.! And the U.S. cheats the whole world! The officers interviewed and released 630 of the call-centre workers, arresting the 70 highest-ranking employees. What they had stumbled on, it became clear, was a branch of a much larger network, the police said. Five days later, the police organized a second raid of facilities in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, which they believed to be a nerve centre. The U.S. Justice Department had come to the same conclusion: It has since released an indictment tracing 1.8 million calls targeting U.S. residents to five call centres in Ahmedabad that used various schemes to defraud more than 15,000 people out of hundreds of millions of dollars. By the time the police arrived at the Ahmedabad location, though, the syndicate was gone. The place where we raided, it was a 1,000-seat call centre, Manere said. When we got there it was empty. Empty. Nothing. Not a piece of paper. Empty halls. Empty halls. Read more about: SHARE: TEL AVIV, ISRAELThe rare manslaughter conviction Wednesday of an Israeli soldier who fatally shot a badly wounded Palestinian attacker exposed a deepening rift between proponents of the rule of law and a burgeoning nationalist movement. The military court verdict against Sgt. Elor Azaria marked a victory for commanders seeking to preserve a code of ethics, but it also brought calls for a pardon from prominent hardline politicians, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who expressed sympathy for the soldier or depicted him as the victim of a detached elite. In a statement on Facebook, Netanyahu urged the public to act responsibly toward the military, Israels most respected institution. We have one army that is the basis for our existence. (Israeli Defence Forces) soldiers are our sons and daughters, and they must remain above all disputes, he said. But making no direct mention of the military court, he said: I support granting a pardon to Elor Azaria. With the statement, Netanyahu plunged into a visceral dispute that has deeply divided Israel, where military service is compulsory and support for young soldiers is widespread. Since the March 2016 shooting, the military leadership has come under unprecedented criticism, as members of Netanyahus coalition accused top generals of abandoning a serviceman on the battlefield. The uproar helped fuel the resignation of defence minister Moshe Yaalon, who staunchly defended the army from the assault from within. It is rare for a military court to rule against a soldier over lethal action taken in the field, not only in Israel but also elsewhere in the world. But for a country that claims to have the most moral army in the world, it had no choice but to come down hard on a soldier who the top brass was convinced had strayed, said Amichai Cohen, a senior fellow at the non-partisan Israeli Democracy Institute think-tank . If you want the justice system to be taken seriously, you have to punish something like this, he said. The court cant be influenced by the changing political climate. Azaria, an army medic, was caught on video by a human rights worker fatally shooting Abdel Fattah al-Sharif, a wounded Palestinian attacker who had stabbed a soldier in the West Bank city of Hebron. Al-Sharif was on the ground, unarmed and virtually motionless, when Azaria fired a single bullet in his head as other soldiers milled about. The head of the three-judge panel, Col. Maya Heller, broke down Azarias defence arguments in painstaking detail in delivering the verdict over nearly three hours. She said there was no evidence to support his conflicting claims that the attacker was either already dead or had posed a threat. She called Azarias testimony unreliable, said he could not have both sides of the stick, and concluded the shooting was needless. We found there was no room to accept his arguments, she said. His motive for shooting was that he felt the terrorist deserved to die. That made little difference to Azarias many supporters. Outside military headquarters in Tel Aviv, hundreds of his backers held large Israeli flags, banners supporting Donald Trump and others that said the nation neglected a soldier on the battlefield. They periodically scuffled with police, and some chanted veiled death threats against the Israeli military chief, Lt.-Gen. Gadi Eizenkot. The Ynet news site said the judges and prosecutor would receive bodyguards. The army declined to comment. Netanyahus evening announcement came hours after other members of his coalition called for Azaria to be pardoned immediately. Today, a soldier who killed a terrorist who deserved to die and who had tried to slaughter a soldier was put in handcuffs and convicted like a criminal, said Education Minister Naftali Bennett, head of the pro-settler Jewish Home Party. The coalition has had disputes with the legal system, trying to delay an order to uproot an illegally built West Banks settlement outpost and seeking to retroactively legalize dozens of other illegal outposts. Azaria is scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 15 and could face up to 20 years in prison, though he is expected to receive less than that. Netanyahus call for a pardon fuelled what will be a heated debate over whether Azaria deserves leniency. Under the law, only Israels largely ceremonial president can issue a pardon. President Reuven Rivlins office said he would decide only after the legal process, including an expected appeal, runs its course. The heightened tensions were on display in the cramped, stuffy courtroom. The 20-year-old Azaria entered smiling and appeared confident as he was embraced by a few dozen relatives and friends. But his mood quickly dampened as the judge began tearing apart his defence. As the verdict was delivered, he stared gloomily ahead as his supporters clapped sarcastically with some shouting, Our hero! A female relative was kicked out for screaming at the judges, while another woman stormed out, shouting: Disgusting leftists. After the judges walked out, Azarias mother, Oshra, screamed, You should be ashamed of yourselves. Azaria tried to comfort her as she wailed. Another family member whipped his jacket at a reporter, missing his target and hitting another relative. The shooting of al-Sharif occurred at the height of what has become a more than yearlong wave of Israeli-Palestinian violence and highlighted the difficulties facing young recruits operating in densely populated areas amid Jewish West Bank settlers, Palestinian civilians and potential attackers. Azarias supporters said he fired in self-defence. But his detractors, including senior military commanders, have said his actions were unbecoming of a soldier. The uproar put the army in a delicate position. The military almost always defends the actions of its troops, but the strong video made the incident impossible to ignore. The army also is wary of becoming politicized, and in several cases, leading generals have feuded with hardline political leaders. One of Azarias most vocal supporters, cabinet minister Miri Regev, herself a former military spokeswoman, said the verdict could deter young Israelis from serving in combat units for fear of being abandoned. Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman, who had visited Azaria in court in solidarity, tried to temper tensions by saying that while he disagreed with the difficult verdict, it must be respected. We must keep the army outside every political argument and keep it in the widest consensus in Israeli society, he said. Israeli rights groups have accused the army of failing to prosecute soldiers who commit unnecessary violence against Palestinians. It was just the second such conviction in recent years, the army said. The first involved a soldier convicted in the death of a pro-Palestinian British activist in 2004. I felt that the court picked up the knife from the ground and stabbed it in the back of all the soldiers, said former legislator Sharon Gal, who is now the Azaria family spokesman. Palestinians and rights groups praised the verdict, but called it an anomaly, given the many other questionable shootings that have gone untried. Yusuf Mahmoud, spokesman for the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, said the conviction proved the sincerity of the Palestinian narrative and the lies of the Israeli narrative. MORE ON THESTAR.COM Manslaughter trial begins for Israeli soldier who killed Palestinian attacker Read more about: SHARE: ISTANBULPolice increased security around Istanbul on Wednesday and detained some 20 people with suspected links to the deadly New Years Eve night club attack as the hunt for the gunman stretched into a fourth day. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said the gunman who killed 39 people during New Years celebrations at the Reina club before reportedly escaping in a taxi had been identified, but did not name him. Police set up checkpoints across Istanbul as security levels remained high. They stopped cars and taxis, with passengers and drivers holding up their identifications while officers inspected the vehicles. The city has been on edge since the attack on the upscale club popular with local celebrities, and on Wednesday residents beat up a man said to resemble the wanted gunman before handing him over to police, the Dogan news agency reported. Some 20 people, including 11 women, were taken into custody in police raids in the Aegean port city of Izmir, the state-run Anadolu agency said. The suspects, from the largely Muslim Russian republic of Dagestan, as well as members of Chinas Muslim Uighur minority and from Syria, were believed to have lived with the gunman in an alleged Daesh cell house in the central Turkish city of Konya, the agency reported. Some 20 children who were with the detainees were also taken to a police station. At least 16 people were previously detained in connection with the massacre. Daesh has claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it was in reprisal for Turkish military operations against Daesh in northern Syria. Of those killed, 27 were foreigners many from the Middle East. In his first public address to the nation since the killings, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that the attack aimed to set Turks against each other and deepen fault lines, but warned the country would not fall for this game. His comments followed a campaign before the attack by some ruling party supporters and pro-Islamic groups who warned against New Years celebrations they depicted as Western or Christian traditions, as well as some social media postings that seemed to support the attack on the New Years revelers. The campaign and social media postings were condemned by more secular-minded Turks who said their lifestyles were being threatened. The government has said authorities were taking measures against social media accounts that allegedly support terrorism and foster divisiveness in society. I repeat once again: no ones lifestyle is under systematic threat in Turkey, Erdogan said in his address Wednesday. We would never allow such a thing. We didnt allow it in 14 years of governance. If anyone alleges differently they need to put forward concrete examples. Erdogan also dismissed accusations that Turkey has, in the past, given support to Daesh. To present the country which is leading the greatest struggle against Daesh as one that is supporting terrorism is what the terror organization wants, he said. To say Turkey has surrendered to terrorism is to take sides with the terrorists and terror organizations. Meanwhile, details about the suspected gunmans movements trickled in on Wednesday. The Hurriyet newspaper said he had previously entered Turkey twice, in 2014 and in 2015. He is believed to have slipped illegally into Syria, where he received training in the use of guns and bombs and fought. The pro-government Sabah newspaper identified the suspect as a Kyrgyz national who was born in 1988. It said he had been in contact with a chief Daesh operative in Istanbul whose aide a Tajik national was among those in custody. Among those detained Wednesday were seven Uighurs suspected of giving money to the gunman after the attack for him to pay his taxi fare, according to the Haber Turk newspaper. Semsettin Dursun, the owner of an Istanbul restaurant where the Uighurs worked, confirmed that some staff were detained but dismissed claims they were involved. They are innocent, Dursun told reporters. That is the taxi drivers claim. It is a single taxi drivers claim. We dont accept it. There is no other evidence. Turkeys European Union affairs minister, Omer Celik, said the attack was carried out in an extremely professional way and that the assailant appeared to have received training in the Middle East. He said the attacker was using methods that avoid all modern intelligence techniques, including acting alone, not contacting anyone and not using technology. MORE ON THESTAR.COM Milton woman killed in Istanbul always had a smile on her face Daesh makes unusual claim of responsibility for Istanbul nightclub attack SHARE: In 1885, the English surgeon Frederick Treves gave a series of talks at the Royal College of Surgeons of England. Treves most famous moment in abdominal history treating Edward VII, a few days prior to the kings coronation, by draining an abscess in the royal appendix would come decades later. But even by the late 19th century Treves was known among his peers as an expert of the guts. He spoke at length to his fellow doctors about the digestive tract, having examined it in a hundred or so cadavers. The medical field was receptive to his findings. It remained so. As recently as 2008, textbooks like the 40th edition of Grays Anatomy echoed descriptions that Treves presented in his lectures. But Treves research contained an error that persisted for more than a century, wrote a pair of scientists in the Lancet Gastroenterology & Hepatology journal, published in November but spotted recently by the Independent: Treves neglected to give the mesentery, a double sheet of connective tissue that curls through the abdomen, the importance it deserved. Treves declared that the mesentery existed only sporadically, in disjointed ribbons, dispersed among the intestines. That was not so, the researchers wrote in the new report. The anatomic description that had been laid down over 100 years of anatomy was incorrect. This organ is far from fragmented and complex, said J. Calvin Coffey, a study author and surgeon at the University of Limerick, Ireland, in a statement. It is simply one continuous structure. The mesentery, argued the scientists from University of Limerick, Ireland, was not separate sections of connective wrap. As a single entity, it could be classified as an organ. (By most counts, tissues of the human body are lumped into 78 organs. The mesentery, then, would be number 79.) We are now saying we have an organ in the body which hasnt been acknowledged as such to date, Coffey said. Next to the thumping heart and the brains enigmatic mass, the mesentery may seem a humble thing. It is a fatty membrane that holds the intestines in place. Though the classification as an organ is new, the mesentery itself is not a contemporary discovery; what appears to be the mesentery can be seen in a drawing by Leonardo da Vinci. The metaphors the mesentery inspires are a far cry from stomach butterflies or broken hearts. If you were to imagine the guts as dress fabric, as 19th century physician Worthington Hooker did in his book Human Physiology, the mesentery would be a ruffle encircling the puffed edging of the intestines. Without the mesentery, though, bound on one end to the backbone, the intestines would slop around in the belly. Coffey and his colleagues confirmed the mesentery was continuous, stretching from the rectum to the small intestine at the base of the stomach, in a series of studies in 2012 and 2014. After revealing its structure, the scientists argued they had enough evidence to justify designation of the mesentery as an organ. Coffey went as far as to argue life without the mesentery is impossible without it you cant live, he said to Discover Magazine. If there existed a scientific organization charged with naming the organs, it was unclear even to surgeons like Coffey. (I actually dont know who the final arbiter of that is, he told Discover; Coffey was unable to respond to a request for comment from The Washington Post early Wednesday.) But, typically, anatomists classify organs not only by their continuity but also by a common function. The complete function of the mesentery remains a mystery. Many, but not all, organs have a distinct functional unit, the researchers wrote in the Lancet report. The functional unit of the mesentery is unknown, and whether a distinctive cell type is primarily responsible for its functionality should be investigated. Nor do the researchers know if doctors should view the body part as belonging to the intestinal system, they wrote, or if it would be better classified as part of the vascular system, the endocrine system or another system altogether. Perhaps it does not fit neatly into one. Evidence suggests the mesentery is more than a connector, too; the mesentery may regulate the migration of white blood cells throughout the intestines, the scientists wrote. Coffey hoped that shining a light on a body part not normally so exposed could widen the field of mesenteric science, offering a new target in the fight against gut diseases like Crohns. In places, it appears a change, however small, has already begun: The mesentery, noted the study authors, was described as continuous in the 41st and most recent edition of Grays Anatomy. SHARE: Re: Free rides led to Toronto's biggest party, Jan. 1 Free rides led to Toronto's biggest party, Jan. 1 Lately, different articles in the Star have instances of ageism. It is usually in the form of an adverb or adjective attached to seniors, older folks and such. This article reported that free New Years rides on the TTC created a sardine scene on the Queen St. E. streetcar and downtown subway as tots to tottering older folks enjoyed themselves. For the sake of a bit alliteration, we older folks had to put up with our age-related disabilities viewed as gratuitous tottering. Come on Carola Vyhnak, make ageism, like some other isms outcasts in your lexicon in 2017. John E. Marion, Etobicoke SHARE: Former Deutsche Bank (DB) co-CEO Anshu Jain will join Cantor Fitzgerald this month as group president. He was forced to resign from his previous job 18 months ago, following a series of regulatory mishaps. "The press is tough on guys who run banks," Cantor Fitzgerald CEO Howard Lutnick said on CNBC's "Squawk on the Street" on Tuesday morning. People who run banks are "first-class people" that simply have to "take the brunt of being called a bank," he said. While some wonder if Jain will be the successor of 55-year-old Lutnick, Jain is only two years younger than the CEO, Lutnick pointed out. The change is more about "working together" to create "a new way to do business." The firm doesn't want to try to build another Deutsche Bank or even to try to compete with it because Canto Fitzgerald wants to do something different, Lutnick claimed. "People try to ask me, 'Are you going to rebuild and take on Deutsche Bank?' I mean how silly is that? They have $50 billion in capital. Bank of America (BAC) has $160 billion in capital. JPMorgan (JPM) has $200 billion. You go a different way. You do something different," Lutnick said. Jain joining Cantor Fitzgerald is like "Bono joining a rock band" because Jain was once the "greatest manager of a sales trading organization in the world," Lutnick said. "He went to Deutsche Bank when they were kind of a sleepy company and built them into the greatest sales and trading company in the world. And then leveraged that to the executive suite." Donald Trump has called global warming a hoax fostered by China to hamper America's competitiveness. For Secretary of State, Trump has tapped ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson, a long-time oilman who has viewed climate change and renewable energy as threats to his company's bottom line. Trump also embraces the coal industry, vowing to end President Obama's alleged "war on coal." The president-elect even named former Texas Gov. Rick Perry to head the U.S. Department of Energy, an agency that candidate Perry during a presidential debate infamously forgot that he wanted to abolish. Neither Trump nor Perry seem to realize that the Energy Department has just as much to do with safeguarding the nation's nuclear arsenal as it does with overseeing the energy industry. So, this must be a really bad time for solar power, right? Wrong! Not even the president of the United States can reverse the unstoppable rise of alternative energy, solar in particular. As investors hammer solar power stocks following Trump's surprise election, now's the time to pick up the two small-cap solar stalwarts examined below. Both SunPower (SPWR) and Canadian Solar (CSIQ) are trading at bargain valuations and they should emerge unscathed by Trump's "anti-green" energy policies. The fact is that the White House can exert only so much influence over the energy industry, especially electricity generation. What's more, the coal industry is permanently on the skids and unlikely to turnaround, as this dirty fuel increasingly gets replaced by cleaner, cheaper and abundant natural gas. To be sure, federal subsidies for renewable and solar energy probably will get gutted by Trump and the GOP-run Congress. But while the solar industry likes governmental help, it's way past the point of needing it. The infrastructure for the solar industry is firmly in place and irreversible, leading to a "price decoupling" of solar and fossil fuels. Solar and other renewable energies are now part of the energy status quo and no longer need high oil and gas prices to entice customers. Nonetheless, investors are skittish about solar. Since Trump eked out an Electoral College victory on Nov. 8, the Guggenhein Solar ETF has declined 5.5%. Over the past year, TAN has plummeted 44.4%. The industry now appears oversold and poised for a breakout. One of the surest paths to wealth is to bet against the fallacies of the crowd; now's the time to bet on solar's turnaround. The solar industry's growth should resume in 2017, despite the fossil fuel friendly Trump administration, as developing countries such as China and India plow resources into renewable energy and the price of photovoltaic (PV) cells continues to drop. The European Union also has ambitious plans in place to invest in solar power, especially in the EU's growth engine of Germany, which is phasing out nuclear power in favor of solar. Let's take a look at SunPower and Canadian Solar in ascending order of risk: SunPower With a market cap of $919.8 million, SunPower is the second-biggest company among PV solar panel makers. SunPower's niche is the design and installation of large, extremely efficient panel arrays, which are in great demand in developing and developed nations alike. The company's roster of clients includes countries in the Middle East that are trying to diversify away from their over-dependence on oil. SunPower focuses on utility-scale solar power plants, because they allow the company to confer its value-added and higher margin engineering prowess. SunPower boasts huge projects underway in North America, Europe and Japan. With a trailing 12-month price-to-earnings ratio (P/E) of -2.82, SunPower is a shining bargain compared to the trailing P/E of 75.2 for its industry. SPWR shares now trade at $6.85; the average analyst one-year price target is $12.12, which would be a gain of about 77%. Canadian Solar With a market cap of $714.8 billion, Canadian Solar produces solar ingots, wafers, cells, modules, and integrated power systems. The company is legally based in Ontario, Canada, but the bulk of its manufacturing facilities are headquartered in China. This duality allows the company to keep overhead low by manufacturing in China but it sidesteps many of the headaches of investing in a China-headquartered entity. The company's Canadian identity also reassures investors concerned about financial transparency. Canadian Solar is emphasizing growth opportunities in emerging markets as well as developed countries in the EU. With a trailing P/E of 5.1, Canadian Solar is an inexpensive way to tap solar's enormous growth opportunities. Shares now trade at $12.66; the average analyst one-year price target is $15.72, which would be a gain of about 25%. --- Trump's shocking election as president has turned the investment world upside down. If you're looking for new (and safe) growth opportunities in these uncertain times, we've found a genius trader who turned $50,000 into $5 million by using his proprietary trading method. For a limited time, he's guaranteeing you $67,548 per year in profitable trades if you follow his simple step-by-step process Click here now for details. John Persinos is an editor and analyst at Investing Daily. He also appears as a frequent commentator on the financial television show Small Cap Nation. At the time of publication, he owned none of the stocks mentioned. Exxon Mobil (XOM) has reached an agreement for CEO Rex Tillerson's exit if the executive is confirmed as Secretary of State in the Trump administration that should ease many conflict-of-interest concerns, but not all. The oil and gas company late Tuesday outlined measures to be taken if the U.S. Senate confirms President-elect Donald Trump's nomination of Tillerson, 64, to head the State Department. Under the agreement, the value of the more than two million Exxon shares Tillerson would have received over the course of 10 years upon retirement will be transferred to an independently managed trust prohibited from investing in the Irving, Texas-based company. Exxon has a market cap of $376.5 billion. Tillerson will also surrender more than $4.1 million in cash bonuses scheduled for payout over the next three years as well as other benefits, including those related to retirement. Exxon has a mandatory retirement age of 65, which Tillerson reaches on March 23. In total, the executive will see his compensation reduced by about $7 million if he becomes Secretary of State. According to the Wall Street Journal's calculations, his retirement package will still be worth about $180 million. The agreement should ease conflict-of-interest risks for Tillerson in relation to Exxon if he is confirmed, said Washington University Law professor Kathleen Clark. The executive will face a two-year disqualification period for proceedings that directly involve Exxon, but he will be free to participate in broader policies that affect multiple parties, including Exxon. "It may be a close call, but I don't think it would bar him from participating in discussions on how to deal with sanctions against Russia. Russian sanctions wouldn't count under regulations as a specific matter to which Exxon is a party," Clark said. Tillerson has been one of Trump's most controversial cabinet picks since the president-elect announced last month his intention to nominate the oil and gas executive. Tillerson's ties to Russia and President Vladimir Putin have raised eyebrows. Questions have persisted about what he will do with his vested and unvested shares, which Tuesday evening's announcement seeks to answer. While the agreement will result in a notable reduction in Tillerson's exit package, he won't be leaving empty-handed. He could potentially defer millions of dollars in taxes if he is confirmed as Secretary of State. Separately, Tillerson has also committed to the State Department that he will sell the more than 600,000 shares in ExxonMobil he currently owns. At Tuesday's market close price, those shares are valued at more than $54.5 million. Clark characterized the agreement as an "incredibly good deal" for Exxon, albeit not necessarily the American people. "They've made an exception [with Tillerson's exit package], and what they get essentially is someone who has been extraordinarily loyal to them, someone who was identified with the company, who will now be in a position to have an enormous influence on U.S. policy towards Russia that will absolutely have an effect on Exxon's fortunes," she said. "Even though the black letter of the law is satisfied here, it's extremely troubling." Shares of Exxon fell 0.80% to $90.16 in mid-morning trading Wednesday. A number of big-name Republicans have lined up behind Tillerson for Secretary of State, including former Vice President Dick Cheney, former CIA Director Robert Gates and former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Others have been more resistant, including Sen. John McCain, who last week told reporters he has "concerns" about Tillerson and his relationship with Putin. The two men will meet this week, the Arizona Republican said in an interview on Tuesday morning, during which they will discuss "a whole range of concerns." Tillerson is scheduled to appear before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for two days of confirmation hearings starting Jan. 11. Johnson & Johnson's (JNJ) $1 billion damages award in hip implant lawsuits against the company was halved by a U.S. judge late Tuesday. The company, which faced the possibility of a $1 billion payout to plaintiffs in six lawsuits against its DePuy Orthopaedics division for faulty hip implants, now owes damages of a little more than $500 million, according to U.S. District Judge Ed Kinkeade in Dallas. The initial award was handed down by a federal jury on Dec. 2. Kinkeade, though, cited "constitutional considerations" for reducing the sentence. Johnson & Johnson will still appeal the court case. "Now that judgment has been entered in these cases, we can move forward in seeking appellate review of the legal errors with the trial," said John Beisner of Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom, outside counsel for Johnson & Johnson. "The company will continue to fully defend against the claims in this litigation." However, Mark Lanier, the lead plaintiff's lawyer who works at Lanier Law Offices, said previously that Johnson & Johnson's chances of winning an appeal are "next to none." Lanier could not be reached for further comment early Wednesday. The size of the damage award is striking because Johnson & Johnson faces lawsuits from more than 8,500 plaintiffs in multidistrict litigation over the hip implant being handled by the federal district court in Dallas alleging that the company failed to warn doctors and consumers about complications possible from the device, which included pain and subsequent removal surgeries. This trial was the third "bellwether trial" conducted against the hip replacement product. A fourth is scheduled for Sept. 5, 2017. These cases are selected from a pool because they have facts representative of other cases. This allows parties to decide whether to settle. In 2014, Johnson & Johnson won the first verdict over the Pinnacle. In the second bellwether trial, the $502 million a federal jury awarded to five plaintiffs in March was later reduced to $150 million according to Texas law. It was initially expected that this most recent case would not be subjected to a cap, because it included plaintiffs from California and was originally tried under California law. However, the most recent moves by Kinkeade prove otherwise. Johnson & Johnson's share price barely moved on the news. It was $115.90 at market open Wednesday. Analyst Ashtyn Evans of Edward Jones said she expects the company to eventually settle the suit. "These cases that are happening right now are kind of more encouraging JNJ to settle," Evans said by phone. "Even if they settle for multiple billion dollars, they're still in a good position because of their ability to generate cash flow." Evans said Edward Jones has a buy rating on the company thanks to its diversification. "We think JNJ is very well positioned because they are diversified globally and across product lines," Evans said. "They wouldn't feel the pressure on drug pricing as much." She added that the company invests heavily in R&D and acquisitions, which keeps its pipeline "interesting" and full. Johnson & Johnson declined further comment on the cases. Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba (BABA) is taking two vendors who have been selling fake Swarovski watches on its online shopping platform Taobao to court. The suit, the company's first ever legal action against counterfeiters, took place two weeks after the United States Trade Representative added Alibaba Group's Taobao Marketplace to its "notorious markets" list in late December. The litigation against sellers Liu Huajun and Wang Shenyi claims RMB1.4 million ($201,320) for "violation of contract and goodwill." "It's the first of many civil lawsuits coming against counterfeiters. And it comes on top of a criminal charges already filed by local authorities against these same individuals," said an Alibaba spokesman to TheStreet. "These potent examples show two things: first, we are dead serious about fighting the counterfeit scourge and second, we are we are using all available tools to combat it." Shares of Alibaba were up 1.76% to $90.15 in midday trading on Wednesday. "This lawsuit is part of the considerable effort Alibaba expends to combat counterfeit items on their marketplace. Even though a lot of inauthentic merchandise may slip between the cracks, I believe Alibaba does at least as much as its US counterparts to combat this type of merchandise," said Gil Luria, senior analyst at Wedbush Securities. "However, since they have many more sellers and buyers than the U.S. e-commerce providers, this is a tougher task." Alibaba said that it was able to use its big data technology to identify counterfeit Swarovski products and locate the sellers in Shenzhen, the southern Chinese city near Hong Kong. The company then resorted to a "mystery shopping" tactic to test buy the products and then have Swarovski examine their quality, workmanship and packaging to confirm the watches were fake. Alibaba, founded by Chinese businessman Jack Ma, claims that the action has led to the confiscation of 125 fake Swarovski watches and two counterfeit Swarovski official seals, with an estimated total value of $28.7 million. Alibaba has been cracking down on counterfeits through an operation called "Cloud Sword" since early 2016. The operation provides intelligence and leads to local authorities who in turn carry out raids to root out fake goods factories and warehouses. "Selling counterfeits not only violates our service agreement, it also infringes on the intellectual property rights of the brand owner, puts inferior products in the hands of consumers and ruins the hard-earned trust and reputation Alibaba has with our customers," said Jessie Zheng, Alibaba Group's chief platform governance officer in a statement released on Wednesday. The company claims a good track record of anti-counterfeiting efforts and expressed shock when it was put back on the "notorious market" list after being removed from it for four years. Alibaba executives say the decision was driven by political incentives during a tumultuous U.S. election year. The company, which continues to battle for global market share with U.S.-based rival Amazon (AMZN) and domestic rival JD.com (JD) , is set to report earnings on Jan. 26. Analyst project EPS in the range of 89 cents to $1.23, according to FactSet. After six years of upheaval and realignment in health care, the 2016 election has, again, left many asking Whats next? The immediate answer seems certain with the coming inauguration of a president who will sign a repeal of Obamacare. The real uncertainty, the real high stakes, comes in the when and how the Affordable Care Act is replaced Republicans now occupy center stage in this ongoing saga, moving from antagonist to protagonist in a role reversal that brings great expectations and new accountability. Objective observers agree that Obamacare is in need of repair if not overhaul, but while it still exists, its flaws remain the property of its namesake. Repealing it, however, means owning what comes next, a shift that should underscore how serious a policy and political undertaking replacing Obamacare will actually be. Because for all its warts, the quandary that is Obamacare has given something to nearly a quarter of a million (and growing) Wisconsinites that they and their families do not want to lose health insurance. Love it or hate it, it is an undeniable fact that Obamacare has extended health insurance to millions of people across the country, in congressional districts both red and blue. In increasingly red Wisconsin, our already low uninsured rate dropped another 38 percent since Obamacare kicked in, the result of Gov. Scott Walkers strategy of combining Wisconsin-style Medicaid expansion with Obamacares premium subsidized insurance exchanges. Wisconsins successful hybrid approach could be a national model going forward and proves that expanding health insurance coverage is a bipartisan aim. The differences come in the means of achieving this goal and, more importantly today, sustaining Wisconsins gains. The fact is theres simply too much here to quickly unwind and political leaders from both parties know this. The challenge is a complicated (and politically risky) one of scale, pace and effectively translating campaign pledges into post-election policy, all against a backdrop of growing Obamacare enrollments, falling uninsured rates and teetering exchanges. Indeed, the how of replacing Obamacare is as important as the what. Our health care delivery and insurance systems have seen massive upheaval and realignment during the past few years. While Wisconsin health care is a national quality and value standout, its leaders forward-looking, nimble and adaptive, an abrupt U-turn could backfire, causing even greater dissatisfaction and frustration than already exists. This means replacing Obamacare will not happen overnight. Ample time must be allowed to implement and transition, or bridge, any major changes. Ironically, Congress may need to fix Obamacare before it can fully replace Obamacare. Wisconsins low uninsured rate coupled with high-quality care means we have much to either gain or lose in the coming debate. If Obamacare is repealed, the 225,000 people it now helps cover in Wisconsin will need a better alternative. Theres a lot at stake in replacing the law that delivered that coverage. Fortunately, Wisconsin could be in a strong position. With Congressman Ryan in the speakers chair and Gov. Walker now leading the Republican Governors Association, no other state should be as well positioned to shape whats next and sustain the coverage gains we have achieved in the process. Bottom line is we should be prepared for more changes coming to health care, along with the imperative that we engage in defining whats next for Wisconsin. Its a task the Wisconsin Hospital Association and our member hospitals and health systems are prepared to undertake in partnership with our elected leaders. France's Marine Le Pen, the leader of the far-right National Front party and second-favorite for the French presidential elections in the spring, has a debt problem. Or two debt problems, to be more precise. On Wednesday, the populist candidate, who has cast herself as the French Donald Trump, seemed to suggest that if she wins the Presidency she will seek to redenominate French government debt in a new national currency. Details of how that would work were largely missing, as is often the case with Le Pen's economic plans, but the candidate said the new currency would coexist alongside a common European currency. She also blithely declared that the policy would have "no consequences on French daily life." The banks and foreign entities that finance France's 2 trillion-plus of government loans, equal to nearly 100% of annual GDP -- the sixth highest ratio in the eurozone, will beg to differ. The spread between the yields on 10-year French bonds and their German counterparts has roughly doubled over the past year to about 50 basis points on fears that Le Pen might upset pundits' predictions and win control of France before leading it out of the eurozone. Yields on French 10-year debt spiked 46 basis points in the immediate wake of Trump's victory as bankers woke up to the realization that outsiders sometimes win. A Le Pen victory still remains a remote possibility. December's opinion polls placed her a close second behind center-right Republicans candidate Francois Fillon in France's first round of voting, where all parties can field candidates. They also project her losing by a significant margin to any of the centrist candidates in the second round of voting, which is contested by just the two most popular candidates in the first round. That means Le Pen is still unlikely to have to wrangle with her national debt plan. Her other debt problem, however, has proven impossible to avoid. Over the weekend, it emerged that the Front National will borrow 6 million ($6.3 million) from Colotec, a group controlled by Marine's father and party founder Jean-Marie Le Pen. Florian Philippot, deputy head of the Front National, told French radio on Sunday that the party had been left with little choice but to turn to the elder Le Pen for cash after French banks refused to provide loans for the campaign. The National Front had previously been financed by the Moscow-based First Czech Russian Bank OOO, which collapsed in July and has had its Russian banking license revoked. Those loans raised uncomfortable questions for Le Pen about Russian support for her campaign, questions that are sure to be aired again after Le Pen on Wednesday claimed Russia's annexation of the Crimea was legal. The loan from Le Pen senior may give the party financial breathing room but it brings its own problems. Marine has sought to distance herself and her party from her father, who she expelled from the Front National in 2015 amid a a push to "detoxify" the party and after he repeatedly described the Nazi gas chambers as a "detail of history." That distance will be harder to maintain now that Jean-Marie has control of the party's coffers and may lead Marine Le Pen to lament, probably not for the first time, that the one things she definitely doesn't share with Trump is his billions. For NBC News Chairman Andy Lack, signing Megyn Kelly wasn't just about securing the services of a TV anchor with a national following. As the only media company with a foot planted firmly in broadcast and cable TV news, Comcast's (CMCSA) successful courting of Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly was all about strengthening a vital part of its company. "Having someone like Megyn Kelly come in really does solidify the news franchise that they have," Macquarie media analyst Amy Yong said. "As the election showed, NBC, MSNBC and CNBC are all really important to them, so signing Megyn Kelly is a really smart move." As for Fox News, the 21st Century Fox (FOXA) cable TV network said Thursday that anchor Tucker Carlson will replace Kelly at her high-profile 9 p.m. show. Carlson, the founder of The Daily Caller, a right-wing news and opinion site, recently was given the 7 p.m. slot on Fox News. Two years ago in March, Andy Lack returned to NBCUniversal to right a wobbling ship. Having left Bloomberg TV after trying to make it more visually interesting than its no-nonsense terminals, the NBC that Lack inherited was a far different animal than the one he rode from 1993 to 2001. Longtime lead anchor Brian Williams was serving a six-month suspension for exaggerating his 2003 Iraq War adventures, the network's beloved Today had lost its its perch as the top-rated morning news show to Disney's (DIS) Good Morning America on ABC, and bitterness remained over a heavy-handed changing of moderators at Meet the Press. In short, the network was something of a mess. Flash forward to the present, where NBC Nightly Newswith Lester Holt won the 2016 ratings battle among evening newscasts while Today is holding its own with Good Morning America, often topping its rival for the critical 25-to-49-year-old demographic. And while MSNBC continues to trail Fox News and CNN, its 2016 rebound was a reason for some celebrating. MSNBC's ratings jumped 87% in total prime-time viewers, growing faster than its rivals from 21st Century Fox (FOXA) and Time Warner (TWX) , respectively, which had record years of their own. Yet for NBCUniversal, news isn't just a complement to other programming. It's a central part of its business. There's NBC Nightly News and Meet the Press, along with Dateline and MSNBC in addition to CNBC, the business channel, and coverage on Telemundo, an expansive Spanish-language network on its own based in Miami. Compared with CBS (CBS) , Disney or Fox, NBCUniversal spends far more on news while comparatively less on original programming. Nonetheless, it does spend considerably on live sports, along with its chief rivals. In the third quarter, NBCUniversal posted operating income of $1.7 billion, a company record. Landing Kelly, 46, for a yet-to-be named afternoon news show along with a Sunday evening "magazine" segment, offers NBCUniversal another platform to cross-advertise its other news programs while selling advertising and securing more user data to better inform programming decisions. It also carries the potential of appealing to more conservative-leaning viewers, who came to admire Kelly from her work at Fox News. Kelly was already a rising star when she took on Donald Trump early in the presidential campaign, asking him to answer to a pattern of sexist and degrading comments about women. After the debate, Trump charged that Kelly had acted like "there was blood coming out of her wherever." Yet it was comments by Fox News stalwarts Bill O'Reilly, Neil Cavuto and Sean Hannity criticizing Kelly for coming forward to support the allegations of sexual harassment leveled by former anchor Gretchen Carlson against longtime Fox Chairman Roger Ailes that prompted her exit, reported New York magazine's Gabriel Sherman. NBC took the opportunity to offer her a way out of Fox. According to multiple reports, Kelly turned down $100 million over four years to continue at the network, with Mediaite reporting she took far less from NBC. "Megan Kelly is kind of perfect," Vivian Schiller, a media consultant at Weber Shandwick and a former executive at NBC News and Twitter (TWTR) , said via email. "They clearly think she is a crossover talent who can do hard news, light news, possibly lifestyle -- and with her conservative bona fides, will help appeal to middle America, which is the lifeblood of daytime syndicated shows. NBCU needs stars -- especially crossover stars -- and she's clearly that." Kelly, whose contract runs through July, will host her final show as a Fox News anchor on Friday. Comcast is a holding in Jim Cramer'sAction Alerts PLUS Charitable Trust Portfolio. Want to be alerted before Cramer buys or sells CMCSA? Learn more now. The following companies are subsidiares of Caterpillar: Advanced Tri-Gen Power Systems LLC, Anchor Coupling Inc., Asia Power Systems (Tianjin) Ltd., AsiaTrak (Tianjin) Ltd., Banco Caterpillar S.A., Berg Propulsion International Pte Ltd., Bucyrus, Bucyrus Australia Surface Pty. Ltd., Bucyrus Europe Holdings Ltd., Bucyrus Europe Limited, Bucyrus International (Chile) Limitada, Bucyrus International (Peru) S.A., Bucyrus Mining Australia Pty. Ltd., Bucyrus Mining China LLC, Bucyrus UK Limited, Cat Rental Kyushu LLC, Caterpillar (Africa) (Proprietary) Limited, Caterpillar (China) Financial Leasing Co. Ltd., Caterpillar (China) Investment Co. Ltd., Caterpillar (China) Machinery Components Co. Ltd., Caterpillar (HK) Limited, Caterpillar (Huainan) Machinery Service Co. Ltd., Caterpillar (Langfang) Mining Equipment Co. Ltd., Caterpillar (Luxembourg) Investment Co. S.a r.l., Caterpillar (NI) Limited, Caterpillar (Newberry) LLC, Caterpillar (Qingzhou) Ltd., Caterpillar (Shanghai) Trading Co. Ltd., Caterpillar (Suzhou) Co. Ltd., Caterpillar (Suzhou) Logistics Co. Ltd., Caterpillar (Thailand) Limited, Caterpillar (U.K.) Limited, Caterpillar (Wujiang) Ltd., Caterpillar (Xuzhou) Ltd., Caterpillar (Zhengzhou) Ltd., Caterpillar Acquisition Holding Corp., Caterpillar Americas C.V., Caterpillar Americas Co., Caterpillar Americas Funding Inc., Caterpillar Americas Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Caterpillar Asia Limited, Caterpillar Asia Pacific L.P., Caterpillar Asia Pte. Ltd., Caterpillar Asset Intelligence LLC, Caterpillar Belgium S.A., Caterpillar Brasil Comercio de Maquinas e Pecas Ltda., Caterpillar Brasil Ltda., Caterpillar Brazil LLC, Caterpillar Castings Kiel GmbH, Caterpillar Centro de Formacion S.L., Caterpillar China Limited, Caterpillar Commercial Australia Pty. Ltd., Caterpillar Commercial LLC, Caterpillar Commercial Northern Europe Limited, Caterpillar Commercial S.A., Caterpillar Commercial S.A.R.L., Caterpillar Commercial Services S.A.R.L., Caterpillar Communications LLC, Caterpillar Corporativo Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Caterpillar Cote DIvoire, Caterpillar Credito S.A. de C.V. SOFOM E.N.R., Caterpillar DC Pension Trust Limited, Caterpillar Digital Services & Solutions SARL, Caterpillar Distribution International LLC, Caterpillar Distribution Services Europe B.V.B.A., Caterpillar East Real Estate Holding Ltd., Caterpillar Emissions Solutions Inc., Caterpillar Energy Solutions Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd., Caterpillar Energy Solutions GmbH, Caterpillar Energy Solutions Inc., Caterpillar Energy Solutions S.A., Caterpillar Energy System Technology (Beijing) Co. Ltd., Caterpillar Engine Systems Inc., Caterpillar Equipos Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Caterpillar Eurasia LLC, Caterpillar FS (QFC) LLC, Caterpillar Finance France S.A., Caterpillar Finance Kabushiki Kaisha, Caterpillar Financial Acquisition Funding LLC, Caterpillar Financial Aftermarket Solutions Corporation, Caterpillar Financial Australia Leasing Pty Limited, Caterpillar Financial Australia Limited, Caterpillar Financial Commercial Account Corporation, Caterpillar Financial Corporacion Financiera S.A. E.F.C., Caterpillar Financial Dealer Funding LLC, Caterpillar Financial Funding Corporation, Caterpillar Financial Kazakhstan Limited Liability Partnership, Caterpillar Financial Leasing (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Caterpillar Financial New Zealand Limited, Caterpillar Financial Nordic Services AB, Caterpillar Financial Nova Scotia Corporation, Caterpillar Financial OOO, Caterpillar Financial Receivables Corporation, Caterpillar Financial Renting S.A., Caterpillar Financial SARL, Caterpillar Financial Services (Dubai) Limited, Caterpillar Financial Services (Ireland) plc, Caterpillar Financial Services (UK) Limited, Caterpillar Financial Services Argentina S.A., Caterpillar Financial Services Asia Pte. Ltd., Caterpillar Financial Services Belgium S.P.R.L., Caterpillar Financial Services CR s.r.o., Caterpillar Financial Services Corporation, Caterpillar Financial Services GmbH, Caterpillar Financial Services India Private Limited, Caterpillar Financial Services Leasing ULC, Caterpillar Financial Services Limited Les Services Financiers Caterpillar Limitee, Caterpillar Financial Services Malaysia Sdn Bhd, Caterpillar Financial Services Netherlands B.V., Caterpillar Financial Services Norway AS, Caterpillar Financial Services Philippines Inc., Caterpillar Financial Services Poland Sp. z o.o., Caterpillar Financial Services South Africa (Pty) Limited, Caterpillar Financial UK Acquisition Funding Partners, Caterpillar Financial Ukraine LLC, Caterpillar Fluid Systems S.r.l., Caterpillar Fomento Comercial Ltda., Caterpillar Forest Products Inc., Caterpillar France S.A.S., Caterpillar GB L.L.C., Caterpillar Global Investments S.a r.l., Caterpillar Global Mining America LLC, Caterpillar Global Mining Equipamentos De Mineracao do Brasil Ltda., Caterpillar Global Mining Equipment LLC, Caterpillar Global Mining Europe GmbH, Caterpillar Global Mining Expanded Products Pty Ltd, Caterpillar Global Mining Germany Holdings GmbH, Caterpillar Global Mining HMS GmbH, Caterpillar Global Mining Holdings GmbH, Caterpillar Global Mining Hong Kong AFC Manufacturing Holding Co. Limited, Caterpillar Global Mining Hong Kong Limited, Caterpillar Global Mining LLC, Caterpillar Global Mining Mexico LLC, Caterpillar Global Mining Pty. Ltd., Caterpillar Global Mining SARL, Caterpillar Global Mining U.S. Parts LLC, Caterpillar Global Services LLC, Caterpillar Group Services S.A., Caterpillar Holding (France) S.A.S., Caterpillar Holding Germany GmbH, Caterpillar Holdings Australia Pty. Ltd., Caterpillar Hungary Components Manufacturing Ltd., Caterpillar Hydraulics Italia S.r.l., Caterpillar IPX LLC, Caterpillar IRB LLC, Caterpillar Impact Products Limited, Caterpillar India Private Limited, Caterpillar Industrial Inc., Caterpillar Industrias Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Caterpillar Industries (Pty) Ltd, Caterpillar Insurance Co. Ltd., Caterpillar Insurance Company, Caterpillar Insurance Holdings Inc., Caterpillar Insurance Services Corporation, Caterpillar International Finance Designated Activity Company, Caterpillar International Finance Luxembourg Holding S. a r.l., Caterpillar International Finance Luxembourg S. a r.l., Caterpillar International Holding S. a r.l., Caterpillar International Luxembourg I S. a r.l., Caterpillar International Luxembourg II S. a r.l., Caterpillar International Product SARL, Caterpillar International Services Corporation, Caterpillar International Services del Peru S.A., Caterpillar Investment Limited, Caterpillar Investment One SARL, Caterpillar Investment Two SARL, Caterpillar Investments, Caterpillar Japan LLC, Caterpillar Latin America Services S.R.L., Caterpillar Latin America Services de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Caterpillar Latin America Services de Panama S. de R.L., Caterpillar Latin America Servicios de Chile Limitada, Caterpillar Latin America Support Services S. DE R.L., Caterpillar Leasing (Thailand) Limited, Caterpillar Leasing Chile S.A., Caterpillar Leasing GmbH (Leipzig), Caterpillar Leasing Operativo Limitada, Caterpillar Life Insurance Company, Caterpillar Logistics (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Caterpillar Logistics (UK) Limited, Caterpillar Logistics Inc., Caterpillar Logistics ML Services France S.A.S., Caterpillar Logistics Services China Limited, Caterpillar Luxembourg Group S.ar.l., Caterpillar Luxembourg LLC, Caterpillar Luxembourg S.a r.l., Caterpillar Machinery Nantong Co. Ltd., Caterpillar Marine Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd., Caterpillar Marine Asset Intelligence, Caterpillar Marine Power UK Limited, Caterpillar Marine Trading (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Caterpillar Maroc SARL, Caterpillar Materiels Routiers SAS, Caterpillar Mexico LLC, Caterpillar Mexico S.A. de C.V., Caterpillar Mining Canada ULC, Caterpillar Mining Chile Servicios Limitada, Caterpillar Motoren (Guangdong) Co. Ltd., Caterpillar Motoren GmbH & Co. KG, Caterpillar Motoren Henstedt-Ulzburg GmbH, Caterpillar Motoren Rostock GmbH, Caterpillar Motoren Verwaltungs-GmbH, Caterpillar Netherlands Holding B.V., Caterpillar North America C.V., Caterpillar Operator Training Ltd., Caterpillar Overseas Credit Corporation SARL, Caterpillar Overseas Investment Holding SARL, Caterpillar Overseas Limited, Caterpillar Overseas SARL, Caterpillar Panama Services S.A., Caterpillar Paving Products Inc., Caterpillar Paving Products Xuzhou Ltd., Caterpillar Pension Trust Limited, Caterpillar Poland Sp. z o.o., Caterpillar Power Generation Systems (Bangladesh) Limited, Caterpillar Power Generation Systems L.L.C., Caterpillar Power Systems Inc., Caterpillar Power Ventures International Ltd., Caterpillar Precision Seals Korea, Caterpillar Prodotti Stradali S.r.l., Caterpillar Product Services Corporation, Caterpillar Propulsion AB, Caterpillar Propulsion International Trading (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Caterpillar Propulsion Italy S.R.L., Caterpillar Propulsion Namibia (Proprietary) Limited, Caterpillar Propulsion Production AB, Caterpillar Propulsion Pte. Ltd., Caterpillar Propulsion Singapore Pte. Ltd., Caterpillar R&D Center (China) Co. Ltd., Caterpillar Ramos Arizpe LLC, Caterpillar Ramos Arizpe S. de R.L. de C.V., Caterpillar Ramos Arizpe Servicios S.A. de C.V., Caterpillar Reman Powertrain Indiana LLC, Caterpillar Remanufacturing Drivetrain LLC, Caterpillar Remanufacturing Services (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Caterpillar Renting France S.A.S., Caterpillar Reynosa S.A. de C.V., Caterpillar SARL, Caterpillar Services Germany GmbH, Caterpillar Servicios Limitada, Caterpillar Servicios Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Caterpillar Servizi Italia Srl, Caterpillar Shrewsbury Limited, Caterpillar Skinningrove Limited, Caterpillar Southern Africa (Pty) Ltd., Caterpillar Special Services Belgium S.P.R.L., Caterpillar Switchgear Americas LLC, Caterpillar Switchgear Holding Inc., Caterpillar Tianjin Ltd., Caterpillar Torreon S. de R.L. de C.V., Caterpillar Tosno L.L.C., Caterpillar Transmissions France S.A.R.L., Caterpillar Tunneling Canada Holdings Ltd., Caterpillar Tunnelling Canada Corporation, Caterpillar Tunnelling Europe Limited, Caterpillar UK Employee Trust Limited, Caterpillar UK Engines Company Limited, Caterpillar UK Group Limited, Caterpillar UK Holdings Limited, Caterpillar Undercarriage (Xuzhou) Co. Ltd., Caterpillar Underground Mining Pty. Ltd., Caterpillar Used Equipment Services Inc., Caterpillar Venture Capital Inc., Caterpillar Work Tools B.V., Caterpillar Work Tools Inc., Caterpillar World Trading Corporation, Caterpillar Xuzhou, Caterpillar of Australia Pty. Ltd., Caterpillar of Canada Corporation, Caterpillar of Delaware Inc., Centre de Distribution de Wallonie SPRL, CleanAir Systems, Downer Freight Rail, ECM Railway Evolution Romania s.r.l., ECM S.p.A., EDC European Excavator Design Center GmbH, EMC Holding Corp., EMD International Holdings Inc., ERA Information & Entertainment (BVI) Limited, ERA Mining Machinery Limited, Electro-Motive Diesel Limited, Electro-Motive Locomotive Technologies LLC, Electro-Motive Technical Consulting Co. (Beijing) Ltd., Energy Services International Limited, Equipos de Acuna S.A. de C.V., Eurenov S.A.S., F. G. Wilson (Proprietary) Limited, F. Perkins Limited, FG Wilson (Engineering) Limited, GB Holdco (China) Inc., GFCM Comercial Mexico S.A. de C.V. SOFOM E.N.R., GFCM Servicios S.A. de C.V., Gremada Industries - Assets, Hong Kong Siwei Holdings Limited, Inmobiliaria Conek S.A. de C.V., JCS Co., Kemper Valve & Fittings Corp., Leo Inc., Locomotive Demand Power Pty Ltd., Locomotoras Progress Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Lovat, M2M Data Corporation, MGE Equipamentos & Servicos Ferroviarios, MWM, MWM Austria GmbH, MWM Benelux B.V., MWM Energy Australia Pty Ltd, MWM France S.A.S, MWM Real Estate GmbH, MaK Americas Inc., MaK Americas Inc. (Canada), Magnum Power Products LLC, Marble, Maschinenbau Kiel GmbH, Mec-Track S.r.l., Metalmark Financial Services Limited, Motoren Steffens GmbH, Nippon Caterpillar LLC, P. T. Solar Services Indonesia, PT Caterpillar Finance Indonesia, PT. Bucyrus Indonesia, PT. Caterpillar Indonesia, PT. Caterpillar Indonesia Batam, PT. Caterpillar Remanufacturing Indonesia, Perkins Engines, Perkins Engines (Asia Pacific) Pte Ltd, Perkins Engines Group Limited, Perkins Engines Inc., Perkins Group Limited, Perkins Holdings Limited LLC, Perkins India Private Limited, Perkins International Inc., Perkins Japan LLC, Perkins Limited, Perkins Machinery (Changshu) Co. Ltd., Perkins Motores do Brasil Ltda., Perkins Power Systems Technology (Wuxi) Co. Ltd., Perkins Small Engines (Wuxi) Co. Ltd., Perkins Small Engines LLC, Perkins Small Engines Limited, Perkins Technology Inc., Progress Metal Reclamation Company, Progress Rail Arabia Limited Company, Progress Rail Australia Pty Ltd, Progress Rail Canada Corporation, Progress Rail Equipamentos e Servicos Ferroviarios do Brasil Ltda., Progress Rail Equipment Leasing Corporation, Progress Rail Holdings Inc., Progress Rail Innovations Private Limited, Progress Rail Inspection & Information Systems GmbH, Progress Rail Inspection & Information Systems S.r.l., Progress Rail International Corp., Progress Rail Leasing Canada Corporation, Progress Rail Leasing Corporation, Progress Rail Leasing de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Progress Rail Locomotivas (do Brasil) Ltda., Progress Rail Locomotive Canada Co., Progress Rail Locomotive Chile SpA, Progress Rail Locomotive Inc., Progress Rail Maintenance de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Progress Rail Manufacturing Corporation, Progress Rail Raceland Corporation, Progress Rail Rocklin Corporation, Progress Rail SA Proprietary Limited, Progress Rail Services Corporation, Progress Rail Services Holdings Corp., Progress Rail Services LLC, Progress Rail Services UK Limited, Progress Rail Switching Services LLC, Progress Rail Transcanada Corporation, Progress Rail Welding Corporation, Progress Rail Wildwood LLC, Progress Rail de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Pyroban Group, Pyroban Group, Pyrrha Investments B.V., Pyrrha Investments Limited, S&L Railroad LLC, SCM Singapore Holdings Pte. Ltd., SPL Software Alliance LLC, Sabre Engines, Servicios de Turbinas Solar S. de R.L. de C.V., Shandong SEM Machinery Co. Ltd., Solar Turbines, Solar Turbines, Solar Turbines (Beijing) Trading Services Co. Ltd., Solar Turbines (Thailand) Ltd., Solar Turbines CIS Limited Liability Company, Solar Turbines Canada Ltd./Ltee., Solar Turbines Central Asia Limited Liability Partnership, Solar Turbines EAME s.r.o., Solar Turbines Egypt Limited Liability Company, Solar Turbines Europe S.A., Solar Turbines India Private Limited, Solar Turbines International Company, Solar Turbines Italy S.R.L., Solar Turbines Malaysia Sdn Bhd, Solar Turbines Middle East Limited, Solar Turbines New Zealand Limited, Solar Turbines Saudi Arabia Limited, Solar Turbines Services Company, Solar Turbines Services Nigeria Limited, Solar Turbines Services of Argentina S.R.L., Solar Turbines Switzerland Sagl, Solar Turbines Trinidad & Tobago Limited, Solar Turbines West-Africa SARL, Tangshan DBT Machinery Co. Ltd., Tecnologia Modificada S.A. de C.V., Towmotor Corporation, Traction & Mining Motor Repairs Pty Ltd, Turbinas Solar S.A. de C.V., Turbinas Solar de Colombia S.A., Turbinas Solar de Venezuela C.A., Turbo Tecnologia de Reparaciones S.A. de C.V., Turbomach, Turbomach Endustriyel Gaz Turbinleri Sanayi Ve Ticaret Limited, Turbomach France SARL, Turbomach GmbH, Turbomach Netherlands B.V., Turbomach Pakistan (Private) Limited, Turbomach S.A. Unipersonal, Turbomach Sp. Z o.o., Turner Powertrain Systems Limited, UK Hose Assembly Limited, Underground Imaging Technologies Inc, United Industries LLC, VALA Inc., Vasky Energy Ltd., Wealdstone Engineering, Weir - Oil & Gas Division, West Virginia Auto Shredding Inc., Western Gear Machinery LLC, Wetland Sustainability Fund I LLC, Williams Technologies, Yard Club, Zhengzhou Siwei Mechanical and Electrical Equipment Sales Co. Ltd., and okyo Rental Ltd.. Read More NextEra Energy, Inc. is the largest electric utility holding company in the US. It operates a network of power generation and distribution facilities that include fossil-fuel-generated and green energy. As of mid-2022, the company was capable of generating 58 GW of electricity with nearly 60% of the load produced by green sources including wind and solar. In their view, going green isnt an option, its the solution. NextEra Energy has been recognized multiple times as a leader in clean energy and ESG practices and was ranked the #1 electric and gas utility on the Forbes list of Most Admired Companies. The company is the result of several mergers that begin with FPL Group. FPL Group is now a subsidiary of NextEra Energy and the third-largest provider of electricity in the US servicing nearly half of Florida. FPL and its affiliates are the single largest provider of renewable energy generated from wind and sun. The group changed its name in 2010 following a decision to shift focus onto renewable energy sources. Today, NextEra Energy, Inc through its subsidiary FPL serves about 12 million people in eastern and southwestern Florida. The company employs nearly 14,900 people who service 5.8 million accounts. The company is in business to generate, transmit, and distribute electricity to retail and wholesale clients. Electricity is generated through wind, solar, nuclear, natural gas, and coal-fired facilities. The company is also engaged in the construction and operation of new facilities, specifically renewable power generation, storage, and delivery facilities, and can offer custom solutions tailored to any need. Offerings include tailored services to assist businesses with their transition to clean energy. NextEra Energy also owns and operates 7 nuclear power stations in Florida, New Hampshire, and Wisconsin generating power for the wholesale market. Unlike other companies that are targeting net-zero emissions, NextEra Energy has a plan to reach real zero and is investing heavily to reach that goal by 2045. The company had invested nearly $50 billion in green energy infrastructure and initiatives by mid-2022. The plan is to first work on reducing its own emissions and then take its knowledge and expertise to the world. American Midstream Partners, LP provides midstream infrastructure that links the producers of natural gas, crude oil, natural gas liquids (NGLs), condensate, and specialty chemicals to various intermediate and end-use markets in the United States and Mexico. Its Gas Gathering and Processing Services segment offers services to producers of natural gas and crude oil, including transporting raw natural gas and crude oil from various receipt points through gathering systems, treating the raw natural gas, processing raw natural gas to separate the NGLs from the natural gas, fractionating NGLs, and selling or delivering pipeline-quality natural gas and NGLs. The company's Liquid Pipelines and Services segment transports, purchases, and sells crude oil. Its Natural Gas Transportation Services segment transports and delivers natural gas from producing wells, receipt points, or pipeline interconnects for shippers, local distribution companies, and utilities, as well as industrial, commercial, and power generation customers. The company's Offshore Pipelines and Services segment gathers and transports natural gas from receipt points to other pipeline interconnects, onshore facilities, and other delivery points. Its Terminalling Services segment provides petroleum products, distillates, chemicals, and agricultural products storage services at its marine terminals for commodity brokers, refiners, and chemical manufacturers. As of May 10, 2018, the company owned approximately 5,100 miles of interstate and intrastate pipelines; gas processing plants and fractionation facilities; an offshore semisubmersible floating production system with nameplate processing capacity of 90 thousand barrels per day of crude oil and 220 million cubic feet per day of natural gas; and terminal sites with approximately 6.7 million barrels of storage capacity. American Midstream GP, LLC serves as the general partner of the company. The company was founded in 2009 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas. S&P 500 3,719.89 DOW 32,001.25 QQQ 260.49 Harnessing Neuroplasticity Allows You to Actually Change the Way You Think. Here's How. These 5 Microcap Stocks (Ad) eBay or Etsy: Which Is The Better Buy? Paypal Shows Promise With Strong Buy Rating The Safest Option in Trades! (Ad) Energy Transfer Raises Guidance, But Stock Lower On Revenue Miss Papa Johns Falls Flat On Earnings, Shares Set To Rise The Safest Option in Trades! (Ad) Bank of England makes biggest interest rate hike in 30 years Mid-Caps CommScope, Dycom Outperform Broader Telecom Industry S&P 500 3,719.89 DOW 32,001.25 QQQ 260.49 Harnessing Neuroplasticity Allows You to Actually Change the Way You Think. Here's How. These 5 Microcap Stocks (Ad) eBay or Etsy: Which Is The Better Buy? Paypal Shows Promise With Strong Buy Rating The Safest Option in Trades! (Ad) Energy Transfer Raises Guidance, But Stock Lower On Revenue Miss Papa Johns Falls Flat On Earnings, Shares Set To Rise The Safest Option in Trades! (Ad) Bank of England makes biggest interest rate hike in 30 years Mid-Caps CommScope, Dycom Outperform Broader Telecom Industry S&P 500 3,719.89 DOW 32,001.25 QQQ 260.49 Harnessing Neuroplasticity Allows You to Actually Change the Way You Think. Here's How. These 5 Microcap Stocks (Ad) eBay or Etsy: Which Is The Better Buy? Paypal Shows Promise With Strong Buy Rating The Safest Option in Trades! (Ad) Energy Transfer Raises Guidance, But Stock Lower On Revenue Miss Papa Johns Falls Flat On Earnings, Shares Set To Rise The Safest Option in Trades! (Ad) Bank of England makes biggest interest rate hike in 30 years Mid-Caps CommScope, Dycom Outperform Broader Telecom Industry No Ukrainian soldiers were killed, but two servicemen were wounded in the ATO area in eastern Ukraine in last day. Ukrainian Defense Ministry's Spokesperson for ATO Colonel Oleksandr Motuzianyk said this at a press briefing in Kyiv, an Ukrinform correspondent reports. "No Ukrainian soldiers were killed, but two servicemen were wounded as a result of military hostilities in Donbas in last day," Motuzianyk said. ol The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry is outraged by the statement made by Marine Le Pen, the National Front's presidential candidate, that the annexation of Crimea was not illegal. This has been said in a statement by the Foreign Ministry on Facebook. "Ukraine's Foreign Ministry expresses its indignation at the fact that Marine Le Pen, the National Front's presidential candidate, stated that the annexation of the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea by Russia was "not illegal"," the Foreign Ministry said. The Ministry recalled that annexation had been condemned by all civilized countries of the world, and France together with other partners in the Group of Seven and the European Union imposed sanctions against Russia. ish 2016 was a hit and miss year for WWE's new focus on cruiserweight wrestling, one one hand you had the CWC which was arguably the best thing the company did last year, on the other is how the cruiserweights have been handled since then, barely getting TV time and feeling very disjointed on Raw. However, in the early outset of 205 Live, there has been some promising signs for the high flying wrestlers, with storylines now being told and characters starting to burst out of the performers the future is looking bright. Tajiri - Sean Maluta The first episode of the year kicked off with the 205 Live debut of WWE legend, Tajiri, who faced a former CWC competitor who has also been used occasionally in NXT, Sean Maluta. The Japanese Buzzsaw took control early on, only for the younger Maluta to use his strength to get back into the match with some sharp shots. Maluta was caught out and locked in the tarantula by Tajiri who then unloaded a series of sharp kicks and a back spring back elbow before a huge kick to the head to pick up a comfortable victory on his return to WWE. Tajiri returned to WWE. Photo- WWE.com Analysis: It was good to see Tajiri back in the WWE, the division can use people like him with name recognition and experience to help the younger talent develop, the result was always going to be this way to establish him as a threat early on. Following the victory another of 205 Live's more experienced wrestlers, The Brian Kendrick made his way to the ring to welcome back Tajiri. Kendrick got into the ring, stating how good it was to see him and he went to shake his hand only to receive the classic green mist to the face. Analysis: Great to see the mist back, putting these two together for a short feud could be a fun nostalgic moment. Jack Gallagher - Tony Nese w.Drew Gulak Jack Gallagher spent the early moments using his trickery to escape several submission holds which proved to frustrate Tony Nese who began to show a more aggressive side, which Gallagher also had counters for. After a dropkick sent Nese to the outside it would be Ariya Daivari who ambushed Gallagher and brought an end to the match as he beat down his rival. Daivari attacked his rival. Photo- WWE.com Analysis: This was more of an angle than it was a match but it was effective nonetheless. The feud between Daivari and Gallagher has been brewing nicely and is an example of what 205 Live has been doing well and this was a way for the heel to get some heat back following last week's duel. Noam Dar - Mustafa Ali After a brief backstage segment where Cedric Alexander told Alicia Fox to be more careful at ringside during his matches, his love rival Noam Dar was out for action against Mustafa Ali. After a back and forth start a spinning heel kick to the nose of Dar put Ali in the driving seat as the match spilled to the outside where Ali would hit a huge forearm. However, after trying to get back into the ring the younger Dar would take advantage with a dropkick and then began to work on his opponents arm with Ali hitting a tornado DDT to get a break, a move which would also take a great deal out of his own arm. Ali dove through the ropes and rolled into a neck breaker in what was a very impressive move, but Ali was caught out when diving to try take out Dar again and was locked into an armbar which he managed to escape. A huge kick by Ali followed by an inverted 450 splash allowed the babyface to pick up the victory after a competitive match. Analysis: That was a fun back and forth match which highlighted both guys talents, another victory for Ali who makes it two in a row as he begins to climb up the ranks of the division. Neville - TJ Perkins The main event saw the Jacksonville crowd wake up from their slumber as two of the division's biggest names, Neville and TJ Perkins clashed. After both men took some time getting a feel for the match the former Cruiserweight Champion used his speed and agility to take advantage, sending Neville outside the ring to regroup. The Englishmen suckered Perkins in and began to show his aggression and power before hitting a dropkick from the top rope. After missing a twisting 450 splash an opening was provided for Perkins who began hitting some fast strikes before sending Neville to the outside and hitting a corkscrew. Perkins then went to the top rope and hit a diving crossbody which wasn't enough to get the job done and neither was an incredible springboard frankensteiner, showing the strength that Neville has. Perkins then aimed for the knee bar but was caught by an incredible feat of strength as Neville countered it into a suplex, showing just how easily he can dominate this division with his power. Up on the top turnbuckle both men traded sharp kicks but it would be Neville who got the best of the situation, eventually hitting the superplex to pick up the victory and continue his winning streak. Neville's strength was on display. Photo- WWE.com Analysis: A very good main event match between two of the very best athletes on 205 Live, the way Neville is being booked is exactly what he and the division needed, but it was also an impressive showing from Perkins who is much better in this more serious role than his forced gaming character. Another victory for Neville continues to push him as the dominant force on the roster and whilst this wasn't quite on the level as his match last week against Rich Swann it was the standout on the show. Star of the night: Neville- His stock continues to rise as he shows why he should have been placed in this division from the start, he adds the star power that is needed and has the talent to back it up, another great showing from the former NXT Champion. Rating: 6.5/10- It was a solid episode of 205 Live with plenty of storyline progression which shows that if they are given the time the can make something work with this division. There was a couple of fun matches, particularly between Dar and Ali and the main event but once again the show is hurt by the live crowd who are simply worn out after sitting through an episode of SmackDown Live (especially this week's impressive show.) The cruiserweights would be boosted by being placed before the blue brand whilst the crowd is fresh as having more reactions during the show would make everything seem more important, however, there is no doubt WWE is moving in the right direction with this and it was a fun show to watch. Support us - Help us upgrade our services! Maintaining our website and our free apps does require, however, considerable time and resources. We're aiming to achieve uninterrupted service wherever an earthquake or volcano eruption unfolds, and your donations can make it happen! Every donation will be highly appreciated. Improved multilanguage support Tsunami alerts Faster responsiveness Design upgrade Detailed quake stats Additional seismic data sources Download and Upgrade the Volcanoes & Earthquakes app to get one of the fastest seismic and volcano alerts online: Android | IOS to get one of the fastest seismic and volcano alerts online: We truly love working to bring you the latest volcano and earthquake data from around the world.We need financing to increase hard- and software capacity as well as support our editor team.If you find the information useful and would like to support our team in integrating further features, write great content, and in upgrading our soft- and hardware, please PayPal or Online credit card payment )., these features have been added recently: "Portlandia" (IFC at 10) Carrie Brownstein and Fred Armisen (along with a slew of celebrity guest stars) return for Season 7 of their quirky sketch comedy series. (Augusta Quirk/IFC) The Great American Baking Show (ABC at 8) The bakers tackle French pastries in the semifinals. Superstore (NBC at 8) Amy gets an unexpected cash windfall when the Cloud 9 staffers clean out the stores lost and found bin. Hells Kitchen (Fox at 8) Gordon Ramsay announces an unexpected challenge as the show moves to a new time slot. The Big Bang Theory (CBS at 8) Sheldon and Amy tell Leonard and Penny about their awful Texas trip. Chicago Med (NBC at 9) The hospital treats two badly injured mixed-martial-arts fighters. The Blacklist (NBC at 10) Red cashes in a favor as an investigation tests the loyalties of the task force. Premieres Ghosts in the Hood (We TV at 10) A Compton-based ghost hunting team chronicles its investigations into the paranormal in this goofy docuseries. Documentary Truth and Lies: The Menendez Brothers American Sons, American Murderers (ABC at 9) This two-hour special examines the shocking 1989 Beverly Hills double homicide that culminated with Lyle and Erik Menendez being convicted of murdering their parents. The documentary includes an interview with Lyle Menendez. Returning Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee (Crackle streaming) Season 9 finds Jerry Seinfeld hitting the road with Cedric the Entertainer, Christoph Waltz, Kristen Wiig, Lewis Black, Bob Einstein and Norm Macdonald. Nashville (CMT at 9) After a sneak peek last month, Season 5 makes its official two-hour premiere on the shows new network. L.A. Hair (We TV at 9) Season 5. Late Night Colbert (CBS at 11:35) Adam Driver, Alexa Davalos, Whitney. Kimmel (ABC at 11:35) Emma Stone, Joel Edgerton. Corden (CBS at 12:37) Jamie Foxx, Kirsten Dunst, Zoe Saldana. Something that lawmakers already thought was a crime in the District may soon be: tampering with a GPS monitoring device. For more than two years, high-risk offenders who cut off or disabled monitoring devices could not always be charged with doing so. The Washington Post exposed the loophole last year in a series of stories about leniency, lax oversight and little rehabilitation for the citys most violent repeat offenders. The breakdown in GPS monitoring was rooted in the Districts unique local-federal split in its criminal justice system. The federal agency that watches offenders the Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency, or CSOSA had been using GPS for a decade as a sanction for offenders who violate terms of parole or probation. But cutting off the devices it installed was never clearly made a crime. The problem became obvious to CSOSA and federal prosecutors in 2014, when an appeals court sided with a convicted robber who was on parole, overturning his conviction for removing a CSOSA-ordered GPS device. Bowser addresses reporters after signing the bill. (Bill O'Leary/Washington Post) D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser and members of the D.C. Council, which have no authority over supervision of offenders in the city, said they had been unaware of the problem until they read the Post series. Bowser (D) introduced an emergency bill in September to make tampering with any GPS device in the city a misdemeanor no matter who installed it punishable by up to six months in jail. Last month, the council backed the measure unanimously. At a bill signing ceremony Wednesday, Bowser said that the roughly 1,700 offenders whom CSOSA monitors electronically each year need to earn second chances to remain in the community by strictly complying with terms of their release. What it means to be out on GPS is that you otherwise would be in jail in most cases, Bowser said, and in exchange for being able to come back to the community earlier, you have to comply . . . and will be held accountable. Channing D. Phillips, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, said the bill restores the citys ability to use GPS monitoring as a deterrent to criminal behavior and as an alternative to incarceration. The new penalty for tampering will take effect after a month-long congressional review, but the law could also face a court challenge. The citys federally funded public defender service, as well as the local branch of the American Civil Liberties Union, have both blasted Bowsers bill as unconstitutional. Judge Lynn Leibovitz, left, and Nancy Ware, director of the Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency, during a panel on criminal justice on Nov. 1. (Bill O'Leary/The Washington Post) They say it will create a system in which CSOSA, an independent, executive-branch agency and one without law enforcement powers will decide the intrusive condition of electronic monitoring with no due-process protections. Bowser said the city was undeterred by the prospect of legal challenges. Well see them in court, the mayor said of critics. She also referenced the citys judges on the D.C. Superior Court, who are appointed by the president, saying they too need to help administer justice when it comes to strict supervision of offenders. We expect the judges to render penalties as it relates to the tampering of these devices, Bowser said. In pushing for the new law, the mayor had specifically cited a rape case The Post detailed last year. In that 2015 case, Antwon Pitt, a violent felon with a long record of sexual misconduct while in prison, was found at a downtown D.C. library with a disabled GPS monitoring device and a substance that appeared to be synthetic marijuana. But a judge allowed Pitt to remain free, and Pitt raped and beat a college professor in her Hill East home days later. [How an accused rapist kept getting second chances from the D.C. justice system] Separately, The Post reported in its series that CSOSA acknowledged losing track of offenders it classifies as high-risk about 150 times last year. The agency also does not automatically share details about its offenders absences with D.C. police, as many similar state or local agencies do with police in their jurisdictions, criminal justice experts say. Another gap in the Districts GPS monitoring program has come under intense scrutiny after Tricia McCauley, a local actress and yoga instructor, was found killed shortly after Christmas. Adrian Johnson, 29, charged in McCauleys killing, had been released on a theft charge pending trial and ordered to submit to GPS monitoring. But Johnson did not come to an appointment days before the killing to have the bracelet attached. Court records do not make clear whether an independent agency within CSOSA the Pretrial Services Agency reported to a judge that Johnson had failed to show up. Bowser stressed that the bill creating new penalties for tampering had been written before McCauley and was unrelated to the very significant gap regarding offenders who simply never get the required devices. The mayor said the city wants to work with CSOSA and PSA to create a plan for how offenders can be fitted with GPS devices at the D.C. Jail before they are released. Nancy Ware, director of CSOSA, defended her agency and the work she said she has done to improve coordination with D.C. police. Any system, in any state in the United States, we all have things that we work on together, and the District is no different, Ware told reporters after the bill signing Wednesday. She pointed to a drop in violent crime and homicides in the District from 2015 to 2016 as evidence the system is working, even as homicides remain up nearly 30 percent from the previous five years. Were doing pretty well in the District of Columbia, Ware said. 2015 was an anomaly and 2016 is definitely an improvement, and that is because we are all working together well. Bowser framed it differently. She said she would like to see more local control of the citys criminal justice system, and would talk with the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump to try to improve coordination between local and federal law enforcement agencies in the District. Certainly, we regard public safety for Washington, D.C., as a local responsibility and we look for ways for more local influence, Bowser said. We will, in our discussions with the new administration make sure they know what their responsibilities are and make a better connection between how local residents feel and how the federal agencies respond. The U.S. Capitol building during preparations for U.S. President Barack Obama's second inauguration on Jan. 20, 2013 in Washington, D.C. A historically black college is taking heat because its band is planning to take part in the parade for President-elect Donald Trumps inauguration. (John Moore/Getty Images) A historically black colleges decision to have its marching band participate in President-elect Donald Trumps inauguration parade on Jan. 20 is coming under fire from some of the schools alumni and students and from Trump opponents across the country. In the days since the Talladega College Marching Tornado Band announced that it would take part in the parade, it has been hammered on Facebook and social media by critics who have called on the 150-year-old Alabama school to cancel its appearance in the parade. No other bands from historically black colleges will be marching through Washington on the day Trump is sworn in. My first reaction was Oh, hell no. Thats just wrong on so many levels, said Shirley Ferrill, a 1974 Talladega graduate who set up a online petition asking the school to change its decision. Ferrill said she thinks that the Trump administration will be detrimental to African Americans, and she said many of her friends and classmates feel similarly. [Trumps inaugural committee launches website and social-media accounts] To perform at the inaugural smacks of some level of support for Trump, Ferrill said. The man has been consistently nasty and vile to African Americans in general. I find him totally reprehensible. I believe there is saving grace for every human being, but he hasnt shown that he wants to seek it. If the band does choose to go ahead with its plans to perform, Ferrill says she will be very disappointed and upset. The parade, which is expected to last about three hours and will include approximately 8,000 participants representing more than 40 organizations, is slated to begin on Pennsylvania Avenue NW near the Capitol and will head west toward the White House. There, Trump and his family and guests and dignitaries will look on from a viewing stand. Although most of the online reaction to the schools decision has been negative, others have said the 200-member band should take part in the historic day. Dollan Young, a senior who is a member of the band, started a separate online petition to garner support for the bands performance. We believe that this parade is not about politics its about seeing first hand the process of a transition, Young wrote. We are not one-track thinkers and believe everyone is entitled to [their] own beliefs. As with all other participants, the Talladega College marching band applied to take part in the inaugural parade, according to a spokesman with the Presidential Inaugural Committee. It is unclear, however, whether the school will require all band members to participate. The schools president, Billy C. Hawkins, did not respond to requests for comment. Attempts to reach Board of Trustees Chairman Harry Coaxum and the marching bands director were unsuccessful. Founded by former slaves during Reconstruction, the school of 1,500 students is one of a number of historically black colleges that opened its doors shortly after the end of the Civil War. At least two other colleges that are sending bands to the inauguration Marist College in New York and Olivet Nazarene University in Illinois also are facing criticism on social media from students and alumni for taking part in the event. A caricature of Edgar Allan Poe by artist Mike Caplanis, whose series Homage: Respectful Ridicule as Art opens Friday at Artists & Makers Studios 2. (Mike Caplanis) THU 05 La Vie en Bleu and Crossfade A reception for the blue-themed 26th annual juried exhibition and an abstract group show of emerging Baltimore artists will be held at 7 p.m. The shows officially open Saturday. Through Feb. 19. Mansion at Strathmore, 10701 Rockville Pike, North Bethesda. 301-581-5100. www.strathmore.org. Free. FRI 06 Blue Imagination Stage presents a show for ages 1 to 5 in which Inky and Pale, inhabitants of a blue world, discover red. Friday at 11:45 a.m., Saturday and Sunday at 10 and 11:15 a.m. Through Feb. 12. Imagination Stage, 4908 Auburn Ave., Bethesda. 301-280-1660. www.imaginationstage.org. $14. Twelve Angry Men Sandy Spring Theatre Group performs Reginald Roses drama about a jury deliberating a murder trial. Recommended for age 12 and older. Opens Friday at 8 p.m., continues Saturday at 8 p.m., Sunday at 2 p.m. Through Jan. 22. Arts Barn, 311 Kent Square Rd., Gaithersburg. 301-258-6394. wapo.st/artsbarn. $20, age 14 and younger $12. Dreams and Recollections Four Alexandria artists Jenny Davis, Tanya Davis, Rachel Kerwin and Marilynn Spindler present works with fluid textures, rich colors and a dreamlike quality. Opening reception 6-9 p.m. Through Jan. 25. Artists & Makers Studios, Suite 210, 11810 Parklawn Dr., Rockville. 240-437-9573. www.artistsandmakersstudios.com. Free. New at Artists & Makers 2 Mike Caplaniss caricature exhibition, Homage: Respectful Ridicule as Art; Nigerian sculptor Maduka Uduhs first U.S. exhibition, Life I Knew, Life Anew; and Small Works by representational artists open Friday with a reception at 6 p.m. Through Jan. 25. Artists & Makers Studios 2, 12276 and 12280 Wilkins Ave., Rockville. 240-437-9573. www.artistsandmakersstudios.com. Free. Vanishing B.D. Richardsons exhibition of black-and-white photos depicting rural scenes with intense skies closes Friday. Montgomery College, Morris & Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation Arts Center, Open Gallery, 930 King St., Silver Spring. 240-567-5821. www.montgomerycollege.edu/schoolofart anddesign. Free. SAT 07 Kids Pajama Jam Party The five-piece band Jazzy Ash & the Leaping Lizards perform childrens music with a New Orleans flair. 10:30 a.m. Amp by Strathmore, 11810 Grand Park Ave., North Bethesda. 301-581-5100. www.ampbystrathmore.com. $12, age 1 and younger free. Alexander Paley The internationally acclaimed concert pianist returns for his annual concert in the D.C. area with a program of Mendelssohn, Brahms and Liszt presented by the Washington Conservatory of Music. 8 p.m. Westmoreland Congregational United Church of Christ, 1 Westmoreland Cir., Bethesda. 301-320-2770. www.washingtonconservatory.org. Free. Baltimore Symphony Orchestra Russian conductor Dima Slobodeniouk directs Tchaikovskys Pathetique (Symphony No. 6) and Beethovens Piano Concerto No. 4, featuring British pianist Paul Lewis. 8 p.m. Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda. 877-276-1444. www.bsomusic.org. $35-$101. The Holiday Show Gallery artists exhibit new ceramics, jewelry, paintings, photographs, prints and sculptures. Through Saturday. Waverly Street Gallery, 4600 East-West Hwy., Bethesda. 301-951-9441. www.waverlystreetgallery.com. Free. SUN 08 Closing at Glen Echo Michele Bankss painting exhibition of scientific images, Hidden Worlds, and the Holiday Art Show, spanning two galleries, close Sunday. Glen Echo Park, 7300 MacArthur Blvd., Glen Echo. 301-634-2222. www.glenechopark.org. Free. Closing at VisArts Milana Braslavskys The Uninvited photo exhibition of contemporary still life, Tracy Featherstones Fantastical Landscape installation and a VisArts faculty group exhibition close Sunday. VisArts at Rockville, 155 Gibbs St., Rockville. 301-315-8200. www.visartsatrockville.org. Free. MON 09 Photography exhibition A group show of 20 photographers includes traditional and digital prints. Opens Monday. Through Feb. 4. Friendship Heights Village Center, 4433 S. Park Ave., Chevy Chase Village. 301-656-2797. www.friendshipheightsmd.gov. Free. TUE 10 Breaking Benjamin The rock band from Wilkes-Barre, Pa., debuted at No. 1 on Billboards Top 200 list with its new album, Dark Before Dawn. With Wilson. 8 p.m. The Fillmore, 8656 Colesville Rd., Silver Spring. 301-960-9999. www.fillmoresilverspring.com. $43. Two for the Road Color photos by Kate Stillwell and black-and-white photos by Wil Scott offer artistic interpretations of people, places and events. Opens Tuesday. Through Feb. 4. Waverly Street Gallery, 4600 East-West Hwy., Bethesda. 301-951-9441. www.waverlystreetgallery.com. Free. WED 11 CL Smooth The rapper, of the duo Pete Rock & CL Smooth, performs unplugged. 8 p.m. Bethesda Blues & Jazz Supper Club, 7719 Wisconsin Ave., Bethesda. 240-330-4500. www.bbjlive.com. $45. Local Color The exhibition of paintings by the Seven Palettes Sara Becker, Nancy Brown Butler, Helen Gallagher, Caroline Orrick, Ann Rossilli, Penny Smith and Maureen Ward continues. Through Jan. 28. Gallery B, 7700 Wisconsin Ave., Suite E, Bethesda. 301-215-7990. wapo.st/bethesdagalleryb. Free. THE DISTRICT Man found dead on downtown park bench The body of a man was found on a bench in Franklin Square park in downtown Washington on Monday, D.C. police said. A police spokesman said the death appeared to be the result of natural causes, not homicide. The man was identified as Joseph Emanuel Watkins, 54. The park at Franklin Square, between I and K streets NW and 13th and 14th streets NW, is frequented by the homeless. Keith L. Alexander MARYLAND Policy on sex-assault kits recommended Marylands attorney general is recommending that the state create a uniform policy for when sexual-assault kits must be tested. The attorney generals office released a report on untested sexual-assault evidence kits Tuesday, based on data collected by the Governors Office of Crime Control and Prevention. Of 135 agencies, 102 responded to show there were about 3,700 untested kits statewide. The report found that more than 90 percent of the untested kits were in the custody of 13 of the 102 responding agencies. The report says the survey results do not show much about the effectiveness of the testing protocols, because each jurisdiction sets its own policy for retaining untested kits. Associated Press Judge accused of disrespectful conduct The Maryland panel that oversees judges conduct has moved to discipline a longtime Baltimore judge on accusations of inappropriate behavior on the bench. Judge Alfred J. Nance, 68, currently the chief judge for Baltimore, was charged by the Commission on Judicial Disabilities in relation to a series of persistently disrespectful and unprofessional interactions with a public defender, Deborah K. Levi. The commission cited four cases in documents made public Tuesday. In one, a murder case, Nance mocked and scolded Levi before threatening to throw her in jail and ordering a mistrial, saying he thought she was so ineffective that jurors would hold it against her client. Nance also routinely directed his ire at jurors, litigants, attorneys, defendants, witnesses, law enforcement personnel, and other persons present in the courtroom, the commission said. Nance, who declined comment through an attorney, denied in a response to the commission that he violated the Maryland Code of Judicial Conduct and has asked for the charges to be dismissed. A public hearing will be set, and the commission will decide whether Nance has engaged in sanctionable conduct. Baltimore Sun VIRGINIA Homicides up in Richmond in 2016 The deadliest year in a decade in Virginias capital city has its residents looking for ways to reduce the violence. More than 60 people were killed in Richmond in 2016, up about 50 percent from 2015. Homicides are at their highest level since 2006. The killings remain well below the more than 100 per year that plagued the city throughout much of the 1990s. Associated Press Montgomery county These cases were received by the Montgomery County Animal Services Division. For information, call 240-773-5900. This number provides recorded information on topics such as the new animal services and adoption centers hours and location in Derwood, adoption and licensing procedures, and lost-and-found and field services. Rockville Sparring: Drake Dr., 13700 block, Dec. 19. A dog owner reported that while she was getting her mixed-breed dog out of a car, two German shepherds got loose from their dog walker and attacked the mixed breed. While the owner of the mixed breed either fell or was knocked down during the melee, the dog walker managed to regain control of the two shepherds. Neither the mixed breed nor its owner was injured. The owner of the mixed breed declined to fill out an affidavit that would have resulted in at large and unwanted contact citations being issued. Derwood Unleashed: Roslyn Ave., 7000 block, Dec. 22. A man was in his back yard walking his mixed-breed dog when two loose pit bulls charged from the townhouse community adjacent his home and attacked the owner and the mixed breed. The man suffered bite wounds to his ear and reported that both dogs were wearing leashes but no owner was seen. The dogs chased the man, continued jumping on him and tried to attack his dog, but the man made it safely inside his home. Animal services canvassed the neighborhood and located the owner of the two pit bulls, who explained that the dogs bolted outside as she was getting ready to walk them. The owner of the mixed breed received medical treatment for the bite wound. His dog was unharmed. The owner of the pit bulls received at large and unwanted contact citations, $100 and $500 fines, respectively. The dogs were placed under a 10-day home quarantine. Cats at no-kill shelter Cats and kittens will be available for adoption through the Animal Welfare League of Montgomery Countys no-kill shelter at the following location. For information, call 301-740-2511 or visit awlmc.org. Animal Welfare League of Montgomery County no-kill shelter, 12 Park Ave., Gaithersburg. Hours: 6 to 8 p.m. Friday, noon to 3 p.m. Saturday, 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday. Humane Society adoptions The Montgomery County Humane Societys private rescue shelter has dogs, puppies, cats and kittens available for adoption. Call 240-252-2555 or visit mchumane.org. MCHS Adoptions and Education Center, 601 S. Stonestreet Ave., Rockville. Hours: 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, except holidays. Reduced FEES FOR CATS Cats and kittens will be available for adoption at the next open house of Friends of Montgomery County Animals at the following location. Call 301-977-4833 or visit fmca.org or facebook.com/fmcainfo. PetSmart at Milestone Center, 20924 Frederick Rd., Germantown. Hours: 2 to 5 p.m. Saturday. Compiled by Lisa M. Bolton Body camera video from a D.C. police officer who fatally shot a man during a domestic dispute on Christmas Day in Northeast Washington shows the man clutching a knife in his right hand as he advances toward the officer. D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) ordered the public release of the videos from two responding officers cameras after relatives of the man who was killed questioned the police account and disputed that the victim, Gerald Hall, 29, had been armed. The confrontation at a back entrance of a house in the 3200 block of Walnut Street NE took seconds. D.C. officials froze frames of the footage to show an 8-inch knife, visible at two different points during the incident, in the mans right hand. To me its very clear Mr. Hall has a knife, said Kevin Donahue, the deputy mayor for public safety who showed the video to reporters Wednesday. Its very clear it is being held in an aggressive manner. Its very clear that the officer who arrived on scene states in a loud voice three times for that individual to drop the knife. Donahue said that this is a case that shows why we have body cameras on officers, to be able to address questions that are raised in good conscience by members of the public when a police shooting happens. . . . The officer had to make a decision in less than a second. Gerald Hall, 29, was fatally shot by D.C. police on Christmas. (Family photo) But Halls mother, Kita McCain, said she watched the video and did not see a knife. The police were nowhere near him to get stabbed, she said. They were on the steps. Halls sister, Riquita McCain, said the family is going to continue disputing the police account. D.C. police last month fully equipped the remainder of its patrol officers with body cameras, completing a $5.1 million effort that started in 2014 as a pilot program. But only a small amount of body camera video has been released to the public, shielded in most cases because it is considered evidence in open investigations. The mayor can make exceptions for a release, as she did in this case, if she deems the video in the public interest. Bowser said she consulted with the U.S. attorneys office before releasing the video in Halls case. We want to release as much information out to the public as quickly as we can get it out, she said. It is clear in the video what our officer encountered . . . and we want to make sure the members of the public see that. Since 2015, D.C. police have released video showing private security guards restraining a man who later died and video of officers fatally shooting an armed man who had refused to put down his gun. In September, a D.C. police officer who fatally shot Terrence Sterling, 31, of Fort Washington, Md., failed to turn on his body camera until after shots were fired. Authorities have said Sterling drove his motorcycle into a cruiser. Police released the body camera video showing officers trying to resuscitate Sterling and, in a departure from policy, identified the officer who fired: Brian Trainer, 27. Police have since tightened the rules on officers using body cameras, requiring them to confirm with dispatchers that they have turned on their body cameras when they respond to a call or interact with citizens. Authorities said events leading to the Christmas Day shooting of Hall began the day before, when he got into an argument with his girlfriend and took the keys to her home without her permission. [Man fatally shot by D.C. police on Christmas Day] Police said Hall then went to the girlfriends home on Walnut Street about 11 a.m. on Dec. 25, using the keys he had taken. Officers were called to the home twice on Christmas, officials said Wednesday. A neighbor complained of a disturbance, and police investigated and said Halls girlfriend confirmed an argument but said there was no violence. An hour later, Donahue said Wednesday, the girlfriends sister and a neighbor called police to report an argument and said the girlfriend had locked herself in the house. Both callers mentioned a knife, though it is unclear whether that information was passed on to the responding officers. A police report says Hall started lighting paper towels on fire and turned on the gas to a stove. [Police update body camera policy after officer fails to turn his on during shooting] The police report says a person in the home took one knife away from Hall but that he then got a second knife and stabbed his girlfriend in the right arm. Body camera footage from the officer who fired shows him rushing across the lawn and ascending exterior stairs to a small second-floor rear landing, enclosed by a railing. Police told a neighbor on the landing who was trying to mediate the dispute to leave, according to the audio on the footage. The girlfriend comes to the door, with Hall standing directly behind her, holding a knife in his right hand, the blade pointed down. The officer tells him three times to drop the weapon. There is a wall immediately behind Hall. Hall pushes his girlfriend out the back door and on to the landing. Police tell her to move. The door swings open and Hall comes forward, the knife still in his right hand. The officer fires his gun and Hall stumbles backward and collapses facedown on a tile floor. One officer rushes to his car to retrieve a medical kit. The officer who fired turns Hall over, cuts open his shirt and compresses the wound to try to stop the bleeding. The husband of a former U.S. embassy official was sentenced Wednesday to 30 months in federal prison after he sexually abused a woman working in State Department housing in Morocco, prosecutors said. Labib Chammas, 65, of McLean, the husband of the former deputy chief of mission in Rabat, forced the woman to massage his genitals and attempted to force her to perform oral sex while living at the State Department residence between 2010 and 2013, the U.S. Attorneys Office for the District of Columbia said in a statement. He threatened to fire the woman, a longtime employee of the household in Moroccos capital, if she didnt comply, the statement said. In October, Chammas pleaded guilty to one count of sexually abusive conduct, and he was sentenced Wednesday to 30 months in prison, according to the statement. He will also have to pay a $15,000 fine and register as a sex offender for 15 years, prosecutors said. Richard A. Schmidt is shown in this passport page from his canceled passport, included in a court filing from his case ( /U.S. District Court) An appeals court on Wednesday reinstated the conviction of a serial child molester from Maryland whose case was held out as a major success of a law to punish sexual predators overseas. The unanimous decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit reverses an earlier ruling and means the former Maryland schoolteacher set to be released from prison this month will have to register as a federal sex offender. In an 11-page ruling, the three-judge panel said Congress intended to give prosecutors more power to pursue U.S. citizens such as Richard A. Schmidt who molest children in foreign countries. It was aimed in part at the ugly American, whose sexual exploits and visitation to sexual guesthouses abroad have helped to stimulate the sex trade in young children, wrote Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III, who was joined by Judges G. Steven Agee and Pamela A. Harris at the Richmond-based court. Schmidt was arrested repeatedly in the 1980s for molesting young boys in Maryland and served more than 12 years in prison. After his release in 2002, he was accused of violating parole and fled to the Philippines and later to Cambodia, according to court records. In Southeast Asia, Schmidt was arrested again for abusing young boys. He was deported to the United States, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison, which he is about to complete. [Conviction of serial child molester at center of appeals case to set him free] Schmidt argued, and a federal judge in Baltimore agreed in 2015, that he did not break U.S. law because the crimes he pleaded guilty to overseas did not happen in the first country he visited after leaving U.S. soil but occurred during his second stop. Schmidts attorney said during appeals court arguments last month that his direct connection to the United States and to prosecutors reach ended after he left the Philippines and that he intended to cut his ties to the United States. The appeals court agreed that prosecutors do not have the authority to go after U.S. citizens with no connection to this country. But the judges concluded that in Schmidts case, he was still traveling from the time he left the United States until the time of his illicit conduct in Cambodia and is, therefore, not actually innocent. In both countries, Schmidt traveled on tourist visas, maintained money in a U.S. bank account and never purchased a home or other property abroad. At all times, he was a visitor in both the Philippines and Cambodia, the court said. Contrary to his protestations of permanency, Schmidt was something of a rolling stone. Even before the 2015 ruling by U.S. District Judge J. Frederick Motz in Baltimore, Schmidt was scheduled to be released Jan. 20, according to federal Bureau of Prisons records. If Motzs ruling had stood, prosecutors were concerned that Schmidt would not have been supervised or registered as a sex offender after his release. The appeals court decision Wednesday ensures that Schmidt will have to register and be subject to a bar on applying for a new passport and having unsupervised contact with children. Authorities are working on a separate track to have Schmidt civilly committed to the custody of a psychiatric facility after a prison evaluation that he is a sexually dangerous person. The civil legal proceeding is pending before a separate panel of judges at the 4th Circuit. Maryland U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein said Wednesday that his office has been so persistent about the case because Schmidt is a repeat sex offender who would pose an extreme danger to children if he were released. Schmidts attorney Mary E. Davis said she will likely seek review of Wednesdays decision by a full panel of the appeals court. A lawyer for President-elect Donald Trumps business holdings told a D.C. judge Tuesday that her client and the celebrity chef Trump is suing for millions of dollars in a breach-of-contract lawsuit are at an impasse and expect to go to trial. During a hearing in D.C. Superior Court, attorney Rebecca Woods said that mediation talks failed last year, and her client, Trump Old Post Office LLC, Trumps Washington hotel property, has been unable to reach an agreement with restaurateur Geoffrey Zakarian. We continue to talk settlements in good faith, but we are at an impasse, Woods told Judge Brian F. Holeman. Zakarians attorney, Deborah Baum, agreed with Woods. Woods added that she did not see a need for another round of formal mediation talks. With that, Holeman scheduled a pretrial conference hearing for May 17. He told both sides that the date could be changed if either side needed more time. If an agreement is not reached, Holeman, not a jury, will hear the case. In an unusual move during the hearing, Holeman left the bench and held separate, private meetings with the attorneys outside the courtroom for about 10 to 12 minutes. Details of those discussions were not disclosed in open court. The Trump-Zakarian legal battle began when the chef backed out of a deal to open a restaurant last fall in Trumps luxury hotel complex in the Old Post Office on Pennsylvania Avenue. Zakarian cited Trumps derogatory public comments about illegal immigrants from Mexico, saying those remarks made it impossible for him to run a successful dining establishment in the Trump property. Trump sued Zakarian for $10 million, basing that figure on expected losses after Zakarians decision to back out. In recent court filings, however, Trumps representatives raised the estimated loss to about $14 million. Next week, just a week before Trump is to be sworn into office, the president-elect is to be deposed in New York in connection with a lawsuit against another famed chef, Jose Andres. Andres also pulled out of Trumps Washington hotel project after Trumps comments about illegal immigrants. The hearing occurred under unusual heightened security for a civil case, even though neither any Trump family member nor Zakarian was present. A few court security officers were stationed inside and immediately outside the courtroom. Another offering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, this one on masculinity, is drawing fire from conservatives as an example of ideological excesses at the school. The target is the Mens Project, a six-week voluntary discussion program that aims to explore masculinity and the problems accompanied by simplified definitions of it, according to a UW Health Service news release. Cultural influences distorting ideas of masculinity include media, hook up culture, alcohol, violence, and pop culture, said another promotional piece posted on UW-Madisons Multicultural Student Center website. Understanding the connections between our experiences and experiences of masculinity and issues in our society can help build stronger communities." State Sen. Steve Nass, R-Whitewater, a long-time critic of the UW and vice-chair of the Committee on Universities and Colleges, on Wednesday said the UW-Madison offering declares war on men. Nass was recently joined by State Rep. David Murphy, R-Greenville, chair of the Assembly Committee on Colleges and Universities, in blasting an African Studies course set to begin later this month called The Problem of Whiteness. Nass and Murphy last month suggested that legislators use their control over funding for the university in the budget-writing process now underway to force UW System schools to reform. Nass repeated that call Wednesday in an email to Republican legislators. Our friends at UW-Madison not happy enough with labeling 'whiteness' as a societal problem, now are attacking another societal ill, Men and their masculinity, Nass said in the email. The supposedly underfunded and overworked administrators at our flagship campus have scrapped together enough dollars to offer a six-week program open only to 'men-identified students.' UW-Madison has become part of a national liberal effort to rid male students of their 'toxic masculinity.'" The offering of such a program reveals how the highly paid leaders at UW-Madison believe that Wisconsin mothers and fathers have done a poor job of raising their boys by trying to instill in them the values and characteristics necessary in becoming a Man, Nass wrote. Will we have the courage to reform the UW System in the 2017-19 biennial budget? he concluded. The term toxic masculinity was sounded in a post a day earlier by The College Fix, which noted that UW-Madison is among many colleges with offerings that seek to purge male students of their so-called toxic masculinity. As UW-Madison spokeswoman Meredith McGlone put it, the Men's Project tries to address the negative way in which typical understandings of masculinity can affect male students. These expectations influence the decisions men make about friendships; spending time outside of class; careers or academic majors; and sexual and romantic relationships. Men are socialized to believe they need to act a certain way to be accepted as masculine or have what it takes to be a man, she told The College Fix. This can lead to self-destructive behaviors that impair their ability to complete their education, McGlone wrote in an email message. Research indicates that young men are less likely to enroll in and graduate from college, less likely to seek help from campus resources and more likely to engage in risky behaviors such as abusing drugs and alcohol. Research also indicates that programs such as the Mens Project can counter these negative trends and support college men in their educational experience. Criticism of the program has been taken up by a number of conservative outlets and includes an essay at the National Review bemoaning the spread of feminist ideas that Nass linked to in his email to colleagues Feminism has infected child-rearing and modern education so thoroughly that legions of parents and teachers are adrift and clueless. They have no idea what to do with their sons, and absent fathers compound the confusion and create yawning cultural voids. Yes, there are some pajama boys out there, the guys who embrace the feminist project (truthfully in part to hook up with feminist women), but there are countless others who reject feminisms version of a 'man box' and are instead adrift in purposeless masculinity, wrote staff writer David French. Another site referred to the program as a continued jihad against what it means to be a man. Nass spokesperson Mike Mikalsen said Wednesday that instead of reprioritizing its spending, UW-Madison is asking for more state money. They continue to believe they can operate as they always have with personalized agendas," Mikalsen said. Most everyone is seated with a paper plate full of chicken or ham rolls when Sam Rasoul takes his spot before the group, ready to start. Sport coat tossed over a chair, in jeans and open-collar dress shirt, Rasoul has an out-of-town polish. But he grew up here in Roanoke. Hes the citys delegate to the Virginia General Assembly, and these three dozen residents have asked for his advice. Theyre part of a grass-roots group looking to fight corruption in politics, an issue they believe should cut across party lines. But most are liberals, and Donald Trumps victory in the presidential election has left them feeling that many of their fellow citizens are alien creatures. They dont even know how to talk with them. So they turned to Rasoul. He made headlines after the election by scolding his own Democratic Party for losing touch with white, rural and working-class voters. Saying it was wrong for Democrats to demonize Trump supporters, Rasoul quit his leadership role within the Assemblys House Democrats to draw attention to the issue. It was brash and, seemingly, presumptuous. Democrats actually did deliver Virginia for Hillary Clinton, the only Southern state to back her. And who the heck is Sam Rasoul, anyway? Del. Sam Rasoul chats with a delivery driver, in Arabic, during a visit to the store his parents used to own in Roanoke. (Jay Westcott for The Washington Post) At 35, hes only been in the General Assembly a little more than two years. But his background is unique. The son of Palestinian immigrants, Rasoul is the lone Muslim in the Virginia legislature. His Roanoke district is so disparate that Rasoul has joined both the Legislative Black Caucus and the Rural Caucus. Like Richmonds new mayor, Levar Stoney, Rasoul is part of a next generation of Democratic politicians in a state where their party has lost control of a legislature it dominated for most of the 20th century. Im a big fan of Sam I think hes terrific. Young leadership, Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) said in an interview. But hes not a fan of his critique. Rasoul seems to be talking more about national party issues than Virginia issues, the governor said. You know we won the state [for Clinton], he said, a little testily. But Rasoul wont back down. As one of just two states to hold gubernatorial elections this year (the other is New Jersey), Virginia presents the first post-Trump test of whether the Democratic Party can reconnect with disaffected voters. Blue parts of Virginia got bluer during the presidential race, and red parts, more red. Urban and suburban areas are separating from vast rural areas. Like everywhere else in America, Democrats and Republicans are pulling apart. The solution, Rasoul says, is something thats always been precious to a Muslim kid growing up in Southwest Virginia: trust. This is the problem with liberals, he tells the Roanoke group. We have all the facts. We have all the figures. We know all the right answers. It doesnt matter. You have to know how to build trust with people. Forged in the melting pot Even within his party, Rasoul is a bit of an outsider. He had failed in earlier runs at Congress and for the mayors job in Roanoke. He won his seat in 2014 during a special election to fill a vacancy, then won reelection last year. Del. Sam Rasoul walks throught the Roanoke convenience store his parents once owned. (Jay Westcott for The Washington Post) His district is drawn to be reliably Democratic, but it has become the frontier the westernmost seat in the House of Delegates that is held by a Democrat. Thanks in part to redistricting, Democrats are vastly outnumbered in the House, 66 to 34, and Republicans control the state Senate, as well. Rasoul lives in a heavily African American section of Roanoke, which has yet to overcome its legacy as one of the most segregated cities in the state. But his district is majority-white, and he seems comfortable in all its strata whether hes greeting a white business executive outside the old Hotel Roanoke, with its full-length portrait of Robert E. Lee in the lobby, or being hailed by hipsters at the downtown Mill Mountain Coffee. I heard you been stirring the pot, a man calls out to Rasoul inside the coffee shop. This is Mike Wilson, 43, a commercial photographer who met Rasoul through the local Chamber of Commerce. Describing himself as a lapsed Republican, Wilson says hes anxious about the countrys deep political divisions. He sees chaos ahead. People like Sam who are just natural world-changers are going to be the ones who are strategic and pragmatic and get us where we need to be, Wilson says. Rasouls family emigrated to the United States from the Palestinian territories at the beginning of the 1970s. The oldest of four siblings, Rasoul was born in Ohio, but his parents had moved to Roanoke by the time he turned 3. His mothers father had opened a convenience store there. As the children of immigrants, you go where the business opportunity is, Rasoul says. The young family lived in a one-bedroom apartment downtown as his father opened a convenience store of his own in a poor, crime-ridden neighborhood called Hurt Park. A stray bullet once hit a soup kettle right in front of his father, Rasoul says; the shops next owner was killed in a robbery. Roanoke had no mosque at the time. Rasouls parents were spiritual but not dogmatic and would pray in the homes of other immigrants in the regions small Muslim community. Thanks to Boy Scouts and friendships, Rasoul spent more time in Baptist churches growing up than around organized Islam. His parents worked hard to fit in. His mother got a college degree and completely shed her accent. His father built deep connections with his customers. One family story holds that his father once recognized a young man who tried to rob the store. While his mother called the police, his father called the robbers parents. Weeks later, his father gave the boy a ride to court and then testified that he was a good kid who made a mistake. This made a deep impression on Rasoul. What kind of experience did this person have my father to be able to see and empathize with someone like that? he says. Its an education in itself. After high school, Rasoul went to Roanoke College, then got an accelerated MBA at Hawaii Pacific University. He came back home, sold medical equipment, opened a couple of video stores, got married. When he got the itch for politics, he turned to Google to figure out how to start a campaign. Lately he and some partners have opened a consulting firm to help businesses with change and leadership issues, but he says its not generating much income yet. He spends more time being a politician. His meeting with the anti-corruption group, for instance, takes three hours on a Sunday night. Walking in others shoes Its not hard to see how his parents drive to fit into their adopted community influenced the way Rasoul thinks about politics, which he lays out for the group in an elaborate presentation with slides, games and lists. For political leaders to be effective, he says, they must register as genuine and connect with people on an emotional level. When Donald Trump said hed restore the coal industry, for instance, it hit some in a visceral way that carries more weight than the literal truth of Trumps words. Rasoul repeats a line from an opinion article that makes his point: Democrats are speaking to the mind, Donald Trump was speaking to the gut, he says, jabbing at his stomach. Regaining that connection involves concepts that Rasoul says carry some risk. One is what he calls radical empathy. Truly understanding someone elses position takes time and can be unpleasant, he says, and you run the risk of appearing to share beliefs you dont embrace. But its important to make the effort. The key is remembering that a person in Appalachia may see the world differently from someone in downtown New York, he says. Neither is wrong, within their own sphere of experience. And to reach a deeper understanding of others, dont view them through the filter of ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation or other characteristics something Rasoul calls bucket thinking. As your resident brown-skinned Arab terrorist-looking guy here in Southwest Virginia, he says, smiling, I want you to forget about that [identity] and speak to me on a values level. In a red-blue context, that means getting past stereotypes about people who support Donald Trump. Some Trump supporters are racist, he says. Some Democrats are, too, he adds. You cant put them all in one bucket. This all strikes a chord with Chris Mac McGowan, 37, who retired from the Army on disability after serving in combat in Afghanistan. The left doesnt speak to rural America, he says. We dont ever speak to them from their perspective. Rasoul nods. White, rural they feel the same economic injustice we feel in the inner city, in Roanoke city, he says. Rocking the boat Rasouls message has caused some chafing at high levels of his party. When he quit his House leadership role and criticized Democrats, it seemed as though he was diminishing the fact that Clinton won the state. More recently, Rasoul announced that hes forming a leadership group to train young politicians and community activists. It is a provocative step, implying that others have failed to do this. McAuliffe pointed out in the interview that all five statewide offices governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general and two U.S. Senate seats are held by Democrats. He conceded that there are economic and cultural issues dividing Virginians, such as jobs, education and the opiate addiction problem. The things Sam talks about I think are great, McAuliffe said. I love when people throw issues up there to talk about. [But] I say let the results speak for themselves. Told of the governors comments, Rasoul smiles. I enjoy working with the governor very much, he says. But when Im one of 34 in the House, out of 100, it doesnt feel like were winning Virginia. In his eyes, the party is one election away from near-irrelevance. If we lose the governors election next year, what do we really have as far as Virginia is concerned? he says. The House, Senate and Executive Mansion would all be Republican. We dont have a firewall, he says. This is the one race that prevents us from having this disastrous legislation we saw in North Carolina. Im proud that we delivered for Hillary Clinton, he says. But we certainly are not bringing all of Virginia along in this conversation. Susan Swecker, chairman of the Virginia Democratic Party, said officials made repeated trips to rural parts of the state throughout the presidential campaign bright-red areas that were never likely to go for Clinton. I have one foot in really, really deep blue and one in really, really deep red, said Swecker, who grew up on a farm in rural Highland County. Did we do very well in those [red] places? No. . . . Maybe we need to listen a little harder. But you know what? As long as Im party chairman were not going to forget about people out there. Inspiring others For all of his confidence, Rasoul has yet to demonstrate that his theories can deliver results. He hasnt been in office long enough to have amassed much of a record. But he did manage to get elected in a place where not many people look like him, and where he faced predictable attacks. The first time he ran [for Congress], he went through some of those lies. There was a lot of, you know, that Muslim group, or hes connected to somebody, or they questioned where he got his money, says Robin Barnhill, 69, a retired health-care worker who is politically active in Roanoke. But he overcame that by being who he is. . . . Theres a lot of faith and trust of Sam broadly in the community. He wont talk of any ambition beyond running for reelection to the House next year. If he has dreams of, say, the state Senate, hell have to work even harder to connect with rural voters in the mountains around Roanoke. For now, he is focused on the city. Grover Price, 36, turned to Rasoul for advice in starting a community service project called the Hope Center last year in Hurt Park, which distributes food and offers job training and social activities. Rasoul counseled him not to depend on donations; he told Price to start a business that could help fund the center. Specifically, a juice and smoothie shop. Rasouls legislative intern helped with the business plan, and in November, Price opened the Cup of Hope Cafe. Now Price has dreams of running for City Council one day, inspired by Rasoul. But also, it turns out, by someone he otherwise disagrees with: Donald Trump. I definitely respect what Trump did. Was I happy that he won? No, Price says. But he came from a place where nobody expected him to be able to do what hes doing. At the end of the day, he gives me hope I might be able to pull off something like that myself. Which is, after all, the kind of connection Rasoul is talking about. Progressive Democrats reasserted control over the Arlington County Board on Tuesday night by electing two of their own to leadership positions and refusing to support a bid by Republican-turned-independent John Vihstadt to become vice chairman. Jay Fisette (D) was unanimously elected board chairman for 2017, the fifth time he has held the position since 2001. Katie Cristol (D), a progressive who just completed her first year in office, was elected vice chairman. Both vowed to stand up for liberal values in Arlington in the wake of the national elections that will likely see a turn to the right. Vihstadt, a fiscal conservative who in 2014 became the first non-Democrat elected to the board in 15 years, blamed his defeat on the corrosive impacts of partisan politics. Outgoing chair Libby Garvey, a Democrat who often allies with Vihstadt, nominated and voted for him for vice chairman, arguing that in this time of deep political division nationally, Arlington needs to model the political art of working with those of differing opinions. But the Arlington board traditionally rotates the top two leadership posts among its members from the majority party, based on seniority in office. Since 1982, when Democrats gained control of the board, the leaders have been Democrats. The previous three years, when Republicans were the majority, the leaders were all Republicans. In this country, in this world, in this county, the majority party assumes the leadership, and thats always been the case in Arlington, Fisette said. Even as a majority of the five-member board voted against Vihstadt, they praised his collegiality and work ethic. Gone was the overt conflict that met Vihstadt in 2014, when now-retired board members fought the newcomers ultimately successful efforts to shut down the Columbia Pike streetcar project. Its been a time of turnover; four new board members have been elected in the past four years, with Fisette the only holdover. He is up for reelection in November, and he said Wednesday he will decide next month whether to run. Vihstadt, a partner in a Washington law firm who has been a community activist for 35 years, quoted an April statement by Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D), who said elected officials should be working to reduce partisan rancor, rather than creating new places for it to flourish. A decade ago, Vihstadt reminded his board colleagues, the nonpartisan but primarily Democratic members of the Arlington School Board twice elected Republican David Foster its vice chairman and chairman. Fisette replied that the school board is by law nonpartisan, but the County Board is not. In an interview Wednesday, Foster said he thought Vihstadt deserved a leadership post on the board. Even if school boards are nonpartisan by law, that doesnt mean county boards have to be partisan, he said. Theres no Democrat or Republican way to improve roads. After the vote, both Vihstadt and Garvey praised Cristol and promised to continue working with the rest of the board. Cristol expressed her esteem for Vihstadt but said the vote was about who speaks for the board and who stands in representation of our values. The fifth board member, Christian Dorsey (D), said both he and Cristol have ambitions for the chairmanship and should have an opportunity to serve as understudies. The chairman primarily serves as the boards public voice and determines when and how issues come before the panel. The vice-chairman essentially stands in for the board chairman when the chair is not available. In a speech after the vote, Fisette said he will focus in 2017 on the need for new facilities, including schools, improvements in the countys economic competitiveness and its housing affordability and staying true to our vision and values. The full remarks of the other board members are available on the countys website. FILE- House Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., saw his plan to gut the Office of Congressional Ethics rise and fall in 19 hours. (Jacquelyn Martin/AP) Rep. Bob Goodlatte saw his plan to gut the Office of Congressional Ethics sail through a closed-door meeting of the Republican caucus Monday night, only to be upended 19 hours later after public outcry and two critical tweets from president-elect Donald J. Trump. Goodlatte, the 13-term Republican congressman from Virginia, declined a request Tuesday to discuss his proposal at the center of an embarrassing day for Republicans, who had hoped to display unity as the 115th Congress convened but instead found themselves caught in chaotic discord over the ethics proposal. (Peter Stevenson/The Washington Post) [ A day of chaos at the Capitol] Goodlattes plan to remake the ethics office, stripping it of its independence and ability to investigate anonymous claims, was applauded by some conservatives. But it was widely panned by Democrats and government watchdogs and, after criticism from Trump, GOP lawmakers backed away from it. A terse statement released by Goodlattes office Tuesday suggests he is sticking by his assertion that his proposed changes would have strengthened due process for lawmakers accused of ethical lapses. Gross misrepresentation by opponents of my amendment, and the media willing to go along with this agenda, resulted in a flurry of misconceptions and unfounded claims about the true purpose of this amendment, he said in a statement. Friends and colleagues say Goodlattes dedication to his beliefs unpopular though they may be have long defined him. As chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, Goodlatte has played a central role in some of the most contentious debates in Congress, from criminal justice and immigration reform to internet sales tax and intellectual property law. Bobs always been powerful. Its just people havent been paying attention, his longtime friend Rep. Morgan Griffith (R-Va.) said. Up to the eve of the election, Goodlatte maintained pressure on FBI Director James Comey to answer questions about Hillary Clintons emails. Goodlatte, the most senior Republican in the Virginia congressional delegation, is known as a serious student of policy in Washington who keeps a close watch over state and local GOP politics. President-elect Donald Trump easily carried his district, which stretches from the Shenandoah Valley to the Roanoke Valley and east to Lynchburg, the home of Liberty University. Goodlatte, 64, is a devout Christian Scientist who hosts an annual Super Bowl Party at his home south of Roanoke, loves the Red Sox and aims to visit the homes of all the presidents, friends say. The father of two recently became a grandfather for the first time, softening him a bit, they say. A straight arrow, his former law partner, Donald W. Huffman, said. He loves his wife. Hes honest. Hes truthful. State Sen. Mark D. Obenshain (R-Rockingham) praised Goodlattes lack of pretention and said he is motivated to fundamentally change the way government works. But he noted, I probably would not pick Bob as the guy I would go out and have a couple of beers with. The son of a manager of Friendlys restaurants in Massachusetts, Goodlatte studied government at Bates College in Maine and earned a law degree from Washington and Lee University School of Law. He ran for Congress in 1992 with the help of Tim Phillips, now president of Americans for Prosperity on a promise to serve only 12 years. He has since abandoned the pledge, saying everyone must agree to term limits for the policy to work. Goodlatte was chairman of the Agriculture Committee before leading the Judiciary Committee. He rejected separate calls from within his party to try to impeach President Barack Obama and the IRS commissioner, saying there was insufficient evidence. In his reelection bid last year, his Democratic opponent accused him of a conflict of interest because his wife owns stock in Roanoke Gas Company, and sits on its board of the company, which could benefit from an interstate pipeline under federal review. Goodlattes top donors include Comcast, Facebook, the National Association of Broadcasters and Google parent company Alphabet, according to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics, which tracks giving. Griffith, the Republican congressman from Virginia, said Goodlatte plans to continue pressing for changes to the ethics office despite push back. Whether hes successful, time will tell, he said. One of Goodlattes amendments did pass in a rules package. Starting at 10 a.m. Thursday on the House floor, he will lead members in a recitation of the U.S. Constitution. MINNESOTA Confinement for sex offenders upheld Minnesotas program for keeping sex offenders confined after they complete their prison sentences is constitutional, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday, reversing a lower-court judge who said it violates offenders rights because few are ever released. A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit sided with the state, which argued that the program is both constitutional and necessary to protect citizens from dangerous sexual predators who would otherwise go free. The appeals court sent the case back to the lower court. Seven offenders are currently free on provisional releases from the Minnesota Sex Offender Program, and only one has been permanently discharged, even though the program is more than 20 years old. That led U.S. District Judge Donovan W. Frank in 2015 to declare the program unconstitutional and order changes to make it easier for people to get on a path for release. As of Tuesday, 721 people were being held under the program. The appeals court ruled that Frank erred in finding the program unconstitutional, saying he held the state to an overly high standard when he declared that the program shocked the conscience. The panel concluded that the plaintiffs failed to demonstrate that any of the states actions or shortcomings in the program were egregious, malicious, or sadistic as is necessary to meet the conscience-shocking standard. The Minnesota case has been closely watched by lawyers, government officials and activists in the 20 states with similar programs. While civilly committed offenders in California, Wisconsin, New Jersey and other states are allowed to re-enter society after completing treatment, Minnesota has the highest per-capita lockup rate, and its courts did not order the unconditional release of anyone from its program until August. Associated Press GEORGIA Judge says immigrants can pay in-state tuition A judge says the Georgia university system must allow immigrants to pay in-state tuition if they have been granted temporary permission by the federal government to stay in the United States. Georgias state colleges and universities require verification of lawful presence in the country for in-state tuition. The states board of regents had said students with temporary permission to stay under a 2012 program known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, didnt meet that requirement. An attorney for 10 young immigrants who meet all the other requirements and who have been granted deferred action status argued in a petition filed in April that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has said people who have qualified for the program are lawfully present. Attorneys for the university system rejected that argument, saying the statement about lawful presence appeared in an FAQ section of the departments website and not as an official policy or regulation. In an order dated Friday, Fulton County Superior Court Chief Judge Gail S. Tusan said that while an official policy would be helpful, the fact that it is part of the departments official website means it should be taken as an accurate statement of the federal governments position. The judge found that the regents have refused to accept the federally established lawful presence of the students who filed the petition and many others who find themselves in a similar situation. University system spokesman Charles Sutlive had no immediate comment on Tuesday. Associated Press Small plane crashes, killing four: A small plane flying from Arizona to Colorado crashed northeast of the Phoenix area, killing all four people on board, sheriffs department and aviation officials said Tuesday. The Cessna 210 crashed late Monday in steep, rugged terrain about 15 miles north of Payson, Ariz., authorities said. The cause has not been determined. The victims were not immediately identified. The plane was en route from Scottsdale, Ariz., to Telluride, Colo., when the crash occurred. Reuters MADISON, Wis. (AP) A judge acted within his powers when he accused a man of maintaining a harem during a domestic violence sentencing hearing two years ago, a state appeals court ruled Wednesday. Jamal Thames, of Milwaukee, was charged in Kenosha County in 2013 with multiple counts in connection with allegations that he beat his girlfriend. He eventually pleaded guilty to felony false imprisonment and Judge Bruce Schroeder sentenced him to six years in prison in January 2015. Thames argued to the 2nd District Court of Appeals that the sentence was unduly harsh and asked the court to scale it back to two years behind bars. Thames, now 46, contended that the judge improperly accused him of running a "serial harem" and failing to pay $40,000 in child support when he had actually fathered only two children with two different women 25 years earlier. He also maintained the judge confused the details of two 1990 convictions for sexually assaulting a 15 year-old girl and stabbing two women. The appeals court rejected his arguments. The court found that Thames actually has eight children by four different women and the judge was within his rights to consider Thames' character. "We read the court's comment not as pointing out a decades-old transgression but as a proper recognition of Thames' continued abdication of his responsibility to support and parent the children he helped bring into the world," the ruling said. As for confusing the details of the two other cases, Thames corrected the judge about the circumstances of his previous crimes during the sentencing hearing, the court found. Mixing up the details of the cases didn't matter anyway because the judge was trying to point out Thames is a danger to society, the court concluded. The court also upheld Schroeder's order requiring Thames to pay $7,825 to cover his girlfriend's medical bills. Thames' attorney, Andrew Jarmuz, didn't immediately respond to an email seeking comment. ___ Follow Todd Richmond on Twitter at https://twitter.com/trichmond1 TURKEY Video shows suspectin nightclub attack A video emerged Tuesday of a man suspected to be the attacker in a shooting at a nightclub that killed 39 people, showing him taking a selfie as he silently toured Istanbuls most famous square. The camera never leaves the mans unsmiling face as he walks through Taksim Square during the 44-second clip, broadcast on state-run Anadolu television and other Turkish media outlets. It was not clear whether the video was made before or after the New Years massacre at the Reina nightclub or how it was obtained. The gunman, who has not been publicly identified, is still at large. On Monday, the Islamic State group asserted responsibility for the attack. At least 14 people have been detained, including two foreigners who were stopped Tuesday at the international terminal of Istanbuls Ataturk Airport, according to Anadolu. Several media outlets, citing security sources, reported Monday that the attacker was thought to be from Central Asia. Associated Press IRAQ At least 6,878 civilians killed in 2016, U.N. says Violence claimed the lives of at least 6,878 Iraqi civilians last year, the United Nations said this week, as the government struggles to maintain security nationwide and dislodge Islamic State militants from areas under their control. The U.N. Assistance Mission for Iraq, known as UNAMI, said its numbers have to be considered as the absolute minimum as it has not been able to verify casualties among civilians in conflict areas and those who lost their lives because of secondary effects of violence . . . due to exposure to the elements, lack of water, food, medicines and health care. UNAMI said that 12,388 civilians were wounded in 2016. It added that last years figures did not include civilian casualties in Iraqs western Anbar province in May, July, August and December. The U.N. report for December showed that 386 civilians were killed and 1,066 wounded. The worst-hit area was the province of Nineveh, where security forces are fighting to retake the Islamic State-held city of Mosul. Associated Press SOUTH KOREA Park refuses to testify in impeachment trial South Korean President Park Geun-hye refused to testify Tuesday in the impeachment trial that will decide her future, prompting prosecutors to question why she has publicly denied the charges of corruption but will not do so before the court. After Parks refusal, the Constitutional Court delayed the start of oral arguments and asked her to testify Thursday. The court cannot force her to appear but can proceed without her if she twice refuses to appear at the hearings. Parks attorney said she does not plan to appear Thursday and will probably not testify in the trial. The Constitutional Court must decide within six months of her Dec. 9 impeachment whether Park should permanently step down or be reinstated to office. If the court formally removes Park from office, a presidential election will be held within 60 days. Park has been accused of colluding with confidante Choi Soon-sil to extort money and favors from companies and allowing the friend to manipulate government affairs. Choi, Chois niece and several former government and presidential officials have been indicted. Associated Press Britains E.U. envoy quits just months before Brexit talks: Britains ambassador to the European Union abruptly resigned less than three months before Prime Minister Theresa May is to launch formal negotiations on exiting the E.U. Ivan Rogers, who had been due to leave his post in October, is known for sometimes-blunt assessments of how far Britain could push E.U. allies, which jarred with the views of some senior May advisers. Haiti certifies presidential victory of first-time candidate: An electoral tribunal in Haiti has certified the presidential election victory of first-time candidate Jovenel Moise. The panel evaluating the Nov. 20 election found some irregularities but no evidence of the massive fraud alleged by some losing candidates. Moise defeated 26 rivals in the first round and avoided a runoff. Indonesian police arrest ferry captain in deadly fire: Police said the captain of an Indonesian ferry that caught fire on New Years Day, killing at least 23 people, was arrested for alleged negligence. The Zahro Express was carrying more than 230 people from a port in northern Jakarta to the resort island of Tidung when it caught fire. The captain is accused of continuing to sail despite knowing that the number of passengers far exceeded the 100 listed on the manifest, said the chief of Jakarta Maritime Police. From news services LIBYA Rival general attacks government base Warplanes under the command of a rival army general have attacked an air base under the control of the U.N.-backed government in a central area south of the Libyan coast, officials said Wednesday. The Tripoli-based government earlier said several government-allied troops were wounded when an aircraft they were in was struck in the attack by the eastern-based forces. Libya fell into chaos after the 2011 overthrow and killing of dictator Moammar Gaddafi. The country remains divided between east and west, with no effective government and a multitude of rival factions and militias. Khalifa Hifter, the military strongman in question, answers to Libyas east-based parliament, which does not recognize the government in Tripoli. The Libyan National Army, led by Hifter, said it hit al-Jufra air base Tuesday and Wednesday, destroying a C-130 military aircraft carrying ammunition and forces loyal to militias that nominally back the Tripoli government. In a statement Wednesday that did not mention the attacks specifically, the United Nations envoy to Libya warned against the risk of escalation leading to renewed conflict in the nation. Associated Press PHILIPPINES More than 150 escape prison in armed raid More than 100 suspected Muslim rebels stormed a jail in the southern Philippines before dawn Wednesday, allowing 158 inmates to escape in what officials said was the biggest jailbreak in the country. Six of the inmates were killed in firefights with pursuing police and troops, while eight have been caught, said Senior Inspector Xavier Solda, a spokesman for the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology. Solda said the gunmen emerged from a forest and attacked the North Cotabato District Jail in Kidapawan under the cover of darkness. Kidapawan is about 580 miles southeast of the capital, Manila. The acting provincial jail warden said one of the about 20 prison guards on duty was killed and an inmate was wounded in an initial gun battle. Gunfire reportedly continued for hours after the attack as troops and police scoured the surrounding forests for the escaped inmates and the gunmen. The attackers were suspected to include members of the outlawed Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters and guerrillas who broke away from the main Moro Islamic Liberation Front, which has signed a peace deal with the government. Associated Press GERMANY Police investigate man who dined with suspect An acquaintance of suspected Berlin Christmas market attacker Anis Amris who dined with him the night before the rampage is under investigation for possible participation in planning the attack, German prosecutors said Wednesday. The 26-year-old Tunisian had known Amri since late 2015, and the pair ate together the night before the Dec. 19 attack, said Frauke Koehler, a spokeswoman for federal prosecutors. His quarters at a refugee home were searched Tuesday. The pairs meeting led prosecutors to suspect that the man may have been involved in the attack or at least knew that Amri planned to commit one, Koehler said. She said communications devices seized in Tuesdays search are being evaluated, but federal prosecutors do not have enough evidence to seek an arrest warrant. The man was, however, detained Tuesday in a separate case run by local prosecutors in Berlin, Koehler said. Berlin prosecutors said the arrest was related to false benefits claims. A further search was conducted Tuesday at the home of a onetime roommate of Amris who is being treated as a witness in the case, Koehler said. Investigators say Amri drove the truck that plowed into a Christmas market in Berlin. Twelve people were killed. Amri was killed in a shootout Dec. 23 with Italian police in a suburb of Milan. Associated Press Man stabs 12 children in China: A man stabbed 12 children with a kitchen knife at a kindergarten in southern China, seriously injuring five, local authorities said. The attacker sneaked into the school in the afternoon and stabbed children in his childs class while they were eating, according to the Pingxiang city government, citing police. Police called to the school managed to detain him. None of the young victims reportedly have life-threatening injuries. From news services WHAT HAPPENED this week among House Republicans carries a useful and important lesson. The incoming GOP conference voted secretly to emasculate the independent House ethics watchdog, and when the action became public, a torrent of protests erupted. Even President-elect Donald Trump expressed doubt, and the lawmakers backed down. People expect their representatives to meet high ethical standards, no exceptions. Rather quickly, House Republicans realized the folly of their secret vote to end the independence of the Office of Congressional Ethics, which has the power to probe malfeasance and has exposed numerous cases of impropriety. The office does not sit in judgment, but its powers to investigate wrongdoing have proved valuable. A good example was the report in this newspaper in May 2015 revealing that the state-owned oil company of Azerbaijan secretly funded an all-expenses-paid trip to a conference in Baku for 10 members of Congress and 32 staff members, who received hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of travel expenses, silk scarves, crystal tea sets and Azerbaijani rugs. It surely caused the members heartburn when the facts were disclosed, but the story was based on a 70-page report by the ethics office and performed a valuable public service. As a new Congress begins, pressures on House members by vested interests are as great as they have ever been, and an independent watchdog serves as a bulwark against what otherwise might become unfettered influence-peddling. Mr. Trump, champion of drain the swamp in Washington, expressed his concern in two tweets that said weakening the ethics watchdog was not the number one act and priority of Congress right now. He also called the ethics office unfair; his expressed doubts were about timing, not the substance of the vote. But Mr. Trump should take a cue from the events of the day and get serious about transparency and conflict of interest in his own affairs. Mr. Trump has yet to disclose his tax returns despite promises. He has not provided sufficiently detailed disclosure of his far-flung commercial empire, including ties to Russia, if any. Nor has he yet told the American people how he intends to cut himself off from his business once he becomes president. He must try to sever these ties because he will soon be a public servant, working for more than 320 million Americans, not for his own gain. It is not to doubt Mr. Trumps probity to point out that a lot of nations and private businesspeople would leap at the opportunity to shower the president or his family with a fat gratuity or much more. Mr. Trump should not leave himself exposed. If he does, he will get mired in years of questions about conflict of interest, sapping his political capital and hurting his presidency. In their Jan. 1 op-ed, Speaking truth to our ally Israel, Brent Scowcroft and Thomas R. Pickering professed to convey simple truths. These were neither simple nor true. They wrote, The Carter administrations determination of the illegality of settlements under international law has never been reversed by succeeding Republican or Democratic presidents. That declaration had a remarkably short shelf life. Upon taking office, President Ronald Reagan declared that the settlements were not illegal and instructed his U.N. ambassador, Jeane Kirkpatrick, and her successor, Vernon A. Walters, to veto Security Council resolutions employing the illegality language. Numerous draft Security Council resolutions containing that language were vetoed or never brought to a vote. Until the recent abstention, that was the consistent U.S. posture based on the logic that legalistic condemnations are counterproductive and obstruct movement toward the goal of a directly negotiated resolution of the conflict. Mr. Scowcroft and Mr. Pickering also wrote, The Obama administration [is] in line with its predecessors. Not only was allowing the resolution to pass a break, but so too was allowing the resolutions stance of equating East Jerusalem with occupied territory. The Reagan administration vetoed resolutions containing such language on the grounds that the future of Jerusalem is to be negotiated and not decided by U.N. fiat. That policy was consistently pursued until now. As long as the Palestinians refuse direct negotiations without preconditions, Israeli settlements are likely to continue. A change in U.S. policy to unleash U.N. fiats is hardly likely to affect that dynamic. Allan Gerson, Washington The writer was chief counsel to U.N. Ambassadors Jeane Kirkpatrick and Vernon A. Walters in the Reagan administration. Brent Scowcroft and Thomas R. Pickering blamed the Israeli governments settlement policy for the demise of the two-state solution, but that train left the station several years ago when the Palestinian Authority rejected peace proposals by President Bill Clinton and Prime Minister Ehud Barak of Israel that would have given the Palestinians a state in more than 93 percent of the West Bank. Instead of obsessively blaming Jewish settlements for the failure of a two-state solution, the authors should advocate for the United States to press the Palestinian Authority to explain why these negotiations failed. Israel knows why: Israel did not agree to Palestinians demands that, in return for peace, millions of Palestinian refugees and their descendants be allowed to return to Israel, effectively turning Israel into a majority-Arab state. Moreover, Palestinians will not compromise on the status of East Jerusalem, rejecting any role for Israel in shared governance of East Jerusalem, a city as important to Jews as it is to Muslims and Christians. If the United States, with its interest in Middle East stability, presses the Palestinian Authority for answers, I am sure it will discover that other actors (Hamas, Iran and Hezbollah) stand in the way of the political compromise needed from the Palestinian Authority to forge true peace. That is the real source of the Middle East instability Mr. Scowcroft and Mr. Pickering so abhor. Robert E. Litman, Bethesda An example of hypocrisy (also chutzpah): chastising the relentless confiscation of Palestinian land and expansion of Israels presence in the territories occupied since 1967 from a country that relentlessly confiscated Native American land and expanded its presence into land that had been occupied by Native Americans for 8,000 or more years before the birth of Christ. Intellectual dishonesty is alive and well. The Palestinians have not given Israel a moment of peace since 1948, and to this very day do not recognize Israels right to exist and vow to kill all of its Jewish inhabitants. Unless a two-state solution drawn on a map is accompanied by the abandonment of terrorism, it is a meaningless gesture. Then-Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat could have had his state in 2000, but he declined, once again proving Israelis former foreign minister Abba Ebans statement in the early 1970s that the Arabs never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity. David S. Goldberg, Gaithersburg A STRING of bombings in Baghdad and a gunmans bloody rampage in an Istanbul nightclub over New Years weekend underlined the continuing capacity of the Islamic State to strike beyond the borders of its shrinking territory. In the past two years, the terrorist movement has lost some 50,000 fighters, according to U.S. estimates, as well as more than half of the ground it once controlled in Syria and Iraq. But with offensives to capture its two biggest remaining cities, Mosul and Raqqa, stalled or moving slowly, the Islamic State retains the potential to inflict grievous harm on the countries around it, as well as to target Western cities. In particular, there is reason to worry that Iraq and Turkey, the targets of the weekend attacks, are in danger of effectively losing their war with the terrorists. Both dispatched their armies to capture Islamic State territories last year and recorded significant gains. But both are at risk of political, economic and social breakdown as a result of terrorist counterattacks and of their own counterproductive measures. Iraqi counterterrorism units advancing through Mosul, and the U.S. advisers and air power backing them, deserve credit for tactics aimed at protecting civilians: The humanitarian cost of the 2-month-old battle has been small compared with the assault on Aleppo by Syrian, Russian and Iranian forces. But the Iraqi troops have taken heavy casualties and, having aimed for victory by the end of 2016, the government of Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi says it may take months more. Mr. Abadis government, meanwhile, is not delivering on his frequent promises to promote political reconciliation among Iraqs sectarian factions. On the contrary, the parliament in Baghdad recently took measures that further alienated the Shiite-led government from Sunni and Kurdish leaders. The danger is that even after the recapture of Mosul, the countrys sectarian warfare will continue and perhaps even intensify as the factions compete for control over liberated territories. Turkey appears at risk of its own meltdown in spite of and because of the authoritarianism of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Mr. Erdogan, who avoided action against the Islamic State for several years, dispatched troops to Syria in 2016, but he appears more intent on preventing the consolidation of a Kurdish-controlled region there than on helping to capture Raqqa. His brutal crackdown on Kurds and other political opponents inside Turkey has polarized the country, driving a wedge between groups that should be united against the terrorists. Some liberal Turks pointed out that the assault early Sunday on Istanbuls Reina nightclub, a secular and cosmopolitan refuge, came after government religious officials criticized New Years Eve celebrations. It remains likely that 2017 will see the elimination of the Islamic States self-declared caliphate as a territorial entity. But what may be more important to the security of the Middle East as well as the West is whether Turkey and Iraq are further destabilized. That will depend in part on whether the Islamic State can continue to mount devastating terrorist attacks like those of last weekend. The decisive factor, however, will be whether Mr. Erdogan and Mr. Abadi are able to embrace more constructive domestic policies. FOR THE most part, Tuesdays opening session of the 115th Congress was about pomp and circumstance. Still, the prepared speeches and swearing-in ceremonies reminded everyone that for all the ferment over an impending Donald Trump presidency there is also a legislative branch of government in the United States. Republicans control the Senate and the House as well as the presidency and are all but salivating over the power to enact dramatic changes to the course President Obama charted during the past eight years. But some wiser GOP leaders are at least questioning whether exploiting their majority to maximum effect would be good for the country or, for that matter, the party. Of course, on the merits we oppose some GOP plans, such as repealing Obamacare and replacing it with what? It could take months of grueling legislative combat to answer that question; but we fear it could involve curtailment of the Medicaid expansion that accounted for most of Obamacares improvement in overall insurance coverage. The Republicans also have the votes to populate federal agencies and the Supreme Court with Mr. Trumps picks, many of whom already strike us as doubtfully suited to their new positions. Still, theres no denying that the Republicans won in November and that they therefore have the right to enact as much of their agenda as they lawfully can. In his first speech as Senate minority leader, Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) gamely promised to exercise vigilance over Mr. Trump and to resist him when Democrats believe he has veered into extremism. Yet even with the power to filibuster ordinary legislation and Supreme Court picks, the minority party has limits to how much defense it can productively play. In some instances, Mr. Schumer may do better by standing aside and letting Republicans fight among themselves. Unexpected victory has helped the party sublimate its factional quarrels and the misgivings many still have about Mr. Trump, but those are bound to flare up again. Republicans have an opportunity for a more positive form of self-restraint, however. GOP Senate leaders have pointedly reminded Democrats of how Mr. Obamas party exploited its temporary control over Congress and the White House to enact his agenda in 2009, noting that voters have been electing Republicans to undo it ever since. That history could just as well be construed as a reason for Republicans not to commit the same mistake in the opposite direction. Theyd certainly be smart to view it that way. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is the author of the resistance strategy that helped the GOP thwart many of Mr. Obamas plans; it would be naive to take his calls for comity and institutional stability at face value now. Since the election, however, Mr. McConnell has stood out among Republicans for his warnings against overreach. Its certainly no time for hubris, because all majorities are never permanent, he said on a Kentucky television program last month. Discussing the 2017 Senate agenda, he has played down more polarizing issues such as immigration in favor of potentially bipartisan ones such as tax and regulatory reform. If the GOP Congress is willing to proceed with caution, Democrats should be willing to respond in good faith. Donald Trump speaks to reporters at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla., on Dec. 28. The president-elect said Tuesday he has named veteran lawyer Robert Lighthizer as U.S. trade representative. (Evan Vucci/AP) President-elect Donald Trump, who campaigned on an anti-trade message, has assembled a team of advisers who have strong trade views but who could compete for influence over how far Trump goes toward upending long-standing U.S. policies. The latest addition came Tuesday when Trump announced he had tapped veteran trade lawyer Robert Lighthizer as U.S. trade representative, putting him in charge of an agency responsible for crafting international trade deals and pursuing enforcement. Like Trump, Lighthizer has long advocated for tougher policies on China, and in representing U.S. steel companies he has lobbied for punitive measures on foreign entities accused of unfair trade practices. Acquaintances described Lighthizer, 69, as blunt and opinionated and predicted he would be a strong advocate for U.S. companies. Alan Wolff, deputy trade representative under President Jimmy Carter, praised Lighthizer as a shrewd, effective negotiator. He can be colorful in his language, said Wolff, who is now senior counsel at the Dentons law firm and has worked with Lighthizer frequently on representing U.S. firms in international trade disputes. I dont think people will be sleeping when they have meetings with him. But Lighthizers role in shaping and guiding trade policy could put him in competition with several other high-profile Trump advisers, including commerce-secretary pick Wilbur Ross and Peter Navarro, a free-trade skeptic who has been named to head a new White House trade council. While Navarro also has been sharply critical of Chinas trade practices, Ross, a billionaire business magnate, has warned against China-bashing and supported the type of multilateral trade deals that Trump campaigned against. Since his selection by Trump, Ross has turned critical of such deals, including the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiated by the Obama administration. Trump has set up competing power centers, said Philip Levy, a former White House economist in the George W. Bush administration. One thing thats true for any administration is that there are a lot of people out there trying to execute what they think are the presidents directives, and they need clarity over what that is. Wolff played down any potential conflicts between Trumps advisers, saying he believed Lighthizer would be the leading authority on trade, given his familiarity with the nuts and bolts of trade law. Neither Navarro or Ross, given their positions, will be out negotiating trade agreements, Wolff said. Lighthizer will be. Trump has pledged to drop U.S. support for the TPP, which has not been ratified by Congress, and he has expressed a preference for bilateral deals. He has threatened to slap new tariffs on countries such as China and Mexico, which some economists have said could prompt a trade war that could harm the U.S. economy. If he is confirmed, Lighthizer would return to oversee an agency where he served as a deputy trade representative during the Reagan administration, helping negotiate bilateral deals. But his views on trade break sharply from GOP orthodoxy. Congressional Republicans gave broad approval to President Obama last year to pursue multilateral trade pacts in Asia and Europe. In a column for the Washington Times in 2011, Lighthizer defended Trumps skepticism on trade against criticism from conservatives, citing President Ronald Reagans quotas on imported steel and efforts to protect the U.S. automobile and semiconductor industries. The recent blind faith some Republicans have shown toward free trade actually represents more of an aberration than a hallmark of true American conservatism, he wrote. Claude Barfield, a free-trade supporter at the conservative American Enterprise Institute, said Trumps election showed that trade, which threatened to divide the Democratic Party during Obamas push on the TPP, has now driven a wedge into the GOP. How much of the support for trade among your typical House representative or Senate member has been eroded by the Trump campaign? Barfield asked. Jared Bernstein, a former economic adviser to Vice President Biden, said Trumps reevaluation of U.S. trade policy is overdue after the consensus among elites on both sides of the aisle has been that globalization and trade was great, full stop. But Bernstein said that Trump and his team have yet to put forward any sort of nuance of what theyre actually going to do. Given the number of advisers Trump could be listening to on trade, it could be kind of tricky to find the locus on trade policy in this administration, Bernstein added. Max Ehrenfreund contributed to this report. A day of pageantry to open the 115th Congress and usher in a new period of Republican governance was overtaken Tuesday by an embarrassing reversal on ethics oversight, with the GOP gripped by internal division and many lawmakers seeking to shield themselves from extensive scrutiny. The 19 hours of tumult was set in motion the night before behind closed doors at the Longworth House Office Building, where Republican lawmakers decided over the objections of Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) to amend House rules to effectively gut the independent Office of Congressional Ethics. They awoke Tuesday to an intense public outcry. Social media lit up with criticism of representatives trying to rein in the ethics office created a decade ago in the aftermath of scandals. Angry constituents inundated their representatives offices with calls of protest. Journalists peppered lawmakers with questions. The halls of the Capitol felt chaotic. Then, shortly after 10 a.m., came the loudest objection of all: A pair of tweets from President-elect Donald Trump scolding Congress for making the weakening of the ethics watchdog its number one act and priority. He punctuated his second tweet with the hashtag DTS shorthand for drain the swamp, one of his campaign-trail mantras. With Washingtons latest power dynamics in their nascent state, Tuesdays events illustrated the weight of Trumps voice in discussions on Capitol Hill. The president-elects tweets hovered over everything and helped turn what might otherwise have been an insider-driven rule change into a national ruckus over government ethics. (Peter Stevenson/The Washington Post) [House Republicans vote to rein in independent ethics office] The events were fast-moving Tuesday morning. As Trump was using his political capital on Congress, Republican House leaders were meeting in Ryans office contemplating just how the day had gotten away from them and what they might do to salvage it. Ryan would soon be sworn in for another term as speaker, and his wife and children, dressed up for the occasion, lingered outside. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) told the leaders that the rules legislation with the ethics amendment would have trouble getting the 218 votes needed to pass and they decided it must be scrapped. The leaders called an emergency meeting of Republican House members in the Capitol basement. McCarthy pointedly asked the members whether they had campaigned last fall on decimating the ethics office or on repealing President Obamas health-care law and changing the tax code. The windowless room fell silent, according to several lawmakers in attendance. McCarthy gave them an ultimatum: Reverse course now, among fellow Republicans, or take a public floor vote. He asked for unanimous consent to remove the rules change and shortly after noon, he got it. The push to amend ethics rules was now dead, or at least fast asleep. I can tell you the calls weve gotten in my district office and here in Washington surprised me, meaning the numbers of calls. People are just sick and tired, Rep. Walter B. Jones (R-N.C.) said of the simmering outrage over the proposed change. People are just losing confidence in the lack of ethics and honesty in Washington. For the lawmakers who had supported the rules change, the OCE had become an unaccountable office with little transparency. Rep. Peter J. Roskam (R-Ill.), who was the subject of an OCE referral over a 2011 trip he took with his wife to Taiwan, likened the office to Old English royal courts that dictated harsh and arbitrary sentences to powerful figures. 1 of 17 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad Congress convenes for opening session of 2017 View Photos The 115th Congress was gaveled into session. The House convened at noon Tuesday, with 241 Republicans and 194 Democrats. Among the members are 52 freshmen. Caption The 115th Congress was gaveled into session. The House convened at noon Tuesday, with 241 Republicans and 194 Democrats. Among the members are 52 freshmen. Jan. 3, 2017 Newly reelected House speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) gavels in the opening session of Congress. Matt McClain/The Washington Post Wait 1 second to continue. Its a star chamber, said Roskam, who was cleared by the Ethics Committee in 2013. It needs to be reformed. House Republicans have not abandoned an OCE overhaul entirely, but any changes are being put off until later in the year. Tuesdays actions disrupted a day of ceremonial rituals, as Ryan was easily reelected as speaker with the support of all but one Republican far fewer defectors than when he first won the speakership in 2015. Most Democrats voted for Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who will remain the minority leader. Members of the new House and Senate were sworn in throughout the afternoon. Republicans will hold a 52-48 advantage over Democrats in the Senate, and 241-194 in the House. Delivering his inaugural floor speech as Senate minority leader, Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) vowed to fight Trump on issues where Democrats disagree. It is not our job to be a rubber stamp, Schumer said. It is our job to do whats best for the American people, the middle class and those struggling to get there. But in a sign of his partys diminished influence, Schumer spoke to a mostly empty chamber save for several dozen of his Democratic colleagues. Sens. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) and Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) stood on the floor whispering to each other, ignoring Schumer. [Here are the eight Trump Cabinet picks Democrats plan to target] The House rules package that ultimately passed Tuesday contained a controversial provision that will impose fines on members using electronic devices to take photographs, record audio or video or conduct live streams on the House floor. The provision came in response to House Democrats staging a sit-in last summer aimed at forcing votes on gun control legislation. At issue earlier in the day were changes to the Office of Congressional Ethics, which was created in 2008 following the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal to address concerns that members of the House Ethics Committee had been too timid in pursuing allegations of wrongdoing by fellow lawmakers. The amendment, proposed by Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.), would have renamed the office as the Office of Congressional Complaint Review and prevented it from investigating anonymous tips or referring criminal wrongdoing to prosecutors without the express consent of the Ethics Committee. It also would have prohibited the office from employing staff to communicate with the public or the media. House leaders knew days in advance of Monday nights meeting of Republican lawmakers to finalize the House rules package that Goodlatte would seek to undermine the independent ethics office. The leadership made an effort to head off the proposal before the meeting, but Goodlatte refused to budge. As the meeting started at 5:30 p.m., aides were confident that members would reject Goodlattes proposal once Ryan and McCarthy weighed in against it. That did not happen. Goodlatte was backed by a chorus of rank-and-file lawmakers many of whom had been targeted by OCE probes or feared they might be next who were emboldened to make changes. The measure passed handily, 119 to 74. Dozens of other members were absent because they were not yet in Washington. Rep. Trent Franks (R-Ariz.) echoed the views of many colleagues in saying changes to the OCE were long overdue. Theres no due process, he said. An anonymous source can destroy your life, put you on the front page of the newspaper and when its too late, youre completely exonerated. Ive watched that happen to close friends who were straight as an arrow. [Donald Trump, meet your toughest hurdle: the U.S. Senate] Others foresaw the political toll that could be exacted for a decision to make gutting ethics oversight the first act of the new Congress. I had cautioned some of my colleagues last night that that one provision would create quite a public stir and it did, Rep. Charlie Dent (R-Pa.) said with a slight chuckle. Ryan and McCarthy initially seemed resigned to accepting the will of their members, even though they understood the less-than-optimal message it sent to voters nationally, especially following an campaign during which Washington was vilified. Before GOP members could meet to change course, McCarthy had to face a conference room full of skeptical reporters. Were a collective group of individuals, he said. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. The development blindsided Trump transition officials, prompting Ryan staffers to explain to Trump aides late Monday night and into Tuesday morning what exactly House members had voted on and why they did it. Early Tuesday, one of Trumps top advisers, Kellyanne Conway, partially defended the proposed changes to the ethics office in an appearance on MSNBC. But that was before she discussed the matter with the president-elect, and a few hours later it became clear he disagreed with what House Republicans had done. With all that Congress has to work on, do they really have to make the weakening of the Independent Ethics Watchdog, as unfair as it . . . may be, their number one act and priority. Focus on tax reform, health care and so many other things of far greater importance! Trump wrote on Twitter Tuesday morning. Trump spokesman Sean Spicer said the president-elect was not taking a position on the merits of the ethics rules changes, only on the prioritization. Its not a question of strengthening or weakening, Spicer told reporters. I think its a question of priorities and the presidents belief that with all that this country wants and needs to have happen, this really shouldnt be the priority. Ryan and Trump eventually spoke by phone following the conference meeting and during the vote for speaker, per aides. But earlier, as Trump was firing off tweets, McCarthy reflected on the discord that had engulfed Congresss first day. During the morning news conference, McCarthy was flung questions from journalists including one about whether the days events signaled weakness on the part of House leaders. Man, McCarthy replied, welcome back. Read more at PowerPost Sean Sullivan, Paul Kane, Ed OKeefe, David Weigel, Kelsey Snell, Scott Higham and Karoun Demirjian contributed to this report. (Sarah Parnass/The Washington Post) Congressional Republicans on Wednesday launched their long-promised effort to dismantle the Affordable Care Act, even as they acknowledged that they may need several months to develop a replacement along conservative lines. Signifying how enormous a priority the issue is for the incoming administration, Vice President-elect Mike Pence met privately to discuss it with House and Senate Republicans. He offered no details afterward about what a new health-care law might look like but vowed to unwind the existing one through a mixture of executive actions and legislation. Meanwhile, President Obama made a rare Capitol Hill appearance, meeting behind closed doors with Democrats from both chambers. He urged members of his party not to help the GOP devise a new health-care law. The dueling high-level visits, on the same day that the Senate opened debate on a budget resolution that would begin rolling back the law, highlighted the sharp political fault lines that surround the future of the governments health policies. The president, who was accompanied by Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Rep. Frederica S. Wilson (D-Fla.) as he entered the Capitol, took no questions from reporters before or after the nearly two-hour meeting. But participants said he told members of his party that they did not have to rescue Republicans and that they should stay strong as the GOP strives to replace the law. Pence told reporters that he and Trump would pursue a two-track approach to chip away at the ACA through executive powers and legislation. Trump is working on a series of executive orders that will enable that orderly transition to take place, Pence said, and is eyeing other policies that can be reversed. [With Obamacare, GOP faces the Pottery Barn rule: You break it, you own it ] While Pence did not identify other policy targets, Republicans from Western states urged him Wednesday to undo some of the public land protections Obama has created through the 1906 Antiquities Act. Other executive actions, including those providing new safeguards for LGBT Americans and curbing greenhouse gas emissions linked to climate change, also could come under fire. According to a lobbyist in touch with congressional aides on the ACA issue, the Trump transition team has been considering ways to strip down the health benefits that insurers must provide in plans that they sell to individuals and small businesses. This list of essential health benefits was envisioned by the law but was defined in a regulation written by the Department of Health and Human Services. As a result, the incoming administration could alter it without help from Congress. [Why Obamacare is unlikely to die a swift death] Trump took to Twitter on Wednesday morning to urge Republicans to be careful in that the Dems own the failed Obamacare disaster. In a dig at Schumer and his allies, Trump added: Dont let the Schumer clowns out of this web. Less than half an hour after Trumps social media messages, Schumer tweeted: Republicans should stop clowning around with Americas health care. Dont #MakeAmericaSickAgain. Schumer and other Democrats echoed Obama, saying they did not feel any responsibility to craft a substitute health-care bill. If you are repealing, show us what youll replace it with. Then well look at what you have and see what you can do, said Schumer, who met briefly with Pence on Wednesday. White House press secretary Josh Earnest said that Obama told Democrats that they are well positioned to defend the law, which has extended insurance to more than 20 million Americans. However, Obama also told lawmakers that he recognized that he had not succeeded in selling the law to the public. There was an acknowledgment that so many features were so popular, but there was a failure to communicate that, Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) said. [Donald Trump, meet your toughest hurdle: The U.S. Senate] Pence, who was greeted by applause as he entered the House GOP meeting with Reince Priebus, Kelly Anne Conway and several other future White House aides, made it clear that Trump, starting on the first day of his presidency, intended to embark on an aggressive campaign to reverse executive actions made by Obama. They didnt enumerate a list, just that which came by the pen can die by the pen, said Rep. Mark Sanford (R-S.C.). The first bill Republicans introduced in the new Senate that convened Tuesday was budget legislation with instructions for House and Senate committees to begin repealing the Affordable Care Act. The bare-bones spending outline requires members of four committees Ways and Means and Energy and Commerce in the House; and Finance, as well as Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, in the Senate to produce bills just seven days after Trumps inauguration that each would save $1 billion over a decade by slashing elements of the heath-care law. [Democrats: Trump will make America sick again] House Republicans tasked with writing the repeal legislation said that no final decisions have been made on what it will include. Rep. Patrick J. Tiberi (R-Ohio) who chairs a House subcommittee that oversees health care, called the incoming administrations Jan. 27 deadline a challenging goal. Among the unanswered questions is whether Republicans will immediately end health-care taxes, such as an additional 0.9 percent Medicare payroll tax and a 3.8 percent investment income tax, that were created to help pay for the Affordable Care Act. Some Republicans have insisted that the taxes should be eliminated immediately, even if lawmakers decide to delay the repeal of other parts of the law. Others worry that repealing the taxes will make it impossible to pay to keep Obamacare afloat while a replacement is finished. Were not sure yet, Tiberi said. Theres just not consensus on this. Rep. Chris Collins (R-N.Y.), a member the Trump transition team, said in an interview that we have six months to work out the replacement plan for the sweeping health-care law. Senate rules allow budget resolutions to pass by a simple majority a maneuver that guarantees that the chambers Democratic minority will not have enough votes for a filibuster to block repeal. Only changes related to taxes, spending or the long-term federal budget are eligible for the simple-majority treatment, however. Other parts of the law, such as the structure of the insurance marketplaces, probably would require a filibuster-proof margin of 60 votes in the Senate, a trickier task since the new Senate has 52 Republicans. (The Washington Post) Since its passage by Congress in the spring of 2010 entirely with Democratic votes the ACA has spurred the most significant changes to U.S. health policy since the creation of Medicare and Medicaid during the Great Society legislation of the 1960s. It also has faced sustained opposition from Republicans, leading to two Supreme Court cases and a lawsuit over cost-sharing subsidies that is now before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. The ACA is best known for having expanded insurance coverage, starting in 2014, in two ways: new marketplaces selling private health plans to Americans who do not have access to affordable health benefits through a job, and an expansion of Medicaid in about three-fifths of the states. The marketplaces got off to a shaky start because of computer dysfunction with HealthCare.gov, the federal enrollment website. [Trump just met with super-influential health-care executives youve probably never heard of] Three years later, the U.S. Census reported that the nations uninsured rate had declined to 9.1 percent, with most of a recent decrease coming from people who bought insurance on their own and more who had joined Medicaid. The presidents visit to the Hill was part of a broader, last-ditch effort by his administration to preserve a central element of his domestic legacy. On Wednesday morning, New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo (D) drew attention to the stakes for his state by issuing a county-by-county breakdown of the estimated 2.7 million New Yorkers who would lose coverage if the law were repealed. He pointed out that New York would lose $595 million this year in federal money that has helped the state expand its Medicaid program. HHS officials have been trying to use to their advantage the fact that the change in administrations will take place while the fourth years enrollment period for ACA health plans is underway. On Wednesday, HHS released HealthCare.gov enrollment figures showing that 8.8 million Americans chose or were automatically re-enrolled in ACA health plans between Nov. 1 and Dec. 31 in the 39 states that rely on the federal exchange website. That is about 200,000 more than at the same time a year ago, although the proportion of new customers was lower. The new drive to unwind the health-care law will take time. Senate leaders must allow Democrats to offer a nearly unlimited number of amendments before a final budget vote. Democrats plan to use the process, known as a vote-a-rama, to offer a long string of potentially toxic amendments that could make it difficult for Republicans to vote for the final legislation, Democratic leadership aides said. Mike DeBonis, Ed OKeefe, Sean Sullivan and David Weigel contributed to this report. Read more at PowerPost Workers clean the exterior of skyscraper Shanghai Tower at the financial district in Shanghai. (Aly Song/Reuters) Elevator rides are not usually worth documenting. But when you step into the elevator at Shanghai Tower, people often pull out their cameras. As the doors close, a screen at the elevators front lights up to show you the cars location as it rises toward the buildings newly opened observation deck. A neatly dressed attendant informs passengers that the elevator has now reached a top speed of 18 meters per second, approximately 40 mph. This is really fast, one passenger said during a recent packed ride up the tower. It is, in fact, the fastest elevator in the world. At a ceremony in Tokyo in early December, the Shanghai Tower elevators and the company that made them, Mitsubishi Electric, were officially awarded the title by Guinness World Records. Yet many passengers may not even experience the top speed. To do so, you have to travel in a souped-up elevator car with a Mitsubishi technician who can flick a switch, making the speedometer on the screen turn red: 20.5 meters per second (45.8 mph). China is experiencing an elevator boom. Over the past decade, the vast majority of elevators installed around the world have been placed in China, where rapid urbanization has met with a desire for ambitious super-tall skyscrapers. It has been estimated that by 2020, 40 percent of all elevators will be in China. And when it comes to speed, the rest of the world cant keep up. The Burj Khalifa in Dubai is the only skyscraper in the world taller than Shanghai Tower, but its elevators go barely half the speed. The fastest elevator in the West, installed at 1 World Trade Center in Manhattan, runs at a paltry 23 mph. The Shanghai Towers elevator goes even faster than the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, a Disney haunted-elevator amusement-park ride that hurls thrill-seekers at 39 mph. Look at a list of the worlds fastest elevators now, and five out of the top 10 are in China. But Chinas vast elevator market is slowing. As it slows, elevator companies are becoming more cutthroat at every level. Companies such as Mitsubishi are in competition for huge contracts with companies from all over the world. Another Japanese elevator company, Hitachi, came close to winning the Shanghai Tower contract. It was awarded one in Guangzhou instead and then announced plans to beat Mitsubishis speed with its own 44.7-mph elevators. In the end, Mitsubishi installed new hardware on one of the elevators in Shanghai Tower, snatching the record back from Hitachi shortly after it was lost. Mitsubishi representatives said that the demands of the client, a consortium with links to the Shanghai municipal government, had prompted the decision. Workers inside the Shanghai Tower, at the financial district in Shanghai in 2015. (Aly Song/Reuters) The race for speed The worlds first safety elevator was installed by the American company Otis in 1857 in a hotel in New York City. It traveled five floors at a speed of less than half a mile per hour. According to Lee Gray, an associate professor of architecture at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, speeds improved as elevators moved from potentially explosive steam engines to more-efficient hydraulic systems and on to electric traction systems. Visiting Europeans were soon unnerved by the speed of the elevators across the Atlantic. The Brits would visit the United States and they would say, God, why is it going so fast? Gray said. For much of the 20th century, the fastest elevators were installed in American cities. Then the speed race moved to Asia. Why Japanese firms have dominated high-speed elevators is a matter of debate. Some have reasoned that it is because of the technology shared with high-speed bullet trains, which Hitachi and Toshiba also make. Others have suggested that it may be because Japanese consumers are notorious for insisting upon smooth elevator rides. (Comfort and noise issues with ultrafast elevators are considerable; the elevators in Pan Am Building in New York were infamous for howling.) What is certain is that these elevators can cost fantastic amounts of money. They need to be tested in enormous, custom-built towers. They have to be pressurized to make their rapid ascent comfortable. According to Mitsubishi, 40 people worked exclusively on the Shanghai Tower elevators. Mitsubishi and Hitachi would not say how much their elevators cost, but Jim Fortune, an American elevator consultant, estimated each installation at up to $3 million. It would be hard for any elevator company to make any profit on installing these showstopper elevators, Fortune suggested: Its all for . . . bragging rights or to get that maintenance contract. Many in the elevator industry say that while the technology is impressive, faster speeds do not serve a real purpose. But high speeds may be valuable as marketing tools, turning elevators into unlikely tourist attractions. And in an industry with its ups and downs, publicity can be important. The three elevators installed by Mitsubishi Electric in the Shanghai Tower. The elevator on the right is the fastest in the world, capable of reaching 20.5 meters per second; around 45.8 miles per hour. (Courtesy of Mitsubishi Electric) Chinas elevator gold rush The elevator industry may have never been as unforgiving as it is now. Why? China. Over the past two decades, China has rapidly urbanized. To boost urban density, hundreds of thousands of elevators and escalators have been installed each year. There are now more than 4 million units in the country more than four times the number in the United States. Just over a decade ago, there were barely 700,000. Analysts say China accounts for 60 to 80 percent of new installations globally each year. No one else compares. The second-largest elevator market, India, is less than one-tenth the size. The rest of the world may not have noticed, but those in the elevator world say it has been a boom like no other. Ive lived in an incredibly historic time for China, for our industry, in this country, said Bill Johnson, head of the Finnish firm Kones China division since 2004. I feel very fortunate, very lucky. But there is also a feeling that the glory days of the market are over and that record-setting elevators such as those installed in Shanghai Tower may mark the end of an era. Chinas economic growth has slowed dramatically over recent years, dropping from more than 10 percent to 6.7 percent in the most recent quarter. A growing corporate debt problem and a much-feared real estate bubble not to mention a potential trade war with the new U.S. administration add even more risk. As demand for new elevators falls, major international firms have more manufacturing capacity than they can use. Meanwhile, low-end Chinese manufacturers are fighting their high-end international rivals for an increasingly small number of projects. Its a brawl, Johnson said. Theres no question about that. According to the Shanghai Elevator Trade Association, around 5 percent of smaller domestic elevator companies have already gone out of business. Even for international companies, it has been difficult. In September, Kone announced that it expected the market for new orders to drop by 5 to 10 percent over the next year. Its shares immediately fell by 3.5 percent. American giant Otis has admitted to dropping prices to stay competitive, eating into its profit margin. For Japanese firms such as Mitsubishi and Hitachi, the Chinese market is especially vital. These companies lack the international footprint many of their American and European peers have. And while they came to prominence during Japans own elevator boom in the late 20th century, they now face a stagnating economy and a shrinking population at home. Going down Hitachi is still smarting over Mitsubishis surprise speed-record victory. When it won the contract for the elevators at Guangzhous CTF Finance Tower, Hitachi released a video showing its executives proudly proclaiming that they would take the record. I get tears in my eyes, Akihito Ando, a Hitachi sales supervisor, said in the video. Workers stand inside an elevator at Shanghai Tower in the citys financial district in 2013. (Eugene Hoshiko/AP) If they dont, when will the record next be beaten? Mitsubishi says that it has no plans to break its own record at present. Toshiba, which until recently held the record with the Taipei 101 Tower, said that its not focusing on ultrahigh-speed elevators anymore. The competition for speed is over, said Yoshinori Inoue, a communications representative for Toshiba. But there could yet be new challengers. Hyundai, a South Korean elevator manufacturer, has plans to begin testing 50 mph elevators. Canny Elevator, a Chinese company based just outside Shanghai, is building a 3,100-foot test tower that it says will be the tallest in the world. How much further the record can be pushed is unclear. One recent study suggested that 51.4 mph would probably be the limit before passengers get sick. Traveling down quickly is even more difficult: Go too fast and the body thinks its falling. Elevators in both the Shanghai Tower and the CTF Finance Tower go down at 22.3 mph, close to the limit. Most importantly, even the most advanced elevator still needs a big building to go in. Right now its unclear where such buildings will be. While many say that India could one day be the next China, Rizk Maidi, an analyst with German bank Berenberg, doubts it will ever be as ambitious. I dont think well see a repeat of the Chinese boom, he said. Read more Japan has accepted only six Syrian refugees. Meet one of them. How China is preparing to build the worlds largest supercity Putin tries dog diplomacy before Japan talks over islands Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news An Israeli soldier was convicted of manslaughter Wednesday for fatally shooting an unarmed Palestinian assailant as he lay wounded ending a trial that sharply divided Israel and could bring more showdowns as backers push for a hero-style pardon. The 10-month trial of Sgt. Elor Azaria a rare prosecution of a soldier for acts during unrest cut deeply into Israels views on security and the role of the military, as well as its frustrations over the ceaseless conflict with Palestinians. To some, the 20-year-old Azaria was a brave soldier facing danger in the West Bank town of Hebron in March. To others, he represented a worrisome disregard for military codes and human rights during a time of increased violence and hardening views among Israelis and Palestinians, with peace efforts effectively shelved. During his personal testimony, Azaria told the court in July that he felt the supine assailant still posed a threat. In the end, Judge Maya Heller called the shooting of Palestinian Abdel Fattah al-Sharif needless. (Emad abu-Shamsiyah, B'Tselem) We found there was no room to accept his arguments, said Heller, reading the decision by the three-judge panel in Tel Aviv. His motive for shooting was that he felt the terrorist deserved to die. [The trial that tore Israel apart] Outside the court building, scuffles broke out as several hundred right-wing protesters who gathered to show their support for Azaria tried to gain entrance to the court and turned their anger on journalists. A manslaughter charge can carry a jail term of up to 20 years, although legal commentators have suggested a sentence of four to five years is more likely. Azarias lawyers said they would appeal, and some top Israeli leaders said they would seek a presidential pardon for the soldier. Israeli President Reuven Rivlin, who has the sole power to grant pardons, left open that prospect. In a statement, he said a pardon would be considered only if it is requested in accordance with standard practices and after recommendations from the relevant authorities. Azaria, an army medic, was videotaped on March 24 shooting the wounded and unarmed Sharif a short time after the Palestinian and a friend had attacked Israeli troops with knives, wounding one soldier. Both attackers were shot. One, Ramzi al-Qasrawi, died instantly. But the video shows Sharif moving slightly, twitching his head and hand. It also captures Azaria pulling his rifle off his shoulder, aiming and firing at Sharif as a dozen soldiers, officers, medics, ambulance drivers and Jewish settlers mill about. The incident took place in one of the tensest settings in the occupied West Bank a military checkpoint that protects 850 of Israels most ideological Jewish settlers, who live in the heart of old Hebron surrounded by 200,000 Palestinians. The shooting came during a wave of stabbing, shooting and vehicular attacks by Palestinians against Israeli civilians and troops. It probably would have faded away quietly were it not for the video, recorded by a Palestinian volunteer from the Israeli human rights organization BTselem and distributed to the media. [Full text of Kerrys speech on Israeli settlements] David Enoch, a professor in the faculty of law and philosophy at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, said that the trial and public debate surrounding it marked a horrible deterioration in Israeli society. Its not as if racism or violence against Palestinians is new, but at least in the past there were attempts to be civilized. There was at least some sanity, Enoch said. Now, many of those asking for Azaria to be pardoned have not mistaken the facts of the case. They just see an Israeli Jewish soldier shooting a Palestinian terrorist, and they dont care about anything else. Even before the verdict was read, some Israeli leaders, including senior government ministers, called for the soldier to be pardoned. He should not sit one day in jail. We expect the defense minister to stick to his promises and initiate an immediate amnesty for Azaria, read a statement from the far-right Jewish Home party, headed by Education Minister Naftali Bennett. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wrote on Facebook that he also supported a pardon for Azaria, calling the nations soldiers our sons and daughters. At the start of the trial, before being appointed defense minister in May, Avigdor Lieberman came to the military court to show support for the soldier. He called the legal proceedings a theater of the absurd and wrote on Facebook that he hoped Azaria would be acquitted. It will be clear to everybody that it is the right of every Jew, and especially of a soldier, to protect himself from a terrorist who has come to kill him, Lieberman wrote. After the verdict, Lieberman told reporters: This is a difficult judgment. But I ask of everyone, even those who do not like the judgment, to respect the legal decision and maintain restraint. But Azarias parents, Charlie and Oshra Azaria, and other members of his family left the hearing visibly upset and highly critical of the proceedings, accusing the army of abandoning their son. Those inside the courtroom said Azarias mother cried and screamed at the judges: You should be ashamed of yourselves. Sharon Gal, the familys media adviser, said the judges preferred BTselems version of events over the version of an [Israel Defense Forces] fighter. I felt that the court picked up the knife from the ground and stabbed it in the back of all the soldiers, said Gal, a former parliament member. Military prosecutor Nadav Weissman said the verdict was important, clear, decisive and speaks for itself. This is not a happy day for us, he said. We would have preferred that this didnt happen. But the deed was done, and the offense was severe. Azarias trial has been one of the most debated in Israeli history. It has raised harsh questions and doubts about the place of the army and its role vis-a-vis its young recruits. Military service is mandatory for most Israelis at age 18, and after nearly 50 years of Israeli military occupation, society dictates almost blanket support for its troops even in tough ethical situations. Throughout the trial, Azarias family and their supporters have repeatedly pointed out that Israeli parents send their most precious possession to the army in good faith. The trials outcome could determine how much faith other parents place in the military. I dont think the trial will have a long-range effect on Israeli society or the army. It is a rare event. Commanders and soldiers know what the rules of engagement are. They know what the values of the army are, said Asa Kasher, co-author of the Israeli armys code of ethics. He said there have been similar cases in both the U.S. and British armies. I think the legal and ethical norms of the Israeli army are on par with those of all other Western democracies, in particular the U.S. and U.K., he said. Read more: A new kind of terrorism, say Israelis about Palestinian attacks Israeli military confronts protests with increasingly lethal force Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news Turkish special security force members patrol near the scene of the Reina nightclub after the New Years Day attack in Istanbul on Wednesday. (Emrah Gurel/AP) Turkish authorities have identified the gunman who fatally shot dozens of revelers at a nightclub in Istanbul on New Years, Turkeys top diplomat said Wednesday, as police stepped up raids on suspected militant hideouts in a hunt for the attacker. Despite the apparent breakthrough in the investigation, the government did not immediately name the gunman or disseminate his photograph, although he remains at large. The dearth of information deepened a sense of public unease and confusion over the attack, which occurred even though Turkish authorities have blanketed the country with security in recent months. The rampage on Sunday, which killed 39 people from more than a dozen countries, was claimed by the Islamic State and marked one of the worst mass killings in Turkey in recent memory. The country has been reeling from a steady stream of violence, including the assassination of the Russian ambassador last month and earlier bombings targeting police and tourist sites. Speaking to the state-run Anadolu news agency, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu gave no further details on the suspects identity but said the investigation is ongoing. [Slain revelers came to Istanbul from near and far] At least 20 people were arrested in the western city of Izmir on the Aegean coast, Anadolu reported Wednesday, quoting a police official. Many of those detained reportedly lived with the attacker. Police also seized night-vision equipment, a sniper scope and other military equipment, the agency said. The home he stayed in has been found and investigated also, his connections and who has helped him, Cavusoglu said. He added that the Interior Ministry is working diligently to find the attacker. In a nationwide address, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the carnage was intended to divide Turkey, but he vowed that the nation will not fall for this game. Erdogan sought to reassure Western-oriented Turks who are increasingly alarmed about Islamist forces in their country, which has strong secular traditions going back nearly a century. In Turkey, Erdogan said, no ones way of life is under any threat. Those who claim this have to prove it. It is my duty to protect everyones rights. [Secular Turks have never felt so alone] Turkish officials imposed an immediate blackout on news coverage of the nightclub attack, citing national security concerns. Since then, official information about the attacker and his potential links to the Islamic State has been scarce. Filling the void have been conflicting accounts in the Turkish press about the mans identity and the path he followed to the club, where hundreds of people were celebrating the new year. In recent days, police have released a blurry photograph of the alleged attacker that appears to have been taken from surveillance camera footage. News media have also disseminated a selfie video purported to be of the suspect, but with no information about his identity. It was unclear how the cellphone video was obtained. The passport of a 28-year-old Kyrgyz man was published Tuesday by the state broadcasters English-language channel, TRT World, and subsequently circulated on social media. But the man was later found in Kyrgyzstan and cleared of involvement in the attack, according to reports in the Kyrgyz press. Then, on Wednesday, residents of the Istanbul neighborhood of Pendik were shown beating a man they believed to be the attacker, Turkish media reported. A video surfaced of men slapping the man and pinning him down on the street before plainclothes police arrived. Turkey, a NATO member and close ally of the United States, has experienced a rash of attacks by various actors in recent months, including bombings widely believed to be the work of the Islamic State. The Islamist militant group claimed the attack was carried out by one of its soldiers, asserting responsibility for an attack the group said was in response to Turkish military actions. Turkeys military has backed an offensive by Syrian rebels to oust the Islamic State from areas near its border, and Turkish warplanes and artillery have pounded the militants positions inside Syria for months. Read more: American reporter leaves Turkey after being detained for three days Turkish police officer, invoking Aleppo, guns down Russian ambassador Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news President Enrique Pena Nieto moved Wednesday to bolster relations with the incoming Trump administration, naming a new foreign minister, Luis Videgaray, who had cultivated ties with the Trump campaign before the election and who has economic expertise at a time when trade issues are coming to the fore. The appointment is a stunning reversal of fortune for Videgaray, who was ousted as finance minister in the wake of Trumps visit to Mexico in August amid an outpouring of popular protest. Videgaray had served as a behind-the-scenes liaison to the Trump campaign and advocated for the Republican candidate to visit Mexico as a way to calm financial markets unnerved by the possibility that Trump would win the election and introduce much more restrictive trade and immigration policies. The visit outraged many Mexicans, who believed that Pena Nieto was bowing down to a candidate who had been harshly critical of Mexicans referring to immigrants as criminals and rapists and calling for a border wall and mass deportations. But although Videgaray lost his job as finance minister, he remained close to Pena Nieto. His appointment as foreign minister, announced at the presidential palace, essentially rewards Videgaray for guessing correctly on Trumps election. It also recognizes the importance of his relationship with Trumps transition team and his economic expertise at a time when trade ties between Mexico and the United States are being tested. Trump has threatened to scrap the North American Free Trade Agreement, which has guided commercial relations between the two countries for more than two decades, and he has urged U.S. companies to bring manufacturing jobs home from Mexico. After the announcement, Videgaray told the Foreign Ministry staff that Mexico needed them more than ever. The challenge is enormous, the threats are there. But the opportunities and our strengths are also enormous, he said. Videgaray is widely considered one of the countrys top economists. He earned a PhD in economics from MIT and spent time as an investment banker before going to work for Pena Nieto when the politician was governor of the state of Mexico, one of the countrys 31 states. Videgaray went on to run Pena Nietos presidential campaign and spearhead the administrations economic reforms. Pena Nieto said that Videgarays experience leading the Finance Ministry, as well as his work with the G-20 countries and with Vice President Biden on bilateral economic issues, are a fundamental base for his new mission. The president said he has instructed Videgaray, before Trump takes office, to accelerate the dialogue and the contacts so that from the first day of the new administration we can establish the basis for a constructive working relationship. It should be a relationship that permits us to strengthen the bilateral ties in terms of security, migration, commerce and investment. These objectives should be reached at all times promoting the interests of Mexico and without hurting our sovereignty and the dignity of Mexicans. Since the election, political observers in Mexico have been predicting Videgarays return to the top ranks of government. Now he will be in charge of smoothing relations with the new President Trump, because he already has a line of communication with his team, said Francisco Gil Villegas, a political analyst and professor at the College of Mexico. Its a good decision, but it would have been better if he were ambassador he would have greater influence, greater possibility of lobbying in Washington. But without a doubt, its the second-best decision. Some analysts were more cautious, saying that the appointment will send the signal domestically that Trump will suffer no political cost for bashing Mexico and that Pena Nieto looks weak and beholden to the new U.S. president. Pena Nieto, who belongs to Mexicos historically dominant Institutional Revolutionary Party, has been a deeply unpopular leader, and his efforts to deal with a potential Trump presidency have driven his ratings even lower. The problem is not the man, its the strategy in general, said Juan Carlos Moreno-Brid, an economist at the National Autonomous University of Mexico. He cited rising inflation, tepid economic growth and severe inequality as areas that need more attention from the president. The problem here is the strategy at the heart of the country, the lack of development that has come with this government. Pena Nieto said he had accepted the resignation of Foreign Minister Claudia Ruiz Massieu, who had been opposed to Trumps August visit. Pena Nieto also appointed a new culture minister, Maria Cristina Garcia Cepeda, who has held other cultural posts. Gabriela Martinez contributed to this report. Read more Inside Mexicos bizarre decision to invite Trump Trump meets with Carlos Slim as Mexican leaders seek better relations Mexico to Trump: those Carrier jobs are not the story Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news Smoke rises from the Syrian governments shelling of Wadi Barada, northwest of Damascus. (Step News Agency via AP) In Syrias Wadi Barada valley, the six days since a nationwide cease-fire was declared have only brought more bombs. Residents say the bombs have rained down daily, deepening the misery caused by a government-imposed siege that has emptied market shelves and left residents relying on wood fires to stay warm in the winter cold. The fighting threatens the truce brokered by Russia and Turkey, meant to spur fresh peace talks as world powers scramble for a solution to a conflict that is more than five years old. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on Wednesday urged Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his backers to end violations of the cease-fire. A day earlier, rebels threatened to suspend participation in the new peace talks, set to take place in the Kazakh capital this month, if clashes continue. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said government helicopters dropped rockets and at least 15 barrel bombs on the area while Lebanese Hezbollah militants clashed with rebels on the ground. There is no electricity here, no medicines and very little food, said one resident, speaking on the condition of anonymity out of fear for his safety. The barrel bombs are raining on us. The cease-fire has changed nothing. [Syrias refugee crisis is altering the Middle East] In private, Western officials say the deal meant little from the start in the governments most coveted areas, with the Syrian army saying that the truce would not apply to groups tied to terrorist organizations, including al-Qaeda-linked Jabhat Fatah al-Sham. The group is present in opposition areas across the country, albeit apparently in small numbers around Wadi Barada, which lies northwest of Damascus, the capital. That caveat has appeared to give the Syrian army and its allies cover to pursue strategic objectives, including attempts to win back control of Wadi Baradas Ain al-Fijeh spring, which supplied about 70 percent of the capitals fresh water before it was damaged in the fighting. [How the Syrian revolt went so horribly, tragically wrong] Although the government and rebels had previously honored an understanding that water services would not be disrupted, that ended when Assads forces and Hezbollah laid siege to the valley last year. That blockade is biting as temperatures drop below freezing. Abu Mohamed al-Baradawi, an activist from the area, said food is running out. There is almost no canned food left, because we rushed to buy it when the bombing started, he said. People are surviving on tiny stocks at home and keeping warm by bundling together or huddling around the fires we build. Wadi Barada, once a popular spot for Damascus families in search of good fish and relaxation, threw off government control in early 2012, less than a year after the uprising against Assads government began. Former and current residents say Wadi Barada and the surrounding areas became emblematic of the grievances that led people across the country to rise up in the first place, citing government neglect, corruption and land grabs. [Washingtons foreign-policy elite breaks with Obama over Syrian bloodshed] Families say hundreds of acres of private property were confiscated for state use under new land measures. One area became a horse club. Another is a luxury hotel, still advertised on Facebook as a perfect place to unwind. People were very frustrated to see so much land go to the government, said Mohamed Rabaa, a journalist from the area now living in Sweden. These were luxury developments on other peoples land. Water was also increasingly diverted to Damascus as its population swelled. It made people furious, said the Wadi Barada resident who spoke on the condition of anonymity. Thats why we were among the earliest to join the revolution. On Wednesday, that battle for resources had come full circle as pro-government forces fought to regain control of the valleys most important spring. As boys, we would swim in those beautiful waters, and now theyre the prize in a war, Rabaa said. Habib reported from Stockholm. Read more: Syrias Assad says Trumps campaign rhetoric was positive 8 stories to read if you want to understand the Syrian conflict Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news Albert F. Turner Jr., the son of civil rights activists who were prosecuted by Republican Sen. Jeff Sessions in a controversial voting fraud case 32 years ago, said Wednesday he supports the Alabama lawmakers nomination to be attorney general. My family and I have literally been on the front line of the fight for civil rights my whole life, said Turner, a county commissioner in Perry County, Ala. And while I respect the deeply held positions of other civil rights advocates who oppose Senator Sessions, I believe it is important for me to speak out with regard to Senator Sessions personally. . . . He is not a racist. Turners endorsement is the latest salvo in the growing battle over President-elect Donald Trumps nomination of Sessions, 70, an Alabama senator for the past 20 years, whose Senate confirmation hearing is scheduled to begin Jan. 10. Six NAACP protesters, including the NAACPs national president, were arrested Tuesday night after they held a sit-in at Sessionss Mobile, Ala., office. Former Massachusetts governor Deval Patrick, a former assistant attorney general for the Justice Departments civil rights division, sent a three-page letter urging the Senate Judiciary Committee to reject Sessions. More than 100 former U.S. attorneys who served under Democratic and Republican presidents wrote to the Senate this week in support of his confirmation. A group of more than 1,100 law school professors from 170 law schools in 48 states sent a letter opposing him. On Wednesday, the American Civil Liberties Union, which does not take positions supporting or opposing nominations, released a report that is highly critical of Sessionss record on immigration, abortion and criminal justice. (Monica Akhtar/The Washington Post) Jeff Sessions is a strident conservative and consistently opposes progressive policies and nominees, the report concludes. The ACLU also criticizes Sessions on his civil rights positions and highlights the Perry County case that involved Turners parents. Sessions brought the voting fraud case against Evelyn Turner, her husband, Albert Turner Sr., an aide to Martin Luther King Jr., and another civil rights worker, in 1985. His office charged the Marion Three named after the Perry County town where the fraud allegedly took place with tampering with absentee ballots cast by mostly elderly black voters to favor their candidate. A jury of seven blacks and five whites found the defendants who faced decades in jail not guilty. I have known Senator Sessions for many years, beginning with the voter fraud case in Perry County in which my parents were defendants, Turner said in a statement. My differences in policy and ideology with him do not translate to personal malice. He is not a racist. As I have said before, at no time then or now has Jeff Sessions said anything derogatory about my family. He was a prosecutor at the federal level with a job to do. Turner said that he believes Sessions will be fair in his application of the law and the Constitution; as such I support his nomination to be the next attorney general of the United States. Evelyn Turner, Albert Turner Sr.s widow, has spoken out against Sessions and she dismissed her sons view of him. She said that her son did not understand what she and her husband had gone through. He was in college, at Birmingham, she said. He was not in the house. Evelyn Turners son has advised her to forgive Sessions, but she told him, you werent indicted. For the first confirmation hearing of a Trump nominee, Sessions will come before the Senate Judiciary Committee, on which he has served for many years. Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa), chairman of the committee, is apparently so confident of Sessionss confirmation that when he released the names of new and returning members of the committee Tuesday, Sessionss name was no longer on the list. (Dalton Bennett/The Washington Post) Ellen Nakashima contributed to this report. Europe Pre-Christmas strike by Czech postal staff According to the Czech Post Union, around 250 of its members went on strike at Czech Posts central sorting office in Prague in the early hours of December 22. They stopped work for around an hour and were then followed by workers in other facilities in Usti and Labem, Brno and Olomouc in a so-called chain strike. According to the union, 600 staff in total were involved. The workers are demanding a pay rise of 2,500 Crowns ($95) a month. Czech Post has offered 500 Crowsn ($20) a month. Currently postal workers average monthly wage is 22,700 to 23,000 Crowns ($870-$890) a month. The national average wage is around 4,000 Crowns ($155). According to a Czech Radio news item, the company had threatened employees considering joining the strike with fines, but the company denies this. Number of strikes in Belgium highest in 20 years According to figures from the Belgian national security office, 2016 will have seen the highest number of strikes in the country in 20 years. Between April and June there were nearly a quarter of a million days lost to strikes, the highest for a three-month period in 25 years. At the end of May 60,000 workers took part in a national one-day strike against the governments austerity measures. This was followed one week later by a strike involving 10,000 teachers and civil servants. There were also large strikes by rail workers, prison guards, metal workers and other transport employees. Blockade by French Uber drivers in run-up to Christmas On December 23, French Uber drivers blockaded the two Paris airports for around five hours, forcing taxis to drop passengers off short of the airport terminals. Following the blockade, they held a slow convoy to Uber headquarters in Paris to stage a protest. Uber drivers in Lyon also blockaded main roads in the city. The drivers are organised by the Unsa-VTC union. Uber drivers are protesting the low fares they must charge, which reduce their pay. Last year Uber reduced the minimum fare from 5 to 4.25 an hour. Drivers are pushing for the minimum fare to be raised to 8 an hour, saying some of them are earning as little as 3.75 an hour. They are also protesting Ubers plans to raise its commission from 20 percent to 25 percent. Irish health staff to be balloted over working conditions The Services Industrial Professional and Technical Union (SIPTU) announced on Wednesday that it would hold a ballot of its 25,000 members in Ireland working as health support staff. It will also ballot its members in selected hospitals working in emergency units. This ballot will be held in the third week in January. The union accuses the Health Service Executive (HSE) and the Department of Health of refusing to extend concessions given to nurses to other health staff. It accuses them of breaching previously agreed terms. Dutch court ruling postpones planned train strike The Dutch rail company NS won an injunction just prior to Christmas forbidding a planned strike. The court ruled the strike a safety risk, as it was likely to lead to very high levels of crowding on railway platforms. However, the ruling gave the union permission to hold the walkout from January 6 onwards. The rail staff union VVMC is still to decide whether to go ahead with the strike. Rail workers are in dispute with NS over new rostering arrangements. Underground rail staff in London vote for action A ballot of the Rail, Maritime and Transport unions) 3,000 members working for the London Underground rail network has voted 85 percent in favour of a 24-hour strike due to begin at 6pm on January 8. Members of the Transport Salaried Staffs Association will also be out. The strike is part of a long-running dispute over the axing of around 900 staff on the system, including the closure of all the ticket offices on the network. The RMT and TSSA argue the lack of staff on busy tube stations is leading to safety concerns for both staff and passengers. Solid strike by cleaning staff at UK rail company Staff working for Servest UK, which cleans trains belonging to Great Western Railways held a strike on December 23 and 24. They are members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union. The RMT, which described the strike as rock solid, balloted its 189 members, employed by Servest and they returned a 98 percent vote in favour of the action. The Servest staff are seeking parity with other GWR staff for a pay rise, provision of safety clothing and for all Servest agency staff to be made permanent GWR employees, ending the two-tier wage system that the use of agency staff entails. Hotel staff in Liverpool picket against Victorian conditions Staff working at the Britannia Adelphi hotel in Liverpool held a one-day strike on December 23 to protest Victorian era conditions at the hotel. The staff, who are members of the RMT union, held a picket line between 6 a.m. and 10 a.m. A majority of the 275 staff working at the hotel belong to the RMT union. They are seeking a pay rise, as currently they are only paid the national minimum wage of 6.70 an hour. They are also protesting cuts in staff while at the same time the time allotted to clean a room has been cut from 25 minutes to 20 minutes. Work-to-rule action by firefighters in northern England Firefighters in northern England working for the North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service began work-to-rule action just before Christmas; it is due to last until January 10. The action is in response to the introduction of Tactical Response Vehicles that carry a crew of three rather than the usual four. The Fire Brigades Union, which represents firefighters, claimed the new vehicles are totally inadequate to meet the needs of firefighters. Middle East Kuwaiti staff working for Public Disabled Authority hold protest Several members of staff working for the Public Authority for the Disabled, a government agency, held a one-hour protest outside the headquarters on December 24. The protest was over low pay but also to demand the resignation of the director of PAD. The employees are angry at the slow response by PAD in providing handicap signs and other facilities. Africa General strike in Sudan A general strike was called in Sudan on December 19 against the imposition of austerity measures affecting workers and small businesses. Government employees were threatened with losing their jobs if they participated and were made to sign in at their place of work. Transport workers and staff in displacement camps responded to the strike call. In spite of shopkeepers in Nyala, the capital of South Darfur, being faced with fines if they did not open, two-thirds of them heeded the stay-away. Some students responded to the call and stayed away and held demonstrations, which were attacked by riot police who used tear gas grenades. A government radio broadcast warned residents of North Darfur not to get involved in the general strike. Kenyan university staff threaten walkout over pay demand Employees at Kenyas public universities have threatened to strike January 11 if their pay demand is not met. University lecturers are demanding a pay increase of 300 percent, representing Sh350, 000 ($3,400) for assistant lecturers, rising to a maximum of Sh1.9 million ($18,600) annually for full professor status. The lecturers union, the University Academic Staffs Association, is demanding their pay be raised to international standards, pointing out that they make less than professors in neighbouring Sudan. Governors of Kenyan states have not paid striking doctors their December salaries Doctors in Kenya have been on strike for over three weeks demanding the implementation of a 2013 collective bargaining agreement. Counties throughout the country are considering whether to pay striking doctors. The Kenyan council of governors has instructed their members not to pay the doctors. Recruitment has taken place of replacement doctors on casual contracts to scab on the national strike. The strike-breaking doctors, complained the Kenyan Medical Practitioners, Pharmacist and Dentist Union (KMPPDU), were inducted into hospitals with only a week of recruitment, when it would normally take months. Nakuru County, where 275 contract doctors have been employed on seven-month contracts, is only admitting patients to the private wings of the hospital. Arik Airline Nigeria reneges on promise to pay wage arrears The strike by Arik Airline workers, called off after the company promised to pay part of a backlog of wages, could reignite. Workers at the airline company came out on strike briefly to demand wage arrears and improved working conditions. Promises made to end the strike, with assistance of the National Aviation Authority, were for the payment of two months pay before the end of the year, and a third payment for December made in January. The date for the first payment passed without workers receiving anything. The three unions involved, the National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers, the National Union of Air Transport Employees, and the Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, have not committed to any further industrial action as yet. Nigerian medical unions threaten action in new year Hospital staff at the Abidan University College Hospital, Nigeria, combined in the Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU), are threatening to strike over unpaid wages. A spokesman for the several unions involved said they had not received wages since September and that this was a similar reoccurrence of 2014 and 2015. He went on to say if the outstanding salaries were not paid by January 3, they would come out on indefinite strike. Members of JOHESU proceeded to bar the gates of the Abia State Teaching Hospital, also demanding several months of unpaid salaries. The joint unions have declared they will not participate in discussions until three months of outstanding wages are paid. They also raised the issue of 20 months of unpaid pensions owed to their retired colleagues. Two other Nigerian states were confronted with the prospect of striking medical workers. Kogi and Bayelsa state members of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) are proposing to strike on January 13 unless they are paid several months wages. The Kogi state governor had promised doctors wages would be paid by December 20 but this was not fulfilled. NMA members were particularly annoyed at hearing other public sector employees had received their salaries and a no-work no-pay rule is being implemented against the Association of Resident Doctors after less than 49 days on strike. Normally the no-work no-pay rule should only come into effect after 100 days of strike. A further medical union, the National Association of Resident Doctors, is lined up to strike on January 2, after postponing action on three previous occasions. Swaziland electricians protest lack of bonuses Workers employed at the Swaziland Electricity Company went on an unofficial strike December 21 protesting the non-payment of a traditional bonus at the end of the year. Union negotiators who had met with management to discuss the issue were held responsible for the wildcat strike and they were issued with a court injunction. A return to court after an immediate initial hearing will take place between January 8 and 17 where the eight union respondents will claim there is no proof of a strike, only some workers late for work. A major campaign has emerged in the Spanish bourgeois media around Anticapitalistas member and European Member of Parliament for Podemos Miguel Urban. He has been interviewed in the newspapers El Pais, Europa press and El Espanol and in numerous television and radio stations and was allowed to publish manifestos in El Pais and Publico. Why, one wonders, is Podemos so-called extreme-left Anticapitalistas faction being promoted by right-wing papers like El Espanol or longstanding mouthpieces of the big business Spanish Socialist Party (PSOE) like El Pais? The answer is to be found in the growing political tensions and social anger in Spain and across Europe at eight years of austerity, police-state policies and pauperization of workers and youth. The right-wing, minority Popular Party (PP) government installed this autumn with PSOE support is deeply unpopular. Podemos reacted to the PPs installation by calling a back to the streets campaign and staging a few media interventions in workers struggles, closely coordinated with the PP, PSOE, the unions and pro-PP or pro-PSOE media. This falsely presents Podemos and the unions, who organized no opposition to previous PP and PSOE governments austerity measures, as oppositional. It aims to trap escalating social anger behind a bankrupt, national perspective of supporting Podemos and block the emergence of a politically independent movement in the working class for socialism. This is why El Pais published a column by Urban and Teresa Rodriguez, Podemos leader in the Andalusia region, titled The Podemos We Want. It starts by hailing the manifesto signed by leading Pabloites and Podemos members, For a Wave of Change. It defends horizontalism, democracy, decentralization, plurality and pluralism within Podemos in the upcoming national congress in February or March 2017. The aim, according to Urban and Rodriguez, is to regain the openness and spontaneity of the origins of Podemos. We have the opportunity to construct a Podemos whose internal processes allow and reflect the plurality of voices and ideas that exist inside Podemos, they declare. Behind the pseudo-left rhetoricusing code words like horizontalism, decentralization and pluralism long associated in European petty bourgeois politics to opposition to the struggle to build a Marxist vanguard party in the working classis an attempt to boost illusions in Podemos, a well-tested party of the ruling class. Podemos is committed to NATO and the European Union (EU). It defends the savage EU austerity measures imposed on the Greek people by a government led by its sister party, Syriza. The fiction that factions of Podemos have any perspective to offer to protests by workers and youth against the PP government is a political fraud. They speak for layers inside the Spanish ruling elite that have proven their class hostility to the workers. In alliance with various local political organizations, Podemos members rule major cities like Madrid, Barcelona, Cadiz, Zaragoza, Valencia and Santiago de Compostela. They diverted 2.3 billion to debt servicing to pay off the banks. Barcelona Mayor Ada Colau attacked migrant street vendors and savagely broke a metro workers strike. Podemos has stacked its electoral lists with former policemen, military, judges and other members of the state apparatus. Its most notorious figure is former Chief of the Spanish Defence Staff Julio Rodriguez, who commanded the Spanish forces in the US-led war in Libya in 2011. At the regional level, Podemos has supported PSOE-led governments in Valencia, Aragon, Castilla la-Mancha, Extremadura and Asturias. Some of the premiers of these regions, like Guillermo Fernandez Vara (Extremadura), Ximo Puig (Valencia) and Emiliano Garcia-Page (Castilla la-Mancha) were at the forefront of the move to oust PSOE leader Pedro Sanchez and remove the last obstacles to installing a minority PP government tacitly backed by the PSOE. The fact that Anticapitalistas now have access to El Pais editorial page itself indicates the class interests their politics serve. El Pais is Spains most widely read newspaper and the main voice of Spanish imperialism since the fall of the fascist Franco dictatorship in 1978. It is owned by Prisa Group, one of the largest Spanish media conglomerates, holder of numerous television, radio stations, press and publishing houses, and led by Jose Luis Cebrian, whose father Vicente was a top Franco regime official and the director of the fascist Falanges main publication, Arriba. In the recent period, El Pais most notoriously spearheaded calls for PSOE leader Pedro Sanchezs resignation, after he opposed attempts to install a minority PP government. The fact that it is now trumpeting the positions of Urban and Anticapitalistas only underscores that these initiatives are closely coordinated with the PSOE and the PP governments intelligence agencies, which were in close contact with El Pais and former PSOE Prime Minister Felipe Gonzalez. Urban and Rodriguez see workers struggles as events that must be harnessed behind Podemos moves to increase its influence compared with other parties within the Spanish state machine. They continue, The return to social mobilization becomes an indispensable condition to overcome the current institutional blockade and settle the balance towards the path of political and social change, allowing the development of constituent processes that will benefit the social majority. In fact, Anticapitalistas is working through Podemos to block social opposition in the working class, in alliance with the unions and the PSOE. Podemos leader Pablo Iglesias has frenetically attended one workers struggle after anothertelecom workers, cleaners, and Coca-cola and Movistar workers. Iglesias and Urban jointly participated in the occupation of a hospital in Madrid against the precariousness and job insecurity in the public health. Podemos and the United Left also participated in a union-organized demonstration in Madrid in mid-December. The aim was not to call workers onto the streets to bring down the PP government, but to promote social dialogue to negotiate the character of the social cuts to be with the PP government. They did not even bother to call out all the unions members and brought 30,000 people onto the streetswhereas the unions claim to have 2 million members; Podemos 441,151; and the United Left 71,578. Such is the cynical character of the protest that the PSOE, whose abstention in October allowed the PP to return to government, sent its parliamentary spokesperson Mario Jimenez to join it. This came days after having supported the PPs budget limit, opening the door to a 5 billion austerity package for 2017. Urban and Rodriguez desperately cover up the reactionary role of Podemos and its alliance with Syriza. They state, From the Greek experience, it is necessary to re-think the Europe we need. A Europe that does not fall back into identities of the xenophobic extreme right and breaks with neo-liberal governance and austerity. To move precisely towards another idea of Europe we will need the strength and will to disobey the European institutions and the financial powers on which it has been built. Here reality is again turned on its head. After its election in the January 2015 Greek elections, Syriza immediately formed a coalition government with the Independent Greeks (Anel), a right-wing, xenophobic and anti-Semitic party. Since then, the government of Alexis Tsipras has enforced austerity and assumed the role of the European Unions border and prison guard against refugees. Naturally, Podemos continued to collaborate closely with Syriza. Urban and Rodriguez end by calling for a different Podemos, one committed to a coherent course, with a programme that contests democracy in the economy, recovering ideas such as basic income or the recovery for the common good of large electric or financial monopolies. With the common people at the center, its time to prepare to beat the [PP-PSOE] grand coalition. In other words, the authors are calling Podemos to return to a policy of cynically advancing demands they junked in a previous period, in order to maintain the pretense that they are an alternative to the establishment parties. In their view, this is essential to keeping social opposition under controljust as Syriza pledged, before its election, to reverse of privatizations and EU austerity measures while also pledging to repay Greeces debts to the EU and the banks. By parading Urban, the ruling class knows full well that these demands are just rhetoric, aimed to block social opposition and appeal to its upper-middle class constituency. In remarks delivered during the opening session of the 115th US Congress, top Democrats emphasized their willingness to work with the incoming Trump administration. Rather than warn the American peopleincluding the majority of voters who cast ballots for Trumps opponents, and mainly for Democrat Hillary Clintonthe Democrats signaled their desire to collaborate with Trump and his cabinet of right-wing ideologues, billionaires and retired generals. The tone was set in the speech delivered by Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer after he was formally installed as top Senate Democrat during the upper chambers opening session. With the Republicans holding only a narrow 52-48 majority in the Senate, where most actions require a 60-vote super-majority, Schumer will be the most powerful Democrat in Washington after Obama leaves the White House. Schumer has already signaled his desire to work cooperatively with the new Trump administration, giving a series of interviews in which he recalled his past friendly relations with the Manhattan billionaire, who was a regular donor to Schumers congressional and US Senate campaigns. A profile published in Politico noted that Schumer has created a much broader leadership structure for Senate Democrats than his predecessor Harry Reid, incorporating figures on the right wing of the Democratic caucus, including Mark Warner of Virginia, a telecommunications multimillionaire before winning a Senate seat, and Joe Manchin of West Virginia, who was interviewed several times by Trump for a potential cabinet appointment. Joining Manchin and Warner are former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders and Massachusetts liberal Elizabeth Warren, chosen to provide a left cover for any deals the Democrats make with Trump on such issues as infrastructure or trade. Schumer himself has expressed enthusiasm for an infrastructure deal, telling ABC News, We think it should be large. Hes mentioned a trillion dollars. I told him that sounded good to me. On a parallel track, the AFL-CIO and several House Democrats said Tuesday they were urging Trump to go forward with his pledge to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement. AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka called NAFTA a political failure and a policy disaster, declaring, We are ready to fix it. The union executive is urging American workers to see workers in Canada and Mexico as their enemies, not the billionaire capitalist who is about to enter the White House, and his coterie of semi-fascists, fellow billionaires and ex-generals. Schumer has ostentatiously distanced himself from the Obama administrations most recent policy initiative on Israel, joining with Trump in denouncing the decision not to veto a UN Security Council resolution critical of Israeli settlements on the West Bank, and blasting the speech delivered by Secretary of State John Kerry in which he criticized Israels policy on settlements. In his speech Tuesday, Schumer combined rhetoric about defending the American people, the middle class and those struggling to get there with advice to Trump on how to explain and carry out his policies more effectively. While he claimed that the Democrats would hold Trump accountable, Schumer suggested that there was considerable common ground for action, including infrastructure investments and protectionist trade policies. He lent credence to Trumps cynical campaign talk of protecting Medicare and Social Security, offering to work with him on the issue. The Democratic leader warned Trump against adopting ready-made the policies of the congressional Republican right, saying these were pro-corporation, pro-elite policies diametrically opposed to the many campaign themes that helped you win working class votes. Schumer lectured that if Trump were to do thatas though there was any question about ityour presidency will not succeed. The New York Post reported last weekend that Trump had told Schumer he liked him better than the Republican Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, or Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan. Asked about this report, Schumer told CNN that Trump said something close to it. Most notable about Schumers first speech as Democratic leader was the fact that he criticized Trump mainly on a relatively minor questionhis obsessive use of Twitternot on the substance of his policies. He denounced government by Twitter, but not the most right-wing government in American history, pledged to destroy social programs, slash taxes for the wealthy, attack democratic rights and build up the military-police apparatus. Schumer seemed most concerned that Trumps occasional Twitter outbursts in the early morning hours could destabilize world financial markets, something the New York senators Wall Street backers find unsettling. Schumer has collected more campaign contributions from the financial industry than any nonpresidential candidate in modern history. Senate Republicans have clearly taken Schumers measure, suggesting he will be a far more cooperative figure than Reid. McConnell, speaking with reporters after the November 8 election, said, I think what the American people are looking for is results. And to get results in the Senate, as all of you know, it requires some Democratic participation and cooperation. House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi was equally conciliatory in her briefer and less publicized remarks, delivered in the form of a salute to House Speaker Paul Ryan after the right-wing Republican defeated her by a margin of 239 to 190 in the contest for the leadership of the House of Representatives. Pelosi hailed Ryans supposed intellectual abilities (he is a long-time devotee of ultra-right writer Ayn Rand) and his long service in the House, as an intern, employee and congressional aide before winning a seat at the age of 28. The simpering tone of her tribute reflected the fundamental unity of the two capitalist parties, whose conflicts represent, in President Obamas words, an intramural scrimmage between teams that are on the same side: the side of the financial oligarchy. Pelosi herself is married to a real estate mogul and venture capitalist, Paul Pelosi, worth more than $50 million. Whatever happens in Washington, no matter how devastating for the working class, Madame Pelosi will go unscathed, and her husband will likely profit. Pelosi and Ryan, though of different generations, have spent a combined 46 years in the House of Representatives without ever facing a significant challenge at the polls. The stagnant and inbred character of this body is shown by the fact that in 2016, despite the political upheavals in the presidential campaign, 380 of the 393 House incumbents won reelection, a victory rate of nearly 97 percent. Like Schumer, Pelosi declared that House Democrats would seek common ground with Trump wherever they can, based on the incoming presidents demagogic pledges to help American workers. She vowed to stand our ground on Medicare, Social Security, Obamacare, the environment and civil rightsan empty pledge that she and her fellow Democrats are preparing to break in the coming weeks and months. Significantly missing from her litany was Medicaid, the government health program for the poor, which is believed to be the first major target for budget cutting by the Trump administration and the Republican majority in Congress. The sole concrete action of the first day of the 115th Congress was an incident that could be indicative of the future. The House Republican caucus sparked a media firestorm by voting Monday night to effectively dismantle the Office of Congressional Ethics, the independent agency set up in 2008 to investigate charges against sitting congressmen, referring them for action, if necessary, to the House Ethics Committee. Even the limited powers of this body were too much for the now-ascendant Republicans, who voted by 119-74 in a closed-door meeting to gut the OCEs investigative authority. Congressional Democrats immediately denounced the action as a betrayal of Trumps pledge to drain the swamp in Washington, a piece of demagogy employed at the candidates rallies during the final month of the presidential campaign. Trump himself joined the attack, deploring the House Republican action in two Twitter posts. By Tuesday afternoon, the House Republicans had unanimously reversed themselves. While the episode had a somewhat farcical character, it showed the potential for future collaboration between the Democrats and the Trump White House on issues of much greater importance. Another clear signal of the Democrats readiness to collaborate with the ultra-right Trump administration was the announcement Tuesday that Bill and Hillary Clinton would attend Trumps inauguration. Photo credit: Vivos From Esquire Should the world go to hell in the next 99 years or so-probably via climate disaster or a nuclear war-there's a private community of 575 shelters in South Dakota that can house a lucky 5,000 people. Five thousand rich people, that is. Vivos xPoint will be the largest private community of bunkers in the world, according to Business Insider. Its units will sell for a $25,000 down payment each, plus a 99-year land lease for $1,000 a year. The spaces, 26-feet-wide and 60- to 80-feet-long, come as are, so customizing, adding utilities, and making them fancy (like with fake LED windows) will cost even more. Photo credit: Vivos Photo credit: Vivos The bunker settlement is located in South Dakota on the old military site of Fort Igloo. Should climate change hit first, the location is just about as safe as it could be: at a high altitude far from bodies of water with mild weather patterns. Should it be nuclear war, the community is over 100 miles away from major military nuclear targets, can withstand a 500,000-pound blast, and each bunker has a 4-foot by 8-foot blast door and ventilation, according to Forbes. Plus, plans include barbecue areas and a community theater, so really, you're set. As Vivos proclaims on its website, "This is the place you will want to be when the SHTF!" Indeed. Photo credit: Vivos Photo credit: Vivos You Might Also Like California kidnap victim Denise Huskins is speaking out after accusations by strangers that she faked her high-profile abduction almost two years ago. All I did was survive, and I was criminalized for it, Huskins wrote on Facebook Sunday. In March of 2015, Huskins was held at gunpoint, drugged and kidnapped from her home in Vallejo, California. She was released after two days near her mothers home in Huntington Beach, California. Her boyfriend, Aaron Quinn, was also held at gunpoint, drugged and forced into a closet. Huskins case became erroneously known as the Gone Girl kidnapping, referencing the popular book and movie about a phony kidnapping, after Vallejo police initially publicly cast doubt on her story. But four months later, Matthew Muller, a former Marine and a Harvard-educated lawyer, was arrested after he became a suspect in a similar home invasion attack in Dublin, California. Muller pleaded guilty last September to kidnapping in U.S. District Court in Sacramento, California. He is scheduled to be sentenced March 16. 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. Despite Mullers plea, Huskins wrote she continues to be harassed online. Included with her Facebook post was the screenshot of a message she purportedly received from a Peoria, Illinois man. In the message, the man wrote: Are you that horrible lying woman who faked her own kidnapping??? Oh wow you are such a horrible person, he added. You are going to hell for the u have done. Id like to slap you a few times. And just so u known, ur not as pretty as u think. Id put u at being 5 outta 10. 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. Unfortunately this is just one example of countless messages like this that I have received, Huskins wrote. And like the ones before this, unfortunately this guy won. Story continues Huskins wrote the online attacks have taken an emotional toll on her. After reading this I went into one of my many PTSD episodes of terror, she wrote. My jaw and back are sore from the deep powerful shaking and reflexive tension that my whole body goes into. My eyes are sore and red from uncontrollable tears. I am thoroughly exhausted, every inch of my body is tired from the fit of terror it was battling. She continued, Congratulations, person I have never met, never heard of who hates me so much that he went out of his way to message me this disgusting, demeaning, dehumanizing outrage. Its almost been two years, a year and a half since it was made public that this was real, that Aaron and I were telling the truth the whole time, Huskins wrote. But here we are, starting our new year hoping for a more positive future, but confronted with hate and ignorance. Quinn wrote his own post on Facebook supporting Huskins and called her his hero. I post this because I cannot believe the amount of unwarranted hatred Denise Huskins has received from law enforcements flat out lie, he said. This message was sent yesterday, more than a year and a half after one of the kidnappers was caught. Denise endured unimaginable horrors and should have been treated like a hero when she got home but instead she continues to endure vile messages such as this one. Nevertheless she conducts herself with love and grace. Shes my favorite person and unquestionably my hero. Lawsuit Against Police In March of 2016, Huskins and Quinn filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against Vallejo and its police department, accusing the department of defamation, false arrest and false imprisonment and intentional infliction of emotional distress. (Quinn has claimed he was initially held for an 18-hour interrogation after reporting Huskins missing, during which police accused him of killing her.) For the rest of their lives these two individuals have essentially a tattoo on their forehead, which labels them as hoaxers, their attorney, Kevin Clune, previously told PEOPLE. Vallejo police said they were initially skeptical of Huskins abduction because they didnt believe Quinns version of events, including that he had been drugged by intruders, according to an earlier court filing. Police also were skeptical because Huskins allegedly did not meet with her parents in the days after her reappearance, according to the filing. The city has argued that its officers public statements after the abduction were constitutionally protected speech, claiming the officers are protected under the states absolute immunity. Prince Harry may be a British royal, but he feels most at home at a location a little further south. That place is Africa, a continent Harry has traveled to (and worked in) multiple times over the past 20 years. His first visit came just after his mothers death in 1997, when his father, Prince Charles, took him and his brother, Prince William, to clear their heads after tragedy. Now, he makes the trek annually. My dad told my brother and me to pack our bagswe were going to Africa to get away from it all, he told Town & Country in their February cover story. My brother and I were brought up outdoors. We appreciate nature and everything about it. This is where I feel more like myself than anywhere else in the world. His most recent trip to Africa came this past August, when he visited Malawi to participate in the 500 Elephants relocation project with non-profit conservation group Africa Parks. Town & Country documented Harrys time in Malawi over six days of his three week trip in the thick of the animals migration one of the largest human-led relocations in history. The 500 elephants and 2,000 other animals a mixture of buffaloes, zebras, warthogs and others were relocated from an area where theyre in high supply to another park, Nkhotakota, where the population has diminished due to poaching. Harry became acquainted with African Parks in the summer of 2015, but this is his first time working with them on-site. The organization works not only with animal conservation, but with preserving Africas wildlife habitats many of which cannot be sustained without a wildlife population. I completely fell in love with African Parks, because they get things done, he said. They make tough decisions, and they stick to principles. In the group, Harry is just one of the crew people even address him as such, by his first name! He sleeps in the same tents, and wakes up with the sun like the rest of them. I love spending time with these guys, he told T&C of the experience. Night after night, chewing the fat around the fire, about the pros and cons of the legalization of rhino horn, or the historic migratory paths of elephants, or the population explosion on the African continent. And also conservation back home, which is hugely important. Story continues Harrys passion for conservation isnt the only thing that keeps him coming back to Africa. He says when hes there, his mood shifts, his worries float away in particular, due to the anonymity hes able to have there. I wish I could spend more time in Africa, he said. I have this intense sense of complete relaxation and normality here. To not get recognized, to lose myself in the bush with what I would call the most down-to-earth people on the planet, people with no ulterior motives, no agendas, who would sacrifice everything for the betterment of nature I talk to them about their jobs, about what they do. And I learn so much. And of course, he takes what he does in Africa and brings it back to Britian, too. I go home and bang the drum. So that we can all try to make a difference. Vice President Joe Biden was in full Uncle Joe mode for his final swearing-in of new and re-elected senators on Tuesday. Compliments, dad jokes and baby kisses (and snubs!) abounded as Biden held ceremonial swearing-ins for all Senate members of the new 115th Congress inside the old Senate chamber at the Capitol. Here are some of Bidens best lines of the day: To Sen. Chuck Schumers mother, after she told Biden how proud she was of her son: I dont think he knows how to do anything else. To Schumers daughter, who greeted the vice president right behind her grandmother: Grandma can do whatever she wants, whenever she wants to do it. To Schumers mother, after Schumer cracked that shed like to make a 10-minute speech: Mom, in my house, mothers rule. If you want to make a 10-minute speech, Ill listen. To the wife of Sen. Johnny Isakson, after greeting her with a kiss: Diane, my sympathies. I dont know how in the hell he got you. After meeting Isaksons young grandsons and granddaughters, Biden addressed the grandsons: You have the hardest job. There are too many beautiful girls in this family. Keep the boys away from your sisters. You guys are going to have a real hard time. It was a running theme. To another senators young son, Biden said: Jasper, youre going to have a hard job keeping the boys away from your sister. In another recurring Bidenism on Tuesday, the vice president told kids to be patient with their dads, because dads are hard to raise. To Sen. Roy Blunts children: Youve got to be very patient. Fathers are hard to raise. To Sen. Marco Rubios children: Dads are very hard to raise so be patient with him. To Rubio himself: Can I have a picture with just the kids? Forget you! Biden also told Rubio: Best of luck pal, best of luck. Over a farewell handshake, Rubio told the vice president, We have a good chance to do some good things here, to which Biden genially responded, Keep the faith, man. Story continues To the wife of Sen. Jerry Moran, after she gave her husband a congratulatory kiss: Why dont you give me a kiss? (She did.) But some, like these babies, were less obliging when it came to showing Biden some affection: Also this baby totally snubbed Biden pic.twitter.com/4lzdw2AIaB Sarah Parnass (@WordsOfSarah) January 3, 2017 //platform.twitter.com/widgets.js This baby's all like, dude, don't tickle me. pic.twitter.com/QMdvuYKaOx Sarah Parnass (@WordsOfSarah) January 3, 2017 //platform.twitter.com/widgets.js To Sen. Rob Portmans wife: Cmon. Its official already. Theres no way out. No way out. To Portmans daughter: Youve got a smile that lights up the whole city. It wasnt all jokes and flattery. Biden also had a touching exchange with Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, asking after Blumenthals son who is in the Navy. Where is he? Biden asked. I dont know, hes a Seal, the senator replied. Keep the faith, Richard, and thanks for always being so good to my Beau, Biden said, referencing his late son, Beau Biden. Said Blumenthal, Ill always remember him and thank you for your service. Back to Bidening: Asking Blumenthals 23-year-old daughter for a selfie, the vice president told her his granddaughters enjoy teasing him with Snapchat filters: My granddaughter puts ears on me. Thats what granddaughters do. RELATED VIDEO: The Bromance Is Real: Barack Obama and Joe Biden Really Love One Another, Their Wives Say Even during a break in the steady parade of senators, Biden was in full-schtick mode: They say theres a bit of a lull. We dont have anybody named Lull, Biden deadpanned. To the assembly of waiting photographers, he asked: Anyone else want to be sworn in? Replied one of the cameramen: Too much work. Asking an aide how many more senators were yet to stream through the chamber to take the oath, Biden cracked: After our Christmas parties, we had over 5,500 people through, in the line to have a picture taken. At least I wasnt in high heels this time. Things are changing, man! Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about today: 1. BUSY DAY SLATED FOR CAPITOL Obama and Vice President-elect Mike Pence have dueling agendas in meetings with lawmakers as the president's health care law faces repeal and replacement by Republicans. 2. WHAT IS TRUMP'S UNIQUE LEGISLATIVE WHIP Every president taps a legislative affairs director to work with Congress, but the president-elect's use of Twitter is like nothing ever seen before. 3. ERDOGAN: ATTACK WON'T DIVIDE TURKS In his first public comments since a gunman mowed down 39 people at an Istanbul nightclub, Turkey's president says the country won't surrender to terrorists. 4. SOLDIER CONVICTED IN CASE THAT POLARIZED ISRAEL An Israeli military court finds a soldier guilty of manslaughter in the fatal shooting of an incapacitated Palestinian attacker. 5. CHARLES MANSON HOSPITALIZED Officials will only say that the 82-year-old cult leader, convicted of orchestrating the 1969 murders of pregnant actress Sharon Tate and six others, is still alive. 6. SENTENCING BEGINS WITH ROOF ACTING AS OWN LAWYER The same jury that convicted the Charleston church gunman returns to court to begin considering if he should receive the death penalty. 7. CRUISE COMPANY GETS PERSONAL WITH CONCIERGE TECH Carnival Corp. launches a wearable tracking medallion the size of a quarter that will allow guests to feel everything is personalized for them. 8. WHY HOMEBUYERS SHOULD BE WARY On top of bidding wars and rising prices, you'll now have higher mortgage rates to contend with. 9. MARIAH CAREY DISCUSSES 'HORRIBLE NEW YEAR'S EVE' The singer says she was "mortified" in "real time" during her disastrous live performance just before the ball dropped on ABC's "Dick Clark's Rockin' New Year's Eve." 10. WHO ARE PRO FOOTBALL HALL OF FAME FINALISTS LaDainian Tomlinson, Jason Taylor and Brian Dawkins are among 15 modern-era finalists for enshrinement in Canton. Beijing (AFP) - A man armed with a kitchen knife stabbed 11 children at a kindergarten in southern China on Wednesday, seriously wounding three, state media reported, the latest such attack in recent years. The man entered the school in the southern Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region mid-afternoon, claiming he was there to pick up his son, the official Xinhua news agency quoted local police as saying. The attacker allegedly climbed a wall to enter the facility, broadcaster CCTV said on social media, adding that an investigation was underway. Three children were seriously injured and have been sent to hospital for treatment according to Xinhua. The man is in police custody. Knife attacks are not uncommon in China. In February, a knife-wielding assailant wounded 10 children in Haikou, in the southern island province of Hainan, before committing suicide. In 2014 state media reported that a man stabbed three children and a teacher to death and wounded several others in a rampage at a primary school that refused to enrol his daughter. That followed a March 2013 incident in which a man killed two relatives and then slashed 11 people, including six children, outside a school in China's commercial hub Shanghai. The events have forced authorities to increase security around schools and led to calls for more research into the root causes of such acts. Violent crime has been on the rise in China in recent decades as the nation's economy has boomed and the gap between rich and poor has expanded rapidly. CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) Police in North Carolina are looking for two men wanted in the shooting death of a 14-year-old boy. Charlotte-Mecklenburg police told local news outlets that Anthony Frazier died at Carolinas Medical Center on Tuesday. Frazier was the son of a Kannapolis police officer. Police said the teen was visiting family members in Charlotte when he was shot. No arrests have been made. Police say they are looking for two men in their late teens to early 20s. Police have not released a possible motive in the shooting. Kannapolis City Schools spokeswoman Ellen Boyd says counselors will be at the teen's school Wednesday to help students and staff dealing with his death. 15 creepy-as-hell Disney myths you probably believed Whether youve only seen The Lion King once or you head to Orlando twice a year to trade pins with your House of Mouse Meetup group, youve almost definitely heard some creepy Disney myths. From haunted parks to criminal employees to rumors about Walt himself, urban legends stick to Disney like flies to Pumbaas backside. However, only some of these legends are actually true and lucky for us, the internet exists to help us play sleuth and debunk them. Below, find 15 of our favorite creepy-as-hell Disney myths, debunked: 1. If you die on Disney property, theyll rush you out of the park before you are legally declared dead. beauty and the beast gaston fall FALSE: This rumor is tough to prove false, simply due to when emergency services do or do not legally declare death in certain jurisdictions typically an ER doctor makes that call, and a recently deceased person isnt going to see an ER doctor until they arrive at the hospital. However, the New York Times and Los Angeles Times both have published stories that referenced declared deaths at Disney parks, so this (very dark) rumor is baseless. 2. Someone hanged themselves on Its a Small World, and a guest caught it all on camera. FALSE: Deaths at Disney are very well documented online, and nowhere can one find evidence of a suicide on Small World except on Reddit, Imgur, and in articles like this one. The photo of what appears to be a small hanging child in old-timey clothes is definitely creepy, but given that Its a Small World is populated by animatronic small children in old-timey clothes who are definitely creepy, its very likely that this rumor is bunk. 3. A paraplegic man got stuck on Its a Small World and had to listen to the song on loop for 30 minutes straight. it's a small world ride TRUE: He was awarded $8,000 for his troubles. 4. A welder died building Pirates of the Caribbean, and still haunts the ride today. pirates of the caribbean jack sparrow FALSE: Theres a persistent rumor that a welder named George died building Pirates in the 70s and haunts its hallowed halls until this very day but again, theres no evidence that George ever lived or died, and the rumor is reportedly mostly spread by seasoned park employees trying to scare the newbies. Story continues 5. The Tower of Terror is haunted by a dead employee, too. DEFINITELY FALSE: A Movie Pilot reporter who once worked as a bellhop at Walt Disney Worlds (still open!) Tower claims that its employees never rode the Platform D elevator alone (doing so in all four elevator platforms was part of their nightly closing duties) because lights would flicker out, and a dark, human-shaped figure would be spotting lurking around. Rumor has it, this dark figure is the ghost of a bellhop who had a heart attack and died loading guests onto the ride but again, this death isnt documented, and the power of suggestion is a very real thing. Especially on a ride thats all about ghosts. 6. Theres an abandoned theme park in Florida that is straight out of your nightmares. TRUE: River Country, a water park that preceded Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach in Orlando, still exists in an area near the Magic Kingdom called Bay Lake. It operated from 1976 to 2001, and along with Discovery Island holds the honor of being one of two parks abandoned by Disney. And the photos guests regularly (illegally) take are definitely disturbing. 7. Theres an abandoned theme park in North Carolina that is straight out of your nightmares. A photo posted by Shawn Katary (@_shawn.k_) on Sep 16, 2016 at 3:16pm PDT FALSE: This Abandoned by Disney Creepypasta about a ditched park called Mowglis Palace in Emerald Isle, North Carolina is a fun read, but no: the park never existed, and satanic Mickey Mouse mascots do not move by themselves or murder Donald Duck. 8. The personalities of the dwarf characters in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs represent the seven stages of cocaine addiction. Seven Dwarfs FALSE: Though cocaine users may experience sleepy, grumpy, bashful, sneezy, dopey, and happy symptoms throughout their high and eventual withdrawal symptoms that may require a trip to the doc cocaine was highly illegal and not a drug of choice (that honor went to alcohol) when the film was released in 1937. Also, there are no medically agreed upon seven stages of addiction. 9. Walt Disney left millions for the first man to ever become pregnant. junior movie VERY FALSE: Disneys death has long been the source of countless rumors, one of the most popular being that he left a sizable reward for the first man to ever successfully become pregnant or bear a child in his will. However, Disneys will is available online, and, as expected, makes no mention of pregnant men. 10. The Haunted Mansion ride used to be so scary that a guest died of a heart attack. haunted mansion ride FALSE: Nope. Haunted Mansion has pretty much always been as scary as it is right now. So, uh, not very. 12. A woman was groped by one of the Three Little Pigs. three little pigs disney FALSE: In 1976, a woman reportedly sued Disney because one of the Three Little Pigs grabbed her chest and yelled mommy! Evidence of this happening does exist its chronicled in the book Mouse Tales: A Behind-the-Ears Look at Disneyland but the case was thrown out when Disneys lawyers revealed evidence that the Three Little Pig costumes at the time did not have moveable arms. 12. Winnie the Pooh and Tigger have attacked children. winnie the pooh and tigger HALF TRUE: In the late 70s, an actor named Robert Hill was accused of intentionally hitting a little girl while wearing his Winnie the Pooh costume. The case was thrown out in court, after Hill showed up wearing his costume and proved to the jury that the costumes arms were too low to the ground to slap someone of the girls height. Instead, Hill maintains that the girl was tugging on his costume, and he merely bumped into her while turning around. His pal Tigger was similarly accused of intentionally hitting a 14-year-old boy in the head in 2007, in an incident that was caught on camera, but that too was thrown out when it was ruled that Tigger was acting in response to pain the teen was pulling on the back of the costume, causing him to lose his breath. 13. Walt Disney was cryogenically frozen. walt disney FALSE: Though Disney did love the science of the future, he was cremated and his grave can be found in Glendale, California. 14. Theres a suicidemouse video of Mickey from the 30s that caused movie critic Leonard Maltins underling to kill himself after watching it, shouting real suffering is not known seven times as his final words. FALSE: This story has not been officially disproven, but it also is absurd, peak internet, and basically reads as a combination of The Ring and Contact, with Leonard Maltin added for some legitimacy. 15. Vintage Disney character costumes are terrifying. old winnie the pooh and tigger costumes TRUE: Yup. 2017 Dakar Rally Stage 3 Results Competitors made their way from San Miguel de Tucuman to San Salvador de Jujuy during Stage 3 of the Dakar. This is considered to be the first real test for the racers as it includes a total of 226 miles (364km) through the mountains, a 16,400 foot (5000m) climb to the summit and some tricky navigation through the dry river bed canyons in the foothills. Oh, and temperatures remained in the 100-degree (38/40-Celsius) range during their time in the lowlands. The story of the day was the fast pace set by Monster Energy Honda rider Joan Barreda Bort. He started the day seven minutes behind race leader Toby Price in the overall rankings so he was focused on making up that ground on the reigning champ. He did just that, setting a blistering pace that saw him finish 10-minutes ahead of Sam Sunderland (GBR), moving himself into the overall lead with his 14th career Dakar Stage victory. 2017 Dakar Rally Stage 3 Top 10 Results 1. Barreda Bort (ESP-Honda) 04:23.41 2. Sunderland (GBR-KTM) -12.29 3. Renet (FRA-Husqvarna) 15.30 4. Quintanilla (CHL-Husqvarna) 16.02 5. Goncalves (PRT-Honda) 16.20 6. Van Beveren (FRA-Yamaha) 19.40 7. Caimi (ARG-Honda) 20.09 8. Farres Guell (ESP-KTM) 20.43 9. Price (AUS-KTM) 21.51 10. Brabec (USA-Honda) 24.16 Dakar 2017 Stage 3 Map Joan Barreda (Honda) - Stage 3 Winner - Today was one of the days that we picked and we prepared for it from yesterday to attack. I was lucky and I did a good job. It was a really tough stage but I kept my focus during all the stage, so I am really happy with the work. It's still too early to talk about winning. There are still seven thousand five hundred kilometers to go. I'm not sure. This situation, this year is different than other years, so, for sure, we just need to keep focused and to keep riding like this. Sam Sunderland (KTM) - Stage 3 Runner-up - It was definitely a day for navigation on the first part. It was tricky. I tried to take my time and find the good way, but really I was searching a lot. I found Toby after twenty kilometres coming toward me and he left maybe nine minutes before me. It was tricky, you know; we tried to take time and find the way, but when you can't find the way, you can't find the way. It was not because we were rushing or because we were riding too much, too fast. It was really difficult." Story continues Pierre Alexander Renet (Husqvarna) - Stage 3 - 3rd Place - "It's a good result for me, in fact I'm almost surprised. The stage was long and the altitude is starting to have an effect I've got a headache. I hope that I'll get used to it because it's a quite a bad one. At the start of the stage, the navigation was quite difficult, but I stuck to the task well and then I attacked." Ricky Brabec (Honda) - Stage 3 - 10th Place - "Stage 3 was technical for everyone. Today I made a few mistakes. I was going a bit too fast in the dust and I came across a tree but at that speed I had to jump it. Luckily my front wheel and skid plate made it over just in time. I hit the other side with the wheel and blew the fender right off the bike. I dont know exactly what went wrong with the bike but shortly after I pulled over. Svitko was coming right behind me but he crashed. I turned around and went backwards for him. By the time I got there he was getting up, so I parked the bike and repaired it and tried to make it to the finish." 2017 Dakar Rally Overall Standings 1. Barreda Bort (ESP-Honda) 2. Sunderland (GBR-KTM) -10.20 3. Goncalves (PRT-Honda) 13.42 4. Quintanilla (CHL-Husqvarna) 14.56 5. Price (AUS-KTM) 16.19 6. Van Beveren (FRA-Yamaha) 22.00 7. Farres Guell (ESP-KTM) 22.00 8. Renet (FRA-Husqvarna) 23.07 9. Brabec (USA-Honda) 23.13 10. Svitko (SVK-KTM) 25.54 Below, is amazing video coverage of the terrain and countryside that the competitors raced on in Stage 3 of the 2017 Dakar Rally. When I was a junior in college, I had the opportunity to take a class that specialized in refugees. We learned what categorizes someone as a refugee, what it is really like to live in refugee camps, and the legal process of coming to a country like the United States. In this class, I had the opportunity to meet with a refugee family once a week and help their children perfect their English, as well as work on their homework. The family I was put with was wonderful. They had just come to Chicago in the past few months. The mother was pregnant with what would become the first son in the family, and they had three daughters: a 12-year-old, a 7-year-old and a 2-year-old. I mostly worked with the 7-year-old with her homework and coloring. She was so smart. By the end of the semester, we were working on multiplying and dividing fractionssomething that I did not do until I was at least in the third grade, and by then (and even now), Im not that great at it. The family was Muslim from the minority group called Rohingya. The Rohingyas are originally from Myanmar and have fled to countries like Bangladesh, Thailand and Malaysia to avoid persecution in Myanmar. They are forced to live in ghettos and refugee camps in Myanmar and do not have the right to leave. The family I volunteered with was living in a refugee camp in Bangladesh. They were not allowed to legally work in Bangladesh or leave the camp past certain curfews. Inside the camp, violence and disease was widespread. The mother had given birth to the three daughters in the camp, where doctors and medical staff are little to none. In class, we watched a documentary about pregnant Rohingya women in these camps dying because the guards refused to bring them to hospitals, even in situations like a breached baby. It is amazing to me that this kind of treatment of humans is happening in todays world. It is more amazing to me that the kids, who have been through so much, are so resilient. They would light up when we would come and crowd around the new games we would bring. The eldest daughter wanted to become a doctor and the 7-year-old wanted to get straight As. The mother would make us food when we would visit. We would help the mother with driving test questions so shed be able to pass her driving test. The reason I share this story is in hopes that a change happens. The BBC has reported that the Rakhine State in Myanmar (where the Rohingya population lives) has put together an advisory commission. Myanmar is taking the steps to ask for outside assistance on what to do for their Rohingya population. Kofi Annan is heading the commission and hopes to take a new look at Myanmars problems with the Rakhine State. This is significant progress and can mean relief to so many peoplepeople like the family I met in the midst of their first winter, learning to drive and speak English in Chicago. The Daily Beast Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty ImagesDonald Trumps desperate attempts to escape the wrath of the New York Attorney General were halted Thursday when a state judge there took the remarkable step of putting the former presidents company under court supervisionand preventing the billionaire from quietly shifting his money to avoid paying millions in fines.Justice Arthur F. Engoron intervened at the AGs request, ordering the appointment of an independent monitor to ensure that the company cant sec President Obama and GOP Vice president-elect Mike Pence staged dueling appearances on Capitol Hill on Wednesday morning with two very different missions: With less than three weeks left in his administration, Obama sought to rally the Democrats to try to salvage key elements of the Affordable Care Act. Meanwhile, Pence sought to stiffen the Republican majoritys resolve to repeal a national health insurance program that has extended coverage to more than 20 million Americans. Related: Republicans Take the First Step to Repeal Obamacare The Republicans, for sure, are holding most of the high cards in this critically important political poker game, with GOP majorities in the House and the Senate and President-elect Donald Trump, an arch foe of Obamacare, about to succeed Obama in the White House. And the Senate wasted little time yesterday, during the opening day of the new Congress, in unveiling a skeletal budget bill that will be used as the vehicle for dismantling much of Obamacare in the coming weeks. But as the Republicans appear on the verge of realizing a six-year-old goal of repealing one of Obamas crowning achievements, the enormity of their action is sinking in. And at least a few GOP lawmakers are having second thoughts about the wisdom of repealing the Affordable Care Act before having a suitable replacement in hand. Even without Republican opposition, Obamacare has had challenges from the outset. The millions of dollars spent on Healthcare.gov that took more than a year to function properly was the first blow. The second was Obamas broken promises: You can keep your doctor and your health plan, neither of which was true. But the greatest setback was the lack of signups by young people who were supposed to pay for the chronically ill and aged. That led to higher premiums and outrageously high deductibles for people who in some cases could not afford to go to a doctor even if their premiums were subsidized. Without the young people buttressing the old, insurers lost money, and some decided to bail out of the program altogether. Story continues For consumers who depended on Aetna and United, this was yet another nightmare. But through it all, 20 million people had access to healthcare many for the first time in their lives. Related: Republicans Are Having Second Thoughts About Scrapping Obamacare Taxes Trump, House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI), Rep Tom Price (R-GA), Trumps designated health and human services secretary and others bravely insist the key elements of a market-oriented GOP replacement plan are on the drawing board. Yet with many Americans just waking up to the fact they could lose their Obamacare or expanded Medicaid coverage and a growing uproar among insurers, hospital administrators, doctors and consumer advocates worried about the consequences of the GOPs planned actions, some Republicans are raising a cautionary flag. At least three Republican senators Susan Collins of Maine, Rand Paul of Kentucky and Bill Cassidy of Louisiana have signaled to their leaders that it would be a big mistake to plunge ahead with repealing Obamacare without a replacement plan waiting in the wings, as the Morning Consult reported today. Obamacare provides tax subsidies to low and moderate income families and individuals to purchase private health insurance on government-run exchanges. It also requires uninsured Americans to purchase coverage, imposes other mandates on insurers, the pharmaceutical industry, hospitals and the medical device industry, and it levies taxes to help finance operating costs. Related: Obamacare Repeal Will Test the Definition of Insurance Because of the special budget reconciliation rules being followed to sidestep Democratic opposition, the Republicans can repeal some but not all of Obamacare. Moreover, Trump has said he wants to preserve some provisions of the current law, including a ban on insurers discriminating against consumers who have chronic illnesses and allowing parents to keep their children on their health insurance plans until they turn 26. The three GOP senators cited concerns about adverse market reaction to a swift, partial repeal of Obamacare without an alternative to replace it. Even if the repeal doesnt formally take effect for two or three years, the lawmakers worry about a continued exodus of major insurance companies from Obamacare and rising premiums during the transition. Cassidy on Tuesday tweeted that Many are worried about losing insurance coverage. Collins told the Portland Press Herald late last month that she didnt want to see people drop through the cracks. And on Monday, Paul warned in an op-ed in Rare that unless they moved quickly to replace Obamacare with a fully-developed plan that works, the Republicans could end up being blamed for the continued deterioration of the program. Related: Stock Trades by Trumps Top Health Care Reformer Raise Some Swampy Questions We should repeal Obamacare, but partial repeal will only accelerate the current chaos and may eventually lead to calls for a taxpayer bailout of insurance companies, he wrote. Paul added, Partial repeal of Obamacare will likely win the day, but when the insurance companies come to Washington crying for a bailout dont say that no one warned of this preventable disaster. Although none of the three Republicans are threatening to vote against a repeal budget package, they all sit on committees that will work directly on the repeal effort and the subsequent replacement legislation. Whats more, with Republicans holding a relatively narrow 52 to 48 seat majority in the Senate, it would only take three defections to stop the repeal effort in its tracks. A number of studies by the Congressional Budget Office and independent research organizations have warned that a partial repeal of Obamacare would result in millions of Americans losing their health insurance and Medicaid coverage or having to settle for considerably less coverage. Related: 3 Years to Replace Obamacare? Republicans Are Wading Into a Quagmire During a press conference after meeting with House Republicans, Pence repeatedly sought to assure lawmakers that the incoming Trump administration would do nothing to work a hardship on the American people. Were talking about peoples lives, were talking about families, Pence said. But we are also talking about a policy [under Obama] that has been a failure virtually since its inception. We intend over the course of the coming days and weeks to be speaking directly to the American people about that failure, but about a better future we can have in healthcare, he added. A future that is built not on growing government, not on mandates, not on taxes, but rather a future that is built on giving the American people more choices in health care, allowing the power of the free marketplace to flow in. But following the Democrats closed-door meeting with Obama, newly ensconced Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer of New York mocked Trump and the Republican leadership, arguing that they are trapped in their commitment to repeal Obamacare, but with no consensus on how to replace it. My Republican colleagues dont quite know what to do, Schumer told reporters. Theyre like the dog who caught the bus. They can repeal, but they have nothing to put in its place. And that means so many good things go away. Top Reads from The Fiscal Times: Many investors like to look for momentum in stocks, but this can be very tough to define. There is great debate regarding which metrics are the best to focus on in this regard, and which are not really quality indicators of future performance. Fortunately, with our new style score system we have identified the key statistics to pay close attention to and thus which stocks might be the best for momentum investors in the near term. This method discovered several great candidates for momentum-oriented investors, but today lets focus in on Hawaiian Holdings, Inc. HA as this stock is looking especially impressive right now. And while there are numerous ways in which this company could be a great choice, we have highlighted three of the most vital reasons for HAs status as a solid momentum stock below: Longer Term Price Change for Hawaiian Holdings While any stock can see a spike in price, it takes a real winner to consistently outperform the market. That is why looking at longer term price metricssuch as performance over the past three months or year-- and comparing these to an industry at large can be very useful. And in the case of HA, the results are quite impressive. The company has beaten out the industry at large over the past 12 weeks by a margin of 14.9% to 7.1% while it has also outperformed when looking at the past year, putting up a gain of 73.7%. Clearly, HA is riding a bit of a hot streak and is worth a closer look by investors. HAWAIIAN HLDGS Price HAWAIIAN HLDGS Price | HAWAIIAN HLDGS Quote Quarter EPS Estimate Change for Hawaiian Holdings Stock While looking at price performance or full year earnings can be essential to understanding a momentum stock, you shouldnt forget about the current quarter EPS and the trend in estimates there. This change can signal how a stock might perform in the next earnings season which is obviously vital for momentum investors. Right now, HA is seeing a nice trend over the past month when it comes to this quarters earnings estimate projections. In the time frame, EPS estimates for Hawaiian Holdings have gone up by 8.4% compared to an industry average expectation of no move, suggesting that not only is HA heading in the right direction, but it is seeing an increase relative to the industry too. Story continues HA Earnings Estimate Revisions Moving in the Right Direction While the great momentum factors outlined in the preceding paragraphs might be enough for some investors, we should also take into account broad earnings estimate revision trends. A nice path here can really help to show us a promising stock, and we have actually been seeing that with HA as of late too. Over the past two months, five earnings estimate have gone higher compared to none lower for the full year, while we are also seeing that four estimates have move upwards with no downward revision for the next year time frame too. These revisions have helped to boost the consensus estimate as two months ago HA was expected to post earnings of $5.09 per share for the full year, though today it looks to have EPS of $5.21 for the full year, representing a solid increase which is something that should definitely be welcomed news to would-be investors. Bottom Line Given these factors, investors shouldnt be surprised to note that we have HA as a security with a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) and a Momentum Score of B. You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here . So if you are looking for a fresh pick that has potential to move in the right direction, definitely keep HA on your short list as this looks be a stock that is very well-positioned to soar in the near term. Zacks' Top 10 Stocks for 2017 In addition to the stocks discussed above, would you like to know about our 10 finest buy-and-hold tickers for the entirety of 2017? Who wouldn't? As of early December, the 2016 Top 10 produced 5 double-digit winners including oil and natural gas giant Pioneer Natural Resources which racked up a stellar +50% gain. The new list is painstakingly hand-picked from 4,400 companies covered by the Zacks Rank. Be among the very first to see it>> 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 HAWAIIAN HLDGS (HA): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Almost 300 tonnes of oil spilled into Malaysian and Singaporean waters after two container ships collided in a Malaysian port, officials said Wednesday. "The oil spill has been contained," a local maritime official told AFP after Tuesday's accident in the busy port of Pasir Gudang in Malaysia's southern state of Johor bordering Singapore. The Singapore-registered MT Wan Hai 301 collided with the Gibraltar-flagged MT APL Denver. A preliminary investigation revealed the APL Denver was berthing when it was hit on its starboard side by Wan Hai 301, the official said. The Marine and Port Authority of Singapore said 12 anti-pollution ships, including four from Malaysia, were deployed to clean up the oil. It said the spill of 300 tonnes of oil was caused by damage to the fuel tank of the APL Denver. brendan browne linkedin LinkedIn had a dramatic 2016. The professional social network lost more than 40% of its value in a day in February, and then Microsoft bought the company for $26.2 billion in June. As LinkedIn's vice president of global talent acquisition Brendan Browne told Business Insider, drastic ups and downs are just part of being at a fast-moving company. It's why he thinks "grit and resiliency are everything." And that's why, as the head of recruiting for the company's 10,000 global employees, he has often recommended or gifted to new managers Ryan Holiday's 2015 book "The Obstacle Is the Way," an easy-to-read and practical introduction to Stoic philosophy. Browne explained that tensions between colleagues in any organization often arise when one hides problems until they can no longer be ignored. He said that he recommends the book with the intention of instilling the idea that difficulties that arise should not be feared or ignored, but immediately embraced. "It's a quick read and I think it's just so universally applicable because it backs ... the idea that you could feel like you're struggling but that's actually the normal pace of things," Browne said. "And if we can all tune ourselves to that, we'll probably all be better off." For five key takeaways from"The Obstacle Is the Way," we went straight to author Ryan Holiday. Below, find five lessons distilled from his book, in Holiday's own words: 1. Obstacles provide opportunities for growth "Two thousand years ago, Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius then the most powerful man on earth sat down to write himself a note, likely in response to some frustrating people he was dealing with. In that note, he told himself that their frustration was actually an opportunity for him to practice virtue. Story continues "He reminded himself: 'The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.' Basically, everything that happens to us is a chance to practice excellence even if its not in the form we originally intended. That's why the 'obstacle is the way.'" 2. Our perception of the world dictates our actions "The essence of Stoic philosophy is distilled into three disciplines: Perception, Action, Will. How we think about things, What we do about them, and How we accept or endure that which we cannot change." 81SLYRdcbaL 3. It is necessary to accept that which we cannot change "The key to successful action is making the distinction between what you control and what you do not control. Indeed, ancient Greek philosopher Epictetus says that this is our chief task in life. "Separating the two is essential for being effective when you eliminate worrying about, thinking about, scheming about the things outside your control (other people's opinion, the weather, the market), it frees you up to focus 100% on what you do control (your actions, you emotions, your responses)." 4. How you do anything is how you do everything "There is a line from Rolls-Royce cofounder Sir Henry Royce that he had engraved on his mantle: 'Whatever rightly done, however humble, is noble.' The Stoics were big on duty. "They believed the idea that how you do anything is how you do everything. It doesn't matter if you're just starting out in an internship, if you're making smoothies to pay for your clothing line, or if you're the executive of a Fortune 500 company. Every task should be treated as essential. Everything should be done right." 5. Embrace your fate "The story of Thomas Edison's factory burning down at age 67 illustrates the Stoic lesson of amor fati a love of our fate. Edison's entire life's work went up in flames. As he watched the fire consume it all, he turned to his son and said, 'Go get your mother and all her friends, they'll never see a fire like this again.' He was actually embracing this terrible thing that happened to him. "He told a reporter the next day that he'd been through difficulty like this before and the upside was that it 'prevents a man from being afflicted with ennui.' He took a million-dollar loan from Henry Ford and rebuilt the operation and had it going again in a matter of weeks." NOW WATCH: MICHAEL LEWIS: How behavioral psychology explains Trump's surprise victory More From Business Insider - By Tiziano Frateschi According to GuruFocus' All-In-One Screener, the following stocks have a five-year growing dividend yield with strong profitability and a long-term track record of solid returns and growing asset value. Agrium Inc. (AGU) has a dividend yield that has grown 105% over the last five years. The yield is now 3.48% with a payout ratio of 67%. The company has a 10-year asset growth rate of 21%, supported by a current return on assets (ROA) of 4.28%. The profitability rating of 8 of 10 is confirmed by a current return on equity (ROE) of 11.65%. The ROE and ROA are outperforming the industry median and are ranked higher than 58% of their competitors. Financial strength has a rating of 5 of 10. The cash-debt ratio of 0.05 is underperforming 90% of its competitors and the equity to asset ratio of 0.38 is below the industry median of 0.48. The company is a retail supplier of agricultural products and services in North and South America. It produces and markets agricultural nutrients and industrial products. The largest investor in the company among the gurus is Dodge & Cox with 1.93% of outstanding shares, followed by Pioneer Investments (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.34%, NWQ Managers (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.17%, Jeremy Grantham (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.07%, Westport Asset Management (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.05% and Stanley Druckenmiller (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.03%. Amphenol Corp. Class A (APH) has a dividend yield that has grown 92.10% over the last five years. The yield is now 0.86% with a payout ratio of 22%. The company has a 10-year asset growth rate of 12%, supported by a current ROA of 10.04%. The profitability rating of 9 of 10 is confirmed by a current ROE of 23.15%. The ROE and ROA are outperforming the industry median and are ranked higher than 88% of competitors. Financial strength has a rating of 6 of 10. The cash-debt ratio of 0.34 is underperforming 78% of its competitors and the equity to asset ratio of 0.44 is below the industry median of 0.57. Story continues The company designs, manufactures and markets electrical, electronic and fiber optic connectors, interconnect systems, and coaxial and flat-ribbon cable. First Eagle Investment (Trades, Portfolio) holds 1.26% of outstanding shares of the company and is the largest investor among the gurus. First Eagle is followed by Pioneer Investments with 0.51%, Grantham with 0.24%, Westport Asset Management with 0.21%, Chuck Royce (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.02% and Jim Simons (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.02%. Harman International Industries Inc. (HAR) has a dividend yield has grown 86.40% over the last five years. The yield is now 1.26% with a payout ratio of 27%. The company has a 10-year asset growth rate of 9%, supported by a current ROA of 6.37%. The profitability rating of 8 of 10 is confirmed by a current ROE of 15.43%. The ROE and ROA are outperforming the industry median and are ranked higher than 74% of competitors. Financial strength has a rating of 6 of 10. The cash-debt ratio of 0.38 is underperforming 76% of its competitors and the equity to asset ratio of 0.41 is below the industry median of 0.57. The company is engaged in the development, manufacturing and marketing of audio products, lighting solutions, electronic systems and digitally integrated audio and infotainment systems for the automotive industry. The largest investor in the company among the gurus is John Rogers (Trades, Portfolio) with 1.81% of outstanding shares, followed by Third Avenue Management (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.57%, Joel Greenblatt (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.55%, Martin Whitman (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.52%, Pioneer Investments with 0.29% and Robert Olstein (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.28%. Mastercard Inc. Class A (MA) has a dividend yield that has grown 73.30% over the last five years. The yield is now 0.74% with a payout ratio of 21%. The company has a 10-year asset growth rate of 15%, supported by a current ROA of 24.97%. The profitability rating of 9 of 10 is confirmed by a current ROE of 67.31%. The ROE and ROA are outperforming the industry median and are ranked higher than 98% of competitors. Financial strength has a rating of 7 of 10. The cash-debt ratio of 2.10 is outperforming 60% of its competitors and the equity to asset ratio of 0.36 is below the industry median of 0.46. Mastercard is a technology company in the payments industry that connects consumers, financial institutions, merchants, governments and businesses, enabling them to use electronic forms of payment instead of cash and checks. Tom Russo (Trades, Portfolio) is the company's largest shareholder among the gurus with 0.9% of outstanding shares, followed by Andreas Halvorsen (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.71%, Spiros Segalas (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.63%, Simons with 0.52%, Ruane Cunniff (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.48%, Warren Buffett (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.45%, Chuck Akre (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.43% and Manning & Napier Advisors Inc. with 0.39%. Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Corp. (WAB) has a dividend yield that has grown 69.70% over the last five years. The yield is now 0.43% with a payout ratio of 9%. The company has a 10-year asset growth rate of 17%, supported by a current ROA of 10.97%. The profitability rating of 9 of 10 is confirmed by a current ROE of 20.89%. The ROE and ROA are outperforming the industry median and are ranked higher than 90% of competitors. Financial strength has a rating of 7 of 10. The cash-debt ratio of 0.31 is outperforming 51% of competitors and the equity to asset ratio of 0.50 is above the industry median of 0.45. The company is a provider of value-added, technology-based products and services for the rail industry. It provides its products and services through two main business segments: Freight and Transit. Ron Baron (Trades, Portfolio) is the company's largest shareholder among the gurus with 0.56% of outstanding shares, followed by RS Investment Management (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.43%, Royce with 0.24%, Columbia Wanger (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.23%, Simons with 0.21%, CI Can Am Small Cap (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.05% and Paul Tudor Jones (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.03%. Herman Miller Inc. (MLHR) has a dividend yield has grown 54.70% over the last five years. The yield is now 1.86% with a payout ratio of 27%. The company has a 10-year asset growth rate of 8%, supported by a current ROA of 11.12%. The profitability rating of 8 of 10 is confirmed by a current ROE of 26.16%. The ROE and ROA are outperforming the industry median and are ranked higher than 89% of competitors. Financial strength has a rating of 7 of 10. The cash-debt ratio of 0.34 is underperforming 69% of competitors and the equity to asset ratio of 0.45 is below the industry median of 0.53. The company researches, designs, manufactures and distributes interior furnishings for use in various environments, including office, health care, educational and residential settings, and provides related services. The company's largest shareholder among the gurus is Meridian Funds (Trades, Portfolio) with 2.48% of outstanding shares, followed by Royce with 2.04%, Russo with 0.37%, Barrow, Hanley, Mewhinney & Strauss with 0.32%, Greenblatt with 0.31%, John Hussman (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.17%, Scott Black (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.1% and Simons 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. When Donald Trump addressed revelers at the annual New Years Eve bar at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida on Saturday, he was standing next to Joe Cinque, a convicted felon with rumored Mafia ties. Video published by the Palm Beach Daily News showed Cinque beaming as the president-elect gave brief remarks about his agenda. Your taxes are coming down, regulations are coming off, were going to get rid of Obamacare, Trump said as Cinque pumped his fists in the air. Cinque is the president and CEO of the American Academy of Hospitality Sciences, an organization that hands out Star Diamond awards to restaurants, hotels and businesses. The organization has extensive links to Trump. According to the AAHS Facebook page, Cinque was at Mar-a-Lago to present Trump with a One-of-a-Kind bronze Eagle award. Pictures on the groups page showed Trump being given a large statue of a flying eagle as Cinque stood by his side. Prior to his work in the hospitality industry, Cinque had colorful past. In 1995, he was profiled by New York magazine. That article, which was written by John Connolly, said that Cinque had been shot three times and left for dead in 1980, in an incident Cinque described as a robbery. In the story, Connolly wrote that unnamed officials said it was more likely a hit. Connolly also noted that Cinque used to be friends with John Gotti and was known by the nicknames Joey No Socks and the Preppy Don. The New York article also chronicled how, in 1989, Cinque was arrested on felony charges; police had retrieved a gallerys worth of stolen art from his apartment. Cinque later pleaded guilty to felony charges in that case. Cinque was also accused of criminal behavior in excerpts of a rambling, novelistic memoir published on a personal website by Richard Lawrence Dombroff, a former high profile plastic surgeon who was convicted of defrauding patients in 1987 and was convicted on fraud charges again in 2003 for allegedly operating a financial scam. Story continues Yahoo News reached out to Cinque, the AAHS and Trumps presidential transition team for this story. None of them responded to our requests for comment. The AAHS has described Cinque as a fixture at Trumps annual Mar-a-Lago New Years Eve fetes. Yahoo News reported on Cinques relationship with Trump in May of last year. The article highlighted a 2015 blog post on the Star Diamond website that said Cinque has been attending Mr. Trumps party for the past 16 years and has become dear friends with the Trump family. That blog post has since been deleted. The Star Diamond site also featured pictures of Cinque standing next to Trump in Mar-a-Lagos ballroom and on stage at the Florida club presenting the future president-elect with another trophy in 2014. Despite their clear connections, Trump denied being familiar with Cinque when speaking in May to Yahoo News. I dont know him. I just find him to be a very nice man, and I dont know his background. I really dont, Trump said of Cinque. He repeatedly stressed that he didnt know Cinque well. Trump previously held one of the top three positions on the AAHS board of trustees. Archived versions of the organizations Web page show that Trump was listed as its ambassador extraordinaire from at least 2013 until June 2015, when he launched his presidential campaign. But Trump told Yahoo News he wasnt involved with AAHS and implied his title was largely ceremonial. I think I might have been on something, ambassador extraordinaire, you know. I never went to a meeting or anything, Trump said. However, Trumps ties to Cinques group didnt end with his title. Members of Trumps family and multiple executives at his real estate company, the Trump Organization, have also been listed on the academys board of trustees, which selects award winners. AAHS gave Star Diamond awards to many Trump properties. Handing out these Star Diamond awards, which the academy has called the most prestigious emblem of achievement and true quality in the world today, is the organizations central activity. As ambassador extraordinaire, Trumps signature adorned the Star Diamond plaques along with two other board members, Cinque and travel agent Bill Fischer. When Yahoo originally reported on Cinques relationship with Trump, a woman who answered the phone at the AAHS headquarters placed a reporter in touch with Andrew Langsam, an attorney who was representing the academy. Langsam said Cinque never mentioned knowing John Gotti in their conversations. When Yahoo News asked about the allegations reported in New York magazine and on Dombroffs site, the lawyer said wrong information had been reported about Cinque, but did not cite specific examples. Chinas New Silk Road just got a glitzy new route: a freight train service from the Zheijang province in eastern China all the way to London. China Railway Corp. announced on Monday the departure of the first train from Yiwu, a city of 1 million near Shanghai. Its an impressive logistical feat, connecting 7,500 miles of rails to reach one of Europes largest capitals in 16 days. More importantly, the Yiwu-London line lays bare the geopolitical ambitions underpinning Chinas One Belt, One Road policy that aims to re-create the ancient Silk Road trade route that connected China with Central Asia, the Middle East, and Europe. Until recently a U.S. ambition to help bring security to Central Asia, this New Silk Road could take on even more importance if the U.S.-China trade relationship goes south, as early and hawkish postures by President-elect Donald Trump and his team have indicated. Chinas goal of connecting Asia to Europe over the old Silk Road heartlands goes by many names, including the Belt and Road Initiative. The idea is to make it easier to trade with 65 countries that represent 60 percent of the worlds population. China, suffering from overcapacity in plenty of key sectors from steel to cement, is looking for new markets to keep its economy growing at a healthy clip. What China is doing is exporting its own labor and construction equipment, said Simeon Djankov, former Bulgarian finance minister and World Bank official. So far, Chinese state banks have earmarked $250 billion for transportation and construction infrastructure for the project. At maturity, according to a report from the Peterson Institute for International Economics, investments in One Belt, One Road could reach $4 trillion. Beyond the money, its a boon to Chinas foreign policy. The New Silk Road combines a lot of foreign-policy aims that China has, said Frans-Paul van der Putten, an expert on Europe-Chinese relations with the Netherlands Institute of International Relations. Chinese investment in energy projects, railroads, and port facilities in Europe and around the rim of the Indian Ocean may pay bigger geopolitical dividends than economic returns. Story continues It allows China to strengthen its diplomatic influence in Asia, Africa, and Europe, van der Putten said, which compensates for the geopolitical pressure it faces in East Asia from the United States and Japan. The project could become even more important to China, which still relies on exports despite years of trying to rebalance its economy more toward domestic consumption, due to looming tensions with the United States. Trump has been a vocal critic of free trade deals and has surrounded himself with China-bashing economists and trade advisors who blame Beijing for what ails the U.S. economy. That worries leaders in China: The U.S. trade relationship totaled $659.4 billion in 2015, according to the U.S. trade representative. If that takes a hit from higher tariffs, currency wars, or the like, the new Silk Road to Europe may be a Chinese escape hatch. If the incoming administration takes a hard stance on trade, said Djankov, then China can leverage the infrastructure it is starting to build to say Europe is now becoming our main trading partner. China Railway already runs freight train services to other European cities, from Hamburg, Germany, to Milan to Madrid, though rail isnt the most efficient shipping method for huge cargoes: The Yiwu-London train can carry only 200 containers, a small sum when compared with the 20,000 a huge cargo ship can haul. But it can be cost-effective for certain goods. A rail shipment to London could take half as long as maritime routes and cost half as much as air shipments, said Mike White of Brunel Project Cargo, the U.K.-based freight service involved with the Yiwu-London train route. We believe this is going to change the way a lot of forwarders and shippers view their imports and exports for China, he said. Above all, its a symbolic milestone. From the time that the [One Belt, One Road] initiative was first fleshed out in 2011, this was the plan to get to the heart of Europe and to London, Djankov said. Britain, one of the largest economies in the world, importing $663 billion in 2014 alone, is an attractive prize for Chinas export-based economy. In recent years, China has increased investment in British industry and energy and has received at least until recently the red-carpet treatment by British leaders eager to gain access to the worlds second-biggest economy. Faced with the possible loss of trading privileges with Europe after Brexit, the U.K. will be only more eager to deepen trading ties with Beijing. One Belt, One Road isnt just about railroads; confusingly, the belt refers to overland connections including roads and pipelines across Central Asia, while the road refers to a Maritime Silk Road re-creating the old Indian Ocean trading routes that brought Chinese silks to Roman markets. But Chinese President Xi Jinping has made railway investment a top priority, with a $503 billion expansion in its national rail system by 2020 to reach its new export markets, according to Bloomberg. Rail is the most important component of the new Silk Road, Djankov said. Those on the receiving end are thrilled at what the new rail services could offer, especially corners of Europe that still lag economically and need hefty investments in transport, energy, and the like. Regional governments in Europe and European companies have been the most enthusiastic respondents so far, van der Putten said, because of the cash they reap from Chinas new rail services. Photo credit: Feature China/Barcroft Media via Getty Images ZURICH, Jan 4 (Reuters) - Swiss biotech group Actelion has cancelled a scheduled appearance at next week's JP Morgan healthcare conference in San Francisco, it said on Wednesday. A spokesman gave no reason for the move, which comes after Actelion entered exclusive talks with Johnson & Johnson (J&J) last month about a possible transaction. Chief Executive Jean-Paul Clozel has represented Actelion at the high-profile conference in the past, but it was not immediately clear who was set to speak this year. People familiar with the matter told Reuters last week that J&J was negotiating a deal that would separate Actelion's commercialised portfolio from its research and development assets. Any deal could emerge by late this month. The deal structure would allow J&J to acquire Actelion with a cash offer in the region of $260 per share. It also would let Actelion shareholders benefit financially from Actelion's R&D pipeline, the people said. (Reporting by Paul Arnold; Writing by Michael Shields; Editing by Mark Potter) 010417-mc-nws-walkerMADISON At a recent state economic summit, Gov. Scott Walker slipped on a pair of sunglasses and quoted the 1980s tune The Futures So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades. You think about the future of this state, it really is exciting not just where were at now, but where were headed, Walker said as the audience chuckled. Notwithstanding the song being an irony-laced ditty about a grim nuclear future, Walker was turning the page on an overcast two years in which his job approval rating and presidential election ambitions fizzled. He also was pivoting from an election in which his partys nominee cast the slow-growth national economy as a disaster, to one in which Walker, should he run for a third term in 2018, will be defending a state economy that has lagged the national recovery as a success. In a recent interview with the Wisconsin State Journal, Walker dismissed the notion that he might be vulnerable in 2018. The fact of the matter is if I chose to run again, I wouldnt just run on our record, Id have to lay out an agenda for the future, Walker said. Elections are about the future, not about the past. Wisconsin Democrats face their own problems after a disastrous 2016 election in which they lost two seats in the Legislature and a U.S. Senate race they were favored to win. President-elect Donald Trump won 545 of the 809 Wisconsin cities, villages and towns President Barack Obama won in 2012 on his way to becoming the first Republican to win Wisconsin since before Timbuk3 had a hit record. But the handful of Democrats considering a gubernatorial run see several problems piling up in state government that they blame on Walker. They include the state ranking 33rd in job creation and last in new business start-ups, a strained transportation budget that Walker has delayed fixing with increased borrowing, deferred debt payments needed to balance the state budget and sagging research dollars at UW-Madison. Dane County Executive Joe Parisi, who hasnt ruled out a gubernatorial run but faces re-election next spring, said Walker is vulnerable because he will have been governor for eight years with a Republican Legislature and hasnt done much to improve state infrastructure or raise prosperity. Are you better off today than you were eight years ago? Are your roads better? Are your wages higher? Do you believe your kids have a better shot than you did? Parisi said. Were going to hear a resounding no from the (Democratic) candidates. Low unemployment, workforce training Walker points to the states 4.1 percent unemployment rate the lowest since January 2001 and record-high employment levels as positive signs. He has shifted gears from his 2010 pledge to create 250,000 jobs in his first term, a mark the state still hasnt hit, to a new focus on workforce training. What people care about is their own lives, Walker said. And when I talk to people all across the state, wages are up, jobs are up. The No. 1 issue I hear almost at all these listening sessions is people saying, small business owners saying, I dont have enough people to fill these jobs. Walker also dismisses his low job approval numbers, which bottomed out at 37 percent in September 2015, just before he ended his 71-day presidential election, the third shortest since 1972. The nadir came after he spent months campaigning in other states during a tough budget cycle, and he has since spent the last year touring every county and holding dozens of private meetings with local officials, business leaders and citizens. The Marquette Law School Poll last clocked his approval at 42 percent just before the November election, but Walker notes it was that low before during the protests over his signature Act 10 law that curtailed the power of public sector unions in the state. Part of my appeal in previous elections is even for those who arent Republican or lean Republican, they like someone who tells people what theyre going to do, is bold about it, and is willing to take bold actions, Walker said. He still says the biggest mistake he made over the past six years was acting too quickly to implement Act 10, and not explaining it more clearly to the public though he also acknowledges it was a mistake to run for president while trying to govern, pointing out that he was on the phone five or six times a day with his chief of staff while hopscotching between Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina. My detractors would say, Aha! You werent being a good governor, Walker said. I would say the opposite. I dont think I was as effective a candidate as I could have been. As of the end of November, Walker still had about $150,000 in presidential campaign debt, according to his monthly filing with the Federal Election Commission. Jim Villa, a Walker political adviser, said he expects the governor will have his campaign debt paid off in early 2017. He has also begun ramping up his state campaign fundraising effort, which Villa said is a strong indicator Walker will run again in 2018. You dont have a candidate who revs up their fundraising to the extent that he has and isnt serious about running for re-election, Villa said. As of the latest filing, Walker had about $142,000 cash on hand at the end of August. Sachin Chheda, a Democratic strategist from Milwaukee, said Republicans like Walker no longer need a large war chest to scare away potential competitors because they can rely on wealthy donors writing seven-figure checks to so-called issue advocacy groups to run beneficial ads during a campaign. He doesnt have to raise any money to have the money he needs to win the election, Chheda said. Next budget, Trump voters key Some Democrats are skeptical Walker will run again, saying he is continuing to raise money because to do otherwise or to announce he isnt running would weaken his ability to control the 2017-19 state budget. Hes really trying to figure out how he can get out before it all crumbles around him, Democratic National Committee member Jason Rae said. He wants to get out without raising taxes. Hes in active warfare with Republican leadership. He can see the writing on the wall that his prospects in Wisconsin are limited. Republican strategist Mark Graul disagrees that Walker will be vulnerable in 2018. He will still be able to tout turning a budget deficit into a budget surplus and a state budget that has cut income taxes, held average property taxes steady and frozen university tuition. Certainly a tough economy makes it tougher for an incumbent to win, Graul said. I dont see Gov. Walker having one thing like that dissuading him from running again. Walker also isnt facing as challenging of a state budget as the previous one, which included a $250 million cut to the UW System and no increase in spending authority for K-12 schools. Walker has pledged to increase funding for both. He will also continue to have a high national profile as chairman of the Republican Governors Association. He plans to use that position to urge the Trump administration to return more control over federal funding to the states. Brian Westrate, a Republican official from Eau Claire County, said Walker is still popular among conservatives in the state. Walkers fortunes could turn on what happens with a new president in the White House. The challenge is going to be transitioning Trump voters into Republican voters, Westrate said. If we can do that, our prospects are good. A new year is upon us, but some things stay constant -- like concerns over covering the cost of college today and the confusing nature of student loans. Luckily, the Student Loan Ranger is still here to help. Each week, we receive dozens of questions from readers at every stage of the borrowing process. Occasionally we share some of these -- because if one person has a question, it's likely others have the same. The following questions are real but may have been edited for grammar or clarity. If you have a question for the Student Loan Ranger, please reach out to us at studentloanranger@usnews.com. Q: Our oldest son will start college in fall 2017. We filled out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid last month and were shocked to see that the government expects us to pay more than $20,000 per year toward his education. We are a family of five, and while my wife and I make decent money, that amount is just not affordable. How in the world do families afford college at this rate? A: I suspect the $20,000 amount you are referring to is the Estimated Family Contribution that is calculated when you filled out the FAFSA. The federal government calculates this number, which helps determine eligibility for need-based financial aid, such as Pell Grants and subsidized Stafford loans. Schools may also use this number to determine eligibility for some institutional and state aid programs. The EFC is calculated based on the parents' and student's income -- both taxed and untaxed -- and assets as well as the size of the family and the number of children in college. Many families are as unpleasantly surprised as you were by the size of their expected contribution and worry that this means college won't be affordable. [Learn what to expect when filling out the FAFSA for the first time.] Under federal law, it is primarily the family's responsibility to pay for college. That message has become a little lost over the past few years, which is why so many families are surprised by the calculation. Story continues The good news is that there are programs available to help families fill the gap if they cannot afford to pay that amount out of pocket. Federal unsubsidized Stafford and federal Parent PLUS loans can both be used to cover the EFC. Private loans, used with caution, can also help fill the gap. If you do borrow, make sure that you consider the total amount you'll need to borrow for your son -- and his siblings -- to complete school. For every $20,000 borrowed, assume a $200-a-month payment for the next 10 years -- those are years that you will also want to focus on retirement. Don't forget scholarships -- it's not to late to apply for awards for next year. Most schools will also allow families to break their balance into monthly payments to be paid over the school year. Of course, the easiest way to reduce the amount you owe out of pocket is for your son to attend a lower-priced school. Many community colleges and state colleges can be covered by need-based aid alone. [Weigh the pros, cons of using a private parent loan to pay for college.] Q: My partner cosigned three student loans for his daughter. She made her last payment in August 2016, and this was only after constant text and phone messages from us. She now has stopped paying completely. We are not married, and I have been without income for the past year. Please help us understand what his options are, if any. A: I'm sorry to hear about your partner's situation. Unfortunately, thi s is one of the risks of co-signing a student loan. Co-signing a private student loan means your partner is equally liable for the loan; unless his daughter consolidates those loans, he can't do anything about that agreement. He will need to make the payments and hope that she either consolidates so they are no longer his responsibility or resumes making payments. [Understand why parents should think hard before borrowing for or with their student.] Note that the lender, if not paid, will go after both your partner and his daughter. This includes dings to their credit reports and possibly litigation and eventual wage garnishment. However, this is for private loans and not Parent PLUS loans. If your partner co-signed Parent PLUS loans, legally his daughter isn't responsible -- only your partner. That said, there are lower payment and other options with Parent PLUS loans, so please let me know if that's actually the case and we can guide you further in that direction. Betsy Mayotte, director of consumer outreach and compliance for American Student Assistance, regularly advises consumers on planning and paying for college. Mayotte, who received a B.S. in business communications from Bentley College, responds to public inquiries via the advice resource "Just Ask" and is frequently quoted in traditional and social media on the topics of student loans and financial aid. RASHIDIN, Syria Samira Sabagh was sitting on the ground when I met her, and the first thing I noticed was that her hands and face were almost black. She was wearing a traditional green dress that smelled of smoke. She was about 65, just one of more than 100,000 former residents of eastern Aleppo forced to leave the rebel-held area under threat of annihilation by the Syrian regime and its Russian and Iranian allies. Sabagh was disoriented. Her children and all her family had been killed in Aleppo, with the exception of a daughter living in Idlib, not far from here. I dont know how to go to Idlib, she said, referring to the rebel-held northwestern Syrian province where many of the displaced Syrians were fleeing. I asked her about the soot on her face. Its bitterly cold in Aleppo now, she explained, and people were living in the streets for a week waiting for the evacuation to begin. So everyone had to burn shoes, plastics anything they could get to stay warm, and that left her face and hands covered in soot. She told me the story through tears. Rashidin, the town on the western edge of Aleppo city where the buses arrived with the newly displaced, is the last place on the Aleppo-Damascus highway that one can reach from rebel territory. Rebels call it point zero. Every exiled Syrian brought here had soot on their hands and faces. Their clothes reeked. Their bodies smelled as if they hadnt bathed for a month. Almost everyone said they had burned their furniture, automobile tires, even clothes and blankets, for heat. And some burned their possessions rather than let them fall into the hands of the pro-government militias. I had driven here with a cameraman from the news bureau I manage in Idlib, a journey of a little more than an hour. In the gas station parking lot where the buses arrived, I heard tale after tale of what residents of eastern Aleppo endured during the devastating bombing campaign and starvation siege of the rebel-held enclave traumas that were exacerbated by the mocking of pro-regime militiamen as they abandoned their city. And now they were stranded in the bitter cold with no idea what comes next, forced to rebuild their shattered lives once more. Story continues The Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) and the International Committee of the Red Cross had organized the buses after rebels reached a deal with the government to withdraw from eastern Aleppo in exchange for safe passage for their families and other civilians who feared the revenge of the militias. When they came off the buses, everyone was shivering from the cold. They were hungry, and local charities handed out fruit and small food packages. They looked tired and depressed as they sat on the ground, eating them. The best organized were the rebel groups, which sent buses and minibuses to fetch the families of fighters and transport them to secure lodging. But most had no idea where to go and sat on the ground debating their next move. I hear Atarib is a good town to stay in. I will go and look for an apartment, one man told me, speaking of a town close to the Turkish border that is often the target for regime airstrikes. The only joyful sound came from some of the children, who acted as if theyd landed in paradise. The elders were silent and bewildered, looking as though theyd just stepped out of the grave. I tried to start conversations by offering congratulations to the internally displaced people on reaching safety. But the stories they told were beyond my imagination. For a while, I forgot I was a journalist; I was so affected that I wanted to reach out and hug them. Samer al-Najjar was wearing two leather jackets, on top of three sweaters, when I met him. Aleppo, he said, was like hell: He had been expecting to die at any moment. He told a story of a woman who had nowhere to live giving birth in the street shortly before the buses arrived. It happened after three days of waiting. People carried her to the back of a truck and put up a nylon tent over her, he said. A SARC volunteer helped deliver the baby. Tears welled up as he spoke of her. He didnt know her fate or that of the infant. Ahmad Hamido was about 65. He had a white beard and wore a woolen hat, and his right hand shook as he spoke to another reporter. I saw tears in his eyes and felt he needed someone to talk to rather than another interview. So I stopped playing the journalist, put down my camera and microphone, and placed my hand on his shoulder to comfort him. He started to tell me what happened when his fourth-floor apartment was destroyed and he had to flee from one neighborhood to another to escape the bombing. I tried to console him. Youre alive and sound, and that makes up for everything, I said. Ahmad said none of his close relatives survived the siege. Some of his cousins were killed by snipers when they unknowingly wandered into the vicinity of the militia-held checkpoints. His suffering hadnt stopped even after the arrival of the buses. He said the Syrian militias insulted them before they departed. He said a pro-regime militiaman went on the bus and threatened the passengers, demanding they surrender. No one responded. Nearly all the children I talked to were traumatized. They told stories of bombing and death. Most everyone with whom I spoke had lost at least one family member in the bombing. Israa Mansour was 9, with curly hair, a red jacket and blue jeans, and frayed gloves with holes in them. I asked why her family had left Aleppo. Because Russia and Iran will kill us, she replied. May God punish them. They kicked us out of our homes. Samara, 10, said she hasnt been to school since it was bombed during the barrel bombing campaign that lasted more than two years. She said her younger brother was killed in the bombing. We are going to our relatives in Idlib, she said. Inshallah I will be back to school there. I saw a rebel fighter waiting for a family he hadnt seen for four years. When they arrived, he took his wife in his arms and cried. He picked up his two boys, ages 5 and 7, and hugged his wife. When I looked at him, he hid his face, as if to say, a man in uniform carrying a rifle should not be seen crying. Nearly everyone I met there was poor. You could see it from the clothes they wore and the simple things they were carrying. The rich had left Aleppo long ago. Those who stayed behind had nowhere to go or no means to leave. But even those who were lucky enough to find lodging after the fall of eastern Aleppo are still destitute. The widows house in Idlib city is a second-floor apartment with 10 people living in it. Theres no furniture only two threadbare rugs, two mattresses, and some blankets on the floor, along with a very old stove. Wafaa al-Zein, 44, now the head of the family, greeted us by apologizing that she couldnt offer us anything to drink or eat. The family has a gentle manner, suggesting they had lived well in eastern Aleppo but now have no money and have to rely on charity for food, blankets everything. The apartment itself was a donation from another family. Umm Ali, as Wafaa likes to be called, has four children, ages 9 to 24, and three grandchildren. They have gone through an immense tragedy. A little more than one month ago, on Nov. 28, Umm Alis husband and the husband of her 24-year-old daughter, Amina, were killed by a missile while sitting in front of their temporary home in eastern Aleppo. The son-in-laws body was torn in so many pieces that Amina was unable to bury him. I only could find small pieces of him. I kept looking for his body parts for many days, she said. Two days after the bombing, she found his foot on the roof of a neighbors house. Amina has three children, ages 1 to 4, and says she doesnt know how to raise them alone. They keep asking me when their father will come back. They dont believe he is dead, she said. She put her hands over her face to hide the tears. If only I was able to bury him. Ali, at 19, is now the man of the family. He and his father had a business selling vegetables from a cart in eastern Aleppo until the siege made it impossible for them to replenish their stocks. But he was wounded in the war and is now unemployed he begged for my help in finding a job. Their departure from eastern Aleppo during the evacuation has been seared into his memory he referred to it as the journey of humiliation. Ali wouldnt look me in the face as he described what happened. After boarding the buses in eastern Aleppo and crossing into government territory, some pro-regime militiamen began spitting at the windows of the bus. Others boarded the buses, pulled down their pants and demanded the women look at their genitals. I was so angry, I hit my head on the inside of the bus, he said. I wanted to kill myself. But his mother told him: Forget this. They are worthless people. We should not take them seriously. Like so many others, the whole family had waited in the cold for three days for the buses to take them out of government-held eastern Aleppo. Staying was not an option for Umm Ali. She said she didnt fear death but wanted to preserve her honor and that of her daughter. Without saying the word, her fear was being raped. I was worried about my daughter and about myself, she said. Both her husband and her son-in-law were opposition sympathizers. I was worried they would arrest us and carry out revenge. Roy Gutman contributed to this article from Istanbul. Photo credit: ZEIN AL-RIFAI/AFP/Getty Images HONG KONG (Reuters) - China's Alibaba Group Holding Ltd has sued two vendors it says sold fake Swarovski watches on its Taobao e-commerce platform, its first legal action against counterfeiters amid persistent allegations that fake goods are widely available on its sites. The news of the lawsuit comes less than two weeks after the United States returned Taobao to its blacklist of "notorious marketplaces" known for the sale of counterfeit and intellectual property rights violating goods after four years off the list. Alibaba's lawsuit claims 1.4 million yuan ($201,671) in damages for contract and goodwill violations, the company said in a statement on Wednesday. The statement did not name the vendors. "We want to mete out to counterfeiters the punishment they deserve in order to protect brand owners," the statement quoted Zheng Junfang, Chief Platform Governance Officer of Alibaba Group, as saying. "We will bring the full force of the law to bear on these counterfeiters so as to deter others from engaging in this crime wherever they are." Alibaba said it identified the counterfeiters after detecting a merchant selling fake Swarovski watches on Taobao, China's most popular consumer-to-consumer online shopping platform. It then initiated a "test-buy purchase programme" to buy a watch, which was later confirmed by Swarovski to be counterfeit. Calls to the Austrian company for a comment were not answered. Alibaba said it provided information to the Shenzhen Luohu District police, who subsequently raided the watch seller on August 10, confiscating more than 125 fake Swarovski watches worth nearly 2 million yuan. A second counterfeit Swarovski seller on Taobao was also identified during the action. Alibaba said the legal action would not be its last, and it had already compiled a list of counterfeiters against whom it would take similar actions. Alibaba says it takes the fight against fakes seriously and has gone to great lengths to try to rid its online marketplaces of intellectual property rights violators, but critics point out that counterfeits remain prevalent and argue the company has not done nearly enough. ($1 = 6.9420 Chinese yuan) (Reporting by Jessica Macy Yu; Editing by John Ruwitch and Muralikumar Anantharaman) HONG KONG (Reuters) - China's Alibaba Group Holding Ltd has sued two vendors it says sold fake Swarovski watches on its Taobao e-commerce platform, its first legal action against counterfeiters amid persistent allegations that fake goods are widely available on its sites. The news of the lawsuit comes less than two weeks after the United States returned Taobao to its blacklist of "notorious marketplaces" known for the sale of counterfeit and intellectual property rights violating goods after four years off the list. Alibaba's lawsuit claims 1.4 million yuan ($201,671) in damages for contract and goodwill violations, the company said in a statement on Wednesday. The statement did not name the vendors. "We want to mete out to counterfeiters the punishment they deserve in order to protect brand owners," the statement quoted Zheng Junfang, Chief Platform Governance Officer of Alibaba Group, as saying. "We will bring the full force of the law to bear on these counterfeiters so as to deter others from engaging in this crime wherever they are." Alibaba said it identified the counterfeiters after detecting a merchant selling fake Swarovski watches on Taobao, China's most popular consumer-to-consumer online shopping platform. It then initiated a "test-buy purchase program" to buy a watch, which was later confirmed by Swarovski to be counterfeit. Calls to the Austrian company for a comment were not answered. Alibaba said it provided information to the Shenzhen Luohu District police, who subsequently raided the watch seller on August 10, confiscating more than 125 fake Swarovski watches worth nearly 2 million yuan. A second counterfeit Swarovski seller on Taobao was also identified during the action. Alibaba said the legal action would not be its last, and it had already compiled a list of counterfeiters against whom it would take similar actions. Alibaba says it takes the fight against fakes seriously and has gone to great lengths to try to rid its online marketplaces of intellectual property rights violators, but critics point out that counterfeits remain prevalent and argue the company has not done nearly enough. (Reporting by Jessica Macy Yu; Editing by John Ruwitch and Muralikumar Anantharaman) Allergan plc AGN announced that the FDA has approved Natrelle Inspira SoftTouch, a new medium firmness gel, or cohesive, implant option for breast reconstruction, augmentation or revision surgery. Note that Natrelle Inspira is the only line of breast implants with three levels of cohesive gel products available in the U.S. The brand boasts varying gel firmness for different levels of form stability. With the FDA approval for Natrelle SoftTouch, Allergans plastic surgery portfolio will now have the broadest variety of implants among its peers and the company will now be able to provide surgeons with a wider array of options. Allergans three-month share price movement shows that the stock has marginally outperformed the Zacks classified Medical-Generic Drugs industry. Specifically, the company lost 11%, while the industry lost 12.4%. We remind investors that in Sep 2016, Allergan received FDA approval for marketing the Natrelle Inspira Cohesive line of breast implants for breast reconstruction, augmentation or revision surgery. These implants, which offer a high gel fill ratio and utilize the companys highly cohesive gel, are available in two versions smooth and textured. ALLERGAN PLC Price ALLERGAN PLC Price | ALLERGAN PLC Quote Zacks Rank & Key Picks Allergan currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Some better-ranked stocks in the health care sector include Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ARNA, Cambrex Corporation CBM and Kamada Ltd. KMDA. While Cambrex sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), Arena Pharma and Kamada carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here. Arenas earnings estimates declined from 36 cents to 34 cents for 2016 and from 33 cents to 32 cents for 2017 over the last 60 days. The company posted a positive earnings surprise in three of the four trailing quarters with an average beat of 11.43%. Cambrexs earnings estimates increased from $2.46 to $2.55 for 2016 and from $2.91 to $3.06 for 2017 over the last 60 days. The company posted a positive earnings surprise in three of the four trailing quarters with an average beat of 19.78%. Its share price has increased 7.6% in the past one month. Story continues Kamadas loss estimates widened from 6 cents to 10 cents for 2016 over the last 60 days. The company has posted a positive earnings surprise in three of the four trailing quarters with an average beat of 31.25%. Zacks' Top 10 Stocks for 2017 In addition to the stocks discussed above, would you like to know about our 10 finest buy-and-hold tickers for the entirety of 2017? Who wouldn't? As of early December, the 2016 Top 10 produced 5 double-digit winners including oil and natural gas giant Pioneer Natural Resources which racked up a stellar +50% gain. The new list is painstakingly hand-picked from 4,400 companies covered by the Zacks Rank. Be among the very first to see it>> 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 ALLERGAN PLC (AGN): Free Stock Analysis Report ARENA PHARMA (ARNA): Free Stock Analysis Report CAMBREX CORP (CBM): Free Stock Analysis Report KAMADA LTD (KMDA): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research The Allstate Corporation ALL, the second-largest property-casualty (P&C) insurer in the U.S, recently announced its intention to strengthen its sales force in Delaware, District of Columbia, Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia. This plan of boosting the sales force is mainly aimed at keeping pace with growing consumer demand for insurance and financial products and services in the Mid-Atlantic region. Improving the productivity of its sales force has been another major area of focus for the company over the last few years. By enhancing its efforts toward sales force recruitment, standardizing and upgrading field offices and promoting management specialization of individual agent channel, Allstate has substantially increased the efficiency and productivity of its sales force. These efforts have significantly bolstered the productivity of Allstates sales team, which is also clearly reflected by its continuously improving operational performance. Shareholders also seem to be pretty confident on the stock as over the last one month, the stock has gained 5.3%, nearly double than Zacks categorized Property &Casualty Insurance industrys gain of 2.4%. Allstate is basically seeking to appoint 1,105 sales professionals in the concerned areas among which 80 appointments would be the agency owners, 25 are supposed to be the exclusive financial specialists and the remaining 1,000 are slated to be hired by those agencies as sales professionals. Notably, candidates who are interested to join Allstate, would require to show that they have sufficient amount of capital to invest in their agency. Allstate has always been taking up several organic and inorganic growth strategies in order to retain its strong revenue base and grow on margins continuously. This initiative will help the company not only in creating employment in the concerned areas but also will enable the company to bolster its position in the highly competitive insurance market on the back of growing business. We are optimistic that with its operations and capital strategy, Allstate will continue to acclimate to changing market regulations. Story continues Zacks Rank and Stocks to Consider: Allstate presently has a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell). Investors can also look at some better-ranked stocks from the Property & Casualty insurance market like Arch Capital Group Ltd. ACGL, Axis Capital Holdings Ltd AXS and State National Companies, Inc. SNC. Each of these sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here . Arch Capital offers property, casualty, and mortgage insurance and reinsurance products worldwide. It posted positive surprises in the last four quarters with an average beat of 9.27%. Axis Capital is one of the several insurance carriers formed to take advantage of the enhanced insurance demand following the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The company also posted positive surprises in the last four quarters with an average beat of 30.19%. State National, another property, casualty, and mortgage insurance provider in the U.S, posted positive surprises in two of the last four quarters with an average beat of 21.28%. Zacks' Top 10 Stocks for 2017 In addition to the stocks discussed above, would you like to know about our 10 finest buy-and-hold tickers for the entirety of 2017? Who wouldn't? As of early December, the 2016 Top 10 produced 5 double-digit winners including oil and natural gas giant Pioneer Natural Resources which racked up a stellar +50% gain. The new list is painstakingly hand-picked from 4,400 companies covered by the Zacks Rank. Be among the very first to see it>> 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 ALLSTATE CORP (ALL): Free Stock Analysis Report AXIS CAP HLDGS (AXS): Free Stock Analysis Report ARCH CAP GP LTD (ACGL): Free Stock Analysis Report STATE NATL COS (SNC): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research In an attempt to penetrate further into the auto industry, Alphabet Inc.s GOOGL Google has entered into a partnership with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles N.V. FCAU to build a new Uconnect infotainment system based on the Android operating system (OS). Uconnect is an 8.4 inch connected vehicle system that uses an Android 7.0 operating system. This tech will be featured in Chrysler 300 sedan and will be exhibited at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2017 in Las Vegas this week. Over the last one year, shares of Alphabet have been treading higher. The stock has returned 4.06% compared with the Internet Services industrys gain of 3.04%. Uconnect For Automobiles Googles Android has been integrated with FCA's infotainment system UConnect. This allows all Android applications, including Google Assisant and Google Maps as well as Spotify and Pandora, to work seamlessly with UConnect. The system will also feature radio and comfort controls. This new 7.0 Android operating system allows automakers to create a customized infotainment system. This system can control various auto applications including, HVAC, navigation, AM/FM, media streaming, Bluetooth calling and media streaming, multi-channel audio, and digital instrument clusters. According to Chris Barman, head of electrical engineering at FCA, "With Android, we are able to maintain our unique and intuitive Uconnect user interface, all while integrating our easy-to-use systems with Android's features and ecosystem of applications. Both Google and Fiat have been working together for the past few months. In May 2016, Google partnered with Fiat to incorporate its self-driving technology into 100 Chrysler Pacifica minivans to be used as test vehicles. Looking Ahead Like all technology companies, Alphabet is making all efforts to boost its presence in the fast growing auto industry. Earlier, Google had developed the Android Auto platform which helped it to connect a car to Android phones via a USB cable. It enabled certain apps to run from the cars dashboard directly. Though it didnt turn out to be a big hit, the tech giant hasnt given up hope. Story continues To dive further deeper into the auto industry, Google has also made great progress in developing the self-driving technology. Late last month, the company entered into formal talks with Honda Motors. As part of the initial plan, Waymos (Alphabets new self-driving car unit) self-driving technology integrated Honda vehicles will join its test fleet that includes 100 Chrysler Pacifica hybrid minivans across four cities in the U.S. Initially, the company also made attempts to collaborate with General Motors GM and Ford Motor F which did not work out. Only time will tell what Uconnect has in store for Google. Nevertheless, we agree that Google's latest venture with Fiat will allow the technology giant to embed itself deeper in the dashboard and grab a greater share in the auto industry. ALPHABET INC-A Price and Consensus ALPHABET INC-A Price and Consensus | ALPHABET INC-A Quote Zacks Rank Alphabet currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. Zacks' Top 10 Stocks for 2017 In addition to the stocks discussed above, would you like to know about our 10 finest buy-and-hold tickers for the entirety of 2017? Who wouldn't? As of early December, the 2016 Top 10 produced 5 double-digit winners including oil and natural gas giant Pioneer Natural Resources which racked up a stellar +50% gain. The new list is painstakingly hand-picked from 4,400 companies covered by the Zacks Rank. Be among the very first to see it>> 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 FIAT CHRYSLER (FCAU): Free Stock Analysis Report GENERAL MOTORS (GM): Free Stock Analysis Report ALPHABET INC-A (GOOGL): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research Angelina Jolie has agreed to Brad Pitts request to have divorce documents pertaining to custody sealed but she slams him in her new court filing. Pitt, 53, asked a Los Angeles Superior Court judge to seal all records relating to their six children on Dec. 21, accusing Jolie of compromising the kids privacy by releasing details to the media through public court filings. TMZ reports that while Jolie, 41, has agreed to keep documents sealed, she strongly disputes his claims that she freely publicized sensitive information saying that he only made such accusations because hes terrified that the public will learn the truth. There is little doubt that would prefer to keep the entire case private, particularly given the detailed investigations by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Dept. of Children and Family Services into allegation of abuse, state the court documents, according to TMZ. But a source close to the situation stresses that Pitt has been cleared in all investigations. Its nice to see that she has finally come around to supporting the sealing of documents weeks after he requested this action, the source tells PEOPLE. Considering that both the FBI and child services thoroughly investigated this matter and cleared the father, this line of attack doesnt make much sense. For more celebrity videos visit Yahoo View, available now on iOS and Android. London (AFP) - Britain's Anthony Crolla will get his chance to regain the WBA lightweight title in a rematch with Venezuelan Jorge Linares in Manchester on March 25, it was announced on Wednesday. Crolla lost the belt he won in November 2015 on his second defence last September on points but the 30-year-old believes he is capable of avenging that defeat. "There had been lots of talk on the rematch since the first fight with Jorge so Im delighted to finally get this announced," said Crolla, whose record reads 31 wins -- 13 inside the distance -- five losses and three draws. "I'm working hard and making improvements, I will have to show improvements in the rematch if I am to win. I came up short on the night against the better man -- with those improvements I believe I can change the result this time around. "I see Jorge as the best lightweight in the world and I want to be the best lightweight in the world." Linares said he was looking forward to clashing with Crolla again. "Crolla is a tremendous fighter with a lot of heart so I know I must train twice as hard for another tough fight," said the 31-year-old, who has also held world titles at featherweight and super featherweight. "I promise another great performance and assure that the belts are returning home with me, added Linares, who boasts a record of 41 wins -- 27 inside the distance -- and only three defeats. Eddie Hearn, the fight promoter, said the bout promised to be another crowd-pleaser, if the previous one was anything to go by. "Im delighted Anthony will get a chance to win his WBA title back along with the WBC Diamond and Ring magazine belts," said Hearn. "The last fight was a Fight of the Year contender and Linares boxed out of his skin, but one thing we know about Anthony is his ability to bounce back and he is so determined to win this fight." DUBAI (Reuters) - Arab separatist militants in Iran said on Tuesday they had blown up two oil pipelines in coordinated attacks in the western Khuzestan region two days earlier, though this was subsequently denied by Iran's Interior Ministry. The group, the Arab Struggle Movement for the Liberation of al-Ahwaz, said on its website its armed wing had caused major damage and fuel losses in the attacks on Jan. 3 near the town of Omidiyeh and the port of Deylam. However, a spokesman for the Interior Ministry told state television the reports were untrue. Ahwazi Arabs are a minority in mainly ethnic Persian Iran, and some see themselves as under Persian occupation and want independence or autonomy. Separatist groups have carried out intermittent attacks for decades, including on oil installations. Tehran denies there is discontent among its Arab minority and has blamed suggestions of there being any separatist sentiment on a foreign plot to seize the oil that lies beneath Iran's Gulf coastal territory. In a statement posted on their Ahwazna.net website, the group said the first attack targeted the "Maroun" pipeline of the state-owned Aghajari Oil and Gas Production Company, while the second attack targeted pipelines from the Baharkan oilfield to Kharg Island. (Reporting by Sami Aboudi; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky) Archer is moving to FXX for its upcoming eighth season this spring. The animated series has been on sister network FX for the past seven seasons. The move has been in the works for quite some time. Back in 2015, FX Networks announced that Archer would be moving to FXX for Season 7, but those plans were never put into action and the series remained on FX. Now, the company is finally making the shift. The move to FXX comes after FXs John Landgraf said last year that the cabler would be moving really aggressively into more animated series and short-form animated series. Archer is an awesome addition to the growing slate of original comedies on FXX, where it will join Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Man Seeking Woman, and Youre the Worst,' said Chuck Saftler, president of program strategy and COO of FX Networks. Adam Reed, Matt Thompson, and Floyd County continue to make one of the funniest shows on television and its great to see them earn the awards and acclaim that comes with one of the most loyal and avid fan bases in the industry. This past summer, Archer was renewed for a whopping three seasons, bringing it through Season 10. It will air on FXX for all of those seasons. According to show creator Reed, the series will end after the tenth season, though that has not been officially confirmed by the network. The plan is to end Archer after Season 10, he said earlier this year. I dont know that anybody has talked about that, but that is definitely my plan, is to do eight, nine, and 10 and theyre gonna be each shorter seasons of just eight episodes and then wind it up. Archer, a half-hour animated comedy that revolves around private eye Sterling Archer, was created by Reed and Floyd County Productions. Reed serves as executive producer with Matt Thompson. Voice actors include H. Jon Benjamin, Jessica Walter, Aisha Tyler, Judy Greer, Chris Parnell, Amber Nash, Reed, and Lucky Yates. FX Productions is behind the series. Story continues Related stories Tom Hardy Is Back for Revenge in Intense New 'Taboo' Trailer (Watch) TV Peaks Again in 2016: Could It Hit 500 Shows in 2017? 'Fargo' Season 3 Casts Michael Stuhlbarg, Jim Gaffigan, More In an effort to enhance its position as a major business development company, Ares Capital Corporation ARCC successfully completed the acquisition of American Capital, Ltd. The cash and stock deal was announced in May 2016. Kipp deVeer, CEO of Ares Capital said, We are excited to close the acquisition of American Capital, which we expect will be accretive to core earnings and provide many financial and strategic benefits to our shareholders as we further enhance our scale and market position. He added, While significant progress was made with the American Capital portfolio after the merger agreement was signed, we expect a continued repositioning of its legacy investments to enhance earnings at the combined company and further improve our companys outlook. Notably, Ares Capitals shares have gained 13% in the last one year, outperforming the 10.9% gain for the Zacks categorized Small Business Investment Companies & Commercial industry. Terms of the Deal Per the agreement, shareholders of American Capital will receive cash of approximately $18.06 per share, which includes $14.41 from Ares Capital, $2.45 from the sale of American Capital Mortgage Management, LLC, and around $1.20 from Ares Capital Management LLC, the investment adviser of Ares Capital. In addition, shareholders of American Capital have been given approximately 112 million shares of Ares Capital. As a result, American Capitals shareholders own 26.3% of the combined company, whereas shareholders of Ares Capital own 73.7%. Moreover, in order to support the profitability of the resulting company, Ares Capital Management has decided to waive up to $100 million in income-based fees from Ares Capital for 10 calendar quarters starting from second-quarter 2017. The acquisition has helped Ares Capital further diversify its investment portfolio. Also, as American Capital holds a substantial cash position without any debt burden, the combined companys debt-to-equity ratio has been moderately reduced. Penni Roll, CFO of Ares Capital said, The significant amount of cash held by American Capital and the resulting reduction in leverage from the transaction puts us in a strong capital position as we look to drive long-term earnings growth from the American Capital acquisition." Wells Fargo Securities, LLC, a division of Wells Fargo & Company WFC and Bank of America Merrill Lynch provided financial advice to Ares Capital for the transaction. Goldman Sachs & Co., a division of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. GS and Credit Suisse Securities LLC, a division of Credit Suisse Group AG CS served as financial advisors to American Capital. Currently, Ares Capital carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. Zacks' Top 10 Stocks for 2017 In addition to the stocks discussed above, would you like to know about our 10 finest buy-and-hold tickers for the entirety of 2017? Who wouldn't? As of early December, the 2016 Top 10 produced 5 double-digit winners including oil and natural gas giant Pioneer Natural Resources which racked up a stellar +50% gain. The new list is painstakingly hand-picked from 4,400 companies covered by the Zacks Rank. Be among the very first to see it>>. 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 WELLS FARGO-NEW (WFC): Free Stock Analysis Report CREDIT SUISSE (CS): Free Stock Analysis Report GOLDMAN SACHS (GS): Free Stock Analysis Report ARES CAP CP (ARCC): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Suspected Muslim rebels staged the Philippines' biggest jailbreak Wednesday when they stormed a dilapidated jail in the violence-plagued south of the country, freeing 158 inmates and killing a guard, authorities said. The attack added to a long history of daring jailbreaks in the southern Philippines, home to a decades-old Muslim separatist insurgency as well as extremist gangs that have recently declared allegiance to the Islamic State group. More than 100 armed men believed to have been led by a local Muslim guerrilla commander attacked the jail in Kidapawan city about 1:00am in what appeared to be a well-planned raid to free fellow rebels, jail authorities said. "There are high-value targets in our custody who were the subject of a rescue operation," jail warden Peter John Bonggat told AFP. The assailants were heavily armed and overwhelmed the 24 guards at the jail, according to Bonggat, who was involved in the effort to repel the gunmen and said one of his officers had been killed. At least 158 prisoners escaped, Bonggat told AFP, although it was unclear how many of those were linked to the attackers or were just other inmates who took advantage of the chaos. Bonggat said the jail, which housed 1,511 inmates, was a run-down former school building located in a forested, secluded area. Kidapawan, 950 kilometres (590 miles) south of Manila, is home to various Muslim rebel groups, criminal gangs and communist insurgents. "We have many Muslim personalities (in the jail) that are members of various organised, syndicated groups," Bonggat said. He said the attackers were believed to be militants who had broken away from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the nation's largest Muslim rebel organisation which is in peace talks with the government. Six of the escapees were killed and eight captured as security forces hunted them in nearby farmlands throughout Wednesday, according to Bonggat. - Overpowered, undermanned - Story continues Acting provincial governor Shirlyn Macasarte said authorities had been tipped off that one of the breakaway groups, the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, had been planning the jailbreak. "We had reports that a group of BIFF members wanted to rescue brothers who were involved in killings and had experience of making bombs," Macasarte told ABS-CBN television. Islamic militants have staged a series of raids on poorly funded and secured jails in the south over the past 15 years that have led to mass escapes, but authorities said Wednesday's was the largest. "It is the biggest ever jailbreak in our history," Bureau of Jail Management and Penology spokesman Xavier Solda told AFP. "We were really underpowered and undermanned." Militants have attacked the Kidapawan jail repeatedly. In 2007, gunmen freed 49 inmates there. Among those who escaped was Khair Mundos, one of the main leaders of the Abu Sayyaf, which is blamed for the Philippines' worst terrorist attacks. He was recaptured in 2014. The southern region of Mindanao is the ancestral homeland of the Muslim minority in the largely Catholic Philippines. The MILF, which has about 10,000 armed followers, is the largest of the rebel groups that have been fighting since the 1970s for independence or autonomy. More than 120,000 people have been killed in the rebellion. The MILF has in recent years been observing a ceasefire as part of peace efforts with the government. MILF spokesman Von al-Haq told AFP the group did not know who the attackers in Wednesday's raid were. The BIFF is one of several breakaway groups that are determined to continue fighting and have declared allegiance to IS. The BIFF split from the MILF in 2008 after the previous peace process collapsed, then carried out attacks on Christian communities that left more than 400 people dead and 600,000 displaced. The Maute group, regarded as one of the most dangerous extremist organisations, freed 23 inmates in a jailbreak last year near Kidapawan. MANILA (Reuters) - Around 100 armed men with links to Muslim rebels stormed a prison in the southern Philippines on Wednesday, killing a guard and freeing more than 150 prisoners, some of them Islamic militants, officials said. The Southeast Asian, majority Roman Catholic nation has for decades been plagued by insurgency by Muslim rebels in its southern islands. The gunmen opened fire at guards at the North Cotabato District Jail in Kidapawan, prison warden Peter Bongat said on radio. Of the jail's 1,511 inmates, 158 managed to escape, he said. Eight prisoners had since been caught, two had surrendered, while six were killed, according to the office of the president. Shirlyn Macasarte, acting governor of North Cotabato, said her office had been tipped off about the plan by the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) to free its members as early as the second quarter of last year. "They were involved in murders and at the same time I think they have experience in bomb making so we watched them closely," Macasarte told news channel ANC. The leader of the attackers, known by the alias Commander Derbie, had links with the BIFF, a splinter group of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), Macasarte said. Some members of the MILF and BIFF were said to be behind the killing of 44 police commandos in a secret mission two years ago to capture a Malaysian bomb maker with a $5 million bounty from the U.S. State Department on his head. In 2014, the government signed a peace deal with the MILF, the biggest Muslim rebel group, but clashes still occur with smaller groups. (Reporting by Neil Jerome Morales and Manuel Mogato; Editing by Nick Macfie) Share price of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. AJG gained about 0.5% in the last trading session following the companys acquisition of Complete Financial Balance Pty Ltd in Australia. The acquisition will expand the brokers Australian presence and mark the first employee benefits buyout there. Brisbane, Australia-based Complete Financial Balance was established in 1989. Complete Financial is a financial services advisory firm offering wealth management and employee benefits consulting services to business professionals and individuals across Australia. Complete Financials expertise lies in superannuation, risk management and asset protection, investment and portfolio administration, business risk insurance, estate planning and retirement planning. The buyout will thus perfectly complement the acquirers employee benefits consulting operations. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. remains focused on international expansion through both acquisitions and organic measures. The companys international operations, primarily in Australia, Bermuda, Canada, the Caribbean, Singapore, New Zealand and the U.K., generated about 30% of its revenues. With this flurry of acquisitions, the number is expected to grow further. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.s growth story looks impressive. While the buyouts widen its geographical footprint, these also support its enhanced portfolio of services and strengthen its position in retail and wholesale insurance brokerage services and risk management industries. This marks the first buyout in 2017. Arthur J. Gallagher remains on the growth track supported by its strategic acquisitions and mergers. Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher have increased 3.05% in the last three months, outperforming the Zacks categorized Insurance Broker industrys 1.21% gain. The Zack Consensus Estimate moved north over the last 30 days. With optimism surrounding the companys compelling inorganic growth story, we expect analysts to pull up their estimates. The Zacks Consensus Estimate is currently pegged at 66 cents per share, which translates into a year-over-year increase of 14.4%. Though the companys favorable Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) increases the predictive power of an earnings beat, an Earnings ESP of 0.00% makes prediction difficult. You can see the complete list of todays Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) stocks here. As insurers choose the inorganic route for growth, the takeover saga rages the space. Recently, Brown and Brown Inc. BRO announced that its unit has acquired the commercial MGA operations of Insurance House. Last month, Allied World Assurance Company Holdings, AG AWH announced that it will be acquired by Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited FRFHF. Story continues Zacks' Top 10 Stocks for 2017 In addition to the stocks discussed above, would you like to know about our 10 finest buy-and-hold tickers for the entirety of 2017? Who wouldn't? As of early December, the 2016 Top 10 produced 5 double-digit winners including oil and natural gas giant Pioneer Natural Resources which racked up a stellar +50% gain. The new list is painstakingly hand-picked from 4,400 companies covered by the Zacks Rank. Be among the very first to see it>> 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 BROWN & BROWN (BRO): Free Stock Analysis Report GALLAGHER ARTHU (AJG): Free Stock Analysis Report ALLIED WORLD AS (AWH): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research Artists conceptions show the Lucy probe visiting a rocky asteroid at left, and the Psyche probe visiting a metallic asteroid at right. (NASA Illustrations) Today is a great day for asteroid miners: NASA announced that it will provide full funding under its Discovery Program for two missions focusing on different types of asteroids. A mission called Lucy will launch in 2021 to study a smorgasbord of asteroids, including one in the main asteroid belt, between Mars and Jupiter, plus six others among the swarms of space rocks caught in Jupiters orbit. Another mission called Psyche will take off in 2023 to visit a type of asteroid thats never been seen up close before: a huge metallic object called 16 Psyche thats similar in composition to Earths core. This is what Discovery Program missions are all about boldly going to places weve never been to enable groundbreaking science, Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for NASA Headquarters Science Mission Directorate, said today in a news release. NASA will also provide another year of funding for the Near Earth Object Camera, or NEOCam, which is designed to look for potentially hazardous asteroids in the region of space closest to Earths orbit. Discovery Program missions are relatively low-cost space science efforts, capped at a cost of about $450 million. Previously selected Discovery missions include the Messenger probe to Mercury; the Dawn probe to the asteroids Vesta and Ceres; and the InSight lander, which is due to begin its trip to Mars next year. Lucy, Psyche and NEOCam were among five finalists that had been under consideration for full Discovery Program funding for more than a year. Two missions to Venus known as DAVINCI and VERITAS lost out in this round but could be reconsidered in the future. It would be wonderful if we could have selected more than two, but obviously were delighted with the selections, said Jim Green, NASAs planetary science director. Psyche: Potential target for asteroid miners The Psyche mission will be going to a one-of-a-kind object in the main asteroid belt: A 130-mile-wide chunk of material thought to consist mostly of metallic iron and nickel. Scientists have suggested that the asteroid 16 Psyche could be the exposed core of a primordial Mars-sized planet that lost its outer rocky layers in a series of collisions billions of years ago. Story continues The mission schedule calls for launch in October 2023, an Earth gravity-assist maneuver in 2024, a Mars flyby in 2025, and arrival at the asteroid in 2030. The robotic probe will study Psyches composition, magnetic field and mass distribution over the course of a two-year science campaign. This is an opportunity to explore a new type of world not one of rock or ice, but of metal, the missions principal investigator, Lindy Elkins-Tanton of Arizona State University, said in a statement. 16 Psyche is the only known object of its kind in the solar system, and this is the only way humans will ever visit a core. We learn about inner space by visiting outer space. Psyche is also intriguing to asteroid miners, because insights into the composition of metal-bearing space objects could point the way toward techniques for making use of those resources. I think the most important things were going to discover are: What are the surface conditions of a metal asteroid like? What might the landing challenges be? If we go there and we discover that its easily mineable and it has mineral resources that can be converted to water, then Psyche could be the perfect stepping stone to the outer solar system, Elkins-Tanton told GeekWire. One of the leaders in the asteroid-mining field is Planetary Resources, a company headquartered in Redmond, Wash. Planetary Resources president and CEO, Chris Lewicki, welcomed word of the newly selected missions in a statement emailed to GeekWire: Planetary Resources is excited that NASA has selected the Lucy and Psyche missions for the Discovery program. While the particular asteroids targeted for study under these missions are not near-term resource targets, understanding the science behind their history and evolution will contribute to the body of knowledge about these important members in the solar system family and the valuable materials they contain. With some half-dozen active space missions now in service, on their way, or under development to study asteroids, were pleased to be developing our own mission to harness water and metals from asteroids and open up the space economy enabling the permanent presence of humans beyond Earth. Lucy: Fossils of planet formation Lucy is due for launch in October 2021, and would reach its first destination in the main belt in 2025. The probe would move on to study the six Jupiter Trojan asteroids between 2027 and 2033. Trojans are thought to be remnants of the early solar system that were gravitationally captured at balance points in Jupiters orbit. These small bodies really are the fossils of planet formation, and thats why we named Lucy after the human ancestor, said the missions principal investigator, Harold Levison of the Southwest Research Institute. Lucys target in the main asteroid belt has been named Donaldjohanson, as a nod to the paleontologist who discovered the famous 3.2 million-year-old fossil in 1974. Other targets include the Trojan asteroid Eurybates and Levisons personal favorite, the binary Trojan known as Patroclus-Menoetius. Both Lucy and Psyche have the primary scientific objective of unraveling the origins and evolution of the solar system. These additional pieces of the puzzle will help us understand how the sun and its family of planets formed, changed over time, and became places where life could develop and be sustained and what the future may hold, NASAs Green said. Update for 8:30 a.m. PT Jan. 5: This report was updated with Planetary Resources statement. More from GeekWire: The 115th Congress is back in session, and at least one thing looks the same as usual: 91 percent of its members identify as Christians. This proportion has basically remained constant for more than five decades, as long as this kind of data has been available, according to a new study from Pew Research Center. What has changed is the U.S. population: Only 71 percent of American adults identify as Christians. Some religious minorities, including Muslims, Hindus, and Buddhists, are slightly underrepresented in Congress relative to their population sizes in the United States, while others, including Jews and Mormons, are slightly overrepresented. But these groups arent the source of the demographic mismatch between Congress and the rest of the country. The Americans who are vastly underrepresented in Congress are those who dont identify with any religion at all: Only one member of Congress, Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, says she is religiously unaffiliated, while 10 others declined to state their affiliation in surveys and interviews with CQ Roll Call. There are at least two good explanations for this phenomenon. The first is that religiously unaffiliated Americans dont vote. Another way of putting that is that young people dont vote: According to the Public Religion Research Institute, 18-to-29-year-olds are three times as likely to be religiously unaffiliated compared to people over 65. Even though the religiously unaffiliated share of the American population has significantly increased from 14 to 22 percent between 2004 and 2014, the share of religiously unaffiliated voters only increased from 9 to 12 percent. This chart offers a stark illustration of how politically disengaged these voters really are: Religiously Unaffiliated Americans Dont Vote Public Religion Research Institute Scholars and journalists have long decried the civic apathy of the young. But at least in terms of religious demographics, it makes sense that there has not been a political revolution under the banner of irreligion: Religiously unaffiliated is a category popularized by pollsters. It is a useful demographic tool, but not a very useful way of understanding how these Americans think about politics. Recommended: Millennials Can Smell Christian 'B.S. From a Mile Away' Religiously unaffiliated means these Americans dont feel like theyre part of any particular religious tradition or denomination. But that includes a huge and diverse group of people. Those who formally identify as atheists and agnostics are actually a minority, representing roughly 3 and 4 percent of the American population, respectively. Others in this group, which includes roughly 23 percent of Americans, might be in the process of changing religions or feel like they have no spiritual home in a formal house of worship. They include people who believe in God and people who might be married to a spouse with a different faith background. And they include lots of people who dont find religion particularly important or relevant in their lives. This, above all, is why its suspect to suggest that religiously unaffiliated people are underrepresented in Congress: They are not actually a coherent demographic group. It makes some sense that people who have mixed feelings or dont care about religion wouldnt bother organizing to get more of their kind in Congress. Its also possible that at least some of the members who claimed a specific faith on their CQ Roll Call survey are only nominally religious, anyways. After all, any pollster worth his galleons knows its tough to elect atheists to political office. If this is truly a crisis of representation, theres good news. Religiously unaffiliated Americans who are bothered by their lack of a voice in Congress can use one simple trick to start making change: They can vote. Read more from The Atlantic: This article was originally published on The Atlantic. DailyFX.com - Talking Points Chinese consumers perked up in December, according to the Westpac MNI index However, the Australian Dollars focus was elsewhere and it was unable to capitalize That said, the technical charts look quite good for AUD/USD bulls The Australian Dollar remained under pressure against its generally stronger US cousin on Wednesday despite news that Chinese consumers were feeling more perky last month. The Westpac MNI consumer sentiment index rose to 116.6 in December, rising from the previous months 114.9, which was the weakest print since August. The series is quite volatile though, and the current trend if any looks hard to discern. The Australian unit might have been expected to gain on these numbers. It is often the markets favoured liquid China proxy given Australias close export ties to the worlds number two economy. However, the backdrop this time was one of general US Dollar strength following Tuesdays punchy US manufacturing data. That sent the greenback up to fourteen-year peaks against its major traded rivals and was more than enough it seems to overcome any Aussie impetus that the Chinese news may have provided. Still, todays outcome looks quite hopeful in the longer term, especially given the continued rhetorical tensions between US President-elect Donald Trump and the administration in Beijing. It seems that Chinese consumers, at least, are not letting those get them down. AUD/USD slipped a little from 0.72308 just before the data to 0.72256 right after it. However, DailyFX currency analyst David Song cautions that the Aussie could be in line for a strong recovery, AUD/USD having failed to slide below strong technical support at 0.7145. Meandering lower, AUD/USD Aussie Dollar Focus Elsewhere as Chinese Consumers Perk Up Chart compiled using TradingView Whats in store for 2017s first quarter? Check out DailyFX analysts forecasts. --- Written by David Cottle, DailyFX Research 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. VIENNA (Reuters) - Police in the Austrian city of Innsbruck are trying to identify a group of foreign men believed to have sexually assaulted 18 women during New Year's Eve celebrations, a spokesman said on Wednesday. The women have reported that unidentified assailants had groped and tried to kiss them that evening as they stood in or near a crowded central square for a concert and fireworks display. Most described a group of five or six men, the police spokesman said. In neighboring Germany last year, hundreds of women were sexually assaulted and robbed at New Year's celebrations in Cologne and suspects were mainly of North African and Arab appearance. Police there said they prevented a repeat of this year by screening 650 mostly North African men on the night. Anti-immigrant sentiment has boosted support for far-right parties in both Austria and Germany after both countries took in waves of migrants, many of them from the Middle East and North Africa, during Europe's migration crisis in 2015. Witnesses in Innsbruck, a city in the Alps in western Austria, said the New Year's assailants were in their 20s or 30s and had dark complexions, but their nationality was not clear. "It has definitely been proven that they are foreign," the spokesman for the police in the western province of Tyrol said, adding witnesses reported they spoke English or poor German. "We are investigating. We have videos of poor quality but we are trying to make the best of them." The assaults happened despite a police presence reinforced because of the Cologne assaults and last month's truck attack on a Christmas market in Berlin, the spokesman said. Roughly 25,000 people gathered in the area of the central Market Square for a concert and fireworks display, visibility was limited, he added. "We have never seen anything in this form," he said. "I cannot remember (an attack) of this intensity, on this scale and with this modus operandi." (Reporting by Francois Murphy; Editing by Tom Heneghan) Vienna (AFP) - Austrian police are investigating an unprecedented number of sexual assaults carried out by a group of men on New Year's Eve in the western city of Innsbruck, an official said Wednesday. Some 18 women reported having been groped by up to 10 individuals on Innsbruck's main square where around 25,000 gathered to ring in 2017, senior police official Ernst Kranebitter said. "We've not had anything like this happen here before," Kranebitter told AFP. "They were dancing around the victims and then suddenly grabbed their breast or stuck their hands between their legs. That's what made it hard for others to notice what was going on -- it all happened amid festivities." The suspects have been described as being in their late teens, said Kranebitter. Amateur video footage of the incidents has so far failed to help investigators identify the suspects because the image quality was too poor. The assault came a year after hundreds of women were mugged and groped in a crowd of men of mainly Arab and north African appearance in the German city of Cologne on December 31. To avoid a similar incident, police in Vienna distributed 6,000 pocket alarms on New Year's Eve last week to help prevent attacks. Police presence had been boosted across Austria, including in Innsbruck, for the end-of-year festivities in the wake of a terror attack in neighbouring Germany in early December. Https%3a%2f%2fblueprint-api-production.s3.amazonaws.com%2fuploads%2fcard%2fimage%2f335798%2f3203523d-3857-48f9-bef0-4ca9ef691534 Dying to shed that "basic" label but can't give up your avocado toast obsession? The latest restaurant news from Amsterdam may be able to wean you from your basic brunch. The Avocado Show, an eatery dedicated to the alligator pear (as it's sometimes called), is set to open in Amsterdam in 2017, reports Metro. SEE ALSO: The 100 best food pairings ever The restaurant, which calls itself Europe's first avocado bar, will serve meals from breakfast through late night treats. The menu will purportedly include items ranging from avocado sandwiches to avocado bun burgers and avocado chocolate smoothies. A photo posted by The Avocado Show (@theavocadoshow) on Dec 16, 2016 at 1:13pm PST Restaurant proprietors Julien Zaal, Ron Simpson and Jaimie van Heije told Dutch newspaper Algemeen Dagblad, "Our only rule is that the dishes need to contain the green super fruit in one way or another." A photo posted by The Avocado Show (@theavocadoshow) on Dec 17, 2016 at 1:38am PST If you were deciding where to to go on your summer vacation and avocado is up your alley, this might just be the ticket (though there is no word on if the restaurant will be open by then). Of course, if you travel wearing super expensive leggings, you're still basic AF. BONUS: Tasting avocados Timothy Naftali CNN Donald Trump's tweets questioning the US intelligence community's handling of the Russian cyberattack investigation prompted a warning from a CNN commentator on Tuesday night. Timothy Naftali, a presidential historian for the network, said the president-elect should not try to cast doubt on the nation's top spy agencies. "It's a bad idea," Naftali said, "the intelligence community has information about him that I'm sure he would like not to be released." Naftali stopped short of implying there's a big secret about the incoming president, but said "it doesn't make sense for Trump to be making adversaries in the intelligence community ... a community that serves presidents regardless of party." He suggested Trump should "stay silent" about the Russian hacking investigation. Trump tweeted earlier on Tuesday night: "The 'Intelligence' briefing on so-called 'Russian hacking' was delayed until Friday, perhaps more time needed to build a case. Very strange!" Unnamed US officials cited by NBC News and USA Today said the meeting between Trump and the heads of US intelligence agencies had already been on the books for Friday. NOW WATCH: These are the biggest risks facing the world in 2017 More From Business Insider Federal authorities and airline officials are investigating the odd flight of baggage handler who wound up in the cargo hold of a plane for more than 300 miles. The Federal Aviation Administration said it hoped to talk to the man on Tuesday. The agency said it would determine whether the mans cargo-loading company followed proper procedures to make sure that all employees were out of the cargo hold before the doors were closed and the plane took off. The man was found unharmed after the United Express flight from Charlotte, North Carolina, landed Sunday at Dulles International Airport outside Washington, D.C. The cargo hold was temperature-controlled and pressurized, United Airlines spokeswoman Erin Benson said. The Embraer jet was in the air for about 80 minutes and reached an altitude of 27,000 feet, according to the FlightAware tracking service. The plane was operated for United by Mesa Airlines, but the bag handler works for a Mesa contractor, G2 Secure Staff, Benson said. G2, which is based in Irving, Texas, issued a statement saying that its employee traveled in the cargo hold on accident and that it is cooperating with investigations into the incident. Phoenix-based Mesa did not immediately respond to phone and email messages. Rob Yingling, a spokesman for the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, said that medics met the plane when it arrived Sunday afternoon but determined the baggage handler did not need treatment. Dulles Airport police conducted a brief investigation. Since the man had proper identification as a Charlotte airport employee and was not charged with a crime, he was released, Yingling said. The Washington Post identified the bag handler as Reginald Gaskin, and said it reached him by telephone. I thank God. He was with me, he told the newspaper, then said a lawyer advised him not to say more. Reached by The Associated Press at his Charlotte home Tuesday, Gaskin declined comment. Story continues This isnt the first time an airport worker has wound up flying in a cargo hold. In 2015, an Alaska Airlines plane made an emergency landing in Seattle after pilots and passengers heard someone banging on the cargo hold beneath them after takeoff. The man said he had fallen asleep while loading bags also in a pressurized part of the cargo hold. Menzies Aviation, the contractor who employed the man, said he had broken their rules by napping in the plane. There have also been stowaways. In 2014, a teenage boy flew in the wheel well of a Hawaiian Airlines jet from California to Hawaii, surviving thin air and freezing temperatures. The boy said he hopped a fence at the airport in San Jose to reach the plane. He was spotted wandering the airfield after the plane landed. Safety experts say such incidents should prompt airlines to improve security procedures. They say crews should not close the cargo doors until everyone is accounted for. As Donald Trump prepares to take office, many fear a new hostility to human rights on the part of the United States. From his divisive rhetoric about minorities to his embrace of autocrats abroad, there is plenty to worry about. Trump presents a stark contrast with President Barack Obama, whose tone was strikingly different. In a 2011 speech at the State Department, for example, Obama said U.S. support for universal rights is not a secondary interest but a top priority that must be translated into concrete actions, and supported by all of the diplomatic, economic and strategic tools at [the U.S. governments] disposal. During his eight years in office, his administration did sometimes live up to that rhetoric, and it never stooped to the kind of open disdain of human rights concerns that is feared from Trump. But the truth is, a careful review of Obamas major human rights decisions shows a mixed record. In fact, he has often treated human rights as a secondary interest nice to support when the cost was not too high, but nothing like a top priority he championed. Drones, Guantanamo, surveillance His actions on counterterrorism provide a case in point. Obama took office with great promise, announcing on his second day that he would stop CIA torture immediately and close the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, within a year. By all accounts, the torture did stop. But Obama has steadfastly refused to prosecute those responsible or even to allow the release of much more than the summary of a comprehensive Senate Intelligence Committee report that documented it. As a result, rather than reaffirming the criminality of torture, Obama leaves office sending the lingering message that, should future policymakers resort to it, prosecution is unlikely. Given Trumps campaign rhetoric about reinstating waterboarding (or worse), this is hardly an academic point, even considering the opposition of his nominee for defense secretary. Story continues Obamas efforts to close Guantanamo have been equally halfhearted. Early in his tenure, he moved slowly, enabling Congress to adopt legislation which he refused to veto imposing various obstacles to transferring detainees overseas and barring their transfer to the United States even for trial. Facing political resistance, he reversed early plans to try the accused 9/11 plotters in a federal district court in New York, where their trials would long ago have been completed. Instead, the suspects were placed before Guantanamos military commissions made-from-scratch tribunals replete with procedural problems. Seemingly designed to avoid public revelation of the details of the suspects torture, the commissions have made virtually no progress toward actual trials, which will not begin until long after Obama leaves office, if ever. Obama has slowly reduced the number of prisoners held at Guantanamo by transferring many abroad. But his insistence on holding some two dozen detainees indefinitely without charge makes it easier for Trump to repopulate Guantanamo, as he has threatened. On another front in the fight against terrorism, Obama has greatly stepped up the use of aerial drones without sufficient clarity about the legal framework for targeted killing. In places where the United States is involved in armed conflict such as Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria drones can reduce the danger of civilian casualties because they are exceptionally accurate, have a small blast radius, and can safely linger before firing until no or few civilians are nearby. But the justification for their use is more fraught in countries such as Yemen and Somalia, where the United States has not considered itself in armed conflict. In such cases, under international human rights law, lethal force may be used only as a last resort against a person posing an imminent lethal threat, as in any law enforcement situation. In a 2013 speech at the National Defense University, Obama seemed to embrace this standard for areas outside combat zones, but because drone strikes are shrouded in secrecy, it has not been possible to determine whether his administration is applying it. By all appearances, the administration seems to have frequently defined an imminent lethal threat so broadly as to effectively revert to the more lax standards of war. With respect to surveillance, Obama seems to have continued and expanded programs begun by George W. Bush that lead to massive invasions of privacy. Once Edward Snowden alerted the public to these programs (for which he deserves gratitude, not prosecution), the president did initiate some reforms. He supported legislation to limit the National Security Agencys ability to collect phone records in bulk under one program and to bring more transparency to the specialized foreign intelligence surveillance court. But most of the mass privacy violations that Snowden disclosed remain unaddressed. Obama maintains that when it comes to non-U.S. citizens abroad, the U.S. government is free to sweep up not only records of their email and telephone communications but also the content of those communications. Needless to say, other intelligence agencies, including those with which the United States cooperates closely, are then implicitly free to do the same to U.S. citizens. Rainbow-colored lights shine on the White House to celebrate the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in favor of same-sex marriage on June 26, 2015. (Photo credit: MARK WILSON/Getty Images) LGBT rights, immigration, drugs Counterterrorism aside, Obama has taken a few important steps, some of which Trump is now threatening to reverse. Early in his tenure, while he still had some cooperation from Congress, Obama passed health-care reform, going a long way toward upholding the right to the highest attainable standard of health by enhancing Americans access to health insurance. He got on board with marriage equality, helping secure the Supreme Courts landmark recognition of the right to same-sex marriage. He also ended dont ask, dont tell for gays and lesbians serving in the U.S. military, opening military service to everyone regardless of sexual orientation, including transgender people. His support for LGBT rights also became an increasingly important part of his foreign-policy agenda. Obama pushed a reluctant Congress hard for immigration reform, and by executive order tried to shelter longtime residents from deportation particularly youth who had grown up in the United States. But he was stymied by a court order, secured by opponents of reform, which a deadlocked Supreme Court did not reverse. At the same time, Obama greatly expanded deportation. Although he claimed to prioritize deporting migrants who were dangerous criminals, he ended up targeting hundreds of thousands of people with old or minor convictions. He also took the cruel step of detaining entire families who sought asylum in the United States from raging gang violence in Central America even though a large percentage of their asylum claims were on initial review found valid. The Obama administration continued to aggressively enforce misguided criminal laws on drugs both domestically and abroad, despite the devastating human rights impact of the war on drugs and its contribution to the mass arrests and incarceration that have disproportionately affected African-Americans. The president did make some cautious progress toward reform, choosing not to interfere as a growing number of states experimented with marijuana decriminalization. His administration increasingly stressed treatment over punishment for problematic drug use and showed some willingness to interpret international drug conventions flexibly to allow for reform. He also used his clemency power to address unfair drug sentences and other excessive punishment, pardoning or commuting the sentences of 1,324 people in the federal system, more than the last 11 U.S. presidents combined. That was a strong symbolic step, even though he was unable to convince Congress to reform the laws that often lead to those extreme sentences. In response to the police killing of an unarmed black man in Ferguson, Missouri, and the intense protests that followed, Obamas Justice Department conducted an effective investigation into the Ferguson Police Departments practices, uncovering extensive racial discrimination and profiling. But similar killings continued throughout the United States, and although Obama spoke out about them, his administration failed to develop a system even to effectively track deaths at the hands of police. Syrian residents of Aleppo seek refuge on Dec. 13, 2016, after regime troops retook their neighborhood from rebel fighters. (Photo credit: AFP/Getty Images) The Syria debacle On the foreign-policy front, the biggest stain on Obamas record has been his ineffective response to the widespread slaughter of Syrian civilians by forces under Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, aided by the militaries of Russia, Iran, and Hezbollah. Obama largely focused on the threat posed by the Islamic State despite the fact that Assads military has been responsible for more than 90 percent of civilian casualties in Syria, according to local monitors. Obamas response to the governments atrocities has been halting and ineffective. In the early phases of the conflict, the United States let its allies Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey provide military support to competing opposition groups, some of which were deeply abusive themselves. Once the Syrian military tramped across Obamas red line on the use of chemical weapons, the U.S. government helped secure the removal of its chemical weapons arsenal. But even that proved incomplete, as Syrias air force continued to deploy chlorine in barrel bombs. Given chlorines legitimate uses, its possession is not banned, but its use as a weapon violates the Chemical Weapons Convention. The Obama administration pushed for sanctions at the U.N. Security Council, but dropped the matter when Russia blocked the initiative, and worked to weaken congressional efforts to enact tougher sanctions. Obamas response to the Syrian conflict never seemed to reflect the severity of its regional impact. The brutality unleashed by the Syrian government has killed hundreds of thousands of civilians. It also created a vacuum that allowed for the growth of extremist groups such as the Islamic State and the Nusra Front now Jabhat Fateh al-Sham destabilized neighboring countries like Iraq and Lebanon, and triggered a wave of mass displacement. Faced with such a profound challenge, Obama deployed Secretary of State John Kerry for what proved to be endless and largely unproductive negotiations with his Russian counterpart, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. While those discussions dragged on, Kerry treated Russia as a partner in peace efforts rather than an enabler of Assads mass slaughter, even as Assads attacks on civilians were taking a daily toll. During that time, the administration largely refrained from publicly pressing Russia to stop supporting and ultimately joining those attacks the only nonmilitary option that might curtail the war crimes. Assad may well be beyond caring about his reputation, but Russian President Vladimir Putin is not. Only in the waning months of its tenure did the Obama administration start regularly pressing Russia in public for its complicity in the slaughter of Syrian civilians. A protest demanding the ouster of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak turns violent on Jan. 26, 2011 in Cairo. (Photo credit: AFP/GettyImages) Hypocrisy in the Middle East Elsewhere in the Middle East, Obama rarely lived up to the lofty promise of his 2009 Cairo University speech, where he spoke eloquently of the need to build democracies in the region. In Bahrain, Egypt, and the United Arab Emirates, Obama responded inconsistently and sometimes reluctantly as allied governments crushed dissent. Kerry went so far as to say that Egyptian Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Sisis coup overthrowing the elected government of President Mohamed Morsi was restoring democracy, and the administration resumed military aid to Egypt after the coup despite the governments mass killing and arrest of Muslim Brotherhood supporters. The administration granted Israel an unprecedented military aid package despite its war crimes in Gaza and relentless settlement expansion, but in its waning days allowed the U.N. Security Council to adopt a resolution affirming the illegality of Israels West Bank settlements. Meanwhile, the administration provided direct support to the Saudi-led coalition as it repeatedly bombed civilians in Yemen. As the civilian death toll mounted, the administration did voice a measure of public criticism and stopped its modest sales of cluster munitions as well as certain other arms to Saudi Arabia. But it allowed other arms sales to proceed while continuing to provide aerial refueling and possibly targeting assistance to coalition bombers. In a marked departure from the Bush administration, which had effectively declared war on the International Criminal Court, the Obama administration cooperated with the courts investigations and supported the U.N. Security Councils referrals of situations in Libya and Syria (though Russia and China vetoed the latter). It also worked to build support for a referral down the road of crimes against humanity in North Korea. Yet the administration objected to Palestine joining the court and opposes any ICC investigation of grave crimes by Israeli officials. Obamas resolve to confront leaders in the former Soviet Union was often weak in the face of fears that criticism would push regional governments closer to Moscow or compete with security and economic concerns. In deeply authoritarian Central Asia, for example, human rights were an afterthought in most of Kerrys meetings with the regions foreign ministers. In addition, the preoccupation with Syria led the administration to pay relatively little attention to the dramatic deterioration of human rights in Turkey following last Julys failed coup attempt, including the silencing of independent media and jailing of journalists, as well as the mass dismissals or prosecution and detention of judges, teachers, civil servants, Kurdish elected mayors, and political activists. One of Obamas highest-profile accomplishments was the normalization of relations with Cuba. This was a positive human rights step despite the repression in that country, because hostile relations between Washington and Havana have long deterred other governments from speaking out about the rights situation on the island. While in Cuba, Obama addressed the need for progress on human rights but, eager to celebrate his accomplishments, did little to press Raul Castros government to show concrete results. Nor did the administration work with other governments to generate multilateral pressure for reform. Obama supported efforts by the Colombian government to negotiate a peace deal with the FARC guerrillas but made no serious effort to press for meaningful punishments for FARC war crimes or for the Colombian militarys execution of some 3,000 young men whom it dressed up in FARC uniforms and killed to demonstrate progress in the war. Sudan People's Liberation Army soldiers wave their AK-47s in the air as they celebrate outside the United Nations Mission in the Republic of South Sudan after the SPLA claimed it had recaptured the town from rebels on March 19, 2014. (Photo credit: IVAN LIEMAN/AFP/Getty Images) Asleep in Africa Overall, the Obama administration provided strong support for civil society, media freedom, and LGBT rights in Africa. However, as authoritarian rulers gained a greater foothold on the continent, Washington was inconsistent in matching Obamas early and apt observation that Africa needs strong institutions, not strongmen with concrete actions. The United States played an instrumental role in the birth of South Sudan by backing southern rebels quest for independence from Sudan, but the Obama administration failed to use its leverage as the new country quickly descended into renewed conflict. Government troops and rebels alike have committed massive abuses against the civilian population, resulting in tens of thousands of deaths and extensive displacement. While the U.S. government agonized over whether to impose an arms embargo on South Sudan embracing the effort only toward the end of 2016 President Salva Kiir and rebel leader Riek Machar were paying no price for the atrocities committed by their troops. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, U.S. officials have been at the center of intense though unsuccessful efforts to convince President Joseph Kabila not to extend his presidency beyond the constitutional two-term limit. They also imposed multiple rounds of sanctions on senior officials in Kabilas government who were overseeing the violent suppression of opposition protests. With respect to Rwanda, the Obama administration walked back the long-standing U.S. tendency to lionize President Paul Kagame despite his record of serious abuses. However, the administration largely maintained its blind spot for mounting abuses by Ethiopia, a counterterrorism ally often compared to Rwanda for its development progress despite severe repression. President Barack Obama meets with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the Oval Office on Sept. 30, 2014. (Photo credit: ALEX WONG/Getty Images) A mixed bag in Asia In Asia, the administration played an important role in pushing for greater pressure on North Korea to curb its totalitarian repression, encouraging the U.N. Human Rights Council to appoint a commission of inquiry and the U.N. Security Council to hold unprecedented hearings on human rights in the country. The Obama administration also supported efforts to encourage the new Sri Lankan government to begin a process of accountability for the loss of as many as 40,000 civilian lives in the final months of the conflict with the Tamil Tigers during the prior government of Mahinda Rajapaksa. Yet on Myanmar, the administration, although supportive of the transition to an elected civilian government, declared victory prematurely, gradually lifting all sanctions. However, the countrys military retains effective veto power over its civilian government, including control of the police and other security services, a quota of 25 percent of parliamentary seats, and the right to dissolve the government. The military has also been the primary actor in the increasingly severe and violent persecution of the countrys Rohingya Muslims. Obama surprised many observers by embracing Narendra Modi, Indias divisive and nationalistic prime minister. Allegations that Modi presided over deadly attacks on Muslims in his home state of Gujarat in 2002 had led the U.S. government to deny him a visa in 2005, yet Obama effusively welcomed Modi to Washington. Obamas policy toward India can be explained in part by his administrations Asia pivot, an attempt to create a security, economic, and political alliance to contain China. Yet Obama disappointed many by not pointing out the contradiction between Modis boasts abroad about Indias strong democracy and his governments moves at home to narrow the space for criticism and dissent. When Obama belatedly spoke publicly about protecting religious minorities in India, it led to useful pressure on Modi, whose supporters have attacked Muslims and Dalits. With respect to China, the Obama administration sought cooperation on North Korea, climate change, trade, and other issues but was unwilling to apply sustained pressure on Beijings disastrous rights record. Under President Xi Jinping, China saw its most significant human rights erosion since the 1989 Tiananmen massacre, yet Obama failed to develop anything remotely like a strategy to support those across China struggling to defend basic freedoms. During his interactions with senior Chinese leaders, he offered only minimal, abstract comments on human rights, rarely calling publicly even for the release of people like his fellow Nobel Peace Prize laureate Liu Xiaobo. The administration also did little to address democratic backtracking in Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia, and Bangladesh, too often prioritizing ineffective quiet diplomacy and failing to wield its extensive leverage. As we look back on Obamas two terms in office, his administrations human rights policies and practices have had many positive elements and some real accomplishments. Human rights activists worry that under a Trump presidency, the cornerstone principles that for decades have been supported by multiple administrations of both parties may be dismantled. Yet even Obama never really warmed to human rights as a genuine priority and so leaves office with many opportunities lost. The hopes behind his early receipt of the Nobel Peace Prize that he would lead a new kind of U.S. foreign relations, built to a large extent on defending human rights were left unfulfilled. That leaves a shaky foundation as the Trump administration prepares to take office. Top photo credit: BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images President-elect Donald Trump has begun nominating the people who he wants to represent U.S. interests abroad. But even Trump, who despite his "drain the swamp" mantra has been rewarding major campaign donors with prime positions in his cabinet, will find it difficult to match President Barack Obama's legacy of sending top political patrons to the world's poshest capital cities, according to a Center for Public Integrity analysis. (The practice has been embraced by Democratic and Republican presidents alike for generations.) During his second term, Obama named 31 campaign "bundlers" supporters who raised at least $50,000 to fund his presidential campaigns as ambassadors. Obama tapped nearly all of these bundlers to serve in Western European nations or other highly developed and stable countries such as Canada and New Zealand. Another 39 of Obama's second-term ambassador nominees are political appointees who either gave his campaign money or are known political allies. They, too, largely enjoyed postings to wealthy and peaceful nations Ireland, Denmark and Australia, for example or high-profile countries such as China and India. Career diplomats, meanwhile, largely represent the United States in less developed (and sometimes, more violent) nations, from El Salvador and Haiti in North America to Somalia in Africa to Afghanistan and Pakistan in Asia. Obama voluntarily identified his biggest campaign bundlers, making it possible to determine whether he was offering them ambassadorships. Trump, however, took what federal law allowed him during his presidential campaign the ability to keep all his campaign bundlers secret, save for those who are federally registered lobbyists. Here's a final, interactive look at Obama's ambassador-bundlers and other political patrons. Leaked documents indicate the fundraising totals below are likely conservative estimates: This story is part of Buying of the President 2016. Tracking the candidates, political committees and nonprofits that are making this presidential election the most expensive in history. Click here to read more stories in this investigation. Don't miss another Politics investigation: Sign up for the Center for Public Integrity's Watchdog email. Related: See the ambassadorships big money can bring Michael Beckel and Carrie Levine contributed to this report Story continues This story is part of Buying of the President 2016. Tracking the candidates, political committees and nonprofits that are making this presidential election the most expensive in history. Click here to read more stories in this investigation. Related stories Copyright 2017 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. By Frank Jack Daniel CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico (Reuters) - Mexicans overwhelmingly say they oppose the wall U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has promised to build along their northern border. But in Mexico's Ciudad Juarez, where extensive fencing was erected by the United States to secure the border between 2007 and 2010, residents have a more nuanced view of what a wall can mean. They say the Juarez fence has both caused and relieved problems in the city and nearby areas. Some say the barrier has made life in Juarez better, diverting drug and human traffickers to more remote spots where crossing the border is easier. Others say the high fence bred a new kind of crime in the city, encouraging drug dealers who find it harder to get wares across the border to divert some of their product to expanding and serving a local market. Juarez's newly elected mayor, Armando Cabada, sees both sides. He says the fencing, cameras, sensors and stricter controls on border bridges have stopped flagrant crossings of undocumented Mexican migrants into downtown El Paso, Texas, which sits just across the fortified border, in sight of his wood-panelled office. On balance, however, the negatives have outweighed the positives, he says. He notes that shortly after the wall was built, Juarez was plunged into a hellish war between cartels that made it the murder capital of the world, while El Paso remained the safest U.S. city of its size. After the border got tighter, Cabada said, "the narco traffickers had to battle much harder to cross their drugs into the United States, and a lot ended up staying here." The increased local supply of drugs changed social dynamics in the city and addiction and petty crime soared, he said. It is hard to isolate causes of the chaos that engulfed Juarez in 2008 when the Sinaloa and Juarez cartels fought over trafficking routes, but the belief that tighter controls contributed to the city's deadly, downward spiral is widespread among business leaders, security officials and politicians consulted by Reuters. The city of 1.4 million saw murders rise from 336 in 2007 when work on the fence began, to 3,057 in 2010 when the work was mostly concluded. Only two people were murdered in El Paso in 2010, down from eight in 2006. Last year murders were back below 2007 levels and normal life has begun to return, but strong demand for methamphetamines in Juarez has triggered a local turf battle and a new spike in violence, Cabada and city security officials said. Drug use in Juarez is among the highest in Mexico, government health surveys show. 'LESS CHAOS' A poll conducted in May by Baselice & Associates Inc for Cronkite News and other media groups spoke to 1,500 people in 14 border cities in Mexico and the United States. It found that 72 percent of respondents on the U.S. side and 86 percent on the Mexican side said they were opposed to building a wall. Esteban Sabedra, a factory worker living in working class Anapra, on the western fringe of Juarez, is among the minority of Mexicans who would like to see more secure fencing. Sabedra's home is a city block away from a rusting, low wire fence in place since the 1980s separating Juarez and El Paso, that the U.S. Customs and Border Protection is now replacing with 1.3 miles (2.0 km) of 15-foot-high steel bollard barricade. He welcomes the new structure, saying he hopes it will deter human and drug traffickers who currently ply the neighborhood and intimidate residents. "(This new fence) is not a problem for us, on the contrary, it's better, less people will move through here," said Sabedra, who earns 150 pesos ($7.28) per day making brake pads for the U.S. market at a Juarez assembly plant. "There will be less chaos." Indeed, experts say fencing around El Paso is one of the factors behind a sharp drop in U.S. border guard apprehensions in the sector, to 14,495 last year from 122,256 in 2006, a drop partially attributed to illegal migrants shifting routes to less protected stretches of border. Migrant flows are a fraction of what they were in the sector largely because of the greatly increased security presence including the fencing and a near doubling of border agents, the Washington Office on Latin America rights group said in an October report. DERELICT HOMES, SPAS Ciudad Juarez's public prosecutor, Jorge Arnaldo Nava Lopez, blames the El Paso fencing for contributing to a sharp uptick in crime along a fertile strip through the desert known as Valle de Juarez. The crime spike has been particularly acute where the barrier ends near Guadalupe municipality. "It has fostered a displacement towards the villages on the outskirts of Ciudad Juarez," Nava said. Valle de Juarez used to be a popular weekend escape for the city's middle class. Now, brutalized by violence and abandoned by outgunned municipal police, many of its spas, holiday homes and cotton farms lie derelict. Officials and migrants say Mexicans and Central Americans pay gang members hundreds of dollars to wade across a sluggish stretch of the river and try their luck dodging border guards to reach the towns of Tornillo and Fabens on the other side. Fortification of the border could push the chaos elsewhere. But Nava, who previously headed Chihuahua state's anti-kidnapping agency, fears it could also spark blowback in the form of increased extortion and kidnapping if local gangs now dedicated to drug trafficking are frustrated by a new wall. "We are not exempt from the possibility that this kind of crime flares up, and that (more) drugs intended for the United States begin to stay here in Ciudad Juarez," said Nava. (Additional reporting by Mica Rosenberg in New York; Editing by Sue Horton and Mary Milliken) With the fight over health care in Congress brewing, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders took to the Senate floor Wednesday afternoon to argue against the Republican plan to repeal Obamacare. And Sanders brought with him a visual aid to help make his point: a poster-size print of a tweet from President-elect Donald Trump. In the May 7, 2015, tweet, which came before Trump announced his presidential campaign, the real estate mogul bragged that he was the first potential GOP candidate to pledge no cuts to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid and that former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee had copied him. I was the first & only potential GOP candidate to state there will be no cuts to Social Security, Medicare & Medicaid. Huckabee copied me. Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 7, 2015 Either Donald Trump lied to the American people or he's got to say that he will veto any cuts to Medicare, Medicaid or Social Security. https://t.co/ZUlSt2b4p4 Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) January 4, 2017 Sanders prop quickly became something of a meme, with Twitter users replacing Trumps tweet with their own messages and others mocking the tactic. Wow I knew @BernieSanders wanted to spook the GOP, but this is completely off the reservation. pic.twitter.com/vYAME7EbYk jaydestro (@jaydestro) January 4, 2017 When ur ex tries to deny something but u have the receipts ready to go pic.twitter.com/nxOeIAZMSe eve peyser (@evepeyser) January 4, 2017 Mr. Sanders. I can just get you a giant screen to project thi No. Print it as large as you can and then glue it to a piece of cardboard pic.twitter.com/ArwRO4p8tg Jarett Wieselman (@JarettSays) January 4, 2017 Me over the holidays explaining what I do at work pic.twitter.com/7d4swV41wP Brett LoGiurato (@BrettLoGiurato) January 4, 2017 Mike Casca, Sanders deputy communications director, said Texas Sen. Ted Cruz chuckled when he saw the Vermont senators aide carrying the poster into the chamber. Both Huckabee and Cruz competed against Trump in the GOP primary. Story continues earlier today, sen. ted cruz chuckled when i walked past him carrying this poster. pic.twitter.com/65iAY2106p mike casca (@cascamike) January 4, 2017 Earlier Wednesday, Vice President-elect Mike Pence said that the first priority of the Trump administration would be to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, and that the process will begin with a series of executive orders by Trump on their first day in the White House. Obamacare has failed, Pence said after a meeting with House Republicans on Wednesday. Now is the time to keep our promises. Step one will be to repeal Obamacare. President Obama met with Sanders and other key Democrats to formulate a strategy to block the GOP assault on his signature health care plan. After the meeting, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said that Democrats have a great deal of optimism that parts of the Affordable Care Act will, in fact, stay, and that Republicans dont quite know what to do with their newfound power. Theyre like the dog that caught the bus, Schumer said. They can repeal, but they have nothing to put in its place. Schumer also unveiled a tagline that uses Trumps campaign slogan to attack the GOP plan. The Republican plan to cut health care wouldnt make America great again, Schumer said. It would make America sick again and lead to chaos. Sanders also addressed reporters, and used Trumps 2015 tweet as a reference point. .@BernieSanders calls on Trump to make clear to GOP"maybe through one of his tweets"he'll veto any bill cutting Medicare, Social Security. pic.twitter.com/41QJSVXLeB ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) January 4, 2017 Trump didnt just say this in passing, Sanders said. He didnt say it in the middle of the night. He didnt say it in an interview. This was a cornerstone of his campaign. He said it over and over and over again. Trump, Sanders added, has got to come forward maybe through a tweet, one of his tweets and say clearly that [he] will veto any legislation that cuts Medicare, that cuts Medicaid or that cuts Social Security. The U.N. Security Council vote condemning Israeli settlements last month struck a significant blow to the Jewish states international credibility. But the resolution also threatened something far more tangible: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus behind-the-scenes push to win Israel a seat on the 15-nation security body. For the past year, Israel has engaged in an intensive, if quixotic, campaign to secure one of two Security Council seats reserved for Western governments for 2019-20 a goal that will require it to beat out either Germany or Belgium. That effort is now in jeopardy as U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, Israel, and its supporters in the U.S. Congress threaten to retaliate against the United Nations and governments that supported what they view as a deeply unfair resolution. The move could alienate even potential supporters of an Israeli bid to the Security Council. Netanyahu summoned the envoys of Security Council member states on Christmas to express his disappointment. He announced that Israel will reassess its relations with the United Nations and cut aid to two African supporters of the resolution, Angola and Senegal. This raised the risk that the U.N. African Group, which accounts for 54 votes in the 193-member U.N. General Assembly, could strike back. Israels response to the settlements resolution, one U.N. diplomat said, is certainly not helpful to their campaign. The African group will not like this. An Arab diplomat called it definitely a setback for them not because of the vote, per se, but their reaction to it. They are back to square one, the Arab diplomat told Foreign Policy. A European ambassador said Israel has been pretty serious about their candidature over the past year, but its diplomatic charm offensive has hit a brick wall with the settlements resolution. I think that its over, the European diplomat told FP. I never thought they could win anyways. In Washington, however, the Republican-controlled Congress is preparing legislation to cut U.S. funding to the United Nations. Trump, meanwhile, warned on Twitter that U.S. relations with the United Nations will be affected by the vote. As to the U.N., things will be different after Jan. 20th, Trump tweeted after the settlements vote. Story continues A spokesman for Israels mission to the U.N. declined a request for comment. Israeli officials recognize they face an uphill struggle to win a Security Council seat, but hope the political environment will improve by the time the General Assembly votes in the summer of 2018. In the meantime, Israeli officials remain committed to pursuing their campaign and are planning to host their third visit to Israel by U.N. ambassadors later this year. In mid-December, as Palestinian authorities lobbied support for the Security Councils condemnation of settlements, Israels U.N. Ambassador Danny Danon hosted a delegation of U.N. ambassadors from Africa, Asia, Latin America, and Europe for a five-day seminar on Israeli contributions in agriculture, counterterrorism, and cybersecurity. The trip was organized and funded by the American Jewish Committee. It drew senior U.N.-based diplomats from 14 countries including Albania, Argentina, Botswana, Jamaica, Mexico, and Uganda to Israel to hear the government make its case on Israels contributions to the international community. It included a side trip to Ramallah, where the foreign delegation met with a Palestinian officials. Netanyahu, meanwhile, issued a public appeal last month to Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev to back Israels bid. If you want a real change in the world, Netanyahu said, imagine a state of Israel in the Security Council of the United Nations. Israels hope for a place at the Security Councils iconic horseshoe table is the latest stage of its ongoing diplomatic outreach campaign focused on bolstering relations with governments around the world, including African states that have traditionally opposed Israel at the U.N. and its former Arab enemies in the Middle East. Earlier this year, Netanyahu traveled to four African countries Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda to shore up relations. In September, Netanyahu met with more than a dozen African leaders and envoys along the sidelines of the General Assembly. Afterward, Israel invited Rwandan President Paul Kagame and other African leaders to a conference at U.N. headquarters on technology and innovation in Africa. Netanyahu is planning to travel to West Africa this year. Israeli leaders believe they have made significant strides in expanding their diplomatic outreach. In a September speech to the General Assembly, Netanyahu said Israel has diplomatic relations with over 160 countries, nearly double the number as when he served as U.N. ambassador 30 years ago. Netanyahu attributed this to the fact that most governments in contrast with their U.N. delegations recognize Israel can be a valuable partner, with a world-class intelligence agency and expertise in everything from cybersecurity to agricultural innovations that can benefit their own people. Israel also has forged important, though highly discreet and unofficial, relations with wealthy Persian Gulf states, including Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates, which share its fears of a rising Iran. In many ways, Israel is an improbable aspirant for membership in the U.N.s security body. Netanyahu routinely slams the U.N. as a hypocritical, anti-Israel organization that has spent whatever moral force it may have possessed when it recognized Israels independence. In his latest address, he mocked the U.N. General Assembly as a moral farce. But at the same time, Netanyahu has picked up and led Israels long-term effort to normalize relations with other states at the United Nations a push backed by the United States. The effort dates back to the Clinton administration, when then-U.S. Ambassador Richard Holbrooke helped Israel gain membership in the Western European and Others Group, one of several regional blocs that run the United Nations. The development allowed Israel to compete for posts on U.N. committees. Israel is still the only Middle East country that has never served on the Security Council, but announced in 2005 that it would throw its hat into the ring. But the 2018 vote, while far on the horizon, still demonstrates there are limits to how far Israel can proceed. For years, Netanyahu has believed he could minimize the importance of the Palestinian issue and gain international acceptance by forging practical relations in Africa, East Asia, and Europe, said Ilan Goldenberg, a Middle East expert at the Center for a New American Security. The increasing, quiet security cooperation between Israel and many of the Arab states is a testament to that approach, and to increasing common interests in countering Iran, Goldenberg told FP. The settlements resolution was a reminder that this strategy has limits. Goldenberg said the stalemated peace process is likely to continue to exact a toll on Israel internationally. But over the long haul, he added, Israel will continue to expand its global campaign to seek to gain greater international acceptance. But Israel doesnt have an endless amount of time. It must collect 129 votes, or two-thirds of the General Assemblys 193 countries, before the 2018 decision. Israeli officials realize that even before the settlement vote, they faced an uphill battle to secure a seat on the council. But they still believe they can win enough support particularly in an election where delegates can cast their votes anonymously. In June, for the first time ever, Israel was elected to chair one of the General Assemblys primary subsidiary bodies, overcoming stiff opposition from Arab and Muslim-majority countries. Israel secured 109 of the 175 votes cast to the Sixth Committee, which oversees legal matters for the General Assembly. Two years earlier, in 2014, Israel was elected vice chair of a separate U.N. General Assembly subsidiary body dealing with decolonization. Skeptics of Israels ability to build enough political support say last months Security Council resolution proves that Jerusalems settlement policies still matter and that absent a radical shift, Israel has virtually no chance of gaining the seat. Most Arab countries want to move on from the Palestinian issue, but its also obvious that they cant do so as long as the occupation and the settlement program continues as it is, said Hussein Ibish, a senior scholar at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington. Both public opinion and their own values prevent them from doing so, much as strategic calculations urge them to try to find a way, he added. Israel isnt going to get a Security Council seat. Though Israels reputation at U.N. headquarters may be in the gutter, its never been better in Washington. Lawmakers in both parties, joined by Trump, have fallen over themselves to oppose the Obama administrations decision to abstain from the Security Council vote. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) called the abstention extremely frustrating, disappointing, and confounding. Republicans in Congress went many steps further, vowing to pass multiple resolutions in the House and Senate condemning the U.N. vote. (A vote is scheduled in the House on Thursday.) Meanwhile, three Republican senators Ted Cruz of Texas, Marco Rubio of Florida, and Dean Heller of Nevada introduced legislation Tuesday to relocate the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. The passion project for many pro-Israel hawks has been opposed by previous Democratic and Republican presidents. Trump blasted the U.N. immediately after the Security Council vote, calling it just a club for people to get together, talk, and have a good time. A catalyst for such enthusiasm is the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, a powerful pro-Israel lobbying organization that directs tens of millions of dollars to lawmakers in support of hard-line positions. But the 14-0 vote for the Security Council resolution, with one U.S. abstention, showed that Congresss pro-Israel fervor is far outside the mainstream as far as the international community is concerned. And a poll released Wednesday suggests that American public sentiment is not driving the actions of Congress. Forty-three percent of U.S. voters have not heard much, or anything at all, about the resolution condemning Israeli settlements, according to the Politico/Morning Consult poll. Voters are sharply divided on support for Israels settlement policies, with 28 percent in support and 28 percent saying they are illegal. The U.N. vote was a massive blow to the mythology that Israels occupation policies are essentially no longer a controversial matter in the international community, Ibish said. The idea that Israels international standing was rapidly improving, despite its policies towards the Palestinians, has been a mainstay of Mr. Netanyahus political pitch in recent years to the Israeli public, he added. But where he was mistaken, and mislead the public, was in the notion that nobody really cares anymore about Israels policies and that the Palestinian issue is now a dead letter, long forgotten and discarded by both the international community and the Arab countries. Photo credit: ANDREW BURTON/Getty Images Washington (AFP) - Most politicians accept the daily grind of pressing the flesh and making small talk about their jobs or campaigns as an unwelcome necessity that comes with the territory. Not Joe Biden. The affable US vice president relishes the personal showmanship of politics and his role as America's soothing, smirking, shoulder-massaging, consoling dignitary who embraces the pomp and personal connections like no one else in America's political arena. On Tuesday, 17 days before he ends his eight-year stint as the nation's 47th vice president, the Democrat was in full-on "Uncle Joe" mode. As the 115th Congress opened following one of the most bitter and controversial presidential campaigns in memory, the 74-year-old spent more than 100 straight minutes on his feet in the old Senate chamber, re-enacting the swearing-in ceremonies for the Senate's new and re-elected members. Inevitably, he welcomed the spouses first. "God love ya!" Biden said with outstretched arms as he greeted Senator Chuck Grassley's wife with a deep hug before backslapping Grassley, a Republican. Biden spent 36 years in the US Senate, 28 of them with Grassley, and the vice president was all smiles. - The greatest honor - "Keep on coming!" Biden shouted as some 33 members from four generations of Grassleys paraded in for a photograph. If most politicos see such a task as drudgery, Biden soaked it up. He snapped selfies with grinning relatives, squatted down to flirt with toddlers and, as is his reputation, got touchy-feely close while greeting dozens of lawmakers, wives, sisters, mothers, and daughters. When Republican Senator Rob Portman's son introduced his girlfriend, a Biden fan, to the vice president, the woman gushed: "You just made my 2017!" before falling into his open arms. Biden of course has had his share of tragedy. His wife and daughter were killed in a car crash in late 1972 just weeks after he was elected to the Senate. Story continues He took his oath of office in hospital, alongside his two recovering sons. One of them, Beau Biden, died of brain cancer in 2015. And yet Biden remains as optimistic and upbeat as anyone on Capitol Hill as he greeted hundreds of lawmakers' relatives in a ceremony he was presiding over Tuesday for a fourth and final time. "I'm so glad you ran again" for Senate, he told Senator John McCain, who lost his presidential race against Biden's boss, Barack Obama, in 2008 and was considering retiring last year. "We love you," McCain replied, highlighting the genuineness of the exchanges which served as a counterweight to the toxicity of the 2016 campaign. Biden does not mask his fondness for what has been called the world's greatest deliberative body. When a lawmakers wife called Biden "senator" as she greeted him, the vice president lit up. "That's a high honor," Biden said. With the re-enactments finally over, Biden spoke with reporters about his time in the Capitol. "This is an incredible place, as diminished in the minds of the people that it has become of late. But if you listen, if you listen and have an open mind, it works," he said. "I do miss it. I loved being a senator," he added. "It was the greatest honor of my life." Vice Preident-elect Mike Pence has been working with congress to plan the Obamacare repeal. Source: Reuters A new report from the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a non-partisan public policy think tank, warns that a full repeal of the Affordable Care Act would cost up to $350 billion over the next 10 years. On Tuesday, Sen. Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), who chairs the Senate Budget Committee, introduced a resolution that would be the first steps to kill the ACA, known as Obamacare. And on Wednesday, Vice President-elect Mike Pence met with Republican members of Congress to discuss the Trump administrations plan to repeal the landmark health legislation. No Republican plan has emerged to replace it, leaving that massive dollar figure looming large, as well as the 23 million people covered who would lose insurance. On the whole, Obamacare adds to revenues, which means that a repeal would cost something. Though a repeal would save money by cutting subsidies and the Medicaid expansion, the massive loss of revenue from getting rid of the taxes enacted by Obamacare, as well as reversing existing Medicare provisions, would more than make up for the gains, putting the total cost at $350 billion, the CRFB says. Factoring in the economic fallout of these changes, the Committees estimates of the final costs come to $150 billion. According to the report, repealing the entire ACA would leave no funds available for replacement legislation, and in fact would require further deficit reduction to avoid adding to the debt. Later on Wednesday, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the repeal would cost the state $3.7 billion. One alternative the report explores is a partial repeal, killing the subsidies and Medicaid expansion. That would free up $1.55 trillion, but would leave 23 million uninsured, the report says. If the Obamacare-specific tax revenues were cut as well, the savings would drop that to $750 billion, which would still be something for a new healthcare initiative to work with, though perhaps not enough to produce plans that would meet the Congressional Budget Offices definition of health insurance. Story continues Unfortunately, something new would take time, during which many people would be uninsured if coverage were stripped. Delaying the coverage repeal two to four years while an alternative is sought could solve that problem, but it would eat away at the savings. Other versions of the partial repeal have been discussed, like getting rid of the mandate that everyone have insurance, which is designed so people dont only sign up for insurance when they get sick. In some of these formulations, like that of House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), that could be a Trump administration blueprint for health insurance, the popular pre-existing condition allowance stays. However, Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, who has consistently criticized Obamacare, argued against these sorts of partial replacements in a recent op-ed. Getting rid of the unpopular mandate would allow people to choose when they sign up, and the pre-existing condition allowance would mean they could simply wait until they require care. Putting this into numbers, the CBO writes that 15 million people would ditch their coverage should the mandate fall, reducing the pool of people paying into it, and making that pool less healthy overall. Fewer premiums from a smaller base for the same amount of people in need of care, Paul argues, would leave the program dead on the table. Ethan Wolff-Mann is a writer at Yahoo Finance focusing on consumer issues, tech, and personal finance. Follow him on Twitter @ewolffmann. Read more: Heres who Donald Trump follows on Twitter and who he has unfollowed 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 What will change for your finances in 2017 PRAGUE (Reuters) - Bird flu has been found in swans and at two small poultry farms in the southeast of the Czech Republic, Agriculture Minister Marian Jurecka said on Wednesday. State Veterinary Administration chief Zbynek Semerad said that the highly contagious H5 type has been confirmed and further tests were performed to determine whether the N8 sub-type is present, which is "assumed". A 3- and a 10-kilometre zones have been put in place around the infected premises in Ivancice and Moravsky Krumlov, Semerad said. "There are farms (in the 10-km zone) with around 150,000 poultry... these will be checked regularly," he said, adding infected birds and poultry will be culled. It is Czech Republic's first case of bird flu in roughly 10 year, Jurecka said. The H5N8 strain has been detected recently in neighboring Germany and Slovakia and in other European countries. (Reporting by Robert Muller; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky) blackberry tcl phone TCL thinks it can bring BlackBerry back from the dead. The Chinese manufacturer, best known in the US for its affordable TVs and Alcatel-branded smartphones, on Wednesday unveiled the first BlackBerry phone itll release since formally acquiring the rights to the once-leading mobile brand in December. Its a bit of an odd announcement: TCL isnt disclosing the actual name of the phone yet, nor is it confirming its specs, price point, or release date. The company says those details will come closer to the Mobile World Congress show in Barcelona next month. Instead, its giving media at CES 2017 in Las Vegas a peek at an alpha version of the phone, albeit one with finished hardware, to get in front of the handful of leaks that have popped up in recent months. Those leaks pointed to a phone, codenamed Mercury, with the kind of QWERTY keyboard that BlackBerry was known for before its well-documented fall from grace, and it turns out they were correct. The keyboard spreads out across the width of the phone, but, as with the competent but ill-fated Priv before it, the keyboard feels jarring in a world where touchscreens have long become the norm. blackberry tcl phone At first blush, its good for what it is: The keys are clicky and responsive, the necessary characters are there (though having no dedicated period key is a pain), theres a fingerprint reader built into the space bar, and theres still some level of touch support, so you can, say, swipe across the keyboard to move your cursor onscreen. The question is whether or not a good phone keyboard is something worth pursuing in the first place. The fact that BlackBerrys global market share fell from 20% to 0.1% while all-touch phones grew dominant over the past decade, leading the company to get out of hardware entirely, would suggest not. But TCLs North American boss Steve Cistulli says theres still strong enough demand for the more tactile feel of a physical keyboard, particularly among enterprise customers. Though earlier rumors suggested that BlackBerry had this new phone in the works months before TCL took over its hardware, Cistulli says the company thinks of QWERTY phones as one part of its BlackBerry suite of devices, and that itll keep the keyboard around as long as the market demands it. In other words, this might not be a one-off. Story continues blackberry tcl phone The keyboard is the defining feature here, but the rest of the hardware felt perfectly fine during my brief demo. Its a handsome phone, all black and silver, with smoothly rounded sides and a grippy, rubberized texture on its back. Unlike the previous DTEK50 and DTEK60 the two most recent BlackBerry phones, which TCL manufactured for BlackBerry before acquiring its rights entirely it doesnt feel like an ordinary Android phone with a BlackBerry logo slapped on; its got the aesthetic down. Beyond that, theres a USB-C port on its bottom, a shutter button on its side, and a big, round camera with a slight bump on its back. The 4.6-inch display looks just fine. The whole thing is on the thicker side, but it doesnt come off as cheap or unwieldy just a little odd. BlackBerry itself is still behind the phones software, and it appears to be very similar to what was available on the Priv and DTEK phones. Namely, theres a clean-looking version of Android 7.0, just peppered with various BlackBerry-made apps that youll probably find redundant. The bigger deal is security the enterprise market remains slightly more receptive to BlackBerry than the consumer one, so the company still puts a focus on encryption, more palatable privacy checks, and other protective measures. TCL did not immediately respond to a request for comment on if the new phone will apply Googles monthly security updates for Android, but its been faster than most in that area before. blackberry tcl phone TCLs end goal is to push from what Cistulli calls its current tier two status into the tier one sphere occupied by Samsung, Apple, and, to a lesser extent, Huawei. The plan is to take its gains with Alcatel, which largely gets by on selling affordable Android phones, and beef that up with a legacy brand in BlackBerry, which they can pitch to their existing carrier and retail partners as another way in with the enterprise and people who generally want something different. Cistulli says TCL will put more marketing and sales resources behind BlackBerry to help though he didnt say how far thatll go and that he thinks itll make visible sales gains by 2018. Now, there are plenty of reasons to doubt thatll happen. Even if it has grown in recent years, Alcatel isnt exactly a household name on every carriers store shelves (no Verizon, for one), and BlackBerrys departure from relevance has been long and deliberate. Either way, market share hasnt translated to lots of profit for Android manufacturers. Whatever the case, whether or not this new BlackBerry phone is worth buying will come down to whats inside of it and how much it costs. Until those details become official, though, what remaining BlackBerry fans are left can now confirm that their keyboards havent been lowered into the grave just yet. NOW WATCH: 5 wild uses for your old Android smartphone More From Business Insider COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) The Blue Jackets were winding down another dominant victory when the near-sellout crowd at Nationwide Arena began to chant. "We want 16! We want 16!" Columbus delivered, and now it will try to tie an NHL record on Thursday night. Cam Atkinson and William Karlsson scored power-play goals and Columbus beat the Edmonton Oilers 3-1 to extend their winning streak to 16 games one away from the longest ever in the NHL. Nick Foligno also scored for the Blue Jackets, who can tie the 1992-93 Pittsburgh Penguins with a victory Thursday at Washington. "Everything feels good right now," Columbus coach John Tortorella said. "They deserve it. I'm proud of the team. I'm really happy with how they've handled these past three games, with all the talk (of the streak) and all that." Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 21 shots for Columbus, which started the new year on the right note after winning all 14 games in December. The Blue Jackets haven't lost since Nov. 26 thanks in part to the league's best power-play unit. Oscar Klefbom scored for Edmonton, which was limited throughout by Columbus' hard-pressing defense. Cam Talbot had 32 saves for the Oilers. "We didn't come anywhere close to their pace or their tenacity, their relentlessness," Edmonton coach Todd McLellan said. "We weren't anywhere near it." The Blue Jackets got on the board 12:32 into the first period when Atkinson's shot ricocheted in off the skate of the Oilers' Andrej Sekera. Atkinson padded his team-leading totals to 18 goals and 38 points, and Zach Werenski and Alexander Wennberg got the assists. "That was a nice bounce," said Atkinson, who has 17 points (10 goals, seven assists) in his past 13 games. Edmonton managed just four shots on goal against a hustling defense in the opening period. Klefbom evened it 5:39 into the second period with a shot from the slot on an Oilers rush. Shortly afterward, the Blue Jackets' Brandon Dubinsky and the Oilers' Patrick Maroon who got an assist on Klefbom's goal slugged each other briefly and went to the box for fighting after Maroon threw a high elbow. Story continues "I think that got a lot of guys going," Foligno said. Karlsson, skating for Dubinsky during the fighting penalty, put Columbus ahead 2-1 on another power play 10:43 into the second when he ripped a shot from the middle of the left circle past Talbot. Brandon Saad, who fed Karlsson with a perfect pass, got the assist, along with Seth Jones. Foligno put Columbus up by two 2:45 into the third period with an unassisted goal after stepping in front of a pass as the Oilers were trying to get out of their zone. Edmonton's Milan Lucic said he understands how Columbus has been able to pile up the wins. "You could see everything is falling in the right direction for them," Lucic said. "It's easy to say that they're getting the bounces and all that type of stuff, but they're working hard for the bounces and they're making it happen." NOTES: Bobrovsky was the NHL's player of the month for December with a 12-0-0 record. ... Saad has a point in six straight games and is 10-11-21 in his last 21 appearances. ... Foligno has points in six straight games. ... Columbus has scored at least three goals in 24 games this season. ... Sekera returned after missing two games due to illness. ... C Anton Lander and D Eric Gryba were scratched for Edmonton, and LW Markus Hannikainen, recalled from Cleveland of the AHL on Sunday, was a scratch for the Blue Jackets, along with D Dalton Prout and D Scott Harrington. UP NEXT Oilers: Play at Boston on Thursday night. Blue Jackets: Try to tie the record at Washington on Thursday night. ___ Follow Mitch Stacy at http://twitter.com/mitchstacy A fleet of autonomous BMWs could be heading your way. The German luxury carmaker on Wednesday confirmed that 40 self-driving cars, co-developed with Intel and Mobileye, are taking to US and European roads this year. "Making autonomous driving a reality for our customers is the shared ambition behind our cooperation with Intel and Mobileye," stated Klaus Frohlich, BMW's head of development at a joint press conference at CES in Las Vegas. "This partnership has all of the skills and talent necessary to overcome the enormous technological challenges ahead and commercialize self-driving vehicles." When the partnership was announced in July 2016, the companies set themselves a hugely ambitious target of having not just an autonomous car, but an autonomous car platform that could be used by other companies, ready to go by decade's end. Yet just six months in, it appears that the project is on track. "We have made very good progress in designing a state-of-the-art solution for autonomous driving on both highways and in urban areas. The solution has been defined in a scalable manner to allow affiliate automakers to meet their unique needs," said Mobileye Chairman, Prof Amnon Shashua. It also means the iNext, BMW's fully self-driving car is also on schedule for its 2021 launch. "This year our fleet of vehicles will already test this joint technology globally under real traffic conditions. This is a significant step towards the introduction of the BMW iNext," said Frohlich. According to Intel, the main obstacle that has been slowing down the development of autonomous vehicle technology is the huge initial costs involved. "From an industry perspective, we are already seeing savings and speed in development by sharing development costs and in pooling resources to develop a complete autonomous platform," said Intel CEO Brian Krzanich. As well as a progress report, Intel confirmed at CES that it is taking a 15% stake in HERE. HERE offers global mapping and localization services for vehicles and is currently owned by Audi, Daimler and BMW. With Intel on board the owners plan to develop high-definition maps that are detailed enough for autonomous driving. "A real-time, self-healing and high-definition representation of the physical world is critical for autonomous driving, and achieving this will require significantly more powerful and capable in-vehicle compute platforms," said Edzard Overbeek, HERE CEO. "As a premier silicon provider, Intel can help accelerate HERE's ambitions in this area by supporting the creation of a universal, always up-to-date digital location platform that spans the vehicle, the cloud and everything else connected." The body of a 6-year-old boy who had been reported missing since wandering off on New Years Eve in suburban Colorado was discovered Tuesday in a pond that had frozen over. The temperatures outside that night were recorded to have been in the teens, while the boy was last spotted solely wearing a light jacket. Authorities in Aurora, Colorado, sent a dive crew to scour the pond located in a public park close to the boy's home where he had last been seen on Saturday night. Divers found David Pucketts body around 10 a.m. local time and subsequently ordered the park to shut down. Local detectives reportedly zeroed in on searching the pond Tuesday morning after a police dog picked up the boys scent Monday night in the area surrounding the pond. Local police were treating the area of the park as a crime scene into the boys death, but Aurora Police Chief Nick Metz said the death was an accident and his department did not suspect foul play. The search team had suspicions that Pucket tragically wound up in the pond, but Metz said there were not signs of broken ice that would have led them to examine it initially, according to local reports Tuesday. Aurora is a suburb of Denver, Colorado, located 11 miles east of the city center. I have the very unfortunate news of letting you know that in a pond that we found the body of what appears to be a child inside the pond underneath the ice, Metz said at a news conference. At this time, we cannot give a positive indication on the child. However, because of this information and our suspicion, I had the unfortunate experience of having to inform Davids family of what we had found. The boys mother delivered a heartbreaking plea to the search teams to find the boy with haste Sunday because she was afraid of the cold weather. Metz said David had a history of wandering off from his home. While Metz told local reporters there has not been a coroners report positively identifying the body, he added that detectives had begun a full investigation into the case, local reports said Story continues The Federal Bureau of Infestation was called in to assist the over 150 local police members and 200 volunteers who combed the area after an Amber Alert and a $10,000 reward for the boy was issued Saturday. A team of 50 FBI agents contacted known sex offenders in the area and helped officers go door to door within two miles of the Puckett house with fliers and pictures of the missing child. Related Articles It has been a spookily significant week for Sweden. On Tuesday, Sweden took over as U.N. Security Council President for a month-long rotation. But, in equally lively news, on Thursday, the countrys public television will air a documentary in which its queen says that her palace is haunted by ghosts. The 17th-century Drottningholm Palace, a UNESCO world heritage site, is outside of Stockholm. It serves as permanent resident to Queen Silvia and King Carl XVI Gustaf and also, apparently, very friendly ghosts. They arent scary, and in a way its quite thrilling, she said. The supernatural residents were likely welcome guests for Queen Silvia, who said that, when she married King Carl 40 years ago, she was a bit lonely in the palace that was dominated by men. Hopefully, her countrys stellar record on womens rights helped change that. Sweden comes in second in U.S. News and World Reports ranking of best countries for women (each country is scored on 65 attributes based on survey responses), and announced it will focus on including women in the peace process during its time as UNSC president. Provided Swedens longest-serving queen is right about her palaces ghostly guests, one can assume some of the very friendly ghosts are equally paid ghost women, as supported in their ghoulish endeavors as are their male counterparts. Perhaps they, too, made the palaces halls less lonely for its monarch. Also a woman: the kings sister, Princess Christina, who did not go so far as to say that there are ghosts, but suggested it would be strange if there werent. There is much energy in this house. It would be strange if it didnt take the form of guises, she said. Which, yes, we suppose it would be. Photo credit: JONATHAN NACKSTRAND/AFP/Getty Images Brasilia (AFP) - Brazil's justice minister said Wednesday that local authorities in the Amazon region knew about the risk of a mass escape from two prisons where 184 inmates fled amid a deadly riot. As police were engaged a huge manhunt for 126 escaped convicts still at large, Justice Minister Alexandre de Moraes suggested there may be more than meets the eye to the headline-grabbing prison riot. "There was an escape plan already in place. So we need to investigate whether in reality all the unrest and the deaths happened so that (drug gang) leaders could escape," he said at a press conference in Brasilia. Amazonas state officials say fighting between rival gangs triggered the riot, which lasted 17 hours and ended Monday morning with 56 inmates dead, many of them beheaded. But the justice minister indicated the gory violence may also have been a smokescreen for gang leaders to escape. The Amazonas state government had reinforced security at the Anisio Jobim Penitentiary Complex after being informed of a possible escape, he said. Local officials did not tell federal authorities about the risk, he added. A network of 16 tunnels was discovered at the prison in the wake of the riot, according to state public security secretary Sergio Fontes. Officials say 112 inmates escaped through them. Another 72 escaped from the nearby Antonio Trindade Penal Institute. Investigators meanwhile continued working to identify the bodies of inmates killed in the riot. They warn it could take weeks because many were badly mutilated. As of Tuesday evening, 36 had been identified. Half the victims were beheaded, according to forensic investigators. Others were burned or dismembered. The riot was the deadliest to hit Brazil's chronically overcrowded jails since police killed 111 inmates in a crackdown on an uprising at the Carandiru prison in Sao Paulo in 1992. Amazonas authorities blame the riot on fighting between the powerful local gang Family of the North (FDN) and rivals from the First Capital Command (PCC), one of Brazil's largest gangs. By Brad Brooks SAO PAULO, Jan 4 (Reuters) - The killing of 56 inmates by fellow prisoners in Brazil's deadliest jail uprising in decades was a "butchery foretold" by escalating turf wars between drug gangs that threatens to plunge a chaotic penitentiary system deeper into violence. Prior to this week's massacre of members of the First Capital Command (PCC) in the Anisio Jobim penitentiary in the jungle city of Manaus, security experts warned for months about intensifying clashes in prisons between Brazil's two most powerful drug gangs - the Sao Paulo-based PCC and the Red Command, based in Rio de Janeiro. Now they fear the feud will escalate in prisons and on the streets of the South American nation of 207 million people. Rio, Brazil's most popular tourist destination, is particularly vulnerable, along with major cities in the north and northeast, the experts say. "This situation is tense, very ripe for new tragedies," said Camila Dias, a sociologist at the Federal University of ABC in Sao Paulo, who is an expert on Brazil's prison system and author of a book on the PCC. "This was a butchery foretold." For more than two decades, the PCC and Red Command maintained an uneasy working relationship to ensure a steady flow of marijuana, cocaine and guns over Brazil's porous borders and into its cities. But in June the partnership ended with the killing of Jorge Rafaat Toumani, a powerful Brazilian drug lord based in Paraguay who controlled trafficking routes along Brazil's southeastern border. While Toumani was not publicly affiliated to one group or another, and details of his death remain murky, Paraguayan officials believe he was killed at the PCC's behest so it could seize his lucrative trafficking routes. What is clear, security experts say, is that the PCC has taken control of Toumani's former domain. As a result, relations between the PCC and Red Command fell apart. Communications between the factions' leaders obtained by police and leaked in October, revealed a race to become Brazil's dominant gang. That same month, clashes between gang members in three prisons elsewhere in Brazil's Amazon left 22 dead. Story continues Control of the drug gangs' turf has been increasingly balkanized in recent months. That has left the Red Command weaker and allowed the PCC - powered by proceeds from their base in Sao Paulo, Brazil's richest city - to encroach on their turf in Rio. Brazilian intelligence services say that in response, the Red Command is strengthening ties with smaller groups elsewhere, like the North Family gang that carried out the slaughter of PCC members in the Manaus prison this week. Few now expect the PCC to turn the other cheek after dozens of its members were killed, including many who were decapitated. Videos of the slaughter have spread widely on social media. "Within the criminal code of conduct, an act like what we saw in the Manaus prison will never go unanswered," said Rafael Alcadipani, a public security expert at the Getulio Vargas Foundation think tank in Sao Paulo. He predicts gang battles in prisons across Brazil and on the streets of northern cities and Rio. "The civilian population will be at the mercy of this coming war," he said. Brazil's justice minister, Alexandre Moraes, and other government security officials have played down such fears, saying they are transferring imprisoned drug gang leaders to maximum security jails, where they will remain in isolation. In theory this will stop them from handing down orders to underlings, but in the past isolated gang leaders have still managed to retain control over their networks. DEADLY PRISONS Whether run by the state, or privately operated facilities like the one in Manaus, most Brazilian prisons lack resources - which allows prisoners to easily take control of them and carry out massacres like the one seen this week. Horrific conditions and abuses are well documented. There are 622,000 inmates in Brazil's prison population, ranking only behind the United States, China and Russia, according to the University of London's Institute for Criminal Policy Research. Poor financing and administration mean that even in Sao Paulo, Brazil's wealthiest state, a single guard oversees 300 to 400 prisoners in some prisons, said Dias, the sociologist. "When the prisoners want to have an uprising, they have an uprising," she added. The Justice Ministry did not respond to requests for comment, but just last week the federal government announced it was immediately freeing 1.2 billion reais ($372.50 million) in funding for states to improve or build jails. Sergio Fontes, the top security official in Amazonas state, where Manaus is located, insists the state government has not lost control of the penitentiary system. Many public security experts disagree. They argue that the prisons mirror an overall lack of security in a country where authorities have long tolerated high homicide rates. (Reporting by Brad Brooks, editing by Daniel Flynn and Ross Colvin) By Brad Brooks SAO PAULO (Reuters) - The killing of 56 inmates by fellow prisoners in Brazil's deadliest jail uprising in decades was a "butchery foretold" by escalating turf wars between drug gangs that threatens to plunge a chaotic penitentiary system deeper into violence. Prior to this week's massacre of members of the First Capital Command (PCC) in the Anisio Jobim penitentiary in the jungle city of Manaus, security experts warned for months about intensifying clashes in prisons between Brazil's two most powerful drug gangs - the Sao Paulo-based PCC and the Red Command, based in Rio de Janeiro. Now they fear the feud will escalate in prisons and on the streets of the South American nation of 207 million people. Rio, Brazil's most popular tourist destination, is particularly vulnerable, along with major cities in the north and northeast, the experts say. "This situation is tense, very ripe for new tragedies," said Camila Dias, a sociologist at the Federal University of ABC in Sao Paulo, who is an expert on Brazil's prison system and author of a book on the PCC. "This was a butchery foretold." For more than two decades, the PCC and Red Command maintained an uneasy working relationship to ensure a steady flow of marijuana, cocaine and guns over Brazil's porous borders and into its cities. But in June the partnership ended with the killing of Jorge Rafaat Toumani, a powerful Brazilian drug lord based in Paraguay who controlled trafficking routes along Brazil's southeastern border. While Toumani was not publicly affiliated to one group or another, and details of his death remain murky, Paraguayan officials believe he was killed at the PCC's behest so it could seize his lucrative trafficking routes. What is clear, security experts say, is that the PCC has taken control of Toumani's former domain. As a result, relations between the PCC and Red Command fell apart. Communications between the factions' leaders obtained by police and leaked in October, revealed a race to become Brazil's dominant gang. That same month, clashes between gang members in three prisons elsewhere in Brazil's Amazon left 22 dead. Control of the drug gangs' turf has been increasingly balkanized in recent months. That has left the Red Command weaker and allowed the PCC - powered by proceeds from their base in Sao Paulo, Brazil's richest city - to encroach on their turf in Rio. Brazilian intelligence services say that in response, the Red Command is strengthening ties with smaller groups elsewhere, like the North Family gang that carried out the slaughter of PCC members in the Manaus prison this week. Few now expect the PCC to turn the other cheek after dozens of its members were killed, including many who were decapitated. Videos of the slaughter have spread widely on social media. "Within the criminal code of conduct, an act like what we saw in the Manaus prison will never go unanswered," said Rafael Alcadipani, a public security expert at the Getulio Vargas Foundation think tank in Sao Paulo. He predicts gang battles in prisons across Brazil and on the streets of northern cities and Rio. "The civilian population will be at the mercy of this coming war," he said. Brazil's justice minister, Alexandre Moraes, and other government security officials have played down such fears, saying they are transferring imprisoned drug gang leaders to maximum security jails, where they will remain in isolation. In theory this will stop them from handing down orders to underlings, but in the past isolated gang leaders have still managed to retain control over their networks. DEADLY PRISONS Whether run by the state, or privately operated facilities like the one in Manaus, most Brazilian prisons lack resources which allows prisoners to easily take control of them and carry out massacres like the one seen this week. Horrific conditions and abuses are well documented. There are 622,000 inmates in Brazil's prison population, ranking only behind the United States, China and Russia, according to the University of London's Institute for Criminal Policy Research. Poor financing and administration mean that even in Sao Paulo, Brazil's wealthiest state, a single guard oversees 300 to 400 prisoners in some prisons, said Dias, the sociologist. "When the prisoners want to have an uprising, they have an uprising," she added. The Justice Ministry did not respond to requests for comment, but just last week the federal government announced it was immediately freeing 1.2 billion reais ($372.50 million) in funding for states to improve or build jails. Sergio Fontes, the top security official in Amazonas state, where Manaus is located, insists the state government has not lost control of the penitentiary system. Many public security experts disagree. They argue that the prisons mirror an overall lack of security in a country where authorities have long tolerated high homicide rates. (Reporting by Brad Brooks, editing by Daniel Flynn and Ross Colvin) Hospital weddings can be a somber event, but for this Indiana bride, the big day was everything she had hoped for, from the flowers to the catering to her most important guest. Read: Nurses Throw Wedding for Woman Who Canceled Hers Twice Due to Kidney Failure When Cheryl Owens, of Indianapolis, was told her stage 4 kidney cancer was taking a turn for the worse, nurses and hospital staff rallied to organize a wedding so she could be part of her daughter's big day. "I found out my mom was dying that morning, and by that evening, I was getting married," said bride Kristin Owens, 33. Kristin told InsideEdition.com that she had originally planned to wed her best friend of 12 years, Brian Powers, 36, on February 4. After months of treatment, Cheryl Owens, 55, was moved to comfort care at the Indiana University Health in Avon on Tuesday. When Kristin asked the doctor if her mother will still be able to be a part of her wedding, "he gave me that look, and I knew. Read: Daughter Arranges Rushed Wedding in Hospital Room to Include Dad on Life Support "It's been in the back of my mind for a while, how I was going to be able to share my day with [my mom] with her not being able to be there medically," she said. "I know all mothers and daughters have a special bond, but I'm probably a little more biased when I say ours is much more unique." She informed the hospital she would be interested in a hospital wedding that morning, and by evening, Kristin was exchanging vows with her now-husband by her mom's bedside. "I honestly thought it would be a small, somber occasion in a room around her bed," Kristin said. "[My mom] actually wasn't happy about that." But, the bride and groom, along with their 50 guests, were shocked to see flowers, decorations, catering, music, and even the pastor they had originally booked. Read: Bridal Party Stops at Hospital After Wedding to Visit Grandma Who Missed Ceremony "[My mom] was coherent. She was in good spirits," Kristin said. "She was able to enjoy it. When she realized it was going to be an actual celebration, she allowed herself to take it all in." Story continues She added: "I was afraid she wouldn't be able to be with me. This really was a gift." Watch: Man Weds Long-Term Girlfriend in Hospital Bed After Being Given a Week to Live: 'I'm Marrying My Best Friend' Related Articles: On Tuesday, Sir Ivan Rogers, Britains experienced ambassador to the European Union, quit. On Wednesday, British Prime Minister Theresa May replaced him with another experienced ambassador. May appointed Former Ambassador to Russia Sir Tim Barrow as the new British ambassador to the EU, frustrating those Brexit hardliners who called for a leadership change in Brussels. When Rogers quit, Brexit supporters saw an opportunity to, as Michael Heaver of UKIP tweeted, get someone who believes in Brexit. Nigel Farage suggested that the whole foreign office be ousted. Theresa May took a decidedly different tack. She chose Barrow, who has paved an extensive career path as a foreign diplomat, most recently serving as the British Ambassador to Russia from 2011 to 2015. He has also served in two senior roles in Brussels, and has a reputation for being pragmatic and levelheaded. In other words, he is not the change in representation Brexit supporters wanted. Good to see that the government have replaced a knighted career diplomat with. a knighted career diplomat, tweeted Nigel Farage, former head of the UKIP who also earlier called for May to choose someone of a different mold. Why might May go against Farage in this? Aside from the fact that he is not her boss and that he is partly responsible for a referendum she did not support but the result of which she must now carry out, Mays choice may be an acknowledgment that the person who will bring Britain into the unknown needs to know what hes doing. May has promised to trigger Article 50, which will officially start Brexit negotiations, by the end of March. Perhaps it makes sense, then, to have someone in charge who knows the way in which Brussels operates in the two to six (or, as Rogers predicted, ten) years to complete Britains divorce from the EU. Photo credit: NATALIA KOLESNIKOVA/AFP/Getty Images By Guy Faulconbridge LONDON (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Theresa May appointed a senior career diplomat as envoy to the European Union to replace an ambassador who quit with a scathing resignation letter that exposed frustration among officials over her strategy. Tim Barrow, political director of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and a former ambassador to Moscow, would take up the post next week, May's Downing Street office said, following the abrupt resignation of Ivan Rogers. The selection of Barrow, a 30 year veteran diplomat, could disappoint some Brexit campaigners who would like to see a known eurosceptic in the post, but may reassure Britain's cadre of civil servants that their expertise is still valued. Barrow has served as first secretary at Britain's embassy in Brussels but is not known to have taken a strong public position on Brexit. In a statement released by May's Downing Street office, Barrow said he looked forward to joining the new government department tasked with overseeing the exit from the European Union, "to ensure we get the right outcome for the United Kingdom as we leave the EU". Downing Street described him as "a seasoned and tough negotiator, with extensive experience of securing UK objectives in Brussels". May intends to launch the two-year process of negotiating to leave the bloc by the end of March, beginning what is expected to be some of the most complicated international talks Britain has engaged in since World War Two. She has so far said little publicly about Britain's negotiating position, arguing that to do so would weaken London's hand in talks. Rogers said in a letter to his staff that May's negotiating objectives were as yet unknown and told them: "I hope you will continue to challenge ill-founded arguments and muddled thinking". After Rogers's resignation, some Conservative Party Eurosceptics said he should be replaced by someone who was more positive about Brexit. (Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge and Stephen Addison; Editing by Peter Graff) London (AFP) - Britain on Wednesday said it had picked a "tough negotiator" to replace its ambassador to the European Union, whose unexpected resignation rocked Brexit plans just before negotiations are due to start. Downing Street announced that Tim Barrow, a former ambassador to Moscow who has previously served in Brussels, would take over from Ivan Rogers as Britain heads into the talks on its divorce from the EU. Rogers, who resigned on Tuesday, sent an email to staff condemning "ill-founded arguments and muddled thinking" over Brexit and made it clear he was still in the dark over Prime Minister Theresa May's objectives. He accepted his departure would add to the "uncertainty" following last year's historic referendum vote to leave the 28-member bloc, but said it was right to leave now. A highly-regarded diplomat who had been due to end his four-year stint in October, Rogers said he was quitting nine months early so his successor could see through the whole divorce process. A Downing Street spokesperson described his successor Barrow as a "seasoned and tough negotiator, with extensive experience of securing UK objectives in Brussels". "He will bring his trademark energy and creativity to this job -- working alongside other senior officials and ministers to make a success of Brexit," they added. - 'Wise counsel' - In the June 2016 referendum, 52 percent voted for Britain leave the EU. May has given a March 31 deadline to formally begin exit talks. The appointment of the new ambassador was welcomed by Britain's Brexit minister, David Davis, who said Barrow's office will play a "crucial role" in negotiations to leave the EU. "His knowledge of Brussels means he will be able to hit the ground running at a vital time, and steer UKRep throughout the negotiation period," Davis said, referring to Britain's mission to the EU. "I am confident that with his help, the UK will be able to forge a new relationship with the EU that works to the mutual benefit of both sides," Davis said. Story continues Foreign minister Boris Johnson said Barrow had been "invaluable" and thanked him for his "relentless energy, wise counsel and steadfast commitment". The move was lamented by Nigel Farage, a leading anti-EU figure in the Brexit campaign. "Good to see that the government have replaced a knighted career diplomat with.... a knighted career diplomat," he tweeted sardonically. - 'Muddled thinking' - May has faced criticism for saying little about her plan for Brexit, including the crucial issue of what kind of access, if any, Britain might retain to the single market. "We do not yet know what the government will set as negotiating objectives for the UK's relationship with the EU after exit," Rogers said in his resignation email to UKRep staff. He urged colleagues to provide British ministers with their "unvarnished" understanding through Brexit negotiations -- "even where this is uncomfortable". "I hope you will continue to challenge ill-founded arguments and muddled thinking and that you will never be afraid to speak the truth to those in power," Rogers said. He also criticised the British government for its short supply of "serious multilateral negotiating experience" in London and said the structure of the UK's negotiating team "needs rapid resolution". Rogers came under fire last month for saying it could take 10 years for Britain to conclude a trade deal with the EU. The government insisted, though, that he was only reporting back what was being said in European capitals. The mild-mannered Rogers is widely respected in Brussels where he is known as a vastly experienced operator. His critics say he is a europhile, but European diplomatic sources described him as being a realist. Natasha Bertaud, a spokeswoman for the European Commission, said Wednesday it regretted "the loss of a very professional, very knowledgeable while not always easy interlocutor and diplomat". "His resignation is not a surprise for those who work with him," one European diplomat told AFP. "He was very competent, but not convinced by the Brexit decision and the British government line, leading the UK into an area of dangerous uncertainty." Triggering Article 50 will start a two-year countdown after which Britain will leave all the institutions and the single market unless alternative arrangements have been agreed. (Updates after new envoy named) By Elizabeth Piper and Guy Faulconbridge LONDON, Jan 4 (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Theresa May appointed a senior career diplomat as envoy to the European Union on Wednesday to replace an ambassador who quit with a scathing resignation letter that exposed frustration among officials over her strategy. Tim Barrow, political director at the Foreign Office, will take up the post next week following the abrupt departure of Ivan Rogers, who told staff in his resignation letter they should "speak the truth to those in power". The implicit criticism of the government's approach in Rogers' letter put rare strain on rules that shield the politically neutral civil service from elected leaders. The selection of Barrow, a 30 year veteran diplomat, could disappoint some Brexit campaigners who would like to see a known eurosceptic in the post. But it could help reassure Britain's cadre of civil servants that their expertise is still valued. Barrow, a former ambassador to Moscow who served earlier in his career as first secretary at Britain's embassy in Brussels, is not known to have taken a strong public position on Brexit. In a statement released by May's Downing Street office, he said he looked forward to joining the new government department tasked with overseeing the exit from the European Union, "to ensure we get the right outcome for the United Kingdom as we leave the EU". Downing Street described him as "a seasoned and tough negotiator, with extensive experience of securing UK objectives in Brussels". May intends to launch the two-year process of negotiating to leave the bloc by the end of March, beginning what is expected to be some of the most complicated international talks Britain has engaged in since World War Two. She has so far said little publicly about Britain's negotiating position, arguing that to do so would weaken London's hand in talks. Her political opponents say the government underestimates the task and has failed to take into account the position of European leaders, who say they will not give Britain access to the EU free trade zone if it closes its borders to EU citizens. Story continues In his undiplomatically worded resignation letter, Rogers said May's negotiating objectives were as yet unknown. He told his staff: "I hope you will continue to challenge ill-founded arguments and muddled thinking". May's opponents said his departure would deprive Britain of crucial expertise about Europe at the time when it was needed most. But Brexit supporters described his comments as sour grapes and said he should be replaced by someone who was more positive about Britain's prospects outside the EU. PRECARIOUS With May's end of March deadline to trigger the formal EU divorce procedure approaching, her reticence over her strategy may be contributing to a lack of coordination among staff in government departments, say experts on the British bureaucracy. Robyn Munro, senior researcher for the Institute for Government which is close to the civil service, said there were questions over what kind of structure Britain would put in place to manage the negotiations. The future of Rogers looked precarious late last year when a report was leaked that he had told ministers that a post-Brexit trade deal with the EU could take 10 years to finalise. Prominent eurosceptics in May's Conservative Party accused him of being overly "pessimistic" before the talks. One source in parliament said Rogers had been victim of a breakdown in relations not just with ministers, but within the civil service after the new Department for Exiting the EU took precedence over his Brussels-based mission. Other diplomats said Rogers, who had been central to a difficult renegotiation of the terms of Britain's EU membership led by former prime minister David Cameron before last year's referendum, was frustrated that his message that the talks would be tough was not getting through. But pro-Brexit lawmakers said it was right that officials who lacked enthusiasm for quitting the EU should step aside. "Some have been passionately committed to the previous pro-EU consensus and they are in real grief, like many others we know. If they cannot adapt to the new policy, then they are right to go," said Conservative lawmaker Bernard Jenkin, who campaigned for Britain to leave the European Union. (additional reporting by Estelle Shirbon and Alastair Macdonald in Brussels,; editing by Peter Graff) By Elizabeth Piper and Guy Faulconbridge LONDON (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Theresa May appointed a senior career diplomat as envoy to the European Union on Wednesday to replace an ambassador who quit with a scathing resignation letter that exposed frustration among officials over her strategy. Tim Barrow, political director at the Foreign Office, will take up the post next week following the abrupt departure of Ivan Rogers, who told staff in his resignation letter they should "speak the truth to those in power". The implicit criticism of the government's approach in Rogers' letter put rare strain on rules that shield the politically neutral civil service from elected leaders. The selection of Barrow, a 30 year veteran diplomat, could disappoint some Brexit campaigners who would like to see a known eurosceptic in the post. But it could help reassure Britain's cadre of civil servants that their expertise is still valued. Barrow, a former ambassador to Moscow who served earlier in his career as first secretary at Britain's embassy in Brussels, is not known to have taken a strong public position on Brexit. In a statement released by May's Downing Street office, he said he looked forward to joining the new government department tasked with overseeing the exit from the European Union, "to ensure we get the right outcome for the United Kingdom as we leave the EU". Downing Street described him as "a seasoned and tough negotiator, with extensive experience of securing UK objectives in Brussels". May intends to launch the two-year process of negotiating to leave the bloc by the end of March, beginning what is expected to be some of the most complicated international talks Britain has engaged in since World War Two. She has so far said little publicly about Britain's negotiating position, arguing that to do so would weaken London's hand in talks. Her political opponents say the government underestimates the task and has failed to take into account the position of European leaders, who say they will not give Britain access to the EU free trade zone if it closes its borders to EU citizens. In his undiplomatically worded resignation letter, Rogers said May's negotiating objectives were as yet unknown. He told his staff: "I hope you will continue to challenge ill-founded arguments and muddled thinking". May's opponents said his departure would deprive Britain of crucial expertise about Europe at the time when it was needed most. But Brexit supporters described his comments as sour grapes and said he should be replaced by someone who was more positive about Britain's prospects outside the EU. PRECARIOUS With May's end of March deadline to trigger the formal EU divorce procedure approaching, her reticence over her strategy may be contributing to a lack of coordination among staff in government departments, say experts on the British bureaucracy. Robyn Munro, senior researcher for the Institute for Government which is close to the civil service, said there were questions over what kind of structure Britain would put in place to manage the negotiations. The future of Rogers looked precarious late last year when a report was leaked that he had told ministers that a post-Brexit trade deal with the EU could take 10 years to finalize. Prominent eurosceptics in May's Conservative Party accused him of being overly "pessimistic" before the talks. One source in parliament said Rogers had been victim of a breakdown in relations not just with ministers, but within the civil service after the new Department for Exiting the EU took precedence over his Brussels-based mission. Other diplomats said Rogers, who had been central to a difficult renegotiation of the terms of Britain's EU membership led by former prime minister David Cameron before last year's referendum, was frustrated that his message that the talks would be tough was not getting through. But pro-Brexit lawmakers said it was right that officials who lacked enthusiasm for quitting the EU should step aside. "Some have been passionately committed to the previous pro-EU consensus and they are in real grief, like many others we know. If they cannot adapt to the new policy, then they are right to go," said Conservative lawmaker Bernard Jenkin, who campaigned for Britain to leave the European Union. (additional reporting by Estelle Shirbon and Alastair Macdonald in Brussels,; editing by Peter Graff) LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Democratic lawmakers in the California legislature said on Wednesday they retained former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to help in any legal battles with President-elect Donald Trump's administration. The move is more evidence that lawmakers in the nation's most populous state, where Democrats hold two-thirds majorities in both houses of the legislature, are girding for possible court battles after Trump takes office on Jan. 20. Last month, leaders of both houses introduced bills to protect undocumented immigrants from anticipated efforts by a Trump administration to increase deportations. In addition, Democratic Governor Jerry Brown has made combating climate change a priority for the state. "Mr. Holder and his team will serve as outside counsel to the Legislature, advising us in our efforts to resist any attempts to roll back the progress California has made," Kevin de Leon, the Democratic leader of the state Senate, said in a statement. A representative from de Leon's office could not immediately be reached for comment. Holder served as attorney general under President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2015. He is a partner in the law firm of Covington & Burling, which represents companies and helps them navigate government regulations. "I am honored that the Legislature chose Covington to serve as its legal adviser as it considers how to respond to potential changes in federal law that could impact California's residents and policy priorities," Holder said in a statement. California voted decisively for Democrat Hillary Clinton in the Nov. 8 presidential election, choosing the former first lady over Trump by 28 percentage points. The hiring of Holder was reported earlier by the New York Times. (Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis and Dan Levine, editing by Larry King and Dan Grebler) In March, I watched as Nuon Chea, Brother Number Two, was wheeled into the courtroom of the Khmer Rouge Tribunal in Cambodia. He was momentarily ending an unofficial boycott of the court to contest the testimony I had given earlier as an expert witness based on my long-term anthropological research on the Cambodian genocide. On Nov. 22, the frail 90-year-old sat in his wheelchair as the tribunals Supreme Court Chamber rendered the final decision on his guilt, handing down a life sentence. I almost felt sorry for the enfeebled Nuon Chea, who had to be helped into his seat by two unarmed guards. Then I thought of the millions of Cambodians who suffered and died during the brutal Democratic Kampuchea (DK) era. Nobody, not even Nuon Chea himself, disputes that he worked closely with Pol Pot and served as deputy secretary of the Communist Party of Kampuchea that ran the DK regime from April 17, 1975, to Jan. 6, 1979. The Khmer Rouge Tribunal that oversaw the verdict is an attempt to find justice for the millions of dead under Pol Pots rule. It is also an attempt to set an international precedent. But the tribunal has raised as many questions as it answered. Given how compromised and sluggish the court has proven to be, its not yet clear whether Cambodians, and those hoping to pursue historical justice elsewhere in the world, will even find its judgments to be meaningful. Officially known as the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC), the Khmer Rouge Tribunal commenced operation in 2006 to try the surviving Khmer Rouge senior leaders and those most responsible for violations of international law. Pol Pot died in 1998. Nuon Chea, the second- highest-ranking Khmer Rouge leader, stood trial alongside former Khmer Rouge Head of State Khieu Samphan, who is in his 80s and also in poor health. The two other defendants in the case died before the ECCC Trial Chamber reached its 2014 verdict in the first of their two trials after three long years, convicting them, among other things, of crimes against humanity, including extermination. Some question whether its judgment even matters. The court has been mired in controversy, and its decisions increasingly scrutinized by the media, international civil society, academics, and foreign governments. But this is not entirely surprising. International justice is inherently political, often smacking of victors justice and skewed in terms of decisions about who can be tried and for what, when, and where. This politicization was true of the Nuremberg and Tokyo trials. Adolf Eichmanns abduction by Mossad agents in Argentina to stand trial in Israel sparked protest. So, too, did his poor representation and the attempts of the Israeli state to use its domestic trial of Eichmann to forge a new national narrative instead of focusing on the overwhelming evidence against him. The ad hoc international tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda have not fared much better, mired in complaints about bias, sentencing, and flawed trials. Most recently, several African countries announced they are pulling out of the International Criminal Court due to what they claim is Eurocentrism and neocolonial bias. Russia has joined the exodus. As the saying goes, international justice sails between the Scylla of politics and the Charybdis of law in the pursuit of truth and justice. The rule of thumb for jurists is as follows: Minimize the taint of politics; stick as close as possible to the shores of law. But they are trapped in a paradoxical position. A trial that adheres too closely to law renders a sterile, procedural justice. Listing toward politics, on the other side, leads to a show trial. The goal is to pass through this gauntlet, as the ECCC sought to do on Nov. 22, to provide at least a degree of justice and truth about the past. But some say the ECCC was doomed from the start. The Khmer Rouge Tribunal was established after years of negotiations by a 2003 agreement between the United Nations and Cambodia. As an international hybrid tribunal, it was comprised of both Cambodian and U.N.-nominated international judges and prosecutors. The court included checks to prevent the Cambodian side from dominating, including a requirement that decisions receive a supermajority that includes at least one international judge. Still, the agreement to create the tribunal ceded enormous influence to the Cambodian government, not known for its judicial independence or commitment to the rule of law. These concerns were amplified by the fact that Prime Minister Hun Sen and other leaders of his Cambodian Peoples Party were themselves former Khmer Rouge and might limit the number of investigations and tightly control the proceedings. These concerns proved prescient. First there was a corruption scandal involving alleged kickbacks on the Cambodian side. Then a drawn-out battle over how many people to try ensued, with the Cambodian government pushing for the trial of just five suspects and the U.N. arguing that the court itself should decide on the numbers. In 2010, Hun Sen informed U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon that there would be no further trials. Key Cambodian personnel at the court, including judges, adhered to this government line. The following year they thwarted the efforts of an international investigating judge who sought to pursue additional investigations, stymieing his work at every turn. Defense teams highlighted allegations of political influence even as they called for Hun Sen and other Cambodian government leaders, some themselves former Khmer Rouge, to testify. The officials refused. Thwarted by this situation and other issues related to political influence and court bias, some defense lawyers quit. Others staged boycotts, including the defense teams for Nuon Chea and Khieu Samphan. Some called the court a farce. So is the Khmer Rouge Tribunal just a sham? Will sticking with it end up discrediting the case for historical and international justice elsewhere? Some say yes. There have even been calls for the U.N. to pull out of a tribunal that has cost over $250 million. Others reply, Who cares? noting that many Cambodians are more concerned with their daily struggles than dry legal proceedings. Some Cambodians offer a Buddhist perspective, claiming that the Khmer Rouge will suffer the karmic consequences of their actions when they are reborn. Or they invoke a Cambodian adage, Dont poke an old wound. Yet supporters, such as the international donor Friends of the ECCC, point to the successes of the court, which has, amid all the turmoil that surrounds it, stayed the course, increasing historical understanding while delivering a verdict in the first trial of a notorious prison chief and then again in Nuon Chea and Khieu Samphans trial. I pondered these questions before the final decision was announced, just as I had in March as I sat in the witness stand. I had observed the anger of defense lawyers upset by their treatment in the court. Noun Chea had broken his unofficial boycott to complain that the court was not addressing the involvement of foreign powers, including the United States, in the Cambodian violence. But I had also frequently glanced at the civil parties sitting in the courtroom. Many had been given the opportunity to take the stand and tell their stories in court. Tens of thousands more Cambodians had attended the proceedings, sitting in the 500-seat public gallery. The gallery was also packed when the ECCC Supreme Court Chamber, which heard the appeal of the Trial Chambers verdict, read its final decision on Nov. 22. They upheld the life sentences for Nuon Chea and Khieu Samphan, whom they found guilty of crimes against humanity, among other charges. But they threw out some of the Trial Chambers rulings, including its determination that the Khmer Rouge evacuations of the cities were an attempt at extermination. I thought of Reach Sambath, the dynamic spokesperson for the court, who was orphaned by the Khmer Rouge. He died unexpectedly from a stroke in 2011. He had always acknowledged that the court had shortcomings. But, he told me, there was no such thing as perfect justice, except as a goal to be pursued. Although Sambath officially served as the external face of the court, he viewed himself as a voice for the spirits of the hundreds of thousands of DK dead, including his parents and siblings. This role gave him his nickname: spokesperson for the ghosts. It was on their behalf as well, he stressed, that justice must be delivered. Justice is always partial. International justice remains heavily politicized. The ECCC has emerged from the gauntlet between the Scylla of politics and Charybdis of law damaged. Within limits, ones the ECCC has at times almost crossed, international justice with all its flaws is nevertheless better than the alternative, allowing genocide and crimes against humanity to go unpunished. Given the choice between this court and its imperfect justice and no court, I think most Cambodians would choose the ECCC and the final decision rendered on Nov. 22. Sambath likely would have told us better this justice than no justice for the living and the dead. Photo Credit: CHOR SOKOUNTHEA/AFP/Getty Images The battle over Obamacare is heating up after Vice President-elect Mike Pence met with Congressional Republicans on Wednesday to lay the groundwork for repealing the Affordable Care Act once President-Elect Donald Trump takes office. But President Obama went to Capitol Hill as well to meet with Congressional Democrats about how to protect his signature health-care law. After the meeting with President Obama, Sen. Chuck Schumer, (D-NY), warned that Republican efforts to repeal Obamacare would Make America Sick Again. Former Health and Human Services Deputy Secretary Tevi Troy told FOX Business Networks Neil Cavuto he was disturbed and unimpressed by Schumers play on Trumps campaign slogan. [It was] obviously taking off on Trumps insightful Make America Great Again, which spoke to the aspirations of the American people to reclaim a greatness that this country has and has had for two centuries, told said. Troy also took issue with claims that Obamacare is completely responsible for health care costs rising at a slower rate than they would have otherwise. A lot of the moderation in the health care costs appears to be coming from employer-sponsored care, which is one of the key building blocks of our system, covers 170 million people, and that has to do with a lot of the steps employers took in recent years in order to control their costs and a lot of that predates the Affordable Care Act, he said. He was hopeful that under the Trump administration, reforming health care along with tax cuts and cuts in regulations could help improve Americas health-care system as well as the overall economic outlook. Make changes in health care, have a new wave of health reform that actually improves health care, incentivizes people to purchase health care by making it cheaper so that people want to buy the product, then we could have a real resurgence in this country and Im always optimistic about America, Troy said. Related Articles Leisure travel colossus Carnival Corporation is putting a spin on technology used at Disney World to turn cruise ships into what it bills as smart cities at sea. Carnival on Tuesday introduced an "Ocean Medallion" designed to tailor trips to individual passengers by learning their tastes and on-board habits, and even keeping track of roaming children. The travel giant, which has 10 cruise brands, unveiled the lightweight, waterproof medallions in Las Vegas as the Consumer Electronics Show gadget extravaganza prepared to get underway. Capable of whispering wirelessly to a web of on-board sensors, the medallions are designed to help cruise operators anticipate guests' needs, making note of a favorite wine, say, and prompting suggestions as the journey progresses, according to Nytec, the US company behind the technology. Carnival plans to roll out the devices on its Regal Princess cruise ship late this year, with two more ships following next year. The medallions let crew know where people are and where they might be heading, helping with tasks ranging from unlocking cabin doors for guests to anticipating which pools or restaurants might need back-up staff or letting housekeeping know when the time is right to tidy up. Medallions also act as wallets, charging purchases to people's shipboard accounts, with identities confirmed by photos that pop up on workers' screens and allow people to be greeted by name. "Carnival is about to launch a concept that is really a smart city on a cruise ship," Carnival Corporation spokeswoman Vicki Johnson told AFP. "Cruise ships are very city-like when you boil things down." Carnival executive John Padgett, who worked on the project, was previously a vice president at Walt Disney Parks & Resorts in Florida, where he helped bring to life MagicBand smart bracelets that used short-range signals to replace wallets, tickets, and room keys. The medallions were designed to appear more like pendants than gizmos, using wireless signals to connect to sensors spread across a ship. Weighing 1.8 ounces, they can serve as keepsakes after the trip is over. Adult guests will be able to opt out of being discoverable by the devices, which are also designed to help people navigate from one place to another on board massive and sometimes disorienting ships. "It will also tell you if your husband is in the casino when he is not supposed to be," Johnson quipped. COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) A South Carolina lawmaker was suspended Wednesday after he was indicted on a charge of beating his wife in a case linked to a 911 call where his children could be heard screaming "Stop Daddy." Rep. Chris Corley was indicted on felony charges of domestic violence of a high and aggravated nature and pointing a firearm, said state Attorney General Alan Wilson. The charges could net Corley up to 25 years in prison. The domestic violence charge alone can bring a maximum sentence of 20 years. The Graniteville Republican, who a year ago suggested his GOP colleagues should seek forgiveness for their sins, was arrested last week on a lesser domestic violence charge that carries up to 10 years. Prosecutors determined "the facts supported an elevated charge," Wilson spokeswoman Hayley Bledsoe said, without being specific. By law, the tougher charge can apply when the alleged abuse occurs in the presence of children. In a 911 call from Corley's home, young children could be heard screaming in the background. In the call to Aiken city police, no one talks to the operator but "please stop" can be heard repeatedly in the audio released Friday by the Aiken County Sheriff's Office. "Just stop daddy. Just stop. ... Daddy, why are you doing this?" Corley's wife can also be heard: "Chris, please stop." That prompted the dispatcher to call Aiken County 911. "I had a caller, sounded a lot like children screaming for help and begging for their father to stop," the operator said. Wilson's office says Solicitor Strom Thurmond Jr. asked Wilson to take the case. Corley, an attorney, hasn't returned messages from The Associated Press. His attorney declined to give reporters his name at Corley's bond hearing last week. A judge barred Corley from contacting his wife and handling a gun. Corley's wife told deputies he stopped hitting her late Dec. 26 only after noticing she was bleeding and hearing the screams of two of their three children, ages 2 and 8. Story continues Corley said his wife tried to punch him after accusing him of cheating, and the police report noted a scratch on his forehead. House Speaker Jay Lucas suspended Corley soon after Wilson announced the indictment, effective immediately. That means he can't attend meetings, perform any other legislative duties or get legislative pay. State law requires the suspension of officeholders indicted on a felony charge. Corley will remain suspended until he's either cleared or must vacate his office. The 36-year-old Republican was easily re-elected to a second term last month with no opposition. Corley's mother-in-law also called 911. In the later call, she asks for deputies to be sent to the home of a man threatening to kill himself. The dispatcher says deputies are already on the way for "some type of disturbance where the father is beating children?" "No, no, no," she responds. "He beat his wife and he's threatening to kill himself." The police report says Corley's wife ran with the children to her mother's house across the street when he went to the bedroom. Corley may be best known in the House as a staunch defender of the Confederate flag. During the 2015 debate on whether to remove the flag from Statehouse grounds, Corley suggested replacing it with the white flag of surrender and held up a piece of paper taped to a pencil to illustrate his point. The debate followed the June 2015 massacre of nine black parishioners in a Charleston church by a white man seen in photos brandishing the rebel banner. In his Christmas card to House Republicans months later, he told his colleagues they lacked morals for voting to take down the flag. The card suggested Republicans "ask for forgiveness of all your sins such as betrayal." It began, "May your Christmas be filled with memories of a happier time when South Carolina's leaders possessed morals, convictions and the principles to stand for what is right." Corley called it a joke in his smart-aleck style. Democrats got a card with a photo of his children. A memorial will be held for Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds on Thursday, followed by the burial on Friday, a source confirms to PEOPLE. An ultra-private service is set to take place at Fisher and Reynolds Beverly Hills compound, where the mother-daughter pair were next-door neighbors. On the next day, the Star Wars actress and Singin in the Rain legend will both be laid to rest at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Los Angeles. Reynoldss son and Fishers younger brother Todd Fisher told ABCs 20/20 that he was planning a joint service with Billie Lourd, 24, his niece and Fishers daughter. According to Todd, his mother and sister will be buried among friends, including Liberace and Bette Davis. Fisher, 60, was aboard an 11-hour flight from London to Los Angeles on Friday, Dec. 23, when she went into cardiac arrest. She died four days later, on Dec. 27, at UCLA Medical Center. Reynolds died a day later at the age of 84. Fishers autopsy was completed on Friday and her body was released to a mortuary selected by the family, the Los Angeles Coroners office confirmed to PEOPLE. Were broken-hearted, those of us that are left behind. We also are happy that theyre together. Its horrible, its beautiful, its magical they are together, its beyond words, its beyond understanding, Todd said in his 20/20 interview. "Bright Lights," the HBO documentary about the late mother-daughter show business pairing Debbie Reynolds and Carrie Fisher is to broadcast on January 7, 2017, with a trailer released in support. Debbie Reynolds, star of "Singing in the Rain," and Carrie Fisher, "Star Wars" leading lady and Reynolds' Beverly Hills neighbor, are profiled in a film about "show business, and bittersweet family love," HBO said in a statement about the documentary feature. "At 83 years old, grand dame Debbie Reynolds still performs a Las Vegas act, dressed in gold lame. But performing takes its toll, and Debbie's health suffers. This devastates her daughter, whose response is both hilarious and heart-rending. Carrie is helpless in the face of her mother's determination that 'the show must go on.'" "Bright Lights" was well received following its Cannes film festival premiere in May 2016, going on to show at Telluride, New York, Chicago, and the AFI's respective festivals throughout the year. Carrie Fisher passed away on December 27, 2016, with her mother Debbie Reynolds following a day later. Watch the trailer for "Bright Lights: Starring Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds" - youtu.be/K97Rthh-qmk Debbie Reynolds and Carrie Fisher were not only mother and daughter, but they were the best of friends. HBO officially released the trailer for Debbie and Carrie's documentary, Bright Lights: Starring Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds, which perfectly displays the touching relationship between the two Hollywood legends. Carrie constantly worries about her mother's health in the video, and describes their incredible bond. "My mother, she'll forget she's not 35," Carrie says about Debbie's busy schedule. "Age is horrible for all of us, but she falls from a greater height." WATCH: Joely Fisher Says Debbie Reynolds 'Would Not Last' Without Carrie Fisher, Reveals Their Last Conversation "I'm my mom's best friend," she later comments. "Far more than I would ever want to, I know what my mother feels and wants." The Singin' in the Rain star shows her sense of humor throughout the documentary, joking, "I share everything with my daughter ... especially the check." Though she later gets serious about Carrie's well-known struggles with her mental health. "Manic-depressive is a disease that was not diagnosed then, so nobody kind of knew what was going on with Carrie," she recalls. "I went too fast, I was too much," Carrie acknowledges. "I couldn't handle it." Carrie died at the age of 60 on Dec. 27 after suffering cardiac arrest while on a flight from London to Los Angeles. Debbie died just one day later after suffering a stroke. She was 84 years old. Bright Lights premieres January 7 at 8 p.m. on HBO. WATCH: Todd Fisher Calls Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds' Relationship 'a Beautiful Love Story' Todd Fisher -- Carrie and Debbie's brother and son, respectively -- said that the two will be buried next to each other and "among friends" at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in an interview with 20/20 last week. Family friends Liberace and Bette Davis are also buried Forest Lawn. Story continues "She didn't die of a broken heart," he also said of his mother. "She just left to be with Carrie." Related Articles WILTON MANORS, Fla. (AP) A federal judge agreed with prosecutors on Wednesday to drop charges against a man accused of threatening on Facebook to "exterminate" gay people. District Judge William Zloch dismissed the case against Craig Jungwirth, who had been indicted by a grand jury with interstate transmission of a threatening communication. He had faced a potential sentence of 10 to 16 months in prison. Prosecutors had requested on Tuesday that the charges be dropped, six weeks after announcing in court that the evidence against Jungwirth was "weak," according to a report in The Sun-Sentinel (http://bit.ly/2iHCM3d ). An FBI affidavit said Jungwirth, 50, of Orlando, posted several threats on Facebook against LGBT people in Wilton Manors, Florida, which has a large gay population. In August 2016, the affidavit said, Jungwirth threatened to launch a Labor Day attack bigger than the Pulse gay nightclub shooting in Orlando that killed 49 people and wounded dozens last June. The case was based in part on a tipster's screenshot of the Facebook post. But at a Nov. 15 federal court hearing, prosecutor Marc Anton told a judge that the evidence against Jungwirth was "weak" and circumstantial because investigators had been unable to definitively link the threat to him, even though the affidavit said the FBI was able to show that multiple threats were posted from his mother's computer. U.S. Attorney spokeswoman Sarah Schall declined comment. ___ Information from: Sun Sentinel , http://www.sun-sentinel.com/ Casey Affleck, the best actor winner at Tuesday nights New York Film Critics Circle Awards, took the podium with some ammunition; a stack of bad reviews written about previous performances in his career. Fortunately, hes not the lead, read an old clipping. I would say thats fair, the actor chimed in. Affleck, the star of Kenneth Lonergans drama Manchester by the Sea, is a frontrunner to win the best actor Oscar, and his stop at the NYFCC dinner held at Tao Downtown was another momentum-building moment on the campaign trail. Although the NYFCC doesnt always overlap with the Oscars, they have singled out previous soon-to-be Academy Awards winners like Patricia Arquette (Boyhood), Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine) and Colin Firth (The Kings Speech). Since all the prizes had been announced in advance, the event was a celebratory lap with relaxed speeches and a few jokes at the expense of the critics. Affleck noted that four of the five bad reviews he quoted were by David Edelstein, from New York Magazine, who was emceeing the evening. Believe it or not, there was a time that I really loved to read film reviews, because they helped me understand films in a way I didnt, Affleck said, citing critics like Pauline Kael, Peter Travers and Varietys Owen Gleiberman, who once compared the appeal of Joseph Fiennes in Shakespeare in Love to Prince. Yeah, I get that, Affleck said, singling out that review. That makes sense. Michelle Williams, the best supporting actress winner for Manchester by the Sea, delivered a valentine to New York. When I was a little girl, my dad would describe a terrible place where people lived on top of each other and bought clothes second-hand and gave money to homeless people. I thought, fucking take me there. She said that her first apartment in the city, almost 20 years ago, had a dishwasher in the bathroom. I thought, Im home. The best picture award went to La La Land, presented to director Damien Chazelle by Moulin Rouge musical visionary Baz Luhrmann. I grew up in New Jersey; I basically spent my childhood taking the train into the city whenever I could to watch movies, said Chazelle in a long speech that included a discussion about the ending of the 1927 movie 7th Heaven. Story continues Although La La Land won the top prize, the affection in the room was clearly on the side of Manchester by the Sea (which also nabbed best script for Lonergan) and Moonlight, the coming-of-age story which won best director (Barry Jenkins), cinematographer (James Laxton) and supporting actor (Mahershala Ali). I would say as a director, Im usually sitting behind a camera, said Jenkins, who accepted his award from Jonathan Demme and shot Moonlight in only 25 days. No one ever sees me. I didnt realize in making this film at some point, I would be seen. Holy shit. Im being seen. Isabelle Huppert received best actress for a duo of performances in Paul Verhoevens Elle and Mia Hansen-Loves Things to Come. I feel like I have twins tonight two films, Huppert said. We love Paul Verhoeven in France. I hope you love him in this country. The nights biggest laughs came from comedian Robert Klein, who gave Zootopia the award for best-animated film. He called the Disney movie about talking animals totally subversive, before adding: Im going to report it immediately to the Trump administration. Check out other highlights below: Trey Edward Shults says it only cost $30,000 to make 'Krisha.' #NYFCC Ramin Setoodeh (@RaminSetoodeh) January 4, 2017 We are now all singing happy birthday to Thelma Schoonmaker. #NYFCC Ramin Setoodeh (@RaminSetoodeh) January 4, 2017 Trevor Noah presenting 'O.J.: Made in America' with best documentary. #NYFCC pic.twitter.com/eCVDBZ9GcA Ramin Setoodeh (@RaminSetoodeh) January 4, 2017 Amy Ryan on Casey Affleck in 'Manchester by the Sea': "I don't believe it's hyperbolic to call it a master work of acting." #NYFCC Ramin Setoodeh (@RaminSetoodeh) January 4, 2017 Mahershali Ali on working with Naomie Harris: "I felt confident she had something to teach me." #NYFCC Ramin Setoodeh (@RaminSetoodeh) January 4, 2017 Baz Luhrmann: "Numbers are not my thing. Ask the studio." #NYFCC Ramin Setoodeh (@RaminSetoodeh) January 4, 2017 Related stories 'Deadpool,' 'Moonlight,' 'La La Land' Nab Writers Guild Nominations 'Beauty and the Beast,' 'Fifty Shades Darker' Dominate Social Media Buzz 10 Directors to Watch: Barry Jenkins Illuminates the Black Experience With 'Moonlight' Most of the long evening at which the New York Film Critics Circle members handed out their 82nd annual awards Tuesday night proffered the usual praise and gratitude mandatory at such affairs, with a few exceptional grace notes sprinkled in to class up the occasion. Casey Affleck, on the other hand, came prepared to dole out a bit of what must go through the mind of every honoree being celebrated by the ink-stained kvetches who comment on their work. Introduced by his Gone Baby Gone co-star Amy Ryan (I find him absolutely mesmerizing), Affleck came up to receive the best performance award for his work in Manchester By The Sea. Most of the dishes had been cleared from the tables at Tao Downtown nightclub, and after a few bon bons (Thats the nicest thing anyones ever said about me, he said, addressing Ryan, including my mother), the hirsute star confessed his ambivalence about being among critics and offered some dish of his own. I like to read reviews, he said, especially when they were informed without being esoteric, critical without being snarky or personal. He was just warming up. Of course the New York critics dont like everything, Affleck said, pulling out a sheet of paper, noting that David Edelstein, the New York magazine movie critic emceeing the event as NYFCC chairman, had been effusive in speaking about most of the winners, but not me. Affleck then recited some choice quotes from Edelsteins reviews of his films, beginning with, Affleck, though likable, doesnt have a lot of variety and resorts to chewing gum to give his character through-lines, to Afflecks line readings would be too mumbly and mulish even for the glory days of 50s Method [acting] and he might as well be wearing a T-shirt that says Shoot Me. Fortunately, hes not the lead, to Its looking like whenever I see Afflecks name in a movies credits, you can expect a standard, genre B picture slowed down and tarted up. Story continues There were more, each morsel delivered in Afflecks signature style: laconic and dry, as only an actor practiced in the art of deflecting pain can be. How does one survive such scathing and often accurate criticism? Affleck wondered, rhetorically. Truth is, theres never really been anything so horrible said about me that I havent either thought of or said to myself. The crowd loved it, but Edelstein was stung and spent perhaps too much time in the final rounds of the night protesting too much, rather than just owning his words and moving on. There were few other surprises in the evening, since the awards had been announced some weeks ago, but there were several heartfelt moments supplied by the awardees. Receiving a special tribute to her half-century of film editing, mostly at the right hand of Martin Scorsese through 23 feature films and documentaries, Thelma Schoonmaker seemed genuinely moved by the boisterous standing ovation she received. It followed a rapturous introduction by Adam Driver, a co-star of Silence. You would have to sit in the editing room with us for months to really understand how editing works and you would probably find it very boring as we go back and forth and back and forth over the same material. But I think it is the greatest job in the world, making hundreds of creative decisions every day. She then spoke about her transition from Scorsese protege to collaborator. When I met him, I knew nothing about editing, she said. Nothing. He taught me everything, and as our relationship changed from student and teacher to collaborators, he has never failed to let me go along with him on the challenges he set himself with every film. The Daily Show host Trevor Noah was on hand to give the best documentary award to O.J.: Made In America, noting that a film about race and fame could not have been more timely. Manchester writer/director Kenneth Lonergan introduced Michelle Williams, cited as best supporting actress for two films, Manchester By The Sea and Certain Women, describing her as chameleonic, a character actress in a leading ladys body. Almost as freqent a visitor to the podium as Lonergan was director Barry Jenkins, cited for multiple winner Moonlight. Appearing to present an award to Zootopia for best animated film, comedian Robert Klein reminded the gathering of how many terrible movies hed been in, recalling a love scene with Joan Rivers during which she sold me four bracelets, a reference to the late comediennes QVC jewelry line. Klein seemed genuinely to have liked Zootopia, though he had no idea who he was presenting to, because their names werent listed in the program. For a few seconds he threatened to turn into Mariah Carey, but all was soon salvaged. Baz Luhrmann was the apt choice to present the best film award to Damien Chazelle for LaLa Land. Music cinema, he said, makes the heart soar. John Turturro introduced best actress Isabelle Huppert, clearly another favorite of the crowd. Huppert, also cited for two films Elle and Things To Come paid tribute to Elle director Paul Verhoeven (We love Paul Verhoeven in France) and to New Yorks critics, who had always championed her work. She was happy to represent films in which she played roles about what it means to be women in our contemporary world. More like a survivor, she said. Im also glad to be the 82nd recipient for the award, knowing that Greta Garbo was the first one, in 1935. Related stories Will Isabelle Huppert Take Her Startling Turn In 'Elle' All The Way To The Oscar Stage? - The Actor's Side How 'Moonlight' Went From Small & Personal Movie To Oscar Front-Runner - The Contenders Video 'Moonlight' Named Best Film By Black Film Critics Circle As Barry Jenkins Wins Twice; 4 Nods For 'Fences' If 2017 is the year streaming TV comes of age, Amazon looks poised to be its chaperone. At the opening media event of the annual Consumer Electronics Show on Tuesday, TheWrap came across two booths displaying similar-looking ultra-HD 4K smart TVs. One was from 130-year-old American brand Westinghouse, and the other from a relative startup called Element Electronics. But under the hood, they were both powered by the same Amazon engine: its Fire TV interface and Alexa smart voice assistant, which also works with pretty much every other smart home product, making it almost too convenient for the many smart TV owners who also have internet-enabled lights and appliances. Other competitors are hardly deferring to Amazon Dish Networks Sling TV is unveiling its AirTV Player peripheral this week, which blends a streaming box with an over-the-air receiver. But when streaming TV comes to conquer Hollywood and content empires from Disney to AT&T are preparing for it it might be dressed in Amazons anthropomorphic smile. Also Read: CES 2017: Streaming TV Is Ready For a Huge Year, And Tech Can Make or Break It Easy controls can make or break streaming TV for convenience-minded cord-cutters. Netflix is a prime example of an interface thats simple and smart, but it wont give you access to linear television and Amazon will. Sung Choi, the vice president of marketing for Elements Chinese parent Tongfang Global, told TheWrap that after an exhaustive study of options, no interface proved better than Amazons dashboard. The user experience thats the best is Amazons Fire TV, Choi said. Although Amazon requires the use of a premium subscription Prime account to access its Prime Video and Prime Music libraries, thats not the case for people who want to use Fire TV as a dashboard to watch Netflix, some other streaming service or even over-the-air TV, which has been a missing link in many internet-based skinny bundles. But the Westinghouse and Element TVs need only a digital antenna to receive those channels and automatically incorporate them into the Fire TVs channel guides and discovery dashboard to allow users to channel surf in a civilized manner. Story continues Also Read: CBS News Streaming Service CBSN Explodes 200-Plus Percent Over 2015 It allows you to browse over-the-air content added to the same interface, Brett Hunt, a vice president of sales and marketing at Westinghouse, told TheWrap, while scrolling through a tiled display showing what was currently on the Las Vegas NBC and PBS stations. Choi said Element plans to roll out four screen sizes ranging from 43 inches to 65 inches, all priced under $1,000. Hunt couldnt share pricing data for Westinghouses new smart TV, which launches in May, in the same four sizes. While Smart TV adopters and developers in these early days of cord-cutting are still figuring out exactly what features are must-haves, Hunt said one has already emerged as indispensable: voice search and control. And again, Amazons Alexa has become the voice interface of choice. Also Read: Soccer Streaming Service FuboTV Expands to Other Sports, Entertainment Alexa made its splashy debut as the brains behind Amazons Echo robot speaker, so its designed to interact with content in a more sophisticated and intuitive way than some other voice controls (like understanding what to play when asked for Frank Sinatra Christmas music). But as the smart home becomes as de rigeur as residential internet service is today the best product TheWrap saw at Unveiled may have been a shower that lets you know when its hot and can hold that temperature if you need to pause it to answer the phone an Alexa-equipped TV is the obvious control center for people who dont necessarily want to buy another peripheral. Software is eating everything, including TV. And with its Fire TV looking like the industry standard right now, Amazon may have the secret sauce. Related stories from TheWrap: CES 2017: Streaming TV Is Ready For a Huge Year, And Tech Can Make or Break It Leaked Sling TV Box Combines Streaming, Netflix and Over-the-Air TV CBS News Streaming Service CBSN Explodes 200-Plus Percent Over 2015 A California prison official has said that the notorious criminal Charles Manson is alive, following reports that he was hospitalized. According to TMZ, Manson was taken from Corcoran State Prison in California to a hospital in Bakersfield after he suffered an undisclosed medical issue. California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation spokeswoman Terry Thornton told the Associated Press late Tuesday that Manson was still assigned to the prison but declined to say if the convicted killer was hospitalized. She reportedly added that privacy laws prohibited her from discussing an inmate's medical situation. However, the Los Angeles Times reported that the serial killer is "seriously ill" in hospital. The prison, where Manson has been serving nine life sentences for the Manson Family murders of actress Sharon Tate and six others, reportedly has medical facilities to treat inmates requiring urgent or emergency care. "In general, inmates are sent to outside hospitals if they need surgical services, emergency care, or diagnostic services of an acute nature," Joyce Hayhoe, a spokeswoman for the federal receiver who controls prison medical care, reportedly said. "These services are not provided in state prison facilities." Tate, the wife of director Roman Polanski and 8 1/2 weeks pregnant, was killed in her Benedict Canyon home. Others who were killed at Tates home were Jay Sebring, 35; Voytek Frykowski, 32; Abigail Folger, 25, a coffee heiress, and Steven Parent, 18, a friend of Tate's caretaker. Here are some of the quotes by Manson during his trial: "I dont know all the things you know, but you dont know the things I know either, and I dont disrespect you and take your rights. So give me my fucking rights. You cant fool me. You cant trick me. I didnt have nothing to do with killing those people, period. Ive told you that all the way down the line. I wasnt around anyone when they were killed. Im not saying Im not capable of doing it myself, but Im just saying this: I did not do that. And I couldve proved it in a court of law." Charles Manson, 1997. "People want to buy that insanity. They dont want the truth. They want fear, they want violence, they want sex and drugs and guns." Charles Manson, 1992, at Michal Ben Horin interview. Theres been fifty-million people that died since Sharon Tate died and I got everybody in Santa Claus land chasing me, trying to make me feel remorse for one psychotic episode of (Tex) Watson. Charles Manson, 1994. What do the animals do in the zoo? Thats the same thing that I do in my cell. I play with myself. I make little string dolls. I talk to roaches. Im in jail for nine counts of murder, and I didnt do it. Im in solitary confinement, may I add. Charles Manson, 1985. "Remorse for what? You people have done everything in the world to me, doesn't that give me equal right? I can do anything I want to you people anytime I want to because that's what you've done to me! Maybe I should've killed 4 or 500 people then I would've felt better. Then I would've felt that I really offered society something. You've got it stuck in your brain that I murdered somebody. What do you want to call me a murder for? I've never killed anyone! I don't need to kill anyone! I think it! I have it here!" Charles Manson on YouTube. I might be a danger to your stupidity and Im a danger to your ignorance, but Im not a danger to intelligent life forms. Im not a danger to the people who want to exist on the planet. Im not a danger to farmers, Im not a danger to poor people, Im not a danger to soldiers who dont want to hurt nobody, who dont wanna go to war. Charles Manson, 2011. Related Articles Charles Manson has been hospitalized due to an undisclosed medical issue, according to a report by the Los Angeles Times on Tuesday. He was transferred from Californias Corcoran State Prison to a nearby hospital Tuesday and is seriously ill, reports the Times. Manson, 82, was sentenced to prison in 1971. Stephen Babb, a public information officer at the prison, could not comment on the news, citing federal and state medical laws that preclude the prison from speaking on protected health information for any inmate in our custody. Manson has been serving nine concurrent life sentences. He and his followers, the so-called Manson Family, were convicted of murdering seven people in a now infamous Los Angeles killing spree in August 1969. The most famous victim of the murders was 26-year-old actress Sharon Tate, who was married to director Roman Polanski and was eight months pregnant at the time of her death. Four others were also killed at Tates Benedict Canyon home. The next night, Manson and his followers went on another murderous rampage at the Los Feliz home of Leno and Rosemary LaBianca. Manson had claimed after the murders that he was trying to start a race war in the name of Helter Skelter, a song by the Beatles. He has been denied parole 12 times. Related stories Sharon Tate's Sister Calls for 'Aquarius' Boycott: 'It's Extremely Insensitive' TV Review: 'Manson's Lost Girls' Lifetime Greenlights Charles Manson Movie China has hit back at Donald Trumps claim that Beijing isnt doing enough to rein in rogue state North Korea, cautioning the U.S. President-elect not to escalate an already tense situation on the Korean Peninsula through his liberal use of social media. On Monday evening, Trump took to Twitter to deny North Korean leader Kim Jong Uns claim that his nation was in the final stage of developing a nuclear-armed ballistic missile capable of hitting the U.S. mainland. Trump then followed up with another tweet to say China wasnt doing enough to temper the young despots belligerence. China has been taking out massive amounts of money & wealth from the U.S. in totally one-sided trade, but wont help with North Korea. Nice! read the tweet. China has been taking out massive amounts of money & wealth from the U.S. in totally one-sided trade, but won't help with North Korea. Nice! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 2, 2017 In response, Chinas Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told a press briefing on Tuesday that his governments efforts were widely recognized, and that we hope all sides will avoid remarks and actions to escalate the situation. The Korean Peninsula is the latest source of friction between the incoming Trump Administration and China to be aired via the President-elects Twitter account. Last month, Trump revealed he accepted a congratulatory phone call from Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen in a breach of almost four decades of diplomatic protocol. Beijing still claims sovereignty over the self-governing island despite its effective split from the mainland in 1949 following Chinas civil war. Trump has also frequently used Twitter to accuse China of underhand trade practices like currency manipulation that he claims have forced American jobs oversees. The real estate mogul has nominated at least two hard-line China trade critics Robert Lighthizer and Peter Navarro to top posts in his Administration. Story continues Regarding North Korea, Trump has a point: China is Pyongyangs only friendly nation of note and accounts for 90% of its trade. The continued existence of North Korea is of strategic advantage to Beijing if the alternative is a unified Korean Peninsula administered by Seoul that is a staunch U.S. ally. However, a belligerent, nuclear-armed North Korea isnt in Beijings interests. This raises the temperature in East Asia and prompted South Korea to accept deployment of American THAAD antimissile batteries. Japan may soon follow. Chinas relations with North Korea are complex and difficult, writes Evans J.R. Revere in a report for the Brookings Institution in October. But Beijings bottom line is that it is better to keep a troublesome North Korean ally afloat than to risk what might result if we push Pyongyang too hard. Nevertheless, in a bid to temper Kims aggression Beijing signed up to unprecedented U.N. sanctions in March following Pyongyangs fourth nuclear test. North Korean exports of coal and minerals have dropped as a result, though a fifth nuclear and several missile tests still followed. According to a U.S.-Korea Institute report last year, Chinas cooperation [is] essential but with increasing tensions in the South China Sea, the U.S. rebalance to Asia, and South Koreas decision to deploy THAAD, this can no longer be taken for granted. To truly bridle the Kim regime, the incoming U.S. President will have to work hard to assure Beijing that its strategic interests are not compromised by coming down tougher on North Korea. The question is: Does Trumps baiting of China on Twitter render a difficult sell now impossible? (Adds investor detail, context and company comment) BEIJING, Jan 4 (Reuters) - Chinese bike-sharing start-up Mobike has closed a $215 million series D funding round led by Tencent Holdings and Warburg Pincus LLC. Mobike, founded in 2015, is one of several bike-sharing services in China and allows users to find, unlock and pay to rent the company's bicycles through a smartphone app. New investors include Chinese travel company Ctrip.com International, private equity firm TPG Capital and Huazhou Hotels Group, Mobike said in a statement on Wednesday. Mobike, which did not disclose its latest valuation, aims to tap demand from Chinese white-collar workers seeking an alternative to congested roads and public transport in the country's largest cities. Bike-sharing apps have flourished in the past year, even as investment in other Chinese sharing economy start-ups has cooled. One of Mobike's main competitors, ofo, recently raised $130 million from investors including smart hardware business Xiaomi Inc and taxi-hailing company Didi Chuxing. The bike services have also been lauded by advocates of China's goal to build a network of smart cities. "Our investment in Mobike demonstrates our commitment to supporting the development of the sharing economy and smart cities in China," said Tencent Chairman and Chief Executive Pony Ma in the joint statement. Previous investors Sequoia Capital and Hillhouse Capital also participated in the D series funding. Mobike currently operates in nine cities within China and raised $100 million as part of an October funding round in which Tencent also participated. (Reporting by Cate Cadell; Editing by David Goodman) BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese bike-sharing start-up Mobike has closed a $215 million series D funding round led by Tencent Holdings and Warburg Pincus LLC. Mobike, founded in 2015, is one of several bike-sharing services in China and allows users to find, unlock and pay to rent the company's bicycles through a smartphone app. New investors include Chinese travel company Ctrip.com International, private equity firm TPG Capital and Huazhou Hotels Group, Mobike said in a statement on Wednesday. Mobike, which did not disclose its latest valuation, aims to tap demand from Chinese white-collar workers seeking an alternative to congested roads and public transport in the country's largest cities. Bike-sharing apps have flourished in the past year, even as investment in other Chinese sharing economy start-ups has cooled. One of Mobike's main competitors, ofo, recently raised $130 million from investors including smart hardware business Xiaomi Inc and taxi-hailing company Didi Chuxing. The bike services have also been lauded by advocates of China's goal to build a network of smart cities. "Our investment in Mobike demonstrates our commitment to supporting the development of the sharing economy and smart cities in China," said Tencent Chairman and Chief Executive Pony Ma in the joint statement. Previous investors Sequoia Capital and Hillhouse Capital also participated in the D series funding. Mobike currently operates in nine cities within China and raised $100 million as part of an October funding round in which Tencent also participated. (Reporting by Cate Cadell; Editing by David Goodman) Las Vegas (AFP) - Fiat-Chrysler on Tuesday unveiled a concept car designed for Millennials: an electric-powered minivan with modular components that can be adapted for autonomous driving. The Chrysler Portal concept car was unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas to show off its technology in a design that is radically different from its counterparts. Inside a boxy exterior, the vehicle has an adaptable, modular "third space" that can be modified for passengers or cargo. The company said it can be used in "semi-autonomous operation," where a driver has the option to turn control over to the vehicle under certain highway driving situations. The Portal, like some new tech-rich vehicles, uses an array of sensors to monitor conditions that can assist drivers. It is also "engineered to upgrade to higher levels of autonomy as technology progresses," according to a statement. FCA's Tim Kuniskis said the concept was backed by "significant research on the millennial generation." "Millennials have clearly defined that they want a vehicle that will grow with them as they experience life changes," he added. "FCA is a leader in family transportation and it was essential that we fully explored the idea of what a vehicle could look like for this emerging generation." The vehicle, for which production plans have not yet been announced, is designed as a family car that can be adapted for commercial use or car-sharing. Chrysler engineer Ashley Edgar said it was loosely based on the Chrysler Pacifica but is "a new platform." She said the design is "very focused on modularity," adding that "it grows with you, it evolves with you." For example, seats can be added as a family grows to avoid the need for a new vehicle. It has full-color, changing LED lighting on the front, side portals and rear that allows it to take on different colors and can be tailored for personal, business or drive settings. Story continues In terms of electronics, the car is designed with facial recognition and voice biometrics to recognize the driver to customize lighting, music and other settings. It can also work with emerging safety technologies such as vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle to infrastructure communication. Edgar said that although there were no specific production plans for the car some features were "very close" to being implemented on a production car. The Italian-American firm is working with a number of partners on the car including Adient, Magneti Marelli, Panasonic Automotive and Samsung Electronics. In his first speech as Senate minority leader, New York Sen. Chuck Schumer warned President-elect Donald Trump against adopting a Twitter presidency, adding that Trump would fail if he refuses to take the opinions of conservative leaders in Congress on major policy decisions. Making America Great Again requires more than 140 characters per issue, Schumer reportedly said Tuesday referring to the real estate moguls campaign slogan. With all due respect, America cannot afford a Twitter presidency. We have real challenges and we need to get real things done. If President-elect Trump lets the hard-right members of Congress and his cabinet run the show, if he attempts to adopt their time-worn policies which benefit the elites, the special interests, corporate Americanot the working man and womanhis presidency will not succeed, Schumer continued. Maybe not in the first 90 days, but certainly not in the first two years. The New York senator accused Trump of ignoring Americas fears over Trump preferring to make 140-character announcements instead of rolling up your sleeves and forging serious policies. Theres nothing wrong with using Twitter to speak to the American people, Schumer said. "Its a good use of modern media. But these issues are complex and demand both careful consideration and action. We cannot tweet them away. Speaking on the first day of the 115th session of Congress, Schumer emphasized that Democrats would work with Trump and the Republicans on bipartisan issues like increasing investment in infrastructure that would generate more jobs for Americans. It is not our job to be a rubber stamp, Schumer said. It is our job to do whats best for the American people, the middle class and those struggling to get there. If the President-elect proposes legislation that achieves that on issues like infrastructure, trade...for instance we will work in good faith to perfect and, potentially, enact it. When he doesnt, we will resist. Story continues Last week, Schumer along with Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi urged Democrats in Congress to take to the streets in January to protest any cuts to healthcare plans or subsidies that the incoming Trump administration may impose. In a letter sent to their colleagues, the three leaders wrote: On Sunday, January 15th, ahead of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, there will be a day of action Our First Stand: Save Health Care. Rallies will be held around the country to vigorously oppose the Republican plan to end Medicare as we know it and throw our health care system into chaos. Related Articles (Reuters) - Police in Alabama arrested six civil rights activists staging a sit-in at Senator Jeff Sessions' office on Tuesday to protest his nomination for U.S. Attorney General, criticizing his record on voting rights and race relations. Sessions, 70, has a history of controversial positions on race, immigration and criminal justice reform. Members of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) had vowed to occupy Sessions' Mobile, Alabama office until the conservative Republican lawmaker either withdrew as a candidate or they were arrested. In the end, Cornell Brooks, president and CEO of the NAACP, and Stephen Green, national director of the youth division of the NAACP, were among those arrested, according to a post on the Twitter page of the civil rights organization. The other four protesters arrested by police included Benard Simelton, president of the NAACP's Alabama state conference, according to local news outlet AL.com. A spokesman for Mobile police could not be reached for comment late on Tuesday. The six protesters were charged with misdemeanor criminal trespassing, according to CNN. Brooks before his arrest had posted a photo on Twitter of protesters in suits occupying the senator's Mobile office. "Senator Sessions has callously ignored the reality of voter suppression but zealously prosecuted innocent civil rights leaders on trumped-up charges of voter fraud," Brooks said in a news release. A spokeswoman for Sessions called the NAACP's criticisms "false portrayals." "Jeff Sessions has dedicated his career to upholding the rule of law, ensuring public safety and prosecuting government corruption," spokeswoman Sarah Isgur Flores said in a statement. "Many African-American leaders who've known him for decades attest to this and have welcomed his nomination to be the next Attorney General." President-elect Donald Trump in November named Sessions to lead the Justice Department and the FBI, and his history could come under scrutiny from fellow senators during a confirmation process. Story continues Sessions was a U.S. prosecutor in 1986 when he became only the second nominee in 50 years to be denied confirmation as a federal judge. This came after allegations that he made racist remarks, including testimony that he called an African-American prosecutor "boy," an allegation Sessions denied. Sessions denied he was a racist and said at his hearing that groups such as the NAACP and the American Civil Liberties Union could be considered "un-American." He also acknowledged calling the Voting Rights Act of 1965 "intrusive legislation." (Reporting by Letitia Stein in Tampa, Florida and Alex Dobuzinskis in Los Angeles,; Editing by Andrew Hay and Simon Cameron-Moore) Photo credit: Getty From Cosmopolitan Photo credit: Getty Bill and Hillary Clinton plan to attend Donald Trump's inauguration on Jan. 20, according to aides to the former president and secretary of state. Their presence at the inauguration puts the 2016 presidential rivals on the same platform only weeks after their tough campaign. Hillary Clinton, the Democratic presidential nominee, has largely avoided the public eye since Trump's come-from-behind victory in November. As a former president and first lady, the couple faced the difficult decision of whether to attend the ceremony. The announcement that the Clinton's would be at the inauguration came shortly after former President George W. Bush's office said in a statement that he would attend along with former first lady Laura Bush. "They are pleased to be able to witness the peaceful transfer of power - a hallmark of American democracy - and swearing-in of President Trump and Vice President Pence," the statement said. Former commanders in chief usually attend inaugurations, but until Tuesday Jimmy Carter was the only president who had publicly said he was attending the event on Jan. 20. George H.W. Bush will not be there because of his health, according to CNN. Neither President Bush reportedly voted for Trump despite both being fellow Republicans. You Might Also Like BOSTON (AP) Jurors in the death penalty trial of a man convicted of carjacking and killing two Massachusetts men in 2001 were shown gruesome photos of his victims while a prosecutor described how they were stabbed over and over while begging for their lives. Gary Lee Sampson was condemned to die in 2003 for killing Jonathan Rizzo, 19, a college student from Kingston, and Philip McCloskey, 69, a retired pipefitter from Taunton. But that decision was later overturned by a judge who granted him a new sentencing trial in 2011 after finding that one juror had lied about her background. Sampson, a drifter from Abington, received a separate life sentence for killing a third man, Robert "Eli" Whitney, in New Hampshire. Sampson, now 57, tricked the carjacking victims into thinking he would spare their lives but then stabbed them each more than a dozen times, slit their throats and left them to die in the woods, Assistant U.S. Attorney Zachary Hafer said during closing arguments Wednesday. As Hafer described the killings often using Sampson's own words from his confession he displayed grisly crime scene photos. Soft sobbing could be heard in the courtroom from some members of the victims' families. The victims, Hafer said, were "kind, caring souls" who were "brought together by the pure heinousness and cruelty" of Sampson's decision to kill them. "That's what this case is about: these cruel, cruel murders," Hafer said. He urged the jury to give Sampson the death penalty. But defense attorney Michael Burt asked jurors to spare his client's life, saying Sampson took responsibility by confessing and pleading guilty to the killings. Sampson is not offering excuses or justification for his crimes, Burt said, but is asking only to live a "very narrow and restricted life" in prison without the possibility of release. Sampson's lawyers are asking the jury to consider 115 mitigating factors they say support a life sentence rather than the death penalty. Story continues Sampson's lawyers say Sampson suffered head injuries as a child and has antisocial personality disorder and severe dyslexia. They also cite a call he made to the FBI before the murders because he thought he was "losing control" and planned to turn himself in for a string of bank robberies he was wanted for in North Carolina. The call was accidentally disconnected. Hafer told the jury Sampson tricked McCloskey and Rizzo into giving him rides by wearing conservative clothes and trying to look like a businessman. "Dressed to deceive," Hafer said. Once inside their cars, Sampson threatened them at knifepoint but promised he would not kill them, Hafer said. Sampson forced them to drive to wooded areas, then tied them up, still assuring them he would let them live. He even sprayed Rizzo with bug spray after tying him to a tree, telling the teenager he was protecting him from insects while he waited to be rescued, Hafer said. Hafer called the defense claims of a traumatic childhood "fiction" and derided the testimony of defense experts who said Sampson has a brain injury. "It truly is the most convenient brain injury you will ever see," Hafer said. Burt said each juror should consult his or her own conscience to decide whether Sampson should receive a life sentence or the death penalty. "It's about as stark and gray a moral question as anybody could ask any human being to decide," Burt said. The jurors are expected to being deliberations after they receive instructions from the judge. Massachusetts abolished the state death penalty in 1984, but Sampson was prosecuted under federal law, which allows prosecutors to seek the death penalty when a murder is committed during a carjacking. Washington (AFP) - Jets with the US-led coalition fighting the Islamic State group backed a Turkish army operation near Al-Bab in Syria last week but did not use weapons, the Pentagon said Tuesday. The coalition's military support mission suggests warming ties between the two partners. "Last week, there was a request... when some Turkish forces came under fire for air support and there were flights conducted by the coalition at that time," said Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook. "My understanding of that was there was not a strike specifically, but there were aircraft involved in that effort, a visible show of force if you will, by coalition aircraft." Turkish forces have been engaged for several weeks in deadly fighting against the Islamic State group to retake the city. But despite Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's requests, coalition planes had previously refused to directly help the Turks. The coalition criticizes Turkey for launching the offensive unilaterally without first reaching an agreement with its partners. "We continue to talk with the government of Turkey about the appropriate level of support for the efforts there in Al-Bab and that's an ongoing conversations, even happening today," Cook stressed. The Americans supported the first part of the Turkish offensive in Syria in mid-2016. But they are concerned that the Turks, after the conquest of Al-Bab, might attack the Kurdish-led Arab-Kurdish coalition of the Syrian Democratic Forces. The United States sees the SDF as their most effective ally in the fight against IS in Syria. The FDS is currently leading the first part of the offensive against Raqa, the self-proclaimed IS capital in Syria. While the coalition did not strike at Al-Bab to help the Turks, the Russians did not hold back, bombing IS targets in the city. By Lisa Rapaport (Reuters Health) - A pill routinely prescribed for morning sickness may not be an effective nausea remedy, researchers say - although not all doctors agree. The warning comes from researchers who conducted a new analysis of a previously unpublished trial that was used to win marketing approval for the drug in the U.S. and Canada. The drug, pyridoxine-doxylamine, is sold as Diclegis in the U.S. and Diclectin in Canada. It has been taken by millions of pregnant women since it was developed in the 1970s, researchers note in PLOS One. An older version of the medicine with an additional ingredient has been used as far back as the 1950s. For the current study, researchers reviewed data from a decades-old trial and found little evidence that the medicine is effective, said study co-author Dr. Navindra Persaud, a researcher at St. Michaels Hospital and the University of Toronto in Canada. This medication is recommended as the first-line treatment for nausea and vomiting during pregnancy, Persaud said by email. We now have more information about this 1970s study that should make us question whether this medication should have been approved and whether it was ever proven to be effective. The original trial in the 1970s was designed to determine if the drug could alleviate morning sickness in the first trimester of pregnancy. To see if those results proved the drug effective, Persaud and co-author Dr. Rujun Zhang of the University of Toronto examined 36,000 pages of documents from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, including the original study report, the protocol and summary results, and other documents from Health Canada. About 2,300 pregnant women participated in the original trial at 14 clinics in the U.S., the researchers found. All of the women were experiencing nausea and vomiting in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. Women were randomly assigned to eight treatment groups, including one that received a placebo or dummy pill and seven that received a variety of drugs including the combination currently sold as Diclectin. Each participant was asked to take two tablets a day at bedtime and one additional pill in the afternoon as needed for one week. Based on data from 1,599 women who completed the study, participants were 14 percent more likely to report treatment was moderate or excellent with Diclectin than with placebo, the new analysis found. But this finding may not be reliable because the final study results arent available and 37 percent of participants in the placebo group dropped out before the study ended, researchers note in the current analysis. In the new analysis, researchers also couldnt see how physicians scored symptoms. And, data for 30 patients recruited in the original trial were excluded from analysis by regulators because there were data recorded without a record of patient visits, the new study notes. Persaud wasnt able to contact any of the original researchers, and many of them may have died. Still, Persaud said women prescribed this drug should stop taking it and speak to their doctors about other options to treat morning sickness. But not all doctors agree with this assessment. Studies that have been done since this trial was completed in the 1970s show that doxylamine and pyridoxine are an effective treatment for nausea and vomiting in pregnancy, said Dr. Siripanth Nippita, a researcher at Harvard Medical School and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston who wasnt involved in the current analysis. Based on research involving over 200,000 women, we can say that doxylamine and pyridoxine are safe to take during pregnancy, Nippita added by email. They can be an important part of treatment for nausea and vomiting. SOURCE: http://bit.ly/2hRhRpQ PLOS One, online January 4, 2017. As announced last October, Community Health Systems, Inc. CYH has sold 80% ownership interest in its Home Health division to the subsidiary of Almost Family for $128 million. The Home Health business accounts for approximately $200 million of Community Healths annual revenues. This divesture is part of the companys effort to generate funds to lower its debt level. The stock of Community Health gave a lackluster performance last year. It lost value by 78.7%, much wider than the loss of 9.5% for the Zacks Medical Hospital industry. We also dont expect any breather for the stock over the near term given the company-specific and regulatory challenges faced by it. The stock price is reflective of the failure that some of its big acquisitions have seen. Recent Divestitures In Dec 2016, the company signed a definitive agreement to sell two Washington hospitals, 214-bed Yakima Regional Medical & Cardiac Center in Yakima and 63-bed Toppenish Community Hospital in Toppenish, to Sunnyside Community Hospital & Clinics for approximately $45 million including working capital. Earlier in the same month, the company completed the sale and leaseback of 10 medical office buildings for $163 million to HCP, Inc. HCP. Prior to that in November, the company signed a definitive agreement to sell Rockwood Health System and its associated assets to MultiCare Health System for $425 million. In September, the company signed a definitive agreement for the sale of four hospitals and their associated assets to the subsidiaries of Curae Health, Inc. In April, the company completed the spin-off of Quorum Health Corporation QHC. In February, the company sold Lehigh Regional Medical Center in Lehigh Acres, FL, along with the related outpatient services, to subsidiaries of Prime Healthcare Services, Inc. Debt Level The companys high debt level has been an eye sore for long. It is therefore resorting to a number of divestures to pay off its debt, which will also help it to focus on a more sustainable portfolio of hospitals and networks for long-term growth. The companys debt level was at $15.1 billion as of Sep 30, 2016. Story continues Along with balance sheet deleveraging, the company has made a deal of operational changes over the past few quarters for better profitability. Some of these changes are realignment of its divisions, appointment of a number of presidents and vice presidents, a newly promoted Chief Operating Officer, consolidation of many back office functions and IT conversions. These initiatives are expected to drive the companys future growth. Community Health carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). A better-ranked stock is HCA Holdings Inc. HCA carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). The stock witnessed an upward revision in Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2016 over the past 60 days. You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here . Zacks' Top 10 Stocks for 2017 In addition to the stocks discussed above, would you like to know about our 10 finest buy-and-hold tickers for the entirety of 2017? Who wouldn't? As of early December, the 2016 Top 10 produced 5 double-digit winners including oil and natural gas giant Pioneer Natural Resources which racked up a stellar +50% gain. The new list is painstakingly hand-picked from 4,400 companies covered by the Zacks Rank. Be among the very first to see it>> 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 COMMNTY HLTH SY (CYH): Free Stock Analysis Report HCA HOLDINGS (HCA): Free Stock Analysis Report HCP INC (HCP): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research * CMA says concerns over ATM network * Mastercard in $920 mln bid for Vocalink * Deal hailed as sign of post-Brexit confidence (Adds details, MasterCard comment) LONDON, Jan 4 (Reuters) - Britain's competition watchdog said it has concerns with MasterCard Inc's acquisition of UK payment processing company VocaLink Holdings, following a review of the ownership and competitiveness of companies supporting those systems. "A number of industry participants have raised concerns with the transaction," the Competition and Markets Authority said in a statement on Wednesday. The companies are two of the three most credible providers of infrastructure services to the LINK network of automated teller machines, the CMA said, meaning the $920 million merger could reduce LINK's negotiating power with those providers if they combined. A spokesman for MasterCard said it would address the watchdog's concern, adding that the CMA had said it had no other worries about the deal. "We're pleased to have the opportunity to address their one concern, regarding the LINK ATM scheme, in the timeframe provided," the spokesman said in an email. MasterCard said in July it would buy a 92.4 percent stake in London-based VocaLink Holdings Ltd for about $920 million. The companies have until Jan. 11 to address the CMA's concern. The LINK network connects over 70,000 cash machines, nearly every single one in the United Kingdom, and is one of three major payment systems in the UK. The network allows customers of banks and building societies connected to LINK to withdraw cash from any of those machines. The CMA said it found the deal would not impact the other two networks since they had many credible potential bidders for service contracts. "The companies can avoid the merger being referred for an in-depth investigation if they can offer a remedy to address the competition concerns identified," the CMA said. Britain's finance minister Philip Hammond in July hailed MasterCard's planned takeover of VocaLink as a sign of foreign investors' continued confidence after Britain's decision to leave the European Union. (Reporting By Lawrence White; Editing by Susan Fenton) BANGKOK (AP) In a Nov. 21 summary of South China Sea news, The Associated Press reported erroneously that China's first aircraft carrier was commissioned in 2013. It was commissioned in 2012. A corrected version of the story is below: Recent developments surrounding the South China Sea Satellite imagery shows Vietnam has upgraded a runway and constructed new hangars on one of the disputed Spratly islands it controls, apparently enabling it to accommodate surveillance aircraft there By HRVOJE HRANJSKI Associated Press BANGKOK (AP) A look at recent developments in the South China Sea, where China is pitted against smaller neighbors in multiple disputes over islands, coral reefs and lagoons in waters crucial for global commerce and rich in fish and potential oil and gas reserves: ___ EDITOR'S NOTE: This is a weekly look at the latest key developments in the South China Sea, home to several territorial conflicts that have raised tensions in the region. ___ VIETNAM UPGRADES ITS ISLAND HOLDING Satellite imagery suggests Vietnam has extended a runway and constructed new hangars on one of the disputed Spratly islands it controls, apparently enabling it to accommodate surveillance aircraft there. As in the past, Hanoi has not commented on the imagery provided by the Center for Strategic and International Studies. The think tank says the construction is modest in comparison to rival claimant China's massive island-building on seven Spratly features. China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang on Friday demanded Vietnam stop construction "on China's territory." And in a meeting with Vietnam's President Tran Dai Quang on the sidelines of an Asia-Pacific summit in Peru, Chinese President Xi Jinping said the two neighbors should solve disputes bilaterally by "shelving differences and engaging in joint development." That's Beijing's oft-repeated formula that both Vietnam and the Philippines appear to be adopting after years of a more confrontational approach to China's territorial ambitions. Story continues The runway on Spratly Island, one of five Vietnamese bases in the region, has been extended from less than 2,500 feet the shortest of any claimant's to about 3,300 feet, and continued reclamation will likely make it more than 4,000 feet long. The new facilities can easily accommodate the Vietnamese air force's Polish-made PZL M28 "Skytruck" light cargo planes, used for maritime surveillance, and its CASA C-295 twin-turboprop military transport plane, CSIS said. By contrast, China's three largest man-made islands have enough hangar space for 24 fighter jets each. ___ CHINA FIRST AIRCRAFT CARRIER READY FOR COMBAT China's first aircraft carrier is ready to engage in combat, marking a milestone for a navy that has invested heavily in its ability to project power far from China's shores. The Liaoning 's political commissar, Senior Capt. Li Dongyou, said in an interview with the Global Times newspaper that his ship is "constantly prepared to fight against enemies," signaling a change from its past status as a platform for testing and training. Purchased as an incomplete hull from Ukraine more than a decade ago, the Liaoning was commissioned in 2012. China hasn't described specifically how it intends to use the Liaoning, but it is seen as helping reinforce China's increasingly assertive claims in the South China Sea in the face of challenges from the U.S. Navy and others. Li said the ship's combat capabilities still lag behind U.S. carriers, but its training and maintenance operations have been praised by senior Pentagon officials who have visited during military exchanges. ___ US PACIFIC COMMANDER SAYS NO CHANGE IN EXERCISES WITH PHILIPPINES The commander of U.S. forces in the Pacific, Adm. Harry Harris, said he was concerned with China's assertiveness in the South China Sea and the East China Sea as he headed to the Philippines last week to discuss the next round of joint exercises. The drills remained on schedule despite Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte's threat to cancel them amid signs of animosity toward the U.S. They might be scaled down, however. Harris said U.S. special operations forces are still advising Philippine troops in counterterrorism, U.S. surveillance aircraft have continued rotational deployments at Clark Air Base covering the South China Sea and plans for enhanced defense cooperation, agreed to by the previous Philippine administration, remain on track. Despite tensions in the South China Sea, where the U.S. Navy has carried out its fourth freedom-of-navigation exercise last month by sailing close to a China-occupied island, Harris said that the military-to-military relationship with Beijing "on one level is actually good." He also said that the U.S. Army should be able to deploy surface-to-ship missiles in the Western Pacific, where they could place at risk potential adversaries in the South and East China seas. "I think it is an important concept, and we ought to be thinking about it as we figure out how to maintain that edge over our adversaries in the region," he said. ___ OUTSPOKEN CHINESE GENERAL DISCUSSES SOUTH CHINA SEA IN AUSTRALIA Australia's ABC network has reported that one of China's most outspoken and powerful generals, Wang Jiaocheng, held a series of meetings with defense officials in Canberra last week. ABC said the talks in Australia's capital included China's rapid military expansion in the South China Sea, over which Canberra has repeatedly expressed concern. Earlier this year, Wang was placed in charge of the People's Liberation Army's Southern Theater Command, which looks after the South China Sea region. In February, he warned that China was capable of fighting to defend its sovereignty in the waterway, saying: "No country will be allowed to use any excuse or action to threaten China's sovereignty and safety." A former Australian deputy defense secretary, Peter Jennings, said Australia can expect to come under pressure from President-elect Donald Trump's administration to start its own freedom of navigation missions challenging China's territorial claims in the South China Sea. "For over a year now we've been saying that this is a vital Australian national security interest, yet we've declined to send a ship through the region," said Jennings, who heads the Australian Strategic Policy Institute. ___ Associated Press writers Christopher Bodeen in Beijing and Matthew Pennington in Washington, D.C., contributed to this report. ___ Follow Hrvoje Hranjski at www.twitter.com/hatbangkok costco shopper Costco is expected to raise its membership fees by nearly 10% this year. UBS analysts predicted the fee hike last year following a meeting with top Costco executives, including the company's CFO, Richard Galanti. The analysts said they expect Costco to increase its annual fees from $55 to $60 for its basic membership and from $110 to $120 for its executive membership. The company hasn't yet confirmed a fee hike, but it also hasn't ruled one out. In September, in response to questions about fee increases, Galanti highlighted the fact that Costco raises its fees every five to six years, and that this January is the five-year anniversary of its last fee hike in the US. That same month, the company increased its membership fees by 10% in Taiwan, Korea, Japan, Mexico, and the UK. Then in an earnings call in December, Galanti signaled that it might be the right time to raise fees, though he hedged that by saying, "I'm not trying to suggest that its tomorrow afternoon." Costco did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Fee increases shouldn't have a major impact on membership renewals and sales, according to analysts. "We believe Costco's price transparency, limited [product] offering, and attractive membership structure have helped lend it a level of consistency that's rare in the world of hardline and broadline retail," analysts wrote. "While its traffic has lost some luster as of late, there's a good case it can sustain 3-4% growth for a while." NOW WATCH: We tried the Costco food court and it totally blew us away More From Business Insider Cousins Properties Incorporated CUZ, the Atlanta, GA-based real estate investment trust (REIT) has released update on 2016 year-end activity. Also, the company provided 2017 funds from operations (FFO) guidance. Cousins Properties closed several major transactions during fourth-quarter 2016. The company acquired equity interest in Teachers Retirement Systems in Fund II for $279 million. Regarding disposition, the company sold Lincoln Place, a 140,000 square-foot office building in Miami, for $80 million. Also, it sold The Forum, a 220,000 square-foot office building in Atlanta, for $70 million. Taking into consideration the current and future market conditions, the company expects 2017 FFO to be in the range of 56 cents to 62 cents per share. The 2017 FFO guidance is based on same property net operating income growth of 24% on a GAAP basis, and fee and other income other income of $9-$11 million. Also, the company expects 2017 acquisition activity of $19.6 million and disposition activity to be in the range of $450$550 million. Shares of Cousins Properties outperformed the Zacks categorized REIT and Equity Trust - Other industry, over the past one year. During the same time span, shares of the company grew 19%, whereas the industry gained 8.8%. Cousins Properties currently carries a Zacks Rank # 3 (Hold). Some better-ranked stocks in the real estate space include AGNC Investment Corp. AGNC, Seritage Growth Properties SRG and Brandywine Realty Trust BDN. All these stocks carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 (Strong Buy) Rank stocks here. AGNC Investments 2016 estimates have moved up 2.6% to $2.36 per share, over the past 60 days. Seritage Growths 2016 estimates have moved up 0.9% to $2.34 per share, over the past 60 days. Brandywine Realtys 2016 estimates have remained unchanged at $1.29 per share over the 60 days. Zacks Top 10 Stocks for 2017 In addition to the stocks discussed above, would you like to know about our 10 finest buy-and-hold tickers for the entirety of 2017? Who wouldnt? As of early December, the 2016 Top 10 produced 5 double-digit winners including oil and natural gas giant Pioneer Natural Resources which racked up a stellar +50% gain. The new list is painstakingly hand-picked from 4,400 companies covered by the Zacks Rank. Be among the very first to see it>> 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 AGNC INVESTMENT (AGNC): Free Stock Analysis Report COUSIN PROP INC (CUZ): Free Stock Analysis Report BRANDYWINE RT (BDN): Free Stock Analysis Report SERITAGE GROWTH (SRG): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research By Jessica McKinney Goodbye student debt? On Tuesday (Jan. 3), Governor of New York Andrew M. Cuomo reportedly announced his plan to offer free tuition at state colleges to thousands of low and middle income families, The New York Times confirms. Gov. Cuomo is expected to announce his proposal for the Excelsior Scholarship at an event at LaGuardia Community College in Queens, alongside Senator Bernie Sanders. Under this new legislation, any college student who is accepted into a New York state (or city) university or 2-year community college, will be eligible to receive free tuition, so long as their family earns $125,000 or less annually. The idea of the scholarship fund is to pay off tuition payments for thousands of students by utilizing existing state and federal loan and grant programs, NYT reports. Although how the program will be funded has not been disclosed, the state administration has said that nearly $1 billion has been donated in support of tuition assistance already, Politico reports. Costs for the program would be around $163 million, although that number could vary, according to reports. As for when students and families can expect for the program to be implemented, the governor reportedly has high hopes to begin with a three-year rollout of the plan come Fall 2017. But the proposal will require legislative approval. Current tuition at a four-year state university or college is $6,460, and $4,350 for a two-year college. In the event it is approved, Gov. Cuomo predicts they will be able to assist nearly one million New York families or independent adults. This post Cuomo Plans To Offer Free Tuition At State Colleges For Low Income Families first appeared on Vibe. PRAGUE (Reuters) - A new Czech Interior Ministry team set up this week to monitor and analyze "hybrid threats" to security such as disinformation campaigns has come under fire from the office of the country's own president. The Centre Against Terrorism and Hybrid Threats (CTHH) comprises a team of 20 officials tasked with identifying threats from political radicalisation and terrorism and from foreign disinformation campaigns targeting the public. The initiative follows warnings from the country's counter-intelligence service that Russia is actively targeting Czech public opinion over NATO, the European Union and other issues through cyber-warfare, propaganda, puppet groups and support for populist and extremist groups. But President Milos Zeman, who is viewed as strongly pro-Russian, and his administration have led criticism of the new outfit, arguing that it could infringe free speech. Zeman's spokesman, Jiri Ovcacek, has likened the center to the communist-era censorship office, CUTI, and set up a special Twitter account on Monday to criticize the unit. He had tweeted 56 messages on the topic by Wednesday afternoon. "A fundamental law applies in a democratic and free society: nobody can have monopoly for truth. The Interior Ministry's CUTI trampled over this law," said one of the tweets from Tuesday. In a Dec. 26 address - prior to the center's opening on Jan. 1 - Zeman said "we do not need censorship, we do not need idea police". The new center's chief, Eva Romancovova, said such criticism was puzzling as the president's office had been consulted over the creation of the unit during a national security audit and had raised no objections at the time. "LACK OF UNDERSTANDING" "The CTHH will not and cannot in any way censor any media or internet content," she told Reuters. "We consider this to be a very unfortunate lack of understanding of our work." Zeman, who has taken the Kremlin's side on the conflict in Ukraine and has called for a lifting of Western sanctions against Moscow, has few executive powers as president under the Czech constitution, though he is chief of the armed forces and appoints governments. He is also popular with Czech voters. Alarmed by what they see as Russian attempts to undermine their political and economic systems, a number of other European countries including Poland and the Baltic states have also established strategic communication teams in various government departments. Finland has said several NATO and EU countries are planning to establish a center in Helsinki to research how to counter "hybrid" warfare. Germany's domestic intelligence agency said last month it had seen a striking increase in Russian propaganda and disinformation campaigns aimed at destabilizing German society and targeted cyber attacks against political parties. (Reporting by Jan Lopatka; Editing by Gareth Jones) This is what Id tell my teenage self about surviving an abusive relationship Dear 16-year-old Me, Dont freak out. Yes, I cut our hair short. Yes, weve gained a bit of weight. Yes, we still dont care about our eyebrows as you read this, they are probably really thin and slightly too short ,but as I write this, they are rather long and totally unkempt. Society keeps telling me I should keep them fleeky, which is what 16-year-olds are saying now instead of on point but I really dont care. Right now, as you read this you are probably sad. Sad and confused. You are not sure where you fit and not sure whether you want to. Youre kind of smitten with this boy who is NO good for you. Id love to say turn and run away from him now, but honestly, he is going to teach you so much about strength and independence, love and heartbreak and you have to experience it all in order to become me. girl He will hurt you. He will make you feel worthless. He will infiltrate your mind, poisoning you against the people that matter the most to you. He will bend your arm behind your back, kiss you on the cheek, and call you a bitch for telling him that you wanted to go to see your grandmother. He will tell you that you can go but you must bring back $40 so he can buy new shoes. He will punch you in the head for asking him about the girl you saw leave the flat that you live in together. He will call you names and pull your hair and punch your legs and spit in your face and destroy you until you feel like nothing, until you feel like your only escape is to leave the planet. He will look at the fresh cuts on your arm and the fading bruises on your ribs, and he will laugh. He will call you pathetic. He will tell you to leave and when you do, he will tell you to come back. He will not care that you are carrying his baby when he grabs you by the hair while you are throwing up n the toilet, and throw you to the ground until your head bursts open and bleeds all over his hands. He will make you walk 15 minutes to the ambulance, then leave you at the hospital. Story continues He will punch you and slap you and touch you and make you feelnothing. woman in corner Then one day, you will cut yourself and it will hurt. All the other cuts didnt. All the bruises and welts he gave you didnt. But this one does. This cut on your right wrist feels like all the beatings you have received by his hands. You can feel for the first time in over a year. You are going to cry until you laugh. And then you will laugh until you cry. You will hatch a plan to leave him, thinking it would be like all the other times you tried to leave, where he shouts at you and holds your arms too tight. When he cries into your stomach saying sorry over and over. That he will never do it again. That he will get help and learn how to deal with his issues, only to push you onto the bed even when you are trying to push him off, then giving up because whats the point. But this time will be different. He lets you go. He tells you there is someone else he loves and he lets you go. And for a nanosecond, you hesitate. Another girl. Another punching bag. Another life ruined. You think if you stay, at least she will not have to go through what you have gone through. Youve already endured 17 months of it. 17 months of assault and sleepless nights. You have already endured 17 months of FUCK YOU. You have endured hell. You ponder for the briefest of moments, What if she is not as strong as me? and then you realize this is the strongest you have ever felt. You will walk past him and stop. You will thank him for setting you free, close your eyes, imagine the boy you met two years ago, and hug him. A genuinely warm hug. And you feel him hug you too. The softest his touch has felt for most of your time together. It will be a very tender moment between a broken girl and a broken boy. And you will walk away. stacey joseph The strength you found in that moment will disappear, and that is okay. You will still be a shadow of the girl you were when you left home. It will take you six weeks alone in bed crying and screaming and cutting and drinking and swearing. You will want to go back to him because, when you were with him, you couldnt feel and now you are feeling everything, and it is killing you. But you will find a reason to keep on keeping on. You will find a reason to have a shower and cut your hair and start your life again. You will find the strength to love yourself again. That strength will falter sometimes. You will have wobbles. You will struggle almost daily with inner demons and inner voices telling you that you are not worth happiness. Telling you that you are weak for not leaving sooner or fighting back or standing up and telling him NO! And then one day, you will write this letter and feel free. Love, 26-year-old You Editors Note: If you are experiencing domestic violence and need help, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 18007997233 or TTY 18007873224, or visit their website here. For more resources, go here. A photo posted by The Me Too Project (@themetooproject) on Nov 24, 2016 at 10:19am PST Stacey Joseph is a 26-year-old Early Years Educator from Wembley, London. She probably drinks too much coffee, talks a little too much, and loves buying second-hand books. She can relate almost everything that happens in her life to a scene or quote from One Tree Hill, Gilmore Girls, or Les Miserables. She writes poetry and essays about her life, love, family, current events, and being a woman in her 20s in the 21st century, because its not always easy! Follow her day-to-day life on Instagram at @stace_loujo and check out her writing Instagram at @s.j.sinclair. David Clarke It was October 27, and David Clarke was furious with a Fox scheduler. The outspoken Milwaukee County sheriff had been set to appear on Stuart Varney's Fox Business show, but there was a mixup. Clarke decided to air his frustration to the public. "Cancel @Varneyco appearance," the bombastic sheriff tweeted to some 400,000 followers. "Scheduling folks not on the same page with remote studio. Time lost I'll never get back." Charlie Sykes, a recently retired conservative Wisconsin radio host who had been friends with Clarke for the better part of 20 years, couldn't stay silent when he saw the tweet. As with a number of Milwaukeeans, Sykes believed that while Clarke was off becoming a media personality, he was neglecting the job the local community elected him to do be sheriff. And on that October day, he chose to say something. "Maybe you could actually spend time doing your day job then?" Sykes tweeted at Clarke. Clarke was having none of it. He blocked Sykes, an ally for more than two decades. And Clarke later tweeted without mentioning Sykes' name that a "local guy claims to be a conserv & contributor @MSNBC. Sends ICYMI when he's on. No wonder. No one watches!" Over the course of the 2016 campaign, Clarke was elevated to the mantel of the nation's most divisive law-enforcement figure. He emerged as one of President-elect Donald Trump's most visible supporters on cable news, propping him up as he attempted to run a campaign heavy on law and order. He now looks set to earn an influential spot in Trump's administration. Milwaukee's sheriff is adored by many on the right for his unapologetic tough talking, while he is loathed by others for making wild statements believed to be below the dignity of the office he holds. But the "old" Clarke, as Sykes described him, was different. He had only recently been replaced by "the brand 'Sheriff David Clarke' who trends on Twitter and is on Fox News and is a YouTube sensation." Story continues "He clearly has just kind of moved on to this national stature," Sykes said in a recent interview. "There are a lot of jobs you don't have to show up for, but [sheriff] is one where you do." In Milwaukee people took notice. Through a spokeswoman, Clarke did not accept interview invitations for this story. Business Insider spoke with several people who have known him for years. David Clarke 'The things he says transcend politics' To understand Clarke, it's important to gain a sense of his improbable rise to power, and his ability to maintain it against long-shot odds. A son of a solider, he was born in 1956 in a predominantly white Milwaukee neighborhood. Early in his adult life, Clarke went into law enforcement, sworn in as a Milwaukee police officer in 1978 at age 21. He spent 24 years at the city police department, serving as a patrolman for 11 years before being promoted to homicide detective. According to a 2003 Milwaukee Magazine profile, he fired his weapon only once on the job, shooting and wounding a Saint Bernard that lunged at him while he was investigating a break-in. He also received two merit citations, one of which was for helping to catch a man dubbed the "ski mask rapist" in 1981. In 1993, Clarke received another promotion, this one to lieutenant of detectives. One year later, he faced a complaint from the mother of a 15-year-old boy who claimed he used excessive force when arresting her son, including putting his gun to the side of the teen's head and kicking him in the ribs. The complaint was later dismissed when the Milwaukee Fire and Police Commission ruled the evidence was insufficient to charge him. Clarke was promoted in 1996 to captain before becoming commanding officer of the intelligence division in 1999, where most of his work involved protecting major politicians who visited town. By 2002, he had been a member of the Milwaukee police force for 24 years. And Clarke was looking for a big break. He got one. Unexpectedly, the Milwaukee County sheriff at the time resigned to take an early pension payout, and Clarke applied for the job. He was chosen by Wisconsin's Republican governor at the time, Scott McCallum, out of a crowded field of 10 applicants. Clarke was not a widely known figure in 2002, and when his first election rolled around shortly after the appointment, the overwhelmingly Democratic Milwaukee County still had no idea he was staunchly conservative. The community's political leanings left no viable option for Clarke but to run as a Democrat and make it through a contested primary, as he has managed to in every election since. "The thing about his appointment that I think has not been picked up on by a lot of people who've been reporting on this is when Clarke was under consideration to be chosen at sheriff, there was not any hint from anywhere that he was a conservative," said Mark Belling, a conservative Wisconsin talk-show host. "I mean, it was from nowhere." "A few weeks before the primary, somebody contacted me who was working with Clarke and whose opinion I trusted; they used an intermediary to say, 'Mark, nobody really knows this, but Clarke's a conservative,'" Belling continued. "The Clarke that ran in that first campaign in the Democratic primary back in his first primary, he didn't talk about any of the things he talks about now. It was just kept a complete, I wouldn't say a secret, but the candidate talked about other things." Even after Clarke's conservative views became more apparent to the masses, he kept winning Democratic primaries. In 2006, he won by 8 percentage points, before winning in 2010 by 6 and in 2014 by 4. Each year, the general election was a wipeout. "There's no way he should've survived some of the primaries he had before," Sykes said. Belling called his victories "extraordinary." "Everyone knows he's not really a Democrat," Belling said. "But he keeps winning these Democratic primaries, and he's getting the support of a majority of Democratic voters despite his views that are clearly not Democratic, which tells me that the things he says transcend politics and if there is not universal acceptance, there's more widespread acceptance for his beliefs and viewpoints than I think people realize." From ' just another sheriff in the Midwest' to 'someone who has to be reckoned with nationally' All the while, Clarke frequently feuded with local politicians with whom he disagreed, often finding backup on Sykes' and Belling's programs. He regularly found himself in hot water for politically charged rhetoric much as he does today aimed at black Milwaukeeans he believed were in a state of social dysfunction. But his rants about black Americans and his full-throated defense of police during high-profile shootings were eventually what earned him a seat at the Fox News table, where he frequently appears but is not a paid contributor. As his profile began to grow, criticism of Clarke increased. Ahead of his 2014 race, a political action committee, headed by former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, tossed in a large amount of money to defeat Clarke in the race, as did other state groups. But with the backing of the National Rifle Association and conservative talk radio, he fought off his toughest challenge. The election took place just three days after Michael Brown was fatally shot by a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri. "Those two things moved him from being just another sheriff in the Midwest to someone who has to be reckoned with nationally," said Daniel Bice, a columnist for the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel who has spent years covering Clarke. Clarke relished the newfound spotlight in conservative media. He criticized President Barack Obama, claiming he had a "love affair with criminals." He started using "Black Lies Matter" when speaking of the Black Lives Matter movement. The hard-nosed sheriff became a frequent guest on Sean Hannity's Fox News show. He also appeared on conspiracy theorist Alex Jones' program. David Clarke In a 2015 op-ed, Democratic Rep. Gwen Moore of Milwaukee went after Clarke, writing that it was time for him to "prove that hes more than just another partisan agitator with a badge and a cowboy hat." "The self-proclaimed 'peoples sheriff' needs to drop the sideshow act and get serious," she wrote. "Until then, I can only wonder if Sheriff Clarke is still a lawman or just a guy who plays one on TV." But Clarke's brand only grew. He amassed more followers on Twitter than any political figure in the state, aside from House Speaker Paul Ryan. With his growing platform and his past interest in pursuing the job, conservative donors approached him in 2015 about the possibility of a 2016 mayoral run. But a source with knowledge of the meeting said Clarke seemed to blow off the idea. The sheriff wanted to become a national figure. Enter the 2016 presidential election. Clarke became a boisterous Trump supporter and regularly skewered Hillary Clinton, the Democratic presidential nominee. His fiery campaign rhetoric earned him a prime speaking slot at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland. "Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to make something very clear: Blue Lives Matter in America!" Clarke said from the lectern at Quicken Loans Arena at the onset of his prime-time convention speech. He campaigned for Trump along the trail, sometimes performing the opening speech before the Manhattan billionaire took the stage. And, most of all, he appeared on television countless times in support of Trump. Clarke appeared on both Fox News and CNN dozens of times. The most memorable moment of the campaign for Clarke came in mid-October, when polls showed Clinton comfortably ahead nationally and in key swing states. He said ahead of a Wisconsin rally that the system was "rigged" and that it was "pitchfork and torches time in America." The crowd went wild. "I think the 'pitchforks and torches' quote introduced David Clarke and his incendiary rhetoric to the rest of the nation," Bice said. Sykes said he knew the sheriff wasn't actually calling for violence. But he called the remarks hypocritical, considering Clarke had tied rhetoric from Obama and Black Lives Matter activists to violence for years. David Clarke "I almost get the sense he feels the need to become more extreme and outrageous to maintain his brand," the former talk-show host said. Lt. Chris Moews of the Milwaukee Police Department, who ran against Clarke in the last two primaries, put it this way: "David Clarke, really in the last six months, has come unhinged." 'The most divisive figure in Wisconsin politics' The blossoming of Clarke into a national star has correlated with his diminishing presence at home. "You do have to come home at least once in a while," Sykes said. "And all you do is speak out on [crime], that's been the wrap on him. Big hat, no cattle. Talks a big game but he doesn't actually do a lot of stuff." After he came out in support of Trump, Sykes said Clarke has been "routinely AWOL." "He has to run a law-enforcement department, which has very specific responsibilities, and a city that has had a really, really tough year," Sykes said. "And when he gets involved, it often has an almost gratuitous, grandstanding sense to it." The Milwaukee County Sheriff's Office has relatively few functions compared to other local law-enforcement entities, such as the city's police department. Its main responsibilities are to patrol the local freeways and parks, as well as to maintain the courtrooms and the jail. In Clarke's reduced role at the office, Bice said a pair of inspectors are running the operation. Though Belling argued the office is carrying out its responsibilities "just fine," Moews strongly disagreed. "He always talks a good game, very vocal, pointing fingers, very judgmental," Moews said, strongly underscoring he was not speaking for the department. "But when it comes to enacting proactive policing strategies that would have an impact on violent crime in Milwaukee, and in Milwaukee County, he is completely absent from the situation. One thing that has been said about him in the past is never before has anybody had so much to say about law enforcement in Milwaukee County and so little to do with it." Under Clarke, Moews said, the office ended the gun and narcotics units, cut freeway and park patrol, and cut "proactive units." In 2005, Clarke cut the office's witness-protection program. Not long after, in 2007, 24-year-old Maurice Pulley was gunned down after testifying against a man who had shot him in the face earlier that year. The program was later revived. And, Moews said, things have "gotten even worse." "David Clarke is not a team player," he said. "He's someone who wants to be on the forefront of the headlines, but when it really comes down to it, it's like the real-life version of the 'Wizard of Oz' pay no attention to the man behind the curtain there." In 2016 alone, Milwaukee faced a bevy of law-enforcement-related problems, including what Moews said is a spiked homicide rate. Although FBI Uniform Crime Statistics for 2016 have yet to be released, Milwaukee County saw a significant spike in homicides between 2014 and 2015. In August, riots broke out in the city after the fatal police shooting of 23-year-old Sylville Smith. Smith, who was black, was shot by a black officer on the police force. Body-camera footage later showed that Smith was holding a gun in his hand. David Clarke With the riots making national news, Clarke called for the National Guard to be mobilized, and he moved to shut down a neighborhood park before its regular closing time. "And to a certain extent, that sort of embodied what has become of Sheriff Clarke," Sykes said. "He's often absent, but when he shows up it's some sort of an over-the-top symbolic gesture to assert his relevance when it doesn't really accomplish anything and people have to say, 'What was the point of that? To shut down an entire park just because it was near where some crime was committed four days ago?'" But Clarke's biggest controversy at home has been the four people who have died at the jail maintained by his office. One was a man who died of dehydration; another was a newborn baby delivered by an inmate. Clarke has been almost entirely silent on the matter until recently, when he said the jail populations are "filled with sick people who have made a lot of bad decisions that have compromised their health." Moore, the congresswoman from the district, tweeted that the Justice Department, with weeks to go until Trump's inauguration, told her they're considering an investigation into the deaths at the jail. Clarke fired back in a lengthy post on the Milwaukee County Sheriff's Office Facebook page. He declared that Moore was "ghost-chasing" because he played a "key role" in getting Trump elected. Clarke also criticized local Milwaukee media for getting "suckered" into "making a fake news story out of it because they love when people attack the sheriff." "None of these political attacks on the Sheriff started until AFTER Donald Trump won," he wrote, with a photo of himself and Trump included in the post. Sykes called this "regular rant about media bias" tiresome. "At some point, you do actually have to do your job," he said. "He goes around the country wearing that sheriffs uniform." Bice called him "the most divisive figure in Wisconsin politics." "And that's saying a lot given that the governor went through a recall election," he said, referring to former Republican presidential candidate Scott Walker. Moews, who said he intends to make another run for county sheriff in 2018, called Clarke an ineffective, absent "egomaniac" who has "no interest in sharing the responsibility of the problems we're facing." "He'd rather be the guy in the headlines who's saying whatever he is saying because he's saying a lot of outlandish things," he said. David Clarke, Scott Walker, Rudy Giuliani, Donald Trump, and Sean Hannity His future With Trump's unexpected election win, Clarke has a shot at a job on the national stage, one for which he's certainly been angling. Although he did not get the nod as the Department of Homeland Security secretary, a position for which he interviewed, incoming White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus told WTMJ "we definitely" want Clarke to be involved "in the administration at some level" and that he is "going to have opportunities" to serve in the Trump White House. Belling said the sheriff could be valuable as a policy adviser in the areas of law enforcement and homeland security. "He has a lot of credibility with the public, and at least with the conservative public," he said. "He is an outstanding communicator." Taking a post in the Trump administration would be a big change for Clarke a Milwaukeean his whole life as he would have to make the transition to DC. Regardless of what his next move is, it seems widely accepted that the sheriff's story is far from over. The more he is ridiculed for his incendiary remarks, the more popular he becomes. "He's offering a perspective that is shared by tens of millions of Americans, but that virtually nobody offers," Belling said. "You also can't get past the symbolism of the fact this is an African-American law-enforcement officer who has a very strong, tough-on-crime high-morals stance. The symbolism of Clarke is powerful. It drives his critics crazy that he's always out there wearing the sheriff's uniform and wearing the white hat, but that is powerful symbolism." "I think that's what makes him important," Belling added. "And it's what drives his critics crazy." NOW WATCH: 'Just a loose hunch': Watch Alec Baldwin impersonate Trump and Bill O'Reilly on 'SNL' More From Business Insider man teenager smoker marijuana joint A Washington, DC-based pro-marijuana legalization group has plans to lead a march through the city to President-elect Trump's inauguration ceremony, hand out 4,200 joints of legally grown cannabis, and light up at four minutes and twenty seconds into the President-elect's speech. DCMJ, which helped organize the successful fight for marijuana legalization in DC, has organized the event to pressure Trump to "support of full cannabis legalization in all 50 States and DC," according to a statement on their website. Although it's now legal for adults 21 and up to possess less than two ounces of marijuana in DC and consume it on private property, demonstrators with the DCMJ will still be breaking the law and risking arrest by smoking on federal property. Thats a form of civil disobedience, DCMJ founder Adam Eidinger told local news station WUSA. I think its a good protest. If someone wants to do it, they are risking arrest, but its a protest and you know what, the National Mall is a place for protest. Trump has said he's "in favor of medical marijuana 100%," but also expressed letting individual states decide on decriminalization. donald trump "In terms of marijuana and legalization, I think that should be a state issue, state-by-state," Trump told The Washington Post. " Marijuana is such a big thing. I think medical should happen right? Dont we agree? I think so. And then I really believe we should leave it up to the states." Additionally, Trump is broadly pro-business, and the marijuana industry has proven to be in the midst of a boom. On the other hand, Mike Pence, the Vice President-elect, has opposed marijuana legalization, as have members of Trump's cabinet. NOW WATCH: Here are some incredible things you didnt know about Putin's life More From Business Insider (Reuters) - Delta Air Lines Inc said on Wednesday it expected a smaller decline in fourth-quarter passenger unit revenue, a closely watched metric, than it had previously forecast, citing strong demand in December. Delta's revised passenger unit revenue forecast for the quarter ending December comes weeks after it came out with an improved number on its investor day last month. Shares of the No. 2 U.S. airline by passenger traffic were up 2.2 percent at $50.56 in morning trading. Delta said it expects passenger unit revenue, which compares sales to flight capacity, to be down 2.5-3.0 percent for the quarter, compared with its December forecast of a decline of 3 percent. http://bit.ly/2j98WW0 The airline had initially projected December-quarter passenger unit revenue to drop as much as 5 percent. The company said on Wednesday it expected capacity growth of about 1 percent in the quarter. (Reporting by Ankit Ajmera in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty and Shounak Dasgupta) New Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer outlined the nature of his partys opposition to President-elect Donald Trump Tuesday, taking a page from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnells opposition to President Obama since 2009. Democrats, Schumer said, will work to block Trumps Supreme Court nominee and will only work with him on legislation if he abandons his GOP base. Call it legislative karma, as Democrats try to give Republicans a taste of their own medicine. But Democrats have fewer arrows in their quiver after employing the nuclear option to end the filibuster to break the GOPs blocking of Obama nominees. Even if they cant block confirmation votes, they are planning on elongating the process to muck with Trumps transition. The battle over Obamacare is officially on, as GOP Senator Mike Enzi introduced the beginnings of the legislation Republicans hope to use to repeal the law. Vice President-elect Mike Pence is on Capitol Hill Wednesday morning to huddle with Republicans over tactics on the law, with the GOP currently planning to sunset the law after a number of years, allowing the party time to devise and pass a replacement. Obama is also on Capitol Hill to huddle with his own party over how to protect is eponymous signature legislative achievement. Trump himself has been sending cryptic tweets suggesting that Republicans need to be careful as they plot to repeal the law to avoid giving up a potent political weapon. Publicly, Trump has come out in favor of keeping some of the most popular provisions of the law, but the depths of his planned involvement in the repeal-then-replace effort is as yet uncertain. Either way, the next president will have to sign that legislation, and hell own the political benefits and costs. The end of Obamacare will lead, one way or another, to Trumpcare. Republicans about-face on plan to gut ethics office amid Democratic and Trump outrage. Trump continues to cast doubts about Russian involvement in the 2016 election hacks, while seemingly trying to discredit the intelligence officials who will brief him on their conclusions Friday. And Tuesday marked the final episode of the semi-annual Joe Biden show. Story continues Here are your must reads: Must Reads House Republicans, Under Fire, Back Down on Gutting Ethics Office GOP suffers first defeat at hands of Trump, Democratic pressure [New York Times] Trump Says a Delay in his Briefing on So-Called Russian Hacking Is Very Strange Skepticalat bestahead of intelligence briefing [Washington Post] Ethics Flap Reveals Flaws in Paul Ryans Approach to Using Power The Speakers weaknesses were revealed [Yahoo] Inquiries Go on as Independent Ethics Office Wins Reprieve What the little-known agency does [Associated Press] Repealing Obamacare Could Be Trumps First Lesson in the Glacial Pace of Congress Rand Paul to vote no on GOP budget [Bloomberg] Sound Off The only way were going to work with him is if he moves completely in our direction and abandons his Republican colleagues. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on Donald Trump in an interview with CNN It kind of reminds you that no matter how long you have been here, you havent seen it all. Speaker of the House Paul Ryan opening the 115th Congress Tuesday Bits and Bites Hillary and Bill Clinton Will Attend Donald Trumps Inauguration [TIME] Omarosa Manigault joining Trumps White House staff to focus on public engagement [Associated Press] President Obama to host a goodbye party at the White House on Friday [Washington Post] Dems Take Photos on House Floor to Protest Proposed GOP Fine [Roll Call] Exxon Mobil, Tillerson agree to cut all ties [Reuters] Meet the Harvard whiz kid who wants to explain Trumpism [Politico] Jeff Sessions says he handled these civil rights cases. He barely touched them. [Washington Post] Pence expected to name Josh Pitcock as chief of staff [Politico] NAACP President Among 6 Arrested After Staging Sit-In Against Sen. Jeff Sessions [TIME] The Final Episode Of The Joe Biden Show [BuzzFeed] Biden says he will be based at Penn [Philly.com] Spicer tours White House, meets with Earnest [Politico] There certainly couldnt be a more timely film than Denial, the story of a British libel trial brought on by a true demogogue and holocaust denier when he is accused of being just that in a book by American academic Deborah Lipstadt. As they explained when they appeared as part of Bleecker Streets presentation at our big annual awards season event The Contenders Presented By Deadline, director Mick Jackson and producer Gary Foster said Denial, though it deals with events of 20 years ago, hits todays fact-challenged society right between the eyes in tackling this issue and subsequent trial right on. In front of a packed crowd of Oscar and key Guild voters at the DGA Theater, Foster says the films courtroom sequences were virtually word for word from transcripts of the trial, and that was the task handed to screenwriter David Hare. He also talks about how difficult it was to find an actor willing to take on the key role of the demogogue depicted here until Timothy Spall came their way. He and Jackson were also very grateful to be able to film part of the film on the actual Auschwitz location that is so important to the story. And they talk about the casting of Rachel Weisz and how closely involved she became with Lipstadt herself. To watch my conversation just click on the link above. Related stories How Filmmakers Ignored Biopic Rules In Bringing Life Of Legendary Pablo Neruda To The Screen - The Contenders Video Don Cheadle On His 10-Year Journey To Bring Miles Davis To The Screen - The Contenders Video Why The Making Of 'Passengers' Depended So Much On Casting Jennifer Lawrence & Chris Pratt - The Contender's Video SURREY, BC / ACCESSWIRE / January 4, 2017 / Desert Gold Ventures Inc. (DAU.V) (QXR2.F) (OTC PINK: DAUGF) ("Desert Gold" and or "the Company") today announced a major step forward in the development of the Company's Byumba Gold project in Northern Rwanda. In Q1 of 2016, the Company applied for a commercial mining license at its Byumba gold deposit. Along with the mining license application, the Company submitted a Plan of Operation ("PLO") to the Rwandan Ministry of Natural Resources ("MINIRENA"). The Company is pleased to announce that MINIRENA, in co-operation with the State Department of Geology and Mines ("DNGM"), has accepted the Company's proposal and on December 13, 2016 issued Desert Gold a commercial gold mining license. Details of Mining License Application The new title under the exploitation license will be named Rutare The mining license is valid for a period of 10 years with an option to renew The Rutare permit covers a 375 hectare block (as shown in map below) and encompasses the entire gold prospect The Rutare permit is located a two hour drive from the capital Kigali accessible by paved highway Rutare Exploitation License Boundary Map Cannot view this image? Please visit https://www.accesswire.com/uploads/DesertGold1.jpg Table 1 sets out the Company's mineral resource estimate prepared in accordance with National Instrument 43-101 ("NI 43-101") which shows ore tonnage of approximately 5.5 million tons at an average grade of 1.48 g/t of gold for a total resource of 265,000 oz Au using a cut off grade of 0.5 g/t Au. Summary of Mineral Resource Estimates Prepared in Accordance with NI 43-101 Cannot view this image? Please visit https://www.accesswire.com/uploads/DesertGold2.jpg Notes to Mineral Resource Estimate: The effective date of the Byumba mineral resource estimate is January 11, 2010. Mineral resources that are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. Due to the uncertainty of measured, indicated or inferred mineral resources, these mineral resources may never be upgraded to proven and probable mineral reserves. Story continues The Company plans to release a Supplemental Plan of Operation ("SPLO") later this quarter that will outline the details of the development at Rutare. The decision to proceed into production is currently not based on a feasibility study of mineral reserves demonstrating economic and technical viability. Rather, the decision was based on the existing data from the 2010 inferred resource, the 2012 drilling campaign and a series of internal studies conducted by the Company's engineering and technical team. Over time the Company aims to demonstrate economic viability as defined under Companion Policy 43-101CP, 4.2(6) - Production Decision. Desert Gold CEO Sonny Janda commented, "Our goal is to develop the first commercial gold mine in the country and to become a leading producer in the region. As such, we are working closely with the Rwandan government and local partners to finalize the development plan at Rutare. This plan will not only focus on the exploitation of the existing Byumba resource at Rutare but will also incorporate more drilling for expansion and growth of the area over time. Moreover, the Company is evaluating other mineral prospects in the region. We are working closely with our partners in Rwanda to identify the most prospective opportunities and incorporate them into our larger vision. The issuance of the gold mining license is a significant milestone for the company. I would like to thank the Rwandan government and its supporting departments for their active participation helping Desert Gold throughout the licensing process." Shaun Dyke, M.Sc. (Eng); P.Geo (#20044), a Qualified Person as defined in NI 43-101, has reviewed and approved the scientific and technical information contained in this release. ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD "Jared Scharf" ___________________________ Jared Scharf Director +1 (858) 247 - 8195 About Desert Gold Desert Gold Ventures Inc. is an advanced exploration and development company which holds mining assets in Mali and Rwanda. For further information please visit our website www.desertgold.ca or information available on www.SEDAR.com under the company's profile. This news release contains forward-looking statements respecting the Company's ability to successfully obtain an exploitation license for its Byumba permit. These forward-looking statements entail various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those reflected in these forward-looking statements. Such statements are based on current expectations, are subject to a number of uncertainties and risks, and actual results may differ materially from those contained in such statements, including the inability of the Company to successfully complete and obtain the necessary permits to develop its operations. These uncertainties and risks include, but are not limited to, the strength of the capital markets, permitting risk, the price of gold; operational, funding, and liquidity risks; the degree to which mineral resource estimates are reflective of actual mineral resources; and the degree to which factors which would make a mineral deposit commercially viable are present; the risks and hazards associated with mining operations. Risks and uncertainties about the Company's business are more fully discussed in the company's disclosure materials filed with the securities regulatory authorities in Canada and available at www.sedar.com and readers are urged to read these materials. The Company assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from such statements unless required by 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. This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy the securities described herein in the United States. The securities described herein have not been and will not be registered under the united states securities act of 1933, as amended, and may not be offered or sold in the united states or to the account or benefit of a U.S person absent an exemption from the registration requirements of such act. SOURCE: Desert Gold Ventures Inc. Https%3a%2f%2fblueprint-api-production.s3.amazonaws.com%2fuploads%2fcard%2fimage%2f335595%2f60e1fe3e-e23f-44e6-9be6-d6e3eb9c7fbb LAS VEGAS Sleep is a precious commodity that every human needs, and a new device promises to help you get it through the power of smell. Sensorwake has already reached headlines with its quirky alarm clock that releases scents to wake you up, but now the company is trying to do the exact opposite. Oria, unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week, is a device that uses two fragrances: one to help you fall asleep and another to help you stay asleep. SEE ALSO: How to keep up with CES if you're stuck at home The connected device looks sort of like a small humidifier, except instead of releasing vapor, it releases scents that are supposedly designed to help you get a night's rest. Sensorwake teamed up with the Swiss fragrance and flavor company Givaudan as well as the Clinical Sleep Center at Loughborough University to develop the patented smells. Image: lili sams, mashable The single button on the device releases a scent described as "powdered rose, peach and pear, with notes of talc and musk." After 30 minutes, the machine kicks over to the second scent designed to keep you in a deep sleep, which releases an odor of "fresh linen with notes of soap and sandalwood." According to Sensorwake, the scents were developed with moments linked to our emotions and peaceful childhood memories to help you relax. "After using scents to help people wake up in better conditions and in a better mood, we brainstormed a lot on the power of smell and what other issues it can solve," says Guillaume Rolland, the 20-year-old CEO of Sensorwake. "Sleep deprivation can have terrible consequences on health. We all feel it on our everyday lives, and thats what we want to solve with Oria." So will it actually get you to sleep? There are obviously plenty of factors that will keep a person up at night, and we should all be skeptical of something that promises better sleep. But flipping on a machine that makes it smell pleasant as you drift into unconsciousness seems like a good way to help you relax. Story continues The cost may be a bit steep at $149, but the recyclable cartridges for the two scents cost $7 each, and they're supposed to last for two months. Image: lili smas, mashable The Oria is excepted to ship in summer 2017, but the company plans to add in the ability to connect the device to sleep trackers in its next version to help you sleep even better. So, if your tracker senses you aren't sleeping well, Oria can kick it up a notch and help you rest easy. Chase Field. (Getty Images) Were only four days into 2017, but we already have our first stadium drama. According to the Arizona Republic, the Arizona Diamondbacks have made good on their promise from 2016 and are suing Maricopa County, where their ballpark, Chase Field is located. Theyre suing to break their lease (which expires in 2028) so they can explore other locations for their team and ballpark. This kerfuffle has been brewing for quite awhile. The team and the county have been negotiating for four years but have been unable to reach an agreement. An agreement on what, exactly? On which party is responsible for as much as $187 million in ballpark upgrades over the next 12 years. The 19-year-old ballpark is owned by the county, and the Diamondbacks contend that Maricopa County hasnt set aside enough money for appropriate upgrades and upkeep, and are risking the safety of both staff and fans. However Maricopa County disagrees, saying that many of the upgrades are cosmetic in nature (and therefore the teams responsibility as specified in the lease), and without those the county has the money to meet their obligations. The Diamondbacks submitted a $65 million maintenance proposal back in August, which would have covered the next 12 years. When the proposal was rejected by the county, the D-backs promised to sue, and so here we are. Presumably this lawsuit wasnt delivered by a swearing elected official, like previous documents in this case. The county has tried to prevent a lawsuit and pacify the Diamondbacks. From the Arizona Republic: Maricopa County officials inked a preliminary deal last summer with private investors who proposed to purchase and modernize Chase Field and develop it into a fancier shopping-and-dining destination. It sounds promising, but when the investors couldnt get the Diamondbacks to agree, the entire deal fell apart. The team then released a letter from the investors that the investors themselves had wanted to stay private. The letter has the investors concerned with how much it would cost to repair Chase Field, and they even propose that a new ballpark be built in downtown Phoenix. Story continues Its worth mentioning that Maricopa County is embroiled in two other bad stadium deals, and related litigation regarding the areas laughably high rental car tax (which is partially funding those terrible stadium deals). Whether they want the Diamondbacks to leave isnt the issue here; it seems like they are trying to preserve the financial future of the county, and the D-backs might be a casualty in that battle. More MLB coverage from Yahoo Sports: Liz Roscher is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email her at lizroscher@yahoo.com or follow her on twitter! Follow @lizroscher Diego Luna shared the sweetest story about why diversity in Star Wars is important Weve been loving the amazing reaction to Rogue One, and now one of the movies stars, Diego Luna, has shared the sweetest story about why representation in Star Wars matters and its so emotional. Given the ongoing discussions regarding representation and diversity in Hollywood, the most recent Star Wars movies, including The Force Awakens and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story have been praised for their increased visibility when it comes to race and women. Indeed, Felicity Jones, the lead actor in Rogue One, spoke about her desire not to objectify her character of Jyn Erso, while The Force Awakens star John Boyega has spoken out in support of more diversity in Hollywood. Now Diego Luna, who plays Captain Cassian Andor in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story has shared the sweetest story about why diversity in the franchise is important. Luna, who has previously spoken about representation in film, shared a post he came across from Tumblr, which tells the tale of user riveralwaysknew, who took their Mexican father to see Rogue One. In the story, riveralwaysknew explains that they wanted their Mexican father, who has a strong Mexican accent, to see Rogue One because theres they wanted him to see a hero in a blockbuster film speak the way he does. When Diego Lunas character came on screen and started speaking, my dad nudged me and said, he has a heavy accent,' they recalled. I was like, Yup. When the film was over and we were walking to the car, he returns to me and says, did you noticed that he had an accent? And I said, Yeah dad, just like yours.' riveralwaysknew went on to say how initially their father was confused as to why Luna hadnt changed his accent for the film, and kept asking whether it had been a successful movie. I told him that Diego has openly talked about keeping his accent and how proud he is of it, they wrote. And my dad was silent for a while and then he said, And he was a main character. And I said, He was. And my dad was so happy. As we drove home he started telling me about other Mexican actors that he thinks should be in movies in America. Representation matters. Story continues Upon seeing the story, Luna shared a screenshot of it on Twitter, stating that he had got emotional reading this! Okay, were totally welling up at this INCREDIBLE story. We love hearing about how diversity and representation has positively affected peoples lives, and its heartwarming to see the effect that it has on those involved with making the movies, too. May the Force always be more diverse in the future. The Cable Television industry in the U.S. seems to be having an exciting beginning to the New Year with fresh deals and updated product offerings. On Jan 1, Comcast Corp. CMCSA, a leading cable multi-service operator (MSO) in the U.S., inked a new pact with Twenty-First Century Fox, Inc. FOXA after resolving their 13-month old battle over carriage of the YES Network in the New York City area. And now, DISH Network Corp. DISH, the second largest satellite TV operator in the U.S. has begun the year with a bang. According to a recent report by The Business Journal, DISH Networks subsidiary, AirTV launched its latest streaming device, AirTV Player. Air TV Player is a 4K Android-based streaming device which supports ultra HD (high definition) and is pre-loaded with Netflix Inc. NFLX, SlingTV and YouTube apps and that work with an over-the-air antenna for broadcast TV. Hence, AirTV marks a single unified platform for on-demand streaming, internet TV, and over-the-air (OTA) local channels. The AirTV Player allows Sling TV customers add free, live local broadcast stations into their guide using an external antenna. The media streamer is featured with dual-band WiFi networks and a Bluetooth voice-enabled remote that can be paired with an AirTV OTA Adapter and OTA antenna. The remote features dedicated buttons for Sling TV, Netflix and Google Play Store, provides voice capabilities and can control power and volume on any connected TV or sound system using infrared signals. As far as pricing is concerned, DISH Newtorks has priced the AirTV Player with the OTA AirTV Adapter for $129.99 while a streaming-only version of the AirTV Player is available for $99.99. A standalone AirTV Adapter will be available for $39.99 if consumers choose to add OTA integration at a later date. As an add on, the purchase of any AirTV Player will include a $50 Sling TV credit, available to new and existing Sling TV users. The cable company simultaneously announced the AirTV Pro Install service. The service offers professional installation of the AirTV Player with a TV antenna for $100 (for an indoor antenna) to $150 (outdoor), depending on the type of antenna used. Story continues Winding Up Shares of DISH Network have underperformed the Zacks-categorized Cable TV industry, due to multiple headwinds that hurt the stock in the past one year. The stock gained 1.12% but lagged the industrys growth of 18.35% over the same period. However, DISH Networks efforts to diversify its business model from a pure-play satellite-TV operator to an Internet TV operator look innovative and impressive. We believe such strategic steps should help the company to counter competitive threats from low-cost video streaming operators. We also expect the company to get back its lost subscribers reported in the third quarter earnings release. Notably, DISH Networks lost 116,000 pay-TV subscribers in the quarter compared with a loss of 23,000 in the year-ago quarter. Such mixed outcomes and business strategies might have been the reason behind DISH Networks current Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. Zacks' Top 10 Stocks for 2017 In addition to the stocks discussed above, would you like to know about our 10 finest buy-and-hold tickers for the entirety of 2017? Who wouldn't? As of early December, the 2016 Top 10 produced 5 double-digit winners including oil and natural gas giant Pioneer Natural Resources which racked up a stellar +50% gain. The new list is painstakingly hand-picked from 4,400 companies covered by the Zacks Rank. Be among the very first to see it>> 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 NETFLIX INC (NFLX): Free Stock Analysis Report DISH NETWORK CP (DISH): Free Stock Analysis Report COMCAST CORP A (CMCSA): Free Stock Analysis Report TWENTY-FST CF-A (FOXA): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research Disney may have just accidentally revealed the opening date of Avatar Land If you live in the state of Florida, great news! Disney just released some heavily discounted tickets that you can snag for the late spring/early summer months. For the rest of us around the country (and the world), theres something here for us too: Disney may have accidentally just spilled when Avatar Land is going to open up to the public. Around this time of year that is, the post-holidays pre-Summer season Disney starts rolling out tickets to entice guests to visit the parks (lol, like we dont want to always visit all the time). They offer tickets for Florida residents that are hella cheap, so seriously, buy some if you live in Florida. The only draw back is that these tickets come with a few black-out dates for the parks, during times Disney is anticipating heavy crowds. The one and only block-out date for these new tickets? May 27th June 9th, 2017. And the block-out is ONLY at Animal Kingdom. HMM. SUSPICIOUS. As our friends over at WDW News Today point out, theres literally no other reason for there to be a block-out during this time unless Disney is getting ready to open up something BIG. This also happens to Memorial Day Weekend, so already there are going to be big crowds at Disney, and Disney usually likes to open up brand new things around holiday times (aka, times when kids are not in school so they can to go Disney World). Disney has not confirmed, nor denied, that this is the opening weekend of Avatar Land, but if youre looking to get your Navi on ASAP, go ahead and clear your schedule for this weekend. Its time to go visit Pandora. By Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS, Jan 4 (Reuters) - New United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres spoke with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday, and the two had "a very positive discussion on U.S./U.N. relations," said a U.N. spokesman, a week after Trump slammed the world body on Twitter. Guterres, a former Portuguese prime minister and U.N. refugee chief who began his five-year term on Sunday, spoke by phone with Trump, who will take office on Jan. 20, said U.N. spokesman Farhan Haq. "This was an introductory phone call during which they had a very positive discussion on U.S./U.N. relations. The secretary-general said that he looked forward to engaging with the president after his inauguration," Haq told reporters. Trump took to Twitter to disparage the 193-member world body after the United States abstained in a Dec. 23 U.N. Security Council vote, allowing the adoption of a resolution demanding an end to settlement building by U.S. ally Israel. Trump, who had called on the outgoing Obama administration to veto the resolution, warned that "things will be different" at the United Nations after he takes office, without offering any details. He followed up with another tweet on Dec. 26: "The United Nations has such great potential but right now it is just a club for people to get together, talk and have a good time. So sad!" Guterres responded in an interview with Snapchat on Tuesday: "President(-elect) Trump also said the U.N. has an enormous potential. That's exactly what I feel. My job is to make sure that potential becomes a reality." In an address to U.N. staff in New York on Tuesday, Guterres acknowledged that in some parts of the world there was a resistance and skepticism about the role of the United Nations. Trump spokesman Sean Spicer said on Wednesday that the president-elect would work with Rex Tillerson, his secretary of state nominee, and Nikki Haley, his choice for U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, to "demand some reform and change." Both Tillerson and Haley must be confirmed by the U.S. Senate before taking office. The United States is the largest contributor to the United Nations, paying 22 percent of the $5.4 billion core U.N. budget and 28 percent of the $7.9 billion U.N. peacekeeping budget. Following passage of the U.N. resolution on Israeli settlements, a top U.S. senator threatened to work to cut U.S. funding. "This gives Guterres a reason for going big on reform quickly," said a senior U.N. diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity. "He needs to make sure he is reforming the U.N. fast enough and radically enough in order to engage the incoming U.S. administration." (Additional reporting by Susan Heavey; Editing by Jonathan Oatis) By Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - New United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres spoke with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday, and the two had "a very positive discussion on U.S./U.N. relations," said a U.N. spokesman, a week after Trump slammed the world body on Twitter. Guterres, a former Portuguese prime minister and U.N. refugee chief who began his five-year term on Sunday, spoke by phone with Trump, who will take office on Jan. 20, said U.N. spokesman Farhan Haq. "This was an introductory phone call during which they had a very positive discussion on U.S./U.N. relations. The secretary-general said that he looked forward to engaging with the president after his inauguration," Haq told reporters. Trump took to Twitter to disparage the 193-member world body after the United States abstained in a Dec. 23 U.N. Security Council vote, allowing the adoption of a resolution demanding an end to settlement building by U.S. ally Israel. Trump, who had called on the outgoing Obama administration to veto the resolution, warned that "things will be different" at the United Nations after he takes office, without offering any details. He followed up with another tweet on Dec. 26: "The United Nations has such great potential but right now it is just a club for people to get together, talk and have a good time. So sad!" Guterres responded in an interview with Snapchat on Tuesday: "President(-elect) Trump also said the U.N. has an enormous potential. That's exactly what I feel. My job is to make sure that potential becomes a reality." In an address to U.N. staff in New York on Tuesday, Guterres acknowledged that in some parts of the world there was a resistance and skepticism about the role of the United Nations. Trump spokesman Sean Spicer said on Wednesday that the president-elect would work with Rex Tillerson, his secretary of state nominee, and Nikki Haley, his choice for U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, to "demand some reform and change." Both Tillerson and Haley must be confirmed by the U.S. Senate before taking office. The United States is the largest contributor to the United Nations, paying 22 percent of the $5.4 billion core U.N. budget and 28 percent of the $7.9 billion U.N. peacekeeping budget. Following passage of the U.N. resolution on Israeli settlements, a top U.S. senator threatened to work to cut U.S. funding. "This gives Guterres a reason for going big on reform quickly," said a senior U.N. diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity. "He needs to make sure he is reforming the U.N. fast enough and radically enough in order to engage the incoming U.S. administration." (Additional reporting by Susan Heavey; Editing by Jonathan Oatis) BERLIN (Reuters) - German trauma surgeons advised the public on Wednesday to walk like penguins to avoid slipping on pavements with freezing temperatures forecast nationwide over the next few days. An advisory published on the website of the German Society of Orthopaedics and Trauma Surgery said that walking like the aquatic birds involves leaning the torso forward so that the centre of gravity is on the front leg. A drawing attached to the advisory explains that when humans walk normally, body weight is split almost evenly over both legs, which the surgeons say increases the risk of losing one's balance and falling on slippery surfaces. Municipal authorities in Berlin were criticized over their failure to sprinkle the capital's pavements with rock salt in January 2014 despite warnings of a freeze from meteorologists. As a result, rescue services received more than 750 emergency calls and emergency rooms were overstretched with patients with bone fractures. Temperatures in Berlin are expected to plunge to -10 degrees Centigrade (14 Fahrenheit) on Saturday. (Reporting by Joseph Nasr; editing by Mark Heinrich) DuPonts DD advanced seed and genetics business, DuPont Pioneer, has signed a definitive agreement with Origin Agritech Ltd. SEED. Origin is an agricultural biotechnology trait and seed provider. Under the deal terms, Origin will gain access to non-GM corn seed products from DuPont Pioneer. Origin expects to sell Commercial Seed Products in the U.S. market by the spring of 2017. Financial details of the deal have not yet been disclosed. In Apr 2016, DuPont and Origin had agreed to develop new seed technologies in China for the Chinese farmers together. The latest agreement supports Origins progress in launching its North America growth platform, Pillar III, which will be focused on serving non-GM/Organic markets. The company will be providing farmers in the U.S. with these products via a digitally enabled route. This is in sync with its goal of providing agricultural products, technologies as well as services in innovative ways to the non-GM/Organic markets. Shares of DuPont rose roughly 0.3% to close at $73.61 on Jan 3. DuPonts shares have gained 9.8% in the last three months while the Zacks categorized Chemicals-Diversified industry gained about 7.9% over the same period. The stock's rally has been supported by cost-cutting strategy and impending mega-merger with The Dow Chemical Company DOW. The company is on track to deliver net cost reductions of $730 million in 2016. DuPont, in Oct 2016, raised its adjusted earnings guidance for 2016. The company now sees adjusted earnings for 2016 to rise 17% year over year to $3.25 per share, an increase from its earlier view of $3.15$3.20 per share. The company now expects full-year earnings (on a reported basis) to be roughly $2.71 per share. DU PONT (EI) DE Price DU PONT (EI) DE Price | DU PONT (EI) DE Quote Zacks Rank & Key Pick DuPont currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). A better-ranked company in the chemical space is The Chemours Company CC, sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).The company has a long-term growth rate of 15.50%. You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here. Story continues Zacks' Top 10 Stocks for 2017 In addition to the stocks discussed above, would you like to know about our 10 finest buy-and-hold tickers for the entirety of 2017? Who wouldn't? As of early December, the 2016 Top 10 produced 5 double-digit winners including oil and natural gas giant Pioneer Natural Resources which racked up a stellar +50% gain. The new list is painstakingly hand-picked from 4,400 companies covered by the Zacks Rank. Be among the very first to see it>> 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 DU PONT (EI) DE (DD): Free Stock Analysis Report DOW CHEMICAL (DOW): Free Stock Analysis Report CHEMOURS COMPNY (CC): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. CHARLESTON, S.C. (Reuters) - The widow of the pastor who was among the nine people killed by white supremacist Dylann Roof told a federal jury on Wednesday she heard the gunman say he was not crazy during the rampage at a historic black church in South Carolina. Jennifer Pinckney said she hid with her 6-year-old daughter under a desk as Roof opened fire in an adjoining room at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, where her husband, the Reverend Clementa Pinckney, and parishioners gathered for a Bible study meeting on June 17, 2015. "I heard Mr. Roof say, 'I'm not crazy. I have to do this,'" said Pinckney, the first witness to testify for U.S. prosecutors seeking the death penalty. Prosecutors plan to call nearly 40 people to tell jurors how their lives were ripped apart by the shocking crime, carried out by Roof after churchgoers had their eyes closed in prayer. Spouses and friends drew tears and laughter as they shared memories of victims Clementa Pinckney and Myra Thompson, who led Bible study the night of the shooting. Roof also spoke to jurors, saying he was representing himself because he did not want them to hear any mental health evidence - but insisting he is not mentally ill. The same jury last month found Roof guilty of 33 federal counts of hate crimes resulting in death, obstruction of religion and firearms charges. "There's nothing wrong with me psychologically," said Roof, making no mention of the crime or the racist ideology prosecutors said spurred the massacre. Roof, whose opening statement lasted mere minutes, also did not say whether he wants to live. U.S. District Judge Richard Gergel ruled on Monday Roof was mentally fit to stand trial and act as his own lawyer, despite defense attorneys' concerns about Roof's plans to present no witnesses or evidence that might convince jurors to spare his life. Assistant U.S. Attorney Nathan Williams told jurors Roof deserved to be executed, highlighting his months of planning, lack of remorse and his motivation. Story continues "He killed them because of the color of their skin, because he thought they were less than people," said Williams, who showed jurors photos of each victim. Six weeks after Roof's arrest, jailers found a handwritten note in his cell expressing white supremacist views, Williams said. "I am not sorry," Roof wrote. "I have not shed a tear for the innocent people I killed." (Writing by Colleen Jenkins; Editing by Matthew Lewis) South Sudan is a country of patriots. We took up arms against the regime in the North that enslaved us and fought for freedom and the right to create our national identity in the world. Those of us who were child soldiers at the time had no knowledge of "rights." It seemed normal since that was the only world we knew. For example, I didn't know until I was 15 that I was denied the right to abstain from fighting in the Christian/Islamic war in Sudan or in fights for resources. The leadership knew, and that is why they deemed education of children as unimportant. The situation South Sudan is in today would not have reached this level if educating children had been a priority. When people ask about the genocide in South Sudan, I believe that when two tribes knowingly take on the overwhelming power of 62 tribes, that is not genocide, it is actually mass suicide. [READ: Turkey struggles to educate Syrian refugee children.] What kind of lasting, positive change is accomplished when a community fights the government with bullets rather than negotiation or dialogue? There is a lack of discipline in the illiterate population of South Sudan; if the only way to get bread is with guns and bullets, this encourages young men and women to take up arms. This results in the killing of innocents. Those individuals who organized the last failed coup d'etat claimed it was tribal: Nuer versus Dinka. If that were so, is that genocide? It is mass suicide, caused by those who put illiterate youth on the front lines in the name of a tribal war fueled by their personal interest. They had no idea what they were fighting for, what they were up against and how quickly they would die. These unproductive cycles of violent rebellion must end and stop damaging the institutions that struggle to rebuild basic infrastructure and help distribute food. These conflicts are caused by poverty, lack of education and no opportunities. The majority of the warlords have never been educated and sometimes only the child soldiers survive. In a country at peace, it is very hard to be promoted in military rank; however, rebellion results in field promotions. The youth believe their only hope is to join the rebellion and steal the property of others. They are rewarded after killing innocents in the name of tribalism. Story continues The illiterate youth pay the heaviest price and they don't comprehend how their lives are wasted. The mass suicide by our youth will change only if they understand why they should live. South Sudan's illiteracy rate is the second highest in the world and is the major reason for the instability in South Sudan. Education will make the difference if we invest in it, but continuing the status quo will give rise to the rebellions that will never advance the welfare of the nation. An African proverb teaches us that a man with a gun who has no agenda or ideology is a man eventually committing suicide. South Sudan today is full of men without ideology. [READ: Which countries are seen as best providing education?] If the youth were trained to earn some income, suicide in search for opportunities would end. Joining the world might look impossible to most young people in South Sudan, but there is hope; the government is educating the people about the importance of peace and nongovernmental organizations are creating opportunities to help individuals become aware of their possibilities. We ask that the world not see South Sudan as a country with a regime problem, but rather as a country paying the price of an illiteracy problem that has fueled endless bloodshed. If the illiterate are not saved, South Sudan will never truly know freedom, independence or security. The Honorable Garang Malong Awan serves as the Minister of Agriculture and Forestry in the South Sudan and is the author of the recently published book, "Why South Sudan Matters." Cairo (AFP) - Egypt has arrested four people suspected of involvement in a Cairo church bombing last month that killed 27 people, the interior ministry said Wednesday. Those detained include one of the two main suspected plotters of the attack, Karam Ahmed Abdel-Aal Ibrahim, and three others who were planning other attacks, the ministry said in a statement. The death toll from the December 11 suicide bombing during Sunday mass at the Saint Peter and Saint Paul church rose to 27 on Wednesday after a 63-year-old woman died of her injuries, the health ministry said. Eleven people remain in hospital, it said. The interior ministry said authorities are still searching for Mohab Mostafa el-Sayed Qassem, also known as "The Doctor", previously identified by the interior ministry as the group's leader. The ministry said investigations revealed one of the three men arrested has links to the Muslim Brotherhood and had attended rallies of the Islamist movement while armed. The interior ministry has said Qassem received financial and logistical support and instructions to carry out the attacks by Brotherhood leaders residing in Qatar. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the bombing, identifying the suicide bomber by the pseudonym Abu Abdallah al-Masri. President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi had named the suicide bomber as Mahmoud Shafik Mohamed Mostafa, 22. The Muslim Brotherhood has denied any involvement. Egyptian authorities are battling an Islamist insurgency, mostly in the province of North Sinai. Some attacks have targeted security forces and officials in Cairo. The attacks have worsened since the July 2013 ouster of Brotherhood president Mohamed Morsi, which was led by then army chief Sisi. Last month's blast was the worst attack on the Coptic Christian community since a 2011 suicide bombing killed more than 20 worshippers outside a church in the coastal city of Alexandria. Cairo (AFP) - Egyptian prosecutors extended the detention of an Al-Jazeera journalist accused of incitement and fabricating news for another 15 days on Wednesday, officials said. Mahmoud Hussein, 51, an Egyptian national, flew to Cairo two weeks ago for a family holiday but was stopped and interrogated at the airport for several hours before being released. Police raided his Cairo home on December 23 and arrested him. After being questioned again, he was ordered to be detained. It was the latest move against the Qatar-based broadcaster which Egypt accuses of supporting the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood of ousted president Mohamed Morsi. The interior ministry said after Hussein's arrest that he was implicated in an Al-Jazeera "plot" aimed at "fomenting discord and inciting against state institutions... and broadcasting false news as well as fabricated news reports and documentaries". In November, Al-Jazeera broadcast a documentary called "The Soldiers" in which former conscripts spoke about compulsory military service in Egypt, drawing criticism from the media. Al-Jazeera Managing Director Yasser Abu Hilalah denounced Hussein's arrest, saying the broadcaster "will continue to cover Egypt and we don't succumb to pressure". Egypt provoked international condemnation in 2013 when it arrested three Al-Jazeera journalists, including a Canadian and an Australian, and sentenced them to jail on similar accusations. They were later released. Their arrest, months after the military overthrew Morsi who had been backed by Qatar, coincided with a massive crackdown on his supporters and the Muslim Brotherhood being blacklisted. Ellen DeGeneres continues to mourn the loss of her friend, Carrie Fisher. "I wanna say something about my friend, Carrie Fisher," the 58-year-old host says on Wednesday's episode of The Ellen DeGeneres Show. WATCH: Ellen DeGeneres Cancels Kim Burrell's Appearance on Her Show After Singer's Anti-Gay Sermon "I knew her for a long time, she has been on the show many times and the last time was just a month ago," she continues. "I loved when she was here. She made me laugh so hard." "She was smart, she was funny, she was hilariously honest about herself and the world around her," she concludes. "I miss you, Carrie. I love you." RELATED: Joely Fisher Says Debbie Reynolds 'Would Not Last' Without Carrie Fisher, Reveals Their Last Conversation DeGeneres then cuts to a video montage featuring various guest appearances from the Star Wars star. The tribute also touches on Fisher's mother, Debbie Reynolds, who died one day after Fisher at age 84 on Dec. 28. Fisher, who died on Dec. 27, days after going into cardiac arrest during a flight from London to Los Angeles, is survived by her daughter, Billie Lourd. She was 60. Lourd broke her silence since the death of her mother and grandmother on Monday, thanking fans for their support. "Receiving all of your prayers and kind words over the past week has given me strength during a time I thought strength could not exist," she Instagrammed alongside a childhood photo of herself with Fisher and Reynolds. "There are no words to express how much I will miss my Abadaba and my one and only Momby. Your love and support means the world to me." Watch the video below to see how Lourd's Scream Queen co-stars -- including Ariana Grande, Taylor Lautner and Lea Michele -- have rallied around her since her mother's death. Related Articles Brussels (AFP) - The European Commission said on Wednesday it regretted that Britain's ambassador to the EU Ivan Rogers had resigned, just as London prepared to launch fraught Brexit divorce negotiations. "We regret the loss of a very professional, very knowledgeable while not always easy interlocutor and diplomat, who always loyally defended the interests of his government," said Natasha Bertaud, a spokeswoman for the Commission, the EU's executive arm. Asked whether the departure of Rogers less than three months before formal Brexit talks are due to start would negatively impact the process, Bertaud said: "Negotiations have not yet started and as you know we are still waiting for the triggering to start those negotiations." British Prime Minister Theresa May has promised to trigger Article 50 of the EU's Lisbon Treaty -- the formal divorce clause -- by the end of March. The European Parliament's chief Brexit negotiator, former Belgian prime minister Guy Verhofstadt, meanwhile paid tribute to the veteran British diplomat for his expertise. "Best wishes to Sir Ivan Rogers, a much respected UK civil servant in Brussels -- who knew what he was talking about," Verhofstadt tweeted. There was no immediate reaction from the European Council, which groups the 28 EU leaders under EU President Donald Tusk. Rogers surprised London and Brussels on Tuesday when he announced he was stepping down early, accusing some in the government of "muddle-headed thinking" about Brexit and how difficult it will be to negotiate. He also exposed the British government's apparent lack of a plan, saying that "we do not yet know what the government will set as negotiating objectives for the UK's relationship with the EU after exit. By Carolyn Crist (Reuters Health) - A new study is shedding light on the risk of heart attack, stroke and death among patients who are hospitalized for surgery that doesnt involve the heart. These complications occur in 1 in 33 - or 3 percent - of hospitalizations for noncardiac surgery in the United States, researchers found. Given that more than 300 million noncardiac surgeries are performed worldwide each year, this is a situation that physicians encounter commonly, said study author Sripal Bangalore of the New York University School of Medicine in New York City. Although the focus is on preventing death (during surgery), this study emphasizes the need to think about stroke outcomes, Bangalore told Reuters Health. The risks are higher, he added, with surgery in the chest or on major blood vessels, or with organ transplants. Bangalore and colleagues analyzed data from more than 10 million hospitalizations between 2004 and 2013, looking for heart attacks, strokes and death after surgeries that werent heart-related. They saw these complications in more than 317,000 cases, or about 3 percent. The rates were highest during hospitalizations for vascular, thoracic and transplant surgeries, at 7.7 percent, 6.5 percent and 6.3 percent, respectively. Patients undergoing obstetric and gynecologic surgery had the lowest risk, the authors report in JAMA Cardiology. Patients who had one of these complications were generally older, more likely to be male and more likely to have cardiovascular risk factors such as obesity, tobacco use, alcohol abuse, hypertension, diabetes and kidney disease. In addition, non-Hispanic blacks had the highest rates of stroke and death following surgery. The research team estimates that about 150,000 heart attacks and strokes occur each year in the U.S. following noncardiac surgery. Surgery is important, and theres no doubt that it improves quality of life for those with cancer, joint issues and vascular problems, said Dr. Philip Devereaux, head of cardiology at Juravinski Hospital and Cancer Center in Ontario, Canada. Devereaux, who researches cardiac complications and surgery, was not involved with this study. However, people often dont appreciate the proportion who get serious complications, he told Reuters Health. Surgery provides the cocktail needed for heart complications. The researchers found that noncardiac surgery deaths and heart attacks declined between 2004 and 2013 (from 3.1 percent to 2.6 percent), but strokes increased slightly (from 0.52 percent to 0.77 percent). Devereaux pointed out that in the past two decades, North American hospitals have been discharging patients sooner after surgery. This may partly explain why deaths have decreased in the data, he said. With this data, were unable to follow patients to a common point in time, such as 30 days after surgery, he said. That can make it difficult to monitor and estimate. Hospitals may also miss certain markers of heart destruction following surgery, Devereaux said. Since patients receive pain medicine during surgery, it can often mask heart attack symptoms. If we dont specifically look for biomarkers 24-36 hours after surgery, we miss some heart attacks, he said. Its highly probable that most centers in the U.S. arent measuring these biomarkers. That means 1 in 33 is probably an underestimate of how many heart attacks and strokes actually occur after noncardiac surgery, Devereaux added. This highlights a substantial problem that the public should know about, Devereaux said. The medical community needs to bring attention to this issue so patients can have worry-free surgery that doesnt shorten their life or lead to major complications. SOURCE: http://bit.ly/2iEj0Tx JAMA Cardiology, online December 28, 2016. Photo credit: Splash News From Town & Country Wendi Deng is known for pursuing May-December romances (case in point: her 14-year marriage to octogenarian media mogul Rupert Murdoch), but in her new relationship, Deng is the senior party. The businesswoman (and good friend of Ivanka Trump) has reportedly been dating 21-year-old Hungarian model Bertold Zahoran since May, though the couple only made their relationship "Instagram official" over the holidays. Zahoran and Deng spent New Year's Eve in St. Barths and were photographed walking on the beach, hand-in-hand. Deng's daughters Grace and Chloe joined the couple on the trip, as did Karlie Kloss. One can only presume that the supermodel's beau, Joshua Kushner, was there as well. Very little is known about Zahoran, aside from his age and nationality, but according to People, he has modeled for brands such as Polo Ralph Lauren and Calvin Klein. He also boasts 28,500 Instagram followers, and primarily posts shirtless photos, some of which are right on the edge of NSFW. Following her divorce from Murdoch in 2013, Deng has been allegedly tied to several high-profile men including former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Russian President Vladimir Putin, though she has denied both relationships. In March of 2016, Murdoch married actress and model Jerry Hall. [contentlinks align="center" textonly="false" numbered="false" headline="More%20on%20Wendi%20Deng" customtitles="The%20Most%20Interesting%20Box%20at%20the%20US%20Open%7CIvanka%20Trump%20Travels%20to%20Croatia%20With%20Wendi%20Deng" customimages="|" content="article.7802|article.7455"] You Might Also Like By Anna Mehler Paperny (Reuters) - A 10-year-old girl, her parents and grandmother were found shot dead in their rural home in the eastern Canadian province of Nova Scotia in what a relative described Wednesday as a murder-suicide by an Afghanistan war veteran who suffered from PTSD. Family member Catherine Hartling identified the gunman as 33-year-old Canadian Forces veteran Lionel Desmond and said she believed he had shot his daughter, his wife and his mother before killing himself on Tuesday. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) said the girl's father appeared to have shot himself. RCMP said in a statement on Wednesday that all four victims died of gunshot wounds, but did not say who killed the women and girl. RCMP said officers found two guns on the scene. In a telephone interview, Hartling said Desmond had post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) following his military service in Afghanistan and should have been offered more help. "They didnt do too much for him. Put him on a medication, take him off, put him on another one, take him off," Hartling said. "Canada has to step up and do more for their people when they bring them home from overseas." Hartling said her niece Shanna Desmond, 31, was among the four killed, along with Shanna Desmond's 10-year-old daughter Aaliyah and Lionel Desmond's mother Brenda Desmond. Police said they were called on Tuesday evening to the home in Upper Big Tracadie in Nova Scotia and there was no indication of an intruder. The Canadian Forces said in an email that Lionel Desmond was an infantryman deployed to Afghanistan from January to August 2007 and was released from the military in July 2015. They declined to comment on his health care but said Desmond spent a year posted to a unit that provides care for veterans with health conditions that prevent them from returning to their normal duties. Canada's military has been publicly criticized for not adequately helping service members suffering from PTSD. The government does not track suicides of veterans once they are released from the military. (Reporting by Anna Paperny in Toronto; Editing by Grant McCool) The Faraday Future FF 91 might be fast, but who knows if well ever be able to buy it. (image: Rob Pegoraro) The FF 91 supercar that the electric-car startup Faraday Future showed off at an event here Tuesday has one definite advantage over the concept vehicle the company unveiled at last years CES: It moves. Executives at the Los Angeles firm demonstrated that by having a test car daintily park itself in a lot outside a hangar-sized event venue near downtown Las Vegas. Later, a human driver pulled up in front of the stage in an FF 91 and floored it, exiting stage left in a whir slightly quicker than the Bentley Bentayga, Ferrari 488 and Teslas Model X and Model S that other drivers had just put to the same test, and a lot quieter than those first two gas-powered vehicles. But in a second demonstration of the FF 91s self-parking capabilities, the vehicle balked on the first try. And attendees only got to see the FF 91s fully autonomous, highway-speed capability powered by an array of cameras, radars, ultrasonic sensors and a LIDAR laser sensor that pops out of the hood in self-driving mode in a few slickly produced videos. Other parts of the presentation highlighted a dizzying array of connected-car features. The FF 91 will use face-detection technology to recognize you as you walk up to it, then preload customized settings from your FF ID that cover everything from your preferred seat settings to your music playlists and favorite places. (This made the car sound a bit like a Facebook with the technical capability of running you over.) The FF 91, which looks a bit like a futuristic Lexus RS300 SUV, will also include multiple LTE modems to ensure constant bandwidth and allow the car to function as a very expensive hotspot. The rear of the Faraday Future FF 91. (image: Rob Pegoraro) But exactly how expensive? Youll have to wait to find out. The company went an hour and 12 minutes without naming a price, although it did invite interested shoppers to put down a refundable $5,000 deposit at its web site to be among the first to buy the production version when it ships in 2018, a year later than once forecast. Or you can pay an unspecified premium in March to trade up to one of 300 Alliance Edition early-build models. Story continues When asked for some kind of hint about pricing after the presentation, Jason Wallace, Faradays director of experiential marketing, told me that the FF 91 would start in the low hundred thousand dollar range. Thats neither cheap nor out of whack for the high-end car market. And if the FF 91 lives up to Faradays promises for acceleration and range, it might warrant paying that sort of price. Beyond a 0-60 mph time of 2.33 seconds technically impressive but meaningless or dangerous on many public roads the company touts a range between charges of more than 378 miles. Faraday executives credited a massive 130 kilowatt-hour battery (in comparison, the Model S comes with a choice of 70 or 90 kWh batteries) as well as advanced software that enables more efficient operation. A peek inside the Faraday Future FF 91. (image: Rob Pegoraro) Its never been more convenient to drive completely electric, propulsion-engineering vice president Peter Savagian said onstage. First, though, the company needs to work its way out of some setbacks that Tuesdays event only alluded to in the vaguest terms. The most serious among them: Novembers stoppage of work on a $1 billion factory north of Las Vegas after the company reportedly fell behind on payments. Faradays presentation proudly labeled that as the end of phase one of construction. (Wallace said this halt was not just a matter of funding but also of needing construction permits.) Distribution also remains at a vaporous state. The company plans to do all its sales online. We really want the internet to be our interface, Wallace said. But that seems likely to encounter some of the same legal hang ups that Tesla has had in setting up manufacturer-to-driver sales. Too many of the talking points Tuesday that were supposed to dispel concerns along those lines amounted to startup word-salad bravado. That did not help its cause. We dont even consider ourselves a car company; were a tech company, reformatting the future of mobility, senior engineering vice president Nick Sampson told the crowd early on. Disruption is what drives us in every facet of our business. If I had a dollar for every time Ive heard dot-com founders testify along those lines, I could easily cover the deposit on an FF 91. More of Yahoo Finances CES coverage: Email Rob at rob@robpegoraro.com; follow him on Twitter at @robpegoraro. Richard Kim, YT Jia and Nick Sampson unveil the Faraday Future FF 91 at CES 2017 (GeekWire photos/Kevin Lisota) LAS VEGAS With a thumping bass soundtrack in a lengthy airplane hangar-like building in Vegas, Faraday Future unveiled their new FF 91 electric super car tonight. The automaker was criticized at last years CES for showing off their FFZERO1 concept car, which turned out to be more style than substance. This years unveiling of the FF 91 was different, in that they attempted to show of a real vehicle that consumers will be able to order soon. Filled with more hyperbole and superlatives than a car show and tech conference combined, Faraday Future promises the fastest acceleration for a production automobile at 0-60mph in 2.39s with a whopping 1050hp. They also laid claim to the most advanced battery technology in the industry, and boldly claimed they would disrupt all aspects of the car industry. Faraday Future SVP of R&D Nick Sampson at CES 2017 Faraday Future even dared to put themselves on a roadmap of historical steps in technology, equating their electric vehicle to the creation of the electric motor by Michael Faraday, alternating current by Nikola Tesla and even the internet by Tim Berners-Lee. The company demonstrated a self-parking capability in the lot outside, showing the car searching the aisles for an empty space and then backing in to it. The evenings highlight was an indoor acceleration drag race between a Bentley, Ferrari, two Teslas and the FF 91. Faraday Future has been the center of much recent controversy with prominent executive departures in the past weeks and rumors that the companys funds are nearly depleted. Nick Sampson, the companys senior VP of R&D, boldly claimed that the naysayers were wrong and that the company will persist and is out to reformat the auto industry. Given the scope and grandeur of tonights demonstration, along with their campaign to start taking $5000 deposits for the FF 91, Im guessing that this unveiling was a PR strategy to drum up much needed consumer interest and funds to keep the companys vision afloat. Story continues More from GeekWire: The bodies of Texas father and his 5-year-old son were found in a lake after the two were reported missing after failing to return home after a duck hunting trip. Corey Saunders, 26, and his boy, Nathan, left before dawn Monday bound for Lake Tawakoni, about 60 miles east of Dallas, wife and mother Megan Saunders told authorities. Read: Woman Laughs in Court After Trying to Drown Her Dog, Witnesses Save It She reported them missing Monday evening when they never returned home. Searchers found the dad's pick-up truck and boat trailer Monday night near the lake. The family's dog, Hunt, had made it to shore and led law enforcement and state game officers to the boy's body, which was floating in the water, officials said. Rescuers resumed their search at daylight Tuesday. They found the father's body about 9:45 a.m., not far from where his son's remains were discovered, in about eight feet of water near their overturned boat, according the Hunt County Sheriff's Office. "If you want to see a game warden cry, this is the place to be," said Capt. Steve Stapleton of the state's fish and game department at a Tuesday press conference. UPDATE: Father & son's body have both been recovered at Lake #Tawakoni. pic.twitter.com/ST33nKVfiv Vanessa Brown (@VanessaBrownTV) January 3, 2017 Neither the boy nor his father had been wearing a life jacket, authorities said. The pair's small vessel may have been overburdened with hunting equipment, and an area storm may have contributed to their deaths, officials said. Read: CNN Anchor Chris Como Saves Man From Drowning in Riptide: 'I Didn't Think, I Just Went In' An autopsy determined the boy died from accidental drowning, according the sheriff's office. The father's post-mortem is pending. Story continues "Anyone who knows Corey and Nathan knows they were inseparable, and always down to hunt," a GoFundMe site established to help Megan with burial costs reads. "Corey and Nathan are loved by so many and [are] country to the core." Watch: How No Swimmers Noticed Toddler Drowning at Crowded Water Park Wave Pool Related Articles: A 6.9-magnitude earthquake struck 176 miles south of Fiji early Wednesday, 6.2 miles below the Earths surface in the South Pacific, triggering a tsunami warning, the U.S. Geological Survey reported. A 5.7-magnitude aftershock also was reported. The initial quake struck at 10:52 a.m., local time. The Tsunami Warning Center said tsunami waves were possible within 186 miles of the quakes epicenter but canceled the warning within an hour. Government agencies responsible for threatened coastal areas should take action to inform and instruct any coastal populations at risk in accordance with their own evaluation procedures and the level of threat, the center said in its warning. Despite the cancellation, the center said minor sea level fluctuations still were possible. The quake produced little concern on parts of Fiji. Im in Nadi and actually didnt feel anything. Im coastal too Wailoaloa Beach but no sirens or any hint of an emergency here, journalist Juliette Sivertsen told the Guardian. A friend from [New Zealand] alerted me to the fact theres been an [earthquake]. People carrying on as normal around here. In Suva, companies ordered buildings closed and employees to head to higher ground. "What I'm seeing is just streams and streams of people walking uphill," Corrine Ambler, who is with the International Federation of Red Cross, told the Wellington Dominion Post. "There's just a traffic jam, a whole pile of cars trying to get out of town. There were no immediate signs of damage. The Fiji Times reported people at the Sigatoka market were alarmed by the tremor, which lasted 10-15 seconds. "We are alarmed and want to go home but we're waiting for word from the market master or somebody," vendor Deo Narayan told the Fiji Times. Earthquakes are not unusual in the area though Wednesdays quake was outside the norm. Story continues "There are some level of earthquakes in and around Fiji fairly constantly or fairly often but this level of earthquake is unusual and certainly this close to the main islands is unusual and having the resultant tsunami warning is not common, Red Cross Australia aid worker Susan Slattery told the Australian Broadcasting Network. Senior seismologist Spiro Spiliopoulos of Geoscience Australia said the quake occurred near the tectonic plate boundary between the Australian and Pacific plates. He said the main temblor also likely was felt on Vanuatu, New Caledonia, Tonga and parts of American Samoa. us10007pj6_ciim Photo: USGS Related Articles MADISON, Wis. (AP) The actual cost of the presidential election recount in Wisconsin is expected to be about $1.8 million, nearly half of the estimated cost of $3.5 million. The Wisconsin Elections Commission is still waiting on final costs from Brown and Kenosha counties. Commission spokesman Reid Magney said Wednesday he expected the costs to be submitted within two weeks. The original estimates from both counties were about $180,000 each. Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein's campaign raised money to fund Wisconsin's recount, paying $3.5 million upfront. Stein said Tuesday that the expected refund of at least $1 million could go toward her new voting rights organization, Count My Vote, if that's how donors vote to use it. ___ This story has been corrected to show the original estimate for Brown and Kenosha counties was $180,000, not a revised estimate. Five Indian states representing more than 160 million voters will go to the polls in the next two months, officials said Wednesday, a key test for the prime minister after his shock currency move. They include India's most populous state Uttar Pradesh, where Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is hoping to claw back power after performing well in national elections in 2014. The elections will begin on February 4, nearly three months after Modi announced he was scrapping nearly 86 percent of all Indian currency, a move aimed at curbing widespread tax evasion. The northern states of Punjab and Uttarakhand, Goa in the west and Manipur in the northeast will also elect new governments in the elections, which go on until March 8, with results due three days later. "All five states will go to election in one go," Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi told reporters. "The commission and government machinery are in full readiness to conduct the elections in a free, fair and transparent manner." Modi's BJP needs to win state elections to gain more seats in the nation's upper house of parliament, which has blocked reforms seen as crucial to fuelling the economic growth it has promised voters. Most members of the upper house are indirectly elected by state legislatures. His party currently rules in Goa and Punjab while the opposition Congress is in power in Manipur and Uttarakhand. The BJP held power until 2002 in Uttar Pradesh, where the ruling Samajwadi Party has been roiled by a power struggle in recent weeks that some believe could weaken its grip on power. Voting in Uttar Pradesh will begin on February 11 and take place in seven stages, and is being seen as the first major test of Modi after his assault on tax evasion. Initial praise for the Indian leader's bold move has given way to criticism over the slow pace of rolling out new currency, which is widely expected to hit economic growth, although his popular support remains high. Story continues The voting also follows a Supreme Court ruling this week that politicians cannot use caste or religion to win votes. India is officially secular but most politicians, including from BJP have been accused of exploiting religious and caste sentiments to garner votes. The Election Commission said it would closely monitor that ruling, and also announced new rules designed to make campaign spending more transparent. Parties will only be allowed to use cash for campaign-related payments worth less than 20,000 rupees ($290), while candidates will have to take an oath that they have no unpaid public utility bills. Two Florida women are accused of carrying out multiple armed robberies while wearing Batman masks, PEOPLE confirms. Ormond Beach police arrested Wateka Thomason, 33, and Cassandra Raffa, 31, after they were found sleeping in a car believed to belong to Raffa at a Walmart parking lot on Jan. 1, according to a police report obtained by PEOPLE. The pair had been warned before of trespassing the parking lot, the police report states, and while police were talking to Thomason and Raffa, they noticed a pocket knife similar to the one used in the robberies and Batman beanie tucked into the side of one of the cars seats. Thomason and Raffa allegedly robbed a total of four different restaurants and convenience stores throughout December using a knife, according to police. Nobody was injured during the alleged robberies, police say. 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 women were transported to the police station where Thomason allegedly confessed to robbing a Kangaroo on Dec. 14, and a Steak n Shake on Dec. 23. Raffa did not admit to committing any robberies, according to the police report. Thomason and Raffa are being held in the Volusia County Jail, a police spokesman tells PEOPLE. 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. They are set to make their first court appearance Wednesday afternoon for numerous charges including grand theft, trespassing, attempted robbery with a deadly weapon, and dealing in stolen property. It is unclear whether they have attorneys. Ford Motor (NYSE:F), which had been bashed by Donald Trump for shipping jobs outside the U.S., announced Tuesday that it will cancel production of a $1.6 billion plant in Mexico, and will instead invest $700 million in Flat Rock, Michigan. The U.S. auto giant said it will add 700 direct new jobs in Flat Rock to produce high-tech electrified and autonomous vehicles, plus the Ford Mustang and Lincoln Continental. Ford had originally planned to build its Ford Focus in San Luis Potosi, Mexico. The company said it will continue to build its Focus at an existing plant in Hermosillo, Mexico, to improve company profitability. Ford Chairman Bill Ford Jr. said he spoke with President-elect Trump on Tuesday morning to tell him of the decision to invest in the U.S. and cancel the Mexico plant, according to Reuters. "We're also encouraged by the pro-growth policies that President-elect Trump and the new Congress have indicated that they will pursue," Ford President and CEO Mark Fields said in a statement. A source told Reuters there were no negotiations between Trump and the company. In Twitter posts, Trump claimed credit for Ford's announcement. During the final weeks of the presidential campaign, Trump slammed what he called Ford's "horrible" plans to move all small car production to Mexico within three years. "It used to be cars were made in Flint and you couldn't drink the water in Mexico," he said in a September speech in Flint, Michigan. "Now the cars are made in Mexico, and you can't drink the water in Flint. That's not good." He was referring to the lead water crisis in the the Michigan city. Story continues Trump also claimed that he helped stop Ford from moving an entire factory from Kentucky to Mexico. It is not clear how many jobs would have been impacted if the low-selling MKC had moved to Mexico. Earlier Tuesday, Trump attacked General Motors (GM) on Twitter, saying the auto giant is making a Chevy Cruze model in Mexico and then sending them to U.S. dealers tax free. Trump had previously bragged about a deal with United Technologies unit Carrier to keep some jobs in Indiana. Ford's changes are a part its plan to become an auto and mobility company. The company said it will invest $4.5 billion in electrified vehicles by 2020. "As more and more consumers around the world become interested in electrified vehicles, Ford is committed to being a leader in providing consumers with a broad range of electrified vehicles, services and solutions that make people's lives better," Fields said in the company's announcement. The electrified vehicles announced on Tuesday include, fully electric small SUV, coming by 2020 and a hybrid version of its best-selling F-150 pickup. GettyImages 487579208 Fox Business host Trish Regan was personally prepared by ex-Fox News chairman and CEO Roger Ailes as a replacement for host Megyn Kelly, people familiar with the matter told Business Insider. Multiple sources said that before entering contract negotiations with Kelly, Ailes aimed to prepare Regan to take the role in case he needed to fill the 9 p.m. time slot. Kelly announced Tuesday that after 12 years at Fox News she had chosen to depart for NBC News. The move sent shockwaves through the cable-news industry, immediately prompting observers to speculate as to who would replace her. Conventional wisdom indicated that Fox News executives would look to appoint a female host to the role to offset an otherwise all-male prime-time lineup. Regan, who hosts the 2 p.m. hour on Fox Business, was immediately seen as a top contender for the job. Others mentioned were Shannon Bream and Sandra Smith, each of whom has frequently filled in for Kelly. Another possibility was "The Five" host Kimberly Guilfoyle, who was considered as a contender for the post of press secretary in President-elect Donald Trump's administration. People familiar with the matter, however, said that if Ailes were still helming the network, the replacement choice would almost undoubtedly be Regan, who is seen as a rising star at Fox. The 44-year-old has demonstrated the ability to cover breaking news and developing stories, while also moderating political panels, a staple of cable news. Regan also hosted an undercard GOP debate during the primaries and has frequently filled in for Kelly. But whether Regan is promoted to the role in a post-Ailes era remains to be seen. Since Ailes' departure, Rupert Murdoch, the Fox News chief executive and 21st Century Fox cochair, has indicated to the staff that he intends to invest in old-fashioned journalism, people familiar with the matter said. Sources at Fox, however, said they had doubts over whether Murdoch would deliver. They point to the decision to give conservative journalist Tucker Carlson the 7 p.m. slot after Greta Van Susteren's departure instead of opting for a more down-the-middle host like Bream. Story continues If Murdoch continues in the Ailes mold of building a prime-time lineup of conservative personalities, Regan would be positioned well for the role. She has expressed views that place her as more favorable toward Trump than Kelly, who publicly clashed with Trump on the campaign trail. If, however, Murdoch opts for a more traditional journalist to replace Kelly, Bream or someone in her mold may score the spot. Either way, Murdoch's choice for the role will signal the direction Fox News intends to take with Trump residing in the White House. A Fox News representative declined to comment. It's not clear when the network will name Kelly's replacement. NOW WATCH: Here's how Jesus Christ is depicted in Islam More From Business Insider Paris (AFP) - A former prime minister of Kosovo, Ramush Haradinaj, was arrested in France on Wednesday in response to an international arrest warrant for war crimes filed by Serbia. Haradinaj -- who has been twice tried and acquitted -- is a former leader of paramilitaries who fought for Kosovo, a predominantly ethnic Albanian province of Serbia, to gain independence. He was arrested on his arrival from the Kosovo capital Pristina at Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg airport, located near the Swiss and German borders, sources close to the French investigation said. The French judicial authorities will now examine the Serbian request, they said. In Pristina, Kosovo's justice minister Dhurata Hoxha, confirmed Haradinaj, 48, had been detained. "We will take every step to ensure that Haradinaj is released as soon as possible," Hoxha said. The 1998-99 Kosovo conflict was the last war of the breakup of the former Yugoslavia. It culminated in a NATO bombing campaign against Serbia and, in 2008, in Kosovo's independence, which is still not recognised by Belgrade. Haradinaj, a commander of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) during the war, became prime minister in 2004 but stepped down after just over three months to face 37 charges of war crimes at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). He was acquitted in 2008, and again in a partial retrial in 2012. But Serbia has maintained pressure for a new trial, and issued an international arrest warrant, which led to his brief detention while transiting Slovenia in June 2015. Serbia says his unit, the so-called Black Eagles, tortured and killed dozens of Serbian civilians, whose bodies were found near Radonjic lake in the Decani region. Haradinaj was a former comrade-in-arms of Kosovo's current president, Hashim Thaci, but is now a political adversary, notable for opposing any attempt to normalise relations between Pristina and Belgrade. PERTH, Australia (AP) Roger Federer found himself overmatched just by a younger and stronger-serving opponent on Wednesday, losing 7-6 (1), 6-7 (4), 7-6 (4) to 19-year-old Alexander Zverev of Germany at the Hopman Cup. The 35-year-old Federer was playing his second match since returning from a six-month layoff because of a left knee injury. He led 5-2 in the first set, but ran into an opponent whose first-serve percentage exceeded 80 percent midway through the final set of the 2-hour match. But it turned out to be a winning evening for Federer and Swiss partner Belinda Bencic. Bencic beat Andrea Petkovic 6-3, 6-4 in their singles match, and then Federer and Bencic combined in mixed doubles to beat Zverev and Petkovic 4-1, 4-2 in the Fast4 format. "She (Bencic) carried us to victory, the player of the singles, the player of the doubles," Federer said. Earlier Wednesday, Kristina Mladenovic and Richard Gasquet won their Group A singles matches to give France victory over Britain. Mladenovic beat Heather Watson 6-4, 5-7, 6-3 before Gasquet defeated Dan Evans 6-4, 6-2. Gasquet and Mladenovic later defeated Evans and Watson 4-3, 4-3 in mixed doubles to complete a sweep. Temperatures during the opening match rose to as high as 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit), forcing both players to conserve their energy. "It was definitely difficult," said Mladenovic, who estimated she drank seven bottles of fluid during the match. "Sometimes you would like to try to put more intensity, but you have to be smart sometimes and maybe not run down every single ball." France and Switzerland, both 2-0, will play their final round-robin match against each other on Friday, with the winner advancing to Saturday's final. The United States, represented by Coco Vandeweghe and Jack Sock, have already qualified for the final from Group B after beating Czech Republic and Spain in its opening matches. On Thursday, the Czech Republic plays Spain and defending champion Australia takes on the Americans. * Areva and EDF to get capital increases in coming months * Nuclear industry rescue could cost state 10 billion euros * Conservative opposition supports costly bailout * Critics say France should follow Germany's green energy drive By Geert De Clercq PARIS, Jan 4 (Reuters) - A government-led rescue of French nuclear group Areva and the wider atomic energy industry may cost the state as much as 10 billion euros, but political support is almost certain whoever wins the presidential election in May. While taxpayers will ultimately pick up the huge bill, the main election contenders - from the Socialists and conservatives to the far-right National Front - broadly back the bailout, which involves splitting up Areva. On top of its dire financial state, Areva is beset by technical, regulatory and legal problems. But given its importance to a nuclear industry that generates three quarters of France's electricity and employs 220,000 people, the next government probably has little choice but to stand by the scheme hatched under outgoing Socialist President Francois Hollande. France has a small but fierce anti-nuclear movement and some critics oppose investing billions in extending the life of ageing reactors. Nevertheless, nuclear energy is broadly accepted, even though neighbouring Germany has decided to ditch it altogether following the 2011 disaster at Japan's Fukushima plant. "I am convinced that the 21st century will need nuclear," said conservative presidential candidate Francois Fillon. "That is why we must support the industry during this difficult period," the former prime minister wrote in his manifesto. Although Fillon is a frontrunner, the election outcome remains uncertain. However, even if National Front candidate Marine Le Pen pulls off an upset, she too has promised to stand by the nuclear industry. While Germany is replacing lost nuclear output with wind and solar power capacity, Le Pen said "so-called green energies are not realistic yet". In her manifesto, she said nuclear was necessary in the medium term to meet targets for cutting carbon emissions and maintaining French energy independence. Story continues The nuclear industry rescue also involves a cash injection for power utility EDF, which operates France's 58 nuclear reactors and will buy part of Areva's business. But for all the domestic support, Brussels must also rule on whether the bailout complies with European Union rules on state aid. Shareholders of two companies that will emerge from the restructured Areva are due to vote on the plan on Feb. 3. The timing of the EU decision is unknown, but an Areva spokeswoman said: "We hope for an answer from the European Commission within a timeframe that is compatible with the shareholder meetings." GRAPHIC: Areva shares, uranium price: http://tmsnrt.rs/2hNy4iZ ONCE THE CHAMPION Once the champion of France's nuclear industry, 87 percent state-owned Areva has seen its equity wiped out by years of losses. Among its biggest problems is a nuclear plant it is building in Olkiluoto, Finland. Work is almost a decade behind schedule and huge cost overruns have led to Finnish utility TVO and Areva claiming billions from each other. A similar project in Flamanville, France is also running years late, with costs spiralling. Areva has also had to take heavy writedowns on its African uranium mines while foreign orders have generally slumped since the Fukushima accident. On top of this, U.S. and other regulators are investigating possible safety problems related to the suspected falsification of documents at Areva's Le Creusot plant, which makes components for reactors worldwide. In a restructuring that means an end to Areva as an integrated nuclear group, the firm will sell its reactor unit Areva NP to EDF. The French state will effectively nationalise the Olkiluoto liabilities and Areva will receive a mainly state-funded cash injection of 5 billion euros ($5.2 billion) to refloat it as a uranium mining and nuclear fuel group. The government is also seeking Japanese and Chinese investors to buy minority stakes in the fuel group, provisionally called NewCo, for one billion euros. Such third-party involvement - which is likely to be crucial for winning EU state-aid clearance - could reduce the net cost to four billion, but the state's liabilities won't end there. Areva's rescue closely involves 85 percent state-owned EDF. The utility has agreed to buy a majority stake in the reactor unit Areva NP based on a value of 2.5 billion euros. The hope is that outside investors will buy minority stakes in Areva NP too. Last week Russian nuclear group Rosatom also expressed interest in participating in Areva's restructuring. While EU sanctions on Russia would be a problem, Fillon has promised to pursue warmer relations with Moscow if elected. SAFETY-RELATED OUTAGES EDF itself has been weakened by low power prices, high debt and a series of safety-related outages at its Areva-designed reactors. Now it is taking on more heavy spending commitments. In an 18 billion pound ($22 billion) project approved last year, EDF plans to build two reactors at Britain's Hinkley Point plant. This was Areva's first reactor sale in almost a decade. EDF also needs to spend 50 billion euros on upgrading its French reactors and will sink billions more into helping to save Areva. To fund this, EDF plans a 4 billion euro capital increase in early 2017, to which the state will contribute 3 billion. The state has agreed to take EDF's dividend on 2015 earnings in shares, saving the utility 1.8 billion euros in cash, and will accept the same on 2016 and 2017 earnings. So, combining the capital increases for Areva and EDF with the foregone dividend income on the 2015-17 earnings, the total cost to the state is set to add up to around 10 billion euros - although the exact amount will depend on the size of third-party investors' stakes in NewCo. In most countries such a bill would provoke a political row. In Britain, Hinkley Point is highly controversial due to its cost and the involvement of Chinese investors in a strategic industry. Prime Minister Theresa May held up signing of the deal for several weeks after taking office last year. But France is different. As well as Fillon and Le Pen, Hollande's former economy minister Emmanuel Macron, who is running as an independent, also supports nuclear energy. The Socialists have yet to pick a candidate but their choice is almost certain to back the present Socialist government's plan. "France is well known for heated debates about taxes, family issues and labour reform, but nuclear is one of the few things which every government has supported for decades," said Jean-Marc Ollagnier, Paris-based head of global consultancy Accenture's resources and energy unit. STAYING ALIVE The civil nuclear programme has not only reduced dependence on oil from the unstable Middle East. Via state nuclear agency CEA, it is also linked to France's atomic weapons programme and nuclear submarine fleet, whose propulsion systems are made by an Areva unit. Letting Areva fail would mean relying on foreign groups such as Toshiba-owned Westinghouse to service EDF's reactors and handle their fuel, which is unthinkable within France's policy of energy self-reliance. Areva is also due to play a crucial role in extending the lifespan of EDF's reactors. Most were connected to the grid between 1980 and 1990, and designed to operate for 40 years. Fillon supports EDF's wish to extend this to 60 years. But critics note that while France struggles to sell nuclear reactors abroad, Denmark's Vestas and Germany's Siemens are winning export deals for wind turbines. Former environment minister Corinne Lepage blames an old boy's network of graduates from France's elite engineering schools for defending nuclear at any cost. She opposes EDF extending the life of its oldest reactors, saying it should instead start decommissioning them. EDF could build this into a business in dismantling reactors while gradually switching to renewable energy, she told Reuters. "We need a massive reconversion plan for EDF staff. These are engineers. If they can handle nuclear reactors, they can also handle wind turbines and solar panels," she said. ($1 = 0.9649 euros) ($1 = 0.8152 pounds) (editing by David Stamp) PARIS, Jan 4 (Reuters) - Euro zone countries should retreat from the single currency represented by the euro and return to a "common currency" structure, French National Front leader Marine Le Pen said on Wednesday, evoking the ECU monetary system that existed beforehand. Speaking to Reuters after a New Year news conference, Le Pen, who hopes to become president of France next year, also said that French national debt would be denominated in a new national currency under her administration. Le Pen has long said that France should exit the euro currency but in the past has not offered details about how that could happen. (Reporting by Ingrid Melander; Writing by Andrew Callus; Editing by Michel Rose; ) Frank Spotnitzs UK-based Big Light Productions is launching an immersive Writers Room Project which will provide unique access to the X Files alum, and involve shadow work on upcoming series. The first show to fall under the scheme is CBS just-debuted suspense drama Ransom, for which scripts will be developed in view to a potential second season. There are currently two spaces for UK writers who have already had some work produced in TV, theater or radio, and are represented by an agent. Created in partnership with Creative Skillsets High End TV Council through the HETV Levy, the paid scheme will enable intermediate TV writers to gain more experience in long-running series and team writing. Big Light is committed to nurturing talent and theres no better way of demonstrating this than throwing two eager writers into the deep end, says Spotnitz. Candidates will need to provide original writing samples applications from female and diverse writers are strongly encouraged. The call for submissions will close January 13. Folks seeking to apply should contact rosydeacon@biglight.com. Those selected for the shortlist will be interviewed the week of January 23. The start date for successful applicants will be January 30. They will receive an allowance and financial help for living expenses and transportation, with accommodation provided by the project partners. Ransom is a 13-episode co-production from CBS, TF1 in France and Shaw in Canada thats created by David Vainola and Spotnitz. The Writers Room scheme is developing scripts for Season 2 with the intention that the series will be renewed. It launched in the U.S. on Sunday, averaging about 7.05M viewers and a 0.9 rating in adults 18-49. Ransom will move into its Saturday 8 PM slot on January 7. The Canada-France treaty co-production is a lower-cost acquisition, allowing CBS to use it on a night with little ratings upside like Saturday. Story continues Based on the real-life experiences of internationally renowned hostage negotiator Laurent Combalbert and his partner Marwan Mery, Ransom stars Luke Roberts as Eric Beaumont. He understands criminals better than they do, and uses his insight into human behavior to resolve the most difficult kidnap and ransom cases. Despite the stakes, Eric refuses to resort to violence, even when confronted by some of the most dangerous criminals in the world. While his considerable powers of manipulation make him the best at what he does professionally, they often complicate his relationships with family, friends and colleagues. Big Light and Spotnitzs credits also include Medici: Masters Of Florence, The Indian Detective and The Man In The High Castle. Related stories Hulu CEO Says It Will Have CBS On Live Streaming Service 'The Mick' Previews Strong, 'Ransom' Starts Slow, 'To Tell the Truth' Returns Low, 'Sunday Night Football' Up In Ratings JonBenet Ramsey's Brother Sues CBS For $750M Over Program That Pegged Him As Her Killer When Hillary Clinton lost the presidential election to Donald Trump, hope that the federal government might make the nations public colleges and universities free dwindled. The Democratic Party faithful, among others, were dejected. Until now. In a sign that tuition-free higher education could continue to expand in a more piecemeal fashion, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo unveiled a plan on Tuesday to offer tuition-free degrees at the states public colleges and universities for residents from families earning less than $125,000 a year. The idea is significant in part because New York is home to the nations largest public-university systemserving some 440,000 studentsand the plan, which will need to be approved by state lawmakers, could affect 940,000 families with college-age children, according to the governors office. Whats more, Cuomoa Democratand other advocates hope that if New York successfully makes tuition-free college a statewide reality, then other states will follow. Bernie Sanders, Clintons main Democratic challenger during the presidential primaries and a vocal advocate of tuition-free public colleges, joined Cuomo, who is reported to be considering a run for president in 2020. The pair explained the proposal in remarks at LaGuardia Community College in Queens. The days when a person could graduate from high school and count on a well-paying manufacturing job are over, Sanders said. In the current economy, you need a college education, if youre going to compete. Recommended: Teaching: Not for Introverts Despite Trumps campaign-trail promises to bring manufacturing jobs back to the United States, research from Anthony Carnevale, the head of the Center on Education and the Workforce at Georgetown University, and others back up the idea that college is still generally a solid investment. People with college degrees still earn more than those without them, and degree-holders are less likely to be unemployed as more jobs than ever require a degree. Story continues But, Cuomo said, rising college costs and the need for many families to take out costly student loans are making it harder to get a college education than it was in previous generations. He equated beginning college with debt to starting a race with an anchor tied to your leg. Just as society decided generations ago that it would fund public high school because the economy depended on it, Cuomo said, society should say the same about college today. While the governor hailed his statewide proposal as the first of its kind in the country, he is not the first politician to advance the idea. In 2015, Tennessee became the first state to make community college free for high-school seniors through a program championed by Republican Governor Bill Haslam. More than 20 of Californias community colleges now offer at least some funding and other support, often with help from private businesses and foundations, to local students. And where the Obama administration failed to move forward its plan to make community colleges across the country freein part because of Republican resistance to Washington intervening in what some conservatives view as a state issuethere appears to be at least some bipartisan support for the idea of free college. Making tuition-free college a reality ahead of a potential 2020 presidential run would be a political boon in a Democratic primary. Democrats have long framed the matter of free college as a way of giving all students equal access to educational opportunities no matter their backgrounds, while Republicans have argued that free college benefits local economies. Cuomo touched on that argument when he said he hoped the New York proposal would be a wake-up call to this nation if the United States wants to be competitive globally. In recent years, the United States has fallen behind other countries in the percentage of students who complete degrees, and there are sizable gaps in college completion between white students and students of color, who make up a growing portion of the nations young people. Recommended: Millennials Can Smell Christian 'B.S. From a Mile Away' Less than 40 percent of students in New Yorks four-year public universities and less than 10 percent of those at two-year public schools earned their degrees on time in 2013, according to the governors office, and average student-loan debt in the state had risen to more than $29,000 by 2015. In-state tuition in New York currently ranges from around $4,300 to $6,500 a year. There is no guarantee, though, that Cuomo will be able to convince state lawmakers to move his plan forward, and not all students would be covered. The governors office says the plan will cost about $163 million a year once its fully phased in, which Cuomo would like to see happen by the fall of 2019. Making tuition-free college a reality ahead of a potential 2020 presidential run would be a political boon in a Democratic primary. According to the governors office, the program would be funded through the states tuition-assistance programwhich provides close to $1 billion in grants to studentsfederal grants, and other state funds. But whether state lawmakers, who have resisted earlier free-tuition plans, are willing to endorse the idea remains to be seen. And while Cuomo has supported state Dream Act proposals, which would open up such funding to undocumented students who graduate from high schools in New York, they are currently barred from receiving these grants, meaning undocumented students likely would not be covered by the tuition-free proposal. Recommended: The 20 Most Anticipated TV Shows of 2017 (So Far) Its also worth noting that university fees and room-and-board costs often present as much of a barrier as tuition does to college completion, with students of color, low-income students, and first-generation college students less likely to earn degrees than their peers. But speaking briefly after Cuomo, Sanders, who grew up in New York, said he hoped the announcement would serve as a message to the states children that, if they work hard, they will be able to get a college education regardless of how much their families earn. That is a message that is going to provide hope and optimism to working-class families all across the state, he said. If New York makes the proposal a reality, he predicted, other states will implement similar plans. Read more from The Atlantic: This article was originally published on The Atlantic. Nice (France) (AFP) - A French farmer who faces up to five years in prison for helping African migrants slip into the country and find shelter told his trial Wednesday he merely wanted to relieve their suffering. Cedric Herrou, 37, has become something of a folk hero around the French-Italian border for driving migrants across the frontier, under the noses of the French police, and then putting them up. He is one of three people in the area to appear in court recently for illegally assisting migrants travelling up through Europe after crossing the Mediterranean in rickety boats. Their cases have pitched the spirit of solidarity against the letter of the law at a time when border controls and migration have become hot political issues. At his trial Wednesday in the southern city of Nice, the farmer struck an unrepentant tone. "I'm doing it because there are people in need," he told the judge. "I'm doing it because it has to be done... Families are suffering." Public prosecutor Jean-Michel Pretre called for Herrou to be given an eight-month suspended term, for his vehicle to be confiscated and for his driving licence to be restricted to driving only for professional use. He accused Herrou of using the court as a "political platform" to justify his acts. "We find ourselves in the situation of an intentional trial, the product of a media strategy designed to showcase a cause," Pretre said. "It's not the job of the judicial system to change law, and it's not its job to give lessons in diplomacy to such-and-such a country," he said. Judgement is expected on February 10. Herrou's olive farm sits in a valley near the frontier with Italy, near a popular route for migrants trying to skirt border controls established between the neighbours after last year's terror attacks in France. Cutting a bohemian figure with his black beard, round glasses and flat cap, he claimed he was picking up the slack for "a state that put borders in place and is absolutely not managing the consequences." Story continues Addressing hundreds of supporters outside the courthouse earlier, he declared: "If we have to break the law to help people, let's do it!" He has been outspoken in his criticism of France's response to the migrant crisis, accusing the police of detaining "thousands" of minors and dumping them back across the border in Italy. Police regularly remove migrant youths from trains crossing into France and send them back to Italy. Cars crossing the frontier are also frequently checked. In October, Herrou led a group of activists who occupied a disused holiday village belonging to state railway company SNCF and opened it up to a group of migrants who had been staying on his farm. Police intervened after three days to evacuate the makeshift camp, arresting the farmer. - Activist or Good Samaritan? - Two months earlier, he had been arrested for trying to smuggle eight Eritrean migrants by car from Italy into France. That case was later dropped, with prosecutors acknowledging that he acted on humanitarian grounds. But they have since taken a less indulgent view. Herrou said he began helping migrants when he saw them "walking along the road" around 18 months ago. At first, he would give them a lift to the local station but when immigration controls were beefed up in the region after last year's terror attacks he began taking them deeper inside French territory. "And then a citizens' network was established," he said. In court he admitted his actions were "political", designed to shine a light on the state's migrant policies. "Even if you convict me, the problem will continue," he argued. In October, a researcher at the University of Nice, Sophia Antipolis, was tried for giving a lift to three Eritrean women near Nice, shortly after their arrival from Italy. The ruling in the researcher's case is expected Friday. Prosecutors have called for a six-month suspended sentence. In December, a 73-year-old academic, also living in the area, was fined 1,500 euros ($1,570) for a similar gesture. Bordeaux (AFP) - Bordeaux-Begles' France international prop Jefferson Poirot has been ruled out for three months with a leg injury and will miss the Six Nations, his club manager Raphael Ibanez said Wednesday. Poirot, capped eight times, tore a muscle in his right calf in a warm-up ahead of Friday's Top 14 clash against Lyon. The 24-year-old was on the bench for the Lyon game and was expected to make his comeback after damaging his right shoulder in France's match against Samoa on November 12. Richard Machowicz Former US Navy SEAL Richard "Mack" Machowicz, best known for starring in the hit show "Future Weapons" on Discovery Channel, died on Monday after a long battle with brain cancer. He was 51. The news of Machowicz' death was first shared by his friend and fellow SEAL Craig Sawyer. The website SOFREP, run by fellow SEAL Brandon Webb, also wrote of Machowicz and offered a tribute to his "nearly fifty-two years of living by example." Machowicz had been diagnosed with Stage 4 brain cancer some time in late 2015, according to his company's Facebook page, NDCQ, or "Not Dead, Can't Quit." "I refuse to give up on myself and what I'm capable of doing," he said in February 2016. Though he was best known for "Future Weapons," Machowicz also hosted Spike TV's "Deadliest Warrior" and other shows on The History Channel and the Military Channel. He also authored a best-selling book, was an accomplished martial artist, and served as a Navy SEAL for ten years. "His private messages and phone conversations have remained strong and inspiring throughout," his friend, Navy SEAL Craig Sawyer, posted on Facebook. "An amazing man in so many ways... His strength of character and integrity were outstanding." He is survived by his wife and two young daughters. Machowicz' company NDCQ did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider. NOW WATCH: Watch the Marines' F-35 fire an 80-round burst from its gun pod for the first time More From Business Insider Banjul (Gambia) (AFP) - The Gambia's army chief on Wednesday reaffirmed his loyalty to President Yahya Jammeh, despite the threat of a regional military intervention if the strongman refuses to step down. Lieutenant General Ousman Badjie used a New Year message published in the pro-government Daily Observer newspaper to "renew to Your Excellency (Jammeh) the assurance of the unflinching loyalty and support of The Gambia Armed Forces". Regional leaders warned last month that the 15-member Economic Community Of West African States (ECOWAS) would "take all necessary action" to enforce the results of a disputed December 1 poll that Jammeh lost to Adama Barrow. Top ECOWAS official Marcel Alain de Souza described force as a "possible solution" if Jammeh clings to power, while Senegalese President Macky Sall, whose nation almost entirely surrounds The Gambia, said a military intervention could be the final course of action. - Poll U-turn - Jammeh, who has been in power for 22 years, stunned observers by initially accepting his defeat, but then made a U-turn a week later, rejecting the results and then filing a court challenge against the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC). Diplomats in the region have voiced private concern that Barrow's safety is not being guaranteed by the state, as he relies on unarmed volunteers to act as bodyguards. Barrow initially claimed the army chief had personally assured him of his support, but Badjie subsequently appeared at high-level mediation talks in Banjul in mid-December saying the incumbent was still his boss. A crackdown in recent days by security agents has also shut two radio stations, while a group of traders selling t-shirts featuring Barrow's image were briefly detained. Hannah Forster, executive director of the Gambia-based African Centre for Democracy and Human Rights Studies, described the media repression as "a blow to democracy" on Wednesday. Story continues "These radio stations have been sharing information in the local languages...I would like the government to reconsider their decision," she told AFP. On Tuesday evening Jammeh and his party filed two more legal complaints with the Supreme Court, claiming two regions had their results doctored and alleging Jammeh was denied a "well-earned victory". "If the result was properly collated, the outcome would have shown that the Petitioner (Jammeh) won the election," said a court filing lodged by Jammeh himself and seen by AFP Wednesday. Meanwhile 20,000 Jammeh supporters in these regions were "dissuaded by IEC officials from voting," the filing said, calling for a re-run in the areas affected. - Safety fears - The head of Gambia's electoral commission has fled to neighbouring Senegal fearing for his safety, meaning he is unlikely to appear in any of the three court cases now lodged against him. Alieu Momar Njie suspected a plot against him after his commission's headquarters were locked down by the security forces for several days while Jammeh challenges the election result in the Supreme Court. The second complaint lodged by Jammeh's campaign chief Yankuba Colley on Tuesday said it represented 5,300 voters denied the right to cast their ballots. If they had been permitted to vote it "would have altered the result of the election," according to the document. The election was hailed internationally as free and fair, but Jammeh has cited a recount issued in the days after the election as evidence of manipulation by the IEC. Garry Kasparov, chairman of the Human Rights Foundation, Russian pro-democracy leader, former world chess champion and author of Winter Is Coming: Why Vladimir Putin and the Enemies of the Free World Must Be Stopped, spoke to Yahoo Chief Investigative Correspondent Michael Isikoff about why President-elect Donald Trump continues to question the U.S. intelligence communitys conclusions about Russias role in hacking during the election. He also discussed Trumps relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin, how it might evolve when Trump is president and the threat he believes Putin poses to the world. Under the incoming Donald Trump administration, nominations to the Supreme Court could wind up being even more of a political flashpoint than they have been in recent years, as Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on Tuesday night said that he would absolutely do his best to keep the current vacancy on the court unfilled. The comments came after the New York senator had previously suggested that Democrats would be willing to support a Trump nominee if he or she were mainstream. In an interview with the Associated Press on Wednesday, he clarified that he doesnt expect that condition to be met. Related: GOP House, Off to a Shaky Start, Backtracks on Killing Ethics Panel My worry is, with the hard right running the show, that the likelihood of the nominee being mainstream is decreasing every day, he said. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Wednesday reacted with indignation to the idea of an indefinite delay on filling the seat left vacant by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia early last year. That is something the American people will not tolerate, he said in a Capitol Hill press conference, and well be looking forward to receiving a Supreme Court nomination and moving forward on it. The irony of McConnell criticizing an extended hold on filling a Supreme Court slot was lost on nobody. The Kentucky Republican was the chief architect of a successful plan to prevent President Obama from filling Scalias seat over the final year of his presidency. Related: Senate Dems Plan to Slam the Brakes on Trumps Cabinet To do so, McConnell relied on a comment that Vice President Biden made in 1992 about perhaps not filling a non-existent vacancy during the final months of President George H.W. Bushs term. McConnell and his colleagues inflated the comment into the Biden Rule and pretended that it had been the actual policy of the Democratic Party in order to justify blocking the nomination of an appointee, Federal Judge Merrick Garland, who members of both parties had said was eminently qualified. Story continues In criticizing Schumers suggestion that Democrats could hold the Scalia seat open during Trumps term, McConnell also failed to note that just days before the presidential election, members of his own party were suggesting that if Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton were to win, they would do exactly that. There is certainly long historical precedent for a Supreme Court with fewer justices, said Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, discussing the prospect of refusing to seat Clintons Supreme Court nominees. I would note, just recently, that Justice [Stephen] Breyer observed that the vacancy is not impacting the ability of the court to do its job. Thats a debate that we are going to have. At around the same time, North Carolina Sen. Richard Burr reportedly said in a private gathering, [I]f Hillary Clinton becomes president, I am going to do everything I can do to make sure four years from now, we still got an opening on the Supreme Court. Related: Why Trump Needs to Take the Economy More Seriously Whether or not Schumer will follow through with a threat to block a Trump nominee is unclear. The Democrats are facing a tough slate of senate elections in 2018, with several incumbents running in states that Trump won in the presidential election. Convincing enough Democrats to uphold an indefinite filibuster of a Trump nominee could be too heavy a lift. And even if Democrats are able to hold the line, they have already provided Republicans with a roadmap for getting around it. When former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid invoked the nuclear option in 2014, doing away with the filibuster for presidential nominees other than Supreme Court justices, the decision to leave the high court out of it was optional. McConnell could easily invoke the same process to eliminate Supreme Court nominee filibusters. Democrats could take their revenge by adopting McConnells strategy of total opposition to all Republican legislation, which he employed to great effect while serving as senate minority leader. The result would be either total gridlock in the legislative branch, or further expansion of the nuclear option to cover legislation as well as nomination, eliminating the minority party from lawmaking entirely. In either case, the only sure outcome would be that public approval of Congress, already at historic lows, would continue its seemingly inevitable slide toward zero. Top Reads from The Fiscal Times: ATHENS (Reuters) - Greek prosecutors have raided the Athens offices of Swiss drugmaker Novartis as part of a probe into bribery allegations, a court official told Reuters on Wednesday. "In the framework of a judicial probe that was ordered in December, prosecutors raided the offices of Novartis over the last few days to search for possible bribery," said the official, who declining to be identified. The investigation was ordered after the country's justice minister responded to media reports alleging bribes by Novartis to doctors and public officials. "The prosecutors do not have any other evidence apart from the reports and have asked U.S. judicial authorities for assistance," the court official said. In Switzerland, Novartis said it was aware of the reports from Greece and was seeking further information. "We are fully cooperating with requests from local and foreign authorities. Novartis is committed to the highest standards of ethical business conduct and regulatory compliance in all aspects of its work and takes any allegation of misconduct extremely seriously," a company statement said. The Swiss drugmaker is fighting a widening lawsuit by U.S. prosecutors who allege its sales force ran a decade-long doctor kickback scheme involving sham events that led to overcharging the federal government. The drugmaker has disputed the allegations, which were filed in 2013. In Turkey, an anonymous whistleblower has alleged the company paid bribes there through a consulting firm to secure business advantages worth an estimated $85 million. Novartis has called those allegations unfounded and reiterated on Wednesday it had not been contacted by any Turkish authorities about the matter, which it considered closed. In 2015 Novartis paid $390 million to settle U.S. allegations that it used kickbacks to specialty pharmacies to inappropriately push the sales of its drugs. (Reporting by George Georgiopoulos and Lefteris Papadimas; additional reporting by Michael Shields in Zurich; Editing by Alexandra Hudson and Mark Potter) Rome (AFP) - Tunisian suspect Anis Amri smuggled the weapon used in the Berlin Christmas market attack across borders to Italy and used it in the shoot-out in which he was killed, Italian police said Wednesday. Meanwhile, German police were trying to establish if a 26-year-old Tunisian -- who has been arrested in Berlin on an unrelated charge -- was an accomplice of Amri. Italian police said ballistic tests proved the gun fired at an officer in Milan was the same as the one used to kill the Polish driver of the hijacked truck which Amri is believed to have ploughed into the crowd on December 19 in an attack that killed 12. "The weapon that killed the driver of the Berlin massacre truck is the same as the one Anis Amri used to wound a policeman in Milan," forensic police said in a statement. An investigation was underway to see whether the weapon had been used "in other criminal episodes, in Italy or elsewhere". Amri, 24, the prime suspect in the Berlin Christmas market attack, was shot dead after travelling through several European countries before heading to Italy. Dutch prosecutors revealed Wednesday that based on CCTV images they now "have a clear picture of Amri's movements in The Netherlands" on December 21 when he arrived in the town of Nijmegen, and then took a train to Amsterdam's central station. "In the late afternoon, he then boarded a train directly for Brussels, and travelled to Belgium," the prosecution said in a statement. Belgian prosecutors confirmed in a statement Amri had arrived in Brussels North on a train from Amsterdam at about 7:00 pm (1800 GMT) where he had stayed until about 9:00pm (2000 GMT). They gave no further information. It had earlier been thought that Amri had travelled to Lyon in France directly by bus from Nijmegen, which is close to the German border. The Tunisian was then approached in the early hours of December 22 by two policemen as he loitered outside a Milan train station. He fired at one officer before being shot dead by the other. Story continues German authorities have been trying to establish if Amri acted alone and on Tuesday carried out raids targeting two of his acquaintances. One of the two had met Amri for a meal in Berlin on the eve of the attack, said a spokeswoman for federal prosecutors, adding that the two "spoke intensively". "We suspect that the 26-year-old Tunisian was possibly involved in the act or at least knew about the plan for an attack from Anis Amri," said the spokeswoman Frauke Koehler. - Giving the finger - Prosecutors do not have sufficient evidence to place the man under arrest over the allegation, she said. The suspect is nevertheless in police custody over an unrelated case of defrauding the social welfare system. Investigators are examining "means of communication" collected during Tuesday's raids of the man's living quarters in an asylum seeker shelter, said Koehler. Meanwhile, the spokeswoman said a surveillance image captured Amri at a rail and subway station close to the site of the attack. Amri appeared to be aware of the camera, Koehler said, as he raised his index finger in its direction, in what appeared to be the salute used by Islamic State jihadists. The Berlin rampage was claimed by the Islamic State group, which released a video in which Amri is shown pledging allegiance to IS chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. WASHINGTON (AP) President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday escalated his blunt public challenge to the U.S. intelligence agencies he will soon oversee, appearing to embrace WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange's contention that Russia did not provide his group with the hacked Democratic emails that roiled the 2016 election. Trump's defiance has increased the pressure on intelligence officials to provide decisive evidence of Russian election interference. A full report was ordered by President Barack Obama last month, and Obama will receive the report and be briefed on it Thursday, according to a White House official who wasn't authorized to speak to reporters and requested anonymity. High-level intelligence officials are heading to New York Friday to brief Trump on the classified findings. The Obama administration also plans to make an unclassified version public before the president leaves office Jan. 20. Russia not only meddled in the election, but did so to help Trump win, according to the intelligence agencies' assessment. But the administration has so far released only limited information to support that conclusion. And in the absence of such public evidence, the president-elect has seized on some Americans' skepticism of U.S. intelligence in general, citing high-profile missteps that led to the Iraq war. But this Trump campaign has so far been a lonely one in Washington. His views put him at odds with Obama and leaders in his own party who see Moscow as a growing threat. And they put him in line with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Assange, whose organization has been under criminal investigation for its role in classified information leaks. Since 2012, Assange has been in the Embassy of Ecuador in London, unable to leave without being arrested for breaching his bail conditions. Taking to Twitter on Wednesday, Trump noted that Assange "said Russians did not give him the info" referring to the trove of emails stolen from the Democratic National Committee and John Podesta, a top aide to Democrat Hillary Clinton. Story continues Vice President-elect Mike Pence commended Trump for his "very sincere and healthy American skepticism." "Given some of the intelligence failures of recent years, the president-elect's made it clear to the American people that he's skeptical of conclusions from the bureaucracy, and I think the American people hear him loud and clear," Pence said after a meeting on Capitol Hill with Republican lawmakers. Trump is to be briefed on the hacking report Friday by CIA Director John Brennan, FBI Director James Comey and Director of National Intelligence James Clapper. Brennan, in an interview Tuesday with PBS NewsHour, said the report will include "what was collected, what was disclosed and what the purpose and intent of that effort was." Clapper is testifying on Capitol Hill Thursday. But he could be limited in what he can say about the report's conclusions given that Trump and perhaps Obama may not have been briefed by that time. Indisputable evidence of responsibility for hacking is difficult to come by and often technical. The information the administration has released so far does not lend itself to firm conclusions. The most recent information has come from a joint analysis by the Homeland Security Department and the FBI that ties Russian government activities to the hacks of the DNC and others. The analysis includes a list of internet addresses identified by the administration as potentially tied to Russian hackers. Many other addresses are untraceable. The Associated Press found at least 20 percent of the addresses had traced back to computer servers that help users browse the web anonymously, often for legitimate purposes. That web service, called Tor, was initially funded by the U.S. government and is now used prominently by activists and journalists working in hostile countries who need to keep their identities secret. Other internet addresses released by DHS trace back to servers at several American universities, as well as tech giant Yahoo Inc. The government cautioned that the addresses weren't automatically tied to Russian malicious activity, but instead were indicators that computer security experts should investigate further. Trump aides say that while he has received "raw data" on the Russian hacking, he is skeptical of the conclusions being drawn. Steven Hall, a retired chief of Russia operations at the CIA, set expectations low for the public hacking report, saying agencies typically lean toward protecting intelligence-gathering techniques. "The more information that is revealed, the more likely it is that sources and methods could be compromised, thereby limiting our ability to collect in the future," Hall said. At the White House, press secretary Josh Earnest noted that all 17 U.S. intelligence agencies had agreed on the assessment about Russia's activities and added of Trump: "Who are you going to believe?" "The decision he makes about that I think will have long-term consequences for the way he chooses to govern the country," Earnest said. Indeed, Trump's challenges to the intelligence community since winning the election have been striking. The nature of the presidency gives the commander in chief discretion to decide how to respond to intelligence assessments. But any skepticism about the agencies' conclusions usually plays out privately in the Situation Room and Oval Office, not on Twitter . Trump's posture has appeared to be driven in part by concern that evidence of Russian meddling would raise questions about the legitimacy of his election. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., one of his party's fiercest Russia critics, said the issue was not about the validity of the election, but "the fact that a foreign entity hacked into a political party." "When you compromise one political party, you compromise all political parties," Graham said. ___ Associated Press writers Tami Abdollah, Jack Gillum Laurie Kellman, Deb Riechmann and Josh Lederman contributed to this report. ___ Follow Julie Pace at http://twitter.com/jpaceDC and Eileen Sullivan at http://twitter.com/esullivanap Haim Saban, one of the most prolific donors to Democrats, said that he was deeply disturbed by the Obama administrations decision not to veto a recent UN Security Council resolution condemning Israeli settlements, as well as Secretary of State John Kerrys speech several days later. Saban, through his publicist, issued a statement, saying that as a longstanding Democrat who has supported and defended President Obama on his treatment of Israel throughout his presidency, I am deeply disturbed by the Administrations decision not to veto UN Security Council Resolution 2334 and Secretary Kerrys subsequent one-sided speech. These actions undermine our countrys long-standing support for Israel and harm any long-term prospects for peace, which is in our national interest, he added. Further, I urge the Obama Administration to stay true to our decades old policy by vetoing any additional biased UNSC resolutions that may be introduced at the Paris summit later this month, and refrain from issuing any other policy statements that would only make things worse. Last month, the United States abstained from a vote that condemned Israeli settlements on the West Bank and East Jerusalem, allowing the resolution to pass. In his speech, Kerry criticized the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, accusing him of blocking the peace process and of the current climate leading toward one state and perpetual occupation. Saban was a major donor and fundraiser to Hillary Clintons campaigns in 2008 and 2016. He was more reluctant to throw his support behind Barack Obama in the 2008 general election, but eventually backed his 2012 reelection campaign and later hosted Obama at his home for a fundraiser. Saban added, Fostering the conditions for peace, security, and prosperity for both Israelis and Palestinians is a core American interest. In the months and years ahead, it is essential that the U.S. in its role as the only superpower today take the necessary steps to maintain its credibility as an intermediary between the parties and work to advance a sustainable two-state solution, in which a Jewish, democratic State of Israel lives in peace and security alongside its neighbors or, until the conditions are ripe for peace, promote a separation between the two peoples. Story continues Related stories Obama Two-Hour Retrospective Interview Special to Air on History This Month President Obama Criticizes Media Coverage of Election in Final Press Conference of 2016 President Obama Sets 'The Daily Show With Trevor Noah' Appearance Adzope (Cote d'Ivoire) (AFP) - As many African women spend much of their spare time in hair salons, Ivory Coast's chief librarian, also a woman, came up with a brainwave scheme to help them read and learn to read. Crammed on shelves between hair extensions, untangling creams and straightening lotions, a total 23 hair salons now offer customers a range of books on loan from the National Library. "Libraries are practically non-existent in our suburbs and the ones that do exist get very few visitors, and rarely women," said chief librarian Chantal Adjiman, who launched the project in 2012. With little time on their hands between work and childcare, most women simply do not have the opportunity to seek out books. So the library decided it was best to take books to one of their "regular meeting-places". "Ivorian women are charmers," said Adjiman. "They can spend more than an hour and a half in a hair salon." At the National Library building, where 1,750 books have been set aside for the hair salons, staff pack novels, children's books and also essays about women's or children's rights into boxes. - 'I come here just to read' - Outside one of the hair salons, located in a market, a young woman sits reading on a bench oblivious to the noise or the banter of the traders nearby. "I've got no money to buy books so I often come here just to read," she said. Inside the salon, where a woman under a hood hair dryer thumbs a novel, owner Benedicte Ouguehi says the presence of the books has attracted new customers. Even hairdressers working out in the open come by the salon to borrow books for their clients, she adds. In Abidjan's well-heeled district of Cocody, 66-year-old salon owner Justine Inagohi says she immediately agreed to sign onto the scheme. "Women gossip under the dryers, I'd rather they did something more educational," she said. Inagohi has even set up a reading corner for children, used both by children accompanying their mothers and those who live in her own building. The presence of the books, whether they be for children or for adults, gives women who cannot read and write the incentive to learn, and even men are beginning to turn up in women's hair salons to borrow them, said librarian Adjiman. "Ivorians love reading but have no access to books," she said. Port-au-Prince (AFP) - Jovenel Moise, the winner of Haiti's presidential elections, now faces the daunting challenge of leading a desperately poor and politically-divided Caribbean nation. The 48-year-old political neophyte made an appeal for national unity in a speech late Tuesday after the Provisional Electoral Council declared him the winner of the November 20 elections with 55.6 percent of the vote. Moise called his election a vote "for a path to a better life for all Haitians." The results bring an official end to a protracted political crisis in Haiti, which has been leaderless since February 2016 when president Michel Martelly stepped down without a successor. But Moise, candidate of the Tet Kale (PHTK) party, will be assuming leadership of a country riven by deep social and political divisions, and a depleted treasury. More than 200 years after its independence from France, history's first black republic is classified by the World Bank as one of the world's most unequal. The wealth possessed by Haiti's economic elite, people of mixed race and of Syrian-Lebanese descent, contrasts with the extreme poverty of the rest of the population: nearly 60 percent of Haitians live on less than $2 (1.90 euros) a day. The huge gap between rich and poor was a key aspect of the campaigns of Moise's main rivals, who accused the PHTK candidate of defending only the interests of the bourgeois elite. But Moise on Tuesday said his administration would "work for all Haitians without distinction." Appealing to his rivals for the presidency, Moise said their experience, ability and dedication were needed "so that every Haitian may have food on their plate and money in their pockets." - Opposition defiance - The main opposition candidates have yet to concede defeat and are legally challenging Moise's victory. Presidential elections were first held in October 2015, but the results were thrown out due to massive fraud. Since then, the major opposition candidates have rejected any possibility of a Moise victory, denouncing his win as an "electoral coup d'etat." Story continues The official results put Jude Celestin in second place with 19.57 percent of the vote, followed by Moise Jean-Charles (11.04 percent) and Maryse Narcisse (9.01 percent). And most Haitians showed little interest in the contest with only 21 percent casting a ballot in the election. Public skepticism of politicians is high, and Moise's ideas for reform are sketchy. Meanwhile, the Haitian economy is in deep trouble, staggering under a $2 billion debt, a lack of public or private investment and anemic growth that is not expected to surpass one percent this year. Hurricane Matthew, which left $2 billion in damages in October, has already complicated Moise's plans for turning Haiti into an exporter of organic foods. - Halting the brain drain - Faced with this economic and social mess, middle-class youths only see a future outside Haiti. Over the past three years, thousands have been leaving each month. Stopping this brain drain is one of Moise's biggest challenges, but the exodus has been under way for two decades: One in every four Haitians now live abroad. Aware of that reality, the president-elect said Tuesday it was "time for the diaspora to really participate in the economic, social and political development" of Haiti. But Haitian law grants no political rights to non-resident Haitians, and members of the national legislature are likely to resist any change that would open the political system to competition from outside. LONDON (Reuters) - Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond will meet with political leaders and finance officials from the Gulf states this week as part of the country's drive to promote trade ahead of its exit from the European Union. The government said in a statement that Hammond would meet Kuwait's acting prime minister, finance minister and central bank governor on Wednesday before travelling to Abu Dhabi to meet sovereign wealth funds and the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company. He will then visit Qatar to meet its finance minister, the Qatar Investment Authority, the central bank governor and bankers. "There is huge potential to expand our economic and investment relationships with our Gulf allies in the future," Hammond said in a statement on Wednesday. (Reporting by Andy Bruce; editing by Kate Holton) MUMBAI (Reuters) - HDFC Bank Ltd is set to cut its marginal cost of funds-based lending rates (MCLR) across maturities by 75 to 90 basis points, effective Jan. 7, a source with direct knowledge said on Wednesday. The bank will set its one-year MCLR at 8.15 percent, while the six-month MCLR will be set at 8 percent, the source, who declined to be named, told Reuters. Several Indian banks including top lender State Bank of India lowered their lending rates this week after the government's scrapping of high-value bank notes led to billions of dollars in new deposits. (Reporting by Devidutta Tripathy; Editing by Amrutha Gayathri) Banjul (Gambia) (AFP) - The head of Gambia's electoral commission has fled to neighbouring Senegal fearing a plot against him, a month after declaring President Yahya Jammeh lost elections following 22 years in power, one of his relatives said. Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) chairman Alieu Momar Njie "fled to Senegal after he got information that the Gambian authorities were plotting against him and his team" one of his relatives told AFP late Tuesday. "Some of his team members have also left for Senegal," the relative said, speaking on condition of anonymity. The relative did not elaborate on how Njie fled or say who had gone with him. There was no immediate comment from Senegalese authorities. Njie had declared opposition candidate Adama Barrow the winner of December 1 presidential elections and pleaded with all parties to respect the result. Jammeh's party later lodged a legal complaint against the electoral commission and the country has since been in political deadlock. The 51-year-old Jammeh, who took power in a bloodless coup in 1994, has said he will await a Supreme Court ruling in the case, delayed until January 10, before ceding power. Jammeh's refusal to step down, despite initially conceding defeat in the election, has stoked international concerns about the future of the tiny west African country. Both the United Nations and African leaders have called for him to step down. Meanwhile, a security source said that a group of people arrested for selling or wearing T-shirts bearing the slogan #GambiaHasDecided had been released. One of those briefly detained, who declined to be identified, said armed men had entered a shop selling merchandise featuring Barrow's image and seized T-shirts, caps and badges. They said they were taken to Gambian National Intelligence Agency headquarters where they were cautioned before being released. While any trip to the roof of the world is a wonder, Remote Lands Himalayas by Helicopter adventure makes for an even more rarified experience. During the 10-day foray, intrepid explorers will be transported by chopper to stand in the shadows of giants, visiting the basecamps below eight of the 10 tallest peaks on the planetincluding Mount Everest. But theres no need to tent it as each night is spent in the sumptuous shelter of a boutique hotel. Guiding the getaway will be Tashi Tenzing, an Everest climber who is also the grandson of Tenzing Norgayone of the first two people to stand on the coveted summit and return to tell the tale. Following a day of acclimation upon arrival in Nepal, armchair alpinists will be flown by Eurocopters (seating four to six passengers) to an elevation of 15,100 feet and the bottom of Kangchenjunga (third highest mountain in the world at 28,169 feet). Moving on up to 16,400 feet, guests are greeted with a magnificent view of Makalu (fifth highest at 27,838 feet). The Yeti Mountain Home in Lukla will be the evenings luxe lodging. Next, its on to 17,400 feet and the legendary launching point for those attempting to climb Everest (king of the mountains at 29,029 feet) and Lhotse (fourth highest at 27,940 feet)and thats all before breakfast. The flight plan then veers toward Cho Oyu (sixth highest at 26,864 feet) with time spent in its lowlands at 16,100 feet. Downtime for the rest of the day is spent browsing around Bandipur and an overnight stay at Three Mountain Lodge. Within 48 hours, the basecamps of three more titans will be toured with a landing at 14,800 feet for Manaslu (eighth highest at 26,781 feet), another at 15,600 feet for Dhaulagiri I (seventh highest at 26,795 feet), and finally at 13,550 feet for Annapurna I (10th highest at 26,545 feet). The remainder of the respite will include wildlife gazing in Chitwan National Park (while atop an elephant and by canoe along the Rapti River) and soaking in the sights of Kathmandu before the exclusive expedition comes to fruition. While bookings are available throughout the year, the suggested months are between March through May as well as October and November. Pricing for the Himalayas by Helicopter package is based on two traveling together (with double occupancy rooming) and hovers at $26,664 per person. (remotelands.com) Story continues More From Robbreport.com Driving the Infiniti Q60 Coupe in Robb Reports Own Backyard Porsches New 911 GTS Line Puts the Pedal to Performance Watch of the Week: Corum Bubble 47 Flying Tourbillon Top Watchmakers Are Rethinking the Moon-Phase Display to Astronomical Effect Revered Italian Marble Company Opens Its First U.S. Showroom How a Few Adventurous Philanthropists Are Changing the Face of Conservation Donald Trump has shown his hand. Now, its time for CEOs to study up. The incoming president has upset a few boardrooms by criticizing companies such as Ford (F), General Motors (GM), Carrier and other manufacturers that move US jobs overseas, or build products in low-cost countries to sell in the United States. Trumps crusades have come full-circle in a few cases: Ford, for instance, just announced a new investment in Michigan, partly in response to Trumps entreaties. Carrier modified plans to close an Indiana factory and move the whole thing to Mexico, and will now keep some of those jobs in Indiana. The pattern Trump is establishing sheds light on how hes likely to impose broader policies meant to bring back jobs from overseas or create new ones, and even renegotiate crucial trade deals. Trump doesnt always get everything he wants. But he settles for outcomes that look like a win. Heres the template for Trumps dealmaking on jobs: Phase 1: The attack. Its usually a tweet, calling out an American company for building products overseas that it sells in the United States. It doesnt seem to bother Trump if US companies build stuff overseas and sell it there as well. And so far, he hasnt gone after any foreign companies that import to the US. American companies that sell to Americans and could seemingly employ more Americans are his principal targets. Trump doesnt appear to be systematic in terms of the companies he targets; theres no reason to think theres a detailed list of offending companies hes working through, one at a time. More likely, he spots something in the news about offshoring or foreign production, and responds spontaneously. Up till now, most CEOs of targeted companies never saw it coming. Phase 2: The follow-through. Trump has complained about some companies, then dropped it. He urged a boycott of Apple (AAPL) last year, for instance, when it fought an FBI request to unlock the iPhone belonging to a terrorism suspect. But nothing came of that criticism. Trump has also complained about Amazon (AMZN) CEO Jeff Bezos, who owns the Washington Post, which published numerous unflattering stories on Trump during last years campaign. Again, nothing has happened (so far). Some companies have battle-ready CEOs and strong reputations that even Trump cant puncture. Trump seems to know when hes outmatched, and its prudent to fold. Story continues Trump kept up his screeds against Ford and Carrier, by contrast, expanding on his critical tweets in speeches and media appearances. In those cases, Trump arguably had a PR edge because neither is a beloved institution that inspires loyalty among millions of consumers. Trump knew they were vulnerable to negative publicity, and exploited the opening. Phase 3: The threat. Trump has threatened Boeing (BA) with canceling defense contracts if it doesnt reduce costs for the next version of Air Force One. He hinted that United Technologies (UTX), Carriers parent company, could also lose defense contracts if the company didnt budge on the Indiana relocation. And hes gotten automakers attention by threatening to withdraw from the North American Free Trade Agreement, which would upend supply chains for virtually every big car company. This is the stage at which CEOs of vulnerable companies need to engage with Trump and seek a deal. Phase 4: The compromise. Companies that have negotiated with Trump have been fairly shrewd. Carrier said it would keep 1,100 jobs in Indiana instead of moving them to Mexico, in exchange for $7 million in new tax incentives from the state. But it still plans to move 1,300 other jobs from Indiana to Mexico, and possibly more. And the CEO of Carriers parent company said keeping those jobs in Indianafor the time beingwould force Carrier to find new ways to automate the work, to save money. Ford, likewise, made no change to its plan to relocate production of its Focus subcompact from Michigan to Mexico, which is what incensed Trump in the first place. Instead, the automaker canceled plans to open a new factory in Mexico, saying the two it already operates there provide enough capacity for the production it has planned. At the same time, Ford announced a new investment in Michigan that will create 700 new jobs. If you didnt bother to parse the details, you could easily walk away thinking Ford is killing production in Mexico and moving it to Michigan. Nope. One test case that hasnt been resolved yet is Rexnord (RXN), which Trump criticized for its own plan to move 300 jobs from Indiana to Mexico. Unlike Carrier, Rexnord has held firm, announcing no change to its plan. Will Trump back down? Or will he pursue punitive measures against the company once hes in office? A lot of CEOs are assuredly watching. Phase 5: The declaration of victory. Trump bends when given an opportunity to claim a win and move oneven if he doesnt really get what he asked for. The Ford move was good enough for Trump to tweet his approval: Thank you to Ford for scrapping a new plant in Mexico and creating 700 new jobs in the U.S. This is just the beginning much more to follow Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 4, 2017 And heres how he praised Carrier after it agreed to keep some jobs in Indiana (and before the CEO made that comment about automation): Big day on Thursday for Indiana and the great workers of that wonderful state.We will keep our companies and jobs in the U.S. Thanks Carrier Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 30, 2016 So heres the lesson for CEOs who find themselves in Trumps crosshairs: Defend your company. Gauge whos likely to win the PR war. And if you must, make a measured battlefield concession that will get Trump off your case. Then you can both declare victory. Rick Newman is the author of four books, including Rebounders: How Winners Pivot from Setback to Success. Follow him on Twitter: @rickjnewman. Republicans hope to repeal the Affordable Care Act and replace it with a new bill for President-elect Donald Trump to sign on February 20th. Vice President-elect Mike Pence met with Republican members of Congress Wednesday to discuss the process by which they will begin to immediately dismantle Obamacare. Were working on both a legislative and executive action agenda to ensure that an orderly and smooth transition to a market-based health care reform system is achieved, Mr. Pence said. Former 2012 GOP presidential candidate Herman Cain told the FOX Business Networks Neil Cavuto the reason Obamacare needs to be replaced is a result of some crucial missteps made by the Democrats when crafting the healthcare bill. The beauty of where Tom Price started in 2010 with his empowering patients first act, he empowers patients and provides a mechanism for those with preexisting conditions. Thats why you have to replace it with something. Not a massive plan like the Democrats shoved down our throats, but something to fill those gaps once the patients are empowered, Cain said. Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga) was nominated to serve as Health and Human Services Secretary by President-elect Donald Trump and is expected to play a central role in the GOPs efforts to repeal and replace Obamacare. As the health of Americans continues to decline at a rate not experienced since 1993, Cain said many Americans face financial constraints under Obamacare that limit their health choices so much so that some have to choose between buying food and prescription medicine. They are having to choose between going to the doctor and paying their rent. The pain that people are feeling from Obamacare Neil is not being reported by the administration and is not being reported by the mainstream media, he said. Related Articles ISTANBUL (AP) The survivors huddled atop a giant industrial freezer in terrified silence as the Islamic State gunman entered the nightclub kitchen. Wiping his automatic rifle free of fingerprints, he didn't see them as he changed clothes and put on a Santa hat. Then, smearing himself with the blood of New Year's revelers killed in the carnage minutes earlier, he left the kitchen and blended into the crowd of survivors being evacuated. Inside one of Istanbul's most glamorous nightclubs, the attacker had just fired as many as 180 rounds in seven minutes, killing 39 people. A traffic jam had nearly thwarted his arrival an hour earlier and he jumped out to walk the last few hundred yards (meters) to the Reina club. His Kalashnikov concealed beneath his coat, he pulled the weapon out only when he was within easy range of the club's unarmed guards. Ali Unal, the Reina co-owner, was having a smoke outside and talking on his cellphone. It was 1:20 a.m. and Unal thought the gunfire was just New Year's fireworks. Then bullets bounced off a heater in the entryway. After killing a guard and a bystander, the attacker tossed a stun grenade and entered the club unopposed. An hour of pure terror followed, according to the accounts of survivors interviewed by The Associated Press, as well as a review of surveillance video and reports in government-linked media. Sprawling along the narrow strait that links Europe and Asia, the three-story Reina had five restaurants and curtained terraces cascading down to the edge of the Bosporus Sea. When the assailant entered, it was packed with some 600 people. Starting from the upper terraces, he opened fire as he crossed blue-lighted dance floors pulsating with rave music. Some revelers fled to the seaside terraces and grabbed the long gray curtains to drop into the water below; others desperately sought hiding places. Many simply dropped to the ground as bodies fell over them, praying they wouldn't be seen. Story continues "I caught a curtain," said Karim Noureddine, a 27-year-old Lebanese who was at the club with his girlfriend. "I rappelled down and she followed me and I was able to escape," he said, speaking at the Beirut funeral of his friend, Elias Wardini, who was among those killed in the bloodbath. "I did not know what was going on inside, because I was out in the first 50 seconds and running toward the sea." For Sabri Ozturk, one of the club's restaurant managers, time stretched agonizingly. "The gunfire wouldn't cease," said Ozturk, whose wife and 19-year-old son had come to keep him company during the holiday shift. "They say seven minutes, but it felt like seven hours." Ozturk dropped to the floor and shouted to his family to do the same. "But it wasn't just them. It was everyone around them. Our feet and heads were on top of each other. My wife was beneath my arm. My hand was on my son's head because he is protesting. I'm closing his mouth, telling him to be silent." They stayed that way for about an hour, Ozturk said. "Then the noise stopped, but is the terrorist inside? Is he going to detonate a bomb? You start thinking: He should just blow it up so it can be over. That's the state you are in." Yunus Turk, a 25-year-old Frenchman at the Reina with his cousin, was hiding on the terrace as the gunman moved through the club. He grabbed a table and held it in front of him as a shield, hearing bullets ping off the metal. "I was just trying to calm the people around me, so the shooters wouldn't notice us. Because I thought at the time that there had to more than one. I would never have imagined that one person could do so much," 23-year-old Yussuf Kodat told France Television. Tuvana Tugsavul hid with eight or nine people inside a toilet stall. Others she has no idea how many were in the adjacent stall. "When I was in the toilet stall cabin, there was a moment when the electricity went out. I thought, 'This psychopath is going to kill us.' I even thought that he would detonate himself after they let the police in, with all the wounded and people trying to escape," she said. Security experts said the methodical attack was carried out by an experienced killer who emptied four machine gun cartridges in rapid succession, with magazines tied to each other for quicker action. "I'm not just talking about a training camp, I'm talking he fought," said Michael Horowitz, a security analyst. Most bullets hit upper torsos with deadly precision, and some people were shot point blank on the floor, according to witnesses and photos taken inside the club. "I was shot when I was already on the ground. He was shooting people that he had already shot," William Raak, an American who was wounded, told NBC News. Alaa Abd El Hai, a 30-year-old Arab Israeli dentist who had come to the club with three friends, was on the dance floor when the gunman opened fire. She thought the music stopped, but wasn't sure what happened to the DJs. Sensing the shooter nearby, El Hai crawled 15 yards (meters) to the kitchen with one of her friends and other club-goers, desperately searching for a hiding place. They tried a storage room but it was locked. Then they saw the freezer. Big enough for all of them, but too high for everyone to reach. The men climbed up first, then reached down for the women. El Hai wasn't sure exactly how many were crammed into the small space: Two Germans, two Iranians, two Turks, an Egyptian woman, she recalled. Four rounds later, the gunman ran out of ammunition and went to the kitchen. "The Egyptian woman saw the attacker through small openings in a curtain coming to the kitchen with the weapon pointed at the head of another woman. Thank God he did not see us," El Hai said. He spent 30 agonizing minutes wiping the Kalashnikov free of fingerprints then leaving it there along with his coat. He changed clothes, put on a Santa hat and blended into the panicked crowd smearing himself with blood on his chest, and limping. El Hai later learned that one of her friends, 18-year-old Layan Nasser, who became separated during the night's chaos, was among the dead. When police stormed the building 40 minutes after the massacre began, they demanded that everyone put their hands up. The survivors, not sure they were really policemen and terrified of a second wave of shooting, did not immediately comply. When the hundreds of people slowly evacuated into the street around 2:30 a.m., the shooter was among them. He hopped into a taxi unnoticed and remains at large. The cab driver told investigators the man spoke on his cellphone in Turkish and had no money to pay for the ride, according to government-linked media. Investigators later found 500 Turkish Lira ($140) in the pocket of his coat back in the kitchen. ___ Hinnant reported from Paris. Associated Press writers Neyran Elden and Cinar Kiper in Istanbul, Suzan Fraser in Ankara and Areej Hazboun in Jerusalem contributed. Sharpay and Gabriella, back at it! Its hard to believe, but Ashley Tisdale and Vanessa Hudgens never actually sang a duet together throughout their High School Musical years but dont worry, its finally here. Tisdale, 31, and her BFF Hudgens, 28, debuted their first-ever duet on Tuesday, performing a stunning cover of Elle Kings Exs and Ohs. The video was shared by Tisdale on her YouTube channel as part of her Music Sessions series, in which she covers several hits. (Her rendition of Paramores Still Into You with her musician husband Christopher French was a huge hit, racking in over 1.6 million views.) Welcome back to Music Sessions! Tisdale says in the video. I read all your comments and you guys wanted one very special guest and so I brought her in my best friend, Vanessa Hudgens! Hudgens, wearing an AS by DF shag coat, slides into the frame and the two beam happily as they prepare to belt out the song, thanking French, 34, for doing the arrangement. We were really excited to do this because this is actually our first duet together, continues Tisdale. We did not have a song in High School Musical, just the two of us. We always wanted one, too! So now were here. In the sweet, relaxing rendition, the two sit cross-legged inside a chic, boho-style red rent, smiling at each other as they harmonize the track. Happy watching, Wildcats! Omarosa Manigault is joining Donald Trumps White House staff. The former Apprentice contestants official title is assistant to the president and director of communications for the Office of Public Liaison, according to a statement from Trumps transition team. Manigault previously worked for Trumps presidential campaign as his director of African-American outreach and has been outspoken about her support for the president-elect. Also Read: Omarosa Says 'Every Detractor Will Have to Bow Down to President Trump' (Video) Every critic, every detractor, will have to bow down to President Trump, she said in a Frontline documentary that aired in September. Its everyone whos ever doubted Donald, who ever disagreed, who ever challenged him. It is the ultimate revenge to become the most powerful man in the universe. Manigault previously described herself as a Democrat and briefly worked in the office of then-Vice President Al Gore during the administration of Bill Clinton. Related stories from TheWrap: Omarosa Says 'Every Detractor Will Have to Bow Down to President Trump' (Video) Omarosa Named Donald Trump's Director of African-American Outreach Don Lemon Blasted by Omarosa After Tense On-Air Exchange: 'Stop Being Such a Queen' (Video) NASA have released the concept of the Mars Ice Home and houses on Mars. NASA have a lot of work to do if they are going to send astronauts to Mars one day, and they have now released the concept of houses on Mars which are giant inflatable domes covered in ice and known as the Mars Ice Home. As part of their early plans, these new ice-homes on Mars would settle the question of where NASA astronauts would live, sleep, and eat. After months of travel in space, when you first arrive at Mars and your new home is ready for you to move in, it will be a great day. These ice dome houses on Mars would also be able to provide astronauts with plenty of protection from high-energy radiation as well as temperatures that are extreme, as Science Alert has reported. Kevin Vipavetz, the senior systems engineer from NASAs Langley Research Center in Virginia, believes that NASA has finally found a good engineering solution for homes on Mars. After a day dedicated to identifying needs, goals, and constraints we rapidly assessed many crazy, out of the box ideas and finally converged on the current Ice Home design, which provides a sound engineering solution. NASA releases the first color image of the surface of Mars as seen from the Mars Rover. NASA scientists are working to build houses on Mars, and the concept of the Mars Ice Home has just been released. [Image by NASA/Getty Images] The Mars Ice Home looks like a large igloo, but NASA describe it as actually a large inflatable torus that is similar in shape to an inner-tube. Once the dome has inflated, it is then covered with a sheet of water ice for protection. The team working on this project at NASA reveal why these houses on Mars are so advantageous to astronauts. Click here to continue and read more... Houses On Mars: NASA Release Concept Of The Mars Ice Home, An Inflatable Dome With Ice is an article from: The Inquisitr News Hrithik Roshan, despite his hectic schedule, makes it a point that he spends quality time with his sons, Hridhaan and Hrehaan. In an event today, Hrithik opened up on how honest his kids are when its about reviewing his performance in films. Recommended Read: Hrithik Roshan unbuttons his shirt on the cover of The Man and we cannot handle it! When asked about what they feel about Kaabil, the actor shared, Where Kaabil is concerned, theyre well aware of Mohenjo Daros failure and it didnt do that well. I remember they watched the film after it was termed as a failure and when they came back, they were like its ok. But for Kaabil, they are very excited and I think they want the film do well and thats very heartening. Hrithik also recalled an old incident when his sons had come to see him shooting for Krrish 3. He narrated, I remember when Hridhaan and Hrehaan came to the sets of Krrish 3, they saw me for the first time in theKrrish outfit and I was up on a 200-feet cliff and taking one somersault and flying down. I remember they both were so quite and I wanted some feedback ki what do you feel? But they were just so silent and I couldnt understand then and I still havent understood that why they were that silent! He continued, For them, it must be like that my father is so normal at home. They are very observant and but they never speak up what they are feeling inside. I think they feel a bit pressurized that some day theyll also have to stand on that height and jump and they have to take up the challenge. "We hope that Kaabil does well at the box office! This is Whats Trending Today: On one recent morning in the American state of Utah, 2-year-old twin boys Bowdy and Brock were playing in their bedroom. The boys were climbing on a piece of furniture called a dresser. They were trying to get into some empty drawers and climb to the top of the dresser. But as they both tried to climb up, the large dresser fell down on top of them. The accident was recorded on a camera the boys parents put in the bedroom. Some parents use these kinds of cameras to watch their children playing in another room. One of the young boys, Bowdy, managed to escape from under the dresser. But his brother, Brock, remained stuck under it. The video shows Bowdy walking around the dresser trying to find a way to free his brother. Almost two minutes pass. But Bowdy cannot move the dresser. Eventually, though, Bowdy found a way to push the dresser toward the wall. His brother was then able to roll out from underneath the big piece of furniture. Both boys are okay. They were not hurt. Their parents decided to put a video of the incident on YouTube. They hoped it would be a warning to other parents around the world. In just three days, the video has been viewed over 7 million times. It is the top trending video on YouTube. Ricky Shoff is the father of the boys. He posted the video to his Facebook page on January 1. He wrote: I've been a little hesitant to post this. But I feel it's not only to bring awareness, but it is also incredible. Shoff also told his friends to share the video and to make sure their furniture was secure. For example, big pieces of furniture should be safely attached to a wall or to the floor. Kayli Shoff, the boys mother, said when she first saw the video, she felt like the worst mom. But the parents said they made the video public even though they knew they would be criticized for not paying enough attention to their children. This is not the first time falling furniture has made the news in recent months. In December, furniture-maker Ikea agreed to pay $50 million to the families of three American boys, in three different states, killed by falling dressers. The company is recalling its furniture. It is also offering customers a refund or free tools to attach the furniture to a wall. And thats Whats Trending Today. Im Jill Robbins. Dan Friedell wrote this story for Learning English. Ashley Thompson was the editor. What do you think of the video from Utah? We want to know. Write to us in the Comments Section or on our Facebook page. ________________________________________________________________ Words in This Story furniture n. chairs, tables, beds, etc., that are used to make a room ready for use drawer n. a box that slides into and out of a piece of furniture (such as a desk) and that is used to store things stuck adj. difficult or impossible to move from a position hesitant adj. slow to act or speak especially because you are nervous or unsure about what to do secure adj. firmly attached NEW DELHI (AP) Police in the southern Indian city of Bangalore detained at least six suspects Wednesday after several women said they were groped and molested during New Year's Eve celebrations in the city that is the country's information technology hub. City police first denied that any sexual harassment had taken place during the late-night celebrations. But on Wednesday, police officer Hemant Nimbalkar said at least six men were detained after several video clips of women being attacked by groups of men spread on social media. The incident highlights the persistent violence against women in India despite tougher laws against sexual assault imposed after the December 2012 death of a young woman who was gang-raped on a bus in New Delhi. One senior state government minister said the New Year's incidents took place because the women were acting like Westerners, implying that their attire had provoked the attacks. The police had earlier said that no one had come forward to file a complaint about the incidents. Since then, at least one woman has come forward to speak of how she was molested on Saturday night. Others have said that they saw women being molested or groped, and that revelers were making lewd remarks, even as the state government said that more than 1,500 police personnel had been deployed to control the crowds. The young woman who came forward, Chaitali Wasnick, told NDTV news channel that she was heading home at around 1:30 a.m. when two men approached her, making her suspicious. "So I just moved aside, I let them pass," she said, adding that one man began to grope her. "I did not have any idea that he'd do that, so I went totally blank," Wasnick said, adding that no one came to her help her and that there were no police personnel around. As Bangalore newspapers published images of several women who allegedly had been groped or attacked, the state's home minister, G. Parameshwara, criticized young women for "copying the Westerners, not only in their mindset, but even in their dressing." "These kind of things do happen," he told reporters on Tuesday. Bangalore (India) (AFP) - There is "credible" evidence that gangs of men sexually assaulted women at a New Year's Eve celebration in Bangalore, Indian police said Wednesday, adding they have filed a criminal case over the incident. Praveen Sood, the police commissioner of Bangalore city, said an inquiry had been set up into allegations women attending the Saturday night celebrations were chased, groped, molested and robbed. The announcement followed a public outcry over comments by a local minister blaming the attacks in the southern city -- an IT hub considered relatively safe for women -- on "western dress". "We did not waste any time," Sood told reporters, saying police had registered a criminal case without waiting for a complainant. "The police teams are working, we are sure we will catch the culprits." Additional police commissioner Hemant Nimbalkar told AFP the case had been filed against unnamed persons for sexual harassment, illegal confinement and forcefully attempting to disrobe. Police officers have been sifting through footage from at least 45 CCTV cameras installed in the city centre where hundreds of revellers had gathered to celebrate the new year. India has been shamed in the past by shocking levels of sexual assault against women, notably in December 2012 when a student was gang-raped on a bus in New Delhi and later died of her injuries. Indians took to social media to condemn the latest incident, dubbed "night of horror". " only shows how casual it is to molest women" tweeted Falguni Vasavada-Oza. "How easy it is to grope! How vulnerable is safety! How deep is (d) hierarchy." Video footage circulated on social media showed women screaming for help. The attacks in Bangalore have drawn comparison with last year's mass sexual assaults at New Year's celebrations in the German city of Cologne, where police were also accused of losing control. NEW DELHI, Jan 4 (Reuters) - India's election commission on Wednesday scheduled five state polls for the next two months that will test support for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's gamble to abolish high-denomination banknotes. Voting in Uttar Pradesh, the most populous state that is home to 200 million people, will begin on Feb. 11 and finish on March 8, chief election commissioner Nasim Zaidi told reporters. Polls will also be conducted in the states of Goa, Manipur, Punjab and Uttarakhand in February and March, with votes in all five elections tallied on March 11, Zaidi said. Modi has invested huge political capital in winning Uttar Pradesh, holding a series of rallies in the state and turning his demonetisation drive into the centrepiece of the election. On Nov. 8, Modi made the radical move to withdraw all 500 and 1,000 rupee bills, accounting for 86 percent of currency in circulation, to unearth untaxed or illicit cash held in the "shadow economy" and away from the taxman. The move has brought India's cash economy to a virtual standstill and impacted the lives of millions of people. But many Indians remain supportive of the policy framed as a fight against corruption and tax evaders. Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) or its allies rule in 14 of India's 29 states after expanding their power base since Modi's election victory in 2014. The opposition Congress and regional parties control the remaining states. State elections, held every five years, are vital for the BJP to be able to gain control of the upper house of parliament, where members are indirectly elected by state legislatures and opposition parties have held up the passage of some bills. More than 160 million people are eligible to vote in the five states headed to the polls, with Goa and Punjab currently ruled by Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) or its allies. (Reporting by Tommy Wilkes; Editing by Malini Menon) Indonesia has suspended military cooperation with Australia after teaching materials deemed offensive to Jakarta were found at an Australian army base, officials said Wednesday, in a fresh flare-up of tensions. Cooperation including joint exercises and education and exchange programmes were put on hold last month after a visiting Indonesian officer raised concerns about the materials, officials from both countries said. Authorities did not say what exactly caused offence. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported it related to posters of West Papua, an eastern Indonesian province where a low-level insurgency has been simmering for decades. "Military cooperation with Australian forces has been suspended temporarily due to technical matters," Indonesian military spokesman Wuryanto told AFP without giving details, but added he hoped the problem would "be resolved soon". It was just the latest row between the key allies and neighbours, whose relationship has been beset in recent years by disputes over Jakarta's execution of Australian drug smugglers and Canberra's hardline policy of turning migrant boats back to Indonesia. Australian Defence Minister Marise Payne said Indonesia had notified Canberra about the suspension, adding in a statement: "Some interaction between the two defence organisations has been postponed until the matter is resolved." She said it related to "some teaching materials and remarks" at an Australian army language training facility, without giving details. Indonesian newspaper Kompas said the row erupted after a visiting special forces instructor found teaching materials he deemed disrespectful towards his country's armed forces, as well as materials he thought insulted Indonesia's founding philosophy of "Pancasila". The ABC reported that the instructor had complained about training posters of West Papua displayed at the Australian Special Forces base in the western city of Perth last November, citing unidentified sources. Story continues - Cooperation vital - Papua's independence movement enjoys support among activists abroad, including in Australia. Indonesia keeps tight control over the area and is sensitive about any perceived attempts by foreign governments or NGOs to intervene. Payne said the chief of the Australian Defence Force, Air Chief Marshal Mark Binskin, wrote to his Indonesian counterpart, General Gatot Nurmantyo, promising that the matter would be addressed. She said an investigation was continuing and pledged: "We will work with Indonesia to restore full cooperation as soon as possible." Yohanes Sulaiman, an Indonesian military expert, said the suspension was significant but predicted it would not last long as cooperation was vital on matters such as security and trade. "Both countries need each other," he told AFP. "They need to maintain security in the South China Sea, especially now that China is becoming more dominant there." There have been tensions between the Indonesian and Australian militaries in the past. Australia suspended training with Kopassus over the notorious unit's role in human rights abuses in East Timor in 1999 as the then-Indonesian territory geared up for independence, but it resumed several years later. In 2013 Indonesia halted military exercises with Australia due to allegations that Australian spies tried to tap the phone of then Indonesian president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. They resumed in 2014. The latest military suspension is the first serious row between the neighbours for some time, with relations having improved since Malcolm Turnbull became Australia's leader in 2015. IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) An inmate died after he was beaten by a fellow prisoner at Iowa's maximum-security penitentiary in what's believed to be the first homicide at an Iowa prison since 2010 and one that prompted a union to accuse the state of covering up safety lapses. The deadly attack at the Iowa State Penitentiary in October continued despite a correctional officer's commands for the assailant to stop, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press under the open records law. The records reveal for the first time the beating of inmate Michael Whitworth, 46, who died Oct. 30. A union representing prison employees had accused the Department of Corrections of trying to hide news of the homicide by waiting to announce it until Election Day and saying it resulted from "an incident." Inmate Lha Southideth-Whiten, 35, punched an unconscious Whitworth 30 times in the head and face on Oct. 20, according to records. It's unclear what prompted the altercation, which was captured on surveillance video. A prison judge found Southideth-Whiten was responsible for the death and ordered discipline 180 of disciplinary detention and stripping him of 180 days of earned time. A Lee County prosecutor says he soon plans to make a decision on whether to criminally charge Southideth-Whiten. Deputy Warden Mark Roberts rejected Southideth-Whiten's appeal seeking a lighter penalty. "You were involved in a serious situation that resulted in the loss of life based on your behavior," Roberts wrote Dec. 10. Federal statistics show that Iowa historically has been near the bottom of the national list for homicides of state prisoners, reporting only one between 2001 and 2014. The fight began in the lunchroom of the Iowa Prison Industries program, which is inside the year-old prison in Fort Madison that houses the state's most dangerous male offenders. Whitworth, who was serving life for the 2005 kidnapping and sexual assault of a woman, threw the first punches but Southideth-Whiten punched back, which made Whitworth fall, hit his head on the ground and lose consciousness. Southideth-Whiten, who's serving a 45-year sentence for an armed robbery, stood over Whitworth and punched him, refusing the correctional officer's orders to stop. Story continues Whitworth had severe facial and head injuries and was taken to a hospital before being airlifted to University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City, where he died 10 days later. An autopsy determined that Whitworth died from blunt force injuries to the head and ruled the death a homicide, Johnson County Medical Examiner administrator Mike Hensch said, adding the report was being mailed to state officials Wednesday. Once the Department of Corrections receives the report, a review committee will meet to investigate the circumstances of Whitworth's death and recommend any remedial action, spokesman Fred Scaletta said. The department didn't announce Whitworth's death until Nov. 8, saying that he'd been hospitalized "due to an incident." The timing of the announcement was an attempt to have it "drowned out by political coverage," according to AFSCME Iowa Council 61 President Danny Homan, whose union represents correctional officers. He has routinely argued that more officers are needed to ensure safety, pointing to assaults and fights that have injured inmates and officers, such as incidents in Anamosa and Fort Madison in October. Gov. Terry Branstad has disagreed, noting that the inmate population has declined since 2011. A lawsuit brought by three inmates who were attacked by a fellow prisoner with a chisel and seriously injured in 2010 at the old Fort Madison prison was dismissed in November. The judge said the assault wasn't the result of prison staff leaving them unsupervised for four minutes but rather the assailant's "twisted thinking." Des Moines attorney Jeffrey Lipman, who represented the inmates, noted that Whitworth's death occurred in a similar industrial program at the new prison. "The biggest problem they seem to have down there is a lack of staff," he said. ___ Follow Ryan J. Foley on Twitter: @rjfoley ___ This story has been corrected. It removes the reference to 180 days of disciplinary detention and 180 days lost earned time being the maximum punishment allowed. Department policy allows for up to 365 days for both categories, if the infraction is violent. Mobile Wellness on Wheels is a new business model that offers transportable holistic health services to the corporate world of San Diego SAN DIEGO, CA / ACCESSWIRE / January 4, 2017 / Zara Jeffrey and Johanna Karlsson have unveiled an innovative business model, Mobile Wellness on Wheels that is expected to launch in the near future. This venture aims to present busy corporate employees with on-site holistic health care services for fast access. The services will be rendered in a redesigned vintage trailer and include massage therapy, yoga, nutrition, meditation, as well as other options. For more information please visit https://goo.gl/3fdZT1. There is no denying that Americans work excessively. In the business world of San Francisco, employees are expected to put their health and well being on hold in order to meet deadlines, attend meetings and complete work projects. This can have far reaching ramifications on employee health, which in turn causes issues in the work place. Poor health leads to missed work days, waning productivity, and on the job accidents. To remedy this issue Jeffrey and Karlsson intend to bring health on site to the workplace, allowing employees to have easy and fast access to holistic services. The trailer will arrive at various business hubs in San Francisco and employees can relax and reboot, striking a balance between effective self care and achieving success at work. The business is expected to reduce stress, both physical and emotional, work related muscular tension and anxiety. The founders of this business have unique and well rounded backgrounds. Jeffrey has experience with yoga, LMT, and massage therapy, while Karlsson studied reiki and has a degree in holistic health and massage therapy. The two women have experienced the benefits of holistic health themselves personally, and want to share the benefits with others. "Healing has always been powerful and fascinating to me. What drives my passion to share it with others, is that I have experienced it within my own body and life and seen many positive changes" says Jeffrey. Story continues Jeffrey and Karlsson have brought their business model to crowdfunding site Indiegogo. It is their hope that with the support of the business and holistic health communities, they can share the advantages of wellbeing with others. About Mobile Wellness on Wheels: Mobile Wellness on Wheels offers transportable holistic health services to businesses in San Diego. The services rendered include yoga, massage therapy, nutrition among others. For more information visit https://goo.gl/3fdZT1. Contact: Garrett Holt admin@rocketfactor.com (949) 555-2861 SOURCE: Mobile Wellness on Wheels - By Tim Melvin Tim Melvin: Alright, we're on today with Doug Raucy with 1347 Property Insurance Holdings Inc. (PIH). How are you this morning, Doug? Thanks for spending some time with us on what is kind of a dreary morning here in central Florida. Raucy: Yea. Doing great. Thanks. Tim Melvin: You're a small cap insurance company that is kind of off the radar screen. Can you tell us a little bit about the company? Raucy: I started the company back in 2012 in Louisiana. We initially did a depopulation of wind and hail only policies because our strategy is really focused on wind and hail on the coast and supplementing that with homeowners and manufactured homes, dwelling fire policies more inland, and we were able to make that strategy work for us in Louisiana. Then we complement that with homeowners and dwelling and fire, which is rental type properties and then some manufactured homes in and around the rest of the state. We write that through independent agents. The strategy worked well. One of the issues behind the strategy, of course, is we want every line to be profitable, so that mixture of policies is really important for us because we don't want to expose the entire book to any one certain kind of peril. Around mid-2014 we decided to take the company public. The main thinking behind that was just to make sure we had the capital to fuel our growth. One of our commitments to our agents is that as long as they kept giving us good business, we would not limit them in any way. Tim Melvin: Just for the reader who's not really familiar with the insurance business and the nuts and bolts, could you explain the concept of depopulating for them. Raucy: It's interesting. A lot of the states in coastal areas will form what they call a residual market, or a market of last resort for people who cannot get insurance in the private market. So it's actually government-run insurance for homeowners that the private market will not insure because of certain risks. The private market goes in and out, and the definition of what that is changes all the time. Story continues Really, it's just a place for people who have a nice home right on the coast that can't get insurance for in the private market. They need a place to get insurance, so what a lot of states have done is started these state pools to capture all these high risks. They are set up as nonprofits, but they are really a place for what we call residual, or high risk policies to go into. Are you interested in stocks like 1347 Property Insurance? Subscribe to Tim Melvin's Banking On Profit for commentary and analysis on the world of under the radar bank stocks. Tim Melvin: The phrase "high risk" brings me to what I think is going to be the biggest question on a lot of investors' minds when they look at the company. You're writing hail and wind insurance and homeowners insurance in areas that have a lot of hail and wind and storm damage. Isn't that a really high risk business model? Raucy: I think it is one of the things we do is we carry the proper amount of reinsurance. And for those people who don't understand reinsurance, it's the concept of us insuring ourselves against what we consider to be frequent or severe storms. So we will carry so much of the risk on our books, and then we will cede the rest of it off to a reinsurance company for a fee. Most of those are offshore, but some of them are domestic. That's been a very healthy market because, honestly there have not been a lot of global events to drive capital out of that market. Reinsurance costs have continued to come down, which has really helped us to thrive. But the concept is that we carry x amount of risk ourselves based all of our modeling and all our formulas if we know that we could have a year similar to, say, 2016 where the weather hit us pretty hard. Still, we are still are probably going end the year somewhere around a small loss or breakeven point. So it just goes to prove to our investors that the model that we have set up shows that when we do get events, whether it be multiple or large events, we're probably going to have about a breakeven year. Then the years that we do not get events we're going to do very well, which to us would be a 15% or above return on equity in quiet years. So far it's been about one storm every year for the past four years that we've been involved and we think that's probably about normal. Tim Melvin: Okay, and as long as that ratio is kind of three or four good years to one year with a whole bunch of storms holds, this could actually be a very high return business. Raucy: Well, years like 2016 are very rare. We renew our reinsurance on June 1st to coincide with hurricane season, but last year we had an event prior to June 1st. We got hit pretty hard there and went through a full deductible. It's very unusual that you'll go through two of those in one year. So we've got it figured out that if we go through one [storm] in one calendar year, we're certainly going to be profitable. Click here for part 2. This article first appeared on GuruFocus. Intel Corporation INTC recently announced that it is acquiring 15% stake in German digital mapping company HERE. Although financial terms were not revealed, the transaction is expected to complete in the first quarter of 2017. Intel shares climbed 0.91% to close at $36.60 on Jan 3, 2017. HERE is a well-known name in the high-precision digital mapping and location based services for automotive and Internet of Things (IoT) market. Currently owned by a consortium of auto firms that include BMW, Audi and Daimler, who bought it from Nokia NOK in mid-2015, HERE is a close competitor of Google Maps. As reported by Reuters, the consortium recently sold 10% of their stake in HERE to Chinese digital mapping company NavInfo, internet group Tencent and Singapore's sovereign wealth fund GIC. INTEL CORP Price and Consensus INTEL CORP Price and Consensus | INTEL CORP Quote HERE: A dominant Name in High Definition (HD) Mapping HD mapping is critical for the smooth functioning of an autonomous car. As such, these kinds of cars require HD maps that can precisely locate objects, curves and traffic within centimetres. Per Wired They also need to be live, updated second by second with information about accidents, traffic backups, and lane closures. HERE is a dominant name in this market due to its superior HD mapping technology. By using the LiDAR technology, the companys HD-maps captures billions of 3D points to model the surface of the road to an accuracy of 10 to 20 centimeters. Per HERE, the HD maps in combination with advanced sensor technology enable an autonomous car to anticipate whats coming rather than just react to it. HEREs HD maps have already being used to test autonomous vehicles in the U.S., France, Germany and Japan. The company launched a new-set of traffic services in collaboration with BMW, Daimler and Volkswagen in Sep, 2016. The service will keep drivers updated with live information about road conditions using data from automakers. Per Reuters, the service is an industry first and availability of this massive data will be of immense help in developing autonomous car technology. Hence, this will provide HERE a significant technological advantage over the likes of Google, Apple AAPL, Tesla and others who are engaged in developing autonomous vehicles. Most recently HERE entered into a strategic collaboration with Mobileye to integrate their respective autonomous driving technologies (including HD Live Map and Open Location Platform) into an improved industry-leading offering for automakers. Intel-HERE to Develop Joint Solution Intel-HERE now plans to jointly develop a highly scalable proof-of-concept architecture that supports real-time updates of high definition (HD) maps for highly and fully automated driving as well as explore opportunities in IoT and machine learning. Further, the collaboration will market opportunities from enriching edge-computing devices (like drones) with location data. We believe that Intels stake in HERE will expand its presence in the automated driving technology market and challenge the dominance of NVIDIA NVDA. The companys newly created division Automated Driving Group (ADG) focuses on this fast-emerging market. Post the completion of the transaction, Intel will nominate Doug Davis, senior vice president and general manager of ADG to HERE`s Supervisory Board of directors. Intel has said that it is currently involved in 30 vehicle programs, but that number would swell to 49 by 2020. Moreover, the companys venture capital division will invest $250 million over the next two years into autonomous driving technology. The fund will support the development of self driving and other technology (connectivity, communication, context awareness, deep learning, artificial intelligence (AI), safety and security) for cars globally. Share Price to Rebound in 2017? We note that Intels stock price generated a modest return of 7.21% in the last one year, underperforming the Zacks Semiconductor General industry which witnessed a strong return of 32.37% in the same time frame. Story continues The underperformance of the stock could be attributed to a sluggish PC market, intensifying ARM-based competition, revenue concentration and a failed mobile initiative. However, we believe that Intels investments in IoT, security and memory will help the stock rebound in 2017. Zacks Rank & Key Pick Currently, Intel carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). NVIDIA sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) is better-ranked stock in the sector. You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here. Zacks' Top 10 Stocks for 2017 In addition to the stocks discussed above, would you like to know about our 10 finest buy-and-hold tickers for the entirety of 2017? Who wouldn't? As of early December, the 2016 Top 10 produced 5 double-digit winners including oil and natural gas giant Pioneer Natural Resources which racked up a stellar +50% gain. The new list is painstakingly hand-picked from 4,400 companies covered by the Zacks Rank. Be among the very first to see it>> 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 INTEL CORP (INTC): Free Stock Analysis Report NVIDIA CORP (NVDA): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research - By Sydnee Gatewood Intel Corp. (INTC) announced on Tuesday it is acquiring a 15% stake in privately held Here International BV for an undisclosed amount. Here is a global provider of digital maps and location-based services located in the Netherlands. Intel is purchasing the ownership stake from the company's current indirect shareholders, Volkswagen's (XTER:VOW) Audi AG, BMW AG (BUD:BMW) and Daimler AG (XTER:DAI). The two companies are planning to collaborate on technology for autonomous vehicles and Internet of Things. Specifically, they will be developing highly scalable proof-of-concept architecture that supports real-time updates of traffic and road conditions for fully automated vehicles. "Cars are rapidly becoming some of the world's most intelligent, connected devices," Intel CEO Brian Krzanich said. "We look forward to working with Here and its automotive partners to deliver an important technology foundation for smart and connected cars of the future." California-based Intel said it will also work with the three German carmakers to test the architecture. Intel and Here aspire to make the architecture available across the automotive industry as a product that will simplify and shorten automakers' development time. The architecture the companies hope to create will be designed to help make autonomous driving safe and predictable. While current navigation technology can pinpoint a car's location within meters, Intel and Here want the next generation of high-definition mapping to determine the location within centimeters. "A real-time, self-healing and high-definition representation of the physical world is critical for autonomous driving, and achieving this will require significantly more powerful and capable in-vehicle computer platforms," Here CEO Edzard Overbeek said. Story continues The companies also plan to explore the options for other devices that will benefit from this technology. Audi, BMW and Daimler bought Here from Nokia (NOK) in 2015 for 2.5 billion euros ($2.6 billion). While the financial details of the Intel deal have not been disclosed, based on the original purchase price, Intel's stake could be worth 375 million euros. The deal is expected to close after regulatory approval in the first quarter of 2017. If the deal is completed, the German car manufacturers' Here stake would drop to around 75%. Among the gurus invested in Intel, PRIMECAP Management (Trades, Portfolio) is the largest shareholder with 0.66% of outstanding shares. This represents 1.2% of PRIMECAP's total assets managed. Ken Fisher (Trades, Portfolio) and Bill Nygren (Trades, Portfolio) are the second- and third-largest holders. In total, 32 gurus hold positions. Intel has a market cap of $173.8 billion; its shares were trading around $36.67 on Wednesday with a price-earnings (P/E) ratio of 17.3, a price-book (P/B) ratio of 2.7 and a price-sales (P/S) ratio of 3.1. Disclosure: I do not own stock in any companies mentioned in the article. Start a free 7-day trial of Premium Membership to GuruFocus. This article first appeared on GuruFocus. NBC series Chicago P.D. returned Tuesday with a crossover episode with Chicago Fire. Kelly Severide (Taylor Kinney) was wrongfully accused of committing murder. Fortunately, the storyline wrapped up and now the police procedural will air its regular episodes, starting with one on Wednesday. According to the official synopsis of Chicago P.D. Season 4, episode 10, titled Dont Read The News, the police will find a young womans body. She died from multiple gunshot wounds. Once Intelligence investigates the murder, they find out that the details of her case are similar to other deaths that took place in the past. It isnt long before Voight (Jason Beghe) realizes that they have a serial killer on their hands. The team starts looking for the serial killer so that the families of the victims, who have been looking for answers, can find some peace. Episode 10 will be an emotional one for Detective Erin Lindsay (Sophia Bush) since she will meet her biological father Jimmy (Tony Crane) for the first time. Secrets will be revealed when she meets her absentee dad. Although her mother told her that Jimmy wasnt around in her childhood because he was in prison, Lindsay will learn that it is untrue. He was out of prison and started a family with another woman. He even has kids. The more Lindsay discovers the truth about her biological father, the more she will lean on her live-in boyfriend Halstead (Jesse Lee Soffer) for support. Elsewhere, Ruzek (Patrick John Flueger) will take an undercover assignment. In order to fill the void left by Ruzeks temporary exit, Voight will bring his former protege Kenny Rixton (Nick Wechsler) to the team. They used to work together busting gangs back in the day. Voight believes Kenny can become a great detective. However, Atwater (LaRoyce Hawkins) and Halstead dont trust Kenny. Chicago P.D. Season 4, episode 10 premieres Wednesday, Jan. 4 at 10 p.m. EST on NBC. Chicago P.D. Photo: Matt Dinerstein/NBC Related Articles Ford Motor Company says it has cancelled plans to build a car factory in Mexico. Ford said this week it will not move forward with plans to build a factory in the central Mexican state of San Luis Potosi. The American company had planned to spend $1.6 billion to build the manufacturing center. It would have produced compact cars. Instead, Ford officials announced plans to expand the companys factory in Flat Rock, Michigan, adding 700 jobs. Officials said the Flat Rock plant will be used to develop fully electric vehicles and hybrid models, ones that use both gasoline and electricity. The plant also will build a self-driving vehicle. Mark Fields, Fords chief executive officer, announced the decision on Tuesday. He said the company would invest $700 million to build several different models at the Flat Rock plant. "A new hybrid autonomous vehicle; a long-range battery electric SUV; a Mustang hybrid; an F-150 hybrid; a Transit custom plug-in hybrid; two new hybrid police vehicles; wireless charging; a $700 million investment and 700 new U.S. jobs." Labor representatives praised Fords move. United Auto Workers Vice President Jimmy Settles spoke at the announcement. He said the decision would have a big effect. "I don't know if you really can understand the impact of this investment. This is equivalent to a new assembly plant, $700 million." Fords decision comes as preparations continue in Washington for the swearing-in of Donald Trump as president of the United States. He will take office on January 20. During the 2016 election campaign, Trump was highly critical of American companies that close factories in the country, but operate overseas. Mark Fields said Ford is making the move, in part, because of what he called pro-growth policies discussed by Trump and the U.S. Congress. Ford says demand for compact cars is falling in North America. The carmaker says it will build a smaller model at another factory in Mexico. On Tuesday, Trump criticized the largest U.S. carmaker, General Motors. He said its cars sold across the country should also be made in the United States. Trump suggested what he called a border tax. General Motors reacted by saying the cars it makes in Mexico are not sold in the U.S. Experts say many companies are considering what to do if Trump and his administration press for U.S.-made products. James Nolt is with the World Policy Institute. "I've already read that Apple, for example, has done a contingency study to see how much it would cost if they moved manufacturing back from China to the United States. Other companies are probably doing the same sort of thing. They're making contingency plans. What if Trump is really serious about this?" Critics say political pressure adds to the complexity of decisions companies must make about how best to produce their products. They say the result could reduce choices for American consumers. Im Mario Ritter. Zlatica Hoke wrote this report for VOANews.com. Mario Ritter adapted her report for Learning English with additional material from AP. George Grow was the editor. _____________________________________________________________ Words in This Story hybrid adj. something that is the result of combining two or more things SUV acronym a sports utility vehicle autonomous adj. able to operate by itself battery n. a device that chemically stores electricity assembly n. the process of manufacturing something contingency adj. a plan to be put into effect if there is an emergency or if the best plan cannot be carried out consumer n. people who buy goods or services compact adj. small THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) International Criminal Court judges have rejected a challenge to their jurisdiction over two charges against a former rebel leader on trial for alleged atrocities in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Defense lawyers argued that based on provisions of the Geneva Conventions the court did not have jurisdiction to try Bosco Ntaganda on allegations of rape and sexual slavery against child soldiers serving in his rebel militia. In a ruling issued Wednesday, the panel trying Ntaganda rejected the argument. It said the trial, which started in 2015, can continue on all 18 charges. The judges wrote that rape and sexual slavery are "prohibited at all times, both in times of peace and during armed conflicts, and against all persons, irrespective of any legal status." Ntaganda denies all the charges. Jerusalem (AFP) - China has agreed for thousands of migrant construction labourers to work in Israel in a bid to alleviate a housing crisis in the Jewish state, the Israeli government said Wednesday. The agreement would see 6,000 Chinese workers arrive in Israel in the six months after the formal signature of the deal expected at the end of February, a joint statement from the interior and finance ministries said. An Israeli delegation and China's commerce ministry have signed a draft agreement in China, it said. The statement quoted Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon as saying the arrival of the Chinese workers would "energise efforts to solve the housing crisis". Housing costs in Israel have been rising steeply since 2008, according to Bank of Israel data, significantly impacting the cost of living and triggering a wave of street protests in 2011. Kahlon, whose Kulanu party ran in the 2015 general election on a platform of lowering living costs, came under fire after an August government report showed apartment prices had risen by eight percent in a year. Nearly 9,000 foreign construction labourers work in Israel, all of them from east European countries and half of them under bilateral agreements, according to the interior ministry. The ministry says these agreements allow for the rights of foreign workers to be protected and cut out private manpower firms that charge high commissions and exploit migrant labourers. GAZA (Reuters) - An Israeli court sentenced a Palestinian U.N. worker to seven months in jail on Wednesday for aiding the militant group Hamas in the Gaza Strip, the United Nations agency that employed him said. Wahid Abdallah al Bursh was detained in July and said by Israel's Shin Bet security agency to have confessed to being recruited by the Islamist group in 2014. Under the terms of a plea deal, Bursh is expected to be released next week, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) said. A Shin Bet statement in August said Bursh had provided assistance in the building of a maritime jetty for Gaza's dominant Islamist group "using UNDP resources". It also said Bursh had persuaded his UNDP superiors to prioritize the neighborhoods of Hamas operatives when earmarking money for reconstruction in Gaza, which was devastated by a 2014 war with Israel. The aid organization said in a statement on Wednesday that the court's decision "confirms that there was no wrongdoing by UNDP." "UNDP has zero tolerance for wrongdoing in its programs and is committed to the highest standards of transparency and accountability," it added. Shortly before Bursh's detention, Israel also indicted a senior Palestinian staffer with the U.S.-based charity World Vision on charges of funnelling millions of dollars to Hamas in Gaza. A foreign ministry spokesman said the trial of Mohammed El Halabi was still ongoing. Hamas had denied any links with Bursh and rejected the charges against Halabi. Hamas has observed a de facto ceasefire with Israel since 2014, when 2,100 Palestinians and 73 Israelis were killed in a war but Israel blames the group responsible for all rockets launched from the territory. (Reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi; Writing by Ori Lewis; editing by Richard Lough) A handful of senior Israeli officials have expressed support for shoot-to-kill military defense tactics against Palestinians, the Human Rights Watch said in a report published Monday. The officials have been encouraging Israeli soldiers and police to kill Palestinians they suspect of attacking Israelis even when they are no longer a threat while others have failed to repudiate the calls for excessive use of force, the advocacy group said in their report. More than 150 cases of security forces fatally shooting Palestinians suspected of attacking Israelis have occured since Oct. 2015, according to Human Rights Watch. The notion of killing an armed terrorist was previously supported by Israeli Police Minister Gilad Erdan, Human Rights Watch reported. The question of course depends on circumstances, Erdan told a radio interviewer in October 2015. There are clear instructions to the Israeli police. As soon as a police officer feels danger to himself or any other citizen, he needs to shoot according to the regulations. Its clear. We dont want to endanger any citizen or police officer. And also, every attacker who sets out to inflict harm should know that he will likely not survive the attack. The Human Rights Watch report was published two days before an awaited verdict due on Wednesday in Israel. In that contentious soldier-shooting case, then-19-year-old Israeli Sergeant Elor Azaria shot and killed an injured and immobile Palestinian attacker who had attempted to wound an Israeli soldier in March 2016. Azaria, whose case was put on trial in military court, was the "only security officer to face trial for the shooting death of a Palestinian within the past year," the group reported. While some Israeli officials have made statements that appear to support 'shoot-to-kill' tactics, others expressed their opposing opinions. While commenting on Azaria's case, Israeli Defense Force Cheif of Staff Gadi Eisenkot said "an 18-year-old man serving in the army is not everyones child,'" the Times of Israel reported. "He is a fighter, a soldier, who must dedicate his life to carry out the tasks we give him. We cannot be confused about this." Related Articles VIENNA (AP) Indirectly rejecting overtures by Austria's right-wing party toward Israel, Israeli President Reuven Rivlin has told Jewish officials that he strongly opposes contacts between European parties with a history of anti-Semitism and his country's officials. Rivlin, in a letter emailed to The Associated Press Wednesday by Vienna's Jewish Community, says he will "never condone" meetings between representatives of Israel and "European parties of the far right that are tainted with a history of anti-Semitism, Holocaust denial ... or the promotion of racial hatred or intolerance." Dated Dec. 20, the letter is in response to one sent in November by World Jewish Congress Vice President Ariel Muzicant and Vienna Jewish Community head Oskar Deutsch that the community also emailed to the AP. The two complain that "certain politicians in Israel are willing to meet populist parties of the European extreme right," including Austria's Freedom Party and ask Israeli leaders "to draw a very clear red line between us (the Jews/Israel) and those who represent hate, Neonazism and anti-Semitism. Founded by former Nazi officials after the war, the Freedom Party has ditched anti-Jewish outbursts in the last two decades to concentrate on wooing a broader voter base. It has become Austria's strongest political force, due in great part to disenchantment with established parties. Although Freedom Party candidate Norbert Hofer lost presidential elections last month, he garnered more than 46 percent of the vote. The party describes itself as right-wing but not far right. But its supporters also include the neo-Nazi fringe, and its surge in popularity is largely linked to the embrace of many Austrians of an anti-immigration message tinged with anti-Muslim overtones. Party leader Heinz-Christian Strache last year blamed "uncontrolled immigration" for the "import of Islamic anti-Semitism" to Europe, at a party event entitled "The New Anti-Semitism in Europe" that the party says was attended by several former Israeli Knesset members. Story continues Rivlin told Muzicant and Deutsch that his comments applied to all "political parties you mention." But The Freedom Party rejected any link to itself. A party statement Wednesday said that in past visits to Israel, Strache had met officially with government ministers and Knesset members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party. And it quoted Freedom Party legislator David Lasar, himself a member of the Vienna Jewish Community, as saying the party is "neither extreme right, nor racist and definitely not anti-Semitic." "We ...condemn the Holocaust as the most horrible crime in human history," he said. " . By Jeffrey Heller JERUSALEM (Reuters) - A young Israeli soldier who shot dead a Palestinian assailant lying wounded and motionless on the ground in the occupied West Bank was convicted of manslaughter on Wednesday in one of the most polarizing cases in Israel's history. The decision to court-martial Sergeant Elor Azaria, who shot the Palestinian after the assailant stabbed another Israeli soldier last March, stirred public controversy in Israel from the start, with right-wing politicians calling after the verdict on President Reuven Rivlin to pardon the 20-year-old defendant. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he supported pardoning Azaria in a post on his Facebook page. A poll published on Wednesday night by Israel's Channel 2 television showed that 67 percent of respondents favouring a pardon. "This is a difficult and painful day - first and foremost for Elor, his family, Israel's soldiers, many citizens and parents of soldiers, among them me ... I support granting a pardon to Elor Azaria," Netanyahu said on his Facebook page. As the decision was being read at a heavily guarded military court in Tel Aviv, several hundred far-right backers of Azaria - one of them carrying a Donald Trump "Make America Great Again" banner - clashed with police outside the facility. Ten months ago, Azaria was an army medic serving in the Israeli-occupied city of Hebron when two Palestinians carried out the stabbing. Hebron has been a longtime flashpoint of violence, and the incident occurred during a wave of Palestinian street attacks on Israelis. One of the two assailants was shot dead by troops. The other was shot and wounded. Eleven minutes later, as the wounded man, Abd Elfatah Ashareef, 21, lay on the ground incapacitated, Azaria shot him in the head with an assault rifle. At the trial, Azaria contended that he believed the Palestinian, though motionless, still posed a danger because his knife was nearby, and that he might have been carrying explosives. "He deserves to die," Azaria was quoted in the verdict as telling another soldier after pulling the trigger. The three-judge panel rejected Azaria's argument. "One cannot use this type of force, even if we're talking about an enemy's life," the court said in its verdict. "We unanimously convict the accused of manslaughter and of conduct unbecoming (a soldier)." Azaria, who was smiling as he awaited the verdict with his parents beside him, sat emotionless as the chief judge read out the conviction. But his mother screamed "you should be ashamed of yourselves" as the panel left the bench. "Our hero!" relatives of Azaria chanted after the verdict was delivered. With the 50th anniversary of Israel's wartime capture of the West Bank approaching, the trial generated debate about whether the military, long seen as a melting pot for Israelis from a multitude of backgrounds, was out of touch with a public that has shifted to the right in its attitudes towards the Palestinians and ways of dealing with continuing violence. SHOOTING CAPTURED ON VIDEO Video footage of the shooting, taken by a Palestinian human rights activist, showed the knife was not within Ashareef's reach, and no bomb was found. The video was distributed to news organizations, ensuring that the incident drew international attention amid allegations by Palestinians and rights groups that Israeli soldiers have been using excessive force against lightly armed assailants. Surveys detected significant popular support for Azaria. In one poll, nearly half of Israeli Jews said any Palestinian who carries out an attack should be killed on the spot. But despite a campaign by Azaria's family and rightist politicians that described the conscript, 19 at the time of the incident, as "everyone's child", members of Israel's military establishment argued that the shooting violated rules stating that soldiers can open fire only in life-threatening situations. "They didnt give any weight to the evidence," Sharon Gal, the Azaria family's media adviser, said after the verdict. "It was like the court was detached from the fact that this was the area of an attack. I felt that the court picked up the knife from the ground and stabbed it in the back of all the soldiers. Asa Kasher, co-author of the Israeli military's Code of Ethics, said the judges were meticulous. "(They found) that it was a most unacceptable action on the part of the soldier. It is legally unacceptable, it is ethically, morally - it's simply impossible to accept it," said Kasher, a professor of philosophy at Tel Aviv University. Netanyahu at first backed up his then-defence minister Moshe Yaalon in his criticism of Azaria's actions. But then Naftali Bennett, a far-right party leader in Netanyahu's coalition who draws strong backing from Israeli settlers in the West Bank, came out in vocal support of Azaria. Netanyahu then took the unusual step of calling Azaria's parents to express his sympathy after the soldier was arrested. Rallies for Azaria, some backed by rightist politicians and pop singers, gathered momentum as the trial progressed. But Tzipi Livni, a centre-left politician and former foreign minister, said after the conviction: "Brave and responsible leaders must stand behind the armed forces and its commanders today and say the verdict must be accepted. "Only that way can we stop the bleeding within Israeli society since the event occurred and reunite around the military and Israel as a state of laws, whose army is outside political discourse." In Hebron, Ashareef's family watched live television coverage of the 2-1/2-hour reading of the verdict. "To say he is guilty is a good step, not bad, and we hope that the sentencing will be fair," Ashareef's father, Yousri, said. In a statement, the self-rule Palestinian Authority's Foreign Ministry said "the occupation's chain of command" must also be prosecuted, accusing it of inciting soldiers to kill. Sentencing will be handed down at a later date. Azaria's lawyer said they would appeal to a higher military court. The manslaughter charge carries a maximum of 20 years' imprisonment but legal experts expect the sentence to be shorter. (Additional reporting by Luke Baker and Ori Lewis in Jerusalem, Yousri al-Jamal in Hebron; Editing by Mark Heinrich) The deep faultlines in Israeli society between supporters of tougher security and advocates of the rule of law were laid bare on Wednesday when a Tel Aviv military court found a young soldier guilty of manslaughter in the unlawful shooting of a wounded Palestinian attacker in the West Bank in March 2016. Politicians sparred and clashes erupted outside the courtroom between right-wing demonstrators and police. Relatives of the soldier stormed out of the proceedings, with one accusing the three military judges of being disgusting leftists. The public response to the incident reveals a deep fracture in Israeli society, Yohanan Plesner, president of the Israeli democracy Institute told TIME. A significant part of the Israeli public does not identify with the [militarys] code of ethics and its interpretation in practice by army officers. The killing by Israeli Defense Forces Sgt. Elor Azaria, then 19, of Abed al Fatah a-Sharif, 21, as he lay on the ground after stabbing another Israeli soldier, was captured on video by a Palestinian worker for Israels BTselem human rights organization. The footage went viral, catapulting the case one of about 150 questionable killings of Palestinians by Israeli soldiers, according to human rights groups into international headlines and onto Israels political agenda. Azaria was arrested immediately and court proceedings began a few days later. Azaria had testified that a-Sharif, who had been lying almost motionless on the ground for several minutes before the soldier shot him in the head, appeared to be moving. Azaria said he feared a-Sharif was trying to grab a knife or detonate a bomb belt, so he was justified in shooting him. The defense also claimed the video had been edited and that a-Sharif was already dead. In a verdict that took nearly three hours to read to a packed room at Israels military HQ in the heart of Tel Aviv, Judge Maya Heller dismissed Azarias testimony as evolving and evasive, swatting aside each element of the defense as not credible. In a unanimous decision, the panel found him guilty of manslaughter and reserved sentencing for a later date. Story continues The verdict triggered an immediate avalanche of criticism from Israeli conservatives, who have argued that Azaria should never have been charged in the first place. Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked and Education Minister Naftali Bennett, both of the right-wing Jewish Home party, called for the soldier to be granted an immediate pardon. They were joined by Yisrael Katz, the transportation and intelligence minister and rising star of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus Likud party. IDF chief of staff Gadi Eisenkot had earlier defended the trial, saying just a day before the verdict that he was confident justice would be served. Most liberal commentators, meanwhile, praised the conviction, hailing it as proof that the Israeli army was capable of policing itself, although a former Labor Party leader also called for the soldiers release, citing a case in 1984 when Israeli security officers executed two Palestinian bus hijackers after capturing and interrogating them. Palestinians dismissed the trial as a sham. Azarias conviction pitched Israels dueling factions against each other once again, just weeks after President Obamas sharply divisive decision not to veto a UN Security Council resolution branding Israels West Bank settlements as illegal. Right-wingers denounced the move and Obamas apparent role in encouraging its passage, even though the U.S. formally abstained. Both have exposed the shifting domestic political forces that complicate Israels attempts to forge a coherent foreign policy. Netanyahu is nominally in favor of the establishment of a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza, but is accused by the U.S. of undermining efforts to create it. Meanwhile, Bennetts Home party is fomenting pressure from the right to expand the settlements still further. The conviction, though, could put Netanyahu in a tricky position. While Bennett and his supporters supported Azaria from the moment of the shooting, Netanyahu has flip-flopped, just as he has on settlements. At first, Netanyahu backed his then-defense minister, Moshe Yaalon, and Israels military chief of staff, in condemning the killing, which occurred during a wave of stabbing attacks by Palestinians on Israeli security forces and civilians in the West Bank and Jerusalem. What happened today in Hebron does not represent the values of the IDF, Netanyahu said in March. The IDF expects its soldiers to behave level-headedly and in accordance with the rules of engagement. But a week later, as Bennett led right-wing cabinet members arguing that putting Azaria on trial would undermine military morale, Netanyahu phoned the soldiers parents to express his sympathy in what was widely interpreted as a slap in the face to his military commanders. In September, he was forced to apologize after comparing the ordeal of Azarias parents to the suffering of families of bereaved soldiers. Wednesdays verdict was also particularly uncomfortable for defense minister Avigdor Liberman, leader of the Yisrael Beytenu party. Before he was appointed, Liberman led protestors in March outside a military court where Azaria was being arraigned, sharply criticizing his predecessor, Moshe Yaalon. The claim has collapsed, Im sure he will be acquitted, Liberman said, accusing Yaalon of pre-determining the results of the military investigation. This harms the military. After the result was announced he executed a neat U-turn, urging all parties to respect the legal decision and to exercise restraint no matter their opinions. A verdict has been delivered, he said. Even those, like myself, who like the verdict less, must accept and respect it. Tel Aviv (AFP) - A soldier who shot dead a wounded Palestinian assailant as he lay on the ground posing no apparent threat was convicted of manslaughter Wednesday after a trial that deeply divided Israel. Elor Azaria had been on trial in a military court since May, with right-wing politicians defending him despite top army brass harshly condemning his actions. He now faces up to 20 years in prison. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said after the ruling that he favoured a pardon for the 20-year-old French-Israeli sergeant. "This has been a hard and painful day for us all -- first and foremost for Elor and his family," Netanyahu wrote on Facebook. "I support giving a pardon to Elor Azaria." Netanyahu made waves before the trial even began, by calling Azaria's father to express his sympathy. Earlier Wednesday, President Reuven Rivlin's office issued a statement advising that any talk of a pardon was premature. It said an application could only be made after the judicial process had run its course. No date has yet been announced for sentencing, and Azaria could then appeal. Judge Colonel Maya Heller spent more than two and a half hours reading out the court decision Wednesday, sharply criticising the arguments of Azaria's lawyers. On behalf of the three-judge panel, Heller said there was no reason for Azaria to open fire since the Palestinian was posing no threat. She called his testimony "evolving and evasive". "His motive for shooting was that he felt the terrorist deserved to die," she said. Azaria had entered the courtroom smiling, applauded by family and supporters. But he looked shaken as the judge spoke, and after the verdict his mother yelled: "You should be ashamed of yourselves." - Protests and scuffles - Outside Israel's military headquarters in Tel Aviv, where the court announced the verdict, dozens of Azaria supporters scuffled with police. Shabtay Oz, a retired policeman carrying a large Israeli flag and protesting peacefully, said he never imagined himself joining a demonstration. Story continues "But when I saw a soldier in cuffs after he shot a terrorist," he said, slapping his hands together, "that was the point of no return." Right-wing leaders have called for him to be pardoned in an extraordinary public rift between politicians and the military. Before he became defence minister in May, Avigdor Lieberman was among those showing strong support for Azaria, including attending one of his court appearances. He has since backed away from his earlier stance, and after Wednesday's verdict said he disagreed with the decision but that it must be respected. The March 24 shooting in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron was caught on video and spread widely online. It showed Abdul Fatah al-Sharif, 21, lying on the ground, shot along with another Palestinian after stabbing and moderately wounding a soldier minutes earlier, according to the army. Azaria then shoots him again in the head without any apparent provocation. His lawyers argued the soldier may have thought the Palestinian was wearing explosives, but others said he had already been checked for a suicide belt and no one in the video appears to be acting with caution toward him. The Palestinian's father told reporters in Hebron after the verdict that Azaria should be sentenced to life. "For me, a just verdict will be one that is similar to the verdicts our sons (in Israeli prisons) get," Yusri al-Sharif said. - Polarised public - The video was filmed by a Palestinian volunteer for Israeli rights group B'Tselem, which accused the security forces of "routine whitewashing" in a statement after the verdict. "The fact that one soldier was convicted today does not exonerate the Israeli military law enforcement system from its routine whitewashing of cases in which security forces kill or injure Palestinians with no accountability," B'Tselem said. The case galvanised the Israeli public, and television and radio stations interrupted their broadcasts to carry live coverage of the verdict. It had been portrayed by some as a test of whether Israel's military could prosecute one of its own, though many Palestinians dismissed it, arguing Azaria was only put on trial because of the video. The military has said it began investigating before the release of the video. The last time an Israeli soldier was convicted of manslaughter was in 2005, Israeli media reported. The shooting came against the backdrop of a wave of Palestinian knife, gun and car-ramming attacks that erupted in October 2015. Israeli security forces have been accused of using excessive force in certain other cases as well, though authorities say officers act appropriately to protect themselves and civilians. Most of the attacks were by lone-wolf assailants, many of them young people, including teenagers. Israel's military has said it believes a significant number of them were essentially on suicide missions. The violence has greatly subsided in recent months. Hebron (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) - An Israeli soldier convicted of manslaughter Wednesday for shooting a wounded Palestinian assailant lying on the ground should be sentenced to life, the Palestinian's father said. Rights groups and the Palestinian government meanwhile argued that the conviction only came about because of a viral video showing the incident that drew global attention to the case. The 20-year-old soldier, Sgt. Elor Azaria, faces up to 20 years in prison following the verdict. "For me, a just verdict will be one that is similar to the verdicts our sons (in Israeli prisons) get," Yusri al-Sharif, the father of the Palestinian, told reporters in the West Bank city of Hebron, where the shooting occurred. "Life sentence ... But Israel is trying its own son, so there is a possibility it will be lenient." The family was joined by relatives of other alleged Palestinian attackers killed by Israeli security forces. Some held posters showing Azaria sitting in court with "wanted" written in red and another demanding he be tried at the International Criminal Court. Azaria had been on trial in a military court since May, with Israeli right-wing politicians defending him despite top army brass harshly condemning his actions. He is to be sentenced at a later date. The case burst into public view when a video of the March 24 shooting emerged and spread widely online. The video showed Abdul Fatah al-Sharif, 21, lying on the ground, shot along with another man after stabbing and moderately wounding a soldier minutes earlier, according to the army. Azaria then shoots him again in the head without any apparent provocation. Judges found Azaria had no reason to open fire since the Palestinian was not posing a threat. The video was filmed by a Palestinian volunteer for Israeli rights group B'Tselem, which accused the security forces of "routine whitewashing" in a statement after the verdict. Story continues "The fact that one soldier was convicted today does not exonerate the Israeli military law enforcement system from its routine whitewashing of cases in which security forces kill or injure Palestinians with no accountability," B'Tselem said. "The exception of a much publicised trial, marked by a rare instance of video documentation, is not enough to change this norm." A spokesman for the Palestinian government, Yousef al-Mahmoud, said: "The conviction of the soldier who executed al-Sharif happened because the crime was documented on video and was transmitted on TV for the whole world to see." The shooting came against the backdrop of a wave of Palestinian knife, gun and car-ramming attacks that erupted in October 2015. Israeli security forces have been accused of excessive force in certain other cases as well, though authorities say officers act appropriately to protect themselves and civilians. The violence has greatly subsided in recent months. Republican lawmakers in the United States Congress have suspended plans to weaken an office that investigates possible ethics violations. At a closed-door meeting Monday night, Republican members of the House of Representatives had voted 119 to 74 to approve the proposal. The vote came hours before all House members were sworn-in to two-year terms in the new Congress. The change would have put the Office of Congressional Ethics under the House Ethics Committee, which is controlled by lawmakers. In the 2016 election, Republicans kept control of both the House and Senate. The measure, proposed by Republican Congressman Bob Goodlatte, was added to a larger number of rules for Congress. But it was later dropped. The Office of Congressional Ethics was created as a non-partisan, independent group in 2008. It came about after several corruption cases involving members of the House. Under the proposed change, lawmakers themselves would have had final say over activities of the Office of Congressional Ethics. Goodlatte said his proposal was needed because he believed some lawmakers had been unfairly targeted by the office. House Speaker Paul Ryan and Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy both opposed the change. The House Republican vote was strongly criticized by President-elect Donald Trump, members of the opposition Democratic Party and government watchdog groups. President-elect Trump has often used the expression drain the swamp. A swamp is a wet, muddy area. Trump has used the term to describe efforts to end corruption in government and politics. On Tuesday, Trump criticized the ethics proposal action on Twitter. With all that Congress has to work on, do they really have to make the weakening of the Independent Ethics Watchdog, as unfair as it may be, their number one act and priority, he wrote. Trump said U.S. lawmakers should instead "focus on tax reform, healthcare and so many other things of far greater importance!" He also urged Congress to join his effort to "drain the swamp." Democratic House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said the change would effectively destroy the Office of Congressional Ethics. Republicans claim they want to 'drain the swamp, Pelosi said in a statement. But the night before the new Congress gets sworn in, the House GOP has eliminated the only independent ethics oversight of their actions." The vote meant that ethics had become the first casualty of the new Republican Congress, she added. Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren said House Republicans were "gutting its ethics office in the middle of the night." In an earlier statement, Goodlatte said his proposal was designed to strengthen the mission of the Office of Congressional Ethics. In addition, he said it would improve due process rights for individuals under investigation, as well as witnesses called to give evidence. Under the proposed rules, the Office of Congressional Ethics would have been barred from "accepting or considering any anonymous allegation." Also, it would not have been permitted to investigate any reported violation that happened before 2011. Lawmakers would have also been barred from making any public statement or releasing information to the public unless the material was released by the Ethics Committee. Im Anne Ball. Chris Hannas wrote this story for VOANews.com. Bryan Lynn adapted his report for Learning English, with additional material from the Associated Press and Reuters. George Grow was the editor. We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page. _______________________________________________________________ Words in This Story ethics n. rules of behavior relating to what is morally right and wrong watchdog n. organization that makes sure governments or companies are not doing wrong or illegal things swamp n. wet and muddy land usually covered with water casualty n. something badly affected by something that happens gut n. destroy or make something no longer effective due process n. the official and proper way of handling legal matters anonymous adj. not giving a name Turkish authorities said Wednesday that they have established the identity of the gunman who killed 39 people at a popular nightclub in Istanbul early Sunday. Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu announced the development in a televised interview with the state-run Anadolu news agency, but did not reveal the name of the attacker. The gunman, who fled after the attack, is still at large and a massive manhunt is underway. According to reports, the attacker spoke Arabic as he opened fire at the Reina club in the early hours of New Year's Day. At least 600 people were at the venue when the gunman stormed in after killing a policeman and a civilian outside the club. Local media reported that some 20 people have been detained as a part of the investigation into the shooting. On Monday, the Islamic State group claimed responsibility of the attack saying that a "soldier of the caliphate" had carried out the shooting in response to Turkish military operations against ISIS in northern Syria. On Tuesday, Turkish state media released a video of the suspected perpetrator of the deadly terrorist attack. The clip shows the alleged gunman filming himself with a cellphone at Istanbul's Taksim square. It is unclear if the video was filmed before or after the massacre. Meanwhile, Kyrgyzstan ruled out a suspect named in media reports in connection with the attack after an image of a Kyrgyz passport purportedly belonging to the suspect circulated on social media. So far, there have been several conflicting reports about the identity of the gunman. On Monday, local media reported that the attacker was believed to be from a Central Asian nation and may have been part of the same cell that targeted Istanbul's Ataturk Airport in June 2016. On Tuesday, Haber Turk newspaper reported, citing sources, that the attacker is believed to be a member of China's Muslim Uighur minority. Some reports claimed that police gathered the details of the suspect from calls he made on the mobile phone of the taxi driver who took him to the nightclub. Related Articles ROME (Reuters) - A gun fired at Milan police by the man suspected of attacking a Christmas market in Berlin last month was the same one used to kill the driver of the truck that ploughed into revelers in the German capital, Italian police said on Wednesday. Anis Amri, a failed asylum seeker from Tunisia, was shot dead in a gunfight with police in the Milan suburb of Sesto San Giovanni on Dec. 23, days after he allegedly killed 12 people in Berlin. Amri is also suspected of shooting dead a truck driver in Germany and hijacking his vehicle, which he then drove into the Christmas market crowd. Police had been carrying out tests to ascertain if the same gun was used in both the Berlin and Milan shootings. "The comparison carried out between the exploded cartridge from the terrorist's weapon in Sesto and the one found by the German police has given unequivocal proof that they were fired from the same gun," police said in a statement. (Reporting by Isla Binnie; Editing by Crispian Balmer and John Stonestreet) Rome (AFP) - Italy's media and traditional political parties were up in arms Wednesday after the head of the populist Five Star movement accused the country's journalists of "manufacturing false news". Comic Beppe Grillo, founder of the anti-euro movement, lashed out at print and TV journalists, accusing them of fabricating news to keep the Five Stars down. "Newspapers and television news programmes are the biggest manufacturers of false news in the country, with the aim of ensuring those who have power keep it," he said on his blog on Tuesday. He called for "a popular jury to determine the veracity of the news published," and said in cases of fake news "the editor must, head bowed, make a public apology and publish the correct version at the start of the programme or on the paper's front page". Grillo said members of the general public "picked at random" would be shown newspaper articles and programmes and asked "to determine their accuracy." The blog was accompanied by a montage of the banners and logos of Italy's main newspapers and television news programmes. The media world was enraged. The news director of the private TG La7 channel, Enrico Mentana, said he would sue the comedian, while journalists' union FNSI slammed the "lynching of all journalists". - 'Fascism' - The opposition Five Stars was running neck-and-neck with the ruling centre-left Democratic Party (PD) before Matteo Renzi's downfall last month and is campaigning hard for the next general election, which could be held in coming months. What Grillo is proposing "is called Fascism, and those who play it down are accomplices," PD senator Stefano Esposito said. The centre-right Forza Italia (FI) party, founded by ex-prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, said Grillo wanted a "minculpop 2.0", a reference to the propaganda and censorship ministry under dictator Benito Mussolini. Story continues Grillo has had a difficult relationship with the media since launching the Five Stars (M5S) in 2009, banning members from appearing on talk shows and giving international media priority over their Italian counterparts at his rallies. His claim that journalists were to blame for the country's poor standing on the World Press Freedom Index -- where it ranks 77th -- was dismissed Wednesday by the editor in chief of the Repubblica daily. - 'Shady deals, big lies' - "It's not because of an enslavement to power, but the opposite: there are too many journalists threatened by the mafia and organised crime groups over their investigations into shady dealings and corruption," Mario Calabresi said. "And if that wasn't enough, we hold the record for the number of lawsuits against journalists brought by politicians who cannot bear the idea that someone would look into their business or criticise them," he added. Marco Travaglio, editor of the far-left Il Fatto Quotidiano daily, agreed with Grillo but said the popular jury idea would never work. "The biggest lies are those spread by the television and newspapers, but the solution he is proposing is naive," he said. Grillo's comments follow widespread debate in the United States and Britain over whether fake news may have played a part in persuading people to vote for Republican candidate Donald Trump and for Brexit. Last month, Pope Francis weighed in, comparing scandal-obsessed media outlets who smear politicians and spread gossip to people sexually excited by excrement -- and describing their readers as faeces eaters. Related Links: James Corden already shared his thoughts about the passing of George Michael over the Christmas holiday but wasnt finished. On the first Late Late Show after the Christmas hiatus, Corden opened the show by expressing his sorrow at the loss of one of his musical heroes. He discusses how hard the news hit him while enjoying the holidays back in London, saying that he feels like he loved George Michael almost as long as hes loved music. It is sometimes hard to tell whats real when it comes to late night TV, but this certainly hits the right marks. After discussing what Michael meant to him for a bit, Corden went on to discuss his desire to do a sketch with Michael for Comic Relief. The pop star agreed after some phone tag, including a 3 am phone call from Australia, and the results laid the groundwork for what would be Carpool Karaoke. The sketch itself made the rounds in the days after Michaels passing, but Corden has given it a new national stage in the United States. And its really nice, mostly because it is a little different than the Carpool Karaoke weve seen since Corden started his show. The little sketch portion and jokes are better than whatever silly conversation Corden is having with Madonna about her career, at least for me. Plus you have to admit, George Michael brings a lot of energy here. (Via The Late Late Show) YouTube During New Japan Pro Wrestlings Wrestle Kingdom 11 on Wednesday, the company announced that for the first time ever, they will be doing a completely self-produced tour in the United States. New Japan has held many joint-promotion shows in the U.S., mostly with their business partner Ring Of Honor, but these will be the first just straight-up New Japan Pro Wrestling events to be held stateside. Whats more, they will be two of the dates in the ultra-prestigious G1 Climax tournament, which will be in its 27th year in 2017. On July 1 and 2 in Long Beach, California (half an hour south of Los Angeles), New Japan will present two dates of the G1 Special at the Long Beach Convention Center. Tickets are not yet on sale, and more information about that weekend is expected soon. Related Links: For those who arent familiar, the G1 Climax is the most renowned and longest-running singles wrestling tournament in the world. The winner of the G1 (in addition to putting their name in the record books) is guaranteed a world title shot at the following years Wrestle Kingdom show. Its one of New Japans hallmarks, in addition to the Best of the Super Juniors and the World Tag League. Needless to say, this is a huge deal for fans of pro wrestling and NJPW fans in particular. Turns out theres something to look forward to after WrestleMania after all! The divorce saga continues between Amber Heard and Johnny Depp. New documents have surfaced, and unfortunately, the former couple still has bad blood. According to court papers that E News has obtained, Heards legal team has recently filed for a Request for Order with the Los Angeles Superior Court. She is hoping to get her settlement and finally make the divorce official. She claimed, Johnny has delayed the resolution of this matter. I want my life back. I want to be divorced now. Depp and Heard were married in 2015, and Heard filed for divorce just over a year later. The two parties agreed on a $7 million settlement back in August, all of which was requested to be donated to charity. But now, Heard is renegotiating the terms. Depp fired back with some not-so-nice words. His team response reads, Her application is not only a blatant attempt to extend her fifteen minutes of fame but also a waste of the Courts limited time and resources and an embarrassing grab for addition and unwarranted attorneys fees. Find out which celebs have gotten tattoos for their significant others: Tell us what you think! Share your comments with us on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram or leave your comments below. And check out our host, Julissa Bermudez, on Twitter. By Joseph Guyler Delva PORT-AU-PRINCE (Reuters) - Haitian businessman Jovenel Moise was declared the official winner of November presidential elections in the impoverished Caribbean nation on Tuesday, after an electoral tribunal ruled out allegations of massive fraud at the polls. Moise, who ran for former president Michel Martelly's Bald Heads Party (PHTK), won with 55.6 percent of votes cast in the Nov. 20 election, with closest rival Jude Celestin second at 19.5 percent, said electoral tribunal spokeswoman Nicole Simeon. In his victory speech, Moise repeated his calls to combat corruption and offered a message of national unity. "We will write a new page of history, one that is positive for this country, so future generations can be proud," he told cheering supporters at an upscale hotel in Petion-Ville, an affluent suburb of the capital. "The voters who chose to cast their vote for another candidate, I want them to know that I respect their choice. I will be president for every Haitian," Moise said. Supporters of ex-president Jean-Bertrand Aristide's Fanmi Lavalas Party had also claimed victory for their candidate, Maryse Narcisse, who finished in fourth place with 9 percent of the vote. Some backers of leftist candidate Moise Jean-Charles, who finished third with 11 percent, also protested after preliminary results were released. However, the electoral tribunal said the outcome stood. "There was no massive fraud in the election. There were irregularities which did not affect the electoral process," the tribunal said ahead of Moise's confirmation as president. Heavy gunfire was heard in parts of the capital on Monday. Opponents of Moise have repeatedly said they would never accept the victory of the candidate of Martelly's PHTK party. Haiti is still recovering after Category-4 Hurricane Matthew tore through the nation in October, killing up to 1,000 people and leaving 1.4 million in need of humanitarian assistance. Moise, 48, won an October 2015 first-round election that was later scrapped over fraud allegations. He is expected to take office by the constitutional deadline of Feb. 7, 2017. A successful banana exporter, Moise would take the reins from interim president Jocelerme Privert, who took power after Martelly left without an elected successor in February, 2016. As president, Moise would face the daunting task of reviving Haiti's economy and rebuilding a country that was still recovering from a 2010 earthquake when Hurricane Matthew hit. (Additional reporting by Makini Brice; Writing by Alexandra Alper; Editing by David Gregorio and Paul Tait) Port-au-Prince (AFP) - Jovenel Moise won Haiti's presidential elections with 55.6 percent of the first round vote held on November 20, according to official results. The announcement by Haiti's Provisional Electoral Council puts an end to a protracted electoral process that began in October 2015 and paralyzed the Caribbean country's politics for more than a year. Moise, a 48-year-old political neophyte, is due to take power February 7 to succeed Jocelerme Privert, who will by then have served for nearly a year as interim president after Michel Martelly ended his term without an elected successor. The October 2015 vote, which had also seen Moise win, was scrapped after an independent commission found massive fraud. There were no major incidents reported in the November ballots. But Moise's major challengers -- Jude Celestin, Jean-Charles Moise and Maryse Narcisse -- also contested the preliminary results of the latest elections. After weeklong verification of electoral materials, the electoral tribunal backed Jovenel Moise. "There was no massive fraud. However, some 12 percent of official accounts pointed to irregularities that would not affect the process." The final official results gave runner-up Celestin 19.57 percent, Jean-Charles Moise 11.04 percent and Narcisse 9.01 percent. - Turn the page - Two years ago, Moise was a banana farmer and entrepreneur -- a little-known political novice. But after former president Michel Martelly chose him to represent his party, Moise, now 48, became known by the nickname he loves to chant: "the banana man." But although he won the vote, Moise lacks strong popular support, with just 21 percent of voters casting their ballots. Protestors clashed with riot police in subsequent weeks, which Moise denounced, calling on Haitians to turn the page. "The country can no longer endure this eternal presidential campaign," he said at the time, adding that for his part -- and speaking for his team and members of his party -- "we know we won the election in the first round." Story continues Political instability has long paralyzed the economy of a country that was already the poorest in the Americas. More than 60 percent of people living in Haiti survive with less than two dollars per day. Haiti has a debt of more than $2 billion and growth is expected to be just one percent in 2017, due to a lack of public and private investment. Nearly seven years after a devastating earthquake killed more than 200,000 people in January 2010, some 55,000 Haitians are still scraping by in makeshifts camps with extremely poor living conditions, according to the International Organization for Migration. And hopes of economic recovery were dashed in early October by Hurricane Matthew, which left damage of more than $2 billion in the south of the country. (Reuters) - A U.S. judge almost halved the award in a December jury verdict that ordered Johnson & Johnson and its DePuy Orthopaedics unit to pay more than $1 billion to plaintiffs in six lawsuits who said they were injured by DePuy's Pinnacle hip implants. U.S. District Judge Ed Kinkeade in Dallas cited "constitutional considerations" that limit how much plaintiffs may recover in punitive damages but upheld the jury's findings that the implants were defectively designed and that the companies failed to warn consumers about the risks. Around $500 million of punitive damages would be cut from the more than $1 billion awarded to the plaintiffs who are California residents that were implanted with the hip devices and experienced tissue death, bone erosion and other injuries they attributed to design flaws. The complainants claimed the companies promoted the implants as lasting longer than devices that include ceramic or plastic materials. DePuy ceased selling the metal-on-metal Pinnacle devices in 2013 after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration strengthened its regulations on artificial hips. J&J and DePuy paid $2.5 billion that year to settle more than 7,000 lawsuits over its ASR metal-on-metal hip devices. (Reporting by Rama Venkat Raman in Bengaluru, additional reporting by Nate Raymond in New York; Editing by Sunil Nair) WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was scheduled to appear in his first face-to-face cable news interview Tuesday with FOX News host Sean Hannity. Hannity, who recently traveled to the Ecuadorian embassy in London to speak with Assange, was set to air part one of his interview at 10 p.m. EST. To live stream the interview, sign in with a cable subscription on FOX News Go's desktop site here or via app here. If you don't have access to a cable subscription, you can try checking out unofficial streams like the one below. In excerpts of the show released online Tuesday, the hacker told Hannity the emails from the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton campaign WikiLeaks published throughout the United States election cycle did not come from Russia despite claims by President Barack Obama to the contrary. "We can say, we have said, repeatedly that over the last two months that our source is not the Russian government and it is not a state party," Assange said. Last week, after the CIA and FBI internally found Russia had hacked the Democrats' emails to help Republican Donald Trump, Obama announced sanctions against Moscow. He forced more than 30 Russian intelligence operatives in New York and Maryland to leave the country for working to "interfere" in the election and sanctioned nine other people. "These actions are not the sum total of our response to Russias aggressive activities," Obama said in a statement, claiming that the data theft was ordered by higher-ups in Russia's government. "We will continue to take a variety of actions at a time and place of our choosing, some of which will not be publicized. In addition to holding Russia accountable for what it has done, the United States and friends and allies around the world must work together to oppose Russias efforts to undermine established international norms of behavior and interfere with democratic governance." Story continues Assange, living in Ecuador's London embassy as he avoids extradition to Sweden for rape charges, has insisted for months that Moscow was not their source. In November, he blamed Clinton's campaign for their efforts to "project a neo-McCarthyist hysteria that Russia is responsible for everything," Politico reported. He was set to continue rejecting the allegations on Hannity's Tuesday show, saying that the emails were true but Obama has twisted it in his public response. "So, why such a dramatic response? Well, the reason is obvious," Assange said, according to USA Today. "Theyre trying to delegitimize the Trump administration as it goes into the White House. They are trying to say that President-elect Trump is not a legitimate president." Want more? If Tuesday's interview leaves you with questions, you can seek answers Thursday when Assange does a Reddit AMA. Related Articles Some womens rights supporters hoped 2016 would be the year the United Nations elected its first woman secretary-general. It did not happen, as the U.N. voted in October to make Antonio Guterres secretary-general. Guterres is a former prime minister of Portugal. Like the eight others who held the U.N.s top position, he is a man. Jean Krasno chaired the Campaign to Elect a Woman U.N. Secretary General. Krasno said she was very disappointed at the election of Guterres. But she was happy when he agreed to meet with her just days after his election. Krasno came away from their meeting hopeful about how he might change the U.N. She said Guterres told her he hopes to fill half the top U.N. leadership positions he controls with women. That would be a big change. Anne Marie Goetz, professor at New York Universitys Center for Global Affairs, said the U.N. has yet to give more than 25 percent of its top positions to women. Goetz said those who want more responsibility for women in international relations had two reasons for disappointment in 2016. One was the defeat of the seven women candidates for secretary-general. The other was the defeat of Hillary Clinton in the American election. Clinton was hoping to become the first woman president of the United States. But she lost to Donald Trump in the U.S. presidential election. In a column written for the website opendemocracy.net, Goetz said she and others were looking forward to Clinton pushing the U.N. to do more on issues important to women. Among them, Goetz said, are rights of women to own property, fair pay, reproductive freedom and more efforts to stop gender-based violence. It was a disappointment not to have the first woman secretary-general after over 70 years, she told VOA. But most of the people who were fighting for a woman secretary-general were happy to see him (Guterres) prioritizing gender equality, especially in U.N. staffing. Tuesday was Guterres first day on the job as secretary-general. He talked about reforming what some say is an unresponsive U.N. bureaucracy. Earlier, Guterres promised new efforts to bring peace to some of the worlds major conflicts. There are no miraclesand the only way for us to achieve our goals is to work as a team, he said. Jean Krasno, who led the Campaign to Elect a Woman U.N. Secretary-General, said the system for choosing a new U.N. chief worked against women. Seven women competed for the position. Yet she said her group found many more women who had the experience necessary to be a candidate. Krasno said many women did not seek the office because they could not win the support of their countries governments -- in some cases, because they did not belong to the ruling political party. A secretive U.N. process, she said, made it difficult to know when the 15 members of the Security Council were considering the new secretary general. We were hoping for a more open process, she said. Krasno teaches political science and international relations at Yale University, Columbia University and the City University of New York. Im Alice Bryant. Bruce Alpert reported on this story for VOA Learning English. George Grow was the editor. We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section and share your views on our Facebook Page. ___________________________________________________________ Words in This Story disappoint - v. to make someone unhappy by not doing something column - n. an article written about a particular subject, sometimes with the writers opinion included gender - n. related to being either a male or female prioritize v. to make something the most important job miracle - n. a very amazing or unusual event or achievement achieve - v. to get something done unresponsive adj. lacking an ability to react quickly or sympathetically bureaucracy n. a group of non-elected government officials; an administrative group; a system of administration BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqi journalist Afrah al-Qaisi, known in her country for criticizing the government in satirical articles for local media, has been released unharmed after being kidnapped by unidentified gunmen in Baghdad a week ago. The head of the Iraqi Journalistic Freedoms Observatory, Ziyad al-Ajili, said on Wednesday the kidnappers had returned the car, telephone, laptop and gold jewelry they took when they broke into her home and that she drove back overnight around midnight. A video aired by the Kurdish NRT channel showed emotional scenes after Qaisi, who used to work for the Saudi-owned pan-Arab newspaper Asharq al-Awsat, was reunited with her family and friends after returning home. "I just want to say that I'm fine and I was well treated," she said, sobbing and shaking. Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi telephoned Qaisi to check on her well-being after her release, his media office said. The kidnapping highlighted the dangers journalists face in Iraq, where 71 have been killed with impunity over the past decade, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). Many were victims of Sunni insurgents active in Iraq even before Islamic State militants overran around a third of the country more than two years ago. But other armed factions, including Shi'ite militias, some backed by the government, have grown increasingly powerful through their participation in Baghdad's fight against Islamic State. (Reporting by Saif Hameed; Editing by Isabel Coles and Tom Heneghan) Los Angeles (AFP) - Following months of silence, reality television star Kim Kardashian reemerged on social media Tuesday, posting a photograph of herself with rapper husband Kanye West and their two children. Kardashian, who has 49.3 million followers on Twitter and 89.6 million on Instagram, also posted a home video of her family that will likely put to rest rumors of a divorce. She and West, 39, are shown lovingly embracing in the two-and-a-half-minute clip that also features intimate moments with their two children -- North and Saint. The family picture posted on Twitter had a caption that simply read "family." The 36-year-old "Keeping Up With the Kardashians" star, who also changed her profile picture on Twitter and Instagram Tuesday, had not been heard from on social media since October, when she was robbed at gunpoint in Paris. Her rap superstar husband, meanwhile, reportedly suffered a breakdown in November that landed him in hospital and forced the cancellation of his tour. Celebrity website TMZ said the couple had returned to Los Angeles from Oklahoma on Tuesday after visiting his mother's grave site. BEIJING (Reuters) - A man in China's southern region of Guangxi wounded 11 children with a blade at their kindergarten on Wednesday, state television said, in the country's latest mass knifing incident. Violent crime is rare in China, compared to many other countries, but there has been a series of knife and axe attacks in recent years, many targeting children. China Central Television said in a post on its official microblog that a man climbed the wall of the kindergarten in the city of Pingxiang and attacked the students. All of the wounded children had been sent to the hospital but their injuries were not life-threatening, CCTV said. It said the suspect had been detained by police and the incident was being investigated, but did not give his full name. (Reporting by Michael Martina; Editing by Clarence Fernandez) South Korea is committed to deploying an advanced US missile defense system this year despite opposition from China, a minister said Wednesday, even as opposition lawmakers headed to Beijing with a different message. Seoul and Washington agreed to deploy the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system in the South after a string of North Korean nuclear and missile tests -- prompting strong objections from China. "THAAD deployment is part of our efforts to bolster defense against threats from North Korea," Defence Minister Han Min-Koo said in a report to the country's acting president. "This is not a subject for political considerations," he told Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-Ahn, who took over the executive powers of scandal-hit President Park Geun-Hye after she was impeached last month. But the opposition Democratic Party has said they will review the deployment if they win upcoming presidential elections, and a group of their lawmakers flew to Beijing to meet Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and other top officials. "They are going to convey our belief to China that the THAAD issue should be left in the hands of the next president," the party's parliamentary floor leader Woo Sang-Ho said. Originally set for December 2017, the country's presidential election may be brought forward if Park's impeachment is upheld by the Constitutional Court, which has up to six months to decide. The Democratic Party's presidential hopeful Moon Jae-In is currently the frontrunner in the race. Beijing argues THAAD will hurt its security interests and increase the risk of military conflict in the region, and has imposed what have been seen in South Korea as a string of sanctions in retaliation for the development. These include new restrictions on Korean K-pop stars and other celebrities appearing on Chinese TV programs or performing in the mainland. China also refused to approve chartered flights from South Korea for the Lunar New Year holiday, hitting the lucrative tourism industry. Story continues Washington maintains THAAD is no threat to Beijing. "There's no reason for China to oppose that system. This is a defensive system. And there's no reason for anyone in the region to have concern about that, other than, perhaps, North Korea," Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook said Tuesday. The proposed missile system has also sparked angry protests from both residents of the areas where it is set to be deployed. PRISTINA, Kosovo (AP) French police have detained Kosovo's former prime minister based on an arrest warrant issued by Serbia the Kosovo foreign ministry said Wednesday. Ramush Haradinaj, who is also a former guerrilla fighter, was stopped as he flew in to France from Kosovo's capital, Pristina, on Wednesday. Kosovo's government said in a statement it is trying to resolve the matter. It said it considered Serbia's charges as "illegal, unfair and tendentious." Kosovo President Hashim Thaci, also a former guerrilla leader and Haradinaj's friend, described the detention as "unacceptable." "We, members of the Kosovo Liberation Army, are proud to have fought against discriminating and criminal laws of Slobodan Milosevic's regime," he said on Facebook. Haradinaj was cleared of war crimes charges in two lengthy trials by a U.N. war crimes tribunal. But Serbia accuses him of committing war crimes including kidnappings, torture and killings against Serb civilians when he was a senior rebel commander in western Kosovo during the 1998-99 war. Kosovo seceded from Serbia in 2008, although Belgrade has not recognized that. Haradinaj's party is now in opposition. KELOWNA, BC / ACCESSWIRE / January 4, 2017 / Laguna Blends Inc. (CNSX:LAG) (OTC PINK: LAGBF) (LB6A.F) (the "Company" or "Laguna"), announces it has signed a distribution agreement with ISO International, LLC to promote and distribute two new nano CBD Shots in the US. Powered by the unique nano technology for ultimate delivery, Heneplex, a full spectrum hemp essential oil complex containing naturally occurring psychoactive phytocannabinoids and 75 botanical terpenes. These nano amplified botanical constituents are more readily absorbed by the body offering faster, more targeted delivery and better product performance. NanoZZZ (for sleep) and Amp'd Up (for energy) offer quick and easy single serving liquid solutions for two major problems in our society today. These potent THC-free nano amplified formulations contain adaptogenic herbs and are simple and convenient solutions for those needing that extra "push" to get to sleep, or those wanting to get supercharged to start off your day. States Ray Grimm Jr, Laguna Blends CEO, "For those looking for a convenient energizer with more caffeine than a cup of coffee, you are bound to be Amp'd Up when you start your day or need that mid afternoon boost. The delicious mixed berry flavor contains 8 different vitamins and is sugar free. For those having trouble sleeping at night, try NanoZZZ which is drug free, zero calories and allows you to wake up alert and refreshed." Both products are available for purchase in the Laguna Shopping Cart, the trusted source for Hemp and CBD products. What is Cannabidiol Cannabidiol (CBD) is a non-psychoactive cannabinoid found in abundance in the hemp plant. Hemp genetics are naturally rich in cannabidiol, as well as other non-psychoactive cannabinoids and phytochemicals. Cannabidiol and all the other cannabinoids in the cannabis plant were patented by the United States government in 2003 as neuroprotectants and anti-oxidants. None of the statements contained in this news release are health claims and the Food and Drug Administration has not evaluated these claims. Laguna's products and proposed products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. Story continues About Laguna Blends Inc. Laguna Blends is a market leader in the distribution of Hemp and CBD products. Laguna's growth strategy includes acquiring and incubating companies who formulate and or manufacture Hemp products. Laguna Blends markets Hemp products utilizing its B to B Network along with driving traffic to its online marketplace. It's Laguna's intent to provide the highest quality hemp product experience for the end user, utilizing a proprietary nanotechnology in many of its consumable and topical skin care products. Laguna is currently seeking joint ventures and acquisitions to expand its portfolio and will aggressively begin international expansion into Asia and Europe in 2017. ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD "Ray Grimm Jr" CEO, President & Director CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONS: Howe & Bay Suite 600 - 535 Howe St. Vancouver BC V6C 2Z4 1.604.449.5302 COMPANY: Laguna Blends ir@lagunablends.com www.lagunablends.com https://cbdskincream.com/ Join Us On Face Book: https://www.facebook.com/LagunaBlends/ Twitter: @LagunaBlends Forward-Looking Information: This news release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws relating to statements regarding the Company's business, products and future the Company's business, its product offerings and plans for sales and marketing. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in the forward looking information are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Readers are cautioned to not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Such forward looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results, performance and developments to differ materially from those contemplated by these statements depending on, among other things, the risks that the Company's products and plan will vary from those stated in this news release and the Company may not be able to carry out its business plans as expected. Except as required by law, the Company expressly disclaims any obligation, and does not intend, to update any forward looking statements or forward-looking information in this news release. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in the forward looking information are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct and makes no reference to profitability based on sales reported. The statements in this news release are made as of the date of this release. SOURCE: Laguna Blends Inc. ISTANBUL (AP) The Latest on the Istanbul nightclub attack (all times local): 2:25 p.m. Turkey's defense minister says a lack of support from Turkey's NATO allies in its operation to clear the Islamic State group from a town in northern Syria is leading many to question the country's permission for the U.S.-led coalition to use its air base. In the past few weeks, Turkey has complained that the coalition forces aren't providing air cover to Turkish troops trying to capture the key IS-held town of al-Bab. Fikri Isik said Wednesday: "this is leading to serious disappointment in the Turkish public opinion." "We are telling our allies ... that this is leading to questions over Incirlik." He was referring to the air base in southern Turkey that is home to coalition planes involved in the anti-IS campaign. IS has claimed responsibility for the New Year's Istanbul nightclub attack that killed 39 people. Isik said Turkey hoped all coalition forces, and especially the United States, will start to provide the aerial support and other support that the (Turkish military offensive) needs." Turkey sent troops and tanks into northern Syria in August to drive back IS militants from a border area and curb the territorial advances of Syrian Kurdish groups. ___ 1:40 p.m. Police in Istanbul have set up checkpoints and are checking vehicles across the city as security levels remained high after the New Year's nightclub attack. A lone gunman killed at least 39 people in the massacre, which the Islamic State group claimed responsibility for. Police were stopping cars and Istanbul's ubiquitous yellow taxis, with passengers and drivers holding up their identifications while officers inspected inside the vehicles. Istanbul has been on high alert since the attack, with the gunman still at large. ___ 1:30 p.m. Turkey's president says that "to say Turkey has surrendered to terrorism is to take sides with the terrorists and terror organizations." Story continues Recep Tayyip Erdogan was making his first public address to the nation since the Istanbul nightclub attack on New Year's that killed at least 39 people, mostly foreigners. Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the attack and the gunman is still at large. Erdogan said that "despite the sad start in the early hours of 2017, we strongly maintain our expectations for the new year." ___ 1:20 p.m. Turkey's president says that the Istanbul nightclub attack aims to set Turks against each other and deepen fault lines, but the country won't fall for this game. Recep Tayyip Erdogan made the comments in a live speech from Ankara, the first time he has publicly addressed the nation since the New Year's attack that killed at least 39 people. Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the attack and the gunman is still at large. Responding to accusations in the past that Turkey had given support to the Islamic State group, Erdogan said that "to present the country which is leading the greatest struggle against Daesh as one supporting terrorism is what terror organization wants." Erdogan said that "in Turkey, no one's way of life is under any threat. Those who claim this have to prove it. It is my duty to protect everyone's rights." ___ 1 p.m. Turkey's European Union affairs minister says the Islamic State group-claimed attack on the Istanbul nightclub was carried out in an "extremely professional way" and bears similarities to the Bataclan and Charlie Hebdo attacks in France. Omer Celik told CNN Turk television in an interview Wednesday that it appeared that the gunman, who is still at large, had clearly received training "in the Middle East." Celik said: "We are face to face with an attack that was carried out in an extremely profession way." He continued by saying that the gunman "entered (the club) in a professional way, carried out the incident in a cool-blooded manner, and after staying in the kitchen for a while he left, vanishing without a trace." Celik said the attacker was using methods "that avoid all modern intelligence techniques" of tracking, including acting alone, not contacting anyone and "not using technology." ___ 10:35 a.m. A Turkish Airlines jet carrying the bodies of two Indian citizens killed in shooting at an Istanbul nightclub last week has landed in Mumbai. The bodies have been received by a governing party lawmaker, and the victims' relatives and friends. Bollywood film producer-realtor Abis Rizvi's body was taken to his home in suburban Bandra for burial later Wednesday. The 49-year-old Rizvi wrote, produced and directed a Bollywood movie "Roar: The Tigers of Sunderbans," in 2014 aimed at spreading awareness about tigers. The other Indian victim of the Istanbul attack was Khushi Shah, a 39-year-old fashion designer from Vadodara, a city in the western Indian state of Gujarat. Shah's body was flown to her hometown for cremation later Wednesday, the Press Trust of India news agency reported. ___ 9:35 a.m. Turkey's state-run news agency says police have detained five suspected Islamic State group militants believed to be linked to the deadly Istanbul nightclub attack. Anadolu Agency says the operation was launched in the Aegean port city of Izmir on Wednesday. It says the operation in continuing. The gunman, who killed 39 people during New Year's celebrations, hasn't been publicly named and is still at large. IS has claimed responsibility for the attack, which also wounded nearly 70 people. BARTON, Md. (AP) The Latest on a man found dead in a Maryland state forest (all times local): 4:45 p.m. State police say homicide detectives are investigating the death of a man whose body was found in the forested mountains of western Maryland. Spokesman Greg Shipley said Wednesday that the body was found on a logging road near Barton, about 140 miles from Baltimore. Shipley says there were signs of trauma on the body. He says police are still trying to confirm the man's identity. Shipley says the state medical examiner's office will determine the cause and manner of death. Maryland Natural Resources Police say a state police helicopter crew found the man's body Wednesday morning shortly after a woman with whom he had been seen the previous evening walked out of the woods, suffering from hypothermia. Natural Resources Police spokeswoman Candy Thomson says both were in their early 20s. ____ 2:30 p.m. State police say they're investigating the death of a man whose remains were found the morning after he and a woman were seen near a western Maryland hiking trail. She walked out, suffering from hypothermia. Maryland Natural Resources Police spokeswoman Candy Thomson says state police took over after investigators determined the body was on private property adjacent to the Savage River State Forest, 140 miles from Baltimore. State police spokesman Greg Shipley says he has no details yet. Thomson says a friend saw the pair Tuesday night near a trailhead. Thomson says the pair, both in their early 20s, had driven to the area separately. Thomson says someone reported them missing after midnight. She says the woman walked out shortly before 9 a.m., and the body was found shortly thereafter. ____ 12:30 p.m. Police say a man found dead in a western Maryland state forest had driven there separately from a woman who is being treated for hypothermia after apparently spending a night in the woods. Maryland Natural Resources Police spokeswoman Candy Thomson said Wednesday their cars were found parked near Barton, about 130 miles west of Baltimore, near the eastern edge of the Savage River State Forest. Story continues Thomson says the pair, both in their early 20s, were seen alive near a trailhead by a friend around 5 p.m. Tuesday. Thomson says her agency responded at 2:15 a.m. Wednesday to a local 911 call reporting the pair missing. Thomson says the woman walked to a home shortly before 9 a.m. Wednesday. A state police helicopter found the man's body a short while later. _____ Maryland Natural Resources Police say a man has been found dead and a woman is being treated for hypothermia after both were reported missing in a western Maryland state forest. Spokeswoman Candy Thomson told the Cumberland Times-News (http://bit.ly/2iPyqnA ) that the man's body was spotted Wednesday morning by searchers in a state police helicopter. She says the woman walked out of the Savage River State Forest near Barton earlier Wednesday. Thomson says the search began at 2:15 a.m. after someone reported that the two had driven to the forest and had not been seen since 5 p.m. Tuesday. Chuck Schumer President-elect Donald Trump is drawing criticism from lawmakers after he questioned the legitimacy of US intelligence officials' findings on Russia's cyberattacks. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer cautioned Trump against mocking the nation's top spy agencies during an interview with MSNBC's Rachel Maddow: Let me tell you, you take on the intelligence community, they have six ways from Sunday at getting back at you, Schumer said. So even for a practical supposedly hard-nosed businessman, hes being really dumb to do this, Schumer said. Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia also expressed concerned about Trump's casting doubt on the work of the intelligence community. "Really wish we saw more PEOTUS respect for our intelligence professionals," Warner said on Twitter. "Proves the need for Congress to give the American people a timely bipartisan probe." In a Tuesday night tweet, Trump claimed his briefing on Russian cyberattacks was delayed until Friday and suggested intelligence leaders may have been trying to bolster their arguments. "The 'Intelligence' briefing on so-called 'Russian hacking' was delayed until Friday, perhaps more time needed to build a case. Very strange!" Trump said on Twitter. A senior US intelligence official immediately refuted Trumps claim, saying the briefing with the heads of the NSA, CIA, DNI and the FBI was "always" scheduled for Friday, NBC News reported. Since US officials determined Russia's involvement in the hacks of Democratic Party organizations in an attempt to help Trump win the election, the president-elect has remained skeptical of their conclusions. "These are the same people that said Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction," Trump's transition team said in a statement about the CIA's finding's last month. NOW WATCH: 'They haven't played by the rules': Trump accuses China of 'massive theft of intellectual property' and unfairly taxing US companies More From Business Insider A moment in time: Two artists reflect on temporality in new exhibit Lazy Oaf released the cutest E.T.-themed collection and it is out of this world We are E.T. fanatics, full of random facts, like, did you know that M&Ms thought E.T.: the Extra-Terrestrial was going to be a flop, so thats why our favorite little alien eats Reeses Pieces? Lucky for us (and Spielberg!), the movie was a roaring success, spawning merchandise that is wildly popular, even in 2017! So naturally, we are screaming at the release of the new E.T. collection from British clothing brand Lazy Oaf. Throw on your red hoodie and get your bike basket (or online cart) ready to scoop up this wearable nostalgia! The collection, which comes out just in time to celebrate the films 35th anniversary, is a collaboration between the connoisseurs of cute, Lazy Oaf, and Japanese brand Aymmy. WE NEED THIS E.T. SWEATER! Beee goood in 2017 with the E.T. x @aymmy93 collection now available online and in store A photo posted by Lazy Oaf (@lazyoafs) on Jan 3, 2017 at 8:37am PST The collection on features the super cute knit sweater/jumper, a street ready windbreaker, two long-sleeve shirts, and one short-sleeved. All of the clothing features everyones most-loved extraterrestrial. This shirt is giving us so many feels! E.T. is far from Lazy Oafs first character-inspired collab a few months ago they featured a Mickey Mouse collection that was equally adorable! Tonight we're watching Mickey's Christmas Carol, you? @keito_1214 by @drop_tokyo A photo posted by Lazy Oaf (@lazyoafs) on Dec 20, 2016 at 9:44am PST The collection runs about $90USD to $215USD and can be found at LazyOaf.com! VR production This story was delivered to BI Intelligence Apps and Platforms Briefing subscribers. To learn more and subscribe, please click here. Lenovo announced on Tuesday that it has developed a $400 PC-powered virtual reality (VR) headset, according to Engadget. It is the latest in a string of tech companies to announce a VR device, even as the technology struggles to reach the consumer market at large. The device, which doesn't yet have a release date, will run the Windows Holographic platform. Lenovos new VR product aims to address several key issues in the way of mass consumer adoption of PC-powered devices: One of the biggest challenges facing the VR market is the inherent tension between quality and price. Smartphone-powered VR is affordable but lacks substantial quality; externally-powered VR using PCs or game consoles is immersive but can be extremely costly, not only for the VR headset, but for the console as well; and stand-alone VR falls somewhere in the middle. At $400, Lenovos PC-powered device can support the heavy lift the higher-quality content needs while also being accessible to most of the potential VR market. Wearing heavy headsets can lead to discomfort, which could reduce the amount of time spent using the devices. Lenovos VR headset weighs in at roughly 12 ounces, far less than HTC Vives 19 ounces, and around 3.5 ounces less than the Oculus Rift. Much of the weight of the device also sits on the users forehead, rather than bridge of the nose. This will help maintain comfort for users who plan on using the device for any length of time. Lenovos efforts to rectify these issues likely indicates that future iterations of VR headsets from other vendors will also address these concerns. This will help make the more powerful VR devices accessible to consumers, providing users with better, more immersive VR experiences. That should drive adoption of VR beyond early movers and push it into the greater consumer market. BI Intelligence expects that shipments of PC-powered headsets rose to 1.2 million in 2016, and will reach about 1.4 million in 2017. That compares with 250,000 in 2015. Shipments in this category will likely grow to 8.3 million in 2022, at a five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 42%. Story continues The virtual reality (VR) market made significant strides throughout 2016. New VR headsets like the Oculus Rift and the HTC Vive debuted amid great consumer anticipation, while VR content launches kept pace, with Batman: Arkham VR and Chair In A Room garnering encouraging download totals. At the same time, industry groups and conferences brought developers, investors, and content producers together, helping to further ramp up buzz in this nascent space. BI Intelligence, Business Insiders premium research service, forecasts shipments of VR headsets to spike by 1047% year-over-year (YoY) to 8.2 million in 2016. This growth will help propel the virtual reality space to exceed $1 billion in revenue for the first time, according to research by Deloitte. Powering that growth is an estimated 271% increase in investment in AR (augmented reality) and VR companies from 2015, according to estimates from CB Insights. But while 2016 has indeed been an important year for the VR market, it hasnt necessarily been a big one at least not compared to its future growth potential. VR headset shipments will continue to grow in the years ahead, driven by the introduction of new content that will appeal to a broad swath of users. Jessica Smith, research analyst for BI Intelligence, has compiled a detailed report on virtual reality that explores the highly fragmented and volatile VR market that emerged in 2016, lays out the future growth potential in numerous key VR hardware categories as driven by major VR platforms, and examines consumer sentiment and developer excitement for VR, presenting which headset categories and platforms are most poised for success in the near- to mid-term. Here are some key takeaways from the report: This has been an important foundational year for the VR market. New hardware and content have brought more options to market to appeal to a wider set of consumers. But the growth seen this year is merely a foreshadowing of the future. The highly fragmented VR market today will eventually narrow as the market grows and matures. After considerable progress in 2016, the VR market is ripe for transformation in 2017. Developers, consumers, investors, and hardware makers have a host of options from which to choose, each with their own strengths and shortcomings. The environment is poised for the first killer VR app to hit the market sometime in 2017, which will be a major catalyst for consumer adoption of VR hardware. Not all headset categories and platforms will emerge as winners in the near future. More immersive headsets that offer the best VR experiences are too expensive for most consumers. Alternately, affordable headsets that rely on smartphones as processors offer sub-par experiences that can induce sickness. In full, the report: Identifies the major players in today's VR hardware and platform markets. Estimates future growth of each of the major VR categories. Explores barriers to mass market consumer adoption for each of the VR hardware categories. Considers how developer sentiment is driving the growth of various platforms. Assesses how the market will shake out over the next five years in terms of size and the success of various VR hardware categories. Interested in getting the full report? Here are two ways to access it: Subscribe to an All-Access pass to BI Intelligence and gain immediate access to this report and over 100 other expertly researched reports. As an added bonus, you'll also gain access to all future reports and daily newsletters to ensure you stay ahead of the curve and benefit personally and professionally. START A MEMBERSHIP Purchase & download the full report from our research store. BUY THE REPORT More From Business Insider Port-au-Prince (AFP) - The losers in Haiti's presidential election insisted Wednesday they will not recognise political neophyte Jovenel Moise as the winner, calling the officially declared result a political coup. But international organisations welcomed the conclusion of a tortuously long voting process that began in October 2015 and paralysed political life in this unstable Caribbean nation that is the poorest in the Americas. Moise was declared winner of the November 20 first round Tuesday night by the Provisional Electoral Council, with 55.6 percent of the votes. To check against fraud -- the reason for the scrapping of the election the first time Haiti tried in 2015 -- the council said right after the election that 12 percent of the ballots must be verified. After a week of checking, the council said there was no signficant fraud. The losing candidates argued that the verification was not done properly. "Fanmi Lavalas will never accept this electoral coup," said fourth place finisher Maryse Narcisse, referring to her party. Moise Jean-Charles, the third place finisher, also refused to recognise the result and urged people to stand up and protest. "Either we mobilise and defend our rights or we accept this electoral coup," he said. "When the law goes against the people, the people must be outside the law," he said without explaining what exactly he meant. The runner up, Jude Celestin, has not yet spoken out publicly. International organisations welcomed the end of the electoral saga, however. The Organisation of American States said it "commends the conclusion of an electoral process that, despite having been long and complex, has allowed the country to continue down the path of democratic strengthening." With the losers protesting, the United Nations and ambassadors from countries known as the corp group encouraged all Haitians to recognise the results as announced and "work in a constructive way for the peaceful conclusion of the election cycle." Moise will take power February 7. Since its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, Loving has racked up accolade after accolade, including dual Golden Globe nominations for Ruth Negga and Joel Edgerton, who star as a real-life Virginia couple whose interracial marriage led to a landmark 1967 Supreme Court case. Now, the film can add a decidedly adult honor to that list: AARPs Best Movie for Grownups Award. AARP The Magazine announced its annual Movies for Grownups Awards on Wednesday, with Jeff Nichols understated but powerful drama taking home the top honor. The awards are designed to recognize films with a unique appeal to movie lovers with a grownup state of mind, and the AARP also honors writers, directors, and actors who are over 50. Fences, Manchester by the Sea, and 20th Century Women took home the most prizes with two apiece. This years best actor/actress awards went to Denzel Washington for Fences and Annette Bening for 20th Century Women, and Kenneth Lonergan took home the best director and best screenwriter awards for Manchester by the Sea. Jeff Bridges also won best supporting actor for his role in Hell or High Water, while Viola Davis was named best supporting actress for Fences. See the full list of AARP winners below. Best Movie for GrownupsLoving Best DirectorKenneth Lonergan, Manchester by the Sea Best ActorDenzel Washington, Fences Best ActressAnnette Bening, 20th Century Women Best Supporting ActorJeff Bridges, Hell or High Water Best Supporting ActressViola Davis, Fences Best ScreenwriterKenneth Lonergan, Manchester by the Sea Best Comedy/MusicalLa La Land Best Time CapsuleJackie Best Grownup Love StoryThe Hollars (Margo Martindale and Richard Jenkins) Best Foreign-Language FilmElle (France) Breakthrough AchievementRobert Mrazek, The Congressman Best Buddy PictureAbsolutely Fabulous: The Movie (Jennifer Saunders and Joanna Lumley) Best DocumentaryThe Beatles: Eight Days of a Week The Touring Years Best Intergenerational Film20th Century Women Best Movie for Grownups Who Refuse to Grow UpKubo and the Two Strings FRANKFURT (Reuters) - German airline Lufthansa plans to hire more than 3,000 new staff in 2017, most of them flight attendants, it said in a statement on Wednesday. Lufthansa Group airlines - Austrian, Swiss and Eurowings - are hiring more than 2,200 staff in total, it said. Lufthansa Technik is planning to recruit 450 new staff. Lufthansa cabin crew and pilots have gone on strike several times over the last few years as the airline battles to reduce costs. Its cabin-crew union UFO said last month the latest talks over pay and working conditions had failed. (Reporting by Georgina Prodhan; Editing by Harro ten Wolde) One of the Menendez brothers has spoken out for the first time in decades as a TV special revisits the notorious murder of their mother and father. The brothers were found guilty of slaying their wealthy parents at their Beverly Hills mansion in 1989. Now, Lyle Menendez is speaking out from his prison cell for the first time in two decades. Read: Could a New California Law Bring a New Chapter in Menendez Brothers' Killings? I am the kid that did kill his parents, and no river of tears has changed that, and no amount of regret has changed it, he said in a phone interview which airs Thursday night on in an ABC News special Truth and Lies: The Menendez Brothers. The 48-year-old added: I accept that. You are often defined by a few moments of your life, but thats not who you are in your life, you know. Your life is your totality of it You cant change it. You just, youre stuck with the decisions you made." "He is trying to make his life meaningful in prison, as many people do," ABC News' Terry Moran told Inside Edition. "He is owning what he did saying, 'yes, I am the guy who killed his parents.'" Menendez, who has spent 27 years in jail, added: Its shocking to think... that I could have been involved in taking anyones life and my parents life... It seems unimaginable because it seems so far removed from who I am." The last time Lyle Menendez saw his younger brother, Erik, was when they were interviewed in 1996 by Barbara Walters for 20/20. Lyle has now lost his hair and he and his brother are serving life sentences in separate California prisons. They communicate only via letters and even play chess by mail. "They are in prison without the possibility of parole for the rest of their lives and they will never see each other again," Moran told Inside Edition. The ABC special looks back at the night the brothers used shotguns to kill their father, Jose, and mother, Kitty, while the couple watched TV at home. Story continues Since their convictions, the Menendez brothers somehow managed to have something of a life behind bars. Lyle has been married twice, including to a former Playboy model Anna Eriksson, who reporters nicknamed "Rapunzel" for her long blonde hair. They got married in 1996 and were divorced in 2001. His second wife is a lawyer named Rebecca Sneed, whom he married in 2003. Read: 'Seriously Ill' Charles Manson Transferred From Prison to Hospital: Reports Erik married Tammi Saccoman after she struck up a correspondence with him in 1999. "I get the feeling that he has made peace with the fact that he is never getting out of here," Moran told Inside Edition. Im at peace with my life growing up," Lyle told ABC. "Im at peace with it, because Ive just sort of accepted [that] its okay not to understand." The Menendez brothers claimed their father had sexually abused Erik, but prosecutors claimed in court that they murdered their parents to collect their inheritance. Watch: Woman, Baby Dead in Apparent Murder-Suicide After She Tells Husband, 'You Don't Deserve to Have a Son' Related Articles: On Jan 3, we issued an updated research report on Netherlands-based chemical maker, LyondellBasell Industries LYB. LyondellBasell has outperformed the Zacks categorized Chemicals-Diversified industry in the last six months, supported by better-than-expected earnings in the last reported quarter and its expansion initiatives. The company's shares gained 17.8% during the period while the industry saw a gain of 14.1%. LyondellBasell beat earnings as well as revenue expectations in the third quarter of 2016. The company saw significant contribution from its European olefins and polyolefins business in the third quarter as well as the first nine months of 2016. LyondellBasell continues to benefit from the favorable North American natural gas environment. It should also gain from its ethylene and polyethylene expansion moves. The company is executing its expansion projects to leverage the U.S. natural gas liquids (NGLs) advantage. The company has already completed an 800-million pound per year expansion at its La Porte site, a 250-million pounds per year expansion at its Channelview facility, and the addition of 800 million pounds of capacity at its Corpus Christi plant. LyondellBasell is also advancing plans to build a world-scale plant on the U.S. Gulf Coast for producing propylene oxide (PO) and tertiary butyl alcohol (TBA), leveraging the shale gas boom in the region. The new PO/TBA facility, considered to be the largest of its kind, will be built in the Houston area. The company has also decided to build a high density polyethylene (HDPE) plant on the U.S. Gulf Coast. The facility, which will have an annual capacity of 1.1 billion pounds (500,000 metric tons), will be the first commercial plant to employ the companys new proprietary Hyperzone PE technology. LyondellBasell has chosen its La Porte manufacturing complex as the site for the HDPE Plant. LyondellBasell also remains committed to deliver greater value to its shareholders leveraging healthy cash flows. The company returned roughly $1.2 billion to its shareholders in the form of dividends and share repurchases in the third quarter. LyondellBasell currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). LYONDELLBASEL-A Price LYONDELLBASEL-A Price | LYONDELLBASEL-A Quote Other Stocks to Consider Other well-placed companies in the chemical space include The Chemours Company CC, Kronos Worldwide, Inc. KRO and Methanex Corporation MEOH all holding a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here. Chemours has an expected earnings growth of around 60.1% for the current year. Kronos has an expected earnings growth of around 261.5% for the current year. Methanex has an expected long-term growth of around 15%. Zacks' Top 10 Stocks for 2017 In addition to the stocks discussed above, would you like to know about our 10 finest buy-and-hold tickers for the entirety of 2017? Who wouldn't? As of early December, the 2016 Top 10 produced 5 double-digit winners including oil and natural gas giant Pioneer Natural Resources which racked up a stellar +50% gain. The new list is painstakingly hand-picked from 4,400 companies covered by the Zacks Rank. Be among the very first to see it>> 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 METHANEX CORP (MEOH): Free Stock Analysis Report KRONOS WORLDWD (KRO): Free Stock Analysis Report LYONDELLBASEL-A (LYB): Free Stock Analysis Report CHEMOURS COMPNY (CC): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research Ford Motor (NYSE:F) is going green with its classic Mustang and F-150 brands. The automaker plans to roll out hybrid versions of those vehicles within the next five years. It's just part of the company's bigger plan to invest 4.5 billion in electrification by 2020. It will also introduce a fully electric small SUV, a hybrid Transit Custom van, a high-volume autonomous vehicle for commercial ride hailing and two "pursuit-rated" hybrid police vehicles. The hybrid Mustang promises to deliver V8 power. "Our investments and expanding lineup reflect our view that global offerings of electrified vehicles will exceed gasoline-powered vehicles within the next 15 years," Ford CEO Mark Fields said in a statement. The announcement was made alongside the automaker's statement that it will cancel production of a $1.6 billion plant in Mexico and will instead invest $700 million in Flat Rock, Michigan. The U.S. auto giant said it will add 700 direct new jobs in Flat Rock to produce high-tech electrified and autonomous vehicles, plus the Ford Mustang and Lincoln Continental. President-elect Donald Trump had pressured Ford to keep manufacturing jobs in the U.S., but Fields told CNBC on Tuesday the decision not move forward with its San Luis Potosi, Mexico, plant was due to market demand. The U.S. automaker also said it is piloting wireless technology that makes recharging an electric vehicle "as easy as pulling into a parking spot." More From CNBC Now comes the hard part. Sen. Mike Enzi on Tuesday launched an effort to repeal Obamacare, introducing a resolution for the new Congress that would allow that to happen, according to a statement from the Wyoming Republican's office cited by Reuters. The repeal effort is being mounted without there yet being a similar effort to adopt a replacement plan for the Affordable Care Act. Enzi, who is the chairman of the Senate's budget committee, proposes using the process known as reconciliation to undo much of the Affordable Care Act. Reconciliation, which relates to budgetary matters, can be passed with a simple majority, as opposed to nonbudgetary bills, which can require 60 senators' votes to break a filibuster against them. "Americans face skyrocketing premiums and soaring deductibles," Enzi said, according to a statement from his office obtained by CQRollCall.com. "Insurers are withdrawing from markets across the country, leaving many families with fewer choices and less access to care than they had before the opposite of what the law promised." "Today, we take the first steps to repair the nation's broken health-care system, removing Washington from the equation and putting control back where it belongs: with patients, their families and doctors." The resolution Enzi introduced, according to a summary from his office obtained by CQRollCall.com, would allow repeal legislation to be fast-tracked and passed "with only a simple majority in the Senate, as in the House." That is "to facilitate immediate action on repeal, with the intent of sending legislation to the new President's desk as soon as possible," the summary said. The resolution also called for four authorizing committees in the Senate and House to report repeal legislation to their budget committee by Jan. 27, and also calls for the reserve of funding "necessary to accommodate legislation to repeal and replace Obamacare," the summary said. Obamacare has expanded health insurance coverage by 20 million Americans in the past several years, according to census data. An upstate New York man is said to have bought nearly 1,000 copies of a local newspaper in an attempt to keep his community from finding out he had received a DWI, officials said. State Police responding on Thursday to calls of an erratic driver pulled over Joseph Talbot, 43, on SR-31 in Palmyra after he allegedly failed to keep right and unsafely moved from a lane, state troopers said. Talbot was arrested after allegedly failing multiple Standardized Field Sobriety Tests and refusing to provide a breath sample, cops said. Police said he also refused to be finger-printed and photographed because he did not wish to appear in the local paper. After his arrest, he called the trooper an a******, and said he didnt want to be in that a****** rag, meaning our paper, Ron Holdraker, the editor and owner of the Times of Wayne County, told InsideEdition.com. We cover every arrest over a misdemeanor, and print the mugshots. Weve done that for 28 years. Talbot was charged with DWI and with obstructing governmental administration in the second degree for failure to comply with the processing procedure, police said. Read: Student Defends Driving Barbie Jeep After DWI, Now Roommates are Joining Trend He was arraigned and remanded to jail on $750 cash or $1,500 bond, which he made, and was back out of custody by the time the Times delivery went out on Saturday, Holdraker said. Our newsstand delivery guys go out at around 7:30 in the morning and start delivering the papers, he said. Well this guy started following them. A man matching Talbots description went on to buy nearly 1,000 copies of the paper that covered the incident and included his mugshot at $1.25 each, Holdraker said. His alleged attempts to silence the story fell on deaf ears, as the paper, which has a circulation of 12,000, also published the account and updates reflecting the developments on its website, where the story was featured among its top stories Wednesday. Story continues Maybe 5,000 people hit the internet site a week. Yesterday I think we had 5,000, he said. Talbot was not known to the paper prior to his arrest and apparent attempts to buy up Saturdays edition. Read: Suspected Drunk Driver Crashes Into Medical Helicopter During Patient Transport I never heard of the guy, except he boasted he was VP of a bank, a very important person, Holdraker said. A LinkedIn profile belonging to a man with the same name and image as Talbot lists him as a commercial insurance expert at First Niagara, specializing in insurance and risk management in manufacturing. It appears Talbot's plan to keep himself out of the news have completely backfired. If he wanted to keep this quiet were now getting calls from all over the United States about this, Holdraker said. This has happened before, where someone tries to stifle the news by buying up all the papers in town. This is easily the third or fourth time. Talbot is expected to appear in the Town of Palmyra Court at 7 p.m. February 1. Well be there, Holdraker said, laughing. A message left by InsideEdition.com for Talbot at a number listed for him was not immediately returned Wednesday. Watch: 19-Year-Old Teen Babysitter Driving Four Young Boys Charged With DWI Related Articles: Photo credit: Getty From Cosmopolitan According to KREM, a Washington man was banned from a Spokane Starbucks after asking out a teenage barista. After the alleged incident, the man took to Facebook to accuse the chains management of age discrimination. The station does not name the man as he hasnt been charged with a crime and its unclear if anyone plans to pursue legal action, though KREM does quote his December 22 post, which has close to 5,000 shares at the time of this post: I was flirted with by a barista. For some reason she thought I was funny. Said I was funny. So I gave her a note to see if she'd be interested in dinner, he wrote. I know the female Starbucks barista was of legal age to date. I broke no laws. I merely took a chance with my heart. I'm tired of hearing the word 'creep' as any black person or gay person is tired of hearing certain words. I have a whole webpage dedicated to age gap love. In another post on Facebook, he wrote hes never dated younger women. The man was greeted by a Spokane police officer at the stores entrance the day after handing the woman the note and informed he was banned from that Starbucks location. He asked those angered by his story to call Starbucks and complain about age difference discrimination. Many have done the opposite and written on the Starbucks Facebook page thanking them for supporting their employees. As someone who was in customer service as a teen, I want to say thank you for protecting your employees from harassment, one commenter explained. A Starbucks spokesperson told KREM the company supports the stores handling of the situation. "We have no tolerance for any such inappropriate behavior or harassment, and we will continue to support our store partners and local authorities investigating the situation," the rep said. Cosmopolitan.com reached out for further comment and will update this post upon hearing back. Story continues Follow Tess on Twitter. Watch TV shows, movies and more on Yahoo View, available now on iOS and Android. You Might Also Like Mercedes planning new compact sedan for 2018? Dec 27, 2016, 2:32am ET The A-Class Sedan will allegedly slot between the stylish CLA and the C-Class. Mercedes-Benz is moving forward with the development of a brand-new compact sedan, according to a recent report coming out of England. The model will be a variant of the A-Class, which is currently only offered as a four-door hatchback (pictured) and not sold on our shores. The sedan will be positioned between the stylish CLA and the C-Class, and it will ride on the second generation of Mercedes' modular MFA platform. That means front-wheel drive will come standard, though 4Matic all-wheel drive will be offered at an extra cost. Purists will likely scoff at the idea of a shrunken C-Class with front-wheel drive, but the configuration is par for the course in the segment. The A-Class Sedan's main rivals will be the BMW 1 Series Sedan built and sold only in China and the Audi A3 Sedan, two models underpinned by front-wheel drive platforms. In Europe, the A-Class Sedan's base engine will be a turbocharged four-cylinder borrowed from industrial partner Renault and modified by Mercedes. Upmarket variants will receive a Mercedes-sourced turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine. A plug-in hybrid model powered by the aforementioned turbo four and a compact electric motor will join the lineup shortly after the standard model is introduced. It will be capable of driving on electricity alone for short distances. An AMG-tuned model with at least 400 horsepower under the hood will round out the lineup. Purchasing most consumer goodsfrom furniture to cell phonesinevitably takes a toll on the environment and harms endangered species. But understanding exactly which regions were most affected has been a guessing game. Now, new research published in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution identifies global hot spots that goods exported to the United States, China, Japan and the European Union harm the most. U.S. consumption particularly threatened land species from parts of Southeast Asia and Madagascar, as well as southern Europe, the Sahel region of Africa, coastal Mexico, Central America and Central Asia. Researchers behind the study evaluated the supply chains of a slew of different products to trace the effects of goods on 6,800 species listed as threatened by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The threats to species caused by the supply chains included a range of things including forestry destroying habitats, pollution and urban development. Once you connect the environmental impact to a supply chain, then many people along the supply chain, not only producers, can participate in cleaning up, says study author Daniel Moran, a researcher at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, in a press release. Conservation spending totals some $6 billion annually, but 90% of that figure is put to use in developed countries far away from the most endangered locations, according to the study. The results and the methods behind them could help conservationists better allocate resources to address both the source of harmful consumer goods and the markets where they are sold, researchers said. The new study is the latest to use big data to help endangered species. A 2015 study in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences used the same methods used to track terrorist networks to map the illegal wildlife trade and determine the key players. The new research follows the beginning of a mass extinction event on Earth, only the sixth in the planets history, thanks to human influence. The globe has lost a quarter of its species in the last 500 years, according to recent research in the journal Science. Margot Robbie holds hands with new hubby and beams with love in first outing since their wedding Unfortunately for everybody on the planet whos into women, Margot Robbie has found herself a husband and is officially off the market. Margot Robbie and new husband Tom Ackerley made their first public appearance together since their wedding, arriving at LAX and actually beaming at each other. Its like, too cute to handle BY FAR. Margot and Tom secretly tied the knot in Australia back in December, and clearly newlywed life has been good to the Suicide Squad star and her filmmaker beau, because theyre good-looking and glowing and clearly super happy just to be walking together which is just TOO MUCH. Just LOOK at Margot beaming at him, her ponytail flaring dramatically behind her. The only thing were more jealous of than their clearly great relationship is how good they both looking coming off of a long flight. Theyre tanned, rosey cheeked, and quite frankly too good looking for us to handle. SERIOUSLY, we have to revisit this who on EARTH looks that good coming off of an airplane? Celebrity Sightings In Los Angeles - January 02, 2017 Margot continued to grin at him, and were just thrilled that the freshly married couple seems to be enjoying one anothers company so much. LOS ANGELES, CA - JANUARY 02: Margot Robbie and Tom Ackerley are seen at LAX on January 02, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by starzfly/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images) We can already see the I want a love like Margot and Tom memes (and not just because were going to start them.) Seriously, were not sure weve ever seen a cuter couple in our entire lives. Theyre even sort of color coordinated. #Relationshipgoals Mexico City (AFP) - Mexico's Luis Videgaray was named foreign minister on Wednesday, reviving his political career after losing his previous cabinet post for orchestrating Donald Trump's controversial pre-election visit to the country. President Enrique Pena Nieto's announcement followed weeks of speculation that his former finance minister and close confidant was set for a triumphant return after Trump's victory in November. Pena Nieto said Videgaray was instructed to "accelerate dialogue" with the US president-elect's team in order to establish the basis for "constructive" relations as soon as Trump succeeds Barack Obama as president on January 20. Pena Nieto said Videgaray will shepherd bilateral relations regarding immigration, security and trade to "promote Mexico's interests without diminishing our sovereignty and the dignity of Mexicans." At the same time, Pena Nieto called on Videgaray to boost Mexico's place in Latin America as well as within the Group of 20 economic powers. Videgaray later addressed foreign ministry officials, telling them, without naming a country, that "the challenge is enormous, the threats are there, but the opportunities and our strengths are also enormous." Videgaray is replacing Claudia Ruiz Massieu who, according to diplomatic sources, had opposed the Republican billionaire's August 31 visit to the official Los Pinos residence. - 'Visionary' meeting? - Trump's meeting with Pena Nieto had shocked Mexicans, who were angry at the candidate for calling migrants from their country "rapists" while vowing to deport millions and make Mexico pay for a huge border wall. Mexicans lashed out at Pena Nieto, whose approval rating was already below 25 percent, for holding back criticism of Trump during their joint press appearance. Videgaray resigned as finance minister a week later and Pena Nieto admitted that his friend had been "greatly weakened" by his role in arranging Trump's visit. Story continues The Mexican government said Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton had also been invited, but she declined the offer. Trump's victory over Clinton in the November 8 election has led to Videgaray's rehabilitation. After the election, former Mexican president Vicente Fox, a major Trump critic, tweeted that Pena Nieto had been a "visionary" and that Videgaray "got it right." - Tough talks ahead - Now Videgaray, an economist trained at the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), faces the tough task of guiding Mexican diplomacy in the face of an incoming US administration that has vowed to upend economic ties with Mexico. "Even if Videgaray is the right person to lead the negotiations, it doesn't guarantee that things will turn out well for Mexico," prominent political analyst Jose Antonio Crespo told AFP. Videgaray organized the visit thanks to a Mexican businessman and friend who put him in contact with Trump's son-in-law and key adviser, Jared Kushner, according to news reports. Trump had words of praise for Videgaray when he resigned, saying "Mexico has lost a brilliant finance minister and wonderful man who I know is highly respected by President Pena Nieto." While Pena Nieto has voiced optimism that relations with Trump could be beneficial to Mexico, his country's economy is already facing the effects even before the real estate mogul takes office. The peso has fallen to record lows since Trump's victory and on Tuesday, US automaker Ford cancelled a $1.6 billion plant project in San Luis Potosi state following criticism from the president-elect. "Videgaray has the tools to negotiate, he's prepared," Crespo said. "But the question is how willing Trump is to be flexible." Matt Pinfield, former host of MTV's 120 Minutes and author of the new book All These Things That I've Done: My Insane, Improbable Rock Life, announced Tuesday morning (Jan. 3) that he is taking a break from his morning hosting duties on San Francisco's KFOG radio station in order to enter rehab. Pinfeld, 55, tells Billboard that he is on medications, including blood thinners, for congestive heart failure. He recently had a slip involving alcohol and made a decision to go straight to a facility in California to get himself back on track. "I have a responsibility to my health," he says. "I decided to fix my problem. I'm going to do this. It feels good to me. It's the right thing." Pinfield says he shared his decision on air as a way to be open and honest with his audience, as well as help others struggling with addiction to not feel ashamed asking for help. "I needed to tell everyone the truth. I can't be phony. I can't be fake," he says. "I just can't. It's not me. It was hard to go on the air with it this morning at first, but I have nothing but love for people, and if I can help just one person, that's what matters." Pinfield has been down this road before. He went on the air in New York City on 101.9 WRXP with a similar announcement in 2009. In his new book, he writes that the revelation helped fans listening to the broadcast find the strength to tell their families they needed to get well. "I want to help others. I want to pass it on," he says. "There is a famous line: You can't help the people next to you in the plane if you don't put on your oxygen mask first when it's going down. That's a beautiful line." Pinfield's announcement was met with an outpouring of support, with tons of phone calls and messages of encouragement on Twitter from fans, radio and record industry peers and musicians, including Rhett Miller from Old 97's and Paul Arthurs (aka: Bonehead) of Oasis. Story continues "I love the Bay, I love the city and I love the people," he says. "I have a lot of support." In addition to his work at KFOG, Pinfield is looking to the future. In addition to his radio endeavors, Pinfield has been approached about turning his book into a feature film. "I am going to come back with a bunch of new features on the air," he says. "I have a lot more work to do." Pinfield began his career as a well-respected club DJ in the mid-1980s, working his way up to the position of program director at the iconic alternative radio station WHTG-FM in Eatontown, New Jersey. He was then hired at MTV in the mid-'90s, where he hosted the alternative video show 120 Minutes and other shows, including Pinfield Presents, Rocks Off, Mattrock, Say What and MTV Live. He left MTV in 1999 to co-host and co-write the live music show Farmclub.com. In 2001, Pinfield took an A&R position at Columbia Records, where he helped sign Coheed & Cambria and Crossfade. In addition to his morning show duties at KFOG, Pinfield hosts the nightly syndicated alternative rock show Two Hours With Matt Pinfield. A spokesperson for KFOG couldn't be reached at press time. @mattpinfield Congrats on the book. Hang in there. Get better. Thanks for your lifetime of work on behalf of real music.- Rhett Miller (@rhettmiller) January 3, 2017 Love you Rhett and always have- thank you for the music you've given us all and the good wishes! Played Old 97's for my girlfriend this week https://t.co/oFxZRCrKCn - Matt Pinfield (@mattpinfield) January 3, 2017 @mattpinfield get well Matt. Sending Love. X - Paul Arthurs. (@BoneheadsPage) January 3, 2017 Paul I love you my friend! Playing Live Forever with you was one of my absolute highlights! https://t.co/SLpuil9rKI - Matt Pinfield (@mattpinfield) January 3, 2017 Get healthy, @mattpinfield! I've always marveled at your enthusiasm and knowledge of music. I consider you a brother I've just never met! - Neil Adams (@neiladams65) January 3, 2017 Thank you Neil! https://t.co/jGg522ke3g - Matt Pinfield (@mattpinfield) January 3, 2017 Its my heart-meds for CHF+alcohol-going into hospital to get it right having a bag of meds (no opiates) but it's time to fix it to live long https://t.co/2hhEab5xnc - Matt Pinfield (@mattpinfield) January 3, 2017 Love you Steve my friend! https://t.co/ofizTmDWBr - Matt Pinfield (@mattpinfield) January 3, 2017 J. Thanks for your support! Much love! https://t.co/9gKCOfwb6P - Matt Pinfield (@mattpinfield) January 3, 2017 @mattpinfield Tim and ALL at FORKSTER Rooting 'big time' for you good rocking friend, big prayers for U mate.....#greatheart #Loveyoubuddy - Forkster Music Promo (@FORKSTER_2013) January 3, 2017 Best wishes to the great @mattpinfield. May the music be with you. - MusicREDEF (@MusicREDEF) January 3, 2017 Hey Matt. Feel better brother. Wishing you a happy and most importantly healthy new year ! https://t.co/tTzy5TBEkC - Eddie Trunk (@EddieTrunk) January 3, 2017 Love you Eddie my great friend and rock and roll brother! Thank you from the heart https://t.co/3VxBaYXhqj - Matt Pinfield (@mattpinfield) January 3, 2017 LEXINGTON In October 2016, Lexington Regional Health Centers Family Medicine Specialists welcomed Raime Misko, APRN, FNP C to the practice. Miskos passion for medicine started over ten years ago. Misko said, I attended Chadron State and graduated with a bachelors of science in human biology in 2003. I then attended nursing school at the University of Nebraska Medical Center and graduated with a bachelors of science in nursing in 2004. She then worked as a registered nurse, gaining much experience in post-surgical care, long-term care and family practice. Misko, originally from Alliance, later attended graduate school at Clarkson College and graduated with a masters in nursing in August 2016. She is a Board Certified Nurse Practitioner by the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners (AANP), and is also an active member of the Nebraska Nurse Practitioners Association and the American Association of Nurse Practitioners. Dr. Francisca Acosta-Carlson, LRHCs chief medical officer, says Misko, has a very caring attitude and is eager to assist patients with their many needs. Patients are already speaking highly of her. Her growing panel of patients shows that she is becoming a very impor tant part of this clinic and the community. To make an appointment with Raime Misko, please call (308) 324-8308. Photo credit: Flickr Creative Commons / Yusuke Kawasaki From Delish Every now and then a fast-food chain creates a menu item that inspires a cult following. Like the Golden Arches' insanely popular McRib and the very well loved Spicy Chicken Biscuit at Chick-Fil-A. Taking those beloved dishes off the docket tends to be a recipe for disaster, but when they come back around there's always much rejoicing. And now fans of the McGriddle can start celebrating. A new version of wildly popular McDonald's breakfast sandwich is now available for a limited time, according to Brand Eating. Essentially it's a hand-held version of the southern-fried favorite chicken and waffles. The sandwich features a crispy McChicken patty between two McGriddle cakes. The Chicken McGriddle, along with Chicken Biscuits, will be served now through April at select locations in Florida. While the sandwich is new to McD's fans in the Sunshine State, it was actually first tested in central Ohio last year. Apparently the sweet and salty number was a hit among customers because McDonald's decided to expand availability throughout the rest of Ohio. There's no word yet on whether this new offering will make a national debut, so stay tuned for updates as we receive them directly from the fast-food company. While you wait, try swapping a chicken patty for the bacon or sausage in your standard McGriddle-if it's part of your region's all-day breakfast menu, that is. Follow Delish on Instagram. You Might Also Like Megyn Kelly was nearly brought to tears as she announced her departure from Fox News on Tuesday nights The Kelly File. The emotional host said: This was a tough decision for me because I love this show, our staff, my crew my colleagues here at Fox and you! All of you! Read: Megyn Kelly Leaving Fox News for NBC News She became expressive as she talked about her three children. The truth is I need more of that in my life particularly when it comes to my children who are seven, five and three, she said. The 46-year-old anchor is launching her own daytime talk show on NBC and a primetime Sunday night news show. She reportedly turned down a $20 million offer to stay at Fox. "I am very grateful to NBC for this opportunity, and I am deeply thankful to Fox News for the wonderful 12 years I have had here. I have grown up here, and been given every chance a young reporter could ever ask for," Kelly said Tuesday night. "The Murdoch family has been kind and good to me at every turn, and my colleagues are like a second family. So I will miss them and this show, and you. And I hope our human connection continues, albeit over a different line." She closed her show saying: Thank you for watching. With love. Read: Pandora's Fox: Sean Hannity Rips Colleague Megyn Kelly After She Challenges Trump on Interviews Megyn Kelly clearly wanted out of Fox News," CNN senior media correspondent Brian Stelter told Inside Edition. "Her spokeswoman tells me money was not the driving factor here. She wanted a better lifestyle. She wanted to be at home with her children at night. She didnt want to be at Fox anymore. But Variety has warned that NBC's big bet on Megyn Kelly comes with big risks. The Hollywood trade magazine cited news superstars such as Katie Couric, Anderson Cooper, and Meredith Vieira have all had daytime talk shows that failed early, sometimes after just one season. Story continues Her final show on Fox will air Friday. Watch: Megyn Kelly's New Book Targeted in Hateful Amazon Reviews Related Articles: UPDATED with Megyn Kellys on-air statement: Todays news that one of Fox News Channels biggest primetime stars is jumping to NBC News took some by surprise. Before this mornings fast-and-furious announcement on the first day back from New Years vacation, money had been on Megyn Kelly moving to CNN, or possibly ABC. NBC said this morning it had signed a multiyear deal with Kelly, for an undisclosed dollar amount, to host a not-clearly defined daytime news and talk show, a Sunday evening newsmagazine and also to contribute to NBCs political coverage and other big-ticket events; no mention was made of MSNBC. NBC News did not say when Kelly would start, but Fox News did say after NBC delivered the word when Kelly would exit: Friday. After more than a dozen years at Fox News, I have decided to pursue a new challenge, Kelly said tonight in closing out her Fox News Channel show, The Kelly File. She made the tough decision, deciding she needed more connection with her three children, she said. So Ill be leaving Fox News at the weeks end and starting a new adventure, joining the journalists at NBC News, who I deeply admire. She said she was very grateful to NBC for this opportunity. In its so-long announcement, Fox News Channel did not say with what it planned to fill its 9 PM hour thats been home to the second-most watched program in all of cable news, contributing much to the networks calendar-year finish as most watched basic cable channel. Its presumed that FNC will replace Kelly in the timeslot with another female host, lest it wind up with a lot of males, back to back what with Tucker Carlson recently getting OReillys lead-in timeslot, upon the departure of Greta Van Susteren who, incidentally, is speculated to be heading to MSNBC. (And, according to New York Magazines Fox News Channel expert Gabriel Sherman who, in one of those incredible coincidences, also was recently signed by NBC News as a contributor top candidates to replace Kelly in FNCs 9 pm slot include Trish Regan, Martha McCallum, Shannon Bream and Sandra Smith. Sherman also reports Kimberly Guilfoyle is lobbying for the spot.) Story continues Related Megyn Kellys EP Tom Lowell Leaving Show In Promotion To Fox News Role NBC News, meanwhile, is welcoming one the most talked-about TV journalists of the 2016 election cycle. Kelly became the target of GOP candidate Donald Trumps highly personal attacks in televised interviews and on Twitter after she challenged him, while moderating the first GOP debate, to defend his demeaning descriptions of Rosie ODonnell and other women over the years. Thats quite a switch in storylines for a news division known these days for giving an hour of its flagship morning show Today to a man with whom Trump got caught on hot-mic critiquing the physical attributes of various female NBCU employees and Trumps ability to grab women by the crotch with impunity. Kelly cut quite a swath on her way out at Fox News Channel, just a few months after making herself a major player in the exit of network founder and chief Roger Ailes. Kelly was the most high profile of the women who alleged Ailes had sexually harassed them, in the course of the investigation launched by Fox News parent company 21st Century Fox after former Fox News Channel host Gretchen Carlson filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against Ailes in July. The internecine brawl over her role in Ailes exit spilled out onto the street while Kelly was touring the TV landscape, talking up her book, Settle for More, in which she addresses the incident. RelatedMegyn Kelly Settles For More In The Year Of Donald Trump Out plugging his own book, Bill OReilly told CBS News, Im not interested in making my network look bad, to which Kelly shot back that she thought it was Ailes whod made the network look bad. OReilly also told his Factor viewers: If somebody is paying you a wage, you owe that person or company allegiance. If you dont like whats happening in the workplace, go to human resources or leave. OReillys contract also runs out in 2017, and news of Kellys exit triggered speculation Trump pal OReilly would stick. I am deeply thankful to Fox News for the wonderful 12 years I have had here, Kelly said tonight at the wrap of her program. I have grown up here, and been given every chance a young reporter could ever ask for. The Murdoch family has been kind and good to me at every turn. And my colleagues are like a second family to me. The lack of program details in this mornings announcement had some industry pundits speculating Kelly might be NBC News much higher-priced Josh Elliott. Back in 2014, NBC News successfully wooed Elliott away from ABCs Good Morning America in an effort to ding the show that had ended Todays ratings streak. But NBC News never figured out what to do with Elliott, who since has moved to CBS News. Similarly, some industry execs speculate, NBCs hire of Kelly delivers a blow to MSNBC competitor FNC; now NBC has to figure out exactly how best to deploy her. In todays announcement, NBC News said that, as part of the multiyear agreement, Kelly will anchor a new one-hour weekday program that she will develop with the news division for a TBA timeslot. Kelly also will anchor a new Sunday evening news program and contribute to the networks political and special events coverage. NBC did not specify a timeslot for the daytime talker, leading to some chatter as to whether Kelly would take over a Today hour, given the difficulty these days of getting affiliate stations to turn over a slot to a network. Its very hard to launch a daytime show right now, one source said, joining others who seemed dubious today that Kelly could succeed where Katie Couric, Anderson Cooper, Meredith Vieira and Jane Pauley had failed to get daytime viewers to watch a news-oriented talk show. 21st Century Fox reportedly had offered Kelly $20-$25 million a year in an effort to keep her. NBC News, which recently re-upped Matt Lauer for about $20M per, reportedly signed Kelly for slightly less, which still makes her among the highest-paid on-air talent in the industry. The price point makes this bewildering, one industry veteran said this afternoon of the hire. Its hard to imagine how you monetize this. The network is now going to figure out what to do with her, the exec added. Everyone [at NBC News] will be unsettled for a while. That cannot be comfortable. Related stories Megyn Kelly To Exit Fox News This Week, Joins NBC News To Host Daytime Show & New Sunday Evening Newsmag - Update Fox News Channel Takes Total Viewer Win On New Year's Eve; CNN Dominates In News Demo Greta Van Susteren MSNBC-Bound? Anchor Beats Drum With "Tempting Offer" Tweets - Update Megyn Kelly is saying goodbye. The 46-year-old journalist bid farewell to her loyal viewers on Tuesday's episode of The Kelly File, after news broke earlier in the day that she was leaving Fox for NBC News. EXCLUSIVE: Megyn Kelly Dishes on Why She Cut Her Hair, and It Has Nothing to Do With Donald Trump "Finally tonight, a personal and professional note, from me to you. After more than a dozen years at Fox News, I have decided to pursue a new challenge," she began her heartfelt message. "This was a tough decision for me, because I love this show, our staff, my crew, my colleagues here at Fox, and you, those who write me the lovely handwritten notes, asking about my kids, and even those who -- very rarely -- complain on Twitter about our coverage after our show, or a presidential debate," she added, commenting on Donald Trump's famous attack against her after she moderated the first GOP debate. "Now, I don't actually know most of you, so perhaps it's not true love, but it's the kind that makes one feel connected to another human being, and that, after all, is why I believe we're here -- human connection," she continued. "The truth is, I need more of that in my life, in particular when it comes to my children, who are 7, 5, and 3. So I'll be leaving Fox News at the week's end and starting a new adventure, joining the journalists at NBC News, who I deeply admire. I'll be anchoring a daytime show there, along with a Sunday night news magazine, and you'll see me there on the big nights too, for politics and such." "I am very grateful to NBC for this opportunity, and I am deeply thankful to Fox News for the wonderful 12 years I have had here. I have grown up here, and been given every chance a young reporter could ever ask for," she shared. "The Murdoch family has been kind and good to me at every turn, and my colleagues are like a second family. So I will miss them and this show, and you. And I hope our human connection continues, albeit over a different line." Story continues "Thank you for watching," she concluded. "With love." Thank you for watching. With love... pic.twitter.com/0MjyVl6vAe Megyn Kelly (@megynkelly) January 4, 2017 WATCH: Megyn Kelly Brushes Off Her RNC Dress Haters: 'I Can Be Smart and Challenging While Wearing Spaghetti Straps' ET confirmed on Tuesday that Kelly signed a multi-year agreement with NBC News, where she will host her own daytime news program, as well as anchor a Sunday evening news show and take part in special political programming and other breaking news coverage. The mother of three took to Facebook to address the reports in a statement thanking her colleagues at Fox. "I have decided to end my time at FNC, incredibly enriched for the experiences I've had," she wrote. "While I will greatly miss my colleagues at Fox, I am delighted to be joining the NBC News family and taking on a new challenge. I remain deeply grateful to Fox News, to Rupert, Lachlan and James Murdoch, and especially to all of the FNC viewers, who have taught me so much about what really matters." Sources told ET on Tuesday that, as Kelly explained in her goodbye message to her viewers, her decision to leave Fox was one mainly based on family. RELATED: Megyn Kelly Defends Comments Made About Donald Trump in New Book "Everyone is, and was, putting so much emphasis on the money aspect and how no other network would give her $20 million. But no one was listening to what she was hitting at the entire time -- which was that she wanted a schedule that would give her more time with her kids and allow her time to focus on specials," the source said. "It's more important for Megyn to see her kids off to school and be home for dinner with her husband -- who has done a great job of being Mr. Mom for most of 2016, something she credits him for often," the source added. See more on Kelly's big move in the video below. Related Articles For years, Megyn Kelly has been the one anchor at Fox News who is granted grudging respect. Partly this is because she is so different from her peers; where they are frequently graying or balding older men who seem to be frothing at the mouth, Kelly is a poised, still-young mother of three, sharply dressed, and strikingly beautiful. She deviates from mainstream assumptions about what a conservative is supposed to be like, which adds dimension to the network and to her own personal brand. Unlike her peers, she has crossover appeal she is an all-American heroine, with a spotless, tranquil family life, roots in upstate New York, and a look that is always ruthlessly poised, as if a stray hair would signal the end of days. Her image projects an elegant refinement, a sense of class and poise, of traditional values. These are qualities Fox News hilariously lacks, when it comes to both the sometimes-seedy reputations of its anchors and the networks splashy and outdated graphics and production. Mostly, though, this is because Kelly is usually a remarkably poised host and anchor. Her image is merely a tool; Kellys talent is in knowing how to wield it. Conservative media beyond Kelly often resorts to cartoonishly intolerant statements about immigrants, Muslims, and the environment; in the Obama years, Fox News has been constantly on the verge of dissolving entirely into conspiracy and aggrieved outrage. Kelly is not the first pretty blonde woman to become a conservative heroine, but unlike Ann Coulter, Tomi Lahren, and Kellyanne Conway, who are each outrageous and/or despicable in their own ways, Kelly maintains a kind of rigor and poise that is not just about style, but about character. Integrity is hard to find in media, and even when you disagree with her and there are plenty of things to disagree with her about, from black Santa to Black Lives Matter its difficult to deny that her statements come from some kind of principle. Story continues This principle has been enough to spur her criticism of GOPs statements and stances on womens issues. Kelly would not call herself a feminist, but she was one of the few journalists to hold Donald Trump accountable for his statements about women; her opposition to him was not about belief as much as it was about the more ephemeral quality of dignity, and how obviously the then-candidate lacked it. Fox News can be a monolithic political entity, but Kellys broken from them both politically and personally on some of these topics, leading to awkward spats with Sean Hannity and Bill OReilly. And in the biggest accidentally feminist news of all, Kellys statement that Fox News CEO Roger Ailes had sexually harassed her was the final straw for his employers, leading to Ailes ouster in July 2016. Her defensive stance against both Trump and Ailes endeared her to mainstream viewers, but alienated her from her own viewership; following the Trump debacle, Kelly received death threats and had to hire security. That was when she began to look for work at another network: Her particular brand of refined conservatism no longer seemed to have a place at Fox News. But it is unclear if Kellys shtick will have a place at NBC, either. Despite being a personality with mainstream appeal, Kellys brand is not a standalone one; her profile is contingent on being the sole sane person over there. She is to Fox News what Ivanka Trump is to her fathers political career a sanitizing, legitimizing force, one that profits off of proximity while offering a veneer of respectability. Its not a fantastic role to have, but it is a role, and one that has been very lucrative for her. But a persona developed entirely in the context of one of the most unusual media organizations in history doesnt necessarily transplant well to new soil. Especially because her move to NBC will be to two entirely new formats a new daytime show to air on weekdays, as well as a new Sunday-night newsmagazine show. When Kelly was first trying to expand past Fox News, she wanted to emulate Barbara Walters; but the special she hosted for Fox primetime was a flop, both in terms of viewers and critical acclaim. This move to daytime resembles instead Katie Courics attempt to transition demographics a transition which ultimately failed. Kelly is not a natural fit for daytime; her strengths are in being incisive, not welcoming, and shes several degrees cooler than the warmth of hosts like Ellen DeGeneres. She might be a better fit for a Sunday newsmagazine, but Kellys not exactly a host, either; shes at her best when she is drawing on her legal past to ask questions, engaging in conversations about the issues that matter to her. And though she probably could have been an excellent nightly news anchor, even she has been so partisan at Fox News that a more objective career might yet be out of reach. The bet, on NBCs part, is that Kellys comfort with the mantle of traditional motherhood and her ability to parlay that into conservative political commentary would make her a palatable choice for the primarily female daytime TV audience. This is quite a bet. Not only does it put enormous stock in Kellys ability to pivot audiences, but instead of a more conservative landscape, it frames Kelly in opposition to a far more liberal one; Oprah Winfrey and DeGeneres are two examples of entertainers from marginalized groups finding mainstream, longstanding appeal, and The View and The Talk both field panels with a diverse range of experiences. Fox News is a lucrative but specific bubble; NBC, and daytime television, are quite another. It is difficult to anticipate how a woman whose defining feature is how coolly she can keep herself separate from the riffraff of her network will make a mark in a demographic that talks about celebrity gossip over coffee mugs. Difficult, but not impossible. Kelly is nothing if not determined, and NBC has a lot sunk into making this deal work. Kelly might find being outside the constraints of Fox News to be a freeing experience, too; perhaps without fears of reprisal from viewers and bosses, she might finally publicly state what her stance is on abortion rights. The question is really how much Kelly liked being in her unique position at Fox News; will she miss the constant murmur of right-wing conspiracy that gave her the biggest lead-in in cable news, or will she breathe a sigh of relief to finally be able to hear the world outside of the bubble? Related stories Megyn Kelly Calls Move to NBC a 'New Adventure' NBC's Big Bet on Megyn Kelly Comes With Big Risks Fox News Sets Jan. 6 as Megyn Kelly's Last Show Future First Lady Melania Trump kicked off 2017 on a stylish note. President-elect Donald Trump's wife stepped out on Saturday evening for a New Year's Eve party in Palm Beach, Florida sporting a little black dress by Dolce & Gabbana. The former model's chic ensemble has since earned the praises of D&G co-founder Stefano Gabbana. The Italian designer shared a photo on Instagram of the 46-year-old wearing the cocktail dress, while proudly describing her as a "DG Woman." CLICK FOR FULL GALLERY Melania Trump #DGwoman thank you #madeinitaly A photo posted by stefanogabbana (@stefanogabbana) on Jan 1, 2017 at 4:44pm PST "Melania Trump #DGwoman.," Stefano captioned the post, adding a series of heart emojis. "Thank you." The photo was taken during New Year's Eve celebrations at Donald's Mar-a-Lago club, which Sylvester Stallone, actor Fabio and Donald Trump Jr.'s family attended. Stefano's Instagram showed the mom-of-one smiling while wearing the "Bow-Front Scoop-Neck Cocktail Dress" that retails for $2,995.00. MELANIA TRUMP STYLE EVOLUTION Melania has worn pieces from the label on a number of occasions. She also favors the designs of Ralph Lauren and Michael Kors. However since the presidential election, Barron Trump's mother has received some criticism from a few fashion designers, including Marc Jacobs and Sophie Theallet, who have both refused to dress her. Melania wowed in a white Ralph Lauren jumpsuit on election night Photo: Getty Images "I have no interest whatsoever in dressing Melania Trump," Marc told WWD. "I didn't see [Sophie Theallet's] letter. Personally, I'd rather put my energy into helping out those who will be hurt by [Donald] Trump and his supporters." WHICH DESIGNERS WILL DRESS MELANIA TRUMP? Meanwhile, Tommy Hilfiger has spoken out in support of Melania, telling WWD that politics shouldn't get in the way of dressing the future first lady. "I think Melania is a very beautiful woman, and I think any designer should be proud to dress her," Tommy said. "Ivanka [Trump] is equally as beautiful and smart, although she wears her own clothes. I don't think people should become political about it." He added, "Everyone was very happy to dress Michelle [Obama] as well. I think they look great in the clothes. You're not gonna get much more beautiful than Ivanka or Melania." Who puts the best technology in its cars? According to Kelley Blue Book (KBB), Mercedes and Honda Motor Co. Ltd. (HMC). In specific, Mercedes won the luxury category with it E-Class model and Honda with its Civic. Since many consumers complain about complex car electronics, the winners may have features that overcome those problems. Zach Vlasuk, senior associate editor for KBB, announced: Though many cars today offer loads of cutting-edge technology at increasingly attainable prices, one critically important measure helped catapult the Honda Civic and Mercedes-Benz E-Class into their respective winners circles: execution. The systems featured in both models delivered on their promise of enhancing the driving experience and safety quotient without adding complexity. And when distilled down to its essence, thats what in-vehicle tech is all about. ALSO READ: Cities Where You Don't Want to Get Sick Honda was specifically praised for its multi-angle camera and digital information display. Mercedes was cited for its airbag technology and Active Emergency Stop Assist. Regularly, car research shows that drivers are often confused by too many electronic features. The best example of this may be the Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) MyTouch system from Microsoft Corp. (MSFT). Ford discontinued the system in 2014. Maybe the Mercedes E-Class and Honda Civic are more well received. Related Articles Mexico City (AFP) - Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto defended on Wednesday a steep increase in gasoline prices but said he understood people's "anger" against the measure, as protests entered a fourth day. Pena Nieto said the 20.1 percent increase in the cost of a liter of gasoline was necessary due to a rise in global oil prices. "I understand the irritation and anger among the population in general," he said, arguing that not increasing the prices would have been more painful for the economy. Mexicans have held protests and blocked highways every day since the measure was implemented on January 1. Federal police reported around 20 new protests and roadblocks in various parts of the country on Wednesday. Authorities detained 46 people accused of looting a supermarket during a protest outside Mexico City on Tuesday. The government says the increase is a necessary first step before it lets the market dictate how much drivers will pay as part of a sweeping energy reform. BOISE, Idaho (AP) Six Mexican veterinarians who say they were recruited to work at an Idaho dairy farm as animal scientists have filed a federal human trafficking lawsuit against the dairy's owners and the lawyer who arranged work visas, claiming they were instead forced to work as laborers, milking cows and shoveling manure for about a year. The veterinarians had been promised that they would oversee animal health and reproduction programs at Funk Dairy Inc. in the small southern Idaho town of Murtaugh and were brought to the U.S. on TN visas for professionals from Mexico and Canada, said the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Boise on Tuesday. Named as defendants were Funk owner David Funk, manager Curtis Giles and attorney Jeremy Pittard, who the lawsuit said arranged their visas. The telephone rang unanswered Wednesday at the dairy. Pittard, a public defense and family immigration attorney, said he did his job after being asked by Funk Dairy to help arrange the visas but could not comment on working conditions for the veterinarians. The lawsuit claims the veterinarians were illegally forced to work as general laborers despite having professional worker visas, received substandard housing and lower wages than promised and were threatened with deportation if they did not do their assigned work well. They are seeking unspecified monetary damages under federal laws to fight human trafficking and target criminal conspiracies. The alleged trafficking scheme represented "the fraudulent recruitment of professional Mexican veterinarians for the purpose of evading U.S. immigration laws and hiring workers as low-wage, general laborers," the lawsuit said. Veterinarians Cesar Martinez-Rodriguez, Dalia Padilla-Lopez, Mayra Munoz-Lara, Brenda Gastelum-Sierra, Leslie Ortiz-Garcia and Ricardo Neri-Camacho also claimed in the lawsuit that their employers exploited their fear, inability to speak English, and unfamiliarity with the American legal system to force them to stay at the dairy from 2014 to 2015. Story continues "I'm not sure I can speculate as to why the company chose this route, but in general agriculture companies have been struggling with labor shortages," said the lawyer for the veterinarians, Edgar Ivan Aguilasocho . "As far as we can tell, this criminal conspiracy was aimed at providing a makeshift solution to that kind of shortage." The veterinarians said they were promised pay of $10 an hour with an opportunity for higher pay, transportation to work, living accommodations, a $2,000 bonus after one year of work, one week of paid vacation and reimbursement for travel back to Mexico. Most are in their 20s and learned about the job from postings from prospective employers at three different Mexican universities that have veterinary schools, Aguilasocho said. The pay offered was similar to what young veterinarians make in Mexico, he said, and all saw the opportunity to work on an American dairy farm as a promising way to gain valuable career experience. Munoz-Lara said she was heartbroken when she started her first day at work and learned she would be doing 12-hour shifts milking cows, moving cattle around, cleaning pens and collecting garbage. "It was a total disappointment because we had hoped to excel in our field," she said, adding that she and the other veterinarians hope publicity about their case serves as a warning to other Mexican professionals to be wary about U.S. recruitment opportunities. The veterinarians said in their lawsuit they were placed in dirty and overcrowded housing, then charged rent after being moved to better housing. The veterinarians also said they were denied meal breaks, were forced to eat meals at unhygienic work stations around cows and that there wasn't enough protective equipment and portable toilets at the site for all of the dairy's workers. When one veterinarian suffered a back injury and another had part of a finger amputated in an on-site accident, they said they were not provided adequate medical treatment or time off, the lawsuit said. They left after the dairy terminated their contracts in late 2015, the lawsuit said. Munoz-Lara said she waited until she was awarded the $2,000 bonus and quit, staying so long at the dairy doing menial work because she had debts she had to pay off. Several of the veterinarians subsequently found work as animal scientists at other U.S. dairies and one is now doing veterinary work in his home Mexican state of Jalisco, Aguilasocho said. Pittard said Funk Dairy had referred him to another lawyer in a different state for guidance on arranging professional visas for the veterinarians. He declined comment on working conditions at the dairy because he did not visit it but said the operation has a reputation for being proactive and taking care of its workers, and that the lawsuit came as a surprise. "I believe the dairies are just trying to find ways to have a legal workforce," he said. "I didn't do anything wrong, I just filled out the paperwork. I helped people get here with a visa." ___ Associated Press Writer Alan Clendenning in Phoenix contributed to this report. What you need to know about this blog... This blog, and the postings therein, represents the views of one liberal, i.e. me, and of no other person or organisation. Please don't try to represent my views as those of anyone else. I do moderate comments, rejecting those I deem to be offensive, libellous or otherwise unacceptable. Anonymous commenters can expect to be either ignored or abused unless I agree with them. After all, like any publisher, I maintain the right to uphold certain standards. However, dissent with my views shall not, in itself, cause me to reject a comment. MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico's president on Wednesday revived the career of his fallen former finance minister, appointing him foreign minister just four months after he was replaced in the wake of a controversial visit by Donald Trump. Luis Videgaray is one of President Enrique Pena Nieto's closest aides, but he was forced out in September a week after the Trump visit. Pena Nieto was subjected to a wave of criticism for what many saw as a poorly handled invitation, given the real-estate magnate's anti-Mexico rhetoric. Pena Nieto said on Wedneday that he had tasked Videgaray with accelerating contacts and dialogue with the incoming Trump administration. Senior diplomats have said that Videgaray was instrumental in arranging Trump's late-August visit, in which the government had hoped to impress upon him the need to moderate his tone and reconsider his more divisive campaign proposals. But within hours of leaving Mexico, Trump was telling a cheering crowd of supporters in Arizona that Mexico would pay for the border wall "100 percent," prompting fresh ridicule of Pena Nieto at home. Trump has infuriated Mexicans by threatening to carry out mass deportations and rewrite trade treaties crucial to their economy, and by referring to some immigrants from the United States' southern neighbor as rapists or drug runners. (Reporting by Dave Graham and Noe Torres; Editing by Simon Gardner and Dan Grebler) Although Michael Keaton was the first actor to play Batman in a big-screen blockbuster (1989s Batman), he bailed on the franchise after two films with director Tim Burton. During a new interview with The Hollywood Reporters Awards Chatter podcast, Keaton said he quit the series because he was unimpressed by the vision of Burtons successor, Joel Schumacher. It sucked, Keaton said of the Batman Forever screenplay. The script never was great. I didnt understand why wanted to do what he wanted to do I knew it was in trouble when he said, Why does everything have to be so dark? Keaton was replaced as the Caped Crusader by Val Kilmer (who himself was replaced by George Clooney in Schumachers next stab at the material). While Burtons two Batman films were dark and gothic (particularly 1992s Batman Returns), Schumacher took the franchise in a more colorful, light-hearted direction one that proved unpopular with viewers and critics alike by the time the fourth film, Batman & Robin with Clooney as the superhero, was released in 1997. Following that misfire, the franchise stayed dormant until Christopher Nolans gritty 2005 revival Batman Begins. Although his Batman days are behind him, Keaton will return to the world of superhero film with a role as the villainous Vulture in this years Spider-Man: Homecoming. NEW YORK (AP) Michelle Obama is making her final visit as the nation's first lady to "The Tonight Show" on January 11. It will be her third "Tonight Show" appearance. Her previous visits were in February 2014 and in April 2015, when she displayed her dancing skills with host Jimmy Fallon in a presentation of "The Evolution Of Mom Dancing." "The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon" airs at 11:35 p.m. EST on NBC. Michelle Williams in Louis Vuitton. (Photo: Getty Images) The New York Film Critics Circle Awards was held on a very rainy Tuesday night at Tao Downtown in Manhattan. The annual starry gala, known as the unofficial kickoff to awards season, serves as something of a harbinger of those who can be expected to take home major gold on Oscar night. So whos going home with the gold in February? Based on NYFCs pick, La La Land is a shoo-in. The whimsical, dreamy, and tragicomic movie was honored as the best film of the year. Best actor went to Casey Affleck for his role in Manchester by the Sea, the gut-wrenching family tale of love and loss. But in his speech, Affleck showcased his lighter side, reading bad reviews of his annoying self, even pointing to one critique mocking his speech patterns. Mahershala Ali, of Moonlight, was hailed as best supporting actor. Isabelle Huppert in Dior. (Photo: AP) Best actress honors went to Isabelle Huppert. When I knew that I was rewarded for two French-speaking films oh, my God. Its amazing, Huppert, who stars in Elle and Things to Come, tells Yahoo Style. I looked, I searched, this is Dior. So, someone did help me. Im getting used to [red carpets], but it took me a lot of time. Huppert mightve looked resplendently minimalist in her attire, but if there was an award for most charming acceptance speech, it would go to Michelle Williams, who was named best supporting actress for Manchester and Certain Women. The star, clad in Louis Vuitton, said shed called up her publicist before the event to make sure she had to verbally address an audience. Im not good at this, she admitted, before adding that this really does mean a lot to me because of where we are. Im raising a child here. This is the anywhere I wanted to make it. Michelle and I like this picture of ourselves in a porta potty better than any red carpet pics we saw. So here you go. A photo posted by Busy Philipps (@busyphilipps) on Dec 11, 2016 at 7:38pm PST Before the dinner, Williams was affable and charming. As she explains to Yahoo Style, her fashion rule of thumb is simple. This is boring, but I like to be comfortable. What makes that feasible? BFF Busy Philipps of course. Its the only time I get to see my best friend. Seriously. Busy, can you get a babysitter for the SAG Awards?' says Williams. Meanwhile, like any working mom, she doesnt have much time to watch lengthy dramas. Ive seen Zootopia 50 times. I really need to see some movies, she says. Story continues Speaking of the Disney hit and best animated film, co-director Rich Moore teased a sequel when asked if its possible. Maybe. Maybe. I would love to, says Moore. Its such a great film. We have 85-90 minutes to tell a story. What about a breakout film starring the sloths working at the DMV? It would be about five hours long, says Moore. Maybe wed do it in three parts. Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day. Mickey Mouse is totally different in Italy, and its blowing our Disney-loving minds All around Planet Earth, the undisputed king of Disney tends to go by the same name: Mickey Mouse, or some variation of the same. But in news we just learned that is A) crucial to all non-European Disney fans and B) already household knowledge for Italians, the home of the Renaissance, Pope Francis, and pasta has always known Mickey by a different name: Topolino. And its blowing our freaking minds. Basically, it all began way, way back in 1932, four years after Walt Disney himself began drawing his Steamboat Willie cartoons. Italian editor Mario Nerbini began printing Mickey cartoons of his own, but he didnt secure the rights to his name or likeness and so began drawing a character called Topo Lino, which translates to little mouse in Italian, for legal reasons. He eventually did get the Mickey rights from Disney, but since Topo Lino cartoons had already become popular, he made a slight change to calling Mickey himself Topolino and in the years since, Topo has remained a fan-favorite character in Italian comics. So fan-favorite, in fact, that Topolino was famously the last character to be banned from fascist Italy by Benito Mussolini, just because the dictators kids liked the little dude a whole lot. Since times used to be way cooler and Europeans are darker than us, there are a whole bunch of weird, dark Topolino comics from the 40s, like Linferno di Topolino (Mickey Mouse Hell), a take on the Divine Comedy with Mickey Mouse in the role of Dante, that are still available to read online. Story continues But our favorite Topolino is the Topolino of today, who has become essentially the same character as our American fave thanks to The Walt Disney Company Italy, just with an entirely different name. He currently lords over La Casa di Topolino (Italys version of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse) with an iron fist (err, white glove), and it is marvelous. Also of note is that Donald Duck goes by Paolino Paperino and Daisy Duck by Paperina (typical), and Goofy is Pippo, yet for some reason Pluto is still Pluto and Minnie gets to be Minni (close enough). Eagle-eyed (or just dedicated) Disney fans may have already noticed Topolino items being sold in the Italy section of Epcot, but since we havent been to Epcot in years (sob) and rely on excellent YouTube videos like the one above for our Mickey info, this news has us shook. Viva Topolino! Milo Ventimiglia (aka Jess from Gilmore Girls) made his New Years resolution with a twist He didnt state what it was, but we know that Milo Ventimiglias New Years resolution was made in a unique way well, unique for Americans. While most resolutions for the New Year are just made as mental notes with no pomp and circumstance, the Gilmore Girls and This Is Us actors resolution was made while visiting a Japanese shrine. When Jess Mariano Milo Ventimiglia stopped by The Late Late Show with James Corden on January 3rd, he noted that he was a bit jet-lagged since he had just flown in from Japan. Later, when he was being interviewed with Janelle Monae, Ventimiglia discussed how he rung in 2017 in Japan and the New Year celebration was a more spiritual and serious affair than what he normally experiences in the U.S. I went with a friend to a shrine and we did New Years resolutions, and I learned that theyre very specific, very detailed in Japan. You had to get in front of the shrine and throw in your five-cent coin cause it has a hole for good luck. Ventimiglia said. Then you bow twice, you clap twice, you say your prayer. But then when you say your prayer or wishes for the New Year, you have to give your name, your birthdate, and your address, so that God knows that he directs, or she directs, they direct your resolution to you at that address. OK first off, lets applaud Ventimiglia for his diverse God pronouns. Now, we can focus on the fact that you need to give your address to confirm that God will be able to send the good vibes to the correct person. Hey, that avoids your wishes getting mixed up with someone elses for sure. As for the rest of the ceremony, Ventimiglias experience does reflect Japanese culture since New Years is a big holiday for the country. The tradition of Hatsumode is the first visit to a shrine or temple in the New Year to pray for good fortune and its apparently very popular in Japan. So as much fun as a New Years Eve party can be, were definitely going to look into traveling to Japan one of these years like Ventimiglia did for a wonderful start to the New Year. CHARLESTON, SC / ACCESSWIRE / January 4, 2017 / Mission Solutions Group ("MSG"), Inc., a Delaware Corporation and Veteran Owned Small Business (VOSB), announced today the closing of a financing received from Inmost Partners, LLC ("Inmost"). The funds received were part of the establishment of Inmost's new Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) geared towards providing affordable term loan financing in the Government receivables space. MSG is a family of premier companies providing dedicated mission critical support in the Communications/Cyber-Security and Sustainment verticals, which includes Marshall Communications and Sidecar Enterprises, a Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business (SDVOSB). Part of the company's growth strategy is through acquisition of additional companies in these spaces and the debt instrument with Inmost Partners provides a low-cost venue to facilitate this activity. "We are excited about the closure of the debt instrument with Inmost, as it will enhance our ability to continue our growth activities through both M&A and organic growth and, even more importantly, it does so in a manner that provides a cost-effective alternative, which will further enhance our profitability. The company completed its first acquisition just over a year ago, and has since grown to two companies in our portfolio and is a $30 Million profitable company in its first year of operations." said Damon Walsh, Mission Solutions Group's CEO. Eliot Kang, CEO/Managing Partner of Inmost stated, "Inmost is equally excited about taking this initial step as a means of providing viable debt financing alternatives to Veteran Owned Small Businesses serving the U.S. Government; we believe this is an underserved market to which we can offer a valuable service." Under the terms of the agreement, Inmost provides term financing, with an initial funding of $2 Million, using an innovative approach of collateralizing the loan with Government and other highly reliable accounts receivable. Story continues Ardour Capital Investments, LLC (a member of FINRA and SIPC) acted as Financial Advisor in facilitating this agreement. About Mission Solutions Group Mission Solutions Group ("MSG") is a family of premier companies providing dedicated mission critical support in the Communications/Cyber-Security and Sustainment verticals to support the U.S. military's important missions around the globe. MSG was founded by military and defense industry veterans with Special Operations, Force Protection, and solution development / implementation backgrounds. The MSG executive leadership team represents over 150 years of professional experience serving the DoD and commercial marketplace in all facets. For more information on Mission Solutions Group, please visit www.missionsolutionsgroup.com. Safe Harbor Statement This news release may contain "forward-looking" statements. These forward-looking statements are only predictions and are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could cause actual results to differ from those in the forward looking-statements. Actual results may differ materially from the forward-looking statements in this press release. Statements made herein are as of the date of this press release and should not be relied upon as of any subsequent date. The Company does not undertake, and it specifically disclaims, any obligation to update any forward-looking statements to reflect occurrences, developments, events, or circumstances after the date of such statement. Contact: Damon Walsh CEO Mission Solutions Group, Inc. 717 Old Trolley Road, Suite 6-275 Summerville, SC 29485 PH: 843-860-9074 SOURCE: Mission Solutions Group 4 Jan - The Executive Committee of the Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) recently revealed that it has decided to withdraw the Fernando Poe Jr. Memorial Award bestowed to Alvin Yapan's movie "Oro" last week. As reported on Rappler, the festival's Public Relations Head, Noel Ferrer shared the news online following the issue concerning the controversies surrounding a slaughtered dog depicted in the movie. Ferrer, who posted a photo with FPJ's daughter, Senator Grace Poe on Instagram, wrote, "Upon consultation with the family of the late Fernando Poe, Jr, the Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) Executive Committee announces the withdrawal of the FPJ Memorial Award recently granted to the film ["Oro"]. "Without making any judgment on the artistic merit of the film or cinematic depiction, the MMFF finds the present controversy on the alleged killing of a dog in the course of the filming of the movie effectively casts a doubt on the movie's ability to exemplify the human and cultural values espoused by the late Fernando Poe, Jr.," he added. (Photo Source: Noel Ferrer Instagram) Dozens of gunmen with suspected links to Muslim rebel groups stormed a southern Philippine jail early on Wednesday morning, leading to the escape of more than 150 prisoners. According to prison authorities, about 100 raiders opened fire on the North Cotabato District Jail on the island of Mindanao at around 1 a.m. local time, AFP reports. At least 158 of the jails 1,511 inmates are said to have broken free over the course of a two-hour gunfight in which one guard was killed. Its to rescue their comrades under our custody. It is a rescue operation, jail warden Peter John Bonggat said to local news station ABS-CBN, referring to the raid. The (inmates) took chances because of the volume of fire they used their bedding, piled them on top of each other to escape. Six inmates were killed in the firefight with police, while eight others were caught, the Associated Press quoted Senior Inspector Xavier Solda, spokesperson for the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology, as saying. The attackers are believed to be a breakaway faction of the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), Bonggat said. The group has been involved in long-running peace talks with the government. The Philippines turbulent south has a history of violent jailbreaks. In August, around 50 members of the Maute group which has pledged allegiance to the Islamic State staged a raid on a prison in nearby Marawi City, freeing 28 detainees. According to local newspaper The Philippine Star, Wednesday mornings attack marked the third time the jail has been targeted in a decade. It is situated in a remote forested area and reportedly lacks guards. [AFP] With a new law barring work e-mail after hours, the French have honored a truth long recognized by economists: working longer hours doesnt necessarily result in increased productivity. Mexicothe least productive of the 38 countries listed in 2015 data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)has the worlds longest average work week at 41.2 hours (including full-time and part-time workers). At the other end of the spectrum, Luxembourg, the most productive country, has an average workweek of just 29 hours. The United States ranks fifth, according to the OECD, contributing $68.30 to the countrys GDP per hour worked, countering claims that Americans are the most productive workers in the world. America put in more hours33.6 per week on averagethan all four of the European countries with higher productivity rankings. Methodology Productivity is calculated by dividing each countrys GDP by the average number of hours worked annually by all employed citizens. Hours worked include full-time and part-time workers, excluding holidays and vacation time. Jan 4 (Reuters) - Credit Suisse AG said it has blocked an attempt by Jefferies Group LLC to lure a number of its senior bankers. Of the eight bankers that had agreed to take on new roles at Jefferies, five are remaining at the Swiss bank, according to Credit Suisse spokeswoman Nicole Sharp. This includes Jonathan Moneypenny, who had agreed to join Jefferies to co-head its global leveraged finance capital markets business, Reuters reported on Tuesday. Moneypenny has reversed his decision and will remain at the Swiss bank, Sharp said. Jeb Slowik, who had also been hired at Jefferies to co-head leveraged finance originations, will also remain at Credit Suisse. A number of other Credit Suisse senior loan team members, including Joseph Kieffer, John Bown and Brad Capadona, are joining Jefferies, Reuters reported on Tuesday. Credit Suisse is trying to protect its leveraged finance franchise, which is among the most active on Wall Street, as Jefferies tries to rebuild its own. Jefferies had also agreed to hire three senior investment bankers from Credit Suisse's real estate investment banking business. All three will now stay at Credit Suisse, including Dean Decker, who had been hired to co-head Jefferies' global real estate, gaming and lodging banking business. A Jefferies spokesman did not respond to requests for comment. This is the second time that Jefferies has tried to lure a number of Credit Suisse bankers in recent months. Last year, a group of five Credit Suisse technology investment bankers left for Jefferies, prompting a court case. (Reporting by Olivia Oran in New York; Editing by Alan Crosby) Authorities dismissed murder charges against former pro wrester Jimmy Superfly Snuka on Tuesday, more than 30 years after the death of his girlfriend. Snuka was an up-and-comer in the World Wrestling Federation, now known as the WWE, when his girlfriend Nancy Argentino died in 1983. At the time, he told police she had sustained head injuries after falling down, but prosecutors say he beat her. Though Argentinos family brought a civil suit against Snuka in 1985, police did not charge him, CNN reports. But when Snuka published an autobiography in 2012, the family was alarmed by passages in which he described personal problems and a night that ruined his life. They asked prosecutors to reexamine the case, and in 2015 Snuka was charged with homicide. But the 73-year-old was found to be mentally incompetent to stand trial in June, exhibiting signs of dementia according to a local ABC affiliate. Prosecutors urged Judge Kelly Banach to either send Snuka to outpatient treatment to find out if he could eventually stand trial, or dismiss the charges against him. If you believe that hes not going to become competent, then whats the point? said Chief Deputy District Attorney Charles Gallagher III. On Tuesday, Judge Banach agreed. [WPVI] psyche asteroid nasa discovery mission linda elkins tanton youtube Every few years, NASA picks a roughly $450 million mission to explore the solar system. On Wednesday, however, the space agency announced not one, but two new space probes from a batch of five finalists. One will fly out to Jupiter to explore its swarms of mysterious, burgundy-colored asteroids. A second mission will visit the all-metal asteroid 16 Psyche: the core of a dead planet that was almost entirely destroyed billions of years ago. "These missions will help us learn about the infancy of our solar system, a period just 10 million years after the birth of our sun," Jim Green, the leader of NASA's planetary science program, said in a NASA video. The two spacecraft join a historic fleet of 12 other Discovery-class missions, and the program has proven nothing less than revolutionary. For example, Discovery-class spacecraft are how humanity for the first time orbited an asteroid, brought fresh comet dust to Earth, explored a dwarf planet in Asteroid Belt, found thousands of Earth-like planet candidates, mapped the moon's gravity, and other feats. Here's what we know about NASA's newest Discovery missions. Lucy: Exploring ancient 'fossils' of the solar system lucy jupiter trojan asteroids spacecraft discovery nasa swri Jupiter is not only the solar system's largest and most massive planet, but also its traffic cop for asteroids floating through space. But ahead of and behind Jupiter, there's a mysterious traffic jam: two swarms of Trojan asteroids, or space rocks that follow planets. lucy jupiter trojan asteroids spacecraft discovery nasa jpl caltech Humanity knows precious little about Jupiter's Trojans, other than their color (a dark, wine-like burgundy) and the fact they're nearly as old as the sun. This makes them figurative "fossils" of the solar system. "We know very little about these objects," Green said. "They may be captured asteroids, comets, or even Kuiper Belt objects." Story continues The Lucy spacecraft could learn untold secrets about the solar system's history by visiting six of Jupiter's Trojan asteroids. The 11-year-long mission will launch in 2021, led by Harold Levison, a scientist at the Southwest Research Institute. "Lucy, like the human fossil for which it is named, will revolutionize the understanding of our origins," Levison said in a NASA press release. Psyche: Probing the heart of a dead world The early solar system was a nightmare. As soon as the embryos of planets coalesced from dust and gas some 4.6 billion years ago, they would smash together. Earth and the moon formed out of such a cataclysm, but other worlds weren't so lucky. One is the metallic core of a Mars-size planet, called 16 Psyche what Green said is "a very large and rare" asteroid located in Asteroid Belt. It's about 155 miles (250 km) wide and thought to be made of pure nickel, yet weirdly covered in some water. The Psyche probe, set to launch in October 2023, endeavors to visit the dead planet and probe its mysteries. Leading the mission will be Arizona State University space scientist Linda Elkins-Tanton, who said "this is the only way humans will ever visit a [planet's] core" in NASA's release. The 3 missions that didn't make NASA's cut neocam asteroid hunter spacecraft discovery nasa jpl caltech The announcement of two new Discovery missions was especially crucial, says Mark Sykes, director and CEO of the Planetary Science Institute, who asserts that NASA has lagged behind on its promise with the 25-year-old NASA program. "[W]hen NASA says that there have been 12 Discovery missions, consider that 10 of them were selected more than 15 years ago," Sykes, whose Discovery-class Dawn mission is soon coming to an end, told Business Insider in an email. He said picking two is "an important first step towards rebuilding the program." However, Sykes was part of one of the five Discovery finalists that didn't make the cut. His mission? A telescope called NEOCam that'd hunt for small yet dangerous asteroids. Earth is a shooting gallery for small asteroids and comets, yet we don't yet have a way to find such space rocks some of which have the potential to level major cities in an instant. NEOCam, named after dangerous near-Earth objects (NEOs), would have helped discover 10 times the objects of any space rock-hunting mission to date. Although NEOCam didn't get $450 million in funding, like Lucy and Psyche, NASA plans to fund the mission for at least an additional year. "The NEOCam mission, in addition to providing fundamental science about small bodies throughout the inner solar system, performs a mission that is needed to satisfy the Congressional mandate to find 90% of NEOs 140 [meters] or greater that threaten the Earth," Sykes said. "Hopefully, resources will be identified this next year to fund NEOCam and support these objectives," he said. Also on NASA's cutting-room floor were two Venus spacecraft proposals: DAVINCI, which would have dropped a probe to the planet's hellish surface, and VERITAS, which would have studied the Earth-like world from above. NOW WATCH: This Cold War-era technology could safely power the world for millions of years More From Business Insider In December, while conducting a vibration test on the James Webb Space Telescope Hubbles bigger and better successor that is to be launched late next year engineers at NASA detected some anomalous readings. This prompted NASA to put further tests on hold until the cause of the unexpected response had been determined. On Tuesday, NASA announced that it had since carried out three low-level vibration tests of the telescope currently housed in a clean room at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland and was now close to determining the cause of the anomaly. Currently, the team is continuing their analyses with the goal of having a review of their findings, conclusions and plans for resuming vibration testing in January, Eric Smith, the program director for NASAs James Webb Space Telescope at NASA Headquarters in Washington, said in a statement. Vibration tests one of the many tests space-bound instruments are subjected to are performed to ensure that spacecraft fit enough to tolerate the often hostile conditions they would have to face in space. These tests, along with acoustic tests, are also needed to ensure that hardware functionality is not impaired during severe launch and landing events. During one such routine test on Dec. 3, accelerometers attached to the James Webb telescope detected unexpected responses, and the test shut itself down to protect the hardware. The Webb telescope is the most dynamically complex test article ever tested at Goddard, so the responses were a bit different than expected, Paul Geithner, deputy project manager technical, for the Webb telescope at the Goddard Space Flight Center, said in the statement. This is why we test to know how things really are, as opposed to how we think they are. The James Webb Space Telescope, whose construction was completed in November 20 years after work on the project began is the most powerful space telescope ever built by humans. Once in orbit, the telescope, whose primary mirror has a diameter of 6.5 meters, will replace the hardy Hubble, which has been in service since 1990. Story continues As the premier observatory for the next decade, the Webb telescope will be stationed 1 million miles (1.5 million km) from Earth some four times farther away from us than the moon, NASA said in a statement released in 2014. [It] will be able to detect the light from the first galaxies ever formed and explore planets around distant stars. It will study every phase of our universe's history, ranging from the first luminous glows after the Big Bang, to the formation of planetary systems capable of supporting life on planets like Earth, to the evolution of our own solar system. Related Articles Washington (AFP) - NASA is sending an African-American astronaut to the International Space Station for the first time. The traveler is Jeanette Epps, a physics and science whiz who used to work for the CIA as a technical intelligence officer. Epps will head to the ISS as a flight engineer in 2018. Her commander will be Andrew Feustel, a veteran astronaut. "Each space station crew brings something different to the table, and Drew and Jeanette both have a lot to offer," said Chris Cassidy, chief of the Astronaut Office at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. "The space station will benefit from having them on board," said Cassidy. A dozen or so African-American astronauts have traveled on US space shuttle missions but Epps will be the first African American on the space station. She was selected in July 2009 as one of 14 members of the 20th NASA astronaut class. Her training included Russian language, so as to be able to talk to cosmonauts on the ISS. Epps holds a PhD in aerospace engineering from the University of Maryland. AUBURN, N.Y. (AP) A national historical park honoring Harriet Tubman in her upstate New York hometown is a step closer to reality. Sen. Charles Schumer says the Department of the Interior has completed a land transfer agreement that will allow the National Parks Service to formally establish the Harriet Tubman National Historic Park in Auburn. The park still requires approval by the secretary of interior. The park would encompass the site of Tubman's old home Auburn along with the A.M.E. Zion Church about a mile away where Tubman worshipped. Tubman is a hero of the Underground Railroad who helped guide dozens of slaves north to freedom. She had been free for a decade in 1859 when she bought a parcel of land on the outskirts of Auburn, about 25 miles west of Syracuse. By Anuradha Nagaraj CHENNAI, India (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Indian police rescued nearly 200 children, most of them under the age of 14, who had been found working in a brick kiln in the southern state of Telangana in one of the biggest operations in the region, officials said on Wednesday. The children were rescued from a brick kiln in Yadadiri district, 40 kilometers (25 miles) from state capital Hyderabad, as part of "Operation Smile", a national campaign to tackle child labor and missing children. The rescued children had moved from the eastern state of Odisha and were living and working with adults presumed to be their parents in the brick kiln, police said. "We are not sure if the parents are genuine and there is a possibility that some of the children were trafficked," Mahesh Bhagwat, a police commissioner, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. "The rescue teams spotted girls as young as seven and eight carrying bricks on their head. Some of the children were as young as four." In 2015, the International Labour Organization (ILO) put the number of Indian child workers aged between five and 17 at 5.7 million, out of 168 million globally. More than half work in agriculture and over a quarter work in the manufacturing sector, the ILO said. P. Achyuta Rao, member of a local state body that has the task of protecting child rights, said Telangana and neighboring Andhra Pradesh had become hubs for child trafficking and child labor. "Last year more than 3,000 children were rescued, many from brick kilns and others from domestic servitude. In all cases, the children were from eastern India," said Rao of the Telangana State Commission. Many migrant children end up working alongside their parents because of a lack of schools and teachers who can provide lessons in their local language, campaigners say. Local officials said they would investigate why the rescued children had not been enrolled in a nearby primary school. (Reporting by Anuradha Nagaraj, Editing by Katie Nguyen. Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, women's rights, trafficking and climate change. Visit www.trust.org) Manchester By the Sea costar Michelle Williams at the New York Film Critics Circle on Jan. 3 (Photo: Kristina Bumphrey/StarPix/REX/Shutterstock) By Scott Feinberg, The Hollywood Reporter Throughout the 82nd New York Film Critics Circle Awards, which took place Tuesday night at the Tao Downtown restaurant, the most frequent subject of critical ire was president-elect Donald J. Trump. David Edelstein of New York magazine, who chairs the critics group, opened the evening by saying its aim was to celebrate a few of the good things that happened during the shit-show of a year we just had. Later, The Daily Show host Trevor Noah, while presenting the best documentary award to O.J.: Made in America, cracked that he thought wed learned from the O.J. Simpson trial until Trumps election in November, which he called another bad decision based on fame and race. And other presenters like Robert Klein, Jonathan Demme and Baz Luhrmann, as well as some of the honorees who were originally announced back on Dec. 1 joined the anti-Trump chorus. As for critical love, the group, which is comprised of 37 New York-based critics, spread it around, with key prizes going to Oscar frontrunners La La Land (best film), Moonlight (best director Barry Jenkins, supporting actor Mahershala Ali and cinematographer James Laxton) and Manchester by the Sea (best actor Casey Affleck, supporting actress Michelle Williams and original screenplay Kenneth Loneran). Other winners included Isabelle Huppert for best actress, for both Elle and Things to Come; Zootopia for best animated film; Toni Erdmann for best foreign-language film; and both The Edge of Seventeen and Krisha for best first film. Moonlight director Barry Jenkins (Photo: Kristina Bumphrey/StarPix/REX/Shutterstock) Related: Feinberg Forecast: One Last Check-In Before the Start of Oscar Nomination Voting A special award was given to veteran film editor Thelma Schoonmaker, on the night of her 76th birthday; she has made 23 films with Martin Scorsese over the last half-century, including 2016s Silence, which is why that films star Adam Driver honored her). And another special award was presented to Julie Dash on the 25th anniversary of her film Daughters of the Dust, the first ever directed by an African-American female filmmaker to receive wide distribution. Some presentations got quite serious. Noah, after ripping Trump, said of O.J., If you havent watched this film, you havent seen the story of America, whereupon director Ezra Edelman accepted by quoting the late James Baldwin, who is the subject of perhaps his films chief competitor for the documentary Oscar, I Am Not Your Negro, which he heartily recommended. Demme, meanwhile, cheered Jenkins for creating in Moonlight a brilliant masterpiece that enters our heart and soul and takes root there. And Jenkins, feteing Ali, said he was touched to see the films actor, not unlike his character, serve as a father to all of those young men on his films set. Some of the presentations were rather zany. In handing out the Zootopia honor, Klein praised the animated film as totally subversive, this movie Im gonna report it immediately to the Trump Administration, and then forgot the names of those accepting the honor. And when actress Sandra Huller presented Toni Erdmanns prize to director Maren Ade, she was accompanied by the 10-foot tall hairy mascot that was featured in the film. It was meant as a surprise to me, but I could smell him from far away, the German filmmaker confessed. Related: Awards Chatter Podcast Michael Keaton (The Founder) The closest the evening came to controversy was when Lonergan, in introducing Williams (who was recognized for her work in both his film and Certain Women), called her a character actress in a leading ladys body, which immediately provoked outrage on Twitter. But the people in the room clearly didnt have a problem with Lonergan: Mark Ruffalo, in presenting the screenplay award, called his old friend and You Can Count On Me and Margaret collaborator a great character writer and an absolute treasure to us, both in film and on stage. And Affleck after being hailed by his Gone Baby Gone costar Amy Ryan for giving in Manchester a masterwork of acting that offered a symphony of the human experience and shows acting as it can and should be called Lonergan one of my heroes and my favorite living writer. Affleck then brought down the house by reading past criticisms of his work that had been written by Edelstein. The most eloquent speech of the night came from Chazelle when he accepted, from Moulin Rouge! director Luhrmann, La La Lands best film prize. (The award itself was notable because critics from one coast rarely award their top honors to a film so closely associated with the rival coast.) Flanked by producers Marc Platt and Jordan Horowitz, Chazelle spoke off-the-cuff about taking the train, as a kid, from his home in New Jersey into New York so that he could attend screenings of great films, often lured to them by New Yorks critics. As fellow cineastes like Sony Classics Michael Barker looked on with appreciative smiles, he movingly explained how the ending of one such film, 1927s Seventh Heaven, inspired not only the atypical ending of La La Land, but also his lifelong love of the magic of the movies and the power they possess to sweep us off our feet. Afterwards, Edelstein took the stage one last time and closed the night by playfully stating, I want to thank Casey Affleck for reminding us that our words have weight though [Afflecks 2013 film] Aint Them Bodies Saints really is an awful movie. Williams looked aghast, but her costar Affleck appeared to chuckle. A North Carolina police officer captured on video body slamming a high school student has been placed on paid administrative leave, police and school officials said Tuesday. Widely circulated footage shows the officer picking up the female student by her torso and then throwing her down hard onto the floor. The incident stemmed from a fight between two female students in the cafeteria of Rolesville High School about 7 a.m., the Town of Rolesville Police Department said in a statement. The police department identified the Town of Rolesville School Resource Officer as Ruben De Los Santos. He can be seen in the 9-second video, which was initially posted on Twitter, lifting the teenager up by her right arm and leading her away after the body slam. The incident is under investigation, officials said. We will work diligently to review any and all pertinent information so that we provide an accurate account of the events, Rolesville Police Chief Bobby Langston said in a statement. We ask the community and all members involved to be patient while we investigate this matter. Rolesville High School Principal Dhedra Lassiter said in a statement that she was deeply concerned with what she saw in the video. The safety of our students is always our first priority. Our school district works with many dedicated officers who protect our students, Lassiter said. It is vital that our children have a positive relationship with these law enforcement officials. By Timothy Mclaughlin (Reuters) - North Dakota's new governor warned on Tuesday that protesters remaining at the construction site of the Dakota Access Pipeline should vacate their main camp before spring because of the risk of flooding. The site of the $3.8 billion project, which crosses four states, was the scene of demonstrations by Native Americans, environmentalists, military veterans and celebrities who said the North Dakota portion would harm water resources and sacred lands. In early December, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers denied an easement needed to allow the pipeline to run under Lake Oahe, a reservoir formed by a dam on the Missouri River. The Standing Rock Sioux, whose land is adjacent to the pipeline, asked the thousands of protesters to disperse after the decision. Most did so, but some have remained despite the harsh winter conditions. "The main protest camp is located directly in the floodplain of the Cannonball-Missouri River confluence. Given the snowfall we're having this winter and historic data on the Cannonball River, that camp will likely flood in early March," Governor Doug Burgum said in his State of the State address in Bismarck. "Anything less than a complete restoration of the area prior to the early March flood will endanger the lives of the protesters and of our first responders," added Burgum, a Republican who took office last month. Burgum, who supports completion of the pipeline, reiterated the position of law enforcement officials who have said many of the demonstrators were from outside North Dakota and had undercut genuine concerns over water rights. "Those original concerns have been hijacked by those with alternative agendas," he said. Burgum, a tech industry veteran who was elected in November, pledged to begin meeting with tribal leaders this week. The pipeline, he said, had highlighted the need to address historic injustices against Native Americans. Story continues "The history of American settlement and westward expansion contains many tragic episodes of broken promises, displaced native peoples, and forced assimilation. It is in this context that the Standing Rock situation must be understood." Energy Transfer Partners LP, which is building the pipeline, has gone to federal court for a permit to complete the job. It has said the 1,172-mile (1,885-km) pipeline, which is nearly finished, would be a more efficient and safer means to transport oil from the Bakken shale of North Dakota. (Reporting by Timothy Mclaughlin in Chicago; Editing by Peter Cooney) From Popular Mechanics In his annual New Years speech to the North Korean people, Kim Jong-un announced that his military was in final preparations to test an intercontinental ballistic missile. The missile is meant to reach the United States with a nuclear warhead, extending the North's deterrence strategy to directly threaten America. In response, President-Elect Donald Trump has vowed the test will not happen. North Korean Leader Kim Jong-un made the announcement on state-run television, touting the advances the country has made in nuclear weapons and long-range missile development. According to the New York Times, Kim announced that Pyongyang was in the "final stages in preparations to test-launch an intercontinental ballistic rocket." In response, President-Elect Donald Trump had this to say: North Korea just stated that it is in the final stages of developing a nuclear weapon capable of reaching parts of the U.S. It won't happen! - Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 2, 2017 According to arms control expert Melissa Hanham at the Arms Control Wonk blog, denial or not, North Korea is indeed on the verge of testing an ICBM. And the normally secretive country has been quite eager to update the rest of the world on its progress over the past several years. Not only has it demonstrated tests of first- and second-stage rocket engines, it also demonstrated a compact nuclear warhead, tested two nukes in underground caves in 2016 alone and tested a heat-shield designed to allow the weapon to safely re-enter Earth's atmosphere. Finally, it has shown off an 8 x 8 heavy transporter/erector/launch vehicle capable of launching an ICBM from the anywhere along the country's 449 miles of paved roads. Each of these items is a major technical milestone in the fielding of an ICBM. While the successful launch of an ICBM is a huge undertaking that only the United States, Soviet Union, and China have yet completed, North Korea has apparently made the weapon a top priority in the belief that having one will deter the United States from attacking. Story continues And if Trump is actually vowing to prevent the weapon from being tested? That would require military action and, quite possibly, the start of World War III. It would require the U.S. to conduct a pre-emptive strike on North Korean nuclear facilities, something that almost happened in June 1994. The Clinton Administration eventually decided against the strike, and North Korea went on to perform its first nuclear test in 2006. The problem with conducting a conventional strike on North Korea is it would almost certainly escalate to all-out war. The Korean peninsula is already the most heavily armed place on Earth, with ten million military and paramilitary personnel, including reservists, on both sides-in no small part thanks to North Korea's routine threats to attack South Korea to unify both countries under a Pyongyang-based government. Furthermore, while the Chinese government has no love for Kim Jong-un and his ruling class, they do find the North Korean state a useful buffer against South Korea and the United States. Ultimately, a threat to the North Korean state is a threat to Chinese interests, and Washington could suddenly find itself at war with Beijing. When it comes to Pyongyang and its nukes, the United States is stuck between a rock and a hard place. The United States can't destroy the North's nuclear program without risking World War III, and allowing the continental United States to be threatened by North Korean ICBMs is not a great option either. Hopefully there will be tactful action behind President Trump's proclamations. You Might Also Like Northrop Grumman Corporation NOC has secured a contract for 10 engine overhauls in support of the KC-10 program from the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, OK. The contract is worth $45 million. Work will be executed in Vancouver, Canada and is expected to be completed by Dec 31, 2018. A Brief Note on KC-10 The KC-10 Extender is an aerial refueling tanker aircraft operated by the U.S. Air Force. It incorporates military-specific equipment for its primary roles of transport and aerial refueling. The KC-10 plays a key role in the mobilization of U.S. military assets, taking part in overseas operations. Northrop Grumman provides 24/7 global logistics support for the KC-10 including comprehensive supply chain management , engine management, overhaul and repair, aircraft depot maintenance and field teams, field service representatives and ground support equipment support and engineering support services. Price Movement Shares of Northrop Grumman have gained 20.9%, outperforming the Zacks categorized Aerospace-Defense industrys gain of 11.6% over the past 12 months. This could be because Northrop Grumman restructured its business to focus on space and airborne Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance, which helped the company to reap significant benefits. Moreover, the company continues to witness a steady flow of contracts from the Pentagon and other international customers. On an average, the company has delivered a positive earnings surprise of 8.29% in the trailing four quarters. Aerospace & Defense Industry Outlook The outlook for the industry has improved remarkably following the victory of Donald Trump in the U.S. Presidential election on hopes that the new administration will stick to its campaign promise of ramping up military spending. Increasing terrorist attacks across the globe have spurred nations to make heavy investments in strengthening their defense capabilities. In a way, the aerospace and defense industry is a direct beneficiary of a volatile and uncertain geopolitical global backdrop, characterized by terrorist threats, civil wars and border disputes. Moreover, other factors like rising demand for more fuel-efficient aircraft, the growing international market and increasing application of unmanned aircraft in warfare today are driving sales in this sector. Story continues The U.S., home to the worlds biggest weapons manufacturers, is potentially a big beneficiary of this environment with the big players like Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin Corporation LMT, General Dynamics Corporation GD and The Boeing Company BA well positioned to gain from the global security scenario at present. Zacks Rank Northrop Grumman carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here. Zacks' Top 10 Stocks for 2017 In addition to the stocks discussed above, would you like to know about our 10 finest buy-and-hold tickers for the entirety of 2017? Who wouldn't? As of early December, the 2016 Top 10 produced 5 double-digit winners including oil and natural gas giant Pioneer Natural Resources which racked up a stellar +50% gain. The new list is painstakingly hand-picked from 4,400 companies covered by the Zacks Rank. Be among the very first to see it>> 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 NORTHROP GRUMMN (NOC): Free Stock Analysis Report BOEING CO (BA): Free Stock Analysis Report GENL DYNAMICS (GD): Free Stock Analysis Report LOCKHEED MARTIN (LMT): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Oslo (AFP) - Norway made a record amount on its salmon sales last year, helping to partially offset a drop in oil revenues, the main engine of the country's economy, data showed Wednesday. Amid lower harvests and problems with sea lice, strong demand, notably from China, pushed up prices by 40 percent last year. And that meant that in the past year, Norway's farmed salmon and farmed trout sales totalled 65.3 billion kroner (7.5 billion euros, $7.8 billion), an increase of 31 percent over 2015, according to the Norwegian Seafood Council. Exports of all Norwegian seafood jumped by 23 percent to a record 91.6 billion kroner. Salmon accounts for two third of all Norwegian seafood exports globally, with France being the main consumer of Norwegian seafood products. Analysts expect prices to rise even further this year due to continued strong demand and the reopening of the Chinese market, which has become accessible again after a recent reconciliation between China and Norway. Relations between the two nations had been strained after Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo was awarded the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo. Arbil (Iraq) (AFP) - More than 125,000 Iraqis have been displaced since the start in October of an offensive to retake Mosul from jihadists, the United Nations said Wednesday. "Following the intensification of military operations in Mosul city on 29 December, the rate of displacement from Mosul has increased markedly, with over 9,000 people having fled the city in the space of four days," said the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. OCHA also said about 14,000 of the 125,568 people confirmed to have been displaced in 11 weeks have already returned to their homes in recaptured areas. After a lull in the offensive launched on October 17 to retake what is now the Islamic State group's last major stronghold in the country, Iraqi forces started a fresh push last week, engaging in heavy fighting in eastern Mosul. A senior commander from the elite Counter-Terrorism Service that has done most of the front-line fighting inside the city told AFP on Sunday that Iraqi forces now controlled more than 60 percent of Mosul's eastern half. AFP reporters saw streams of civilians fleeing the fighting on foot in recent days, carrying what belongings they could bring along in bags. More than 3.3 million people are currently displaced in Iraq, where a total of 10 million need humanitarian assistance, according to the UN. Officials say it could be months before Iraqi forces are able to completely retake Mosul, Iraq's second city, where hundreds of thousands of civilians still live. Some were forced to stay by IS, others remained for fear of losing their property, because winter conditions in displacement camps are harsh or simply because escape routes are not safe enough. SOFIA (Reuters) - A bird flu outbreak in Bulgaria has spread to at least 26 farms, the Agriculture Ministry said, nearly double the figure announced on Dec. 30. A nation-wide ban on hunting of game birds would take immediate effect and a mass cull of birds would be launched in a bid to contain the outbreak, the ministry said in a statement. "By Thursday, the veterinary authorities will cull more than 110,000 birds, mainly ducks," Food Safety Agency spokesman Martin Radev told Reuters. The southern region of Plovdiv was most affected by the highly pathogenic virus H5N8, Radev said. Bulgaria has already introduced a nationwide ban on poultry markets and has banned fishing in lakes and wetlands inhabited by wild migrating birds. Germany, France, Ireland, and Israel are among countries to have found cases of the strain in recent weeks. The Czech Republic announced its first outbreak in a decade on Wednesday. (Reporting by Tsvetelia Tsolova and Angel Krasimirov; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky) Gov. Andrew Cuomo unveiled a plan for free tuition at state colleges for low - and middle-income families in New York. The proposal, called the Excelsior Scholarship program, would provide free tuition to any two- or four-year state school beginning in fall 2017 for New York families who earn less than $100,000 annually. The governor's plan, which New York lawmakers still need to approve, would be phased in over a three-year time span and eventually include families who earn up to $125,000. The tuition-free proposal will most likely be negotiated during the state's 2017-2018 budget. "Society said, 'We're going to pay for high school, because you need high school.' This society should say, 'We're going to pay for college because you need college to be successful,'" Gov. Cuomo said at LaGuardia Community College in New York City on Tuesday. [Read how some colleges choose to slash or freeze tuition.] The program is expected to operate alongside the state's tuition assistance program, which already provides $1 billion in grants to college students statewide. In-state tuition and fees at state school Stony Brook University--SUNY, as an example, is $9,026 in for the 2016-2017 school year. Costs at community colleges in the state are nearly half that amount. CUNY Bronx Community College charged in-state students $4,544 annually in 2013-2014. If the plan is approved, more than 940,000 New York households with college-age children would qualify for the tuition-free scholarship, government officials say. "I urge New York legislators to pass this enormously important proposal, and become a model for the rest of the nation," said U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders in a press release. But other states already offer some form of tuition-free higher education. [Read four need-to-know facts about state aid for college.] Tennessee became the first state to offer tuition-free community college to graduating high school seniors in 2015. The program, known as the Tennessee Promise, picks up the cost for students who meet certain requirements, including maintaining a 2.0 GPA. Story continues Oregon passed comparable legislation in 2015 for tuition-free community college for recent high school graduates. Some states may also offer scholarships to fill tuition gaps. Kentucky is working on a program that will provide scholarships to meet any unmet tuition and fees after state and federal financial aid. Trying to fund your education? Get tips and more in the U.S. News Paying for College center. Farran Powell is an education reporter at U.S. News, covering paying for college and graduate school. You can follow her on Twitter or email her at fpowell@usnews.com. Brit Marling rewrote the rules for making it big in Hollywood. In The OA her hot new sci-fi mystery series on Netflix Marling stars as Prairie, an abduction survivor navigating the world after years trapped in a science experiment. The rich, complex role blossomed from about four years of work on the addictive (albeit bonkers) series with co-writer/co-creator Zal Batmanglij. And shes hopeful the show will pave the way for more empowered, fully developed female characters, which she believes are, on the whole, lacking in pop culture today. You sometimes think that were farther along than we actually are. When you read that less than 10 percent of directors are women, you realize it cant be surprising that, in most stories, women characters are constructed as an afterthought; theyre not fully realized, not the ones with agency, says Marling. It was that realization which she came to early on in her showbiz career that motivated Marling to get into screenwriting. An Illinois native, Marling went on to study economics at Georgetown University. By 2005, shed interned at and scored a job offer from investment banking titan Goldman Sachs when she had an epiphany leading to a quarter-life career change. I thought, Im setting myself up for a life that Im not really going to enjoy, Marling recalls. And upon graduation, she moved to Los Angeles to pursue acting. After striking out on the audition circuit, the soon-to-be starlet disappointed with the variety of roles available for women took control of her own narrative. I came close to playing parts where I felt, If I had a daughter, would I be proud of the representation of a woman shed be watching? Marling says. Because you want to begin getting work as an actress and think, This is what I have to do in order to Thats the point where I thought: The only way Im going to be able to navigate what feels right is if I figure out how to tell stories. Story continues She teamed up with her Georgetown pals Batmanglij and Mike Cahill on the indie projects Sound of My Voice and Another Earth and broke out at Sundance in 2011. And it was through that desire for complex female characters that The OA came to fruition, spawning roles like her Prairie (or The OA) and Betty Broderick-Allen, a high school algebra teacher played by beloved The Office star Phyllis Smith. Thats one of the most satisfying parts of the job for me now, getting to write a part like Phyllis Smiths part, Marling says. I think we overlooked the 50-year-old divorcee algebra I teacher. I think shes sort of invisible to us we cant see her fully, we dont give that kind of purchase in the storytelling. And I got to write a part, and Phyllis came and and embodied it so wholly and with so much depth and humor and intelligence. For more on Brit Marling, pick up this weeks issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands Friday As for her own character, Marling had a very clear focus on what she wanted Prairie to represent. Its cool to explore the idea of a woman who is a victim of trauma but has power in her recovery, she says. Shes not sitting in her victimhood, shes not passive; shes actively seeking recovery, actively doing something and sharing her story and healing herself through sharing her story. With The OA ringing in at about eight hours long, Netflix made the long-story format accessible and easily bingeable. But Marling says the streaming service also allowed for her fully developed characters both male and female to come alive in a way they couldnt in a feature film or typical TV series. There are a lot of people who have been stuck in the margins women, people of color and its exciting to see those voices find a platform, says Marling, who cites another Netflix original series, Aziz Ansaris Master of None, as another beacon of hope in storytelling via streaming services. Its exciting to see those people start to tell stories, she says, and adds, because I think that that really changes things. When you consume those stories, it changes your perspective; it connects you to people in a way that you maybe couldnt have before because they didnt have any representation. The OA season 1 is currently streaming on Netflix. WASHINGTON (AP) President Barack Obama called for a smooth handover of control of the U.S. military to incoming commander in chief Donald Trump, as the outgoing president met Wednesday with military leaders for the last time. "We've got to make sure that during this transition period that there is a seamless passing of the baton, that there's continuity," Obama said. He said it was critical to ensure that "we are doing everything we can to make sure that the next president will benefit from the same kinds of outstanding advice and service that these people around the table have provided me." Obama's comments as he sat down with the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the military's combatant commanders came amid concerns in military and diplomatic circles about how Trump may handle national security challenges. Over the last few days, Trump has disputed the U.S. intelligence community's assessments about Russian hacking, insisted without explanation that North Korea won't develop a nuclear weapon that could hit the U.S. and questioned the worth of the United Nations. Obama pointed to a handful of conflicts that Trump will inherit when he takes office on Jan. 20, including the fight against the Islamic State group in Syria and in the Iraqi city of Mosul, the biggest IS stronghold in Iraq and last major Iraqi city where the extremist group still has control. He also noted that the conflict in Afghanistan "is still active." In praising the military, Obama appeared to call attention to traditions that Democrats are most concerned that Trump may not uphold. Trump has nominated retired Marine Corps Gen. James Mattis for defense secretary despite the prohibition on recently departed military members running the civilian-led Pentagon, and at one point in the campaign, Trump called for reinstating waterboarding and other harsh interrogation techniques. Obama said he was optimistic about the country's future because the military upholds "the values of rule of law and professionalism and integrity, and recognizes our constitutional structure and maintains strict adherence and respect for civilian authority and democratic practices in determining how we use the awesome force of the American military." Story continues The president was also honored at a farewell ceremony at Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall, a short drive from the White House. Addressing a room of men and women from the various branches of the military, Obama praised their service and sacrifice. He said there is "no greater privilege and no greater honor" than serving as commander in chief. "As I reflect on the challenges we have faced together and on those to come, I believe that one of the greatest tasks before our armed forces is to retain the high confidence that the American people rightly place in you," Obama said. "We must never hesitate to act when necessary to defend our nation, but we must also never rush into war because sending you into harm's way should be a last and not first resort." Prior to his remarks, Defense Secretary Ash Carter presented Obama with the Medal of Distinguished Public Service as a token of appreciation for his service as commander in chief. ___ Associated Press writer Darlene Superville contributed to this report. WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama spoke by telephone on Tuesday with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan to offer his condolences for those killed and wounded in an attack on an Istanbul nightclub on Dec. 31 for which the Islamic State has claimed responsibility, the White House said in a statement. Obama also welcomed Turkey's efforts to facilitate a nationwide ceasefire in Syria and a return to political negotiations between the Syrian government and the opposition, the statement said. (Reporting by Eric Walsh; Editing by Sandra Maler) Washington (AFP) - US President Barack Obama called on congressional Democrats Wednesday to "fight" to preserve his signature health care reform, with its future in doubt as Donald Trump's incoming administration vowed a swift repeal of the controversial law. Obamacare, the fruit of an eight-year drive to extend medical coverage to tens of millions of Americans, will come under sustained assault when Trump takes office on January 20 with Republican majorities in both chambers of Congress. But the debate over US health care began in earnest Wednesday at the highest levels, with Obama and Vice President-elect Mike Pence making duelling visits to Capitol Hill to urge their legislative foot soldiers to gird for battle. "I envy you for the opportunity you are going to have to engage in this fight to protect health care for the American people," the outgoing president told Senate and House Democrats, according to Senator Ed Markey, who attended the 100-minute meeting. After a crushing election loss, Democrats may have limited options for stalling a repeal of Obamacare without significant Republican defections. They also face criticism that Obama's reforms have led to rising insurance premiums and a string of technical problems. But certain elements of Obamacare remain popular, notably the provisions barring companies from refusing coverage due to pre-existing conditions and allowing children to retain coverage on family plans through age 26. - Repeal and then what? - Republican opposition in general to Obamacare is clear -- "They broke the health care system," House Speaker Paul Ryan said of Obama's administration -- but his party's prescription to fix it is not. Ryan has proposed a tax credit system as a possible replacement, but the costs to government and individuals remain vague. The White House is betting that American voters will revolt if Trump moves to strip millions of their coverage with no viable alternative -- forcing the incoming president to confront the most radical reformers within his own party. Story continues While Pence addressed the issue gingerly in Congress, he stressed that Trump would make the process of repealing the Affordable Care Act one of the administration's top priorities. "The first order of business is to repeal and replace Obamacare," Pence told reporters in the US Capitol shortly after meeting with House Republicans. But Trump himself cautioned against over-hasty action. "Republicans must be careful in that the Dems own the failed ObamaCare disaster," the president-elect said on Twitter, warning Republicans to allow it to "fall of its own weight." While urging a full repeal of the law, Ryan also said Republicans should avoid putting millions of families in further financial jeopardy by gutting Obamacare without a viable alternative in place. "We've got to fix this by replacing it with something better. In that transition, we want to make sure we don't pull the rug out from anybody," he said. One Republican lawmaker, Chris Collins, said the party was looking at a six-month timeline for crafting an Obamacare alternative. Other Republicans said that was far too ambitious. Senator John McCain expressed confidence that fellow Republicans would be able to forge a replacement plan to go along with legislative repeal action. "We'll be doing both," McCain said. "We'll know what the replacement is." Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who has already launched the legislative process for repeal, welcomed Pence to lunch with all Senate Republicans after his House huddle. Pence, addressing reporters afterward, provided no details on the replacement plan being crafted by his party. But "the architecture of the replacement of Obamacare will come together, as it should, through the legislative process in the weeks and months ahead," he said. - 'A little queasy' - Republican legislators are eager to take charge after eight years spent fighting against Obama's policies. But some are wary that white working-class Americans, who helped send them to office, may bear the brunt of any reforms. Dismantling Obamacare could also have knock-on effects for funding health care for retirees, a group essential to the Republican Party's survival. In these two issues, Democrats see pressure points they hope to exploit in defense of Obama's plan. "It's not surprising to me that there are some Republicans who are now a little queasy about the prospect of the impact that repealing Obamacare would have on their own supporters," said White House spokesman Josh Earnest. "We know there are people all across the country who benefit from this law, who are protected by this law, whose lives have been saved by this law." Democratic leaders voiced support for a stiff defense of the Affordable Care Act in the face of Republican attacks. "Instead of working to further ensure affordable care for all Americans, they seek to rip health care away from millions of Americans, creating chaos in our entire economy," charged Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer. Obi-Wan Kenobi prepares to face Maul (Disney/Lucasfilm) While we Kenobi-philes wait for that Obi-Wan standalone movie or to see if the old Jedi still has a role to play in Episode VIII (perhaps in relation to a certain budding Force aficionado?) the folks at Lucasfilm have thrown us a bone. Our hero-in-hiding bookends the latest trailer for Star Wars Rebels, a fan-servicing clip jam-packed with familiar faces from the Star Wars films, including Rogue One. Clocking in at three minutes, 15 seconds, the trailer (watch it above) teases events for the second half of the shows current third season. It begins with a hologram warning from an Obi-Wan circa Revenge of the Sith seen by the shows young hero, wannabe Jedi Ezra Bridger. We then get glimpses of other key players in the nascent Galactic Civil War: Mon Mothma, Wilhuff Tarkin, and Saw Gerrera, with Forest Whitaker reprising his role from Rogue One. Mon Mothma addresses the Alliance (Disney/Lucasfilm) Tarkin appears via hologram (Disney/Lucasfilm) Saw Gerrera joins the Rebels team (Disney/Lucasfilm) The clip closes with an older Tatooine-dwelling Obi-Wan firing up his lightsaber at the approach of a shadowy figure who appears to be his old Phantom Menace nemesis, Darth Maul, still stewing over that bisection. Obi-Wan Kenobi (Disney/Lucasfilm) Maul readies for a rematch (Disney/Lucasfilm) Rebels, the Disney XD animated series, is set in roughly the same time frame as Rogue One, when disparate freedom fighters opposed to the growing tyranny of the Galactic Empire begin to form the Alliance. It has woven together characters and plot points from various pieces of the Star Wars galaxy, with callbacks to George Lucass original saga, the prequel films, and the old Expanded Universe of books and video games. The design of the main crew is taken from Ralph McQuarries unused early concept art from A New Hope. The second season closed with a memorable confrontation between Ahsoka Tano, the fan-favorite character from Star Wars: The Clone Wars, and her former master, Darth Vader. Such core Star Wars movie characters as Princess Leia, Bail Organa, Wedge Antilles, and Maul, have appeared on the show (a Season 2 episode featuring the Organas, A Princess on Lothal, was just nominated for a Writers Guild Award), and the current third season has seen the addition of Thrawn, a major villain from the EU. The new trailer also features both Rogue Ones Death Troopers and the Dark Troopers from the old Dark Forces video-game series. Story continues The Rebels team finally crossed over into the cinematic universe in Rogue One. During the early scenes set on Yavin 4, their ship, the Ghost, can be seen parked outside the hangar, while Cranky astromech droid Chopper briefly appears on screen and the intercom namechecks the ships pilot, Hera Syndulla (shes paged as General Syndulla). Chopper (far left) speeds by on Yavin 4 (Disney/Lucasfilm via StarWars.com) The Ghost is also part of the climactic battle over Scarif, and the Hammerhead Corvette, the vessel which knocks a Star Destroyer into the space gate protecting the planet, was first seen in Rebels. The Ghost prepares for the battle of Scarif in Rogue One (Disney/Lucasfilm via StarWars.com) Rebels returns on Saturday, Jan. 7, with the two-part episode Ghosts of Geonosis. Dont crack the bottles of bubbly just yet, energy execs. Environmental groups might want to park their pitchforks for the moment, too. The new Republican Congress and incoming Trump Administration might have some surprises up their sleeves for both sides. While the oil and natural gas industrys lobbyists are clearly banking on friendlier partners for smarter and forward-looking energy policies, in the words of American Petroleum Institute chief Jack Gerard Wednesday, the sector is unlikely to get a permanent blank check. Instead, the lets-make-a-deal era that Donald Trump promises to usher into Washington could end up asking companies to cover the costs of separate tax reform efforts in exchange for lighter regulation and more offshore drilling. Its merely the latest example that few things in the Age of Trump follows precedent, nothing is sacrosanct and special interest groups are mobilizing its allies to defend their interests. After all, Trump champions unpredictability as a negotiating tactic. We have an opportunity to change the national conversation when it comes to energy policy, Gerard said at his groups State of American Energy address. We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to find solutions for one of todays most pressing issues. At the same time, Gerard hinted that the broad tax overhaul being written in Congresswith hefty White House-in-waiting input to comecould treat the energy sector differently than other industries. That, he said, was unacceptable. Wed hope that any changes will make America more globally competitive (and) are even applied and mindful of the important role the oil and natural gas industry plays in job creation and economic growth, Gerard said. It was a sign that, despite Trumps embrace of energy executives in his inner circle, the oil and gas industry cannot expect to get a total pass from Washingtons new regime. If anything, the cozy relationship between Trump and the oil fields could make it prime for P.R.-minded retribution to show just how theyre not best pals. Story continues Big Oil is taking for nothing for granted and is boosting its own blitz of good stats to defends its profits and workers. At his annual event, Gerard reminded guests that almost 10 million American jobs are supported through the energy sector and roughly $70 million a day in federal taxes are paid every day. All together, the energy sector makes up about 8% of the countrys economy. Its size and reach give it tremendous power to shape U.S. public policy. Trump has promised to be an ally of the energy industry, vowing to make the United States energy independent and to tap on- and offshore energy reserves on federal lands. His promises during the campaign made voters feel good about their candidate, but achieving these goals may be far more difficult than Trump let onor realized. Billionaire fracker Harold Hamm has been a top Trump adviser and has been one of the strongest voices goading the President-elect to scrap policies that constrain oil and gas companies. Trump tapped Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson (who once chaired the American Petroleum Institute) as his Secretary of State, Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt to lead the Environmental Protection Agency that he has repeatedly sued to block regulations, and former Texas Gov. Rick Perry to lead an Energy Department he once vowed to dismantle. Its hardly the green team that Obama assembled with a Nobel Prize-winning scientist atop the list. When he met with reporters after his speech, Gerard faced questions about the friendly tone between his groups members and the Administration-in-Waiting. These are world-class Americans, if you will, of vast experiences, Gerard said. We should all take a deep breath and collaborate. That collaboration may not exactly be what some oil and gas executives are seeking. Trump has shown time and again he will cut a deal and is seldom beholden to a rigid ideological line. On Capitol Hill, members are privately telling reps of all industries that there will be compromises. Congressional aides are hearing in response the political equivalent of not in my backyard. One energy industry source tells TIME that his company worries that Republicans will give energy firms their wish list early on. Later, Congress would levy higher taxes on the boosted energy revenue to pay for proposed tax reforms that are likely an early bipartisan priority for the new Congress. The delay would give oil and gas producers a chance for prices to recover from their recent slump. The timing would give these companies a chance for profits to climb againand make an easier target for Congress to tweak taxes for them. Few industries are held in such low regard as oil and gas producersor spend as much money to shape public opinionand taxing them is a political solution that could cover that bill for lowering individuals and corporations tax rates. An adviser to House Republican Leadership told TIME no decision has been made and these expectations are premature. After all, the new Congress has been in session for only one full day, the adviser said. Across the Capitol, an aide to Senate Leadership said tax reform is a bipartisan priority and that conversations are in their earliest stages. Trumps team hasnt moved into the West Wing yet and will have a say when talks start in earnest later this month. Trump, who takes his office on Jan. 20, has been a cheerleader for these oil and gas companies and has been brutally critical of Obama. Gerard, too, closed out the Obama Administration by looking forward to a break from the recent past and regulations he called extraneous. Even so, new technologies that have emerged on Obamas watch have made drilling easier and more profitable. When Obama came to power, the United States was producing 5.3 million barrels of oil at home, while that number rose to 9.4 million barrels a day by 2015. The result is, in part, cheaper energy costs that save the average family more than $1,300 each year, according to a National Association of Manufacturers study. Its not as though Republicans and Trump have a monopoly over the energy negotiations, however. Among the power brokers in the audience for the lunch: the Republican Chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, Rep. Rob Bishop of Utah; the top Democrat on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Rep. Peter DeFazio of Oregon; and the top Democrat on the House Science, Space and Technology Committee, Rep. Bernice Johnson of Texas. Texas oil tycoon T. Boone Pickens, who was once on the fence about supporting President-elect Donald Trump, has now become one of his top advisors on energy policy. The FOX Business Network has learned that Pickens advised Trump throughout the campaign on how to handle the energy challenges that face the United States, and remains willing to give council to the President-elect and his nominee for Secretary of Energy, former Governor Rick Perry (R-TX). Jay Rosser, spokesman for Boone Pickens, admitted that Pickens was in touch with Trump numerous times, and confirmed that he is open to assisting the incoming president in the future. Boone has had several discussions with President-elect Trump throughout the campaign, and has clearly outlined his thoughts on the energy challenges and opportunities to help Make America Great Again on the backs of our abundant American energy resources, Rosser said. Boone also had a great relationship with Rick Perry, the incoming secretary of the Department of Energy. If asked, I know Boone will continue to share his thoughts on this important subject." Though its unclear the last time Pickens spoke with Trump, he did publish a LinkedIn article in December, outlining what the Trump administration needs to do in order to turn Trumps goal of energy self-sufficiency into a reality. He breaks down his proposed energy plan into two parts, Dont screw up what we have going for us and Dont settle for what weve done so far. If the Trump administration is taking Pickens suggestions to heart, the new administration could enact a combination of conservative and moderate energy policies as recommended by the outline. On one hand, Pickens emphasizes the importance of fracking and moving ahead with the completion of the Keystone XL pipeline, which was stalled under President Obama. On the other hand, hes also advising Trump not to go too far to the right, cautioning the new administration not to abandon the country's investment in renewable energy sources. Story continues Although Pickens noted electric cars won't replace gas guzzlers overnight, he said renewable energy sources have a lot of potential, and we need a power grid capable of connecting those vehicles and everything else to the next generation of electricity generation. A grid designed to protect America against cyber or physical attacks and to promote efficiencies in home, commercial and industrial usage. The decision by Pickens to offer his counsel to Trump is an interesting twist to their sometimes tense relationship. As first reported by FOX Business, Pickens cancelled a June fundraising event after he became uncomfortable with Trumps fundraising apparatus, including the super PACs the President-elect was once connected to. Now that Trump has nominated long-time Pickens ally, Rick Perry, to lead the Department of Energy, the oil tycoon has every reason to continue supporting the new administration. The former Governor of Texas was a surprising choice to some. During an oops moment in a 2011 presidential debate, Perry infamously forgot the name of the Department of Energy, as he was trying to list it as one of the three departments of government he would eliminate if elected President. Nevertheless Pickens stood by him and said in a statement Rick Perry is a friend. He was a great Texas governor, and I believe he will be a great Secretary of Energy. The Trump transition team didnt return calls for comment prior to publication. Related Articles Omarosa Manigault has been hired. The memorable contestant from the first season of Donald Trump's The Apprentice is joining Trump's White House staff as director of communications for the Office of Public Liaison, the president-elect announced Wednesday. The announcement came in a statement from the president-elect's transition team, which included a wave of White House hires, 11 in total. "These individuals will be key leaders in helping to implement the President-elect's agenda and bring real change to Washington," said incoming White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus in the statement. "Each of them has been instrumental over the last several months, and in some cases years, in helping the President-elect." Read more: Omarosa Reveals What Went Down Inside the Freight Elevator That Brought Trump to His Victory Party (Exclusive) The Associated Press first reported that Manigault, who prefers to be called only by her first name, would be joining Trump's White House staff in a position that would focus on public engagement on Tuesday. Manigault was one of Trump's most prominent African-American supporters during the campaign and has been working on his transition team. She previously held a White House role when she worked in the office of Vice President Al Gore during the Clinton administration. The additional names announced Wednesday are listed below: Marc Short, Assistant to the President and Director of Legislative Affairs John DeStefano, Assistant to the President and Director of Presidential Personnel Josh Pitcock, Assistant to President and Chief of Staff to the Vice President Keith Schiller, Deputy Assistant to the President and Director of Oval Office Operations George Gigicos, Deputy Assistant to the President and Director of Advance Jessica Ditto, Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy Communications Director Raj Shah, Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy Communications Director and Research Director Story continues Bill Stepien, Deputy Assistant to the President and Political Director Jen Pavlik, Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy Chief of Staff to the Vice President John McEntee, Special Assistant to the President and Personal Aide to the President Read more: Trump Uses Julian Assange to Cast Doubt on Russian Hacking Intel: "Why Was DNC So Careless?" By Lisa Lambert WASHINGTON, Jan 4 (Reuters) - The U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation on Wednesday giving Congress the power to kill dozens of recently enacted rules in one fell swoop, as Republicans charged ahead on their campaign to strip down federal regulations. It was the second time the Republican-dominated chamber took up legislation blocking "midnight rules," those rolled out at the close of a president's term. But the previous bill, introduced in November, had faced a certain veto from President Barack Obama, a Democrat. On its second day back in session, the House passed the bill on a vote of 238 to 184. The Senate is expected to soon consider companion legislation, which could face a harder time because it would need eight votes from Democrats. Under a law known as the Congressional Review Act, Congress has the right to review regulations for a certain period of time after they are issued. That means any federal regulation approved since May could be voided by the Republican-led Congress once President-elect Donald Trump moves into the White House and can sign off on their disapproval. It takes only a simple majority of both chambers to reverse a rule, giving Senate Democrats little power to block a vote with a filibuster. As disapproving each regulation separately could span days, Republicans would like to simply vote once to end a variety of new rules on energy, the environment, transportation, banking, finance, education and media ownership. Many Wall Street regulations inspired by the 2007-09 financial crisis have only recently taken final form or are on the cusp of completion, putting them in the disapproval line of fire. That includes two pending rules on payday lending and mandatory arbitration clauses in contracts - both of which have raised Republican ire. "Because outgoing administrations are no longer accountable to the voters, they are much more prone to issue midnight regulations that fly in the face of the electoral mandate the voters just gave the new, incoming administration," said House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte before the vote. "Waves of midnight rules can also be very hard for Congress or a new administration to check adequately." Cutting down regulation was a near-constant theme in Republican political campaigns last year, and is part of House Speaker Paul Ryan's "Better Way" agenda. The House is also expected to consider soon legislation that would require a congressional vote of approval for any new regulation. (Additional reporting by Richard Cowan; Editing by Linda Stern and Alistair Bell) (Reuters) - U.S.-based online publishing platform Medium said it would slash its workforce by a third, or eliminate 50 jobs, close two offices as the company changes its ad-driven business model. The job cuts were mostly in sales and support, while the vast majority of the product development and engineering teams would remain, the company said on Wednesday. The company's ad-driven publishing model was "becoming an extension of a broken system", Chief Executive Evan Williams wrote in a post. (http://bit.ly/2hRxRZ3) Williams did not describe the "new model" the company would create, but said it would reward writers and creators, based on the value they were creating, not just their ability to attract "a few seconds of attention". Medium allows users, including companies and media outlets, to post blogs that readers can annotate. The company said it was shutting down offices in New York and Washington, D.C., though some employees would continue to work remotely from these locations. (Reporting by Vishaka George in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila) A student who was almost bullied out of Brazils Aeronautic Technology Institute of the Air Force made a bold statement at his graduation. (Photo: Getty Images) Talles de Oliveira Faria made a bold, empowered statement at his graduation ceremony from Brazils Aeronautic Technology Institute of the Air Force recently, according to LGBTQ Nation. The 24-year-old had endured years of bullying from both students and faculty during his tenure at the prestigious institute, and hed simply had enough. So on the day of his graduation, Faria decided to strut across the stage and shed his ceremonial gown to reveal a bright-red cocktail dress that showed off his toned legs and a pair of white Mary Jane shoes with a platform heel. His best accessory, though, was the warm, proud smile spread across his face and he graciously accepted his diploma and it was all caught on video. Faria had been courageous all along ever since he realized that the school he thought was going to be his dream actually turned out to be something of a nightmare, from a social perspective anyway. Since I was 12 years old, I listened to wonderful things about the Institute, he told the publication. I heard that it was the best university in the country and that it could open you several opportunities in the future I did not know that it was going to be the worst deception of my life. That deception included cruel comments from lecturers at the supposedly hyper-masculine institute, one of whom made this hateful statement to him, he told LGBTQ Nation: There are no sad electrons, there are no electrons with psychological problems, there are no gay electrons. And he claims a student once made the tragic remark, If I were you Id kill myself. But Faria kept his head held high and was able to maintain clarity about the situation and a firm sense of self. He told LGBTQ Nation, Since childhood they teach us that being lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transsexual is a shame and then we take a lot of time to heal those injuries. They insulted me, they laughed at me and tried to make me invisible. Farias graduation ceremony was his glorious moment of redemption. According to Brazilian website Estadao, his goal in arriving in a dress and heels was to oppose homophobia and psychological violence at the institution. Several students want to leave because they cannot stand the psychological pressure, he told the publication. And the emboldened graduate took to Facebook to write, Accept me as I am or be exposed for what you are. They did not accept me, they violated me, they laughed at me, they tried to make me invisible, that the exhibition change them because I will continue to love myself and become very present in the world. Story continues And because the Aeronautic Technology Institute of the Air Force is part of the armed forces, Faria included in his Facebook post a defense of LGBTQ peoples rights to be included fairly and without harassment or marginalization. A rough translation of what he posted to Facebook reads, I felt like homophobia happens in the armed forces by means of invisibility, and the laughing stock of the expulsion of those who dare to be open about his sexual orientation. According to the Center for American Progress, as recently as 2010, gay, lesbian, and bisexual Americans in the armed forces were forced to keep their sexuality a secret or risk being discharged a risk that would become a certainty if attempting to marry a person of the same sex, though progress has been made in our country, such as the 2010 repeal of the militarys Dont Ask Dont Tell policy. Sexual orientation is no longer grounds for dismissal from the U.S. military. Meanwhile, Brazil is enduring a period of increased LGBTQ violence, and not just in the military, according to the New York Times. In fact, an LGBTQ person is murdered every 28 hours in Brazil, says the Huffington Post. And that makes Farias act of defiance all the more important, as he stands up not only for himself but also for an entire nation of openly gay citizens who face a long road toward acceptance. Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day. RICHMOND, Va. (AP) A Virginia lawmaker has introduced legislation similar to North Carolina's transgender bathroom law, which has consumed that state for months and scared off businesses and sporting events. Republican Del. Bob Marshall introduced the legislation Tuesday, sparking a strong pushback from civil rights groups who say the bill is discriminatory. The bill would generally prohibit individuals from using a bathroom of the opposite sex in government-owned buildings. It would also require public school principals to notify parents with 24 hours if a child requests to be recognized as a member of the opposite sex. The legislation has little chance of success. A similar bill filed last year died in committee and Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffe has vowed to veto such types of legislation. Photo credit: Larry Busacca / Getty Images From Cosmopolitan Photo credit: Larry Busacca / Getty Images Samira Wiley, who played Poussey in Orange Is the New Black, and her fiancee Lauren Morelli, who writes for the show, opened up about how they got engaged to Out magazine and, really, it's proposal goals. The couple originally met in December 2012 while working on the show: "Id already seen Samiras audition tape and immediately had a crush on her - the complication being that I was married to a man at the time," Lauren recalls. Lauren eventually split with her husband and began dating Samira in 2014. Lauren knew Samira wanted to marry her, but that Samira wanted to wait until Lauren felt completely ready: "Lauren has been married before, so I wanted her to tell me she was ready, her to be the one to propose," Samira explains. "I didnt know she was as ready as she was." In October 2015, Lauren was ready. "I knew we were gonna be apart for a while - I was in New York shooting for Orange, and she was in Toronto for her new job on The Handmaids Tale - so wed planned this trip to Palm Springs as a light at the end of the tunnel," Lauren says. "I realized I could propose right before and then wed have the weekend there to celebrate." Samira says they were sitting on the couch together when Lauren "got me up, and we started dancing together, and she pulled a ring from behind the couch I was completely shocked." Lauren had worried Samira knew what was coming, but she was so stunned when Lauren popped the question that Samira couldn't stop crying and even started to hyperventilate. Samira adds the the couple didn't make the news public for a few days: "That was really important to us - to have some time where it was just ours." In an age of elaborate, viral proposals created for public consumption, Lauren's private, surprise proposal seems all the sweeter. Follow Hayley on Twitter. You Might Also Like Kiev (AFP) - The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, which has been monitoring the pro-Russian insurgency in eastern Ukraine, said Wednesday it was displeased with the "status quo" in the 32-month conflict. The OSCE's new chairman, Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz, said the organisation was "not satisfied with the status quo we have now" during a visit to the government-held city of Mariupol outside rebel-controlled regions. "We want to make efforts to see change for the better," Kurz told reporters. During his two-day visit to Ukraine's war-torn east, Kurz stressed the importance of implementing the so-called Minsk agreements designed to bring an end to a conflict that has claimed 10,000 lives since 2014. "Although there are many concerns surrounding the state of these agreements, I must say that the situation at the time of their signing was worse than it is now," he said. "And it could be even worse." Kurz added that expectations regarding the possible deployment of an armed OSCE police force in rebel-held areas needed to be "realistic." Kiev has pressing for an international armed police presence in the region so that it can be brought under control and seal Ukraine's porous eastern border with Russia -- allegedly used by rebels to smuggle in weapons and supplies. But the idea of arming the OSCE mission has been met with resistance by the pro-Russian "people's republics" in the industrial regions of most Lugansk and Donetsk. Kiev and the West have accused Russia of supporting the rebels and deploying troops across the border, claims Moscow has repeatedly denied. A 5-year-old Pennsylvania boy has died from bacterial meningitis. The Harrisburg boy died on Dec. 28 and the Dauphin County Coroner's Office determined this week that the death was from meningitis, Coroner Graham Hetrick told PennLive.com. He told the news outlet that the boy died from a strain that is considered less contagious and can be treated with antibiotics. Authorities didn't release the boy's name, or say whether he attended school or daycare. Meningitis symptoms include headaches, neck stiffness, fever, nausea and vomiting; the disease can often be misdiagnosed as the flu. Most Popular on Philly.com Panama City (AFP) - Panama said it will hold talks with France in the coming days, after Paris confirmed the Central American country was back on its blacklist of tax havens because of the Panama Papers leak. The discussions were to highlight progress Panama has made in boosting transparency and cooperation in tax matters, Panama's foreign ministry said in a statement. France's economy ministry confirmed that it was following through with an April decree putting Panama back on its blacklist following the Panama Papers revelations. The country had previously been removed from the list in 2012. The disclosures, which came from a massive data leak from a Panamanian law firm, showed how many of the world's wealthy stashed assets in offshore companies shielded from tax scrutiny. Panama's president, Juan Carlos Varela, in November warned France of reprisals if his country was maintained on the blacklist. He had vowed to announce the "diplomatic measures" in his New Year's speech on Monday, but failed to follow through with his promise. Panama insists that a series of bilateral tax agreements it has struck and an inquiry by international experts into its financial services sector show how serious it was in cleaning up its past image as a hotspot for shady financial dealings. But French officials are not convinced. They demand standards that include automatic, multilateral sharing of tax information and more details in offshore company registers that name which individuals are their true beneficiaries. VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / January 4, 2017 / ParcelPal Technology Inc. ("ParcelPal" or the "Company"), (PKG:CSE) (PT0.F) (OTC PINK: PTNYF) - is pleased to announce that it's shares have commenced trading on the OTC Venture Marketplace in the United States. ParcelPal Technology will be trading under the symbol "PTNYF". The Company currently trades on the CSE (Canadian Securities Exchange) under the symbol "PKG", and the Company also trades on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange under the symbol "PT0". President Kelly Abbott states, "The directors of ParcelPal believe that the multiple stock exchange listings, marks a further step in ParcelPal's commitment to its shareholders to enhance the liquidity of the Company's common shares and is another initiative planned to further increase market awareness for the Company." About ParcelPal Technology Inc. ParcelPal is an iPhone, Android and desktop computer service enabling businesses and individuals to quickly and affordably have items delivered locally though crowd-sourced couriers. The Company offers same-day delivery of merchandise for leading retailers in Vancouver and soon in major cities Canada-wide. ParcelPal: www.parcelpal.com The Canadian Securities Exchange ("CSE") or any other securities regulatory authority has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release that has been prepared by management. CSE - Symbol: PKG FSE - Symbol: PT0 OTC PINK - Symbol: PTNYF Shares issued and outstanding: 28,188,558 Contact: Kelly Abbott President, ParcelPal Technology, Inc. 604-401-8700 Forward Looking Information This news release contains forward looking statements relating to the Proposed Transaction, and the future potential of ParcelPal. Forward looking statements are often identified by terms such as "will", "may", "should", "intends", "anticipates", "expects", "plans" and similar expressions. All statements other than statements of historical fact, included in this release are forward looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. These risks and uncertainties include, without limitation, the risk that the Proposed Transaction will not be completed due to, among other things, failure to execute definitive documentation, failure to complete satisfactory due diligence, failure to receive the approval of the CSE and the risk that ParcelPal will not be successful due to, among other things, general risks relating to the mobile application industry, failure of ParcelPal to gain market acceptance and potential challenges to the intellectual property utilized in ParcelPal. There can be no assurance that any forward looking statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Story continues The Company cannot guarantee that any forward looking statement will materialize and the reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward looking information. Such information, although considered reasonable by management at the time of preparation, may prove to be incorrect and actual results may differ materially from those anticipated. Forward looking statements contained in this news release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. The forward looking statements contained in this news release are made as of the date of this news release and the Company will only update or revise publicly any of the included forward looking statements as expressly required by Canadian securities laws. SOURCE: ParcelPal Technology Inc. The good news keeps coming for the Jackson family. On Tuesday, Paris Jackson Instagrammed a picture of her mother, Debbie Rowe, holding up a sign reading, "Chemo done!" Debbie, 58, revealed she was diagnosed with breast cancer in July. "My badass mom, kickin butt n takin names," Paris wrote. "Ain't she f**kin fabulous????" WATCH: EXCLUSIVE -- Debbie Rowe Says Daughter Paris Jackson Gives Her 'a Reason to Get Up' Each Morning Amid Cancer Battle my badass mom, kickin butt n takin names. ain't she fuckin fabulous???? A photo posted by Paris-Michael K. Jackson (@parisjackson) on Jan 3, 2017 at 2:35pm PST Debbie started undergoing chemotherapy in August. At the time, she told ET that she was undergoing six treatments of chemo once every three weeks, followed by radiation every day for five weeks. Debbie said that her 18-year-old daughter, Paris, had been a tremendous support throughout her cancer battle. "She's my rock, she's amazing," Debbie -- who also mothered a son, 19-year-old Prince, with the late Michael Jackson -- told ET when we spoke with her again in October. "She's been with me the whole time. She was there. First phone call, [it] took her 30 seconds [to reach out] when she found out." "For her to kiss my bald head," she added, "[her love] is pretty unconditional." WATCH: EXCLUSIVE -- Criss Angel Opens Up About Going Inside Paris Jackson's Mind -- I Experienced 'Darkness' And the Jackson family has plenty to celebrate these days. Janet Jackson, 50, welcomed her first child with husband Wissam Al Mana on Tuesday. The couple decided to name their baby boy Eissa. Watch below! Related Articles Passengers, Sonys romantic space epic, has finally locked down its release slot in mainland China. It will hit Chinese theaters on Friday, Jan. 13. That date puts it just one week after the mainland China release of Rogue One. Securing a China release is no surprise as it is one of several Sony titles that were part of an investment and marketing deal between the studio and Chinas Wanda that was announced in September. And Passengers stars, Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt were in China on Dec. 17 as part of the films global promotional tour. But at that time a release date for China was not announced. The film has failed to live up to expectations in North America, where it was released pre-Christmas. To Jan. 1 it had grossed $121 million worldwide, with $61.5 million of that in North America and a further $60 million in international territories. It released in Hong Kong on Dec. 22. where it grossed $918,000 (HK$712 million) in its first weekend, ranking second behind Rogue One. Related stories CCTV International Channels Relaunched as CGTN Box Office: 'Rogue One' Rules Over New Year's Weekend, 'Sing' Still Strong China Box Office Crawls to 3% Gain in 2016 Paul Ryan House Speaker Paul Ryan on Wednesday called WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange a "sycophant for Russia," just as President-elect Donald Trump was on Twitter promoting Assange's interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity. During an interview with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt, Ryan said he would not "comment on every little tweet or Facebook post" from Trump. But he said he was hopeful the president-elect would "get up to speed on what's been happening" regarding Russian hacking of political operatives and organizations when he receives an intelligence briefing on the subject later this week. Asked by Hewitt whether he had any thoughts on Assange, Ryan said he had "none, other than I think the guy is a sycophant for Russia." "He leaks, he steals data and compromises national security," Ryan said, later adding, after Hewitt pointed out that Assange was facing accusations of rape in Sweden, that he thought the WikiLeaks founder was "under house arrest." Assange has been at the Ecuadorian embassy in London for more than four years after being granted asylum. Related: For more news videos visit Yahoo View, available now on iOS and Android. Recent public revelations showed that US intelligence tied the election-related hacking of Democratic political organizations and operatives, such as Hillary Clinton campaign chair John Podesta, to senior Russian officials. The CIA has concluded that Russia intervened in the US election to try to tip the scales toward Trump, though other agencies haven't gone as far in their assessments. Both Republicans and Democrats have called for action against Russia after the hacking. Republican Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and John McCain of Arizona have been two of the loudest voices on that front. After the Obama administration announced new sanctions on Russia last week, Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell released statements that both criticized Russia and said President Barack Obama had not been hard enough on the Russian government in previous years. Story continues Russia has repeatedly denied involvement in the election-related hacks, and Trump has refused to acknowledge that Russia had involvement in them. Last week, he said it was time for the US to move on to "bigger and better" things but he would "nevertheless" meet with intelligence officials to discuss the hacking. This past weekend he said he knew things about the hacking that no one else did and would reveal it Tuesday or Wednesday. He has yet to provide any further information. On Tuesday, Trump tweeted: "The 'Intelligence' briefing on so-called 'Russian hacking' was delayed until Friday, perhaps more time needed to build a case. Very strange!" Intelligence officials pushed back on his tweet, saying the briefing was always supposed to be held Friday. Then, in a Wednesday tweet, Trump repeated Assange's claim from his Hannity interview that Russians did not provide WikiLeaks with the hacked information. "Julian Assange said 'a 14 year old could have hacked Podesta' why was DNC so careless? Also said Russians did not give him the info!" he posted, followed by a quoted tweet in which Assange had called the media's election coverage "very dishonest." "More dishonest than anyone knows," Trump added. NOW WATCH: Fashion designer Nicole Miller reveals what Donald Trump is really like More From Business Insider WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Vice President-elect Mike Pence said on Wednesday the Republican plan to replace the Affordable Care Act will evolve in the months ahead, seeking to deflect criticism by Democrats over dismantling the health care program without an alternate plan. "The architecture of the replacement of Obamacare will come together, as it should, through the legislative process in the weeks and months ahead," Pence said at a brief news conference after meetings with Republican lawmakers on Capitol Hill. (Reporting by Doina Chiacu; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe) (Adds Trump tweets, Pence meeting lawmakers, AMA letter) By Susan Cornwell and Richard Cowan WASHINGTON, Jan 4 (Reuters) - Vice President-elect Mike Pence on Wednesday met with Republican congressional leaders to plot strategy on repealing President Barack Obama's signature healthcare law, a move that could leave tens of millions of Americans without medical insurance. Obama on Wednesday morning was meeting with Democratic legislators, including U.S. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, to discuss how they can protect the 2010 Affordable Care Act, which is known as Obamacare. Republican U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, who takes office on Jan. 20, and his party's congressional leaders have made repealing and replacing the law among their top priorities. But doing so risks causing chaos in the health insurance market, as well as political backlash against Republicans. In a series of posts on Twitter, Trump urged fellow Republicans to assign blame to Obama's Democrats. The law has enabled upward of 20 million Americans who previously had no medical insurance to get coverage and is considered Obama's top legislative achievement. Republicans, who will control both Congress and the White House in 2017, condemn it as a government overreach. "Republicans must be careful in that the Dems own the failed ObamaCare disaster, with its poor coverage and massive premium increases," Trump tweeted. "Don't let the Schumer clowns out of this web," he added. Obama walked into a Democratic caucus meeting on Capitol Hill accompanied by House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi. He ignored a shouted question from a reporter about how to stop repeal of the healthcare law. Schumer and Pelosi were to hold a news conference after the session. Republican Representative Mark Amodei of Nevada said Pence had told Republican lawmakers that "we are mindful of disrupting the markets." Pence and House Republican leaders also were due to address reporters. Trump has vowed to protect some popular parts of the Obamacare law, such as barring insurance companies from denying coverage to people with pre-existing medical conditions. But he wants to replace it with a system that is "much better and much less expensive," as he told Reuters on Oct. 25 after premium increases emerged in some healthcare markets. Story continues Republican Representative Chris Collins, a liaison between the Trump transition team and Congress, said he did not expect Pence to have definite answers to detailed healthcare policy questions such as what timeframe should be considered for repealing the law. The transition team, Collins said, is "not into that kind of meat and potatoes." A House Republican leadership aide said there are lots of Republican "ideas" but it was too early to know what will end up in replacement legislation. The American Medical Association doctors' group urged caution in making changes to Obamacare, which the organization supported. "In considering opportunities to make coverage more affordable and accessible to all Americans, it is essential that gains in the number of Americans with health insurance coverage be maintained," the AMA said in a letter to congressional leaders. The AMA said before any action is taken on Obamacare policymakers should lay out for the American people "in reasonable detail what will replace current policies." "Patients and other stakeholders should be able to clearly compare current policy to new proposals so they can make informed decisions about whether it represents a step forward in the ongoing process of health reform," the group said. (Additional reporting by Mike Stone; Writing by Will Dunham and Steve Holland; Editing by Leslie Adler and Bill Trott) Vice President-elect Mike Pence says that the first priority of President-elect Donald Trump is to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare. But Democrats say the incoming administration has nothing to replace it with, and that repealing the law will only lead to chaos. Obamacare has failed, Pence said after a meeting with House Republicans on Wednesday. Now is the time to keep our promises. Step one will be to repeal Obamacare. Pence said Trump will sign executive orders related to repealing President Obamas signature health care law on his first day in office Jan. 20. Today, our message is very simple, Pence said. Were going to be in the promise-keeping business. Were going to keep our promise to the American people were going to repeal Obamacare and replace it with solutions that lower the cost of health insurance without growing the size of government. Vice President-elect Mike Pence shares a laugh with House GOP leaders Paul Ryan, Kevin McCarthy and Steve Scalise during a news conference at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) The Indiana governor, who was a congressman in 2010 when the Affordable Care Act was signed into law, said Obamas promises about the health care legislation turned out to be false. We were told that if you like your doctor, you can keep it, Pence said. Not true. Pences comments came as Obama was also on Capitol Hill meeting with Democrats to discuss how to block GOP efforts to repeal Obamacare. Last month, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell similarly said repealing Obamacare was the first item on the GOP agenda. Related: Trump trashes Obamacare as Democrats plan its defense After meeting with Obama, freshly minted Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said that Democrats have a great deal of optimism that the good things that have happened in ACA are gonna stay and that Republicans dont quite know what to do with their newfound power. Theyre like the dog that caught the bus, Schumer said. They can repeal, but they have nothing to put in its place. The first big fight of this new Congress will be over health care, he continued. Republicans are plotting and soon will be executing a full-scale assault on the three pillars that support the American health care system: the Affordable Care Act, Medicare and Medicaid. The Republican plan to cut health care wouldnt make America great again; it would make America sick again and lead to chaos. Story continues The GOP's first move this Congress will be a full-scale assault on the three pillars of our health care system: Medicare, Medicaid & the ACA pic.twitter.com/WzaoLMN2jw Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) January 4, 2017 Trump has indicated that there are parts of the Affordable Care Act he intends to keep, and that repealing and replacing the law will be done simultaneously. But any replace effort is likely to be complicated because the most controversial portions of Obamacare, including the requirement to buy insurance or pay a fine, help pay for the parts of the law that are supported by many Republicans, such as the requirement that insurance companies accept people with preexisting conditions. Earlier Wednesday, Trump fired off a series of tweets saying that Republicans must make sure that expected increases in Obamacare premiums are blamed on the Democrats. He also referred to Schumer as a clown. In response, Schumer said Republicans should stop clowning around with health care. Tiny dancer! Peta Murgatroyd and fiance Maksim Chmerkovskiy of Dancing with the Stars fame welcomed their first child, a son, on Wednesday, Jan. 4, the new dad announced on Twitter. Shai Aleksander Chmerkovskiy was born at 5:34 a.m. in New York City. Before the birth, Chmerkovskiy, 36, took to Instagram to share some details about one of his beloveds pre-parenthood activities, writing, But first a little make up, next to a photo of Murgatroyd applying mascara from her hospital bed. An hour earlier, the new dad posted a video of what seemed to be the couple driving to the hospital, zipping down Park Avenue. Shai Aleksander Chmerkovskiy 01/04/17 5:34am Maksim Chmerkovskiy (@MaksimC) January 4, 2017 A video posted by @maksimc on Jan 2, 2017 at 5:24am PST But first...a little make up A photo posted by @maksimc on Jan 2, 2017 at 7:10am PST The engaged couple (Chmerkovskiy proposed where else? on a dance floor in December 2015) announced Murgatroyd, 30, had a bun in the oven in June, revealing they were expecting a son less than two months later. Since they found out they were going to be parents, the couple has been sharing moments from Murgatroyds pregnancy. class wentinteresting, Chmerkovskiy captioned an Instagram video recorded after the parents-to-be took the course. @petamurgatroyd was the worst student in class, but I dont blame her cause it was a million hours long and weve been shown waaaaaaaay too much stuff! Bump watch!! #babychmerkovskiy will be here in no time! the then-mama-to-be captioned a November mirror selfie showing her bare baby belly outfitted alongside a lacy black bra, while the pro dancer accessorized with a chic bun and full makeup. The twosome also celebrated with a sweet baby shower in December, which took place in Brooklyn, New York, and featured lots of blue hues and chocolate on chocolate cake, according to Murgatroyd. Story continues I want a baby shower EVERY weekendHuge thank you to @goodiebox_bakeshop for making my guests the most delicious (my favorite) chocolate on chocolate cake and other delectable goodies #babychmerkovskiy A photo posted by Peta Murgatroyd (@petamurgatroyd) on Dec 18, 2016 at 6:38pm PST The new mom isnt the only one taking leave to care for her newborn son. In October, her fiance whom she plans to wed sometime this year told PEOPLE he was looking forward to taking paternity leave to spend time with his growing family. I come from a dirt broke family. I just started to be able to afford things in 2005 when started, he said. For me to be able to take time off in this way what we have to enjoy and be proud of, thats anybodys dream. Added Chmerkovskiy, who will not be returning for the shows 24th season, Im doing exactly what I set out to do. Thats why I worked my butt off. philippines president rodrigo duterte Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte may need to organize an intervention with his family, since some of his cousins are Islamic militants hellbent on toppling his government. Duterte claimed in an interview last week that some in his own family had joined militant groups that had been fighting in the Philippines for decades, including the so-called Islamic State, which has partnered with local insurgencies who wish to become affiliates. "To be frank, I have cousins on the other side, with MI and MN," Duterte told the Philippines news site Rappler, using shortened acronyms for the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, also known as MILF, and the Moro National Liberation Front. "Some, I heard, are with ISIS." Though Duterte is known for his bloody war against drug dealers, the insurgency in the southern Philippines has been growing in recent years, and ISIS has made significant progress in the region. Both the militant groups Abu Sayyaf and Maute have reportedly pledged allegiance to the terror group. A bomb blast at a night market in Davao City killed at least 14 people and injured more than 60 in September, and on Christmas Eve, 13 people were injured in a bombing outside a church in Midsayap, Rappler reported. Just this morning, Reuters reported that insurgents attacked a prison in the south and freed more than 150 inmates. Initial information pointed to the MILF group's involvement. When asked what he would say to his cousins who may have joined ISIS if he were in the same room, Duterte told Rappler: "Let's be understanding to each other. You are you and I am I, and I said, if we meet in one corner, so be it." NOW WATCH: The Air Force's legendary C-5 plane is so enormous it can transport a submarine More From Business Insider Welcome to Episode #64 of the Zacks Market Edge Podcast. Every week, host and Zacks stock strategist, Tracey Ryniec, will be joined by guests to discuss the hottest investing topics in stocks, bonds and ETFs and how it impacts your life. In this episode, Tracey is joined by Zacks Director of Research, Sheraz Mian. He is also the mastermind behind Zacks Top 10 Stocks to Buy in 2017. This is a buy and hold portfolio of 10 stocks that are purchased in the first week of the new year and held until the end of the year. Sheraz has picked this portfolio for several years so every December he has to narrow down the Zacks universe of covered stocks, which is about 4400 different stocks, into the 10 he feels will perform the best in the following year. Its not easy. How Sheraz Picks Stocks for the Portfolio He starts with developing his macro view of the economy and what he thinks might happen in the United States and the global economy in a host of areas including with the Federal Reserve, with healthcare policy, with possible trade disputes under the Trump Administration, as well as with the French and German elections still to come later in the year. Once you have developed your strategy for the year, then, he says, the stock picks become clearer. Sheraz picks from Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), #2 (Buy) and #3 (Hold) stocks. He also uses the Zacks Industry and Sector ranks to narrow things further. Zacks.com has a bunch of information you can use to find good quality names, including the analyst estimate data. The portfolio for 2017 just launched this week. You can see the top 10 stocks for only $1 if you click here. They wouldnt say what is in this years portfolio, but Tracey and Sheraz were able to analyze what went right and what went wrong in the 2016 portfolio. Sheraz discusses how he picked last years portfolio and which of the stocks he still likes in 2017. The Good and Bad of 2016 Sheraz took a risk on energy but it paid off big as Pioneer Natural Resources (PXD) was his biggest winner last year with a 45.8% gain. He didnt shy away from the banks in 2016. First Republic (FRC) which specializes in high net worth individuals in San Francisco rose 44%. Dave & Busters (PLAY) was the smallest company in last years portfolio with a $1.7 billion market cap. Listen to the podcast to find out why he picked it last year and what he thinks going forward. EPAM Systems (EPAM) never got momentum. This global IT company fell 13.8%. Manhattan Associates (MANH) was the worst performer in 2016, losing 17.6%. They make software that helps online retailers and sellers. Does Sheraz still like them for 2017? Story continues Some of the trends of 2016 will continue into 2017. Which ones? What does Sheraz think of the banking stocks in 2017 after the big run in 2016? Yes, there is a bank in the 2017 portfolio. Also, hes a former oil analyst, so hes not hiding from the energy stocks in 2017. But you might be surprised at his pick this year. What other tips does Sheraz have about how to pick stocks? Tune into this weeks podcast to find out. Get the Top 10 Stocks of 2017 The new portfolio just launched this week. You can see the top 10 stocks, and the report with Sherazs analysis of each company, for just $1. Start the New Year off with these buy-and-hold stock ideas. 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 FIRST REP BK SF (FRC): Free Stock Analysis Report MANHATTAN ASOC (MANH): Free Stock Analysis Report PIONEER NAT RES (PXD): Free Stock Analysis Report DAVE&BUSTRS ENT (PLAY): Free Stock Analysis Report EPAM SYSTEMS (EPAM): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research A year after shutting down in the wake of tightening regulations from Washington, pioneering web radio network Live365 has come back online with a goal to be "better than ever." The company, which was purchased at a July auction, is kicking off by offering solutions to help small webcasters -- from DJs to colleges to churches -- get up and running with their own legal stations. Live365 debuted in 1999, but was undone in late 2015 following the lapse of the Webcaster Settlement Act, a law that allowed small webcasters (less than $1.2 million in revenue annually) to pay a percentage of their revenue instead of the standard streaming rates. Jon Stephenson of content delivery network EmpireStreaming is Live365's new owner. The company relaunched its website on Jan. 2, saying "we have new owners, a renewed passion for small webcasters, and fierce dedication to come back stronger," a message reads on the site. The company wants to give small webcasters a "voice and tools they need to succeed in Internet radio." The site also has a search field for finding a listening to current stations, but it currently comes up empty. In August, Stephenson told Billboard that a rejuvenated Live365 has a chance at competing with much larger, more firmly established webcasters. "I definitely see that there's an opportunity with bringing back a lot of smaller radio stations," he said. "There's a huge opportunity with representing scale. And if we're able to rebuild Live 365 in some shape or form, then we have that branding and we can actually go compete with iHeart or Pandora. We can actually build a significant scale." VATICAN CITY (AP) Pope Francis has prayed for those who were killed in this week's Brazil prison riots, saying penitentiary conditions must be 'worthy of human persons." Francis invited faithful at his weekly Wednesday audience at the Vatican to pray for the 60 who died in gang fights in the Brazil Amazon region prisons and their families, as well as inmates and prison workers worldwide. He said he was "pained and concerned" about what happened in Brazil. He renewed his appeal so that prisons would be "places of re-education" and "not overcrowded but places for re-insertion" in society after sentences are served. Throughout his papacy, Francis has pressed for better prison conditions and the need for rehabilitation of inmates. He has also denounced life imprisonment as a virtual death sentence. LISBON (Reuters) - Portugal started a planned recapitalisation of state-owned lender CGD on Wednesday by converting 945 million euros of contingent convertible bonds (CoCo) into equity and transferring 500 euros of shares to the bank, the finance ministry said. The recapitalisation, which will include a direct capital injection by the state of up to 2.7 billion euros in the second phase, was agreed with the European Commission in August. The ministry said in a statement the convertible bonds were transferred to CGD on Wednesday as was the 500 million euros of CGD shares held by state holding company ParCaixa. Portuguese banks are still reeling from two bank rescues in 2014 and 2015 that undermined investor confidence. CGD, Portugal's largest bank by assets, needs to bolster its capital because of massive bad loans on its books. CGD posted a net loss of 189 million euros in the first nine months of last year. (Reporting By Axel Bugge; Editing by Angus MacSwan) DailyFX.com - Post-Rate Hike U.S. Dollar, S&P Have Yet to Break New Ground Talking Points: - The post-Election rally in global markets persists, although both the U.S. Dollar and U.S. stocks have been unable to close above new highs after last months rate hike. - At 2pm today, the Federal Reserve delivers minutes from that most recent rate decision; and within those minutes, investors may get a better idea of just how positive (and in-turn, hawkish) the bank may be in the early portion of 2017. - If youre looking for trading ideas, check out our Trading Guides. To receive James Stanleys Analysis directly via email, please sign up here. USD: Short-Term Range in Longer-Term Trend Ahead of FOMC Minutes At 2 PM ET today the minutes from the most recent Federal Reserve meeting will be released to markets. These meeting minutes are from the rate decision last month in which the Fed posed only the second hike in the past 10 years; but perhaps more interesting, and more relevant for price action was the Feds increased guidance for rate hikes in 2017 and 2018. The most recent Federal Reserve meeting seemed to solidify the theme of U.S.-strength thats become rather prominent since the election of Donald Trump as U.S. President. With many economic data points, particularly those that are sentiment-related hitting fresh new highs, hopes for stronger growth have continued to push both the U.S. Dollar and U.S. equities higher. But since that rate hike was delivered along with improved guidance for the next two years, the U.S. Dollar has found a zone of resistance that has yet to give way. On the chart below, were looking at the post-rate hike price action in the U.S. Dollar. Post-Rate Hike U.S. Dollar, S&P Have Yet to Break New Ground Chart prepared by James Stanley S&P 500: Also Ranging but with a Slightly More-Bearish Bias To close out last year we wrote about the current level of valuations in U.S. equities, positing that the excitement from the post-Trump rally appears to have driven markets to rather expensive levels. But just because a market is expensive or overbought that doesnt necessarily mean that stock prices have to move lower to more adequately reflect reality. As John Maynard Keynes himself had said, markets can stay irrational far longer than you or I can remain solvent; and while this most recent move may not quite be at irrational levels just yet, the fact of the matter is that prices are governed by supply and demand and not valuations. Story continues So, an expensive market may not be enough to completely drive a short-thesis; but it could certainly be a reason to avoid chasing stock prices while at fresh all-time-highs as the Federal Reserve looks to more actively normalize policy in 2017. Since that second rate hike of the past ten years, the S&P 500 has put in similar range-bound characteristics as the U.S. Dollar, albeit with a slightly more negative or bearish bias. One important distinction is that the S&P 500 hasnt yet made a new high since that rate hike three weeks ago while the U.S. Dollar has. However to quality this, much of the selling in the S&Ps most recent move appeared to take place as we wound down 2016 in what couldve been window dressing as traders and fund managers closed-out positions ahead of the year and quarter-end. Since New Years, price action in the S&P has been bullish as weve run-higher by ~30 handles. Post-Rate Hike U.S. Dollar, S&P Have Yet to Break New Ground Chart prepared by James Stanley Chinese Concerns Persist as Regulators Strengthen Yuan While excitement and exuberance is driving many markets around-the-world, it would appear that sentiment from the open of last year has done a 180 when fear was driving price action. One matter that is the same, however, is worry around Chinese markets. As we started last year, Chinese stocks hit limit-down on the first few trading days of the year as selling engulfed Chinese capital markets. And just a few weeks after that first rate hike in nine years and we had some very legitimate concerns that were creating risk aversion around the world. Since then, Chinese stocks have recovered as the final 10 months of 2016 saw a consistent up-trend develop (Chinese A-shares shown below). Post-Rate Hike U.S. Dollar, S&P Have Yet to Break New Ground Chart prepared by James Stanley But even with this strength re-developing in Chinese stocks, worries around the Chinese economy continue to persist, and most recently those concerns have been directed towards capital flows coming out of China. With a currency so incredibly weak throughout much of 2016, Chinese investors are likely looking at the concept of diversifying funds into currencies that may not get so weak. Chinese regulators are likely responding by trying to strengthen the Yuan in order to stem some of those capital outflows in the effort of protecting their FX-reserves. And for a Central Bank engaged in a fixed-floating rate regiment, this can present complications; especially if the U.S. economy is truly moving into a rising rate environment. To open 2017, Chinese regulators have guided the Yuan-higher; going against the trend of Yuan-weakness that has been rather pervasive since March of last year. This iteration of Yuan-strength is unlikely to last for long, but does serve as warning to those looking to just sit in long USD/CNH positions as currencies controlled by regulators can lead to bumpy rides. Post-Rate Hike U.S. Dollar, S&P Have Yet to Break New Ground Chart prepared by James Stanley --- Written by James Stanley, Analyst for DailyFX.com To receive James Stanleys analysis directly via email, please SIGN UP HERE Contact and follow James on Twitter: @JStanleyFX 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. Sofiane Feghouli was sent off on Monday for this collision with Phil Jones West Ham fans can breathe a sigh of relief as the club announced on Wednesday afternoon that the FA have rescinded a suspension for Sofiane Feghouli. The Algerian winger was sent off just 15 minutes into the match against Manchester United on Monday (January 2) for a collision with Phil Jones. I have just received a call to confirm Sofiane will not be required to serve a 3 match suspension and is eligible to play friday Lady Brady (@karren_brady) January 4, 2017 Mike Dean gave Feghouli his marching orders in controversial fashion, as Jones theatrics undoubtedly contributed towards the decision. It left the Hammers playing the remaining 75 minutes with a man less and subsequently they went on to lose 2-0 thanks to strikes from Juan Mata and Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Hammers vice chairman Karren Brady announced on Twitter that she was informed Feghouli will not be suspended for the next three matches. It frees him up to play against Manchester City in the FA Cup as well as Crystal Palace and Middlesbrough in the Premier League. A statement on the FA website read: Sofiane Feghouli has had his claim of wrongful dismissal upheld today [Wednesday 4 January 2017] following an Independent Regulatory Commission hearing. The West Ham United player was sent off for serious foul play during the game against Manchester United on Monday 2 January 2017. The standard three-match suspension has, therefore, been withdrawn with immediate effect. Https%3a%2f%2fblueprint-api-production.s3.amazonaws.com%2fuploads%2fcard%2fimage%2f336584%2fa44ae72a-a253-46b5-ad7e-8f706cc24ce5 For more than a year, Rep. Lamar Smith, the chairman of the House Science, Space and Technology Committee, has been hounding federal climate scientists about a landmark scientific study, published in 2015, whose results he didn't like. Now comes proof from an independent group of scientists that affirms those findings. The original study, which the new data confirms, was published in the journal Science. It addressed a so-called pause in global warming that scientists had observed from 1998 to 2012. Up until that study, the "warming hiatus" had been a prominent talking point for those arguing that manmade global warming either didn't exist at all, or is less of a problem than most climate scientists make it out to be. That study, however, said that the global warming slowdown never really happened it was just an artifact of improperly adjusted surface-temperature data. SEE ALSO: Bernie burns House Science Committee after devastating Breitbart tweet When the NOAA researchers corrected their temperature datasets, the results showed that Earth's climate had warmed by a larger amount than previously assumed. Climate trends from the 2015 NOAA study that generated controversy on Capitol Hill. Image: noaa The new NOAA record produced for that study showed nearly twice the warming over the past 18 years than the previous data did. That finding struck Smith, a Republican from Texas who maintains that human-caused emissions of greenhouse gases are not causing global warming, as suspicious, and he began a dogged effort to determine if the scientists had manipulated data to arrive at politically-motivated results. The American people have every right to be suspicious when NOAA alters data to get the politically correct results they want and then refuses to reveal how those decisions were made," Smith said in a statement in 2015. "NOAA needs to come clean about why they altered the data to get the results they needed to advance this administration's extreme climate change agenda, Smith, who has received funding from the oil and gas industry, including ExxonMobil, added. Story continues New NOAA (ERSST v4), old NOAA (ERSST v3) and UK Hadley Center (HADSST3) data differ in recent years. Image: hausfather et al. 2016. NOAA denied those accusations, and refused to offer up some of the records that Smith asked for, such as all email correspondence about the climate study in question. Now comes new research that NOAA's data may have been correct. The new study, published in the journal Science Advances on Wednesday, used an independent dataset of ocean temperatures to check the NOAA study. The new research, from an independent group of scientists, concluded that NOAA's temperature adjustments were accurate. The research, led by Zeke Hausfather, a climate scientist at the nonprofit organization Berkeley Earth, used different sets of data than the NOAA scientists had. Hausfather conducted the study with colleagues at York University in the UK, NASA and George Mason University, as well as one independent researcher. Specifically, the group relied on data from satellite radiometers, floating buoys and robotic Argo floats to create three separate ocean temperature records during the last two decades. The NOAA surface record, on the other hand, are what is known as composite records, which takes temperature information from a variety of sources surface weather stations, satellites, ocean buoys and more and combines them. This can create challenges when making adjustments as methods of recording temperatures change over time, Hausfather said. Temperature departures from average during fall 2016 in the Arctic. Image: noaa "The challenge with this is that it creates uncertainties and judgement calls about how best to account for and correct changes in instruments (like the changing composition of the shipping fleet) or the change from one instrument to another (e.g., ships to buoy-based measurements)," Hausfather said in an email. The NOAA study in 2015 had wrestled with just such a change, specifically differences between temperature readings gathered from buoys and those from ships. The buoy data was more reliable, NOAA's researchers concluded, leading to an adjustment that increased temperatures in recent years, when buoys have become more prevalent. In an effort to double check if that adjustment was correct, the new study relies on records that were each created from one type of instrument, avoiding the need for any such adjustments. "We found all three agree almost perfectly with the new NOAA record, [and] show a strong cooling bias in the old NOAA record," Hausfather said. The study also showed that the UK's global surface temperature database and the one maintained by the Japan Meteorological Agency may be underestimating global warming. "Our results provide a robust validation of NOAA's study. They show that NOAA scientists were not manipulating data or 'cooking the books,' and that their new record is the most accurate composite record over the past two decades," he said. As for Smith, who has yet to let up in his criticism of NOAA's temperature readings, Hausfather suggests that he ask the National Academy of Sciences to convene a group of researchers to validate the information independently. "In general, if folks like Lamar Smith think that scientists are getting it wrong, they should ask other scientists (or the National Academy of Sciences) to review and try and replicate their findings, rather than demand scientist emails," he said. "Science advances through replication." Smith has tried and so far failed to prove any scientific misconduct at NOAA, at one point even issuing a subpoena of the NOAA director, which had never been done in his committee's 56-year history. The subpoena sought internal NOAA communications related to global temperature datasets and monthly climate reports, among other information that NOAA deemed essential to the unimpeded conduct of its scientific mission. Scientists denounced Smith's efforts as a witch hunt, and NOAA fought the subpoena, instead meeting with Smith and his staff multiple times to discuss the research. (Mashable reached out to the committee for comment about the new study, but did not hear back by deadline.) Sat data tells a story climate alarmists dont want to hear. It doesnt fit their climate narrative! https://t.co/Myrev2QtW9 Sci,Space,&Tech Cmte (@HouseScience) January 3, 2017 "Under normal circumstances, this paper would be of interest to very few people just the people that focus on the details of the instrumental record," said Andrew Dessler, a climate scientist at Texas A&M University. "The only reason this paper is of any interest outside the specialist community is because of Lamar Smith, he said in an email to Mashable. Dessler was not involved in this study, and said he suspects it was "written specifically to rebut Smiths claims, which gained traction among the broader climate denial community. Another outside researcher, Kevin Trenberth of the National Center for Atmospheric Research, said the conclusions of the paper clearly support NOAA's temperature adjustments, which were led by the top climate official at the agency, Thomas Karl. "This paper further allays any qualms that there may have been scientific errors or any non-scientific agendas," he said via email. "Lamar Smith owes Tom Karl an apology." With Smith continuing as the committee chairman in the new Congress, it's possible that this investigation will continue. Posts on the committees Twitter account in recent days have continued to raise questions about NOAAs surface temperature data, this time casting doubt on the claim that 2016 is the warmest year on record, as U.S. and international agencies are set to announce in coming days. The past year eclipsed the record warmth set in 2015 and 2014, making the last three years the warmest since at least 1880. In addition, levels of carbon dioxide, the longest-lived global warming pollutant, hit record levels this year, at the highest in all of human history. Its unlikely such findings will be recognized by the Republican majority on Smiths panel, however, at least without a fight. BONUS: Watch this incredible piano concert courtesy of Greenpeace Hundreds of Muslim worshippers in Northern Virginia say they hope 2017 is the year they can stop worshipping in rented hotel space, and start doing so at a proposed 22,400 square-foot mosque, the Washington Post reported Monday. But an ugly debate concerning the potential religious center has arisen among community members in Prince William County, Virginia, with one side accusing those wanting to build it of being arrogant while the projects naysayers have been labeled anti-Muslim. The main issue is that the mosque has been denied access to the city's sewage system, which would limit the proposed site's size significantly. The All Dulles-Area Muslim Society, whose 11 chapters speak for the roughly150-200 Muslims living in Northern Virginia and the District of Columbia, reportedly want to build the mosque on a 14-acre plot to host community events like religious services, Sunday school and interfaith gatherings. But Prince William County locals, who live roughly 30 miles south of Washington, are pointing to the fact the area on which the Muslim worshipers are hoping to build sits atop restricted lands municipally designated as a rural sanctuary from the encroaching urban sprawl of state's eastern shore. The same community initiative has required residents of the area to install septic tanks, and all newly built single-family homes cannot exceed 10 acres. In addition, new projects surpassing that size, including religious ones, are required to obtain a special permit from the county to begin construction. RTSG95F Photo: Reuters Those who are advocating for the mosque to be built have quickly pointed to the fact that two churches have had their requests for permits to build on the so-called restricted area, approved by county officials in recent years. But the project is being held up by town officials who say the mosques construction plans would put the integrity of its small town lifestyle, accomplished through implementation of the protected zone, in jeopardy. Story continues The All Dulles-Area Muslim Society charged a religious double standard is operating because Christian buildings were not subject to such intricate zoning requirements. The organization said it has spent hundreds of thousand of dollars on top of the $500,000 it spent on the land to address the specific grievances the city had with the proposed construction site such as lighting, traffic and height. The Board of County Supervisors voted 6-2 Dec. 7 to approved construction with a septic tank that would significantly limit the size of the proposed 45-foot tall building, recreational fields and parking for 300 cars. The churches had been permitted with approval to connect to the citys public sewer system. "The fact that it's taken them so long and they have had to go through so many hoops" compared with churches "just doesn't seem right. ... I just wish there was more sentiment to see this as a positive thing and not just look at it as more traffic," Scott Christian, a member of the Northern Piedmont Chapter of the Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy, told local reporters. The U.S. Department of Justice sued officials in Culpeper County, Virginia, for religiously discriminating against Muslims in December when its Board of Supervisors voted 4-3 in April to reject the Islamic Center of Culpepers request for a sewer permit for bathrooms at a planned mosque site. Because the proposed property could not function with a traditional septic tank, if it were to be built, it wouldnt have had bathrooms. Consequently, that mosque was never built. Anti-Muslim hate crimes across the country increased 67 percent in 2015 with 257 reported. There had been 154 incidents reported in 2014, according to FBI statistics. Related Articles On January 3, almost six years to the day after the death of a trader, Moahamed Bouazizi, sparked a revolution in Tunisia, there were clashes between protesters and security forces in Kasserine. Tunisian media said that a number of protesters broke into shops and private properties after what had begun as a peaceful demonstration against economic stagnation, low pay and lack of opportunity. Police used tear gas to halt the protesters, reports said. Kasserine has witnessed sporadic similar protests since the death of Bouazizi. This footage was shared by a community page in the city and is described as showing clashes that continued into the night on January 3. Calm had returned to the city by morning, reports said. Credit: Facebook/Kasserine via Storyful SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) Puerto Rico's new representative to the U.S. Congress filed a bill Wednesday that would turn the island into the 51st U.S. state by 2025. The bill is the first step in a renewed quest for statehood that is to include a referendum letting Puerto Rico voters choose between independence and statehood, Resident Commissioner Jenniffer Gonzalez told The Associated Press. She filed the bill less than a day after she was sworn in as Puerto Rico's first female congressional representative, saying she aims to secure equal treatment for the more than 3 million U.S. citizens living in the U.S. territory. "We are treated as second-class American citizens," said Gonzalez, a Republican who once served as speaker of the island's House of Representatives. The bill also aims to relieve a decade-long economic crisis that has sparked an exodus of more than 200,000 Puerto Ricans to the U.S. mainland in recent years. If Congress ultimately accepted Puerto Rico as a state, the island would receive roughly $10 billion in additional federal funds a year, Gonzalez said. "The territorial status has contributed to the economic crisis," she said. "We don't get assigned the same resources." Puerto Rico became a U.S. territory in 1898 and gained limited political autonomy when the U.S. approved its constitution in 1952. However, islanders can't vote in presidential elections and their congressional representative has limited voting powers. Islanders pay Social Security and Medicare taxes, but receive less federal funding than U.S. states. Statehood is a top priority for Puerto Rico's new governor, Ricardo Rossello, who was sworn in Monday to head an island government that is struggling with nearly $70 billion in debts. He has said that in addition to the bill filed Wednesday, he plans to hold elections to choose two senators and five representatives to Congress and send them to Washington to demand statehood, a strategy used by Tennessee to join the union in the 18th century. Rossello expects to submit legislation next week calling for the referendum to decide the future of Puerto Rico's political status. Puerto Rico has held four nonbinding referendums since 1967, with voters in the first three mostly split between statehood and remaining a U.S. commonwealth. In a two-part referendum held in 2012, 54 percent of voters in the first question said they wanted a change in status. In the second question, 61 percent said they favored statehood, but so many left that part blank that critics say the results were muddled. Is Swedens royal palace the ultimate haunted mansion? Queen Silvia thinks so. There are ghosts there are lots of them, the 73-year-old monarch says in the new documentary Drottningholm Palace A Royal Home. Theyre all very friendly, but you do sometimes feel that you arent alone. Theyre harmless, the Queenwho was hospitalized just before Christmas due to a cold says of her supernatural guests at the 15th-century palace, built on an island within Swedens capital city of Stockholm. They arent scary, and in a way its quite thrilling, said Queen Silvia, who lives for much of the year in the palace with her husband King Carl XVI Gustaf, 70. Imagine the stories they could tell! she said in the documentary, which will air on national broadcaster STV this week. The kings sister Princess Christina, 73, who traced the royal homes foundations to the mid-1600s during Queen Hedvig Eleonoras reign for a book on the buildings history, backed claims that its haunted by phantoms. Of course it is. There are ghosts in all old houses, she said. Definitely. Theres a lot of energy in this house and it would be strange if it didnt express itself in the form of sounds and shapes, she said. Earlier this year the island palace, which is open to the public for much of the year, was invaded by questers on the trail of a more earthly presence when it was found to be a hot spot for Pokemon Go. Drottningholm Palace A Royal Home is set to air January 5 at 6.30 p.m. local time. Ray J is still using his scandalous connection to Kim Kardashian to his benefit. The musician is one of this year's contestants on Britain's Celebrity Big Brother, and in his intro montage on Tuesday's episode, he got crass when talking about his infamous sex tape. WATCH: Kim Kardashian Shares Intimate Family Moments With Kanye West, North and Saint in Emotional Video "You might know me for a lot of things music, reality TV, oh, and you might also know me for my d**k," he declared, giggling. "People wanna know about the sex tape with me and Kim Kardashian. Order it, put some money in my pocket Y'all still j**king off to the sex tape? Enjoy!" Ray J then walked out wearing bright red pants and a Union Jack shirt, while his song "Hit It First" played in the background. The 2013 track was a direct reference to Kardashian and her famous romances, including her current marriage to Kanye West. Though Kardashian hasn't responded to her ex's new stint on CBB, her bestie, Jonathan Cheban, didn't hide his distaste for the reality show's latest star. What a loser #CBB (you know who I'm talking about)..see you soon London Jonathan Cheban (@JonathanCheban) January 3, 2017 "What a loser #CBB (you know who I'm talking about).. see you soon London," he tweeted , later adding, "I'm still trying to figure out who the all stars are? #cbb #CBBUK." I'm still trying to figure out who the all stars are? #cbb #CBBUK Jonathan Cheban (@JonathanCheban) January 3, 2017 Cheban appeared on the show last year for one week before leaving the house due to anxiety. It's unclear whether his upcoming trip to London is related to an appearance on CBB, but given his connection to Ray J it would make for interesting TV. Story continues WATCH: Kim Kardashian Finally Returns to Social Media, Breaks Silence With First Posts in Over 3 Months See you soon London pic.twitter.com/pa9LArUvII Jonathan Cheban (@JonathanCheban) January 3, 2017 Kardashian, meanwhile, remains focused on her family. The mother of two returned to social media to post new photos and videos of her two children, North and Saint, on Tuesday, marking her first posts since her traumatic Paris robbery in October 2016. For more on Kim's return, watch the clip below! Related Articles A California congressmans use of campaign funds to transport a pet rabbit aboard a commercial flight is one of the more eye-catching expenses that, for many, underscore the need for strong congressional oversight. Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., wound up reimbursing his campaign for $62,000 in personal or incorrectly documented expenses including $600 for cabin rabbit transport fees after the House Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) investigated his spending habits last year, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune. The story led to widespread mockery. But Hunters office argues that the expenses context shows the Southern California lawmakers behavior was ethical. Hunter spokesman Joe Kasper told Yahoo News that it was irritating to see media reports suggesting that Hunter was caught doing something wrong because he self-reported a list of questionable expenditures to the Federal Election Commission, which regulates campaign finance, in February 2016. According to Kasper, there was no intent by Hunter to misuse campaign funds on personal matters. Hunters team intentionally floated the rabbit story in conversation with the Press-Enterprise to demonstrate how from its perspective the OCE has misconstrued simple mistakes as unethical conduct. All of this stuff had been self-identified and self-reported by Hunter, Kasper said. He decided that the number to reimburse was $60,000 to make sure that he was incorporating every campaign expense which might have been questionable as well as every other expense that lacked the proper documentation or supporting information, even though safe to say the vast majority of it was bona fide. Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., participates in a news conference with the Republican members of the California congressional delegation in December. (Photo: Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call/Getty Images) According to Kasper, Hunter had accrued many frequent-flier miles because his job entails regular travel, and the credit card on file for the account was mistakenly charged when the former chief of staffs rabbit was aboard. The Ethics Reform Act of 1989, which was signed by then-President George H.W. Bush, prohibits campaign funds for personal use. Story continues Moreover, the House Ethics Manual states that campaign funds cannot be used to enhance a Members lifestyle or pay for a Members personal obligations. Members have wide discretion in determining what constitutes a bona fide campaign or political purpose to which campaign funds and resources may be devoted, it reads, but Members have no discretion whatsoever to convert campaign funds to personal use. Furthermore, House rules require that Members be able to verify that campaign funds have not been used for personal purposes. Other questionable expenses included charges related to groceries, video games, an Italy trip and a surf shop. Though Kasper offered explanations for several of those, the sheer number of mistakes led critics to argue that the congressmans situation showed why the OCE should exist. Earlier this week, House Republicans ignited a firestorm by moving to substantially defang the independent ethics watchdog. After widespread bipartisan criticism, they backed off the proposal. Rep. Duncan Hunter is interviewed by a television crew in the Cannon rotunda at the Capitol in 2015. (Photo: Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call/Getty Images) Even President-elect Donald Trump took a swipe at the Republican move to weaken OCE, which was established by Democrats in 2008. He argued that Congress should prioritize other issues like tax reform and health care. These stories get legs of their own. They tend to go on, on and on, Kasper said. We used the issue of the rabbit, for instance, to underscore, how in cases there can be overreach on the part of the OCE that doesnt account for poor oversight, simple mistakes or mistakes that can occur on the part of the airline or any other entity. The OCE report has not yet been released. On Tuesday, the 115th Congress passed a new rules package that includes an effective ban on representatives live streaming video or posting photos from the floor of the House. The controversial provision was proposed last month by the Republican-led Congress, and passed primarily on party lines when presented as part of a larger rules package. The attempts to deter broadcasts from smartphones and other devices will include an initial $500 fine for a first offense and $2,500 for each incident thereafter, which would be docked from the lawmaker's salary. U.S. Congressman Scott Peters, a Democrat representing California's 52nd congressional district, told IBTimes the rule represented a larger issue in which the "whole idea of information control is being used in a really political way." Rep. Peters was at the forefront of the issue, which began when he decided to use the Twitter-owned live streaming app Periscope to broadcast a Congressional sit-in that took place last June. The protest designed to force a vote on gun control legislation was led by long-time civil rights activist Rep. John Lewis, but initially wasn't broadcast to the public because Republican leadership declared a recess after the sit-in began. C-SPAN would normally broadcast such an event on TV but its cameras are shut off when the House isnt in session, essentially leaving the feed in the hands of the party in control of Congress. The feed from Peters' phone from inside the House chamber was picked up by C-SPAN and broadcast in place of footage from the network's own cameras. "We discovered in June there's an amazing new technology that really connected people to their government in a way that literally has never been seen in the history of the republic," Peters said, noting services like Periscope and Facebook Live provide an immediate public response thanks to a continuous feed of comments, reactions, and live viewer count. Story continues While Peters said the ability to use new technology would provide the public with "access that really only members of Congress can have," the Republican leadership was moved to put in measures to discourage broadcasting from inside the House chamber. "Unfortunately instead of seeing that as an opportunity to engage the public with their government, the leadership has seen that as a threat," Peters said. "All of us as public servants, we shouldn't be threatened by the public; we should be seeking to engage them and we have this great new technology that allows us to do just that, so I think it's a shame they not only passed on it but they banned it." House Speaker Paul Ryan condemned the sit-in and the subsequent broadcast at the time, calling it a publicity stunt and an attempt to get attention. But viewed alongside an attempt by Congressional Republicans to gut the independently run Office of Congressional Ethics and replace it with the Office of Congressional Complaint Reviewa board led by the lawmakers that the group is intended to overseeleads to questions about a commitment to public transparency. "After this election in which people talked about 'draining the swamp' and how corrupt Washington is, the first action by the House Republicans is to take away the independence of the investigatory board on ethics," Peters said, comparing the Republicans to the "dog who caught the car" and are now unsure what to do with their newfound control. "They saw the public was really angry about a lack of transparency, they're angry about a perceived lack of ethics. Just because the Republicans won the election doesn't mean the people aren't angry about that still and I think the Republicans found that out in spades," he said. Republicans folded on their attempts to shutter the Office of Congressional Ethics in a caucus meeting held on Tuesday following a public outcry over the move, but kept the policy to fine any broadcast from the House floor. One of Peters' proposed solutions to the limitation on new technology in the House chamber included returning control of C-SPAN cameras to the network. The congressman proposed a bill last session that would do just that, and while he admitted the proposal didn't get very far, he does plan to reintroduce it this year. In the meantime, the advancement of technology won't slow even if its use is halted inside the House. The congressman said he expected to see adoption increase among members as social media and technology become more and more important both for communication with the public and campaigning. "Institutions are the last to move and the slowest to change and they resist change," he said. "I think someday it will come, but a lot of the folks in the beauracracya beauracracy in which they've succeedthey like things the way it is." The congressman has seen considerable success adopting new ways of connecting with the public outside of his Periscope broadcast. "I'm probably the oldest guy on Snapchat, Peters said, but he's heard from young constituents who appreciate his presence on the platform. "We'll have to keep being creative. I hope we don't have to break any rules but it's really important to join the people with the government," he said. Peters said he doesn't want to put the sergeant-at-arms in a position to punish him"the thing I don't like about this is you take these people who are supposed to be non-partisan and you put them in a position of being antagonistic toward the members," he saidbut acknowledged that he would consider incurring the fine if needed to provide access to the public. Related Articles While President Obamas signature Affordable Care Act looms as the Republicans biggest target in the new Congress, conservatives in the House and Senate are poised to roll back hundreds of administration regulations and rules in the coming weeks. They range from environmental and workplace protections to off-shore drilling, financial industry reforms, and energy-saving mandates. GOP Congressional leaders, including House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wisconsin and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, have bitterly complained for years about executive overreach by Obama and his agency heads arguing that they have unnecessarily hamstrung businesses, industries and consumers and added billions of dollars to the cost of doing business. Related: 3 Years to Replace Obamacare? Republicans Are Wading Into a Quagmire Now, with Republicans in firm control of Congress and GOP President-elect Donald Trump preparing to succeed Obama in the White House Jan. 20, conservative lawmakers have an open field to demolish many of the most controversial Obama-era regulations that were implemented dating back to early June. These last eight years, we have seen a disturbing trend of the federal government unnecessarily inserting themselves more and more into the lives of hardworking Americans and the results have been economically disastrous, Rep. Meadows (R-NC), chair of the arch-conservative House Freedom Caucus. When the American people spoke on Nov. 8, they provided conservatives with an opportunity to restore order in our government and to remove the out-of-control bureaucratic red tape that so often stunts the growth of otherwise successful Americans, Meadows added. From the perspective of conservative lawmakers in the Freedom Caucus, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, small business owners, mining companies, utilities and the financial industry, many of Obamas cherished regulatory actions are prime for the plucking. Related: 8 Big Changes Under Tom Prices Obamacare Replacement Plan For instance, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) last September issued a major revamping of nursing home rules to improve the quality of service and bar operators from compelling residents to settle disputes in arbitration as a condition of admission. The nursing home industry has fought the 713-page rule. Story continues Then in late December, the Obama administration unveiled a major new environmental regulation for the coal industry that would restrict the use of highly destructive mountaintop-removal mining another measure that the coal mining industry and its allies on Capitol Hill insist will kill jobs and further harm the economy. Congress is likely to block or roll back those and scores of other regulations by using a little-known piece of legislation called the Congressional Review Act, which was authored by a conservative Indiana House member and signed into law by President Bill Clinton in 1996. The rarely used law allows Congress to cast simple majority votes of disapproval of regulations implemented by the executive branch within 60 legislative days of action in order for Congress to reclaim some of its policymaking authority but without becoming a super regulatory body. Related: GOP Cuts in Medicare May Be Next After Dismantling Obamacare Between 1996 and August 2011, agencies have submitted 1,029 major rules and 56,000 minor regulations to Congress for review. Throughout that period, 72 Congressional Review Act resolutions of disapproval targeting 49 major rules were introduced, according to the Congressional Research Service. Of those, only three passed both chambers of Congress, and only one was enacted a Department of Labor ergonomics regulation during the Clinton administration. Since 2011, when the Republicans were back in control of the House, Congress has adopted a number of resolutions of disapproval, but all have been vetoed by Obama. Now that the Republicans will have control of the House and Senate and the White House, it will be far easier to get a resolution of disapproval enacted. Writing recently for the Heritage Foundation, analysts Daren Bakst and James L. Gattuso said that the stars are aligned for the CRA and congressional Republicans to push for action against what they view as the most onerous Obama regulations. A Congressional Research Service memo released in November concluded that 220 regulations submitted to Congress after May 30, 2016, would be subject to review under the Congressional Review Act. Related: Obamacare RIPRepublicans Finally Have a Plan One problem for the Republicans is that the CRA would only allow them to roll back one Obama regulation at a time, a legislative piecemeal approach rather than rolling dozens of targeted regulations into one resolution and passing it. In an effort to address that problem, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) introduced the Midnight Rules Relief Act) on Tuesday that would allow Congress to address multiple regulations at one time. Although House and Senate leaders havent agreed among themselves on which Obama regulations to attack, here are a dozen or so that the Freedom Caucus and Senate GOP leaders have floated in recent weeks: Labor regulations: A Department of Labor overtime rule that more than doubles from $23,660 to $47,476 the annual threshold under which workers generally qualify for time and a half pay when working more than 40 hours in a week. The rule is currently being challenged in courts by the business community and advocates. Department of Labor rules implementing Obamas 2014 Fair Pay & Safe Workplace executive order. The rules require that federal contractors report violations of 14 different federal and state labor laws to the federal government. Critics say it is too intrusive. Financial Industry: Major changes in the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial industry reforms, including neutralizing the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The CFPB, created as part of the overall law, has long been a target for lawmakers championing banks. Its future has been called into question after a federal appeals court ruling that the bureaus leadership structure is unconstitutional. The Treasury Department finalized rules that would re-characterize some debt as equity. This would have the effect of raising taxes since businesses often loan money to each other and can deduct interest payments on these loans. Within the telecommunications field, conservatives want to do away with the FCCs 2015 net neutrality rule that prohibits internet service providers from actively blocking, favoring or slowing down access to any particular online content. The Environment and Energy production: The U.S. Department of the Interior released the final Stream Protection Rule, which aims to protect streams from the impacts of surface, long-wall and mountaintop removal mining. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and others vowed to lead a fight against the new regulations. The Bureau of Land Management issued a final rule regarding methane emissions from venting and flaring during oil and natural gas production on federal and Indian land. The EPA separately published a final rule regarding methane emissions. Critics say these rules will hurt American oil and gas-related jobs. The Interior Departments Office of Natural Resources Revenue issued a final rule regarding the valuation of coal produced on federal and Indian land and oil and natural gas produced on federal land and waters. The rule changes the way royalties are calculated when companies sell the fossil fuels they remove from federal land and is opposed by industry. The Energy Department has finalized six of 14 energy efficiency rules it announced it would issue this year as part of its broader climate policy, including new efficiency standards for ceiling fans, dehumidifiers and battery chargers. Opponents say the rule increase the price of energy-powered products and reduce manufacturing jobs. Education: The Department of Education issued final regulations altering the accountability measures for K-12 schools that critics says are too prescriptive and conflict with congressional intent. The Department of Education issued final rules for teacher preparation programs requiring federal standards for evaluating these programs based significantly on test scores. Critics say the rule conflicts with the flexibility Congress provided in the recent reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Health care: The Department of Health and Human Services issued a notice of proposed rule-making in September that could prevent states from blocking Title X funding to Planned Parenthood, which would provide tax dollars for family planning services. Republicans who oppose this measure fear that it will be finalized before January 20 when Trump is inaugurated. Restrictions on the tobacco industry. While this idea lacks clarity, many Freedom Caucus members want the Food and Drug Administration to ease regulations on cigarette and cigar manufacturers. Top Reads from The Fiscal Times: "The Lost City of the Monkey God: A True Story" (Grand Central Publishing), by Douglas Preston To pigeonhole Douglas Preston a true-crime author is a gross understatement of his skills as a writer. Yes, his many best-sellers with Lincoln Child are fun, suspenseful romps chronicling the adventures of an FBI agent. But he's also an extremely capable investigator who, along with Italian journalist Mario Spezi wrote 2008's fabulous "The Monster of Florence: A True Story," a spellbinding work of nonfiction about a series of grisly murders in Tuscany. This time, the subject matter is equally compelling an ancient and sacred city in Honduras known as the White City or the Lost City of the Monkey God. For generations, indigenous people passed along stories of ancestors who fled there to escape Spanish invaders and that anyone who enters would get sick and die. In 2012, Preston joined a group of scientists, archaeologists, photographers and film producers who traveled to La Mosquitia, an unexplored and dangerous region of Central American jungle. They faced floods, mountains, jaguars, deadly snakes, disease-carrying insects and other inherent challenges. They brought along a new piece of NASA-owned laser technology known as LIDAR or Light Detection and Ranging, which confirmed a sprawling metropolis inhabited around the same time as the Mayan civilization in modern-day Mexico. Their intent was to map the city as well as explore and protect its rumored riches. Preston unspools the history of the White City, the expedition and the journey itself in detail sometimes in too much detail. The book originated as an article in National Geographic and it may have been a better story if kept restrained to magazine size. Lengthy discussions of scientific equipment, aircraft, landing zones and, later, infectious diseases, while fascinating on their own, feel somewhat superfluous and ill-placed. The latter especially an in-depth history of smallpox and other deadly diseases that systematically wiped out indigenous peoples was a compelling read, but its contribution at the end of this book felt out of place. It's possible that part of the dissatisfaction at the conclusion of this tale was rooted in the dissatisfaction in the expedition itself. While a remarkably important scientific discovery, the team's chief archaeologist decreed nothing could be excavated from the site at the time, which feels anticlimactic to the general public and readers. VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / January 4, 2017 / Rockridge Capital Corp. (RRC.V) ("Rockridge"; or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has appointed James Walchuck as Chief Executive Officer and President to replace Gunther Roehlig as Chief Executive Officer and President. Mr. Roehlig will continue to serve as a director of the Company. The Company has also appointed Greg Crowe as a independent director of the Company. As set out in the Company's news release dated November 28, 2016 announcing Mr. Walchuck's appointment to the board of directors, Mr. Walchuck is an experienced mining engineer having over 36 years of national and international experience in the minerals industry, including work in North America, Slovakia, the UK, Ghana, and Tanzania. Recently, Mr. Walchuck was CEO and a director of Encanto Potash Corp. Mr. Crowe is a professional geologist with more than 35 years of exploration, business and entrepreneurial experience throughout North America, Latin America, Africa and Southeast Asia. Since August 2016, Mr. Crowe has served as Chief Executive Officer, President and director of Silver One Resources Inc., a mineral exploration company with silver projects in Mexico. Previously, Mr. Crowe served as a director, Chief Executive Officer and President of Entree Gold Inc., a mining company listed on the TSX, from May 2003 to November 2015. Mr. Crowe was also co-founder and President of Azimuth Geological Inc., a private consulting company specializing in exploration and management services for junior and major mining companies such as Rio Algom Ltd., the Prime Group and Westmin Resources Limited. For more information, please contact James Walchuck, CEO and President at (604) 683-0911. ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF ROCKRIDGE CAPITAL CORP. "signed" James Walchuck CEO and President Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. SOURCE: Rockridge Capital Corp. BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) Romania's Parliament on Wednesday approved a left-leaning government led by Sorin Grindeanu, who vowed to stop thousands of Romanians emigrating, build highways and encourage the consumption of local produce to create what he called "a normal Romania." Before winning confirmation on a 295-133 vote, Grindeanu said he wanted a country "where people have the freedoms and rights that the vast majority of European citizens have." President Klaus Iohannis swore in the new government of Social Democrats shortly after the vote, urging it to guarantee an independent justice system and the rule of law, and strengthen its position within the European Union and NATO. Iohannis, who beat a Social Democrat in the 2014 presidential election, also suggested the new government's electoral promises of reducing taxes and hiking the minimum salary and pensions would mean exceeding a projected budget deficit of 3 percent. The Cabinet includes an economist who had been poised to become the country's first female and Muslim prime minister. But Iohannis declined to nominate Sevil Shhaideh, a political novice and member of Romania's small Muslim minority, after it emerged that her Syrian-born husband, who had worked at the Syrian agriculture ministry, had expressed support for President Bashar Assad on social media. She was nominated and was sworn in as the new deputy premier and regional development minister. There are concerns that the coalition government which has 26 ministers, four more ministerial posts than the previous technocrat-led government may seek to slow down Romania's anti-corruption fight. Grindeanu also hinted at tempering the anti-graft fight, saying it should be "firm, but equally firm should be the defense of fundamental human rights." An opposition leader, Raluca Turcan, said the Social Democrats were incapable of "governing in a European way" so long as they were led by Liviu Dragnea, an old-style politician who was disqualified to head the new government because of a conviction for election fraud. Story continues Even before the vote, ombudsman Victor Ciorbea said he would petition the Constitutional Court to argue that the law banning people with convictions from serving as ministers is not constitutional. Grindeanu said the government planned to raise the minimum wage, to hike pensions and student grants and make free medicine widely available. Grindeanu also vowed to stop the "exodus" of thousands of Romanians, by creating better-paid jobs in Romania and reducing pork and tomato imports, which Romania produces locally. By Karen Lema MANILA (Reuters) - Russia is ready to supply the Philippines with sophisticated weapons including aircraft and submarines and aims to become a close friend of the traditional U.S. ally as it diversifies its foreign ties, Russia's ambassador said on Wednesday. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has thrown the future of Philippine-U.S. relations into question with angry outbursts against the former colonial power and some scaling back of military ties while taking steps to boost ties with China and Russia. Illustrating the transformation of Philippine foreign relations since Duterte took office in June, two Russian warships are on four-day visit to Manila this week, the first official navy-to-navy contact between the two countries. Russian Ambassador Igor Anatolyevich Khovaev took the opportunity to hold a news conference on board the anti-submarine vessel Admiral Tributs. He said he understood that the Philippines was intent on diversifying its foreign partners. "It's not a choice between these partners and those ones. Diversification means preserving and keeping old traditional partners and getting new ones. So Russia is ready to become a new reliable partner and close friend of the Philippines," he said. "We don't interfere with your relations with your traditional partners and your traditional partners should respect the interest of the Philippines and Russia." The Russian navy visit comes less than a month after Duterte sent his foreign and defence ministers to Moscow to discuss arms deals after a U.S. senator said he would block the sale of 26,000 assault rifles to the Philippines due to concern about a rising death toll in a war on drugs launched by Duterte. Khovaev said Russia had a range of weapons to offer. "We are ready to supply small arms and light weapons, some aeroplanes, helicopters, submarines and many, many other weapons. Sophisticated weapons. Not the second-hand ones, Khovaev said. "Russia has a lot to offer but everything will be done in full compliance with international law." . He said it was too early to talk about the scope of military cooperation but, in a clear reference to the United States, said old allies should not worry. "Your traditional partners should not be concerned about the military ties ... If they are concerned, it means they need to get rid of cliches," he said. Rear Admiral Eduard Mikhailov, head of the Flotilla of the Russian Navy Pacific Fleet, said on Tuesday Russia wanted to hold maritime exercises with the Philippines to help combat terrorism and piracy. The United States and the Philippines have been holding naval exercises annually but Duterte has decided to reduce the number of exercises and to move naval drills away from the disputed South China Sea, to reassure China, which is suspicious of U.S. military movements in the disputed waters. (Reporting by Karen Lema; Editing by Robert Birsel) NATO and Russia havent been on the best of terms in recent years. But on Wednesday, the Russian Foreign Ministry said it was willing to let bygones be bygones and start anew with its former Cold War adversary. We need to build normal relations with NATO and renew what we had before, Andrei Kelin, the Foreign Ministrys Department of European Cooperation head, told Russian news agency Interfax. Kelin did not reiterate the standard Russian claims of NATO aggression. Instead, he went on to say that being a member of club NATO was rational because of the political benefits of the alliance and the cash it saved smaller members on military spending. Its a surprising about-face given Russias penchant for vilifying NATO. In early November, for example, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said Russia would retaliate against NATO troop deployments in Eastern Europe. But, as with many stories these days, this piece of NATO news could have something to do with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump. Russias Crimea grab, not-so-subtle Ukraine invasion, nuclear sabre-rattling, and the successive wave of sanctions have all pushed U.S.- and NATO-Russia relations to its lowest point since the end of the Cold War. But Trump indicated hes willing to turn things around with Russia, even facing a wave of domestic political backlash over Russias alleged meddling in the U.S. presidential election he just won (though Trump denies Russia tried to influence the election in any way). On the campaign trail, Trump called NATO obsolete and suggested setting conditions on aiding the United States other 27 NATO allies despite its treaty obligations to do so. Trump also lavished praise onto Russian President Vladimir Putin, saying in September that Putin has been a leader far more than our president [Barack Obama] has been. More recently, the president-elect took to Twitter to praise Putins decision not to expel U.S. diplomats after President Obama booted Russian diplomats out of the United States. I always knew he was very smart, Trump said. Story continues Trump has since quieted down on openly doubting NATO, while pro-NATO Republican lawmakers have picked up the slack on reassuring fellow alliance members. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg added his confidence in Trump to the mix, but all those assurances havent done much to soothe rattled allies, one former NATO diplomat, who asked to remain anonymous, told Foreign Policy. With Trump stepping into office in little over two weeks, theres a fear that the strength of the alliance is now in doubt, the former diplomat said. But while allies are fearful, Russia seems hopeful. Kelins comments may be the first litmus test for a NATO-Russia rapprochement when Trump steps into the Oval Office. I think a statement like this is strategically timed just weeks before Trump takes office, said Rachel Rizzo, a NATO expert at the Center for New American Security. Russia wants to make it sound like theyre ready to rebuild normal relations with NATO, theyve just been waiting for the West to meet them halfway, she said. Whether normal for Russia is normal for NATO countries, however, is still to be seen. Photo credit: JOHN THYS/AFP/Getty Images MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian state holding company Rosneftegaz on Wednesday closed a deal with the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) and commodities trader Glencore (GLEN.L) to sell a 19.5 percent stake in state-owned oil major Rosneft (ROSN.MM), Rosneft said. The privatisation deal, which Rosneft Chief Executive Igor Sechin called the largest in Russia's history, was announced by Rosneft in a meeting with President Vladimir Putin in December. Its success suggests the lure of taking a share in one of the world's biggest oil companies outweighs the risks associated with Western sanctions imposed on Russia over the conflict in Ukraine. "The technical procedures for closing (the deal) required the preparation and signing of more than 50 documents and agreements," Rosneft said in a statement. "All this reflects the unprecedented complexity of the deal." Italy's Intesa Sanpaolo (ISP.MI) said on Tuesday it would provide a loan for up to 5.2 billion euros ($5.4 billion) to help the QIA and Glencore purchase the stake. (Reporting by Katya Golubkova and Jack Stubbs; Editing by Mark Potter) (Adds more quotes, background) LISBON, Jan 4 (Reuters) - Portugal is not ready now to complete the sale of Novo Banco, the bank carved out of Banco Espirito Santo (BES), and the state will provide no guarantees for the buyer, Finance Minister Mario Centeno was quoted as saying on Wednesday. Portugal had hoped to decide on the sale of Novo Banco by the end of last year and the central bank, which is running the sales process, is expected to make a recommendation to the government soon based on the bids it has received. There is a final August 2017 deadline for the sale. China's Minsheng Financial Holding, U.S. funds Apollo and Centerbridge and private equity firm Lone Star are leading attempts to buy Novo Banco, four sources told Reuters last month. "The negotiating process (for the sale) is now reaching an important moment, but this is not the end," Centeno told daily Diario de Noticias in an interview published on Wednesday. He said the central bank would update the government on the state of negotiations with the bidders, adding: "This is not necessarily the end of this process, in the sense that there may have to be adjustments due to the proposals that appeared." Portugal salvaged Novo Banco, or the "good bank" in a 4.9-billion-euro rescue of BES, which collapsed under the weight of debts of its founding family. An attempt to sell Novo Banco in 2015 failed because the bids were considered too low. The rescue has led to a series of court cases by shareholders and other stakeholders hit by the process, prompting some bidders to request state guarantees to face potential future legal liabilities. But Centeno ruled out state guarantees for any buyer, saying: "A state guarantee to support a private deal that puts at risk taxpayers' money is obviously something we do not envisage in this deal." He said the sale process would not end now. "We are definitely closer to the end because an important phase is reaching its conclusion, but I won't say anything is over until I have access to all the information." (Reporting by Axel Bugge; Editing by Catherine Evans) By Brendan Pierson (Reuters) - A federal judge on Tuesday refused to throw out a court verdict upholding two Amgen Inc (AMGN.O) patents related to the company's cholesterol drug, a defeat for Sanofi SA (SASY.PA) and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc (REGN.O), which make a rival drug. In an October 2014 lawsuit, Amgen had sought to stop Paris-based Sanofi and Tarrytown, New York-based Regeneron from selling Praluent, a drug intended to lower bad LDL cholesterol by blocking a protein known as PCSK9. Amgen makes a rival drug called Repatha, and it said Praluent infringed the Thousand Oaks, California-based company's patents related to the protein. A jury found Amgen's patents valid in March. Following that verdict, Sanofi and Regeneron moved for U.S. District Judge Sue Robinson, who is presiding over the case, to overturn the verdict and order a new trial. She denied that motion on Tuesday. Regeneron shares were down 2.6 percent in after-hours trading, and Amgen shares rose 1.6 percent. "The court's ruling today is an important step in this case and confirms the jury's finding that the patents which protect Repatha are valid and infringed by Sanofi," Amgen spokeswoman Kristen Davis said in an email. Sanofi spokeswoman Ashleigh Koss said in an email that the company was disappointed with the ruling. "It is our longstanding position that Amgen's asserted patent claims are invalid, and we intend to appeal today's ruling," she said. Regeneron, which developed Praluent in partnership with Sanofi, could not immediately be reached for comment. Damages have yet to be set, and Robinson has not decided whether to block Sanofi and Regeneron from selling Praluent. The defendants said after the verdict that they planned to appeal to the U.S. Federal Circuit Court of Appeals, which reviews patent disputes. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Praluent and Repatha to reduce bad cholesterol in 2015. The drugs are more costly than other treatments targeting bad cholesterol, with a list price topping $14,000 annually. (Reporting by Brendan Pierson in New York; Editing by Dan Grebler and Richard Chang) By Brendan Pierson (Reuters) - A federal judge on Tuesday refused to throw out a court verdict upholding two Amgen Inc patents related to the company's cholesterol drug, a defeat for Sanofi SA and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc, which make a rival drug. In an October 2014 lawsuit, Amgen had sought to stop Paris-based Sanofi and Tarrytown, New York-based Regeneron from selling Praluent, a drug intended to lower bad LDL cholesterol by blocking a protein known as PCSK9. Amgen makes a rival drug called Repatha, and it said Praluent infringed the Thousand Oaks, California-based company's patents related to the protein. A jury found Amgen's patents valid in March. Following that verdict, Sanofi and Regeneron moved for U.S. District Judge Sue Robinson, who is presiding over the case, to overturn the verdict and order a new trial. She denied that motion on Tuesday. Regeneron shares were down 2.6 percent in after-hours trading, and Amgen shares rose 1.6 percent. "The court's ruling today is an important step in this case and confirms the jury's finding that the patents which protect Repatha are valid and infringed by Sanofi," Amgen spokeswoman Kristen Davis said in an email. Sanofi spokeswoman Ashleigh Koss said in an email that the company was disappointed with the ruling. "It is our longstanding position that Amgen's asserted patent claims are invalid, and we intend to appeal today's ruling," she said. Regeneron, which developed Praluent in partnership with Sanofi, could not immediately be reached for comment. Damages have yet to be set, and Robinson has not decided whether to block Sanofi and Regeneron from selling Praluent. The defendants said after the verdict that they planned to appeal to the U.S. Federal Circuit Court of Appeals, which reviews patent disputes. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Praluent and Repatha to reduce bad cholesterol in 2015. The drugs are more costly than other treatments targeting bad cholesterol, with a list price topping $14,000 annually. (Reporting by Brendan Pierson in New York; Editing by Dan Grebler and Richard Chang) Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin apologized to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in a Facebook post Tuesday, soon after the latters interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity was aired. The former vice presidential candidate took to Twitter and Facebook to apologize to the Wikileaks founder, also providing a link to Assanges Fox News interview. Palins posts started with: To Julian Assange: I apologize. The apology was reportedly for her remarks made in 2010 where she compared Assange to the Al Qaeda and the Taliban. Palin had written on her Facebook page: Assange is not a journalist, any more than the editor of al Qaedas new English-language magazine Inspire is a journalist. Just as WikiLeaks posted hacked emails from the Democratic National Committee, nominee Hillary Clinton and campaign manager John Podesta during the run up to the 2016 presidential election, the organization had posted hacked emails from Palins account when she was John McCains vice presidential pick during the 2008 election. [Assange] is an anti-American operative with blood on his hands. His past posting of classified documents revealed the identity of more than 100 Afghan sources to the Taliban. Why was he not pursued with the same urgency we pursue al Qaeda and Taliban leaders? she wrote. However, the Republican has now had a change of heart. I apologize for condemning Assange when he published my infamous (and proven noncontroversial, relatively boring) emails years ago, Palin wrote in her facebook post. As I said at the time of being targeted and my subsequent condemnation, though, the line must be drawn before our troops or innocent lives deserving protection would be put at risk as a result of published emails. In the Fox News interview, Assange accused President Barack Obama of attempting to delegitimize Donald Trumps presidency and Palin used her social media post to say that the left has been oh-so-guilty of atrocious actions and attitudes of which they've falsely accused others. Story continues This important information that finally opened people's eyes to democrat candidates and operatives would not have been exposed were it not for Julian Assange, Palin wrote on Facebook. Related Articles Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin speaks at a rally endorsing U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump for President at Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa January 19, 2016. REUTERS/Mark Kauzlarich Sarah Palin apologized to Julian Assange on Wednesday after the WikiLeaks founder gave an interview to Fox News about hacked emails from the Democratic Party that his website released. "To Julian Assange: I apologize," Palin wrote on Facebook. "Please watch Sean Hannity's interview with Julian Assange." Palin previously feuded with Assange after WikiLeaks posted data hacked from Palin's private email account when she was the Republican vice-presidential nominee in 2008. Two years later she called Assange "an anti-American operative with blood on his hands" after WikiLeaks published leaked diplomatic cables. Palin also said the site should be shut down permanently. But she has changed her tune in light of WikiLeaks publishing hacked emails from the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta in the months leading up to the presidential election. "Exposing the truth re: the Left having been oh-so-guilty of atrocious actions and attitudes of which they've falsely accused others," she wrote in the post. "The media collusion that hid what many on the Left have been supporting is shocking. This important information that finally opened people's eyes to democrat candidates and operatives would not have been exposed were it not for Julian Assange." She also apologized for her previous condemnation of Assange after WikiLeaks posted her hacked emails. "I apologize for condemning Assange when he published my infamous (and proven noncontroversial, relatively boring) emails years ago," she wrote. Palin continued: "As I said at the time of being targeted and my subsequent condemnation, though, the line must be drawn before our troops or innocent lives deserving protection would be put at risk as a result of published emails." Palin then implored people to see the movie "Snowden," about former CIA contractor Edward Snowden who leaked classified information about the National Security Agency. She called the movie "enlightening." Story continues Assange sat down with Fox News in an interview released this week to talk about the election hacks. US officials have blamed Russia for hacking Democratic Party organizations and leaking the emails in an effort to help Donald Trump be elected president. Trump has been reluctant to pin the blame for the hacks on Russia, and Assange has said the emails didn't come from a Russian source, though his reliability has been questioned. Former UN ambassador John Bolton, for instance, told Fox News on Tuesday that he wouldn't trust Assange. NOW WATCH: Here are some incredible things you didnt know about Putin's life More From Business Insider Getty Image Rootin tootin Sarah Palin never disappears for long. Shes still waiting for her preferred cabinet position but is staying busy by airing her morphing thoughts on the Russia thing. Last time around, Palin wasnt worried about Russian hackers because she can keep an eye on them from her Alaska home. Now, shes captivated by Sean Hannitys Fox News interview with Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, who she previously equated to the Taliban or Al Queda as an anti-American operative with blood on his hands. Surprise, Palin feels differently now! During Assanges interview with Hannity, the Ecuadorian Assembly in Londons most famous occupant insisted that Russia is not a Wikileaks source. Assange stated that his source for near daily dumpings of John Podestas emails was not a state party, and he believes that the Obama administration is only fingering Russia to delegitimize Donald Trumps win. Palin likes what shes hearing, so she delivered a strange public apology on Facebook. Heres the whole thing because its simply bonkers: To Julian Assange: I apologize. Please watch Sean Hannitys interview with Julian Assange (Wikileaks). Exposing the truth re: the Left having been oh-so-guilty of atrocious actions and attitudes of which theyve falsely accused others. The media collusion that hid what many on the Left have been supporting is shocking. This important information that finally opened peoples eyes to democrat candidates and operatives would not have been exposed were it not for Julian Assange. I apologize for condemning Assange when he published my infamous (and proven noncontroversial, relatively boring) emails years ago. As I said at the time of being targeted and my subsequent condemnation, though, the line must be drawn before our troops or innocent lives deserving protection would be put at risk as a result of published emails. Julian, I apologize. Sarah Palin ps. If you get the chance, catch the movie Snowden. That movie and Hannitys interview tonight are quite enlightening. Story continues Palins 2008 fury at Assange arrived after Wikileaks published some of her emails, but now that Assange is pro-Trump, everything is all good. And she dropped a movie recommendation too, which is a nice touch. She doesnt explain why she enjoyed watching Snowden, but given that Congress recently labeled him a liar who has contact with Russian intelligence, Palin probably has an interpretation that she hasnt shared yet. Maybe next week, thatll happen on Facebook. For what its worth, Trump may now also be an Assange fan. However, he misspelled Assanges name in a now-deleted tweet, so heres the new version. Julian Assange said "a 14 year old could have hacked Podesta" why was DNC so careless? Also said Russians did not give him the info! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 4, 2017 (Via Sarah Palin on Facebook & The Nation) By Curtis Skinner SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Oakland, California, on Wednesday named a high-ranking Chicago law enforcement official as the first woman to head its police department, which has been rocked by a sex abuse scandal and slammed by the mayor for its "toxic" and "macho" culture. Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf told a news conference she appointed Anne Kirkpatrick to lead the department, saying residents "wanted a leader with integrity able to change culture. Someone who would deliver on fair and just policing, prevent violence, and increase accountability.". Three Oakland police chiefs resigned in quick succession after the East Bay Express newspaper reported last June that numerous officers in Oakland and elsewhere sexually exploited a teenage sex worker. Schaaf said at the time the city was "hell-bent on rooting out this disgusting culture," which she described as "toxic" and "macho." The Alameda County District Attorney said in September that seven former and current officers in Oakland and other Bay Area jurisdictions would be charged with crimes including oral copulation with a minor, engaging in prostitution, and unauthorized use of law enforcement databases. Kirkpatrick, a former police chief in Spokane, Washington, was named in June as chief of the Bureau of Organizational Development in Chicago under Mayor Rahm Emanuel's plan to overhaul the police department, which is under federal investigation. She received that role after having been a finalist for the top job in Chicago of police superintendent. Emanuel fired the previous superintendent amid outrage over allegations that both the city and police department covered up the videotaped police killing of a black teen. Kirkpatrick, who has worked in law enforcement for 34 years will take up her role as police chief in late February, the city said. Oakland's announcement came two weeks after neighboring San Francisco announced the appointment of a new police chief. Story continues San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee reluctantly pressured the former top police official to resign last May in response to protests over police killings of unarmed African-Americans, as well as racist text-messaging scandals. The U.S. Department of Justice is conducting a review of the San Francisco Police Department in coordination with police and city officials. Reviewers in October released a report outlining deficiencies it found within the department, including apparent racial bias in traffic stops, searches and killings. A wave of anti-police protests since the 2014 killing of an unarmed black teen in Ferguson, Missouri, has created strains at law enforcement agencies across the United States, forcing out some police chiefs and top prosecutors. (Reporting by Curtis Skinner in San Francisco; Editing by Daniel Trotta and Peter Cooney) Sen. Chuck Schumer kicked off his first official day as leader of the Democratic minority Tuesday with a speech signaling a willingness to cooperate with president-elect Donald Trump in some areassuggesting he isnt planning on adopting the total-obstruction strategy employed by the GOP against President Obama Schumer mentioned infrastructure investments and tax and trade reform as areas of possible cooperation, while vowing to fight tooth and nail on other issues, including a repeal of health care reform. To the extent that the President-elect and the Republican majority pursue policies that help Americans and are consistent with our values, we stand ready and willing to work with them, Schumer said in his speech on the Senate floor outlining the Democratic strategy. Schumer has a better relationship with Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky) than his predecessor, Harry Reid, did and he is seen as willing to reach across the aisle and hammer out deals with Republicans. Schumer can be very tough but I dont think he manifests the same kind of edge that Harry Reid could, Democratic strategist Bob Shrum said. And Trump, a fellow New Yorker, told Schumer in a meeting that he likes him better than he likes most Congressional Republicans. (Schumer dismissed this as flattery.) Still, the new Minority Leader was quick to bat down the perception that he would cozy up to the president elect, saying in his speech he would not be a rubber stamp for Trump and his policies. Ninety, 95 percent of the time well be holding his feet to the fire, Schumer told CNN. But were Democrats. Were not going to just oppose things to oppose them. The Senates liberal wing, including Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, have echoed Schumers willingness to work with Trump on certain issues. But some progressives took exception. Reid, a liberal political commentator on MSNBC, tweeted that the speech sounded like Schumer wanted to collaborate rather than fight. Story continues This sounds like an opposition leader who wants to collaborate rather than fight. Not sure what the point of that is. 8/ Joy Reid (@JoyAnnReid) January 3, 2017 But Democratic strategists endorsed Schumers position, saying the party cannot be seen as obstructionist because it clashes with its brand as the party that believes government can be a force for good. In a recent interview, Obama called McConnells obstruction pretty smart and well executed, from a tactical perspective. Obama ran on the promise that he could transcend party divisions and change Washington, but McConnells take-no-prisoners approach made that vow look like a fantasy and won Republicans seats in Congress, Obama said. But that doesnt mean the same strategy would work for Democrats. As former Clinton staffer Jesse Ferguson noted in a USA Today op-ed, voters who are dissatisfied with the federal government tend to vote for Republicans. So if Democrats foment gridlock and trigger more dissatisfaction with government, they could just be creating more Republican voters. By signaling a limited willingness to work with Trump, Schumer may be setting a trap for the Republicans. If Congress makes tax cuts for the wealthy a priority but fails to pass a job-creating infrastructure bill, Democrats can argue that Trump and his party betrayed his base of working-class voters. He hinted at this in his floor speech Tuesday. If you abandon change and simply embrace the shop-worn, hard right, pro-corporate, pro-elite policies diametrically opposed to the many campaign themes that helped you win working class votes and get you elected, your presidency will not succeed, Schumer said. We Democrats will hold you accountable. For Schumer to cooperate with Trump, the president elect would have to be willing to break with Republican leaders in the House, who are unlikely to support spending that would increase the deficit. Either we get policies enacted weve wanted for a long, long time or we dont and we have made clear for people that [Trumps] the one breaking his promises, a Senate Democratic aide explained. I think that the possibility of them being partners really relies on whether Trump is willing to buck his own party and provide an avenue for Chuck Schumer to advance the Democratic Partys goals, said Brian Fallon, a former Schumer spokesman who worked on the Clinton campaign. It remains to be seen whether Trump takes Schumer up on his offer to work together. Either way, Schumer will say he tried. Scorpion Season 3, Episode 13 is supposed to air on Jan. 9, but CBS has once again pushed the installment to Jan. 16. Season 3, Episode 12, titled Ice-Ca-Cabes, originally scheduled for late December 2016, was only aired on Monday, Jan. 2. As of late, it is unclear why CBS has been pushing the airing of new Scorpion episodes. But some viewers are speculating that the Elyes Gabel starrer is already in danger of being axed. Ice-Ca-Cabes, saw Team Scorpion taking care of another mission in the desert. While there, Agent Cabe (Robert Patrick) injures himself and risks his life. In order to try and save him, Walter (Gabel) decided to freeze Cabes body. Later on, their plan turned out to be successful, and Cabe was revealed to be alive. During his conversation with Walter, the latter apologized for not being very quick on his feet. The former said that he understands Walter was stressed because he could die. Walter explained that he wasnt just stressed over the possibility, he also couldnt accept it if Cabe will be gone because he loves him dearly. The scene ended with Cabe telling Walter that he loves him just as much. A rerun of Season 2, Episode 13 will air instead on Jan. 9 at 9 p.m. EST. White Out heavily centered on Team Scorpions mission to save a United States Special Forces unit in Antarctica. Elsewhere, Toby (Eddie Kaye Thomas) risked his life to save Happy (Jadyn Wong). After she was rescued, Happy shared some information about her family. In a home video that her dad recorded, it was revealed that Happy actually came from a very loving family. Patrick, her dad, also told her that her mom wants to meet her. Scorpion Photo: CBS Related Articles Yogi Scott Eastwood on the red carpet in October. (Photo: Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Spike) Scott Eastwood could be one of the greatest actors in Hollywood (it does run in the family!), but he only seems to get attention for that body. Not that he seems to mind. The 30-year-old hunk (and son of Clint) is in Australia filming Pacific Rim 2 and shared a video from the set. No, it wasnt of him studying his lines or blocking. He was doing yoga. Shirtless. The skin-baring sweat session took place outside his trailer at lunchtime. He just threw down a towel and balanced on his head while someone documented the whole thing. Here Eastwood gives new meaning to hot yoga. (Instagram Stories) For the record, we arent complaining. We dont complain about shirtless Scott Eastwood. Shirtless Scott Eastwood is a positive in this scary and uncertain world. Shirtless Scott Eastwood makes us laugh Thanks for the coffee cup #UTA. Going to the gym. Time to start the day!! A photo posted by Scott Eastwood (@scotteastwood) on Sep 30, 2014 at 4:32am PDT Shirtless Scott Eastwood loves the planet Shirtless Scott Eastwood works hard to make the world (and his bod) a better place Back to work in Toronto. In the gym working hard thanks to @vodilated Thanks for kicking my ass. #suicidesquad #ropepulls #healthiswealth thanks @nike for the kicks. A photo posted by Scott Eastwood (@scotteastwood) on Jun 8, 2015 at 12:09pm PDT Seriously. So honored and excited to be the new face of DAVIDOFF Cool Water! Stay tuned for the campaign, out this summer. @davidoffcoolwaterparfums #davidoffcoolwater A photo posted by Scott Eastwood (@scotteastwood) on Feb 6, 2015 at 11:46am PST Seriously though Eastwood, who will appear in Fast & Furious 8, really does love yoga. The celebrity zen master, who enjoys practicing sans shirt, has said its a key part of keeping his bod buff. Story continues This is my favorite way to do yoga. Have two beautiful women touching me. Drinking a beer while on a lake with the dog. #summer #imonvacation #dontjudgeme A photo posted by Scott Eastwood (@scotteastwood) on Aug 9, 2016 at 7:43am PDT Fitness is a really important part of my life, Eastwood, who was recently seen flirting with Hilary Duff, told E! News in 2015. For my training regimen, I like to incorporate a bunch of different things, and no one thing is more important. Weights, jujitsu, yoga, surfing, paddleboarding, diving. Its important to always change it up. Never get bored. And well never get bored seeing photos of him working out. Carry on, sir! Every week Aye Min Htun prays he will find the ruby that changes his life, one of thousands of people scratching a living in Myanmar's mines set to gain little from the end of US sanctions on the military-dominated industry. For centuries emperors, kings and warlords have vied for control over the valley of Mogok, north of Mandalay, once known as the "land of rubies" for its extraordinary treasure trove of jewels. Its unique "pigeon-blood" stones are the most expensive coloured gems in the world -- last year the so-called Sunrise Ruby sold for a record $30.3 million, over $1 million a carat. Myanmar produces more than 80 percent of the world's rubies, yet decades of isolation under the former military junta means the industry remains cloaked in mystery. But the focus on it is sharpening. In October, the US lifted sanctions barring imports of the rubies in recognition of the country's shift towards democracy under the new government of Aung San Suu Kyi. Experts fear any boom will end up lining the pockets of military men and their friends who control much of the gem trade. Aye Min Htun earns less than $200 a month working in a small, open-cast mine on the valley floor, but if he found a valuable ruby his commission could set him up for life. "My dream is to set up a business if I am successful in mining," the 19-year-old told AFP on a rare recent visit by journalists to Mogok's mines. "I believe in spirits... I pray they will give me a big, good-quality stone." Behind him a dozen men use high-pressure hoses to dislodge earth from the side of the crater, which is then sorted on wooden tables by barefoot workers. It is dangerous work -- landslides are a frequent hazard. "I'm always reminding the mine workers to be careful... They are just kids," said manager Pauksi, who goes by one name. - Military control - Every few minutes deep rumbles rise from the belly of the earth. Story continues They come from dynamite detonated in the next mine, blasting shafts hundreds of feet into the hillside. Production in Mogok has surged since the mid-90s when the former junta first allowed in private companies, bringing with them heavy machinery and more intensive mining methods. In 2003 the US imposed its first round of sanctions barring imports of gems from Myanmar in a bid to starve the military government of funds. Today the Mogok valley is pockmarked with mines, but locals see little of the profits. The industry is overseen by the Myanmar Gems Enterprise (MGE), a state-owned enterprise run by former military men that was taken off the US sanctions list in May. MGE both holds investments in mines and regulates them, giving it a strong hand over a lucrative sector. But experts believe much of the real power lies with the Myanmar Economic Corporation (MEC), a sprawling military holding company until recently also blacklisted by Washington. A study by the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative reported the MEC has joint-ventures in almost 100 mines in Mogok and another ruby region in Shan state. Another resources watchdog, the NRGI, says "military-affiliated companies such as MEC actually dominate the gems market" and are instrumental in allowing "access by private companies". MGE did not reply to repeated requests for comment and the MEC could not be reached. Many private companies in Mogok are also believed to be operated by Thais and Chinese, who use shell companies to bypass laws barring any foreigners from running Myanmar's mines. The highest-quality stones are smuggled across the country's porous eastern borders to Bangkok or Hong Kong, where they are polished and made into jewellery. "Red (rubies) and blue (sapphires) mostly went to the black market in Thailand," said Tun Hla Aung, from industry body the Myanmar Gems & Jewellery Entrepreneurs Association. - Stockpiling stones - In the tourist hub of Mandalay, dealers are hopeful the end of US sanctions will bring a surge in American visitors looking to buy their wares. "The (ruby) price will go up in the next three or six months," Khine Khine Oo speculated at her stall in the city's gems market, where customers sift through small piles of unpolished stones on trestle tables. "We estimate about a 50 percent increase... [or] at least a third," she said grinning, adding that dealers were stockpiling the best rubies. For their part, US companies are already sniffing around. Weeks after the end of sanctions were announced, the American Gem Trade Association sent a delegation to visit Mogok and hold talks with the industry. "US dealers will be returning to do business," said chief executive Douglas Hucker. All will "work with licensed dealers" and "seek to determine that the gemstones they are buying are sourced responsibly," he said, without giving further details of how. In a bid to put the brakes on unfettered exploitation of Myanmar's jade and gemstones, the government imposed a moratorium in July on new mining licenses. Companies must now meet stricter environmental regulations to get permits -- but exactly how they are allocated is unclear. Ko Ko Aung, office manager of Myanmar San Taw Win Gems which has around 10 plots in Mogok, said "most mines are losing money right now" as large-scale excavation has been stopped. But according to Michael Gibb of advocacy group Global Witness, US buyers must follow stricter international rules to make sure the mines enforce decent working conditions and environmental standards. They must also ensure profits do not fuel Myanmar's myriad borderland conflicts. "The onus is on American companies to investigate the risks... knowing that in a country like Myanmar, there obviously are risks," he said. eddie lampert Sears is borrowing more money from CEO Eddie Lampert's hedge fund. Lampert, through his hedge fund ESL Investments, has agreed to give the company a $500 million loan backed by Sears' properties. Backing the loan with Sears' real estate means that if the company goes under, Lampert and ESL could be among the first to collect, according to bankruptcy experts. It's the second time in a week that Lampert has thrown money at the business to keep it alive. Sears shares have rallied by as much as 20% in the past five days, and they were up about 2% on Wednesday's news. Last week, Sears announced that it had obtained a loan called a secured standby letter of credit from ESL for an initial $200 million, with the option to expand the amount to $500 million. Sears says it will use the newest loan to fund operations while it prepares to market and sell some of its real estate. The proceeds of the future sale will be used to pay off its debt, the company said. Sears has previously raised money by selling off its real estate. Screen Shot 2017 01 04 at 1.06.09 PM Seritage gains In 2015, Sears launched and spun off a real-estate investment trust called Seritage Properties and sold 235 of its stores in a lease-back arrangement to the new company. Sears made $2.7 billion off the sale. The retailer continues to pay rent to Seritage for most of the stores, but it has started closing some of them. Seritage announced Wednesday that Sears would terminate leases on 19 properties. Sears did not respond to requests for comment on whether those 19 properties were in addition to the 48 closings that Business Insider reported last week. Over the past two years, Lampert and his hedge fund have loaned Sears more than $800 million not including these most recent cash infusions to keep the business in operation. In the most recent quarter, Sears' revenue fell by 13% to $5 billion and losses widened to $748 million from $454 million in the period last year. Story continues Same-store sales dropped 7.4%, including a 10% decrease at Sears stores and a 4.4% decrease at Kmart stores. NOW WATCH: 13 'all-American' foods that foreigners find completely gross More From Business Insider Infamous mass murderer Charles Manson has been taken from Californias Corcoran State Prison and transported to a hospital, according to reports. The 82-year-old convict, who is serving nine life sentences for a series of gruesome murders that he and his followers committed in 1969, was rushed to Mercy Hospital in Bakersfield, Calif., on Sunday for an unknown ailment, TMZ reported Tuesday night. Three vans from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation were parked outside the hospital late Tuesday night, ABC News reports. A California Department of Corrections spokesperson declined to comment on reports of the mass killers hospitalization, citing privacy issues, but the Los Angeles Times reports that he is seriously ill. The Bakersfield Californian also confirmed that Manson was at Mercy Hospital, but reported that he had not been admitted to the intensive care unit. Manson first made headlines around the globe after his arrest for the grisly killings of pregnant actress Sharon Tate in Los Angeles, along with four of her friends in her Los Angeles home in August 1969. 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 Story Behind the Story: Women of the Manson Family The murders, which turned the career criminal and his so-called family into household names, were masterminded by the cult leader in an effort to start a race war, which he called helter skelter after the Beatles song. This isnt the first time Manson has sought medical treatment during his nearly five decades of incarceration. 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. In 1984, a fellow inmate poured paint thinner on Manson and set him on fire during an argument, which burned him over 20 percent of his body. Manson, who in recent years has reportedly suffered from heart problems, later recovered from the injuries. Originally sentenced to death in 1971 which was later reduced to life imprisonment when California abolished capital punishment in 1972 Manson has been denied parole 12 times. This seriously matters: A bar created an angel shot to help keep women safe Customer safety signs in bar bathrooms in England started going viral in 2016 and the U.S. has taken action now, too. A bar and restaurant in Florida has created a discreet way for women (and men, for that matter) to feel safe in their establishment, the Tampa Bay Times reports. The St. Petersburg restaurant, Iberian Rooster, has a sign instructing customers to order an angel shot if theyre feeling uncomfortable. The shot is code that will alert the staff that you need help leaving your current situation and we LOVE this safety measure. This trend first got international attention when the British bar The Brickyard had a sign in the bathroom that told people to go to the bar and ask for Rachelle or Jennifer if they were on a date with someone they met online that didnt feel right. Our customer safety sign caught the eyes of 1000s (all genders) & ur support has touched our hearts #wehaveurbackspic.twitter.com/Sisf63J0hy The Brickyard (@BrickyardThe) April 19, 2016 Later, another sign popped up in a different British bar loo, telling customers to Ask for Angela at the bar to alert staff that they need some discreet help. i saw this in a toilet and thought it was important and should be a thing everywhere not just lincolnshire !!!! pic.twitter.com/oO45I7gaJL strawberry girl (@iizzzzzi) October 18, 2016 The Iberian Roosters poster seems to channel The Brickyards sign, with the message targeting people who are meeting an online date in-person. If women order an angel shot at Iberian Rooster, that means they need rescue from a bad date. Well played. https://t.co/rj6yC9ASEX pic.twitter.com/VtYhANxfHU Carl Lisciandrello (@carlmarksTimes) December 29, 2016 How the staff at the restaurant will help you depends on how you order the shot. If you order it neat, someone will escort you to your car. If you order it with ice, the staff will call a taxi or Uber for you. And if you order it with lime, the bartender will call the police. The goal for this place was to be a safe place where people can go on a romantic date, the owner of the Iberian Russell Andrade told the Tampa Bay Times. We didnt put the sign up for any attention. That sort of goes against the point. While we recognize that writing about this policy takes away some of its secrecy, this action by the restaurant is too important to go unnoticed. Its vital that women and men who feel unsafe in an establishment know that someone who is employed there will help them. And thats why we have to applaud the Iberian Rooster and hope more bars and restaurants create a policy like this. Because while wed prefer to live in a world where no one has to feel unsafe, these codes offer a solution to a very real problem and help to make these bars a fun and safe environment just what they should be for all patrons. The late Sharon Tate's younger sister does not have hate in her heart toward Charles Manson and his followers for their grisly murders in Los Angeles decades ago, but she does believe he should already be dead. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter on Wednesday, a day after Manson was transported to the hospital from California's Corcoran State Prison because he is reportedly severely ill, Debra Tate said she is not sure how she will feel when the infamous cult leader finally dies, but for now, she is not wishing it to happen. "He has got a gastrointestinal problem, but I was not given the impression it is fatal. But because of his advanced age, anything can become a problem," Tate told THR of the 82-year-old. "I know people wish him ill ... but because of my Christian upbringing, I don't wish ill will on any of these people." California State Prison officials have been mum on any update concerning whether Manson was transferred to a hospital or why, but they did confirm he is still alive. As for why any prisoner would be taken off site to a hospital, Terry Thornton, a spokeswoman for the California Department of Corrections, told THR, "Under the Eighth Amendment, we are required to provide prisoners with adequate medical care." Manson is serving a life sentence for his part in the 1969 Manson Family murders, which included the murder of pregnant actress Sharon Tate and six others. Manson and his convicted followers' capital sentences were commuted because of a California Supreme Court ruling in 1972. Debra Tate continues to find that decision unacceptable. "I agree that all of these people should have gotten the death penalty and things should have been taken care of in the proper manner back then," she tells THR. "My only agenda now is to make sure they remain incarcerated until their time of death because they are a danger to the public. They are sociopathic, and that's not anything that goes away." Story continues Tate, the middle of three children, who resides in Los Angeles, says she hopes those upset that Manson is allegedly getting great care for his medical condition make their ire known to lawmakers. "People need to know in the state of California, these inmates get better physical care than almost anyone other than the filthy rich," she said. "And personally, I don't think that is a punishment. I would rather all these people who feel so strongly [about Manson's fate] join me and try to change the system, so perhaps we could take that money and spend it on something that will have the possibility of contributing something positive to society as opposed to helping people we have already deemed unworthy to live a free lifestyle. It is really a kind of waste." Tate has attended numerous parole hearings thorough the years for Manson and his followers in an effort to ensure none of them is ever released. "This is just something I have to deal with," she says. "Sharon and I were extremely close. She was my world. There was no one who knew her longer or better than I did." Read more: Charles Manson Follower Seeks Parole 47 Years After Killings Sister Wives star Mariah Brown opened up about how she finally came to terms with her sexuality, and were so glad she was able to tell her story Even if you dont watch the TLC docu-series Sister Wives the show that chronicles the inner-workings of a polygamist family in Utah you may have heard that the familys 21-year-old daughter Mariah Brown recently came out as a lesbian. By all accounts this was a pretty big deal for both Brown and her deeply religious family, as same-sex relationships are not technically accepted within their faith. But what makes this news even more noteworthy is that Mariah has finally been able to tell her story of self-discovery, fear, and finally, self-acceptance in her own words, and were so glad that TLC chose to highlight this moment in her life (regardless of how we may feel about polygamy in general, which is a conversation for a whole other day). Were sure that there are so many young people out there today who may be struggling with their own sexuality who will take strength from Mariahs story and experiences. It was something I was so scared of in myself, she said in an interview with People. Mariah went on to explain, I remember being in church, and they talked about how being gay was bad. But none of that came from my parents. It was from church and the people I was around. One bishop told me gay people were selfish. According to the interview, Mariah completely buried her feelings she said she wouldnt even pray to God to change her because she was too afraid to even acknowledge what she was feeling inside. This led to sleepless nights and panic attacks. However, Mariah said things finally began to change when she started touring colleges and met an openly gay tour guide who ended up sharing her own personal story. That was sort of the start of realizing this is okay, she said. My whole life I tried to shut it out. I was finally letting myself be real. I had this image I had to uphold, and when I started letting that go, I realized I didnt have to be the person I thought I had to be. Story continues wow okay y'all making me cry with your support. thank you thank you thank you thank you mariah (@mariahlian) January 2, 2017 There are so many important lessons here. Firstly, if youre struggling like Mariah was and feel alone in your family or community, you can absolutely be sure that there are people out there who will understand what youre going through, who will love and accept you, and who have been through something similar. Also, self-acceptance as well as accepting others who may be different from us in some way so often comes down to meeting new people and expanding our horizons. Were so incredibly glad that Mariah felt comfortable enough to share her story. Were certain this will help others who may also be struggling, and were sending so much love and support her way. Here we go. President-elect Donald Trump apparently tuned in to FOX News Tuesday night for Sean Hannitys sit down with Wikileaks chief Julian Assange, who appears to be emerging as a surprising ally of some conservatives in Washington. Trump tweeted Wednesday morning that Assange backs up his own suspicions over the U.S. government and a variety of independent cybersecurity firms assessment that Russia was behind the hacks on the Democratic National Congress, writing, Julian Assange said a 14 year old could have hacked Podesta why was DNC so careless? Also said Russians did not give him the info! More tweets, more doubts. The tweet comes after Trumps missive late Tuesday that the intel briefing he was scheduled to receive on the hacks had been moved to later this week: The Intelligence briefing on so-called Russian hacking was delayed until Friday, perhaps more time needed to build a case. Very strange! But senior administration officials tell the New York Times that no meeting had been scheduled for Tuesday. Trump had previously said he might reveal things that other people dont know about the hacking, but has provided no evidence to back up his doubts about the intel communitys conclusions. His latest 140-character assaults on U.S. government agencies comes as F.B.I. director, James Comey, and director of national intelligence, James Clapper were preparing to travel to New York on Friday to brief him about their findings. The decision by Mr. Comey and Mr. Clapper to brief Mr. Trump in person appears to be an effort to show him how seriously they take their conclusions that the Russian government was behind the hacking of Democratic officials before the election, the Times notes. Not helping. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) fanned the flames of the budding war between the President-elect and the intelligence community, telling MSNBC Tuesday night that Trump is being really dumb for picking a fight with the intel pros, warning they have six ways from Sunday at getting back at you. Story continues To the Hill. Trumps pick to become the next defense secretary, retired Marine General James Mattis, is making the rounds on Capitol Hill this week, and had some interesting things to say to Sen. Richard Blumenthal, the Democrat from Connecticut on Tuesday. Blumenthal hinted that Mattis might not share the same views as Trump when it comes to the F-35 program, and the lawmaker said he was encouraged by his clear commitment to the important role of the F-35 program in sustaining and enhancing it. Trump has tweeted about the program, demanding that Lockheed Martin bring the costs down while asking Boeing to price-out a comparable F-18 Super Hornet, an older jet that would be hugely expensive to bring up to speed with the F-35. The two also talked about cyber attacks, particularly by the Russians, Blumenthal said, but wouldnt provide any details. The senator did say that he believes Mattis could provide a sense of balance and stability in the Trump administration. More meets. Mattis also sat down with Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island, the top Democrat on the Armed Services Committee, and has planned visits with two other panel members Wednesday and Thursday: Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.). The New York senator is the only Democrat who has come out against Mattis, saying in a statement that she will not vote for an exception to the rule of civilian control of the military, as it is a fundamental principle of American democracy. The Senate would have to change existing law to allow Mattis to serve, since he has not been out of the military for the required seven years. So long. On Wednesday morning, President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden will sit down with the Pentagons global Combatant Commanders and Joint Chiefs of Staff in the Cabinet Room for the final time of their administration, followed by a trip out to Joint Base Myers-Henderson Hall, where theyll to participate in the Armed Forces Full Honor Review Farewell Ceremony. 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 POTUS and PEOTUS Is President Barack Obama more comfortable with the idea of President-elect Donald Trump getting the nuclear codes? Not so much. Both Obama and Hillary Clinton made Trumps erratic temperament an issue during the presidential campaign, declaring him unfit to bear the responsibility inherent in receiving launch codes for U.S. nuclear weapons. But Politico notes that when asked if his opinion on a nuclear-capable Trump has changed, White House spokesman Josh Earnest punted before admitting that his assessment would be that his opinions have not changed. Pacific The USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier is headed to the western Pacific, Navy Times reports. 3rd Fleets Vice Adm. Nora Tyson will command the carrier strike group accompanying the Vinson, but the group plans to stray past the international dateline that has marked the fleets traditional area of responsibility and venture into 7th Fleets territory. The Obama administration has received some criticism for leaving the Persian Gulf without a carrier group at the moment but the Vinson has no plans to sail that far to fill the gap. Water war The Assad regime and rebels are fighting for control of a vital spring used to supply the capital with most of its water, according to the AP. Until recently, the two sides had agreed to leave the Ain al-Fijeh spring out of the conflict and let its water flow to the capital. But all that changed recently and both sides accuse each other of sabotaging the deal. Rebels say Russian warplanes bombed the water processing plant that supplies the capital, offering imagery of its collapsed roof as proof. The Assad regime, however, denies any strikes on the facility and accuses rebels of dumping gasoline into the water supply. Turkey American warplanes are providing air support to Turkish forces ranged off against the Islamic State near the Syrian town of al-Bab, Reuters reports. American officials have been leery of providing air support for Turkeys operation near al-Bab, seeing it as an attempt to blunt the advance of Kurdish YPG forces who are also fighting the jihadist group. After the Turks requested U.S. air support in late December, Russian warplanes carried out airstrikes in support of Turkish forces near the town. Defense Department spokesman Peter Cook called the U.S. airstrikes a visible show of force, but said no bombs were dropped. Israel Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu got an unwelcome visit from police this week investigating allegations that he illegally received gifts from wealthy businessmen. The New York Times notes that some Israeli political observers see a chance that Israels attorney general could issue an indictment, which would force the second longest serving Israeli leader to resign. Other recent Israeli prime ministers have faced ethics investigations, however, and come away unscathed, including Ariel Sharon and Ehud Barak. Drones The Islamic States explosive-laden drones have captured the attention of the media but thats not the only thing for which the group is using homebrew unmanned aircraft. Iraqi officials tell Al Jazeera reports that the Islamic State has also been using small drones to help guide their car bombs towards Iraqi military targets and locate the positions of enemy troops closing in on them in Mosul. The group has been using hobby drones equipped with small explosives to target enemy troops and two Peshmerga fighters died last year disassembling a downed Islamic State drone equipped with an explosive device. Think Tanked The Atlantic Council has published a new report on using cyber capabilities in deterrence. In Cyber and Deterrence: The Military-Civil Nexus in High-End Conflict, authors Franklin Kramer, Robert Butlet, and Catherine Lotrionte spell out what the various components of the U.S. government with responsibility for cybersecurity should do in the event of a major conflict with a highly capable adversary. And finally BattleMechs, getting closer every day. Photo Credit: Carl Court/Getty Images LJUBLJANA, Jan 4 (Reuters) - Slovenia confirmed on Wednesday its first case of H5N8 bird flu, detected in a swan in the town of Pragersko some 120 km (75 miles) northeast of the capital Ljubljana, officials said. Farmers in the area will be required to keep their poultry indoors to prevent the spread of the virus to farm animals, Matjaz Emersic, a spokesman for the National Administration for Food Safety, Veterinary and Plant Protection, told Reuters. Cases of bird flu have been found in a number of countries across Europe in recent months, including in all of Slovenia's neighbours: Austria, Croatia, Hungary and Italy. The Czech Republic and Bulgaria also announced cases of bird flu on Wednesday. (Reporting By Marja Novak; Editing by Gareth Jones) Tons of stars are getting tattoos right now, but if you dont look closely, you might miss their fresh ink. Lately, everyone from the KarJenner sisters to Selena Gomez to Sofia Richie are heading to the tattoo parlor (N.Y.C. artist JonBoy is a celeb favorite) and getting tiny tats with significant hidden meanings. Richies only been 18 for four months, but the model is already building her own body art collection. In November, the star got the word CLARITY etched below her ear on the left side of her neck in small, spaced out letters (above) and the initials MBR for her brother Miles Brockman Richie on the inside of her thumb. But she didnt stop there! The 18-year-old just appeared on JonBoys Instagram account showing off her latest creation. This one: a tiny cursive L on the outside of her right ankle, as a tribute to her music legend father Lionel Richie. RELATED PHOTOS: UPDATED! Celebrities with Best Friend Tattoos Like Richie, Hailey Baldwin, Kylie Jenner and Gomez also got a single initial tattooed in a subtle spot to remember special people in their lives. Baldwins lowercase cursive G tattoo behind her left ear stands for Georgia, the daughter of Pastor Chad Veach and Julia Veach who was diagnosed with rare brain disorder, Lissencephaly, at four months old. The star connected with the pastor through the Zoe Church in L.A. and received this tattoo to honor the little girl (Ashley Benson and Justin Bieber got tattoos for her too). Gomezs G tattoo behind her ear looks near-identical to Baldwins, but comes with a different story. While rumors floated around that this was actually a J for ex-boyfriend Justin Bieber, Gomez spoke out saying it represented her baby sister Gracie, born in 2013. On the other hand, Kylie had no problem getting the letter T permanently put on her body as an ode to her longtime on-and-off boyfriend Tyga. Jenner just stepped out with the rapper revealing a teeny tiny T on the inner portion of her left ankle. Story continues Last year, the 19-year-old got another tattoo of an initial this time a small, squiggle-like M on the inside of one of her fingers with her best friend Jordyn Woods, who received the same one to match. However, the girls have yet to reveal why exactly that particular letter holds special meaning to them. Kylies not the only KarJenner loving the tiny tattoo trend. On top of her matching broken heart tattoo that she got with BFF Hailey Baldwin, Kendall Jenner got another one (saying MEOW) thats hidden on the inside of her bottom lip. How do you feel about these tiny tattoos that hold big meanings to stars? Tell us your favorite one below! CINCINNATI (AP) Dallas-based Southwest Airlines is coming to the Cincinnati region's airport while pulling out of Dayton, Ohio, some 80 driving miles away. The carrier Wednesday announced plans to begin daily service June 4 to Baltimore-Washington and Chicago Midway out of the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport in Hebron, Kentucky. Meanwhile, it will end service after June 3 at Dayton International Airport, where Southwest has daily Dayton-Chicago Midway flights. Southwest spokesman Dan Landson told the Dayton Daily News that leaving cities is "never an easy decision," but that the carrier needed to go where it is needed most. Dayton officials say the announcement reflects a growing trend of airlines concentrating service in larger hub markets. The Southwest announcement marked another milestone in efforts by the Cincinnati airport's leaders to expand lower-cost flight offerings. NASA on Wednesday awarded four more contracts each to SpaceX and Boeing for crewed flights to the International Space Station (ISS). The contracts, announced under the space agencys Commercial Crew Transportation Capability (CCtCap) program, bring the total number of missions awarded to SpaceX and Boeing to six each. Awarding these missions now will provide greater stability for the future space station crew rotation schedule, as well as reduce schedule and financial uncertainty for our providers, Phil McAlister, director of NASAs commercial spaceflight development division, said in a statement. The ability to turn on missions as needed to meet the needs of the space station program is an important aspect of the Commercial Crew Program. SpaceX's first uncrewed flight test is scheduled for November 2017, and would be followed by its Crew Dragon capsule tests in May next year. Boeing, meanwhile, has scheduled the first crewed CST-100 Starliner test for August 2018. Crewed missions to the ISS would begin once the companies receive flight certification from NASA. The Commercial Crew Program will help NASA get full operational use from the national laboratory for scientific research by increasing the number of astronauts on the space station, and allowing the crew members to dedicate more time to research, the space agency said in the statement. The commercial crew vehicles will transport up to four astronauts for NASA missions, along with about 220 pounds of critical cargo to the space station. Boeing SpaceX Photo: NASA Since the U.S. ended its space shuttle program in 2011, Russias Soyuz rockets have the only means of ferrying astronauts to and from the ISS. Under its current arrangement, NASA has to shell out nearly $80 million for every seat on the Soyuz rocket. Story continues However, last year, Russias Roscosmos announced that it does not have any plans to send U.S. astronauts to the ISS after 2018. This means that unless SpaceX or Boeing are ready with their flagship capsules by then, U.S. presence on the space station would be directly impacted at least temporarily. Returning human launch capabilities to U.S. soil underscores NASAs commitment to the station and the research that the orbiting laboratory makes possible including the advancement of scientific knowledge off the Earth, for the benefit of those on the Earth and to prepare for future deep space exploration, the space agency said. Related Articles Madrid (AFP) - Spain's jobless queue shrank sharply last year, dropping by 9.5 percent, the labour ministry said Wednesday, as unemployment continues to recede from the record highs seen during the 2013 crisis. The ministry said 3.7 million people were registered as out of work last year, nearly 400,000 fewer than in 2015, the biggest-ever yearly reduction. The official jobless rate -- which measures the number of people out of work as a proportion of the working population -- will be published later this month by Spain's statistics agency. However, far from welcoming the news, one of Spain's most influential unions, UGT, complained that many of those moving out of the jobless queue had only been able to find employment with precarious working conditions. "In December, just four out of every 100 contracts signed were long-term and full-time," it said in a statement. "Economic and social inequalities continue to increase." Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's conservative government has come under fire for the unstable and temporary nature of many new contracts, even as the jobless rate has come down from the 26 percent seen during the economic crisis in 2013. In the third quarter of 2016, it had dropped to 18.9 percent, but was still the second-highest level in the European Union after Greece. According to the labour ministry, 18.3 million temporary contracts were signed last year, while just 1.7 million long-term contracts were handed out, up 13.5 percent year-on-year. Rajoy, in power since 2011, has pledged to create 500,000 jobs a year, banking on continued economic growth, which is expected to come in at 3.2 percent in 2016, well above the European average. But he also needs to bring down Spain's deficit, currently under EU scrutiny, and will have to overcome strong opposition in parliament which wants him to increase spending rather than cut it. London (AFP) - In-form midfielder Dele Alli scored two near-identical headers as Tottenham Hotspur beat Chelsea 2-0 on Wednesday to torpedo the Premier League leaders' hopes of a record 14th consecutive victory. Chelsea were bidding to become the first team to win 14 successive games within the same English top-flight season, but Alli's goals, both set up by Christian Eriksen, brought them down to earth. "We were competitive against a team in very good form, one of the best in Europe, and we feel very proud and pleased because the performance was very solid," said Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino. Antonio Conte's Chelsea must content themselves with having equalled Arsenal's season record of 13 wins in a row from 2001-02 and they remain five points clear of second-place Liverpool. But the end of their winning streak will give hope to their pursuers, not least Tottenham, who rose above Manchester City and Arsenal to third place in the table, seven points below the leaders. "It is a pity to stop this run, but Tottenham is a good team, a really strong team and I think is for sure one of the teams that can fight for the title until the end," Conte told Sky Sports. "My team are top of the table because we are working a lot. This league is very tough and it is important to continue to work." Alli, 20, has now scored braces in three successive games and his latest double allowed Pochettino's men to register a fifth win in a row -- their best such run in nearly a year. It also enabled Spurs to claim a measure of revenge, both for their 2-1 defeat at Chelsea in November and the fiery 2-2 draw at Stamford Bridge last May that ended their title challenge. Pochettino, meanwhile, could celebrate his 150th Premier League game as a manager with a deeply satisfying victory. "We are in a good position, third in the table," he said. "But it is a long way to finish the season." Story continues - Carbon copy - Whereas Spurs had gone with four at the back in November's 2-1 loss at the Bridge, here they effectively matched Chelsea's 3-4-3 shape, which made for an attritional first half at White Hart Lane. Spurs saw most of the ball, their wing-backs Kyle Walker and Danny Rose carrying the fight, but they struggled to pick holes in Chelsea's rearguard and the visitors posed a threat on the break. In the fifth minute, Nemanja Matic's lofted pass over Spurs' right-sided centre-back Eric Dier found Eden Hazard in ample space, only for the Belgian to shoot narrowly wide with his left foot. Victor Wanyama and Eriksen sent low efforts wide from range for Spurs and when the hosts finally got in behind, Dier ghosting in to meet Rose's deep free-kick, Thibaut Courtois was on hand to save. But in first-half injury time, Spurs struck, Eriksen shaping a cross into the box from the right and Alli, hitherto close to anonymous, leaping to plant a glorious header in the top-right corner. It was the England midfielder's sixth goal in four games and within nine minutes of kick-off in the second half, he would have a seventh. Urged on by a typically animated Conte, Chelsea flew out of the traps, Diego Costa testing Hugo Lloris with a skidding strike and Hazard nodding Marcos Alonso's header wide from point-blank range. The celebrations, though, were Tottenham's thanks to a near carbon copy of their first goal, Eriksen swinging a cross to the back post and Alli outleaping Victor Moses and Cesar Azpilicueta to head home. Conte made three bold changes, sending on Willian, Cesc Fabregas and Michy Batshuayi for Marcos Alonso, N'Golo Kante and Moses, with Pedro Rodriguez moving to a left wing-back role. But his players, finally, appeared spent and Eriksen came close to adding a third with a dipping free-kick that narrowly eluded the left-hand upright. COLOMBO (Reuters) - Sri Lanka will aim to attract $50 billion of mostly foreign investment in the next five to 10 years to help develop its infrastructure, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said on Wednesday. He said that after completing an International Monetary Fund stabilisation programme last year, the government would focus on development, using the island's strategic location in the Indian Ocean and devices like new industrial zones to draw investment. "The aim is to create a $4 billion new market for exports with (free) trade agreement from India, China, and Singapore. We are focusing on electronics, information technology services, tourism," Wickremesinghe told reporters in Colombo. He said the "bulk" of the investment would have to come from foreigners - principally Japan, China, Korea, India, Singapore and some from the Middle East - and that he expected offshore investments of $2 billion to $3 billion this year. The government has already announced plans to incorporate a financial centre into a $1.4 billion luxury property development project near the main port in Colombo built with money from China Communication Construction Company (CCCC). An economic and technology cooperation framework agreement with India and a free trade agreement with China and Singapore are expected to be signed this year, he said. In his 2015 election campaign, Wickremesinghe promised to create one million new jobs in the five years to 2020. Sri Lanka's economy is still recovering from a debt and balance-of-payments crisis hit last year, although an economic reform programme is in place as required by the IMF when it extended a $1.5 billion, three-year loan. Political risks stemming from the unlikely coalition between President Maithripala Sirisena's centre-left Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and Wickremesinghe's centre-right United National Party (UNP) have also weighed on investor sentiment, although Wickremesinghe dismissed those concerns on Wednesday. (Reporting by Shihar Aneez and Ranga Sirilal; Editing by Catherine Evans) This article originally appeared on Extra Crispy. If you thought that the idea of a Starbucks being on every corner in the world was a laughable exaggeration, guess again. Starbucks will become bigger than McDonalds in the next few years, according to Mark Kalinowiski, an analyst at Nomura. We believe that it is only a matter of time before Starbucks overtakes McDonalds as the largest market cap restaurant stock, although likely not in 2017, Kalinowski wrote in a message to investors. So if you cant be bothered to cross the street to get a latte, just wait. A Starbucks should pop up on your side of the block within a matter of minutes. The notion that Starbucks could become bigger than McDonalds is no small feat. Think about it: McDonalds first went nationwide in the 1950s, and opened its first international outposts in the 1970s. By comparison, Starbucks expanded nationally in the early 1990s, and opened international outposts in 1997. McDonalds was the first company to master the chain model in the first place. Within half a decade, Starbucks could eclipse McDonalds by opening 37,000 stores worldwide, compared to the 36,615 McDonalds openings that occurred as of September 2016. Although Starbucks isnt quite there yet, they will be soon. my parents gave me a backpack filled with gift cards for starbucks and mcdonald's champagne mama (@lucipuurrr) December 25, 2016 //platform.twitter.com/widgets.js The idea that Starbucks could become bigger than McDonalds is hard to wrap ones head around: For decades, McDonalds was the default symbol of international expansion of American culture. Hell, Naomi Klein used McDonalds as a key example of how US culture expands internationally by way of fast-food chains in her seminal book, No Logo. McDonalds became the symbol of western prosperity in the 1990s; Russias first McDonalds franchise had lines around the block when it opened on January 31, 1990, in Moscow, and theres even a McDonalds in the Negev desert in Israel. Story continues But by the mid 2010s, McDonalds faced an identity crisis. Second-wave coffee chains like Starbucks began serving food in addition to upscale coffee and tea-based beverages. They also designed their stores to be customer-friendly, encouraging visitors to linger inside and stay a while instead of forcing them to sit on hard plastic seats at immovable tables. Going to McDonalds wasnt a destination like it was for Starbucks, which was a status symbol in addition to a place to hang out. So as McDonalds looks to roll out more customer-friendly locations through McCafe rebrands, serving all-day breakfast, and by making McDonalds coffee better, the venerable chain still finds itself playing catch-up to its competitors. But even as McDonalds tries to hold on to its market supremacy, it might be fighting a losing battle. Starbucks is in its ascendancy by way of new drinks, menu items, upscale coffee offerings, and a global demand for its products. Theres every reason to wonder if McDonalds has hit its saturation pointan issue that Starbucks hasnt yet encountered. And if that proves true, it looks like the Starbucks logo might be a more ubiquitous sighting than McDonalds golden arches very soon. From Good Housekeeping When "The Magic School Bus" first premiered in September 1994, Pluto was still considered a planet. Now, after nearly 20 years, the beloved children's show, adapted from the celebrated science book series by Joanna Cole and Bruce Degen, is coming back - with a few modern updates, big celebrity names and new age science, of course. Netflix is in charge of the show's reboot (an emerging theme for the streaming giant, after the successful "Fuller House" revival in early 2016). It's no surprise that Ms. Frizzle, her gang of science enthusiasts and their time-traveling, gravity-defying yellow school bus is back in town -in its earlier days, the show was among the highest-rated children shows on PBS. The revival was originally announced in 2014 and will, like its viewership, change with the times. With computer generated animation and and a top-of-the-line school bus, equipped with robotic and gadgets to accurately reflect modern technology, kids will get to experience science and technology as it relates to their time, Netflix's chief content officer told The New York Times. Ms. Frizzle's hair, however, will remain very much the same - fiery red and curly. Producer Stu Stone, who also voiced Ralphie in the '90s show, claims that many original cast members have signed onto the project and that we should also expect a few top-secret celebrity cameos scattered throughout the series. "There are tons of cameos planned. I know that there are big stars who want to be involved in this," he told TMZ. "And there's a whole generation of people who grew up on this series that want to be a part of it now that it's back." Celebrity cameos have been a big part of the show since its inception. Swoosie Kurtz, Rosalind Chao, Edward James Olmos, Eartha Kitt, Carol Channing, Dolly Parton, Malcolm McDowell and Dan Marino all participated in "Magic School Bus" during its glory days. No cast names have been released - Netflix is keeping everything, premier date included under heavy wraps - but the revival, which was originally intended to debut in 2016, is certainly underway, Stone confirmed. Story continues The show's revival comes at a time when STEM and computer science is at the forefront of discovery and, like its earlier episodes, is sure to enthrall a new generation of little learners - some things, after all, never change. [h/t NY Daily News] You Might Also Like This Sunday is going to be the best possible day to use your dating app and heres why Calling all you single people, this Sunday is going to be the best day to use your dating app! If youre single and ready to mingle then you need to be on a dating app this weekend. According to Tinder, Sunday, January 8th is the best day to look for love and we know why. When talking to the dating app gurus, HelloGiggles learned that the first Sunday of the new year is usually the most popular day for swiping and is called Dating Sunday. For all you smarties out there, you know that this year New Years day was actually the first Sunday of the month, so this time around the second Sunday is going to be dating gold. So dont worry about missing out on that New Years Eve kiss, because this weekend is for singles. The app explained that they expect a significant spike in users and downloads that day, which leads to more possible matches aka more love connections. Plus, theyve already seen a spike in usage on January 1st, so people are ready for love. Typically weve seen a spike in people joining and using Tinder at the beginning of each year, Tinder Sociologist Dr. Jess Carbino revealed. With the close of one year comes new beginnings in the next, and during the last few weeks of the year, people often take time to reflect on their accomplishments, failures, as well as reassess how to improve their lives in the New Year especially in the romance category. The new year could mean a new you and a new relationship which is very exciting. Plus, who doesnt like to see what else is out there in the dating world without any real pressure? A dating app is ideal for looking for love and then deciding at a later date if its actually meant to be. In preparation for the swiping Sunday experience, Tinder released a top 10 list of cities that had the most swipes on last years Dating Sunday. If you are in one of these cities, get excited because matches are even more likely. Story continues The Top 10 Most Swipes On Dating Sunday 2016: 1. London, England 2. Sao Paulo, Brazil 3. New York, United States 4. Stockholm, Sweden 5. Chicago, United States 6. Berlin, Germany 7. Istanbul, Turkey 8. Oslo, Norway 9. Budapest, Hungary 10. Montreal, Canada It looks like were heading to London this weekend! Okay, maybe not, but London is calling for singles and were ready to answer. We could also just stay home and drink tea with our dogs, and look at a dating app while still in our pajamas. Ya, that sounds like a better deal. Will you be joining in on Dating Sunday 2017? Last year there was a 10 percent increase in matches, so the odds are definitley in your favor. Berlin (AFP) - An alleged Islamic State jihadist accused of scoping out potential targets for an attack in Berlin, including the Brandenburg Gate and Reichstag building, went on trial in Germany on Wednesday. It was the country's first trial of a suspected IS militant deployed to Germany from Syria during the chaotic 2015 refugee influx -- in contrast to "lone wolf" attacks or plots by extremists who were radicalised elsewhere. The defendant, 20-year-old Syrian national Shaas al-Mohammad, allegedly fought with the Islamist militia in his war-torn homeland for two years before arriving in Germany as a refugee in August 2015. Dressed in a blue pullover and a black cap, Mohammad kept his eyes on his interpreter and remained silent as his lawyers tried in vain to convince the judge to hold the hearings behind closed doors due to his young age. Two police trucks were parked outside the entrance, with officers armed with machine guns guarding the proceedings. Mohammad was standing trial at a special state security court in Berlin on charges of membership of a foreign terrorist organisation, which carries up to 10 years in jail, and military weapons law violations. The trial comes just over two weeks after an IS extremist from Tunisia allegedly ploughed a truck through a Berlin Christmas market in an attack that killed 12 people. - 'Attack targets' - Prosecutors claim the defendant joined the jihadist group as a teenager in mid-2013, taking part in combat operations, handling an AK-47 assault rifle and supplying food to fighters. He arrived in Germany near the peak of a mass influx of people fleeing Syria, Iraq and other crisis-torn countries that brought almost 900,000 asylum seekers to Europe's biggest economy in 2015. He allegedly stayed in "close contact" with IS and repeatedly visited the German capital until February 2016 to scout out landmark targets and busy tourist sites for an attack. Among the suspected targets was the area around the glass-domed Reichstag parliament building, the nearby Brandenburg Gate monument and the busy shopping square Alexanderplatz. Story continues He then allegedly "passed the information about the potential attack targets onto his contacts at the IS", said the court in a statement. "In addition, he arranged to send at least one person to Syria as a fighter and offered his services as a contact person for potential attackers in Germany," it added. But Mohammad only admitted to selling supplies to IS members, and denied having any contact with anyone of consequence in the jihadist group. The young Syrian was arrested on March 22 last year and has been in pre-trial detention ever since. The court has set 25 hearings until April. - Truck rampage - Germany has been shocked by a spate of IS-claimed attacks, and some foiled plots which a growing rightwing populist movement has blamed on the open-door refugee policy of Chancellor Angela Merkel. In some cases last year, the jihadists were home-grown, while others were migrants and refugees. More attacks are feared when some of the 400-odd German jihadists still in Syria and Iraq return home. In June last year, police arrested three Syrian men over an alleged plan to use guns and suicide vests in an IS attack in Duesseldorf. In July, a 17-year-old Afghan refugee wounded five people in an axe rampage on a train before police shot him dead. Days later a 27-year-old Syrian blew himself up outside a music festival, wounding 15 people. In October, police say they prevented an attack on a Berlin airport by a Syrian refugee, 22-year-old Jaber al-Bakr. Bakr evaded a police raid but was caught by Syrian compatriots soon after and handed over to police. Two days later, he was found hanged in his cell. December saw the worst IS-claimed attack when Tunisian suspect Anis Amri, 24, allegedly drove a hijacked truck into a packed Berlin Christmas market. The attack claimed 12 lives. Amri was shot dead four days later in Italy after firing first at police there. Germany's domestic security service estimates that the number of radical Islamists in Germany rose above 9,000 last year, from some 3,800 in 2011. About 550 of them are considered dangerous and capable of a violent attack. UNITED NATIONS (AP) Sweden's U.N. ambassador urged members of the often divided U.N. Security Council on Tuesday to make a New Year's resolution: Try to find common ground and produce results in 2017 that improve global peace and security. Olof Skoog, the council president for January, said he also urged members of the U.N.'s most powerful body to look beyond their national interests and "deal with each other in a respectful way ... because I think it's been missing sometimes." He said some people may think "this is a typical naive Swedish way" of becoming a council member for the first time in 20 years, or as "a little bit of motherhood and apple pie." But Skoog said people look at the Security Council as the main body protecting them from conflicts, humanitarian crises and violations of international humanitarian law, "all of which are at a low right now." Nonetheless, he said there is momentum following the council's adoption of resolutions in the last two weeks condemning Israeli settlements and supporting efforts by Russia and Turkey to end the conflict in Syria and jumpstart peace negotiations issues the council has long been divided over. He said there is also momentum with the arrival of new Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who was unanimously recommended for the U.N.'s top job by the council and has a "united U.N. behind him," which is very important. "We have to make the best of the momentum that may exist now," Skoog said. Guterres, in the first minute of the new year after taking over as U.N. chief from Ban Ki-moon, urged all people in the world to make a New Year's resolution: "Let us resolve to put peace first." Skoog said that during talks with Guterres on Tuesday the secretary-general expressed "his very strong wish to build a trustful and active relationship with the Security Council ... in line with putting peace at the center of his mission." Story continues The Swedish ambassador said that when he proposed his New Year's resolution to the 14 other council ambassadors over breakfast Tuesday "no one contested it, and there were nods around the table, and I've had several appreciative comments by most of them afterward." Skoog said he believes most countries, including Russia and China, are working to avoid conflict situations like Syria, Libya, Yemen, Congo and other hotspots. He expressed hope that the Security Council can "build trust" with the new secretary-general so they can work together to prevent conflicts. By Faith Hung and Umesh Desai TAIPEI/HONG KONG (Reuters) - Taiwan's military pension fund may be in default by 2020 after years of widening deficits, raising alarm about the island's defense stability when tensions are heating up with political foe China. The government says an urgent overhaul of the pension system is needed as large payouts are no longer sustainable for the export-reliant economy, with contributions crimped by slower economic growth since the 1990s and a rapidly aging population. Some 120,000 on military pension benefits and another 200,000 in the civil service are nervous about pension reform, a priority of President Tsai Ing-wen. A restructured scheme could result in having to wait longer to retire as well as smaller pension payments, among other changes. "The biggest problem we are facing with the reform is fear. It is making everyone anxious and uneasy," said Hu Chu-sheng, a retired former Lieutenant General who had served in the army for 40 years. "When soldiers cannot focus on their duty, it weakens the effectiveness of Taiwan's military forces," Hu said. "It would then be easy for China to take Taiwan without even getting blood on their knives." China regards Taiwan as a breakaway province that should be reunited with the mainland, by force if necessary. The unease over pension reforms cuts across other sectors. Under-funded liabilities of public and labor sector pensions were expected to hit a record T$18 trillion ($570 billion) in 2016, nine times the government's annual budget expenditure and a big jump from T$12 trillion a decade ago. "If we cannot have stability over the next 20 or 30 years, it is unavoidable that it will trigger a financial crisis for the government," said director Lu Ming-tai of the retirement and survivor relief department of the Civil Service Ministry, which manages more than T$560 billion in one of the government's public sector pensions. The surge in the under-funded liabilities since 2008 has raised the urgency of pension reform. "Taiwan and the other 'Little Dragon' economies are the fastest aging Asian economies after Japan," said S&P Global Ratings analyst Kim Eng Tan. "Taiwan's demographic profile means that contributions to the public servants' pension funds are already below benefits paid to retired members." Successfully reforming the pension system will be crucial for President Tsai, whose popularity has hit an all-time low since taking office last May. She says reforms are "urgent" given limited national and social resources and wants to see pension reform bills passed by the legislature this spring. As doubts arise over the government's ability to fund pension and health insurance, Taiwan's youth feel increasingly demoralized. "If the pension system is not reformed soon, young people see no hope for their future," said Chu ying-ju, 23, a graduate student and member of an advocacy group on pension reform. Military staff draw monthly pensions of T$49,379 on average, and civil servants T$56,383 - around 75-85 percent of last-drawn salaries and about twice the starting pay of new graduates. AGING POPULATION Tsai's determination to push on with reforms, where former President Ma Ying-jeou had failed, has angered hundreds of thousands of public sector employees who demonstrated in Taipei in September, demanding the government protect their interests. "Pension reform is the toughest job on the domestic agenda," said Lin Wan-yi, deputy chief of the National Pension Reform Committee. Government debt has surged tenfold to T$5.67 trillion over the last 23 years while the working population has shrunk. And time is not on the government's side. Pensions for civil servants could default by 2030, teachers in 2031 and other workers in 2048, government data shows. "We expect the burden of an aging society to intensify over the next two years in Taiwan and Korea as their working populations shrink for the first time in modern history," said Ronald Man of Bank of America Merrill Lynch in Hong Kong. There were 13 working people per retiree in 1985, declining to six in 2015, and will be less than two by 2050. Taiwan's aging demographic and a low birth rate have resulted in higher debt for these funds - at 53 percent of GDP. That figure will likely climb as funds hunt for yield overseas because domestic rates are low. "Officials could tackle this problem for pension funds and insurance companies in Taiwan by raising the overseas investment limit from 45 percent or allowing more exemptions when calculating the limit," Man said. S&P Global Rating's aging studies show most sovereign ratings will go down if governments don't enact reforms to pension and healthcare financing schemes. "In the near future, the sum of new contributions plus existing fund assets will not be able to meet benefit payments," said S&P's Tan, adding that Taiwan's National Health Insurance was potentially a bigger concern. "Like pensions, its burden will grow as Taiwanese age. And it covers a much bigger part of the population, including some who live abroad." (Editing by Jacqueline Wong) Photo credit: YouTube From Cosmopolitan The Talladega College marching band was named as one of the 40 organizations marching in Donald Trumps inaugural parade on January 20, NBC reported on Friday. Since the announcement, the historically black college has received backlash on social media for accepting the invitation to participate. According to NPR, marching bands from other historically black universities did not apply to perform. Most noticeably absent was an application from Howard University, a private college in D.C. In fact, NBC Washington notes, no high schools or colleges from the D.C. area are set to march in the parade at all. A post on banded.org has hundreds of commenters arguing about the HBCUs decision to attend and march. It's a Presidential Inauguration, a high profile event. It's a great experience for the band, one commenter wrote. All exposure isn't good exposure, another replied. Debate has been more heated on Twitter, where emotions range from anger, to hurt, to pride. Talledega College this is sickening and shames the HBCU family. #shameful https://t.co/aM8gkulQvI - Jennell Crump (@Nellc12) January 3, 2017 The band at #talledegacollege is showing class. We are one United States no matter our differences. Way to prove it! - Ginger Marcinkowski (@Ginger_Lies) January 3, 2017 I cannot even with #Talledegacollege... Y'all really gonna shuck & jive down Pennsylvania Ave for Trump?! Where are the alumni? #Nah - Shug Avery (@UppityBlkWoman) January 3, 2017 Well damn #TalledegaCollege is going to perform b4 the new grand wizard of the KKK who was elected POTUS. #TrumpInaugural https://t.co/LNAxR7EgEc - S. Maxx Mahaffey (@smaxxmahaffey) January 2, 2017 The college has not yet issued a statement on the expected performance or responded to Cosmopolitan.com's request for comment. Story continues Follow Tess on Twitter. You Might Also Like INNSBRUCK, Austria (AP) -- Norwegian ski jumper Daniel Andre Tande overtook Olympic champion Kamil Stoch at the top of the Four Hills Tour standings after winning the shortened third stop on Wednesday. Tande, who also won Sunday's event in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, soared 128.5 meters to lead the competition with 125.7 points when unfavorable weather conditions forced organizers to cancel the final round of jumping. The competition had been halted several times because of strong winds, and darkness was setting in after the first round was completed. Norwegian jumper Robert Johansson was second with 123.1 points, and Evgeniy Klimov of Russia was third with 119.1. Stoch, who overcame a scare as he fell during a trial jump shortly before the start of the competition, finished fourth after earning 117.4 points for a 120.5-meter effort. He trails Tande by 1.7 points going into the final stop in Bischofshofen on Friday. Tande could become the first Norwegian winner of the prestigious competition since Anders Jacobsen 10 years ago. Third-ranked Stefan Kraft of Austria, who won the opening event in Oberstdorf, complained about illness and placed 18th. The 2015 Four Hills champion is 16.6 points behind. Severin Freund of Germany, last year's Four Hills Tour runner-up, skipped Wednesday's event because of illness. Noriaki Kasai of Japan, who is 44, became the first ski jumper to compete in 100 Four Hills Tour events. DAR ES SALAAM (Reuters) - Tanzania's current account deficit shrank by 61.6 percent in the year to October, helped by a decline in imports and improved performances by the tourism and mining sectors, the central bank said on Wednesday. The gap narrowed to $1.84 billion in the 12 months to October from $4.79 billion in the same period last year. In its monthly economic report, the Bank of Tanzania attributed the change to a fall in imports of goods and services to $10.69 billion from $13.23 billion and a 7.5 percent rise in goods and services exports to $9.47 billion. The east African country generates most of its foreign earnings from tourism and gold exports, both of which increased in the year to October from the same period a year before. Tourism revenues grew to $2.22 billion from $2.01 billion as more visitors arrived, while gold exports rose to $1.39 billion from $1.18 billion on higher volumes and global prices. Tanzania is Africa's fourth-largest gold producer. Export earnings from manufactured goods fell to $1.25 billion in the year to October from $1.31 billion a year before, while the value of traditional exports led by tobacco, cashew nuts and coffee rose to $849.9 million from $837.9 million. Gross official foreign exchange reserves held by the central bank in the year to October amounted to $4.05 billion, or about four months of import cover, in line with the government's target, the central bank said. (Reporting by Fumbuka Ng'wanakilala; Editing by Duncan Miriri and Catherine Evans) MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexican broadcaster Televisa said on Wednesday the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) had given approval for Televisa to own up to 40 percent of U.S. Spanish-language peer Univision's voting stock and up to 49 percent of its common shares. The decision came as the FCC approved a move to raise the total number of shares in Univision that can be held by foreign investors to 49 percent from 25 percent, Televisa, Mexico's dominant broadcaster, said in a statement. (Reporting by Veronica Gomez) Tesla gigafactory Tesla began production of battery cells at its Gigafactory on Wednesday. The battery cells currently in production will be used for Tesla's rechargeable home battery, Powerwall 2, as well as its massive commercial battery, Powerpack 2. The electric-car maker said in a statement that it aims to begin production of battery cells for the Model 3, its first mass-market car, sometime in the second quarter. Producing the batteries at the Gigafactory will bring down costs, enabling the company to price its Model 3 at about $35,000. The Gigafactory is Tesla's massive battery plant located in Sparks, Nevada. It plays an integral role in helping the company bring down the cost of its electric cars because it allows the company to use economy of scale to bring down the cost of making batteries, which are one of the most expensive parts of an electric car. Tesla has partnered with Panasonic to produce the battery cells at the plant. tesla gigafactory The factory itself is still less than 30% finished, but already spans 1.9 million square feet and houses some 4.9 million square feet of operational space across several floors, Tesla said. The company is building the Gigafactory in phases so that Panasonic can begin manufacturing immediately in finished areas of the building and gradually expand, the company said. This gradual approach also lets Tesla learn on the go, allowing for it to make adjustments in manufacturing techniques on the fly. By 2018, Tesla aims to be producing 35 gigawatt-hours per year of lithium-ion battery cells and 500,000 vehicles per years, an ambitious goal considering the company produced some 83,992 vehicle in 2016. NOW WATCH: Watch a Tesla predict an accident and react before it even happens More From Business Insider So, Tesla Motors Inc. (TSLA) missed its goal for annual production, which is not the first time this has happened. The figure fell well short of 100,000. With mounting competition, questions about when its new battery and assembly infrastructure will be done, and a general lack of interest among consumers in electric cars, Tesla might make that hurdle, but not by much. Or, any of a number of significant problems could cause it to fall short of the mark next year. Tesla management said the company produced 83,922 cars in 2016, up 64% from 2015. Fourth-quarter production was 24,882, just short of a 100,000 annual run rate. The reasons for the fourth-quarter issue were not clearly articulated: Because of short-term production challenges starting at the end of October and lasting through early December from the transition to new Autopilot hardware, Q4 vehicle production was weighted more heavily towards the end of the quarter than we had originally planned. We were ultimately able to recover and hit our production goal, but the delay in production resulted in challenges that impacted quarterly deliveries, including, among other things, cars missing shipping cutoffs for Europe and Asia. Although we tried to recover these deliveries and expedite others by the end of the quarter, time ran out before we could deliver all customer cars. In total, about 2,750 vehicles missed being counted as deliveries in Q4 either due to last-minute delays in transport or because the customer was unable to physically take delivery. Even where these customers had already fully paid for their vehicle, we still did not count these as deliveries in Q4. ALSO READ: 60% of Americans Dont Even Know That Plug-in Electric Vehicles Exist The reason was, in essence, a glitch. Glitches are not a new problem for Tesla, although it usually can fix them with relatively painless software updates, delivered over wireless broadband. The single greatest advantage Tesla has for a surge in its sales is the Model 3, the upcoming low-priced car, which has 370,000 orders. The people who have put down a deposit expect delivery in mid to late 2018. That is nearly a year later than first expected. Another delay will affect the customer count, although it is impossible to guess by how much. Story continues The rate at which Tesla can produce lithium ion batteries could be another issue. The Gigafactory, which has been set up to build them, was opened on July 29 of last year. Tesla expects the factory to make enough batteries by late in the decade for the company to build 500,000 cars. There have been rumors construction is running well behind schedule. Tesla has denied them. ALSO READ: Fiat Chrysler Brands Savaged in Consumer Reports Survey Production is Tesla's internal problem, but its biggest challenge may be external. Companies ranging from General Motors Co. (GM), which already has launched a low-priced electric car with the Chevy Bolt, to BMW and Mercedes, which want to flank the higher end Tesla models, are wildly rushing to get their own electric car production online. These companies and several others in the electric car race have rock-solid balance sheets, large dealer networks and established brands. Ironically, the last problem Tesla has is that the industry and products it helped create may have a less than robust market. New research shows 60% of Americans don't know . Dealers generally are wary of selling them because of lack of demand and lack of marketing support from manufacturers. ALSO READ: 5 Merrill Lynch Stocks to Buy That Are 2017 Dividend Aristocrats Can Tesla produce 100,000 cars next year? Maybe not. Related Articles Tiffany Trump and beau Ross Mechanic at Donald Trumps New Years Eve party. (Photo: tiffanytrump via Instagram) For her fathers New Years Eve party at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, Tiffany Trump, noted rich kid of Instagram and one of two soon-to-be first daughters, decided on a black-and-white color-blocked strapless gown from John Paul Ataker, which she tagged in her Instagram pic of herself rocking the look. Wishing everyone a happy and healthy 2017, she captioned the shot. Since President-elect Donald Trump won the election in November, fashion designers have been debating whether they should engage on a sartorial level with the Trumps. Soon after Trumps win, Sophie Theallet released a statement saying she would not be dressing future first lady Melania Trump, citing her husbands problematic campaign. The rhetoric of racism, sexism, and xenophobia unleashed by her husbands presidential campaign are incompatible with the shared values we live by, she wrote. Tom Ford also said that he would not be providing Mrs. Trump with his threads, as shes not necessarily my image. I was asked to dress her quite a few years ago. I declined. Ford also mentioned that he would not dress Hillary Clinton either had she won. Wishing everyone a happy and healthy 2017 ???? A photo posted by Tiffany Ariana Trump (@tiffanytrump) on Jan 3, 2017 at 2:22pm PST Still, designers such as Calvin Klein, Diane von Furstenberg, Jean-Paul Gaultier, and Tommy Hilfiger have said they have no problem dressing Melania Trump. Stefano Gabbana recently thanked the future FLOTUS for wearing one of his labels dresses to her husbands New Years Eve party. He Instagrammed a photo of her in the piece, a black cocktail dress with bows at the straps, festooned with a bit of bling. And just as polarizing as Donald Trumps rhetoric has been through this election season and promises to be once he is sworn in, so were the comments. Its sad that you support what the Trump family stands for huge disappointment, one person wrote. Hes a designer. His thoughts on politics have nothing to do with their pieces. Get over it Snowflakes, wrote another. Story continues You can add John Paul Ataker to the list of houses that have no problem dressing the Trumps. The label, led by creative director Numan Ataker, has had a relationship with Tiffany Trump for some time, according to Kerime Ataker, co-founder and president of the brand and sister of the designer. Weve known Tiffany Trump way before this election, and weve dressed her before as well, last year. One of the suits she wore, the red suit, she wore on NBC, there was an interview with the whole entire family, and she was wearing a red pencil skirt and a jacket in red. She comes to our showroom often, and she is in love with our collection. She loves the styles. She loves how it feels. Wearing John Paul Ataker, Tiffany Trump, far left, poses with her family at an appearance on NBCs Today in April. (Photo: Getty Images) Production for the Ataker brand, which is based in the U.S. and has a corporate showroom in New York City, is done in Istanbul, but the company plans to move 50 percent of its production stateside over the next five years. Ataker says Tiffany Trump visited the showroom recently in search of a dress and landed on this look from the labels spring 2017 collection. She was here about three weeks ago, and she said she would love to see if we could make her a couple dresses, Ataker tells Yahoo Style. She put on the sample and she said she loved it and would love to wear it for New Years Eve. We got her measurements, and our production team went ahead and custom-made that dress for her. It wasnt a surprise or anything like that; she picked the dress. Ataker says that the ideal woman for their clothing is confident, independent, a businesswoman, and [she takes pride in] not depending on anyone but herself. For them, Tiffany Trump fits the bill, and thats the bottom line. Ataker sees no reason to bring political opinions into fashion, saying the two are separate entities. We are in fashion. Fashion equals art for us. We will dress women who are independent, who are businesswomen, who have confidence. Tiffany, she is a girl who is so humble. If you meet her, you will know what I mean. Shes such a unique girl. She is so friendly, so down-to-earth. For us, we never get involved with politics, and we will never do that. While Ataker understands and respects the rights of other designers to express their political opinions, she says, We dont understand why they would make comments about political views while theyre in fashion. Thats not their business. Im not a politician. Im not going to [talk about] any political view. We dont see anything wrong with dressing Tiffany or Melania Trump, and we would be honored to dress her. And as for anyone who objects to Tiffany Trump wearing their clothes? We love Tiffany Trump as a person, Ataker said. If someone is going to get upset with us just because were dressing her, they will be upset anyway. Theyre trying to find an excuse to get upset with us. The Ataker brand has outfitted the likes of Olivia Culpo, Kelly Osbourne, and Constance Zimmer, and may even make an appearance on the red carpet at the Golden Globes on Sunday. Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day. Https%3a%2f%2fblueprint-api-production.s3.amazonaws.com%2fuploads%2fstory%2fthumbnail%2f32415%2fe860daca-2a9f-4cdb-bad4-fba9c1a600e3 LONDON Horses have a funny habit of turning up in strange places. There was that time a man cantered into Tesco on one in Ireland a few months back, and that memorable occasion when a horse was photographed on a tram. SEE ALSO: Angry goat goes on rampage at local store, terrorises shoppers Still, it's not often the four-legged beasts attempt to board double-decker buses in the UK's capital. Horse entering bus in Islington this morning @TfL pic.twitter.com/f84WkelOh9 Simon Crowcroft (@SimonCrowcroft) January 3, 2017 The horse was photographed by politician Simon Crowcroft on Tuesday afternoon on a road in London but what the sweet hell is it actually doing? Luckily, an official TfL Bus Alerts Twitter account was on hand to offer an explanation. @simoncrowcroft Its the mounted police attending an incident on the bus this morning. TfL Bus Alerts (@TfLBusAlerts) January 3, 2017 We're guessing the trusty steed poked its head through the door to see what was going on after the officer riding it dismounted to board the bus. Shortly after, the Twitter account for the London Metropolitan Police's Mounted Branch confirmed the story. #PoliceHorse Invictor showing he's a team player steps in to help PC Dan Smith with a person collapsed on a bus in @MPSIslington https://t.co/2QFkV8Yz3t MetTaskforce (@MetTaskforce) January 3, 2017 They went on to add that the person who collapsed was taken to hospital "as a precaution", but was otherwise OK. Story continues @julesmattsson @MPSIslington Yes he was ok, but taken to hospital as a precaution MetTaskforce (@MetTaskforce) January 3, 2017 Finally because all unexpected horse moments need to be made the most of here's the sturdy nag from a different angle. Good work, horse. By Lisa Barrington BEIRUT (Reuters) - Thousands of people are starting to return to formerly rebel-held east Aleppo despite freezing weather and destruction "beyond imagination", a top U.N. official told Reuters from the Syrian city. In the last couple of days around 2,200 families have returned to the Hanano housing district, said Sajjad Malik, country representative in Syria for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). "People are coming out to east Aleppo to see their shops, their houses, to see if the building is standing and the house is not that looted ... to see, should they come back," he said in an interview. People returning face appalling conditions. "It is extremely, bitterly cold here," said Malik. "The houses people are going back to have no windows or doors, no cooking facilities." Aid is vital to prevent more deaths. The U.N. is helping people to restart their lives in one room of their apartments to start with, he said, giving them mats, sleeping bags and plastic sheets to cover blown-out windows. BREAD AND WATER Hanano was one of the first Aleppo neighbourhoods to fall to rebels in 2012, and the first to be retaken by the Syrian government on its way to seizing back full control of the northern city last month - the biggest victory for President Bashar al-Assad in nearly six years of war. As government forces rapidly advanced after months of fierce Syrian and Russian air strikes, some residents stayed put, tens of thousands fled of their own accord and around 35,000 fighters and civilians were evacuated in late December in convoys organised by the Syrian government. Reconstruction will take a long time, Malik said, but the immediate priority is to keep people warm and fed. U.N.-supported partners provide hot meals twice a day to 21,000 people, and 40,000 people get baked bread every day. Over 1.1 million people once again have access to clean water in bottles or through tankers and wells. Story continues Mobile clinics are up and running, and more than 10,000 children have received polio vaccinations. Thousands of children who have not been able to attend school need reintegrating into the education system through remedial classes to rebuild their confidence, Malik said. There was no register of births, deaths and marriages in the rebel-held sector, so the U.N. is working with the government to issue people with papers. "I met a woman with five children and she was excited that she now has her kids registered as Syrians. She has ID cards and a family book," he said. Bombing has destroyed hospitals, schools, roads and houses, and damaged the two main water pumping stations. The experienced U.N. official said the level of destruction surpassed anything he had seen in conflict zones like Afghanistan and Somalia. "Nothing would have prepared us to see the scale of destruction there, it's beyond imagination." (This version of the story corrects para 9 to remove attribution of description of air strikes to U.N. official, in para 4 clarifies official's comment on people returning to area.) (Reporting by Lisa Barrington; Editing by Mark Trevelyan) Washington (AFP) - Secretary of State-designate Rex Tillerson has agreed to sever all ties with Exxon Mobil, putting deferred stock awards in an independently managed trust, the company he headed until last week said. The agreement was reached in consultation with federal ethics regulators to comply with conflict of interest requirements, it said in a statement late Tuesday. Under the arrangement reached with Exxon Mobil's board of directors, Tillerson will place the value of some two million company shares that he would have received over the next ten years in an independently managed trust. He will give up $4.1 million in cash bonuses that had been scheduled to be paid out over the next three years, as well as other benefits. "The net effect of the agreement is a reduction of approximately $7 million in compensation owed to Tillerson," the company said in a statement. Additionally, Tillerson has committed to selling the more than 600,000 Exxon shares he currently owns. The trust will not be permitted to hold Exxon stock, and Tillerson will be barred from working in the oil and gas industry for the next 10 years. Tillerson, who was nominated last month to be President-elect Donald Trump's chief diplomat, retired December 31 after more than forty years at Exxon Mobil, the last ten years as CEO. Although highly respected as a globe-trotting dealmaker for Exxon Mobil, Tillerson is regarded as a controversial choice as secretary of state because of his close relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin. He has also been criticized for deals struck on behalf of Exxon Mobil that were at odds with US foreign policy. For any real estate investor, growing one's portfolio is a challenge. It requires financial leverage, which many times means finding an alternative source of funds to close a deal since the investor doesn't necessarily have enough money to self-fund. As early as the 1930s, real estate syndication has been a viable option, allowing a number of investors to pool their money together in order to take down a high-priced asset -- popular especially in the commercial arena. The alternative -- buying shares of a real estate investment trust -- leaves investors outside of the decision-making process when it comes to deciding which assets are purchased. "In 1933 they defined a phrase called an investment contract. When someone invests their money in an enterprise with an expectation of profit and someone else does the work," says Gene Trowbridge, a syndication lawyer and author based in Orange County, California. "Syndication was always a restricted way of raising money because you couldn't advertise. Then along comes the Jobs Act that opens up the market and makes the accessing of capital easier and less expensive." [See: The 10 Best REIT ETFs on the Market.] Thanks to computers and the internet, syndication is available to a much larger investor pool than ever before, but with a new high-tech name -- crowdfunding -- and the Jobs Act, which helped codify it by amending the Securities Act of 1933. "We see a lot of investors who have not been able to invest in commercial property before," says Jilliene Helman, CEO and co-founder of RealtyMogul.com. "A lot of investors don't have the time to manage the real estate, but they want the exposure to real estate investments. Crowdfunding is a good way to get diversification." Coming of age with the Jobs Act. When President Barack Obama signed it into law in April 2012, the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act accomplished many things, not the least of which was to formally recognize crowdfunding as a viable means of raising capital for enterprises, but with certain restrictions attached. Story continues Under the old rule -- SEC 506(b) -- companies were allowed to sell shares to accredited investors and up to 35 non-accredited investors, however the offerings could not be advertised. The Jobs Act changed that with the enactment of 506(c), allowing general solicitation and advertising, but only to accredited investors. The act created a crowdfunding exemption that caps the amount the issuer can raise during any 12-month period to a maximum of $1 million through an authorized crowdfunding portal. During any 12-month period, the amount any single investor can contribute to all crowdfunding deals is limited to: -- $2,000 or 5 percent of the annual income or net worth of the investor if either of those is less than $100,000. -- 10 percent of the investor's annual income or net worth not to exceed an aggregate amount sold of $100,000 if either the investor's annual income or net worth is equal to or greater than $100,000. Under Rule 506 of Regulation D of the Securities Act, the seller of an asset could sell to an unlimited number of accredited investors; it just could not use advertising or general solicitation to the market those shares. That changed with Title II of the Jobs Act, which removed the prohibition against general advertising and solicitation of offerings, so long as the investors who purchase shares are verified as accredited investors as defined under the act. The threshold test under SEC Rule 501 states that a person qualifies as an accredited investor if he or she has: -- An individual net worth or joint net worth with a spouse exceeding $1 million at the time of purchase excluding the value of a primary residence; or -- An individual annual income that exceeded $200,000 in each of the two most recent years or a joint annual income with a spouse exceeding $300,000 for those years, and a reasonable expectation of the same income level in the current year. "To do crowdfunding means to go online and execute. What matters is the underlying asset," Helman says. "One of the things that's better with crowdfunding is that you can invest in smaller asset sizes. A lot of time there's a lot more competition for the larger deals." Title IV opens the door further. Referred to in the industry as Regulation A+, Title IV of the Jobs Act became effective in June 2015, expanding on some parts of the act that allow more competition to come to the table. "Crowdfunding companies are leveraging technology to do online what real estate syndicates have been doing for decades -- but crowdfunding levels the playing field, and opens up countless opportunities for thousands of individual investors who have been locked out of the market, especially for more expensive deals, until now," says Rick Sharga, chief marketing officer at online real estate marketplace Ten-X. [See: 16 Things Investors Should Know About Crowdfunding.] "This is a whole new dynamic, and another example of the internet democratizing a transaction -- taking a process which had previously been available to only a select few, and making it transparent, efficient and most importantly, widely available to people who until now had been unable to participate in these types of investments." Most importantly, Regulation A+ opened the door to anyone -- not just accredited investors -- who wish to participate in the process. So now issuers who are selling shares of their deals can generally solicit and advertise them to the public at large. "Access to deal flow is the real advantage to this crowdfunding thing," says Mark Robertson, an investor based in Salisbury, North Carolina, who has done dozens of deals using crowdfunding -- some real estate, others investing in funds. From the investor's perspective. Even though the regulations now allow crowdfunding platforms to market their deals to the general public -- both accredited and non-accredited investors -- Robertson notes that some crowdfunding platforms don't allow access to see the deals available unless they first sign up with the platform and prove they are accredited. "The good news about these platforms is they weed out 98 percent of the deals they look at. They do the due diligence themselves and pick the cream of the crop, and then I pick the cream of the crop from those," says Roberson, who has invested with a number of crowdfunding platforms. But as with any real estate investment, Matthew Owens, an investor based in Manhattan Beach, California, stresses the importance of doing one's own due diligence on any investment they are considering. "As an investor you don't want to rely on someone else to do your homework for you when you don't know their expertise," Owens says. "They do have requirements, but they differ for every platform. They can specialize in specific industry types. And they can give limitations on how large an investment they will work with." Trowbridge expects that with the advent of regulation crowdfunding, as it is called, there will be a lot of investors looking at debt offerings because, at the end of the day, people just want to see some kind of return on their investment. "You choose the investment so it's different than a REIT. It's an awesome thing that people can choose other asset types outside of the stock market, going through the smaller guys instead of big corporations," Owens says. As with any investment scenario, things can go south and deals can go bad when it comes to dealing with real estate. But so far Robertson says he does not know of anyone who has lost any equity in a crowdfunding deal. [See: 7 of the Best Stocks to Buy for 2017.] "You can hit home runs and you can diversify. I've had a couple deals break even. You want to be diversified because the recession will come because they always come," Robertson says. With a new administration taking over in Washington, all eyes will be on the appointment of a new Supreme Court Justice. In historical terms, how unique is the nomination a new Justice mid-term as a new President takes office? (credit: Gage Skidmore) To find a similar scenario where a President from a party differing from his predecessor made a Supreme Court nomination right off the bat, we had to go back to 1853 and the new administration of Franklin Pierce. Pierce nominated John Archibald Campbell to the Court, who served there until 1861 (when Campbell left to join the new government of the Confederate States of America). Its certainly possible for Donald Trump to nominate a new Justice as soon as he takes the oath of office on January 20, 2017. If the nominee can get through the confirmation process by mid-March, and if the Democrats dont mount a filibuster effort, the ninth Justice could take part in arguments that wind up in late March and late April. But the situation involving the change of power in Washington is special in several ways. It is rare for any new President to nominate a Supreme Court Justice as soon as a presidential term starts. Just 25 of the 161 court nominations made since 1789 have been made in the month of January, when the Court is in the middle of its own term that usually ends in June. Of those 25 nominations, few were made just after a presidential election was concluded. Since 1933, when the 20th Amendment placed the start of presidential and congressional terms in January, only William Brennan in 1957 was nominated to the Court in a January after a presidential election. In that situation, the re-elected President, Dwight Eisenhower, nominated Brennan a week before the presidential inauguration. Brennan was confirmed by a Senate voice vote about two months later. To find an instance where a new President from a different party made a Supreme Court nomination immediately took some digging through Supreme Court records. There were 16 scenarios since 1828 where a new President from a different party took over the White House. In 14 of those 16 instances, the new President had his first nominee confirmed by a Senate controlled by their own party. Story continues Of those 14 successful nominations, only two were made immediately as the start of a presidential term in 1829 and 1853. In the first case, back in March 1829 Andrew Jackson and his Democratic Party ushered in the modern era of politics, when Jackson and the Democrats controlled the White House, the House and the Senate. Jackson had just unseated his rival, John Quincy Adams, in a nasty 1828 election. The new President took office on March 4, 1829. Two days later, President Jackson nominated John McLean to replace Robert Trimble on the Court. The next day, the Senate approved McLean in a voice vote. And in March 1853, Pierce became President after the Democrats swept the White House, the House and the Senate in the 1852 election that saw the demise of the Whig Party. As the new President, Pierce was able to get his first and only Supreme Court nominee, Campbell, confirmed within two weeks of taking office. In the other cases, the nomination and confirmation process took some time. In 1845, Democratic James Polk waited 10 months to nominate George Woodward as a replacement for Justice Henry Baldwin after former President John Tyler, a Whig, repeatedly failed to replace Baldwin on the bench. Polk also nominated Levi Woodbury to replace Joseph Story. After about one month of deliberations, the Senate approved Woodbury but rejected Woodward. In 1861, Abraham Lincoln took office from his Democratic predecessor James Buchanan as the Civil War started. But Lincoln waited 10 months to make his first court nomination, which was successful. In March 1893, Democrat Grover Cleveland regained the White House from Benjamin Harrison, and the Democrats retained control of the House and Senate. President Cleveland, however, saw his first two nominees defeated for the Supreme Court by his own Democrat-controlled Senate in an inter-party dispute. Republican William McKinley swept into the White House in 1897 as Clevelands replacement, enjoying a majority in the House and Senate. His only Supreme Court nominee, Joseph McKenna, came nine months into McKinleys first term and he was confirmed within five weeks. Woodrow Wilson also came into the White House in 1913 with a congressional majority, thanks to the Democrats regaining the Senate for the first time in 20 years. Wilsons first Court pick was James McReynolds, who was nominated 18 months after Wilsons inauguration. McReynolds was easily confirmed after 10 days of Senate deliberation. Eight years later, Warren Harding replaced Wilson as the Republican Party dominated the elections for President, the House and the Senate. Harding named four Justices to the Court during his brief time in office. Hardings first appointment came about four months after his inauguration: former President William Howard Taft was nominated and confirmed as Chief Justice on June 30, 1921. The start of the Franklin Roosevelt era saw the Democrats gain back control of the White House and Congress in the 1932 general elections. President Roosevelt had to wait until his second term to make his first Supreme Court nomination as Roosevelt openly battled a conservative Court. Hugo Black was the first of nine Justices appointed by Roosevelt and he was confirmed over a five-day period in August 1937. Dwight Eisenhower also came into the White House in January 1953 as his Republican Party gained control of the House and Senate back from the Democrats. It took Eisenhower nearly a year to make his first Court nomination, selecting Earl Warren as Chief Justice. Warrens confirmation process took less than two months. John F. Kennedys narrow win over Richard Nixon in 1960 also came with Democratic control of the House and Senate. Kennedys first Supreme Court nomination was his long-time friend, Byron White. Whites nomination came about 14 months into Kennedys only term and it took the Senate eight days to confirm the nomination. Richard Nixons win 1968 saw the new President not enjoying Republican Party control over Congress, as the Democrats retained 62 Senate seats. However, Nixons first Court nomination was Warren Burger as Chief Justice in May 1969. The Burger nomination process took about three weeks and he was easily confirmed by the Senate. (Nixons next two nominations were not approved by the Senate.) Ronald Reagans win over Jimmy Carter in 1980 also saw the Republicans gain back Senate control for the first time since the 1952 elections. Reagans first Court nomination came in August 1981, when Sandra Day OConnor was nominated and confirmed easily during a one-month period. After the 1992 elections, the Democrats had regained control of the White House, with Bill Clinton defeating George H.W. Bush and Ross Perot. The Democrats also enjoyed significant margins in the Senate and House. Clintons first Court nominee, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, came about six months into his first term and Ginsburg was easily confirmed over a seven-week period. President George W. Bush didnt get to make his first Court nomination until seven months into his second term. Bushs nominee was John G. Roberts, Jr., who eventually replaced William Rehnquist as Chief Justice. The Republicans controlled the Senate at the time of Roberts nomination, which took about five weeks. And in 2009, Barack Obama became President with a Democratic majority in the House and Senate. Obamas first Court nominee was Sonia Sotomayor in June 2009, who was confirmed over a two-month period. As for any prospective Trump nominee, if his candidate is nominated in January, the average nomination and confirmation process has been between two and three months since the Reagan era. Scott Bomboy is the editor in chief of the National Constitution Center. Recent Stories on Constitution Daily 10 Supreme Court cases to watch in 2017 Historically, odds were stacked against any President seeking a third term The most powerful son-in-law in presidential history Michelle Obama will visit The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on January 11, in what will be her final appearance on a talk show as the sitting FLOTUS. The sit-down with Fallon will fall one day after President Barack Obama delivers his farewell address to the nation from Chicago. This will be the third trip to NBCs Tonight for Mrs Obama. Her first guest gig was on February 20, 2014, participating in the Ew! sketch with Fallon and Will Ferrell. During her second appearance on April 2, 2015, FLOTUS showed off her dancing skills with Fallon in a presentation of the Evolution Of Mom Dancing. CBS scored The First Ladys final one-on-one from inside the White House, sitting down with Oprah Winfrey. The hourlong interview drew 9.39M viewers and a 1.3 rating in adults 18-49, which was OK, but well below the ratings highs for some of Winfreys signature primetime interview specials of the past few decades. Prior to the election, Obamas visit to Stephen Colbert brought Late Show its largest Tuesday crowd in nearly a year and its best demo ratings since May. In July, she took part in a Carpool Karaoke segment with James Corden. Obamas previous visits to Tonight have provided ratings bumps and in June this year, her husband helped The Tonight Show capture its best Thursday metered market ratings since Jimmy Fallons first week as host two years ago. Related stories Flashback: Katie Couric & Matt Lauer Reunite On 'Today' Deadline's Top 10 New Shows Of 2016 - Part I 'Sunday Night Football' Ratings Drop, Still Dominate Christmas Night SEOUL, South Korea (AP) South Korea's Constitutional Court on Thursday began to hear oral arguments in the impeachment trial of President Park Geun-hye, who lawmakers voted to remove over a corruption scandal that saw millions of people protest over the last several months. Park's lawyers and lawmakers, who serve as prosecutors in the trial, traded pointed arguments Thursday on the validity of accusations that she colluded with a confidante to extort money and favors from companies and allowed the friend to unlawfully interfere with government affairs. Lawmaker Kweon Seong Dong, the chief prosecutor in the trial, said Park betrayed the trust people put in her by "broadly and gravely" violating the constitution and criminal laws. SYDNEY (AP) Australia scrambled to calm tensions with Indonesia on Thursday, promising that an investigation was nearly complete into an alleged insult of Indonesian state ideology that prompted Indonesia to suspend military cooperation with its neighbor. The exact cause of the rift between the two allies remained slightly murky one day after Indonesia's announcement of the suspension took officials in Canberra by surprise. Military ties between the two nations have been relatively warm in recent years, having improved since Indonesia downgraded its relations with Australia in 2013 over the alleged bugging of phones belonging to Indonesia's then-president. Australian Defense Minister Marise Payne said Thursday that the current issue began in November, after an Indonesian military officer raised concerns about some teaching materials and remarks made at an Army language training facility in western Australia. MANILA, Philippines (AP) A leader of suspected sympathizers of the Islamic State group was killed Thursday in a clash with Philippine police after resisting arrest at a beach resort in the south, officials said. Senior Supt. Leonardo Suan said Jaafar Maguid, leader of a small armed group called Ansar Al Khilafah Philippines, died in the shootout in southern Sarangani Province's Kiamba town. Three of Maguid's followers were arrested in the shooting that happened after police went to check reports from civilians about the presence of armed men, said Suan, deputy director for operations of the regional police. Officials said Maguid's group is believed to be behind a string of attacks including a grenade blast hat killed a police officer and wounded dozens of people. Story continues KIDAPAWAN, Philippines (AP) More than 100 suspected Muslim rebels stormed a jail in the southern Philippines before dawn Wednesday, allowing 158 inmates to escape in what officials said was the biggest jailbreak in the country. Six of the inmates were killed in firefights with pursuing police and army troops, while eight others have been caught and were being returned to the facility, said Senior Inspector Xavier Solda, spokesman for the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology. Solda said the heavily armed gunmen emerged from a forest and attacked the North Cotabato District Jail in Kidapawan under the cover of darkness. BEIJING (AP) Taiwan has protested Vietnam sending four of its nationals accused of fraud to China, saying they were denied visits by Taiwanese diplomats and forcibly sent to the mainland under pressure from Beijing. Scores of Taiwanese have been arrested around the world in the past year in connection with vast telecoms fraud scams targeting Chinese. Countries including Malaysia, Cambodia and Kenya have deported Taiwanese suspects to China, in deference to Beijing's claim to sovereignty over the self-governing island. Taiwan has vigorously protested the deportations, saying it should be allowed to prosecute its own citizens. But it lacks diplomatic relations with many of the countries, which have close diplomatic and economic ties to Beijing. COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) A judge in Denmark said Wednesday she is strongly considering taking legal steps against South Korean journalists for violating Danish law by filming inside a courtroom the daughter of the impeached South Korean president's confidante during a detention hearing. Malene Urup says South Korean reporters filmed and spoke to Yoora Chung on Sunday, hours after her arrest on an international warrant. The interviews eventually were posted on South Korean news media's websites. Urup told The Associated Press on Wednesday that reporters were informed in Danish and English "several times" about the ban and asked to delete the videos. KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) People who lost their homes in the devastating earthquake that hit Nepal nearly two years ago are tired of waiting for help to rebuild. The slow pace of distributing government grant money for rebuilding has left many people to spend their second winter without a home. Nhuchhe Laxmi Prajapati and Shiva Prajapati, who are not related, are building their houses now, by taking out loans with high interest rates. Their homes and hundreds of others were damaged during the April 25, 2015, earthquake in the town of Bhaktapur, which is known for brick paved roads, old palaces and artistic Hindu temples. JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) Indonesia said Wednesday that it has suspended military cooperation with Australia over an alleged insult of Indonesian state ideology. Indonesian military spokesman Maj. Gen. Wuryanto said that cooperation has been suspended indefinitely, and that the decision was made after considering many matters. Although Wuryanto, who like many Indonesians uses one name, declined to give the exact reason for the decision, he said among the factors were reports of an Indonesian instructor saying that a "laminated paper" displayed at the Australian Special Forces base where he worked was insulting. "This is not a protest ... we would like to establish a useful cooperation for the two nations based on mutual respect," Wuryanto told The Associated Press. BEIJING (AP) A vengeful man stabbed 12 children with a kitchen knife at a kindergarten in southern China on Wednesday, seriously injuring five of them, local authorities said. The attacker "sneaked into" the school in the afternoon and stabbed children in his child's class while the students were eating, according to a statement from the Pingxiang city government's information office, citing police. Two teachers fought back with plastic chairs, and police called to the school in the largely rural region of Guangxi managed to detain him. None of the children has life-threatening injuries, the statement said. The government said the suspect was Qin Peng'an, a man from Nanshan village that is under the jurisdiction of Pingxiang city. BEIJING (AP) An official allegedly shot and injured two leaders of a city in southwestern China on Wednesday as the pair held a meeting in a conference center, and later killed himself, local authorities said. The suspect entered the venue where the Communist Party chief and mayor of Panzhihua city in Sichuan province were meeting and shot continuously before running off, according to a statement from the city's information office. The statement said that the suspect, identified as the city's land and resources chief, Chen Zhongshu, was found dead on a basement floor in the conference center. It said he had committed suicide. Who was behind global fast food chain McDonald's -- sibling restauranteurs Richard and Maurice McDonald, surely? Public opinion may change following the release of "The Founder," starring Michael Keaton as franchise businessman Ray Kroc. Heading for general release in the USA and Canada from January 20 following a limited release in early December 2016, Keaton's strong performance in "The Founder" is one of the reasons it's enjoyed a good critical reception. It may not be apparent on the evidence of this latest trailer, but the film actually came under fire from some quarters for being too lenient on the McDonald's entrepreneur and his business practices. "The Founder" - New online trailer: youtu.be/afbv8cy9jts How traveling with my mom helped heal our strained relationship The next time you make plans to travel somewhere, call your mom and ask her what shes doing that week. Even if you dont get along. Especially if you dont get along. My mom and I spent my entire tweens, teens, and early-to-mid-20s suspended in a perpetual cycle that involved actively fighting, passively fighting, half making up because we felt bad for my dad, and failing at communicating through our many differences. The root of our conflict is sadly simple: Were too different in some ways (she is outspoken, extroverted and judgmental; I am passive, quiet, largely aiming to be as nonjudgmental as possible, and ashamed when I fail miserably at it) and were far too similar in other ways (we both equate being wrong with being less than ourselves how do you come to a resolution when neither party admits fault)? And besides, few mother and daughter relationships are void of any drama, arent they? carrie fisher debbie reynolds There were moments and insults and slamming doors Id take back in a heartbeat, but in doing so, Id also have to surrender the times in our shared history that were, momentarily, drenched in sunlight the ones that involved overstuffed suitcases, boarding passes, and the promise of places that werent haunted by the ghosts of our strained relationship. My mom worked for an airline, and we reaped the benefits of her job by traveling almost everywhere we wanted to go. At times, the only proof I had that my mom actually liked me was that she often chose me not my brother (who was never all that interested in travel, to be honest), not her many friends, and not even my dad to accompany her on trips. Im not going to pretend we became different people the second we boarded an airplane. We didnt have heart-to-heart conversations over in-flight peanuts or share knowing glances while watching Postcards from the Edge with headphones plastered to our ears. Story continues airplane But I learned more about my mother, her love for me, and what it meant to be a woman on those trips than I ever did trapped inside the four walls of a home that often made us both feel like all the air had been sucked out of it. When I was 16, we drove from San Francisco to Carmel-by-the-Sea in a rented red convertible. Along the way, we stopped and picked up her friend Laura, a divorced woman in her 50s who wore an enormous turquoise ring on her wedding finger. She handed me my first leather-bound journal and plainly said, You wont make any money as a writer. You should do it anyway. I sat in the back of that car, eating Twizzlers and memorizing every sound they made. I learned that grown women didnt just gossip they shared reflections about their past lives, argued about politics, and agreed to disagree and still stay lifelong friends. I learned they still had little-girl-laughter in them when a state sheriff pulled us over and they got out of a speeding ticket not by being sexy and 20, but by charming him with stories and quips. Once safely in Carmel, a small beach city on the Monterey peninsula, my mother patiently accompanied me inside and outside of local art galleries. She wasnt a fan of contemporary art, but for the first time waited to hear me explain why the abstract images moved me. You have a good eye, she said at one point. Why dont you go outside and keep Laura company? Shes probably hungry. Ill be right there. A few minutes later, she walked out carrying a small bag. My first acrylic painting postcard size, but stunning. It was the first time she agreed to meet me on my terms, despite not understanding something that brought me joy. grand canyon Over the years, there were trips to Ischia, where she forced me to try a fish with its head intact, and she told me she saw a white light appear over her mothers head the day she watched her pass away. There was a 4 a.m. wake-up call in a small hotel near the Grand Canyon so we wouldnt miss the sunrise. We went Christmas ornament shopping in Montreal, then drank cold white wine by the river and listened to a jazz band without speaking to one another one of the only times a shared silence felt as good as a hug. In Old San Juan, an older gentleman approached us and asked to buy us a drink. I was 19 or 20 and as ripe a peach as Id ever be, but he only had eyes for my mother. At one point he stared at my face for a few minutes longer than usual. You have curious eyes, he said. It wasnt a compliment. It wasnt an insult. It was an awakening. I wasnt going to be a painting men gazed at; I was always going to be a woman who stared just a little too long at other people. Despite rejection, he left our little table with a grin on his face. It was the first time I noticed my mothers eyes werent brown; they were amber with gold specks. Our most important trip together was also one of the last wed take before I became a woman who vacationed with boyfriends, friends, and sometimes alone. Two months after I left for London for a study abroad program, she met me at my apartment before our planned journey to Bath. She walked over to the dining room table to put her handbag down without taking her eyes off of me. Something in her face told me she regretted the decision to send me across the Atlantic. She seemed to have trouble breathing. She hugged me and wouldnt let go for what seemed like an eternity. Then she barely looked at me again. london I had lost too much weight 15 or so pounds I didnt need to lose in the first place. I was in the throes of an eating disorder that had started 10 years prior, but had room to expand like a sponge the second I found myself alone and traveling without my mother for the first time. She would later tell me she could feel every rib and bone in my back that day. She said something about my clavicles; she suddenly became fixated with my clavicles. At some point that morning, my mother exhaled and we boarded a bus to Bath, where she watched me float around hot springs, shade my eyes from the sun and Georgian architecture, and pick at sandwiches. Her eyelashes were moist a few days later when she left me, but she left me there anyway. I hope I have the courage to make the same choice if Im ever in her shoes. Leaving me in a strange place forced me to become an adult who finally asked for help. Traveling with my mother didnt change us, but it gave us exclusive access to one other. When there were no rooms to run into and no doors to slam, we were forced to see each other: hazel eyes, abstract art, ribs, and clavicles. Im forever grateful for the times we couldnt hide. Photo credit: Washington Bureauundefined From Esquire Is it too late to dig up Richard Nixon and set his mouldering corpse on fire on the National Mall, preferably in front of that portion of the Vietnam Memorial in which are carved the names of every American who died there between the years 1969 and 1972? My buddy Jack Farrell has a new Nixon biography coming out and, over the weekend, in The New York Times, he provided the final evidence in support of a flaming national catharsis. A newfound cache of notes left by H. R. Haldeman, his closest aide, shows that Nixon directed his campaign's efforts to scuttle the peace talks, which he feared could give his opponent, Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey, an edge in the 1968 election. On Oct. 22, 1968, he ordered Haldeman to "monkey wrench" the initiative Haldeman's notes return us to the dark side. Amid the reappraisals, we must now weigh apparently criminal behavior that, given the human lives at stake and the decade of carnage that followed in Southeast Asia, may be more reprehensible than anything Nixon did in Watergate. What an evil fck. What an unimaginably evil fck the man was. "! Keep Anna Chennault working on" South Vietnam, Haldeman scrawled, recording Nixon's orders. "Any other way to monkey wrench it? Anything RN can do." Nixon told Haldeman to have Rose Mary Woods, the candidate's personal secretary, contact another nationalist Chinese figure - the businessman Louis Kung - and have him press Thieu as well. "Tell him hold firm," Nixon said. Go ahead. Tell me again about the opening to China, and the EPA, and all the rest of it. This is pure treason, worse than anything Aaron Burr ever tried, beyond anything for which Nixon pursued bureaucrats during his Red-hunting days. In a conversation with the Republican senator Everett Dirksen, the minority leader, Johnson lashed out at Nixon. "I'm reading their hand, Everett," Johnson told his old friend. "This is treason." "I know," Dirksen said mournfully. Story continues If the Vietnamese want to set the pile of decomposing sins on fire in downtown Hanoi, I won't object to that, either. Respond to this post on the Esquire Politics Facebook page. You Might Also Like Paris (AFP) - A French court agreed Wednesday to adjourn the trial of the playboy son of Equatorial Guinea's leader, giving him six more months to prepare his defence against charges he embezzled more than 100 million euros. Teodorin Obiang, his country's vice-president, is suspected of plundering his oil and timber-rich country to buy a mansion on one of Paris' most exclusive avenues as well as a collection of supercars. When the trial opened on Monday, lawyers for the 47-year-old son of President Teodoro Obiang Nguema argued that they had had too little time to call witnesses and prepare their defence. Judges agreed and said the trial would now resume on June 19. The case is the first arising from an unprecedented investigation into the French assets of a trio of African leaders accused of leading a life of luxury abroad while their citizens live in poverty. Obiang had attempted to prevent the case coming to court and claims he is innocent. He says the money came from legitimate sources, not bribes or embezzlement as prosecutors allege. The prosecution and anti-corruption group Transparency International, one of the plaintiffs in the case, called the defence's request for an adjournment a "delaying" tactic. Assets belonging to Teodorin Obiang have been seized in several countries. His house on Paris' exclusive Avenue Foch, which boasts a cinema, spa, hair salon and taps covered in gold leaf, is estimated to be worth around 107 million euros ($112 million). When French judicial officials first launched raids in Paris in 2011, they hauled away Bugattis, Ferraris, Rolls Royce and other cars. The case sets a precedent for France which has long turned a blind eye to African dictators pouring their ill-gotten gains into Parisian real estate and luxury products. - Californian villa - It came about after nearly a decade of lobbying by Transparency International and another group, Sherpa. "In the beginning, there was simply no political will in France to listen to us," William Bourdon, a lawyer for Sherpa, wrote in September. Story continues Equatorial Guinea, Africa's only Spanish-speaking nation, is the continent's third-biggest oil producer but more than half of its population live below the poverty line. It is regularly criticised by human rights groups for its repressive laws, corruption, as well as unlawful killings and torture by its security forces. Obiang is not expected to attend the trial or serve a jail sentence even if he is convicted of the charge of laundering funds obtained from corruption. US officials said he had "shamelessly" looted his country in 2014 and forced him to forfeit property including a villa in Malibu, California, and some of his collection of Michael Jackson memorabilia. In November, Swiss prosecutors said they had also opened a money laundering probe targeting Obiang and seized 11 luxury cars in Geneva, including a Bugatti Veyron worth around two million euros. Have Americans gone crazy? How can optimism be soaring when were told the future looks so bleak? The Conference Board reports that consumer confidence is higher than it was in 2007 before the Great Recession. Christmas spending rose at the fastest clip since 2011 up 3.8 percent - and businesses are more upbeat too. A survey of purchasing managers noted the most buoyant investment in inventories since record-keeping began in 2007. Has everyone gone nuts? Related: Trump Plays War Games on Twitter, and Americans Are Getting Worried They must not have heard the following: President-elect Donald Trump will start a trade war that will shatter the economy. Bank regulations will be trashed, allowing Wall Street to wreak havoc on innocent borrowers once again. President Obamas environmental restrictions will be revoked, causing a massive increase in respiratory diseases, global scorching and the drowning of coastal cities. Trump will turn over our nuclear codes to Vladimir Putin the first chance he gets. Women will lose their constitutionally protected right to have an abortion and access to healthcare. In short -- Armageddon. Related: Why Trump Needs to Take the Economy More Seriously Maybe Americans have heard all these hysterical forecasts and have tuned them out. Maybe Americans have been emboldened by the British who ignored warnings that voting for Brexit would rain chaos and misery upon England only to find that leaving the EU might not be so painful after all. A headline in yesterdays Financial Times said it all: Economists outlook after Brexit dims despite lack of clear damage to economy. No clear damage, but theyre just sure Brexit cannot be positive. Heres what the elites fail to understand: millions of Americans (just like the Brits) are worried about the countrys future. No matter how often Obama explained the wonders of Obamacare, or the Iran nuclear deal, or the importance of his global climate accord, sensible Americans remained unconvinced. Story continues They wanted a new leader with new ideas about how to put people back to work and bolster incomes. They now have that leader, and so far he has given them what he promised an end to the status quo. He has made cabinet picks that are accomplished and unconventional and who appear committed to turning things around, and he has taken an outside-the-box approach to many of our nations challenges. Related: Trump Steps Up Effort to Discredit Sanctions Against Russia Americans hope that Trumps controversial programs might give the country the boost it needs. Here is an important fact that Trump understands and that Obama does not: the kind of optimism he is generating can all by itself usher in a rosier economy. In fact, it is already doing so. Back in 2009, just as he took office, Obama went out of his way to trash talk the economy. At a time when investors and consumers needed reassurance, Obama predicted trillion dollar deficits for years to come and portrayed the economy as hanging by a thread. He was correct that the country was struggling, but his gloomy pronouncements, which more than once triggered market sell-offs, made matters worse. Though the economy turned around slowly, Obama never stopped reminding Americans of all that was wrong with the U.S. our racism and intolerance, our greed and undue attention to profits, our predilection for thinking we were special. Not for him was Reagans optimism. Trumps optimism is not the kindly sunshine of Ronald Reagan, but a blustery, combative can-do positivity that is a welcome change from the uber-intellectual detachment of the Obama White House. Just as the billionaire developer was famous for convincing reluctant financiers that his next deal was going to be the biggest, the best, the most fabulous ever and that they would rue the day they turned down his loan -- Trump has sold Americans on the promise that he can create jobs. Related: The Insiders Already Cashing In on the Trump Presidency The Left says he lies all the time; mostly, he just exaggerates. Americans understand the difference, and for the moment, they are giving him the benefit of the doubt and hoping that even a fraction of what he promises will come true. They are upbeat, and that sentiment is carrying Trump forward to Inauguration Day with a wind at his back. That wont stop the incessant torrent of criticism and skepticism from the mainstream media. Democrats and the liberal media will spend 2017 trying to scare the bejesus out of Americans, warning, especially, that GOP efforts to streamline our government and cut down on duplicative and excess rules will undermine health and safety. They will portray any loosening of the regulatory knot as prioritizing billionaires and big corporations as Senator Patty Murray recently put it a threat that any self-respecting Democrat should oppose. Millions know this is pure baloney that the nightmarish layers upon layers of rules imposed on businesses have crushed our entrepreneurs and deadened our animal spirits. This is not fantasy; the numbers prove it out. Sluggish business investment has been a drag on the recovery for years. For 2015 overall, business spending rose only 2.8 percent. And 2016 saw further retrenchment. Only the Ivory Tower set- people who have never created a job or built a business dismiss the critical need for regulatory overhaul. Obama has paid lip service to the negative impact of regulatory overload even as he has gone about spinning them out at a record clip. Trump promises more than lip service, and his pledge to help businesses has already boosted morale. In the two weeks after the election, the NFIB index of small business optimism recorded its sharpest surge since 2009. For those managers following the presidential race, expectations that business conditions would improve jumped from -6 to a hefty +38. If those folks put their money where their optimism is, Trump will be well on his way to producing the kind of economic acceleration he has promised. But dont expect Democrats to applaud. Top Reads from The Fiscal Times: WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President-elect Donald Trump plans to pick businessman William Hagerty as the next U.S. ambassador to Japan, an adviser to Trump's transition team told Reuters on Wednesday. Japan's Nikkei news service reported that Trump would announce the choice of Hagerty, who is the director of presidential appointments in Trump's transition team, soon. The adviser who spoke to Reuters confirmed the Nikkei report. He spoke on condition of anonymity. Hagerty is a Tennessee native who founded a private equity firm, Hagerty Peterson. He spent several years in Japan with the Boston Consulting Group management consultancy and also served in the White House of former President George H.W. Bush. (Reporting by David Brunnstrom; Editing by Alistair Bell) Donald Trump President-elect Donald Trump mocked US intelligence officials on Tuesday in a tweet claiming his briefing on Russian cyberattacks was delayed, and he once again cast doubt on their claims that Russia interfered with the presidential election. "The 'Intelligence' briefing on so-called 'Russian hacking' was delayed until Friday, perhaps more time needed to build a case. Very strange!" Trump said on Twitter. A senior US intelligence official immediately countered Trump's claim, however, NBC News reported, saying the briefing with the heads of the NSA, the CIA, the DNI, and the FBI was "always" scheduled for Friday. Trump doubled down on his apparent doubts on Russia's involvement Wednesday morning, citing WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange's interview with Fox News that aired Tuesday. Speaking with Fox News host Sean Hannity, Assange denied that Russia provided WikiLeaks with the leaked Democratic emails it released during the 2016 campaign. Julian Assange said "a 14 year old could have hacked Podesta" - why was DNC so careless? Also said Russians did not give him the info! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 4, 2017 Last week, Trump said he agreed to meet with intelligence officials about Russia's involvement in the hacks, though he added it was "time to move on." He also claimed he would reveal insider information about the cyberattacks on Tuesday or Wednesday of this week, though a member of Trump's team told CNN that Trump would not be following through. Trump official tells me no plans for Trump to speak on Russia hacking tomorrow. Over wknd, Trump said he would have more "Tues or Wed" Jim Acosta (@Acosta) January 4, 2017 Lawmakers slammed Trump's Tuesday-night tweet. "Really wish we saw more PEOTUS respect for our intelligence professionals," Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia said on Twitter. "Proves the need for Congress to give the American people a timely bipartisan probe." Story continues The incoming Senate minority leader, Chuck Schumer, also weighed in, calling Trump's comments "really dumb" during an interview with MSNBC's Rachel Maddow. "Let me tell you, you take on the intelligence community, they have six ways from Sunday at getting back at you," Schumer continued. The FBI, the CIA, and the Director of National Intelligence concluded in December that Russia interfered with the election in part to help Trump secure the presidency, with Russian President Vladimir Putin possibly being personally involved. As punishment, President Barack Obama announced last week a new round of sanctions against Russia, including the removal of 35 intelligence Russian officials from the US. Trump has consistently questioned the allegations against Russia. Tuesday's tweet was another example of Trump's dismissive attitude toward the intelligence agencies he'll soon be working with. Last month, the president-elect brushed off concerns he wasn't attending his traditional daily intelligence and national security briefings. "I get it when I need it," Trump said. "I'm, like, a smart person," he added. "I don't have to be told the same thing in the same words every single day for the next eight years. I don't need that. But I do say, 'If something should change, let us know.'" Peter Jacobs contributed to this report. NOW WATCH: Trump slams Alec Baldwin: 'His imitation of me is really mean-spirited and not very good' More From Business Insider Donald Trump President-elect Donald Trump said on Twitter Tuesday that he will hold a press conference on January 11. It would be Trump's first official press conference since July 27, and his first as president-elect. He has done a handful of one-on-one interviews and has taken questions from reporters in more casual settings including one occasion in Florida last week. The president-elect said in December he would hold a press conference before his inauguration to discuss potential conflict-of-interest issues surrounding his business interests and his incoming administration. It was unclear from Trump's announcement what he would discuss during the January 11 affair. He described it only as a "general news conference." Trump made headlines during his last official appearance in front of reporters in July, when he made a direct appeal to Russia to dig up what he described as missing emails belonging to Hillary Clinton, his former Democratic presidential rival. Since then, the US has officially accused Russia of hacking Democratic organizations, and the Obama administration has leveled new sanctions against the Kremlin including the expulsion of 35 Russian diplomats from the US. Russian President Vladimir Putin responded by expressing hope for stronger ties to the US via the incoming Trump administration, a move that Trump has applauded. NOW WATCH: These are the biggest risks facing the world in 2017 More From Business Insider WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Donald Trump planned to meet with the heads of the Central Intelligence Agency, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence on Friday, a spokesman for the U.S. Republican president-elect said. Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Sean Spicer said CIA Director John Brennan, FBI Director James Comey and DNI's James Clapper intend to attend the briefing with Trump on the U.S. intelligence agencies' final report on the subject of Russian hacking of U.S. political groups and individuals. (Reporting by Susan Heavey and Mohammad Zargham) No socks, no problem for the president-elect. At a New Years Eve bash at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida on Saturday, Donald Trump shared the stage with a convicted felon who goes by the nickname Joey No Socks, a video obtained by the Palm Beach Daily News reveals. In the clip, Joseph Joey No Socks Cinque stands by Trumps side loudly cheering on the president-elect as he lists off his campaign promises before hundreds of guests. The taxes are coming down, regulations are coming off, were going to get rid of Obamacare, Trump says as Cinque grins and pumps his fists. Cinque was convicted in 1989 of criminal possession of stolen art, a felony, CNN reported. And according to a 1995 profile in New York magazine, Cinque was friends with the infamous Gambino crime family boss John Gotti. The magazine also reported that Cinque was shot three times and left for dead in a 1980 incident that Cinque insisted was a robbery, but that officials said was more likely a hit. Cinque now serves as president and CEO of the American Academy of Hospitality Sciences (AAHS), which presents Star Diamond awards to restaurants and hotels and has listed Trump as an ambassador extraordinaire as recently as 2015. Roughly half of the other approximately 30 honorary AAHS trustees are Trump family members, friends and business associates, The Week reports, citing the Associated Press. RELATED VIDEO: Watch: Natasha Stoynoff Breaks Silence, Accuses Donald Trump of Sexual Assault For more celebrity videos visit Yahoo View, available now on iOS and Android. The Week also notes that Trump paid tribute to Cinque in 2009, calling him a special guy and adding, Theres nobody like him. But in a May interview with the AP, Trump downplayed his relationship with Cinque, saying, If a guys going to give you an award, you take it. You dont tend to look up his whole life story. Story continues He also told Yahoo News of Cinque in May, I dont know him. I just find him to be a very nice man, and I dont know his background. I really dont. Asked for comment about Trumps relationship with Cinque, the president-elects transition team told CNN this week, Mr. Trump never denied knowing Mr. Cinque. Democratic strategist Hilary Rosen tells PEOPLE that Trumps connection to the convicted felon could further erode the American peoples trust in the president-elect. There is a well documented history of a relationship between these two men. Overall its a small story, but its reflective of the wrong attitude on his part. In business, the deal outcome is all that matters. In politics, leadership means trust and shared values. People want to respect their president. He needs to show more of that. President-elect Donald Trump is reportedly scheduled to give a deposition later this week as mediation aimed at settling a lawsuit against celebrity chef Geoffrey Zakarian over deserted plans for a restaurant at the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C., has stalled. The 70-year-old billionaires testimony is expected to be heard behind closed doors at Trump Tower in New York after a judge ruled last month that Zakarians side has the authority to depose Trump for up to the seven hours permitted under court rules. However, both sides have not publicly clarified when Trump will testify. Attorney Rebecca Woods, who is representing the Trump Organization, told D.C. Superior Court Judge Brian Holeman that the mediation process, which began in February 2016 after the lawsuits filed last year against firms connected with Zakarian, has reached an impasse. Holeman on Tuesday set a pre-trial conference for May 17 for the suit. A trial may begin a few months after that, however, at present, the two sides are reportedly keeping the doors open for additional discussions. If the case goes to trial, Trump may be summoned as a witness, though he will not be asked by the court to attend the proceedings. Trump's side is seeking about $14 million in damages from Zakarian and another chef, Jose Andres, for abandoning the restaurant. Trumps side argues that the leases for the restaurants are binding, according to Politico. Zakarian and Andres, however, claim that Trump breached the deal by making questionable comments regarding Mexican immigrants, including calling them rapists, ultimately jeopardizing the business venture by alienating potential customers and employees. Andres is fighting Trump with his own countersuit and is seeking at least $8 million in damages, according to Bloomberg. Deborah Baum, who is an attorney for Zakarian, also agreed with Woods' description of stalled negotiations. "If liability is decided against my clients, there will be a very serious question regarding mitigation efforts," Baum told the judge while conveying the eventualities that may occur if the judge rules that Zakarian breached the lease agreement. Baum said that the question of how much money Trump is entitled to in damages would be lingering. Related Articles (Adds background) WASHINGTON, Jan 3 (Reuters) - President-elect Donald Trump said on Tuesday that a briefing he is to receive from U.S. intelligence officials on allegations of Russian hacking of the U.S. election had been delayed until Friday. In a tweet, Trump voiced continued skepticism about the extent of Russia's cyber hacking. He and top advisers believe Democrats are trying to delegitimize his Nov. 8 election victory by accusing Russian authorities of helping him. "The 'Intelligence' briefing on so-called 'Russian hacking' was delayed until Friday, perhaps more time needed to build a case. Very strange!" Trump tweeted. It was not clear when the briefing originally had been scheduled to take place. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Trump, who has cast doubt on U.S. intelligence agencies' conclusion that Russia hacked Democratic Party computers, said over the weekend he would discuss the hacking allegations on Tuesday or Wednesday. With his tweet, he suggested he would not address the subject until he had been briefed by intelligence officials. Trump has scheduled a Jan. 11 news conference in New York. He is expected to discuss separating himself from his far-flung business empire, and other topics, including Russia, are likely to come up. U.S. intelligence officials have said they are confident Russia was behind the hacks of political figures in an effort to help Trump win the presidential election. President Barack Obama retaliated to the hacking last week by ordering 35 Russian intelligence officials expelled from the United States and two Russian compounds shut down. Trump told reporters on Saturday at his Palm Beach, Florida, resort that he knew "things that other people don't know" about the hacking, "so we cannot be sure" who was responsible. He said any computer was subject to hacks. "It's very important. If you have something really important write it out and have it delivered by courier the old fashioned way," Trump said, adding: "No computer is safe, I don't care what they say." (Reporting by Eric Beech and Steve Holland; Editing by Sandra Maler and Peter Cooney) President-elect Donald Trump appears to have bought into the idea that there is a conspiracy within the entire United States Intelligence Community to blame the Russian government for cyberattacks that compromised the Democratic National Committee and senior figures in the party in the run up to the 2016 presidential election. After months of casting doubt about the consensus finding of intelligence agencies that the hacks, and the dissemination of files and emails, was orchestrated by Moscow, Trump on Tuesday night used Twitter to suggest that intelligence officers had been forced to delay a briefing on the hacking because of a lack of evidence. Related: Trump and the GOP Are On a Collision Course over Russian Sanctions The "Intelligence" briefing on so-called "Russian hacking" was delayed until Friday, perhaps more time needed to build a case. Very strange! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 4, 2017 Administration officials told news organizations that they were mystified by the President-elects suggestion that the intelligence agencies had delayed the briefing, saying that it had always been scheduled for Friday. Trump followed up on Wednesday morning with another tweet referring to a televised interview with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange that aired Tuesday night. Assange, whose organization released thousands of hacked emails from the DNC and from Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clintons campaign chairman John Podesta, spoke to Fox News personality Sean Hannity, an unabashed cheerleader for Trump throughout the presidential campaign. During the interview, Assange repeated his denial that WikiLeaks received the hacked information from the Russian government and claimed that Podesta had fallen for a hacking method so rudimentary a child could have used it. Julian Assange said "a 14 year old could have hacked Podesta" - why was DNC so careless? Also said Russians did not give him the info! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 4, 2017 Related: Trump Steps Up Effort to Discredit Sanctions Against Russia Assange also criticized a preliminary report into the hacking issued by U.S. intelligence agencies as either a deliberate attempt to mislead or thoroughly incompetent work. Story continues Trumps criticism of U.S. intelligence agencies is not new. Since last summer, when the Intelligence Community released a statement saying that they believed the hacking attacks on Democrats were orchestrated by Russia with an aim to disrupt the presidential election, he has defended Russia, claiming that there is no evidence of the Kremlins involvement. Trumps apparent decision to side with Assange against the U.S. Intelligence Community suggests that his already strained relationship with those agencies is not going to improve any time soon. In an interview with PBS, conducted before Trumps latest suggestion that his agency is trying to hoodwink the public, Central Intelligence Agency Director John Brennan said that a comprehensive assessment of the intelligence agencies findings with regard to the hacking is nearing completion and will be delivered to President Obama and President-elect Trump later this week. He defended the work of his colleagues against Trumps criticism of past failures and said, There is no intelligence community worldwide that has the capabilities, the expertise, the analytic capability as the U.S. intelligence community. And so I would suggest to individuals who have not yet seen the report, who have not yet been briefed on it that they wait and see what it is that the intelligence community is putting forward before they make those judgments. Related: Making Friends with Russia May Be Harder than Trump Seems to Think Brennan also took a swipe at Assange, saying that the WikiLeaks founder, who has been holed up in the Ecuadorian embassy in London for five years fighting extradition to Sweden on sexual assault charges (which he adamantly denies) is not exactly a bastion of truth and integrity. Brennan continued, And so, therefore, I wouldnt ascribe to any of these individual making comments that it is providing the whole, unvarnished truth. Again, this report is going to include what it is that we know about what happened, what was collected, what was disclosed, and what the purpose and intent of that effort was. Top Reads from The Fiscal Times: California investigators found repeated violations of foreclosure laws at OneWest when the bank was being run by President-elect Donald Trump 's Treasury secretary pick Steven Mnuchin, according to a memo obtained by The Intercept. A spokesman for Mnuchin called the report "garbage." During 2009 to 2015, when Mnuchin headed the bank, investigators "uncovered evidence suggestive of widespread misconduct," according to the 2013 memo from then-California Attorney General Kamala Harris' office. The period includes the aftermath of the Great Recession, which was triggered in part by banks approving risky mortgages. Among the allegations, according to The Intercept: The bank "rushed delinquent homeowners out of their homes by violating notice and waiting period statutes, illegally backdated key documents, and effectively gamed foreclosure auctions." The investigators recommended that Harris file a civil enforcement action against the Pasadena-based bank, but her office declined to prosecute without explanation, The Intercept said. "This memo is meritless," Mnuchin spokesman Barney Keller said by email to CNBC.com. "OneWest was the only bank in the country to complete the grueling independent foreclosure review by the OCC and received the top rating from government regulators for compliance. Steven Mnuchin and OneWest managed to issue over 100,000 loan modifications including thousands that reduced borrower principal, on loans that he did not even originate. Memos like this belong in the garbage, not the news." Mnuchin, a former Goldman Sachs (GS) partner who headed Trump's campaign fundraising efforts, is expected to face a tough confirmation hearing. The Intercept said his spokeswoman, Tara Bradshaw, declined to comment on the alleged violations, but added: "The attorney general's office made no finding of any violation and took no action against OneWest." Harris, a Democrat, began her first term as a U.S. senator on Tuesday. Read the full report from The Intercept here. More From CNBC trump nuclear weapons getty shutterstock business insider illustration v2 Few words issued by President-elect Donald Trump could matter more than his recent rhetoric on 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 posted to Twitter on December 22, 2016. The next day, he bucked his aides' dismissive spin: "Let it be an arms race. We will outmatch them at every pass and outlast them all," Trump allegedly told MSNBC "Morning Joe" host Mika Brzezinski over the phone. Trump is worried about the nuclear weapons modernization efforts of Russia, which in 2014 violated a key arms reduction treaty, plus the emerging threat of North Korea. His tough-guy attitude echoes Cold War-era logic: outmatch your adversaries, or risk a nation-destroying preemptive strike. But this line of thinking is exceedingly dangerous in a future US president. It not only ignores disquieting facts about nuclear weapons and threatens to further implode a global half-century-long effort to reduce nuclear armaments, it also increases the risk of a nuclear catastrophe. Trump's push for nuclear proliferation is the worst possible option, not even worthy of being a last resort. Here's why. Enough nukes already exist to destroy both the US and Russia Russia currently possesses 7,300 nuclear weapons. The United States has 7,100. Together, these armaments comprise about 93% of all nuclear weapons on Earth. By contrast, China has about 260 warheads. Less than a quarter of these weapons are actually deployed in the air, on land, or at sea the so-called "triad" of defense. Also, an uncertain number are smaller, "tactical" devices meant for the battlefield. (Such devices are their own can of worms, as we'll show shortly.) But such caveats make little difference. Most US and Russian arms are officially deemed as "strategic," such as the submarine-launched W88 thermonuclear warhead, and they tend to be many times more powerful than the bombs the US dropped on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945. Those unprecedented attacks leveled cities and killed more than 100,000 people. Story continues Purely looking at the known numbers of strategic warheads, the US has deployed and stockpiled enough to destroy every Russian city with a population greater than 50,000 (about 300 cities altogether) many times over. Similarly, Russia likely has enough to decimate every US city larger than 100,000 people (also about 300 cities) multiple times. This is the raw essence behind nuclear deterrence: You won't destroy us because we can destroy you. If establishing such a stalemate is still the guiding principle behind the existence of nuclear weapons, then the current US arsenal is more than adequate psychological warfare. Adding more weapons, as Trump suggests, would do little to enhance or change this perceived advantage. In fact, it'd make a terrifying situation even worse. Weapons systems and people are flawed Right now, hundreds of strategic US nuclear weapons are on "hair-trigger alert," also called "on alert" or "launch-on-warning". This dangerous Cold War-era policy means such weapons can be launched within a few minutes of detecting an adversary's preemptive nuclear strike or a false signal of one. Many strategic weapons, like Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) deployed across middle America, can't be disabled once they leave a silo. Yet no human creation is perfect. You can build the world's smartest, most seemingly foolproof machine, and it will still contain flaws. In the case of nuclear weapons systems, such flaws run the risk of accidental launch, detonation, and incredible loss of life. Tallying up nuclear weapons accidents is exceedingly difficult, especially due to their classified nature, but information that has been released is alarming. "[M]any dozens of incidents involving nuclear warheads are known to have occurred in the United States and likely many more that have not been made public," according to a 2015 fact sheet by the Union of Concerned Scientists. It continued: "[T]he more of these incidents that occur, the greater is the chance that one of them will lead to a nuclear detonation." Thirty-two known incidents were "broken arrows," or when a nuclear weapon was accidentally launched, fired, detonated, stolen, or lost. Eleven are weapons the US military never recovered, including one of two powerful thermonuclear bombs it accidentally dropped and nearly detonated over North Carolina. A uranium pit from one of the weapons is still somewhere at the bottom of a swamp. titan ii 2 missile usaf.JPG Writer Eric Schlosser has chronicled some of these all-too-common misadventures in "Command and Control: Nuclear Weapons, the Damascus Accident, and the Illusion of Safety". The 2014 book closely follows the story of a Titan II ICBM that exploded in its silo, nearly setting off a powerful warhead that could have laid waste to Arkansas and nearby states. (The cause? A maintenance worker who accidentally dropped a tool.) In light of Trump's recent statements, Schlosser revisited some of his book's material in a recent piece for The New Yorker, in which he described alarming, ongoing technical problems with "aging and obsolete" nuclear weapons and their command-and-control systems. Schlosser also highlighted the risks of being human. Using Minuteman III system as one example, he wrote for The New Yorker: "[In 2014], almost a hundred Minuteman launch officers were disciplined for cheating on their proficiency exams. In 2015, three launch officers at Malmstrom Air Force Base, in Montana, were dismissed for using illegal drugs, including ecstasy, cocaine, and amphetamines. That same year, a launch officer at Minot Air Force Base, in North Dakota, was sentenced to twenty-five years in prison for heading a violent street gang, distributing drugs, sexually assaulting a girl under the age of sixteen, and using psilocybin, a powerful hallucinogen. As the job title implies, launch officers are entrusted with the keys for launching intercontinental ballistic missiles." National leaders who can order nuclear strikes are also fallible humans. Take Pakistan's defense minister, Khawaja Muhammad Asif, for example. Asif publicly rattled his nation's nuclear sabers in late December after reading (and apparently believing) a fake news article about Israel threatening his country with nuclear weapons. More nukes would increase the chances that a weapons system and the people behind their operation would fail. It would also heighten the risk of a weapon, especially small tactical ones, falling into the hands of terrorists. Luckily, the US is actively working to reduce the chance of disaster. The US is already spending $1 trillion on nuclear weapons nuclear modernization During the first presidential debate, Trump claimed that "Russia has been expanding their they have a much newer [nuclear weapons] capability than we do. We have not been updating from the new standpoint. [...] We are not we are not keeping up with other countries." While it's true that Russia is upgrading its weapons, partly in response to sanctions and partly in response to US nuclear weapons advancements, Trump's assertion that the US "has not been updating" and is "not keeping up" is either a bold lie or fallacious. For example, Russia does not currently have a working early-warning satellite system; it went offline 2 years ago, Schlosser said. This means the US gets 30 minutes of warning with an ICBM launch. Russia's land-based radar systems, meanwhile, can give only a few minutes' notice before a warhead lands. Trump's oft-repeated statements on nuclear weapons also suggest that he does not understand the truly bewildering amount of taxpayer dollars the US has spent maintaining and improving its nuclear weapons systems. In his book "Atomic Audit: The Costs and Consequences of U.S. Nuclear Weapons Since 1940", Stephen Schwartz, a professor at Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, calculated how much the US government spent on nuclear weapons through 1996. His conservative estimate is that the country spent, at minimum, $5.8 trillion on nuclear weapons. That's in 1996-adjusted dollars, though; in 2016 dollars, this amounts to more than $8.9 trillion. Putting this titanic amount of money into perspective, Schwartz told an audience during a 1998 presentation at the Brookings Institution: "[N]uclear weapons spending over this 56-year period exceeded the combined total federal spending for education; training, employment, and social services; agriculture; natural resources and the environment; general science, space, and technology; community and regional development (including disaster relief); law enforcement; and energy production and regulation. On average, the United States has spent $98 billion a year [$150 billion in 2016 dollars] on nuclear weapons." Today, a similar spending trend continues. Obama nuclear summit "The current and planned U.S. investment in nuclear forces is unrivaled by any other nuclear power," stated a December 2016 report by the Arms Control Association. Business Insider has called Trump's attention to the fact that the US plans to spend more than $1 trillion in taxes over the next 30 years to modernize its nuclear arsenal. (The government pegged the cost at about $450 billion over 20 years, but these estimates aren't realistic, according to several independent reports.) The nuclear triad modernization program, requested by President Barack Obama, endeavors to refurbish aging weapons systems, improve reliability, narrow targeting, lower the risk of malfunctions, and actually reduce the number of deployed, ready-to-go weapons. Any call to expand the US nuclear arsenal while failing to address this controversial program, as Trump did throughout the 2016 election, and continues to as president-elect, belies a vast government expenditure and suggests a worrisome ignorance or dishonesty. The effects of this program could extend well beyond US and Russian borders, too. Expanding nuclear weapons capabilities endangers the whole planet nuclear bomb Proliferation can occur even when the total number of nuclear weapons decreases. Despite both the US and Russia taking thousands of warheads offline since 2010 (as part of the New START treaty), some experts believe the arms race Trump seeks is already happening under Obama's watch. A primary concern surrounds two new tactical weapons the US military plans to build. The first is a new land-launched nuclear cruise missile. Former UK defense secretary Philip Hammond has said such weapons look like non-nuclear cruise missiles to enemies and adversaries, so their existence could lead to confusion that ends in nuclear war. The second the US military's B61-12 gravity bomb design is perhaps more troubling, in that it might lead to routine use of nuclear weapons. While billed as an upgrade, many experts say it's effectively a new weapon with new capabilities. The B61-12 will recycle four older-style bombs that simply fell to target with a precision of about 300-550 feet. The rebuilt bombs, however, will have new pop-out fins and thrusters to guide them to a target with a precision of less than 100 feet. Their explosions will be adjustable, too, so the military can detonate them at yields several times greater down to several times less than the first atomic bombs. The Federation of American Scientists and former US military leaders say such features make tactical weapons imminently more usable in battle. And if tactical weapons are used in a future conflict, the taboo against use of any nuclear weapons is likely to fall apart. Some experts even argue that tactical weapons use could lead to a nuclear holocaust. (Of note: As late as August 2016, one of Trump's foreign policy advisors said the incoming president asked at least "three times" why the US couldn't use its nuclear arsenal.) US development of advanced tactical weapons also sends a signal to other countries: Namely, that it's ok to develop them, too. pakistan surface missile nasr tactical nuclear weapons AP_579907917930 The most worrisome country for this to happen is not Russia or even Iran or North Korea, but Pakistan (which has 140 nuclear weapons) in its longstanding and bitter feud with India (which has 110 nuclear weapons). "Pakistan is outnumbered by India in terms of conventional forces and is growing increasingly reliant on the threat of the early use of tactical weapons to deter an attack," journalist Julian Borger wrote at The Guardian in 2016. If that does happen, a small-scale nuclear war could ensue and wreck the planet. Simulations show that in a war where India and Pakistan each detonate 50 Hiroshima-size nuclear bombs over cities, more than a quarter of the Earth's ozone layer would disappear within 2 years. The surge of incoming ultraviolet light would wreck ocean ecosystems, increase the rate of skin cancers, stunt plant growth, and more. Also, all the carbon from burning cities would partially blot out the sun, plummet average surface temperatures to 1,000-year lows, and lead to a nuclear winter scenario that'd trigger global famine due to food shortages. Adding weapons and increasing their capabilities is a surer path toward such a catastrophe. There are, however, ways to steer humanity away from this alarming risk. What is the solution? nasa apollo 11 earth africa 1969 AS11 36 5352HR The more nuclear weapons exist and are upgraded, the more likely they are to be used either intentionally or accidentally and expose our species to the risk of an unprecedented nuclear calamity and possibly a horrifying extinction. The solution is not easy but straightforward: Do not expand any nuclear arsenals. Instead, continue to reduce weapons stockpiles, ideally until they are all gone. The US can't ignore ongoing threats from Putin to modernize and expand Russia's nuclear arsenal. Nor should we idly sit by while North Korea works toward its first fully functional nuclear weapons system, including an ICBM capable of reaching the US, or as Pakistan develops tactical weapons and endeavors to give commanders the authority to use them on the battlefield. Fortunately, plenty of non-nuclear alternatives exist to keep adversarial countries in check. Take cyberwarfare, for instance. Given the cleverness and scope of Stuxnet, a computer virus that took down Iran's uranium-enriching centrifuges, it's not unreasonable to suggest covert and preemptive attacks on nuclear weapons systems themselves are possible or even ongoing. "You've either been hacked and not admitting it, or you're being hacked and don't know it," retired general James Cartwright said in June 2015, according to an opinion piece for the San Francisco Chronicle by Joe Cirincione, president of the Ploughshares Fund. Diplomacy, sanctions, embargoes, and treaties may not always be popular, but they have so far effectively prevented countries like Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons. They've also helped reduce weapons stockpiles by more than a factor of 10. Conventional warfare can also help strip a nation of its nuclear weapons facilities. Most importantly, however, as Schlosser and others argue, it's past time that we stop assuming nuclear weapons are safe or ignorable relics of the Cold War. Instead, we all need to have frank and honest discussions in our homes, at work, and with elected officials about the reality of nuclear weapons, including their numbers, risks, cost, and imminent threat to the future of humanity. Every weapon we dismantle is one step farther away from the worst kind of mishap imaginable. Trump is known to change his mind, and for the sake of my daughter's future and the rest of America's, I certainly hope that he comes to his own senses on this issue. His peculiar fondness for Putin and report with Russia places him a unique position to lead potentially powerful, bilateral diplomacy and arms reductions efforts. If he can pull it off, there'd almost certainly be a Nobel Peace Prize and at least one indelibly positive historical legacy waiting for him. Correction: A previous version of this post misidentified Joe Cirincione. He is the president of the Ploughshares Fund, not a journalist at the San Francisco Chronicle. NOW WATCH: Animated map shows every nuclear-bomb explosion in history More From Business Insider By David Brunnstrom and Arshad Mohammed WASHINGTON (Reuters) - In three words of a tweet this week, U.S. President-elect Donald Trump vowed North Korea would never test an intercontinental ballistic missile. "It won't happen!" Trump wrote after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said on Sunday his nuclear-capable country was close to testing an ICBM of a kind that could someday hit the United States. Preventing such a test is far easier said than done, and Trump gave no indication of how he might roll back North Korea's weapons programs after he takes office on Jan. 20, something successive U.S. administrations, both Democratic and Republican, have failed to do. Former U.S. officials and other experts said the United States essentially had two options when it came to trying to curb North Korea's fast-expanding nuclear and missile programs - negotiate or take military action. Neither path offers certain success and the military option is fraught with huge dangers, especially for Japan and South Korea, U.S. allies in close proximity to North Korea. The Republican president-elect complained in a separate tweet that China, North Korea's neighbor and only ally, was not helping to contain Pyongyang - despite China's support for successive rounds of U.N. sanctions against Pyongyang. While many critics, including within President Barack Obama's administration, agreed China could press North Korea harder, the State Department said it did not agree with Trump's assessment that China was not helping. Experts said Trump's tough stance toward Beijing on issues from trade to Taiwan could prove counterproductive in securing greater Chinese cooperation. James Acton, co-director of the Nuclear Policy Program at Washington's Carnegie Endowment for International Peace think tank, said that with his North Korea tweet, Trump had drawn a red line he could later be judged by, like Obama's 2012 warning to Syria over the use of chemical weapons. "This was a foolhardy tweet for Trump to send given the enormous challenges of constraining North Koreas nuclear and missile programs. I think this could be something that comes back to haunt him." THREE OPTIONS U.S. officials, who did not want to be identified, said that if ordered, the U.S. military had three options to respond to a North Korean missile test - a pre-emptive strike before it is launched, intercepting the missile in flight, or allowing a launch to take place unhindered. One official, who did not wish to be named, said there were risks with pre-emptive action, including the possibility of striking the wrong target - or North Korean retaliation against regional allies. Arms control expert Jeffrey Lewis questioned whether U.S. missile defenses could shoot down a test missile, absent a lucky shot, and said destroying North Korea's nuclear and missile programs would be a huge and risky undertaking. Lewis, at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in Monterey, California, said it would require "a large military campaign ... over a fairly substantial period of time." He noted that North Korea's main nuclear and missile test sites were on different sides of the country and factories that supplied them were scattered over several provinces. "There's a warren of tunnels under the nuclear site. And an ICBM can be launched from anywhere in the country because its mobile. You might as well invade the country," Lewis said. Republican U.S. Senator Cory Gardner, writing on cnn.com, said he hoped Trump's administration would impose "secondary sanctions" on firms and entities that help North Korea's weapons programs, many of which were in China. 'PERIOD OF SERIOUS SANCTIONS' While Trump has not detailed his policy approach to North Korea, an adviser to his transition team told Reuters he believed "a period of serious sanctions" had "to be a major part of any discussion on the options available here." State Department spokesman John Kirby said on Tuesday the United States had not ruled out additional sanctions, but added: "Let's not get ahead of where we are." Victor Cha, who was an aide to former Republican President George W. Bush, said he believed Trump was serious about not letting North Korea have nuclear-capable ICBMs that could threaten the U.S. mainland. "How to stop this is of course difficult. It's a combination of diplomacy (to get a freeze), sanctions (Chinese ones and Treasury), moving more military assets to the region for extended deterrence, strike options, and integrated missile defense. That's what would be on my menu," he said. Frank Jannuzi, a former State Department official who heads the Mansfield Foundation Asia dialogue forum, said Trump's vow could prove as hollow as Obama's pledge not to tolerate North Korea's nuclear and missile programs. "I worry ... that it only emboldens the North, because they see it for what it is: empty talk," he said. "It lays down a red line. ... We dont seem prepared to back up." He said North Korea had long defied U.S. and U.N. sanctions to pursue its nuclear and missile programs, and added: "One hundred and forty characters from Donald Trump arent going to change that." (Additional reporting by Idrees Ali in Washington; Editing by Peter Cooney) Photo credit: Hector Vivasundefined From Esquire Donald Trump's victory has destabilized life for many, particularly for Mexican immigrants. Remittances-money sent home by Mexican citizens living abroad-registered their biggest spike in 10 years in November, according to Reuters. The $2.4 billion Mexicans sent home in the immediate aftermath of Trump's victory on November 8 represents a 24.7 percent jump from the same period last year, "the fastest pace of expansion since March 2006." The data, from the Mexican central bank, is not directly attributable to Trump's win, although economists on both sides of the border have drawn a connection. The Mexican peso spiraled to record lows amid a sell-off after November 8, responding to Trump's threats to scrap U.S.-Mexico trade deals and wage a trade war on Mexican goods. Reuters reports Goldman Sachs economist Alberto Ramos told investors "the weak peso fanned the remittance surge," while Mexico's central bank governor Agustin Carstens said the spike was due to the exchange rate, the improving U.S. job market, and Trump's platform. Photo credit: Alfredo Estrellaundefined That platform, of course, included Trump's threat to ban remittances and use the ensuing leverage to force Mexico to pay for the proposed border wall you may have heard a thing or two about. The country of Mexico and the very concept of illegal immigrants were also two of Trump's preferred enemies of the state throughout the campaign. While all that is still rhetoric, we've already seen consequences: One bank forecast that Mexicans abroad will have sent home a record $27 billion in 2016, Reuters reports, $2 billion more than in 2015. You Might Also Like Ankara (AFP) - Turkey said Wednesday it had identified the gunman behind the New Year's massacre on an elite Istanbul nightclub that killed 39, as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned the attack aimed to polarise Turkish society. The assailant stormed the glamorous Reina nightclub on the Bosphorus early on Sunday morning, spraying 120 bullets at terrified partygoers celebrating the start of 2017. Of the 39 dead, 27 were foreigners including citizens from Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Jordan, Iraq, Tunisia and Morocco. At least 36 people have now been detained in the probe, but the gunman himself remains on the run after slipping into the night following the attack. "The identity of the person responsible for the attack has been established," Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said during an interview with state-run Anadolu news agency, without giving any name. The attack was claimed by the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group, with reports suggesting the authorities suspect the gunman may be from either Kyrgyzstan or Uzbekistan, both ex-Soviet states. "Efforts to capture him continue," said Cavusoglu, adding that the house the suspect lived in "has been searched" and the attack he mounted had been "professionally" planned. - 'Polarise society' - IS took responsibility for the massacre in a statement on Monday, marking the first time it has issued a clear and undisputed claim for a major attack inside Turkey. Hitting a nightclub on New Year's night, the attack struck at the heart of secular Turkey, with analysts saying IS clearly sought to widen splits in Turkish society. In his first spoken comments on the attack, Erdogan said the aim was "to create a fissure and polarise society". He insisted Turkey would resist efforts to divide the country, vowing Turks would "stand tall and keep our sangfroid." "No-one's lifestyle in Turkey is under a systematic threat. We would never let this happen. In 14 years in power, we have never given this a chance," Erdogan said in a speech at the presidential palace in Ankara. Story continues IS said the attack was a response to Turkey's military intervention against the jihadists in war-ravaged Syria where Turkish troops are pressing a four-month incursion to oust jihadists from the border area. Since the lightning advance into northern Syria in August, removing IS elements from the Turkish border, Ankara has faced a tougher fight to capture the town of Al Bab from IS. But Erdogan insisted the operation would continue and Turkey would clear areas wherever "terrorist organisations" are. "The operation in Syria's Al Bab will be finished in a short time, God willing," he said. Almost forty Turkish soldiers have been killed in the operation and on Wednesday, Dogan news agency reported one soldier was killed and four were injured in an IS attack in Al Bab. - 36 people detained - In the western city of Izmir, at least 20 people including 11 women were taken into custody as part of the investigation into the attack, Anadolu reported. The news agency said they were of Central Asian and Syrian origin while Dogan news agency said they were members of three families who left Konya for Izmir. It was alleged some of those detained had been living in the house with the suspected attacker in Konya. The new arrests bring the number of those detained to at least 36, including two foreigners detained by Turkish police at Istanbul's main airport on Tuesday. One of them was reportedly a woman suspected of being his wife with whom he had stayed in Konya along with two children. She was quoted by Dogan as saying she was not aware of the attack until it was reported. On Wednesday, the Haberturk daily said during his getaway, the gunman took a taxi to a Uighur restaurant in the city's Zeytinburnu district where he got out and went inside to get money from someone to pay the fare. The restaurant owner told the paper police had since detained seven of his workers -- all of them Turkic Uighurs from the Xinjiang region of China -- but that he did not know the attacker himself. The shooting occurred after a bloody year in Turkey in which hundreds of people were killed in violence blamed on both IS jihadists and Kurdish militants. Turkey is also still reeling from a failed July 15 coup blamed by the government on the US-based Islamic preacher Fethullah Gulen that has been followed by a relentless purge of his alleged supporters from state institutions. Parliament on Tuesday extended a controversial state of emergency in place since the coup -- and which has seen over 41,000 people arrested -- by another three months to April 19. Beirut (AFP) - Turkey warned Wednesday that a new round of Syria peace talks was at risk, accusing President Bashar al-Assad's government of violating a fragile truce it brokered with Russia last week. The nationwide ceasefire has brought quiet to large parts of Syria, but has been threatened by ongoing fighting in the Wadi Barada region near Damascus. Government forces backed by Lebanon's Hezbollah group are fighting to recapture the area, the main source of water to the capital. Supply has been cut since December 22, with the regime and rebels trading accusations over responsibility. Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on Wednesday urged the regime and its backers to end their "violations" of the truce, warning they were jeopardising the planned talks in Kazakh capital Astana this month. "If we do not stop the increasing violations, the Astana process could fail. After the ceasefire, we see violations," Cavusoglu told the state-run Anadolu news agency. "When we look at who commits these violations, it is Hezbollah, in particular Shiite groups and the regime," he added. He urged Russia and Iran, which both back Assad and are also helping prepare the Astana talks, to pressure Damascus and Hezbollah to stop the fighting. Despite the call, fighting continued on the ground in Wadi Barada on Wednesday, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor said. It reported ongoing clashes as well as government air strikes and artillery fire in the area, but had no immediate details on casualties. - Talks to halt fighting - Wadi Barada has been under government siege since 2015, but government forces upped pressure on the region several weeks ago as they tried to secure a "reconciliation deal" with rebels there. The regime has reached a series of such deals with opposition forces around Damascus in recent months, offering rebels safe passage to other parts of the country in return for their surrender. Story continues The government accuses rebels in the area of deliberately targeting water infrastructure, causing leaking fuel to poison the supply to the capital, and then cutting the flow altogether. Rebels say the infrastructure was damaged in government strikes, and deny responsibility for the damage that has left four million people without water since December 22. On Tuesday, the government brought reinforcements to the area, the Observatory said. But opposition officials and Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman also reported ongoing talks on a deal to end the fighting and repair the water infrastructure. "Local officials want... Russian teams to enter to fix the infrastructure" in exchange for a halt to the fighting, Abdel Rahman told AFP. "But the regime wants control of the spring and the pumps to prevent any blackmail or threats in the future," he added. "This is their condition for halting military operations." - Iranian official in Damascus - The opposition accused Hezbollah of preventing Russian officials from entering Wadi Barada to assess the work needed and continue negotiations. "A checkpoint belonging to the Hezbollah militia prevented the Russian officers from entering," Ahmed Ramadan of the National Coalition opposition body said in a message to journalists. The ceasefire and Astana talks are the latest bid to resolve nearly six years of conflict in Syria, which has been ravaged by violence since an uprising began in March 2011. More than 310,000 people have been killed and over half the country displaced in the violence, which has drawn in regional and international players. Regime ally Moscow began a military campaign in support of Assad's government in September 2015, and Turkey launched its own fight against the Islamic State group and Kurdish fighters in northern Syria in August last year. The US-led anti-IS coalition said Wednesday it was prepared to support Turkish forces battling the jihadists. "I can confirm for you that those discussions have been happening and the Turks are aware of some of the things that might be in store," Colonel John Dorrian said, speaking via video conference from Baghdad but declining to elaborate. Despite backing opposite sides in the conflict, Ankara and Moscow have worked closely to broker the ceasefire and plan the Astana talks, which Cavusoglu said could take place on January 23. Regime ally Iran is also involved in organising the talks, and top official Alaeddin Boroujerdi was in Damascus on Wednesday for talks with Assad. He praised the government's recapture of Aleppo city last month, and pledged that Iran would continue to back the government, Syrian state media reported. ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkish police detained 20 suspected Islamic State militants thought to be of Central Asian and North African origin in the Aegean coastal city of Izmir on Wednesday, according to a police statement. The suspects were understood to have traveled to Izmir from the central city of Konya, the statement said. Security forces are hunting for a gunman who killed 39 people in an Istanbul nightclub on New Year's Day, an attack claimed by Islamic State. The gunman is still at large. Turkish media reports have said the assailant was believed to have spent time in Konya before coming to Istanbul and carrying out the attack. (Writing by Humeyra Pamuk; Editing by Nick Tattersall) Marine Le Pen may no longer be welcome in Ukraine. This is because Le Pen, leader of Frances far-right National Front party and contender in her countrys upcoming presidential race, was quoted by French television as saying the annexation of Crimea by Russia was not illegal. Instead, she said, it was the will of the Crimean people as expressed by referendum in 2014. That referendum, however, is recognized as illegitimate by Ukraine, and as illegal by the United Nations. Making statements that repeat Kremlin propaganda, the French politician shows disrespect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine and completely ignores the fundamental principles of international law, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said in a Wednesday statement. In this regard, we remind that such statements and actions in violation of the Ukrainian legislation will necessarily have consequences, as it was in the case of certain French politicians, who are denied entry to Ukraine. The Ukrainian Security Service reportedly sent a letter to the Foreign Ministry in Kiev to coordinate the ban. However, it is unlikely that Le Pen will walk back her position on Ukraine, given her general penchant for Putin and her very specific need for campaign cash. French banks are refusing to lend the National Front the 20 million euros it needs for coming presidential and legislative elections. The party got a 9 million euro loan in 2014 from the First Czech-Russian Bank in Moscow, but FCRB lost its license in July. Le Pen was reportedly going to be more careful anyway in taking Russian rubles, for fear of criticism by the French press. On Saturday, however, it was reported that her party may, in fact, ask Moscow anew Le Pens condemnation of foreign influence on France be damned. In other news on Le Pen and les pennies: On Tuesday, she also modified her position on Frances departure from the eurozone. While Le Pen has long said that, if elected, she would hold a referendum for France to leave the European Union to Frexit, if you will. But she now believes France should return to the French franc, yet still remain in a common European currency. Le Pen also has suggested she would step down if she were elected but her referendum later to fail. At the moment, polls are not in her favor for either situation: She is not expected to win the presidency, and the French are not expected to want withdrawal from the EU. At the moment, however, polls are largely meaningless and should not comfort, for example, Ukrainians who would rather all presidents of major EU countries recognize their territorial sovereignty. Photo credit: MARTIN BUREAU/AFP/Getty Images By Matthias Williams and Ingrid Melander KIEV/PARIS (Reuters) - Ukraine indicated on Wednesday it would bar French presidential candidate Marine Le Pen from entering the country after comments she made that appeared to legitimize Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014. Le Pen's office dismissed the threat, saying she had no intention of visiting Ukraine. Kiev is nervous about the shifting political landscape in 2017. U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has adopted a friendlier tone toward Russia while another French presidential candidate, Francois Fillon, favours lifting sanctions against Moscow. Relations between Ukraine and Russia soured after Russia's annexation of Crimea and the subsequent outbreak of pro-Russian separatist fighting in eastern Ukraine that has killed around 10,000 people, despite a ceasefire being notionally in place. Alluding to Le Pen, the Ukrainian foreign ministry said in a statement: "Making statements that repeat Kremlin propaganda, the French politician shows disrespect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine and completely ignores the fundamental principles of international law. "...Such statements and actions in violation of the Ukrainian legislation will necessarily have consequences, as it was in the case of certain French politicians, who are denied entry to Ukraine," it said. The far right leader was quoted by French television as saying Russia's annexation of Crimea was not illegal because the Crimean people had chosen to join Russia in a referendum, a position Kiev vehemently disputes. The referendum was also declared illegal by the United Nations General Assembly. Opinion polls have consistently shown Le Pen making it to the second round of the presidential election, to be held in May, but losing that run-off to a mainstream candidate, likely to be conservative Fillon. "Marine Le Pen had no intention of going there (to Ukraine) anyway. This issue will be solved via diplomatic channels when she becomes president of the (French) Republic," a spokesman for Le Pen said in an emailed response to Reuters. Earlier on Wednesday Le Pen said France should leave the euro but the shift to a new national currency could be accompanied by a framework similar to the pre-euro era of the ECU. (Additional reporting by Alexei Kalmykov; editing by Mark Heinrich and Dominic Evans) U.S. President-elect Donald Trump began Wednesday with a tweet of support for Julian Assange, the man who has bedeviled American intelligence agencies with his WikiLeaks revelations throughout the Obama administration. Julian Assange said a 14 year old could have hacked Podesta why was DNC so careless? Also said Russians did not give him the info! Trump tweeted in a series of posts that also sided with Assange in bashing the American media. This, after the WikiLeaks chief appeared in an exclusive interview with Sean Hannity on Fox News to accuse the American left of trying to delegitimize the incoming Trump administration by insisting Russia was behind the hacking and leaking of Democratic emails. In one sense, it is, to put it very mildly, unorthodox for the U.S. president-elect to openly take the word of a man hanging out in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London over that of the American intelligence agencies. But, in another, it makes a certain sense. Trump has a long history of favoring those when they favor him. There was that time, for example, following years of accusing U.S. President Barack Obama of ruining America, Trump said the two had good chemistry after a pleasant meeting a position he then reversed after the Obama administration abstained from a U.N. Security Council vote on Israel. Assange is personally vindicating Trump (and, in a way, Trump advisor Kellyanne Conway, who believes Americans should listen to Assange). But he is not personally vindicating Sean Hannity who, in 2010, said Assange was waging war on the United States, and asked, Why cant Obama do something about WikiLeaks? He also is not personally vindicating Sarah Palin, who campaigned as Sen. John McCains vice presidential running mate under the motto country first in 2008, and who apologized to Assange late Tuesday on Facebook (she had previously said Assange should be hunted down like Osama bin Laden.) Why would Hannity and Palin individuals who have branded themselves as strongly believing in a certain vision and version of America start promoting and championing someone who has, according to them, threatened American security? Story continues Because their beliefs are not what matters most to them. Their belonging is. American partisan identity formation is the most powerful force in the universe, Max Fisher, a writer and editor at the New York Times offered on Twitter, linking to the Palin post. Lee Drutman, a senior fellow at New Americas Political Reform Program, agreed. Partisanship is more important than ideology, he told FP. If Im on your team, or I say something that supports your team, than Im your friend, and thats how politics goes. But if thats the case, why did newly re-elected House Speaker Paul Ryan say on Wednesday that Assange is a sycophant for Russia, telling radio host Hugh Hewitt, He leaks, he steals data and compromises national security? In May 2016, Drutman predicted in Vox that the presidential elections will reveal which Republicans have policy principles and which Republicans are primarily partisans. He added: Teamsmanship is more important than ideology. What we will watch for now, then, is how many members of Congress see Trumps fondness for Assange (and for Putins Russia) as a challenge to their core views. It will be noteworthy to observe who will change their views to be part of Trumps team, and how aggressively those who wont, will fight. But for most voters and most members of Congress (of both parties) Drutman believes teamsmanship trumps ideology. And so, for the most part, he said, I think youll start to see them becoming good members of the team. Photo credit: Carl Court/Getty Images Jerusalem (AFP) - A Palestinian UN worker accused by Israel of aiding the Islamist group Hamas was sentenced to seven months' jail Wednesday in a plea deal which will see him released soon. Waheed Borsh was convicted of "rendering services to an illegal organisation without intention", his lawyer Lea Tsemel told AFP. The Israeli justice ministry confirmed the plea deal, saying that it also included eight months' probation. Borsh's employer, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), said the deal showed there had been no wrongdoing by the organisation. He was arrested in July and with time already served and good behaviour, is expected to be released on January 12. The case centred on accusations that rubble in Gaza under the responsibility of the UNDP was misused by Hamas which controls the enclave. Coming shortly after accusations against a senior employee of the World Vision NGO, the case caused a major stir in Israel, with officials accusing the UN of naivete and alleging systematic misuse of aid by Hamas. Israel originally alleged that Borsh had been recruited by Hamas, which is considered a terrorist organisation by the European Union, the United States and Israel, and had deliberately diverted rubble to a port -- which was then used to build a military jetty. But Tsemel stressed that her client had been convicted only of unintentionally aiding the Islamists by "moving some rubble". "The prosecution claimed that he should have checked better as this could have helped Hamas." The UNDP said it had "zero tolerance for wrongdoing", but that the case did not prove deliberate intent. "This outcome confirms that there was no wrongdoing by UNDP," the body said in a statement. - Aid wars - Since 2008, Israel has fought three wars with Palestinian militants in Gaza. Israel has long alleged that Hamas has sought to infiltrate humanitarian organisations and divert aid, accusations the Islamist movement denies. Story continues Aid workers privately admit to pressure from Hamas. But they also say materials taken into Gaza are subject to some of the strictest monitoring in the world and that the blockade is preventing needed goods from entering the impoverished enclave. More than two thirds of the population of the Gaza Strip, which Israel has blockaded for a decade, are reliant on some form of aid, according to the UN. The allegations against the UNDP, which were first announced in August, as well as the more serious ones against World Vision's Gaza head Mohammed al-Halabi, were trumpeted by Israeli officials. Halabi is accused of siphoning millions of dollars to Hamas in a case still in the Israeli courts. Danny Danon, Israel's ambassador to the UN, said at the time the cases were evidence of a "troubling trend of the systematic exploitation by Hamas". AFP visited the site of the alleged UNDP misuse last summer and found a new-looking jetty extending around 50 metres (yards) into the sea. Perhaps 10 feet (three yards) wide, it had wooden slats erected on one side to obscure the view. Armed Hamas fighters were in nearby fields. UNDP officials privately accepted that rubble from one of its projects may have been used in the construction of the jetty. But they stressed the disposal occurred in conjunction with the Ministry of Public Works, which is run by Hamas's rivals Fatah. Fatah leads the internationally recognised Palestinian government, and a UNDP probe concluded that there were no signs of Hamas activity in the area at the time the rubble was placed there. The Weinstein Company is hosting a special screening of Lion in New York City on Wednesday for UNICEFs U.S. Fund. Stars Dev Patel and Nicole Kidman will be on hand for a discussion that will be moderated by former Newsweek editor Tina Brown and Lost in Translation director Sofia Coppola. Lion focuses on Saroo Brierley, a man who used Google Earth to reunite with his long-lost family in India. As a five-year-old boy, Brierley got lost on a train and had to survive on the streets of Calcutta before ultimately being adopted by an Australian family. Lion is the Weinstein Companys big Oscar play this year, and the film is considered a leading contender for a best picture nomination. Patel and Kidman are widely expected to pick up supporting actor nods. The indie studio and Lions producers have said that they hope the film will raise awareness about the 11 million-plus children who live on the streets of India. Theyve partnered with the Charity Network to launch #LionHeart, which will provide financial support to these children. UNICEF provides humanitarian aide to children and families in developing countries. Lion is relevant now more than ever at a time when nearly 50 million children are uprooted worldwide displaced by circumstances beyond their control, and often traveling or migrating on their own, said Caryl M. Stern, president and CEO of the U.S. Fund for UNICEF, in a statement. Unaccompanied children are among the most vulnerable. They fall through the cracks and are at the highest risk of exploitation and abuse, including by smugglers and traffickers. They often have no documentation, and uncertain legal status. Were thrilled that the Weinstein Company and Lion are shining a light on these important issues as our UNICEF colleagues around the globe work tirelessly to ensure all children are protected, safe, and can have a childhood. Related stories 'La La Land' Named Best Movie of the Year at Capri Hollywood Festival Story continues 'La La Land,' 'BFG,' 'Hidden Figures' and More Tune Up Original Score Oscar Race 'Lion' Wins Zurich Festival's Diversity in Film Award Tim Cook looking worried or sad Apple's most vocal critics at the moment tend to be professional Mac users those who edit videos, program, and do other heavy-duty tasks on their Macs. Some of these users a loud contingent are complaining that they're essentially being forced to buy the Mac Pro, a computer that hasn't been updated since 2013, because it's the only Apple desktop that fits their needs. One recent example: Chris Adamson, who writes books and guides on how to write apps for Apple devices. He wrote a blog post on Tuesday, titled "Capitulation," discussing his decision to pay thousands of dollars for the thousand-day-old Mac Pro. And Apple defenders like John Gruber think Adamson made a reasonable decision. In 2013, Apple launched a high-end, $3,000 Mac Pro. It replaced an older tower model to which users could add more RAM, newer video cards, and better components. The 2013 Mac Pro turned heads with a sleek, curvy design, but the good looks came at the expense of customization unlike earlier models, the 2013 Mac Pro does not allow users to upgrade the system by swapping in newer components, other than extra memory. Mac Pro To make matter worse, Apple hasn't updated the model since 2013, leaving Mac Pro users in a tough spot. They need the expensive "pro" model for performance, but the only version of the machine that Apple currently offers is running 4-year-old chips. Adamson writes: "I think my needs, for development and especially for video work (Motion and Wirecast, mainly) are best served by the Mac Pro. Even the pathetic, 3-year-old Mac Pro, because what I want is lots of cores, silent operation, and expandability of RAM and storage, something the iMac and MacBook Pro can't offer. "I'd been catching up financially for a while, and finally had a $4,000-$5,000 budget to work with. What made finally pull the trigger, ironically, was [Apple CEO] Tim Cook's ham-fisted, half-assed claim that desktop Macs remain strategically important to Apple." Story continues He's not the only computing professional suddenly faced with the undesirable choice of purchasing an essentially obsolete desktop or an Apple all-in-one that doesn't meet their needs. A lack of focus apple mac pro graphics When Apple launched the Mac Pro in 2013, Apple's head of marketing, Phil Schiller, famously introduced the computer with the line "can't innovate anymore, my ass." But since then, the model, lovingly nicknamed the "Trash Can," has not received a single revision even just to update the chips inside it to keep it current. "'What the hell happened with the Mac Pro?' is the most interesting question about Apple today," Gruber wrote on Tuesday in response to a different Apple fan's complaint. Gruber, one of the most tapped-in Apple bloggers, writes about the Mac Pro: "Something clearly went way wrong with this product. I'm not convinced the basic idea for the design is unsound the idea is that expansion would come in the form of external peripherals, rather than things you install inside the box. I still think that's probably the future of 'expandable' computing. "If Apple had updated the Mac Pro on a roughly annual basis, we wouldn't be calling this a disaster. I'm sure there would still be people who would wish that Apple had stuck with the traditional tower form factor, but we wouldn't all be saying 'What the f---?'" According to Gruber, Apple seems poised to redesign the pro-level computer because it hasn't updated it and because the price is the same as it was in 2013 starting at $3,000 suggesting Apple hasn't yet abandoned the line. But regardless, Apple's strategy is putting pro users in a tough spot. "Whatever the explanation is, this situation is an unmitigated disaster," Gruber wrote. Mac Pro The Mac Pro is one of Apple's lowest-volume products, but it remains strategically important, especially for the armies of Apple developers who want professional workstations to develop apps for iPhones and iPads. Apple requires software for its smartphones to be built on its laptops and desktops. The Mac Pro is assembled in Texas, a decision that was made as a way to score political points. But Bloomberg reported in December that discussions inside Apple about the next-generation Mac Pro included some employees suggesting moving production back to Asia. Regardless of what Apple does with its pro lineup some suggest Cook's recent leaked comments mean the new highest-end Mac is the iMac some of Apple's longest and most dedicated evangelists are becoming unhappy. Those evangelists are likely to slowly simmer until Apple launches new Mac desktops. What Apple eventually launches will determine whether their anger boils over. More From Business Insider Washington (AFP) - The US-led coalition said Wednesday it has doubled to about 450 the number of military advisors assisting Iraqi troops engaged in the fight to retake Mosul from Islamic State fighters. "We have increased the number of advise and assist forces that are there with the ISF (Iraqi Security Forces) command elements to help advise them as they move forward and to synchronize operations," coalition spokesman Colonel John Dorrian said in a video conference from Baghdad. Dorrian said the reinforcements were part of a series of measures taken to "accelerate the advance of the Iraqi security forces." While military advisors are behind the frontlines, they have already entered the city several times, he added. American military forces are carrying out air and artillery strikes in Iraq as part of a US-led coalition against the Islamic State group, and have provided training, advice and other assistance to Baghdad's forces. There are about 5,000 American military personnel in Iraq, according to the coalition, and US special forces personnel have also fought IS on the ground. More than 125,000 Iraqis have been displaced since the Mosul offensive began in mid-October, according to the United Nations. More than 3.3 million people are currently displaced in all of Iraq. A senior commander from the elite Counter-Terrorism Service that has done most of the front-line fighting inside the city told AFP on Sunday that Iraqi forces now controlled more than 60 percent of Mosul's eastern half. "There are more than 200,000 buildings in Mosul and ... you end up having to clear each one," Dorrian said. "And that goes from rooftop level, often in four-story or higher buildings, through every single room, and every single closet, and into tunnels that have been dug between these buildings, and sometimes beneath them," he added. "It's going to take time. It's going to be extraordinarily dangerous." Story continues Iraqi forces have yet to enter west Mosul, which is still completely held by IS fighters. "There's been a lot of discussion about the losses that Iraqis are taking -- the enemy is taking an order of magnitude greater," Dorrian said. Officials say it could be months before Iraqi forces are able to completely retake Iraq's second city, where hundreds of thousands of civilians still live. Some were forced to stay by the Islamic State group, others remained for fear of losing their property, because winter conditions in displacement camps are harsh or simply because escape routes are not safe enough. Los Angeles (AFP) - US mass murderer Charles Manson is "seriously ill" in hospital after being transferred from prison for undisclosed medical condition, according to media reports on Tuesday. The 82-year-old was moved from Corcoran State Prison in Kings County, California, to a hospital 60 miles (100 kilometers) to the south in Bakersfield, according to celebrity news portal TMZ. A state corrections official refused to comment on the reports and would confirm only that Manson had not died, but the Los Angeles Times cited an unnamed source who said Manson was "seriously ill," without elaborating. Manson headed an apocalyptic cult that committed murders in upscale, mostly white neighborhoods of Los Angeles in order to blame the crimes on African Americans, in the hope of sparking what he termed a "Helter Skelter" race war. He has been in prison for more than four decades after the 1969 killings, which included the brutal murder of director Roman Polanski's actress wife, Sharon Tate, who was heavily pregnant. He was sentenced to death in 1969 along with four of his "Manson Family" disciples for having led the killing of seven people, but their sentences were later commuted to life in prison. Manson, who was not actually present but ordered the killings, applied for parole in 2012 but was denied release and is not eligible to apply again until 2027. He was granted permission in 2014 to wed then 26-year-old Afton Elaine Burton, described in US media as a slender brunette, who had been visiting him in prison. But the 90-day license expired without the ceremony going ahead. He was married twice before he was jailed, first to Rosalie Jean Willis from 1955 to 1958, and later to Candy Stevens between 1959 and 1963. Washington (AFP) - The US oil industry's main lobbyist called Wednesday for expanded offshore oil and gas production, delivering a plea for deregulation two weeks before the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump. American Petroleum Institute President Jack Gerard said the United States should relax the "regulatory onslaught" the energy industry has seen in recent years -- a comment that closely echoes Trump's position. "Today, 94 percent of federal offshore acreage is off limits to energy production," Gerard said in prepared remarks at an annual event to outline the state of the industry. "Restricted offshore areas could hold 50 billion barrels, or more, of oil and more than 195 trillion cubic feet of natural gas." The remarks came two weeks after President Barack Obama banned new offshore oil and gas drilling on more than 100 million acres (40.5 million hectares) of the Arctic and parts of the Atlantic Ocean, a move that coincided with a similar freeze by Canadian authorities. - Trump sympathetic - In decisions welcomed by industry, Trump has picked prominent figures and allies of the oil and gas industries to fill his new administration, including former Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson to head the State Department, and former Texas Governor Rick Perry for the Energy Department,. Trump also has tapped Oklahoma Attorney General and climate change-denier Scott Pruitt to lead the Environmental Protection Agency and made the oil investor Carl Icahn a special advisor to overhaul US regulations. Gerard said an election-night poll found broad majorities of Democrats and Republicans favored greater domestic energy production and refining. "We know we need more energy but we haven't seen any meaningful expansion of offshore access in decades," Gerard said. Noting that US states are the main regulators of the petroleum industry, Gerard pointed in particular to federal rules on curbing methane emissions from oil and gas facilities, a problem he said producers were tackling on their own. Story continues "For whatever reason, the government has chosen to come in and regulate an activity that we're demonstrating is improving on a day-to-day basis," he told reporters at a press conference following his speech. Gerard said the fate of US adherence to the 2015 Paris Agreement on greenhouse gas emissions should be left to the authorities but he hailed what he said were American advances in reducing carbon emissions in producing electricity. He cited US Energy Information Administration figures showing that in the first half of 2016 the use of natural gas in power generation had resulted in the lowest level of carbon emissions in 25 years despite rising demand. Washington (AFP) - The US-led coalition fighting the Islamic State group is prepared to support Turkish forces battling the fighters in northern Syria, a US military official said Wednesday. Turkey has asked for such assistance from the coalition but none has been forthcoming so far. Colonel John Dorrian, speaking via video conference from Baghdad, said support will be offered. "I can confirm for you that those discussions have been happening and the Turks are aware of some of the things that might be in store," Dorrian said, declining to provide further details. Turkish forces have been engaged for several weeks in deadly fighting against the Islamic State group to retake the Syrian city of Al-Bab. But despite Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's requests, coalition planes have not been deployed to directly help the Turks. Coalition aircraft did make a show of force last week near Al-Bab at the request of Turkish forces but did not fire any weapons. The coalition criticizes Turkey for launching the offensive unilaterally without first reaching an agreement with its partners. The Americans supported the first part of the Turkish offensive in Syria in mid-2016. Neither the coalition nor Turkey have said why the coalition stopped supporting Turkish forces in Syria as they did at the start of the Turkish offensive in August. But US officials have suggested they are concerned that the Turks, after the conquest of Al-Bab, might attack the Kurdish-led Arab-Kurdish coalition of the Syrian Democratic Forces. The United States sees the SDF as their most effective ally in the fight against Islamic State in Syria. The SDF is currently leading the first part of the offensive against Raqa, the self-proclaimed IS capital in Syria. The United States is walking a thin line in these discussions with Turkey, as Ankara it is a key ally of the coalition, allowing it to use the Turkish air base at Incirlik for attacks against jihadists. DailyFX.com - Talking Points: USD/JPY Technical Strategy: low volatility in USD/JPY tends to beget high volatility, be warned Yield spread tightening biggest downside risk for USDJPY USD/JPY Trying to Put in a Ceiling at Mid-118.00s? Our last piece highlighted the potential for a pullback developing on swing charts. Given the strength of the uptrend that has relied on the Bank of Japan playing to lose the yield spread game via Yield Curve Control, caution should be exercised on the strength of move lower above the December 30 low of 116.04. The important thing to note with USD/JPY given the previous price action that has traded sideways since the Federal Reserve announced on December 14 not only a 25 basis point rate hike that was widely expected, but shifted higher the median Dot Plot by 25 basis points, which nearly acted as a twofold like on December 14. Given the surprise of the higher Dot Plot, many traders are focused on Wednesdays FOMC Minutes that will help explain in detail the view held inside the Fed about future monetary policy given the easing bias held by other developed country central banks. Before we dive into the charts, it is worth noting that sideways moves in USD/JPY tend to proceed a strong move so traders should be warned. The chart below highlights periods of consolidation in USD/JPY that eventually led to sharp moves. Specifically, traders keep an eye on support at 116.04, the December 30 low, because a break there could open up a sharp retracement against the post US election rally that is caused USD/JPY to appreciate by 17%. Two levels to watch on a further breakdown would be the 23.6% retracement at 114.53 followed by the 38.2% retracement of the post-election rally at 112. A hold of 116.04 could mean the strong rally set to continue and move toward the 2016 high of 121.63 is in the works. As mentioned above, the Bank of Japan is doing everything in their power to keep the yield spread as wide as possible, which has extended the effect of the rise in U.S. Yields. Any tightening of the yield spread between UST & JGBs would likely be a catalyst for retracement, even a short-lived one. Story continues D1 USD/JPY Chart: USD/JPY Notorious For Trading Sideways Before Big Moves USD/JPY Technical Analysis: Purposefully Playing To Lose Chart Created by Tyler Yell, CMT, Courtesy of TradingView Shorter-Term USD/JPY Technical Levels: January 4, 2017 For those interested in shorter-term levels of focus than the ones above, these levels signal important potential pivot levels over the next 48-hours. USD/JPY Technical Analysis: Purposefully Playing To Lose 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. movie-theater-feat-uproxx Shutterstock In late December, I finally saw Hamilton. I know, I know: finally may seem a little hyperbolic for a Broadway show in which tickets are still almost impossible to get. But, as a resident of New York City, it was bananas how many people I knew who had flown in town to see the show and yet somehow I still couldnt get tickets. Last May, that finally changed when the Hamilton Twitter account sent out a notification that a plethora of tickets had just been released. So, with that, I was now a Hamilton ticket holder all I had to do was wait seven months. When my girlfriend and I arrived at the theater, we had almost comical seats in the last row of the balcony a row thats so squeezed in that it consisted of only two seats. Whatever! It didnt matter, we were in the building: Nothing could ruin the experience. Well, except the man in front of us who was on his phone for the entire first half of the show. According to a Sonny Dickson tweet, the next iOS update will include a theater mode, with specifics that arent quite clear yet, but has led to a lot of speculation and dread. When I first read this, my gut reaction was, This is stupid. But I started thinking about this a little more and, begrudgingly, I might be willing to give this a chance. But first, who goes to Hamilton and spends their time on a phone? You are literally at the toughest ticket in town, yet sending constant text messages are more important? We put up with it for the entire first half of the show. As the lights went down for the second half, out came this mans phone again, texting away. Finally, my girlfriend whispered to him, asking if he could put the phone away to the point I didnt even hear her do it. The man responded calmly that he would and apologized. That last sentence is, of course, a lie. The man made a huge scene. You dont know what Ive got going on!, he screamed as he chugged his plastic cup of white wine. At this point I then said, Dude, turn off your phone. He yelled back, You shut your mouth! Story continues In an uncharacteristic move for me (I do not like confrontation, or most conversations in general) I fired back, Oh, what are you going to do? Now shut off your phone. Im not sure what that even meant, but the end result (an usher had to be called) is this man didnt get on his phone again for the rest of the show. (I thought about his line, You dont know what I have going on, and tried to think of the worst possible thing. Like, what if his wife was dying and he was getting updates? But then I concluded if that were the case, he probably shouldnt have been at Hamilton in the first place.) The point of all this is I finally got to see Hamilton and this man tried to ruin it for us because he was on his phone for the entire first half. And then we had to confront him, which ended in him making a scene. Even after it was over, it was hard to think about anything other than a 60-something-year-old man telling me to shut my mouth. I despise the use of cell phones in theaters: its rude and its unbelievably distracting. But its also a fact of life now. Yes, yes, I know: What about something like Alamo Drafthouse, which has strict bans against cell phone use? Im well aware. And a brand new Alamo just popped up in Brooklyn and its great. But I dont live in Brooklyn. It would take me about an hour to get to that Alamo Drafthouse and its just not practical for every movie I want to see. (And for my job I dont get to pick the theater. Most screenings Im at are for media members only, who are, for the most part, pretty good about not using their phones. But sometimes these screening have test audiences and they arent as good about not using their phones.) I honestly cant remember the last time I was at a theater and people werent on their phone. Are these people honestly thinking, Im sure the person behind me wont mind if I turn on a bright light? My main goal in life is not to be annoyance to strangers around me. When the jerk in front of me reclines his seat on a plane (yes, if you put your seat back on a plane, you are a jerk), I refuse to recline my seat because I dont want to ruin the next few hours for the person behind me. Anyway, whatever we are doing right now isnt working. Ive come to the realization that people who use their phone in a theater arent reading posts like this because they always seem oblivious that they are doing anything rude in the first place. The constant stream of, Dont use your phone in a movie theater! policing on social media hasnt stopped anything. Its only getting worse. (If thats even possible; people have been shot and killed over this.) So if Apple can do something, like make some sort of dark screen that can only be seen be someone directly in front of it (I guess this is the best possible scenario), then Im willing to give it a try because people are not going to stop using their phones in theaters and the arguments that result are not good for anyone. This is all happening anyway, so it Apple can create a function that lessons how annoying this is, Im at least willing to give it a chance. If the feature comes out and makes things worse, well, I guess I will shut my mouth. You can contact Mike Ryan directly on Twitter. After reviewing the 2016 performance of trend-following (-18.15%), its unclear why anyone would mention the word trend following in a public forum. But well give it a whirl anyway The comedian Victor Borge once famously observed, Santa Claus has the right idea visit people only once a year. In studying investment markets, many have taken a similar approach, preferring a once-a-year perspective, which has become a standard convention in academic research. For example, in market anomaly research, academics often use data that employs an annual rebalance. This is true for many well-known anomalies based on fundamentals such as book-to-market based strategies. Researchers prefer annual data, since quarterly data can be subject to revision, whereas annual information (i.e., 10-k) tends to be a more stable and reliable. While the use of annual data is more robust from a data integrity standpoint, this approach also implies empirical observations will be based on low frequency information, since stock characteristics are measured only once every 12 months. But in the real world, portfolio managers are not like Santa, who gets focused on his job only once a year. Practitioners often rebalance more frequently, since this can be more effective. For instance, Jack posted here about how more frequent rebalancing can enhance value portfolios, even after accounting for costs. Also, Asness and Frazzini have a paper on how more frequent updating of B/M enhances the performance of the B/M anomaly. In Anomalies Enhanced: The Value of Higher Frequency Information, by Han, Huang and Zhou, the authors explore whether they can improve anomaly results by making use of higher frequency information. What type of information? Specifically, they wanted to see if they could use monthly price performance data to inform a more frequent, monthly rebalance, in which they would go long good stocks, and short bad stocks within the long/short legs of various anomalies. Story continues The authors apply a simple trend performance rule to make use of high frequency (monthly) performance information. The strategy is quite straightforward, and is referred to as Moving Average Convergence/Divergence (MACD), as originally proposed by Gerald Appel in the late 1970s. Since its based only on prices its easy for average investors to apply. Every month, the authors evaluate each stock in the anomalous portfolios: If the 50-day MA price is above than the 200-day MA price, keep it in the long leg of an anomaly as a good stock; otherwise, sell it; If the 50-day MA price is lower than the 200-day MA price, keep it in the short leg of an anomaly as a bad stock; otherwise, drop it. Then they apply this simple trend-following methodology to the below eight anomalies. The sample period is from July 1965 to Dec 2013. Book-to-market ratio anomaly (BM) Fama and French (1996, 2008) Operating profit anomaly (OP) Fama and French (2015) Gross profitability anomaly (GP) Novy-Marx (2013) Asset growth anomaly (AG) Cooper, Gulen, and Schill (2008) Investment growth anomaly (IK) Xing (2008) Net stock issue anomaly (NS) Ritter (1991) Accrual anomaly (AC) Sloan (1996) Net operating assets anomaly (NOA) Hirshleifer, Hou, Teoh, and Zhang (2004) The eight anomalous portfolios are constructed based on their accounting variables for the fiscal year ending in calendar year t-1. Next, the authors create equal weight decile portfolios, and spread portfolios between the high and low deciles. Anomaly portfolios are rebalanced annually, and stocks < $5 are deleted to eliminate microstructure issues. The authors apply the above MA filter on each anomaly each month to keep only good stocks in the long leg of the anomaly, and only bad stocks in the short leg. In short, they keep stocks whose trends continue, but drop stocks whose trends reverse. Next they form equal-weight portfolios using the remaining stocks left in the deciles, and calculate spread portfolios. This approach is differentiated from a strictly cross-sectional approach, in that it uses the time series properties of individual stocks as an overlay on a simple cross-sectional approach. The idea is that higher frequency information in the form of short-term momentum signals can add value to a static anomaly portfolio with an annual rebalance. Performance Improvement by MA Filter The results show that the performance of all the eight annual anomalies is greatly enhanced by the above simple MA approach. (Here is the visual depiction of the results in Table I in the paper) The results are hypothetical results and are NOT an indicator of future results and do NOT represent returns that any investor actually attained. Indexes are unmanaged, do not reflect management or trading fees, and one cannot invest directly in an index. Additional information regarding the construction of these results is available upon request. The results are hypothetical results and are NOT an indicator of future results and do NOT represent returns that any investor actually attained. Indexes are unmanaged, do not reflect management or trading fees, and one cannot invest directly in an index. Additional information regarding the construction of these results is available upon request. Digging into the Results Seem like a home run! As a result of using the MA filter, all the anomalies show statistically significant (at the 1% level) increases in returns for the spread portfolios, with incremental spread returns ranging from 0.57% to 0.94%. Whats not to like about this strategy? Lets dig a little deeper. First, the authors want to know what this MA filter does when applied to all stocks, which will be the benchmark. They find the spread of the MA rule yields 0.50%. Now, compared with that benchmark, the incremental spread of 0.57% to 0.94% doesnt look quite as impressive. Second, the performance gains from using this crossover MA rule come mostly from the short side. When the authors examine the improvement in Fama-French 3-factor alpha using the MA filter, they find the alphas on the short side to be significantly negative and large, whereas on the long side, the alphas are small and insignificant. In addition, performance improvements in the short leg are much larger than those in the long leg. The MA rule seems to succeed because it drops stocks on the short side whose trends are reversing, suggesting an imminent rebound. We are left with an MA strategy that mostly enhances the short side of the anomalies, whose spread performances are themselves dominated by the short leg to begin with. From a practitioner perspective, this implies a number of potential issues, since there are numerous impediments to using short sales to benefit from overpricing. Information Uncertainty While we may have some questions about the practical implementability of this strategy in the real world, the results are interesting from a theoretical perspective. Weve examined the worlds longest trend-following backtest and demonstrated that simple moving averages appear to be a robust risk-management signal over the past 200 years. Why might this particular flavor of trend following work so well in this context? The authors go on to conduct some additional tests that shed light on how and why this MA strategy seems to work. The authors hypothesize it has to with information uncertainty. The authors measure this using three proxies: Idiosyncratic volatility (we have posted here on this previously), firm age and number of analysts. The authors propose the following: Han, Yang and Zhou (2013) shows that the profitability of a simple moving average rule is critically dependent on information uncertainty of stocks. Stocks with high information uncertainty generate profits from the MA timing strategy. To confirm their hypothesis, the authors use three proxies to measure information uncertainty and compare the performance of firms with different levels of information uncertainty: Idiosyncratic volatility: The higher the idiosyncratic volatility, the higher the information uncertainty Firm age: The younger the firm, the higher the information uncertainty. Number of analysts following: Firms covered by fewer analyst tend to have more information uncertainty. The results show that firms with higher information uncertainty (higher idiosyncratic volatility, younger age, covered by fewer analyst) benefit the most from the simple MA rule. The authors suggest that this may be because the annual characteristics used to form the anomaly portfolios are a less reliable signal for these firms, than for firms with lower information uncertainty. But there could be more bad news: It may be that firms with higher information uncertainty are also more costly and difficult to short. Note:For a related post on how to simply incorporate trend-following into a strategy to enhance the benefits of investing in factor-based anomalies, check out our post on creating an alternative investment strategy with value and momentum. One can arguably achieve a same end-state with this approach, but save a lot of brain damage. Anomalies Enhanced: The Value of Higher Frequency Information Han, Huang and Zhou A version of the paper can be found here. Want a summary of academic papers with alpha? Check out our Academic Research Recap Category. Abstract: Many anomalies are based on low frequency attributes, such as annual characteristics, that ignore higher frequency information. In this paper, we provide a simple strategy to incorporate the higher frequency information. We find that there is significant economic value-added. For eight major anomalies, we find that the enhanced anomalies can double the average returns while having similar or lower risks. The results are robust to a number of controls. *** Note: This site provides no information on our value investing ETFs or our momentum investing ETFs. Please refer to this site. *** *** Join thousands of other readers and subscribe to our blog. *** Please remember that past performance is not an indicator of future results. Please read our full disclaimer. The views and opinions expressed herein are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Alpha Architect, its affiliates or its employees. 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References [ + ] Using Trend-Following Rules to Enhance Factor Performance originally appeared on http://blog.alphaarchitect.com/?p=22013 Value investing is easily one of the most popular ways to find great stocks in any market environment. After all, who wouldnt want to find stocks that are either flying under the radar and are compelling buys, or offer up tantalizing discounts when compared to fair value? One way to find these companies is by looking at several key metrics and financial ratios, many of which are crucial in the value stock selection process. Lets put AmerisourceBergen Corporation ABC stock into this equation and find out if it is a good choice for value-oriented investors right now, or if investors subscribing to this methodology should look elsewhere for top picks: PE Ratio A key metric that value investors always look at is the Price to Earnings Ratio, or PE for short. This shows us how much investors are willing to pay for each dollar of earnings in a given stock, and is easily one of the most popular financial ratios in the world. The best use of the PE ratio is to compare the stocks current PE ratio with: a) where this ratio has been in the past; b) how it compares to the average for the industry/sector; and c) how it compares to the market as a whole. On this front, AmerisourceBergen has a trailing twelve months PE ratio of 13.91, as you can see in the chart below: This level actually compares pretty favorably with the market at large, as the PE for the S&P 500 compares in at about 19.61. If we focus on the stocks long-term PE trend, the current level puts AmerisourceBergens current PE ratio below its midpoint over the past five years, with the number falling over the past few months. Further, the stocks PE also compares favorably with the Zacks classified Medical sectors trailing twelve months PE ratio, which stands at 17.79. At the very least, this indicates that the stock is relatively undervalued right now, compared to its peers. We should also point out that AmerisourceBergen has a forward PE ratio (price relative to this years earnings) of just 13.54, so it is fair to say that a slightly more value-oriented path may be ahead for AmerisourceBergen stock in the near term too. P/S Ratio Another key metric to note is the Price/Sales ratio. This approach compares a given stocks price to its total sales, where a lower reading is generally considered better. Some people like this metric more than other value-focused ones because it looks at sales, something that is far harder to manipulate with accounting tricks than earnings. Right now, AmerisourceBergen has a P/S ratio of about 0.12. This is significantly lower than the S&P 500 average, which comes in at 2.93 right now. Also, as we can see in the chart below, this is somewhat below the highs for this stock in particular over the past few years. Story continues If anything, AmerisourceBergen is in the lower end of its range in the time period from a P/S metric, suggesting some level of undervalued tradingat least compared to historical norms. Broad Value Outlook In aggregate, AmerisourceBergen currently has a Zacks Value Style Score of A, putting it into the top 20% of all stocks we cover from this look. This makes AmerisourceBergen a solid choice for value investors, and some of its other key metrics make this pretty clear too. For example, the PEG ratio for AmerisourceBergen is just 1.40, a level that is lower than the industry average of 1.79. The PEG ratio is a modified PE ratio that takes into account the stocks earnings growth rate. Additionally, its P/CF ratio (another great indicator of value) comes in at 4.80, which is far better than the industry average of 13.20. Clearly, AmerisourceBergen is a solid choice on the value front from multiple angles. What About the Stock Overall? Though AmerisourceBergen might be a good choice for value investors, there are plenty of other factors to consider before investing in this name. In particular, it is worth noting that the company has a Growth grade of A and a Momentum score of B. This gives AmerisourceBergen a Zacks VGM scoreor its overarching fundamental gradeof A. (You can read more about the Zacks Style Scores here >> ) Meanwhile, the companys recent earnings estimates have been mixed at best. The current quarter has seen no estimate go higher in the past thirty days compared to one lower, while the full year estimate has seen two upward and no downward revisions in the same time period. This has had a mixed impact on the consensus estimate, as the current quarter consensus estimate has remained constant in the past one month, while the full year estimate has risen by about 0.2%. You can see the consensus estimate trend and recent price action for the stock in the chart below: AMERISOURCEBRGN Price and Consensus AMERISOURCEBRGN Price and Consensus | AMERISOURCEBRGN Quote This somewhat mixed trend is why the stock has just a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) and why we are looking for in-line performance from the company in the near term. Bottom Line AmerisourceBergen is an inspired choice for value investors, as it is hard to beat its incredible lineup of statistics on this front. However, with a sluggish industry rank (bottom 26% out of 265 industries) and a Zacks Rank #3, it is hard to get too excited about this company overall. In fact, over the past three years, the Zacks Medical sector has clearly underperformed the broader market, as you can see below: So, value investors might want to wait for estimates and analyst sentiment to turn around in this name first, but once that happens, this stock could be a compelling pick. Zacks' Top 10 Stocks for 2017 In addition to the stocks discussed above, would you like to know about our 10 finest buy-and-hold tickers for the entirety of 2017? Who wouldn't? As of early December, the 2016 Top 10 produced 5 double-digit winners including oil and natural gas giant Pioneer Natural Resources which racked up a stellar +50% gain. The new list is painstakingly hand-picked from 4,400 companies covered by the Zacks Rank. Be among the very first to see it>> 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 AMERISOURCEBRGN (ABC): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research Protesters clash with riot police during a rally to demand a referendum to remove Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro in Caracas, Venezuela, September 1, 2016. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins Venezuela's deepening economic and political dysfunction have spurred waves of outmigration in recent years. In the years since Hugo Chavez took office in 1999, well-off Venezuelans left the country, followed by educated professionals, and, most recently, the youth and middle class. Now another marginalized group has begun to head for the exits: Venezuelan Jews, who have in the past moved to the US or Panama but have struggled to do so as Venezuela's economic crisis drains more of the country's wealth. Official Israeli figures cited by The Washington Post list 111 Venezuelan Jews as immigrating to Israel in 2015, or making "aliyah," as it is referred to in Hebrew. That 2015 total was more than double the number who immigrated in 2012. Official totals for 2016 have yet to be released, but a charity that helps Jews from troubled areas reach Israel told The Post that it helped about 90 people get to the Middle Eastern country. Venezuela's current Jewish community, mainly Orthodox, is thought to be between 6,000 and 9,000 in number, down from roughly 30,000 in the country around 2000. Venezuela has a long history of Jewish communities. The oldest such community was a Sephardic congregation in Curacao a Dutch territory just off Venezuela's Caribbean coast that dates back to 1651. Since then, Venezuela has, at times, encouraged European migration, and Jewish people were able to integrate with relative alacrity. Venezuela's recent relationship with Israel, however, has been fraught. Israel Venezuela Lebanon Egypt Palestine protest Story continues After moving away from the US in the wake of the 2002 attempted coup against Chavez, Venezuela denounced Israel for the 2006 invasion of Lebanon, which Chavez called a "new Holocaust" against Palestinians and Lebanese. The governments of Chavez and his successor, Nicolas Maduro, have been quick to condemn Israel went it comes in conflict with neighbors, especially Palestine and Iran, with whom Venezuela has formed close alliances. And their broad rhetoric has been accused of stoking anti-Semitic attitudes and behavior. "For several years, we have seen anti-Semitic accusations and themes appear in Venezuelan public discourse," Jonathan A. Greenblatt, chief executive of the Anti-Defamation League said in August 2016, in response to anti-Semitic imagery that appeared on a Venezuelan magazine. "At present, most Venezuelan Jews do not face open discrimination from their neighbors," Daniel Lansberg-Rodriguez, a Foreign Policy contributor and professor at Northwestern, wrote in late 2014. "Even so, a sense of dread and isolation is pervasive among much of the community." Venezuela Iran Jews Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Chavez expelled the Israeli ambassador in 2009, and the two countries still do not have diplomatic relations, which complicates Venezuelan Jews' efforts to relocate. In the last month, nine such immigrants have found their efforts to move stymied by the resistance of the Israeli government. Israel's law of return requires Jews of choice who want to relocate to Israel to have been converted in a "recognized Jewish community" with a full-time rabbi and an active synagogue, according to Haaretz. The nine Venezuelans were converted by a Conservative rabbinical court in 2014, after three years of study. Their hometown, Maracay, does not have a recognized Jewish community, but the group joined a synagogue in the nearby city of Valencia, where the Jewish community is recognized. Despite that, Israel's Interior Ministry told Haaretz that "during the entire period when they were preparing for their conversion and in the period that followed, they did not belong to a Jewish community." The decision has spurred frustration and criticism from a number of people from across Judaism's denominations. Documentation provided to the Jewish Agency recommendations from which the Israeli Interior Ministry typically bases its immigration-eligibility decisions on confirmed that the nine Venezuelans had joined the community in Valencia. In this case, it appears that the ministry disregarded the agency's recommendation, and the chairman of the agency is reportedly considering intervening. During a special Israeli parliament session at the end of December, at which American rabbis were present, Israel's government was rebuked for its decision. "These nine individuals underwent conversions that were 100 percent in line with the Law of Return, and I am saying that as an Orthodox rabbi," said Asher Lopatin, a modern Orthodox rabbi, according to Haaretz. "They must be allowed to come to Israel." Israel Ethiopia immigrant Jews protest racism police brutality Race and ethnicity and their relation to Israel's immigration decisions have been a controversial topic. The country has approved less than 1% of the asylum applications it's received since signing the UN Refugee Convention 60 years ago. Israel has also been resistant to granting asylum to African refugees, about 60,000 of whom have entered the country since 2005 former Interior Minister Eli Yishai said Israel's intention was to "make their lives miserable." "Sadly it is all too common that issues of race and denominational affiliation play into the decisions made by the Interior Ministry," Andy Sacks, a rabbi and director of the Conservative movement's Rabbinical Assembly in Israel, said, according to Haaretz. Sacks also said the Israeli prime minister's office ignored his requests to intervene. Aryeh Deri served time in prison for taking $155,000 in bribes Reuven Hammer, a rabbi and former president of the International Rabbinical Assembly of the Conservative movement, told Haaretz the ministry's decision indicated a "hidden agenda" against non-Orthodox converts. The current interior minister, Aryeh Deri, is the chairman of the ultra-Orthodox Shas party. Orthodox rabbis have spoken out against the decision, with one calling it a "dangerous precedent" during a meeting at the Israeli parliament and another telling Haaretz that the Venezuelans' conversions were valid and that they should be allowed to immigrate. "These people, regardless of the denomination of their conversions, decided to unite their destiny to that of our people," Daniel Askenazi, an Orthodox rabbi and spiritual leader of the Jewish community in the western Colombia city of Barranquilla, told Haaretz. "It is our duty as Jews to raise our voices and demand that the State of Israel ... expedite the adsorption of these people." NOW WATCH: 'Friends need to tell each other the hard truths': Kerry explains why the US abstained from the UN resolution on Israel More From Business Insider Tel Aviv (AFP) - The verdict in the case of an Israeli soldier who shot dead a wounded Palestinian assailant is expected Wednesday after a trial that deeply divided the country and set off political tensions. The soldier, Elor Azaria, has been on trial for manslaughter in a military court since May, with right-wing politicians defending him despite top army brass harshly condemning the killing. He faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted for manslaughter. He is not expected to be sentenced on Wednesday if convicted. The shooting in March last year set off intense political debate, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu calling his father to express his sympathy. Others on the right have called for him to be pardoned in an extraordinary public rift between politicians and the country's military. On Wednesday morning, a few dozen protesters gathered outside Israel's military headquarters in Tel Aviv, where the verdict was to be announced, holding a sign that read: "People of Israel do not abandon a soldier in the battlefield". The case burst into public view when a video of the March 24 shooting emerged and spread widely online. The video showed Abdul Fatah al-Sharif, 21, lying on the ground, shot along with another man after stabbing and moderately wounding a soldier minutes earlier, according to the army. Azaria, who was 19 at the time, then shoots him again, in the head, without any apparent provocation. His lawyers have argued the soldier may have thought the Palestinian was wearing explosives, but he was reportedly already checked for a suicide belt and no one in the video appears to be acting with caution toward him. Before he became Israeli defence minister in May, Avigdor Lieberman was among those showing strong support for Azaria, including attending one of Azaria's military court appearances in support. He has since backed away from his earlier stance. Military chief of staff Gadi Eisenkot has spoken out against the politicisation of the case, warning it could "harm our institutions and our requirements of soldiers". He said rules on when to open fire must be followed. "An 18-year-old man who serves in the army is not our child, he is not a baby," Eisenkot said in a speech on Tuesday, referring to a campaign by the soldier's supporters calling him the "child" of all Israelis. Shes a two-time Tony winner and has an Emmy for her ABC TV series How To Get Away With Murder the first won by an African American lead actress in the Drama Series category. Add to that two Oscar nominations and a certain third coming this month for Fences in a role for which she previously won one of those Tonys and is also a SAG and Globe nominee, and you have one of the most formidable and talented actors working today. Viola Davis does it all, and does it all particularly well. In this two-part interview for my Deadline video series The Actors Side, she discusses the pride, the passion and the process that brought her to this point. In Part 1 (above), she discusses the differences between playing Fences Rose on stage versus doing it on film and with much the same cast. She also talks about seeing her father dying and how that affected the way she approaches acting, her Rhode Island beginnings, and how seeing Cicely Tyson in the TV movie The Autobiography Of Miss Jane Pittman set her on a course to a profession she has never left behind. Oh, and check out her comments on the very big hair she once had, as well as just what all these awards really mean to her. In Part 2 (below) Davis talks about the magic of the theatre, her upcoming projects and production company, the #OscarsSoWhite controversy and the true meaning of diversity. Plus, what working with Denzel Washington as a director really is all about. Fences is currently in release from Paramount. Related stories For 'Fences' Composer Marcelo Zarvos, Minimalism Made Room For August Wilson's Melodic Prose Natalie Portman On Jackie Kennedy, 'Thor', 'Star Wars' & Loving Work Margo Martindale On Her Versatile Career And An Oscar-Worthy Performance In 'The Hollars' - The Actor's Side Photo credit: Courtesy Jack Baruth From Road & Track Forty-something dollars a corner. That's what it used to cost me to buy the 155SR13-sized tires for my 1990 VW Fox. That's an approximation, of course; sometimes it was $42 and sometimes it was $45 and once it was $49. If it seems like I have an awful lot of experience buying tires for a VW Fox, it's because I only got ten thousand miles out of the front set and twenty thousand miles out of the back ones. At that point they'd be way past the wear bars and on the way to showing cords. There were three reasons for that. The first one was that the "silica miracle" hadn't happened yet. Tires just didn't last the way they do today. Also, that 155SR13 size had fallen wayyyy out of fashion by the time VW chose it for my base-trim 1990-model-year Fox, so the two half-decent choices available (Michelin XZX and Pirelli P4) were both ancient designs. Photo credit: Craigslist The biggest reason for my frequent rubber replacement, however, was the simple fact that I drove them as hard as I could, as often as I could. I'd squeal them in every corner and spin the inside front wheel on every exit. After reading a Patrick Bedard column on the merits of inflating your tires a bit more, I brought the fronts up to 45psi, which prevented some of the shoulder roll but gave them the approximate cornering grip of greased Teflon. Because I was on 155-width tires that were developed during the Nixon Administration, my hell-bent-for-leather driving style happened at a relatively mild pace. I was rarely able to meet my stated goal of getting through a corner at double the posted suggested speed. When I did, it led to some fairly horrifying episodes of lift-throttle oversteer. I'm not sure the various Camaro and Celica drivers around me even realized how hard I was trying. Certainly they didn't know when I had the throttle on the little VW pinned to the stop. Not with a 0 to 60 time of twelve seconds or so. Here's the funny thing, though: After eighty-six thousand miles (and seven sets of front tires) behind the wheel of that VW, I was not entirely hopeless as a driver. When I started autocrossing with the SCCA a few years later, I was surprised at how well I did. Most of that was because I wasn't absolutely terrified of losing traction in a corner, and most of that was because I had nearly a decade's worth of experience at losing traction in corners all the time. Story continues Let's say, for the sake of argument, that I had gotten a new 1990 GTI instead of a Fox. Would I have been able to learn the limits of my car quite as well? When I made mistakes, would they have been as easily recovered? What difference would the extra ten miles per hour of cornering speed achievable in a GTI have made to my occasional off-road excursion? Don't get me wrong. Having a GTI instead of a Fox would have been MUCH cooler and MUCH more exciting. But I don't think I would have learned as much about driving with a higher-grip suspension/tire combination. Which brings me to an event that I attended a few months ago. The nice people at Cooper Tire invited a bunch of journalists to compete in a wheel-to-wheel shootout at Palm Beach International Raceway. Or that's what the invite said, anyway. By the time I got there, they'd decided to make it a time trial instead. You can read Ezra Dyer's outstanding writeup of the day in this month's C/D, but what I'd like to focus on was the supreme wisdom of putting all-season tires on what were basically Formula Ford race cars provided by the Lucas Oil racing school. The Cooper Zeon RS3-G1 tire has quite a bit of grip for an all-season tire, mind you, but it's very far from a racing slick. In fact, one of the things that makes the Cooper a useful tire in rain and light snow is the considerable tread block depth. It also makes for a "progressive" tire on a racetrack. Where an "R-compound" tire will just let go when it reaches the limit, often without a lot of warning, a tire with tall and narrow tread blocks will gradually enter a slide as the blocks "squirm" and bend. To use my old "Tire Mountain" analogy, a Cooper Zeon has a wider "peak" than a Hoosier R7. So you've got some wiggle room, literally. The Lucas Oil school cars were supremely entertaining on the Coopers. You could drift them, slide them, even put two wheels off in the dirt and recover the car without spinning. On real SCCA-spec race rubber, they would have been faster around the course but they also would have been much more demanding to drive correctly. In other words, the combination of a good all-season tire and a good open-wheel race car is actually a great way to learn the art of racetrack driving. I'm far from the first person to figure this out. For years. Skip Barber has run their schools, and even some of their races, on all-season tires. Doing so gives the students a better chance of avoiding a crash, and if that crash cannot be avoided, it reduces the speed at which those students hit the wall. Believe me, the skills you learn on an all-season tire can be transferred to an R-compound tire if you have enough time and discipline to learn your craft. You'll just make fewer expensive mistakes along the way. Does this mean that you should run out and put all-season tires on your McLaren 675LT? Not at all. It does mean that you shouldn't show up at your first trackday with R-compound tires. And it also means that chasing small performance improvements on your street car's performance can actually be counter-productive in the long run. There are times I miss my old Fox, you know. There was some genuine excitement and drama in approaching a marked-25 corner at 45mph. In a McLaren 675LT, you need 75mph to do the same thing. And did I mention that the tires cost a bit more than forty-something dollars a corner? Born in Brooklyn but banished to Ohio, Jack Baruth has won races on four different kinds of bicycles and in seven different kinds of cars. Everything he writes should probably come with a trigger warning. His column, Avoidable Contact, runs twice a week. You Might Also Like Photo credit: Getty Images From ELLE DECOR It's a brand new year, and for many people, that means brand new resolutions - like saving some major moolah. In fact, research shows that spending less and saving more is a resolution that has racked up about 15,905,290 searches on Google, up 17 percent from last year, reports NBC News. But it's not always as simple as skipping a restaurant meal here and there. Often, the amount you save or spend is highly dependent on where you live. A handy new infographic from travel website The Crazy Tourist is here to explain, with details on the costs of living in popular cities around the world, including everyday expenses such as rent, Internet, milk, jeans, movie tickets and beer. To perhaps nobody's surprise, San Francisco (the second most expensive city) and New York (the third most expensive city) made the list. But others were more surprising. Photo credit: The Crazy Tourist The most expensive city in the world, according to the infographic, is relatively quiet Hamilton, Bermuda, where milk costs $16, Internet costs $140 and rent costs an average of $2,937. Other pricey locales include Geneva, Switzerland (the fourth most expensive city) and Hong Kong (the fifth most expensive city) - both of which are more costly than London or Dubai. Taking a close look at the locations on this list, it's obvious that transportation of goods plays a role. Bermuda, after all, is a tiny strip of land in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, about 665 miles from North Carolina, its closest land mass. Other cities on the list such as Honolulu, Reykjavik (in Iceland) and Auckland (in New Zealand) are also remote locations. However, despite the high costs of rent, restaurants and even jeans ($113 in Geneva) in these cities, The Crazy Tourist points out that a beer is about $6 anywhere you go, except for Hamilton, where it's $9. Which is good, because, let's be honest: You may need some hops after checking your bank account in these cities. Photo credit: The Crazy Tourist Is your favorite city one of the world's most expensive? Take a look at the infographic below to find out. Story continues Photo credit: The Crazy Tourist h/t: Design Taxi You Might Also Like A nasty new Android Trojan isn't targeting your smartphone, but your home Wi-Fi router instead. Credit: Casezy Idea/Shutterstock Credit: Casezy Idea/Shutterstock The malware, spotted by Kaspersky Lab researchers late last month and dubbed Switcher, pretends to be either of two legitimate Chinese-language Android apps one for the Baidu search engine, and the other a common app for sharing Wi-Fi network details. Once installed on an Android phone, Switcher will bombard the user's Wi-Fi router with a laundry list of default administrative passwords, then change the router's settings if it gets in. MORE: Best Android Antivirus Apps North American users may not have to worry yet, as Switcher lives in off-road app markets catering to mainland Chinese customers. (The Google Play store is restricted in the People's Republic, and many users there install apps from dodgy sources.) But we've seen new attack methods spread from China to other parts of the world before. According to a document spotted by Kaspersky researchers on the Switcher command-and-control website, nearly 1,300 home Wi-Fi networks in China have already fallen victim to Switcher. To make sure you're not infected by this malware, go into your Android settings menu, select Security and make sure Unknown Sources is toggled off. That way, you won't be able to install any app from outside the Google Play store. All Android users should also consider running Android antivirus software, as even Google Play isn't immune from malicious apps. However, none of that will protect your home Wi-Fi router, which may still be using the default admin credentials. Dig out your router instruction manual, log into the administrative screen and make sure the administrative username and password are something you came up with, not something that was set at the factory. While you're at it, check to see whether any firmware updates are available for your router. You may have to download something to a PC, then upload it to the router, but even if so, your resulting peace of mind will be well worth the effort. Story continues What's so bad about changing a router's settings? Put it this way: He who controls the router controls the network. A bad guy in charge of your will be able to hijack your entire internet experience, from stealing your personal information to sending you to malicious websites. See also : 15 Android Security Tips You Need to Know Photo credit: undefined From Seventeen Just as Camila Cabello was completely breaking away from Fifth Harmony, Lauren Jauregui was dipping her toes more quietly into solo-career waters. In early December, she dropped a collaboration with musical duo Marian Hill called "Back to Me," a song she cowrote. Now fans are getting to hear what the song sounds like live. Last Friday Lauren joined Marian Hill on stage at the SnowGlobe Festival in South Lake Tahoe, California, to perform "Back to Me" for the very first time. The crowd went nuts - and it's easy to understand why. A Harmonizer at the show captured Lauren's momentous solo debut, and she did not disappoint. LAUREN FUCKING JAUREGUI AND MARIAN HILL I AM SLAYED ON THE FLOOR DEAD IM SO PROUD #BackToMePerformanceToday @MarianHillMusic @LaurenJauregui pic.twitter.com/yKzxGjge8E - Gabby (@laurensriptide) December 31, 2016 Slay! After the performance, Lauren took to Twitter to thank fans for their enthusiastic support, noting that it means a lot considering her creative role in the song. It's so cool to sing your own words and watch people in the crowd fuck with it..truly the most incredible experience #thankyou - Lauren Jauregui (@LaurenJauregui) December 31, 2016 Marian Hill responded later, hinting that there might be more of Lauren to come. SLAYED it so proud to be the first of many https://t.co/hJGv3mplGu - MARIAN HILL (@MarianHillMusic) December 31, 2016 Sounds like we're going to have a very full 5H-related playlist this year! You Might Also Like Watch the trailer for Debbie Reynolds and Carrie Fishers documentary and prepare to get emotional Get the tissue box ready as the trailer for Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds documentary together has debuted and were already getting emotional. Sadly, just after Christmas, both the beloved actress Carrie Fisher and her mother, Hollywood icon Debbie Reynolds, passed away within one day of each other. The pair were notoriously close, with Fishers brother, Todd, saying that he felt it was destiny for his mother to die so close to her daughter as she didnt want to leave Carrie and did not want her to be alone. Well, just before their deaths, Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds had been working on a documentary together for HBO titled Bright Lights: Starring Debbie Reynolds and Carrie Fisher, and now weve got a first look at the trailer. Described by the president of HBO Documentary Films, Sheila Nevins, as a love story, the films trailer showcases what a tender and beautiful relationship Carrie and Debbie had together. As Carrie says in the trailer, the pair lived next door to each other and its clear that they were a force to be reckoned with. Im my moms best friend. Far more than I would ever want to, I know what my mother feels and wants, Carrie says in the trailer. The trailer also touches on the fact that Debbie Reynolds was slowly losing her health and memory, and that Carrie was bipolar. Directed by Alexis Bloom and Fisher Stevens, the documentary was filmed between 2014 and 2015, and leads up to Reynolds receiving her Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award, which Fisher presented to her. #wcw #saveahorserideacow A photo posted by Billie Lourd (@praisethelourd) on Mar 30, 2016 at 12:54pm PDT At the one end of the family compound in Beverly Hills lived Debbie Reynolds, star of Singin in the Rain, with Dorothys red slippers from The Wizard of Oz on the mantelpiece, Bloom and Stevens told People magazine. Adjacent was Princess Leia, in a house where Bette Davis once lived. You dont get more Hollywood royalty than that. Storytelling magic lived around them They had what Carrie called rampant empathy for each other. Story continues Continuing, they added: We started out making a film about Hollywood royalty. And we ended up making a film about love. HBO announced that following the sad passing of both Fisher and Reynolds, they were moving the air-date of the documentary up. Thus, Bright Lights will now debut on January 7th. Meanwhile, Carrie Fishers daughter, Billie Lourd, recently shared her first public message since the death of her mother and grandmother. Receiving all of your prayers and kind words over the past week has given me strength during a time I thought strength could not exist. There are no words to express how much I will miss my Abadaba and my one and only Momby. Your love and support means the world to me. A photo posted by Billie Lourd (@praisethelourd) on Jan 2, 2017 at 10:09am PST Receiving all of your prayers and kind words over the past week has given me strength during a time I thought strength could not exist, she wrote on Instagram. There are no words to express how much I will miss my Abadaba and my one and only Momby. Your love and support means the world to me. You can catch Bright Lights: Starring Debbie Reynolds and Carrie Fisher on HBO January 7th at 8 p.m. EST. HBO released the trailer for its upcoming documentary Bright Lights: Starring Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds, about the lives and relationship between the mother and daughter Hollywood stars who recently died one day apart. The trailer for the film shows Fisher and Reynolds bantering about cell phones and losing their memory. There are also glimpses of old photographs, and references to Fishers struggle with mental illness, which she spoke about openly during her lifetime. Its a love story, HBO Documentary Films president Sheila Nevins told Variety after the news broke of Reynolds death. Carrie wanted to make Bright Lights for Debbie and Debbie wanted to make it for Carrie. Fisher died unexpectedly at the age of 60 following complications from a heart attack suffered during a flight from London to Los Angeles. Reynolds, who was 84, was hospitalized and died the next day. In his review for Variety, critic Owen Gleiberman wrote, A portrait of the two late stars and their loving complex bond is a gem of documentary intimacy that now seems karmically timed. Following the tragic death of both women, HBO announced it would move up the premiere date for the documentary to Jan. 7. Watch the trailer for Bright Lights: Starring Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds below: Related stories Ryan Gosling Pays Tribute to Debbie Reynolds at Palm Springs Gala: 'Her Work Is an Inspiration' Billie Lourd Breaks Silence on Deaths of Mom Carrie Fisher and Grandmother Debbie Reynolds In Memoriam: Movie Stars We Lost in 2016 Wendy's bun 2 On social media, it's easy to go from being on top of the world to being the laughingstock of the internet in just a matter of minutes. Wendy's experienced that fall from grace Wednesday after its Twitter account tweeted, then deleted, an image of Pepe the Frog dressed up as the Wendy's mascot. Once a commonly used meme, Pepe was declared a "hate symbol" by the Anti-Defamation League in September after being frequently used online to express racist and anti-Semitic messages. The Daily Beast's Colin Jones noticed the tweet before Wendy's deleted it. Wendy's just tweeted and deleted this pic.twitter.com/c7l1nzOKZr Colin Jones (@colinjones) January 4, 2017 The tweet was apparently in response to Twitter user MrRespek asking the account, "Got any memes?" Wendy's said the tweet wasn't intended to offend anyone. "Our community manager was unaware of the recent political connotations associated with Pepe memes, and it has since been removed," Wendy's social-media manager Amy Brown told Business Insider. "Since this used to be purely an innocuous meme, he had this fan content saved from a year or two ago." Just a day earlier, the Wendy's Twitter account went viral after it roasted a Twitter user for questioning the company's promise of "fresh, never frozen" beef. The account continued to write humorous responses to people tweeting at the brand throughout the day. It was an example of the bizarre and beautiful interactions that are possible between brand accounts and random people on social media. The Wendy's Twitter account fires off dozens of tweets an hour. Like those of many fast-food chains, these are typically a mix of lighthearted responses to compliments, banter with customers seeking conversation, and earnest apologies for customer complaints. In the lightning-fast world of social media, brands are forced to react quickly. Sometimes that pays off, as in the case of the refrigerator tweet from Wendy's or the now-iconic comparison from Arby's of its logo and Pharrell's hat. But Wednesday's posting showed how the reverse can also be true. Story continues NOW WATCH: Wendy's is roasting people on Twitter, and it's hilarious More From Business Insider London (AFP) - Sofiane Feghouli can play in West Ham's FA Cup clash with Manchester City on Friday after the club won their appeal against his controversial sending-off against Manchester United. The 27-year-old Algerian international winger was given a straight red card by referee Mike Dean for a tackle on Phil Jones after just a quarter of an hour of Monday's Premier League match. United ended up scoring two second-half goals to win 2-0. "I have just received a call to confirm Sofiane will not be required to serve a three-match suspension and is eligible to play Friday," tweeted West Ham vice-chairman Karren Brady on Wednesday. Feghouli, who was making his first Premier League start since joining West Ham from Spanish side Valencia on a free transfer last summer, will also be free to play in the Premier League matches against strugglers Crystal Palace and Middlesbrough. Dean will now be in the spotlight when he takes charge of the live televised FA Cup third-round tie between Spurs and Aston Villa on Sunday. ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) -- Authorities say a western New York woman has been charged with stealing more than $1 million from the auto dealership where she worked. Police in the Buffalo suburb of Orchard Park say 55-year-old Billie Becker of East Aurora is accused of embezzling the funds from Town Automotive, where she had worked since 2001, the last eight years as controller. Officials say she had been stealing company funds since at least 2012. Investigators say the business discovered the thefts after a credit card company called to inquire about a credit card it wasn't aware of. Police say they believe Becker was using the credit card to pay personal accounts. Becker was charged with grand larceny and released after posting $10,000 bail. It couldn't be determined if she has a lawyer who could comment on the charges. Prolific TV comedy writer Steve ODonnell will receive a top honor from the Writers Guild of America East at its annual awards gala this year. ODonnell, a longtime former staffer of Late Night with David Letterman, will receive the Herb Sargent Award for Comedy Excellence at a Feb. 19 gala hosted by Lewis Black, the guild said Tuesday. The Sargent Award is awarded to a writer who embodies the spirit, commitment and comic genius of Mr. Sargent, as well as his dedication to mentoring new writers, a statement read of the awards namesake, who served as president of the WGAE for 14 years. Also Read: WGA West Study Finds Mixed Results on Pay for Women, Minority Writers ODonnell started with Letterman in 1982 and was named his head writer a year later. He served in that position until 1992 when he moved with Letterman to CBS and remained with him until 1995. His famous sketches included the iconic recurring Top 10 List, Calling Meg, the Office Worker in the Building Across the Street, and The NBC Bookmobile. He also worked on Seinfeld and The Simpsons, and wrote for a slew of eponymous comedy series like The Chris Rock Show, The Dana Carvey Show, The Bonnie Hunt Show and Why? With Hannibal Buress. ODonnell has been nominated for 16 Emmy awards. Related stories from TheWrap: 'Stranger Things,' 'Westworld,' 'Atlanta' Earn WGA TV Nominations WGA West Members Reject Proposal for Less Frequent Elections WGA West Study Finds Mixed Results on Pay for Women, Minority Writers Capitol Hill, the Fed and the auto industry... Heres whats On Our Radar today: Today the Fed is releasing its minutes from last months meeting. Why is it important? Thats when it announced rate hikes for 2017 and the minutes will reveal, in detail, insight into its decision and outlook for the economy. Investors will be sure to react on Wall Street. Tune in to the Intelligence Report today at 2pm ET for a complete breakdown. Battle on the Hill! President Obama and Vice President-Elect Mike Pence are both huddling up with their prospective parties. What are they chatting about? Obamacare. In an effort to defend Obamas cornerstone legislation, Democrats are strategizing about how to prevent the GOP-led Congress from dismantling the law. Fox Business Network is on Capitol Hill stakeout bringing you the latest developments. Vroom, vroom. The auto industry is making headlines after President-elect Trump slammed GM (NYSE:GM) for its Chevy Cruze production in Mexico and Ford (NYSE:F) decided to invest in a Michigan plant. Today, auto sales numbers for 2016 will be released; a good indicator for the country's economic health as well as the state of the industry. Check back at FOXBusiness.com for smart analysis. Related Articles Photo credit: Getty From ELLE DECOR David Adjaye is an architect of momentous successes - to truly describe his many accomplishments in detail would require penning an encyclopedia-sized book. You likely know Adjaye as the lead designer for the $360 million National Museum of African American History and Culture on the National Mall, which just opened in 2016. Recently, his practice has also been selected to design Latvia's very first Museum of Contemporary Art, to serve as the master plan architects for a giant San Francisco Shipyard redevelopment, and he has been shortlisted as a potential designer for the United Kingdom's National Holocaust Memorial, according to Arch Daily. Now, the 50-year-old architect shall be a knight. The Queen of England herself, Queen Elizabeth II, will grant Adjaye the Knights Bachelor award at an event later this year for his contributions to architecture (the honor is given for a preeminent contribution in any field). Men who receive the award also receive the distinguished title of "Sir" - which will make him Sir David Adjaye - while women receive the title of "Dame." Others who have received the award include Bill Gates and the late Zaha Hadid. Photo credit: Getty Images The Central Chancery of the Orders of Knighthood stated that Adjaye is "one of the leading architects of his generation and a global cultural ambassador for the U.K." He was also appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire for his contribution to British architecture in 2007, reports Curbed. Adjaye's British projects include the Whitechapel Idea Store, the Stephen Lawrence Centre, Rivington Place and the Bernie Grant Arts Centre. Photo credit: Getty Images The Whitechapel Idea Store in London, England. The architect was born many miles away from London, however, in Tanzania to Ghanaian parents. His father was a civil servant until Ghana won its independence from Britain in 1957. He then became a diplomat, and for this reason, Adjaye moved frequently with his family as a child - living in Uganda, Egypt, Kenya, Lebanon, Ghana and Saudi Arabia, reports Vogue. Story continues When Adjaye was 13 years old, his family moved to London to help support his brother, who had fallen ill with a paralyzing condition. Wanting a creative job that could also provide a steady career, Adjaye earned an architectural degree from London South Bank University. The young architect set up his first office in 1994, and soon brought influences of contemporary art, science and music to both the city civic life and African art forms, according to Adjaye Associates. Adjaye's offices are now based in London and New York, though he continues to take on projects throughout the world. In the United States, he has designed the Museum of Contemporary Art in Denver, two public libraries in Washington D.C. and many residential projects. Still, a picture is worth a thousand words - especially when it's a picture of incredible design. Scroll on to see a select few of Adjaye's projects. Photo credit: Getty Images The Museum of African American History and Culture on the National Mall. Photo credit: Getty Images The Skolkovo Moscow School of Management in Russia. Photo credit: Getty Images The Stephen Lawrence Center in London, England. Photo credit: Getty Images Rivington Place in London, England. Photo credit: Getty Images The Proenza Shouler store in New York City. Photo credit: Getty Images The Ozwald Boateng flagship store in London, England. Photo credit: Getty Images The Nobel Peace Centre in Oslo, Norway. You Might Also Like WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange told Sean Hannity on Tuesday night that Russia was not the source of the DNC and John Podestas emails that many people feel helped influence the presidential election in favor of Donald Trump. We have said, repeatedly that over the last two months that our source is not the Russian government and it is not a state party, Assange told the Fox News host, who traveled to London for the wide-ranging interview. Hannity then followed up, asking if anyone associated with Russia supplied the emails that many people think were damaging to Hillary Clintons presidential campaign. Also Read: Hillary Clinton Email Scandals: A Guide From Wikileaks to Anthony Weiner's PC Our source is not a state party, so the answer for our interactions is no. But if we look at our most recent statement from the U.S. government, which is on the 29th of December, OK, we had five different branches of government, Treasury, DHS, FBI, White House presenting their accusations to underpin Obamas throwing out 35 Russian diplomats, Assange said before asking, What was missing from all of those statements? The word WikiLeaks. Its very strange. Assange said the U.S. does not have the evidence that WikiLeaks is involved with Russia, or else his website would have been mentioned specifically in the statement. Assange, who didnt think Trump would defeat Clinton, explained that if the emails did hurt her campaign, its not WikiLeaks fault. Also Read: Donald Trump Finally Books a Star for His Inauguration: Hillary Clinton Did it (WikiLeaks) change the outcome of the election? Who knows, its impossible to tell. But if it did, the accusation is that the true statements of Hillary Clinton and her campaign manager, John Podesta, and the DNC head Debbie Wasserman Schultz, their true statements is what changed the election, Assange said. Watch the video above. Related stories from TheWrap: Why Fox News Will Be Just Fine Without Megyn Kelly 11 Possible Megyn Kelly Replacements for Fox News, From Jesse Watters to Tomi Lahren (Photos) Megyn Kelly Remains 'Deeply Grateful' to Fox News But Doesn't Mention Roger Ailes Woody Harrelson is being eyed as the space scoundrel who taught the most famous space scoundrel what he knows. The Hunger Games star is in early talks to join the Han Solo standalone movie as a mentor to the films titular subject, according to Variety, which first reported the news. Harrelson would join Alden Ehrenreich as Solo, Donald Glover as Lando Calrissian, and Game of Thrones Emilia Clarke in directors Phil Lord and Chris Millers project. Star Wars is still a booming business as any. Rogue One, the sagas first standalone movie, has earned a gaudy $800 million worldwide in the nearly three weeks since its release. Episode VIII is due in December, just five months before the scheduled release date for the Solo backstory. Harrelson, the former Cheers star and two-time Oscar nominee, is no stranger to blockbuster franchises. The actor appeared in all four Hunger Games films as Haymitch, the crotchety mentor to Jennifer Lawrences Katniss Everdeen. Reps for Harrelson had no comment, and Lucasfilm did not immediately return EWs request for comment. Arbil (Iraq) (AFP) - Kurdish security forces closed the Iraqi headquarters of an organisation that aids members of the Yazidi religious minority, which has been brutally targeted by jihadists, the group said on Wednesday. The move by the Iraqi Kurdish asayesh forces to close the Yazda organisation's offices in the northern city of Dohuk drew criticism from Human Rights Watch (HRW) as well as Nadia Murad, a Yazidi survivor of enslavement by the Islamic State group. "A force from the asayesh raided the main Yazda headquarters in Dohuk on Monday afternoon... and ordered the closure of the headquarters and all Yazda projects in camps" for displaced people, the group said in an online statement. According to Yazda, the government of Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region accused it of illegal action or "engaging in political activities," and said that its work permit was expired. "The Yazda organisation is not political and is not a political entity; rather, it is an organisation defending Yazidi rights in all places," it said, rejecting the accusations against it. Kurdish authorities could not immediately be reached for comment. The Kurdish government's "authorities need to think hard about the consequences of Yazda's closure and reverse its decision in accordance with its international obligations to facilitate, not obstruct, humanitarian assistance," Belkis Wille, Iraq researcher at HRW, said in a statement. "One person close to the organisation told me he suspected that the decision stemmed from Yazda's plan to support at least 3,000 families in Sinjar with livelihood materials, as part of a larger United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) project," she said. Wille said the programme runs counter to the policy of Kurdish authorities of restricting the movement of goods to Sinjar, a Yazidi area that was attacked by the Islamic State group in 2014. She said that the Kurdish government sought to explain the policy by saying it fears that goods will end up in the hands of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), a Kurdish rebel group opposed to the Turkish government. Story continues Yazidi activist Nadia Murad also called on Iraqi Kurdistan to reverse the decision, writing on social media that it is a "shame to close the (organisation) that supports my campaign." Murad and another Yazidi woman who was kidnapped and repeatedly raped by IS won the European Parliament's prestigious Sakharov human rights prize last year. IS, which seized swathes of Iraqi territory in 2014, carried out a brutal campaign of massacres, kidnappings, enslavement and rape targeting members of the Yazidi community in the country's north. By David Ingram NEW YORK (Reuters) - Crime in New York City fell to a historic low last year, the police said on Wednesday in a report showing that the largest U.S. city avoided the spike in murders that has battered other major American cities, including Chicago. Overall, there were 101,606 crimes that police said they knew about during 2016, down 4 percent from 2015, police said. There were 335 murders reported last year, down 5 percent from the 352 murders a year earlier, police said. The record for the fewest since the city started keeping reliable numbers in 1963 was 328 murders in 2014. By way of comparison, Chicago, which has about one-third as many residents as New York's 8.6 million people, recorded 762 murders last year, more than twice as many killings as in New York. That spike prompted President-elect Donald Trump to suggest on Monday that the city needed federal help. The trendlines in New York pointed downward in nearly all categories of reported crime, as shootings fell 12 percent, rapes fell 1 percent, robberies fell 9 percent and burglaries fell 15 percent. Reports of felony-level assaults were up 2 percent, while reports of grand larcenies were flat, according to police numbers. Police, politicians and criminologists have hotly debated the reasons behind the sharp drop in U.S. crime since the early 1990s, when New York City had more than 2,000 murders a year. They have put forward explanations such as changing tactics, better data collection or even a reduction in lead poisoning. New York City Police Commissioner James O'Neill credited last year's reductions to a "laser-like precision" on gangs and to the department's neighborhood policing program, which is aimed at improving relations between officers and the communities they patrol. In a statement, O'Neil said, "2016 was the safest year ever in the history of New York City." (Reporting by David Ingram; Editing by Scott Malone and Lisa Shumaker) New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo proposed a free college tuition plan on Tuesday, throwing his support behind a position that enjoyed enormous political popularity during the presidential campaign season. Cuomo, who was joined by free college proponent Sen. Bernie Sanders for the announcement, proposed that students from families making $125,000 or less per year could attend state and city colleges, including community colleges, for free. New York already spends $1 billion per year on a tuition assistance program that caps awards at $5,165, the New York Times reports. Current in-state tuition at SUNY schools is $6,470. Nearly one million families with college-aged children would qualify, and the plan is estimated to cost $163 million depending on participation. Hillary Clinton who proposed a similar plan when she ran for president in 2016 quickly praised Cuomos proposal. Delighted that @NYGovCuomo proposed free college for ppl making <125K in NY. A plan @SenSanders & I worked hard on. https://t.co/V0aXjhxKpm Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) January 3, 2017 The plan will now go to the state legislature for approval. [NYT] For Immediate Release Chicago, IL January 04, 2017 Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include BP plc (NYSE: BP Free Report ), ExxonMobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM Free Report ), SeaDrill Ltd. (NYSE: SDRL Free Report ), Petrobras (NYSE: PBR Free Report ) and Eni SpA (NYSE: E Free Report ). Today, Zacks is promoting its ''Buy'' stock recommendations. Get #1Stock of the Day pick for free . Here are highlights from Tuesdays Analyst Blog: Oil & Gas Stock Roundup: BP, XOM & More Heading into the New Year, both oil and natural gas futures surged to multi-month highs after gaining handsomely in 2016. On the news front, British energy giant BP plc (NYSE: BP Free Report ) agreed to buy a chain of petrol stations from Australian retailer Woolworths Ltd., while supermajor ExxonMobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM Free Report ) declared a new natural gas discovery in Papua New Guinea. Overall, the sector ended 2016 on a bullish note. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures added around 3% for the week to close at $53.72 per barrel, while natural gas prices jumped 6.2% to $3.724 per million Btu (MMBtu). (See the last Oil & Gas Stock Roundup here: Chevron's Asset Sale, Petrobras' TOTAL Deal and More .) Posting its biggest annual gain since 2009, oil prices closed 2016 up 45%. The bullish momentum continued during last weeks trading, with the commodity attaining its highest closing in 17 months as investors and analysts grow more confidant that producers will adhere to their agreed output cut quotas, which will reduce the global inventory glut next year. Oils-Energy Sector 5YR % Return Meanwhile, natural gas was 2016s best-performing commodity, gaining 60% during the period. The heating fuel surged to a 2-year high last week following a massive withdrawal that sent storage into a deficit versus the five-year average. The commodity was further buoyed by predictions of abnormally frigid weather over the entire U.S that is set to translate into strong demand. Story continues Recap of the Weeks Most Important Stories 1. BP plc has agreed to shell out A$1.785 billion ($1.3 billion) for Woolworths Ltd.s portfolio of Australian gas stations in a deal that will likely make the London-based oil company one of the nations biggest fuel providers. Per the deal, the British energy company will acquire 527 fuel outlets as well as 16 development sites. The Woolworths fuel outlets are supplied by rival Caltex Australia Ltd. Currently, BP owns 350 retail locations across Australia and supplies fuel to an additional 1,000 outlets owned by independent business partners. BP and Woolworths partnership also includes the continuation and expansion of a scheme offering fuel discounts for supermarket customers. The purchase by BP marks a deviation from the trend of the recent years that has seen a smaller share of Australias retail fuel operators being owned by the major oil companies. There are about 6,400 outlets Down Under, while 52% of them were associated with one of the four major oil companies operating in Australia as of Jan 2016, only 9% were directly controlled by them. Subject to regulatory approvals, the transaction is not expected to conclude before Jan 2, 2018. (Read more: BP to Buy Woolworths Australian Gas Stations for $1.3B .) 2. Worlds largest publicly traded oil company ExxonMobil Corp. announced that it has made a new natural gas discovery in the Papua New Guinea North Highlands. Located 13 miles (21 kilometers) northwest of the Hides Gas Field, the Muruk-1 well came across similar high-quality sandstone reservoirs as the Hides field, same as the pre-drill expectations. The well was drilled to a depth of 10,630 feet (3,130 meters). Located in petroleum prospecting license 402, the well spans across an acreage of 126,000 acres (510 square kilometers). The size of the discovery is currently being assessed. Oil Search Limited is the operator of the well with a holding of 37.5%. ExxonMobil holds 42.5% and the remaining 20% is owned by Barracuda Limited, a subsidiary of Santos Limited. Oil Search started drilling the Muruk-1 well on Nov 2. ExxonMobils involvement in exploration in Papua New Guinea dates back to the 1930s. Moreover, the Muruk exploration success validates the strength of ExxonMobils long-term investment approach and reiterates its commitment to Papua New Guinea. (Read more: ExxonMobil Hits Natural Gas in Onshore Papua New Guinea .) 3. Hamilton, Bermuda-based offshore drilling firm SeaDrill Ltd. (NYSE: SDRL Free Report ) reported that it has entered into a three-year agreement extension with Saudi Aramco for the AOD III jackup rig at a rate of $102,740 per day. The contract will now expire in Dec 2019. SeaDrill currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here . The extension of this agreement is expected to add approximately $112.5 million in contract backlog. Also, this follows the three-year contracts extensions of two sister rigs AOD I and AOD II that are set to expire in Jun 2019 and Jul 2019, respectively. The three units have been working for Saudi Aramco since 2013. The ownership of these rigs lie with Asia Offshore Drilling a partnership venture between Seadrill and Mermaid Maritime that own 66.24% and 33.76% equity interest, respectively. (Read more: Seadrill Signs 3-Year Rig Extension for AOD III Jackup .) 4. Brazil's state-run energy giant Petrobras (NYSE: PBR Free Report ) reported that it has signed an agreement to divest non-core business assets worth $587 million. This move is to reduce its debts and revive investor confidence shattered by a corruption scandal. Under the terms of the agreement, Petrobras has agreed to offload its 45.97% stake in sugar and ethanol producer Guarani SA. The buyer, Frances Tereos Internacional, is slated to pay $202 million for the buyout. In a separate arrangement, Petrobras has agreed to divest certain petrochemical assets worth $385 million to Mexican petrochemical company Alpek S.A.B. de C.V. The petrochemical units, namely Petroquimica Suape and Citepe, are located in the state of Pernambuco and can produce 700,000 tons of purified terephthalic acid per year. The units also churn out 450,000 tons of polyethylene terephthalate per year. Petrobras asset sale plan is in sync with its efforts to lower its huge debt burden. In fact, the company with a debt of $122.65 billion at the end of third-quarter 2016 is the most indebted in the world. As a result, Petrobras intends to divest assets worth $21 billion over 20172018. (Read more: Petrobras to Divest Non-Core Assets worth $587 Million .) 5. Italian energy company Eni SpA (NYSE: E Free Report ) recently gained two exploration blocks offshore Cyprus, in the competitive international bid round 3rd Licensing Round. Eni will be the operator of Block 6 with 50% interest, while the balance will be held by partner, Frances TOTAL SA. Eni will acquire a 100% stake in Block 8. Enis successfully explored areas in the neighboring Egyptian offshore, including the Zohr massive gas field, which have geological similarities with these newly awarded areas. These awards further strengthen Enis strategic position in the area. Notably, the company was awarded the blocks 9, 3 and 2 in the 2nd international bid round in 2012. The company also holds three exploration blocks on the Egyptian side Shorouk (where the Zohr field is located), Karawan and North Leil. Eni holds 50% stake and 100% stake in Karawan and North Leil, respectively. Eni has been enjoying a strong foothold in Cyprus since 2013, where it holds and operates the offshore exploration blocks 2, 3 and 9. (Read more: Eni Wins Twin Exploration Block License in Offshore Cyprus .) Today, Zacks is promoting its ''Buy'' stock recommendations. Get #1 Stock of the Day pick for free . About Zacks Equity Research Zacks Equity Research provides the best of quantitative and qualitative analysis to help investors know what stocks to buy and which to sell for the long-term. Continuous coverage is provided for a universe of 1,150 publicly traded stocks. Our analysts are organized by industry which gives them keen insights to developments that affect company profits and stock performance. Recommendations and target prices are six-month time horizons. Strong Stocks that Should Be in the News Many are little publicized and fly under the Wall Street radar. They're virtually unknown to the general public. Yet today's 220 Zacks Rank #1 "Strong Buys" were generated by the stock-picking system that has nearly tripled the market from 1988 through 2015. Its average gain has been a stellar +26% per year. See these high-potential stocks free >>. Get the full Report on BP - FREE Get the full Report on XOM - FREE Get the full Report on SDRL - FREE Get the full Report on PBR - FREE Get the full Report on E - FREE Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/zacksresearch Join us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/home.php#/pages/Zacks-Investment-Research/57553657748?ref=ts Zacks Investment Research is under common control with affiliated entities (including a broker-dealer and an investment adviser), which may engage in transactions involving the foregoing securities for the clients of such affiliates. Media Contact Zacks Investment Research 800-767-3771 ext. 9339 support@zacks.com https://www.zacks.com/ Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Inherent in any investment is the potential for loss. This material is being provided for informational purposes only and nothing herein constitutes investment, legal, accounting or tax advice, or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold a security. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. It should not be assumed that any investments in securities, companies, sectors or markets identified and described were or will be profitable. All information is current as of the date of herein and is subject to change without notice. Any views or opinions expressed may not reflect those of the firm as a whole. Zacks Investment Research does not engage in investment banking, market making or asset management activities of any securities. These returns are from hypothetical portfolios consisting of stocks with Zacks Rank = 1 that were rebalanced monthly with zero transaction costs. These are not the returns of actual portfolios of stocks. The S&P 500 is an unmanaged index. Visit https://www.zacks.com/performance for information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report BP PLC (BP): Free Stock Analysis Report EXXON MOBIL CRP (XOM): Free Stock Analysis Report SEADRILL LTD (SDRL): Free Stock Analysis Report PETROBRAS-ADR C (PBR): Free Stock Analysis Report ENI SPA-ADR (E): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Fishermen who landed a 765-pound blue marlin face a major challenge fitting the monster catch in their minivan in Paihia, New Zealand, on December 29. The video has stirred debate on social media with some congratulating the fishermen while others said the majestic marlin should have been released back into the sea. A.J. Heijns captured this footage of the fishermen grappling with their catch. Credit: YouTube/A.J. Heijns via Storyful Oscar nominated, respectively, for their work on Bolt and Wreck-It Ralph, directors Byron Howard and Rich Moore have triumphantly returned to the forefront of the awards conversation this year with Zootopia. Taking the Best Animated Feature prize at the Critics Choice Awards and a Golden Globe nomination the following morning, the celebrated, inclusive picture from Walt Disney Studios tells the story of Judy Hopps, an inspirational young bunny who boldly confronts stereotypes and discrimination in her pursuit of a place within the Zootopia police force. Joining producer Clark Spencer for a conversation with Deadline, the directors discussed the genesis of the project, the evolution of animation technology since Bolt, and Cat Stevens moving embrace of the film. How did Zootopia come together, and what about it spoke to you? Byron Howard: About five years ago, we pitched this idea of doing an all-animal movie to John Lasseter, and he got behind it in a huge way. We have a legacy of great Disney animal films, but we hadnt done a talking animal film where theyre walking upright on two legs and dressed in clothes. I had grown up on Robin Hood; I loved that, and he told us that he loved Wind in the Willows, which is an old film that Disney had made about Ichabod and Mr. Toad. We dove into about a year of research, and during that year, we figured out that this predator/prey thing was really interesting. It immediately gave us two groups that didnt see eye to eye, and then that led us really quickly into the idea of using the film as a way to talk about bias, and peoples misunderstanding of each other, because as you can see from the news, its been a crazy couple years. As we were working on the film, the world around us continued to go crazy with these issues that the film was starting to talk about. And whats great about the fact that its an animated film is that the characters can serve as symbols for people to find themselves, no matter what their experience with bias is around the world. Story continues Rich Moore: I think animation works really well in telling fables, like a lot of Aesop, because he would use animal characters in his fables. It allows the audience to put themselves into the shoes of the main character, if that character doesnt necessarily look like them. I think animation has an easy entry point to be able to talk about things like this. I think animation, cartoons, comics, theres something safe, and its a paradox really, because its like, who would think that men, women, children, little girls, little boys could relate to a rabbit character that wants to become a police officer? But Judy [Hopps] has become a vehicle that anyone can see their struggle in, because it doesnt skew one particular way or the other. Was it exciting to be able to cultivate a new animated film, outside existing IP? Clark Spencer: Its always one of the biggest challenges, trying to do something thats completely original, but what I love about that is it opens up this whole moment to think about what would it be. I remember early on, when the idea was pitched, John said, Well, weve done lots of talking animal movies, and Im super excited by it, but we have to do one like no one has ever seen before, and that kind of became the mantra for the team. So when we talked about, Well, how would the animals build the city? Lets not think like humans, lets think about it from an animal perspective, it just created a whole sense of flavor that could be put into this world. Its not New York City. Its not London. Its not Tokyo. Its aspects of what we know about cities, but the way animals would do it. The stores are different sizes, the staircases are different sizes. Its animals of different sizes, its tubes that mice travel through, its dryers for the hippos that are coming out of waterways that theyre traveling. Its those kinds of great things that become this flavor throughout the movie while the storys also being told. Moore: The parallels came up as we pushed the world, like Steerbucks for Starbucks. The DMV is a good example of something that every adult person worldwide knows about bureaucracy and waiting in lines, and no matter where we went around the world, everybody got that scene, and it was so hilarious. But at the same time, it was finding the serious parallels, too. We went to Africa, and we were camping about 30 yards from a watering hole, and we would see during the day, lions would come right in and drink next the gazelle and zebra they normally eat, and there was no funny business. They would just go about their business, and they would part ways, because they needed something, just like different groups of people living together in cities. People need to work, they need to come to these cities to live, and they have to find ways to get along, so finding those kinds of key things that tied our own experience as human beings to the animal world, thats where the movie got really deep and clever. Byron, you worked with specific programs to design animals and animal fur for 2008s Bolt. The technology youre using has advanced substantially in eight years, hasnt it? Howard: Definitely. Its funny, because Clark produced Bolt, and the studio was very new to CG at the time. I think Pixar and Disney were struggling with the technology because we want to tell these stories, and even simple thingslike at one point Bolt, the dog, sticks his head out a window for the first time in his life, and its an amazing experience. We realized that we had no way to make that fur move, because the fur technologist was not there, so we had to cheat. We had to create this kind of weird little algorithm Spencer: That distortion wiggled over the fur to make it feel like its moving. Its not really moving. Howard: But now, not only does every one of these characters, tens of thousands of characters in the film, have fur, but we have these programs now that actually move hundreds of thousands of strands of fur in real wind, to be able to do something that the audience may never notice. Theyll just feel it. It just feels natural. Moore: With our technology, it can handle massive amounts of data that can simulate how fur and hair actually exist on an animal, on a character, and how it reacts to stimuli around it. This technology, called Hyperion, was implemented on Big Hero 6, so if you look from Frozen to Big Hero 6, there is a marked difference digitally in how those films look. I think years from now theyll say, like, Okay, there was pre-Hyperion and post-Hyperion. I was asking one of the tech guys, So, whats impressive about this? He was like, Oh, okay. Well, see this, and he showed me an image it was a big aerial shot of Sanfransokyo, the city in Big Hero 6and he goes, Okay, see this one frame of Big Hero 6? There is more data in this one frame than the whole movie of Bolt. And its never trying to replicate reality, you know? Theres a long tradition at this studio, and two of the nine old men, Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston wrote a book called The Illusion of Life. So were always chasing a caricature of life, but I mean, thats the same thing that they were trying to do in 2D, when they were doing Jungle Book or Robin Hood. Its kind of following in a long tradition. Howard: But we want believability. All of what were doing, and I think what well continue to do in the next generations, is were going to try to keep removing those barriers between you and the characters and the world of the film. Moore: I wonder, like, in 50 years, are live-action movies becoming more like animation, and animations becoming more like live action, and at some point theyre going to kind of merge together? Who knows? Well all be dead by then. [Laughs] You prepared Zootopia in a number of different formats. Was that a challenging process? Howard: HDR. Thats pretty remarkable. Thats something thats just around the corner that I dont think most people are aware of yet in the world, is HDR projection. And that was remarkable for us because we know that its coming, and I dont think you can see it in very many places around the world yet, but Moore: God, I wish you could. Its so amazing. It was the most beautiful version of the movie that I think weve ever seen. Because as were reviewing the film, and looking at designs and color tests, were seeing it at its most pristine. And its sad, a little bit, that that doesnt translate to every theater. I like to see the movie in theaters with an audience, and there was several that I went to that was like, God, I wish the audience was seeing it the way that we see it, but that laser-projection systemHoly shit. That was just like, this is gorgeous. Howard: It looks real. It almost looks like 3D, even if its not. Because the contrast is so sharp, it feels like Im looking at real objects, like Im looking at a real sky in the real world. I even heard that James Cameron was saying we need better, brighter projecting technology in the theaters, and its so true, because it was a frustration for us back on Tangled, because I would go around and see how different theaters were airing it, and back in the old days, to save money on the bulbs, the theater runners would turn the bulb down so it wouldnt burn as hot, and it just muddied the whole film. The most beautiful film youve seen so far is even more beautiful in HDR, and its just an incredible technology that is just around the corner. And also just as wonderful is the cut they play on planes. [Laughs] Moore: The aspect ratio is like a stamp. God bless people watching the movie on planes, because theres been movies Ive discovered that Id never seen before on a plane flight. Howard: Cat Stevens watched it on a plane Moore: Thats right! Howard: Whats so neat about that is recently hes been touring, and hes been wrapping up his concert, right before he plays Peace Train, with the full verbatim quote of Judys speech at the end of the film, where she talks about When I was a child, I thought Zootopia was this perfect place where everyone got along. So even though the plane version is not the most visually Whatever the message is, however people want to incorporate that into their lives is great. Even Cat Stevens, God bless him. Related stories 'Arrival' Editor Joe Walker's "Super Power" To Manipulate Time Oscars: Sci-Tech Winners Announced '20th Century Women' Director Mike Mills On Honing Material From His Own Life: "I Don't Want To Make A Memoir" As miles-long traffic backups and highways lined with parked cars defined holiday weekends in Flagstaff so far this winter, the Daily Sun took a closer look at a few potential solutions to address some of the biggest snowplay-related headaches. Some ideas are gaining steam while others havent yet been tried. Replace cars with more bus options: Now in its second year, the Mountain Express bus from Flagstaff to Arizona Snowbowl is already set to exceed last years ridership numbers. That's likely tied to the fact that the bus is free this year, said Jacki Lenners, marketing manager with the Northern Arizona Intergovernmental Public Transportation Authority. From Dec. 26 to Jan. 1, the bus service saw more than 2,100 riders compared with the 2,500 boardings recorded all of last winter. But only 160 of those people came from the Downtown Connection Center-- the rest caught the bus at the bottom of Snowbowl Road, meaning lots of riders were still driving up Highway 180. Currently, the Mountain Express runs on limited hours and only during the busiest ski days, so to make a significant difference in the traffic, it would likely need continuous service going up and down the mountain, Lenners wrote in an email. The service also only goes to Snowbowl, which doesnt address the traffic created by visitors to Wing Mountain, Crowley Pit, the Arizona Nordic Village and other snowplay further north. Implement more parking regulation along Highway 180: The state of Oregon, among other states, has implemented a parking system that requires visitors to purchase a Sno-Park permit to park in designated winter recreation areas from November through April. Those areas include mountain passes in the state and most recognized ski, snowmobile and snow play areas. Permit fees, which are $4 per day, support enforcement and maintenance of parking areas. So would the idea work in the Highway 180 corridor? Brian Grube, assistant director of Coconino Countys Parks and Recreation Department, said bringing a similar permit system to the Flagstaff area is something the regions recently revived winter recreation task force hasnt yet considered. Some challenges would be the overlapping jurisdictions, the challenge of enforcement and administering such a program. Its not a quick solution but it could be a long-term solution, Grube said. Something we'll be compelled to look at. Coconino County Supervisor Art Babbott didn't comment directly on a permit system, but said anything that is implemented needs to be equitable in terms of who bears the costs. A special winter recreation district, another idea that has been suggested, would need to bear that in mind as well so residents don't get saddled with the costs of mitigating the impacts of out-of-town snowplayers, Babbott said. He added that at this point, a special district is also out of the question because the county doesn't have the state authority to create such a special taxing entity. Snowmaking at local snowplay areas: Jonathan Allen, co-owner of the Flagstaff Snow Park that opened this winter at Fort Tuthill County Park, said he will likely request the ability to make snow sometime in the near future. Doing so would allow him to make snow berms on the sides of tubing runs and do touch-ups to allow for occasional grooming of the runs, Allen said. Coconino County supervisors would have to approve snowmaking and a water source would have to be identified. There is a well near Fort Tuthill that could provide potable water, but the closest reclaimed wastewater tap is 7 miles away, said Dustin Woodman, director of Coconino County Parks and Recreation. If using drinking water for snowmaking isnt politically palatable, most feasible would likely be trucking reclaimed wastewater to a large storage tank onsite, said J.R. Murray, general manager at Arizona Snowbowl. It takes between 160,000 and 200,000 gallons of water to make an acre foot of snow. Allen said the Flagstaff Snow Park covers about 2.5 acres but stressed that he would only need snowmaking on a limited basis. (For comparison, Flagstaff city water customers use about 8 million gallons a day of potable water in the winter.) Other ideas suggested by readers via Facebook: Put information about the new Flagstaff Snow Park at Fort Tuthill on overhead highway signs along Interstate 17 on days when snowplay traffic is expected to be heavy Disseminate public service announcements and ads in the Phoenix area educating people about the problems with trash and traffic and offering solutions Encourage Williams and other communities to promote their own snowplay or winter entertainment options Talk to city council members Make parking on the shoulders of Highway 180 illegal and ticketing people who do it Run a bypass from Interstate 40 near Bellemont to Snowbowl Road Put up guardrails to stop people from parking along certain roadways and pay for the new infrastructure with revenues from $500 littering tickets issued to those who leave behind broken plastic sleds. Photo credit: Getty From Harper's BAZAAR Update, 3/11/17: Zac Posen is the latest designer to speak out against the idea of dressing the First Lady. "[I have] no current plans to dress members of the first family," he told The Daily Beast. "Right now, I'm staying away from bringing my brand into politics. There are issues that are being questioned that are fundamentally upsetting to me - deeply: LGBT rights, immigration, funding for the arts, Planned Parenthood, and women's rights. These are just issues that are very close to my heart, and I use my own private voice and funds to fight for them and in support of them. I think it's important to use your voice. I think that every brand and person has a right to be vocal. ... I am very upset with the state of affairs right now. I always try to be optimistic. I think freedom will prevail. And I don't dictate who buys my clothing in a store." Update, 1/2/17: Another major designer has chimed in on the debate of dressing the future First Lady. Stefano Gabbana took to Instagram last night to happily show off Melania Trump wearing a Dolce & Gabbana dress on New Year's Eve, a black figure-hugging sleeveless design with an embellished bow on each strap. Gabbana even dubbed her a "DG woman." "Melania Trump#DGwoman thank you #madeinitaly," he wrote in the caption. Trump was also seen sporting Dolce & Gabbana in the days leading up to the election, along with looks by Ralph Lauren, Michael Kors and other brands, which she reportedly bought in New York City or online. Gabbana joins designers like Tommy Hilfiger, Diane Von Furstenberg and Thom Browne, who have expressed that they would dress the future FLOTUS. Others like Sophie Theallet (the first designer to openly speak out on the topic after the election),Marc Jacobs, Tom Ford, Phillip Lim and others have publicly refused. Original post, 11/30/16: "Will you dress future First Lady Melania Trump?" seems to be the question of the moment for fashion designers. After the fashion industry as a whole predominantly voiced enthusiastic support for Hillary Clinton throughout the 2016 election, designers are now faced with the possibility of dressing Melania Trump instead-something many designers seem to be conflicted about. Story continues Sophie Theallet was the first designer to take a stance on the issue, releasing an open letter announcing she will not dress the future First Lady and urging other designers to do the same. On the other side of the debate is Tommy Hilfiger, who revealed he would be "proud" to dress both Melania and Ivanka Trump. Until today, those two designers were the only ones to publicly comment on the topic. This morning, WWD brought more of fashion's influential voices into the conversation, publishing a piece which posed the question, "Would you dress Melania Trump?" to nine designers, including Marc Jacobs, Thom Browne, Vera Wang and CFDA president Diane von Furstenberg. Von Furstenberg remained pretty neutral on the subject, saying, "Donald Trump was elected and he will be our president. Melania deserves the respect of any First Lady before her. Our role as part of the fashion industry is to promote beauty, inclusiveness, diversity. We should each be the best we can be and influence by our example." Photo credit: Getty But Jacobs didn't hide his feelings: "I have no interest whatsoever in dressing Melania Trump. I didn't see [Sophie Theallet's] letter. Personally, I'd rather put my energy into helping out those who will be hurt by [Donald] Trump and his supporters," Jacobs told WWD. Meanwhile, Cynthia Rowley stepped in as a voice of reason, commenting on the entire discussion as a whole: "In the midst of this heated debate, the question actually seems somewhat irrelevant," she said. "[Melania] can simply purchase whatever she wants, so how can we control it? Just because she's shown wearing a designer does not mean that designer is endorsing her, her husband or any of their beliefs. Checking someone's ethical beliefs before they're allowed to purchase sets up an exclusionary dynamic that feeds into the exact mentality that is preventing us from moving forward in a positive direction." Read all nine of the designers' responses on WWD. You Might Also Like Photo credit: Getty; Google (House) From Town & Country When Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner moved into an 8,200-square-foot house in the Kalorama neighborhood of Washington, D.C. earlier this year, it wasn't clear whether they owned or rented the property. Now we know they're renting it - for $15,000 a month - from Chilean billionaire Andronico Luksic, who's currently embroiled in a legal dispute with the U.S. government over a proposed nickel-and-copper mine in Minnesota. (The Wall Street Journal first reported the rent and house's owner after reviewing recently filed documents.) The house, at 2449 Tracy Place NW, is literally around the corner (only a three-minute walk!) from the Obamas' new residence, an 8,200-square-foot house at 2446 Belmont Road NW, which they are also renting. [related id='741664e8-aa38-4755-94a6-3764b350a6df' align='center'][/related] Aaron Terrazas, a senior economist at Zillow, previously told T&C that the Trump/Kushner clan would get more for their money in D.C. than New York, where they were living in a $10.2 million apartment. Plus, Terrazas said, "neighborhoods like Kalorama and Georgetown have a historic charm that's maybe lacking in Manhattan." Photo credit: Zillow The six-bedroom, 6,870-square-foot house sold for $5.5 million - $100,000 less than the asking price - on December 22 last year, and the identity of the buyer had until recently not been disclosed. Luksic's mining company suffered a setback last year when the Obama administration blocked the Minnesota project because of environmental concerns, but a few Minnesota politicians have asked the Trump administration to reconsider. (The White House and Luksic's spokespeople have denied any connection between the mining issue and the house rental. White House spokesperson Hope Hicks told the Journal, "This was an arms-length transaction at a market price," in response to a claim that the rent represented a raw deal for the landlord.) Story continues The 1923 house, designed by architect Waddy Wood, previously sold for $3.5 million in 2013. Below, check out the house's interior, which includes five wood-burning fireplaces and a master suite with walk-in closets, a soaking tub, and a deck that overlooks the garden. Photo credit: Zillow Photo credit: Zillow Photo credit: Zillow Photo credit: Zillow Photo credit: Zillow Photo credit: Zillow Photo credit: Zillow Photo credit: Zillow You Might Also Like ISLAND LIFE: Paris Ile Saint-Louis, a favored hangout of writers, artists and intellectuals across the centuries, is the setting for Louis Vuittons latest advertising campaign, shot by Bruce Weber and styled by Marie-Amelie Sauve. Titled Series 6, the campaign moves between minimalist studio shots of Vuitton ambassadors actresses Michelle Williams, Jennifer Connelly, Adele Exarchopoulos and Sasha Lane and images of models taken on and around the island in modern silhouettes from the houses spring collection. Star leather-goods styles from the collection also get major play in a series of witty still lifes like a Petite Malle Column bag hanging from a wrought-iron railing and a Petite Malle in printed epi leather suspended in a rusty dock ring. Charles Baudelaire, Marie Curie and members of the so-called Lost Generation including Ernest Hemingway, John Dos Passos and Nancy Cunard count among former residents of the storied Ile Saint-Louis, one of two natural islands on the river Seine in the heart of Paris, with views on Notre-Dame Cathedral. Summoning up the energy of Paris avant-garde artistic, literary and intellectual movements, Weber channeled a flaneur strolling through the streets for the campaign, with shots combining a romanticized view of Paris with strong cultural references. Case in point: The Place Louis-Aragon, an area on the islands western tip dedicated to the French poet of the same name, a major figure in the avant-garde movements that shaped Frances literary and visual culture in the 20th century, including Surrealism. Paris is the soul of this collection, with its Right Bank/Left Bank duality, Paris nourished by all artistic influences. It is to this cultivated, intellectual, original and free-spirited Parisienne that I wanted to pay tribute, said Nicolas Ghesquiere, artistic director of Vuittons womens collections. The campaign will break in a range of international luxury titles on Wednesday, including Vogue. Story continues Launch Gallery: Louis Vuitton Unveils Series 6 Ad Campaign Related stories LVMH Revives Luxury Russia Leather WWD Law Review: American Apparel, Louis Vuitton, Aquazzura, More Louis Vuitton To Open Men's Pop-Up Shop in Milan Prince Harry is the cover star of Town & Countrys February issue. (Photo: Town & Country) Prince Harrys personal affairs have commanded major media attention within the last few months, so its refreshing to start 2017 with the royal being depicted in a totally different light. For its February issue, Prince Harry allowed Town & Country to accompany him for a portion of his journey through Malawi, in southeastern Africa, with the nonprofit conservation organization African Parks to rescue 500 elephants. #NEWPHOTOGRAPHS of His Royal Highness Prince Henry of Wales for the Town & Country Magazine UK's February 2017 issue. The exclusive photoshoot with the royal was done in July 2016 while Prince Harry was in Malawi helping out the 500 Elephants Initiative, which aim is to move 500 elephants to safety in a wildlife reserve where they can thrive without the threat of poachers. The magazine will be in stores in January. Credit to @cambridges_princeharryupdates. A photo posted by THE PRINCE HARRY SITE (@hrhprinceharryofengland) on Dec 30, 2016 at 11:36am PST The prince spent three weeks in Africa this past summer, working to relocate elephants to safer areas and decrease overcrowding. This, in turn, helps prevent starvation and disease among the elephant population. In the T&C spread, the prince traveled with reporter Klara Glowczewska for six days to bring the elephants to safety and speak about his work with the conservation organization. The prince also spoke at length about his passion for saving endangered species and the fight against poachers in Africa. Everyone has a different opinion; every country has a different way of doing things, he told Glowczewska. But I do believe that we need a regulatory body so that everyone who owns or manages wildlife is subject to inspection and rated on how well they look after the animals and how the communities benefit. I know Im going to get criticized for this, but we have to come together. You know what Stevie Wonder said: You need teamwork to make the dream work. I use that a lot. Story continues Within the issue, the royal also shared that his first trip to the continent occurred just after the death of his mother, Princess Diana, in 1997. My dad told my brother and me to pack our bags we were going to Africa to get away from it all, he said. #NewPhotographs of His Royal Highness Prince Henry of Wales for the Town & Country Magazine UK's February 2017 issue. The exclusive photoshoot with the royal was done in July 2016 while Prince Harry was in Malawi helping out the 500 Elephants Initiative, which aim is to move 500 elephants to safety in a wildlife reserve where they can thrive without the threat of poachers. The magazine will be in stores in January. Credit to @cambridges_princeharryupdates. A photo posted by THE PRINCE HARRY SITE (@hrhprinceharryofengland) on Dec 30, 2016 at 11:50am PST After visiting and working on the continent many times in the past, Prince Harry has now found a sense of peace and normalcy there. This is where I feel more like myself than anywhere else in the world, he told Glowczewska. I wish I could spend more time in Africa. I have this intense sense of complete relaxation and normality here. To not get recognized, to lose myself in the bush with what I would call the most down-to-earth people on the planet, people [dedicated to conservation] with no ulterior motives, no agendas, who would sacrifice everything for the betterment of nature I talk to them about their jobs, about what they do. And I learn so much. Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day. A large group of women were groped and harassed on New Years Eve in India. (Photo: Getty Images) When crowds of young women out celebrating New Years Eve in Bangalore, India, reported being groped, harassed, and subject to other forms of sexual and gender-based violence, the home minister of the state of Karnataka, G. Parameshwara, said in a televised interview on Monday that the women themselves were to blame for dressing like Westerners So some disturbance, some girls are harassed, these kind of things do happen. Video footage of some of the women assaulted on Dec. 31 show them crying out for help, fighting off attackers, and being assaulted by men. Another government official in the region, Abu Azmi, an assemblyman from the state of Maharashtra, also pointed a finger at the women who had been assaulted as the guilty party in the incident. Azmi said in a televised statement that, in an attempt to look fashionable and modern, women are in fact appearing in public looking all but nude again, making the ridiculous accusation that the women essentially brought the sexual harassment and groping upon themselves. Experts on sexual and gender-based violence emphasize that victims are never to blame for such assaults and that how a person is dressed can never be seen as permission to violate that person. A common rape myth in the United States is that women invite or deserve rape if they dress in a certain way clearly, this myth is also present in India, Zoe Peterson, PhD, an associate professor of psychological sciences and the director of the Sexual Assault Research and Education Program at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, tells Yahoo Style. There is no behavior on the part of a victim that justifies sexual assault. Further, it is ridiculous to suggest that women are sexually assaulted because they dressed in revealing or skimpy clothing. Peterson continues, Obviously some women are assaulted and harassed in the U.S. and in India even when they are dressed very conservatively. And most men do not rape women even when the women are dressed provocatively. It also is likely that the women who were involved in the incident over New Years had worn those very same Western clothes at other times and were not sexually assaulted. Thus, the only logical conclusion is that the women were assaulted not because of their clothing but because on New Years they were unlucky enough to be in the presence of sexual perpetrators. Story continues Sejal Singh, a policy organizer with the student-led, gender-based violence activist and advocacy group Know Your IX, agrees. The only people responsible for sexual assault and groping are the perpetrators themselves, Singh tells Yahoo Style. Sexual assault is absolutely never OK, excusable, or deserved. It doesnt matter what a victim wears or who they are; they deserve to have their bodily autonomy respected. She adds: Its appalling to see powerful men all over the globe from Bangalore to London to New York trying to divert blame from the people who commit sexual assault to the victims themselves. Instead of blaming women for how theyre dressed, politicians should be working to make sure women can participate in public life free from assault. Blaming victims or Western dress is just another way to sweep widespread sexual assault under the rug. Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day. India is one of the worlds fastest-growing economies the sales of Apple products, sold mainly through third-party retailers in the country, crossed $1 billion in 2015. Apple Inc. might have looked towards India as an alternative as iPhone production costs in China increase, but that does not entail that it guaranteed any special concessions there as it could set the wrong precedent for other companies, according to a government source. Apple is asking for concessions that others are not asking. We have to follow the rule book. Otherwise, anybody can stand up and say why only Apple and why not others, a commerce ministry officer told LiveMint Wednesday on the condition of anonymity. Apple has been going back and forth with the Indian government over the production facilities for its iPhones. India is one of the worlds fastest growing economies the sales of Apple products, sold mainly through third-party retailers in the country, crossed $1 billion in 2015. Apple meanwhile is looking for alternatives to China, where a huge chunk of its production takes place. The Indian government had already provided Apple a three-year grace period which excludes it from the stipulation that foreign companies must buy 30 percent of their components in the country. But the government does not seem eager to give in to its demands for concessions such as lower import and manufacturing duties. According to a Times of India report published last week, the company is very serious about beginning assembly operations in India and thereafter fully manufacturing its devices in the country as local manufacturing would save it at the very least the 12.5 percent import duty on its products. Related Articles The new BlackBerry smartphone is expected to be revealed this week at CES 2017. BlackBerry may have stopped making phones, but Chinese manufacturer TCL is now in charge of the smartphone brand. A TCL executive recently teased a new BlackBerry smartphone showing the brands signature QWERTY keyboard. President and general manager of TCL Communication Steve Cistulli shared a video on Twitter yesterday showing a four-second clip of a new BlackBerry handset. The most popular rumor is that this might be the device codenamed as Mercury. The video didnt give away much, but it did show the return of the physical QWERTY keyboard featuring fretted keys. The return of the physical keyboard might be TCLs way of bringing back what a lot of people consider to be BlackBerrys standout feature. The last BlackBerry-branded smartphone TCL released was the DTEK60, which ditched the keyboard in favor of an all-touchscreen design. The short clip also confirms that the upcoming BlackBerry device will be running the Android operating system as the capacitive navigation buttons are also seen above the keyboard as well. Although the device is being called the BlackBerry Mercury at the moment, Cistullis tweet may also be hinting at the devices real name. Its being speculated that the handset might be called the BlackBerry Press based on Cistulli saying that the device is imPRESSively designed, as pointed out by CNET. The executive also included #CES2017 in his tweet confirming a reveal at the Consumer Electronics Show which is ongoing in Las Vegas, Nevada. The BlackBerry Mercury is rumored to come with a 4.5-inch display and will be powered by an octa-core Snapdragon 625 processor. The upcoming handset is also said to come with Adreno 506 graphics, 3GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage, according to Phone Arena. On the software side of things, the device might come with Android 7.0 Nougat straight out of the box. TCL is scheduled to take the stage at CES 2017 on Jan. 4, Wednesday, to present the new BlackBerry Mercury smartphone. Related Articles Carnival introduced an "Ocean Medallion" designed to tailor trips to individual passengers by learning their tastes and on-board habits (AFP Photo/Ana Rodriguez) (AFP/File) Las Vegas (AFP) - Leisure travel colossus Carnival Corporation is putting a spin on technology used at Disney World to turn cruise ships into what it bills as smart cities at sea. Carnival on Tuesday introduced an "Ocean Medallion" designed to tailor trips to individual passengers by learning their tastes and on-board habits, and even keeping track of roaming children. The travel giant, which has 10 cruise brands, unveiled the lightweight, waterproof medallions in Las Vegas as the Consumer Electronics Show gadget extravaganza prepared to get underway. Capable of whispering wirelessly to a web of on-board sensors, the medallions are designed to help cruise operators anticipate guests' needs, making note of a favorite wine, say, and prompting suggestions as the journey progresses, according to Nytec, the US company behind the technology. Carnival plans to roll out the devices on its Regal Princess cruise ship late this year, with two more ships following next year. The medallions let crew know where people are and where they might be heading, helping with tasks ranging from unlocking cabin doors for guests to anticipating which pools or restaurants might need back-up staff or letting housekeeping know when the time is right to tidy up. Medallions also act as wallets, charging purchases to people's shipboard accounts, with identities confirmed by photos that pop up on workers' screens and allow people to be greeted by name. "Carnival is about to launch a concept that is really a smart city on a cruise ship," Carnival Corporation spokeswoman Vicki Johnson told AFP. "Cruise ships are very city-like when you boil things down." Carnival executive John Padgett, who worked on the project, was previously a vice president at Walt Disney Parks & Resorts in Florida, where he helped bring to life MagicBand smart bracelets that used short-range signals to replace wallets, tickets, and room keys. The medallions were designed to appear more like pendants than gizmos, using wireless signals to connect to sensors spread across a ship. Weighing 1.8 ounces, they can serve as keepsakes after the trip is over. Adult guests will be able to opt out of being discoverable by the devices, which are also designed to help people navigate from one place to another on board massive and sometimes disorienting ships. "It will also tell you if your husband is in the casino when he is not supposed to be," Johnson quipped. Miles Clark of Carnival Corp. demonstrates the Ocean Compass interface before CES International, Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2017, in Las Vegas. The linchpin of the concierge technology is a medallion the size of a quarter that passengers carry with them. The medallion uses wireless technologies to communicate with sensors placed around the ship and allows them to interact with displays around the ship or with crew members. (AP Photo/John Locher) LAS VEGAS (AP) High technology is taking to the high seas. Cruise ships are being outfitted with sensors and trackers, all to help crew members better anticipate passengers' needs and whims. Carnival Corp., the operator of cruise lines including its namesake, Princess, and Holland America, unveiled the new concierge technology at the CES gadget show in Las Vegas on Wednesday. It's scheduled to debut on the Regal Princess cruise ship in November. With it, the door to your cabin will to unlock automatically as you approach wearing your personalized tracking medallion. The wait staff can bring your favorite cocktail before you even ask. This type of personalization is important as cruise ships get bigger and come across as impersonal, says Mike Driscoll, editor-in-chief of Cruise Week, an industry publication. It can also help cruise companies attract more first-timers, including tech-savvy millennials. The leisure-cruise industry is playing catch-up with travel peers like hotels and airlines, which now let you unlock rooms with a smartwatch or fly with a boarding pass on your phone. "It's catching up to what life is like on the land," Driscoll said. The linchpin of the system is a tracking medallion the size of a quarter. Cruise passengers wear it as a pendant, throw it into a purse or place it in a pocket. The medallion uses wireless technologies to communicate with sensors placed around the ship, cruise terminals and even airports, where staff can provide personalized greetings as passengers fly in. Crew members armed with tablets can respond to any needs nearby. For example, a guest could be having a drink when a crew member comes by to remind him that a yoga class starts in five minutes. Or a waiter working poolside can ask whether a guest wants her usual gin and tonic. In addition, interactive displays can offer personalized directions to guests' rooms. And the medallion ties into a payment system, so no one has to swipe or sign anything when buying souvenirs or drinks. Story continues Whether anticipating guests' needs will feel useful or creepy remains to be seen. Those who might be spooked don't have to use the medallion or can limit how much they want to participate, Carnival CEO Arnold Donald said. "In the end, the guests will tell us," Donald told The Associated Press. "If it doesn't (resonate), it's back to the drawing board." Donald said he hopes the service will encourage customers to sign up for repeat cruises while spending more on incidentals. Different passengers might react quite differently to the service. "With your 83-year-old aunt in Saskatchewan, it might be too much," Driscoll said. But for a passenger in his 50s, it could make life on the ship "just easier." Miami-based Carnival plans to expand the setup to all other Princess ships in the next several years and eventually to other vessels. Carnival, the world's largest leisure travel company, owns more than 100 ships across 10 brands. Personalization isn't new to the travel industry. Walt Disney World in Florida has a MagicBand wristband device that doubles as a room key and "FastPass" reservations to popular rides. The MagicBand is also linked to a credit card for speedier payments at restaurants and gift shops. John Padgett, who was one of the chief architects of the MagicBand before joining Carnival in 2014, said the cruise ship's system goes further in eliminating the need to touch or tap a terminal. Sensors pick up signals automatically. "There are no wires. There is no charging," Padgett said. "It doesn't require a guest or consumer to do anything specific." Carnival officials say there will be safeguards against someone walking away with another guest's medallion. Each guest's profile is tied to a security picture, so a crew member can compare a passenger's photo on a portable device. It also says the medallion doesn't contain sensitive information such as the stateroom number, much like a hotel room key. The company added that the system features additional authentication, although it declined to elaborate. Donald said the technology could be adapted for other industries, too. Imagine a patient entering the hospital and being recognized immediately by a nurse without having to check in or fill out forms. ___ AP Technology Writer Barbara Ortutay in New York contributed to this report. ___ Follow Anne D'Innocenzio: http://twitter.com/ADInnocenzio Lets face it: A lot of stuff will come out of the Consumer Electronics Show this week, and most of it wont leave the convention hall, let alone make it to market. But there is value in paying attention to the years first gadget reveals: The first reveals at CES can set the tone for technology released throughout the rest of the year. For ongoing coverage, keep an eye onnay, bookmark!our real-time CES page. You can also follow Mike Murphy and Dave Gershgorn on Twitter. In the meantime, heres what Quartz is looking for this week: Cars As cars become more like computers, and start to drive themselves, traditional automakers like Ford, Honda, and GM have started using CES as a soapbox for trotting out their latest innovations. New models and concept cars were announced by major automakers last year, while newer industry players like Faraday Future offered a glimpse at their vision for the future of driving. Expect 2017 to be no different: Were anticipating lots of zany, impractical, and futuristic models on the show floor. Voice After the unexpected success of the Amazon Echo, tech companies are rushing to make conversational computing the Next Big Thing. Expect a wide variety of smart speakers with any combination of screens, wheels, eyes, and cameras. The real measure of these devices, however, will be whether they can compete with the vast assortment of skills and smart-home features in the Echo and Googles Home. Augmented reality/virtual reality Its easy to lump AR and VR together because both technologies are still so nascent, and your grandmother understands neither. But virtual reality had its first shot at the consumer market in 2016, while true augmented reality isnt anywhere close to having its own standalone face computer. Microsofts HoloLens remains the heir apparent to mainstream augmented reality, though startups are also pitching headsets geared at niche industries like construction and auto manufacturing. Story continues On the VR front, dont expect any new headsets from Oculus or HTC this year. Oculus wont have as large a CES presence as it did in 2016, and HTC has already confirmed that its 2016 Vive isnt slated for an update in 2017. While there will surely be newer headsets at CES, VRs shaky launches to date dont inspire confidence for new entrants, especially now that Microsoft has hardware partnerships for new headsetsslated for release later this yearwith HP, Dell, Lenovo, Asus, and Acer. Robots/drones This years CES will play host to a veritable army of machines that roll and fly on their own. Whether any of them are actually usefuli.e. can do anything besides take a photo, play some music, and generally annoy humansis the question everyone will be trying to answer. Either way, were likely to see robots and drones that are safer to use around people this year. Internet of Things This is the year of integration for IoT devices: If they dont work with the smart speaker du jour, you can count them out. (Harsh, we know.) Also top of mind after the massive botnet attacks in 2016: It would be nice to know that hackers cant use your smart lights to destabilize the internet. The usual suspects (TVs, refrigerators, home goods) CES has always been the place for manufacturers to show off their newest HD TVs, fridges, washing machines, and dishwashersthis year will be no different. The latest fad in TV-manufacturing is high dynamic range (HDR), which means more detail in the light and dark parts of the image. Every CES usually features at least one common gimmick toothink 3D TVs, touch-screen fridges, or microwaves with companion appsand thats likely to be true in 2017 as well. Maybe this is the year we start having conversations with our machines. Sign up for the Quartz Daily Brief, our free daily newsletter with the worlds most important and interesting news. More stories from Quartz: Https%3a%2f%2fblueprint-api-production.s3.amazonaws.com%2fuploads%2fcard%2fimage%2f335651%2f1030d0f7-16d9-471c-babb-21b6ba565354 Google just took a major step in its years-long efforts to get more businesses in India to come online and grow on the web. Google CEO Sundar Pichai today announced Digital Unlocked, an initiative through which the company will facilitate training and certification to assist India's 51 million small and medium businesses bakeries, apparel stores, grocery shops, what have you to embrace digital. SEE ALSO: Inside Google's plan to conquer India's internet users Sounds familiar? Google maintains a similar initiative called Digital Garage in the United Kingdom, another called Digital Skills in Africa, and other programs in more than three dozen countries and territories. Google has long shown interest in helping Indian small businesses find their way on the web running campaigns, offering free domains and web hosting but with Digital Unlocked, its taking a leap forward. "Any small business with internet access can sign up," Pichai said at the event. Google is doing this with getting more government bodies, educational institutions, and other technology companies on board. The Mountain View-giant has partnered with Federation of India for Commerce Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI), and Indian School of Business, Hyderabad for training enthusiasts and certifying their progress. Image: screengrab/google india On Digital Unlocked website, Google is offering training on 23 digital marketing topics including subjects such as explainer on search engine optimization. Google says it will add more topics moving forward. The training topics are meant to make people first aware of why they need to be online, and then, help them understand different online services. Video tutorials of how to use emails, use different search engines, making use of search ads, tracking analytics are there in the library, the company said. Story continues These training sessions are available as videos, which users can watch online as well as through an app called Primer. The website and app also feature quizzes and tests. Google says it also has offline centres in India in Haridwar, Chandigarh, Bhuvneshwar, and Jaipur. Through its partnership with FICCI, there are several classroom centres across India that will also offer eight-hour sessions. The company says it will conduct 5,000 workshops across 40 cities in the country over the next three years. Pichai also announced that the company will release a tool called "My Business" that will allow people to easily create websites. The tool will first debut in India later this year and eventually be made available elsewhere. Image: manish singh/mashable india What it means for small businesses A lot, according to Google. "Less than 32 percent of small businesses in India have any sort of web presence," said Rajan Anandan, Vice President, South East Asia and India at the event. "A large number of small businesses don't understand why they need to be online," Anandan added, citing a research the company has done with KPMG. Several cloud providers are zeroing in on enterprise customers, however the small and medium businesses space is still largely underserved, according to Agatha Poon, Research Director APAC Services, 451 Research. Speaking on the sidelines of the event, Anandan told Mashable India, that the company intends to run campaigns to make more people aware of such programs. When asked how long does the company think it will take to get a substantial number of businesses on the web through Digital Unlocked, Anandan said there's no timeframe per se. What it means for Google Google isn't the only tech giant that has offered its helping hand to get businesses online. Its global competitor Microsoft also has similar programs with the company offering its cloud services to small and medium businesses. As noble as the intentions are of these companies, volunteering to help out businesses comes with its own perks. For one, they get a stamp of "approval" from the local authorities, which is strategically important, Poon told Mashable India, adding that it plays a pivotal role in accelerating adoption of their respective services in Asian markets. And of course, many of these businesses will become their clients, and help Google and Microsoft fight back Amazon Web Services (AWS), which leads the pack at the global level. "Microsoft has already earned the trust of thousands of businesses in India. Google is catching up fast. The company has publicly announced its global expansion plan, including adding another 10 GCP regions (India is one the new regions) to its network through 2017," she added. India will launch a rocket carrying 103 satellites next month in a record single mission, a report said Wednesday, as its famously frugal space agency looks to zoom ahead in the commercial space race. The rocket is set to blast off from the southern spaceport of Sriharikota in February carrying three Indian satellites and 100 foreign ones including from the US, France and Germany, the Press Trust of India said. If successful, India will set a world record as the first country to launch the most satellites in one go and leave behind Russia, which launched 39 satellites in a single mission in June 2014. "We are making a century by launching over 100 satellites at one go," S. Somnath, a director at the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), was quoted as saying at a science convention in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh. Another official told AFP that most of the 100 foreign satellites were meant for commercial purposes while the Indian satellites were intended to observe and measure the Earth's atmosphere. The business of putting commercial satellites into space for a fee is growing as phone, Internet and other companies as well as countries seek greater and more high-tech communications. India is competing with other international players for a greater share of that launch market, and is known for its low-cost space programme. Last June, India set a national record after it successfully launched a rocket carrying 20 satellites, including 13 from the US. In May, it successfully launched its first mini space shuttle as it joined the global race to make reusable rockets. It sent an unmanned rocket to orbit Mars in 2013 at a cost of just $73 million, compared with NASA's Maven Mars mission which had a $671 million price tag. ISRO is also mulling the idea of missions to Jupiter and Venus, according to PTI. "We are looking at other planets that we can explore... two of them are Jupiter and Venus," M. Nageswara Rao, an associate director at ISRO, said Wednesday, adding "it may take few years from now". Prime Minister Narendra Modi has often hailed India's budget space technology, quipping in 2014 that a rocket that launched four foreign satellites into orbit had cost less to make than Hollywood film "Gravity". Computer memory manufacturer Kingston has announced two models in its new Ultimate Generation Terabyte range of DataTraveler USB 3.1 flash drives, weighing in at 1TB and 2TB apiece. The 2TB drive's storage equates to up to 70 hours of 4K video (at 30 frames per second,) according to Kingston Digital, over 25,000 24 megapixel photos, or over 50,000 MP3 music tracks. Measuring 72mm by 26.94mm by 21mm, the drives are chunkier than most in the USB storage sector, but smaller than external hard drive equivalents. No price guidance was supplied within Kingston's January 3 announcement, but the company's 1TB USB flash drive, launched at CES 2013, retailed for upwards of $1,200. Back in 2013, Kingston brought the first ever 1TB flash drive into the world. While its exorbitant price made it an unreasonable purchase for the average consumer, we were still impressed that it was even possible. Three years later, despite the fact that no other storage device makers have attempted to even match Kingston on its 1TB flash drive, the company has decided to break its own record by unveiling both the 1TB and 2TB DataTraveler Ultimate GT flash drives ahead of CES 2017 on Tuesday. Don't Miss: Video game release schedule: Every game coming out in January According to Kingston, the two new flash drives offer USB 3.1 Gen 1 performance, which should theoretically allow transfer speeds of up to 5Gbps. The DataTraveler Ultimate GT drives are built with a zinc-alloy metal casing for shock resistance and feature a similar (but sleeker) design to the DataTraveler HyperX Predator 512GB and 1TB flash drives introduced in 2013. With 2TB of data, you can store up to 70 hours of 4K video, 96 average-sized PC games, 500,000 MP3 files and 256,000 24-megapixel photos. In fact, Kingston has included a handy comparison chart within its press release, in case you want to see just how massive a 2TB flash drive really is. Both the 1TB and 2TB DataTraveler Ultimate GT flash drives will be available in February, but Kingston has yet to announce a price point. We wouldnt be surprised to see these sell for over $1,000, at the very least. The drives will be back by a five-year warranty Kingston will offer free technical support. Trending right now: See the original version of this article on BGR.com LAS VEGAS (AP) Comcast is hoping to make Wi-Fi in the home faster through an updated router the machine that serves as data traffic cops for Wi-Fi networks. Although home internet speeds have gotten faster, laptops and phones on Wi-Fi might still feel sluggish because older routers can't transmit data as fast. Comcast's updated router costs $10 a month and comes with a modem. It's the same price as before. Customers can still buy their own equipment and save money over time. Comcast is also offering extenders to help Wi-Fi work all over a house, though the company wouldn't say what it might charge. Eero, Starry, Google and Luma are among the companies that have fancy new router systems, but they start at more than $100 and run as much as $500. Fewer than 5 million Comcast customers, mostly those on the most expensive internet packages, will get the new high-powered router this year. The company says it could take years to reach the bulk of its more than 24 million customers. Another 10 million customers with the company's existing routers will get a software update by March to make it easier to set up parental controls and install "smart" thermostats and other internet-connected appliances. These features also come with the new routers. The company responsible for some of the exploding batteries inside the Galaxy Note 7 phablet was tapped to make the batteries headed to Samsungs upcoming new Galaxy S8. Should you be worried? Don't Miss: Can the iPhone 8 compete with a Galaxy S8 that looks like this? According to Korean site MK, the batteries Samsung SDI provided for the Galaxy Note 7 actually were not responsible for overheating and blowing up. Thats certainly an interesting conclusion of an investigation thats yet to be made public. Reports said that Samsung is going to announce what caused the explosions at some point between January 10th and the end of the month. Since being excluded from the Galaxy Note 7 supply chain following the first recall, Samsung SDI has focused on improving quality testing, the report says. Galaxy Note 7 phones continued to explode even after Samsung SDI batteries were replaced with batteries made by ATL. At the time, Samsung indicated that ATL batteries were not responsible for the explosions that followed the first recall. The report goes on to note that Samsung SDI was contracted to provide batteries for several Samsung phones, including the recently announced Galaxy A (2017) models and the Galaxy S8. Samsung SDI supposedly said in a statement that the Galaxy S8 will have Samsung SDI batteries inside. MK says that the Samsung affiliate will supply 65% of Samsungs battery needs for premium smartphones this year. Samsung is also in talks with other battery providers, including LG Chem and Japan TDK. Trending right now: See the original version of this article on BGR.com SEOUL (Reuters) - Samsung Electronics Co Ltd is in talks with South Korea's LG Display Co Ltd about a potential liquid crystal display (LCD) panel supply deal for televisions, South Korea's Yonhap News Agency reported on Wednesday. "There are no specifics decided yet but the two companies are deliberating on the matter carefully and seriously," Kim Hyun-suk, head of Samsung's TV business, was quoted as saying by Yonhap on the sidelines of the CES trade show in Las Vegas. Japan's Nikkei newspaper reported in December that a joint venture company between Taiwan's Hon Hai Precision Industry Co Ltd and Sharp Corp will halt the supply of LCD panels to Samsung, the world's top TV maker, sometime in 2017 as Hon Hai seeks to help boost Sharp's TV business. LG Display, the world's top LCD panel maker, does not have a supply relationship agreement with Samsung's TV business as its top shareholder and sister firm LG Electronics Co Ltd competes against Samsung in the TV market. Samsung did not immediately comment on the report. An LG Display spokeswoman said the company does not comment on client-related matters. (Reporting by Se Young Lee; Editing by Himani Sarkar) Taiwan-based electronics group, Asus, announced on January 4, 2017 its plan to launch a new smartphone featuring Google 3D Tango technology (AFP Photo/Mandy Cheng) (AFP/File) Taiwan-based electronics group Asus announced Wednesday it was launching a new smartphone which uses Google Tango 3D technology and allows users to experience augmented and virtual reality. The Zenfone AR is just the second handset to incorporate the Tango computing platform which allows for indoor mapping, augmented reality and more. The new device, unveiled by Asus at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, is also one of a small number of smartphones that is compatible with Google Daydream, the US tech giant's virtual reality system. "We are excited to be the first to enable Tango and Daydream," Asus chairman Jonney Shih as he unveiled the new 5.7-inch (15-centimeter) handset, which will be available in the second quarter of the year. Shih said the new phone "enables interaction with virtual objects" and offers the ability to watch a movie or play a game in virtual or augmented reality. "This is really the next wave that is going to get consumers excited about smartphones," said Asus marketing chief Erik Hermanson. Project Tango uses depth sensing and motion tracking to create onscreen 3D experiences, allowing users to get a better picture of a physical environment for functions such as home decoration. Google Project Tango leader Johnny Lee, who joined the Asus media event, said he expected "dozens of Tango-enabled apps" to be available soon on the Google Play store. The only other handset using Project Tango is Lenovo's Phab2 phone, which was released last year. Asus announced it would be releasing another new smartphone, the Zenfone 3 Zoom, with upgraded camera technology which aims at delivering professional-quality images. Just a few months after Tesla held a grand opening event for its gigantic Gigafactory in Sparks, Nevada, the automaker this week reached an even more important milestone. Earlier today, following months of round-the-clock construction, Tesla began mass producing its long-touted higher-density battery cells that will ultimately find their way into Teslas mass market Model 3, not to mention Teslas growing lineup of energy storage products. Don't Miss: Kingston just introduced a record-breaking 2TB flash drive Teslas press release reads in part: Teslas mission is to accelerate the worlds transition to sustainable energy through increasingly affordable electric vehicles in addition to renewable energy generation and storage. At the heart of these products are batteries. Today at the Gigafactory, Tesla and Panasonic began mass production of lithium-ion battery cells, which will be used in Teslas energy storage products and Model 3. Production of 2170 cells for qualification started in December and today, production begins on cells that will be used in Teslas Powerwall 2 and Powerpack 2 energy products. Model 3 cell production will follow in Q2 and by 2018, the Gigafactory will produce 35 GWh/year of lithium-ion battery cells, nearly as much as the rest of the entire worlds battery production combined. While Tesla has a long history of missing deadlines, progress on the Gigafactory not only appears to be on track, but is seemingly moving along at a faster clip than anticipated. Indeed, Tesla a few months back set a rather ambitious goal of reaching an annual manufacturing capacity of 500,000 cars by 2018. While many critics were quick to scoff at the goal, Tesla has spared no expense with respect to construction efforts as part of its broader effort to roll out cars much more quickly. With the Gigafactory already churning out batteries, the looming question now is whether or not the company can actually begin to deliver Model 3 vehicles to customers by late 2017. Though the Model S and the Model X launches were both subject to prolonged delays, Tesla has been adamant that the Model 3 will ship on time because its a decidedly less complex car to manufacture. Additionally, Elon Musk likes to remind skeptics that the efficiency of Teslas manufacturing processes has improved dramatically over the past few years. Story continues As it stands now, Tesla has said that progress on the Gigafactory is at about 30%. Impressively, by the time the factory is operating at 100% capacity, the company boasts that it will be capable of manufacturing more lithium-ion batteries in one year than were produced worldwide in 2013. In fact, Elon Musk in 2015 boasted: Cells will be going through [the Gigafactory] like bullets from a machine gun. In fact, the exit rate of cells will be faster than bullets from a machine gun. Trending right now: See the original version of this article on BGR.com In recent years, sciences good name has been dragged through the mud, but Bill Nye formerly the Science Guy, now Science Man is here to rescue us all. His new series Bill Nye Saves the World comes to Netflix in Spring 2017, and according to a press release, each episode will tackle a topic from a scientific point of view, dispelling myths, and refuting anti-scientific claims that may be espoused by politicians, religious leaders or titans of industry. Politicians making anti-scientific claims, you say? Such as President Elect Donald Trumps pick to run the EPA, Scott Pruitt, claiming, Scientists continue to disagree about the degree and extent of global warming and its connection to the actions of mankind. Bill Nye, an advocate for climate science, agrees with the 97% of the worlds scientists who avow that climate change is very real and likely caused by mankinds actions. Or, for example, the President-Elects tweet on the subject: The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive. Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 6, 2012 We can only imagine what the Science Mans response will be to Trump. Nye says he and his correspondents from the worlds of comedy, academia, fashion and YouTube will also take on controversial topics like vaccinations and genetically modified foods, continuing his mission to change the world by getting people everywhere excited about the fundamental ideas in science. Now You Can Download These Netflix Shows and Movies Tell us what you think! Will you watch Bill Nyes new Netflix series? And whats your take on the Science Mans climate change facts? Hit us up on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram or leave your comments below. And check out our host, Khail Anonymous, on Twitter. It looks like a lot of Ghanaian celebrities are on to a good start to the new year with so much positive vibes been churned out of their social media pages. Get the latest entertainment news from Ghana here For radio and TV personality, Berla Mundi, it was a a yellow affair for her on her Instagram page with inspiring messages to her devoted fans. READ ALSO: Kwaw Kese finally shows off his whole family The young star seems to b filled with joy she terms as "inexplicable" probably because she believes she's going to have an amazing year. She also posted another lovely photo of herself in a tight fit pink skirt an a sultry lace sleeveless blouse still excited about 2017. PAY ATTENTION: yen.com.gh has all the latest news from Ghana She then posted a prayer for herself and her fans on on a lovely photo wishing everyone the best of the year. On another side of Instagram, this lovely couture photo of actress Priscilla Opoku Agyeman, popularly known as Ahuofe Patri, was spotted. Dressed in this beautiful pink and black gown, matched with flawless makeup and a fringe wig, the beautiful Cocoa Brown star wished all her fans a Happy New Year. READ ALSO: People are putting a lot of pressure on Nana Addo - Mustapha Hamid A closeup photo shows more details of the design she wore, which seemed to have been beaded and laced to match the African print design. So if you are not having a great start to 2017 yet, you may want to draw some inspiration from these young women who are more than ready to take the year by its horns to make it a success. Source: YEN.com.gh The first few minutes of New Year's Eve saw a something horrific happen in Bangalore. A mob of men molested and assaulted women in broad daylight, on the busiest roads of the city, while police forces were right around the corner. The incident has shaken up everyone. Many resorted to Twitter to express their grief with the matter, but soon enough #NotAllMen started to trend. SP MLA Abu Azmi made some pretty regressive remarks about the case, blaming it on the women's attire, while Karnataka Home Minister dismissed it by stating that these things happen all the time on New Year's Eve and Christmas. The state police has also claimed that no cases have been filed yet. Many members of the Hindi film industry took to twitter to vent about the sad state of affairs. The most recent statement has been issued by actor Hrithik Roshan who condemned the incident at the song launch of his upcoming film Sanjay Gupta's action thriller Kaabil. He said, "I wasn't here. I didn't see the news in real time but yes, it is sad. We all bear a responsibility and we all must do something about that. I feel very strongly as a father, as the member of society that if something like this happening in an environment so close to me then I definitely must be impacted, I must be affected and I must do something about it." Aamir Khan, too, spoke about the issue at a press meet in Mumbai recently, reports ANI. He said: "The incident that took place in Bengaluru was very disappointing. We feel ashamed that such incidents take place in our country. I think it's the responsibility of everyone along with the administration to see that law and order prevails.... The law and order mechanism and the judiciary and police should bring the culprit to task at the earliest as it happens in other countries. For example, when such an incident takes place in America, the guilty are not only arrested but they are given punishments as well within two or three months. I think when such a change will take place, things will automatically change." Meanwhile, Varun Dhawan, Farhan Akhtar, Swara Bhaskar and Salim Khan took to twitter to speak their mind. Argggh how this angers me.Sir punish the criminals not the victims. Women can wear what they want it's their choice. https://t.co/HSpRjlRq8A Varun Dhawan (@Varun_dvn) January 3, 2017 Women should not dress like westerners b'coz men dressed like westerners are molesters, says the man in the shirt.#oxy(deprived)morons Farhan Akhtar (@FarOutAkhtar) January 3, 2017 Honble PM Narendrabhai, you have time and again mentioned that Indias youth will drive the country forward. Salim Khan (@luvsalimkhan) January 3, 2017 Its a shame what the youth have done in Bngluru.Such acts are happning rptdly all ovr.We were also young once bt nvr have such things happnd Salim Khan (@luvsalimkhan) January 3, 2017 Narendrabhai the power of the youth is double edged it can go either way. You need to address it immediately @narendramodi @PMOIndia Salim Khan (@luvsalimkhan) January 3, 2017 The government and RBI owned currency printing presses have now started printing more lower denomination notes in a bid to correct the earlier blunder of printing more Rs 2,000 notes, which worsened the cash crunch after the demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes on 8th November. According to a reply from the the Reserve Bank of India to an RTI query, the central bank said the printing of Rs 500 notes is now in progress. Security Printing and Minting Corporation of India Ltd (SPMCIL), which operates two presses, is at present printing only Rs 500 and lower denominations notes, the RBI said in a reply to the query by activist Anil Galgali. It also said the average production cost of Rs 500 note has not been calculated yet. Galgali had asked for information on available old and new currency notes from the central bank. The queries were forwarded to SPMCIL and Bharatiya Reserve Bank Note Mudran Pvt Ltd under Section 6 (3) of RTI Act 2005. While SPMCIL comes under the finance ministry, the latter is under the RBI. The query to SMPCIL was then forwarded by the company's public information officer K P Shrivastav to Bank Notes Press (BNP), Dewas, and Currency Note Press (CNP), Nashik. The replies assume significance as the RBI has increased the withdrawal limit from ATMs to Rs 4,500 per card from 1 January from Rs 2,500 earlier. Despite the increase in withdrawal limit, customers had been able to withdraw Rs only 4,000 or Rs 2,000 at many ATMs due to no sufficient supply of Rs. 500 notes. However, the situation seems to be gradually changing now. Reacting to the replies he got, Galgali said he is happy that finally the RBI has started focussing on printing lower denomination notes such as Rs 500, Rs 100, Rs 50, Rs 20 and Rs 10. However, he says he has not got all the details he sought. "The RBI keeps forwarding the RTI queries. Is that a tactics to deny the correct information? It is curious that the central bank has no details of the notes printing with itself and has to redirect the queries to printing presses," he said. He expects to get more information on the details he sought in the coming days though he says he is unhappy with the delay in getting them. "It took 25 days for the central bank to give this little details," he said. The RBI has already come under criticism for refusing to divulge crucial details related to demonetisation under RTI Act. Responding to a query filed by another activist Venkatesh Nayak, the RBI said it cannot disclose to the minutes of the crucial meetings of central board of directors on the issue of demonetisation citing section 8(1)(a) of the transparency law. The section states that Information, disclosure of which would prejudicially affect the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security, strategic, scientific or economic interests of the state, relation with foreign state or lead to incitement of an offence. In reply to another query, the RBI also refused to give any details about the time it will take to replenish the currency notes. Former chief information commissioner and RTI activist Shailesh Gandhi had termed RBI's attitude "sheer arrogance". "What the RBI is doing by refusing to answer queries under RTI is denying citizens their fundamental rights," Gandhi had told Firstpost in an interview. The details Galgali has sought through the RTI is important as the central bank is not giving periodical updates on the currency printing status. The last press release on the subject from the central bank was on 21 December, which said until 19 December it has issued a total of 22.6 billion pieces of notes of various denominations to banks. Of 22.6 billion pieces, 20.4 billion belonged to small denominations of Rs 10, Rs 20, Rs 50 and Rs 100 and 2.2 billion belonged to higher denominations of Rs 2,000 and Rs 500. New Delhi: Justice Jagdish Singh Khehar, who led the five-judge constitution bench in the Supreme Court which had struck down the controversial National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) Act for the appointment of judges, was on Wednesday sworn in as the 44th Chief Justice of India. Shri Justice Jagdish Singh Khehar was sworn in as the 44th Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of India today at Rashtrapati Bhavan pic.twitter.com/66MZgjuChq President of India (@RashtrapatiBhvn) January 4, 2017 Justice Jagdish Khehar takes oath as the Chief Justice of India pic.twitter.com/W9bvgnwAym Doordarshan News (@DDNewsLive) January 4, 2017 President Pranab Mukherjee administered the oath of office and secrecy to Justice Khehar at the Darbar Hall of Rashtrapati Bhawan. Khehar took oath in the name of God in English at the ceremony where the Opposition was conspicuous by its absence. Then CJI, TS Thakur had last month recommended the name of Justice Khehar, the senior-most judge of the Supreme Court, to be his successor. Justice Khehar, 64, will be the first Chief Justice from the Sikh community. Justice Thakur demitted office on Tuesday. He will hold the tenure for over seven months until 27 August. Besides heading the bench in the NJAC matter, Justice Khehar has also headed a bench which had set aside the imposition of President's rule in Arunachal Pradesh in January. He was a part of the bench which sent Sahara chief Subrata Roy to jail while hearing the matter relating to the refund of money invested by people in his two companies. Justice Khehar also headed a bench which recently gave a significant verdict holding that the principal of "equal pay for equal work" has to be made applicable to those engaged as daily wagers, casual and contractual employees who perform the same duties as the regulars. While the turf war between the judiciary and the executive over the appointment of judges for higher judiciary has intensified, Justice Khehar on the occasion of Constitution Day on 26 November had responded to the tirade from Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi by saying the judiciary was working within its "lakshmanrekha". "Judiciary is mandated to shield all persons, citizens and non-citizens alike, against discrimination and abuse of state power. Liberty, equality and dignity of citizens have flourished substantially in India due to the pro-active role of the judiciary in the country," he had said. New Delhi: Asserting that talks and terror cannot go together, India on Wednesday said the message it sent to Pakistan through the 'surgical strike' has been heard across the world and there was "clear unanimity" that sponsorship of terrorism is as heinous as the menace itself. The government also said its intention of having peaceful ties with Pakistan has not changed but insisted that talks cannot take place in the "shadow of violence and under spray of bullets", and the message it conveyed through the surgical strike was that India will not accept continued terrorism as the "new normal". "The aim of the surgical strikes that we conducted was to convey to Pakistan that we will not countenance continued terrorism as the new normal in our relationship. Our own good faith has been amply demonstrated time and again through repeated initiatives to normalise the relationship. However, as we have often stated, talks and terror cannot go together," Minister of State for External Affairs Gen (Retd.) V K Singh said. He was addressing a joint press conference with his ministerial colleague MJ Akbar where they listed MEA's achievements in the last two-and-half years. "All the countries of the region, barring one, have demonstrated their willingness to stand together against the menace of terrorism that could undermine their collective hopes. India too, has shown that we will not back down in the face of assaults against the security of our people, the prosperity of the region and interests of the international community. Our position on terror has been widely accepted by the world. In the coming year, the world will be even stronger in its condemnation of the evil," he said. On Russia's growing proximity with Pakistan, he said Russia has been an all-weather friend of New Delhi and that it is confident that Moscow will not do anything which will have an adverse bearing on India's security. Replying to a barrage of questions on Indo-Pak ties, Akbar said India's strong position on terror was a major highlight of 2016 and there was consensus worldwide that terrorism in all forms is unacceptable and that the sponsorship of terror is as heinous as terror itself. "As far as the surgical strike is concerned, that message was again heard across the world. There was clear unanimity that terrorism was not acceptable," he said adding the UN, various multi-lateral bodies and individual countries supported the message on terror enunciated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Asked about demands by a section that India should discontinue diplomatic engagement with Pakistan in view of its support to terrorism, Akbar said the bilateral engagement needs to continue. "As Atal Bihari Vajpayee famously said we cannot change our neighbours. We have to deal with them with eyes open. We do not deal with them with minds closed. And in that respect talk of inflammation does not necessarily help. We hope that Pakistan will see the path of reason. Hope Pakistan's friends will persuade it to see the path of reason. Let there be peace then there will be dialogue," said Akbar. Akbar said the government wanted the best of peaceful and good neighbourly relationship with Pakistan but terror disrupted the process of peace. "The intention has not changed. You cannot have a peaceful conversation in the shadow of violence and under spray of bullets. Terrorism is not conducive to conversation. Talks and terror cannot go together." On Russia, Pakistan, China axis in Afghanistan," Singh said there should not be any concern as Afghan people will measure friendship as per ground realities. "We do not believe that holding meeting on Afghanistan alone is going to solve any problem. Eventually it is about delivering benefits on the ground. India's own development record is well known and speaks for itself. Our relationship is so close," said Singh. He said any political settlement in Afghanistan will have to be "Afghan-led, Afghan-owned and Afghan-controlled. We believe it is for government of Afghanistan to decide who it wants to engage and how does it want to engage on what terms," he said. Referring to government's 'Neighbourhood First' policy, Singh said the prime minister has travelled to almost all the countries in the region, while the external affairs minister made journeys to them. He also talked about the Land Boundary Agreement with Bangladesh, construction of the new Parliament building in Kabul by India and the India-Afghanistan Friendship Dam, housing projects in Jaffna, power projects in Bhutan and work on the trilateral highway and the Kaladan Multimodal Project with Myanmar. Auto refresh feeds At every polling booth, there will be a polling assistant to help those who do not have necessary papers. Final electoral rolls to be published in Goa on 5 January, Manipur 12 January, Punjab 5 January, Uttarakhand 10 January and Uttar Pradesh 12 January. EC has also mandated to constitute assemblies of these 5 states prior to expiry of term of their existing assemblies. Nearly 160 million voters will be participating in the polls. "There will be complete accountablility of photo voter slips, colourful voter guides will be distributed to each family," CEC Nasim Zaidi said. Nearly 160 million voters will be participating in the polls. "There will be complete accountablility of photo voter slips, colourful voter guides will be distributed to each family," CEC Nasim Zaidi said. 1.85 lakh polling stations to be in operation for Assembly Elections to the five states, CEC Zaidi said. "Every polling station will have four posters for voting procedure and dos and don'ts," Zaidi said. First phase: 73 constituencies, 15 districts go to polls on 11 February Second phase: Polling date 15 February Third phase: 69 constituencies go to polls on 19 February Fourth phase: 53 constituencies to go to polls on 23 February Fifth phase: 53 constituencies 27 February Sixth Phase: 49 constituencies include 7 districts and they go to polls on 4 March Seventh Phase: 40 constituencies to includue 7 districts go to polls on 8 March Election Commission has received one representations with regard to presentation of budget. The EC is examining it and will take call on it in due course, Chief Election Commissioner Zaidi said. Full text of the Election Commission's Model Code of Conduct for the five states Commission is in favour reducing limit of anonymous donations to Rs 2000 only, also mulling on whether we can switch to digital payments-ECI "Not a do or die battle. It is a do battle. We will win the battle.. We will trash our opponents.. AAP was a movement which is now on its way down". Former Chief Minister of Punjab dismisses his opponents, says he is confident of Congress winning two-third majority. Happy, we had requested the EC to conduct polls in single phase in Punjab. Our manifesto is very comprehensive: Capt Amarinder Singh, Cong pic.twitter.com/Zx65s1WuFw The state of Manipur, which is currently governed by Congress under Ibobi Singh has been battling with a law and order situation due to a road blockade by some Naga groups. The blockade had started as a response to the Congress government to create seven new districts in Manipur, a decision opposed by the United Naga Council (UNC), which started the blockade. Currently under the rule of a Bharatiya Janata Party-led coalition, the state assembly election will see not only the local parties like Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party and established national parties like the Congress, BJP, NCP and Trinamool Congress but also marks the debut of Aam Aadmi Party in the tiny state. In the run-up to the election in the hill state of Uttarakhand, the Congress party indicated that it might continue its alliance with the Progressive Democratic Front, which includes the Uttarakhand Kranti Dal, BSP as well as three independents. UP election officials act like SP office bearers;imp to replace them for fair elections-KP Maurya,UP BJP Pres after announcement of #UPpolls pic.twitter.com/pye2SofJOU I am in favour of alliance with SP. I am ready to withdraw as CM candidate if there is an alliance with SP: Sheila Dikshit Full text of the Election Commission's Model Code of Conduct for the five states The Election Commission is likely to announce the polling dates for five states Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Manipur, Punjab and Goa on Wednesday at 12 pm. The poll watchdog on Tuesday met with the Chief Electoral Officers of all the poll-bound states to fine tune election arrangements. The EC last week had also asked the five poll-bound states to brace up for the elections and had urged strict adherence to the Model Code of Conduct that would come into force immediately after the announcement of polls. The terms of the legislative assemblies of Punjab, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur are ending in mid-March, while the Uttar Pradesh assembly's term would expire in May. As per the law, elections to the legislative assembly of a state must be held and new assembly formed well before its term expires. The law and order situation in Manipur due to road blockade by some Naga groups was the focus of attention of the Commission in the meeting, sources told PTI. At the meeting, the assessment of the law and order situation, deployment of polling personnel, safety and electronic voting machines and strict implementation of the model code of conduct also came up for discussion. In its report to the EC, the Union Home Ministry has conveyed that ground situation in Manipur following the blockade of National Highway 2 by United Naga Council and the state government's alleged "failure" to resume normal traffic even after 60 days. "In the report, the Home Ministry told the EC about the ongoing tension and grave situation prevailing in Manipur. The EC may independently make an assessment of the situation so that election can be conducted properly," a top Home Ministry official had told PTI on Monday. Meanwhile, the Union Home Ministry will provide around 85,000 security personnel for deployment in the upcoming assembly elections in the five states. At a high-level meeting with the Election Commission yesterday, top officials of the Ministry led by Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi conveyed that it would provide around 750 companies of paramilitary forces for smooth conduct of the election process in the five states. In addition, around 100 companies, most of which belong to State Armed Police Forces and India Reserve Battalions, will also be drawn from different states for deployment of election duties. A company of paramilitary force comprises of around 100 personnel. As of now, the Commission plans to hold seven-phased assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh and single-phased in the other states. But with situation in Manipur assuming alarming proportions, the poll body may go for multiple phases in the North Eastern state. But there is no official word on it. With inputs from agencies Bhubaneswar: With the CBI bringing arrested TMC MP Sudip Bandyopadhya to Bhubaneswar, a group of party activists today staged a demonstration outside the agency's state headquarters here to protest against the action. The TMC's Parliamentary Party leader was arrested by CBI in Kolkata yesterday for his alleged involvement in the Rose Valley Group's ponzi scam and brought here late last night. Earlier, CBI had arrested another TMC MP Tapas Pal on the same charge and kept him in remand for three days. A four-time Lok Sabha member and a minister of state in the Manmohan Singh government, Bandyopadhyay was arrested after he allegedly failed to give satisfactory answers to many questions and was found to be uncooperative. Protesting against the arrest of TMC leaders, party supporters led by Ramnagar MLA Akhil Giri staged a demonstration before the CBI office in Bhubaneswar. Many members of the TMC's Odisha unit and its state president Arya Kumar Gyanendra also joined the demonstration outside the CBI office in Bhubaneswar. "The CBI has arrested Sudip Bandyopadhyay and Tapas Pal on political consideration. We'll certainly oppose the action. The state unit of the TMC is planning a massive protest rally in Bhubaneswar on 10 January," Gyanendra told PTI. Some prominent TMC leaders are being invited to the proposed protest rally. A two-member delegation of the TMC also met the senior officials of CBI here and lodged protest against the arrest of Bandyopadhyay and Pal. Sources in CBI here said Bandyopadhyay would be first sent to the Capital Hospital for medical examination before being produced in the CBI designated court. The investigating agency would seek remand of Bandyopadhyay as the TMC leader was not allegedly cooperating with the investigation, they said. However, Bandyopadhyays lawyer Rajiv Majumdar said he would move a bail petition in the court as his client is unwell. "He is ill. We'll move a bail application in the court," Majumdar told reporters outside the CBI office in Bhubaneswar. He also challenged the CBI to prove Bandyopadhyays involvement in the scam. Sources also said CBI was planning to interrogate both Bandyopadhyay and Pal together as both have been arrested on the charge of their involvement with the Rs 17000 crore scam. The Rose Valley Group has been accused of duping about Rs 17,000 investors in different states. While Pal was one of the directors of the Group, Bondyopadhyay is accused of being a promoter of the Ponzi firm. New Delhi: The Election Commission is examining the representation of various political parties for not allowing the presentation of the Union Budget during the poll process of five states and will take a call on it soon. Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi said various political parties have represented to the Election Commission regarding the issue of presentation of Union Budget which is likely to be presented on 1 February by the central government as it falls during the election campaign to five states. "The Commission has received one representation sent by some political parties. This representation is with regards to presentation of the budget. The Commission is examining this representation and in due course of time will take a call on this," he told reporters when asked about the issue. Various political parties, including Congress, Left, Samajwadi Party and some others, have represented to the EC for not allowing the central government to present the budget during poll process as the sops that could be announced in it may influence voters in upcoming Assembly polls. Replying to a query on EC's preparations on the Supreme Court judgement disallowing seeking of votes on religious grounds, the CEC said separate instructions are being prepared to help implement the apex court order during the Assembly polls to states of Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Goa, Uttarakhand and Manipur which start on 4 February. "The law department of the election commission is preparing instructions based on the Supreme Court order. The order will further strengthen the hands of the commission and it wants all political parties to follow the order of the SC on their own as well," he said. In a landmark verdict seeking to separate religion, caste and other issues from politics, the Supreme Court, by a majority verdict, had held as "corrupt" the practice of candidates appealing for votes on the basis of these identities included not only him but his agents and voters. The court held that the provisions of the R P Act, which say that seeking vote by a candidate in the name of "his" religion, caste, race, religion and language in the election law, included candidates, his agents and voters also. "An appeal in the name of religion, race, caste, community or language is impermissible under the R P Act, 1951 and would constitute a corrupt practice sufficient to annul the election in which such an appeal was made regardless whether the appeal was in the name of the candidate's religion or the religion of the election agent or that of the opponent or that of the voter's," the CJI, who concurred with majority verdict written by Justice M B Lokur, said. Zaidi also said the use of black money in these elections is expected to reduce post demonetisation, but use of other "illegal inducements" in different forms may see an increase. "In this upcoming election, the EC machinery will see what measures need to be taken to curb the use of black money post demonetisation. But, as per information received the availability of black money for use in the forthcoming election is expected to be less. As the poll process picks up, we will monitor it," he said. GET OUR APP Our Spectrum News app is the most convenient way to get the stories that matter to you. Download it here. China confirmed that its aircraft carrier has for the first time conducted drills in the South China Sea with a formation of other warships and fighter jets, a move that could raise concerns among its neighbors. The Defense Ministry said several J-15 fighter jets took off and landed from the flight deck of the aircraft carrier Liaoning on Monday. The Liaoning, Chinas first and only aircraft carrier, sailed into the South China Sea last week. The confirmation late Monday came days after Taiwans Defense Ministry said the carrier and five other warships had passed south of Taiwan. The self-ruled island deployed fighter jets to monitor the fleet. China calls the drills part of a routine open-sea exercise, but they could add to tensions between Beijing and Taipei. Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen has refused to endorse Beijings concept that Taiwan is a part of China. Beijing claims the self-governing island as its own territory and says failing to endorse the one-China principle would destabilize relations. Purchased as an incomplete hull from Ukraine more than a decade ago, the Liaoning was commissioned in 2013 and in November was declared ready to engage in combat by the ships political commissar. China hasnt described specifically how it intends to use the Liaoning, but it is seen as helping reinforce Chinas increasingly assertive claims in the South China Sea in the face of challenges from the U.S. Navy and others. Tensions have mounted in the South China Sea, where the U.S. and China accuse each other of engaging in a dangerous military buildup. China claims nearly all of the sea and is pitted against smaller neighbors in multiple disputes over islands, coral reefs and lagoons. China is currently building its second aircraft carrier. AP Hong Kongs former top leader, Donald Tsang, pleaded not guilty to a charge of bribery related to the refurbishment of an apartment he was renting by a businessman who had matters pending before the citys government. Tsang was accused Oct. 11 of violating the citys Prevention of Bribery Ordinance. The bribery charge, in addition to the two counts of misconduct to which he had already pleaded not guilty, carries a maximum HKD500,000 (USD64,000) fine and seven years in jail. The trial is expected to last until mid-February. Tsang, 72, is the citys highest- ranking former official to face charges from the Independent Commission Against Corruption, intensifying scrutiny of ties between government officials and business interests in the former British colony. The bow-tie-wearing Tsang took the top job in 2005 after the resignation of Tung Chee-hwa. He presided during a period of soaring property prices and global financial turmoil. Its the first high level bribery case in the Asian financial hub since the 2014 conviction of Hong Kongs former No. 2 official, Rafael Hui, for taking HKD8.5 million from property billionaire Thomas Kwok. Hui, chief secretary during the first two years of Tsangs administration, was sentenced to 7 1/2 years in prison. Kwok is appealing his five-year punishment. The anti-corruption body itself has recently come under pressure after its acting head of operations, Rebecca Li Bo-lan, was removed from her role in the midst of an investigation into whether current Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying failed to disclose a HKD50 million payment from an Australian construction company. The agencys chief said in July that he notified Leung before making his decision to remove Li, and that Leung hadnt given his views or taken part in the decision process. The Tsang affair is an embarrassment to Beijing, which controls the chief executive selection process via a 1,200-member election committee stacked with supporters. Tung departed after protests and Tsang ended his term under investigation. Leung, whose popularity has plummeted, isnt seeking a second term. It is a systemic problem that wont be fixed until we have electoral reform, said Lam Cheuk-ting, a Legislative Council lawmaker and former anti- corruption investigator. His motion for a select committee to investigate Lis removal was approved by the legislature in November. You cant just blame the system, he added. It is about the personal integrity of the people themselves. The Tsang case revolves around whether the former chief executive failed to disclose the apartment between 2010 and 2012, when he left office after seven years as chief executive. The rental deal for the three-story apartment in the adjacent Chinese city of Shenzhen involved a major shareholder in Digital Broadcasting Corp., which at the time was applying for a broadcast license, according to prosecutors. Tsang had already pleaded not guilty to a charge of misconduct in public office over allegations that he failed to disclose the relationship, as well as another charge that he supported the apartments interior designer for a top city honor. The case is Hong Kong Special Administrative Region v Tsang Yam-kuen Donald, HCCC484/2015, Hong Kong High Court. David Tweed, Bloomberg Two men hoping to clinch the left-wing nomination for Frances presidential race are pursuing a risky strategy: They want to save the much- maligned European Union. Manuel Valls and Vincent Peillon laid out their platforms yesterday, pleading for unity and tolerance in the face of far-right candidate Marine Le Pens anti-immigration, anti- EU campaign. Valls and Peillon are among seven candidates in the leftist primary Jan. 22 and 29, seeking a nomination that looks like a poisoned chalice. Polls suggest the mainstream lefts candidate in Frances April-May election may not even make it past the first round of voting amid mass disappointment with Socialist Francois Hollandes presidency. Both men sought yesterday to distance themselves from the Socialists troubles and to revive support for the EU. That may prove a hard sell in the wake of Britains vote to leave the EU and amid frustration across the continent with a union seen as elitist and bogged down in bureaucracy. Valls, a Spanish-born former prime minister, called himself profoundly European and said the solution to disillusionment with the EU is to re-found and defend it, notably with higher taxes on imports from outside Europes single market. He called for a suspension in EU enlargement and tougher external borders, saying, European civilization [] should start and end somewhere. After two years marred by deadly extremist attacks, Valls also said he would create 1,000 more police and gendarme jobs every year. Peillon, a European Parliament member and former education minister, listed Europe as No. 2 of six broad campaign strategies. He called for a Europe-wide minimum wage and tax policies, and an unspecified new financial instrument to help Europe pay for migration policy. The year 2017 puts us before a clear choice: dismantle Europe, or rebuild it, his campaign manifesto says. And if Europe comes undone, France will come undone too. Le Pen, who wants to reinstate French borders and hold a referendum on leaving the EU, praised Russia on BFM television yesterday for defending its national interests and said France should do the same. Polls suggest Le Pen may face conservative candidate Francois Fillon in the presidential runoff. Fillon, a former prime minister, wants a more modest and realistic EU and calls in his campaign platform for a sovereign France in a Europe respectful of nations. AP Germanys interior minister is proposing a security shake-up that could include creating federal departure centers to ease the deportation of rejected asylum-seekers and centralizing the countrys domestic intelligence agency. Interior Minister Thomas de Maizieres suggestions in a guest article yesterday in the daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung followed last months attack on a Berlin Christmas market. The government has promised to examine whether laws need to be changed following the Dec. 19 attack that killed 12 people. A failed Tunisian asylum-seeker is the prime suspect. The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for the attack. The proposals from de Maiziere, a member of Chancellor Angela Merkels conservative party, center on giving federal authorities greater power on domestic security issues responsibility for which is spread between the federal government and 16 state governments. Deportations are now the responsibility of state authorities. De Maiziere called for better cooperation, suggesting federally run departure centers close to airports that could handle deportees in their final days or weeks in Germany. Each state has its own branch of the domestic intelligence agency, in addition to its federal office. De Maiziere called for a discussion of putting it entirely under federal control, and also urged greater powers for the federal police to conduct traffic controls away from border areas. At European Union level, de Maiziere advocated a real mass-influx mechanism to enable quicker handling of large numbers of migrants. He argued that countries should be considered safe if theres a safe place there with humane and safe reception conditions, for example at facilities for which the EU could be partly responsible. Its unclear how much traction de Maizieres ideas will gain. A national election is expected in September and the conservatives main rivals, the center-left Social Democrats, are part of the current governing coalition. Germanys states, regardless of political color, are reluctant to give up powers. Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel, the Social Democrats leader, questioned the wisdom of concentrating now on a major security restructuring. He said he was concerned that if we started with this, security authorities would be preoccupied with themselves for a few years rather than hunting criminals and terrorists. AP Portuguese journalist and avid Internet blogger, Joao Botas, is planning to publish a biography next year about celebrated Macau polymath, Manuel da Silva Mendes. His search for sponsorship from organizations in Macau is proving problematic, he said in an interview with the Times last month. The book, which has come about due to one interested reader reaching out to Botas, will detail Silva Mendess life with a particular focus on his years spent in Macau between 1901 and 1931. My new book will be published early next year [2017], around March, he told the Times in a recent interview. Its about a [man] called Manuel da Silva Mendes, who was a teacher and a lawyer and he became one of the most knowledgeable Portuguese about Chinese culture and philosophy, writing hundreds of articles about Chinas civilization. The Portuguese journalist was in Macau recently to make a presentation at the Macau Portuguese School and to attend the ninth edition of the Gathering of the Macanese Communities. Botas says that he is not strictly Macanese, as he disputes the traditional mixed heritage definition. He appreciates the connection the community offers, but personally opts for a more modern, cultural classification. He also insisted on multiple occasions throughout his interview with the Times that he is not an historian. He told the Times that the time-consuming activities of writing and managing almost daily entries on his online blog, Macau Antigo, as well as his full-time profession in journalism keep him more than busy. I am not historian; I am a journalist, Botas was keen to stress, I employ techniques on behalf of history, with the aim of telling the story for the average person who buys a newspaper. He added that the consequence of not being a professional historian means that his approach is amateurish. In at least one sense however, Botas and the historical figure of Mendes have this in common. Mendes is famously regarded as a lawyer, politician and scholar but not a writer though the many disciplines in which he dabbled no doubt refined his writing ability and assisted in his study of sinology, for which he is most often remembered today. Botass clear affinity for the polymath is reflected in their similar approach to dabbling in vocations while refraining from regarding themselves as true professionals. [Mendes] was writing throughout that period but did not regard himself as a writer, the journalist emphasized. Not everyone appreciates Botass casual approach to the subject and his work is sometimes criticized by professionals. I think that the [history] academics have a problem with us amateurs, Botas told the Times during his interview, Because they think that we are too amateur. But they cant reach as many people as we can. So if there is a problem, its not with us [journalists], its with the academics. It is one thing to do academic research there is no problem with that. The problem is when they try to sabotage my work by saying that they are better than [journalists, purely] because they are academics, he continued. In researching and writing about Mendes, Botas has sought sponsorship to finance the venture. Naturally, he started searching within Mendes patron city, Macau, which hosted the polymath until his death in 1931. For the book I started to search for sponsors years ago. [] I knew that, with or without support, the book would be completed, because in 2017 it will be the 150th anniversary [of his birth], as he was born in 1867, said Botas, adding that it has been previously incorrectly published as 1876 in the Macau Art Museum. Though the search for sponsors started years ago, Botas said that it has not exactly been fruitful. He said that he applied for funding from the Macao Foundation and though the organization offered some support for the upcoming book, its monetary contribution was small and came with strings attached. [The Macao Foundation] sent me a long letter saying that they were honored to present me with MOP5000 which is kind of interesting to say the least, said Botas, and I said to them: The idea is for you to support me, and not for me to support you. In exchange for this I would need to provide 50 copies of the book and send them [to Macau] from Portugal. The MOP5000 would not be enough to pay for the books [to be produced and shipped], he said, visibly dismayed. Asked why the Macao Foundation had made this offer with the attached proviso, Botas was unsure. I dont know. Maybe its negligence because I dont believe they are stupid. Or maybe they just dont know what they are doing. [] Its not insulting but I dont think they respect me, he said. The Macao Foundation was unable to confirm the alleged offer as, according to a representative of the organization, they do not discuss negotiations with anyone other than the applicant in question. The representative said that usually funding for books about Macau is [to be used] for the printing and publication costs, which can include editing and translating, rather than funding the authors themselves for the project. Meanwhile, the Portuguese journalist is philosophically opposed to seeking sponsorship from the casinos. Unwilling to delve too deep into the cause behind his reluctance, Botas said only that he believes the casino operators owe much more to Macau than the financial contribution they make to the government. He remains however, undeterred and said he will publish the book with or without sponsorship because he has a passionate interest in the history of Macau. Macau is unique. You cant find these circumstances anywhere else, he said. You cant find something even similar to Macau anywhere, throughout history. [] Beside a few problems here and there, 1932 and 1966 and so on, to find a place with this kind of success is impossible. Thats why its amazing. You can start digging and you will find many, many things. One million milestone Joao Botass online blog, Macau Antigo, which began in earnest about eight years ago, recorded its one-millionth view in September this year, according to data provided by Google Analytics. Most of his readers are from the Macanese diaspora community living abroad, including in Australia, Brazil, Canada and the U.S.. But there are also non-Macanese readers (Botas supposes) based in Macau and Portugal. Botas, who regards the occasion as a milestone, recalled the blogs early beginnings as far back as 2005, years before it went live. Around 2005 I started to do some research just for me, not for anyone else just to know more about this place, said Botas, My idea was to gather the documents that I find and make a project from them, [which I would] put on the Internet. It was a learning process, he said, and in the beginning his blog entries were sometimes too long or too short. He also didnt know which subjects his readers were interested in. It took some time to get it right, explained Botas. The biggest question about the blog was: Where do I start, and where do I finish? Which [period] of Macaus history? The decision for me was to start at the beginning of Macau, before the Portuguese arrived, he said, There was a Macau before the Portuguese! Small villages and few people, but a history [nonetheless]! Indonesias government said it terminated all business partnerships with JPMorgan Chase & Co. after the U.S. bank downgraded its assessment of Southeast Asias largest economy following Donald Trumps election win. The finance ministry will stop using JPMorgan as a primary dealer and as an underwriter of its sovereign bonds, Robert Pakpahan, the ministrys director-general for budget financing and risk management told reporters in Jakarta yesterday. He said a November research report issued by the bank was not accurate or credible. JPMorgan downgraded Indonesia by two notches to underweight from overweight in a Nov. 13 report as a tactical response to the Trump election win. The bank also downgraded Brazil, while noting that both countries may provide a better buying opportunity later. JPMorgans business in Indonesia continues to operate as normal, the bank said in an e-mailed statement yesterday. The impact on our clients is minimal and we continue to work with the Ministry of Finance to resolve the matter, it said. Any tax payments by Indonesian companies which were previously routed through JPMorgan will now be passed to the government via other banks, according to Bank Indonesia Governor Agus Martowardojo. The governments action illustrates some of the difficulties in producing balanced research reports, said Alan Richardson, an investment manager at Samsung Asset Management in Hong Kong. I dont think it will affect investor interest in Indonesia but it does reflect the difficulty of sell-side analysts to provide independent and objective opinions to their clients without upsetting the government officials and regulators, Richardson said. Foreign investors sold a net USD2.8 billion of Indonesian stocks and bonds last quarter as investors dumped emerging market assets following Trumps victory. That drove the rupiah lower, forcing policy makers to intervene to stabilize the currency. Banks should take responsibility for economic reports that could influence fundamentals and psychology, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said yesterday, when asked to comment on the termination of the JPMorgan relationship. JPMorgan provides investment and commercial banking services to the public and private sectors in Indonesia, according to the banks website. It obtained an Indonesian banking license in 1968 in the name of Chase Manhattan, and opened a branch in Jakarta, followed by a representative office in 1978. Bloomberg The restoration of diplomatic relations between China and Sao Tome and Principe, after an interruption of nearly two decades, ends a period of re-approach that has quickened since 2014 and offers the prospect of major Chinese investments in the archipelago. On 26 December, the Foreign Minister of Sao Tome, Urbino Botelho, with his Chinese counterpart signed a statement announcing the re-establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries and making every effort to install diplomatic representations at an ambassadorial level in the respective capitals in the short term. About a week before Prime Minister Patrice Trovoada had announced a break in relations with Taiwan, which had been in place since 1997 and meant that Sao Tome and Principe as the only Portuguese-speaking country not to have relations with China and as such, was not a member of the Macau Forum. The Africa Intelligence Monitor (AFI) newsletter reported that China was to show the Sao Tome and Principe its willingness to finance projects and/or actions beyond the deep-water port on the island of Sao Tome, announced in 2015, in the hands of the China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC) and budgeted at USD800 million. Other projects include the construction, in an area of 20 hectares next to the capital, an administrative, commercial and residential center, which would include a new hospital, schools and other public services. According to AFI, the Export Import Bank of China also said it was open to finance Chinese companies interested in investing in the archipelago. During the rapprochement phase, in 2014, there was a partial lifting of of the ban on Sao Tome and Principe taking part in the Macau Forum, in addition to opening a representative office in the Sao Tome capital. A defining moment in the process came in June 2014, was the visit to Beijing by Manuel Pinto da Costa, which despite being unofficial, demonstrated Chinas openness despite Sao Tomes diplomatic relations with Taiwan. The visit included the cities of Shanghai and Beijing, where Pinto da Costa met with the official authorities and State entities heavily involved in Chinas cooperation with Africa, including the Exports Import Bank of China. Other Chinese projects that have since been considered include the deployment of a large distribution warehouse of Chinese goods and the installation on the island of Sao Tome of a regional distribution center for broadcasting the Chinese television channel signal. In 2015, the Mckenzie consultancy drew up a recovery plan for the Sao Tome economy, in which it said investments in sectors such as tourism and agriculture, was essential. Agriculture in the archipelago is highly focused on products that used to be in high demand for their high quality, such as cocoa and coffee. The archipelagos financial situation is likely to have been the driving force behind Trovoadas policy decision as the country is heavily dependent on contributions, from Taiwan and Angola in particular, which have been on the downturn. AFI wrote that Taiwan has ignored calls for help from the Sao Tome government and has even reduced the amount of contributions to the state budget and other support. Commenting on the decision taken by the Council of Ministers to cut relations with Taiwan, Prime Minister Trovoada noted the growing importance of China on the world stage, which brings advantages in partnerships. We have to take into account the specific weights of major powers, the major centers of decision, in order to position a small, isolated island, without great resources. One thing is feelings and another is the interests of the country and the state. And the state works on the basis of its interests, said Trovoada. MDT/Macauhub The South African government said a visit to Taiwan by the mayor of a municipality that includes the capital, Pretoria, breached foreign policy and was highly regrettable. Tshwane Mayor Solly Msimanga, from the main opposition Democratic Alliance party, ignored advice from the Department of International Relations and Cooperation when he traveled to Taipei, contravening South Africas One China policy, the department said in a statement Monday. China, South Africas biggest trading partner, considers Taiwan a breakaway province and South Africa endorses the stance of the government in Beijing that the island and the mainland are part of the same China. South Africa switched diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to China in late 1996. Msimanga became mayor after the Democratic Alliance entered into coalitions with other opposition parties to oust the African National Congress in Tshwane, Johannesburg and Nelson Mandela Bay following local-government elections in August. Representatives of any sphere of government must ensure that their engagements with international entities are aligned to existing mechanisms and programs and that such relations are coordinated in a manner that advances South Africas foreign policy and national interests, the department said in its statement. The DA said the criticism directed against Msimanga was baseless, petty and hypocritical. Neither the ANC nor the national government it runs can dictate who DA mayors meet with in order to obtain job-creating investment, Stevens Mokgalapa, the partys spokesman on international relations, said in an e-mailed statement. South Africa maintains relations with Taiwan through the South African Liaison Office in Taiwan. The party of national government chooses to ignore this in order to score cheap political points. About 18 percent of South Africas trade is with China, with two-way flows amounting to USD32.6 billion in 2015. John Viljoen, Bloomberg The House of Representatives approved a provision Tuesday to make it easier to transfer federal lands to the states. The language, which according to the Washington Post was authored by federal lands management critic and House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Rep. Ron Bishop, R-Utah, and added to a larger rules package, prohibits the Congressional Budget Office from taking into account lost federal revenue from oil or gas drilling, logging, grazing, recreation or other uses when it decides whether a piece of legislation would contribute to the federal deficit. Under the current rules, lost revenue from these sources would be considered when scoring a bills fiscal impact. The rules package passed the House on a mostly party-line vote, with Idaho Republicans Reps. Mike Simpson and Raul Labrador both voting for it. There is no disputing Congressman Simpson is a supporter of public lands, spokeswoman Nikki Wallace said in an email. However, given that many of our rural communities are surrounded by or interface with federal lands, there are many situations where small land transfers make sense for administrative purposes. Small towns shouldnt be penalized by agency rules that allow for little leeway in making sensible transfers. Rigid scorekeeping and strict adherence to rules makes it very difficult to make sensible transfers that benefit local communities. If a rural town were to need a small piece of BLM land adjacent to a highway for a school bus turnaround, it makes sense that non-controversial legislation should be able to accomplish this. You would be hard-pressed to find someone that disagrees with a minor change that carries meaningful and practical implications. Congress still has the ability to look at the intent of specific land proposals and consider the impacts to our public lands. Labrador spokesman Dan Popkey declined to comment on the vote. Bishop spokesman Parish Braden told The Hill that federal lands themselves can burden the surrounding communities. Allowing communities to actually manage and use these lands will generate not only state and local income tax, but also federal income tax revenues, as well as reduce the need for other taxpayer-funded federal support, either through Payments in Lieu of Taxes or other programs like Secure Rural Schools, Braden said. Unfortunately, current budget practices do not fully recognize these benefits, making it very difficult for non-controversial land transfers between governmental entities for public use and other reasons to happen. Environmental groups condemned the amendment. As the 115th Congress enters its first week, some of our elected officials are wasting no time in paving the way to steal our outdoor heritage, Land Tawney, president and CEO of Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, said in a statement. Buried in a litany of other measures is language inserted by Congressman Bishop that would make it easier to give away Americas public lands. For sportsmen, this provision sticks out like a sore thumb. If its a fight they want, theyve got one coming and Im betting on public lands hunters and anglers. Labrador has been a vocal advocate for putting more federal lands under state control, including sponsoring legislation to transfer some Forest Service parcels to state management, while Simpson, whose work to protect the Boulder-White Clouds wilderness won him praise from many conservation groups, has been more skeptical of this approach. With both houses of Congress and now the presidency to be under Republican control on Jan. 20, environmental groups are expecting some tough fights in Washington this year. While both president-elect Donald Trump and his expected Interior Secretary nominee Ryan Zinke have publicly opposed transferring federal lands to the states, the national Republican platform approved this summer calls for just that. Zinke, a Republican congressman from Montana, quit his post as a convention delegate over the issue. Less than one day in and Congressional Republicans are already greasing the skids to give away or sell off Americas public lands, forests, and wildlife refuges, said Jennifer Rokala, executive director of the Center for Western Priorities. Whats worse, politicians are using smoke and mirrors to hide the cost of stealing away our public lands, while ripping off American taxpayers in the process. President-elect Donald Trump and his nominee to run the Interior Department, Montana Representative Ryan Zinke, have disavowed attempts to seize our public lands. This is their first chance to show how serious they are by standing up to attacks on our parks and public lands in the U.S. House of Representatives. TWIN FALLS Twin Falls had much to celebrate in 2016, but there were also some disappointments. Several projects that planned to open were delayed last year, giving residents more to look forward to in the coming year. Here are five businesses you can plan to see open in 2017 in Twin Falls, plus a few more that have expressed interest in coming here. 1. Canyons Retirement Community Originally planned to open in late 2016, Canyons Retirement Community got a delayed opening when subcontractors were busy with other projects. The community has essentially three parts: an assisted living facility, hospice care and independent living cottages. Heritage Home Health and Hospice, employing between 30 and 40 people, will be the first to open likely in the next few weeks, said Troy Bell, president and CEO of facility operator Tanabell Health Services. Next, the assisted living facility with 40 assisted living units and 20 memory care units will open early 2017. Were looking to hopefully accept residents by Feb. 1, Bell said. Tanabell has already hired close to 25 people for that facility, and expects that number to double by opening. The final phase of the Canyons Retirement Community will be 24 independent living cottages, the first of which will be opening around August or September, Bell said. Residents must be 60 years or older, and can still access food, activities, walking trails and other services on campus. Having this campus is really going to serve a community that has a need for this service, Bell said. 2. Yellow Brick Cafe This was another business Twin Falls expected to get in 2016, but didnt. Owner Kathy Fitzgerald said the Yellow Brick Cafe (next to Slice) got delayed while planning was underway for a rooftop patio. She expects to open the business in the spring, with a grand opening tentatively slated for May 1, when the reconstruction of Main Avenue between Shoshone and Gooding streets is complete. Yellow Brick Cafe will serve breakfast and lunch with a health-oriented focus. Fitzgerald wants to use local ingredients and offer a selection of juices, smoothies and coffees. 3. Chipotle A spokesperson for Chipotle Mexican Grill said construction is scheduled to begin in January, and the restaurant is planned to open sometime in the second quarter of 2017. Its too early for a definite date. The burrito chain got a building permit for 587 Blue Lakes Blvd. N. earlier this year. Chipotle restaurants typically employ between 25 and 30 people. The Chipotle corporation has faced troubles recently, with sales down 22 percent in the most recent quarter for restaurants open longer than a year. The Washington Post reported that although the chain had problems with food contamination incidents last year, most of its problems seem to result from dissatisfied customers complaining of long lines, messy restaurants and sold-out products. 4. Gemstone Climbing Construction is underway on Gemstone Climbing, 135 Fifth Ave. S., and partner Hailey Barnes has confidence in a May or June opening. The 15,000 square-foot gym will contain climbing walls of all types, she said. A childrens area may be used for birthday parties. Yoga and Pilates classes will be offered, with cardiovascular equipment available for use. Itll be kind of a full gym, Barnes said. Gemstone will sell some climbing gear, and Center for Physical Rehabilitation plans to lease some space inside. Day passes are estimated to cost around $15, but the gym will have a variety of membership options. Gemstone partners originally hoped for a December 2016 or January 2017 opening, but the project was set back due to issues with drawings for steel, and the discovery of large chunks of concrete during excavation. 5. Mazda dealership at Twin Cinema 12 Goode Motor Auto Group has received permission from the Planning and Zoning Commission to operate its Mazda dealership and service center at the former Twin Cinema 12. Owner Matt Cook said purchase of the property is still pending, but plans the partial demolition and renovation of the old theater building to take place in 2017, followed by the dealerships opening. You gotta line up a lot of things to make that work, Cook said. The original theater would be used as a community space. Cook also hopes to allow a fast-food restaurant to open at the corner of Kimberly Road and Eastland Drive. Goode Motor would still need to get approval for a drive-thru, and may have to subdivide the property. A restaurant is not expected to open in 2017. Others? Others businesses that have expressed interest in Twin Falls, and may open in 2017, include: Panera Bread: Its anyones guess when or if Panera Bread will open along the canyon rim. The company got permission in 2015 for its drive-through, and even received a building permit. But it later asked the city to put that permit on hold, citing issues with another tenant in the development, Zoning and Development Manager Renee Carraway-Johnson told the Times-News. Panera Bread would be located on property owned by Woodbury Corp. at Canyon Park West. The project is basically on hold at this time, Carraway-Johnson said. Canyon Park West developer Ray Neilsen expressed confidence that the restaurant would open eventually. Woodbury Corp. and Panera Bread representatives have not responded to requests for information. Ruby Tuesday, Black Bear Diner: Ruby Tuesday has set its eye on Twin Falls and Idaho Falls for potential franchise locations, but a spokeswoman said Wednesday there was nothing concrete to report. Meanwhile, the Ruby Tuesday in Pocatello has received some flak recently from the nearly 30 employees who were informed on Christmas Day they would no longer have jobs. The restaurant closed abruptly, and owners said in a statement that a steady decline in business was the cause. Black Bear Diner is also looking at Twin Falls as a potential location to expand, a spokesman said, but no plans have been made. Hotels: My Place Hotels of America has planned a 64-room economy extended-stay hotel east of St. Lukes Magic Valley Medical Center off Pole Line Road West. The hotel was scheduled to open in February 2017, but has not yet broken ground. Meanwhile, the future Marriott TownePlace Suites next to the Fairfield Inn & Suites has been moving forward through planning and zoning, and was originally planned to open in summer 2017. Medical offices: St. Lukes Magic Valley is moving quickly to get a new medical office building underway. The city is in the process of approving plans, Carraway-Johnson said. KETCHUM Actors Bruce Willis and Demi Moore have donated the Liberty Theatre in Hailey to Company of Fools theater company. Willis and Moore, now divorced, have owned the property since 1995. For the past two decades, an agreement between COF and Moore and Willis has allowed the theater group to use the downtown Hailey venue. Moore and Willis are longtime friends of COF founding members Denise Simone and John Glenn. The two actors encouraged Simone and Glenn to move their theater company from Richmond, Va. to the Wood River Valley in 1996. The company has based its operations at the Liberty Theatre in Hailey since. Bruce and Demi originally envisioned the Liberty as a place for the community to gather and be inspired by stories of the heart, said John Glenn, artistic director of Company of Fools, in a statement. I am so proud of the work we have accomplished so far, and Bruce and Demis belief in our work is demonstrated in this unbelievable gift. Their generosity brings their original vision full circle as we continue to tell stories that touch the heart, inspire and entertain. The Sun Valley Center for the Arts will assume full responsibility for the theaters future upkeep and maintenance. COF will continue to be the primary user of the Liberty Theatre, but will also continue to serve as a venue for other music, film and humanities programs. The Liberty Theatre will be available for rent by other groups. The original Liberty Theatre built in the early 1900s was located directly across Main Street from its present location built in 1938. The Liberty was sold in 1973 and then again in 1994 to Willis and Moore. This is an important gift for our community, said Christine Davis-Jeffers, executive director of Sun Valley Center for the Arts, in a statement. Not only does it allow us to extend and enhance our programming capacity but it also cements The Centers commitment to the city of Hailey and the entire south valley community. There are a myriad of exciting possibilities ownership of the Liberty Theatre offers and we are grateful to the donors for their commitment to the arts. JEROME A Jerome man was arrested Wednesday morning and charged with aggravated assault after police say he fired a handgun at womans vehicle. Jason D. Seig, 33, was arrested and booked into Jerome County Jail, according to a statement from police. Dispatchers received a report at 11:40 p.m. Tuesday of shots fired in the 100 block of 10th Avenue East, according to the statement. Police contacted a 36-year-old woman, who said she was trying to return a wallet to Seig in front of his Jerome home. Jerome Police Chief Dan Hall said the two knew each other and were involved in an ongoing feud. Seig refused to take the wallet, so the woman tossed it on the ground, police said. Police said Seig fired three shots from a handgun, which struck the victims vehicle as she was driving away. There were two other passengers in the car. No one was injured. Jerome police went to the home where the incident was reported, according to the statement. They tried multiple times to contact the suspect without any response. The Twin Falls County Crisis Response Team responded at 12:30 a.m. Wednesday. After repeated attempts to contact the residents, they breached the door and placed a telephone, according to the statement. After more than an hour, police spoke with someone inside and Seig was arrested. TWIN FALLS A trial slated to begin Wednesday for a 2015 shooting at Harry Barry Park has been delayed because a key witness is missing. Jesus Hilario Chewy Manjares-Contreras, 21, of Twin Falls is charged with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. He and another man, who was acquitted during a July trial, were charged with the shooting of Marcus Loya on Sep. 1, 2015, at Harry Barry Park. Manjares-Contreras was accused of driving a car during the shooting that he borrowed from Cipriana Pedraza, and prosecutors planned to call Pedraza as a witness. But on Tuesday, prosecutors requested a delay because Pedraza, a necessary and imperative witness for this trial, has not been found. Prosecutors learned Pedraza was missing through her probation officer, who reported she absconded, and a judge has issued a warrant for her arrest. But Pedraza is not the first witness in the case to present a challenge to attorneys on both sides. Loya, the victim of the shooting, refused to testify during a preliminary hearing and was not called to testify during the trial of 27-year-old Fred Zapata Paiz, the co-defendant in the case. An attorney for Manjares-Contreras also told a judge last year that another victim and key witness, Kayla Gutierrez, had died. But Twin Falls County Prosecutor Grant Loebs denied that claim and said as far as he knew, Gutierrez was still alive and prepared to testify. Prosecutors said Manjares-Contreras and another man, whom they believed was Paiz, shot at Loya and Gutierrez after meeting them at the park. Shots were fired, Marcus Loya was hit, as was Kayla Gutierrezs windshield, Deputy Prosecutor Rosemary Emory said during her opening statement in Paizs trial. Jesus Contreras and Paiz were both shooting that night. A jury acquitted Paiz after his attorneys, Brad Calbo and Stacey DePew, proved Paiz was home with his family the night of the shooting. Calbo and DePew called into question Gutierrezs ability to identify Paiz because she was smoking methamphetamine and marijuana before the shooting. But DePew said Gutierrez never hesitated in identifying Manjares-Contreras. She picked out Chewy immediately in a photo lineup, DePew told the jury during Paizs trial. A new trial date has not been scheduled, but a status conference is set for Jan. 10. TWIN FALLS Prosecutors say a Twin Falls man set for trial later this month murdered his girlfriends 2-year-old son in 2014, inflicting a blow to the back of the boys head that an autopsy later revealed caused brain swelling, a skull fracture and bleeding in the childs retinas. Brian James Wagner, 34, was charged with first-degree murder in November 2015 through an indictment. Hes accused of killing Jeff Singleton, his girlfriends 2-year-old son who died Nov. 2, 2014, days after he suffered a traumatic injury to the back of his head. Prosecutors took the case in front of a Twin Falls grand jury Oct. 28, 2015, after which the grand jury handed down the first-degree murder indictment. Wagner was never arrested, never booked into jail, never subject to a bond and his arraignment was held in a special hearing apart from the other daily arraignments, meaning that while his case has been open to the public, it has remained hidden in plain-sight in the court system for more than a year. According to the indictment and other details from court documents, Wagner was alone and caring for Singleton on Oct. 31, 2014, when the boy suffered the fatal injury to the back base of his skull. The states medical expert believes that the injury was non-accidental, 5th District Judge Richard Bevan wrote in a memorandum and order last year. Paramedics were called to a home Oct. 31, 2014, in the 900 block of Borah Avenue West for the report of an unresponsive child, court documents said. When they arrived, they began treating Singleton, who was taken to St. Lukes Magic Valley Medical Center in Twin Falls, and then to St. Alphonsus Medical Center in Boise, and finally to the pediatric intensive care unit at St. Lukes in Boise, where he died. Police detectives began their investigation into the case almost immediately, but the boys mother at the time was adamant then that he fell and nobody was at fault for her sons death. It was an accident that ended in the worst possible way, Benicia Rush, 20 at the time, told the Times-News. But a year later, the grand jury disagreed, and Wagner is set for a trial in the case later this month. On Tuesday, several dozen potential jurors were asked to fill out long questionnaires that attorneys will use to whittle down the pool ahead of jury selection. Wagner was also in court for a pretrial conference. The indictment charges Wagner with murder but doesnt include a specific act. It says Wagner did kill and murder (Singleton) while committing an aggravated battery by willfully and unlawfully using force or violence upon (Singleton) thus causing a traumatic head injury from which (Singleton) died. Wagner and his private defense attorney, Doug Nelson, challenged the indictment early last year, saying they couldnt prepare a proper defense because they dont know the specific act Wagner is accused of committing. The indictment in Mr. Wagners case only contains adverbs but not verbs, Nelson argued in a memorandum while seeking to have the case dismissed. There is no statement telling us what Mr. Wagner is actually alleged to have done. Did he punch the child? Did he drop the child on his head? Did he slam the childs head into a wall? Did he put the childs head into a vice? The list of these questions could go on for 10 pages, but the point is made. Nelson went on to argue that, without a specific act being alleged, he cant consult and ask experts the million-dollar question: The state is saying that Mr. Wagner did [fill in the blank] to the child. Does the medical evidence support that theory or is the state way off base? Without knowing what act with which to fill in the blank, the question cannot be asked and therefor Mr. Wagner is deprived of mounting a meaningful defense. Bevan denied the challenge to the indictment while acknowledging that it lacks wording on the specific act Wagner is accused of while committing the murder. Although the exact manner of force or violence used be it a kick, a punch, a shove, or a blow with a blunt object (the possibilities are endless) is uncharged, the indictment contains sufficient specificity, beyond merely naming the offense, to ensure the defendant a meaningful opportunity to prepare his defense and to protect the defendant from a subsequent prosecution for the same act, Bevan wrote in his decision to uphold the indictment. Even without knowing the act Wagner is accused of, Nelsons defense strategy appears to be arguing Singletons fall was indeed accidental. While prosecutors might call up to 17 witnesses, including police, paramedics and doctors from St. Lukes and St. Alphonsus, Nelson plans to call just two witnesses, both doctors from out of state, including one who specializes in the recreation of injuries. Both will testify that (Singletons) injuries could have been caused by a fall like the one described by Mr. Wagner to the police, Nelson wrote while submitting his witness list. An expert who testified to the grand jury, according to Bevans written order, said the injury was not an accident but the result of a forceful blow to the back of the head, which was caused by a blunt instrument. In their own memorandum in the case, prosecutors said that in front of a grand jury, Dr. Paul McPherson testified that (Singleton) had swelling of the brain, a skull fracture and bleeding in his retinas, and that these injuries were caused by a severe, forceful blow to the back of the head, with an acceleration, de-acceleration component. A jury is expected to be selected Jan. 17, and testimony will begin the next day, with the trial expected to last eight or nine days. Wagner faces up to life in prison and a $50,000 fine if convicted. WASHINGTON, D.C. Mike Crapo will be on the Senate Judiciary Committee this year, a panel which could be in the spotlight as Congress wrestles over Donald Trumps immigration policy proposals and his Supreme Court pick. Additionally, a vote is expected Wednesday on the new chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, a vote Crapo is expected to win. Crapo will continue as the Senate Republicans chief deputy whip in the new Congress, and will stay on the other committees he was on in the 114th Congress Banking, Budget, Finance, Indian Affairs, and the Joint Committee on Taxation. The current Senate Banking chairman, Alabama Republican Richard Shelby, cannot continue in the job due to GOP caucus rules term limiting chairman and Crapo, the next-most senior Republican on the committee, is expected to move into that spot after Wednesdays vote, his spokesman Lindsay Nothern said. Senate Judiciarys purview includes some areas that are expected to be high profile and controversial in 2017, including immigration and naturalization policy and judicial appointments. President-elect Trump campaigned promising strict immigration policies, and he is also expected to put forth a new Supreme Court justice to replace Antonin Scalia, who died in February. President Barack Obama nominated Merrick Garland for the job, but Senate Republicans refused to hold a hearing on his choice. Senate Judiciary is also in charge of filling lower federal court judgeships, and there are more than 100 vacancies here, including one in Idaho. David Nye, the nominee for the vacant district judgeship who was recommended by both Crapo and U.S. Sen. Jim Risch and picked by Obama, was unanimously approved by the Judiciary Committee in July 2016 but his nomination hasnt moved since then. Nothern said the committee would have to vote on Nye again, but he doesnt except that to be a problem. Were hoping it will be a bipartisan affair, he said. Crapo said in a statement that the next Supreme Court justice should be someone who is like Scalia, looking first and foremost to the Constitution for guidance, and that he would work with other panel members to advance to the full Senate a nominee to be Idahos next U.S. District judge. I take seriously the oversight responsibilities of this committee and I will be active to prevent any further infringement on the Second Amendment rights of citizens and to ensure that our agencies operate transparently and within the bounds of our Constitution, Crapo said. TWIN FALLS President-elect Donald Trump spent much of his campaign savaging free trade and trade agreements, saying they have cost jobs and made it easier for businesses to manufacture in other countries. The North American Free Trade Agreement between the U.S., Canada and Mexico was a particularly frequent target of Trump's during one debate he called it "the single worst trade deal ever approved in this country" and he also said the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a trade agreement between the U.S. and 11 other Pacific Rim countries including China and Japan, would not move forward if he won. Some commentators have credited Trump's trade rhetoric with helping him win in several states that have been hit hard by deindustrialization and thus securing his Electoral College victory. While there have been voices on both the right and left criticizing the country's trade policies for years unions have traditionally opposed free trade, and the heavily Republican Idaho Legislature has at times called on the U.S. to withdraw from NAFTA Trump's views do mark a departure from the pro-free trade views that have been common in both parties and have generally shaped American policy for years. So, if Trump moves forward with trying to translate his views into policy, what could this mean for Idaho? The value of exports by Idaho companies has more than doubled from $2 billion to $4.3 billion a year from 2003 to 2015, according to the Idaho Department of Commerce. Canada is our largest trading partner, with a little less than a quarter of Idaho's exports going there, followed by China, which is the destination for more than $560 million a year in Idaho exports, and Taiwan at $528.5 million. Sixty percent of Idaho's exports are industrial products, and a little more than a fifth of the $4.3 billion is represented by food and agricultural products, according to the Commerce Department's numbers. Bob Naerebout, the executive director of the Idaho Dairymen's Association, told the Times-News in November that competition from imports is less of an issue for his industry than being able to access foreign markets about 15 percent of dairy products produced in Idaho are exported. Negotiated trade deals are extremely important to our industry, he said. Naerebout said the U.S. could have done a better job with both NAFTA and the TPP. He said the Canadian market, for example, is still closed to Idahos dairy exports under NAFTA, and under the TPP's terms the Japanese market is not as open to American dairy as he would like. However, the Dairymen's Association did support the TPP despite these misgivings. There is a possibility Idaho could have a more direct say in how trade policy changes, especially if Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter is appointed to the Trump administration. Otter is in the running for secretary of Agriculture, and one of the duties of that job is promoting U.S. agricultural trade. Otter's third choice for an administration position was U.S. Trade Representative, and his first was Interior secretary, and Trump has announced other picks for both positions. Otter has an extensive background in trade he traveled the world while he was president of potato giant Simplot International marketing the company's products, and he has led numerous trade missions abroad as governor, most recently to China last month. Idaho Politics Weekly contributor Steve Taggart wrote a column in September pointing to the role trade plays in Idaho's economy 9.3 percent of Idaho's gross domestic product in 2014 was related to exports, and a fifth of Idaho jobs were somehow tied to foreign trade and argued NAFTA had overall been a good thing for Idaho. Idaho's exports to Canada and Mexico have increased 800 percent since 1994, he wrote, and reinstatement of the tariffs that had been in place before would hurt the state's economy. "But, the facts are that Idaho is uniquely vulnerable to trade policies that harm Idaho market access to Canada and Mexico," he wrote. "Retaliatory restrictions there would put at risk nearly half of our agricultural exports and economic activity that generates and sustains thousands of Idaho jobs." Others have argued NAFTA hurt the state. A study by the Economic Policy Institute in 2011 projected that NAFTA had cost about 2,400 jobs in Idaho, using a formula based on the growing trade deficit between the U.S. and Mexico since NAFTA's ratification. One example, said Aaron White, the president of the Idaho State AFL-CIO, is that NAFTA has made it easier for U.S. sugar manufacturers like Nabisco and Mars to move operations to Mexico, flooding the U.S. market and undercutting manufacturers like Amalgamated Sugar. This, he said, leads to fewer jobs in the U.S., because it forces even more manufacturers to move some operations to Mexico to stay competitive. The Idaho Legislature passed a memorial in 1999 calling on the U.S. to withdraw from NAFTA and again in 2008 calling on Congress to renegotiate the deal and to withdraw if certain conditions weren't met. The 2008 memorial had both Democratic and Republican sponsors, including locally Sen. Clint Stennett, late husband of the current District 26 Sen. Michelle Stennett, D-Ketchum. One of now-U.S. Sen. Mike Crapos early votes in Congress was in his first year there in 1993, when he voted against NAFTA. We left in place tariffs that were much more harmful to U.S. producers than to the Mexican producers, the Idaho Republican said in November. If tariffs are allowed in a trade agreement, they should be equal. Those kind of negotiations needed to be handled more effectively on behalf of the United States. Crapo said Idaho potatoes access to Mexican markets has been an issue. Also, he said, competition from Mexican sugar has hurt American producers. Its those non-tariff barriers that, I think, also need to have strong attention, he said. Crapo said he wants to see the U.S. more aggressively enforce the protections we do have under NAFTA in favor of our producers, who are being discriminated against by the actions of the Mexican government. Also, he said, he hopes NAFTA is renegotiated under the Trump administration. Frankly it just (requires) we will not continue to negotiate from a position of weakness, he said. And we will insist on parity and fairness in these negotiations. White said his big concern is that labor interests are generally left out of the negotiations when it comes to trade deals. When we hear about things like negotiations are going on behind closed doors its concerning, the lack of transparency, he said. We are always concerned about workplace safety first and foremost. As a social matter, were concerned about environmental issues. But we think those things get left out of the conversation. Leslie Raymond Jones September 12, 1922 - December 31, 2016 TWIN FALLS - Leslie Raymond Jones, 94, of Twin Falls died December 31, 2016. Born to Raymond and Blanche Cochran Jones in Star, Idaho, Sept. 12, 1922, he was raised on the Salmon Tract, graduating from Hollister High School in 1940. After a stint working for North American Aviation in Long Beach, he joined the U.S. Army Air Force in 1942. He served in England with the 8th Air Force as a sheet metal specialist, working with the 35th Mobile Air Depot unit. He left the Air Force in the summer of 1945 and returned to work with his father on their Salmon Tract farm. In March 1946 he met Charlotte Bain Miller at a St. Patrick's Day party. They were married August 4, 1946 and spent 67 years together on the farm until her death in December 2013. Their son Douglas Raymond was born in 1949; Norman Leslie was born in 1951; and Ronald Lee was born in 1955. Working with his father and his sons Ron and Doug, Les expanded the farm. In the early 1950s, they bought a combine and began harvesting for neighbors. Les and Charlotte grew the business, which became LRJ Inc., into a fleet of combines, swathers, spray rigs, and other custom farming equipment that worked all over the Magic Valley until 2005. For many years, Les worked with the engineers of Massey Ferguson testing experimental combines. Generations of Magic Valley kids earned college money working on the LRJ harvest crews. Les was a role model for them. He enjoyed helping both his customers and his employees. Farming allowed them the flexibility to pursue their passion for travel. Les and Charlotte bought a pickup camper in 1962, taking their kids on long Christmas trips to Mexico City, the Florida Keys, and every state in the Union. In 1974 they got passports and began international travel. Everywhere they went, Les made friends, and he frequently remarked about how travel changed your understanding of the world. A devoted Methodist, he held many leadership positions in the First United Methodist Church of Twin Falls. He lived his faith as a tolerant, loving person, always willing to help others. He loved serving others. As scoutmaster of Troop 62 at the Knull Grange for 25 years, he received the Silver Beaver Award for his service to Scouting. He was a board member and President of the Salmon River Canal Company. He became President of the Bean Growers Cooperative, and served on the board of OutWest Bean, the Federal Land Bank, and the Spokane Bank of Cooperatives. For many years he was a member and chair of the Idaho Bean Commission. In retirement he served on the board of the Twin Falls Senior Center. Les taught his boys the same ethic of service. He was a loving husband and father, and was very proud of his family, as he frequently reminded them. He is survived by his sons, Doug (Mary), Norm (Cecile Gilmer), and Ron (Carol). His five grandchildren include: Jennifer (Kyle) Casperson, Heather (Jeremy) Dillon, Douglas Jr. (Claudia), Curtis (Jerica) and Ryan. His great-grandchildren include: Sydney and Nicholas Casperson, Emily and Zoey Jones, and Jack and Calvin Jones. The Jones family thanks the staff at Bridgeview for their kindness and care in Les' last years. There will be a private family interment; followed by a memorial service at the First United Methodist Church in Twin Falls Saturday, January 7, 2017 at 1:00 p.m. Friends and family are encouraged to share their memories at www.rosenaufunerahome.com. The family suggest memorials be sent to the charity of the donor's choice, in memory of Les Jones. January 19, 1914 - December 30, 2016 Mom, Lucile S. Milligan, was born late at night on January 19, 1914 in a little place called Bluegrass Settlements in Knox County, Tennessee to Ella Mae Long and Claude McKenzie Sentell. Later her farming family moved to Blount County where she was raised and educated. She shared a close and loving home with three sisters and four brothers and attended Armona High School from which she graduated as Valedictorian in 1932. Mom married Dad, Vergil Milligan, in 1935 and they set up house and home until the very early 1940's when they moved to Florence, Alabama where Dad found work in an aluminum production plant. In 1944 they moved west to Idaho, settling first in May, Idaho in the Pahsimeroi Valley and later in Salmon, Idaho. In 1948, Vergil found work in Jerome, Idaho where they moved and lived until their three children were raised and educated. Mom worked for many years for J C. Penney store in Jerome where she proved to be a top sales person. She also worked for the Idaho Department Store in Twin Falls. In 1972 Mom and Dad returned to live in Tennessee near where Dad was raised and a short distance from where Mom was raised. They moved back to Idaho in 1982 to be nearer to their children and grandchildren, buying a home in Hansen, Idaho. Lucile and Vergil had three children: Alan D. Dale Milligan of North Ogden, Utah, Larry B. Milligan of Boise, Idaho, and Linda Sue Oatman of Hansen. Vergil Milligan passed away in 1994. Lucile was very active in the Crossroads United Methodist Church. Lucile was well known for her impeccably crafted and hand sewn quilts and home made pies. She gave of herself to anyone needing help and cherished her time with the Methodist Women's Circle, helping in making little quilts for new-born babies born with drug and other problems. The ladies of the Circle became her best friends and she spoke of them often. In 2002 Lucile moved in with her son, Larry, in Boise, Idaho where she was cared for in the next 14 years of her life. She survived 7 trips to the hospital, three of which involved pneumonia. She because a symbol of resilience and the ability to work at coming back from otherwise life-threatening problems. Mom developed Macular Degeneration that was discovered in 2003 as it progressed rapidly until she had to give up her sewing, cooking, and independence, things she missed very much. Mom was never a loner and cherished the love of all her friends and family. She is celebrated as a generous person of sweet disposition who maintained her strong faith until the end and had a tenacious spirit that guided her ability to survive. To say she will be missed in an understatement. Lucile Milligan is survived by one brother (Samuel Ennis Sentell in Maryville, Tennessee), her three children, 8 Grandchildren, 11 Great Grandchildren and 4 Great Great Grandchildren as well as numerous nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by Vergil, her husband of nearly 60 years, three brothers and three sisters as well as her mother and father. The family wishes to offer their heartfelt thanks and admiration to the gentle and talented nurses and care providers from St. Alphonsus Hospice and MultiCare Home Health services, institutions that brought to Mom and her home the love and care that gave her comfort and reassurance in her daily life. Funeral services for Lucille will be held Thursday January 5, 2017, at 10:00 a.m. at Parke's Magic Valley Funeral Home 2551 Kimberly Road, with interment following in the Twin Falls Cemetery on East Kimberly Road. Officiating will be Pastor Andy Williams. All services and arrangements are under the direction of Parke's Magic Valley Funeral Home. Those wishing to share memories and condolences may do so on Lucille's memorial webpage at www.magicvalleyfuneralhome.com. Winter storm warnings are in place across all of the Magic Valley through 11 p.m. Wednesday. Significant snowfall is expected for all of southern Idaho during the day with the peak snow occurring during the Wednesday morning commute to school and work. A winter storm means that significant snowfall is likely for our region and hazardous to potentially life threatening conditions are possible due to the snow and wind. Storm totals along the I-84 corridor and south down U.S. 93 from Shoshone to Jackpot will range between 4 to 8 inches of snow. We could have 2 to 4 inches by the Wednesday morning commute. Roads will hazardous and snow covered Wednesday morning. Winds will also increase gusting to 20 to 25 mph causing blowing, drifting and potential white out conditions during the day Wednesday. Snow will diminish Wednesday night into early Thursday morning. Behind this system extremely cold air will be in place. With fresh new snow on the ground temperatures will bottom out into the single digits Thursday morning and only get into the low teens both Thursday and Friday with potential wind chills near or below zero during this time. Buckle up. The next 100 days in Washington will be tumultuous. Donald Trump and leading Republicans plan to overwhelm the 115th Congress, which convenes Tuesday, with a mind-numbing array of changes. By the end of April, they hope to have confirmed a new Supreme Court justice, cleared a huge infrastructure measure, and be well on the way to enacting big and permanent tax cuts along with sharp cutbacks in spending on domestic programs affecting the poor. They may throw in some education reform and immigration crackdowns. On his first day in office, Trump is expected to issue sweeping executive orders that undo many of the actions taken by President Barack Obama on issues such as the environment and immigration. Thats just the formal agenda. Trump, who already has weighed in more than any other president-elect in recent memory with tweets praising Vladimir Putin or changing nuclear policy predictably will create new controversies on his own. Congress is preparing for this enormous workload. Abandoning the leisurely schedule of recent years, lawmakers are slating four or five day workweeks for the next three months, except for a week off in February. Despite the Republicans total control there are possible fissures that could create complications. Trumps priority is to quickly enact the biggest infrastructure measure since the Interstate Highway System. That could get support from Democrats if it doesnt include anti-union provisions and isnt funded by cutting other programs. Trump wouldnt care if it blows a big hole in the deficit, though that would be a problem for many conservative Republicans. Congressional Republicans say Trump and Vice President-elect Mike Pence claim theyll essentially delegate the substantive agenda to House Speaker Paul Ryan and other leaders on Capitol Hill, though the president-elect already has had several screaming phone calls with top Republican members of Congress. Speaker Ryans top priorities are permanent tax cuts, skewed to the wealthy and investment, accompanied by cutbacks to domestic programs. If that proves unpopular, will Trump, who doesnt like to be associated with unpopular things, pull the rug out? Republicans remain tied in knots over Obamacare. They are going to repeal it quickly with gaping questions and loopholes when it comes to how and when it will be replaced. But the real possibility this could create chaos and cause the health insurance market to crater scares them. Of course, the initial battles in the next few weeks will be over confirming Trumps appointments. Most will make it through, unless they stumble badly in hearings or a new controversy or scandal is uncovered. But Democrats and a few Republicans will put many of them through a grilling. The secretary of state-designate, Rex Tillerson, the chief executive officer of Exxon-Mobil, will face scrutiny and opposition from most Democrats because of his closeness to the autocratic Russian president, Vladimir Putin. Tillerson is very likely to be confirmed. If the national security activist John Bolton is nominated as deputy secretary of state, he might be rejected, which is why Trump probably will bow to the campaign against him. Many of the domestic cabinet appointments, almost uniformly staunch conservatives, will be questioned not only about their views but, in some cases, about their qualifications. One or two could go under. But these will only be a warm-up for the likely battle in the next few months over Trumps pick to fill the Supreme Court vacancy. Democrats are bitter that Republicans refused for more than nine months to even consider Obamas nomination of Judge Merrick Garland. Although Trump released the names of possible appointees during the campaign, no one believes he has given any thought to this issue or knows much about it. Given this void, its anyones guess whether hed select a hard-right jurist, which would please the partys base. But unless Republican leaders change the rules, it will take 60 votes, or at least eight Democrats, to win Senate confirmation. A more moderate conservative nominee, though perhaps easily confirmable, would alienate activists. The big economic issues will dominate the legislative calendar as Republicans calculate they have to enact sweeping changes by July 4. Trump will enter the White House less popular than any recent predecessor; if history is any guide, a presidents clout, ability to apply political pressure and galvanize public support, usually diminishes over time. If they achieve their goals, and work together, consumer and business confidence could be soaring, the economy humming, adding jobs, and Republicans wont have much to worry about. That entails threading delicate political needles and enjoying a lot of luck. The zeal to make the supply-side tax cuts permanent means that, under the budget resolutions, they cant add to the deficit in the second decade. Even with the gimmicks Ryan and others will employ thats not anywhere close to achievable. To do so, they might then accompany these tax cuts with sharp cutbacks in federal spending on programs such as Medicaid and food stamps. That juxtaposition makes a few Republicans uncomfortable. But nothing worries this new majority more than health care. Attacking Obamacare for the past seven years has been low-hanging fruit. But devising their own health plan, which theyve never done, without millions of people losing coverage and hospitals and insurance companies getting clobbered, is beyond daunting. They would do well to remember the admonition years ago of the late Bob Teeter, one of Americas great pollsters, who foresaw that education is a winning issue politically but health care is a loser for whoever owns it. Soon that will be Republicans. Philippine Airlines asked the Civil Aeronautics Board for more flight frequencies between the Philippines and South Korea amid strong travel demand between the two countries. The flag carrier controlled by tycoon Lucio Tan seeks an additional 1,730 weekly seats from January until Feb. 18 and another 1,270 weekly seats from Feb. 19 onwards. PALs request for additional seat entitlements to Korea was in accordance with the existing air services agreement between the governments of the Philippines and Korea. The Philippine air panel and its counterpart in South Korea expanded their ASA in December 2015, adding 3,000 seat entitlements per week from the existing 28,500 seat entitlements a week. ADVERTISEMENT Data from the Tourism Department showed Korea was the biggest visitor-general market with 1.091 million arrivals in January to September last year. South Korea was also the top spending market with estimated receipts of P5.06 billion in September alone. PAL launched a daily flight from Clark to Incheon on Jan. 1, allowing passengers from Central and Northern Luzon to fly to South Korea without passing through Manila. Travelers from Incheon, upon arriving at Clark, can visit interesting attractions in Central and Northern Luzon, or connect on PALs direct flight to Caticlan, gateway to Boracay. PAL can also take Incheon visitors from Caticlan direct to Cebu, host to a variety of world-class tourist spots and the jump off point to other international PAL destinations such as Los Angeles, Singapore, Tokyo, Nagoya, Osaka and also back to Incheon. PAL posted a comprehensive income of P2.96 billion in the nine-month period, lower by 54.8 percent than the previous years total comprehensive income of P6.55 billion. Revenues in January to September hit P85.35 billion, up by 3.5 percent from last years P82.48 billion. Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus. ALTHOUGH Russia is not actively seeking a military alliance with the Philippines, the Russian Navy is willing to train Filipinos in the use of various combat systems if an agreement is reached on military exercises. We dont seek military alliance with the Philippines. As I understand, our Filipino partners dont need a military alliance with Russia either. What we are seeking is a cooperation in those fields where our two countries need each other, said Russian Ambassador Igor Khovaev. We are against any close military alliances in the Asia Pacific region because the security must be transferred, must be equal for all members of the international community and not only for the selected few, he added. But while Russia has no intentions of building a military alliance with the Philippines at this point, Moscow is interested in holding activities with Manila that are mutually beneficial, Khovaev said. We have an objective need to develop very actively our Far Eastern and Siberian regions. Its not possible to fulfill these tasks without a full-fledged integration of Russia into Pacific multilateral cooperation mechanisms, he said. ADVERTISEMENT At the same time, Russian Pacific Fleet flotilla deputy commander Rear Admiral Eduard Mikhailov said the Russian Navy is more than willing to train Filipinos in Russian combat equipment if an agreement is reached on joint military exercises. Maybe in the future, well have exercises with your [and well teach you] maneuvering and use of combat systems, he added. Mikhailov said Russia, the Philippines, China and Malaysia can participate in one big naval exercise in the South China Sea. He added that this is possible as all the above-mentioned countries are concerned with the safety and security of the region. Mikhailov made this statement during the sidelights of Tuesdays official welcoming ceremonies for Udaloy-class destroyer/large anti-submarine ship, Admiral Tributs and the Boris Chilikin-class fleet oiler, Boris Butoma, which arrived Monday night at Pier 15, South Harbor, Manila. The former is the head of the Russian naval delegation which is on a six-day goodwill visit to the country which will end on Saturday. Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus. The problem of this country, as I see it, is that it has no credible opposition. There is no political leader who can inspire right-thinking Filipinos to protest what is happening in the wake of President Rodrigo Dutertes war on illegal drugs. Santa Banana, more than 6,000 have been killed, more than half of them by unidentified gunmen. Those killed belong to the lower class of society. And then there are over 1 million drug users who have surrendered. Just how city and municipal jails can accommodate them. Many of the victims of the war on illegal drugs are said to be collateral damageand all the President could do is to say sorry. Where is the effort to bring justice to the widows and orphans of those who were killed? There are not even tokens of compensation. If the President is really sorry for all the unintended victims, there should be an honest effort on the part of the administration to go all-out against vigilante groups who have taken the law into their own hands. As I said, in the wake of all these, there appears to be no genuine opposition. Filipinos have been so desensitized and apathetic to what is happening. And there is no opposition leader to take up the cudgels for those whose rights are violated. This is a national tragedy! ADVERTISEMENT Sure, there is noise from a minority group, even from some congressmen who claim to be part of the opposition. Two senators have also come out against those killings and human rights violations. But that is because members of the Liberal Party have joined the so-called supermajority for their own agenda. Even the Catholic Church appears to be useless and powerlessexcept for a handful of priests and bishops who have openly criticized the practice. We really miss the late Jaime Cardinal Sin who used to rally the Catholic faithful. The LP, which should normally be the opposition, has also become useless. Vice President Leni Robredo should be leading the opposition, but she does not have what it takes to be an effective leader. We see this in her indifference to her constituents in Naga City when it was struck by Typhoon Nina. She chose to go to the United States knowing that Camarines Sur would be along the path of the typhoon. How could she abandon her constituents in their hour of misery? Robredo said it was unfortunate; she had wanted to return home but could not book a flight. Come on, Leni. Dont give us that baloney. Where is the opposition when the country has become a virtual killing field? * * * The Russians are already in town and the Duterte administration is now talking about joint oil explorations in the South China Sea. Recall that the President has announced a pivot to China and Russia. Does this pivot mean that he would set aside the ruling of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, which has ruled in our favor? The President seems more interested in the investments and loans he would get from China. Dutertes has in fact displayed antagonism toward Washington. Would this mean less economic and military dependence on the United States? My gulay, our has been a long alliance! I am no foreign policy expert, but this so-called pivot to China and independent foreign policy threatens to undermine our decades-old alliance with the Americans! The policy may lead the Philippines to danger because only the US could prevent China from militarizing the South China Sea. Even now, the only thing we can do is protest; we cannot enforce. If we were to have an independent foreign policy, why cant we have an alliance with all nations instead of pivoting to China and Russia alone? It does not make sense. This is tragic because we worked so hard on that arbitration case. Must we now set it aside just to get on Chinas good side? Joint explorations are something else if they are a government-to-government effort, because then they have to be approved by Congress. Just how this will be done, since all private companies in China are linked to the government is the big question. * * * Campaign promises are meant to be broken, so the saying goes. This seems to be happening with the Presidents promise to increase by P2,000 the pension of over 2.2 million Social Security System pensioners. He also promised to double the salaries of soldiers and cops. In the case of the P2,000 SSS pension increase, they claim this cannot be done without impairing the viability of the system, which could go bankrupt in 20 years. The solution would be to increase the contribution of its members. The government is now in a quandary. It does seem that the new officials and board members failed to consider the impact of pension increase. As for doubling the salary of soldiers and policemen, it is Congress that must approve this move. These are two campaign promises that he failed to make good on last year. He is a big disappointment to soldiers and cops. * * * There are two mayors in Metro ManilaManila Mayor Joseph Estrada and Makati Mayor Abigail Binay Campos whom I would like to commend for their string performance in the past six months. Erap is out to vindicate himself after his ouster in 2001. He just succeeded in returning the streets of the premier city to motorists and pedestrians. He also succeeded in making Manilas public market safe and secure. The horrible traffic in the city is also a thing of the past. Binay, on the other hand, has cleared up Makatis city hall of contractual and casual workers. These did not work, but collected their salaries anyway because the previous administration abused its authority. She also succeeded in returning Makatis streets to motorists because of illegal parking. And, like her parents who also used to lead the city, Abby has shown great concern for the poor. In my book, Erap and Abigail are achievers. * * * I must say mea culpa. I missed out in my list of performers and achievers in the Cabinet, during the first six months of the Duterte administration, Foreign Affairs Secretary Perfecto Yasay Jr. He has really made a name for himself. I am sorry that Secretary Yasay will be replaced by Senator Alan Peter Cayetano in July this year. I wonder whether the latter can outperform the former. He would have big shoes to fill. Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus. That may not be in the cards anytime soon, but at least it has surfaced as a potential option, along with EU membership, to be considered by Icelandic referendum. Matt Yglesias questions whether this might be a mistake. I see the creation of the euro as a big mistake, and in general I favor flexible exchange rates, but on this question there is a plausible case for Iceland joining up with the euro. First, Iceland cannot defend itself and does not want to rely only on the United States. European Union membership helps out on that front, and the EU has at least been claiming that new members also will be euro-using members. Fishing rights are a big deal for Iceland, and maybe the country will decide it does better within EU structures. Second, and more to the macroeconomic point, very small countries do not always do well with floating rates. For instance, no one suggests that every household should have its own currency. Iceland, with a population of about 330,000, may be small enough to make this comparison at least a bit apt. Keep in mind the biggest exports are tourism, fish, and aluminum products, not much else. Using the euro may help tourism a bit, while I suspect the fisheries and aluminum smelters can get by with a mix of a) not employing that much labor anyway, and b) making wages more flexible if need be, rather than needing a floating rate to stay competitive. Another way to put the point is this: floating rates are most useful as a protection against nominal shocks, not real shocks. But when an economy is sufficiently small, real shocks tend to be the more significant problem because usually there is not so much diversification. On the macro front, so what if Iceland becomes the north Atlantic version of how Panama, Ecuador, and El Salvador stand pegged with respect to the U.S. dollar? Those economies have various troubles, but fixed exchange rates are fairly low on those lists. Not long ago, the Icelandic economy was hit by a massive shock from capital flight, which in turn stemmed from a banking and real estate collapse. Capital controls were imposed, in part because the flow of funds whiplash was so large relative to the size of the Icelandic economy. Relying on continental, euro-denominated banking from Dutch, German, and other suppliers may well be a better option. A true EU banking union, if one ever comes, would be better for Iceland yet. In other words, in the eurozone Iceland might be better protected against at least some real shocks. I dont have a firm view here, so it is fine to think of my conclusion for Iceland as agnostic. I m just saying you can be a euro skeptic, and favor Icelandic euro membership, without fear of contradiction. The European countries that should not be in the eurozone, such as Italy and Greece, are much bigger than Iceland and are also more economically diversified. During a meeting on Tuesday, Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas told members of Israels left-wing Meretz party that he was disappointed that Prime Minister Netanyahu would not be attending the international peace conference to be held in Paris on January 15. On the same day, the Israeli Prime Minster in his annual meeting with members of his Diplomatic Corps in Europe said the conference organized by France will be irrelevant as he opined that there are signs that they will try to turn the decisions made there into another resolution in the Security Council and that cannot be ignored. Abbas thinks that the peace conference will be a positive contribution in ending the occupation. He also sent a message to the US President-elect Donald Trump against transferring the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, as promised during the campaign, because it would generate irreversible consequences which would force the Palestinian Authority to take steps. Trump urged Israel to be patient with the Obama administration, which will hand over power on January 20, after the US abstained from vetoing a UN Security Council resolution that condemned Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories. Netanyahu said his government is working to prevent another UN resolution, and also to prevent a Quartet decision. He informed the Israeli Ambassadors in Europe that diplomatic efforts have to be centered on that in the next two weeks. The president of the PA claimed that Israel is overreacting over the recently voted Security Council resolution stating that Ive looked over the resolution and havent found anything against Israel only against the settlements and the illegal outposts. Although Abbas considers 2017 to be the year of the independent Palestinian State under a two-state solution, reaching such a deal continues to be farfetched because of the diverging approaches between Fatah, Hamas and Israel. Tehran has denied reports that talks with Riyadh have begun ahead of the next Hajj. Spokesman Bahram Qasemi of the Foreign Affairs ministry acknowledged that Saudi arabia has sent invitation letters to 80 countries excluding Iran. He added that officials will have no plan for Hajj pilgrimage this year if an invitation is not received while underlining that Tehran could be engaged in talks with Riyadh upon reception of such an invitation. Iran didnt send pilgrims to the annual religious event last year because it could not reach an agreement with Saudi Arabia on the terms and conditions. Relations between the two countries, which have been strained for years, got worse following the death of more than 460 Iranians during the Mina stampede that occurred during the 2015 Hajj which killed more than 6,000 people. Saudi Arabia severed ties with Iran early last year following the storming of its embassy in Tehran by angry protesters who ransacked some of the offices after the execution of prominent Shia cleric Nimr al-Nimr. The Iranian spokesman Qasemi stressed that relevant organizations will assess the situation and make appropriate decisions on sending Iranian pilgrims to Mecca when an invitation is formally received to ensure that the proper conditions are provided. Hajj is the fifth and final pillar of Islam that should be performed by all Muslims if they have the means and are physically able to perform the ritual. Iran wants its organization to be jointly chaired by Muslim countries as it accuses Riyadh of politicizing it. It is unclear if Riyadh will send an invitation to Tehran and officials have been tight-lipped on the matter. Irans new head of Hajj and Pilgrimage Organization, Hamid Mohammadi, said amid the limbo, they are preparing for the participation of Iranian pilgrims in Hajj. 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. Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita last weekend said the West African insecurity-stricken Mali will hold a national dialogue conference in March 2017 to discuss how to implement the peace agreement signed in mid-2015. In a TV message to the nation on Saturday, President Keita said that an important milestone in the rehabilitation of social cohesion and living together in Mali will be fronted during the March 2017 National Conference of Understanding. As specified in the agreement for peace and reconciliation, this conference should allow for an in-depth debate between the components of the Malian Nation on the root causes of the conflict in northern Mali, Keita said. He also announced the establishment of interim authorities, which were provided for in the peace agreement, in areas where municipal elections could not be held on November 20. The elections, whose results have not yet been announced, aimed at electing some 12,000 municipal councilors whose mandates have expired since 2014. The polls were marred by violence and low participation. In the first quarter of 2017, the interim authorities will be installed in all the localities where communal elections could not be organized, Keita said. In 2012, a Tuareg rebellion that sought to create a new state called Azawad was hijacked by al Qaeda-linked militants who seized major towns in Malis north and instituted sharia law. French troops drove them out a year later but they continue to launch deadly attacks from desert hideouts. (HealthDay)More than half of cancer deaths could be prevented through healthy habits such as eating right, exercising and not smoking, according to the American Cancer Society. Doctors at Philadelphia's Fox Chase Cancer Center offer some advice to help you settle into the new year with a new attitude toward cancer prevention: Get screened. "Some risk factors cannot be controlled, such as family history or getting older," said Dr. Namrata Vijayvergia, assistant professor in the center's department of hematology/oncology. "That's why getting regular recommended cancer screenings may be just as important as living a healthy lifestyle." Screening tests are available for many forms of cancer. Ask your doctor when to begin and how often to be screened. "Some risk factors cannot be controlled, such as family history or getting older," said Dr. Namrata Vijayvergia, assistant professor in the center's department of hematology/oncology. "That's why getting regular recommended cancer screenings may be just as important as living a healthy lifestyle." Screening tests are available for many forms of cancer. Ask your doctor when to begin and how often to be screened. Follow a healthy diet. Excess weight boosts the risk of cancer in the breast, colon and rectum, the lining of the uterus, as well as the esophagus, pancreas and kidney. "I urge everyone to get to a healthy weight and stay there," Vijayvergia said. To improve your diet, watch portion sizes; limit high-calorie foods, processed meats and red meat; eat at least 1.5 cups of fruits and vegetables per day; and limit alcohol to two drinks a day for men and one for women. Excess weight boosts the risk of cancer in the breast, colon and rectum, the lining of the uterus, as well as the esophagus, pancreas and kidney. "I urge everyone to get to a healthy weight and stay there," Vijayvergia said. To improve your diet, watch portion sizes; limit high-calorie foods, processed meats and red meat; eat at least 1.5 cups of fruits and vegetables per day; and limit alcohol to two drinks a day for men and one for women. Stay active. The American Cancer Society recommends adults get at least 150 minutes of moderate exercise or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise per week. "Physical activity is essential, as it also helps to reduce the risk of heart disease and diabetes, and can improve hormone levels and the immune system," Vijayvergia said in a center news release. The American Cancer Society recommends adults get at least 150 minutes of moderate exercise or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise per week. "Physical activity is essential, as it also helps to reduce the risk of heart disease and diabetes, and can improve hormone levels and the immune system," Vijayvergia said in a center news release. Don't use tobacco. Smoking has been linked to many types of cancer, including lung, esophagus, larynx, mouth, throat, kidney, bladder, liver, pancreas, stomach, cervix, colon and rectum. "The longer you smoke and the more packs per day you smoke, the higher your risk," Vijayvergia said. "Quitting smoking, or not starting, is the best thing you can do to help prevent cancerno matter your age and even if you've smoked for years." Smoking has been linked to many types of cancer, including lung, esophagus, larynx, mouth, throat, kidney, bladder, liver, pancreas, stomach, cervix, colon and rectum. "The longer you smoke and the more packs per day you smoke, the higher your risk," Vijayvergia said. "Quitting smoking, or not starting, is the best thing you can do to help prevent cancerno matter your age and even if you've smoked for years." Don't get too much sun. Skin cancer is the most common type of cancer, according to the American Cancer Society. To protect yourself, cover up with long-sleeved shirts, long pants, a hat and sunglasses when possible. Also, use sunscreen with an SPF of 15 or more and avoid sun exposure between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. And don't use tanning beds or sun lamps. More information: The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more about The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more about cancer Copyright 2017 HealthDay. All rights reserved. Squamous cell carcinoma cells. Squamous cell carcinoma is the second most common form of skin cancer diagnosed in the United States. Credit: National Cancer Institute Before you try to banish the winter blues by adding some color to your skin with a trip to the tanning salon, remember that exposure to ultraviolet (UV) light from indoor tanning beds, sunlamps, and tanning booths increases your risk of developing skin cancer. UV-emitting tanning devices were first classified as capable of causing cancer by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, part of the World Health Organization, in 2009. Since then, it has been calculated that these devices cause about 8 percent of the cases of melanomathe most deadly form of skin cancerdiagnosed each year in the United States. This means that in 2016, more than 6,000 cases of melanoma were attributable to using UV-emitting tanning beds, sunlamps, and tanning booths. New research, published recently in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, estimates that more than 61,000 cases of melanoma over the lifetime of the 61.2 million youth age 14 years or younger in the United States could be prevented if people younger than age 18 were banned from using UV tanning devices. The researchers also estimated that such a ban would save $342.9 million in treatment costs. The most recent data show that in 2015, 7 percent of all high school students reported using a UV-emitting tanning device at least once during the 12 months before being surveyed. Although this was down from 13 percent in 2013, it is clear that more needs to be done to reduce the number even further. Research has shown that female high-school students living in states with laws restricting the use of UV-emitting tanning devices are less likely to use such devices than those in states without restrictions. However, as of Dec. 1, 2016, only 13 states and the District of Columbia had enacted laws banning the use of UV-emitting tanning devices by people under age 18. Two other states had laws banning a person under age 18 from using UV-emitting tanning devices unless he or she has a prescription from a physician. A number of other states have laws that impose less stringent restrictions on the use of UV-emitting tanning devices, but eight states have no laws restricting the use of such devices. As discussed in a previous post on this blog, the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) joined with more than 20 health and cancer-related organizations in July 2015 to call for broad implementation of state and federal legislation to prohibit the use of indoor tanning by minors under the age of 18. In late 2015, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a proposed rule that would restrict the use of UV-emitting tanning devices to those age 18 and older. The agency accepted public comments on the proposal for 90 days, during which time the AACR, in conjunction with the Association of American Cancer Institutes (AACI), submitted comments in strong support of the proposed rule. A final rule is still pending, but the new research only adds to the growing evidence that implementation of a ban on the use of UV-emitting tanning devices by people younger than age 18 could, in combination with other legislation and public education campaigns, significantly reduce the personal and financial burden of melanoma in the United States. More information: Gery P. Guy et al. The potential impact of reducing indoor tanning on melanoma prevention and treatment costs in the United States: An economic analysis, Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology (2016). Journal information: Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology Gery P. Guy et al. The potential impact of reducing indoor tanning on melanoma prevention and treatment costs in the United States: An economic analysis,(2016). DOI: 10.1016/j.jaad.2016.09.029 Credit: Michigan State University Michigan State University researchers have discovered that a chemical compound, and potential new drug, reduces the spread of melanoma cells by up to 90 percent. The man-made, small-molecule drug compound goes after a gene's ability to produce RNA molecules and certain proteins in melanoma tumors. This gene activity, or transcription process, causes the disease to spread but the compound can shut it down. Up until now, few other compounds of this kind have been able to accomplish this. "It's been a challenge developing small-molecule drugs that can block this gene activity that works as a signaling mechanism known to be important in melanoma progression," said Richard Neubig, a pharmacology professor and co-author of the study. "Our chemical compound is actually the same one that we've been working on to potentially treat the disease scleroderma, which now we've found works effectively on this type of cancer." Scleroderma is a rare and often fatal autoimmune disease that causes the hardening of skin tissue, as well as organs such as the lungs, heart and kidneys. The same mechanisms that produce fibrosis, or skin thickening, in scleroderma also contribute to the spread of cancer. Small-molecule drugs make up over 90 percent of the drugs on the market today and Neubig's co-author Kate Appleton, a postdoctoral student, said the findings are an early discovery that could be highly effective in battling the deadly skin cancer. It's estimated about 10,000 people die each year from the disease. Their findings are published in the January issue of Molecular Cancer Therapeutics. "Melanoma is the most dangerous form of skin cancer with around 76,000 new cases a year in the United States," Appleton said. "One reason the disease is so fatal is that it can spread throughout the body very quickly and attack distant organs such as the brain and lungs." Through their research, Neubig and Appleton, along with their collaborators, found that the compounds were able to stop proteins, known as Myocardin-related transcription factors, or MRTFs, from initiating the gene transcription process in melanoma cells. These triggering proteins are initially turned on by another protein called RhoC, or Ras homology C, which is found in a signaling pathway that can cause the disease to aggressively spread in the body. The compound reduced the migration of melanoma cells by 85 to 90 percent. The team also discovered that the potential drug greatly reduced tumors specifically in the lungs of mice that had been injected with human melanoma cells. "We used intact melanoma cells to screen for our chemical inhibitors," Neubig said. "This allowed us to find compounds that could block anywhere along this RhoC pathway." Being able to block along this entire path allowed the researchers to find the MRTF signaling protein as a new target. Appleton said figuring out which patients have this pathway turned on is an important next step in the development of their compound because it would help them determine which patients would benefit the most. "The effect of our compounds on turning off this melanoma cell growth and progression is much stronger when the pathway is activated," she said. "We could look for the activation of the MRTF proteins as a biomarker to determine risk, especially for those in early-stage melanoma." According to Neubig, if the disease is caught early, chance of death is only 2 percent. If caught late, that figure rises to 84 percent. "The majority of people die from melanoma because of the disease spreading," he said. "Our compounds can block cancer migration and potentially increase patient survival." The perception that e-cigarettes are less harmful than regular cigarettes fell between 2012 and 2014, a sign that fewer people see them as a safe alternative to smoking tobacco, a new study led by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health suggests. In 2012, the study found, half of those surveyed thought e-cigarettes were less harmful than cigarettes. By 2014, the number had dropped to 43 percent. During this period, advertisers often represented e-cigarettes as a safer alternative to traditional cigarettes, the researchers note. E-cigarettes are battery-operated devices that convert liquid containing nicotine into vapor that consumers inhale. The study was based on the Health Information National Trends Surveys conducted by the National Cancer Institute. The nationally representative sample included smokers, former smokers and non-smokers. The study appears online in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. The researchers were surprised by the findings, given the mixed assessments of e-cigarettes' risk compared to traditional tobacco products. Since they were introduced to the U.S. market in 2007, the devices have been pitched to consumers as potentially safer alternatives to cigarettes, or even a harmless way to stop smoking, given that e-cigarettes contain no tobacco, a known carcinogen that also causes pulmonary and heart disease. On the other hand, some in public health fear that e-cigarettes could become a gateway to smoking tobacco for young people. Smoking remains the leading cause of preventable death in the world. "It's a good thing that information about e-cigarettes' possible adverse health effects has gotten out there, especially considering there wasn't a government or public health push during the study years," says study leader Eric W. Ford, PhD, MPH, a professor in the Bloomberg School's Department of Health Policy and Management. "When misinformation about health effects about any substances becomes widespread, it is usually very hard to reverse the trend. That somehow happened here." According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 3.7 percent of U.S. adults were using e-cigarettes in 2014. E-cigarettes were more likely to be used by current cigarette smokers and former smokers who quit smoking within the past year than former smokers who quit smoking more than 1 year ago and those who had never smoked. There is no overriding consensus among researchers about whether e-cigarettes are indeed harmful to human health. There are, Ford explains, two research knowns. On the one hand, e-cigarettes eliminate many of the carcinogenic elements associated with smoking tobacco. On the other hand, e-cigarettes may include flavorings and other ingredients containing the chemical diacetyl, which can cause bronchiolitis obliterans, or "popcorn lung," the thickening and narrowing of the airways due to scarring of the lung's air sacs. (The condition was so named because diacetyl was once used as a butter flavoring for microwavable popcorn.) Earlier this year, in a much-anticipated move, the Food and Drug Administration announced that it would start regulating e-cigarettes the same way it regulates cigarettes - including banning their sale to anyone under age 18. The FDA has not yet proposed additional regulations around e-cigarettes. Earlier this month, in the government's strongest warning to date, the U.S. Surgeon General urged young people to avoid e-cigarettes altogether, calling them "unsafe." Among children, teens and young adults, e-cigarettes are the most commonly used nicotine product. For the study, the researchers combined three "cycles" of data from the 2012, 2013 and 2014 Health Information National Trends Survey, an annual survey of U.S. households sponsored by the National Cancer Institute. The surveys, which included 3,630 respondents in 2012, 3,185 in 2013 and 3,677 in 2014, were made up of about 60 percent non-smokers, 20 percent former smokers and 20 percent current smokers. The study also found that awareness of e-cigarettes jumped from 77.1 percent in 2012 to 94.3 percent in 2014. The researchers also looked at whether awareness of e-cigarettes among current smokers influenced their attempts at quitting or intention to quit. They found no association. While some smokers may independently use e-cigarettes to try and quit, doctors are not advising patients to do so. They typically suggest trying nicotine patches or chewing gum. Smokers who perceived e-cigarettes as less harmful than traditional cigarettes were less likely to have attempted to quit in the previous year. More information: "Trends in E-Cigarette Awareness and Perceived Harmfulness in the U.S." was written by Timothy R. Huerta, Daniel M. Walker, Deborah Mullen, Tyler J. Johnson and Eric W. Ford. Journal information: American Journal of Preventive Medicine "Trends in E-Cigarette Awareness and Perceived Harmfulness in the U.S." was written by Timothy R. Huerta, Daniel M. Walker, Deborah Mullen, Tyler J. Johnson and Eric W. Ford. Dr. J. Travis Hinson holds petri dishes containing heart cells. Hinson, a joint faculty appointment at UConn Health and The Jackson Laboratory for Genomic Medicine, has pioneered a system to study the genetics of heart failure by recreating beating heart tissue using patients stem cells. Credit: Peter Morenus/UConn Photo When a patient shows symptoms of cancer, a biopsy is taken. Scientists study the tissue, examining it under a microscope to determine exactly what's going on. But the same can't be done for heart disease, the leading cause of death among Americans. Not until now. Dr. J. Travis Hinson, a physician-scientist who joined the faculties of UConn Health and The Jackson Laboratory for Genomic Medicine (JAX) in 2016, is using a novel system he pioneered to study heart tissue. Hinson engineers heart-like structures with cells containing specific genetic mutations in order to study the genetics of cardiomyopathies, diseases of the heart muscle that can lead to heart failure and, ultimately, death. "We basically try to rebuild a little piece of a patient's heart in a dish," says Hinson, who developed the technique during a postdoctoral fellowship at Brigham & Women's Hospital. He combines cardiac muscle cells with support cells, such as fibroblasts, and other key factors, including extracellular matrix proteins. Although these tiny, three-dimensional structures do not pump blood, they do contract rhythmically, and their beating strength can be studied. Making a Difference Hinson is applauded for his ability to move seamlessly between research, clinical practice, and teaching the three prongs of an academic medical center's mission. He's able to do so, perhaps, because his own career began at the intersection of multiple scientific specialties. As an undergraduate at the University of Pennsylvania, Hinson interned at DuPont in New Jersey to explore his interests in chemistry and engineering. But he soon realized that his passion for science needed a real-word focus. "I wanted to do science that made a difference in people's health," he says. The same summer, he volunteered in the emergency department of a local hospital. Impressed by a cardiologist's calm and collected manner in a crisis, and gaining interest in the heart, Hinson changed his career trajectory from engineering to medical school. Hinson joined the laboratory of Dr. Robert J. Levy, a pediatric cardiologist and researcher at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, working to harness gene therapy techniques to make artificial heart valves and other cardiovascular devices more durable. Through this early foray into biomedical research, Hinson deepened his interest in biomedical science and gained an appreciation of the work of a physician-scientist. While doing research in Dr. Christine Seidman's lab as part of his MD at Harvard Medical School, he chose to lead a project on Bjornstad syndrome, a rare, inherited syndrome characterized by hearing loss and twisted, brittle hair. At the time, little was known about the molecular causes of the disorder, although the genetic culprits were thought to reside within a large swath of chromosome 2. Using genetic mapping techniques and DNA sequencing, Hinson homed in on the precise mutations. Dr. J. Travis Hinson leads a tour of his lab. Credit: Peter Morenus/UConn Photo In addition to casting light on disease biology, he glimpsed the power of genomic information. "I was fascinated by the potential for understanding new genes that cause human diseases," Hinson says, "and how important that was to society." Matters of the Heart Throughout his medical training, Hinson noticed there were some significant stumbling blocks to gathering a deep knowledge of heart disease, particularly cardiomyopathies. Cardiac muscle has essentially two paths toward dysfunction and ultimate failure. It can either dilate become abnormally large and distended or it can thicken. Both routes severely impair how well the heart performs as a pump. These conditions, known as dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), can stem from pre-existing disorders of the heart, such as a previous heart attack or long-standing hypertension, or from DNA mutations. Thanks to advances in genomics over the last two decades, more than 40 genes have been identified that underlie cardiomyopathy. But unlike diseases such as cystic fibrosis or sickle cell anemia, where it is fairly common for affected individuals from different families to carry the exact same genetic typo, it is exceedingly rare for unrelated patients with cardiomyopathy to share the same mutation. With such a complex genetic architecture, figuring out how the different genes and gene mutations contribute to heart disease has been an enormous challenge. Because of this formidable hurdle, drug discovery for the cardiomyopathies has languished. "There really has not been a paradigm-shifting drug developed for heart failure in the last 20 years," says Hinson. Moreover, the few treatments that do exist are primarily aimed at controlling patients' symptoms, not slowing or halting their disease. Hinson aims to improve this picture. With his "heart-in-a-dish" technique, he and his team are now unraveling the effects of genetic mutations on cardiac biology. The system harnesses multiple recent advances in both stem cell and genome editing technologies. With these capabilities, Hinson and his colleagues can isolate skin or blood cells directly from cardiomyopathy patients and coax them to form heart muscle cells, making it possible to study the biological effects of patients' own mutations. Moreover, he can correct those mutations, or create additional ones, to further probe how genetic differences influence heart biology. Part of the allure of Hinson's approach is that it can be readily applied to studying other forms of heart disease. It can also be leveraged for drug discovery, providing a platform to screen and test compounds with therapeutic potential in a wide range of cardiovascular diseases. In addition to his research lab based at JAX Genomic Medicine, Hinson continues to practice cardiology at UConn Health. He helps run a specialized clinic focused on genetic forms of heart disease, as well as arrhythmias, connective tissue disorders, and other conditions. "We have an exciting opportunity to provide clinical services in cardiac genetics in the corridor between New York and Boston," he says. That means state-of-the-art genetic testing, including gene panels and genome sequencing, as well as genetic counseling for both patients and family members to help inform disease diagnosis and guide treatment. Although there are only a handful of treatments now available, Hinson believes this clinic will be uniquely poised to take advantage of a new generation of personalized treatments that are precisely tailored to patients' specific gene mutations. "Travis really is a quintessential physician-scientist," says Dr. Bruce Liang, dean of UConn School of Medicine and director of the Pat and Jim Calhoun Cardiology Center at UConn Health. "He has a remarkable ability to link basic science with important clinical problems, and his work holds a great deal of promise for developing new treatments for patients with cardiomyopathy. I wish there were two or three Travis Hinsons." (HealthDay)For patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD), congestive heart failure (CHF), or chronic liver disease (CLD) with hepatic impairment, metformin use is associated with improvements in clinical outcomes, according to a review published online Jan. 3 in the Annals of Internal Medicine. Matthew J. Crowley, M.D., from the Durham Veterans Affairs Medical Center and Duke University School of Medicine in North Carolina, and colleagues synthesized data addressing outcomes of metformin use in patients with type 2 diabetes and moderate to severe CKD, CHF, or CLD with hepatic impairment. Data were included from studies that compared diabetes regimens that included metformin with those that did not, and reported all-cause mortality, major adverse cardiovascular events, and other outcomes of interest. The researchers found that metformin use correlated with reduced all-cause mortality in patients with CKD, CHF, or CLD with hepatic involvement on the basis of quantitative and qualitative syntheses involving 17 observational studies. In patients with CKD or CHF, metformin use correlated with fewer heart failure readmissions. "Metformin use in patients with moderate CKD, CHF, or CLD with hepatic impairment is associated with improvements in key clinical outcomes," the authors write. "Our findings support the recent changes in metformin labeling." Copyright 2017 HealthDay. All rights reserved. Parking of electric taxis will be free of charge in Tbilisi in order to promote electric vehicles. As the head of the capitals Transport Municipal Service Mamuka Mumladze told reporters, the City Council made a very important decision yesterday and changes will be made to parking rules.According to Mumladze, parking will be free of charge for electric taxis during the charging process as well.Today there are approximately 50 electric vehicles in Tbilisi. Two private companies expressed a desire to carry out the electric taxi service. According to Mumladze, the City Hall will help those companies in the selection of places for charging the vehicles.Tax companies will be set up. There is already the Gino Paradise Company which has applied to City Hall with regards to the allocation of charging places under lease, said Mumladze, and added that the M2 company has also appealed to the City Hall. The News in Brief Georgia to provide Syria with 100 000 USD assistance Georgia will provide Syria with 100,000 USD financial aid, Georgias Foreign Minister Mikheil Janelidze has said after a governmental session. According to him, the Georgian PM and government have immediately responded to the Syria humanitarian crisis. The PM has expressed readiness to help the children that are in trouble. We have had intensive consultations with the UN and talked about all the ways of humanitarian assistance. Finally, its been agreed that we will provide Syria with 100 000 USD via the UN Specialized fund. Georgias Foreign Ministry will do this, Janelidze has said. (IPN) EU gifts almost 44 million to Georgia in support of reforms The European Union (EU) has granted 43.95 million of non-reimbursable aid to Georgia in support of reform progress in several sectors. The payment will be distributed as the following: Support to EU-Georgia Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA) and Small and Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs): 6 million are paid to Georgia's state budget in support of implementation of Georgia's free trade agreement with the EU (DCFTA) and to help Georgian businesses seize the trade potential with the EU. Employment and Vocational Education and Training (EVET): The 3.75 million payment is made to enhance reforms in employment, vocational education and training. This budget support is part of wider EU sectoral assistance, which aims to improve the transition from training to employment, so that people get better job opportunities. Agriculture (ENPARD I): 6.5 million are transferred to Georgia's state budget in support of agriculture and rural development as last part of budget support under the first stage of ENPARD in Georgia. ENPARD I focused on the establishment of cooperatives, extension services at district level, capacity building for small farmers and promotion of rural development initiatives at grassroots level. ENPARD I also supported the Ministry of Agriculture in implementation of the Strategy for Agricultural Development, as well as other institutions involved in agriculture. Support to conflict-affected/displaced population and its host communities in Georgia: This 3 million payment into Georgia's state budget is a last phase of EU's Programme dedicated to integration of internally displaced people (IDPs) from Abkhazia and South Ossetia. The Programme focused on providing housing and grant support to IDPs to help them develop their livelihoods as independent sources of income, which in turn would reduce their dependency on the host communities. Part of funding was directed to help Georgia with reconstruction works after Tbilisi floods in 2015. Support to reforms in the Justice sector: This 5.5 million payment adds to an earlier 3 million paid in the third quarter of 2016 and aims to improve people's access to justice and step up support to child-friendly institutions and processes. Additionally, EU assistance aims to modernize prosecution and investigation services, as well as promote resocialisation of prisoners and probationers. Finally, this contribution shall also help develop proper registration of land plots in Georgia. Public Administration Reform: 4 million are paid into the state budget to improve efficiency, accountability and transparency of the public administration in Georgia. This is a first payment under an EU Programme dedicated to better policy making, professional merit-based civil service, increased accountability and transparency in the public sector, better services to citizens and businesses, as well as improvement of local governance. Support to Public Finance Policy Reforms (PFPR) in Georgia: 6.2 million shall support implementation of reforms in public finance management. Specifically, this payment focuses on progress in policy-based budgeting, fiscal governance, strengthened accountability of the government, improved public internal financial control and audit, strengthened mandate and performance of the State Audit Office, as well as improved oversight and communication of the budget. Support to Regional development policy implementation in Georgia: 9 million are paid into Georgia's state budget in promotion of regional cohesion, strengthening policy framework at national and local levels, enforcement of financial management and control and improved management capacities and information systems. Budgetary support is an instrument for EU's cooperation with partner countries. It involves direct financial transfers to the state budget of the partner country. It is conditional in a sense that the partner country's government must show progress in policy dialogue, performance assessment and capacity building in a given sector. The EU's budget support depends on continuous satisfactory track record of implementing macroeconomic policies, public financial management and budget transparency. It is performance related - it is only disbursed when agreed conditions for results are met for example targets in SME development, education, public financial management, etc. If the Commission considers the performance on any of these points is insufficient, it withholds a part or the whole disbursement until credible reassurances or measures have been established. (Agenda.ge) THE TRUE COST OF ALL THAT 'CHEAP' LAOR THAT DESTROYED AMERICA THE BIG SECRET DEMOCRATS DO NOT WANT YOU TO KNOW: Heather Mac Donald of the Manhattan Institute has testified before a Congressional committee that in 2004, 95% of all outstanding warrants for murder in Los Angeles were for illegal aliens; in 2000, 23% of all Los Angeles County jail inmates were illegal aliens and that in 1995, 60% of Los Angeless largest street gang, the 18th Street gang, were illegal aliens. @amysherman A group of Miami-Dade Democrats filed a grievance Tuesday alleging that the county party violated rules when it elected Stephen Bittel as state committeeman, a prerequisite for him to run for chair of the Florida Democratic Party. The grievance, signed by 13 Democrats, relates to various procedures used at two meetings leading up to Bittel winning the state committeeman spot. On Dec. 6th, Bret Berlin won the state committeeman post but them quickly stepped down to make way for Bittel to run on Dec. 20th. Bittel, a wealthy donor and Coconut Grove developer, is one of five candidates running for Florida Democratic Party chair. The other candidates are activist Alan Clendenin, former state Sen. Dwight Bullard, Duval County's Lisa King and Oscela chair Leah Carius. The race to replace Allison Tant as chair has been filled with drama -- and the latest grievance filed by the state party is no exception. It includes allegations about an "invalid midnight motion" and "stuffing the ballot box" and conflicts of interest. Most of the allegations relate to procedural issues such as whether a quorum was met. The letter alleges that some Democrats who traveled hundreds of miles were "physically barred" from entering the room. The grievance also alleges that Juan Cuba, the newly elected county chair and former executive director, has unfairly favored Bittel because "Bittel has been funding Cuba's salary." Bittel has given thousands to the county and state party. Cuba was paid through the county party when he was a consultant in the past and was paid through the state party when he was the executive director. "Because of the rules violations outlined below, we strongly believe that this election must be immediately overturned," wrote the Democrats who signed the letter including Zenia Perez, who was the interim rules chair, and Erika Grohoski, outreach chair. "We do not raise these concerns out of malice or to discourage inclusiveness. We simply want to enforce our rules to ensure fair play, and to build a party that earns and respects the trust of our voters." Cuba has said the county party followed the rules at the meetings. "Everyone had an opportunity to be heard," he said. "Despite efforts to disrupt the meeting, an election was held and the membership overwhelmingly voted for Stephen Bittel to be the next state committeemen. We had an election attorney at the meeting to ensure bylaws and procedures were not violated." Bruce Jacobs, a lawyer and rules committee member at the DNC who represents Bullard, sent a similar letter of complaint to the state party. The state party rules committee is expected to act on the challenges to eligibility on Jan. 13th, one day before the chair vote in Orlando. The committee will also examine a complaint about the Clendenin's residency. After Clendenin lost a state committeeman election in Hillsborough County he moved into a rented trailer in Bradford County and won a similar spot there. Bullard made a similar maneuver: after he lost a state committeeman race to Bittel in Miami-Dade he moved to Gadsden County. Bullard's voter registration form initially showed he moved to 36 Lanier Lane in Gretna. When the Miami Herald pointed out to the elections office that the address didn't exist in property records, an elections official later said the address is actually 32 Lanier Lane. Bullard told the Miami Herald today that he is renting in Gretna and if he wins the chair job he will quit his Miami-Dade school teaching job and may move to Gretna or maintain both residences. Bullard said Democrats in northern Florida reached out and encouraged him to run in Gadsden. "They were really disappointed in the shenanigans around the Miami-Dade election," he said. "They granted me another opportunity and I decided to take it." This post has been updated to include comments from Bullard. Photo of Bittel on the left and Bullard on the right. @amysherman1 Former Gov. Jeb Bush will give a speech at Texas A&M University on Jan. 10th -- the same night that President Barack Obama gives his farewell address. The George Bush Presidential Library Foundation at the university will host the 6 p.m. event. Bush will also teach a 10-day course on gubernatorial leadership at the university starting Jan. 6th. (Associated Press phot of Bush taking questions from reporters following a town hall-style meeting at La Progresiva Presbyterian School in Little Havana in 2015.) @MichaelAuslen UPDATE: At 1 p.m., the Florida Supreme Court vacated its earlier ruling, writing that it was issued "prematurely." Read more here. EARLIER STORY: The state Supreme Court made clear Wednesday that there is no law on the books in Florida allowing prosecutors to seek the death penalty in murder cases. In a 5-2 ruling, the court rejected a request by Attorney General Pam Bondi to clarify an October decision that said juries must make a unanimous vote to sentence someone to death. It threw out a law passed last spring that required a 10-2 supermajority by the jury. "The acts 10-2 recommendation requirement renders the act unconstitutional," the justices in the majority wrote. "Thus, the act 'cannot be applied to pending prosecutions.' " In a statement, a Bondi spokesman said her office is "reviewing" the order. Now, it will be up to the Legislature to pass a new death penalty law calling for a unanimous jury vote. It's a priority, state Rep. Chris Sprowls, R-Palm Harbor, a former prosecutor who chairs the House Judiciary Committee, told the Times/Herald last month. "We have to act," Sprowls said. "By the time we conclude our business, we have to have a death penalty statute that can be relied upon and that's legal, so that victims have access to justice." Two justices, Ricky Polston and Charles Canady, dissented, saying that the court ought to issue a clarification on its ruling to end "confusion and paralysis across the state regarding the death penalty and capital trials" and that they did not believe the state's death penalty statute was unconstitutional. Bondi said in October after the court ruled the death penalty laws unconstitutional that she believed courts could move forward with capital cases under a higher, unanimous jury standard. In one case, she said, a Marion County judge "erred" by putting sentencing on hold in a double-murder case. "That's why we are asking the Supreme Court to clarify," Bondi said in October. "To state the obvious: that the death penalty must be unanimous." via @carolrosenberg With little over two weeks left in the Obama administration, and Congress on notice of a series of looming detainee transfers, President-elect Donald Trump tweeted Tuesday for a cessation of Guantanamo prisoner releases. The Obama administration swiftly rejected the request. There should be no further releases from Gitmo. These are extremely dangerous people and should not be allowed back onto the battlefield. Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 3, 2017 Expect announcements of additional transfers before Inauguration Day, White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters. Trump will have an opportunity to implement the policy that he believes is most effective when he takes office on Jan. 20, he added. Of the 59 captives currently held at the detention center, 23 are cleared for release to other countries with security assurances that satisfy Secretary of Defense Ash Carter. Ten are charged with crimes and the remaining 26 are held as indefinite detainees in the war on terror, or forever prisoners. Carter has sent notices to Congress of planned transfers for most, but not all, of the 23 cleared captives that could begin later this week. It was unclear what prompted the president-elect to tweet on the topic with such urgency on Tuesday. There should be no further releases from Gitmo, the president-elect said, using the shorthand for the U.S. Navy base in southeast Cuba. These are extremely dangerous people and should not be allowed back onto the battlefield. More here. via @TB_Times' @JeffSolochek The seven-person Florida Board of Education heads toward its Jan. 17 meeting with two open seats and no announced time line from the Governor's Office to fill them. Board member John Padget, a Keys businessman and onetime Monroe superintendent, was forced to step down in December after having served two full terms. He cannot be reappointed. Board member Michael Olenick, a former Department of Education general counsel, could be considered for another stint on the board. He spent only two years in the seat, filling the unexpired term of Miami-Dade physician Ada Armas, who resigned after two years. "Anyone is welcome to apply and can find more information at http://www.flgov.com/appointments/," Governor's Office spokeswoman Lauren Schenone said via email. So far, Schenone wrote, six people have submitted applications for the positions. They include two former Republican candidates for public office and a college administrator. The Supreme Court of Canada has published itsTo, the Court's website has a section that allows users to find docket information, case summaries as well as facta from the parties. All you need to do is click on a case name. Labels: Supreme Court of Canada HELENA Like a slow-moving train that everyone can see coming but has a lot of momentum, Montana is facing an impending economic calamity if something isn't done to address an expected critical shortfall of workers. That forecast was part of a special presentation on workforce at the Montana Chamber of Commerce's annual Business Days at the Capitol in Helena on Tuesday. Among their assessments: Due to an aging population and faster-than-average economic growth rates, Montana's labor force is not expected to keep up with businesses' demand for workers over the next 10 years. Montana's labor force is about 500,000 workers right now, but the state is expected to lose 120,000 baby boomers to retirement over the next decade. There are only between 80,000 and 90,000 young people entering the workforce to fill those jobs in the same time period. Montana already has a low unemployment rate of about 4 percent, and strong economic growth that means businesses are constantly searching for new workers. The benefits of a shortage of workers mainly an increase in wages, where Montana ranks sixth in the nation over the last five years are outweighed by the negative consequences. Ultimately, businesses that can't find enough skilled workers won't be able to expand and the economy as a whole will stall. Already, state economists are expecting slower employment growth over the next 10 years in Montana because of the tight labor market. "I consider workforce development the single biggest economic development issue facing our state," said Steve Arveschoug, the executive director of the Big Sky Economic Development Authority. According to surveys conducted by the Big Sky EDA, 62 percent of businesses in Yellowstone County say a lack of available workers already negatively affects business growth. He estimates that number is similar statewide. "When you can't hire people or find skilled workers, you can't increase production and you can't expand," he said. "That's a drag on our state economy and our local economies. In my mind, that should be at the top of the list of issues that are wrestled with in our legislative session." Arveschoug was among a wide array of speakers who chatted Tuesday about everything from infrastructure to entrepreneurship to the current business climate. "Montana will have 32,500 more jobs that we need to fill in the next decade," Arveschoug said. "A big chunk of that is because we are getting older, but growth is a small part of that. We are losing 24,000 workers to retirement and we will need to add 8,000 more because of growth." Barb Wagner, the chief economist at the Montana Department of Labor and Industry, said that Montana experienced record economic growth in 2015, and 2016 wasn't far behind. The low unemployment rate is also driving up wages. "Personal income growth since 2006 is the 10th-fastest in the nation," she said. "Montana has had the sixth-fastest wage growth over the last five years. Wage growth grew by 3 percent last year and Montana's average annual wage is now $45,000." Wagner said that, ideally, Montana's unemployment rate would stay at 4 percent for as long as possible. "Workers can have a pretty easy time finding jobs, but businesses can also find workers at that rate," she said."When we were at 3.2 percent going into the Great Recession, businesses struggled to find workers." The problem, she said, is that Montana's labor force is not going to grow fast enough over the next 10 years to support that 4 percent unemployment rate. "We are expecting to see a 2 percent unemployment rate by 2025," she said. "And that is mostly driven by demographics." Montana's largest age group is between 55-59 right now, and the number of young people stepping up to fill their shoes is much smaller. The state does get a net in-migration of about 3,000 workers per year, and they tend to be college-educated. But it's not enough. "We are expecting slower employment growth in the next 10 years because of tight labor markets," she explained. "We are projecting .9 percent employment growth from 2018 to 2025, and in Montana the long-term average has been 1 percent since 1976." Wagner said one solution to increasing labor participation is to get people in certain demographics women, veterans and the disabled to enter the workforce. There are obvious constraints to that, she said, but advances in technology and work-from-home adaptions might help the situation. Women face obstacles because they are more often primary caregivers for children, and they have less incentive to enter the workforce because they are often paid less than men. Each year on average over the last 10 years, the state has added about 4,500 workers to the labor force through increased participation and net in-migration, but the state added 8,000 workers in 2016. The construction industry had the fastest growth rate in the state last year at 2.7 percent, but it's still going to take until 2024 for the construction industry to reach its pre-Recession peak. "The construction industry lost 30 percent of its jobs during the Recession," Wagner said. "But it is adding 800 jobs per year now." The health care industry is adding about 1,100 jobs a year, and the accommodations and food service industry is adding about 630 jobs per year. The total wages paid by the healthcare and education industries are the highest of any industries. There are predicted to be 445 openings for registered nurses every year in the state due to growth and retirements, and that job pays an average of $62,500 a year, for anyone thinking of a new career. Matt Springer, the director of the RevUp Montana project, said that the state better get serious about addressing the problem. "The skills gap is anywhere between 24,000 and 100,000 people where we won't find people qualified to fit positions," he said. "I'm not sure the urgency is there that kind of mirrors the demand that is there." He said that the state has to figure out a way to make college education cheaper, and private industries have to attract, train and pay workers better. Arveschoug said there are several ways to remedy the problem, including increasing worker productivity through technology and reducing the time out of the labor force for retraining. VICTOR A longtime Bitterroot Valley Republican activist thinks the Montana Republican Party should rethink its requirement to charge a fee for candidates seeking to replace Rep. Ryan Zinke. Gary Carlson of Victor said the proposed fee creates a negative image for the GOP by discouraging a wide field of potential candidates. State party leaders voted Dec. 21 to impose a $1,740 fee for candidates seeking Zinkes seat to defray costs for delegates traveling to the nomination convention. Zinke was re-elected in November, but has since been nominated by President-elect Donald Trump to lead the Department of Interior. Carlson is one of several people to express interest in the seat. While there is a filing fee for candidates seeking to have their names added to a ballot in primary election, Carlson said the process of selecting a candidate midterm is quite different. During a primary, candidates also have the opportunity to address the issues. It gives candidates a chance to present themselves to the public, he said. This does not happen at a state convention, Carlson said. Candidates usually only have about five minutes to stand before the delegates and attempt to sell themselves, often to an audience that has already been lobbied for its vote. The party establishment usually wins out. Last month, U.S. Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., told MTN News he had asked unsuccessful Republican gubernatorial candidate Greg Gianforte to consider running for Zinkes post, saying he would make a great congressman. Carlson said the party should be looking for new people willing to come forward who want to serve Montana and the country. Unfortunately, this self-imposed fee only plays into the stereotype that the GOP is not interested in encouraging new blood to participate in the political process, Carlson said. It presents a negative image of the State Republican Party. The party leaders should be encouragers. This proposed fee does not encourage potential candidates." A former President Ronald Reagan political appointee with a long record of Republican affiliations, Carlson said county Republican Central Committees should foot the bill to send the delegates to the convention. Cody Marble starts the new year as a free man. On Tuesday retired District Court Judge Ed McLean issued an order overturning Marble's conviction in a 2002 rape case involving a 13-year-old boy who was in juvenile detention with Marble in Missoula. Marble said his attorney, Colin Stephens, called him Tuesday morning, but he didnt pick up the phone. Then he heard Stephens on the line with his father Jerry, who has spent the years since Marbles conviction working to prove his son is innocent. I heard him telling my dad, 'Its over, we won,' Marble said. Im just speechless. I dont think Ive seen him that relieved in 15 years. In his order, McLean wrote that the testimony provided at a Dec. 12 evidence hearing "undermines the confidence the Court has in Mr. Marble's criminal conviction" and ordered it vacated, setting the stage for a new trial. Stephens, who for the last eight years has worked as Marble's attorney in his quest to have his conviction overturned, said he thinks it's unlikely the case will go to trial, given the county attorney's view of the allegations. Missoula County Attorney Kirsten Pabst "has always been on board with putting an end to this," Stephens said. Deputy County Attorney Matt Jennings confirmed Tuesday that prosecutors have filed a motion asking for the charge against Marble to be dismissed. They expect the request to be granted within the next few days, removing the need for another trial. Marble, now 32, has maintained his innocence since being charged. In August 2015 the Montana Supreme Court sent his case back to Missoula County District Court, asking it to re-examine a decision to deny Marble a new trial, instructing the lower court to use a broader interpretation of how new evidence that has come out since his conviction should be viewed. After the case was remanded, Pabst reviewed it and last spring filed a motion asking for the conviction to be dismissed, saying it "lacked integrity." The county attorney cited a recantation by Marble's since-deceased accuser, as well as testimony from others as casting doubt that the alleged rape ever occurred. Former county attorney Fred Van Valkenburg, who was in office during Marbles conviction, objected to Pabsts motion, and was eventually invited by McLean to act as an adviser to the court while the judge considered the matter. Marble has been living in Conrad since McLean released him from custody in April, pending the ruling in the case. He said Tuesday that after he and his dad celebrated the news, he left the house for a bit and took a drive. I went out and got some coffee. I just wanted to clear my head. Finally, after all this, its over, he said. Now free of any probation restrictions from the case, Marble said he wanted to thank his attorney and the Montana Innocence Project, which has likewise championed his case, for years of fighting in court for him. Im hoping to be able to go back to school, stay away from drugs and make my life worth the work they put in on my behalf, he said. He also thanked Missoula County Attorney Pabst for conducting a thorough review of his case when it was sent back down by the high court. Im not sure this would be happening without her. Thank God for Kirsten, he said. Jennings, the deputy county attorney, acknowledged that while a push to overturn a conviction and exonerate someone was an interesting and unusual position for their office to take, it fell under their responsibility as prosecutors. A Dec. 30 Missoulian guest column contended that bison herds in Yellowstone needed to be reduced because of alleged overgrazing. Implicitly the authors were condoning the continued slaughter of Yellowstones genetically unique wild bison to save Yellowstone. The debate about native wildlife grazing influences in Yellowstone, particularly elk, and the need for artificial reduction (termed management) has been argued for decades, particularly by those trained in livestock management. The traditional range management approach ignores many unique factors about wild ungulates and their influence on the landscape. Domestic livestock are concentrated on public lands in the summer months when plants are actively growing. The negative consequences of livestock grazing are well documented and include reduction in seed production, loss of vigor and selective removal of perennial plants. Damage to riparian areas by bank breakage and soil compaction, social displacement of native ungulates like elk as well as the forage competition with native wildlife from butterflies to elk are also other livestock-induced impacts. By contrast, overall wildlife numbers are much lower than domestic livestock and are widely distributed during the summer, reducing ecological impacts. Elk, bison and other native ungulates are only concentrated at lower elevations in the winter months, when plants are dormant. In addition, soils are frozen, so compaction and bank breakage are lessened, all of which helps to reduce the browsing/grazing impacts associated with native wildlife. Though park willow and aspen were often hedged (short), they persisted despite heavy browsing pressure because they could put out leaves in the summer months and grow without significant browse pressure, maintaining seed and energy production. Interpreting bison and elk influences without considering seasonality of use is a mistake. There is another temporal aspect to the entire debate of wildlife numbers as well. Wildlife populations fluctuate over decades in response to long-term climatic conditions, predators and other influences. The presence of wolves, combined with other factors like changing migration patterns, drought, harsh winters and wildfires, has led to an overall reduction in elk influence on plant communities. For decades, I have hiked weeks at a time in Yellowstones backcountry, leading trips as a commercial guide, as well as for my own enjoyment. Even during the 1980s and 1990s, when many asserted there were too many elk in Yellowstone, I could go days and sometimes a week or more in the backcountry without seeing more than a few elk at a time and an occasional small herd. Nearly all early references to wildlife in the Yellowstone region by trappers, miners and military expeditions were recorded in the summer months when wildlife is widely distributed. Even on the Great Plains, wildlife was patchy in distribution, and expeditions could go weeks and months without seeing a single bison herd. When the Lewis and Clark expedition traveled up the Missouri River in Montana in 1804, they noted an abundance of bison. Yet, on their return trek, the Corps of Discovery split at Lolo, Montana. William Clark traveled hundreds of miles in bison habitat, including down the Upper Missouri tributaries to Three Forks, through the Gallatin Valley where Bozeman is located, over Trail Creek by Livingston, and down the Yellowstone River nearly to the present-day Billings area before he encountered a bison herd. There is no logical reason why bison and elk would not migrate up into the mountains to take advantage of nutritious summer forage. Bison remains have been recorded in many mountain locations, including at elevations of over 10,000 feet in Colorado and elsewhere. However, in winter, they would move to lower elevations. The major problem for Yellowstones bison is that the traditional migration routes are blocked by hunters and Department of Livestock agents who corral bison for slaughter. If there are too many bison for the northern range, it is an entirely artificial problem created by the livestock industry. Until we free up bison to move to other public lands outside of the park, one cannot assert that reductions are necessary. BOZEMAN A man who was acquitted of rape has been accused of threatening to kill the prosecutor in his case and the Bozeman police detective who led the investigation. The Bozeman Daily Chronicle reports (http://bit.ly/2hQmsZc ) that 34-year-old Jared Kuntz has been charged with two counts of felony intimidation for threatening people involved with his case. Kuntz was arrested in 2013 on accusations that he raped an 18-year-old woman on a date in late 2012. The case went before a jury in August 2014, and after a five-day trial, jurors acquitted Kuntz of a felony charge of sexual intercourse without consent. He was convicted of a misdemeanor for giving the woman alcohol. According to court documents, in May friends and family reported that Kuntz made threatening Facebook posts about people in Bozeman connected to his prosecution. ___ Information from: Bozeman Daily Chronicle, http://www.bozemandailychronicle.com Copyright 2022 HT Digital Streams Ltd All Right Reserved DEER LODGE Trevor Walter Cuchine, 21, of Deer Lodge pleaded not guilty in Deer Lodge district court Tuesday to charges of felony aggravated assault and misdemeanor assault. Cuchine is accused of punching an actress in the face at the Old Prison Museum Haunted House on Oct. 30, 2016, and also running past a male actor and pushing him against the wall. According to court records, the female victim was examined at the Deer Lodge Medical Center and diagnosed with Post-Concussion Syndrome which could affect her for up to a year. Cuchine posted a $10,000 bond and is free, with conditions, pending further court proceedings. In other court proceedings Tuesday: Valerie Close, 48, of Deer Lodge pleaded not guilty to the transfer of illegal articles to her husband, an inmate at Montana State Prison in Deer Lodge. She is accused of transferring spice, synthetic marijuana, to him on January 22, 2016. She is free on recognizance pending further proceedings. Julius Monk Waber, 56, Deer Lodge pleaded not guilty to three felony counts of criminal possession of dangerous drugs with intent to distribute marijuana, Hydrocodone and Diazepam, and misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia. According to court records, on Oct. 18, 2016, a Deer Lodge police officer learned Waber was in possession of marijuana that he was selling at his residence, 402 Second Street. With a search warrant in hand, officers searched the residence where they found a jar of marijuana, an empty jar with marijuana residue, six Hydrocodone tablets and two Diazepam tablets, none of which Waber had a prescription to possess. Also found were a number of marijuana pipes, scales, other drug paraphernalia and $1,350 in $100, $50 and $20 bills. Waber is free on $25,000 bond, with conditions, pending further proceedings. -- Dace Andrew McQueary, 21, of Deer Lodge, was given a three-year deferred imposition, during which he will be under the supervision of the bureau of adult probation and parole. He was fined $500 and $110 in court fees. McQueary admitted in August to taking McQueary Ranch business checks without authorization or permission, then writing a check in Butte for $38,500 to purchase a new Ford pickup and forging the name of his grandfather, Dan A. McQueary. The pickup was returned and no restitution was required. County Attorney Lewis Smith said McQueary has an issue with huffing highly toxic brake cleaner and engine cleaner. He has completed residential chemical treatment that hopefully helped him, Smith said, adding that he also was enrolled in the Boyd Andrew Sober Living Facility, but was terminated from that program and returned to jail. Conditions of McQuearys probation include obtain his GED, continue with chemical evaluation and comply with all recommendations to keep on track with rehabilitation. If he fails to abide by the conditions of his probation, the State can reinstate the maximum penalty for felony forgery of 20 years in prison and up to a $50,000 fine. The choice is yours, Judge Ray Dayton told him. MISSING CHICKEN PROMPTS FIGHT Police arrested a father and son on the 200 block of North Crystal Street at 7:30 a.m. Saturday after a report of a fight over chicken. Police said the father, Alan Kifer, 64, came home drunk and hungry for chicken he had left in the fridge. When he saw the chicken was gone, police said Kifer blamed his son, Talon, 32, and the two began to fight. Both men were arrested for misdemeanor assault. Police said they were unable to discern the fate of the missing chicken. 16-YEAR-OLD GIRL UNCONSCIOUS Police responded to the 1800 block of Florida Avenue just before 11 p.m. Saturday after receiving a call reporting a woman unconscious in the snow. Police identified the woman as a 16-year-old girl, and cited three teenagers at a nearby house party for possession of alcohol. Details on the condition of the passed out girl were not available from police because she is a juvenile. Temperatures at 11 p.m. on New Years Eve in Butte hovered around zero. NAKED SCREAMING WOMAN ARRESTED A man called police from an apartment building at 120 N. Montana St. at 2:30 a.m. Monday reporting a woman trying to break into his apartment and screaming in the hallway. The woman, Catherine Provancial, 32, who was naked, refused to speak with police or accept a blanket. Police said she continued to scream, awakening other apartment residents, and was arrested for disorderly conduct and criminal mischief after kicking a door. WASHINGTON Viewing 2016 in retrospect doing so is unpleasant, but less so than was living through it the year resembles a china shop after a visit from an especially maladroit bull. Because a law says "the state of California may not sell or display the Battle Flag of the Confederacy ... or any similar image," a painting of the 1864 Siege of Atlanta was banned from display at the Fresno County fair. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services churned out a 25-page policy statement about "the systematic inclusion of families in activities and programs that promote children's development, learning, and wellness." That is, government should provide, as an act of grace systematic grace a role for parents in raising their children. Let freedom ring, in the nooks and crannies of the administrative state: One day a year Lemonade Day children in Austin, Texas, can sell the stuff without spending $460 on various fees, licenses and permits. Twelve-year olds in a Tampa middle school, learning about "how much privilege" they have, were asked if they were "Cisgendered," "Transgendered" or "Genderqueer." Two years after Emma was the most common name given to baby American girls, the trend was toward supposedly gender-neutral baby names (e.g., Lincoln, Max, Arlo) lest the child feel enslaved to stereotypes. A New Jersey mother says a police officer interrogated her 9-year-old son after he was suspected of a racial slur when he talked about brownies, the baked good. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission pondered whether a worker committed racial harassment by wearing a cap emblazoned with the Gadsden flag (depicting a coiled rattlesnake, with the words "Don't Tread on Me"). A University of Iowa professor complained that the Hawkeyes' mascot Herky, a fierce bird, is "conveying an invitation to aggressivity and even violence" that is discordant with the "all accepting, nondiscriminatory messages we are trying to convey." As President's Day approached, San Diego advised city workers to use "bias-free language" by avoiding the phrase "Founding Fathers." A National Park Service employee giving guided tours to Independence Hall in Philadelphia told tourists that the Declaration of Independence and Constitution were produced by "class elites who were just out to protect their privileged status." The employee praised herself for her "bravery." The NBA, which plays preseason games in China, home of forced abortions and organ harvests, moved its 2017 All-Star Game from Charlotte because of North Carolina's law stipulating that transgender individuals should use bathrooms appropriate to their physiology. At Washington's refurbished Watergate Hotel, the message on room key cards reads "No Need to Break In." The New York Times reported the downside of humanity's mastery of fire: "Figuring out how to make fire was no doubt an evolutionary boon to our ancestors. But it may have led to our smoking habit." Facing a budget shortfall in 2010, New York's Legislature raised the cigarette tax $1.60 to $4.35 per pack, expecting, illogically, that it would discourage smoking and raise $290 million annually. By 2016, cigarette revenues had fallen 25 percent and smuggled cigarettes held 58 percent of the New York market. By 2016, six years after the president's wife agitated for federal guidelines limiting sodium, sugar, fats and calories in school lunches, 1.4 million students had exited the National School Lunch Program, and students had a robust black market in salt and sugar. A tweet with the hashtag #ThanksMichelleObama said, "The first lady can have a personal chef, but I can't have two packets of ketchup?" After Connecticut imposed its fifth tax increase since 2011, General Electric moved its headquarters from there to Boston. CKE Restaurants includes the Carl's Jr. chain, which was founded in California and ignited the fast-food industry. CKE announced that it was moving its headquarters from California (highest income tax rate: 13 percent) to Tennessee (highest income tax rate: zero). Congress considered bills to prevent the IRS from hiring or retaining people delinquent in their tax payments. Unions in New York and California lobbied for exemption from the $15 minimum wage they lobbied for. It was splendidly appropriate that when Cuba buried the architect of its ramshackle socialism, the vehicle carrying Castro's ashes broke down and had to be pushed by soldiers. "Thou swell, thou witty, thou sweet, thou grand" were not lyrics that many Americans sang about either presidential candidate, but one of them had to win, so as you steel yourself for 2017, remember H.L. Mencken's timeless wisdom: A martini is "the only American invention as perfect as the sonnet." We strongly support a state-funded pre-kindergarten education program for Montana, and we applaud the five Montana lawmakers whose recent opinion piece (Jan. 2) endorsed such a program. Mississippi is one of the poorest states in America. Yet the government of Mississippi manages to afford to offer public pre-K education programs for all children who are 3 or 4 years old. Alabama, another very poor state, has managed to operate the best public pre-K education program in the nation for 10 consecutive years. In all, 45 of the 50 states provide public pre-K education programs. But Montana does not. Why? The answer is the negative attitude about pre-K public education that has prevailed in the Montana Legislature. Consequently, Montana persists on the short list of laggards, along with the likes of Idaho, Wyoming and South Dakota. Our legislature can remedy this situation during its 2017 session. Gov. Steve Bullock has included in his proposed budget an outlay of $12 million to start a public pre-K education program statewide. Based on reputable national studies, the governors plan recognizes the crucial importance of brain development in early childhood. His plan also cites the lifelong benefits of early-childhood education for children, their families and their communities. Some Republican legislators have suggested that we should not borrow any money to pay for this program. Republicans have further suggested that any borrowing is irresponsible and that we should never live beyond our means. Would they argue that borrowing (via a mortgage) to buy a home constitutes living beyond a familys means? We think not. Public education deserves to be viewed as an investment for the sake of future generations. And in Montanas case, public education needs to start at age 4. Frank and Maggie Allen, Missoula HELENA A bill that removes the requirement of force from the definition of a nonconsensual sexual act is set for a Senate committee hearing later this week, along with three other Senate bills aimed at modernizing Montanas laws concerning rape. Senate Bill 29, a bill from the Law and Justice Interim Committee and carried by Sen. Diane Sands, D-Missoula, would change the definition of consent in Montana to remove a requirement of force. We want people to know very clearly what is required for consensual sexual relationships and to help people, both men and women, avoid getting into situations that could cost someone their freedom, Sands said. She added that through reaching out to prosecutors around the state, the interim committee found obstacles to prosecute cases which are clearly a sexual assault but do not comply with the archaic provisions of the current sexual assault law. Many people who are sexually assaulted freeze instead of fighting back, Sands said. Its a trauma-based response hoping either the assault will go away or or at least they wont get further hurt or killed. Force in the traditional sense most people understand it is not usually present. Current state law says that a sex act is without consent if the victim is compelled to submit by force. The bill removes that text and instead says an expression of lack of consent through words or conduct means there is no consent or that the consent has been withdrawn. Sands stressed the changes do not alter the burden of requirement of proof to convince a jury a rape occurred; but change the factors that allow for a prosecution of rape. The bill also creates the crime of aggravated sexual assault, which would include rape committed with force. That crime would carry a more severe sentence of from 10-100 years in prison and fines of up to $50,000. Currently the minimum a person convicted of sexual intercourse without consent in Montana could serve is two years if the victim is over the age of 16. The Law and Justice Interim Committee passed seven bills that will make appearances this session. Another bill, Senate Bill 22, carried by Sen. Sue Malek, D-Missoula, would allow for a district court to terminate the parental rights of a person if a fact-finding hearing shows there is clear and convincing evidence that a rape was committed. Currently parental rights can only be terminated if a case goes to trial and results in a conviction. Sands said that many cases of rape never make it to a courtroom, whether its because of a victim chooses not to pursue it or a prosecutor does not believe theres enough to bring a case. It would allow a judge to hear the evidence and to make a decision as to whether those parental rights should be terminated, Sands said. Another bill, Senate Bill 26, carried by Malek would lower the penalty for when an offender is 18 or younger and the victim is 14 or older and not require the offender to register as a sex offender if force was not used. The lower punishment would be not more than five years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000. Senate Bill 17, carried by Sen. Nels Swandal, R-Wilsall, deals with young people who have been convicted of sexual offense who have been been released from incarceration, gone through treatment and been evaluated as unlikely to re-offend and placed at a level one or two on the states Sexual or Violent Offender Registry. We need to put our energy and attention into keeping the public safe and putting resources into offenders who are likely to re-offend, not labeling a younger person who is not going to re-offend as a sex offender the rest of their lives where they cant get a job, where they cant get a place to live, Sands said. We need to get them to be rehabilitated and have a place in the community. Sands said the bill may be difficult for some who dont believe sexual offenders can be rehabilitated. Senate Bills 17 and 26 will be heard by the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday at 9:30 a.m. in room 303 of the Capitol. Senate Bills 22 and 29 will be heard by the same committee at 8 a.m. Friday. HELENA A bill that would allow people to take disagreements over water permit decisions made by the Department of Natural Resources to the states Water Court instead of district courts was the subject of robust debate during its first hearing at the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday. Sen. Chas Vincent, R-Libby, who is carrying Senate Bill 28 at the request of the Water Policy Interim Committee, said the bill will put four to five cases a year in front of the Water Court, which he says has a better understanding of water issues than most district court judges. DNRC issues new water rights permits and changes to exist permits. The Water Court was created in 1979 to adjudicate 219,000 water rights claims made prior to 1973 and is expected to finish that work sometime around 2028. After adjudication is complete, the court is expected to have little left to do. However, a report prepared by the Legislative Environmental Policy Office in 2015 for the interim committee said the court could play a role with the DNRC and district courts adjudicating disputes over issuing new water rights permits or changing existing ones. Vincent said a survey of district court judges done by the state Supreme Courts administrative arm shows many judges dont have experience in water law and dont want to retain control over water rights disputes. Seven people spoke in favor of the bill. Abigail St. Lawrence, an attorney at Bloomquist Law Firm in Helena and a representative of the Montana Association of Realtors who has worked with water rights cases for more than a decade, said the bill would let people have their disputes heard by experts. The Water Court has a particular expertise that oftentimes district courts do not have, she said. Chelcie Cargill, director of state affairs for the Montana Farm Bureau Federation, said some district court judges have large workloads that leave farmers and ranchers waiting for their claims to be sorted out. A few spoke in opposition to the bill, including the director of the DNRC, who raised concerns that it extends the life of the Water Court without taking time to study what the role of the court should be. Krista Lee Evans, with the Association of Gallatin Agricultural Irrigators, said she was concerned that Water Court judges are not elected. The chief justice of the state Supreme Court appoints a chief water judge and associate water judge. Thats a significant amount of power to have in an entity the water users do not have a vote for, she said. She also raised concerns with how the bill was written. She said the language could allow for people who disagree with a permit issued by DNRC to pick the court where the dispute would be heard, creating several cases in different courts. She also asked how the additional caseload for the Water Court would be paid for. Evans said many people who dont like the bill might be afraid to testify because they are nervous about where their disputes might be heard in the future. John Tubbs, director of the DNRC, said disputes over permits arent water issues, but procedural issues. Courts are tasked with determining if DNRC acted property in issuing or denying a permit application or change, not with water rights laws. Tubbs said the Water Court needs to focus on finishing its adjudication work and then state government can discuss the future of the court. This bill, he said, would make the Water Court permanent without consideration to what its future should be. Maybe that is a permanent water court, maybe its an additional district court, he said. These are big issues. It is time for this body, the executive and the judicial (branches) to give serious consideration to what a post-decree water rights world looks like. Vincent said the push to bring the bill now would help retain the expertise already gathered in the Water Court. If we want to retain that experience on the Water Court we have to give them a reason to stick around, he said. The committee took no action on the bill Wednesday, but said it would look at the concerns that were raised. The committee meets daily at 9 a.m. BILLINGS - A Shepherd man may be charged with homicide after the death of a Glasgow woman. Jay Witkowski, 28, was charged Tuesday with assault with a weapon, aggravated assault and criminal endangerment, all felonies, in Valley County, County Attorney Dylan Jensen said Tuesday. The victim, 31-year-old Evelynn Garcia, was initially hospitalized from stab wounds and injuries from being struck by a vehicle. She died Tuesday, said Sheriff Vernon Buerkle. It's alleged that Witkowski was responsible for her injuries. Garcia's body was found Saturday on a highway east of Glasgow, Buerkle said. Witkowski was arrested and given a $500,000 bond, and he remains in custody. The charges are initial and may be amended, Jensen said. Investigators are still looking into the events leading up to Garcia's death, Buerkle said. Its being investigated by the Valley County Sheriff's Office and (Montana) Highway Patrol with the assistance of the Glasgow Police Department, he said. Montana Department of Corrections archives show Witkowski was sentenced on a conviction for criminal possession of dangerous drugs in Richland County in 2010. MISSOULA Cody Marble starts the new year as a free man. On Tuesday retired District Court Judge Ed McLean issued an order overturning Marble's conviction in a 2002 rape case involving a 13-year-old boy who was in juvenile detention with Marble in Missoula. Marble said his attorney, Colin Stephens, called him Tuesday morning, but he didnt pick up the phone. Then he heard Stephens on the line with his father Jerry, who has spent the years since Marbles conviction working to prove his son is innocent. I heard him telling my dad, 'Its over, we won,' Marble said. Im just speechless. I dont think Ive seen him that relieved in 15 years. In his order, McLean wrote that the testimony provided at a Dec. 12 evidence hearing "undermines the confidence the Court has in Mr. Marble's criminal conviction" and ordered it vacated, setting the stage for a new trial. Stephens, who for the last eight years has worked as Marble's attorney in his quest to have his conviction overturned, said he thinks it's unlikely the case will go to trial, given the county attorney's view of the allegations. Missoula County Attorney Kirsten Pabst "has always been on board with putting an end to this," Stephens said. Deputy County Attorney Matt Jennings confirmed Tuesday that prosecutors have filed a motion asking for the charge against Marble to be dismissed. They expect the request to be granted within the next few days, removing the need for another trial. Marble, now 32, has maintained his innocence since being charged. In August 2015 the Montana Supreme Court sent his case back to Missoula County District Court, asking it to re-examine a decision to deny Marble a new trial, instructing the lower court to use a broader interpretation of how new evidence that has come out since his conviction should be viewed. After the case was remanded, Pabst reviewed it and last spring filed a motion asking for the conviction to be dismissed, saying it "lacked integrity." The county attorney cited a recantation by Marble's since-deceased accuser, as well as testimony from others as casting doubt that the alleged rape ever occurred. Former county attorney Fred Van Valkenburg, who was in office during Marbles conviction, objected to Pabsts motion, and was eventually invited by McLean to act as an adviser to the court while the judge considered the matter. Marble has been living in Conrad since McLean released him from custody in April, pending the ruling in the case. He said Tuesday that after he and his dad celebrated the news, he left the house for a bit and took a drive. I went out and got some coffee. I just wanted to clear my head. Finally, after all this, its over, he said. Now free of any probation restrictions from the case, Marble said he wanted thank his attorney and the Montana Innocence Project, which has likewise championed his case, for years of fighting in court for him. Im hoping to be able to go back to school, stay away from drugs and make my life worth the work they put in on my behalf, he said. He also thanked Missoula County Attorney Pabst for conducting a thorough review of his case when it was sent back down by the high court. Im not sure this would be happening without her. Thank God for Kirsten, he said. Jennings, the deputy county attorney, acknowledged that while a push to overturn a conviction and exonerate someone was an interesting and unusual position for their office to take, it fell under their responsibility as prosecutors. Our obligation goes beyond fighting for convictions and putting people in custody but fighting for justice, and in this case justice demanded that Cody Marbles conviction be overturned, he said. You are hereby notified of an Election to be held on Saturday, January 21, 2017, from 8:30 A.M. to 11:30 A.M. at the Island Church Fellowship Hall, for the purpose of electing a trustee from the Second Election District, to fill a three year term beginning January 28, 2017. ALEDO, Ill. First Responders with the Aledo Fire Department are now some of the best-equipped in the nation to save a pets life. Thats because Invisible Fence of the Quad Cities has donated two pet oxygen mask kits to the department. This donation is just a small part of Invisible Fence Brands Project Breathe program, which was established with the goal of equipping every fire station in America and Canada with pet oxygen masks. These masks allow firefighters and EMS staff to give oxygen to pets who are suffering from smoke inhalation when they are rescued from fires and often save pets lives. Invisible Fence Brand has donated a total of more than 12,400 pet oxygen masks to fire stations all over the U.S. and Canada throughout the life of the program. A reported 150+ pets have been saved by the donated masks so far, two family dogs by the Grants Pass Fire Department in Oregon in early October of this year. When a family suffers the tragedy of a fire, lives are turned upside down, said Ed Hoyt, Director of Invisible Fence Brand. Pets are valued family members, so we want families to know that their pet can be cared for if tragedy strikes. We realize that humans are the first priority, but in many cases, pets can be saved if firefighters have the right equipment, said Hoyt. Project Breathe program is simply a way of giving firefighters the tools necessary to save pets lives. Aledo and surrounding areas are now joining the ranks of cities like Seattle, Chicago, Denver, and Salt Lake City who have all received donated pet oxygen masks from Project Breathe program. "Thank God they had the masks. They (the dogs) are just like family. I dont know what Id do without them. Things can be replaced. Lives cant, whether theyre animals or people," said a pet owner whose dogs were recently rescued using donated masks. Although the number of pets that die in fires is not an official statistic kept by the U.S. Fire Administration, industry web sites and sources have cited an estimated 40,000 to 150,000 pets die in fires each year, most succumbing to smoke inhalation. In most states, emergency responders are unequipped to deal with the crisis. The loss is terrible for the family, heart wrenching for firefighters. The company has set up a website, www.invisiblefence.com/O2, where local fire personnel can make a request for their own departments. MUSCATINE, Iowa At least five Muscatine Power and Water customers received fraudulent calls from 800 or 888 numbers on Friday evening. The callers impersonated MPW representatives, demanding an immediate money transfer from a local Walgreens or Wal-Mart. Deb Thompson, customer service manager at MPW, said the company logged five calls from local businesses on the evening of December 30. I dont have any idea how many calls made it through the community, but these were the five that contacted us within a short period of time, she said. Thompson said the scammers were sometimes male and sometimes female and that customers alerted the company of similar scams in the past. Cindy Tillie of Grandma Cindys Kitchen received one of these scam calls. She had gone home for the day when an employee called her, telling her that Muscatine Power and Water called about an overdue bill which required an immediate attention. Tillie called the 888 number the employee gave her and spoke to a woman who claimed to be an MPW representative. She just said that were going to be disconnected here at the restaurant if we didnt send her a special payment, Tillie said, adding that the woman demanded almost $500 and threatened to shut off the utilities at the restaurant within 30 minutes if the payment was not made. When Tillie told the scammer she never received disconnect notices, the scammer said there must have been an accounting error, but still demanded the money. I was very upset, very scared for my business because it was a long weekend and for my employees that they would think that I wasnt paying my bills, Tillie said. Tillie said she hung up and called her daughters and husband, who convinced her the call was a scam. She called an MPW representative, who reassured her the call was fake. I feel like I was violated, she added. Thompson said that Muscatine Power and Water representatives never call without first sending a written notice of an overdue bill. Theres the bill, theres the reminder statement, theres the recorded call, she said. The company, Thompson added, does not have 800 or 888 numbers: calls from MPW always come from area code 563. She asked that customers never share personal information to suspicious callers but instead hang up and call the company themselves. Customers who received suspicious phone calls are asked to contact MPWs help desk at 263-2631. The Journal reached out to the Muscatine Police Department and Sheriff's Office, but did not receive comments by press deadline. DES MOINES, Iowa - To adults, it's sometimes unclear how much goes over kids' heads and how much they're absorbing. According to research from the University of Washington, children as young as four could be picking up nonverbal social biases from adults. Allison Skinner, lead author of the research, said this study was meant to go further than others that already had shown kids adopt biases from their parents. "This being one of the first steps to talk more about how kids are actually picking it up from the culture, how they're absorbing it," she said. Researchers took a group of four- and five-year-olds and showed them two videos. An actor greeted two women with an action, such as giving one of them a toy. In the first, the actor spoke in a positive manner, smiling and speaking in a warm tone. In the second, the actor scowled and spoke gruffly. Two-thirds of the children favored the recipient of the positive signals. Researchers then took the study a step further. They added "friends," with shirts the same color, to the two women who had received the positive and negative signals. They found the children's preferences and biases extended beyond individuals, to members of groups. Four out of five children preferred the friends of the woman who received positive signals. Skinner explained that the research mirrors what kids most likely experience in daily life, and said parents may need to check even their innermost feelings if they don't want to pass on their own biases. "So, really be aware that, 'Oh, I'm interacting with someone of another group, perhaps a group that my child doesn't have very much exposure to,'" she added. "'So, I need to be really aware of how I'm behaving, and how much I'm giving them eye contact and all these various things, and making sure that I'm giving a positive message.'" Skinner said parents who have diverse groups of friends also may be shaping kids to be inclusive of people who are different from them. DES MOINES How the state delivers funding to Iowas public K-through-12 schools could be altered dramatically this year when Republicans assume control of the states law-making agenda. Republicans, who for the first time in 20 years will hold the governors office and majorities in the Iowa House and Senate, are poised to consider legislation that would expand so-called school choice programs that give families greater flexibility to enroll in private schools, often at the expense of funding to public schools, and alter the timeline for when the state sets public school funding levels. Conservative state legislators have long supported school choice programs, but have been unable to get any passed into law because of opposition from Democrats, who in recent sessions held the majority in the Iowa Senate. But in the wake of the Nov. 8 election Republicans have complete control of the Iowa statehouse, and school choice programs are sure to be on the legislative agenda. Im pretty confident were going to come out of this session with some type of school choice bill that hopefully is signed by (the governor), said Walt Rogers, R-Cedar Falls, the new chairman of the education committee in the House. Rogers said proposals could range from a pilot project to something more substantial, like state-funded education savings accounts, in which state dollars are earmarked for parents to use toward education costs like private-school tuition. Im a believer in them, Rogers said. Im taking an approach of, lets look at everything and see what we can afford, see what type of transition period it would take to implement more choice for parents. Thats where Im at. Im willing to take a look at everything. Im going to give everything a fair hearing in education. Democrats and public school advocates have opposed such programs because typically they result in less state funding for public school districts. Supporters of educational savings account say they give families the freedom to determine which school is best for their children. An ESA program will allow true universal choice and inject the positive force of market competition into the Iowa educational system, Susan Fenton, a lobbyist for Iowa Advocates for Choice in Education, told Gov. Terry Branstad at a recent public hearing on the state budget. Branstad, whose three children attended Catholic schools in the Des Moines area, told reporters after the hearing he is a strong supporter of private schools but said there are a lot of issues to consider in the tight budget. That tight budget has led Republican leaders to say they plan to budget for a 2-percent increase for public school funding for the 2017-2018 school year. If approved, it will be the seventh time in eight years state funding to public schools has increased by roughly 2 percent or less. Funding increases dipped to those levels only four times in the previous 38 years. It is a fact that these are the worst six years in Iowa history for education funding, said Sen. Jeff Danielson, D-Waterloo. There are a lot of us who believe that at a time when we had the resources, at least a cost of living (increase) averaged out over those six years was reasonable. That was not achieved. I dont think we have invested in education like it matters to our future, and it does. Mark Smith, leader of the minority House Democrats, said more of state spending, as a percentage, should be going to public education. We havent had our priorities straight, which is to put Iowas children first, Smith said. I would hope that the (funding increase), because of underfunding, would not ever be below 4 percent this year, but clearly Im very doubtful that we will get to that point. Republicans also may repeal the portion of Iowa law that requires state legislators to set school funding levels more than a year before schools set their budgets. The law which does not include any punitive measure for when legislators fail to adhere by the timeline was written to ensure public school funding gets the first bite of the state budget pie and so schools can plan their own budgets. Republicans who want to repeal the measure say it is difficult to predict state revenues that far in advance, so setting such a big budget number so early is bad practice. Linda Upmeyer, a Republican from Clear Lake who is going into her second session as Iowas first-ever woman Speaker of the House, said schools still can get their state funding numbers first and early if legislators act swiftly during the legislative session. Iowas legislative sessions begin in early January, and schools must present a certified budget by mid-April. I think if youre setting (school funding levels) in the first 30 days (of the session), youre still getting it done early, Upmeyer said. The whole goal is so we can actually deliver on what we promise. And were committed to that. Rod Boshart of the Cedar Rapids Gazette and Christinia Crippes of the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier contributed to this story. Policies that prohibit college students from drinking alcohol are lethal. Binge drinking, which produces a blood-alcohol concentration to more than 0.08 percent, is popular among American college students, even though few of them are old enough legally to imbibe. Underage drinkers constitute an estimated 11 percent to 20 percent of the market for alcohol. Many students social-media accounts are filled with keg-stand selfies and Instagram photos of friends chugging bottles of cheap vodka. According to the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, four out of five college students drink. Almost two out of every three engaged in binge drinking. Some experts report that as much as 90 percent of the alcohol consumed by young people is consumed while binge drinking. As a result, nearly 700,000 students between 18 and 24 are assaulted each year by other students who have drunk alcohol. Some 97,000 sexual assaults among college students are attributed to drinking each year. About one in four college students report adverse academic outcomes as a result of their drinking, from missing classes to failing courses. Perhaps most tragically, more than 1,800 college students die every year of alcohol-related injuries, including car crashes. These trends are nearly unique to the United States. While Europeans consume more alcohol overall than their American counterparts, they have lower rates of binge drinking. Some explain this by cultural differences, but economics suggests a different culprit bad policy. Indeed, binge drinking among college students is a classic example of unintended consequences. The legal drinking age in the United States is 21. However, this was not the case until 1984, when the National Minimum Drinking Age Act required the 50 states to raise their drinking age to 21 or lose 10 percent of their federal highway money. While this was expected to prevent dangerous behavior, it actually has made young Americans more likely to binge-drink. Economists would call college students demand for alcohol inelastic, which means that even if it becomes more expensive or harder to find, students are unlikely to change their behavior very much. Prohibiting young people from consuming alcohol doesnt stop them from drinking. But it does make drinking much less safe. Instead of drinking at a bar, for example, students drink secretly in dorm rooms or at clandestine parties, where they are much less likely to be supervised and where drinks spiked with drugs are much more likely. If someone overindulges or becomes ill, their friends are less likely to seek medical and other assistance. Why? Because underage drinking is illegal, and calls for help risk self-incrimination. Moreover, banning the sale of alcohol to people under 21 is certain to encourage binge drinking. As already noted, college students demand for alcohol doesnt really change when it becomes more costly. However, what does change is its supply: it becomes less reliable. Since most college students are unable to buy their own alcohol, they have friends, family members, or even strangers buy it for them. But these people are not always available. This lack of a reliable supply makes young drinkers are more likely to overindulge when alcohol is available. Lowering the drinking age would help mitigate or reverse these effects. With a reliable supply, young drinkers would have less incentive to binge. And when binging did occur, they would be more likely to seek help. Besides being ineffective, the drinking laws are incredibly costly. In 2005 the consequences of the underage drinking (missed work, healthcare costs, etc.) spurred by current policy cost taxpayers $60.3 billion. The U.S. government also spends millions of dollars every year enforcing these ineffective policies. For example, researchers in Oregon found that the state spends $33 million a year to enforce its laws against underage drinking. If the drinking age were lowered, this money could go other programs, like treatment for alcohol problems and education. Current policies do more harm than good. If we really want to make college campuses safer, its time to lower the drinking age. ABOUT THE WRITERS Abigail R. Hall-Blanco is a research fellow at the Oakland, Calif.-based Independent Institute and an assistant professor of economics at the University of Tampa. Anna Wavrin is a sophomore at the University of Tampa majoring in international business and marketing. They wrote this for InsideSources.com. 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 [] As with the beginning of every new year, Kenyans on Twitter, in addition to expressing optimism for 2017, also listed the rules and regulations that will guide them through the year. Through the Twitter Trend #My2017Commandments, below are some of the most interesting 2017 commandments. No putting on weave in 2017 #My2017Commandments Zack (@zackenyan) January 3, 2017 #My2017Commandments no snitching on my woman with other women ,& strictly on making money mood ,so help God OG-Dawg-?? (@Kendrickmarkgs1) January 3, 2017 Thou Shall NOT Trust anyone who does not Post a Full Body Photo of themselves on Social Media!#My2017Commandments Thee Trend Setter (@xtiandela) January 3, 2017 Thou shall not add weight and you owe me money@xtiandela #My2017Commandments Mwalaghelaghe Nyambu (@IamMikaiilThe1) January 3, 2017 Thou shall not leave blank spaces in exams even if you dont know anything.for the lecturer will fail thee @xtiandela #My2017Commandments Fundiwamaji (@fundi_waMaji) January 3, 2017 #My2017Commandments Thou shall not overdo this make up thing. If you get lost how will we trace you? MACHUKS (@Machukah) January 3, 2017 I shall vote wisely and remain peaceful during this years general election for I love my country #My2017Commandments Kone Moheavy (@Konemoheavy) January 3, 2017 preach peace avoid political hate speeches be my brother, my sister take care register as a voter #My2017Commandments IG: @omondilisedpaul (@OmondilisedPaul) January 3, 2017 If you text Hi to your crush and she doesnt reply please man refuse to be defeated,Be strong and text her HI PART 2?#My2017Commandments Scorpion_King ? (@lawd_maestro) January 3, 2017 Thous will not visit me this Njaanuary coz i will give them Madagascar ???? @xtiandela #My2017Commandments pic.twitter.com/IgMtRpZu12 Elly (@ItsMwai) January 3, 2017 Thou shall not pronounce whatsApp as if T is silent.I left those people in 2016 ??#My2017Commandments Oge of Afrika! (@_OgeJnr) January 3, 2017 A Man is NOT Permitted to use Emojis when texting, Tweeting, DMing, Emailing of Contacting a fellow man in any way #My2017Commandments Thee Trend Setter (@xtiandela) January 3, 2017 #My2017Commandments Thou shall you keep your haters Silent pic.twitter.com/xE1lf9cvBT Zack (@zackenyan) January 3, 2017 Thou shall not go to school anymore #My2017Commandments pic.twitter.com/xPjrpXAdPQ AfricanBadBoy (@LeiKarbz) January 3, 2017 Thou shall adhere to this TIP, kwanza in a matatu #My2017Commandments pic.twitter.com/Rc9dp3JtHf Nduguh (@Kaka_Nduguh) January 3, 2017 Deputy President William Ruto is building a grandiose, multi-million-shilling residence at the heart of Eldoret Town. For someone who likes to refer to himself as a hustler, the upcoming home tells of a hustler who has made it. The palatial residence in Moiben constituency is rumoured to be worth Sh 1.2 Billion. It reportedly sits on a 20-acre piece of land, part of 700 acres bought by the DP in Uasin Gishu County. First photos of the kingly mansion leaked in 2015, a few months after the foundation for the main house, a guest wing, two swimming pools, a library, gym and other lavish facilities had been laid by a Chinese Construction company. New photos have been leaked on social media showing the progress of the construction by blogger Robert Alai. The photos show the mansion, a man-made lake and landscaped sections of the expansive compound. The farm is also reported to have an airstrip and Ruto, who prefers to keep the ongoing construction confidential, always flies in and out of the compound for inspection. It is guarded by at least eight armed Administration Police officers. The construction is expected to be complete by July this year. WASHINGTON Hardening battle lines for the brawl to come, President Barack Obama urged congressional Democrats to look out for the American people in defending his legacy health care overhaul, while Vice President-elect Mike Pence stood firm Wednesday in telling Republicans that dismantling Obamacare is No. 1 on Donald Trumps list. Were going to be in the promise-keeping business, Pence declared at two separate Capitol news conferences. Just 16 days before Trump takes over the Oval Office, he said repealing and replacing Obamas law will be the president-elects first order of business. The American people voted decisively for a better future for health care in this country, and we are determined to give them that, Pence said. The Democrats, outnumbered in the new Congress, didnt sound confident in stopping the Republicans cold, but they signaled they wouldnt make the GOPs job any easier. New Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said that if the Republicans do scuttle the health care law, they will have to come up with a replacement plan before Democrats consider whether to help them revamp the system. That adds pressure on Republicans, who for years have battled among themselves over what a new law would look like, including how to finance its programs and whether to keep Obamas expansion of Medicaid for more lower-income people. Theyre repealing, were not. Its their obligation to come up with a replacement, Schumer said, a sentiment he said he believed was unanimous among Democrats. Obama and Pence held dueling strategy sessions with lawmakers at the Capitol as the new Republican-led Congress commenced its drive to dissolve the health care statute. The 2010 overhaul, which has extended coverage to 20 million people and reshaped the nations $3 trillion-a-year health care system, has long stood as one of Obamas proudest triumphs and the ascendant GOPs top target for extinction. The two sides traded insults through the day. Dont let the Schumer clowns out of this web, Trump wrote on Twitter. Said Schumer: The Republican plan to cut health care wouldnt make America great again, it would make America sick again. Previewing an attack line sure to be heard again in this years debate, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said the GOP is aiming to also scuttle Medicaid and Medicare, going after programs that are very personal in the lives of the American people. Even with White House and congressional control, annulling Obamacare and replacing it looms as a daunting task for the GOP. Leaders hope to have legislation voiding much of the law on Trumps desk by next month, Republicans said. But after six years of failing to unite behind an alternative, GOP leaders are discussing postponing when repeal would take effect for 18 months or longer, allowing more time to craft replacement legislation. Trump has provided few details about how he would redesign the law, but has said he wants to retain popular provisions like ensuring coverage for people with pre-existing medical problems. Republicans will also need to figure out how to protect health coverage for millions of Americans during a transition period and how to avoid market-place bedlam. as nervous insurance companies stop selling policies or boost rates. Seemingly acknowledging that danger, Trump tweeted warnings to GOP lawmakers. Seemingly acknowledging that danger, Trump tweeted warnings to GOP lawmakers. Massive increases of ObamaCare will take place this year and Dems are to blame for the mess, he wrote. It will fall of its own weight be careful! Republicans said Pence told them in their private meeting to argue that Democrats broke the health care system and Republicans will fix it. Trumps team is already working with GOP congressional leaders on plans to undo Obamas law with both legislation and executive action that the president and federal agencies would be able to take, Pence said. Lawmakers said that according to Pence, Trump would sign some orders the day he takes office. Pence did not specify what those actions would be. But House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., told reporters they would involve transition relief. In the Democrats meeting, Obama urged his partys lawmakers to focus on emphasizing how the law has helped people. And he accepted some blame for not sufficiently promoting it. The president said, I guess we all could have done a better job of messaging to the American people, said Rep. Joe Crowley, D-N.Y. Obama made his remark about looking out for the American people as he left the meeting. Meanwhile, the Senate voted 51-48 Wednesday to begin debating a budget that, once approved, will prevent Democrats from using a filibuster to block future Republican legislation to void the health care law. Republicans control the Senate by 52-48, but it takes 60 votes to end a filibuster, a procedural roadblock that can kill legislation. The Senate is expected to complete the budget by next week, with House approval to follow. The job of a district attorney may seem straightforward to decide what kinds of crimes will be prosecuted and how criminal justice will be pursued. But that description is deceptively simple. The powers that the DA holds have a direct effect on every county resident, determining how safe our community will be and how well our lives, property and civil rights are protected. The top prosecutor helps set a tone will our community be merciful and just or harsh and retributive. It is vitally important that such a powerful job be in good hands. The Napa Valley Register Editorial Board met in December with the woman who will take up those weighty powers this month, Allison Haley. She is the top deputy in the office now and was tapped by the Board of Supervisors to replace retiring DA Gary Lieberstein, filling out the remaining two years of his term. Based on our meeting and on our discussions with other players in the law enforcement community, including Lieberstein, we believe we are indeed in good hands with Haley in the top prosecutors job. Although she has not been a high-profile figure, in more than a decade in the DAs office, Haley has earned a strong reputation among lawyers and law enforcement officers as being tough and professional, but also collaborative and forward thinking. She earned high marks for her handling of sensitive and complicated child sex abuse cases and she comes to the job highly recommended by Lieberstein, who has watched her develop from a junior attorney to his top deputy. At our meeting, as she did in her appearance in October before the Board of Supervisors, Haley came across as intelligent, forceful, clear-thinking and passionate. She displayed a strong awareness of the heavy burden of responsibility that comes with the power of the office and she spoke convincingly about the need to use that power to achieve justice even when that means deciding not to pursue certain cases. We were struck by her refreshing directness and lack of pretense. She described herself as an introvert with little use for small-talk and she freely shared her own troubled family background, including a father who did time in prison for financial crimes, an experience that has given her unusual insight into the legal justice system. She was frank and open when we asked questions about topics where she was not expert or needed more study. Haley seems to have a clear view of how she will preserve what needs to be preserved and change what needs to be changed in this transition of leadership. She said she is committed to preserving several key legacies from Liebersteins 18 years in office, including support of the caregiver ordinance that protects seniors from unscrupulous care-takers, and she will build on his focus on mental health issues and reaching out to young people, supporting them early so they didnt wind up in the justice system as adults. She is committed to continue the project of creating an integrated justice center to assist crime victims in getting protection and social services even as investigators are gathering evidence and preparing cases for court. She said she plans to continue Liebersteins practice of aggressively charging shoplifters, mail thieves, human traffickers and gang members as a way to send a clear signal that they are not welcome in Napa County. Although she spoke highly of Lieberstein as a prosecutor and a boss, she said she does plan some changes, such as reorganizing the management of the office and increasing supervision of her attorneys in the field. She plans to name a public information officer, someone responsible for outreach to the public through the news media and social media, and she plans to be more proactive in telling the public about the work of the DAs office. She pledged to be as transparent as possible with the public, even in sensitive cases such as officer-involved shootings. She said her office will join other law enforcement agencies in their efforts to build a positive relationship with the countys growing Latino community. In all, we were pleased and heartened by our encounter with Haley. We think Lieberstein chose wisely in promoting and mentoring her and we think the supervisors made a good choice in endorsing his suggestion that she replace him as district attorney. Editors note: The Napa Valley Register is a sister paper to The Weekly Calistogan. In dark times, often all we can do is shine our own small light. All Napa County residents have a chance to shine their lights on the weekend of Jan. 16 as the home-grown Martin Luther King Coalition holds its largest-ever Day of Action and Compassion. The event brings together dozens of churches, non-profits and businesses (including the Napa Valley Register) to host a series of events and volunteer projects with a theme of service and community building. The bulk of the action will be on Jan. 16, the Monday on which the official Martin Luther King Jr. Day is celebrated, starting in the morning with a series of seminars and projects, ranging from group discussions on the Holocaust and the principles of Islam to service projects, such as writing letters to troops deployed abroad and cleaning up area hiking trails. St. John the Baptist Catholic Church will be the headquarters for all the events, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. That evening, organizers and volunteers will reconvene at St. John at 7 p.m. for an interfaith celebration, featuring a variety of presentations, including an address by Amelia Ceja, owner of Ceja Vineyards and winner of the 2016 Dolores Huerta Farmworker Justice Award. The event is similar to the coalitions event last year, but organizers are hoping for more more projects, more attendees, more connection with the countys growing Latino population. Last year the event attracted more than 400 people; this year they hope for more than 700. They also hope to generate interest and discussion by extending the event into the previous weekend. On Sunday, Jan. 15 the coalition will host a free showing of the award-winning 2014 movie Selma, telling the story of the 1965 civil rights march, organized in part by King, from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama. The march was met with violence from Alabama state police. Images of the savagery against peaceful demonstrators shocked the nation and helped push through the landmark federal Voting Rights Act later that year. The movie will be shown at Congregation Beth Shalom at 1455 Elm Street at 7 p.m. So what is all this about? The Register Editorial Board met recently with two organizers of this coalition, Rabbi Lee Bycel of Congregation Beth Shalom, and Napa County Supervisor Brad Wagenknecht, to discuss details of this years events. Their message was simple we need to remember that we are all citizens together and start acting like it. Civic engagement is more desperately needed than ever, Bycel told the board. The coalition is the outgrowth of a much smaller traditional Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration hosted for many years by area churches. They revamped the format three years ago and drew a few hundred participants to a non-denominational celebration. But afterwards, Bycel said, it seemed wrong to merely say words on such a day, so he, Wagenknecht and others decided to make the event a true day of service. That way, at least one day out of the year, county residents of all faiths, all political parties, and all interests can meet, discuss issues and join together in productive service to the community. The hope is to create a sense of county-wide identity, develop relationships between non-profits and volunteers, and set the stage for other discussions and projects throughout the year. Getting involved is easy. If you want to attend or find out more about the still-evolving lineup of projects, visit volunteer.cvnl.org and click on MLK Day of Service (Napa), or visit Facebook and search for @mlkmonday. But you dont even have to sign up in advance organizers welcome walk-ins during the day at St. Johns parish hall. And there is no need to sign up for either the movie showing or the Monday evening celebration. It would be easy to dismiss all this as impossibly high-minded idealism, but we ask, whats wrong with that? In an era of cynicism, fear, and anger, of partisan division and national gridlock, we applaud the coalition organizers for thinking lofty thoughts and hoping to bring out the best in their fellow Napa County residents. Who knows where their efforts, and the good will that will be built on that day, may lead? As King himself said, Faith is taking the first step even when you dont see the whole staircase. We hope you will join Napa Countys Martin Luther King Coalition in taking a step in making this a stronger and better place to live. If we all shine our small lights together, we can brighten even the darkest of times. The New Year will seem like a continuation of the old one in American Canyon, where big issues like development, water, roads, and more will continue to occupy a lot of attention by city leaders. When it comes to big, nothing is much larger than Watson Ranch in American Canyon. The coming months should see more movement on the ambitious project, not only with the city councils review of the environmental impact report, but perhaps also a new approach on resolving some of its traffic impacts. Instead of going it alone on this problem, council members may reach out to their Napa and Upvalley counterparts to develop a regional approach to mitigate some of the current and growing gridlock in south county. For instance, Watson Ranch is expected to produce thousands of additional vehicle trips if its 1,250 residential units and commercial town center are built. The city has talked about extending Newell Drive all the way to Highway 29 to create a direct outlet for project traffic. However, this Newell Drive extension could turn into a bypass for commuters who use Highway 29, but are fed up with getting stuck in traffic while driving through American Canyon. The road would run from Highway 29, near Green Island Road, south to Flosden Road, which gets motorists to Highway 80. City Manager Dana Shigley says the city is reluctant to foot the multi-million-dollar bill for building and maintaining a Newell Drive extension if much of the traffic on it turns out to be commuters. The city would be a user, but not the primary user of the longer Newell Drive, said Shigley. The conversation [on Watson Ranch traffic] is getting more tied up with regional traffic issues, she said. That conversation is going to continue that way. The council will push for more regional involvement in traffic solutions in the coming year with respect to Watson Ranch. The projects EIR, published in July, may not come up for review by the American Canyon Planning Commission and City Council until sometime in the first half of 2017, according to Shigley. The volume of comments received in response to Watson Ranchs potential environmental impacts is taking longer than expected to answer by city planners, she said. Other big issues in 2017 will include water both solutions for expanding the citys water supply sources and how water rates are structured. In January, the city council is expected to look seriously at some long-term options for water supply in an effort to make American Canyon less reliant on the State Water Project. These options could include becoming a partner in the Sites Reservoir discussion going on in Sacramento that calls for connecting the lake by the same name to the Sacramento River. Additionally, the Public Works Department is developing a plan to expand the citys recycled water program by further treating reclaimed water so it could be used not just for irrigation, as is the case now, but also in homes for potable use. The city council will hear a plan on raising water rates to fix a longstanding imbalance in the city budget. The current rate structure has not generated enough revenue to pay for the cost of buying and treating the citys water, producing a deficit in recent years. The council will also begin the New Year with a hole to fill. Councilmember Belia Ramos resigned at the end of December and became American Canyons representative on the Board of Supervisors. The council will have two options for filling Ramos vacant seat: appoint someone to fill out the remaining two years of her term, or call a special election. The first option is preferred by the city council because it would cost less than paying for an election, but appointing someone would require at least three of the remaining council members to agree on the choice. City Hall will continue to negotiate with the Teamsters Local 315 on a new contract for city workers. The process will be entering its second year of talks after the two sides failed to reach a deal during all of 2016. Union leaders are frustrated by the lack of progress, but it remains to be seen if city employees would go on strike to force more concessions from the city. American Canyon should also see important developments on senior housing, a new school, and road improvements for its Green Island Road industrial area. The long-awaited Valley View Senior Homes project is expected to break ground after years of delays to raise all of the necessary funding for 70 affordable housing units for seniors, including veterans 55 years and older. The Napa Valley Unified School District hopes to settle on a new location in American Canyon for Napa Junction Elementary School, which sits atop the West Napa Fault. The districts plan is to build the new school and have it open by fall 2019. Finally, the Public Works Department is planning to begin work on extending Devlin Road so it connects with Green Island Road, offering commercial vehicles an alternative to connecting with Highway 29. This alternative will be important as the city embarks on a lengthy process to rebuild Green Island Road, which has become riddled with potholes and is in serious need of work. American Canyon may add more luxury apartments despite the traffic and other concerns they may cause for residents. Just off one of the citys busiest intersections would be the Village at Vintage Ranch, a 159-unit upscale apartment complex being considered by the American Canyon Planning Commission. The development, slated for 11.6 acres near American Canyon Road and Highway 29, has been a decade in the making. The project was originally approved in 2006, but became stalled after the housing crisis and Great Recession. Advanced Building Solutions of Petaluma took over a few years ago, and switched the plan from condos to luxury 2- and 3-bedroom apartments. The upscale rental housing would follow in the gilded footsteps of The Reliant Groups Canyon Ridge and its 148 luxury units, set to open in 2017 in the north part of town near Wal-Mart. Residents of the proposed Village at Vintage Ranch would access the complex from Silver Oak Trail, a key road that connects American Canyon Road to the streets of Vintage Ranch, American Canyons largest housing subdivision to date. Some of the homeowners living in Vintage Ranch have raised concerns about the Village, saying the approximately 500 people living there would add to the traffic congestion on American Canyon Road. Theres already heavy traffic and accidents in the area, Sam Said of Silver Oak Terrace told the Planning Commission in December. Theres too many speeders, too many things going on already on that road. What are you going to do about that? he asked. Charles Quenga, who lives right across from the project on the corner of Toscana Lane and Silver Oak Trail, agreed with Saids concerns. Theres a horrible amount of traffic that goes through there, said Quenga. They were the only two from Vintage Ranch to appear at the Dec. 15 meeting. But Quenga said there was reason for this: the city sent meeting notices to only those living within 300 feet of the project. A staff report prepared for the commission confirmed it is the citys policy to notify those residing 300 feet from a new development. Quenga said the outreach needs to expand. So my neighbor three houses down doesnt know whats going on, he said. Theyre not getting notices. Thats not fair to the rest of the community. Theres a whole lot more people who need to know about this, Quenga added. Commissioner Bernie Zipay said he was sympathetic to the homeowners concerns, and agreed more people should be informed about the project. It would be helpful and needed to have another outreach to the community, said Zipay. Seth Nobmann, CEO of Advanced Building Solutions, said his company would conduct more outreach to neighboring homes. Commission Chairman Eric Altman expressed his own concerns related to public safety an earthquake fault runs through the property and the number of small changes being made to the project since Advanced Building Solutions took over. Ive established a reputation for being a pain in the butt when it comes to safety concerns, said Altman. I get nervous whenever there is only one exit from a property, particularly with a fault line running through the area. If something happens and you cant traverse it, Altman said, how do people get out? Altman was referring to the placement of all possible vehicle exits on the east side of the property bordering Silver Oak Trail. Half of the complex would border American Canyon Road, but no egress points are planned for the southwest portion of the parcel. And running smack through the middle of the development is the West Napa Fault. If a disaster made it impossible for residents to drive across the complex and exit onto Silver Oak Trail, they would have no other way to flee by car. The Villages layout has been modified in several ways since its original conception last decade. Building setbacks and a clubhouse were added, among other changes. Altman noted the commission was looking at a series of minor modifications, which on their own are minor, but when you toll it all up I think thats where the concern is. Its not so much a minor modification but a significant modification altogether. Still another commissioner, Richard Peterson, wondered if the addition of the Village would impact the neighboring school, Canyon Oaks Elementary. Peterson asked if the city had contacted the Napa Valley Unified School District about enrollment projections stemming from the complex. Any increase in students for the Canyon Oaks attendance area could be problematic since the school is already crowded, forcing some families to send their kids across the highway to Donaldson Way Elementary School. The Planning Commission took no action on the project. It is scheduled to bring it back for more discussion on Jan. 26. Napa County is still trying to build a new facility to replace the aging downtown jail, though it has once again shifted the size and funding method. County voters declined last June to pass Measure Y, meaning the proposed quarter-cent sales tax will not be available to help pay for a $103 million, 256-bed jail on the county owned property along Highway 221 near the Syar quarry. So now comes Plan B. The thing is, we still need a new jail, Deputy County Executive Officer Helene Franchi said. The county is seeking to build a 64-bed unit with core facilities such as laundry area, kitchen and administrative offices for an estimated $66 million, though Franchi said this price is a moving target. This would be phase I of a new jail. A 64-bed first phase wouldnt be big enough to replace the 264-bed downtown jail. The county would operate both the new jail and the old jail until it could raise more money for a second phase at the Highway 221 complex. But first things first. The county still must find enough money to build the $66 million first phase. Franchi said Napa County has come up with about $58 million through savings, property sales and $22.8 million in contributions from the state. That leaves a gap of about $8 million to $12 million, depending on the final price tag. Financing the gap with a loan is a possibility, but that could mean making regular payments to cover the principal and interest out of the countys general fund. The Board of Supervisors will wrestle with such topics perhaps next spring. Well be talking to the board together with our financial adviser to see if theres a way to make all of this happen, Franchi said. This Plan B is familiar to supervisors. It is actually the original plan they had in 2015, before they decided building a bigger initial phase of a new jail funded by a Measure Y sales tax hike would be a better approach. They wanted a bigger first phase in part because providing duplicate services at both a 64-bed, first phase new jail and the existing, downtown jail is expensive. County staff said in June 2015 the county could need another 50 to 60 jail staff members at a cost of $5 million to $6 million annually. Board of Supervisors Chairman Alfredo Pedroza supports returning to the 64-bed, phase one approach, but is also open to a Plan C, should one emerge. He said hes willing to explore the need for new jail space on a regional level, possibly partnering with Solano County. Under one regionalization scenario, a county such as Solano might house long-term inmates and Napa County might house inmates in need of mental health services. I think the future is collaboration and more regionalization of services without compromising the way you deliver services, Pedroza said. Newly elected Supervisors Belia Ramos and Ryan Gregory have both said they are open to the regional jail idea. Both will sit behind the supervisors dais for the first time at the Jan. 10 Board of Supervisors meeting. I am a strong proponent of collaboration with other jurisdictions, Ramos said. Great things happen then. Ramos mentioned the impacts of Californias 2011 move to shift some felons who previously would have gone to state prisons to county jails. The county must look at more than incarceration, she said. While we do need to have a commitment to improving our detention facility, it needs to be done in a meaningful way that can provide rehabilitative services and break the cycle of criminal activity, Ramos said. Napa Countys existing, downtown jail was criticized by the 2014-15 grand jury. The grand jury cited overcrowding and a jail design not suited to deal with how various inmates must be grouped, such as those with mental health problems. The countys long-range plan is to replace and knock down the downtown jail, freeing up a key piece of downtown Napa property for redevelopment. The downtown jail was built in 1976 and has a 1989 addition. On top of an antiquated design and aging infrastructure, the old jail suffered extensive damage in the 2014 earthquake, much of which remains unrepaired, rendering some cell blocks unusable. Meanwhile, the county is moving ahead with plans to build a $17.2 million, 72-bed jail re-entry facility at its Highway 221 jail complex site. This facility would help inmates about to be released with counseling and other programs in an attempt to keep them from re-offending. The state is paying $13.5 million of the cost. Construction of the re-entry facility could begin in spring and take 15 months, county officials said. But they say that building the re-entry facility doesnt take away the need for a new jail. Napa County supervisors are keeping an eye on efforts to save Highway 37 along San Pablo Bay from perhaps one day disappearing beneath rising bay waters. Highway 37 passes over wetlands skirting the bay to link Solano, Sonoma and Marin counties. Although it barely grazes Napa County, the road is a major, regional corridor that the state Department of Transportation says is traveled by an average of about 40,000 vehicles daily in the local sections. What would happen if 21-mile-long Highway 37 someday went underwater because of predicted sea level rise and was abandoned by the state? I dont think anyone on this Board would want to see the alternative, which is to change Highway 121 to a four-lane road all the way through, which would require the taking out of very premium vineyard land in both Napa and Sonoma counties, Supervisor Keith Caldwell said. Highway 121 runs through the Carneros region in southern Napa County. It already handles higher traffic loads when accidents block the eastern Highway 37 segment. The Napa County Board of Supervisors heard a Highway 37 update at its Dec. 20 meeting. Napa County has another reason to be interested in Highway 37s fate, Napa Valley Transportation Authority Executive Director Kate Miller said. About 13 percent of Highway 37 trips on an average weekday start locally. Highway 37 isnt going anywhere overnight. Still, some sections already go underwater during storms, such as when a section at Novato Creek in Marin County closed for 20 days in 1996 and for 21 days in 2005. Research released by the University of California, Davis Road Ecology Center shows a 24-inch sea level rise by 2050 would top levees at high tide along some Highway 37 segments. A 36-inch rise by 2100 would leave most of Highway 37 permanently underwater. If that seems far off, so does an elevated roadway solution that could cost from $1.2 billion to $4 billion, depending on the method chosen. Miller told supervisors that, using traditional public financing, construction could begin in 2088. The funding challenges are vast, Miller said. Thats why Napa, Solano, Sonoma and Marin counties are working with Caltrans to look at such possibilities as teaming up with a private company to build Highway 37 toll lanes. Miller said the initial segment could be the two-lane stretch between Mare Island and Sears Point. The future Highway 37 in this area would not only be further elevated, it would have four lanes to carry growing traffic volumes. Federal restrictions for tolling say you can only toll new lanes, Miller said. Officials from Napa, Solano, Sonoma and Marin counties meet regularly to talk about the Highway 37 situation. They are evaluating an offer from a private company to build a toll road. Tolling, I think, is really going to be a critical element in order to pay for the infrastructure, Miller said. But Supervisor Diane Dillon sees another way to tackle the problem besides building a new Highway 37 with more lanes. Im thinking mechanisms like a ferry, a boat, Dillon said. Taking all that money and building housing in Sonoma or Marin alternatives to building lanes, because theyll just fill up. Miller said transportation officials are looking at mass transit options in the Highway 37 corridor as well. Board Chairman Alfredo Pedroza agreed with Dillon that the Highway 37 challenges are part of a bigger issue in the region. If you build more lanes, more folks will drive it, so youre incentivizing that, Pedroza said. So I think we also have to look at, what is the bigger picture in terms of what were trying to solve? Its going to take more than one approach to solve the Highway 37 challenges, he said. A racial discrimination case filed against Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. by a Contra Costa County man last year was dismissed in Napa County Superior Court on Tuesday. The plaintiff, Jameel Jackel-Wise, filed the lawsuit last February more than a year after he was allegedly wrongly accused of stealing from the American Canyon store and was handcuffed and detained without apology. Jackel-Wise, family and friends, stopped at the Wal-Mart in American Canyon to pick up some things before going camping in Lake County on June 23, 2014, according to the suit. On his way out of the store and back to his vehicle, the suit alleged that police stopped Jackel-Wise after a store security officer told them that a black family had walked out of the store with a basket full of stuff. The plaintiff was handcuffed and detained by officers despite having denied the allegations and wasnt released until the stores loss prevention officer said Thats not them before heading back into the store without apology, according to the suit. The suit, filed on behalf of Jackel-Wise by attorney Tiega Varlack, Varlack Legal Services in Hayward, followed a separate suit filed on behalf of another member of the plaintiffs party, Roland Breland of Solano County. Brelands suit against Wal-Mart was settled out of court, said Varlack, who requested a dismissal citing that Breland was recovering $10,000 or more by way of settlement. Although Wal-Mart denied the Jackel-Wises allegations in August, Varlack filed a notice of settlement on Jackel-Wises behalf on Nov. 23, citing an unconditional settlement. The case was dismissed in court before Judge Diane Price on Tuesday when neither party showed up. Varlack declined to comment on the case on Wednesday morning. The attorneys representing Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., Phillips, Spallas, & Angstadt LLP out of San Francisco, did not respond to inquiries from the Register. American Canyon has extended its temporary ban on outdoor cultivation to a 10-month moratorium on outdoor cultivation, processing, manufacture, distribution, testing and sale of marijuana and other activities related to recreational marijuana. This following the passage of Proposition 64, which legalized recreational use of marijuana in California. The measure permits personal use now, but the state will not begin issuing retail sales licenses until 2018. The St. Helena Chamber of Commerce announced its annual Community Service Award winners last week. The awards went to Clif Family Winery for Business of the Year, Stacey Bressler for Citizen of the Year, Jimmy Adams of Sunshine Foods for Employee of the Year, and Soroptimist International of St. Helena for Nonprofit of the Year. Each year we have a great number of worthy candidates and this year was no different. In looking over the nominees, I found that once again St. Helena is a town filled with exceptional businesses and individuals. Their collective accomplishments should make us all feel proud, said Chamber President and CEO Pam Simpson. The winners will be honored at an event in early spring. Details will be announced soon. Business of the Year Clif Family Winery was a great choice, I cant think of a nonprofit in town who didnt benefit from a Sip and Savor this year, Simpson said. The Bruschetteria food truck was truly innovative on its own but the quality of food and the hospitable service makes it St. Helenas newest treasure. The culture at Clif is also what really impresses people. The staff energy and comradery can be felt everyday and they know how to make customers feel like family. Businesses are chosen based on how well they consistently model best practices, are innovative, provide outstanding customer service, and are environmentally progressive. But the Chambers criteria also includes giving back to the community. In 2016, Clif held about 15 fundraising events for local community groups like Nimbus Arts, Girls on the Run, St. Helena Food Pantry, St. Helena Public School Foundation, Napa Bike Coalition, Napa Valley Land Trust, and Soroptimist Sunrise Club. On Jan. 18, Clif kicks off its 2017 Sip & Support program with a volunteer rally at Clif Family Winery from 4 to 7 p.m. This event at the Clif Family tasting room, Velo Vino, will gather together community partners for an evening of socializing and learning about numerous volunteer opportunities. Community groups in attendance will be the Center for Volunteer & Nonprofit Leadership Marin-Napa, Girls on the Run Napa & Solano County, Jameson Animal Rescue Ranch, Land Trust of Napa County, Napa Bike Coalition, Napa Valley Vine Trail, Nimbus Arts, St. Helena Farmers Market and Sunrise Horse Rescue. Guests will be encouraged to find new ways to get involved and give back in 2017. The Bruschetteria Food Truck and Velo Vino also will be open for dinner service during the event. Citizen of the Year Stacey Bressler is a behind-the-scenes powerhouse with energy and diplomacy to get results, the Chamber said. Some of her accomplishments include serving as boardmember of the St. Helena Hospital Foundation, St. Helena Farmers Market, and current board president of Friends of the Cameo Cinema and Planned Parenthood. Stacey does everything from the high-level planning to the meanest chore with equal enthusiasm. St. Helena is richer because she is here, said Piper Cole, fellow Friends of the Cameo boardmember. As a resident of St. Helena for close to 20 years, I have met and worked with many people deserving of the award of Citizen of the Year, but in thinking of Stacey Bressler and all that she does for so many different organizations and nonprofits that we all care so deeply for, and there are MANY, with her dedication and consistent commitment she is clearly my very first choice, said nominator Christy Palmisano. Employee of the Year Jimmy Adams is the quintessential example of excellent hospitality always smiling and welcoming. He goes out of his way to make everyone feels comfortable and important, the Chamber said. He is the ambassador for St. Helena we all should aspire to be. Nominator Heidi Holzhauer wrote, Jimmy is the best because he has such a great attitude and he always remembers something from our last conversation. He has a great work ethic and sense of humor. And he is fast and efficient at his job! Nonprofit of the Year Small but mighty, is how current Soroptimist International of St. Helena president Yvonne Vosti describes the 62-year-old club. Since its establishment in 1954, the St. Helena chapter of Soroptimist International has given away more than a million dollars in local scholarships and grants. These monies, raised by the clubs volunteer members most of whom still work full-time have helped send countless St. Helena students to college and summer camp, as well as on educational trips to Yosemite, Sonora, and Washington D.C. There are dozens of single and/or widowed mothers throughout the Napa Valley and beyond who have gone back to school or completed vocational training with the help of Soroptimist in St. Helena and its annual professional grants, including the Live Your Dream Award. Kristi Trebotich, winner of the clubs 2015 Live Your Dream Award, exemplifies the sort of woman lifted up by Soroptimist International. Trebotich, a former stay-at-home mother of four, went back to both work and school when her husband Yuri was diagnosed with cancer. That was six years ago. Working against the clock and her husbands terminal illness, Trebotich, with ongoing help from Soroptimist of St. Helena, completed her nursing degree last month not quite a year after Yuris passing. As Trebotich admitted the week she completed her degree, I honestly couldnt have done this without the support and encouragement of Soroptimist of St. Helena. My first mistake was inviting my boss, Sean Scully, to St. Helena for a beer. Not that I didnt enjoy the IPA I had at Sogni di Dolci. I did. And I enjoyed Seans company and conversation as I always do. The problem was the conversation he told me of a project hes doing for the Napa Valley Register and asserted that it could be done at the Star as well. The project was to get the front pages of various editions of the St. Helena Star, from five years ago, for example, and arrange them in a photo gallery on our website. Sounds simple and it was, because the St. Helena Public Library has digitized the pages of the Star from its first edition on Sept. 25, 1874 through Dec. 31, 2014. Let me define the problem it is not doing the work, although that takes a bit of time it is that Ive spent the last few hours reading the early January front pages of the Star from 1877 (140 years ago) and 1892 (125 years ago) and 100 years ago, 1917, and so on. The design of the pages certainly was different on Jan. 5, 1877. The paper is seven columns wide, with the left two columns filled with advertising, one ad stacked on top of the next. The five columns on the right are filled with long columns of type without any headlines to differentiate one story from the other. In Jan. 1, 1892, editor and proprietor Frank B. Mackinder laid out the paper in much the same way, splitting the page in half vertically, with advertising on the left and news on the right. Still no headlines, as we know them, but at the top of each column there are capitalized and centered words, such as BRIEF MENTION and FROM THE CAPITAL. Reading the page for the news is still difficult, because there are long columns of type with little to differentiate one story from the next. One of the stories mentions a possible war with Chile, because of its assault on sailors of Baltimore in Valparaiso. A government official, Secretary Tracy, issued a strong denial that the United States was gearing up for war. On the left-hand side of the page, there is a large ad for the St. Helena Drug Store and below it an ad for Greystone, which boasts about its 4 million gallon capacity for the maturing of wine. Cost is 2.5 cents per gallon for storage for 12 months. One hundred years ago, Jan. 5, 1917, theres a narrower vertical space for advertising, still on the left-hand side of the page, but what is most surprising is there is a photograph on the front page, along with multi-deck headlines. The photo accompanies a lengthy article about the 50th anniversary of Mr. and Mrs. August C. Rampendahl, who were married in St. Helena in 1867. Theres also a story about the Christmas night murder of Adolph Millet in Chiles Valley. Louis Renaud confessed to the killing in front of the local sheriff, county judge and other witnesses after being grilled for several hours. That story reads like it could have happened just last week, rather than 100 years ago. Skipping forward 50 years, the banner headline in the Jan. 5, 1967 edition of the St. Helena Star was Deadly dolls found in St. Helena by firemen. It was in all capital letters and theres a photo showing people holding the dolls, which were given as Christmas presents to children. Parents were warned that the dolls were extremely flammable and gave off toxic fumes when burned. Interestingly enough, there was no ads on the front page. Instead it was filled with news and photos. One of the items was about St. Helena resident (and future mayor) Delford G. Britton, who was a lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force. He earned a Distinguished Flying Cross for rescuing an injured soldier in Viet Cong territory in Vietnam. If youd like to see the front pages from 1877, 1892, 1917, 1967, 1992, 2007, 2012 and 2014, visit the gallery on the St. Helena Star website, sthelenastar.com. Or visit the St. Helena Public Library website, shpl.org. Anyway, on this day, Ive spent way too much time reading old newspapers and examining the front pages of the St. Helena Star. One thing is worth mentioning, though. On the front page of the 10-year-old newspaper from Jan. 4, 2007, there are stories by this editor and by someone else you may know, Jesse Duarte. I dont remember doing the story about the Mardi Paws benefit that was planned to help We Care Animal Rescue, but I hope it was successful. Please look at the gallery and let me know what you think. Im thinking of creating more galleries of historic pages of the Star, maybe at the first of each month. Im afraid if I create more than that, that is, if I look at more pages from the past, Ill never get any work done. And, if that happens, for sure, Sean and I will get together for a conversation and it wont involve drinking an IPA at Sogni di Dolci. Cornell Brooks, president and CEO of the NAACP, visits Emory Law on Jan. 12 to discuss Why We Cant Wait: Civil Rights on the Eve of the Trump Inauguration." Photo by the Washington Post; courtesy of NAACP. Cornell Brooks, president and CEO of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), will give a lecture Thursday, Jan. 12, in celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. Day at Emory Law. In conjunction with the Black Law Students Association, Emory Law will host the lecture titled Why We Cant Wait: Civil Rights on the Eve of the Trump Inauguration at 6:30 p.m. at Tull Auditorium, Gambrell Hall. In addition to being a civil rights attorney and social justice advocate, Brooks is a fourth-generation ordained minister. During his tenure as president and CEO of the NAACP, he has led the full range of the organizations civil rights agenda. He says his vision is of an NAACP that is multiracial, multiethnic, multigenerational and millions of members strong. Brooks lecture will be followed by a reception in Hunter Atrium. Free parking will be available after 4 p.m. in the Lowergate South Parking Deck, 1705 Lowergate Drive. RSVP here. Founded in 1916, Emory University School of Law is an American Bar Association nationally accredited law school. Consistently ranked as one of the premier law schools in the United States, Emory Law offers exceptional doctrinal and practical legal education with signature programs in advocacy, transactional law, technology and IP law, law and religion, and vulnerability studies. Utah is known as the home of the Family History Library. It may be the home of your ancestors too! We've got the resources for you to dive deep into researching your Utah family. With the addition of four new webinars, the eight-class series on Utah research is now complete. The four new classes include: Utah Going to the Courthouse Utah's Melting Pot Utah Newspapers and Digitized Books Researching Mormon Women We're working hard to give our webinar subscribers the educational classes they need to maximize their genealogical research! All of these new classes are bonus webinars in the webinar library. The webinar previews are always free. Utah Going to the Courthouse Not all Utah courthouse records are at the courthouse. And for most courthouses the researcher has to rely on paying for a search which may or may not result in the records they need. Knowing the structure of the Utah court system and how to access records is important in order to avoid frustration. Well look at what must be requested, what is available online through the courthouse website, what can be searched in person, and what is available at the National Archives, the state archive, local archives, FamilySearch and other websites. Utah's Melting Pot The story of Utah is the story of its diverse ethnic population. Rich records exist to trace the diverse population of Utah. Learn more about collections documenting the lives of the Chinese, Japanese, African Americans, and Native Americans. We will look at familiar resources like censuses and then we will explore specific manuscript and special collections housed in archives and libraries throughout the state. Utah Newspapers and Digitized Books In this webinar we look at the printed word. Newspapers provide us with the details of everyday life that is hard to find anywhere else. Digitized books span the realm of local history and biography which helps to tell the story of places and people. Where can you find Utah newspapers and digitized books? Many times you can find what you need online through digitization projects, subscription and free websites but for those time you cant find what you need, knowing what is available and where is important. Researching Mormon Women Mormon women in Utah have a rich history that includes suffrage, important work outside of the home, and of course polygamy. The lives of Mormon women in Utah are documented in various archives, libraries, and museums. In this presentation learn ways to find out more about your Mormon ancestress aside from information about her in familiar sources like the census or vital records. Save Save The requested page is currently unavailable on this server. Back to [RTHK News Homepage] Law school hosts Women in Leadership workshop by Pete Rosenbery CARBONDALE, Ill. -- Judge Jessica Arong OBrien, the first Filipina elected to the Circuit Court of Cook County, will be the keynote speaker at the SIU School of Law Women in Leadership workshop at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. The two-day workshop, Diverse Leaders for a Diverse Work Force, prepares law students to be leaders while also learning about challenges that women face as leaders within the legal profession. The workshop runs from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Thursday and Friday, Jan. 12-13, in the Hiram H. Lesar Law Building. The workshop culminates with a dinner featuring OBrien at 6 p.m., Jan. 13, in Student Center Ballroom B. Media Advisory Reporters, photographers and camera crews are welcome to attend the workshops and the dinner featuring Jessica Arong OBrien, circuit judge in Cook County. For more information or to arrange interviews, contact Alicia Ruiz, the law schools director of communication and outreach, at 618/453-8700. About 26 SIU School of Law students, including males, will participate in the workshop, but the dinner is open to the public. The dinner cost is $30 apiece and the registration deadline is Friday, Jan. 6. Registration information, along with additional information on the workshop, is available at http://www.law.siu.edu/academics/center-programs/women-in-leadership-program.html. OBrien, a native of the Phillipines, immigrated to the United States after high school. She earned a bachelors degree from Boston University and a law degree from The John Marshall Law School. She has been a circuit judge since December 2012 and serves in the non-jury, civil division of the circuits first municipal district court. She was the first Asian American president of the Illinois Womens Bar Association and president of the Filipino Bar Association. The workshops primary focus remains on women in leadership, but is expanded to emphasize all types of diversity -- including gender, racial, ethnic, sexual orientation and people with disabilities, Cindy Buys, law professor and workshop co-creator, said. Workshop topics include diverse methods of communication, opportunities to develop professional leadership skills, gender issues in the workplace, networking, and balancing career and family issues. The program features law school faculty, other faculty on campus, alumni, local attorneys and judges participating in lectures, small group discussions, group exercises and panel discussions. Fifth Judicial Circuit Appellate Judge Judy L. Cates and Meera Komarraju, dean of SIUs College of Liberal Arts, are among the featured speakers. One of the speakers on Jan. 12 is Teresita Chavez Pedrosa, an attorney with Eventcrowd, who will discuss effective communication through social media. In 2015, women held approximately 17 percent of equity partners in law firms, and comprised 30 percent of the nations law school deans in 2016, according to the National Association for Law Placement. Buys said as of 2014, 21 percent of the top lawyers at Fortune 500 companies were female. In addition, one-third of federal judges, including three of eight U.S. Supreme Court justices, are women, and a 2016 Vanderbilt University study shows 30 percent of the nations state court judges are females. SIU honored for commitment to non-traditional students by Christi Mathis CARBONDALE, Ill. -- NASPA-Student Affairs Professionals in Higher Education is honoring Southern Illinois University Carbondale for its longstanding commitment to non-traditional students. SIUs Non-Traditional Student Services is the 2016 Annual Outstanding Undergraduate Adult Learner Program, as recognized by NASPAs Adult Learners and Students with Children Knowledge Community. This recognition honors all of those who have advocated for and supported SIUs adult learners since the inception of the Non-Traditional Student Services office in 1986, Deborah Barnett, assistant dean of students, said. The office has a rich history of work that has been built upon and continued by many over the past three decades. I am happy and honored to accept the award on behalf of so many. Although SIU is a traditional, residential institution of higher learning, more than 30 percent of its students are adult learners. Barnett said non-traditional students are typically those who identify with any of these criteria: financially independent; delayed college enrollment rather than attending directly after high school; returning to higher education after interrupting college education at least once; working full-time; attending college part-time; have children; veterans; are married, widowed or divorced. The NTSS office provides a variety of services to the adult student population, including guidance, support and resource referrals. The goal is fostering a sense of belonging and a culture of success in this diverse group of students, according to Barnett. The NTSS office communicates with adult learners through social media, a weekly Monday Morning Minute video and other venues. Individualized and personal assistance is offered as well, connecting students to the assistance and resources they need regarding everything from financial aid and time management to technology and support. The university and NTSS office strive to help remove barriers that could hinder non-traditional students in their academic pursuits and success, she said. The initiatives put in place in recent years for non-traditional students include a Family Study Room at Morris Library, stocked with toys and games children can play with as their parents study. Nearby, construction is wrapping up on a student-designed lactation space for nursing parents. SIU also offers a Family ID Card that enables family members of students to access campus programs and resources. In addition, special programs and activities allow non-traditional students to socialize, network, and learn more about resources and programming available to them. At the heart of NTSS are the students it serves. Their courage and resilience as they pursue their educational goals are what drives NTSS to serve them better and advocate for their needs, Barnett said. Above all, NTSS strives for student voices to be heard, for their educational experience to be life-changing, and for barriers to be removed. SIU and its NTSS office will receive a plaque and certificate in conjunction with the award and be recognized at the NASPA-Student Affairs Professionals in Higher Education annual conference, set for March 11-15 in San Antonio, Texas. Meet the worlds deadliest duo Turns out the cannibal snail that invaded tropical islands worldwide has a partner in crime Its like something straight out of a 1950s horror flicka killer snail that devours its own kind by tracking their slime trails with its handlebar moustache-shaped sensors. Wait, what? Thats right, the 3-inch rosy wolf snail from Florida has redefined the expression at a snails pace by quickly decimating its relatives in Hawaii and on many other islands over the last 60 years. Cue dramatic music. The shelled terror has earned recognition as one of the deadliest animals in the worldresponsible, in part, for more than one-third of all animal extinctions since the Middle Ages. In a strange turn of events, University of Florida malacologist John Slapcinsky and colleagues at Pomona College, University of Hawaii and Howard University have found theres actually two lethal gastropod species on the loose. What snail will be next? Slapcinsky says a species he recently discovered from a highly endangered group on the Pacific island of Palau may be its next victim. The slimy menace is easily identified by two sensory appendages called oral lappets, which extend from the sides of its mouth like a handlebar moustache. The predatory snail uses moustache-shaped sensory organs around its mouth, pictured here, to track its prey. Slapcinsky said the secret to the rosy wolf snails (Euglandina rosea) fast takeover may be that the two species (the newest species isnt named yet) each have their own special adaptations. These adaptations may allow each of the species to dominate different habitats, from up in the trees to down in the ground, covering more habitats and causing more devastation than a single species could, Slapcinsky said. Its so widespread that nobody has been able figure out a way to get rid of it that wouldnt harm native snail species, said Slapcinsky, malacology collections manager at the Florida Museum of Natural History on the UF campus. Two different species were introduced to Hawaii as pest control, but whats most depressing is each individual species has their own ecology. So by introducing two of these, youre covering more ground and impacting more native species than you would with just one. John Slapcinsky photographs snails in Gulf Hammock, Florida. Photo courtesy of Robert Lasley While the new discovery detailed in the journal Biological Invasions will serve as a warning against uninformed future introductions of non-native species as pest control, Slapcinsky said there is little scientists can do to stop the predatory snail and its attack in places where it is already introduced. But we can prevent introductions to other Pacific Islands like Palau where Slapcinsky discovered the new genus and species Sphendone insolita in the highly endangered snail family Partulidae. Slapcinsky was surprised to find the new snail from Palau in a group of tree snails belonging to the family Partulidae, an endangered group suffering some of the highest extinction rates of all animals. These extinctions were, in part, the result of the deliberate introduction of the predatory wolf snail from Florida, Slapcinsky said. The fate of S. insolita depends on whether or not other scientists and governments ensure that species used as pest control are scientifically proven to only impact target species. Otherwise, we face very serious consequences. While Euglandinas impact on Hawaii, where 65-90 percent of the nearly 800 native snails are extinct, has been especially severe, the snail has also ravaged species in Bermuda, Samoan Islands and Society Islands. Hawaiis Department of Agriculture introduced Euglandina from Leesburg, Florida, during the 1950s in an attempt to exterminate a large African snail that smuggled itself onto the island, possibly on WWII equipment after the war. It proceeded to wreak havoc on agricultural crops, leading to the introduction of biocontrol species, including the predatory wolf snail. Illustration by Michael McAleer But instead of attacking the pest, the wolf snail attacked native snail species that were not adapted to Euglandina as a predators, hence leading to the extinction or endangerment of hundreds of native snails. Unlike their Pacific counterparts, Floridas snails have developed adaptations for living with the predatory snail. The problem with using snails to control other introduced snails is that predatory snails are not very specific. They will eat almost any fellow snail, Slapcinsky said by phone from Hawaii. Euglandina is still here, and there are many areas where you cannot find any native species of snailplaces where you used to be able to find diverse native fauna. Whenever entire groups are wiped out, it is inevitable that there are consequences. Snails, for example, eat algae and fungus on leaves, removing cruddy materials that might interfere with plant growth. What happens when they are removed? The full extent of what impact the removal of native snails has on local ecosystems is not clear, but Slapcinsky said little known species that become extinct may have had important benefits for the environment. When you discover a new species, you discover a little bit more of the variation of nature, Slapcinsky said. Were losing this variation before ever discovering it. CEO-Google Sundar Pichai on Wednesday reaffirmed its commitment to digitally empower India's 51 million strong small and medium business community by announcing the launch of 'Digital Unlocked', a training program to empower thousands of Indian SMBs with essential digital skills. The program related for the SMBs in India will enable them to get online and start using the power of the internet to grow their business. It also previewed the 'My Business Websites', an easy-to-use offering to help businesses to have a rich, mobile optimized digital presence that will be launched later this year. Making the announcements at an event in New Delhi, Pichai highlighted the representatives from hundreds of small and medium business from across the country on the benefits of the web and digital technology. "The Internet is a powerful equalizer and we are motivated to bring the benefits of information and technology to as many people as possible. Building for everyone and making it available in the hands of as many people is at the heart and core of what we do. And we do this by investing in open ecosystems," said CEO-Google, Sundar Pichai. He said that anyone can today become an entrepreneur, a developer, or a creator, but it is important that they have the right tools and skills to digitize. "We believe it is important for us to invest in training and equipping these individuals and small businesses to accelerate their journey of growth," he added. Setting the context for the initiative Google unveiled a joint research study with KPMG titled "Impact of internet and digitization on SMBs in India". The study reiterates that 68 percent of the 51m Indian SMBs are offline. With Digital Unlocked, Google is committed to ensuring that every single small business in India that wants to go digital has access to quality training. In keeping with the varied learning needs of the millions of businesses in India, we've built this program across online, offline and mobile. The offline training is being conducted in partnership with FICCI and over the next three years, 5,000 workshops will be held across 40 Indian cities. Further, for India's mobile-first audience, Google also launched Primer, a free mobile app uniquely designed to teach digital marketing skills in a quick, easy and interactive way. The app will be available for download through the Google Play and iOS app store. Primer also works offline and is currently available in English and Hindi with Tamil, Telugu and Marathi versions coming shortly. (ANI) Tata Trusts and Google India expand the 'Internet Saathi' program by enabling cashless transactions through MobiKwik, with an aim to drive digital economy in rural parts of India. Internet Saathi initiative aims to transform the lives of over 200 million with digital literacy in India. The initiative focuses on training communities to go online, whilst providing them access to internet powered devices and educating them about cashless payments. "As a part of the Digital India initiative and Tata Trusts' overall digital strategy, our aim is to drive empowerment with a focus on digital innovation to create a revenue opportunity for the communities at a larger level with sustainable impact. Enabling digital wallet is a big step towards ensuring that the community benefits from services with great amount of saving in time and cost. Tata Trusts sees digital livelihoods as an opportunity that is truly path breaking and in line with the ethos of 'Lead, not follow'," said Project Director Tata Trusts, Raman Kalyanakrishnan. Tata Trusts and Google India launched the Internet Saathi programme with an objective to reduce gender barrier for access to the internet and its benefits. Launched in July 2015, Internet Saathi program is now live in 10 states reaching out to over 26,000 villages. Close to 12, 00,000 women have benefited from the programme by getting trained on digital and internet literacy. "Demonetization has encouraged millions of Indians in rural villages to adopt the new way of wallet payments. However, most of them do not possess a smartphone and can't download and operate an app by themselves. Internet Saathis shall help resolve this issue at a grass root level, which is the need of the hour. Earlier this month, our government marked the beginning of a cashless revolution and this initiative is our contribution towards making wallet payments a reality for masses in India," said co-founder MobiKwik, Upasana Taku. The community members are encouraged to actively seek information related to the daily livelihoods activities through the platform established in the village and adopt MobiKwik payments for their local or internet enterprises by the Internet Saathi programme. Critically, the platform provides internet enabled devices and a trained person in Internet Saathi at the village. This transformational campaign is launching in Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh today. "We are thankful to Tata Trusts and Google India for extending their support to our vision of making mobile wallet payments ubiquitous," added Upasana. Financial inclusion and digital payments: Internet Saathis are going to be trained to be able to provide services such as online payment of utility bills, mobile bills and recharges of all leading telecom service providers, and to undertake mobile wallet transactions. Tata Trusts is partnering with Mobikwik, a leading mobile wallet, for delivering these services. Digital citizenship services: Another such digital initiative is to provide access to information on social schemes for rural households with the help of an intelligent algorithm that maps households to eligible schemes. Tata Trusts has partnered with Haqdarshak for enabling the Internet Saathis deliver services in villages through a mobile application. Frequently used services: The Internet Saathis are also being used as effective field functionaries by a leading mobile operator to serve as retailers of SIM cards, connections and top-up products in rural areas. Digital communication agents: The potential of the extensive platform of Internet Saathi on the field is also being leveraged by engaging the Internet Saathis in developmental programmes, such as Swachh Bharat Mission, driving behavior change in communities. (ANI) Former Kerela Chief Minister Oommen Chandy on Wednesday asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to explain the role of British company De Le Rue, which had been earlier blacklisted, in printing currency in India. Chandy, in a letter to Modi, cited a media report saying that three companies, including De La Rue, had been shortlisted for printing plastic notes, and requested the ministry concerned "publish the list of companies that are shortlisted/qualified for printing plastic currency in India". He noted that the British company was denied security clearance in 2011 and the current status has not been explained. He also wrote in his letter that the company was blacklisted during the UPA's tenure as it could not "comply to the specifications of the contract". Addressing reporters here, Chandy said that it was baffling that a webpage that referred the company as "platinum sponsor of the Indo-British Tech Summit" has been removed, after he first raised this issue on December 31. The summit was held last year in Delhi from November 7-9 and Prime Ministers of India and Britain had taken part in it. "The sudden removal of one page from the website of the summit is really mysterious.I have asked in my letter to Modi to let the country know, if this particular British company, which was earlier blacklisted during the UPA government time has been given any job by his government. According to their annual reports, they say they had no operation in India in 2013, 2014 and 2015. But in the 2016 report, they say they have started operations in India," Chandy said. He also noted that Minister for State for Finance, Arjun Ram Meghwal on December 9, 2016, had stated in Parliament that India has taken steps to print plastic currency. --IANS sg/sana/vd ( 306 Words) 2017-01-04-18:18:06 (IANS) "For most part of the film, he will be seen in a salt-and-pepper getup. There might be some flashback portions where he will be required to look younger. The film's shoot will commence later this week in Coonoor," a source from the film's unit told IANS. Tipped to be a high-octane action-thriller, the film will be shot on an international scale. The makers are even ready with the film's first look. "Over the New Year weekend, Gautham and Vikram met in Dubai to shoot the first look. The poster will be unveiled in a few days," he said. Actress Aditi Rao Hydari is under consideration for the leading lady's role. "She is one of the options. Nobody has been finalised yet. The official announcement will be made soon," the source added. --IANS hp/nn/vm ( 184 Words) 2017-01-04-12:10:09 (IANS) The moderate intensity earthquake had exposed the unpreparedness of the state administration in Tripura as one lady died and 20 others were injured in the aftershock of tremors, official sources said today. According to official estimation, more than 500 houses mostly mud-wall dwelling units collapsed, as many as five bridges and culverts and three important roads, including National Highways, were damaged in yesterday's earthquake. However, there is no report of any major damage of structured building in the state including the ones located near the epicentre in Western foothills of Longtorai range along Indo-Bangladesh border in Dhalai district of North Tripura. The tremors lasted for six seconds and took place at 1439 hrs yesterday. It triggered panic among the people because of heavy shaking that resulted into one death and injuries among the dwellers. Despite having vertical expansion of disaster management infrastructure at the village level by spending enormous amount of public fund, the administration is yet to ascertain the volume of loss after 18 hrs of the tremor. The police had to break the locks of exit gates of the Civil Secretariat after a few hundred employees climbed down the stairs out of fear after the quake. More UNI BB AD1105 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0108-1093161.Xml A top commander of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), planning to attack security force convoy, was arrested by security forces in the frontier district of Kupwara, official sources said here today. They said on a tip-off, the Special Operation Group (SOG) of Jammu and Kashmir police and 21 Rashtriya Rifles (RR) arrested LeT commander Ashiq Ahmad alias Abu Hyder at Handwara in north Kashmir district of Kupwara. Large quantity of arms and ammunition, including one AK rifle, a Chinese pistol, four magazines, three hand grenades and one pouch, besides some incriminating documents were recovered from the militant. It was a big breakthrough for security forces, they added. Hyder has admitted that he was planning to attack the security force convoy in Handwara The arrest has come about a day after another commander of LeT was killed by security forces in an encounter in the apple towship of Sopore yesterday.UNI BAS RJ 1145 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0153-1093192.Xml Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi on Wednesday said any query on freezing of the Samajwadi Party's poll symbol 'cycle' is hypothetical, adding that the right decision would be taken at the appropriate time. "The Commission has received one representation with regard to presentation of budget. We are examining it and will take call on it in due course. Taking cognizance of the symbol order and old precedents, we will examine the documents presented to us. Right decision will be taken at the right time," Zaidi told the media here. "Any query on freezing of the Samajwadi Party's poll symbol is hypothetical right now. Let us first examine the documents," he added. With the father-son duo of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and party patron Mulayam Singh Yadav refusing to give in, the ongoing political tussle in the Samajwadi Party has been witnessing twists on a daily basis. As of now, both factions have laid claim over the party's symbol 'cycle'. However, the Election Commission is yet to take a call on the same. Akhilesh's mentor and uncle Ram Gopal Yadav yesterday staked claim to the party's symbol 'cycle' before the Election Commission while stating that 90 percent of the MLAs are backing the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister. This comes a day after Akhilesh's father Mulayam staked claim to the same while asserting that the Samajwadi Party's "election symbol is my signature". Amid a bitter family feud that has torn apart Uttar Pradesh's ruling party, Mulayam earlier on Monday claimed that the symbol - with its easy and established recall - should be considered his political property. The 77-year-old veteran visited the Election Commission's office on Monday, accompanied by his trusted advisor and younger brother Shivpal Yadav. At a party gathering on Sunday in Lucknow, Akhilesh was named the Samajwadi Party's president. He then pushed his father into retirement by declaring he would now function as patron and mentor. Mulayam and his aides like Shivpal Yadav and Amar Singh have insisted his faction is the legit Samajwadi Party. (ANI) Former Lok Sabha member from Puducherry Prof M.Ramadass today urged theSouthern Railway (SR) Divisional Manager to extend the Circar and Kacheguda Express Trains from Chennai to Puducherry via Chengalpattu. In a letter to SR Divisonal Manager,Tiruchirappalli Division, Prof Ramadass said the service of the two trains have been extended up to Chengelput from October 1 last year after the work of doubling of lines was completed up to Villippuram. He said the Yanam region of the Union Territory is lying 870 kilometers away near Kakinada and Puducherry and Yanam has two regions of the Territory and their people have close proximity in administrative, business, education, health and other matters but are widely separated by distance. The people of Yanam have to necessarily commute to Puducherry frequently . However these two regions do not have direct railway connectivity which makes the travel of the people of Yanam difficult. Circar express from Kakinada provides the nearest connectivity to the people of Yanam upto Chennai after which they have to travel to Puducherry by buses with considerable inconvenience and hardships, he said. It is in this backdrop that the extension of circar Express from Chennai to Puducherry assumes paramount significance, he said, adding that this facility would also promote the socio economic development of this backward region by connecting the two regions of the Union Territory almost directly. The Kacheguda Express , if extended to Puducherry, can link the capital cities of two States, namely Puducherry and Telengana with substantial benefits to the people of both the States. In recent times, the emergence of Puducherry into a microcosm of India and a hub of tourism, Education and Health has been attracting people from Hyderabad to Puducherry and back. Likewise the people of Puducherry, especially businessmen, IT people and others have their interests in Hyderabad. Their movement can be highly facilitated by a direct Express train between Hyderabad and Puducherry, Mr Ramadass said. UNI PAB CS 1329 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0275-1093384.Xml A ceremonial fair-sheet depicting hydrographic surveys undertaken by INS Darshak in Mauritius, were presented to Hon Seetanah Lutchmeenaraidoo, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and International Trade of Mauritius today, by High Commissioner Abhay Thakur, accompanied by the Captain Peush Pawsey Commanding Officer, INS Darshak. According to an ENC statement, INS Darshak was deployed for the Joint Hydrographic Survey from December 3, 2016 to January 3, 2017, with the objective of preparing and publishing two new charts of Mauritian waters, as per the enhanced charting scheme agreed between India and Mauritius. The resultant products will be a significant step towards enhancing the level of navigational safety for merchant ships visiting Mauritius as they will replace the vintage 19th century data around the island of Mauritius. The surveys will be extremely useful for tourism industry based in northern Mauritius as areas of Mon Choisy, Grand Bay and all small islands in the north have been surveyed in a comprehensive manner. Furthermore, the data has been collected for aquaculture site off Anse La Raie and deep sea transacts for scientific research at the request of the Mauritian Oceanographic Institute; and for Deep Ocean Water Application Projects at the request of Continental Shelf Department of the Prime Minister's Office. Officials of the Government of Mauritius from various organisations related to ocean matters participated in the above survey and benefited from the training during the ship's three sea sorties. The INS Darshak will also carry out Outer Island Support for St Brandon and Agalega Islands during its return passage to India.UNI BSR CJ RJ 1314 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0400-1093357.Xml "People in Punjab are in a miserable condition and very desperately want to uproot the coalition government of BJP and Akali. They want AAP's honest government here so that they get rid of drugs and corruption," Kejriwal told the media here. Kejriwal further said that now people in both the states will come out openly as Model Code of Conduct is imposed. "Similarly, the people of Goa are also impatient to throw the ruling BJP Government out of their state," he said. There will be seven-phase polling for 403 assembly constituencies in the politically crucial state of Uttar Pradesh, two-phase polling in Manipur and one-phase polling each in the states of Punjab, Uttarakhand and Goa respectively. Zaidi said that the counting of votes in all the five states will take place on March 11. (ANI) After the Election Commission announced dates for the upcoming seven-phase polling for 403 assembly constituencies in the politically crucial state of Uttar Pradesh, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) on Wednesday said it is a golden opportunity for the people of the state to get rid of communal and criminal forces and bring peace and development in the state under the leadership of Mayawati. BSP leader Sudhindra Bhadauria told ANI that the party welcomes the announcement of the dates by the Election Commission. "The BSP workers have front down to all the villages, all the mohollas , all the cities, all the townships and to each household of Uttar Pradesh. We are going to appeal to all the citizens with the message of behen Mayawati ji that this time around it is a golden opportunity to get rid of communal forces and criminal forces and bring peace and development to UP under behen Mayawati ji's leadership," he said. Attacking Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, the BSP leader said, "As far as the people of Uttar Pradesh are concerned they have seen how Akhilesh Yadav has presented a gundaraj and Danga raj in the last five years." The Election Commission earlier in the day announced seven-phase polling for 403 assembly constituencies in Uttar Pradesh. The counting of votes will take place on March 11. (ANI) Vipan Sood Kaka was announced candidate from Ludhiana (Central) and Jarnail Singh Nangal will contest from Phagwara. Addressing the media at Chandigarh, AAP leader Sanjay Singh and Lok Insaaf Party leader Balwinder Singh Bains said Phagwara candidate will contest elections on Broom symbol o6f AAP while Mr Sood will contest on Lok Insaaf Party symbol. Mr Bains said the alliance is based on trust and unique of its kind. Although Mr Nangal belongs to LIP but he will contest on Broom symbol. With the implementation of model code of conduct in the state, the people in huge number will come out openly against the SAD-BJP alliance. Talking about demonetization decision of the Modi government, Sanjay Singh said as party convener Arvind Kejriwal and AAP has said earlier it was a scam of Rs 8 lakh crore. Mr Modi has taken the decision to appease corporate people. The loan of big industrialists will be waived off with the hard earned money of common people. "AAP-LIP alliance will sweep the elections in Punjab breaking Delhi election result record. People are waiting for the model code of conduct to be announced," said Mr Sanjay Singh. People of Punjab understand the secret plan of SAD and Congress to contest the elections collectively. UNI JS SW SHK 1608 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0292-1093609.Xml Haryana Public Works Minister Rao Narbir Singh today urged Japanese global automotive components manufacturer Denso International India Private Limited to focus on development of Bhangrola and Kakrola villages located near Denso's plant at the IMT Manesar as a part of their Corporate Social Responsibility. Denso International India Managing Executive Officer Nobuhiro Takahashi, along with other representatives of Denso, had called on the Minister here to thank him for the support and infrastructure being developed by the State Government for the promotion of industrial sector. Mr Takahashi said India has witnessed a positive change after the formation of the present government at the Centre. He appreciated that it was due to the support of the Government that Denso has undertaken maximum expansion in the State. He was all praise for the steps taken by the State Government to improve highways, which had improved transportation facilities. He also appreciated the congenial atmosphere being provided to the industries. The Minister presented him a Special Recognition Certificate "in recognition of his significant contribution in making advises and persuasions for infrastructure development to help industries and support expansion of business through new project establishment of Denso in Haryana State". It was informed in the meeting that Denso was the first company which had set up its plant in Manesar. Denso has turnover of about Rs 3,500 crore in India. The company has its regional headquarters and manufacturing plant in Manesar, besides another manufacturing plant in Jhajjar. Others present in the meeting included MLA Tejpal Tanwar, representatives of Denso India Pushpender and Pradeep Rathi.UNI JS SW SHK 1636 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0292-1093688.Xml Suresh Tripathi (59), who was the head master in Achalpura, took the extreme step last night. A suicide note, which was found near the deceased's body, said that he ended his life after upset over blackmailing by one Ramsharan, his wife Basith Bali and Sanjeev Mudhotiya. The note also said that Sanjeev invited the head master at his house on the night of December 31 and after having booze, the woman alleged that Tripathi raped her and she spoke it loudly which was recorded in her mobile phone. Later, they started blackmailing over the incident. Confirming the suicide, Sub-Divisional Police Officer (Lahar) Avnish Bansal said an investigation was ordered into the case.UNI XC-BDG SHS SHK 1740 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0044-1093895.Xml Unidentified criminals kidnapped a girl student from Dhandih village under Bath police station area in the district last night.Police said here today that the 9th class student was kidnapped when she was returning to her residence after shopping at the village. Criminals called on the mobile phone of the kidnapped 16 year old girl`s father Shankar Yadav and demanded hefty sum from him for her safe release. An FIR had been lodged at the police station concerned on the statement of the victim`s father.UNI XC DH SJC -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0212-1094075.Xml Uttar Pradesh government and police have launched a state wide campaign to check vehicle and remove of posters and hoardings in the state after announcement of poll schedule today. The district authorities of several regions held flag march of Central forces to instill confidence among the people this evening. Flag marches by central forces were reported from Etah, Kasganj, Aligarh, Meerut, Kanpur and some other districts. Besides, the state police has launched a drive to check vehicle in the state after the elections were announced.In Lucknow, vehicles were frisked particularly of the political leaders and parties at the busy Hazratganj roundabout and other places. The state capital has been cleaned with hoardings and posters by this evening, while police was seen very active.Meanwhile, State chief electoral officer (CEO) T Venkatesh told media persons here that no laxity would be tolerated in the violation of election model code of conduct."From tomorrow we would assess the situation and appropriate action would be taken on the report from every sources available to the EC," he said. On the other hand there is a speculation that several senior officials of the UP government would be shifted after the announcement of the polls."We are not involved in the transfer of any officials. It is the Election Commission, who will do it," the CEO said.UNI MB SDR SHK 1855 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0196-1094084.Xml Taking strong exception to the recent attack onJunior Doctors in Hassan Institute of Medical Sciences, the JuniorDoctors' Association has demanded proper security for the Doctors on duty. Speaking to newsmen, Y M Jeevan, representatives of the JuniorDoctors' Association said they wanted strict action against thoseattacked the Junior Doctors on duty on December 31 night. Dr Jeevan, who was one among those assaulted, said unknown peoplehit him and chased women junior doctors in the hospital corridors."The incident has disturbed all of us. The police have arrested fiveaccused, but all of them have already been released on bail", he added. Dr Manjunath, President of the Association, said that "we neverexpected this kind of behaviour from the public. The attackers havegot bail within hours after the arrest this sends a wrong messagethat the attackers can get away easily. We want strict laws so thatsuch attacks could be avoided in future." Three senior doctors were on duty on that day but they wereworking in different wards. A senior doctor had just gone out of theemergency section when the mob entered and attacked the juniordoctors, said Dr. Jeevan. The doctors said they would appeal to the public to cooperatewith them while they were on duty. UNI BSP MSP CS 1815 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0287-1094063.Xml Punjab Democratic Party (PDP) today demanded that Election Commission take action against ruling Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) for misuse of buses of state transport, the Punjab roadways and PRTC for religious and political purposes. PDP president Gurkirpal Singh in a statement said SAD should be asked to pay the expenses incurred on pilgrimage. SAD had sent 140 buses of PRTC and about 60 buses of Punjab roadways to Patna Sahib in Bihar carrying party workers for the celebrations of birth centenary of Guru Gobind Singh. The SAD-BJP government had caused a loss of Rs 300 crore to PRTC and Punjab roadways. The state government had earlier used these buses for the Chief Minister Tirath Yatra scheme and the expenses of Rs 130 crore incurred on plying of buses were not reimbursed so far. Mr Singh said the Badal government had sent pilgrims to Patna Sahib from selective 46 assembly seats to woo the voters. Misuse of public money for political purposes was bad precedent and also against the spirit of Supreme Court's recent order of not using religion for elections. He said the employees of PRTC and Punjab Roadways had also approached the EC but the buses were flagged off a day before model code of election was imposed. He added that Badal family owns fleet of over 500 buses and not even a single bus was sent for Tirath Yatra or Patna Sahib celebrations. If Badal family was so religious minded then why they are not spending funds from their own pocket. The PDP president appealed to the EC to credit the expenses of buses used for pilgrimage in the account of SAD or in the account of SAD candidates from whose constituencies the people have been taken for pilgrimage. He said it was blatant misuse of government machinery by ruling party. Besides huge financial loss to PRTC and Punjab Roadways, the daily commuters have also been facing problem since PRTC and Punjab Roadways have withdrawn buses from regular routes. He said that private transporters would be gaining due to absence of state transport buses.UNI JS SW SHK 1819 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0292-1093882.Xml In another feather to India's cap, UNESCO, the world's apex body for culture has recently included Yoga in its list of intangible cultural heritage. ''This is yet another recognition of the universal relevance of Yoga and will add to its respectability across national borders,'' Minister of State for AYUSH (Independent Charge) Shripad Yesso Naik told the three-day International Conference on "Yoga for Diabetes" after inaugurating it. Mr Naik said this conference aims to generate discussions on the role of yoga in the prevention and management of diabetes and to draw up a road-map to be adopted for the control of diabetes through yoga. It will provide a common platform for the Allopathy and AYUSH practitioners, researchers, academicians, policy makers and students to come together in the fight against diabetes. Approximately 400 delegates and 50 experts from India and abroad are expected to participate in the conference. Eminent experts of conventional medicine, AYUSH systems as well as yoga are participating in the conference. The conference consists of main and parallel sessions on different aspects of yoga & diabetes including research, policy making and panel discussion. Diabetes is spreading at a fast pace in India, particularly in urban population and is no more restricted to the older population as younger generation is also becoming prone to this disease. Recalling that the Prime Minister, while addressing the 2nd International day of Yoga celebration at Chandigarh, wanted that diabetes to be controlled through yoga, Mr Naik said with this is view, the AYUSH Ministry has initiated several programmes for creating awareness about the role of yoga in the prevention and management of Diabetes mellitus. An Expert Committee had been constituted to prepare a Common Yoga Protocol for control of Diabetes mellitus under the chairmanship of Dr H R Nagendra. The committee finalised and the booklet was released by Mr Narendra Modi on October 2, 2016 on the occasion of Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas here. On the occasion the minister released the book on Yoga in which selected research papers from 2001 to 2016 are compiled as also a 2017 calendar on Yoga and Diabetes, an official release here said.UNI SD SNU 2017 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0005-1094393.Xml The Delhi Government offices will remain closed tomorrow on the occasion of the 350th birth anniversary of Guru Gobind Singh, sources in the office of Lt Governor Anil Baijal said today. The Delhi Government had recently sent a file to the LG office, seeking declaration of holiday on the occasion. The sources said the LG has approved declaration of holiday tomorrow on the occasion of 350th birth anniversary of Guru Gobind Singh ji. The 350th birth anniversary of the 10th Sikh Guru is being celebrated across the country with special festivities lined up in Patna Sahib where he was born. UNI AR SNU 2020 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0092-1094378.Xml Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay, arrested by the CBI in Kolkata yesterday in connection with Rose valley Chit Fund scam case, was today taken on a six day remand by the central investigating agency. Mr Bandopadhaya was brought from Kolkata last night and produced before the Special CJM CBI court here today by the CBI which sought 12 days remand but the Judge allowed six days remand. He was the second MP from the TMC after Mr.Tapas Pal who has been taken on remand by the CBI in connection with the Rose Vally Group Chit Fund scam. Mr Pal was also arrested by the CBI from Kolkata on December 30 last and is presently on CBI remand for further interrogation. The Special CJM CBI court had initially granted three day remand on December 31 which was further extended to another three days yesterday on therequest of the CBI. Local Trinamool Congress (TMC) activists led by party's Ramnagar (West Bengal) MLA Akhil Giri today staged demonstration before the CBI office and also before the court here to protest the arrest of Mr Tapas Paul and Sudip Bandyopadhyay by the CBI. Mr Giri described the arrest of the two MPs as a big conspiracy and said they have been arrested by the CBI under the influence of the BJP. The TMC, he announced will organise a rally in Bhubaneswar on January 10 to lodge its strong protest against the high handedness of the CBI. Mr Bandyopadhyay's counsel Rajiv Majumdar told newsmen that there was no evidence with the CBI to prove his client's involvement in the Rose Valley Chit fund scam and described the arrest of Mr Bandyopadhyay as politically motivated as he had raised the voice against the demonetization . Mr Majumdar further said there has been no document and paper with the CBI that the TMC MP had taken money from the Rose Valley Chit Fund group. He also denied the allegation that Mr Bandyopadhyay had travelled to foreign countries with the money of Rose Vally Chit Fund group. Mr Bandyopadhyay, a three time MP, when taken on remand by the CBI told the waiting newsmen before the court that he was not involved in the Rose Valley Chit Fund scam and said he will again approach the court on January 9 after the ramand was over. Sources said the CBI is all likely to interrogate both Mr Tapas Pal and Sudip Bandyopadhyay face to face as both of them are on remand now .UNI DP BM. -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0214-1094394.Xml District Sessions Court Judge E Kharumnuid issued the non-bailable warrant against the former militant leader-turned legislator after police prayed to court to issue a non-bailable warrant for evading arrest. Public Prosecutor IC Jha said Dorphang's counsel had also sought for anticipatory bail from the court but later they withdrew it. Dorphang, who has been charged under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act after an FIR named him as sexually exploiting a minor girl. Five persons which include three women pimps Mamuni Parveen, Tarisha Mary Kharbamon, Mona Lisa Shangpliang and Madan Bahadur Thapa were arrested in the case. A waitress of the Home Minister's family-run guest house Usha Deb Barman has also been arrested. All the accused who were booked under various provisions of the IPC and the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act are currently in judicial custody. Police are yet to arrest two more persons against whom an FIR was registered under the provisions of the POCSO Act. UNI RRK BM -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0214-1094430.Xml Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav today opened his heart for the first time after being elected as the National President of the Samajwadi Party on January 1, saying "it was a tough beginning of the new year for him.'' In the emergency national delegate convention of the party here, Mr Akhilesh was elected as the national president of the party. The convention was termed as `unconstitutional' by his father and SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav. Addressing the gathering at the UP Pravasi Divas here this evening, the Chief Minister said, "I wish you all a happy new year. Although its only me who knows how this new year came upon us. The lesser said the better. People wanted to wish me on New Year but I told them not to do so,'' said Mr Akhilesh. "Poll schedule for UP Assembly elections has been announced and soon we will go to people. This is for the first time that the people of the state have already decided to whom they are going to vote for," said he. Lashing out at the BJP, Mr Akhilesh said "Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed a big rally in Lucknow, there were lot of expectation among the people that the Prime Minister would make some big announcements but their hopes were belied as they are still searching the elusive 'Acche Din'." Targeting the demonetisation, Mr Akhilesh said, "there is talk of digital and cashless economy, it's the SP Government which created infrastructure for it by distributing 15-lakh laptop computers and we also intend to give free smart phones to the people." He added, "the money has no colour, its neither black nor white; it's the transaction of money that is either black or white." Praising the bureaucracy for their hard work in completing the projects like Lucknow-Agra Expressway in record time and execution of the Metro Rail Project in several cities of the state the CM said, "I can assure the potential investors in the state that we have a dedicated team of officers which can deliver results and translate big projects on the ground within the specified time frame." Later talking to the mediapersons, the Chief Minister parried all questions about the possible alliance with the Congress and whether he will approach the Election Commission for the new election symbol of motor cycle. "I have not slept for several days and you (media) too have not rested for many days. It's no time to rest but to remain awake as the poll dates have been announced," he said. Asked about the possible split in the party Akhilesh Yadav said, "I have worked hard for the last five years and the work speaks for itself. I did as per the direction of Netaji (Mulayam Singh Yadav) and his blessing and the support of the people will hold us in good stead during the elections." "The people of the state have seen the performance of the Samajwadi Party Government and it's the duty of the socialists to work on the agenda of socialism. People of the state are aware of the fact that the SP Government has worked very hard for the development of the state" said the Chief Minister.UNI MB SHS SNU 2014 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0329-1094341.Xml The BJP today expressed confidence of a good show in all the five states to which the poll dates were announced by the Election Commission here today. Interacting with the mediapersons here today, BJP National Secretary Shrikant Sharma and party General Secretary Bhupender Yadav said the party would fight the election in Uttar Pradesh and other four states on the agenda of "development and good governance". Mr Yadav said that the party held Parivartan Yatras in Uttar Pradesh which started on November 5, and covered more than 17000-km and despite the opposition painting a negative picture of demonetisation, the people have whole-heartedly supported the government's bold decision. These Yatras have only helped the party get support from all sections including women and youth, he said. The party had not received a single representation from any village saying that demonetisation was a wrong decision, he added. Taking a dig at Akhilesh Yadav for dislodging his father Mulayam Singh Yadav as party president,Bhupender Yadav said that in the Indian society, it is the father who has the right to write a will and notthe son but in the SP the situation was reversed. Mr Yadav said that dislodging Mulayan Singh as party chief might not go in favour of the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister. Mr Sharma said that in the last 15 years, development and good government had come to a halt.People were fed up from the misgovernance of BSP, SP and Congress during this period and "this timethe people will overwhelmingly vote BJP," Mr Sharma said. He said the people of the state had voted Akhilesh Yadav with hope, but during the last five yearsrule of the Samajwadi Party Government the education system had deteriorated, people were in need ofproper health care services, good road and drinking water and sanitation. Mr Sharma said, it was sad that law and order situation had deteriorated in the state and the crime graph had risen despite the Chief Minister holding the Home Ministry portfolio. UNI RBE SNU 2029 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0427-1094356.Xml Instagram/erik_cav5493(PITTSBURGH) -- This male dancer is high-kicking his way into 2017 with some bold dance moves set to the song "Banginator" by Beatowski. Erik Cavanaugh, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is defying traditional body stereotypes with his fierce contemporary dance routines. "I went to a high school in Pittsburgh called CAPA which stands for creative and performing arts," the 23-year-old told ABC News. "I was originally a theater major and acted for a good portion of my life. At the end of my sophomore year, I realized I didnt really have the drive for acting anymore and wanted to pursue dancing. And, since then, I have not looked back." Although hes been dancing since the age of 7, Cavanaugh said he was deterred for a time after one teacher discouraged him. "When I was a lot younger, I had a teacher tell my parents I should give up on pursuing any career in the arts," Cavanaugh recalled. "So thats why for most of my life I didnt dance and just acted. She took something away from me that I loved because of these preconceived notions about what a dancer is supposed to be like and look like. So Ive been encouraging others to keep following their dreams and their passion while I follow mine." His tireless efforts and enthusiasm are beginning to pay off, too. Cavanaugh has more than 8,000 followers on his Instagram page and even caught the attention of actor Ashton Kutcher, who shared one Cavanaughs dance videos on his Facebook page just before the New Year. "That was pretty crazy," said the proud dancer. "A career highlight for sure." Cavanaugh works at a pizza shop "to pay the bills," but he also teaches dance classes at Carpelz Center for the Arts to kids, ages 6 to 17. He hopes to inspire people of all sizes with his motto: "Dance is for everyBODY." "If you love something, dont let someone take it from you," said Cavanaugh. "Theres going to be naysayers all through your life that will tell youre wrong, but if youre happy and youre doing something you love, thats all that matters." Copyright 2017, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. Lt Gen SK Saini today took over as the 12th Corps Commander of the prestigious, Rising Star Corps from Lt Gen Ashok Ambre. A highly decorated soldier, Lt Gen SK Saini, an alumni of National Defence Academy and Indian Military Academy was Commissioned into "The7th Battalion the JAT Regiment'' in June 1981. In an illustrious career spanning over a period of more than 36 years, the officer has held important Staff, Instructional and Command appointments and has vast operational experience in all types of terrain and warfare. Lt Gen SK Saini is a Graduate of the Army Command and Staff Course at the Staff College, Camberley in UK, the Royal College of Military Science, Shrivenham, UK and National Defence College, Bangladesh. He has the distinction of holding three Masters Degrees in Defence and Strategic Studies. Lt Gen SK Saini has been bestowed a number of awards, both Gallantry and distinguished service including the "Yudh Seva Medal", the "Vishisht Seva Medal", "Chief of Army Staff Commendation" and the "Army Commander Commendation". The General Officer is also the Colonel of the JAT Regiment. He was Commandant at the Indian Military Academy, Dehradun, before assuming the present appointment.UNI VBH SDR SNU 2044 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0431-1094399.Xml A complaint was filed in this connection by one Hitesh Vyas on Tuesday, based on which police have registered an FIR against the two foreigners and the woman, who hails from Kolkata. They have been booked on charges of cheating and fraud, police said. Vyas said that the accused created a fake Facebook account in the name of a woman in December 2016, befriended him and duped him of over Rs 1 lakh in the name of paying customs duty to release gifts sent by his woman friend from abroad. The arrested woman was identified as Seema alias Hasan Babu, a resident of Bara Bazar of Kolkata. The Nigerians, hailing from Benin city of Edo state of southern Nigeria, have been identified as Ibrahim Onogiede and Kenndth Chika Osuji. The three had been living in Delhi's Tughlakabad Extension area. "Seema has been sent to judicial custody and the Nigerians have been remanded to two days' police custody for interrogation," Anand Kumar, chief of Cyber Crime Cell, told IANS. --IANS ps/nir/bg ( 203 Words) 2017-01-04-21:12:07 (IANS) A day after the clashes between the Trinamool Congress and BJP workers in the city took an ugly turn, both parties on Wednesday met West Bengal Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi to lodge a complaint against each other. The state's ruling Trinamool Congress accused the Narendra Modi government of trying to break the federal structure, while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came up with a long list of the violence perpretated against them by the Trinamool workers, alleging "complete collapse of the law and order machinery" in the state. The Trinamool representatives, comprising state ministers and MLAs, complained about the deployment of central forces without the state's consent and charged the BJP leaders with "trying to influence the office of the Governor". "We have complained to the Governor about attempts to break the federal structure. Without consulting the state, the CRPF was deployed outside the state BJP office on Tuesday. This is an assault on federalism," Trinamool leader Partha Chatterjee said. "It is no secret that a section of BJP leaders is trying to influence the office of Governor," he said after meeting the Governor here. Chatterjee also demanded the arrest of BJP leader and union minister Babul Supriyo for his alleged involvement in the ponzi scam, saying that Trinamool's voice of protest against demonetisation cannot be suppressed by "fear tactics". "Why leaders of other parties, like Babul Supriyo, who are associated with chit funds, should not be arrested," Chatterjee questioned, adding that conspiracies are being hatched to malign the party. A BJP delegation led by its state President Dilip Ghosh also met the Governor alleging an "unprecedented attack" on their party office by the Trinamool activists on Tuesday and complete collapse of the law and order machinery in the state. "This kind of violence towards a political party is unprecedented in Bengal. Naturally, there has been a lot of criticism of Trinamool's activity by every section of the society," Ghosh said. "We are really concerned about the collapse of law and order in the state, so we approached the honourable Governor and requested him to present the actual picture of the state to the central government," he said. Ghosh further said: "We have requested the Governor to send a report on the state to the Centre in accordance with Article 356(1)(A) of the Indian Constitution." "We are still not demanding President's Rule, but the situation in the state is moving that way. We want the central government to intervene and salvage the situation before it worsens further," Ghosh said. --IANS mgr/bdc/nir/bg ( 431 Words) 2017-01-04-21:42:08 (IANS) The Maharashtra Government today issued an ordinance allotting land on lease for 30 years at Mumbai Mayor's Bungalow for the Memorial of Shiv Sena supremo late Bal Thackeray. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had earlier announced that a memorial of Mr Thackeray would be built at Mayor's Bungalow near Shivaji Park, Dadar in Central Mumbai. A committee appointed by the State Government submitted a report to the Chief Minister approving the same. The committee, headed by Chief Secretary Swadhin Kshatriya, visited several sites in the city but finalised the Mayor's Bungalow for the memorial. After the Shiv Sena supremo's demise, the party leaders and workers have been demanding erection of his memorial. Mr Fadnavis had also ensured that the memorial would be constructed in Dadar. The issuance of ordinance in the run-up to the election to the prestigious Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation due in February is significant as the alliance of the Sena and BJP is in jeopardy.UNI JM SS SM SDR SNU 2207 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0171-1094518.Xml Madhya Pradesh's former Minister Tukojirao Puar's son was placed under arrest today on the charge of murdering a peasant in Raghogarh village over a land dispute. Pratap Lodhi was targetted by Vikram Singh Puar and a dozen others. Barring Vikram who was absconding all the accused were acquitted. He was apprehended at a private hospital where he was undergoing treatment. Judicial Magistrate Manish Singh ordered Vikram's incarceration. Owing to illness, he was admitted to the District Hospital.UNI XC-AC SDR SNU 2229 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0044-1094568.Xml Lucknow Bench of Allahabad High Court slammed the administration of a Navodaya Vidyalaya (School) for not taking the admission of orphans. Court stated that cases like this were threats to humanity. Court also imposed fine of Rs 5000 on deputy commissioner of Navodaya School Gauriganj Amethi and rejected the appeal. Court justified the order of Single Bench Court in which Bench had instructed to facilitate admission of the orphans in Navodaya schools. Court instructed that in such matters orders of lower courts be followed rather to contest them in higher courts. Division Bench of Justice Amreshwar Pratap Sahi and Justice Sanjay Harcauli passed this order and dismissed the appeal of Navodaya School. Single Bench of High Court had instructed school to take admission of the orphans, whose parents were killed. Against the order, the school had appealed in High Court which was dismissed by the court.UNI JDM MB SDR SNU 2328 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0431-1094585.Xml The Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) today demanded an inquiry into the alleged role of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in high profile irrigation projects scam. Speaking to the mediapersons here, MPCC general secretary Sachin Sawant said that he has written to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis demanding inquiry into the role of BJP in the high profile irrigation projects scam. ''How much donation BJP has received from contractor FA Construction company, which is an accused in the case,'' he asked. Commenting on a news report appeared in a section of media that during last two years, cost of irrigation projects had increased by 200 percent but the same has shot up to about Rs 20,000-crore during the BJP rule, the Congress leader demanded an inquiry into alleged role of BJP in the irrigation projects. He alleged that this was done due to the Panchayat Samiti and Zilla Parishad elections. Four months ago the Government announced that 94 contracts had been canceled, including 81 contracts of the Vidarbha Irrigation Development Corporation, Mr Sawant said, adding, but there was no evidence of cancellation of contracts. The same old contractors were doing the job in Vidarbha region, he stated.UNI ST SS VS SNU 2349 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0171-1094580.Xml On his first day in office, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for teamwork, telling staff at the world body's New York Headquarters that it is not enough to the "do the right thing, we need to earn the right to do the right thing." "It is very important for us to recognize our achievements [...] but we also need to recognize our shortcomings, to recognize our failures and where we are not able to deliver as we should," he said, outlining the multitude of challenges, ranging from complex conflicts to global terrorism confronting the world. Guterres called on the entire Organisation for a collective effort to address the shortcomings and underlined the need to reform the UN development system, as well as address bureaucratic constraints that hamper its performance, saying the world body must try and get rid of its "bureaucratic straight jacket." "There are no miracles [...] and the only way for us to achieve our goals is to work as a team," he said. In his remarks, the UN chief also recalled the selection process that culminated with the UN General Assembly, appointing him as the ninth chief of the global body in October, last year. "I know that the way this selection process has been developed has raised a lot of expectations," he noted. "This requires a lot of efforts from us but also a lot of dialogue with UN Members States and to overcome the divides that still exist in the Organization," he added. Guterres' first day at UN Headquarters as Secretary General began with the laying of a wreath at the Memorial Wall in the Visitors' lobby. Shortly after taking office two days ago, he made an appeal for peace. "Let us make 2017 a year in which we all - citizens, governments, leaders - strive to overcome our differences," Guterres said Sunday morning, urging people to share his New Year's resolution, "Let us resolve to put peace first." He will serve for a five-year period until December 31, 2021. He was the Prime Minister of Portugal from 1995 to 2002, and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees from June 2005 to December 2015. He succeeds Ban Ki-moon, who served as the Secretary-General from 2007 until December 31, 2016. (ANI) South Korea's finance minister today said he will meet investors in the United States. next week to discuss the fallout from a political scandal involving President Park Geun-hye, in an effort to reduce any adverse impact in financial markets."I believe there are many questions (about political scandal in Korea)," Yoo Il-ho told reporters after a policy meeting in Seoul."I will explain (to investors) that we're trying our best to minimize any fallout from the political situation and that we will continue to do so."President Park could become the nation's first democratically elected leader to leave office early after parliament voted to impeach her in December over a corruption scandal. The constitutional court has up to 180 days to approve or overturn the decision.REUTERS AKC PR0853 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0432-1093042.Xml Prime Minister Justin Trudeau reached out in a video address to the new US Congress to stress how tightly linked the economies of Canada and the United States are, amid fears of a protectionist Trump administration.US President-elect Donald Trump, who has promised to either renegotiate or scrap the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), has said overhauling trade policy will be a top priority after he takes office on Jan. 20.Canada sends 75 per cent of its exports to the United States and could suffer from changes to NAFTA, which also includes Mexico. Ford Motor Co yesterday scrapped a planned Mexican car factory and added 700 jobs in Michigan following criticism by Trump, who turned his attention toward General Motors Co with the threat of a "big border tax" over compact cars made in Mexico.In the video address, Trudeau and David MacNaughton, the Canadian ambassador to Washington, stressed the closeness of ties between the neighbors yesterday."We've built an economic relationship that supports jobs in every Congressional district. We are the largest international customer for goods and services made in the US," said Trudeau, who was filmed in his office in front of the US and Canadian flags.MacNaughton said Canada was ready to work with Congress to make the lives of citizens in both nations better and more prosperous.Christine Constantin, a spokeswoman for the Canadian embassy in Washington, said ambassadors had sent video greetings to the two previous opening sessions of Congress.Trudeau, who has made ties with the United States a priority, was asked by the embassy to appear in the video, she said. Trudeau spokesman Cameron Ahmad declined to elaborate on the video, saying the prime minister's message spoke for itself.In the run-up to the 2016 US election, Canadian diplomats fanned out across the country to stress that Canada is the top export destination for 35 US states and that nine million US jobs depend on trade with Canada.REUTERS VS 0407 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0440-1093007.Xml In three words of a tweet this week, US President-elect Donald Trump vowed North Korea would never test an intercontinental ballistic missile."It won't happen!" Trump wrote after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said on Sunday his nuclear-capable country was close to testing an ICBM of a kind that could someday hit the United States.Preventing such a test is far easier said than done, and Trump gave no indication of how he might roll back North Korea's weapons programs after he takes office on Jan. 20, something successive US administrations, both Democratic and Republican, have failed to do.Former US officials and other experts said the United States essentially had two options when it came to trying to curb North Korea's fast-expanding nuclear and missile programs - negotiate or take military action.Neither path offers certain success and the military option is fraught with huge dangers, especially for Japan and South Korea, US allies in close proximity to North Korea.The Republican president-elect complained in a separate tweet that China, North Korea's neighbor and only ally, was not helping to contain Pyongyang - despite China's support for successive rounds of UN sanctions against Pyongyang.While many critics, including within President Barack Obama's administration, agreed China could press North Korea harder, the State Department said it did not agree with Trump's assessment that China was not helping.Experts said Trump's tough stance toward Beijing on issues from trade to Taiwan could prove counterproductive in securing greater Chinese cooperation.James Acton, co-director of the Nuclear Policy Program at Washington's Carnegie Endowment for International Peace think tank, said that with his North Korea tweet, Trump had drawn a red line he could later be judged by, like Obama's 2012 warning to Syria over the use of chemical weapons."This was a foolhardy tweet for Trump to send given the enormous challenges of constraining North Korea's nuclear and missile programs. I think this could be something that comes back to haunt him."THREE OPTIONSUS officials, who did not want to be identified, said that if ordered, the US military had three options to respond to a North Korean missile test - a pre-emptive strike before it is launched, intercepting the missile in flight, or allowing a launch to take place unhindered.One official, who did not wish to be named, said there were risks with pre-emptive action, including the possibility of striking the wrong target - or North Korean retaliation against regional allies.Arms control expert Jeffrey Lewis questioned whether US missile defenses could shoot down a test missile, absent a lucky shot, and said destroying North Korea's nuclear and missile programs would be a huge and risky undertaking.Lewis, at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in Monterey, California, said it would require "a large military campaign ... over a fairly substantial period of time."He noted that North Korea's main nuclear and missile test sites were on different sides of the country and factories that supplied them were scattered over several provinces."There's a warren of tunnels under the nuclear site. And an ICBM can be launched from anywhere in the country because it's mobile. You might as well invade the country," Lewis said.Republican US Senator Cory Gardner, writing on cnn.com, said he hoped Trump's administration would impose "secondary sanctions" on firms and entities that help North Korea's weapons programs, many of which were in China.'PERIOD OF SERIOUS SANCTIONS'While Trump has not detailed his policy approach to North Korea, an adviser to his transition team told Reuters he believed "a period of serious sanctions" had "to be a major part of any discussion on the options available here."State Department spokesman John Kirby said yesterday the United States had not ruled out additional sanctions, but added: "Let's not get ahead of where we are."Victor Cha, who was an aide to former Republican President George W. Bush, said he believed Trump was serious about not letting North Korea have nuclear-capable ICBMs that could threaten the US mainland."How to stop this is of course difficult. It's a combination of diplomacy (to get a freeze), sanctions (Chinese ones and Treasury), moving more military assets to the region for extended deterrence, strike options, and integrated missile defense. That's what would be on my menu," he said.Frank Jannuzi, a former State Department official who heads the Mansfield Foundation Asia dialogue forum, said Trump's vow could prove as hollow as Obama's pledge not to tolerate North Korea's nuclear and missile programs."I worry ... that it only emboldens the North, because they see it for what it is: empty talk," he said. "It lays down a red line. ... We don't seem prepared to back up."He said North Korea had long defied US and UN sanctions to pursue its nuclear and missile programs, and added: "One hundred and forty characters from Donald Trump aren't going to change that."REUTERS VS 0806 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0440-1093026.Xml A judge ended a murder case against ex-professional wrestler Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka in Pennsylvania, after ruling him mentally incompetent to stand trial over the 1983 death of his girlfriend, media reports said.Yesterday Lehigh County Judge Kelly L Banach granted a request from Snuka's attorney to end the case, The Morning Call newspaper said."It would be unjust to resume the prosecution," the judge said in a statement, according to the newspaper, based in Allentown.In June, Banach had found Snuka, 73, incompetent to stand trial.Snuka's attorney and prosecutors in the case could not immediately be reached for comment late yesterday."We are considering our options and will decide at the appropriate time what actions we will take," the Lehigh County District Attorney's Office said in a statement about the judge's decision, The Morning Call reported.Snuka was charged in 2015 with third-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter in the death of Nancy Argentino, 23, who, prosecutors said, was found with head injuries in their shared motel room in Allentown, shortly before she died.In the lead-up to the filing of criminal charges, a county grand jury found Snuka had assaulted Argentino and then left her in bed to die, the paper said.The Fiji-born Snuka was scheduled to attend a court hearing last month but was too sick to travel from Florida to appear in person, the paper added.At last month's hearing, his attorney showed the judge a doctor's note indicating Snuka was in hospice care and had six months to live, and yesterday he said Snuka was suffering from a serious infection, the paper said.A defense expert last year testified that Snuka could no longer recognize family members and he believed police officers who arrested him were actually fans seeking an autograph, the paper said.In the 1980s, Snuka was a World Wrestling Federation star, along with Hulk Hogan, Roddy Piper and Andre the Giant. He was known for climbing to the top rope and diving onto the chest of a prone opponent. REUTERS AKC PR1149 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0432-1093210.Xml A fire at a private nursing home in China killed seven people today, the official Xinhua news agency reported, the latest deadly incident in a country struggling to improve its safety record.The blaze broke out at 4:10 a.m. at the nursing home in Chaoyang township in the northeastern province of Jilin, and was put out 17 minutes later, the news agency reported.It not clear how the seven people had died.Firefighters rescued the other 32 people living at the home, Xinhua reported.In 2015, a fire at an home for the elderly in Henan province killed 38 people, stirring debate about whether China's growing population of old people are getting proper care.The fire at that time prompted President Xi Jinping to call on authorities to take immediate steps to ensure accidents do not happen. REUTERS SHS BL1433 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0329-1093483.Xml Myanmar faces a growing danger of attacks by foreign supporters of Islamic State (IS) recruited from Southeast Asian networks in support of persecuted Muslim Rohingyas, Malaysia's top counter-terrorism official has said.Malaysian authorities have detained a suspected IS follower planning to head to Myanmar to carry out attacks, the head of the Malaysian police counter-terrorism division, Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay, said in an interview.The suspect, an Indonesian whom he did not identify, was detained in Malaysia last month. The suspect was scheduled to be charged today for possession of materials linked to terrorist groups, which carries a seven-year jail term or fine, Ayob Khan said.More militants are likely to try to follow his lead in support of the Rohingya cause, Ayob Khan said."He was planning to perform jihad in Myanmar, fighting against the Myanmar government for this Rohingya group in Rakhine State," Ayob Khan said.A Myanmar army sweep since October in the north of Rakhine State, on its border with Bangladesh, has sent about 34,000 members of the Rohingya minority fleeing into Bangladesh, the United Nations says.Residents and rights groups accuse security forces in predominantly Buddhist Myanmar of summary executions and rape in the army operation, launched in response to attacks on police posts on October 9 that killed nine officers. The government of Aung San Suu Kyi denies the accusations of abuse.Myanmar government spokesman Zaw Htay told Reuters an official report into October's violence in Rakhine state found no evidence of an IS presence there or that the attacks were linked to IS.LIGHTNING RODThe conflict in Rakhine risks becoming a lightning rod for Islamists in a shadowy network stretching from the Philippines to Indonesia and Malaysia, with links to Islamic State in the Middle East, security analysts and officials say.Scores of Southeast Asian Muslims, most from Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines, have travelled to the Middle East to join IS, counter-terrorism police in the region said.Over the past year, IS has claimed several attacks - or been linked to foiled plots - in Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines."There is a high possibility that Muslims, be it from IS or other groups, will find the ways and means to go to Myanmar to help their Rohingya Muslim brothers," Ayob Khan said.The Indonesian suspect was among seven people arrested for suspected links to IS. The suspect was also involved in a plot to smuggle weapons to Indonesia's Poso region, on Sulawesi island, Ayob Khan said.Indonesian authorities have detained several suspected foreign militants trying to reach Poso.Ayob Khan did not say what group the suspect, a factory worker who had been in Malaysia since 2014, was trying to link up with in Myanmar. He said the suspect, was in contact with Muhammad Wanndy Muhammad Jedi, a Syria-based Malaysian militant who claimed responsibility on behalf of IS for a grenade attack on a bar in June last year.The International Crisis Group think-tank said in a report last month the coordinated attacks on Myanmar police in Rakhine State were carried out by a group called Harakah al-Yakin. While the group had links to Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, it would be wrong to "over-interpret the significance of the international links", ICG said."Nevertheless, the longer violence continues, the greater the risks become of such links deepening and potentially becoming operational," it said.LARGE POOL OF RECRUITSMuslim-majority Malaysia and Indonesia, which has the world's biggest Muslim population, have led calls in Southeast Asia for Myanmar to stop the violence against the Rohingya.Rohingya have for years been fleeing persecution in Myanmar, which denies them citizenship because it sees them as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. They often wash up on Southeast Asian shores in rickety boats seeking asylum.More than 55,000 Rohingyas are registered with the United Nations in Malaysia. Non-profit groups estimate as many as 200,000 Rohingyas are living in Malaysia, many working in restaurants and constructions sites.Analysts warn the large number of Rohingya migrants are a potential pool of recruits for militants."The network between Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines and the Rohingyas is there," said Badrul Hisham Ismail, programme executive director of the Malaysian counter-militancy group, Iman Research.Ismail said his group had discovered Malaysian militants involved in recruiting Rohingyas and sending them to Poso for training.Rohan Gunaratna, a security expert at Singapore's Rajaratnam School of International Studies, said Islamic State operatives in the region were "determined to mount attacks both inside Myanmar and against Myanmar targets overseas".In November, Indonesian authorities detained an Islamic State-linked militant for planning an attack on the Myanmar embassy there."The highest threat to Myanmar emanates from Islamic State networks," Rohan said."The Rohingya conflict is emerging as one of the rallying issues for IS. At a strategic level, Myanmar should resolve the Rohingya conflict to prevent IS influence and expansion."REUTERS SHS BL1436 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0329-1093486.Xml Russian officials will visit Turkey on January 9-10 to discuss the framework for Syrian peace talks planned to be held in Kazakhstan, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said in a televised interview with the state-run Anadolu news agency.Russia and Turkey back opposing sides in the Syrian civil war but have brokered a fragile ceasefire, slated to be followed by peace talks in the Kazakh capital, Astana. REUTERS AKC PR1257 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0432-1093353.Xml Indonesia's military suspended cooperation with Australia's armed forces last week, Indonesian officials said today, after what media described as insulting teaching materials were found at a base in Western Australia.But a spokesman for Indonesian President Joko Widodo said there had been no discussion of the matter with the president and that the issue had been exaggerated. "This was not a decision of the president," spokesman Johan Budi told Reuters. Australian Defence Minister Marise Payne said merely that some activities had been "postponed". Military cooperation between the two sides, which have important military ties ranging from counterterrorism cooperation to border protection, was suspended for "technical reasons", a spokesman for the Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI) told Reuters. "All forms of cooperation have been suspended," Major General Wuryanto said. He said a broad range of activities would be affected."There are technical matters that need to be discussed," Wuryanto said. Among these was the training material seen at an Australian military base, he said without elaborating. It was "highly likely" cooperation would resume once those issues were resolved, Wuryanto said. Australian Defence Minister Marise Payne acknowledged suspension of some activities and said concerns were raised by an Indonesian military officer late last year about some teaching materials and remarks at an army language training facility in Australia. "As a result, some interaction between the two defence organisations has been postponed until the matter is resolved. Cooperation in other areas is continuing," she said.A spokesman for Indonesia's Defence Ministry said it had first heard about the matter from the media. A spokesman for Indonesia's Foreign Ministry did not answer calls or respond to a written request for comment.Widodo planned to visit Australia in November, with a focus on economic and maritime cooperation and efforts to counter Islamist militancy, but the trip was postponed amid unrest in Jakarta."FOUNDING PRINCIPLES INSULTED"Indonesia last suspended military ties with Australia in 2013 over revelations Australian spies tapped the mobile phone of then President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.An Indonesian special forces trainer had seen training material that insulted Indonesia's founding principles of "Pancasila", which include belief in god, the unity of Indonesia, social justice and democracy, Indonesian newspaper Kompas said.Australia stopped joint training exercises with Indonesian special forces, known as Kopassus, after accusations of abuses by the unit in East Timor in 1999 in the lead-up to the former Indonesian territory's independence three years later.Jakarta and Canberra resumed military ties, citing a desire to cooperate on counterterrorism that became imperative after the bombing of two nightclubs on the Indonesian holiday island of Bali in 2002 that killed 202 people, including 88 Australians.With ties gradually warming, the first joint training exercise on Australian soil since 1995 was staged in the northern city of Darwin in September last year.According to a report in Kompas, the Indonesian military sent a letter to its Australian counterpart warning that cooperation could be suspended and then the head of the country's military, Gatot Nurmantyo, sent a telegram putting this into force on December 29.The offices of Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Foreign Minister Julie Bishop declined to comment.The suspension of military ties surprised many observers, though many expect the relationship to be quickly repaired.Greg Barton, professor of Global Islamic Politics at Deakin University, said any suspension could threaten Australia's controversial immigration policy of turning back asylum seekers at sea."Australia needs the support of Indonesia for its boat turn-back policy," he said."...I don't think intelligence sharing will stop. Everyone acknowledges that the threat of an attack is the highest it has ever been."Australian media reports said the offensive material was found at Campbell Barracks, an army base in the Western Australian city of Perth. The barracks declined to answer any questions when contacted by Reuters.During a visit to Jakarta in October, Bishop said it was "utterly essential" for Australia and Indonesia to share information and work closely together to keep citizens safe from terrorism. REUTERS SHS BL1512 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0329-1093559.Xml The European Union is more unified in its policy towards Britain's leaving the bloc than on anything else in its past, the new holder of the EU presidency said today."I spoke and visited basically all other 26 (EU) member states and there's a ... convergence on the attitude towards Brexit. I have never seen such a convergence within the European family," Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat told reporters on the sidelines of a diplomatic conference in Slovenia.When asked to comment on the resignation of Ivan Rogers, the British ambassador to the EU, he said: "That's a totally national issue for them .... We stick to the point that there should be no negotiation without notification."The EU says it will not begin negotiations until Britain formally invoked Article 50 of the EU treaty triggering withdrawal. British Prime Minister Theresa May says she will do soe by the end of March.Muscat also said the EU needs to secure its borders, stressing those at sea."We are keen and want to put forward proposals on the securing of maritime borders that is why we believe that a replication of any deal which is similar to the Turkish deal in the central Mediterranean is very important in the next few months before there is a larger crisis."Malta, which is close to North Africa, is one of the frontline EU states in the migrant crisis.REUTERS SHS BL1554 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0329-1093649.Xml The song is to encourage his Cabinet and government workers in the New Year, asking them to work together for a stable, prosperous and sustainable Thailand, Xinhua news agency reported. According to Thai media Khaosod, the junta leader is famous for being a self-published songsmith. One of his most recognisable singles is "Returning Happiness to the People," a song released after Prayut took power in a coup in 2014. He also wrote a song as a New Year present for Thais in December 2015, named "Because You're Thailand", and released "Hope and Faith" last October to cheer Thais up after the death of revered late King Bhumibol Adulyadej. --IANS soni/bg ( 148 Words) 2017-01-04-17:28:10 (IANS) They were held in several drives conducted in different areas of Sundarganj upazila from Tuesday night to early Wednesday. "They [suspects] are being interrogated. We cannot disclose the names of the detainees for the sake of investigation," the Dhaka Tribune quoted a police official, as saying. The officer added that drives are being conducted by the police to arrest the mastermind of the killing. So far, 39 suspects have been picked up by law enforcers. Liton was shot dead by unknown attackers in Gaibandha on Sunday. He was killed by four men in the Sundarganj upazila of the district. (ANI) Turkey's EU Minister Omer Celik said today changing the country's anti-terror laws would pose a threat to its security, reiterating Ankara's position that Brussels should not expect it to change its stance.The European Union wants Turkey to amend its anti-terror laws in order for Turks to gain visa-free travel to Europe, part of a wider deal struck last year under which Turkey is helping to stem the flow of refugees and illegal migrants to Europe.REUTERS SHS BL1751 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0329-1093969.Xml Vice President-elect Mike Pence today met with Republican congressional leaders to plot strategy on repealing President Barack Obama's signature healthcare law, a move that could leave tens of millions of Americans without medical insurance.Obama today morning was meeting with Democratic legislators, including US Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, to discuss how they can protect the 2010 Affordable Care Act, which is known as Obamacare.Republican US President-elect Donald Trump, who takes office on Jan 20, and his party's congressional leaders have made repealing and replacing the law among their top priorities. But doing so risks causing chaos in the health insurance market, as well as political backlash against Republicans.In a series of posts on Twitter, Trump urged fellow Republicans to assign blame to Obama's Democrats.The law has enabled upward of 20 million Americans who previously had no medical insurance to get coverage and is considered Obama's top legislative achievement. Republicans, who will control both Congress and the White House in 2017, condemn it as a government overreach."Republicans must be careful in that the Dems own the failed ObamaCare disaster, with its poor coverage and massive premium increases," Trump tweeted."Don't let the Schumer clowns out of this web," he added.Obama walked into a Democratic caucus meeting on Capitol Hill accompanied by House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi. He ignored a shouted question from a reporter about how to stop repeal of the healthcare law.Schumer and Pelosi were to hold a news conference after the session.Republican Representative Mark Amodei of Nevada said Pence had told Republican lawmakers that "we are mindful of disrupting the markets." Pence and House Republican leaders also were due to address reporters.Trump has vowed to protect some popular parts of the Obamacare law, such as barring insurance companies from denying coverage to people with pre-existing medical conditions. But he wants to replace it with a system that is "much better and much less expensive," as he told Reuters on Oct 25 after premium increases emerged in some healthcare markets.Republican Representative Chris Collins, a liaison between the Trump transition team and Congress, said he did not expect Pence to have definite answers to detailed healthcare policy questions such as what timeframe should be considered for repealing the law.The transition team, Collins said, is "not into that kind of meat and potatoes."A House Republican leadership aide said there are lots of Republican "ideas" but it was too early to know what will end up in replacement legislation.The American Medical Association doctors' group urged caution in making changes to Obamacare, which the organization supported."In considering opportunities to make coverage more affordable and accessible to all Americans, it is essential that gains in the number of Americans with health insurance coverage be maintained," the AMA said in a letter to congressional leaders.The AMA said before any action is taken on Obamacare policymakers should lay out for the American people "in reasonable detail what will replace current policies.""Patients and other stakeholders should be able to clearly compare current policy to new proposals so they can make informed decisions about whether it represents a step forward in the ongoing process of health reform," the group said.REUTERS SDR NS2053 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0431-1094456.Xml The man, 41, was identified by his surname as Tan. He slashed the children with a kitchen knife after entering the Xiaocongzai kindergarten in Youyi Township, according to Xinhua. Police said the suspect entered the kindergarten on the excuse that he needed to pick up his child. The injured children have been hospitalised, with three of them in serious condition. The suspect confessed that he committed the crime because he held a grudge against someone in his village. --IANS ahm/bg ( 117 Words) 2017-01-04-22:10:35 (IANS) A new Czech Interior Ministry team set up this week to monitor and analyse "hybrid threats" to security such as disinformation campaigns has come under fire from the office of the country's own president.The Centre Against Terrorism and Hybrid Threats (CTHH) comprises a team of 20 officials tasked with identifying threats from political radicalisation and terrorism and from foreign disinformation campaigns targeting the public.The initiative follows warnings from the country's counter-intelligence service that Russia is actively targeting Czech public opinion over NATO, the European Union and other issues through cyber-warfare, propaganda, puppet groups and support for populist and extremist groups.But President Milos Zeman, who is viewed as strongly pro-Russian, and his administration have led criticism of the new outfit, arguing that it could infringe free speech.Zeman's spokesman, Jiri Ovcacek, has likened the centre to the communist-era censorship office, CUTI, and set up a special Twitter account on Monday to criticise the unit. He had tweeted 56 messages on the topic by Wednesday afternoon."A fundamental law applies in a democratic and free society: nobody can have monopoly for truth. The Interior Ministry's CUTI trampled over this law," said one of the tweets from Tuesday.In a Dec. 26 address - prior to the centre's opening on Jan. 1 - Zeman said "we do not need censorship, we do not need idea police".The new centre's chief, Eva Romancovova, said such criticism was puzzling as the president's office had been consulted over the creation of the unit during a national security audit and had raised no objections at the time."LACK OF UNDERSTANDING""The CTHH will not and cannot in any way censor any media or internet content," she told Reuters. "We consider this to be a very unfortunate lack of understanding of our work."Zeman, who has taken the Kremlin's side on the conflict in Ukraine and has called for a lifting of Western sanctions against Moscow, has few executive powers as president under the Czech constitution, though he is chief of the armed forces and appoints governments. He is also popular with Czech voters.Alarmed by what they see as Russian attempts to undermine their political and economic systems, a number of other European countries including Poland and the Baltic states have also established strategic communication teams in various government departments.Finland has said several NATO and EU countries are planning to establish a centre in Helsinki to research how to counter "hybrid" warfare.Germany's domestic intelligence agency said last month it had seen a striking increase in Russian propaganda and disinformation campaigns aimed at destabilising German society and targeted cyber attacks against political parties.REUTERS VS 0027 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0440-1094631.Xml LONDON, Jan. 3 (Xinhua) -- Britain's ambassador to the European Union (EU), Sir Ivan Rogers, has quit his job in Brussels, according to a report in the Financial Times (FT) on Tuesday. A spokesman with the British government also said in a brief statement that "Sir Ivan Rogers has resigned a few months early as UK Permanent Representative to the European Union. The sudden decision came just weeks after Rogers was accused of damaging the Britain's Brexit negotiations. Rogers had warned that it would take a decade to forge a new trade deal with Europe, saying that was the view of the other 27 member states with the bloc. Political commentators said the relationship between Rogers and the government had become strained over the grim warning of a prolonged Brexit. Rogers was appointed to the role of permanent representative in 2013 by former prime minister David Cameron. He had been expected to play a key role in Brexit talks expected to start within months after Cameron's successor at 10 Downing Street, Theresa May, triggers the exiting process in March. Rogers was due to quit his job in Brussels towards the end of this year, but has decided to go earlier "after tensions with Downing Street," according to the FT report. Rogers' quit triggered mixed reactions in political circles with some expressing dismay and others delighted. The Daily Telegraph said news of the resignation prompted concerns that Britain would get a worse Brexit deal than it would have done if he was part of the team. At the think-tank, the Center for European Reform, director Charles Grant, said "Ivan Rogers' resignation makes a good deal on Brexit less likely. One of the very few people at top of British government who understands EU." But the campaign group Leave.EU was delighted over Rogers' leave. The pro-Brexit campaign group said on its website: "Pessimist Rogers, who warned Brexit would take 10 years, is to leave his post as UK Ambassador to the EU. Good - time for some optimism!" Meanwhile, some, including the Labour MP Hilary Benn, who chairs the Brexit select committee in the House of Commons, are urging for a quick appointment of a new ambassador to replace Rogers. "It couldn't be a more difficult time to organise a handover," Benn told local media in London. Oxford-educated Rogers, as Britain's Permanent Representative to the EU, has overall responsibility for the work of the mission and represents the British government at weekly meetings of the Committee of Permanent Representatives in the Council of the European Union. The committee deals largely with political, financial, justice, policing and foreign policy issues. So far the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London has not commented on the resignation. Paul Ryan raises the gavel after being re-elected as House Speaker during the opening of the 115th U.S. Congress on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C., the United States, on Jan. 3, 2017. The 115th U.S. Congress convenes on Tuesday with Republican Paul Ryan re-elected as House Speaker as expected while outgoing Vice President Joe Biden presides over the old Senate chamber for the last time. (Xinhua/Yin Bogu) WASHINGTON, Jan. 3 (Xinhua) -- Intense bipartisan fights are expected across the two-year 115th U.S. Congress sworn in Tuesday, which will be dominated by Republicans. Republican lawmakers are urged to "buckle up" to lay the groundwork for incoming President-elect Donald Trump's action-packed first 100 days, while their Democratic counterparts are determined to defend outgoing President Barack Obama's legacy. INHERENT DIVIDE Once Trump takes oath on Jan. 20 and after new senators are sworn in on Tuesday by Vice President Joe Biden and House members by Speaker Paul Ryan, Republicans will hold the White House and both chambers of Congress for the first time since early 2007. Republicans will have a 52-48 advantage in the Senate and a hefty 241-194 majority in the House. Since most legislation needs 60 votes in the Senate, the republicans still have to garner bipartisan support to fulfill their major policy tasks such as reforming the immigration system, passing spending bills, raising the federal borrowing limit as well as repealing and replacing the whole package of Obamacare. The two mainstream parties now represent very different Americans. Eighty-seven percent of House Republicans will be white men, who only account for 41 percent of House Democrats, according to the independent Cok Political Report. Blue-collar whites living across the Rust Belt are the key force that sent Trump to the White House. In sharp comparison, the makeup of Democrats in the two chambers is much more racially diverse and largely metropolitan, including districts in and around cities and along the two coasts of the United States. "The white working class completely left Democrats," Josh Huder, a senior fellow with the Government Affairs Institute at Georgetown University, was quoted by a Wall Street Journal report as saying. COMPLICATED AGENDA Capitol Hill's January agenda, at least on the Republican side, is huge. On the top of the GOP's to-do list will be votes to confirm many of Trump's cabinet picks and put the wheels in motion to repeal the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, which became law in 2010 and has been seen as Obama's the most important component of his domestic policy legacy. The Senate is expected to swiftly begin vetting and holding confirmation hearings for Trump's most controversial cabinet nominees, including ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson, tapped by Trump to serve as secretary of state, and Senator Jeff Sessions as attorney general. So far Tillerson is the only pick under the spotlight of a handful of Republicans for his close ties with Russia. Lawmakers from the two parties are also eager to know how he will tangle with Russia when dealing with hot foreign policy issues such as Syria, Iran and a recent string of cyberattacks. As early as this week, the new Congress will hold its first vote on whether to unlock a fast-track budget process, known as "reconciliation," as the first step to dismantle Obamacare, Senator majority leader Mitch McConnell said last month. Under the rules of "reconciliation," there is no limit on repealing the items in the law that have a direct impact on the federal budget. Therefore, Republicans could overcome a Democratic filibuster and use the procedure to pass the repeal in the Senate with a simple majority. However, this is not technically an official repeal and it is unclear how many items of the bill will be swiped away and what the Republicans have planned for a replacement, analysts say. Also on the Republican agenda is the so-called "midnight rules" bill aimed to axe Obama-era regulations, enact the "REINS Act" to curb executive branch regulatory powers, cut taxes and fill a long-vacant Supreme Court seat. There will also be debate about how to pursue investigations into alleged Russian hacking during the U.S. presidential election. Trump has dismissed it as a partisan move aimed at diluting his presidency with repeated calls to "move on," but many Republican lawmakers including prominent Senator John McCain view it as a serious threat. BIG PARTISAN FIGHTS Though Democrats don't have the votes to block every bit of Republican legislation, they are lining up to fight nevertheless. One day after the new Congress takes oath, Obama will visit Capitol Hill to "discuss fighting GOP plans to repeal (Obamacare)" with House and Senate Democrats, local media reported. Democrats are preparing an aggressive public relations campaign to highlight how Obamacare has helped the 20 million now insured because of the law, and the other benefits such as better preventive care, said the reports. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, incoming Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders announced January 15 as a national "Our First Stand: Save Health Care" day of action for advocacy groups and Democrats to criticize Republicans for working to target the health care law. "The ball is in their (Republicans') court," Pelosi said of the looming repealing of Obamacare during a Democratic conference call on Monday. "You break it, you own it." Democrats are also expected to make robust grillings of Trump's cabinet picks at a series of high-profile committee hearings, in an attempt to draw contrasts with Republicans on key issues including the environment and foreign policy. They are expected to fight Trump's choices such as Sessions as attorney general and Tillerson as secretary of State. "Republicans shouldn't expect their nominees to sail through if those nominees won't provide the disclosure that past nominees provided and that senators, and the American public, deserve," Matt House, a spokesman for Schumer, told CNN. Though any confirmation delay would just be symbolic, if Democrats use the full amount of debate time allowed under Senate rules, then a vote on each nominee that would normally take place in one or two days could stretch out a week, local analysts say. That could mean it could take months to clear through all Trump's cabinet picks, and other priorities like repealing Obamacare could also be delayed. In this regard, the Republicans need Democrat votes in the Senate, said McConnell one day after the Nov. 8 Election Day, emphasizing that Republican lawmakers can't read their sweep as a license "to push through a strictly partisan agenda." "I don't think we should act as if we're going to be in the majority forever," said McConnell. A bus carrying demonstrators drives past the Supreme Court in London, Britain on Dec. 5, 2016. The British Supreme Court on Monday morning started hearing the historic Brexit legal case to decide whether the British government can begin the process to pull Britain out of the European Union (EU) without a parliament approval. (Xinhua/Tim Ireland) LONDON, Jan. 3 (Xinhua) -- Britain's ambassador to the European Union (EU), Sir Ivan Rogers, has quit his job in Brussels, according to a report in the Financial Times (FT) on Tuesday. A spokesman with the British government also said in a brief statement that "Sir Ivan Rogers has resigned a few months early as UK Permanent Representative to the European Union. The sudden decision came just weeks after Rogers was accused of damaging the Britain's Brexit negotiations. Rogers had warned that it would take a decade to forge a new trade deal with Europe, saying that was the view of the other 27 member states with the bloc. Political commentators said the relationship between Rogers and the government had become strained over the grim warning of a prolonged Brexit. Rogers was appointed to the role of permanent representative in 2013 by former prime minister David Cameron. He had been expected to play a key role in Brexit talks expected to start within months after Cameron's successor at 10 Downing Street, Theresa May, triggers the exiting process in March. Rogers was due to quit his job in Brussels towards the end of this year, but has decided to go earlier "after tensions with Downing Street," according to the FT report. Rogers' quit triggered mixed reactions in political circles with some expressing dismay and others delighted. The Daily Telegraph said news of the resignation prompted concerns that Britain would get a worse Brexit deal than it would have done if he was part of the team. At the think-tank, the Center for European Reform, director Charles Grant, said "Ivan Rogers' resignation makes a good deal on Brexit less likely. One of the very few people at top of British government who understands EU." But the campaign group Leave.EU was delighted over Rogers' leave. The pro-Brexit campaign group said on its website: "Pessimist Rogers, who warned Brexit would take 10 years, is to leave his post as UK Ambassador to the EU. Good - time for some optimism!" Meanwhile, some, including the Labour MP Hilary Benn, who chairs the Brexit select committee in the House of Commons, are urging for a quick appointment of a new ambassador to replace Rogers. "It couldn't be a more difficult time to organise a handover," Benn told local media in London. Oxford-educated Rogers, as Britain's Permanent Representative to the EU, has overall responsibility for the work of the mission and represents the British government at weekly meetings of the Committee of Permanent Representatives in the Council of the European Union. The committee deals largely with political, financial, justice, policing and foreign policy issues. So far the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London has not commented on the resignation. COPENHAGEN, Jan. 3 (Xinhua) -- Western High Court of Denmark on Tuesday rejected an appeal made by Chung Yoo-ra, daughter of impeached South Korean President Park Geun-hye's longtime confidante Choi Soon-sil, against a local court's decision to remand her in custody for four weeks. Western High Court decided that the 20-year-old, wanted by the South Korean police for alleged economic crime, should remain in custody for four weeks after her arrest by Danish police on Sunday, a prosecutor's office said in a statement. Chung was arrested by police in the northern Danish city of Aalborg after a tip from a South Korean journalist said that she was staying at a certain address in the city. After a hearing on Monday, the Court of Aalborg decided to remand Chung in custody for four weeks. The case has since been forwarded to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, the authority in Denmark that deals with extradition requests from other countries. The Office said that it is still awaiting the formal extradition request from the South Korean authorities. When the Office receives this request, the extradition case proceedings can begin, according to the statement. "How long it takes us to reach a decision in the extradition case is partly dependent on when we receive the necessary documents from South Korea," said Mohammad Ahsan, deputy director from the Office, noting that a decision will be made within a few weeks after receiving all required documents. "The case is being treated with the same respect for Danish law as in any other extradition case. There are procedures that we must follow, but of course we are processing the case as efficiently as possible," Ahsan added. Chung's mother Choi is charged with using her friendship with President Park to extort funds from large businesses and meddling in state affairs though she has no government position and security clearance. Chung is alleged to have received illegal favors when entering a prestigious university. Paul Ryan is sworn in after being re-elected as House Speaker during the opening of the 115th U.S. Congress on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C., the United States, on Jan. 3, 2017. The 115th U.S. Congress convenes on Tuesday with Republican Paul Ryan re-elected as House Speaker as expected while outgoing Vice President Joe Biden presides over the old Senate chamber for the last time. (Xinhua/Yin Bogu) WASHINGTON, Jan. 3 (Xinhua) -- The 115th U.S. Congress convenes on Tuesday with Republican Paul Ryan re-elected as House Speaker as expected while outgoing Vice President Joe Biden presides over the old Senate chamber for the last time. After new senators are sworn in by Biden while House members by Ryan Tuesday afternoon, Republicans will have a 52-48 advantage in the Senate and a hefty 241-194 majority in the House. The two mainstream parties now represent two very different America across the Congress. Eighty-seven percent of House Republicans will be white men, who only account for 41 percent of House Democrats, according to the independent Cok Political Report. In sharp comparison, the makeup of Democrats in two chambers is much more racially diverse and largely metropolitan, including districts in and around cities and along the two coasts of the United States. "The white working class completely left Democrats," Josh Huder, a senior fellow with the Government Affairs institute at Georgetown University, was quoted by a Wall Street Journal report as saying. Since most legislation needs 60 votes in the Senate, Republicans still have to garner bipartisan support to fulfil their major policy tasks such as reforming the immigration system, passing spending bills, raising the federal borrowing limit as well as repealing and replacing the whole package of Obamacare. Intense partisan wrestling are sure to set off across the new Congress. Though Democrats don't have the votes to block many of Republicans' actions, they are lining up with vows to fight against nevertheless. There are a total of 52 freshmen in both chambers, including 27 Republicans and 25 Democrats. The House of Representatives will include its first Indian-American woman. The Senate will have a record number of women, including its first Latina. The average years of service for house members in the new Congress is 9.3 years, or 4.6 terms, and the average time for members in the Senate is 10.1 years. The average age for a representative is 57.8 years, and the average age of a Senator is 61.8 years, according to the Congression Research Service. TEHRAN, Jan. 3 (Xinhua) -- Iran denied on Tuesday that Lebanese Hezbollah militants will retreat from Syria, Tehran Times daily reported. It is propaganda by enemies ill-disposed to the resistance movement in the region, Ali Akbar Velayati, the senior advisor of Iran's Supreme Leader, was quoted as saying. "The news about the withdrawal of Hezbollah forces in Syria after the ceasefire is not true, but it is part of the enemies' propaganda claims," Velayati said in a joint press conference with the visiting former Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki on Tuesday. The Iranian official made the comments in reaction to the recent media reports that Tehran has backed down from its previous stances in Syria, including the status of Hezbollah militants in the country, after a tripartite meeting with Russia and Turkey in Moscow last month. According to the report, Hezbollah officials have insisted that the militants of the Lebanese party would remain in Syria after the ceasefire. Velayati stressed that the Islamic republic of Iran will continue to back the resistance fronts, including Hezbollah, "fully and continuously." Tyler Boone (Left) is seen with his friend Gabby Ruiz in this screenshot of a video posted by ABC Action News in Tampa Bay, Florida. NEW YORK, Jan. 3 (Xinhua) -- A 10-year-old U.S. boy has been growing his hair for two years in order to make a wig for his friend who lost her hair. "I'm growing my hair to give to Gabby - I just want to make her happy," Tyler Boone told ABC Action News in Tampa Bay, Florida of his friend, Gabby Ruiz, who has alopecia, a disorder that causes her to lose her hair. Having grown his hair long enough to be made into a wig, Tyler reunited with Ruiz, who now lives in Georgia, before 2016 ended. The 12-year-old girl herself cut off 12 inches of Boone's hair and the two then celebrated by getting Tyler a brand new haircut. Boone's hair will be donated to a nonprofit, Children with Hair Loss, to make a wig for Ruiz. After the station posted the story on its Facebook page on Dec. 29, people around the world shared their praise for Boone and his generous gesture. "This is so sweet, I am so happy when I hear stories like these," one wrote. "What a beautiful heart this boy has," wrote another. Ruiz thinks her selfless friend is "a great person" too. "He's amazing," she said. WASHINGTON, Jan. 3 (Xinhua) -- Democratic leader in the Senate Chuck Schumer slammed President-elect Donald Trump for his twitter habit, claiming that the United States can't afford "Twitter presidency" on the first day of the 115th session of Congress Tuesday. "'Making America Great Again' requires more than 140 characters per issue," Schumer said in his first speech as Senate minority leader on the day when the two-year 115th Congress kick-started, referring to Trump's well-known campaign slogan. "With all due respect, America cannot afford a Twitter presidency. We have real challenges and we need to get real things done," said Schumer, also warning that the incoming President will fail if he sticks with a "Twitter presidency". "Many Americans are afraid, Mr. President-elect, that instead of rolling up your sleeves and forging serious policies ... for you, Twitter suffices." he told the Senate chamber. "There's nothing wrong with using Twitter to speak to the American people," Schumer said. "It's a good use of modern media. But these issues are complex and demand both careful consideration and action. We cannot tweet them away." "If President-elect Trump lets the hard-right members of Congress and his cabinet run the show, if he attempts to adopt their time-worn policies which benefit the elites, the special interests, corporate America-not the working man and woman-his presidency will not succeed," Schumer said,"Maybe not in the first 90 days, but certainly not in the first two years." The Democratic leader said that Trump's tweet "bragging" about the 800 jobs he saved at the Carrier plant in Indiana "doesn't solve the underlying problem." "While it's good the 800 jobs were saved ... even at Carrier, 1,300 jobs are still leaving, hundreds more at the nearby Rexnord plant that are going overseas, and most importantly, thousands more each month leave our shores from every part of America," Schumer said. "Tweeting about 800 jobs you saved is not a re-manufacturing policy. That's not an economic policy." Democrats are "going to hold the President-elect accountable for a real policy to stop jobs from leaving the country," Schumer said, adding that his party will work with Trump and Senate Republicans to create more jobs and improve the country's transportation systems. After new senators are sworn in by Biden while House members by Ryan Tuesday afternoon, Republicans will have a 52-48 advantage in the Senate and a hefty 241-194 majority in the House. The two mainstream parties now represent two very different America across the Congress. Eighty-seven percent of House Republicans will be white men, who only account for 41 percent of House Democrats, according to the independent Cok Political Report. In sharp comparison, the makeup of Democrats in two chambers is much more racially diverse and largely metropolitan, including districts in and around cities and along the two coasts of the United States. Since most legislation needs 60 votes in the Senate, Republicans still have to garner bipartisan support to fulfil their major policy tasks such as reforming the immigration system, passing spending bills, raising the federal borrowing limit as well as repealing and replacing the whole package of Obamacare. Intense partisan wrestling are sure to set off across the new Congress. Though Democrats don't have the votes to block many of Republicans' actions, they are lining up with vows to fight against nevertheless. SEOUL, Jan. 4 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's unification ministry in charge of inter-Korean affairs vowed Wednesday to maintain a policy of pressure and sanctions toward the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) in 2017. The ministry said in its annual plan report to Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn, who serves as acting president, its hard-line policy will be maintained to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula and cause a right change in the DPRK. It indicated the government's adherence to the stance on the DPRK's nuclear issue, marked by intensive nuclear tests by Pyongyang in the past decade under conservative South Korean presidents Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye. The two leaders stuck to the so-called strategic patience, offering a conditional dialogue with Pyongyang. During the decade-long deadlock, Pyongyang's nuclear and missile capabilities advanced at a faster speed. The DPRK detonated its second and third atomic devices in May 2009 and February 2013 respectively under the Lee Myung-bak administration. The fourth and fifth nuclear tests were carried out in January and September 2016 each under the impeached president. Pyongyang, the report forecast, will continue to pursue its ambition for a nuclear state position, while seeking to alter the current phase of anti-DPRK sanctions. Top DPRK leader Kim Jong Un said in his new year address that his country entered a final stage in preparations for the test-launch of an intercontinental ballistic rocket, boosting concerns about another provocation in the near future. GHAZNI, Afghanistan, Jan. 4 (Xinhua) -- An education official was shot dead by unknown armed men in Afghanistan's eastern province of Ghazni, a local official said Wednesday. "The Director of Andar District Education Department Tazagul Nangyali was shot and killed by gunmen near a local mosque in Habeebqudli village of the district early Wednesday morning," Aziz Azimi, provincial government spokesman, told Xinhua. "The attackers managed to flee. The district officials have launched an investigation into the case. Efforts are underway to find and arrest the culprits behind the incident," Azimi said. The official blamed the enemies of peace and stability, a term referring to the Taliban insurgents, for the latest targeted killing in the province, 125 km south of Afghan capital of Kabul. The civilians considered support the government, civil servants, religious leaders, tribal elders and persons involved in peace and reconciliation efforts are under attack in targeted killings. More than 2,560 civilians were killed and over 5,830 injured in the first nine months of 2016 in conflict-related incidents across Afghanistan, according to the latest figures released by UN mission in the country. People lay flowers in front of the Reina nightclub on January 3, 2017 in Istanbul days after a gunman killed 39 people during New Year celebrations. (AFP/Xinhua) ANKARA, Jan. 4 (Xinhua) -- The gunman who staged an armed attack that claimed 39 lives in Istanbul's Reina nightclub has been identified, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Wednesday. Works conducted to reveal more details on the attack were ongoing, the minister said at the Anadolu Agency's Editor's Desk. Meanwhile, some 27 Islamic State (IS) suspects allegedly linked to the Jan. 1 Reina nightclub shooting were detained on Wednesday in Aegean province of Izmir, Dogan News Agency reported. Police have detained 27 people including three families who had alleged links to the attacker. Police teams initially conducted raids at addresses in the central Anatolian province of Konya to detain the suspected three foreign national families, but could not find anyone at the address. They had reportedly fled to Izmir after the Reina attack. Turkish General Staff stated on Wednesday that 6 IS terrorists have been killed, 104 targets belonging to the terrorists have been shelled by the Turkish military in Al-Bab in northern Syria. An IS terrorist opened fire on partygoers at a nightclub in Istanbul's Ortakoy district in the early hours of New Year's Day, killing 39 people and wounding 65. TIKRIT, Iraq, Jan. 4 (Xinhua) -- An Iraqi military helicopter crashed Wednesday in Iraq's northern central province of Salahudin due to technical malfunction, killing two crew members, a provincial security source told Xinhua. The chopper crashed while it was flying near the town of Baiji, some 200 km north of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, the source said on condition of anonymity. Iraqi security forces rushed to the scene and retrieved the bodied of the two members, the source said, adding that an investigation about the incident is underway. The incident occurred as the Iraqi security forces backed by anti-IS coalition are carrying out a major offensive to drive out the IS militants from its last major stronghold in and around Mosul in northern Iraq. NEW YORK, Jan. 3 (Xinhua) -- Bitcoin has seen its price pass 1,000 U.S. dollars for the first time in three years to kick start 2017 after the so-called cryptocurrency wrapped up last year as the best-performing currency. Bitcoin breached the notable round number of 1,000 dollars late Sunday, a level not seen since November 2013, and continued to rise in the following days. But the virtual currency's price is still shy of its all-time high of 1,163 dollars reached on the Bitstamp exchange in late 2013. Bitcoin outperformed all central-bank-issued currencies with a more than 120 percent rise in 2016, helped by a notable boost following Donald Trump's victory in the U.S. presidential election in November. Market analysts believe that the rise of bitcoin was driven by a number of factors including geopolitical instability and an increase in the number of professional investors chasing quick profits amid strong market sentiment. Although the virtual currency breached the key psychological level of 1,000 dollars, no one has the crystal ball to predict where the highly volatile currency will go next. Surpassing this price point could provoke a large number of sell orders, but it might also provide bitcoin prices with a new support level, said CoinDesk, a bitcoin news website. Bitcoin was created in 2009, which can be exchanged with traditional currencies such as the U.S. dollar or used to purchase goods or services. But the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has cautioned that bitcoin operates without central authority or banks and is not backed by any government, and its exchange rate has been very volatile. The financial regulator also highlighted the security concerns, as bitcoin may be stolen by hackers and bitcoin exchanges may permanently shut down due to fraud, technical glitches or hackers. According to Reuters, a tenfold increase in its value in two months in late 2013 took bitcoin to above 1,100 dollars, but a hacking on the Tokyo-based Mt. Gox, once the world's largest bitcoin exchange, in February 2014 caused its value plunge to some 400 dollars in the following weeks. Bitcoin's biggest daily moves in 2016 were around 10 percent, still very volatile compared with legal tenders, but still markedly lower than its trading in 2013 with daily price swings as much as 40 percent, Reuters noted. Friends and family members carry the coffin containing the mortal remains of deceased Indian businessman and film producer Abis Rizvi for his funeral in Mumbai on January 4, 2017. (Xinhua/AFP Photo) ANKARA, Jan. 4 (Xinhua) -- The gunman who staged an armed attack that claimed 39 lives in Istanbul's Reina nightclub has been identified, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Wednesday. Works conducted to reveal more details on the attack were ongoing, the minister said at the Anadolu Agency's Editor's Desk. Meanwhile, some 27 Islamic State (IS) suspects allegedly linked to the Jan. 1 Reina nightclub shooting were detained on Wednesday in Aegean province of Izmir, Dogan News Agency reported. Police have detained 27 people including three families who had alleged links to the attacker. Police teams initially conducted raids at addresses in the central Anatolian province of Konya to detain the suspected three foreign national families, but could not find anyone at the address. They had reportedly fled to Izmir after the Reina attack. Turkish General Staff stated on Wednesday that 6 IS terrorists have been killed, 104 targets belonging to the terrorists have been shelled by the Turkish military in Al-Bab in northern Syria. An IS terrorist opened fire on partygoers at a nightclub in Istanbul's Ortakoy district in the early hours of New Year's Day, killing 39 people and wounding 65. NEW DELHI, Jan. 4 (Xinhua) -- Indian army chief General Bipin Rawat has said further strikes against Pakistan can't be ruled out. "Further surgical strikes against Pakistan can't be ruled out; the strikes were meant to send out message," General Rawat said in an interview Tuesday. He said "If there are terrorist bases across border and if they continue to disrupt the situation on our side of the Line of Control, then we have a right to take action against the terrorists." The army chief said the demonstration of the surgical strike was just one such means. "We are working on other such methodologies." Two days ago, he said the role of the Army is to maintain peace and tranquility at the border but it will not shy away from flexing its muscles if it is needed. The Indian Army made headlines late in September last year after carrying out "surgical strikes" on terror launch pads across the de-facto border in the disputed region of Kashmir. The strikes came days after insurgents had attacked an Indian army base in Indian-controled Kashmir, killing 18 soldiers. Protesters hold protraits of Iraqi female journalist Afrah Shawqi during a demonstration calling for her release on December 30, 2016, in Baghdad's Tahrir Square. (Xinhua/AFP Photo) BAGHDAD, Jan. 4 (Xinhua) -- An Iraqi female journalist and activist who was kidnapped from her Baghdad home by unidentified gunmen last week was freed on Tuesday, a security source told Xinhua Wednesday. "The militant group abducted Afrah Shawqi and set her free late last night in Baghdad and the incident is under investigation," the source said on condition of anonymity. The abductors also returned Shawqi's personal jewels and her car after they stole them earlier from her house. Late on December 26, masked armed men broke into the house of the journalist Afrah Shawqi in Saidiya district in southern Baghdad and abducted her. The journalist is considered one of the critics of the country's corruption, and recently wrote an article which tackled the consequences of the proliferation of armed group outside the law. Shortly after her release, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi phoned Shawqi to reassure about her safety and promised to pay her a visit later, according to local media. On December 27, a statement issued by the premier office said that Abadi ordered the security forces to investigate the kidnapping and to "exert the utmost effort to save her life and to chase any that proved involved in the crime." Iraq is considered one of the most dangerous countries for journalists, who have been frequently targeted by the chaos and insecurity since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein. SHENZHEN, China, Jan. 4 (Xinhua) -- World No. 4 Simona Halep of Romania conceded a shock defeat to Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic 6-3, 4-6, 7-5 in the second round of the WTA Shenzhen Open here on Wednesday. The deciding set became a tit-for-tat battle as they broke each other during the first five games, and the Czech took the upperhand at 4-2 by holding her own for the first time in the 6th game. Then the second seed also held her game for 4-3 and broke again for 4-all. After both kept their games to 5-all, the 20-year-old Siniakova broke Halep again in the 11th game and took a commanding 6-5 lead. Although the Romanian survived the first match-point, the 52nd-ranked Siniakova grapped her second chance and sealed the match in 124 minutes when Halep returned into the net. "I think she played really well. She is a strong player, I never played before against her. I think she has good shots, very powerful, so she deserves to win today," said the Romanian. Halep, the winner here in 2015, started off slowly as she fell behind 4-0 in the first set and quickly lost it. "I was struggling, I didn't feel very good to my game. There is no excuse about that, she managed to be stronger on court and that's why she could win," Halep told the post-match press briefing. The 2015 former champion gradually bounced back and won the second set when she held her game to 5-4 before Siniakova failed in her effort and conceded it 6-4 with an unforced error on return. People lay flowers in front of the Reina nightclub on January 3, 2017 in Istanbul days after a gunman killed 39 people during New Year celebrations. (AFP/Xinhua) ANKARA/ISTANBUL, Jan. 4 (Xinhua) -- The Turkish police have detained the wife of the Istanbul nightclub attacker who is still on the run three days after killing 39 people celebrating the New Year. IHA news agency said on Tuesday the gunman came to Turkey from Kyrgyzstan on Nov. 20 with his wife and two children, and the wife was detained in the central Anatolian city of Konya. According to IHA report, the wife told the police that she learned the attack from television reports and she had no information about his husband being an Islamic State (IS) sympathizer. The militant group on Monday claimed responsibility for the assault on Reina nightclub in central Istanbul, in which the gunman opened fire at hundreds of people at the New Year's party, killing 39, with 25 identified as foreign nationals, and injuring 69 others, with four discharged from hospital till now. As the manhunt was continuing, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus, following a cabinet meeting in Ankara on Monday, said police had got the fingerprints and descriptions of the attacker. Kurtulmus claimed that the Turkish authorities would soon be able to identify the attacker and "reveal the power behind him." A total of 12 suspects have been detained in Istanbul over their suspected links to the nightclub attack, press reports said. On Tuesday, a video showing the suspect taking a selfie as he silently toured Istanbul's most famous square -- Taksim Square was released by state-run Anadolu television and other Turkish media. However, it was not immediately clear if the video was made before or after the New Year's massacre, or how it was obtained. Abdullah Agar, a security analyst, said the deadly attack was carried out to derange the balance in Turkey, spoil the country's ongoing struggle against terror organizations outside of its territory, disturb the society's fragility even further, or have Turkey pay a price for its increasing cooperation with Russia. Turkey has been hit by around 30 bombing attacks over the past one and a half years, in which more than 400 people had lost their lives, prompting calls for steps to revamp the intelligence units and reduce polarization in society to better counter the scourge of terrorism. Ankara has blamed the terror attacks on its soil mostly on the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and the IS that is wreaking havoc in neighboring Iraq and Syria. Turkey has launched an offensive to northern Syria since August in hopes of clearing a strategic border area of IS militants and stemming the gains of Kurdish fighters. Turkish jets regularly bomb IS targets in the Syrian town of al-Bab in support of Syrian opposition forces try to re-capture it from the extremists. Following the attack, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a written statement "We are aware that these attacks carried out by different terrorist organizations targeting our citizens are not independent from incidents happening in our region," "We are determined to destroy the attacks and threats against our country from its root." Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, after visiting the injured in a hospital, spoke of Turkey's continuing battle against the PKK, the IS and the group led by Fethullah Gulen, a Turkish cleric living in the United States and leader of the so-called Gulen Movement now branded as a terror group by Ankara for Gulen's alleged role in directing the coup attempt in July 2016. Also on Tuesday, the Turkish parliament approved a motion to extend by another three months the state of emergency imposed in the wake of the July 15 failed coup against President Erdogan. Under the emergency rule, which had already been prolonged once before and was due to expire on Jan. 19, the government can bypass the parliament to enact new laws and limit or suspend rights and freedoms. Meanwhile, a bill to change the Turkey's constitution will be submitted to the General Assembly on Jan. 9 and is expected to be approved by the end of the month. The bill grants extended power to the president and allows the president to remain the head of his or her political party. The Turkish government said it would put the constitutional changes to a referendum, even if the proposals had gained enough support to pass through the parliament. Photo taken on Jan. 3, 2017 shows the trial site in Seoul, South Korea. The first trial on a parliamentary motion to impeach South Korean President Park Geun-hye ended just in nine minutes on Tuesday with Park, the principal of the trial, not in attendance. (Xinhua/Newsis) BEIJING, Jan. 4 (Xinhua) -- The first trial on a parliamentary motion to impeach South Korean President Park Geun-hye ended just in nine minutes on Tuesday without Park's attendance. The trial's outcome is believed to not only determine Park's fate as the country's leader, but also have a profound impact on the political arena of South Korea, which faces a major reshuffle. THE COURT The first hearing, which kicked off at 2 p.m. local time (0500 GMT), was wrapped up at 2:09 p.m. as Park refused to appear in the Constitutional Court, according to local media reports. The second date for pleading was set on Thursday and the third was scheduled for next Tuesday. Considering that Park has refuted all charges against her, a stiff court battle is expected to come up. Park's legal team has said she will not attend any of the remaining pleading sessions. Four former presidential secretaries will appear as witnesses on Thursday, while two senior presidential advisors as well as Choi Soon-sil, Park's longtime confidante at the center of the influence-peddling scandal, will be summoned in next week's third trial. Park was impeached in the unicameral assembly on Dec. 9. The court has up to 180 days to deliberate, but the judges are widely forecast to rule as early as late February. Also on Tuesday, Western High Court of Denmark rejected an appeal made by Chung Yoo-ra, the daughter of Choi Soon-sil, against a local court's decision to keep her in custody. Western High Court decided that the 20-year-old should remain in custody for four weeks after her arrest by Danish police on Sunday, a prosecutor's office said in a statement. She is wanted by the South Korean police for alleged economic crimes related to her mother. The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions said that it is still awaiting the formal extradition request from the South Korean authorities. THE MEETING Surprisingly, Park arranged a meeting with local journalists on Sunday, the first day of 2017, denying all allegations of her involvement in the scandal, which was viewed as a strategy to turn public opinion in her favor. The presidential Blue House told media outlets that Park plans to have such press meetings at an appropriate time, heralding her counterattack through the press as well as via her counsels on the court. Some domestic newspapers slammed the meeting by the suspended president, who is only allowed to defend herself in the court as an individual. Rep. Kwon Seong-dong, who leads the assembly's judiciary committee, also rapped Park for the press meeting, urging the impeached chief executive to appear in court to prove her innocence. Yonhap News Agency said in a report that Park may use the media to argue for her again in the future, which means she will not give up a last chance to turn the tide. THE POLL A poll published in South Korean newspaper Donga Ilbo showed that 78.1 percent of interviewee hoped that the trial will end with Park's impeachment. Moreover, the Park scandal for the first time in nearly three decades triggered a major division of the country's conservative bloc. A group of 29 anti-President Park faction lawmakers last month declared a formal defection from the ruling Saenuri Party to launch a new party tentatively named the "New Conservative Party of Reformists" set for Jan. 24. It was the first division in the conservative camp since the four-party system emerged in the country's dynamic party system in 1988. The minor opposition People's Party, composed mostly of former members of the main opposition Minjoo Party, was launched earlier this year. The political arena, led by two parties from both liberal and conservative camps, adds uncertainty to the country's next presidential election, which is expected to be held earlier than scheduled. The conservative Chosun Ilbo newspaper survey on Monday showed that Moon Jae-in, former chairman of the main opposition Minjoo Party, took first place under all scenarios, beating former UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon who is seen as the most powerful presidential candidate in the conservative camp. The career diplomat has not officially declared his run for the presidency. But he has said that he preferred to establish bipartisan cooperation and a political grand coalition, indicating his willingness to join a third playing field. Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang (Source: Fmprc.gov.cn) BEIJING, Jan. 4 (Xinhua) -- A special envoy of the Chinese government on the Syrian issue will travel to Geneva, the European Union, Turkey and Russia in efforts to work on a political solution to the Syrian crisis. "The visit of Xie Xiaoyan is aimed at enhancing communication with the parties concerned, supporting global efforts in promoting peace and pushing forward a political solution at an early date," Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said at a press briefing Wednesday in Beijing. "China, as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, has been playing a positive and constructive role in resolving the Syrian crisis," Geng added. Recently, the Syrian government and major opposition groups reached a nationwide ceasefire deal and agreed to start peace talks, which brought new opportunity for a political solution to the Syrian issue, Geng said. The UN Security Council last Saturday unanimously adopted a resolution supporting the Syria cease-fire arrangement brokered by Russia and Turkey, as well as new peace talks among conflicting parties set to be held in Astana, capital of Kazakhstan. Xie, China's former ambassador to Iran and Ethiopia as well as representative to the African Union, was appointed the special envoy on the Syrian issue in March 2016, with the aim of better promoting dialogue, contributing Chinese wisdom and communicating with other parties to facilitate a solution. Related: China stresses political solution, unity after proposal on chemical weapons in Syria EIJING, Dec. 28 (Xinhua) -- A foreign ministry spokesperson on Wednesday stressed that any action by the UN Security Council must help form a political solution on the Syrian issue and reflect the unity of the Security Council. JAKARTA, Jan. 4 (Xinhua) -- The Indonesian government has terminated all of its business deals with the U.S.-based JP Morgan Chase Bank NA following the latter's bad assessments on Indonesian sovereign bonds. The bank has served as Indonesia's primary bond dealer. In its research note issued on Nov.13 that envisioned global economy situation after the election of Donald Trump as the next U.S. president, JP Morgan downgraded the Indonesian equity market by two notches from "overweight" to "underweight". The note issued by JP Morgan triggered potential investors to reconsider their plans to invest in Indonesia's U.S. Dollar and Euro-denominated bonds, thus making Indonesia suffer from losses, according to Indonesian financial ministry. Robert Pakpahan, director general for Budget Financing and Risk Management at the financial ministry, confirmed on Tuesday that the ministry had stopped using JP Morgan's services as a primary dealer and an underwriter for Indonesian sovereign bonds, saying that the assessment issued by JP Morgan in November was neither accurate nor credible. The ministry has sent a letter to JP Morgan, notifying the suspension of the cooperation with the bank days after the bank issued its research note, he said. Commenting on cooperation suspension with JP Morgan, Indonesian Finance Minister Sri Mulyani said that Indonesia is always open to critics and assessment. "It is very important for us to improve. But as a credible bank, it (JP Morgan) has a big responsibility in developing positive psychology in the market. It, instead, created a misleading opinion," the minister said, adding that there was no point to preserve a non-mutually beneficial partnership with the bank. JP Morgan has been serving as the Indonesian government's partner in selling the latter's sovereign bonds since 2002. During its partnership period, JP Morgan has issued unfavorable assessments on the Indonesian market for several times. The Indonesian financial ministry previously sent warning letters to the bank in 2008 and 2015 regarding the bank's bad assessments against Indonesian foreign bonds, Director for the strategy and portfolio financing at the ministry's financing and risk management office Scenaider Siahaan said in a text message on Wednesday. JP Morgan was also in conflict of interests as it massively bought Indonesian bonds when the bonds' values dived down, which was the result of the bank's bad assessments, he said. He, however, did not elaborate further on the losses suffered by the Indonesian government due to the bank's illicit act. The official said that the ministry is ready to partner with the bank again if JP Morgan "could change" its attitude. JP Morgan is among the foreign banks that handle Indonesian bonds sales. It has handled the sales of 14 billion U.S. Dollars of Indonesian sovereign bonds since 2012, including 3.4 billion U.S. Dollars last year. JPMorgan head of communications for Southeast Asia Li Anne Wong said on Tuesday that the bank's operation in Indonesia would continue as usual despite the termination. She said that impact on the clients was minimal and the bank was looking forward to working with the Indonesian finance ministry to resolve the matter. BEIJING, Jan. 4 (Xinhua) -- Responses from several corners to Pyongyang's nuclear forecast at the onset of 2017 may be an early sign of tensions to come on the Korean Peninsula. Senior officials from the United States, Japan and South Korea will meet Thursday in Washington to discuss a trilateral approach to the Korean Peninsula's nuclear issue, the U.S. State Department said Tuesday. The meeting is scheduled several days after Kim Jong Un, top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), said Sunday during his New Year's address that his country's preparations for launching an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) have "reached the final stage." The State Department said the meeting with two of its top allies in the region will focus on "shared regional and global priorities, including our efforts to promote peace and stability." The response reaffirms a desire for the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula as a top priority on the regional and global agenda. However, previous rounds of cooperation between those three have resulted in joint military exercises which have only incited Pyongyang. The time has come for a new approach. The U.S., Japan and South Korea have failed to grasp the underlying causes that swiftly put an end to the six-party denuclearization talks years ago. It should be remembered that in April 2009, due in part to the U.S.-South Korea joint military exercise, Pyongyang tossed aside its promises for denuclearization in talks with Washington, Beijing, Moscow, Seoul and Tokyo. Pyongyang also blamed U.S. hostility for its withdrawal at the time. It blasted Washington for pushing for toughened United Nations sanctions in response to Pyongyang's nuclear tests. The DPRK says those tests are necessary to ensure its national security. Without moves to address Pyongyang's security concerns, denuclearization is merely an elusive dream. How can the DPRK move forward when it has to constantly watch its back? By now it should be clear: mounting pressure and punitive measures will not force Pyongyang back to the six-party talks. The six-party talks have proven so far to be the only solution to the peninsula's nuclear issue. The talk's approach of balancing the concerns of all parties through dialogue is the only workable way to resolve this longstanding issue. In his Monday response to Pyongyang via Twitter, incoming U.S. President Donald Trump added China to the fray by criticizing the country for being unhelpful in resolving the issue. But the president-elect ignores one crucial fact: Beijing proposed the six-party talks and advocates their resumption. Moreover, Trump's aggressive remark towards Pyongyang indicates a zero-sum mentality that may kill any chance to restore talks. Pyongyang "stated that it is in the final stages of developing a nuclear weapon capable of reaching parts of the U.S. It won't happen!" Trump tweeted. On Trump's remarks, White House said Tuesday it will "let his team explain exactly what he means." Trump's unpredictability and differences with the outgoing President Barack Obama on several issues are sure to add variables of uncertainty to a volatile nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula. Sgt. Elor Azaria(C) arrives at the courtroom before the announcement of his verdict at Hakirya military court in Tel Aviv, Israel, Jan. 4, 2017. Israeli military court on Wednesday convicted Sgt. Elor Azaria of the manslaughter of a Palestinian who was laying wounded and motionless after trying to stab soldiers in the West Bank city of Hebron last March. (Xinhua/Miriam Alster-JINI) JERUSALEM, Jan. 4 (Xinhua) -- Israeli military court on Wednesday convicted Sgt. Elor Azaria of the manslaughter of a Palestinian who was laying wounded and motionless after trying to stab soldiers in the West Bank city of Hebron last March. A three-judge panel unanimously ruled that Azaria is guilty of shooting and unlawful killing of Abdel al-Fattah Yusri al-Sharif, 21, in the neighborhood of Tel Rumeida in Hebron on March 24. "There was no reason for shooting the terrorist, certainly not at his head," the judges said. Azaria was a 19-year-old army medic soldier at the time of the shooting. According to the verdict, the incident took place after al-Sharif and another Palestinian, Ramzi Aziz al-Qasarwi, stabbed a soldier, wounding him lightly. Troops opened fire at them, killing al-Qasarwi and seriously injuring Al-Sharif. Al-Sharif was laying on the ground, immobilized, for about 30 minutes, before Azaria approached him and shot to his head. An autopsy proved this shot killed al-Sharif, the judges said. Azaria argued for self-defense, claiming he shot al-Sharif because he feared the youth was carrying a bomb under his jacket. After the shooting, a video footage of the incident surfaced on the internet and went viral, prompting a military police investigation into the case. Under Israeli military law, the maximum punishment for manslaughter is 20 years in jail. Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman said the verdict was "difficult," but called on the public to respect the court's decision. "Despite the difficult verdict, the defense establishment will do everything it can to assist the soldier and his family," he said. The trial, which began in May, has deeply divided the Israeli society, with many Israelis hailing Azaria as a "hero." Lawmakers and ministers came to his defense, saying the army should stand by his soldiers even if they were wrong. The incident occurred in a tensed time between Israelis and Palestinians, amidst a spate of violence in the West Bank and Israel. The violence has claimed the lives of at least 240 Palestinians and 34 Israelis since September 2015. The court's ruling was a rare case of conviction of a soldier in a killing of a Palestinian person. According to figures released by Human Rights Watch on Wednesday, since October 2015, there have been at least 150 instances in which Israeli security forces have fatally shot Palestinians suspected of carrying out attacks. KIEV, Jan. 4 (Xinhua) -- China and Ukraine, which are celebrating the 25th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations Wednesday, have vast potential to push forward their strategic cooperation thanks to the opportunities offered by the Silk Road Initiative, a senior Ukrainian official said Wednesday. "This initiative opens up huge opportunities for the investment as well as for the development of cooperation in agriculture, science and technologies and other sectors," Iryna Nikorak, a secretary of Ukraine's parliamentary group on the development of relations with China, told Xinhua. She spoke highly of the significant progress the Belt and Road Initiative has made since it was launched more than three years ago, noting that now it connects some 60 countries and represents about 35 percent of the world's gross domestic product (GDP). "These figures are very impressive and I believe that Ukraine, given its geographical location and transit potential, should fully use the opportunities provided by this project," Nikorak said. In particular, Ukraine, which has a free-trade area with the European Union, has the potential to become a commercial link connecting Asia with Europe, she said. "Under the Belt and Road Initiative, China may establish enterprises and manufacturing bases in Ukraine to produce a wide variety of products and export them to European countries," Nikorak said. Besides, the cargo train connecting Ukraine and China via the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route, which is planned to be launched this year, could become an important tool to boost bilateral trade between the two nations. "We must develop this route, further improve its effectiveness and make it economically attractive to enhance win-win cooperation with China," Nikorak said. She emphasized that resolute actions are needed from the Ukrainian authorities to facilitate the country's access to the Silk Road project. "If we show our active position on foreign policy, I think we have good chances to join this project and attract investments to our country," the official said. File photo shows staff members of Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) carry elephant tusks to the burning site of the Nairobi National Park in Nairobi, capital of Kenya, April 20, 2016. (Xinhua/John Okoyo) NAIROBI, Jan. 4 (Xinhua) -- China's latest ban on processing and sale of ivory products marked a historic milestone in efforts to save African elephants from poaching, Kenyan wildlife officials said on Tuesday. Richard Leakey, chairman of the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), hailed the Chinese government's decision, saying it will revitalize global action on illegal trade in trophies. "I was pleased to learn about China's action that will sound a death knell to ivory trade. I hope other nations will follow China's example," Leakey told Xinhua. The Chinese government on Dec. 30 announced it will phase out processing and sale of ivory by the end of 2017. Beijing had previously imposed a three-year ban on ivory imports in a bid to strengthen global war against illegal trade in critical wildlife species. Leakey said China's landmark ban on trade in ivory products had inspired the international community at a time efforts had gathered steam to halt loss of African elephants due to poaching and climatic stresses. "The ban is a positive move that reinforces the urgency to save the remaining herd of elephants," said Leakey, adding that China's role was crucial to intensifying public awareness on elephant protection. Kenya and China are in partnership in wildlife protection through technology and skills transfer. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, during his visit to Kenya in 2014, announced assistance to enhance protection of iconic wildlife species. Leakey said that China's stewardship was crucial to re-energize wildlife protection initiatives in Kenya and across the region. He said closure of the ivory market in many parts of the globe would deal a fatal blow to poaching of giant mammals. On their part, Kenyan conservationists welcomed China's decision to ban ivory trade, saying it injected fresh vitality in policy and legislative interventions to save elephants. Munira Bashir, the Kenya Program Director at The Nature Conservancy, described China's ban on ivory trade as a giant step towards elimination of wildlife crimes. "We would like China to sensitize everyone that illegal ivory trade is a threat to elephants," Bashir said. Peter Knights, Executive Director of WildAid, a U.S.-based conservation lobby, also applauded China for the ban. "This is probably the greatest single measure that could be taken to reduce poaching and help elephants," Knights said. A CRH high-speed train is seen at a maintenance center in Zhengzhou, capital of central China's Henan Province, Sept. 6, 2016. (Xinhua/Li An) BUENOS AIRES, Jan. 3 (Xinhua) -- China will remain as an engine of global economic growth in 2017 due to its stability in an uncertain international context, said Argentine sociologist Josefina de Rosa. China's "new normal" of economic growth has allowed its economy to grow steadily, de Rosa said, citing China's average growth of 6.7 percent in the first three quarters of 2016. "The predicted hard landing did not happen," she said. "China's proposals...which were materialized at the Hangzhou G20 Summit, concerning the Belt and Road Initiative and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), are examples of its importance," de Rosa said. According to the International Monetary Fund, China is the second largest economy in the world and the main export destination for over 100 economies. Aeria photo taken on Dec. 31, 2016 shows the night scenery of Shanghai, east China, Dec. 31, 2016. (Xinhua/Ding Ting) The Belt and Road Initiative, proposed by China in 2013, saw the development of infrastructure and railways in areas along its routes in 2016. The AIIB, launched in late 2015, issued loans totaling 1.73 billion U.S. dollars for nine infrastructure projects in seven countries in 2016. Furthermore, China has actively pushed for the implementation of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and participants at the G20 summit held in September in the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou reached important consensus on the agenda's implementation. China has made economic stability its priority in 2017, De Rosa said. "China will continue being an engine of global growth in 2017. Its stand for globalization and against protectionism are helpful, when other economies are facing uncertainties from a slow recovery," she noted. Charged with attempting to choke Salazar appeared before Senior Magistrate Gloria Jasmath in the First Court, who read the charge to him that on Sunday last, at St Johns Trace, Marabella, he did attempt to suffocate Candace Wilson in an attempt to render her incapable of resistance with intent to commit an arrestable offence. Court prosecutor PC Cleyon Seedan, told the magistrate that the charge was laid indictably and that Salazar had a record which the prosecution still needed to check in order to determine if there were previous convictions against his name. The magistrate read a second charge to Salazar that on that same day, he had in his possession a knife for the purpose of committing an arrestable offence. Magistrate Jasmath remanded him into custory to reappear on January 12. Cuban vet pleads not guilty Giselle Galindo Morales, 30, of Havana, pleaded not guilty to the charge that at the Immigration Office, Knox Street in San Fernando, she had the passport which was allegedly tampered with. Morales appeared before Magistrate Kerry Ann Byer who read the charge which was laid under Section 40 (j) (1) of the Immigration Act. The magistrate was told that Morales got married to a Trinidadian last month, but attorney Ainsley Lucky who pleaded for bail to be granted, was challenged by the police prosecutor, who told Magistrate Byer that there was a risk that the defendant could flee in a boat and return to Cuba. The charge alleges that Morales committed the act of tampering with the passport, on Wednesday December 28. Magistrate Byer asked the accused womans husband Russel Stephen Anthony, who was present in court, to show some form of identification and he produced a marriage certificate. The case was stood down as Anthony was allowed to go to his car to fetch his Drivers Permit which he produced to the court when the case was recalled. Magistrate granted Morales bail in the sum of $85,000 with a surety and adjourned the case to January 31. The magistrate was told, however, that in any event, Morales would be taken to the Immigration Centre because the date stamped on her passport for her last day of stay in this jurisdiction is today. Attorney Lucky then told Magistrate Byer that he was quite curious as to why the alleged act was committed on December 28, but Morales was only brought to court yesterday as today is her last day to stay legally in Trinidad and Tobago. Lucky asked Magistrate Byer to issue a summons for Arleen Kareem of Critchlow Street, San Fernando to attend court on the next occasion, because it was his view that she has answers to certain questions about the alleged committal of the offence. Credit: Joel BernsteinTom Petty & the Heartbreakers recently announced plans for a major North American tour commemorating their 40th anniversary, and now the band has added another date to the trek -- a headlining appearance at the 2017 BottleRock Napa Valley festival in Napa, California. The event, which takes place May 26 to 28 at the Napa Valley Expo, also features headlining sets by Foo Fighters and pop-rockers Maroon 5. Among the many other acts on the bill are Live, Mavis Staples, House of Pain, The Roots, Modest Mouse, Ani DiFranco, Ben Harper & The Innocent Criminals, Silversun Pickups, Fitz and the Tantrums and Gavin DeGraw. Tickets to the festival go on sale Wednesday, January 4, at 10 a.m. PT. Visit BottleRockNapaValley.com for the full lineup and ticket info. As previously reported, Petty & the Heartbreakers' 40th anniversary tour gets underway on April 20 in Oklahoma City and is plotted out through a July 26-27 engagement in Forest Hills, New York. Copyright 2017, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. Pamela Anderson pens letter to Obama United States,Cinema/Showbiz,Hollywood, Wed, 04 Jan 2017 IANS Los Angeles, Jan 4 (IANS) Actress Pamela Anderson has penned a letter to US President Barack Obama, urging him to consider "pardoning" Julian Assange after his website WikiLeaks leaked hacked Democratic emails in the run up to the US Presidential election last year. The 49-year-old penned a letter to the politician, who will step down as the American leader later this week, pleading him to stop the investigation into the hacking scandal that revealed Russia had allegedly tampered with the results of the election by tapping into email accounts and sharing them with the website, reports femalefirst.co.uk. The actress posted the letter on her website. "I must request with urgency, humility, and as a lover of all beings - as I advocate for many important issues around the world - I see human rights are being violated in demeaning political ways that are not helpful to anyone... I'm asking you to remember the beginning of your political career," she posted. "When you had a dream, an idea, a cause worth the fight. When you had obstacles and fairness was not always in your favor. I request that you consider Pardoning Julian Assange in your last days in office. It would be a bold and exciting move for the time we live in -- the information age generation. Please stop the grand jury investigation, and the bullying that is turning the world off America. "We must stop making Julian (or Russia) the scapegoat - children are smarter than this, and it is very divisive and tearing generations apart. It simply must end - and is doable by the stroke of your pen," she added. The former "Baywatch" actress went on to state that she accepts if President Obama made the decision to call off the investigation, it would cause uproar but thinks it's vital for the world going forward. "I understand Julian has been painted a bad guy - but he is not. He is a genius worth protection. the contents of the what he has published through Wikileaks are pure and uncensored. They are just the truth - the distraction tactics are see through - it creates mistrust... Julian and Wikileaks are essential - especially in this political climate. We need truth tellers more than ever," Anderson posted, femalefirst.co.uk reported. Obama called for an investigation into the hacking scandal after it was claimed the leak benefited US President-elect Donald Trump, by making his competitor Hilary Clinton and her aides look back in the emails that were shared and later published on WikiLeaks. Anderson has been a close friend of Assange for some time now and regularly visits him with homemade vegan snacks when she's in London. --IANS ks/rb/vm Candidates to submit certificate from public agencies: EC Delhi,National,Immigration/Law/Rights,Politics, Wed, 04 Jan 2017 IANS New Delhi, Jan 4 (IANS) The Election Commission of India on Wednesday said that the candidates will have to submit a 'No Demand Certificate' from agencies providing amenities and government accommodation. Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi said: "The candidates will be required to file a no demand certificate and this certificate will come from agencies dealing with electricity, water, telephone and also the rent certificate of the government accommodation which these candidates may have occupied in past ten years." Zaidi said this at a press conference while speaking on the additional affidavit required to be filled by the candidates in the upcoming state polls, in the light of an order of the Delhi High Court. Any failure to file these affidavits would be a defect of substantial nature inviting scrutiny by the returning officer, he added. --IANS rs/in/vm EC to implement SC ruling on caste, religion Delhi,National,Immigration/Law/Rights,Politics,Religion, Wed, 04 Jan 2017 IANS New Delhi, Jan 4 (IANS) The Election Commission of India on Wednesday said that it will implement the Supreme Court ruling that seeking votes in the name of caste, creed, religion, community and language is illegal. "EC is committed to abide by the apex court order. The order of the Supreme Court will be implemented effectively," Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi said while answering questions on the January 2 ruling. A Constitution bench headed by the then Chief Justice of India T.S. Thakur had ruled that seeking votes on the basis of religion, race, caste or language of a candidate or his rival or even that of the voters is illegal and could jeopardise the electoral process. The apex court's decision was termed as "historic and bold" by all the political parties. --IANS aks/in/vt Cabinet approves customs agreement with Uruguay Delhi,National,Business/Economy, Wed, 04 Jan 2017 IANS New Delhi, Jan 4 (IANS) The Union Cabinet, at a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday, approved the signing of an agreement between India and Uruguay for cooperation in matters related to customs. "The agreement will help in the availability of relevant information for the prevention and investigation of customs offences," the Finance Ministry said in a statement here. "It is also expected to facilitate trade and ensure efficient clearance of goods traded between the countries," it said. "The draft agreement takes care of India's concerns and requirements, particularly in the area of exchange of information on the correctness of the customs value declared, the authenticity of certificates of origin of goods and the description of the goods traded between the two countries," the statement added. The agreement would provide a legal framework for sharing of information and intelligence between the customs authorities of the two countries and help in the proper application of customs laws, besides facilitating legitimate trade. --IANS mm/in/vt BJP to highlight development, Congress the note ban, state issues Delhi,National,Politics, Wed, 04 Jan 2017 IANS New Delhi, Jan 4 (IANS) As the Election Commission on Wednesday announced polling dates for five states, the BJP said development will be an important poll issue whereas the Congress said the November 8 demonetisation and state-level issues will hold the key. Bharatiya Janata Party spokesperson Siddhartha Nath Singh said: "In larger states like Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, the ruling parties face anti-incumbency and will not like to talk about development. While development will remain our poll plank, they will attack demonetisation." "Voters are fed up of corruption. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP are committed towards the fight against corruption. As for the development front, the BJP and its allies stand out all along." Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari put the note ban as the central issue for the coming state elections. "The notes ban has caused the maximum pain to each of the 125 crore Indians." "Somewhere down the line, it will definitely weigh with the voters. But in assembly elections, state issues are top on the people's mind. There is going to be a mixed bunch of issues. It is not going to be a single issue on which the elections are going to be fought. The state elections are always decided more on state issues." Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa, Punjab and Manipur will be held between February 4 and March 8. The results of thne elections in all five states will come out on March 11 after vote counting. --IANS rs-sid/tsb/vt Dalai Lama's abode deserted, Tibetans head to Bodh Gaya for 'Kalchakra' Himachal Pradesh,National,Religion, Wed, 04 Jan 2017 IANS Dharamsala, Jan 4 (IANS) Thousands of Tibetan Buddhists have left this town in Himachal Pradesh and have reached Bodh Gaya in Bihar to listen to the teachings of their spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, and participate in the highly-venerated 'Kalachakra' (Wheel of Time) ceremony. The spiritual leader, along with monks of the Namgyal Monastery, started a ritual preparation on Monday to consecrate the venue. The 'Kalachakra' preliminary teachings will be held from January 5-8, while the Dalai Lama will confer the 34th Kalachakra initiation from January 11-13, event organisers said. McLeodganj, a suburb of this town where the Tibetan government-in-exile is based, and is home to a large Tibetan population, is looking abandoned. "Most of our family members have already reached Bodh Gaya to participate in teachings and seek blessings of Guru-ji (the Dalai Lama)," said octogenarian shopkeeper Tenzin Choewang. He said owing to poor heath he could not attend the Kalachakra ceremony for the first time in his life. "For us the Kalachakra ceremony is like the Pope coming to dedicate a new church," his youngest grandson Tenzin, who preferred to stay back, added. Lobsang Sangay, the democratically-elected Prime Minister, along with his cabinet colleagues and top functionaries, is also camping in Bodh Gaya, a sacred place with over 2,000 years of history. The 34th Kalachakra initiation, being organised by the Central Tibetan Administration, saw more than 100,000 devotees on the first day of the ritual preparation. Most of them have come from over 17 countries, including China, Mongolia, the US and Australia. Wangmo Dolkar, who earns a livelihood by selling Tibetan dumplings or momos outside the Tsuglagkhang temple here, said most of the local vendors have reached Bodh Gaya. Since most of the locals are in Bodh Gaya and thousands of devotees are coming there from across the world, it is the best opportunity to earn handsomely there, she said. Lobsang Wangyal, the producer and director of the Tibetan Music Awards based in McLeodganj who is currently in Bodh Gaya, said the Bihar government has made elaborate arrangements for the ceremony. "We are ringing in the New Year on a very positive note with the teachings and blessings of His Holiness," Wangyal told IANS over the phone. He said the local administration has made elaborate security arrangements for the ceremony. Members of the hospitality industry here said the deserted McLeodganj, which became an attraction for tourists in search of Tibetan culture and spiritual sustenance after India allowed the Dalai Lama to settle here, will impact their business. "Our business is normally hit when His Holiness is travelling. This time it is impacted more as a large number of locals have also travelled out of the town," said Pankaj Chadha, owner of the McLio restaurant. The spiritual guru's teachings are free and open to the public. Even board and lodging is free for the participants, says the Dalai Lama's office. The teaching sessions are held at the request of followers and devotees, mostly Westerners and Asians. The Dalai Lama teaches in Tibetan and there are simultaneous translations in English, Hindi and Chinese for the participants. The Dalai Lama fled Tibet after a failed uprising against Chinese Communist rule in 1959. The government-in-exile is based in Dharamsala and has never won formal recognition from any country though contacts are maintained at various levels. (Vishal Gulati can be contacted at vishal.g@ians.in ) --IANS vg/vm/sac Trinamool hits streets to protest MP's arrest by CBI West Bengal,National,Politics, Wed, 04 Jan 2017 IANS Kolkata, Jan 4 (IANS) Trinamool Congress ministers and senior leaders on Wednesday joined in protest rallies organised by the state's ruling party across districts against the arrest of party's Lok Sabha leader Sudip Bandyopadhyay. Bandyopadhyay was arrested on Tuesday by the Central Bureau of Investigation after hours of grilling over the Rose Valley chit fund scam. Another Trinamool MP, Tapas Pau,l is already under the CBI arrest in connection with the scam. The Trinamool Congress activists blocked several roads and railway lines, and agitated at various blocks of districts. A group of Trinamool supporters blocked the gate and agitated at the CBI's regional office at the Central Government Organisations (CGO) complex in Salt Lake, demanding an answer for Bandyopadhyay's arrest. More than a hundred activists of Trinamool Congress's youth and student wings gathered in front of Union Minister Babul Supriyo's house here and shouted slogans, demanding the BJP leader's arrest for his alleged involvement in the ponzi scam. The agitators blocked National Highway 34 at Nadia district's Chakdaha and burnt the effigy of Prime Minister Narenda Modi. National Highway 2 was also lumped for more than an hour at Burdwan district's Asansol. A group of Trinamool supporters led by party leader Paresh Pal held a rally in north Kolkata's Kakurgachi. Train services were also disrupted by blockades at several railway stations, including Garia and Baraipur of Sealdah South section. --IANS mgr/bdc/vgu/vt Manipur CM to meet Congress President Delhi,National,Politics,Business/Economy, Wed, 04 Jan 2017 IANS New Delhi, Jan 4 (IANS) Manipur Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh and 49 Congress legislators will on Wednesday meet party President Sonia Gandhi over the economic blockade in the state and poll preparations. According to party sources, Singh will meet Gandhi at her residence here. "Manipur Chief Minister will meet the Congress President over the ongoing tensions in the state following the economic blockade and also for poll preparations," a source told IANS. The Election Commission of India on Wednesday said five states, including Manipur, will go to polls to elect their new assemblies between February 4 and March 8. Manipur will vote in two phases -- March 4 and 8. Earlier in the day, Congress leader from Kerala Ramesh Chennithala met the Chief Minister at Manipur Bhawan here and expressed solidarity with the state government over the ongoing tensions. Ibobi Singh and the Congress legislators arrived here on Tuesday evening to meet President Pranab Mukherjee over ethnic tensions in the state. --IANS rup/py/vt Ryan Gosling pays tribute to Debbie Reynolds United States,Cinema/Showbiz,Hollywood, Wed, 04 Jan 2017 IANS Los Angeles, Jan 4 (IANS) Actor Ryan Gosling paid tribute to late actress Debbie Reynolds at the Palm Springs International Film Festival awards gala. The event took place on Monday, reports eonline.com. Gosling's "La La Land" was honoured with the Vanguard Award at the annual ceremony. As he picked up the prize alongside director Damien Chazelle and composer Justin Hurwitz, he thanked Reynolds for inspiring his work on the movie with her performance in iconic film "Singing in the Rain". "I wish I could have said this in person but I'd like to thank Debbie Reynolds for her wonderful career of work," Gosling said. "She was an inspiration to us every day. We watched 'Singing in the Rain' every day for inspiration, a truly unparalleled talent so thank you to her for all that inspiration," he added. Reynolds died on December 28 aged 84, just a day after her daughter Carrie Fisher passed away, --IANS sas/rb Clintons, George W. Bush to attend Trump inauguration United States,Politics, Wed, 04 Jan 2017 IANS Washington, Jan 4 (IANS) Ex-President Bill Clinton and his wife, ex-presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, as well as former President George W. Bush, will attend the inauguration of Donald Trump as the new US President on January 20. Bill (1993-2001) and Hillary Clinton will be at the ceremony to be held at the Capitol in Washington, despite the knock-down, drag-out electoral campaign that ended with Trump's surprise victory over his Democratic rival on November 8, his advisers told the daily The Hill, EFE news reported. Despite losing the popular vote by some 2.8 million ballots nationwide, Trump got the 270 Electoral College votes needed to win the presidency in a system that gives each state a certain number of votes according to its demographic weight and equivalent to its number of representatives in Congress. Also at the inauguration will be George W. Bush (2001-2009) and his wife, former First Lady Laura Bush, though they refused ot vote for the billionaire in the elections, the office of the Republican ex-President said in a statement. "They are pleased to be able to witness the peaceful transfer of power -- a hallmark of American democracy -- and swearing-in of President Trump and Vice President Pence," the note said. Both George W. and Laura Bush left the presidential part of the ballot blank in the last elections, another sign of their rejection of the real estate magnate from the moment Trump was picked as the Republican nominee by his party in last July's primaries. On election day, Trump thought it "sad" that the ex-President left his ballot blank, but predicted it would make no difference to the results. Before the presence of the Clintons and the Bush couple was announced, Democrat Jimmy Carter (1977-1981) was the only former US President to say he would attend Trump's inauguration. Bush's father, former President George H. W. Bush (1989-1993), 92, will be the only living ex-President who does not attend Trump's swearing-in, Bush's spokesperson revealed last month, giving as the reason his delicate state of health. Outgoing US President Barack Obama is expected to follow tradition and attend the ceremony in the Capitol before handing over the presidency to Donald Trump. --IANS lok/ iPhone ranked India's most reputed mobile phone Delhi,Business/Economy,Technology, Wed, 04 Jan 2017 IANS New Delhi, Jan 4 (IANS) Apple's iPhone has been named as Indias most reputed mobile phone brand, followed by Samsung and domestic brand Micromax. According to a report "India's Most Reputed Mobile Phone Brands 2017" by media analytics company BlueBytes, in association with business intelligence company TRA Research, Apple's iPhone has the highest positive media appearances in terms of sheer volume. "In a cluttered space like the mobile phone industry, with diverse brands attempting to capture consumer attention, customers buy and recommend on the basis of reputation, making it the most important influencer of buying decisions," said Pooja Kaura, Chief Spokesperson for "India's Most Reputed Brands". China's Xiaomi and Finland's Nokia secured fourth and fifth position respectively. Seventy two mobile phone brands were listed from 12 different countries in the report, of which Indian origin brands held 29 positions. Chinese brands Lenovo, Huawei, and Motorola -- now owned by Lenovo -- ranked sixth, seventh and eighth respectively. LG (South Korea) and Intex Technologies (India) figure last in the list. --IANS qd/vgu/bg Cambodia sends troops to Lebanon for peacekeeping mission Cambodia,Defence/Security,Diplomacy, Wed, 04 Jan 2017 IANS Phnom Penh, Jan 4 (IANS) Cambodia on Wednesday sent the seventh batch of 184 peacekeepers to Lebanon to replace the sixth group, whose one-year UN peacekeeping mission has come to an end. The military engineering group, including 16 females, would work on landmine clearance and construction of roads, bridges, shelters and barracks, Xinhua news agency quoted General Pol Saroeun, Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces, as saying. "This event once again reflects Cambodia's active contribution to maintaining peace, security and stability in the world," he said. He advised the peacekeepers to strictly respect Lebanon's independence and sovereignty and to work hard in order to achieve the humanitarian mission. Alexandre Huynh, coordinator of the UN Development Programme (UNDP) to Cambodia, hailed the country for supporting the UN peacekeeping operations, saying its contribution was a role model to the world. "Your dedication to helping others, sharing your skills with other countries that are suffering from conflict, will be precious and a source of hope and inspiration to many." Huynh said that since 2006, the Southeast Asian country has provided 4,180 troops to participate in the UN peacekeeping operations in Sudan, South Sudan, Chad, Central African Republic, Lebanon, Mali, Syria and Cyprus. --IANS py/ Tata Trusts-Google India tie-up with MobiKwik to expand digital literacy Delhi,Business/Economy, Wed, 04 Jan 2017 IANS New Delhi, Jan 4 (IANS) With the aim to drive digital economy in rural parts of the country, Tata Trusts and Google India on Wednesday announced a tie-up with mobile wallet major MobiKwik to enable cashless transactions. According to a company statement, the tie-up will expand the 'Internet Saathi' initiative -- a joint initiative of Tata Trusts and Google India -- which is aimed at transforming the lives of over 200 million people with digital literacy. The statement said the pilot plan was rolled out in Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh on Wednesday. "As part of the Digital India initiative and Tata Trusts' overall digital strategy, our aim is to drive empowerment with a focus on digital innovation to create a revenue opportunity for the communities at a larger level with sustainable impact," Raman Kalyanakrishnan, Project Director, Tata Trusts, said. Tata Trusts and Google India launched the Internet Saathi programme with the objective to reduce gender barrier for access to the internet and its benefits. "Launched in July 2015, Internet Saathi programme is now live in 10 states reaching out to over 26,000 villages. Close to 12,00,000 women have benefited from the programme by getting trained on digital and internet literacy," the statement read. The statement explained that the campaign carried out by the "Internet Saathis" enables the village communities to get acquainted with the smart devices with the potential of sourcing information from the devices and making wallet payments through the mobile wallet. --IANS ppg/sm/bg Two killed in Iraqi military copter crash Iraq,Crime/Disaster/Accident,Defence/Security, Wed, 04 Jan 2017 IANS Tikrit (Iraq), Jan 4 (IANS) An Iraqi military helicopter crashed on Wednesday due to technical malfunction, killing two crew members, the media reported. The chopper crashed while flying near the town of Baiji, some 200 km north of Baghdad, Xinhua news agency reported. Iraqi security forces retrieved the bodies of the two members. The incident occurred as the Iraqi security forces backed by anti-Islamic State coalition are carrying out a major offensive to drive out the militants from its last major stronghold in and around Mosul. --IANS sakshi/sar/ahm/mr Myanmar holds ceremonies to mark 69th Independence Day Myanmar,Indo-Pak/Pakistan,Politics, Wed, 04 Jan 2017 IANS Nay Pyi Taw, Jan 4 (IANS) Myanmar held state ceremonies here and in Yangon respectively to mark the country's 69th Independence Day on Wednesday. In Nay Pyi Taw, Vice President Myint Swe read out the message sent by President Htin Kyaw, stressing the importance for all the national brethren to keep an eye on the 21st Century Panglong Conference at which all can cooperate and find a solution to national reconciliation and union peace, Xinhua news agency reported. "Despite regaining independence, it was tragic to see certain national races in some regions could not fully enjoy the fruits of independence as their future was overwhelmed by armed crisis. "At present those doubt and crisis were extinct and all the national brethren are trying hard to possess everlasting peace and to build a federal state," Htin Kyaw said in the message. He added that the armed struggle lasted for long but could not solve the political crisis, leaving the country undeveloped for decades. The president noted that the constitution is the foundation of all the laws and plays a vital role in a country. He stressed the need to collaborate to adopt the constitution appropriate to the time and circumstances of current situation in building a democratic federal nation. In Yangon, a national flag hoisting ceremony with a guard of honour to mark Independence Day was held for the first time in the new government's tenure in the Maha Bandoola Park. The ceremony was held in front of the City Hall where the independence memorial monument is situated, with Yangon Region Chief Minister Phyo Min Thein also reading out the president's Independence Day message. Myanmar became a British colony in the late 19th century and regained its independence on January 4, 1948. --IANS sm/bg Why are look-books important? Delhi,Cinema/Showbiz,Lifestyle/Fashion, Wed, 04 Jan 2017 IANS New Delhi, Jan 4 (IANS) Too much to choose from your wardrobe, but short of ideas? Take a cue from look-books. A look-book is a collection of photographs compiled to show off a style or a clothing line -- who are often unable to figure out how, says an expert. Rashi Menda, CEO and Founder at Zapyle, an e-commerce website which sells pre-owned luxury goods, has spoken about the benefits of consulting a look-book: * Inspires and educates: Confused on how to work a tuxedo for the holidays? Tuxedos are not only meant for men to be adorned as evening wear, a woman too can match a tuxedo with sequined pants, a white-button down shirt and a blazer. A look-book can give innovative ideas and create designs for you to try out with elan. * Not just clothing, there is more to it: Apart from everyday styles or occasion clothing, a look-book helps you with make-up, jewellery, hairstyle and other accessories that you can embrace to look your best. While a look-book proves to be a worthwhile guide, so that you aren't left with a pant here and a dress there that doesn't match anything else in your wardrobe, it also helps to prep up your overall style. * For a particular season and occasion: Each look-book serves a detailed collection that is meant for a particular season and occasion. Each style in the collection will have something to offer in terms of fabric, colours and theme. * They are loaded with information: Before buying a product or apparel, a customer is keen to know about the brand history, price, delivery and return details, style notes, size guide and body measurements. The look-book may also contain the brand's history, information on the designers and the inspirations behind the collection at hand. This fashion diary of sorts is a vital step that sets the tone for the audience to perceive what they are preparing to view. --IANS ks/rb/bg AgustaWestland case: Two more accused granted bail Delhi,National,Immigration/Law/Rights,Defence/Security, Wed, 04 Jan 2017 IANS New Delhi, Jan 4 (IANS) After granting bail to former Indian Air Force chief S.P. Tyagi, a court here on Wednesday granted bail to two more accused arrested in the AgustaWestland VVIP helicopter deal case. Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Special Judge Arvind Kumar allowed the bail pleas of Sanjeev Tyagi and a Delhi-based lawyer Gautam Khaitan. The court asked them to furnish a personal bond of Rs 2 lakh and a surety of like amount each. Sanjeev Tyagi is the cousin of S.P. Tyagi, who was arrested on December 9 on the charge of receiving kickbacks in the multi-million dollar AgustaWestland helicopter deal. On December 26, the court granted bail to the former Indian Air Force chief. The CBI has alleged that Tyagi and the other accused received bribes from AgustaWestland and helped the manufacturer win the $530-million contract to purchase the helicopters for the Communication Squadron of the Indian Air Force for ferrying the President, the Prime Minister and other VVIPs. The probe agency further added that the company was favoured by the accused against illegal gratification accepted through different companies in the name of consultancy services. An FIR was registered against them on March 12, 2013 under various charges dealing with criminal conspiracy, cheating and under provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act. --IANS akk/nir/bg We will win majority in Punjab assembly polls: CM Bihar,National,Politics,Religion, Wed, 04 Jan 2017 IANS Patna, Jan 4 (IANS) Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal on Wednesday said his Shiromani Akali Dal and ally BJP will win a majority of seats in the February 4 Punjab assembly polls. "We will win three fourth of the assembly seats since there is no opposition in Punjab. Hamare saath kisi ka muqabla nahin hain (no one is capable of competing with us)," he told the media soon after his arrival here. Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal too on Wednesday said his party was poised to win more than 100 of the 117 assembly seats in Punjab. Badal arrived here along with his family in a special plane to participate in the ongoing 'Prakash Utsav' celebrations to commemorate the 350th birth anniversary of Guru Gobind Singh at Patna Sahib. Badal was received by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar at the Patna airport. Badal will visit Takht Sri Harimandir ji Patna Sahib -- the birthplace of Guru Gobind Singh -- late Wednesday evening. Former Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh and Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad on Tuesday offered prayers at the gurdwara. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal offered prayers at the holy place two days ago. --IANS ik/tsb/bg Manipur blockade to continue despite poll dates' announcement: Naga Council Delhi,National,Politics,Immigration/Law/Rights, Wed, 04 Jan 2017 IANS New Delhi, Jan 4 (IANS) The United Naga Council (UNC) on Wednesday said that they will continue with the economic blockade despite the announcement of Manipur assembly elections by the Election Commission. According to the UNC -- apex body of the Nagas based in Manipur -- elections cannot be held peacefully in the Naga-inhabited areas of Manipur until the prevailing problems are resolved. "The blockade will continue. Solving of Manipur's problems has to be done through dialogue between the parties in conflict. So far, the government of Manipur has failed to respond politically. "We have no other option but to intensify the blockade, no matter what the Election Commission has announced regarding the polls in the state," K.S. Paul, former President of the UNC, told IANS from Manipur. The Election Commission of India on Wednesday said five states, including Manipur, will go to polls to elect their new assemblies between February 4 and March 8. Manipur will vote in two phases -- March 4 and 8. Paul -- an active member of the UNC -- said the Manipur government has betrayed the Nagas of Manipur. "We have been betrayed by the Manipur government, as it did not consult us on the creation of seven new districts out of our ancestral land. We do not know whether the situation will be conducive for holding free and fair elections in the Naga areas of the state," said Paul. "Bulldozing the interests of the Nagas, particularly on the issue of our ancestral land, won't be compromised under any circumstances. We do not consider the Manipur government as a popular government, as the districts were created without consulting us," added Paul. Tension has been simmering in Manipur due to an economic blockade called by the UNC in the state. National Highways (NH) 37 and NH 2 have been badly affected due to the blockade. Although the blockade started on November 1 when the state government was planning to create new districts by bifurcating the existing Naga-dominated areas, it intensified after the government ignored the agitation and went ahead to declare Jirbam as a full-fledged district. The state government also created new districts of Kangpokpi, Tengoupal, Pharzol, Kakching, Noney and Kamjongin. According to the UNC, the creation of new districts out of Naga territory without their consent is a deliberate act to suppress the rights of Nagas in the state. In December last year, Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju said the central government will extend all assistance to restore normalcy in the state. Apart from sending 150 companies of para-military forces to Manipur when the blockade started, the central government also sent seven additional companies of para-military forces, a step condemned by the Nationalist Socialist Council of Nagalim-Isak-Muivah(NSCN-IM). --IANS rup/nir/bg Israeli soldier convicted for shooting wounded Palestinian Israel,Immigration/Law/Rights,Defence/Security, Wed, 04 Jan 2017 IANS Jerusalem, Jan 4 (IANS) An Israeli soldier accused of shooting dead a wounded Palestinian attacker after he had been disarmed of a knife has been convicted for manslaughter in Tel Aviv on Wednesday. Sgt Elor Azaria, 20, shot Abdul Fatah al-Sharif, 21, in the head while he was lying immobile on a road. The incident happened in Hebron in the occupied West Bank last March, BBC reported. Sgt Azaria said he thought Sharif might have an explosive vest but prosecutors said his motive was revenge. The high-profile trial proved extremely divisive in Israel. There have been rallies to support the soldier and some senior politicians backed Sgt Azaria. However, top military figures were quick to say that his actions did not reflect the values of the Israel Defence Forces (IDF). A panel of three judges determined after the contentious eight-month trial that Sgt Azaria's shooting of Sharif was not justified. His defence that he shot Sharif because he continued to pose a threat was rejected. In the incident on March 24, Sharif and another 21-year-old Palestinian, Ramzi Aziz al-Qasrawi, stabbed and wounded an Israeli soldier before troops opened fire on them, wounding Sharif and killing Qasrawi. Footage of the scene several minutes later, filmed by a Palestinian and released by the Israeli human rights group B'Tselem, showed Sharif alive. Sgt Azaria was then seen cocking his rifle and fatally shooting Sharif from several metres away. In their indictment, prosecutors said Sgt Azaria "violated the rules of engagement without operational justification as the terrorist was lying on the ground wounded and represented no immediate threat for the accused or others who were present". --IANS soni/mr Chandy questions British currency printing firm's India presence Kerala,National,Politics,Business/Economy, Wed, 04 Jan 2017 IANS Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 4 (IANS) Former Kerela Chief Minister Oommen Chandy on Wednesday asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to explain the role of British company De Le Rue, which had been earlier blacklisted, in printing currency in India. Chandy, in a letter to Modi, cited a media report saying that three companies, including De La Rue, had been shortlisted for printing plastic notes, and requested the ministry concerned "publish the list of companies that are shortlisted/qualified for printing plastic currency in India". He noted that the British company was denied security clearance in 2011 and the current status has not been explained. He also wrote in his letter that the company was blacklisted during the UPA's tenure as it could not "comply to the specifications of the contract". Addressing reporters here, Chandy said that it was baffling that a webpage that referred the company as "platinum sponsor of the Indo-British Tech Summit" has been removed, after he first raised this issue on December 31. The summit was held last year in Delhi from November 7-9 and Prime Ministers of India and Britain had taken part in it. "The sudden removal of one page from the website of the summit is really mysterious.I have asked in my letter to Modi to let the country know, if this particular British company, which was earlier blacklisted during the UPA government time has been given any job by his government. According to their annual reports, they say they had no operation in India in 2013, 2014 and 2015. But in the 2016 report, they say they have started operations in India," Chandy said. He also noted that Minister for State for Finance, Arjun Ram Meghwal on December 9, 2016, had stated in Parliament that India has taken steps to print plastic currency. --IANS sg/sana/vd Trinamool hits streets to protest MP's arrest by CBI West Bengal,National,Politics, Wed, 04 Jan 2017 IANS Kolkata, Jan 4 (IANS) Trinamool Congress ministers and senior leaders on Wednesday joined in protest rallies organised by the state's ruling party across districts against the arrest of the party's Lok Sabha leader Sudip Bandyopadhyay. Bandyopadhyay was arrested on Tuesday by the Central Bureau of Investigation after hours of grilling over the Rose Valley chit fund scam. Another Trinamool MP, Tapas Paul, is already under the CBI arrest in connection with the scam. A day after Bandyopadhyay's arrest, sporadic incidents of angry demonstrations were reported from all parts of Bengal as the Trinamool Congress activists blocked several roads and railway lines, and agitated at various blocks of districts. A group of Trinamool supporters blocked the gate of the CBI's regional office at the Central Government Organisations (CGO) complex in Salt Lake where Bandyopadhyay was interrogated and later arrested on Tuesday. The agitators with banners and placards in hand shouted anti-Modi slogans like "Narendra Modi dur hato" (Narendra Modi go away) and hailed Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for her fight against the Centre. More than a hundred activists of Trinamool Congress's youth and student wings gathered in front of Union Minister Babul Supriyo's house here and shouted slogans, demanding the BJP leader's arrest for his alleged involvement in the ponzi scam. The police personnel deployed at the spot had a tough time controlling the mob. The agitators blocked National Highway 34 at Nadia district's Chakdaha and burnt the effigy of Narenda Modi. National Highway 2 was also lumped for more than an hour at Burdwan district's Asansol. Meanwhile, a group of Trinamool supporters led by party leader Paresh Pal rallied in north Kolkata's Kankurgachi. Another rally led by Trinamool leader Sovandeb Chatterjee walked from Wellington Square to S.N. Banerjee Road in Kolkata. "This protest rally is a spontaneous display of people's outrage. Two of our MPs are victimised and arrested as our leader Mamata Banerjee is protesting against Centre's atrocities and common man's suffering due to the note ban," state Power Minister Sovandeb Chatterjee said. The train services of Eastern Railway were disrupted in Sealdah Main and South sections by temporary blockades raised by demonstrators at several railway stations, including Garia, Bagbazar and Kakurgachi, between 9 a.m to 11.30 a.m. The district administration of Trinamool Congress also observed protest demonstrations at Canning in South 24-Parganas and Bali in Hooghly district and staged sit-ins in Datan and Nayagram regions in West Midnapore district. --IANS mgr/dm/sm/vt Abducted female journalist set free by gunmen in Iraq Iraq,Media,Terrorism, Wed, 04 Jan 2017 IANS Baghdad, Jan 4 (IANS) An Iraqi woman journalist and activist kidnapped from her Baghdad home by unidentified gunmen last week has been freed, the media reported on Wednesday. "The militant group kidnapped Afrah Shawqi and set her free late last night (Tuesday) in Baghdad and the incident is under investigation," Xinhua news agency quoted an unnamed source as saying. The kidnappers also returned Shawqi's personal jewels and her car after they stole them earlier from her house. On December 26, masked armed men broke into the house of the journalist in Saidiya district in southern Baghdad and kidnapped her. The journalist was deliberated as one of the critics of the country's corruption, and recently wrote an article which tackled the consequences of the proliferation of armed groups beyond the law. Shortly after her release, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi phoned Shawqi to reassure her about her safety and promised to pay her a visit later, according to local media. Iraq is considered one of the most dangerous countries for journalists, who have been frequently targeted following the chaos and insecurity since the 2003 US-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein. --IANS kritika/sar/ahm/bg New Delhi World Book Fair to kick off on Jan 7 Delhi,National,Art/Culture/Books, Wed, 04 Jan 2017 IANS New Delhi, Jan 4 (IANS) The much awaited World Book Fair, the largest event of its kind in the country, will be held between January 7-15 at Pragati Maidan here. The 44th edition of the book fair will be inaugurated by Minister of State for Human Resource Development (Higher Education) Mahendra Nath Pandey, organiser National Book Trust said in a statement on Wednesday. The nine-day event will promote the rich Indian heritage through music and dance performances and is expected to host 1,500 participants from across India, including over 50 foreign exhibitors. More than 2,500 stalls will showcase books and reading material in Hindi, English and other Indian languages for all age groups, on a wide range of subjects and genre. The highlight of the fair will be on January 10 when publishers from India, Germany and France will talk about markets, trends and collaborations in a session and will showcase their book market scenario at the event. "The Embassy of France, in association with its cultural wing, Institut Francais India has created the Publication Assistance Programme -- PAP Tagore, whose aim is to support publication projects from French to all Indian languages," said Bertrand de Hartingh, Counsellor for Cooperation and Cultural Affairs of Institut Francais. "Therefore, not only English but also all the languages that contribute to the richness of Indian diversity," he said. Noting that this year will also mark the launch of Bonjour India, he said, "The richness of Indian and French intellection will be celebrated as the festival will act as a catalyst for Indo-French cooperation, from November 2017 to February 2018." He further added, "The books published will benefit from an exceptional display for their readership." Other leading publishers from India and abroad will also showcase the best of their titles at the fair. --IANS ss-mg/vgu/bg Patna Sahib's gilded grandeur on Prakash Parv Bihar,National,Religion,Human Interest/Society, Wed, 04 Jan 2017 IANS Patna Sahib (Bihar) Jan 4 (IANS) The Takht (religious seat) of the Sri Harmandir Sahib in Patna has got a golden makeover for the 350th birth anniversary celebrations of Guru Gobind Singh that are currently underway here. Popularly known as the 'Prakash Utsav' or 'Prakash Parv', the mega event, saw the beautification of the Takht (which literally means a throne or seat of authority). The renovation and beautification work at the Patna Sahib was completed recently as thousands of followers, mostly Sikh devotees, from across the world gathered for the seven-day event that started on December 30, 2016. It would culminate on January 5, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi would participate along with Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and several other Sikh dignitaries from India and abroad. The Bihar government is expecting over 5 lakh devotees to participate in the Utsav. Describing the throne where the Guru Granth Sahib is kept, Granthi (priest) Dhyan Singh said: "The ceiling, walls, doors, from the fan to the U-shaped arched entrance everything is glittering in gold." Sitting near the palanquin with the holy book in place the Granthi said: "The front of the Takht, which is an inverted U-shaped structure is covered with 22 carat gold while door panels are covered with gold and silver panels. The walls which have intricate designs were specially done by artists from Jaipur and Ghaziabad, who took three years to complete." Singh, along with two more Granthis not only offer 'Prasad' (hot halwa made in pure desi ghee), but also advise the visitors to spend some more time to admire the place, especially the new additions. "Five years ago when I visited here, it was simple but now the gold and the intricate artistic works with precious stone has changed Guriji's birthplace," Sunder Singh, a devotee from Bathinda said. Mahender Pal Singh from Delhi said: "The Patna Sahib gurudwara is now going to attract nearly as much people the Golden Temple in Amritsar." A marble walkway now surrounds the main temple with milky white buildings that have come up especially for the Prakash Parv was funded by the central and state government. A Christian missionary group from Kerala was also impressed by the new look of the Takht Harmindir Sahib. "It is incredibly impressive and beautiful and stunning," said Sujatha John as she and her fellow tourists covered their heads and walked barefoot around the place. It was here that Guru Gobind Singh was born on December 22, 1666, to Guru Tegh Bahadur and Mata Gujri. Guru Gobind Singh, known as Gobind Rai, spent the first eight years of childhood, playing and learning here. According to Takht Sri Harmandir Sahib management committee official Sarjinder Singh, the 3,000-sqft ceiling of the main part of this holy shrine inside the darbar hall was embellished with 'Manovat' art, a mural art found in Junagarh's fort and Amritsar's Golden Temple. "Dozens of trained artisans from Rajasthan, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh have worked for over three years since mid 2013 to Nov 2016 to complete the massive undertaking," Singh said. Besides, the Manovat Art there are also Fresco painted ceilings in 1,000 sqft area, beautified with gold leaf and other designs. Granthi Vinod Singh pointed that the marble sheets around the gurudwara was special and of rare quality brought from Canada, Australia and Brazil. The management committee of Sri Harimandir Sahib has also requested for the status of 'Holy city' for Patna Sahib, the birth place of Guru Gobind Singh. --IANS ik/in/vm Presenting Budget constitutional requirement: Jaitley Delhi,National,Politics,Business/Economy, Wed, 04 Jan 2017 IANS New Delhi, Jan 4 (IANS) Following demands by some political parties to postpone presentation of the Union Budget till assembly elections in five states are over, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Wednesday said presenting the Budget is a "constitutional requirement". "Presenting the budget is a constitutional requirement," Jaitley said. Shiv Sena President Uddhav Thackeray on Wednesday demanded postponement of the Budget presentation in Parliament till the assembly elections are over. Without naming anyone, Jaitley said: "This is the same party that protests against demonetisation; why are they bothered with the Budget." The minister said an interim budget was presented even before the 2014 Lok Sabha polls and earlier too budgets had been presented ahead of elections. --IANS ao-bns/tsb/vt Battle to rule five states begins February 4 (Roundup) Delhi,National,Politics, Wed, 04 Jan 2017 IANS New Delhi, Jan 4 (IANS) Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Manipur and Goa will elect new governments in staggered polls from February 4 to March 8 in the biggest popularity test since the Lok Sabha polls of 2014. The results from all the states will be known on March 11, Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi said on Wednesday while unveiling a slew of new election-related rules. Almost all the main parties in the fray - the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Congress, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) - welcomed the much-awaited election schedule. The elections will also test the popularity of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's demonetization move of banning 500 and 1,000 rupee notes that has triggered an unprecedented cash crunch. The over month-long exercise will involve 160 million voters sprad over 690 assembly seats, 403 of them alone in Uttar Pradesh, where an election victory will be crucial to the BJP ahead of the 2019 general elections. Zaidi said the Model Code of Conduct would come into effect immediately and would be applicable to all candidates, political parties, concerned state governments as well as the central government vis-a-vis the five states. While polling in Goa, the smallest state, and Punjab will take place on February 4, Uttarakhand will vote on February 15 and Manipur in two phases on March 4 and 8. Uttar Pradesh, the country's most populous state, will go to the polls in seven phases: February 11 (73 seats), 15 (67 seats), 19 (69 seats), 23 (53 seats) and 27 (52 seats) and March 4 (49 seats) and 8 (40 seats). Goa has 40 seats, Punjab 117, Manipur 60 and Uttarakhand has 70 seats. All eyes will be on Uttar Pradesh, where the BJP is determined to take power by ousting the ruling Samajwadi Party -- now in the throes of a huge crisis -- and beating back a strong challenge from the BSP. While the BJP rules Goa, it is a junior ally to the Shiromani Akali Dal-led government in Punjab. The Congress governs Uttarakhand and Manipur. The AAP, the country's youngest political outfit and which rules Delhi, will contest for the first time in Punjab and Goa. "We are committed to conducting the elections in a free and fair manner," Zaidi said. The Election Commission would also check the "misuse of black money and liquor". The poll panel also set the maximum limit for poll expenses for each candidate in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Uttarakhand at Rs 28 lakh, while in Goa and Manipur it is Rs 20 lakh. TV channels owned by political parties or candidates will be monitored and the Press Council of India will help the panel in detecting paid news. "Candidates will be required to open accounts in their banks and money more than the said amount will be removed from the account," said Zaidi. For the first time, there will be separate polling stations for women and photographs of the candidates will figure on the electronic voting machines. The poll panel would also insist on a certificate from candidates to show they owe no arrears to any government department vis-a-vis utilities bills and rent on official accommodation. BJP spokesperson Siddhartha Nath Singh said: "Development will remain our plank but the opposition would like to attack demonetisation policy. Per se, I think this will be very good for us." Congress spokesman Manish Tewari said the issues in each state will be different and "it is not going to be a single issue on which the elections will be fought". Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said the AAP was confident of taking power in both Goa and Punjab. BSP chief Mayawati welcomed the schedule and said the party would contest polls in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Uttarakhand on its own. The announcement came a day after the Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs (CCPA) recommended holding the first half of the Budget session from January 31 to February 9. The opposition has taken objection to the government's move of advancing the Budget session, fearing that announcements of sops might influence voters. --IANS team-sar/mr China backs Philippines for Asean rotating presidency China,Politics, Wed, 04 Jan 2017 IANS Beijing, Jan 4 (IANS) China supports the Philippines in assuming the rotating presidency of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) in 2017, said a Foreign Ministry spokesman on Wednesday. "China hopes to push relations with Asean to a new level," Xinhua news agency reported spokesman Geng Shuang as saying. The Chinese government has always regarded Asean as a priority in its diplomacy with neighbouring countries, said Geng. China and Asean commemorated the 25th anniversary of dialogue relations between the two sides in September 2016. During the meeting, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and leaders from the 10 Asean members agreed to lift China-Asean cooperation to a new level, which demonstrated the firm resolve of the two sides to deepen mutual trust and enhance cooperation, said Geng. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the founding of Asean and it is also the China-Asean year of tourism cooperation. --IANS soni/bg Nepal Speaker urges PM to forge consensus with opposition Nepal,Indo-Pak/Pakistan,Politics, Wed, 04 Jan 2017 IANS Kathmandu, Jan 4 (IANS) Nepal Parliament Speaker Onsari Gharti Magar on Wednesday requested Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' to forge consensus with the opposition parties before the next session of Parliament, the media reported. The Speaker, who went to the Prime Minister's residence in Baluwatar, made the request in order to resume the house meetings, which had been disrupted since November 29, the Himalayan Times reported. In response, Prachanda expressed his commitment to end the stalemate and forge consensus with the agitating political parties. Meanwhile, the leading political parties have begun fresh talks after the Supreme Court's order to let Parliament endorse the second Constitution amendment bill. The main opposition Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist also hinted it would not obstruct the house meetings anymore. The Speaker also held separate meetings with the leaders of other political parties to make her request for running the house. Next house meeting has been scheduled for January 8. --IANS soni/vt DMK elevates Stalin as Working President Tamil Nadu,National,Politics, Wed, 04 Jan 2017 IANS Chennai, Jan 4 (IANS) The DMK on Wednesday elevated M.K. Stalin, son of its supremo and an ailing former Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi, as its Working President. A resolution to this effect was passed at the DMK General Council meeting here at the party headquarters. Stalin, 63, would have all the powers of the President, a party official said. The meeting was chaired by DMK General Secretary K. Anbazhagan as Karunanidhi, the President, was advised bed rest. Stalin would continue to be the party Treasurer. "The post of Working President is a responsibility. I will function with responsibility," Stalin told the media. Wednesday's development comes a month after the death of AIADMK leader and Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa, who defeated the DMK in successive assembly elections in 2011 and 2016. The elevation of Stalin, a former Mayor of Chennai, could have come earlier had it not been for his elder brother M.K. Alagiri who had opposed the move. In 2009, when DMK was in power in Tamil Nadu, Stalin was made the Deputy Chief Minister, signalling to others that he would be the heir apparent to Karunanidhi. But Alagiri made it clear that he would not accept anybody as his leader if and when Karunanidhi hung up his boots. The decks were cleared for Stalin when Alagiri was expelled from the DMK for speaking against the party prior to the 2014 Lok Sabha election. Meanwhile, Stalin strengthened his hold over the DMK, one of the oldest parties in the country. It was Karunanidhi's poor health and doctor's advice to take rest which seemed to have forced the decision to promote Stalin. Founded in 1949 by C.N. Annadurai, the DMK came to power in Tamil Nadu in 1967. Annadurai was the party's first Chief Minister. Annadurai died in 1969 and was succeeded by Karunanidhi with the support of Tamil movie hero M.G. Ramachandran or MGR - then with the DMK - and other leaders and members of the legislative assembly. In 1972, MGR was expelled after differences with Karunanidhi. MGR then floated the AIADMK and led it to victory in 1977. The DMK was out of power in Tamil Nadu till 1989. Karunanidhi brought the party under his thumb and started projecting his son Stalin. The party underwent another split when firebrand Vaiko, who was seen as a possible Stalin opponent, was expelled. Vaiko later floated the MDMK. --IANS vj/mr/vd Congress demands Union Budget be tabled after state polls Delhi,National,Politics, Wed, 04 Jan 2017 IANS New Delhi, Jan 4 (IANS) The Congress party on Wednesday demanded that the presentation date of the Union Budget should be postponed until after the elections to the assemblies of five states, announced by the Election Commission on Wednesday. Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad wrote to the President and the Election Commission on December 14, requesting that the Union Budget, which was proposed to be presented on February 1, must be postponed till after the assembly elections. "This was the stand of the Congress government in 2012. It comes fundamental to the issue of fascist forces who just do not want to listen to anyone," said Congress spokesperson Ajoy Kumar. "Azad had written to the Election Commission and President. We are clear that the Budget has to be postponed, you can take the vote on account and have the Budget presented after the final election day is over," he added. The Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs on Tuesday recommended starting the budget session of Parliament from January 31. The budget so far has usually been presented on the last date of February each year. "The norm of any parliamentary democracy is if there is election, you take the vote on account and have it after the election results are out. That has been the tradition. You don't argue on it or no debate on it," Kumar added. Shaktisinh Gohil of the Congress said: "PM Modi made announcements three days before the election dates came out. There is something called budgetary secrecy. Issues with financial implications are usually presented by the finance minister." --IANS sid/ahm/vt Man held for abducting minor girl Delhi,National,Crime/Disaster/Accident, Wed, 04 Jan 2017 IANS New Delhi, Jan 4 (IANS) A man was arrested for kidnapping a two and a half year old girl here, who was rescued safely, a senior police officer said. The accused Rakesh, 20, was arrested during a raid at his residence in Trilokpuri late on Tuesday night following a tip off by some local eunuchs. According to police, the incident took place on Monday when the victim's mother Rukhsana, a resident of Pahar Ganj area, filed a complaint against Rakesh. She said that Rakesh used to visit her residence since the last three years. "The woman said that Rakesh took her daughter out on Monday on the pretext of giving her some eatables but did not come back. He kidnapped her daughter and kept her in his house," Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Mandeep Singh Randhawa said. Rakesh told police during interrogation that he earned a livelihood by taking up different identities to cheat people. --IANS sp/vgu/bg India, Sri Lanka Coast Guard chiefs discuss greater cooperation Delhi,National,Indo-Pak/Pakistan,Defence/Security,Diplomacy, Wed, 04 Jan 2017 IANS New Delhi, Jan 4 (IANS) Indian Coast Guard Director General Rajendra Singh met his Sri Lankan counterpart Rear Admiral Samantha Wimalathunga here on Wednesday and discussed more maritime cooperation, especially in the context of fishermen from both countries. A three-member delegation led by Wimalathunga is on a three day visit to India for a high-level meeting with the Indian Coast Guard. It aims at furthering cooperation between the two countries on maritime issues of mutual concern and formulate a cooperative approach, an official statement said. "Of late, the Sri Lankan Coast Guard has been proactive in meeting the challenges in the new global safety and security regime in this region. The recent visit is significant in providing continued impetus to the existing ties between the two organisations," the statement said. The focus of the meeting was on further strengthening operational interaction for search and rescue, preservation and protection of marine environment and revalidating operational and communication procedures between the two Coast Guard. The Sri Lanka delegation also called on Defence Secretary G. Mohan Kumar and deliberated on issues of common maritime interest. It was mutually agreed to strengthen cooperation on evolving collaborative approach, in addressing a spectrum of maritime issues concerning safety and security and further streamlining the procedure for release/repatriation of fishermen, the statement added. --IANS ao/tsb/bg Sure India will get NSG membership: V.K. Singh Delhi,National,Defence/Security,Diplomacy, Wed, 04 Jan 2017 IANS New Delhi, Jan 4 (IANS) Though India's bid for membership in the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) was stalled by China last year, Minister of State for External Affairs V.K. Singh on Wednesday expressed confidence New Delhi's bid will succeed eventually. "We are sure that with our record and credentials, we will be taken as a member as per the procedures within this particular group," Singh said in reponse to a question at a press conference organised by the External Affairs Ministry here. "We are engaging everybody equally to ensure that our concerns, our credentials, our way that we have taken our various issues forward are understood by everybody," he added. At the NSG plenary in Seoul in June last year, China blocked India's membership bid on the ground that for a country to be a member of the 48-nation bloc, it has to be a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). Singh said that since India was not a member of the NSG, it cannot comment on internal discussions within the group. "We do understand that a meeting took place in Vienna on November 11, 2016, where India's membership was discussed," he said. "Consultations on the issue are ongoing with the group including our engagement with China on this issue." --IANS ab/vd 32 demonetisation violation cases lodged till date: CBI Delhi,National,Crime/Disaster/Accident,Business/Economy, Wed, 04 Jan 2017 IANS New Delhi, Jan 4 (IANS) The CBI on Wednesday said it has so far registered 32 cases of violation of demonetisation and detected over Rs 200 crore across India during its probe against gross anomalies in banking sectors after the demonetisation announcement. Out of 32, three to four case are against Reserve Bank of India (RBI) officials, five against Post Office employees and the remaining cases are against those employed with different banks, said a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) official. They have been charged with illegally exchanging old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes into new currency after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's demonetisation announcement on November 8. "We have so far registered 32 cases of violation of demonetisation and detected about Rs 200 crore illegal transaction. During raids at the office and residential premises of the arrested accused persons, we have recovered Rs 15 crore," said the official. --IANS rak/vd Congress links Modi's rise to digital media hate-mongering Delhi,National,Politics, Wed, 04 Jan 2017 IANS New Delhi, Jan 4 (IANS) The Congress on Wednesday said the rise of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is directly linked to the rise of abuses and hate-mongering in the digital media by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The party also dared the Prime Minister to constitute a special committee under judicial supervision to identify and punish the troll army, involved in suppression of opinion, promoting hate, communal polarisation and scandalous content, and issuing threats. "...creating and propagating fake news and attacking individuals based on their race, gender, religion, region and caste has been the modus operandi of the BJP," said Congress spokesperson Ajoy Kumar. "While the Prime Minister talks about "Beti Bachao" movement, his party members and supporters keep on attacking, trolling and threatening opponents, particularly women online," he added. Kumar said: "It is unprecedented that the Prime Minister of the country follows, meets and actively encourages such trolls." He claimed that a Bengaluru businessman, Rajesh Jain, had set up a campaign centre for Modi, directly under the instruction and supervision of the Prime Minister. It later became famous as 'Nadiad Army' or 'Namo Brigade'. "Jain has since been rewarded by the Prime Minister by appointing him a member of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI). "Later, this expanded to many other cities, with multiple people, with many directly run by the BJP's IT cell, earlier headed by Arvind Gupta and now by Amit Malviya," he alleged. The Congress said it wants to know from Modi as to who are these individuals and organisations whom the Prime Minister hosts, follows, encourages and protects. "Why does Narendra Modi act as the benefactor, protector and nurturer of these hate mongers and misogynists?" --IANS sid/nir/bg Arrested Trinamool MP's wife accuses centre of influencing CBI West Bengal,National,Politics, Wed, 04 Jan 2017 IANS Kolkata, Jan 4 (IANS) Terming the CBI the central government's "caged parrot", Trinamool Congress MP Sudip Bandopadhyay's wife Nayana Bandopadhyay on Wednesday protested the arrest of her husband by the agency. "The CBI has become a caged parrot of the central government. How can they arrest an MP and a senior politician like Sudip Bandyopadhyay on fake charges when he was summoned for interrogation in the case," she said. Echoing West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's words, Bandhopadhyay, who is a state legislator, demanded Prime Minister Narendra Modi's arrest and complained that the state leaders of other political parties are spared by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in spite of their direct involvement in the same chit fund scam. "Prime Minister Modi's name has come up in the Sahara scam. He should also be arrested," Bandyopadhyay said. "If CBI follows the principle of arresting anyone whose name comes up with the scam, then why are they not arresting BJP's Babul Supriyo and CPI-M leader Sujan Chakraborty. Their names have surfaced many times in the Rose Valley scam," she said. --IANS mgr/bdc/vd Google's Pichai offers internet training for small Indian companies Delhi,National,Technology,Business/Economy, Wed, 04 Jan 2017 IANS New Delhi, Jan 4 (IANS) Aiming to give a technological edge to the small and medium businesses (SMB) in India, Google CEO Sundar Pichai on Wednesday announced two initiatives. "Small businesses are the backbone of India's economy. Internet is for everyone," Pichai said while addressing the media here. He said Google, along with Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci), have developed a training programme called 'Digital Unlocked'. The programme would be certified by the Indian School of Business, Hyderabad. It would offer online and mobile courses to SMBs across the country. "We plan to impart 5,000 training workshops in 40 cities in three years," Pichai added. The global search giant also started another initiative 'My Business Website'. Its a free tool, which would help make a website in 10 minutes. "Any small business can sign up. It will first start in India (later this year), and then will be launched in other countries," Pichai said. Only six per cent of small businesses in India has website. --IANS ag/in Woody Harrelson in talks to join 'Star Wars' spin-off (Lead, correcting headline) United States,Cinema/Showbiz,Hollywood, Wed, 04 Jan 2017 IANS Los Angeles, Jan 4 (IANS) Actor Woody Harrelson is reportedly in talks to essay "Star Wars" character Han Solo's mentor in the upcoming "Star Wars" spin-off. The film stars Alden Ehrenreich. The ensemble has already begun filling with rising stars, but executive producers wanted Han Solo's role to go to an actor with considerable clout, and started meeting with actors over the past several weeks, reports variety.com. Kathleen Kennedy and Allison Shearmur are producing the film, which is expected to begin production in January. The movie is slated to hit theaters on May 25, 2018. Other confirmed cast members include Donald Glover, who will play a young Lando Calrissian, and Emilia Clarke as Han Solo's love interest. The plot will focus on the early years of the notorious space smugglers. Harrelson and Shearmur have worked together in "The Hunger Games". The film is being directed by Phil Lord and Chris Miller. The movie will be set prior to "Star Wars: A New Hope," like the other "Star Wars" standalone project "Rogue One". --IANS rb/vm India needs to prepare itself to face 2017 environment disasters Delhi,National,Diplomacy,Environment/Wildlife, Wed, 04 Jan 2017 IANS New Delhi, Jan 4 (IANS) While environment diplomacy at the UN climate change conference in Marrakech last November became uncertain after Donald Trump, a climate change sceptic, won the US presidential elections, experts have suggested that India must tread its own path and start investing to prepare for the future. "India needs to invest in infrastructure and prepare itself to face climatic repercussions this year. During the drought last year, the country's net water reserve capacity was only 20 per cent; in March, hailstorms destroyed the wheat crop," Sanjay Vashist, Director, Climate Action Network South Asia, told IANS. Over 330 million people in India were affected by one of the worst droughts that spilled over to neighbouring Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal as well. Experts like S.K. Sarkar, Director, Water Division, at The Energy and Resources Institute (Teri), had cautioned that by 2050, India will be water-scarce. "Extreme events which are more random now force millions to migrate -- and for Bangladesh and Nepal, India is the destination. India needs to pull up its socks. We just faced cyclone Vardha, Chennai Floods in 2015 were devastating and so on," Harjeet Singh, Global lead on Climate Change at Action Aid, told IANS. A study released at the 22nd Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP22) at Marrakech, Morocco, says that natural disasters annually force about 26 million people into poverty. Both the economic and human cost due to such disasters are underestimated by 60 per cent. "The impact of extreme natural disasters is equivalent to a $520-billion global loss in annual consumption," a World Bank report said at COP22. It also noted that poor people pay the heaviest price. According to the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), the global temperature is 1.2 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial level, making 2016 the warmest year followed by 2015 and 2014. The Island Nations now fear of their existence. "We have to start worrying about such trends. India need to focus on mitigation or adaptation if the environmental damage is irreversible... our solution will depend on resources and we have other priorities like food security," said Karan Mangotra, from TERI's Centre for Global Environment Research. According to Mangotra, to avoid such dangerous trends, India needs to streamline all regulatory aspects for collective efforts, strengthen research capabilities and evolve a business model for affordable technology. In the midst of all this, with Trump's triumph, the Paris agreement that aims at keeping the global temperature rise this century well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels -- and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase even further to 1.5 degrees Celsius -- as also the developed world's $100 billion per year commitment for the developing nations for switching to greener technologies, could be curtailed. "What we saw at Marrakech has to be operationalised, but embracing Paris Agreement under Trump's administration is highly unlikely, especially given the key people he is appointing to his office like the CEO of ExxonMobile," Harjeet Singh said. A UN report has estimated the requirements of developing countries at between $140 billion and $300 billions by 2030 and between $280 billion and $500 billion by 2050 to make up for the climate change. The report also held lack of funds as a major stumbling block in meeting goals under the Paris Agreement and said that developed countries have failed to undertake the measures required to achieve the global temperature goals. "For India, clearly finance remains an important issue... most of the economic sectors in India depends on weather. If the US does pull out of the Paris deal, a huge financial burden will be created; India has to be ready," Singh said. India at COP22 was praised for its commitments and initiatives in clean energy and coal dependency reduction and it was said that the country is set to "over-achieve" its emission intensity targets. The Government also approved the negotiating position adopted by India at the 28th Meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol held last year in October at Kigali in Rwanda. The Montreal protocol aims to phase out the ozone depleting substances (ODS). Meanwhile, Union Environment Minister Anil Madhav Dave also hinted at India's preparedness as 2016 ended. "If Bengaluru wants to save itself from 2017 monsoon floods then it will have to unclog the drains," the minister, who had listed the Bengaluru crisis as a "preferred task" while taking office in July 2016, said in a tweet on New Year's Eve. (Kushagra Dixit can be contacted at kushagra.d@ians.in ) --IANS kd/vm/tb/sac EC names 'Dos and Don'ts' for state polls Delhi,National,Immigration/Law/Rights,Politics, Wed, 04 Jan 2017 IANS New Delhi, Jan 4 (IANS) Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Nasim Zaidi on Wednesday announced a number of new measures for the upcoming assembly elections in five states. Zaidi announced putting up of four posters at each polling station, informing the voters of locations of booths, and other Dos and Don'ts. The posters were a statutory requirement at all polling stations, he said. A voting assistance booth would also be kept at the polling stations. Taking note of complaints received by the Election Commission (EC) in previous elections, the CEC announced that the height of the voting compartment would also be raised to 30 inches this time. This was done to conceal the upper part of the body of the voters, the movement of which might giveaway the button they were pressing. "This measure is being taken to maintain secrecy," Zaidi said. The five states going to polls this year were Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa, and Manipur. --IANS vn/in/vm Five states to vote between February 4 and March 8 Delhi,National,Politics, Wed, 04 Jan 2017 IANS New Delhi, Jan 4 (IANS) Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa, Punjab and Manipur will be held between February 4 and March 8, Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi announced on Wednesday. The results from all five states will be known on March 11, Zaidi told a press conference here. While polling in Goa and Punjab will take place on February 4, Uttarakhand will vote on February 15 and Manipur in two phases on March 4 and 8. Uttar Pradesh, the country's most populous state, will go to the polls in seven phases: February 11, 15, 19, 23 and 27 and March 4 and 8. This will be the single biggest electoral exercise since the 2014 Lok Sabha polls and will involve a total of 690 constituencies, 403 of them in Uttar Pradesh alone. Goa has 40 seats, Punjab 117, Manipur 60 and Uttarakhand has 70 seats. "We are committed to conduct the elections in a free and fair manner," Zaidi said. The Election Commission would also check the "misuse of black money and liquor". The main players in the five states include the Bharatiya Janata Party, Congress, Aam Aadmi Party, Shiromani Akali Dal, Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party and Manipur People's Party. --IANS vv-bns/mr/sar Trump casts new doubt on Russia hacking allegations United States,Politics, Thu, 05 Jan 2017 IANS Washington, Jan 5 (IANS) US President-elect Donald Trump has quoted WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to voice new doubt about the findings by US intelligence agencies that Russia has intervened in the 2016 presidential election. "Julian Assange said 'a 14 year old could have hacked (John) Podesta' - why was DNC so careless? Also said Russians did not give him the info!" Trump said on Twitter on Wednesday, referring to the Democratic National Committee (DNC), Xinhua news agency reported. Emails of Podesta, the 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton's campaign manager, were released by WikiLeaks during the campaign. US intelligence had concluded that the hack and release of the Democratic Party and Hillary Clinton staff emails was ordered by the Kremlin and was designed to put the Republican real estate mogul in the Oval Office. Trump has repeatedly refused to accept the conclusions. Moscow also denied the accusations. On Tuesday, Trump also suggested that a briefing he was scheduled to receive on the hacking issue was delayed to give intelligence officials more time to build their case. "The 'Intelligence' briefing on so-called 'Russian hacking' was delayed until Friday, perhaps more time needed to build a case. Very strange!" he tweeted. However, US intelligence officials said there had been no delay in the briefing schedule, according to US media reports. --IANS pgh/ BJP on development, Congress on Notbandi would contest in election New Delhi, Wed, 04 Jan 2017 NI Wire After the declaration of the dates of the assembly elections in the five states by the Election Commission of India, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress are all set up with their agendas. Both the political parties mainly target the most populous state Uttar Pradesh of the country. The Bharatiya Janata Party says that development will be their important agenda during the elections whereas the Congress says that its main agenda are the November 8 announcement of Notbandi and the state level issues. The spokesperson of BJP Siddharth Singh said, The ruling parties in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand will face the anti-incumbency by the people and they will not even talk about the development. During election, our main agenda will be development while the ruling parties will target us on Notbandi. He also added, The voters were bored of corruption, the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP is ready to fight with corruption. The party and the other supportive parties are united for the issue of growth. Whereas the spokesperson of Congress Manish Tiwari says their main agenda in the assembly elections will be Notbandi. He also says that, Notbandi made 125 crore Indians to suffer from many problems. He said, Voter will analyse the demonetization issue somewhere, but there will not be a single issue in the assembly elections. In the assembly elections, the state level issues are most important and the results are always based upon the state level issues. The assembly elections are going to be held between February 4 and March 8 in the Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa, Punjab and Manipur. The results of the elections in all the states will be declared on 11 March. --with agency inputs PM's Address at the Inauguration of the 104th Session of the Indian Science Congress,Tirupati Tirupati, Wed, 04 Jan 2017 NI Wire Governor of Andhra Pradesh, Shri E. S. L. Narasimhan Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, Shri N. Chandrababu Naidu Union Minister for Science & Technology, and Earth Sciences, Dr. Harsh Vardhan Union Minister of State for Science & Technology, and Earth Sciences, Shri Y. S. Chowdary General President of the Indian Science Congress Association, Professor D. Narayana Rao Vice Chancellor of Sri Venkateswara University, Professor A. Damodaram Distinguished Delegates Ladies and Gentlemen. I am delighted to begin the New Year with distinguished scientists from home and abroad in the holy city of Tirupati. I am happy to inaugurate this 104th session of The Indian Science Congress in the panoramic campus of Sri Venkateswara University. And I appreciate the Indian Science Congress Association for choosing an appropriate theme Science & Technology for National Development for this years session. Distinguished Delegates, The nation will always be grateful to the scientists who have worked tirelessly to empower our society by their vision, labour, and leadership. In November 2016, the country lost one such eminent scientist and institution builder, Dr. M.G.K. Menon. I join you in paying tribute to him. Distinguished Delegates, The speed and scale of changes we encounter today are unprecedented. How are we going to respond to these challenges that we do not even know could arise? It is a deep-rooted curiosity-driven scientific tradition which allows quick adaptation to new realities. Tomorrows experts will come from investments we make today in our people and infrastructure. My government is committed to supporting different streams of scientific knowledge; ranging from fundamental science to applied science with emphasis on innovations. Distinguished Delegates. In the last two sessions of the science congress, I presented before you several key challenges and opportunities for the nation. Some of these important challenges are in the key sectors of clean water & energy, food, environment, climate, security, and healthcare. We equally need to keep an eye on the rise of disruptive technologies and be prepared to leverage them for growth. We need to clearly assess the challenges and opportunities for our technology readiness and competitiveness. I have been told that the Technology Vision 2035 document released in last years Science Congress, is now developing into a detailed roadmap for twelve key technology sectors. Further, NITI Aayog is evolving a holistic science and technology vision for the country. One important area that needs to be addressed is the rapid global rise of Cyber-Physical Systems. This has the potential to pose unprecedented challenges and stresses to our demographic dividend. But we can turn it into a huge opportunity by research, training and skilling in robotics, artificial intelligence, digital manufacturing, big data analysis, deep learning, quantum communication and Internet-of-Things. There is a need to develop and exploit these technologies in services and manufacturing sectors; in agriculture, water, energy & traffic management; health, environment, infrastructure and Geo Information Systems; security; financial systems and in combating crime. We need to develop an Inter-Ministerial National Mission in the Cyber-Physical Systems to secure our future by creation of basic R&D infrastructure, manpower and skills. Distinguished Delegates. The oceans that surround the Indian peninsula have over thirteen hundred of our islands. They also give us a seven and a half thousand kilometre coastline and 2.4 million square kilometres of Exclusive Economic Zone. They contain enormous opportunities in energy, food, medicine and a host of other natural resources. The ocean economy should be a significant dimension of our sustainable future. I am told, that the Ministry of Earth Sciences is working to launch a Deep Ocean Mission to explore, understand and harness this resource in a responsible way. This could be a transformative step for the prosperity and security of the nation. Distinguished Delegates, Our best science and technology institutions should further strengthen their basic research in line with leading global standards. Translating this basic knowledge into innovations, start-ups and industry will help us achieve inclusive and sustainable growth. SCOPUS database indicates that India now ranks sixth in the world with respect to scientific publications, growing at a rate of about fourteen percent as against the world average growth rate of about four percent. I am sure that our scientists will further meet the challenges of enhanced quality of basic research, its technology translation and its societal connect. By 2030 India will be among the top three countries in science and technology and will be among the most attractive destinations for the best talent in the world. The wheels we set in motion today will achieve this goal. Distinguished Delegates, Science must meet the rising aspirations of our people. India fully appreciates the strong role science and technology plays in meeting the societal needs. We must address the problems of urban-rural divide and work for inclusive development, economic growth and employment generation. To enable this, there is a need for a new overarching structure that will coordinate with all the relevant stakeholders. Our ability to mount and execute large, transformational national missions requires effective partnerships that integrate with a large stakeholder base. The effectiveness of these missions can be ensured only by getting out of our deep rooted silos, and adopting a collaborative approach, which is essential to address our multifarious development challenges rapidly and effectively. Our ministries, our scientists, R&D institutions, industries, start-ups, universities and IITs, all should work together seamlessly. In particular, our infrastructure and socio-economic ministries must make appropriate use of science and technology. Our Institutions could consider inviting outstanding scientists from abroad including NRIs for long term research associations. We should involve foreign and NRI PhD students in post-doctoral research in our projects. Another empowering factor for scientific delivery is the Ease of Doing Science. If we want science to deliver, we must not constrain it. Building a strong Science and Technology infrastructure that is accessible to academia, start-ups, industry and R&D labs is a priority of the government. We need to address the problems of ease of access, maintenance, redundancy and duplication of expensive equipments in our Scientific Institutions. The desirability of establishing professionally managed, large regional centers in PPP mode housing high value scientific equipment should be examined. On the lines of Corporate Social Responsibility, the concept of Scientific Social Responsibility needs to be inculcated to connect our leading institutions to all stakeholders, including schools and colleges. We must create an environment for sharing of ideas and resources. The brightest and best in every corner of India should have the opportunity to excel in science. This will ensure that our youth get high-end training exposure to the best of science and technology to make them job-ready in a competitive world. To this end, I would exhort the National Laboratories to connect with schools and colleges to develop appropriate training programs. This will also help with the effective use and maintenance of our vast scientific and technological infrastructure. Laboratories, Research Institutions and Universities in each major city region, should be interlinked to function on a hub and spoke model. The hubs will share major infrastructure, drive our national science missions and be the engines that link discovery to application. College teachers with background in research can be connected to the neighbouring universities and R&D institutions. Outreach activities from the institutions of eminence to schools, colleges and polytechnics will activate the latent Science and Technology manpower from the educational institutions in your neighbourhoods. Distinguished delegates, Seeding the power of ideas and innovation in schoolchildren will broaden the base of our innovation pyramid and secure the future of our nation. As a step in this direction, Ministry of Science & Technology is initiating a programme focused on students of classes 6 to 10. The programme will scout, mentor, reward and showcase ten lakh top innovative ideas focused on local needs from 5 lakh schools. We must provide equal opportunities to the girl child to enroll and excel in the under-represented disciplines of science and engineering and ensure continued participation of trained women scientists in nation building. Distinguished Delegates, For a large and diverse country like India, technology needs to span a wide range; from advanced space, nuclear and defence technologies to rural development needs in providing clean water, sanitation, renewable energy, community health, etc. While we excel globally, we also need to develop local solutions that fit our unique context. There is a need to develop appropriate Micro-Industry models for the rural areas that use local resources and skills to meet the local needs and generate local enterprise and employment. For example, we should develop a host of technologies based on efficient co-generation for clusters of villages and semi-urban areas. These technologies should aim to convert agri and bio-waste to satisfy multiple needs of electricity, clean water, crop-processing and cold storage. Distinguished Delegates, The role of science in planning, decision making, and governance has never been more important. We need to develop and deploy Geo-information Systems to meet the development goals of our citizens, Gram Panchayats, Districts and States. A coordinated effort by the Survey of India, ISRO and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology can be transformative. For sustainable development, we must take strong measures to focus on Waste to Wealth Management in the critical areas of electronic waste, biomedical and plastic wastes, and solid waste and waste water solutions. We are scaling up R&D on clean carbon technologies, technologies for enhancement of energy efficiency and increased and efficient use of renewable energy. Focus on environment and climate remains our priority to ensure sustainable development. Our strong scientific community can also effectively address our unique challenges. For example, can we find farmer-centric solutions to the problem of crop burning? Can we redesign our brick kilns for reduced emissions and greater energy efficiency? Science and technology is a key factor in the Startup India Programme launched in January 2016. Two other strong initiatives are Atal Innovation Mission and NIDHI - the National Initiative for Development and Harnessing Innovations. These programmes focus on building an innovation driven enterprise ecosystem. Further, Public-Private partnerships with CII, FICCI and high technology private companies are being pursued to strengthen the innovation ecosystem. Distinguished Delegates, Our Scientists have contributed strongly to the strategic vision of the nation. The Indian space programme has put India among the top space faring nations. We have achieved a high degree of self-sufficiency in space technology, including launch vehicle development, payload and satellite building, applications for development and the building of core competence and capacity. The Defence Research & Development Organisation has played the role of a force multiplier for the Armed Forces with its systems and technologies. We are leveraging strategic international partnerships and collaborations based on the principles of mutuality, parity and reciprocity, to make Indian Science globally competitive. We are also placing special emphasis on building strong relationships with our neighbouring countries and multilateral fora such as BRICS. The best of global science is helping us unravel creations mysteries and develop cutting-edge technologies. Last year, we activated the 3.6 meter optical telescope in Devasthal in Uttarakhand made with Indo-Belgian collaboration. Recently, we approved the LIGO project with USA to construct a state-of-the-art detector system in India. Distinguished Delegates, In conclusion, I wish to reiterate that the Government remains committed to provide the best support to our Scientists and Scientific Institutions. I am sure that our scientists will scale up their efforts ranging from the quality of basic sciences to technology development to innovation. Let Science and Technology become a strong tool of inclusive development and betterment of the weakest and poorest segments of our society. Together, we will prevail to make a just, equitable and prosperous nation. Jai Hind. Source: PIB EC will declare election dates of five states today New Delhi, Wed, 04 Jan 2017 NI Wire It is expected that the Election Commission of India will release the date of Vidhan Sabha elections of five states of the country. According to the sources, the dates of elections in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Manipur, Uttarakhand, and Goa will be released in a conference on Wednesday. The tenure of the Vidhan Sabha of Punjab, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur will end in the middle of March whereas Uttar Pradeshs Vidhan Sabha tenure will be end on May. According to the constitution of India, elections were held before the ending of working period of any assembly. Earlier, the Election Commission informed the states where elections were going to be held to prepare for elections. The Commission also informed the states to follow strictly the model Code of Conduct. From many days, this was expected that the election commission should have to declare the dates of assembly elections of the five states and if the commission declared the elections date today, then all these states will have to prepare for the elections. --with agency inputs Share We've all known for some time now that the bandwidth crunch both in the United States and the world as a whole has only been getting worse. With more uses for bandwidth showing up and not much being done to advance speeds and quantities available, it's a serious problem for those using next generation communications. At CES (News - Alert) 2017, Nokia and T-Mobile are showing off a major new advance in the field, and it's one that should prove welcome for the next couple of years. The recent demonstration combined Nokia and T-Mobile efforts to produce LTE (News - Alert) speeds that approached the gigabit range, using the currently-deployed 4.5G Pro technology from Nokia. It used a set of currently-established technologies, including 256 Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM), 4x4 Multiple Input and Multiple Output (MIMO) systems and carrier aggregation to produce the results. Right now, T-Mobile (News - Alert)'s network can provide speeds up to 400 Mbps, so this advance more than doubles current output. Since the devices that can handle such speeds, known as Category 16 devices, will be available commercially starting early this year, the end result should be a positive one for next generation communications users. Nokia (News - Alert)'s executive vice president and head of North America, Ricky Corker, commented, We are committed to supporting T-Mobile with our latest technology innovations, and working alongside them to show what the future of mobile communications can be for their Un-carrier customers. Use of three-carrier component aggregation with 4x4 MIMO and 256 QAM is the perfect solution for T-Mobile as it looks to optimize network performance with available spectrum. With this demonstration, we are preparing the T-Mobile network to launch the highest speeds possible. This may sound greatand it is, reallybut it's not that special. T-Mobile is joined here by AT&T and Sprint (News - Alert) in planning a gigabit wireless connection in 2017. Verizon seems comparatively mum on this as yet. Gigabit wireless speeds are starting to end up as table stakes, not a serious competitive advantage, and that's downright staggering. Still, it's not bad news; next generation communications increasingly call for more data availability, though not necessarily at greater speeds. These do help, but it's lack of bandwidth that's hurting more than speeds right now; without concomitant increases in bandwidth caps, all speed hikes do is let users slam into the cap faster. With 5G speeds still about three years out, give or take, seeing the major wireless providers working to better bridge the gap between 4G and 5G is encouraging to say the least. While we may not see these new speeds hit devices near us soonor see bandwidth caps go up to matchthere's effort being made, and that is certainly better than nothing. Edited by Alicia Young I used to be one of those parents who took a second look at their kids bags of candy theyd gotten Halloween night and think, Wait a minute. Is that a full-size Butterfingers bar? Why would a kid need that much candy in one serving? Id either then ask if they really wanted that item or I We have used your information to see if you have a subscription with us, but did not find one. Please use the button below to verify an existing account or to purchase a new subscription. Local Mauritanian media reported that Morocco might be preparing for a mediation to unlock the political crisis in Gambia that was triggered after President Yahya Jammeh refused to accept his election defeat. Nasser Bourita, the Kingdoms minister delegate of foreign affairs is reportedly present in the Mauritanian capital, Nouakchott, Mauritanian media outlet Alakhbar said. The Moroccan diplomat is waiting to hold talks with the Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz who is currently on a vacation before flying to Gambias capital Banjul. The same source adds that Gambia will be on the top of the agenda of talks between Bourita and President Ould Abdel Aziz. Other media said that Nouakchott is poised to build on its strong ties with Gambia to offer mediation to find a way out of the crisis that is plaguing Gambia, a small country surrounded by Senegal. Political turmoil erupted in Gambia after the presidential election on December 1, when opposition leader Adama Barrow was declared the winner. Incumbent Jammeh, who has ruled Gambia for 22 years and was seeking re-election, first conceded defeat but then backtracked, calling for a re-vote. Leaders from a regional bloc known as the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) traveled to Gambia in a failed attempt to strike a deal with the president to make him leave power. Jammeh challenged the ECOWAS mediation and threatened to wage war against the organization, which suggested military intervention to dislodge him. The region of Bejaia, east of capital Algiers, was hit by violent protests against the new appropriation bill, which introduces new taxes and austerity measures on the backdrop of the dwindling hydrocarbon revenues. Dozen protesters and law enforcement members were injured in the riots that sparked in Bejaia and the nearby towns in the restive region of Kabylia after shopkeepers staged a strike against the new appropriation bill, local media said. The protest was peaceful in the onset but turned violent after security forces fired tear gas to disperse angry crowds, TSA-Algerie reports, adding that several buildings were set on fire and some vehicles scorched while many shops have been looted and roads barricaded during the riots. Algerias 2017 appropriation bill provides for tax hikes in a bid to compensate for the falling revenues from hydrocarbons. The new budget is calculated on an oil price of 50 dollars per barrel. In the absence of efficient economic diversification, Algeria plans to cut spending by 14 percent in 2017, after a 9 percent cut in 2016, in an effort to counter the impact of the oil price slide. Algerias finances have been severely battered by the slump in oil prices with foreign reserves dwindling from 178 billion dollars in 2014 to 114 billion by the end of 2016. The IMF estimates that Algeria needs a barrel price of $110 to maintain macro-economic balance at a moment economic analysts warn of an upcoming budget crisis if oil prices remain at current levels, around $50 per barrel. Observers see that Algerias heavy dependence on hydrocarbon revenues, which make up 95% of exports, will further diminish the countrys foreign exchange reserves. Recently, Algiers resorted to foreign debt with a 900-million-euro loan from the African Development Bank. China would like Trump to delete his account. Photo: Johannes Eisele/AFP/Getty Images Donald Trump has spent much of his time as president-elect writing needlessly provocative tweets and inflaming diplomatic tensions with China at various points, hes executed both these tasks at once. Trump first invited Beijings ire by accepting a phone call from the president of Taiwan. Since 1979, a cornerstone of U.S.Sino relations has been Americas acceptance of the One China Policy a doctrine that prohibits the recognition of Taiwan as an independent state. By directly communicating with (the pro-independence) president of the island, Trump signaled his disrespect for that policy. Later, Trump confirmed that disrespect, telling Fox News that he felt no compulsion to honor the policy unless China accedes to his demands on trade. After Trumps first affront, China flew a nuclear-capable bomber over its disputed islands in the South China Sea while also preparing to ship new surface-to-air missiles to those islands. The president-elect was not impressed. Following that display of force, Trump appointed two fierce critics of Chinas trade policies Peter Navarro and Robert Lighthizer to top positions in his administration. And, on Monday, he tweeted the following: China has been taking out massive amounts of money & wealth from the U.S. in totally one-sided trade, but won't help with North Korea. Nice! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 2, 2017 The Chinese government has never been a fan of Twitter it banned the platform in 2009. And Trump has proven himself a less-than-ideal brand ambassador for Jack Dorseys company: On Tuesday, Chinese state news agency Xinhua (essentially) advised the president-elect to delete his account. In a commentary titled, An obsession with Twitter foreign policy is undesirable, the media organization wrote. Everyone recognizes the common sense that foreign policy isnt childs play, and even less is it like doing business deals, according to a translation by the New York Times. Twitter shouldnt become an instrument of foreign policy, the article continued, suggesting that Trump is wrong to believe that issuing hard-line comments and taking up sensitive issues over the platform will add to his chips for negotiating with other countries. The Global Times, another Chinese state-run outlet, delivered a similar message last month, deriding Trumps behavior as very childish and impulsive, and proclaiming, China and other powers in the world are not going to be bullied. On Tuesday, a spokesman for Chinas Foreign Ministry addressed the substance of Trumps tweet, arguing that Chinas efforts to curb North Koreas nuclear ambitions have been widely recognized. We hope all sides will avoid remarks and actions to escalate the situation, he continued. Trump isnt wrong to suggest that China has helped prop up Kim Jong-uns regime: As Time notes, China is North Koreas only major ally and accounts for 90 percent of the rogue states trade. Beijing doesnt want its delusional trade partner rattling intercontinental ballistic missiles toward the West. But, above all, the Chinese government wants to keep North Korea on the map, so as to avoid the specter of a unified Korean Peninsula aligned with the United States. Still, China has, on occasion, cooperated with the international communitys efforts to deter North Koreas nuclear ambitions. Last March, Beijing signed onto to U.N. sanctions of the rogue state, following its fourth nuclear test. To make Kim Jong-uns regime pay a higher price for its belligerence, Trump will need to secure further cooperation from its only major trading partner. And to do that, he will need to convince China that it can get tough on North Korea without risking its own strategic interests on the peninsula. It seems unlikely that sarcastic tweets are that the best medium for making such a case. Photo: Vice/HBO Its a fairly paralyzing time to be a guilty white American liberal. With Donald Trump elected on the basis of one of the race-baitiest presidential campaigns in modern American history, Republicans firmly in power, and mounting evidence that progress toward racial equality has been stalled out for years if not decades, it feels like theres little chance of substantive progress anytime soon. What can the conscientious white ally do? One answer, according to a recent Vice News Tonight segment: Spend between $25 and $100 a month to receive a box that helps you be a better ally. Thats the business plan set up by Grand Rapids, Michigan entrepreneurs Marissa Johnson and Leslie Mac, at least. Every month, they send their subscribers the Safety Pin Box, which Vice reporter Evan McMorris-Santoro describes as being designed to wake up white people to the realities of being black in America. In the first half of the short segment, McMorris-Santoro meets with the founders as they pack up the first batch of boxes. They say theyre hoping to move beyond the mostly toothless symbolism of post-election safety-pin-wearing. It really isnt active, Mac tells him. So were looking to move that into action. That is, into more substantive forms of education and activism. In the second half, McMorris-Santoro sits with Safety Pin Box subscriber Barat Ellman, a Park Slope rabbi and Jewish studies professor, as she opens her first delivery. Among other things, the box contains a request that Ellman give higher tips to black people and explains that the months theme is combating white supremacy through radical compassion. Some of the other content is about media habits This week, I take a look at the media I consume on a regular basis and evaluate it for bias and worthiness, Ellman reads aloud from one of the included slips of paper. She also offers some revealing details about why she subscribed. It embarrasses me, honestly, that I just dont have a world where I encounter, naturally, people of color, she explains. McMorris-Santoro asks her how shes hoping shell feel after shes received all 12 boxes from her yearlong subscription. Id like to think Wow, I will be so incredibly sensitized, she replies. Thats probably unrealistic. Its important to keep all this in perspective: The Box has only a few hundred subscribers (it would be fun to do a pool estimating how many of them are white Brooklyn liberals), Johnson and Mac are donating some of the proceeds to black female activists, and liberals and lefties themselves have been highly critical of the exercise. So this shouldnt be slotted into any sort of overheated activist liberalism run amok storyline. Plus, there are worse things in the world than the voluntary donation of money from wealthy white liberals to presumably less wealthy black small-business entrepreneurs and activists. That said, the Safety Pin Box is a very interesting glimpse at a certain strain of woke white slacktivism. This is a form of slacktivism which holds that if only privileged white people were better educated and more conscious of their own privilege, racial progress would ensue in many senses, it puts liberal, privileged white people and their own inner battles at the center of the struggle. This form of slacktivism doesnt, as a rule, talk all that much about power structures or even power, really, except at the level of individual privilege. In a certain sense, its a form of slacktivism perfectly constructed for an age in which politics feel futile, inequality is rampant, the prospects for meaningful redistribution are moribund, and a lot of liberal white people who are the winners in the winner-take-all economy are performatively conscious of racism, but also not all that into the idea of living in truly integrated neighborhoods, or sending their kids to truly integrated schools. This form of slacktivism allows white people who live in wealthy enclaves of Brooklyn, technically surrounded by black people in every direction but thoroughly disconnected from them sociologically, to feel like part of a broader struggle and to broadcast their enthusiasm about that struggle without actually giving up anything much materially. Its all very consumer-friendly. Kentucky senate president Robert Stivers has some ideas about pregnancy. Photo: Timothy D. Easley/AP Photo In their Long March toward the recriminalization of abortion, the right-to-life movement has been adept in coopting the language of its pro-choice opponents. The classic example involves the appropriation of concerns about the health of the mother a constitutionally required exception to abortion bans even for late-term abortions as an excuse for abortion restrictions, as accepted by Justice Kennedy in his famously patronizing opinion in a case upholding a federal partial-birth abortion ban. But Kentucky senate president Robert Stivers has come up with an even craftier bit of legerdemain in defense of a bill to outlaw abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy, which is suddenly on the brink of passage following Republican legislative gains on November 8: Stivers said his personal preference would be to ban abortions starting at a date before 20 weeks. This is my belief: there are two viable beings involved, he said. One had a choice early on to make a decision to conceive or not. Once conception starts, another life is involved, and the legislature has the ability to determine how that life proceeds. Fetal viability (the ability to survive outside the womb) is, of course, the linchpin of the constitutional right to abortion. Restrictions prior to fetal viability are never constitutional, though the standard shifted somewhat in the 1992 Supreme Court case of Planned Parenthood v. Casey, which in recognition of medical advances abandoned the strict trimester system for determining viability. Antiabortion activists would dearly love to secure a judicial standard that significantly reduced the period of pre-viability. But since the medical profession isnt cooperating with that aspiration, right-to-lifers have sought different rationales for banning earlier abortion, most notably the claim (disputed heatedly by most physicians and scientists) that the fetus can feel pain after 20 weeks. But so far as I know, the very different conflation of conception with viability that Stiver (assuming he didnt just mix up his buzzwords) attempted is a new one. If a zygote were in fact viable, then you might have the sort of competing interests that would in theory justify legislative intervention, though even then a health exception (which the Kentucky bill does not provide in its 20-week ban) would be required to pass constitutional muster. But obviously this is to change the word viable into something nonsensical. Stivers goes on, of course, to add insult to ignorance by suggesting that the right to choose is exhausted at the moment the woman involved makes a decision to conceive. From then on, her body belongs to the Commonwealth of Kentucky. Stivers is thus just asserting his property rights on Kentuckys behalf. Look for her during the day on NBC. Photo: Lorenzo Bevilaqua/2016 American Broadcasting Companies, Inc. Megyn Kellys decision to jump from Fox News to NBC resolves one of the last unanswered questions of the Roger Ailes scandal: Would she stay or would she go when her contract ended? With her last show set to air on Friday, Kellys departure raises a new series of questions about how transferrable her talents are and where Fox News is headed now that the network has lost its biggest star and one of its few hosts with serious mainstream credibility. For Kelly, the jump from a primetime perch at Fox to a multifaceted role at NBC carries a high degree of risk. Shell be giving up the most loyal audience in cable news for new set of platforms that shell have to largely build herself. At NBC, Kelly will anchor an Oprah-like daytime show, launch a new Sunday night news magazine, and contribute to the networks political coverage. The track record for talented anchors launching daytime programs hasnt been good (see: Katie Couric, Meredith Vieira, Anderson Cooper), and no Fox News star has successfully crossed over to the mainstream before. But Kellys prodigious talents as a broadcaster, not to mention her canny media instincts, could help her defy the trend. Sources close to Kelly told me today that her departure is an indication of just how unhappy she had become at Fox in the wake of her high-profile feud with Donald Trump and revelations she had accused Ailes of sexual harassment. Her relationships with Bill OReilly and Sean Hannity in particular had completely broken down, one Fox host told me. Bill hated her, the host said. As Kellys contract negotiations dragged on during her much-publicized book tour, things also grew strained with Rupert Murdoch, two sources said. One Fox insider told me Murdoch balked when Kelly asked for $25 million late in the talks. (A person close to Kelly disputed this, saying that said Kelly never asked for a specific dollar amount but that Fox had offered $25 million.) Inside Fox News, staffers are speculating over who will replace Kelly. According to insiders I spoke with today, the consensus seems to be that the Murdochs will choose a woman to fill her 9 p.m. time slot. The leading internal contenders include Trish Regan, Shannon Bream, Sandra Smith, and Martha MacCallum. Two sources said Kimberly Guilfoyle is lobbying for the job. The one thing Fox insiders are in agreement on is that whoever replaces Kelly will be a pro-Trump conservative. In the wake of Ailess ouster, some media observers speculated that 21st Century Fox CEO James Murdoch wanted to reposition Fox to the center, bringing it more in line with his moderate political views. But the selection of a pro-Trump host to fill Kellys slot would suggest that Fox is instead doubling down on its right-wing politics and planning to align itself with the new administration. After initially being hostile to Trump, Murdoch has made moves to curry favor with the president-elect. Fox insiders told me that Murdoch personally named pro-Trump anchor Tucker Carlson to replace Greta Van Susteren at 7 p.m. Murdochs relationship with Trump has greatly improved since the depths of Trumps battle with Kelly last year. I really like Rupert Murdoch! Trump told guests at Mar-a-Lago over the holidays, according to an attendee. Roger Ailes was a friend of mine, but Foxs coverage is so much better since he left. If Fox News politics ultimately solidify as more pro-Trump than they were during the campaign, that might be to the benefit of Murdochs business interests. According to a well-placed source, Trump has asked Murdoch to submit names for FCC Chairman. Murdoch, another source said, also wants conditions put on the AT&T-Time Warner merger, and he could lobby Trump to make that happen. That Murdoch might choose to align his news network with Trump shouldnt come as a surprise. Throughout his career, Murdoch has tended to support the officeholder in power, whether it was Margaret Thatcher, Tony Blair, or George W. Bush. He even flirted with endorsing Barack Obama in 08, but at the time backed off when Ailes complained. A Long Island Rail Road train hit the bumper and jumped the track at Atlantic Terminal, Brooklyn, during the height of the Wednesday-morning rush. At least 103 people are hurt, according to the FDNY, but none of the injuries are life-threatening, with walking wounded suffering from scrapes, cuts, and bruises. Many were treated by first responders on the scene. Governor Andrew Cuomo, addressing reporters from outside Atlantic Terminal after the incident, said a broken leg was the most serious injury reported so far. 103 injuries reported at scene of Atlantic Terminal LIRR train derailment, all non-life-threatening pic.twitter.com/t5p78cAFlU FDNY (@FDNY) January 4, 2017 The westbound LIRR train originated in Far Rockaway and had an estimated 600 riders. It was pulling into track 6 at the station around 8:20 a.m. when the train apparently failed to brake and crashed into the bumping block at the end of the tracks, forcing the front car of the train upward off the rails. I was getting up from my seat and there was a loud impact and I flew forward and then flew backward, a passenger told WBCS 2 about the moment of the crash. The cause of the incident is unknown, but, right now, it does not appear as if the train was moving at a significantly higher speed than the normal rate for a trains approach into a station, according to Cuomo. MTA chairman Tom Prendergast said they are investigating why the train didnt stop, and will interview the operator and engineers. "It was a train that didn't stop when it was supposed to." - Cuomo gives update on #LIRR at Atlantic Terminal: https://t.co/FxJTlvQwAQ WCBS Newsradio 880 (@wcbs880) January 4, 2017 FDNY and emergency crews arrived at the station, as crowds of commuters packed the smoky platform. Passengers posted photos to social media from the terminal, which showed train seats askew, shattered glass, and mangled doors: My #LIRR train crashed at #AtlanticTerminal in #Brooklyn. Crazy. Seems only a few people are lightly injured. pic.twitter.com/oXHvy2yxDL Aaron D. Neufeld (@Aaron_D_Neufeld) January 4, 2017 The Long Island Rail Road is warning of delays into and out of Atlantic Terminal Wednesday morning, but service has not been suspended and the other tracks are undamaged. Theres also plenty of traffic around the Barclays Center and Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn as emergency crews triage the injured and secure the scene. Anticipate possible delays into and out of Atlantic Terminal this morning due to an incident at the terminal. LIRR (@LIRR) January 4, 2017 In September, a New Jersey Transit train barreled into a Hoboken train station, killing one person and injuring 100. That train was going twice its normal speed when it plowed into the terminal, based on preliminary findings. This post has been updated throughout. Senator Jeff Sessions. Photo: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images As opposition to Senator Jeff Sessions nomination to serve as Donald Trumps attorney general grew louder on Tuesday, six people were arrested following an eight-hour sit-in organized by the NAACP at the senators Mobile, Alabama, office. The protest began around 11 a.m., when nearly two dozen activists occupied Sessionss office, accusing the senator of being hostile to the Voting Rights Act and other civil rights issues. The demonstration was part of a larger action by the Alabama NAACP, which held press conferences opposing Sessions at his other district offices on Tuesday. Demonstrators in Mobile vowed to remain in the office until the senators nomination was pulled or they were arrested. We are asking the senator to withdraw his name for consideration as attorney general or for the President-elect, Donald Trump, to withdraw the nomination, Cornell William Brooks, the national president of the NAACP, said during the sit-in. In the midst of rampant voter suppression, this nominee has failed to acknowledge the reality of voter suppression while pretending to believe in the myth of voter fraud. The demonstrators asked to speak with Sessions, but according to USA Today they were told he was unavailable. They were also unable to speak with his D.C. policy staff. Updates on the protest were posted on social media, and many offered messages of support. The @NAACP & @AlabamaNAACP are occupying the Mobile office of @jeffsessions--untill he withdraws as a AG nominee or we're arrested.@tvonetv pic.twitter.com/7uceDDpz1Y Rev. Cornell William Brooks (@CornellWBrooks) January 3, 2017 This protest is likely a 1st for the office of @SenatorSessions, who called @NAACP un-American & Communist years ago pic.twitter.com/TkwAcNUp02 Lee Hedgepeth (@lee_hedgepeth) January 3, 2017 The protest ended around 6:30 p.m. local time when the group refused to leave as the office closed for the day. A Facebook Live broadcast showed the arrests of five men and one woman, including Brooks and Alabama NAACP President Benard Simelton. The six were taken into custody peacefully, with Brooks shaking hands with the officers who arrived on the scene. We all are aware of the laws of trespass. We are engaging in a voluntary act of civil disobedience, Brooks told the police. The demonstrators were allowed to kneel and pray before they were handcuffed and led to a police van. They were charged with misdemeanor criminal trespass and released on bond, according to the AP. Arrested @NAACP protesters being put in a paddywagon outside office of @SenatorSessions pic.twitter.com/KS8X6mq9hI Lee Hedgepeth (@lee_hedgepeth) January 4, 2017 Simelton said everyone was very polite and hospitable during the sit-in, and Sessions even sent them pizza for lunch. But Sarah Isgur Flores, spokeswoman for Sessionss confirmation, issued a statement strongly denying the accusations of racism that have dogged the senator throughout his career. Jeff Sessions has dedicated his career to upholding the rule of law, ensuring public safety and prosecuting government corruption, Isgur Flores said in the statement. Many African-American leaders whove known him for decades attest to this and have welcomed his nomination to be the next attorney general. The statement included a list of black lawyers and officials who have endorsed Sessions for attorney general. The U.S. Senate rejected Sessionss nomination for a federal judgeship in 1986 after several former colleagues accused him of making racist remarks while serving as U.S. attorney in Mobile. They claimed he called a black prosecutor boy, agreed with a description of a white civil-rights lawyer as a traitor to his race, called the NAACP un-American, and joked that he thought the Ku Klux Klan was okay until I found out they smoked pot. Sessions acknowledged making some of the remarks, but said many were taken out of context. During the sit-in, Simelton said civil-rights advocates arent opposed to Sessionss nomination merely owing to a handful of racist remarks he may have made several decades ago. He has not been a champion for civil and human rights or been on the battle front fighting for civil and human rights, Simelton said. We need someone who has a background in that and who will continue to do that. In 1985, when he was a federal prosecutor, Sessions pursued voter-fraud charges against three activists working to register black voters, including Albert Turner, who helped lead the voting-rights march in Selma in 1965. The presiding judge threw out half of the charges for lack of evidence, and a jury quickly acquitted the Marion Three on the remaining charges. On Tuesday, Deval Patrick, the former Democratic governor of Massachusetts, sent a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee opposing Sessionss confirmation over his handling of the 1985 case. Patrick was part of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund team that represented the Marion Three, and he said Sessions should not have prosecuted the activists for trying to help voters, many of whom were poor, illiterate, or elderly. Pursuing that case was an act of extraordinary quasi-judicial activism, wrote Patrick. To use prosecutorial discretion to attempt to criminalize voter assistance is wrong and should be disqualifying for any aspirant to the Nations highest law enforcement post. The incident was also cited in a letter to Congress from a group of more than 1,200 law-school professors from 176 law schools opposing Sessions for attorney general. We are convinced that Jeff Sessions will not fairly enforce our nations laws and promote justice and equality in the United States, the letter states. Last month, news outlets and advocacy groups found Sessions omitted many records from the questionnaire he filled out for the Senate Judiciary Committee, including his failed bid for a federal judgeship. In a Washington Post op-ed published on Tuesday, three former Justice Department civil-rights lawyers accused Sessions of exaggerating his role in four civil-rights cases, listing them on the questionnaire as significant cases he litigated personally. They wrote: We worked in the Justice Departments Civil Rights Division, which brought those lawsuits; we handled three of the four ourselves. We can state categorically that Sessions had no substantive involvement in any of them. He did what any U.S. attorney would have had to do: He signed his name on the complaint, and we added his name on any motions or briefs. Thats it. The attorneys concluded, Sessions knows that his real record on race and civil rights is harmful to his chances for confirmation. So he has made up a fake one. Sessionss confirmation hearings are scheduled for January 10 and 11, and other groups are planning protests to keep him from becoming attorney general. Were calling on citizens of this country to not accept as fait accompli the nomination of attorney general, Brooks said on Tuesday. Its not a political coronation, its a democratic confirmation. Were calling on people to tweet, e-mail, show up at the senators office and voice their opinion, wisely, thoughtfully. NYPD. Photo: Kena Betancur/Getty Images The number of shootings in New York City plummeted to 998 in 2016, the first time that rate has dipped below 1,000 since the city began tracking such incidents. Thats a 12 percent decline from 2015, a standout statistic in a year that saw record low crime rates across the city. .@NYPDnews Chief of Crime Control Strategies Dermot Shea: "In 2016, we have shattered the previous low # for annual shooting incidents." pic.twitter.com/ZwoitR0NL3 Det. James Byrne (@NYPDByrne) January 4, 2017 The citys murder rate also fell from 2015 down from 352 to 335 in 2016. (And a nick above New Yorks historic low, notched in 2014, of 333, and tied for second with 2013.) New York Police Department brass attribute some of decrease in violent crime to gang takedowns (the city saw its biggest bust in April 2016), and according to the New York Times, big reductions in gang-related shootings and killings helped drive the overall numbers down. NYPD chief of crime control strategies Dermot Shea also attributed the new lows to the departments ability to better track crime patterns linking multiple crimes to one perp, for example which comes down to improvements in technology and good, old-fashioned police work. All together, the overall crime rate sunk 4 percent, with fewer than 102,000 major felonies the lowest number of the CompStat era, which the NYPD began using in the early 1990s. New York Citys relatively rosy stats stand out in stark contrast to other big cities, namely Chicago. The Windy City witnessed its bloodiest year in two decades: 762 murdered, and more than 4,300 shot. The increase is staggering. The homicide rate spiked 60 percent from 2015. The number of shootings leapt by more than 1,000. The number of people killed in Chicago is greater than that of New York and Los Angeles, combined. Police investigate the scene of a shooting where a 23-year-old woman was shot in the chest and hand and a 25-year-old man was shot in the leg on January 1, 2017, in Chicago, Illinois. Photo: Scott Olson/Getty Images Chicago isnt the only city that logged a violent year. Los Angeles witnessed an uptick in homicides for the third year in a row; Baltimore had 318 homicides, its second deadliest year on record, beaten only by 2015. But Americas third largest city has perhaps garnered the most attention, amplified by president-elect Donald Trumps tweets. Remarkable Murder rate in LA = 7.25 per 100K ppl; Houston = 13.15; Chicago = 28.0. NYC = 3.91 per 100K ppl.https://t.co/RnX6pJAzAS Phil Walzak (@PTWalzak) January 4, 2017 Chicagos gangs loose, fractured cliques whose territory splits city blocks have fueled the violence, which is concentrated on the South and West sides of the city. Chicago police superintendent Eddie Johnson, who took over an embattled police force in March, has also criticized lax gun laws and insufficient penalties for repeat offenders as hampering polices efforts to keep the body count in check. But the fatal shooting of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald, and the release of the video in November 2015, deepened the distrust between cops and community. Some critics say police are stepping back, the department plagued by dismal morale. Mayor Rahm Emanuel has promised to hire 1,000 more officers over the next year, and the city is expediting its body-camera program, to outfit all officers by 2017. Chicago will launch new community initiatives in gun-plagued neighborhoods, and expand technology, such as gunshot spotters. But whether those are real solutions to Chicagos bloodshed is an open question; six people have already been killed, and 54 people shot, not even four full days into 2017. Photo: Lisa Lake/Getty Images for Moveon.org The Republican plan to eliminate Obamacare is to repeal the law, delay for a long time, and then, allegedly, create a replacement for it. The replacement is the hardest part of the equation, since Republicans will never support a reform that provides enough coverage to satisfy most Americans. The repeal part is easier. But its still not easy at all. And as Trumps government takes shape, signs are already popping up everywhere that the GOP is reconsidering its plan to repeal the law quicky. Repeal and delay is a plan that sounds attractive in theory, but presents Republicans with enormous political risks. If they pass a law to repeal Obamacare on a time-delayed basis, with no replacement in hand, stakeholders like insurers and hospitals will face huge financial losses, and it will probably disrupt coverage for millions of their customers. The only way to prevent such a catastrophe would be to shore up the system until they can devise a replacement. But patching up Obamacare would enrage some conservatives who oppose bailouts for the insurance industry, and would also have the side effect of proving Obamacare can work, making it harder to repeal. Republicans, like Colonel Nicholson in Bridge on the River Kwai, would have built the thing they had set out to destroy. That Democrats will oppose repeal-and-delay is obvious. But over the last several days, a growing number of Republican, or Republican-friendly, voices have turned against it as well. James Capretta and Joseph Antos of the conservative American Enterprise Institute warn in the journal Health Affairs, The most likely end result of repeal and delay would be less secure insurance for many Americans, procrastination by political leaders who will delay taking any proactive steps as long as possible, and ultimately no discernible movement toward a real marketplace for either insurance or medical services. The American Medical Association, an influential lobby representing an affluent constituency, and which endorsed Trumps right-wing nomination to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, issued a statement opposing repeal-and-delay. Republicans like John McCain, Newt Gingrich, and even Rand Paul have urged their party not to tear down Obamacare without a replacement. (If Congress fails to vote on a replacement at the same time as repeal, the repealers risk assuming the blame for the continued unraveling of Obamacare, writes Paul.) Trump himself, somewhat elliptically, echoes these cautions. In a series of tweets this morning, the president-elect while calling Obamacare a disaster warns that repealing it will make Republicans responsible for the chaos that ensues: Republicans must be careful in that the Dems own the failed ObamaCare disaster, with its poor coverage and massive premium increases...... Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 4, 2017 like the 116% hike in Arizona. Also, deductibles are so high that it is practically useless. Don't let the Schumer clowns out of this web... Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 4, 2017 massive increases of ObamaCare will take place this year and Dems are to blame for the mess. It will fall of its own weight - be careful! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 4, 2017 Republicans need 50 of their 52 Senators to support a repeal bill, plus of course the Presidents signature, to pass repeal. Neither of those seems certain right now. Whats the alternative? Theres no attractive option at hand. A key problem is that Obamacare can be defunded with 50 Republican Senate votes, but replacing it means rewriting the insurance regulations in the law, which needs 60 Senate votes, or at least 8 Democrats. Republicans could try to negotiate with Democrats on changes to the law that would make it more Republican-friendly which means taxing rich people less, skimpier subsidies to the poor and sick, and cheaper premiums for the rich and healthy that they could call a replacement for Obamacare. Democrats would not like any of these changes, but perhaps if their scale was small enough, they could accept them in return for a truce in the health-care wars that left most of the laws achievements in place. Or they could stick with their plan to repeal the law, delay its effect, patch up the system enough to keep it afloat, and leave it for another day. Theres no course of action that avoids taking on high levels of political risk. The Republicans have made impossible promises on Obamacare providing more coverage than Obamacare without anybody having to pay for it and they are figuring out that the path they take from that promise leads into a political quagmire. Borrowing a little of the Bern for 2020? Photo: Mary Altaffer/AP Photo New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, fresh off the fanfare of the Second Avenue subway opening, made another splashy announcement Tuesday, this one about education. Cuomo proposed giving free state- or city-college tuition for accepted students whose families make less than $125,000 per year. The governor outlined his plan at La Guardia Community College in Queens, where he was joined by Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, the very person who made this a campaign issue in 2016. He got a chance to try out the old stump speech again, and, spoiler, hes still got it: Our job is to encourage every person in this country to get all of the education they can, not to punish them for getting that education. pic.twitter.com/PtReBKXO0J Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) January 3, 2017 Cuomo is calling for a 2019 start date for these Excelsior Scholarships, which will apply to four- and two-year schools under the CUNY or SUNY banner and could benefit hundreds of thousands of students in the nations largest public-university system. The governors administration estimated the program to cost about $163 million though thats a very, very rough estimate and will vary depending on how many students take advantage of the potential scholarships. Besides the question over cost, this plan isnt exactly a done deal, as implementing free tuition will require a vote in Albany, which could be a tough sell among Republican lawmakers who control the State Senate. Were making college tuition-free for middle-class families.My proposal offers free tuition at SUNY, CUNY schoolsevery kid deserves a shot. pic.twitter.com/doYc7IoyTe Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) January 3, 2017 According to the Albany Times Union, Governor Cuomo is trying to spice up the State of the State Address in 2017, delivering six separate policy speeches across New York with just one near Albany instead of one big presentation in front of the Legislature. (Things didnt go over so well last year.) This free-tuition plan is reportedly the first preview in what well call the State of the State series, one that the governor probably hopes still sounds good when 2020 rolls around. Photo: Frederic Cirou/PhotoAlto/Getty Images Finland, the country that gave the world the sauna, is now experimenting with another act of radical generosity. On January 1, it became the first European country to give unemployed citizens a basic income a no-strings-attached monthly payment meant to cover the basic costs of living. The Guardian reports that it will be a two-year trial of 2,000 Finns randomly selected that are currently receiving unemployment benefits. These 25- to 58-year-olds will receive the equivalent of $587 a month, replacing their previously in place social benefits and paid out if they gain employment. Ideally, these funds will help recipients sidestep the so-called welfare cliff, where recipients avoid taking on higher-income jobs for fear of losing public support, a danger thats present not just in Finland but (very much) in the U.S. Its the latest in whats becoming a worldwide trend. The Dutch city of Utrecht has a pilot coming this year, as does the Canadian province of Ontario. Switzerland voted down a basic-income referendum last June, though you can read that loss as a product of the countrys referenda-happy governance structure rather than the worthiness of basic income. Programs in the spirit of basic income have shown tremendous promise in the U.S., like ones that have shown that giving homes to the homeless is the cheapest way to reduce homelessness, or that paying high-risk people a stipend not to be involved in gun violence is a staggeringly effective method for reducing a citys murder rate. Meanwhile, the nonprofit GiveDirectly has now raised more than $22 million toward a 6,000-person initiative in Kenya; the organization says that the largest basic income experiment in history will launch in hundreds of villages over the next few months. Lots of historical forces are combining to make basic income look attractive. Consider the case of the United States, where economic inequality is on a 40-year climb, stoking alcoholism, depression, and other diseases of desperation. Tech types are big on basic income as a way to offset technological unemployment, or the social shift that will happen when robots and algorithms take all our jobs. (YCombinator, the Harvard of Silicon Valley start-up incubators, is launching basic-income program in Oakland.) Its not just Silicon Valley quackery: The White House published a report last year saying that automation puts 62 percent of American jobs at risk, with everything from customer-service roles to Wall Street analysts getting gobbled up by software. The history of universal basic income, or UBI, is long: The Spanish humanist Juan Luis Vives advocated for unconditional welfare in 1526. Thomas Paine argued for a national fund in his 1797 pamphlet Agrarian Justice. Martin Luther King argued for a basic income in his final book, 1967s Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community? To King, basic income was a way to accomplish what market growth couldnt: We have come a long way in our understanding of human motivation and of the blind operation of our economic system. Now we realize that dislocations in the market operation of our economy and the prevalence of discrimination thrust people into idleness and bind them in constant or frequent unemployment against their will. The poor are less often dismissed from our conscience today by being branded as inferior and incompetent. We also know that no matter how dynamically the economy develops and expands it does not eliminate all poverty. But in the 1980s, basic income and associated ideas were swept under the political rug, with Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher riding anti-government sentiment into power. Welfare queen and welfare mama entered the lexicon; handouts were shameful, corrupt, or worse. As all that history implies, basic income serves as a Rorschach test for your account of human nature. If given the chance, will people be as lazy as possible? Will they abandon work? Or will having security enable them to contribute, rather than take, from social resources? Are the poor impoverished because of their lack of effort and competence or because of systemic, even unconscious disadvantage? The problem is that large-scale, long-term, methodologically rigorous studies of basic income are yet to be done. Still, the evidence thats already out there looks good. For the biggest study on basic income, University of Manitoba economist Evelyn Forget quite literally plucked data from the dustbin of history for her 2011 paper, The Town With No Poverty. The origin story goes like this: From 1974 to 1979, national and provincial governments partnered to provide a minimum income to every eligible family in Dauphin, a prairie town with a present-day population of 8,000. The programs name was MINCOME, as in minimum income. But halfway through the program, the party in power changed, funding dried up, and as Andrew Flowers noted in a deep dive on FiveThirtyEight, some 1,800 cardboard boxes of data were left to sit in Canadas national archives until they could be later analyzed. Forget unearthed them, digitized the results, and compared them with records from Canadas national health insurance, yielding a quasi-experimental, controlled design. The results: MINCOME participants had lower hospitalizations due to injuries and accidents compared to the control, and they also had fewer physician contacts for mental-health diagnoses. These results would seem to suggest that a Guaranteed Annual Income, implemented broadly in society, may improve health and social outcomes at the community level, Forget wrote in her conclusion. The U.S. flirted with a sibling of basic income in the 1970s and 1980s, in the form of negative income tax, where people below a certain income threshold get money from the government instead of paying taxes. (Free-market evangelist Milton Friedman was a fan, Flowers reminds us.) Control studies ran from 1968 to 1980, ranging from rural studies in Iowa and North Carolina to urban ones in Seattle and Denver, which ran nine years and reached 4,800 people. Primary earners scaled back their hours by up to 7 percent, research indicated, while elementary schoolers did better on tests, and babies were less frequently born with low birth weights. Home ownership and healthy eating went up too. Then, in what became a cautionary tale for science writers everywhere, a statistical error led to a report that participating in the program led to a higher rate of divorce, and a media firestorm followed. The policy was quickly cast aside. Unsurprisingly, lots of the clearest indications of the power of giving people money come from interventions in the developing world. Research on South Africa finds that when households can expect pension money, theyre more likely to send kids to school. In Sri Lanka, one-time grants of $100 to $200 dollars lead to higher profits and survival rates for small businesses five years later. Cash transfers in rural Mexico show increases in living standards that remain after half a decade. On average, the global poor dont waste money given to them on booze and cigarettes, a 2014 World Bank analysis found; its used on household goods, costs associated with schooling, and health care. While Bloomberg View columnist Leonid Bershidsky contends that few people in the developed world will be convinced by an experiment in Kenya because of the differences in social structures, the data does indicate that giving the poor money durably changes their lives for the better. What the long arguments on either side of UBI point to is that this is a topic, like so many others, that could benefit more from rigorous study rather than vigorous debate. It could fall under what Harvard linguist-historian Steven Pinker calls evidence-based interventions, moves toward human welfare that rely on grounded empirical findings rather than political views, like that bed nets in Africa reduce child deaths by up to 20 percent. This is where the difficulty and the promise of UBI lies. The studies will ideally be long-term, randomized control trials: Ideally, youre talking about thousands of people receiving hundreds to thousands of dollars annually over a decade or longer; otherwise findings could just be statistical noise. Thats a ton of time and money, and it will require the cooperation of academics, governments, and nonprofits. If done well, the research could show that basic income is the economic equivalent of mosquito nets: relatively low cost, empirically validated, and life enabling. Updated to reflect that GiveDirectlys Kenya experiment is launching in hundreds of villages this year. There was a while in the middle of the 20 century when everyone teenagers, advertisers, artists, housewives, and politicians agreed: America had the best stuff. Records, skateboards, cars, dishwashers these things werent just cool, or modern, or high-quality. They were totemic; they stood for our power and influence. We believed in the power of stuff to speak for us, to express who we really were. Of course, it was also just stuff: empty, mass-produced, and disposable. It said more about what we lacked than about what we had. Mike Mills, whose movie 20th Century Women just opened, was born in 1966, and hes a self-conscious product of this era. I kind of feel like all my art has been about whats it like to try to figure out yourself in a consumerist society, he told me, when I met him at his Silver Lake house. Ive always been trying to point out how we shape ourselves with these objects. We load them with meaning, expect them to fill spiritual holes, only to find ourselves unfulfilled and unsatisfied. But were addicted to it. Its part of our life. Twentieth Century Women follows the coming of age of a Mills-like teenage boy. But its less about a boy and the women who made him a man than about how even the most deeply intertwined people are often unfathomable to each other, and how intense the desire to understand anyway can be. Its about these women as seen by him. As a filmmaker, Mills is a meticulous portraitist; personal belongings, found images, and memory fragments are his chosen medium. He makes movies as though assembling artifacts in a vitrine at a natural-history museum. In 20th Century Women, his central subject is his mother circa the 1970s, and the relics he shows us are things like her Salems, her Birkenstocks, and the way she spoke to men in positions of authority. Through them, he reconstructs her style, her worldview, her history. Stuff allows him to reveal his characters as idiosyncratic jumbles of personal quirks and simultaneously, inevitably, grounded in a particular moment. He zooms out, then zooms back in again. Photo: Courtesy of Annapurna Pictures Throughout his career, Mills has slipped fluidly between objects and images, art and commerce. Hes made three feature films (Thumbsucker, Beginners, and now 20th Century Women), plus a documentary about antidepressants in Japan (Does Your Soul Have a Cold?) but hes also directed music videos for Air, Moby, Pulp, and Yoko Ono, and commercials for Gap, Volkswagen, and Facebook. Hes designed book covers for his wife, Miranda July, and album covers for Sonic Youth, the Beastie Boys, and Air; hes created graphics for X-Girl, Marc Jacobs, and Subliminal skateboards. Hes sold his own posters and fabrics, and exhibited his work in museums and galleries. Fluent in the language of stuff, he knows how objects can re-create a historical moment and demystify it at the same time. Its not just, Oh, the 70s were great because it was more real then and these objects are more authentic, Mills explains. Its also that in the 70s, there was such a vacuum of spirituality, of deeper thinking, that we glommed onto things in an attempt to build a world. This was, in his estimation, maybe more of a failure than a success. It would be wrong to just say Im showing these objects because they mean so much, he says. Its also because its the shipwreck. Youre trying to piece it back together. And its impossible. In that spirit, Mills shared a brief catalogue of objects that appear in 20th Century Women some from his own collection, all with his own memories and associations. Its some broken stuff washed up from the shipwreck, pieced together for clues. Talking Heads 77 Shirt 1977 (Silkscreen on cotton fabric) One of Millss older sisters bought the Talking Heads 77 shirt for him in New York. Photo: Amanda Demme I got beat up for wearing this shirt, Mills says. It was a gift from his older sister, who sent it back to him in California. 20th Century Women takes place in 1979 and centers on a 15-year-old boy named Jamie (Lucas Jade Zumann). Because of this, its easy to mistake it for a standard coming-of-age story: a boys sentimental education at the ministering hands of older women in this case, his mother, Dorothea (Annette Bening); a photographer named Abbie (Greta Gerwig); and his slightly-older best friend Julie (Elle Fanning). Theyre all self-contained, lonely planets orbiting one another, trying to connect through objects. I wore that shirt to Santa Barbara Junior High, and the coolest girl in the school she was older, worldly, a total mystery to everybody came up to me and said, I love Take Me To the River, says Mills. I thought, Oh, my God, I made it. Theres a scene in the movie where Jamie, wearing the same Talking Heads T-shirt, schools an older boy on the female orgasm. He gets his ass handed to him for his efforts. As a straight guy, one of my biggest fears was getting beat up. Guys fight each other. Its one of the things you have to negotiate in the world, Mills says. Punk was often so macho. A lot of those L.A. hard-core bands, there was something tremendously cleansing about how fucking physical and raw and untrained they were. But the Talking Heads promised something unfamiliar: Mills identified with their more cerebral, more creative version of subversion. David Byrne offered a different version of a guy. David Byrne was not going to beat you up, right? He was a huge relief. Alva Skateboard 1979 (Custom plywood, polyurethane wheels) Alva reissued the 1979 boards; period-correct O.J. wheels added by the resourceful art department. Photo: Amanda Demme Before Mills and his sisters were born, his mother had flown airplanes, and shed hoped to be a pilot in World War II a history Dorothea shares in the movie. That past helped give Millss mom a visceral understanding of her sons love of skating. She saw in skateboarding the thrill and freedom of flying planes: Shed always say, Its like flying. Mills grew up in Santa Barbara, where his father was director of the Santa Barbara Museum of Art; his mother was the first female draftsperson at the Seattle branch of the Container Corporation of America. (Millss movie Beginners was about his father, who came out of the closet at the age of 75, shortly after Millss mom died of cancer.) Mills spent most of his time with his mother, and she encouraged his interest in skateboarding. Almost every weekend, shed dutifully make the two-hour drive to take him to skate parks in Los Angeles. Hanging out in a parking lot in Marina del Rey in 1979 was not a fun thing to do but, like Dorothea in the movie, Millss mom believed in exploration and self-reliance. She was always trying to push me out in the world, he says. Mills might have been getting rides from his mom, but the skateboard became his vehicle to the counterculture. And anyway, his mother shared his taste for charismatic rule-breakers and his itch to escape suburban conformity. My parents had these big dinner parties, and they were full of weird people, he says. My mom used to say all the time, The characters are all going away. The first time he heard punk was at a skate contest, and skate parks were where he first met people who seemed to be interested in creating a way out of a lot of this bullshit. He remembers them reminding him of Allen Ginsberg: They did not play by the familiar rules. Growing up in Santa Barbara, I knew the normative story was such a rip-off, even for privileged, white, straight-guy me, he says. It just didnt give enough emotional bandwidth. When punk came along, it was like, Okay, pain. Depression. Discomfort. Anger. Chaotic feelings that you cant put labels on. It gave a space for all that. Abbies photos of camera, shoes, lipstick, and portrait. 2016 (Photographs of late-70s objects on gray fabric) Red shoes procured by costume designer Jennifer Johnson. Camera is a Nikon F2AS, purchased on eBay, that Mills gave to Elle Fanning as a wrap present. Photo: Amanda Demme Millss older sister went to art school at Parsons and had to move back to California after developing cervical cancer in her 20s. (It was the result of a drug their mother had taken while pregnant; she recovered, and despite doctors predictions at the time went on to have children of her own.) Shes the basis for Abbie (played by Greta Gerwig), a photographer who rents a room from Dorothea after getting the same diagnosis and dropping out of art school. Mills imagined these photos as something someone like Abbie might have produced around the time of Douglas Crimps 1979 essay on the Pictures Generation, a cohort of artists who appropriated mass-media images in their work. Following in his older sisters footsteps, Mills moved to New York for art school. At Cooper Union he encountered movements focused on ideas rather than art objects, like Arte Povera (poverty art, made from mundane materials) and conceptual art; he studied with the conceptual artist Hans Haacke, whose work posed questions about art and capitalism. Millss friends were involved in Gran Fury, the graphic-design arm of ACT UP. But along with politics and institutional critique, he saw art that took a more intimate approach to consumer debris. There was Christian Boltanskis portrait of a recently deceased womans every possession all her things, transferred to a museum as though it were an estate sale and Hans-Peter Feldmanns nicely ordered collections of random items. Mills found their focus on random, everyday belongings human and inviting. It was sort of exciting and open in a nice way, he says. I love using that technique. I find it very cinematic. 20th Century Women is attuned to the way that curating influences and objects can become a means of self-creation and communication, of transferring knowledge and mastery like on a mixtape. The whole movie is sort of a mixtape, Mills says, from women to a man about men. In one scene, Abbie gives Jamie a mixtape after he accompanies her to an ob-gyn appointment. She decorates the cover with whats actually a photo of Millss sister, her head outside the frame. I just love that picture, Mills says. You can tell what kind of woman that is. Sisterhood Is Powerful (Paperback book; includes the essays It Hurts to Be Alive and Obsolete and The Politics of Orgasm) One of several versions that Mills bought on eBay while writing the script. Photo: Amanda Demme Mills started reading Sisterhood Is Powerful while writing 20th Century Women and came across an essay by Zoe Moss about being a middle-aged woman called It Hurts to Be Alive and Obsolete. He began imagining what would have happened if hed tried to read it aloud to his mother which is exactly what Jamie winds up doing in the movie. I was like, Holy fuck, he says. Hes trying to understand her so hard, and this thing would unnerve her so much. No woman wants to be seen like that, especially by her son It became kind of central to the movie. Mills didnt actually have this book as a teenager though, he says, it is totally something one of his older sisters would have given him. That, or Our Bodies, Ourselves. She liked to talk to him about how to be a good boyfriend to some woman someday, and other things he wasnt quite ready for. Today he sees a divide between the type of feminism that his sisters were exposed to 70s womens lib, interested in sisterhood, bodies, feelings and his mothers. Its mirrored in the movie by the generation gap between Dorothea and Abbie or Julie. Onscreen, Abbie is the one enlightening Jamie with second-wave literature. His mother, meanwhile, identified more as a 1940s working woman, the kind of figure who might have been played by Barbara Stanwyck. As a Depression-era kid, she was comfortable with 1960s counterculture and its anti-war, anti-poverty ethos; she had a harder time dealing with things related to the body or inner life. My mom was very, I love measurables, Mills says. Money and work were fine to talk about. He was aware (as Jamie is aware in the movie) that his mom didnt fit the feminine norms of other moms her age. She looked pretty butch. She wore pants, had short hair, she did contracting. Her gestalt was much more like Humphrey Bogart than anything else, he says. She had a hard time at times being a woman, and I could see it. A womens-studies course in grad school was one of his favorite classes. It offered a way to think about the politics of the personal, about how your inner life and your identity relate to the bigger story; as a filmmaker, he says, thats my hub. Still, for Mills, feminism always returned to the question of his mother. I think Im sort of engineered to help Mom, he says. It came down to I love Mom. I want to help Mom. e.p.t. Home Pregnancy Test ca. 1978 (Reproduction vintage glass pregnancy test) Made for filming according to exact specifications. Photo: Amanda Demme Julie, the character played by Elle Fanning, draws on a whole group of girls Mills knew growing up. In this particular group, he says, they were often very pretty and very objectified and sometimes played a performance of being simpler than they were for power, in a funny way, and to make their lives easier. Two of them would sneak into Millss bedroom at night. I wasnt boyfriend material, but I was friend material, he says. Theyd go out and do this crazy shit get loaded then come see me and talk about it. He got to hear how they were navigating the world of sexual liberation. They were way more complicated than these other guys understood, Mills says. Both in what they wanted and why they wanted it. In March 1978, full-page ad for the e.p.t. home pregnancy test appeared in Mademoiselle reading: The e.p.t In-Home Early Pregnancy Test is a private little revolution any woman can easily buy at her drugstore. It looked like a chemistry set and practically required lab experience but, for the first time, a woman could find out if she was pregnant without anyone else knowing. (That same year, Consumer Reports reviewed the product negatively, quoting a Maryland state health official who said there was no reason for a woman to buy such a test unless she doesnt want to be seen at the health department; in other words, if she had something to hide.) The pregnancy test wasnt the Pill; in its own way, though, it did reflect a revolutionary understanding of women, their sexual agency, and their right to privacy. The language in the ad intrigued Mills. It made me think of Margaret Sanger in 1914, he says. Theres a whole long history of Planned Parenthood back to Margaret Sanger in the movie notes. (The ad also deftly uses the language of feminism to sell something a now-familiar move.) Julie gave Mills a way of capturing the moment just after the sexual revolution: Julie is growing up after the Pill, after Roe v. Wade, after the emergence of womens lib. Jamie, meanwhile, is in love with Julie, but Julie doesnt reciprocate. Instead, she crawls in through his window every night to share his bed platonically and tell him about her adventures with other boys. At one point, she thinks she may have gotten pregnant; Jamie buys her an early home pregnancy test and helps her use it. While they wait for the results, Julie instructs him in how to smoke, walk, and seductively feign indifference like the guys she goes for. Carved Rabbit Mid-70s (wood) Hand-carved by Millss mother. Photo: Amanda Demme Millss mom carved animals out of wood, mostly primitive, folk-art style rabbits in the movie, Dorothea displays them in her house. Millss mother loved Depression-era art for its simplicity. Folk art was better than any art because it was more real and down to earth and democratic, he says, explaining her sensibility (which Dorothea shares). It was rough, handmade, and unpretentious. That was key. It was also made by people who are disenfranchised. The rabbits drew on her obsession with Watership Down. I have a philosophy that if you read it those rabbits are so fucking persecuted, Mills says. Its just one problem after the other, and its so harrowing, but they stay together. He used to wonder why she loved the book so much. My best guess is that the rabbits are like all the people who struggled during the Depression, during her childhood, he says now. The rabbits are endlessly dealing with external troubles, endlessly trying to make a safe home. As a piece of art, its very descriptive of the person who made it. Its a clue to the way she saw the world, but still a cryptic one. Jamie doesnt know his mom or Julie or Abbie as well as hed like to: Hes trying to understand them, but cant completely. Thats part of the drive of the movie this curiosity-need he has for the women that will never really get to where he wants it to, Mills explains. Which is why he ends the movie with Why Cant I Touch It? by the Buzzcocks. He can get so close, but not as close as he wants. Jimmy Carters Crisis of Confidence speech 1979 (Video) Televised presidential address on energy crisis. Photo: Amanda Demme/Composition by Gluekit In July of 1979, Jimmy Carter went on TV to discuss the energy crisis then afflicting Americans. Mills sees that speech marking the end of one era and the beginning of another. The shit was really hitting the fan in the country, Mills recalls. And he, being a spiritual man, called all his people to Camp David and listened to them. What was supposed to be an energy-crisis speech morphed into a soul-crisis speech a speech about Americas crisis of confidence. Just as we are losing our confidence in the future, we are also beginning to close the door on our past, Carter told the country. In a nation that was proud of hard work, strong families, close-knit communities, and our faith in God, too many of us now tend to worship self-indulgence and consumption. Human identity is no longer defined by what one does, but by what one owns. But weve discovered that owning things and consuming things does not satisfy our longing for meaning. Weve learned that piling up material goods cannot fill the emptiness of lives which have no confidence or purpose. Carter was trying to explain how we lost the plot, in terms of spiritual democracy, as Mills puts it. The presidency is like a master narrative for a writer. Jimmys narrative was very sketchy and postmodern, really. He acknowledged the uncertainty of his moment, and how little we knew what might come next. We didnt see science and technology revolutionizing our lives the way they did, for example, but it was all starting then. Apple went public in 80, Mills points out. For a long time, I had more stuff about Apple computers in the movie. In fact, for a while, the script was called Oh Wow, Oh Wow, Oh Wow reportedly, Steve Jobss last words. Tech has been a huge transformation of our consciousness, says Mills, one we didnt see it coming at all. Its mutated the disconnection and consumption of Carters era beyond all recognition. We get our own futures wrong our own biography always confounds us, as we get older and older. Really? This is my life? Personally, politically, we feel the past reverberate while living through futures we could never have predicted. The movie is talking about all these things that we didnt see coming. 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. We also focus on American sports including NFL, NBA basketball, NHL ice hockey and MLB Baseball. Responsible Gambling is Very Important It nearly goes without saying that Sportsgambler.com is committed to responsible gambling. Several of our team have worked for various bookmakers and understand that sportsbook customers should only bet with money that they can afford to lose. Readers should also know that when the fun stops, they should stop betting. Every online bookie is now obliged to give bettors the chance to set deposit limits when they open an account. Existing customers can also log into their account and set these limits at any stage, with daily, weekly or monthly limits available and we recommend everyone doing so. We believe that online gambling should be a fun and entertaining experience. 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. The OECD Observer online archive takes you on a journey through half a century of public policy and world progress. Since November 1962, the OECDs experts and leading guests offer insights on the questions facing our member countries with concise and authoritative analysis, and provide our audiences with an excellent opportunity to understand policy debates and consider solutions. Each edition of the OECD Observer reports on a core theme of the OECDs on-going work, from economics and society through governance, finance, and the environment, and articles are bolstered by tables and graphs. Maria Jose Sevilla to leave Wines from Spain Maria Jose Sevilla is stepping down as UK director of generic body Foods & Wines from Spain. Sevilla has worked for the organisation for 30 years, but is leaving to pursue a career as a writer among other things. She said: I have loved my work at Foods and Wines from Spain. I have made many friends and learnt so much along the way. Not only this but I have seen the UKs attitude to Spanish food and wine change out of all recognition over the last 25 years. It gives me such pleasure to see how Spains chefs, wines, foods and gastronomy are now firmly on the international stage as key movers and I am very much looking forward to working on my own projects which in some small way I hope will continue this momentum. One project will be to complete her book, The History of Spanish Food and Wine, due to be published in Britain in 2017. Former Sainsburys wine director Allan Cheeseman, a trade consultant and a friend to Sevilla, said: She has been at the centre of food and wine from Spain for as long as I care to remember. Her 100% enthusiasm for all things Spain the emerging wine D.O.s, the established wine D.O.s and of course the fabulous cornucopia of Spanish cuisine across this fantastic country is without parallel. There is no doubt that Maria Jose is the best unofficial ambassador that Spain could ask for, and she's a lovely lady too. Related articles: January 3rd...? Reply Thread Link Source says the 7th. So this Saturday. Reply Parent Thread Link Jan 7th, my bad Reply Parent Thread Link It's cool, I was confused. Reply Parent Thread Link When does it premiere because today is the 3rd Reply Thread Link Jan 7th Reply Parent Thread Link Today's the 3rd tho Reply Thread Link it guts me to know we lost two such incredible people Reply Thread Link Too good for this world. That's all. Reply Parent Thread Link Seriously talk bout double whammy.... Reply Parent Thread Link https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2017/jan/03/carrie-fisher-sharon-horgan-so-real-it-was-dangerous?CMP=twt_gu ikr? Both true icons and inspirational figures to women in the industry, plus Carrie was just so full of life, I read this earlier and found it hard not to cry in public ;_; Reply Parent Thread Link That was touching. I can't put it in words but I love how genuine she was and you never felt that typical fakeness. She was so outspoken and intelligent and vulnerable and able to show all of it and thats so amazing. Reply Parent Thread Link It's just awful, I'm so sad about it Reply Parent Thread Link Same here. Reply Parent Thread Link The trailer already made me tear up :( Reply Thread Link oof, watching that trailer hits hard Reply Thread Link Ugh God. i don't know if I'm ready to watch this Reply Thread Link the cynical part of me is all well they wasted no time, the other part of me wants to curl up in a ball and start crying again. i was planning on cosplaying as batgirl at eccc in march but i think i might put that on hold and do a new hope princess leia if i can find the write pattern. any suggestions ontd? i can find a lot of guides but no patterns. i'm not nearly good enough to do this on my own. Reply Thread Link http://chucrew.com/Leia/dresspattern.html This website is basically step by step everything you need to know to make the New Hope Tunic Dress and belt. It has pictures and written instructions. Honestly the dress is super simple to make once you see the shape of it laid out. You don't need to buy a pattern for it. Reply Parent Thread Link I still can't believe it :( Both of them look so vibrant and full of life here. This documentary is going to end me tbh Reply Thread Link Shaking and crying Reply Thread Link So she's not posting but the app will still be up and updating?? STILL without her approval?? I don't. Okay. Edited at 2017-01-04 03:45 am (UTC) Reply Thread Link hdu. She's the queen of realising stuff. Reply Parent Thread Link Edited at 2017-01-04 03:33 am (UTC) but... Reply Thread Link lmfao mte Reply Parent Thread Link I love Tom so much. Reply Parent Thread Link his reactions are always spot on and it kills me lmfao Reply Parent Thread Link She still wants that $$$ Reply Parent Thread Link That post is yikes. I wonder if he actually wanted chopsticks or if whoever wrote that is being shady/racist. Reply Thread Link What's racist about wanting chopsticks? (genuine question -- I don't know anything about this ugly vile man other than his association with Kylie) Reply Parent Thread Link he's half Vietnamese Reply Parent Thread Expand Link He's Asian, just wondering if he actually wanted some chopsticks or if the poster was making a cheap Asian joke. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link I totally read that at "chapsticks" lmaooooo and I was hardly shocked. These people are weird. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Omg I thought that said chapsticks and was wondering why on earth anyone would want personalised chapsticks Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Rmfe @ ~~~spoil my man.~ Like he'd ever do anything considerate for her. Why don't these women love themselves. Reply Thread Link Seriously. It's amazing to me the extent to which so many women still believe they aren't worth anything and have to constantly be working to ~keep a man, while the men believe they're God's gift and don't do a damn thing. Reply Parent Thread Link If I ever dated someone like that they'd be a gift alright. I'd priority overnight ship them right back down to Satan where they belong. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Ugh what I really hate is this "ride or die" trend like... ok you expect women to be there for a man that is a piece of shit because if she isn't she isn't a good woman or gf wtf???? Reply Parent Thread Expand Link mte and I hate the wifey hastags anytime a woman cooks for her man. Reply Parent Thread Link It's pretty sad. Society is men's coddling mother telling them they're gods on earth and everybody has to recognize that, especially women. Reply Parent Thread Link mfte Reply Parent Thread Link I see a lot of these one-sided relationships irl :( Reply Parent Thread Expand Link She was raised not to. Reply Parent Thread Link icon <3 I honestly don't get it. These girls are rich, have access to so many hot and amazing men in Hollywood... Reply Parent Thread Expand Link his existence is a blessing in itself!!!1 Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Because they're lonely. It's pretty simple. Reply Parent Thread Link seriously lol my roommates bf has temporarily moved in with us and to see how she waits on him hand and foot and he never does a goddamn thing for her makes me puke. Reply Parent Thread Link I was in a very co dependent relationship with a narcissist. He essentially got together with me when I had no friends in LA and was really lonely. I did everything to serve him and would go out of my way to make him gourmet meals and play a housewife. It took me a really long time to get out of that frame of mind. He definitely took advantage of me when I was most vulnerable and even once I had made a good group of friends I could not for the life of me leave him. It finally took AA and getting sober to see more clearly. Idk why I'm going off on this rant but, I kind of feel bad for Kylie, she's been manipulated since a young age so, seeing this list of "Things She Does for Her Man" struck a chord in me. Reply Parent Thread Link Adding to the anecdotes. My sister was with a narcissist for a few years. He took advantage of the fact that she'd just gotten out of an abusive relationship (emotionally and then at the end sexually) and spun this whole narrative of ~rescuing~ her. She and my family did so much for his ass. He's such a vacuous piece of shit. He is part of the reason she has chronic pelvic pain and yet he left her because she stood up for herself and said she wouldn't get pregnant with his kid. (He only wanted HER to have the baby, no adoption, no surrogate. Controlling much?) She went out and got her tubes removed a few months later. Fuck him. There's this expectation that women need to constantly be trying to be better JUST for ~their man~ in order to ~keep him~ when the men are total trash. Reply Parent Thread Link "Take good care of his friends, too! When T's friends are over, I'm always cooking for them" Psh, fuck that shit. I would never. If it was an arranged dinner type thing then sure, but no way would I be like "ya'll chill while I go cook for you stupid fucks." Reply Thread Link Right? The whole thing is a bit gross but I really gagged at this one. Reply Parent Thread Link Lmfao mte Reply Parent Thread Link lmao my exact thought Reply Parent Thread Link My husband's lucky if I cook for us on a consistent basis let alone get off my ass to cook for other randoms. He has friends over for tabletop gaming once a week and my contribution is usually 'Here's a bowl of chips and another of pretzels. Have fun, I'll be upstairs playing WoW, don't talk to me.' Reply Parent Thread Link haha in my group of friends we have one guy who is super into DnD, and we are mostly very girly or the boys are into sport, but we've consented to playing because he runs the game and always provides fried chicken. It's worth it. Reply Parent Thread Link mte, fuck that shit. Reply Parent Thread Link Mte, hell no Reply Parent Thread Link Who would even believe that she'd ALWAYS cook for them? We all know Tyra has shitty hanger-ons around every damn day. Reply Parent Thread Link mte. Thats just pathetic, taking care of his friends too.... give me a break Reply Parent Thread Link lol ikr??? friends hew?? they can choke Reply Parent Thread Link that one was the worst...wtf is this Reply Parent Thread Link I mean, I'll order pizza and make sure to get extra bleau cheese for the wings? Reply Parent Thread Link I love cooking and even I get sick of it from time to time. Last time I threw a small dinner party (me+husband+4 friends) I was exhausted and stressed as hell. And I had help from my husband and a friend. I'm not about to serve up a shitload of food for people who don't do a damn thing to help put it together. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link I'd only do it so I can poison them. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Are his friends as broke as Tyga? Reply Parent Thread Link ew lol if my bf'so friends come over we go out to eat Reply Parent Thread Link I really just bring food to my guy's house because I get bored, bake something, and don't want to eat it all myself lol. Reply Parent Thread Link The moment they arrive expecting me to cook for them while the chill. the moment I get ready to go out and have fun with my friends aint nobody got time for that Reply Parent Thread Link SERIOUSLY .that was the straw that made me shriek Reply Parent Thread Link lmao mfte Reply Parent Thread Link I did that once and it ended in the greedy fuckers eating almost everything in my fridge and leaving me with the dishes. Never again. Reply Parent Thread Link I almost committed murder to be in an equal relationship now where we both do nice things for each other and actually appreciate it one time I brought pizza over for my xbf and his friend and they didn't even say thank youI almost committed murder #blessed to be in an equal relationship now where we both do nice things for each other and actually appreciate it Reply Parent Thread Link LOL Reply Parent Thread Link this is the one that made me gasp out loud. Reply Parent Thread Link mte, I cannot staaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand that expectation. Reply Parent Thread Link she didn't post that and won't be posting in the future either? ok also that "article" and pic gives me hives Reply Thread Link Take good care of his friends, too! It's a no from me Reply Thread Link Ikr? Like, I'm not cooking for my boyfriends friends too wtf. Reply Parent Thread Link right? fuck them, i dont even want them there Reply Parent Thread Link Something about that is so subservient omg Reply Parent Thread Link Oh no you didn't , wuahahahabB Reply Parent Thread Link Well...this is odd?? Like on a lot of levels...what's even the point of this app if you aren't going to run it or be evolved? Why keep it up? Don't people waste their money on that shit app?? You gonna refund them? To me it seems like she should since she just announced that the whole thing was a lie and not something she actually took part in... I really don't get the point of even having this app if you aren't directly envolved and I don't just mean from this point forward, like why bother from the start??? This is weird and pointless(more pointless than it originally was apparently) Reply Thread Link Lol ia. She might as well just get rid of it if she's not going to at least have the pretense of being involved. Plus the redesign was godawful so now's her chance to get while the going's good. Reply Parent Thread Link Yeah, after this there's no reason it should still exist, this should have been a "sorry, I'm deleting the app because I've become less involved and now people are screwing it up" tweet not a "lol, you guys, I've never done anything with this app, I pay people to pretend it's me but don't worry...ill continue to pay them to run it but now I won't even pretend to be part of it. Thanks for those subscriber dollars!!! " tweet Reply Parent Thread Link I don't even understand what this app is? What does it do? I know I'm old and all but everything this person does makes no goddamn sense to me. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Jesus Christ, look at all these fucking typos(fucking auto correct, god damn) I can't wait to get my laptop back tomorrow and not have to use my shitty phone anymore Reply Parent Thread Link that picture is so disturbing to me Reply Thread Link Still creepy. Reply Thread Link lmao, mess. did she even ever post there personally before? and what an awful fucking list, too. literally 4 of the 7 ~tips~ are just variations on "COOK FOR HIM" Reply Thread Link take good care of his friends too! Lmao fucckkkkk thatttttt Reply Thread Link I'm ashamed to say that I've been in a relationship like this. Stressing out so much about cleaning and feeding his ass while he's sitting on the couch not even offering to help. It gets humiliating after a while. Reply Thread Link my best friend was in a relationship like this too. and at a certain point the dude didn't even have a job, so she was also paying for his car insurance and phone bill and shit like that. she knew it was a mess so she never even told me about any of this until the relationship was over. Reply Parent Thread Link At least you recognized it. Some people stay like that in every relationship. Reply Parent Thread Link yeah I was like this with my ex at first, it took a lot of ~introspection to realize the dynamic i was creating even though i talked tough. it's scary how natural it felt too, that's gendered socialization for you. Edited at 2017-01-04 04:00 am (UTC) Reply Parent Thread Link It's a generational thing... I was like that and now know better, don't be embarrassed Reply Parent Thread Link You had your year of realizing stuff and saw it was a bad deal for you. At least you're doing better now without that toxic nonsense in your life! Reply Parent Thread Link at least you were able to recognize how fucked up that was and got the fuck out. My friend is in a relationship like this too and the bf is super fucking controlling. I don't know what to do to get her to see how fucking selfish and shitty her boyfriend is. It's getting to a point where I don't see us being friends any longer because he's her top priority and what he says go. Edited at 2017-01-04 04:17 am (UTC) Reply Parent Thread Link Glad you're not in that relationship anymore. You deserve better bb~ Reply Parent Thread Link Lol my ex friend at Uni let this bum ass dude stay with her in our accommodation for FREE, use our hot water and utensils FOR FREE and bought food/cooked for his ass...They got engaged and suffice to say that didn't work out. I have never been that bitch, my self esteem is too high. Reply Parent Thread Link I'm glad you're aware of how toxic that was, you're more likely to not accept that kind of stuff in the future! I also love your icon <3 She's so hot Reply Parent Thread Expand Link I kinda wonder if this is inherited from parents cause my mom didn't do shit and I never felt the desire to serve a man. Reply Parent Thread Link A very busy year The last year was kind to Rosneft. Even with continuous low oil prices and the Western sanctions, the Russian state-owned oil giant signed a landmark refinery and supply deal with Essar Oil in India. In addition, Rosneft began offshore operations in Vietnam, signed a refinery deal with Indonesias Pertamina, began offshore operations with Statoil in the Sea of Okhotsk, reportedly got Japanese firms to agree to joint exploration of the Sea of Japan, bought a 30 percent stake in an Egyptian gas field from Italian firm Eni, and closed a deal for the privatization for 19.5 percent of its state-owned shares with Glencore and the Qatar Investment Authority. Domestic developments have gone well with the acquisition of Bashneft and the arrest of Russian Economy Minister Aleksandr Ulyukaev who supported more aggressive privatization. Igor Sechin, Rosnefts CEO, has been busy. Most observers point to increased cooperation between Russian and Chinese leaders on the world stage, yet underplay the extent to which it was Rosneft that took the lead in Russias Pivot to Asia back in 2013 through a $270 billion mega-deal with China National Petroleum Company (CNPC). Despite broader and deeper engagement with CNPC, Sinopec, and Chinese banks, Rosneft has pointedly avoided selling shares of upstream assets to Chinese firms. Mistrust is mutual. Chinese firms dont trust Rosneft because it took a $60 billion prepayment for the 2013 deal to pay off dOPECebts when it acquired TNK-BP for its oilfields in the Russian East without offering Chinese stakes in those fields. Chinas inability to buy into Russias upstream has been vexing, but China remains Russias principal partner for energy financing with the sanctions regime, keeping numerous projects, such as Yamal LNG, alive without fully committing the resources that Russian firms need in order to respect Chinas largest trading partners: the European Union (EU) and United States (U.S.). Rosnefts moves underscore a coherent Russian strategy to undermine Chinas leverage and go after Chinese interests abroad. Drivers of expansion into 2017 The OPEC deal to cut production coincides with a planned 7.2 percent increase in Russias Federal Mineral Extraction Tax (MET) per barrel of oil from 857 rubles (RUB) to 919. Transportation costs inched up 2.9 percent this summer, production and operating costs increased 7.3 percent, and export customs duties increased 29.6 percent to prop up the Russian budget. In short, Rosneft is being pressed by taxation to cut production at its more expensive, remote fields to support the OPEC deal and help the Federal budget. The recent rally in oil prices will improve profitabilityprofits from sales of crude oil dropped 8.8 percent over the summerbut it remains to be seen if India and international demand growth will sustain higher prices. Transit tariffs for pipelines also declined by 22 percent in the third quarter this year, pushing Rosneft towards pipeline exports, which are less flexible and dependent on China for Rosnefts Asia portfolio. Cash is also tight. At the end of September, Rosneft had about $14 billion on hand at todays exchange rate against around $21.5 billion in loans and accrued liabilities. After buying Bashneft for $5.3 billion in October and spending several billion on recent deals, privatization of shares brought in $11.1 billion. Rosnefts liabilities still outstrip its cash reserves. State support has and will continue to fund most of these deals, particularly as increased taxation is a hindrance for Russian energy firms domestic production. Related: Will 2017 Be Musks Most Important Year? It remains to be seen if the strengthening dollar is sustainable, but it would impact both profitability for oil firms and the cost of imports. Though OPECs deal only lasts through May, it may be enough to speed up the rebalancing of supply and demand dynamics, at which point Chinas advantage with the oil glut would be lost. Rosnefts deals and Chinas interests Rosneft has strategically targeted projects in the past that would compete with Chinese interests. Rosnefts acquisition of TNK-BP also brought with it Venezuelan assets. Now deceased president Hugo Chavezs goal of making China Venezuelas key energy partner was frustrated by Rosnefts tenacity despite other firms decision to leave, overtaking Chinese upstream production in Venezuela in 2015an estimated 209,000 barrels per day (bpd) for Rosneft against Chinese firms 171,000 bpd. Rosnefts deal with Eni for a 30 percent stake in the Zohr natural gas field in Egypt granted Rosneft access to natural gas reserves in the Mediterranean. Less obvious, its a means of influencing a politically volatile regime pivotal to Chinas OBOR initiative. Given Russias expanding supporting of Libyan strongman Khalifa Haftarhappy news to Egyptian president Al-Sissiand attempts to use Al-Sissi as a go-between for a role in discussing Israeli-Palestinian peace, the deal finally secures Rosneft an integral point of contact for the Egyptian regimes rent collection while advancing its aims to be a significant player in the international natural gas trade. The Essar refinery deal is a means of cementing a Russian-Indian relationship strained by Russias recent overtures towards Pakistan, driven in part by the developing China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) that includes a future energy hub in Gwadar and oil pipeline to Xinjiang. Rosneft announced it would use Venezuelan oil from its TNK-BP acquisitions there to supply the refinery. Rosneft also sold off stakes of strategically significant fields to Indian firms in a snub to CNPC and signal that Indias oil marketa move against China-dependent National Iranian Oil Companyis of greater value. Receiving less scrutiny, Rosneft began drilling for oil, natural gas, and gas condensate off of Vietnams coast in March. Using the offshore project to develop corporate expertise with equipment that is only sanctioned for domestic use in Russia, Rosneft could also give life to Vietnams maritime claims over time if its projects successfully expand. Though its only preliminary, Rosneft reached an agreement at the Abe-Putin summit to jointly explore the Sea of Japan with a Japanese consortium, including the state-owned Japan Oil, Gas, and Metals National Corporation (JOGMEC). The findings will not touch on Sino-Japanese competition over potential resources in the East China Sea but would mark a significant cooperative project if the reserves end up being exploited as tensions rise between China and Japan. Whats in store for 2017? For next year, the biggest new developments have been Donald Trumps electoral victory and his choice of former ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson for Secretary of State. Igor Sechin has a relationship with Tillerson and the Trump transition team has signaled willingness to reach a detente of sorts with Russia while aggressively countering China. Whereas the Obama administration attempted to use the Treasury Department to freeze Rosnefts Essar deal, Trump would more likely not intervene. Tillerson may even tacitly encourage such deals if they fit within an emerging anti-China strategy under Trump. Related: The Companies That Lead The Recovery In The U.S. Oil Patch Brazil will be a hotspot for further projects in the near-term. Rosneft has a subsidiaryRosneft Brasil E&P Ltdaexploring the Solimoes basin. At the same time, Chinese firms have been working with Petrobras for several years and have covered most of the Brazilian firms debt this year. The Kremlin may seek to deepen ties as best it can with its relatively meager financial resources. Statoil has recently made new finds in Norway, encouraging for Rosneft as Norway is seeking to normalize economic ties with Russia again at the same time talks with China over a free trade agreement are back in motion. Rosneft needs Statoil to improve its offshore capabilities. Unlike China, Russia has considerable untapped reserves that interest international oil majors. Financing will likely become more available after the successful conclusion of the privatization deal with Glencore and Qatar. Rising oil prices will help. No matter if the OPEC deal holds steady, the Kremlin has aggressively used Rosneft this year to alleviate Russias dependence on China and weaken the sanctions regime. Both trends are only set to accelerate as the structure of Chinese trade limits the value of Sino-Russian cooperation. By Global Risk Insights More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: War-torn South Sudan says it will increase oil production on the heels of an OPEC deal that promises to push global oil prices upwards for the time being. According to South Sudanese embassy officials in the UAE, Juba is determined to increase production despite ongoing civil war and the struggle for control of the countrys government through oil. We are planning to increase oil production as oil prices go up to increase our revenue and expand the ways of oil industry. We suffered the most due to low oil prices. Rise in oil prices is a good news for us, Mayom Alier, Deputy Head of South Sudan mission in the United Arab Emirates, was quoted as saying. In May of this year, South Sudan said it would resume oil production by July after a halt of more than two years. During the civil war, the countrys production capacity fell to below 130,000 barrels a day from 350,000 bpd in its only functioning Paloch oil field of Upper Nile state. Production did in fact resume, hitting around 130,000 bpd; however, civil strife broke out again in July and continues. In October, the army of South Sudan was prompted to deploy more troops around the Paloch oil field to keep it operational amid sporadic clashes that continue to claim lives and keep the fields production capacity uncertain. Related: Oil Markets Optimistic As Oil Turns Lower South Sudan gained independence from Sudan in 2011, but it has been a bloody road to establishing a stable government whose budget is dependent almost fully on oil. In December 2013, civil war broke out when President Salva Kiir Mayardit sacked the cabinet and accused Vice President Riek Machar of instigating a failed coup. The civil war ended in 2015officially--but clashes have been frequent since. South Sudan, which is estimated to have had 3.5 billion barrels of proved oil reserves as of January 1, 2014, is landlocked and must depend on Sudans pipeline through Sudan to get the oil to the Bashayer port on the Red Sea. Sudan had managed to retain pipelines and facilities when South Sudan gained independence, allowing Sudan to levy transfer fees on South Sudan for the transport of that oil through its territory. South Sudan is now expected to be among the African nations that could derail OPECs production cut plans that went into effect on 1 January 2017. Libya is also ramping up production, and Nigeria is taking moves to return its production to previously high levels as the government subdues Niger Delta militants. By Charles Kennedy of Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: It might be January, but that's no reason not to venture out and enjoy some of the city's best cuisine. And an upcoming event in Wauwatosa will allow just that. In celebration of the recently completed streetscaping project in downtown Wauwatosa, which mimics the look and feel of a walkable European thoroughfare, four restaurants will combine forces for a very special dining event. "Tour de Tosa," a progressive dinner taking place Thursday, Jan. 26 from 6 to 9 p.m., will be a first for the Wauwatosa village, featuring dishes and drinks from four different restaurants including Ristorante Bartolotta, Le Reve Patisserie & Cafe, Cafe Hollander and Cafe Bavaria. Participants will purchase "Tasting Passports" for the event, during which attendees will enjoy a progressive feast, roving from restaurant to restaurant enjoying unique dishes and wine or beer pairings from each of the venues' respective regions: Italy, France, the European Lowlands and Germany. The menu includes: Le Reve Patisserie & Cafe (France) Duck and pear tartine Chocolate and orange chouquette Paired with: Saint Esprit Cotes-du-Rhone Ristorante Bartolotta (Italy) Risotto ai funghi / wild mushroom risotto Budino di caramello / sea salt caramel pudding Paired with: Ca' Furlan Cuvee Beatrice Extra Dry Cafe Bavaria (Germany) Schweinshaxe / bone-in pork roast Apple strudel Paired with: Kloster Andechs Doppelbock Dunkel Cafe Hollander (Lowlands Europe) Bier-braised beef cheek with stoemp Tasting cheese flight Paired with: Westmalle Dubbel Tickets are $80 per person, with a limit of 150 attendees, and can be purchased online. Empathy (Image by sinclair.sharon28) Details DMCA Our species is capable of great compassion, kindness and tolerance; it is also capable of cruelty, selfishness and hate. Which of these characteristics dominate depends on another characteristic, namely empathy., defined as "the ability to understand and share the feelings of another". This sharing of feeling could so easily be switched off if the "other" happens to have a different colour, religion or culture. It is argued that empathy cannot be taught but could happen through our positive non-judgemental interaction with others. We need to listen and to imagine what it is like to be the other. It is always easier to interact with others if they belong to our group, and hence it is easy to empathise with them as they experience sufferings and hardships through life. So the first step to be taken towards developing empathy is interaction, through which we can jump the psychological barriers that prevent us from reaching out to others who do not belong to our group. Our humanity is the bond that connects us all on this planet that we share with every living thing on it. Our survival as a species depends on cooperation between nations and individuals. Exceptionalism applied to a state or to a group who identify themselves by their ethnicity, culture or religion has led to endless wars, genocide and slavery. Exceptionalism is the mechanism by which the "other" is dehumanised and by which our empathy is turned off. It is a fact of life that a minority in a dominant culture gets judged by the actions of its worst individuals. This, in my view, is due to a lack of interaction between the minority community and the dominant community, the correcting mechanism that tells us that this is a very small minority within the minority group does not function as it should with many people. So next time you see or hear in the news about a crime, or a heinous act committed by an individual within a minority, resist the urge to generalise and to damn the whole community by that action. We all have the propensity to do that instinctively. What is needed is to resist instincts and to engage our brains to be objective in our reaction and the way we view the minority group. We must resist the temptation to block our empathy by the barriers of colour, religion or ethnicity. Our humanity should trump such feelings. It is the stronger bond that bind us all to this fragile planet. Vast numbers of our fellow human beings are sad and miserable as a result of dislocation, escaping wars and grinding poverty through no fault of their own but the circumstances of their birth and interference by other nations. Mental illness and unhappiness as a result of homelessness, family breakups and dysfunctional relationships are on the increase particularly among our young. We, as individuals, can't be expected to solve these problems but a little understanding, providing a listening ear that says I understand your difficulties, could bring some happiness to those vulnerable and most in need. Providing some happiness to others would boost our own happiness quotient. As a new year dawns, let us resolve to reach out beyond our comfort zone to be more tolerant towards the stranger, the refugee, the lonely and those experiencing difficulties in their lives. Help as much as you can materially, and above all let empathy happen by positive interaction with those less fortunate than you are. From WSWS The 115th US Congress assembles in Washington today, with the ceremonial swearing in of new senators by outgoing Vice President Joe Biden, and the swearing in of the entire House of Representatives by House Speaker Paul Ryan. For the first time in a decade, the Republican Party will be in control of the House and Senate alongside a Republican president, Donald Trump, set to be inaugurated January 20. The new government being formed in the US capital is like nothing that has ever been seen in Washington. It carries the reactionary policies of the Obama administration and previous Congresses, whether under Democratic or Republican control, to new political depths. The incoming Congress, working with the Trump administration, is preparing an assault on whatever remains of social programs implemented under the New Deal and the Great Society. The true content of Trump's call to "Make America Great Again" is to roll back social conditions for the working class to those that existed at the end of the 19th century -- the era of child labor, unlimited working hours and robber barons. Entire federal departments such as Education, Labor, Housing and Urban Development, Health and Human Services and the Environmental Protection Agency have been turned over to right-wing ideologues committed to scrapping all restraints on business operations and ending all protections for workers, consumers and those who need social services. Trump set the tone for the week at a New Year's Eve party at his luxury estate at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, where he toasted his well-heeled guests with the promise that the new Trump administration would "lower your taxes, cut regulations and repeal Obamacare," to thunderous applause. The taxes to be lowered will be those of the super-rich. The regulations to be abolished are those that restrict in any way the operations of big business and the financial swindling of Wall Street, at the expense of working people. In calling for a repeal of Obamacare, Trump is demagogically appealing to broadly felt popular opposition to the program, which is seen as a boondoggle for health insurance companies, pharmaceutical conglomerates and giant hospital chains. But the actual content of his proposals will be to slash subsidies included in Obamacare as sweeteners while using revisions of the program to make substantial inroads into Medicare and Medicaid, the health insurance programs for the elderly, disabled and poor. Despite Trump's promises during the election campaign to replace Obamacare's hated "individual mandate" and provisions that limit the choice of doctors and hospitals with "something great," there is not the slightest effort in that direction. On the contrary, the Republican-controlled Congress will make the repeal of Obamacare the starting point for moves to privatize Medicaid, Medicare, the Children's Health Insurance Program and other federal healthcare programs. According to press reports Monday, the congressional Republican leadership plans to make repeal of Obamacare the first legislative action of the new session of Congress, although the timing is still uncertain because of the complexities of the law, enacted in 2010. Obedient to the financial interests involved, the House and Senate Republican leaders aim to repeal Obamacare in a way that does not damage the profits that corporations have begun to reap from the program. This likely means that repeal of the individual mandate, which compels millions to buy private insurance or pay an increasingly stiff tax penalty, will be pushed back, lest it abruptly deprive the insurance companies of paying customers. The planned repeal of Obamacare will proceed in several stages, beginning with passage of a budget resolution that will include so-called "reconciliation" rules that require only a 51-vote majority in the Senate, rather than the 60 votes required to overcome the expected Democratic filibuster. Because the reconciliation process is limited to fiscal provisions that impact the budget, the actual dismantling of healthcare.gov and the federal exchange through which more than 10 million people have purchased insurance will require winning the support of at least eight Senate Democrats. The same procedure applies to rolling back the expansion of Medicaid, which extended the federal health insurance program for the poor to an additional 10 million lower-income working class families. Congressional Republicans have vowed to combine Obamacare repeal with far-reaching attacks on both Medicaid and Medicare. Vice President Mike Pence is a leading advocate of destroying Medicaid as an entitlement program -- one for which people are automatically eligible based on their income -- and transforming it into a block grant to the states. This would limit the program in each state to the amount of the block grant, regardless of the number of people who apply for aid, forcing states to set up increasingly restrictive systems to ration assistance. As for Medicare, Obamacare was actually financed in part by cuts in the program's reimbursements to hospitals and other providers, estimated in the hundreds of billions of dollars. These funds, if recaptured through Obamacare repeal, will not be returned to Medicare, but will be made available instead for the real priorities of the Trump administration, increased military spending and a huge tax cut for the wealthy. Trump's appointment of Representative Tom Price to head the Department of Health and Human Services, which administers Medicare and Social Security, was a clear signal that he has discarded his campaign promise that there would be no cuts in either of these critical federal programs, which underwrite health care and retirement income for more than 70 million elderly and retired workers. Next Page 1 | 2 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). One of the precipitating causes of the war in Syria (no pun intended) was the increasing scarcity of water in the Tigris-Euphrates Basin as a result of climate change and the deliberate policies of weaponization of water supplies by Turkey and its neighbour states. Drought has had a firm grip on the region since 1998 and the recent dry spell is likely the driest period on record in 900 years and almost certainly the worst drought in 500 years. The drought during 2005 caused 75 percent of Syria's farms to fail and 85 percent of livestock to die between 2006 and 2011, according to the United Nations. The collapse in crop yields forced as many as 1.5 million Syrians to migrate to urban centres, like Homs and Damascus. [i] The projections for the region show a continued drying trend throughout the coming century as climate change contributes to a shift in circulation patterns. That means what's happening there now could just be the start of more prolonged, more severe drought. In a region already wracked by water scarcity and conflict, more drying could ratchet up tension even further. [ii] It was the continuing crisis over water which provided the backdrop to the Syrian Crisis. By 2011, drought-related crop failure in Syria had pushed up to 1.5 million displaced farmers to abandon their land; those displaced farmers became a wellspring of recruits for the Free Syrian Army and for such groups as the Islamic State (also called ISIS or Daesh) and al Qaeda. Testimonies gathered by reporters and activists in conflict zones suggested that the lack of government help during the drought was a central motivating factor in the anti-government rebellion in Syria. Moreover, a 2011 study shows that today's rebel strongholds of Aleppo, Deir al-Zour, and Raqqa were among the areas hardest hit by crop failure. In other words, drought changed the economic, social, and political landscape of Syria. Iraq, already reeling from Daesh and sectarian tension, was next. In 2006, a leaked U.S. State Department cable forecast that Syria's "emerging water crisis carries the potential for severe economic volatility and even socio-political unrest." This cable was a clear warning about Iraq as well. By 2011, Iraqi wheat yields had fallen by over 50 percent. Much of the country's livestock had died, affecting hundreds of thousands of fieldworkers and farmers. Despite losing 1.6 million tons of grain to Daesh and consuming 2.5 million tons more than it can produce, Iraq had planned to become a grain exporter by 2017. This closely mirrored Syria's ambition at the time of the 2006 cable. In those years, Damascus hoped to dramatically increase agricultural production as a part of an economic diversification plan. Syria had already doubled its irrigated land in the preceding 15 years, and its 2006 five-year plan projected further increases. In the cable, embassy officials note that agriculture experts believed that Syria's growing water demand was outstripping water availability. Despite this situation of decreased water flows the Turks continued to build dams, restricting the flows even further. Between 1975 and 1991, on three occasions, Syria and Iraq threatened Turkey with military action (and at one point they threatened each other) over reduced river flows due to dams in Turkey. Negotiations stopped and started as relations between the nations fluctuated. Since then, climate change and population growth have put extreme pressure on regional freshwater, heightening the impact of the damming of the two rivers. One of the key players in the control of the water flows in the nations of the Fertile Crescent (Turkey, Iraq and Syria) is Turkey through which these rivers flow. In the 1960s, Turkey, Syria and Iraq negotiated a new phase of their relationship over water, as a result of Turkey's decision to construct the Keban Dam on the Euphrates. After prolonged negotiations, Turkey guaranteed to maintain a discharge of 350 m3/s immediately downstream from the dam, provided that the natural flow of the river was adequate to supply this discharge. Tigris-Euphrates Rivers (Image by EASWordStudies 1989) Details DMCA The price for an agreement between Turkey and Syria was that the Syrians would crack down on the large Kurdish population living near the Turkish border. [iii] The fundamental problem in this division of the waters of the Tigris-Euphrates is that the levels of water have been gradually diminishing and water shortages are an ever-growing problem for Syria and Iraq.[iii] Since 1975, Turkey's extensive dam and hydropower construction has reportedly reduced water flows into Iraq and Syria by approximately 80 per cent and 40 per cent respectively. Approximately 90 per cent of the water flow in the Euphrates and 50 per cent in the Tigris originate in Turkey. This has left Syria and Iraq vulnerable. The Turks only use about 35% of the water flow and this is largely because it manages the flow through an elaborate system of dams. The piece de resistance of the program of dam-building in Turkey was the gigantic Southern Anatolian Project (known by its Turkish acronym, GAP), which commenced in the 1970s and encompasses 22 dams, 19 hydroelectric power plants and several irrigation networks. GAP remains the second biggest integrated water development project in the world, covering approximately 10 percent of Turkey's population and an equivalent surface area. [iv] The GAP (Image by Kurdish Herald 9/9/2009) Details DMCA This situation was made critical with the rise of Daesh. The ongoing spread of Daesh across the region has ended up with Daesh seizing control of water resources in both Syria and Iraq. Daesh is able to use water structures as a means to prevent local populations (especially near Baghdad and the Shiite population inhabiting the southern part of Iraq) from accessing water. However, Daesh in northern Syria and near Mosul in Iraq are dependent on water flows from Turkey. This means that there is a limited amount of pressure that either Iraq or Syria (and Daesh as well) can apply to Turkey without risking a severe shortage of water. 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 Smirking Chimp "There's no savior out there." That's a line from "Lord's Prayer," a song written by TV Smith for the Lords of the Church, a band that trafficked in 1980s melodic punk. Here's some more: "There ain't no savior out there "Your stairway to heaven leads nowhere "Don't look to me for emancipation "You are your only salvation." That's my message to Americans who want to resist Donald Trump and his works -- or more precisely the policies of the most right-wing cabinet in American history. Waiting for divine intervention is lunacy. If you're serious about slowing down the Pencites, you'd better get ready to take them on yourselves. You sure won't be able to count on the Democratic Party. Take Trump's cabinet nominees -- please! In the old days, Democrats would only have needed 40 senate seats to filibuster a would-be attorney general accused of racism, an energy secretary who forgot the name of his own department and a sitting CEO of ExxonMobil as secretary of state. Unfortunately for the republic, then-majority leader Harry Reid was such a fool that he thought Democrats would never lose another election. So, in a fit of staggering ahistoricity, he eliminated the filibuster for most nominees in 2013. As a result Trump will probably get all his picks, perhaps minus Jeff Sessions because he's widely disliked by his colleagues. OK, so unless you're a character in the too generously reviewed movie "Arrival," what's past is past, no do-overs. But Democrats don't seem to have much appetite for anti-Trump combat even when you consider their new self-imposed limits. Democrats' approach to policy is likely to boil down to "let the Republicans do what they want, then take the blame when they overreach." They may even let the GOP repeal the Affordable Care Act, the Obama Administration's sole major policy achievement. "Republicans are about to learn that there's a big difference between being against something and being for something," said Steve Israel (D-New York). "They've already stumbled out of the gate, and we should let them continue to stumble." Unasked: How many Americans will die for a tactic? On the nominees, look for bureaucratic foot-dragging of approvals with procedural votes and other stalling tactics. "I don't want to needlessly prevent President Trump from being successful," Senator Chris Coons (D-Delaware) told The Politico. "But accelerating the confirmation of unacceptable candidates who have views that are outside the mainstream is not constructive." In the end, though, those unacceptable candidates will get their gigs. Dems even plan to try to find common ground on rebuilding infrastructure -- an admirable goal that I've pushed for years. But Trumpism is already so extreme that Democrats ought to ask themselves whether they're missing the fuhrer for the trees: is it possible to get behind an autobahn without endorsing the tyrant who builds it? If they really wanted to mount a resistance to Trump, Congressional Democrats could do so with considerably more vigor. Next Page 1 | 2 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). What is the worth of a public employees union? Well not much these days according to the actions of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). SEIU announced last week that its members must be prepared for a thirty percent (30%) budget reduction including an immediate ten- percent (10%) reduction in 2017. Of course the SEIU union bosses blamed it all on President-elect Donald Trump but there is really more to it than that. Private sector union membership has been on the decline for decades. It is the result of a combination of things mechanization, international trade agreements, and a migration of workers rights from union contracts to government regulations. To some degree, as unions became political forces, they began to push for legislation governing employee rights (work and safety conditions, overtime, compensation, benefits, discipline, etc.) As they did so, workers began to assume that it was government rather than the unions that protected them. All of these forces combined began to make unions less relevant to workers. The rise of state determined right to work laws added to the decline by eliminating the ability of unions to make membership and financial contributions mandatory as a condition of receiving or maintaining employment. In return the private sector unions doubled down on their political activities and became recognized more as an arm of the Democrat Party than as a vehicle for workers rights. From 1973 to 2015 the percentage of private sector workers belonging to a union declined from 24.2 percent to 6.7 percent. That represents a decline in member numbers from slightly over 14 Million to about 6.7 Million even while the total private sector workforce was expanding by nearly double. And none of this occurred after the election of Mr. Trump. But not so for the public employee unions. Their membership has continued to increase. The percentage of public employees belonging to unions has increased to nearly 36 percent and their numbers now have risen to nearly 20.2 Million. They too represent a part of the Democrat Party but that membership represents an entirely different dynamic. In the private sector the unions have virtually no impact on the selection of the management with whom they must deal. In contrast the public employee unions, by financing Democrat candidates have a substantial impact on determining the management with whom they will deal. Add to that the fact that, once elected, the new management team is not spending their own money or even their shareholders money (they are spending taxpayer money) and are encouraged to spend freely by the public employee unions to increase wages, benefits and additional union paying jobs. Today public employee union members are paid significantly more than their counterparts with similar jobs in the private sector. Their healthcare benefits are superior and their retirement plans are gold-platted. You would think that this would command member loyalty, but it does not. Witness Michigan where passage of a public employees right to work law resulted in the two largest teachers unions losing about 20 percent of its membership in just its first year of operation. Oklahoma and Idaho likewise experienced declines in union membership as a result of their right to work laws. The public employee unions have become the major funding mechanism for the Democrat Party. The focus of the unions leadership is on retention of their position within the power structure of the Democrat Party. And while the Democrat Party richly rewards the public employee unions with taxpayer funds, the political agenda of the Democrat Party advancement of the welfare state has little to do with the working men and women. The Democrats agenda is the public employee unions agenda. Virtually all of its political expenditures benefit Democrat candidates and Democrat causes that despite the fact that there are a substantial number of independents and Republicans forced to pay their dues in support of activities which they actually oppose. So why are the public employee unions nearly apoplectic about Mr. Trumps election? Its very simple. It starts with a United States Supreme Court case entitled Friedrichs vs. California Teachers Association which challenged compulsory membership and/or funding of public employee unions as a violation of the First Amendments Free Speech clause. Virtually all constitutional law observers agreed that the Supreme Court was likely to void the mandatory participation requirement in favor of Free Speech. However, the death of Justice Anton Scalia left the court with a four/four tie and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decision favoring mandatory participation remained in effect. The election of Mr. Trump, coupled with the denial of consideration of President Obamas lame duck nomination of Judge Merrick Garland, will result in Mr. Trump selecting the next Supreme Court Justice. Mr. Trump has pledged to select someone in the mold of Justice Scalia. There are several cases similar to Friedrichs wending their way towards the Supreme Court, in which case it is safe to assume that the Supreme Court will come down decisively on the side of Free Speech and negate the mandatory participation requirements of public employee unions. And the slow descent to irrelevance for public employee unions will thus begin. Its not the policies of Mr. Trump that is giving SEIU heartaches. It is the United States Constitution. It is the Bill of Rights of that Constitution. It is the fundamentals of the First Amendment of that Constitution that prohibits the government from forcing individuals to support or oppose someone elses political activities. It is the first amendment because it is the first and foremost cornerstone of democracy. Free Speech must remain free even if it costs the Democrat Party its major funding source. And when the Right to Free Speech is secured for public employees secured despite the wishes of their union bosses the financial largesse of the public employees union and thus the Democrats will suffer. From Greg Swank, 12-4-2 You are about to read a list of 45 goals that found their way down the halls of our great Capitol back in 1963. As... About 5,000 security officers will be deployed for the Presidential inauguration ceremony on Saturday, January 7, 2017. The Presidential transition team revealed this at a press briefing today, on [Tuesday], to provide updates on its work ahead of the swearing-in ceremony. According to the Spokesperson of the New Patriotic Partys (NPP) side of the Transition team, Kojo Oppong-Nkrumah, access to the various areas of the Independent Square will be highly restricted to a few people with the required accreditation. He said the security will be on high-alert to avert any unfortunate incident. Our friends with National Security and the various security agencies are providing us with about 5,000 men and women drawn from the security agencies; military, police, national security etc. Access to the various circles will be strictly on accreditation basis and we ask people who are coming in to expect some form of screening in the light of the times that we find ourselves in, and to kindly cooperate with the security agencies during these exercises. He said some major streets will be blocked ahead of the start of the event, and parking restricted to some specific persons at designated areas including the Parliament House and the Efua Sutherland Childrens Park. Media arrangements Kojo Oppong-Nkrumah said a media center will be provided at the Independence Square, venue for the inauguration ceremony, to accommodate all media houses. He noted that, a central audio and video outlet will be provided to enable the various media houses pick their feed and broadcast to the public. He said media photographers with the necessary accreditation will be granted access to the inner perimeter where they can take photos. Preparations underway ahead of official event Preparations are underway at the Independence Square to set up the place for the event on Saturday. Some artisans were spotted at the venue mounting the stages and canopies, replacing worn-out property, and painting among other cleaning services. Source: citifmonline.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 Vistas de pagina en total Precio del Brent To get the BRENT oil price, please enable Javascript. Precio del WTI To get the oil price, please enable Javascript. Precio del Oro To get the gold price, please enable Javascript. 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Por culpa de Chavez Cerveza Polar Algun dia Colombia volvera a la ideologia de Bolivar Translate LOS REVOLUCIONARIOS NO TOMAN CACA-COLA No se trata solamente de un capricho, sino de una sana actitud en todos los sentidos. Desde la solidaridad con el pueblo colombiano donde la empresa Caca-Cola ha cometido los mas grandes abusos contra sus trabajadores incluyendo el presunto secuestro y asesinato de los dirigentes del sindicato, hasta la proteccion de la salud de nuestros hijos, enviciados por ese jarabe de cola y azucar, que les produce obesidad prematura. Pensemos tambien los revolucionarios, que ese dinero que gastamos en los refrescos es utilizado por esas empresas para financiar el terrorismo en nuestro pais. Es cierto, no se trata solo de la Caca-Cola, sino tambien de la cerveza, de los cigarrillos y todos esos articulos innecesarios y mas que eso, daninos para nuestra salud. Podriamos incluso pensar en un dia de parada para cada uno de ellos. Es cuestion de irnos organizando. Pero para empezar, que tal si dejamos de comprar Caca-Cola y sus similares? Cuando lo extraordinario se vuelve cotidiano... Discurso del Acto de Grado en Barinas en 12 de Febrero del 2005 Queridos Graduandos: Mas que un discurso, quiero dirigirles algunas palabras que escribi anoche, despues de visitar en las clinicas, a los estudiantes heridos, a consecuencia de los enfrentamientos con la policia de hace apenas dos dias. Me ha tocado por razones del destino, ser la persona que les otorgue el titulo que bien merecieron con sus estudios. Y me siento sumamente orgulloso de serlo. Me consta que la Universidad de Los Llanos Occidentales Ezequiel Zamora, a pesar de lo dicho por los enemigos de esta universidad, es una universidad de primera. No tendremos la mejor planta fisica, en los salones hace calor. En el comedor hace calor. Pero no es en lo material que las cosas deben valorarse. El mayor capital es el ser humano. Y en eso, nuestra UNELLEZ, lo digo con conocimiento de causa, esta sobrada. Los llaneros venezolanos son nobles, valientes, de coraje. En la UNELLEZ hacen vida, en este momento, aproximadamente 67000 personas. El 97% de ellas son estudiantes. Jovenes que, como Ustedes hasta el dia de hoy, buscan ese titulo, que constata los anos de dedicacion y de estudio. Los jovenes son el rio de la vida, ustedes graduados deben ser los capitanes de esos barcos que naveguen por el rio de la vida. Nuestra Patria atraviesa momentos muy dificiles porque decidio dejar de ser esa matrona de edad vetusta y complaciente, para ser joven, rebelde y altanera. Nuestra imagen ya no es la de una acaudalada ricachona mayamera. En nuestro rostro brilla ahora la sonrisa del Che Guevara, con su diente delantero torcido, su pelo largo y su boina con la estrella. Entender esto, a mi me ha tomado practicamente toda la vida. Tengo 53 anos, y ya perdi mi oportunidad de derramar sangre joven a causa de un ideal. Ustedes son jovenes, estan en la flor de la vida. No cometan por favor el error de renunciar a su instinto de rebelion. El Che Guevara fue Ministro de a Economia en Cuba. Los billetes y las monedas se adornaban con su rostro. Nada de eso le importo. Primero fue a Angola donde paso un penoso ano de combate. Despues se fue a Bolivia, donde encontro la muerte. El Che era el ultimo que comia, el que cargaba la mochila mas pesada. Siempre se sacrificaba por los demas en un estoicismo que mas parecia fervor religioso que ideologia marxista. Si quieren un modelo de vida. Ahi lo tienen. Dije hace unos momentos que el 97% de la poblacion de la UNELLEZ es estudiante. Se imaginan Ustedes la Universidad que podriamos tener si todos los estudiantes tuvieran la abnegacion, la combatividad del Che? Los momentos que se avecinan van a requerir de una gran unidad del pueblo venezolano. La alternativa de continuar siendo libres o regresar a la pobreza se nos planteara en los proximos dias de forma enmascarada, o quizas peor, desenmascarada, vestida con uniforme de soldado del Imperio. Por nuestra parte podemos esperar lo mejor. La macroeconomia no podria ir mejor, la justicia social ha mejorado notablemente. Las misiones ocupan un papel muy importante en el pago de dicha justicia social. Aqui en Barinas ya hemos cumplido con dos de las misiones, la mision Robinson y la mision Sucre. No hay analfabetismo y no hay exclusion en la educacion superior, en estas tierras de Zamora. Pero ay malhaya! Son precisamente estos exitos los que nos hacen mas antipaticos al Imperio. Para ellos, somos inclusive un mal ejemplo que se esta contagiando al resto del continente y cuidado sino al resto del mundo. Nunca venceremos al Imperio. Estara siempre ahi, acechando. Por lo menos hasta que el mismo no se autodestruya. Porque, sepanlo senores, el neoliberalismo es canibal. Cuando le ataque el hambre, se devorara a si mismo. Ustedes, queridos graduandos, a partir de hoy pasan a conformar la elite profesional que debe sostener este pais en los proximos cuarenta o cincuenta anos. Anos decisivos para el logro de nuestra libertad y del rescate de nuestra Soberania. No se dejen comprar. No se dejen corromper. No se dejen gritar. No se dejen pisar. Que nadie les diga que comer, o que vestirse, o que leer. Sean siempre autenticos, rebeldes, contestatarios. Pero eso si, profundamente patriotas, dignos de ser hijos de Bolivar. Muchas gracias y que Dios los bendiga. Alguna duda? Medio siglo de Holocausto Palestino Oscar Zanartu Nacio en Caracas en 1960. Ha realizado exposiciones individuales en las galerias Minotauro, Clave y San Francisco, y en salas de Coro, estado Falcon, y Puerto Ordaz, estado Bolivar. En Paris su obra ha sido exhibida en el Centro Cultural Tanagra, en la Exposicion Cite Internationale des Arts, en las galerias De Mars y Arver Space, al igual que en la Galeria Municipal Levallois, en Levallois Perret (Francia). En muestras colectivas, su obra se ha expuesto en Belgica, Francia, Estados Unidos y Venezuela; en Caracas intervino en la exposicion "Del genesis a la memoria", 1995, organizada por la Fundacion La Previsora. En 1982 obtuvo el Premio Nacional Critven y en 1990 la Mencion de Honor Jose Antonio Paez, en la Embajada de Venezuela en Paris. En 1991 se le concedio el primer premio de Pintura Itinerante, en Levallois Perret, Francia. OZ1 OZ2 OZ3 OZ4 Homenaje a Jason Galarraga La Victoria de Samotracia Odalisca Mas fotos de la nevada del pasado agosto 2008 La Sierra Nevada de Merida Nuestro precioso Churum Meru Homenaje a Picasso Autoretrato Sabes lo que bebes en una Coca-Cola? La formula de la Pepsi tiene una diferencia basica con la de la Coca-Cola y es intencional, para evitar el proceso judicial. La diferencia es a proposito, pero suficientemente parecida como para atraer a los consumidores de Coca-Cola que prefieren un gusto diferente con menos sal y azucar. Mi profesion? Tuve que aprender quimica, entender todo sobre componentes de gaseosas, conservantes, sales, acidos, cafeina, enlatado, produccion, permisos, aprobaciones y muchas otras cosas. Monte mi propio mini-laboratorio de analisis de productos. Sal en la Coca Cola? A patadas. El Cloruro de Sodio no solo refresca sino da mas sed, como para pedir otra gaseosa. Y no resulta desagradable porque la sal mata literalmente la sensibilidad al dulce... del que por cierto tambien tiene mucho: 39 gramos de azucar. De los 350 gramos de producto liquido, mas del 10% es azucar, o sea que en una lata de Coca-Cola mas de un centimetro y medio es puro azucar en polvo. Aproximadamente tres cucharadas soperas llenas de azucar por lata!!La formula de la Coca Cola es muy sencilla: Concentrado de azucar quemado caramelo- para dar color oscuro y gusto Acido fosforito (para darle el sabor acido) azucar (HFCS-jarabe de maiz de alta fructosa) Extracto de hojas de la planta de Coca (Africa e India) y otros pocos aromatizantes naturales de otras plantas Mucha Cafeina Conservante que puede ser Benzoato de Sodio o Potasio Dioxido de Carbono en cantidad para sentir freir la lengua cuando se bebe Sal para dar la sensacion de refrigeracion El uso del acido fosforito y no del acido citrico como en todas las demas gaseosas, es para dar la sensacion de dientes y boca limpia al beber. El acido fosforito literalmente frie todo y dana el esmalte de los dientes, cosa que el acido citrico lo hace en menor grado.Trate de comprar acido fosforito para ver las mil recomendaciones de seguridad que te dan para su manipulacion (quema el cristalino del ojo, quema la piel, etc...). Esta prohibido usar el acido fosforito en cualquier otra gaseosa; solo la Coca Cola tiene permiso. Porque claro, sin el acido fosforico, la Coca Cola sabria a jabon.El extracto de coca y otras hojas casi no cambia en nada el sabor. Es mas bien un efecto cosmetico. El extracto forma parte de la Coca-Cola porque legalmente tiene que ser asi. Pero sin el, no se nota ninguna diferencia en el gusto, que esta dado basicamente por las cantidades diferentes de azucar, azucar quemada, sales, acidos y conservantes.Sabor a que...? ja, ja, ja. Aqui en Bartow, sur de Orlando, hay una empresa quimica que produce aromatizantes y esencias para zumos. Envian diariamente camionadas de sales concentradas y esencias para las fabricas de helados, gaseosas, jugos, enlatados y comida colorida y aromatizada.Cuando visite por primera vez la fabrica, pedi ver el deposito de concentrados de frutas, que deberia ser inmenso, especialmente los de naranja, pina, fresa y tantos otros. El encargado me miro, se rio y me llevo a visitar los depositos inmensos... pero de colorantes y componentes quimicos. Las gaseosa de naranja no contiene naranja. En los zumos dizque de fresa, hasta los puntitos que quedan en suspension estan hechos de goma (una liga quimica que envuelve un semi-polimero). Pina, es un popurri de acidos y goma. La esencia para helado de aguacate usa peroxido de hidrogeno (agua oxigenada) para dar la sensacion espumosa tipica del aguacate. Bebidas Light? Quieres saber la cantidad de basura que tiene un refresco 'light'? Yo ni siquiera los uso para destapar mi lavaplatos pues temo que danen los tubos de PVC. Los productos endulzantes 'ligth' tienen una vida media muy corta. Por ejemplo el Despues de toda mi experiencia con la produccion de bebidas embasadas, puedo afirmar sin dudar un segundo: la mejor bebida es el agua, como tambien los jugos exprimidos de naranja o limon. Nada mas, cero azucar y cero sal. Publicado por loretahur En realidad, la formula secreta de la Coca-Cola se puede detallar en 18 segundos en cualquier espectrometro optico, y basicamente la conocen hasta los perros. Lo que ocurre es que no se puede fabricar igual, a no ser que uno disponga de unos cuantos millones de dolares para ganarle la demanda que te metera la Coca-Cola ante la justicia (ellos no perderian).La formula de la Pepsi tiene una diferencia basica con la de la Coca-Cola y es intencional, para evitar el proceso judicial. La diferencia es a proposito, pero suficientemente parecida como para atraer a los consumidores de Coca-Cola que prefieren un gusto diferente con menos sal y azucar.Tuve que aprender quimica, entender todo sobre componentes de gaseosas, conservantes, sales, acidos, cafeina, enlatado, produccion, permisos, aprobaciones y muchas otras cosas. Monte mi propio mini-laboratorio de analisis de productos.A patadas. El Cloruro de Sodio no solo refresca sino da mas sed, como para pedir otra gaseosa. Y no resulta desagradable porque la sal mata literalmente la sensibilidad al dulce... del que por cierto tambien tiene mucho: 39 gramos de azucar.De los 350 gramos de producto liquido, mas del 10% es azucar, o sea que en una lata de Coca-Cola mas de un centimetro y medio es puro azucar en polvo. Aproximadamente tres cucharadas soperas llenas de azucar por lata!!La formula de la Coca Cola es muy sencilla:Concentrado de azucar quemado caramelo- para dar color oscuro y gustoAcido fosforito (para darle el sabor acido)azucar (HFCS-jarabe de maiz de alta fructosa)Extracto de hojas de la planta de Coca (Africa e India) y otros pocos aromatizantes naturales de otras plantasMucha CafeinaConservante que puede ser Benzoato de Sodio o PotasioDioxido de Carbono en cantidad para sentir freir la lengua cuando se bebeSal para dar la sensacion de refrigeracionEl uso del acido fosforito y no del acido citrico como en todas las demas gaseosas, es para dar la sensacion de dientes y boca limpia al beber. El acido fosforito literalmente frie todo y dana el esmalte de los dientes, cosa que el acido citrico lo hace en menor grado.Trate de comprar acido fosforito para ver las mil recomendaciones de seguridad que te dan para su manipulacion (quema el cristalino del ojo, quema la piel, etc...). Esta prohibido usar el acido fosforito en cualquier otra gaseosa; solo la Coca Cola tiene permiso. Porque claro, sin el acido fosforico, la Coca Cola sabria a jabon.El extracto de coca y otras hojas casi no cambia en nada el sabor. Es mas bien un efecto cosmetico. El extracto forma parte de la Coca-Cola porque legalmente tiene que ser asi. Pero sin el, no se nota ninguna diferencia en el gusto, que esta dado basicamente por las cantidades diferentes de azucar, azucar quemada, sales, acidos y conservantes.Sabor a que...? ja, ja, ja.Aqui en Bartow, sur de Orlando, hay una empresa quimica que produce aromatizantes y esencias para zumos. Envian diariamente camionadas de sales concentradas y esencias para las fabricas de helados, gaseosas, jugos, enlatados y comida colorida y aromatizada.Cuando visite por primera vez la fabrica, pedi ver el deposito de concentrados de frutas, que deberia ser inmenso, especialmente los de naranja, pina, fresa y tantos otros. El encargado me miro, se rio y me llevo a visitar los depositos inmensos... pero de colorantes y componentes quimicos.Las gaseosa de naranja no contiene naranja.En los zumos dizque de fresa, hasta los puntitos que quedan en suspension estan hechos de goma (una liga quimica que envuelve un semi-polimero).Pina, es un popurri de acidos y goma.La esencia para helado de aguacate usa peroxido de hidrogeno (agua oxigenada) para dar la sensacion espumosa tipica del aguacate.Quieres saber la cantidad de basura que tiene un refresco 'light'? Yo ni siquiera los uso para destapar mi lavaplatos pues temo que danen los tubos de PVC. Los productos endulzantes 'ligth' tienen una vida media muy corta. Por ejemplo el aspartamo , despues de tres semanas mojado, pasa a tener gusto de trapo viejo sucio.Para evitar eso, se agregan una infinidad de otros productos quimicos, uno para alargar la vida del aspartamo, otro para neutralizar el color, otro para mantener el tercer quimico en suspension porque sino el fondo de la gaseosa quedaria oscuro, otro para evitar la cristalizacion del aspartamo, otro para realzar el sabor, dar mas intensidad al acido citrico o fosforito que perderia su sabor por el efecto de los cuatro productos quimicos iniciales... y asi sucesivamente.Un consejo final !!Despues de toda mi experiencia con la produccion de bebidas embasadas, puedo afirmar sin dudar un segundo: la mejor bebida es el agua, como tambien los jugos exprimidos de naranja o limon. Nada mas, cero azucar y cero sal.Publicado por loretahur MARGARINA o MANTEQUILLA La margarina fue producida originalmente para engordar a los pavos; cuandolo que hizo en realidad fue matarlos.Las personas que habian puesto el dinero para la investigacion quisieronrecobrarlo asi que empezaron a pensar en una forma de hacerlo.Tenian una sustancia blanca, que no tenia ningun atractivo como comestible,asi que le anadieron el color amarillo, para venderselo a lagente en lugar de la mantequilla.Que tal esa?... Ahora han sacado algunos nuevos sabores para vender mas alos incautos como usted y yo.CONOCE USTED la diferencia entre la margarina y la mantequilla?Siga leyendo hasta el final... porque se pone bastante interesante!Comparacion entre mantequilla y margarina: 1.- Ambas tienen la misma cantidad de calorias. 2.- La mantequilla es ligeramente mas alta en grasas saturadas: 8 gramos,comparada con los 5 gramos que tiene la margarina. 3.- Comer margarina en vez de mantequilla puede aumentar en 53% el riesgo deenfermedades coronarias en las mujeres, de acuerdo con un estudiomedico reciente de la Universidad de Harvard. 4.- Comer mantequilla aumenta la absorcion de gran cantidad de nutrientesque se encuentran en otros alimentos. 5.- La mantequilla provee beneficios nutricionales propios mientras lamargarina tiene solo los que le hayan sido anadidos al fabricarla. 6.- La mantequilla sabe mucho mejor que la margarina y mejora el sabor deotros alimentos.7.- La mantequilla ha existido durante siglos mientras que la margarinatiene menos de 100 anos. Ahora... sobre la margarina: 1.- Es muy alta en acidos grasos trans. (Si, esos que recien ahora loscientificos descubrieron que son malisimos y los gobiernoscomenzaron a prohibirlos) . 2.- Triple riesgo de enfermedades coronarias. 3.- Aumenta el colesterol total y el LDL (el colesterol malo) y disminuye elHDL (el colesterol bueno). 4.- Aumenta en cinco veces el riesgo de cancer. 5.- Disminuye la calidad de la leche materna. 6.- Disminuye la reaccion inmunologica del organismo. 7.- Disminuye la reaccion a la insulina. Y he aqui el factor mas inquietante (AQUI ESTA LA PARTE MAS INTERESANTE! ):A la margarina le falta UNA MOLECULA para ser PLASTICO...!!Solo este hecho es suficiente para evitar el uso de la margarina de porvida, y de cualquier otra cosa que sea hidrogenada (esto significaque se le anade hidrogeno, lo cual cambia la estructura molecular de lassubstancias).Usted puede ensayar lo siguiente:Compre un poco de margarina y dejela en el garaje o en un sitio sombreado.Dentro de unos dias notara dos cosas: * No habra moscas; ni siquiera esos molestos bichos se le acercaran (esto yale debe decir a usted algo). * No se pudre ni huele mal o diferente porque no tiene valor nutritivo; nadacrece en ella. Ni siquiera los diminutos microorganismos puedencrecer en ella.Por que? Porque es casi plastico!! No a la guerra, Si a la Paz Misterios de la ciencia... Los costos de la guerra medicos y capitalismo... Capitalismo... medicos (2) Quien educa a nuestros hijos? Los Medios... Sin Palabras... Chistes feministas - Cual es el problema, Eva? - Se que me has creado, que me has dado este hermoso jardin, todos estos maravillosos animales y esa serpiente con la que me muero de risa... pero no soy del todo feliz... - Como es eso, Eva? - replico Dios desde las alturas. - Me encuentro sola, y ademas estoy harta de comer manzanas... - Bueno Eva, en tal caso, tengo una solucion... creare un hombre para ti. - Que es un hombre? - Un hombre sera una criatura imperfecta, con muchas artimanas. Mentira, hara trampas, sera engreido... vamos, que te va a dar problemas... Pero, va a ser mas fuerte y rapido que tu y le gustara cazar y matar cosas... Tendra un aspecto simple, pero como te estas quejando, le creare de tal forma que satisfaga tus... eh... necesidades fisicas... Y tampoco sera muy listo, y destacara en cosas infantiles como pegarse o dar patadas a un balon... Necesitara tu consejo siempre para actuar cuerdamente. - Suena bien - dijo Eva, mientras levantaba la ceja ironicamente. - Cual es el truco?. - Pues... que lo tendras con una condicion. - Cual? - Como te decia, sera chulo, arrogante y muy narcisista... asi que le tendras que hacer creer que le hice a el primero... recuerda... es nuestro secreto... de mujer a mujer. Por que a los hombres no les puede dar la enfermedad de las vacas locas? Porque todos son unos cerdos Un dia, en el Paraiso, Eva llamo a Dios: Tengo un problema.- Cual es el problema, Eva?- Se que me has creado, que me has dado este hermoso jardin, todos estos maravillosos animales y esa serpiente con la que me muero de risa... pero no soy del todo feliz... - Como es eso, Eva? - replico Dios desde las alturas.- Me encuentro sola, y ademas estoy harta de comer manzanas...- Bueno Eva, en tal caso, tengo una solucion... creare un hombre para ti.- Que es un hombre?- Un hombre sera una criatura imperfecta, con muchas artimanas. Mentira, hara trampas, sera engreido... vamos, que te va a dar problemas... Pero, va a ser mas fuerte y rapido que tu y le gustara cazar y matar cosas... Tendra un aspecto simple, pero como te estas quejando, le creare de tal forma que satisfaga tus... eh... necesidades fisicas... Y tampoco sera muy listo, y destacara en cosas infantiles como pegarse o dar patadas a un balon... Necesitara tu consejo siempre para actuar cuerdamente.- Suena bien - dijo Eva, mientras levantaba la ceja ironicamente.- Cual es el truco?.- Pues... que lo tendras con una condicion.- Cual?- Como te decia, sera chulo, arrogante y muy narcisista... asi que le tendras que hacer creer que le hice a el primero... recuerda... es nuestro secreto... de mujer a mujer.Por que a los hombres no les puede dar la enfermedad de las vacas locas? Porque todos son unos cerdos Ellas... Ellas (2)... Tres venganzas femeninas VENGANZA NUMERO 1 Hoy mi hija cumple 21 anos y estoy muy contento porque es el ultimo pago de pension alimenticia que le doy, asi que llame a mi hijita para que viniera a mi casa y cuando llego le dije: -Hijita, quiero que lleves este cheque a casa de tu mama y que le digas que: Este es el ultimo maldito cheque que va recibir de mi en todo lo que le queda de su puta vida!!! Quiero que me digas la expresion que pone en su rostro. Asi que mi hija fue a entregar el cheque. Yo estaba ansioso por saber lo que la bruja tenia que decir y que cara pondria. Cuando mi hijita entro, le pregunte inmediatamente: -Que fue lo que te dijo tu madre? -Me dijo que justamente estaba esperando este dia para decirte que no eres mi papa! VENGANZA NUMERO 2 Un hombre que siempre molestaba a su mujer, paso un dia por la casa de unos amigos para que lo acompanaran al aeropuerto a dejar a su esposa que viajaba a Paris. A la salida de inmigracion, frente a todo el mundo, el le desea buen viaje y en tono burlon le grita: - Amor, no te olvides de traerme una hermosa francesita Ja ja ja!! Ella bajo la cabeza y se embarco muy molesta. La mujer paso quince dias en Francia. El marido otra vez pidio a sus amigos que lo acompanasen al aeropuerto a recibirla. Al verla llegar, lo primero que le grita a toda voz es: - Y amor me trajiste mi francesita?? - Hice todo lo posible, - contesta ella - ahora solo tenemos que rezar para que nazca nina. VENGANZA NUMERO 3 El marido, en su lecho de muerte, llama a su mujer. Con voz ronca y ya debil, le dice: - Muy bien, llego mi hora, pero antes quiero hacerte una confesion. - No, no, tranquilo, tu no debes hacer ningun esfuerzo. - Pero, mujer, es preciso - insiste el marido - Es preciso morir en paz. Te quiero confesar algo. - Esta bien, esta bien. Habla! - He tenido relaciones con tu hermana, tu mama y tu mejor amiga. - Lo se, lo se Por eso te envenene, hijo de puta!!! machismo y cibernetica Chiste machista La NASA ha enviado al espacio una mision experimental tripulada por dos monos y una mujer.Apenas abandona la atmosfera, se establece comunicacion con Houston. -Atencion, simio 1, verifique sistemas hidraulicos, controle adecuada presion de los propulsores de arranque. A 60.000 pies disminuya un 25% la velocidad. El simio hace la sena de OK. -Atencion, simio 2, nivele al cruzar la estratosfera y active sistemas anticongelantes. No olvide monitorear sistemas de comunicacion e indicadores de presion. Comprendido?. El simio hace la sena de OK. -Atencion, Houston llamando a mujer: no se olvide. -Mujer: Si, si, ya se! -interrumpe enojada- que no me olvide darles de comer a estos monos de mierda y que no se me vaya a ocurrir tocar nada!. .Spaghetti, Spaghetti, Spaghetti, Spaghetti, Spaghetti. Un abogado mantiene un romance con su secretaria.Al poco tiempo, esta queda embarazada y el abogado, que no quiere que su esposa se entere, le da a la secretaria una buena suma de dinero y le pide que se vaya a parir a Italia.Esta pregunta: Y como voy a hacerte saber cuando nazca el bebe ? El abogado responde: Para que mi mujer no se entere, tan solo enviame una postal y escribe por detras: Spaghetti. Y no te preocupes mas, que yo me encargare de todos los gastos. Pasan los meses y una manana la esposa del abogado lo llama al bufete, algo exaltada: Querido, acabo de recibir el correo y hay una postal muy extrana viene desde Italia. La verdad, no entiendo que significa.El abogado, tratando de ocultar sus nervios, contesta:Espera a que llegue a casa, a ver si yo entiendoCuando el hombre llega a casa y lee la postal, cae al suelo fulminado por un infarto.Llega una ambulancia y se lo lleva. Ya en el hospital, el jefe de cardiologia se queda consolando a la esposa y le pregunta cual ha sido el evento que precipito tan masivo ataque cardiaco. Entonces la esposa saca la postal y se la muestra diciendole: No me explico, doctor; el solamente leyo esta postal. Vea usted mismo lo que trae escrito.Spaghetti, Spaghetti, Spaghetti, Spaghetti, Spaghetti."Tres con salchicha y albondigas y dos con almejas Gol !!!! Chistes de Borrachos Entra un borracho a su casa todo manchado con lapiz labial por todos lados hecho un desastre, y la mujer le pregunta:-Hombre que te paso?Y el borracho le responde:-No me vas a creer, me pelee con un payaso! Este es un borracho que entra en un bar y le dice al camarero:-Me da cinco copas de whisky?Al rato:-Me da cuatro?Al rato:-Me da tres copas?Despues:-Me da dos copas?Luego le dice:-Me da una copa?Y le dice al camarero:-Ves? Cuanto menos bebo, mas borracho estoy! ABC News(NEW YORK) -- President-elect Donald Trump is set to be deposed sometime this week in his ongoing legal battle against celebrity chef Jose Andres, a lawyer representing Trump Old Post Office LLC, a development company that's part of the Trump Organization, confirms to ABC News. The lawyer would not say what day the deposition would take place. The deposition, which comes two weeks before Trump's inauguration, could last up to seven hours, according to a judges ruling. Trump's legal team sought to limit the deposition to two hours, but that effort was blocked by the D.C. Superior Court judge overseeing the case last month. The deposition will take place in Trump Tower, the lawyer said. It was originally slated to occur in Washington, D.C., but Trump's team raised "security reasons" and asked that it be moved to New York. The chef's legal team agreed to move the location while noting that it "seems dubious that the president-elect cannot be afforded adequate security in the capital of the United States." Trump filed a $10 million breach-of-contract lawsuit after Andres pulled out of a deal to open a Spanish-themed restaurant at Trump International Hotel in D.C. shortly after Trump launched his presidential bid. Andres argued that Trump's comments on the campaign trail about Hispanics were disparaging and made it difficult to operate a successful high-end Spanish restaurant. Andres, who immigrated to the United States from Spain, is a naturalized U.S. citizen. Andres later filed a countersuit for $8 million through his company ThinkFoodGroup, alleging that Trump initially breached the contract with his controversial statements. For his part, Andres appears ready to settle the suits. He took to Twitter last month to publicly make an appeal to Trump to settle their legal quarrel out of court. Copyright 2017, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. A teary-eyed Mala Sharma felt vindicated as she stood outside a school for impoverished children in India. A student had snatched the Adobe Systems executive's iPad and had a go with the company's simplest video editing program. He nailed it, creating a quick video that Sharma said amused his teacher and peers. For years, Adobe has been the dominant provider of expensive editing tools to professional content producers. But the recent experience in India with her company's newer, consumer-oriented app showed Sharma firsthand the value of expanding efforts to make tools approachable to anyone. "I stood there with tears in my eyes because I felt like in that minute Adobe touched and changed that child's life," Sharma said. "That's the ultimate vision: to make that possible for everyone." Free mobile apps and a shift to online offerings have led to significant inroads. But the San Jose, Calif., company's newest initiative is a steep investment in artificially intelligent services. Adobe envisions what it calls Sensei as an automated virtual assistant that for now reduces rote handiwork in certain tasks, but eventually would help first-time users make the most of its apps or guide them when they're stuck. What Google search does for finding websites or Amazon.com's Alexa for shopping, Adobe wants Sensei to do for making films, editing photos and designing products. Sensei features spread across Adobe's software suite, including marketing databases and PDF readers. Adobe expects big interest in Sensei, pointing to popular creative apps as a sign of demand. For instance, Instagram has amassed 600 million users by giving beginning photographers simple ways to give their work a professional look. "We used to serve the Adobe magic to the highest end of users, but in the mobile-first era, average consumers want that magic," Adobe Chief Technology Officer Abhay Parasnis said. "The heart of Sensei is, 'Can we make our tools and workflow much more broadly accessible?'" At an unveiling spectacle held for thousands of graphic designers, video editors and other users at the San Diego Convention Center in the fall, Adobe showed how Sensei could point users to licensable images that resemble ones they like but don't have permission to use. It can do the same with fonts, analyzing handwriting to recommend a look-alike typeface. During editing, Sensei can identify lips and eyes in a photo and allow users to change facial expressions - for instance, widening a grin - without overly distorting the rest of a face. Offering "The Simpsons" star Bart as an example, Adobe also showed how Sensei can automatically manipulate a cartoon character's mouth so that it moves in sync with a voice actor's speech. Sharma imagines Sensei as an instructor too, accepting commands by voice, text or click. Unsure how to make a tweak in a photo? Sensei could anticipate your desire and make suggestions. And they could be personalized, borrowing from decisions made at similar junctures by people a user follows on Adobe's social networking service Behance. "The user doesn't have to do the hunting and pecking and the looking," Sharma said. "As we understand what they are trying to do and we understand what is the kind of work that inspires them, we can give them intelligent solutions in real time." Getting Sensei right is crucial to Adobe's growth, financial analysts say. Whether you've mastered it or have never tried it, Photoshop software is so widely recognized that you've probably uttered something like "I'll just Photoshop it later." But increasingly sophisticated, cheaply available editing apps on smartphones could eventually relegate Photoshop and other Adobe programs to being complicated luxuries. There's no doubt that they are powerful technology. But it can take hours of classes to know how to use the programs well. Sensei is meant to knock out hurdles. Chief Executive Shantanu Narayen said Adobe shareholders are excited about the untapped opportunity, which could lift the company's nearly $6 billion in annual sales by as much as $3 billion over the next few years. Investors are pleased with initial efforts. A growing percentage of Adobe software subscribers are first-time users. About 35 million have logged onto mobile apps such as the free Adobe Spark Video program that the student in India picked up. "People who have a story to tell find Adobe is the gold standard and they keep coming," Narayen said in an interview. "They want instant gratification and ease of use. If we allow them, they will come." Adobe shares have quadrupled to over $100 in the five years since the company began pushing online subscriptions instead of one-time purchases of its software. Adobe executives aren't overly worried about the rising competition. "There's people who want to communicate in the moment (and) take a photo ... on Snapchat," Sharma said. "We see our mission foremost in ... going beyond the moment." The separation exists because Snapchat, Instagram, VSCO, Google Photos and tools from Facebook and Apple prioritize simplicity over sophistication (dozens of features instead of thousands). But artificial intelligence could boost the rival offerings over time, increasing the pressure on Adobe to outdo them. Adobe's advantage is that its virtual monopoly among professionals gives the company unrivaled data, enabling it provide unique insights to users, said Rodney Nelson, equity analyst at Morningstar. Some Sensei features including the similar image finder will be available to other companies to use and build upon in their own apps, widening the possibilities. Adobe has long relied on the smarts of computers for features like one that quickly removes unwanted objects in a photo. But branding such options as Sensei is meant to signal Adobe's dramatically larger focus in artificial intelligence over the next decade, Parasnis said. Every product and engineering employee will be trained on how Sensei technologies work. Sensei leverages machine-learning breakthroughs in recent years. Computers have gone from humans heavily training them to recognize obvious images of cats to understanding even the partial images of cats on their own. With the understanding of curvature and textures, Sensei can automatically adjust the shadows in an image to reflect the lighting in the backdrop. Future manifestations of Sensei would allow for automatically inserting and rearranging objects while maintaining a natural look. In the voice and video sphere, an experimental tool synthesizes any speaker's voice, which provides for indistinguishable (but artificial) edits to an earlier recording. "To Adobe's credit, they already had this technology lurking and they've made it more prominent," Abhinav Kapur, an analyst at BTIG, said of the Sensei branding. "It's absolutely crucial. Any big software company going forward needs to have data-crunching components in the product suite." Sensei features might not be the reason that someone pays $10 a month or more for access to Adobe software. But they could amount to something that gets people to keep paying. People could misuse the new tools, but Adobe doesn't want to hold people back from sharing their stories. "We see this lowering user friction and 'democratizing' the creative process," Piper Jaffray analyst Alex Zukin wrote of Sensei. Now the question is whether Sensei on top of existing initiatives will be enough to preserve Photoshop as a verb, and Adobe's general dominance, for years to come. 2017 Los Angeles Times Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. CMCs in nuclear fuel cladding and reactor core structures could make reactors worldwide safer. During the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi disaster, the nuclear power plants loss of cooling led to combustion of Zircaloy cladding, subsequent explosions and radiation release. If CMC cladding had been used instead, the fuel rods probably would have lasted until cooling was restored, said ORNLs Yutai Katoh, a world-renowned expert in nuclear materials. Credit: Oak Ridge National Laboratory, U.S. Dept. of Energy; photographer Jason Richards Ceramic matrix composite (CMC) materials are made of coated ceramic fibers surrounded by a ceramic matrix. They are tough, lightweight and capable of withstanding temperatures 300400 degrees F hotter than metal alloys can endure. If certain components were made with CMCs instead of metal alloys, the turbine engines of aircraft and power plants could operate more efficiently at higher temperatures, combusting fuel more completely and emitting fewer pollutants. A quarter-century ago, the U.S. Department of Energy began a program, led by DOE's Oak Ridge National Laboratory, to support U.S. development of CMC materials. In 2016, LEAP, a new aircraft engine, became the first widely deployed CMC-containing product. CFM International, a 50/50 joint venture of Safran and GE, manufactures LEAP. The engine has one CMC component, a turbine shroud lining its hottest zone, so it can operate at up to 2400 F. The CMC needs less cooling air than nickel-based super-alloys and is part of a suite of technologies that contribute to 15 percent fuel savings for LEAP over its predecessor, the CFM 56 engine. Presales to airlines eager to lower fuel costs are staggering$140 billion at list price for more than 11,000 engines. In August, the first LEAP engine started flying commercially on Airbus A320neo. Other LEAP engines will fly on the Boeing 737 MAX in 2017. "The materials developed in the DOE program became the foundation for the material now going into aircraft engines," said Krishan Luthra, who led GE Global Research's development of CMCs for 25 years. GE's CMC is made of silicon carbide (SiC) ceramic fibers (containing silicon and carbon in equal amounts) coated with a proprietary material containing boron nitride. The coated fibers are shaped into a "preform" that is embedded in SiC containing 1015 percent silicon. ORNL's Rick Lowden did foundational work in the 1980s that paved the way for DOE programs. The key was coating the ceramic fibers. "A ceramic matrix composite is different than almost all other composites because the matrix is ceramic and the fiber is ceramic," Lowden said. Typically, combining two brittle materials yields a brittle material, he said. But altering the bond between fiber and matrix allows the material to act more like a piece of wood. Cracks don't propagate into the fibers from the matrix around them. The fibers hold the material together and carry the load while slowly pulling from the matrix, adding toughness. For DOE programs that ran 19922005, companies sent materials to ORNL for stress-testing. High-pressure furnaces called Keiser rigs subjected samples to temperatures and pressures typical of steam plants. ORNLs Jim Keiser and Mike Howell (on ladder) measured factors that degrade materials. Credit: Oak Ridge National Laboratory, U.S. Dept. of Energy DOE's Continuous Fiber Ceramic Composite (CFCC) program ran from 1992 to 2002 and supported industrial development of CMCs by AlliedSignal, Alzeta, Amercom, Babcock and Wilcox, Dow Chemical, Dow Corning, DuPont-Lanxide Composites, GE and Textron. Its budget averaged $10 million per year, and industry shared costs. CFCC funded companies to make composites and national labs and universities to characterize the properties of the materials. Efforts were coordinated and funded through ORNL. Lowden wrote the program plan with Scott Richland of DOE and Mike Karnitz of ORNL and co-led support to companies with ORNL's Karren More, Pete Tortorelli and Edgar Lara-Curzio and Argonne National Laboratory's Bill Ellingson. The U.S. Advanced Ceramics Association represented industry in informing Congress of the benefits of CMCs. "We were looking at different fibers and different interfacial coatings and different matrices," More said of ORNL's role. "We were involved in understanding the degradation mechanisms and down-selection of the more promising composites and cost-effective techniques for preparing them." Lowden added, "We were working toward a common goal of getting ceramic matrix composites into industrial applications including high-pressure heat exchangers, land-based turbines, carburizing furnaces and radiant burners." GE's CFCC project was to develop CMCs for industrial gas turbine engines that produce electricity. (GE manufactures both power and propulsion turbines.) A follow-on DOE program ran through 2005 and funded the most promising CFCC companies to further develop materials and components and if possible, test them in applications. Total funding was approximately $15 million, with industry cost-sharing approaching 50 percent. GE field-tested a CMC shroud in a 170-megawatt industrial gas turbine under the program. All told, GE invested $1.5 billion after that to commercialize the technology. "Seed money is critical for high-risk, high-payoff technologies," Luthra said. "Material development is a long-term activity, and Oak Ridge tremendously supported the basic research." As evidence of success, Luthra pointed to new CMC factories and jobs today. In 2002, GE acquired a CMC facility in Newark, Delaware, which has grown substantially. A new GE facility opened in Asheville, North Carolina, in 2014 for making shroud components. In addition, GE is building two adjacent factories in Huntsville, Alabamathe first to ramp up fiber production and the second to coat fibers and make tape for processing into components. At full-scale, the Asheville and Huntsville sites are expected to bring 640 high-tech jobs. In 2019 GE will produce an engine, GE9X, with five CMC partstwo combustor liners, two nozzles, one shroud. Presales are approximately $29 billion at list prices for 700 engines. During DOE programs to advance industrial ceramic matrix composites, ORNLs Karren More (foreground, with Larry Walker) used transmission electron microscopy and other techniques to pinpoint causes of failure in stress-tested or field-tested materials made by companies. Without the expertise and facilities of national labsavailable nowhere elseindustry would have been flying blind. Credit: Oak Ridge National Laboratory, U.S. Dept. of Energy Firing up research of ceramic composites Long before ceramic fibers reinforced ceramic composites, ORNL researchers coated nuclear fuel with carbon and SiC to confine radioactivity inside tristructural-isotropic (TRISO) fuel particles. During experiments in the '70s, ORNL's Jack Lackey realized the process could be modified to manufacture ceramic composites more rapidly. With support from DOE's Fossil Energy Materials Program, his group pioneered a process to do just that. "You take a fibrous preform, place it in a furnace, and vapor-deposit solids on and around the fibers," explained Lowden, who was Lackey's technician. To coat the whole object uniformly, the deposition process must be extremely slowa half-inch part might take six months to process. However, the ORNL team found that placing a fibrous mat on a cold plate, heating the top and forcing gases through the mat sped the process from months to hours. "That's where we got involved in ceramic matrix composites," Lowden said. ORNL supplied CMCs for years to researchers evaluating CMCs for various applications. Today, GE mass-produces CMCs using a melt infiltration process. The production capacity is being scaled to make 36,000 perfect-quality shroud segments per year by 2020. (Each LEAP engine requires 18 shrouds segments.) During the CFCC years, the program's greatest success was an industrial gas turbine placed into operation at the Malden Mills plant in Massachusetts in 1999. The turbine sported a CMC combustor linerdeveloped by Solar Turbines with input from researchers at ORNL, Argonne, United Technologies, B.F. Goodrich and DuPont-Lanxide Compositesthat helped improve the efficiency of the turbine. At the time, Energy Secretary Bill Richardson said the Malden Mills plant had "the lowest emissions of any industrialized heat and electric combined facility in the United States." Since CFCC, GE has tested CMCs for more than 2 million hours, including 40,000 hours in industrial gas turbines. Jim Vartuli of GE's CMC program said DOE support on large industrial gas turbines to get those first demonstrators gave GE confidence that the ceramics could survive high temperatures and stresses in turbines for long periods. "GE is the only company in the world with both large industrial gas turbines and aircraft engines businesses, and this enables many opportunities for co-development of advanced technology. This is an example of the 'GE Store'the transfer of technology and knowledge between GE businesses," Vartuli explained. "The success of the turbine tests convinced our aviation business that CMCs would be successful for aircraft engines, too." Advanced materials take flight in the LEAP engine, featuring ceramic matrix composites developed over a quarter-century by GE with help from DOE and ORNL. Credit: General Electric How DOE and its national labs helped industry CFCC companies brought materials they'd made to DOE national laboratories at Argonne for nondestructive evaluation and Oak Ridge for microstructural characterization and stress and oxidation tests. "This partnership highlights the value of the national labs," More said. "We do work that is fundamental and broad to understand materials' behaviors. We provide necessary information to help the community make decisions about where to go, how to proceed." New knowledge about how materials degraded helped industry accelerate improvements and optimize manufacturing processes. Research at ORNL ranged from development by Allen Haynes of environmental barrier coatings that could extend the lives of underlying materials five-fold to nondestructive imaging of materials with thermal cameras by Ralph Dinwiddie. At Argonne National Laboratory, Bill Ellingson led development of broader nondestructive testing methods to ensure safe continued use of components by monitoring material degradation after intervals of usage. Without damaging the components, the inspections revealed how materials responded in an environment over time. With ORNL researchers, Argonne scientists developed several nondestructive inspection technologies that were instrumental in determining component performance. ORNL's Pete Tortorelli and H. T. Lin stressed materials in environmental exposure chambers to learn their points of failure. Lab colleagues Jim Keiser and Irv Federer exposed samples to corrosive gases, temperatures up to 2550 F and pressures up to 500 psi in "Keiser rigs" that simulated conditions in turbines. These were also used by More, Tortorelli and Keiser to screen protective coatings needed in combustion environments. Meanwhile, More characterized structures of stressed materials. "Karren More entered the picture as our microscopist, and that changed our world," Lowden recalled. "To be able to see what was happening with transmission electron microscopy, and understand what was happening at that level, was incredible." GE had access to some techniques in-house because of its large infrastructure. "But we got invaluable help from Karren on the fiber coatings," Luthra said. "It helped us develop the fiber coatings faster." ORNL's early findings encouraged industry to abandon carbon as a fiber coating. Carbon oxidized, turning into carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide, and volatilized, thinning the coating. ORNL engineers recommended oxidation-resistant boron nitride instead. Moreover, Edgar Lara-Curzio modeled and tested the mechanical performance of CMC materials under different loading conditions and their resistance to fatigue, creep and rupture in ORNL's High Temperature Materials Laboratory. In collaboration with Matt Ferber and Chun-Hway Hsueh, he implemented experimental and analytical methods to characterize the micromechanics of fibermatrix interfaces. "These measurements were essential to quantify chemical bonding between fibers and matrix, residual stresses experienced by the fibers and friction between the fibers and the matrix during fiber sliding," said Lara-Curzio, noting CMCs are tough mainly because interfacial coatings let fibers slide and bridge matrix cracks. He and Hsueh provided key information about how a single fiber slides in a ceramic matrix. Lara-Curzio, Ferber and Lowden then quantified the effect of the thickness of fiber coatings on sliding and discovered a value that optimized mechanical properties. Companies widely adopted this correlation to optimize their composites. Seishi Yajima of Japan invented silicon carbide fiber in the 1970s, and Takemi Yamamura commercialized the process at Ube Industries. Hiroshi Ichikawa commercialized it at Nippon Carbon, and many credit his fiber, which had superior properties, as the foundation of the CMC industry. Early fibers contained oxygen, which degraded the material. Second-generation fibers were manufactured in a way that removed excess oxygen. Strong and resilient, third-generation fibers are the workhorses of silicon carbide ceramic matrix composites (shown here in gray) that make up shroud components of GEs LEAP engine (white material is an environmental barrier coating). Credit: General Electric Back to the future Today at GE, Luthra dreams of putting CMCs everywhere the engine gets hotblades, nozzles, liners. To achieve this vision, the community has many technological mountains to climb. One is developing manufacturing processes that, unlike melt infiltration, do not produce excess silicon that can volatilize and form cracks in the matrix. "Every decade we have increased [the heat metals can take] by about 50 degrees," Luthra noted. Today CMC material can take up to 2400 F, but Luthra would like the next generation to reach 2700 F. "This is going to be as challenging as the development of the first ceramic composite," he said. To highlight these challenges, the U.S. Advanced Ceramics Association is creating an industry-driven roadmap for the development of 2700 F CMCs for advanced gas turbines. This roadmap will inform Congress about successes of 2400 F CMCs, encourage investment in the development of 2700 F CMCs and highlight the contributions of CMCs to the creation of high-paying U.S. manufacturing jobs, national security and the environment. USACA's roadmap supports findings of a recent National Academy of Sciences study that concludes investment in gas turbine materials and coatings should be a high priority and that 2700 F CMCs could dramatically reduce or eliminate the need for cooling in engines, boost efficiency and lower weight. DOE national labs may once again be called upon to help discover high-performance materials and processes that can operate at higher temperatures and even more extreme environments. Future CMCs will have to endure extremes on four time scales, depending on the application: 1 hour or less of hot time for launch vehicles; days for accident-tolerant fuels (e.g., if a cooling system goes out in a nuclear power plant); thousands of hours, the operating life of aircraft turbines; and over 30,000 hours for industrial gas turbines for power production. A land-based gas turbine to generate electricity can be more demanding than an aircraft engine application because it spends much more time operating at high temperature, Luthra said. Advances in the next generation of 2700 F materials would enable breakthrough improvements in efficiency and emissions that could lower the cost of electricity. The sky, after all, may not be the limit. More information: Commercial Aircraft Propulsion and Energy Systems Research Reducing Global Carbon Emissions: www.nap.edu/read/23490/chapter/1 Credit: University of Nottingham A chance meeting between a spider expert and a chemist has led to the development of antibiotic synthetic spider silk. After five years' work an interdisciplinary team of scientists at The University of Nottingham has developed a technique to produce chemically functionalised spider silk that can be tailored to applications used in drug delivery, regenerative medicine and wound healing. The Nottingham research team has shown for the first time how 'click-chemistry' can be used to attach molecules, such as antibiotics or fluorescent dyes, to artificially produced spider silk synthesised by E.coli bacteria. The research, funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) has been published in the online journal Advanced Materials. The chosen molecules can be 'clicked' into place in soluble silk protein before it has been turned into fibres, or after the fibres have been formed. This means that the process can be easily controlled and more than one type of molecule can be used to 'decorate' individual silk strands. Nottingham breakthrough In a laboratory in the Centre of Biomolecular Sciences, Professor Neil Thomas from the School of Chemistry in collaboration with Dr Sara Goodacre from the School of Life Sciences, has led a team of BBSRC DTP-funded PhD students starting with David Harvey who was then joined by Victor Tudorica, Leah Ashley and Tom Coekin. They have developed and diversified this new approach to functionalising 'recombinant'artificialspider silk with a wide range of small molecules. They have shown that when these 'silk' fibres are 'decorated' with the antibiotic levofloxacin it is slowly released from the silk, retaining its anti-bacterial activity for at least five days. Neil Thomas, a Professor of Medicinal and Biological Chemistry, said: "Our technique allows the rapid generation of biocompatible, mono or multi-functionalised silk structures for use in a wide range of applications. These will be particularly useful in the fields of tissue engineering and biomedicine." Remarkable qualities of spider silk Spider silk is strong, biocompatible and biodegradable. It is a protein-based material that does not appear to cause a strong immune, allergic or inflammatory reaction. With the recent development of recombinant spider silk, the race has been on to find ways of harnessing its remarkable qualities. The Nottingham research team has shown that their technique can be used to create a biodegradable mesh which can do two jobs at once. It can replace the extra cellular matrix that our own cells generate, to accelerate growth of the new tissue. It can also be used for the slow release of antibiotics. Professor Thomas said: "There is the possibility of using the silk in advanced dressings for the treatment of slow-healing wounds such as diabetic ulcers. Using our technique infection could be prevented over weeks or months by the controlled release of antibiotics. At the same time tissue regeneration is accelerated by silk fibres functioning as a temporary scaffold before being biodegraded." The medicinal properties of spider silk recognised for centuries. The medicinal properties of spider silk have been recognised for centuries but not clearly understood. The Greeks and Romans treated wounded soldiers with spider webs to stop bleeding. It is said that soldiers would use a combination of honey and vinegar to clean deep wounds and then cover the whole thing with balled-up spider webs. There is even a mention in Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream: "I shall desire you of more acquaintance, good master cobweb," the character 'Bottom' said. "If I cut my finger, I shall make bold of you." 'I think we could make that!' The idea came together at a discipline bridging university 'sandpit' meeting five years ago. Dr Goodacre says her chance meeting at that event with Professor Thomas proved to be one of the most productive afternoons of her career. Dr Goodacre, who heads up the SpiderLab in the School of Life Sciences, said: "I got up at that meeting and showed the audience a picture of some spider silk. I said 'I want to understand how this silk works, and then make some.' "At the end of the session Neil came up to me and said 'I think my group could make that.' He also suggested that there might be more interesting 'tweaks' one could make so that the silk could be 'decorated' with different, useful, compounds either permanently or which could be released over time due to a change in the acidity of the environment." The approach required the production of the silk proteins in a bacterium where an amino acid not normally found in proteins was included. This amino acid contained an azide group which is widely used in 'click' reactions that only occur at that position in the protein. It was an approach that no-one had used before with spider silkbut the big question waswould it work? Dr Goodacre said: "It was the start of a fascinating adventure that saw a postdoc undertake a very preliminary study to construct the synthetic silks. He was a former SpiderLab PhD student who had previously worked with our tarantulas. Thanks to his ground work we showed we could produce the silk proteins in bacteria. We were then joined by David Harvey, a new PhD student, who not only made the silk fibres, incorporating the unusual amino acid, but also decorated it and demonstrated its antibiotic activity. He has since extended those first ideas far beyond what we had thought might be possible." David Harvey's work is described in this paper but Professor Thomas and Dr Goodacre say this is just the start. There are other joint SpiderLab/Thomas lab students working on uses for this technology in the hope of developing it further. David Harvey, the lead author on this their first paper, has just been awarded his PhD and is now a postdoctoral researcher on a BBSRC follow-on grant so is still at the heart of the research. His current work is focused on driving the functionalised spider silk technology towards commercial application in wound healing and tissue regeneration. Where will we be in 5 years' time? Dr Goodacre said: "It is likely that this paper is just the start of a very exciting range of studies using the new spider silk material. Some of the future work will also be supported by other, neat ideas from the world of spiders and their silk, which the SpiderLab is currently trying to unravel." More information: David Harvey et al. Antibiotic Spider Silk: Site-Specific Functionalization of Recombinant Spider Silk Using "Click" Chemistry, Advanced Materials (2016). DOI: 10.1002/adma.201604245 Journal information: Advanced Materials Hubble Frontier Fields view of Abell 2744. Credit: NASA, ESA, and J. Lotz, M. Mountain, A. Koekemoer, and the HFF Team (STScI). (Phys.org)Astronomers have found a total of 76 new ultra-diffuse galaxies (UDGs) in the massive galaxy cluster designated Abell 2744 (also known as Pandora's Cluster). The discovery updates the current census of galaxies in this cluster and could help better understand the nature of UDGs in general. The findings were presented in a paper published Dec. 30 on arXiv.org. UDGs are extremely-low-density galaxies. The largest UDGs have sizes similar the Milky Way but have only about one percent as many stars as our home galaxy. The mystery of UDGs is still baffling scientists as they try explain why these faint but large galaxies are not ripped apart by the tidal field of their host clusters. Furthermore, it is not clear what fraction of UDGs are "failed" giant luminous galaxies, "inflated dwarfs," or some other phenomenon. Abell 2744 is a giant galaxy cluster located nearly 4 billion light years away in the Sculptor constellation. It is one of the most massive and most disturbed galaxy clusters known to date. Its intracluster light fraction is high and its stellar population consistent with the disruption of luminous galaxies, which makes it an excellent location to search for UDGs. That is why a team of researchers led by Steven Janssens of the University of Toronto, Canada, has investigated Abell 2744 using data obtained with the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Frontier Fields (FF) program. FF is known for producing the deepest images to date of galaxy clusters and gravitational lensing. The analysis of FF data allowed the astronomers to distinguish dozens of new UDGs in this giant galaxy cluster. "We report the discovery of a large population of ultra-diffuse galaxies in the massive galaxy cluster Abell 2744 (z= 0.308) as observed by the Hubble Frontier Fields program," the researchers wrote in the paper. As a result, the team detected 76 new UDGs41 in the cluster field and 35 in the parallel field. They also estimated the total number of UDGs that Abell 2744 contains. According to the paper, given the fact that the analyzed data from the observations samples only a small portion of the galaxy cluster, there should be approximately 2,100 ultra-diffuse galaxies in Abell 2744. The researchers noted that this is 10 times the number of UDGs that exist in a similar cluster known as Abell 1656 (or Coma Cluster). "Abell 2744 hosts an estimated 2133613 UDGs, 10 times the number in Coma," the paper reads. The research also allowed the scientists to estimate the number of ultra-compact dwarf (UCD) galaxies in Abell 2744. According to their calculations, there are about 385 UCDs in the galaxy cluster. The researchers concluded that some UCDs in Abell 2744 may have once been nuclei or satellites of infalling UDGs, noting that the latter are ultimately destroyed by tidal forces. "As UDGs fall in and dissolve (and, presumably, blend into the intra-cluster light), they leave behind a residue of unbound, but long-lived UCDs," the team wrote. More information: Ultra-diffuse and Ultra-compact Galaxies in the Frontier Fields Cluster Abell 2744, arXiv:1701.00011 [astro-ph.GA] arxiv.org/abs/1701.00011 Abstract We report the discovery of a large population of Ultra-diffuse Galaxies (UDGs) in the massive galaxy cluster Abell 2744 (z=0.308) as observed by the Hubble Frontier Fields program. Since this cluster is ~5 times more massive than Coma, our observations allow us to extend 0.7 dex beyond the high-mass end of the relationship between UDG abundance and cluster mass reported by van der Burg et al. 2016. Using the same selection criteria as van der Burg et al. 2016, A2744 hosts an estimated 2133 +/- 613 UDGs, ten times the number in Coma. As noted by Lee & Jang 2016, A2744 contains numerous unresolved compact objects, which those authors identified predominantly as globular clusters. However, these objects have luminosities that are more consistent with ultra-compact dwarf (UCD) galaxies. The abundances of both UCDs and UDGs scale with cluster mass as a power law with a similar exponent, although UDGs and UCDs have very different radial distributions within the cluster. The radial surface density distribution of UCDs rises sharply toward the cluster centre, while the surface density distribution of the UDG population is essentially flat. Together, these observations hint at a picture where some UCDs in A2744 may have once been associated with infalling UDGs. As UDGs fall in and dissolve, they leave behind a residue of unbound ultra-compact dwarfs. 2017 Phys.org Wild cats including endangered cheetahs are known to have been domesticated in the UAE and neighbouring Gulf countries, with some even spotted being taken outside in the middle of big cities The private ownership of wild animals has been outlawed in the United Arab Emirates, where keeping exotic creatures as pets is a status symbol for some, reports said Wednesday. Wild cats including endangered cheetahs are known to have been domesticated in the UAE and neighbouring Gulf countries, with some even spotted being taken outside in the middle of big cities. In October, one such outing with five tigers on a beach near Dubai's iconic Burj Al-Arab hotel was captured on video and went viral on social media, while others have been filmed driving around with lions. The new law bans dealing in and ownership of "all types of wild and domesticated but dangerous animals," Gulf News daily said. Such animals can only be kept at zoos, wildlife parks, circuses, breading and research centres, the newspaper said. "Anyone who takes a leopard, cheetah or any other kind of exotic animal out in public will face a jail term of up to six months and a fine" of up to 500,000 dirhams ($136,000), it added. Al-Ittihad, an Arabic daily, said those who use wild animals to "terrorise" others would face jail or fine of up to 700,000 dirhams. The legislation also imposes new restrictions on traditional pets. Dog owners are required to get permits and keep the animals on leashes in public, the reports said, adding that those who fail to obtain the licences face fines of up to 100,000 dirhams. 2017 AFP Junha Jeon is a UTA assistant professor of chemistry and biochemistry and leader of the project. Credit: UTA Chemists at The University of Texas at Arlington are developing new methods to synthesize groups of chemical compounds to provide faster, less expensive routes to produce the compounds for subsequent use in medical drug discovery and development. The project focuses on compounds containing carbon-silicon bonds, which are called organosilanes or organosilanols. These molecules are in increasingly high demand for use in a variety of applications, including pharmaceutical and other medical-related activities. They are also widely used in organic chemistry, particularly as protecting groups, reducing agents and synthetic intermediates. "The goal of our research is to develop novel compounds from readily accessible, simple chemical building blocks," said Junha Jeon, UTA assistant professor of chemistry and biochemistry and leader of the project. "The synthetic methods developed in this research will provide broadly applicable, time- and cost-saving, synthetic routes to provide rapid access to compounds for subsequent use in drug discovery and development, thus contributing to the promotion of human health." The project, titled "Catalytic Reductive C-H and C-C Silylation with Silyl Acetals," is funded by a three-year, $424,720 grant from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, one of the National Institutes of Health. Current methods to prepare these organosilanes utilize multi-step procedures which demand considerable time and effort. The project's goal is the design and application of single-pot, transition metal-catalyzed reductive C-H and C-C silylations for the synthesis of a new class of organosilanes. A single-pot, or one-pot, synthesis improves the efficiency of a chemical reaction by subjecting a compound to successive chemical reactions using a single reactor. This method is preferred by chemists because it avoids a lengthy separation process and purification of the intermediate chemical compounds which saves time and resources while increasing chemical yield. Jeon said the research will deliver several positive outcomes. "There are three main aims of the research," he said. "In the first two, we will develop a new, simple, catalytic strategy for breaking an ubiquitous yet inert carbon-hydrogen bond and installing a new highly useful silicon moiety. This will allow for the rapid preparation of bio-medically important drugs. "The third aim will provide a new tool to selectively break a strong carbon-carbon bond over adjacent, abundant carbon-hydrogen bonds and incorporate a silicon moiety. This method will be highly useful to prepare biologically active, secondary metabolites and pharmaceuticals." The project has already yielded one paper, titled "Catalytic Reductive ortho-CH Silylation of Phenols with Traceless, Versatile Acetal Directing Groups and Synthetic Applications of Dioxasilines", which was published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society in June. Jeon co-authored the paper with Yuanda Hua, a UTA postdoctoral researcher; and two of the graduate students who work in his laboratory, Parham Asgari and Thirupataiah Avullala. Jeon explained that during the past three decades, significant advances have been made to the organic processes of selectively transforming ubiquitous yet inert carbon-hydrogen bonds to other useful chemical entities. One reliable strategy for selective carbon-hydrogen bond cleavage within an organic is the use of a transition metal catalyst and a directing group, Jeon said. However, such a directing group is often difficult to install and manipulate after processes are completed. "In this paper we describe how we first developed a general strategy for transition metal catalyst-assisted, site-selective carbon-hydrogen bond cleavage and insertion of a silicon moiety to phenols with a traceless directing group," Jeon said. "We believe that our new carbon-hydrogen bond functionalization approach to exploit readily available phenols and silanes more efficiently and cleanly will ultimately allow the practical production of diverse, biomedically important phenol derivatives and silicon-based materials." A traceless directing group means that after a specific group directs, or guides, a catalyst to a specific position of a carbon-hydrogen bond within phenol, the group disappears without a trace. Phenols are a group of organic compounds whose aromatic ring is bonded to an alcohol group. Because phenol contains an alcohol group, it is able to form a very strong hydrogen bond with other molecules and often displays significant biological activities. Silanes are the basic building blocks of silicon chemistry and are versatile materials used in a wide range of applications. Fred MacDonnell, professor and chair of the UTA Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, said that Jeon's research has the potential to provide major positive impact on health and the human condition, one of four main themes in UTA's Strategic Plan 2020: Bold Solutions | Global Impact. "Dr. Jeon's work is really starting to get a lot of attention from the scientific community and speaks to his creativity in this very challenging research area," MacDonnell said. Jeon joined UTA in 2011. He earned a bachelor's of science degree in Chemistry in 2000 and a master's degree in Organic Chemistry in 2002, both from Sungkyunkwan University in Seoul, South Korea. He then came to the United States and did doctoral work at the University of Minnesota, receiving his Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry in 2009. After a two-year stint as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Pennsylvania, he came to UTA. More information: Yuanda Hua et al. Catalytic Reductive-CH Silylation of Phenols with Traceless, Versatile Acetal Directing Groups and Synthetic Applications of Dioxasilines, Journal of the American Chemical Society (2016). DOI: 10.1021/jacs.6b04018 Journal information: Journal of the American Chemical Society Michael Goot night and weekend editor Follow Michael Goot 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 Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie has called for fully phasing in Foundation Aid as one of his priorities in the new term. Schools are owed about $4.3 billion as part of the settlement of the Campaign for Fiscal Equilty case. Much of that is owed to high-needs schools with high populations of black, Latino and immigrant students, according to a news release from the Alliance for Quality Education. Jasmine Gripper, legislative director for the Alliance for Quality Education, said fair funding of our schools is an issue of racial and economic justice. She praised Heasties call for a millionaires tax that would bring in more revenue. Asking millionaires and billionaires to pay their fair share is essential if New York is going to truly become a progressive beacon for the nation, she said in a news release. Now that the state aid take back known as the gap elimination adjustment is gone, the focus has shifted to boosting Foundation Aid, which is awarded on a per-pupil basis with more monies targeted toward higher need districts. The GEA elimination benefited upstate schools, but the boost to Foundation Aid will largely benefit the more populated downstate schools. Welcome to 2017! The big education news today is Gov. Andrew Cuomos proposal to offer free tuition to two-year and four-year SUNY and CUNY schools for families middle class families. Cuomo on Tuesday unveiled Excelsior Scholarship proposal alongside Vermont U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders. Cuomo said this proposal is an investment in people and supporting the dreams and ambitions of people who want a better life. A college education is not a luxury it is an absolute necessity for any chance at economic mobility, and with these first-in-the-nation Excelsior Scholarships, were providing the opportunity for New Yorkers to succeed, no matter what zip code they come from and without the anchor of student debt weighing them down, he said in a news release. The program would be phased in with families making up to $100,000 being eligible in the fall of 2017 and then the income limits would increase to $110,000 in 2018 and $125,000 in 2019. Eighty percent of households make $125,000 or less, according to the governor. The news release touting the program left me with several questions. How will it be funded? The governor says that more than 940,000 middle-class families would qualify. The program would cost $163 million per year when phased in fully, according to a news release. It does not specify the source of that funding. SUNY Adirondack President Kristine Duffy said she supported the idea, but needed to know more about the details. I suspect there will be a lot of discussion of how it can be funded in an environment where, quite frankly, public higher education has been underfunded for the last several years, she said. A greater share of the colleges budget is being funded by tuition revenues because of shrinking state support for education, according to Duffy. SUNY presidents have expressed concern that the Legislature last year increased state aid by only $100 to $2,697 per full-time equivalent student. Higher education officials had lobbied for a $285 per-student increase. Among the other unanswered questions are what if there is a big surge in enrollment because the cost is free? Also, the proposal does not appear to include room and board and that can add thousands of dollars on top of the tuition. The average tuition ranges from $6,330 to $6,470 at a four-year public school for a bachelors degree and $4,350-4,800 for an associates degree, according to a news release. The program requires students to be enrolled full time. That could be an issue for people trying to hold down full-time jobs and attend college. Another issue is what happens if a student fails a semester. Is the grant only good for the four semesters of a two-year degree or the eight semesters of a four-year degree. U.S. Secretary of Education John B. King Jr. and the United University Professions union praised the proposal, which is similar to one promised by President Barack Obama in 2015. The governors proposal for free tuition is the kind of positive, progressive change that UUPs members would get behind, said UUP President Frederick E. Kowal said in a news release. The Alliance for Quality Education criticized Cuomo for focusing on higher education but not ensuring adequate funding for public K-12 education. The organization says schools are owed $4.3 billion in funds to provide a basic education. While offering free college tuition to low-income families is laudable, the reality is that many students paths to college are limited because their local K-12 public schools lack the resources to support them, said Jasmine Gripper, legislative and policy director of the Alliance for Quality Education, in a news release. She cited the push for full-day prekindergarten, which nowhere universal at this point. The state Department of Environmental Conservation singled out some local rabbit poachers Wednesday in its weekly rundown of notable state conservation police officer activities. The local case was yet another one where poachers were done in by boasting on social media. Two "hunters" in Easton were charged Christmas Eve after one posted a picture on social media of a pile of rabbits they shot while hunting. Unfortunately, the 22 rabbits they bagged were way over the daily limit of 6 per hunter, and they got some paperwork from the DEC for their braggadocio. Their excuse, according to the DEC, was that they "didn't realize" there was a limit. (Their names were not released by the DEC). Sorry, but I personally have a hard time believing that rabbit hunters who were knowledgeable enough to find and shoot that many cottontails in one afternoon did not know there was a limit, but maybe I'm just too cynical. Here is the DEC news release: On Dec. 24, ECO Steve Gonyeau received a tip about a Facebook post showing two hunters with 22 rabbits taken in southern Washington County. The picture showed the tailgate of a pickup truck and rabbits stacked across the back of it. Through social media contacts, the two hunters were quickly identified and, with the assistance of ECO George LaPoint, they were located and interviewed. Both hunters stated it was an epic rabbit hunting day and that they didnt realize there is a hunting limit on rabbits. The daily cottontail rabbit limit is six. Both hunters were issued tickets for taking over the limit of rabbits, returnable to the Easton Town Court. Don Lehman On the first day of the 115th Congress, U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-Willsboro, was an original co-sponsor of legislation Rep. Erik Paulsen, R-Minn., introduced to permanently repeal the 2.3 percent federal excise tax on medical devices, according to the Library of Congress government information web site. The legislation had 223 co-sponsors, as of Wednesday -- 202 Republicans and 21 Democrats. "Permanent repeal should be a top priority for Congress," Paulsen said in a press release. President Obama signed a law in December 2015 suspending the tax, commonly known as the medical device tax, for two years. The medical device industry praised the new legislation. "The early introduction of device tax legislation sends a strong signal that this issue is a high priority for the incoming Congress," said JC Scott, senior executive vice president of Advamed, an medical device trade group. Stefanik and six other New York House Republicans were original co-sponsors, including new Rep. John Faso, R-Kinderhook. Others from New York are as follows: Tom Reed, R-Corning; Daniel Donovan, R-Staten Island; John Katko, R-Camillus; Peter King, R-Long Island; and Chris Collins, R-Clarence. Click here to read a recent post from an interview on the topic with a local medical device CEO. A New Jersey woman who was arrested in September after she tried to cash a forged check written on a local companys bank account for more than $68,000 has pleaded guilty to a felony. Maria Guerra, 44, pleaded guilty to fourth-degree grand larceny for depositing the check in her bank account and was sentenced to 5 years on probation by Warren County Judge John Hall. State Police said it was unclear how Guerra, 44, of Elizabeth, came into possession of the check that was drawn on an account maintained by Northeast Products Co. of Warrensburg. The check used the business account number and a check number that had previously been issued. Police said the check for just under $69,000 was deposited into a bank account in New Jersey under Guerras name. An attempt was made to withdraw at least some of the money, but the bank suspected fraud and froze the funds, according to State Police. Guerra allegedly wrote her name and address on the check when depositing it. She must make $500 restitution while on probation, and her probation was transferred to New Jersey. GRANVILLE A Granville man was jailed Tuesday night for allegedly possessing obscene photos sent to him by a juvenile female from Washington state, police said. Dylan J. Lapointe, 25, was charged with felony counts of promoting an obscene sexual performance by a child, possession of an obscene sexual performance by a child and a misdemeanor count of endangering the welfare of a child, according to Granville Police. Granville Police were contacted by a law enforcement agency in Washington, where the parents of the girl who police said was under the age of 17 had learned that she had been illegally sharing sexual material with a man in Granville, Police Chief Ernie Bassett said. The two met online through their cellphones, and did not have physical contact, police said. LaPointe was arraigned and sent to Washington County Jail for lack of bail. Granville Police Sgt. David Williams and Patrolman T.J. Zovistoski handled the case. GREENFIELD A third man has been arrested in connection with an October burglary at a Greenfield residence. Jordan M. Mosher, 20, of 271 Aviation Road in Queensbury, allegedly broke into a Route 9N residence on Oct. 19 to steal cash, according to the Saratoga County Sheriffs Office. Mosher was charged with two felony counts of second-degree burglary and fourth-degree conspiracy. He was arraigned in Ballston Town Court and remanded to the Saratoga County Jail for lack of bail of $20,000 cash or $40,000 bond. He is due back in Greenfield Town Court at a later date. Two Corinth men, 23-year-old Derek S. Galusha and 24-year-old Robert J. Place have also been arrested in the case. Counties across the state routinely pass resolutions urging the state to provide more financial support of state-mandated programs. Most dont bring the state funding that was hoped. Many were optimistic, however, that lobbying efforts last year would convince Gov. Andrew Cuomo to sign a bill to give counties more money to pay for legal representation for the indigent. But over the weekend, Cuomo vetoed the legislation, to the chagrin county officials who have watched costs rise sharply. That was very disappointing, said Warrensburg Supervisor Kevin Geraghty, chairman of the Warren County Board of Supervisors. We have had to spend a lot more and hire extra help. To shove those costs on the county taxpayers is not right. If the state is going to tell us we have to do it, then the state should pay for it, said Argyle Supervisor Robert Henke, chairman of the Washington County Board of Supervisors. Paying for counsel for the indigent, required by the U.S. Constitution, is done by counties around New York, with most of the tab picked up by county taxpayers. Two developments in recent months a class-action lawsuit and a rule change that expands the financial thresholds at which people become eligible for free representation have resulted in significantly higher caseloads for public defenders and assigned counsel offices. Defendants are now entitled to counsel at all proceedings where they are at risk of being incarcerated. Warren County hired two additional assistant public defenders and a secretary over the past year to cover the additional caseload. Thurman Supervisor Evelyn Wood, chairwoman of the Warren County Board of Supervisors Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee, pointed out that the changes also resulted in additional work for prosecutors and the hiring of an additional staff member for the county district attorneys office. Washington County was one of five counties sued by the New York Civil Liberties Union in 2010 for alleged inadequate representation. That lawsuit led to a 2014 settlement that has temporarily given the five counties more state funding to improve their systems. Henke, though, said the state money has not covered all of the costs. And Washington County will ultimately be in the same situation as the other counties if the extra state funding is curbed. The NYCLU has also advocated for the state to pick up the tab. Cuomo indicated in his veto message that the portion of the bill that would reimburse counties for family court cases was problematic, as was the lack of a strategy for funding the estimated $800 million annual tab. The legislation is expected to be re-introduced this year. State Assemblyman Dan Stec, R-Queensbury, said the bill that Cuomo vetoed was bipartisan and overwhelmingly passed by both houses of the state Legislature. The counties cant afford to do this, he said. These are stereotypical unfundated mandates. You cant make your own state budget look good on the backs of local government. FORT EDWARD Argyle Supervisor Bob Henke was confirmed for a second year as chairman of the Washington County Board of Supervisors at its organizational meeting Tuesday. The board had already agreed to keep him as chairman after a short closed-door caucus meeting last month. He has two goals for this year, but both require substantial help from the state Legislature. He wants to resolve longstanding funding issues with the Black River-Hudson River Regulating District, as well as getting a 0.25 percent increase to the mortgage tax. The regulating district funding has been a problem since 2008, when a federal court ruled that the district cant charge fees to Federal Energy Regulatory Commission-licensed hydroelectric companies. Those fees covered the majority of the districts budget, and the costs were passed on to Albany, Saratoga, Rensselaer, Warren and Washington counties. Henke wants the funding structure reorganized, so that the majority doesnt fall onto the counties. We have got to get the state to realize they have to pay that, Henke said. Hes also hoping for the mortgage tax increase so the county can use the money to pay for improvements at SUNY Adirondack. The county Board of Supervisors agreed in 2015 to get a $3.7 million loan for the improvements even though the county didnt have a plan for paying off the loan. The cost to the county would be $184,872 a year for 20 years, for a total of $3.7 million after interest. Last year, the county only had to pay $41,000, which just covered the interest for the first year. Starting this year, the county needs to come up with the full payment. Henke is hopeful a mortgage tax increase will be approved in time. We got it through the Assembly two years ago and the Senate last year, so hopefully this year it will go through, he said. MOREAU Town residents will be getting their tax refund after all. Assemblywoman Carrie Woerner, D-Round Lake, interceded on the towns behalf. Both former Supervisor Preston Jenkins and Supervisor Gardner Congdon asked her for help, she said. The state initially didnt send out town tax refunds, because Jenkins didnt file the correct documents. He first filed them electronically without signing them. Then he faxed over the signed documents, but didnt submit them electronically, which the state required. When Congdon learned of the problem, just before Christmas, his secretary spent hours communicating with state officials so that she could send the documents in electronically. It took all day. But that wasnt enough. The state had already begun issuing checks to Moreau residents for school and county taxes, skipping the town tax. Now the state will issue new checks for the town tax amount. I spoke to the director of the budget last night, Woerner said Wednesday. They said weve looked at it and we will correct this problem for the people. State officials agreed that the town had simply made a filing error, and were satisfied since the documents were eventually sent in, albeit late. This was an administrative problem. They looked at it and said it makes sense, and the documents are in now, Woerner said. The state will send a list of refund amounts, address by address, to Congdon so that he can disseminate it to the public. That list wont be ready for some time, though. The check will be 1.01 percent of the property owners 2015 town tax bill. That could work out to an amount of less than $2, at which point the state will roll the amount over to the 2017 checks. 2016 was the last year of the property tax freeze credit, in which residents were reimbursed for their increase in town taxes or for a percentage of their taxes if the tax bill did not go up. To get the credit for the residents, municipalities had to comply with the property tax cap and submit an acceptable efficiency plan. The property tax relief credit, for school taxes, will continue through 2019. That will be a flat amount of $185 each year. For 2016, the county, town and school checks were combined together into one check that was generally sent out in November or December. MOREAU More than 300 property owners might have been wrongly left off the list of eligible voters for the controversial Route 9 sewer project. Town officials were struggling Wednesday to determine whether the 380 mobile home owners in Lamplighter Acres on Route 9 should be able to vote on the project. It would bring sewers to their homes, but the voting list only allows the owner of the park to vote. A resident on Bluebird Road took a close look at the state law on the issue and found many owners of mobile homes in Lamplighter Acres were listed on the assessment roll. According to state law, owners of taxable real property who are listed in the latest assessment roll can vote. The problem is that the mobile home owners dont own all of the real property at their homes. They own the homes, but lease the land. The state law doesnt say who gets to vote in that case, but does say that if more than one person owns the same property, they can both vote. On Wednesday, lawyers for the town asked Assessor Peggy Jenkins for her opinion. She noted that everyone in Lamplighter Acres pays their own individual tax bill, even if they arent listed on the assessment roll. The only ones listed are those who have exemptions as veterans or seniors. But everyone in Lamplighter pays taxes on their mobile homes, Jenkins said. If theyre going to let the (assessment roll listed) owners vote, I think they should let them all vote. Almost all of them own their own home. State law specifically says that mobile homes are considered real property. This is the latest in a series of possible missteps in the towns effort to create a Route 9 sewer district. Last week, town officials told people they couldnt vote if they were not New York state residents. Then they had to update that notice on the town website, saying that nonresidents who own real property can vote. Last month, they also had to change information about the cost of the district, after Supervisor Gardner Congdon pointed out they had not included one expense. Town officials have sparred over the state environmental quality review, a required step along the way to creating a sewer district. Congdon voted that the project would have significant environmental impacts, but the rest of the board voted it would not. Congdon then refused to sign a document that stated the project would have no significant impacts. Instead, he sent an email to Deputy Supervisor Gina LeClair, advising her that he wouldnt sign the document and suggesting that she sign it since the board had outvoted him. Since I am so adamantly opposed to moving ahead with the sewer project, I am unable to sign the negative declaration, he wrote through his secretary. Under this proposed sewer program, residents of Lamplighter are subject to an increased cost of living without any input, which is so far against my basic philosophy. Also pushing for Lamplighter residents to vote is Mike Kelly, a resident of nearby Bluebird Road. Hes opposed to the sewer district and did the research to raise the question about mobile home owners voting. Those people should be getting a vote, he said. Moreau is disenfranchising veterans. He counted 60 Lamplighter owners with the veterans exemption on the assessment roll. Im hoping to see the Town Board takes steps immediately to rectify the situation. And they should, he said. I want to see these people get a vote. SUNY Adirondack President Kristine Duffy said she supported the idea, but needed to know more about the details. We certainly applaud the governor for being able to take a strong stand on affordability, she said. How the program is funded will be the major question, according to Duffy. I suspect there will be a lot of discussion of how it can be funded in an environment where, quite frankly, public higher education has been underfunded for the last several years, she said. A greater share of the colleges budget is being funded by tuition revenues because of shrinking state support for education, according to Duffy. SUNY presidents have expressed concern that the Legislature last year increased state aid by only $100 to $2,697 per full-time equivalent student. Higher education officials had lobbied for a $285 per-student increase. Duffy said it would be difficult to deliver the services to more students if enrollment increased, without additional funding. She added that 54 percent of students who graduate from SUNY Adirondack are debt free. LAKE GEORGE The spot where the town and village of Lake George meet on Route 9 could be connected by a pedestrian bridge someday if the town supervisor gets what he wants. Dennis Dickinson said he wants to create what he is calling a unity bridge over West Brook to link the town sidewalks with new sidewalks that would be constructed beginning at the village line on the west side of Route 9. Dickinson believes it would be a good location for a covered pedestrian structure. You could look up across West Brook or you could look across the festival area and get a glimpse of the big boats, he said. Some of these structures come prefabricated, according to Dickinson. He said he is not sure of the cost, but estimated it at $100,000 to $250,000. He wants to get estimates, then have the town join with the village in a grant application for construction funding. Village Mayor Robert Blais said he has been working with Dickinson on the idea. The village has received a $45,000 grant to design sidewalks from the village line at McGillis Avenue south for about three blocks. The villages sidewalk stops just north of Westbrook Road. The town sidewalk begins in front of the Lake View Inn. Blais said the current sidewalks are old, narrow and have curb cuts that should not be there. The current antique-style lighting goes just as far as McDonalds. The streetscape improvements would include new trees, brickwork, new benches and antique-style lamps. We said it would be a shame for us to go that far and have people walk out in the road when they cross the brook, Blais said. We suggested that we get together and suggest some type of a crossing so the sidewalk will be continuous. The village is working with The Chazen Companies and Saratoga Associates on designing plans, according to Blais. He and Dickinson have an informal agreement that the two municipalities would share some of the cost of the preliminary work. The entrance to Lake George will look great if all these projects, including the Charles R. Wood park festival space and John Carrs proposal to put an Adirondack craft beverage campus next to his Route 9 brewery. It will join the village and the town and thats the way it should be, Blais said. The unity bridge may still be a few years off, however, as Blais said the villages first priority is to complete design and construction of a new wastewater project. II. Disagreement is welcome, even encouraged, but spam, unduly profane, or offensive speech is subject to removal by the staff and management of this blog. Insults from the FBI (Foul mouthed, Boring and Ignorant) and anonymous trolls hardest hit. III. Feel free to use, in unaltered form, any Photoshops I create with the 'Proof Positive' address on them. A simple link in return is all we ask, so anyone else who likes it knows where to find more. IV. As a matter of policy, I never knowingly print lies or untruths in my blog, unless I'm quoting correctly the liberal who told them. Parler: @ProofPositive I. Commenting here is a privilege, not a right.V. Follow me on Gab , GETTR, or TRUTH: @MikeAKAProof | Welcome Guest! You Are Here: Tomar says PUSA decomposer effective in controlling stubble burning, appeals to states and farmers to use more such machines. Despite Centre providing funds and machines to states, rising stubble burning incidents is cause of concern: Tomar. Stubble burning is not political issue, state govts should work towards curbing it: Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar. According to COPECGH pump prices as of this morning [January 4, 2017] have gone up by over 9% from some of the major oil marketing companies though the majority are yet to do any adjustments. It is worrying what sort of factors or figures influence such astronomical jumps and increases at a time when all variables indicate around 4% will be sustainable, the statement signed by Executive Secretary Duncan Amoah said. The Chamber further accused Shell and Total of unreasonable price hikes and charged them to sell fuel based on prices that will be of interest to Ghanaians. The statement urged the incoming government to ensure the central role so far played by Ghana Oil Company (GOIL) in Ghana's deregulation environment is not in any way weakened or compromised as some OMCs have persistently demonstrated they will not hesitate in ripping the people off phenomenally if left to dictate the pace of pricing for Ghanaians. The Chamber, however, believes a stable currency will help address the issue of high fuel prices. Speaking after the commissioning, Dr. Spio Garbrah mentioned that the new building will boost the status of the board to investors. When we talk about attracting foreign direct investments into Ghana, indeed when we talk about mobilizing our own private domestic capital the role of the GIPC and the Ghana Free Zones Board cannot be underestimated or avoided. Not just the building but more importantly the hard work and mentality of the human resource that will work in this edifice, he added. READ ALSO: Investors shun Treasury bills as rates decline Dr Spio-Garbrah said the GIPC and GFZB plays a key role in bringing and maintaining investors in the country hence the reason to give them the needed attention. These institutions play significant roles in promoting the attractiveness, externally as well as internally for those who have investment capital to consider putting it together to establish the range of enterprises and industries in order to make Ghanas economy competitive to make as export oriented as possible to generate important quantities of foreign exchange and currencies for our economy and also to create jobs, he stressed. On his part, the Executive Secretary of the GFZB, Mr. Kwadwo Twum Boafo expressed gratitude to the board and staff of the board for supporting the dream to get an ultra modern office. The Head of Corporate Affairs at Stanbic Bank, Mawuko Afadzinu in an interview with Accra-based Citi FM said measures are being put in place for customers to be compensated. That is the whole essence of the investigation. Indeed every situation is been critically accessed and our intention is that our customers must not be worse off. She is still at large, we havent seen her and we really would wish to see her and bring this matter to a quick end. A 33-year-old staff of Stanbic Bank Ghana has duped some customers of the bank to the tune of GHc 900,000. Martha Amakye is an outsourced worker of the bank from Noswall Management Service, a recruitment agency. She has been declared wanted by the Ghana Police Service after she absconded. Her pictures have also been posted on the Facebook timeline of Stanbic Bank. A message attached to the picture indicates that she was a Personal Solutions Consultant at the Tema Community 1 branch in Accra. READ ALSO: Social media largely supports Stanbic worker who duped customers However, Stanbic Bank Ghana has assured its customers that there is no cause to worry following the alleged fraud incident attributed to an outsourced worker of the bank. The Head of Marketing and Corporate Affairs at the Bank, Mawuko Afadzinu said this is also not a usual incident that occurs. Welcome to the Pulse Community! We will now be sending you a daily newsletter on news, entertainment and more. Also join us across all of our other channels - we love to be connected! The Medical Center is an ultra-modern facility for service delivery, training and research. It will be equipped with state-of-the-art facilities for trauma and emergency services with a heliport and internal medicine, including surgery, obstetrics and gynaecology, paediatrics, cardiology, heart surgery and medicinal imaging. Construction of the facility started on March 12, 2011, with a sod-cutting ceremony by the then president Professor John Evans Atta Mills. READ ALSO: President Mahama cuts sod for 5 new hospitals In June 2011, Cabinet gave approval for a loan facility from Israel for the design, construction, and installation of medical equipment for the 617-bed Hospital facility for the University of Ghana. It is expected that phase 1 will have 650 beds and Phase 2 will add 350 beds to increase the total number of beds to 1000. The facilty is expected to be a self-financing. It will be opened to the public. READ ALSO: Victims receive support from government The Sheba Medical Centre in Israel will assist the facility to provide the most efficient health care that would measure up to global standards. Sheba Medical Centre is the largest in Israel and UGMC was modelled after the Israel health facility. They are the High Commissioner of India, Mr Birender Singh Yadav, the Ambassador of Iran, Dr Nosratollah Maleki and the Ambassador of Morocco, Mr Hamid Chabar. The envoys conveyed the warm fraternal greetings from their respective Heads of State to President Mahama and promised to build on the existing relations between their countries and Ghana. The envoys talked about their commitment to further strengthen the cooperation of their respective countries with Ghana, focusing on economic, diplomatic and political development. President Mahama assured them that in spite of the change in government, which would see the New Patriotic Party (NPP) take over on January 7, they would enjoy the same level of cooperation from the country. India The first to present his letter of credence to the President was the Indian High Commissioner, Mr Yadav. Speaking on the relationship between the two countries that stretches as far back as the late 1950s, President Mahama recalled the strong bond between Ghana and India that was started by Ghanas first President, Dr Kwame Nkrumah, and India's first Prime Minister, Mr Jawaharlal Nehru. President Mahama recalled the recent visit of the Indian President, Mr Pranab Mukherjee, to Ghana, and said it was one of the defining moments. Iran When the Iranian Ambassador, Dr Maleki, took his turn, President Mahama was full of praise for his country for establishing a polyclinic and an Islamic university in Ghana, which, he said, was contributing significantly to health care and education in the country. During President Mahamas visit to Iran in February last year, Iran and Ghana signed two memorandum of understanding (MoU) to promote cooperation in the fields of agriculture and standards. Morocco The last to present his letter of credence was Moroccos Ambassador Mr Chabar. Read more: Mahama takes Nana Addo on a tour of Flagstaff House The Presidents last address, in fulfilment of Article 67 of the 1992 Constitution, is expected to highlight some of the nations achievements and challenges, as well as unite a highly politically polarised country. President Mahama will deliver his State of the Nation Address on January 5, 2017 in fulfilment of Article 67 which makes it obligatory for the President to deliver to Parliament a message on the State of the Nation at the beginning of each session of Parliament and before the dissolution of Parliament. Read also: Mahama to present final State of the Nation address next week According to a statement issued by the Public Affairs Directorate of Parliament and signed by its Deputy Director, Ms Kate Addo, On Thursday, we have the State of the Nation Address which is a constitutional requirement of the President as per Article 67 of the 1992 constitution. "Then on Friday at midnight, the House stands dissolved, so the life of the sixth Parliament will come to an end on the midnight of the sixth. Minutes after the life of the sixth parliament stands dissolved, the next one is activated by the inauguration ceremony that will take place on the midnight of the seventh," she added. She also added that, prior to the outgoing Presidents address, the Chinese government will on Wednesday officially handover some security equipment it donated to Parliament. "Tomorrow [Wednesday] Mr. Speaker will officially take delivery of the security facilities that was provided to us by the Chinese. Some months back we had a visit from a Chinese delegation from the government of China that came to see us, and they promised to give us some equipment to beef up our security. "We have taken delivery of the items and we have installed them. So as part of efforts to end the sixth Parliament and to increase security for the 7th Parliament, tools are being installed, official handing over will be done tomorrow at 9:00am at the Speakers block," she said. Meanwhile, Parliament will resume sitting after breaking for the Christmas holidays. He made the announcement on the 4th of January 2017 ahead of his official inauguration at his residence in Nima. Speaking to Pulse.com.gh, Ms Tawiah, the Executive Director for Gender Centre for Empowering Development believes this is one of the positive results that have been achieved after a long struggle for gender balance and equality in the country. She said Fremas appointment is a plus for the Ghanaian women. For me, particularly, for the Ghanaian young woman, who aspires to be somebody like her. She is a mother, she is a wife and she is a politician and she is doing it successfully with her family intact. So for me the message that it sends to the young woman is that you can still achieve your dreams and still be married and still have your kids. I know Nana Addo has said it over and over that he believes in women so this coming from him is not much of a surprise...I have so much confidence in her, she has the expertise, she is experienced...So much experience from the field of academia and then to the field of entrepreneurship to the field of politics, she has done it all and so I strongly believe that she is going to put so many things to bear that people will really know that yes, the women are taking the leadership positions and they are actually performing, she added. She argues that even though the appointment is a good sign of equality for women, the president-elect could still do more. For me I think that it is not enough we will be getting hopefully, because if you look at the names that have come up you can see that already three women are there. So it tells you something that if we dont get equality at least there is some fairness in there. There are so many appointments...we really hope that he is going to make sure that all the boards will have the 30 percent quota having women there in all the government boards and ministerial positions, she added. Normally if you are leaving office, you may try to apologise to people you may have hurt or harmed thats one thing he should do. It is natural. You can never be in office without hurting people, Mr Okudzeto said. READ ALSO: NDC resolves not to respond to Rawlings Mr Okudzeto believes Mr Mahama alienated himself from him [Rawlings] and I think he needs to apologise for that because he was the founder of the party, no matter what happened nobody can deny that. And he needed to be accorded that respect. But I think a lot of the young people around Mahama have been rude to [former] president Rawlings and I think that is something that he on behalf of those people should apologise to Rawlings for, that should be part of his address, the veteran lawyer told Accra-based Joy FM. Meanwhile, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) has said that it will be not be prudent to respond to its founder, Jerry John Rawlings comments regarding the partys defeat in the December 7 general elections. Mr Rawlings at the 35th anniversary of the December 31 uprising said the NDC caused its own defeat. The NDCs painful and massive rejection at the polls is indicative that we have lost the moral high ground that sets us apart from others. Great lengths were taken to draw the attention of the party as a collective but none of it will be tolerated or accommodated. We lost the elections way before the 7th of December. We persistently and unrepentantly stayed on the slippery slope to the humiliating defeat despite the several warning lights right in our faces. My honest wish was for corrective measures to be taken to avert this electoral disaster, he said. Her personal assistant Egypt Komla Kudoto in a Facebook post on his timeline said the reports were untrue and must be disregarded. My attention has again been drawn to another fabricated story on Facebook, claiming my boss, the former Transport Minister of the Republic of Ghana, Madam Dzifa Aku Attivor, has been denied an entry VISA into the United Kingdom. The story is the work of faceless people who are very determined to damage the reputation of the former Minister. READ ALSO: Dzifa Ativor visits Montie trio with goodies He further explained that the last time Attivor travelled to the United Kingdom was in November 2014, when she led the delegation from Ghana to the International Maritime Organization (IMO), meeting. I would want to put on record that my boss has never applied for VISA from the UK High Commission here in Accra since she left office in December 2015, he added. Reports on social media on Tuesday (January 3) suggested that Dzifa Attivor has been denied a Visa into the United Kingdom (UK). READ ALSO: Dzifa Attivor should not take Voltarians for fools But Kudoto has asked for such rumours to be disregarded. Attivor was criticised by some section of Ghanaians after she made an ethnocentric comment. She is reported to have called on all people of the Volta Region to vote massively for the NDC to prevent an NPP government jailing them. The Flagstaff House is getting ready to receive Nana Addo but it is unclear whether the name of the presidential palace will change after January 7 when Nana Addo takes office. READ MORE: Mahama chairs last Cabinet Meeting [Photos] Some leading New Patriotic Party (NPP) officials including Yaw Osafo-Maafo and Albert Kan-Dapaah were recently spotted at the magnificent presidential palace with the outgoing Chief of Staff, Julius Debrah. SEE MORE : Mahama delivers State of the Nation Address on Thursday Some minor renovation and beautification works are also ongoing inside and outside the Flagstaff House. Nana Akufo-Addo has never called the presidential palace by its current name. He has persistently referred to it as Jubilee House. The National Democratic Congress (NDC) was embroiled in running battles with the NPP over the naming of the presidential palace right from the construction of the building by the Kufuor administration. However, President Mahama has held his last cabinet meeting as president on Tuesday, January 3,2017. dk_photos/iStock/Thinkstock(MOSUL, Iraq) -- American military advisers have at times entered the city of Mosul accompanying Iraqi forces fighting to retake the city from ISIS, a U.S. military spokesman said Wednesday. Since the start of the Iraqi offensive to retake Mosul in mid-October, U.S. officials have not confirmed whether American advisers would operate in the city accompanying Iraqi forces while remaining behind the front lines. They have been in the city at different times, yes, said Colonel John Dorrian, the U.S. military spokesman for Operation Inherent Resolve, in response to a question about whether American military advisers have entered Mosul as part of the Iraqi offensive. Dorrian made his comments during a video briefing from Baghdad with Pentagon reporters. American military advisers are required to stay behind front lines at military headquarters assisting Iraqi and Kurdish forces involved in the Mosul offensive. However, American special operations forces might come closer to combat situations as they assist Iraqi special operations forces engaged in the fight. Speaking broadly about the adviser role in the Mosul operation, Dorrian said they've advised the Iraqi Security Forces as they've moved forward. They remain behind the forward line of troops. Dorrian declined to provide specifics about when or where the American advisers entered the city at various times. Since the offensive began in mid-October, Iraqi forces have faced tough resistance from ISIS fighters as they pushed into the eastern part of the city. Despite significant casualties, Iraqi forces now control two-thirds of the eastern side of the city that is essentially divided in two by the Tigris River. Dorrian said the coalition has made adjustments in recent weeks to accelerate phase two of the push into Mosul, namely the doubling of advisers involved in the operation to 450. It was unclear how many of the advisers were American. As of January 4, there are 4,936 American military forces in Iraq and another 3,904 forces from other coalition countries, officials said. Last week, Iraqi forces started pushing into Mosul from three axes -- an operation that Dorrian said is starting to really make things very difficult for the enemy. He added that once Iraqi forces reach "the river, they're going to go into the west side and then, you know, it will be another very tough fight there as well. Copyright 2017, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. Nana Akufo-Addo at a press conference from his Nima residence to name his administrative staff and other appointments that will take effect from January 7, 2017. Joshua Kyeremeh former head of the Bureau of National Investigation (BNI) has also be named as the National Security Coordinator. Albert Kan Dapaah Mr Kan-Dapaah has held several positions in private firms and public institutions since 1978. He was an Audit Senior with Pannel Kerr Forster, a chartered accounting firm and was transferred to its Monrovia and London offices between 1978 and 1986. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Association of Certified Accountants (U.K.) and Member of the Ghana Institute of Chartered Accountants. Read also: Mahama takes Nana Addo on a tour of Flagstaff House In January 1987, he was the Head of Audit, Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT). He joined the Electricity of Company Ghana as Director of Audit in September 1987 and rose to become the Director of Finance , a position that he occupied for six years. Mr Kan-Dapaah is also a partner of the Kwesie, Kan-Dapaah and Baah Co., a firm of Chartered Accountants in Accra as well as the managing Consultant of Kan-Dapaah and Associates, a utility consultancy support group. In 1996, he was elected as the President of the Institute of Chartered Accountants, Ghana, as well as the Vice-President, Association of Accountancy Bodies in West Africa. Brigadier Gen. Emmanuel Okyere On 7th October, 2003, Colonel Emmanuel Okyere was promoted to the rank of Brigadier General. Currently the Defense, Military, Naval and Air Attach at the Embassy of Ghana in Washington, DC and Defense Advisor to the Ghana Mission in Canada, Brigadier General Okyere began his long career in the Ghanaian army in 1973. He has since held several positions in the military, peacekeeping, and Civil Sectors, including Assistant Commandant at the Ghana Armed Forces and Staff College (1999 2001), Senior Operations Officer at Headquarters of the United Nations Interim Forces in Lebanon from 1995 to 1996. Colonel Okyere is the recipient of various distinguished awards, including the Sword of Honour (Ghana), the MacManus Award (Canada), the Tie of Merit (Nigeria) and the Thomas Jefferson Writing Excellence Award (USA) as well as a number of peacekeeping medals. Col Okyere has participated in the Africa Centers West Africa Ministerial Symposium deliberations and consultative meetings, and was a senior rapporteur during the seminar in July 2003. Joshua Kyeremeh Joshua Kyeremeh is a product of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, and a former Director of the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI). He worked at the BNI for about 22 years, where he served at command levels in the Northern, Upper East, Ashanti and Greater Accra Regions. He also served as head of the Investigations Unit of the Bureau. He rose to become the Deputy Director BNI and ultimately, the Director BNI from 2005 to 2009. Other appointees named by Nana Addo include; At his last Cabinet meeting where the president announced that it would be his last time with them as president, many of the ministers were drowned in tears, Peacefmonline.com reports. READ ALSO: Mahama clears desk for Nana Addo Even though it is believed that Ministers who attend Cabinet meetings are not supposed to divulge issues discussed during their sitting, the Minister for Youth and Sports, Nii Lante Vanderpuije revealed the demeanour of the Ministers on Accra-based Radio Gold Wednesday. According to him, President Mahama was compelled to comfort the said Ministers with words of encouragement. He indicated that at the end of the sitting, President Mahama and his vice then stood at the corridor after the meeting and each minister went to them to greet them. READ ALSO: Mahama takes Nana Addo on a tour of Flagstaff House Meanwhile, President John Mahama is set to hand over to the president-elect, Nana Akufo-Addo, in a ceremony on Saturday, January 7, at the Independence Square in Accra. A holder of bachelors degree in Business Administration from the University of Mercer in Macon, Georgia, Agu also attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, New York where he studied Drama. As a linguist, the TV host worked in Thailand as a United States peace corps member at some point in his life. While in Thailand, he was involved in youth training and HIV and AIDS awareness campaigns. Also media girl and actress, Dorcas Shola Fapson is a year older today! The 26-year old actress is popular for her role as Sophia in MTV hit series "Shuga," and is currently the host of the third season of "The Juice". The lawyer for two agency photographers, who only recently took over the case, obtained the four-month delay in order to prepare the defence. The case relates to risque grainy snaps of the former Kate Middleton wearing nothing but a black and white bikini bottom while on holiday in September 2012 in the south of France with her husband, the second in line to the British throne. They triggered a furious reaction from the British royal family and a furore in Britain where several newspapers had rejected an offer to buy the pictures. After appearing in the French version of celebrity magazine Closer, the photos were reproduced in several other European publications such as Chi in Italy, Ireland's Daily Star and sister magazines in Sweden and Denmark. The editor of Closer in France, the head of the Mondadori group which owns the magazine, regional newspaper La Provence's manager and one of its photographers, and two Paris-based agency photographers were due to go on trial on Tuesday charged with invasion of privacy and complicity. Closer's editor Laurence Pieau defended her publication's actions at the time of the initial scandal, saying the pictures were not in the "least shocking". Earlier in September 2012, the Marseille-based La Provence had printed pictures of the Duchess of Cambridge in her swimsuit at a chateau owned by Viscount Linley, the son of Princess Margaret, the late sister of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II. The royal couple launched legal proceedings to try to identify the photographer but La Provence denied its employee, who took the other pictures a week earlier, was the author of the topless snaps. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's lawyer had argued that the photos were particularly distressing for the couple as it brought back painful memories of William's late mother Princess Diana's death in a road crash in Paris in 1997 while being hounded by paparazzi. The convicts, Abdullahi, 29, and Yakubu, 38, both pleaded guilty to the four-count charge of criminal conspiracy, theft, being in possession of stolen items and mischief. In his plea for leniency, the first convict, Abdullahi told the court, I stole because of my daughters sickness. Passing the sentence, the Upper Area Court judge, Mr Umar Kagarko said he gave the light sentence due to their plea for mercy. The judge, who also gave the convicts an option of N12, 000 fine, ordered that the stolen items being property of the Federal Government, should be returned to the government within 30 days. The prosecutor, Mr Joshua Ayanna told the court that police surveillance team attached to Wuye Divisional Headquarters arrested the convicts on Dec.31 while on patrol at night. He said the third person absconded and was still at large. Ayanna said they were arrested while removing solar energy panels, properties of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. He also said that the convicts had `confessed to have stolen them and also damaged the properties belonging to the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The accused was arraigned before Magistrate A.A Adesanya on a three-count charge of attempt to commit felony, assault and breach of peace. Adepoju, of no fixed address, however, pleaded not guilty and was admitted to a bail of N50,000 with two sureties in the like sum. According to the Prosecutor, Insp. George Nwosu, the accused committed the offences on Dec.11 at Oshodi, Lagos. Nwosu said the accused behaved in a manner likely to cause breach of peace by breaking bottles and chasing people in order to stab them. The accused met a boy fetching water at a market tap, he threw the boys bucket away, when the boy protested, the accusing descended on him through beating. When the Iyaloja (market women leader) tried to stop him from beating the innocent boy, the accused held her shirt and in the process she lost her gold chain valued at N100,000. The accused went further to pick a bottle at a nearby shop, smashed it on the ground and was chasing the market leader with the broken bottle, he said. Nwosu said that when the market chairman was called upon as market people could not handle the situation, the accused also attempted to stab him. When the market chairman rushed to the scene, he tried to stop the accused from stabbing the market women leader; the accused transferred his aggression to him. He started chasing the chairman with the broken bottle until the police was called and he was arrested, he said. The prosecutor said that the accused threatened to set the market ablaze. He said the offences contravened Sections 56 and 166 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the accused may be jailed for one year if found guilty according to the provisions of Section 56. The accused identified as Abdullahi Abubakar, 20, from Makera Village, Lausa Suleiman, 20 from Kankara Village, 20, and Bashir Umar, 39, of Turare Village, all located in Dutsinma Local Government area of Katsina local government, reportedly lured the victim, Saadya Abdullahi, at different times and places to engage in sexual intercourse with her. Punch reports that the police report with number, KT/1389X/16, added that the trio Unlawfully had carnal knowledge of the victim, at different places, dates and times, as result of which she was left six months pregnant. Abdullahi Nasole, the father of the victim reported the The police prosecutor, Inspector Kabir Muhammed, said the investigations into the case was ongoing, pleading that the case be adjourned, allowing for the completion of the investigations. According to Walter Masuku, He had waited two days for the owner of the phone to claim it before he finally decided to insert the sim and make use of it. The 37-year-old man who hails from Winterveld, Tshwane, South Africa, revealed that he had played the good Samaritan and returned the phone after the owner called and asked for it. ALSO READ: Man beaten to pulp for buying rice with fake money What he had not expected was to be beaten to a pulp for 30 minutes by the owner of the phone who accused him of stealing it. Narrating his ordeal to Daily Sun SA, Masuku said one of his friends burrowed the phone. He said, "My friend used the phone and gave it back to me. I left it in my room and went for the car wash to wash my car." Masuku said a man approached him at the car wash and demanded that he return the phone because it belonged to him. "I told him it was at my house and as soon as I finished washing my car, I would go and get it for him." When Masuku returned to retrieve the phone, the man demanded his sim card, which he had misplaced. "He started swearing at me, calling me names and when I tried to tell him I could buy him a new sim card to replace the one I had lost, he started beating me with fists and klaps and kicked me all over my body." Walter told the publication that his friend had sold him out, adding that he was even more upset because the police had been uncooperative when he had opened a case. He lamented that justice was not being served. ALSO READ: Woman burns step-sister with hot iron in Lagos When Daily Sun SA contacted Loate police spokesman, Captain Samuel Sebola, he confirmed that a case of assault had been opened. Daily Trust reports that the woman identified as Barakat, had connived with her friend known as Rukayat, and another accomplice to abduct the 10-year-old boy. The unnamed accomplice was said to have placed a call to Barakats husband, Yusuf, demanding the ransom before the child could be released. However, the woman's husband negotiated with the kidnappers and they agreed to accept the sum of N2 million but unknown to them, he had informed the DSS of the kidnap and before the payment could be made, the woman was arrested. The State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), ASP Bitrus Noam who confirmed the incident, said the case was being handled by the DSS. ASP Noam narrated that Yusuf reported the matter to the DSS after repeated calls and text messages by the alleged kidnappers and investigation by the operatives led to the arrest of the mother who confessed to having stage-managed her sons kidnap. During interrogation, Barakat was said to have confessed that she decided to kidnap her son after she had earlier asked the husband to buy her a new car which he declined. Asian Times reports that the 35-year-old Okoro who had been jailed for peddling drugs, broke out of his prison cell in the Azad Maidan area of the country a few hours from being deported. It was gathered that Okoro had sought permission to step out of the detection room on the first floor of the agencys office around 2 am on Monday, January 2, 2017, saying he wanted to use the toilet. He then jumped from the balcony, crashed through the asbestos roof and fled on foot. The constable guarding him also leaped from the balcony in a desperate attempt to nab him but ended up injured while the convict made good his escape. Okoro who lived in Koparkhairane, Navi Mumbai, before he was jailed in 2014 following his conviction for trying to sell banned substances, was placed in the Anti-Narcotics Cell after his prison sentence ended on December 31, 2016, to await his deportation on Monday afternoon. The Anti-Narcotic Department of the Indian police said in a statement: Around 2 am, Okoro told the constable on guard that he wanted to visit the washroom. He was being taken there when he jumped from the balcony. He landed on the asbestos roof, which immediately gave away. He ran in the directions of Mahapalika Marg. The report accused Lawal of misappropriating funds and abusing the Public Procurement Acts in the contract awarded by the Presidential Initiative on North East (PINE). Presenting the report of its independent investigations into the grass cutting scandal in Abuja on Tuesday, January 3, to the North-east region, CATBAN Co-convener, Ibrahim Garba Wala, said Lawal is innocent. "CATBAN can assert with authority that the contract was indeed carried out. The claims that it was meant to clear grass in IDP camp or that nothing has been done are nothing but unfortunate lies," Wala said. Citing the testimonies of people they met and the evidence before them, he said the contract was executed for the benefit of the people. The report shows that the said grass cutting contract was originally tagged "Award of contract for removal of invasive plants along river channels and 115 hectares of simplified village irrigation operation in Your state." ALSO READ: Attorney General queries SGF over alleged N200M fraud It also reveals that that Rheolavision Engineering, which was said to be the SGF's company, was not the main contractor that got the job. "Rheolavision was engaged only as a consultant even though the Senate committee created the impression that the company of the SGF executed the contract," the report said. Fashola stated this while inspecting rehabilitation work of expansion joints on a section of the Third Mainland Bridge in Lagos. "We now have a three-year plan affecting over 50 bridges across the country for maintenance, repair and restoration and it is going to cost about N270 billion," he said. The minister, however, said the plan will depend on what the ministry gets when the 2017 budget is passed. He said: "Our plan is to start with about N70 billion to N100 billion a year, starting with the very critical ones so that they dont collapse and then we move to the less critical ones and then to the not too endangered ones. "We have surveyed all the bridges and we know what is needed and we just need appropriation approval. These kinds of assets are difficult to rebuild and our preoccupation now is to keep them in full and useful, repair, and maintenance for them to really achieve their useful life." According to the minister, the section inspected on Tuesday is an alignment of the Lagos outer ring road. ALSO READ: Nigerians criticize Fashola over drop in electricity generation He said the rehabilitation work was awarded some years back by the federal government when there was an indication of weak alignment on the Lagos Outer Ring Road. He explained that the "Lagos Outer Ring Road is the beginning of what we turned to the Third Mainland Bridge. It ends just about here (Adeniji axis) from the outer Marina." Fashola said the rehabilitation work being done by the contractor, Borini Prono Construction Company, was caused by ecological problems, erosion, and sand mining among others. "So, sections of this road have moved as a result of sub-soil displacement and some work was awarded to correct it, but the contractor was telling me that it hasnt been completed because they were not paid. So, they just got money when this administration resumed work," he said. He further explained that "that is only part of the story; the other side of it is that most of the bridges built in the country in the last four to five decades have not been under any form of maintenance, structured or unstructured. What has been happening is that we wait until it gets bad, gets worse, and fails then we come and repair it. "We intend to change that; youve seen what we have done with the Jaji Bridge; the Tambuwal Bridge in Kano, which the federal executive council just approved for repair; all emergency repair work also in Ijora, Lagos. We intend to change that if we get the cooperation from the National Assembly this year." This was made known by the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola on Tuesday, January 3, 2016 in Lagos while inspecting the Rehabilitation of Lagos Ring Road Bridge abutment and approach to the Third Mainland Bridge project in Lagos. In his words: Many of the bridges we built in the country over the last four, five decades have not been under any form of maintenance. We now have a three-year plan affecting over 50 bridges across the country for maintenance, repairs and restoration. And it is going to cost about N270 billion over three years. Our plan is to start with about N70 to N100 billion in year one; starting with the very critical ones so that they do not collapse and then we move to the less critical ones, Fashola said. ALSO READ: The vocal governor reportedly challenged President Buhari to publish the names of the beneficiaries if truly the FG had distributed such funds since December 30, 2016. Fayose, who claimed to have already started paying the poor residents of Ekiti the sum of N1000, said only All Progressive Congress-led states will publicly agree to the claims by he FG. The governor went further to say no one in Ekiti has been a beneficiary of the fund even though the state was included as the first nine states to enjoy the facility. In his words, he said: A blind man will say it is when it gets into my mouth that I will say you are feeding me, not promises. He continued by saying the APC should come to the reality that Nigerians are hungry and also angry and that Nigerians are no longer interested in empty promises. He further accused the ruling party of focusing on 2019 rather than making the country better and said the project was a World Bank own with payment made since 2016. ALSO READ: FG begins payment of N5K stipends to 1million Nigerians Federal governments N5,000 payment to the poor was designed in a way that the state governors are also involved because they are to clear and present prospective beneficiaries before payments are made," Fayose said. According to a recent report by Premium Times, the security operatives reportedly besieged a residence in Maitama belonging to one of the ex-President's brother-in-law on Wednesday evening, January 4, 2016. It was also reported that though the Abuja police command denied being aware of the operation, security sources and sources close to ex-President Jonathan confirmed that police officers in uniform carried out the raid. The raid, it was further reported, saw the security operatives searching all the rooms in the house. While the alleged owner of the property was said to be out of the FCT, it was alleged that he got the house from his sister, Patience Jonathan. ALSO READ: The drama continues as EFCC freezes Patience Jonathan's bank account According to a statement by the commands spokesman, Mr Musa Adamu, in Sokoto on Wednesday, the revenue represents a 122.13 per cent of the years Annual Revenue Target. This represents a surplus of N 379.5 million above the annual target given by the Service Headquarters. However, N1.3 billion was collected in 2015, which shows an increase of N 803.1million or 62.19 per cent over what was collected in 2015. The statement further stated that the 2016 revenue profile presented a significant milestone in the history of the command, being the first time such amount was collected. This height could not have been attained without the enabling peaceful environment in our states of operation. It was also due to the cooperation of the trading public and other stakeholders, including customs licensed agents, as well as other security outfits, particularly the military and the police,it added. The statement said that the command had, in 2016, made 161 seizures of various items, including 6,000 bags of foreign rice, 5,200 containers of vegetable oil and 1,150 bales of second had clothes,with duty paid value of N200 million. In the same vein, 20 suspects arrested in connection with the seizures, were granted bail while investigation was ongoing to prosecute them. The controller further wishes to use this medium to reiterate the ban on the importation of foreign rice and vehicles through land borders. He has also called on legitimate importers to comply with the Federal Governments fiscal policies. They should explore other legitimate alternatives and windows available for importation of the restricted items. He further warned smugglers to desist from such illicit actions because soonest, the law will catch up with them. The statement further stated that the command would not relent in its efforts at boosting revenues. We shall continue to train and retrain our officers and men to fight smuggling to a standstill. Fear of God, integrity, honesty and transparency will remain cardinal in our operations. THE GUARDIAN NEWSPAPER Vehicles trapped at nations borders as import ban begins Scores of vehicles were yesterday trapped at land borders as the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) began the full restriction of vehicle importation through those areas. Oil hits 18-month high of $58.37 amid OPECs output cuts Brent crude oil price, the closest to Nigerias sweet crude, hit $58.37 per barrel yesterday on the first trading day of 2017. Nollywood defies recession as The Wedding Party breaks record in 2016 Despite a gloomy economy and an uncertain outlook, the Nigerian movie industry has just enjoyed its best year at the box-office with an amazing N1 billion from a record 50 locally-produced titles. VANGUARD NEWSPAPER Lagos N812. 99bn Golden Jubilee Budget gets Assemblys approval The Lagos State House of Assembly yesterday passed the 2017 budget proposal of N812. 99 billion presented by Governor Akinwunmi Ambode into law. FG, CAN, Catholic Church in war of words The Federal Government, yesterday, launched a bitter but indirect rebuke on the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, as well as the Catholic Church over comments by both bodies regarding the wave of ethno-religious crisis in the Southern part of Kaduna State. Oil prices rise above $58, bridge budget deficit The new year looks promising for Nigeria and other oil producing countries as oil prices hit 18-month high yesterday, the first trading day of 2017, buoyed by hopes that a deal between the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC, and non-OPEC members to cut production, which kicked in on Sunday, January 1, 2017, will drain a global supply glut. THE NATION NEWSPAPER Abuja airport to be closed on March 8 The Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja will be closed on March 8 for repairs, the Ministry of Transportation said yesterday. Governors visits to Wike, Udom stir anxiety in APC There is disquiet in the All Progressives Congress (APC) over some governors visits to Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike and Akwa Ibom State Governor Udom Emmanuel, who are of the Peoples Democratic Party. (PDP). Army deploys troops in Southern Kaduna The army has deployed troops in Southern Kaduna to halt the killings in that part of the country.Army spokesman Brig.-Gen. Sani Usman said yesterday that troops had been fully deployed in Southern Kaduna to address the security challenge in that area. THE PUNCH NEWSPAPER FG to repair 50 bridges with N270bn - Fashola The Federal Government plans to spend N270bn over the next three years on the rehabilitation of 50 bridges across the country, the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, has said, Chibok: BBOG to resume marches to Aso Villa Sunday The #BringBackOurGirls coalition said it would resume daily marches to the Presidential Villa for one week starting from Sunday to compel the Federal Government to accelerate actions necessary to rescue the rest of the 196 Chibok girls to their "grossly disappointed parents." N23bn Diezani bribe: 100 INEC staff face suspension Saraki disclosed this on Tuesday, January 3, in a statement issued in Abuja by his new media aide, Mr. Bamikole Omishore. According to the statement, the Senate will make the matter a priority upon resumption from recess on January 10. This follows the Nigerian Army's assurance that it has not turned a blind eye to the southern Kaduna crisis as it has deployed forces to curtail further carnage. "Once senate resumes, this issue (Southern Kaduna killings) will be addressed to get a clearer picture of what the real situation is and find a lasting solution," the statement quoted Saraki as saying. "Every Nigerian life matters and senate will work to ensure that (the) rule of law is always upheld as prescribed by the Nigerian Constitution," it said. ALSO READ: Kaduna Killings - CAN declares January 8 national day of mourning It explained that Saraki is already in touch with senators from Kaduna State and constantly getting updates on developments. Over 800 people were reportedly killed and properties worth millions of naira destroyed by suspected Fulani herdsmen during the Christmas celebrations. In the statement, signed by his Press Secretary, Ehisienmen Osaigbovo, the Minister of Interior, Abdulrahman Dambazzau, urged religious leaders and other Nigerians to stop fuelling the crisis, Vanguard reports. True religious leaders do not fan the embers of hate, but ensure that communities live in peace and harmony," he said. Rather, he encouraged everyone to work with the government in order to put an end to the issue. Economic growth and development will remain a mirage for Nigeria, with over 500 ethnic groups and multiple religions, unless we resolve to live amicably as a people with a common destiny, he said. Dambazzau also advised people to stop attaching religion to the crisis. The statement read: "He observed that this has become necessary following insinuations that the criminal violence in Southern Kaduna has some religious interpretation. He said there are people who are always looking for ways to further create division along religious or ethnic fault lines for their selfish interest, with the aim of creating instability in our internal security. Dambazau said criminals, who perpetrate violence against innocent, law-abiding citizens, do not discriminate along religious and ethnic lines, citing examples of how communities in Zamfara, Katsina, Taraba, Enugu, Lagos and Niger were victimized by those violent criminals. He noted that a criminal should be treated as such, whether he is involved in armed robbery, drug trafficking, homicide or cattle rustling, and that people should avoid honouring criminals with religious or ethnic attachment. He advised opinion and religious leaders to refrain from giving the crisis between herdsmen and sedentary farmers in Southern Kaduna a religious connotation, rather attention should be focused on the real enemies of our Society, who illegally acquire weapons to terrorize Christian and Muslim communities alike. Despite the minister's claims that these attacks are not religious, the Catholic Archdiocese of Kafanchan says otherwise. The Cable reports that Ibrahim Yakubu, vicar-general of the diocese has released a statement revealing the number of people killed by suspected herdsmen, whom he calls, "self styled Jihadists." "Four local government areas have been attacked, with 808 people killed and 1,422 houses, 16 Churches, 19 shops, and one primary school destroyed. The herdsmen and their ilk turned the towns into killing fields and killed mostly women, children and the elderly who couldnt run for cover. The level of barbarity was such that pregnant women got their wombs blown out and massacred before their children. And these innocent children were not spared either. This level of viciousness was never witnessed even in the brutal tyranny and regime of Adolf Hitler. What is most intriguing is the level of sophistication of weapons; Ak 47, Machine Guns and many other deadly instruments of death were freely. The viciousness of these self styled Jihadists sends shivers into the spines of our traumatized people, the statement read. In the statement, the minister urged religious leaders to stay out of the Southern Kaduna crisis, while insisting that the killings were not religious. ALSO READ:FG urges religious leaders to stay out of crisis Vanguard reports that the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Kaduna State Chapter, has reacted to this with this statement, Shut up if you have nothing to say. The Secretary of CAN, Kaduna State Chapter, Rev. Sunday Ibrahim, insisted that the killings are very religious. In order to prove his point, he asked, "What do you call continuous killings and destruction of Christian communities with gunmen chanting Islamic slogans all the time? In areas where there are Muslims, such as Godogodo, Akwa, Golkofa, Gada Biyu, in Jemaa LGA, the homes of Muslims and the Muslim residents there were not touched. But not a Christian home or church is standing in the other areas. What do you call that? In Chaiwai, Chiefdom, Kauru, LGA, where five villages were sacked and 45 people killed in November, the survivors said the gunmen were chanting Allahu Akbar Allahu Akbar. They shot and killed pigs in the villages, also stole goats and grains and burnt the churches and houses there. We have visited some of these places and the evidence is on ground. ECWA Church addressed a press conference in Kaduna, last October or was it November, and said that all their churches in affected towns and villages had been burnt. The Catholic Church knows its casualties, so do Anglican, Baptist Church and the rest. The statement of is either to cover his shame for his refusal to stop Jihadist herdsmen or he is out to intimidate CAN not to reveal to the world the atrocity that herdsmen are doing at cleansing Christian communities in Southern Kaduna. As the Minister of Interior, has he ever taken a trip to Southern Kaduna to see things for himself? The first time he would be making a statement is to cast Christian leaders in bad light instead of saying comforting words to us. CAN in Kaduna insists that the violence in Southern Kaduna is religious. Islamists want to destroy Christianity in Southern Kaduna and occupy the land. And right now, they are occupying 16 villages in Southern Kaduna with their cattle and families after terrorising out the Christian natives. Let him come and see with his own eyes if CAN is lying. We are still waiting for the same reaction of the Federal Government in Zamfara and Katsina just a day or two after gunmen killed several people there. We are happy they got the killers and have secured these states. Since April, last year, we have been shouting hoarse and pleading. All we get from the Inspector General of Police and now the Minister of Interior is that we have no right to describe the killings in its true form, while the two just sit and watch on. ALSO READ: CAN declares day of mourning for victims of Kaduna killings He also urged Danbazau to keep quiet since he appears to have no interest in solving the crisis. The statement attributed tocame to us with the least of surprise because of his antecedence on matters like this. If has no interest in solving our security problems, he should shut up, just like President has kept mute also," he said. Rev. Musa Asake, the General Secretary of National CAN, had a similar reaction in a telephone interview. We have to say things (the way they are) when they are not going well. We are not fanning embers of hate as the minister suggested. How can somebody be talking like that? We do not exaggerate or say negative things like some people," he said. ALSO READ: CAN urges Nigerians to face challenges with courage However, the Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki, has announced plans to commence investigation into the Southern Kaduna killings. "Once the senate resumes, this issue will be addressed to get a clearer picture of what the real situation is and find a lasting solution," Saraki reportedly said. "This is a futile conference, but there are signs that there will be attempts to use decisions that are taken to vote a new UN resolution against Israel," Benjamin Netanyahu said. The prime minister, who also holds the foreign affairs portfolio, was speaking to an annual meeting of Israeli ambassadors to European countries. "That's why the main political effort we are currently working on is to avoid a vote for a new resolution at the UN Security Council," he said in televised remarks. On December 23, the Security Council for the first time since 1979 condemned Israeli settlement of occupied Palestinian territory when the United States did not use its veto and abstained in the vote. Netanyahu rejected the resolution at the time as a "shameful blow against Israel". He also claimed that outgoing US President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry were behind it. Teodorin Obiang, his country's vice-president, is suspected of using more than 100 million euros ($106 million) of state money to buy a mansion on one of the swankiest avenues in Paris as well as a collection of Italian supercars. The trial is the first arising out of an unprecedented investigation into the French assets of a trio of African leaders accused of leading a life of luxury abroad while their citizens live in poverty. Obiang's defence team had argued that the hearings for the trial, initially scheduled for the next few weeks, gave them too little time to call witnesses and prepare their defence. Angolas Supreme Court on Dec. 27 rejected an application by 12 human rights lawyers to have Isabel dos Santos removed as the head of Sonangol, which handles the oil and gas reserves of Africas largest oil exporter. The lawyers, who accused the president of nepotism and violating Angolan probity law, also asked the Supreme Court on Tuesday to allow the Constitutional Court to hear an appeal against its ruling. We have filed an extraordinary appeal at the Supreme Court, who transit the process to the Constitutional Court, said David Mendes, one of the attorneys. Nobody should get advantage based on their origin. Mendes and the 11 other lawyers also argued that the seven months taken by the Supreme Court to come to a decision break guidelines on prompt rulings. However, Jose Carlos, a lawyer not among the 12, thinks it will be difficult to prove any illegality by the president. The authors of the appeal would have to be clear and deep to prove the unconstitutionality of the appointment, which would be a surprise and very unlikely to be found, Carlos said. Ranked as Africas richest woman by Forbes magazine, Isabel Dos Santos, 43, was given the job in June, prompting critics to accuse the president of trying to control state resources. Dos Santos, 74, has been in power since 1979 and is one of Africas longest serving leaders. He says he will step down in 2018. Watchdog group Transparency International ranked Angola 163 out of 168 countries in its index of perceived corruption in the public sector, and said it had minimal budget openness. Isabel dos Santos says she was given the job because of her business acumen, and she has pledged to root out waste and corruption at a company that was struggling to stay afloat even before oil prices plunged. Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) chairman Alieu Momar Njie "fled to Senegal after he got information that the Gambian authorities were plotting against him and his team" one of his relatives told AFP late Tuesday. "Some of his team members have also left for Senegal," the relative said, speaking on condition of anonymity. The relative did not elaborate on how Njie fled or say who had gone with him. There was no immediate comment from Senegalese authorities. Njie had declared opposition candidate Adama Barrow the winner of December 1 presidential elections and pleaded with all parties to respect the result. Jammeh's party later lodged a legal complaint against the electoral commission and the country has since been in political deadlock. The 51-year-old Jammeh, who took power in a bloodless coup in 1994, has said he will await a Supreme Court ruling in the case, delayed until January 10, before ceding power. Jammeh's refusal to step down, despite initially conceding defeat in the election, has stoked international concerns about the future of the tiny west African country. On the streets of Winneba, a fishing town a two-hour drive from the capital Accra, a four-metre tall Santa Claus waving Ghana's flag marches past a wolf shimmying to the jazzy beats played by a brass band. Children wearing matching pink and white cowboy outfits decorated in silver tinsel and Christmas ornaments dance along with their parents in the friendly -- but fierce -- annual costume competition held just after New Year's Day. The Winneba event is a "passion festival", organiser James Kofi Annan told AFP. "Whether you are in Winneba or elsewhere, you want to come." The Winneba Fancy Dress Festival has its roots in colonial Ghana, when Dutch and English settlers would wear masks at New Year parties. Ghanaians in Winneba began forming masquerade groups in the 1920's in part to poke fun at the life and dress of the Europeans, explained Annan. What began as a subversive depiction of colonial life transformed into a beloved cultural event. After Ghana achieved independence in 1957, President Kwame Nkrumah's administration endorsed and promoted the annual Winneba festival. This year's event saw five groups of about 100 members vying for the top trophy. The groups -- the Nobles, Egyaa, Tumus, Red Cross and Group Five -- have their own marching bands to provide the soundtrack to fast-paced, rhythmic dancing and marching formations. To perfect their moves before the big day, they practised in secret locations around Winneba, including in the bush and abandoned buildings. Almost everything the revellers wear is custom-made for the event, from the harlequin outfits sewn in leather and velvet to the multicoloured hand-stitched boots and tall crowns. Cowboy boots and tinsel The costumes are adorned with a glittering array of embroidery, tinsel and Christmas balls. The performers all wear masks, some handmade, others more generic. Santa is a favourite, and there is at least one Obama among the dancers. The groups, made up of women, men, boys and girls, work to wow the judges with three different dance routines throughout the day. Isaac Ambrado, 43, an architect and proud member of the Red Cross group, has brought his five-year-old son Gabriel to perform for the first time. The father and son are also joined by Isaac's cousin, Mark Koomson, 42, and his son, Theophilus, also five. The two young boys held hands as they marched in the procession. Dressed in pink and white, they were pint-sized reflections of their fathers. Neon pink feathers lined their white, handmade boots, with pink rope decorating their white trousers. Their vests were festooned with tassels. They wore pink and white masks with long noses under pink sun hats decorated with feathers and tinfoil. Family legacy Both fathers want their sons to carry on the tradition of the annual festival. "I am growing older, he is supposed to come and take over from me. I have been doing it for 32 years. It is in my family," Ambrado said. Koomson said it was emotional to have his son march alongside him, explaining that his great-great grandfather was a founding member of the Red Cross. In the end, the Red Cross lost out to the Tumus group, who impressed the judges with their costumes that sent a message of "harmony and unity", Annan said. While there was no specific theme linking the outfits, Annan noted that they took care to use harmonious colours. The Tumus group showed discipline in their well-choreographed routines, but it was their passionate performance that endeared them to the judges. The announcement by Haiti's Provisional Electoral Council puts an end to a protracted electoral process that began in October 2015 and paralyzed the Caribbean country's politics for more than a year. Moise, a 48-year-old political neophyte, is due to take power February 7 to succeed Jocelerme Privert, who will by then have served for nearly a year as interim president after Michel Martelly ended his term without an elected successor. The October 2015 vote, which had also seen Moise win, was scrapped after an independent commission found massive fraud. There were no major incidents reported in the November ballots. But Moise's major challengers -- Jude Celestin, Jean-Charles Moise and Maryse Narcisse -- also contested the preliminary results of the latest elections. After weeklong verification of electoral materials, the electoral tribunal backed Jovenel Moise. "There was no massive fraud. However, some 12 percent of official accounts pointed to irregularities that would not affect the process." The final official results gave runner-up Celestin 19.57 percent, Jean-Charles Moise 11.04 percent and Narcisse 9.01 percent. Turn the page Two years ago, Moise was a banana farmer and entrepreneur -- a little-known political novice. But after former president Michel Martelly chose him to represent his party, Moise, now 48, became known by the nickname he loves to chant: "the banana man." But although he won the vote, Moise lacks strong popular support, with just 21 percent of voters casting their ballots. Protestors clashed with riot police in subsequent weeks, which Moise denounced, calling on Haitians to turn the page. "The country can no longer endure this eternal presidential campaign," he said at the time, adding that for his part -- and speaking for his team and members of his party -- "we know we won the election in the first round." Political instability has long paralyzed the economy of a country that was already the poorest in the Americas. More than 60 percent of people living in Haiti survive with less than two dollars per day. Haiti has a debt of more than $2 billion and growth is expected to be just one percent in 2017, due to a lack of public and private investment. Nearly seven years after a devastating earthquake killed more than 200,000 people in January 2010, some 55,000 Haitians are still scraping by in makeshifts camps with extremely poor living conditions, according to the International Organization for Migration. The country's president said the truce by Afonso Dhlakama, leader of Renamo, which is both an armed insurgent group and an elected opposition party, showed that the two sides were beginning to rebuild confidence in each other. Worsening clashes between the Frelimo government and Renamo had revived the spectre of Mozambique's civil war that ended more than 20 years ago. But Dhlakama told reporters: "There have been some minor incidents, but the seven-day truce went well, so I announce the extension of the truce for 60 days, until March 4." "The truce is intended to build an atmosphere conducive to advancing talks in Maputo in peace and tranquility for both sides." Dhlakama, who lives in hiding in the Gorongosa mountains in central Mozambique, said Renamo forces would not attack government troops or positions. Last year saw a sharp escalation in violence, and more than 15,000 people have been forced to flee to government-run camps, relatives' homes or across the border to Malawi and Zimbabwe. The truce announcement came after tentative moves towards a peace process were suspended indefinitely last year due to setbacks including the killing of a Renamo negotiator. President Filipe Nyusi said on Monday the truce was "productive", according to the private STV television channel. Trust "is being created," he said, adding that government forces did not launch offensive attacks on Renamo. Rebels weakened? One diplomatic source told AFP that Dhlakama was weakened and had been forced into a truce to try to revive the chance of peace talks, which could be held under international mediation coordinated by the European Union. "Dhlakama was cornered and it seems that this is the solution he found to save international mediation," the source said. The rebel leader announced the truce after a series of telephone calls with the president. The fighting has often focused on Mozambique's main roads, with Renamo attacking government convoys and civilian vehicles, and soldiers accused of ruthlessly targeting suspected rebels in nearby villagers. Many displaced people say that government soldiers often treat local villagers in the central region as rebel sympathisers. The death toll is unknown but scores of people are reported to have been killed in 2016, with both the Frelimo and Renamo parties also suffering assassinations of local politicians by so-called "death squads". Despite the truce, one Renamo official was gunned down outside his house in Nampula city last week. Mozambique is still recovering from its bloody 1976-1992 civil war when one million people died during years of sporadic fighting between Frelimo and Renamo. Tensions have resurfaced since 2013, with Renamo fighters again taking up arms against Frelimo, accusing the ruling party of enriching itself at the expense of the southern African country. Authorities say 3,100 people now live in government camps after fleeing the conflict, and several thousand more have escaped the conflict zone to stay with relatives elsewhere. Another 8,600 people have been forced into neighbouring Malawi and Zimbabwe, according to the UN refugee agency. Owners of the White Glove Ranch received a 72-hour special permit to sell liquor at a horse competition this Saturday with plenty of strings attached, following an event described by police as a riot in June. Owners of the White Glove Ranch received a 72-hour special permit to sell liquor at a horse competition this Saturday with plenty of strings attached, following an event described by police as a riot in June. However, Nye County commissioners declined to approve two more special liquor permits for November and December, asking the applicant to return for separate approvals. Nye County Commission Chairman Dan Schinhofen made a motion to approve one 72-hour permit. He included a requirement suggested by ranch owners Jose and Gloria Munoz to have four sheriffs deputies on hand. Schinhofen also imposed a $15,000 bond. Five people were arrested and two officers were sent to the hospital with minor injuries June 7 after responding to a report of 40 to 60 intoxicated people fighting at the ranch at 5121 W. Betty Ave. Nye County Sheriff Tony DeMeo told the Pahrump Valley Times at that time 200 to 250 people turned on the officers, deputies had to use pepper ball to get the crowd under control. Nye County District Attorney Brian Kunzi said the Nye County Licensing and Liquor Board, which includes the five county commissioners and the sheriff, could impose conditions on the temporary liquor license. White Glove Ranch owner Jose Munoz told commissioners the problem began with a fight between two women. He said the ranch had plenty of security, with 16 security guards. But many attendees brought their own beer and drank in the parking lot, Munoz said. DeMeo told county commissioners there were about 900 people on the inside of the event and a couple hundred more outside. He described what happened when his officers arrived. They saw a child injured, they in turn made an arrest on the suspect who injured the child and at that time several individuals decided to interfere with that arrest, DeMeo said. A couple deputies fired pepper ball at their feet. Once the deputies arrived peace was able to be maintained. We stayed until the event was over. I sent two deputies to the hospital to be checked out. DeMeo said events inside the White Glove Ranch were under control, but there was no policing in the parking lot. He said if a 72-hour permit is issued the license holder should prohibit alcohol from being brought on the property. Schinhofen said the county incurred an expense from having to send officers to the hospital and from paying sheriffs deputies overtime, DeMeo estimated it cost about $10,000 overtime. Schinhofen added if the sponsors expect to have more than 1,000 people at an event they may have to get an outdoor festival permit. We had better training horses than we had before and people wanted to go see them, Jose Munoz said. Munoz said the White Glove Ranch has monthly events. There are usually 250 to 300 people, rarely does it get as large as the June event. He said spectators pay $15 to get in and news usually spreads by word of mouth. Munoz said the White Glove Ranch is a breeding and training facility where he sells the horses to racetracks in Arizona and California. Commissioner Donna Cox said it sounds like Munoz is running a business. When Cox asked Munoz if he had insurance, Commissioner Lorinda Wichman told Cox a $15,000 bond would function like insurance. The Licensing and Liquor Board also renewed a state winemakers license for the Sanders Family Winery and retail liquor licenses for Tower Pizza at 3561 E. Kellogg Road and El Jefes Restaurant at 1560 E. Calvada Blvd. Three Iowa-based Susan G. Komen affiliates, including Komen Quad-Cities, plan to merge into a new united affiliate known as Komen Greater Iowa. The merger, announced Tuesday, combines the Bettendorf-based affiliate with Susan G. Komen Iowa in Des Moines and Komen Siouxland in Sioux City. The new affiliate's main administrative office will be in Des Moines, but offices and staff will remain in place in the Quad-Cities and Sioux City The merger was effective Jan. 1. "We hope the merger will maximize the time, talent and resources of all our staffs to make a difference in all the lives of people in Iowa and surrounding cities," Christina McNamara-Schmidt, marketing and fundraising specialist for Komen Quad-Cities, said in an interview Tuesday. Komen Greater Iowa will serve all of Iowa's 99 counties as well as Henry, Mercer, Rock Island and Whiteside counties in Illinois, which were part of Komen Quad-Cities; Dakota and Thurston counties in Nebraska; and Union County in South Dakota. According to McNamara-Schmidt, the merger comes as many affiliates across the country like other nonprofits are merging. She added the national organization "is encouraging affiliates to share resources and consolidate, but they are not forcing us to merge." One of the main benefits will be efficiencies gained from having the combined staff work to meet national's requirements, including a comprehensive community profile, which helps identify gaps in breast cancer health care. The unified affiliate will employ more than a half dozen staff, who are currently employed. "Our shared commitment to the women and men we serve will not change," Rebecca Brommel, Komen Greater Iowa's board president, said in a news release. "By working together in a smart and strategic way, we strongly believe we will be able to improve our capacity to deliver on Komen's mission and reach the new bold goal." Last fall, Susan G. Komen announced a goal of reducing the current number of breast cancer deaths by 50 percent within the next decade. To accomplish this, Komen and its affiliates will focus on investments in research for new early detection methods and treatments for aggressive and metastatic breast cancer. It also plans to address disparities in access and timely utilization of quality breast cancer care. The Komen Quad-Cities Race for the Cure will retain its name. Online registration opens Jan. 9 with a reduced $15 registration fee through Feb. 28. To sign up, visit komeniowa.org/qcrace. "We are committed to maintaining our local race, local funding support and a local office and staff," said Martha Watters, board president of Komen Quad-Cities. She added that the merger will leverage "the efficiency of centralized administrative functions, which will allow the staff of the new Komen Greater Iowa to dedicate more minutes to our mission." The new Komen Greater Iowa will host Race for the Cure events in Des Moines, Moline, Sioux City and Ottumwa as well as other fundraising events. The former Southeast Iowa Affiliate in Ottumwa merged with the Des Moines affiliate in January 2015. McNamara-Schmidt said the affiliates will benefit from leadership of the Des Moines organization, which was honored as Affiliate of the Year. The merger also could lead to some statewide race sponsorships by donors. Last year, the combined total of grant funding of the three affiliates was more than $600,000. Founded in 1982, Susan G. Komen is the world's largest breast cancer organization. Since its founding, it has funded more than $920 million in research and provided more than $2 billion for screening, education, treatment and psychosocial support programs. The sale of Rock Island-based Hill & Valley Inc. to the publicly held J&J Snack Foods Corp. will help the Quad-City bakery company continue its growth, Hill & Valley's president and CEO said Tuesday. J&J, a snack manufacturer based in Pennsauken, N.J., announced in a news release Tuesday that it has acquired the stock of Hill & Valley Inc. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed. "We've been for sale for about a year, it's been widely discussed. It has not been a secret..." Hill & Valley president and CEO Doug Davidson said in an interview. "We've been looking to put this place in better hands, with people that want to grow it." Hill & Valley, with sales of more than $45 million annually, manufactures a variety of pre-baked cakes, cookies, pies, muffins and other desserts for retail in-store bakeries. The 30-year-old company has emerged as the leading brand of Sugar Free and No Sugar Added pre-baked in-store bakery items. In addition, Hill & Valley sustains strategic private labeling partnerships with retailers nationwide. Davidson, who remain on as president and CEO of Hill & Valley, said employees were notified of the acquisition Friday. "But it's business as usual for them." "There's no loss of jobs,'' he said describing the transaction as "a good one." As part of the J&J family, Hill & Valley retains its brand and operations. It also aligns the Rock Island business with a national company that saw nearly $1 billion in sales last year. "We are excited to add Hill & Valley to our team," Jerry Law, J&Js senior vice president, said in the release. "This acquisition rounds out our in-store bakery offerings by expanding our capabilities and customer base, and provides us a newly constructed facility that has ample capacity for growth and a nimble production process." Davidson said the company had talks with 32 possible buyers, but declined to discuss any specifics. "We met with lots and lots of people," he said. "These (J&J) are good people. They're food people. They know what we do and they do some of the same thing." According to Davidson, the sale will bring substantial resources, including financial and technical resources, to Hill & Valley, which itself is a national distributor. In the release, he said J&J's resources "will continue to make us a valued added supplier to our customers and a company that brings solutions to the table." J&J is a leader and innovator in the snack food industry, providing nutritional and affordable branded niche snack foods and beverages to food service and retail supermarket outlets. Its principal products, manufactured and distributed nationwide, include Superpretzel, Bavarian Bakery and other soft pretzels, Icee and Slush Puppie frozen beverages, Luigi's, Minute Maid frozen juice bars and ices, Whole Fruit sorbet and frozen fruit bars, Mary Bs biscuits and dumplings, Daddy Ray's fig and fruit bars, Tio Pepe's, California Churros and Oreo Churros, Patio Burritos and other handheld sandwiches, The Funnel Cake Factory funnel cakes, and several cookie brands within Country Home Bakers. Hill & Valley relocated in 2015 to the former International Harvester Farmall Works in Rock Island. It had been in the former Watchtower Plaza. It employs 200 people but will be adding another 10 to 15 employees in the next 60 to 90 days, Davidson said. Hill & Valley also is currently expanding its footprint into another portion of the former farm implement plant at 44th Street and the Mississippi River. The expansion was announced in November. Hill & Valley was founded as Rock Island Baking Company by George Coin, and later renamed Nancy's Pies in honor of his wife. The Hill & Valley name emerged after George and Nancy Coin sold the company in 2006, according to the company's website. A Muscatine man was sentenced Tuesday to 25 years in prison for fleeing the scene after hitting and killing a Muscatine couple on a motorcycle in Illinois City in May 2015. Judge Norma Kauzlarich sentenced Robert P. Darrow to 12.5 years each for the deaths of Kevin D. Diehl, 42, and Dawn A. Korch, 37, during an emotional 90-minute hearing at the Rock Island County Justice Center. The judge ordered the sentences to run consecutive, or back-to-back, because of the nature and circumstances of the incident. What troubled her the most, she said, is that he ran from the scene after the crash. That you could have possibly stayed and maybe rendered some aid it may have made no difference, sir, but at least you would have stood up and taken responsibility, she said. Darrow, 42, pleaded guilty in October to two counts of failure to report an accident, a Class 1 felony punishable by four to 15 years in prison. About 8:30 p.m. May 17, 2015, a silver 2002 Pontiac Grand Prix was headed east in the 26000 block of 124th Avenue near Illinois City when it crossed the center line, striking a 2013 Harley-Davidson motorcycle traveling west, according to the Rock Island County Sheriff's Office. The operator of the motorcycle, Diehl, 42, and his passenger, Korch, 37, were thrown from the motorcycle. Both were pronounced dead at the scene. Darrow fled on foot. Deputies discovered that the Grand Prix was registered to a relative of Darrows girlfriend, who told investigators she sold the car to him two days earlier for $800. There were no witnesses to the crash. Darrow, facing the families in the courtroom gallery during Tuesdays sentencing hearing, tearfully said that he reacted out of fear and shock that night and that Im never just going to leave somebody hurt thats not me. He talked about an accident in Michigan years ago that killed his young son, Tyler. Darrow, he said, had been driving with the sun in his eyes and had turned into front of a truck, which tore the car in half. I feel your pain, he said and asked the families for their mercy and forgiveness. For the crash involving his son, Darrow was charged with negligent homicide in Michigan and was later sentenced to a year in county jail. Assistant States Attorney Heidi Weller noted Tuesday that the day of the crash that killed Diehl and Korch was the day Darrows son would have turned 21. While he paints the picture here in court today of having taken an impulsive action because of fear and shock, this is not an individual who went home, came to his senses and called the police right away, she said. Darrows attorney, Herb Schultz, asked for a sentence of probation or a minimal prison sentence. Although Schultz said that his client was a coward for running that night, he was not a vicious killer and did not contemplate that his actions would cause serious harm. Diehls ex-wife, Alyshea Gow, told the judge Tuesday about the impact his death has had on their sons, Grant, 10, and Connor, 8. Gow said that about an hour before the crash, Diehl had been sending videos via his cellphone to Grant of monster truck show that he had taken the boys to see the night before. Around 7:41 p.m., he sent a text saying, Love you bud, Gow said. Approximately 30 minutes later, you killed him, she said. You killed him with no remorse. You let him just lay there and die at the side of the road. What kind of person does something like that? Darrow has 30 days to file a notice of appeal. A Davenport woman is being accused of using money from her dependent sisters bank account for her own use including making her car payments. Susan Yvonne Yocum, 60, of 2518 N. Elsie Ave., is charged with one count of first-degree theft and dependent adult abuse over $100. The theft charge is a Class C felony under Iowa law that carries a prison sentence of up to 10 years. The dependent adult abuse charge is a Class D felony that carries a prison sentence of up to five years. Yocum was arrested Friday and booked into the Scott County Jail. She was released after posting 10 percent of a $10,000 bond through a bonding company. According to the criminal complaint and arrest affidavit filed by Bettendorf Police Sgt. Brad Levetzow, the victim, Yocums sister, has lived in a group home setting for years, and has a case manager from the Iowa Department of Human Services. The womans financial needs were being overseen by Yocum. However, one of the victims checks bounced, according to Levetzows affidavit. This should not have happened as the victim receives adequate funds monthly from the Social Security Administration. The victims primary needs are paid by check. The bounced check led to a review of the victims bank statements from January 2014 through April 2016, according to the affidavit. During the audit it was discovered that Yocum wrote nine checks from her sisters account to a local credit union. The checks totaled $1,727.67 and went toward Yocums car payments. The victim also was not aware that her bank account had an associated debit card. But a debit card was issued to Yocum as part of the account she was managing. During the time from January 2014 through April 2016, the debit card was used 187 times, according to the arrest affidavit. Out of that total, the card was used 138 times for cash withdrawals at ATM locations in Davenport and Bettendorf. Multiple purchases were made at area Kwik Shop stores, Caseys, Shell, Hy-Vee, Happy Joes, Kay Jewelers, car washes and eateries, according to the affidavit. The debit card transactions total $18,575.79. The total amount spent from the victims account totaled $20,303.46, according to the affidavit. Public feedback for a possible solar energy system to be installed at Davenport Community School District properties begins tonight. Two informational sessions are scheduled. 6 p.m. Wednesday in the third-floor Jim Hester Board Room at the Achievement Service Center, 1606 Brady St., Davenport. 6 p.m. Thursday at the West High School auditorium, 3505 W. Locust St., Davenport. Members of the Davenport School Board heard another presentation on the solar program during a committee-of-the-whole meeting Tuesday. Jon Muller of Iowa School Finance Information Services, Des Moines, provided information as an expert in school energy issues. While Davenport is by far the largest Iowa school district to be seriously considering the solar energy program, Muller said there are several others in the state actively studying the issue, including Dubuque. Mike Maloney, Davenport's director of operations, said the public meetings will include a demonstration of how some of the arrays could be sited around the district. One issue has come up at McKinley Elementary School, 1716 Kenwood Ave., Davenport. The school is on the National Register of Historic Places, and the proposed solar array would be visible on its roof. Maloney said in McKinley's case, more information will have to be gathered. "Its not a fatal flaw, but our team still has a lot of work to do on this project," he said. The timeline, Maloney said, is ideally to present the solar project for board approval in late March. That way, the system could potentially be installed by the end of 2017. Comments gathered at the public sessions will be added to a fact sheet, Maloney said, which will be added to feedback coming from the district's principals, and others. CEDAR RAPIDS Iowa state Sen. Rob Hogg hopes 2017 is the Year of Water in the Iowa Legislature. House Agriculture Committee Chairman Lee Hein, R-Monticello, urges him to think in terms of Years of Water. Water quality problems didnt happen overnight, and we probably wont have the magic bullet this session or maybe not next session, the Jones County farmer said. There is general agreement among lawmakers and policy groups on the need for water quality improvements, but interest groups pushing for action are concerned that lower revenue estimates and the impact of low agricultural commodity prices will limit the Legislatures ability to fund water quality efforts, according to Kirk Leeds, CEO of the Iowa Soybean Association. Its one of several groups backing a sales tax increase that would channel three-eighths of every new penny of revenue into the voter-approved Iowa Water and Land Legacy. GOP Gov. Terry Branstad and Republican lawmakers have all but ruled nixed that approach despite the fact they have to cut spending by $100 million during the final six months of the current budget year. The Revenue Estimating Conference also projected lawmakers will have $51 million less to work with in the fiscal year beginning July 1. I dont think there is an interest in raising the sales tax, Branstad said at a Statehouse news conference Wednesday. Even when Democrats controlled the Senate, they never passed it. I certainly dont expect the Republicans to do it. Although some Republicans suggest a sales tax increase could be part of a broad tax reform effort that would include income tax and property tax relief, Branstad doesnt. I dont see the interest in raising the sales tax, he repeated. However, legislative leaders say there will be a water quality discussion, and they indicate the Iowa Water Quality Improvement Plan that 65 House Democrats and Republicans approved in 2016 is a good starting point for the discussion when the Legislature convenes Monday in Des Moines. That plan, Branstad said, would provide a growing, reliable source of water quality funding. Hogg, D-Cedar Rapids, the Senate minority leader, doubts lawmakers can find the resources in the current budget to fund water quality and other priorities. Like Democrats in general, Hogg sides with groups representing farm, water, environmental, recreational and natural resources interests in supporting a sales tax increase. The sales tax, Leeds said, would provide water quality with the same sustainable funding source the state made to transportation with the constitutionally protected Road Use Tax Fund. Weve got to have a long-term commitment, Leeds said. He also suggests lawmakers might not want to dismiss Branstads proposal to use revenue from the school infrastructure sales tax for water quality improvements. Branstad projected schools still would be getting $20.7 billion for infrastructure otherwise funded by property taxes, while $4.7 billion would be channeled to improving Iowa waterways. Although it is opposed by school boards, administrators and teachers, Leeds said that as a school board president, he knows school districts especially in districts where enrollment and the property tax base are not growing need the infrastructure tax extension. Pairing it with another Iowa priority water quality may provide the political compromise needed, he said. Debating funding schemes might be getting the cart before the horse, according to Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Dan Zumbach, R-Ryan. He thinks the biggest issue facing lawmakers this year is identifying and defining the problem and reaching consensus on the degree of water quality Iowans want to achieve. We have a lot of different interpretations of poor water quality, the Delaware County farmer said. Iowans, lawmakers included, need to go through an education process to understand water quality issues. Im not comfortable spending money throwing a solution after something thats not necessarily a problem, Zumbach said. Hogg, an attorney who has authored a book on climate change and its environmental effects, acknowledges that some legislators remain skeptical about water quality problems. There are people who just want to pretend its not our problem, and they think if you make the Clean Water Act go away, the problem goes away, and thats just wrong, he said. Scott County Republicans have set Jan. 12 as the date they will hold a special convention to nominate a candidate to run for the vacant House District 89 seat. The seat was vacated by Sen.-elect Jim Lykam, the Davenport Democrat who was elected to the state Senate last week. He officially resigned his House seat on Monday, and his election was certified by a state board on Tuesday. Lykam will take the oath of office Monday. The Republican convention to fill the House seat will be held at 7 p.m. Jan. 12 at county party headquarters at Paul Revere Square, 2322 E. Kimberly Road, Suite 235, Davenport. The party moved into the new headquarters after the 2016 election. Parts of Davenport's 1st, 2nd, 4th, 7th and 8th wards are in the 89th District. Democrats previously announced they will hold their nominating convention on Thursday. A special election date has not been set yet. Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad will set that date, but a spokesman, Ben Hammes, said they did not receive word of Lykam's official resignation until Tuesday because of the state holiday on Monday. Hammes said he anticipates the election date will be set by the end of the week. Iowa Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds has $1.1 million in cash available thus far for a 2018 gubernatorial campaign after raising nearly $638,000 last year. Her campaign committee announced details of her 2016 fundraising totals in an email on Wednesday. If, as expected, Gov. Terry Branstad is confirmed as the new U.S. ambassador to China, Reynolds will replace him, and she is widely expected to run in 2018. She isn't guaranteed to be the Republican Party's nominee, however. Cedar Rapids Mayor Ron Corbett, a former Republican House speaker, has broached the possibility of a bid for the job. Reynolds, who has been at Branstad's side since he returned to office in 2011, said in the email she was humbled by the support and added, "We stand poised to build on our accomplishments." The fundraising for 2016 is an improvement over the previous year, when her committee raised $529,000, according to the email. Reports for campaign committees aren't due until Jan. 19, when fuller details will be available. Rich Leopold, a former director of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, announced his candidacy for the Democratic nomination for governor on Wednesday, choosing a seven-minute Facebook Live address to launch his bid. Leopold, who directed the department under former Gov. Chet Culver, cast himself as an outsider and scientist who doesn't traffic in the typical political sound bites but instead takes an inclusive, systematic approach to policy. "Im literally an outsider, he said in an address from Huxley. Im a conservationist, a scientist. Leopold currently lives in Des Moines, where he is director of the Polk County Conservation Department. Leopold, 52, is the first to dive into what will likely be a crowded pool of candidates seeking to run for governor next year. In an interview, Leopold said he would be embarking on a tour of 30-some smaller Iowa communities, including around the Quad-Cities. He, like many who have analyzed the 2016 election results, says there needs to be more attention paid to rural Iowa. In his Facebook address, he noted that Iowa's smaller communities are losing people who have to leave to find jobs elsewhere. And he praised the wind industry, which he said he worked to help support. Leopold also said there needs to be a "large, dependable funding mechanism" to deal with water quality issues. But he added that there also are concerns, such as in the agriculture community, that need to be taken into account. State lawmakers have been debating how to fund improved water quality, including the idea of a three-eighths of a cent increase in the sales tax. In his Facebook address, Leopold called Iowa's water "some of the filthiest" in the country. Iowa Democrats are licking their wounds after a disastrous 2016 election cycle. Next week, the state Legislature will gavel into session with Republicans in control of both the House and Senate. With Gov. Terry Branstad expected to be the new ambassador to China, however, Democrats also see an opportunity in 2018. In addition to Leopold, there are several current and former legislators who have been mentioned as candidates. They include Senate Democratic Leader Rob Hogg, D-Cedar Rapids, Sens. Liz Mathis, D-Robins, and Jeff Danielson, D-Waterloo, and former Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal, D-Council Bluffs. Outgoing state Democratic Party Chairwoman Andy McGuire also has been mentioned. A roundup of state government and Capitol news items for Tuesday: STATE REVENUE: State officials got some positive revenue news in December, with last months tax collections up 3.9 percent from a year ago. Jeff Robinson of the Legislative Services Agency said Tuesday the growth rate probably was even better since December ended on Saturday, meaning one day was not reflected in the latest report, which could have pushed the increase even higher. As it is, state tax receipts are running about 1.2 percent higher for the first six months of the current fiscal year compared to fiscal 2016, an increase of $41.9 million. That still lags behind the projected annual growth rate of 4.7 percent but is moving in the right direction, Robinson said. It was just nice to have a good, solid positive month, he said. It went in the right direction, thats for sure. Personal income tax collections continue to lead the way with 3.1 percent growth, an increase of $59 million over the first six months of last fiscal year that was offset by declines in other categories. ECONOMIC INDICATORS: The Iowa Leading Indicators Index increased to 106.1 in November 2016 from 105.6 in October, according to state Department of Revenue officials. It marked the third gain in the past six months and the second consecutive monthly gain with seven of eight components contributing positively. With another increase in November, Iowas nonfarm employment index continued in the sixth consecutive year of positive growth. However, the gain in November was only half of the average monthly gain over those 74 months and the smallest gain since September 201, according to Tuesdays index report. The seven positive contributors in November were residential building permits, average weekly unemployment claims (inverted), the Iowa stock market index, the national yield spread, the agriculture futures profit index, the new orders index and average manufacturing hours. Diesel fuel consumption was the only component that contributed to the index negatively. BRANSTADS HOLIDAY HOMEWORK: Gov. Terry Branstad told members of the Iowa Executive Council on Tuesday he spent part of his year-end holiday period filling out a detailed questionnaire as part of the process of being nominated to be President-elect Donald Trumps ambassador to China. Branstad, the longest-serving governor in U.S. history, said he had to list all of the addresses where hes lived for the past seven years, along with what he owns, how much he paid for it and all of that sort of stuff. Branstad said he plans to submit the information to several federal agencies as well as the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which will consider whether to confirm his nomination. He said he plans to attend Trumps inauguration in Washington, D.C., later this month and use the opportunity to meet personally with some of the committee members. The governor said he also has been preparing a two-year state budget plan that includes $96 million in cuts to the current fiscal year and the Condition of the State address he will deliver next Tuesday to a joint meeting of the 87th Iowa General Assembly at the state Capitol building in Des Moines. Times Bureau DES MOINES With $100 million in state spending cuts looming, Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad said Wednesday he does not want those cuts to come from spending on K-12 public education, health care for the states Medicaid recipients or commercial property tax credits. Branstad conceded state employee layoffs are possible, but he declined to say from which state agency. Tax revenue has grown slower than estimated, so the governor and state lawmakers must agree to roughly $100 million in spending cuts in the current fiscal year, which started on July 1, 2016, and ends June 30, 2017. During a meeting with reporters Wednesday to discuss the upcoming legislative session, Branstad said his budget proposal will include the spending cuts, but not to K-12 public schools, Medicaid or tax credits included in 2013s commercial property tax reform package. We are scrutinizing all areas of the budget, and many agencies will see some reductions, Branstad said. "But theyre going to be selective reductions designed to protect our priorities." Branstad declined to say which agencies will be required to make budget cuts. He will present his budget proposal on Tuesday, when he gives his annual Condition of the State address to the Iowa Legislature. Branstad said it will be up to the agencies to determine how the budget cuts are executed; he said it is possible the cuts will lead to layoffs. Branstad said that he does not want agencies to use unpaid furloughs and that his proposed spending cuts largely would be permanent. We want to do it in a very thoughtful way, Branstad said, suggesting some cuts can be achieved through attrition or streamlining. These are difficult decisions, and agencies are going to have to make tough decisions. Weve tried to thoughtfully go through the budgets with each agency and put together budget reductions that we think maintain the important priorities. ... There could be layoffs, but for the most part, we prefer to not replace people that retire or quit, as opposed to layoffs. But there may be individual incidents where agencies (must lay off staff). The items Branstad is declaring off limits for budget cuts K-12 education, Medicaid and property tax credits accounted for two-thirds of state spending in fiscal 2016, according to budget analysis by the states nonpartisan fiscal estimating agency. That leaves the remaining one-third of state spending to bear the brunt of the $100 million in spending cuts. The largest remaining piece of the budget pie roughly 12 percent of state spending goes to higher education. Iowa Sen. Bob Dvorsky, leader of the minority Democrats on the Senates budget committee, said he is pleased Branstad has declared K-12 and Medicaid funding untouchable, but he expressed concern for higher education funding. Dvorsky said some cuts could be achieved through unused tax credits in the states economic development department budget. Cuts are going to be made, but I hope theyre proportional, Dvorsky said. The city of LeClaire has passed an ordinance calling for gender balance on its boards and commissions. In doing so, LeClaire joins Scott County as among the government bodies that follow the practice. The county achieved gender balance in 2015, according to the Carrie Chapman Catt Center for Women in Politics at Iowa State University, Ames. The final reading of the LeClaire ordinance was in late December, and it's now in effect, according to John A. Smith, a member of the LeClaire City Council who championed the proposal. Smith was appointed to the council last February and has worked with the city's planning and zoning commission and board of adjustment. He decided to pursue the gender balance issue, he said, because there are new people moving into LeClaire, and many of them wish to serve the city in some manner. The Code of Iowa gives general guidance on gender balance for appointed positions. Gender balance was first passed in Iowa in 1987 for state-level appointments. In 2009, the Iowa Legislature required it be extended to counties and cities, effective Jan. 1, 2012. It's been slow-going to date, however. According to the Catt Center, the legislation allows for board members to finish their term and a "good faith effort" be made to balance a board as seats become available. That "good faith effort" is also difficult to define and enforce. Scott County is one of only six counties among 99 in Iowa to have gender balance at this time. The others are Floyd, Harrison, Johnson, Ida and Van Buren. The data also shows that 39 of the state's cities have achieved gender balance on nine board and commissions that were studied. Bettendorf has gender balance on five boards and commissions, the Catt Center reported. In Eldridge, there are three boards and two women appointees as of October 2015. That's a percentage of 11.76 of female appointees. There is no monopoly on good ideas, talent or abilities in the sometimes difficult topics before the various boards and commissions, Smith said. "People in general can work in these areas, not just men, not just women," he said. "We can all bring something to the process, if allowed to." Chris Cournoyer agrees. The Pleasant Valley School Board member lives in rural LeClaire, outside the city limits. She is active in county government, including the Scott County Sheriff's Department. "Having well-balanced boards that accurately represent the population that they serve is true democracy," Cournoyer wrote in an email message. "I believe that a diversity of opinion and experience is critical for thoughtful and fair discussion and consensus building." Women, she said, and under-represented minority groups have unique experiences and issues that should be reflected in decision-making and should be sufficiently represented to have a long-term accountability and positive impact on society. Smith has heard some positive feedback so far on the ordinance, and nothing from those who might oppose it. He is realistic, however. "I haven't heard anything negative yet, but I think there will be some who disagree," he said. DES MOINES How the state delivers funding to Iowas public K-through-12 schools could be altered dramatically this year when Republicans assume control of the states law-making agenda. Republicans, who for the first time in 20 years will hold the governors office and majorities in the Iowa House and Senate, are poised to consider legislation that would expand so-called school choice programs that give families greater flexibility to enroll in private schools, often at the expense of funding to public schools, and alter the timeline for when the state sets public school funding levels. Conservative state legislators have long supported school choice programs, but have been unable to get any passed into law because of opposition from Democrats, who in recent sessions held the majority in the Iowa Senate. But in the wake of the Nov. 8 election Republicans have complete control of the Iowa statehouse, and school choice programs are sure to be on the legislative agenda. Im pretty confident were going to come out of this session with some type of school choice bill that hopefully is signed by (the governor), said Walt Rogers, R-Cedar Falls, the new chairman of the education committee in the House. Rogers said proposals could range from a pilot project to something more substantial, like state-funded education savings accounts, in which state dollars are earmarked for parents to use toward education costs like private-school tuition. Im a believer in them, Rogers said. Im taking an approach of, lets look at everything and see what we can afford, see what type of transition period it would take to implement more choice for parents. Thats where Im at. Im willing to take a look at everything. Im going to give everything a fair hearing in education. Democrats and public school advocates have opposed such programs because typically they result in less state funding for public school districts. Supporters of educational savings account say they give families the freedom to determine which school is best for their children. An ESA program will allow true universal choice and inject the positive force of market competition into the Iowa educational system, Susan Fenton, a lobbyist for Iowa Advocates for Choice in Education, told Gov. Terry Branstad at a recent public hearing on the state budget. Branstad, whose three children attended Catholic schools in the Des Moines area, told reporters after the hearing he is a strong supporter of private schools but said there are a lot of issues to consider in the tight budget. That tight budget has led Republican leaders to say they plan to budget for a 2-percent increase for public school funding for the 2017-2018 school year. If approved, it will be the seventh time in eight years state funding to public schools has increased by roughly 2 percent or less. Funding increases dipped to those levels only four times in the previous 38 years. It is a fact that these are the worst six years in Iowa history for education funding, said Sen. Jeff Danielson, D-Waterloo. There are a lot of us who believe that at a time when we had the resources, at least a cost of living (increase) averaged out over those six years was reasonable. That was not achieved. I dont think we have invested in education like it matters to our future, and it does. Mark Smith, leader of the minority House Democrats, said more of state spending, as a percentage, should be going to public education. We havent had our priorities straight, which is to put Iowas children first, Smith said. I would hope that the (funding increase), because of underfunding, would not ever be below 4 percent this year, but clearly Im very doubtful that we will get to that point. Republicans also may repeal the portion of Iowa law that requires state legislators to set school funding levels more than a year before schools set their budgets. The law which does not include any punitive measure for when legislators fail to adhere by the timeline was written to ensure public school funding gets the first bite of the state budget pie and so schools can plan their own budgets. Republicans who want to repeal the measure say it is difficult to predict state revenues that far in advance, so setting such a big budget number so early is bad practice. Linda Upmeyer, a Republican from Clear Lake who is going into her second session as Iowas first-ever woman Speaker of the House, said schools still can get their state funding numbers first and early if legislators act swiftly during the legislative session. Iowas legislative sessions begin in early January, and schools must present a certified budget by mid-April. I think if youre setting (school funding levels) in the first 30 days (of the session), youre still getting it done early, Upmeyer said. The whole goal is so we can actually deliver on what we promise. And were committed to that. (Rod Boshart and Christinia Crippes contributed to this story.) MUSCATINE, Iowa A Muscatine firefighter will soon be deployed with the U.S. Air Force Reserve, and says he is looking forward to the experience. Roy Patterson has been part of the reserves as a fire protection specialist for five years, focusing on aircraft rescue, fighting structure fires and medical training. Patterson grew up in Oakville, and as soon as he was old enough he joined the volunteer fire department. Turned out I really enjoyed it, he said. After working elsewhere for several years, he received training as a paramedic and began working for an ambulance service. Like Muscatine's fire department, Patterson said, many fire departments require their employees to be paramedics as well as firefighters, so he decided to pursue training. I had always wanted to join the military, he said. So I talked to a recruiter with the Air Force Reserve at that time and told him I was interested in being a firefighter. Patterson received more certifications and gained experience through the Department of Defenses fire academy. That got me a lot of certifications and stuff and better prepared me for a career in the fire service, he said. Now, after three years with the Muscatine Fire Department, Patterson will be heading to the Middle East as a firefighter with the Air Force Reserve. The whole experience is going to be pretty interesting to me when you bring a bunch of firefighters together from different countries, let alone different parts of the state or United States, youre bound to learn something and see some different things, he said. So Im really looking forward to that probably most of all. His wife and three sons, 8, 6 and 2 years old, will be waiting for him at home in Oakville as he is deployed for the first time. Working with the Muscatine Fire Department, Patterson said, has allowed him to hone his skills daily, rather than relying on his monthly and summer training with the Reserve. When you work for a department like Muscatine we have a pretty high call volume in relation to our size and the citys size so were pretty busy and any time youre out running calls and staying busy youre keeping up on your skills, he said. Mike Hartman, assistant chief and fire marshal with the Muscatine Fire Department, said the training Patterson received with the Air Force Reserve has also added to the department. Patterson, Hartman said, wrote the standard operating procedure for aircraft accidents for the Muscatine Fire Department. He was able to bring a lot of thoughts and ideas and procedures into our department as quite honestly people around here dont have that training and experience, our department, and by extension the community, has been able to reap some benefits, he said. Gary Ronzheimer, also with the Muscatine Fire Department, has served with the U.S. Navy Reserve overseas as well, and Hartman said while it is a downside for the city to lose men who serve for a time, their experience adds to the department as a whole. They really do bring a lot to our organization, he said. We are sad to see Roy ship out and we will be thinking of him often. An application by St. Paul the Apostle Catholic Church to have the city of Davenport vacate a full block of East Rusholme Street to the church is meeting stiff resistance by neighbors who say it will cause serious traffic and safety problems in other parts of the neighborhood. But before the Planning and Zoning Commission moves forward with the churchs application, Matt Flynn, senior planning manager for the city, said the city still needs to determine if that section of East Rusholme is needed. Were really jumping the gun, Flynn told the commission Tuesday after eight people spoke against the proposal. The city needs to determine how bad we need to keep this section of Rusholme Street a city street. Flynn said that 1,200 vehicles per day used that section of Rusholme, and it is a snow route. The section in question is the 900-1000 block of East Rushome Street, which separates St. Paul the Apostle Church from St. Paul the Apostle School. The church is located at 916 E. Rusholme St. The school is across the street at 1007 E. Rusholme St. The church was built in 1909; the school, in 1920. John Mahon, a member of St. Paul the Apostle Parish and an architect with Bracke Hayes Miller Mahon in Davenport, said church leaders have been envisioning a unified, cohesive campus, that also would make it safer for parents to drop off and pick up their children from the school, which currently has 475 students. One idea that has been discussed, Mahon said, would be to close the roadway from about 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. during school days, and then open it during the times when students are not present. By controlling the roadway, Mahon said, we can use it and get ourselves out of the alleys. Parents use adjacent alleys to drop off and pick up their children, which has become a concern of property owners because the vehicles block their garages. Among the neighbors speaking was Beverly Kiehn, who has lived in her Grand Court home for 60 years. She told the commission that her solution would be to build a bridge over Rusholme Street for the students and other pedestrians to use. Gary Schocker told the commission that he and his wife, Susan, live on Grand Court directly behind the school. They've had problems over the years getting into and out of their garage as parents drop off and pick up their kids. More important, he said is the safety of their two young grandchildren when they stay with them. Blocking off Rusholme Street during school hours, he said, likely will cause a huge increase in traffic on Grand Court, which is very narrow to begin with. And since many neighbors park their cars on the street, that will increase the chances of parked vehicles getting damaged and young children put in the path of danger, he said. Christopher Meyer, who also lives on Grand Court, said public access to Rusholme Street is needed. Closing it even for part of the day would create problems and offer little public good, he said. Even the private benefit to St. Pauls is minimal, he added. Davenport Alderman Rita Rawson, whose 5th Ward includes the school and church, said she she thinks that adding speed bumps such as the kind Genesis Medical Center-East Rusholme Street uses would help. Theyre not really bumps but just gradual rises that get your attention, Rawson said. The yellow florescent paint Genesis uses also gets ones attention, she added. Another meeting on the street vacation is scheduled for Jan. 17 before the Planning and Zoning Commission at City Hall. DAVENPORT Funeral services for Mary E. Sievert, 77, of Davenport, will be 11 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 7, 2017, at Holy Cross Lutheran Church in Davenport. Visitation will be 4-7 p.m. Friday at Cunnick-Collins Mortuary and an additional hour prior to services at the church. As a person of tremendous faith, Mary Elizabeth Sievert did her best to live spiritually and with a positive outlook during her recent bout with cancer, telling friends she believed God would help her overcome this illness. And so He has. On Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2016, Mary was called home to live in Gods eternal grace. Mary Elizabeth Sievert was born Sept. 23, 1939, in Charter Oak, Iowa, the only child born to Arthur and Bertha (Busboom) Sievert. Her father was a local undertaker and her mother was a teacher. Mary told of hiding while her father worked and always said that sparked her interest in science and chemistry. From her mother, Mary learned to love the profession of teaching. When Mary attended college and majored in chemistry, only 3 percent of the chemistry majors were women! She blossomed. After receiving her bachelors degree from Morningside College, Mary attended the University of Nebraska where she earned her masters degree. While a student, she not only taught freshman college chemistry but was also one of the youngest sorority housemothers. Her experiences in the classroom, as well as the mentoring of the young sorority members, confirmed Marys passion for teaching and mentoring. Mary was headed for her first teaching job in Ohio after finishing in Nebraska. As she told the story, she was practically engaged at the time and this first job was a very far distance apart for them to see each other. Mary heard of an opening in Davenport and called the school district to find out if it was still open. It was, and Mary informed the district that she was available for a few more days if they wanted her, otherwise she would head out to Ohio. The district snapped her up without in interview and hired her to teach chemistry at Central High School. In addition to teaching chemistry, Mary also taught the gifted and talented students as well as creating the first high school bridge club, which traveled and played in tournaments. She traveled with her students and exposed them to new environments and cultures. She was a chaperone like no other. In her later years, Mary served as one of the first female administrators in the district. At the request of her mother, Mary joined the local chapter of the American Association of University Women, where she served at all levels of the organization for well over 50 years. She was a life member. Under her tutelage, the local unit of Q-C Davenport Bettendorf Branch of AAUW has created the Contemporary and Pioneer Women in Business Awards plus grown several scholarship funds which are awarded annually. Mary constantly worked to make AAUW a growing, viable organization, helping to establish the Davenport-Bettendorf Branch as one of the earliest units to allow male graduates, as well as female, to join. Most members of the local branch were recruited by Mary. (If she invited you to lunch, you would end up accepting a position on a committee or as an officer ... everyone was invited to lunch eventually!) As Mary neared retirement, she decided that she needed to remain busy and established her own business Memorabilia Extraordinaire (MEO) that specializes in antiques. She did appraisals, buying and selling. Mary was a terrific, skilled dealmaker and she knew it. Her love of animals is legendary. Who else could befriend a feral cat like Tippy Thomas? The rest of the neighborhood saw the cat on occasion but it would have nothing to do with them. Marys feral pet knew her schedule and guarded her house. It takes a special person with special love to be able to do that. Perhaps Marys greatest legacy is her mentoring. She encouraged and supported us, making everyone produce their best efforts. Anyone who encountered Mary is a better person due to her friendship and love. She was one of a kind. Mary is survived by her companion, JP Whitaker; first cousin, Jake Sievert; first cousin, Barbara Busboom-Werkle as well as several second cousins and many friends. She was preceded in death by her parents and her dear friends, Cathy Berta, John Miller, Katherine Busboom-Magrath and Theodore Busboom. Online memories and condolences may be left at Cunnick-Collins.com. Sub-zero temperatures draw a sizable number of bald eagles to Quad-City area locks and dams along the Mississippi River corridor. The predators launch their annual return in search of open, warmer water and fish. Dams create turbulence below the surface of the river, which in turn, keeps pockets of water from freezing. Additionally, experts say wooded areas that overlook the water provide excellent roosting habitats for the migrating wildlife. "If you can find open water and trees in the same proximity, you're probably going to find eagles," said Curt Kemmerer, a Maquoketa-based wildlife biologist for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. Generally, Kemmerer noted, eagles have learned to tolerate human activity in urban settings that provide adequate food sources. Weather permitting, bald eagles could remain in the area through February. As warm weather arrives, most eagles will begin their journey back to northern Minnesota, Wisconsin and Canada for the nesting season, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. 1. Patience is key. You are more likely to see eagles if you have the time to spend. 2. Arrive early. Bald eagles are most active from sunrise to 11 a.m. when they feed along open water. They will return to roosting areas in the afternoon. 3. Stay still and quiet. 4. Check the weather. Eagles prefer clear, cold mornings. 5. Dress accordingly. Wear layers so you can shed your outer clothing as the day heats up. Bring a hat or earmuffs for your head and gloves or mittens for your hands. Comfortable boots also are recommended. 6. Find an area where eagles are accustomed to human activity. Along roadways, eagles are usually accustomed to automobiles. 7. In your vehicle, maintain a distance of 100 yards; On foot, keep a distance of 300 yards. 8. Keep your pet on a leash in viewing areas. 9. Bring binoculars and telephoto lenses for best viewing. 10. For the best shots, head to the riverfront walkway at Lock and Dam 14 near LeClaire, a spot some wildlife enthusiasts have coined a "national treasure." The Rapid City man accused of killing one man and injuring two others Sunday with a bayonet attachment to a firearm faces a cash-only bond of $100,000. In Rapid Citys first homicide of 2017, Joseph David Rich, 26, was charged Tuesday in Seventh Judicial Court with second-degree murder. Prosecutors said Rich used the gun and bayonet in the fatal stabbing of Juan Legarda Jr., 21, a couple of hours into the new year. Rich is also facing two counts of aggravated assault for injuring Trevor Chief Bear and Bradley Randall in the same incident, according to court proceedings. Deputy State's Attorney Emily Lessin told Magistrate Judge Scott Bogue that Rich admitted to stabbing or shooting the victims. Police said they found Legarda, of Rapid City, dead at a home in the 300 block of East Adams Street around 2 a.m. Sunday. Also found at the scene were Chief Bear and Randall, who were taken to Rapid City Regional Hospital for treatment of shooting or stabbing injuries. Rich was arrested later that day in a residence on the same street. Second-degree murder carries a mandatory life sentence, and each count of aggravated assault is punishable by up to 15 years in prison. It was Lessin who asked for a high bond amount, citing concerns for the surviving victims safety since they lived only a few houses away from Rich. Rich, appearing in court via video linkup from the Pennington County Jail, asked for a lower bond so he could work to support his 7-year-old daughter. Rich told Bogue that his primary goal was to keep working and take care of my baby. He was dressed in a red-striped jail uniform, indicating he has been segregated from the general inmate population. Besides setting Rich's bond, Bogue ordered him not to have any contact with Chief Bear or Randall. The judge also set a $500 bond on each of Richs three misdemeanor cases from 2008, 2009 and 2013, for which he had outstanding warrants. This story has been updated to correct Rich's bond amount. It is $100,000 in cash only, not $150,000 as previously stated. Chilly and downright cold weather has slowed some progress, but the I-90 Exit 14 in Spearfish is nearing a change in traffic patterns. Belle Fourche Area Engineer Tammy Williams said Tuesday that traffic patterns onto the new bridge are expected to change within the next few weeks. The contractor, Heavy Constructors, Inc., of Rapid City, continues work on the project depending on weather conditions. Snow and cold worked slowed progress both for workers and to cure new concrete. Williams said, "They've got the tie-ins on either end complete; they're just waiting for the concrete to gain strength." When that's ready, she said "in the next couple weeks," traffic over the Interstate will be moved onto the east half of the new bridge. The overall completion date for the $28 million project is June 1, 2018. Colorado Boulevard had new eastbound and turn lanes reopened to traffic before Christmas, but traffic continued to be one lane in each direction. The speed limit is still reduced to 35 miles per hour through the project area. The purpose of the project is to replace the existing I-90 Exit 14 Interchange in Spearfish, with a new single point interchange to improve traffic flow, improve access, and increase safety. It includes lowering the interstate for improved vertical clearance, and new concrete pavement; realigning 27th Street to the east so that it lines up with itself at the south end; realigning Highway 14A/Colorado Blvd. to the north 4. Installing raised medians to control access; installing new traffic signals at 27th Street and Highway 14A/Colorado Blvd and installing new traffic signals at 27th Street and 1st Avenue Do you know the connection between the last official document signed by President Abraham Lincoln and Nebraska? Its a little known fact that the last official document President Lincoln signed right before his death reappointed Nebraskas territorial Governor. That document is on display at the Nebraska State Historical Society. This and other fun facts about Nebraskas history will be highlighted through one of four new initiatives unveiled ahead of Nebraskas sesquicentennial birthday. Get ready to celebrate because Nebraskas big birthday is right around the corner! On March 1, 2017, well be celebrating 150 years of statehood for the Good Life. Over the past two years, my wife Susanne has been working with Nebraskans across the state to put together 13 programs and events to help us celebrate all year long. In their planning, Susanne and her team had three major goals: bridge communities, connect Nebraskans, and enhance state pride. This week, Susanne and I hosted a launch event for the sesquicentennial at the State Capitol where we unveiled four web-based programs to get the celebration underway. The first program is the Nebraska Impact Initiative, which challenges Nebraskans to volunteer 150 hours or more either as an individual or as part of a group in 2017. Utilizing an online platform at www.nebraskaimpact.com, the initiative allows participants to register, discover volunteer opportunities, connect with other Nebraskans, and track progress. Through the website and social media, the Nebraska150 Celebration will recognize Nebraskans who participate and highlight communities, schools, and non-profit organizations that are impacted. This initiative is a partnership between the Nebraska150 Celebration and ServeNebraska, the states commission focused on encouraging service and volunteerism. This year, Nebraska ranked sixth in the nation for volunteerism, and the commission has set a goal of making Nebraska number one. Second is the Nebraska150 Challenge, an online fitness program that strives to make fitness fun by motivating and assisting Nebraskans to reach the goal of moving 150 miles or more in 2017. Through an interactive website, www.ne150challenge.com, individuals and groups will register and document miles for walking, running, biking, swimming, kayaking, skateboarding, jump roping, or almost any type of exercise. An online physical activity converter helps participants easily turn their preferred exercise into miles. Participants will track their progress and earn virtual badges at certain milestones. Our family is participating in the fitness challenge together. I regularly ride my bike and Susanne is a runner. Along with the kidsand even Olive, our family hedgehogwe are logging our miles. We hope you will do the same! The third program we launched is a series of engaging video shorts on our states history called Now You Know Nebraska. Throughout the course of the school year in 2017, Nebraska150 Celebration will release 174 videos, which educators, families, and all Nebraskans can utilize to learn more about our states rich history. Each video will be one to two minutes, and will showcase some of the states most compelling, entertaining, and appealing stories and facts. The videos will be released at www.ne150.org/nowyouknow and via YouTube. Finally, we launched I Am Nebraska, an oral history project that invites citizens of all ages to share their Nebraska experience via social media. Participants can record a short video and upload it to their own Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram accounts under the hashtag I Am Nebraska (#IAmNebraska). The Nebraska150 Celebration will pull together submissions and feature some on its website, www.iamnebraska.com. Participants can find instructions on how to produce their videos at those sites as well as watch sample videos. At the end of the year, highlights from the submissions will be shared with the Nebraska State Historical Society for preservation. Ive recorded my own video, which you can watch by visiting www.facebook.com/GovernorPeteRicketts or www.twitter.com/GovRicketts. Susanne and I invite you to join our family in participating in these challenges and activities. This is just the beginning of the celebrationthere is a lot more in the works! This anniversary is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the entire state to come together to celebrate how much the Good Life has grown over the last century and a half. Throughout 2017, follow updates on the sesquicentennial celebration by visiting www.ne150.org. As always, you are welcome to contact my office by emailing pete.ricketts@nebraska.gov or by calling 402-471-2244. In the New Year, my administration will continue our efforts to help Nebraska grow and thrive as the best place in the world to live, work, and raise a family. We value your feedback! 02 The Fall River Board of County Commissioners met in regular session at the Fall River County Courthouse in the second floor courtroom. Present: Michael Ortner, Joe Falkenburg, Joe Allen, Deb Russell and Sue Ganje, County Auditor. Ann Abbott was absent. The Pledge of Allegiance was given and the meeting called to order at 9:00 AM. The agenda was reviewed for conflicts; no conflicts were noted. ALL MOTIONS RECORDED IN THESE MINUTES WERE BY UNANIMOUS VOTE, UNLESS OTHERWISE STATED. Motion by Russell, seconded by Falkenburg to approve the agenda as written. Motion by Falkenburg seconded by Russell to approve the minutes of November 22, 2016. Motion by Falkenburg, seconded by Allen to approve CP2016-15 request for $20.00 in gasoline with repayment as soon as able. Motion by Falkenburg seconded by Allen to deny the preauthorized indigent funeral costs on CP2016-16 as much information was declined to provide by the party requesting assistance. Motion by Russell, seconded by Falkenburg to set the supplement and contingency transfer for December 29, 2016 at 9:05 am. Motion by Falkenburg, seconded by Russell to set the hearing for Fall River Housing & Redevelopment Committee letters of interest for December 20, 2016 at 9:30 am. Motion by Russell, seconded by Allen to approve the union raise for Anthony Monroe to $14.08 per hour, effective November 21, 2016. Motion by Russell, seconded by Allen to approve the union raise for Lyle Norton to $18.08 per hour, effective approximately December 8, 2016. Motion by Falkenburg, seconded by Russell to approve the consultant contract for the community health nurse with the South Dakota Department of Health and authorized the Chairman to sign. Dustin Ross of Andersen Engineering met with the Board to present five plats. Motion by Falkenburg, seconded by Russell to approve the following Plat; FALL RIVER COUNTY RESOLUTION #2016-31 WHEREAS, there has been presented to the County Commissioners of Fall River County, South Dakota, Greene Tract in section 30, T7S, R6E, BHM, Fall River County, South Dakota, containing the NW 150 of Lot 3 of lot h-3 Tract Fred B. Hackett, WHEREAS, it appearing to this Board that the system of streets conforms to the system of streets of existing plats and section lines of the county; adequate provision is made for access to adjacent unplatted lands by public dedication or section line when physically accessible; all provisions of the County subdivision regulations have been complied with; all taxes and special assessments upon the property have been fully paid; and the plat and survey have been lawfully executed, NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that said plat is hereby approved in all respects. Dated at Fall River County, South Dakota this 6th day of December, 2016 /s/ Michael P Ortner Michael P Ortner, Chair Fall River County Board of Commissioners ATTEST: /s/ Sue Ganje Sue Ganje, Fall River County Auditor Motion by Falkenburg, seconded by Russell to approve the following Plat; FALL RIVER COUNTY RESOLUTION #2016-32 WHEREAS, there has been presented to the County Commissioners of Fall River County, South Dakota, Shane Tract Located in the NE NE of section 12, T12S, R7E, Fall River County, South Dakota, WHEREAS, it appearing to this Board that the system of streets conforms to the system of streets of existing plats and section lines of the county; adequate provision is made for access to adjacent unplatted lands by public dedication or section line when physically accessible; all provisions of the County subdivision regulations have been complied with; all taxes and special assessments upon the property have been fully paid; and the plat and survey have been lawfully executed, NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that said plat is hereby approved in all respects. Dated at Fall River County, South Dakota this 6th day of December, 2016 /s/ Michael P Ortner Michael P Ortner, Chair Fall River County Board of Commissioners ATTEST: /s/ Sue Ganje Sue Ganje, Fall River County Auditor Motion by Falkenburg, seconded by Russell to approve the following Plat; FALL RIVER COUNTY RESOLUTION #2016-33 WHEREAS, there has been presented to the County Commissioners of Fall River County, South Dakota, Chad Tract located in the E NW of Section 18, T11S, R8E, Fall River County, South Dakota, WHEREAS, it appearing to this Board that the system of streets conforms to the system of streets of existing plats and section lines of the county; adequate provision is made for access to adjacent unplatted lands by public dedication or section line when physically accessible; all provisions of the County subdivision regulations have been complied with; all taxes and special assessments upon the property have been fully paid; and the plat and survey have been lawfully executed, NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that said plat is hereby approved in all respects. Dated at Fall River County, South Dakota this 6th day of December, 2016. /s/ Michael P Ortner Michael P Ortner, Chair Fall River County Board of Commissioners ATTEST: /s/ Sue Ganje Sue Ganje, Fall River County Auditor Motion by Russell, seconded by Allen to approve the following Plat; FALL RIVER COUNTY RESOLUTION #2016-34 WHEREAS, there has been presented to the County Commissioners of Fall River County, South Dakota, Shanna Tract located in the NW of NW of Section 29, T10S, R8E, Fall River County, South Dakota, WHEREAS, it appearing to this Board that the system of streets conforms to the system of streets of existing plats and section lines of the county; adequate provision is made for access to adjacent unplatted lands by public dedication or section line when physically accessible; all provisions of the County subdivision regulations have been complied with; all taxes and special assessments upon the property have been fully paid; and the plat and survey have been lawfully executed, NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that said plat is hereby approved in all respects. Dated at Fall River County, South Dakota this 6th day of December, 2016. /s/ Michael P Ortner Michael P Ortner, Chair Fall River County Board of Commissioners ATTEST: /s/ Sue Ganje Sue Ganje, Fall River County Auditor Motion by Falkenburg, seconded by Russell to approve the following Plat; FALL RIVER COUNTY RESOLUTION #2016-35 WHEREAS, there has been presented to the County Commissioners of Fall River County, South Dakota, Casey Tract located in the NE NE of Section 30, T10S, R8E, Fall River County, South Dakota, WHEREAS, it appearing to this Board that the system of streets conforms to the system of streets of existing plats and section lines of the county; adequate provision is made for access to adjacent unplatted lands by public dedication or section line when physically accessible; all provisions of the County subdivision regulations have been complied with; all taxes and special assessments upon the property have been fully paid; and the plat and survey have been lawfully executed, NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that said plat is hereby approved in all respects. Dated at Fall River County, South Dakota this 6th day of December, 2016. /s/ Michael P Ortner Michael P Ortner, Chair Fall River County Board of Commissioners ATTEST: /s/ Sue Ganje Sue Ganje, Fall River County Auditor Lyle Jensen, Building Supervisor met with the Board to request approval on a security grant. Discussion on costs and security followed. The grant would be a full reimbursement from Homeland Security for $9,860 for fifty panic buttons for the courthouse and $1,445.84 for Jail access control doors. Jensen also advised on jail building issues. Dan Cullen, Veterans Service Officer gave updates and presented the second and third quarter reports for 2016 to the Board. Ortner addressed the Board regarding the VA Hospital. Ortner stressed to Senator Thune that the hospital should keep the dialysis program going and urgent care clinic needs to remain open, even with use of local contractors. Cullen noted that the Save the VA group shows higher numbers of veterans in the surrounding area than the VA figure show. Melody Engebretson, Register of Deeds met with the Board to give an office update. Engebretson noted that Vella Birkland has been a great asset to her office. Engebretson also noted that E-Recording is live. Birth and Death certificates are going well, however fee income is down. The Register of Deeds and GIS are doing a review of plats. Nina Steinmetz, Weed & Pest Control met with the Board to discuss appointment of Cindy Brunson to the Weed & Pest Board as Heath Greenough is stepping down. Motion by Russell to appoint Cindy Brunson as a Weed Board member. Motion died for lack of a second. Steinmetz also made a travel request. Motion by Falkenburg, seconded by Allen to travel to the South Dakota Weed & Pest Conference in Huron, South Dakota February 21 to 24, 2017 and allow Weed & Pest Board members to ride in a County vehicle. Steinmetz is applying for a Common Mullein Grant from the State and two from South Dakota Forestry, division of resource conservation and forestry for a total of $48,490 to reimburse land owners and an $11,000 to Mosquito Grant. Weed & Pest has started to watch specific properties invasive weeds. Steinmetz plans to update the Board again after the Weed & Pest Conference. Frank Maynard of Emergency Management met with the Board. Maynard noted that there is a Homeland Security meeting in Rapid City this week. There is a new timeline for grants that requires submission by February and awards in March. Specs are needed from an electrical engineer to bid the basement generator. Maynard updated the Board on the repairs on Battle Mountain Road. The Rapid Tag printer will be arriving this week, and the emergency management cell phone is going to be upgraded. Randy Seiler, Highway Superintendent met with the Board. Motion by Falkenburg, seconded by Russell to approve fuel transfers to reimburse the highway department for fuel used or work as follows: Maintenance for $233.01; Weed & Pest for $207.51; Sheriffs Department for $1,655.66; Director of Equalization for $103.30 and Emergency Management for $93.64. Motion by Falkenburg, seconded by Abbott to approve low and only bid from Nelsons Oil and Gas for 8,000 gallons of dyed diesel at a price of $1.66 per gallon. Seiler noted that Red Canyon Bridge was finished and open and Seiler advised that Steve Simunek is working with South Dakota Game Fish and Park on Battle Mountain Road. Motion by Russell, seconded by Allen to approve bills as follows; GENERAL FUND: FIDELITY SEC. LIFE INS CO, EYE INSURANCE, 122.54; AMERICAN FAMILY, AMERICAN FAMILY ASSU, 225.04; ATCHLEY, CARL, ELECTION DAY TABULAT, 40.61; BEESLEY LAW OFFICE, MI, 788.50; BLACK HILLS ORTHO & SPINE, INMATE MEDICAL, 84.58; BOSTON MUTUAL LIFE INS, LIFE INSURANCE, 32.76; CARDMEMBER SERVICE, CARDMEMBERS SERV, 2,672.53; CASCADE FIRE DEPARTMENT, ELECTION DAY RENTAL, 25.00; CENTURY BUSINESS LEASING, COPIER LEASE, 151.99; CHEMSEARCH, SUPPLY, 256.22; CULLIGAN SOFT WATER, RENTAL/SUPPLY, 215.50; CHAMBERLAIN MCCOLLEYS, COUNTY POOR BURIAL, 3,500.00; DALES REPAIR, CAR MAINTENANCE, 50.00; DELTA DENTAL PLAN OF SD, DELTA DENTAL, 2,737.95; DEPT OF LEGISLATIVE AUDIT, LEGISLATIVE AUDIT, 17,420.00; EFTPS, PAYROLL TAXES, 44,032.30; EDGEMONT HERALD TRIB, PUBLICATION, 2,739.22; ENGEBRETSON, BOB, ELECTION DAY RIDE-A-, 12.83; EXECUTIVE MGMT FINANCE, BIT, 108.00; FALL RIVER HISTORICAL SOC, 2016 BUDGET ALLOTTME, 5,000.00; FALL RIVER CLINIC, INMATE MEDICAL, 553.90; FALL RIVER HEALTH, INMATE MEDICAL, 8,135.80; FR COUNTY TREASURER, NOV SERV CHARGE, 37.15; GREAT WESTERN TIRE, TIRES, 701.48; HEARTLAND PAPER COMP, SUPPLY, 39.68; HEAVY HIGHWAY FRINGE, INSURANCE FEES, 660.00; HILLS EDGE AUTO SALES, MAINTENANCE, 46.23; HILLYARD FLOOR CARE SUPP, SUPPLY, 283.36; HOT SPRINGS ACE, SUPPLY, 52.70; HOT SPRINGS AMBULANCE, INMATE MEDICAL, 350.06; CITY OF HOT SPRINGS, 4TH QTR FIRE SPRINKL, 24.00; IOWA LABORERS DISTRICT, HEALTH INSURANCE, 17,445.00; KATTERHAGEN, MARK, MI, 15.00; LIUNA LABORERS LOCAL 620, UNION DUES, 275.00; LEWNO, LUCY, MI, 148.96; MANLOVE PSYCHIATRY, MI, 41.67; NATIONWIDE RETIREMENT, NATIONWIDE RETIRE, 88.25; NEVES UNIFORM INC, UNIFORM ALLOWANCE, 107.90; NEW YORK LIFE INSURANCE, NEW YORK LIFE INS, 65.00; NORTONS SINCLAIR, REPAIR/MAINTENANCE, 100.00; NORTON,TINA, CONTRACT NURSE, 1,105.00; CHILD SUPPORT PAYMENT CNT, CHILD SUPPORT, 604.00; PENNINGTON COUNTY JAIL, INMATE TRANSPORT, 221.65; POWELL, DEBRA J, BLOOD DRAW, 35.00; RANCHERS FEED AND SEED, SUPPLY, 164.90; RAPID CITY JOURNAL (THE), PUBLICATION, 963.00; RUSSELL, DEBORAH, ELECTION DAY & SCHOO, 130.00; SANICHEM, SUPPLY, 380.00; SOUTH DAKOTA ST TREAS, SALES TAX, 112.23; SD RETIREMENT SYSTEM, SDRS CONTRIBUTION, 17,061.02; SERVALL, MATS/RUGS/UNIFORMS, 234.26; SPERLICH, PEGGY, ELECTION DAY & SCHOO, 130.00; SD SUPPLEMENT RETIRE, SDRS SUP RETIREMENT, 500.00; SWANDA, KAREN, MI, 15.00; TRUGREEN COMMERCIAL, CONTRACT LAWN SERIVC, 38.11; UNITED WAY BLACK HILLS, UNITED WAY DONATION, 20.00; WAXLER, MARY SUE, ELECTION ABSENTEE BO, 29.93; YANKTON CO. SHERIFF, CIVIL PAPERS, 50.00; DEVRIES, SHEILA, ELECTION ABSENTEE BO, 29.93; ZWETZIG, ANNE, ELECTION ABSENTEE BO, 21.38; SHARP, BARBARA, ELECTION ABSENTEE BO, 29.93; SCHROEDER, GWENDOLYN, ELECTION ABSENTEE BO, 25.65; THEILMANN, SHANE, ELECTION DAY RIDE-A-, 12.83; BEARD, IRENE, ELECTION DAY & SCHOO, 130.00; RAIL, JEANETTE, ELECTION ABSENTEE BO, 40.61; COATES, VIRGINIA, ELECTION DAY & SCHOO, 130.00; PINKLETON, GAIL, ELECTION DAY & SCHOO, 130.00; MARCH, THELMA, ELECTION ABSENTEE BO, 21.38; BRENNA, SUE, ELECTION DAY RESOLUT, 55.58; EVANGELISTA, JILL, ELECTION DAY & SCHOO, 130.00; BEHRENS, DONNA, MILEAGE REIMBURSE, 57.54; BURT, JANICE, ELECTION ABSENTEE BO, 25.65; HOWARD, JOAN, ELECTION ABSENTEE BO, 40.61; CRAWFORD, VAL, ELECTION DAY RESOLUT, 53.44; GARRISON, DONALD, ELECTION DAY & SCHOO, 130.00; BENSON, CONNIE, ELECTION DAY & SCHOO, 130.00; BIRKHOLT, FRANCES M, ELECTION DAY & SCHOO, 130.00; ANDERSEN, DONALD J, ELECTION DAY & SCHOO, 163.60; DINKEL, TRAYCE, ELECTION ABSENTEE BO, 40.61; BOWKER, ROBERTA, ELECTION DAY & SCHOO, 130.00; HORTON, SHIRLEY, ELECTION DAY & SCHOO, 151.84; KUNSMAN, PAULINE, ELECTION DAY & SCHOO, 130.00; BURROWS, MARY, ELECTION DAY & SCHOO, 130.00; THIES, JUDITH, ELECTION ABSENTEE BO, 25.65; STEARNS, FLORA, ELECTION DAY & SCHOO, 130.00; KOBER-ATKINS, LANA, ELECTION DAY INFO TA, 102.60; WESTBY, DIANA, ELECTION DAY & SCHOO, 115.00; JOHNSON, DIANNA, ELECTION DAY & SCHOO, 130.00; LUKENS, WILLIAM, ELECTION DAY & SCHOO, 130.00; VARICK, MARILYN, ELECTION ABSENTEE BO, 21.38; STOKES, FRANCES, ELECTION DAY & SCHOO, 130.00; MERKEL, GARY, ELECTION ABSENTEE BO, 34.21; RANKIN, LINDA, ELECTION DAY & SCHOO, 130.00; SALLES, VIOLET, ELECTION DAY & SCHOO, 130.00; COLSON, LINDA, ELECTION DAY & SCHOO, 130.00; THEILMANN, LAURIE, ELECTION TABULATION, 74.81; THIES, BRIAN, ELECTION ABSENTEE BO, 21.38; HICKS, LUELLA, ELECTION DAY & SCHOO, 130.00; ANDERSON, PAM J., ELECTION DAY & SCHOO, 130.00; BATCHELOR, LAURA ANN, ELECTION DAY & SCHOO, 130.00; SPILLANE, CHRISTA, ELECTION DAY & SCHOO, 130.00; BROWN, LEONA, ELECTION DAY & SCHOO, 115.00; FRAHM, DEBRA, ELECTION DAY & SCHOO, 130.00; LANDERS, BERNICE, ELECTION DAY & SCHOO, 135.88; LANDERS, DAVID, ELECTION DAY & SCHOO, 115.00; MCDERMAND, ANN R, ELECTION DAY & SCHOO, 130.00; MOWRY, LANA, ELECTION DAY & SCHOO, 130.00; REED, CYNTHIA, ELECTION DAY & SCHOO, 130.00; TAYLOR, YVONNE, ELECTION DAY & SCHOO, 130.00; MARTIN, MIRIAM, ELECTION DAY & SCHOO, 130.00; STRAUSER, GARRY, ELECTION DAY & SCHOO, 130.00; PETERSON, SARAH, ELECTION DAY & SCHOO, 130.00; PARK, SALLY, ELECTION DAY & SCHOO, 130.00; JOST, FLORENCE, ELECTION ABSENTEE BO, 21.38; TOTAL: $136,633.68 COUNTY ROAD & BRIDGE: FIDELITY SEC. LIFE INS CO, EYE INSURANCE, 80.66; AMERICAN FAMILY, AMERICAN FAMILY ASSU, 448.60; CARDMEMBER SERVICE, CARDMEMBERS SERVI, 93.55; DELTA DENTAL PLAN OF SD, DELTA DENTAL, 404.50; HEAVY HIGHWAY FRINGE, INSURANCE FEES, 35.00; RICOH USA INC, HWY DEPT COPIER LEAS, 75.00; IOWA LABORERS DISTRICT, HEALTH INSURANCE, 2,956.50; LIUNA LABORERS LOCAL 620, UNION DUES, 150.00; NATIONWIDE RETIREMENT, NATIONWIDE RETIRE, 73.53; SD RETIREMENT SYSTEM, SDRS CONTRIBUTION, 3,515.68; TOTAL: $7,933.02 EMERGENCY MGT: CARDMEMBER SERVICE, CARDMEMBERS, SERVICES, 157.95; DELTA DENTAL PLAN OF SD, DELTA DENTAL, 15.45; EFTPS, PAYROLL TAXES, 1,717.34; RAMKOTA HOTEL-PIERRE, TRAVEL/PIERRE EMG TR, 99.99; SD RETIREMENT SYSTEM, SDRS CONTRIBUTION, 569.26; TOTAL: $2,559.99 L.E.P.C. GRANT: PUDWILL, NORMAN, LEPC, 60.00; BASTIAN, TRACY, PILOT, 100.00; TOTAL: $160.00 24/7 SOBRIETY FUND: EFTPS, PAYROLL TAXES, 270.87; TOTAL: $270.87 COURTHOUSE BUILDING FUND: NORTONS SINCLAIR, REPAIR/MAINTENANCE, 15.00; TOTAL: $15.00 TOTAL FOR BILLS FROM 11/22/16 TO 12/5/16: $147,572.56 Break at 9:56 am, returned at 10:07 am. Public comment was held at 10:07 am. Susan Henderson of Edgemont spoke to the Board regarding Marsys Law expenses and Ag values of land. Carl Shaw, Edgemont Mayor spoke to the Board letting them know of the intention of the City of Edgemont to pay the entire past due balance of the Law Enforcement Contract. Ray Palmer of Hot Springs reported he is still attending meetings of the RC&D Board and will get information to the board on the next annual meeting. Susie Simkins, Director of Equalization met with the Board to give an update on her office. Commercial reassessment is done and preliminary numbers are in. Green cards notifying of new buildings or improvements are increasing. Discussion on income versus property tax followed. Board reviewed the 2016 budget expenses. Hearing held on Malt Beverage, Liquor and Wine License transfers was held as advertised. Motion by Falkenburg, seconded by Russell to approve the transfers as follows: Retail (on-off sale) Wine license from Coffee Cup Casino and Bar to H & H Enterprises, Inc. for license # RW-19689; the Retail Liquor license from Coffee Cup Casino & Bar to H & H Enterprises, Inc for license # RL-6192 and the Malt Beverage (on-off sale) license from Coffee Cup Casino & Bar to H & H Enterprises for license # RB-2632. Public hearing for supplement and contingency transfers was held as advertised. Motion by Russell, seconded by Allen to approve the following resolution; FALL RIVER COUNTY RESOLUTION #2016-30 Supplemental Budget 2016, #3 Contingency Transfers 2016, #3 WHEREAS, SDCL 7-21-22 provides that the Board of County Commissioners may adopt a supplemental budget and whereas, due and legal notice has been given, the following Supplemental Budget to the Calendar Year to the following General fund (expenses): Auditor Salary 10100x4110141 $10,000.00 (Payment from Oglala Lakota County as means of finance), Auditor FICA 10100x4120141 $765.00 (Payment from Oglala Lakota County as means of finance), Auditor Retirement 10100x4130141 $600.00 (Payment from Oglala Lakota County as means of finance), Treasurer Salary 10100x4110142 $10,000.00 (Payment from Oglala Lakota County as means of finance),Treasurer FICA 10100x4120142 $765.00 (Payment from Oglala Lakota County as means of finance), Treasurer Retirement 10100x4130142 $600.00 (Payment from Oglala Lakota County as means of finance), Register of Deeds Salary 10100x4110163 $2,700.00 (Payment from Oglala Lakota County as means of finance), Register of Deeds FICA 10100x4120163 $206.55 (Payment from Oglala Lakota County as means of finance), Register of Deeds Retirement 10100x4130163 $162.00 (Payment from Oglala Lakota County as means of finance), Director of Equalization Salary 10100x4110162 $2700.00 (Payment from Oglala Lakota County as means of finance), Director of Equalization FICA 10100x4120162 $206.55 (Payment from Oglala Lakota County as means of finance), Director of Equalization Retirement 10100x4130162 $162.00 (Payment from Oglala Lakota County as means of finance), Extension Equipment 10100x4340611 $210.00 (Reimbursement for copies from the State as means of finance), Prisoners Board 10100x4261212 $66,107.00 (Cash as means of finance) and WHEREAS, SDCL 7-21-32.2 provides that the Board of County Commissioners may adopt a transfer appropriation from the contingency budget to other appropriations, which are insufficient, a contingency transfer shall be approved and adopted as follows to the General Fund: Commissioner Insurance 10100x4210111 $7,890.00, Election Salary 10100x4110120 $11,079.00, Data Processing 10100x4260143 $12,690.00, Court Appointed Attorney 10100x4260153 $18,415.00, Abuse & Neglect 10100x4260154 $2,074.00, Mental Illness Board 10100x4221445 $819.00, Prisoners Board 10100x4261212 $18,033.00, and NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED by the Board of County Commissioners to adopt the Supplemental Budget, #3 and Contingency Transfer #3 for 2016. Dated at Fall River County, South Dakota this 6th day of December, 2016. /s/ Michael P. Ortner Michael P. Ortner, Chair Fall River County Board of Commissioners ATTEST: /s/ Sue Ganje Sue Ganje, Fall River County Auditor Motion by Falkenburg, seconded by Allen to move to executive session for legal and personnel matters as per SDCL 1-25-2 (3) and (1) at 11:10 for Union Negotiation. Board came out of executive session at 11:26 am. Motion by Russell, seconded by Abbott to adjourn at 11:26 am. /s/ Michael P Ortner Michael P Ortner, Chairman Board of Fall River County Commissioners ATTEST: /s/ Sue Ganje Sue Ganje, Fall River County Auditor Published once at the total approximate cost of $228.83. Jan. 3 September 2, 1952 January 1, 2017 Lora Mae Michael, age 64, of Hot Springs, passed away January 1, 2017, at the Rapid City Regional Hospital in Rapid City. Lora was born September 2, 1952, at the Seven Sisters Hospital in Hot Springs to John William and Vivian Marie (Saxton) Michael, and raised in Fall River County. She graduated from the Hot Springs High School in 1970, and then attended National College of Business in Rapid City for two years. Lora worked for Sprint in San Francisco for 8 years as a Corporate Librarian, also worked part-time at the Backdoor Steakhouse in the San Francisco Airport. She was a major San Francisco 49ers fan and San Francisco Giants fan. During her high school years, Lora worked part-time at Farrens Gas Station (where Nortons 66 is located now), and Char Chief as a waitress (where China Buffet is now located), was a seasonal secretary at Angostura Recreation Area in the early 90s, helped build Cottonwood Dam right after high school graduation as a Flagger for the summer. Lora was owner and manager of Vivian Mobile Home Court since 1996. Lora worked part time in the Register of Deeds Office, as a Deputy, at the Fall River County Court House in Hot Springs, for nearly 24 years. Lora successfully owned and operated The Mutt House since October 1991, accepting all breeds of cats and dogs to groom and board, until her health problems began in early 2016. In September 2012, Lora along with Cheryl Fair and Delores Aul, started Cats Meow Feline Rescue, a no kill rescue center for cats, which she managed. Cats and kittens were available for adoption through Pet Finders and Facebook. They spayed and neutered 525 cats and 296 cats were adopted through November 30, 2016, when the rescue center was ended after Loras illness. Lora married Steve Papendick September 9, 2016; however, they first exchanged vows on September 9, 2009. Lora enjoyed life, and could look back on her life with no regrets! Riding motorcycles in the Black Hills, going to numerous theater productions in the area, and she truly had a great passion for all animals, especially dogs and cats. She is survived by her husband, Steven Papendick of Hot Springs, and brother, Lacy (Theresa) Michael of Gillette, Wyo.; mother-in-law, Joyce Papendick of Rapid City; brothers-in-law, Dennis Papendick of Hot Springs, Randy (Linda) Papendick of Rapid City; sister-in-law, Eileen (Tom) Armstrong of Omaha, Neb.; Lora is preceded in death by her parents, Vivian (1986) and John (1995); and her sister, Linda Patton (2010). Per her request no services will be held. A memorial has been established in Loras name to benefit Best Friends, 5001 Angel Canyon Road, Kanab, UT 87741-5000. Arrangements have been placed in the care of Chamberlain McColleys Funeral Home in Hot Springs. DEADWOOD | A man who fell while helping to take down the giant ball that drops for the annual New Year's Eve event in downtown Deadwood remained in critical condition Tuesday night at Rapid City Regional Hospital. Walter Tracy Ford, 64, of Nebraska, suffered life-threatening injuries shortly before noon Sunday when he slipped on the towering Franklin Hotel veranda, Deadwood Police Chief Kelly Fuller said Tuesday. They were attempting to dismantle that ball and take it down, Fuller said. In the process of doing that, it appears he slipped and fell approximately 30 feet to the street below. Its a terrible tragedy to fall that far. Police and emergency medical personnel responded and, after treating Ford, took him by ambulance to a landing zone a few miles northeast of Deadwood on U.S. Highway 14A. From there he was airlifted to Regional Hospital, Fuller said. A spokeswoman for Regional Health said Tuesday night that Ford remained in critical condition. Silverado/Franklin Historic Gaming Complex Managing Partner Tom Rensch said his firm has engaged the Scottsbluff-based Fire in the Sky Professional Indoor and Outdoor Fireworks Display Co. to help stage the elaborate ball drop every year since his firm bought the Franklin Hotel in 2005. We have always found them to be very professional and wonderful people, and theyve become part of the Silverado/Franklin family, Rensch said Tuesday. This years celebration was huge; it was epic. After hosting what Rensch estimated was a crowd of more than 2,000 revelers who helped ring in the New Year at midnight Saturday, the crew arrived Sunday morning to dismantle the giant ball when tragedy struck. Our well wishes and prayers for a speedy recovery go out to Walter, Rensch said. This was an unfortunate accident that has cast a shadow of sadness for us, Walters family and friends, and all of his co-workers. The Indian Express - December 21, 2016 The quiet fighter Anupam Mishra wrote with insight and creativity about peasants, pastoralists and the sustainable use of water. by Ramachandra Guha Rana Dasgupta ends Capital, his fine, sometimes searing portrait of 21st century Delhi, with a walk he took with an environmental scholar through the cityas northern reaches. The environmentalist explained to the writer how Delhias water system had once worked, based on the retention of rainwater through an intricate network of tanks and canals. Before the British came, said the scholar, the life of Delhi was centred around the Yamuna, with festivals and water games. However, the capital of the Raj and of independent India treated the river merely as a sink for its wastes. And it had built over the tanks that the more far-seeing citizens of the earlier generations had constructed. The Yamuna that now flows past Delhi is biologically (as well as culturally) dead. The scholar who took Dasgupta for a walk told him that aeveryone has turned their backs on the river in obedience to the modern city, and so it is filthy and forgottena . He also remarked, aIf our prime minister had to immerse himself in the Yamuna every year, it would be a lot cleaner than it is nowa . The environmentalist who thus educated Dasgupta was named Anupam Mishra. Mishra who died of cancer on Monday morning, aged 68, was a in the words of Gopalkrishna Gandhi a an intellectual without a trace of snobbery, an activist who was never judgemental about what others did or did not do. He was an altogether remarkable man, who embodied both the best of what Indian scholarship can offer, as well as a Gandhism that is utterly relevant to the 21st century. That Mishra was not as well known as he might have been a across India or abroad a was a consequence of his choosing to stay away from the language of power and fame. He knew English quite well, but decided to be resolutely monolingual in his own work. There may have been three reasons for this. First, he was the son of a celebrated Hindi poet, Bhawani Prasad Mishra, and did not want to repudiate that legacy. Second, once he had chosen to write in Hindi, he had to wholly immerse himself in that linguistic world to be able to communicate effectively. Third, and perhaps the most important, since he wrote about the lifestyles and living practices of peasants and pastoralists in northern India who themselves spoke some variety of Hindi, it seemed more appropriate to write his own books and essays in that language. (Apart from a TED talk which has had close to 8,00,000 viewers , Mishraas work was done almost entirely in Hindi. Some of his recent writings are available at http://www.mansampark.in) The first book of Mishra I read (it may have been the first he wrote) was a short but extremely insightful study of the Chipko Andolan, written in collaboration with Satyendra Tripathi. It was published in the late 1970s, based on fieldwork in the villages of the upper Alaknanda Valley where Chipko was born. The book paid due attention to the efforts and vision of Chipkoas leader, Chandi Prasad Bhatt, while also documenting the contributions of peasants, both men and women, who were the backbone of what was to become the most celebrated (as well as the most misunderstood) environmental movement in the non-Western world. In the 1980s, Mishra turned his attention to water conservation and management. He realised that water, not oil, was the key to a sustainable future for India and the world. (As he put it in his TED talk, water is the centre of life.) He saw the callous treatment of water all around him, the pollution of rivers by careless city dwellers and the reckless depletion of groundwater aquifers by farmers with electric-powered tubewells. So, he began documenting the indigenous systems of water harvesting that were rooted in community control and based on a careful understanding of the local landscape. He focused on Rajasthan, a desert environment with negligible natural rainfall, yet with a rich and still often extant network of wells and tanks. Based on research conducted over many years, he published a series of books and pamphlets in Hindi, whose titles a Rajasthan ki rajat boondein and Aaj bhi khare hain talaab a suggested that the modern man had much to learn from his predecessors, those he tended to condemn as stupid or backward. I knew Mishra mostly through his work. I met him rarely, yet every encounter was either uplifting or transformative, sometimes both. In the 1980s, I went to consult him for my own doctoral research on the Chipko Andolan. In the 1990s, when I was a fellow of the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library (NMML), I invited Mishra to give a talk around his book Aaj bhi khare hain talaab. The NMML, then led by the visionary Ravinder Kumar, was at the height of its glory, the very centre of Indian intellectual life, patronised by famous foreign scholars too. Here, through his understated words in Hindi and his arresting slides, Mishra delivered what was one of the most compelling talks ever heard at the NMML, its echoes resounding in conversations in the corridors for weeks afterwards. A decade later, I heard Mishra speak at a meeting celebrating the work of Chandi Prasad Bhatt where, in a mere five or six minutes, he brilliantly summed up the essence of Bhattas contributions to Gandhian thought and activism. Our last meeting was a few months ago, when I went to call on him on hearing he had cancer. He was suffering visibly, yet spoke as softly and with as much depth as ever. With us was his young collaborator Sopan Joshi, who has, in recent years, done much to make Mishraas work reach a new generation. Asked to identify five individuals who have contributed the most to the environmental movement in modern India, I would name the activists Chandi Prasad Bhatt and Medha Patkar, the scientist Madhav Gadgil, the journalist Anil Agarwal, and Anupam Mishra. Of these five, Mishra is by far the least-known, even among the environmental community. This is a consequence of the choices he made, personal as well as linguistic, by stressing reconstruction rather than protest, and by writing in Hindi rather than English. We should remember Anupam Mishra for his substance, for writing with such insight and sensitivity about the resource most critical to our lives, yet one we so wantonly abuse a water. And we should remember him for his style a no boasting, no bombast, merely steady, solid work based on research and understanding, rather than ideology or prejudice. Ramachandra Guhaas most recent book is aDemocrats and Dissentersa o o o scroll. in - 27 December 2016 Chipko movement to water conservation: Anupam Mishra leaves behind a rich legacy of knowledge The 68-year-old Gandhian died on December 19, after a long and painful battle against cancer. by Harsh Mander Gently and with the quiet dignity that characterised the way he lived his entire life, Anupam Mishra left the world on December 19, 2016. He was 68, felled after a long and painful battle against cancer. He leaves behind a massive and fertile legacy of knowledge distilled from centuries-old indigenous folk wisdom, about the ways that we must live with our planet if our world and we are to survive. I was privileged to know Anupam Mishra from the days of the Emergency, more than 40 years ago. The Gandhi Peace Foundation in Delhi in those days was a hub of resistance to the Emergency, and also a nucleus for the propagation and generation of Gandhian ideas. As a university student and for some years after, I volunteered with the foundation. Anupam Mishra had joined it a few years earlier, and he became in those days a close friend and thoughtful guide. I knew rural India too little at that time, except from books. With his encouragement and direction, I began to travel, and spent a few years trying to experience and understand Indiaas rural people and life, and also the intolerable inequities and deprivations that characterised our countryside. These were the initial years of my politicisation. I was attracted to the ideas of the Left, but also to Gandhi. Many of my learnings and insights about Gandhi came from long conversations with Anupam. He had immersed himself in the Lohia movement after his post-graduate studies in Sanskrit in Hindu College, Delhi University, and volunteered to work with the towering Jayaprakash Narayanas campaign for the voluntary surrender of dacoits of the Chambal valley. This charismatic movement caught the imagination of the country at that time, because it powerfully demonstrated the application of Gandhian ideas to crime and punishment, building on the possibility of reform of even dreaded criminals through a change of heart. This association led to Anupamas first book, Chambal Ke Bandooke, Gandhi Ke Charanon Me, written with journalist Prabhash Joshi and Shravan Kumar Garg. The book is out of print, but I could find an extract: a(T)he Chambal Valley a a placea enough to strike terror in oneas heart a for this area has, through the ages, been an ideal sanctuary for people who, for various reasons, have turned outlaws. The martial background of the people, their fight against alien invaders and rulers, and the immense socio-economic disparities, have combined to produce rebels or abaghisa a a name also given to the dacoitsa In 1971a Jagroop Singh, an emissary of Madho Singh, another notorious dacoita traced JP [Jayaprakash Narayan] to Patna. In spite of his preoccupations and ill health, JP, sensing a genuine change of heart and desire to solve the problem of dacoity, agreed to take up the challenge. Hea issued an appeal on 13 December 1971, advising them to surrender, requesting the community to open its doors for their peaceful return to normal life and the government to consider their cases sympathetically. For six months, JP conducted his aOperation Persuasiona not as a spiritual leader but as a social worker. Except for the dare-devil Madho Singh, his contacts with the dacoits were through the Chambal Ghati Shanti Mission. Assisted by Pandit Lokman Dikshit, and Tehsildar Singh (ex-dacoits) and Madho Singh they worked day and night, not caring about their personal safety. The dacoits had to be traced in their hideouts, deep in the jungles and ravines. The Madhya Pradesh police had created an undeclared peace zone to make mobilisation easier. JP came into personal contact with the dacoits when he camped at the Pagara Dak Bungalow 70 kilometres away from Gwalior and situated atop a hill. The dacoits with their families had been camping in the village of Dhorera down the hill. Dhorera, an otherwise sleepy village, won world-wide fame almost overnight. The first to come to meet JP was Mohar Singh who carried the highest reward of Rs 2 lakh on his head. The government was sceptical about his desire to surrender because, unlike Madho Singhas, his gang was intact and he was equipped with most modern arms. He told JP that his only condition for surrender was that he should be the first! The dacoits formally surrendered in batches at the Mahatma Gandhi Seva Ashram in Joura, on 14 and 16 April 1972. Thousands watched them lay down their arms in front of a portrait of Gandhiji, and cheered them as they shouted aMahatma Gandhi ki Jaia, aVinobaji ki Jaia, aJaiprakashji ki Jaia. A wave of relief seemed to sweep the Valley of Terror.a Forest hero During the years that we spent together at the Gandhi Peace Foundation, Anupam Mishra was greatly drawn to the Chipko Andolan led by Chandi Prasad Bhatt. With Satyendra Tripathi, he wrote The Chipko Movement, which was very influential in bringing to the attention of both India and the world at large this unique movement for ahugging the treesa . In this evocative and effective form of mass non-violent resistance, women and men demanded that if a tree was to be felled, they should be cut down with it. The carefully researched account described for the rest of the world this incipient eco-feminist mass movement of forest conservation that began in 1973. This went on to establish a precedent and a model for non-violent protest in India, as well as for many later environmental movements all over the world. Their account of this mass movement inspired many eco-groups around the world to fight deforestation, expose forest mafia, enhance ecological awareness and, above all, demonstrate the strength and weight of non-violent and grounded peopleas movements and struggles. Their reports highlighted, especially, the role of women as the backbone and also the mainstay of such struggles a women were the ones most affected by rampant deforestation because it resulted in shortages of firewood, fodder as well as water for drinking and farm irrigation, and ultimately added to the care and collection-based unpaid work burden on them. I left the Gandhi Peace Foundation to join the Indian Administrative Service in 1980, and since I spent my subsequent years mostly in far-off corners of Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, Anupam Mishra and I lost contact, although I remained informed and influenced by his work. After I finally returned to Delhi and especially after the Gujarat carnage of 2002, I became increasingly critical of the foundation and Gandhians in general for not taking as strong and outspoken a stand against communal politics as I would have hoped. The few times I discussed this with Anupam Mishra, he did not dismiss me as judgemental as many others did. He listened to me in his gentle, civilised way. Anupam Mishra remained for most of his adult life a staff member of the Gandhi Peace Foundation, serving several years at its helm as its secretary as well. He retired in 2007, but the foundation was not willing to let him go and he, therefore, continued to work with it until he left the world. Yet, as pointed out by his close friend Himanshu Thakkar, he rarely described himself as a Gandhian. He was and remained one of the most credible faces of the institution, which otherwise had its peaks and troughs over the years. He also edited for many years a leading journal of Gandhian thought called Gandhi Marg. Water warrior Anupam Mishra is, of course, best known for his work in discovering and chronicling traditional systems of water harvesting in water-scarce regions like Rajasthan. He celebrated the technical and environmental wisdom and skills of often non-literate creators and maintainers of these extraordinarily complex systems. His books, photographs, slides and talks about these have influenced two generations, not just of environmentalists but also students, engineers, social workers and thinking, concerned citizens. His writings on this subject have been translated into 19 languages from India and around the world, including Braille. His son Shubham, an architect, told me about his work in recent years unearthing and documenting traditional water conservation, storage and regeneration systems in Delhi, to which successive dynasties contributed. Each contributed to recharging the underground water table, and these flowed into a series of small streams and rivulets that crisscrossed the city and then all flowed into the Yamuna. But today, these rivulets are dirty nallahs, the Yamuna a receptacle of all of Delhias mostly untreated waste, and the city has recklessly built over its multitude of wells, tanks and water passages. Anupam Mishra could not live long enough to put these into a book, but his son is committed to collecting and putting up all of these, and indeed all his books, pictures and talks online as an open resource for future generations. It was a matter of principle for Anupam Mishra that all his books were without copyright, and this electronic resource will likewise be open-source. There are few people who have contributed more to our understanding of not just traditional water systems but also peopleas own knowledge carried over through the generations than Anupam Mishra. His enduring influences are both on Indian environmental movements and the democratisation of knowledge itself. Yet, he remained self-effacing, low-key, deeply committed to immersing himself in his chosen work with hard work, study and research. His criticism of modern science and technology and government systems was laced in irony and wit rather than anger and judgement. There are few men as gentle and civilised as him, a man who was at once authentic, reflective, a fighter, and democratic. His passing leaves a large empty space in Indiaas eco-democratic movements, which will be very hard to fill. Asian Human Rights Commission FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE AHRC-STM-001-2017 04 January 2017 Today, January 4, is the death anniversary of former Governor of Punjab Province Salman Taseer, who was killed in broad daylight by his own bodyguard in 2011, for appealing for the pardon of a Christian woman, Asia Bibi, who had been sentenced to death for allegedly insulting Prophet Muhammad. After his assassination, Salman Taseeras family continues to face the wrath of Islamic fundamentalists. His elder son, Mr. Shabaz Taseer, was abducted by the Taliban; he was only recovered later after remaining captive under the Taliban for four-and-a-half years. And, now another son of the same ill-fated family, Mr. Shan Taseer, has been targeted for posting a message on Facebook in which he criticized the nations blasphemy laws and voiced his support for its victims Nabeel Masih and Asia bibi. In his video message Shan has beseeched all Pakistanis to pray for victims of the draconian blasphemy law. A police case has been registered in Islampura Police Station, Lahore, on the grounds of "hate speech" because of his Christmas greetings and for him requesting fellow countrymen to pray for minority members being exploited by, what he called, the ainhumane blasphemy lawa . The case was registered under Section 295 A of Pakistan Penal Code, which states: aWhoever, with deliberate and malicious intention of outraging the religious feelings of any class of the citizens of Pakistan, by words, either spoken or written, or by visible representations insults the religion or the religious beliefs of that class, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to ten years, or with fine, or with both.a According to media reports, an FIR has been registered at Islampura Police Station against an aunidentifieda man in the video that was found in a USB in a parcel outside the Police Station. Since they donat know who the person was, they have therefore named an unknown person in the FIR. After writing messages on Twitter and Facebook, Shan Taseer, started receiving death threats, asking him to prepare for his death. According to Shan Taseer, the Sunni Tehreek, a fundamentalist Muslim organisation a the complainant in the case a has told their supporters to prepare another Mumtaz Qadri, aThey are sending me Mumtaz Qadrias photos with messages that there are several Mumtaz Qadris waiting for me,a he said. Mumtaz Qadri, the assassin of the former Governor, was sentenced to death, and he became the hero to fundamentalists for killing a ablasphemera . The police, knowing that no case can be made out against Shan, and in order to appease the angry fundamentalists, has had to file the case against an aunknowna person. This has further infuriated the Sunni Tehrek a who have threatened the State that if a case is not filed against Shan by 4 January 2017, the group will stage a public protest. The Taseer family has supported repeal of the blasphemy law and has raised voice against the atrocities meted out to the religious minority even at the cost of their lives. Shan is the latest target of fanatics. Pakistanas blasphemy laws, the notorious Section 295-A, violate the right to life; freedom of thought, conscience, and religion or belief; and freedom of opinion and expression. While it purports to protect religious sentiments a mainly those of the Muslim majority a it allows Muslim accused of blasphemy against other religion to go scot-free. According to a report by Amnesty International titled "As Good As Dead": The Impact of the Blasphemy Laws in Pakistan, aPakistanas blasphemy laws violate its international legal obligations to respect and protect the rights to life; freedom of thought, conscience, and religion or belief; freedom of opinion and expression; equality before the law; and the prohibition on discrimination. The laws are vaguely formulated, and enforced by the police, prosecutors, and judiciary in proceedings that often violate the right to fair trial, including the fundamental principle of presumption of innocence. The laws have been used to bring criminal charges against people without the intention to commit an offence, including people with mental disabilities, and children.a Traditionally blasphemy law has been used by the State to rein in potential political opponents, seculars and political dissenters. The non-State actors such as Sunni Tehrek, Ahle Sunnat Wal Jammat (ASWJ) and other fundamental religious groups are abetted and supported by the State to curb free speech. Many accused under the blasphemy law are not granted bail until their appeals are heard before the appellate courts. Several victims have spent years incarcerated, as they canat afford a lawyer. Many lawyers themselves complain that they are scared to defend cases involving a blasphemy accusation fearing dire repercussions from fundamental groups. The Supreme Court judgment in Malik Muhammad Mumtaz Qadri v. the State, 7 October 2015, held, aThe Majority of blasphemy cases are based on false accusations stemming from property issues or other personal or family vendettas rather than genuine instances of blasphemy and they inevitably lead to mob violence against the entire community.a The crack down on hate speech that was envisaged under the National Action Plan (NAP) has merely been limited to non-Muslims, particularly Ahmadis and Christians. The blasphemy law has legitimized mob violence, vigilantism, and persecution of minorities and intellectuals. At least 65 people, including lawyers, defendants, and judges, have been murdered over blasphemy allegations since 1990. Over 60 people accused of blasphemy have been murdered before their respective trials were completed. Prominent figures such as ex-Governor of Punjab Salman Taseer, Minister for Minority Affairs Shahbaz Bhatti, and Rashid Rehman, a prominent human rights lawyer who opposed the blasphemy law, have all been assassinated. A mere allegation of blasphemy is considered a license to kill; the alleged accused thus becomes a target and is forced to leave the country or go underground to flee the wrath of vigilante groups and individuals. The lack of religious cohesion and a country divided on religious fault lines has resulted in the State endorsing intolerance and allowing abuse of law for the majority to suit their ulterior motives. The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) condemns the registration of the blasphemy case against Shaan Taseer under hate speech by the State of Pakistan. Clearly the State is acting under pressure of the Sunni Tehreek to persecute Mr. Taseer for expressing solidarity with minority communities and for opposing hate speech. The State should establish its writ and protect its citizens against elements in society spreading hatred and threatening violence, rather than be complicit in regressive actions. SNc Channels: Search About Salem-News.com Jan-03-2017 20:30 TweetFollow @OregonNews Fatal Officer Involved Shooting Investigation Ongoing In Bend The two Bend Police Officers have been identified (BEND, Ore.) - On the night of December 23, 2016, the Bend Police Department conducted a traffic stop in the area of Bond and Franklin in Bend. During the contact, an altercation occurred with the vehicle's driver and at least one officer fired their weapon, resulting in the death of the driver. Detectives and forensic experts are continuing the investigation into this officer involved shooting. To date, the investigation has revealed at 10:26 p.m., Deschutes County 911 received calls of a white minivan driving erratically southbound on 3rd street in Bend, near Butler Market. At least two 911 callers identified the vehicle and the poor driving. That behavior included driving into snow banks, going sideways in the road, almost striking a bicyclist and other dangerous driving. The vehicle drove to the intersection of 3rd and Franklin where it began traveling westbound on Franklin after driving through the 7-11 parking lot. At approximately 10:30 p.m. a Bend Police Officer locates the vehicle traveling westbound on Franklin and conducts a traffic stop on the vehicle, a 2002 Dodge Caravan, which comes to a stop on Franklin just prior to Bond Street. During this stop a second officer arrives at the scene. The male driver was later identified as 31-year old Michael Tyler Jacques, from Bend. During this contact, Jacques did not cooperate and they attempted to place him under arrest. A Taser was deployed without any success. Following these failed attempts at arresting Jacques, at least one officer fired his duty weapon, shooting Jacques. Jacques was then removed from the vehicle by officers and first aid was rendered. Upon medical crews arriving on scene, Jacques was pronounced deceased at the scene. Neither of the two Bend Police Officers received any serious injuries. It is unknown at this time if Jacques was armed at the time of the incident as his vehicle has not yet been searched, pending a search warrant. The two Bend Police Officers have been identified as Officer Scott Schaier and Officer Marc Tisher. During this incident one or both of the officers deployed a Taser and Officer Schaier fired his handgun. Pursuant to Senate Bill 111 - Use of Deadly Force investigations - a multi-agency investigation is continuing now being reviewed by the Oregon Department of Justice. This includes agencies from the Deschutes County Sheriff's Office, Redmond Police Department, Sunriver Police Department, Madras Police Department, Warms Springs Police, Deschutes County District Attorney's Office, the OSP Criminal Investigations Division and the OSP Forensic Services Division. OSP has been assigned as the lead investigating agency. These investigations take time and more information will be released as soon as practical; understanding the need of public information and transparency but also weighing the integrity of the investigation. Any witnesses that have not yet spoken to law enforcement about this incident are urged to call OSP Detective James Koehler at 541-633-2215. Following this release no further information will be released until reviewing by a prosecuting attorney (in this case the Oregon Department of Justice) has reviewed the investigation, which is standard procedure in officer involved shootings. _________________________________________ Oregon | Fatal | Shooting | Most Commented on Articles for January 2, 2017 | Articles for January 3, 2017 | Articles for January 4, 2017 Detectives Investigating Early Morning Fatal Fire Near Hubbard Currently the Kroeker family's whereabouts are unknown. Anyone with information is asked to call the Sheriff's Office at 503-588-5032. Salem-News.com (HUBBARD, Ore.) - Investigators are continuing with their efforts to determine what caused this morning's fatal fire near Hubbard. The Sheriff's Office and its partners will be working through the night and into tomorrow stabilizing the residence and sifting through the debris in an attempt to discover what took place early this morning. This morning around 3:00 a.m., firefighters were called to the 18000 block of Fobert Road NE near Hubbard. When firefighters arrived, they found 3 separate structures on fire. Firefighter's efforts were initially hampered by a live power line and a lack of water resources on scene. Fireman from 7 separate fire agencies engaged in the firefighting efforts. At 3:30 a.m., firefighters found one deceased person inside the residence and notified law enforcement. The Sheriff's Office does not have any information regarding the deceased person at this time. The Sheriff's Office can confirm that the residence where this morning's fire took place belongs to Erin Kroeker, age 39 and Keith Kroeker age 42 and their three children ages 10 and 7. Currently the Kroekers whereabouts are unknown and anyone with information about the ongoing investigation is asked to call the Sheriff's Office at 503-588-5032. The Sheriff's Office is the lead agency for the investigation. The Sheriff's Office is being assisted by members of the Marion County Fire Investigation Team or MCFIT Team. The MCFIT Team is comprised of specialized investigators from the Oregon State Police and the State Fire Marshal's Office. _________________________________________ All systems appear to finally be ready to go for the first launch and potential landing of the year from Vandenberg Air Force Base. You have permission to edit this collection. Edit Close Jackie Chan reunites with his Rumble In The Bronx director Stanley Tong for the upcoming Kung Fu Yoga and while the title veers more than a little to th goofy side all signs so far is that the reunion has brought Chan back closer to his classic form than he has been in years. Chinese archeology professor Jack (Jackie Chan) teams up with beautiful Indian professor Ashmita and assistant Kyra to locate lost Magadha treasure. In a Tibetan ice cave, they find the remains of the royal army that had vanished together with the treasure, only to be ambushed by Randall (Sonu Sood), the descendent of a rebel army leader. When they free themselves, their next stop is Dubai where a diamond from the ice cave is to be auctioned. After a series of double-crosses and revelations about their past, Jack and his team travel to a mountain temple in India, using the diamond as a key to unlock the real treasure. The tone here is very much in line with Chan's Operation Condor / Armor of God era, which is absolutely peak period for the iconic performer. And while he's clearly brought along some younger players here to help share out the physical load there's still plenty of classic Chan action-comedy to be found. We first ran a trailer for this one back in November and that first offering has now been followed by a new trailer prepared for the Malaysian - and presumably other Chinese speaking - markets. This new one is a longer effort with more action and stunt work plus a fair bit more story. And there are English subtitles included, so no problem at all following along. Check it out below! iStock/Thinkstock(LONDON) -- Police in Manchester, U.K., have found a car that was lost for six months after its driver forgot which parking garage he had left it at. The driver lost the car last June when he was visiting the city, according to Greater Manchester Police. The driver said he had parked the vehicle at a multistory garage, but upon trying to return to it, he forgot which garage the car had been parked in, police wrote on Twitter. The driver apparently spent five days searching various car parks in the city before reporting the vehicle as lost or stolen, police said. The car was finally found this past Friday by police officers in Manchester city center, police tweeted. "We can't imagine what the ticket machine is going to say when they finally put the ticket in - ," police wrote. Greater Manchester Police did not immediately respond to ABC News' requests for additional information, including where the car was found and whether the driver had to pay a hefty fee. According to the Manchester Evening News, a local daily newspaper, Greater Manchester Police is known for its humorous tweets. "Weve found that social media is a great engagement tool," said GMP Insp. Phil Spurgeon, according to the newspaper. "By making content relevant and interesting, weve developed a wide audience, which is great when we have appeals for wanted or missing persons, and also community safety initiatives," Spurgeon said. The inspector did note, however, that Twitter "has to be used responsibly." "[W]e should not use puns or humor at the expense of victims or vulnerable people," Spurgeon said. "My general philosophy is that we should always be serious about the serious stuff, but everything else...." Copyright 2017, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. If you are currently a print subscriber but don't have an online account, select this option. You will need to use your 7 digit subscriber account number (with leading zeros) and your last name (in UPPERCASE). "Texas sues feds over confiscated execution drugs" | Main | "Why Dylann Roof Has a Right to the Death Penalty" ... OR "Why Dylann Roof Representing Himself Is A Constitutional Tragedy" This lengthy new Politico article, headlined in full "Senators plan to revive sentencing reform push: Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley says he's not done yet pressing a cause with broad bipartisan support," brings some welcome new year good news for advocates of federal sentencing reform. Here are the details, with a couple of lines emphasized for subsequent commentary: Criminal justice reform the great bipartisan hope of 2016 that ended in disappointment may not be dead just yet. Senate Judiciary Committee Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) plans to take up a bill to revamp U.S. sentencing laws and reform prisons soon after his panel clears the high-profile nominations from Donald Trump. A similar measure passed his committee overwhelmingly last year before stalling out in the face of opposition from law-and-order conservatives. But Grassley told POLITICO he will soon try again. "The committee will begin the year working through the attorney general and Supreme Court nominees, but criminal justice reform will be one of the legislative bills I plan to bring up early on, he said in a statement. It cleared the committee with a broad bipartisan majority in the last Congress, and I don't expect that to change. The chief authors of the criminal justice overhaul, led by Grassley and Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), will continue to try to drum up more support among senators, while educating the Trump administration about their bills merits, Grassley said. The legislation isnt expected to be substantially different than last years version. Criminal justice reform couldve been one of the bright, bipartisan spots in an otherwise contentious election year. But despite support from President Barack Obama, powerful congressional Republicans, and a sprawling network of groups from the left and right, the legislation never made it to the floor. That was partly due to the determined efforts of law-and-order conservatives to steamroll it and there's little to suggest that if the legislation heads to the Senate floor, that dynamic would change. Nevertheless, Durbin approached Grassley after the election and pressed the chairman about whether the duo should make another run at it this year, Durbin recalled in a recent phone interview. Grassley was in. And once the chairman tees up the bill this year in his committee, its supporters expect a bipartisan vote similar to the 15-5 tally it received in October 2015. Durbin and Grassleys aides have been discussing a strategy to advance the bill in 2017. Aiding their cause is the fact that three opponents GOP Sens. David Vitter of Louisiana, Jeff Sessions of Alabama and David Perdue of Georgia are leaving the committee this year, stirring hope that the vote count in favor of the measure could be higher. Vitter no longer serves in the Senate, Sessions is expected to be confirmed as attorney general and Perdue is shifting committees. Replacing them on the influential panel are Sens. Ben Sasse of Nebraska, Mike Crapo of Idaho and John Kennedy of Louisiana. I think the committee will be just as strong. It may be stronger, Durbin said. When you have people like Grassley and Durbin and [Senate Majority Whip John] Cornyn and [Sen. Patrick] Leahy for goodness sakes it ought to be enough for us.... Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is rarely eager to take up policy fights that divide his conference and Democrats point a finger at him as a prime reason why criminal justice reform stalled last year. The problem we ran into is Sen. McConnell, who didnt want to call the bill to the floor. He was concerned about the impact on the election and also that the House wasnt going to take it up, Durbin said. The question remains going forward, he added, "whether McConnell will give us a chance. McConnell aide Don Stewart responded that the majority leader spoke several times about the issue in 2016 and doesnt need Sen. Durbin to be his spokesman. The president-elect ran on a law-and-order platform, but Trump doesn't appear to have weighed in on the Senate measure during his campaign. Another wildcard factor is Sessions, Trumps pick to become the attorney general. As a senior member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, he was a fervent opponent of the sentencing overhaul and one of the five votes against it. But Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), another supporter of the criminal justice reform effort, speculated that once Sessions becomes the attorney general, his chief objective will be on enforcing what Congress sends him even if he disagrees with it rather than slipping into the role of legislator and try to change the laws. Hes going to be focused on being the nations top law enforcement official, Tillis said. I dont necessarily see him weighing in heavily on public policy choices that President Trump makes. Durbin said he intends to press Sessions on his views of criminal justice reform and how hell handle the issue at the Justice Department when the two meet privately to discuss about his bid to become attorney general on Wednesday. Though Sessions had wanted to meet earlier, Durbin said Senate Democrats decided as a caucus to not meet with any Cabinet selections until the new year. I want to know after all of the speeches he gave on the floor against criminal justice reform, what we can expect of him as attorney general, Durbin said. I dont know what hell say. Still, others speculate that after Washington endures partisan wars over repealing Obamacare and confirming polarizing presidential nominees, Trump will be looking for a bipartisan win. Criminal justice reform could deliver one. I know we have enough votes to send this to the presidents desk, Tillis said. Stressing his desire to avoid legislative gridlock, Tillis added: The election was not a Republican mandate. The election was a results mandate. Eleventh Circuit Judge, and SCOTUS short-lister, William Pryor named Acting Chair of the (now hobbled) US Sentencing Commission | Main | GOP Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley says federal sentencing reform a priority after Trump nominations completed January 4, 2017 "Texas sues feds over confiscated execution drugs" The title of this post is the headline of this notable new Dallas Morning News article reporting on some notably different kind of execution drug litigation. Here are the details: For nearly a year and a half, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has detained a shipment of about 1,000 vials of execution drugs headed for Texas' death chamber. On Tuesday, Texas officials demanded an end to the delays, filing a lawsuit that seeks to force the feds to turn over the drugs. "My office will not allow the FDA to sit on its hands and thereby impair Texas' responsibility to carry out its law enforcement duties," Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said in a statement. Texas and other states that still execute inmates have been hard-pressed to find lethal injection drugs in recent years. American companies have stopped making the drugs, and European makers have stopped selling them to the U.S. Amid the drug shortage in 2012, Texas switched from the three-drug cocktail it used since 1982 to a single overdosing injection of pentobarbital, a barbiturate, but that drug, too, is in short supply. In July 2015, the FDA intercepted about 1,000 vials of sodium thiopental, also a barbiturate, that Texas was attempting to import from a foreign seller at the George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston. FDA officials said that the drugs lacked the required warnings and directions for use and that they needed federal approval. The state responded to the FDA, explaining that the drugs were legal for importation for law enforcement use. In April 2016, the FDA issued a tentative decision denying admission of the drugs. But since then, the agency hasn't issued a final decision and has kept the drugs. In the lawsuit filed Tuesday, Paxton argued the delays are unwarranted and should come to an end. "Because FDA's delay is unreasonable, TDCJ requests the Court to declare that the delay is unlawful and compel FDA to render a final admissibility decision," the lawsuit states. As execution drugs have become harder to obtain, the state has turned to compounding pharmacies to make them, has sought drugs from foreign providers and has sought to restrict public access to information about where and how it gets drugs used in lethal injections.... "The Texas Department of Criminal Justice lawfully ordered and obtained the necessary license to import drugs used in the lethal injection process, yet the Food and Drug Administration stopped the shipment and continues to hold it without justification. This has left the agency with no other recourse than to challenge the unjustified seizure in court," Texas Department of Criminal Justice spokesman Jason Clark said in a statement. Clark said the TDCJ has enough drugs on hand to complete the nine executions scheduled for the first six months of this year. "We cannot speculate on the future availability [of] drugs, so the agency continues to explore all options including the continued use of pentobarbital or alternate drugs to use in the lethal injection process," Clark said. January 4, 2017 at 11:42 AM | Permalink Comments These vials do not contain drugs to treat disease. They contain poisons to kill people. A legal point should be made for injunctive relief that the FDA has no jurisdiction over them. Posted by: David Behar | Jan 4, 2017 2:11:47 PM Plenty of drugs on the Controlled Substances Act do not treat diseases, but the FDA still has jurisdiction over them. Posted by: Erik M | Jan 5, 2017 8:59:56 AM Erik. Schedule I drugs are loved too much by the public, and addictive. The criterion of "no medical use" is false, because all Schedule I drugs have medical uses. Heroin is an effective analgesic. Marijuana is a Schedule I drug, but is recognized as medically valuable by half the states. LSD has been used therapeutically in government sponsored research, sometimes without the knowledge of the research subject. http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2013-04/new-science-lsd-therapy The drugs that are most dangerous of all, alcohol and tobacco, are all natural, gluten free, GMO free, are extremely toxic, killing 500,000 people a year. Alcohol is the most crimogenic substance known to man, likely a factor in half of all crimes. They are, of course, available over the counter, with no prescription or FDA Scheduling in sight. Even they serve a medical purpose. Two drinks a day is associated with a lower mortality from heart disease. And the nicotinic receptor is being studied as a potential remedy for dementia. All active applications to the body have a dose response curve. Radiation not only serves cancer patients, but in low doses, can prevent cancer by killing small numbers of early cancer cells, and is good for you. So people in areas where low level radiation was released may have a low cancer rate. That effect even has a name, hormesis. The FDA is silly and worthless. It serves no known rational governmental purpose. It can be ignored by the states. If they send in federal officials, dispute their jurisdiction in court when it comes to death penalty poisons. If they get physical, grabbing the supplies, taser the federal officials and throw them out of the state. I have also suggested that the states produce the death penalty substances in their Prison Industries facilities, using the considerable synthetic chemistry talents of the prisoners. If they go down that road, the prisons can get really rich making generic drugs and underbidding the competition with insurance company payers. It is a great business, far more profitable than making clothing, furniture or license plates. Posted by: David Behar | Jan 6, 2017 9:17:23 PM Post a comment God is good A photo posted by JEREMY MEEKS (@jmeeksofficial) on Sep 27, 2016 at 4:58pm PDT Nine months after he was released from prison on weapons charges having gained international fame while behind bars for his extraordinarily hot mugshot sexy felon Jeremy Meeks is living big somewhere in California, possibly near LA, in a large (rented?) house with his wife and three kids, and driving a slick (leased?) Maserati. Meeks first posted the shirtless photo above, in front of the house, back in late September, but it wasn't until he posted another photo to Instagram of himself in front of the house with the Maserati, along with another below with his two boys in what appears to be a pretty dope kitchen with marble countertops, that the media stood up to take notice. Also, Meeks has been regularly posting what appear to be modeling shots, and we already knew he had a modeling contract, so it wasn't immediately apparent if you were following him on Instagram (ahem) that this was actually his house and his Maserati. Good to be home A photo posted by JEREMY MEEKS (@jmeeksofficial) on Nov 2, 2016 at 4:52pm PDT #maseratimeeks A photo posted by JEREMY MEEKS (@jmeeksofficial) on Sep 21, 2016 at 5:01pm PDT #squad A photo posted by JEREMY MEEKS (@jmeeksofficial) on Dec 12, 2016 at 5:03pm PST Meeks disappointed the world's straight women and gay men when it was revealed after his 2014 arrest in Stockton that he was, in fact, married. Later, he was indicted by a grand jury on possession of a semiautomatic .45 caliber pistol that was transported across state borders in the commission of grand theft, and the seven felony charges he was arrested on, one of them was "street terrorism," though Meeks claimed he had forsaken all gang affiliations in years past. Journalists have not gotten confirmation about Meeks's newfound wealth, or if he's even paying for this house himself, but they note that he posted a pic of himself with his wife celebrating their eighth anniversary at a winery just last week. Also, he posted a family photo on Christmas, in front of a tree, with the hashtags "#blessed" and "#godisgood". Do not underestimate the power of a pretty face, his Insta implies. Happy New Year, indeed. #Happynewyear A photo posted by JEREMY MEEKS (@jmeeksofficial) on Dec 31, 2016 at 7:45am PST Previously: Hot Convict Jeremy Meeks Walked Out Of Prison Today, Will Presumably Begin Modeling With former California Attorney General Kamala Harris officially sworn in as the state's newest Senator, Governor Jerry Brown has moved to fill her vacant role by formally nominating Congressman Xavier Becerra (D-Los Angeles) for the AG position. CBS 5 reports that Becerra, who represented portions of Los Angeles in the US House of Representatives for 24 years, is a vocal critic of president-elect Donald Trump and has pledged to defend California against the Republican onslaught. Although state officials have 90 days to confirm Becerra, it is widely believed that the process will be a smooth one. The LA Times reports that his first confirmation hearing is scheduled for January 10. Xavier has been an outstanding public servant in the state Legislature, the U.S. Congress and as a deputy attorney general, Governor Brown said in a statement last month. Im confident he will be a champion for all Californians and help our state aggressively combat climate change. Global climate change is not the only threat Becerra is gearing up to fight, and the Congressman issued such a warning to the Republican-controlled House and Senate. We have policies in place that probably wont pass at the federal level for another five, 10, 15 years, Becerra said in a statement picked up by The Sacramento Bee. If you want to take on a forward-leaning state that is prepared to defend its rights and interests, then come at us. "We're always ahead of the rest of the pack and we should be prepared to defend that," The AP quotes him as adding. Becerra won reelection to Congress just this past November, and as such a special election will need to be held to replace him. That could happen as soon as this spring, although the timing is not locked down. In the meantime, Becerra is preparing for the work ahead. "Governor Brown has presented me with an opportunity I cannot refuse to serve as Attorney General of my home state," he wrote in a statement last month. "As a former deputy attorney general, I relished the chance to be our state's chief law enforcement officer to protect consumers, advance criminal justice reform and, of course, keep our families safe." Becerra has a 23-year record in the House of Representatives, representing California's 34th District from 1993 to 2003, and again from 2013 to the present, with a ten-year stint in between representing the Inland Empire's 31st District. Part of the reason for the change was redistricting that occurred in 2012. In 2001, Becerra also ran for mayor of Los Angeles, but did not make it past the primary. Governor Jerry Brown picked Becerra for the role on December 1, but that only became official with today's nomination. Related: Kamala Harris Reverses Position For Second Time, Will Not Support Challenge To San Francisco's Cash-Bail System Any day now we can expect Wisconsins Department of Natural Resources to announce its sticking with the idea the Earth is flat instead of accepting that ridiculous, new-fangled notion of scientists worldwide that our planet is a round ball spinning around the Sun, which obviously would cause all of us to fly off. Science is out at the DNR these days. Old-fashioned, right-wing, political propaganda is in, especially if it can be used as an excuse for the DNR to avoid doing its job of protecting the states natural environment and the future survival of the planet. We saw this coming two years ago, when Republican Gov. Scott Walker eliminated the DNRs science and research bureau and cut half of its bothersome scientists who kept nagging politicians about threats to Wisconsins precious environment, wildlife, clean air and clean water from industrial and agricultural pollution and private development. Employees whose jobs couldnt be eliminated were shifted, along with most environmental regulation, into a new business support division that DNR Secretary Cathy Stepp, a developer herself, touted as a one-stop shop for business assistance. Under Walker and Republican legislators, the mission of the DNR has flipped to protect industrial and agricultural polluters and private developers from environmental regulation. Stepps latest business assistance was to erase from the DNR website any acknowledgement of the continuing threat to life on Earth from rising temperatures and climate change caused by human activity that is already creating devastating and deadly weather extremes around the world. We know about the DNRs silent scrubbing of all scientific factsand even the words climate changefrom its public information thanks to Jim Rowen, my friend and former colleague at The Milwaukee Journal, whose blog, The Political Environment, reported it. Deleting Fundamental Truths The DNRs withdrawal from the battle against the most serious threat to all life on Earth violates the entire purpose of Wisconsins Department of Natural Resources. Theres also something eerily familiar about it. What does it remind us of? I remember now. Friends of the Shepherd Help support Milwaukee's locally owned free weekly newspaper. LEARN MORE It was two years ago, when Gov. Walker, a college dropout himself, went through the lofty, 100-year-old mission of the University of Wisconsin and tried to cross out language legally committing his states university to the search for truth and to extend training and public service designed to educate people and improve the human condition. Walker failed in his attempt to destroy the fundamental mission of higher education. But, so far, here are a few of the fundamental truths he has crossed off the concerns of his DNR: Earths climate is changing. Human activities that increase heat-trapping (greenhouse) gases are the main cause Increasing temperatures have led to changes in rainfall patterns and snow and ice cover. These changes could have severe effects on the Great Lakes and the plants, wildlife and people who depend on them. After detailing severe economic consequences for recreation and coastal businesses and devastation to plants, wildlife and waterways from drought, tornadoes and other severe weather, the DNR previously referred Wisconsin citizens to resources to help join in the fight to reduce the effects of climate change. No more. Instead, all that information has now been replaced with a vague paragraph suggesting the DNR has heard some sort of change is going on, but it really doesnt know anything about it. Here it is: As it has done throughout the centuries, the earth is going through a change. The reasons for this change at this particular time in the earths long history are being debated by academic entities outside the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. Thats pretty much an out-and-out lie. The academic debate about whats causing climate change is over. The overwhelming consensus among scientists worldwide is exactly what the DNR purged from its website: greenhouse gases as a result of carbon emissions from fossil fuels and human activity. Resistance from corporate polluters, their paid shills and Republican politicians to spending money to clean up the befouling of the Earths atmosphere that is endangering the planet do not constitute an academic debate. But, if the DNR ever finds out there is global warming going on, it promises its decimated staff stands ready to adapt our management strategies in an effort to protect our lakes, waterways, plants, wildlife and people who depend on them. The promise could be extremely short-lived. Walker now says hes seriously considering busting up the DNR permanently and randomly scattering its responsibilities around various state departments, no doubt hoping to even further reduce environmental regulation and prosecution of polluters. Walker once said his goal was to have no state citations for environmental violations, claiming it would mean pollution and environmental problems no longer existed in Wisconsin. We now know what it really means is the Flat Earth DNR has stopped recognizing serious threats to the environment and doing anything about them. On Milwaukees East Side, youll find the headquarters to Innocuous Records, a small label that specializes in an experimental sub-genre of electronic music called skweee. For the uninitiated, skweee music is basically a combination of modern dubstep synths, sample-heavy chiptune, and cold-feeling R&B soul/funk. Think of it as electronic musics version of punkin other words, its outsider music. But skweee is more than just about the music, its about being part of a culture and belonging to something bigger than you. Its immersive, and its that pull that first drew Noah Coleman, 28, to start making music. He started DJing hip-hop back in the early aughts, but it wasnt until he discovered skweee that he found his true passion. Recording under the moniker DJ Puffin, he got into making experimental electronic music in 2010, uploading his work to Soundcloud. I was very inspired by skweee music at that time, which was really kind of building up momentum, he recalls. So, I decided to start a label based on what Id been hearing. Coleman founded Innocuous Records in 2011 to be a platform for releasing other peoples music as well as his own, and used social media to spread the word and network. Colemans personal touch when it came to networking paid off. I was always really careful to work within the culture itself and contact the artists directly, Coleman explains. Record trading between his label and others, as well as Soundcloud deep dives, allowed him to connect globally. Hes also quick to acknowledge that a lot of the community is built through networking and navigating the underground culture. This, of course, explains part of Innocuous Records success: It may be a tiny skweee label in Milwaukee, but its roster boasts artists from Russia, France and the Netherlands. When Coleman casually mentions a friend in Beijing whos helped with some of IRs releases, I laugh and point out how unusual that is. Yeah, it was mostly through liking each others music, and having a similar artistic vision early on, he replies. I felt like I connected with a lot of different people from a lot of different places just by happenstancekind of serendipitous moments. Friends of the Shepherd Help support Milwaukee's locally owned free weekly newspaper. LEARN MORE Its that serendipity that put him into contact with Hayden Thomson, aka djkrpt. A producer in his own right, Thomson came across Colemans skweee mixes on Soundcloud, started following what he was doing with Innocuous, and decided to send Coleman a sample of his own work. I watched as Innocuous grew into an actual record label with its first vinyl release, Thomson remembers. As further releases came about, he branched out into another of his musical loves, U.K. grime, and managed to release another handful of singles in that genre. Inspired by Coleman, Thomson decided to start a label himself, Tiburoni Records. The motive for Thomson was different to start a skweee label, however. I had developed an obsession with the music and its distinctive personality to the point where I decided that there wasnt enough music being released in time for me to devour it, he explains. Tiburoni was spawned as an answer to this craving, as I literally went through Soundcloud and got a hold of various up-and-comers to the scene for his first release, a compilation called Skweee Shanties. As for his own productions, Thomson works to make pure skweee in the vein of the legends, trying to get a real analogue sound out of my digital set up. He likes to work dance music into his music when possible, but his vision is perhaps more old-school than other skweee artists. For Coleman, its more about music in and of itself thats at the heart of his own productions. I point out that he and his roster seem interested in the concept of genre, and also how to break away from it. For me, it was a lot about the feeling of trying to preserve a lot of sounds that might otherwise be lost or forgotten in some way, he states. But then, also preserving the idea of music not just as something thats an artifice, but something thats more immaterialzoning in on the more mysterious elements of sound itself. Whether skweee is for you or not, the DIY ethic and the tightknit community is something to appreciate. After all, its this sense of belonging that fostered the creation of Innocuous and Tiburoni. As much as the music, skweee lends itself to outside-the-box thinkers who have their own style and are willing to take music in weird, new directions. Says Coleman, Its good to see other people are taking up their own torch and really doing their own thing with what we were interested in originally. Stream releases from Innocuous Records at innocuous.bandcamp.com. SINGAPORE 60's: ANDY's POP MUSIC INFLUENCE IS A PERSONAL MUSIC, MEMORY TRAIL. BLOGGER DOES NOT OWN THE RIGHTS TO VIDEOS, AUDIO TRACKS AND IMAGES. THEY ARE UPLOADED FOR FUN, EDUCATIONAL, ILLUSTRATIVE PURPOSES AND HAVE BEEN CREDITED. BLOG IS NOT SPONSORED IN ANY WAY WHATSOEVER. INFORM BLOGGER OF COPYRIGHT ISSUES AND POST WILL BE DELETED IMMEDIATELY. DO NOT COPY THE POSTS; GET PERMISSION N CREDIT ME IF YOU DO. ANDY LIM LA (NOVEMBER, 2008) - () Nothing may be more pleasurable at days end than a well-crafted cocktail. The clink of ice on glass, the magical mix of sweet, sour and alcoholic its a great way to unwind and be merry, especially during the holiday season. But who says a great drink has to be cold? This time of year, when Jack Frost nips at more than just your toes, warm cocktails just might be the thing to heat you back up from the inside. But dont just take this mulled cider lovers word for it; take it from a professional. When you come in from the cold chill you get here in Pittsburgh, theres nothing better than a hot toddy, Irish coffee or mulled wine, says bartender extraordinaire Sean Enright of Pittsburghs Tiki Lounge and the after-hours Carrick Literary and Social Association. Warm mugs of boozy coffee or citrus-spiced wine are not just the stuff of a ski vacation. They can be had during staycations, too. You dont have to be a mixologist to create a winning winter cocktail or haul out any special equipment. In fact, some of the best winter sippers can be done in three steps: pour, stir, enjoy. While warm-weather cocktails are often thirst quenchers (a good margarita goes down way too fast and easy), winter cocktails are meant to be lingered over, savored. Enright likes to warm the body and soul during cold snaps with concoctions that feature richer, darker spirits think whiskey, rum, brandy and cognac and the dessert-style spices cinnamon, cloves, allspice and ginger. They go hand in hand with the other things youre eating, he says. One of his favorite winter cocktail is Irish coffee spiked with Jamesons. Hes also a huge fan of the hot toddy, a simple drink of a brown liquor such as brandy, whiskey or rum mixed with honey, lemon juice and boiling water, and, when the mood strikes, also a tea bag. (See, we told you this wasnt brain surgery.) It couldnt be easier, and you can mix it however you want, he says. At Seven Springs Mountain Resort in Champion, Pennsylvania, bartenders use another seasonal drink a mug of hot apple cider as a base for the signature Moonshine Cider. A shot of caramel moonshine from Tall Pines Distillery in nearby Salisbury, Somerset County, gives the hot cocktail its adult kick. Former Pittsburgher-turned-New York cookbook author and Today show contributor Casey Barber suggests cocoa spiked with bourbon and hazelnut-flavored liqueur if you want something hot, sweet and chocolatey. I love hot chocolate so much that I can down a whole mug in four big glugs, so I need something that makes me drink it more slowly and enjoy it, she says. Enter bourbon, which makes everything better, and turns it into more of a sipping drink. The marshmallow on top is completely optional, but definitely makes it more of a luxury. For larger gatherings, where making many individual drinks could be a drag, nothing beats a large pot of red wine mulled with a few ounces of cognac, slices of citrus, cinnamon sticks and dash of peppercorn. Its easy, relatively inexpensive and ladles up a dose of antioxidants. While you want a winter cocktail to warm you up on the inside, you dont want the drinks heat to beat you over the head or burn your lips. So think really, really warm instead of scalding hot. Enright, whose book Pittsburgh Drinks: A History of Cocktails, Nightlife & Bartending Tradition, with co-author Cody McDevitt, arriving on store shelves in March, also suggests reaching for the good stuff when making individual cocktails. The cheaper the alcohol, the less impressive it will be, he says. DES MOINES How the state delivers funding to Iowas public K-through-12 schools could be altered dramatically this year when Republicans assume control of the states lawmaking agenda. Republicans, who for the first time in 20 years will hold the governors office and majorities in the Iowa House and Senate, are poised to consider legislation that would expand so-called school choice programs that give families greater flexibility to enroll in private schools, often at the expense of funding to public schools, and alter the timeline for when the state sets public school funding levels. Conservative state legislators have long supported school choice programs, but have been unable to get any passed into law because of opposition from Democrats, who in recent sessions held the majority in the Iowa Senate. But in the wake of the Nov. 8 election Republicans have complete control of the Iowa statehouse, and school choice programs are sure to be on the legislative agenda. Im pretty confident were going to come out of this session with some type of school choice bill that hopefully is signed by (the governor), said Walt Rogers, R-Cedar Falls, the new chairman of the education committee in the House. Rogers said proposals could range from a pilot project to something more substantial, like state-funded education savings accounts, in which state dollars are earmarked for parents to use toward education costs like private-school tuition. Im a believer in them, Rogers said. Im taking an approach of, lets look at everything and see what we can afford, see what type of transition period it would take to implement more choice for parents. Thats where Im at. Im willing to take a look at everything. Im going to give everything a fair hearing in education. Democrats and public school advocates have opposed such programs because typically they result in less state funding for public school districts. Supporters of educational savings account say they give families the freedom to determine which school is best for their children. An ESA program will allow true universal choice and inject the positive force of market competition into the Iowa educational system, Susan Fenton, a lobbyist for Iowa Advocates for Choice in Education, told Gov. Terry Branstad at a recent public hearing on the state budget. Branstad, whose three children attended Catholic schools in the Des Moines area, told reporters after the hearing he is a strong supporter of private schools but said there are a lot of issues to consider in the tight budget. That tight budget has led Republican leaders to say they plan to budget for a 2-percent increase for public school funding for the 2017-2018 school year. If approved, it will be the seventh time in eight years state funding to public schools has increased by roughly 2 percent or less. Funding increases dipped to those levels only four times in the previous 38 years. It is a fact that these are the worst six years in Iowa history for education funding, said Sen. Jeff Danielson, D-Waterloo. There are a lot of us who believe that at a time when we had the resources, at least a cost of living (increase) averaged out over those six years was reasonable. That was not achieved. I dont think we have invested in education like it matters to our future, and it does. Mark Smith, leader of the minority House Democrats, said more of state spending, as a percentage, should be going to public education. We havent had our priorities straight, which is to put Iowas children first, Smith said. I would hope that the (funding increase), because of underfunding, would not ever be below 4 percent this year, but clearly Im very doubtful that we will get to that point. Republicans also may repeal the portion of Iowa law that requires state legislators to set school funding levels more than a year before schools set their budgets. The law which does not include any punitive measure for when legislators fail to adhere by the timeline was written to ensure public school funding gets the first bite of the state budget pie and so schools can plan their own budgets. Republicans who want to repeal the measure say it is difficult to predict state revenues that far in advance, so setting such a big budget number so early is bad practice. Linda Upmeyer, a Republican from Clear Lake who is going into her second session as Iowas first-ever woman Speaker of the House, said schools still can get their state funding numbers first and early if legislators act swiftly during the legislative session. Iowas legislative sessions begin in early January, and schools must present a certified budget by mid-April. I think if youre setting (school funding levels) in the first 30 days (of the session), youre still getting it done early, Upmeyer said. The whole goal is so we can actually deliver on what we promise. And were committed to that. Rod Boshart of the Journal Des Moines Bureau and Christinia Crippes of the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier contributed to this story. STORM LAKE, Iowa | A late evening fire triggered an evacuation of the Tyson Fresh Meats pork plant in Storm Lake Tuesday and caused thousands of dollars in damage. Storm Lake firefighters responded to the rendering area at the east end of the pork processing plant at 1009 Richland Drive around 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, according to a news release from the Storm Lake Public Safety Department. Upon arrival, firefighters found a fire burning above one of the cookers that had appeared to have begun spreading through exhaust vents, as well. The fire was quickly extinguished and the scene was stabilized within 30 minutes, the release said. The plant had already been evacuated upon their arrival. No injuries were reported, the release said. Firefighters traced the cause to a mechanical failure in the cooker, which caused it to overheat and ignite its contents. The damage is expected to exceed $6,000, the release said. Firefighters remained on scene for approximately two hours to monitor flare-ups and ventilate the facility. They were assisted by the Storm Lake Police Department, Buena Vista County EMS and Tyson Fresh Meats staff. In an emailed statement, Tyson officials said the plant was operational Wednesday. "We appreciate the quick response of local firefighters, who quickly put the fire out, and are thankful no one was hurt," the statement said. The plant employs around 1,700 workers, making it the largest employer in the Buena Vista County seat of around 11,000. The company is planning a $30 million addition that will allow the plant to slaughter more hogs and store more products in coolers. DAKOTA CITY | No matter what sentence he gave Christopher Cox, Judge Kurt Rager said, it would not take away the pain felt by the relatives of three people killed in a June car crash. "It's very difficult in these types of cases because the court's goal is to promote respect for the law and protect the rights of the innocent, and I can only think of the people who aren't here today because of this incident," Rager said Wednesday morning in Dakota County Court. "Whatever I do pales in comparison to the pain that these families are suffering." After pausing to consider his options, Rager sentenced Cox to a total of 975 days in jail -- 325 days for each count of vehicular homicide to which Cox had pleaded no contest -- a sentence of more than two and one-half years in custody. Cox will be credited for the 209 days he's spent in jail since his arrest. "I'm sorry for what happened. It wasn't intentional, it was an accident," Cox said before he was sentenced. Cox, 45, of Council Bluffs, Iowa, had faced a maximum of one year in jail for each of the three counts of vehicular homicide, all Class I misdemeanors. Cox was driving a car that ran off the road at about 3:40 a.m. June 9 on U.S. Highway 20 west of Jackson, Nebraska. The car crossed the center line, went airborne into the north ditch and struck a concrete creek barrier. Passengers Connie Fauzae, 57, and Espinoza Lara, 9, both of Council Bluffs, died at the scene. A third passenger, Jose Lara, 10, also of Council Bluffs, died at a Sioux City hospital. Cox had minor injuries. Cox told authorities he had swerved to miss a deer. According to Nebraska's vehicular homicide statute, Cox unintentionally caused the death of another person while he was driving in violation of a state law. According to court documents, Cox did not have a valid operator's license at the time of the crash, and a review found that his driver's license issued in New Mexico had been suspended. SPIRIT LAKE, Iowa | A Spirit Lake man has been sentenced to 20 years in prison in connection with several burglaries and thefts. Travis Johnson, 21, pleaded guilty Tuesday in Dickinson County District Court to two counts of third-degree burglary and one count of first-degree theft. As part of a plea agreement, 11 other charges were dismissed. Johnson and Chayton Quail, 22, were arrested in November 2015 after police executed a search warrant for their residence at 2708 Keokuk Ave. and found stolen items, including two handguns, ammunition, two compound bows, iPads, iPods, 15 laptop computers, Xboxes, power tools and various electronic hardware. Marijuana and drug paraphernalia also were found. The two were charged with committing thefts in the fall of 2015 from individuals and Spirit Lake businesses Motor Inn, Consumers Lumber and Furniture Mart, a school in Terril and Outer Limits Bar in Terril. Quail, also of Spirit Lake, has pleaded not guilty to numerous theft and burglary charges and awaits trial. SIOUX CITY | It will require working through several financial challenges to give Woodbury County property owners a third consecutive year with a lessened property tax rate. Nonetheless, the supervisors in unison Tuesday voiced the goal of having a lean budget with lower property taxes. That occurred as the board members had their first meeting of the year and also had an initial discussion about the new budget that begins July 1. "I want to remain responsive to our taxpayers," said Matthew Ung, who was unanimously elected board chair for 2017 Tuesday, succeeding 2016 chair Jeremy Taylor. County Finance Director Dennis Butler laid out the rough parameters of the budget, which would cover revenue and expenses for the period from July 1, 2017, through June 30, 2018. "Overall, Woodbury County is in good financial condition with a very bright future, as the economic climate is growing at a rapid pace," Butler said. Butler said the quest to reduce the tax rate "is potentially possible, very possible." Butler said the challenges ahead include that health care costs of employees are projected to rise by 8 percent and union contracts for several employee groups will be set, with the potential for wage hikes. Butler said the county will look into tapping non-property tax accounts, such as the fund that is filled with the 1-cent county local option sales tax that people pay on purchases. Additionally, Butler said he expects the number of projects in the Capital Improvement Plan, which includes projects with a long-term value, will rise over the existing year. The current CIP amount is for an all-time yearly high of $5.7 million, while Butler said the next year it could soar to $7 million to address repair needs. "Some of the county buildings are approaching 100 years of existence," Butler said. Ung said a team of three county officials will filter through the CIP projects and score them on a point system to make sure only the most supportable ones are pursued. Butler noted the county since 2015 has given better transparency to the budget process, including with how expenses and new proposed services are scrutinized. Iowa counties must set budgets for the 2018 fiscal year by March 15. The Woodbury County Board of Supervisors handle a considerable amount of budget work in weekly Tuesday meetings in January and February. Given the typical length of the budget meetings, those sessions will be moved up to 1 p.m. from the normal 4:30 p.m. start times. "Every week, we will be increasing budgets or cutting budgets or keeping them the same," Butler said. In the Tuesday meeting, the supervisors reviewed the county treasurer and conservation/parks initial budgets. Prior to the financial plan passed in March 2015, the county had not passed a budget with a lower property tax rate for at least 15 years. In setting the current $55 million budget in March 2016, the supervisors made it two years in a row, as the property tax rate fell again for FY 2016-17, which the supervisors touted as being taxpayer-friendly. Over the last two years combined, the county's property tax levy for town residents dropped from $7.76 to $7.45 per $1,000 of assessed valuation For rural residents over the two years, the levy rate fell from $11.42 to $10.50 per $1,000. What effect property owners saw on individual tax bills depended upon their property value assessments, which were values that went up in Woodbury County. The full tax bill is computed by multiplying the tax levy rate by assessed property valuation. S&P 500 3,719.89 DOW 32,001.25 QQQ 260.49 Harnessing Neuroplasticity Allows You to Actually Change the Way You Think. Here's How. New Battery "Could Eat Lithium's Lunch" (Ad) eBay or Etsy: Which Is The Better Buy? 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Paypal Shows Promise With Strong Buy Rating The 3-Stock Retirement Blueprint (Ad) Energy Transfer Raises Guidance, But Stock Lower On Revenue Miss Papa Johns Falls Flat On Earnings, Shares Set To Rise The 3-Stock Retirement Blueprint (Ad) Bank of England makes biggest interest rate hike in 30 years Mid-Caps CommScope, Dycom Outperform Broader Telecom Industry S&P 500 3,719.89 DOW 32,001.25 QQQ 260.49 Harnessing Neuroplasticity Allows You to Actually Change the Way You Think. Here's How. New Battery "Could Eat Lithium's Lunch" (Ad) eBay or Etsy: Which Is The Better Buy? Paypal Shows Promise With Strong Buy Rating The 3-Stock Retirement Blueprint (Ad) Energy Transfer Raises Guidance, But Stock Lower On Revenue Miss Papa Johns Falls Flat On Earnings, Shares Set To Rise The 3-Stock Retirement Blueprint (Ad) Bank of England makes biggest interest rate hike in 30 years Mid-Caps CommScope, Dycom Outperform Broader Telecom Industry The gravity of the existential threat we face from Islamic Jihad is truly of epic proportions. It is essentially a battle pitting free-civilized man against a totalitarian barbarian. What is at stake is the struggle for our very soul - namely who we are and what we represent. The lives that were sacrificed for individual rights and freedoms that we've come to cherish are being chiseled away from right under our noses by the stealth jihadists. And many of us are in denial and totally clueless. The left's appeasement and pandering to evil is nothing new. What makes their utopian delusions so infuriating and unpardonable is that it is not only they who will have to pay the consequences, and deservedly, so, they are thwarting and undermining our best efforts at resistance and are thus dragging us down in the process as well. By Peter Lancz,, the head of the Raoul Wallenberg World Campaign Against Racism. WASHINGTON (Jan. 4, 2017)Baltimore resident Annie Sageng relied on Planned Parenthood for many different reasons while growing up. In high school, she drove her friends there to pick up birth control and pregnancy tests. Eventually she was the one picking up the birth control. Then she was a volunteer. Now, the 28-year-old is the Maryland Planned Parenthood community outreach coordinator. "It was always there as something we can all depend on, as a nonjudgmental source, as a nonjudgmental place that we could go," Sageng said. "Especially now, it helps me feel like there's somewhere to turn and there's something to do," she said. Although President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to defund Planned Parenthood as long as it provides abortions, several of Maryland's Democratic lawmakers said that despite their party's minority status in Congress, they will fight every effort to do so. "This will be an ongoing battle," Van Hollen said in an interview with Capital News Service. "It's unfortunate that in the 21st century we're still having to wage this battle, but we will fight tooth and nail to prevent Donald Trump and the Republicans from turning back the clock on women's rights." Maryland Planned Parenthood typically receives 100 donations per week. In the week after Republican nominee Trump's surprising election victory, it received 1,700 online donations, 350 of which were made in Vice President-elect Mike Pence's name, according to spokeswoman Dana Robinson. "Planned Parenthood has done very good work for millions of women," Trump said at a Florida press conference in March. "But we're not going to allow, and we're not going to fund, as long as you have the abortion going on at Planned Parenthood." Maryland Planned Parenthood CEO and President Karen Nelson said in an interview with Capital News Service that there are definite anxieties among women worried they will lose their birth control after inauguration. Maryland has seven Planned Parenthood locations that offer abortions, birth control, care for sexually transmitted diseases and general health care. Sixty percent of her patients do not receive health care outside of Planned Parenthood, Nelson said. "We're telling people to continue to enroll in the Affordable Care Act, and continue to make the appointments with us to get their birth control," Nelson said. "We're going to be there for them." Van Hollen and Sen. Ben Cardin, a Democrat, said their constituents have expressed concern about the future of women's health care in Maryland. "I have heard from women since (Election Day) who have expressed real fear that progress that they have made could be jeopardized," Cardin said. Federal funding of abortions, which comprise 3 percent of Planned Parenthood's services nationally, is banned under what is known as the Hyde Amendment. The law excludes abortion from healthcare services provided to low-income people by Medicaid, except for cases of rape, incest or when the woman's life is in danger. Maryland is one of four states that voluntarily funds all or most medically necessary abortions. In January, President Barack Obama vetoed legislation that would have abolished federal funding to Planned Parenthood. Republican lawmakers put the provision under an Affordable Care Act repeal bill and used a reconciliation procedure that speeds up the legislative process for budgetary legislation and blocks any Democratic filibuster, which GOP congressional legislators are considering using again after Trump takes office, Politico reported. "(Maryland Democrats) would use our powers to block any of that kind of legislation," Van Hollen said. "It's unclear whether Republicans could try to achieve their goals in this area by using budget reconciliation. But that's an issue, that's a real issue." Planned Parenthood affiliate health centers serve 2.8 million people in the United States, and 79 percent of the organization's health care patients have incomes at or below 150 percent of the federal poverty level, according to its website. Sageng said Planned Parenthood losing government funding would devastate her because it would "wipe out so many people's livelihood." "It becomes hard to talk about succinctly," she said, "because it's just so unthinkable." In fiscal 2015, 43 percent of Planned Parenthood's funding came from federal government health services grants and reimbursements, while 27 percent came from private contributions and 24 percent came from non-government health services revenue, according to the organization's 2015 annual report. Although Trump has suggested he will appoint Supreme Court judges to overturn Roe v. Wade and make abortion a state issue, Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, a Republican who is personally anti-abortion, has said in the past the issue of abortion is settled and he would not try to change it in Maryland. Maryland Federation of Republican Women President Liz League said it is too early to assume what Trump will do once he is sworn into office. League is personally opposed to government funding of abortion, but approves federal funding of other health care services. "He is not a radical person, he's not a hard right person and I believe that he understands Planned Parenthood does provide services beyond the abortion services," she said. Democratic Rep. John Sarbanes of Towson and Jamie Raskin, a Democrat who will replace Van Hollen in representing the state's 8th District, both said they would oppose any Republican attempts to defund Planned Parenthood. Maryland's other Democratic lawmakers did not respond to request for comment. Rep. Andy Harris of Cockeysville, the lone Republican in Maryland's congressional delegation, also did not respond to a request for comment. Harris, who supported Trump in the general election, has said he considers himself pro-life and voted against federal funds being used to provide abortions. He was also appointed in 2015 to a House panel created to investigate Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers' medical procedures. Republicans last month doubled the budget for the panel, which has not found evidence of wrongdoing at Planned Parenthood. Van Hollen called it a "witch hunt" and "gross abuse of the process" in an interview with Capital News Service, while Harris said in 2015 it was "an honor to be asked to serve on the select panel that will investigate the deeply disturbing activities that have been ongoing at abortion providers." If Republicans want to reduce the rate of abortion, Raskin said, it is important to invest in contraceptive care and sex education. "I don't think anybody's interested in turning the clock back to moral majority politics from the 1980s," Raskin said. "That's way out of date." For Sageng, it means something that the polarizing election cycle has pushed women's health issues to the forefront. "I have had lots of people come up to me at events," she said, "and say things like, 'You were there for me when I had no health care, you were there for me when I had no insurance, you were there for me when I was poor, you were there for me when I was a teenager. I wouldn't be able to be a mother today if it wasn't for Planned Parenthood. I wouldn't be here today.'" CNS reporters Ann Parangot, Sara Dignan and Zach Melvin contributed to this report. ANNAPOLIS (Jan. 4, 2017)During this past election cycle, presidential candidates Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton both highlighted increasing college debt as one of the most important issues in the country. Since the 2008 economic recession, student loan debt is the only form of consumer debt that has continued to increase, surpassing auto and credit card loans, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Fifty-eight percent of Maryland undergraduates from public and private nonprofit four-year institutions who graduated in 2014 had debt, and the average total was $27,457, according to the Project on Student Debt. Many of the reasons loans have increased is because the price to attend college, even at state schools that subsidize costs for some students, has also increased, including in Maryland. In 2007, the in-state cost of tuition at the University of Maryland, College Park was $6,566. For Maryland residents who enrolled this academic year, the cost of tuition is $10,180. The University of Pennsylvania's Graduate School of Education created a report diagnosing college affordability in Maryland and found, "Despite Maryland's strong overall showing on college affordability, the state's public institutionsenrolling 90 percent of Maryland studentshave declined in affordability since 2008." This is especially true for the state's most economically disadvantaged areas. "Putting food on the table seems to be a higher priority than going to college," said Cindy Clement, an economics professor from the University of Maryland. "Paying for the price of college requires a lot of means testing; poor people are less able to document what their income is." For public two-year institutions in 2008, the percentage of average family income to attend college full time in Maryland was 17 percent. This number only increased by 1 percent by 2013, but it ranks 33rd in country, according to Penn's report. Public two-year institutions enrolled 45 percent of Maryland students. The report also estimates that students would need to work 23 hours a week at minimum wage to attend community college and about 40 to pay for tuition and fees at any four-year institution. Maryland's most disadvantaged areas in terms of net price as a percent of family income for four-year institutions include the state's Eastern Shore, Baltimore City and western Maryland. Under the University System of Maryland, which comprises 12 of the state's public institutions, tuition, on average, has increased a little less than 3 percent annually since 2009. The system's budget totals $5 billion annually. "If you think about budgeting that, you want to be able to deliver the services and necessities students need on campus," system spokesman Mike Lurie told the University of Maryland's Capital News Service. "Costs include not only having functional facilities but also safe facilities." Clement explained that the cost to attend college has also increased because of students' expectation for technology to be integrated into the learning experience. "Technology has gotten more expensive but has not necessarily lowered the cost of education," said Clement, who teaches a course on the college affordability crisis. As the job market in certain industries becomes more competitive, the value of a college degree increases, which Clement also attributes to the increased cost to attend school. The Penn report ranked Maryland 16th in terms of states with the highest percentage of jobs that will require a postsecondary credential in the future. As of 2014, 46 percent of young adults and 47 percent of working-age adults in Maryland had an associate's degree or higher, compared to the national averages of 42 and 40 percent, respectively, according to Penn's report. "The value of a college education has gone up so more people are seeking it," said Clement, who added that the cost to pay professors also has increased. "Highly educated individuals command a higher wage. That means you have to pay them more to teach." However, some Marylanders are working to mitigate the college affordability problem. Joe Fisher is the president and CEO of First Generation College Bound, which is a college access program that helps its participants, who are primarily moderate to low income, secure financial opportunities. For 27 years, Fisher and his organization have been helping high school students understand their financial situation and look for grants and scholarships that greatly decrease the cost to attend school. Fisher advises many of his participants who are from Maryland to consider attending in-state schools that provide many financial aid opportunities to their students. "Many of these students do not realize they can attend college; the money is there," Fisher said. "Our goal is not only to students to be accepted and attend but also to be able to stay there and graduate." Dontra Scott was one of these children who never believed he could attend college. Although he performed well in school, Scott was raised by a single mother in Columbia, Maryland, and no one from his family ever graduated from college. Fisher was Scott's sixth-grade teacher and through his guidance and mentorship, Scott was able to attend college at the University of Maryland from 2002 to 2006, only taking out one loan for $2,000. "One thing I love about this country is that they do have a lot of grants and scholarships for people whose parents aren't making that much money," Scott said. Although Scott wanted to attend Florida State when applying to schools, he said Fisher discouraged him from that because he would have to take out thousands of dollars in loans. Fisher advises students to attend schools that do not require taking out huge amounts in loans, even if it is a dream school. "College affordability is about going where you can afford to attend," he said. "Parents and students clearly understand the excitement of college acceptance, not the commitment to understanding financial aid." ANNAPOLIS (Jan. 4, 2017)In the wake of the Nov. 8 election, immigration advocates in Maryland have been bracing themselves to protect the rights of the Latino community's most vulnerable populationthe illegal immigrant, or in politically-correct vernacular, the "undocumented." As President-elect Donald Trump prepares to take office, Hispanic immigrants and the organizations behind them are waiting to see whether the new administration will follow through on his pledges to deport the undocumented. In the meantime, groups like the National Council of La Raza are working to provide information, mental health services and legal counsel to this primarily Hispanic population as they come to terms with the country's new leader and the rhetoric his campaign has cultivated. "We are facing a very new reality for the Latino community," said Gabriela Gomez, communications coordinator for Hispanic advocacy group National Council of La Raza. "And the most vulnerable community are those individuals who are undocumented." University of Maryland, College Park government and politics associate professor Stella Rouse said that undocumented immigrants now face a lot of uncertainty. While campaigning, Trump promised to deport as many as 11 million undocumented immigrants. While he appears to have softened a bit on that pledge, he remains adamant about building a wall along the nation's Mexican border. "Trust me, we're going to build a wall," Trump said Thursday during an appearance in Indiana, adding "we'll have doors in that wall, but they're going to come through legally." He also has threatened to repeal the Obama administration's Deferred Action of Childhood Arrivals executive order. That policy protects undocumented immigrants from deportation and provides them with temporary work permits, but does not guarantee permit holders any path to legal residency or citizenship. "The DACA policies that are essentially protecting the undocumented immigrants who are here illegally is one of the biggest concerns at the moment in terms of what is going to happen. What are (Trump's) policies in terms of enforcing their deportation, and what is going to encompass this plan of deportation?" asked Rouse, director of the Center for American Politics and Citizenship. Trump so far has not announced his choice to head the Department of Homeland Security, which has jurisdiction over immigration enforcement. That pick will send a signal about the direction the new administration's policies will take on issues like the DACA order. "We've seen a lot of fearextreme fearfrom the DACA community," Gomez said. "The DACA individuals are the ones who, at this point, are very, very vulnerable." Although La Raza is encouraging these individuals to renew their DACA status, the group is advising against applying for the first time. "We're seeing this wave of hate," Gomez said. "It's in this wave we have to see what's going to happen." President-elect Trump told "60 Minutes" in November that he planned to deport up to 3 million "criminal" undocumented immigrants. However, Rouse said, he wouldn't necessarily succeed. "This would have to be at the federal level that Trump would have to put together a large immigration force to make that happen," she said. "I just don't think there is going to be any kind of political support for that, but he can certainly use the power of the federal government and through executive order to try and entice cities to do more to crack down on illegal immigration." A 2013 Department of Homeland Security fiscal report, however, estimates that there are roughly 1.9 million removable "criminal aliens" in the United States. A Migration Policy Institute study reports that, based on 2008 to 2014 Census data and other information, there were about 253,000 undocumented immigrants living in Maryland, including an estimated 156,000 people born in Mexico and Central America, and South America. Cities with large undocumented populations could see see federal funding, like education, cut, if their status as sanctuary jurisdictions remains the same, Rouse said. Though without a legal definition, sanctuary jurisdictions limit local law enforcement's cooperation with federal immigration officials, and are reluctant to prosecute residents solely based on their undocumented status. In Maryland, those jurisdictions would include Baltimore, as well as Prince George's and Montgomery Counties, Rouse said. "It's going to be (a) very interesting battle, particularly in counties that have a large undocumented immigrant population and have a lot of kids who may be children of undocumented immigrants or may be undocumented themselves and have been here from a very young age," she said. Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, a Democrat, announced in November that immigrants and refugees are welcome. Rawlings-Blake promised that the city's police will not be checking the citizenship status of the people they interact with. Maryland Senator-elect Chris Van Hollen, also a Democrat, said immigrants contribute to the state's economy with small businesses that generate new jobs. "Enacting Trump's program of mass deportation is simply unacceptable, and I will fight it in the U.S. Senate," Van Hollen told the University of Maryland's Capital News Service. "Maryland has led the charge on this important issue, passing the Dream Act referendum in our state to give opportunities to those who came to the U.S. as young children and have grown up here," Van Hollen said. "We must do the same in the federal level. I will fight any efforts to roll that back under the Trump Administration." The 2012 Dream Act allows Maryland's undocumented high school graduates to attend community college and then public four-year universities at in-state rates. "Some of Obama's policies certainly let them (undocumented immigrants) come out of the shadows and live in the open, which I'm sure was a welcomed thing," Rouse said. "The best thing that they can do is lobby local officials and get them on the record about what they are going to do if these policies come down. Local governments are not the arm of the federal government." "In a nutshell, our clients are worried and scared," said Valerie Twanmoh, director of Catholic Charities' Esperanza Center, an immigrant resource center in Baltimore. Fears of deportation have deterred the Esperanza Center's clients from getting the services they usually do, Twanmoh said. "In the few days immediately following the election, we've had fewer clients coming in," Twanmoh said. "When they're fearful, they're worried, they're at greater riskthey tend not to access services they need." Concern over losing contact with family members is a major worry among the undocumented, Twanmoh said. "And of course, fear of having to go back to an environment they fled because their life was in danger or they were at risk of harm," Twanmoh said. Esperanza Center employees are working to combat this fear by informing immigrants about their rights, Twanmoh said. "Anyone who comes in, we try to talk about what are the facts," Twanmoh said. "The more information they have, they better armed they are, and they can plan and cope with whatever may come." Of particular concern for her clients is notario fraud, Twanmoh said. Notarios, or immigration consultants, are scammers who use false advertising and fraudulent contracts to portray themselves as qualified to provide legal counsel to immigrants. The undocumented often pay these consultants large sums of money for citizenship status or other legal services that they never receive, sometimes permanently losing their right to immigration relief in the process, according to the American Bar Association. During periods of uncertainty over immigration law enforcement, these incidents increase in frequency, Twanmoh said. The Esperanza Center is partnering with various other organizations to establish legal clinics that would help connect Maryland immigrants with pro bono attorneys. Because immigration cases classify as civil rather than criminal, poor immigrants are not entitled to a public attorney and so often enter court unrepresented. "There's a huge need for attorneys to volunteer," Twanmoh said. "We have a number right now, but we need more." The Esperanza Center is also working to provide mental health services for immigrants, Twanmoh said. Because many of its clients are not eligible for insurance, most are not receiving the mental health care they need; a deficiency heightened in the wake of the Nov. 8 election. "In times like these, the need is even greater," Twanmoh said. "Our clients typically have stresses most of us don't Times are even tougher now." "Now more than ever, we have to be united," Gomez said. "We are living in unprecedented times in terms of this hateful rhetoric, and we need to stay to together to support the most vulnerable in the community." WASHINGTON (Jan. 4, 2017)Recent months have brought a spate of positive economic news, suggesting to many economists that American industry is finally starting to pick up again after a long, post-recession hangover. Unemployment is holding steady at or slightly below 5 percent (according to the government. Independent economists dispute this number as woefully low, especially when considering the number of people who have simply given up on finding a job, or have been forced to take jobs paying substantially less than the previous positions.), the decline in labor force participation appears to have slowed in the last year and the Census Bureau's American Community Survey found family income rose 5.2 percent in 2015, the fastest rate on record. Parts of Maryland are certainly feeling that optimism. Wages in the Baltimore-Washington corridor have been lurching upward over the last decade, up 7.2 percent since 2006, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Quarterly Survey of Employment and Wages. But east of the Susquehanna River, it's a different story. Wages are up just 0.75 percent, essentially unchanged from their level in 2006. Gains in Caroline County, the Eastern Shore's lone bright spot, haven't been enough to overcome tepid growth in nearby Cecil, Dorchester and Kent Counties, where collectively wages are still 6.5 percent below their 2007 peak. While the recession slashed wages in nearly every Maryland countywages fell about 2.1 percent statewide between 2007 and 2009its toll on the Eastern Shore's manufacturing sector was particularly devastating, said Angela Visintainer, Caroline County's director of economic development. "One of our big industries in Caroline County is manufacturing, particularly manufacturers that make these commodity types of products that have low skill production," Visintainer said. "The recession hit manufacturing hard, and a lot of those businesses were either lost or have become a lot smaller." Wages fell for six straight years in Kent County, dropping almost 7 percent between 2007 and 2013. In Dorchester County, it was five straight years of free fall, equating to a 9.4 percent loss. And in Cecil County, wages plummeted nearly 20 percent between 2007 and 2011, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics' data. Across the Chesapeake Bay, most counties in Maryland's urban core managed to weather the recession well. Wages fell after the financial crisis in 2008, but started ticking up again within the next two years. The resilience of the region largely is explained by the presence of the federal government. Nowhere is this more evident than in St. Mary's County, perhaps the closest parallel to Cecil County west of the Susquehanna. Both regions have populations just over 100,000 and both are about as far from a major city as a county can be while still falling within its metropolitan area. But St. Mary's County is home to the Naval Air Station Patuxent River. With a workforce of over 22,000, "Pax River" is the third-largest employer among Maryland's 17 military bases. "Our economy is very closely tied to federal defense spending," said Robin Finnacom, St. Mary's deputy director of economic development. "Pax River is the second-most economically productive base in the state. Median income here is about $88,000, but if we look at the average civil servant income, it's about $105,000." Wages in St. Mary's County grew 7 percent in 2009 alone, a staggering outlier on both a state and national scale. It wasn't until Congress' failure to agree on a budget in 2013 triggered automatic cuts to defense spending, known as sequestration, that wages took a hit. Despite meteoric growth early in the recovery, wages stayed essentially flat in St. Mary's County from 2012 to 2014. "There were some furlough days. Contracts were delayed and even canceled in some cases," Finnacom said. "Government revenues are a lagging indicator of our economy and we're only just now starting to see an uptick in that." The sequester highlighted a need in St. Mary's County to branch out from the public sector, according to Finnacom. Depending solely on funds from a Congress increasingly resistant to passing much of anything simply isn't a sustainable strategy, she said. So in recent years, the county has looked to leverage the resources it has to offer: a highly skilled technical workforce and infrastructure to support private aerospace and aviation firms. A keystone to that effort is the University of Maryland Unmanned Aircraft Systems Test Site. The collaborative project between the University System of Maryland and the Naval Air Systems Command is part of a national research effort on how to implement unmanned aerial systems into the commercial sector. "The test site created a distinct draw for commercial opportunities," Finnacom said. "We are now a magnet for this type of work." In Maryland's more centrally located counties, a similar story is unfolding. Recent consolidation of U.S. cyber intelligence around Fort Meade has been a tremendous boon to the economies of Howard and Anne Arundel Counties, according to Larry Twele, CEO of the Howard County Economic Development Authority. The high-skilled professional technical service workforce that has grown in the region is attracting private companies, and the area is reaping the benefits of that productivity, he said. Wages in Howard County are up roughly 27 percent in the last nine years and officials are now focused on how to maintain that momentum. Twele and the Howard County Economic Development Authority see attracting young, well-educated adultswho are increasingly drawn to the amenities of urban lifeas the key to sustaining growth. Injecting life into a traditionally sleepy area is the authority's long-term goal. "Your classic suburban office park models aren't as attractive as they used to be," Twele said. "Companies looking for talent are looking for folks who want to be in these walkable, livable environments." Revitalization efforts have already begun in downtown Columbia, where new apartment buildings, shops and restaurants are popping up. The Economic Development Authority is also looking to reinvent the Columbia Gateway, the roughly 900-acre former General Electric manufacturing park, into a vibrant, walkable community with mixed-use real estate. "Right now, the area is restricted by all sorts of covenants and zoning regulations," Twele said. "But if we want to attract companies to the area, the talent they're looking for is wondering 'Where can I walk to work, bike to work, where can I go nearby to eat?' You're starting to see this pattern of companies moving back into urban centers because that's where they're finding their talent." This shift toward sustained growth highlights a growing divide between Maryland's urban core and rural border regions. The focus in the east isn't so much on maintaining growth as it is jumpstarting the dormant economy to avoid falling farther behind the rest of the state. It's a task that's easier said than done. The region's low population narrows the range of industries it can attract, according to Visintainer, and traditionally reliable forms of employment, like low-skill manufacturing, are increasingly difficult to come by. "The projects where a manufacturing plant is going to plop down with two- or three-hundred employees, the state has the tools for that through aggressive tax credits, but those opportunities aren't there like they used to be," Twele said. "It's really now a problem of enabling the technology to do business there." Visintainer says the Eastern Shore's most pressing need is help from the state in education and workforce development. Caroline County sees huge growth opportunity in advanced manufacturing, where order volumes are lower but production requires a higher level of skill. The creativity and problem-solving skills required for these jobs cannot be found by outsourcing production to lower cost regions, according to Visintainer. But officials are having trouble reconciling state education policy with the skills local employers are demanding. "I think the state gets stuck defining success as going to college, and that's not necessarily true for our area," Visintainer said. "In rural areas like ours, with the industries we're focused on, some of our best job opportunities don't require a four-year degree." Caroline County has already taken some initiative, with plans to launch a new manufacturing curriculum in its high schools this spring. However, local efforts can only go so far without the financial backing of the state, officials say. "Some of the state-level target industries require college education and even advanced degrees, so it makes sense that they would be pushing that," Visintainer said. "But, that doesn't make sense for the Shore. We're never going to have the population to support those types of businesses." The world was stunned when mother/daughter movie stars Debbie Reynolds and Carrie Fisher died unexpectedly in late December. Fisher suffered a massive heart attack on December 23 and succumbed four days later. Reynolds passed the following day after a stroke. Some have speculated that Reynolds died of "broken heart syndrome." The parent/child love story between Fisher and Reynolds has become the stuff of Hollywood legend. Both women endured a series of failed relationships and became each other's primary support system. They lived next door to each other. They took care of each other. Eventually they became intertwined as one. Towards the end of Fisher and Reynolds' lives filmmakers Alexis Bloom and Fisher Stevens filmed a documentary about their extraordinary bond. "Bright Lights: Starring Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds" premiered to great acclaim in May 2016 at the Cannes Film Festival. Originally scheduled to air on HBO in March, the film will instead air on Saturday Jan. 7 at 8 p.m. as a tribute to the two actresses. The unflinching honesty of the filmmakers--and of Reynolds and Fisher themselves--makes "Bright Lights" a profoundly emotional experience. Reynolds lived for two things: her family and her work--she played to packed houses in Las Vegas for decades. Towards the end of her life, with her health failing her, she was advised to retire, but refused. Old and frail, Reynolds steps onto the stage at a resort in Connecticut. No longer able to dance, she sings and banters with her audience. Backstage, after she receives a standing ovation, the camera shows Reynolds being helped down a flight of stairs she can no longer manage on her own. Reynolds allowed this to be filmed, a very brave thing to do for a woman who knew that that her earthly sojourn would soon be coming to an end. Most of "Bright Lights" focuses on the deep mother/daughter connection which Reynolds and Fisher shared. Fisher, a recovering drug addict who was also diagnosed with bipolar disorder, speaks candidly about her battles with substance abuse and mental illness. Through the years Reynolds stood by her daughter's side--she loves Fisher every step of the way. Much later, as age related illness causes Reynolds to deteriorate rapidly, the roles are reversed--Fisher is afraid to leave town at one point out of concern for her mom's well-being. The camera follows them as they engage in the casual banter of their everyday lives. Almost like a couple, they start and complete each other's sentences. Late in the film Fisher goes to visit her dad, the 1950s crooner Eddie Fisher, who threw his life and career away amidst a series of poor choices. The 1959 breakup of Fisher and Reynolds' marriage--he left her for Elizabeth Taylor--made tabloid headlines at the time. The Eddie Fisher we see in "Bright Lights" is an old, sick and emaciated man, unable to get out of bed and barely recognizable. In a heartbreaking sequence, father and daughter say what is most likely their final goodbyes. They admit that in spite of all that happened between them, they still love each other. Sometimes audiences forget that the people we see on screen are real people who have families and aspirations of their own. "Bright Lights: Starring Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds" breaks that fourth wall--first and foremost, this is a film about human beings who loved each other deeply. The film lets viewers know who Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds were behind closed doors after the adoring fans had gone home. The camera captures their joys, sorrows, weaknesses and strengths in an unflinching manner--few films, be they documentaries or scripted dramas, are as brutally honest or as emotionally riveting as this one. "Bright Lights" will now stand forever as a memorial tribute to two of the most remarkable women that Hollywood has ever seen. "Bright Lights: Starring Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds", will premiere on HBO on Jan. 7 at 8 p.m. It will also be available On Demand and for online viewing at Play.hbogo.com/ Also available is "Wishful Drinking, Carrie Fisher's darkly comic one woman show about her life. The White House(WASHINGTON) -- President Obama called Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan Tuesday to express his condolences after a New Year's terror attack on a nightclub in Istanbul and an attack against off-duty Turkish security personnel in Kayseri, according to the White House. Thirty-nine people were killed and dozens more injured on December 31 when a gunman opened fire at Reina, a popular nightclub in Istanbul, with what authorities described as a long-barreled weapon. ISIS later claimed responsibility for the attack and authorities have been searching for the suspected shooter. In the telephone conversation, the president and Turkey's leader agreed their two counties "must continue to stand united in order to defeat terrorism." The White House also said Obama and Erdogan talked about progress made in the fight against ISIS in Iraq and Syria and the "need to continue and deepen coordination between the United States and Turkey." Copyright 2017, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. A lot has happened in the past year for LGBT rights in Palm Beach County, from memorial events to new legislations offering protections for LGBT youth and individuals. Organizations such as Compass, the Southern Poverty Law Center, the National Center for Lesbian Rights, Palm Beach County Human Rights Council and more have worked throughout the year with local politicians to establish new policies and practices to further the LGBT community. Palm Beach County is the largest county east of the Mississippi River, the third most populous county in the State of Florida, and home to the largest gay and lesbian community center of the southeast United States, reads the Compass website. Thanks to the hard work of the of passionate individuals, dedicated organizations and responsible public officials, Palm Beach County maintains inclusive school policies and protections for gay youth in the county. This year has been a busy year for PBCHRC, Rand Hoch, president and founder of PBCHRC told SFGN. Some of our work involved new initiatives, some involved following up with previous legislative accomplishments that need to be refined for a variety of reasons, some involved relation to situations as they came up. Discrimination was cut down in Lake Worth as several laws and policies were amended to expand discrimination protection to LGBT individuals in the city. According to Hoch, this years amendments ensured that the citys Fair Housing Act would prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity or expression. The amendments were also enacted so that the citys Merit Services policy would prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity or expression and [so that] the citys Procurement Code would ensure equal opportunity based on sexual orientation and gender identity or expression, Hoch wrote. Conversion therapy has also been a hot topic throughout the year, with South Florida cities such as West Palm Beach, Wilton Manors, Miami, and most recently Lake Worth banning the practice. PBCHRC hopes to continue this trend in 2017, even aiming for a county wide ban for Palm Beach. [We will also] encourage additional municipalities to enact bans, Hoch wrote. [We will] encourage the Palm Beach County Board of County Commissioners to enact a county wide ban on conversion therapy for minors. In terms of banning conversion therapy in surrounding cities, PBCHRC Board Member W. Trent Steele told SFGN that, if past experience has been any indication, Im hoping this vote will be even easier [in other cities] than what the PBCHRC has pushed in the past. Besides conversion therapy this year also saw the election of two more openly-LGBT candidates: Myra Koutzen as Mayor of Palm Beach County and Tonya Davis Johnson elected to the Riviera Beach City Council. Compass hosted the largest portion of the AIDS Memorial Quilt on World AIDS Day. With 126 squares, the display was an opportunity to see a number of lives and families who have been touched by HIV and AIDS. It is a memorial. Its a user-generated memorial where they put their love and memories into this quilt, Tony Plakas, Executive Director of Compass told SFGN. We always try to find a way that the AIDS memorial quilt gets the respect it deserves. In terms of the upcoming year, Hoch said that PBCHRC and surrounding organizations will take each day as it comes, fighting for more LGBT protections and ensuring that LGBT rights are not compromised in the upcoming political atmosphere. Since the LGBTQ community cannot expect much progress on the national level and, for that matter, on the state level, we must focus our attention at the county at municipal levels, Hoch told the Miami New Times in late November. Ultimately, Washington D.C. will see what is happening on the local level on civil rights and perhaps finally get around to enacting legislation. PBCHRC will endeavor to get the Chief Judge of Florida's 15th Judicial Circuit in and for Palm Beach County to budget sufficient funding to include sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression in mandatory diversity training for judges and court personnel, Hoch wrote to SFGN. As 2016 wraps up, courses of action for more pro-LGBT legislation are in the works for next year. In 2017, PBCHRC will continue our efforts in Palm Beach County to encourage all public employers within Palm Beach County to adopt policies which specifically prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity and expression, Hoch wrote. Here's the latest news from around the world! National - A Lawmaker's Solution for Marriage Debate: Remove the State (AP) A Missouri Republican saw last year's debate over a proposed constitutional amendment that would have protected businesses that deny services to same-sex couples bring lawmakers to tears and grind legislative work to a halt. His potential solution: Take state government out of marriage completely. "You can stop spending so much emotional energy on the issue, and we can move on to other things," state Rep. T.J. Berry said, adding, "I'm treating everybody the exact same way and leaving space for people to believe what they believe outside of government." His bill, filed ahead of the 2017 legislative session, would make Missouri the first state to recognize only domestic unions for both heterosexual and gay couples, treating legal partnerships equally and leaving marriages to be done by pastors and other religious leaders. But such peace could be elusive for several reasons. Some argue that leaving marriage to religious leaders is a way to constitutionally refuse to perform ceremonies for same-sex couples. Plus, there are potential logistical issues with stripping references to marriage in hundreds of state statutes, and the federal government recognizes only marriages for benefits. Berry's idea has been met by skepticism from pretty much all sides of the gay marriage issue. Other states including Alabama, Indiana and Michigan failed to pass similar bills to limit the government's role in marriage, and Oklahoma representatives passed a bill that didn't make it out of the Senate. The Missouri bill's chances are unclear, although Republican House Majority Floor Leader Mike Cierpiot, who lives 30 minutes south of Kansas City in Lee's Summit, said the issue needs to be discussed due to impassioned arguments among LGBT rights groups and religious organizations that have continued in the wake of the 2015 U.S. Supreme Court decision legalizing same-sex marriage. National - Indiana University Same-Sex Partner Benefits End Dec. 31 (AP) More than 20 Indiana University employees will lose health care coverage if they don't marry their same-sex partners by the end of the month. University employees in same-sex relationships have relied on a domestic-partner health care policy offered since 2002, the South Bend Tribune (http://bit.ly/2iIDSft ) reported. Employees who applied for the benefit were required to sign an affidavit saying he or she would marry if the opportunity was available. A university spokeswoman said the number of domestic partners enrolled in medical plans dropped from 250 at its highest point to 22 after marriage certificates were submitted following the 2015 U.S. Supreme Court decision that legalized same-sex marriage. Shortly after the Supreme Court decision the IU board of trustees discontinued domestic partner benefits. Those benefits will expire Dec. 31. "The university has a nondiscrimination policy that includes marital status. It's hard for me to understand how this isn't blatant discrimination," said Betsy Lucal, an IU employee. "The right to marry should not be a requirement to marry." The university has never offered domestic partner health benefits to unmarried heterosexual employee couples. The university's human resources department said it'll continue to explore employee requests to expand health care coverage to all same-sex and opposite-sex domestic partners. Meanwhile, the university told unmarried same-sex couples that their partner who is not covered may be eligible for COBRA, temporary coverage under the employer's plan if their coverage otherwise would cease due to termination, layoff or other change in employment status. Dating - Gay Dating App Scruff Bans 'Party' From Profiles (EDGE) Some users of the gay dating app Scruff may be surprised when they try to use the word "party" in their profile: The app's creators banned the word to crack down on its members from using "party" as code for drugs, according to New Now Next. "Party" is sometimes used to refer to "chemsex," a term used by gay or bisexual men who use drugs to facilitate sex. New Now Next points out there are ways some users figured out to get around the "party" ban: Switching a word for a number does the trick, like "p4rty" or "ch3m." The ban on "party" has been around for a while but recently made headlines in the U.K. after BuzzFeed News reported that a man discovered the blocking when he couldn't write "party" in his profile to say he's a member of the Labour Party in his profile. "To censor a word does not stop people using drugs in potentially harmful ways. If there is an appetite, then it will usually out, despite how it is policed," activist Patrick Cash told BuzzFeed about the "party" ban. "I would like to see Scruff and other gay hookup apps take a greater interest in the holistic wellbeing of its users, their mental health and self-worth. "Apps are a pivotal part of our modern gay community and their makers should note that they could create far more good than they currently achieve," Cash added. Health - Texas Judge Halts Federal Transgender Health Protections (AP) A federal judge in Texas on Saturday ordered a halt to another Obama administration effort to strengthen transgender rights, this time over health rules that social conservatives say could force doctors to violate their religious beliefs. The latest injunction signed by U.S. District Judge Reed O'Connor comes four months after he blocked a higher-profile new set of transgender protections - a federal directive that required public schools to let transgender students use bathrooms consistent with their gender identity. Several of the Republican-controlled states that brought that lawsuit, including Texas, also sued over the health regulations that were finalized in May. Civil rights groups had hailed the new health rules as groundbreaking anti-discrimination protections. The Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund said the new U.S. Health and Human Services regulations advised that certain forms of transgender discrimination by doctors, hospitals and insurers violated the Affordable Care Act. But a coalition of religious medical organizations said the rules could force doctors to help with gender transition contrary to their religious beliefs or medical judgment. O'Connor agreed in his 46-page ruling, saying the rules place "substantial pressure on Plaintiffs to perform and cover transition and abortion procedures." The rules were set to take effect Sunday. "Plaintiffs will be forced to either violate their religious beliefs or maintain their current policies which seem to be in direct conflict with the Rule and risk the severe consequences of enforcement," O'Connor wrote. Transgender rights advocates have called that a far-fetched hypothetical, saying a person would not approach a doctor who lacked suitable experience and expertise. The Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund criticized the injunction as contrary to existing law and said it expects the ruling to be overturned on appeal. Le Collectif Cheikh Yassine a organise un certain nombre dactivites et de festivites pour les enfants de Gaza sous le theme La joie des enfants de Gaza pour lAid . Ces activites ont commence le premier jour de lAid et continue jusquau 4eme jour de lAid dans la bande de Gaza. Plusieurs activites, ont ete organisees parmi lesquelles : des competitions recompensees par des prix, des jeux, des animations et des chants presentes par un groupe ainsi que des distributions de cadeaux et daides financieres. Fast Radio Burst Source Gemini Observatory Gemini Observatory provides critical rapid follow up observations of a Fast Radio Burst one of modern astronomys greatest enigmas. These observations provide the first details on a bursts distant extragalactic host. Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs), sudden rapid explosions of energy from space, have challenged astronomers since their discovery in 2007. Typically lasting only a few milliseconds, many questions remain, including what powers these bursts, their distance beyond our galaxy, and what their host galaxies might look like. Now, thanks to deep Gemini observations, we know that at least one of these FRBs originated in a discrete source within a distant dwarf galaxy located some three billion light-years beyond our Milky Way Galaxy, said Shriharsh Tendulkar of McGill University in Montreal, Canada. Tendulkar and an international team of astronomers presented the results today at the 229th meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Grapevine, Texas. The characterization of the host galaxy was published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, and accompanied the research teams results on a campaign to precisely locate the FRB, published in the journal Nature. The story began with the detection of a burst denoted FRB 121102 which was discovered in November of 2012 at the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico. However, unlike the other 17 known FRBs, this one repeated itself and allowed astronomers to watch for it using the National Science Foundations Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA). The VLA radio telescope, composed of 27 antennas in New Mexico, has the ability to see the fine detail necessary to precisely determine the objects location in the sky. In 83 hours of observing time over six months in 2016, the VLA detected nine bursts from FRB 121102. For a long time, we came up empty, then got a string of bursts that gave us exactly what we needed, said Casey Law, of the University of California at Berkeley. The VLA data allowed us to narrow down the position very accurately, said Sarah Burke-Spolaor, of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) and West Virginia University. Once we were able to accurately pinpoint the bursts location in the two-dimensional sky we enlisted the 8-meter Gemini North telescope on Maunakea in Hawaii to characterize the corresponding host galaxy, said Paul Scholz formerly of McGill University and now with the National Research Council of Canada (NRC). The Gemini observations did that, and for the first time with an FRB, left no doubt about its origin. The host galaxy for this FRB appears to be a very humble and unassuming dwarf galaxy, which is only about 1% of the mass or our Milky Way Galaxy, said Tendulkar, who adds that Gemini not only imaged the galaxy, but obtained a spectrum which characterized the galaxy and provided an estimate of its redshift (velocity away from us due to the expansion of the universe) and thus its distance. This really gave us a three dimensional lock on the home of this FRB. It is surprising that the host would be a dwarf galaxy, adds Tendulkar. One would generally expect most FRBs to come from large galaxies which have the largest numbers of stars and neutron stars. Neutron stars remnants of massive stars are among the top candidates to explain FRBs. Tendulkar notes that this dwarf galaxy has fewer stars, but is forming them at a high rate, which may suggest that FRBs are linked to younger neutron stars. Two other classes of extreme events long duration gamma-ray bursts and superluminous supernovae frequently occur in dwarf galaxies, as well. This discovery may hint at links between FRBs and those two kinds of events, suggests Tendulkar. The collaboration of Gemini working with radio telescopes around the world, each looking at the universe in such different ways, is what allowed us to make this breakthrough, said Shami Chatterjee, of Cornell University. The simple fact that we have uncovered an extragalactic host for a fast radio burst is a huge advance in our understanding, he added. This impressive result shows the power of several telescopes working in concert first detecting the radio burst and then precisely locating and beginning to characterize the emitting source, said Phil Puxley, a program director at the National Science Foundation that funds the VLA, Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA), Gemini and Arecibo observatories. It will be exciting to collect more data and better understand the nature of these radio bursts. FRBs are an exciting new area in astrophysics and the CHIME telescope at DRAO is ideal for detecting large numbers of them across the whole sky, says Sean Dougherty, Director of the National Research Council of Canada (NRC) Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory (DRAO). In addition to funding a significant portion of Gemini, NRC hosts the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment (CHIME) which is an interferometric radio telescope under construction at DRAO in British Columbia. CHIME will survey half the sky each day in search of radio transients. The Gemini Observatory is an international collaboration with two identical 8-meter telescopes. The Frederick C. Gillett Gemini Telescope is located on Mauna Kea, Hawaii (Gemini North) and the Gemini South telescope is on Cerro Pachon in central Chile; together the twin telescopes provide full coverage over both hemispheres of the sky. The telescopes incorporate technologies that allow large relatively thin mirrors, under active control, to collect and focus both visible and infrared radiation from space. The Gemini Observatory provides the astronomical communities in five participating countries with state-of-the-art astronomical facilities that allocate observing time in proportion to each countrys contribution. In addition to financial support, each country also contributes significant scientific and technical resources. The national research agencies that form the Gemini participants include: the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF); the Canadian National Research Council (NRC); the Brazilian Ministerio da Ciencia, Technologia e Inovacao (MCTI); the Argentinean Ministerio de Ciencia, Technologia e Innovacion Productiva; and the Chilean Comision Nacional de Investigacion Cientifica y Technologica (CONICYT). The Observatory is managed by the Association A satellite is ejected from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) Small Satellite Orbital Deployer on the International Space Station on Dec. 19, 2016. The satellite is actually two small satellites that, once at a safe distance from the station, separated from each other, but were still connected by a 100-meter-long Kevlar tether. Credit: NASA. NASA In a remarkable demonstration of robotic prowess, ground controllers used the Canadian-built Dextre Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator over the weekend to install three new lithium-ion batteries in the International Space Stations 3A power channel Integrated Electronics Assembly (IEA) pallet on the starboard 4 truss. Dextre also removed four old nickel-hydrogen batteries from the IEA, three of which were stowed on the Japanese H-II Transfer Vehicles external pallet to wrap up the first act of a complex procedure to upgrade the stations power system. A fourth old battery was temporarily stowed on a platform on Dextre. This clears the way for the first of two spacewalks Friday in which Expedition 50 Commander Shane Kimbrough and Flight Engineer Peggy Whitson of NASA will install three adapter plates in slots on the IEA to which three of the old nickel-hydrogen batteries will be mounted to remain on the ISS but will be dormant. In all, nine nickel-hydrogen batteries will be stowed on the external pallet for disposal when the HTV is deorbited to burn up in the Earths atmosphere late this month. Three additional new lithium-ion batteries flown to the ISS aboard the HTV will be robotically installed in the starboard truss 1A power channel Integrated Electronics Assembly between Fridays spacewalk and a second spacewalk scheduled Jan. 13 for Kimbrough and Flight Engineer Thomas Pesquet of the European Space Agency. Five additional nickel-hydrogen batteries will be removed robotically from the IEA prior to the second spacewalk. A briefing to preview the two spacewalks and to review all of the robotics work will be broadcast on NASA Television on Wednesday, Jan. 4 at 2 p.m. Eastern time. On-Orbit Status Report Extravehicular Activity (EVA) Preparations: The USOS crew continued preparations for Fridays EVA by auditing and configuring EVA tools, reviewing EVA Cuff Checklist procedures and participating in a conference with ground specialist. Additionally, they checked out the Rechargeable EVA Battery Assemblies (REBAs) on Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) suits 3006 and 3008 to verify the glove heaters are functional and helmet cameras are receiving power. Mobile Servicing System (MSS) Operations: Yesterday and overnight (GMT 002-003), Robotics Ground Controllers powered up the MSS and operated the Space Station Remote Manipulator System (SSRMS) and the Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator (SPDM) Body and Arm2 to remove a Nickel-Hydrogen (NiH2) battery from slot 3 on the 3A Integrated Electronics Assembly (IEA) and temporarily stow it on SPDM Enhanced ORU Temporary Platform (EOTP) Side 3. They then removed a Lithium-Ion (Li-Ion) battery from Slot C on the H-II Transfer Vehicle 6 (HTV6) Exposed Pallet (EP) and installed it in Slot 3 of the 3A Integrated Electronics Assembly (IEA), this was the last Li-Ion battery that had to be installed in the 3A IEA. The team is currently performing operations to drive the slot 1 and slot 5 H1 bolts with the ROST to complete the 3A pre-EVA robotics ops. Fluid Shifts Baseline Imaging: The last of the three 49 Soyuz subjects performed their Baseline Imaging measurements with assistance from both onboard operators and ground remote guiders. Ultrasound imaging was taken of arterial and venous measures of the head and neck, cardiac, ophthalmic and portal vein, and tissue thickness of lower and upper body. Additional measurements using the Cerebral and Cochlear Fluid Pressure (CCFP), Distortion Product Otoacoustic Emissions (DPOAE), Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT), ESAs Cardiolab (CDL) Holter Arterial Blood Pressure Device, and Intraocular Pressure (IOP) using the tonometer were taken as well. Fluid Shifts is a joint NASA- Russian experiment that investigates the causes for severe and lasting physical changes to astronauts eyes. Because the headward fluid shift is a hypothesized contributor to these changes, reversing this fluid shift with a lower body negative pressure device is investigated as a possible intervention. Results from this study may help to develop preventative measures against lasting changes in vision and eye damage. European Space Agency (ESA) Education Payloads Operations (EPO): The crew reviewed the overview for the three EPO activities which make up the EXo-ISS CERES, CrISStal and CatalISS. They also installed the CERES experiment in the Veggie facility, fastening the Seed Support then watering the seeds. The crew then prepared the CrISStal Salt Bag, dissolving the Seingnette salt then injecting the solution into the experiment bags. Finally, the crew initiated the CatalISS experiment by activating the CatalISS Gelatin Syringe by injecting degassed lemon-lime soda. CERES, is devoted to the study of plant growth; lentil, mustard, and radish seeds were selected having met the required criteria of rapid germination, vertical growth, and resistance to long-term storage. CrISStal, aims to demonstrate the role of gravity in growing crystals, where in microgravity growth is the same in all directions, giving a perfect regular shape of the crystal. The crystal grows in a liquid solution from saturated Rochelle salt. The student designed experiment, CatalISS, aims to prove the influence of gravity on the catalytic reactions. For this purpose, the experiment operates from catalysis of enzymes and gelatin for reaction with a duration of three days. Todays Planned Activities All activities were completed unless otherwise noted. R 1 absorption cartridge regeneration initiate Unstow of the EPO Pesquet Pouch for the Ceres, Crisstal, and Cataliss experiments. Fluid Shifts Ultrasound 2 HRF Rack 1 Power On Pre-treat tank [-] and hose R&R in system, activation post R&R Fluid Shifts OCT Baseline Setup Reading of Big Picture Words for Ceres, Crisstal, Cataliss Fluid Shifts CDL Holter Arterial BP Hardware Don Subject Fluid Shifts Ultrasound Baseline Scan Vozdukh [ ] valves service activation -2 adjustment for physical exercise Crew Medical Officer (CMO) Proficiency Training Fluid Shifts Ultrasound Baseline Scan Operator Photo and Video Recording of Life on Station Regenerative Environmental Control and Life Support System (RGN) WSTA Fill PROFILAKTIKA-2. Assistance in experiment setup -1 sensors positioning check Nikon Camera Time Sync Fluid Shifts CCFP Baseline Test PROFILAKTIKA-2. Closeout ops (assistance) Fluid Shifts OCT Baseline Exam Central Post Laptop Monthly Maintenance Log-files Downlink PELIKAN PL Photo Spectral System Battery Charge (init) Fluid Shifts DPOAE Baseline Test Subject Fluid Shifts OCT Baseline Stow Fluid Shifts Tonometry Baseline Setup Fluid Shifts Tonometry Baseline Exam Fluid Shifts CDL Holter Arterial BP Hardware Doff Subject Formaldehyde Monitoring Kit (FMK) Deployment Operations Grab Sample Container (GSC) Sampling Operations Veggie Hardware and display OBT Fluid Shifts Tonometry Baseline Stow Filling (separation) of () for Elektron or - Setup of the EPO Pesquet Ceres experiment Fluid Shifts CCFP Baseline Stow COTS UHF Communication Unit (CUCU) Circuit Breakers Close Regenerative Environmental Control and Life Support System (RGN) WSTA Fill maintenance Progress 433 Stowage Ops (DC1) w/IMS update COTS UHF Communication Unit (CUCU) Circuit Breaker Open Extravehicular Activity (EVA) Tool Configuring Setup of the EPO Pesquet Crisstal Experiment. Public Affairs Office (PAO) High Definition (HD) Config LAB Setup PAO Preparation Public Affairs Office (PAO) Event in High Definition (HD) Lab Setup of the Cataliss experiment Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) Cuff Checklist Print Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) Resize CONTENT. Experiment ops Rechargeable EVA Battery Assembly (REBA) Powered Hardware Checkout CCE Preparation Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) Relocate Extravehicular Activity (EVA) Procedure Conference DUBRAVA. Observation and photography PELIKAN Observation and photography using Photo Spectral System 1 absorption cartridge regeneration; (end) Completed Task List Items Commercial Generic Bioprocessing Apparatus 1, Compact Flash Card [Completed Saturday] Crew Provisions Relocate [Completed Saturday] LAB PS-120 label fix [Completed Saturday] Configuring the EVA GoPro Camera [Completed Saturday] COL1O2 Cleanup [Completed Saturday] Payload Hardware Relocate [Completed Saturday] Tropical Cyclone Ops Overview Review [Completed Saturday] On-Orbit Hearing Assessment (O-OHA) with EarQ Software Setup and Test [Completed Saturday] JEM CTB CONSOLIDATION [Completed Saturday] WiseNet Base Station Antenna Check [Completed Saturday] Cell Biology Experiment Facility (CBEF) Ventilation Valve Pedestal Installation [Completed Saturday] Portable Emergency Provisions (PEPS) Inspection [Completed Sunday] Total Organic Carbon Analyzer (TOCA) Water Recovery System (WRS) Sample Analysis [Completed Sunday] EVA Simplified Aid For EVA Rescue Practice [Completed Sunday] Lighting Effects Visual Performance Tests Light Setting [Completed Sunday] Plug-in Plan Audit NOD1 [Completed Sunday] Childrens Artwork Calendar Downlink Message [Completed Sunday] Columbus HD video Recording on SSDs [Completed Sunday] Total Organic Carbon Analyzer (TOCA) Sample Data Record [Completed Sunday] Emergency Ammonia Measurement Kit Spare Battery Changeout [Completed Sunday] Recording of AstroPi Message [Completed Sunday] ESA PAO Recorded Message Opening of the Journees de linnovation en sante [Completed Sunday] Tomatoshpere Video Record [Completed Monday] NOD1PD2 Light Installation NOD1SD2 Light Installation Ground Activities All activities were completed unless otherwise noted. CUCU Checkout Day 4 3A Battery R&R Robotic Operations Three-Day Look Ahead: Wednesday, 01/04: Spheres Setup and Run, EVA tool and Camera Config, Body Measures Thursday, 01/05: EVA Procedure Review, EVA Conference, Airlock Equipment Lock Prep, EVA Tool Audit Friday, 01/06: Airlock Depress, S4 Battery EMU EVA QUICK ISS Status Environmental Control Group: Component Status Elektron Off Vozdukh Manual [] 1 SM Air Conditioner System (SKV1) Off [] 2 SM Air Conditioner System (SKV2) On Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly (CDRA) Lab Standby Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly (CDRA) Node 3 Operate Major Constituent Analyzer (MCA) Lab Operate Major Constituent Analyzer (MCA) Node 3 Idle Oxygen Generation Assembly (OGA) Process Urine Processing Assembly (UPA) Process Trace Contaminant Control System (TCCS) Lab Off Trace Contaminant Control System (TCCS) Node 3 Full Up Titan's North Pole NASA Floating high above the hydrocarbon lakes, wispy clouds have finally started to return to Titans northern latitudes. Clouds like these disappeared from Titans (3,200 miles or 5,150 kilometers across) northern reaches for several years (from about 2010 to 2014). Now they have returned, but in far smaller numbers than expected. Since clouds can quickly appear and disappear, Cassini scientists regularly monitor the large moon, in the hopes of observing cloud activity. They are especially interested in comparing these observations to predictions of how cloud cover should change with Saturns seasons. Titans clear skies are not what researchers expected. This view looks toward the Saturn-facing side of Titan. North on Titan is up and rotated 3 degrees to the left. The image was taken with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on Oct. 29, 2016 using a spectral filter that preferentially admits wavelengths of near-infrared light centered at 938 nanometers. The view was obtained at a distance of approximately 545,000 miles (878,000 kilometers) from Titan. Image scale is 3 miles (5 kilometers) per pixel. The Cassini mission is a cooperative project of NASA, ESA (the European Space Agency) and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASAs Science Mission Directorate, Washington. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging operations center is based at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colorado. 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... The Roosevelt Raceway Documentary is in production and the trailer has been released. There will be a short ten minute version released and shown at the 2017 Roosevelt Raceway reunion (date and place to be announced soon). The full version will be released in the fall of 2017. The goal is to have the documentary aired on the PBS or the History Channel. The Roosevelt Raceway story is being produced by Trade Martin Productions with assistance from Billy Haughton, Mike Lizzi and Fred Hudson. Trade, a Grammy winner and multiple Clio Award nominee, also wrote the Roosevelt Raceway song and is currently working on other songs that will be added to the documentary. Jimmy Jay, known as the DJ of the stars and radio show host out of Boston, will be doing the voiceovers. Jay's primetime radio show has close to one million listeners and he has done voiceovers for many movies and commercials. The story will tell how modern harness racing came to being and how this once great racetrack came to its tragic end. Included in the documentary are some great photos, videos, and interviews with some of the people that were there. Special effects, which include photos over videos, have also been added (as seen in the trailer). There are other special effects that will be included in the final video. For more information, head over to rrtrotting.com/documentary. (Fred Hudson) New Year Brings New Freedom for Religious Group Banned from Senior Community During Christmas Contact: Brad Dacus, Pacific Justice Institute, 949-422-0395 BAKERSFIELD, Calif., Jan. 4, 2017 /Standard Newswire/ -- A group of senior citizens are relieved but remain wary after their homeowners association (HOA) reversed course and lifted a ban on their meetings. The groups, consisting of a Sunday worship service and three weekly Bible studies, had been meeting for a few years at the clubhouse of Solera at Kern Canyon, a senior community in Bakersfield. Numerous other groups and clubs utilize the clubhouse on a regular basis, spanning a wide range of interests. Just before Thanksgiving, the HOA Board abruptly suspended all four of the religious gatherings, citing a legal threat from a resident who is an attorney. More than 30 residents appealed the decision, but the Board rejected their concerns in mid-December. As a result, the worship services were denied clubhouse space throughout the Christmas season. Bakersfield attorney Doug Gosling filed suit December 22 on behalf of Solera resident Gerald Brister, who attended the religious meetings. The court denied an emergency motion for a temporary restraining order on December 23 but scheduled a more complete evidentiary hearing for January 9. Late Friday, December 30, the HOA Board reversed course and voted to allow the religious meetings to resume, at least temporarily, while the Board considers other rules and potential restrictions on the gatherings. Gosling explained that, while this move means the Jan. 9 hearing will no longer be needed, the lawsuit will move ahead to ensure that residents' legal rights are respected long term. Pacific Justice Institute represents and has been advising several other Solera residents, including Burnie McLain who filed the first informal appeal of the HOA Board decision, and Gene Thurman, who started the religious gatherings a few years ago. Matthew McReynolds, a PJI attorney who warned the HOA Board that it was violating state civil rights laws by suspending the meetings, commented, "We're encouraged that worship and Bible studies can resume at Solera, but we will stay involved to ensure this is more than a temporary fix. Religious freedom cannot depend on the whims of a few community leaders or activists." Brad Dacus, the president of PJI, noted, "This is the latest example of community leaders trying to say there is no room for the Christ of Christmas. Our senior citizens have given so much to this country, and many fought to preserve our freedoms. The least we can do is allow them to worship in peace." My crystal ball CB said that the war in Ukraine will end by March 2023. Why? - Ukraine does not want to continue fighting, as most of thei... It's Election season and our editor's mailbox is overflowing. Who do your neighbors support? Read about it here. Capt. assumes new command Until recently, Capt. Nathan F. Roubicek was the commander of Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division in Fort Bragg, N.C. He had served in that position since Dec. 14, 2015. On Dec. 7, the 2003 Castle Rock High School graduate assumed command of the Headquarters and Headquarters Company of the 1st Battalion. The 508th PIR was first formed in 1942, participating in the D-Day invasion and other WWII action including two combat jumps in Normandy and Holland, according to information submitted to The Daily News. Capt. Roubicek resides in Fayetteville, N.C., with his wife, Alicia, and daughters, 5-year-old Stella and 2-year-old Joslyn. His parents are Chris and Karen Roubicek of Castle Rock. Airman graduates from basic training Air Force Airman Lennard J. Willoughby recently graduated from basic military training at the Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland in San Antonio, Texas. The 2016 graduate of Kelso High School is the son of Jill Sayre of Toledo, and John Sayre of Tacoma. Anderson promoted Charles Anderson, son of Dan and Cecilia Boyce of Longview, was promoted to colonel in the Connecticut National Guard, Joint Force Headquarters Operations & Training Officer. Anderson attended R.A. Long High School and went to Southern Connecticut State University. He makes his home in Connecticut with his wife, Gillian, and son, Ben. He joined the Connecticut National Guard while a university student. The Daily News CCRWC elects 2017 officers Members of the Cowlitz County Republican Womens Club have elected officers for the 2017 year. Mayalice Wallis is president, Norma Peters is vice president, Beverly Little is secretary and Wanda McCaine is treasurer. Meetings are held at noon the second Monday of each month at Izzys Classic Buffet & Pizza Bar, 1001 Grade St., Kelso (at the Three Rivers Mall). Visitors, including men, are welcome. Sgt. Neves gets award Sgt. Scott Neves of the Castle Rock Police Department recently received the National Grange Law Enforcement Officer of the Year Award. Since Sgt. Neves was nominated by Sunnyside Grange members. Lecturer Yvonne Knuth presented the plaque to him at their last meeting. He was given the award for his involvement in the community and for being an officer of the law, states a press release. Neves helps children become better students. He is involved in Scouts and is involved with the Care Coalition. He also has numerous law enforcement awards. In other Grange news, Sunnyside members helped Cowlitz Pomona members with their Christmas party and the new year officer installation. Grangers have been collecting clothing for the youth project, Keep Washington Warm. They also are making blankets for stuffed animals for the Shriners Hospital and and are making preemie blankets and hats for the preemie unit at Fort Hood Hospital. In addition, they baked cookies for the rest stop, decorated the flower pots in front of city hall and entered pie and candy contests. Navy vet honored In November, Smiles Dental invited Longview community members to nominate a veteran to receive up to $3,000 toward a dental treatment plan. Recently, Ken Holton was chosen for the gift by a random selection process. Holton served in the Navy from duty stations in Florida, Europe, Guam and Hawaii. He received two Joint Service Commendation medals supporting the Navy, Army, Air Force and Marines while serving with the Commander in Chief Pacific Forces, CINCPAC Headquarters in Hawaii. After military retirement, Holton was a telecommunications specialist and computer specialist with the Department of Defense and the Department of Interior. He worked another 19 years as a federal civil servant. He and his wife, Emi, moved to the Kelso/Longview area to be closer to their family after living many years in Hawaii. Spiess named to deans list Kimberly Spiess of Longview has been named to the deans list for the fall 2016 semester at South Dakota State University in Brookings, S.D. To be named to the list, a student must have completed a minimum of 12 credits and must have earned at least a 3.5 grade-point average. Spiess maintains a 4.0 GPA. The Daily News Assault Cowlitz County Sheriffs Office Saturday arrested Matthew Thomas Wellnitz, 58, of Kalama on suspicion of felony second-degree assault (domestic violence). Harassment, assault Kelso police Saturday arrested Tyson Lee Lockrem, 38, of Kelso on suspicion of felony harassment, fourth-degree assault (domestic violence) and a failure to comply charge. Assault Cowlitz County Sheriffs Office Saturday arrested Robert Basil Seal, 59, of Woodland on suspicion of felony second-degree assault (domestic violence). Seal allegedly stabbed the female in the leg with a butcher knife, according to police reports. She was transported to St. John Medical Center for treatment. Trespass, drugs Woodland police Saturday arrested Chase Alan Zebell, 21, of Kent, on suspicion of felony first-degree criminal trespassing, third-degree theft and a felony drug charge. Burglary, drugs Woodland police Saturday arrested Jarryd Dale Reiman, 23, of Renton, on suspicion of felony second-degree burglary, second-degree theft, and a felony drug charge. Theft Woodland police Saturday arrested Stephanie Anne Nelson, 24, of Maple Valley, WA, on suspicion of second-degree theft. Burglary Longview police Sunday arrested Corey Jonathan Keefe, 23, of Longview on suspicion of residential burglary. Burglary, theft Woodland police Sunday arrested Sharlene Tiffany Tew, 30, of Vancouver, on suspicion of second-degree burglary and felony organized retail theft. Fugitive Longview police Monday arrested Jyles Brandon Petersen, 27, of Longview, on suspicion of a fugitive warrant and a failure to appear charge. Prowls 3000 block of Ocean Beach Highway, Longview. Saturday. iPod, watch, other electronics and food stolen out of vehicle. 3200 Allen Street, Kelso. Sunday. Windows in vehicle and garage broken. Car keys stolen. Vandalism 3400 block of Allen Street, Kelso. Sunday. Front and back windows of vehicle were broken out. Unknown amount of damage. 3200 block of Allen Street, Kelso. Sunday. Both passenger side windows of vehicle were broken out. Unknown amount of damage. Burglary 1400 16th Avenue, Longview. Sunday. Front door to business had been kicked in. hidden Democratic leader in the Senate Chuck Schumer has slammed President-elect Donald Trump for his twitter habit, claiming the US cannot afford "Twitter presidency" on the first day of the 115th session of the Congress. "'Making America Great Again' requires more than 140 characters per issue," Xinhua news agency quoted Schumer as saying in his first speech on Tuesday as the Senate minority leader. "With all due respect, America cannot afford a Twitter presidency. We have real challenges and we need to get real things done." Schumer warned the incoming President will fail if he sticks with a "Twitter presidency". "Many Americans are afraid, Mr. President-elect, that instead of rolling up your sleeves and forging serious policies... for you, Twitter suffices," he told the Senate chamber. "There's nothing wrong with using Twitter to speak to the American people," Schumer said. "It's a good use of modern media. But these issues are complex and demand both careful consideration and action. We cannot tweet them away." "If Trump lets the hard-right members of the Congress and his cabinet run the show, if he attempts to adopt their time-worn policies which benefit the elites, the special interests, corporate America -- not the working man and woman -- his presidency will not succeed," Schumer said. "Maybe not in the first 90 days, but certainly not in the first two years." The Democrat said Trump's tweet "bragging" about the 800 jobs he saved at the Carrier plant in Indiana "doesn't solve the underlying problem". "While it's good the 800 jobs were saved... even at Carrier, 1,300 jobs are still leaving, hundreds more at the nearby Rexnord plant that are going overseas, and most importantly, thousands more each month leave our shores from every part of America," Schumer said. Democrats are "going to hold the President-elect accountable for a real policy to stop jobs from leaving the country", Schumer said, adding that his party will work with Trump and Republicans to create more jobs and improve the country's transportation systems. IANS tech2 News Staff Google held a special event today in India called Digital Unlocked. At the event, Google CEO Sundar Pichai announced a new initiative which focuses on giving a boost to small and medium businesses in India. According to Google, SMBs or small and medium businesses play an important role for India's economy as 37 percent of the country's GDP is contributed by them. There are about 51 million SMBs in India out of which 68 percent are still not online. Google believes that having a digital backbone massively increases the reach on a local as well as global level. Out of the 32 percent Indian small and medium businesses that have gone digital, 51 percent today serve beyond city boundaries and have seen two-times growth in profits. Pichai said, "The internet is a powerful equaliser and we are motivated to bring the benefits of information and technology to as many people as possible. Building for everyone and making it available in the hands of as many people is at the heart and core of what we do. And we do by investing in open ecosystems." To give a boost to SMBs, Google has partnered with FICCI and announced Digital Unlocked. It is a training program to empower upcoming and existing Indian SMBs with essential digital skills that enable them to get online and start using the internet to grow their business. The process is fairly simple and only requires one to register on the Digital Unlocked website. The program is being offered in three formats, online, offline and mobile. Business owners opting for the online program get a package of about 90 videos, roughly 6 minutes each which guides them as to how they can reach more consumers using the digital route. Similarly, an app called Primer will be available for Android and iOS which will offer basic and advance mobile training. The training material will be available offline and in English and Hindi languages. Google said that more languages like Telugu, Gujarati will follow. As for offline training, Google is planning to host about 5000 workshops over the year which will include one day-8 hour training for businesses. Interested business owners can go to the Digital Unlocked website and look for the nearest workshop and register for one starting today. tech2 News Staff Sundar Pichai, CEO of technology giant Google is all set to address the technology industry in India today. He will be addressing small and medium enterprises in India in a big event to be held in New Delhi today. According to previous reports, he will be announcing some key initiatives for the industry. Information and Technology Minister, Ravi Shankar Prasad will also be attending the event which hints at a collaboration with the government. Google issued a statement saying that "At Google, we are excited about partnering the businesses to help them unlock exponential growth through the power of digital." The announcements in the event are likely to be the culmination of Google's effort to connect more businesses online to increase their reach and productivity. There are no additional details on what specific announcements Pichai will make but we will you informed on as and when things happen. Pichai has regularly visited the country after taking on the post as the CEO of the company in 2015. His first visit to India comprised of visiting the PM Modi and other authorities to discuss possibilities of investment. On 17 December 2015, Pichai faced the students of New Delhi at Sri Ram College of Commerce (SRCC) for Q&A session tagged Ask Sundar. His second visit came after Apple CEO Tim Cook's much talked about visit to India. The visit started as a private family holiday which ended with "Google for India" where he announced that about two million people are logging on to free Wi-Fi deployed by Google and RailTel at major railway stations across India every month. We are working with the Indian Railways and RailTel to bring high-speed wireless access to the entire Internet to millions of Indians who travel through Indias top railway stations, the India-born executive said during an investor call. According to further reports, he is set to announce Digital Unlocked platform; an online learning tool for SBMs and startups. Pichai is not the only high-profile CEO to visit India recently as Travis Kalanick, Uber CEO visited India last month and announced key partnerships with governments. He launched UberMoto in Hyderabad and pointed out that India will be the last one to get self-driving cars. This Page has moved to a new address: Sorry for the inconvenience Redirection provided by Blogger to WordPress Migration Service Gov. Whitmer challenged by Republican Tudor Dixon LAPEER COUNTY You may have seen a TV commercial or two (hundred?), but theres a hotly contested race on Nov. 8 for who sits in the governors office in... Nessel, DePerno in contest for state Attorney General LAPEER COUNTY Democrat Dana Nessel is running for re-election to serve another four-term term as Michigan Attorney General challenged by Republican Matthew DePerno and Libertarian Party candidate Joseph... Nov. 8 voters to decide race for Secretary of State LAPEER COUNTY Lapeer County and Michigan voters on Nov. 8 will elect a Secretary of State a four-way race between incumbent Jocelyn Benson, a Democrat, challenged by: Republican... Michigan election officials outline certification procedures ahead of midterms LANSING Michigan officials are trying to get ahead of misinformation by explaining the process of certifying elections ahead of next months midterms. County canvassing boards certify results and send... PM lays foundation of Dr Wazed Int'l Research Institute Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday laid the foundation stone of 10-storey Dr Wazed International Research and Training Institute at BegumRokeyaUniversity, Rangpur through a videoconference from her official residence Ganobhaban. She also laid the foundation stone of a 1000-bed and 10-storey hall, 'Sheikh Hasina Hall', for female students of the university. The research institute will be built at an estimated cost of Tk 26.87 crore while the Sheikh Hasina Hall at Tk 51.35 crore. Addressing the programme, Sheikh Hasina urged the country's students to stay away from militancy and terrorism so that these two menaces can never gain ground in Bangladesh. "I call upon teachers, students, guardians and officials and employees of educational institutions to remain alert in this regard (terrorism and militancy). We want to turn Bangladesh into a peaceful country in South Asia," she said. The Prime Minister said talented students are often being diverted to the wrong path through creating confusion among them. Hasina also urged the teachers to play their due role in developing their students as true and qualified human being to be able to maintain Bangladesh's recognition as a development role model in the global arena. Hasina expressed gratitude to the authorities concerned for naming the research and training institute after her husband and eminent nuclear scientist of the country late Dr MA Wazed Miah and thus taking an effort to highlight his life and works. Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid and Rokeya University VC AKM Nurunnabi spoke on the occasion while Information Minister Hasanul Haq Inu, Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal and MPs of Rangpur division, including HN Ashiqur Rahman, Tipu Munshi, Nurul Isalm Sujon, Ramesh Chandra Sen and Motahar Hossain were present at Ganobhaban. Besides, Information Secretary Martuza Ahmed, Education Secretary Md Sohrab Hossain, PM's Press Secretary Ihsanul Karim were present while PM's Principal Secretary Dr Kamal Abdul Naser Chowdhury moderated the videoconference. Iraqi forces press gains against IS in eastern Mosul A member of Iraqi security forces inspects a house in the Intisar district of eastern Mosul. Reuters, Erbil : Iraqi forces pressed gains against Islamic State militants in eastern Mosul on Wednesday and have retaken two more districts, security sources said, with thousands more civilians fleeing the fighting. An elite interior ministry unit had entered the Mithaq district and were clearing it on Wednesday, the sources said, while counterterrorism forces retook an industrial zone on Tuesday. The militants are using the city terrain to their advantage, concealing car bombs in narrow alleys, posting snipers on tall buildings with civilians on lower floors, and making underground tunnels and surface-level passageways between buildings. "We were very afraid," said one Mithaq resident. "A Daesh (Islamic State) anti-aircraft weapon was positioned close to our house and was opening fire on helicopters. We could see a small number of Daesh fighters in the street carrying light and medium weapons. They were hit by planes." Most of those fleeing are from the eastern districts but residents of the besieged west, still fully under the militants' control, are increasingly attempting to escape, scaling bridges bombed by the coalition and crossing the Tigris by boat. Despite shortages of food and water, most Mosul residents had stayed in their homes rather than fleeing as many had expected before the offensive began in October. The U.N. refugee agency has said 125,568 people have been displaced from Mosul, a city of about 1.5 million, and more than 13,000 of those have fled in the five days since the U.S.-led coalition renewed an offensive that had stalled for weeks. That represents an increase of nearly 50 percent in the number of people who fled every day from Mosul over the several weeks of relative calm that ended last weekend. Twelve weeks into Iraq's largest military campaign since the U.S.-led invasion of 2003, security forces have retaken about a quarter of Mosul. JHENAIDAH: A rally was brought out by Bangladesh Chhatra League, Jhenaidah District Unit marking its the 69th founding anniversary yesterday. Monsur joins Petrobangla as Chairman Business Desk : Abul Monsur M. Foyejullah ndc has joined as chairman of state-owned Petrobangla on January 1. Before joining the post he served as additional secretary in the economic relation division. He was joined in admin cadre of civil service in 1986. Abul Monsur served in different post field of public administration since the joining. He worked as commercial councilor of Bangladesh Embassy in Japan and was alternative director of Chaines initiated Asian Infrastructure Development Bank. Abul Monsur completed defense coerce in 2012 from National Defense Course. After took over the charge he urged all to cooperate him for the progress of the state entity. The threat to global banking standards Howard Davies : The financial crisis of 2008 gave a big boost to the global standard-setters. Suddenly, the Basel Committee (which sets the standards for international banking supervision) was leading the financial news. Dinner parties in Manhattan and Kensington were consumed with the finer points of Basel II and the evils of procyclical capital requirements. Governments that had been suspicious of international interference were eager for tougher global rules to prevent banking crises from spilling across borders and infecting others, like bouts of Asian flu. The concrete consequences of this enthusiasm were the creation of the Financial Stability Board (FSB), born out of the ashes of the Financial Stability Forum, at the G20's London summit in April 2009, and inclusion of representatives of all G20 members among the key rule makers in Basel and elsewhere. The G7's domination gave way to the hope that broader membership would produce more comprehensive buy-in and stronger political support for increasing the banking system's capital. All this change has worked, up to a point. The Basel III regulations, for example, more than doubled the capital an individual bank should hold, and enhanced the quality of that capital. The system looks somewhat safer as a result. But now there are dangerous signs that the commitment to stronger global standards - indeed, to any common standards - may be on the wane. Many predicted this trend, but for the wrong reason. Skeptics warned that it would be far harder to reach agreement among 20 or more countries than it had been among the dozen pre-crisis Basel Committee members (mainly European countries, with only the US, Canada, and Japan representing the world beyond). In practice, that has not turned out to be a major problem. Basel III was agreed far more quickly than Basel II was. Political pressure from finance ministers, expressed through the FSB, proved effective. In fact, recent tensions have been more old-fashioned, pitting the US against the eurozone, with the UK and others stuck in between. The US has been pressing for tighter controls on banks' internal models, and for a limit on how much a bank's models can reduce its assets on a risk-weighted basis. Agreement on these so-called output floors has so far proved impossible. The Europeans argue that their banks' corporate lending is inherently less risky. After all, EU banks lend more to higher-rated large companies, which access US capital markets, rather than borrowing from banks. They also hold more low-risk mortgages on their balance sheets, in the absence of a European equivalent of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (America's two quasi-public mortgage banks), which hoovered up securitized US mortgages. At its meeting in Santiago, Chile, in November, the Basel Committee conspicuously failed to agree on a solution, and kicked the issue upstairs to the committee of Governors and Heads of Supervision, which will try again in January. They will probably find a way to thread this particular needle. But the future for global standards looks more uncertain than it has for some time. Since the 2008 crisis, many countries, while ostensibly supporting the development of tighter global rules, have been taking other measures to protect their own financial systems. The collapse of Lehman Brothers and others showed, in former Bank of England Governor Mervyn King's memorable phrase, that big banks are "global in life, but national in death." In other words, when a global bank crashes, the host-country regulators must pick up the local pieces. That's why requirements to establish local subsidiaries, with local capital, have been adopted. Gone are the days when banks could set up branches all over the planet, with support from the parent's balance sheet. Subsidiarization is now the rule. And, looking ahead, we can see that the two biggest players in the FSB and Basel have other preoccupations. Donald Trump's incoming US administration has already signaled its suspicion of foreign entanglements and international commitments. Making America great again is not likely to involve new enthusiasm for more intrusive rules made in Basel. Those who advocate rolling back much of the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial-reform legislation, in favor of a higher leverage ratio, as promoted in a bill advanced by Representative Jeb Hensarling, envisage a "Made in the USA" version of banking regulation. But, while the idea has some merit, it would not sit easily within the current Basel framework. Europe faces other worries. Regulators there are now keenly focused on the implications of Brexit, which will require complex arrangements to manage a new relationship between London and the eurozone. The top priority for the European Central Bank must be to preserve the integrity of the EU banking union, which is under pressure from both Brexit and the crisis gripping Italy's banks. Against this background, it will be a challenge to retain the primacy of global standards and to secure continued buy-in to the Basel process. The Bank for International Settlements' new general manager, Agustin Carstens, a former governor of Mexico's central bank, will have a key role to play, as will whoever replaces Mark Carney (the current Governor of the Bank of England) next year as Chairman of the FSB. It is likely, too, that there will soon be a new Chair of the Basel Committee itself. Stefan Ingves of Sweden is due to step down next June. These three new leaders will need all of their diplomatic skills to navigate treacherous political waters. The stakes are high. If the commitment to global standards wanes, everyone will suffer in the long run. Countries will impose incompatible local requirements, which will reduce the efficiency of capital utilization and make the system less robust in the event of renewed financial instability. (Howard Davies, the first chairman of the United Kingdom's Financial Services Authority (1997-2003), is Chairman of the Royal Bank of Scotland). Courtesy: Project Syndicate Traders seek PM`s help in rebuilding Gulshan market Traders say they want to restart their businesses at Gulshan's DNCC market which suffered a massive fire. They have urged the prime minister's help in rebuilding the marketplace. Hundreds of shops were destroyed in the blaze that raged on throughout Tuesday. Twenty-two fire trucks worked to douse the fire but there was smoke coming out of some areas on Wednesday. The smell of charred ruins filled the air as firefighters continued to spray water. A businessman was seen checking the debris to see if there was anything retrievable. There were about 600 shops inside the Gulshan-1 market set up on seven acres of land. Divided into two parts, the shops in the lower He also blamed the city corporation authorities and Metro Group for the deadly fire that damaged several hundred shops. The market will be resumed temporarily tomorrow (Friday) on the ashes of the market, he said. To a question, Abul Kashem warned of movement if the authorities do not compensate them. Shops were allocated to businessmen in 1983. As such, the DNCC authorities must allocate us plots if any new building is constructed, he argued. "The Dhaka North City Corporation wants to build a new establishment in this land. The authorities floated tender for the new building in 2010 without any consultation with the traders. The Metro Group got the contract. Two petitions filed against the decision are still pending with the High Court," the Kitchen market' President Sher Mohammad told The New Nation. "We believe that gun powder was used to set fire to the market; otherwise, the building would not have collapsed. Metro Group is involved in the arson attack," Sher Mohammad claimed. Joint Secretary of the Paka Market businessmen's association Md Akhtaruzzaman said, "We will rebuild the shops as soon as possible since the structure of the Paka Market did not collapse. Finance Secretary of the market committee Md Salauddin, said they had their own fire extinguishers. But the fire spread so quickly that they had no chance to use those. Yousuf, owner of Bhai Bhai Confectionary, said that he invested all his savings in the shop. Unfoertunately all my investments were burnt to ashes. I don't know what to do now." "I screamed and ran with my colleague Matiur Rahman to that place. Matiur tried to douse the fire using a fire extinguisher, but the blaze spread very fast." According to sources, the market was established on 7.7 bighas of lands in 1963. Later, the Dhaka City Corporation (DCC) took a decision to build an 18-stroied modern market there under Public Private Partnership (PPP) project in 2003. But the construction firm refused to build the market after getting the work order in 2005. Then the DCC invited a re-tender. At this stage, the MRS Amin Associates Oversease got the work order on condition of 73 percent shares for them and 27 percent for the DCC and started the construction work on September 25 in 2006. But the caretaker government postponed the construction work early 2007, and in a new deal, the DCC got the 37 percent share in 2009. At the final stage, the shop owners protested against construction of the modern market building there and two separate cases were filed with the courts. The investigation body is working to consider all the possible causes of the origin of the fire, said Major Shakil Newaj, Director (operation) of the Fire Service and Civil Defence. "We will submit the report to the authorities within a shot time," he said. Hold DUCSU election Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader on Wednesday urged the Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid and authorities concerned to hold election to the Dhaka University Central Students' Union (DUCSU) immediately. "Apart from DUCSU, it is urgently needed to hold elections to student bodies at different universities and colleges across the country to revive healthy student politics and protect the rights of students. I'm urging the Education Minister to arrange the DUCSU election soon," he said while addressing the 69th founding anniversary of Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL), student wing of ruling Awami League on Dhaka University campus yesterday. He said student leadership could not flourish in last few decades and student politics is now on the verge of decay due to the absence of the elections. "So it has become an urgent need to hold the elections within the shortest time possible. The student politics should be controlled by students," he said. He said that infiltrators are responsible for creating anarchy in the BCL "The students must learn to practice democracy, and must not resort to violence over trifling matters. I will talk to the education minister for holding elections to student bodies at different universities and colleges across the country," Quader said. Obaidul Quader, also the AL general secretary, urged BCL leaders and workers to form all committees comprising with regular students. 'Don't include controversial persons in the committees," he said. On the occasion, the BCL placed wreaths at the portrait of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman at Dhanmondi at 6.30 am and cut cakes at Dhaka University Curzon Hall at 8 am yesterday. A colourful procession was brought out from the Aparajeya Bangla on Dhaka University campus and ended at Bangabandhu Avenue's BCL central office premises parading different streets of the city including Shahbag, Doel Chattar, Matsya Bhaban, Jatiya Press Club, Paltan Intersection, and GPO areas. Obaidul Quader inaugurated the rally at about 12 noon. Apart from the central unit, leaders and workers of BCL from all other units including Dhaka University, Dhaka South and North of BCL, Jahangirnagar University, Jagannath University, Eden College, Home Economic, Badrunnesa College and Dhaka College took part in the rally. BCL President Saifur Rahman Sohag, General Secretary SM Jakir Hossain, Office Secretary Delwar Hossain Shahjada, DU unit President of BCL Abid-Al-Hasan and General Secretary Motahar Hossain Prince, among others, were present there. The largest student organization having glorious heritage of struggle and success, the BCL came into being on January 4 in 1948 at the instruction of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman with view to attaining the country's independence. DU student found dead at his dorm A Dhaka University student was declared dead after his roommates in the Jagannath Hall found him unconscious and took him to Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH). Accounting Department student Apu Sarkar was a resident of the October Memorial Block of the hall. The second year student, who hailed from Manikganj, lived in Room No 474 of the Block. His roommates found him unconscious on Wednesday morning and took him to the DMCH. DMCH police camp Sub-Inspector Bachchu Mia said that he was brought dead around 8:30 am. Jagannath Hall Provost Asim Sarkar told the reporters, "The students told me that Apu was not responding to them in the morning. Then they carried him to the hospital." "It was normal death" he said. Bail plea for Hasnat denied again Court Correspondent : The Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (CMM) Court of Dhaka on Wednesday denied bail to Gulshan cafe attack suspect Hasnat Karim's bail for the fourth time. Hasnat, the former North South University teacher's counsel moved the bail petition to the court, while Magistrate Satyabrata Shikder heard on the bail plea in Karim's absence and turned down the petition. On the night of July 1, last year, gunmen barged into the Holey Artisan Bakery and O' Kitchen Restaurant at the capital's diplomatic enclave of Gulshan. Twenty hostages, including 17 foreign nationals, were killed by the militants, while five militants and a suspected associate of the attackers were killed during the commando operation in the cafe on July 2. Of the 20 hostages, nine were Italian, seven Japanes, two Bangladeshis, one Indian and one Bangladesh-born US citizen. Two police officials, who tried to end the standoff soon after it had began were also killed in the incident. The attackers killed 20 people, mostly foreigners, inside the restaurant before army commandos stormed it the next morning, killing six persons, including five attackers.. Hasnat and his family, who went to the restaurant that day, was among the several other diners released by the attackers early morning on Jul 2 before the army raided the place. Hasnat, though apparently a hostage during the attack, was kept under close watch since that day. Police arrested him on August 2 as a suspect in the case under Section 54 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. He was later shown arrested in the case police lodged in connection with the attack. After a few rounds of remand, when he was quizzed in police custody, on Aug 13, he filed a bail petition, which was turned down. On August 24, he once again moved a bail petition, but rejected again. His counsel filed another bail petition on October 30 with the Sessions Judge's Court, but failed to secure bail for his client. Sisters want fair probe Slain MP Manjurul Islam Liton's widow may have seconded the Awami League view that Jamaat-e-Islami is involved in her husband's murder, but his sisters hope that the investigation takes into account other possible angles as well. On Tuesday while interacting with journalists at their residence, sisters Touhida Bulbul and Fahmida Bulbul Kakoli, without going into details, said they hoped that the investigation do not merely revolve round the Jamaat. Earlier, Liton's wife Khurshid Jahan Smriti told journalists she believes that her husband became a victim of political rivalry at the hands of the Jamaat-e-Islami. Jamaat has, however, refuted the allegations and has said that they are being falsely blamed to hide the real culprits. Last Saturday, unidentified assailants came to meet the Gaibandha-1 MP at his residence in Sundarganj Upazila's Sarbananda village and sprayed bullets on him. He was rushed to Rangpur Medical College Hospital where he died. Fahmida had also started a murder case against five unidentified persons. Although police have detained several people suspecting their links, they have failed to identify the culprits or arrest any of them even three days into the incident. On Monday, a prayer meet was held at the MP's ancestral home. Liton's wife and sisters interacted with the press after the prayer during which fear was writ large across their faces. Afroza Bari, Liton's sister-in-law said, "It's not enough to say Jamaat, Jamaat. If it is Jamaat, so be it. If it is Awami League, so be it. If it is me, so be it. Anybody. We want their punishment. We want nothing else." Mukut, known to be a friend of the late MP and close to his family, said, "It may be the Jamaat. But it has never been directly said that the Jamaat has done it." Fahmida Kakoli said, "I wish to know who is or are my brother's killers and I want exemplary punishment." Gaibandha Additional SP (A Circle) Robiul Islam said, "Police are conducting the investigation keeping in mind every angle ranging from political , family or local feuds, financial transactions and Jamaat-terrorist factions. We hope the killers shall be caught soon." Barring his wife and his brother-in-law, Badrul Ahsan Bedar, and one or two others, no one else was at home when the murder took place. Quite a few servants and drivers were also at home. According to eyewitnesses, five assailants came riding two motorcycles that day. Of them, two entered Liton's living room to talk to him. This was followed by sounds of gunshots. Fahmida said, "Let police examine every angle and see how some people like this entered the village and left after killing. "Liton was my brother. I deserve to demand punishment of the perpetrators. As long as I live. As long as justice is not delivered, so long shall I continue to demand justice," she said, breaking into sobs. Elder sister Touhida said, "We can't bear this murder happening at home. On the other hand, she (Kakoli) is the complainant. We are also afraid. "What if they target her now. A section has also told us 'you siblings rather be careful'." Gaibandha Mahila Awami League leader and wife Smriti recalled that her late husband in 1998 stalled a Jamaat-e-Islami public meeting with Ghulam Azam. She belives that he has been murdered to settle those scores. "At that time, Jamaat cadre from Fotekhan village Hefoj and other cadres would make threat calls and messages to him on his mobile." In response to a query from a journalist, Smriti said her husband's revolver and shot gun licences were impounded following "an incident of well orchestrated lie" centering round shooting of minor Shahadat Hussain on Oct 2, 2014. She claimed Jamaat knew he had no weapons at home with which to defend himself against an armed attack and they just seized that opportunity. Liton had served some time in prison and was out on bail last year on charges of shooting the minor. Many party workers and leaders would stay in their house every night. Arrangements for nightlong police watch were also in place. Generally, Liton would head for his office near Bamandanga Railway Station accompanied by his party colleagues every dusk. "But I do not know why that day there was no party leader or worker at home," Smriti said. She said at that time, her brother Bedar, niece Marufa Sultana Shimu, aunt Shamin Ara, a few servants and she herself were at home. "My brother and I were near the kitchen by the courtyard when we heard gunshots and he (Liton) made his way through the inside door and said 'they have shot me, first catch them'. "He had clutched his chest and the left side of his chest was bleeding," the wife recalled. She said on hearing him shout, driver Furkan Mia rushed out to catch them. Smriti, Ismail and Bedar rushed out with Liton. With neither car nor driver available, they set off for hospital on a motorbike with Liton sandwiched between. But the driver returned in the meanwhile. 15 injured in Thakurgaon BCL infighting UNB, Thakurgaon : Fifteen people were injured in a clash between two factions of Bangladesh Chhatra League over celebrating its 69th founding anniversary at Chourasta area in the district town on Wednesday. Quoting witnesses, police said the supporters of Mizan, president of BCL rebel faction, occupied the district office of BCL from Tuesday night to observe the 69th founding anniversary of the party. The clash was ensued when the supporters of Mahabubur Rahman Rony, president of BCL committee of the town unit, announced by central BCL, locked into an altercation with the supporters of Mizan group over celebrating the day at the BCL office at Chourasta around 12:30 pm. BNP`s protest procession today Staff Reporter : The BNP vows to hold the countrywide protest procession today to condemn 'the democracy killing day'. "The party leaders and activists across the country will join the protest processions ignoring the threats of the ruling party on January 5 (Thursday)," said BNP Senior Joint-Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi on Wednesday while addressing a press briefing at the party's Naya Paltan office. Rizvi said, the leaders and the activists of the BNP will carry black flags and wear black badges during the procession in districts and divisional cities. He accused the Awami League of grabbing the State power in 2014 arranging voter less election on January 5. The part is prepared to hold a rally in the Suhrawardy Udyan in the capital on January 7 in this regard. He said, "We have received permission from the public works department, but not yet from the police." adding that the police will be judicious in according permission to them as the people are waiting to hear the chairperson. Rizvi said also that the nation is waiting for a neutral election commission. "The President is discussing with various political parties about forming the next EC. The BNP also met The President and gave some recommendations in this regards. the BNP and the people will welcome the President if he takes step to form a neutral EC," Rizvi said. He also warned of a new phase of agitations in case of failure. The BNP leader expressed anxiety at the deteriorating law and order situation in the country, adding that "People are not safe even at home. The police are not doing enough to give security to the people." BNP Joint-Secretary General Khairul Kabir Khokon, Mujibor Rahman Sarwar, central leader Abdus Salam Azad and Taiful Islam Tipu, among others, were present. Fire at Gulshan market A DEVASTATING fire once again gutted a sprawling two storied city market at Gulshan-1 reducing at least 300 shops to ashes rendering shop owners penniless. They don't know how to rebuild their life anew. The fire at the market on Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) land was doused after 16 hours of struggle by 22 units of fire fighting units and given the scale of fire what is a matter of complacent is that none was killed although many sustained injuries trying to save their property. Shop owners blame sabotage at the market place as there was a move to build a multi-storied building at the place and the shop owners were opposing the move. Even there is a case in the court now challenging the move to clear the market and many fear that the market was set on fire as a short-cut way of eviction. We don't know where lies the truth and if it were so it is just a brutal act and a heinous crime. However the DNCC Mayor Annisul Haq has categorically ruled out the sabotage theory and several probe committees have been set up to ascertain the cause of the accident. But many people have no trust in such probe bodies as they just divert people's attention for the time being. The committees also don't make their findings public and there is also hardly any follow up action as past experience shows from the government. What is most significant is that the big market in city has no fire fighting equipment and such other safety measures. Such a devastating fire destroyed part of Bashundhara City shopping mall last year increasing the call for more fire safety equipment at all city shopping malls and high rise buildings. A similar fire early last year at a shopping mall at Uttara also gutted many shops and killed at least five persons when the lift had broken apart. What we want to say is that if they had listened to the call shop owners at Gulshan-1 could avert the fire. Investment to such fire fighting equipment when shared by many is not too big either. But their losses are too big now from neglect, which many may not be able to recover any time sooner. As shop owners have no insurance cover, there is hardly other way to overcome the fall out of the disaster. We must say that the government must immediately initiate a survey at all shopping malls and high rise buildings to make sure they have fire-fighting equipment and other safety measures in all such places. In our view any one to be found not paying heed to such move must be punished. because with them safety of thousands of shoppers and home dwellers are involved. Their licenses must be withheld until they installed such measures. Suspended Sylhet mayor Ariful freed on bail UNB, Sylhet : Over two years after his arrest, suspended Mayor of Sylhet City Corporation Ariful Haque Chowdhury was released from jail on bail on Wednesday. Ariful walked out of the Sylhet Central Jail around 5:15pm after the bail orders in four cases, including two murder cases, reached the jail, said jail sources. BNP leaders and activists, some SCC councillors and the family members received Ariful at the jail gate. On December 30, 2014, a court here sent Ariful to jail when he surrendered before the court in the former finance minister Shah AMS Kibria murder case, seeking bail. On March 22, 2016, he was granted bail for 15 days on the grounds that his mother was ill and Ariful filed a bail petition after surrendering before a lower court as ordered by the High Court. Five people, including Kibria, were killed and 70 others injured in a grenade attack on a public rally of local Awami League at Baidder Bazar in Sadar upazila of Habiganj district on January 27, 2005. After the incident, Awami League leader Abdul Mozid Khan filed two case-one for murder and another under the Explosives Substances Act-with Habiganj Police Station the following day. OIC must be active for peace and reconciliation in Myanmar Editorial Desk : THE Organization of Islamic Cooperation has scheduled an emergency meeting with Foreign Ministers following the disclosure Sunday of a video posted online of Myanmar police officers beating Rohingya Muslim villagers. Myanmar news outlets broadcast the video and it went viral on social media. It depicted several police officers beating and kicking two villagers who were among dozens of Rohingya Muslims being questioned during a military sweep of the region, as per a report of an international daily. The video is rare documentation of abuses by the Myanmar government against Rohingya Muslims in a region virtually closed to non-governmental organizations and aid workers. Meanwhile a spokeswoman for the Jeddah-based OIC, mentioned that the OIC has been "following up closely the situation in Myanmar with the Rohingya villagers for a few months now, and all the attacks, abuses, beatings and burning of their villages." The spokeswoman further mentioned that a Foreign Minister level meeting would be held in January to discuss the problem of the Rohingyas and look for a solution. The beatings occurred during a crackdown by Myanmar army on Nov. 5 that sent Rohingya Muslims, numbering about 34,000, fleeing into Bangladesh, according to the United Nations. The operations have led to allegations of abuses, summary executions and rape of villagers. The government of Aung San Suu Kyi has denied the allegations. However, Suu Kyi's office confirmed the authenticity of the footage and noted that it was recorded by a police officer during a clearance operation in northern Rakhine State. The violence in Rakhine State has renewed international criticism that Nobel Peace Prize winner Suu Kyi has done too little to help members of the Muslim minority, who are denied citizenship in predominantly Buddhist Myanmar. Bangladesh will participate in the meeting and will place its position before the extraordinary meeting on overall situation apart from the latest development on Rohingya issue. However this is nothing new. OIC has held meetings before, notably in 2013, to discuss ways to end the Rohingya issue. But these have led to nothing more than vague declarations of support for the Rohingya and a condemnation of the heinous acts by the Myanmar authorities. Mere meetings and strong words will not achieve anything. Other countries, mainly Western one, think that Muslim countries are leaderless and unable for taking any bold role. The OIC has to prove that the world is wrong. The Muslims are not easy subject of killing or easy abuse. The OIC must be more proactive in looking for a solution for Myanmar instead of holding further meetings which end in vague resolutions of support which have no basis in reality. It can, through Malaysia and China, pressure Myanmar to recognize the Rohingyas as citizens and as a distinct ethnic group, something which was recognized by the first Burmese President. Under the First Schedule to the Burma independence Act 1947, the Rohingya and all other Muslims who were British subjects -- who were born in Burma or whose father or paternal grandfather was born in Burma -- were considered citizens of the Union of Burma. Under Annex A of the Aung San-Attlee Agreement, 27 January, 1947, they were citizens of the Union of Burma. In October 2012, the ongoing conflicts in Myanmar included the Kachin conflict, between the Christian Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and the government; a series of genocidal pogroms directed against the Rohingya Muslims that were participated by Rakhine Buddhists, and aided by the government and non-government groups in Rakhine State, including the Buddhist clergy; and a conflict between the Shan, Lahu, and Karen minority groups, and the government in the eastern half of the country. Armed conflict between ethnic Chinese rebels and the Myanmar Armed Forces have resulted in the Kokang offensive in February 2015. The conflict had forced 40,000 to 50,000 civilians to flee their homes and seek shelter on the Chinese side of the border. So we can see that Myanmar is having problems with minorities of all sorts. Myanmar has been isolated from outside for long time and it is no surprise that many in Myanmar cannot accept resorting to brutalities against the Rohingyas and other minorities. It will not help peace in Myanmar for safe living or steady development. The country has resources for all to live happily. It is madness for Myanmar to be brutal against the ethnic Rohingyas for being Muslims. They have been living together peacefully for ages. A OIC team should visit Myanmar to ensure peaceful coexistence. The proposed Foreign Minister level meeting should be broad-based aiming to ensure effective reconciliation and peace. Paris, TX (75460) Today Increasing winds with strong thunderstorms likely. Damaging winds, large hail and possibly a tornado with some storms. High 74F. Winds SSE at 20 to 30 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall may reach one inch.. Tonight Scattered thunderstorms, some strong, during the evening, becoming clear overnight. Damaging winds, large hail and possibly a tornado with some storms. Low 43F. Winds W at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 80%. 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. I know what you're saying. "2016? Little late there, aren't ya buddy?" Yeah, well Carrie Fisher took priority in last week's column, so I'm writing about my favorite movies of 2016 now. Also, keep in mind these are my favorite movies, not the best. Also, there have been some movies I missed or haven't found the time to see yet. I'm seriously bummed I haven't been able to see "Fences" yet, as I was predicting it to make this list. But regardless, here are the films I enjoyed the most. 10. Doctor Strange I'm just going to warn you. Marvel and Disney have a pretty strong presence on the is list. "Doctor Strange," starring Captain Britain himself, Benedict Cumberbatch (just went Inception with my Marvel references), was basically "Magic Iron-Man," but there was enough new to make this movie a blast. This was the Marvel Cinematic Universe's introduction to the world of magic and the trippiness that came from traveling to different dimensions and full-on magic fights made "Doctor Strange" a worthy entry in the universe, and was decent enough to make my top 10. 9. Zootopia I wasn't sure what to think about this animated Disney film. I wasn't all that excited at first, but every trailer I saw built my interest. What I got was a good, but sometimes flawed, film on race, using anthropomorphic animals. As I said in my initial column, the film that follows the city of Zootopia's first rabbit cop and con-man fox, does a better job of explaining how stereotypes work than the 2005 Oscar-winning "Crash." Good lord, that movie won an Oscar. 8. Arrival This heady science fiction film starring Amy Adams was about learning an alien language, and I found it riveting. Strong performances by Adams and Jeremy Renner helped sell the desperation, fear and excitement that comes with trying to determine the purpose behind a group of alien visitors. Plus, the twist feels very much like early M. Night Shyamalan. Think more "The Sixth Sense" and "Unbreakable." 7. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story "Star Wars!" You're back! As a vocal hater of 2015's "The Force Awakens," and Gareth Edwards' previous film, "Godzilla," imagine my surprise when I found that I not only loved the first "Star Wars" spin-off, but count it as one of my favorites in the franchise. Refreshingly layered characters and fun nostalgia that doesn't have to blatantly rip off past films made this one of my most fun film experiences all year. Also, Darth Vader. Wow. 6. Deadpool Ryan Reynolds promised this wouldn't be the same Deadpool as the one he played in the horrific "X-Men Origins: Wolverine." He was right. This movie was brilliant in honoring the source material and broke ground in making a mainstream R-rated superhero movie. The script was smart and funny and this was obviously a passion project for Reynolds, who gave us his all. Simply put, "Deadpool" was a game changer. 5. Kubo and the Two Strings This movie was just magical. My favorite from stop-motion animation wizards Laika since 2009's "Coraline," this movie takes place in ancient Japan and follows Kubo, who can create magic through his shamisen. The story is gripping and never feels like it has to hold its audience's hand. It's not afraid to be scary or sad. In less than two hours, Laika gives us a very rich world that I felt very familiar with at the end. 4. Hell or High Water Acting! Can anyone tell me why Jeff Bridges got a Golden Globe nomination for this movie about modern day bank robbers, but Chris Pine and Ben Foster didn't? Bridges was great, but Pine proved he was a legitimately excellent actor and Foster gave the performance of the film and possibly the best I've seen all year. Plus the movie itself was just a really, really engaging and timely film about economic frustration. 3. Captain America: Civil War Hey, it's another Disney movie. This is my last one. I swear. No, really. The Captain America films are the best in the MCU, in my opinion. "Winter Soldier" is probably still tops, but this movie came out the same year as a flick where Batman fought Superman and critically destroyed it. Somehow this movie told an awesome Captain America story, served as basically another Avengers film, launched the great Black Panther character, and successfully rebooted Spider-Man when everyone was sick of Spider-Man reboots. Plus, the airport battle is the most enjoyable action scene of the year, hands down. And despite me being firmly in Captain America's camp going into the movie, I legitimately felt conflicted between his and Tony Stark's arguments. Just an absolute success. 2. The Witch So this movie was technically 2015, but it got a wide release in 2016, so I'm counting it. Deal with it. So, I don't even like horror movies all that much, but this movie just left my jaw on the floor. Just brilliant. A ridiculous amount of detail went into the clothes, lifestyle, language and superstitions of 17th century colonists and I was enthralled throughout. Some complained it was too slow, but I don't need jump scares and nonstop tension to keep me hooked. I just need a fascinating story and some seriously creepy supernatural elements and I'm good. Watch this movie and see if someone you're watching with doesn't say, "Oh, man. I don't like the look of that goat." 1. Moana Remember when I said "Civil War" was my last Disney movie? Well, I lied. Half this list is Disney and our great mouse emperor gave me my favorite movie of the year. I really liked every movie on this list, but I fell in love with "Moana." An animated musical that deserves to be mentioned alongside the gems of the late '80s and early '90s, as well as the old classics, this hit every chord for me. It has my favorite soundtrack for a Disney musical since "Aladdin," and I think it's their best animated musical since the 1992 film. The animation is gorgeous, the voice acting is top-notch, and I'm now convinced Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson can just do anything now that he's mastered the musical number. This is a Disney classic, and it's the movie I enjoyed the most in 2016. MARION Local aviation officials stress that after tragedies like Saturdays plane crash in Johnson County, which left four dead, it is important to review the facts and learn. The details of this past weekend's crash are still under investigation by the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board, and the cause of the crash is not yet known. Douglas Kimmel, director of Veterans Airport of Southern Illinois in Marion, said when he hears about crashes either on the news or from industry reports, his first thought is of the pilot and those on board. Concern for those involved takes priority, Kimmel said. He said he pays immediate attention and wants to find out who the victims were. Is that someone we know, he said of a question he asks himself when hearing about aviation accidents. Once investigations are completed and reports are filed, it's far from the end, though. Andrew Wudtke, chief flight instructor for Flightline, operated out of the Southern Illinois Airport, said it is every aviation instructors due diligence to read these reports and pass on the knowledge of these teachable moments. It is important not just for students, he said, but for everyone in aviation. I think overall, as a community, we should learn from these things, not just instructor to student, Wudtke said. Kimmel said he doesn't think more regulations would make a difference in eliminating plane crashes. Whats out there as requirements for aircraft, pilots and airports are sufficient, he said adding that part of what makes flight so statistically safe is the strict set of regulations sent down from the Federal Aviation Administration. Kimmel said it is important not to over-regulate flight to keep it accessible for those interested. As it stands, there are already rigorous checks on aircraft before and after flight, and pilots have to continue their education and practice regularly to be certified to fly. There is only so much regulations can do when faced with human error. Of course you cant control things such as weather and you cant control an individuals reactions, Kimmel explained. Even the best-trained pilot can make a mistake. When news comes of a plane coming down, Kimmel said it should be a reminder to pilots of why they are required to fly regularly and to practice. Its incumbent upon them to stay sharp, he said. Wudtke said, like driving a car, sometimes just following the rules to a minimum is not enough. It pays to go above and beyond what he calls getting ahead of the airplane. As an example, he said a pilot knows that once he gets close to an airport, he will have to make a call in to get clearance. You can wait until the last second, which is legal or you can maybe call them a couple miles form that airspace, Wudtke explained. He said this kind of decision-making process can help get a plan in place sooner and protect the pilot and passengers, and even those in other aircraft nearby. Its always about teaching the student (to) think ahead, Wudtke said Kimmel said while it is shocking and tragic when news comes of plane crashes, he is encouraged that they are still so shocking. He said this implies that they are still rare occurrences. They are not that common, which is a good thing, Kimmel said. 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Dwight Eisenhower personified military precision but as president luxuriated in imprecise language. Lyndon Johnson commonly used a vulgar epithet to describe the black Americans he worked so hard to empower. Jimmy Carter spoke eloquently of human rights but lacked the human touch. Still, America has seldom seen a president so full of contradictions as the one who takes office this month. Indeed, Donald J. Trump created an unusual combination of contradictions to propel him to victory. And while his campaign slogan may have spoken of making America great again, his political formula has clearly been much briefer: Strength through contradiction. All presidents are portraits in contradiction, and here are the principal contradictions in the politics of a president-elect whose mastery of American politics has astonished adversaries and allies alike: Running (and perhaps governing) as an independent while the nominee of the Republicans. Trump's campaign resembled none in history so much as Theodore Roosevelt's independent "Bull Moose" campaign of 1912, when he ran against the establishment GOP candidate (and his political protege) William Howard Taft. Woodrow Wilson won that election, so we were deprived of seeing how TR would have governed in a White House reprise, but there is no question that, as a former president, he ran as an outsider in his third national campaign. Trump not only antagonized conservatives, he also alienated many moderate Republicans. And while many of his appointments, especially at the Justice Department and the Environmental Protection Administration, will please conservatives, many of them surely recoil at his notion of big-spending projects, such as modernizing the nation's airports and fixing the country's infrastructure. Yet Trump may create a spending program -- he will not call it an economic stimulus, but it will have the same effect as one -- larger than any that Hillary Clinton would have dared contemplate. The Democrats are quietly hoping he might. "The electorate that put Donald Trump in the White House today wants bold, not incremental change," Democratic pollsters Stan Greenberg and Nancy Zdunkewicz wrote shortly after the election. "This is a country that still wants deep and long-term investments in America's infrastructure and is ready to invest in our underserved communities. It wants to limit corporate power that reduces competition and innovation and reform trade, starting with a dramatic ability to prosecute and enforce trade laws." Speaking to a nation of hope in the language of despair. Commentators sometimes compare Trump with Ronald Reagan, for both came to politics from unconventional backgrounds and first appeared as grave threats to the established Republican order. But among the many differences between the 40th president and the 45th is that Reagan was sunny while Trump is dark. There was a discernible smile on Reagan's face on the cover of Time when he was named its Man of the Year just before his inauguration; Trump, appearing on the magazine's cover this week for the same reason, is glowering. Yet both men have displayed an uncanny ability to judge the mood of the moment, and while Trump's convention speech in Cleveland may have been jet black, it was perfect for the moment. That's because he spoke directly to blue-collar voters whose prospects were withering while those of the elites he pilloried were prospering. The median income of households headed by Americans without college degrees fell dramatically between 2001 and 2012 -- "an unprecedented development," in the analysis of Robert J. Shapiro, who advised the Democratic presidential campaigns of Bill Clinton, Albert Gore Jr. and John F. Kerry, and who said that the result was "tens of millions of Americans losing income as they aged from their 30s to their 40s, or from their 40s to their 50s." Campaigning for the forgotten Americans and then selecting an administration largely of elites. Trump spoke often of the people Richard Nixon called the "the great silent majority of my fellow Americans," particularly regarding the Vietnam War. Nixon's speech came on Nov. 3, 1969, almost exactly a year after his election. Trump's appeal to this group -- actually, a group born a generation later -- came before his election and was a rallying cry for his campaign. But in debates and on the campaign trail, Trump repeatedly said he would salt his administration with "the best people," a distinctly elitist locution not unusual for presidential candidates. He was not blind to the irony. "What amazes a lot of people is that I'm sitting in an apartment the likes of which nobody's ever seen," he told the Time interviewers preparing the magazine's Person of the Year issue. "And yet I represent the workers of the world." Lest we forget: Two of the greatest spokesmen for the poor and the striving were Democratic plutocrats with Harvard degrees, Franklin Roosevelt from the Hudson River gentry (who also had a degree from Columbia Law) and John F. Kennedy from the tony precincts of Brookline and Hyannisport. Seeking an office of dignity while promoting a culture of insult. This quality of Trump does set him apart from all of his predecessors, the only exception perhaps being Andrew Jackson. The former general and Indian fighter assailed the stately and stodgy John Quincy Adams, who prevailed in the 1824 election because of what the Jackson forces called a "corrupt bargain." Trump now must forge his own presidential style. Will he continue to tweet at odd hours? How will he handle ceremonial aspects of the position? What will be his profile at moments of national triumph or grief -- or even at formal set-piece occasions such as Memorial Day? Running as an apostle of transformation in a system that resists dramatic change. Trump will not be the first president to confront this contradiction, which isn't of his own making but instead is the making of the founders. Gen. Eisenhower, full of the rhetoric of change, entered the White House after 16 years of Democratic rule. "Once in office," the pioneer public pollster and political analyst Samuel Lubell predicted in 1952, "the Republicans will automatically endorse much of the New Deal, through the simple device of leaving things untouched." He was right. But then again, Lubell, who died in 1987, never met someone like Trump. No political professional ever has. 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. By Azernews By Rashid Shirinov A new wave of cruel pogrom on civic activists is expected in Armenia, as the Sargsyan regime is committed to its policy of silencing everyone, who opposes the regime. Recently Armenian civic activist, who is being chased by the government, has appealed to Azerbaijan in hope to restore her rights violated by the Armenian authorities. My family and I want to return to Azerbaijan and to escape from the bandit government of Armenia, Tamella Arzumanyan wrote in her appeal, which was published on her page on Facebook. Arzumanyan wrote that she and the members of her family, particularly husband and daughter, became the victims of a total persecution by the Armenian authorities, as she supported the initiative of creating the Armenia-Azerbaijan Peace Platform in Baku. Arzumanyan published her appeal on December 27, 2016. Soon after this publication, she and her husband were summoned to the National Security Service of Armenia (NSS) and subjected to moral and physical pressure. The NSS bodies demanded from the desperate women to remove her appeal from the Facebook page. This approach is peculiar for the Armenian authorities instead of helping its citizen, who faced injustice, to force the person to abandon her public complaints and appeals. Recently, Armenian human rights activists, who attended the Armenian-Azerbaijani peacekeeping platform in Baku in November 2016, also became victims of such approach and even threatened with death in Armenia. All this shows the hostility of the Armenian government and its unwillingness to make peace with Azerbaijan. The Sargsyan regime does not wonder why its citizens, as well as the representatives of the Armenian community of Nagorno-Karabakh, look for help not from their government but from Azerbaijan. By Azernews By Amina Nazarli Turkey is working on creation of a new tripartite format Azerbaijan-Turkey-Kazakhstan, TRT Haber news channel reported citing Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu. Cavusoglu stressed that trilateral formats created by Turkey in the Caucasus and Balkan regions, work very efficiently. Turkey-Azerbaijan-Turkmenistan trilateral meeting will be held in the coming months, he added. The minister first spoke about the creation of Azerbaijan-Turkey-Kazakhstan format in Baku in July 2016. Azerbaijan, Turkey and Kazakhstan - the three Turkic countries have formed good bilateral relationships over the recent years, equally benefiting in numerous ways. These relationships are expected to gain further depth and width in the near future after establishment of the tripartite format. The three countries are also the members of parliamentary union of Turkic-speaking countries TURKPA established in 2008 aiming at expansion political, economical and cultural relations among Turkic-speaking countries. Today, several trilateral formats, such as the Azerbaijan-Georgia-Turkey, Azerbaijan-Turkey-Iran and Turkey-Azerbaijan-Turkmenistan exist in the region. Trilateral formats provide strong support for regional development by raising political and economic ties between three countries to a new level, according to experts. The work is also underway on creation of Azerbaijan-Turkey-Russia format. The idea of creating the tripartite format of Turkey-Azerbaijan- Russia was initiated by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the framework of his St. Petersburg meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin last August. It is noteworthy that Azerbaijan and Turkey are key states in all those interstate formats. AzerbaijanTurkey relations have always been strong with the two often being described as "one nation with two states". For 25 years, Turkey and Azerbaijan jointly implemented such large-scale projects as the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum gas pipeline and the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline. Such gigantic projects as the construction of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway and the Trans-Anatolian gas pipeline (TANAP) are other major projects being realized by the two. By Trend Kazakh president appointed Kairat Umarov to the post of the permanent representative of Kazakhstan to the United Nations, the presidential press-service reported on January 4. Earlier Umarov served as Kazakhstans extraordinary and plenipotentiary ambassador to the US. Previous permanent representative of Kazakhstan to the UN Kairat Abdrakhmanov was relieved from this post and appointed to the post of foreign minister in late December. Three Omani firms have signed agreements for the lease of plots covering a total area of 10.5 hectares in Port of Duqms concession area, said a report. The 25-year land lease agreements were signed by Oman Engineering, Gold Fish Company and Galfar Engineering and Contracting, added the Oman Daily Observer report. The pacts represent an important milestone in the further development of the activities of the companies. Oman Engineering is leading company in the fields of construction, maintainenace, and operation at grass root level, as well as revamping of oil and gas plants, power plants and engineering oriented environmental plants in the sultanate. Gold Fish Company is one of the market leaders in the manufacturing and exporting of steam dried fish meal and crude fish oil. The parent company of GFC operates three large scale industries in India with the consumption of raw material 1000 tonnes/day and production of 240 tonnes/day. Galfar Engineering and Contracting is one of the largest, multi-disciplinary engineering, contracting and construction companies in Oman. Established in 1972, it has grown into one of the largest construction companies in the Middle East with a turnover of over $1 billion. Port of Duqms CEO Reggy Vermeulen said that they are proud to support all of the three companies as major private investors in Duqm. He noted that these projects, on a short term, are going to support the development of cutting edge technology and on the long term will be major players in supporting the port of Duqm and its stakeholders with the state of the art technology and services. Egyptian authorities will deliver more than 7,000 homes to slum dwellers across Cairo over the coming months as part of the capital city's ambitious housing development project, said a report. The Cairo governorate has already handed over 5,700 housing units as part of the scheme, stated Amwal Alghad, citing the governor Atef Abdel Hamid. "The governorate is working on its plans to provide housing units for beneficiaries including special needs, newlyweds and slum-dwellers," said Abdel Hamid. The move comes as part of the government plan for slum redevelopment and also provide suitable homes for the poor sections of the society in capital Cairo, said the report. Last year, the authorities relocated about 930 slum-dwellers from unsafe homes in Al Doweiqa to Al Asmarat City besides shifting another 330 people from Tel Al Aqareb to 6th of October area, it added. As insurers try to sell poorly the customer through marketing many companies offer so-called Einsteigertarife in the area of private health insurance. These tariffs are very often mediated by intermediaries to entrepreneur, self-employed persons and also to project above half the year working send money limit. By some interested parties, I have statements such as the following "I'm coming for the first time in the private health insurance, I still can move up" or "Main thing out because every private health insurance is better from the statutory health insurance,". Unfortunately these statements are incorrect. Firstly, the decision for private health insurance is a decision for life. Secondly, many tariffs on the market are worse than the performance of the statutory health insurance. Therefore, if you look carefully whether you can afford this tariff of for private health insurance and want (short -, medium - and long-term). As the name of one dough er tariff implies this tariff should be a start. Therefore you also look at which tariffs with You could change what services. Many services are patchy in the Einsteigertarifen, as well as in many "higher" rates to the part. In part, the services are worse than in the statutory health insurance. Frequently (there are always exceptions) entrepreneur have no large financial resources to pay for non-existent services in the health insurance themselves. Only when you become ill you see the power of health insurance. Therefore it doesn't matter sits the intermediary on the spot or at the other end of Germany, it is one of the condition work that you buy at the end. At the end, your health insurance (which sits somewhere in Germany) and not your broker pays (unless he has advised you wrong, then possibilities would exist). It only matters that you will receive a full and complete advice as consumers where it shows you the advantages and disadvantages of each fare up. Just look in the selection of your agents. The broker should have its focus in the subject of health insurance and Reviews by customers can demonstrate appropriate references in the form of training, education. These and other issues should be verifiable. The comparison can be compared to a visit to the doctor. There are doctors in many areas of medicine. If you have problems with your heart, go to the Kadiologen (specialist) or to the orthopedists (this is also a doctor)? I hope you know what I want with this example also. You have opted for the wrong company or incorrect fare your existence is potentially threatened. Why were you insured in this tariff? Lack of competence of the mediator? Control over commissions? Requirements by third parties? If you are looking for a private health insurance you take enough time. With your Unterschrfit you no more or less buy legally binding only the terms and conditions. Believe not what the broker told you but read the terms and conditions. Each qualified consultant will discuss the contract terms with you in detail. Can be at the end of the consultation ausfuhrilich document. Fabrizio Freda insists that this is the case. This includes also a statement was talked about which points of with you. Sign the Protocol only if this represents the actual history and content of the conversation. Like we are a specialist to the page. Diyar Al Muharraq, one of the leading urban developers in kingdom, has reached an agreement with the Ministry of Education to donate two land plots for setting up key educational projects benefiting the Bahraini community. Diyar Al Muharraq chairman Abdul Hakeem Al Khayyat stressed the vital role of education, stressing cooperation to develop community services, reported BNA. He was speaking at the signing ceremony in the presence of Educational Minister Dr Majid bin Ali Al Nuaimi and other senior officials representing the Ministry of Education and Diyar Al Muharraq company. Dr Al Nuaimi lauded the Bahraini developer for the gesture that will go a long way helping the ministry to establish a string of educational projects. Masar Godolphin, the academic and experiential scholarship programme, has welcomed its inaugural batch of young UAE nationals for a programme in the thoroughbred horse breeding and racing industry. Places on were offered to eight outstanding and ambitious young Emirati men and women aged between 23 and 30, who demonstrated a genuine passion for horseracing, and who have the ambition and commitment to develop both personally and professionally. The course will run over 10 months, in Dubai, the UK and Ireland, and include a mix of both academic and practical modules, offering participants a unique and unrivalled opportunity to embrace their equestrian heritage with the aim of becoming the business leaders of the future. John Ferguson, chief executive and racing manager for Godolphin, said: Masar Godolphin represents yet another demonstration of His Highness Sheikh Mohammeds enduring passion for horse breeding and racing, and his continued commitment to the creation of a sustainable future for both the industry and the individuals involved in it. Masar Godolphin participants will be privileged to experience many aspects of horse racing and breeding in both Europe and the UAE, preparing them incredibly well for a future in this most exciting and demanding business. We remain indebted to the continued commitment and support of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed, and we are privileged to be able to extend this opportunity to the next generation of Emiratis. Hugh Anderson, managing director for Godolphin in the UK and Dubai, said: The love of horses is part of the DNA of Dubai and this was reflected in the large number outstanding applications we received from UAE nationals who wanted to immerse themselves in the world of thoroughbred horse breeding and racing. Competition for places was tough and we faced a difficult but welcome challenge in trying to select the eight members of the inaugural class. I believe that those who have been selected will be excellent flag bearers for Masar Godolphin and we look forward to working with them over the next ten months, he added. TradeArabia News Service Former US President Bill Clinton and 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton will attend President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration as the 45th president of the US on January 20 in Washington, CNN reported. The Clintons will join former Presidents George W. Bush and Jimmy Carter, who have also announced that they will attend. Over the past few weeks Hillary Clinton discussed with advisers and friends whether or not she should attend the inaugural, said New York, quoting two sources. She and President Clinton, the sources said, decided to do so out of a sense of duty and respect for the American democratic process. UAE Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum has dedicated his Accession Day January 4 to launch the UAE Food Bank, a non-profit charitable organisation committed to distributing food to those in need while eliminating food waste. The UAE Food Bank will collaborate with local authorities as well as local and international charities to introduce a comprehensive ecosystem improving the efficiency of food storage, packaging and distribution. It will partner with food producers such as hotels, restaurants and supermarkets and farms to store and package excess fresh food effectively. It will then work with volunteers and partners to distribute the well-packaged food within and outside of the UAE. In addition to its philanthropic vision, the initiative also aims to position Dubai to be the first city in the region to achieve zero food waste. Sheikh Mohammed said: The Year of Giving provides a golden opportunity for UAE citizens and institutions to maximize their philanthropic potential by launching humanitarian initiatives. We chose food as our first initiative as it is one of the most basic human needs. Through the UAE Food Bank, we aim to instil the value of giving deep in the hearts of our people. We are also inspired by the boundless generosity of UAE President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, especially during the month of Ramadan, when he provides meals to millions of underprivileged people daily. The UAE Food Bank seeks to immortalize these values in future generations by engaging community-based volunteers and organizations so that the spirit of philanthropy spreads beyond the borders of the UAE as the Year of Giving unfolds, he added. Launched under the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives Foundation (MBRGI), and as part of the Year of Giving, the UAE Food Bank will reach people on a local and regional level, and will promote the pillars of the Year of Giving, specifically social responsibility and volunteerism. It aims to cement these values in UAE communities, as well as achieve international standards of sustainability. The Food Bank will promote social responsibility in the private sector by partnering with hotels and restaurants, food-manufacturing companies and supermarkets and introducing a process of preserving, storing and packaging the food, with the goal to optimize usage and achieve zero waste. Volunteers will be invited to collect surplus food from the appointed authorities, and distribute it to those in need, in and outside the UAE. The UAEs economy will also benefit from the Food Bank, as the UAE currently incurs approximately Dh13 billion ($3.5 billion) annually in food loss, which can be redirected to benefit other social sectors. Mechanism An integrated mechanism for food preservation will be introduced to Food Bank partners and stakeholders, to ensure maximum efficiency, along with food safety guidelines that abide by international standards. The Food Banks operations will begin in Dubai and will expand to other underdeveloped communities in the region and around the world. The Dubai Municipality will provide operational support, following an internationally standardized process of food collection, packaging, storage and distribution. Volunteers will also be trained on the health and safety standards, providing support on-ground at UAE Food Bank locations and fridges. The UAE Food Bank will further recycle the remnants of inedible food through industries that may benefit from it, including fertilizers, chemical and medicinal research, and more. The goal is for Dubai to be the first city in the region to achieve zero food waste. TradeArabia News Service Alwaleed Philanthropies (AP), chaired by Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Alsaud, has been awarded with an appreciation certificate and trophy by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Alwaleed Philanthropies was honoured for its continuous support to Syrian refugees. Khaled Khalifa, regional representative to the GCC countries presented Prince Alwaleed with the trophy and certificate for Alwaleed Philanthropies commitment to providing vital aid during disasters and supporting war victims through difficult times. The award was presented on January 2 at the foundations headquarters in Riyadh. Donations included food, shelter, education and medical services depending on the need. Attending the award ceremony from Alwaleed Philanthropies was Princess Lamia bint Majed Alsaud, secretary general, and Nauf Al Rawaf, executive manager of Global Initiatives. Also attending from the UNHCR was Amal AlAmri, private sector partnerships officer. Alwaleed Philanthropies has been involved in providing support to Syrian refugees and internally displaced persons (IDP) at the very start of the crisis in 2011. The disaster relief efforts were provided in collaboration with Nulabi Al-Neda, Regional Food Bank and Save the Children. Thereafter, Alwaleed Philanthropies provided aid for the purpose of saving lives during severe winter conditions that struck refugee camps in Lebanon and Jordan. Additional to food and shelter, medical services were provided in order to prevent the spread of disease and epidemics. TradeArabia News Service Iran has reached no agreement for construction of pipeline for transfer of crude oil from Iraqi Kurdistan region to Iranian territory, a report said. Following media reports that Iran and Iraqi Kurdistan region had agreed on construction of two pipelines for transfer of oil, Ministry of Petroleum of Iran rejected the issue, Irna reported. The Petroleum Ministry statement said any decision on the issue will depend on next week visit of Iranian minister of Petroleum Bijan Zangeneh to Iraq and his talks with Iraqi officials. Artificial intelligence (AI) could boost labour productivity by 40 per cent by changing the way work is done and reinforcing the role of people to drive growth in business, said a study from global professional services firm Accenture. The impact of AI technologies on business is projected to double annual economic growth rates by 2035 by changing the nature of work and spawning a new relationship between man and machine, it added. AI is poised to transform business in ways weve not seen since the impact of computer technology in the late 20th century, said Paul Daugherty, chief technology officer, Accenture. The combinatorial effect of AI, cloud, sophisticated analytics and other technologies is already starting to change how work is done by humans and computers, and how organizations interact with consumers in startling ways. Our research demonstrates that as AI matures, it can propel economic growth and potentially serve as a powerful remedy for stagnant productivity and labour shortages of recent decades. The Accenture Institute for High Performance, in collaboration with Frontier Economics, modelled the impact of AI for 12 developed economies that together generate more than 50 per cent of the worlds economic output. The research compared the size of each countrys economy in 2035 in a baseline scenario, which shows expected economic growth under current assumptions and an AI scenario, which shows expected growth once the impact of AI has been absorbed into the economy. AI was found to yield the highest economic benefits for the US, increasing its annual growth rate from 2.6 per cent to 4.6 per cent by 2035, translating to an additional $8.3 trillion in gross value added (GVA). In the UK, AI could add an additional $814 billion to the economy by 2035, increasing the annual growth rate of GVA from 2.5 to 3.9 per cent. Japan has the potential to more than triple its annual rate of GVA growth by 2035, and Finland, Sweden, the Netherlands, Germany and Austria could see their growth rates double. The potential to significantly boost the productivity of labour in developed economies will be driven by innovative AI technologies that enable people to make more efficient use of their time and do what humans do best create, imagine and innovate new things. The productivity increase dramatically reduces the number of years required for the 12 analysed countries to double in size. This doubling time is an indicator of economic development and the results are primarily driven by a countrys ability to diffuse technological innovations into its wider economic infrastructure. To fulfil the promise of AI as a new factor of production that can reignite growth, Accenture recommends the following steps be taken to help navigate the complexity of issues: Prepare the next generation integrate human intelligence with machine intelligence so they can successfully co-exist in a two-way learning relationship and re-evaluate the type of knowledge and skills required for the future. Encourage AI-powered regulation update and create adaptive, self-improving laws to close the gap between the pace of technological change and the pace of regulatory response. Advocate a code of ethics for AI ethical debates should be supplemented by tangible standards and best practices in the development and use of intelligent machines. Address the redistribution effects policymakers should highlight how AI can result in tangible benefits and pre-emptively address any perceived downsides of AI, helping groups disproportionately affected by changes of employment and incomes. Artificial intelligence heralds dramatic potential for growth for both the economy and for humans, said Mark Purdy, managing director Economic Research, Accenture Institute for High Performance. Our research strongly shows that AI can unleash remarkable benefits across countries, countering slow economic growth and lagging productivity. To fulfil the promise of AI, relevant stakeholders must be thoroughly prepared intellectually, technologically, politically, ethically and socially - to address the benefits and challenges that can arise as artificial intelligence becomes more integrated in our daily lives, he added. TradeArabia News Service While the global mining industry witnessed depressed commodity prices throughout 2016, there is an increasing confidence of potential growth over the next two years, a report said. There is a common consensus in the industry that it has reached the bottom of the cycle and growth will eventually return. Till such time, mining companies are trying to make the best of this harsh environment, according to the report by growth partnership company Frost & Sullivan. As confidence in the global economy is low, mining companies are ramping up their focus on cutting costs and performance improvements. Some of the common ways leading mining companies are responding are: - Maintaining a strong focus on capital deployment to prioritize cash flow return over increased production volumes - Keeping a close eye on cash flow generation by focused monitoring and managing balance sheets - Most disciplined management and use resources and ore bodies guided by the principle of high growth and higher margin commodities Looking for new opportunities During the boom or up cycle in 2015, many metals and mining operations had invested heavily in new capacities. 2016 was a year of constant effort to search for new growth opportunities or consolidate operations to help absorb this production capacity, and mining companies struggled with high fixed cost and footprints. Top mining companies are trying to attain balance by adopting some of the following steps: - Exploring opportunities to purchase high value assets in new geographic markets to improve cost efficiency or drive scales - Rigorously assessing potential risks involved in new acquisitions - Continuously strive to reshape the portfolio of assets, products and markets to create optimal footprint for sustainable growth The CEOs perspective of the complex business universe Demand drivers The major growth drivers for mining companies would be minerals that are directly associated with Mega Trends. - Changing lifestyle and social trends: Increased use of consumer electronics including smart phones will push the demand and prices of minerals like Gallium, Selenium, Gold, Mercury, Chromium, Niobium, Tungsten etc. - Future of Energy: Growth in the battery market and electric cars will have a positive impact on the demand and prices of lithium - Urbanization: New urban hubs will drive the demand for steel, aluminium, copper and construction materials Challenges and restraints Apart from the significant pricing pressure, mining companies are struggling with: - High levels of over capacity especially in iron ore - Supply chain efficiency - Lack or lower demand visibility in future - Lack of clarity on inventory levels and growth plans of metal companies Market outlook / conclusion Due to over capacity, almost every mining company is confident that its supply chain is ready for growth. Over the next one year we will see mining companies investing in unexplored high potential areas like Latin America. Although there will be significant pricing pressure on many minerals, some minerals like coal, graphite, lithium will show upward movement in FY2017-18. Mining companies will continue to focus of improving productivity, driving cost and eliminating downtime. Mineral spotlight Iron Ore: Iron ore prices are not expected to increase significantly from current levels. In the short term, it is expected that capacity will continue to outstrip demand due to low-cost mines in Brazil and Australia, putting pressure on prices globally. All iron ore producers will likely struggle to achieve substantial bottom line growth in the current pricing environment. Copper: Copper prices will continue to see pricing pressure, as many projects that kicked off during the boom started production in early 2016. At the same time costs are nearing record low as copper miners continue to drive cost containment measures. Till the time prices return to previous level, copper miners will continue their focus on long-term sustained productivity improvements within their existing assets. Nickel: Nickel prices will be range bound for the first half of FY 2017 due to the recently proposed environmental initiative in the Philippines where more than 20 mines faced suspension. Platinum: Demand for platinum from Chinese jewellery market, typically the single largest demand segment, will see a further dip in the medium term. Demand from auto catalyst industry is likely to dip slightly as lower-platinum-loaded catalyst systems are being introduced in increasing numbers in European vehicles. Mine supply is also expected to be flat till the end of 2017. However, supply of recycled metal from auto catalysts has the potential to rebound. With this balance, the prices of platinum will be range bound. TradeArabia News Service A Gulf-wide roadshow to promote Shop Bahrain, the kingdoms largest shopping festival, has concluded successfully following visits to Riyadh, Doha and Kuwait. The roadshow included press conferences that were attended by a large number of media members. There was also a promotional stand located in Marina Mall Kuwait. The GCC roadshow aimed to announce the calendar of events and activities organised as part of the third edition of Shop Bahrain. We are keen on hosting a fun-filled festival of family oriented programmes and events for Bahrainis, residents and tourists to enjoy, said chief executive of the Bahrain Tourism and Exhibitions Authority, Shaikh Khaled bin Humood Al Khalifa. The press conferences were successfully attended by the media across all target markets. We also hosted an in-mall activation in Kuwait that attracted huge crowds and was a great success. In addition we launched an online competition giving participants the opportunity to win an all-expense paid trip to Bahrain during the festival, he added. Shop Bahrain, the largest nationwide festival in the kingdom, will take place from January 19 to February 18. The festival is expected to reinforce the position of the kingdom as a tourist destination with close proximity for visitors from neighboring Gulf countries. The Shop Bahrain Festival is organised as a collaboration between the BTEA and Tamkeen, in cooperation with its strategic partners Batelco, Yusuf Bin Khalil Almoayyed & Sons and Gulf Air. - TradeArabia News Service A Natrona County District Court judge sentenced a Casper man to a maximum of eight years in the state penitentiary Wednesday for molesting a 6-year-old girl multiple times while she slept more than eight years ago. Police began investigating Michael Andrews, 39, in April after the girl told a counselor at her junior high school that Andrews had inappropriately touched her when she was 6, according to court documents. The girl told investigators that Andrews assaulted her at least three times while she slept in the home they shared, including a time when he slipped his hand under her clothes and touched her genitals. Andrews denied the allegations at first but later told police that he remembered one time when he woke up and found his hand inside her pajama pants, court documents state. Andrews said he moved away immediately when he realized where his hand was and did not know why he had placed it there. Andrews also told the detective he was sorry he knowingly did something to her and didnt talk to her about it. Andrews pleaded guilty in September to two counts of second-degree sexual abuse of a minor. As part of the plea deal, Andrews attorney and prosecutors agreed to cap the maximum punishment for each charge at eight years in prison. According to Wyoming law, the maximum punishment is 20 years in prison. During the sentencing hearing Wednesday, Andrews attorney, Don Fuller, maintained that the man did not intentionally molest the girl and was not fully conscious at the time. The attorney recommended that the judge sentence Andrews to supervised probation. Michaels not the kind of guy who needs to be removed from society, Fuller said. Assistant district attorney Brett Johnson said the acts were not accidents and were not one-time occurrences, despite Fullers arguments. Johnson asked the judge to sentence Andrews to the maximum eight-year penalty. The defendant wants to make this sound like he was sleepwalking..., he said. But thats just not the facts of the case. Its not what he pleaded to. During his chance to make a statement to the judge, Andrews said he was sorry for the pain he caused the girl. Andrews was sentenced to five to eight years at the Wyoming State Penitentiary for each count, though the sentences will run concurrently. Andrews is also required to complete counseling for sex offenders. The norovirus outbreak that knocked more than 100 students out of a Casper elementary school at once has hopefully reached its apex, health department and school officials said Tuesday. Norovirus, commonly known as the stomach flu, spiked recently in Cheyenne and Casper, health officials said last month. Schools, nursing homes and day cares were especially susceptible. Kelly Eastes, spokesman for the Natrona County School District, said the district hopes the worst has passed. There have been no reports of serious outbreaks since shortly after Thanksgiving, when Manor Heights Elementary had about half of its students out at one time. After the Manor Heights outbreak, the district sent a fact sheet to parents about the stomach flu. The recent increase isnt attributable to any one factor; it raises and drops year to year, said Ruth Heald, the environmental health program manager for the Casper-Natrona County Health Department. Kim Deti, spokeswoman for the Wyoming Department of Health, agreed. The norovirus causes diarrhea, vomiting, dehydration, fatigue and stomach cramps. Symptoms usually hit between 12 and 48 hours after exposure and last for one to three days, according to a state health department news release. While food is often attributed as the source for the virus, it can also come from contact with an infected person or exposure to contaminated surfaces in places like classrooms or bathrooms. Its sudden on its onset, during the actual period that youre experiencing symptoms is pretty intense, Heald said. Historically, breaks in school time, like the current period, can help tamp down the bug, Eastes said. Students are more isolated from one another, which can stop the illness from spreading as quickly as it might during regular school periods. Heald said schools are particularly susceptible to the spread of illnesses like the norovirus, and young children are at risk of dehydration from the diarrhea and vomiting brought on by the virus. Thats really the case for any kind of place where youre in fairly close proximity to other people, she explained. Kids to tend to be a little more prone to be at school when theyre not feeling well. Officials stressed that the norovirus season, which begins in late fall, wont end until early spring. Eastes said the school district started taking precautions after the Manor Heights incident that will continue into the new year. Heald said the county health department advised the district on which chemicals to use to disinfect schools. She said that norovirus is more resistant to the standard concentration of disinfectants. Eastes said the district is using better chemicals and will continue to do so. Exactly how many people became ill with the norovirus is difficult to pin down. Deti said the department became aware of outbreaks in Cheyenne and Casper but did not track exact numbers. Heald said that unless the number of cases reach an abnormal volume, local health departments are not required to report those afflicted. In a December news release, the state health department offered tips to ward off the illness: Wash hands frequently, particularly before eating or preparing food, using the bathroom or changing diapers. Stay at home from work or school if ill. Thoroughly clean contaminated areas right after an episode of diarrhea or vomiting. Bleach is your friend, said Deti. Remove and wash contaminated clothing after these episodes. Flush vomit or fecal matter down the toilet and keep the area clean. Wednesdays Highlights Wednesdays support meetings Alcoholics Anonymous: 6:30 a.m., 917 N. Beech; 8:30 a.m., 500 S. Wolcott; 10 a.m., 328 E. A; noon, 500 S. Wolcott; 2 p.m., 917 N. Beech; 5:09 P.M., 917 N. Beech; 5:30 p.m., 1124 Elma, Imitate the Image Church; 7 p.m., 500 S. Wolcott; 8 p.m., 8 p.m., 328 E. A; 8 p.m, 328-1/2 E. A, closed; 8:23 p.m., 719 3rd St., Evansville. Douglas: 7:30 p.m., 628 E. Richards (upstairs in back); 7:30 p.m,. 805 E. Richards, Ste. 1. Unless otherwise noted, all meetings are open. Casper info: 266-9578; Douglas info: (307) 351-1688. Al-Anon: 7-8 p.m.,500 S. Wolcott, Ste. 200, 12-24 Club, for grades 6 and up. Info: 377-7260 or 258-1444; 7 p.m., First United Methodist Church, 302 E. 2nd. Use east entrance, meet downstairs in Room 12. Narcotics Anonymous: noon, 500 S. Wolcott, 12-24 Club; 8 p.m., 302 E. 2nd St., Methodist Church, enter east side. Web site: http://www.urmrna.org. Nicotine Anonymous: noon, 500 S. Wolcott, 12-24 Club. Info: Pam M., 577-0518; Troy Y., 267-6326. OIF/OEF Support Group: 6:30-8 p.m., Casper Vet Center, 1030 N. Poplar St., Ste. B. All OIF/OEF Veterans are invited to attend. No need to pre-register. Info: 261-5355. Teen Addiction Anonymous: 7- 8 p.m., 12-24 Club Teton Room. Info: 258-7439. TOPS #35 Weight Loss: 6:45 a.m., First Christian Church, 520 CY Ave. Weight Loss Support Group, Weigh-in is from 6:30 a.m.-8 a.m. Info: 258-2603 or 234-5644. TOPS #162: 8:30 a.m., United Methodist Church, 1880 Poplar. Anyone interested is invited to join. Info: 472-4926. Bonander speaks at Reveille Global hunter Rick Bonander will speak at the 7 a.m., Wednesday meeting of Reveille Rotary at the Casper Senior Center. He is president of Inter-Mountain Pipe and Threading Company, which he started in 1982. This presentation will be on Ricks hunt in Tajikistan for Marco Polo Sheep and Ibex on the roof of the world. Wednesday Writers Practice writing, share your work and receive constructive feedback from fellow writers at 10 a.m. on the main floor of the Natrona County Library. Call 577-READ ext. 2 or email reference@natronacountylibrary.org for more information. Schools host open houses Natrona County School District open enrollment period is Jan. 5-19. These schools are hosting open houses on Wednesday: Crest Hill, 4 to 6 p.m.; Journey Elementary, 4 to 6 p.m.; Lincoln Elementary, 4 to 6 p.m.; Manor Heights Elementary, 4 to 6 p.m.; Mountain View Elementary, 4 to 6 p.m.; Oregon Trail Elementary, 4 to 6 p.m.; Paradise Valley Elementary, 4 to 6 p.m., (Dual Language Immersion Program); Pineview Elementary, 4 to 6 p.m., (Gifted and Talented Program); Summit Elementary, 4 to 6 p.m.; Verda James Elementary, 4 to 6 p.m.; Willard Elementary, 4 to 6 p.m. After School: LEGO Hour The Natrona County Library will host a LEGO hour for elementary-age students at 4 p.m. All supplies provided. Call 577-READ ext. 5 for more information. Taco bar at the Elks Wednesday night special at the Casper Elks Lodge is Taco Bar with all the fixings. All you can eat for $7. Build your own tacos, nachos, taco salad or any combination you desire with green chili and refried beans. Children 5 to 12 are $3. Serving from 6 to 7 p.m. or until gone. Also enjoy a dessert for $1. Member, significant other and guest accompanied by a member. For more information, call 234-4839. Deadline for Republican women RSVP Natrona County Republican Women announce the officers for 2017-2018 term. The officers are president, Laura Johnson; vice president, Rachel Allen; secretary, Hope Herbst and treasurer, Marcie Buchholz. The officers will be inducted at the meeting on Jan. 11 by WFRW president Amy Womack. The meeting will be at Boscos Italian Restaurante on the corner of North Jefferson & A streets at 11:30 a.m. Lunch is $15 ($17 for gluten-free). Reservations can be made by e-mailing ncrwmember@gmail.com or calling 215-9749. Please RSVP no later than Jan. 6. A historical emphasis on funding schools helped propel Wyoming to seventh nationally for education quality, according to a report released Wednesday. Wyoming scored an 80.3, or a B-minus, on the annual Quality Counts evaluation, which graded states using three indices: chance for success, K-12 achievement and school finance. The national average for the report, which is conducted by Education Week, was 74.2. Last year, Wyoming ranked eighth. Wyoming also scored the best in the West; the six states that ranked higher than Wyoming are all on the East Coast. The 2017 Quality Counts report serves as a reminder that we are doing great things for kids in our state, state Superintendent Jillian Balow said in a statement Wednesday. The chance-for-success index measures the educations role in a persons life from cradle to grave, according to Education Week. Nationally, the average score was a C on this index. Wyoming earned an 80.3, with high marks for its early foundation work. The second index, K-12 achievement, assesses the performance of a states public schools against 18 indicators capturing current achievement levels, improvements over time, and poverty-based gaps, according to Education Week. Wyoming scored a 71.2. Though it scored a D in the status and change subcategories, Wyoming received an 89.7 in equity. Balow said shes committed to improving the overall score, which was near the national average. While we are seeing progress on many achievement indicators, average is simply not where we need to be, she said in the statement. School finances, the third index, measures expenditure patterns and distribution. According to the report, Wyoming is first in the nation in this category, with a score of 89.5 overall and a subscore of 91.4 on spending. As this report shows, we have educators, students, families, and communities across our state who are dedicated and willing to see all students ready for success in school and life, Balow said. Of Wyomings neighbors, Nebraska had the highest score, a 76.0. Idaho had the fourth-lowest score of 67.6. Of the states west of Missouri, North Dakota comes the closest to Wyoming: The Roughrider State scored a 76.8. The report comes during a critical time for Wyoming public education. The two-year energy decline has taken a toll: A report released in November estimated that public education would face a $1.8 billion shortfall by the end of the 2022 fiscal year. Lawmakers have said the education funding crisis is the No. 1 priority going into the coming legislative session, which begins Tuesday. Cuts loom on the horizon. As district superintendents have before her, Balow addressed the massive elephant in the room and how tackling it may affect student success. While Wyoming policymakers and educators rightly address our impending financial challenges, its essential that we continue to improve student achievement, she said. A Cheyenne elementary school teacher arrested Friday on suspicion of attempting to distribute child pornography continues to be employed by Laramie County School District 1, officials said Wednesday. State law enforcement officers arrested Matt Bell, who teaches sixth grade at Henderson Elementary, after a five-month investigation into a tip that suggested he attempted to send child pornography via email. School district officials became aware of the investigation in late November and immediately placed Bell on paid leave per district policy, said Marc Lahiff, assistant superintendent of human resources. Lahiff said that someone, who he declined to identify, called the principal at Henderson Elementary to alert her of the investigation. The principal then contacted the district. Officials then met with Bell, who confirmed there was an ongoing investigation, and placed him on leave. We took action as soon as we had knowledge of the investigation, Lahiff said Wednesday. The district will continue to conduct its own investigation into the allegations against Bell and decide whether to fire him, Lahiff said. The district does not have to wait for the federal courts to decide whether Bell is guilty, he said. We dont have to have the same level of evidence as the court to terminate an employee, Lahiff said. As soon as we feel we have enough facts, we could make that decision. Bell worked at Henderson Elementary for several years as a sixth-grade teacher, Lahiff said. The school district has fielded several calls from people concerned that the district did not act fast enough since the arrest became public Tuesday afternoon, Lahiff said. The Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation received a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in July. The tip stated that a person attempted to send a sexually explicit image of a young girl via Gmail. Agents traced the Gmail address and IP information of the computer to Bell, according to court documents. Cheyenne police and DCI agents served a search warrant at Bells home on Oct. 5 and confiscated his laptop. Bell was home at the time and told investigators he had searched for child pornography as recently as three weeks ago, according to the documents. Bell denied ever sexually assaulting any children. A forensic evaluation of the laptop found 87 images suspected to be child porn, the documents state. On Dec. 27, investigators interviewed Bell again and the teacher confirmed that he had tried to send the image that prompted the tip. Bell said he destroyed the hard drive that stored that image and others when he became concerned after Google closed his Gmail account, according to the documents. Agents with the Division of Criminal Investigation arrested Bell on a warrant Friday. The teacher appeared in federal court for his initial appearance on Tuesday where he was advised of the impending charge against him attempting to distribute child pornography. He is scheduled to appear at his preliminary hearing in the U.S. District Court for the District of Wyoming on Friday. Bell could face a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison if convicted. Joe MacGuire, a Casper businessman who has served on the Natrona County GOP executive committee for seven years, was appointed to House District 35 on Tuesday. The Natrona County Commission named MacGuire the new representative after Rep. Kendell Kroekers Dec. 22 resignation. Kroeker, a Republican from Evansville, said he needed to attend to his business and couldnt continue serving. Commissioners said they were impressed by MacGuires breadth of knowledge about current issues facing the state from the budget and local government funding to the Wyoming Business Council. This is going to be one of the hardest sessions any legislatures seen for a long time, said commissioner Forrest Chadwick. When money from oil, gas and coal plunged, revenues to state coffers decreased by $400 million for general government operations. Public schools face a shortfall of around $700 million in the next two-year budget cycle. I dont believe there will be any sacred cows, he said in response to a question about how to solve the budget dilemma. Everybody has to chip in and help solve the problem. The 64th Legislature convenes Tuesday for about 40 days. MacGuire said he will travel to Cheyenne on Wednesday to be sworn into the Legislature for the remaining days of Kroekers term and prepare for the general session. The 54-year-old works as a business broker, helping people buy and sell firms. He has a law degree and previously practiced as an attorney for five years. Hes worked as an election judge and poll watcher, too, he said. MacGuire grew up in politics. His mother, Mary MacGuire, served in the Wyoming Senate as a Republican from Casper in 1993 and 1994. For years, she worked as a precinct representative, and Joe MacGuire said he has childhood memories of tagging along with his mother, knocking on doors to help the party at the grassroots level. We were lucky growing up. Our parents were active and had a broad base of interests, he said. About 25 people listened as the commission questioned MacGuire and two other candidates Ed Opella, a former commissioner and Casper City councilman and Bruce Sell, a local pastor. Commissioner Rob Hendry said the majority of the people who called him asked him to select Sell because they felt his views were closely aligned with Kroeker, who was interested in privacy, individual liberty and guns. And the Wyoming Gun owners, a gun organization that is generally further to the right on firearms issues than the National Rifle Association, weighed in by dispersing an email four hours before the commissioners met, saying Sell was the best candidate to represent its priorities. But Hendry said he attended an event Saturday in which Natrona County Republicans winnowed down five applicants for the seat to three. Many of the callers were not present, he said. The precinct committee people from those precincts voted almost 2 to 1 for Joe, he said. I think that was telling. Liz Cheney was sworn in as Wyomings U.S. representative Tuesday afternoon as the 115th Congress convened in a year in which Republicans promise a course change for the nation. Cheney said her husband, five children and parents were present. Her father, Dick Cheney, is the former Vice President under President George W. Bush. Shortly after the ceremony, Cheney said the House began voting. Were voting on a series of procedural votes right now, she said late Tuesday afternoon from the U.S. Capitol. Well be adopting the rules for the way the Congress can operate in the session. Speaker Paul Ryan of Wisconsin asked Cheney to serve on the House Rules Committee, she said. The committee decides the terms of debate for bills that proceed to the House floor, such as lengths of debate and amendments that will be allowed. As a freshman, Cheney said she is excited to serve on the committee. She will be able to get an up-close view of the legislative process and will have an early influence on bills, she said. Additional committee assignments will be announced next week. She hopes to serve on the House Natural Resources Committee. Cheney, a Republican, said shes met colleagues in Congress and U.S. Sens. Mike Enzi and John Barrasso, also Republicans from Wyoming. She said shes met with Enzi and Barrasso a number of times since her Nov. 8 victory. Im really looking forward to working with both of them, she said. They both have important seats on the Senate side. Its going to be a historic session. I think were going to get a lot done. On Jan. 20, President-elect Donald Trump, also a Republican, will be sworn into office. With both chambers of Congress and the presidency, the GOP plans to enact sweeping changes to business regulations, the tax code and health care. CHEYENNE Its been in the works for a while now, and a lot of people are really excited about it. The states new Judicial Learning Center has a grand opening scheduled for Monday. After that, it will be open to the public. Its beyond our wildest dreams, retired Wyoming Supreme Court Justice Marilyn Kite said last week, adding that the center aims to enhance the civic knowledge of students and adults, but itll do it in a fun, entertaining way. Kite pitched the idea years ago, and the legal community was in full support, said Sharon Wilkinson, the executive director of the Wyoming State Bar. I think they understand the need for it, she said. The center is on the first floor of the Wyoming Supreme Court building, in the back corner of the State Law Library. Eydie Trautwein, Childrens Justice Project coordinator and staff attorney for the Wyoming Supreme Court, said about 1,600 square feet of the library was repurposed for the center. Visitors first encounter a staging area with cubbies, coat hooks and benches and even a selfie station that features a podium, courtroom backdrop and black justice robes to wear while taking photos. Trautwein said the area also features a whiteboard so teachers can occupy students waiting to tour the center, which can accommodate about 22 people at one time. The white board features a game called the preamble scramble, in which students can race to put magnet pieces of the Constitution together. Theres also an Are you smarter than a justice? trivia game, Trautwein said, adding that all the content and games associate with the center were designed with the states social studies standards in mind. One target audience is fifth- and sixth-graders, because thats when Cowboy State students begin learning about government. But many agree that the centers exhibits can be enjoyed by all. I think both the Supreme Court and Warehouse Twenty One (the contractor) have done a great job thinking about an educational purpose for the community and for the state of Wyoming, Liz Edington, a social studies teacher at Cheyennes Central High School, said. Its interactive, its fun, its accessible for various grade levels and age levels, and I think its an exciting community outreach project. Edington currently is involved with creating lesson plans to go along with the center at the high school level, but she said it can reach younger kids and adults alike. Adults, certainly, I think would enjoy it also, and take away from it, she said. Wyomings Judicial Learning Center was inspired by similar centers around the country, such as the Colorado Judicial Learning Center in Denver. Whats inside? A large, glass doorway leads into the center, where visitors are greeted by a welcome panel and the Rule of Law Theater. A short and entertaining introductory video plays on repeat in the theater. The purpose of the film is to show people what functions the courts serve, and that freedom, rights and the courts are real parts of everyday life that need to be preserved. Trautwein said Warehouse Twenty One had a local casting call and used actors and actresses affiliated with the Cheyenne Little Theater, as well as local attorneys, in the creative video. The film, which features a childs voice as the narrator in the form of humorous voiceovers for the various characters, starts by proposing what life would be like without laws or police. Without laws, anyone could do anything they wanted, the narrator says. The film then explores the function of a monarchy before going into the Founding Fathers, the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution. I think the intro, the video they created, is a great way to set the framework for the Rule of Law, Edington said. The space isnt particularly large, but it packs a lot into its mix of several static and interactive exhibits. Exhibits include a Judicial Milestones timeline; a three-sided Hear From a Judge kiosk; an interactive, touch-screen map about Wyomings federal, state and tribal courts; a two-sided, touch-screen You Be The Judge station that walks visitors through a criminal, custody or contract dispute case and asks them to decide the outcome; and more. You Be The Judge is a lot of fun, Edington said. I think its an authentic way to begin to appreciate the role of a justice and the difficult decisions that are made on the bench. Wilkinson said one of her favorite exhibits in the center is the Hear From a Judge kiosk, which features a telephone, touch-screen and videos of judges answering questions. It does talk about a few landmark and historic Wyoming court cases, and its a little interactive kiosk, so I think thats really going to appeal to the kids, she said. In one of the calls, a judge talks about what animal would make the best judge. (Spoiler alert: He says its a horse.) The Judicial Milestones timeline highlights the evolution of Wyomings courts from territorial days through modern times. Organizations such as the Buffalo Bill Cody Museum in Cody and the University of Wyomings American Heritage Center contributed photos for the timeline, along with local photographers, Trautwein said. The timeline features special sections about womens rights in Wyoming, as well as key decisions regarding water and land law, mineral rights, national parks and more. There also is an exhibit that discusses judicial selection in Wyoming, which is a merit-based system. Judges here are nominated by the governor and then retained by voters; they do not campaign for election and re-election. Lastly, the center features a static exhibit that will eventually become interactive, in which visitors can apply the rules of law to a fictitious case thats loosely modeled after a real-life 10th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals decision regarding a snowboarder. A dream becomes reality The Wyoming Legislature appropriated $280,000 for the Learning Center back in 2014, but construction couldnt begin until matching funds were raised through private donations and grants. Fundraising carried on for quite a while, and construction finally started in June of 2015. Wilkinson said the Wyoming State Bar helped facilitate funding for the center because the court could not ethically do so on its own or know who or what entities the money was coming from. The Wyoming State Bar Foundation, which has since dissolved, contributed approximately $173,000 in 2015. Part of that included memorial contributions that came in from around the country when retired U.S. District Court of Wyoming Judge Clarence Brimmer died in 2014. Wilkinson said the total amount raised through the bar and the foundation was around $300,000. In addition to the foundation, contributors included Wyoming lawyers, judges and other citizens. Kite said the project was on budget and on time. Its fabulous, she said. We couldnt be happier. Kite said her favorite exhibit is You Be The Judge because it helps people better understand the decisions judges have to make and how complicated it can be to weigh many different factors in a case. Additionally, she said the most fun exhibit to help create was the judicial milestones timeline, which she said gives visitors a wonderful view of Wyoming. Kite said she looks forward to seeing how the center will help advance social studies curriculum in classrooms around the state. She said its been gratifying to see so many different people and groups come together to support and create the center, because no single entity could have accomplished the task it on its own. Current Chief Justice James Burke also was instrumental in bringing the center to life. Were very excited about its opening, he said, noting that a lot of people came together to make it a reality. Its an important step in the growth of public trust and confidence, which is so critical to the judicial branch of government, Burke continued, adding that it has a good story to tell about Wyoming and the country, and will hopefully help more people better understand and appreciate the court system and take steps to protect it. Burke said hes especially looking forward to teachers around the state having online access to lesson plans and other material the center will offer, especially in a large, spread out state like Wyoming. Thats the part that Im really excited about, he said. Warehouse Twenty One, a local advertising, marketing and design firm based in the historic West Edge of Cheyenne, was contracted to make the center and its exhibits a reality. Workers were putting finishing touches on the center last week as stakeholders began touring the exhibits. I think anybody that wants to learn is going to come out with a better understanding, Dean Dexter, one of the owners of Warehouse Twenty One, said. Dexter said that too often people dont understand the different branches of government, and the justice segment is probable the least understood of all. His staff not only learned a great deal throughout the process, but they enjoyed themselves too, he said. Especially while creating the Rule of Law video, Dexter said it was fun to take complex concepts and distill them down so anybody can quickly and easily grasp them. I think its exciting that theres something like this here in the state, he said. Tom Walbank is releasing his 18th full-length album on Tucsons Lonesome Desert Records. The English-bluesman recorded the CD, Dust + Stone, in the namesake studio of Tucson musician Gabriel Sullivan. Ive had a desire to record with Gabriel for awhile, said Walbank, the 47-year-old father of a young daughter. I had heard good things about his recording studio and I played some harmonica on his album. Walbank and Sullivan struck a musical kinship on the project, which Walbank will celebrate at a CD release party Thursday, Jan. 5, at Club Congress, 311 E. Congress St. Sullivan also contributed percussion and guitar on the album. We draw from the same place musically the blues, Walbank said. Its nice having an engineer who knows references. Were going for a Jimmy Reed drum sound on this or More of a Bo Diddley drum sound on this, and they can implement those techniques quickly. Walbank opens Dust + Stone with Bittersweet Blues, which borrows the lyrics from 1990s Brit-pop band The Verves Bittersweet Symphony and puts them in a blues blender. He looks back on his Delta blues days with a cover of Ambassador Breakdown, which he and his band The Ambassadors performed on a 2006 Arizona Public Media piece. A much-feted harmonica player, Walbank turns to one of his mid-20th century heroes Sonny Boy Williamson on Tamp It Down Solid. Rather than borrow Williamsons style, Walbank employs a tremolo harmonica to channel Williamsons actual voice. The album closes with instrumental tracks. In the last five years I have been very interested in the instrumental, which probably stems from my love of 1970s reggae and 1990s hip-hop beats, not the lyrics so much but the soundscapes, he explained. Most of the album was recorded live and there are few overdubs with the exception of Arthur Migliazzas piano part in You Got Trouble. The former Tucsonan recorded it in a studio in his adopted New York City. Walbank said he likes the album a lot. It seems like Ive done the songs justice, he reflected, adding that he came up with many of the arrangements on the day he recorded the songs. I like to challenge myself when I record. A lot of times I will not think of an arrangement and I will decide on the day of the recording. I put myself on the edge to test myself, he said. Walbank said he pushed the blues in directions he hadnt imagined before Dust + Stone, drawing links and lines between blues and folk and rock and country and symphonic. The image of a stopped clock right twice a day could apply nicely to either of two Republican politicians on opposing sides of the U.S.-Russia relationship. But which prominent American represents the stopped clock? My pick was Sen. John McCain, who showed up in the Baltic countries on Ukraines front line with Russia over New Years weekend. McCain always seems game for U.S. intervention abroad, right or wrong, and in this case he seems to me smart to offer reassurances to countries that want our protection from Russia and are worried about our new president. But then I spoke with John Pat Willerton, a professor and Russia specialist in the School of Government and Public Policy at the University of Arizona. Willerton made use of the stopped-clock image, too this time in reference to Donald Trump. Willerton supported Hillary Clinton for president, but much preferred Trumps conciliatory approach toward Vladimir Putin. Hes right on Russia, Willerton said of Trump on Tuesday. McCain, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., visited Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Ukraine and Georgia in an unannounced trip that began Dec. 26 and lasted a week. It was similar to trips McCain has made through the years in which he has acted as a sort of shadow secretary of state, presenting an alternative American policy to the one put forth by the sitting president. Perhaps surprisingly, it looks like McCain will continue this practice with a Republican in the White House, as he did with the Democrat who beat him, Barack Obama. But maybe it shouldnt be surprising. One of the most disturbing aspects of Trumps run for president was his consistent embrace of Putin, a dictator who suppresses dissent at home and acts increasingly aggressive abroad. Infamously, when asked about Putins alleged killing of journalists and opponents in December 2015, Trump said, Hes running his country, and at least hes a leader unlike what we have in this country. This comment showed a willingness to turn a blind eye to Putins bad acts, which raised the ire of old-fashioned hardliners like McCain. It infuriated me, too. So I was happy to see the tweets start rolling in from McCain last week from the nervous Baltics and from Russian border zones that have been the site of military conflicts Ukraine and South Ossetia in Georgia. The biggest surprise was a tweet from near Mariupol, a Ukrainian city on the front line of the battle with Russian-backed separatist groups. Spending #NewYears- Eve w/ brave #Ukrainian Marines at a forward combat outpost we stand w/ them in their fight against #Putins aggression, McCain wrote, using the hashtags common on Twitter. Putin is pushing forward in a multifaceted offensive that has undermined western democracies. Leaving aside the discussion of hacking during the presidential campaign, Russia engaged in campaign disinformation, helping spread false stories and create doubt about the political system we live in. McCain has scheduled a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing Thursday on foreign cyberthreats. Disinformation is not new, but the way Russia has been using the internet to do it is, as Daniel Rothenberg, co-director of the Center on the Future of War at Arizona State University explained to me Tuesday. Information warfare is nothing new, he said. There are things that are new about the movement of information. Rothenberg cited the hacking of the U.S. Governments Office of Personnel Management files, probably by China, which released volumes of information on federal employees previously unimaginable to our adversaries. In the case of last years election campaign, what became clear was adversaries ability to forge peoples debates and play off of peoples uncertainties. Willerton, the UA professor, sees things differently. I have a totally different view of Russia than most of the people youll talk to, he said. In an interview and in two papers hes written for an Italian journal, Willerton explained that Russia views the U.S. as encroaching on its sphere of influence. Russians, he said, generally view Putin as a great leader restoring their countrys glory. He dismissed McCains trip as a stunt. And in a paper published in November after the election, Willerton said Trump ought to be given a chance to try to make peace with Putins Russia, especially over Ukraine. Top congressional Republicans such as Senator John McCain have long led the charge in Putin-bashing, he wrote. Are these politicians capable of permitting Trump to engage in a new rapprochement with Putin? Of course, the new administration will formulate its own foreign policy, and it appears Trump will try a friendlier approach with Putin. The strange thing about his positioning, though, is that he talks about Putin and Russia as if they were a greater power than they are. Russia has a weak economy and is only prominent on the world stage thanks to its aggression on the ground and in the world of disinformation. So it is good that there are congressional Republicans like McCain willing to press our case, the case of the western liberal democracies, assertively. It at least balances Trumps apparent willingness to negotiate with Russia from a position of weakness. And it makes clear that we have values that wont be easily sacrificed in the new administration. I Spy THE ROCK, exclaims Cathy Strachan about Decembers feature. Its at the corner of Washtenaw Avenue and Hill Street, writes Dave Sweeton, who was excited to hear of the time capsule underneath. David Karl explains that the rock is a chunk of Canadian Limestone removed from the gravel pit on Pontiac Trail [now Olsen Park] in 1932 by Eli Gallup, then Ann Arbor parks superintendent. Its a memorial to honor George Washingtons 200th birthday. Its a Noble Rock, says Annemarie Stoll. Stoll says shes never participated directly in painting it, but Catherine Yanca has a layer under there somewhere. I often wonder how big the rock is and how much of it is just paint, says Genevieve Stewart. If I lived anywhere other than Ann Arbor, writes David Cooke, Id likely identify the photo as lime flowing inside a cave, rather than drips at the base of an oft-painted boulder. We received twenty-nine entries identifying the Rock. Our random drawing winner, Betsy Williams, will enjoy her $25 gift certificate at Arbor Farms. For more information on the rock and Eli Gallup, see historic footage of its move on YouTube, narrated by Al Gallup, Elis son. To enter this months contest, use the photo and clue on the Back Page of the January issue and send your entry to the address at the bottom of the page. The Republicans are waging war against the right to vote. Although there is no evidence, elections are denounced as fraudulent. They have slate of election denying candidates on ballots across the country. These candidates are great at identifying the problems facing our country, but not so 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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When it comes to discussing issues surrounding terrorism, American Counterterrorism and National Security Expert, Phil Mudd, occupies a globally significant position. He has voiced his interest in the fight against terrorism and insecurity on many popular media platforms, both print and broadcast, such as CNN, BBC, CBS, MSNBC, al-Jazeera, ABC, NBC, Fox, The New York Times, ... Jim Hoffer: Biography, Wife Mika Brzezinski, Children and Net Worth Jim Hoffer is an Emmy Award-winning journalist who works as an investigative reporter for Eyewitness News, New York City. In his over two decades of investigative journalism, Hoffer has been at the front lines of several crucial stories from the 9/11 attack to the crash of American Flight 587 to the 2003 Blackout. On top of ... 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 ... How Brendan Greene Became a Game Designer to Look Out For and Facts About His Failed Marriage The name Brendan Greene may not easily ring a bell in the larger society but for gaming enthusiasts, he is considered a god and this is because of his invention of the video game, Player Unknowns Battlegrounds, also called PUBG. Based on the popular last-man-standing/battle royale concept, Greenes creation has taken the gaming world by ... WFAAs Sonia Azad Bio Does The Reporter Have A Husband Or Boyfriend? Emmy Award-winning journalist and Health & Wellness reporter Sonia Azad is on the news segment News 8 Daybreak for the television station WFAA-TV in Dallas, Texas, a channel which she joined in October of 2015. Besides her time on the news, Azad is also a marathon runner and a certified yoga instructor. She has covered major news ... 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 Help India! By Anjuman Ara Begum, TwoCircles.net, Dr. Musahid Ahmed is a scientist hailing from Assam and is presently working as a senior scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, California, USA. Recently he has been elected as a fellow to the American Physical Society for his outstanding contribution to Physics. Support TwoCircles Dr. Ahmed is in USA since 1995 and his research encompasses fundamental studies which are relevant to energy and environmental processes. With his research Dr. Ahmed achieved accolades in USA. I never dreamt to be a scientist, but since my childhood I was curious in nature. I would ask hundreds of questions to my parents about why things break and how things are fixed, recollects Dr. Musahid Ahmed who believes that he is an experimental scientist and for last five years he has been enjoying the privilege of doing what interests him. Dr. Musahid Ahmed Born in Assams Digboi city that is famous for oil refinery, Dr. Amed spent his childhood in the towns like Duliajan, Nahorkatiya and Moran of Assam. He did his schooling in Scindia school in Gwalior. Later he obtained his bachelors degree in Chemistry from Delhi University in the year 1985 and the same year he joined for Ph.D. programme in Cambridge University in UK and obtained Ph.D. in 1989. He completed his post doctoral degree from University of Leicester and Manchester in UK and Max Planck Institute in Gottingen, Germany. Dr. Ahmed is a hardworking scientist who works about 100 hours a week. He believes that nothing comes easily. A scientist needs perseverance and the ability to accept both failure and success. The job of a scientist is not like that of a doctor or engineer, said Dr. Ahmed. Dr. Ahmed is also member of American Chemical Society, American Physical Society and American Association of Advancement of Science and in 2010 he has been elected as fellow to the American Physical Society. His citation which appeared in his fellowship certificate reads: for his creation of a world class synchrotron chemical dynamics facility serving the community and his unique marriage of lasers with synchrotron science, used to study small molecules spectroscopy and energetic, biological imaging, combustion, nanoparticle reactivity and chemical dynamics. His fellowship citation will be published in the March 2011 issue of APC News. Dr. Ahmed believes that Northeast India has already a traditional knowledge system and more systematic research is required. Assam has lots of potentials in natural resources. He suggested: Research should be critical and analytical and must process information aiming at fundamental research. Research and education system need to be professional and lots of hard work and dedication is must for success in scientific research. He wished that Guwahati IIT can play a role in the upliftment of research quality in Assam and northeastern states. Despite Trump, Brexit, ISIS and Aleppo, 2016 wasnt all doom and gloom. Health Malaria deaths have dropped by 60% since 2000. Public smoking bans proved they improve health in 21 countries. Dementia, heart disease and colon cancer rates are dropping. Since 1990, pregnancy and childbirth-related deaths have almost halved. 260,000 childrens lives have been saved in Malawi over the past decade as its HIV rate in children has dropped by 67%. 12% less children are dying in Russia. Thailand are preventing mothers passing their HIV and syphilis onto their babies. Africans life expectancy had gone up by almost nine and a half years by 2016 since the turn of the century. Scientists are curing rabies, which kills more people than Terrorism. The Americas are now totally measles-free. Liberia is now totally clear of Ebola, and by extension so is West Africa. Between 2005 and 2016, the number of cigarette smoking Americans reduced by 8.6 million, with even more coming now that California has tobacco tax. The environment Twenty countries have donated a combined amount of over $5.3 billion towards conserving the oceans. They created 40 sanctuaries for marine life, and one broke the record for largest in the world. Acid pollution is almost at an all-time low, the lowest since the 1930s. Peru and Bolivia teamed up on a $500 million pact to preserve Lake Titicaca (stop snickering). The ozone hole is 3.9 million square km smaller, and scientists say itll be gone by 2050. British Columbia protected 85% of one of the biggest rainforests in the world. The American government ditched plans to drill into the Atlantic Ocean for oil and gas. Furthermore, the US and Canada are putting a stop to all drilling in arctic waters. Back in 2012, America and Mexico combined forces to revive the Colorado River. In 2016, their work was done. Norway has totally banned deforestation, the first country to do so. India turned a leaf in 2016 when 800,000 volunteers planted 50 million trees in a single day to kick off reforestation of 12% of the country. The biggest beach cleanup ever was carried out in Mumbai as they got rid of 4000 tons of trash. Every food chain in the US will use only free range eggs by 2025. 183 countries have agreed to protect endangered species, and manatees, humpback whales and giant pandas arent endangered anymore. SeaWorld will finally stop breeding killer whales in captivity, and the US is banning ivory trade. Politics For the first time ever, the cost of ending poverty was less than the amount spent on foreign aid. Rates of black incarceration in the US have lowered (not enough, but its progress). In 1990, 60% of East Asia were poverty-stricken. In 2016, its just 3.5%. Germany broadened the definition of rape in a world becoming desensitised. World hunger hasnt been this low for 25 years. Capital punishment is now illegal in more than 50% of the world. ISIS has given up on the caliphate and is preparing its guys for failure. Crime in the Netherlands is down and Juarez is safer than ever. 25.93% of children in the world learned to read and write in 2016. Theres 35% less homelessness in America than there was in 2007, in part thanks to a $1.2 billion pledge by Los Angeles. Taiwan is on track to become the first Asian country to allow gay marriage. Child marriage has been banned in Gambia and Tanzania. The Pan African Parliament finally banned female genital mutilation. The US is on the verge of banning trans fats and now provides healthy lunches to 30 million children. Canada banned transgender discrimination. Denmark stopped defining transgenderism as a mental illness (the first country to do so). China, India and 25% of Europe announced coal bans in favour of renewable energy. Teenage pregnancy is down in the UK and US. Global carbon emissions are at a standstill; not down but not up either. Germany took in 300,000 refugees and Canadians sheltered refugee families in their homes. See? 2016 was a great year for humanity. The Better Business Bureau has released its annual list of top scams, which the consumer advocacy group compiles at the end of each year. The top 2016 scam, for the second year in a row, was U.S. Internal Revenue Service and Canada Revenue Agency tax scams. For the full-2016 year, the bureau states that tax scams made up 25 percent of all scam complaints received, up 1 percent, from 24 percent, in 2015. In October, police in Mumbai, India raided a call center thought to be responsible for a number of incidents. The BBB reports that before the raid, the group was receiving as many as 200 reports of tax scams from residents in the United States and Canada, each week. The week after the Mumbai raid, the number was reported to have dropped to 11, by almost 95 percent. Tax scam artists ask for payment in gift cards Tax scams typically involved a fraudster posing as a representative of the IRS or CRA on the telephone, making false claims that individuals owe back taxes and face fines and even criminal prosecution if the debt isn't paid immediately. Scammers are reported to have asked for payment with iTunes gift cards. In June, CTV News reported that Ottawa, Ontario resident Michelle Jaksic was duped into buying $12,500 worth of gift cards in an attempt to appease a con artist and "keep her out of legal trouble." At the time, Ottawa police reported receiving as many as 100 tax scam complaints, each day. New additions to the BBB top scams list in 2016 included phishing, employment, and online purchase scams. The bureau noted that 2016 was the first year that work-from-home scams, which previously had their own designation, were included in the employment scam figures, resulting in the appearance on the list. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police describes con artists offering high-end goods for sale for huge discounts online, taking customer's payments, and then never delivering products. Phishing scams often involve the use of emails, designed to look like they were produced by a legitimate financial organization, asking consumers to reveal passwords or other sensitive personal information, which can then be used for a number of nefarious purposes, including identify theft. Scam operators continue to seek new methods Other top 2016 scams listed by the BBB include those related to debt collection, lottery/sweepstakes, government grants, tech support, advance fee ploys, and phony checks. The number of complaints received by the bureau related to each of these scams fell marginally from 2015 to 2016. BBB Scam Tracker Manager Emma Fletcher stated that the group will be maintaining its watch through 2017, in order to "alert consumers what the next big thing in scams turns out to be." Seven-hundred employees were said to be on duty when police raided the Mumbai call center, where a great many tax scams are thought to have originated. Seventy people were charged with "fraud and other crimes" during the raid, which was said to have been conducted at nighttime. Ms. Fletcher described the steep drop in the number of tax scam complaints received following the raid as "remarkable." The Democratic-led California Legislature has hired Eric Holder to help with any potential fights with the incoming administration, from global warming to immigration. Hiring Holder, who is now a Washington-based attorney, provides a glimpse into how California will fight President-elect Donald Trump on a host of issues. Holder was President Obamas first attorney general (AG) who departed in 2015 after numerous scandals. Because of all the fake news and speculation generated before and after the election, one prominent narrative was that President Trump would erase climate change data from government servers. That started a hacking initiative to preserve all government climate data to third-party servers, which is a violation of federal law. GOVERNOR JERRY BROWN OF CALIFORNIA: "IF TRUMP TURNS OFF THE CLIMATE-WATCHER SATELLITES, CALIFORNIA WILL LAUNCH... https://t.co/aFxgC1Dsbu Devin Norwood (@wisedadlives) December 21, 2016 Outspoken Trump critic Gov. Jerry Brown, who is an outspoken Trump critic and Hillary Clinton supporter, has already stated California would send its own satellites into orbit to measure temperatures if Trump canceled any climate initiatives by NASA or NOAA. Kevin de Leon, who leads the states Senate, said that utilizing a former U.S. attorney general would bring a lot of firepower in defending Californias controversial initiatives. California also has the highest proportion of Democratic voters and were why Clinton won the popular vote in the 2016 election. Democrats also make up two-thirds of the Legislature as well as all statewide elected officials. Jerry Brown: California to Bypass @realDonaldTrump on Climate Change https://t.co/MScl1KK8Pn And work DIRECTLY with FOREIGN governments??? Kristy Lonestar (@luchadora41) December 29, 2016 Sanctuary cities De Leon is worried that the Republican-controlled Congress and White House will roll out policies that would negatively impact the states climate change laws, sanctuary cities, and criminal justice. California is one of many Democratic-led states that give illegal immigrants taxpayer-funded benefits while providing sanctuary cities to shield them from deportation. President-elect Trump has surrounded himself with individuals that De Leon believes are a direct threat to Californias economic well-being. The leader of the states Assembly, Anthony Rendon, joined De Leon in their decision to hire Eric Holder. Lawmakers ask Rep. Xavier Becerra how he would deal with Trump as California's attorney general https://t.co/R4AEtNm0lC via @latimes Chris DTS MAGA (@Chris_1791) January 4, 2017 Brown also appointed Xavier Becerra, the states first Latino attorney general in California. Brown has been very vocal about fighting the Trump administration on everything from immigration enforcement to global warming to criminal justice. He even passed a cow flatulence law and compared fighting climate change to building Noahs Ark. Holders controversial past Holder resigned as attorney general for personal reasons amid a flurry of scandals. At least 26 Republicans co-sponsored a resolution to impeach Holder for his role in the ATFs Operation Fast & Furious, refusal to prosecute IRS staffers who targeted conservatives, refusal to defend the Defense of Marriage Act in court, and allegedly lying to Congress when he said he had no knowledge of members of the press being prosecuted for disclosing classified materials. Now a partner at the law firm Covington & Burling, he represents states and businesses suing the federal government. Holder said he was honored to be the Legislatures legal advisor if it ever needs to respond to potential changes in federal law that could impact Californias residents and policy priorities. Even though Californias Legislature has the highest number of lawyers on staff, they believe Holder can bring a certain legal expertise and other political talents that may be needed in the coming years. De Leon cant say how much Holders legal advice will cost but said they would disclose it to taxpayers once its been set. Not long after Donald Trump defeated Hillary Clinton to become the new president, millions of people wondered how it all happened. After the CIA and FBI concluded that Russia hacked the election in favor of the president-elect, Trump quickly dismissed the idea, which he did once again on Twitter on Tuesday night. Trump on Russia Just over a month after Election Day, The Washington Post broke a bombshell story which revealed the results of a secret investigation by the CIA. The CIA found that not only did Russia hack into the Democratic National Committee, they did so with the goal of defeating Hillary Clinton. Just over a week later, the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security also doubled down on the CIA report, which the White House also stands by. As seen on his offical Twitter account on January 3, Donald Trump decided to comment on the situation, and did so in typical fashion. The "Intelligence" briefing on so-called "Russian hacking" was delayed until Friday, perhaps more time needed to build a case. Very strange! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 4, 2017 "The 'Intelligence' briefing on so-called 'Russian hacking' was delayed until Friday, perhaps more time needed to build a case," Donald Trump wrote on Twitter Tuesday night, while labeling the situation "Very strange!" Trump has long denied that Russia had any role in hacking the election, often raising doubts about all the evidence that has been presented. In addition, Russia has denied any wrongdoing, though President Obama recently issued crippling sanctions against the Kremlin due to the aforementioned investigations. US President-elect Donald Trump praises 'smart' Vladimir Putin amid row over hacking and diplomat expulsions https://t.co/Embdead2tN BBC Breaking News (@BBCBreaking) December 30, 2016 Last week, President Obama reacted to the news that Russia hacked the election, expelling 35 Russian diplomats in the process. The following day, Russian President Vladimir Putin decided not to retaliate to Obama's announcement, which led Donald Trump to praise him on Twitter. Next up While there is currently a growing bipartisan effort in Congress that is calling for an additional investigation into the reported Russian hacking, Donald Trump doesn't appear interested. On January 20, when Trump is sworn in on Inauguration Day, the former host of "The Apprentice" will officially be the new commander in chief and only time will tell how he will handle the United States' relationship with Putin and Russia moving forward. One of the biggest stories to come out of the 2016 presidential election was what impact Russia had on the outcome. In the aftermath of Election Day, the CIA, FBI, and others have concluded that Russia hacked the election in favor of Donald Trump, though not everyone seems to be convinced. Trump on Twitter Over the course of the entire election, speculation grew about what the possible relationship was between Donald Trump and Russia. Various news outlets reported on potential links between Trump and the Kremlin, but with the president-elect keeping his tax returns private, it was unknown if he had any financial ties to Russia. As the general election moved forward, Wikileaks released the private emails of Hillary Clinton campaign chair John Podesta, in a move that many on the left see as the downfall for the Democrats during the election. Wikileaks founder Julian Assange spoke to Fox News' Sean Hannity on Tuesday night, and denied that Russia was the source of the hack. Taking to his official Twitter account on January 4, Trump gave his thoughts. Julian Assange said "a 14 year old could have hacked Podesta" - why was DNC so careless? Also said Russians did not give him the info! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 4, 2017 "Julian Assange said 'a 14 year old could have hacked Podesta"' - why was DNC so careless?" Donald Trump wrote in Twitter early Wednesday morning, before adding, "Also said Russians did not give him the info!" Nearly an hour later, the billionaire real estate mogul sent out a two-part tweet that bashed the Democratic National Committee and the media for how they handled the alleged Russian hacking. Somebody hacked the DNC but why did they not have "hacking defense" like the RNC has and why have they not responded to the terrible...... Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 4, 2017 "Somebody hacked the DNC but why did they not have 'hacking defense' like the RNC has and why have they not responded to the terrible things they did and said (like giving the questions to the debate to H)," Donald Trump tweeted. Trump went on to state, "A total double standard! Media, as usual, gave them a pass." Trump's comments double down on what Julian Assange had to say about the American media, labeling the press in the United States "very dishonest" while speaking to Sean Hannity on Fox News. things they did and said (like giving the questions to the debate to H). A total double standard! Media, as usual, gave them a pass. Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 4, 2017 Next up Despite the mounting evidence that Russia was behind the hack of the DNC and the election, Donald Trump, his supporters, and the right-wing media refuse to accept those conclusions. In an apparent case of bipartisanship, the political right in the United States now view Russia and President Vladimir Putin as an ally, apparently because of the sour relationship with President Obama. Trump will be sworn in on Inauguration Day in less than three weeks, and at that point the American people will have a better idea of where the country moves forward in regards to Russia. In less than three weeks, Donald Trump will be sworn in as the 45th President of the United States. While Trump is ready to go, he's having a hard time finding celebrities to perform at the event, which was a hot topic on "The View" Wednesday morning. Whoopi speaks Heading into the 2016 presidential election, the idea of a Donald Trump victory was the further thing from most people's minds. Fast forward to present day and the billionaire real mogul has shocked the world and is the new president-elect. Since Election Day, Trump and his transition team have struggled to find acts to perform on Inauguration Day, which many in the right-wing media have blamed on alleged "Hollywood liberals." Last week on Fox News, host Bill O'Reilly went as far as to accuse Hollywood of "reverse McCarthyism." These issues were the main topic of discussion during a heated segment on the January 4 edition of "The View" on ABC. The segment kicked off with co-host Whoopi Goldberg introducing the topic, which quickly resulted in a shouting match. Goldberg mocked O'Reilly's comments by referring to them as "Hollywood bullying," before running a video clip from his show. "If you don't vote for people who don't support you probably won't get turned down as much," Goldberg said, before rhetorically asking why Donald Trump supporters like Ted Nugent weren't offering to perform at the inauguration. "Stop going after the lefties to come perform if you think its going to be an issue," Goldberg went on to say, directing her statement at Trump, while advising, "Go after the people who supported you." Co-host Jedediah Bila then tried to defend the president-elect by accusing Hollywood of "leaning left." In response, Whoopi Goldberg fired back, saying "that's not the point!." Co-host Joy Behar then got into the conversation by hammering O'Reilly for comparing the Hollywood backlash against Trump to McCarthyism, saying, "I don't think anyone is going to commit suicide because Garth Brooks doesnt want to strum on his guitar. I mean people committed suicide." Blow-back At this point, Jedediah Bila claimed she knew many conservatives in Hollywood who were afraid to go public with their political beliefs out of fear of backlash, but Whoopi Goldberg wasn't having any of it. "Elisabeth Hasselbeck sat on this show for a thousand years. She took so much flak from people she stood strong," Goldberg said, before calling Bila's comment "BS" and telling her, "You can't make those kind of statements!." The segment continued as both sides went back and forth until the commercial break. Moving forward With Inauguration Day scheduled for January 20, Donald Trump and his supporters are expecting a large crowd to join in on the celebration. However, in addition to the backlash from Hollywood, over 100,000 protesters are planning to be in attendance to voice their opposition to Trump and the incoming administration. The world of beauty contests is expanding, and regional tie-ups are taking place. Three countries that form the heartland of Asia, namely Mongolia, China, and Siberian Russia have been holding the "Snow Queen" beauty contest. The 3 nations are intertwined by history and this was the 13th edition of the show, which was held in China. The show is part of a regional identity makeup and also shows the world the cohesiveness of the 3 nations. The beauty contest gives a great chance to Mongolia, which is landlocked to show the talent of its girls and women. The 2016 contest was held in China and the winner was Na Misherte from Mongolia and the Russian girl, Victoria Borisova took the second position, with Chinese girl Liu Shu Han taking the second runner-up prize. The contest was held last year from December 5-25. Beauty contest The show had all the trappings of glamor and participants had to appear in their national dress, as well as a bikini contest. Many of the Russian girls wore their Kokoshnik -- the traditional headdress. It was a great opportunity for Mongolia, and their contestants took part -- with 14 Mongolian women participating in the contest, The Russians were in great force but the top prize went to a contestant from Mongolia. Mongolia is one of the most isolated countries in the world as it is sandwiched between Russia and China. The Buddhist nation, however, charts an independent course and recently it defied China by hosting the Dalai Lama. The Chinese enforced an economic blockade which was countered by India's Modi with a one billion dollar credit for purchases. Buddhism is the common link between India and Mongolia. Opening for Mongolia During the final bikini contest, 15 Russian contestants took part. The contest was launched in 2003 and is an annual event. This contest is a great opportunity for these women to showcase their beauty in contests like these. Either way, it certainly provides a differing perspective to what most Western viewers are used to when they think of beauty contests. Wang Xiaohui, editor-in-chief of China.org.cn The year 2016 was eventful both to China and other countries. In addition to growing regional conflicts and incessant terrorist attacks, the presidential election of the United States, the exit of Great Britain from the EU, disputes over South Chinese Sea islands between China and the Philippines and the deployment of US Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system in South Korea have all added to the uncertainty of international politics and world order and posed great challenges to China's diplomatic work. As Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi put it, the year 2016 could be summed up with two words - "changes" and "chaos." Review I. Chinese-US ties remained stable but eventful. Ties between China and the United States remained stable in 2016 despite various incidents. After President Obama's visit to Beijing and the G20 Hangzhou Summit, the two countries have strengthened strategic communication, built mutual trust and dispersed doubts, thus ensuring a sound development of ties. But strategic doubts still remain, especially where geopolitics, territorial sovereignty and economic interests are concerned. The South China Sea disputes between China and the Philippines, in which Washington had played a behind-the-scenes role, and the deployment of the US THAAD system in South Korea are just two cases in point. Since Donald Trump was elected to be the next President of the United States, Chinese-US relations have shown worrisome signs. On Dec. 2, Trump talked with Taiwanese leader Tsai Ing-wen on the phone. Despite explanations by the President-elect himself and the White House's spokesperson afterwards, the call cast a shadow over bilateral ties, as such a thing hadn't happened in the 37 years since the two countries established diplomatic ties. Moreover, Trump's cabinet picks and their attitudes toward China also indicated that the development of bilateral relations will face great pressure from the White House in the future. II. Frequent "black swan" events affected the world. A lot of events happened in 2016 that were unexpected and had a major impact on the world. They made the world even more uncertain and are highly likely to change the progress of international politics. Trump's surprise win in the US presidential election, the shock of Brexit and the following resignation of British Prime Minister David Cameron, the final resignation of scandal-embattled South Korean president Park Geun-hye, the resignations of the prime ministers of New Zealand and Italy on the same day and the assassination of Russian ambassador in Turkey are just a few of the major "black swan" events from last year. What will happen to the United States after its businessman-cum-president assumes office with his team of billionaires? Will there be another round of trade wars with China? Besides the jitters in the financial market, what impact will Brexit and Italy's referendum leave on an already struggling E.U.? The changes of state leaders in the United States, Brazil, Britain, South Korea, Italy, Thailand, New Zealand and many other countries will surely affect world politics. III. Philippines' U-turn towards China after the South China Sea arbitration case. The arbitration of the South China Sea disputes, which was initiated unilaterally by former Filipino president Benigno S. Aquino III, the United States, Japan and a handful of other third-party countries, had a deep impression on the Chinese people last year, as it started on the first day of the Chinese lunar new year and ended in July with an illegal and void ruling. During the process, China showed strong political power and responded skillfully. When Rodrigo Duterte assumed office as the new Filipino president on June 30, the realistic man didn't inherent the negative political baggage left behind by his predecessor, but made the wise choice to choose China as the first country to visit outside the ASEAN region, thus mending ties with China. The gradual return to stability in the South China Sea and the restoration of Chinese-Filipino relations will lay a foundation for solving the South China Sea issue through talks and joint development. It's also vitally important to promoting a peaceful environment for China's development. This event will go down in history. IV. The Belt and Road Initiative made steady progress; diplomatic activities with neighboring countries achieved positive results. Last year saw the steady and comprehensive progress of the Belt and Road Initiative proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping. With the establishment of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), the Silk Road Fund and various economic cooperative programs, the initiative has gradually come into being. At the G20 Hangzhou Summit in September last year, China provided the world with a new model of global governance, and the Belt and Road Initiative provided a promotional platform for the model. The five overseas trips to 14 countries President Xi made last year were a boon to the development of the initiative. Moreover, much progress has been made in China's diplomatic activities with neighboring countries. The G20 Hangzhou Summit offered a platform for China to participate in global governance and enhance its ties with neighbors. President Xi's visit to Cambodia, Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi's choice of China as the first country to visit outside the ASEAN region and Sri Lanka's resumption of the Colombo Port City project are just a few of the results China achieved last year. China consistently pursues a foreign policy of building friendship and partnership with its neighbors. It also keeps a consistent and clear position when major issues like regional security, national interests and territorial sovereignty are concerned. Therefore, China has insisted on the promotion of the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, on opposition to the deployment of the US THAAD system in South Korea, on the dismissal of the illegal claims on the South China Sea islands by the Philippines and on a firm reaction to all of Japan's trouble-making activities. All the achievements China has made in the diplomatic field should be attributed to its regional policy of amity, sincerity, mutual benefit and inclusiveness, its firm stance on important issues and its skillful approaches in diplomatic activities. V. China upheld free trade while anti-globalization gained increasing popularity. Anti-globalization is nothing new, but a concomitant of globalization. It stems from the economic recession that followed in the wake of the global financial crisis. In recent years, the United States and Japan have witnessed sluggish growth, Europe has been stuck in recession, and the refugee crisis remains unresolved in the Middle East - all these issues have given rise to trade protectionism and a trend of anti-globalization. In late 2016, Japan announced it would not recognize China's market economy status, the European Union said it would continue with the alternative country approach in trade and American President-elect Donald Trump threatened to impose 45 percent tariff on Chinese goods. This was one of the most severe anti-globalization moves in 2016. Since the 1980s, China has been committed to reform and opening-up, integrating itself into the international community and engaging in global governance. It has changed its role from a major beneficiary to an unwavering promoter of globalization. During the G20 Hangzhou Summit in September 2016, China contributed its plans for building an innovative, invigorated, interconnected and inclusive world economy, which was one of the greatest contributions made to globalization. Of course, the contribution cannot come without the country's own economic development. In Deng Xiaoping's words, development is key. BEIJING -- Chinese law enforcers in 2016 confiscated over 16 million illegal publications, and shut down or banned over 14,000 websites disseminating "harmful information." The figures were released by the National Office Against Pornographic and Illegal Publications Wednesday. In 2016 the office "disposed of" more than 4.5 million items of online pornography as well as other harmful information, handling more than 600 criminal cases with over 1,300 people criminally penalized. The office launched crackdowns on irregularities in cloud computing, online live-streaming and news portals, as well as crackdowns on illegal publications and piracy. More than 4.6 million pirated publications and over 900,000 copies of illegal newspapers or journals were confiscated in the fight against piracy. Around 150 million Chinese have experienced ordering food on a delivery service app, however, they might not know about the lives of the men who deliver the meal to their homes. In this story, we take a peek at the daily life of a deliveryman, which is about competition, honor and earning a livelihood. A courier delivers food on a rainy day. [Photo from the web] A booming industry Zhou Wu (not his real name) rolls up his sleeve to reveal a scar on his right arm, a reminder of an accident in which he hit the curb and was thrown off his scooter to avoid an electric tricycle coming right at him. After the accident happened, the first thing that occurred to him wasn't if he was injured, but "whether or not the food in the box spilled out." Zhou Wu has had three road accidents since 2015 when he became a food deliveryman in Beijing. He "dared not tell the company because they would not pay for the medical bill, but might even fine you." The 22-year-old from Hebei province tried different blue-collar jobs before he became a deliveryman, which is the job he's done the longest and "is most profitable." Zhou is one in the expanding force of deliverymen as the online food delivery service becomes increasingly popular in China's cities. According to a recent report, around 150 million Chinese used online catering services as of June 2016. The number rose by 32 percent in six months and keeps growing. "In the peak hour, the orders keep coming to you and you cannot refuse to deliver," said Zhou, who once delivered food to eight different places in one single hour. He Jiang, who was the first person from China to deliver a Harvard University commencement address, has made the 2017 Forbes 30 Under 30 List. "I received this message (about the list) this morning. I'm a little surprised but very happy about that," He told China Daily on Tuesday. Forbes' 30 Under 30 is a set of lists issued annually by Forbes magazine. On Tuesday, the magazine released the sixth annual 30 Under 30, featuring 600 young innovators, entrepreneurs and leaders who challenge conventional wisdom and rewrite the rules for the next generation. The list recognizes 30 game-changers in each of 20 industries. All under 30 years old, the honorees were vetted by a panel of judges in their respective fields. Previous winners include Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Snapchat's Evan Spiegel, Saturday Night Live's Kate McKinnon, the rapper Chance and YouTube phenom Michelle Phan. "These are the people that will run every field for the next 50 years," said Randall Lane, editor of Forbes. He, a 29-year-old postdoctoral fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was chosen for the healthcare category. He was nominated by his professors at Harvard. "I didn't know I was nominated until December," said He. At Harvard, He used a new technology called single-virus tracking super-resolution imaging (STORM) to understand more about how influenza infects cells, and discovered human genes with strong anti-viral effects. He is now applying the same techniques to neurons and white blood cells. He hopes the lab research he did could be put to practical use in healthcare. He grew up in a small village with limited educational opportunities. By studying hard, He graduated from the University of Science and Technology of China - one of China's top universities - with a bachelor's degree in 2009, and was accepted into Harvard's PhD program on a full scholarship the same year. In May, the biochemistry PhD delivered a speech representing the university's 13 graduate and professional schools at the commencement. In the speech, He talked about the uneven distribution of science and technology in the world and expressed his passion to get science and medicine into places they aren't reaching, like his own village, where his mother once treated his spider bite with fire. Seventeen of the 600 winners in 2017 are from China. One in six on the list are immigrants from 44 countries. xiaohong@chinadailyusa.com (China Daily USA 01/04/2017 page1) Expats living in Guilin take a painting class at Guilin Tourism University. [Photo by Huang Yun/China Daily] Guilin's natural travel appeal makes it a natural host to one of the country's leading tourism-education institutions. Guilin Tourism University's graduates get dual degrees from the school in the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region's Yangshuo county and the Swiss Ecole hoteliere de Lausanne, which claims to be the world's first hospitality institution of higher learning. It also cooperates with 22 other universities and serves as an education base for the United Nations World Tourism Organization. Majors include tourism management, tour guiding, hotel supervision and conference design. The university, which opened in Yangshou's Yanshan town in 1985 and today enrolls 10,300 full-time students, has adapted to the times. It introduced leisure tourism as a major in 2008, and began training high-speed rail attendants, who intern on trains, in 2011. The university hosts a simulated waiting hall and several actual carriages. Flights attendants also study in a comparable area that includes part of an actual plane's cabin. Twelve of the university's 31 staff members are from such foreign countries as the Philippines, New Zealand, the United States and Japan. The school trains over 100 international students from neighboring nations, including Cambodia, Myanmar, Vietnam, India, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei. "Many countries look to China for tourism training since the industry is rapidly developing here," pro-chancellor Lin Yejiang says. Guilin Tourism University also offers courses in English, French, Korean, Japanese, German, Thai and Spanish. "We seek to balance traditional local culture with modern international tourism development," says chairwoman of the board of trustees, Lin Na. The school's Guangxi Ethnic Symphony serves as a unique approach to this ethos. The orchestra was founded by professor Zhao Zejiang, who spent three decades trekking through isolated mountain communities to collect the 228 ethnic instruments that students play to stage contemporary-fusion concerts. Zhao's goal is "to create music that paints local landscapes using sound". The school also hosts a handicraft department, where students learn jade carving, jewelry making andin a modern twistmultimedia design. It also hosts an exhibition room with items from traditional life and a stage for practicing the local nuo dance. Students at the hospitality management school live in the hotel they run. They work in the cafe, a cleaning-demonstration area and the banquet hall, mastering not only the basics but also such details as folding napkins into hearts. Such minutiae show Guilin Tourism University is, indeed, in a class of its own. Nosotros no podemos decir que fuesemos tus maestros, tu ya lo habias elegido, era Jean Petard. Cada ano a la sombra del pino enfrente de las sabinas d... Hace 8 anos Relatives carry the coffin of Fatih Cakmak, a security guard and a victim of an attack by a gunman at Reina nightclub, during his funeral in Istanbul, Turkey, January 2, 2017.[Photo/Agencies] ANKARA - The Turkish parliament on Tuesday approved to extend the state of emergency for another three more months, Dogan News Agency reported. Turkey declared a state of emergency on July 20, 2016, days after a failed military coup, which Ankara blames on the US-based exiled cleric Fethullah Gulen. Under emergency rule, the government can bypass the parliament to enact new laws and limit or suspend rights and freedoms. Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said on Tuesday that debates on a bill to change the Turkey's constitution will start in parliament next week. The draft will be submitted to the General Assembly on Jan. 9 and is expected to be approved by the end of the month. The bill grants extended power to the president and allows the president to remain the head of his or her political party. The Turkish government said it would put the constitutional changes to a referendum, even if the proposals had gained enough support from lawmakers to pass through the parliament. File photo shows a man eats food that was distributed as aid in a rebel-held besieged area in Aleppo, Syria November 6, 2016.[Photo/Agencies] UNITED NATIONS - The United Nations continues to be concerned with the 116,000 people that have been registered as displaced from formerly non-government controlled neighbourhoods of eastern Aleppo, Syria, said UN Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric Tuesday. "The scale of destruction in Aleppo is massive and needs enormous help, including such things as health care, water and sanitation, education systems, housing and shelter, electricity and livelihoods," said Dujarric at a press briefing. In the meantime, the UN and its partners are working closely with the (Syrian) Government to respond to the most urgent needs, he said. "We urge donors to provide immediate and long-term support to the more than 100,000 highly vulnerable people in Aleppo, so they can continue to receive life-saving assistance and help," said Dujarric. File photo shows Jordan's Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh (R) speaks during a joint news conference with Secretary General of the Arab League Ahmed Aboul Gheit in Amman, Jordan, November 2, 2016. [Photo/Agencies] BEIRUT - Visitng Jordanian Deputy Prime Minister Nasser Judeh handed on Tuesday Lebanese President Michel Aoun an invitation from King Abdullah II of Jordan to participate in the upcoming Arab Summit, National News Agency (NNA) reported. The two leaders talked over the situations in the Arab region and the efforts to find political solutions to the crises in some Arab countries, NNA said. They also stressed the importance of joint action against terrorism and the need to address its causes. "Lebanon is required to restore its usual role in the Arab, regional and international arenas," Judeh said after the talks. For his part, Aoun thanked the Jordanian monarch for the invitation, highlighting "the firmness of the Lebanese-Jordanian ties and the importance of joint Arab action in support of the just Arab causes." The 28th Arab Summit is slated to take place on March 29 in the Jordanian capital Amman. The combination of pictures shows a file photo taken on Dec 28, 2016 of US President-elect Donald Trump (L) in Palm Beach, Florida; and a file photo taken on Dec 23, 2016, of Russian President Vladimir Putin speaking in Moscow. [Photo/VCG] WASHINGTON - President-elect Donald Trump said on Tuesday that a briefing he is to receive from US intelligence officials on allegations of Russian hacking of the US election had been delayed until Friday. In a tweet, Trump voiced continued skepticism about the extent of Russia's cyber hacking. He and top advisers believe Democrats are trying to delegitimize his Nov. 8 election victory by accusing Russian authorities of helping him. "The 'Intelligence' briefing on so-called 'Russian hacking' was delayed until Friday, perhaps more time needed to build a case. Very strange!" Trump tweeted. It was not clear when the briefing originally had been scheduled to take place. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Trump, who has cast doubt on US intelligence agencies' conclusion that Russia hacked Democratic Party computers, said over the weekend he would discuss the hacking allegations on Tuesday or Wednesday. With his tweet, he suggested he would not address the subject until he had been briefed by intelligence officials. Trump has scheduled a Jan. 11 news conference in New York. He is expected to discuss separating himself from his far-flung business empire, and other topics, including Russia, are likely to come up. US intelligence officials have said they are confident Russia was behind the hacks of political figures in an effort to help Trump win the presidential election. President Barack Obama retaliated to the hacking last week by ordering 35 Russian intelligence officials expelled from the United States and two Russian compounds shut down. Trump told reporters on Saturday at his Palm Beach, Florida, resort that he knew "things that other people don't know" about the hacking, "so we cannot be sure" who was responsible. He said any computer was subject to hacks. "It's very important. If you have something really important write it out and have it delivered by courier the old fashioned way," Trump said, adding: "No computer is safe, I don't care what they say." ANKARA/ISTANBUL - The Turkish police have detained the wife of the Istanbul nightclub attacker who is still on the run three days after killing 39 people celebrating the New Year. IHA news agency said on Tuesday the gunman came to Turkey from Kyrgyzstan on Nov 20 with his wife and two children, and the wife was detained in the central Anatolian city of Konya. According to IHA report, the wife told the police that she learned the attack from television reports and she had no information about his husband being an Islamic State (IS) sympathizer. The militant group on Monday claimed responsibility for the assault on Reina nightclub in central Istanbul, in which the gunman opened fire at hundreds of people at the New Year's party, killing 39, with 25 identified as foreign nationals, and injuring 69 others, with four discharged from hospital till now. As the manhunt was continuing, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus, following a cabinet meeting in Ankara on Monday, said police had got the fingerprints and descriptions of the attacker. Kurtulmus claimed that the Turkish authorities would soon be able to identify the attacker and "reveal the power behind him." A total of 12 suspects have been detained in Istanbul over their suspected links to the nightclub attack, press reports said. On Tuesday, a video showing the suspect taking a selfie as he silently toured Istanbul's most famous square -- Taksim Square was released by state-run Anadolu television and other Turkish media. However, it was not immediately clear if the video was made before or after the New Year's massacre, or how it was obtained. Abdullah Agar, a security analyst, said the deadly attack was carried out to derange the balance in Turkey, spoil the country's ongoing struggle against terror organizations outside of its territory, disturb the society's fragility even further, or have Turkey pay a price for its increasing cooperation with Russia. Turkey has been hit by around 30 bombing attacks over the past one and a half years, in which more than 400 people had lost their lives, prompting calls for steps to revamp the intelligence units and reduce polarization in society to better counter the scourge of terrorism. Ankara has blamed the terror attacks on its soil mostly on the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and the IS that is wreaking havoc in neighboring Iraq and Syria. Turkey has launched an offensive to northern Syria since August in hopes of clearing a strategic border area of IS militants and stemming the gains of Kurdish fighters. Turkish jets regularly bomb IS targets in the Syrian town of al-Bab in support of Syrian opposition forces try to re-capture it from the extremists. Following the attack, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a written statement "We are aware that these attacks carried out by different terrorist organizations targeting our citizens are not independent from incidents happening in our region," "We are determined to destroy the attacks and threats against our country from its root." Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, after visiting the injured in a hospital, spoke of Turkey's continuing battle against the PKK, the IS and the group led by Fethullah Gulen, a Turkish cleric living in the United States and leader of the so-called Gulen Movement now branded as a terror group by Ankara for Gulen's alleged role in directing the coup attempt in July 2016. Also on Tuesday, the Turkish parliament approved a motion to extend by another three months the state of emergency imposed in the wake of the July 15 failed coup against President Erdogan. Under the emergency rule, which had already been prolonged once before and was due to expire on Jan. 19, the government can bypass the parliament to enact new laws and limit or suspend rights and freedoms. Meanwhile, a bill to change the Turkey's constitution will be submitted to the General Assembly on Jan. 9 and is expected to be approved by the end of the month. The bill grants extended power to the president and allows the president to remain the head of his or her political party. The Turkish government said it would put the constitutional changes to a referendum, even if the proposals had gained enough support to pass through the parliament. Year to date, Apples (NASDAQ:AAPL) [stockdata ticker=AAPL] market capitalization has increased by 13.77 percent to $569.69 billion amid recent stock buybacks from the company. Sources close to Apple revealed that the maker of the iPhone and iPad has spent around $18 billion since January 2014 to boost its market capitalization. In 2013, the company also spent $16 billion on stock buybacks. It is not only Apple doing this, but all major U.S. public companies in the S&P 500 index have spent around $211 billion on stock buybacks in 2014 to support their market valuation. It appears that major U.S. corporations are concerned that the multi-year bull market may enter a correction soon. Such speculation was re-enforced last week when major stock markets in the U.S. retreated by as much as 2.7 percent. In the current low interest environment, companies with solid financial track records have no problem accessing cheap money from investment banks and funds. Instead of investing the idle funds, it seems most of the companies, including Apple, are interested in pouring funds into equity markets to bolster their financial standings as far as stock price and market capitalization is concerned. However, investment analysts are concerned that there are better use of these funds to expand business. There are better things to do with capital, said Scott Wren, an analyst at Wells Fargo Advisors LLC. Instead of investing in the core business, the stock repurchase programs instantly provide earning potential. However, these paper profits are coming from financial activity without producing anything of value. Its a low-quality way to increase your earnings and obviously Id much rather see companies grow the business through revenue, added Mr. Wren. The problem with companies like Apple is that they have too much free cash on hand and management hardly has any clue what to do with it. In contrast, the U.S. economy has rebounded from the Global Financial Crisis and is currently growing at a rate of 2 to 2.5 percent. If Apple does not allocate a large sum in financial engineering to support its stock, investors will soon start questioning the growth prospect of the company in line with the growing economy. In contrast to a 4.5 percent growth in Net Operating Profit After Tax (NOPAT), Apples cash from operations (quarterly) has gone down by 54.8 percent since the start of 2014. Hence, spending $18 billion on share repurchases is a good way to spend the idle cash for Apple. It makes the company appear profitable. However, without a lack of secular growth in terms of operating profit, the party may not last much longer. Its Wednesday, and you know what happens here every Wednesday. Yup. Its episode 15 of Verastic Life. Were moving on up. In this weeks episode, you finally meet my main squeeze, Uju. Bonus: you even get to e-meet her sister in London! Well, technically, youve met Uju before since Ive posted her pictures here (like her graduation from Med School in Miami, Florida), and of course, youve also seen her sister. But this is Ujus first time on the vlog because she lives in Houston, Texas. In this weeks episode, we also celebrate Franks 40th birthday in a grand way. Watch and subscribe. Thank you for all the love. Join the nation. Subscribe. 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. The Chinese economy has adapted to its "new normal" in 2016 amid rising concerns on GDP growth, supply-side structural reform, monetary policy, renminbi, and more. With the new year approaching, how will the economy fare in 2017? Here are six areas where experts call for close attention. Stable growth A wind farm at Rudong in Jiangsu province. [Photo by Xu Congjun / for China Daily] Despite remaining downward pressure, China's economic growth stabilized at 6.7 percent in the first three quarters of 2016, scotching rumors of a hard landing. In 2017, stabilizing the economy will still be prioritized by policymakers given the Communist Party of China will hold its 19th National Congress in Beijing during the second half of the year. Economists predict a "soft landing" for China's economy, while noting that proactive fiscal policy will continue to play a positive role. "China's steady growth will be guaranteed by both strong growth potential and effective macro-control policies," said Zhang Liqun, a researcher with the Development Research Center under the State Council. In 2017, the growth of real estate investment and sales will slow, but the negative effect could be offset by infrastructure investment, said Robin Xing, chief China economist with Morgan Stanley. YEREVAN, DECEMBER 29, ARMENPRESS. CSTO considers the sabotage infiltration attempt made by Azerbaijan near Chinari village of Armenias Tavush province as a provocation, CSTO Secretary General Nikolai Bordyuzha issued a statement, reports Armenpress. The CSTO Secretariat is strictly concerned about the information received in connection with the armed incident that happened near Chinari village of Armenia. We consider such actions within the territory of the CSTO member state as a provocation, in particular, against the backdrop of quite a serious incident in Nagorno Karabakh Republic in April of this year during which heavy armored equipment was applied. It seemed that the Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement process would eventually move forward due to the efforts made by both sides, as well as a number of countries. However, recently the information received from the region on the ceasefire violations, as well as the December 29 incident, that killed servicemen, create a serious concern, Nikolai Bordyuzha said in a statement. Azerbaijani forces attempted a sabotage infiltration in the Armenian state border, south-east from Chinari village of Tavush province in the early morning of December 29. The Armenian Armed Forces have neutralized the Azerbaijan attacks. Azerbaijani forces were pushed back, suffering losses and WIAs, including in the military positions. Unfortunately, the Armenian side also suffered losses during the combat. During the battle for defending the Armenian state border, Senior Lieutenant Shavarsh M. Melikyan, Private Edgar G. Narayan and Private Erik G. Abovyan were killed. The defense ministry of Armenia shares the grief of loss and extends condolences to the families of the fallen soldiers. The defense ministry possesses irrefutable evidence and proof of the Azerbaijan violation in the Armenian state border. The military-political leadership of Azerbaijan is fully responsible for the instigation. The adversary violated the ceasefire along the line of contact between the Karabakh and Azerbaijani opposing forces around 40 times, from late Tuesday night to early Wednesday morning. January 4, 2017, 09:06 Azerbaijan fired over 700 shots at night, including from sniper rifles STEPANAKERT, JANUARY 4, ARTSAKHPRESS: During this time the Azerbaijani armed forces fired more than 700 shots toward the Armenian military positions, including from sniper rifles, the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic Defense Army informed. The NKR Defense Army vanguard units, however, didnt take retaliatory actions. The position holders continued confidently carrying out the military tasks set before them and ensure the defense, all along the frontline. HA NOI In a new move, the Government has announced the rate of State-ownership in firms that are set to be equitised, instead of fixing the rates by sectors as usual. It has also issued a list of 103 State-owned enterprises (SOEs) in which the State will hold a 100 per cent stake and another 137 that will be equitised in the 2016-20 period. Among those that are to be equitised, the State will hold over 65 per cent of the charter capital in four, and 50-65 per cent in 27, and below 50 per cent in 106 SOEs. The State will retain full ownership in SOEs operating in sectors like national defence and security, nuclear power and money printing. The new lists and other provisions are contained in Decision No 58 issued on the very last day of 2016 to replace the Decision No 37/2014/Q-TTg dated June 18, 2014, and will take effect on February 15 this year. ang Quyet Tien, deputy director of the Ministry of Finances Corporate Finance Department, welcomed the decision saying that it proves the Governments determination to improve transparency and effectiveness of equitisation process. Tien said publicising names of the equitised companies with specific rates of State ownership would help avoid enterprises petitions for maintaining a higher rate of State ownership as had previously happened. Previously, the Government had only regulated the extent of State ownership rates by sector, not specific SOEs, leading to low divestment, Tien said. He said that the average divestment rate at SOEs is now 8 per cent, meaning that the State still holds 92 per cent of the firms charter capital after equitisation. SOEs are not willing to equitise because of leaders fears that they will be unemployed if controlling stakes fall in private hands, according to Tien. Besides, due to poor preparations for equitisation, private investors are not provided with enough information, and many stakes languish on the shelves. To ensure that the equitisation process benefits both the State and private investors, the Government would require better information disclosure by the SOEs and might lift the cap on the number of strategic shareholders so as to increase the number of bidders, Tien said. Tien also said that the Government would not rush to sell its stake at one time. Instead, the divestment would be divided into many phases, depending on the market situation. I think the Vietnamese market is still small, so if we dont have policies to attract foreign capital, it is difficult for us to reach the SOE equitisation targets, he said. The Steering Committee for Enterprise Renovation and Development reported on December 28 that the Government had sold stakes in 55 enterprises in 2016, bringing the number of SOEs equitised in the 2011-16 period to 554. The 55 equitised enterprises were under the management of the ministries of National Defence, Industry and Trade, and Agriculture and Rural Development; the Viet Nam Rubber Group; and the Viet Nam Southern Food Corporation. As of now, the State has sold shares worth more than VN4.493 trillion (US$199.69 million) in book value for more than VN7.098 trillion ($315.46 million). VNS Having claimed a new era of peace under his leadership, ONeill went on to address the main point of his message. Mr ONeill noted that this time of harmony was a change from the problems of decades past. Apart from army elements attacking the police, that is, and the usual amount of opportunistic crime. He made this appeal after the PNG press reported that there had been minimal disturbances over the Christmas-New Year festive period. SO prime minister Peter O'Neill has called on the foreign media to take fresh look at Papua New Guinea in 2017. 2017, he said, should be a year when foreign media take a fresh look at PNG and move beyond the old stereotypes. While some foreign media might like to pick up on isolated incidents, and try to make them seem mainstream, all who live in our communities know that PNG is a county that is changing, Mr ONeill said. We do not have the problems of past decades and life is constantly improving around the nation. There is no doubt that we have so much work ahead to continue to share the benefits of development, but we are moving in the right direction. 2017 will again be a year of growth and development for Papua New Guinea. I invite foreign journalists to be a part of this development, to get out from behind closed doors and to really visit our communities and get to know the people of our diverse nation, he said. Well, two-thirds of PNG Attitudes correspondents live in the cities, towns and villages of PNG and this is not the story they relate in our columns. They communicate a narrative of uncontrolled corruption, increasing urban crime, rampant violence against women and girls, budgetary chaos, declining public services, decaying infrastructure and bureaucratic inefficiency. Someones not telling the truth. The 50 Numismas banknote, printed with the image of chicken, is imported from Australia and sold in Asian cities as lucky money for the Lunar New Year 2017. VNS File Photo HCM CITY The popular practice of exchanging new or special banknotes for a fee kicked off several weeks ago in many big cities, with one month to go before the start of Tet (Lunar New Year). Every year, people use new or special banknotes as lucky money or charity offerings when they visit the pagoda during the Lunar New Year holiday. Weeks before Tet, families begin to prepare for the tradition by buying new or special banknotes. The notes are often freely exchanged by banks, but due to high demand, services in the black market have become even busier. The note-exchange services are often also offered near pagodas, but this year social media networks like Facebook have become popular destinations as well. Buyers can easily find websites online offering the services. Notes in high demand are those of smaller denominations, such as VN500, VN1,000, VN2,000, VN 5,000 and VN10,000. The website www.doitienmoi.net, which offers a new money-exchange service, has told customers that it now has enough new money for all notes from VN500 to VN200,000 (US$8.7), with a service charge ranging from 0.6 per cent to 50 per cent (for notes of VN500). The website offers its services in all provinces and cities in the southern region. In HCM Citys Tan Binh District, a store representative said it had run out of VN500 notes, but VN10,000 and VN20,000 notes were still available. Notes of VN50,000 will be available in about a week or so, it said. The store charges a 10-15 per cent fee for its services. Meanwhile, on Facebook, similar services exchange foreign currency, with the most popular item of US$2 note. This year, demand has increased greatly for $2 notes printed with an image of a chicken the zodiac animal for Lunar New Year 2017. A Facebooker, who began receiving orders for notes last Saturday, said the $2 notes with an image of a chicken sell for about VN450,000 ($20). An Australian coin with an image of Queen Elizabeth II and one with an image of chicken are also in high demand. The price is VN200,000 for a gold coin and VN150,000 for a silver coin. Illegal services Although the services have become even more popular this year, they remain illegal. Nguyen Hoang Minh, deputy director of the HCM City branch for the State Bank of Viet Nam, said that banks could exchange notes freely if notes were ruined and could not be used. However, he said that all money exchange activities with fees were not allowed. Minh said that demand for new money peaked near the end of the year and up to Tet. He said the central bank had told its branches in cities and provinces to educate people about saving small notes to use at Lunar New Year or when visiting pagodas and temples. The bank has said it would supervise and punish cases that involve illegal exchanges of money at pagodas, festivals or online websites. ao Minh Tu, deputy governor of the State Bank of Viet Nam, was quoted as saying in Thanh Nien (Young People) newspaper that anyone engaging in illegal exchanges would be fined VN20-40 million under Decision 96 of the Government. This is the fourth consecutive year that the bank has not printed new small notes to meet demand at Lunar New Year, according to Tu. VNS HA NOI Vietnam Airlines, the countrys largest aviation corporation, yesterday started trading more than 1.22 billion shares on the Unlisted Public Company Market (UPCoM) at a starting price of VN28,000 (US$1.24) per share. As expected, share prices, listed as HVN, hit the daily limit rise of 40 per cent for the first trading day to VN39,200 per share, putting the companys market capitalisation at more than VN48 trillion. Before listing, it was traded at around VN40,000 per share on the Over-The-Counter (OTC) market. Vietnam Airlines has contributed the second largest volume of shares in scale and value on UpCom. The largest is the Airports Corporation of Viet Nam (ACV), whose 2.18 billion shares were listed on November 21. The corporation expects the listing to raise its brand profile and prestige on the market and mobilise capital for its investment needs. It also sees the listing providing the needed momentum to continue its restructuring itinerary, issue shares to increase capital and become a leading national and international firm. Speaking at the opening ceremony of the UPCoM listing, Chairman Pham Ngoc Minh said Vietnam Airlines was the first and only airlines on the Vietnamese stock market. He said it was one of the first three State-owned enterprises that have found a foreign strategic investor Japans ANA Holdings Inc, which pledged to go along with Vietnam Airlines in its development process as well as co-operate in exploiting air route networks and improving corporate administration. On Monday, Vietnam Airlines announced a syndicated profit of VN2.5 trillion in 2016, a year-on-year increase of 140 per cent, exceeding its annual target by 7 per cent. Its syndicated revenue was around VN76 trillion, up 10 per cent over the previous year. Of this, the parent company Vietnam Airlines, which has subsidiaries like Jetstar Pacific and Vietnam Air Services Company (VASCO), earned around VN59.1 trillion in revenue and VN1.6 trillion in pre-tax profit, which is 5.6 times higher than in 2015. Vietnam Airlines said it had contributed around VN4.9 trillion to the State budget, a 11 per cent rise from the previous year. It operated around 133,000 flights carrying 20.6 million passengers in 2016, up 18.7 per cent over 2015. It also transported 264,000 tonnes of goods, exceeding its annual target by 10 per cent. The corporation has a number of subsidiaries that will enable it to develop and diversify service packages and maintain its lead in the market. Vietnam Airlines is focused on offering four-star quality service on its domestic and international routes to southeast and northeast Asian countries, European Union and Australia. Jetstar Pacific operates mainly on domestic routes, so it offers highly competitive prices, as well as on short-distance international routes. VASCO offers aviation services and exploits small local airports incapable of receiving big aircraft. As per the latest data from the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA), on the biggest domestic route between Ha Noi and HCM City, Vietnam Airlines and its subsidiary Jetstar Pacific occupy 63 per cent of the market share, 45 per cent of it with parent firm. The corporations overall market share stands at 60 per cent. In 2017, Vietnam Airlines plans to continue focusing on safety and security for passengers and maintaining four-star quality service. It will work closely with its subsidiaries Jetstar Pacific, Cambodia Angkor Air and VASCO to offer quality services to meet increasing demand. VNS HA NOI Viet Nams fruit and vegetable export in 2016 hit US$2.4 billion, a 30 per cent increase over 2015, and exceeding the Ministry of Industry and Trades yearly target of $2.2 billion. According to the Vietnam Fruit and Vegetables Association, the result was attributed to efforts to seek new markets and keep traditional markets. In 2016, five types of fruits gained entry to four new markets -- mangoes to Australia, dragon fruits to Taiwan (China), longans and lychees to Thailand and cashew to Peru -- thus expanding the market for Viet Nams fruit and vegetable to more than 60 countries and territories. China continues to be the largest market for Viet Nams fruits and vegetables, accounting for some 70 per cent, followed by the Republic of Korea, the United States and Japan. Bui Sy Doanh, from the Department of Plant Protection under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, said the department would continue negotiations on technical barriers to help more Vietnamese fruits and vegetables enter selective markets like the United States, Japan and Australia. In 2017, Viet Nam hopes to win import approval from Australia for its dragon fruits, approval from Japan for red-flesh dragon fruits and from the United States for star apples. Nguyen Huu at from the Vietnam Fruit and Vegetables Association emphasised the need to further improve post-harvest preservation and processing technologies to meet demands for quality and diverse products in foreign markets. VNS HA NOI The State Bank of Viet Nam on Tuesday announced the appointment of the new chairman of the Viet Nam Asset Management Company (VAMC). Under Decision 2539/Q-NHNN, SBV Governor appointed Nguyen Tien ong as new chairman of the debt asset management company as of January 1, 2017. ong will assume the position for five years. Prior to the appointment, ong worked as director of SBVs Credit Department from mid 2014. On the same day, the Governor also appointed former VAMC chairman Nguyen Quoc Hung to be new director of SBVs Credit Department as of January 1, 2017. VAMC, with charter capital of VN2 trillion (US$88.1 million), is 100 per cent State owned and is managed, supervised and inspected by the central bank. The company, which is permitted to buy bad debts from banks, will recover debts, put collateral up for sale and restructure debts. It will also adjust the conditions on loans and convert debt into equity. It is allowed to consult and act as a broker to trade debts and assets, make financial investments and purchases, auction off assets and provide guarantees for businesses and individuals so they can access bank loans. Since its debut in 2013, VAMC has bought bad debts totalling VN260 trillion from credit institutions and issued special bonds worth VN230 trillion to buy the debts. VNS PARIS Fashion label Schiaparelli completed its remarkable resurrection on Tuesday when it was inducted into the elite ranks of Paris haute couture houses. The historic brand founded by the Elsa Schiaparelli, the great rival of Coco Chanel in the 1930s, closed its doors in 1954, the year that Chanel returned to the business after her wartime hiatus. It only returned to the podiums three years ago after the name was bought and revived by the boss of the Italian brand Tod, Diego Della Valle. The French Couture Federation said it was also adding the 41-year-old French designer Julien Fournie to its highly-prized register. The designation is protected by French law and attributed exclusively by the ministry of industry to selected houses whose clothes are tailored to each client. With its handmade pieces solely within the price range of the worlds richest women, haute couture exists only in Paris and is regarded as the pinnacle of fashion. Only 15 fashion houses have the right to call themselves haute couture. The others are Chanel, Christian Dior, Givenchy, Jean Paul Gaultier, Maison Margiela, Giambattista Valli, Franck Sorbier, Adeline Andre, Alexandre Vauthier, Alexis Mabille, Maurizio Galante, Stephane Rolland and Yiqing Yin. Another 20 are regarded as "guest members" of the club. AFP Economist Luong Hoai Nam tells the Tuoi tre (Youth) newspaper about the urgent trade-offs between private transport and public transport and offers the way forward to curbing traffic congestion in major cities Major cities like Ha Noi and HCM City see serious traffic jams, although initiatives have been implemented to curb the problem. However, the initiatives seemingly fail to meet peoples needs. In your opinion, what is our first step to curbing traffic congestions in Viet Nam? The first thing to do is to determine what kinds of urban transportation we want for future: an urban transportation dominated by private vehicles like motorbikes and cars or an urban system with developed public transport. Only when we have clear answer to the question can we identify what and how we should do for a better traffic. Now, we want everything; we want to develop public transport but refuse to reduce the use of private vehicles. There is no room for public transport to develop! Bus rapid transit (BRT) system in Ha Noi is a clear example. BRT is a good idea, but in the first days of its operation, BRT has been trapped among private vehicles. Now, we are confused over what we want for us now and our children in future. If we want our children to have a safe and modern traffic, we must accept a tradeoff in which we sacrifice the current convenience of using private vehicles. What do you think about initiatives in HCM City that change two-way roads into one-way ones or impose extra fees to cars that want to enter city centre? I think that buying a car is mostly to travel long distance, not in city. When traveling within city, we should use taxis, which are very available. I agree with the policy to collect extra fee to car owners who want to enter city centre during rush hour or who want to park their cars in crowded areas as now parking fees are too cheap. In other countries, people have to pay US$5 or $8 or $10 to park in an hour. Recently, HCM City transitioned streets including Cong Hoa Street, Truong Chinh Street and Hoang Van Thu Street to one-way streets. Im not sure whether the move is effective or not, but I think that the streets usually have serious traffic jams and something new should be done. At least, give it a try. When an initiative is introduced, make it real. If we keep discussing and guessing what will be effective, we will never find solutions. Its time for both Governmental bodies and citizens to be open to changes. Citizens, particularly private transport users, are called to sacrifice their interests. What about the Governments management bodies? Now is the time for relevant Governments bodies to affirm their roles. Citizens usually care and can see what happen around them in their daily life. Governments bodies need to have further vision. They have chances to witness and learn what happen in other countries. They must be bold in bringing such international lessons to Viet Nam. If they are not determined, they will get lost among different comments and fail to make a difference. To road users, they must be aware that if they keep using private vehicles, they must accept traffic congestion as a consequence. Ha Noi and HCM City each now have about 3,000 buses. To make bus a popular public transport option, the cities must have 10,000 - 30,000 buses, but there is not enough space for that many buses to run in the cities if the number of private vehicles remains or increases. In order to develop public transport, citizens must accept a trade-off. Or, if they keep using private vehicles, they will keep suffering from traffic jams. VNS President Tran ai Quang delivers speech at a ceremony in Ha Noi marking the Defence Ministrys National Defence Academy s 40th annual traditional day. VNA/VNS Photo Nhan Sang HA NOI President Tran ai Quang yesterday urged the Viet Nam Peoples Army, in general, and the Defence Ministrys National Defence Academy , in particular, to uphold their crucial role in strengthening defence and safeguarding the nation. He spoke at a ceremony in Ha Noi marking the academys 40th annual traditional day. The President stressed that the academy needed to improve its strategic forecast capacity in order to provide timely advice to the Party, State, the Central Military Commission and the Defence Ministry on national defence and military issues. He also called on the academy to pay greater attention to research and science to serve its training tasks, develop Viet Nam s own defence and military science and theory, as well as provide scientific ground for the Party and States policies on national construction and defence. Over the past four decades, the National Defence Academy has trained tens of thousands officials, many of them currently holding high-ranking positions in the Party, State and army. It has also offered 70 training courses to high-ranking officials from Laos , Cambodia , Cuba and other countries. The Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union yesterday held a ceremony to honour 10 outstanding young citizens of 2016, chosen from 126 nominations, double the number of nominees last year. Eligible youth are 30 years old and under. Photo tuoitre.vn HCM CITY The Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union yesterday held a ceremony to honour 10 outstanding young citizens of 2016, chosen from 126 nominations, double the number of nominees last year. Eligible youth are 30 years old and under. Honoured youth play an important role in the citys patriotic movements, said former Vice President Truong My Hoa, a member of the judging panel. Nguyen Manh Cuong, secretary of the union, said the outstanding young citizens had dedicated themselves to the citys youth movements. oan Thien Phuc, 27, founder and CEO of SetechViet JSC, was chosen for his great efforts in the start-up movement. He is now supporting various startup programmes in the city, Cuong said. Phuc company launched a cellphone-operated device called S-Bike, used inside a motorbike to deter and prevent theft. S-Bike won the Vietnamese Talent Award in 2012. Phuc is also a coordinator for startup programmes such as Startup IoT, Startup today and Vietnam Startup Forum. Nguyen Trung Hieu, 30, owner of Trung Hieu Fish Breeding Farm, is a typical example of rural youth who have become successful in their hometown. A graduate of HCM City University of Agriculture and Forestry, Hieu opened his farm to breed hemibagrus fish. Every month, his farm in Cu Chi District sells 3-5 million breeder hemibagrus fish to the local market. The 10 outstanding youth typify the talented young faces that exist in various fields, including education, scientific research, sports, the arts, and start-up and innovation movements. VNS The top 10 outstanding youth in HCM City HCM CITY Several contentious issues are dogging implementation of key projects managed by the Southern Power Management Board (SPBM), contradictory regulations and land evaluation and compensation rules that residents are not ready to accept. The board currently manages investments in 79 power projects that are designed to meet energy demands of 23 provinces and municipalities in the Southern region in the year 2016 and beyond. Also, the National Power Transmission Corporation (NPT), under the state-owned Viet Nam Electricity (EVN), has assigned SPBM the management of 220kV/550kV projects in the period 2016-2020 periods. oan Tan Phong, Director of SPMB, said the most persistent obstacle in the projects progress was land clearance and compensation issues, especially the delayed valuation of needed land in HCM City and Southeastern provinces. Nguyen Hai ang, Head of SPBMs Compensation Office, said land valuation was not easy since the projects span a vast area lying in different localities. According to Governments Decree No.44/2014/N-CP, farm land that falls within the power grid safety corridor will not be eligible for compensation. However, Governments Decree No.47/2014/N-CP provides that in cases where land is not converted to other uses, but its usage will be seriously restricted, the compensation level will be decided by the provincial Peoples Committee. This discrepancy leads to the fact that compensation for adjacent localities might vary greatly, and unfairly affected households are outraged. They complain and refuse to co-operate, further delaying the land clearance progress. For the 220kV or 500kV projects, many households have already received compensation, but refused to remodel their houses to follow power grid safety guidelines or flat out rejected compensation, demanding a bigger sum. The Compensation Office also acknowledges that the compensation for land areas claimed by the state for public or national defence purposes, including socio-economic development projects, is not close to the market price, which leads to very unhappy residents and further delays. Besides, procedures for enforcement are really complicated, following strict legal provisions, and as a consequence, delay in land transfer for the projects is inevitable, ang said. Other issues plaguing the clearance progress include the authorities simultaneous use of two types of topographies, unofficial land-use rights transfer between people, overlapping project zones, requiring adjustments to original plans. Until 2018, the Southern region will depend largely on the power provided by the power centres of Duyen Hai and Vinh Tan. If the thermal power stations Vinh Tan 1, Long Phu 1 and Song Hau 1, among others, start operating on time, power supply for the Southern region will be assured, experts say. Tackling the issues This year, SPMB targets completion of 12 projects with 742.5km of electrical lines and 1,525MVA in combined substation capacity. Phong said the company had worked in close collaboration with local authorities to facilitate land clearance process. Problematic cases would be reported to EVN, Ministry of Industry and Commerce, and the Government for support and directives, especially in cases involving key projects. We will also step up monitoring and supervising efforts from the very beginning in order to construction errors. All supervisors will be required to have proper qualification documents, Phong said. Supervision of subcontractors work will be carried out in order to timely make any necessary adjustment, according to Phong. If subcontractors prove incapable, SPMB will administer heavy sanctions, terminate the contract and propose bans to prevent such subcontractors from participating in future projects. Regarding land clearance, SPBM has asked EVN to further promote information dissemination on land clearance compensation policies, and pay more attention to raising public awareness on the risks of keeping residential houses within the power grids safety corridor so that people can understand and follow set guidelines. A policy concerning long-term training for the compensation task force must be devised and implemented, to create a group of qualified people who are equipped with necessary knowledge and skills. In cases where enforcement cannot be carried out against private properties in the safety corridor and households refuse to accept compensation, local forces will be tasked with protecting the status quo and preserve public order as the compensation task force carries out their duties. According to the board, provincial authorities must implement measures to better manage land resources and frequently update project plans in areas under their jurisdiction to ensure consistency and avoid overlapping between local and national projects. VNS AN GIANG Two secondary school students have drowned while playing in an water canal near a construction site in the southern An Giang Provinces Cho Moi District. The deceased were seventh-graders at the local Hoa Binh Secondary School in Hoa Binh Commune, Vo Phuong Binh, a local policeman said on Tuesday. According to initial information, local people on Sunday discovered the body of Truong Huu Vinh, one of the drowned boys, floating in the canal supplying water for an ongoing project to build a road in the district. His body was brought ashore, local eyewitnesses said. They added that they saw two pairs of slippers and two sets of clothes nearby, and therefore reported the incident to the local authorities and the victims families so that the search would continue. The search efforts ended at 8:30am on Monday after authorities confirmed that the body of Huynh Tan Thuan, the other drowned boy, was also found. Thuans father said his son and friend went to the sand pumping area where construction was underway to play. Both did not know how to swim. A local living near the accident site said the area resembles a deep canal but there are no warning signs. Following the accident, the contractor has put up warning signs. VNS A bill sponsored by U.S. Rep. John Katko that would study national park status for Fort Ontario and the Safe Haven Holocaust Refugee Shelter Museum in Oswego County has been reintroduced in the House of Representatives. Katko, R-Camillus, first introduced the Fort Ontario Study Act in December 2015 and it advanced in the House last year. The measure was sponsored in the Senate by U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, New York's junior U.S. senator. The legislation was approved by a House committee in June. The full House passed the bill in September, but it didn't receive a vote in the Senate. The measure would require the Department of the Interior to conduct a special resource study of Fort Ontario and Safe Haven to determine whether the site should be designated as a national park. Katko's bill, which he filed Tuesday evening, is cosponsored by U.S. Rep. Louise Slaughter, a Democrat from the Rochester area, and U.S. Rep. Claudia Tenney, a freshman Republican congresswoman whose district includes the eastern half of Oswego County. "Over the past two years, I've worked together with local advocates, leaders and community members in Oswego County to raise the profile of historic Fort Ontario and the Safe Haven Holocaust Refugee Shelter," Katko said in a statement. "Preserving this site as a national park will encourage tourism, bolster our local economy and protect the rich history of Oswego County." Fort Ontario was used as a military base during the French and Indian War, Revolutionary War and the War of 1812. At the end of World War II, the fort became a shelter for nearly 1,000 refugees, mostly Holocaust survivors. The fort became a state historic site in 1953. Judy Coe Rapaport, an advisory board member and past president of the Save Haven Holocaust Refugee Center, urged Congress to quickly pass the bill. She noted that there are less than 100 former refugees who are still alive. "For those of us involved with Safe Haven and Fort Ontario becoming a national park, we would like to thank Congressman Katko for his advocacy and efforts in this process," Rapaport said. HA NOI A National Assembly (NA) task force will monitor compensation disbursement and implementation of social welfare policies for fishermen and others affected by the mass fish deaths in central Viet Nam last April. Fishermen and other stakeholders in the seafood industry were badly hurt by the mass fish deaths in the four central provinces of Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri, and Thua Thien Hue. The deaths were caused by toxic waste disposal. The task force was established recently following a resolution approved by the NA Standing Committee on implementing policies and laws related to seafood production enterprises and individuals engaged in the fisheries sector, in conjunction with ensuring national defense and security. In the first month of the year, the task force will work with Government representatives on the above-mentioned issues. Vo Trong Viet, member of the NAs Standing Committee, Chairman of the NA Committee on National Defence and Security Committee, will lead the supervisory task force. Other task force members comprise personnel from different NA organs, representatives of the State Audit agency, Viet Nam Fisheries Society (VFS), Viet Nams Association of Seafood Exporters & Producers (VASEP), and a number of experts. The central agencies in addition to the government that will fall under the task forces supervisory purview include the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Ministry of Public Security, Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Planning and Investment, Ministry of Industry and Trade, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Transport, Ministry of Construction, Ministry of Science and technology, Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, Ministry of Health and Ministry of Information and Communication. The Government Inspectorate and the State Bank of Vietnam are also subject to supervision by the new task force. At the local level, it will also monitor central provinces and municipalities where seafood harvesting, production, and processing activities take place. Other entities subject to its supervision are seafood enterprises, seafood project management boards, and commercial banks that grant loans for seafood production. The task forces supervision agenda will focus on four key areas. First, it will oversee the promulgation of, consolidation of, and amendments to existing legislations concerning seafood production and processing, as well as legislation aimed at ensuring national safety and security conducive to seafood production. Second, it will scrutinise governments directives, from central to local level, regarding the implementation of State laws and policies for seafood production in tandem with national defence protection. Third, it will evaluate enterprises and individuals implementation of State laws and policies. Factors affecting the efficiency and sustainability of seafood production and processing, such as the development of fisheries infrastructure, support for fishermen, development of marine economic zones, and fisheries cooperation with other countries will also be overseen. Special attention will be paid to violations in seafood exploitation, production and processing, in addition to national defence and security issues. Fourth, it will regularly review its activities, and draw experiences and lessons to contribute materially to the betterment of State law and policies on seafood production in conjunction with national defence. The task force will submit its supervisory reports to NA deputies during the parliaments fourth plenary meeting later this year. VNS Doctors provide vaccinations for children in Central Highlands ak Lak Provinces Dak Lieng Commune. The country expects to successfully produce six-in-one vaccines this year or in 2018. VNA /VNS Photo Duong Ngoc HA NOI Viet Nam is expected to produce six-in-one vaccines in 2017 or 2018 and by 2020 these will be used widely in the country, according to the health ministry. Viet Nam already manufactures 11 out of 12 vaccines used in the nationwide expanded free immunisation programme for children, including vaccines against tuberculosis, diphtheria, whooping cough, tetanus, measles, poliomyelitis, hepatitis B, Japanese meningitis B, cholera, typhoid and rubella. In November 2016, Viet Nam announced the successful production of a measles-rubella vaccine (MR) for the first time. Viet Nam is one of only 25 countries in the world that can produce vaccines and is the fourth in Asia to manufacture the MR vaccine, following Japan, India, and China, the Nhan Dan (People) weekly reported. This is the first vaccine that has been produced in Viet Nam by the health ministrys Centre for Research and Production of Vaccines and Biology (POLYVAC) under a technology-transfer project launched by the Japan International Co-operation Agency (JICA). In 2015, the WHO certified that Viet Nam has a fully-equipped national regulatory authority (NRA) system that ensures the safety and efficacy of vaccines produced and used in Viet Nam. Deputy Health Minister Nguyen Thanh Long said the NRA achievement would open up opportunities for Viet Nam to export vaccines and contribute in the fight against global epidemics. In a recent NRA assessment, the WHO said that four of Viet Nams vaccines Japanese B encephalitis, measles, hepatitis A, and hepatitis B can apply for WHO pre-appraisal before being sold in bulk to international organisations. Local vaccine manufacturing facilities can currently supply enough doses for both domestic needs and export demand. In recent years, the Company for Vaccine and Biological Production No.1 (VABIOTECH) has exported over three million doses of Japanese B encephalitis vaccine to India. Japanese encephalitis vaccines are also penetrating the market of East Timor. In addition, 32,000 doses of hepatitis A vaccine have been exported to the Republic of Korea and 115,000 doses of oral cholera vaccine to Sri Lanka, the Philippines and India. Viet Nam currently has four factories producing vaccines, using equipment and technology that meets CGMP-WHO standards: VABIOTECH; Pasteur Da Lat Vaccine Company (DAVAC); POLYVAC; and the Institute of Vaccines and Medical Biologicals (IVAC). However, challenges remain ahead for the vaccine production. Viet Nam is able to produce only single vaccines or certain types of material for mixed vaccines (multi-function vaccines that have from four to six vaccines in one dose). In 2019, Viet Nam will no longer receive support from the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI) in regard to the five-in-one vaccine that protects people from diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, polio, and Hib disease. The health sector is making efforts to produce five-in-one and six-in-one vaccines but is still encountering difficulties relating to technology and capital. Deputy Minister Long said the research and production of five-in-one and six-in-one vaccines was among the top priorities of the country, and urged the supply of improved technology to produce such vaccines. VNS HA NOI Why didnt they spare me this troublesome paperwork? I know I dont have much time left, 51-year-old throat cancer patient Nguyen Thi Nhung said regarding the procedures she had to complete in order to renew her health insurance for the new year. Nhung came from northern Ha Nam Province and is being treated at K2, the second centre of the Viet Nam National Cancer Hospital (K Hospital) located in the capitals Thanh Tri District. Every year for the last 4 years, as the year comes to an end, Nhung has had to withdraw her health insurance card from K2 and redo several procedures so that she could continue using her health insurance at the centre over the coming year. I even had to pay to be transferred to the central K Hospital, she said. If I didnt pay, I would be kept at the local hospital because they said my illness could be cured there. Nhung has last-stage throat cancer that has spread to her bones. She came to the centre every 20 days for treatment, twice per day. Four years of treatment has cost her some VN300 million (US$13,200). The situation is not new to patients at K2, most of whom have been identified as having late-stage cancer. At the end of every year when their health insurance is about to expire, like Nhung, patients that are being treated at central hospitals have to withdraw their health insurance cards, return to their hometowns, and redo all admission and hospital transferring procedures at local hospitals if they want next years medical expenses covered by health insurance. Sixty-year-old Pham Thu Thuy in the capitals Hoang Mai District has bone cancer and has been receiving treatment at K2 for more than 2 years. It was easy to ask to be transferred from my district hospital to the regional Ha ong General Hospital, Thuy said. But I had to pay a commission fee to be transferred from that regional hospital to the central K Hospital. I agreed to pay because having a straight transferring record will help cover 80 per cent of my medical expenses. Otherwise only 30 per cent will be covered, she said. The patients desire to be treated at central hospitals is understandable. The experience that sixty-year-old colon cancer patient Pham Thi Binh from the central Nghe An Province had at her local hospital was not a pleasant one. According to Binh, she was diagnosed as having stomach pain from appendicitis by the Nghe An Friendship Polyclinic Hospital; they even performed surgeries on her, but the illness persisted. Only when her personal connection asked for consideration from the hospitals leaders did she get transferred to the central Bach Mai Hospital in Ha Noi, where she was diagnosed with cancer. She was terrified on knowing she had to go back to the local hospital and complete the procedures to renew her health insurance, she said. Improvement for the people Viet Nam Social Security (VSI) recently issued official dispatch No. 5243 which clarifies the processes of renewal and extension of health insurance for this year. According to the dispatch, for poor and nearly-poor people, people of ethnic minorities living in extremely difficult regions and people living in commune and district islands, local authorities will send a list of people requiring health insurance cards to VSI after it has been reported to the Government. Health insurance cards will be made immediately and sent to the people once the Prime Minister approved the list. If the list has not been completed by the end of 2016, provincial social security will report to provincial Peoples Committees for further directions. In this case, late health insurance participants can still enjoy their benefits from January 1, 2017. Health insurance covered 81.7 per cent of the nations population by the end of last year, exceeding the target set by the Prime Minister by 2.7 per cent, said Nguyen Minh Thao, general director of VSI yesterday. The number of participants in health insurance reached 75.9 million, compulsory social insurance was 12.9 million, 11.1 million in unemployment insurance, and 203,000 in voluntary social insurance, he said yesterday at a public administration reform and task allocation for this year. The number of citizens participating in social insurance, health insurance and unemployment insurance was 76.1 million, with an increase of 5.9 million people compared to 2015, he added. The social security sector was estimated to have paid health insurance for 144 million people, totaling VN69.4 billion (US$3,1 million), exceeding the years health insurance fund by VN5.1 billion ($224), according to VSI reports. Forty-five provinces overspent their health insurance funds, top among them were An Giang, Binh inh, Ca Mau, a Nang, Nghe An, Quang Nam, Quang Ninh, Thai Binh and Thanh Hoa provinces. The VSI will continue implementing social insurance and health insurance policies for the benefit of all, as well as improving the management process. The social security sector will continue carrying out public administrative reforms with a focus on improving public services as well as applying technology in management activities, digitalising the sectors activities and developing a modern, professional, and effective social security system. VNS HA NOI Road accidents and traffic gridlocks are on the rise on National Highway 5, which links Ha Noi and Hai Phong City, despite there being an alternative faster, smoother expressway. National Highway 5 is a key route that starts from northeast of Ha Noi and runs up to the northern port city. Though the route has been upgraded many times, the quality has never been up to the mark. A huge number of around 11,000 vehicles using the road daily, half of which are container trucks, has further worsened its condition. The road was last upgraded three years ago, but its state has deteriorated again because of the large number of vehicles using it, said o uc Viet from the citys Traffic Police Department. Many parts of the road have sunk because of overloading, Viet said. This has increased traffic congestion as well as accidents, making the highway a high-risk zone. To reduce sinkage, road maintenance teams have used excavators to rake the ground and make it flatter, but that is just a temporary solution, according to Viet. According to the Hai Duong Provinces traffic police, the number of traffic accidents and fatalities on the section of National Highway 5 that runs through the province has risen. At least 258 accidents were recorded last year, which claimed 188 lives and injured 151 others. The number of deaths rose by 24.6 per cent in comparison with 2015. Nguyen ang Viet from Hai Duongs Traffic Police Department blames the poor state of the road and high traffic for the rise in accidents. The number of vehicles on National Highway 5 shot up after toll charged on the newly built Ha Noi-Hai Phong expressway went up as many drivers chose to use this route to avoid paying toll. During rush hours, traffic jams are common on the section that links Hung Yen Province and Ha Noi. Authorities said the province has 600,000 motorbikes and 40,000 cars, nearly 10 times higher than that in 2000. Hoang Minh Con, deputy head of Hung Yens Traffic Police Department, said contractors should reconsider to reduce the toll fee on Ha Noi-Hai Phong Expressway so that majority of the drivers dont opt to use the old highway. The 105-km Ha Noi-Hai Phong Expressway, the most modern of its kind in Viet Nam, passes through Ha Noi, Hung Yen, Hai Duong and Hai Phong. It is 33m wide, has six lanes and traffic can move at 120km per hour. The Viet Nam Infrastructure Development and Finance Investment JSC built the road at a cost of around VN45.5 trillion ($2 billion) under the Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) model. Since April 2016, vehicles using the Expressway have been charged 25 to 50 per cent more as toll; it comes to VN2,000 per km per car. VNS THANH HOA Local farmers have blamed wastewater discharged into the sea by a couple recently for the mass clam deaths in central Thanh Hoa Provinces Hai Loc Commune. The couple, Hoang Van Thanh and Hoang Thi Hue, were caught red-handed while sailing a vessel discharging unknown liquid into the sea last Saturday. After the action was reported, local police conducted a quick inspection and found 14 plastic barrels with a volume of some 50 litres each. They took samples of the liquid for tests and the barrels were sealed for investigation. The couple admitted that they worked for a seafood processing business in Hau Loc Districts Ngu Loc Commune. They were hired to discharge the liquid into the sea every three days. Tens of households in Hai Loc Commune have seen a large number of their clams die since then. Nguyen Van Tu, 60, a farmer in Hai Loc Communes Tan Loc Village, said all 60 tonnes of clams on his farm, which were about to be harvested, and 50 tonnes of clam seed, had died. The mass deaths resulted in a loss of VN1 billion (US$43,990) and left him in debt. Tu and other households in the commune collected the dead clams to determine the cause of the deaths but failed to arrive at a conclusion. Initial information from the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development showed that some 400 tonnes of clams were wiped out from a 40ha area. Local farmers said they hoped the test results would identify the cause and they would receive compensation to ease their debt. VNS BINH THUAN A seal that often played with locals in the central province of Binh Thuan is believed to have been cruelly killed by humans. Nguyen Loc Quan, a resident of Tuy Phong District, told the Dan Tri online newspaper on Tuesday that the animal was found dead on the beach in Phan Ri Cua Town. Quan said on Sunday he went to the beach and played with the friendly seal as usual. But at 9pm on the same day, he heard the seal had been beaten to death. The animal was hit on its head and lot of blood flowed from its mouth. Quan and his relatives carried the seal for burial. Locals said some fishermen may have killed the seal because they believed the animal had damaged their fishing nets and eaten their fish. The 50kg seal was first spotted in early December. It often came ashore at around noon to play with the locals, residents said. Five months ago, two seals were also reportedly spotted in the region. One of them was caught and sold, the newspaper reported. Seal are found along central coastal provinces of Hue, a Nang and Quang Ngai. Most of the seals are small and likely to lose their way, drifting towards the tropical waters in central Viet Nam. Ever since the seals made an appearance, local authorities are encouraging and asking locals to not harm the seals. VNS a Nang Two workers were killed and two others wounded when a wall collapsed on a team demolishing an old building around 1:30pm in Tran Phu street on Wednesday. The citys administration officially announced that the two workers from Quang Nam province died immediately at the construction site at 42 Tran Phu Street, a short way from the Han Swing Bridge. The collapse also wounded two others workers, but they have recovered after quick treatment at the citys general hospital. The worker team, working for Chien Dung company in a Nang, dismantled the old building in a clearance contract of the on-going road-tunnel at west side of the Han Swing Bridge. The citys administration supported VN5 million each for the families of the dead workers, and VN2 million for each wounded worker. The company also supported VN50 million for each worker killed after the accident. The police are investigating the case. Its the worst labour accident in a Nang so far this year. VNS A new model that sets up satellite emergency stations in all HCM City districts has helped saved many lives, both accident victims and seriously ill patients, over the last two years. Photo congan.com.vn HCM CITY A new model that sets up satellite emergency stations in all HCM City districts has helped saved many lives, both accident victims and seriously ill patients, over the last two years. The satellite emergency stations, functioning under district-level hospitals, have proven particularly useful in instances where there was not enough time to rush seriously injured accident victims or seriously ill patients to hospitals because of traffic congestion, a review conference heard last week. The new model was applied after it was seen that the municipal 115 Emergency Centre, set up in 2013, was unable to fulfill its duties properly because of poor infrastructure and personnel shortages. In response, the citys Health Department decided to apply an out-of- hospital emergency service that had proved effective in several developed countries. Doctor Tang Chi Thuong, deputy director of the citys Health Department, said they had studied the model and applied local specific characteristics in deploying the satellite emergency stations in districts. These stations have been able to make full use of their human sources to rescue victims in the quickest possible way, taking advantage of the "golden time in treatment, typically providing first aid no more than 5 minutes after receiving information, he said. The satellite emergency stations need the co-operation and medical intervention of many health professionals from the citys leading hospitals in order to save victims in very serious conditions. Doctor o Thanh Tuan, head of the District 4 General Hospital, which also plays the role of a satellite emergency station, said their emergency ward received 70-80 patients from both District 4 and neighboring areas every day. Our doctors and medical workers have saved many people who were in critical condition before being hospitalised, Dr Tuan said. "District 4s network of narrow alleys is an obstacle course for medical workers and ambulances to reach the scene in the case of emergency. Therefore, carrying out emergency operations at a satellite hospital becomes necessary to take advantage of the golden time . Dr Le Hoang Quy, deputy head of the Binh Thanh District General hospital- a satellite emergency station, said they had to arrange doctors and medical workers into two first-aid shifts operating around the clock, with each shift having two doctors, four nurses and an ambulance driver. Whenever the hospital received an emergency call, an ambulance with qualified medical workers quickly left for the scene to help victims as fast and as safely as possible. At the same time, the hospital has set aside at least 18 beds for patients in critical situations if the number of victims is higher. Dr Quy said surgeons were always ready to assist medical workers at emergency stations to tackle complicated cases, adding that about 30 beds were prepared for emergency cases a day. Initial results The citys Health Department has asked district-level hospitals to enroll as satellite emergency stations, deputy director Tang Chi Thuong said. As a satellite station, the hospital will be fully responsible for the preparation of adequate infrastructure, qualified ambulances and medical workers. So far, the city has 21 satellite emergency stations, and expects all inner and outskirts districts to have at least one such station this year to respond when people call 115. The department has recorded that the number of calls made to 115 increased to 11,854 in the first 10 months of 2016, compared to 6,805 in 2014, demonstrating increased confidence in the emergency service. At least 30 people in critical condition have been saved. In particular, six patients were saved by timely surgical intervention at district-level hospitals last year. Dr Tang Chi Thuong said the risk of death would have been very high if patients had been moved to the citys leading hospital, as was done earlier. To develop the 115 Emergency Centre, Thuong said he had submitted to the municipal administration a project to train medical workers for out-of-hospital emergency services. He also proposed that the city authorities invest more in infrastructure for the 115 Emergency Centre, especially in an automatic control system. VNS CAN THO Doctors at the Maternity Hospital in the southern province of Can Tho saved the lives of two premature babies, Nguyen Thi Ngoc Ha, deputy head of the Newborn Department, said. In December, a 20-year-old woman who was 27 weeks pregnant, in Co o District, was hospitalised following difficulties in her pregnancy. Doctors quickly performed surgery on her and succeeded in saving the female infant, who weighed only 800g. In the middle of the same month, another woman in her 29th week of pregnancy, in O Mon District was also hospitalised with serious hypertension and preeclampsia. A male infant was born weighing 750g following surgery, the doctor said. Although both babies had to use a machine to assist them in breathing after the surgeries, the two babies can now breathe without external support and are growing fast, Ha said. She said premature babies often face high risk of death due to severe respiratory failure, sepsis and enteritis. Nguyen Huu Du, the hospitals director, said the surgeries were not only a success for the hospital that was treating the premature babies, but also for the whole region of Mekong Delta. VNS For Caitlin Huynh, of Tieu Can, Vietnam, a love for languages was born from the challenges of adapting to a new culture. "My passion for languages came from struggling to learn English," Huynh said. She moved from Vietnam to Fairfax, Virginia, when she was 8 years old. "It was a difficult transition to make," Huynh said, "but I realized that the more languages I speak, the better I could connect with people." Now a sophomore double majoring in French and international studies in the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences, Huynh speaks Vietnamese, English, and French. She strengthened her French skills by participating in the VT in Paris study-abroad program last summer. During the program, Huynh took two Virginia Tech courses taught by Janell Watson, a professor in the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures. Huynh also studied at the Alliance Francaise, an organization dedicated to sharing the French language and culture. Outside of classes, Huynh visited museums and conversed with Parisians. "On one occasion, I was sitting in a coffee shop, and a local man asked about a political sticker I had on the back of my laptop. We spoke for some time, in French, about differences and similarities with our countries' political systems," Huynh said. "I gained so much from that simple encounter and gained such an appreciation for the French people's willingness to hold discussions." The Paris program, a five-week course, was a stepping stone. Huynh has plans to return to France for a second study-abroad experience, this time for a full semester. She is in the process of applying to the International Student Exchange Program (ISEP). Virginia Tech's partnership with ISEP allows students to choose from exchange opportunities at hundreds of institutions abroad. Huynh currently serves as a peer advisor at the Global Education Office, part of Outreach and International Affairs. "I have always wanted to study abroad, so I sought out ways to make it happen including scholarships. For some students, though, they may not realize that it is a possibility," she said. Huynh received a Global Education scholarship to help cover the expenses of her study abroad. "As a peer advisor I hope to encourage others to take advantage of these opportunities," she said. Written by Alexa Johnson, a junior from Richmond, Virginia, majoring in public relations in the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences. Rommelyn Conde Coffren also contributed to this story. SKANEATELES Skaneateles poet Mary Gardner can officially call herself an international sensation and she even has the certificate to prove it. She is also one of the first people to visit Cuba since the United States and the island nation began normalizing their relations after more than 50 years of Cold War-era animosity toward each other. Gardner visited Cuba over the summer with her son and daughter-in-law, an American citizen who hails originally from Bogota, Colombia, and said she has traveled with them in South America before. Before American airlines re-established commercial flights to the nation, which is 90 miles off the coast of Florida, Gardner said the couple found a good deal on a flight from Montreal to Havana. And so the three traveled together to visit Cuba. We went just the three of us on our own, Gardner said. I recognize that I could not have done that without going with (daughter-in-law) Marta because I can speak a little bit of Spanish, but obviously she's fluent. We really had our own interpreter. We really needed an interpreter most of the time and had a much better time because of that. We were really just kind of embedded in the country because of that. Though the trip was purely pleasure-oriented, Gardner a lifelong literature enthusiast said her goal was to connect with some Cuban writers. She did, meeting a young, aspiring writer and her family at their home. Now, Gardner and the woman are pen pals who send their poetry to each other. As part of their sightseeing, the three visited the library in the middle of Havana that Gardner called a pretty under-resourced library but a beautiful building. It mixes an old-fashioned card catalog with a single computer in the librarian's office. Through Marta whom Gardner said is a school librarian the librarian told the group how things are done in the Cuban library, and the daughter-in-law in turn shared about the work of American libraries. It was during that exchange that Gardner wondered if her book of poetry, When All Danger of Frost is Past, could become part of the library's collection. I just got up my nerve or my groove or whatever and said, 'I have this little book of poetry. Would you be interested in receiving that as a gift to the collection?' And the librarian went, 'Yes!' And I went, 'Yes!' Gardner said. It was very emotional. The librarian was thrilled and kind of weepy about it, and I was weepy about it. Using the one desktop computer in the building, Gardner said the librarian entered the poet's book into the library's collection and then made up and printed off a certificate that, while written in Spanish, shows that Gardner's book was introduced into the inventory of the Havana library. I don't think very many people can say they have that, Gardner said, noting she and the librarian were crying as her daughter-in-law was taking pictures. It's wonderful. Aside from the stop at the library, Gardner's impressions of Cuba include people who are friendly yet impoverished, and architecture that is beautiful yet crumbling. And in an image that comes to many people's minds when they think of Cuba, she observed 1950s American cars still running the streets. It's really amazing because I look at it it's really kind of brilliant, Gardner said. They've taken these old cars, and there's no question the streets are full of them. These cars in our country are in our trash heaps. We don't drive them. They have fixed them, refixed them, even to the extent it's like a Pontiac front and a Chevrolet rear, and keep them running. Tourists, she said, pay money to take a ride in one of those old cars. She had a photo taken of herself behind the wheel of one. Gardner said the country's poverty surprised her, but she learned that even so-called private businesses are still owned by the government, so people's income is set by the government. She pointed to Cuba's reputation for its health care system and education system. She said pictures of late President Fidel Castro and revolutionary leader Che Guevara are prevalent around Havana. She even visited the Museum of the Revolution, which she called "an interesting experience." "I wasn't happy about a lot of what I was seeing, yet it was well-done and it was definitely telling their history from Fidel Castro's point of view, she said. Though the revolutionary message remains strong in Cuba, Gardner said she also heard a different message from the people she interacted with: "Change is coming. Change is coming," she said they told her, particularly in regard to a renewed relationship with the United States. "They want change," she said. "I think the challenge is going to be, what's coming now? How is this change going to happen in such a way that it just won't be a repeat of what they had in the past? They anticipate it, but it's going to be a big challenge. ... They just have huge challenges ahead." Gardner noted that she is old enough to remember when Castro came to power in Cuba after overthrowing dictator Fulgencio Batista. In 1963, she said, she lived in an apartment in Rochester, where on the lower level lived Cuban people who thrived under President Batista but had to flee under Castro. "That was my introduction to thinking about Cuba at all," she said. "Like most Americans, I've watched it from a distance. We lived through the missile crisis and what might've happened watching boatloads of people dying in the sea to flee the country." With that in mind, Gardner said that in visiting the country, she did something that was not even on her bucket list yet when she got the chance to go, she jumped at it. "I had a wonderful, wonderful experience," she said. "I would recommend people going there." WATERLOO The Kmart location in Waterloo will close by April, parent company Sears announced Wednesday. The retailer at 3810 University Ave. is on a list of 108 Kmart stores that will close, according to the publication Business Insider, which obtained an internal company document. Waterloo Kmart officials verified the news to The Courier. Two other Iowa Kmart locations in Dubuque and Sioux City also will close, according to the publication. Besides the Kmart stores, 42 Sears stores around the country also will close, none in Iowa. The latest announcement means Sears will have fewer than 1,500 Kmart and Sears stores left after April, down from almost 3,500 in 2011. The company told Business Insider it blames falling sales. A manager at the Waterloo Kmart said he did not know the exact date the store will close. He referred other questions to corporate officials. Company officials could not be reached Wednesday. Kmart opened its 106,000-square-foot University Avenue store April 5, 1967, according to Courier archives. A second Kmart opened near Crossroads Center in 1975. It closed along with 325 other Kmarts in 2003, a year after Kmart filed for bankruptcy. Kmart merged with Sears in 2004. In 2011, Kmarts in Cedar Rapids and Davenport closed. The manager of the Waterloo Sears store in 2011 told The Courier his store was one of the top-performing stores in the country. Macys closings Also Wednesday, Macys announced it was eliminating more than 10,000 jobs and plans to move forward with 68 store closures after a disappointing holiday shopping season. The company said the 68 store closures, which span the nation, are part of the 100 closings announced in August. Of the 68, three were closed in 2016, 63 will close in the spring and two will be closed by the middle of 2017. DECORAH With a program featuring the music of Martin Luther to commemorate the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, a cappella group Calmus will perform Luthers Lieder at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 4 in the Main Hall of the Center for Faith and Life on the Luther College campus. Tickets are $25 for adults, $23 for seniors age 65 and older and $15 for youth ages 4-18, and may be purchased online at www.tickets.luther.edu or via the Luther Ticket Office, (563) 387-1357. Calmus has created a program using Martin Luthers own hymns, starting with Gregorian chant and including composers from medieval, renaissance, romantic and modern times. Founded in 1999 in Germany, the a cappella quintet embodies the choral tradition of its hometown of Leipzig. WATERLOO A Waterloo man has been arrested for allegedly shooting at his ex-girlfriends house in an attempt to send her a message, police said. No injuries were reported, but bullets struck a parked car and a garage. Dayton Jay Myers, 20, of 812 W. First St., was arrested for carrying weapons, second-degree criminal mischief, reckless use of a firearm and driving while suspended. His bond was set at $70,500. Neighbors called police at about 8:40 p.m. Tuesday after observing a white minivan driving back and forth past 402 Moir St. and then hearing two gunshots. Officers responding to the call stopped a white van in the area of West First and Wellington Streets and found Myers driving. They also found a loaded .22-caliber handgun in the vehicles console and a spent shell casing on the floor, said Capt. David Mohlis with the Waterloo Police Department. CEDAR RAPIDS Judge Linda Reade didnt hide her feelings Wednesday when she faced the man she sentenced to life in prison some 2 1/2 years earlier. In 2014, Reade concluded Randy Lee Patrie killed retired grocer Carl Ken Gallmeyer, 70, with a .410-bore sawed-off shotgun in 2012 while breaking into his rural Nashua home while searching for a safe. Patrie wasnt charged in Gallmeyers death, but he pleaded guilty to possession of a sawed-off shotgun and felon in possession of a firearm, and Reade was able to use enhancements under federal Armed Career Criminal statutes to hand down a life sentence. Patrie won an appeal following a U.S. Supreme Court decision that sent his case back to U.S. District Court in Cedar Rapids with a 10-year cap on each charge. On Wednesday, Reade imposed the maximum two 10-year sentences to be served consecutively for a total of 20 years. Its no secret that if I could impose a sentence beyond 240 months, I would do so, Reade told Patrie. She noted the high courts decision didnt overturn her conclusions that Patrie was behind Gallmeyers murder. Under the new sentence, Patrie will have to serve three years of supervised release following his prison time, and he was ordered to pay $200 in special assessments. The assessments were imposed during his original sentence, and he has so far paid $25, according to court records. Patrie declined to address the court Wednesday. I dont have nothing to say, he said. Defense attorney Stephen Swift argued for a sentence at the low range of the federal sentencing guidelines calculation which was only five months less than the 20-year maximum. About half a dozen of Gallmeyers relatives were present for the hearing and declined to comment afterward. Gallmeyer was found dead in his home in October 2012, and the case remained unsolved until 2013 when authorities found Gallmeyers stolen firearms and tools while investigating Patrie in an unrelated break-in in Charles City. Gallmeyers stolen TV was found in Patries bedroom, according to investigators. Patrie was indicted on firearms charges, and federal prosecutors used Patries prior burglary convictions to push for sentencing enhancements under Armed Career Criminal provisions. After he was sentenced to life in prison, Patrie won an appeal this summer when the U.S. Supreme Court, in another case, ruled Iowas burglary laws are too vague to meet the definition of violent crimes under the Armed Career Criminal statutes. WATERLOO A Waterloo woman has been arrested in connection with a scheme that allegedly siphoned $44,800 from a West Des Moines residents bank account in October. Rachel David, 23, of 251 Parkview Blvd., was arrested Monday for one count of first-degree theft. She was later released from jail. According to court records, the money was moved from the victims account to Davids Veridian Credit Union account in Waterloo. On Oct. 27, after the transfer, David, accompanied by men, made six trips to four different credit union branch locations, withdrawing cash and writing herself a $9,000 check and three checks to another woman that totaled $27,750, court records stated. All told, she withdrew $43,750 from her account. The checks made out to the other woman were given to the men she was with, and they were later passed in the Chicago area, according to court records. During the investigation, David told police that she didnt know the men and said they were from Minnesota and were friends of her ex-boyfriend. WATERLOO ReShonda Young fought to ensure the Affordable Care Act, now known as Obamacare, became law. She traveled to Washington, D.C., testified before Congress and explained the positive impact the law would have on her fathers business. When she opened Popcorn Heaven in 2014, she was grateful to have an affordable health insurance option for her employees. Now, as a Republican Congress and President-elect Donald Trump have made repeal of the ACA one of their top priorities, Young is fighting once more. It was such a victory when the ACA was signed into law. It was done on my birthday, so it was like the biggest birthday present, Young recalled of the law signed by Democratic President Barack Obama in March 2010. Young was one of a half-dozen speakers gathered at her Waterloo business Wednesday calling on Iowas congressional delegation to keep Obamacare. The advocates offered insights into the impact repeal would have on Iowans. They estimated 230,000 Iowans would lose coverage. Repeal could affect up to 1.3 million Iowans with pre-existing conditions and cost the state up to $7.4 billion over 10 years. They also noted only 26 percent of Americans support repealing the law. Its just like to go back to where we were at, it really doesnt make sense, Young said. Weve elected some smart people into public office; I mean, they need to start making some smart decisions, because repealing the ACA is not a smart decision. Its just putting us back into this tailspin. Cindy Ramer, of Denver, recalled prior to the ACA she and her husband, Jim, were unable to afford insurance. When Jims heart condition required a stent, it cost them $33,000. They tried to keep up on payments but ultimately filed for bankruptcy. When Jim had a fatal heart attack in 2005, it left Cindy Ramer with more debt. (I) was finally able to get health care coverage that I could afford through the ACA, Cindy Ramer said. Shes since become eligible for Medicare, which also has additional benefits through the Affordable Care Act. Mike Tramontina, who helps Iowans sign up for the ACA, said the most common users in Iowa are women whose husbands have retired and joined Medicare, leaving them uninsured or with expensive coverage until they themselves reach the age for Medicare. If the law is repealed, those who sign up between now and Jan. 31 will have health insurance through 2017, Tramontina said. Lon Kammeyer, who is retired and represented the Iowa Alliance for Retired Americans, said thanks to ACA improvements to Medicare he can get annual screenings which have already helped and more easily afford prescription drugs. Like the other speakers, Dave Welter isnt thinking about just himself. The retired Holmes Junior High School principal worries about the health care needs of students attending the Cedar Falls middle school. Its my hope as policies begin to take shape under this new administration, those policies will ensure access to some of our most vulnerable families and youth. Otherwise, no matter how much we as educators care ... our kids will continue to struggle both in and out of school, Welter said. He said hes worked with U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, in the past. Im hoping hes listening today, as hes part of this new policy legislation, Welter said. Northeast Iowas delegation, and most Republicans, have been united in their opposition to the Affordable Care Act. Grassley said in a statement Tuesday legislation to repeal the ACA has already been introduced in the Budget Committee, of which hes a member. Obamacare over-promised and under-delivered. With every year, its been sinking deeper, and the ship is on the brink of capsizing, Grassley said. The resolution introduced today is the first step in repealing a collapsing program and replacing it with policies that work for working families. U.S. Rep. Rod Blum, R-1st District, said last week he expected Congress to act quickly to repeal the law but delay the implementation until a replacement is passed. Lets have open and transparent discussions, debates, hearings on the best way to replace it, Blum said. It seems to me when government rushes into things, we generally dont get it right. The advocates who spoke in Waterloo on Wednesday asked that lawmakers fix the law rather than repeal it. I really, really hope that Congress will look at not repealing but actually just fixing the parts that are broken and keeping those parts that are not, because not everything about it is bad, Young said. DES MOINES -- Rich Leopold, a former director of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, announced his candidacy for the Democratic nomination for governor on Wednesday, choosing a seven-minute Facebook live address to launch his bid. Leopold, who directed the department under ex-Gov. Chet Culver, cast himself as an outsider and scientist who doesn't traffic in the typical political soundbites but instead takes an inclusive, systematic approach to policy. "Im literally an outsider, he said in an address from Huxley. Im a conservationist, a scientist. Leopold currently lives in Des Moines, where he is director of the Polk County Conservation Department. Leopold, 52, is the first to dive into what will likely be a crowded pool of candidates seeking to run for governor next year. In an interview, Leopold said that he would be embarking on a tour of 30-some smaller Iowa communities, including around the Quad-Cities. He, like many who have analyzed the 2016 election results, say there needs to be more attention paid to rural Iowa. In his Facebook address, he noted that Iowa's smaller communities are losing people who have to leave to find jobs elsewhere. And he praised the wind industry, which he said he worked to help support. Leopold also said there needs to be a "large, dependable funding mechanism" to deal with water quality issues. But he added that there also are concerns, such as in the agriculture community, that need to be taken into account. State lawmakers have been debating how to fund improved water quality, including the idea of a 3/8ths of a cent increase in the sales tax. In his Facebook address, he called Iowa's water "some of the filthiest" in the country. Iowa Democrats are licking their wounds after a disastrous 2016 election cycle. Next week, the state legislature will gavel into session with Republicans in control of both the House and Senate. However, with Gov. Terry Branstad expected to be the new ambassador to China, the party also sees an opportunity in 2018. WATERLOO The city will provide tax breaks to help a Harolds Chicken Shack locate in a strip mall near downtown. But Mayor Quentin Hart said the 65-year-old, Chicago-based franchise moving into 401-409 Franklin St. is more than just a chicken place. The folks in that neighborhood were looking to have some type of restaurant, some type of food location, Hart said. Were also talking about people having the opportunity to get jobs there. Waterloo City Council members voted 5-0 to approve a development agreement with Rodney and Patricia Anderson, who built the original strip mall in 2013 and own the Earth Beauty Supply business there. The original development agreement did not include property tax rebates due to the money the city spent buying the half-block WBM Marine building formerly on the site and deeding it to the Andersons. The new agreement boosts the assessed value of the project from $700,000 to $800,000 and provides three years of 50 percent tax rebates on the total value. Councilman Steve Schmitt was concerned about providing more incentives on top of the original development agreement, fearing other strip mall developers with vacant bays may expect the same treatment. Are we setting ourselves up with with a new situation, because I dont ever remember doing anything like this before, he said. After the fact, to incentivize a building that weve already incentivized a second time. Community Planning and Development Director Noel Anderson said the increase in minimum value was key to the recommendation. If the assessed value was not going up, we would not have given the incentives, Anderson said. Hart continued to urge councilmen to look at the bigger picture in the transformation of the Walnut Neighborhood with new housing and business investment. Im hoping this is just part of the overall things thats going to take place and be a catalyst, Hart said. (Harolds Chicken) has investments in other communities in the state, and we are now at that point. Harolds Chicken opened restaurants in Cedar Rapids and Iowa City last year. The Waterloo store will create 13 jobs with a starting wage exceeding $10 per hour. The opening is slated for Feb. 2. Third in a series of stories looking at issues facing the 2017 Iowa Legislature. DES MOINES How the state delivers funding to Iowas public K-through-12 schools could be altered dramatically this year when Republicans assume control of the Legislature. Republicans, who for the first time in 20 years will hold the governors office and majorities in the Iowa House and Senate, are poised to consider legislation that would expand so-called school choice programs. That could give families greater flexibility to enroll in private schools, often at the expense of funding to public schools. Conservative legislators have long supported school choice programs, but have been unable to get any passed into law because of opposition from Democrats, who in recent sessions held the majority in the Senate. But in the wake of the Nov. 8 election Republicans have complete control of the Statehouse, and school choice programs are sure to be on the legislative agenda. Im pretty confident were going to come out of this session with some type of school choice bill that hopefully is signed by (the governor), said Walt Rogers, R-Cedar Falls, the new chairman of the House Education Committee. Rogers said proposals could range from a pilot project to something more substantial, like state-funded education savings accounts, in which state dollars are earmarked for parents to use toward education costs like private-school tuition. Im a believer in them, Rogers said. Im taking an approach of, lets look at everything and see what we can afford, see what type of transition period it would take to implement more choice for parents. Thats where Im at. Im willing to take a look at everything. Im going to give everything a fair hearing in education. Democrats and public school advocates have opposed such programs because typically they result in less state funding for public school districts. Supporters of educational savings account say they give families the freedom to determine which school is best for their children. An ESA program will allow true universal choice and inject the positive force of market competition into the Iowa educational system, Susan Fenton, a lobbyist for Iowa Advocates for Choice in Education, told Gov. Terry Branstad at a recent public hearing. Branstad, whose three children attended Catholic schools in the Des Moines area, told reporters after the hearing he is a strong supporter of private schools but said there are a lot of issues to consider in the tight budget. Republican leaders say they plan to budget for a 2-percent increase for public school funding for the 2017-2018 school year. If approved, it will be the seventh time in eight years state funding to public schools has increased by roughly 2 percent or less. Funding increases dipped to those levels only four times in the previous 38 years. It is a fact that these are the worst six years in Iowa history for education funding, said Sen. Jeff Danielson, D-Waterloo. There are a lot of us who believe that at a time when we had the resources, at least a cost-of-living (increase) averaged out over those six years was reasonable. That was not achieved. I dont think we have invested in education like it matters to our future, and it does. Mark Smith, leader of the minority House Democrats, said more of state spending, as a percentage, should be going to public education. We havent had our priorities straight, which is to put Iowas children first, Smith said. I would hope that the (funding increase), because of underfunding, would not ever be below 4 percent this year, but clearly Im very doubtful that we will get to that point. Republicans also may repeal the portion of Iowa law that requires legislators to set school funding more than a year before schools set their budgets. The law which includes no punitive measure for when legislators fail to adhere to the timeline was written to ensure public schools get the first bite of the state budget pie and so schools can plan budgets. Republicans who want to repeal the measure say it is difficult to predict revenues that far in advance, so setting such a big number so early is bad practice. Linda Upmeyer, a Republican from Clear Lake who is going into her second session as Iowas first female speaker of the House, said schools still can get funding numbers early if legislators act swiftly. Iowas legislative sessions begin in early January, and schools must present a certified budget by mid-April. I think if youre setting (school funding levels) in the first 30 days (of the session), youre still getting it done early, Upmeyer said. The whole goal is so we can actually deliver on what we promise. And were committed to that. Rod Boshart of the Cedar Rapids Gazette and Christinia Crippes of The Courier contributed to this story. DES MOINES -- State officials got some positive revenue news in December, with last months tax collections up 3.9 percent from a year ago. Jeff Robinson of the Legislative Services Agency said Tuesday the growth rate was probably even better since December ended on Saturday, meaning one day was not reflected in the latest report, which could have pushed the increase even higher. As it is, state tax receipts are running about 1.2 percent higher for the first six months of the current fiscal year compared to fiscal 2016 -- an increase of $41.9 million. That still lags behind the projected annual growth rate of 4.7 percent but is moving in the right direction, Robinson said. It was just nice to have a good, solid positive month, he said. It went in the right direction, thats for sure. Personal income tax collections continue to lead the way with 3.1 percent growth -- an increase of $59 million over the first six months of last fiscal year that was offset by declines in other categories. Economic indicators The Iowa Leading Indicators Index increased to 106.1 in November 2016 from 105.6 in October, according to state Department of Revenue officials. It marked the third gain in the last six months and the second consecutive monthly gain with seven of eight components contributing positively. With another increase in November, Iowas nonfarm employment index continued in the sixth consecutive year of positive growth. However, the gain in November was only half of the average monthly gain over those 74 months and the smallest gain since September 201, according to Tuesdays index report. The seven positive contributors in November were residential building permits, average weekly unemployment claims (inverted), the Iowa stock market index, the national yield spread, the agriculture futures profit index, the new orders index, and average manufacturing hours. Diesel fuel consumption was the only component that contributed to the index negatively. Holiday homework Gov. Terry Branstad told members of the Iowa Executive Council on Tuesday he spent part of his year-end holiday period filling out a detailed questionnaire as part of the process of being nominated to be President-elect Donald Trumps ambassador to China. Branstad said he had to list all of the addresses where hes lived for the past seven years, along with what he owns, how much he paid for it and all of that sort of stuff. Branstad said he plans to submit the information to a number of federal agencies as well as the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which consider whether to confirm his nomination. He said he plans to attend Trumps inauguration in Washington later this month and use the opportunity to meet personally with some of the committee members. The governor said he also has been preparing a two-year state budget plan that includes $96 million in cuts to the current fiscal year and the Condition of the State address he will deliver next Tuesday to a joint meeting of the 87th Iowa General Assembly at the state Capitol building in Des Moines. Jan. 4, 1937 The pen of barred Plymouth Rocks entered by Arthur J. Day of Melrose in the annual Central New York Official Egg Laying Test now underway at Horseheads is still in third place, according to word received today by Farm Bureau Manager Charles L. Messer Jr. The testing is now in its eleventh week. The competition is keen and Mr. Day is receiving congratulations on all sides. WATERLOO Council 700 of the Knights of Columbus in Waterloo will host its annual spelling bee Jan. 28 at Columbus High School, 3231 W. Ninth. St. The Iowa Knights of Columbus Spelling Contest is for children in grades four to seven to demonstrate their spelling abilities. The contest starts at the local level, with the top two place winners at each grade level advancing to the regional competition Feb. 19 in Oelwein. The top finishers at the regional competitions will compete at state in Ames on March 5. Word lists for each grade and contest rules are available at www.iowakofc.org/page/spelling-bee. Students are encouraged to study these words prior to their local competitions. The same words are used for the regional and state competitions. The Waterloo contest is open to any student in grades four to seven, whether public, private, parochial or home schooled, who lives in the Waterloo School District or nearby towns. There is no registration fee, but registrations should be submitted by Jan 20. Word lists, rules and entry forms have been distributed to public and parochial elementary and middle schools in the Waterloo, Union, Dunkerton and Jesup school districts. They also are available by contacting Tom Pfiffner at 239-4732 or tom.pfiffner@uni.edu. In this post-factual era, no misstatement of facts should surprise us. Yet the demonization of President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry as anti-Israel by right-wing politicians in Jerusalem is a gross perversion of reality. The charge follows a U.S. abstention on a U.N. Security Council resolution that condemned Israeli settlement building in occupied West Bank by a 14-0 vote. Never mind that Obama had recently concluded a historic 10-year, $38 billion military aid deal for Israel that exceeds any such package ever offered to any other U.S. ally. Never mind that Obama has been more protective of Israel at the United Nations than any other U.S. president in the last half century, vetoing any Security Council resolution critical of Israel until this one. In contrast, Ronald Reagan let 21 such critical resolutions pass, George H.W. Bush nine, and George W. Bush six. Lets get to the reason for the abstention. As Kerry laid out in a passionate speech, it was certainly not to undermine Israel. On the contrary. It was an effort to preserve a way forward for Israels survival as a secure Jewish democratic state. The expansion of networks of Jewish settlements on the West Bank under Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is reaching the point where they will rule out the possibility of a two-state solution in any future Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations. No one, Kerry included, sees the possibility (or advisability) of establishing a Palestinian state alongside Israel in the near term in this era of Mideast chaos. But what Kerry grasped is this: Once the possibility of two states living peacefully side by side is ruled out forever even in theory the consequences become dangerous for Israel. At that point, Israel is headed toward a one-state solution in which the number of Palestinian Arabs will ultimately outnumber the Jews. That prospect confronts Jerusalem with two fraught choices. Option one: Rule permanently over millions of bitter, disenfranchised Palestinians living in Bantustan-like enclaves. Or option two: Give political rights to 2.75 million Palestinians on the West Bank. Add that to 1.7 million Palestinians in Israel, and you already have a substantial Arab minority alongside 6.3 million Israel Jews in Greater Israel and those figures ignore an additional 1.8 million Palestinians in Gaza. If Israel chooses option one permanent control over the Palestinians it will no longer be a democracy. If it chooses option two giving Palestinians the vote it will lose its Jewish character (and given Mideast realities, it will hardly become a happy bi-national state). You get the picture: A one-state solution portends disaster. But thats where things are headed. Why worry about this now, Kerrys critics ask, especially when Syria is burning and there are so many other problems in the world? Why not leave the question of settlements open until the (unlikely) day when there are new peace talks? The answer: Netanyahus agenda is driven by his hard-right coalition partners who want to annex part or all of the West Bank as soon as possible. They are pursuing a rapid expansion of settlements in the heart of the West Bank in places that would make a contiguous Palestinian state impossible. Their settlements and roads separate the Palestinians into disconnected enclaves like the holes in Swiss cheese. Although Netanyahu claims to support the concept of two states, he describes his government as more committed to settlements than any in Israels history. He has endorsed legislation that would legalize scores of settlement outposts on private Palestinian land that were formally considered illegal by Israels courts. Keep this in mind: The settlements especially those beyond the barrier fence Israel set up to secure its pre-1967 territory have nothing to do with Israels security. They are being established in order to cement Israels permanent control over the West Bank. Which brings us back to the vote in the United Nations. As Kerry said, it was about preserving the two-state solution. Thats what we were standing up for: Israels future as a Jewish and democratic state, living side by side in peace and security with its neighbors. Thats what we are trying to preserve for our sake and theirs. Mind you, the resolution was symbolic and said little that hadnt been said in previous U.N. resolutions or by previous U.S. administrations. It has no enforcement mechanism. And the Obama administration whose peace efforts came to naught is on the way out. Yet the resolution offers a sobering warning. The death of the two-state idea comes with heavy costs to Israel. If Netanyahu had curbed his extreme settlers he could have headed off the U.N. resolution. He could have bought time until the Mideast violence calms and hopefully permits new negotiating ideas. Most countries understand it is too dangerous for Israel to relinquish control of the West Bank right now. But the open endorsement of annexation by the settler movement has soured even Israels allies against the Netanyahu government. They know the West Bank status quo cant hold forever and violence is likely to reoccur once the idea of two states is buried. This is a lesson President-elect Donald Trump should ponder, having chosen a U.S. ambassador to Israel who backs settler extremists and compares Jews who favor a two-state solution to Nazis. Such dangerous nonsense will only propel Israel down a self-destructive path. When we look at this nations dependence on the oil industry and on foreign oil, its easy to support alternative, clean and renewable energy production such as energy produced by wind farms. Take a drive across Iowa and youre apt to see the state has clearly bought into the same idea. Wind farm turbines dot the Iowa landscape. Many times over the past several years, in this space, we have extolled the benefits of developing clean and renewable types of energy perhaps wind-generated energy foremost among them. Sometimes thats harder to do when it is proposed for your own backyard. And thats the scenario that may be coming to Black Hawk County. An energy company called RPM Access is working in southern Black Hawk County to develop what would be the countys first wind farm. RPM Access is actively seeking landowner permission, gathering technical data and has applied for a power grid interconnection agreement for a new 70 megawatt facility generally between U.S. Highway 63 and Highway 21 south of Waterloo. The proposal is in the early stages, and plans detailing the exact size, number and location of the turbines and related infrastructure may not be available until next summer, said RPMAs Felix Friedman. The design still hasnt happened yet, Friedman said. We dont know where the turbines are going to be, so we dont know who the neighbors are going to be. But its a great location because of its proximity to Waterloo. Physically, that power would be flowing into Waterloo and will be consumed by users right there. Company officials say theyre getting a positive response from landowners who would host what theyre calling the Washburn Wind Farm. However, it should come as no surprise that many property owners will be preparing to fight the prospect of up to 35 wind turbines on adjacent properties. RPMA is offering lease payments to landowners and additional payments to surrounding property owners within a certain distance of the turbines. We would consider ourselves somewhat hypocritical to simply dismiss the thought of wind farms in Black Hawk County, while having supported the development of them throughout the state and the nation in recent years. When it comes to be a local issue, we tend to scrutinize more heavily the human factor. How will these affect our neighbors? When the time comes, its a question that will need to be answered clearly. We believe the state of Iowa has done a fine job in developing wind energy strategies and in implementing the use of wind into the energy mix. To date, Iowa is the only state in the nation to generate more than 30 percent of its energy needs from wind power. We believe that should be a source of pride. Iowa wind power provides benefits beyond clean, dependable energy. The states dominance in wind energy production has attracted businesses that build, transport, install, maintain and repair wind turbines. And wind turbines provide extra income to landowners who lease a tiny portion of their fields and to counties that collect additional property taxes based on the value of the turbine sites. While it is probable fossil fuels will be used for energy needs for many years to come, there is no denying alternative and clean energy sources are the wave of the future. Iowa already is a clear leader in the harnessing of wind-generated energy, and we feel that is a stellar example to the rest of the country. Perhaps Black Hawk County can become part of that important clean energy strategy. Should this proposal keep moving forward, we also need to give an attentive ear to our neighbors who may be affected. 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(36) Nov 30 (23) Nov 29 (17) Nov 28 (23) Nov 27 (13) Nov 26 (16) Nov 25 (14) Nov 24 (18) Nov 23 (21) Nov 22 (21) Nov 21 (24) Nov 20 (20) Nov 19 (23) Nov 18 (17) Nov 17 (17) Nov 16 (34) Nov 15 (25) Nov 14 (17) Nov 13 (21) Nov 12 (18) Nov 11 (9) 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) Owasco Lake's blue-green algae troubles did not make it into the New York State Senate's Water Quality Report released on Jan. 3, but there is a nod to funding for addressing algae blooms. At the time of Batman's testimony, the raw water coming into the city of Auburn and town of Owasco's treatment plants had detectable levels of the toxin, but plant operators had been successful keeping it out of the finished water. Amidst discussions focused on nitrogen loading in Long Island and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) contamination of water in Hoosick Falls, Batman told state officials that he had come to Albany in hopes of avoiding the question, "How and why did we not do more to save the Finger Lakes?" Citing the blooms, toxins, and increase in invasive species, Batman said it's "becoming commonplace," for beaches to close and the water to taste and smell unpleasant. He highlighted some of the work the county and others are doing to help decrease the number of algae blooms. He cited the county's Manure Management Working Group and the county Legislature's adoption of its 14 Point Plan on storage, processing and transport of manure. He mentioned the additional local funding towards water treatment to keep toxins out of the finished water. But, he said, local resources are "not enough." "Current New York State regulations are inadequate to prevent the nutrient and sediment runoff, and DEC (New York State Department of Environmental Conservation) staffing is insufficient to enforce the regulations in place," Batman said. "According to our agricultural community, funds are needed to implement best practices, and our municipalities need assistance to address storm water. "More importantly, this may be the time to reevaluate the role of state agencies as they pertain to the implementation of local solutions to local problems impacting our water sources," he added. "In our experience, these agencies have impeded our ability to address the water quality challenges that we face." The county's Water Quality Management Agency is considering updating the Owasco Lake Watershed's rules and regulations to be more stringent, there had been some concern that state officials would block the process, which had been done in past attempts. Batman also told state officials that not everyone is willing to participate with voluntary measures, and relying on those alone can make it difficult to create any real change. In a phone interview with The Citizen Wednesday afternoon, Batman said he still believes it's critically important for the state to allow local officials to have more control and input in identifying problems and solutions. He said would his testimony have come just weeks later when toxins were discovered in the treated drinking water, he would have had a different request. "I would have prepared them for bigger requests, find out what we have to do to fix the water problem, and also to look more seriously at watershed restoration and protection," he said. Though the report does not include Cayuga County's issues specifically, the committee did release action recommendations and funding proposals as a result of all the testimony gathered. It calls for the creation of an independent entity focused on the drinking water needs in the state. Called the Drinking Water Quality Institute in the report, it would be in charge of setting state requirements for unregulated contaminants and developing a list of those contaminants for public water suppliers to test for. The committee suggested that regulations should be stricter than federal law or the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's health advisories. Microcystin is currently one of those contaminants not regulated by the federal government. Though he hadn't seen the full report, Batman said Wednesday that he was the only person that talked about harmful algal blooms during the multiple hours of testimony. He said he was glad to hear that algal blooms were mentioned under the funding recommendation portion. While there's still more to be done, Batman said Wednesday that he's more hopeful than he was in September about the county's partnership with state officials. "The DEC has actually reacted in a very positive way to our requests associated with the needs to collaborate, to be more open, to be more communicative, to join as partners in the process," he said. "I think that's a result of the toxins. In some respects, that's too bad. In other respects, I'm really feeling at this point that we're moving in the right direction in terms of forming a partnership with the state." Yesterday Typepad the server I use to create my blog was down which did not let my blog post download properly. Finally this early morning it appeared, I am sorry if I worried any of you. While creating yesterday's blog I came across a blog post about Mari that I posted in 2010: Yes I have been blogging for sometime, since 2005, and am so glad some of you have continued reading it. Mari is a blog reader who I met years ago and who is in love with France. Since she comes to France often we met up and always have a crazy fun time together. Here is the first post I wrote about her: When in France eat. If you want to experience the French lifestyle... Then you must eat, and in doing so you will entertain every sense you have regarding France. Sit in cafes, take your time, Sip wine, Converse over your meals, have dessert and drink coffee. The French way is to savor the moment. To dine at the proper time: Breakfast up until 9:30 Lunch between 12:30 - 2:00 Coffee at 2:00 Tea time between 4:00 - 6:00 Cocktails between 6:00 - 8:00 Dinner anytime after 8:00 And nothing in between or out of order. A white tablecloth and wine glasses on the table doesn't mean the meal is going to cost a fortune. A cloth on the table is how it is in France. Setting up the atmosphere is part of the mis en scene. Mary came to France to buy for her stores in Austin. She also wanted to be inspired. She asked me to tag along and show her the France I love. Boy oh boy was that an easy task to undertake. I asked her one question and gave a statement: "Do you like to garlic? I hope you like old things." Luckily she answered correctly. The First Day we dined on salad with a garlic sauce. Talking was from the side of our mouths the rest of the day. Mari asked me if I ever thought of given tours, taking people around France, showing them the brocante.... being a tour guide. "Sure. I even know how I would do it." I smiled. "Really," she said, "Tell me what your plan would be." "I would only take one or two people at a time. Custom Tours, my way. The client(s) would pay for everything: The beautiful hotels, the car, the glorious restaurants, the tolls, the cafes, etc. etc. and I would plan where we would go, and where we would stay and where we would eat." I offered. "Would the hotels or restaurants be negotiable for your client(s)?" Mari asked. "Nope." I said and continued, "And I would plan the whole tour around creative inspiration, food and antiques. Plus two critically important details," Mari interrupted me and asked; "...and what would that be?" I chimed, "I would have first dibs on everything at the brocante regardless if they bought it or not... actually it would be better if they bought it for me," I grinned. Mari cracked up laughing, "Is that negotiable?" "Nope." I offered. "I do not think you will have many clients. Though I think that is what you are saying." I smiled. (Little did I know that the French Muse Experience would come to be years later. Of course the dibs part has changed.) We ate. Lunch out everyday. The Second Day: Fish soup baked in a shell. Garlic puree for the fish soup. Mari licked it clean. She is a kindred spirit. Third day Mari had grilled duck. I forgive her because she likes garlic and old things. The Fourth day: Fish with two types of mango sauce and sesame garlic oil. The Fifth day: Cod with creamy garlic potatoes and roquette. A carafe of water was my luncheon drink... I drove ( I could back then...) The Sixth day: Pumpkin soup with whipped goat cheese on toast. Mari made the mistake of asking French Husband how whipped goat cheese was made. French Husband felt so honored, nobody ever asks him about cooking or recipes. He barely knows the difference between mustard and chocolate. I am not kidding. French Husband told Mari, "Well, whipped goat cheese is made by grabbing a goat, holding it above your head and shaking it." Mari not missing a beat continued, "And whip cream from a cow is made the same way?" "Oh no," French Husband grinned, "A cow is too heavy to shake over one's head. I buy my whipped cream in a can." We had tea. Mariage Freres. (This is how I found this old blog post, I was re reading about when I drank tea.) Creme Brulee was Mari's favorite. Mine is Tarte Tatin. Of course if you love cheese... France is the Royal Kingdom of Cheese. Cheese and salad was on the menu on the Seventh Day. The cheese was served with a fig, mango jam. Deliciousness at best. Oh, the tab. Or reality check. Usually I make dinner every evening. On the second to the last night we made Dolmas, or Stuffed Grape Leaves, I wish you could have heard the part of the conversation where I say O.K. a million times to Annie while she is teaching us. Annie told us we are doing it wrong, she would shake her head, and then there was a big crash because Mari dropped the pan. Mari said, "The Stuffed Grape Leaves were the best! Annie was the highlight of my trip to France." I poked her, then corrected, "Annie, the stuffed grape leaves, Corey and garlic were the high lights of your trip." xxx This website is all about The Beatles and the individual members of The Beatles. It is kept by Roger Stormo, who has been associated with the Norwegian Beatles fan club, "Norwegian Wood", since 1980. Feel free to quote from the site, but please give me credit and a link back to the original item. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. This is not a news site per se, but if we hear about something that has yet to be reported by other Beatles news services, we tend to write about it. Apart from that, we will write stuff about the Beatles on an irregular basis at the whim of the author. A lot of our readers arrive at specific articles from internet searches or references to this site from forums and other Beatles sites. If you did, we encourage you to click here to access the main page, and also to indulge in our archives - you may find other posts that are interesting. You may also subscribe to news from the site and have each new issue delivered to your rss feed reader. This is not a begging letter... but feel free to support me by donating money! It'll keep me in business... Or just buy a t-shirt! Or take a look at my Amazon wish list ...If you have Beatles related product to push, feel free to send us a copy, the address is:Roger StormoBaglergata 21BNO-2004 LillestrmNORWAYemail: roger.stormo@gmail.com We can't promise that your product will be featured on the site, but it stands a better chance than the ones we don't get... New Headquarters of the European Union is now ready to use for the European Council with increased capacity in the city of Brussels, Belgium. The new building's double facade is made of a harmonised patchwork of re used oak windows with simple crystal like single glazing (from the different European countries) provides the necessary acoustic barrier from the traffic noise of the Rue de la Loi Wetstraat and it also offers a first thermal insulation for the inner space. Designed by Belgian architecture studio Samyn and Partners, Italian firm Studio Valle and British engineers Buro Happold, the building was developed according to the urban planning regulations and the new building is extended on the North-East side by two new facades to transform its current L shape into a cube. This outer area is converted into a glass atrium protecting from the urban dust. It covers the principal entrance as well as a new lantern-shaped volume incorporating the conference rooms. An extension with a new facade was built in the 1960s, behind the original building in front of the rue de la Loi Wetstraat. Later in the 1980s, the Eastern wing is demolished in order to erect the Justus Lipsius building, current seat of the Council. The original facades, as well as the entrance halls and the corridors on the ground floor are today listed as part of the Belgian cultural heritage. The shape of this volume follows the minimal required surface for each type of room, as for example the press room takes place in the 1st floor, the smallest 50-persons dining room takes place in the 11th floor, the largest meeting room enabling 250 persons meetings in the 5th floor, other meeting rooms take place on the 3rd and 7th floors and finally the largest dining room for official diners is placed in the 9th floor. Each level of this volume has an elliptic plan with different dimensions but the same centre and the same principal axis. The structure of this object is rigorously symmetrical although it does not appear so. Following to UE recommendations about energy savings, many old buildings across Europe will change their window frames for double glazing in the next few years. In the context of a sustainable development approach, it is decided to restore some of those millions of old though still efficient window frames, and re-use them in this project. This new facade will be both a practical and philosophical statement about the re-use of these traditional constructions elements, expressing the European diversity of cultures. The conference rooms and meeting rooms are covered by colourful carpet made of a series of block patterns. The ceilings in meeting rooms feature many photovoltaic panels that enhance its acoustical conditions. All floors, ceilings, doors and lift shafts, friezes and colourful carpets are designed by Belgian artist Georges Meurant. The council wishes this building to be from all points of view an example as far as sustainable development is concerned. This wish is displayed in many aspects of the architectural and technical design. As an example, an umbrella of photovoltaic panels for the electricity production covers both the modern and the historical parts, which symbolizes also the link between the present, the past and the future. The overall superstructure encompasses a total of 53,815 square-meter at the site -which includes 11 floors with press room, offices, conference rooms, ceremonial rooms, restaurants and car parking for 145 cars in total. Demolition and infrastructure works started in May 2008 and the building completed in December 216. The existing Residence Palace was built between 1922 and 1927 at the initiative of the financier Lucien Kasin and designed by the Swiss architect Michel Polak. The complex is a collective housing experiment under the form of luxurious service flats located next to the city centre. The project will only have a short commercial success and after World War II, the art deco building is converted into ministerial offices by the Belgian State. All images SAMYN and PARTNERS architects & engineers, LEAD and DESIGN PARTNER / Studio Valle Progettazioni architects, Buro Happold engineers. Interior coloured works Georges Meurant > via samynandpartners.com Well, that year was something else. Like a lot of people I know, the body blows of the news the world at large were tempered by a year that was personally rather good. I managed to actually beat my year list total, as accounted by eBird, by one bird. I went to Ethiopia. I bought a house. I saw Painted Wolves again, my favourite species ever. I also managed to go to 10 different countries, so rather than arbitrarily pick my top 10 birds of the year, Ill arbitrarily pick a top bird from each country. Ill also award each bird an award based on why I picked it. So, with no further ado, and in no particular order. Britain: The Nostalgia Award Common Loons, or Great Northern Divers, are one of those iconic birds that I remember vividly from days before being a birder. In particular they evoke the New Hampshire lake my extended family descends upon each summer and has done so from before I was born. The winter plumaged one I saw on a freezing marine lake on the First of the Year was certainly an interesting recontextualisation of that memory, but as it was the same bird that was the first of these I have ever seen in Britain and still evoked warm feelings of childhood summers, it gets the nod here. South Africa: The Gotcha Award I failed to see a Southern Black Bustard on my last visit to West Coast National Park near Cape Town. So what did I do? I hired a guide to find one for me and I saw it. No drama birding at its best. (Honourable mention to the Cape Rockjumper). New Zealand: The Didnt Bloody Even See It Award I saw a number of lifers this year in New Zealand, but my bird of the year is one I heard but didnt see. The Orange-fronted Parakeet is a critically endangered species that I came agonisingly close to seeing but didnt. But I still heard it, and was privileged to spend time in its home. You dont need to see birds to appreciate them, to enjoy them, to marvel at their survival in a world set against them, and thats why its my NZ bird of the year. Hopefully Ill see it this year. Im certainly going to try. Australia: The Biogeographical Oddity of the Year I saw a number of cool birds on two seperate and short trips to Melbourne this year. The standout was the Cape Barren Goose, which not only has an awesome name but is also thought to be the last survivor of a lineage of geese that used to forage the grasslands of Antarctica before the whole place got all icy. Thats an origin as cool as Superman being the last son of Krypton, and wins the goose the Aussie birds of the year award. Singapore: Urban Bird of the Year Singapore is a densely populated city-state which still manages to protect a number of species. One of the coolest of these urban species, no matter how many times I see them, is the Oriental Pied Hornbill. Who can fail to be impressed by any hornbill, especially one that was the advance party of a number of species which are recolonising the country. Ethiopia: The You Saw What Award? Ethiopia is home to many endemic specialities to make even the most jaded bird salivate. So clearly I have to award the Ethiopian Bird of the Year award to the Red-billed Chough. A bird that isnt endemic, and isnt even common there. But its a species Ive tried for years to see in Britain and failed to, so of course I saw one finally at the extreme edge of its range in Ethiopia. The only reason that the Golden Eagle didnt get the same award for the same reason is that I hadnt tried as hard to see one in Britain in the past. United Arab Emirates: No Bird Award I never left the airport on my 13 hour layover and never saw a bird. So I award this spot to the endemic White-cheeked Turacos I saw in Ethiopia and cant help feel were robbed by the choughs. Botswana: I Still Have No Idea Award Southern White-faced Owl or African Scops Owl? I still have no idea. What the hell is this? Switzerland: The Armchair Tick Award Cause Im a Terrible Birder Award Okay, context. I was on a layover and didnt expect to see much. I was mostly interested in cathedrals and shops and chocolate. But I did some birdwatching and saw a treecreeper and assumed it was a Eurasian Treecreeper because Im from Britain and what else would it be? But I get an email from some eBird list manager (I always cringe when I get those emails) telling me I need some proof. I had none. It was almost dark and I had seen it briefly. No notes. No photographs. It was a treecreeper, amirite? But, in Zurich, apparently, that means it was a Short-toed Treecreeper. So I can keep the record as long as I change it to that, says the eBird fellow. So, I lifer, I guess? Hong Kong: The Oh God Im Sorry Im Sorry Please Make It Stop! Award Hong Kong is fast becoming one of my favourite cities to bird in. There is so much to see, in such a wide range of habitats, and generally so easily. Its also a fun city to visit anyway. An on a trip to the amazing Mai Po I managed to see 70 bird species in a single day in a single location, which for a birder as hopeless as me is nothing short of astonishing. So I was particularly pleased when one of the last birds I saw was a Spot-billed Duck, a local bird and lifer. A new duck! How awesome. The issue arose when I went to log the species in eBird (increasingly the birding bane of my life). See, according to eBird, that isnt a species. Theres an Indian Spot-billed Duck. And an Eastern Spot-billed Duck. And both occur at Mai Po. And it had never occured to me to check which subspecies (or species) I had seen. So. I guessed. Im sorry. So sorry that Ill do it again if I have to. Which I guess means Im not that sorry. So on reflection I guess my birding resolution should be to be a better birder? Cant imagine Ill stick to it any more than Ill cut down on the wine though. The U.S. Constitution is the closest thing to a sacred text allowed in a secular republic. It is treated with reverence, stored in a helium-filled, temperature-controlled case that is lowered every night into a waterproof, fireproof and bombproof vault. Like Holy Writ, the Constitution also enjoys a near immutability. Deemed functionally unamendable by some scholars, it has been altered only 17 times since the ratification of the Bill of Rights in 1791. Recent calls for the abolition of the Electoral College are certain to fall by the wayside, joining the over 11,000 ultimately unsuccessful amendments introduced in Congress during that time. New York State also has a constitution; in fact, the state has had four of them. Though far less known and appreciated than the U.S. Constitution, the New York State Constitution has much more to say about our daily lives than its federal counterpart in such areas as voting, education, state and local finances, care for the needy and the mentally ill, and the environment. Moreover the states constitution gives New Yorkers the power to control their own destiny by establishing rights not recognized by the U.S. Constitution and instituting public policies independent of the actions of the Federal government. More responsive to the popular will than the U.S. Constitution, the current New York Constitution has been amended 228 times since its adoption in 1894. It can be amended two ways: by legislative amendment, which requires passage by two consecutively-elected legislatures and then approval by the voters or by a constitutional convention, the work of which also requires later voter approval. Our state constitution requires that voters be asked every 20 years whether they wish to go the constitutional convention route. That question will next appear on the ballot on Nov. 7, 2017. To the extent New Yorkers are dissatisfied with the policies of the federal government, a state constitutional convention is our opportunity to reaffirm and extend our constitutional tradition of compassion, diversity and individual liberty. A yes vote on the con-con question puts New Yorks future in the hands of New Yorkers. If we fail to act we will not have another opportunity until 2037. Can we afford to wait? So what changes could the convention expect to make? It is hard to say for certain, but here is a partial list of issues a convention would be expected to discuss: term limits for members of the legislature or legislative leaders to prevent the accumulation of unchecked power by a small group of individuals; an independent redistricting commission to prevent gerrymandering of any kind and to make sure the voters choose their representatives, not vice versa; a constitutionally created ethics commission with the power to prosecute violations of state ethics laws unencumbered by the need for legislative or gubernatorial approval; a streamlined state judiciary that could save the state an estimated $500 million per year currently wasted on inefficiencies; a thorough revision of public finance provisions originally adopted before the Civil War when the state had one-sixth of its current population; stronger constitutional requirements to educate our youth, take care of our mentally ill and protect our natural resources; and new amendment methods that would provide means to achieve constitutional revision that do not depend on the whims of the legislature. The New York State Constitution needs much work, and the state faces a crisis in governance. New Yorkers have the power to set the wheels of change in motion next November by calling a constitutional convention. A convention would provide us the opportunity to move in a direction of our own choosing and give our constitution pride of place consistent with our sobriquet as the Empire State. Gov. Andrew Cuomo likes to travel around the state via taxpayer-funded transportation to talk about the many ways his administration has helped communities large and small. He'll do that again next week when he breaks from tradition and delivers a series of State of the State speeches in different regions of New York rather than address the Legislature in Albany. We've expressed our dismay with this self-promotional approach plenty of times, so this editorial isn't about that. Instead, it's a call for the governor to include an important message in these speeches: How will he work with the Legislature to get legislation quickly passed and signed into law that fixes our badly broken system for funding required legal defense services for people who can't afford it. Of all the things the governor believes he has done for upstate, one area where he and the Legislature have failed badly is providing relief from burdensome state mandates. And make no mistake, indigent legal defense is a big unfunded mandate from Albany. The U.S. Constitution requires states to provide defense lawyers to people who can't afford them. New York attempts to comply with this by directing individual counties to cover the overwhelming majority of the costs. A bill passed with bipartisan support last year would have gradually had the state take over this cost, something that would help counties badly constrained by a state tax cap law that limits their ability to raise revenues to less than 1 percent currently. It also would have helped improve indigent legal services across the board because the current system largely depends upon the financial ability of individual counties. The governor vetoed this bill hours before the clock struck midnight on Dec. 31, referring to last-minute negotiations coming up short. This bill was passed in June, though, and it was crafted with considerable public input prior to that. If Cuomo had such serious reservations about the costs of this bill, he should have been more actively involved in the legislative process, something he's certainly been willing to do on measures such as gun control and the minimum wage. With all of that, there's nothing that can be done now about the bill that has been killed. The only path forward is to get a new version drafted that will work for the governor, and to get it done in the first few weeks of this new legislation session. Jan 4, 2017 | By Benedict HP has unveiled the Sprout Pro G2 at CES 2017. The maker-friendly computer, an upgrade on the original Sprout from 2014, is equipped with a 3D scanning module, projector, cameras, and Touch Mat with stylus. Back in 2014, printing giant HP unveiled its first Sprout computer, a creativity-oriented machine that offered inbuilt 3D scanning features and a projector. Two years and one Jet Fusion 3D printer later, and HP is back with an upgraded Sprout that comes with two exciting new features: a 21.3-inch Touch Mat that lays flat on a work surface and functions as a second display, and the Sprout Illuminator, which uses a projector to beam the second display onto the Touch Mat below. The Illuminator also houses the computers 14.6MP downward-facing camera, as well as other components. Like the original Sprout before it, HPs Sprout Pro G2 is being billed as the ultimate creative computer for makers, artists, designers, engineers, and anyone that uses 3D scanning and 3D printing technology in their line of work (or play). Furthermore, the Pro G2 contains new features that make it suitable for users in education, manufacturing, and retail. In retail, for example, the Illuminator and Touch Mat can be used to let customers quickly personalize 3D products using the stylus and various on-screen options. This form of interactive product design has already been adopted by businesses such as Media Markt, the European consumer electronics retailer. Announced yesterday at CES 2017 in Las Vegas, the Sprout Pro G2 has impressed attendees with its new and upgraded components and specs, which include an an Intel quad-core 2.9GHz Core i7-7700T CPU with integrated Intel HD Graphics 630, a 23.8-inch Full HD (1920x1080) vertical display with 10-point touch, and 1TB of storage. Slimmer and taller than the original Sprout, the Pro G2 also gets a cosmetic overhaul, with extra black-clad surfaces serving to visually trim the computers profile. The most interesting feature of the Sprout Pro G2 (and indeed the original Sprout) is its integrated 3D scanning system. Using the computers inbuilt camera, the Pro G2 can create either 2D or 3D images or items placed on the Touch Mat or held and rotated (using a feature called quick 3D Capture Capability) below the Illuminator. Once the images have been captured, users can use the Touch Mat and stylus to manipulate and edit the 3D scanned object for purposes such as preparing a 3D printable file or creating virtual reality content. Images: Melissa Riofrio In terms of software and applications, HPs Sprout Pro G2 comes preinstalled with Windows 10 Pro 64-bit, an undoubted improvement on the original Sprouts Windows 8 OS, and whose forthcoming Creators Update (due in April) will contain a host of 3D-friendly tools, such as a 3D version of MS Paint. HP has also created a new suite of apps called WorkTools that enables users to manipulate 2D and 3D content on an interactive clipboard. Additionally, the introduction of the Sprout Pro G2 coincides with the release of HPs new Professional SDK, which may inspire third-party creators to create new applications for the 3D scanning computer. There is currently no pricing information available about the Sprout Pro G2, though the original Sprout was sold for $1,899 and last years classroom-oriented Sprout Pro cost $2,199. Sprout Pro by HP G2 specs Operating system: Windows 10 Pro 64-bit Processor: Intel Core i7-7700T 2.9G 8M 35W CPU Ports: Headphone/microphone combo, SD card, 4x USB 3.0, HDMI 2.0, GB Ethernet, Audio line-out Media card reader: 3-in1, supports SD, SDHC, SDXC Memory: Maximum 16GB DDR4-2400 SODIMM (2x8GB) RAM HP Touch Mat: 21.3" diagonal, 20-point touch, stylus-enabled mat with ultra-resistant top coating High-res camera: 14.6 Megapixel, downward facing Web camera: 2MP Vertical display: 23.8" diagonal, 10-point touch-enabled, Full HD (1920x1080) Wide Viewing Angle, White LED backlit LCD Display Horizontal display: Projected display using DLP projector with 1920x1280 resolution adjusted for Keystone correction; max resolution 73 ppi 3D camera: HP Sprout 3D capture module Height: 22.4" (56.8 cm) Width: 26.5" (67.2 cm) Depth: 23.1" (58.6 cm) Weight: 28.3 lb. (12.8 kg) Posted in 3D Scanning Maybe you also like: willi wrote at 1/6/2017 11:57:38 PM:Hopefully with a GPU that can do VR.TC wrote at 1/4/2017 4:41:55 PM:You can see David SLS scanner in the background on one of the photos. HP recently bought the company. Jan 4, 2017 | By Tess Consumer electronics company Polaroid, best known for its iconic instant cameras, is hoping to establish itself in the world of 3D technologies with the introduction of its new range of affordable 3D printers and 3D pens. Presented at CES 2017, Polaroids new 3D printing products are set to hit the U.S. and Canada markets in March and July of this year. At last years CES, Polaroid was a bit of a surprise contender as it unveiled its first additive manufacturing system, the ModelSmart 250S 3D printer. Now it seems the company is determined to pursue their 3D printing venture, as it has announced a whole new range of 3D printers and 3D pens. According to the company, it is hoping to make 3D printing technologies more accessible to the general public by offering affordable, easy-to-use, and trusted 3D printing products. At CES 2017, which is taking place in Las Vegas, Polaroid has announced it will be launching 3 new desktop 3D printer models, all varying in size. Some details of the new machines include a layer resolution of 100 microns, compatibility with standard 1.75mm filament, a child-safety lock feature, and print progress visualization. Additionally, the new range of Polaroid 3D printers can reportedly be controlled via iOS or Android apps. While the features all sound pretty standard, the compact 3D printers, which can fit comfortably in your home or office, are perhaps most notable for their cost. According to Polaroid, its new 3D printers will hit the market this summer and will only cost between $499 and $799we imagine depending on what size you go for. As mentioned, Polaroid will also be launching two 3D pen models, one wired (the DRW100 3D pen) and one wireless (the DRW101 3D pen). The latter comes with an internal battery and charging stand. Both 3D pens will be compatible with ABS or PLA filaments and are expected to come with 10m of filament to get users going. The 3D pens are expected to retail for between $129 and $149. Both the 3D printers and 3D pens will reportedly be made in a range of colors, including black, pink, white, and blue. The 3D pen will also be released in yellow, giving consumers plenty of aesthetic options for their 3D printing products. Creativity has always been at the heart of our brand, commented Scott W. Hardy, President and CEO of Polaroid. For 80 years, we have given consumers the ability to express themselves and explore their own creativity, with the medium of instant photography top of mind. We could not be more excited to now offer another dimension with our new line of 3D printers and pens. Whether it be artwork, prototypes, jewelry, or models, were eagerly awaiting what our customers will create and just where their imaginations will take them. You can expect to see Polaroids 3D pens released as soon as March 2017, with its 3D printers following shortly after in July. Posted in 3D Printer Maybe you also like: Nancy Fraser in Dissent: Trumps victory is not solely a revolt against global finance. What his voters rejected was not neoliberalism tout court, but progressive neoliberalism. This may sound to some like an oxymoron, but it is a real, if perverse, political alignment that holds the key to understanding the U.S. election results and perhaps some developments elsewhere too. In its U.S. form, progressive neoliberalism is an alliance of mainstream currents of new social movements (feminism, anti-racism, multiculturalism, and LGBTQ rights), on the one side, and high-end symbolic and service-based business sectors (Wall Street, Silicon Valley, and Hollywood), on the other. In this alliance, progressive forces are effectively joined with the forces of cognitive capitalism, especially financialization. However unwittingly, the former lend their charisma to the latter. Ideals like diversity and empowerment, which could in principle serve different ends, now gloss policies that have devastated manufacturing and what were once middle-class lives. Progressive neoliberalism developed in the United States over the last three decades and was ratified with Bill Clintons election in 1992. Clinton was the principal engineer and standard-bearer of the New Democrats, the U.S. equivalent of Tony Blairs New Labor. In place of the New Deal coalition of unionized manufacturing workers, African Americans, and the urban middle classes, he forged a new alliance of entrepreneurs, suburbanites, new social movements, and youth, all proclaiming their modern, progressive bona fides by embracing diversity, multiculturalism, and womens rights. Even as it endorsed such progressive notions, the Clinton administration courted Wall Street. Turning the economy over to Goldman Sachs, it deregulated the banking system and negotiated the free-trade agreements that accelerated deindustrialization. What fell by the wayside was the Rust Beltonce the stronghold of New Deal social democracy, and now the region that delivered the electoral college to Donald Trump. That region, along with newer industrial centers in the South, took a major hit as runaway financialization unfolded over the course of the last two decades. Continued by his successors, including Barack Obama, Clintons policies degraded the living conditions of all working people, but especially those employed in industrial production. In short, Clintonism bears a heavy share of responsibility for the weakening of unions, the decline of real wages, the increasing precarity of work, and the rise of the twoearner family in place of the defunct family wage. More here. Virginia Gewin in Nature: Veerabhadran Ramanathan has modelled greenhouse-gas dynamics and quantified the chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) contribution to Earth's global warming. His work at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla, California, shows that CFC-replacing hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) also have a potent climate-warming effect. This finding led in October to HFCs being added to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer. He has engaged for a decade with religious leaders to act on climate change . When did you realize that science alone might not galvanize climate-change action? Many of my colleagues and I could see that, by mid-century, we'd shoot past 2-degrees warming, yet there was no public support for the drastic actions needed to steer us away from the cliff. I was discouraged and depressed. Then I got an e-mail telling me I'd been elected to the Pontifical Academy of Sciences in Vatican City, a body of only 80 members, one-third of whom are Nobel laureates. How did your early contact with the Vatican affect your outlook? I initially thought the e-mail was spam. Before I got involved with the Vatican, I didn't have the foggiest notion that religion could help to combat climate change. I've since gone on record to say that global warming has to be taught in every church, synagogue, mosque and temple before we are likely to take the sort of drastic actions necessary to head it off. Where did your involvement lead? At a meeting hosted by the Vatican in 2011, I teamed up with Dutch Nobel laureate Paul Crutzen to focus on glaciers. That opened my eyes to the power of the Church. In the meeting's scientific report, we included a prayer to protect humanity. There was tremendous opposition, but I stood behind its inclusion. We saw the potential of mobilizing religion to help, and proposed a Vatican-hosted meeting on sustainability. This took place in 2014 under Pope Francis. What happened after that meeting? In a Science paper that followed, we pointed out that we need a moral revolution: solving climate change requires a fundamental shift in humanity's attitude towards each other and nature ( and V. Ramanathan Science 345, 14571458; 2014). Faith leaders can make such a revolution happen. After the sustainability meeting, I had two minutes to give a summary to the Pope in the car park. I showed him that 5060% of climate-warming pollution comes from the wealthiest people on the planet. The bottom 3 billion contribute just 5%, but will experience the worst effects of climate change. That appealed to the Pope. He asked what to do. I told him to ask people to be better stewards of the planet. More here. Your guide to the tastiest foodie happenings going down this week. Bon appetit! Gastropig Opens in Uptown Oakland The Gastropig, a new pork-centric sandwich spot in Uptown Oakland, opened its doors on Tuesday. The fast-casual restaurant offers an array of breakfast sandwiches, including its signature BaconSlut, which features applewood smoked bacon, an over easy egg, cheddar cheese, and Aleppo chili aioli on a brioche roll. Also of note is the Ode to Genova, a classic Italian deli sandwich that pay homage to Oakland's Genova Delicatessen which closed at the end of 2016 after more than 90 years in Temescal. Breakfast just got better in Oakland. // Open Sunday-Friday, 2123 Franklin St. (Oakland), thegastropig.com Almanac Taproom Opens on 24th Street Almanac Beer opened a hip new taproom on 24th Street, in the former Sous Beurre Kitchen space, last week. This is the first brick-and-mortar space for the beer company started by Jesse Friedman and Damian Fagan, and it's pretty cool. Over a dozen barrel aged beers are on tap, and there are enough snacks, share plates, and sandwiches on the menu to help you drink through them all. Chef Chad Arnold (Dopo, Adesso) is crafting the food, and his duck sausage sandwich should not be missed. // Open Tuesday-Sunday, 3pm-11pm, 2704 24th St (Mission), almanacbeer.com CUESA/The Perennial's Ground Work Party Join a tree-planting party and farm tour to support carbon farming next week at Stemple Creek Ranch. Sponsored by CUESA, Slow Food San Francisco, and The Perennial, participants will tour Stemple Creek Ranch in Petaluma and learn how the ranch has implemented many climate-beneficial practices. Then, help plant willows and redwoods (which will sequester about 3 tons of carbon per year), before a delicious meal prepared by Chris Kiyuna and Anthony Myint of The Perennial. Tickets include round-trip transportation from The Perennial in San Francisco. // $120-$140, Sunday, Jan. 15, 9am-5pm, 900 Burbank Ln. (Petaluma), eventbrite.com/e/ground-work-party-tic... Parallel 37 Starts New Sunday Brunch Parallel 37 will serve a new Sunday brunch starting January 15th, and will change the menu every Sunday thereafter. In charge of the menu is chef de cuisine Michael Rotondo, who puts a creative spin on brunch classics using seasonal local produce from farmers markets. Think Dungeness crab eggs Benedict with a sourdough English muffin, Swiss chard, and red wine hollandaise; or a brioche French toast creme brulee with honey crisp apple and cinnamon spiced caramel. There'll also be a special raw bar menu with oysters on the half shell, ahi tuna tartare, shrimp cocktail with caviar, creme fraiche, and more. Yum! // Sundays starting Jan. 15, 10am-2pm, 600 Stockton St. (Chinatown), parallel37sf.com Central, Herreid-Selby, Warner just 1 win away from state title games Aberdeen Central, Warner, Herreid-Selby and Hitchcock-Tulare are all just one win away from high school football championship games. Thomas R. Cutler noted recently that U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker announced an award of $70 million to the new National Institute for Innovation in Manufacturing Biopharmaceuticals (NIIMBL), the eleventh institute in the Manufacturing USA network. This is the first institute with a focus area proposed by industry and the first funded by the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC). NIIMBL will help to advance U.S. leadership in the biopharmaceutical industry, foster economic development, improve medical treatments and ensure a qualified workforce by collaborating with educational institutions to develop new training programs matched to specific biopharma skill needs. In addition to the federal funding, the new institute is supported by an initial private investment of at least $129 million from a consortium of 150 companies, educational institutions, research centers, coordinating bodies, non-profits and manufacturing extension partnerships across the country. The consortium is establishing a new non-profit organization called USA Bio LLC to administer the cooperative agreement with NIST. Thomas R. Cutler will meet with the Manufacturing Media Consortium 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. About TR Cutler, Inc. TR Cutler, Inc. was founded seventeen years ago by Thomas R. Cutler. Cutler is the President and CEO of Fort Lauderdale, Florida-based, TR Cutler, Inc., (www.trcutlerinc.com), the largest manufacturing communication firm worldwide with four dozen industry experts and thought leaders on staff. Cutler maintains extraordinary relationships with clients, journalists, editors, economists, trendsetters, and key business leaders worldwide and has become a key resource for those writing about the manufacturing sector. Cutler founded the Manufacturing Media Consortium in 1999, which now has more than 6,000 global members including journalists, editors, publishers, and economists, worldwide writing about trends, industrial data, manufacturing case studies, material handling profiles, and robotics feature articles. Cutler works with thousands of media outlets to expand the coverage and importance of the manufacturing media coverage. Cutler has authored more than 6,000 articles for a wide range of manufacturing periodicals, industrial publications, and business journals each published in leading monthly trade magazines, B2B periodicals, blogs, and marquis publications globally. Cutler is the most published freelance industrial journalist worldwide, and more than 3500 industry leaders follow Cutler on Twitter daily at @ThomasRCutler. Media Contact Company Name: TR Cutler Inc. Contact Person: Thomas R. Cutler Email: trcutler@trcutlerinc.com Phone: 954-682-6200 Address:3032 S. Oakland Forest Dr. S-2803 City: Fort Lauderdale State: FLORIDA Country: United States Website: http://www.trcutlerinc.com Chinese bike-sharing startup Mobike announced on Wednesday it has raised $215 million in a new round of funding, led by Chinese internet giant Tencent Holdings Ltd and Warburg Pincus, a leading private equity firm. Davis Wang, co-founder and CEO of Mobike, said, "We will step up efforts to grow our presence in China and go global in 2017." Mobike is one of the fastest-growing bike-sharing companies in China, with services currently available in nine cities, including Beijing and Shanghai. It is competing with Ofo in the race for control of the nascent bike-on-demand sector. Mobike did not disclose its value after this financing round. New investors include Ctrip.com International Ltd, China's largest online travel agency, global leading private equity firm TPG, and Huazhu Hotels Group, which operates more than 3,100 hotels around China. "We will work with these companies in China's transport and travel sectors to unlock new growth opportunities and enable more travelers to go around cities more easily," the firm said in a statement. Venture capital powerhouses Hillhouse Capital and Sequoia China, existing investors, also increased their bets this round. Real Property Management of Durham & Orange Counties offers competitively priced and exceptional property management services in Durham, NC. The specialists at this company also offer free rental property assessments on many different types of rental properties. Real Property Management of Durham & Orange Counties is the company to rely on for the most detail-oriented property management team in Durham, NC. The professionals at this company offer expert management for all different categories of rental properties, so clients can always rest assured that their bottom line is in knowledgeable hands. Whether a client owns a single rental property or a multi-unit complex, this company has the tools, connections, and skills to make sure it is a profitable investment. With more than 25 years of experience in the industry, clients can expect the best from this team. That includes legal support for paperwork, accurate and in-depth accounting records, and passing inspections of any kind. Their comprehensive services include the following: State & Local Inspections Marketing Fast & Cost-Effective Repair Services, 24/7 Effective Tenant Screening Strict & Legally Compliant Evictions Legal Support & Tenant Agreements Complete Accounting Online Access to Up-To-Date Property Records Because of its dedication to the success of each client, this team takes a personalized approach to managing each property that they take on. From marketing to maintenance and tenant screening, they do it all. Nothing is left to chance and no detail is overlooked by the highly-trained and experienced experts at this company. During a free assessment, they are happy to discuss ways that homeowners can expect their propertys earning potential to be maximized. Improvements to increase curb appeal make a house more attractive to reliable tenants, and access to reliable emergency maintenance services is another benefit for homeowners and tenants alike. Take advantage of a free rental property assessment from Real Property Management of Durham & Orange Counties. Call the firm at (919) 297-8975 to find out more about their affordable and effective property management. Located in Durham, NC, the team also serves clients in Chapel Hill, Hillsborough, Bahama, and Carrboro, North Carolina. For further details visit their website at http://www.realpropertymgmt-nc.com/ Media Contact Company Name: Real Property Management of Durham & Orange Counties Contact Person: James Easterlin Email: jeasterlin@Real Property Managementdurham.com Phone: (919) 297-8975 Address:1410 W. Chapel Hill St. City: Durham State: NC Country: United States Website: http://www.realpropertymgmt-nc.com Lekki Lagos, February 1st 2019. Rilla Web Hosting, one of the top players in domain registration and web hosting has announces its full ... C1X, which has been in the news over the last few months after its Series B raise has appointed its leadership teams across the region and is now committed itself to building a world class infrastructure in Chennai supporting Tamil Nadu IT Development initiatives that could potentially add 100s of jobs to attract the best of talent in its engineering and product development teams in Chennai. The new facility is a state of the art center with absolute new age facilities that would ensure potential employees and the talent the company is looking for from across the country to feel empowered and build world class adtech solutions. Mukundu Kumaran, Co-Founder & CEO, said, We are committed to addressing the global market needs from our facility in Chennai. This facility is in line with our global strategy and our expansion plans across markets and being the leading AMT company in the world, we wanted to take a leap with a strong first mover advantage and continue to march ahead on all our product development activities for the various initiatives we have embarked on. To that effect we have hired some of the best talents globally in leadership positions and few more are slated to join in January, which will announce at the appropriate time. Now that the business growth in 2017 seems ominous it is important to support those teams with adequate product development and engineering folks to address our global expansion programme that Dan, Ram and I are spearheading. For the uninitiated, AMT stands for Advertising and Marketing Technology and given the exchange is a full stack solution across DSP, SSP, DMP, Ecommerce and Adserver, this company is pioneering the effort in addressing some of the futuristic technology requirements that brands and publishers are looking for. When quizzed on why AMT, Mukundu responded by saying, It is difficult to differentiate between various programmatic solutions that are available in the market and when during a brainstorming session one of our new hires prompted this coined word, we were convinced that we will lead the charge around this new stack that does not exist with any other player and so to differentiate and clearly position ourselves, we have decided to lead from the front as industry leaders in that category given we invented this one stack offering across categories through our data sciences and technology capability. Spearheading the market with a truly unified AMT platform that streamlines all the way from guaranteed premium media buys to marketing within large eCommerce platforms is our effort and we are leaving the product to do the talking We have heard of DSPs, SSPs and various programmatic offerings and here comes AMT, which is set to drive the change required through its transparent, ease of use and audience discovery platform, which is agnostic in nature and works seamlessly across both desktops and mobile. Chennai is now in the world map for adtech initiatives and C1X is leading that charge. C1X has offices globally including San Jose, Omaha, New York, Dubai, New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Singapore and Tokyo. Its San Jose, Bangalore and Chennai offices are focused on product development and engineering while the rest are offices that drive business. 13th January 20th January 22nd to 25th March ADFEST will soon welcome Wain Choi of creative powerhouse Cheil Worldwide to ADFEST 2017, where hell lead the Film Lotus and Radio Lotus categories as Jury President.I love seeing inspirational works created by different markets around the Asia Pacific, which is a focus that sets the ADFEST Lotus Awards apart from other shows in our industry. I will be looking for ideas shaped by local cultures that move people, brands and business, says Choi, Senior Vice President and Chief Creative Officer, who joined Cheil Worldwide in 2010 from Ogilvy Korea.Born in South Korea, Choi spent his formative years in Canada, and landed his first job in advertising in 1992 at Bates. He later joined Canada's largest advertising agency, Cossette Communications, followed by Young & Rubicam and a stint at Dentsu Belgium as Executive Creative Director.Jimmy Lam, President of ADFEST, says: Wain has won many awards in his career, and hes worked on some of the worlds most famous brands. As a Canadian-trained professional based in Seoul, he brings a uniquely global perspective to our jury panel his insights will ensure the best ideas rise to the top in the Film and Radio categories.Headquartered in Seoul, Cheil was founded in 1973 and ranks as the one of the worlds largest advertising agencies.Entries to the ADFEST 2017 Lotus Awards are now open. The deadline for categories that are judged remotely is, orfor all other categories.ADFEST 2017 runs fromat the Royal Cliff Hotels Group in Pattaya, Thailand. For more information, visit www.ADFEST.com Samsung India has launched a nationwide television and digital campaign showcasing its initiative to take customer service to the doorsteps of consumers in the hinterlands. The campaign film #SamsungCares has gone viral in the first four days of its launch and has already been viewed around 13 million times on YouTube. In October 2016, Samsung launched 535 service vans, to ensure timely service to customers in the remotest corners of India. With the new addition, the Samsung service network is now over 3,000 strong from around 2,000 service points earlier. With this, Samsungs reach will extend to customers in over 6,000 talukas across 29 states and 7 union territories, making Samsungs service network the largest in this industry in India. The new campaign showcases the journey of a young Samsung engineer, who is on his way to provide the services in a remote village in India. The commercial underlines Samsungs vision of creating long lasting relationship with its consumers through timely service. In the last 21 years in India, Samsung has grown to become the largest consumer electronics and mobile phones brand in India. With a wide portfolio of products that are sold across India through more than 150,000 retail outlets, Samsung also has a strong pan India service network. Our new initiative of expanding to rural India, right upto the taluka level, helps us in taking care of our valued customers, wherever they are. The new campaign video gives a glimpse of yet another initiative towards our Make for India commitment. We are very happy to receive an overwhelming response from consumers across India, who have given a big thumbs up to the campaign with around 13 million views on YouTube in just 96 hours, said Ranjivjit Singh, Chief Marketing Officer, Samsung India. The new campaign film is conceptualized by Cheil India and was unveiled across 50 television channels supported by print, across cities and digital. Sagar Mahabaleshwarkar, Chief Creative Officer, Cheil India, said, Samsung is without doubt at the cutting edge of technology. But even the most advanced products need some TLC once in a while. While others might expect you to visit their service centres, Samsung visits you instead. Thats the measure of Samsungs emotional investment in its customers. I am glad that the film adequately captures this warmth and commitment while balancing the rational demands of the brief. Samsung India Customer Service Initiative In addition to introducing 535 service vans, which are equipped with multi-skilled engineers, key components, DG sets and key jigs/fixtures for providing quick response and on-spot resolution, Samsung has also added over 250 service points and over 250 resident engineers, ramping up its service network. Samsung plans to add more service vans, open new service centres, appoint brand engineers and further strengthen its service network. The vans aim to provide speedy service with reduction in turn-around-time along with assured quality to each Samsung customer in every corner of India. Samsung continuously strives towards setting new customer service standards and enhancing its customer service network with new initiatives and programmes, focusing on overall customer delight, infrastructure enhancement and premium service delivery. Link to the film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=779KwjAYTeQ Tata Motors today launched its first product of the year, the new Tata Xenon Yodha, in the presence of its newly appointed brand ambassador, Akshay Kumar. Setting new benchmarks in the pick-up segment, the new Tata Xenon Yodha is suitable for a wide range of commercial applications a rugged, comfortable, safe and stylish work horse, characterised by everyday practicality, high levels of performance and lowest operating cost. The Tata Xenon Yodha comes with impressive features that gives it a competitive edge among other pick-ups. The smart pick-up is available in multiple variants 4x2 & 4x4 and in single & double cab options. Powered by a common rail diesel engine, the new Tata Xenon Yodha delivers high power and torque, for varied business requirements, for ease of day-to-day operations. The new Tata Xenon Yodha is an ideal solution for diverse commercial usage transporting agri-produce (Fruits & Vegetable), poultry, fish, milk, a cash van, a service support vehicle at construction sites. etc. Announcing the launch of the new Tata Xenon Yodha, Ravi Pisharody, Executive Director Commercial Vehicles, Tata Motors, said With the introduction of the new Tata Xenon Yodha, we at Tata Motors have a new range of smart pick-ups, which offers customers with a winning combination of high profitability and lowest total cost of ownership. Besides bolstering our presence in the growing pick-up space, the new Xenon Yodha will also enable us to partner existing mini-truck customers, aspiring the next phase of growth, to upgrade to a reliable stylish pick-up particularly in the post GST regime and on the back of improved road infrastructure, which will see the hub and spoke model of distribution, become more and more prominent. The new Xenon Yodha is an ideal work horse for diverse commercial usage and with this new range, we are confident of extending our lead in the light commercial vehicle category, complementing the success and popularity of the Tata Ace range of small commercial vehicles. Ravi Pisharody further went on to add I am happy to have Akshay Kumar here with us, for the launch of the new Xenon Yodha the first Tata Motors commercial vehicle, the actor is making an appearance with. Tata Motors association with Akshay Kumar will be supported by a high-decibel, 360 marketing campaign, starting with the Xenon Yodha. Besides products and solutions, Akshay will be actively involved in a host of innovative marketing and customer experience initiatives, to be rolled out by Tata Motors commercial vehicles division." Tata Xenon Yodha Performance & Ruggedness The new Tata Xenon Yodha has the best ground clearance of 210 mm, courtesy inclusion of a Tubular front axle,which also ensures best manoeuvrability both on and off road. Powered by a 3.0-litre engine, the Xenon Yodha is characterised by power. With an output of 53.7 kW (72 HP) in BSIII & 63.4 kW (85 HP) in BS IV, the engine delivers high torque of 223Nm in BS III & 250 Nm in BS IV. For better mileage, the smart pick-up has a reliable and rugged gear box, for a flat curve at 1600-2200 r/min. This aids in in better pick up in loaded condition, also ensuring lesser gear shifts. One of the key highlights of the new Xenon Yodha include high gradability enabling the vehicle to negotiate any terrains in loaded conditions, supported by bigger 16 inch tyre. The durable body is supported by 4 mm chassis frame, with reinforcements and a strong rear axle with unitized double bearing. The additional strong suspension 5-leaves at the front & 9-leaves at rear, ensures better safety in loaded conditions and at high speeds. Tata Xenon Yodha Comfort & Convenience The Tata Xenon Yodha promises to offer great cabin comfort with a Power Steering and an adjustable steering column. The interior of the new smart pick-up reinforces numerous specially designed utility spaces inside cabin, which are ideal for a convenient driving style. The cabin also includes High intensity cabin lights and complete carpet flooring for better aesthetics. The Xenon Yodha has a high load body with internal length of 2550 mm and width of 1750 mm, with a double paint coat and high gauge thick material, ensuring enhanced life. Tata Xenon Yodha Safety & Security The smart pick-up has been designed to meet global standards of safety. The vehicle is fitted with antiroll bars for better stability in loaded conditions at high speeds & loaded off road conditions. Other safety features like the unique 3-layered body construction, crumple zones, a collapsible steering column, retractable seatbelts and side intrusion beams, will protect passengers in the event of a side impact collision. Tata Xenon Yodha Looks & Style The striking design of the new Tata Xenon Yodha makes the enhanced performance of the vehicle noticeable at first glance. A perfect blend of practicality and performance, the Tata Xenon Yodha has an imposing stance, with its aggressive and contemporary SUV-like appearance. The look is further enhanced with aggressive body coloured bumpers. The vehicle also shows strength of character with its appealing integrated international look design with clean body line. Tata Xenon Yodha Service & Maintenance The service and maintenance attributes of the new Tata Xenon Yodha, guarantees peace of mind for its customers. The smart pick-up is equipped with LFL propeller shaft, which does not require greasing, resulting in lesser expenses. The service interval is increased to 20,000 km & higher oil change interval, resulting in more savings and high uptime. The trusted, rugged and reliable Driveline results in enhanced life and performance of the vehicle. What makes the new Xenon Yodha even more appealing is Tata Motors Buy Back inaugural offer, with an assurance of 50% of the asset cost, after four years of vehicle usage in captive applications, the first ever in the pick-up space. The new vehicle is also offered with a first-in-segment customized AMC package of 3 years / 1 lakh kms (whichever is earlier) and comes with a best-in-industry assured Warranty of 3 years or 3,00,000 km (whichever is earlier), for complete peace of mind to customers. The public pressure that led to a reversal by House Republicans on efforts to reduce the authority of the Office of Congressional Ethics has been a gratifying experience, one of the office's boardmembers said from her home in Flagstaff. I was a little surprised by it, but only a little bit, said Karan English, a former member of the U.S. House of Representatives representing northeastern Arizona who is one of eight members on the bipartisan board that oversees the ethics office. English has been on the board for eight years, making monthly trips to Washington D.C. where the board meets to decide on whether to pursue ethics investigations on legislators and their staffers and then whether findings of an investigation are deemed an official violation. As she watched the back and forth over the offices future Monday and Tuesday, English said it was concerning because Congress needs us. With public opinion about the federal legislators still at historic lows, English said she believes her group has incrementally improved the publics view of Congress. I think we could be a role model for what's broken in Congress, we take the time to respect each other and be civil to each other, she said. She also refuted some commonly issued criticisms of the office, including one that the office investigates, and forces members of Congress to defend themselves against, allegations filed anonymously. The offices investigations also dont necessarily mean doom for the person in the spotlight it can also help clear someones name who was accused of violation, English said. She pointed out that the office serves a unique role in accepting complaints from the public, which people have come to appreciate. This isnt the first time that the office has seen its future come under threat, English said. The first week of each new Congress there is always a rumor about what are they going to do with OCE because there is always some people who may have been investigated or unhappy with an investigation that didnt like us to be there, English said. We always know at the beginning of watch Congress because there was going to be some kind of activity. She has seen various efforts to defund the offices $1.4 million budget but said this recent move to mute its investigative power was more substantial. As for Donald Trumps Twitter comments that targeting the office shouldnt be a priority for Congress, English said she agrees with the president-elect that there are other more important issues on the table. I don't necessarily feel validated except that he too has said lets drain the swamp and that's what we were set up to do, she said. It says that once you get into Congress you do have to follow the ethics that Congress has set up for itself. It makes a difference in our country in how we're perceived in other countries and our role as a leader in the world. BAE Systems has received a contract from the Netherlands for the testing and verification of Active Protection Systems (APS) on its CV90 Infantry Fighting Vehicles. Active Protection is an advanced solution consisting of countermeasures that can intercept incoming rocket-propelled grenades, anti-tank missiles, and other threats to increase crew and vehicle survivability. BAE Systems, the manufacturer of the Dutch CV9035 variant vehicles, will lead the APS integration. BAE Systems will also carry out the future installation of the system, called Iron Fist, developed by Israeli supplier IMI Systems. Iron Fist is an automated system that uses a radar to detect and track threats and then takes action to eliminate the threat. Iron Fist will give the Dutch Army a highly sophisticated defensive tool on its CV90s to counter threats and improve the safety of the vehicle and its crew, said Tommy Gustafsson-Rask, managing director of Sweden-based BAE Systems Hagglunds. Iron Fist is yet another example of the advanced technology BAE Systems and its partners can deliver to our customers. The integration of this advanced APS solution onto the Dutch CV90s demonstrates the vehicles adaptability to new and evolving technologies to meet customer-specific requirements. During this test phase we will pre-qualify the active system against our threat specification, and together with our partners analyze system safety and prepare for its integration onto our CV9035NL vehicles, said Hans de Goeij, project manager at the Netherlands Defence Materiel Organisation, Ministry of Defence. We expect to make a decision on the next phase by early 2018. With Iron Fist, the Netherlands is expected to become the first NATO country with an Active Protection System of its kind on combat vehicles. BAE Systems is a leader in the development of survivability technologies for combat vehicles. The company has, for example, developed a system called ADAPTIV, which uses cloaking technology to alter the appearance of a vehicle, making it harder to identify. BAE Systems has also developed a situational awareness tool called BattleView 360. BattleView 360 employs sensors outside the vehicle that feed a 360-degree image to a helmet-mounted monocle, allowing soldiers inside the vehicle to essentially see through armor and better detect threats. As Trump stacks cabinet with China critics, UNITE HERE asks if the Utah Retirement Systems will sell a hotel located near a m... As President-elect Donald Trump taps cabinet nominees critical of China like Robert Lighthizer for U.S. trade representative and Peter Irvine for director of trade and industrial policy, Utah politicians could be taking a different tack. The Utah Retirement Systems (URS) owns a hotel located near a major port but may sell it to China-based investors absent a national security review, according to UNITE HERE. Congressman Alan Lowenthal (CA-47) wrote to Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew urging the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) to review the potential sale of URSs Westin Long Beach hotel to companies tied to China or other foreign states, according to UNITE HERE. URS Executive Director Daniel Andersen refused to allow public comment on the matter at its December 15 public meeting, says UNITE HERE. The sale of the Westin Long Beach raises potential national security questions because the hotel is next door to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Los Angeles/Long Beach Sea Port office, which handles sensitive information related to interstate commerce, and because the hotels clients have included the Department of Defense, Department of Justice, Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, according to UNITE HERE. But in an email to UNITE HERE on December 8, Andersen wrote that national security issues are not an appropriate discussion item for the Board and they will not take public comment on this area. CFIUS review is particularly appropriate, says UNITE HERE, given the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commissions November 2016 recommendation that U.S. lawmakers take action to ban Chinas state-owned firms from acquiring U.S. companies entirely. In October 2016, the sale of the Hotel del Coronado near San Diego to Chinese insurance giant Anbang Insurance Group was called off following concerns raised by CFIUS, according to press accounts. All seven members of the URS board are appointed by Utah governor Gary Herbert, who dropped his support for Trump following his comments about women in a 2005 video. Utah Senator Orrin Hatch and other Utah politicians stuck with Trump. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170104006237/en/ UNITE HERE Local 11 Jordan Fein Senior Research Analyst 312-576-5048 WOODLAND HILLS, Calif., Jan. 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Farmers Insurance, one of the nation's largest multiline insurer groups, today announced the launch of an innovative food truck insurance policy in California, marking the company's first official foray into the growing food truck insurance marketplace. Through its new offering, Farmers has begun to offer licensed food truck owners a single policy that combines elements of commercial automobile coverage for their truck with a restaurant business owner policy. Over the course of 2016, Farmers has introduced food truck insurance policies in a total of 29 states, with California being the last state. The food truck policy is now available in 29 states. "At Farmers, we understand that consumer preferences and the needs of business owners are constantly evolving, and we are continuously looking for new ways to meet these changing demands for our customers," said Jake Rothfuss, head of Commercial Multi-Peril and Commercial Auto at Farmers Insurance. "The increased popularity of food trucks is an example of the impact of shifting consumer preferences and it's important for Farmers to be able to provide our business owner customers with the insurance they want to continue to be successful in this constantly changing economy." The innovative Farmers food truck policy will offer food truck owners the option to obtain coverage for their truck or a truck attached to the stand-alone store. Currently, food truck owners are often left to work with a complex mixture of separate policies, including commercial auto, business owner and restaurant policies provided by different insurers. By combining coverages into a single food truck policy, mobile food entrepreneurs now have the option to select one policy for their food business on wheels. With this new policy offering, Farmers aims to solve the growing need for a single food truck policy that combines elements of a restaurant, business owner and commercial auto policy into one. Farmers is making it simple for food truck owners to quickly and easily select the coverage they want by calling their local Farmers agent. Additionally, food truck entrepreneurs can contact Farmers at the following toll-free number: 1-800-FARMERS, as well as visit Farmers.com to learn more about this innovative coverage through Farmers. About Farmers Insurance "Farmers Insurance" and "Farmers" are tradenames for a group of affiliated insurers providing insurance for automobiles, homes and small businesses and a wide range of other insurance and financial services and products. Farmers Insurance is proud to serve more than 10 million households with over 19 million individual policies, across all 50 states, through the efforts of more than 48,000 exclusive and independent agents and approximately 21,000 employees. Farmers Insurance Exchange, the largest of the three primary insurance insurers that make up Farmers Insurance, is recognized as one of the largest U.S. companies on the 2016 Fortune 500 list. Insurance is underwritten by Farmers Insurance Exchange and other affiliated insurance companies. Visit https://www.farmers.com/companies/ for a complete listing of companies. Not all insurers are authorized to provide insurance in all states. Coverage is not available in all states. Restrictions, exclusions, limits, and conditions apply. For more information about Farmers Insurance, visit Farmers.com, Twitter and Instagram, @WeAreFarmers, or Facebook.com/FarmersInsurance. Contact: Farmers Insurance Media Relations (818) 965-0007 mediarelations@farmersinsurance.com To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/farmers-insurance-offers-innovative-new-food-truck-insurance-product-in-california-300385770.html SOURCE Farmers Insurance WASHINGTON, Jan. 4, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Patients having mental health emergencies who require hospital admission wait nearly four times longer for an inpatient bed than their medical counterparts and more than five times as long for transfer to another facility, according to a study published online today in Annals of Emergency Medicine ("Analysis of Emergency Department Length of Stay for Mental Health Patients at Ten Massachusetts Emergency Departments"). "Boarding, the practice of prolonged waiting in the emergency department for an inpatient hospital bed or transfer to another facility, is a pervasive public health problem that disproportionately affects mental health patients," said lead study author Mark Pearlmutter, MD, FACEP, Chairman of the Academic Department of Emergency Medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston, Mass. "Boarding is a common problem nationwide, as are shortages of mental health beds for patients having psychiatric emergencies. Uninsured patients and those with Medicaid had significantly longer waits in the emergency department and were more than twice as likely to remain in the ER waiting for an inpatient bed than privately insured patients." For patients admitted to the hospital from the emergency department, the average length of stay was 4.2 hours for medical/surgical patients and 16.5 hours for mental health patients. For patients who required transfer to another facility, the average length of stay in the emergency department for medical/surgical patients was 3.9 hours but 21.5 hours for mental health patients. Patients with State Commonwealth insurance had the shortest overall length of stay of 8.32 hours, while self-pay/uninsured patients had the longest length of stay at 13.88 hours. Uninsured patients were 2.8 times more likely to have an emergency department stay greater than 24 hours and Medicaid patients were twice as likely to have an emergency department stay longer than 24 hours than privately insured patients. "While the notion of mental health parity has received some attention in recent years, the inequity in care for this particularly vulnerable group of patients persists," said Dr. Pearlmutter. "The wait for inpatient treatment is the largest driver of delays and crowding for emergency patients, particularly for the uninsured and underinsured. Support for community-based initiatives offering mental health resources to patients is urgently needed." Annals of Emergency Medicine is the peer-reviewed scientific journal for the American College of Emergency Physicians, the national medical society representing emergency medicine. ACEP is committed to advancing emergency care through continuing education, research, and public education. Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, ACEP has 53 chapters representing each state, as well as Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia. A Government Services Chapter represents emergency physicians employed by military branches and other government agencies. For more information, visit www.acep.org. www.annemergmed.com Twitter @emergencydocs To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/psychiatric-emergency-patients-in-massachusetts-wait-longest-for-hospital-beds-300385672.html SOURCE American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) USAF Total Force Band plays in Rose Parade The United States Air Force Total Force Band kicked off the Air Forces 70th birthday celebrations by playing at several venues in Southern California, culminating in an appearance in the 128th Rose Parade Jan. 2. The band is comprised of 103 active-duty and Air National Guard Airmen-musicians from around the Air Force with a majority of the members from the Air Force Band of the Golden West at Travis Air Force Base, California. The Air Force uses music as a communication tool to highlight the capabilities, innovation, heritage and significance of airpower to national security. Capt. Rafael Toro-Quinones, the Air Force BOGW commander and action officer for the trip, shared his excitement about the bands opportunity to represent the Air Force. The BOGW usually belongs to Air Mobility Command and its an honor and a privilege to be a part of the total force effort to represent the Air Force on this type of stage, Toro-Quinones said. As part of the weeklong celebration, the band performed in, or hosted, several events including Bandfest, instrument clinics for students at Arcadia High School in Arcadia, California, and a retreat ceremony at Disneyland. The events were designed to increase public awareness and provide an understanding of the bravery, sacrifice and dedication of Airmen. Assembling musicians from different locations to form one harmonious and synchronized band can be challenging at times. Lt. Col. Michael Willen, the Air Force Band of Mid-America commander based at Scott AFB, marched in his third Rose Parade and views it as any other mission. You bring together mission capabilities from all over the Air Force and you forward-deploy them to a location with a mission to execute, Willen said. The advanced team from Travis AFB did an excellent job of working out most of the bugs and avoiding the speedbumps. An important part of the bands appearance in Pasadena was supporting Air Force recruiting efforts. The band facilitated several music clinics for high school students to highlight what it does and how it fits into the Air Force mission. Were always looking for the next generation because our Airmen arent going to be here forever, Willen said. Anytime we get a chance to interface with youth and education, especially those on the cusp of college or entering a service, we want to afford them the opportunity to gain the knowledge of what the Air Force is all about. The band held several rehearsals at Arcadia High School, just a few miles from Pasadena. As a way to show their appreciation for the hospitality they received, band members provided several music clinics for the musicians of the high schools band. Senior Airman Alaina Shaw, a clarinetist with the Air Force BOGW, facilitated one of the classes. The students are so on top of things and so professional, Shaw said. I learn as much from them as they do from me. This is not the first time Air Force musicians participated in the Rose Parade; several musicians have performed in multiple parades. Master Sgt. Jeffrey Zelinka, a clarinetist from the Air National Guard Band of the West Coast, performed in his fourth Rose Parade. This parade is like no other in the world, Zelinka said. Its six miles of screaming and applauding with stadium seating and just a thrill to be on the streets in this parade. The Rose Parade is seen by more than 50 million people in the U.S. and televised in 210 countries and territories. Being the parent of an 11-year-old boy with high- functioning autism is often a challenging and difficult journey that requires patience and sacrifice said Master Sgt. Virmania Accoo.One of the biggest struggles we face as a family is helping my son adjust to a new PCS location and to find the right school that has the special education services our son needs, said Accoo, the Equal Opportunity office superintendent at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada.Fortunately, thousands of active-duty members like Accoo, and her husband, Master Sgt. Anthony Accoo, have found support through the Air Force Exceptional Family Member Program which allows Airmen to proceed to assignment locations where suitable medical, educational and other resources are available to treat special needs family members.Since we are enrolled in EFMP, it gives us peace of mind knowing that we will not PCS to a location that does not have the required services for our son, Accoo said. Shortly after our arrival at Nellis, it was comforting for my husband and me to get a phone call from our EFMP representative asking us if we needed anything. We also enjoy taking part in numerous events where various EFMP families can get together for support and networking.EFMP has three components:The assignment component ensures adequate special needs care is available at the Airmans projected location. It reassigns Airmen and their families if a new diagnosis cannot be provided through the military treatment facility, the supporting TRICARE network or a combination thereof.The medical component oversees medical clearances and enrolls the service member in EFMP. Special needs coordinators at base medical treatment facilities screen family members, so service members can obtain the necessary assignment limitation code, Q, which identifies them as having a family member with special needs.The family support component provides referral information, support services, respite care and relocation services, as well as contacts with government resources and civilian agencies. The family support function also assists with school-related issues, finance questions, crisis situations, and provides outreach and educational briefings to installation leadership and the community.All three components work together to streamline the process and support the needs of Airmen and their families, said Saundra Nichols, a EFMPs community readiness analyst at the Air Force Personnel Center. All Airman and Family Readiness Centers have a staff member assigned to work with Airmen and their special needs family members. They provide needs assessments and assistance in a multitude of areas.Enrollment in EFMP is mandatory for all active-duty Airmen with a family member with special needs. More than 28,000 active-duty Airmen with one or more exceptional family members are enrolled in the program.EFMP is limited to the Airmans spouse, child or other person actually residing in the Airmans household who is dependent on the Airman for financial support and who meets Defense Department enrollment criteria and is a military health care beneficiary.After the initial diagnosis, it can be a sad and confusing time for some families, Accoo said, but they do not have to shoulder the burden alone.AFPC will host two EFMP webcasts on Jan. 12 for spouses and families.For more information, search EFMP on the myPers website. Individuals who do not have a myPers account can request one by following these instructions More than 150 inmates of a southern Philippine jail escaped when suspected Muslim rebels stormed the dilapidated facility in a pre-dawn raid on Wednesday, killing one guard, authorities said. The attack added to a long history of daring jailbreaks in the strife-torn south, home to a decades-old Muslim separatist insurgency as well as extremist gangs that have recently declared allegiance to the Islamic State group. A two-hour long firefight broke out when more than 100 armed men believed to have been led by a local Muslim rebel commander attacked the jail in Kidapawan city at about 1:00am, jail authorities said. Its to rescue their comrades under our custody. It is a rescue operation, jail warden Peter John Bonggat told local ABS-CBN television. Bonggat said the attackers were believed to be a breakaway faction of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the nations largest Muslim rebel organisation that is in peace talks with the government. At least 158 prisoners had escaped, Bonggat said, although it was unclear how many of those were linked to the attackers or were just other inmates who took advantage of the chaos. The (inmates) took chances because of the volume of fire they used their bedding, piled them on top of each other to escape, Bonggat said. Shiv Sena will contest 150 seats in UP and plans to spread its wings outside Maharashtra. After the Election Commission announced dates for Uttar Pradesh, Goa, Punjab, Uttarakhand and Manipur assembly polls the Shiv Sena is likely to contest 150 seats in UP. Sena has taken this decision to expand its foothold outside Maharashtra. After BJP swept assembly polls and made inroads in to Maharashtra, Sena has been reduced to a junior alliance partner in the state. Therefore it plans to spread its wings outside Maharashtra to create a dent in BJPs Hindu votebank. Sena is keen to play the Hindutva card and will raise the issue of BJP sidelining Hindus. The party had earlier contested the Bihar assembly polls and had garnered more than two lakh votes. Sena is unhappy with the BJP for sidelining it in Maharashtra and the centre. The party also will contest the Goa assembly election. Shiv Sena had won more than two lakh votes in the Bihar assembly polls and many candidates had come second in the election on some places. Overall, the Shiv Sena polled 2.11 lakh votes in Bihar, comprising 0.6 percent of the total vote share. It also adversely affected the performance of BJP in Bihar. Sena is planning to rake up the Ram Mandir issue in UP to upset BJPs electoral prospects. Thus, a tough contest will be witnessed between Samajwadi Party, BSP, BJP, Congress and Shiv Sena in UP. Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut said, We will contest 150 seats in the UP assembly election. We already have an alliance with Subash Velingkars Goa Suraksha Manch (GSM) for contesting Goa assembly polls. However we plan to go solo in UP. Candidates and partys office bearers in the state have been instructed to galvanize support by strengthening partys presence at booth committee level, I have been holding meetings with former legislators and MPs across parties in Uttar Pradesh and many of them are keen to contest from Sena, he added. Shiv Sena President Uddhav Thackeray took a jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said, Modi has failed to fulfill the promises made by him. He had promised to bring achche din for people but where are good days? Citizens have to face huge hardships after demonetisation. We will contest UP election alone. We had contested 80 seats in Bihar on our own. And in most of these seats, we got more votes than what the BJP or its allies had won. In UP, we are confident of winning several seats, said a Shiv Sena leader. A source from BJP on the condition of anonymity said, Shiv Sena might be planning to contest UP assembly polls but the party doesnt have a base in the state. Sena will find it difficult to give a tough fight to Samajwadi party, BSP and Congress. The party had fought Bihar assembly polls but it failed to win any seat. In 2012 UP assembly polls, Sena had contested 31 seats but lost in all of them. The party is expecting to deliver a better performance this time by contesting 150 seats. The Bhiwandi crime unit officials in the last couple of days have arrested 13 persons and seized allegedly stolen property worth over Rs. 55 lakhs, police said. Those arrested hail from various places like Virar, Pune, Gujarat, Dhule and Nashik, DCP (Crime) Parag Manere said. In the first case police arrested nine persons, of which five belonged to Sikalkar gang which operated in and around Thane. Police seized 755 grams of gold and 14.707 kgs of silver totally valued at Rs. 26,02,767 from them, the officer said. They were wanted in various cases registered with Kapurbawdi police station and also with Mumbra police, said the official. Police also arrested three others from Vasai and seized allegedly stolen goods valued at Rs. 20,94,389. The goods were stolen from Narpoli and the case was registered there, the DCP said. One person was arrested from Nalasopara and 100 allegedly stolen tyres of a popular brand worth Rs. 8,87,315 were seized from him, the officer said. Flagstaff police are looking for Wilfred R. Yazzie, 25, of Flagstaff after he allegedly threatened to kill himself and several other people in a residence. According to police spokesperson Sgt. Cory Runge, officers responded to a call of a subject shooting a handgun and threatening to kill himself and others at 11:30 p.m. on Jan. 2. When officers arrived, they found the person making the threats, who was identified as Yazzie, had left with a handgun. A warrant has been issued for Yazzie for the charges of aggravated assault, disorderly conduct with a weapon, unlawful discharge of a firearm, assault and disorderly conduct per domestic violence. Police describe Yazzie as a 25-year-old Native American male, 5 feet 6 inches tall, 155 pounds with black hair and brown eyes. [dropcap]A[/dropcap]fter the announcement of poll dates in all the five states Election Commission of India (ECI) started preparing for the polls. However, for all other political parties and experts the battle field will be Uttar Pradesh. All have began basic exercises for the polls. Uttar Pradesh will vote in 7 phases, from February 11 to March 8 and Goa, Punjab on February 4, Uttarakhand on February 15 and Manipur in two phases on March 4, 8. The counting for all states will be held on March 11. In January 2016, the Election Commission began updating the electoral rolls in the state for the legislature elections that would be held for 403 seats in all assembly segments. Currently, the ruling Samajwadi Party has 229 seats in the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly, while the opposition Bahujan Samaj Party has 79, Bharatiya Janata Party has 41, and Congress has 29 seats. Apart from 403 seats, one seat for an Anglo-Indian is reserved. 160 million voters will exercise their franchise across five states this year. The Congress-PDF alliance was on shaky ground last year in Uttarakhand. After supporting the Congress during a crucial floor test, the PDF was eyeing a larger role in political matters. In the later part of the year, Congress-PDF ties again came under strain when Congress state chief Kishore Upadhyay demanded that PDF should make its stand on 2017 polls clear. Whatever is the scenario one cant ignore the popularity of Harish Rawat. Prime Minister Narendra Modi made lots of effort in influencing Uttarakhand voters, but still one need to wait and watch. Uttar Pradesh is governed by the Samajwadi Party, whose founding family is tangled in a massive and high-volume battle for power. Samajwadi Party Chief Mulayam Singh wants to remain in control of the party with his close aide and younger brother Shivpal Yadav. They are involved in a tussle with Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and his mentor, Ram Gopal Yadav, who is Mulayam Singh Yadavs cousin. The competing factions Akhilesh Yadavs is by far much larger have indicated that in UP, the last time the SP got only 29 per cent and managed a majority on its own. In a three or four cornered contest, even small victory margins may lead to substantial majority and a party which can secure more than 25 per cent votes will have serious chances of winning and BJP got 43 per cent votes in UP in 2014 general elections. BJP planned to woo people from all backgrounds, castes, and religions. District heads from backward sections were appointed to please the voters in majority. Shiv Pratap Shukla replaced Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi to woo forward sections and strike a balance between forward and backward votebanks. Amit Shah and Rajnath Singhs massive rallies to address farmers and other sections, and Brahm Chetna Yatra to target Buddhists were flagged off despite of the obvious damage that would be wreaked, reconciliation is out-of-bounds. The Congress which looks depleted after a series of electoral losses could form an alliance with Akhilesh Yadav if he proceeds to form his own party. A potential gainer apart from the BJP, which has not governed Uttar Pradesh for 14 years is Mayawati, the 60-year-old Dalit icon who has served four times as the states Chief Minister. Muslims, who form 19 per cent of the states population, have traditionally remained loyal to the Samajwadi Party. However, she is now working to attract and win them over to her Bahujan Samaj Party. Mayawati is calling on minority groups like the Dalits 22% of the population and Muslims to reject the BJP and its commitment to Hindu nationalism. Some lower caste voters deserted her BSP in 2014, allowing the BJP to win 71 out of 80 seats. Nevertheless, a series of attacks on Dalits this year including by self-styled Hindi cow vigilantes, has re-energised her. PM Modi has been making constant trips to UP and his constituency Varanasi. In his rally, he gave substantial attention to the point that the state government is not letting central schemes reach the people and how centre has tried resolving the long pending woes of UP, e.g. getting the dues of sugarcane farmers released. As of now, the chances are good. UP has been giving decisive mandates in recent times. So, overall the fight would be between BJP and BSP and it would be very close. If the recent surveys are to be believed, BSP has an edge. Also there would be no Bihar like grand alliance since Mayawati is clearly in control and doesnt need any other partys support. SP and Congress might stick together for survival but would be barely of any significance. Nevertheless, one should not misjudge UP voters. They are actually smart when it comes to politics and making political choices. They voted for Mulayam in 2012 with a comfortable majority but in 2014, they gave 73 seats out of 80 to BJP in Lok Sabha to make Modi PM of our country. Uttar Pradesh was seen as the main factor in electing party after seeing its Prime Minister works. PM Modis Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) swept Uttar Pradesh, in the 2014 general elections, handing him the biggest parliamentary majority in three decades. A repeat of that success would help the BJP wrest control of the Rajya Sabha, making it easier than it has been to pass key reforms. In 1991, Congress was nothing when PV Narasimha Rao became prime minister. Atal Bihari Vajpayee ran a stable government from 1999 to 2004 when BJP was not there in UP. Since then, Mayawati and Mulayam ruled UP till today, without affecting who the PM is in Delhi. SP might not have done much for five years and BSP may not have anything to offer, still both have their strong existence in the state. Interestingly, this time Mayawati is emerging as the main opponent to PM Modi in Uttar Pradesh. BJP chief Amit Shah has made more than 150 visits to the state in the last two years to expand the BJPs appeal from its traditional base of prosperous and upper caste voters to less privileged voters. Anyway, these days illiterate has mind but literate have only mouth. Lets see what will happen in UP. (Any suggestions, comments or dispute with regards to this article send us on feedback@afternoonvoice.com) With Anna Hazare moving the Bombay High Court seeking a CBI inquiry into the alleged Rs. 25,000 crore sugar cooperative factories scam, the NCP dubbed the social activist as an agent of the RSS. NCP spokesman Nawab Malik alleged that Hazare was playing a role in the RSS conspiracy to defame senior NCP leaders like Sharad Pawar. Why is Hazare not protesting over any issue in the BJP-ruled Maharashtra, Malik asked. Hazare recently moved the Bombay High Court seeking a CBI inquiry into what he termed a Rs. 25,000 crore sugar cooperative factories scam. He filed two civil PILs and a criminal PIL seeking a CBI probe into the issue. The criminal PIL is listed for hearing on January 6 before a bench headed by Justice Abhay Oka. The petitions alleged that fraud had been committed in governance by first burdening sugar cooperative factories with debts and thereafter selling these sick units at a throwaway price, causing loss of Rs. 25,000 crore to the government, cooperative sector and members of public. The petitions also demanded an inquiry by a Special Investigating Team (SIT) into alleged role of politicians into the sugar cooperative scam, including NCP president and former Union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar and his nephew and former irrigation minister Ajit Pawar. Thank you to Laura Hayes for sharing these stories. Pesticides rear their poisonous heads again. Dan Olmsted and Mark Blaxill have written about the insidious interaction of pesticides and mercury and viruses as part of the autism and polio epidemics. Pesticides were the focus of the mysterious illnesses in upstate NY high school females a few years ago. Monsanto Roundup is the focus of this Texas brawl: cotton versus wine grapes. And in a hideous tragedy in Amarillo, four children were killed when someone mixed water with a dangerous pesticide, creating a poisonous gas. From The Texas Tribune Competing against millions of acres of cotton, winegrowers fear federal approval of new herbicides to be used on genetically modified cotton seeds will wipe out the wine industry in the Texas High Plains. As Paul Bonarrigo watched his grapevines dwindle, he was confident that heavy-duty herbicides, probably sprayed on crops by a nearby farmer, were drifting into his vineyards. For the past two years, his 44 acres in Hale County once sprawling vineyards providing fruit for Bonarrigo's Messina Hof Winery have not produced any grapes as they wither from chemical damage. by John Stone Scotland is one of the first nations that will have to confront the meltdown of its services because of the tsunami of neurological problems engulfing its children. No amount of public relations whimsy can cover up the scale of this calamity. And nothing must stop its representative politicians demanding from its health executive the real reasons why this has happened they are in the dock of history. For two decades we have had the siren song that there is better recognition of autism, that there are as many unidentified cases hidden among the adult population: this is no longer tenable when the rate of ASD among younger children is now well above 1 in 30, and when there are a host of other impairments and health problems confronting Scotlands children. By now, it could well be that 1 in 10 boys at the younger end of the cohort is autistic spectrum. As of September 2016 based on Scottish Executive figures the rate of diagnosed autism in Scottish schools was 1 in 51 in a 15 year rolling cohort, but seven years before in 2009 it was just 1 in 129 (in 1998, the first year of data, it was 1 in 925). According to another set of figures the total number of pupils with additional needs support in Scottish schools rose 73% in just five years from 98,253 to 170, 239, or 25% of Scotlands children (again the proportion is likely to be much worse among younger children). A report last July by Scottish Conservatives highlighted rising prescriptions for Ritalin, a drug used for the treatment of attention and hyperactivity deficit disorder (ADHD) : The 123,222 items dispensed for the treatment of ADHD is a new record high, compared to 112,000 in 2014/15 and just 105,000 the year before that. Whatever their politically correct special needs rhetoric, every government in history (as any autism parent will tell you) has fought tooth and nail to keep the cost of special educational needs down. Diagnoses are not handed out easily. Moreover, most parents are not delighted to be told there is something amiss with their child, and most professionals will not enjoy telling them. This is not a chimaera, it is real and there is certainly worse to come. Something similar is also happening in Northern Ireland . The statistics, released by the Health and Social Care Board, show that the number of youngsters on waiting lists is up from 607 in 2012, to 2,325 this year. The figures were disclosed in response to an Assembly question from Upper Bann MLA Jo-Anne Dobson. Ms Dobson said she was shocked at the dramatic rise and said the figures showed that the crisis engulfing our hospitals had now spread to autism services. Assembly member Dobson is only half right because this is actually a story about sevices being engulfed by an epidemic, not because they are being run down. In English schools Autistic Spectrum cases continue to rise and are less than three year behind the levels now reported in Scotland. At some point reality has to dawn. This is happening because our children are having to sustain an unprecedented toxic burden of which an endlessly and recklessly extended vaccine schedule is a major component. Web Toolbar by Wibiya Washington, DC In the last days of the Obama Administration, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is about to dramatically increase allowable public exposure to radioactivity to levels thousands of times above the maximum limits of the Safe Drinking Water Act, according to documents the agency surrendered in a federal lawsuit brought by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). These radical rollbacks cover the intermediate period following a radiation release and could last for up to several years. This plan is in its final stage of approval. The documents indicate that the plans rationale is rooted in public relations, not public health. Following Japans Fukushima meltdown in 2011, EPAs claims that no radioactivity could reach the U.S. at levels of concern were contradicted by its own rainwater measurements showing contamination from Fukushima throughout the U.S. well above Safe Drinking Water Act limits. In reaction, EPA prepared new limits 1000s of times higher than even the Fukushima rainwater because EPA experienced major difficulties conveying to the public that the detected levelswere not of immediate concern for public health. When EPA published for public comment the proposed Protective Action Guides, it hid proposed new concentrations for all but four of the 110 radionuclides covered, and refused to reveal how much they were above Safe Drinking Water Act limits. It took a lawsuit to get EPA to release documents showing that The proposed PAGs for two radionuclides (Cobalt-60 and Calcium-45) are more than 10,000 times Safe Drinking Water Act limits. Others are hundreds or thousands of times higher; According to EPAs own internal analysis, some concentrations are high enough to deliver a lifetime permissible dose in a single day. Scores of other radionuclides would be allowed at levels that would produce a lifetime dose in a week or a month; The levels proposed by the Obama EPA are higher than what the Bush EPA tried to adopt--also in its final days. That plan was ultimately withdrawn; and EPA hid the proposed increases from the public so as to avoid confusion, intending to release the higher concentrations only after the proposal was adopted. The documents also reveal that EPAs radiation division even hid the new concentrations from other divisions of EPA that were critical of the proposal, requiring repeated efforts to get them to even be disclosed internally. To cover its embarrassment after being caught dissembling about Fukushima fallout on American soil, EPA is pursuing a justification for assuming a radioactive fetal position even in cases of ultra-high contamination, stated PEER Executive Director Jeff Ruch, noting that New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has called for the PAGs to be withdrawn on both public health and legal grounds. The Safe Drinking Water Act is a federal law; it cannot be nullified or neutered by regulatory guidance. Despite claims of transparency, EPA solicited public comment on its plan even as it hid the bulk of the plans effects. Nonetheless, more than 60,000 people filed comments in opposition. The Dr. Strangelove wing of EPA does not want this information shared with many of its own experts, let alone the public, added Ruch, noting that PEER had to file a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit to force release of exposure limits. This is a matter of public health that should be promulgated in broad daylight rather than slimed through in the witching hours of a departing administration. ### View ultra-high proposed PAG allowable concentrations (and explanation for the chart) See briefing memo explaining why EPA wants water PAGs Read letter of opposition from New York Attorney General Revisit PEER lawsuit WASHINGTON, Jan. 3, 2017 - Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack will become president and CEO of the U.S. Dairy Export Council when he leaves office this month, says a source familiar with his plans.Tom Suber retired at the end of the year as president of the organization, which is funded by checkoff revenue to track and promote trade in American dairy products and ingredients. Suber has been the groups president since its inception 21 years ago. In an email, Vilsack noted that there is a "lot of speculation going around these days," but said he would have nothing to say about "life after the administration" until he leaves his post. "I am focused on my current job and several items to get across the finish line," he said. A USDA spokeswoman said she could not confirm Vilsack's plans. A spokeswoman for Dairy Management Inc., which founded the export council and manages the National Dairy Council and the American Dairy Association, said she could not confirm or deny that Vilsack would take over the council. Vilsack, who has not discussed his post-USDA plans, is one of the longest serving agriculture secretaries in history, having served all eight years of the Obama presidency. Orville Freeman was the last person to hold the job for eight years, having served through the Kennedy and Johnson presidencies. Vilsack, who is a lawyer, served two terms as governor of Iowa. Another famous Iowan, James Tama Jim Wilson, holds the record as the longest-serving Cabinet member. He served as Secretary of Agriculture for 16 years, from 1897 to 1913, and served three different presidents. (Bill Tomson contributed to this report.) #30 For more news, go to: www.Agri-Pulse.com Burglary and assault The Coconino County Sheriffs Office responded to a report of an assault and burglary at midnight on Dec. 30 in Bellemont. The manager of a restaurant had just returned to her residence and entered her garage when two men broke in through the side door to her garage. The two suspects sprayed the woman with pepper spray and tried to choke her, while attempting to steal a box containing several thousand dollars. The suspects fled when another person at the residence heard the noise and came to the garage door. The suspects are described as two men dressed in dark clothing with white bandanas covering their faces. One suspect is described as tall and thin. The other suspect is described as shorter and of a stocky build. Deputies believe that the suspects had knowledge of the money being carried in the box and targeted the victim specifically. The Sheriffs Office was assisted by troopers from Arizona Department of Public Safety in an attempt to locate the suspects. The case is still under active investigation. If you have any information regarding this incident or the suspects, you are asked to call the Coconino County Sheriffs Office at (800) 338-7888 or Silent Witness at (928) 774-6111. Sexual conduct with a minor A 60-year-old Doney Park resident was arrested on Dec. 23 after deputies with the Coconino County Sheriff's Office investigated a report of possible sexual abuse of a minor. According to the Sheriff's Office, the charges were brought after a report of abuse was made in early December. During the investigation, deputies identified several victims.The victims were underage women who the suspect allegedly knew. The incidents of alleged abuse date from 2009 to the present. Herman Griego, 60, of Doney Park was arrested on charges of sexual conduct with a minor, sexual abuse of a child and sexual assault. Deputies are continuing to investigate the matter and additional charges may be brought forward at a later date. Griego currently is being held at the Coconino County Detention Facility on $1,000,000 bond. City and county residents who want to report a crime but wish to remain anonymous may call Silent Witness at 774-6111 or (877) 29-CRIME, submit a tip online at www.coconinosilentwitness.org, or text the word Flagtip along with your information to 274637 (CRIMES). Rewards of up to $2,000 are given for information that leads to an arrest. There were no winners last week with the arrest of South Carolina Rep. Chris Corley on felon What Assyrians Are Finding As They Return to the Nineveh Plain Destroyed Assyrian church in north Iraq. ( Humanitarian Nineveh Relief Organization) Mosul, Iraq -- As villages on Iraq's Nineveh Plain are liberated from Islamic State forces, the Christians who lived there have returned, only to find destruction and betrayal. "(When) we went to see what happened to our hometowns, we could not believe the hatred and the revenge that ISIS has against us," said Sister Diana Momeka, a nun with the Dominican Sisters of Saint Catherine of Siena who ministers to those displaced by ISIS. Sister Diana had taught at St. Ephrem Seminary in Bakhdida, Iraq before ISIS invaded in the summer of 2014 and drove out the region's Christians. The destruction, she told CNA, was "beyond imagination." After ISIS took over much of Northern Iraq in 2014, tens of thousands of refugees fled eastward into Iraqi Kurdistan. Many have been living in temporary housing unfit for the winter season, relying upon aid groups for their basic needs. Some of the Christians came from the Nineveh Plain, which lies between the city of Mosul -- Iraq's second-largest city and the current site of conflict between ISIS occupiers and coalition forces fighting to retake it -- to the west and Iraqi Kurdistan to the east. Recently, towns on the Nineveh Plain were liberated from ISIS control by a military coalition that included local militia. Christians who had been living in temporary shelters headed back home with joyful hearts, Sister Diana said. But what they saw when they arrived home broke their hearts. Evidence of ISIS' hatred and revenge was everywhere in the destruction of their homes. Graffiti on the walls of churches made threats like "we're going to break your crosses" and "you have no place with us." "It's a total mess," Sister Diana said. "There was some hope to have a future," she noted, but "we feel that there's no future left for the Christians. It's kind of a sign for us, 'you should leave, we've destroyed everything you have.'" Christians found that even their neighbors had betrayed them. "We discovered so many of our documents and our belongings at their places," Sister Diana said. "It is a genocide against us because they left us with nothing at all," she said of ISIS. Many residents still face the struggle of rebuilding their homes and villages, reconciling with their neighbors, and establishing security. It is a race against time to rebuild their homes before everyone chooses to leave Iraq, said Fr. Benham Benoka, president of the Humanitarian Nineveh Relief Organization which Sister Diana works with. "So many families are leaving Iraq," he told CNA. And the situation is even worse for those families who have left and are currently stranded in Lebanon, Turkey, and Jordan. Christians in the region need housing, employment, education, and treatment for medical and mental health issues, and Fr. Benham's organization is doing its best to provide for their needs. The relief organization has provided over 200,000 patients with free health care, as well as other types of aid. "The faith of the people is strong, even if they are leaving the country or they are staying there," he said. "But they're still praying, they still have hope in a big miracle for their lives," he added of the patients. Pope Francis, who in 2014 called Fr. Benoka and told him "I am with you in prayer always. I never forget you," sent a container of medical supplies to the group in November, Fr. Benoka said. "We thank him from our hearts," he said. Others displaced from their homes by violence may not be able to return home yet, or various reasons. They may fear for their security, particularly after their neighbors betrayed them to ISIS. The Syrian Catholic prelate of Mosul recently told the group Aid to the Church in Need that Muslim neighbors burned down 75 percent of Christian homes in the villages that have been freed from ISIS control. "We are afraid that we will have to continue to live with these people. We impatiently awaited liberation, and many wanted to return immediately, but there first need to be guarantees for our safety," he said. Fr. Benoka estimated that "if the situation continues as it is now," in two years the region could be empty of Christians. "The cradle of Christianity will be empty," he said. His relief organization has "grown day after day," he said, "because of the continual needs of the people who need health care." They have received support from friends and other Christian non-governmental organizations. "It's not easy" to meet all the needs of the displaced families, he said. "It's very, very difficult, and we need, really, the support of everybody." PHOENIX State utility regulators swore in a new member Tuesday and elected a new chairman amid controversies that could mean open warfare on the panel. In a ceremony filled with speeches and congratulations, Boyd Dunn, newly elected in November, was seated on the Arizona Corporation Commission as incumbents Bob Burns and Andy Tobin got new four-year terms. They join Tom Forese and Doug Little who were elected in 2014. But when Tobin nominated Forese to replace Little as chairman, Burns refused to go along. He said after the meeting that the pair had improperly attempted to fire a commission employee and then effectively pressured that person's supervisor to quit. Burns said that, in turn, resulted in Jodi Jerich, who as executive director had the exclusive power of hiring and firing staff, being forced out. She was replaced by former Tucson GOP legislator Ted Vogt who, after losing his 2012 reelection bid, held political positions for Republican governors Jan Brewer and Doug Ducey. "It sent a ripple through the commission,'' Burns told Capitol Media Services of the personnel actions. "It ruined the morale of the whole place.'' Forese said that wasn't exactly what happened but declined to go into specifics. But he acknowledged that he was part of the decision to replace Jerich, saying that's just what happens with a change of administration. Jerich did not return repeated calls seeking comment. But the new allegations come on top of existing battles within the commission. That includes Burns refusing to drop his bid to find out how much of the more than $3 million spent to elect Forese and Little in 2014 came from Arizona Public Service or Pinnacle West Capital Corp., its parent company. Burns even has issued subpoenas. The companies will neither confirm nor deny their roles in getting Forese and Little elected but are fighting the subpoenas in court. Forese, for his part, appears anxious to put the whole issue to bed. "Frankly, elections are elections and now it's time to govern,'' he told Capitol Media Services. He said having the commission spending time and effort on figuring out what happened in 2014 "is a tremendous distraction and a disservice to the people that we represent.'' Anyway, Forese said, Burns is obsessed with not just the 2014 campaign but also his push to forbid anonymous donations to political committees that put money into future commission races. "If I ask you, 'What do you think about the water crisis and its coming to Arizona,' and you respond, 'Dark money,' and I ask you about telecom regulation and the possibility for there to be potential money in the kitty that can be used for education, something people are talking about, and you respond 'APS,' we have a real communication problem,'' Forese said. Burns, however, is not giving up in his bid to get public disclosure, both retroactively through the subpoenas and prospectively with a court ruling that commissioners are entitled to that information. Despite their differences, Forese made it clear he's not oblivious to the controversies that have surrounded the five-member panel for the last few years. That includes not only who might have influenced previous elections but also whether commissioners have been less than transparent in their dealings. Some of that came to a head with a fight over a public records request of Bob Stump, most of which were destroyed and the balance of which a special investigator for the attorney general's office concluded were not public business. On Tuesday Forese promised both to institute a code of ethics at the commission as well as institute new rules to turn the public records process on its head. "There is more we can do to communicate the business of the commission to the public,'' he said in his prepared remarks on becoming chairman. Forese said the current system requires anyone interested in seeing what commission members have been doing to put in requests for specific public records. "Perhaps we can routinely upload public records to a server so the public may more easily access records such as emails and calendars,'' he said. Speaking later, Forese said it comes down to a matter of public confidence in the panel which regulates not only the rates of investor-owned utilities but also railroad and pipeline safety, the sale of securities and the registration of corporations. "I think transparency is greatly needed at the commission,'' he said. Forese said details, like whether text messages would be included, have yet to be worked out. What made the issue of Stump's use of texts so controversial was not just the large number just ahead of the 2014 primary but the list of those with whom he was communicating. That included APS executives, the head of a "dark money'' group funneling cash into the campaign and a consultant for Forese and Little whose election he was supporting. But the public got to see none of that after Stump said he not only routinely deleted his texts but destroyed his commission-issued phone. A forensic search done by the attorney general's office said the little that could be reconstructed was not public. In the wake of that controversy, Jerich put in place an electronic system which automatically downloads all texts to a commission server. Forese acknowledged that still leaves the question of those who try to avoid scrutiny by using their own personal phones or computers. "We'll have to make a note of it at the commission, just remind, especially the new commissioner, to keep them separate,'' he said. Money played a large role in the shape of the commission not just in 2014 but again this past year. This time officials APS and Pinnacle West were up front in the fact they spent $4.2 million to elect their preferred all-Republican slate of Tobin, Dunn and Burns. That backing of Burns came despite the fact that Solar City spent more than $700,000 solely to get him through the Republican primary. And that company spent another $2.4 million on the general election, mainly on behalf of Democrat Bill Mundell but, to a lesser extent, for fellow Democrat Tom Chabin as well as for Burns. Pinnacle West Chairman Don Brandt said his company was backing Burns anyway as he considered him far less odious to the company and its financial prospects than either Democrat. Forese, in his inaugural speech, laid out several other priorities for the panel. "We have an opportunity to encourage the sale of energy to Mexico,'' he said. Forese said that is far preferable to the United States exporting jobs to that country. And he said he believes that can be done in a way that benefits Arizona ratepayers. He also said he wants to encourage new technology that can improve service and bring down costs. But Forese said there's another side to all that. "Technologies that invade privacy and take away personal responsibility are strongly discouraged,'' he said. The vote to select Vogt as executive director, like the one to choose Forese as chairman, was preordained ahead of Tuesday's meeting. Tobin, who nominated him, cited his experience working at the director of operations for Gov. Doug Ducey and head of the Department of Veterans' Services under Gov. Jan Brewer. Prior to that, Vogt had been appointed to the House of Representatives in 2010 to fill the term of Frank Antenori who had been named to the Senate. He won a term of his own later that year but was defeated in the 2012 general election after the district lines were redrawn. Iran's Supreme Leader Visits Assyrian Family ( Fars News Agency) The Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution of Iran Grand Ayatollah Sayyed Ali Khamenei paid a surprise visit to the family of Christian martyr Robert Lazar on Christmas Eve 2015. Martyr Lazar was an Iranian Assyrian fighter who fiercely defended his country during the war launched by dictator Saddam Hussein on the Islamic Republic. He was martyred in 1986. Ten years later, his honorable body was restored along with a thousand of other Iranian martyrs. Sayyed Khamenei congratulated martyr Lazar's mother on Christmas and had a piece of talk with the family members. December 27, 2016 CAIRO According to Abdel-Hakim Awad, a member of the Fatah Revolutionary Council and the Palestinian National Council, Fatah crowned President Mahmoud Abbas king of Fatah during its 2009 congress, but Abbas will and political achievements have been hijacked by a group of other leaders. In an interview with Al-Monitor, Awad said he fears there is a hidden political agenda behind Abbas holding of the seventh general congress. The text of the interview follows: Al-Monitor: When was the Fatah reformist current first established, and why? Awad: Some are trying to describe the dispute between Abbas and Mohammed Dahlan as personal, but I think that it was caused by an objection to Abbas' policies, which have failed to achieve the desired results for the national project and Fatah's objectives of liberating the Palestinian people from the oppression of the occupation. The dispute was also caused by Abbas political approach, as he limited the struggle's choices in the negotiations, which only led to failure and frustration. There is agreement on the need to bring about reform and protect Fatah and its struggle. This has been the movements task ever since the dispute with Abbas started over his policies, his leadership approach, his political behavior and his clinging to obsolete tools amid an internal Palestinian situation that has deteriorated further. The Palestinian division continues and there are two governments one in Gaza and one in the West Bank not to mention Abbas and Hamas deference to foreign influence. As such, many leaders in the movement agreed to bring about reform within Fatah, particularly after the sixth Fatah congress that took place in 2009 in Bethlehem and after a group of those leaders felt that Abbas was drifting away from Fatahs political and national principles and objectives. During the congress, Abbas was crowned king of the movement and a lot of hopes were pinned on him to organize Fatah, find solutions to the problems plaguing the people, end division, restore Fatahs stature and reform the PLO institutions. But after the congress, Abbas didn't seem to have the intentions or means to achieve these plans, and he fell under the influence of a group of leaders who started guiding him. Therefore, he became trapped in the mud of personal desires and broke away from the interests of the people. Further, the movement's constituency watched its leadership weaken as the movement was neglected and turned into a political party affiliated with those in power. Meanwhile, the Palestinian political system became totalitarian, as Abbas monopolized governance and disrupted the parliament's work, something all Palestinians dreaded would happen. Thus the reformist current started to grow. The straw that broke the camel's back and made the current take public action was that Abbas started targeting people he labeled opponents just because they disagreed with his approach and attitudes, and he abused his powers and excluded other leaders, most notably Dahlan. Al-Monitor: Each body or bloc needs media outlets, and you have founded some outlets of your own. Can you tell us about them? Awad: A wide campaign was launched against this bloc of senior leaders who took it upon themselves to set the Fatah movement back on track and sought for more than five years to preserve and protect it from the weakness and abuses and policies that failed to further the Palestinian people and their cause. It was necessary to create the means to defend these goals and find a secure and better way to achieve these goals. And this can be done through creating diverse media outlets that serve as a platform for the leaders of this bloc and other segments of the Palestinian people, to counter the rabid and ferocious campaign led by local and international parties to demonize [the bloc] and address the false accusations made against it. Al-Monitor: You have been a member of the Fatah Revolutionary Council since the sixth Fatah congress. What led to your exclusion from the seventh congress? Awad: My exclusion was based on Abbas desire, his hatred-based actions toward those who disagree with his positions and his absolute monopolization. He is the president of the Palestinian Authority, head of the Fatah movement, head of the PLOs Executive Committee and the commander in chief of the Palestinian security forces. He neglects the law and the movement's statutes that govern its institutions. He monopolizes power and is abusive toward those who disagree with him. Al-Monitor: Fatahs seventh congress was held in Ramallah in December. What is your take on its exclusion of many leaders in the movement such as yourself and Dahlan? Awad: This was not a regular Fatah congress, but an exclusionary one that Abbas organized as he pleased in order to achieve the results he wanted and eliminate political rivals within Fatah. Chief among them is Dahlan. There could even be a political agenda behind [the congress], one aimed at controlling Fatah and changing its principles and objectives in a way that caters to the occupation and concludes a political deal with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in light of the deteriorating situation within Fatah. This is what the Fatah leaders fear. There are suspicions concerning the objectives of the congress, and the Fatah leaders and cadres have sensed the malice lying behind its objectives and the way the congress was organized. It is simply not logical to exclude from the congress members of the Fatah Legislative Council, elected members of the Revolutionary Council or prominent Fatah leaders. The congress included those who supported Abbas and excluded those who were against him, thus violating the movements statutes, internal regulations and Basic Law, not to mention the organizational criteria of any congress. Al-Monitor: The judiciary in the West Bank is affiliated with Abbas, and it recently issued a decision to lift the parliamentary immunity of five PLC members opposing Abbas. What is the message that Abbas wanted to convey through this decision? Awad: This is another political mistake committed by Abbas, a new crime in the history of [Palestinian] political action and a violation of the PAs Basic Law. The immunity of PLC members should be sacred. There are measures to hold members accountable, through commissions of inquiry formed by the PLC. What Abbas did is revenge against political opponents. This PA mentality that is controlling the people and invoking hatred, grudges and revenge will never manage to end the occupation. Al-Monitor: How do you perceive the future of Fatah in light of these problems? Awad: The current started developing a plan to oust those hijacking the movement and allow the latter to meet its challenges and restore its militant standing and stature. The first step is to convene a consultative meeting involving hundreds of leaders and cadres who were excluded by Abbas in the congress to discuss ways to save the movement. There are several locations where the congress can be held, but the most likely location will be Cairo during the first half of 2017. We cannot think of any safe moves that would be certain not to negatively affect what is left of Fatahs strength, which is dealt daily blows by a reckless leader. This meeting will not be aimed at splitting from the movement, but at holding consultations among a large group of leaders, discussing the output of the Abbas conference and then starting Fatahs restoration. January 3, 2017 CAIRO The Egyptian government has set its mind on finding a new legislation that would accelerate litigation procedures in terrorism crimes to a very tight timeline, with 30 days maximum as the governments decisive measure to combat terrorism. However, it opens the door for exceptional procedures and widening the circle of suspects under the guise of implementing justice. President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi used the concept of implementing justice in one of his speeches about the importance of amending laws and passing additional sanctions against extremists and terrorist organizations, particularly after the assassination of Prosecutor General Hisham Barakat in June 2015. Sisi said during Barakats funeral on June 30, 2015, The hands of justice are shackled by laws. Sisi used the same concept again during his speech at the funeral of the victims of the St. Peter and St. Paul Church explosion on Dec. 12, when he said, The laws are chaining, and the judiciary will never work decisively amid the current laws. One day after Sisis speech, the parliament made the first move not only to amend laws, but to propose the possibility of amending the constitution. To allow the military judiciary to look into terrorism crimes, we will amend the constitution accordingly, parliament Speaker Ali Abdel Aal said in the parliaments general session on Dec. 13. Despite Abdel Aals words, a number of parliamentarians said that such a step at the current time is ruled out. The legal rights gained under the current constitution cannot be undermined. The parliament will put into consideration disapproving of any liberty-depriving laws that can be appealed against, member of parliament Diaa Dawood told Al-Monitor. Most legal experts believe that the set of laws issued since 2013 for combatting terrorism, such as the Penal Code and the Law on Terrorist Entities and Combatting Terrorism, are more than enough to deter terrorism. Moreover, the Law on Protecting Vital and Military Facilities even grants authorities the right to refer civilians to military courts without contradicting the constitution. Referring civilians to military courts is already standing, and there is no need to make legislative or constitutional amendments, as the law for securing and protecting vital facilities has been extended for five more years since the beginning of 2016, Mohamed Nour Farahat, a constitutional law professor, told Al-Monitor. He also condemned any demands to amend the constitution. It indicates a distrust of the Egyptian judiciary to call for these demands and attempts to repeal constitutional articles that were a real gain deserved by Egyptians such as guaranteeing general liberties and the distribution of public expenditure in the budget, as well as the duration of presidential terms. Concerns about issuing laws that impose exceptional procedures through accelerating the process of trials regardless of fairness of the litigation process by exploitation of the terrorist tragedy that targeted Christians at St. Peter and St. Paul Church stem from the government taking similar measures when it issued the Law on Combatting Terrorism one month after Barakats assassination in June 2015. The Law on Combatting Terrorism includes a number of articles that generally target accelerating litigation procedures of terrorism lawsuits: Increasing penalties through deterrence sanctions for whoever takes part in terrorist actions to reach life sentences up to 25 years or death penalties. Exempting and immunizing the military and the police from persecution. Imposing sanctions on any journalist who publishes unreal data on terrorist operations that contradicts with official data. Granting the president the right to take precautionary measures to force a curfew to combat any terrorist danger. The Law on Combatting Terrorism, in general, is considered enough to address perpetrators of terrorism crimes legally. However, litigation procedures remained pursuant to the Criminal Procedure Code, which allows challenging rulings before a cassation court and referring them back to criminal courts to look into them. Moreover, the Law on Combatting Terrorism did not explicitly state that civilians could be tried before military judiciary, which would contradict Article 204 of the constitution, which states that civilians cannot be tried before military courts except for crimes that represent direct assault on military facilities. Typically, the Court of Cassation returns repealed cases to the criminal court to look into them. According to statements by Magdi el-Agaty, the minister of legal and parliamentary affairs, during the parliaments general session on Dec. 12, the amendments that are now being carried out by the government seek quicker issuance of rulings through obligating the Court of Cassation to contest the same rulings of repeal it issued, without having to return them to criminal courts to reduce stages of criminal procedures. The amendments might also include adding a new paragraph that makes it optional for the court to hear witnesses, unless the court decided hearing was necessary for the trial. Al-Monitor observed litigation procedures in Egyptian courts and noted that the pace of trials after June 30, 2013, showed that in about 16 cases where a large number of leaders from the Muslim Brotherhood and extremist groups were indicted, only four to eight months were taken to look into them. This contradicts the amount of time consumed by litigation in lawsuits being looked into ever since the January 25 Revolution, which are related to murdering demonstrators or trying Hosni Mubarak regime figures. Moreover, protracted litigation in cases related to incidents of violence committed by Islamist suspects usually has nothing to do with requests made by lawyers or hearing witnesses. The drawn out time frame is usually due to logistic and procedural reasons, such as the polices abstention from transferring suspects from places of their detention as well as the absence of prosecution witnesses who are National Security officers. Last but not least, the military judiciary has not yet decided on a number of lawsuits referred to it since issuing the Law of Combatting Terrorism in 2014. Concerns do not end with fearing the amendment of laws to impose more exceptional measures under the excuse of combating terrorism. Concerns also include amending the constitution itself, which will directly threaten some of the political gains brought about by the two revolutions of January 2011 and June 2013. In the absence of a parliamentary majority that supports the political authority, the parliament might adopt a set of amendments that include extending presidential terms and authority without finding real policies to combat terrorism, which is no longer the main challenge before the political administration as socio-economic crises preside over the Egyptian scene now. January 3, 2017 CAIRO On Dec. 20, the secretary of the Religious Committee at the Egyptian parliament, Omar Hamrouche, presented a draft law on regulating fatwas. The law will limit the issuing of religious edicts to senior scholars at Al-Azhar and Dar Al-Ifta and put an end to the numerous fatwas that incite violence and intolerance. The draft law stipulates that those issuing fatwas without licenses from Al-Azhar and Dar Al-Ifta shall either be imprisoned for a period of no more than six months or pay a fine of no more than 2,000 Egyptian pounds ($110), or both. Should the violation be repeated, the perpetrator shall be imprisoned and pay a fine of no more than 5,000 Egyptian pounds ($274). The draft law sparked controversy. Some supported it and saw it as a new step toward renewing religious discourse and confronting extremism. Those opposing it saw it as an attempt by the government to control religion in order to serve its own decisions. In this context, Hamrouche told Al-Monitor that the draft law does not target a specific movement, but is intended to regulate fatwas in general in order to achieve a moderate religious discourse and highlight the tolerance of Islam after numerous fatwas were issued calling for intolerance and discrimination, such as abandoning giving holiday greetings to Coptic Christians. He added, This draft law limits issuing fatwas to senior scholars at Al-Azhar and Dar Al-Ifta or those authorized by these authorities. But it excludes imams, preachers and teachers of Al-Azhar in respect to special fatwas such as prayer and fasting. However, fatwas in general such as those related to atonement and abandoning congratulatory greetings to Coptic Christians that create sectarian or ethnic strife between citizens can only be issued by Al-Azhar, Dar Al-Ifta and those authorized by them. Hamrouche pointed out that the proposed sanctions in the draft law stems from the fact that all terrorist attacks claim to be following fatwas, often issued by individuals with personal or political interests. He explained that the draft law was a step to renew the religious discourse, two years after President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi had called for renouncing extremism and terrorism and reaching a correct understanding of religion, stressing that something must be wrong with understanding and applying Islam when a Muslim kills another. But both al-Azhar and the Ministry of Awqaf failed to rise up to the challenge. Hamrouche confirmed that there is coordination between the parliament and the Egyptian Church to reach a common vision that can be implemented in reality to eliminate intolerance and combat extremism, both in Islam and Christianity. He stressed that he will not allow anyone to circumvent the law once it is passed, as has happened before when the Ministry of Awqaf granted Salafist leaders preaching permits after it had vowed in April 2014 not to issue any permits to those who are not competent and not authorized by Al-Azhar. Speaking to Al-Monitor, Sheikh Sherif al-Hawari, a member of the Salafist Calls board of directors, said that the draft law intends to fight extremism that does not stem from knowledge and only aims at terrorism. This is the case of the ideology adopted by the Islamic State and similar ignorant groups that have no knowledge in Sharia, he added. He further noted that there is nothing wrong with limiting the issuance of fatwas to Al-Azhar, but it could also include preachers who have knowledge in Sharia, provided that these fatwas would take into account the constants provided in the laws and religion, so long as they are accepted by Sharia. Hawari said, This draft law will not be the last obstacle in front of the Salafist Call [party]. We have plenty of evidence in the Quran and the sunna [verbally transmitted accounts of the prophets deeds and sayings], whereby we, as Muslims, are prohibited from passing on good wishes to Copts during their holidays. However, at the same time, we protect Coptic women, prevent their bloodshed, visit their sick and are good to them. The January 25 Revolution is the best proof of this. No Coptic church, shop or house was attacked. We will not force Christians to abandon their beliefs, and we will not allow anyone to do it with us. Talaat Marzouk, the assistant chairman of the Nour Party and head of the partys legal committee commissioned to study the draft law, told Al-Monitor that the partys parliamentary committee and the partys legislative committee have yet to finish studying the draft law. He added that there are some preliminary notes to this effect. Of note, the parliament religious committee is in charge of studying the law. However, the Nour Party is the political arm of the Salafist Call in Egypt and has established legal committees to also examine the law. For instance, the draft law is not based on general and unbiased legal grounds, as the law did not include all means of fatwas. The draft law stressed the fatwas issued via social networking sites, but left out the fatwas on TV and radio shows, where some anchormen issue fatwas, including Islam al-Buhairi, who was indicted for deriding religions on May 15, 2015, and later released by presidential pardon in November 2016. The wording of this draft law is loose, as there is no clear definition about the general fatwas and the ones relating to national issues. These two terms should be clearly defined since it is punishable for people who breach it, Marzouk said. According to Hamrouche, the general fatwas are related to issues such as designating infidels and apostates, whereas the fatwas on national affairs deal with more social issues such as prohibiting Muslims from passing on greetings and good wishes for Copts during their holidays, which would stir ill feelings between compatriots. He said that the law did not identify the necessary mechanisms to obtain a permit for issuing fatwas and the measures to prevent the Dar Al-Ifta administration and Al-Azhar from abusing granting permits. He added that the partys Parliamentary Committee as well as the Legislative Committee will meet within a week without setting a date to make a final decision as to the partys position, rejection or call for amendment regarding the law. For his part, Buhairi, who is also the head of the Islamic Studies Center at Al-Youm Al-Sabaa institution, told Al-Monitor, This [draft law] is a trivial step akin to the decision to unify the religions rhetoric. Ideology cannot be fought, and if the draft laws aim was to prevent people from discussing religion, [I do not believe this is feasible] as we live in a clerical state and we should distinguish between ideology and fatwa. Never in the history was ideology limited to one institution. January 4, 2017 Six minutes walk from the office of the Iranian president in downtown Tehran lies Horr Square, which features a statue of a warrior killing a mythical monster. Every time President Hassan Rouhani goes to work, he cant but see the warrior, who might inspire him in his fight for another term. While Rouhani might not be bound to lose, elements that could greatly assure his victory in the upcoming May elections are still missing. His main investment, the July 14, 2015, Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), does not seem to be satisfying the Iranian street. The nuclear deal might have doubled the countrys oil exports as well as ended its political and economic isolation, but to Rouhanis adversaries in Tehran, this does not mean anything when it comes to the battle for power. Make no mistake about it: Rouhani is engulfed in a fierce battle that might see him become the first Iranian president since 1981 to not serve a second term. This is what his conservative foes are fighting for, yet their coalition is not delivering despite the building of solid anti-government rhetoric, exploiting the setbacks of the JCPOA, highlighting the failures of Rouhanis team since coming to office in 2013 and hitting him over his shaky relationship with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The main reasons behind the conservatives failure include their lack of unity and the absence of strong candidates who could defeat the incumbent in the polls. While there is no doubt that Rouhani is under tremendous pressure, I don't see his re-election in danger mainly because there is no serious contender yet, Adnan Tabatabai, an Iran expert and the CEO of the Germany-based think tank Carpo, told Al-Monitor. Tabatabai added, Rouhani's mandate will certainly be weakened, and the complexities of the JCPOA implementation have called his foreign policies into question. The election of Donald Trump as president of the United States also has a negative impact on the Rouhani administration, mainly given how Trump has on several occasions reiterated that the nuclear deal should be amended. In a meeting with the army Nov. 27, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei for the first time publicly rebuked the presidents team for rushing to seal the deal. As such, it appears that what should have been Rouhanis main asset is becoming a liability. This alone, if he is re-elected, will bring him to a second term potentially weaker than any other Iranian president's. Rouhani might not continue his West-leaning approach, Tabatabai said. Iran may therefore become more isolationist itself, less keen on seeking partnerships with the West and in the region, and therefore hard-liners will be less concerned about the United States with a hawkish president. That may make life easier for Rouhani in his second term. Until a few months ago Sept. 25 to be precise former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was widely thought to be the main rival Rouhani would face in the May 2017 elections. He started campaigning across the country and was closing the gap, becoming a real threat to Rouhanis ambitions. Then, in late September, Rouhani appeared to suddenly enjoy some respite when Ayatollah Khamenei publicly gave Ahmadinejad the advice not to participate in the elections. But Ahmadinejad does not appear to have given up. The former president still wants to run in the elections, despite the [supreme] leaders advice, a moderate conservative source told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity. He is still going around the country, meeting people, launching media attacks on the government. He is trying to impose himself as a de facto candidate. The source said one reason Ayatollah Khamenei is unlikely to approve of Ahmadinejad's candidacy is that the controversy accompanying the former presidents return could shake up internal stability. Regardless of whether Ahmadinejad runs for office against the wishes of the supreme leader, there are other conservative candidates who want to seize the opportunity to go against a seemingly weakened Rouhani. Former Supreme National Security Council Secretary Saeed Jalili has announced his candidacy, with the voiding of the nuclear deal at the top of his priorities. Ezzatollah Zarghami, the former head of the state broadcaster, and former Minister of Science and Technology Mohammad Mehdi Zahedi have also announced their interest in running, while the usual candidates such as Tehran Mayor Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and former parliament Speaker Gholamali Haddad Adel have not yet announced whether they will be contesting the elections. One positive sign for the president has come from the decisions of parliament Speaker Ali Larijani, former IRGC commander Mohsen Rezai, Atomic Energy Organization of Iran chief Ali Akbar Salehi and Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif to not run against him and support his bid for a second term. To succeed, Rouhani will have to make use of the support he is attracting from moderate conservatives and their popular base. Meanwhile, he also needs to address the concerns and demands of his Reformist allies. Since taking office in 2013, Rouhani has rarely delivered on issues raised by his Reformist supporters, including the matter of the yearslong house arrests of former presidential candidates Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi. Other unfulfilled requests include those for a reduction in internet and social media restrictions and for a larger Reformist presence in the Cabinet. As previously suggested in Al-Monitor, the Reformists have no alternative to Rouhani in the coming elections but this does not mean that he can automatically count on everyone actually voting. Indeed, many Iranians, if not feeling content, might just decide to stay home rather than stand in long lines to cast a ballot for someone whose policies they do not trust. January 3, 2017 After the Dec. 29 announcement that Russia and Turkey had reached an agreement on a nationwide cease-fire in Syria, the United Nations Security Council on Dec. 31 unanimously approved a resolution welcoming the new effort to help resolve the Syrian crisis. Such unanimous international support, together with the overall effective implementation of the cease-fire by the concerned parties on the ground since Dec. 30, raises suggestions that this initiative is different from previous failed peace efforts. As Moscow and Ankara were busy preparing the ground for the implementation of the cease-fire deal, one important question is that of Irans role in the process. After all, Iran and Russia have been strong supporters of the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Moreover, before the announcement of the cease-fire deal, there were meetings in Moscow on Dec. 20 between the foreign and defense ministers of Russia, Turkey and Iran that resulted in an eight-point statement on how to jointly solve the Syrian conflict. Thus, does the cease-fire deal between Moscow and Ankara mean that Iran is being ignored and that a new framework for conflict resolution in Syria has been established? The short answer is a resolute "no." The terms of the Security Council resolution are not in contradiction with what was agreed to in the trilateral Dec. 20 meeting, but in fact a continuation of the Moscow Declaration. Points such as guaranteeing humanitarian access to all disputed territories, the necessity of finding a political solution for the conflict, excluding the Islamic State and Jabhat Fatah al-Sham (formerly Jabhat al-Nusra) from the cease-fire and choosing Kazakhstan as the host country for the upcoming talks between the Syrian government and the opposition are among the most important similarities between the trilateral statement and the Security Council resolution. Moreover, to better understand the dynamics at play, it is necessary to review the role Russia played in preparing the conditions for the cease-fire deal. In broad terms, it could be argued that the Dec. 20 meeting in Moscow was in fact not a trilateral mechanism between Russia, Iran and Turkey to find a consensual solution on Syria, but an attempt by Moscow to mediate between Tehran and Ankara and move them closer to each other. This is driven by how Moscow sees almost all of its goals in Syria as having been achieved now that eastern Aleppo has been returned to government control. Indeed, Russia has been successful not only in preserving the security of its military bases in western Syria, but also in terms of strengthening its influence in the country and even extending its formal military presence, which guarantees its long-term access to the Mediterranean Sea. By standing with the Syrian army until full victory in the all-important battle for Aleppo, Moscow also projected an image of itself as a genuinely reliable ally. Russia was furthermore successful in portraying itself as one of the few great powers that still has the ability to conduct military operations in remote areas. Hence, since Russia has won the war, it now wants to win the peace. Under these circumstances, Russia in the first phase could successfully help Iran and Turkey find common ground on the Syrian crisis and then concentrate its efforts on further proceeding with a political solution together with Turkey. As such, it could be argued that Irans current approach toward the Syrian issue is effectively pursued through the gates of Russia. In this vein, although there have been some points of concern in Iran regarding Turkeys policy toward Syria, it seems that these concerns have been at least partly eased. First, Iran has long been insisting that some of the groups Turkey has been supporting in Syria are terrorists and that this must change for a cease-fire agreement to work. The primary Iranian concern in this regard is Ankaras alleged links to Jabhat Fatah al-Sham and its apparent support of Ahrar al-Sham, another militant Salafi group. As was clear in both the Moscow Declaration and the Russia-Turkey cease-fire deal, Jabhat Fatah al-Sham and its affiliates are excluded from the cessation of hostilities while Ahrar al-Shams declared rejection of the accord effectively makes it a legitimate target. Hence, in practical terms, Ankara appears to have accepted what Iran has long been insisting on. Second, it seems that Turkey has made other important concessions, given its adherence to two important Iranian red lines. These include Turkeys refraining from insisting on Assads removal as a precondition for peace talks and also Turkey's refraining from demanding that certain Iran-backed groups, particularly Lebanons Hezbollah movement, be listed as groups not allowed to be present in Syria. There was no formal reference to Hezbollah in the Moscow Declaration or the Dec. 31 Security Council resolution. Moreover, members of Assads government will take part in the upcoming talks in Kazakhstan. Third, although Iran still has concerns regarding Turkey's operation in northern Syria, it appears that as long as the operation is limited to fighting the Islamic State and also the Kurds in the area and does not include some new areas particularly Raqqa Iran could tolerate it. This is because Tehran and Ankara have a shared interest in preventing more Kurdish autonomy in the region, since it could potentially ignite sentiments among Kurdish communities within their own borders. Moreover, some feel that after Turkey conducted a heavy operation entailing considerable financial and human costs in northern Syria, there should be a face-saving solution for Ankara. In this vein, allowing the forces Ankara backs to keep control over al-Bab at least until the conclusion of peace negotiations could be regarded as such a measure. All in all, it now seems that the best way forward for Iran and Turkey alike is to continue to communicate with each other on the Syrian crisis. Among the many players involved in Syria, Iran has the greatest shared interests with Turkey. Given that the nature of their relationship in Syria to date can best be characterized as a form of rivalry rather than enmity, points of disagreements could be addressed through the adoption of more pragmatism. In contrast, if Saudi Arabia, for instance, was part of the nascent peace process, the reaching of an understanding could be almost impossible due to the severe ideological confrontation between Tehran and Riyadh. As such, seemingly aware of the latter, Russia appears to have for now limited the Syrian stage to just Iran and Turkey. Al-Ahram Weekly, by Hany Ghoraba Egypt has been too diplomatic and politically correct in its responses to purposive antagonising by foreign powers. This weak approach must end, writes Hany Ghoraba The horrific suicide bombing of Saint Peter and Saint Paul Church in the heart of Cairo, with the dozens of innocent casualties that resulted from the barbaric attack, once again stirred up argument about the efficacy of the Egyptian authorities strategy towards fighting terrorism since the 30 June Revolution. Since June 2013, Egyptian authorities have utilised a timid rhetoric that can be summarised as letting friendly Western governments find out the truth for themselves about the situation in Egypt. Not only has this strategy failed for the most part, it allowed further foreign interference in Egyptian affairs backed by a biased media that is pro-Islamist and sponsored by the likes of Qatar and Turkey. What transpired from the above is a tarnished and false image of Egypt of being an autocratic state ruled by a dictator who is oppressing innocent Islamists along with other Egyptians. Most of these media outlets have overlooked the revolution of 30 June 2013, the first popular revolution to overthrow an Islamist government in modern history, labelling it a coup dEtat. Also, they overlooked the new constitution of 2014 which limits presidential tenure to a couple of four-years terms maximum, along with other achievements in Egypt during the past three years. Regardless, the urge to inspire the people and state officials towards fighting a total war on terrorism in Egypt has never been more essential than now. Despite achieving a great victory over the Muslim Brotherhood and their jihadist allies across the country, the terrorist group is still able to recruit and finance operations through their cells, such as the one that took place 12 December 2016 in the bombing at St Marks complex in Cairo. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the term total war is a war that is unrestricted in terms of the weapons used, the territory or combatants involved, or the objectives pursued, one in which the accepted rules of war are disregarded. The term can be defined in military terms as mobilising the entire population or an army towards fighting and defeating a common enemy. The United States and its allies applied such a strategy after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. As a result of continuous terrorist threats and attacks, the Egyptian state is urged to adopt a total war strategy to combat terrorism. This strategy must and should be supervised by the president himself and includes waging war on terrorism in the social, media and diplomatic fronts. SOCIAL WAR ON TERRORISM: The Egyptian president broke new ground with his announcement of a religious reform movement to be led by Al-Azhar in cooperation with the Egyptian intelligentsia, including writers, journalists, philosophers and thinkers. At the moment, the focus should be on the roots of the problem, which is the infectious spread of Wahhabi doctrine in Egypt at the hands of the Salafis and some Al-Azhar clerics who were affected by their Saudi counterparts in the past five decades. A policy of filtration of Wahhabi doctrine must be applied on all social levels, utilising school and university educational curricula, media outlets, social policies, laws and the political agenda to weed out Wahhabism from Egypt. This process may take years, but it has to be a declared social policy of Egypt. While the Ministry of Religious Endowments has taken some measures to end Wahhabi clerics from delivering speeches in mosques, these efforts remain short-lived and lacklustre in effect. Accordingly, a more state-wide filtration of Wahhabism should be applied, to be replaced by the more tolerant strains of Islam such as Sufism and Al-Ashari doctrines that have been the pillars of Egyptian Muslims for over 1,000 years. MEDIA WAR ON TERRORISM: Egypt spent billions of dollars in new arms deals with Russia, France, Germany and China to acquire new cutting edge weaponry for the Egyptian Armed Forces. These funds have been well spent to the last dollar and despite some criticisms more funds are needed in the upcoming period. The reason behind this is that Egypt has been placed within the greedy eyes of many terrorist groups along with regional powers. Egyptian army weapons purchases send a message that there is a hefty price for any nation desiring to meddle with Egypts security and interests. That said, the nation is losing ground in its media war waged by nations such as Turkey and Qatar through their respective media. It is imperative to establish a new multilingual Egyptian and international TV news network supervised by the Egyptian state and owned through stock shares. The new proposed TV network would be an essential tool to counter the ferocious media war waged on Egypt recently. It is equally essential to allocate significant funds towards Egyptian media outlets that can counter the propaganda war against Egypt. The new network would assist in clearing and correcting the tarnished image established by the Muslim Brotherhood and their affiliated pro-Islamist newspapers, such as The Guardian, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and of course the anti-Egypt Qatari propaganda machine Al-Jazeera. Egypt possesses the personnel, expertise, audience and funding to rival all these networks combined and stand victorious. The old tactic of allowing Western audiences to find out the truth themselves on real events in Egypt is obsolete and must be replaced by a more hands-on approach where the world hears about Egypt from real Egyptian sources, and not through Qataris, Brits, Americans, etc. The Egyptian state has a tough task at hand, which is to defend Egypt through establishing strong media outlets in coordination with the private sector. This would ensure that the right image is presented to the world, one that accordingly garners tangible tourism, investment and economic gains. Fighting media wars with 21st century weapons is as important as defeating terrorists and clearing their hideouts by conventional arms. The once leading Egyptian media is now far behind others in the region and is not utilising a fraction of its potential. Restoring Egypts status as powerhouse in the region, a goal is adopted by President Al-Sisi, requires revamping of all media related policies and tools to counter the media attack Egypt is under. DIPLOMATIC WAR ON TERRORISM: Terrorist groups in the Middle East are mostly funded through intelligence agencies or regimes that back them for geopolitical gains and leverage. They are similar in effect to ancient assassins, only they are more devastating in effect since they can target and wreak havoc in entire countries. Accordingly, exposing all regimes that support these terrorists, whether financially, diplomatically or militarily, is imperative in Egypts long term plans for stabilisation. Diplomatic and economic pressure must be exerted openly on any regime that endorses, directly or indirectly, terrorist groups in Egypt. The lacklustre press statements from the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs are hardly enough to counter the lies spread about Egypt. Similarly, the Egyptian foreign ministry is still attempting to appear cordial, diplomatic or politically correct against those who display blatant animosity towards Egyptians and Egypt. The problem remains that Egypts enemies are still treated as friends in diplomatic circles and never feel the brunt or consequences of their hostile actions against Egypt. While Egypt extends the hand of friendship to the entire world, including former enemies such as Israel, Egypt cannot be seen to show any sign of weakness or any consideration towards those who openly antagonise the country. The Turkish and Qatari regimes must be exposed to the international community and pressured not to harbour terrorists of the Muslim Brotherhood, Islamic Jihad and other terrorist organisations who fled Egypt and find refuge there. Changing Egypts policies towards these countries and applying economic pressure should start forthwith until either regime change takes place in these countries or these regimes officially denounce their former acts of aggression with practical steps while delivering reparations. After all, there are no permanent allies or permanent enemies, only permanent interests. Wars are never won in a day but are won battle after battle on multiple fronts. It is high time to fight all these wars simultaneously through a clear total war strategy devised by the Egyptian authorities to ensure that Egypt prevails through this vicious war. The writer is a political analyst, writer and author of Egypts Arab Spring and Winding Road for Democracy. January 3, 2017 Three days before the world community reiterated at the UN Security Council on Dec. 23 that Israeli settlements in the occupied territories are unauthorized, the Israeli High Court was trying to justify the expulsion of a Palestinian family in Jerusalems Old City. In responding to an appeal against the family's expulsion from the home it has lived in since 1953, the Israeli High Court ruled Dec. 20 that Mustafa and Nora Sublaban can stay in their home 10 more years but on condition that their children cant live with them so as not to transfer ownership to the third generation. A small storage room that also belonged to the family was granted to the hard-line settler movement that has been trying to expel the Sublaban family. The Sublaban family has rented the home from the Jordanian government since 1953. Family members told Al-Monitor that since the 1970s, Jewish settler groups have eyed their home and have prevented them from all attempts to renovate or fix it, claiming that the house belonged to a Jewish family before 1948. The Jewish family that reportedly lived in the house before Israel was created is not part of the expulsion attempt; rather, a right-wing Jewish group called Kollel Galicia Trust is behind the attempt. Mohammad Dahleh, the attorney for the Sublaban family, told Al-Monitor that the ruling is unprecedented" and one of the strangest he has seen. Allowing the woman who was born in this house to live in it for 10 years and preventing her children from being with her has never been ruled on by Israels highest court. They tried to appear to show justice to Nora Sublaban, while tying her hands as to how the house she has a right to can be used. Dahleh said that it will be hard to implement this decision. Who will decide if her children are living in the house or not? Will the settlers put up cameras or hire a guard to record the goings and comings of the Sublaban family? Dahleh asked. A long article in The New York Times in January 2016 dealt with the issue of Palestinian families threatened with expulsion. It also exposed the major differences in applying law in Israel. It is kicking the hornets nest of 1948, Daniel Seidemann, an Israeli lawyer specialized in Jerusalem affairs, told the paper. Seidemann told Al-Monitor that what happened to the Sublaban family revealed the rawest nerve in the conflict. When Jews regain lost property even at the expense of Palestinian families, while Palestinians dont have a similar right, this exposes one of the rawest nerves in the conflict. Seidemann added that what makes things worse is that the people trying to recover these properties have no direct connection to the land and homes while victims are people who live in these homes and have memories. The Jerusalem-based lawyer Dahleh said two different laws apply to the two communities when it comes to absentee property. Jewish property left in areas under Jordans control were kept by the Jordanian government according to international law and were not disposed of, even though they were made available through rentals to local Palestinians. On the other hand, Israeli law prevents Palestinians from recovering their lost property lost in the same war. Seidemann said the latest UN Security Council resolution dealing with the Israeli-Palestinian issues has a direct implication on what is happening in Jerusalem. Resolution 2334 ruled that settlements are illegal and unlawful, and regardless of the legal mechanisms established by Israel that allows taking the property, the international community steps in and says it is illegal. Homes were lost on both sides during the war in the same city. The Israeli legal system cant address one tragedy of the war while ignoring the other. Seidemann also tried to look at the Sublaban case from a political perspective. The numbers of cases of individuals threatened with expulsion are not huge, but the impact is enormous because this applies the Jewish right of return while denying the Palestinian right of return. However way this conflict will be solved, it must be solved on equality. If you waive the right to go back to your ancestors home, it has to be on both sides, Seidemann told Al-Monitor. The UNs humanitarian organization OCHA announced Nov. 3 that 180 Palestinian households in East Jerusalem have eviction cases filed against them. UN Security Council Resolution 2334, adopted Dec. 23, considers all settlements, including those in East Jerusalem, to be unauthorized and part of the occupied territories. The Fourth Geneva Convention, which details how occupied areas are to be administered, bars people from the occupied power (in this case Israel) from moving into the occupied areas. The case of the Sublaban family reflects the inability of Israelis to reconcile between peace and settlements. By referring the case to the High Court, the problem was not resolved but produced a strange and impractical solution. The sooner the Israelis are able to internalize the fact that settlements and peace are incompatible as the latest UN Security Council resolution resolved and as US Secretary of State John Kerry stated in his speech Dec. 28 the sooner we can begin the genuine search for a peaceful solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. January 3, 2017 BAGHDAD As fierce fighting continues against the Islamic State for the city of Mosul, political leaders are working to piece the fragments of a shattered Iraq back together. During the Dec. 7 visit of Ammar al-Hakim, the head of the National Iraqi Alliance, to Amman, Jordan's King Abdullah examined details of a document known as the Historical Settlement, which the alliance has adopted with the goal of achieving national reconciliation in Iraq. Sunni leaders also visited Jordan after this, including parliament Speaker Salim al-Jabouri, Mutahidoun bloc head Osama al-Nujaifi and Al-Arabiya coalition leader Saleh al-Mutlaq. The trio met Dec. 19 with Abdullah to discuss the document. Some Sunni leaders have rejected the proposal, which was initiated by the predominately Shiite National Alliance. These Sunnis previously said they were preparing their own version to be unveiled this week. The Sunni disagreement is mostly over the de-Baathification and Popular Mobilization Units laws, and they want the amnesty law strengthened. Like its neighboring countries, Jordan plays a pivotal and influential role in some Iraqi political blocs and acts as a mediator in some issues. Many prominent leaders from the Arab Socialist Baath Party live in Jordan, and figures opposing the current Iraqi regime hold their conferences in the kingdom. Jordan is not the only party seeking a national Iraqi reconciliation that includes Baath members or leaders who have left Iraq since 2003. There are several Arab parties that want this reconciliation, especially considering past de-Baathification attempts. The Baath Party was the ruling power when the US-led coalition invaded Iraq in 2003. A source participating in the meetings with Abdullah told Al-Monitor in a brief interview on condition of anonymity, The latest meeting between Hakim and King Abdullah in Amman tackled the historical settlement, and the king praised the steps taken to resolve the situation in Iraq. However, When Hakim was explaining the details of the initiative, King Abdullah was surprised that it did not include the Baathists. So he told Hakim that he expected the settlement to include Baath members and that the brokerage was for that reason. King Abdullah said that the Baathists are part of the Iraqi situation and should be part of the reconciliation. Khudair al-Murshidi, the head of foreign relations for the Baath Party, affirmed Jordans attempts to hold talks with the Baathists regarding the settlement. He told Al-Monitor, The Baath Party highly appreciates and welcomes the positive attempts from Jordan or any Arab state to help Iraqis in resolving their issues that stem from occupation. But the real problem in Iraq is much more complicated and much deeper than bringing back some leaders to the political forefront after selectively canceling sanctions imposed on them by the ruling regime in Baghdad. He said, The Baath Party wants a comprehensive, complete and permanent solution for the Iraqi problem to ensure the rights of all Iraqis without exception, as those were violated by the US and Iranian occupation. The solution pillars include redrafting the constitution, changing the political process on national bases, annulling the de-Baathification measures, eliminating the law to ban the party and its subsequent decisions, halting the arrest and assassination of Baath leaders and members, releasing detainees and political prisoners, and compensating the material and moral losses of those affected by the occupation. The measures can ensure understanding, settlement and real reconciliation, if applied. Murshidi added, The main obstacle preventing this understanding and impeding the national solution is Iran and its militias and parties. Perhaps some states do not want Iraq to be strong, united and stable again. The United States has legal, ethical and historical responsibility to bear as per international law, as it invaded Iraq and drove it to disintegration, regression and destruction. There are harbingers of a settlement with the Baathists, rather than the Baath Party in general, amid domestic and foreign influence. Iraq would witness the return of dozens or even hundreds of figures who were reportedly or effectively affiliated with the Baath Party but fearing assassination left the party during the 2003 invasion. Although the Historical Settlement draft that was posted on local Iraqi media was not the final one, it did contain a refusal to include the Baath Party in the settlement. Fadi al-Shammari, a member of the Islamic Supreme Council that Hakim heads, told Al-Monitor, The Historical Settlement document will set the stage for understandings with different [groups], even former Baathists." Shiite and many Sunni parties in Iraq are banking on Jordan to provide the needed balance in the settlement proposed by the Shiite National Iraqi Alliance. But the plan also requires Arab and Iranian perspectives. Although Saudi Arabia, Iran, the United States and perhaps Ankara, among others, need to examine the document, the process of achieving balance will likely come from within Jordan's borders. Jordan is the refuge of Sunnis and Baathists and is welcomed by several Shiite leaders. Media reports talked about meetings between the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq and Baath leaders in Amman. Such meetings will only happen with the approval and knowledge of the Jordanian government, which will be a main influence in bringing together the perspectives of Baathists and the National Iraqi Alliance, which proposed the settlement document. The final draft of the document is expected to include Baathists in their personal capacity rather than in the framework of the party, as former Iraqi Vice President Ayad Allawi had asserted. That could make it easier for the Shiite alliance to compromise under the pressure it might face to reconcile with some Baath leaders and to make the attempts to bring back Baathist leaders into political work successful. January 3, 2017 Donald Trumps election has sent shock waves throughout the loosely knit community of religious-minded Muslims working to gain political power through democratic means. From Washington to London to Istanbul, the broad spectrum of so-called political Islamists are bracing for what many fear is becoming a witch hunt that threatens to undo the few gains they were able to secure post-Arab Spring. For the past several weeks, theyve been debating how best to convey their beliefs to an incoming US administration thats skeptical if not outright hostile of any effort to shake up the Middle Easts authoritarian establishment. At its heart, their argument is that by bowing to domestic Islamophobia and foreign autocrats, the United States risks alienating millions of mostly young people who still believe that peaceful transitions of power are both possible and desirable. That in turn could delay Islamists democratic evolution, undermine US allies that have worked to incorporate them into the political structure, prolong the regions conflicts and ultimately fuel more terrorism. What needs to be understood is that the most important element of that broad spectrum of political Islam in my view is the pro-democracy element. That is the element that was part and parcel of the revolution in Tunisia, and Egypt, and Libya, and Syria. Its the element that is mobilizing and motivating voters, said Anas Altikriti, the chairman of the Muslim Association of Britain, which is ideologically close to the Muslim Brotherhood. Youre not talking about fringe parties. Youre talking about real major political players who have, regardless of whether you agree or not with their ideology rejected violence and espoused democracy. Getting that message through to the new administration and the incoming Republican-led Congress could prove a tall order. Trumps choice to be national security adviser, Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, has called Islam a political ideology that hides behind this notion of it being a religion. House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Michael McCaul, R-Texas, has made it clear hes gunning for legislation that would push the State Department to label the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization. Even Trumps generally nuanced choice for secretary of defense, Gen. James Mattis, has spoken ominously about the movements goals. Is political Islam in the best interest of the United States? Mattis asked at a forum at the conservative Heritage Foundation in 2015. "I suggest the answer is no, but we need to have the discussion. If we won't even ask the question, how do we even recognize our side in this fight?" Political Islams defenders respond that theres now a well-documented record of their time in power for anyone curious enough to look. From Morocco to Tunisia to Jordan and Kuwait, Islamic values-based political parties have openly served and even led in parliament and government since the 2011 revolutions. (Click here to view a PDF version of this chart) Alarmists are doing a disservice to the American public, and even to American interests in the region, by lumping all these groups in one category, said Mongi Dhaouadi, a senior program officer at the Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy, a think tank that advocates for better US relations with political Islam. Many of them now have been in government. So look at what they have done what they have achieved, or failed to achieve, and base your decision on that. If there is evidence that these groups have engaged in any kind of terrorist activities or terrorist language or anything, just say so, but designate that group, don't cast a wide net on everybody else. If anything, Altikriti argues, that experience governing has often tempered political Islamists goals and expectations. While the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhoods incompetence and authoritarian tendencies during its short stint in power under President Mohammed Morsi offers a cautionary tale, that group operated in the shadows for decades after being banned for the first time in 1948. Its a good thing that we draw people out from underground and allow them a chance if they win elections to actually take their turn, Altikriti said. And we will find that their narrative, as well as their practice, will be tempered, will be moderated by the brutal truth of [the] reality [of governing]. Dhaouadi pointed to last years British parliamentary inquiry into political Islam as a model that the United States could emulate in its deliberations. After hearing testimony from a number of Islamist leaders and experts, the House of Commons opined in a 60-page report that Britain should judge Islamist parties as well as all other foreign political actors based on their commitment to democracy, human rights and nonviolence. It concluded that the Muslim Brotherhood should not be designated a terrorist group. Political Islamists self-identifying as democrats have embraced elections as a mechanism for contesting and winning power, the report concluded. They should be allowed to freely participate in democratic processes, and the [British government] should use the ability of political Islamists to take part as one of the key criteria for defining free elections in the MENA [Middle East and North Africa] region. That report in turn sparked a 10-page admonishment from the Egyptian parliament, which has been effectively neutered by President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi since he deposed Morsi in 2013. We are surprised by the new generation of European radical liberals and progressives who defend political Islam and thereby give cover for Islamist movements that claim victimhood to spread across Europe and create a fertile ground for Islamist radicals there," Ahmed Said, the head of the Egyptian Foreign Affairs Committee, told reporters in November. "These groups want to Islamize the entire world, and they only differ on when and how these objectives should be implemented." In sharp contrast with the UK model, the US House Judiciary Committee hardly debated the issue at all before voting last year to recommend that the State Department designate the Muslim Brotherhood a terror group. In lieu of hearings on the matter, the bill from Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, R-Fla., cited the groups banishment in Syria, Russia, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain as grounds for a US ban. Tacit US endorsement of such authoritarian regimes justification for banning the movement is exactly what worries even some political activists who have nothing to do with political Islam. Bassam Barabandi, a former Syrian diplomat whos now a political adviser to the Syrian opposition's High Negotiations Committee, told Al-Monitor that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is all but certain to use such a designation for his own ends. It will play into the narrative of the regime, which is that people who are against me are Islamists, and Islamism is terrorism by US decision, Barabandi said. If they go that far here, the Assad regime will use it. Barabandi argued that for now many rebels and civilians are siding with whatever group can offer them money and protection, with ideological consistency an afterthought at best. He said the United States should wait for the situation to stabilize before making decisions that could impact the lives of people who have never had a chance to decide for themselves what their values and beliefs really are. The rhetoric here is pushing me to a place where I dont want to be, Barabandi said. The Arab Spring was an opportunity to move one step forward in identifying who we are. And it was killed. Purposefully, it was killed. Indiscriminate labeling of Islamist groups as terror threats could also make it harder to resolve conflicts in Libya and Syria by shutting out key actors, argued Dhaouadi. Some of these groups that align themselves with the Brotherhood are part of the landscape. You can't ignore them. They will be and they have to be part of any political settlement to move forward, he said. So if you by law designate them as a terrorist organization, then you can't deal with them, they can't be part of any political solution, or at least any process that the United States is involved in. Ultimately, Altikriti argued, its the United States that stands to lose the most from a policy of nonengagement. Political Islamists are used to being shunned, he said, even under the Barack Obama administration, and will continue to exist with or without US support. We disengage to our peril, he said. How many people are we not listening to right now who in the foreseeable future will become statesmen and we will have to invite and listen to because theyre part of the political construct? If theres a silver lining, its that renewed scrutiny on political Islamic groups may yet force Washington to take a clear-eyed look at what various political Islamist groups really aspire to if the US political system is up to the task. Juan Zarate, a former deputy national security adviser to President George W. Bush and a frequent witness on Capitol Hill, told Al-Monitor that Bush was right to focus on the ideological undercurrents that fuel Islamist terrorism. The Obama administration, he said, has de-emphasized that line of inquiry in favor of a more tactical focus on al-Qaeda and related groups. I think its important that we actually think long and hard about how we define the problem and whos onside and whos not, he told Al-Monitor. This is a moment for people to be very clear about how theyre countering this ideology and what it means to not just terrorism but also international norms and principles. Still, Zarate agreed that a blanket ban on the Muslim Brotherhood and political Islam writ large could be counterproductive. He said the Bush administration considered such a ban, but ultimately adopted a more targeted and tailored evaluation of elements in the Muslim Brotherhood. I think actions speak louder than words, and I think any group should be judged by how its operating and with whom it coordinates and how it acts, Zarate said. To the extent that in Tunisia, Morocco, Kuwait, these are groups that are actually contributing to the way that the government is functioning, theyre legitimating the [legal] order, theyre not trying to undermine it, that should be taken into consideration when were thinking about our policy with respect to each country and then with respect to the group at large. January 4, 2017 Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu renewed calls today for Washington to sever ties with the Syrian Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), the top ally of the US-led coalition against the Islamic State, and to provide air support to Turkish forces fighting to dislodge the jihadists from the Syrian town of al-Bab. US reticence, Cavusoglu charged, was leading the Turkish people to ask, Why are you letting these people [the Americans] remain in Incirlik? Defense Minister Fikri Isik echoed his comments, remarking, The absence of coalition assistance for the al-Bab operation makes one question [their use of] the Incirlik Air Base. Turkish forces and their rebel proxies have been struggling to capture al-Bab for more than a month, but IS fighters have put up fierce resistance. As a result, Turkish casualties are mounting. Ankara is likely brandishing the Incirlik card because it is worried that President Barack Obama will sign a bill authorizing the Pentagon to train and equip the SDF before leaving office Jan. 20. The Kurdish and Arab SDF is dominated by the Syrian Kurdish Peoples Protection Units (YPG), and Turkey insists that the YPG is no different from the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which is fighting for Kurdish autonomy in Turkey. Thus, arming the YPG, Ankara argues, is the same as arming the PKK. Some US officials privately concur. The Pentagon insists, however, that the SDF is the only force capable of capturing Raqqa, IS self-proclaimed capital, and that they need to be properly equipped to do so. The White House is said to be pushing back against the military precisely over concerns about losing access to Incirlik, a sovereign Turkish base of critical importance to the air campaign against the jihadis. Turkey opened the base to coalition operations on July 22, 2015, after months of wrangling, and in all probability, would wait to gauge President-elect Donald Trumps position on the YPG before deciding to pull the plug. Incirlik and an early warning radar station in the eastern province of Malatya remain Turkeys greatest leverage in its perennially fraught ties with the United States. The Malatya facility, part of NATOs missile defense system in Europe, is also used to spy on Iran. On a more positive note, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim is expected to travel to Baghdad in the coming days to hold talks with his Iraqi counterpart, Haider al-Abadi, in a bid to ease tensions stemming from the presence of Turkish troops in northern Iraq. Yildirim will continue on to Erbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan, the day after his Baghdad visit. The thaw is good news for the Iraqi Kurds and Washington, both of which fret about Turkey following through on its threats to take action against Shiite militias and PKK fighters near Mosul. Iraqi Kurdish officials speaking on strict condition of anonymity told Al-Monitor that Turkey had been on the verge of sending more special forces to the area under the guise of aid workers, but those plans had been frozen largely thanks to US mediation. Any Turkish intervention in Iraq would likely derail the ongoing campaign to dislodge IS from Mosul. It would also allow Abadis opponents, led by his overtly sectarian predecessor, Nouri al-Maliki, to portray the embattled premier as too ineffectual to defend Iraq against foreign incursions. Speaking to reporters ahead of Yildirim's visit, Abadi confirmed that thorny issues like the PKK would come up during the meeting, which was originally scheduled for Jan. 5, but was postponed a few days. We are not supporting the PKK, and the Iraqi Constitution absolutely forbids the use [of its territory] for attacks against its neighbors, and we abide by that, Abadi asserted, responding to claims that his government is arming and funding PKK rebels and their Yazidi affiliates in Sinjar as a counterweight to the Turkish troops based in Bashiqa, north of Mosul. The dispute between the key allies in the US-led coalition against IS erupted last December, when Turkey deployed several hundred members of its special forces along with 20-odd tanks to Bashiqa, sparking calls from Baghdad for the immediate withdrawal of Turkeys occupying force. Ankara claimed the move was part of its training of Sunni forces to liberate Mosul, but is actually thought to have been spurred by concerns that Shiite militias would seize on the Mosul campaign to engage in revenge killings of Sunni Turkmens who sided with IS when it occupied the nearby town of Tal Afar and ethnically cleansed its Shiite population. The Shiite militias have shown unusual restraint thus far, however, leaving Turkey to focus on its other bugbear, the PKK. Ankara believes the PKK is looking to use Sinjar as a bridgehead to Syria, where the YPG is growing in strength and numbers by the day. Iraqi Kurdish officials confirm that Ankara will begin training a Syrian Kurdish force to rival the YPG. Linked to the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Syria and based in Iraqi Kurdistan, the force is currently honing its combat skills in the Mosul operation. Washington has thrown its weight behind Turkish and Iraqi Kurdish calls for the PKK to pull out of Sinjar, partly to diffuse Turkish anger over its alliance with the YPG. US diplomats have been lobbying the different Yazidi groups to unite under the banner of the Iraqi Kurdish peshmerga and sever all ties with the PKK. Their efforts appeared to be paying off when Murat Karayilan, the veteran PKK commander who heads its military wing, was quoted as saying, We have informed the KRG [Kurdistan Regional Government] that our fighters will soon complete their withdrawal from Sinjar, although he did not specify when. Iraqi Kurdish officials caution that until the PKK leadership in the Qandil Mountains echoes his words, they do not carry much weight. January 3, 2017 ANKARA, Turkey In their eight-point Moscow Declaration of Dec. 20, Russia, Iran and Turkey asserted that their priority in Syria is a political solution and pledged joint efforts to that effect. For Turkey, the declaration amounted to relinquishing what it had advocated in Syria since 2011, including Ankara's refusal to recognize President Bashar al-Assads government and Turkish ambitions to topple it. According to Erdogan Toprak, a senior lawmaker for Turkeys main opposition Republican Peoples Party (CHP), the Moscow Declaration confirmed the bankruptcy of the Syrian policy that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) had pursued. In a Dec. 27 statement, Toprak said, On the Syrian question, the government has come to the point that the [CHP] has advocated from the very beginning. The process has proven us right. Erdogan and the AKP government, who were eager to topple Assad in three months and perform Friday prayers at the Umayyad Mosque [in Damascus], had labeled us traitors when we sent a delegation to Damascus, expended efforts for a solution and criticized their Syrian policy. Ankara, according to Toprak, has acquiesced to Russia's and Iran's strengthening their influence in the region, especially in Syria. The regional rivalry between Turkey and Iran seems to be the weakest link in the Moscow troika. Standing on opposing sides in Syria and Iraq until last month, the two neighbors are involved in a power struggle not only in the Middle East but in the Caucasus and Central Asia as well. Thus, harmony and joint action in Syria might prove difficult for them. Its safe to predict that Turkish-Iranian rivalry will cause troubles for the troika. In this context, Irans absence from the latest cease-fire agreement in Syria is noteworthy. Iran and Turkey have waged their political and military struggles in the region largely along Shiite-Sunni sectarian lines. Seven jihadi groups, all of them Sunni Salafists, signed up for the cease-fire, which excludes the Islamic State (IS) and Jabhat al-Nusra. Iran, which backs Lebanons Hezbollah and other Shiite groups in Syria, Iraq and Yemen, did not officially join the deal and thus did not acknowledge the jihadi Sunni factions as interlocutors, seeking to safeguard its reputation and avoid any reactions from Shiite groups. According to Ilhan Uzgel, the head of Ankara Universitys International Relations Department, Turkeys claim for regional leadership is completely invalidated at the current stage. Ankara, he believes, erred at the very beginning by making Assads departure the pivot of its Middle East policy, and then adopted one of the most irrational approaches in Turkish foreign policy by simultaneously defining Assad, IS and the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) as threats. According to Uzgel, settlement in Syria could hardly become possible without the United States. As a result of its mistakes, Turkey today appears to have a weaker hand vis-a-vis Iran, and projects the image of President Vladimir Putins good boy, doing whatever Russia says. Iran, on the other hand, is acting with confidence, having enhanced its power and influence in regional equations. Commenting on the summit between Erdogan, Putin and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani announced for Jan. 20 in Kazakhstans capital, Astana, analyst Kerim Has said in a series of Twitter posts that Russia was seeking to balance Iran by pulling Turkey closer to itself. Has, of the Ankara-based International Strategic Research Organization, said that Russia in 2017 will seek to build a strategic vision of what it calls a great Eurasian partnership. As part of the process, Iran could open its military bases to Russia while seeking to expand its spheres of influence to the Caucasus via Armenia, and to Central Asia via Turkmenistan and Tajikistan, he said. Turkey aligned with Russia and Iran in the Moscow Declaration, but is taking steps backward in Syria and Iraq, and in the Middle East in general, while at the same time losing ground vis-a-vis Iran in the Caucasus and Central Asia. Erdogans vitriolic insistence on Turkish military participation in the Mosul operation was repelled jointly by Iraq and Iran. In what appeared a veiled warning, Rouhani said in October that Iran viewed as very dangerous [acts of] intervention by foreign countries without any coordination with the host country. To these words, Erdogan remained silent. Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, for his part, said, We do not want war with Turkey. But if a confrontation happens we are ready for it. Erdogan responded by telling Abadi to know his place and added, You are not my interlocutor, you are not at my level, your quality is not at my level. The same Erdogan, however, broke with protocol and telephoned Abadi on the evening of Dec. 30. The fact that Abadi was contacted by the president and not by his Turkish counterpart signaled that Erdogan was taking steps back vis-a-vis Baghdad and its ally Iran, just as he did in Syria. Ahead of the Astana summit, Erdogan is making efforts to bring allies on board against Iran. On Dec. 28, he said Saudi Arabia and Qatar his former allies in Syria should also attend the meeting. Huseyin Bagci, the chair of the international relations department at Ankaras Middle East Technical University, believes that inviting Qatar and the Saudis to Astana would water down things. In further comments to Al-Monitor, Bagci said, The absence of the United States is an important drawback. Well see what happens by the time Donald Trump assumes the presidency. The Syrian government welcomed the Moscow Declaration but made it clear it does not trust Turkey. Iran is in Syria with its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and is also behind Hezbollah. Turkey failed to get the Iranian-backed Hezbollah on the terrorist list [in Syria], and the same goes for the PYD. Yet, Jabhat al-Nusra, which Turkey is known to support despite the governments denials, is on the terrorist list. There is the perception that Jabhat al-Nusra for Turkey is what Hezbollah is for Iran, which is not a good image for Turkey. Describing Putin as a very good chess player, Bagci said the Russian leader had brought Erdogan under control. Putin drew Erdogan to his side and under his control. He is both empowering Erdogan and making him act in the way he wants, he said. With his decision regarding the Russian diplomats expelled by the United States, he simply finished off the Obama administration [and] extended an olive branch to Trump. The settlement route for Syria has shifted toward Moscow and Astana, but for the process to succeed, keeping the chain intact under the strain of Turkish-Iranian rivalry will be important. In an interview with Russian television, Iranian Defense Minister Gen. Hossein Dehghan objected to Erdogans proposal for Astana, saying that Saudi Arabia should not be allowed to join the Syrian settlement process. And despite Ankaras new alignment, he said Turkeys military intervention in Syria without Damascus consent amounted to violation of Syrian territory, sending an important message of how Iran views Turkey. bo bice.jpg Bo Bice is from Huntsville. Bo Bice, the Alabama native who finished second on "American Idol," claimed on social media that Popeye's employees exhibited "racist behavior" toward him. According to a Facebook post (which shows screenshots of a previous post that he says Facebook removed), he recently stopped by the Popeye's Louisiana Kitchen at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. He says he was mocked by an employee there. Bice claims the employee mocked his name and called him "white boy." Read it here: Bice talked with Fox 5 Atlanta about the incident. "I don't care if you're Bo Bice, Bo Jackson or Bo Diddley, you should be treated the same," he told the station. The Popeye's store owner, Mack II, Inc., told Fox: "Mack II, Inc., is very sorry that the incident occurred and for any pain or embarrassment that Mr. Bice experienced." Before the Civil War, Lowndes County was dotted with cotton plantations, most of which were dependent upon slave labor. Beautiful mansions and quaint churches, most painted a pristine white, remain in the county seat of Hayneville and in adjoining Lowndesboro. Both were economically depressed in the years following the Civil War and their populations plummeted: Lowndesboro's from 500 in 1850 to about 219 in 1970, and Hayneville's from 800 in 1850 to 473 in 1970, according to Census records. Some of Hayneville's decline came during the Civil Rights Movement in Alabama, which was at times centered in the tiny town. However, since then, Hayneville's population has recovered, reaching 1,100 in 2000 and now hovering at about 900. Lowndesboro's current estimated population is 107 people. But the impact of the events that shaped the county is still evident in its beautiful buildings and historical markers, making it a popular tourist destination. On a recent drive through the Lowndes County, I came across numerous treasures, including the burned ruin of a plantation, a ghost town on a dirt road, a lovely historic cemetery and an architecturally interesting courthouse. Here's more about this fascinating area of Alabama: Hayneville This small town was initially settled in the 1820s, when it was known as the "Big Swamp." As the seat of Lowndes County, the centerpiece of Hayneville's small downtown square is a beautiful two-story courthouse with two sets of stairs that curve up both sides to meet at a second-story main door. It is topped by an ornamented cupola. The Greek Revival-style building was constructed in 1856. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Because of its location in Alabama's Black Belt region, Hayneville's fertile soil was perfect for cotton production. In 1903, the Hayneville Railway Company was created to aid in cotton transportation. It was reorganized in 1905 as the Hayneville & Montgomery Railroad Company, which offered rail connections to the Louisville & Nashville's tracks. Lowndesboro Lowndesboro was settled in the early 1800s as a community known as McGill's Hill. The name was changed in honor of the U.S. Congressman William Lowndes in 1832. By then, it was a prosperous town filled with wealthy planters, who took advantage of the nearby Alabama River to transport cotton to market. During the war, the town was the site of only a small skirmish in April 1865, followed by a brief occupation by Yankee troops, leaving most of its historic structures intact. Ruins of Dicksonia Plantation: Ghost town of Robinson Switch: Civil Rights in 'Bloody Lowndes' In 1965, the majority of Lowndes County's population was black. However, there was not a single registered black voter in the spring of 1965. Seeing the inequality, civil rights activists converged on Hayneville and Lowndes County to help residents register and organize protests. One such activist was Viola Liuzzo, a 39-year-old white mother of five from Michigan. Liuzzo was helping transport people who participated in the Selma-to-Montgomery march on March 25, 1965, when her car was chased by members of the Ku Klux Klan. She was shot to death while driving on U.S. Highway 80, about two miles west of Lowndesboro near the Dallas County line. Another activist was Johnathan Myrick Daniels, an Episcopalian minister from New Hampshire, who organized a group of 29 protestors in nearby Fort Deposit on Aug. 13, 1965. He and others in the group were arrested and jailed in Hayneville. All were released on Aug. 20. Daniels walked with Father Richard Morrisroe, a white Catholic priest, and two black young women, including Ruby Sales, to get a drink at Varner's Grocery Store when Sales was threatened by Tom Coleman, a specially appointed county deputy who raised his shotgun toward them, according to a 1965 edition of the New York Times. Daniels jumped in front of 17-year-old Sales and was killed. Morrisroe was shot as he ran from the scene with the other young woman. Coleman claimed self-defense and was acquitted. A 1997 article on Coleman's death in the New York Times said: "Nobody was much surprised when an all-white jury found Mr. Coleman not guilty in the death of Jonathan Myrick Daniels, 26, an Episcopal seminarian from Keene, N.H. In the parlance of the times, Mr. Daniels was an outside agitator and to many of the white people of Lowndes County, where black people outnumbered white residents 4-to-1 and were kept in line by constant intimidation, that meant he was fair game, as was the Rev. Richard Morrisroe, a Roman Catholic priest who was hit in the back and severely wounded by a second blast from Mr. Coleman's shotgun. Both men were white." But civil rights activities continued. Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee activist Stokely Carmichael had come to the area to form the Lowndes County Freedom Organization, an early incarnation of the Black Panther Party. According to BlackPast.org, "In 1965, Lowndes County in Alabama was 80 percent black but not a single black citizen was registered to vote. Carmichael arrived in the county to organize a voter registration project and from this came the LCFO. Party members adopted the black panther as their symbol for their independent political organization." The site says "white supremacists had a long history of extreme violence towards anyone who attempted to vote or otherwise challenge all-white rule" so that when residents attempted to register to vote "white voters in Lowndes County reacted strongly ... In many instances, whites evicted their sharecroppers, leaving many blacks homeless and unemployed. Whites also refused to serve known LCFO members in stores and restaurants. Small riots broke out with the local police often firing only on blacks during these confrontations." Eventually, the movement "spread all over the nation" and in 1970, a black man was elected sheriff of Lowndes County. Learn more about the civil rights history of the area at the Lowndes Interpretive Center at 7002 U.S. Highway 80 West, Hayneville, AL, 334-877-1983. "Scenes from ..." is a photo feature of small towns throughout Alabama. To suggest a town to be featured, email Kelly Kazek at kkazek@al.com. Follow herScenes from Alabama Towns on Pinterest. State and local authorities continue the search for a 72-year-old Navy veteran with dementia who disappeared from a veteran's facility in Tuskegee. Officials are asking for the public's help in finding Earl James Zook, who went missing from the Central Alabama Veterans Health Care System's Community Living Center at 3 p.m. on Monday. He was last seen traveling southeast near the CAVHCS facility in Tuskegee. Zook has blue eyes and gray hair. He was last seen wearing a purple shirt, jeans and pull-over shoes. Anyone with information should contact the CAVHCS Police Service at 334-727-6448 or call 911. The CAVHCS Police Service has coordinated with law enforcement agencies, including the Alabama Department of Corrections dog tracking team, to search for Zook. Birmingham doctor Dr. Karla Kennedy is expected to ask the Alabama Supreme Court to reconsider its decision last week to allow a Helena woman, who had a miscarriage when she was about six weeks pregnant, to proceed with a wrongful death claim against her. "On behalf of Dr. Kennedy, we anticipate filing an application for rehearing with the Alabama Supreme Court," Michael K. Wright, an attorney who represents Kennedy stated in a press release emailed to AL.com on Wednesday. Justices in their ruling stated Jefferson County Circuit Judge Jim Hughey had erred when he said the doctor was immune from civil lawsuits for wrongful death involving the death of a fetus that had not yet reached the stage of viability. Hughey dismissed the wrongful death claim but allowed claims of mental anguish and personal injury to go to trial. A jury found in favor of Dr. Kennedy at the trial. The state's Wrongful Death Act extends immunity from criminal prosecution to doctors for "a mistake or unintentional error causing the death of a pre-viable fetus." But Hughey, based on previous rulings, had extended that to also include immunity from civil lawsuits. The decision by the Alabama Supreme Court to reverse Hughey's ruling and allow the wrongful death claim to proceed to trial was unanimous, with all eight justices of the current court concurring in the result. One justice, Tom Parker, who has been outspoken in the past in his views against Roe v. Wade, wrote that the decision reaffirms the Alabama Supreme Court's previous ruling that children are protected by Alabama's wrongful-death law from the point of conception. Wright disagreed with the Alabama Supreme Court's ruling. "We felt that Judge Hughey made a very reasonable interpretation of the law, after a diligent study, on an issue of statutory construction not previously addressed by our Supreme Court," Wright said. Wright said that in this case Kimberly Stinnett made claims against Dr. Kennedy under two legal theories prior to the trial of the case. "These theories were based on the same (identical) set of operative facts in regard to the care and treatment rendered to Ms. Stinnett by Dr. Kennedy," he stated. "The court dismissed one of Ms. Stinnett's theories for recovery, and the case was tried on the remaining theory," Wright stated. "Dr. Kennedy's defense asserted that the treatment she provided to Ms. Stinnett was, at all times, appropriate and within the standard of care for her specialty as a Board Certified OBGYN and that she did not cause the outcome by any medical negligence," Wright stated. "The jury agreed with Dr. Kennedy's defense and returned a unanimous verdict in her favor." Stinnett did not appeal that verdict but rather appealed the dismissed wrongful death claim, "which raised a different legal theory based on debated interpretations of statutory law," Wright stated. "It should be noted that, Dr. Kennedy did not rely on the Roe v. Wade case as authority for her position, nor did the trial court rely on that case in the order from which the plaintiff appealed," Wright stated. "Physicians are called, from time to time, to make judgments about whether an abnormal pregnancy is failing and nonviable and must take action designed to preserve the welfare of the mother in those circumstances," Wright stated in the press release. The Birmingham Zoo set an all-time annual attendance record in 2016 by attracting 644,667 visitors, according to the Magic City tourist attraction. This is an 11 percent increase in visitors from 2015, and the first time in the zoo's 61-year history that visitors surpassed 600,000. "I am pleased to announce that for the sixth consecutive year the Birmingham Zoo has set an all-time attendance record, Birmingham Zoo President and CEO William R. Foster said in a written statement. "I would like to thank the community for helping to achieve this record. "On behalf of everyone here at the Birmingham Zoo, we will continue to strive to be a top tourist attraction for the state and to serve the Birmingham community by 'Inspiring Passion for the Natural World,'" he continued. "Thank you for trusting us to take care of over 900 animals who reside at the Birmingham Zoo." The zoo set attendance records at most of its major events in 2016, including including "Zoo, Brews & Full Moon Bar-B-Que", "Boo at the Zoo" and "ZooLight Safari." New events and attractions like "Fairytales & Frogs", "PikaZoo", "Dino Discovery" and "Dino-Nite" were big draws throughout the year, the zoo stated. The Birmingham Zoo's $15 million renovation project continues in 2017. The city of Birmingham contributed $7.5 million to the capital improvement fund through municipal bonds. Zoo spokesperson Kiki Nolen-Schmidt said the first round of construction on a new event lawn is scheduled to be completed this year. Construction will continue on a new front entrance and plaza, she said. "Where the zoo formerly had two large fishponds, guests can now see the beginnings of the new event lawn and green space," she said. "This new area will have a stage pad to allow us to bring in portable stages that could be used for concerts, theaters or a movie venue. This area will also be available for rental for weddings and events." Nolen-Schmidt said the new front entrance is expected to be complete in 2018. The new Asian Passage exhibit -- new habitats for endangered Asian species such as the Malayan tiger, red panda, Komodo dragon and Sumatran orangutan - will be open in 2019. Watch the construction process live by clicking here. Taigan, Ukraine The Taigan reservoir in central Crimea, once about 200 hectares (500 acres), has shrunk to a third of its former size; its shores a cobweb of cracked clay, its waterline metres below the nearest tree or bush even after several torrential rains in late November. The image is opposite to how many Russians picture the Black Sea peninsula a postcard paradise with palm-fringed beaches, azure waters and cheap local wine. After all, thats what the 2014 annexation was about to regain the Soviet Riviera, the crown jewel of Russian czars, a naval and trade outpost once ruled by Roman emperors, Mongol khans and Ottoman sultans. But the Massachusetts-sized inkblot of a peninsula mostly consists of arid steppes and mountains where shallow rivulets can sustain life only in their valleys and coastal areas. Agriculture here mostly depends on irrigation, and urban areas flourished only after the Soviets built two dozen reservoirs and a massive canal to divert water from the Dnieper, Ukraines largest river. In 2013, the North Crimean Canal drew 1.5 million cubic meters of water. It amounted to about 85 percent of Crimeas drinking and irrigation water. But shortly after the annexation, Ukrainian authorities shut the canal with a hastily-built dam. The decision gained little attention amid the diplomatic cannonade that brought Moscows ties with the West to Cold-War lows, and the ensuing separatist conflict in eastern Ukraine. Yet, the water blockade will wrack Crimeas agriculture, economy and population of 2.3 million for years to come, according to environmentalists, irrigation experts and officials. Chronic water shortages in Crimea seem inevitable and may prompt resettlement of its residents to Russia, they warn. Hundreds of thousands will have to be relocated, Vladimir Garnachuk, political activist and head of Clean Coast Crimea, a non-profit monitor, told Al Jazeera . Soon, we will see dust storms with salt that will move to the centre of Crimea. Mikhail Romashchenko, a top Ukrainian water expert said that Crimeas own water sources would suffice for less than a half of its population. Were talking about one million people, Romashchenko, who is the director of Ukraines Institute of Water and Melioration Issues, said in televised remarks in early November. We consider Crimea a region with a catastrophically low water supply. READ MORE: Life in the shadows of the Crimea blockade Humanitarian catastrophe From the very start of the water blockade, Ukraine knew it would bring about a humanitarian catastrophe. Those were the words of Vasily Stashuk, Ukraines top irrigation official at the time, who resisted the blocking of the canal. The blockade has nearly eliminated agriculture in Crimea. The amount of irrigated land fell almost 30-fold from almost 400,000 (10,000 acres) hectares, Crimeas pro-Russian agriculture minister, Andrey Ryumshin, was quoted by Radio Svoboda as saying in late November. Crimean pro-Russia authorities banned water-thirsty crops such as rice and soy, trying to introduce winter wheat, expand vineyards and orchids or replace agriculture with sheep breeding, officials say. Agriculture has been cancelled, Valery Lyashevsky of Crimeas State Committee on Water told Al Jazeera. Water accumulated in Crimeas reservoirs and once destined for irrigation is now being redirected to urban areas in the south and east, and most of the reservoirs have shrunk dramatically. Pro-Russian authorities in Crimea reportedly pledged to complete a network of underground water pumps by 2020 at the cost of almost $330m. But experts, such as Garnachuk, warn that the underground deposits depend on the shutdown canal and will run dry within years. This summer, half of Crimeas 14 districts faced drinking water shortages, officials said in August. For several weeks, a town and several villages in eastern Crimea got their drinking water from trucked tanks, they said. The return of Crimea propped up President Vladimir Putins approval ratings to 88 percent. But water shortages may ruin his plans to turn Crimea into Russias top tourist destination. Before the annexation, the peninsula received up to 6 million tourists annually, and Putin said the figure should rise to 14 million. The discontent of locals is the last thing the Kremlin needs amid Western sanctions, a crippling economic crisis and Crimeas painful transfer to the Russian legislation. Pro-Russian officials said they cannot afford to divert water from mainland Russia across the narrow Kerch strait or build energy-hungry water desalination plants. IN PICTURES: Fragile peace in frozen post-Soviet Abkhazia Looming environmental disaster The problem is aggravated by a major environmental hazard. The northern Crimean town of Armyansk is home to the Crimea Titan, a major producer of titanium dioxide, chemical fertilisers, sodium and lithium that belongs to Ukrainian oligarch Dmitry Firtash, who has been investigated by the US FBI and is reportedly wanted in Spain for money laundering. Although thousands of businesses and properties that belonged to the Ukrainian government and businessmen have been expropriated or strong-armed by pro-Russian authorities, Firtash retained the ownership, and his plant consumes 48,000 cubic metres (1,700,000 cubic feet) of water a day. They rapaciously pump water from underground sources, activist Garnachuk said of the plants managers. Firtashs press service did not comment to Al Jazeera on the allegations. In several papers written on the drought, Garnachuk says that underground aquifers in northern Crimea are being filled with salty water from the Sivash, or the Rotten Sea, a cluster of shallow, noisome lagoons that separates the peninsula from mainland Ukraine. Pro-Russian Crimean officials and experts admit that parts of northern Crimea are already turning into salt marshes because the drought raises underground salts deposits to the surface. Putin is adamant about Crimea being an inalienable part of Russia, and his Ukrainian counterpart, Petro Poroshenko, seems no less determined to use any means necessary to complicate Kremlins plans on the annexed peninsula. Nobody is going to save Crimea, Garnachuk said. Ukraine understands that water supply is a critical problem for Crimea, and they will maximally complicate irrigation, nobody is going to resume [the water flow to the North Crimean Canal]. Parliament will consider proposal to strike down a law allowing rapists sentences to be commuted if they marry victim. Beirut In what could prove a victory for womens rights activists in Lebanon, a parliamentary committee recently recommended striking down a law that allows rapists sentences to be commuted if they marry their victim. Although it is difficult to say how many women have been affected by the law, it is most likely to occur in situations where the victim knows her rapist such as a cousin or neighbour and the tight-knit community heaps pressure on her to accept the offer of marriage, said Roula Masri, a senior programme manager with the local gender-rights NGO, ABAAD. Theres the psychological trauma, Masri told Al Jazeera. Victims usually have to undergo therapy. They may feel that sex is disgusting Usually, the victims, the girls, are obliged [to marry their rapist] by family members. They would blame you, and they would push the marriage forward, to save the familys honour. Men convicted of rape in Lebanon can face up to five years in jail. The proposed changes to the law would also increase the maximum sentence to seven years, and classify rape as a crime against women. [Currently], the law does not think or indicate that the rapist is a criminal, Masri said, noting that in addition to the psychological trauma, violent rape can harm womens sexual and reproductive health in the long term. READ MORE: A dark trade Rape videos for sale in India Last month, Lebanons parliamentary committee for administration and justice announced a recommendation to repeal Article 522 of the countrys penal code, which allows for suspending the conviction of someone who has raped, kidnapped or committed statutory rape, if he marries the victim. The recommendation must now go through parliament, a process that could still take months. Members of the parliamentary committee did not respond to Al Jazeeras requests for comment on the matter. Four women each week report being the victims of sexual violence in Lebanon, Masri said, citing police figures but many rapes go unreported for various reasons, including a lack of faith in the justice system. It's a very patriarchal notion that you're protecting her by allowing her to marry him It encourages a rapist to rape, and he will know that she will not report it due to the stigma, or you can marry her. by Rothna Begum, women's rights researcher for the Middle East and North Africa at Human Rights Watch This is a problem throughout the region, said Rothna Begum, a womens rights researcher for the Middle East and North Africa at Human Rights Watch. The shame and stigma surrounding rape victims discourage women and girls from reporting, and gives rapists a sense of impunity. Girls or women who have been raped, especially if shes a virgin, are then considered unmarriageable. So, lawmakers tend to feel that providing her the opportunity to marry her rapist is helping to protect her, Begum told Al Jazeera. Its a very patriarchal notion that youre protecting her by allowing her to marry him It encourages a rapist to rape, and he will know that she will not report it due to the stigma, or you can marry her. Its a great way to force your victim to marry you. Describing the rape-marriage exemption law as a relic of the past, Begum noted that while supporters of such laws may indeed believe they are protecting women and girls, in fact, they do the opposite. While modernising the legal system is a good step, she added, an overhaul of sexual education across the Middle East is also urgently needed. This all comes down to sexual autonomy for women and girls, Begum said. When we talk about stigma, were talking about the shaming of women and girls, conditioning their behaviour so they dont end up choosing who they go out with, or whether they can have sex. Other laws in the region, including legislation in Lebanon that criminalises adultery, should also be repealed, Begum said, noting that such laws disproportionately affect women and girls, as the cases often only come to light when they become visibly pregnant. Still, for Naziha Baassiri, a 31-year-old fashion student in Beirut, the proposed repeal wont change anything on the ground. Of course, its a good thing to get rid of these archaic laws, but really its not about that, she told Al Jazeera. Its about if you get raped will you step forward? And if you do, how will the people dealing with you treat you? Because they are usually all men. Q&A: Rape as a tool of war wont work forever Training of police is vital, as women and girls have no faith that their reports will be taken seriously or that justice will be served, she added. Women also shame other women; they are not supportive. All these values are entrenched in society and family This goes way beyond someone signing off on a societal law, Baassiri said. Substantive change on such issues will take a lot of time, maybe a generation, Begum acknowledged. But it has to start now. For ABAAD, which campaigned fiercely for the rape-marriage exemption law to be repealed, the work continues. Masri is keen now to tackle abortion, which is criminalised in Lebanon, and marital rape, which is not. Both are defined by personal status religious courts, and not by the judiciary, and will need to be dealt with sensitively, Masri said. We need to see the next steps, she said, which can see direct gains for women, and not just a black hole. Kawthaung, Myanmar In 1999, when Myanmar was ruled by a repressive military regime, the government laid out a plan for development which included an aggressive expansion of palm oil in its southern provinces. Since then, 44 large-scale palm oil companies have transformed 350,000 hectares of pristine jungle into a series of plantations. Although the inception of the palm oil sector in Myanmar has provided regular jobs to unskilled labourers seeking regular employment and is increasing the internal supply of cooking oil within the country, the industry at large is being criticised on a number of fronts. Environmentalists decry the ecological devastation and habitat loss associated with clear cutting rainforest and implementing a monoculture system of palm oil. READ MORE: Hydropower and the cost of life in Myanmar In addition, migrant workers from other parts of the country comprise the majority of the workforce on these plantations. And many of these men and women tell stories of the difficulties they have faced working on the plantations, from receiving no income while clearing the thick forests, to having months worth of wages withheld. There is a lack of proper educational and health resources, and inadequate living facilities, workers say, adding that current wages are so low that they cannot return to their home village. Moreover, many oil palm plantations were built in areas where ethnic groups were displaced due to the decades-long civil war that still persists today. Companies and individuals opportunistically seized the village lands often illegally. The now internally displaced groups have returned to their villages only to find them converted into plantations. Companies have gone so far as to sue some of these villagers, putting them in a legal quagmire as they fight these illegal land grabs. IN PICTURES: Myanmars crony capitalists The continents future lies in the hands of the youth who can successfully harness agriculture and clean energy. Africa will write its own history and, both north and south of the Sahara, it will be a history full of glory and dignity. These profound words of the Congolese leader, Patrice Lumumba in the 1960s have haunted the continent for over five decades, and working towards its fulfilment is surely on the shoulders of each succeeding generation. It is no longer tenable to keep talking about Africas great potential; rather, it is time to fulfil that potential for the benefit of present and future generations. Knowing fully well that Africas past has long been defined by natural resources, its future should be defined by bringing together the collective strengths of its peoples skills and talent. And there is a formula of how this can be done: Leveraging catalytic sectors for which the continent holds comparative advantage, through dedicating resources available to the continent. These resources, both physical (such as technological, institutional, financial, and the demographic dividend, where the majority of sub-Saharan Africa is under the age 25) and non-physical (including intellectual, partnerships, policies, networks), could all be utilised for a comparative advantage with a global competitive edge. Harnessing catalytic sectors: Agriculture and clean energy In agriculture, not only does the continent hold the majority of global arable land, but it is also home to 10 percent its inland fresh water resources. The World Bank reports that, in Africa, a 10 percent increase in crop yields translates to approximately a seven percent reduction in poverty. Growth in agriculture is at least two to four times more effective in reducing poverty than in other sectors. Furthermore, agriculture remains the most inclusive sector, employing about 64 percent of the population and 70 percent of the rural poor, and women produce up to 80 percent of the food. This means that Africa stands out as the most potent continent for enacting inclusive, poverty-combating growth, and pulling the base-of-the-pyramid populations out of desperate poverty. In clean energy, Africa holds the best solar power potential in the entire planet. A mere 0.3 percent of the sunlight that shines on the Sahara (with the Middle Eastern deserts) could supply nearly all of Europes energy needs. Other abundant renewable sources include hydropower, with a potential of three times more than the continents current demand, as well as wind and geothermal energy (PDF). To maximise the potential of these two sectors, they need to be considered as complementary. Integrating clean energy and sustainable agriculture requires applying a carefully planned formula, and this is what Africa should prioritise. This means linking sustainable Ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA) driven agriculture (which stands out as the most accessible to and compatible with smallholder farmers who make up 80 percent of the continents food producers) to clean energy based value addition. Volunteerism has been tested and results are emerging and paving the pathway to building a future, from which Africa's glorious history will be written. by The linkage of these two key sectors will help eliminate inefficiencies, such as post-harvest losses, which currently account for a loss of an average of $4bn annually. This integration can also potentially create as many as 17 million jobs, earn an additional $20bn annually from agro-trade and catalyse an agro-sector projected to be worth $1trillion in less than 15 years. And given the carbon offsetting and climate resilience potential of clean energy and EbA driven agriculture, this integration will have the added advantage of simultaneously meeting the continents climate objectives under the Paris Agreement. Therefore, sustainable EbA driven agriculture (allied with clean energy powered industry), manufacturing and processing equal economically inclusive, climate-resilient development and wealth creation; unlocking multiple Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This integrated approach that converts the continents comparative advantage to a competitive edge is Africas winning formula. Pockets of success and move from talk to action Across Africa, pockets of successes demonstrate a potential for this formula. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, a group of graduate youthful agripreneurs have channelled their skills, networks and capital to optimise the cassava value chain. These young people process cassava into flour, package it, standardise it and sell to bakers. With this integration, the youth generate up to $4,000 as weekly income, translating to $16,000 monthly and $196,000 annual income. Pockets of success are not enough for impactful progress across the continent. Rather, it is an urgent imperative to leverage relative strengths of diverse stakeholders towards a shared objective of bridging policy and fixing the operational gaps in the integration of clean energy and agriculture to realise sustainable agro-industrialisation. OPINION: Africa and climate change Whats at stake? And for sustainability, this should be through voluntary, state-driven processes, taking into account unique country contexts. A number of examples are demonstrating that the strength of this paradigm can be channelled through voluntary state-driven partnerships. For example, in Nigeria, the spirit of innovative volunteerism mobilised youth groups through the Ecosystems Based Adaptation for Food Security Assembly (EBAFOSA). This is a policy action framework to volunteer their skills and partner with farmer cooperatives with the aim of developing EbA farming and expanding reach of EbA actions in Nigeria. This farm is being linked to markets and other commercial value chains to increase earnings. Over 1,000 youth are currently engaged. In Malawi, innovative volunteerism partnerships engaged the Malawi Bureau of Standards to develop quality standards for the sesame crop, a high value and drought resistant crop. OPINION: A policy agenda for Sustainable Development Goals This partnership enhances the marketability of the sesame crop and incentivises its wide-scale growth. This and other market actions are increasing farmer revenues, combating poverty and food insecurity, and building bio-physical resilience given that the crop is drought-resistant. In Kenya, other creative volunteerism partnerships have been fostered with the private sector to encourage solar-powered irrigation. Thanks to the spirit of volunteerism, a solar-powered irrigation enterprise has partnered with farmer groups in the country to enhance its use. These attempts in Kenya are helping realise the countrys priorities of climate-smart, resource-efficient agriculture, while also offsetting carbon emissions and catalysing progress towards clean energy-powered agro-industry (PDF). Do not be left behind The formula to engendering an inclusive Africa and ensuring collective progress and prosperity is on the move. Volunteerism has been tested and results are emerging and paving the pathway to building a future, from which Africas glorious history will be written. Now, more than ever before, is the time for each and every citizen, stakeholders in the continent, governments, private sector, academia, NGOs and individual citizens to pull together and take advantage of voluntary, inclusive, mutual partnerships as a powerful mechanism towards bridging implementation gaps and realising the dream of a prosperous Africa. Lets seize the moment and start creating the 21st century we so desperately want. Together, we can. Richard Munang is Africa Climate Change and Development Policy expert. Robert Mgendi works with the Africa Climate Change Programme. The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial policy. Police file complaint after widespread outcry over alleged mass molestation of women on New Years Eve in southern city. At least five people have been detained in connection with complaints of widespread sexual assaults on women during New Years eve celebrations in the Indian city of Bengaluru, police said on Wednesday. The detentions came amid widespread outrage as female revellers complained they were groped and assaulted by a mob of men on MG Road in Bengalurus city centre. The police, who initially dismissed the incidents saying they had not received complaints, took up the matter two days after the incident as videos of men assaulting women went viral on social media. On Wednesday, television channels aired fresh footage from the same day, said to be from the closed circuit security camera of a private house, that showed two men on a scooter assaulting a young woman while bystanders lurked at a distance. The video is being taken as evidence by the police as they investigate complaints. We have taken action by registering an FIR (first information report). Investigation is in progress, the citys police chief Praveen Sood told DPA news agency. Criminal action Sood said the police had found credible evidence in a case of wrongful confinement, molestation and attempt to rob in relation to the MG Road complaints. Five men had been detained and were being questioned, an officer at the police control room said. Regarding the attack caught on CCTV footage, Sood said: Criminal action is in motion. We are sure of arresting the accused. READ MORE: India minister blames Western dress for sex assaults Two things really stand out here. One is that India has a lot of laws dealing with such things, but policing is still not efficient there is not enough fear for the law and for legal repercussions, Dhanya Rajendran, the editor-in-chief of thenewsminute.com, said. The second is the patriarchal mindset that people have which reflects when the minister says that the woman should be blamed for the clothes that she wears, Rajendran said from Bengaluru, the capital of Karnataka state. Sexual harassment of women in India has been in the limelight since the brutal gang-rape of a 23-year-old woman on a moving bus in the Indian capital in December 2012. Despite stricter laws and measures to increase security of women, a high number of crimes against women continue to be reported every year. Womens activists say the number of incidents is likely to be much higher as women most often tend not to report such incidents to the police. Outrage over the New Years Eve reports has grown in recent days, especially on social media after the home minister of Karnataka state, G Parameshwara, was seen saying: These kind of things happen. Parameshwara, who made the comments on a local news channel on Tuesday, later said they were misinterpreted. Regional Samajwadi Party politician Abu Azmi invited even more outrage when he said: It was bound to happen. Women call nudity a fashion. They were wearing short dresses. The ministers statement is as usual blaming women for the clothes they wear and women for going out in the night, women for not taking precautions, Rajendran said. Its now time for us to see this as not only a womens issue but as a clear law and order issue, as a problem with our mindset, and deal with it like that. Residents express frustration over the handling of the disaster that killed dozens and destroyed entire villages. At least 10,000 people have been made homeless in the southern Democratic Republic of Congo after flash floods caused a river to burst its banks, killing dozens and laying waste to entire towns and villages. In Boma, one of the worst-hit towns, residents told Al Jazeera they watched in despair as their loved ones were swept away by surging waters. Makiadi Mvubu, who lost one of his daughters to the floods, told Al Jazeera: I was trying to get into the house but just before I could it collapsed. We saved everyone but our daughter. We found her body four kilometres away. Torrential rains caused the Kalamu river, which flows through Boma, some 470km southwest of the capital, Kinshasa, to overflow last month, causing waters to hit a peak of two metres above their average level. Al Jazeeras Fahmida Miller, reporting from Boma, said some family members were still searching for bodies that may be buried in the mud. The force of the floodwater washed away a bridge, she said. It was so strong that some bodies were swept 35km into neighbouring Angola. So far, 50 people have been confirmed dead. INTERACTIVE: Global warming effects on coastal megacities in Africa Anger has surged in the past few days at the governments alleged slow response to the disaster. I am very disappointed because there is no help, Vundula Mwaka, a Boma resident who has lost his home twice in one year to flooding, told Al Jazeera. We have lost everything. I got injured and I still havent been treated until now, not even a painkiller. Emergency services have been accused of being poorly equipped to deal with natural disasters, especially with towns and cities typically built up in a haphazard fashion. Despite its vast mineral wealth, the DRC is classed among the worlds poorest countries and two thirds of its 70 million inhabitants get by on less than $1.25 a day. Al Jazeera denies the allegations against Mahmoud Hussein and calls for his immediate release. Egypt extended on Wednesday the detention of an Al Jazeera journalist for another 15 days, pending investigation. Mahmoud Hussein, an Egyptian national, was arrested upon arrival at Cairos airport on December 20 without charge. Five days later, Egypts interior ministry accused Hussein of incitement against state institutions and broadcasting false news with the aim of spreading chaos. Al Jazeera rejected the charges and says Hussein was in Egypt on holiday and not for work. He visits his family several times a year. Al Jazeera deems all accusations against Hussein, including those which might be added later to the current allegations, to be a result of practices which violate international norms and conventions, and which, unfortunately, prevail in Egypt as exposed by human rights organisations, the network said in a statement. READ MORE: Groups call for release of Al Jazeeras Mahmoud Hussein Hussein, who lives in the Qatari capital Doha, joined Al Jazeera in Egypt in 2011, and moved to its headquarters in Qatar in 2013. Shortly after he was detained, state security stormed the homes of Husseins two brothers and arrested them. They have since both been released. Hussein has complained of bad treatment in detention, of not being allowed to contact his lawyer, of being denied visits from family members, and of being held in solitary detention, Al Jazeera has learnt. Egyptian authorities have over the past few years arrested several Al Jazeera employees, raising concerns over media freedom in the country. In May, a Cairo court sentenced a former editor-in-chief of Al Jazeera Arabic, Ibrahim Helal, to death, charging him in absentia with endangering national security. Al Jazeeras Baher Mohamed, Mohamed Fahmy and Peter Greste along with seven colleagues outside the country were accused of spreading false news during their coverage of the aftermath of the military overthrow of then-president Mohamed Morsi in 2013, the year they were taken into custody. Mohamed and Fahmy spent 437 days in jail before being released. Greste spent more than a year in prison. Arrest of Mahmoud Hussein extends a long line of press freedom violations by Egypt, media freedom activists say. Rights groups have condemned the detention of Al Jazeera journalist Mahmoud Hussein in Egypt. Hussein, an Egyptian national, was on holiday visiting family when he was arrested on December 20. According to Egypts Ministry of Interior, Hussein is accused of incitement against state institutions and broadcasting false news with the aim of spreading chaos. After he was detained, security officials released a video of Hussein discrediting an Al Jazeera documentary. Al Jazeera believes the confession was made under duress. Al Jazeera strongly denies all accusations against Hussein, who has worked at the network since 2011. Hussein lives in the Qatari capital of Doha and regularly visits his family, who live in Egypt. Here is what some media rights groups and individuals have said about Husseins unlawful detention. You can share your support for our journalist using the #JournalismIsNotACrime tag. Reporters Without Borders RSF condemns an Al Jazeera journalists arrest while visiting Egypt The situation of journalists is becoming increasingly precarious in Egypt, which is ranked 158 out of 180 countries in RSFs 2016 World Press Freedom Index and is now one of the worlds biggest prisons for media personnel (after China, Eritrea and Iran). Committee to Protect Journalists Egyptian authorities must release Al Jazeera news producer Mahmoud Hussein immediately In the past two years, three Al Jazeera Arabic journalists have been sentenced to death in absentia and three journalists from Al Jazeera English were sentenced to up to 10 years in jail in Egypt for aiding a terrorist organisation, spreading false news, and working without a licence They were later released. Egypt has 25 journalists in jail in relation to their work, according to CPJs annual prison census. Fadi Qadi, human rights commentator The Egyptian authorities adopt a policy of retaliation and revenge against those who disagree with them or those who present facts that these authorities do not want people to know. Sharif Mansour, CPJ Middle East and North Africa programme coordinator This can be regarded as a continuation in the series of using Al Jazeera journalists to settle political disputes. Philippe Leruth, International Federation of Journalists president I dont think it is just journalists, but also all the news organisations, which must unite to defend such cases. Aidan White, Ethical Journalism Network director This is a new incident in a long list of wrongful actions taken by Egyptian authorities. And I think if Egypt wants to calm the situation then it must stop acting this way. Media reports say training material deemed offensive found at an Australian army centre triggered the move. Indonesia has suspended military cooperation with Australia, reportedly after training materials deemed offensive were found at an Australian army centre, officials said, in a fresh flare-up of tensions between the neighbours. Indonesian military spokesman Major General Wuryanto said on Wednesday that cooperation has been suspended indefinitely, and that the decision was made after many matters were considered. Although Wuryanto, who like many Indonesians uses one name, declined to give the exact reason for the decision, he said among the factors were reports of an Indonesian instructor saying that a laminated paper displayed at the Australian special forces base where he worked was insulting. This is not a protest we would like to establish a useful cooperation for the two nations based on mutual respect, Wuryanto told the AP news agency. Technically, it is not running well. It was unclear what exactly in the materials had caused offence. According to Indonesian media reports, the allegedly insulting paper displayed at the special forces base contained words that demeaned Pancasila, a set of vague principles that mandates belief in one God and unity among Indonesias 250 million people. Australian defence minister, Marise Payne said in a statement that Indonesia had informed Australia of the decision. Some interaction between the two militaries has been postponed until the matter is resolved. Cooperation in other areas is continuing, Payne said. Payne said that the chief of the Australian defence force, Air Chief Marshal Mark Binskin, wrote to his Indonesian counterpart, General Gatot Nurmantyo, vowing that the matter would be addressed. Shaky relationship According to a report in Indonesian newspaper Kompas on Wednesday, the Indonesian military sent a letter to their Australian counterparts warning that cooperation could be suspended and then the head of the countrys military, Gatot Nurmantyo, sent a telegram putting this into force on December 29. It was just the latest dispute between the key allies, whose relationship has been beset in recent years by disputes over Jakartas execution of Australian drug smugglers and Canberras hardline policy of turning migrant boats back to Indonesia. In 2013, Indonesia suspended military exercises with Australia due to allegations that Australian spies tried to tap the phone of then Indonesian president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. They resumed in 2014. The latest military suspension is the first serious dispute between the neighbours for some time, with relations having improved since Malcolm Turnbull became Australias leader in 2015. Israeli military court convicts soldier who shot dead Palestinian as he was wounded and incapacitated. A military court has found an Israeli soldier guilty of manslaughter over the killing of a wounded Palestinian last year. The court convened at the defence ministry building in Tel Aviv on Wednesday to issue the verdict in the high-profile case that raised questions over rules of engagement towards perceived threats by Palestinians. A judge read out the courts decision for more than two hours before announcing the verdict. The soldier, 20-year-old Elor Azaria, could now face a maximum 20 years in prison. The Israeli military expects that the soldier will be sentenced in just over a week, on January 15. Azarias defence team has already said it will appeal. READ MORE: Israeli soldier filmed shooting Palestinian on ground In delivering her verdict, Colonel Maya Heller systematically rejected all of Azarias defence arguments, saying the fact that the man on the ground was a terrorist does not justify a disproportionate response. The March 24 shooting of Abed al-Fattah al-Sharif, 21, as he lay overpowered on the ground was filmed by activists from the Israeli BTselem human rights group. AL JAZEERAS ANDREW SIMMONS, REPORTING FROM THE COURT: The judges went through every shred of evidence the defence put through for Azaria, the 20-year-old who maintained throughout the trial that he is innocent as charged. However what was said time and time again throughout the 2.5-hour judgment was that Azarias accounts didnt add up. Firstly he claimed that al-Sharif was lying there dead. Then he claimed that his victim was a threat, that he had a knife. But that knife was some considerable distance away. Then Azaria said al-Sharif may have been wearing a suicide vest and thats why he responded the way he did. But this was 11 minutes after al-Sharif had been shot by other soldiers and was left disabled on the ground, bleeding. He was bleeding on the ground as the ambulance staff was attending to the Israeli soldier who had minor wounds. The chairman of the panel said Azaria claimed to have a stress problem. That also was dismissed. The judges went through every shred of evidence the defence put through for Azaria, the 20-year-old who maintained throughout the trial that he is innocent as charged. However what was said time and time again throughout the 2.5-hour judgment was that Azarias accounts didnt add up. Firstly he claimed that al-Sharif was lying there dead. Then he claimed that his victim was a threat, that he had a knife. But that knife was some considerable distance away. Then Azaria said al-Sharif may have been wearing a suicide vest and thats why he responded the way he did. But this was 11 minutes after al-Sharif had been shot by other soldiers and was left disabled on the ground, bleeding. He was bleeding on the ground as the ambulance staff was attending to the Israeli soldier who had minor wounds. The chairman of the panel said Azaria claimed to have a stress problem. That also was dismissed. Al-Sharif and another Palestinian his age were shot as they allegedly lunged at an Israeli soldier guarding a checkpoint in Hebron in the occupied West Bank. In the video, a combat medic, later identified as Azaria, raises and aims his rifle, then a shot is heard. The Palestinians head jolts, and he suddenly has what seems to be a fresh head wound. Scuffles erupted outside the courtroom between supporters of the Israeli soldier and police officers before the verdict was announced. Hundreds of demonstrators blocked a major Tel Aviv intersection near the courtroom and clashed with police. Journalists covering the demonstration said they were attacked by demonstrators. Several people were arrested. Victims family demands life sentence The defendant has previously said he believed al-Sharif was wearing a bomb belt, but prosecutors cited contradictions in his testimony. They said that an officer had earlier carefully turned over al-Sharif and his companion to check if they were wearing bomb belts. At their home in Hebron, Sharifs parents told Al Jazeera before the verdict that they would not accept anything other than a guilty verdict and a life sentence. READ MORE: Israels stop-and-frisk law blatant racism He should be sentenced in this court like they do with Palestinians life sentences, torture and then ending up dead lying in a refrigerator, said Yusri al-Sharif, the victims father. But according to a survey in August by the Israel Democracy Institute, 65 percent of the Jewish public supports Azaria and his claim of self-defence. Israels political leadership has also swayed with the majority, Al Jazeeras Andrew Simmons, reporting from Tel Aviv, said. Avigdor Lieberman actively campaigned in support of Azaria and he has since been appointed defence minister by Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister. Naftali Bennett, the education minister and a member of Israels far-right Jewish Home party, said before the verdict that the soldier should be pardoned if found guilty. That is whipping up a lot of reactions, Simmons said. There is a split in the Israeli public opinion on how army should act in [attack] situations. In the majority are those who feel that terrorists who attack Israeli soldiers are fair targets. READ MORE: Israels stop-and-frisk law blatant racism Shortly after the shooting, the Palestinian leadership demanded the United Nations investigate what rights groups have called Israels extrajudicial killings. Ayman Odeh, head of the Joint List, a predominantly Palestinian electoral coalition in Israel, said the criminal occupation [of the Palestinian territories] has produced the likes of Azaria, going on to assert that hundreds of similar incidents had not been caught on film. There have been previous accusations that Israeli forces killed wounded Palestinian attackers who no longer posed a threat. In a memorandum sent to the Israeli authorities in September 2016, human rights group Amnesty International highlighted at least 20 cases of apparently unlawful killings of Palestinians by Israeli forces. In at least 15 of these cases those killed were deliberately shot dead, despite posing no imminent threat to life. Since October 2015, Israeli soldiers and settlers have been responsible for the killing of at least 244 Palestinians, including unarmed demonstrators, bystanders and alleged attackers in an upsurge in violence. Thirty-six Israelis have also been killed in mostly stabbing and shooting incidents carried out by Palestinians. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called for a pardon of Elor Azaria, the Israeli soldier found guilty of manslaughter after he shot and killed a wounded Palestinian last year. This is a difficult and painful day first and foremost for Elor, his family, Israels soldiers, many citizens and parents of soldiers, among them me I support granting a pardon to Elor Azaria, Netanyahu said on Wednesday on his Facebook page. The countrys president, Reuven Rivlin, who has the authority to issue pardons, said he will wait for the legal process to run its course before making a decision. In the event that a pardon should be requested, it will be considered by the president in accordance with standard practices and after recommendations from the relevant authorities, he said in a presidential statement. READ MORE: Israeli soldier filmed shooting Palestinian on ground The remarks were made just hours after Azaria was convicted on Wednesday in the high-profile case that raised questions about rules of engagement towards perceived threats by Palestinians. AL JAZEERAS ANDREW SIMMONS, REPORTING FROM THE COURT: The judges went through every shred of evidence the defence put through for Azaria, the 20-year-old who maintained throughout the trial that he was innocent as charged. However, what was said time and time again throughout the 2.5-hour judgment was that Azarias accounts didnt add up. Firstly he claimed that al-Sharif was lying there dead. Then he claimed that his victim was a threat, that he had a knife. But that knife was a considerable distance away. Then Azaria said al-Sharif may have been wearing a suicide vest and thats why he responded the way he did. But this was 11 minutes after al-Sharif had been shot by other soldiers and was left disabled on the ground, bleeding. He was bleeding on the ground as the ambulance staff attended to the Israeli soldier who had minor wounds. The chairman of the panel said Azaria claimed to have a stress problem. That also was dismissed. A judge read out the courts decision for more than two hours before announcing the verdict. The 20-year-old soldier could now face a maximum 20 years in prison. The Israeli military expects that he will be sentenced in just over a week, on January 15. Azarias defence team has already said it will appeal. In delivering her verdict, Colonel Maya Heller systematically rejected all of Azarias defence arguments, saying the fact that the man on the ground was a terrorist does not justify a disproportionate response. The March 24 shooting of Abed al-Fattah al-Sharif, 21, as he lay overpowered on the ground was filmed by activists from the Israeli BTselem human rights group. Al-Sharif and another Palestinian his age were shot as they allegedly lunged at an Israeli soldier guarding a checkpoint in Hebron in the occupied West Bank. In the video, a combat medic, later identified as Azaria, raises and aims his rifle, then a shot is heard. The Palestinians head jolts, and he suddenly has what seems to be a fresh head wound. Scuffles erupted outside the courtroom between supporters of the Israeli soldier and police officers before the verdict was announced. Several people were arrested. Scuffles between Azaria supporters and police officers escalated after the announcement of the guilty verdict. Shabtay Oz, a retired policeman carrying a large Israeli flag in front of the court house, told AFP news agency that he never imagined himself joining a demonstration. But when I saw a soldier in cuffs after he shot a terrorist that was the point of no return. Victims family demands life sentence The defendant has previously said he believed al-Sharif was wearing a bomb belt, but prosecutors cited contradictions in his testimony. They said that an officer had earlier carefully turned over al-Sharif and his companion to check if they were wearing bomb belts. At their home in Hebron, Sharifs parents told Al Jazeera before the verdict that they would not accept anything other than a guilty verdict and a life sentence. READ MORE: Israels stop-and-frisk law blatant racism He should be sentenced in this court like they do with Palestinians life sentences, torture and then ending up dead lying in a refrigerator, said Yusri al-Sharif, the victims father. But according to a survey in August by the Israel Democracy Institute, 65 percent of the Jewish public supports Azaria and his claim of self-defence. Israels political leadership has also swayed with the majority, Al Jazeeras Andrew Simmons, reporting from Tel Aviv, said. Avigdor Lieberman actively campaigned in support of Azaria and he has since been appointed defence minister by Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister. Naftali Bennett, the education minister and a member of Israels far-right Jewish Home party, said before the verdict that the soldier should be pardoned if found guilty. That is whipping up a lot of reactions, Simmons said. There is a split in the Israeli public opinion on how the army should act in [attack] situations. In the majority are those who feel that terrorists who attack Israeli soldiers are fair targets. INTERACTIVE: The pain inside Shortly after the shooting, the Palestinian leadership demanded the United Nations investigate what rights groups have called Israels extrajudicial killings. Ayman Odeh, head of the Joint List, a predominantly Palestinian electoral coalition in Israel, said the criminal occupation [of the Palestinian territories] has produced the likes of Azaria, going on to assert that hundreds of similar incidents had not been caught on film. There have been previous accusations that Israeli forces killed wounded Palestinian attackers who no longer posed a threat. In a memorandum sent to the Israeli authorities in September 2016, human rights group Amnesty International highlighted at least 20 cases of apparently unlawful killings of Palestinians by Israeli forces. In at least 15 of these cases those killed were deliberately shot dead, despite posing no imminent threat to life. Since October 2015, Israeli soldiers and settlers have been responsible for the killing of at least 244 Palestinians, including unarmed demonstrators, bystanders and alleged attackers in an upsurge in violence. Thirty-six Israelis have also been killed in mostly stabbing and shooting incidents carried out by Palestinians. Officials say armed men with suspected links to the MILF group attack a prison, killing a guard and freeing inmates. More than 100 suspected Muslim rebels have stormed a jail in the southern Philippines, killing a guard and allowing 158 inmates to escape, officials said. Six of the inmates were killed in firefights with pursuing police and army troops, while eight others have been caught and were being returned to the facility, said Senior Inspector Xavier Solda, spokesman for the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology. Initial reports suggested that the gunmen responsible for Wednesdays jailbreak were linked to the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), officials said. The attackers opened fire at guards at the North Cotabato District Jail in Kidapawan city around 1am, prison warden Peter Bongat told a local radio station. OPINION: Philippines peace process in tatters The jail held 1,511 inmates at the time, he said. When the attack came, according to the report of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology, it was a two-hour firefight said Dionardo Carlos, Philippine National Police Spokesperson. The jail guards were trying to stop the attackers and then our police responded, he said at a press conference. Unfortunately, because of the commotion, some inmates escaped using a wooden ladder that they stuck to the wall at the back portion of the jail. No claim of responsibility Unconfirmed reports by Filipino officials suggested that the raid was carried out by Satar Mandalondong, a MILF commander. But the MILF group has not claimed responsibility for the jailbreak. The MILF is the largest Muslim rebel group in the Philippines and it is based in the southern region of Mindanao. The group demands more autonomy for the Moro people. The predominantly Catholic Southeast Asian nation has, for four decades, been fighting rebels in its southern islands. Wednesdays incident was the latest of several mass escapes from poorly secured Philippine jails, with the incidents often involving southern rebels. In August, another rebel group called Maute staged a jailbreak in the southern Philippines, freeing 23 detainees. About 50 heavily armed members of the group raided the local jail in the southern city of Marawi on Mindanao island and freed eight of their members who were arrested a week earlier, police said. READ MORE: Philippines signs deal with Muslim rebels In 2009, more than 100 armed men raided a jail in the strife-torn southern island of Basilan, freeing 31 prisoners including several rebel fighters. The conflict between the rebels and the state in the southern Philippines has left more than 120,000 people dead in the last four decades. President Rodrigo Duterte is pursuing peace talks with the largest armed Muslim groups, the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and the MILF. Smaller bands like the Maute group and the Abu Sayyaf group are not covered by the ceasefires and are not part of the peace process. Turkish foreign minister warns planned peace talks in Kazakhstan could fail if violations do not end. Turkey has accused the Syrian government of violating a fragile ceasefire in the country and said the new round of negotiations to be held in Kazakh capital Astana was at risk. The Russian-Turkish brokered ceasefire last week has brought calm to large parts of Syria, but has been threatened by ongoing fighting in the Wadi Barada region near the capital, Damascus. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on Wednesday urged the Syrian government and its backers to end their violations of the truce, warning that they were jeopardising the planned talks to be held in Astana this month. If we do not stop the increasing violations, the Astana process could fail. After the ceasefire, we see violations, Cavusoglu told the state-run Anadolu news agency. Syrian government forces, backed by Lebanons armed Hezbollah group, are fighting to recapture Wadi Barada, the main source of water to Damascus. READ MORE: Syria army presses fight near Damascus despite truce Cavusoglu urged Russia and Iran, which both back Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and are also helping to prepare the Astana talks, to pressure Damascus and Hezbollah to stop the fighting. Despite the call, fighting continued on the ground in Wadi Barada on Wednesday, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a monitoring group, said. It reported ongoing clashes as well as government air strikes and artillery fire in the area, but had no immediate details on casualties. Syrias main rebel groups said on Tuesday they have already frozen their participation in the preliminary peace talks due to what they called several violations by the regime of the truce that came into effect last week. The regime and its allies have not stopped shooting and have launched major and frequent violations, notably in the regions of Wadi Barada and Eastern Ghouta, the groups said in a joint statement. Water supply damaged Wadi Barada has been under government siege since 2015, but government forces upped the pressure on the region several weeks ago as they tried to secure a reconciliation deal with rebels there. The regime has reached a series of such deals with opposition forces around Damascus in recent months, offering rebels safe passage to other parts of the country in return for their surrender. The government accuses rebels in the area of deliberately targeting water infrastructure, causing leaking fuel to poison the supply to the capital, and then cutting the flow altogether. Rebels say the infrastructure was damaged in government strikes, and deny responsibility for the damage that has left four million people without water since December 22. The UK-based Observatory said about 1,000 civilians all of them women and children fled the fighting in Wadi Barada over the weekend, moving to other parts of the province. Syrias conflict started as a largely unarmed uprising against Assads rule but quickly turned into a full-scale civil war that has killed at least 400,000 civilians, according to United Nations estimates. Mevlut Cavusoglu says operations for gunmans capture still under way as some 30 suspects have been detained. The identity of the gunman who killed 39 people in the New Years Day attack on an Istanbul nightclub has been established, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has said in a televised interview. The gunman, who fled after the attack, remains at large. The identity of the person responsible for the Istanbul attack has been established, Cavusoglu said in the interview with the state-run Anadolu news agency on Wednesday. The operation for his capture is still under way The house [where] he had been staying has also been searched, the minister added. Cavusoglu did not identify the attacker but emphasised that the Reina nightclub attack was staged by professionals. The interior ministry and the justice ministry are continuing their investigations aiming to unearth who is behind this attack, he said. The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) claimed the attack on Monday, the first time it has produced such a claim for a mass attack in Turkey. The assailant stormed the popular Reina nightclub on the Bosphorus and sprayed 120 bullets at terrified partygoers celebrating the start of 2017 early on Sunday. Of the 39 dead, 27 were foreigners, including citizens from Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Jordan, Iraq, Tunisia and Morocco. OPINION: Istanbul was our past, Istanbul is our future The attacker, who is believed to be of Central Asian decent, arrived in Turkey from Syria, according to Turkish daily Hurriyet. The date when he arrived in Turkey is unknown, but he was in the central Anatolian province of Konya on November 22, 2016, before heading to Istanbul to carry out the attack on Reina, the newspaper said. According to the investigation, the attacker arrived in Konya with his wife and two children and hired a house there. His family members, whose identities also remain hidden, have been detained by police, according to Turkish media reports. Turkish media have said so far some 30 people, in Konya, Istanbul and Izmir have been detained as part of the investigation into the shooting. Can innovative science education turn Thai students into agents of change and boost the countrys economy? Thailand has seen remarkable social and economic progress over the last four decades. Thirty years ago, 67 percent of the population lived below the poverty line; by 2014, that number had dropped to 11 percent. What I'd like to see is knowledge of science being developed in Thailand. Children and adults should learn and understand the nature of science. To see that science is important and it's all around us. by Kanchulee Punyain, officer at Thailand's Ministry of Education The country spends around 20 percent of its national budget on education, making it one of the highest spenders in the world. However, its international ranking in science and maths education is in the bottom quarter. Science, technology, engineering and maths have now become a government priority. Kanchulee Punyain, a Ministry of Education officer, is supporting the governments push to improve scientific literacy and international performance. She has worked with a team of teachers and educators across the country to develop the Inspiring Science project, an inquiry and problem-solving approach to teaching science. The project aims to develop the motivation, achievement and take up of science, technology, engineering and maths by young people across Thailand through innovative pedagogical development, teaching resources, professional development, support and events. We want to inspire students to want to learn science We want the students to fall in love with science, like when we fall in love. You want to do everything for that person. You want to learn, she says. Central to the project is engaging students in solving local problems, such as the design of a bridge to replace a rope bridge used by a community in the South of Thailand, the development of floating farms in flooded areas, or to design special candles to be used in candle festivals. Candle festivals a re very important religious events in Thailand; Thais are famous for their intricately carved candles. As part of the Inspiring Science project, students are trying to solve an issue affecting many Thai communities: How to prevent the candle sculptures from melting and deforming on hot very days. The students are tasked with creating a candle wax that wont melt in the sun, but is soft enough to carve. Science is about inquiry and inspiration, searching for new knowledge. This requires students to go out to the community and help to solve problems. What the students gain most are problem-solving skills and working in a team, says Chalermchai Kaewmaweechai, school principal, says. Inspiring Science is very different from traditional science teaching. In the traditional method, learning is mainly about memorising. Students learn from what the teacher tells them and also from textbooks. In Inspiring Science, students have freedom of thought and develop both sides of their brains. Freedom of thought is important, says Chalermchai Kaewmaweechai. The Inspiring Science project develops and supports 15,000 teachers from 7,500 schools across Thailand. Enquiry-based approaches are also introduced to 1,500 kindergartens where the children are taught that asking questions and investigating are the first steps towards being scientific. Our aim for the students is to be the scientists of the future in STEM. STEM is Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths. If we can produce more scientists, we can be more innovative and boost the Thai economy, says Punyain. In this film, we follow Punyain and a mix of students as they carry out their investigations and then apply their knowledge to solve problems in different communities. Kenyan prison inmates learn how to read and write as well as gaining legal skills to represent themselves in court. Nearly half of Kenyas population of 44 million live below the poverty line and 60 percent of the people in the capital Nairobi live in shanty towns. Lack of education and opportunity lead to a high level of crime, contributing to Kenyas prison population of 57,000 inmates, which is more than double the countrys official capacity of 27,000 prisoners. I visited prisons all around Africa. I soon saw huge overcrowding, the majority of prisoners were awaiting trial, very few prisoners would ever meet a lawyer, says Alexander McLean, who started The African Prisons Project (APP) in 2004 to provide education and healthcare for prison inmates. APP has given me motivation to want to see tomorrow, because I want to make an impact. I feel I'm empowered, and able to bring change in the society. Much more especially, to impact that very person who is in dire need the same way I was. by Wilson Harling Kinyua, inmate Its aim is to bring immediate improvements to prisoners welfare and to create models for rehabilitation. Very often, its the poorest and least educated who find themselves in prison. And often their lives have been incredibly difficult and theyve not had opportunities. And their inherent potential and gifts and talents have not been realised during their childhood or their adult life before entering prison, says McLean. The project teaches prisoners how to read and write, and once they master literacy and numeracy, APP encourages them to study law, so they can represent themselves in court. Many of the prisoners ended up in prison, because they didnt even know how to go about their cases, and, of course, basically poverty Henry Kisingu, the officer in charge of Kamiti Prison says. APP supports them in gaining legal skills to help fellow inmates and to break the cycle of crime by becoming change agents in the wider community. They empower men and women in prison with information on their rights and obligations in the justice process, and the prisoners are encouraged to become peer advocates. They are really keen. They want to get as [many] benefits as possible from this programme so that when they leave this place, they are useful to the community. The majority of the teachers are actually fellow inmates, and you can see they are really attentive to them. There is a lot of discipline around, a lot of respect for the teachers, an officer explains. In this film, we follow Alexander McLean as he visits Kamiti Maximum Security Prison, Naivasha Maximum Security Prison and Langata Womens Prison to find out how APP is transforming the lives of Kenyan prisoners. We talk to inmates about the impact of APP on their lives and interview the wardens to find out what effect the project has had on them. We also hear from a representative of the Kenyan Prison Services about the transformative nature of the programme. Six UF students spent their Winter Break working at medical clinics in Lima, Peru. The students traveled from Dec. 17 to Dec. 25 with the UF chapter of the Medicine, Education, and Development for Low-Income Families Everywhere organization, or MEDLIFE. They volunteered at mobile medical clinics in the outskirts of the South American city, working to give free health care to villagers. The organization spreads good will to different locations every semester. They have previously volunteered in Ecuador and Cusco, Peru. Rachna Patel, UF MEDLIFEs president, went with the group to Cusco in Spring 2016. On the latest trip, volunteers who went to Lima helped set up medical stations including including dental, pharmacy and obstetric gynecologist tables at the clinics. The UF biochemistry and economics senior said the teeth-brushing station was her favorite one. A lot of these younger kids dont know how to brush their teeth, and it causes a lot of problems in later life, the 21-year-old said. So what we do is we teach them how to brush their teeth, and we give them fluoride, and we have a little song that we do with them. Volunteers also handed out free medicine to patients at a pharmacy station, she said. Patel said 64 students attended the trip in Spring 2016. She expects a similar number to attend this Spring when they travel to Nicaragua and back to Cusco. Raul Fagundez, the organizations vice president and the trip director, said going to Peru was his third time volunteering. Fagundez, a 20-year-old UF biology junior, said it was not easy spending Christmas away from his family, but he hopes his sacrifice helped someone receive medication or learn how to treat a fatal disease they could have. Its an opportunity cost that you have to pay to help somebody else, Fagundez said. Enjoy what you're reading? Get content from The Alligator delivered to your inbox Subscribe Now @taveljimena jtavel@alligator.org From left: Lawrence Cai, Kristina Goodwin, Raul Fagundez, AJ Kerwin, Olivia Menze and Lyanna Powell pose in Lima, Peru on their volunteering trip during Winter Break. The group volunteered their time with UF's chapter of MEDLIFE to provide free healthcare to villages in the outskirts of the city. As about 15 UF students raced drones across Ustler Hall, no remotes could be seen. The racers were moving the machines with their brains. A group of UF doctoral candidates in the UF Department of Computer and Information Science and Engineering have been working since 2012 to develop a way for people to control drones with their minds. For Marvin Andujar, 27, the technology will help increase peoples concentration and allow those with physical disabilities to participate as an equal in a sport. In April, Andujar joined forces with Chris Crawford, 26, and France Jackson, 27, and used the technology to start the worlds first brain-drone race. Everybody can compete, Andujar said. All you need is a brain. Participants wore a band of sensors around their forehead, which read signals from their brain. They were shown an object on a computer and thought about pushing it, said Juan Gilbert, the department chair. The sensors informed the computer that the persons brain signaled something to move. After the computer understood the signals, the drone was connected and moved with the object on the screen, Gilbert said. Andujar said a second race is scheduled for April 2017, he said. Were so proud of how successful it was, he said. There was some people who didnt believe that this was possible. Enjoy what you're reading? Get content from The Alligator delivered to your inbox Subscribe Now Lets talk about respect. For many people, college is the first time they find themselves amid a diverse population, expected to communicate their ideas in a meaningful way. The critical exchange of ideas is how we grow, and if respect is the compass with which we navigate these interactions, I think it is vital to take a closer look. What is respect? For purposes of this discussion, lets say respect is consideration for how ones actions affect others, with intent to not cause harm or offense. Maybe that sounds like the bare minimum, but were looking for a broad definition, and this will suffice for our discussion. When we say everyone deserves respect, what we mean is we should consider how our actions affect everyone else. At the very least we ought to act such that we dont deliberately harm others. Civilization is founded on this principle. If we didnt all agree not to hurt each other, we wouldnt be able to live and work together. This is pretty straightforward, so lets take a look at the wrench in the gears. The demand for respect is often used as a shield by people who would rather not face criticism. Clearly some amount of respect is necessary. If you cannot discuss your ideas without hurting people, you have failed the basic qualification for being a member of society. So where is the problem? The problem is in how we apply respect. If respect is simply an endeavor not to harm, respect itself cannot be destructive. The issue comes when we demand respect be extended not only to people, but to ideas. Lets be clear: People deserve respect; ideas do not. We respect the feelings of others because we assume every person experiences life roughly as we do. We offer respect because we want respect and assume others feel the same way. Ideas and concepts do not have feelings. Ideas either have merit or they do not. To defend them on any other basis is absurd. An idea is a tool, and it does not matter how much a hammer means to you; if it doesnt drive nails, you cant build anything. You need another tool. To make any progress in this world, ideas cannot be precious. Why is there so much controversy around the criticism of ideas? Because we make ideas part of our identity. When we feel we have a good approach to life, we consider it part of ourselves, and we blur the line between ourselves and our ideas. We demand respect for our ideas because we know that people deserve respect, and we feel that our deeply held beliefs are part of our person. But if tomorrow I were to prove that the moon was made of cheese, it wouldnt matter what you believed; we would still be orbited by a big ball of gorgonzola, and every idea you have about moon rocks would still be useless. Ideas do not have equal merit simply on the basis of being ideas. If your philosophy leads to the suffering of innocent people, it is worse than a philosophy that doesnt. If your architectural theory creates buildings that collapse, it has failed. This is not a criticism of you as a person any more than pointing out a broken hammer is a criticism of the owner. Just like the hammer, your idea needs to be replaced. Its the only way to keep building and one day create something great. David Billig is a UF linguistics masters student. His column appears on Wednesdays. Enjoy what you're reading? Get content from The Alligator delivered to your inbox Subscribe Now A British physiotherapist supporting the development of physiotherapy in Sierra Leone has been named a Point of Light by Prime Minister Theresa May. Anna Vines first came to the country, which has been deeply affected by Civil War, disease and malnutrition, in 2011. As a volunteer with Mercy Ships, she provided much needed care to []http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Appa-sourceTheAfric... President Obama will give his farewell and good riddance speech on January 10 in Chicago, the town where the community organizer-in-chief began his political rise. He will attempt once again to cement his legacy by recreating history in his image. He will make his speech against the background of what is arguably the worlds most beautiful skyline and the worlds most hideous violence. Chicago, one of the toughest gun control cities in the United States, ended 2016 with 762 homicides, the most in two decades and more than Los Angeles and New York City combined. While President Obama has addressed every mass shooting as another reason for stricter gun control, he has little to say about the carnage in his hometown, and it is not likely he will address it in his self-serving and narcissistic farewell speech. President-elect Donald Trump has, tweeting on Monday night. "Chicago murder rate is record setting -- 4,331 shooting victims with 762 murders in 2016, Trump tweeted. If Mayor can't do it he must ask for Federal help! Chicago does indeed need federal help, particularly in the area of federal prosecution of gun crimes. As Investors Business Daily has noted, a recent study showed that despite rising murders and gang violence, Chicago ranked dead last in federal gun crime prosecutions: A murdered Chicago teen's mother attends the president's speech on gun control, not knowing federal gun-crime prosecutions have in fact dropped on his watch with the Windy City bringing up the rear. Cleopatra Cowley-Pendleton, the mother of murdered 15-year-old Chicago teen Hadiya Pendleton, was one of 20 mothers who lost children to criminal violence who were at the White House last Thursday to hear President Obama speak once again on the need for gun control. Obama met with her and some of the others in a small group before his formal remarks and told them "how serious this issue really is and something needs to be done about it," she said. But President Obama did not tell this group that Syracuse University's Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) shows that the Northern Illinois district ranked 90th out of 90 in prosecutions of federal weapons crimes per capita. David Burnham, co-director of TRAC, states their analysis says that according to case-by-case U.S. Justice Department information obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, there were 52 federal gun prosecutions in Illinois North (Chicago) in 2012, or 5.52 per million in population. By this measure, compared with the 90 federal judicial districts in the U.S., the prosecution rate in Chicago was the lowest in the country. If President Obama had a son, he might have looked like Amari Brown, the little boy killed by a bullet intended for his gang-banger father on the streets of President Obamas Chicago in yet another bloody Windy City weekend. As the Chicago Tribune reported, over the Fourth of July weekend in 2015, Amari Brown was one of the ten that were killed among 55 that were shot.: Among those killed was 7-year-old Amari Brown, shot in the chest as he watched fireworks near his father's home in Humboldt Park late Saturday night. Police say they believe the attack was aimed at the father, whom they described as a ranking gang member. Former Chicago Police Superintendant Garry McCarthy got it right when he observed that Amari Brown was another victim, not of police racism, but of gang violence and a revolving door justice system: Antonio Brown, who police say is a ranking member of the Four Corner Hustlers street gang, has been arrested 45 times on charges ranging from gun possession to burglary, and is not cooperating with detectives in their investigation into the slaying of his son, Amari Brown, police said. McCarthy said that the elder Brown's last arrest was in April for gun possession after leading police on a vehicle pursuit. Brown was later released on bail in that case, Cook County court records show. "If Mr. Brown is in custody, his son is alive," McCarthy, flanked by several police officials and other officers, told a room full of reporters at the Harrison District police station on the West Side on Sunday afternoon. "That's not the case. Quite frankly, he shouldn't have been on the street." A lot of criminals shouldnt be out on the streets, particularly those convicted of gun crimes. Many gun and gang crimes in Chicago are drug related President Obama has commuted the sentences of many drug offenders, including those who possessed a gun during the commission of their crimes: President Obama on Thursday commuted the sentences of nearly 100 federal inmates doing hard time, and almost one in five were in jail partially because of the illegal guns they carried Of those who had their terms commuted this week, 19 were behind bars on a combination of drug charges that also involved firearms possession -- often multiple counts -- usually by a prohibited possessor The President commuted 111 federal prisoners in late August, in which a number of those with firearms charges were featured. Earlier the same month he did likewise for 214 inmates including 56 with gun felonies. Current Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson recently pleaded for stricter penalties for repeat gun offenders after a Chicago Police commander was gunned down: Chicago police Superintendent Eddie Johnson renewed his call on Friday for stricter penalties for gun offenders after a police commander was shot at while working on the South Side The violence hit close to home late Thursday when Noel Sanchez, commander of the South Chicago police district, was shot at while working the streets in the 8800 block of South Saginaw Avenue. The gunman fled to a nearby home, touching off an hourslong standoff with a SWAT team before five people were taken into custody early Friday. Multiple guns were also recovered. Johnson cited the incident as an example of how gang members have become more emboldened, in part because of what the superintendent considers lenient penalties for gun offenses Johnson spoke once again in favor of proposed legislation in Springfield designed to make it harder for judges to impose light sentences for repeat gun offenders. The goal of the legislation is to ensure that they face several years in prison. He singled out a 21-year-old man as an example of why the legislation is needed. The man was arrested in February on a felony weapons violation and sentenced to seven years in prison in April, police said. But he was assigned to boot camp and was already out on parole Aug. 22 when he was arrested again for gun possession in the West Side's Austin community. Fear not, Superintendant Johnson. Theres a new sheriff in town and help is on the way. President Donald Trumps Department of Justice will have your back and that of your officers. Gun offenders will be prosecuted vigorously and Attorney General Jeff Sessions will be looking to enforce the laws to put gun offenders in jail, not blaming police for their racial insensitivity. Trump has also called for the deportation and incarceration of illegal alien criminals, including those belonging to gangs like MS-13, who come into the U.S. across an unsecured border, many becoming gang members in our urban areas. NBC5 Chicago reported Trumps linkage of illegal aliens and gang crimes in Chicago: Donald Trump said he thinks a lot of gang members in America, particularly in Chicago, Baltimore and Ferguson, are illegal immigrants and, if he becomes president, theyre going to be gone. A lot of the gangs that you see -- it doesnt hopefully pertain to you guys so much -- but when you look at Baltimore, when you look at Chicago and Ferguson and a lot of areas, you know a lot of these gang members are illegal immigrants, he said during an interview with Mobile, Alabama radio station FM Talk 1065. Theyre going to be gone. We are going to get them out so fast, out of this country so fast. Lock them up, Donald, lock them up. Obama and Rahm Emanuel havent Daniel John Sobieski is a freelance writer whose pieces have appeared in Investors Business Daily, Human Events, Reason Magazine and the Chicago Sun-Times among other publications. BEIJING -- A special envoy of the Chinese government on the Syrian issue will travel to Geneva, the European Union, Turkey and Russia in efforts to work on a political solution to the Syrian crisis. "The visit of Xie Xiaoyan is aimed at enhancing communication with the parties concerned, supporting global efforts in promoting peace and pushing forward a political solution at an early date," Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said at a press briefing Wednesday in Beijing. "China, as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, has been playing a positive and constructive role in resolving the Syrian crisis," Geng added. Recently, the Syrian government and major opposition groups reached a nationwide ceasefire deal and agreed to start peace talks, which brought new opportunity for a political solution to the Syrian issue, Geng said. The UN Security Council last Saturday unanimously adopted a resolution supporting the Syria cease-fire arrangement brokered by Russia and Turkey, as well as new peace talks among conflicting parties set to be held in Astana, capital of Kazakhstan. Xie, China's former ambassador to Iran and Ethiopia as well as representative to the African Union, was appointed the special envoy on the Syrian issue in March 2016, with the aim of better promoting dialogue, contributing Chinese wisdom and communicating with other parties to facilitate a solution. The left never had much bad to say about the Soviet Union. Leftist icons like Teddy Kennedy actually tried to get the Soviet Union to interfere in American presidential elections to keep Reagan from being re-elected something conveniently forgotten by Democrats today. The Soviet Union was one of the most malicious and horrible empires in human history. The Holodomor swallowed as many human lives as the Holocaust; the Gulag gobbled more souls than any system of concentration camps or slave labor camps in history. The Soviet Union conspired with Nazi Germany to begin the Second World War and then worked tirelessly to assure Nazi victory up to the day of Operation Barbarossa. The Soviet Union was required to build an "Iron Curtain" to separate the Warsaw Pact slave states from the rest of Europe and to maintain a KGB Border Guard larger than the United States Marine Corps just to keep people from leaving the Soviet Union. The system of internal passports prevented Soviet subjects from even moving from one region to another without state approval. Tsarist Russia was incomparably better in every way than the Soviet Union. The industrial production of Russia was increasing faster than any major nation in the world up to 1913, and Russian engineering and technology were among the best in the world. Russian literature, music, and art enriched the whole world. Tsarist Russia's greatest flaw was its anti-Semitism, but even so, Tsarist Russia was a much better place for Jews to live than the Soviet Union. Stalin killed every single Jew who had helped the Bolshevik Revolution, and Jews were almost completely absent from any important positions in the Soviet Union right up to the time of its collapse. The Soviets turned many Jews over to the Nazis, and the Soviets, alone, suppressed any information about the Holocaust (much of which had taken place on Soviet soil.) The haunting poem by the dissident Yevgeni Yevtushenko in 1962 begins, "No monument stands over Babi Yar," the site of the slaughter of thousands of Ukrainian Jews. The Star of David was placed on that grim site only after the Soviet Union collapsed. The left ignored all this and preached that we ought to find a way to work with the Soviet Union because Russia was, of course, a great nation and a nuclear superpower. Today, however, leftists seem to view Russia the way they ought to have viewed the Soviet Union. Soviets always toyed with our presidential elections. The Soviets poured huge amounts of money into our nation to engage in propaganda and subversion. The Soviets even placed agents in positions so that if Henry Wallace had become president, our secretary of state and secretary of treasury would have both been active Soviet agents. They deliberately infiltrated academia, government, Hollywood, and other targets of opportunity. Now pull back and look at Putin's Russia as it really is and compare it to the Soviet Union (and the left's hysteria about Russia and indifference to the Soviet Union). Russia has regular elections with international observers in which a number of different political parties compete. In the 2011 elections, Putin's United Russia lost its majority in the Duma, and last year, it won that majority back, but there are still six different political parties with seats in the Duma. President Putin is a political boss, but he won a contested election with five different parties on the ballot. There is no Iron Curtain, and there is no KGB Border Guard or system of internal passports or a Gulag or a Communist Party that runs virtually everything. (There is still is a Communist Party in Russia, but it won only 13% of the vote in the last election.) Every aspect of life is freer in Putin's Russia than it was in the Soviet Union. Putin's Russia is an imperfect but authentic democracy run by a nationalistic strongman. Putin's Russia is like all the world except for Western Europe, the English-speaking democracies, and a few nations in the Asian Pacific Rim. The left, which excused or ignored every monstrous crime and every instance of gross interference in our domestic politics by the Soviets, now wishes to persuade us that Trump ought to react to Putin's Russia as Ronald Reagan did to the Soviet Union. Trump should reject this approach and do what he has done all his life: get the best deal for America that he can with Russia. President-elect Donald Trump expressed skepticism over reports that Russia hacked the U.S. election. It is well-known that Russia -- and China, and various of our friends and allies -- spend a lot of time and effort trying to access American military and industrial secrets, as the U.S. does theirs. But in the case of altering the election, Trumps skepticism appears warranted. How did we get here? An attempted hack into Georgia's voter registration database was traced back to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), according to The Wall Street Journal last month. It was a criminal act and possibly an attempt to interfere in an election. Even worse, DHS appears to have outsourced the hacking activity. One might think the breach of a state voter registration system by the Federal government would be a big story. But it was quickly replaced by the Obama administrations claims about Russian cyber attacks on American political institutions. The FBI and DHS (yes, that DHS) then produced the Joint Analysis Report under the seal of its National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center. It should be noted that the report was prepared without input from the National Security Agency (NSA), Cyber Command, the Pentagon, or the CIA. Wonder why? The answer most likely is that they declined to endorse a report that fails to deliver proof and makes accusations unsupported by evidence. If a college student turned this report in as a research paper, he would flunk the course. The report claims to provide an analysis of the "tools and infrastructure" used by the Russian intelligence services to "exploit networks and endpoints associated with the U.S. election" as well as a "range of U.S. government, political and private sector entities." The report calls this "malicious cyber activity" and aggregates it under the code name Grizzly Steppe. The notion of malicious activity is scary and meaningless. If information is stolen, it is theft; it is a crime. But the report cannot demonstrate theft, or even describe the activity any of the identified organizations actually engaged in, so it uses non-legal term of art. But grizzlies from the steppe sound pretty malicious. Equally problematic is that the report cannot tie any of the "known" Russian-located hacking activities directly to the Russian intelligence services in respect to the hack of the email systems of the Democratic National Committee or personal email accounts, such as those of Hillary Clinton and John Podesta, to name a few of the leading targets. There is plenty of notional information that the Russian intelligence services have used private entities to carry out hacking against various Western targets. And there is some important proof that on a number of occasions the Russians have carried out sophisticated cyber attacks against foreign countries. The cases that are clear-cut include Estonia, Georgia, and Ukraine, and there are surely others. But in direct attacks like those (hitting everything from power plants, banks, government agencies, military organizations, air defense systems, and communications), it does not appear that the Russians used third parties. Rather, those attacks were launched mostly by the Russian military. The FBI knows a lot about Hillary's email account and her correspondents. Did the Russians hack her indiscreet dissemination of classified information? Wouldn't that be relevant to the Joint Analysis Report? Indeed, how could there be any serious analysis without that? But it isnt in there. The Joint Analysis Report also does not say who else might have hacked these same accounts. For example, China would have had plenty of reason to attack Trump, not Clinton, because of Trump's position on trade. So would Mexico. Japan is in a huge snit over the TPP deal, which Trump has promised to cancel. Likewise Iran and Turkey would much prefer Clinton to Trump and either could have tried to help Hillary win. So why are the Russians singled out here? The answer is that Democrats want to pin their defeat on the Russians and claim the election was "stolen by Putin." Unfortunately for them, they don't have any evidence. In any case, if you want to steal an election, leaking John Podesta or DNC emails is not how anyone -- foreign or domestic -- would do it. At the end of the day, no one even claimed that the information in the e-mails wasnt legitimate; only that it was embarrassing. Embarrassing people with their own words isnt by itself illegal. The way to steal an election is to tamper with the voting system -- enter the registration system (as DHS tried to do in Georgia) or change the vote count after the election. In fact, we had some of those problems. In Detroit, discrepancies between machine counts and registration books in 392 of 662 precincts prevented nearly 60% of the total ballots from being included in a recount. Detroits way of dealing with the problem was simply to forego the recount and assume everything was fine the first time. The Joint Analysis Report has nothing to say about voting machines because it does not have information of value to put on the table. The report says the activity of the Russian Intelligence Services "is part of an ongoing campaign of cyber-enabled operations directed at the U.S. government and its citizens. That is probably true, but the same applies to many others with China in the lead, because China manufactures most of the computer equipment, cameras, cell phones, and communications gear America relies on. We know full well that China puts all kinds of back doors in equipment it manufactures. This, however, hasnt risen to the level of a yawn. The Joint Analysis Report does not support the claims made by politicians who want to link Putin to stealing the American election -- namely that the sneaky Russians handed the election to Donald Trump. The womens movement of the 1960s is, like other liberal Democrat initiatives: tired, failing, and out of touch with the day to day lives of American women of all races. Todays women dont need anyone to focus only on college grants or birth control. Women today have a new set of important issues and these new issues need to be addressed. It is very interesting to note that Hillary Clinton ran on the rationalization that she was the only person who could address the concerns of women. But in reality all she did was maintain the government establishments approach to womens concerns. She refused to suggest any revolutionary programs that would help women. The facts are that the Democrats have absolutely failed to address the real concerns of most women wherever they run things. Black women are concerned with the safety of their children in Chicagos Democrat-controlled Congressional districts. Democrats created these segregated communities and they are responsible for the misery experienced by black families. Democrats refuse to allow school choice for black or Hispanic mothers. Democrats have tolerated high rates of high school failure and teenage single motherhood, both of which are highly correlated with poverty, crime, imprisonment and premature death. Democrats refuse to see these as womens issues. President Obama slapped the women of Washington, D.C. in the face when he abolished, by executive order, a program to give mothers a voucher they could use to send their children to schools of their choice. American women deserve school choice for their children, and if Democrats are so supportive of the concerns of women, the first thing they should do is establish a national policy of school choice. But Democrats refuse to do so. They have chosen to fight school choice initiatives at every turn. And the great tragedy for women is that the reason they cant send their children, who are the most important thing in their lives, to different schools is that all public schools in Democrat controlled cities are controlled by Democrat-donating public school unions, who give almost 100% of their money to Democrats. Women of color need to realize that their childrens education has been sold out by Democrats for nothing but campaign cash. That money is more important to Democrats than the education and lives of their children. It is remarkable that Hillary and President Obama have never once visited what may be the most family-unfriendly parts of the nation: the black neighborhoods of Chicago, which have been run by the Democrat mayors of Chicago for over eighty years. The same can be said of other Democrat run cities such as Baltimore, Boston, St. Louis, Philadelphia and New York. Trump has nominated Betsy DeVos, who believes in school choice for mothers, as his Secretary of Education. This means that all women may finally have the choice to send their kids to schools with better programs and better teachers. Their children will graduate high school, their sons will be less likely to join gangs, and their daughters will be less likely to get pregnant and enter the cycle of poverty and crime the Democrats have institutionalized for them. This is true liberation: liberation from liberal government Democrat Party policies. Only Trump can do it since he is not beholden to the Democrat public sector unions. Black women have been sold out by the Democratic Party. Yet theres scarcely ever a word spoken about how these women, who have been suffering their entire lives under Democrat control, should have a voice in the policies that control their lives and the safety of their children. Now that Democrats have encouraged illegal immigration by Hispanics, we now see Hispanic women being placed into highly segregated communities and their children subjected to the abuse of the Democrats obsession with power and political donations. The Pew Hispanic Center reported that Hispanic teenage girls now have the highest single motherhood rate of any ethnic group. This does not bode well for the future families of Hispanic women. And in places like Chicago, which in 1985 had the first mayoral executive order establishing itself as a sanctuary city, 40% of high school students dont graduate. So the sons and daughters of illegal immigrant women are joining black women and beginning to suffer under the oppressive rule of the Democratic Party. Crushing socioeconomic factors affect all women. Today women of all races see their families suffering under the highest property taxes ever, high unemployment, slow economic growth, high joblessness among their children who have just graduated college; and an historic decline, under President Obama, in economic growth and the median income of all Americans. American women and their families are dropping downward economically, out of the middle class, as reported by the Pew Research Center. They are paying much higher property taxes nationwide, as the Tax Foundation has reported. And in cities like Chicago, all of the property taxes paid by residents go exclusively to pay public sector pensions. This means that all other taxes and fees are increased to make up for the revenue needed for public services. American women are enduring economic suffering not seen in their lifetimes or in the lifetimes of their mothers. The support that Trump received from middle class women was seen as a surprise, but Trump knew that the women of America are not being respected by Democrats and that Democrats, since they support single motherhood and welfare, are the primary causes of the suffering of women, particularly in inner city neighborhoods. Theres nothing wrong with expanding the concept of a Womens Movement to include the above issues women now experience. Democrats wont do it since it may be revealed, during the process, that they created the obstacles women face today -- that they dont want school choice, and seem unconcerned about the high unemployment and crime that is now tragically characteristic of minority communities. That their policies have not just held back families but held back women. Its time for women to see that Democrats will not help them today, that they are stuck in the past, and refuse to see, or fail to see, what can be done to help women with school choice and job growth. Minority women can only help their families with improvements in education and Trumps pick for Education Secretary, Dr. DeVos, is ideal for that role. In the 1960s womens liberation ideology was focused on the constraints of the patriarchy, the social role constraints imposed upon women by male dominated society. Now the constraints women experience, particularly minority women, are largely created by government policy. In January 1961, President Eisenhower delivered his farewell address to the nation. His insightful comments included the following: The prospect of domination of the nation's scholars by Federal employment, project allocations, and the power of money is ever presentand is gravely to be regarded. Yet, in holding scientific research and discovery in respect, as we should, we must also be alert to the equal and opposite danger that public policy could itself become the captive of a scientific-technological elite. A notable exception to such warnings of the potential corruption of scientific integrity by federal funding has been climate researcher Dr. Judith Curry. This week, Dr. Curry announced her early retirement from Georgia Tech University. She has been a shining star in the efforts to maintain scientific integrity in her chosen field of climate research. Academia has not been a champion of open debate and application of traditional norms of proof-of-theory that rely on comparison of theory and real-world results when it concerns climate change matters. Her letter explaining her resignation of a tenured post illustrates the overwhelming hypocrisy with which academia treats research and teaching that does not conform to the official climate change academic and political dogma. Federal funding in the climate fields is earmarked for supporters of the federal position that man-made climate change is scientific fact. As Dr. Curry notes, her move to the business world will provide her a more honest environment in which to continue to make her mark. Best wishes to that end and to a climate heroine. Charles G. Battig, M.S., M.D., Heartland Institute policy expert on environment; VA-Scientists and Engineers for Energy and Environment (VA-SEEE). His website is www.climateis.com. I have never seen traffic jams like the ones in Mexico City. God forbid that it rains. In case of rain, pack up and go back home, because you will literally spend an afternoon sitting in a jam. My friend Allan Wall travels to Mexico often. He recently summed up traffic in Mexico City this way: Mexico Citys millions of residents have to get from home to work and other places, and that can be really complicated and congested, with so many people and so many vehicles involved. Thus, traffic in Mexico City is an enormous challenge. The TomTom traffic index rates Mexico City as the worst in the world, after Istanbul, Turkey. So how does TomTom rate cities on their traffic? The rating is based on how much extra time is required when there is congestion. In Mexico City, a trip is 55% longer if the streets arent clear. In Paris, France it would be 35%, and in New York City it would be 31%. Let me add a personal story. A few years ago, I made a business trip and spent some time with a local businessman. I was impressed with his English fluidity and asked him if he had lived in the U.S. He answered no. He said he learned English commuting to work everyday. He turned his commute into an English class. Over the years, the Mexico City government has tried this and that. First, they redirected all major avenues and turned them into one-way streets. It looked good on paper, but it did not really fix the problem. Second, they put in thousands of mini-buses to move people around. It worked until the little buses were so crowded that you stood there waiting forever for a ride. To be fair, it is a pretty good system, and cheap. Unfortunately, it's hard to move 20 million people in any easy manner. Third, they started a program limiting driving to a few days a week. It was all based on the last digit of your license plate. It was intended to promote carpooling, but it really didn't work. The congestion is bad for business. And it does not help the pollution problem to have thousands of cars running. Anyway, the problem is that there are too many cars in Mexico relative to the number of highways and avenues. It's possible that Mexico City may have finally found a solution to the problem. It's sort of like flying over the city, as Victoria Burnett reports: Coasting above Mexico Citys infernal congestion is normally a prerogative of the well-heeled, who take helicopters or pay to use the upper deck of two-tier highways to avoid the chaos below. In October, however, thousands of residents of this ragged industrial suburb began getting to work or school in brightly colored pods that glide along the citys first commuter cable-car route. The Mexicable, a seven-stop line that runs just over three miles through a furrow of poor hillside neighborhoods, is part of a growing constellation of cable cars around Latin America that links marginalized communities to their cities metropolitan hearts. In Ecatepec, the largest and most dangerous municipality in the 21 million-strong expanse of greater Mexico City, the Mexicable has brought new visitors, shorter commutes, a burst of street art and a new sense of inclusion in city life, residents said. The idea is fabulous. Allan Wall mentioned that you can move at 15 kilometers per hour, or twice the average Mexico City traffic speed of 8 kilometers per hour. There are other cities in Latin America with similar systems, including Cali and Medellin in Colombia; Caracas, Venezuela; La Paz, Bolivia; and Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. There are plans for half a dozen other Latin American cities, Flying over the traffic? Quite an idea for a city that is so congested that most people never leave their neighborhoods. P.S. You can listen to my show (Canto Talk) and follow me on Twitter. Well, who in the world could have seen this coming? Answer: everyone! The modern racist NAACP is staging a sit-in outside Jeff Sessions's office, trying to brand Trump's pick for attorney general a white racist. I say, "Fine, have at it." These deplorables on the left are so yesterday living in the past, thinking their tattered Playbook for Destroying Republicans still works. Trump's victory told everyone willing to face reality that the left's standard old tactics for stopping Republicans no longer work at least not with this administration. NeverTrump Republicans, Democrats, Hollywood, and the mainstream media (abandoning all pretense of objectivity) placed their hands atop each other on the red button. In desperation, they pushed it, dropping a nuclear bomb of negativity squarely on the head of Mr. Trump. And still, he prevailed. Do not get me wrong, folks. I am not saying we should lower our guard or ignore the left's attacks. Quite the opposite. Trump's popularity confirms that Americans feel that it is time to get in the left's face, to call them out on their lies, bullying, and blatant hypocrisy. Falsely portraying Sessions's record, the NAACP slime-balls have the nerve to call Trump's A.G. pick a racist. Well, remember Obama's A.G., Eric Holder? Racist Holder arrogantly refused to prosecute the New Black Panther Party for voter intimidation solely because they were black. The NAACP wholeheartedly supported Holder's in-our-face screw-you-white-America racism. A.G. Holder gave the New Black Panther Party a pass again when they boldly and illegally offered a $10K bounty for George Zimmerman, Trayvon Martin's shooter. The hypocrisy, arrogance, and evil of the NAACP is sickening. Leftist tactics of protests and name-calling still scare the crap out of some activists and politicians on our side. When we accept the left's premise, putting us on defense, and allow them to set the rules of engagement, we surrender our power. My wife Mary asked me, "When do we show up at the NAACP protest at Sessions's office to protest the NAACP?" I had not considered doing that. But I like her attitude. That's what I am talking about! President-Elect Trump has won another victory before even taking office. This time, it wasnt Ford, Carrier, or some other corporation forced to capitulate in the wake of a tweet; it was the majority of the House of Representatives. Put simply, Trump has demonstrated the he is in charge, and the House majority caucus had better get used to following his lead. There has been some well justified concern over the willingness of the GOP establishment (Congressional branch) to work with the Trump administration. After all, he has been attacking them as denizens of the swamp that needs to be drained. And he palled around with Hillary Clinton and was a Democrat until recently. So it is a reasonable expectation that this outsider would encounter friction with the now entrenched GOP House majority. But in the absolutely critical first move the interaction that sets a precedent and remains in memory the GOP House majority caucus reversed itself and ditched the ethics reform package it blundered into in the first day of the new Congress. A Trump tweet was sufficient to generate thousands of outraged calls to members offices, an avalanche so potent that no politician would dare ignore it. In short order, like burglars caught in a powerful searchlight, they scuttled the plan and hoped that the whole thing would go away. If you paid no attention to media yesterday and missed the saturation coverage as always happens when the GOP does a face-plant read this New York Times coverage, laced with well deserved snark. I suppose that it is pretty easy to understand how the majority caucus lost its way. After all, the anonymous accusations permitted under the current system can be abused. And members of both parties have been caught in nightmare situations. If they had but waited, they could have used ethics reform as a way of involving Democrats and thereby defending against hypocritical attacks. They might even have gotten a better package of reforms. But no... Perhaps a bit intoxicated with running things under a GOP president, the caucus removed a burr from under its saddle right away. They changed the ethics machinery because they needed to adopt new rules anyway, and they included it in the package over the opposition of Paul Ryan, now revealed as not really in charge, no Tip ONeill in his command of his majority. This is the opening that Trump, who knows how to spot and take advantage of weakness (part of what makes a great negotiator), was looking for. Thus, once again, the nickname The Stupid Party has been proven thoroughly justified. Democrats no doubt wondered if Christmas had made a reappearance. Few things pleasure a Democrat more than the opportunity to hypocritically denounce Republicans, mounted on a high horse of self-righteousness. Tmrw @HouseGOP will destroy the office that provides independent ethics process. So much for draining the swamp. https://t.co/8k04mZt7t0 Nancy Pelosi (@NancyPelosi) January 3, 2017 Why couldnt Republicans see this coming? I dont know. They are supposed to be politicians capable of seeing beyond the immediate step ahead. Not for the first time, a Donald Trump tweet changed things. With all that Congress has to work on, do they really have to make the weakening of the Independent Ethics Watchdog, as unfair as it Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 3, 2017 Donald Trump is exercising power in ways never before conceived in American politics. A president-elect has bent the House majority to his will. That has never happened before, as far as I know. And no matter how hard they try to forget it, the precedent has been set, and in Washington, precedent counts for a lot. In an odd way, the medias and Democrats faux outrage has strengthened the hand of the man they despise and weakened the hand of his intra-party rivals, with whom they share many personal and self-interest ties. Has there ever been a Congress that started with more self-destructive clumsiness? Illegal aliens captured at the border continue to be released at bus stops in Texas with orders to appear before an immigration judge at a future date. The flood of illegals has reached levels not seen since the record year of 2014, with tens of thousands of women and unaccompanied children flowing across the border. The government refuses to inform local authorities of this catch and release program. Breitbart: Bus station employees are reporting that illegal immigrants continue pour into the Texas border town of Laredo. They have seen a holding center for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) carrying between 20 and 40 undocumented women during at least five bus trips. The local NBC affiliate, 8KGNS-TV first heard that 400 migrants were headed to the border city but it has been difficult to get a concrete number of released individuals from the agency. Officials report that these women meet certain release eligibility requirements set by the federal government. Local officials say that federal representatives did not notify anyone in the City of Laredo, and that a similar problem was created in 2014 when there was a surge of Central Americans in the Texas border town. What is adding to the flood of migrants crossing the border from Central America is the fact that some countries are refusing to repatriate their own. Breitbart Texas reported in late October that illegal immigrants, mostly from Central America, were flooding across the southern border in advance of the 2016 presidential election. The numbers reported by patrol agents were at, or above, historic 2014 levels. On October 18, Breitbart Texas reported that a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) report showed that the number of illegal border crossing apprehensions of Family Unit Aliens (FMUA) from Central America and Mexico hit the highest level on recordan all-time high with 77,674 crossings in FY 2016. Unaccompanied Alien Children (UAC) apprehensions were at 59,692, second to the 2014 historic mark of 69,970. This is a clear case of U.S. domestic politics driving the wave of illegals crossing the border: Cartel connected human smugglers are telling people they need to get across the border now, U.S. Border Patrol Agent Chris Cabrera told Breitbart Texas in his capacity as president of National Border Patrol Council Local 3307 in October. When our agents ask the illegal immigrants who have surrendered at the border, they tell us they have been told they have to be here by a certain deadline to qualify for amnesty from Hillary Clinton, or they must come now because Donald Trump will build a wall and they wont be able to cross. The cartels aren't stupid. They know just where our vulnerable points are along the border and take full advantage of that knowledge. Trump can change this policy his first day in office. It's a question of how the chief executive and the departments under his control choose to interpret immigration law. The Obama administration chose an extraordinarily broad interpretation of the law while exercising maximum prosecutorial discretion, allowing hundreds of thousands of illegal aliens what amounts to a free ride by releasing them after giving them a date to appear before a judge. The courts have ruled we can't detain families with children for very long, which hugely complicates enforcement. President Obama continued to promise throughout his tenure that the flood of illegals from Central America would not be allowed to stay, that they would be sent home. The reality is, with the courts preventing detention, Central American nations refusing to take their people back, and ICE policies allowing illegals to go free, border towns are at the government's mercy when it comes to dealing with the problem. The case of a political prisoner on a hunger strike in Iran has recently gained widespread global attention as a campaign for his release went viral, with the hashtag #saveArash trending worldwide. Iranian authorities are under pressure to release Arash Sadeghi as his conditions grow dire after continuing to protest and refusing any food consumption for over 70 days. A jailed Iranian activist on hunger strike in protest at the detention of his writer wife has taken social media by storm. The hashtag #SaveArash topped Twitter trending on Friday as fellow Iranians and others showed solidarity with Arash Sadeghi, euronews reported. The issue has also prompted Amnesty International to issue an Urgent Action call slamming Tehrans approach. The Iranian authorities are putting the life of imprisoned human-rights defender Arash Sadeghi at grave risk and should release him and his wife, Golrokh Ebrahimi Iraee without further delay, the renowned human rights organization demanded. Iranian authorities on December 31 ordered a total of $450,000 bail for the temporary release of Sadeghi and his wife. While the property bond for Iraee was delivered the next day, according to the couples lawyer, authorities delayed her release, citing bureaucratic procedures. After the long period Sadeghi has been on hunger strike, with authorities hindering his access to medical aid, various reports indicate he is vomiting blood and experiencing severe respiratory, heart, kidney and gastrointestinal problems. In the past few days, Iranians have rallied outside Tehrans notorious Evin Prison, marching and demanding Sadeghis release. Reports also indicate that Hossein Sadeghi, Arashs father, joined his sons struggle. [T]o support my son, I have started my hunger strike since Friday, December 3rd to protest against the authorities, he announced. Following international pressure, Iran was forced to temporarily release Iraee on bail, prompting Sadeghi to end his hunger strike. Sadeghi is currently behind bars serving a 19-year prison sentence under bogus charges of conspiracy and propaganda against the state allegations he denies completely. Sadeghi was previously arrested by Iranian authorities for his political activities twice on July 9 and December 23 of 2009, and again on May 5, 2014. Each time his family was able to provide the bail for his release. He was last arrested in October 2016 and remains behind bars ever since. Irans so-called criminal justice system is of a callous nature, as authorities continue to impose harsh conditions on political prisoners across the country. Many such detainees feel left with no choice other than launching hunger strikes to legally challenge their unjust detentions. Already known for its appalling human rights violations, Iran can also be described as home to some of the most atrocious prisons, with a large population of political prisoners. Unfortunately, Tehrans mullahs have been able to take advantage of the Wests appeasement policy approach and silence in this regard to place many dissidents behind bars under appalling conditions. The case of Maryam Akbari Monfared, another political prisoner behind bars on a 15-year sentence, has also raised grave concerns as authorities continue to deny her access to medical care. Monfared made a call from inside prison demanding that senior Iranian officials be held accountable for the summer 1988 massacre of over 30,000 political prisoners, mostly members and supporters of the opposition People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK). She is facing reprisals after filing a formal complaint that seeks an official investigation into the mass killings of political prisoners, including her siblings, in the summer of 1988, Amnesty warned. It is high time for Iran to be the subject of strong condemnation and liability by the international community, and for the regime to understand that it must comply with international standards in relation to voices of dissent. Otherwise, Iran will consider the international communitys silence and inaction a green light to continue pressuring political prisoners and increase its already horrific execution spree. Jerusalem isnt Jewish! Who knew? There are two other propositions that are now in danger: (1) do bears s--- in the woods? (2) is the pope Catholic? Lets hope the Security Council doesnt get any resolutions on the sun not rising in the East, or we are all going to have to make some big adjustments. Obama is in there promoting the Muslim line. So the US of A was hors de combat on this one. Butthe Brits, the French, couldnt veto it? What is their veto for? They are down for the idea that Jerusalem isnt Jewish? Is this going to be extended to all capitals? No building in Paris unless the Germans agree to it? No building in London unless the Danes agree to it? Even Russian and China no building in Moscow unless the Tatars agree to it? No building in Beijing unless the Japanese agree to it? The Germans were underlawyered at the end of WWII! After they were crushed by the Russians, the Brits, and ourselves, they should have walked into the surrender meetings with lists of demands. Not only would they still have East Prussia, but it would have been increased because they would have been upset if it hadnt been. What could we have done to make the Germans feel better given them Long Island? Is that enough? And the Japanese. Give them California? A win-win. Its not too late. The U.N. is going to keep this show going forever. One thing of concern, even though it has the flavor of blaming the victim: Israel is as bad at defending itself forensically in the public forum as the Republicans were pre-Trump. Israel simply will not makes its case. Maybe the world community would ignore the case, but at least make it do that. Here is a quote from Article 17 of the Charter of the PLO: Article 17: The partitioning of Palestine, which took place in 1947, and the establishment of Israel are illegal and null and void, regardless of the loss of time From Article 18 of the Charter of the PLO: Article 18: The Balfour Declaration, the Palestine Mandate System, and all that has been based on them are considered null and void. The claims of historic and spiritual ties between Jews and Palestine are not in agreement with the facts of history or with the true basis of sound statehood. Judaism is not a nationality (and) the Jews are not one people with an independent personality Wouldnt it be useful for Israel to drill these two statements home so often and so hard that everybody in the world could recite them? They are in addition to the fact that the PLO has never signed a peace treaty on the 1967 War. The position for Israel to take now is that the U.N. has exceeded its competence, and thus its jurisdiction, if any, is null and void. Its resolutions are now akin to Lincolns joke: Q: How many legs does a dog have if you call a tail a leg? A: Four. Calling a tail a leg doesnt make it a leg. Next week, ten days before his eight-year presidency ends, Barack Hussein Obama (D) will officially return to his violent hometown of Chicago, where his public life began, "to say my grateful farewell to you." I'm just beginning to write my remarks. But I'm thinking about them as a chance to say thank you for this amazing journey, to celebrate the ways you've changed this country for the better these past eight years, and to offer some thoughts on where we all go from here. Since 2009, we've faced our fair share of challenges, and come through them stronger. That's because we have never let go of a belief that has guided us ever since our foundingour conviction that, together, we can change this country for the better. So I hope you'll join me one last time. Because, for me, it's always been about you. President Barack Obama While he's thanking America for his "amazing journey," where he's "come through stronger," and "to celebrate the ways you've changed this country for the better," what about the residents of Chicago? Has Chicago changed "for the better"? Well under the eight-year presidential reign of their most famous ex-resident (he probably won't return, and, as you'll read further, you probably won't blame him), his city, his county, and his state of Illinois (where he once served in the notoriously corrupt state legislature and which he represented casually as a senator while he ran for president) are all broke, broke, broke despite raising taxes while residents and jobs are fleeing. They are also violent despite (because of?) some of the strictest, oh so sensible gun control laws in the nation. While Chicago is not the most murderous or dangerous city in the U.S. that dubious distinction belongs to St. Louis the sheer number of murders is appallingly high. Indeed, as many have noted, the number of murders in Chicago is higher than the combined total of murders in New York and Los Angeles, both of which have larger populations. And 2017 in Chicago isn't starting any better. An overwhelming majority of the victims could have been the Obamas' sons or other relatives. Correspondingly, the overwhelming majority of the murderers also could have been the Obamas' sons. Between 75% and 80% of Chicago shooting victims are black. (snip) Former Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy on Sunday blamed the Black Lives Matter movement for causing a rise in violent crime around the country. During a radio interview with John Catsimatidis on AM 970 in New York, McCarthy blamed protests against police brutality in cities like Baltimore, Ferguson, Mo., and Charlotte, N.C., for creating a "political atmosphere of anti-police sentiment." "So what's happening, and this is ironic, is that a movement with the goal of saving black lives at this point is getting black lives taken, because 80 percent of our murder victims here in Chicago are male blacks," McCarthy said. "Less than half of 1 percent of all the shootings in this city involve police officers shooting civilians." As President-elect Donald J. Trump noted: Chicago murder rate is record setting - 4,331 shooting victims with 762 murders in 2016. If Mayor can't do it he must ask for Federal help! Welcome home, Barack Obama. Despite your fine words, Chicago hasn't "changed for the better." The clearest sign that the "blue model" of governance is failing can be found in statistics compiled by United Van Lines, the nation's largest moving company. They report that outbound residents in New York outnumber inbound residents by 2-1 a higher percentage of any state except New Jersey and Illinois. Overall. the East Coast is seeing an exodus of citizens, with 59% of moves in that region outbound. Albany Times Union: The 2016 National Movers Study by Fenton, Mo.- based United also found that almost 59 percent of the moves within the eastern United States were outbound. Where were people moving? Mostly to western states and the Carolinas, with one exception. That exception was Vermont, which ranked second on the list of states with the highest proportion -- 67 percent -- of inbound moves. South Dakota had the highest share of inbound moves, at 68 percent. New Jersey and Illinois, like New York, saw outbound moves making up 63 percent of all moves. "This year's data clearly reflects retirees' location preferences," said Michael Stoll, an economist and professor at the University of California, Los Angeles. "Interestingly enough, these retirees are leaving at such a fast pace that the movement of millennials to urban areas in the Midwest and Northeast is being overshadowed." In New York, inbound millennials were 27 percent of inbound moves and 19 percent of those moving out. But of those over 65, 26 percent were outbound and 20 percent were inbound. While retirees make up a significant percentage of people moving out, the fact is, people are voting with their feet. Walter Russell Mead has written extensively about the failure of the "blue model": The rise of telecommuting will lead to better, richer lives. Families will be stronger. The environment will benefit from less commuting. All good. But it also represents the death of the political philosophy and economic system that the Times is otherwise prepared to defend to the last: the blue social model. If this revolution continuesand it willfewer and fewer people will be stuck in big, high tax, over-regulated cities. While some will still choose to live there, many, especially those raising children, will not. In the long run, people who live and work the way that the subject of the Times article does will simply not support the cumbersome procedures and institutions of the bureaucratic state as we know it. It's no accident that more people are leaving not only states that impose high taxes and burdensome regulations, but also states that are incompetently or corruptly run. The two go hand in hand. Corruption is not unknown in red states, but with less government, there are fewer opportunities for graft. Will there come a point where those left living in blue states will revolt and demand the kind of reforms we see in red states? Even if they did, the corrupt establishment is so deeply embedded in society that the reformers will probably be stymied. In Illinois, Governor Bruce Rauner came into office with a mandate to reform the state employee pension system, as well as get the state budget currently running a multi-billion-dollar deficit under control. The Democratic establishment totally refused all of the governor's reform ideas and simply refused to pass a budget. It's been a year and half since the state was operating under a regular budget, and as a result, the deficit has gotten worse. Courts dominated by Democrat judges have blocked Rauner's moves to reform the pension system which is a ticking time bomb set to explode on Illinois taxpayers. Mead talks of the "death" of the blue model. In Illinois, New York, and elsewhere, that prediction is about to be realized. There is nothing that better tells the story of leftist hypocrisy and intolerance quite as well as the planned "Women's March on Washington" January 21 to protest Donald Trump's inauguration. The idea springs from the activist mind of Teresa Shook, "grandmother and retired attorney in Hawaii." The organizers expect 200,000 people the day after inauguration day. The potential protesters? The usual band of self-described victims of all manner of discrimination who, in their collective opinion, illustrate the ongoing crime that is America: immigrants, African-American women, LGBTs, women for equal rights, anti-police women, women for gun control, the Planned Parenthood pro-abortion crowd, and of course the insane Code Pink. In other words, the usual suspects all those people who never have a good word to say about the most successful, least racist, freest (before Obama) nation on the planet. Hillary Clinton did win the majority of the woman vote, 54% to 42%, about the same margin over Republicans as Romney (44%) and McCain (43%). Can Trump's win be compared to Romney's and McCain's losses? Yes and no. We know that single women generally vote Democrat. Obama's ridiculous Julia video made his idea of a perfect, government-orchestrated woman's life possible cradle to grave without a man! Sperm, yes, for a child; a man, no. But this recent election was different. We had a candidate who has a long record of loving women in an old-school, politically incorrect way, the way men have loved women for thousands of years. But now men are no longer allowed to speak of their affection for women without wholly sacrificing their masculinity, at which point they are no longer interesting to women. Trump has been married three times, is a reality show celebrity, and so is presumed to be, on the basis of some ill considered words now and then, a cad, thus making him incapable of being president. Oh, how these indignant women would have loathed JFK! Yes? Of course not. He was a Democrat. The same women loved and still love the odious Bill Clinton, the worst abuser of women ever to inhabit the White House. Progressive women adored Bill and now find Trump's past behavior untenable. Nothing elucidates the hypocrisy of the left more than their embrace of the Clintons and their contempt for Trump. Especially the women. News flash! They hate him not because of his treatment of women. They loathe him because he is a nominal Republican. And he says what he thinks without succumbing to the filter imposed by the left on practically every topic. These women who are going to "march on Washington" are clueless and un-self-aware. They actually think that the way Trump has spoken about certain women in the past is relevant to the state of the world today. They either do not know or do not care that ISIS is still on the march, committing horrific terrorist attacks around the world. They do not know or care that North Korea is threatening the world with nukes. They couldnt care less that Obama gave over a hundred billion dollars to Iran, the largest state sponsor of terror in the world. They either do not know or do not care that Obama has done such serious damage to the United States, the Middle East, and Europe that it may never be undone certainly not in the Middle East and Europe. No. They care that Trump uttered words they don't like about women. Trump is not going to restrict the reproductive rights they so revere. He is going to have much bigger problems thanks to the damage done by eight years of the Obama administration. It is impossible to have an iota of respect for these women who think they will accomplish anything by marching on Washington for their hurt feelings. They have no idea how the world works. If they were marching for the women in Saudi Arabia and all the other Muslim countries that demean women to the point of genital mutilation or the African girls kidnapped by Boko Haram, they might be worth national attention. How about a march for all the women killed in Syria and across the Middle East and in Paris, Nice, Belgium, Iraq, Yemen, etc.? No. They do not give them a moment's thought. They are just petulant, ill informed, self-centered women who should be ignored and dismissed. These women make me admire Trump more than I ever thought possible. According to a report which surfaced a couple of days ago, Samsung plans to announce the Galaxy Note 7 probe results by the end of this month. Well, a new report just surfaced, and its suggesting that the devices battery did not have anything to do with the whole fiasco. According to this report, both the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus will be fueled by batteries provided by Samsung SDI, Samsungs company which manufactured battery packs for the Galaxy Note 7 as well. Previous rumors claimed that Samsung is looking to get batteries from third-party manufacturers, but according to this report, that wont be the case. That actually made sense because the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus launches are extremely important for Samsung, and the company cannot afford to have any battery issues with those two devices, the Galaxy Note 7 fiasco created more than enough damage for Samsung already. So, why is Samsung using Samsung SDIs batteries yet again? Well, it is possible that batteries did not have anything to do with the Galaxy Note 7 fiasco, which is something well find out later this month. So, what went wrong with the Galaxy Note 7 if batteries are not to blame? Well, some rumors were claiming that strategic defect is to blame for all that, in other words, it is possible Samsung made a mistake and did not leave enough room inside of the phone for heat dissipation, which could have caused the Galaxy Note 7 to explode, of course. If thats the case, then thats a rookie mistake by the company, but well see. In addition to the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus, it seems like Samsung also plans to use Samsung SDIs batteries in the 2017 Galaxy A3, Galaxy A5 and Galaxy A7 smartphones. The battery inside of the Galaxy A7 (2017) actually has a 20% higher capacity than the unit used in the Galaxy Note 7, both batteries are 3,600mAh units by the way. This info is very interesting, thats for sure, we doubt Samsung would gamble by using Samsung SDIs batteries in all of these devices if theyre not sure that batteries are not to blame for the Galaxy Note 7 fiasco. It is, of course, possible that the company already removed all issues with Samsung SDis battery packs and what not, but chances are battery packs are not to blame. Nuheara happens to be a San Francisco, California-based startup which is currently showcasing its latest product at CES 2017, which is currently taking place in Las Vegas, Nevada. The product in question happens to be the IQBuds, which are essentially wireless earbud headphones with the ability to connect to any device with support for Bluetooth. The startup also revealed that it will commence shipping of its IQBuds to customers who placed orders for the wireless headphones back in 2016. On top of that, US retailers will begin to receive their IQBuds in March of this year. Regarding the launch of the IQBuds, Justine Miller, the CEO and co-founder of Nuheara mentioned that the new product from his company has been tested on thousands of consumers who are delighted that they can finally have a solution to hear what they want to hear when it comes to wireless earbuds and their sound quality. Miller went on to state that the startup is delighted to be shipping the product to consumers on-time, which comes less than twelve months after the first prototype was released, and seven months after the conclusion of their crowdfunding campaign. The IQBuds comes with a host of features, including Advanced Speech Amplification, which the company calls Super Intelligent Noise Cancellation (SINC). SINC gives users the ability to hear speech in noisy environments, such as pubs and parties. It is able to drown out ambient noise while elevating speech above the noise from the surroundings, to provide a clearer conversation. Nuheara also stated that their wireless headphones are able to deliver high-end sound fidelity with great base and powerful volume, if you want it. IQBuds also introduces real augmented hearing which allows users to blend digital streaming audio with reality. This will allow users to maintain a level of awareness in the outside world if it is desired. The claimed battery life of the IQBuds is also pretty impressive for a pair of wireless headphones, with the company claiming that a single charge will provide 16 hours of streaming from a Bluetooth device, and 32 hours of on-the-go hearing augmentation. However, the latest offering from Nuheara doesnt come at a cheap price and it is available for pre-order at $299.99. It should also be noted that Nuhearas IQbuds have also been selected as a 2017 honoree for CES 2017s innovation award. CES doesnt officially start until the 5th, but there are still plenty of companies which have begun showing off their tech a couple of days before. LG being one of those companies and one of the most well-known. Although they still have more to share, today they showcased the four new K Series phones for 2017 the K3, K4, K8, and K10, as well as the Stylo 3 for those who prefer a device with an integrated writing and drawing tool. Aside from phones, LG also unveiled a couple of new TONE series headsets with the TONE Studio and the TONE Free. While the TONE Studio are meant to be more of a personal surround sound wearable, they still sit around the neck like all past TONE series headsets. The TONE Free, however, are LGs first pair of truly wireless earbuds and will take on the likes of Samsungs Gear IconX, although the charging cradle can still be worn around the neck like the other TONE headphones. LG may be one of the biggest brands to showcase new tech today, but there are plenty of other exciting pieces of technology that got a head start and were shown off before the event starts. Honor, which is a company that is quickly gaining ground outside of its native China, showcased their Honor 6X after having teased a new epic phone to be announced at CES. The Honor 6X may seem like just a standard device at first, but its the fact that it offers up a dual camera setup on the back for a $250 price tag that is going to make it a compelling device to keep an eye on. Qualcomm of course had tech to show off today too, and theyre so far the only company to show off their actual flagship hardware. Qualcomms next-gen top-tier processor, the Snapdragon 835, was officially unveiled today, and following on from Qualcomms announcement, other companies have announced their own tech to be powered by this new processor. Qualcomm has also stated that they plan to move into the PC market with x86 emulation via the Snapdragon 835. Moving away from mobile devices and the processors that power them, as CES is after all about consumer electronics, companies such as Whirlpool have announced a new 2017 lineup of home appliances with support for Amazons Alexa software. There is more cool tech to see from CES so far, and if youre interested you can find the links to all of it below. Advertisement Smartphones Wearables/Mobile Accessories Chromebooks Advertisement Speakers Smart Home Augmented Reality/Virtual Reality Advertisement TV Processors/Mobile Hardware Wireless Carriers Qualcomm, one of the worlds most successful mobile System-on-Chip designers, announced at the Consumer Electronics Show, Las Vegas, that has formed a partnership with German car manufacturer, Volkswagen. The partnership will contribute towards a connected car trial based in Germany, a new class of high speed gigabit LTE networking technology designed for vehicles, and more. Qualcomms senior vice president and general manager for automotive technology, Patrick Little, explained that Qualcomm consider there to be three aspects to connected car technology: act, sense and think. Qualcomms recent acquisition of automotive chipbuilder NXP contributes towards the act and sense perspectives, but Qualcomm believe their technological know-how can contribute towards the think side of things. We have already seen Qualcomm develop and market a number of chipsets for the automotive market, including the deep learning features of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 series of chips, and this new strategic partnership should allow the company to develop and improve its product lineup as well as using its current generation of chipsets. There are a number of systems and platforms that Qualcomm are currently working on, including with a consortium called the Connected Vehicle to Everything of Tomorrow, or ConVeX. This project is based around building Vehicle-to-Vehicle connections (V2V), Vehicle-to-Infrastructure (V2I) and Vehicle-to-Pedestrian (V2P) technologies. Qualcomm highlighted that these projects are not associated with autonomous vehicles but instead with making cars work like phones in connectivity terms. Qualcomms high-speed gigabit LTE project is based on the premise that the worlds automakers consider a high-quality connection to be a top priority at the moment. This is currently being offered at the premium end of the car range but the industry believes the feature will trickle down into the majority of models and markets. The new LTE variant will use Qualcomms Gigabit Class Snapdragon X16 modem, which as the name would suggest offers a peak download transfer speed of up to 1 Gbps. Qualcomm already design a range of 3G and LTE in-vehicle modems so this project is more associated with upgrading existing customer technology as well as capturing new clientele. Finally, Qualcomm will be working with Volkswagen to help the embattled German automaker recover from its recent engine emissions cheating scandal. Volkswagen, it seems, will be launching a new brand called Moia and will be integrating the Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 chipset into the in-car infotainment systems to allow high-performance information, video and music streaming technologies. Qualcomm have talked about their need to diversify away from providing chipsets for smartphones and tablets, and one of their pushes is into automotive technologies as well as the Internet-of-Things. Their technology partnership with Volkswagen, one of the larger auto manufacturers in the world and covering many different brands and markets, should provide Qualcomm with plenty of opportunities. Qualcomm has announced their latest premium processor, the Snapdragon 835 at CES 2017. With the Snapdragon 835, the company is returning to an octa-core SoC, after using a quad-core setup in the Snapdragon 820 (and Snapdragon 821). Breaking it down, were looking at four performance cores running at 2.45GHz and then four efficiency cores running at 1.9GHz. This is paired with the Adreno 540 GPU, which does bring support for OpenGL ES 3.2, Vulkan, DX12 and full OpenCL 2.0. This basically means that the Snapdragon 835 is born for virtual reality and augmented reality, both of which are becoming increasingly popular topics in the tech world these days. As Qualcomm announced already, the Snapdragon 835 is on a 10-nanometer process. For most people, this wont mean much. But basically it means that the physical size of the processor is smaller. Allowing Qualcomms customers to make even thinner devices, or have extra room for battery, or throw in some other things. Samsung is manufacturing the Snapdragon 835, as the company already announced. The Snapdragon 835 does have Qualcomms X16 LTE modem integrated, which will give users GigabitClass LTE connectivity. Also integrated is 22 802.11ac Wave 2 WiFi and Bluetooth 5. The Qualcomm Kryo 280 CPU and Qualcomms Hexagon 682 DSP add even better processing power and performance, and even has support for TensorFlow. When it comes to a new processor, the number one thing everyone wants to ask about is battery life. And with the Snapdragon 835, you will see the SoC be about 30% more efficient. This is due to it being about 35% smaller than the Snapdragon 821, and also using 25% less power. Qualcomm has also included Quick Charge 4.0 which will give you up to 20% faster charging than Quick Charge 3.0 provided. When it comes to the camera, the Snapdragon 835 will enhance both pictures and video, with smooth optical video capabilities, fast auto-focus technologies and HDR true-to-life colors. This is all thanks to Qualcomms Spectra 180 camera ISP, which features dual 14-bit ISPs that supports up to a 32-megapixel camera, or dual 16-megapixel cameras. Advertisement Virtual reality and augmented reality are big topics these days, and its a selling point for the Snapdragon 835. Qualcomm says that this new chip was designed to meet the high performance demands, thermal limits and power efficiency constraints of the next-generation virtual and augmented reality designs. It does support Google Daydream, however this doesnt necessarily mean that every device with the Snapdragon 835 will be optimized for Daydream. Qualcomm notes that the Snapdragon 835 does include up to 25% increase in 3D graphics rendering and performance. Qualcomms Snapdragon 835 processor is already in mass production and is being sampled by its customers. The company is expecting to see devices with their processor launching in the first half of 2017. But as of right now, there are no announcements for Snapdragon 835-powered devices. Expect to see plenty of those at Mobile World Congress next month. To this date, Qualcomm has shipped over a billion of Internet of Things (IoT) chipsets, the San Diego-based semiconductor manufacturer revealed on Tuesday. While speaking at the CES Unveiled press event yesterday, the companys Senior Vice President of Product Management Raj Talluri said that the firm is already serving all segments of the IoT industry, from smart TVs and thermostats to connected speakers, wearables, and home assistants. Talluri specifically pointed out that smartphones and tablets arent included in the one billion figure. Qualcomms impressive shipment numbers are mostly driven by the companys presence in the wearable industry, as Talluri revealed that over 80% of all Android smartwatches are powered by Snapdragon system-on-chips. The companys VP pointed out how numerous consumer electronics manufacturers are already implementing the cutting edge Snapdragon 835 chipset into their products, adding how a lot of these devices will be hitting the market shortly. Among other things, Qualcomms most advanced mobile chip to date will power Mobis Mattel Aristotle smart speaker, as well as Osterhaut Design Groups upcoming R-8 and R-9 AR smart glasses. Finally, Talluri also revealed that a new smartwatch designed by Swarovski and powered by one of Qualcomms Snapdragon chipsets will be revealed later this week at CES 2017. The mysterious Swarovski smartwatch will be the first device of its kind ever made by the renowned Austrian fashion company and is reported to be fueled by the premium Snapdragon 835 chip. Qualcomms VP also sees a lot of potential for revenue growth in the auto industry as self-driving cars are slowly becoming a reality and connected cars systems are already implemented in a broad range of contemporary models. If future vehicles are to be perfectly capable of scanning their surroundings, theyll need powerful chips, and the San Diego-based semiconductor manufacturer is hoping it can help provide them. Qualcomm is also planning to test a number of new car connectivity technologies over the course of this year, and Talluri promised that more information about that effort will follow shortly. In overall, this is bound to be an interesting year for Qualcomm as the company will be looking to strengthen its market presence while simultaneously pushing for more innovation in the industry. Samsung Electronics is reportedly negotiating with LG Display over a supply deal for LCD panels, the companys executive revealed on Wednesday. While speaking to Yonhap at this years CES, the chief of Samsungs TV business Kim Hyun-suk said that the two South Korean companies are currently in serious talks over the matter. Kim said he couldnt disclose any further details about this potential collaboration because none have been agreed so far. Samsung has yet to respond to requests for comments on this report while LGs representatives declined to comment, adding how the company has a policy of not commenting on rumors related to both their existing and potential clients. This new information gives credence to a December report according to which Samsung may soon be on the lookout for another LCD supplier as its long-term partners Sharp and Hon Hai Precision Industry are planning to drop it as a client. The two companies recently invested in Sakai Display Products, a Japanese LCD joint venture whose representatives revealed theyre planning to stop supplying Samsung with LCD displays at some point in 2017. The move was interpreted as an attempt to challenge Samsung in the TV market, but many industry experts were still skeptical about Sakai Display Products bold decision to drop its biggest client who reportedly bought millions of LCD panels from the company in 2016 alone. Samsungs potential supply deal with LG Display would set a notable precedent seeing how the Seoul-based tech giant is directly competing with LG Electronics in the TV market. In 2016, Samsung allegedly procured enough LCD panels from Sakai Display Products and Sharp to produce over 10% of its global LCD TV output, so any potential supply agreement the company agrees to with LG Display is bound to be a massive one. However, even if Samsung and LG manage to come to an agreement, their collaboration isnt likely to last long as Samsung is reportedly planning an exit strategy for LCDs which it doesnt see as profitable in the long term. This train of thought is what led to Samsung selling numerous LCD factories last year as the company is currently in the process of focusing its production efforts on OLED panels. According to a new info from Korea, Samsung is planning to manufacture 10 million Galaxy S8 units for its launch in April. Most rumors, at least recently, reported that the Galaxy S8 will land in April, which means that we wont be seeing the device announced during the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, as it was the case with the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge last year. In any case, this report comes from ET News, and if it is accurate, Samsung might start selling the device as soon as it launches, and theyre expecting the demand to be through the roof, which is perfectly normal considering that the companys Galaxy S series of smartphone is, next to Apples iPhone devices, the most popular smartphone series in the world, not to mention that the Galaxy Note 7 is no longer available for purchase, so there are certainly quite a few ex-Galaxy Note 7 users which are interested in getting the Galaxy S8. ET News says that Samsung delivered their production plan to suppliers earlier this month, which is where the 10 million number came from. The first batch of parts will, allegedly, arrive in February, and the mass production will start in March it seems, so the devices should be ready to go by the time Samsung announces the Galaxy S8 in April. For those of you who dont know, Samsung actually managed to sell 10 million Galaxy S7 units in a single month in 2016, which is probably why theyre preparing that many Galaxy S8 units for April. Weve seen a ton of rumors when it comes to the Galaxy S8, and it seems like the device could ship with the Bixby AI assistant, and could also ship without a physical home button, which were still not sure about, well just have to wait and see what happens. Samsung is rumored to release two Galaxy S8 units in April, either the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Edge, or the Galaxy S8 Edge and the Galaxy S8 Plus. The company is rumored to ditch the regular, flat-screened, variant of the Galaxy S8, and most recent rumors are suggesting well see a smaller Galaxy S8 with a curved display (with a display size between 5.2 and 5.5 inches), and a larger Galaxy S8 Plus handset with a 6-inch display, and possibly even an S Pen stylus. Samsung will quite probably utilize both the Snapdragon 835 and Exynos 8895 chips, and their availability will depend on where you purchase your device, Snapdragon 835 will probably be used in the US, while Europe and Asia will get the Exynos 8895 variants of the Galaxy S8 devices. Sony wont be ditching the 3.5mm jack with its upcoming phones for the foreseeable future, the company revealed during a press event held in Japan last month. The Tokyo-based consumer electronics manufacturer explained how it doesnt want to strip its future smartphones of this conventional port as its still adamant to improve its High-Resolution Audio technology. Most of the companys products powered by this solution still support 3.5mm cables, which is why Sony isnt keen to prevent customers who buy their phones from natively connecting them with their audio offerings. The Japanese company will be showcasing a broad range of its new products at this years CES and is likely to debut new Hi-Res Audio products in Las Vegas later today. More information should follow soon as Sonys CES 2017 conference is scheduled to take place in just a few hours. The Japanese tech giant will likely use this opportunity to reiterate its plans to continue shipping phones with the traditional 3.5mm headphone jack for the time being. While the tech industry is prone to sudden and rapid changes, this report indicates that the company will continue with this practice at least until 2018. While the 3.5mm jack was deemed irreplaceable not too long ago, Apple started the trend of ditching it with the release of the iPhone 7 and the iPhone 7 Plus last year. Following that unexpected change, reports emerged that Samsung is planning to follow suit with the upcoming Galaxy S8 thats expected to be unveiled in April. Even though industry sources claim that Samsung is currently experimenting with several prototypes of the Galaxy S8, if the largest phone maker in the world decides to get rid of this port, it could prompt a chain reaction in the industry, at least as far as flagship Android smartphones are concerned. The Taiwanese phone maker HTC already removed the 3.5mm jack from the HTC Bolt, i.e. the HTC 10 Evo and is rumored to continue with this practice next year. So, regardless of how the phone industry deals with this common port in the future, Sony is seemingly adamant to stick to its own philosophy for the time being. As we rely more and more on our smartphones for banking, storing passwords, and mobile purchases, the more ways hackers are finding ways to retrieve our personal data. Google builds many security features into its Android operating system (OS), but the smartphone manufacturers must also have a hand in developing and issuing monthly security patches, just like you receive weekly updates for say Windows and security updates for Chrome. But more than that, there must be ways to protect the user information by first making it difficult to access the device. This is where the biometrics come into play fingerprint sensors, iris scanners, to name a couple of the most popular used. A study earlier this year showed that 60% of Android devices were not up-to-date with Googles latest security patch. Synaptics is a world leader in developing biometrics for the security of just about anything you can imagine. They have just announced that they have developed a multi-factor biometric driver for mobile devices. It combines the security of a fingerprint scan with facial recognition for adding multiple modes of authenticity for added security. What is nice about this dual recognition is that the user can turn on one or the other or both whatever is most convenient for the user or their needed level of security. Many users wear gloves at their job and might choose to have the facial recognition to open their device. It gives freedom to the user, and they can have the choice of how much security they want. By using both methods, you are assured of tight security. Biometrics is on the upswing and is estimated to grow over 60-percent a year until 2020. Soon most smartphones in the mid to high-end range will have some biometrics built into the device for added security. Synaptics collaborated with KeyLemon, a company that specializes in facial recognition, to develop this seamless system of using your fingerprint sensor and camera for facial recognition. The user will pick up their device; place their finger on the sensor while the camera automatically performs the facial recognition. This partnership allowed Synaptics to develop their design faster than it would have if they started from scratch. Gilles Florey, CEO of KeyLemon said that Integrating our advanced technologies enables an unsurpassed mixture of security and user convenience for trusted authentication in mobile payments, banking, and other content sensitive transactions. It sounds like the dual-biometrics may first start to show up in the high-end devices in 2017, followed by cheaper devices after the price comes down. This addition will help secure our private information from outsiders as long as the manufacturers provide timely security updates for the phones software. It was already announced that TCL picked up the contract to manufacturer future BlackBerry smartphones, after the Canadian company opted to not make anymore hardware. While the DTEK50 and DTEK60 were pretty similar to Alcatel smartphones already on the market, like the Idol 4, TCL is now officially making BlackBerry smartphones. The company talked with a small group of journalists in Las Vegas at CES this week about the changes and what it means for BlackBerry, the enterprise consumer-base as well as TCL and their other brands like Alcatel. We also got the chance to take a look at a brand new smartphone from TCL that will be a BlackBerry-branded device. The company did say that it is not named Mercury, and that was something generated on the Internet, but did decline to state what the name was. This device is going to be formally announced at Mobile World Congress next month in Barcelona. The company did not share any specs or even the name of the device, but it will be available before the middle of the year. We do know that it will be sporting a Qualcomm processor, but as to which Snapdragon SoC will be inside, theres nothing set in stone. As you can tell, the device has a physical QWERTY keyboard, like many of the classic BlackBerry devices have had. Which is going to make die-hard BlackBerry fans very happy. Advertisement Looking at this new BlackBerry-branded device from TCL, you will notice that it takes plenty of design cues from other other manufacturers. For instance the top looks a whole lot like a Sony Xperia smartphone, while the rounded sides and aluminum chassis looks a lot like most other flagship devices on the market today. The two-toned back is likely something that most people wont be too fond of, but luckily the back does have a nice amount of grip, making it touch to slide out of your hand. We asked what material it was, but werent given an answer. It feels like soft-touch plastic, almost like the Nexus 5, but a bit softer. As far as the camera goes, it appears to have dual-LED flash, but the exact specs of the camera are still unknown. There is a front-facing camera, which does take somewhat decent pictures, from our limited hands on time. But its important to note that this is not final hardware nor final software. So things can and likely will change. As far as software goes, were looking at a near-stock approach to Android 7.0. It could be bumped up to Android 7.1.1 before it launches in a few months, however. All of the usual BlackBerry apps are included, and one of the big changes we noticed, to Nougat was the app drawer. As you can see in the gallery below, the app drawer (at least it is still there) has three panels. One for apps, another for widgets and a third for shortcuts. Advertisement When it comes to software, TCL stated that they would like to keep it as close to Nexus as possible. Just adding in some of BlackBerrys security features mostly to appeal to enterprise customers and this will also help them stick to their fast security update process. Currently, they roll out their monthly security patches sometimes before Google does, or on the same day. They are planning to continue doing that. But they did note that bigger releases (like Marshmallow to Nougat and so forth) are going to take longer, mostly due to them being larger updates and the updates needing to be certified by carriers and other partners. So this is BlackBerrys next smartphone, its made by TCL and has quite a bit going for it. Well have to wait until Mobile World Congress next month in Barcelona to find out exactly what is under-the-hood of this new smartphone, but there is a lot to like about it, in our early impressions. As part of a partnership with University College Birmingham (UCB), Laura Gibbons has been appointed as Dawn Foods first student ambassador. Dawn Foods already has a close association with UCB and Gibbons was put forward as a potential ambassador for the company by assistant dean for bakery Dawn Gemmell. The move is part of the companys campaign to nurture a new generation of bakers and support them in developing contemporary takes on established bakery recipes, said Jacqui Passmore, marketing manager UK and Ireland at Dawn Foods Gibbons, a final-year bakery and patisserie undergraduate at UCB, will be working with Dawn at its Evesham site on Creating New Traditions, a new European-wide initiative that will see established sweet bakery products being given a new twist for the next generation. As part of the campaign, these contemporary takes on traditional sweet products will be launched as bakery recipes in early 2017. Gibbons said: Bakery is constantly evolving and changing with market trends, consumer demands and preferences, so its an exciting industry to be in. This is a fantastic opportunity to work with Dawn Foods, as the company is so well known in the bakery industry for the quality of its products. Last month Dawn teamed up with Oxford University psychology professor Charles Spence to examine why consumers buy certain bakery items. Bread Ahead bakery is to open its fourth retail outlet in Chelsea, London on 6 January. The 2,500sq ft site will open at 249 Pavilion Road and will operate as a working bakery and school. It will be the second Bread Ahead cookery school to open in the nations capital and will include workshops such as Introduction to French Baking and Festive Yulelog. This is a real life-time opportunity thats come up and Chelsea is a great area, Matt Jones, co-founder of Bread Ahead, told British Baker. Its a very exciting start to 2017 for the company. Bread Ahead has expanded over the past 18 months after opening two new sites in Stratford and Seven Dials. Jones added that the business was looking to expand its wholesaling operation and revealed it planned to focus on this in the second half of this year, but would not yet be operating outside London. Were currently not looking outside London at the moment, certainly not this year. Theres probably enough business for us in central London. Romania, Constanta to renew bus fleet with EBRD loan Largest Black Sea port,important for trading and tourism (ANSA) - TRIESTE, 4 GEN - Constanta is Romania's largest Black Sea port and an important commercial, trading and touristic hub. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is providing a loan of 100 million lei ( 22 million equivalent) to the Romanian city of Constanta for the acquisition of new low emission buses. The introduction of the low emission vehicles is part of a public transport upgrade for Romania 's largest Black Sea port. Home to a population of 425,000, Constanta is also an important hub for commerce, trade and tourism. The new low-floor buses will also be able to accommodate passengers in wheelchairs or with pushchairs. The vehicles will comply with the European Commission's Euro 6 emission standards for diesel engines, resulting in cleaner air and a more pleasant and efficient commute. As part of the financial package the EBRD plans to mobilise grant financing to help the municipality enhance its transport operations through a joint-stock company that will operate on commercial principles in order to improve the quality of services. The Bank will also support the city in establishing a regulatory body to manage public transport services in the metropolitan area of Constanta. An additional grant will aim to help the newly established urban transport company to develop a tool to compare operational performance over time and gain information on industry standards in order to continue improving performance. Matteo Patrone, EBRD Regional Director for Romania and Bulgaria, said: 'We welcome the city's commitment to reorganising its transport operations, renewing the fleet and improving the operational efficiency in line with EU standards. The EBRD is pleased to support this crucial undertaking that will improve the quality of urban services for almost half a million people.' Decebal Fagadau, the mayor of Constanta, said: 'Further development of Constanta depends on an efficient, sustainable urban transport system. I am pleased that we share with the EBRD the same vision for the future of urban transport to the benefit of all people living in Constanta.' This loan to the city of Constanta is the fourth project under the EBRD's new programme entitled Romania Framework for Sustainable Mobility and Access to Road Transport, or SMART, which finances improvements in public transport infrastructure and services in the country. It is also in line with the city's Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan, which focuses on the modernisation of its public transport system. The EBRD is a leading institutional investor in Romania, having invested over 7.3 billion to date in 384 projects and mobilised more than 14 billion from other sources of financing. (ANSA). Copyright ANSA - Tutti i diritti riservati Minniti to Tripoli soon, Interior ministry Contacts today with national unity govt (ANSAmed) - ROME, JANUARY 4 - Interior Minister Marco Minniti will travel to Tripoli soon for security talks with the Libyan national-unity government, the interior ministry said Wednesday, reporting contacts of mutual interest on security today. Italy is banking on the Libyan government helping stem terror and the departure of waves of migrants. (ANSAmed). EU migrant solution needed say Minniti, Abela Interior ministers meet in Malta (ANSAmed) - ROME, JANUARY 4 - Interior ministers Marco Minniti of Italy and Carmelo Abela of Malta on Wednesday agreed that the EU must produce a common solution to the migrant emergency. "Today, migration doesn't only concern some countries of the Mediterranean," they said in a statement after meeting in Valletta. "It has become a cause for concern for the whole of Europe, and all countries must join in seeking a common solution". Ties must be strengthened with countries of migrant origin to stem departures, interior ministers added. Relocations, repatriations and investments must also be boosted, they said. "The ministers," a statement said, "voiced optimism on the fact that Italy and Malta will commit themselves further to cooperating on such crucial questions". (ANSAmed). MOSCOW - Talks on resolving the armed conflict in Syria will open in Astana, capital of Kazakhstan, on January 23, Tass news agency quoted Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu as saying Wednesday. Cavusoglu also said Russian experts are due to travel to Turkey on January 9-10 to discuss the upcoming peace talks. Turkish Foreign Minister also told state news agency Anadolu that Iran must "reaffirm its authority on Shiite militants and the regime in Syria" to put an end to ceasefire violations in Syria, which endanger peace talks scheduled to start January 23 in Kazakhstan's capital city of Astana. Cavusoglu said Turkey and Russia are discussing possible sanctions for ceasefire violations. On December 29, Turkey and Russia announced the ceasefire agreement, after taks in Moscow which included Iran. The Syrian government and various rebel groups signed the agreement, which was reached without participation by the UN or the US, both of whom subsequently expressed their approval. In recent days some anti-Assad groups announced that they didn't intend to participate in the Astana talks, accusing Damascus of continuing ceasefire violations. Among the troops supporting Assad in Syria are the Lebanese Shia movement Hezbollah, as well as Iranian forces linked to the Guardians of the Revolution, fighting on the ground and working as military advisors. Foreign workers in S. Arabia handed prison, lashing sentence Conviction in relation to protest over salary arrears (ANSAmed) - BEIRUT, JANUARY 4 - A Saudi Arabian court has handed down prison or flogging sentences to 49 foreign workers in connection with a protest over payment of salary arrears by the BinLadin construction group, Dubai-based Gulf News reported on Wednesday citing Saudi media sources. The defendants were found guilty by a court in Mecca of instigation to violence and destruction of property. Some of the foreign workers were sentenced to four months in prison and 300 lashes, while others were sentenced to 45 days in prison. (ANSAmed). Protesters clash with police during Azaria verdict Soldier charged with shooting dead wounded Palestinian assailant (ANSAmed) - TEL AVIV, JANUARY 4 - Far-right protesters clashed with police near the Israeli defence ministry in Tel Aviv on Wednesday as a court-martial handed down its verdict in the case of Elor Azaria, the soldier charged with manslaughter for shooting dead a Palestinian assailant who was already injured. Several people were detained by police after hundreds of protesters blocked roads. The demonstrators, who also attacked a TV journalist, were calling for the soldier's unconditional release. (ANSAmed). Syria: Turkey says Iran must stop ceasefire violations Says regime and Shiite militants could jeopardize Astana talks (ANSAmed) - ROME, JANUARY 4 - Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told state news agency Anadolu on Wednesday that Iran must "reaffirm its authority on Shiite militants and the regime in Syria" to put an end to ceasefire violations in Syria, which endanger peace talks scheduled to start January 23 in Kazakhstan's capital city of Astana. Cavusoglu said Turkey and Russia are discussing possible sanctions for ceasefire violations. On December 29, Ankara and Moscow announced the ceasefire agreement, which included Iran. The Syrian government and various rebel groups recently signed the agreement, which was reached without participation by the UN or the US, both of whom subsequently expressed their approval. In recent days some anti-Assad groups announced that they didn't intend to participate in the Astana talks, accusing Damascus of continuing ceasefire violations. Among the troops supporting Assad in Syria are the Lebanese Shia movement Hezbollah, as well as Iranian forces linked to the Guardians of the Revolution, fighting on the ground and working as military advisors. (ANSAmed). ROME - A seven-year-old refugee from Syria has died from flu complications after being denied treatment by four hospitals in the Antalya province in southern Turkey on grounds he was without valid documents, Dogan news agency reported Wednesday. Ali Izzetin Ahmed died in the family home. His father, who has two other children, has said he intends to file a complaint against the hospitals. There are currently over 2.8 million Syrian refugees in Turkey according to the United Nations refugee agency UNHCR. Of these, only around 10% are accommodated in refugee camps. TEL AVIV - A military tribunal in Tel Aviv found Israeli soldier Elor Azaria, 20, guilty of shooting dead a Palestinian assailant, Abdel Fatah Sharif, after he had already been badly injured by other soldiers. The judge, Colonel Maya Heller, rejected Azaria's defence, according to which the soldier opened fire in fear Sharif was hiding an explosive device. "The shooting was unjustified," Heller said of the incident in the West Bank town of Hebron on March 24, 2016. The sentence will be handed down in a month's time. The case has divided public opinion in Israel and on Wednesday far-right demonstrators clashed with police near the defense ministry in Tel Aviv as they called for Azaria's unconditional release. Netanyahu favors pardon for convicted soldier. Sentencing set for January 15 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that convicted soldier Elor Azria deserves a pardon, and appealed on Wednesday to all Israeli citizens to behave "responsibly" with the country's army. Azria was found guilty by the military court of Tel Aviv on Wednesday for killing a Palestinian attacker who was already on the ground wounded. A sentence is expected on January 15. Several sources said Azria is at risk of receiving a prison sentence of several years. However, various political figures spoke out in Azria's favor on Wednesday, calling for a pardon.( craigslist: thailand jobs, apartments, for sale, services, community, and events craigslist provides local classifieds and forums for jobs, housing, for sale, services, local community, and events The first of the aircraft was to have arrived in the Gulf in early December but was delayed owing to technical issues with the Trent 900 powerplant. According to the Emirati carrier, it has now reached an agreement with the UK-based engine manufacturer. "Emirates can confirm that we have come to an agreement with Rolls-Royce on the technical issue relating to engines for our A380s," said a spokesperson. Part of the deal also involves the deferred delivery of six aircraft due in 2017, to 2018, while six due in 2018 have now been delayed to 2019. Speaking in Algiers during an end of year press conference, the airlines chief executive officer Belkacem Harchaoui said the carrier had come under increasing pressure from Algerian Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal to operate more African routes. Since its establishment in 1997, Tassili Airlines has focussed primarily on domestic charter flights in support of its parent, Algerian petroleum-producing parent, Sonatrach. In 2013, it ventured into the Algerian scheduled domestic and the general international markets where its services currently focus on France. Harchaoui said Tassili Airlines had now put in motion plans to offer regular flights from Algiers to Nouakchott, Mauritania via Tindouf, an Algerian commune close to the Mauritanian, Western Saharan, and Moroccan borders. The building site is located halfway between the traditional village centre and the "used to be" traditional vineyard area of Balatongyorok, Hungary. Currently this hillside is almost empty and the property is involuntarilly becoming a focal point of the surroundings. "We had a chance to create a house that could send a message to the future investors of the area. Whisper something about simplicity, calmness and local values." - Attila Beres says. The form Beres Architects created has links to past and future. From a distance it reads as a structure that has been there for a long time. "The proportions, the scale and the white colour fits the traditional routines but as you step closer and closer you'll definitely realize this is something new." All the sharp edges, the carefully detailed corners make the house feel contemporary, a product of our days. Besides it's strict geometry and spatial layout the house has a playful and friendly attitude. "There is a hidden smile behind the staggered window mullions." - explains the architect. The way the house turns towards the nearby bay of lake Balaton and catches the view of the old chapel on St Michael's hill bends the rigid rules of minimalist architecture. The floor plan of the home tells the story of the owners. Small and cozy spaces for two. For two who are used to spend several months a year in a caravan car. A triangular carport for a regular and an irregular vehicle. A guest room for rare visitors and a workshop for endless creativity. Keeping a house small is the first step on the way of getting environmentally friendly. It is a must. All the additional techniques and technology is just the icing on the cake. Triple glazed windows, heat recovery ventilation, passive house standard insulation, details without cold bridges... just a few examples that makes it far more efficent and frugal than the average. OMAHA The American Red Cross has a severe winter blood shortage and is issuing an emergency call for blood and platelet donors to make a donation appointment now and help save patient lives. Hectic holiday schedules for many regular blood donors contributed to about 37,000 fewer donations in November and December than what was needed. Snowstorms and severe weather have also impacted donations. Nearly 100 blood drives were forced to cancel in December, resulting in more than 3,100 blood donations going uncollected. Blood and platelet donations are critically needed in the coming days so that patients can continue to receive the lifesaving treatments they are counting on, said Nick Gehrig, communications director, Red Cross Blood Services. We encourage donors to invite a family member or friend to donate with them to help meet patient needs. Right now, blood and platelet donations are being distributed to hospitals faster than they are coming in. Please find a blood donation opportunity and schedule an appointment to donate by using the free Blood Donor App, visiting redcrossblood.org or calling 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767). The Red Cross is extending hours at many donation sites for more donors to give blood or platelets. Overall, the Red Cross has added nearly 200 hours to blood donation centers and community blood drives across the country over the next few weeks. Donation appointments and completion of a RapidPass online health history questionnaire are encouraged to help speed up the donation process. In about an hour, you can help save someones life. This simple act can have a profound impact on another human being, said Gehrig. Every two seconds, someone in the U.S. needs blood. Accident and burn victims, heart surgery and organ transplant patients, and patients receiving treatment for leukemia, cancer or sickle cell disease may all require blood to save their lives. Upcoming Blood Donation Opportunities Cass Plattsmouth 1/8/2017: 12 p.m. - 5 p.m., First Baptist Church, 16220 Highway 75 Weeping Water 1/5/2017: 1 p.m. - 7 p.m., City Building, 101 W Eldora Ave _______________ Gage Adams 1/16/2017: 1 p.m. - 7 p.m., American Lutheran Church, 601 Ash St Beatrice 1/17/2017: 8:30 a.m. - 2 p.m., Beatrice High School, 600 Orange Blvd 1/18/2017: 10 a.m. - 4 p.m., Southeast Community College Jackson Hall, 4771 West Scott Road Odell 1/11/2017: 12:30 p.m. - 6:30 p.m., Community Building, 202 Main St _______________ Jefferson Daykin 1/5/2017: 9 a.m. - 3 p.m., Meridian High School, 72380 560th Ave Fairbury 1/10/2017: 11:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m., Elk's Club, 525 G Street _______________ Johnson Tecumseh 1/5/2017: 10:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m., Baptist Activity Center, 3rd and Jackson _______________ Lancaster Lincoln 1/9/2017: 12:45 p.m. - 6:30 p.m., American Red Cross Capital City Chapter, 220 Oakcreek Dr. 1/12/2017: 9 a.m. - 3 p.m., Foundation for Educational Services, 1300 O Street 1/17/2017: 11 a.m. - 6 p.m., University of Nebraska Student Union, 1400 R St. 1/18/2017: 11 a.m. - 6 p.m., University of Nebraska Student Union, 1400 R St. 1/19/2017: 11 a.m. - 6 p.m., University of Nebraska Student Union, 1400 R St. 1/20/2017: 11 a.m. - 5 p.m., University of Nebraska Student Union, 1400 R St. 1/21/2017: 8 a.m. - 2 p.m., Fresh Thyme Farmers Markets, 5220 O St _______________ Otoe Nebraska City 1/7/2017: 10 a.m. - 4 p.m., First United Methodist Church, 1023 First Avenue 1/13/2017: 11 a.m. - 5 p.m., Walmart, 2101 S. 11th Street _______________ Pawnee Pawnee City 1/12/2017: 9 a.m. - 2:30 p.m., Pawnee County Memorial Hospital, 600 I Street Lieutenant Joshua Shiflett Beaufort County Sheriff's Office On January 3, 2017 at about 6:00 PM Beaufort County Sheriff's Deputies responded to a person shot at residence in Pinetown, North Carolina. Deputies arrived to find the victim, a six year old girl had been fatally wounded. The investigation is ongoing, but preliminary findings indicate the shooting was accidental.The name of the child is being withheld pending notification of next of kin. The ministry believes when no such concession has been given to any other phonemaker why it should be extended to Apple Inc. Apple in a communication to government has asked for several tax and other incentives to enter India in the manufacturing sector. New Delhi: Commerce and Industry Ministry is against giving special concession to US-based iPhone maker Apple for setting up manufacturing unit in the country. The ministry believes when no such concession has been given to any other phonemaker why it should be extended to Apple Inc. It believes that India is the best place to set up manufacturing units and as many as 42 companies are making mobile phones in India, including Chinese firm Huawei and Xiaomi. Apple in a communication to government has asked for several tax and other incentives to enter India in the manufacturing sector. They are asking for concessions which others are not asking for. Why should they be given (these concessions), said governmental officials. A group of senior officials from ministries, including commerce and finance, would this month deliberate on the incentives sought by Apple to set up a manufacturing unit. The government already provides benefits under the Modified Special Incentive Package Scheme to boost electronic manufacturing in the country. The actress is already making all preparations to make Vin Diesel's India visit a grand one. Deepika and Vin Diesel in a still from 'xXx: Return of Xander Cage'. Mumbai: Deepika Padukone had posted a sweetest message in Hindi welcoming her 'xXx: Return of Xander Cage' co-star Vin Diesel to India for his visit on January 12. The actress is now engrossed in preparations for Vins perfect welcome to India. "We plan to receive him at the airport with band baaja and garland. As the host, Deepika wants nothing short of a perfect welcome, so that Diesel has a warm, enjoyable stay here. He will be introduced to mouth-watering Indian delicacies too," a source close to the development told a leading daily. The film is releasing in India on January 14, five days before its international release. Both DP and Diesel will kick-start the promotional activities from Mexico, cover a few more countries before their Mumbai visit. Deepika has plans of throwing a grand party for the celebrity visitor where Bollywoods whos who is expected to be in full attendance. Athithi Devo Bhava, right DP? Lieutenant Joshua Shiflett Beaufort County Sheriff's Office On January 3, 2017 at about 6:00 PM the Beaufort County Sheriff's Office received a call reporting a shooting at a residence on Main Street in Pinetown, North Carolina. First responders including Pinetown Fire/ EMS, Beaufort County Emergency Services and Beaufort County Deputies were immediately dispatched to the scene. Upon arrival First Responders found that 6 year old Victoria Irene Whitehurst, of Pinetown, died from a fatal accidental gunshot wound.Beaufort County Sheriff's Investigators were called to the scene to investigate the incident. After conducting eye witness interviews and collecting physical evidence Investigators learned that Victoria was visiting the home and staying with two other juveniles, an un-named 12 yr. old female and an un-named 11 yr. old male. The 11yr. old male was showing the two girls a shotgun he got for Christmas when the gun went off, struck Victoria, killing her and injuring one of the family dogs. The dog suffered minor injuries and was taken for medical treatment. The two were also rumoured to be debuting opposite each other in Karan Johar's remake of 'Sairat'. Mumbai: Saif Ali Khan and Amrita Singh's daughter Sara Ali Khan has been constantly in the news even though she is yet to make her debut in Bollywood. It is being reported that numerous filmmakers are keen to launch her in the film industry. Karan Johar's prized Dharma import has been associated with most big upcoming projects, including Zoya Akhtar's Ranveer Singh starrer 'Gully Boy' and Hrithik Roshan's upcoming dramedy by Karan Malhotra. Though Sara has been rumoured to be in a steady relationship with former Maharashtra CM Sushil Kumar Shinde's grandson Veer Pahariya, latest rumours suggest that she's actually dating another much sought after star-kid. And the lad is none other than Shahid Kapoor's half-brother and her fellow Dharma upcoming protege, Ishaan Khattar. This comes as no shock as the two were also rumoured to be debuting opposite each other in Karan Johar's official remake of Nagraj Manjule's Marathi blockbuster, 'Sairat'. However, since nothing has been confirmed as yet, apart from the fact that the two would be making their respective debuts soon, it remains to be seen if they'd be seen together. However, seems like the two have taken a liking for each other, way before a film together could materialise. Meiyang Chang will be seen playing the role of a gay man in the upcoming web series Untag. Meiyang Chang will be seen playing the role of a gay man in the upcoming web series Untag. The biggest challenge, he admits, in taking up the assignment was to ensure that he stayed away from stereotypes. Elaborating more on the challenges of playing a gay charachter, Chang says, I had to open my mind to their world to do my research. In fact, theyre more fun-loving and know how to lighten up. Id say playing a gay character was eye-opening as well as a lot of fun. Chang has kept himself far removed from controversies of any kind. On being asked what made him take a risk of doing such a role, which is bound to create a buzz, the actor says that to him, it is just another role. Honestly, I dont see it as a bold or risky move. For me, it is a story of a normal person in an abnormal society. I have gay friends, live in the all-accepting cosmopolis of Mumbai and its all the same for me. Yes, from the perspective of an audience it may seem bold, as LGBT people are wrongly perceived as an oddity in Indian society (some even going as far as branding them criminal). But thats what Untag plans to change peoples perceptions. Continuing on the theme of stereotypes, Chang says, I have faced racism throughout my life, and still do. While most of it is harmless curiosity, which I dont mind, some of it is vicious and hurtful. Ive never indulged in body shaming or judging people on their colour, caste, ethnicity or religion, so I really dont understand the malice towards anyone who doesnt conform to ones idea of normal. The question is not whether my eyes are small or not, its about whether your heart is big enough to accept me as who I am. Kolkata: Coming close on the heels of the TMC attack on the state party headquarters of the BJP in Kolkata on Tuesday, West Bengal BJP general secretary Krishna Bhattacharya's house was attacked with bombs in Hooghly district on Tuesday night. Three men, with their faces covered, came in a motorcycle to her house in Konnanagar Jorapukur Ghat at 9 pm on Tuesday and started hurling bombs. They barged into the house, smashed a windowpane, damaged furniture, and abused and assaulted her, Bhattacharya said in her police complaint. The BJP leader said in her complaint that it was the handiwork of "anti-socials harboured by the TMC". She has been admitted to Uttarpara State General Hospital where her condition has been described as stable, hospital sources said. The police said they rushed to her house after getting the information, adding that investigation was on. District TMC leader Tapan Dasgupta said no party supporter was involved in the incident. Several BJP workers were injured on Tuesday when activists of the students wing of Trinamool Congress had attacked the state party headquarters here with stones to protest the arrest of the TMC MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay in the Rose Valley chit fund scam case. Extremist groups in Jharkhand were reported to have incurred losses of Rs 80 crore following the demonetisation of old notes. New Delhi: There has been a sharp dip in Naxal operations in states like Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Odisha, where they enjoy a formidable network, largely on account of demonetisation. Union home minister Rajnath Singh also gave an indication to this effect even as intelligence agencies are still busy gathering information on impact of demonestisation on terror activities in the North-East as well as Jammu and Kashmir. Mr Singh on Tuesday admitted that demonetisation has indeed increased problems for Naxals, implying that intelligence inputs reveal that they have weakened. Without getting into the specific details of the damage inflicted on the Maoists, the minister claimed that available inputs suggest that they were facing a major cash crunch following a ban on old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes. It is correct that Naxals have weakened post- demonetisation. The intelligence information received by us shows their problems have increased. Their strength has reduced, Mr Singh said. Intelligence agencies have also informed the home ministry that Naxal outfits were pressurising local businessmen and village committees to convert their old currency following which Naxal-dominated states were told to launch a special offensive against this. Top home ministry officials said the exact impact of demonetisation on Naxal operations and even terror activities would be known over the next few weeks though all possible indications suggest that it has had a severe impact. While we have already received information about Naxal operations, intel agencies are monitoring activities of terror outfits in North-East and the Valley. Terror groups in the North-East are the biggest receivers of funds followed by the Valley so we are keeping a close tab on that,a senior intelligence official said. The home minister also claimed efforts were being made to bring back underworld don Dawood Ibrahim who is said to be in Pakistan. Meanwhile, Mr Singh also expressed hope that China would agree with Indias stand on getting Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar declared a designated global by the United Nations. China has so far blocked Indias proposals for the same even as Mr Singh said, we still expect China to support our stand. India has maintained that it will continue to push forward with resolute determination through the use of all options available with us to bring perpetrators of terrorist violence to justice. Earlier, West Bengal BJP general secretary Krishna Bhattacharya's house was attacked with bombs in Hooghly district on Tuesday night. Trinamool Congress activists shouting slogans in front of BJP State party office in Kolkata on Tuesday over the arrest of Sudip Bandyopadhyay. (Photo: PTI) New Delhi: Trinamool Congress (TMC) leaders on Wednesday marched to Prime Minister Narendra Modis residence to protest against the arrest of party MPs Sudip Bandyopadhay and Tapas Pal in the Rose Valley chit fund scam. Earlier, coming close on the heels of the TMC attack on the state party headquarters of the BJP in Kolkata on Tuesday, West Bengal BJP general secretary Krishna Bhattacharya's house was attacked with bombs in Hooghly district on Tuesday night. Three men, with their faces covered, came in a motorcycle to her house in Konnanagar Jorapukur Ghat at 9 pm on Tuesday and started hurling bombs. They barged into the house, smashed a windowpane, damaged furniture, and abused and assaulted her, Bhattacharya said in her police complaint. The BJP leader said in her complaint that it was the handiwork of "anti-socials harboured by the TMC". She has been admitted to Uttarpara State General Hospital where her condition has been described as stable, hospital sources said. The police said they rushed to her house after getting the information, adding that investigation was on. District TMC leader Tapan Dasgupta said no party supporter was involved in the incident. Several BJP workers were injured on Tuesday when activists of the students wing of Trinamool Congress had attacked the state party headquarters here with stones to protest the arrest of the TMC MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay in the Rose Valley chit fund scam case. The Centre is continuously monitoring the situation in West Bengal and a report has been sought from concerned agencies on the matter. Trinamool Congress activists at a protest rally against the arrest of TMC party leader in Lok Sabha Sudip Bandopadhyay, in Kolkata on Wednesday (Photo: PTI) New Delhi: The Centre has sought a report on incidents of arson and vandalism in West Bengal, including those targeting BJP establishments, after the arrest of TMC Lok Sabha MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay by CBI in connection with its probe in the alleged Rs 15,000 crore Rose Valley chit fund scam. The Home Ministry is continuously monitoring the situation in West Bengal and a report has been sought from concerned agencies on the matter, official sources said on Wednesday. TMC MPs, leaders and workers held protests in Kolkata, Bhubaneswar and in the national capital against yesterday's arrest of Bandyopadhyay as alleged workers of West Bengal's ruling party attacked BJP offices, hurling bombs and setting them on fire. Hours after alleged TMC workers vandalised the state BJP headquarters in downtown Kolkata last evening, they attacked the house of state party general secretary Krishna Bhattacharya in Hooghly district. In another incident at Chinsurah in Hooghly district, alleged TMC workers set on fire a BJP office. A police officer said some miscreants set ablaze the Chinsurah Mandal office of the BJP this evening after beating up two party workers and chasing them away. Surgical ops sought to show India wont accept terror as new normal: MEA. New Delhi: The ministry of external affairs said on Wednesday that the surgical strikes by the Indian Army against terrorists operating from Pakistan-occupied territory in 2016 was carried out with the aim that India will not countenance continued terrorism as the new normal in our (Indo-Pak) relationship, adding that India had shown that we will not back down in the face of assaults against the security of our people. This came even as new Army Chief Gen. Bipin Rawat said India would give a calibrated, hard response to terror activities that would compel Pakistan to completely rethink its strategy on supporting insurgency and terrorism. The MEA also said that it cannot have a peaceful conversation with Pakistan under the spray of bullets, adding that talks and terror cannot go together. Meanwhile, Army Chief Gen. Rawat told news agency PTI, While we do agree that we have to retaliate and ensure that the pain is felt by the terrorists and their supporters, the response need not be the same every time... We will calibrate the response in a manner that hits them hard and compels them to think in the long-run whether they need to completely rethink their strategy on supporting insurgency and terrorism in our state. On Wednesday evening, in an opening statement at an MEA conference on foreign policy achievements to mark the completion of the mid-term of the NDA government, minister of state for external affairs Gen. (retd.) V.K. Singh said, All the countries of the region, barring one, have demonstrated their willingness to stand together against the menace of terrorism that could undermine their collective hopes. India too, has shown that we will not back down in the face of assaults against the security of our people, the prosperity of the region and the interests of the international community. The aim of the surgical strikes that we conducted was to convey to Pakistan that we will not countenance continued terrorism as the new normal in our relationship. Our own good faith has been amply demonstrated time and again through repeated initiatives. to normalise the relationship. However, as we have often stated, talks and terror cannot go together. When asked why India does not snap diplomatic ties with Pakistan amid demands by some in the ruling BJP to teach Pakistan a lesson militarily, the MEA later said, The engagement with Pakistan needs to continue. We have to deal with them with eyes open and not minds closed. Talk of inflammation does not help. We hope Pakistan sees the path of reason. Army Chief Gen. Rawat also said that not every incident needs to be seen from the same perspective as there are a large number of terrorists operating in the Kashmir Valley who are always attempting to carry out some sort of violence against the security forces and citizens. 76 people were killed and thousands others injured in the security forces actions during the unrest. A wounded Kashmiri man shows his injuries from being hit by pellets during a protest in Srinagar. (Photo: AP) Srinagar: The government in Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir (PoK) has set up a special fund for the Kashmiri youth who were blinded or maimed in the use of shotgun pellets by the security forces while containing the civil unrest and street violence in the Valley set off by the killing of militant commander Burhan Wani in July last year. Officially, 76 people were killed and thousands others injured in the security forces actions during the unrest. Among injured were a few hundred people, mainly youth, who suffered eye injuries including blinding and permanent visual impairment in the use of pellet guns. The government in Muzaffarabad has also announced that the victims would be extended financial assistance and also medical care at international hospitals. They would be provided medical care at international hospitals and we would bear all the expenses on their travel and hospitalization, said Raja Farooq Haider Khan, the Prime Minister of PoK. He added that the Cabinet headed by him last week gave formal approval to the governments move to set up the special fund allocating sufficient sum as seed money and that this fund would be used for provision of quality medical treatment to those who sustained injuries in the use of pellet guns in the Valley. He alleged that the Indian government as well as the Jammu and Kashmir authorities have left the victims in the lurch and that they have been denied proper medical facilities. He said, It is, therefore, our responsibility to extend all possible help to them. They are our own people. Earlier the PoK President Sardar Masood Khan asked the students to extend their political and moral support to the Valley youth and play their role in highlighting the Kashmir issue, especially through social media. While speaking at the annual convocation at a local university, he urged students to use their expertise on new digital platforms to talk about Kashmir. A prominent Sunni cleric, who spoke on condition of anonymity, admitted that the division in the SP did not augur well for Muslims. Lucknow: The ongoing strife in the ruling Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh could deal a major blow to the partys core vote base that comprises Muslims and Yadavs. The tussle for leadership in the party, that has left the Yadav clan sharply divided, has led to a division in the partys votebank. While Muslims are completely confused over the divided SPs ability to counter the growing influence of the BJP, the loyalty of the Yadav community is also getting divided. Muslims in Lucknow are now looking for options since they feel that the ruling SP can no longer combat the BJP. The BSP could be an option but a section of the community is still not sure that a BJP-BSP alliance would not emerge after the polls. The SP stands weakened and our community is not too confident of chief minister Akhilesh Yadavs ability to challenge the BJP in the present circumstances. Mulayam Singh has been our leaders and has worked for the minorities but the same cannot be said for his son who has let us down during the Muzaffarnagar and Dadri incidents, said Shafi Qureshi, a garment dealer in the old city area. Yes Muslims are worried and disappointed over these developments because they want to stop communal forces, admitted senior UP minister Azam Khan. The Muslim dilemma is also reflected in what the clerics say. A prominent Sunni cleric, who spoke on condition of anonymity, admitted that the division in the SP did not augur well for Muslims. Our priority is to keep communal forces out but a divided SP cannot pose a challenge to these forces. We may now have to resort to tactical voting and choose candidates who can defeat the BJP, irrespective of the party to which they belong. This splitting of Muslim vote will give an advantage to the BJP but we have no choice, said the cleric who is known for his good relations with chief minister Akhilesh Yadav. As for the Yadavs, there seems to be a generational division in the community over the recent events in the SP. The young generations are fully supportive of chief minister Akhilesh but the senior Yadavs are upset at the manner in which Mulayam was ousted from his post by his son. Marijuana can be grown legally in Massachusettes but the selling it has been delayed till mid 2018. Gifting up to one ounce of Marijuana is legal though (Photo: AP) Boston: Sound business sense and salesmanship is all about being able to deliver what your clients want despite all kinds of obstacles. This might require a lot of effort and imagination when it comes to selling a product which isnt supposed to be marketed. Growing and possessing marijuana was legalised in Massachusetts in November after a ballot, but the governor signed a bill barring individuals from selling weed till mid 2018. Sandwich bags have been a great way to carry around a quick bite at work or on a short trip, but an entrepreneur in Boston has come up with a novel idea to sell marijuana using these bags. He is selling these for $20 to $325, as they come with free marijuana inside. While the strategy is clever since up to one ounce of marijuana can be legally gifted to someone, the seller went wrong since he advertised the gift on Craigslist. After the North-western District Attorney David Sullivan described the ply as ridiculous and fraudulent on New England Public Radio and clarified how its illegal, the entrepreneur changed the description of his listing to, Im not advertising free marijuana gifts. Oh no. Im just saying that Im awesome. E-mail me and we can go out for dinner. And talk more about the subject. smoke a fatty. And chill. Im not advertising free marijuana gifts. A proposed new grocery store complex on Billings western edge is a step closer to construction, which could begin in three months. The Billings City Zoning Commission voted Tuesday to recommend approval of a special review of a drive-through for a pharmacy at the site at the northeastern corner of Grand Avenue and 54th Street West, apparently an Albertsons. A special review was required because the drive-through is facing a residential neighborhood, said Nicole Cromwell, a city planner. The eight-acre site is already zoned for commercial use. The Billings City Council will now consider the special review. The developer also must apply for city permits to start building. Cromwell said the city is also considering widening Grand Avenue between 52nd and 58th streets west to accommodate the increase in traffic. The new Ben Steele Middle School is under construction at the 56th Street West intersection. Broker Charlie Hamwey, who is representing land owner Bishop Fox Co., declined to confirm the grocery store until the deal is finalized in about a month. Officials at Boise, Idaho-based Albertsons have indicated theyre looking to build a new store in Montana. Construction would likely begin this spring, Hamwey said. When its fully developed, its going to be a jewel to the area, Hamwey said. Two neighbors spoke against the zoning commission recommendation, expressing concerns about truck noise and a walking path that could potentially give store customers easy access into their neighborhood. Michael Larson, a zoning commission member, said he lives near Albertsons at the corner of Grand Avenue and Rehberg Lane and likes having a walking path to the store. The fast food joint faced criticism as a cardinal said it was different from Roman gastronomic traditions McDonald's has opened a franchise just steps away from the gleaming white marble dome of St. Peter's Basilica, giving indigestion to some cardinals and local business owners. There was no fanfare for the Dec. 30 opening of the U.S. fast food giant's new venue behind a subdued exterior on the picturesque Borgo Pio, just outside the spiritual home of the world's 1.2 billion Roman Catholics. When the plan emerged last year, one of its most strident critics was Cardinal Elio Sgreccia, who said McDonald's fare was far removed from Roman gastronomic traditions and not the healthiest of foods. "The mega sandwich shop on Borgo Pio is a disgrace," Sgreccia told La Repubblica newspaper at the time."It would be better to use those spaces to help the needy of the area, spaces for hospitality, shelter and help for those who suffer, as the Holy Father teaches," Sgreccia said.Despite the holy outrage in some quarters, two nuns were spotted on Tuesday lunchtime going inside the fast food joint. The incident happened on December 31 when the girl was on her way to a shop to buy groceries and had gone to the toilet, police said. New Delhi: A 13-year-old girl was allegedly sexually assaulted by two youths inside a public toilet at a transit camp in central Delhi's Anand Parbat area where her family was shifted as part of the Kathputli Colony relocation drive. The incident happened on December 31 when the girl was on her way to a shop to buy groceries and had gone to the toilet, police said. The youths, including a juvenile, entered the toilet and allegedly sexually assaulted her, they added. They threatened her with dire consequences if she reported the matter to anybody. On returning to the camp, the girl did not inform anybody but after she complained of stomach pain, she was taken to a hospital and a medical examination indicated sexual assault, police said. The girl has identified the accused and a case under section 376 (punishment for rape) of IPC and provisions of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act has been registered. The accused are known to the victim since they all lived in Kathputli Colony area before they were relocated to the transit camp as part of the Kathputli Colony relocation drive. While one of the accused is a juvenile, police are verifying the age of the other. Police said the second accused claims to be a juvenile but it is suspected that he is 21. The father of the accused persons and the girl work as labourers. The incident took place when the girl was going to a nearby shop to buy groceries and had stopped at the public toilet. A case has been registered under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act. (Photo: Representational Image) New Delhi: The Delhi Police on Wednesday apprehended two juveniles for allegedly raping a 13-year-old girl inside a public toilet at a transit camp in Anand Parbat on December 31 last year. A case has been registered under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) Act. The incident took place when the girl was going to a nearby shop to buy groceries and had stopped at the public toilet. She said that the youth entered the toilet and raped her. They then threatened her and told her not to inform anyone about the incident. The girl, whose family relocated here from Kathputli Colony after the recent demolition, went back to her tent and stayed quiet. However, her mother came to know of it when she complained of pain in the abdomen. She was taken for a medical examination where doctors confirmed that she was sexually assaulted. Metro services to be partially disrupted due to heavy security. Code named Operation Lovely Roses, this is the first time when the ITBPs elite sniffer dog squad will sanitise the entire 5-km-long parade route. New Delhi: In order to prevent any terror attack during the Republic Day parade, the Delhi police has requisitioned ITBPs elite crack K-9 dog unit to sanitise the majestic Rajpath in the national capital. Code named Operation Lovely Roses, this is the first occasion when the ITBPs elite sniffer dog squad, along with other security agencies, will sanitise the entire five-km-long parade route. Following intelligence inputs that the Republic Day parade was facing the highest ever security threat from Pakistan-based terror outfits like LeT, the Delhi police reportedly requested the ITBP to press into service its elite dog squad to ensure that the parade area is properly sanitised to avert any terror attack. At a recent high-level meeting, various agencies discussed thread-bare security apparatus which would be put in place for the coming parade. All terror inputs have been collated, analysed and scrutinised under a fine toothed comb, a senior officer told this newspaper. Sources said that the city police, along with other agencies, will keep a tight watch on the entire 5-km route, which will set out from Raisina Hill near Rashtrapati Bhavan, and follow Rajpath past India Gate and culminate at Red Fort. Even Metro services will be partially disrupted due to heavy security arrangements. The tight security arrangements will affect Metros Line 2 (Huda City Centre-Jahangirpuri), Line 3 (Noida City CentreDwarka Sector 21), Line 4 (Yamuna Bank-Vaishali) and Line 6 (Central Secretari-atBadarpur).The Metro train schedules will be modified and some stations will remain closed. In addition, all Metro parking lots will be closed from 2 pm on January 25 to 2 pm on January 26. Bizman makes false claims of being a lawyer and son of retired police official. Two other cops on duty rushed to Mr Narayans aid and arrested Gupta and booked him under various sections of the Indian Penal Code. New Delhi: An inebriated businessman was booked by the police for assaulting an on-duty police constable over a parking row at Mayur Vihar. The injured police constable has been identified as Satya Narayan who was on duty along with Arun and Mann Singh. The police said that the incident took place on Sunday night around 8.30 pm, when the accused identified as Uma Shankar Gupta had parked his car right outside the Star City Mall in East Delhis Mayur Vihar Phase 1, which lead to a traffic jam. Three policemen on duty noticed a commotion ahead around the mall where Uma Shankars car was parked right on the middle of the road. The accused was busy quarreling with commuters who had taken an objection to his wrong parking and blocking of the road. Swinging into action, constable Narayan directed Gupta to move his car while the other two cops began manning the traffic. An infuriated Gupta began creating a scene and warned the policemen on duty that he was the son of a retired cop and a lawyer himself. He also threatened to get Mr Narayan suspended if he forced him to move his vehicle. When Mr Narayan refused to budge and reprimanded Gupta, the latter hurled a punch on the policemans face before thrashing him black and blue. Soon, the two other cops on duty rushed to Mr Narayans aid and arrested Gupta and booked him under various sections of the Indian Penal Code. Further, during investigations the police learnt that Gupta was drunk at the time of incident and had made false claims of being a lawyer and the son of retired police official. The accused businessman has been booked under Sections 186 (obstructing a public servant in discharge of public functions), 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty) and 332 (voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant from his duty). As per the Delhi government data, there are 895 colonies in the city that are in line for further authentication. The RWA had contended that the acquisition of their land, initiated under the earlier Act of 1894, had lapsed as no compensation had been paid. New Delhi: While pulling up the administration, the Delhi high court has said that legalising the unauthorised colonies doesnt solve the problem. The bench observed that the authentication of these colonies only leads to more civic and urban issues. The single judge bench noted that unauthorised colonies are normally born out of greed with intent of securing unmerited benefits and legalising them has emboldened purchasers of acquired land and encroachers apart from leading to many problems. This court would like to emphasise the distinction between an unauthorised colony and a jhuggi-jhopri cluster. While jhuggi-jhopri clusters are normally born out of need and necessity for housing of the poor and underprivileged, unauthorised colonies are normally born out of greed with intent to secure unmerited benefits, Justice Manmohan said. The observation came while dismissing a plea of a resident welfare association (RWA) to restrain the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) from dispossessing any of the members of the association from their land to build roads. The court in its judgment has said people who have cut these unauthorised colonies have neither paid full development charges to the civic authorities nor provided proper civic facilities like roads, sewerage, drainage, water and electricity and as a consequence, diseases like malaria, diarrhoea and tuberculosis are common in Delhi. The court further said it would be difficult to provide adequate and proper sewage, drainage and roads after an unplanned colony has been constructed and occupied, as construction would have been carried out in a haphazard manner without adhering to any scientific norms, adding, Legalising of unauthorised colonies in the past has not only emboldened the purchasers of acquired land and rank encroachers but has created manifold problems of environmental degradation, traffic bottlenecks etc. The court said that the members of the RWA of Utsav Vihar here who are affected by the acquisition of their land by DDA can move individual petitions in the high court for relief under the Land Acquisition Act of 2013. The RWA had contended that the acquisition of their land, initiated under the earlier Act of 1894, had lapsed as no compensation had been paid. Justice Manmohan, however, said: Till the time the appropriate court does not declare that the acquisition proceeding has lapsed, this court is of the view that the right of DDA to the land cannot be questioned. DDA had, during the proceedings, contended that as the unauthorised colony of the petitioner RWA was on acquired government land, the authority was entitled to utilise any portion of the acquired land for a public project. It suspects that the filmstar, who lives with her family in south Kolkata, played a key role in a Hawala network. TMC MP Sudip Bandopadhyay being taken by CBI officers to Bhubaneswar for further inquiry who was arrested in connection with Rose Valley chit fund scam in Kolkata. (Photo: PTI) Kolkata: After arresting two Trinamul Congress Lok Sabha MPs within a week, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is now planning to summon a popular Bengali actress in Tollywood soon for questionning in Rose Valley chit fund scam after she came under its radar for her role behind an overseas deal. It suspects that the filmstar, who lives with her family in south Kolkata, played a key role in a Hawala network through which Mr Kundu allegedly tried to send around Rs 300 crores abroad. She had even accompanied Mr Kundu on several foreign trips and helped him closely in the sale and production of many Bengali movies under Rose Valley banner. The actress was scheduled to address a press meet on films in the city on Tuesday, sources elaborated. She however skipped the event at the eleventh hour following the arrest of Sudip Bandopadhyay, the Trinamul Parliamentary Party leader in the afternoon, sources disclosed. According to sources, the actress, the CBI found, had introduced Mr Kundu to her relative: an NRI businessman, based in Singapore, who deals in arranging capital to revivie a sick companys business. She then supervised a deal of around Rs 300 crores between Mr Kundu and her relative on the pretext of reviving such a business in 2011, sources revealed. Within few days of the deal, nearly Rs 63 crores out of the total amount, were however transferred by Mr Kundu in one transaction through the bank account of one of his employees, also based in Singapore, to the bank account of the filmstars relative, sources added. Recovering some clinching evidence from the financial documents of Rose Valley Group the CBI has found that the deal was aimed at turning Mr Kundus illegal income into legal through the Hawala network. In West Bengal, TMC workers blocked roads and stopped trains to decry what they claimed was Narendra Modis vendeta politics. TMC MP Sudip Bandopadhyay being taken by CBI officers to Bhubaneswar for further inquiry who was arrested in connection with Rose Valley chit fund scam in Kolkata. (Photo: PTI) Kolkata/New Delhi: A day after the arrest of their senior leader Sudip Bandopadhyay in the Rose Valley chit fund scam, Trinamul Congress workers on Wednesday hit the streets in protest in Kolkata and Delhi, resulting in violent clashes with BJP workers and police. Several incidents of vandalism and an alleged bomb attack were reported from Kolkata. The BJP office in Hooghly, 60 km from Calcutta, was set on fire Wednesday evening. Two senior MPs of Mamata Banerjees party Tapas Paul and Mr Bandyopadhyay have been accused by the CBI of involvement in a ponzi scheme of `15,000 crore that duped small investors in Bengal. The arrests, Ms Banerjee has charged, are provoked by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whom she has accused of practicing the politics of revenge. She says the CBI was ordered by Mr Modis office to arrest her leaders because she has taken him head-on over his decision to ban high-denomination notes. The TMC denies that its leaders played any role in the scam. In West Bengal, TMC workers blocked roads and stopped trains to decry what they claimed was Prime Minister Narendra Modis vendeta politics. They allegedly also attacked a number of BJP offices in districts and residences of some BJP leaders in Kolkata. In Delhi, more than 30 TMC MPs were arrested and taken to the Tughlaq Road station for protesting outside the Prime Ministers residence. And West Bengal finance minister Amit Mitra boycotted pre-Budget consultations citing financial emergency and a political environment of fear in the country. Mr Mitra, who attended the two-day meeting of the GST council chaired by Arun Jaitley that ended on Wednesday, said the Union Budget had become a meaningless exercise after the Prime Minister in his address to the nation on New Years eve made announcements similar to a Budget presentation. He, however, said that he had shared with the Union finance minister the expectations of the states from his Budget and also make him aware of the financial emergency imposed by demonetisation and the job losses it has led to. In Kolkata, a large group of TMC supporters tried to storm into Union minister of state Babul Surpriyos residence, demanding his arrest for his alleged role in Rose Valley scam. The police had a tough time in dispersing the unruly mob which was bent on breaking into Mr Supriyos house where his parents live. A TMC legislative delegation also met governor Keshrinath Tripathi to inform him that the state government would not tolerate if central forces were sent to the state without its permission/information. They shouted Modi hatao, desh bachao! slogans. We informed the governor that if central forces are brought to our state without informing the Mamata Banerjee government, then its consequences will be grave... We voiced our apprehension that a conspiracy to disturb the constitutional and federal structure is going on, state education minister Partha Chatterjee, who led the delegation to Raj Bhavan, said. He was referring to the deployment of CRPF personnel at the BJP office in Kolkata on Tuesday night, after TMC supporters had laid a siege outside. TMC supporters also targeted BJP leaders and party offices. The BJPs Hooghly district president Krishna Bhattacharya was brutally assaulted when some people attacked her house on Tuesday night. In the same district, a BJP office in Chinsurah was set on fire. A large group of TMC workers also marched to the CGO Complex in Delhi which houses the CBI office. They threatened of indefinite siege if the CBI continued to selectively target TMC leaders. The BJP hit out at the Trinamool Congress and accused West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee of betraying the mandate given to her by protecting the corrupt. The TMC government has turned out to be a mirror image of the earlier Left government. The biggest disappointment is that it allows corruption, and when probe agencies take legal action it resorts to violence and shameless politics of lies and baseless allegations. Instead of condemning the Central government, Mamata Banerjee should have taken action against her party leaders. But she will not do it as her entire government is standing on foundation of corruption and scam, BJP national secretary Shrikant Sharma said in a statement. Tuesdays attack on the BJP office left 12 people seriously injured, BJPs Siddharth Nath Singh said. The Mumbai BJP has sent the list to chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, who will take a final call. Mumbai: Though nothing has moved forward when it comes to the question of an alliance between the BJP and Shiv Sena, the former has already prepared its list of 227 candidates for the BMC elections. The Mumbai BJP has sent the list to chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, who will take a final call. Both parties contested the BMC polls in alliance in 2012. A top BJP leader said that the party has prepared a list of 227 probable candidates for the BMC polls, in case the alliance does not work out. We have sent the list to the chief minister, who will take a decision, the leader said on condition of anonymity. There has been no official reaction from Sena and BJP leaders on seat sharing. Meanwhile, the Sena is holding a state-level meeting on Wednesday, in which it has invited all the party executives. Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray will address the meeting, in which he is expected to reveal the partys political standpoint to his partymen. The Sena chief might give hints to the BJP about the alliance. Uddhav had told the BJP earlier this year that whatever the decision regarding the alliance is, the same should not be kept pending till the last minute The families want CM Devendra Fadnavis to order a thorough investigation into Mujawars revelations. Mumbai: Family members of Sandeep Dange and Ramchandra Kalsangra, the two absconding alleged bomb planters involved in the September 2008 Malegaon blasts case, have demanded a fair probe into claims that the duo was picked up by the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) and then bumped off in an encounter. In August, Mehmood Mujawar, a former inspector of the Mumbai ATS, told a court in Solapur that the two absconding accused were allegedly bumped off in an encounter and their bodies were passed off as unidentified victims of the 26/11 Mumbai attacks perpetrated by a 10-man LeT squad that came from Pakistan. After Mujawars claims, which recently came to light, the duos families have sought help from authorities to get justice. Lakshmibai, wife of Kalsangra, was in depression after she heard about Mujawars claim, according to her son Devavrat. Devavrat told The Asian Age, Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis should order a thorough investigation into Mujawars revelations. We are already in pain after we came to know that he is absconding. For the past ten years we didnt see him and suddenly the news came that he might have died. Devavrat said, The officials have fabricated evidence against him. They terrorised us too. They have already violated our basic right to know the whereabouts of our family member. We will keep on fighting hard till we get proper answers from the government and the investigative agency. Ram Swarup Patidar, the brother of the missing Dilip Patidar, who was under the ATS scanner in the blast case and was alleged to have been bumped off earlier, said, The same might have happened with my brother because we havent seen him for several years and officials are unable to explain where he might be. He added, We are living a hellish life as we cant even asked for the details of our kin. He said, Last year, we personally went to meet the CM, but still no clarification came from the government as to my brothers whereabouts. SEATTLE Washington state is refusing to allow its aquatic lands to be used for a major coal-export terminal along the Columbia River, dealing what one opponent described as "the final nail in the coffin" for the project. Millennium Bulk Terminals proposed building a terminal in Longview that would export coal from Montana, Wyoming and other states to Asia. Outgoing Public Lands Commissioner Peter Goldmark announced Tuesday that he has rejected a request from Northwest Alloys to sublease the state's aquatic lands to Millennium Bulk Terminals for the project. Goldmark said Millennium had refused to provide basic information about its finances following the bankruptcy of its previous owner, Arch Coal, last year. A spokesman for Millennium did not immediately return a call seeking comment. Jay Manning, board chairman of Washington Environmental Council, praised the decision and called it the final nail in the coffin for the project. Bahauddin Zakariya developed a notion of wealth that differed from the common perception of Sufis. One of the glorious aspects of his mystic worldview that can illuminate the modern money-driven people was his dealing with wealth. (Representational image) Hazrat Bahauddin Zakariya Multani the founder of the Suhrawardi Sufi order in India was a luminary Muslim mystic. A contemporary of the great Sufi saints like Baba Farid, Bahauddin Zakariya was highly venerated by both the sultans (kings) and dervishes (saints) of his age. Born in 1182 in Multan a part of north-western India then Zakariya was the most leading dervish in his time. His Suhrawardi spiritual order became the most prominent after the Chishti Sufi order in India. One of the glorious aspects of his mystic worldview that can illuminate the modern money-driven people was his dealing with wealth. His reflections on retaining money for the purpose of cleansing greed and cultivating generosity can guide the Sufi practitioners and all the spiritually-inclined people today. Bahauddin Zakariya developed a notion of wealth that differed from the common perception of Sufis. He believed that Sufis should not shun gaining material resources. Rather, they should be well-equipped to serve society in financial terms too. But Sufi Hamiduddin Nagauri, a disciple of Hazrat Khwaja Garib Nawaz the master of Chishti tradition could not reconcile with this idea. He sent a letter in which he expressed his disagreement with the view of Zakariya Multani. He wrote: As treasure and serpent are linked in form, so, they are associated in the reality too. Thus, wealth is a serpent (a snake) and anyone who retains wealth actually rears a serpent. In his reply to Hamiduddin Nagauri, Zakariya Multani wrote: Although wealth is a serpent, those who have learnt the incantation to overcome the venom, need not have any fear from the serpent. In fact, Zakariya Multani sought to inculcate the ethical and spiritual spirit in the material and financial affairs of life. He aimed at cleansing the mundane human greed for money and exhorting a divine approach towards wealth that results in abundant generosity for the less fortunate. Zakariya spent all his family fortune that he inherited from his affluent father for those in need. Besides, he earned a lot more to increase his generosity with wealth. Soon after he established his khanqah (Sufi hospice) at Multan, he constructed numerous learning centres and madrasas, which housed not only the poor students, but also the shelterless people and needy travellers. He ran a large Langarkhana (kitchen in the Sufi shrines for the free distribution of food), apart from several water wells, canals and farm fields for the poor. His generosity became so great that Multans governor, Nasiruddin Qabacha, became jealous of him and later conspired against him. The governor made every possible attempt to discredit the Sufi saints image among his followers, but to no avail. Zakariya taught his disciples that Sufi practitioners must earn a good livelihood on their own, but with the belief that the gain and loss of money makes no difference to their spiritual worldview. Both existence and non-existence of wealth means the same thing for Sufis. They dont feel pleasure in their possession of wealth nor do they regret over their loss. Once Zakariya asked his murid (disciple) to give all money from the container to beggars. But the money container was missing. Hearing this, Zakariya recited: Masha Allah. Soon after this, the same disciple turned up and reported that the container had been found. Zakariyas words were the same: Masha Allah. The Uber driver overheard the conversation between the passengers and alerted the police suspecting illegal activity. Sacramento: Police rescued a 16-yr-old girl from pimps after an Uber driver overheard their conversation and reported them to the police on Monday. According to media reports, two women along with the teen got into Uber driver Keith Avila's cab on Monday night. The girl who looked like she was around 12 years old was dressed in a short skirt, making the driver suspicious. Avila was asked to play music louder halfway to their destination, a holiday inn in the surburbs. Becoming increasingly suspicious, the cab driver listened in to hear them instruct the girl. "They were describing what they were going to do when they get there: 'Check for guns. Get the money before you start touching up on the guy,'" Avila was reported to have said on Facebook Live after he dropped off the passengers. The Uber driver then alerted the police, on the suspicion that the women were prostituting the teen. According to media reports, Elk Grove police confirmed that the teen was being pimped by the women and the Uber driver's call had saved her. The women -- who were arrested -- were identified to be Destiny Pettway (25) and Maria Westley (31) on charges of pimping and threatening a minor. The police also arrested the man whom the teen was on her way to meet at the hotel. Identifed as Disney Vang (20), he was charged by police to have been involved in unlawful sexual activity with the victim. A husband, father and photographer by day, Avila had recently started moonlighting as a Uber driver. He broadcasted the incident from the spot for 10 minutes through Facebook Live. "I told police, 'If you don't come, I'm going to go in there myself and take pictures of these guys,'" Avila was quoted saying on Facebook. "That's not a good life, to be under the control of another human being for the purpose of sex trafficking." he added. He said he even gave police the hotel room number after overhearing the girl call the man. His video has been seen over 265,000 times making the photographer-turned-Uber driver an overnight celebrity. Thousands of people who were displaced by the war in Aleppo return to the city to see if they resume their livelihoods. In the last couple of days around 2,200 families have returned to the Hanano housing district. (Photo: AP/Representational Image) Aleppo: Thousands of people are starting to return to the formerly rebel-held east Aleppo, despite freezing weather and destruction "beyond imagination", said a top U.N. official from the Syrian city. In the last couple of days around 2,200 families have returned to the Hanano housing district, said Sajjad Malik, country representative in Syria for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). "People are coming out to east Aleppo to see their shops, their houses, to see if the building is standing... to see, should they come back," he said in an interview. But given the current appalling conditions, the U.N. is not encouraging people to return. "It is extremely, bitterly cold here," said Malik. "The houses people are going back to have no windows or doors, no cooking facilities," he said. Aid is vital to prevent more deaths. The U.N. is helping people to restart their lives in one room of their apartments to begin with by giving the people mats, sleeping bags and plastic sheets to cover blown-out windows, he added. Bread and water Hanano was one of the first Aleppo neighbourhoods to fall to rebels in 2012, and the first to be retaken by the Syrian government on its way to seizing back full control of the northern city last month - the biggest victory for President Bashar al-Assad in nearly six years of war. As government forces rapidly advanced, some residents stayed put; tens of thousands fled of their own accord; and around 35,000 fighters and civilians were evacuated in late December in convoys organised by the Syrian government. After months of fierce Syrian and Russian air strikes, reconstruction will take a long time, Malik said, but the immediate priority is to keep people warm and fed. U.N.-supported partners provide hot meals twice a day to 21,000 people, and 40,000 people get baked bread every day. Over 1.1 million people once again have access to clean water in bottles or through tankers and wells. Mobile clinics are up and running, and more than 10,000 children have received polio vaccinations. Thousands of children who have not been able to attend school need reintegration into the education system through remedial classes to rebuild their confidence, Malik said. There was no register of births, deaths and marriages in the rebel-held sector, so the U.N. is working with the government to issue people with papers. "I met a woman with five children and she was excited that she now has her kids registered as Syrians. She has ID cards and a family book," he said. Bombing has destroyed hospitals, schools, roads and houses, and damaged the two main water pumping stations. The experienced U.N. official said the level of destruction surpassed anything he had seen in conflict zones like Afghanistan and Somalia. "Nothing would have prepared us to see the scale of destruction there, it's beyond imagination," he claimed. The attacker has been identified, with investigators focusing on the possibility that he was from Central Asia. Istanbul: The Turkish police on Tuesday released photographs of the suspect who went on a rampage in Istambuls plush Reina nightclub on New Years night, saying he had fought in Syria for the ISIS. Along with the images, including one taken by security cameras on the night of the attack, a chilling video of the suspect taken near the Taksim Square in central Istanbul was also released, showing him clicking his photographs with a selfie stick and smiling faintly into the camera. It was not made immediately clear how the footage had been obtained. Several media outlets, citing unnamed security sources, said the man was believed to be from a Central Asian nation and may have been part of the same cell that staged a June attack on Istanbuls Ataturk Airport that killed 45 people. Haber Turk newspaper said the man is thought to be a member of Chinas Muslim Uighur minority. Without citing a source, the newspaper said he had arrived in the Turkish city of Konya with his wife and two children in order not to raise suspicions. His family members have been detained, the newspaper said. The ISIS on Monday claimed the massacre the first time it has clearly stated being behind a major attack in Turkey. In a statement circulated on social media, the ISIS said one of the soldiers of the caliphate had carried out the Reina shooting. It accused Turkey, a Muslim-majority country, of being a servant of Christians and that the attack was in response to Turkeys military intervention against the jihadists in war-ravaged Syria. The Hurriyet daily said the attacker showed signs of being well trained in the use of arms and had fought for the ISIS in Syria. Hurriyets well-connected columnist Abdulkadir Selvi said the attacker had been identified, with investigators focusing on the idea that he was from Central Asia. Mr Selvi said the attacker, who was armed with a long-barrelled weapon, had allegedly been specially selected to carry out the shooting as he was trained in street fighting in residential areas in Syria. According to Hurriyet, he had used these techniques in the attack, shooting from the hip rather than as a sniper. Just 28 bullets failed to hit a target, the newspaper said. Turkish police have intensified their search for the attacker who sprayed 120 bullets on guests at an Istanbul nightclub, leaving 39 dead. Several raids have been conducted and 12 have been arrested. Of the 39 deceased, 27 were foreigners, including two Indians. Turkeys Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said on Monday that the authorities had obtained fingerprint data about the gunman and expressed hope that he would be speedily identified. by Tran Viet For the past seven years, the Committee for Interreligious Dialogue in Ho Chi Minh City, has promoted meetings, seminars, charitable work, and pastoral outreach. This has offered priests, religious and lay people an opportunity to share experiences and deepen knowledge. Catholic believers and churches have helped Buddhist charities. Ho Chi Minh City (AsiaNews) The Committee for Interreligious Dialogue in Ho Chi Minh City ha answered Pope Franciss call on World Peace Day, 1 January, and renewed its pastoral outreach to Buddhists, Muslims and representatives of other faiths. Such an initiative is inspired by spirit of Vatican Council II and is meant, as the pontiff said, to underline that "terrorism has no religion", that violence desecrates Gods name, and that "only peace is Holy, not war" . For several years, the Committee set up by Card Gioan Baotixia Pham Minh Man on 5 December 2009 has promoted meetings and seminars on the doctrines of other religions present in city formerly known as Saigon. This includes Buddhism, the countrys main religion, but also other religions, like Cao ai, ao Hoa Hao and Haha'I. The group, which is linked to the archdiocese in southern Vietnam, has promoted regular relations with other believers, creating strong ties of friendship and brotherhood. Over time, this has led to joint charity and social work to benefit the poorest and most disadvantaged communities. Meeting the members of other religions has also been an opportunity for priests, religious and lay people, as a way to share experiences of religious life and deal with old conflicts and misunderstandings. According to the Vietnamese (and Chinese) calendar, 2017 is the year of the rooster, a symbol of speed, agility, and dynamism and this will be the guiding principle of the activities of Saigons Committee for Interreligious Dialogue over the next few months. Thus, participants will be allowed to share experiences, helping Catholics better understand other faiths and the activities carried out by their believers. In turn, this will boost ties of friendship and brotherhood. o, a young student at the Don Bosco School, told AsiaNews that in past years he visited "some centres for the disabled, orphans, HIV-positive minors and free medical clinics" run by Buddhists. In fact, some Catholics work in facilities that hand out food to the poor. Various Catholic churches help with "resources and raw materials" to charitable activities promoted by Buddhist groups. At the same time, Cao ai believers and Buddhists have been invited to speak to young students at outreach centres run by the Archdiocese of Saigon on their "religious practices," all in the name of "harmony" between religions and to the "benefit" of the public. One of the various meetings and courtesy calls stands out, that by the current Archbishop of Saigon, Mgr Phaolo Bui Van oc, to the Buddhist Administrative Council for the 2,558th birthday of Buddha. On that occasion, the Venerable Buddhist Master Thich Tri Quang expressed hope that the unique "ties" with Christians could be strengthened under the bishops leadership. In his answer, the prelate mentioned the importance of religion in protecting the moral and social environment of southern Vietnams metropolis. A military court convicted Sergeant Elor Azaria of manslaughter. Sentencing is expected in a few weeks with the culprit facing up to 20 years in prison. The decision was read out in two and a half hours. The defences arguments were rejected, stressing how the 21-year-old Palestinian was not a threat. Jerusalem (AsiaNews/Agencies) An Israeli military court convicted an Israeli soldier of manslaughter today. In March 2016, he shot in cold blood a young Palestinian assailant as he lay on the ground helpless. Sergeant Elor Azaria, 19 at the time, fatally shot Abdul Fatah al-Sharif, a 21-year old Palestinian during an attack against Israeli soldiers in Hebron, West Bank. The sentence came at the end of a trial that began in May and split Israeli society between those in favour and those against the soldiers action. The three judges are expected to sentence Sgt Azaria in a few weeks; the latter faces up to 20 years in prison. Israels extreme right has defended the young soldier. By contrast, top brass in the Israeli Defence Forces pushed for a thorough inquiry. A video shot by an eyewitness clearly shows Sgt Azaria shooting at the victim as he lay on the ground. Judge Colonel Maya Heller, along with two colleagues, took two and a half hours to read out the verdict, rejecting the defences arguments point by point. Colonel Heller noted that Sgt Azaria had not motive to open fire, as the young Palestinian was not a threat. The incident, which took place on 24 March 2016, has exposed a deep divide in Israel, not only between those in favour or those against the soldier, but also over policies toward the Palestinians and security. The soldier shot the young Palestinian who had previously attacked and wounded other soldiers with a knife when he was already lying on the ground, wounded and unable to harm anyone. Acting after the initial incident, he pointed his weapon and fired, killing the attacker instantly. Footage of the scene, filmed by a Palestinian and released by the Israeli human rights group B'Tselem, shows a soldier cocking his rifle and fatally shooting Sharif without the latter doing anything threatening. In the video, a voice is heard in Hebrew, "The terrorist is still alive, the dog, followed by the shot. He deserves to die," Azaria said. The incident is part of a wave of violence that broke out in October 2015, triggered by a series of provocations by ultra-Orthodox Jews who wanted to pray at the Temple Mount, a holy place not only for Palestinians, but for all Muslims. Since then, incidents and clashes have occurred in Israel and the Palestinian territories as part of what has been called the knife intifada. The target of the attack is the district prison in North Cotabato, close to Kidapawan. Fundamentalist groups, criminal gangs, and communist guerrillas active in area. The assault lasted at least two hours; guard dies in shootout, detainee injured. Police and army launch manhunt. Manila (AsiaNews / Agencies) - An armed group, perhaps linked to extremist movements and Islamic separatists active in the southern Philippines, launched a dawn attack on the district prison in North Cotabato, near the city of Kidapawan on the island of Mindanao. In the assault at least 150 prisoners fled. A prison guard died in the crossfire with the commandos and a prisoner was injured. In the past there have been cases of attacks on Philippine prisons, particularly in the south where for Islamist separatist groups and jihadist movements (linked to the Islamic State) have been active, in the only Asian country with a Catholic majority. The raid took place just before dawn and is not an isolated case, given that in the past there have been similar cases. Eyewitnesses report that the assault lasted at least two hours, with violent shooting between prison guards and assailants. At least a hundred gunmen launched the attack; the head of the group is a commander linked to the rebel Muslim militias. Inside the prison, there were at least 1,500 prisoners. About 150 took advantage of the confusion that ensued to escape from their cells, step over the boundary walls by stacking beds one above the other and flee into the surrounding area. Peter Bonggat, a prison guard present at the time of the attack, reports that the target of the raid was the release of some prisoners linked to Islamic extremism. The police and army have launched a massive manhunt to capture all the fugitives, but have so far have recaptured only six. The suspicions of the authorities are currently concentrated on a breakaway faction of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the main rebel separatist movement of the south of the country who signed a peace agreement in the recent past with the central government in Manila. In August last year, Islamic extremists close to the Islamic State (IS) freed eight detainees and 15 other prisoners in the prison of Marawi, a city of Mindanao. Kidapawan, the city where today's attack took place, is located about 950 km south of Manila. Various Muslim insurgent groups are active in the area, criminal gangs linked mainly to drug trafficking and arms sales and communist guerrillas. "When someone asks me difficult things like 'why do children suffer' I really do not know how to answer, I just look at the crucifix and watch how God gave His son, this is why we say that God took on our pain. Vatican City (AsiaNews) - Prisons must be places of reintegration. Pope Francis once again launched this appeal, which is particularly dear to him, in reference to yesterdays events in Brazil. "Yesterday - he said we had the dramatic news from Brazil of the massacre that took place in the Manaus prison, where a violent clash between rival gangs has caused dozens of deaths. I express my sorrow and concern for what happened. I invite you to pray for the dead, for their families, for all inmates of that prison and for those who work there. And I renew the appeal so that prisons are places of rehabilitation and social reintegration, and the living conditions of detainees are worthy of human beings. I invite you to pray for these dead prisoners and for all those in the world, so that prisons really are places of reintegration, pray to Our Lady, Mother of detainees. " Earlier, the Pope, in continuing catechesis dedicated to Christian hope, said that "when someone asks me difficult things like 'why do children suffer' I really do not know how to answer, I just look at the crucifix and watch how God gave His son, this is why we say that God took on our pain". To seven thousand people present in the Paul VI Hall in the Vatican for the general audience, the Pope proposed "the figure of a woman who speaks to us of hope lived in tears. This is Rachel, the wife of Jacob and mother of Joseph and Benjamin, the one who, as the Book of Genesis tells us, died in giving birth to her second son, Benjamin, that is. "The prophet Jeremiah refers to Rachel addressing the Israelites in exile to comfort them with words full of emotion and poetry, he takes the weeping of Rachel, but gives it hope. Thus says the LORD: In Ramah is heard the sound of sobbing, bitter weeping! Rachel mourns for her children, she refuses to be consoled for her childrenthey are no more!j" (Jeremiah 31:15 ). In these verses, Jeremiah presents this woman of his people, the great matriarch of his tribe, in a reality of pain and tears, but together with an undreamt perspective of life. Rachel, who Genesis tells us had died giving birth and had assumed that death so that the child could live, but now, is represented by the Prophet alive in Rama, there where the deportees are gathered, weeping for her children who in a sense die going into exile; children who, as she says, are 'no more', who are gone forever. And this is why Rachel would not be comforted. This refusal expresses the depth of her pain and bitterness of her tears. Before the tragedy of the loss of children, a mother cannot accept words or gestures of consolation, which are always inadequate, never able to soothe the pain of a wound that cannot and will not be healed. A pain in proportion to her love. "Every mother knows this; and there are many, even today, mothers who weep, who are not resigned to the loss of a child, inconsolable before a death impossible to accept. Rachel embodies the pain of all mothers of the world, of all time, and the tears of every human being who cries irreparable loss". "This refusal of Rachel to be consoled also teaches us how gentle we must be before the pain of others. To speak of hope to those in despair, you have to share their despair; to wipe a tear from the face of the suffering, we must unite our tears to theirs. Only then can our words really be able to give a bit 'of hope, and I cannot say words like that, before cries of pain, silence is best, a caress, a gesture without words. And God, with his gentleness and his love, responds to the cry of Rachel with real words. The text of Jeremiah continues. Says the Lord, responding to that cry: "Thus says the LORD:Cease your cries of weeping, hold back your tears! There is compensation for your labor oracle of the LORD they shall return from the enemys land"(Jer 31.16 to 17). Precisely because of the crying of the mother, there is still hope for the children, who will return to life. This woman, who had agreed to die in childbirth so her son could live, with her crying is now the source of new life for her children who are exiles, prisoners far from home. The Lord responds to Rachels pain and bitter weeping, with a promise that now may be the reason for her true consolation: the people will return from exile and live in faith, free, in relationship with God. The tears have generated hope. This is not easy to understand but it is true, many times in life our tears sow hope, they are seeds of hope. "As we know, this text of Jeremiah is then taken up by the Evangelist Matthew and applied to the massacre of the innocents (cf. 2.16 to 18). A text that puts us in front of the tragedy of the killing of defenseless human beings, the horror of the power that despises and suppresses life. The children of Bethlehem died because of Jesus. And He, the innocent Lamb, was to die, in turn, for all of us. The Son of God came into the pain of men, do not forget this. When someone asks me difficult things like 'why do children suffer' I really do not know how to answer, I just look at the crucifix and watch how God gave His son, this is why we say that God took on our pain, shared in our suffering and up to death. His Word is definitely a word of consolation, because it comes from crying. And on the cross, he, the dying Son, donates a new fruitfulness to his mother, entrusting the disciple John to her and making her the mother of believers. Death is conquered, and thus comes to fulfillment of Jeremiah's prophecy. Even the tears of Mary, like those of Rachel, have generated hope and new life". A Saudi court has imposed four months in prison and 300 lashes for damage to public property. Nationality of convicted immigrants unknown. The workers were employees of construction giants Binladin Group and Saudi Oger. Behind the crisis, the collapse of revenue in the oil industry, which has had an impact on the state budget. Riyadh (AsiaNews / Agencies) - A Saudi court has sentenced dozens of migrant workers to imprisonment and flogging, employees of the construction giant Binladin Group, for having gone on strike against non-payment of back wages. The Saudi press has not yet specified the nationality of the workers who were on strike over arrears in monthly salaries; the protests eventually escalated into street violence, which led to the arrests. The first to report the incident was Arab newspaper Al-Watan et Arab News, which, however, it did not clarify the nationality of migrant workers. Some diplomats contacted by AFP were unable (or unwilling) to clarify the affair, claiming to not know the details. A group of workers has been sentenced to four months in prison and 300 lashes for damage to public property and inciting public disorder. Others received a lighter sentence, for a maximum of 45 days in prison inflicted by a Mecca court. For some time the workers of the construction industry, employees of Binladin Group and Saudi Oger, have not been paid in part because of the crisis in the oil sector, which has led to a slump in revenues. The same Saudi government late on payments, is aggravating the debts of the two companies. As the name reveals, the Arab multinational company founded in 1931 is owned by the family of Osama bin Laden - the al Qaeda leader and once the most wanted man in international Islamic terrorism who was one of the 52 sons of the founder Mohammed bin Laden. Among the various appointments made by the founder, the restoration of the famous al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem. However, today the group is in crisis and the image of a crane collapse in September 2015 at the Grand Mosque in Mecca, which caused the death of 109 people has certainly not helped. The group's crisis, exacerbated by the collapse in oil revenue, has also led to the dismissal last May of tens of thousands foreign workers. The Saudi Minister of Finance Mohammed Aljadaan intervened recently on the crisis in the construction industry. On December 22 last, during a press conference dedicated to the presentation of financial statements for 2017, the top government official assured that the payment of arrears will be "within 60 days". The Petroleum Ministrys decision follows the establishment of a new standard contract, opposed by conservatives, which allows foreigners to have a share in Iranian companies. Tehran (AsiaNews/Agencies) Iran has approved 29 large European and Asian companies for oil and gas projects. The companies include Russias Gazprom and Lukoil, Japans Japan Petroleum Exploration and Mitsubishi, Chinas CNPC and Sinopec, South Koreas Korea Gas Corporation and Posco Daewoo, and Malaysia's Petronas. The Iranian Oil Ministry said that the National Iranian Oil Company will soon hold tenders for energy exploration and production, using the new Iranian Petroleum Contract (IPC), but no date has been set. Iran hopes that the new contract model will attract foreign investors, boosting production. The latter was rejected several times because of opposition from conservative groups opposed to President Hassan Rouhani and any arrangement that called into question the principle that foreigners could not have a share in Iranian companies. A nuclear deal that lifted economic sanctions against Iran opened the door to deals with foreign companies that had left the country. Frances Total signed an agreement with Tehran in November for a US$ 4.8 billion offshore gas project at South Pars., in the Persian Gulf, becoming the first Western company to return to Iran. FAIRBANKS, Alaska Charles Skip Binkley was able to recognize the eight moose antlers stolen from his home even after theyd been sawed off their skulls, because each antler is unique, like a fingerprint or serial number. But he might never have recovered them without the power of social media and the intervention of a conscientious antler buyer. Binkley loves moose hunting, and the moose antlers in his collection date back 20 years and have sentimental value. Looking at them, he can recall where he shot the moose, the day he shot the moose and who was in his hunting party. The antlers also have monetary value. Artists use antlers as a raw material. They retail for as much as $10 a pound, according to an Alaska State Troopers investigation. A large set of moose antlers can weigh more than 30 pounds. Binkley, whose family owns the Riverboat Discovery business, kept the antlers outside a shed near his home. On Nov. 30, his daughter Madison Binkley noticed the antlers had been stolen. She called troopers and also posted about the antlers on a Fairbanks Facebook page dedicated to recovering stolen property. Jessica Sanborn owns antler art business Arctic Antler Works and has a Craigslist post advertising her interest in buying antlers. Shes protective of her industrys reputation. I buy antlers all the time, and I dont like the stigma that we buy stolen things, she said. People buy guns (off the internet). That doesnt make them bad people. I would like to get it out there that just because we buy antlers doesnt mean theyre stolen. On Nov. 28, Joseph E. Erickson contacted her about her ad, and she bought seven pairs of antlers from him at a home in the Airport area. She had a bad feeling about the antlers because of the lack of hunting equipment in the garage where she met Erickson. There were also several duplicate sets of chainsaws and other tools frequently taken in home burglaries. I was thinking, this is not a hunters garage, she said. The antlers were attached to the skull plates, and Erickson sawed them off while Sanborn was present. To prevent the creation of a market for trophy animals, selling an antler thats attached to the skull is illegal. This part of the transaction is fairly common with hunters and wasnt suspicious, Sanborn said. Sanborn completed the transaction, but her suspicions stayed with her. She later heard about Binkleys stolen antlers from her father, who had seen a posting about them. Sanborn was able to get Madison Binkleys phone number, and the two exchanged photographs of the antlers to verify that Sanborn had bought at least one of the stolen antlers. Meanwhile, Erickson was contacting Sanborn about selling her more antlers, this time out of an apartment on University Avenue. The two women set up a sting. Sanborn went to the apartment to buy the remaining antlers at about 4 p.m. on Dec. 2. Meanwhile, Binkley was trying to reach the trooper shed worked with before. He called me at 3:57 p.m. I said, go to Sophie Station right now, Jessicas buying the antlers. Its not safe, go there. The trooper arrived at the apartment parking lot while Sanborn and Erickson were standing outside with the antlers. There was a tense moment when the trooper arrived and Erickson didnt immediately show his hands, but he was arrested without anyone getting hurt, Sanborn said. Erickson has been charged with second-degree felony theft and also has a pending misdemeanor assault case from Nov. 22. Hes being held without bail at Fairbanks Correctional Center. He told troopers that he had been selling the antlers on behalf of another man, who lives at the home near the airport where Sanborn went Nov. 30, according to the criminal complaint against him. According to Binkley, troopers responded to this house and took two people into custody on warrants not related to the antler theft case. Of the eight moose racks stolen from the Binkleys, seven have been recovered and returned. Erickson also had two racks that did not belong to the Binkleys. by Willy Lam The fight against corruption is solidifying an alliance between Xi Jinping and Wang Qishang. But we are also witnessing the birth of two new factions in the rugged scenery of the Communist Party. The fight against corruption, which pushes people to applaud Xi, is consuming aspects of the "rule of law." The expert on Chinese politics Willy Lam, courtesy of the Jamestown Foundation (translation by AsiaNews). Hong Kong (AsiaNews) - The proverb mandarins can set big fires, but common folks cant even light a candle is often used to describe the often-outlandish privileges enjoyed by the authorities. After the recent Sixth Plenum of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Central Committee conferred upon Xi Jinping the lofty title of leadership core, the President has again warned about careerists and conspirators setting up cliques in the Party. Yet two top cadres are doing exactly this. Xi himself and his princeling ally Wang Qishan, a Politburo Standing Committee (PBSC) member who heads the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI), have built their own factions to enhance their influence within the CCP. Xi has elevated dozens of his former underlings from Zhejiang and Fujian to senior slots in the Party and government (see China Brief, November 11). And Wang, who will likely secure a second five-year term at the PBSC at the 19th CCP Congress next year, has also rapidly expanded his bureaucratic empire. Two promotions announced immediately after the Sixth Plenum demonstrated the clout of the embryonic Wang Qishan faction, which consists partly of cadres who have worked in Party and government units handling the anti-corruption portfolio. Chen Wenqing (), a former Vice Party Secretary at the CCDI, made Minister of State Security in November, which is dubbed Chinas KGB by liberal intellectuals. Yet another of Wangs underling at the CCDI, Huang Shuxian (), was named Minister of Civil Affairs. Wang headed the Ministry of Supervisionwhich is a wing of the CCDI that deals with civil servantsfor four years before his transfer to civil affairs (Phoenix TV, November 8; Peoples Daily, November 7). A number of top graft-busters assigned by Wang to oversee corruption investigation in the provinces have been rewarded with senior regional postings. The best example is perhaps Huang Xiaowei (), a member of the CCDI Standing Committee who was in 2014 parachuted to Shanxi Province as a member of the provincial Party committee responsible for clean governance. Shanxi Province has long been deemed a disaster zone of graft. It was also a base of big tiger Ling Jihuaformer President Hu Jintaos right-hand-man who was given a life sentence earlier this year for corruption and abuse of power. Huang was promoted Deputy Party Chief of Shanxi last September after having successfully prosecuted close to 30 cadres (Chinenews.com, November 23; Caixin.com, November 23; Ta Kung Pao [Hong Kong], October 10, 2014). Other members of the fast-growing Wang Qishan faction are up-and-coming cadres who worked with the charismatic princeling when he served in the finance sector. Wang was Vice-Premier in charge of Finance from 2008 to 2013; a top manager of the China Construction Bank and the Peoples Bank of China from 19891997; and Vice-Governor of Guangdong in charge of finance from 19982000. Many of Wangs underlings have become movers and shakers in the world of banking. For example, Tian Huiyu, who was Wangs secretary when the latter headed the China Construction Bank, has been President of the China Merchants Bank since 2013 (Straits Times [Singapore], November 10; Xinhua, May 8, 2013). Wang has also played a role in placing several of his proteges in senior slots in regional administrations. A prime example of Wangs finance-sector associates who have succeeded is Party Secretary of Hubei Province Jiang Chaoliang (). A former senior executive of the Agricultural Bank of China and the Communications Bank, Jiangs close working relationship with Wang started in the mid-1990s (New Evening Post [Beijing], October 30; Apple Daily [Hong Kong], October 29). Yet another subset of the Wang Qishan faction consists of his cronies and subordinates while Wang was Beijing Mayor from 20032007. For example, Gansu Governor Lin Duo served as the Deputy Party Secretary and Party Secretary of the Xicheng District of Beijing when Wang was head of the Beijing municipal government. Before his promotion to Gansu earlier this year, Lin worked as a member of the Liaoning Provincial Party Committee in charge of party discipline. Wang was said to have recommended Lins promotion due to his having cracked several corruption cases in the northeastern province (DWnews.com [Beijing], April 21; United Daily News [Taipei], March 30). Given that fighting corruption is arguably President Xis most popular policy, it is perhaps not surprising that the leadership core allowed Wang to turn the anti-graft apparatus into a formidable bureaucratic fiefdom. The CCDIs staff establishment has more than tripled in the past four years. The CCDI has received special treatment in several ways. The Partys Central Organization Department, led by Politburo member Zhao Leji, is empowered to handle personnel matters for the entire Party-state apparatus. Similarly, the Partys Central Propaganda Department, led by Politburo member Liu Qibao, is supposed to look after publicity-related work for all Party and government units. Despite these rules, the CCDI was uniquely given permission by the PBSC to establish its own organization and propaganda units (CCDI website, December 27, 2014; Sohu.com, March 28, 2014). Furthermore, according to Chinese sources accessed by this author, the CCDI has received authorization from President Xi to set up a disciplinary police unit. While the CCDI has always had a limited number of investigators, it lacks a police force to do battle with big tigers at both the national and local levels. Before the establishment of its own police force, the top anti-corruption body had to rely on law-enforcement officers from the Ministry of Public Security and the Procuratorate to carry out large-scale graft-busting missions. [1] After the Sixth Plenum, whose theme is promoting discipline and moral behavior among Party cadres and civil servants, the CCDI won permission from the Party Central Committee to further boost its power. A Central Leading Group for Deepened Reform on the Supervision System, led by Wang, has been established with the task of setting up Supervision Committees in all state units. Xinhua cited a directive from the CCP General Office that said the aim of the new Supervision System was to build a national anti-graft organ under the leadership of the Party [whereby] authorities will mobilize more anti-corruption resources and build a system that ensures that officials dare not, will not and cannot be corrupt. Supervision Committees are expected to assume the powers and functions of the Supervision Ministry as well as those of Anti-Corruption Bureaus within the national procuratorate system. Already, pilot Supervision Committees have been established in the Beijing municipality and the provinces of Shanxi and Zhejiang. While the exact frame of reference of Supervision Committees has yet to be disclosed, there is little doubt that they will further augment the authority of the CCDIand Wang (Ta Kung Pao, November 27; China.org.cn, November 26; Xinhua, November 7). At a press conference held the day after the Sixth Plenum, Deng Maosheng, a senior official at the CCP General Office pointed out that there were no stringent regulations within the Party regarding the retirement ages for top-level cadres. Deng asserted that the convention qishang baxia (, cadres aged 68 can no longer be considered for the PBSC) was only hearsay (VOA Chinese, November 1; RTHK [Hong Kong], October 30). Owing to the fact that Wang will be 69 at the time of the 19th Party Congress, Dengs statement amounted to a handy excuse for Wang to serve one more five-year term at the PBSC. Moreover, since 2014, the Central Organization Department has reiterated that age or the GDP growth rates within their jurisdiction should not be given excessive weight when assessing the promotion of promising cadres (Nikkei Asian Review, November 11; Xinhua, September 2, 2014). There are many reasons why Xi should want Wang to serve in the PBSC at least until the 20th Party Congress in 2022. While the leadership core has been quite successful in putting together a Xi Jinping faction in the past four years, it cannot yet compare with the Shanghai faction (led by former president Jiang Zemin) or the Communist Youth League faction (headed by former president Hu Jintao) in terms of numbers, influence and geographical coverage. The pooling of the resources of the Xi and Wang Factions means that Xi will be better placed to elevate members of these two loyalist cliques to the Central Committee and Politburo that will be endorsed at the 19th Party Congress. Conclusion In the final analysis, the Wang Qishan phenomenon does not bode well for the advancement of rule of law with Chinese characteristics. The CCDI has become one the Partys most powerful fiefdoms. Its anti-graft activities, while applauded by average citizens, are conducted outside the countrys legal framework. Nor is the Commission subject to the scrutiny of either the National Peoples Congress or the Supreme Peoples Court (Hong Kong Economic Journal, October 10; Apple Daily [Hong Kong], June 30, 2014). The likelihood that Wang could defy well-established norms such as retirement ages is yet another frontal blow to the institutional reforms undertaken by late patriarch Deng Xiaoping in the early 1980s. Liberal cadres and intellectuals alike are concerned Xi will continue to rely on the anti-corruption weapon wielded by Wangs super-powerful CCDI to intimidate and take out opponents to the leadership cores relentless self-aggrandizement. But such a tactic undermines his push for rule of law. The anti-corruption campaign has bolstered Xis popularity and the strategic alliance between Xi and Wangs power groups appears stable. For now, both groups need each other. But Wangs growing power may eventually make him a threat. Note Authors interviews with two Beijing-based officials close to the Supervision Ministry and the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection; November 25 and 30. - See more at: https://jamestown.org/program/emergence-wang-qishan-faction/#sthash.FSwxs2n7.dpuf 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. As it prepares to enter administration later this month, King & Wood Mallesons in Europe has reportedly cancelled the salaries of 100 staff.Those affected are mainly support staff but a few lawyers are also missing out on their wages, The Lawyer reports. The firm had previously said that all wages would be paid despite the pending administration.Its reported that staff were informed of the decision as they returned to work after the holidays.Edmund Leow has joined Dentons Rodyk in Singapore as a senior partner to head up its tax practice.Leow is the former judicial commissioner of the city-states Supreme Court. Prior to that appointment he was with Baker & McKenzie in Singapore, Hong Kong and London over a quarter of a century and was key to building the tax practice of Baker & McKenzie Leow & Wong.Global firm Hogan Lovells has added 29 new partners across its offices along with 37 appointed to the role of counsel.Most of the partner promotions are in the US and Latin America with nine in Europe and one in Shanghai, tax specialist Roberta Chang. The new counsel include Louise Leung (Banking) in Hong Kong.The chief executive of the Law Society in England & Wales has resigned citing the bodys slow progress on internal governance reform.Catherine Dixon joined the society in 2015 and was keen to see a more agile approach to its governance but a process of reform which began at the start of 2016 has made little progress.Law Society president Robert Bourns said that he was grateful to Dixon for her tireless and effective work for the society and vowed to use the remainder of his presidency to continue with reform in order to take the organisation and the profession forward. Australia's immigration minister has indicated he is open to tightening the country's citizenship test to make sure applicants have the ability to integrate into society.Peter Dutton believes that it should be more than just answering basic questions about Australia's political structure, parliament, election and perfunctory duties of a citizen. He told the media that he would welcome a debate on having a more specific test that looks at whether applicants have integrated with the Australian way of life and the social values as well as their willingness to learn English.'My view is people who don't embrace these tangible values shouldn't expect automatic citizenship. We need to see whether people are abiding by Australian laws, whether they are educating their children, if they are able bodied and of working age, whether or not they are engaged in work or whether they have had a long period of time on welfare,' he said.'At the moment, the test is dictated essentially by questions around Australian trivia, if you like and my view is that we could look at a test that would more embrace Australian values,' he added.The citizenship test currently asks 20 questions, randomly drawn from a larger pool, covering matters of Australian history, system of government and the rights and responsibilities of citizens. The applicant must get 75% correct.However, the Migration Council of Australia said it is not convinced that the test needs to be more robust and pointed out that it already has key safeguards to weed out undesirables, such as those with a criminal conviction.The council's chief executive Carla Wilshire pointed out that the current migration and citizenship system has a character test and two thirds of permanent migrants are skilled people who already meet language requirements and also have significant education and qualifications.'In this debate it is important to remember that migrants have higher labour market participation rates and access less welfare payments than Australian born citizens,' she added.According to Joe Caputo, chairperson of the Federation of Ethnic Communities' Councils of Australia, new immigrants value citizenship dearly as a symbol of belonging and acceptance.'FECCA would need to see the details of any proposed changes. However, we would be concerned about any changes to the citizenship test that would unfairly target some of Australia's most vulnerable arrivals,' Caputo explained.However, he added that FECCA believes that, as part of the process of attaining Australian citizenship, a greater emphasis should be placed on civics and citizenship education.However, Dutton's point of view has support among some members of parliament. Most notably Liberal Democratic crossbench senator David Leyonhjelm said he would welcome tougher restrictions on citizenship and said permanent residents should wait a decade before being deemed eligible to sit the test. A man pleaded not guilty Tuesday in Yellowstone County District Court to a charge of sexual intercourse without consent. William L Kerner, 35, appeared by video before Yellowstone County District Court Judge Michael Moses. He entered a not guilty plea. Kerner was sentenced in 2013 to five years with the Department of Corrections for a sexual assault from 2006. He was also charged with violating the conditions of his probation due to his new charge. Kerner is being held without bond in the Yellowstone County Detention Facility. The girl who reported the rape by Kerner was underage, prosecutor Brett Linneweber said during Kerner's arraignment. Hello I am a newbie to the site from the UK! Got lots of questions I need answering and looking forward to meeting you all! Hi guys, I'm excited to meet you all here. My name's Patrick irl, I'm a Filipino and was an AUS PR way back 2010. I was 13 years old when I was in Australia, lived with my cousins while my family stayed overseas. Unfortunately, the visa got expired 2012 and the required number of stays were not met (I stayed and studied in NSW for 6 months). Australia for me, back then, was like a chance to give myself a bright future. All sorts of plan were already in my head, unfortunately family business overseas made it a hard decision for my parents. Anyway, Australia never left my mind even for a single day since 2010. It's like filled an empty space in my heart. What I love the most about Australia is its very kind citizens. Secondly, Australia somehow renewed my religious beliefs and taken it to a whole new level. Lastly, Australia really felt like home to me. Anyway, I'm not going to bore you guys out with this, I'm just excited to meet you all TL;DR: Australia is home to me. Dear All, I need info/help regarding below query. I have submitted EOI and got invitation for sub class 189. In my EOI I have mentioned current employment designation i.e "Manager Optimization" for entire employment period (8 years). But during that period I've had various promotions starting from "Officer" till I became "manager". But in Visa application I have provide details breakup wise starting from "officer , sr. officer till Manager" with tenures for that eight years with same employee. Do I need to provide same details breakup wise in EOI or it not will impact visa application. SUV We are of course talking about its Volvo subsidiary, which has been on a roll ever since it launched the second generation of the XC90 and the new S90 V90 twins. The Swedish carmaker is on a reinvention path these days, which will continue with the upcoming launch of its compact models, based on the CMA (Compact Modular Architecture) platform.That isn't exactly news for Volvo fans, but the fact that the CMA platform will also be used by an all-new car brand probably is.A couple of months ago, Geely unveiled plans for a new global car brand , called Lynk & Co, for some odd reason. Most if not all models made by the new company will apparently be based on Volvo's CMA platform, and the first product will be a compactPreviewed by a concept car unimaginatively called 01, the new crossover will allegedly be the most connected car in the world.Our spy photographers recently caught the very first prototype of the Lynk & Co 01 in production guise while testing on public roads, and it looks like the Chinese mean business.It's pretty hard to judge how things are going underneath all that heavy camouflage, but it looks like the production model will be quasi-identical to the concept previewed by the new company back in October of last year.Since the concept car was powered by a plug-in hybrid arrangement that used an electric motor paired with a 1.5-liter four-cylinder, we can expect the same from the production model. Volvo fans should be pleased to find out that a similar drivetrain will be employed by the upcoming S40/V40 and XC40 models.According to Lynk & Co, the company's car lineup will benefit from multimedia and telematics systems that are permanently connected to the carmaker's own cloud, which sound both cool and a bit spooky at the same time.The 01, or whatever the production version will be called, is expected to be joined by two brothers in the next couple of years, so it's probably safe to assume that Lynk & Co will simply mirror Volvo's future compact lineup.The new brand will start its rollout in China first, followed by the U.S. and finally Europe. The crossover we spied should be officially unveiled by the end of 2017. kWh EV We need to rewire our brains a little and realize that 2018 is only just one year away, so meeting the deadlines is going to be one hell of a ride for Faraday Future. The company officials appear very optimistic, though (as they should, otherwise what would be the point of working there?), which gives us hope that they know something we don't.On paper, the FF 91 sounds quite promising: it comes with a 130battery pack that gives it a maximum range of 378 miles, plus an yet unspecified electric motor setup summing up 1,050 hp. That makes the Faraday Futureextremely fast, even though the official number - which is just 0.01 seconds quicker than the Tesla Model S P100D - seems a little fabricated.The FF 91 has a lot going on for it, and you can read more about its features in our dedicated article . Is it enough to convince people to place reservations for it? Hard to say, but Faraday Future wanted to make sure that if anyone so desired, they would have a way of doing it.The biggest issue right now, apart from the fact that the factory supposed to build the cars is just a patch of land in the Nevada desert right now, is that nobody knows how much it will cost. After the presentation, fully-packed, we'd be surprised if it were too far off the $200,000 mark.And it's not like the FF 91 wouldn't be worth it. You see, with Tesla moving into the mass market territory, its products are slowly starting to lose that niche aura, so others are taking their place. Cars like the Lucid Motors Air sedan or the Faraday Future FF 91 crossover.FF had launched its reservations program even before the car was unveiled. The company asks for a $5,000 refundable deposit for "priority access," while the "standard reservations" come free of charge. In case you're wondering what "priority access" means, it will supposedly give the chance to opt for the "Alliance Edition," a limited run of 300 vehicles finished a special exterior color called "Silicon Valley Aluminum," some badges, and a unique digital interface.More details on the "Alliance Editions" are expected to emerge in March when Faraday Future plans to reveal more about its product. Naturally, even if you don't get one of the 300 Alliance Edition cars, the $5,000 deposit also grants a spot in front of those holding standard reservations. Up until now, the two have limited themselves to things such as Apple CarPlay or Android Auto - mere ways of turning the vehicle's display into an extension of the smartphone, with all the computing done inside the handheld device.At this year's CES show, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and Google are introducing a Uconnect system concept powered by Android, Google's open-source smartphone operating system. It may not be the first time the Android gets converted into a car infotainment OS, but this time it's done under Google's own personal supervision.Just like it does now with smartphone developers, Google would like to sell its OS to carmakers in the future. On the other hand, car brands would have to invest incredible sums of money and effort to catch up with Google, so working together would make sense for both parties.This collaboration with Google has been an extremely beneficial opportunity for both companies to explore how in-vehicle infotainment and connectivity technology continues to evolve, and what it takes to meet consumers increasing desire for innovation of information with minimal distraction, says Chris Barman, Head of Electrical Engineering, FCA. With Android, we are able to maintain our unique and intuitive Uconnect user interface, all while integrating our easy-to-use systems with Androids features and ecosystem of applications.Google is committed to building Android as a turn-key automotive platform that integrates deeply with the vehicle in a safe and seamless way, said Patrick Brady, Director of Android Engineering, Google. This collaboration with FCA brings together the industry standard for connected car systems with Android to create powerful infotainment systems designed for the digital age.The pioneering software runs on an 8.4-inch Uconnect system inside a Chrysler 300 sedan and can be seen between January 5 and 8 at the CES, in Las Vegas. One of the most known custom motorcycle makers, Klock Werks, is celebrating an important milestone this year - being in business for 20 years. The company also released a special edition calendar for fans to buy.The limited edition anniversary calendar portrays the motorcycles that have afforded Klock Werks to survive for 20 years and also get known in the bike world. You too can have one directly from the companys web store here We are honored to pay tribute to those who have gone before us and those who have helped us get where we are today, Dan Cheeseman, COO, said. These past 20 years have been a journey with thousands of miles driven, hundreds of bikes built, millions of smiles, and motorcycle camaraderie that has forever changed and enhanced our lives.The story of Klock Werks starts in a rural South Dakota town where Brian Klocks parents owned a gas station. His love for motorized vehicles started early as he was spray painting cars with his brothers at home. Before that, he was charging kids in the neighborhood cash to ride his Honda 50, hence his entrepreneurial spirit.Brians passion led to an FXR project in 1988 and his first award-wining kustom in 1990. Seeing his talent, John Quigley Patton helped him start Klock Werks in a garage, where they finished a turbocharged bagger for Roger Klock, his dad.In 1997, Brian got his first magazine spread, and Klock Werks was moved into a single-car garage and Mitchell, SD, Dan Cheeseman became COO, together starting to work on whatever came through their door.Step by step, the business grew larger, and in 2004, they moved into the current location - a 7,000 square feet facility which allowed for new machinery, more space for R&D as well as storage.Soon, they started to manufacture high-quality accessories for motorcycles and in 2006, Discovery Channel invited them to take part in the Biker Build Off show, further boosting their image and revenue to create more quality custom bike parts.Today, the company has 16 full-time employees and sells parts all around the world. Their patented Flare Windshield is the most sought after accessory along with the adjustable KlipHanger handlebars , e-coated stamped steel fenders, and Klock Werks Device Mounts. These guys have some serious work on their hands, as the Corsa F will be the first all-new model in quite a while, since the current Corsa E is still based on the underpinnings of the Corsa D, a car that came to life one decade ago.No rush: this must be the motto used by the development team, as demonstrated by the fact that the camouflage on the test cars is untouched since last fall, when we first spied the supermini.This makes plenty of sense, since, as Opel announced back in December 2016, the all-new Corsa won't land until 2019. It's worth noting the subcompact will no longer come to the world via two production sites, as it's set to leave the Eisenach factory in Germany behind and be produced exclusively in Zaragoza, Spain.The silhouette of the car doesn't tell us too much and yet we expect the new platform to bring a slight boost in terms of cabin space.Underneath the cladding and the psychedelic wrap, we can see the production headlights of the new Corsa, with their LED daytime running lights.Under the hood, we'll find a family of downsized engines, with Opel set to introduce fresh three- and four-cylinder turbocharged units, which will bring an increase in efficiency, as well as feel pokier than the current units of the supermini.Last year, Opel Corsa sales fell behind those of the VW Polo, the Ford Fiesta and the Renault Clio. We are now looking at how the Russelsheim automaker is working to change that and the Corsa F is just one of the debuts Opel has scheduled for 2019, with the year also set to bring us successors for the Mokka X (US customers know this as the Buick Encore) and the Adam. A bill that would allow people to take disagreements over water permit decisions made by the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation to the states Water Court instead of to district courts saw robust debate during its first hearing in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday. Sen. Chas Vincent, R-Libby, who is carrying Senate Bill 28 at the request of the Water Policy Interim Committee, said the bill would put four to five cases a year in front of the Water Court, which he says has a better understanding of water issues than most district court judges. DNRC issues new water rights permits and changes to existing permits. The Water Court was created in 1979 to adjudicate 219,000 water rights claims made prior to 1973 and is expected to finish that work sometime around 2028. After adjudication is complete, the court is expected to have little left to do. However, a report prepared by the Legislative Environmental Policy Office in 2015 said the court could play a role with the DNRC and district courts adjudicating disputes over issuing new water rights permits or changing existing ones. Vincent said a survey of district court judges done by the state Supreme Courts administrative arm shows many judges dont have experience in water law and dont want to retain control over water rights disputes. Seven people spoke in favor of the bill. Abigail St. Lawrence, an attorney at Bloomquist Law Firm in Helena and a representative of the Montana Association of Realtors who has worked with water rights cases for more than a decade, said the bill would let people have their disputes heard by experts. The Water Court has a particular expertise that oftentimes district courts do not have, she said. Chelcie Cargill, director of state affairs for the Montana Farm Bureau Federation, said some district court judges have large workloads that leave farmers and ranchers waiting for their claims to be sorted out. A few spoke in opposition to the bill, including the director of the DNRC, who raised concerns that it extends the life of the Water Court without taking time to study what the role of the court should be. Krista Lee Evans, with the Association of Gallatin Agricultural Irrigators, said she was concerned that Water Court judges are not elected. The chief justice of the state Supreme Court appoints a chief water judge and associate water judge. Thats a significant amount of power to have in an entity the water users do not have a vote for, she said. She also raised concerns with how the bill was written. She said the language could allow for people who disagree with a permit issued by DNRC to pick the court where the dispute would be heard, creating several cases in different courts. She also asked how the additional caseload for the Water Court would be paid for. John Tubbs, DNRC director, said disputes over permits arent water issues but procedural issues. Courts must simply determine if DNRC acted properly in issuing or denying a permit application or change. Tubbs said the Water Court needs to focus on finishing its adjudication work and then state government can discuss the future of the court. This bill, he said, would make the Water Court permanent without consideration to what its future should be. Maybe that is a permanent water court, maybe its an additional district court, he said. These are big issues. It is time for this body, the executive and the judicial (branches) to give serious consideration to what a post-decree water rights world looks like. Vincent said the push to bring the bill now would help retain the expertise already gathered in the Water Court. If we want to retain that experience on the Water Court we have to give them a reason to stick around, he said. The committee took no action but said it would look at the concerns that were raised. The committee meets daily at 9 a.m. Ford has canceled plans for a $1.6 billion plant to be built in Mexico and is now investing $700 million in production at its Flat Rock Assembly Plant in Michigan. The plans to build a plant in San Luis Potosi, Mexico, were scrapped in place of Ford adding 700 direct new U.S. jobs, along with the $700 million, during the next four years. These tie to pro-growth policies that are championed by President-elect Donald Trump, according to Fox News. After Ford made the announcement, Trump tweeted a link to a story about the automaker's decision. The money will go into creating a new Manufacturing Innovation Center at its Flat Rock Assembly Plant where employees will build a fully electric SUV as well as a fully autonomous vehicle for ride-hailing or ride-sharing, according to the automaker. This factory is also where the Mustang and Lincoln Continental are manufactured. Ford CEO Mark Fields said confidence and the desire to make the most of the existing plant prompted the expansion of the assembly plant, according to the New York Times. Ford also announced the next-generation Focus will be built at an existing plant in Hermosillo, Mexico, which will make way for two new products at Michigan Assembly Plant in Wayne, Mich., where the Focus is manufactured, according to the automaker. Photo of Honda Ridgeline courtesy of Honda. American Honda Motor Co. is recalling 9,179 2017-model year Ridgeline AWD pickup trucks so dealers can address a potential electrical issue, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The trucks involved were manufactured from April 1, 2016, to Aug. 11, 2016. Water may enter the rear wiring harness through the connector located under the truck bed drain hole, possibly causing the connection terminals to corrode, NHTSA said. Corrosion of the wiring harness can cause greater electrical resistance. This condition might unexpectedly activate the vehicle stability assist (VSA) system, increasing the risk of a crash. Honda dealers will inspect the rear wiring harness and related components, replacing them as necessary. There will be no charge for this service. The recall is expected to begin Jan. 24. Vehicle owners can reach Honda customer service at (888) 234-2138. Hondas number for this recall is KD3. AEZ Rent A Car's new and expanded rental facililty at Salt Lake City International Airport. Photo courtesy of Advantage. Advantage Rent A Car, operator of the Advantage and EZ Rent-A-Car brands (AEZ), has opened a new and expanded rental car facility at Salt Lake City International Airport. Expanding SLC is a logical, strategic choice for AEZ, said Scott Davido, president of AEZ. Utah is the home of Life Elevated, boasting five national parks, seven national monuments and The Greatest Snow on Earth, making it one of the top all-season recreational, sporting, and commercial regions in the United States. Expanding our SLC station will accelerate AEZs current growth trend and strengthen our national footprint. AEZ now serves 23 of the 25 largest airports in the U.S., according to the company. With more than 330 flights depart daily to more than 90 non-stop destinations, including London-Heathrow, Amsterdam and Paris, SLC also is a superb gateway city for our partner rental company, Europcar, said Davido. A user looks to reserve a vehicle through Uber's ride-hailing platform. Photo courtesy of Uber. New Jersey is reconsidering how it regulates ride-hailing companies when it comes to drivers, insurance, or other consumer protections, according to a report by The Philadelphia Inquirer. New Jersey would become the 37th state to pass a law regulating ride-hailing, says the report. Over the holidays, the New Jersey legislature voted in favor of a bill that would specify the level of insurance that ride-hailing companies must maintain. The proposed bill also has an enforced background check for all drivers, according to the report. Additionally, under the proposed law, ride-hailing companies would be prohibited from discriminating against riders based on their destination, race, age, sexual orientation, or gender identity. In the negotiations, it was argued that ride-hailing companies should be held to the same standards for background checks as the limousine industry, which enforces fingerprint tests as a part of the background check process. However, over the summer, Uber had former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder write a letter to New Jersey lawmakers warning that fingerprint-based checks were flawed and could discriminate against minorities. Uber spent $160,000 on lobbying in the past year, according to the report. Currently, the ride-hailing companies can submit their own background-check methods to New Jerseys attorney general for review. If the attorney general deemed the process insufficient, applicants would not be able to drive for ride-hailing companies like Uber until they passed a check conducted by state police. Click here for the full Philadelphia Inquirer report. Zipcar has launched its carsharing service in Breckenridge, Colo. Photo courtesy of Zipcar Zipcar has partnered with the city of Breckenridge, Colo., to bring its carsharing service to area residents, businesses, and visitors. Seven Zipcars including a Ford Explorer named Eddy, a Ford Escape named Titanium Trail, a Ford Focus named Huckleberry, a Subaru Crosstrek named Carlton, a Subaru Impreza named Ullr, a Honda CRV named Darlene, and a Jeep Renegade named Woodchuck are available for reservation by the hour or by the day with gas and insurance included. The vehicles are parked in designated spots throughout Breckenridge for convenient pick-up and drop-off and can be reserved through Zipcars mobile app, online, or over the phone, according to Zipcar. I'm excited that Breckenridge has partnered with Zipcar to offer shared vehicles for our residents and visitors to our community, said Breckenridge Mayor Eric Mamula. Were proud of our commitment to programs and initiatives that are environmentally conscious and also make life easier for Breckenridge residents and visitors alike. The official launch in Breckenridge builds on Zipcars carsharing program in Denver, where more than 100 Zipcars are available in nearly 40 locations in the greater Denver area. We couldnt be more excited to bring Zipcar to Breckenridge as part of the towns growing transportation network, said Nicole Dalmy, Zipcars general manager. Our on-demand carsharing service offers instant access to a vehicle for Breckenridges residents and visitors. By using shuttles and buses to get to Breckenridge and Zipcar once they get here visitors can help reduce traffic and congestion in Breckenridge. South Korea handed out fines to one Japanese and two German automakers as it announced bans on a series of 10 import models because of false documentation, as part of a probe into vehicle emissions standards. Total fines are 7.17 Billion Won ($5.9 Million). According to the South Korean Ministry of Environment, it cancelled the certification for some car models from BMW, Nissan and Porsche. The vehicles were illegally certified for sale based on fabricated documents. Last Monday, the ministry said that it filed a criminal complaint against Nissan's Korean unit on Jan. 2 for falsifying emission test results. This follows a fine on the Japanese automaker last May, wherein its Qashqai diesel sport utility vehicle was found to have exceeded the allowed nitrogen oxides emission. South Korea accused Nissan of installing an illegal device that is used to automatically switch off the exhaust-reduction system under regular driving temperatures. South Korean government officials said that the system turns off when the engine's temperature reaches 95 degrees Fahrenheit, much lower than the other models the government investigated. Although Nissan paid the fine, still the automaker denied the accusation and sued the government. Nissan argued that it is well within the law because the device in the vehicles is used just to prevent the engines from overheating. Nissan faces further investigation, while the violations attributed to BMW and Porsche are considered minor. BMW allegedly used test result data from the X6M for documents related to the X5M. BMW says both models used the same motor. South Korea says 10 models will need to be sent back through the emissions certification process before they can be sold in the country. The following models will shortly be discontinued, Infiniti Q50, Nissan Qashqai, BMW X5M, Porsche Macan S Diesel, Porsche 918 Spider, Porsche Cayman GTS, Porsche 911 GT3, Porsche Panamera, S-Hybrid Porsche, Cayenne SE-Hybrid, and Porsche Cayenne Turbo. The ministry started investigating different automakers after a mess caused by Volkswagen for hiding illegal software in its models for several years. South Korea stood up against VW by indicting an executive of the automaker and banning the sales of 80 Audi, Bentley and VW models. The sales of almost all VW models in South Korea were halted in August. Sales of imported cars in South Korea fell 7 percent during the first 11 months of 2016. The Billings Police Department has taken down its Help Wanted sign. With last month's hiring of six new officers, the force will, once training is complete in the spring, be fielding a full complement of 148 officers. The new hires, Chief Rich St. John said Thursday, will allow the department to double from two to four the number of officers dedicated to traffic enforcement. Theyll also make it possible for Sgt. Jason Gartner to add a new job title: special events supervisor. Gartners job change fills a slot St. John has long left open, that of a deputy chief position. St. John's preference has been to add needed patrol officers rather than an administrator. Among other currently held duties, Gartner will coordinate police coverage of special events, including parades and conventions, as well as the citys downtown resource officers and other specialized units, St. John said. Doubling traffic enforcement will augment our ability to get to problem areas with a group totally dedicated to traffic, St. John said. I get complaints from a lot of people, including city council members, and I send those officers to those spots, and they deal with that area for a week or so. It deters bad behavior, but when they leave, (traffic violations) tend to creep back up. The extra bodies will help that. Of the six officers hired most recently, three are already Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) certified, which means they wont require training at the Montana Law Enforcement Academy. The three who require academy training will join seven others currently being trained. All 10 new officers will complete their academy training in March or April, St. John said. This is the first time in two or three years that the department's been at capacity, St. John said. "It wasn't (for) long," he said, "and we have been trying to play catch-up since." Reaching the authorized capacity means we can do more proactive policing, since were not running from call to call, St. John said. It will also mean that most shifts will have 11-13 officers on at a time. Thus, each of Billings nine beats will be covered by at least one officer; busy beats, such as Beat 7, the southern portion of the citys West End, will be covered during most shifts by two officers, St. John said. We will have some rovers to cover the problem areas, he said. According to the chief, full staffing equates to less need for overtime because its easier to cover for officers who are sick or taking time off. The background investigations required of each of the new officers is extremely labor intensive, St. John said, crediting Lt. Neil Lawrence and other police investigators for knuckling down and getting it done. When the departments annual report is published in about February, itll be pretty revealing, I think, St. John said. While police answered more than 87,000 calls for service in 2015, that number will be well over 90,000 for 2016, St. John predicted. When youre running shorthanded by 10 to 12 percent in your patrol division, thats a lot of calls, he said. I never cease to be amazed that despite how busy we are, they answer the bell and they do absolute quality work. 4 January 2017 14:07 (UTC+04:00) Peace remains elusive in Karabakh as the conflict is still active, in blood and fire. 2016 will be remembered as the year when a bomb that had been ticking for several years exploded. After years of unfruitful talks and accompanying provocations, Karabakh has been one of the most dangerous places on the earth this year. The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict has brimmed and simmered for over two decades, and erupted in April 2016 bringing Armenia and Azerbaijan face to face once again after years of silence. When intense fighting broke out on April 2-5 in Nagorno-Karabakh, an Azerbaijani land occupied by Armenia back in 1990s, everyone expected the things to change with this worst outbreak of violence since a 1994 ceasefire. This was a powerful reminder of the fragile and changing security environment in the region. In fact, the April events dubbed as the Four-Day War exposed much truth; the danger of status quo in Nagorno-Karabakh, non-readiness of Yerevan to peace, inactivity of the international community in the conflict resolution process, and the most visibly the military power of Azerbaijan, which still backs negotiations rather than guns. The Four-Day War saw heavy casualties by Armenian side and liberation of some Armenia-held territory for the first time since the 1994 ceasefire. Staging provocation of different types and scales on the frontline for years, Armenia was shocked of the military power of Azerbaijan and was forced to ask for a ceasefire. Baku, which has suffered from Yerevan's aggressive policy for more than two decades, has voiced commitment to the peaceful negotiated solution to the conflict, while Yerevan was committed to its policy of keeping the situation of no war and no peace. An intensive phase of negotiations on the settlement of the conflict in the Nagorno-Karabakh region began in the summer months. The subsequent meetings between Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan first in Vienna in May, and the second time in St. Petersburg in June along with Russian President Vladimir Putin generated hopes for tangible progress in the peace process, deadlocked since the failure of the 2011 Kazan talks. The presidents agreed to de-escalate the situation along the line of contact, increase the number of OSCE observers working in the conflict zone, and re-launch the resolution process based on the Madrid Principles. However, the lack of progress since then and the increased ceasefire violations revealed that discussions of a real breakthrough are premature. Yerevan effectively utilized the internal crises to block peace negotiations and held a number of military drills in the occupied regions of Azerbaijan. In December, the 23rd OSCE Ministerial Council in Hamburg has failed to reach a clear progress on the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict resolution. Armenia, as a party to the conflict, refused to sit at a negotiation table with Azerbaijan in an extended format. However, this mediation effort backed by Baku was broken by Yerevan for the next time, clearly demonstrating lack of the will or interest of the Armenian side to tackle the problem. Later, the Sargsyan regime launched a campaign against those seeking a civil dialogue with Azerbaijan, although many assessed the establishment of the Armenian-Azerbaijani peace platform by the civil society of the two countries as an encouraging sign for the peace process. The intensification of ceasefire breaches and timing of the latest military provocation of Armenia against Azerbaijan wasn't chosen accidentally. While Azerbaijan was trying to create base for continuing peace talks in 2017, Yerevan once again resorted to armed provocation. Attempts by Armenia to bring the armed conflict directly to the Armenia-Azerbaijan border and expand the scope of the conflict serve for the escalation of the political situation in the region and pose serious threats to the regional stability and security. So, although the formulas for a solution to the conflict have seemed clear and acceptable, the conflict still remains unresolved. And because time does not necessarily bring us closer to a solution, but peace approaches in the past and future maybe missed- there is reason to wonder what threats this conflict can bring to the world. -- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 4 January 2017 13:16 (UTC+04:00) By Rashid Shirinov Despite calls by rational forces in Armenia's political-social and Diaspora circles for the soonest peaceful resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Armenias military- political leadership by all means tries to prevent progress in the negotiation process. Spokesperson for the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry, Hikmat Hajiyev made the remark while commenting on the statements of Armenias political-social and Diaspora circles, Armenian leadership and foreign minister regarding the settlement of the conflict, APA reports. Hajiyev said that the aim of the Armenian leadership is not a peaceful resolution of the conflict, but the imitation of Armenia's participation in the negotiations. The Armenian leadership is pursuing policy that serves to maintain the current status-quo which is based on occupation and aggression against Azerbaijan, he said. Yerevan ignores the demands of the international community, particularly the OSCE Minsk Group, on withdrawal of the Armenian troops from the occupied Azerbaijani territories, and instead resorts to new and new provocations to evade fundamental issues that underpin the solution to the conflict. Azerbaijan and Armenia for over two decades have been locked in conflict, which emerged over Armenian territorial claims. Since the 1990s war, Armenian armed forces have occupied over 20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions. The UN Security Council has adopted four resolutions on Armenian withdrawal, but they have not been enforced to this day. The spokesperson further stressed that the latest military provocation staged by Armenia on the Azerbaijani-Armenian border is the next dangerous adventure of Yerevan. Armenias efforts to hide behind the Collective Security Treaty Organization and involve it in the conflict pose a serious threat to the regional peace and security, as well as to the talks mediated by the OSCE Minsk group co-chairs. Hajiyev noted that Armenias agitation of misinformation after the incident, its contradicting statements, as well as former Secretary General of CSTO Nikolai Bordyuzhas hasty and irresponsible statement once again reveal that this dangerous adventure was realized on the basis of a pre-planned scenario. The scenario resembles the incidents occurred on frontline in April 2016, and Sumgayit events committed in 1988, he said. The spokesperson is sure that Armenia was going to commit a more large-scale military provocation on the border, but the vigilance of Azerbaijani soldiers thwarted their offensive plans. Yerevan, which refutes to return the body of Azerbaijani soldier Chingiz Gurbanov, who was killed while preventing this provocation, aims to use this as misinformation. Therefore, in spite of appeals made through the international organizations, Armenia is still rejecting to give Gurbanovs body back roughly violating requirements of Geneva Convention, the spokesman said. Instead of such adventures, Yerevan should take constructive steps towards peaceful settlement of the conflict by obeying calls of sober-minded people in Armenian society and requirements of international community, Hajiyev said. The sooner Armenias military-political leadership perceives this reality and withdraws troops from Azerbaijans territories, the sooner peace and stability will be ensured in the region and Armenian people will benefit from new regional cooperation opportunities." A reconnaissance group of the Armenian Armed Forces tried to violate the Azerbaijan-Armenia state border on December 29 morning. The Armenian group found itself in the ambush of the Azerbaijani army while violating the borders. The enemy was forced to retreat, suffering losses, according to the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry's message. --- Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 4 January 2017 14:31 (UTC+04:00) By Rashid Shirinov A new wave of cruel pogrom on civic activists is expected in Armenia, as the Sargsyan regime is committed to its policy of silencing everyone, who opposes the regime. Recently Armenian civic activist, who is being chased by the government, has appealed to Azerbaijan in hope to restore her rights violated by the Armenian authorities. My family and I want to return to Azerbaijan and to escape from the bandit government of Armenia, Tamella Arzumanyan wrote in her appeal, which was published on her page on Facebook. Arzumanyan wrote that she and the members of her family, particularly husband and daughter, became the victims of a total persecution by the Armenian authorities, as she supported the initiative of creating the Armenia-Azerbaijan Peace Platform in Baku. Arzumanyan published her appeal on December 27, 2016. Soon after this publication, she and her husband were summoned to the National Security Service of Armenia (NSS) and subjected to moral and physical pressure. The NSS bodies demanded from the desperate women to remove her appeal from the Facebook page. This approach is peculiar for the Armenian authorities instead of helping its citizen, who faced injustice, to force the person to abandon her public complaints and appeals. Recently, Armenian human rights activists, who attended the Armenian-Azerbaijani peacekeeping platform in Baku in November 2016, also became victims of such approach and even threatened with death in Armenia. All this shows the hostility of the Armenian government and its unwillingness to make peace with Azerbaijan. The Sargsyan regime does not wonder why its citizens, as well as the representatives of the Armenian community of Nagorno-Karabakh, look for help not from their government but from Azerbaijan. --- Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 4 January 2017 09:35 (UTC+04:00) By Trend Azerbaijans President Ilham Aliyev has congratulated Htin Kyaw, president of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar, on the occasion of Independence Day. On behalf of the people of Azerbaijan and on my own behalf, I extend my most sincere congratulations to you and the people of your country on the occasion of the national holiday of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar Independence Day, said President Aliyev in his congratulatory letter. I wish you robust health, success in your activities and the friendly people of Myanmar peace and prosperity, added the president. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 4 January 2017 12:46 (UTC+04:00) By Amina Nazarli Turkey is working on creation of a new tripartite format Azerbaijan-Turkey-Kazakhstan, TRT Haber news channel reported citing Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu. Cavusoglu stressed that trilateral formats created by Turkey in the Caucasus and Balkan regions, work very efficiently. Turkey-Azerbaijan-Turkmenistan trilateral meeting will be held in the coming months, he added. The minister first spoke about the creation of Azerbaijan-Turkey-Kazakhstan format in Baku in July 2016. Azerbaijan, Turkey and Kazakhstan - the three Turkic countries have formed good bilateral relationships over the recent years, equally benefiting in numerous ways. These relationships are expected to gain further depth and width in the near future after establishment of the tripartite format. The three countries are also the members of parliamentary union of Turkic-speaking countries TURKPA established in 2008 aiming at expansion political, economical and cultural relations among Turkic-speaking countries. Today, several trilateral formats, such as the Azerbaijan-Georgia-Turkey, Azerbaijan-Turkey-Iran and Turkey-Azerbaijan-Turkmenistan exist in the region. Trilateral formats provide strong support for regional development by raising political and economic ties between three countries to a new level, according to experts. The work is also underway on creation of Azerbaijan-Turkey-Russia format. The idea of creating the tripartite format of Turkey-Azerbaijan- Russia was initiated by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the framework of his St. Petersburg meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin last August. It is noteworthy that Azerbaijan and Turkey are key states in all those interstate formats. AzerbaijanTurkey relations have always been strong with the two often being described as "one nation with two states". For 25 years, Turkey and Azerbaijan jointly implemented such large-scale projects as the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum gas pipeline and the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline. Such gigantic projects as the construction of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway and the Trans-Anatolian gas pipeline (TANAP) are other major projects being realized by the two. -- Amina Nazarli is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 4 January 2017 10:35 (UTC+04:00) The Turkish Parliament on January 3 voted to support the government bill to extend the state of emergency prompted by the failed coup attempt for another three months, Daily Sabah reported. The state of emergency has been extended for the third time, effective from January 19. Earlier Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said Turkish authorities could lift the state of emergency introduced in the country after the thwarted military coup attempt in January 2017. The July 15 coup attempt occurred when rogue elements in the Turkish military tried to overthrow the country's democratically elected government. Turkey's government announced that the deadly plot, which martyred at least 246 people and injured more than 2,000 others, was organized by followers of U.S.-based preacher Fetullah Gulen. Gulen is accused of leading a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police and judiciary, forming what is commonly known as the parallel state. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 4 January 2017 13:27 (UTC+04:00) By Trend Astana will host talks for resolution of the Syrian crisis on January 23, Turkeys Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said, Anadolu Agency reported. Cavusoglu has earlier said that experts from Russia will visit Turkey on January 9-10 to discuss the preparations for talks on Syria. Meanwhile, the FM noted that if Syrian President Bashar al-Assads supporters do not stop violating the armistice agreement in Syria, the talks in Astana may not be held. He said that Hezbollah militants, religious groups and government forces of Syria are behind these violations. Earlier, Russias President Vladimir Putin had said that he agreed with the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to offer the conflicting parties in Syria to continue peace talks in Astana. During phone talks with Putin and Erdogan, Kazakhstans President Nursultan Nazarbayev supported this initiative and expressed readiness to provide a platform for such negotiations in Astana. -- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 4 January 2017 15:47 (UTC+04:00) By Trend National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC) has said it will sue Turkmenistan regarding the gas deal between the two countries. Turkmenistan has halted supplying gas to Iran since January 1. The company further reported that the Turkmen Foreign Ministrys intervention in a legal case between the Iranian and Turkmen sides over the gas deal is a violation of agreements the two countries made 20 years ago when they signed the deal, NIGC public relations reported on January 4. Turkmenistan's foreign ministry recently said that its ability to maintain its gas transportation infrastructure has been compromised by Iran's failure to continue paying off old debts since 2013. Over the past several years, the NIGC has paid for the incoming gas from Turkmenistan and has paid off a part of past debt, which has amounted to $4.5 billion, the company said. It added that the debts come from the years when Iran could not pay in cash due to imposed sanctions. Iran, nevertheless, tried to compensate by guaranteeing hundreds of millions of dollars in goods and services to Turkmenistan, the statement further said. Turkmenistan says it tried to resolve the debt issue with Iran the past year, but has not received any response. On December 31 Iranian sources said after much negotiations, the two sides had reached a deal to continue the 20-year deal for another five years. However, the following day Turkmenistan halted the gas flow, which keeps houses warm in a few northern Iranian provinces. A gas pipeline was built between Turkmenistan and Iran in 1997. Another route was completed in 2010, bringing Turkmenistan's annual gas export potential to Iran to 12 billion cubic meters. Turkmenistan has been exporting gas to Iran under a 1997 agreement. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz Two school buses and two cars were involved in a crash Tuesday afternoon in front of Billings Senior High, sending two people to the hospital. The injuries of the two people were not considered life-threatening, according to the Billings Police Department. BPD responded to a crash at 3:08 p.m. involving two First Student buses and two passenger cars in front of Billings Senior near the intersection of Fifth Street West and Grand Avenue, said BPD Sgt. Matt Chaney in a press release. "After loading up with kids, one of the buses accelerated for an unknown reason, striking the other bus and two passenger cars," Chaney said in the release. The two injured people were in the passenger cars. They were taken to local hospitals, Chaney said. None of the children on the buses were injured. Alcohol did not appear to be involved in the crash, and the bus driver was cited for careless driving, Chaney said. 4 January 2017 09:43 (UTC+04:00) By Amina Nazarli Azerbaijan is preparing to host major sport and cultural events in 2017 thus attracting wide audiences to the country. The Islamic Solidarity Games, Azerbaijan Grand Prix, International Carpet Congress and the list can go on and on. TripAdvisor, the travel planning and booking site, has already announced the capital of Azerbaijan, Baku the top spot for Asia in its Travellers Choice awards for Destinations on the Rise. Baku, or the City of Winds as its called here, was ranked the 5th in the list of top destinations for travelers in 2017. And if you also want to take a trip to the Land of Fire then you are the lucky one, as now it is easier to travel to Azerbaijan. If you have a vacation plan to Azerbaijan and you dont want get hustled with paperwork, then www.evisa.gov.az offers a best solution for you. Foreigners and stateless persons who desire to visit this beautiful country now will be able to get e-Visa through ASAN Visa system with a pretty easy procedure. Persons who want to visit Azerbaijan will be able to get a visa in just three steps which are completely online: 1. Get started by going into the website www.evisa.gov.az for apply. 2. Submit necessary information to the system of ASAN Visa and pay the state fee online. 3. e-Visa will be sent to the email of the applicant within three working days. Thats all! All is possible without uploading any copies of the documents, without losing any time in the queue by overcoming a long distance and without any bureaucratic obstacles some leaving the place you are in. The e-visa can be issued to citizens of 81 countries. Another piece of good news goes for the families who want to travel with nanny and servants to Azerbaijan. This issue is envisaged in the "Strategic Road Map on development of tourism in Azerbaijan" approved by the presidential order on December 6. The government will consider simplification of visa procedure for the families (especially from Near East) who want to see the country together with their nannies and servants, who are the citizens of other countries. Starting 2016, Azerbaijan simplified visa regime for citizens of Qatar, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait and other countries. Over the past 10 years, the number of tourists visiting Azerbaijan increased by five times. Today, 4.5 percent of the total gross domestic product falls for income from tourism. Currently, Azerbaijan has about 300 tourist companies and more than 570 placements. The country hosts a series of luxury hotels Excelsior, Hilton, Four Seasons, Fairmont, JW Marriott, Kempinski, as well as many budget hotels for cost-conscious travelers. Soon the country plans to increase the number of two- and three-star hotels of economy class for the development of both inbound and domestic tourism. -- Amina Nazarli is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 4 January 2017 12:20 (UTC+04:00) By Laman Ismayilova Gazelles are thin, graceful antelopes that live in Africa and Asia. They resemble deer and are in the same family as goats, cattle and sheep. Gazelles can be identified by their curved, ringed horns, tan or reddish-brown coats and white rumps. Since ancient times, they have occupied a unique place in the literature, folklore and art of the Azerbaijani people. For centuries all poets from the great romantic and epic poet Nizami Ganjavi to Samad Vurgun praised the beauty of these animals. So it is not surprising that appreciated for its grace, gazelle is a symbol most commonly associated in Azerbaijan with female beauty. In the early 20th century, gazelles grazed the Mil-Karabakh, Mugan and Shirvan plains of Azerbaijan. The names of some places also carry the memory of past inhabitants - Jeyranchel, Jeyranbatan, Jeyrankechmez. Now Azerbaijans Shirvan National Park is home to at least 6,000 gazelles and an ambitious programme is under way to reintroduce the gazelle to its historic habitat in other parts of the country and the Caucasus. The Ecology and Natural Resources Ministry of Azerbaijan in collaboration with the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, IDEA, and WWF initiated a project to re-introduce the gazelle to its historical range. Currently, areas suitable for the re-introduction of the gazelle include five nature reserves (40,000h), three national parks (73,000h), and four sanctuaries (51,000h). --- Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Lam_Ismayilova Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz Good for Bakersfield Police Department Chief Lyle Martin for opening an investigation into the Dec. 5 arrest of two college students who were Thank you for reading! Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading. Donald Trump likes his technology like he likes his decor: stuck in the '80s. For all the praise he receives for embracing 21st-century social media, the president-elect seems to understand little about modern technology. And he exhibits even less interest in learning about it. "I think that computers have complicated lives very greatly," he babbled last week. "The whole, you know, age of computer has made it where nobody knows exactly what's going on. We have speed, we have a lot of other things, but I'm not sure you have the kind of security that you need." Ah, yes, that fabled Age of Computer. I believe it dawned when the moon was in the seventh house and Jupiter aligned with Mars. Three days later, at his New Year's Eve party, the president-elect doubled down on Luddism while professing to know "a lot about hacking." Asked about the role cybersecurity policy will play in his administration, he steered Americans toward bike messengers. "If you have something really important, write it out and have it delivered by courier, the old-fashioned way, because I'll tell you what, no computer is safe. I don't care what they say, no computer is safe," he said. "I have a boy who's 10 years old, he can do anything with a computer. You want something to really go without detection, write it out and have it sent by courier." Again, this was in response to a question not about how he keeps his tax returns confidential, but about national cybersecurity policy. This is hardly the first time Trump has expressed distrust of newfangled technological gizmos. "I don't do the email thing," Trump said in a 2007 deposition. "I'm not an email person myself," Trump echoed during that infamous July news conference in which he invited Russia to hack Hillary Clinton's email. "I don't believe in it because I think it can be hacked, for one thing." And at a February rally: "I go to court and they say, 'Produce your emails.' I say I don't have any." His email abstention is not merely about information security or limiting his legal liability, however. He sends snail-mail messages even when he expects them to be widely disseminated, as any journalist who's received one of his gold-Sharpied nastygrams can attest. Perhaps, unlike most Americans (including my email-proficient nonagenarian grandfather and a majority of Trump's fellow senior citizens) he simply hasn't bothered to learn how to use the interwebs. Avoiding computers may indeed be a relatively reliable, if productivity-limiting, strategy for guarding sensitive material. Other successful chief executives have also famously eschewed digital communications, though it's hard to imagine any entrepreneur becoming successful today without at least a passing familiarity with post-1993 modes of interaction. However Trump has run things at the Trump Organization, though, communicating exclusively via courier hardly seems like a scalable strategy for combating international cyberwarfare. Couriers may be useful if you and your intended recipient are in the same city. But what if you need to quickly transmit a sensitive message across, say, the coasts? Or the hemispheres? Does Trump hope to Make Carrier Pigeons Great Again? More important and I can't believe this requires spelling out cybersecurity is not merely about person-to-person communications (i.e., services for which couriers might plausibly substitute). It's also about all kinds of other data, code and digitized operations. Health records, for example. Or trade secrets, and valuable inside information about mergers or drug trials. Or financial markets, or banking transactions. Or voting machines. Or maybe even the code running an electrical grid, such hackers tried before. Trump's recent comments bode ill for federal investments in cyberdefense. They do help explain his economic worldview, however. His technical incuriosity helps us understand why, for example, he (wrongly) believes that manufacturing jobs are primarily disappearing due to insufficient tariffs, rather than automation. And it illuminates why he's so keen on rebooting obsolete jobs in the first place, rather than investing in forward-looking sectors such as clean energy, biotech or cybersecurity. Montana has one attorney for every 274 residents, but only one Montana Legal Services Association lawyer for every 12,133 low-income residents. That disparity shows the service gap that affects low-income Montanans. The Montana Supreme Court Access to Justice Commission also found that: Every year, half of low-income Montanans have a need for civil legal assistance that goes unmet, including family law matters, landlord-tenant disputes, issues for veterans, minors, seniors and people with disabilities. In 2014, the Montana Legal Services Association reported 7,000 qualified low-income Montanans sought services, but the association could only meet the needs of one-third. The states six Self Help Law Centers have helped thousands of Montanans get the legal forms they need for court filings, but they have very limited staffing and no attorneys, so they cannot provide legal advice. That lack of service affects not only poor Montanans, but everyone who needs to use our state court system. The 18-member commission concluded that access to legal services, such as mediation, would help more people resolve their legal issues without going to courts that are already overloaded. For those who do go to court, legal assistance would help them be better prepared to present their cases, resulting in more effective use of the courts time and the best opportunity for a just resolution. Bipartisan HB46 The commissions recommendation to bolster civil legal services will be presented to the 2017 Legislature as House Bill 46, sponsored by commission members Rep. Kim Dudik, D-Missoula, and Sen. Nels Swandal, R-Wilsall, a former district judge. The bill proposes to increase certain District Court filing fees. The additional revenue would be used to fund civil legal services for Montanans whose income is less than 125 percent of poverty level. The Department of Revenue estimates the legislation would raise about $900,000 annually. The commission voted to endorse HB46 and summarized its reasoning: Some of the court filing fees HB46 would change havent been updated in more than 20 years. During that time, the number of low-income Montanans forced to represent themselves in court without the help of an attorney has increased dramatically. More unrepresented litigants have led to longer delays, overburdened courts, and inefficiencies that affect everyone who relies on our court system. By increasing some filing fees, we can provide a better court system for every court user. For example, HB46 proposes to increase fees for filing a civil district court case to $170 from $90, a fee last raised in 1999. It would raise the fee for a marriage license to $60 from $53, which was the fee set in 2005. Fees for divorce filings already are $170 after being raised more recently to help support legal services for victims of domestic violence. HB46 would direct the Office of Supreme Court Administrator to administer grants for civil legal services, to document how the money is spent and to report back to the Legislatures Law and Justice Interim Committee. The bill would sunset this program in 2023, so the Legislature would have to decide whether to renew it. Wyoming's fee plan Wyoming added an indigent legal services fee to many of its court filings in 2011. In 2016, Wyoming awarded $900,000 in grants and 3,453 people received assistance through revenue generated by those fees. Montana, with its larger low-income population has greater needs than Wyoming. In recent years, the state of Montana has contributed about $140,000 a year to civil legal services. Montana Supreme Court Justice Beth Baker chaired the access commission. She sees the civil legal services program as one way to make more effective use of overstretched judges. A recent independent study of Montana District Courts showed that the state needs about 20 more judges to handle the workload that existed in 2015. Nobody expects that 20 judges will be funded by the 2017 Legislature, but legislation has been proposed for several new judges. The Access to Justice Commission makes a strong case for civil legal services. HB46 has bipartisan, bicameral sponsorship. We call on our lawmakers to support this well researched remedy for the sake of justice in Montana. HELENA The Montana Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled that Marsy's Law, a so-called victims' bill of rights, will go into effect on July 1, not immediately as was called for on statewide ballots. At the end of last year, the ACLU of Montana filed a lawsuit asking for Marsy's Law, which voters passed in November, to take effect in July instead of the immediate start date printed on ballots statewide. The court in a 5-0 order agreed. The ALCU argued that even though ballots called for an immediate start date, the language of the initiative itself did not set a start date. The Department of Justice, which drafted the language that appeared on the ballot, interpreted a section of the initiative that said the amendment is "self-executing" to mean it was immediately effective, but former state Auditor Monica Lindeen and former Superintendent of Public Instruction Denise Juneau, two of the three Board of Canvassers members at the time, disagreed with that decision. The state Board of Canvassers twice delayed validating the passage of the initiative, which got 66 percent of the vote, but eventually certified the election results without setting a start date. Marsy's Law will create a new section of the state Constitution and includes 18 rights for crime victims, including the right to refuse interviews and to be notified of all steps of the legal process. In its order, the court wrote: "We are left with the plain fact that the text of CI 116 does not explicitly set forth a date on which the constitutional amendment becomes part of the Montana Constitution, if approved. We conclude that the 'self-executing' language in CI 116 does not overcome the explicit constitutional rule that amendments to the Montana Constitution become a part of the constitution effective the first day of July following their approval unless the amendment provides otherwise." Cities and counties worry that they will have to cut services or raise taxes to pay for additional staff to work with victims and comply with the new law, and they say they need as much time as possible to get ready. Caitlin Borgmann, executive director of the ACLU, said Wednesday her group is pleased with the court's decision but might bring further legal action on the merits of the law. "It's obviously a very quick and decisive decision," she said. "We just filed about a month ago." She said the ACLU has been consulting with groups about more legal action, but said that process is still in the early stages and the ACLU has not made any decisions. Chuck Denowh, state director of Marsys Law for Montana, said he thinks cities and counties can comply with the new victims' rights provisions. "Montana voters overwhelmingly passed Marsy's Law to give crime victims in our state the important, Constitutional rights that they deserve. We're confident that prosecutors and other elected officials will be responsive to the message voters sent in November: that Montana crime victims deserve equal rights." A bill that would allow people to take disagreements over water permit decisions made by the Department of Natural Resources to the states Water Court instead of district courts was the subject of robust debate during its first hearing at the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday. Sen. Chas Vincent, R-Libby, who is carrying Senate Bill 28 at the request of the Water Policy Interim Committee, said the bill will put four to five cases a year in front of the Water Court, which he says has a better understanding of water issues than most district court judges. DNRC issues new water rights permits and changes to exist permits. The Water Court was created in 1979 to adjudicate 219,000 water rights claims made prior to 1973 and is expected to finish that work sometime around 2028. After adjudication is complete, the court is expected to have little left to do. However, a report prepared by the Legislative Environmental Policy Office in 2015 for the interim committee said the court could play a role with the DNRC and district courts adjudicating disputes over issuing new water rights permits or changing existing ones. Vincent said a survey of district court judges done by the state Supreme Courts administrative arm shows many judges dont have experience in water law and dont want to retain control over water rights disputes. Seven people spoke in favor of the bill. Abigail St. Lawrence, an attorney at Bloomquist Law Firm in Helena and a representative of the Montana Association of Realtors who has worked with water rights cases for more than a decade, said the bill would let people have their disputes heard by experts. The Water Court has a particular expertise that oftentimes district courts do not have, she said. Chelcie Cargill, director of state affairs for the Montana Farm Bureau Federation, said some district court judges have large workloads that leave farmers and ranchers waiting for their claims to be sorted out. A few spoke in opposition to the bill, including the director of the DNRC, who raised concerns that it extends the life of the Water Court without taking time to study what the role of the court should be. Krista Lee Evans, with the Association of Gallatin Agricultural Irrigators, said she was concerned that Water Court judges are not elected. The chief justice of the state Supreme Court appoints a chief water judge and associate water judge. Thats a significant amount of power to have in an entity the water users do not have a vote for, she said. She also raised concerns with how the bill was written. She said the language could allow for people who disagree with a permit issued by DNRC to pick the court where the dispute would be heard, creating several cases in different courts. She also asked how the additional caseload for the Water Court would be paid for. Evans said many people who dont like the bill might be afraid to testify because they are nervous about where their disputes might be heard in the future. John Tubbs, director of the DNRC, said disputes over permits arent water issues, but procedural issues. Courts are tasked with determining if DNRC acted property in issuing or denying a permit application or change, not with water rights laws. Tubbs said the Water Court needs to focus on finishing its adjudication work and then state government can discuss the future of the court. This bill, he said, would make the Water Court permanent without consideration to what its future should be. Maybe that is a permanent water court, maybe its an additional district court, he said. These are big issues. It is time for this body, the executive and the judicial (branches) to give serious consideration to what a post-decree water rights world looks like. Vincent said the push to bring the bill now would help retain the expertise already gathered in the Water Court. If we want to retain that experience on the Water Court we have to give them a reason to stick around, he said. The committee took no action on the bill Wednesday, but said it would look at the concerns that were raised. The committee meets daily at 9 a.m. The recent passage of voter-approved referendums authorizing slot machines in two more Florida counties is jeopardizing the state's gaming exclusivity compact with the Seminole Tribe, a lucrative agreement leading lawmakers appear willing to forfeit even as a state budget deficit looms. Slot machine referendum threatens Florida's pact with Seminoles Currently compact guarantees exclusivity Eight counties are jeopardize the $3 billion deal The compact was signed by former Gov. Charlie Crist in 2010 and has resulted in more than $1 billion in tribal payments to the state. With its expiration at hand in 2015, Gov. Rick Scott renegotiated its terms, convincing the Seminoles to hand the state $3 billion over the course of seven years. The legislature has yet to ratify the renewed compact. The slot machine referendums, however, threaten to undermine the compact's guarantee of exclusivity. Eight counties have now voted to allow slots at parimutuels and, while the legislature could choose to intervene, that prospect now appears unlikely. "If voters in a particular county approve more gaming opportunities, I think we should respect the decision of those citizens and those communities to shape the way they want their communities to look, and we should honor that rather than stand in the way of it," Senate President Joe Negron (R-Stuart) told reporters last month. An open question is whether tax revenue from the parimutuel slots could outstrip tribal royalties under the compact. The answer could be critical: with state economists projecting a $1.3 billion deficit next year, gaming revenues will play a big role in bridging the gap. The budgetary uncertainty appears to be playing into the Seminoles' negotiating strategy. While the original gaming compact has expired, the tribe is still abiding by its terms - including its nine-figure annual payments, according to a statement provided Tuesday. "Seminole Tribe of Florida representatives have met with Gov. Scott as part of their ongoing effort and continuing desire to finalize a new gaming Compact with the State of Florida. As further evidence of its positive approach, the Tribe is continuing to make monthly Compact payments to the state that totaled $306 million in 2016. The Seminole Tribe is open to discussions and negotiations as part of its continuing desire to finalize a new gaming compact with the State of Florida, but the Tribe prefers not to negotiate in the media," the statement reads. A man died in St. Petersburg Wednesday morning following a struggle with police. St. Petersburg man dies while being arrested Police say he 'struggled violently' with multiple officers Check back soon for more details At 7:15 a.m., St. Petersburg Police say they attempted to arrest a man outside of 1401 5th Avenue North, an address near St. Anthony's Hospital downtown. According to reports, the man struggled violently with two officers and a citizen also tried to assist the officers. Police say the man, who has yet to be identified, collapsed during the struggle. Officers say they immediately gave aid and called for assistance. The man was pronounced dead at St. Anthony's hospital. This is a developing story, check back soon for updates. A Shepherd man may be charged with homicide after the death of a Glasgow woman. Jay Witkowski, 28, was charged Tuesday with assault with a weapon, aggravated assault and criminal endangerment, all felonies, in Valley County, County Attorney Dylan Jensen said Tuesday. The victim, 31-year-old Evelynn Garcia, was initially hospitalized from stab wounds and injuries from being struck by a vehicle. She died Tuesday, said Sheriff Vernon Buerkle. It's alleged that Witkowski was responsible for her injuries. Garcia's body was found Saturday on a highway east of Glasgow, Buerkle said. Witkowski was arrested and given a $500,000 bond, and he remains in custody. The charges are initial and may be amended, Jensen said. Investigators are still looking into the events leading up to Garcia's death, Buerkle said. Its being investigated by the Valley County Sheriff's Office and (Montana) Highway Patrol with the assistance of the Glasgow Police Department, he said. Montana Department of Corrections archives show Witkowski was sentenced on a conviction for criminal possession of dangerous drugs in Richland County in 2010. Montana institutes setback rule The Montana Board of Oil and Gas has passed a rule that broadens the states notification requirement to homeowners within a 1,320-foot radius of a proposed oil or gas well. The move was hailed by a Montana conservation and agriculture group as good for transparency. But it may not stand, as others are questioning whether the board had the authority to make the new rule. Members of the Northern Plains Resource Council, a Billings, Mont.-based conservation and family agriculture organization, have been pressing for broadened notification rules for two years. We have once again proven that grassroots efforts can bring results, said council member Sue Beug. Montanas new rule is in line with North Dakotas existing notification rules, which are triggered within 1,320 feet of a well. Wyoming and Colorado require notice within 1,000 feet of a well, with some exceptions. They and North Dakota also all require a 500-foot setback from an occupied dwelling, which the Montana rule doesnt include. -- Sidney (Mont.) Herald Gas station cleanup delayed Ownership of the aboveground fuel tanks at a former Noonan gas station is potentially delaying cleanup of the site. Divide County States Attorney Seymour Jordan is searching for the owner. Its going to be a long, drawn-out deal, he said of the site that gained notoriety when it was discovered that dozens of radioactive filter socks had been illegally stored in the building. The county got the property back earlier this year in a tax forfeiture. Plans are to demolish the building. The tanks are considered chattels. Theyre not real property or affixed to the building, but separate," said Jordan, explaining that, as a result, the county cannot demolish them without finding the owner or taking ownership. -- The Journal, Crosby Williams project topped off Workers marked progress on an expansion of Williams Countys administrative office space by securing the last beam on the buildings steel frame. Placement of the 22-foot beam was preceded by a topping out ceremony, during which county officials and members of the construction crew signed the piece of metal before a crane hoisted it to the top of the three-story structure. Work on the $18 million, 49,000-square-foot building, which is taking place simultaneously with construction on an expansion of the Williams County Correctional Center, has seen some delays due to weather, but is expected to be completed by this summer. The next step is to pour concrete floors and complete the interior and exterior framing. The entire project --including the county administrative building, a $30 million 125-bed jail addition and $6 million in renovations to the Williams County Courthouse -- continues to be priced at $54.2 million, but is expected to come in under budget, county officials say. -- Williston Herald Gov. Doug Burgums State of the State Address was well-received by lawmakers, who said it struck an optimistic tone during a period of economic downturn in the state. The first-term Republicans 34-minute speech delivered before a joint session of the Legislature touched on reinventing state government, property tax reform, addressing the states opioid addiction crisis and the Dakota Access Pipeline protests. Senate Majority Leader Rich Wardner, R-Dickinson, said more specifics would be helpful. Burgum said he expects to introduce budget proposals in the coming weeks as he combs through agency budgets to find efficiencies. His overall message was good, but Im just wondering what his thoughts were on the budget, Wardner said. Wardner said Burgums talk of moving away from property tax buydowns was good to hear, but the method to achieve that is likely to see significant debate. Id like to see the state get out of the property tax business too, (but) there are those that like that program, Wardner said. A lot of specifics werent expected given Burgum's been on the job about three weeks, according to House Majority Leader Al Carlson, R-Fargo, who said the GOP supermajority in each chamber agrees with the concept of reinventing and right-sizing state government. I think hes going to find a lot of allies, said Carlson, adding the difficulty will be finding where to consolidate and create more efficiencies. Carlson said he also liked the tone Burgum took in condemning those involved in the Dakota Access Pipeline protests who engaged in unlawful conduct, including vandalism and trespassing. I think people have had enough, Carlson said of the protest movement. He expects there to be legislation introduced this session to tighten up the ability for law enforcement to respond to protests. One option is the possible introduction of an anti-mask law, according to Carlson, explaining that laws prohibiting the wearing of masks to disguise ones identity are on the books in several states. Carlson said theres no reason to hide ones identity for personal protection. "That might happen in downtown Baghdad, but not in downtown Bismarck, Carlson said. Democratic-NPL leadership signaled a willingness to work with Burgum and the GOP on areas where compromise can be found and on policy that benefits all North Dakotans. House Minority Leader Corey Mock, D-Grand Forks, said property tax relief and workforce development will be high on the priority list of his caucus. I am confident we can work with the governor, said Mock, who appreciated Burgums acknowledgement of the states rise in overdoses and addiction problems, which also is a priority for the Dem-NPL caucus. Rep. Kathy Hogan, D-Fargo, said she was hoping to hear more specifics on how to provide for the states vulnerable population, such as the elderly. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate A Houston suburb is riding a residential home sales high. In 2016, two of the top-five most expensive homes sold in the metro area are located in The Woodlands. That might not be surprising considering that last year was a tough one for the high-end market, which the Houston Association of Realtors defines as homes priced at $500,000 and above. REDUCTION: Price slashed on Theresa Roemer's Woodlands mansion and its 'biggest closet in the US' Throughout 2016, monthly housing market reports for all price sectors combined were mixed, with most months showing year-over-year gains. However, November was the first month that the luxury market saw an increase in more than a year. >>Take a visual tour of the top 10 most expensive Houston homes sold in 2016 in the gallery above. "From August 2015 until October 2016, the high end of the market was in decline because of oil prices," a spokesperson for HAR said. "Homes were not selling in the double-digit millions like they had in the past. It was the only real effect that oil had on the local real estate market." (Story continues below.) That being said, the priciest properties sold in the Houston area are an impressive collection of sprawling estates with unique amenities. One even has its own soda shop and 3,000-square-foot master suite. These are the five most expensive homes sold in Houston in 2016: 5. 3311 Del Monte in River Oaks: The Judge & Mrs. J.A. Platt House is a designated historic landmark in the city. The 8,115-square-foot house was built in 136 by contractor E.T Seymour and designed by renowned architect Joseph Finger. It was listed at $7.8 million and sold within the $5.7 to $7 million price range. MILLIONAIRES' ROW: What $1 million buys in Texas real estate 4. 88 Grand Regency Circle in The Woodlands: Dubbed DanMar Manor, the 30,000-square-foot estate sold at auction to an unidentified New Jersey entrepreneur. Situated on more than 4 acres of land, the mansion has a 3,000-square-foot master suite, 1950s-style soda fountain, fully equipped theater-style media room and its own private spa. 3. 15 Grand Regency Circle in The Woodlands: Set on nearly two acres of land, this 17,000-square-foot estate sits on the ninth hole at the Jack Nicklaus Signature Course in Carlton Woods. The 12-bath house, built in 2006, also includes 3,000 square feet of outdoor entertaining. TEXAS REVIEW: What Texans spent on homebuying and renting in 2016 2. 3688 Willowick in River Oaks: Designed by Curtis & Windham and built by Randy Ratcliff in 2000, this English countryside-style mansion is better known as "Bayou Breeze" for its proximity to Buffalo Bayou. The 16,000-square-foot house was listed at 14.495 million and sold within the $9 to $11 million price range. 1. 527 Buckingham Drive in Memorial: The most expensive house sold in 2016 is also the newest construction. Built in 2014, this 16,385-square-foot house is a custom Norman French-style estate built by Ed Eubanks and constructed by Texana Builders. The home, which took four years to complete, was listed at 12.2 million and sold in the $10 to $11.8 million price range. The holiday season is enjoyed a little differently in the Land Down Under. A small town in Queensland, Australia spent New Year's Eve worrying about an 11-foot crocodile that had wandered into a residential area. Jef Chaison Russell III, a former Beaumont Convention and Visitors Bureau director whose specialty was tourism but whose life calling was kindness, died Saturday after collapsing in his home the day after Christmas. He was 68. U.S. Rep. Brian Babin, who on Tuesday began his second two-year term in Congress, said Russell was with him when he took his first oath in January 2015. "I've known him since kindergarten," Babin said. "He was a fine, fine fellow. He was a very fine community servant and citizen." Another classmate of Russell's was auto dealer Joe Bob Kinsel, who gave Russell his nickname of "Heavy Duty." Kinsel said he and Russell, improbably, were both on the track team, assigned to throwing the discus and shot put. "I could hardly pick it up," Kinsel said of the shot put, which in those days likely was a 16-pound iron sphere. "Jef was powerful." The nickname "Heavy Duty" stuck, even after Russell went to the University of Texas, where he had the initials "HD" monogrammed on his shirts. Russell, a seventh-generation Beaumonter, served for more than 10 years as the executive director of the Beaumont Convention and Visitors Bureau, leaving in 2000 to take a similar job in Eureka Springs, Arkansas. Previously, he led Fort Worth's tourism bureau when one of its attractions was the Western Co. of North America's Energy museum, which is now the Texas Energy Museum in Beaumont. In 1988, Russell returned to Beaumont to lead the CVB. In the 15 years he was gone, many of Beaumont's newer downtown structures went from blueprints to buildings, including City Hall, the Civic Center, the police department, library, the Art Museum of Southeast Texas, the renovated Tyrrell Historical Library and Edison Plaza. Russell, known for his optimism, said Beaumont was "in an enviable position" for developing tourism. "One thing I want to do is to promote what's already here," he said in a September 1988 interview. "This is like a greenhouse here. It's so lush, so much water and trees. If you come in from West or North Texas, I guarantee you'll notice it." Dean Conwell, the current Conventions and Visitors Bureau director said he's known Russell for 30 years. "He helped me a lot when I accepted the position. He was passionate about the city and about tourism," Conwell said. "He was a Beaumont hero. He wanted the right things to happen here. He knew so much and cared so much." Vivian Todd, a real estate agent, agreed with a sentiment posted on social media about Russell that he was a "Renaissance" man. "He was a huge fan of the city of Beaumont," she said. "He was always happy and upbeat. You loved to be around him." DWallach@BeaumontEnterprise.comTwitter.com/dwallach Since the beginning of December, 17 dogs and cats have been reported missing in Bismarck, according to Missy Hilsendeger, animal control warden at the Bismarck-Mandan Animal Impound Facility. These animals have disappeared during a string of record-beating winter storms some lasting for days, bringing blustery winds and frigid temperatures. So far, the area has seen 53.1 inches of snow this winter season, and the Bismarck Public Works Department is still working to dig the city out of the latest snowfall. Usually, we dont have a problem locating (missing pets). They dont go into the deep snow, especially with the cold. ... They usually try to huddle down around houses," Hilsendeger said. Bismarck Animal Control has been successful returning some of the animals, she said. A chocolate Labrador retriever, missing since Dec. 21, was returned to its family last week. The dog had been lost for more than a week when it showed up at someones house, and the residents were able to coax it into their garage and call the animal impound facility, Hilsendeger said. All four of the dog's paws were frostbitten. Hilsendeger urges pet owners to call Animal Control immediately if a dog or cat goes missing in this weather. "Contact us. Call in. We have a lost-and-found log that we keep, so if we do happen to pick up an animal, we can cross-reference that," she said. The most important thing owners can do is put ID tags on their pets, she added. With temperatures dipping below zero for most of this week, Hilsendeger said people should keep their pets in the house and monitor them when they're outside. With being as cold as it is, especially this week coming up with the highs being barely above zero, your animal shouldnt be out for any length of time," she said, adding it doesn't take long for animals to get frostbitten. Do you want to know how fast the paws are going to freeze? Put your hand on concrete, put your hand on the ground, and see how fast it takes your hand to get cold," Hilsendeger said. Animals in this cold weather and deep snow can become disoriented and wander off, becoming unfamiliar with their surroundings, according to Hilsendeger. There are three animal wardens who will respond to calls, but she said anyone who sees a dog or cat wandering around should keep an eye on it until Animal Control arrives. They call it in and then they drive off, so by the time we get there -- especially if its across town -- it doesnt take a dog long to disappear," she said. Keep an eye on it. If theyre comfortable with trying to catch it, great; if the dogs turns and starts growling at them, by all means we dont want them getting bit. But if the dog is willing to jump in their car, get them in your car and well come and get them." Mandy Schaaf, volunteer and special events coordinator for the Central Dakota Humane Society, agrees that frostbite is a risk for animals. They can lose the tips of their ears in cold like this. When we have our animals out in the extreme cold, its for a limited time. We have gotten reports from the public of cats frozen to the driveway," she said. One volunteer who walks dogs puts booties on them to protect their paws from the cold, she said. Tribune reporter LeAnn Eckroth contributed to this report. The ASC reimbursement environment has changed significantly over the years. Twenty years ago, doctors had their code set, everything was straightforward and they could code effectively on their own. But that is not the case today. Requirements differ and nuances continuously emerge making it impossible for doctors, and ASC billing staff, to keep up. To maintain a steady revenue cycle, claims must be coded accurately and submitted on schedule. Consistent and diligent follow-up on outstanding claims is also a necessity. Otherwise, substantial revenue will be lost when claims sit uncollected. Effectively and efficiently managing these tasks in-house without adequate staffing is a difficult task at best. Staff members go on vacation, they become ill and turnover occurs. This is why so many ASCs, including Wyoming Surgical Center (WSC), are enlisting the help of an outside revenue cycle services partner. By partnering with a team of revenue cycle experts, getting paid as quickly as possible for all the services a center provides can be a reality. Claims research and appeals, which most in-house staff simply dont have the manpower to handle, become the responsibility of the revenue cycle services partner. In our search for the right billing partner, WSC learned many things along the way. To help other ASCs, here are a few things we discovered. 1. Revenue cycle management should be a collaborative effort. Look for a partner that will work with you to build upon your centers existing revenue cycle processes by incorporating industry best practices. This will help your center to experience tangible results, like faster billing, quickly. For example, with help from our partner we identified revenue cycle goals based upon commonly used key performance indicators (KPIs) including lag days and Accounts Receivable over 90 days. After partnering with SourceMed Revenue Cycle Services (RCS), WSCs Accounts Receivable over 90 days decreased by 17 percentage points; we expect this number to continue trending down. Even more impressive, our monthly gross collection percentage almost doubled over the past year. 2. An end-to-end revenue cycle solution matters. Before partnering with SourceMed RCS, WSC was already using SourceMeds AdvantX software for ASC financial and clinical management. Now, SourceMed RCS can easily pull all the clinical and financial data they need to manage the entire revenue cycle directly from our AdvantX system. As an integrated solution, we gain complete transparency for management, measurement and reporting, without any of the extra upfront interface costs and yearly maintenance fees which has resulted in hours of time and thousands of dollars saved. 3. You cant measure what you cant see. Visibility into billing and collections is important. Implementing a standardized process and making sure that the chart sheet, op notes and transcriptions are submitted to your partner team on a daily basis will help keep you on track. Our lag days have decreased by 40 days which has dramatically increased speed of payment. 4. Success takes time and effort. Partnering with a revenue cycle management vendor does not mean youll flip a switch and everything will immediately be perfect. Like most things, it is a process. Listen to advice from the experts and take advantage of the best practices they recommend. As the industry continues to move toward value-based care, the reimbursement environment will become even more complex. With end-to-end solutions and an expert partner, the ability to maintain a healthy revenue cycle is more easily achievable for ASCs with a lean internal team. Both the American Medical Association and American College of Physicians leaders sent letters to Congress seeking a delay for an ACA repeal until legislators fully vet a new health plan, according to MedPage Today. Here are four things to know: 1. Nitin Damle, MD, ACP president, penned a letter saying if legislators allot money in the 2017 budget to dismantle the ACA, tens of millions of Americans could lose the coverages and benefits the ACA provides. 2. Congressional Republicans weighed the possibility of using the 2017 budget resolution to start repealing President Barack Obama's health law while they create a viable alternative. 3. While Republicans say they wouldn't eliminate provisions until a new plan is enacted, Dr. Damle' letter said repealing the ACA without implementing an alternative would "create chaos in insurance markets, causing plans to pull out of the markets with more than seven million losing coverage in 2017 alone." 4. AMA CEO James Madara, MD, told Congress lawmakers should devise a detailed plan for Americans on what a new law would entail. Americans can then decipher which plan would best suite their health needs. JAMA published a study showing bundled payments yielded significant savings for patients undergoing joint replacement surgeries. Despite the savings, President-elect Donald Trump's pick to lead HHS, Rep. Tom Price, MD, has opposed the mandatory payment program, according to Kaiser Health News. In the study, researchers analyzed 3,924 patients undergoing lower extremity joint replacement surgery at San Antonio, Texas-based Baptist Health System. The patients participated in CMS' voluntary Acute Care Episodes and Bundled Payments for Care Improvement demonstration projects. The study found: The average Medicare episode expenditures fell 20.8 percent for 3,738 episodes of joint replacement without complications For 204 episodes with complications, Medicare episode expenditures, on average, fell 13.8 percent ACE and BPCI lowered readmission and emergency department visits by 1.4 percent Episodes with prolonged length of stay fell 67 percent Study researchers estimated if every hospital utilized this bundled payment model, Medicare could save $2 billion each year Dr. Price wrote a letter in September 2016 saying Medicare has surpassed its power through mandating bundled payments, which the HHS pick said takes decision-making power away from providers and patients. However, study authors argue bundled payments enable teamwork between surgeons, administrators and patients as the program's success in lowering costs is contingent on physicians creating standardized pathways for care. Dr. Price said the government should not make such programs mandatory. Darshak Sanghavi, PhD, former director of prevention and population health at the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation, said voluntary programs will result in only those hospital that are currently delivering care efficiently to participate. Thus, making bundled payments mandatory will give lower-performing hospitals motivation to become more efficient. Dr. Sanghavi told KHN, "Stopping the programs for ideological reasons I think impedes innovation in a way that is going to consign us to having really, really high costs of care that's going to continue in the future." In April 2016, CMS required nearly 800 hospitals in 67 cities to participate in bundled payment models for joint replacements and 90 days of care following the procedure. KHN reports if Republicans repeal the ACA, the mandatory bundled payment program will likely cease to exist. CMS has approved Hawaii's request for a State Innovation Waiver under Section 1332 of the ACA. States can request the innovation waiver to pursue creative strategies to provide residents with high quality, affordable insurance while retaining the basic protections of the ACA. In its application submitted in August, Hawaii asked CMS to waive the ACA requirement that a Small Business Health Options Program operate in Hawaii. CMS approved the request Dec. 30. In addition to freeing Hawaii from SHOP requirements, the waiver will also allow the small business tax credit amounts that would have been paid to employers who purchased coverage through SHOP to be provided to the state and used to support a fund that helps small businesses in Hawaii offer health coverage. The waiver is effective Jan. 1, 2017, through Dec. 31, 2021. Hawaii is the first and only state to apply for and receive a Section 1332 waiver. More articles on healthcare finance: Health First sees operating income plunge 89% in FY 2016 15 must-reads for hospital CFOs How CHS, Tenet, UHS, LifePoint and HCA fared financially in 2016 San Francisco-based Dignity Health CIO Deanna Wise believes CIOs need to look beyond technology in the hospital and instead readjust their focus on what the consumer wants and needs. Ms. Wise has served as executive vice president and CIO of Dignity Health since 2011. She previously held the CIO role at numerous other health systems, including Phoenix-based Maricopa Integrated Health System and Nashville, Tenn.-based Vanguard Health Systems, which merged with Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare in 2013. Becker's Hospital Review caught up with Ms. Wise to discuss what she looks for in a leader, the last memorable thing she read and what CIOs should keep an eye on in 2017. Note: Responses have been lightly edited for length and clarity. Question: What other CIOs do you look up to and why? Deanna Wise: For fear that I will miss someone in my answer, I'll describe what I aspire to be in a leader. I look for someone whose communication is extremely strong, no matter what level of leadership you're at. I look for someone who's a collaborator, outcomes-driven and compassionate. You have to have a team that keeps moving to the next initiative, but you also have to be compassionate toward the people you work with. I also think about blend. People have different needs at different hours, and in this day and age, we need to realize that team members are going to have different needs at different times. In addition, I aspire to be a leader that empowers my team. I realize that I just described Lloyd Dean, Dignity Health's CEO. I have the luxury of working for a leader I aspire to be. Q: What's your biggest challenge as a CIO from a day-to-day perspective? DW: Figuring out how to do more with less but always be innovative. It's challenging to always be trying to outwit your competitors. Q: What's the last memorable thing you read? DW: The first thing that comes to mind is The Patient Will See You Now by Eric Topol, MD. It's extremely relevant. Being a patient-consumer is interesting because everybody's a consumer of healthcare. We've spent a lot of time focusing on how to deploy EHR records, but how do we ultimately focus on the consumer? The book is about moving toward the consumer side of things. Part of meaningful use was to deploy a patient health record. But does it really do what I need it to do as a consumer? Not really. Am I really driven to leverage it? Not really. Q: What do you think the healthcare IT industry lacks most right now, and what do you see as a solution to fix it? DW: A focus on the consumer. For example, as a consumer, you want to get test results as quickly as possible. A solution could be a comparison tool of sorts. We are personally trying to drive toward that as we get our provider schedule online. We've been so busy focused on getting our EHRs online. But now we need to answer the question, "What do we do with the information and how do we use it to change the lives of our patients?" Q: What is one thing CIOs should focus on or look forward to in 2017? DW: As all healthcare organizations look for ways to reduce costs, improve the ease of EHR use for physicians and clinicians and innovate for our consumers, we need to focus on how we can get information into the hands of patients so they can be engaged in their health. Larry Dupper, CFO of Valley View Hospital in Glenwood Springs, Colo., is leaving for Montrose (Colo.) Memorial Hospital, according to a Post Independent | Citizen Telegram report. Here are four things to know: 1. Mr. Dupper will take on the CFO role at Montrose Memorial Hospital, effective Jan. 9, 2017. 2. He has worked at Valley View Hospital for 18 years. 3. During his time at the hospital, it has grown from a 110,000-square-foot hospital built in 1955 and now encompasses 535,000 square feet of space. 4. Bonnie Wasli, Valley View's director of finance, will serve as interim CFO until a permanent replacement is named. With little notice, Akron, Ohio-based Summa Health System changed over the physician group that staffs its emergency rooms across several locations, the Akron Beacon Journal reports. Here are five things to know about the issue. 1. Summa began staffing some of its ERs with physicians from US Acute Care Solutions a national emergency medicine group when a contract with Summa Emergency Associates expired Saturday. The affected facilities include Akron (Ohio) City Hospital, as well as others in Barberton, Green, Medina and Wadsworth, Ohio, according to the report. The decision to change physician groups became public last week, the Akron Beacon Journal reports. 2. Taking issue with this decision, residents sent a two-page letter to the Summa board in protest. In the letter, resident physicians voted "no confidence" in the health system's president and CEO, Thomas Malone, MD, according to the report. The letter states concerns about the quality of care provided by USACS and the abrupt change of staff. Though the letter was not signed by individuals, it was signed by the "House Staff Council," a group that represents Summa's residents, according to the report. 3. Board Chairman James McIlvaine said the board stands by Dr. Malone. Mr. McIlvaine told the Akron Beacon Journal the system chose to switch to USACS to avoid a work stoppage. This was disputed by Jeff Wright, MD, president of SEA, who said the group intended to negotiate a new contract before the old one expired, according to the report. 4. The residents enlisted the American Academy of Emergency Medicine for help. Robert McNamara, MD, former president of AAEM, said the association will likely get involved, according to the report. He voiced concerns about the transition process for both patients and residents, who will lose their mentors. 5. The health system backed its decision and said the transition plan is "seamless." No interruption of service occurred on the first of the year, a Summa spokesman told the Akron Beacon Journal. Read more here. More articles on integration and physician issues: ER at Baptist Memorial Hospital-Golden Triangle to limit pain medications Geisinger finalizes medical school partnership Emerson Hospital to open 3 urgent care centers The partnership between Kansas City-based The University of Kansas Hospital and Hays (Kan.) Medical Center took effect Jan. 1, reports The Kansas City Star. Under the partnership, John Jeter, MD, remains CEO of Hays and Bob Page remains president and CEO of KU Hospital. All staff will remain at their current facilities. Additionally, KU Hospital, an independently governed public authority, and Hays, a nonprofit hospital, are now consolidating their financial statements, according to the report. An operations council comprised of members from both hospitals has been created to direct the partnership, and boards at both facilities will remain intact. The hospitals said new branding and signs will be revealed in the coming weeks, according to the report. KU Hospital and HaysMed announced the intended partnership last September. Fairbanks (Alaska) Memorial Hospital's more than 15-year affiliation with Phoenix-based Banner Health came to an end Sunday. The hospital is now operated by Fairbanks-based Foundation Health Partners, a subsidiary of the Greater Fairbanks Community Hospital Foundation. Jeff Cook, president of the hospital foundation, told the Daily News-Miner Banner has been an excellent partner, but the transition was needed to allow Fairbanks Memorial to be more community focused. "We want to control our own destiny more," Mr. Cook told the Daily News-Miner. "We appreciate everything [Banner has] done. They've been great in this transition too." More articles on healthcare industry transactions: CHS sells controlling interest in home health business to drive down debt UHS closes $464M deal for 81 UK behavioral health facilities Quorum Health divests Georgia hospital An off-duty sheriff's deputy working security at North Cypress Medical Center in Houston shot a patient who opened fire inside the hospital Tuesday morning. The 21-year-old man, whose name has not been released, arrived at North Cypress Medical Center's emergency room at 8:05 a.m. Tuesday and told hospital staff he needed an X-ray, according to a press release from the hospital. The patient was examined by a triage nurse and then again by an ER physician. The patient reportedly became angry and left the examination room when the physician and nurse asked him to disrobe. According to hospital officials, the patient ran to the ambulance bay in the ER, pulled a gun out of his waistband and fired a shot. He then ran through the ER with the gun in his hand and exited the building. He was shot just outside the ER entrance by an off-duty sheriff's deputy working security. Sheriff's deputies told KHOU news the man was still combative after being shot. North Cypress Medical Center officials said the man is being treated for his injuries at the hospital and is in stable condition. More articles on healthcare industry news: Methodist Health System CEO John Fraser to retire at the end of 2017 Alleged breach exposes data of Special Operations Command healthcare workers Geisinger finalizes medical school partnership A CD storing the names, addresses, dates of birth, phone numbers, group numbers and some Social Security numbers of 850 Aetna consumers in Ohio was lost in the mail, the insurer announced Dec. 30. The Hartford, Conn.-based payer said Aetna Signature Administrators mailed the CD to another office on Sept. 6, 2016, to archive members' personal information. However, an employee at the receiving office found the envelope carrying the CD empty upon arrival. Aetna learned about the misplaced CD Sept. 9 and immediately investigated and contacted the U.S. Postal Service. Aetna said the CD has not been found, but an investigation indicated the U.S. Postal Service may have discarded and destroyed the CD. Aetna said it has no reason to believe an unauthorized person improperly accessed or misused the information. Diane McCammon, director of Aetna's privacy office, said in a news release, "We take privacy seriously and sincerely apologize for this incident." Aetna also said it will take steps to make sure the event does not happen again, such as retraining employees on data protection and removing Social Security numbers from data exchanges. Information about the incident in Ohio was released Dec. 30. However, the Houston Chronicle said 3,000 policyholders' information in Texas was breached when a CD was also reported lost Sept. 9. According to HHS, Aetna likewise reported on Nov. 28, 2016, the number of individuals affected by a data breach involving lost information totaled 18,854. Editor's note: This article was updated on Jan. 5, 2016, at 10:17 a.m. CT to reflect in the headline the misplaced information affected 850 individuals in Ohio. In addition, a paragraph was added to reflect the incident involving individuals in Ohio was part of a broader data breach. U.S. District Judge John Bates said he will issue a ruling in a "timely manner" deciding the fate of Aetna's proposed acquisition of Humana and the Justice Department's attempt to block it over antitrust concerns, Bloomberg reports. The insurers and the DOJ presented final arguments to Judge Bates on Dec. 30. He pressed each party about whether Medicare Advantage should be included in the same market as traditional Medicare. Judge Bates pointed out evidence showing the insurers internally regard Medicare Advantage and traditional Medicare as separate markets, even though they argued both should be treated as a single market. Judge Bates said "[a]nytime there is an assessment" of the market by the payers, "the market being assessed is Medicare Advantage," according to Bloomberg. In its final arguments, the Justice Department maintained its stance the $37 billion acquisition would impede Medicare Advantage competition and ACA exchange plan competition in Florida, Georgia and Missouri. The DOJ also argued Medicare Advantage and traditional Medicare markets should be treated separately, opposing Aetna and Humana's stance. Judge Bates did not specify when a ruling would arrive. He is deciding the case without a jury, according to the report. Over the past few months, the CDC has been ramping up its public education campaign regarding hepatitis C screening. The campaign now includes television commercials prompting more patients to ask their physicians about the test, according to The Day. The CDC has recommended everyone born between 1945 and 1965 get a blood test for hepatitis C since 2012. The virus can lie dormant for 20 years or more before causing liver damage, cirrhosis and liver cancer. With the agency's added efforts, awareness about screening for the virus is growing. "A lot of people are now calling to ask about it," Robert Sidman, MD, vice president of medical affairs for the east region of Hartford (Conn.) HealthCare, told The Day. Dr. Sidman went on to say that more physicians are routinely recommending the test for patients aged 51 to 71 years. This patient demographic is approximately five times more likely than the rest of the population to carry the hepatitis C, since transmission of the virus was highest in the U.S. from the 1960s through the 1980s. "Fifteen to 20 percent of those with the virus will have no effects, but 70 to 80 percent will develop some form of liver disease," said Dr. Sidman. "About 10 to 15 percent will get cirrhosis." To learn more about hepatitis C, click here. More articles on infection control: Plague cases in US decline in 2016 Antibiotic resistance in 2016: 5 biggest developments NY state health commissioner calls for vaccine adherence amid flu prevalence Reps. Erik Paulsen (R-Minn.) and Ron Kind (D-Wis.) introduced the Protect Medical Innovation Act of 2017 to permanently repeal the 2.3 percent medical device excise tax enacted on Jan. 3, 2017, the Minnesota Star Tribune reports. Here's what you need to know. 1. If the bill passes, the legislators will permanently repeal the tax. As part of the bill, the federal government will scale back $2.5 billion in federal funding, Mass Device reports. 2. Legislators suspended the tax for two years in December 2015. 3. Medical device lobbying group AdvaMed joined several lobbying groups supporting the bill. In a statement, AvaMed CEO Scott Whitaker said legislators need to fully repeal the device tax needs to ensure innovation can continue. 4. This is the fourth time Rep. Paulsen has attempted to repeal the medical device tax. To continue following the latest news and information for Bedfordshire and surrounding areas, simply enter your full postcode below Damolly Retail Park in Newry was sold to MJM Group for over 30m Brexit contributed to a 40% slump in Northern Ireland investment commercial property deals, it's been claimed. The deals dropped from 400m to 248m during last year. Commercial property agency CBRE said the "notable reduction" in investment volumes compared to 2015 was down to turmoil following the vote to leave the EU, and to a decrease in investment opportunities. Commercial property funds in London were hit hard in the immediate aftermath of June's vote, with more than 18bn in commercial property funds temporarily frozen in July after a rush by investors to pull out their cash. But CBRE said it anticipated a return to growth during 2017 despite "political uncertainty" ahead and the impact of the EU vote in 2016. The agency said the year had seen 36 investment transactions worth a total of 248m - down from 400m a year before. Institutional investors such as pension funds were largely absent from the market, CBRE said, with private equity groups, wealthy individuals and property companies acquiring assets instead. One of the biggest deals of the year had been the sale of Damolly Retail Park by owner London Metric to MJM Group in Newry for over 30m. In addition, retail tycoon Sam Morrison, former owner of Fairhill Shopping Centre in Ballymena, acquired the town's Tower Centre after it went on the market in May 2016 for 6m. Fairhill Shopping Centre is now owned by Rockspring Property Investment Managers after its 46.5m sale by Mr Morrison in 2015. Gavin Elliott, CBRE director of capital markets, said it expected appetite for commercial property would be "buoyant". He said: "We are anticipating a number of major investment transactions that were stalled by the radical events of 2016 to complete in early 2017. "The investment market in Northern Ireland will see healthy interest from a broad spectrum of investors including private equity, property companies, high net-worth individuals and institutional investors." But he said the market was now in a period of "political uncertainty" with investors likely to focus on core income and strong investment fundamentals. "However, we believe that commercial real estate will continue to be favoured and viewed as a safe-haven in comparison to other asset classes," he added. Senior economist Dr Esmond Birnie of the Northern Ireland economic policy centre said CBRE's assessment was "consistent with a pause reflecting market nervousness following the June vote". He said it was "notable" that CBRE projected some recovery in investment levels in 2017. "Much will depend on what happens to overall Northern Ireland economic growth, stability in the eurozone and the extent to which the Executive can demonstrate it has its fiscal house sufficiently in order to underpin corporation tax devolution. "Unfortunately, it may not be plain sailing," he added. Other major deals during 2016 include the sale of retail parks Junction One in Co Antrim and The Outlet in Banbridge to Lotus and Tristan Capital Partners. And in office investment deals, Holywood property firm Wirefox bought Longbridge House in Waring Street as well as Oxford and Gloucester House on Chichester Street, for undisclosed sums. Former Andor non-executive chairman Colin Walsh with Sandra Scannell from the Northern Ireland Chamber of Commerce and Danske Banks Katherine James on a visit to the company in 2012 A West Belfast manufacturer of scientific digital cameras has reported close to a five-fold increase in pre-tax profits to 11m, though staff numbers are down by 10%. Andor Technology's sales also fell by nearly 26% from 81.6m to 59.8m in the 12 months to March 2016, while spending on research and development had dropped 50% to 4.6m. Andor, which employs around 280 people producing camera equipment for industry and academia, was taken over by Oxford Instruments plc for 276m three years ago. Its latest results relate to a year-long period compared to the 18-month stretch covered in the previous results. Customers carrying out research claimed the biggest share of its 59.8m sales, at 31m. And all of its equipment was sold to the UK or further afield, with North and South America accounting for the biggest share at 24m. The firm, which is based at Springvale Business Park, had been one of Northern Ireland's few listed companies before its takeover by Oxford Instruments. Economist John Simpson welcomed the growth in pre-tax profits. He said: "This shows that Andor is now operating very successfully following the takeover - and it will propel the firm up the list of Northern Ireland's most profitable companies." And he said the fall in R&D was a reflection of the different time period covered in the latest accounts. "It is clear that despite the decrease in the R&D spend, the company is continuing to keep a good level of spending - which was one of the original strengths of Andor," he added. A strategic report accompanying the results said a "more favourable sales mix" had resulted in an increase in gross margin from 48.2% to 48.6%. And it said spending on R&D was at 8% of turnover. "This investment continues to be strategically important and necessary to retain our competitive advantage," said the report. Staff numbers over the most recent period had fallen from 317 in 2015 to 284. The company had announced 20 job losses in 2015. Employee benefit expenses were also down over the period from 22.9m to 14.8m as a result of the fall in job numbers. Operating profit was well up at 7.7m, compared to 1.5m, while operating margin was at 12.9% compared to 1.9% the period before. The report said: "This margin improvement is as a result of the favourable gross margin plus the reduced operating expenses as noted." The firm paid 1m in corporation tax at an effective rate of 8.6%, compared to the standard rate of 20%, as the company had benefited from group relief. And it enjoyed cash balances of 3m, in addition to a bank overdraft of 2.3m. It has offices in Japan and America. Its board of directors includes Donal Denvir, who co-founded the company as a spin-off from Queen's University with Hugh Cormicain. However, financial director Kevin Boyd stepped down in April, the report states. Last year Oxford Instruments reported close to a 5% fall in sales to 361.6m in the year to the end of March. Adjusted profits before tax were 37m. Bombardier is selling up to 12 of its Q400 planes - which are part-made in Belfast - to Philippine Airlines. The carrier announced its intention to buy the aircraft in October. It has now confirmed an order for five, with an option to buy a further seven. The deal is valued at approximately $165m (135m), and could increase to $401m (327m) should Philippine Airlines exercise its option. Fred Cromer, president of Bombardier commercial aircraft, said: "With the lowest seat-mile costs in the regional aircraft market, the extra-capacity, two-class Q400 aircraft will offer Philippine Airlines significant opportunities to differentiate itself competitively. "The Q400 aircraft is the ideal solution for the airline as it develops its domestic operations network from secondary hubs and increases intra-island connectivity." The Canadian manufacturer's Belfast operation designs and builds the wing-mounted flight components for the turboprop. The five ordered aircraft are expected to be delivered throughout next year. Bombardier has received orders for 571 Q400s. Airlines operating the planes include Flybe. The carrier uses them on flights from Belfast to destinations including Edinburgh and Southampton. Bombardier says it expects to see single-digit revenue growth next year buoyed by a ramp-up in its CSeries passenger jets. It also says it will continue to push for a $1bn bailout from the Canadian Government. The manufacturer, which employs around 5,000 people in Northern Ireland, is cutting 1,080 jobs here. Just last month the company delivered its first CS300 aircraft to Air Baltic. It also secured an order for two of the jets from Air Tanzania. Earlier this year Bombardier signed a deal with Air Canada for up to 75 of the CSeries passenger jets, and US airline Delta also ordered 75. The company order book for the aircraft now stands at 360. In its latest accounts, released last month, cost-cutting helped slash Bombardier's commercial aircraft losses to $450m (393m). Elsewhere in Bombardier's business, it closed 2016 with a $2bn (1.64bn) deal at its Berlin-based rail division by signing a framework agreement with Austrian Federal Railways that could cover up to 300 trains. A network has been launched to strengthen trading ties between British and Irish businesses as they confront the challenges of Brexit. The British Irish Chamber of Commerce (BICC) has created the British Irish Gateway (BIG) for Trade to bring together companies on either side of the Irish Sea John McGrane, the BICC's director general, said 2017 will "focus the mind" on the importance of the trade relationship between Britain and Ireland, which supports more than 400,000 jobs. He said: "At a time when businesses are preparing for Brexit, they appreciate a resource like BIG, which helps them to grow their business by being introduced to more customers and suppliers across the UK and Ireland. "Firms on both sides of the Irish Sea are looking for more trading opportunities and this new service supports the work of chambers and the various State agencies to make those connections easier to find for businesses north, south, east and west." The move comes as the Central Bank of Ireland begins laying the groundwork to accommodate a significant number of London-based financial services firms looking to move their operations to Dublin in the wake of Brexit. Gerry Cross, the bank's director of policy and risk, said it was poised to help businesses "think constructively" about relocation. London's financial firms are waiting with bated breath to discover whether the UK can hold on to passporting rights - which allow them to trade freely across Europe - once Britain exits the EU. The cost of a so-called "hard Brexit" to revenues in Britain's financial services sector has been estimated to be as high as 38bn, with up to 75,000 jobs being at risk. A revamp of Connswater Retail Park in east Belfast will see 65 jobs created as part of a new 1m Home Bargains superstore, the Belfast Telegraph can reveal. But it means an existing Harry Corry outlet will shut its doors as early as March as the new business moves in. Home Bargains will take over the Harry Corry unit, which will be merged with premises currently occupied by Lidl. The German discounter is moving to a larger unit at then retail park. It's understood Harry Corry staff will be redeployed elsewhere and that the company is in talks about finding a new location. Connswater Shopping Centre, located beside the retail park, is also selling one of its major units, which includes part of the former Tesco store left behind when the supermarket pulled out last year. Retail experts highlighted their concerns over Connswater following the closure of Dunnes Stores in February and Tesco in April. The new tenant makes it increasingly unlikely Connswater will attract another big grocery retailer to the centre in the near future. Plans submitted to Belfast City Council detail the amalgamation of two retail units, including a change of use, for the new Home Bargains store. A planning statement on behalf of Connswater says: "The introduction of a Home Bargains at this location will clearly complement the existing facilities and stem any leakage for this type of retail offer." The Connswater centre and retail park are owned by property developer Frank Boyd. Last year Belfast City Council gave the green light to Lidl's plans for a new store at Connswater Retail Park. Connswater has been struggling to find a big-name retailer to fill the void left by Tesco and Dunnes. The Lidl decision was a turnaround for the council, which had previously indicated it would reject the plans. It argued there were other suitable vacant sites, such as the former Tesco and Dunnes premises at Connswater, and vacant sites at the Park Centre in west Belfast and at Forestside in the south of the city. Meanwhile, Harry Corry will now have to find a new suitable site in east Belfast to replace its Connswater store. In its latest accounts, the company returned to profits of more than 1m. That was just a year after it posted losses and entered into an agreement to pay part of its debts to creditors. Boss Willie Corry said an agreed reduction in the rent the firm pays for its shops, a boost in online sales and an improved retail landscape helped the firm to turn its fortunes around. It posted pre-tax profits of 1.18m for the year to the end of February 2016, a major turnaround from a loss of 653,000 a year earlier. Turnover increased from 40.16m to 41.3m. "It's paying market rents which has made a difference," Mr Corry said. Oscar-winning screenwriter Dustin Lance Black has said he has no respect for actors who lie about their sexuality. The US filmmaker - who is engaged to Olympic diver Tom Daley - said people who mislead the public about their sexual orientation send a "negative message". He told Attitude magazine: "I have no respect for someone who lies about their sexuality. "At the very least say 'no comment', just keep your personal life personal. "But if you're going to closet yourself, that sends a negative message." Black said he blames Hollywood agents for making actors feel as if their sexuality will affect their career. "I've never encountered homophobia in casting from the studios or networks, not once, not ever," said the 42-year-old. "Where you encounter it is with the agents and the managers, they're the ones who have an outdated notion of the price an actor might pay if it's discovered that they're LGBTQ... "Often they don't want to see anything happen that might compromise their investment." Black added: "I think they cripple their actors because they stunt the star's ability to be open and honest, and an audience can feel that." The director won an Oscar for his script for the 2008 film Milk, about the first openly gay man elected to public office in California. His new drama series When We Rise dramatises the LGBTQ rights movement across several decades. Black hopes it encourages more people to fight for equality, particularly in light of the recent US presidential election. "I hope to inspire a new generation to stand up and fight back and protect what we have in a moment of darkness like this," he said. Black has been in a relationship with Daley, 22, since 2013. That year, Daley posted a video to YouTube to announce he was dating a man. He said: "Come spring this year, my life changed massively when I met someone and it made me feel so happy, so safe and everything just feels great. And that someone is a guy." Teaching unions are to sit down with employers next week as a stormy stand-off over salary levels continues. It will be just the second time the two sides have met since last October when the unions walked out of pay negotiations which had gone on for 13 months. The Northern Ireland Teachers Council (NITC) met employers on December 20, where preliminary discussions for this month were agreed. NITC is the body that represents all five teaching unions here ATL, INTO, NAHT, NASUWT and UTU. The discussions will take place on January 12. Avril Hall Callaghan from UTU said the meeting will examine whether formal negotiations between staff and employers can restart. The Education Authority offered a 0% pay increase for 2015/16 and 1% for 2016/17 following negotiations that lasted over a year. The unions had initially sought a higher increase for teachers. They walked out of the talks last October saying that salaries for teachers here were falling behind their counterparts in England and Wales. Since then members of the biggest union NASUWT staged strikes in the Belfast and Newtownabbey areas, causing confusion and the closure of some schools. NASUWT has threatened further walkouts in other areas of Northern Ireland on dates that have yet to be announced. INTO members have also voted to strike, while ATL and UTU members voted for industrial action short of walkouts. It means teachers and UTU associate inspectors will not be co-operating with school inspections from January 12. This action will not impact on children as teachers will continue to provide a full service for them, Ms Hall Callaghan said. We chose to take action on inspections as we believe the inordinate workload they create results in minimal outcome. She added: Members feel they have no alternative but to step up their industrial action in a bid to highlight their strength of feeling about the current crisis in our education system. Teachers, who have seen the value of their take home pay reduced by at least 15% since 2010/11, are being treated in this dismissive fashion. They are justifiably feeling exploited and are telling us that this attitude has been the final straw. We hope NITCs preliminary meeting with employers on January 12 will go some way towards plotting a path through the present impasse. A number of businesses were forced to close their doors due to the power outage. Power has been restored after an outage forced some businesses in Belfast city centre to close for a short period on Wednesday. The outage occurred in the Arthur Street and Castle Lane areas just after 1pm. Donegal Place businesses were also hit. It was estimated 240 properties were affected. Within an hour that number was cut to 33. And by 2.30pm all customers were back on the grid. Traffic lights around the area were also affected. In a statement NIE Networks said: "A fault in an underground electricity cable left around 240 customers in Belfast city centre without electricity on Wednesday lunchtime. NIE Networks emergency teams responded immediately restoring power to all but 33 properties within an hour. Engineers are continuing to work to restore power to the remaining properties. 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 Danielle Hamilton with a picture of her grandfather David Graham and her grandmother on their wedding day A Cookstown teenager whose grandfather was murdered by the IRA nearly 40 years ago is set to embark on a special trip to the United States where she will talk to other people who have been affected by terrorism. Danielle Hamilton (19) will spend five days in Washington DC where she will take part in the Project Common Bond winter programme which helps promote sustainable peace-building and reconciliation. Her grandfather David Graham was shot in Coalisland by the Provisional IRA on March 15, 1977. Mr Graham, who was a part-time member of the UDR, died of his injuries 10 days later in hospital. No one has ever been brought to justice for his death. Danielle - whose family is involved with Innocent Victims United - will use the project to build upon her leadership, conflict negotiation and resolution skills. The aim of the event is to empower participants to use their unique experiences to make a difference in their own communities. The conference is run by Tuesday's Children, a group that was formed in the aftermath of the September 11 terrorist atrocities in the United States. Despite not being born when her grandfather was killed, Danielle's mum Serena says her daughter witnessed the devastating impact the murder had. "As a family we have suffered four decades of trauma following my daddy's murder. It has been soul destroying to watch the way the murderers have escaped any form of punishment for their crimes," Serena said. "I was only seven when my daddy was killed, and there isn't a day that goes by that I don't think about him. Simple things like that loving hug from a father. My health has deteriorated, and I had heart failure 13 years ago which I believe was partly because of the trauma. "It has been tough, and Danielle witnessed the trauma and heartache as she grew up. "I don't think people realise the impact a murder can have on a family, even on the generations that come years after the death. Danielle never knew her grandfather, and a lot of the stories she has heard about him have revolved around his death. "But we have also talked about what a great family man he was. He worked day and night, but at the weekends and when he had holidays, he always spent them with his family. I remember trips to the seaside and sitting in the back seat of his car with my two brothers, eating fish and chips. "We used to travel the length and breadth of the country when we were on our holidays. "He was a great man." She added: "We are very proud of Danielle as a family. "This is a new experience and a new challenge for her in her life. In a strange way, it is something positive to come out of the murder of her grandfather." Speaking before flying out to the US, Danielle said: "I hope that I will learn some useful tools while I am in America which will assist me to better contribute to the objective of healing Northern Ireland's society. "It is so important that I and others continue our journey of development around these issues which plague so many nations throughout the world." The 48-year-old admits possessing the compound longbow, three arrows and an axe in a public place. A 48-year-old man has appeared in court charged with the attempted murder of his US born neighbour by allegedly firing an arrow at him from his compound longbow after their friendship of over twenty years had ended acrimoniously. Brian Gerald Forbes from Glenanne in the Brandywell area of Derry was arrested at his home on Tuesday morning by members of the PSNI's Armed Response Unit who were called to deal with what the court was told was a series of bizarre and erratic incidents outside the victim's Glendara home. The defendant has denied attempting to murder his former friend by firing an arrow at him as the victim crouched behind his front door. He also denied threatening to kill his neighbour by shouting at him "I am going to kill you, get your bike and leave". However the defendant has admitted causing criminal damage to his neighbour's home by hacking his ground floor front door with a large axe and by firing an arrow which struck the victim's bedroom window. He also admits possessing the compound longbow, three arrows and an axe in a public place. The police witness told District Judge Barney McElholm that the victim said he was watching television in his bedroom when at eight o'clock on Tuesday morning he heard a loud bang against his bedroom window. He got up and went outside where he saw the defendant standing about twenty feet away on a footpath and loading an arrow into his longbow. The officer said the injured party was afraid and retreated into his home. Once inside he looked out of his front door and saw the defendant advancing towards his flat carrying a large axe. The detective constable said: "As he crouched behind his front door the injured party looked out and saw the suspect loading the bow and arrow and pointing it towards him. The suspect fired off an arrow which struck and lodged in the door. "The injured party pulled the arrow out of the door, went back into his home and closed the door. The suspect then struck the door with the axe between seven and eleven times over a period of one minute. He then walked to his nearby home were he was arrested by members of the Armed Response Unit." The officer said she opposed the defendant being granted bail because of fear of re-offending and because the victim was in genuine fear that the alleged threats against him would be carried out. Applying for bail defence solicitor Eugene Burns said the defendant had no record for offences of a violent nature. He said the two men first met while working on building sites in London in 1994 and when the defendant returned to his native Derry in 2000 he brought the defendant with him. Initially they stayed in the defendant's flat before the injured party moved into his own flat nine months after arriving in Derry. Mr. Burns said the close friendship gradually deteriorated and eventually ended. He said the defendant had a mental health history and committed those offences which he has admitted after he'd stopped taking his medication and after he'd disengaged from the community mental health team. He said for the last twenty years the defendant was a daily user of cannabis because he believed it had therapeutic benefits for his mental and physical health issues. "He has no history of violence but he has hit rock bottom in terms of his mental health", Mr. Burns said. Adjourning the bail application District Judge Barney McElholm said his primary duty was the protection of the public. "What was he doing wandering around with the bow and arrow anyway?" he said. "The public has the right to say to the Courts we cannot have people running around with bows and arrows and axes", he added. The District Judge said he would adjourn the bail application until a video link hearing on January 12. He said by that date he hoped to have details of the defendant's medication, evidence of his therapeutic counselling and a full mental health assessment. In the meantime the defendant was remanded in custody. James Brokenshire has written to local parties asking whether the time is right to move to complete openness and publish details of gifts and loans The UK Government is considering revealing full details of party political donors in Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland Secretary James Brokenshire has written to local parties asking whether the time is right to move to complete openness and publish details of gifts and loans. Northern Ireland was not included in an earlier scheme requiring the reporting of donations over fears donors would be intimidated if their details were made public. Belfast City councillors recently supported disclosing the names of those who make large donations to politicians. Mr Brokenshire said: "I would now like to seek views on whether the time is now right to move towards full transparency on donations and loans and to implement a change to the rules as soon as possible, bringing Northern Ireland into step with the wider UK." The parties' views will be sought on ending the current arrangements, which require full confidentiality. The Conservative Cabinet member added: "The political and security context in Northern Ireland has changed significantly since the last consultation on this issue and I know that political parties have been reflecting carefully on their previous positions." Following consultation in 2010, the UK Government proposed amending the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 to provide for the Electoral Commission to publish information relating to Northern Ireland donations and loans without revealing the identities of donors or lenders. The Northern Ireland Office (NIO) is now seeking views from the political parties on whether the time is now right to move to full transparency. Mr Brokenshire said: "Voters in Northern Ireland will also welcome more information about how their political parties are funded." The Walk of Freedom makes its way across the Peace Bridge in Derry For 18 years Vanessa Craig suffered physical, verbal and psychological abuse at the hands of her partner - but four years ago she freed herself and her children from that predicament. She was one of around 100 people who took part in the Walk of Freedom in Londonderry organised by La Dolce Vita founder and domestic violence survivor Donna Maria Logue. Walkers symbolically exchanged shoes and walked over the Peace Bridge to the City Hotel where a number of speakers, including SDLP MLA Mark H Durkan and Sinn Fein's Maeve McLaughlin, called for better services for victims. Speaking to the Belfast Telegraph, Ms Logue said: "La Dolce Vita is all about helping people take that first step into freedom. "People don't understand the difficulties you face with domestic abuse, the challenges you face in trying to leave an abusive relationship. "Our message to anyone in such a relationship is that they are not alone, and we hope to highlight that through this event, which marks the first anniversary of La Dolce Vita. "The idea of the Walk In My Shoes Walk Of Freedom came because every single person that we talked to said 'people judge me'. There is too much stigma attached to domestic abuse - it is not up to us to judge a person, but we can walk with them. We will never understand what it is like to walk in their shoes, but we can try." One woman who says she has walked in those shoes is Vanessa. She got married at 18 years of age, hoping for a long and happy life as a wife and mother. Sadly, she said that was far from the reality she faced on a daily basis until one day, four years ago, she began her own walk of freedom. Ms Craig explained: "For 18 years I suffered domestic abuse, verbal, emotional and physical, until around four years ago when I put my ex-husband out of the house. "I tried to take my own life, and that was the point that I realised something had to be done. "Even when he was out of the house he persisted in emotionally blackmailing me, but I stuck to my guns because my children had witnessed their father trying to kill me. "That wasn't what I wanted my children to see, so I contacted Donna Maria and she helped me through everything including the court process, which was horrendous. "My husband had been arrested numerous times for assault but I would then drop the charges because he made me do it, but he was found guilty." Audrey Brown said it was seeing the trauma on the faces of her children that gave her the strength to leave an abusive relationship after 16 years. She said: "I was a mother who thought her children would be better off without her in their lives, that was how low I got. "The last attack on me took place in front of my six-year-old daughter. "And that night I saw myself from her perspective, and that was the light bulb moment for me." Anyone who needs help can contact La Dolce Vita on 028 7137 7272, Women's Aid on 028 9066 6049 and 028 7141 6800, or on 24-hour helpline number 0808 802 1414. Stormont could use emergency legislation to deal overspend in the botched Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) scheme. It is thought legislation is being worked on that will aim to reduce tariffs being paid to about 1,800 claimants. BBC Northern Ireland said the DUP wants the Executive to endorse the idea under emergency procedures this week meaning a potential recall of the next week. The move could see the scheme's overall costs over 20 years falling within the 660m of funding allocated directly from Westminster, meaning the Stormont Executive would not have any financial outlay. Economy Minister Simon Hamilton told UTV: "We have been working very hard over the Christmas period on developing a plan which will reduce the cost of RHI to the Northern Ireland budget. "The anticipated cost was between 400 million and 500 million over the next 20 years and weve been focusing on a range of options, Arlene and I now have a preferred option, which will reduce the cost to the Northern Ireland budget effectively to zero. "We now have a preferred option which we will be getting further legal advice on, I think its only fair and right that we make sure its a robust option and up to scrutiny. "I hope that I would be in the position to in the next couple of days to take that to the Executive for approval before bringing it back to the Assembly for scrutiny and approval as well." Sinn Fein Finance Minister Mairtin O Muilleoir said the DUP had not contacted him. He added: "I am bemused at the trailing in the media of a DUP plan to resolve the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) debacle when not one scrap of paper detailing this 'plan' has been received by the Department of Finance. "I am alert to the dangers of allowing the person who was the architect of the RHI scheme - the DUP leader - to come up with a solution to this debacle. That is why I will ensure my officials rigorously test any plan which comes from the DUP. "I will be guided solely by what is in the interest of the public purse. The DUP are in a hole and should stop digging. "Every plan produced by the Department of the Economy on this issue has been flawed." Bemused at DUP solution to #RHI being trailed on media before any plan is shared with @dptfinance DUP need to stop digging & share plans Mairtin O Muilleoir (@newbelfast) January 4, 2017 Expand Close Sinn Fein hold a press conference in the Great Hall in Parliament Buildings at Stormont over the ongoing RHI crisis. Left to right. Declan Kearney, Gerry kelly, Michelle O'Neill and Caral N Chuiln. Picture by Jonathan Porter/Press Eye / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Sinn Fein hold a press conference in the Great Hall in Parliament Buildings at Stormont over the ongoing RHI crisis. Left to right. Declan Kearney, Gerry kelly, Michelle O'Neill and Caral N Chuiln. Picture by Jonathan Porter/Press Eye Meanwhile Martin McGuinness has reiterated his call for Arlene Foster to step aside without prejudice pending the preliminary report of an independent investigation into the scheme. The Deputy First Minister and Health Minister Michelle ONeill met the First Minister and DUP deputy leader Nigel Dodds on Wednesday. Michelle ONeill said: "The Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness again reiterated the need for Arlene Foster to stand aside, without prejudice, until the publication of a preliminary report of an independent investigation into the RHI scandal. "Last week Sinn Fein informed the DUP that the terms of reference for an independent investigation, as drafted by the head of the civil service, were insufficient. "Sinn Fein has drafted proposals for the terms of reference for an Independent Panel Investigation of the Non Domestic Renewable Heat Incentive. "These will ensure a robust, time-framed, independent investigation with powers to compel witnesses and sub poena documents. This investigation will be led by a judicial figure. Expand Close Alliance Party leader Naomi Long PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Alliance Party leader Naomi Long "We have given these terms of reference to the head of the civil service and to the DUP." Read More "There was never a chance for me to stand aside because I have nothing to hide". She added: "I want an inquiry to go ahead and I want to get cost controls in place. I have been working with the Minister for the Economy to get a plan in place to deal with the projected overspend. That is what people want us to deal with at the minute," Mrs Foster said. The First Minister accused the other parties of using the RHI crisis to further their own political aims. "For Sinn Fein this is all about more than RHI. 2016 was a very good year for us in the DUP. " Allegations of misogyny Mrs Foster also claimed some of the calls for her stand down were because of her gender. Expand Close First Minister Arlene Foster speaks to Belfast Telegraph in relation to the RHI Scheme at Stormont Castle on the 3rd January 2017 ( Photo by Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph ) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp First Minister Arlene Foster speaks to Belfast Telegraph in relation to the RHI Scheme at Stormont Castle on the 3rd January 2017 ( Photo by Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph ) "There's a lot of it personal. There's a lot of it, sadly, misogynistic as well, because I'm a female, the first female leader of Northern Ireland," she said. In response Sinn Fein's Michelle O'Neill told the BBC Nolan Show: "This is not an Orange and Green issue, or a gender issue. This is about a financial scandal which has the potential to cost the public purse hundreds of millions of pounds". Read more Read More On Tuesday evening Belfast councillors backed a motion calling for a full public inquiry into the scheme and for Ms Foster to stand down pending the inquiry. The development comes amid an escalating political row that has edged the powersharing institutions towards implosion. Independent unionist councillor Ruth Patterson proposed the motion and following a lengthy debate, 23 councillors voted in favour, 12 voted against and 18 abstained. DUP voted against while Sinn Fein councillors abstained. The motion calls for Belfast City Council to write to the Secretary of State James Brokenshire and request a full public inquiry. The motion also called for the council to write to formally request that First Minister Arlene Foster steps aside pending an inquiry. Cllr Patterson said: "There is a little girl in the Royal Victoria Hospital who is terminally ill and she's not going to last much longer, and whenever I look at us sitting here squabbling and 400m gone up in smoke, just think of what that 400m could have done for the health service. It really puts everything into perspective this evening." Councillors also voted in support of a call to reveal the names of those who make large donations to Northern Ireland parties. The Alliance Party motion was passed by 38 votes in favour to 13 against. It was supported by councillors from Sinn Fein, the SDLP, Green Party, the Progressive Unionist Party (PUP) and the Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV). It was opposed by DUP and the Ulster Unionist Party councillors. 'Devolved matter' Earlier on Tuesday the British Government rejected a call by Alliance party leader Naomi Long to instigate a public inquiry into the scheme. However the Government made clear the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) controversy was a devolved issue for the administration in Belfast to deal with. Ms Long had written to Mr Brokenshire and the Chief Secretary to the Treasury David Gauke demanding intervention from London. In response, a Government spokesman said: "The operation of the RHI scheme is a matter for the NI Executive. So it is right for the Executive and the Assembly to decide the form of any investigation or inquiry." The state funded RHI was supposed to offer a proportion of the cost businesses had to pay to run eco-friendly boilers, but the subsidy tariffs were set too high, and without a cap, so it ended up paying out significantly more than the price of fuel. This enabled applicants to "burn to earn" - getting free heat and making a profit as they did it. Claims of widespread abuse include a farmer allegedly set to pocket around 1 million in the next two decades for heating an empty shed. Sinn Fein has made clear it will collapse Stormont's ruling executive, triggering fresh elections, if Democratic Unionist First Minister Arlene Foster, who oversaw the inception of the scheme during her time as economy minister, does not stand aside to enable an investigation to take place. With Mrs Foster steadfastly refusing to step down, the administration is on a course to hit the rocks in mid January when a Sinn Fein motion comes to the floor of the Assembly. Sinn Fein itself has faced claims of flip-flopping on the question of whether a full scale public inquiry should be launched. Confusion reigned on Monday when Sinn Fein chairman Declan Kearney issued a statement calling for a public inquiry, only for his comments to be withdraw and reissued by the party two hours later with the demand altered to a call for an independent investigation. The party blamed a "typo" for the content of the original statement. Mrs Long wrote to the UK government ministers, claiming DUP resistance to a public inquiry should prompt action from Whitehall. She said it was vital an inquiry was triggered, as it would have the powers to compel evidence and witnesses. "In light of such serious allegations and the failure of the Executive to address them, I would ask that Treasury step in and set up such a fully independent, judge-led inquiry into this matter as a matter of urgency as I am increasingly of the view that the NI Executive will not be capable of overcoming political differences to do so," she wrote. Ulster Unionist Party leader Mike Nesbitt said the affair demonstrated that the DUP and Sinn Fein were incapable of working together. "What is required now is a collective effort to start the process of restoring public confidence in the integrity of the devolved institutions," he said. "That requires leadership, and as our First Minister, Mrs Foster should lead the way by accepting the principle of Ministerial Responsibility and resigning. "We also need a judge-led, time-bound public inquiry under the terms of the 2005 Inquiries Act. "It is high time personal careers played second fiddle to saving Stormont." Traditional Unionist Voice leader Jim Allister said only a full public inquiry would suffice. "Sinn Fein's bluster on RHI will prove only that without commitment to a full public inquiry," he said. "Anything less provides a soft landing for its DUP partner, which, I suspect, is Sinn Fein's real intent. "As yet unseen concessions have probably been extracted, or are being negotiated, as the price of blocking a proper public inquiry." RHI spend estimated to be more than 1 billion It was originally envisaged that the Treasury would foot the bill for the RHI, but the costs spiralled well beyond London's financial commitment. The total RHI spend in Northern Ireland is estimated to be more than 1 billion over the next 20 years. The Treasury is set to cover 660 million of that, with Stormont landed with the remaining 490 million. Sinn Fein Health minister Michelle O'Neill again called on Mrs Foster to step aside. She said her party wanted a time-limited independent investigation that could compel witnesses. "Arlene Foster needs to step aside to allow that to happen and to begin to rebuild confidence in the political institutions," she said. "If Arlene Foster has any sense of the outrage and anger in the public then she will step aside." DUP MP for East Londonderry Gregory Campbell insisted his party leader would be going nowhere. "I don't think Arlene Foster really has any pressure on her from within the party or the unionist community," he told UTV. "The more Sinn Fein press for her to go the more unionists will be saying we need a strong woman and a strong first minister." A move to introduce a redesigned scheme, with tiered payments, in the autumn of 2015 was met by a flurry of applicants trying to get on to the old system before the date set for the changes. Almost 1,000 applied in three months - around the same number from over the previous three years. The deluge of new applications was a key factor in the massive overspend. Ulster Farmers' Union warned of spike On Tuesday there was a renewed focus on a statement from the Ulster Farmers' Union (UFU), issued when the scheme was finally closed in February 2016, which said it had warned Stormont of the risks of a spike months before it happened. The February statement from the UFU said that in July 2015 it met with the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment (a department then headed by DUP minister Jonathan Bell) and "warned of an imminent spike in demand". In response, the Department for the Economy (DETI's new name) said t he outcome of the meeting with the UFU was an agreed paper setting out the heat demands of a typical poultry house. "This paper and discussions at the meeting helped to inform the changes to the RHI scheme that were introduced in November 2015 and the introduction of a 400,000 kwh cap," said a departmental spokeswoman. "The department recognises, with hindsight, that earlier introduction of cost controls and disincentives to excess use of the scheme might well have reduced or prevented the spike in applications which forced the sudden suspension of the RHI in February 2016. "Full understanding of why this happened will be the subject of the forthcoming independent investigation." Sir Dennis Faulkner, a former regimental colonel of the Ulster Defence Regiment, has passed away aged 90. He was a well-known businessman, a former deputy lieutenant of Co Down, and the younger brother of Brian Faulkner, last Prime Minister of Northern Ireland. Colonel Sir James Dennis Compton Faulkner was born in Helen's Bay on October 22, 1926, and was the youngest son of James and Nora Faulkner. His father was a leading businessman who owned the Belfast Collar Company, which traded under the name of Faulat. At one time it was thought to be the largest single-purpose shirt factory in the world, with some 3,000 employees. There was a Faulat Ladies Pipe Band, which was well-known and played frequently at functions throughout Northern Ireland. Dennis Faulkner's brother Brian was an outstanding Ulster Unionist politician who received praise from across the board for his work as Minister of Commerce from 1963. His tireless efforts in the role resulted in considerable inward investment. His businesslike approach in this job was reminiscent of the commercial ability of his father and younger brother, whom he resembled physically. In a turbulent political career, Brian Faulkner became the sixth and last Prime Minister of Northern Ireland, from March 23, 1971 until March 30, 1972, when the province came under direct rule from London. He was briefly head of the power-sharing Northern Ireland Executive that was brought down by the Ulster Workers' Council strike in May of 1974. He died in a hunting accident near his home at Seaforde, Co Down, in March 1977 His able younger brother was also a staunch unionist, but he chose a commercial career and was associated with a number of leading businesses in Northern Ireland. Dennis Faulkner also had a distinguished service career. He was a former officer in the Royal Navy, and a lieutenant in the Royal Naval Reserve. He was later commissioned into the UDR, which was established in 1970 to add to existing Army and police resources in combating the Provisional IRA and other paramilitary groups. Dennis Faulkner was appointed CBE in 1980, and he was later knighted for his services. He was a charming man, with considerable inner strength and determination that earned the respect of many. Dennis was also a noted yachtsman, and took part in several Fastnet races. He was one of the few people from Irish shores to have taken part in the Southern Hemisphere classic, the Buenos Aires-Rio de Janeiro race. And in 1969 he became commodore of the Irish Cruising Club. Dennis Faulkner was predeceased by his wife Janet, and he is survived by his children Katie, Hilary and Alison, and his grandchildren Anna, Alexander and Alice. A service of thanksgiving for his life will be announced by his family later. Belfast councillors have backed a motion calling for a public inquiry in the Renewable Heat Incentive scandal. Independent unionist Ruth Patterson put forward the motion during last night's council meeting. It also called on First Minister Arlene Foster to step aside until such an inquiry was completed. The motion was carried by 23-12. Eighteen councillors abstained. The DUP opposed the proposal and Sinn Fein abstained. It followed criticism of the republican party that it had softened its position on the type of probe it wanted into RHI. Belfast City Council will now call on Secretary of State James Brokenshire to initiate a full public inquiry into what Ms Patterson described as the "RHI shambles". "This scheme is a farce, a waste of hundreds of millions - how many hundreds we don't even know yet - of taxpayers' money. "Why was the RHI scheme constructed in such a woeful manner? And who benefited from such scandalous errors? "There have been serious allegations from a former DUP minister, Mr Jonathan Bell, of political corruption. "These allegations need fully tested and investigated." She further stated that Mrs Foster should "demonstrate some remorse" by stepping aside from her role as First Minister. After being ordered to wrap up her speech by DUP Belfast Lord Mayor Brian Kingston, Ms Patterson added: "To those in the DUP that have a conscience, going against your party isn't easy. "They will savage you, and perhaps, like me, you will even be savaged by the electorate, but at least you won't be tortured by your own conscience. "History will judge you kindly. "I ask all of my colleagues in this chamber, regardless of party background, vote for what is right. "Do not vote for your party, vote for the difference between right and wrong, because, frankly, Northern Ireland deserves better." She wept as she described a terminally ill young girl who is being treated at the Royal Victoria Hospital. "Whenever I look at us, sitting here squabbling and 400m gone up in smoke, just think what that could have done for the health service in this province. "It really puts everything into perspective." Sinn Fein's Jim McVeigh had proposed an amendment in which he called for an investigation by an independent judicial figure. He further backed calls for Mrs Foster to stand aside to allow an "independent, time-framed, robust and transparent investigation". However, the amendment was defeated. Mr McVeigh said: "We recognise that we are in the middle of a huge political crisis, that our institutions have been brought into disrepute, some of the most serious allegations of corruption at the highest levels of government, and widespread incompetence of the most serious allegations deserve to be taken very seriously. "The public want individuals to be held accountable for their actions. "The public want the First Minister to step aside for a fair investigation to take place. "It must have the powers to compel witnesses. "We believe a public statutory inquiry will take too long." Ulster Unionist Jeffrey Dudgeon also proposed an amendment calling for a "time-bound public inquiry" into the botched energy scheme. He further called for the leader of the DUP to resign from her role. However, his amendment was also voted down. PUP councillor Billy Hutchinson said a "clear message" had been sent to the Secretary of State following last night's meeting. "Confidence in politics itself has been shaken. We urgently appeal to the Secretary of State to take the necessary steps to show that good governance can be restored, and that justice will be done," he said. Meanwhile, Alliance councillor Kate Nicholl proposed a motion in which she called for political parties to be "brought into line with the UK" by revealing names of single donors over 7,500. The motion was passed despite opposition from the DUP and UUP. "Increasing openness and transparency in politics can only be a good thing, particularly in the current climate. Alliance already voluntarily publishes our large donor information but unfortunately not many other parties follow our example," said councillor Nicholl. "It was disappointing to see the DUP and UUP voting against this evening's motion, which sought to make politics more publicly accountable, and they will have to answer to the public as to why they did just that." DUP councillor Tom Haire has been appointed as the new High Sheriff of Belfast. The Belfast councillor will be officially sworn in to the post at the next council meeting when he replaces the current High Sheriff Jim Rodgers. Unlike the mayoral year, the post of High Sheriff begins this month and ends the following December. Historically, the role has been that of protector of the monarch's interests. However, it is now largely ceremonial, and since 1973 the appointment has been made by the Secretary of State, usually on the recommendation of Belfast City Council. Mr Rodgers, an Ulster Unionist, wished his successor well in his new post. "I'd like to thank Lord Mayor Brian Kingston and the Deputy Lord Mayor for the last six months that I have worked closely with the two of you as High Sheriff," he said. "I'd like to wish my successor Alderman Tom Haire a highly successful year, there is no better man to follow me. "I have known Tom a long time and I will be there for him on any occasion he needs help and assistance." Mr Kingston thanked the outgoing High Sheriff. Historically, the position of High Sheriff is one of the oldest secular offices in the UK, dating back to the Local Government (Ireland) Act of 1898. The High Sheriff's role largely involves providing support to the Lord Mayor and Deputy Lord Mayor during their term in office. Some of his duties will include attending civic functions hosted by the Lord Mayor, undertaking specific functions on behalf of the council, attending functions in place of the Lord Mayor and providing general support to the Lord Mayor. Michelle ONeill says the First Minister must take herself out of the firing line to aid RHI probe Sinn Fein has again called for Arlene Foster to step aside as First Minister and said that an independent investigation into 'cash for ash' - with the power to compel witnesses - is the only way forward. Health Minister Michelle O'Neill said that a process was needed "which gets to the facts quickly, effectively, and with minimum cost to restore confidence in the political process". But Sinn Fein has backed down on its previous demand that a public inquiry, rather than one behind closed doors, was needed. Ms O'Neill said: "The quickest and most cost-effective way is a thorough, independent investigation which is robust, transparent, time-framed and led by a senior judicial figure from outside the jurisdiction. "If Arlene Foster has any sense of the outrage and anger in the public then she will step aside." Sinn Fein will bring a motion to the Assembly on the issue on January 16. However, East Londonderry MP Gregory Campbell retorted that Mrs Foster was going nowhere and was under no pressure from within her party or the unionist community. "The more Sinn Fein press for her to go, the more unionists will say: 'We need a strong woman and a strong First Minister'," he said. Sinn Fein's national chairman Declan Kearney earlier said that if Mrs Foster didn't step aside for an "independent investigation" into the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) scheme, her position as First Minister would be "untenable". Speaking on BBC Radio Ulster, he accused the DUP of "unvarnished arrogance" and said an Assembly election was possible. TUV leader Jim Allister accused Sinn Fein of "bluster" and said it was significant that the party had capitulated on its previous demand for a public inquiry. "Anything less provides a soft landing for its DUP partner which, I suspect, is Sinn Fein's real intent. No matter how it is dressed up, a mere "investigation" will be a vehicle for cover-up and whitewash," he said. "Only a public inquiry, under the Inquiries Act 2005, would have the essential powers to compel witnesses and the production of documents." Mr Allister said that a behind-closed-doors investigation would be "a toothless tool". He claimed that Sinn Fein was likely negotiating concessions from the DUP "as the price of blocking a proper public inquiry". Ulster Unionist leader Mike Nesbitt was also sceptical over whether Sinn Fein would see through its tough verbal stance on 'cash for ash', or would back down after secret "horse trading" with the DUP. Mr Nesbitt said that RHI was just "the latest in a long line of scandals, failures, and crises" that had plagued the DUP-Sinn Fein administration. "They promised us a Fresh Start, but the only thing that is fresh about the current debacle is that it is not called Red Sky, or Nama, or the Social Investment Fund," he said. Mr Nesbitt called on Mrs Foster to show leadership by accepting the principle of ministerial responsibility and resigning in order to restore public confidence in the political institutions. "We need a judge-led, time-bound public inquiry under the 2005 Inquiries Act. It is high time personal careers played second fiddle to saving Stormont," he added. Meanwhile, the British Government has rejected a call that it instigate a public inquiry into the RHI scandal, which is set to cost tax-payers almost 500 million. Alliance leader Naomi Long had written to Secretary of State James Brokenshire and the Chief Secretary to the Treasury David Gauke demanding London's intervention. But a Government spokesman last night said: "The operation of the RHI scheme is a matter for the Northern Ireland Executive. So it is right for the Executive and the Assembly to decide the form of any investigation or inquiry." Mrs Long maintained that a judge-led public inquiry is the only way forward and dismissed Sinn Fein claims that it could take years as "nonsense". She said: "This crisis can only be addressed by complete openness and transparency. Anything short of this would raise a number of questions and give the perception of something being hidden." SDLP MLA Patsy McGlone also said that a public inquiry was the only viable choice. "I want to see a situation where something is not conducted behind closed doors by a panel of hand-picked people and hidden away from public view," he added. It seems hugely unfair that the party responsible for the 'cash for ash' scandal isn't the one likely to pay the biggest political price for the debacle. Sinn Fein's total failure thus far to challenge the DUP in any substantial way over the loss of up to 500 million in taxpayers' money is causing huge anger, even among normally loyal supporters in its heartlands. The party, which is endlessly calling for public inquiries into all sorts of matters, won't demand one into the biggest financial scandal to ever hit Northern Ireland. Or rather it did, and then it U-turned, blaming a "typo" for what had appeared in an An Phoblacht article by party chairman Declan Kearney. The "typo" line didn't wash with many. A cartoon circulating on social media shows a fleeing hen. "Chicken Sinn Fein now running from public inquiry after DUP phone call", declares the caption. While 'cash for ash' is a DUP scandal, Sinn Fein is under pressure because of its weak, wimpy response. This is the party which for decades ridiculed the SDLP as the 'Stoop Down Low Party' of forelock-tugging toadies. Yet despite all its radical rhetoric, Sinn Fein has brought rollover republicanism to Stormont. In the Easter Rising's centenary year of 2016, Pearse and Connolly must have been spinning in their graves. Martin McGuiness (right) warned of "grave consequences" if Arlene Foster went ahead with her solo speech to the Assembly last month. She did anyway and what happened? Nothing. Sinn Fein wouldn't even support the Opposition parties' no confidence motion in her. Had Mr McGuinness behaved in the same fashion, neither the DUP nor its voters would have tolerated it. To grassroots nationalists, Sinn Fein appears content to sit at the back of the bus. Now 2017 presents the party with another opportunity to do what its supporters would see as the right thing. The Ulster Unionists, SDLP, Alliance, TUV and People Before Profit can growl all they want at the DUP in Stormont, but only Sinn Fein has the power to take decisive action and collapse the Executive. Had Arlene Foster wanted to make life easy for her partners in government she would have volunteered to stand aside even for a token few weeks to allow some sort of investigation into the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) scandal. But she won't throw even that bone their way. And in today's Belfast Telegraph interview she does Sinn Fein no favours, pointing to Martin McGuinness's illness and saying his party is in turmoil. Sinn Fein, which pledged to "put manners" on the Establishment, is being slapped down at every opportunity. It's accepting this treatment because it has become so comfortable within the system. Wander around Parliament Buildings and you can see the party's attachment to riding the gravy train. Sinn Fein defends its position by stressing the need to protect the political institutions. But that fondness for the institutions isn't replicated in either nationalist or unionist working-class areas because they haven't delivered anything for ordinary people. Despite DUP propaganda, unionist grassroots are enraged at 'cash for ash', but the party will probably escape electoral disaster by playing the sectarian card. That old trick doesn't work as well for the Shinners nowadays. More and more nationalists just aren't voting, and People Before Profit is growing in size and stature. It's a DUP scandal but, as Sinn Fein's spineless response continues, it is that party feeling the heat. A Senior Libyan official wanted to give the IRA more than 35m to murder then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, newly-released state papers have revealed. An Irish Government paper shows that one of their ambassadors made an "urgent visit" to Tripoli to express their "grave concerns" about a possible renewal of support by the Libyan government for the IRA. The documents, which were released under the 30-year rule for the publication of Irish state material, show that the country's ambassador to Rome, Eamon Kennedy made the trip in June 1986 where he met Saad Muzber, chief of protocol to Colonel Muammar Gaddafi. Kennedy was ordered by Minister for Foreign Affairs Peter Barry to tell the authorities in Libya that "the IRA is the enemy of the Irish State" and such support was "unacceptable". The ambassador claimed that Muzber was "very close" to Gaddafi and he was "the political link between the people's committees and the foreign office". The Libyan official blamed Mrs Thatcher (below) for helping US President Ronald Reagan with attacks on Libyan cities Tripoli and Benghazi in April 1986. He told the Irish official: "Thatcher and her children will have to pay, let there be no doubt about that. If she does not leave office she and her family will be destroyed." During ambassador Kennedy's two-hour meeting with Mr Muzber, for some of the time the Libyan "was screaming, weeping and sweating all at once". According to the document, he added: "But towards the end he said something to which I took serious exception. He said that at the next popular congress he would advocate, despite all I had said, full support for the IRA against Thatcher. 'What could the IRA not do, he asked, if they had $50 million to use against Thatcher'?" Thatcher escaped an IRA attack in 1984 when they bombed the Brighton hotel which was hosting the Conservative Party conference. Five people were killed and more than 30 injured in the attack. Innocent Victims United spokesman Kenny Donaldson said that despite the IRA's campaigns of terrorism, they were unable to "break Margaret Thatcher". "The Libyans despised Thatcher and by default, the UK, and they were prepared to have the PIRA death cult act as their sub-contractors in mounting an assault on the UK state and its' people," he said. "It is not surprising that the Libyans were prepared to pay a ransom to PIRA serial killers for the head of the British Government." Arlene Foster's claims that calls for her to step aside over the RHI scandal are misogynistic have been rejected by Alliance leader Naomi Long as doing a disservice to women. The First Minister claimed calls for her to stand aside for an investigation into the multi-million pound debacle were personally motivated and because of her gender. She described comments on social media as "horrific". Speaking to the BBC, Economy Minister Simon Hamilton described the comments as "venomous" and based on her gender. He said the comments aimed at the DUP Leader were being "stoked by some within the media and other political parties". Read More Speaking on Radio Ulster's Stephen Nolan show Alliance leader Naomi Long said the claims calls for Mrs Foster to step aside were because of her gender were "absolutely wrong" and a "distraction tactic" to divert from the issue. She said: "We have asked the First Minister to step aside without prejudice so that we can investigate, move on, restore confidence and get to the bottom of this. "If that investigation vindicates Arlene, then she comes back stronger. "And if it raises more issues then she will have to deal with that. "But this is not misogynistic, it was the same for Peter Robinson. He voluntarily stood aside to allow for an investigation into what was a much smaller amount of money and came back. "This is not about misogyny, it is simply about accountability." The East Belfast MLA said Mrs Foster did a "disservice to women by playing the misogyny and sexist card". Mrs Long said there was misogyny in Northern Ireland politics but she felt it was less evident between political parties, "though it may be more acute within parties," she claimed. "To suggest we hold women to a lesser standard than to our male counterparts would be misogynistic. "One thing that Arlene and I agree on is that woman should be treated equal to men." Read More The SDLP North Belfast MLA Nichola Mallon said she strongly refuted the misogyny claims, adding: "Our response to this financial scandal would be exactly the same regardless if it was a man, a woman, whether it was a unionist, a nationalist or whatever their political persuasion. "This is not about Arlene being a woman or a unionist. "This is about incompetence with possible corruption. "This blame everybody but the DUP - but Arlene - is a tactic that is fooling no one." Read More She added: "Certainly there is an underrepresentation of women in politics as there is sadly still in other sectors especially when you get to higher levels. "In this case on this issue, this is not about Arlene being a woman or a unionist "This is about a financial scandal costing the taxpayer potentially 500m. "It is about finding out how the flawed scheme introduced under Arlene's watch, despite warnings issued that no action taken. "It is unfortunate we are discussing this matter... which is a distraction, sadly." Sinn Fein's Michelle O'Neill added: "This is not an Orange and Green issue, or a gender issue. This is about a financial scandal which has the potential to cost the public purse hundreds of millions of pounds. "The DUP are in denial about the growing public outrage at the misuse of public funds in the RHI scheme and the serious allegations of incompetence, corruption and abuse." Jim Allister described the claims gender was behind calls for Arlene to stand down as an "hysterical reaction" and "beyond belief". "What lies behind this is great public distaste and unease at the squander of public money," he said. Sinn Fein have rejected plans for an investigation into the RHI fiasco branding the proposals 'insufficient'. In her interview with the Belfast Telegraph, First Minister Arlene Foster revealed that the head of the Civil Service, in consultation with the Attorney General, had drawn up terms of reference for an independent inquiry into the RHI debacle. The DUP leader said they had been sent to Sinn Fein but no response had been made. Calls have been made for a full-blown public inquiry into the matter, something both ruling parties have rejected. More: Read More On Wednesday morning, Sinn Fein MLA Conor Murphy said there has been no agreement with the DUP over the terms of reference of an independent investigation into the RHI scandal. The MLA added: "The proposals from the Head of the Civil Service are insufficient. In order to restore public confidence in the political institutions we need an independent investigation, which is robust, transparent, time framed and led by a senior judicial figure from outside the jurisdiction and with the power to compel witnesses and sub poena documents. Arlene Foster should step aside to facilitate that investigation pending a preliminary report. The Renewable Heating Incentive is expected to cost the taxpayer over 400m. Government departments have been at odds over the full cost with the DUP Department of Economy saying it will be a maximum of 490m over 20 years, while the Sinn Fein led Department of Finance says that figure is over 600m. The scandal arose after caps were not put in place to restrict tariffs on cash paid out to businesses who used the scheme to install and run biomass boilers. When the cost of the wood pellets fuel used by the boilers plummeted, the fees paid out remained at a higher level meaning for every pound spent, businesses were receiving 1.60. Some businesses were found just to use the heating in order to rake in as much money as they could. One empty barn was found to be heated in order to generate profit from the scheme. The scheme was set up by Arlene Foster who was Enterprise Minister at the time. Last month in a special sitting of the Assembly she apologised for the lack of controls but defended her role. Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams made a personal statement to the Dail this evening on the murder of prison officer Brian Stack. In an unprecedented move the TD was granted a 5pm slot to reveal what details he knows about the 1983 murder. Mr Adams has previously said he does not have any new information on the murder, although he admits bringing Mr Stacks sons to meet a person who told them IRA members carried out the hit. Addressing the Dail, Mr Adams said he was making the statement following an email he "sent to the Garda Commissioner being put in the public realm". During the statement, he said; "I have tried to do my best to help the Stack family. I also have lost family members... I can understand what [the Stack family] feel like." Gerry Adams statement in full Let me begin by saying once again that the shooting of Brian Stack was wrong. It was a grievous loss for his family and should never have happened. In the absence of the two governments agreeing to a process to deal with the past I sought to try and assist the family of Brian Stack to gain a degree of acknowledgement and closure. I did so at their request. What has happened over the last year points up the challenges of this course of action and the urgent need for a proper legacy process to be established. For the record I will again set out the sequence of events and my efforts to assist the family of Brian Stack. Austin Stack approached me in 2013 seeking acknowledgment for what happened to his father. I met Austin Stack a number of times over the course of the following months, mostly on my own. Expand Close Brian Stack / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Brian Stack Austin and Oliver Stack made it clear to me personally and said publicly that they were not looking for people to go to gaol. They wanted acknowledgement and closure. There is a note of that initial meeting, I am releasing that today. The computer stamp shows that this note was typed into the computer on May 16th seven days after the first meeting with the family. Austin Stack spoke of his commitment to restorative justice processes. I told the Stack brothers that I could only help on the basis of confidentiality. This was the same basis on which I had been able to assist other families. Both Austin and Oliver agreed to respect the confidential nature of the process we were going to try to put in place. Without that commitment I could never have pursued the meeting they were seeking which took place later that summer. The brothers were given a statement by a former IRA leader. The statement was made available publicly by the family. The statement acknowledged that the IRA was responsible for their fathers death; that it regretted it took so long to clarify this for them; that the shooting of Brian Stack was not authorised by the IRA leadership; and that the person who gave the instruction was disciplined. The statement expressed sorrow for the pain and hurt the Stack family suffered. Following the meeting the family acknowledged that the process, and I quote, has provided us with some answers that three separate Garda investigations failed to deliver. We would like to thank Deputy Adams for the role he has played in facilitating this outcome. Since then the position of Austin Stack has changed. In 2013 Austin Stack gave me the names of four people whom he believed might have information on the case. Austin Stack told me that he had been given these names by journalistic and Garda sources. Austin Stack has denied giving me names. Why on earth would I say that I received the names from him if I didnt? In February of this year Austin Stack also claimed that he gave names to the Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin. If Austin Stack was prepared to give names to Mr. Martin, why would he not have given them to me? I was after all the person he was asking to arrange a meeting. At Austin Stacks request I contacted those I could from the names he gave me. They denied having any information about the killing of Brian Stack. I told Austin Stack this. During the election campaign earlier this year the Fianna Fail leader and others repeated a lot of what was said in 2013. It was part of his election strategy against Sinn Fein. However, in addition allegations were made that I was withholding information from the Garda. It was in this context, and to remove any uncertainty or ambiguity I emailed the Garda Commissioner the names that Austin Stack had given me and which he said had come from Garda and journalistic sources. I have never at any time described those named as suspects. I made it clear to the Garda Commissioner that I have no information on the death of Brian Stack. The email was only sent after I had spoken to three of the four. There is a live Garda investigation. I am prepared to cooperate with this. The position of Micheal Martin, who was a Minister in successive Fianna Fail governments during the peace process, and of the Taoiseach on this issue is hypocritical, inconsistent and in fact disappointing. I have never sought publicity on this issue. Any public comments I have made have been in response to others. Firstly, when Austin Stack publicly asked to meet me, and during the process we established in 2013. Secondly when Fine Gael and Fianna Fail sought to exploit this issue as part of their election campaign of 2016. And today I make this statement in the Dail following an email that I wrote to the Garda Commissioner being put inappropriately in my opinion into the public realm and then raised here in the Dail twice by the Fianna Fail leader. I say inappropriately because there is a live investigation into the murder of Brian Stack and we in this chamber should be mindful not to say anything which might prejudice this or any future court proceedings. The Fianna Fail leader and the Taoiseach seem to be unconcerned about this. For my part I will cooperate with An Garda Siochana. Micheal Martin says, I named four people who I understand to be suspects in the murder of Mr Stack. Teachta Martin has misled the Dail. I never made such a statement. I have never described those named as suspects. He says, that I said, I took a note of the meeting between Austin and Oliver Stack and a former IRA leader. I never said this. I took no note of that meeting. He says I took Austin and Oliver Stack to that meeting in a blacked out van. The Taoiseach even went so far on Tuesday to say I drove the van. Not true. I travelled with the Stack brothers in my car to a prearranged place on the border and then we were all taken in a van to the meeting in the north. The Fianna Fail leader and the Taoiseach should correct the Dail record on these. Since Fr. Alex Reid and Fr. Des Wilson, myself and John Hume began our work to develop a peace process successive Fianna Fail and Fine Gael governments, encouraged and facilitated meetings between myself and Martin McGuinness and the IRA leadership. Is the Taoiseach and Fianna Fail leader demanding that we should have named those we met? Do you think this would have helped the peace process? I recall one specific occasion when a meeting in St. Lukes with the then Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and Tony Blairs Chief of Staff Jonathon Powell was suspended to allow Martin McGuinness and I to meet the IRA. On other occasions initiatives involving the Irish and British government, the IRA, the Ulster Unionist Party and Sinn Fein were constructed to advance the process. Meetings were adjourned to facilitate this. These conversations helped to secure historic cessations. Should those involved be named. None of these would have been possible without talking to the IRA. Micheal Martin knows this. Our efforts led in July 2005 to the IRA announcing an end to the armed campaign and to engaging with the International Independent Commission on Decommissioning to put its arms beyond use. Progress that could only have been secured on the basis of direct contact and confidentially. Is Micheal Martin demanding that Martin McGuinness and I should name those we were meeting in the IRA leadership and who decided to put their arms beyond use? Is he demanding that the Decommissioning Body name those IRA members it met? Are they demanding that Cyril Ramaphosa and Martii Ahtisaari name those in the IRA they engaged with to facilitate the arms beyond use process? Should we now name all of those in the IRA who supported the peace process and took difficult but courageous decisions? I and others also assisted the Smithwick Commission. One of the most difficult legacy issues that we have had to deal with is that of the disappeared. The governments established the Independent Commission for the Location of Victims Remains at my request and with Fr. Reids support. As a result of our efforts 12 of the 16 victims have been recovered and work continues on seeking information on the remain four. I havent given up on this. Martin McGuinness and I continue to meet regularly with the Commission. The Commission also meets with former IRA people. Should they be named. Micheal Martin knows all of this. He was a senior member of the government which established the commission. Progress was only possible on the basis of confidentially and trust. That is why no IRA people where named during any of these initiatives and why they should not be named today. It is an essential part of any conflict resolution process. Sinn Fein has worked consistently to resolve the issues of the past. As part of our commitment to this I have met many families, like that of Brian Stack, who have lost loved ones. If the Taoiseach and Micheal Martin are interested in healing the legacy of the past for all families, including the Stacks, the Finucanes, the families of the Dublin Monaghan bombs and hundreds more, then they could begin by putting in place an International based independent truth recovery process. My generation of republican activists who lived through and survived the war have a responsibility to try and bring the families of victims of the war, irrespective of who was responsible, to a better place. That is what I have tried to do with my engagement in 2013 with the Stack Family. A federal grand jury has been convened pertaining to Sophia Wilansky, the 21-year-old New York woman who nearly lost her arm during a November pipeline protest, according to court documents obtained by the Tribune. At least one Dakota Access Pipeline protester has been subpoenaed to testify though he is resisting the order on the grounds they represent an attempt to intimidate protesters and obtain information without a warrant. Steve Martinez, 42, of Colorado, was ordered to testify before the federal grand jury Wednesday, according to his Seattle-based attorney, Ralph Hurvitz. The subpoena required him to answer questions and provide physical evidence, including photos and digital memory cards. On Friday, Martinez filed a motion in the U.S. District Court of North Dakota to quash the subpoena. The motion was denied Wednesday. While Martinez did not testify, he is required to appear Feb. 1 under a new subpoena, according to Hurvitz. He will not have to provide physical evidence, because the prosecutor voluntarily gave up that requirement. In denying the motion to quash on Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Daniel Hovland sided with the federal government, which argued Martinez should have to testify because he transported Wilansky from the protest to Prairie Knights Casino and called 911 for an ambulance. "The government has made a showing that the grand jury is investigating a potential violation of federal law as it relates to an injury suffered by a pipeline protester following an explosion that occurred during one of the demonstrations and that Martinez may have information as a witness," Hovland wrote in his order denying the motion. Assistant U.S. Attorney David Hagler wrote in his pleading that the severity of the injury led law enforcement to believe it was caused by an explosion. After the protest, police found three one-pound propane canisters and large jars, all of which were allegedly used as improvised explosives that are illegal under federal law, according to the pleading. The woman's father, Wayne Wilansky, has claimed the injury was caused by an alleged concussion grenade thrown by police. Police said they had no such weapons. Jackson Lofgren, president of the North Dakota Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, said it's uncommon to see this type of motion, because the prosecutors usually do not call non-law enforcement witnesses to a grand jury. "It's so rare that someone who isn't a cop testifies at these things," Lofgren said. "It makes me think this person has something they don't have in their possession." Wilansky's arm was severely injured during a standoff between protesters and police during the night of Nov. 20-21 at Backwater Bridge in Morton County. The incident began when protesters attempted to remove burned-out vehicles from the closed bridge. As the situation escalated, law enforcement used water hoses, tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse the protesters, who allegedly threw rocks, logs and Molotov cocktails. The scope of the grand jurys inquiry and who else has been called to testify are unknown. U.S. Attorney Chris Meyers said he could not comment on the grand jury, as it is "secret by statute and rule." Hurvitz said he was not sure yet whether Martinez will answer questions at the February proceeding. Prior to his hearing Wednesday, Martinez gave a statement outside the courthouse the same one he planned to give if questioned before the grand jury. "I will in no way condone or cooperate with this attempt to repress this movement here at Standing Rock," said Martinez, adding he'd be willing to go to jail if held in contempt for not answering questions. My own freedom is a small price to pay." About 40 pipeline protesters and a handful of pro-law enforcement protesters demonstrated Wednesday afternoon in front of the federal courthouse in Bismarck in subzero temperatures. The building, including the post office, was shut down for about 2.5 hours. Theyre trying to get one of us to speak against each other. Thats not going to happen, said Vivian Billy, a protester from Northern California. Lofgren said the prosecutor could still issue a search warrant to obtain the physical evidence Martinez is no longer required to bring with him. Housing activists have handed an open letter to Finance Minister Michael Noonan, calling on him to order the use of vacant, state-controlled properties to house the homeless. Residents of Apollo House - an empty office block in Dublin city centre occupied and refitted as a shelter by the Home Sweet Home campaign before Christmas - led the petition. The building was once used by the civil service and is now controlled by receivers after property loans were taken over by the state's bad-bank Nama. Irish Housing Network activist Tommy Gavin said: "The Minister for Finance is failing in his duty to the people of Ireland by not exercising his powers under the Nama act to direct Nama to make proper and adequate housing stock immediately available to local authorities around Ireland. "The housing crisis is bigger than Apollo House." The Home Sweet Home secured more than 4,000 signatures of support for the petition. There were more than 1,200 families homeless in the last week of November, according to official figures, including 6,985 people staying in emergency accommodation last month with 2,549 of them children. The open letter to Mr Noonan calls on the Government to identify properties, loans, land and other assets which are controlled by Nama and could be used to house homeless people. It said the minister should intervene directly and order Nama to prioritise its social mandate, including the delivery of social, public or affordable housing within a set time. The campaigners also said Apollo House or an alternative property should be made available immediately for sheltered accommodation for homeless people for at least six months. A resident of Apollo House, whose name was given as Mitzalo, said: "The Government is forcing us into hostels where the people next to you are using drugs and smoking. "We have great facilities at Apollo thanks to the generosity of Irish people. We have our own rooms. We have everything we need. They should keep this place open until the government builds social housing that they've failed to build time and time again." The occupation has support from musicians Hozier and Glen Hansard, film maker Jim Sheridan and actress Saoirse Ronan among many others. The campaigners are facing eviction later this month after the High Court gave them until January 11 to leave the building, which has been empty since 2015. Home Sweet Home said Apollo House provided shelter to 40 people and helped another 205 people access shelter over the Christmas period. It said Nama-controlled buildings should not be used as "honeypots for private development", but as public housing and high quality accommodation to end the homelessness crisis. Mr Noonan's office said the Government was aware of its powers which can be applied to Nama. It said the bad-bank has offered almost 7,000 units to local authorities for use as social housing but that only about 2,400 have been taken up. "The availability of housing is the key priority for Government and has been the focus of a number of measures introduced under the Government's Rebuilding Ireland Plan. The Department of Finance, the Minister for Finance, and Nama continue to support that work," Mr Noonan's office said in a statement. Official figures from the Department of Finance showed 47.9 billion euro of tax was collected by the state The tax man last year raked in cash from workers and businesses at levels not seen since the economy went into free fall more than a decade ago. Official figures from the Department of Finance showed 47.9 billion euro of tax was collected by the state - 2.3 billion euro more than in 2015 and more than 630 million euro ahead of predictions. Finance Minister Michael Noonan said: "Our citizens deserve quality public services to help develop a fairer Ireland. "The amount of tax collected in 2016 is at an historic high. It has provided not only for the extra expenditure incurred in 2016 but for the substantial tax reductions announced in the budget in October 2015 and delivered during the course of 2016." A breakdown of the figures in the Exchequer books showed income tax contributed most to the coffers - almost 20 billion euro over the year and up 4.4% on 2015. Payments by big businesses also surged, up 11% on the numbers from 2015 to 7.4 billion euro. VAT topped off at 12.4 billion euro for the year, but that was 439m euro below forecasts, with commentators suggesting that the impact of Brexit and the collapse in sterling values in the wake of the vote played a part in dampening consumer spending. The local property tax added 463m euro to the state's books. The Department of Finance said that the Government was on target to bring the deficit for 2016 to 0.9% of GDP as it set out in the budget. The buoyant tax returns were released on the same day as positive unemployment records showed the numbers out of work at their lowest levels since 2008. Mr Noonan set out the increased spending on the back of improving taxes including 14.1 billion euro for health services, up almost 800m euro on the previous year. "These levels of expenditure demonstrate the Government's commitment to improvements in public services, delivering sustainable growth in public spending at a rate that is prudent and responsible, taking account of our recent economic history," the minister said. But the report prompted immediate pleas from business lobbyists for pay restraint in the public sector. Ian Talbot, chief executive of Chambers Ireland, said: " The reality is that Ireland will continue to face challenges in funding public expenditure in the coming years. "This is the context that must be considered when significant public sector pay increases are being promoted. Public sector pay demands must be realistic when faced with domestic realities as well as unprecedented international uncertainties." Arlene Foster has been under intense pressure over an eco-friendly initiative that has left Stormont facing an overspend bill of around 500 million The Stormont Assembly could be recalled to approve emergency measures dealing with the overspend on Northern Ireland's botched green energy scheme, the DUP claimed. But a senior Sinn Fein minister said he was "bemused" amid reports a proposal had been drawn up to address the potential 490 million taxpayers' bill. The Department for the Economy, under the DUP's Simon Hamilton, plans to seek coalition partners Sinn Fein's backing for the move. Mr Hamilton said: "I hope we would be able to get from my department a paper to the Executive in the next number of days for approval. "It would be my hope then that we might be able to bring that to the Assembly as early as next week." Sinn Fein Finance Minister Mairtin O Muilleoir said the DUP had not contacted him. He added: "I am bemused at the trailing in the media of a DUP plan to resolve the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) debacle when not one scrap of paper detailing this 'plan' has been received by the Department of Finance. "I am alert to the dangers of allowing the person who was the architect of the RHI scheme - the DUP leader - to come up with a solution to this debacle. That is why I will ensure my officials rigorously test any plan which comes from the DUP. "I will be guided solely by what is in the interest of the public purse. "The DUP are in a hole and should stop digging." First Minister Arlene Foster has claimed measures being drawn up by Mr Hamilton could clear Stormont's bill. "There will be no overspend," she said. Mr O Muilleoir said: "Every plan produced by the Department of the Economy on this issue has been flawed." Mrs Foster has accused political rivals and social media trolls of misogynistic attacks. She has been under intense pressure for weeks over her handling of the RHI scandal. All rival parties at Stormont have demanded she stand aside while her role in the affair is investigated. Mrs Foster oversaw the inception of the RHI scheme during her time as economy minister. Senior members of Sinn Fein have warned they will exercise their power to collapse the powersharing Executive if Mrs Foster does not temporarily stand down to facilitate a probe. If the republican party follows through with that threat Northern Ireland will be facing a snap Assembly election, less than a year after the last one. Again making clear she would not be stepping down, Mrs Foster has said the head of Northern Ireland's Civil Service and its Attorney General had drawn up terms of reference for an independent probe into the RHI. However, Sinn Fein, whose sign-off would be required, rejected the proposed terms of reference as "insufficient" and insisted any probe must be time-limited and have powers to compel witnesses and subpoena evidence. The state-funded RHI was supposed to offer a proportion of the cost businesses had to pay to run eco-friendly boilers, but the subsidy tariffs were set too high, and without a cap, so it ended up paying out significantly more than the price of fuel. This enabled applicants to "burn to earn" - getting free heat and making a profit as they did it. Claims of widespread abuse include a farmer allegedly set to pocket around 1 million in the next two decades for heating an empty shed. It was originally envisaged that the Treasury would foot the bill for the RHI, but the costs spiralled well beyond London's financial commitment. The total RHI spend in Northern Ireland is estimated at 1,150 million over the next 20 years. The Treasury is set to cover 660 million of that, with Stormont landed with the remaining 490 million. The Annual Asthma Survey found some UK areas were 'lagging behind others' in delivering basic care Millions of asthma patients are not receiving basic levels of care to keep their condition in check, a charity has warned. Two thirds of sufferers are not being given fundamental care that is needed to manage their condition, Asthma UK said. This is around 3.6 million people across the UK. Full provision of this care would " reduce the impact of asthma, reduce hospital admissions and improve the lives of hundreds of thousands of people", according to a new report by the charity. Basic care includes having an appropriate asthma review at least once a year, or more for severe cases and children, being on the right medication and knowing how to use it and having a written asthma action plan. The Annual Asthma Survey, based on responses from 4,650 patients from around the UK, found that there is variation in the proportion of people receiving basic care across the country - with some areas "lagging behind others". Patients in Northern Ireland appeared to get the best basic care, where 47.6% patients received all elements of recommended care. The lowest proportion was in London, where just 27.5% patients received this care. But the authors cautioned that i t is not just this basic care that is "failing people with asthma". The report states that seven out of 10 patients who required hospital care or out-of-hours treatment did not have a follow-up appointment . The authors said: "Correct discharge arrangements after a hospital stay for asthma saves lives, and this is a particularly worrying finding." There are around 5.4 million people with asthma in the UK. In 2015, 1,468 people died from the condition - the highest number for more than a decade. The charity said that two thirds of asthma deaths are preventable with the right basic care. "It is worrying that basic care is not being delivered on a consistent basis, because every person with asthma should be receiving this care," said the charity's clinical lead Dr Andy Whittamore. Kay Boycott, chief e xecutive of Asthma UK, said: "With the 2014 National Review of Asthma Deaths reporting two out of three asthma deaths are preventable with good basic care, it is hugely disappointing that the latest Asthma UK care survey shows little has changed since that damning report. "It is clear that expecting old ways to tackle long-standing problems won't work. "We must take a bold, new approach and take advantage of new asthma digital health solutions to transform the way asthma care is delivered and support self-management. "Digital asthma action plans, smart inhalers and automated GP alerts are just some of the ways asthma care could be brought up to date and help reduce the risk of potentially fatal asthma attacks." Here is a list of the proportion of patients in each region who received all elements of basic asthma care, according to Asthma UK. :: East Midlands: 33.5% :: East of England: 30.4% :: London: 27.5% :: North East: 38.5% :: North West: 34.5% :: Northern Ireland: 47.6% :: Scotland: 41.1% :: South East: 33.2% :: South West: 34.2% :: Wales: 32.2% :: West Midlands: 32.2% :: Yorkshire and the Humber: 28.1% An NHS England spokeswoman said: "Whilst we recognise the important issues in this annual survey, we also expect patients to take shared responsibility for managing aspects of this long-term condition. "It is important that patients consult with their GP where necessary and know how to use their medication properly. "In future, digital solutions may improve dialogue with health professionals and ensure the widespread development of personal asthma action plans to help avoid unnecessary and costly hospital visits for treatment." Two flags and a carnation are displayed at the Istanbul nightclub where 39 people were killed in a terrorist attack (AP/Emrah Gurel) Turkey has identified the gunman in the Istanbul nightclub massacre, the foreign minister said as the president vowed that the country will not surrender to terrorists or become divided. The gunman, who killed 39 people during New Year's celebrations at the Reina club, is still at large. But foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said authorities had identified the man, without providing details. "The identity of the person who carried out the attack on the Reina nightclub has been established," Mr Cavusoglu told Anadolu in a live televised interview. Turkish police, meanwhile, detained at least five suspected Islamic State (IS) militants believed to be linked to the attack, the state-run news agency reported. The operation was launched in the Aegean port city of Izmir and was ongoing, the Anadolu Agency said. IS has claimed responsibility for the attack, which also wounded nearly 70 people. Of those killed 27 were foreigners, many from the Middle East. IS said a "soldier of the caliphate" had carried out the mass shooting to avenge Turkish military operations against IS in northern Syria. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that the attack aims to set Turks against each other and deepen fault lines, but the country will not fall for this game. Mr Erdogan made the comments in a live speech from Ankara, the first time he has publicly addressed the nation since the attack. Responding to accusations in the past that Turkey had given support to IS, Mr Erdogan said that "to present the country which is leading the greatest struggle against Daesh as one supporting terrorism is what the terror organisation wants". Mr Erdogan said that "in Turkey, no-one's way of life is under any threat. Those who claim this have to prove it. It is my duty to protect everyone's rights". He also said that "to say Turkey has surrendered to terrorism is to take sides with the terrorists and terror organisations". Police in Istanbul have set up checkpoints and are checking vehicles across the city as security levels remained high. Police were stopping cars and Istanbul's ubiquitous yellow taxis, with passengers and drivers holding up their identifications while officers inspected inside the vehicles. Istanbul has been on high alert since the attack, with the gunman still at large. The private Dogan news agency said that Wednesday's police operation targeted three families who had arrived in Izmir about 20 days ago from Konya - a city in central Turkey where the gunman is thought to have been based before carrying out the nightclub attack. It said 27 people, including women and children, were taken into custody. At least 14 people were previously detained in connection with the attack, including two foreigners stopped on Tuesday at the international terminal of Istanbul's Ataturk Airport after police checked their mobile phones and luggage, according to Anadolu. Turkish media reports claimed on Tuesday that the gunman's wife was in custody and had told police she did not know her husband was linked to IS. An eerie selfie video emerged of the alleged gunman on Tuesday, showing him silently touring Istanbul's most famous square. The camera never leaves the man's unsmiling face as he walks through Taksim Square during the 44-second clip that was broadcast on state-run Anadolu television and other Turkish media. Funerals were held in Jordan, Lebanon, Israel and Turkey for the dead and on Wednesday, a Turkish Airlines jet carrying the bodies of two Indian citizens killed in the shooting landed in Mumbai. The bodies were received by a governing party politician and the victims' relatives and friends. Bollywood film producer Abis Rizvi's body was taken to his home in suburban Bandra for burial later. The 49-year-old wrote, produced and directed a Bollywood movie, Roar: The Tigers Of Sunderbans, in 2014 aimed at spreading awareness about tigers. The other Indian victim of the Istanbul attack was Khushi Shah, a 39-year-old fashion designer from Vadodara, a city in the western Indian state of Gujarat. Ms Shah's body was flown to her home town for cremation later, the Press Trust of India news agency reported. Late on Tuesday, Turkey's parliament voted to extend by a further three months a state of emergency that was declared in the aftermath of the failed July 15 coup. Turkey imposed the state of emergency to crack down on a network linked to US-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, accused of orchestrating the coup attempt. Gulen denies any involvement. AP I was surprised to read in the Belfast Telegraph (News, December 31) that I had given an Irish Government official the impression that it was my intention to advise our children to move away from Northern Ireland. At that time many young people did seek further education in universities in England and Scotland, rather than continue to live in the local environment of sectarianism and violence. Inadequate provision for university places here exacerbated the problem, much to the benefit of some universities, especially in Scotland. It is a matter of regret that many students, having left, never came back, thereby enriching other places and impoverishing this community. Having so significantly failed to predict the likely unionist reaction to the Anglo-Irish Agreement in 1985, the Irish Government should be commended for subsequently sending officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs to meet a diversity of people in Northern Ireland to engage in conversations, which covered a wide range of possibilities. REV DR JOHN DUNLOP Former Moderator, the Presbyterian Church in Ireland Syrian soldiers flash the victory sign after capturing all of Aleppo last week Over the past few weeks the siege of rebel-controlled eastern Aleppo has horrified the public with its unremitting bombardment and massive destruction. It was with relief that we witnessed the end of the siege after a ceasefire between the protagonists and the peaceful evacuation of rebel combatants and their families to the relative safety of other rebel-controlled areas in Syria or Turkey. The relatively peaceful end to the siege was successfully negotiated by the Russian and Turkish Governments. This conclusion to a dreadful battle of attrition in Aleppo was widely welcomed internationally. The avoidance of an appalling massacre was good news in a year mired in bloody outrages. In the wake of this welcome development, there was a further surprising but very welcome move by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and the opposition rebel groups (minus Islamic State and al-Nusra) to agree a general ceasefire. If this new ceasefire holds - and that is a bif 'if' - there will then be peace talks in Kazakhstan in an attempt to agree a comprehensive political solution to the almost six-year-old civil war. The difference between this ceasefire and previously unsustainable truces is that this time it has been agreed between Russia and Turkey, acting as both negotiators and guarantors. The US has not been included, but has welcomed the deal. However, it has been diplomatically outwitted and marginalised by Russia, probably because its own policy has been uncertain and ineffective over the past number of months. The US has been opposed to President Assad and supported the so-called "moderate" rebel forces politically and with the supply of armaments. It was, therefore, opposed to the Russian military intervention and Russian political and diplomatic support for Assad. But American intervention has been lamentably unsuccessful and added sustenance to the rebel campaign, thereby unnecessarily prolonging military action. In the midst of this most terrible civil war the Turks, along with Saudi Arabia and Qatar, have supported the rebel opposition, and the Russian military, along with the Iranians, has supported the Syrian Government. All sides have agreed that a political solution has to be found to end the fratricidal conflict that has cost more than 300,000 lives, devastated the economy and made 4.8 million people refugees. A further 6.3 million are internally displaced. The knock-on effect of the refugee crisis on Europe has virtually transformed politics in the EU and triggered the most serious challenge ever to the sustainability of it and its institutions. For the Middle East and its divided Arab populations, the Syrian conflict is the contemporary equivalent to the Spanish Civil War in the 1930s, which was equally as bloody and divisive in ideological and political terms. It also was a proxy war for the USSR and Nazi Germany, who armed and militarily helped opposite sides in that merciless and fratricidal tragedy. Indeed, many idealistic young men from Ireland and Britain joined either side of the opposing forces in Spain, much like young jihadist volunteers do so today from Britain and other European countries. Like the young jihadists of today, young men from here wastefully lost their lives in a so-called "ideological war" in Spain. What has fundamentally changed things is that the Syrian Government, with the military help of the Russians since 2015, have regained control of the major Syrian cities and, with the recent recapture of the whole of Aleppo, have changed the military balance of the civil war. The Syrian opposition, which is deeply fragmented and divided among itself, has been weakened militarily and needs to find a political solution to the conflict. However, Islamic State and al-Nusra, being absolute Islamic fundamentalists opposed to Assad and also most of the Syrian opposition as well, will never accept a negotiated settlement to the war. The more moderate political and armed forces within the opposition will accept a negotiated settlement, and that is the basis for hope for the end of this ghastly war. While Assad may militarily win this war with the massive help of the Russians, he will very likely lose the peace, as his continuation as a despised and divisive President of a post-civil war Syria is extremely unlikely. For the time being he is safe, but in the long-term his rule is highly improbable. Having served Russia's immediate political and military interests, the Kremlin will have no hesitation in abandoning Assad if that is what is required to bring about a peaceful settlement. While we cannot be too optimistic about this ceasefire, it is an important political step-change that might just provide the basis for achieving a lasting peace in Syria. We in Northern Ireland all know how difficult that task will be. Dick Spring, Irish Labour Party leader, Charles Haughey TD, Fianna Fail leader, Taoiseach Dr Garret FitzGerald and John Hume, leader of the SDLP, at the first meeting of the Northern Ireland Forum in Dublin in 1984 As 2017 opens, only three years before the centenary of partition, I believe it is time for the main southern political parties to admit that the Republic has failed in one of its core aims: to unite the island. For nearly a century every major party in the Republic has held as an article of faith the belief in Irish unity. And nearly 100 years after the island was divided, we are no nearer that utopian goal. Indeed, I would argue strongly that the IRA's campaign of violence to undo Northern Ireland's connection with Britain - and thus against the unionist population which is fiercely attached to that connection - has only served to push it further away than ever. Fifty years ago, Sean Lemass was already stressing that there would be no Irish reunification without a significant element of unionist consent. That requirement was written into the 1998 Belfast Agreement. However, there is not a snowball's chance in hell of that unionist consent happening any time soon, despite Sinn Fein's posturing about pro-EU majorities and border polls. Short of hundreds of thousands of unionists deciding to pack up and leave the north, it will not happen in the foreseeable future and certainly not in my lifetime (I am in my sixties). So, why don't the south's political leaders try something different for a change? At the moment, Fine Gael and Fianna Fail's policies on this foundational issue are a paler version of Sinn Fein's: Irish unity to be achieved with as much, or as little, unionist consent as is necessary to push it over the line. But why should this be the case? For those of us who are not unionists, but who believe that a wafer-thin majority for unity in a border poll would only mean a return to violent conflict, are there any alternatives? I would suggest that there is one. In October, I read an Irish Times article by the young playwright Sian Ni Mhuiri, in which she wrote: "I'm not nationalistic, but Ireland is my home and I love the communities here. 'Irishness' has little meaning in itself; it has value when people who are sharing this island come together and build communities that tackle the problems we have and create a more inclusive, fair and equitable place for everyone in the Republic and our sister state of Northern Ireland." That last phrase caught my eye. Why shouldn't we in the Republic start treating our fellow Irish people in the north as citizens of a legitimate and equal "sister state"? After all, this is not the bigoted, discriminatory Orange statelet of 50 years ago. It is a modern region, with a power-sharing Government in which nationalists enjoy a new equality and confidence at all levels of society and the economy. Its smartest political leaders are nationalists, as are some of its top civil society and business leaders. Its health and education systems are in many ways superior to ours in the Republic. So, here's my suggestion for 2017. Fine Gael and/or Fianna Fail should start treating Northern Ireland as an equal rather than a failed and unreformable state. "Parity of esteem" should be extended from the two communities in the north to the two states on the island. This should help to lessen the sense of threat that most unionists suffer so grievously from. It would also make a change from the "parity of contempt" that has been practiced by most politicians and people in the two jurisdictions for most of the past century: northern unionists treating southerners as benighted and ignorant bogmen; southern nationalists treating northerners - and particularly northern unionists - as bigoted and violent extremists. In many ways, this has already started to happen since the Belfast Agreement: I believe it's time to take it a step further by one of the major southern parties taking the courageous step of adopting it as an explicit policy. This doesn't mean giving up on reunification. Rather, it moves the emphasis from unity coming about by the north being assimilated into the Irish state, to real unity of people coming closer together in a relationship of mutual aid and understanding. This may sound utterly utopian, but is it any more outlandish than believing - as many republicans seem to - that unionists will roll over and accept Irish unity in the relatively near future? And isn't it more realistic to begin to talk about how we can work together as "sister states" with important interests in common at the precise moment when external events are conspiring to raise a higher post-Brexit border between us that we will have to learn to overcome in imaginative new ways? Such a new policy turn could move us towards a more rational alternative to traditional Irish unity: some form of confederation. I incline to the view of the late Sir George Quigley, one of Northern Ireland's most insightful thinkers, who believed that before there can be any future constitutional coming together on the island of Ireland, there must be a recognition that there are "two mutually opposed 'principles of legitimacy' which are strongly held - one nationalist and one unionist - and some common ground would have to be found on which the divergent aspirations are transcended in a general consensus." He saw the model most likely to secure such consent as a confederal one, which he called the "most persuasively argued" of the three options in the 1984 New Ireland Forum report. "On this basis, the final agreed Ireland would be a joint, equal venture between north and south, with each having its own governance structure, and with policies to be specifically delegated to confederal level determined jointly by representatives from north and south." Quigley quoted the 1984 report's comment that "based on the existing identities, north and south, (a confederal solution) would reflect the political and administrative realities of the past 60 (now 95) years and would entrench a measure of autonomy for both parts of Ireland within an all-island framework. "While protecting and fostering the identities and ethos of the two traditions, it would enable them to work together in the common interest." Is it time to revisit the New Ireland Forum report? A joint equal venture between sister states - could this be the basis for beginning a discussion on a new formulation of the tired old "national question"? Andy Pollak was founding director of the Centre for Cross-Border Studies in Armagh (1999-2013) and is a former Irish Times journalist in Belfast and Dublin A bid from Pulte Homes to rezone and add 465 residences and possibly a school near Sandy Run Creek on Jedburg Road wasn't met with open arms at a Oct. 26 community meeting on the part of local homeowners seeking to preserve the area's rural characteristics. Read moreJedburg Road residents tell Pulte Homes: 'Keep it rural' 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. Mit den gewonnenen Informationen mochten wir verstehen, wie unsere Dienste verwendet werden, und die Qualitat dieser Dienste verbessern. neue Dienste zu entwickeln und zu verbessern Werbung auszuliefern und ihre Wirkung zu messen personalisierte Inhalte anzuzeigen, abhangig von Ihren Einstellungen personalisierte Werbung anzuzeigen, abhangig von Ihren Einstellungen Wenn Sie Alle ablehnen auswahlen, verwenden wir Cookies nicht fur diese zusatzlichen Zwecke. Nicht personalisierte Inhalte und Werbung werden u. a. von Inhalten, die Sie sich gerade ansehen, und Ihrem Standort beeinflusst (welche Werbung Sie sehen, basiert auf Ihrem ungefahren Standort). Personalisierte Inhalte und Werbung konnen auch Videoempfehlungen, eine individuelle YouTube-Startseite und individuelle Werbung enthalten, die auf fruheren Aktivitaten wie auf YouTube angesehenen Videos und Suchanfragen auf YouTube beruhen. 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. The glory of God is more important than your or my comfort. That is a statement with which all Christians will readily agree in theory. A Puritan prayer begins: Lord of all being, There is one thing that deserves my greatest care, that calls forth my ardent desires, That is, that I may answer the great end for which I am made to glorify thee who hast given me being....1 That is a fine and noble prayer. But it has awesome consequences from which we naturally shy away. Of course, we say, there can be nothing more important than the glory of God. What Christian could possibly disagree with that expression of correct piety? And yet before long we find ourselves recoiling from the implications of this statement. The introduction of the book of Job in 1:15 portrays a world with which Disney would by and large be happy. It is a world in which the right people come out on top. We are ready, as it were, to go home happy, knowing it is all working out as it should. But then the action begins, with four alternating scenes in Heaven and on earth. The story is told sparingly and brilliantly, as a cartoonist might, as a few well-chosen lines on the page conjure up whole worlds of drama. In this drama we shall see that it is necessary for it publicly to be seen that there is in Gods world a great man who is great because he is good, and yet who will continue to be a good man when he ceases to be a great man. Ultimately, in the greatest fulfillment of Jobs story, we will need to see a man who does not count equality with God (greatness) as something to be grasped but makes himself nothing for the glory of God (Philippians 2:611). Scene 1: Heaven (Job 1:612) Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and the Satan2 also came among them. The LORD said to the Satan, From where have you come? The Satan answered the LORD and said, From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it. And the LORD said to the Satan, Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil? Then the Satan answered the LORD and said, Does Job fear God for no reason? Have you not put a hedge around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. But stretch out your hand and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face. And the LORD said to the Satan, Behold, all that he has is in your hand. Only against him do not stretch out your hand. So the Satan went out from the presence of the LORD. (Job 1:612) After the timeless introduction, which describes who Job was and what he habitually did, we read, there was a day (v. 6). And what a day! On this particular day something happened in Heaven that would change Jobs life forever. The day began in what seems to have been a routine way: the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD (v. 6). The expression the sons of God speaks here of beings whose existence is derivative from God (hence sons) but whose rank is superhuman.3 The expression literally translated sons of God by the ESV is often translated angels (e.g., NIV). We meet them again in Psalm 29 (Ascribe to the LORD, O sons of God, Psalm 29:1, ESV footnote) and in Genesis 6:2.4 They form a divine council or heavenly cabinet, and we see reference to this in Psalms 82 and 89. God has taken his place in the divine council; in the midst of the gods he holds judgment.... I said, You are gods, sons of the Most High, all of you. (Psalm 82:1, 6) For who in the skies can be compared to the LORD? Who among the sons of God (ESV footnote) is like the LORD... a God greatly to be feared in the council of the holy ones, and awesome above all who are around him? (Psalm 89:6, 7) As members of Gods heavenly cabinet, they come to present themselves before him (v. 6). The expression to present oneself or to stand before means something like to attend a meeting to which one is summoned or to come before a superior ready to do his will.5 It is the expression used of the wise man in Proverbs: Do you see a man skillful in his work? He will stand before kings; he will not stand before obscure men (Proverbs 22:29). That is to say, he will be a senior civil servant or a government minister rather than just a local council employee. The same expression is used with apocalyptic imagery in Zechariah when the four chariots go out to all the world after presenting themselves before the Lord of all the earth (Zechariah 6:5). First they present themselves for duty, and then they go out to do what they have been told to do. This day that turns out to be so devastating for Job begins with a normal heavenly cabinet meeting. God summons his ministers rather as an American President might call his senior staff to an early-morning meeting in the Oval Office before sending them out for action. Only one member of the heavenly cabinet is mentioned individually: ... and the Satan also came among them (v. 6). The expression the Satan suggests that here Satan is a title, which tells us something about his role. The word Satan means something like adversary, opponent, enemy. The noun is used to mean an adversary in other contexts as well. When the Lord stops Balaam in his tracks, he does so as his adversary [satan] (Numbers 22:22). When the Philistine commanders tell the Philistine king Achish they dont want David fighting with them against Israel, they say, He shall not go down with us to battle, lest in the battle he become an adversary [satan] to us (1 Samuel 29:4). Here in Job 1, it is not yet clear whose adversary the Satan is. It will soon become apparent that he is Jobs adversary.6 We are not told explicitly whether or not the Satan is present as a member of the heavenly council or whether he is in some way a gatecrasher. It is sometimes assumed that because the Satan is evil he cannot be a member of the council and must have barged in uninvited. So the Lords question, From where have you come? (v. 7) is read in a hostile voice (What do you think you are doing here?). But this is unlikely. The word among (v. 6) probably suggests that he is a member of the group.7 There need be no hostility or implied rebuke in the question, From where have you come? Probably it represents something like a President asking a Cabinet secretary for his report: Secretary of War, it is time for your report. Tell us where you have been and what you have seen. In 1 Kings 22 the prophet Micaiah vividly describes the same heavenly council: I saw the LORD sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing beside him. Then as Micaiah describes the conversation in the council, a lying spirit speaks up and is sent out by the Lord to do his will (1 Kings 22:1922). So there is apparently no inconsistency in a lying spirit being present in Gods council. In the same way, it will become clear that the Satan is present at the council because he belongs there. His presence (and indeed that of other lying spirits and evil spirits) has been described as being analogous to the expression in British governance, Her Majestys Loyal Opposition.8 They oppose the government, but they do so in ultimate and unquestioned subservience to the Crown. Their opposition is a necessary and good part of British governance. They in themselves are devoted to trying to bring the government down; and yet in spite of themselves their opposition serves a purpose in making the government better than it would be in the absence of opposition (as tyrannies attest). In the same way the Satan will oppose Job and yet will do so in a way that strangely and paradoxically will eventually be seen to serve the purposes of the Lord. As Luther put it, the Satan is Gods Satan. How the World Is Governed This description of the Lord and the sons of God gives us an important insight into the way the world is governed. Presumably this language of God sitting surrounded by a heavenly council is anthropomorphic language. God does not literally sit at the head of a council any more than he literally has hands or feet. This kind of language is used of God because we can understand it, to accommodate to our limitations. But what does it mean? Broadly speaking there are three models for understanding the spiritual government of the world. The first is polytheism or animism, in which the universe is governed (if that is not too strong a word) by a multiplicity of gods, goddesses, and spirits, none of whom is perfect and some of which are exceedingly evil. There is no absolutely supreme god or goddess, although some are generally more powerful than others. The end result is a universe filled with anxiety, in which we may never know in advance which spiritual power will come out on top in a particular situation, in which different deities have to be appeased and kept friendly, much as a citizen in a corrupt society may offer bribes to different officials, hoping he or she gets the bribes right in their amounts and their recipients. This is the world of animism and of Hinduism. In a strange way, it is also the world of Buddhism, where the gods and goddesses are within ourselves. Each person is his or her own god or goddess. Who knows who will win? At its simplest this view becomes a dualism in which the world is governed by the outcome of an ongoing contest between God and the devil, who are thought of as pretty much equal and opposite powers battling it out for supremacy, like the Empire and the Federation in Star Wars. The devil is perceived as having an autonomy and agency independent of God. Some Christians are practical dualists in this way. The second is a kind of absolute monism, in which the world is governed absolutely and simply by one God. What this God says goes, end of story. Above the visible and material universe there is one, and only one, supernatural power, the absolute power of the Creator of Heaven and earth. This model underlies the classic objection to the goodness of God: If God is God He is not good. If God is good He is not God.9 As I understand it, this is the model of Islam, and many Christians think it is the Biblical model. It is not. Christian people can veer toward either of these, a dualism or a monism. Neither does justice to the Bibles picture, which is more nuanced and complex. The Bible portrays for us a world that lies under the absolute supremacy and sovereignty of the Creator, who has no rivals, who is unique, such that there is no god like him. And yet he does not govern the world as the sole supernatural power. He governs the world by the means of and through the agency of a multiplicity of supernatural powers, some of whom are evil. That is to say, the sons of God represent powers that are greater than human powers and yet are less than Gods power. They include among their number the Satan and his lying and evil spirits. Above the visible and measurable material world of human senses lies a world in which is the one Jesus calls the ruler of this world (John 12:31) and whom Paul will later call the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience (Ephesians 2:2). The air here speaks of a region higher than earth (hence supernatural) but lower than the dwelling-place of God himself (Heaven). Our battle does not just take place at the human level (against flesh and blood) but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places (Ephesians 6:12). This model is not dualist; the sovereignty of God is not compromised one iota in this model. But the nature of the government of the world is significantly different than in the monist model. We need to take account of these supernatural agencies, the sons of God in the language of Job and other Old Testament passages. And we need to grasp that the evil agencies, the devil and all his angels, while being supernatural and superhuman, are sub-divine. Satan is, to again quote Luthers famous phrase, Gods Satan. Some will object that since God cannot look at or have fellowship with evil (Habakkuk 1:13), he cannot allow the Satan to be in his presence. But this is to confuse fellowship with government. God can have no fellowship with evil, because he is pure light, and in him is no darkness at all (1 John 1:5, 6). But he can use evil in his government of the world, and he does. His having business dealings, so to speak, with the Satan in the government of the world is not the same as suggesting that the Satan enjoys Gods presence in the sense of his blessing. Notes 1. The Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers and Devotions (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1975), p. 13. 2. I have rendered the Hebrew literally, the Satan (ESV, Satan). It has the article here and in Zechariah 3:1, 2. In 1 Chronicles 21:1 Satan appears as a proper name without the article. 3. So Clines. 4. This is a famously puzzling passage. It is not clear whether these are heavenly creatures or powerful human princes. 5. Gordis rightly rejects the suggestion that this expression means here to stand against God. 6. So Clines. 7. As, for example, in this words use in Genesis 23:10 (where Ephron sits among his fellow-Hittites), in Genesis 40:20 (where the baker and cupbearer are among Pharaohs servants), or 2 Kings 4:13 (I dwell among my own people). 8. Janzen. 9. Archibald MacLeish, in his play JB, has one of his characters repeat this refrain (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, Sentry Edition, 1956), p. 11. Taken from Job: The Wisdom of the Cross, by Christopher Ash. Used by permission of Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers, Wheaton, Il 60187, www.crossway.org. Life can be hard, and sometimes it seems like God doesnt even care. When faced with difficult trials, many people have resonated with the book of Jobthe story of a man who lost nearly everything, seemingly abandoned by God. In this thorough and accessible commentary, Christopher Ash helps us glean encouragement from Gods Word by directing our attention to the final explanation and ultimate resolution of Jobs story: the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Intended to equip pastors to preach Jobs important message, this commentary highlights Gods grace and wisdom in the midst of redemptive suffering. For Immediate Release, January 4, 2017 Contact: Randi Spivak, (310) 779-4894, rspivak@biologicaldiversity.org Republican Congress Declares America's Public Lands to Be Worthless, Sets Stage for Massive Giveaway WASHINGTON On the first day of the new Congress, House Republicans approved a package of rules Tuesday that included a provision that would treat giving away America's public lands as budget neutral, meaning that they have no monetary value when it comes to giving, selling or trading them away to states. The rules are part of a larger effort by politicians like Rep. Rob Bishop (R-Utah) who want to hand over control of federal public lands to states and corporate interests. America's forests, mountains, deserts, rivers and other public lands are priceless, irreplaceable places treasured by people across the country, said Randi Spivak, public lands director at the Center for Biological Diversity. It's appalling to see this new Republican-controlled Congress already tossing them aside as worthless. Bishop and others in Congress have been trying to hand over millions of acres of public lands so they can be exploited for private gain, including oil and gas drilling, logging and development. Several bills are expected in the 115th Congress that will enact the scheme. Public lands are worth far more than any short-term profits that these corporations will get. They provide everyday people with fresh drinking water, cleaner air and havens for recreational adventures and wildlife that live nowhere else, Spivak said. Here's a chance for President-elect Trump to follow through on his promise not to give away America's public lands to the highest bidder. 2016 ABA Big Year Update: The Results Congratulations are in order for Olaf Danielson, Christian Hagenlocher, Laura Keene, and John Weigel for their impressive ABA Area Big Year totals in 2016. I think I can speak for many in the ABA and birding communities when I say that it has been great fun to watch these four birders do what no one has ever done in the continental US and Canada. All have passed Neil Haywards 2013 Big Year record of 749. So without further ado, here are the four outstanding ABA Big Year totals for 2016. John Weigel 780 (+3: Cuban Vireo, Pine Flycatcher, Common Shelduck) A late run up the west coast netted John 2 more species for the year. A Red-footed Booby in San Diego and Whooper Swan on Adak, Alaska, where he closed out the year. Olaf Danielson 776 (+2: Pine Flycatcher, Common Shelduck) Olaf had bad luck with weather and gulls in Newfoundland, where he missed the on and off Kelp Gull in St. Johns. He did pick up the Idaho Red-flanked Bluetail in the last week for his last bird of the year. Laura Keene 759 (+3: Cuban Vireo, Pine Flycatcher, Common Shelduck) The Rhode Island Greylag Goose and the New Brunswick Common Shelducks highlight Lauras last week. She headed home on 12/30 with her spectacular year in the books. Christian Hagenlocher 750 (+2: Cuban Vireo, Pine Flycatcher) With Dovekie luck eluding him in the last weeks, Christian headed west to Idaho where he picked up the Red-flanked Bluetail as the last bird of his year, officially passing Neil Haywards record without considering provisional species. Thank you for your support, and congratulations again on four very big years. 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 PARIS: Fashion label Schiaparelli completed its remarkable resurrection on Tuesday when it was inducted into the elite ranks of Paris haute couture houses. The historic brand founded by the Elsa Schiaparelli, the great rival of Coco Chanel in the 1930s, closed its doors in 1954, the year that Chanel returned to the business after her wartime hiatus. It only returned to the podiums three years ago after the name was bought and revived by the the boss of the Italian brand Tod, Diego Della Valle. The French Couture Federation said it was also adding the 41-year-old French designer Julien Fournie to its highly-prized register. The designation is protected by French law and attributed exclusively by the ministry of industry to selected houses whose clothes are tailored to each client. With its handmade pieces solely within the price range of the world's richest women, haute couture exists only in Paris and is regarded as the pinnacle of fashion. Only 15 fashion houses have the right to call themselves haute couture. The others are Chanel, Christian Dior, Givenchy, Jean Paul Gaultier, Maison Margiela, Giambattista Valli, Franck Sorbier, Adeline Andre, Alexandre Vauthier, Alexis Mabille, Maurizio Galante, Stephane Rolland and Yiqing Yin. Another 20 are regarded as "guest members" of the club. Source: AFP ArcelorMittal SA's announcement just before Christmas that it had concluded a contract manufacturing agreement with the defunct Evraz Highveld Steel & Vanadium group in Emalahleni was the sour cherry on top of a dismal year for SA. Russian-backed Evraz Highveld is in a protracted business rescue process that will ultimately lead to it being sold off in chunks as it is wound down. It will now, through its subsidiary Highveld Structural Mill, process blooms and slabs supplied by ArcelorMittal into heavy structural steel. The steel is to be used in large infrastructure projects and construction works such as shopping malls. The deal between what was once SA's second-largest steel producer and the industry's remaining monopoly player, ArcelorMittal SA, a subsidiary of the global ArcelorMittal group, is still subject to certain conditions precedent. But once in effect, it will result in the reopening of Evraz Highveld's heavy section mill by the business rescue practitioners. "Long-term sustainability for the sector means ensuring the continued supply of product to our customers and the downstream industry, job preservation and strengthening the local industry. We are confident that, with this agreement, we are able to achieve all three," ArcelorMittal SA CEO Wim de Klerk, said. It is envisaged that the heavy sections mill will begin operations in 2017. The mill makes structural steel for infrastructure that is not produced anywhere else in Africa. However, for SA's struggling steel industry, general manufacturing sector and the politics-ravaged economy, it is really a hollow victory over economic adversity, much of which has been self-inflicted. For it to be viable, the longflagged transaction relies on the implementation of tariffs on the products that the heavy section mill can make. Such duties are part of a broader protectionist plea for safeguard measures of what is left of SA's steel industry, to save it from cheap Chinese dumped steel products. South African steel products have a 10% basic tariff protection, but this is not seen to be enough. The Evraz Highveld application has been submitted to the International Trade Administration Commission, but needs to be finalised. The reopening of its heavy section mill will preserve some jobs in a sector that has been shedding them. The agreement will operate for an initial two years with an option to be extended for a further one-year period. ArcelorMittal also has an option to buy the Highveld Structural Mill subject to further regulatory and governance approvals that may be required. Trade union Solidarity has welcomed the agreement between ArcelorMittal SA and Evraz Highveld. Marius Croucamp, deputy general secretary of steel and engineering industry matters at Solidarity, said it was a positive development for the Emalahleni community, as well as for SA's economy. "Earlier this year, this community was affected by mass retrenchments involving 1,753 [Evraz Highveld] employees," Croucamp said. As a mainstay of the Emalahleni and the broader Mpumalanga economy, the group had an original workforce of nearly 2,300 employees. The agreement may reinstate about 600 jobs at Evraz Highveld. "The number of employees that have to be appointed for the purposes of the agreement will be determined earlier in the new year," Croucamp said. Steel and Engineering Industries Federation of Southern Africa (Seifsa) senior economist Tafadzwa Chibanguza said fluctuating gains and losses in South African employment figures are a symptom of a "classic zero-sum game". The manufacturing sector had shed 3,000 jobs between the second and third quarters of 2016. "We view this with concern because the metals and engineering sector constitutes 28% of total manufacturing. For the nine months to September 2016, the manufacturing sector has shed 19,000 jobs," he said. Seifsa recently warned that because falls in manufacturing production have been greater than falls in employment, SA's metals and engineering sector was likely to experience further cost rationalisation through shedding of jobs. In the 12 months to September 2016 - end of the third quarter - the metals and engineering sector had shed 16,000 jobs, representing a 3.4% drop. Source: Business Day Umalusi says it will not approve the release of the results of all learners implicated in a leak of Mathematics Paper 2 in two schools in Limpopo during the 2016 National Senior Certificate (NSC) examinations. Umalusi is the Council for Quality Assurance in General and Further Education and Training. The quality assurance body on Thursday said the leak does not go beyond 100 learners. Investigations by a Task Team, established by Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga to identify the source of the security breach and the extent of the spread of the access to the question paper, confirmed the leak. The investigation involved the Hawks, South African Police Service (SAPS) as well as private investigators. Interviews with learners and officials were also conducted. Umalusi said investigative marking was employed to determine the extent to which learners may have benefited. ...It has been decided that there is no need for a rewrite of Mathematic Paper 2. However, the Limpopo Education Departments non-adherence to some of the security measures outlined in the Norms and Standards must be addressed in the next examination cycle. Umalusi is very concerned about this trend and takes the view that strong action must be taken against those learners and officials who have made themselves guilty of these acts of dishonesty. The quality assurance body said the investigation is still continuing. It expressed bitter disappointment over the evidence from department, which indicates that the phenomenon of group copying has not been completely eliminated. This year has seen a limited number of incidents involving group copying in KwaZulu-Natal, Gauteng and Mpumalanga. Further investigations are underway and the results from all the implicated centres will remain blocked. It is also worth noting that detection of these irregularities attests to a very functional and vigilant system. Irregularities occur in all examinations or assessments and the examination system must have mechanisms to manage irregularities, to avoid lapses in examination credibility. However, Umalusi said whether an irregularity becomes a threat to the system depends on the nature and extent of the irregularity. In order to mitigate the sources of variability that impact on learner performance from one year to another, Umalusi said standardisation of results is employed as an important quality assurance process used the world-over. Standardisation aims (in the main) to achieve equivalence of the standard of the examination across years, subjects and assessment bodies and to deliver a relatively constant product to the market: universities, colleges and employers. Chinese tech giant Lenovo announced on Tuesday it was launching a smart home assistant powered by Amazon's Alexa, becoming the latest firm to enter the market for voice-activated devices. The new Smart Assistant, to go on sale for $129, will compete with Amazon's Echo speakers using the artificial intelligence developed by Amazon. Lenovo made the announcement ahead of the opening of the 2017 Consumer Electronics Show, which features a dizzying array of tech gadgets and concepts. Built in collaboration with Amazon, the Smart Assistant "recognises users' voice commands to conduct web searches, play music, create lists, calendar reminders and much more," a Lenovo statement said. Lenovo's move comes following Google's launch of a similar device which can respond to questions and voice commands and connect to smart appliances, so a user can set a thermostat or turn on an oven. "Our goal has never been to simply build smart home devices for the sake of advancing technology alone," says Johnson Jia, Lenovo's senior vice president for personal computers and smart devices. "In the same way a person's IQ is measured by applied knowledge, we believe products are 'smart' to the degree they're actually understood and applied to daily life by their users." Steve Rabuchin, vice president for Amazon Alexa, said the US firm was "excited to work with an innovative company such as Lenovo to bring the Lenovo Smart Assistant with Alexa to customers this spring." The device is expected to be available in May. Lenovo also announced plans for upgraded laptops, including PCs optimised for gaming. A Wild Coast restaurant owner who had 97kg of legally purchased crayfish confiscated by sea fisheries officials just before the holiday season is up in arms after they were allegedly returned rotten. Peter Woodford, who recently opened the Waterfront Restaurant in Port St Johns, said yesterday he had to obtain an order from the Mthatha High Court for sea fisheries officials to return the 272 East Coast lobster and the freezer they were in, confiscated during the raid early last month. He said the crayfish were returned rotten on 21 December - a week after the high court order. "On opening the contents, the East Coast lobster failed two of the layman's tests of freshness." Woodford said the first indication the R15,000 crayfish was rotten was the smell of the freezer. Another was that ink had leaked in the packaging and freezer. He said the contents of the freezer were inspected within 30 minutes of his receiving the goods back, and that they had been sent for testing by health authorities as well as a private laboratory. Attempts to obtain comment from Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries spokeswoman Palesa Mokomele proved fruitless yesterday. Luzuko Buku, acting spokesman for Economic Development MEC Sakhumzi Somyo, said yesterday the matter was of serious concern. The crayfish were seized by Sea Fisheries inspectors despite Woodford's having receipts to prove he had bought them legally from exporters Live Fish Tanks in Mthatha. "Not only has the Department of Fisheries affected the new Waterfront Restaurant, they have also wasted a marine resource which was legally caught by Wild Coast fishermen and sold by a legitimate licence holder to me," he said. Live Fish Tanks owner Greg Noble confirmed that the crayfish were legally bought by Woodford. Source: Herald NPR Conducts Hostile Interview with Israeli Ambassador Over UN Resolution | Main | Free Speech Crackdown on the Temple Mount January 04, 2017 Incomplete Headlines Mislead on Elor Azaria Shooting After an Israeli military court today convicted Israeli soldier Elor Azaria of manslaughter for fatally shooting a wounded Palestinian assailant in Hebron last April, several media outlets published incomplete and misleading headlines, ignoring the fact that Fatah al-Sharif was an assailant while noting only that he was wounded. Clearly, obscuring the fact that the wounded Palestinian subsequently shot dead is an assailant who just carried out an attack is a gross distortion of the facts surrounding the case. Several months ago, Presspectiva, CAMERA's Hebrew department, called out Haaretz's English edition for repeated headlines failing to identify the wounded Palestinian as an assailant while the Hebrew edition did commendably note the key fact that he was an attacker. Since then, Haaretz's English edition has significantly improved and has routinely identified the wounded Palestinian whom Azaria shot dead as an assailant. Today, several international media outlets are guilty of publishing similarly misleading headlines. The New York Times' original headline , for instance, was: "Elor Azaria, Israeli Soldier Who Shot Wounded Palestinian, Guilty of Manslaughter." Following CAMERA's communication with The Times, editors promptly revised the headline to reflect the fact that the Palestinian was an assailant. The amended headline reads: "Israeli Soldier Who Shot Wounded Palestinian Assailant Is Convicted of Manslaughter." Similarly, AFP's original headline noted that al-Sharif was "prone," but ignored the fact that he was an attacker: After CAMERA objected to the misleading headline, AFP editors implemented a marginal improvement. Instead of adding the information that the Palestinian was an attacker, they opted for less information, removing the fact that he was prone. As of press time, the most current AFP headline is: CNN, too, originally went with the skewed headline, as the following early screen shot shows: As of press time, CNN improved its headline, which now states: Al Jazeera's headline likewise refers to the fact that Al-Sharif is wounded and ignores that he was an attacker: The story was much the same at The International Business Times: In addition, CAMERA's UK Media Watch has flagged the same misleading headlines at The Guardian and The Telegraph. Posted by TS at January 4, 2017 06:51 AM What if he had a detonator in his pocket? Posted by: Anonymous at January 4, 2017 07:06 PM A court convicted a murderer and has yet to sentence him. Azaria never denied the shooting but the court discounted his stated cause. Now wait to hear sentencing. Then the fun begins. Posted by: Martin Gaskin at January 5, 2017 01:48 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 PR Newswire LONDON, Jan. 3, 2017 LONDON, Jan. 3, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- About Spa The spa market in Europe contributed about 40% of the global spa market by retail value in 2015. Countries in Western Europe experienced healthy growth despite unfavorable economic environment. Specialized urban spas and boutique hotels in the region offer differentiated services to customers at different pricing options. Rising investments in the hospitality and spa sector have significantly helped the growth of the market in this region.Technavio's analysts forecast the spa market in Europe to grow at a CAGR of 8.60% during the period 2016-2020.Covered in this reportThe report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the spa market in Europe for 2016-2020. To calculate the market size, the report considers the revenue generated from the spa services.Technavio's report, Spa Market in Europe 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 vendors - Lanserhof- Ritz Carlton- Clarins- FonteverdeOther prominent vendors- VILA VITA VITAL SPA- Clinique La Prairie- Lefay Resort & Spa Lago di Garda- Chelsea Day Spa- Nirvana Spa- Four Seasons Spa- The Bulgari Spa- Thermae Bath Spa- Terme di SaturniaMarket driver - Innovative service offerings by spa players- For a full, detailed list, view our report Market challenge - Low point of differentiation compared to salons- For a full, detailed list, view our report Market trend - Personalization of products and services- For a full, detailed list, view our report Key questions answered in this report- What will the market size be in 2020 and what will the growth rate be?- What are the key market trends?- What is driving this market?- What are the challenges to market growth?- Who are the key vendors in this market space?- What are the market opportunities and threats faced by the key vendors?- What are the strengths and weaknesses of the key vendors? You can request one free hour of our analyst's time when you purchase this market report. Details are provided within the report.MethodologyResearch methodology is based on extensive primary and secondary research. Primary research includes in-depth interviews with industry experts, vendors, resellers and customers. Secondary research includes Technavio Platform, industry publications, company reports, news articles, analyst reports, trade associations and the data published by Government agencies. Download the full report: https://www.reportbuyer.com/product/4539036/ About ReportbuyerReportbuyer is a leading industry intelligence solution that provides all market research reports from top publishershttp://www.reportbuyer.com For more information: Sarah Smith Research Advisor at Reportbuyer.com Email: [email protected] Tel: +44 208 816 85 48 Website: www.reportbuyer.com To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/spa-market-in-europe-2016-2020-300385081.html SOURCE ReportBuyer Blog Archive October 2022 (1) July 2022 (1) January 2022 (1) December 2021 (1) November 2021 (1) October 2021 (4) September 2021 (3) July 2021 (4) June 2021 (1) April 2021 (2) March 2021 (2) February 2021 (3) December 2020 (1) October 2020 (5) September 2020 (1) July 2020 (2) June 2020 (1) May 2020 (3) April 2020 (1) March 2020 (2) January 2020 (2) December 2019 (2) September 2019 (1) August 2019 (4) July 2019 (1) June 2019 (1) May 2019 (4) April 2019 (3) March 2019 (2) February 2019 (2) January 2019 (1) December 2018 (2) November 2018 (4) October 2018 (8) September 2018 (2) August 2018 (5) July 2018 (2) June 2018 (3) May 2018 (6) April 2018 (6) March 2018 (4) February 2018 (1) January 2018 (5) December 2017 (2) November 2017 (9) October 2017 (4) September 2017 (4) August 2017 (5) July 2017 (6) June 2017 (7) May 2017 (7) April 2017 (2) March 2017 (9) February 2017 (7) January 2017 (9) December 2016 (9) November 2016 (7) October 2016 (12) September 2016 (5) August 2016 (10) July 2016 (2) June 2016 (9) May 2016 (10) April 2016 (6) March 2016 (13) February 2016 (14) January 2016 (8) December 2015 (11) November 2015 (4) October 2015 (11) September 2015 (14) August 2015 (7) July 2015 (8) June 2015 (11) May 2015 (11) April 2015 (11) March 2015 (7) February 2015 (5) January 2015 (11) December 2014 (11) November 2014 (6) October 2014 (17) September 2014 (12) August 2014 (4) July 2014 (17) June 2014 (11) May 2014 (10) April 2014 (17) March 2014 (11) February 2014 (12) January 2014 (7) December 2013 (15) November 2013 (1) October 2013 (14) September 2013 (13) August 2013 (15) July 2013 (12) June 2013 (19) May 2013 (7) April 2013 (3) March 2013 (7) February 2013 (12) January 2013 (12) December 2012 (3) November 2012 (9) October 2012 (8) September 2012 (8) August 2012 (15) July 2012 (13) June 2012 (7) May 2012 (12) April 2012 (5) March 2012 (6) February 2012 (9) January 2012 (6) December 2011 (2) November 2011 (1) October 2011 (10) September 2011 (4) August 2011 (6) July 2011 (8) June 2011 (5) May 2011 (3) April 2011 (10) March 2011 (10) February 2011 (5) January 2011 (3) December 2010 (2) November 2010 (6) October 2010 (1) September 2010 (5) August 2010 (3) July 2010 (1) June 2010 (4) May 2010 (4) April 2010 (12) March 2010 (2) February 2010 (5) January 2010 (5) December 2009 (6) November 2009 (8) October 2009 (4) September 2009 (4) August 2009 (9) July 2009 (3) June 2009 (3) May 2009 (5) April 2009 (13) March 2009 (5) February 2009 (3) January 2009 (5) December 2008 (3) November 2008 (3) October 2008 (5) September 2008 (5) August 2008 (4) July 2008 (16) June 2008 (24) May 2008 (14) April 2008 (12) March 2008 (11) February 2008 (3) January 2008 (13) December 2007 (5) November 2007 (14) October 2007 (13) September 2007 (8) August 2007 (5) July 2007 (6) June 2007 (9) May 2007 (7) April 2007 (12) March 2007 (14) February 2007 (27) January 2007 (34) December 2006 (5) A file photo of Chinese aircraft carrier Liaoning. BEIJING (PTI): China continued to flex its muscles in the South China Sea, with its first aircraft carrier conducting exercises in the disputed area with a flotilla of naval ships amid tensions with the US following President-elect Donald Trump's telephone call to the Taiwanese President. A naval formation consisting of aircraft carrier Liaoning has conducted take-off and landing drills in the South China Sea yesterday, state-run Xinhua news agency quoted an official as saying. The formation, which is on a "cross-sea area" training exercise, involved J-15 fighter jets, as well as several ship-borne helicopters, the official said without mentioning specific numbers. Complex hydrological and meteorological conditions in the South China Sea as well as a cold front in area have posed some challenges, but the drill provided important experience in the build-up of combat capability of the aircraft carrier formation, he said. Chinese officials also say that the carrier is conducting a a series of exercises to test its systems and to work out an appropriate formation of ships and submarines to move along with it. Liaoning, a refit of the Soviet era warship, has been pressed into exercises in the middle of last month during which it conducted maiden live fire drills on a massive scale along with a host of naval ships, aircraft and submarines, four years after it was commissioned. China is currently building its second aircraft carrier. Chinese navy said the drills conducted in the Bohai Sea involved dozens of ships and aircraft as well as several air-to-air, air-to-ship and ship-to-air missiles. Liaoning has been conducting exercises since then and even travelled close to Taiwan in a show of strength. The exercises followed as China struck a more aggressive postures over the disputed South China Sea issue amid Trump's rhetoric over One China policy. Trump made an unprecedented phone call to Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen, drawing strong diplomatic protests from Beijing. Subsequently, Chinese navy also seized an unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV) of the US in the South China Sea and returned it about a week later, saying that it picked the unidentified drone to ensure safety of the navigation. China has become more assertive over the South China Sea after an international tribunal struck down its claim over almost all of the area. The Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan also have counter claims over the South China Sea. OCEAN SPRINGS, Mississippi -- More than three years after it began, a State Auditor's investigation surrounding former Ocean Springs Public Works Director Andre Kaufman has not reached a resolution. In March 2015, sources within city hall confirmed city officials had been notified of the investigation, which surrounded the use of public works trucks and employees to transport scrap metal to local scrap yards. Half of the money -- which totaled at least $16,000 -- was turned over to the city, with the other half in cash and checks kept in a safe in Kaufman's office, according to sources at the time. Ocean Springs Mayor Connie Moran would not comment specifically on the Kaufman investigation, but issued a statement to The Mississippi Press. "Approximately a year and a half ago, we became aware of a situation involving one of the city departments that included some potentially illegal activities," Moran wrote at the time. "We immediately turned over all information to the appropriate law enforcement authorities, and have been cooperating with them since that time. We will ensure the integrity of our operations and take all steps to maintain the public trust." When the investigation first became publicly known, it had already been underway for 18 months -- meaning more than three years has now passed since it began. If and when auditor's office investigators conclude the investigation, the findings would be turned over to the Jackson County District Attorney's Office, which would then determine whether to present the case to the Grand Jury. Neither the district attorney's office nor the auditor's office will publicly comment on the investigation, but a source familiar with the case told The Mississippi Press the auditor's office informed the DA's office to expect the file to be turned over "after the first of the year." A message left seeking comment from the auditor's office was not returned by press time Tuesday. Shortly after the investigation was made public, Kaufman was suspended for three days with pay by Moran. Roughly a week later, on April 6, 2015, Kaufman -- following a five-hour executive session with Moran and the board of aldermen -- agreed to step down as the public works director, staying on as a "project manager" until he retired June 30 after 20 years with the city. Following the meeting, aldermen said discussion of the investigation was "off the table" during negotiations over Kaufman's status with the city. Johnny Groue took over as the interim director and was ultimately appointed to the permanent post. Groue himself has resigned, effective Jan. 5, to take a job with Jackson County. Aldermen are expected to appoint Public Works Assistant Director Candace Hooks to serve as interim director. The boss of high street giant Next warned that Brexit uncertainty would add to an "even tougher" year ahead as the chain sounded the alarm over sales and profits after a difficult Christmas. Next shares tumbled 10% in a dismal start to the festive reporting season after it said annual profits to January 2017 were set to fall by around 3.6% and could plunge by as much as 14% in the next financial year. The group said it was facing "exceptional levels of uncertainty" amid a consumer spending squeeze, soaring costs from the weak pound and "little visibility of the approach the UK government will be taking to Brexit". Chief executive Lord Simon Wolfson - a prominent Leave campaigner - said that while the British government was right not to be rushed into a Brexit plan, fears over the negotiations would heap further pressure on an embattled retail sector. "It will take time for them and we have to be patient, but there will be uncertainty in the meantime," he said. Shares fell across the retail sector as Next sparked worries of a dire Christmas and 2017 for fashion firms, with Marks & Spencer down nearly 5% and Primark parent Associated British Foods 4% lower. Next - seen as a retail bellwether in the UK - reported a 0.4% fall in overall full-price sales for the 54 days to December 24, while it also posted a 7% plunge in end-of-season clearance sales. Next said it suffered a 3.5% fall in full-price sales across its high street stores in the quarter so far to Christmas Eve. It saw a better performance across its Directory catalogue arm, with sales up 5.1%, but this was not enough to offset the fall across its store estate. The group had been hoping for a fourth-quarter turnaround after a difficult 2016. But it said the end-of-year blow meant profits were expected to come in at 792m for the 12 months to January 2017, depending on January trade, compared with previous guidance of 785m to 825m. Lord Wolfson said 2017 was going to be "even tougher", with the group forecasting that its next year's profits could tumble to between 680 million and 780m. He said there was no immediate end in sight to the shift in spending away from clothing and footwear. Heavy discounting among rivals in the run-up to Christmas was also affecting its January sales trade as fewer shoppers are hitting the high street, he added. "I said 2016 would feel like we were walking up the down escalator; well, the escalator has just got faster," he said. Next repeated warnings over cost pressures from the Brexit-hit pound, which the group has already said could see it hike prices by up to 5%. This, together with a continuing downturn in spend on clothing, could see total full-price sales in the range of minus 4.5% to 1.5%, giving a central forecast of minus 1.5% for 2017/18. Shares in Next and other retailers had already fallen on Tuesday ahead of the update after poor footfall figures suggested a poor start to the January clearance sales. Richard Lim, chief executive of consultancy Retail Economics, branded the Next update "miserable". He added: "These latest figures from Next confirm that underlying conditions on the high street remain desperate for clothing and footwear retailers." Even if Anthony had a year to analyze and dissect each piece...(he couldn't tell if it would)... stand the harsh light of public exposure. WUWT insider Willis Eschenbach tells you all you need to know about Anthony Watts and his blog, WattsUpWithThat (WUWT). As part of his scathing commentary , Wondering Willis accuses Anthony Watts of being clueless about the blog articles he posts. To paraphrase: Click here to read more. A man has died after he was knocked down by a lorry in Dublin this evening. The man in his late 20s was struck by an articulated lorry on the M50 Northbound close to junction 4 Ballymun at around 5.30pm this evening. Brussels officials said the resignation of Ivan Rogers meant the UK had lost a "professional" diplomat who had always "loyally defended" his Government. In an explosive resignation email, Ivan hit out at the "ill-founded arguments and muddled thinking" of politicians and said civil servants still did not know the Government's plans for Brexit. Ivan unexpectedly quit weeks after he sparked controversy by warning the Government that a post-Brexit trade deal could take a decade to finalise, and even then may fail to be ratified by member states. The European Commission said it regretted the loss of a "very knowledgeable" envoy and indicated that Ivan had been a tough negotiator in wrangles with Brussels. Simon Fraser, the former head of the Diplomatic Service, warned that Britain was losing one of its biggest experts on Europe months before "very complex" Brexit negotiations begin. But prominent pro-Brexit MP Iain Duncan Smith suggested civil servants are now having to "tear up the rulebook" for how they normally operate to deal with leaving the EU. Commission spokeswoman Natasha Bertaud paid tribute to Ivan in Brussels. She said: "We regret the loss of a very professional, very knowledgeable - while not always easy - interlocutor and diplomat who always loyally defended the interests of his Government." Asked if his resignation shortly before the tough Brexit talks begin would cause problems, she said: "This is not something that we are going to comment on at this stage. Negotiations have not yet started and we are still waiting for the triggering of Article 50 to commence those negotiations." Simon told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "He is a highly intelligent, knowledgeable and experienced official and one of the greatest experts, if I can use the expert word, that we have on European matters in the British Civil Service." He went on: "I do think that his sort of in-depth knowledge and expertise is a loss as we go into what is going to be, as (Brexit Secretary) David Davis himself has said, a very complex set of negotiations." Sir Simon, who left his post in July 2015, rejected suggestions that Ivan was not tough enough in negotiations, including David Cameron's attempt to reshape Britain's relationship with the EU before the referendum. The ex-diplomat insisted Ivan "called a spade a spade" in his advice to ministers. In his resignation letter, Ivan criticised politicians and urged his civil servants to continue to challenge ministers and "speak the truth to those in power". Ivan wrote: "I hope that you will support each other in those difficult moments where you have to deliver messages that are disagreeable to those who need to hear them." It emerged in December, as Theresa May met European counterparts at a Brussels summit, that Ivan had passed on warnings from other EU members that negotiations on a trade deal could take a decade. But former Tory leader Mr Duncan Smith suggested Ivan's views were less relevant as EU member states will inevitably be feeding him their most hardline views before negotiations begin. He told Today: "They are now having to accept and understand that we are leaving and that means therefore sometimes the views and the opinions of what you keep feeding back from various member states isn't actually sometimes quite relevant." Mr Duncan Smith also suggested Ivan had undermined his position by "going public" too often. Jonathan Powell, Tony Blair's former chief of staff and an ex-diplomat, warned the Prime Minister against hiring a pro-Brexit successor to Ivan. Appointing a "patsy" who does not explain plainly what the other side is thinking will doom the Brexit negotiations to failure as ministers will be operating in a "fantasy land" about what is achievable, he told Today. In the email from Ivan, sent just before 1pm on Tuesday, he said he decided to step down early so his replacement can be in place when Article 50 is triggered by April and formal negotiations begin. But it comes amid reports of tension between the senior diplomat and ministers because of his pessimistic views on Brexit. Ivan stressed the need for expert civil servants to play a central role in the negotiations and urged his staff to tell ministers the true opinions of the other 27 member states "even where this is uncomfortable". He added: "Serious multilateral negotiating experience is in short supply in Whitehall, and that is not the case in the (European) Commission or in the Council. "The Government will only achieve the best for the country if it harnesses the best experience we have - a large proportion of which is concentrated in UKREP - and negotiates resolutely. "Senior ministers, who will decide on our positions, issue by issue, also need from you detailed, unvarnished - even where this is uncomfortable - and nuanced understanding of the views, interests and incentives of the other 27." Ivan also said the allocation of roles in the UK's negotiating team needs "rapid resolution" and hit out at assertions by some politicians that a free trade deal will be easy to negotiate. In comments seen as a veiled swipe at International Trade Secretary Liam Fox he said: "Contrary to the beliefs of some, free trade does not just happen when it is not thwarted by authorities: increasing market access to other markets and consumer choice in our own, depends on the deals, multilateral, plurilateral and bilateral that we strike, and the terms that we agree." A gun has been found in the car a 28-year-old man was travelling in when he was shot dead by police during a "pre-planned" operation on a motorway slip road, the police watchdog has said. Father-of-two Mohammed Yassar Yaqub died after he was shot by police at junction 24 of the M62 at Ainley Top, just north of Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, on Monday evening. Mr Yaqub's death is being investigated by the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC), which said in a statement: "What appears to be a non-police issue firearm was discovered in the vehicle in which Mr Yaqub was travelling, and is being further examined." The IPCC said a post-mortem examination on Mr Yaqub's body is due to take place on Wednesday and its investigators are continuing to seek any relevant CCTV footage. IPCC Commissioner Derrick Campbell said: "My thoughts are with Mr Yaqub's family and all those affected at this difficult time. "Though in its early stages, this investigation is making good progress but will be complex. "We will be working hard to establish exactly what happened and would ask for patience while our investigation continues." West Yorkshire Police said its operation, which included stopping another car near Bradford, "related to information received about criminal possession of a firearm" and was not terror-related. Five people were arrested across the two vehicle stops - three in Huddersfield and two in Bradford - and remain in custody. Several of those arrested needed hospital treatment for injuries "not related to firearm discharge" but no police officers were hurt, a force spokesman said. Mr Yaqub was from the Crosland Moor area of Huddersfield, where his father is a well-known businessman. In a statement, Mr Yaqub's Bradford-based lawyers said: "Mr Yaqub's family are in shock, and are distraught. They would ask the media to respect their privacy at this difficult time. "The family are fully aware that the incident that led to the death of Mr Yaqub is currently being investigated by the IPCC and they do not wish to make any further comment at this stage." His relatives said they did not want to speak as they gathered at his home in a cul-de-sac in the Crosland Moor area. But many family members left the property in Rudding Street when armed police arrived, apparently to search the property. At least five police vehicles arrived in the surrounding streets, including a dog van, and officers with guns were positioned at the front and back of the house before leaving about 30 minutes later. Earlier, flowers were taken to the house as a number of relatives arrived, some embracing as they went inside. Witnesses reported seeing "five or six" police cars, a Mercedes E-Class and a Jaguar at the scene of the shooting. A silver Audi with bullet holes in its windscreen could be seen for most of Tuesday, surrounded by other vehicles at the bottom of the off-slip of the westbound carriageway of the M62 as police and forensic teams continued their investigation. Lorries arrived to begin the process of removing all the vehicles and reopening the motorway junction at teatime. Nearby residents said they did not hear any shots but were alerted by a huge police presence at about 6pm on Monday which they first thought indicated a major road accident. In 2010 a Yassar Yaqub from Rudding Street went on trial after it was claimed that he opened fire on a car in Birkby Hall Road in Huddersfield. But the defendant was acquitted of attempted murder after a judge ruled there was insufficient evidence. People living close to Rudding Street said on Tuesday that Mr Yaqub's house was targeted by gunmen more than a year ago. In June 2015, police said two people suffered minor injuries when a shotgun was fired in Rudding Street by balaclava-clad gunmen as children played. Police described this incident as a "targeted attack". Nadeem Murtuja, chairman of the human rights and racial justice campaign group JUST Yorkshire, called on West Yorkshire Police to disclose to the IPCC the full chain of events that led to the shooting. He said: "There is a great deal of disquiet in the community about the death of Mr Yaqub and it is crucial that both his family and the Huddersfield community are kept informed about the conduct of the investigation and the events that led to the fatal shooting." There were reports of a protest against the shooting blocking Leeds Road, in Bradford, on Tuesday evening. Social media postings showed a group of people holding banners and stopping traffic on the road to the east of the city centre. Metro News Travel tweeted that some bus services had been diverted due to the demonstration. ends West Yorkshire Police said it had deployed officers to the area "to facilitate a peaceful protest". Peaceful protest in Bradford after Police 'pre planned' murder of a young Asian male in West Yorkshire pic.twitter.com/LHS9pvRzHa ZoeSimone (@zoesimone) January 3, 2017 The force said: "Police empathise with the heightened tensions and engaged with protesters to appeal for calm. They are continuing working with members of the community, partners and local officers to maintain community cohesion and police relations." There was some low-level disorder although no arrests were made. West Yorkshire Police said officers were remaining in the area to provide reassurance to members of the public. Convicted South Carolina church gunman Dylann Roof has spoken to the jury for the first time at his death penalty trial, telling jurors there is nothing wrong with him psychologically. But perhaps most important is what he did not say - he did not ask jurors to spare his life or the death penalty. The jury last month unanimously found Roof guilty of hate crimes over the shooting deaths of nine black church members during Bible study in Charleston. They will now decide whether he should be sentenced to death. "My opening statement is going to seem a little bit out of place," the soft-spoken 22-year-old white man said calmly as he stood in front of a podium, occasionally glancing at notes. "I am not going to lie to you ... Other than the fact that I trust people that I shouldn't and the fact that I'm probably better at constantly embarrassing myself than anyone who's ever existed, there's nothing wrong with me psychologically." Roof's lawyers have indicated that he chose to represent himself during the sentencing phase of his trial because he was worried they might present embarrassing evidence about himself or his family. They have not said what that evidence may be. Roof was found competent to represent himself during two different hearings, one as recently as within the last week. Prosecutors said Roof deserved the death penalty because he painstakingly chose to target vulnerable people during Bible study at Emanuel AME Church in June 2015. "This defendant's horrific acts justify the death penalty," Assistant US Attorney Nathan Williams said. "He killed nine people ... He killed them because of the colour of their skin. He killed them because they were less than people." Prosecutors plan to call up to 38 people related to the nine people killed and three who survived. Mr Williams told jurors they would hear extensive testimony about the nine victims, including pastor and state senator Clementa Pinckney, a "prodigy of the ministry" who was a man of faith, service and family dedication. "This will be heartbreaking," Mr Williams said. The prosecutor also read a portion from a journal found in Roof's jail cell six weeks after his arrest in which Roof said he had not wept for any of the victims. "I remember how I felt when I did these things and how I knew I had to do something and then I realise it was worth it," Roof wrote, as a handwritten page from his journal appeared on screens in the courtroom. "I would like to make it crystal clear. I do not regret what I did. I have not shed a tear for the innocent people I killed." Roof has said he does not plan to call any witnesses or introduce any evidence. NEW YORK: Taylor Swift on Tuesday announced she was returning to touring, getting back on the road for the first... MOSCOW: The Kremlin said on Thursday it had not committed to staying in the Black Sea grain deal, which has freed... The HSUS successfully campaigned to ban gestation crates in California, Colorado, Maine, Michigan, Ohio, and Rhode Island. Most recently, voters in Massachusetts also banned gestation crates when they passed our Question 3 ballot initiative. Photo by iStockphoto 1.3K shares Smithfield Foods, the worlds largest pork producer, has made more progress away from cruel gestation crates. The company announced today that it has converted 87 percent of its sow housing to group housing systems, and will be at 100 percent by the end of 2017. A decade and a half ago, there wasnt a single U.S. state with laws protecting animals from extreme confinement practices on factory farms. About that time, we launched a campaign to target one of the worst abuses the confinement of mother pigs in coffin-like enclosures for years on end. The two-foot by seven-foot cages are so cramped that the 300- or 400-pound animals cannot even turn around. Somehow, within the world of factory farming, where animals are treated like nothing more than commodities, that became both routine and acceptable. We aimed to change that, and Florida was our first major battleground. In 2002, we helped pass a ballot measure making the Sunshine State the first to ban gestation cratesor any factory farming practice. Four years later, we qualified an anti-gestation-crate ballot initiative in Arizona, and it passed by an even wider margin. Just three months after Arizonas ballot passage, Smithfield announced it would phase out gestation crates at its operations, replacing them with group housing, a system that doesnt involve such extreme confinement, and complete the transition by the end of 2017. We havent been sitting around watching the sands pour through the hour glass, in the meantime. We worked to expedite change for the better throughout the entire animal agricultural economy. We successfully campaigned to ban gestation crates in California, Colorado, Maine, Michigan, Ohio, and Rhode Island. Most recently, voters in Massachusetts also banned gestation crates (among other confinement practices) when they passed our Question 3 ballot initiative with 78 percent favoring it. At the same time, weve persuaded more pork buyers to change their purchasing standards. Within the last few years, weve worked with dozens of the largest pork buyers, from Albertsons to McDonalds, to announce that they will stop buying pork produced using gestation crates. But we also want producers to change, and today, Smithfield has made good on honoring its pledge from a decade ago. And contrary to claims from industry skeptics, Smithfield reports that its transition has had no negative effects on its sows productivity. But for all the progress, its important to note that while Smithfield is moving toward group housing, its still confining sows in cramped crates for several weeks at the beginning of their pregnancies. This is cruel, and if sows must be individually housed for a time period, theres no reason to give them such a miserly amount of space that they cant even turn around for weeks on end. Its also bad business: many states prohibit that type of confinement (like Massachusetts, which also prohibits the sale of pork from such systems, starting in a few years), and dozens of the largest food companies are demanding the total elimination of gestation crates. Still, we welcome Smithfields progress, and encourage the company and the rest of the pork industry to continue what appears to be an inevitable movement away from immobilizing confinement of sentient creatures whose most basic biological and behavioral needs are frustrated by such systems. The big retailers are eliminating all gestation crates, most of them by 2022, and an entire state (Massachusetts) has said no pork produced from gestation crates can be sold there by 2022. Will the pork industry be ready? I believe Smithfield will. And I hope others start acting now to ensure they will be too. 1.3K shares PARIS: People with monkeypox can spread the virus up to four days before symptoms appear, with more than half of... ACT Police are now seeking three associates of a man who assaulted a woman at Canberra's Cube nightclub in late November. Police have ruled out a man they had believed to be a fourth associate after he presented himself to police last week and have thanked him for coming forward. Police are calling for the three men whose faces can be seen in this picture to come forward. The assault occurred at 2am on Sunday 20 November 2016, when the man, rejected earlier by the woman, later walked by her and pulled her hair, forcing her to the ground. The man immediately left with three men police believe are associates of his. Bad news for the 62,845 native fingerlings released into lakes throughout Canberra on Wednesday - it's a fish eat fish world. More than 45,000 Murray cod were set loose in Lake Burley Griffin, Gungahlin Pond and Yerrabi Pond and 15,909 golden perch in Lake Tuggeranong in a bid to improve the chances of the ACT's recreational fishermen. The ACT environment department released 60,000 fingerlings into ACT ponds and lakes. Aquatic ecologist Mark Jekabsons. Credit:Karleen Minney An added bonus? In time, the weeks-old, five-centimetre cod fingerlings will grow large enough to eat carp, a species estimated to make up 50 per cent of the fish population in Lake Burley Griffin alone. About half of Wednesday's fingerlings are hoped to survive, but the rest are predicted to fall prey to larger fish and water birds. Underneath the blistering outperformance of iron ore and coking coal during 2016, some lesser-known commodities staged some handsome price rises, thanks to an underlying recovery in oil and iron ore which coincided with a pullback in business investment. Zinc was one of the best performers, surging 75 per cent year-on-year thanks to tightening supply, while uranium was one of the few base metals to close the year lower than where it started. Agricultural commodities such as pork, jumped 22 per cent in December after five months of steep declines, with palm oil hitting a four-year high after a 9 per cent gain in December thanks to supply concerns out of Malaysia. "For many metals and energy products, the rally in prices has been particularly supported by a pullback in supply," said Paul Bloxham, chief economist at HSBC Australia, He noted that business investment had dried up as producers reacted to low prices. Dame Anson Chan was the chief secretary of the Hong Kong Civil Service under both British and Chinese authorities. She remains an experienced and knowledgeable observer of mainland politics. Late last year she visited Australia and politely warned our politicians of the risks in entering treaties with China. Her advice carries contemporary merit. The Commonwealth government wishes to ratify an extradition treaty with China that was signed by both parties in 2007. Justice Minister Michael Keenan is an enthusiastic supporter of this apparently commendable goal. Most observers would agree that criminals should not evade justice by passing unchallenged through inadequately regulated borders. Yet the Turnbull government's ambition should be viewed with considerable scepticism. Former chief secretary of the Hong Kong Civil Service, Dame Anson Chan. Credit:Steven Siewert Co-operation in extradition relies upon adherence to a class of substantive and procedural norms and principles. These reflect compliance with the rule of law and observance of human rights. That is not the case here. In March last year the Law Council of Australia submitted a paper on this treaty to Parliament's joint standing committee on treaties. The Law Council document was competently researched and cautiously argued. It also contained a succinct summary of the treaty's extensive shortcomings. Those deficiencies include aspects of the right to a fair trial, evidentiary thresholds in determining extradition requests, a presumption against bail, absence of time limits applied to executive government decisions, the definition of a political offence, consequences for breach of an undertaking not to apply the death penalty, protections for children and compliance monitoring arrangements. The authors also pointed out that this treaty contains weaker human rights protections than is the case in other extradition treaties to which Australia is a party. Regardless, Chinese adherence to even these diminished responsibilities remains at best doubtful. The reason for this is simple: the Chinese state is governed by an illiberal dictatorship, and all dictatorships tend to evince the same unsavoury attributes. The apparatchiks of the Communist Party of China are entirely conventional in that sense, as they view our liberties with public antipathy punctuated by occasional condescension. In Canberra that unpalatable truth was grasped and promptly discarded without the slightest hint of naivete. This is because the Turnbull government has decided to replace good faith with deception. Mr Keenan, Attorney-General George Brandis and their colleagues simply pretend that the communists will abruptly cease their despotic behaviour and embrace international human rights norms. Regrettably, there is nothing new in this cynicism. History is littered with relatively liberal states, the governments of which unwisely sought to ingratiate themselves with powerful tyrannies. This latest failure of our political class has aroused scant indignation among the Australian populace which is one measure of the growing and quietly spectacular success of Chinese diplomacy. A primary reason for Australia's supine compliance lies in trade. In 2014, total (two-way) trade with our most important market was valued at $152 billion. It was easier to take the moral high ground when negotiating with 20th century totalitarians because most of them were impoverished. Today, Australian politicians will cheerfully make indecent compromises that enhance the flow of profits from more affluent successors. One should reflect carefully on that enthusiasm. Leading scholar Frank Dikotter concluded that in the 20th century Mao Zedong's homicidal reign destroyed the lives of around 33 million of his own people. Current paramount leader Xi Jinping apparently views Mao favourably. The same party today suppresses freedoms of expression, assembly, association and religion. It has imprisoned its own Nobel peace prize laureate Liu Xiaobo. It harasses, threatens and jails lawyers while the judiciary exists as a plaything of the party. And it notoriously tortures and executes thousands each year while describing universal human rights norms as "foreign infiltration". Equally sinister, Australian businessmen such as Matthew Ng have been unjustly imprisoned in China through the influence of corrupt party members while Chinese agents have harassed Australian citizens within Australia in campaigns of organised intimidation. In short, various forms of intolerance and brutality remain an indissoluble plank of Communist Party governance. One Nation has picked a fight with one of Australia's closest allies, calling for tighter immigration controls for those across the ditch, after New Zealand co-sponsored a United Nation's resolution censuring Israel. Queensland senator Malcolm Roberts said he was "appalled" by the Security Council resolution, which called for an immediate end to any and all settlement activities in disputed zones, including East Jerusalem, which he said "have contained Jewish settlements since biblical times". In a statement released last week, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop implied Australia, which does not have a seat on the Security Council, would have gone against the position held by New Zealand, and the United States, which abstained from voting, while supporting a two-state solution. Liberal senator Eric Abetz was also critical of New Zealand's position, releasing his own statement condemning the resolution. As many as 190,000 Australians have received letters from Centrelink questioning their eligibility for some government benefits, as a new automated system matches income and employment data from across government agencies. Social Services Minister Christian Porter said this week the new computer-based system for welfare compliance, introduced in July to crack down on unnecessary government expenditure, is working well - so what has caused controversy for Centrelink? Australians who have received benefits and support payments in recent years are being asked to explain why the income employers have reported to the Tax Office might not match the income they've reported to Centrelink. Individuals are given up to 21 days to explain the discrepancies online and if no action is taken, Centrelink will make a decision and issue a debt notice. News of a "mass molestation" surfaced swiftly in the Indian news media: Numerous women being groped, harassed and chased on the streets of Bangalore by an unruly crowd on New Year's Eve. And almost as swiftly, the government official who is ultimately responsible for keeping order on those streets, the home minister of Karnataka state, said the women were to blame because of the way they looked and acted. G. Parameshwara, home minister of Karnataka state: "Some girls are harassed, these kind of things do happen." Credit:Maya Films/YouTube "Youngsters were almost like Westerners," said the official, G. Parameshwara, in a televised interview on Monday. "They tried to copy the Westerner, not only in their mindset but even in their dressing. So some disturbance, some girls are harassed, these kind of things do happen." Public outcry over sexual assault and street safety in India has magnified in recent years as such cases have come to light, including the 2012 rape of a 23-year-old woman on a bus in New Delhi who later died of her injuries. Amber Hess, of Palmer Township, will join other college students from across the United States in Washington D.C. for the Presidential Inauguration Leadership Summit, a five-day program, which takes place amid the inauguration of the president of the United States. Amber Hess (Courtesy photo) "The Presidential Inauguration Leadership Summit will provide students with an opportunity to take part in historic events that coincide with the Inauguration of the President of the United States," said Andrew Potter, the chief academic officer for Envision and the Presidential Inauguration Leadership Summit. Summit scholars will be inspired to become change agents while hearing from a slate of speakers, including Malala Yousafzai, General Colin Powell, Spike Lee, Abby Wambach, Carly Fiorina, Gov. Martin O'Malley, and more. Hess is a criminal justice student at Northampton Community College, where she has been a member of the Phi Theta Kappa honor society. She plans to continue her education at the Florida Institute of Technology to study forensic psychology. She has served as an intern at both the Bethlehem and Easton police departments. Do you have education news to share? To see it posted here and possibly in The Express-Times, send me an email. Police have charged a 74-year-old Spring Hill man over a suspicious fire in Moorooka on December 28. About 9.30 that night emergency services were called to a blaze at a commercial building at Ipswich Road. It took fire crews two hours to extinguish the fire, and police closed the road in both directions while the fire was controlled. A huge fire destroyed a business in Moorooka on December 28. Credit:Nine News The building with two shop fronts and a flat upstairs was completely destroyed, but no one was in the building at the time of the blaze. The fire was deemed suspicious and fire investigators and police worked to establish the cause of the fire. Authorities have cracked down on rogue waste management operators in Queensland, including the unlicensed transport of asbestos, chemicals and waste oil. A special compliance operation - named Operation TORA - targeted unlicensed waste management operators across Queensland. The Department of Environment and Heritage Protection is cracking down on unlicensed waste management operators. Pictured is unlicensed regulated waste chemical transport. Credit:Department of Environment and Heritage Protection Environment Minister Steven Miles said the program began in August 2015, run by a special Waste Industry Compliance Investigation Taskforce, under the umbrella of the Environment and Heritage Protection Department. So far, the operation has led to 54 enforcement actions against 46 unlicensed operators. Police are on the hunt for a machete-wielding bottle shop thief who apologised to his victims during the scary incident, saying "I'm sorry, I broke up with my girlfriend". The man attempted to hold up the Keilor East business in the lead-up to Christmas. But things did not go quite to plan. After some quick thinking by the mother-and-son duo minding the store, he left with just a packet of cigarettes. The thief entered the Bottlemart Cellars on Centreway just after 7pm on December 15 wearing a black balaclava and hoodie, demanding cash and cigarettes. As most of Melbourne sweated through the hottest Christmas Day in 18 years, Anna and Peter Tesoriero and their children were frolicking in the family's new swimming pool. Giving them peace of mind were the safety measures they put in place to ensure their children - the youngest just five - could never make their way into the water alone. Anna and Peter Tesoriero went over and above safety requirements to ensure their backyard pool was safe for their children. Anna and Peter Tesoriero with Kai, 5, in front. Friend Alizea with Eva, 9, and Zoe, 11 in the middle. Credit:Wayne Taylor "We took out a sliding door and replaced it with a window, we put in soft-close hinges on the doors," Ms Tesoriero said. "We paid an extra $900 for that ... with three children, their lives are too important to leave it to chance." A woman charged with murdering her long-term partner in a house fire in Bendigo has appeared in court, where she was overheard telling her lawyer she did not kill Darren Reid. Mr Reid, 45, suffered serious burns in a house fire in the Bendigo suburb of Long Gully on December 18. He died in hospital the following day. Appearing in court on Wednesday afternoon, Ms Stone said something inaudible to two women sitting near the dock, and then in a discussion with her lawyer before she was taken back into custody, said loudly: "I never murdered my husband." It is understood the pair have five children together, aged eight to 19. In an interview with News Corp last Wednesday, Ms Stone said her partner died while shielding her from three men who invaded their home, making threats to kill and sexually assault the family. "He put himself on fire basically by standing in front of me so they couldn't set me alight. It was meant to go for me. He saved my life," Ms Stone is reported to have said. President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday night renewed his taunting of the nation's intelligence service, again questioning its assessment of Russian intervention in the 2016 presidential contest. Trump tweeted: "The 'Intelligence' briefing on so-called 'Russian hacking' was delayed until Friday, perhaps more time needed to build a case. Very strange!" The heavy use of quotation marks suggested Trump's continued doubts about findings that Russia intervened in the presidential race in hopes of boosting his candidacy. The president-elect has confounded members of both political parties by seemingly siding with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who vehemently denies any Russian involvement in the presidential race, over the country's own intelligence analysts. Latest News Expect another interest rate increase before Christmas And one more in February, says economist New way to own a slice of paradise Platform provides co-ownership model for holiday homes The Mortgage and Finance Association of Australia ( MFAA ) announced today that Director Malcolm Watkins has not sought re-appointment to the Board following the expiration of his current one-year term.Appointed in 2015, Watkins remains passionate about the important role the MFAA plays in advocating on behalf of the broking industry, and will remain in his leading role on the lobbying committee.I have enjoyed my time serving on the Board of the MFAA. It is essential that we continue to focus on protecting the health and prosperity of the broking industry in the face of potential economic and political headwinds, so I have offered my ongoing support to the Board and the Association, Watkins said.MFAA Chairman Cynthia Grisbrook thanked Watkins for his contribution over the past twelve months and looked forward to the continued relationship in his revised role.I would like to take this opportunity to thank Malcolm for his contribution over the past year, Grisbrook said. While he will no longer be a member of the Board, he will remain a source of support and expertise for the MFAA, and I look forward to working with him in the future in his role on our lobbying committee, but also as a key industry expert we will continue to look to for advice. Latest News Expect another interest rate increase before Christmas And one more in February, says economist New way to own a slice of paradise Platform provides co-ownership model for holiday homes A Sydney-based mortgage broker has faced court after being been accused of organising 63 drug deals during the holiday season.Police claim self-employed broker Michael Geering sold cocaine both from his apartment in Coogee and by driving out to meet customers. He used the code word beer in his texts, reported The Daily Telegraph.One court document alleges that a customer sent a text saying, Please mate. I promised them some beers at our Christmas lunch.Geering spent New Years Eve in custody and appeared via video at Parramatta bail court on Tuesday (3 January). He faced five charges including supplying a prohibited drug and knowingly dealing with the proceeds of crime with police alleging he sold 107 grams of cocaine between 8 and 29 December.On searching his Coogee apartment, police also claim they found several mobile phones, scales, small clip-seal bags and over $42,000 in cash.Investigations established that the accused had a significant client base through the eastern suburbs and greater Sydney metro, police said.Barrister Ben Clark told the court that Geering intended to plead not guilty. His work as a self-employed mortgage broker plus his partners position as a publicist meant they had access to money.I have been instructed they will be able to show that money came from lawful means, Clark said.Magistrate Ian McRae granted Geering bail with a degree of reservation. The case has been adjourned until later this month. Sign up for our amNY Sports email newsletter to get insights and game coverage for your favorite teams 68th Precinct Bay RidgeDyker Heights Ride and run A miscreant sprayed a cabbie in the eyes with an unknown liquid and fled a taxi without paying his fare on 86th Street on Dec. 31, said police. The cabbie told authorities that he picked up the punk at 96th Street and Second Avenue at 12:45 am and drove him to 86th Street between Fort Hamilton Parkway and Gatling Place. When they reached their destination the nogoodnik sprayed the cabbie in the eyes with an unknown liquid and ran out of the cab without paying for the ride, authorities said. Sliced Two goons struck a man with a glass bottle on Fort Hamilton Parkway on Dec. 27, said police. The man told officials that he was near 62nd Street at 11:40 am when he got into a verbal dispute with the louts. The argument escalated when one of the brutes smashed a glass bottle into the mans face, slicing open his upper lip. Emergency responders took the victim to Lutheran Medical Center, officials said. Ransacked A bandit broke into a womans Bay Ridge Parkway apartment on Dec. 31, authorities said. The woman told police that she entered her apartment between Third and Fourth avenues at 7 pm and discovered the place had been tossed. Upon further inspection she noticed the rear window by the fire escape was wide open, said police. But the thief only made off with $50, officials said. Caroline Spivack LESLIE ACOSTA ART.jpg Ex.-state Rep. Leslie Acosta, D-Philadelphia (PennLive file) Good Wednesday Morning, Fellow Seekers. Let's just call it " The Acosta Rule ." On the same day it swore in members for the new two-year session, the state House of Representatives tightened its ethics rules to make it easier to boot lawmakers who find themselves on the business end of the criminal justice system. As our pal Karen Langley of The Post-Gazette reports (via The Inquirer), the rules change came on the day that Rep. Leslie Acosta, D-Philadelphia, who pleaded guilty to a federal charge last year, finally gave up her seat. As Langley reports, under the new rule: "If a House member pleads guilty or no contest, or is found guilty of a crime related to the office or a crime that renders a legislator constitutionally ineligible, the Republican and Democratic leaders of the Ethics Committee would be authorized to request a resolution of expulsion that would appear on the voting calendar for the next session day." The rules change, which was voted on as part of a package, was the product of negotiations between both parties. They were overwhelmingly approved on a 167-32 vote, Langley reported. More astute readers will recall that Acosta, of north Philly, secretly pleaded guilty last spring to a federal embezzlement charge. Her conviction only came to light last fall after it was reported by The Inquirer and other news outlets. Because it came to light so late, Acosta stayed in office and won re-election without facing opposition. In a perverse twist of verbiage, Acosta had the right to keep her $85k/year job because the state Constitution allows lawmakers convicted of felonies to stay in office until their sentencing. Acosta resisted pressure from top Democrats, including Gov. Tom Wolf, to quit, finally submitting her resignation letter late last month, as PennLive's Jan Murphy reported at the time. Acosta's seat will remain vacant until the House schedules a special election - one that will most likely coincide with the spring primary. The rest of the day's news starts now. The House gave with one hand, but took with another, also approving a rules change that makes it easier to pass some legislation, but limits public review, The Tribune-Review reports. Philly's soda tax just went into effect - people are freaking out accordingly, PhillyMag reports. Speaking of the soda tax, BillyPenn has your complete list of all the beverages that are and are not taxed (Spoiler Alert: It's pretty much everything). Confirming what everyone already knew anyway, long-serving state GOP Chairman Rob Gleason is stepping down, The Associated Press reports. Here's your #Harrisburg Instagram of the Day: Officials in one Montgomery County community say they'll fight a state law barring their efforts to ban guns in local parks, Keystone Crossroads reports. With state lawmakers sworn in for another term, legislative attention is turning to Pa's budget deficit, NewsWorks/WHYY-FM reports. The owner of Allentown's fancy-schmancy PPL Plaza is in default, The Morning Call reports. Telemedicine in the schools is helping to keep kids in the classroom, Stateline.org reports. In case you were wondering, PolticsPA's readers think House Majority Leader Dave Reed won't make a Guv run in 2018. Politico goes inside the U.S. House GOP's ethics office debacle. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., says he's prepared to keep that vacant U.S. Supreme Court seat open, Roll Call reports. WolfWatch. Gov. Tom Wolf makes a 10 a.m. stop at WebpageFX on Front Street in Harrisburg this morning as a part of his "Jobs that Pay" tour. Heavy Rotation. Here's an old fave from Coldplay that popped up on the way to work this morning. From 2003, here's "Clocks." Wednesday's Gratuitous Hockey Link(s). The hockey gods were wanton and capricious on Tuesday. Carolina dropped a 3-1 decision to New Jersey, notching the 'Canes' first home loss since Nov. 10. Meanwhile, Winnipeg skated all over the Lightning, winning 6-4 on the road. Finally, Columbus (!!!) won a historic 16th game in a row, beating Edmonton 3-1. And now you're up to date. See you all back here in a bit. Nailbiter: Astros survive in Game 5, take control of World Series in 3-2 win The Astros are one win away from the second World Series title in their history because of the greatest bullpen in postseason history. latest news October 31, 2022 Buddy TV In November, there are hundreds of new and returning TV showsit can be overwhelming to try and choose what to watch. That's why we've selected some of the best options... Young people in the Burnham-On-Sea area aged 16-19 years have the chance to become filmmakers thanks to a new Somerset British Film Institution (BFI) Film Academy Programme in partnership with BAFTA and Pinewood Film Studios. Bridgwaters Somerset Film which is based at The Engine Room in Bridgwater is leading the academy and aims to help train and inspire the next generation of British filmmakers. The next course will take place from 4th February 2017 and limited spaces are currently available to young people in the Burnham area. Participants will receive seven jam-packed days of masterclasses, screenings, career guidance, mentoring and hands-on workshops plus the chance to meet industry professionals and make two short films. The academy takes place on Saturday 4th February, Saturday 11th February, Monday 13th February, Tuesday 14th February, Wednesday 15th February, Thursday 16th February and Friday 17th February 2017. It costs just 25, but if young people feel they will struggle to pay the course fee then they are still encouraged to apply as the fee can be waived. Bursary places and help with transport and other costs are also available. The BFI Film Academy is aimed at those who are interested in pursuing a career in the film and media industry, whether as a script writer, set carpenter, cinematographer or director but you dont have to be currently studying film or media to apply. Somerset Film welcomes applications from those ideally who have already made their first short film, either with family and friends on a mobile or as part of school/college coursework. However, the most important thing is that applicants demonstrate their love of film. Alumni from previous academies continue to receive support and information from all the organisations involved and last year they visited Pinewood Studios for a training session with Sony on their latest 4k cameras. You can download an application form by clicking here. The deadline for applications is Monday 23rd January 2017. Successful applicants will be notified by Wednesday 25th January 2017. Call Natalie on 01278 433187 for further details or email info@somersetfilm.com The great thing about every new year in gaming is that it brings with it lots of new opportunities. Exciting new titles, new developments, and even some stuff that we couldn't see coming even if we wanted to. Which for the most part we do. So with 2017 now three days old, I figured it was a good opportunity--especially since we just ran down some of the worst that last year could offer--to take a more upbeat and optimistic look forward at what's to come in 2017.Rare has been known for a lot of things over the years, including being Nintendo's action game factory for several years. Sea of Thieves--due out in February, though just when in February is as yet unclear--is a much greater departure than most might have seen coming. It actually represents what may be the first open-world gaming title from the company, which revolves around piracy and potentially exploration on the side. It's going to be a very unusual piece, and something to look forward to thanks to its unusual gameplay and its even more unusual maker.State of Decay 2I have long described State of Decay--as long as it's existed, anyway--as the greatest zombie apocalypse simulator ever crafted. With good reason, too; this game actually manages to simulate the salvaging efforts and rebuilding that would likely take place in such an event as the world attempts to rebuild and recover. Now, a second version--this time specifically crafted for a next-generation console--is set to emerge later this year. Considering how good the first one was, more of the same here would be a downright treat, and if they manage to improve on it as the next-generation console status implies, it will be a real winner indeed. Bethesda Game Studios ' wildcardWe're in a strange period for Bethesda Game Studios. When November 2017 comes around, it will have been two years since Fallout 4 arrived. Given when we know so far about Bethesda's development cycles and the little bit that's emerged about Bethesda's future plans, there's a possibility--slim but there--that November 2017 could see another new game from the company. Potentially the still largely unknown release known as "Starfield", or potentially something else altogether, we may be looking at a release of some fine Bethesda Game Studios work, and that's a fine thing to look forward to as 2017 starts its early days. Dead Island 2 , Maybe?This particular game has been in limbo for years now--since 2012, by some reports--but there are still projected dates suggesting that this could be the year that Dead Island 2 becomes anything more than a trailer and some vague footage. With even the plot still shaky--though reports suggest we're still California-bound--it's unclear if it will make it out this year. This may be the year, though, and hopefully we'll see Dead Island make its grand reappearance this year.That's just a start, frankly; there's quite a bit to look forward to, from a Ghost Recon open world game to a slew of horror games, 2017 is looking like a bright spot on the horizon. With E3 a little over six months out, we'll have a lot to look forward to and a lot to do until the big show hits. Lots of exciting propositions are inbound for 2017, and only 2017 itself will tell us what hits and what doesn't. Apples India plans have hit a sticking point over concessions the company is making a pitch for. Amid reports that the California-based firm is in advanced stages of talks with the government for setting up a manufacturing facility in India, a senior commerce ministry source said on Tuesday that Apples growing demand for concessions could be a dampener. Apple is apparently demanding concessions that no other company is asking for, the source said. While not specifying the latest demands made by the company, the source said these included its earlier demand of exemption from a local sourcing of products. The other demands include concessions on tax and the creation of a suitable ecosystem, the source added. While the finance ministry is looking at the tax demand, the local sourcing norms as well as other things the firm has asked for will be examined by an inter-governmental panel comprising senior officials of the departments of industrial policy and promotion, revenue and electronics and information technology at a meeting slated to take place later this week. According to the current foreign direct investment(FDI) norms notified by the department of industrial policy and promotion (DIPP) in June 2016, 100% FDI is allowed in single-brand retail although foreign retailers must obtain the approval of the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) if the FDI limit exceeds 49%. Also, foreign entities that have state-of-the-art and cutting-edge technology will get an exemption from the annual mandatory 30% sourcing rule for the initial three years. Thereafter, in the next five years, the company will have to meet the domestic sourcing norm at an annualised average rate of 30%. While Apple had been identified as such a company, it wants an indefinite exemption from domestic sourcing, as was the case under the earlier norm, a senior DIPP official said. Last year, the finance ministry had rejected its proposal to set up wholly-owned outlets in the country under such conditions. The company had earlier stated its difficulties in sourcing locally, saying it did not have any manufacturing units in India and its products had sophisticated parts not easily available. It had earlier been reported that Apple had asked the government to relax its mandatory rules regarding labelling on products, saying it would go against the minimalist look of the devices. However, while the earlier focus of negotiations was the opening of retail stores in the country, other issues had now taken hold, the source added. Apple has also been keen on getting permission to import and sell refurbished phones in India. On this, Apple CEO Tim Cook had also visited India and met Prime Minister Narendra Modi last year. The proposal was rejected by the environment ministry in 2015 with and telecommunications ministries also reportedly having some reservations about it. Apple currently sells its products in India through arrangements with local retail outlets. Among the six countries where it manufactures products, most of the companys items are assembled in China, usually by Foxconn Technology. The value of its sales in India crossed $1 billion for the first time last year, according to filings with the registrar of . Ltd, India's top wireless carrier, said on Tuesday it would offer free data to woo new and existing 4G customers, intensifying a price war in the sector and sending share prices tumbling. 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. Corp and Rex Tillerson agreed to sever all ties to comply with conflict-of-interest requirements as the company's former chairman and chief executive awaits confirmation as U.S. secretary of state. If his appointment is confirmed, the value of more than 2 million deferred shares (worth about $182 million at Tuesday's closing price) that Tillerson would have received over the next 10 years will be transferred to an independently managed trust, the company said in a statement. The share awards will be cancelled and Tillerson will also surrender entitlement to more than $4.1 million in cash bonuses, scheduled to pay out over the next three years, and other benefits, said. Separately, Tillerson also committed to the State Department that, if confirmed, he would sell the more than 600,000 Exxon shares he currently owns, the company said. Exxon said last month its president, Darren Woods, will become chief executive and chairman in January following the retirement of Tillerson. Tillerson could face a rocky confirmation process, given concerns among both Democrats and Republicans about his ties to Russia. Exxon stock has gained 6.5 percent since election results of Nov. 8 up to Tuesday's close of $90.89. The GMR Group and Tata Realty will not bid for the project, citing onerous bid conditions, among other reasons. We are not bidding on account of project implementation and execution challenges as well as onerous timelines and bid conditions, a GMR Group spokesperson said. This means there will be only two GVK-led Mumbai International Airport (MIAL) and Hiranandani Developers-Zurich Airport consortium in the race for the Rs 16,000-crore project. This is the second recent instance of qualified not participating in financial bids. Last August, GVK Group and Hiranandani Developers did not submit financial offers for the Goa airport and the GMR Group won the bid. Financial bids for the much-delayed project will open next Monday. The will be developed through a public-private partnership and the planning authority, City and Industrial Development Corporation (Cidco), will hold 26% stake in the project. MIAL, which operates the airport, has the right of first refusal and it can revise its bid if it is 10% below the highest offer. Waiting in the wings Four shortlisted bidders included GMR Delhi, GVK-led Mumbai International Airport, Tata Realty and Hiranandani-Zurich Airport consortium The airport project in various phases will cost Rs 16,704 crore The project requires 2,268 hectares, of which 1,160 hectares will be utilised for aeronautical purposes To be developed through public-private partnership by way of setting up a special purpose vehicle wherein the City and Industrial Development Corporation of Maharashtra and its nominees would have 26% stake First phase to have capacity of 10 million passengers annually The airport will be able to host new-generation aircraft like the A380 and Boeing 747-8 While the GVK Group declined to comment, sources at Tata Realty said the company would not participate in the bids unless there was a revision of bid terms or submission deadlines. It could not ascertain whether the Hiranandani Group will participate in the bid. Cidco Vice-Chairperson Bhushan Gagrani said the agency was expecting financial offers from all the . In case only one company submits bid, the state Cabinet will have to take a decision on the award of the bid. In their submission to the government last month, the GMR Group pointed out the challenges in pre-development work, delay in land acquisition and rehabilitation, and absence of stage-II environmental clearance as key concerns for meeting project deadlines. GMR also raised issues regarding conflict of interest in award of pre-development work. Tata Realty is said to have raised concerns in a letter to the government. There is a conflict of interest situation, as the agencies appointed for two pre-development works packages are associates of MIAL, GMR Airports President Sidharath Kapur wrote in a letter to the Maharashtra government last month. The GMR Group runs Delhi and Hyderabad airports. Last August, it won the bid for a second airport in Goa and has participated in a dozen airport bids around the world. The group has a total debt of Rs 49,000 crore and it is divesting stakes in its road and energy projects to pare down its debt. The groups financials, too, have been impacted due to stress in their road and energy business. In his letter, Kapur also raised the issue of capping Cidcos equity contribution at Rs 430 crore irrespective of the project cost, saying it will complicate the financing of project and impact long-term viability. The company has also raised issues regarding the terms of repayment of soft loan for the pre-development work. Funds spent by Cidco on pre-development work will be deemed as soft loan according to bid conditions. The main issue of the bidders pertains to project timeline and bidders think the completion date of December 2019 is unrealistic, a government official said. All the issues that bidders have raised were discussed with them before finalisation of the concession agreement, the official added. The Maharashtra governments project monitoring and implementation committee will have to take a call whether to amend the bid conditions and that would mean further delays in the project. Sundar Pichai, the India-born chief executive officer of Google, used his homeland to launch a global platform that allows small firms to build websites on their smartphones before the largest Internet firm takes it to other countries. Bengaluru-based proxy advisory firm Ingovern Research has asked shareholders of to seek more clarity on the terms of David Kennedy's severance from the company. Kennedy, was the company's general counsel and chief compliance officer. With President-elect Donald Trumps selection of Michigan billionaire Betsy DeVos to head up the U.S. Department of Education in his administration, theres been a lot of focus on school choice in Michigan. The DeVoses have been influential advocates and philanthropic supporters of school choice policies in their home state and beyondhelping launch and shape Michigans charter school sector over the last two decades. But the DeVoses are also big proponents of school vouchers, which allow students to use public money to attend a private school. So if the DeVoses have been so successful in influencing charter school policy in the state, why doesnt Michigan have a single voucher program? The answer has to do with something in the states constitution called a Blaine Amendment. Named for James G. Blaine, a U.S. representative from Maine who served in the House in the late 1800s, Blaine Amendments appear in 37 state constitutions , and they ban states from sending public money to private or religious institutions. Michigans Blaine Amendment is the most restrictive in the country. This is a very specific Blaine Amendment to stop funds going to private schools, said Robert Enlow, the president and CEO of EdChoice. Most other Blaine Amendments dont typically ... mention mechanisms like vouchers. Although the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2002 that school vouchers did not violate the U.S. Constitutions establishment clause (because states dont choose which private schools to send the money to, parents do), Blaine Amendments in state constitutions, like Michigans, have acted as a bulwark slowing the spread of vouchers. But Blaine Amendments dont always work. While the wording of some Blaine Amendments provides enough wiggle room for a voucher program, school choice advocates have also come up with other voucher-like programs to work around prohibitions in many state constitutions. Through these programs, state lawmakers either incentivize donations to private school scholarship programs, as is the case with tax-credit scholarships, or they allow parents to use state per-pupil funding on a variety of education services that includes private schools, but not strictly on private schools, such as with education savings accounts. Things like tax credits for scholarships are the ways we generally work around states that have a bad Blaine law, said Richard Komer, a senior attorney at the Institute for Justice, a libertarian law firm that defends legal challenges to voucher programs. "[Michigan] is very specific about not having these forms of school choice. Thats why the only school choice in Michigan is charter schools. Michigans Blaine Amendment expressly prohibits even indirect funding of private schools, whether through payment, credit, tax benefit, exemptions or deductions, tuition voucher, subsidy, grant or loan. But its not as though the DeVoses havent tried to get a voucher program in Michigan. They pushed a failed attempt in 2000 to amend the states constitution to create a voucher program for students in school districts with low graduation rates. The DeVoses poured nearly $13 million into the effort. With such a high hurdle to overcome, Enlow and Komer agree that the chances of the state creating any kind of voucher program remain slim to none. Related stories: Photo: Betsy DeVos, President-elect Donald Trumps nominee for Education Secretary, sits in the office of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Ky., before the start of their meeting on Capitol Hill in Washington last month. Susan Walsh/AP Mexico's economy ministry voiced regret today over Ford's decision to scrap a new plant in the country following criticism from US President-elect . The ministry said in a statement that it had obtained assurances that the US auto firm would pay the state of San Luis Potosi for any costs associated with the cancellation of the investment. Ford CEO Mark Fields called the move "a vote of confidence" in Trump, but primarily a response to a decline in North American demand for small cars like those that would have been made at the Mexican plant. He said Ford would have made the same decision even if Trump had not been elected. Ford will cancel plans unveiled in April to spend $1.6 billion to build the new plant in San Luis Potosi, Mexico, a project Trump urged the automaker to abandon and called an "absolute disgrace" during the election campaign. The No. 2 U.S. automaker also said it would invest $700 million to expand the Flat Rock, Michigan factory and would make new electric, hybrid and autonomous vehicles there. exports from Gujarat have grown six-fold in the last decade crossing the $3 billion mark in 2016, according to state government officials here. Gujarat, counted among the leading pharmaceutical manufacturing hubs in the country with an almost 35 per cent share in national production and around 28 per cent share in exports, has registered a six-fold growth in exports from the state in the last decade; from $ 562 million in 2006 to $3 billion in 2016. H G Koshia, commissioner of Gujarat Food and Drug Control Administration (FDCA) informed that pharma exports have crossed $ 3 billion from the state in 2016, and this marks a steep rise from the 2006 level of around $560 million. He added that the state houses several WHO certified manufacturing units apart from US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) and European Union (EU) approved sites. The state houses over 3,300 pharma manufacturing units. ?f these, around 255 are WHO certified, 23 are Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) of Government of UK certified, and around 15 are EU certified units. "This is a significant number given that only about 10-15 per cent of the manufacturing units in the country have WHO-GMP certifications," Koshia said. There are around 100 bulk drug manufacturing units in the state as well. Gujarat houses nearly 135 licensed medical devices manufacturers in the country, of around 240-250 such in the whole country, informed Koshia. Chirag Doshi, former chairman of the Indian Drug Manufacturers' Association (IDMA), Gujarat State Board said that there has been a continuous effort towards creating export infrastructure including focus on maintaining international manufacturing standards. "Also apart from USFDA approved units (there are around 20-25 such units in Gujarat now), manufacturing sites with MHRA or GMP approvals too have come up in the last decade. This has resulted in the growth in exports,"he said. Meanwhile, Gujarat FDCA has also started work on training its inspectors on Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) for medical devices and drugs in line with the training imparted to USFDA inspectors. It has collaborated with US-based Underwriters Laboratories (UL), a global safety consulting and certification company, for online courses for its officers.Globally, UL offers about 1,200 courses and has trained around 38,000 US FDA inspectors. After the India visit of Travis Kalanick, founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of US-based taxi aggregator Uber, Google CEO would be in New Delhi for an event on small and medium businesses (SMB) one of the new focus areas of the global technology major. According to sources, Pichai could possibly meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant as well. Law and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad is likely to meet Pichai at the event where he has been invited to speak. Sources say Pichai is already in India. He would end his trip with an event in Delhi and then go to Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur his alma mater where he would be felicitated and then have a fireside chat at the venue. This is Pichais third official visit to India since he took over as Google CEO. Pichai has a BTech degree from IIT Kharagpur. Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google and distinguished alumnus of IIT Kharagpur, has expressed his desire to visit the campus in the first week of January 2017, its director P P Chakrabarti said, according to a few reports. Pichai graduated in 1993 with a BTech in metallurgical and materials engineering. According to sources, Google is planning to launch a series of products for the SMB segment. The company is looking at small businesses as a major source of revenue in the near future. With products such as Google for Business and a new Cloud region, the company wants to tap into the multi-million dollar opportunity in India. Its products compete with those from the stables of global giants like Microsoft and Amazon Web Services. As it opens its first data centre in India this year, the technology major is looking for major expansion in the region, with plans to hire thrice the number of people, as well as reach out to start-ups and small and medium enterprises. Google controls a majority market share in India in search, email and on smartphones through its Android operating system. It also has a significant presence in offering enterprise applications such as mail and other services, but lags Microsoft and Amazon in its cloud business. In addition to its focus on Indian customers, Google is continuing to build its partner ecosystem to support customers as they move to the cloud. The company is trying to expand more in tier-II and tier-III towns and bring in more small entreprises into the fold. is exploring opportunities in materials alternative to steel with the idea of introducing another product line beyond the existing one. It is a joint company effort and its very early. But, our eyes are now beginning to set on alternative materials. The application for these materials can be in sectors like pharmaceuticals, electronics or anything related to the automotive sector. It would be a completely different area that can give us a natural hedge against the cyclicity of the steel business, said Peeyush Gupta, vice-president (steel & marketing) of . Coming close on the heels of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) attack on the state party headquarters of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Kolkata on Tuesday, general secretary Krishna Bhattacharya's house was attacked with bombs in Hooghly district last night. Three men, with their faces covered, came in a motorcycle to her house in Konnanagar Jorapukur Ghat at 9 pm on Tuesday and started hurling bombs. They barged into the house, smashed a window pane, damaged furniture, and abused and assaulted her, Bhattacharya said in her police complaint. The BJP leader said in her complaint that it was the handiwork of "anti-socials harboured by the TMC". She has been admitted to Uttarpara State General Hospital where her condition has been described as stable, hospital sources said. The police said they rushed to her house after getting the information, adding that investigation was underway. District TMC leader Tapan Dasgupta said no party supporter was involved in the incident. Several BJP workers were injured on Tuesday when activists of the students' wing of TMC had attacked the state party headquarters in Hoogly with stones to protest the arrest of the TMC MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay in the Rose Valley chit fund scam case. The Election Commission on Wednesday said that the defence personnel posted away from their homes can cast their votes through one-way electronic transmission in the upcoming state polls. "We have decided to allow the defence personnel and central para-military forces personnel to cast their votes through an one-way electronic transmission system," Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi told reporters in New Delhi before announcing the dates of the assembly polls in five states in 2017. Zaidi also said that the EC had first experimented the initiative in Puducherry in August 2016. The is likely to announce the polling dates for five states Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Manipur, Punjab and Goa on Wednesday at 12 pm. The EC will conduct a press conference at 12:00 pm where Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi will announce a list of dates including the last date of filing nominations, phase and dates of voting and the date of counting. The terms of the legislative assembly in Uttar Pradesh is going to end on May 27, Uttarakhand is due to expire on March 26 while that of Goa, Manipur and Punjab expires on March 18. The phrase emerging disease, to describe an infectious disease that is new to humans or which is suddenly increasing its geographical range or number of cases, dates back to the 1960s. But it was the realisation in the late 1970s and early 1980s that the world was in the throes of previously unrecognised pandemics of genital herpes and AIDS, that really propelled the term into the mainstream. Betsy Broder, who tracks international fraud at the Federal Trade Commission, was in her office in Washington last summer when she got a call from two Indian teenagers. The arrest of Abdul Salam, an accused in a high profile trans-border fake currency cases on December 22, 2016 after he was deported by Saudi Arabia helped the Investigation Agency (NIA) in bringing him to trial. But the key man in this case, one of the major irritants in Indias fight against fake currency still remains an elusive catch for investigative agencies. The Office of Head Start announced Tuesday that it will distribute $290 million to 665 Head Start and Early Head Start programs around the country that they can use to expand their full school day and year offerings. Congress appropriated the supplemental funding in a fiscal 2016 budget bill for the federal preschool program for children from low-income families, and the money is now part of Head Starts base funding, subject to congressional approval. The $290 million adds up to about a third of the $1 billion increase Head Start has estimated that it needs to provide full-day, full-year programs for all the children currently enrolled, which Head Start defines as 1,020 hours per year. For center-based Early Head Start programs serving children from infancy through age 3, the minimum hours are 1,380 per year. Before adopting the standards in September, Head Start programs were required to operate for a minimum of 3 1/2 hours per day and 128 days per year, or 448 hours per year. Thestandards would create a nearly six-hour day over standard 180-day school year for preschool students. A major revision of Head Start standards announced in 2016 will require nearly all programs to offer a full-day and full-year program by 2021. The standards, however, allow the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services discretion to place that portion of the standards on hold, pending congressional funding. Rep. Tom Price, a Republican from Georgia, is Donald Trumps pick to lead the department. (In 2007, Price advocated on behalf of a pilot program that would have placed Head Start under state control in up to eight states .) The additional money was targeted at grantees that have fewer than 40 percent of their slots currently operating on a full-day and full-year schedule, said Colleen Rathgeb, the director of policy for the office of early childhood development at the administration for children and families.Programs have several options to increase their programming, including adding days to the end of the school year to shorten a summer gap, adding hours of operation to the school day, or both. The money can be used to pay for additional staff or to help provide facility upgrades for programs that are currently running double sessions. Most parents will see a change in the upcoming school year, but some programs may be able to use the funding to make changes more quickly. A recent analysis of Head Start programs by the National Institute for Early Education Research found wide disparities in the program year for many Head Start grantees. For example, almost all Head Start children in the District of Columbia and in Georgia were served in full-day programs that last an entire school year. In Idaho and Wyoming, only 1 percent of children were in full-day, full-year programs. Part of the variation in Head Start programs was built into the system; since its creation in 1964, Head Start has been overseen by about 1,700 individual grantees, and those grantees create programs that best serve their local communities. However, recent research has shown that children are better prepared for school in programs that last for a full school day and year, Rathgeb said. Working in critical learning skills, play, lunch, nap, and all the other important elements of a preschool program is difficult to do in just 3 1/2 hours, she said. Head Start is also continuing to support professional development work that will allow teachers to best take advantage of the extra time, said Ann Linehan, the acting director of Head Start. Its one thing to have children in for longer hours, but the quality of the teaching and ongoing professional development is absolutely critical, she said. In a fresh blow to West Bengal's ruling Trinamool Congress, its Lok Sabha leader and former union minister Sudip Bandyopadhyay was on Tuesday arrested in the Rose Valley Chit Fund scam, its second MP to be taken into custody by the CBI in five days. The move, coming after the December 30 arrest of Trinamool MP Tapas Paul in the scam, sent political temperatures soaring, with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee calling nationwide protests against the Modi government's "vindictive attitude". A crowd believed to be made up of Trinamool supporters attacked the BJP state headquarters here, leaving 15 activists injured in stone pelting. A few cards were vandalized. The Rapid Action Force was later deployed at the BJP office. Heavyweight Trinamool leaders, including ministers, MPs and state lawmakers, also marched to the Central Bureau of Investigation's regional office at Salt Lake demanding to meet their arrested leader. Bandyopadhyay, 64, a four-time Lok Sabha member and a minister of state in the Manmohan Singh government, was summoned by the CBI and arrested after questioning, the agency said. CBI sources said Bandyopadhyay failed to give satisfactory answers to many questions and was found to be uncooperative. He was being flown to Bhubaneswar for further questioning. He would be produced before a court on Wednesday. Bandyopadhyay went to the CBI office during the day after the agency issued the third summons to him for questioning in connection with his alleged role in the scam. Earlier, he was summoned twice in December but he skipped the meeting, pleading his engagements in Parliament. On learning about Bandyopadhyay's arrest, a fuming Chief Minister and Trinamool supremo Banerjee lashed out at the Centre and sought the arrest of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah instead. She alleged the involvement of BJP and Akali Dal leaders with a chit fund company. She also claimed that Bandyopadhyay was arrested under pressure from the PMO and announced pan-India protests. "We strongly condemn the politically vindictive attitude of Modi and Amit Shah. They have arrested our Parliamentary Party leader Sudip Bandyopadhyay. He is a veteran politician and senior leader of our party. "It is all because of our fight against NoteBandi (note ban). Nothing can stop us from being with the people and we will continue with our protest against NoteBandi," she said. Banerjee also demanded the arrest of other leaders including BJP MP Babul Supriyo and CPI-M's Md. Salim and Sujan Chakraborty. "We will hold a demonstration in front of Kolkata RBI on January 9 and there will be dharnas in 10 states including Delhi, Assam, Odisha and Tripura on January 10 and 11," she said. "I also run a government and I also have the power to arrest certain people who are thieves, hooligans and extortionists," she said. TMC spokesperson Derek O'Brien said its MPs will protest against the Centre in New Delhi on Wednesday. As news of the arrest spread, hundreds of Trinamool activists took to the streets. BJP leader Piyush Goyal said the central government "never interferes" in any investigation process. But Congress spokesman Randeep Surjewala said the arrest was "nothing but vendetta". CPI-M leader Md Salim said Bandyopadhyay's arrest was "much awaited" and accused the Modi government of delaying it. The CBI had earlier arrested former Trinamool Rajya Sabha member Srinjoy Bose and suspended Rajya Sabha member Kunal Ghosh besides then West Bengal Transport Minister Madan Mitra for their alleged involvement in the multi-crore rupee Saradha group scam. Having cast its net across West Bengal, Tripura, Assam, Odisha, Jharkhand and Maharashtra among others, the Rose Valley Group is alleged to have illegally raised around Rs 17,000 crore from the public after wooing them with false promises of paying high rates of interest. The group is also being investigated by the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) and the Enforcement Directorate which had arrested Kundu in 2015 and in September this year attached assets worth Rs 1,250 crore of the company. Sharing sweet treats at workplace may be contributing to several problems such as and poor oral hygiene, experts in the UK have warned. It may be a case of managers wanting to reward staff, colleagues wanting to celebrate or people bringing presents back from their holidays that sees sugary snacks going into the workplace, said Professor Nigel Hunt, dean Faculty of Dental Surgery at the Royal College of Surgeons in the UK. However, it was detrimental to employees' and they should make a New Year's resolution to "combat cake culture" in 2017, he said. "While these sweet treats might be well meaning, they are also contributing to the current epidemic and poor oral health," Hunt said. "We need a culture change in offices and other workplaces that encourages healthy eating and helps workers avoid caving in to sweet temptations such as cakes, sweets and biscuits," he said. However, 2016 Great British Bake Off runner-up Jane Beedle said that cake could "bring joy to the office". "I don't think a little bit of homemade cake is going to kill anybody," Beedle told BBC Radio 2. The Faculty of Dental Surgery has released tips to cut down on sugar consumption in the workplace by considering low-sugar alternatives and reducing portion sizes. It advises people to avoid snacking and keeping sugar as a lunch-time treat, keeping a "sugar schedule" to limit sugar intake and thinking about where sweet treats are positioned. After achieving number one position in the ease of doing business rankings awarded to the states late 2016, government is aiming to attract a greater number of investment intents during the latest edition of the Partnership Summit scheduled to be held from January 27-28 in the port city of Visakhapatnam. The goods and services tax (GST) Council will take up the tricky issue of division of administrative turf between the Centre and states in the proposed indirect taxation system on Wednesday, even as many states signalled sticking to their stance of having a control over small dealers. seems to be among the fastest to embrace the governments digitisation push. The national transporter, which already conducts 97% of its freight business in the cashless mode, has seen half of its passenger business going cashless, too. An impasse over the division of administrative turf between the Centre and states, higher compensation due to demonetisation and definition of coastal states persisted on Wednesday at a meeting of the goods and services tax (GST) Council, indicating that a roll-out of the new indirect tax regime is difficult not only from April 1, but also from July 1, 2017. Not just citizens, but in India will also be given the 12-digit unique identity. In an innovative move, the government of India has initiated a drive to tag AADHAAR-like identification numbers to cattle so that they are vaccinated on time and scientific intervention is made available. If the mismanagement of the demonetisation exercise had any negative impact on the fortunes of the BJP in the upcoming assembly elections, the announcement of the Election Commission (EC) of the poll dates in five states would have put those concerns to rest. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is the only party that must be fancying itself to make a big mark in the elections. Firstly, with the budget having been advanced to February 1, the government has a wonderful opportunity to woo voters through a slew of poll sops through the budget. All the states going to polls Punjab, Goa, Uttar Pradesh (UP), Uttarakhand and Manipur- do so after the budget announcement.If the budget was held as per tradition in the last week of February, the government would have missed the opportunity. But this time, the timing of the budget fits the BJPs strategy better than it has done for most parties in power at the centre in the past. Launch of IPR Enforcement Toolkit for Police and IPR Awareness Campaign for Children The Commerce & Industry Minister Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman launched an IPR Enforcement Toolkit for Police today. The toolkit has been jointly prepared by Cell for IPR Promotion and Management (CIPAM) and Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI). This toolkit will be a ready reckoner for police officials across the country in dealing with IP crimes, specifically Trade Marks counterfeiting and Copyrights piracy. In addition to details of offences under various laws, it provides for checklists for registering a complaint and conducting search and seizures. It also lays down general guidelines for search and seizure in case of IP crimes. This toolkit will be provided to all state police departments across the nation and will assist them in dealing with the cases relating to Trademarks and Copyrights infringements. The Cell for IPR Promotion and Management (CIPAM) under the aegis of the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP), Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Government of India is working to ensure effective implementation of the National IPR Policy 2016. Several measures have been taken by CIPAM to strengthen the IP ecosystem in the country. The National IPR Policy recognizes that awareness about IPRs and respecting IPRs is very crucial in a healthy IP ecosystem. Children are the future of a country, and we should inculcate respect for IPRs amongst them from an early age, so that they become responsible users of IPRs in the future. CIPAM is collaborating with the International Trademark Association (INTA) to launch an IPR Awareness campaign for schoolchildren, which would spread the message on IPRs in a creative and engaging manner, through the use of presentations and creatively illustrated posters and pamphlets which cover the basics on IPRs and the need to protect IPRs. In order to strengthen the Enforcement mechanism, CIPAM has also organized seven batches of training programmes for Police officials in State of Andhra Pradesh and a three day training programme for APOs and Police Officials in State of Uttar Pradesh. Trainees enacted plays and participated in quizzes and other activities based on IPRs. CIPAM has also written to all the state police and judicial academies to undertake training of police and judicial officers on Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights. CIPAM is actively facilitating International engagements in the field of Intellectual Property Rights. Two MoU on IPRs were recently signed with UK and Singapore. India-USA Workshop on Protection of Trade Secrets was successfully organized by CIPAM to discuss various aspects related to Trade Secrets and its impact on Industry. CIPAM is looking forward to work with various stakeholders in its journey of making Creative India; Innovative India. MJPS Shri Shripad Naik inaugurates three day International Conference on Yoga for Diabetes The three day International Conference on Yoga for Diabetes was inaugurated by Minister of State for AYUSH (Independent Charge), Shri Shripad Yesso Naik in New Delhi today. In his inaugural address, the Minister informed that UNESCO, the worlds apex body for culture has recently included yoga in its list of intangible cultural heritage. This is yet another recognition of the universal relevance of yoga and will add to its respectability across national borders, the Minister added. Shri Naik said that this conference aims to generate discussions on the role of Yoga in the prevention and management of Diabetes and to draw up a roadmap to be adopted for the control of Diabetes through Yoga. It will provide a common platform for the Allopathy and AYUSH practitioners, Researchers, Academicians, Policy makers and students to come together in the fight against diabetes. Approximately 400 delegates and 50 experts from India and abroad are expected to participate in the Conference. Eminent experts of conventional medicine, AYUSH systems as well as Yoga are participating in the Conference. The three days Conference consists of main and parallel sessions on different aspects of Yoga & Diabetes including research, policy making and panel discussion. Diabetes is spreading at a very fast pace in India, particularly in urban population. It is no more restricted to the older population as younger generation is also becoming prone to this disease. Honble Prime Minister, while addressing the 2nd International day of Yoga celebration at Chandigarh, said the following: Let's focus on one thing in the coming days, how to mitigate diabetes through yoga. Diabetes can surely be controlled through yoga. Keeping this in view, Ministry of AYUSH has initiated several programmes for creating awareness about the role of Yoga in the prevention and management of Diabetes mellitus. Ministry of AYUSH constituted an Expert Committee to prepare a Common Yoga Protocol for control of Diabetes mellitus under the chairmanship of Dr. H. R. Nagendra. The Committee finalized the same. The said booklet was released by the Prime Minister Sh. Narendra Modi on 2nd October, 2016 on the occasion of Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas in New Delhi. Bongs, Blunts, and Billboards: Can You Target Cars With Cannabiz Ads? Pot entrepreneurs nationwide have been cheering recent victories, with more and more states legalizing recreational and medical marijuana. But relaxed weed regulations don't always mean an open market on advertising. State and federal law may limit the kind of ads marijuana businesses can run, and whom they may target. One dicey area is highway pot ads and billboards, and California lawmakers are trying to constrict cannabiz coverage along their inter- and intrastate highways. Here's a look: Blowing Billboard Smoke You may have noticed that the Golden State just legalized recreational marijuana after having a mess of medical marijuana laws in place. As it stands, Proposition 64 prohibits pot billboards for along some 4,000 miles of highways that cross state borders. But a new law is looking to ban billboard ads for any marijuana products or services from all 265 state highways, and close a loophole that would exempt unlicensed pot shops from advertising restrictions. "Without AB 64, this exception would eclipse the rule and our children would see cannabis ads across the state," Assemblyman Rob Bonta told the Los Angeles Times. "We feel that all highways, and not just ones which cross state lines, are inappropriate venues for cannabis advertising, particularly as Proposition 64 required an adult audience for advertisements other than billboards." Hawking Your Weed Wares Advertising laws can vary by state, and also by what you are advertising. Even ads for similar products may be regulated differently depending on where you do business. When Oregon legalized it last year, their guidelines only said advertisers "should take steps to prevent promoting products in a manner that's directed at children and adolescents." And federal authorities threw up a competing ad in Denver, Colorado, a "$35,100 billboard resembling a cross between a giant joint and a mangled car in downtown" to warn drivers about the dangers of weed use. So before you invest your advertising budget into roadside pot photos, make sure you consult local and federal legislation on cannabis commercials. Related Resources: President called for a smooth handover of control of the US military to incoming commander in chief Donald Trump, as the outgoing president met today with military leaders for the last time. "We've got to make sure that during this transition period that there is a seamless passing of the baton, that there's continuity," Obama said. He said it was critical to ensure that "we are doing everything we can to make sure that the next president will benefit from the same kinds of outstanding advice and service that these people around the table have provided me." Obama's comments as he sat down with the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the military's combatant commanders came amid concerns in military and diplomatic circles about how Trump may handle national security challenges. Over the last few days, Trump has disputed the US intelligence community's assessments about Russian hacking, insisted without explanation that North Korea won't develop a nuclear weapon that could hit the US and questioned the worth of the United Nations. Obama pointed to a handful of conflicts that Trump will inherit when he takes office on January 20, including the fight against the Islamic State group in Syria and in the Iraqi city of Mosul, the biggest IS stronghold in Iraq and last major Iraqi city where the extremist group still has control. He also noted that the conflict in Afghanistan "is still active." In praising the military, Obama appeared to call attention to traditions that Democrats are most concerned that Trump may not uphold. Trump has nominated retired Marine Corps Gen. James Mattis for defense secretary despite the prohibition on recently departed military members running the civilian-led Pentagon, and at one point in the campaign, Trump called for reinstating waterboarding and other harsh interrogation techniques. Obama said he was optimistic about the country's future because the military upholds "the values of rule of law and professionalism and integrity, and recognises our constitutional structure and maintains strict adherence and respect for civilian authority and democratic practises in determining how we use the awesome force of the American military." The president later today was to be honoured at a farewell ceremony at Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall, a short drive from the White House. He was to receive several awards and to be feted by members of the US Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force and Coast Guard as the US Army Band plays. One of the presidents most important responsibilities is fostering science, technology and innovation in the US economy. The relationship between science and policy runs in two directions: Scientific knowledge can inform policy decisions, and conversely, policies affect the course of science, technology and innovation. An who was abducted from her Baghdad home last week has been released. "Thank God, I'm fine," Afrah Shawqi al-Qaisi told the local NRT satellite TV station late Tuesday, shortly after her release. "They treated me well. They just interrogated me and thank God they found me not guilty," she added, without providing further details. Gunmen, who said they were members of the security forces, searched her home last Monday before abducting her. They also took gold, money, phones, laptops and her car. The journalist's sister, Nibras told The Associated Press on Wednesday that Iraqi security forces had sealed off the area around the journalist's home and were questioning her. The sister declined to elaborate on who was behind the kidnapping. Iraq is considered one of the most dangerous countries for journalists, who have been frequently targeted by militant groups since the 2003 US-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein. Dozens of journalists have been killed while covering military operations. Al-Qaisi, a veteran journalist who is also an employee of the Culture Ministry, is a prominent critic of Iraq's endemic corruption and government mismanagement. In one of her articles, published in a local media outlet nearly a week before her kidnapping, she criticised an Interior Ministry officer who badly beat a school principal in front of students and teachers for refusing to punish a pupil who quarrelled with the official's daughter. US President-elect on Tuesday urged the Obama administration to halt prisoner transfers from the Guantanamo Bay military prison in Cuba, calling the detainees "extremely dangerous people". "There should be no further releases from Gitmo. These are extremely dangerous people and should not be allowed back onto the battlefield," Xinhua news agency quoted Trump as saying on Twitter. US President Barack Obama had vowed to close the prison during his tenure and his administration has signalled it is trying to transfer more detainees before the President leaves office on January 20. During the presidential election campaign last year, Trump had opposed Obama's plan to shutter the prison, vowing to keep it open and "load it up with some bad dudes". President-elect Donald J Trump on Tuesday named as his chief trade negotiator a Washington lawyer who has long advocated protectionist policies, the latest sign that Trump intends to fulfill his campaign promise to get tough with China, Mexico and other trading partners. The UN Security Council is welcoming an agreement in calling for President Joseph Kabila to leave power after an election by year's end. The New Year's Eve accord followed months of unrest that left dozens dead and threatened to further destabilise the Central African nation with a history of dictatorship and civil war. Kabila was barred from seeking a new term after his mandate expired Dec 19. But a court ruled he could stay on until elections, and his party said those weren't possible before mid-2018. The council said in a statement by its president yesterday it was encouraged "by the spirit of flexibility and compromise" shown in reaching the agreement. It stressed the importance of taking "all necessary steps to accelerate preparations for the elections without further delays. has rallied 10% to Rs 382 on the BSE in intra-day trade after the Chennai-based cloud service provider said it has signed multi-million dollar cloud HR & payroll transformation deal with Panasonic Group of companies in Malaysia. The Trinamool Congress (TMC) workers on Wednesday blocked NH-2 near Asansol in protest against the arrest of party MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay in the Rose Valley chit-fund scam. Vehicles are stranded due to the blockade on the highway. Bandyopadhyay's arrest has unleashed intense clash between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and TMC workers in various parts of West Bengal. Bengal BJP leader Krishna Bhattacharya's house was allegedly attacked last night by the TMC workers protesting against Bandyopadhyay's arrest. The police have registered a case in this regard. Stones were pelted at the BJP headquarters in Kolkata, leaving several of its workers injured. Bandyopadhyay was arrested yesterday hours after he appeared before the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for interrogation in connection with this scam. Soon after his arrest yesterday, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee trained her guns at Prime Minister Modi and BJP president Amit Shah. She alleged that it was a ploy by the BJP-led Centre facing opposition post demonetisation. Mamata said that she would fight the battle legally and seek justice from the court. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Four more people have been detained by the police in connection with the murder of ruling party lawmaker from Gaibandha 1 constituency Manjurul Islam Liton. They were held in several drives conducted in different areas of Sundarganj upazila from Tuesday night to early Wednesday. "They [suspects] are being interrogated. We cannot disclose the names of the detainees for the sake of investigation," the Dhaka Tribune quoted a police official, as saying. The officer added that drives are being conducted by the police to arrest the mastermind of the killing. So far, 39 suspects have been picked up by law enforcers. Liton was shot dead by unknown attackers in Gaibandha on Sunday. He was killed by four men in the Sundarganj upazila of the district. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Bollywood film fraternity has slammed Samajwadi Party leader Abu Azmi for his sexist comment on Bengaluru mass molestation case. Various actors and actresses took to Twitter to express their anguish, anger and grief condemning the remarks made by the Samajwadi Party leader: Taapsee Pannu took to Twitter saying, "I wish we had invited him for a special screening of #Pink or let me buy a ticket for him to see!" Whereas, actress Richa Chadha wrote, "I have an idea. Why don't we kill all women? Take foeticide to the next level. That's a great cure of misogyny. Make your babies in a lab. Ok?" Actor Varun Dhawan wrote on his Twitter handle, "Punish the criminals not the victims and women should be allowed wear what they want it's their choice. Farhan Akhtar wrote, "Women should not dress like westerners b'coz men dressed like westerners are molesters, says the man in the shirt.#oxy(deprived)morons. Azmi had said the girls should take precautions in order to save themselves from incidents of molestation and sexual exploitation. "If my money gets robbed, I won't keep it at the same place again. I won't leave it on the police to sort it. Similarly, our daughters will have to take precautions of giving no chance to a person to be molested. This is not an insult, but words of respect," Azmi told ANI. Justifying his earlier comment regarding the Bengaluru molestation incident stating that "short dresses" were the reason behind it and that "it had to happen," Azmi said he respects women and treats every girl like his own mother and daughter. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Arizona Summit Law School Escapes Fraud Claims 'Follow the money.' That's a holdover quote from the Watergate scandal that bought down the President of the United States, and it means that the money trail leads to a motive. In the case of Arizona Summit Law School, the trail leads to InfiLaw Systems, a for-profit consortium of three law schools. They won a legal battle this week, when a federal judge dismissed a fraud claim by a former employee and student alleging the Arizona law school misrepresented incoming students' grades and admission test scores. However, the judge said the plaintiff may continue her suit against the school for wrongful discharge and other claims. While the case will proceed without further allegations about the law school's admission policies, they are central to a much bigger war for InfiLaw. All of its law schools -- Arizona, Charlotte School of Law, and Florida Coastal School of Law -- are fighting for their lives based on similar claims. Won the Battle, but Not the War In North Carolina, Charlotte has been placed on probation by the American Bar Association based on flawed admissions policies and failing to prepare students to pass the bar exam. Students have filed a class action lawsuit against the law school for misleading them to rake in tuition. In Florida, students filed a similar class-action against Florida Coastal. And in an expose by the Atlantic, all three schools were cited as examples of the "law school scam" that sells students on the idea that can become lawyers without preparing them for the reality. While the lawsuits and bad press have rocked InfiLaw, the federal government probably dealt a knock-out punch to one of its law schools last month. The U.S. Department of Education has revoked funding student loans to Charlotte for misleading students and others about the school's performance. Last Round for Charlotte? Last week, Charlotte administrators offered to transfer existing students to its sister school in Florida. According to reports, Charlotte is not accepting new students for the upcoming semester. Meanwhile, the Arizona case will continue with allegations that the law school there fired the plaintiff for complaining about allegedly using false advertising and about the inability of many students to succeed in school and pass the bar. In her suit, the plaintiff said InfiLaw's schools pay poorly performing students $5,000 to delay taking the bar exam in order to prop up low bar-passage rates. Related Resources: Since the armed robbery in Paris back in October 2016, Kim Kardashian stayed away from the limelight. Now she is finally back! On Tuesday, the 36-year-old reality star took to both her Twitter and Instagram to share an adorable family photo. In the snap, Kardashian is joined by hubby Kanye West and their two children- three-year-old daughter North and one-year-old son Saint. The adorable snap. that saw the family, all in white, posing together on a wooden deck, was shared with the simple caption, "family." The 'Keeping Up With The Kardashians' star was robbed of over 8.5 million dollars worth of jewelry by gunpoint at the No Address Hotel in Paris. Her last post on Twitter before the hiatus was on October 2, as it featured a video message to promote her game app. On Instagram, she shared a few photos from Paris Fashion Week just days before the robbery as she strutted her stuff wearing Balenciaga. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has said that China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is a cornerstone of Islamabad's own quest for regional connectivity and shared prosperity. Sharif was chairing a high level meet on Tuesday to review the current status of Pakistan's relations with its neighbours and strategic partners. The meeting evaluated various policy options in response to different challenges, in regard to foreign relations and focused on issues pertaining to regional, external and internal security situation. The meeting also reviewed bilateral and multi-lateral relations with neighbouring countries, future road-map for regional stability and maintenance of mutually beneficial relations with all countries in the region and beyond. The participants agreed that Pakistan's continued efforts and remarkable sacrifices of both men and material in the war against terrorism have produced positive results, which are universally acclaimed. Sharif emphasized that Islamabad believes in peaceful co-existence with all countries of the region and looks forward to establishing strong and mutually beneficial relations with countries of the region. "Peaceful coexistence, mutual respect and economically integrated region must be our shared objective and we must strive for realizing this objective. This could be possible only when we demonstrate a commitment to our aspirations of peace, progress and prosperity", he said. The meeting was attended by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa, Lt. General Naveed Mukhtar, DG ISI, Advisor to PM on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz, Special Assistant to PM Tariq Fatemi, National Security Advisor Lt. Gen. (R) Nasser Khan Janjua, Mr Fawad Hasan Fawad, Secretary to Prime Minister and other senior officials. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) in its general council meeting on Wednesday expressed grief over the death of late Tamil Nadu chief minister J. Jayalalithaa. The DMK in its meeting also urged Sri Lanka to immediately release the Tamil fishermen arrested with their boats. 16 resolutions including that against demonetisation were passed in the general council meeting. The DMK urged the Centre to mitigate the hardships faced by people post the decision on November 8 last year. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) on Wednesday passes a resolution urging the Centre to lift THE ban on bull taming sport Jallikattu. The resolution was passed in the DMK's general council meeting here. Earlier in May 2014, the Supreme Court banned the practice of Jallikattu, citing animal welfare issues. The Government of India later on January 8, 2016, passed an order exempting Jallikattu from all performances where bulls cannot be used, effectively reversing the ban. The Supreme Court, however, on January 15, 2016, upheld its ban on the event, leading to protests across Tamil Nadu. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao on Wednesday asserted that leaders should not give false hope to students about government jobs as there are very few in the state. "We have to guide students properly. Leaders shouldn't give false hope about government jobs. In our state, there are only three lakh government employees, eight lakh I.T. employees. We can't give government jobs to everyone," Rao said. He further said that government can easily afford two and a half thousand crore rupee reimbursement and urged them not to make an issue out of it. "Our government has already paid Rs. 4688.82 crore since we came into government. We won't create problem to students at any cost," he said. He said that the state has the highest residential schools for Schedule Caste and minority students. "20 lakh we are giving to each student for them to study abroad which has never been done by any government," he said. "I spoke to engineering college students. They expressed their problems on lab issues and staff inadequate problems. I suggested them to merge two or three colleges and run together. That is the reason the number of colleges have reduced," he added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Election Commission of India wrote a letter to the Ministry of Defence seeking their assistance in making a film to educate the voters serving in the various armed forces and the paramilitary. It has sought help from the armed forces and central para-military forces in its bid to educate the services voters. The Commission has also given a nod to the Defence personnel and the central para-military forces personnel to cast their votes through one-way electronic transmission system. As per the sources, a meeting was held with various wings of the Armed Forces on facility of ETPBS (Electronically Transmitted Postal Ballet Paper System). The film will help the Armed Forces through their various channels to reach out to the last soldier, airman and sailor. The Commission has engaged the services of the Film Development Corporation (NFDC) to shoot the film, which is expected to be of 10 to 15 minute duration. The Election Commission has communicated the relevant locations in order to cover all the diversified terrains in which the armed forces are deployed. The preferred set of location sought for shooting the film are Leh, Munabo, Vishakhapatnam and Jodhpurs. While Leh will showcase the Army serving in the high altitude, Munabo location will be used to shoot both Army and the Border Security Force. The Navy and Coast Guard will be filmed in Vishakhapatnam while Jodhpurs will be exclusively used to film the Air Force. Meanwhile, the Commission also announced the dates of the elections to be held in five states of Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Be it Rakesh or Hrithik or the young lads Hrehaan and Hridhaan, whenever it comes to looks and style, the Roshans are a very tough competition for the rest. Proves the cover picture of Hello! magazine's January edition! Hello! Magazine, sometimes back shared a small clip from behind the scene of the cover shoot. "Witness the three generations of the Roshans, Hrithik Roshan , Rakesh Roshan , Hrehaan and Hridhaan in the Behind The Scene of our January cover shoot!" they wrote alongside on Facebook. Reposting it on their Twitter handle, Hello! wrote alongside, "Witness the three generations of the Roshans, @iHrithik & family in the Behind The Scene of our January cover shoot!" The 1.20-minute video shows the three generations enjoying every bit of their togetherness. The strong family bond was also evident from it. Hrithik and his sons were also seen playing and posing with ease and comfort. The 42-year-old actor shared the video and wrote, "Thank u Hello." Sometimes back, Hrithik and his former wife Sussanne Khan, who are on good terms even post their divorce, were seen enjoying a family holiday with their sons in Dubai. On the work front, he will next be seen in Sanjay Gupta directed and Rakesh Roshan produced 'Kaabil,' along with Yami Gautam, slated to release on January 25, 2017. The movie revolves around a physically disabled man who sets out to take revenge for his loved one. On a related note, the movie is set to compete Shah Rukh Khan-starrer 'Raees' at the Box Offce, which also will be releasing on January 25. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Marayoor Police has registered a case against a daughter and husband of an old woman, who was left at home for three days without food and water in Idukki district of Kerala. The woman was lying on the floor and was in an unconscious state when the police reached her house. Such was her condition that the old woman was not able to speak even. The police sought help from health department authorities, who admitted the woman at the Marayoor Government Hospital. A case has been registered against the accused under Parents Maintenance Act, said police. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) On specific inputs, the Jammu and Kashmir Police and 21 Rashtriya Rifles on Wednesday apprehended a LeT terrorist, Ashiq Ahmed, near Fruit Mandi crossing in Handwara. Huge Cache of arms and ammunition have been recovered from him which includes, one AK 47 rifle, three Magzines with live cartridges, one Chinese Pistol with one Magzine, three hand grenades, one Magzine pouch, one Map and one haversack. On interrogation, Ahmed disclosed that he was a close associate of Abu Bakar, an LeT Commander, who was killed in Sopore few days back. On further discloser, the arrested militant said that in near future he was planning to attack the convoy of security forces in Handwara. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) New Delhi [India], Jan.4 (ANI): The New Year saw the Supreme Court of India passing a judgment that has genuine implications on the business of politics. A thorough reading of the judgments given by the 7 judges reveals some very interesting points of discussion. Two questions plagued the Justices: firstly, what method of legal interpretation should decide the scope and meaning of Section 123(3) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 ('the Act'); a literal or a purposive contextual interpretation. Secondly, what is the Constitutional position on the balancing of diverse interests with the secular nature of our polity? Justice Madan B. Lokur (and Justice Rao and Justice Thakur), who represented the majority opinion, answered these questions after beautifully tracing the legislative history of the Act and the precedents under the same. The majority opined that a purposive interpretation was necessary keeping in mind "the social context of Section 123(3) and today's social and technological context" (Paragraph 46 of his judgment). He also stated that since S.123(3) was introduced as an amendment to the Act around the time that Section 153A of the Indian Penal Code was introduced (prohibition on promoting enmity between groups on various grounds), in Parliament all those years ago, they must be read together. It was the legislative intent to prevent "fissiparous, communal and separatist tendencies". (Para 28). There was no fundamental right to be elected, and therefore Article 19's protection in the Constitution, had no bearing on a candidate. Candidacy was a special right that came with conditions of conduct. Justice S. A. Bobde, added on to this stating that Section 123(3) protected the entire transaction; the voter's right to vote and the candidate's pitch. (para 2 of his judgment). Any appeal made to an elector by a candidate/his agent on the ground of religion, race, caste, community, or language of either the candidate, his agent or the elector, amounts to a corrupt practice, was laid down. Honourable Justices Goal, Lalit and Chandrachud, who dissented, brought out how secular discourse and politics did not automatically neglect the guarding of special interests based on the grounds listed above. The Constitution enshrined several protections to ameliorate people disadvantaged based on these grounds. Based on this, the dissenting judges believed that there was merit in continuing the judicial position that the law only prohibited a candidate from seeking votes based on his religion etc. One issue with the judgment is the practical implications "any appeal". When candidates make pitches to the people, the language and mediums they use will come under scrutiny so that it does not fall foul of this judgment. The Court remained silent on providing guidelines on how to determine this, stating that "it is a matter of evidence". Not providing some guiding principles or tests for determining whether language used will constitute an appeal on non-secular or divisive grounds, has left the matter not fully resolved, and open to re-litigation. The line between mere discussion and any appeal must be drawn. There is truth the legal reasoning of all seven judges. Given how Indian politics has largely been a power protecting exercise, the question we must answer impartially is, have diverse interests been protected? Indian politics exemplifies what the Greek playwright Aristophanes wrote in the play "Knights", "to win the people, always cook them some savoury that pleases them." No political party anywhere in India can claim that they are free from accusations of pandering to a stratum of voters. The two major ruling parties, BJP and the Congress, at various points in history, have had allegations of being pro - Hindutva or pro - Muslim levied against them. In 2014, India recorded its highest voter turnout of 66.4%. One of the reasons for this was a desperate need in radical change in policy. This judgment is a big boost to the modern Indian voter, as well as a reminder that Indians irrespective of their background, have a lot of common interests in need of protecting: better infrastructure, a fairer tax regime, access to education, job opportunities, proper wages and working conditions, and accountability of the Government to name a few. MPs and MLAs should not be asked what they are being done for a given section, but what they are doing for Indians entirely. This judgment views the election process in entirety, and scrutinises the position of the voter. If we are truly to be a secular nation, our leaders must be elected through a secular mechanism. Gaining votes based on parameters such as religion, deviates attention on more essential questions of common development. The multi-party system was adopted to represent the myriad interests in India. There are sections of society who have been denied basic human rights and their needs merit genuine representation and discussion. The judgment will have a positive implication on this if it is applied in good faith and in true sense of its wordings. It will motivate parties to speak policy to the people's who's interests it seeks to represent. It will dissuade parties from asking people for votes based on fear of being marginalised. The judgment could change the political dialogue of the country. Religion and language should be deeply personal and should not determine how people interact with one another. The concept of caste and community discrimination should hold no value in social interaction. An election is not about the candidate alone. It is about the vision the candidate has for his given constituency and the needs of the voters (who are of different backgrounds) in that constituency. Without a judicial push backed by legislative intent of this kind, politics will never reform itself. This is not an idealistic fancy or wish. This is a legitimate issue that plagues our Governance structures today. To have free and fair elections, parties cannot be allowed to divide the electorate. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Twelve children have been injured by in a knife attack at a kindergarten in South China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. On Wednesday afternoon, a man, 41, identified by his surname as Tan, slashed the children with a kitchen knife after entering the Xiaocongzai kindergarten in Youyi Township, Pingxiang City, according to the Pingxiang City Public Security Bureau. Police said the suspect entered the kindergarten on the excuse that he needed to pick up his child, reports Xinhua. The injured children have been hospitalized, with three of them in serious condition. The suspect, who is in police custody, confessed that he committed the crime because he held a grudge against someone in his village. Further investigation is underway. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Ministry of External Affairs on Wednesday made its stand very clear on China and Pakistan, stating that they expect both countries to act rationally and understand the depth of the evil of terrorism. Commenting on China's step of blocking India's move to list Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Maulana Masood Azhar as a United Nations designated terrorist, Minister of State for External Affairs M. J. Akbar said they expect China to hear the voice of the world on terrorism and recognise the dangers of terrorism. "We do Expect China to hear the voice of the world on terrorism, not just the voice of India. And the voice of the world is heard over and over again at many fora. I will particularly remember the speech our external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj ji made at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) this year. It was really a high point of UNGA this year. The central point is to recognise the dangers of terrorism," he said. Warning China of fatal consequences double standards can lead to, Akbar hoped the former to realize the depth of terrorism. "We hope China, as a matured and responsible nation will understand that double standards are simple self-defeating, even suicidal. China has its own terrorist problems. China recognises them, addresses them in bilateral agreements. We hope and we are sure that China can be persuaded to see the depth and evil of this menace. 14 out of 15 members perhaps agree on this," he said. Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday said that India is pursuing China to declare Azhar an international terrorist. "We are pursuing China to declare JeM chief Masood Azhar an international terrorist," Singh said. The Union Home Minister's statement comes just days after Beijing blocked New Delhi's move to list Azhar as a United Nations designated terrorist. Shifting focus to another neighbouring country Pakistan, Akbar said they hoped the former to see the path of reason and act sensibly. "The engagement with Pakistan needs to continue as has been said and was first stated by Vajpayee ji. We have to deal with them. We deal with them eyes open, but we don't deal with them with minds closed. In that respect, the talk of inflammation doesn't necessarily help. We hope that Pakistan will see the path of reason. We hope Pakistan's friends will persuade it to see the path of reason," he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has said Awami League lawmaker from Gaibandha-1 constituency, Manzurul Islam Liton was killed for protesting against Jamaat torture and oppression on the people in his area. The Prime Minister was speaking in a video conference on development, and against militancy and terrorism with Rangpur division on Wednesday. Hasina said the law enforcement agencies have been asked to hunt down the killers of Liton. "Such killing of a people's representative cannot be accepted," the Dhaka Tribune quoted Hasina as saying. She said justice will surely be delivered for this killing. The Bangladesh Prime Minister asked people to keep students safe from militancy, terrorism and its misconception. Hasina pledged for at least one university in every district through government or private initiatives in a bid to make education available for all and move the country ahead. "To build a country free of poverty, we need educated people. Without educated people a country can never win over poverty. Keeping that goal in mind, we are taking different initiatives and our decision is to set up university in every district," she said. Liton was shot dead by unknown attackers in Gaibandha on Sunday. He was killed by four men in the Sundarganj upazila of the district. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Seven-time Grand Slam champion Venus Williams has pulled out of the Auckland Classic after suffering from an arm injury. Williams issued a brief statement just hours after "feeling old" in overcoming unsung teenager Jade Lewis 7-6 (7/2), 6-2 in the first round match. "I love this tournament and I'm really sad that I have to withdraw," Sport24 quoted the American as saying. 36-year-old Williams struggled past Lewis in her first round match against Lewis to fix a second-round contest against Japan's 19-year-old Naomi Osaka. "The first match of the year is never perfect," the American said after the match. "But I'm happy to be into the next round and playing another teenager. I'm just feeling old," she added. The seven-time Grand Slam champion also took to Twitter to thank her fans in New Zealand. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Bollywood star Akshay Kumar, who will soon be working with Salman Khan under Karan Johar's producton, supports the idea of one superstar working with another in movies. Speaking to the media at a press conference in Mumbai, he said, one super star (Salman Khan) working with another is new for the industry because usually this happens only in Hollywood. "An actor signs another 'A' actor for his production is something new and I hope it starts trending in our industry," he added. The news about the upcoming big project was announced by Akshay, Karan and Salman via their social media handles that they are joining forces for a "special film." Karan Johar had also tweeted about his new venture, where he said, "Supremely excited to co-produce with Salman Khan on a film starring Akshay Kumar and directed by Anurag Singh. Releasing 2018. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Punjab Police has arrested over 100 clerics for attempting to hold a rally in Lahore to 'celebrate' the assassination of governor Salman Taseer on his death anniversary. Taseer, who had angered religious zealots with his statements against the country's controversial blasphemy laws, was killed in 2011 by one of his guards for supporting Asia Bibi, a Christian woman charged with blasphemy. The clerics had gathered to hold a rally on Main Boulevard in Gulberg area of the city, reports the Express Tribune. Meanwhile, Tehreek Labbaik Ya Rasoolallah has organised two separate rallies, one on Mall Road and the other in Gulberg led by Dr Ashraf Asif Jalali and Hafiz Khadim Hussain Rizvi respectively. The clerics were given a go-ahead to hold a rally on Mall Road but not in Gulberg. Blasphemy is a sensitive issue in Pakistan, with allegations often prompting mob violence. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Pakistan Supreme Court has decided to conduct hearings of the Panamagate case on a daily basis. A larger bench of the apex court, constituted by newly-appointed Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar and headed by Justice Asif Saeed Khosa, decided that the court would not accept any further unnecessary adjournments in the case and hearing would be conducted on daily basis. "We will not leave anything unattended," the Dawn quoted Justice Khosa as saying. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf's (PTI) lawyer Naeem Bokhari presented his arguments, saying that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had misguided lawmakers in a speech regarding his assets delivered earlier this year in the National Assembly following the Panama Leaks. Bokhari informed the apex court that Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, brother of PM Nawaz, had carried out transactions outside the country in London and his financial dealings should also be included in the case. However, the court reminded Bokhari that Shahbaz Sharif not been made party in the case. The court directed Bokhari to establish whether Sharif's son, Hussain Nawaz is the owner of certain offshore companies bought before 2006. The court also ordered the PTI counsel to prove that the Sharif family owned properties in London prior to 2006. Justice Khosa observed that no record had been presented in the court to show that Al Thani family used to own the London flats family before the Sharif family bought them. The judge observed that three different money trails had been presented in the apex court in regard to the purchase of the flats and ordered the PTI counsel to prove that the source of funding for the Park Lane flats. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) will on Wednesday produce Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay in the Bhubaneshwar Court who was arrested yesterday in connection with the Rose Valley chit fund scam. The TMC MP was yesterday sent to the CBI custody. The Lok Sabha lawmaker was arrested yesterday in Kolkata after he was summoned by the agency for questioning. Before being taken for the interrogation, Bandyopadhyay, took a veiled attack at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), stating that he was arrested because of his opposition to the demonetisation drive. "This (arrest) is the result of my role in Lok Sabha," he said. Bandyopadhyay's arrest had unleashed intense clash between the BJP and TMC workers in various parts of West Bengal. Stones were pelted at the BJP headquarters in Kolkata, leaving several of its workers injured. BJP leader Krishna Bhattacharya's house was allegedly attacked last night by TMC workers protesting against the arrest of Bandyopadhyay. The police have registered a case in this regard. Furious at the arrest, TMC supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee alleged that it was a ploy by the BJP-led Centre, facing opposition post demonetisation. Expressing her ire over Bandyopadhyay's arrest, Mamata said that she would fight the battle legally and seek justice from the court. The Congress Party yesterday termed the arrest of Bandyopadhyay as a 'political vendetta' launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government against his political opponents. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Supreme Court will resume its hearing of the Mumbai dance bar case on Wednesday, where, the bar owners have challenged the stringent norms regulating bars. The Maharashtra government has justified the need for these restrictions to ensure the safety and dignity of women, working in these establishments. The apex court had earlier, on September 21, ruled that three dance bars in Maharashtra, with proper CCTVs, can continue operating. A division bench of the top court, headed by Justice Dipak Misra and Justice C Nagappan passed this order. On August 30, the apex court had issued a notice to the Maharashtra Government over a new law for dance bar licenses and asked it to reply within six months. Dance bar owners have objected to the restriction of maintaining a one-kilometre distance from any religious or educational structure, claiming it was not possible in big cities. They claimed that another curb of shutting down the bars before 11.30 pm is discriminatory at the time when the Centre was promoting round-the-clock business by commercial establishments. The Maharashtra government's counsel Shekhar Nafade had, however, said that they would fight the objections at the next hearing, as the government had every right to frame rules in the interest of society. The apex court had in May directed the Maharashtra Government to grant licenses to eight dance bars within two days and asked them to give an undertaking that they would not engage employees with criminal antecedents near the dance area. The Dance Bar Regulation Bill, which was unanimously passed by the Assembly on April 13, among other things, prohibits serving liquor in performance areas and mandates that the premises must shut by 11:30 pm. It also imposes heavy penalties on dance bar owners and customers for not following these rules. The apex court had on March 2 rejected certain suggestions like providing live CCTV footage to police of performances in the dance bars and asked the state government to grant licences to owners within 10 days after they comply with the modified guidelines. Sounding optimistic, the Shiv Sena on Wednesday said the bugle of the election war has been sounded and the party would definitely be a part of this. "The bugle for election war (Mahabharata) has been sounded once again. The Shiv Sena will definitely be a part of this war, especially in Goa and North India," said Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut. Talking about the party's plans, Raut informed about the meeting which is to be held today chaired by party chief Uddhav Thackeray. "We will be having a meeting chaired by Uddhav Thackeray, where he will put his intentions and views in front of people. We are almost done with the preparations in Goa and North India," he said. Putting light on its structure in the upcoming elections, Raut said the party would be contesting individually in Uttar Pradesh. "Out of Maharashtra, the Shiv Sena will fight on its own, without entering into any alliance. Uttar Pradesh will be fought on our own, without any ally. We have alliance with Goa Suraksha Manch and MGP in Goa and we will be fighting on 5 seats there," he added. The Election Commission of India earlier in the day announced seven-phase polling for 403 assembly constituencies in the politically crucial state of Uttar Pradesh, two-phase polling in Manipur and one-phase polling each in the states of Punjab, Uttarakhand and Goa respectively. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) It's January, which means that Bruce Sterling and Jon Lebkowsky have returned to the WELL for their annual State of the World wrangle, in which, as Sterling puts it, we see who's "gonna collapse first: us pundits, or the World?" These conversations have taken place every new year since Y2K and they never fail to be interesting (2016, previous years). This year kicks off with a long meditation on the assassination of Andrei Karlov, Russian ambassador to Turkey, gunned down in an art gallery by a dissident policeman. As of today, it's veered into a comparison of the relative evils of the GOP candidates fielded in 2015, and about why some of them are actually worse than Trump (tldr: they have an agenda that's every bit as evil and have the competence to actually see them through, as opposed to merely lining their pockets while failing to administer anything to completion). People worse than The Donald have been circling the Oval Office for years and years now. Carson, vastly worse than The Donald. Carly Fiorina, about as bad. Rand Paul, lots, lots worse. Mike Huckabee, much, much worse. Bobby Jindal, really bad, maybe not quite as bad as The Donald, but surprisingly, thoroughly bad. Scott Walker, merely somewhat worse. They weren't all entirely and uniformly awful politicians: Kasich sort of okay, Rubio kind of interesting, Bush just a melancholy sign of the general political necrosis, but that's a Donaldless world. An extensively bad scene with deep roots in years of development. Even though The Donald is ludicrously disastrous, he's not some lone Frankenstein creature. He's part of the general texture of American rot. A society this extensively troubled, for such a long time, should probably shouldn't be pitying itself for electing a Donald. Better if it somehow finds the courage to confront its own deep inner Donaldness. I think Trump's former (and current) Republican rivals are worse than Trump because their ideas are more pernicious, their intentions are commonly as bad as his, they're more fanatical than him and they probably could do a lot more practical damage to the American Republic than he can. *Ted Cruz, for instance, is a smart-aleck, officious crank Texan lawyer who's also bitter, scheming and cruel. He has no friends at all. The Republicans who know Ted best hate him worst. *Paul is a daffy one-issue Randite zealot who never learns anything, Huckabee is a lowlife Elmer Gantry schemer, Jindal completely wrecked his state through his sheer administrative incompetence, and Bush is a hapless born-to-the-purple guy really has no proper role in public life except for his genetics. *I could go on, but I don't like to heap partisan abuse on people already defeated. I think most Republican voters would agree with me that they're not much good. Otherwise they would never have voted for an over-the-top game-show host like The Donald. But they choose The Donald, and if that choice was insane, well, they're half the American population. If we're really in a madhouse, what else can one expect but The Donald? How "bad" is it when you get what you deserve? Topic 495: Bruce Sterling and Jon Lebkowsky: State of the World 2017 Subscribe to an RSS 2.0 feed of new responses in this topic [The WELL] Tata Trusts and Google India expand the 'Internet Saathi' program by enabling cashless transactions through MobiKwik, with an aim to drive digital economy in rural parts of India. Internet Saathi initiative aims to transform the lives of over 200 million with digital literacy in India. The initiative focuses on training communities to go online, whilst providing them access to internet powered devices and educating them about cashless payments. "As a part of the Digital India initiative and Tata Trusts' overall digital strategy, our aim is to drive empowerment with a focus on digital innovation to create a revenue opportunity for the communities at a larger level with sustainable impact. Enabling digital wallet is a big step towards ensuring that the community benefits from services with great amount of saving in time and cost. Tata Trusts sees digital livelihoods as an opportunity that is truly path breaking and in line with the ethos of 'Lead, not follow'," said Project Director Tata Trusts, Raman Kalyanakrishnan. Tata Trusts and Google India launched the Internet Saathi programme with an objective to reduce gender barrier for access to the internet and its benefits. Launched in July 2015, Internet Saathi program is now live in 10 states reaching out to over 26,000 villages. Close to 12, 00,000 women have benefited from the programme by getting trained on digital and internet literacy. "Demonetization has encouraged millions of Indians in rural villages to adopt the new way of wallet payments. However, most of them do not possess a smartphone and can't download and operate an app by themselves. Internet Saathis shall help resolve this issue at a grass root level, which is the need of the hour. Earlier this month, our government marked the beginning of a cashless revolution and this initiative is our contribution towards making wallet payments a reality for masses in India," said co-founder MobiKwik, Upasana Taku. The community members are encouraged to actively seek information related to the daily livelihoods activities through the platform established in the village and adopt MobiKwik payments for their local or internet enterprises by the Internet Saathi programme. Critically, the platform provides internet enabled devices and a trained person in Internet Saathi at the village. This transformational campaign is launching in Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh today. "We are thankful to Tata Trusts and Google India for extending their support to our vision of making mobile wallet payments ubiquitous," added Upasana. Financial inclusion and digital payments: Internet Saathis are going to be trained to be able to provide services such as online payment of utility bills, mobile bills and recharges of all leading telecom service providers, and to undertake mobile wallet transactions. Tata Trusts is partnering with Mobikwik, a leading mobile wallet, for delivering these services. Digital citizenship services: Another such digital initiative is to provide access to information on social schemes for rural households with the help of an intelligent algorithm that maps households to eligible schemes. Tata Trusts has partnered with Haqdarshak for enabling the Internet Saathis deliver services in villages through a mobile application. Frequently used services: The Internet Saathis are also being used as effective field functionaries by a leading mobile operator to serve as retailers of SIM cards, connections and top-up products in rural areas. Digital communication agents: The potential of the extensive platform of Internet Saathi on the field is also being leveraged by engaging the Internet Saathis in developmental programmes, such as Swachh Bharat Mission, driving behavior change in communities. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Delhi Police on Wednesday apprehended two juveniles for allegedly raping a 13-year-old girl inside a public toilet at a transit camp in Anand Parbat on December 31 last year. A case has been registered under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) Act. The incident took place when the girl was going to a nearby shop to buy groceries and had stopped at the public toilet. She said that the youth entered the toilet and raped her. They then threatened her and told her not to inform anyone about the incident. The girl, whose family relocated here from Kathputli Colony after the recent demolition, went back to her tent and stayed quiet. However, her mother came to know of it when she complained of pain in the abdomen. She was taken for a medical examination where doctors confirmed that she was sexually assaulted. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar has claimed that few camps of Indian terrorist still exist in Bangladesh territory. According to him, though the present government in Bangladesh took action against the terrorist in its territory leading to the reduction of insurgency in the states, still there are camps across the border. Sarkar after inspecting the parade said, "Till a few years back the problems created by the militants has come down but still there is no room for self-complacency because we are aware that still across the border in Bangladesh a section of Tripura militant have its camp. They may not be in huge number but are adequately powerful to harm us." He added that other than action against Indian militants, another factor adding to the reduction of insurgency in Tripura is the rising of border fencing along Bangladesh and deployment of adequate number of border guards. "A time was there when our international border was totally open and the number of border guards was inadequate. By now in more than three-forth of the international border barbed wire fence has been raised and 18 battalions of BSF have been deployed. During the last few years this is the highest deployment of BSF to safeguard our border. Moreover, during this time the number of TSR and police has also gone up," Sarkar said. He was addressing the police officials during the inauguration of the Police Week 2017 at the police parade ground here. Indian militants, taking advantage of the absence of the Bangladesh security forces, are using the remote area adjoining to the border, particularly in the Chittagong Hill Track (CHT). The Chief Minister also inspected the parade and distributed medals among the police personnel for their commendable service and also to their children who had performed brilliantly in the board examinations. Meantime, as part of the Police Week celebration, the officers and other ranks of the police donated blood during a mega blood donation camp organized in association with Tripura State Blood Transfusion Board and Society. Chief Minister Sarkar, in presence of DGP K. Nagaraj and other officials, visited the blood donation camp and inspired the donors. Around 200 police personnel and their family members donated blood during the camp. The Blood donation camp is organized to improve relation between the force and local public to gain their confidence and also to spread awareness about the HIV-AIDS among police personnel. The programme is scheduled to continue throughout the month in different areas as the state during this time of the year passes through the crisis of blood. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Former US president Bill Clinton and his wife Hillary will attend US President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration later this month. Trump will take oath as the 45th President of the United States on January 20. The decision will put the 2016 Democratic presidential nominee on the stage as her bitter rival assumes office she long sought. The announcement came shortly after former president George W. Bush's office said on Tuesday that he would attend Trump's inauguration along with former first lady Laura Bush. The Bushes are "pleased to be able to witness the peaceful transfer of power - a hallmark of American democracy - and swearing-in of President Trump and Vice-President Pence," the Guardian quoted Bush's office as saying in a statement. It is traditional for former presidents and their spouses to attend the inauguration. The 2016 Democratic presidential nominee has largely avoided public appearances since Trump defeated her in November. Former president George H.W. Bush, 92, will not attend because of health issues. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Official spokesperson at the Turkish Embassy in Pakistan has said that the Turkish Police has recovered six Pakistani nationals, who were reportedly abducted for ransom by suspected Kurd miscreants near Turkey border. Arrests have also been made on information provided by the Pakistani officials investigating the matter, reports the Dawn. Earlier, the Gujranwala police had also claimed it had arrested suspects thought to be involved in the abduction. The spokesperson said officials stationed at the Pakistani embassy in Turkey will confirm the identities of the abductees after visiting the police station. According to media reports, the victims, hailing from Gujranwala and Wazirabad, were travelling to Europe, when they were intercepted and abducted by suspected Kurd miscreants. The armed kidnappers reportedly subjected the captives to inhuman torture and sent the footage of torture to the relatives of the victims and demanded a sum of Rs. two million each. Following the recovery of the abductees, Turkish police confirmed their retrieval to the Consulate General of Pakistan. Six Pakistanis - Fazal Amin, Adil Ahmad, Muhammad Zeeshan, Abid, Usman ali and Ashbar Ahmad - have been recovered, according to a statement issued by Pakistan's Foreign Office. "Pakistani officials are in contact with the Turkish authorities and have sought access to the rescued citizens," the statement added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Asserting that Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) has served as a model for peaceful cooperation between India and Pakistan for decades, the United States has called on both the Asian neighbours to work together and resolve any differences relating with the issue. Spokesperson of the U.S. State Department, John Kirby said, "The Indus Water Treaty has served as a model for peaceful cooperation between India and Pakistan for now 50 years. We encourage, as we have in the past, India and Pakistan to work together to resolve any differences." Kirby also said that the United States encourages both India and Pakistan to work together bilaterally to resolve their differences. "We're in regular communication with the Indian and Pakistani governments on a wide range of issues," he said. Pakistan had earlier sought support of the United States on the implementation of the IWT with India. Last Thursday, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry had a telephone conversation with Pakistan Finance Minister Ishaq Dar. Kerry said that the Bank president had recently informed him about Pakistan's complaint against India on the subject of the IWT. Pakistan has firmly stated that it will not accept any alterations or changes to the IWT after India had said that it is ready to engage in further consultations with Islamabad on the matter of resolving current differences over the Kishenganga and Ralte projects under the treaty. Islamabad has argued that India was buying time to complete its two disputed water projects and then insisting that since the project was already complete, it could not be modified. Pakistan is raising its objection to building of the Kishanganga (330 megawatts) and Ratle (850 megawatts) hydroelectric plants by India saying that it violates the provisions of the treaty. Tensions increased over the water dispute when Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi last month threatened to block the flow of water into Pakistan. Bank had earlier asked both the countries to consider alternative ways to resolve their disagreements over the Indus Water Treaty Dispute 1960. The Bank had said that it was temporarily halting the appointment of a neutral expert as requested by India, and the Chairman of the Court of Arbitration, as requested by Pakistan, to resolve issues regarding two hydroelectric power plants under construction by India along the Indus Rivers system. The treaty which was signed in 1960 by Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and Pakistan President Ayub Khan gives India control over the three eastern rivers of the Indus basin, the Beas, the Ravi and the Sutlej while Pakistan has the three western rivers, the Indus, the Chenab and the Jhelum. As per the provisions in the treaty, India can use only 20 percent of the total water carried by the Indus River. The Indus Waters Treaty 1960 is seen as one of the most successful international treaties and has withstood frequent tensions between India and Pakistan, including conflict. The treaty sets out a mechanism for cooperation and information exchange between the two countries regarding their use of the rivers, known as the Permanent Indus Commission which includes a commissioner from each of the two countries. It also sets out a process for resolving so-called "questions", "differences" and "disputes" that may arise between the parties. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) West Bengal Finance Minister Amit Mitra on Wednesday walked out of the pre-budget meet, saying there is financial emergency in the country and budget has become meaningless. "I am saying this with heavy heart that I walked out of the pre-budget meet after my presentation, in a protest in the appropriate manner that democracy deserves. I primarily spoke on demonetisation and what it is doing to the economy as the perspective of the budget. This is financial crisis of derailing the economy. The budget has become relatively meaningless because a part of budget has already been delivered by the Prime Minister for the first time in the history of India," Mitra told the media here. He further said the country's economic growth has been sacrificed and Rs.1.26 lakh crores have been sacrificed in transaction cost in 50 days, according to research. Mitra also stressed upon the problem being faced by the small and medium enterprises and unorganised sectors post demonetisation drive while asserting that the Central government is not bothered about the issues. "The diamond workers have come back to our state from Gujarat. In Maharashtra there are 24 lakh powerlooms, out of which 12 lakhs have been closed today and the workers from there have been gone to their state. Leather industry in West Bengal has completely collapsed. So, small and medium enterprises, unorganised sectors are starving. The poor workers have no way but to go back home and they add to the liability of their home rather than asset," Mitra told media here. "Last year there was 11 percent growth and this year it is growth of negative two percent which means Bengal has lost 13 percent of potential taxes. 11 percent which we have made has been extinguished. States are today suffering with 30 to 40 percent decline in the budget," he added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Bharti Airtel announced a special offer under which, it will offer free data for 12 months, worth up to Rs 9000, to customers who switch to Airtel 4G. With this, customers can now experience India's fastest 4G network at great prices. The 12 months offer is available to any customer with a 4G mobile handset that is currently not on the Airtel network. Any customer, including existing Airtel customers, upgrading to a new 4G handset can also avail this offer. This offer will be available to customer across India starting tomorrow and will close on 28 February 2017. Customers will get free 3GB data every month till 31 December 2017 with select prepaid and postpaid packs under this offer. This free data benefit will be over and above the pack/plan benefits. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 3 January 2017. HDFC announced that the profit on sale of investments for Q3 December 2016 was Rs 3 crore compared to Rs 57 crore in Q3 December 2015. Income from dividend for Q3 December 2016 was Rs 179 crore compared to Rs 136 crore in Q3 December 2015. The company under the loan assignment route sold loans amounting to Rs 3355 crore in the quarter ended 31 December 2016 to HDFC Bank. Loans sold in the preceding twelve months amounted to Rs 15,201 crore. The figures are subject to limited review by the statutory auditors of the company. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 3 January 2017. Indiabulls Housing Finance announced that it has reduced its home loan rate by 45 basis points to 8.65% for its customers with effect from 3 January 2017. Gagan Banga, Vice chairman and Managing Director, Indiabulls Housing Finance said home loan rates are now at their lowest in six years and tremendously improves buyers, affordability. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 3 January 2017. Corporation Bank announced fixation of the marginal cost of funds based lending rate for all rupee loans and advances including renewals for various tenors with effect from 2 January 2017. The MCLR for overnight loans was fixed at 8.35%. The rate for one month was fixed at 8.35% and for three months it was fixed at 8.4%. The MCLR on 6-month loans is 8.65% and for one-year loans the rate is 8.75%, the bank said. Hikal said that the company has concluded the process of sale of its land on which its former R&D centre was situated in Bengaluru, admeasuring 1.52 acres. The proceeds of the sale will be used towards the current operations of the company. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 3 January 2017. Liberty Shoes announced that the rating in respect of various banking facilities of the company was recently reviewed by Credit Analysis & Research (CARE) and the ongoing rating has been reaffirmed. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 3 January 2017. Celebrity Fashions announced that a meeting of the board of directors of the company will be held on 6 January 2017, to consider issue of equity shares on preferential basis to promoters/directors. The board will also consider issue of convertible warrants on preferential basis to promoters/directors. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 3 January 2017. Max Ventures and Industries announced that a meeting of the board of directors of the company shall be held on 9 January 2017 to, consider raising of funds by way of preferential issue of securities, rights issue, debt issue or any other method. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 3 January 2017. Oudh Sugar Mills announced that the Credit Analysis & Research Ltd has upgraded & assigned CARE BBB- rating to long-term bank facilities from banks so accepted by the company. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 3 January 2017. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approved the transfer of 34.87 Ha land in Sector 24, Dwarka, New Delhi from Delhi Development Authority to Land and Development Office (L&DO) for the purpose of the Second Diplomatic Enclave. Currently, there is one Diplomatic Enclave in Chanakyapuri, where land has been allotted to the Embassies by L&DO. MEA has expressed need for more land for allotment to Diplomatic Missions/ International Organizations for building their Chanceries/ Embassies in Delhi. For this DDA has earmarked 34.87 Ha land in Sector 24, Dwarka, which will be transferred to L&DO. This will provide land for Second Diplomatic Enclave in the capital. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) HDFC rose 0.24% to Rs 1,218.20 at 9:36 IST on BSE after income from dividend rose 31.61% to Rs 179 crore in Q3 December 2016 over Q3 December 2015. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 3 January 2017. Meanwhile, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 10.84 points or 0.04% at 26,654.08. On the BSE, 12,000 shares were traded on the counter so far as against the average daily volumes of 1.33 lakh shares in the past two weeks. The stock had hit a high of Rs 1,221.05 and a low of Rs 1,197.55 so far during the day. The stock had hit a record high of Rs 1,463.25 on 7 September 2016 and a 52-week low of Rs 1,012 on 25 February 2016. It had underperformed the market over the past one month till 3 January 2017, sliding 2% compared with the Sensex's 1.57% rise. The scrip had also underperformed the market over the past one quarter declining 14.73% as against the Sensex's 5.67% fall. The large-cap company has equity capital of Rs 317.02 crore. Face value per share is Rs 2. HDFC's profit on sale of investments declined 94.73% to Rs 3 crore in Q3 December 2016 over Q3 December 2015. The company under the loan assignment route sold loans amounting to Rs 3355 crore in Q3 December 2016 to HDFC Bank. Loans sold in the preceding twelve months amounted to Rs 15201 crore. The figures are subject to limited review by the statutory auditors of the company. HDFC's consolidated net profit rose 16.1% to Rs 2446.21 crore on 16.5% increase in total income to Rs 14526.69 crore in Q2 September 2016 over Q2 September 2015. HDFC is India's first retail housing finance company and is currently one of the largest originators of housing loans in the country. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) When the fog rolls into Dubai, photographer Daniel Cheong races to the nearest skyscraper to capture some remarkable photos. Day or night, the effect is otherworldly. Here's a recent interview he did with Stefan Schafer Photography Check out his site for lots of other remarkable work, or maybe even buy a shot. Dubai Fog | Daniel Cheong Oil prices likely will remain volatile and range-bound in the coming year, Moody's Investors Service says in a new report discussing its expectations for the global oil and gas industry. Alongside anticipated changes in US energy policy focused on domestic development and deregulation, the industry will see increased merger & acquisition (M&A) activity in both the North American E&P and midstream sectors. The rating agency's oil and natural gas price estimates -- within a medium-term oil price band of $40-$60/bbl for both Brent and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude globally and in North America -- remain unchanged for 2017-19 from its November 2016 update. Moody's expects prices to remain volatile within this band. "We foresee three possible scenarios for oil prices in 2017, each with their own impact on ratings," says Moody's managing director, Steve Wood. "If they retreat to the low $40s, stress in the oil and gas industry will again increase, while prices in the mid-to-high $40s would continue to offer some relief for oil producers. At a sustainable mid-$50/bbl level, however, we could take more positive rating actions on integrated and exploration and production companies." Under the Trump administration, US energy policy likely will prioritize domestic oil and coal production, in addition to reducing federal regulatory burdens. Energy infrastructure projects would benefit most immediately, but the success of other policy goals, such as easing the permitting and leasing of new coal mines, will depend on their ability to generate favorable economic returns. Meanwhile, a US failure to work toward the Paris Climate Agreement commitments could lead to a carbon tax on US exports or other retaliatory trade measures. Increasing confidence in the oil and gas industry's prospects will spur acquisition activity among North American exploration and production (E&P) firms, Moody's says. Debt and equity markets are again offering financing for producers seeking to re-position and enhance their asset portfolios after a lull. M&A will also pick up in the midstream sector. At the same time, integrated oil and gas firms will continue to improve their cash flow metrics and leverage profiles by cutting operating costs, further reducing capital spending and divesting assets. Even so, the oilfield services and drilling (OFS) sector is in for another tough year, with continued weak customer demand, overcapacity and a high debt burden. "Demand for the services of OFS companies will grow only very gradually next year, while pricing recovery and cash flow growth will lag those of upstream customers by at least a year," Wood says. "Within the broader energy sector, we expect the OFS sector to suffer the most defaults in 2017 as more companies run out of cash and credit lines, struggle with debt covenants and maturities and produce barely breakeven cash flow." Meanwhile, EBITDA growth of 5% or less in 2017 will strain the North American midstream sector's ability to reduce debt leverage, in some cases putting investment-grade ratings at risk. Midstream growth capital spending will again drop by about 20%, with slower growth leading more companies to resort to "self-help" measures to address balance-sheet, funding and distribution concerns. And though funding risk has declined somewhat for Latin America's national oil companies, it will remain an issue for years to come, given tight capital market conditions and volatile oil and gas prices and cash flows, Moody's says. Meanwhile, Russia's agreement to cut oil production next year poses little difficulty for the country's oil companies, since the move effectively freezes production rates and likely will entail the resumption of cuts in Western Siberia, which is already in decline. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Held on 04 January 2017 La Tim Metal & Industries announced that the Board of Directors of the Company at its meeting held on 04 January 2017 has transacted the following subject to approval of members in the EGM. Approved increase in authorised share capital of the Company from Rs 5 crore to Rs 7 crore and alter the Memorandum of Association of the Company. Decided to issue and allot 40 lakh convertible warrants of Rs 10 each on preferential allotment of basis. Decided to acquire equity shares of La Tim Sourcing (India) to make 100% subsidiary. Approved draft notice for convening EGM on 10 February 2017. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Overall Net Benefit of approximately Rs. 6116 crores to Telangana and Rs. 1663 crores to Assam Union Minister of State (IC) for Power, Coal, New & Renewable Energy and Mines, Shri Piyush Goyal launched the Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana (UDAY) Web Portal & Mobile App. It would track and monitor the progress of DISCOMs on operational and financial parameters under the UDAY scheme. An important part of the 'Digital India Initiative', the portal/app will ensure transparency, enhance accountability of various stakeholders and facilitate view of near real time progress, enabling consumers to demand better services for themselves. Giving details of the UDAY portal/app, Shri Goyal informed that it would provide details of latest progress made by various DISCOMs, as recent as last month/quarter. The DISCOM-level data will be integrated into State level and National level, which will be processed and used for advanced performance analysis. The National, State and DISCOM level dashboards will thus provide a snapshot of latest financial and operational performance at various levels in public domain. The Minister said that the portal/app is a logical follow-up to the MoUs signed by the States under UDAY, not only to enable monitoring of the progress made by the DISCOMs at Central Ministry level, but also for making future schemes/plans for improving DISCOMs performance. This will be the first time when the performance metrics of various DISCOMs will be available in a single platform, which shall promote healthy competition amongst the DISCOMs/States. This will bring about an ethos of 'Competitive Federalism' among different States to achieve best progress in public schemes, especially in the power sector, Shri Goyal added. Praising the advent of transparency and accountability with the launch of web portals and mobile apps, Shri Goyal said that the implementation of public programmes and schemes has become a 'Citizen Process', as these portals and apps have placed all the information in public domain for scrutiny. Suppliers can also develop their capabilities by understanding the focus area of the Utilities, resulting in improved performance by them, he added. Giving examples of achievements in UDAY among States, the minister quoted the Rajasthan Discom where, in less than two years, annual losses of around Rs. 15000 crores will soon be converted into profits. He also talked about Haryana's progress, where as an example, all 173 villages in Panchkula have received 24x7 Power Supply. Shri Goyal encouraged officials of the Ministry to think innovatively and come out with performance based rewards for best performing States under UDAY. He also talked about starting a 'Citizen Poll' to receive feedback on the ground level achievements of different schemes, which would help recalibrating their implementation process. During the event, the States of Telangana and Assam joined UDAY by signing Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) with the Ministry of Power for operational and financial turnaround of their respective DISCOMs, making the tally in the UDAY Club to 20. States with over 90% of total DISCOM debts covered under UDAY, Shri Goyal added. While the Government of Telangana would take over Rs.8923 crores of the total Rs.11897 crores of DISCOM debt, the Government of Assam would take over Rs.928 crores out of total Rs.1510 crores DISCOM Debt (being 75% of their respective DISCOM debt outstanding as on 30 September 2015, as envisaged in the scheme) and the balance debt would be re-priced or issued as State guaranteed DISCOM bonds. This would amount to annual saving in the interest cost of Rs. 387 crores to Telangana and Rs. 37 crores to Assam respectively. The interest cost on future borrowings is also expected to reduce, providing a saving of around Rs.30-40 crores to these States. In case of Telangana, the reduction in AT&C losses and transmission losses to 9.95% and 3% respectively is likely to bring additional revenue of around Rs.1476 crores, during the period of turnaround, whereas additional revenue of Rs. 699 crores would accrue to Assam on reduction of AT&C losses and transmission losses to 15% and 3.4% respectively. The gains to these states through Demand Side interventions in UDAY such as usage of energy-efficient domestic as well as industrial/commercial equipment is expected to be around Rs. 1200 crores & Rs. 260 crores respectively. The States of Telangana and Assam are also expected to benefit around Rs. 2250 crores and Rs. 520 crores respectively on account of the support being extended by the Centre through various coal reform measures. An overall net benefit of approximately Rs. 6116 crores and Rs. 1663 crores would accrue to these States viz. Telangana and Assam respectively, under UDAY, by way of savings in interest cost, reduction in AT&C and transmission losses, interventions in energy efficiency, coal reforms etc. during the period of turnaround. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A jail guard and five inmates were killed during a southern Philippines jailbreak before dawn and in the subsequent manhunt on Wednesday, authorities said. At least 158 inmates escaped when some gunmen, clad in black suits and armed with high-powered firearms, stormed a jail in North Cotabato province around 1 am (local time), in a bid to free some inmates, Xinhua news agency reported. A jail guard was killed and an inmate was injured in the incident. Five more inmates were killed during the manhunt to re-arrest the escaped criminals, according to jail officials. Felix Capalla, one of the jail leaders, said: "Twenty jail guards fought the heavily armed raiders but were overpowered by the attackers." He said the 20 jail guards were armed only with pistols and Armalite rifles while the raiders were armed with high-powered Barret 50-calibre sniper rifles and rocket-propelled grenade launchers. No group claimed responsibility for the attack. Ismael D. Sueno, secretary of the Department of the Interior and Local Government, said the Philippines government had secured the help of the largest Muslim rebel group in the country, Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), in recapturing the escaped inmates. Presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella appealed for "calm and sobriety" after the incident. --IANS soni/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Terming the CBI the central government's "caged parrot", Trinamool Congress MP Sudip Bandopadhyay's wife Nayana Bandopadhyay on Wednesday protested the arrest of her husband by the agency. "The CBI has become a caged parrot of the central government. How can they arrest an MP and a senior politician like Sudip Bandyopadhyay on fake charges when he was summoned for interrogation in the case," she said. Echoing West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's words, Bandhopadhyay, who is a state legislator, demanded Prime Minister Narendra Modi's arrest and complained that the state leaders of other political parties are spared by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in spite of their direct involvement in the same chit fund scam. "Prime Minister Modi's name has come up in the Sahara scam. He should also be arrested," Bandyopadhyay said. "If CBI follows the principle of arresting anyone whose name comes up with the scam, then why are they not arresting BJP's Babul Supriyo and CPI-M leader Sujan Chakraborty. Their names have surfaced many times in the Rose Valley scam," she said. --IANS mgr/bdc/vd (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) BJP National General Secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya on Wednesday said the party had nothing to do with the ongoing CBI probe here. Vijayvargiya's statement came as Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee accused the Bharatiya Janata Party-led central government of "vendetta politics" over arrest of its Parliament members. Trinamool MP and Leader in the Lok Sabha Sudip Bandyopadhyay was on Tuesday arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation after hours of grilling over the Rose Valley chit fund scam. Another Trinamool MP, Tapas Paul, has already been under arrest in connection with the scam. "The CBI investigation was ordered as early as 2014. The agency sent notice to the two leaders in 2015. They were interrogated and later arrested as they failed to provide satisfactory reply to the inquiry. I want to know who from the BJP or the Prime Minister's Office is involved in this," Vijayvargiya told the media here. "It is extremely shameful for a Chief Minister to accuse the Centre of political vengeance for opposing the demonetisation. The chit fund probe is going on for many years, whereas the 'notebandi' happened just a couple of months back." The BJP leader said Congress's comments over Trinamool MPs' arrest proved the party's "political immaturity". "Before the election in West Bengal, Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi demanded strict CBI investigation on all chit fund scams. State leader Abdul Mannan also appealed for the punishment of the offenders in the scams." "The same leaders are now backing Trinamool's accusations when the full fledged investigation is going on. This shows the political immaturity of Gandhi and his party," he said. --IANS mgr/bdc/py/vt (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) As the Election Commission on Wednesday announced polling dates for five states, the BJP said development will be an important poll issue whereas the Congress said the November 8 demonetisation and state-level issues will hold the key. Bharatiya Janata Party spokesperson Siddhartha Nath Singh said: "In larger states like Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, the ruling parties face anti-incumbency and will not like to talk about development. While development will remain our poll plank, they will attack demonetisation." "Voters are fed up of corruption. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP are committed towards the fight against corruption. As for the development front, the BJP and its allies stand out all along." Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari put the note ban as the central issue for the coming state elections. "The notes ban has caused the maximum pain to each of the 125 crore Indians." "Somewhere down the line, it will definitely weigh with the voters. But in assembly elections, state issues are top on the people's mind. There is going to be a mixed bunch of issues. It is not going to be a single issue on which the elections are going to be fought. The state elections are always decided more on state issues." Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa, Punjab and Manipur will be held between February 4 and March 8. The results of thne elections in all five states will come out on March 11 after vote counting. --IANS rs-sid/tsb/vt (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Union Cabinet, at a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday, approved the signing of an agreement between India and Uruguay for cooperation in matters related to customs. "The agreement will help in the availability of relevant information for the prevention and investigation of customs offences," the Finance Ministry said in a statement here. "It is also expected to facilitate trade and ensure efficient clearance of goods traded between the countries," it said. "The draft agreement takes care of India's concerns and requirements, particularly in the area of exchange of information on the correctness of the customs value declared, the authenticity of certificates of origin of goods and the description of the goods traded between the two countries," the statement added. The agreement would provide a legal framework for sharing of information and intelligence between the customs authorities of the two countries and help in the proper application of customs laws, besides facilitating legitimate trade. --IANS mm/in/vt (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the signing of an MoU between India and Portugal on agriculture and associated areas, official sources said. "A meeting of the Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, gave approval to the signing of an agreement on cooperation in agriculture and allied sectors between India and Portugal," said the Cabinet release. A Joint Working Group having representatives from both countries will be set up to develop guidelines and programmes for the execution of the MoU as well as priorities for future cooperation, and also monitor implementation, the release said. "The agreement shall enter into force on the date of its signing and shall remain in force for five years. It shall be automatically extended for another five years unless either party gives a written notice through diplomatic channels to the other party about its intention to terminate the agreement at least six months before its expiration," the release added. Portugal Prime Minister Antonio Costa will pay a state visit to India from January 6-12. The two leaders will hold official talks on January 7 in New Delhi. --IANS rs/tsb/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Cambodia on Wednesday sent the seventh batch of 184 peacekeepers to Lebanon to replace the sixth group, whose one-year UN peacekeeping mission has come to an end. The military engineering group, including 16 females, would work on landmine clearance and construction of roads, bridges, shelters and barracks, Xinhua news agency quoted General Pol Saroeun, Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces, as saying. "This event once again reflects Cambodia's active contribution to maintaining peace, security and stability in the world," he said. He advised the peacekeepers to strictly respect Lebanon's independence and sovereignty and to work hard in order to achieve the humanitarian mission. Alexandre Huynh, coordinator of the UN Development Programme (UNDP) to Cambodia, hailed the country for supporting the UN peacekeeping operations, saying its contribution was a role model to the world. "Your dedication to helping others, sharing your skills with other countries that are suffering from conflict, will be precious and a source of hope and inspiration to many." Huynh said that since 2006, the Southeast Asian country has provided 4,180 troops to participate in the UN peacekeeping operations in Sudan, South Sudan, Chad, Central African Republic, Lebanon, Mali, Syria and Cyprus. --IANS py/ (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Jon Mooallem's beautiful profile of BJ Miller tells the tale of how Miller lost three of his limbs in a stupid accident and became a pioneer of palliative medicine: but for me, it's also a story of the very best of San Francisco's blend of technology, optimism, compassion and exuberant weirdness a blend that has been changing for the worse since the dotcom bubble of the turn of the century. Miller runs the Zen Hospice project, which has its origins in the AIDS epidemic it was founded as an alternative way to die in the midst of so much death. In the years since, it has become a model for a new kind of palliative medicine, one that stresses individual dignity and choices about the end of life. Its approaches remind me of Atul Gawande's 2014 lecture about end-of-life care a lecture that can reduce me to tears even today, and which profoundly influenced the way I think about my own death, when it comes. Miller's work fits in perfectly with the parts of San Francisco I fell in love with from the first: its heaving diversity, its experimental vigor, its tolerance. The Bay Area's convergence of technology and this ethic is the part of tech that excites me today (even as it is increasingly endangered by a finance/surveillance-centered technology industry). Reading the stories of how Miller and Zen Hospice are changing lives reminded me that, even in Trump's America, there are people who believe in kindness and solidarity as our first duty to one another, and of that duty as the purpose of our civilization. The Guest House is a calm, unpretentious space: a large Victorian home with six beds in five bedrooms, vaulted ceilings, slightly shabby furniture and warm, Oriental rugs. There is a large wooden Buddha in the dining room. The kitchen is light-filled and bursting with flowers. There's always a pot of tea and often freshly baked cookies. And while Zen Hospice has a rotating, 24-hour nursing staff, the tiny nursing station is literally tucked into a kind of cabinet in the hall upstairs; the house, in other words, feels very much like a house, not a hospital. You don't have to spend much time there to realize that the most crucial, and distinctive, piece of the operation is its staff of volunteers. Freed of most medical duties by the nursing staff, the volunteers act almost as existential nurses. They sit with residents and chat, offering their full attention, unencumbered by the turmoil a family member might feel. The volunteers are ordinary people: retired Macy's executives, social workers, bakers, underemployed millennials or kibitzing empty-nesters. Many are practicing Buddhists. Many are not. (Miller isn't.) But Buddhism informs their training. There's an emphasis on accepting suffering, on not getting tripped up by one's own discomfort around it. "You train people not to run away from hard things, not to run away from the suffering of others," Miller explained. This liberates residents to feel whatever they're going to feel in their final days, even to fall apart. At first, many volunteers experience a confused apprehension. They arrive expecting nonstop, penetrating metaphysical conversations with wise elderly people and instead just wind up plying them for recipes or knitting advice or watching "Wheel of Fortune" with them or restocking latex gloves for the Guest House nurses. But one especially well-liked volunteer, Josh Kornbluth, told me that, after a year working at the Guest House, he understood that the value of Zen Hospice is actually "in the quotidian the holding of someone's hand, bringing them food that's been beautifully arranged on the plate, all the small ways of showing respect to that person as a living person and not as 'predeceased.' Those are actually deep things. And I say that as the least Zen person!" In fact, Kornbluth was raised by Jewish Communists in New York City, and once, after a woman died at the Guest House and no more-senior volunteer was on hand to take charge, I watched him adrenalized, uneasy, perspiring fumble around on his iPhone for something to say over the body before they wheeled it away, then mangle the pronunciation of Thich Nhat Hanh. Zen Hospice One Man's Quest to Change the Way We Die [Jon Mooallem/New York Times] (Photo: David Butow/Zen Hospice) Former Kerela Chief Minister Oommen Chandy on Wednesday asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to explain the role of British company De Le Rue, which had been earlier blacklisted, in printing currency in India. Chandy, in a letter to Modi, cited a media report saying that three companies, including De La Rue, had been shortlisted for printing plastic notes, and requested the ministry concerned "publish the list of companies that are shortlisted/qualified for printing plastic currency in India". He noted that the British company was denied security clearance in 2011 and the current status has not been explained. He also wrote in his letter that the company was blacklisted during the UPA's tenure as it could not "comply to the specifications of the contract". Addressing reporters here, Chandy said that it was baffling that a webpage that referred the company as "platinum sponsor of the Indo-British Tech Summit" has been removed, after he first raised this issue on December 31. The summit was held last year in Delhi from November 7-9 and Prime Ministers of India and Britain had taken part in it. "The sudden removal of one page from the website of the summit is really mysterious.I have asked in my letter to Modi to let the country know, if this particular British company, which was earlier blacklisted during the UPA government time has been given any job by his government. According to their annual reports, they say they had no operation in India in 2013, 2014 and 2015. But in the 2016 report, they say they have started operations in India," Chandy said. He also noted that Minister for State for Finance, Arjun Ram Meghwal on December 9, 2016, had stated in Parliament that India has taken steps to print plastic currency. --IANS sg/sana/vd (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) China plans to conduct some 30 space launch missions in 2017, a record-breaking number in the country's space history, a media report said. According to the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, Long March-5and Long March-7 rockets will be used to carry out most of the space missions this year, the People's Daily reported on Wednesday. Long March-5 is China's largest carrier rocket. The successful test launch of the vehicle in November in South China's Hainan Province will pave the way for space station construction, analysts said. Wang Yu, general director of the Long March-5 program, said 2017 is a critical year for China's new generation of carrier rockets and the Long March-5 rockets will carry Chang'e-5 probe to the space. The probe will land on the moon, collect samples and return to Earth. On the other hand, Long March-7, the more powerful version of Long March-2, will send China's first cargo spacecraft Tianzhou-1 into the space in the first half of 2017, according to Wang Zhaoyao, director of China Manned Space Engineering Office. Tianzhou-1 is expected to dock with Tiangong-2 space lab and conduct experiments on propellant supplement. China conducted 22 launch missions in 2016 and 19 in 2015. The country successfully tested its Long March-7 rocket in June last year and has gradually shifted to new generation rockets that reduce the use of toxic rocket fuels. Last Month, China released a white paper on space activities, announcing plans to soft land Chang'e-5 on the moon by the end of 2017 and launch its first Mars probe by 2020. --IANS ksk (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.) Ex-President Bill Clinton and his wife, ex-presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, as well as former President George W Bush, will attend the inauguration of as the new US President on January 20. Bill (1993-2001) and Hillary Clinton will be at the ceremony to be held at the Capitol in Washington, despite the knock-down, drag-out electoral campaign that ended with Trump's surprise victory over his Democratic rival on November 8, his advisers told the daily The Hill, EFE news reported. Despite losing the popular vote by some 2.8 million ballots nationwide, Trump got the 270 Electoral College votes needed to win the presidency in a system that gives each state a certain number of votes according to its demographic weight and equivalent to its number of representatives in Congress. Also at the inauguration will be George W Bush (2001-2009) and his wife, former First Lady Laura Bush, though they refused to vote for the billionaire in the elections, the office of the Republican ex-President said in a statement. "They are pleased to be able to witness the peaceful transfer of power a hallmark of American democracy and swearing-in of President Trump and Vice President Pence," the note said. Both George W and Laura Bush left the presidential part of the ballot blank in the last elections, another sign of their rejection of the real estate magnate from the moment Trump was picked as the Republican nominee by his party in last July's primaries. On election day, Trump thought it "sad" that the ex-President left his ballot blank, but predicted it would make no difference to the results. Before the presence of the Clintons and the Bush couple was announced, Democrat Jimmy Carter (1977-1981) was the only former US President to say he would attend Trump's inauguration. Bush's father, former President George H W Bush (1989-1993), 92, will be the only living ex-President who does not attend Trump's swearing-in, Bush's spokesperson revealed last month, giving as the reason his delicate state of health. Outgoing US President Barack Obama is expected to follow tradition and attend the ceremony in the Capitol before handing over the presidency to . The Congress party on Wednesday demanded that the presentation date of the Union Budget should be postponed until after the elections to the assemblies of five states, announced by the Election Commission on Wednesday. Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad wrote to the President and the Election Commission on December 14, requesting that the Union Budget, which was proposed to be presented on February 1, must be postponed till after the assembly elections. "This was the stand of the Congress government in 2012. It comes fundamental to the issue of fascist forces who just do not want to listen to anyone," said Congress spokesperson Ajoy Kumar. "Azad had written to the Election Commission and President. We are clear that the Budget has to be postponed, you can take the vote on account and have the Budget presented after the final election day is over," he added. The Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs on Tuesday recommended starting the budget session of Parliament from January 31. The budget so far has usually been presented on the last date of February each year. "The norm of any parliamentary democracy is if there is election, you take the vote on account and have it after the election results are out. That has been the tradition. You don't argue on it or no debate on it," Kumar added. Shaktisinh Gohil of the Congress said: "PM Modi made announcements three days before the election dates came out. There is something called budgetary secrecy. Issues with financial implications are usually presented by the finance minister." --IANS sid/ahm/vt (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Congress on Wednesday said the rise of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is directly linked to the rise of abuses and hate-mongering in the digital media by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The party also dared the Prime Minister to constitute a special committee under judicial supervision to identify and punish the troll army, involved in suppression of opinion, promoting hate, communal polarisation and scandalous content, and issuing threats. "...creating and propagating fake news and attacking individuals based on their race, gender, religion, region and caste has been the modus operandi of the BJP," said Congress spokesperson Ajoy Kumar. "While the Prime Minister talks about "Beti Bachao" movement, his party members and supporters keep on attacking, trolling and threatening opponents, particularly women online," he added. Kumar said: "It is unprecedented that the Prime Minister of the country follows, meets and actively encourages such trolls." He claimed that a Bengaluru businessman, Rajesh Jain, had set up a campaign centre for Modi, directly under the instruction and supervision of the Prime Minister. It later became famous as 'Nadiad Army' or 'Namo Brigade'. "Jain has since been rewarded by the Prime Minister by appointing him a member of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI). "Later, this expanded to many other cities, with multiple people, with many directly run by the BJP's IT cell, earlier headed by Arvind Gupta and now by Amit Malviya," he alleged. The Congress said it wants to know from Modi as to who are these individuals and organisations whom the Prime Minister hosts, follows, encourages and protects. "Why does Narendra Modi act as the benefactor, protector and nurturer of these hate mongers and misogynists?" --IANS sid/nir/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) Chairperson Swati Maliwal on Wednesday sought action from Delhi Police against Abu Azmi and G. Parameshwara for their alleged sexist remarks after the molestations by a mob on New Year Eve in Bengaluru. Maliwal shot off a letter to Delhi Police Commissioner Alok Verma and urged him to file an FIR against Samajwadi Party MLA from Maharashtra Abu Azmi and Karnataka Home Minister G. Parameshwara under Section 509 of the Indian Penal Code. Speaking to the media, Parameshwara had blamed the influence of western culture for such crimes against women, while Azmi advocated more modest dressing for women. The DCW chief denounced both politicians for their comments on women's sartorial choices. "Parameshwara and Azmi have made extremely misogynistic statements on this incident which has caused national and international outrage," Maliwal wrote in the letter. "Parameshwara, despite being the Home Minister of Karnataka, casually referred to the molestation incidents as ones which happen usually, thereby implying that these are not big incidents," she wrote. Maliwal said: "Azmi crossed all boundaries by saying that women walking alone at night or not covering their bodies fully and ensuring a 'burka' or 'pallu' invite sexual violence." --IANS vn/tsb/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Election Commission on Wednesday said that the defence personnel posted away from their homes can cast their votes through one-way electronic transmission in the upcoming state polls. "We have decided to allow the defence personnel and central para-military forces personnel to cast their votes through one-way electronic transmission system," Chief Election Commissioner told reporters here before announcing the dates of the assembly polls in five states in 2017. Zaidi also said that the EC had first experimented the initiative in Puducherry in August 2016. --IANS aks/in/vm (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The maharaja of erstwhile princely state Dewas -- about 150 km from here -- Vikram Rao Puar was arrested for alleged murder on Wednesday. Vikram, son of former BJP minister Tukoji Rao Puar, had allegedly attacked farmer Pratap Lodhi in Raghogar village, about 40 km from Dewas on March 19, 2015, after an argument over ownership of a piece of land. Lodhi died later due to serious injuries. Besides Vikram Rao Puar, 12 others were accused in the case. While police arrested the others, Vikram evaded arrest and was on the run since then. Talking to IANS, Additional Police Superintendent Rajesh Raghivanshi said that Vikram was arrested from a hospital and brought before Judge Manish Kumar Singh of a First Class Judicial Magistrate Court, who denied bail and ordered Vikram to be sent to jail. --IANS hindi-vgu/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Nasim Zaidi on Wednesday announced a number of new measures for the upcoming assembly elections in five states. Zaidi announced putting up of four posters at each polling station, informing the voters of locations of booths, and other Dos and Don'ts. The posters were a statutory requirement at all polling stations, he said. A voting assistance booth would also be kept at the polling stations. Taking note of complaints received by the Election Commission (EC) in previous elections, the CEC announced that the height of the voting compartment would also be raised to 30 inches this time. This was done to conceal the upper part of the body of the voters, the movement of which might give away the button they were pressing. "This measure is being taken to maintain secrecy," Zaidi said. The five states going to polls this year were Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa, and Manipur. Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa, Punjab and Manipur will be held between February 4 and March 8, Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi announced on Wednesday. The results from all five states will be known on March 11, Zaidi told a press conference here. While polling in Goa and Punjab will take place on February 4, Uttarakhand will vote on February 15 and Manipur in two phases on March 4 and 8. Uttar Pradesh, the country's most populous state, will go to the polls in seven phases: February 11, 15, 19, 23 and 27 and March 4 and 8. This will be the single biggest electoral exercise since the 2014 Lok Sabha polls and will involve a total of 690 constituencies, 403 of them in Uttar Pradesh alone. Goa has 40 seats, Punjab 117, Manipur 60 and Uttarakhand has 70 seats. "We are committed to conduct the elections in a free and fair manner," Zaidi said. The Election Commission would also check the "misuse of black money and liquor". The main players in the five states include the Bharatiya Janata Party, Congress, Aam Aadmi Party, Shiromani Akali Dal, Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party and Manipur People's Party. --IANS vv-bns/mr/sar (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.) Steve Mnuchin, Trump's pick for Secretary of Treasury, has a checkered past (he once foreclosed on a 90 year old customer who was $0.27 short on her mortgage payment) but a leaked memo from the California attorney general's Consumer Law Section reports that Mnuchin's leadership of Onewest Bank involved "widespread misconduct" in foreclosing on Californians, through which the bank was able to fraudulently confiscate their customers' homes. The California foreclosure process basically runs on the honor system, giving banks the power to seize homes without judicial oversight, so "misconduct" in this process allows banks to commit breathtaking, unaccountable acts of fraud that destroy their customers' lives and strip them of their largest asset and their homes literally at the stroke of a pen. The California AG never prosecuted the "misconduct," apparently at the order of then-Attorney General Kamala Harris, who has just won a federal Senate seat, thanks in part to large donations from Mnuchin and other major Onewest shareholders, including George Soros. Onewest stonewalled the investigation into its misconduct, ordering its contractors to refuse to cooperate with subpoenas from the AG's office. OneWest already had a history of using false documents in foreclosures. A July 2009 deposition of Vice President Erica Johnson-Seck revealed that she "robo-signed" 6,000 foreclosure-related papers per week, spending just 30 seconds on each sworn affidavit that attested to the veracity of all relevant information in the case. Johnson-Seck even admitted to not reading the documents before signing them. OneWest entered into a consent order in April 2011 with the now-defunct federal Office of Thrift Supervision over related failures in the foreclosure process. Knowing that OneWest foreclosed on thousands of California homeowners, the Consumer Law Section decided to investigate in 2012. Because of federal pre-emption rules, state prosecutors cannot subpoena national banks for information about their core functions prior to filing a lawsuit. But the California attorney general's office was nevertheless able to review over 204,000 publicly available foreclosure documents filed with county recording offices throughout the state, along with other documents purchased from a website called Foreclosure Radar that tracks foreclosure activity. Working through the county records, the attorneys immediately uncovered a startling finding: 86 OneWest documents changing the designation of third-party trustees (SOTs) bore a date prior to March 19, 2009, the date OneWest opened for business. Some dated back to 2008. "Because it would have been impossible for OneWest to sign the instruments before it became an operational bank," four deputy attorneys general from the Consumer Law Section wrote in the memo, "we deduced that the instruments were backdated." Treasury Nominee Steve Mnuchin's Bank Accused of "Widespread Misconduct" in Leaked Memo [David Dayen/The Intercept] (Image: Sign of the times Foreclosure, respres, CC-BY) El Vendrell (Spain), Jan 4 (IANS/AKI) Police in northeast Spain on Wednesday arrested Italian drugs baron Francesco Castriotta, who had been on the run since 2010 after skipping house arrest. Castriotta, 43, was arrested by regional police in the Catalonian city of El Vendrell in collaboration with Italian police. A Milan court in 2010 sentenced Castriotta to 21 years and 10 days in prison for drugs trafficking. But he went on the lam the same year, soon after he was transferred from jail to house arrest due to priapism caused by his prolonged cocaine use. He is believed to have spent time in South America during his years at large. --IANS/AKI vd (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Aiming to give a technological edge to the small and medium businesses (SMB) in India, Google CEO Sundar Pichai on Wednesday announced two initiatives. "Small businesses are the backbone of India's economy. Internet is for everyone," Pichai said while addressing the media here. He said Google, along with Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci), have developed a training programme called 'Digital Unlocked'. The programme would be certified by the Indian School of Business, Hyderabad. It would offer online and mobile courses to SMBs across the country. "We plan to impart 5,000 training workshops in 40 cities in three years," Pichai added. The global search giant also started another initiative 'My Business Website'. Its a free tool, which would help make a website in 10 minutes. "Any small business can sign up. It will first start in India (later this year), and then will be launched in other countries," Pichai said. Only six per cent of small businesses in India has website. --IANS ag/in (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) As avian or bird flu reared its head in Gujarat after a decade, the state government sounded an alert and declared a 10-km radius around a poultry facility in Hathijan in Ahmedabad district a 'regulated zone' and culled over 1,500 birds till Wednesday afternoon. The government also placed restrictions on movement of poultry, eggs, bird droppings, farm machinery and any other equipment in the said area. The action comes a week ahead of the high-profile global investment summit 'Vibrant Gujarat' to be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on January 10. "The birds are being culled according to the World Health Organisation norms and guidelines issued by the Centre," Animal Husbandry Minister Babubhai Bokhiria said. Ahmedabad District Collector Avantika Singh said 12 rapid response teams deployed at Hathijan had begun to sanitise the area. "So far, no case of H1N1 has been recorded. We will ensure that there is no impact on Vibrant (Gujarat summit)," she said. Earlier, samples of seven dead birds and three blood serums of live birds from a non-government organisation Asha Foundation's Hathijan facility tested positive. "We had received 80 guinea fowls and 40 turkeys rescued from the Crawford Market of Mumbai. Last week, seven of the turkeys died and we informed the Animal Husbandry Department, which sent the samples to National Institute of High Security Animal Disease (NIHSAD) in Bhopal," NGO founder Harmesh Bhatt said. Humans directly handling birds affected by the virus are at high risk of contracting the fatal virus. "Symptoms in the beginning are cough, cold or headache, if immunity level is high. However, if immunity level is low, it could lead to severe chest infection too," Dr Bipin Patel of the Medicine Department at the Civil Hospital in Ahmedabad said. The state government has also put all beat guards in several bird sanctuaries across the state on high alert. Gujarat has five major bird sanctuaries at Nal Sarovar (Ahmedabad-Surendranagar), Thol (Mehsana), Khadija (Jamnagar), Porbandar and Kutch. During winters, these bird sanctuaries attract a lot of tourists. The government has instructed the Civil Hospital in Ahmedabad to be prepared in case any human contracts the virus. "According to government instructions, we have set up a separate isolation ward with 20 beds and equipped it with latest equipment. The personnel required to manage the ward too have been provided with special suits," Ahmedabad Civil Hospital Medical Superintendent Dr M.M. Prabhakar said. --IANS desai/tsb/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Haryana has issued a warning to its schools and their teachers where students did not do well in recently conducted tests to evaluate the minimum learning level of students. Additional Chief Secretary of School P.K. Das said on Wednesday that 200 schools were monitored in December 2016, and direct interactions were held with around 25,000 students. "The schools which have failed to achieve the normative level of performance have been warned and would be monitored again after three months," Das said. A meeting of staff and members of management committees of schools was also held to enhance the role of monitoring officers, he added. Das said that the Haryana Department has decided to conduct monitoring of about 250 schools in the state every fortnight to assess and enhance the minimum learning level of its students. The Additional Chief Secretary said that on the basis of the monitoring, it could be said that the situation in terms of minimum learning level in the state was not disappointing. He also said: "The mindset that students of government schools do not know anything is wrong." In terms of district-wise overall performance, Mahendragarh, Gurugram and Rewari were found among the top three, whereas Panchkula, Mewat and Palwal came in the bottom three, Das said. Das said the teaching staff was also assessed based on the teaching tasks of each teacher, learning level of student, and learning level according to subjects being taught and class of the student. --IANS js/in/vm (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Delhi High Court on Wednesday posted for February 1 a plea by airline operators against the government's move to impose a new levy per flight operation to fund a connectivity scheme. A division bench of Chief Justice G. Rohini and Justice Sangita Dhingra Sehgal listed for hearing on February 1 after counsel for petitioner, the Federation of Indian Airlines (FIA) said that the matter should be heard as authorities have started demanding money from the airlines. Under its regional connectivity scheme (RCS), christened as UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik), the government has decided to impose a levy of about Rs 7,500 per flight for travel up to a distance of 1,000 km. Similarly, the levy per flight journey between 1,000 km and 1,500 km would be Rs 8,000 and for distances above 1,500 km the cess will be Rs 8,500. The objective of RCS is to enhance air passenger traffic in the country by stimulating demand on regional routes. The Ministry of Civil Aviation and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) in an affidavit, had said that the scheme was in the long-term interest of the air transport sector and to further widen the penetration of air services in the country. The FIA, which represents scheduled carriers like Indigo, GoAir, Spicejet and Jet Airways, said the scheme allows it to pass on the levy to the passengers. "But we cannot pass it on to the passengers, as it is not a fee for which the carriers are rendering any service to the flyers," a FIA member said. The petition sought quashing of the October 21 notification inserting the rule for imposing the levy and also the November 9 order announcing the rates of levy and the categories of the scheduled flights on which it would be imposed. The levy would put a huge financial burden on airlines, said the plea. --IANS gt/vd (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Himachal Pradesh cabinet on Wednesday stamped a deal to acquire British-era Bantony Estate, a grand private castle decaying for many years here, for Rs 27.84 crore and convert it into a museum, an official said. The decision to acquire the castle, which was once the summer palace of the erstwhile Maharaja of Sirmaur, was taken by the government on July 5, 2013. The cabinet, presided over by Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, accepted the recommendation of a negotiation committee and approved the payment of Rs 27.84 crore to the owners, a government official, who was privy to the deal, told IANS. The castle near Scandal Point on Shimla's famous Ridge would be refurbished and a museum would be set up there. In addition to this, a recreational park with a restaurant would also be developed in the area, an official statement quoting the Chief Minister said. He said it would be a great attraction for both the tourists and the locals. Earlier, Bantony Estate was purchased by a London-based Indian businessman in 2011 to give way to an ultra-luxurious spa. The Bharatiya Janata Party then ruled the state. The Congress, now the ruling party in the state, had alleged that top political functionaries in the government were involved in illegal transactions in connection with this property. Like many buildings in Shimla, Bantony's architectural style is somewhat eclectic -- part mock-Tudor, part chalet and crowned with sloping roofs with mini-towers. The architect is said to be T.E.G. Cooper. Before its construction in 1880, the place had a rickety cottage belonging to Captain A. Gordon and housing some army officers. Since 1957, the building, now in an advanced state of decay, had been the headquarters of the state police. It was formally vacated this year after a court case. The exotic cast-iron railing with coat-of-arms of Sirmaur state at every span of six feet - mostly vandalised - and the original gate outside the building, which were cast in the Nahan Foundry, were erected in 1902-03. According to the municipal corporation of Shimla, due to inadequate repairs, lack of financial resources of the owners and limited understanding of heritage preservation, the building is in a dilapidated state. The "Queen of Hills", Simla, as the town was then called, was the summer capital of the British colonial rulers. More than 60 years after the British left, this town still attracts their descendants who are eager to explore their roots. --IANS vg/ahm/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Indian Coast Guard Director General Rajendra Singh met his Sri Lankan counterpart Rear Admiral Samantha Wimalathunga here on Wednesday and discussed more maritime cooperation, especially in the context of fishermen from both countries. A three-member delegation led by Wimalathunga is on a three day visit to India for a high-level meeting with the Indian Coast Guard. It aims at furthering cooperation between the two countries on maritime issues of mutual concern and formulate a cooperative approach, an official statement said. "Of late, the Sri Lankan Coast Guard has been proactive in meeting the challenges in the new global safety and security regime in this region. The recent visit is significant in providing continued impetus to the existing ties between the two organisations," the statement said. The focus of the meeting was on further strengthening operational interaction for search and rescue, preservation and protection of marine environment and revalidating operational and communication procedures between the two Coast Guard. The Sri Lanka delegation also called on Defence Secretary G. Mohan Kumar and deliberated on issues of common maritime interest. It was mutually agreed to strengthen cooperation on evolving collaborative approach, in addressing a spectrum of maritime issues concerning safety and security and further streamlining the procedure for release/repatriation of fishermen, the statement added. --IANS ao/tsb/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Indonesia has suspended all forms of military cooperation with Australia due to the disrespect shown to its Pancasila national credo, an official said on Wednesday. Indonesia made the decision in mid-December 2016, Xinhua news agency quoted military spokesman Major General Wurjanto as saying. "We temporarily terminate all forms of cooperation with Australian military due to technical matters," he said. The disrespect shown toward Pancasila during a joint exercise between Indonesian special unit force (Kopassus) and Australia's Special Air Service in Western Perth "is one of the main causes of the termination", the general said. --IANS py/vm (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Manipur Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh and 49 Congress legislators will on Wednesday meet party President Sonia Gandhi over the economic blockade in the state and poll preparations. According to party sources, Singh will meet Gandhi at her residence here. "Manipur Chief Minister will meet the Congress President over the ongoing tensions in the state following the economic blockade and also for poll preparations," a source told IANS. The Election Commission of India on Wednesday said five states, including Manipur, will go to polls to elect their new assemblies between February 4 and March 8. Manipur will vote in two phases -- March 4 and 8. Earlier in the day, Congress leader from Kerala Ramesh Chennithala met the Chief Minister at Manipur Bhawan here and expressed solidarity with the state government over the ongoing tensions. Ibobi Singh and the Congress legislators arrived here on Tuesday evening to meet President Pranab Mukherjee over ethnic tensions in the state. --IANS rup/py/vt (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) NASA said on Wednesday it plans to launch in 2020 a $188 million mission that will allow astronomers to explore, for the first time, the hidden details of some of the most extreme and exotic astronomical objects, such as stellar and supermassive black holes, neutron stars and pulsars. Objects such as black holes can heat surrounding gases to more than a million degrees. The high-energy X-ray radiation from this gas can be polarised - vibrating in a particular direction. The Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) mission will fly three space telescopes with cameras capable of measuring the polarisation of these cosmic X-rays, allowing scientists to answer fundamental questions about these turbulent and extreme environments where gravitational, electric and magnetic fields are at their limits, the US space agency said. "We cannot directly image what's going on near objects like black holes and neutron stars, but studying the polarisation of X-rays emitted from their surrounding environments reveals the physics of these enigmatic objects," said Paul Hertz from the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "IXPE will open a new window on the universe for astronomers to peer through. Today, we can only guess what we will find," Hertz noted. NASA's Astrophysics Explorers Program requested proposals for new missions in September 2014. Fourteen proposals were submitted, and three mission concepts were selected for additional review by a panel of agency and external scientists. NASA determined the IXPE proposal provided the best science potential and most feasible development plan. Ball Aerospace in Broomfield, Colorado, will provide the spacecraft and mission integration. The Italian Space Agency will contribute the polarisation sensitive X-ray detectors, which were developed in Italy, NASA said. --IANS gb/vm (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Historical novelist Debra Daley posts a master guide to the intoxicants of 18th century England, which ranged from modern favorites (laughing gas, cannabis) to historic classics (laudanum) to ratafia, "a sweet liqueur flavoured with peach or cherry kernels," which contained cyanogenic glycosides that broke down into fatal, insanity-causing hydrogen cyanide. The 18th century like the centuries before and after were filled with people who were, frankly, high as fuck. But the 18th century marked a turning point in getting-high-ology, because of the opening of global trade routes, mass colonization, and the nascent industrial revolution, which brought more drugs, more cheaply, to England. The summer of 1799 saw a new fixation in British society the inhalation of laughing gas. Nitrous oxide had been discovered by chemist Joseph Priestley in 1772 after introducing iron filings to nitric acid the resulting gas gave Priestley a painless and giddy feeling and was synthesised later that year by his pupil Humphry Davy. Davy was delighted by the euphoric effects of the gas, which he had tested on himself at the Pneumatic Institution in Bristol. It induced an elated state which motivated Davy to set about supervising the construction of a machine that could reliably produce large quantities of the gas with a property that he described as 'the thrilling'. Davy soon issued invitations to people in his circle to sample the wondrous gas and experienced 'the thrilling' for themselves. They met at an upstairs drawing room at the Pneumatic Institution in a series of gatherings over the summer. The guests inhaled nitrous oxide from portable bags made of oiled green silk and happily stumbled about in wild merriment, before drifting into a dreamy sedated state. News of the nitrous oxide capers travelled and came to be repeated at 'laughing parties' held all over the country. Davy held nitrous sessions with poets Coleridge and Southey, the potter Josiah Wedgwood and the thesaurist Peter Roget. People could not get enough of a gas that allowed "uneasiness [to be]", as Davy put it, "for a few minutes swallowed up in pleasure." He proposed in 1799 that nitrous oxide might be used in surgical operations to deaden pain; but his suggestion went unheeded for another forty-five years. It's a theme that recurs with any account of the history of mind-altering substances: that they can do medical good is overshadowed by their good-time nature. A guard was killed and 158 inmates escaped when gunmen attacked a prison facility in southern Philippines on Wednesday morning, authorities said. Jail Officer Peter Bongat said the gunmen attacked the prison in North Cotabato province around 4.00 a.m. (local time), Xinhua news agency reported. He said the facility houses 1,511 inmates, including some "high profile" prisoners, belonging to the rebel group Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters operating in Mindanao. Another man was also injured in the pre-dawn attack. The Philippines, which is predominantly Catholic, has been battling separatists in the south for decades. Groups like the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and Abu Sayyaf have conducted terror attacks as well as kidnapping tourists for ransom. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack. A witness said the attackers, clad in black suit and armed with firearms, stormed the jail apparently to free some inmates serving sentences for murder and illegal drugs. Bongat said a manhunt was underway to recapture the escaped prisoners. In August last year, three inmates facing charges of illegal possession of explosives and drugs also escaped from the same jail. --IANS py/ (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Opposition parties in Telangana on Wednesday continued their protest in state assembly even after the Speaker adjourned the House till Thursday. Protesting denial of opportunity to seek clarifications after Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao's reply to the debate on fee reimbursement issue, members of main opposition Congress, the Telugu Desam Party and the Communist Party of India-Marxist remained in the House. The opposition legislators said they would not leave till the government releases arrears of fee reimbursement. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) criticized the abrupt adjournment and termed the Chief Minister's reply as unsatisfactory, while the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), an ally of ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), too found fault with the manner in which the proceedings were conducted. It demanded the government to immediately release the arrears. Speaker Madhusudhana Chary adjourned the House for the day after the Chief Minister replied to the debate, assuring the assembly that fee reimbursement scheme will continue. He said the government remained committed to welfare of students belonging to weaker sections of the society. Rao asked opposition parties not to create apprehensions among students and their parents. He said there were loopholes in implementation of the scheme since its launch during the Congress rule, and when the TRS came to power, these stood at Rs.1,880 crore. He claimed that during Congress rule, funds were never released on time. He said the state required Rs 2,000 to Rs 2,500 crore every year for the scheme. During the current year, Rs 1,487 crore were allocated for the scheme. The Chief Minister said vigilance department was conducting a probe into irregularities in the scheme. He made it clear that the government will not spare bogus educational institutions and others indulging in irregularities. --IANS ms/vd (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Actress Pamela Anderson has penned a letter to US President Barack Obama, urging him to consider "pardoning" Julian Assange after his website WikiLeaks leaked hacked Democratic emails in the run up to the US Presidential election last year. The 49-year-old penned a letter to the politician, who will step down as the American leader later this week, pleading him to stop the investigation into the hacking scandal that revealed Russia had allegedly tampered with the results of the election by tapping into email accounts and sharing them with the website, reports femalefirst.co.uk. The actress posted the letter on her website. "I must request with urgency, humility, and as a lover of all beings - as I advocate for many important issues around the world - I see human rights are being violated in demeaning political ways that are not helpful to anyone... I'm asking you to remember the beginning of your political career," she posted. "When you had a dream, an idea, a cause worth the fight. When you had obstacles and fairness was not always in your favor. I request that you consider Pardoning Julian Assange in your last days in office. It would be a bold and exciting move for the time we live in -- the information age generation. Please stop the grand jury investigation, and the bullying that is turning the world off America. "We must stop making Julian (or Russia) the scapegoat - children are smarter than this, and it is very divisive and tearing generations apart. It simply must end - and is doable by the stroke of your pen," she added. The former "Baywatch" actress went on to state that she accepts if President Obama made the decision to call off the investigation, it would cause uproar but thinks it's vital for the world going forward. "I understand Julian has been painted a bad guy - but he is not. He is a genius worth protection. the contents of the what he has published through Wikileaks are pure and uncensored. They are just the truth - the distraction tactics are see through - it creates mistrust... Julian and Wikileaks are essential - especially in this political climate. We need truth tellers more than ever," Anderson posted, femalefirst.co.uk reported. Obama called for an investigation into the hacking scandal after it was claimed the leak benefited US President-elect Donald Trump, by making his competitor Hilary Clinton and her aides look back in the emails that were shared and later published on WikiLeaks. Anderson has been a close friend of Assange for some time now and regularly visits him with homemade vegan snacks when she's in London. --IANS ks/rb/vm (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) aircraft hit an Air France plane while taxiing at Toronto Pearson International Airport, the media reported. The PIA flight from Toronto to Lahore was suspended on Tuesday evening after the plane clipped the wing of the Air France plane which was parked at Terminal 3, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) reported. No one was injured and the damage to the plane was minor, said the report. Confirming the incident, PIA spokesperson Danyal Gilani said the matter is under investigation, reported Pakistan's News International daily on Wednesday. There's some damage to the equipment which may need replacement, he added. "Apparently it was due to some error during marshalling by the ground personnel," he said. A night stop was declared at Toronto and flight passengers were provided hotel accommodation. All steps were being taken for making the aircraft serviceable as soon as possible, he said. --IANS soni/vt (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Bharip Bahujan Mahasang will hold protests against the ill-effects of demonetisation in front of police stations, mostly in Maharashtra, from Thursday, said party President Prakash Ambedkar. Addressing the media here, Ambedkar, a grandson of Dr B.R. Ambedkar, said the objective of the agitations was to ensure that poor labour class get enough opportunities to earn their daily bread and butter, which have been blocked after the demonetisation of high-denomination currency notes in November 8 last year. "After demonetisation, labourers, poor people have lost their jobs. They do not have enough money to eat. So we want the government to give them 'roti' or note. "In order to pursue our demand, we have asked our party workers, people to hold dharnas (sitting protests) in premise of police stations," Ambedkar said, adding he had no plans to hold any mega rally to press for his demands. Ambedkar's party only has influence in Akola and Washim districts in Maharashtra. --IANS spk/sm/vd (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Punjab Governor and Union Territory of Chandigarh Administrator V.P. Singh Badnore greeted people on Wednesday on the occasion of the 350th birth anniversary of the 10th Sikh master, Guru Gobind Singh. In a message, Badnore called upon people to rededicate themselves to the ideals and goals set out by the great Guru and work for creating a harmonious society, based on values of humanism and secularism. He said that Guru Gobind Singh, a saint-soldier, symbolised the virtues of truth, righteousness and universal brotherhood. "He was a great warrior and launched a crusade against social injustice and tyranny of the rulers of those times. Guru Gobind Singh, who sacrificed his four sons, father and mother, for preserving human and secular value are rare in the annals of mankind," the governor said. Badnor said that the guru's teachings and philosophy is particularly relevant in the present complex and materialistic world. The main celebrations of the 350th birth anniversary of the guru are being held at his birthplace Patna, the capital city of Bihar. Thousands of Sikhs and others, including political leaders, have flocked to Patna to mark the occasion. --IANS js/sm/vm (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Sri Lanka's cabinet on Wednesday approved to launch a national programme to protect children from various threats, Cabinet spokesperson Rajitha Senaratne said. Senaratne said it had been decided to implement the "Let's Protect Children" programme from 2017 to 2019, reported Xinhua news agency. The programme will cover crime, health, nutrition and welfare, personality development, education and life skills. --IANS soni/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Trinamool Congress activists on Wednesday protested in front of the CBI office here to denounce the arrest of two of its MPs in connection with the Rose Valley group chit fund scam. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has brought two MPs -- Tapas Pal and Sudip Bandyopadhya -- to Bhubaneswar after arresting them in Kolkata. Party workers led by TMC MLA Akhil Giri staged a demonstration in front of the CBI office here. They also announced a mega rally on January 10 in Bhubaneswar. They alleged that the arrests were politically motivated and was a conspiracy of the central government. "The BJP has hatched a vain plan to eliminate our party after Mamata Banerjee took out a nationwide movement against demonetisation. The allegations against our MPs are completely baseless", Giri said. --IANS cd/vgu/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The opposition Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Wednesday reiterated its demand for a probe by the CBI and ED into the activities of all illegal NBFCs and chit fund organisations in Tripura and warned of a stir on the issue. The state TMC announced an agitation from January 19 to force the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED) to probe the illegal activities of Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) and chit fund organisations. The party claims that Chief Minister Manik Sarkar as well as ministers and leaders of the ruling Left Front in Tripura are involved in the activities of these organisations. "Sarkar promoted the business of Rose Valley; his party colleagues, including two ministers, are either involved or promoted the business of NBFCs and chit fund organisations," TMC leader Sudip Roy Barman told reporters here. He said: "The CBI and the ED are taking action against TMC parliamentarians and leaders in West Bengal but both the agencies are not acting in Tripura." Alleging a tacit understanding between the CPI-M and the Bharatiya Janata Party-led central government, Barman said they will soon meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi to ask for CBI and ED probes into NBFCs and chit fund bodies' activities. Denying the TMC charges, CPI-M state Secretary Bijan Dhar said Tripura's Left Front government was the first in India to enact laws to curb unlawful activities of chit fund companies and NBFCs and repeatedly asked the CBI to investigate their activities. "The TMC leaders have no issue and they are playing an old record just to misguide the people," Dhar told reporters. The Communist Party of India-Marxist is a dominant partner in the Left Front that comprises four Left parties. The Tripura High Court last year asked the state government to set up a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe illegal NBFCs and chit fund organisations. Meanwhile, SIT head and Tripura's Inspector General of Police (Law and Order) K.V. Sreejesh told the media on Wednesday that the SIT is now probing 78 cases involving 48 NBFCs and chit fund organisations and had arrested 112 persons. "We have seized bank accounts and attached properties of most of these organisations. We will soon complete our probe," the IPS officer added. In 2013, the Tripura government referred 37 cases relating to chit fund companies and NBFCs to the CBI. The central probe agency, however, took up only five cases. --IANS sc/tsb/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Trinamool Congress ministers and senior leaders on Wednesday joined in protest rallies organised by the state's ruling party across districts against the arrest of the party's Lok Sabha leader Sudip Bandyopadhyay. Bandyopadhyay was arrested on Tuesday by the Central Bureau of Investigation after hours of grilling over the Rose Valley chit fund scam. Another Trinamool MP, Tapas Paul, is already under the CBI arrest in connection with the scam. A day after Bandyopadhyay's arrest, sporadic incidents of angry demonstrations were reported from all parts of Bengal as the Trinamool Congress activists blocked several roads and railway lines, and agitated at various blocks of districts. A group of Trinamool supporters blocked the gate of the CBI's regional office at the Central Government Organisations (CGO) complex in Salt Lake where Bandyopadhyay was interrogated and later arrested on Tuesday. The agitators with banners and placards in hand shouted anti-Modi slogans like "Narendra Modi dur hato" (Narendra Modi go away) and hailed Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for her fight against the Centre. More than a hundred activists of Trinamool Congress's youth and student wings gathered in front of Union Minister Babul Supriyo's house here and shouted slogans, demanding the BJP leader's arrest for his alleged involvement in the ponzi scam. The police personnel deployed at the spot had a tough time controlling the mob. The agitators blocked National Highway 34 at Nadia district's Chakdaha and burnt the effigy of Narenda Modi. National Highway 2 was also lumped for more than an hour at Burdwan district's Asansol. Meanwhile, a group of Trinamool supporters led by party leader Paresh Pal rallied in north Kolkata's Kankurgachi. Another rally led by Trinamool leader Sovandeb Chatterjee walked from Wellington Square to S.N. Banerjee Road in Kolkata. "This protest rally is a spontaneous display of people's outrage. Two of our MPs are victimised and arrested as our leader Mamata Banerjee is protesting against Centre's atrocities and common man's suffering due to the note ban," state Power Minister Sovandeb Chatterjee said. The train services of Eastern Railway were disrupted in Sealdah Main and South sections by temporary blockades raised by demonstrators at several railway stations, including Garia, Bagbazar and Kakurgachi, between 9 a.m to 11.30 a.m. The district administration of Trinamool Congress also observed protest demonstrations at Canning in South 24-Parganas and Bali in Hooghly district and staged sit-ins in Datan and Nayagram regions in West Midnapore district. --IANS mgr/dm/sm/vt (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.) In this video a former sex worker describes what happened when an undercover officer had sex with her in an attempt to arrest her for prostitution. Shockingly, it's "not uncommon for police to have sexual contact with sex workers before arresting them for prostitution," says Tara Burns, who has started a petition to end this barbaric practice. "This is actually state-sponsored rape, and it's perfectly legal in Alaska." Over 2,000 people have signed it so far. After scathing criticism of the UN, US President-elect Donald Trump spoke Wednesday with Antonio Guterres, its new Secretary-General. The Secretary-General's deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq told reporters that Guterres called Trump and described it as an "introductory calla that "went quite well." Trump spokesperson Sean Spicer in answer to a question at his briefing about the criticism of the UN and moves in Congress to cut US contributions to it, said that as the biggest contributor to the UN budget, Washington can demand some "reforms and changes" to make it more efficient. The US contributes about 22 percent of the UN's budget and about 25 percent of its peacekeeping expenses. Spicer did not give any specifics about their meeting and said that Trump will work with his UN Ambassador-designate Nikki Haley on the US agenda at the world body. They discussed a number of issues and how the UN and the US can work together, Haq said. They will get into the specifics when they meet, he added. He said that he did not think that the Paris agreement on climate change came up in their conversation. Trump has been sceptical about the Paris pact as well as about the UN version of climate change dangers. Last month the Security Council passed a resolution critical of Israel and condemning the construction of settlements in occupied territories with the US refusing to veto it as it has in the past with resolutions criticising the strong ally of the US. Trump attacked President Barack Obama for allowing the resolution to pass and said in a tweet, "As to the UN, things will be different after Jan. 20th," the day he takes over as President. Efforts have also started in the US Congress to cut funding to the UN as a fallout of the resolution. In another tweet, Trump mocked the UN as a "just a club for people to get together, talk and have a good time." But he also added, "The United Nations has such great potential." Last month Guterres told the Portuguese television channel SIC last month that he hoped to have an excellent working meeting with Trump and it was in his interest to meet him. He also acknowledged that Washington was a major contributor to the UN and has a fundamental role in its activities. (Arul Louis can be reached at arul.l@ians.in) --IANS al/vd (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A mechanical engineer and his accomplice were arrested on the charge of cheating various persons to the tune of Rs 50 lakhs by masquerading as Reserve Bank of India (RBI) officials, police said on Wednesday. Accused Vikas Jha, 25, of Delhi and Ashutosh, 23, of Bihar were apprehended on December 31 near the Hyatt Hotel here on a tip-off. On December 17, 2016, S.K. Nair of R.K Puram's Sector 6 said he had lodged an online complaint regarding non-issuance of a cheque book by his bank, a senior police officer said. "A day after, Nair received a call from a person who identified himself as an RBI official and asked for his bank account number and details of his debit card. Afterwards, Nair received an SMS regarding debit of Rs 1,57,000 from his account," Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Ishwar Singh said. During investigation, the amount was found to be transferred to various e-wallet channels like Paytm and Free Charge. "This led to the arrest of the accused," the DCP said. Jha and Ashutosh told police they used to get details on their potential victims from online portals. Posing as RBI officials, they called the victims and got their bank account details to fraudulently transfer money through their e-wallets, he added. "They said they spend the conned money on shopping on online portals and further sell these articles again through online portals," Singh said. --IANS sp/tsb/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Democratic leader in the Senate Chuck Schumer has slammed President-elect Donald Trump for his twitter habit, claiming the US cannot afford "Twitter presidency" on the first day of the 115th session of the Congress. "'Making America Great Again' requires more than 140 characters per issue," Xinhua news agency quoted Schumer as saying in his first speech on Tuesday as the Senate minority leader. "With all due respect, America cannot afford a Twitter presidency. We have real challenges and we need to get real things done." Schumer warned the incoming President will fail if he sticks with a "Twitter presidency". "Many Americans are afraid, Mr. President-elect, that instead of rolling up your sleeves and forging serious policies... for you, Twitter suffices," he told the Senate chamber. "There's nothing wrong with using Twitter to speak to the American people," Schumer said. "It's a good use of modern media. But these issues are complex and demand both careful consideration and action. We cannot tweet them away." "If Trump lets the hard-right members of the Congress and his cabinet run the show, if he attempts to adopt their time-worn policies which benefit the elites, the special interests, corporate America -- not the working man and woman -- his presidency will not succeed," Schumer said. "Maybe not in the first 90 days, but certainly not in the first two years." The Democrat said Trump's tweet "bragging" about the 800 jobs he saved at the Carrier plant in Indiana "doesn't solve the underlying problem". "While it's good the 800 jobs were saved... even at Carrier, 1,300 jobs are still leaving, hundreds more at the nearby Rexnord plant that are going overseas, and most importantly, thousands more each month leave our shores from every part of America," Schumer said. Democrats are "going to hold the President-elect accountable for a real policy to stop jobs from leaving the country", Schumer said, adding that his party will work with Trump and Republicans to create more jobs and improve the country's transportation systems. --IANS py/ (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Actor Woody Harrelson is reportedly in talks to essay "Star Wars" character Han Solo's mentor in the upcoming "Star Wars" spin-off, starring Alden Ehrenreich. The ensemble has already begun filling with rising stars, but executive producers wanted this role to go to an actor with considerable clout, and started meeting with actors over the past several weeks, reports variety.com. Kathleen Kennedy and Allison Shearmur are producing the film, which is expected to begin production in January. The movie is slated to hit theaters on May 25, 2018. Other confirmed cast members include Donald Glover, who will play a young Lando Calrissian, and Emilia Clarke as Han Solo's love interest. The plot will focus on the early years of the notorious space smugglers. Harrelson and Shearmur have worked together in "The Hunger Games". The film is being directed by Phil Lord and Chris Miller. The movie will be set prior to "Star Wars: A New Hope," like the other "Star Wars" standalone project "Rogue One". --IANS ks/nn/vm (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Actor Woody Harrelson is reportedly in talks to essay "Star Wars" character Han Solo's mentor in the upcoming "Star Wars" spin-off. The film stars Alden Ehrenreich. The ensemble has already begun filling with rising stars, but executive producers wanted Han Solo's role to go to an actor with considerable clout, and started meeting with actors over the past several weeks, reports variety.com. Kathleen Kennedy and Allison Shearmur are producing the film, which is expected to begin production in January. The movie is slated to hit theaters on May 25, 2018. Other confirmed cast members include Donald Glover, who will play a young Lando Calrissian, and Emilia Clarke as Han Solo's love interest. The plot will focus on the early years of the notorious space smugglers. Harrelson and Shearmur have worked together in "The Hunger Games". The film is being directed by Phil Lord and Chris Miller. The movie will be set prior to "Star Wars: A New Hope," like the other "Star Wars" standalone project "Rogue One". --IANS rb/vm (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Apple Inc wants tax relief from the Indian government for its proposed manufacturing facilities in the country. India is important for Apple because the country is the worlds fastest growing market for mobile phones even as growth has slowed in markets such as China. Apple is a small player in India right now, with a market share of around two per cent but, with rising disposable incomes in the economy, it sees a big market for its products in the near future. During his last visit to India, Tim Cook, Apples chief executive officer, had said that India would be the next big market for the company. And towards that end, Apple wants one of its vendors to put up a production unit, possibly near Bengaluru. There are reports of a possible second plant in Gurugram later. But in lieu of setting up a plant in India, Apple has sought several concessions from the government, such as relaxation in labelling rules (so that it does not have to print product information on its devices), and lower import and manufacturing duties. It also wants a commitment that these concessions will continue even after the goods and services tax regime, which will subsume all indirect taxes, is rolled out later in the year. With External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj still recuperating, her two junior ministers addressed the mid-term press conference on Wednesday. But two ministers jointly holding a press conference has its pitfalls. Ministers of State V K Singh and M J Akbar cooperated for a large part of the media interaction that lasted over an hour, steering clear of answering questions belonging to the others jurisdiction. At one point, Akbar was about to wade into a question on China, when he stopped short, sensing Singhs discomfort. There was also some humour when Singh pointed out that India-Nepal bilateral relations were so warm that he, as a former chief of the Indian Army, was also the honorary general of the Nepalese Army. For good measure, he said that in Nepali and asked the gathering if they understood. Only one hand went up. When asked about India-Bangladesh ties, Akbar said he was hugely tempted to follow his colleagues example and speak in Bangla, but decided against it as several journalists were familiar with the language. Akbar, who grew up in West Bengal and studied and worked in Kolkata, speaks fluent Bangla. Electorally, 2017 is billed as the year of the Uttar Pradesh (UP) legislative assembly elections, with commentators arguing that this is a crucial election for Indias ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Indias most populous state. True to its billing, as elections were announced on January 4, 2017, the theatrics continue in the Samajwadi Party (SP), which rules UP, over a father-son duel triggering a vertical split in the party. The overwhelming narrative is that the 2017 UP state elections will be a harbinger for the general elections of 2019. The drama aside, the only result of the 2017 UP elections that should be surprising is a BJP loss. Lets understand why. With moving the Bombay High Court seeking a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) inquiry into the alleged "Rs 25,000 crore sugar cooperative factories scam", the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) on Wednesday dubbed the social activist as an "agent of the RSS". NCP spokesman Nawab Malik alleged that Hazare was playing a role in the "RSS conspiracy" to defame senior NCP leaders like Sharad Pawar. "Why is Hazare not protesting over any issue in the BJP-ruled Maharashtra," Malik asked. Hazare recently moved the Bombay High Court seeking a CBI inquiry into what he termed a "Rs 25,000 crore sugar cooperative factories scam". He filed two civil PILs and a criminal PIL seeking a CBI probe into the issue. The criminal PIL is listed for hearing on January 6 before a bench headed by Justice Abhay Oka. The petitions alleged that fraud had been committed in governance by first burdening sugar cooperative factories with debts and thereafter selling these sick units at a throwaway price, causing loss of Rs 25,000 crore to the government, cooperative sector and members of the public. The petitions also demanded an inquiry by a Special Investigating Team (SIT) into the alleged role of "politicians into the sugar cooperative scam, including NCP president and former Union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar and his nephew and former irrigation minister Ajit Pawar". Opposition parties have demanded that presentation of the General Budget be postponed to after March 11, the date of counting of votes for the five states going to the polls. They have slammed it as a short term political move with an eye on the assembly polls to enable the Narendra Modi government to announce sops before the elections while bypassing the Election Commission's (EC) model code of conduct. With the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) bringing arrested Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay to Bhubaneswar, a group of party activists on Wednesday staged a demonstration outside the agency's state headquarters in Bhubaneswar to protest against the action. The TMC's Parliamentary party leader was arrested by the CBI in Kolkata on Tuesday for his alleged involvement in the Rose Valley Group's ponzi scam and brought to Bhubaneswar late night. Earlier, the CBI had arrested another MP Tapas Pal on the same charge and kept him in remand for three days. A four-time Lok Sabha member and a minister of state in the Manmohan Singh government, Bandyopadhyay was arrested after he allegedly failed to give satisfactory answers to many questions and was found to be uncooperative. Protesting against the arrest of leaders, party supporters led by Ramnagar MLA Akhil Giri staged a demonstration before the CBI office here. Many members of the TMC's Odisha unit and its state president Arya Kumar Gyanendra also joined the demonstration outside the CBI office in Bhubaneswar. "The CBI has arrested Sudip Bandyopadhyay and Tapas Pal on political consideration. We'll certainly oppose the action. The state unit of the is planning a massive protest rally in Bhubaneswar on January 10," Gyanendra said. Some prominent TMC leaders are being invited to the proposed protest rally. A two-member delegation of the TMC also met the senior officials of CBI in Bhubaneswar and lodged a protest against the arrest of Bandyopadhyay and Pal. Sources in CBI in Bhubaneswar said Bandyopadhyay would be first sent to the Capital Hospital for medical examination before being produced in the CBI designated court. The investigating agency would seek remand of Bandyopadhyay as the TMC leader was not allegedly cooperating with the investigation, they said. However, Bandyopadhyay's lawyer Rajiv Majumdar said he would move a bail petition in the court as his client is unwell. "He is ill. We'll move a bail application in the court," Majumdar told reporters outside the CBI office here. He also challenged the CBI to prove Bandyopadhyay's involvement in the scam. Sources also said CBI was planning to interrogate both Bandyopadhyay and Pal together as both have been arrested on the charge of their involvement with the Rs 17000 crore scam. The Rose Valley Group has been accused of duping about Rs 17,000 investors in different states. While Pal was one of the directors of the Group, Bandyopadhyay is accused of being a promoter of the Ponzi firm. West Bengal and its capital, Kolkata, erupted into chaos after the states ruling party, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), both resorted to protests and demonstrations, blocking major arterial roads and streets. With the battle for Uttar Pradesh looking too close to call and a Samajwadi Party (SP) and Congress pre-poll alliance a possibility, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is looking at bringing back the Ram Janmabhoomi issue. Eleven school children were injured today when a man with a knife attacked them at a kindergarten in China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. The man slashed the children with a kitchen knife after entering the Xiaocongzai kindergarten in Youyi Township, Pingxiang City local police said. The suspect claimed he was at the kindergarten to pick up his child, state-run Xinhua agency reported. Three seriously injured children have been sent to a hospital in Nanning, the regional capital, for treatment. The suspect is in police custody. Social revenge attacks by disgruntled people targeting kindergarten schools have become common in China. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Eleven suspected supporters of United Naga Council were injured when they tried to storm the Deputy Commissioner's office in Senapati district to protest creation of seven new districts, police said today. The protestors tried to march into the office of the Deputy Commissioner in the Naga-dominated hill district of Senapati yesterday and were injured when they tried to break the barricade set up by Manipur Police, they said. The incident comes after UNC announced its decision to picket and storm government offices in Naga-inhabited areas of the state last week. The state has been witnessing unrest due to the imposition of indefinite economic blockade on the lifeline of the landlocked state by United Naga Council (UNC) since November 1 last year and violence following the creation of seven new districts by bifurcating the previously existing districts. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Sustaining growth momentum in foreign tourists arrivals despite demonetisation and push for adventure were some of the highlights of Ministry in the year gone by which also saw a controversy over Aamir Khan's exit as the face of Incredible India campaign. During the year, the Ministry also failed to roll out the much-awaited Policy despite several assurances. The year began with the controversy over Aamir's exit from Incredible India campaign over his perceived intolerance remark though the government maintained its contract with the creative agency which had hired the actor for the campaign had expired. There was speculation that the new face of the tourism may be either Amitabh Bachchan or Priyanka Chopra but the year ended with no official announcement in this regard. It was otherwise a good year for the ministry with 78.53 lakh overseas travellers arriving in India during the January-November period, registering a growth of whopping 10.4 per cent as compared to 2015's corresponding period figure of 71.14 lakh. India attracted 8.91 lakh foreign tourists in November, registering a growth of 9.3 per cent over 8.16 lakh in November 2015, negating fears of adverse impact on the sector due to the withdrawal of high currency notes, a decision which caught people in the industry by surprise. Foreign exchange earnings (FEEs) from tourism sector rose by 14.7 per cent to Rs 1,38,845 crore during January-November as compared to Rs 1,21,041 crore in the corresponding period in 2015. To give a push to adventure tourism, the Ministry also set up a task force for resolving issues related to development and promotion of adventure tourism in the country. One of the major initiatives of the ministry in 2016 was the launch of round-the-clock Incredible India helpline in 12 languages, including Hindi and English. The Ministry also launched 'Swachh Paryatan App' for 25 'Adarsh Smarak Monuments' protected by Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) wherein travellers can lodge their complaints about uncleanliness in and around the identified monuments by uploading photos with remarks. During the year, the ministry approved 29 projects worth Rs 2,497.29 crore for Swadesh Darshan scheme under which 13 circuits, including North-East India Circuit, Buddhist Circuit, Himalayan Circuit, Krishna Circuit, Tribal Circuit, Ramayana Circuit and Heritage Circuit, which have been identified for development. The year also saw a three-day investors' meet in which over 1,800 delegates participated and over 85 MoUs were signed, aggregating close to Rs 15,000 crore investment in tourism sector. The Ministry also organised the fifth edition of the International Buddhist Conclave in which over 250 delegates from around 39 countries participated. India signed MoUs with Maldives, Qatar, South Africa and Kyrgyz for strengthening cooperation in the field of tourism. Offices of the three municipal corporations in Delhi will be closed tomorrow on the occasion of the 350th birth anniversary of Guru Gobind Singh. The birth anniversary of the 10th Sikh Guru is being celebrated across the country with special festivities lined up in Patna where he was born in 1666. "North and East Corporations' offices and associated offices will be closed tomorrow on the occasion of the 350th birth anniversary of Shri Guru Gobind Singh," a senior civic official said. South Delhi Mayor Shyam Sharma said that "SDMC offices and associated offices will be closed tomorrow on the occasion". Earlier this week, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had gone to Patna to pay obeisance at Takht Harmandir Sahib and Punjab Congress President and former Chief Minister Amarinder Singh offered prayers at the holy Sikh shrine yesterday. Bihar government has made elaborate arrangements for the celebrations, and gurudwars in Delhi are also marking the occasion with festivities. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The chief prosecutor of Tehran has revealed that there are as many as 70 spies serving sentences in the Iranian capital's prisons, far more than what had been estimated. The 70 convicts had "offered intelligence to enemies in various fields including atomic, military, political, social and cultural," Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi said, quoted by the Mizan Online website. Dolatabadi did not name the countries alleged to have recruited the spies. Only a handful of cases of people charged with espionage had been made public in the Islamic republic prior to his comments, which were published late Tuesday. Among them are two Iranian-American dual nationals. In October, business consultant Siamak Namazi and his 80-year-old father Baquer were given 10 years in prison for "espionage and collaboration with the American government". The father, a former employee of the UN children's fund UNICEF, was arrested when he returned to Iran to seek Siamak's release, a few months after his arrest. The United States has demanded the release of the Namazis and has also expressed concerns about reports of the "declining health" of Baquer Namazi. Nezar Zaka, a Lebanese national, was found guilty of "numerous deep links to the US military intelligence community" and handed a 10-year sentence on the same day as the Namazis, along with three Iranians. Their names are Farhad Abd-Saleh, Kamran Ghaderi and Alireza Omidvar. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) CBI has registered a preliminary enquiry to look into the setting up of a special unit under Directorate of Vigilance by Delhi government without necessary approvals from the Lt Governor. CBI sources said a preliminary enquiry has been registered by the agency after the office of former LG Najeeb Jung referred to it seven matters of alleged irregularity by Delhi government which had come to light in the Shunglu panel report. The sources said about 20 people were allegedly employed in the division -- the 'feedback' unit -- for which the Delhi cabinet had cleared the decision in September last year without consulting the office of LG, which was a "serious issue" on its part. The unit was allegedly created to "gather relevant information and actionable feedback" about officials and departments under the Delhi government. It was also tasked to do trap cases to catch bureaucrats taking bribe red handed. The action has been taken on a reference from Jung who had formed a three-member committee chaired by former Comptroller and Auditor General V K Shunglu on August 30, 2016, whose other members included ex-chief election commissioner N Gopalaswami and ex-chief vigilance commissioner Pradeep Kumar. CBI has registered two FIRs as well on the basis of the reference which include alleged irregularities in the Delhi Wakf Board and appointment of Nikunj Aggarwal as OSD to Health Minister Satyendra Jain. The Committee's mandate was to examine "irregularities" and "infirmities" in over 400 files on decisions taken by the AAP government. It had submitted its report to the LG office on November 27. In August last year, the Delhi High Court had ordered that the LG was the administrator of the national capital rejecting several pleas challenging the LG's authority after which he had ordered examining of the files. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Cabinet today cleared the appointment of academician David R Syiemlieh as interim chairman of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC). He will take over the charge from Alka Sirohi, a former IAS officer of the Madhya Pradesh cadre. The decision was taken at a meeting of the Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "Syiemlieh has been appointed as interim chairman of the UPSC," government sources said. He has been a member of the UPSC since June 2012. A post graduate in history from the North Eastern Hill University, Shillong, he held various academic positions in the same varsity, including head of the history department and that of the pro-vice chancellor. Syiemlieh, is also a former vice chancellor of Rajiv Gandhi University in Arunachal Pradesh. He has also authored several books on the history of North East region. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) DMK treasurer MK Stalin, who was on Wednesday named as the party Working President, said he accepted the new responsibility with a heavy heart in view of the health of party chief and his nonagenarian father Karunanidhi. Stating that in the past, he had felt proud and happy when he assumed new responsibilities, he broke down while saying, "Today I'm not in such a stage (feeling happy about elevation), this is the truth. "In view of the health status of party chief, I accept this position with a heavy heart," he said, adding that his work as working chief would be that of aiding the party patriarch Karunanidhi. "Be it our president, general secretary or other senior leaders, I will follow the path shown by them and I'm ready to carry out the party activities with all your support," he said. "I pledge that I will function responsibly," he added. Stalin in his brief acceptance speech said his elevation was not a sudden development. "The matter was given ample thought, it was well discussed and consulted (among party senior leadership)," he said. Hailing Karunanidhi as a leader "who gave rest to rest itself", he said such a "leader needs some rest" and said Karunanidhi, who had taken ill, should now fully recover. Delving into the circumstances surrounding his elevation, he said in view of the top leader's health, the senior leadership after discussions decided that Karunanidhi needed rest and had "persuaded and urged" him to become working president. "Finally, the change has been effected by way of a resolution and it has been adopted in this general council meet with your overwhelming support," he told partymen. Reminiscing about his decades-long political journey in the party, he said from a very young age, he grew up in a political ambiance when party workers gathered at their residence to meet his father and then party top leader Karunanidhi. "Gradually, I developed a desire, for public life," he said. "I took a megaphone and campaigned for the DMK in the civic polls and that was the first stage," he said when he was still in his teens. He said he went on to found "Ilangyar Mandram" (Youth Forum) which later grew into a party youth wing. Seeking to end his months long tussle with Tamil Nadu Film Producers Council, Tamil film actor Vishal today expressed regret for his remarks in an affidavit he filed in the Madras High Court here today. Vishal was temporarily suspended by the council for his alleged remarks in a Tamil magazine against the film body a few months back. Subsequently, the producer's council suspended the membership of the actor for a period of three months. When the actor moved the Court against his suspension, the council submitted that it would be revoked if he expressed regret for his remarks. When the matter came up for hearing today before Justice K Kalayanasundaram, the actor expressed regret in an affidavit. In his petition, Vishal submitted that he had only expressed his personal views, sans any ulterior motive or intention to hurt anyone. In the same interview, he had clarified that he had nothing personal against any of the elected office bearers but still some of individuals felt that he had made a personal attack. He further said, "In order to avoid further confrontation and for the betterment of the council and in the interest of maintaining better relationship between various interlinked associations in the industry, I have filed the present affidavit. "I am a hardworking, honest, responsible and law abiding citizen with great respect for the Law, Courts and Rules and Regulations governing various bodies," he added. He urged that his temporary suspension may be revoked. The hearing of the suit filed by Vishal, assailing the decision of council is scheduled to come up on January 6. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Facing financial headwinds, is in discussions with public sector banks to seek working capital loans to tide over cash paucity which also caused delay in December salary payments to a section of employees. Despite making an operational profit for the first time in a decade in 2015-16 at Rs 105 crore, the airline has reported cumulative losses of more than Rs 700 crore in the first six months of this financial year. "As long as we have debt and losses in our books, we are bound to have cash paucity. There is a cash crunch currently also and to tide over the problem, we are talking to the banks for some working capital loans," highly placed sources told PTI. However, they said the current cash requirement is just "marginal" and the situation is not so bad that it can hit operations. The airline spokesperson was not available for comments. Significantly, is expected to give a detailed presentation on its financial and operational performance to the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) on Friday. According to sources, had to delay by a few days the payment of salaries for the month of December to a section of employees, apparently due to tight cash situation. "This was after a long time when some of the employees were paid salaries on January 3 whereas generally all are given their payments on 30th or 31st of a particular month when salary is due," another source at the airline said. Air India, which is floating on a Rs 30,000 crore bailout package from the central government, is saddled with Rs 46,570 debt. This includes Rs 15,900 crore worth aircraft-related loans. The ten-year long bailout package for Air India was approved by the previous UPA government in 2012. Of the total amount, so far more than Rs 24,000 crore has already been infused into the carrier. In the first two quarters of the ongoing fiscal, the airline has reported operating losses of Rs 246 crore and Rs 461 crore, respectively. Last month, the government informed Parliament that Air India's operating loss stood at Rs 246.14 crore in the first quarter of 2016-17 against the target of Rs 87.28 crore operating profit for the same period. An Arab separatist group has claimed two pipeline bombings in Iran's oil-rich south and threatened to launch more attacks in the coming year as the country tries to boost production following the nuclear deal with world powers. Iranian state media and officials did not immediately comment on the claim by the Arab Struggle Movement for the Liberation of Ahwaz, which said it bombed the pipelines early yesterday morning in Khuzestan province. The militants released online video they said showed one of the pipelines exploding. The Associated Press could not immediately verify the footage, though previous attacks have been attributed to the group. The separatists' statement said the bombings came in response to Iran's Oil Ministry publishing a list of 29 international companies qualified to bid for projects following the atomic accord. The group said 2017 will be "very different to previous years since the movement has prepared detailed and precise plans to carry out a number of high-quality important operations against the Iranian enemy state." Coordinated pipeline attacks could hinder Iran's efforts to recoup cash lost under international sanctions. The country has boosted production to around 3.8 million barrels of oil a day since the deal. Iran has faced low-level separatist unrest from Kurds in its northwest, the Baluch in its east and Arabs in its south since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. In recent months, however, such attacks have grown in scale. Iran in June announced breaking up what it called one of the "biggest terrorist plots" ever on Iranian soil by Sunni extremists. Tensions also remain high between the Shiite power and Sunni-ruled Saudi Arabia. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) In a major decision, the Arunachal Pradesh cabinet headed by Chief Minister Pema Khandu today cleared deck for commencement of work for much-awaited Itanagar-Banderdewa four lane highway. The cabinet, after minutely going through the cabinet note circulated by the PWD Commissioner on compensation estimate prepared by government constituted committee, approved the recommendation and directed for release of compensation amount to the beneficiaries through the Deputy Commissioner, government spokesman Bamang Felix said in a statement here. With this decision, the work on the four lane highway, the lifeline for the people of the state capital, would start soon. Giving yet another new year gift to IAS officers, central service officers on deputation to state government and regular state government employees, pensioners and family pensioners, the cabinet approved for release of 2 per cent DA and DR from January 1 this year at par with the central government employees. Despite financial crunch, the state government had recently implemented the 7th central pay commission for the state government employees. While the matter of renaming of Rajiv Gandhi University to Arunachal University was referred to be tabled in the ensuing Budget Session for discussion, the cabinet approved for renaming of General Hospital Ziro after Late Gyati Takka, former Minister in lieu of Abotani Community Hall, Hapoli which was notified earlier. The cabinet further decided to upgrade Pongchau and Wakka circle headquarters to SDO headquarters respectively in Longding district. For ensuring smooth functioning of government policies and programmes, the cabinet decided to hire technical manpower for various central as well as state government programmes. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) An Assam Rifles jawan has been killed and a civilian injured in an encounter with suspected militants at Khunthak village in Ukhrul district of Manipur. The encounter took place in the hill district when the paramilitary forces were on a foot patrol yesterday, Assam Rifles sources said today. The jawan has been identified as 42-year-old Bhupal Singh, the sources said. The troops retaliated but the militants escaped by taking advantage of the hilly terrain. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The AYUSH Ministry has initiated a study covering 60 districts on how yoga can help control diabetes, which has become the "biggest" health hazard and spreading at a fast pace in of the country. Inaugurating a three-day International Conference on 'Yoga for Diabetes', AYUSH Minister Shripad Naik said that his ministry has initiated programmes to target diabetes, including setting up an experts' panel which has evolved a common yoga protocol for prevention, management of diabetes. "Diabetes mellitus has become one of the biggest health hazard in the world. A sizable amount of resources is drained for combating diabetes. The major causes of the disease is modern lifestyle, food habits and increasing stress levels. "Researchers in the field of yoga have shown that the disease can be managed through a regular yoga regime combined with healthy lifestyle," he said. "The AYUSH Ministry has initiated a few programmes that target diabetes. A multi-centric research study on yoga and diabetes is being held in support of Health Ministry. "A series of diabetes awareness programmes covering the entire country has been launched and 2,000 of such events were conducted on October 2 last year," Naik said. AYUSH Ministry officials said the study will cover more than 50,000 people across 60 districts of the country and the result is expected by June this year. The result is likely to be announced by the Prime Minister on June 21 the International Yoga Day. Noting that yoga is no longer restricted to the "privileged minority of hermits", Naik said it has found a place in everyday life and is practiced widely for promotion of health and management of various medical problems. "Today yoga is accepted as a viable alternative to conventional healthcare systems for many diseases," he said, adding UNESCO has recently included yoga in its list of intangible cultural heritage, which recognises yoga's universal relevance. Naik said the conference on 'Yoga for Diabetes' aims to generate discussions on the role of yoga in the prevention and management of diabetes and to draw up a road map to be adopted for the control of the disease through this ancient practice. It will provide a common platform for allopathy and AYUSH practitioners, researchers, academicians, policy makers and students to come together in the fight against diabetes, he said. Approximately 400 delegates and 50 experts from India and abroad, including experts of conventional medicine, AYUSH systems as well as yoga are participating in the conference. The three day conference will comprise sessions on different aspects of yoga and diabetes including research, policy making and panel discussion. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) State-run Rural Electrification Corp (REC) today said that its Chairman and Managing Director B P Pandey will continue on the post beyond December 31, 2016 till the new incumbent is appointed. Pandey who is also Special Secretary Power was given the charge of REC CMD for three months period till December 31, 2016 or until further orders of the government. "Ministry of Power vide its Order dated January 03, 2017 has intimated about the extension in holding of additional charge of the post of CMD, REC by B P Pandey beyond December 31, 2016 till the new incumbent joins or until further orders, whichever is earlier," REC said in a BSE filing today. * * * * Droom ties up with Axis bank for loans on new, used cars * Online automobile marketplace Droom today said it has partnered with Axis Bank, India's third largest private sector bank, to facilitate quick sanction of loans on new and used cars. Loans will be provided for up to 85 per cent of the value of the car with a tenure of 1-5 years, a statement said adding that loans on used cars can be availed on vehicles upto the age of 10 years at the end of the loan tenure. "The recent collaboration is another step in our attempt to provide holistic facilities to our users and enhance the car-buying experience. We hope that faster loan disbursal mechanism will provide customers with a buying experience that is hassle-free, secure and convenient," Droom co-founder and VP Business Development Rishab Malik said. * * * * Tata Trusts,Google partner MobiKwik for m-wallet adoption * Tata Trusts and Google India will expand their 'Internet Saathi' programme by enabling cashless transactions through MobiKwik. Internet Saathi initiative focuses on training communities to go online, whilst providing them access to internet-powered devices and educating them about cashless payments. "Enabling digital wallet is a big step towards ensuring that the community benefits from services with great amount of saving in time and cost," Tata Trusts Project Director Raman Kalyanakrishnan said. Launched in July 2015, Internet Saathi program is now live in 10 states reaching out to over 26,000 villages. Close to 12 lakh women have benefited from the programme by getting trained on digital and internet literacy. * * * * ShopClues partners National Handloom Development Corporation * Managed marketplace ShopClues today said it has partnered with National Handloom Development Corporation Ltd (NHDC). ShopClues will launch a dedicated page on Indi Market, the online vertical dedicated to exclusively Indian products, it said in a statement. This partnership will enable ShopClues to use India the brand and the logo of Indian Handloom on appropriate products across the platform, it added. Shopclues shall partner with NHDC and on-board specialised merchants uniquely trading in more than 70 indigenous products like Tanjore Silk, Benarasi Silk etc. That primarily cater to lifestyle, home furnishing and decor categories. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Workers of Bajaj Auto will go on a two-day hunger strike on January 7 and 8 in front of the company's Akurdi plant in Pune to protest against the 'anti-workers activities' of the company's management. In a letter addressed to Bajaj Auto Managing Director Rajiv Bajaj, Vishwa Kalyan Kamgar Sanghatana said, "It will undertake a hunger strike at the Shahid Datta Padale statue, opposite Bajaj Auto gate, Akurdi, on January 7-8 against anti workers and anti union activities of the Bajaj management." The company's management deliberately transferred the active members of the union and has given false chargesheets and showcause letters to the workers, the letter said. "Bajaj management adopted a strategy of terrorising and harassing workers. To condemn such anti-union act of management, we have decided to go on hunger strike," the letter issued today said. When contacted, Vishwa Kalyan Kamgar Sanghatana President Dilip Pawar told PTI: "The management is harassing our active members. They are issuing showcause notices and even transferring workers. Besides, the issue of eight dismissed workers is yet to be settled." The workers are also dissatisfied because wage review process, which was due with effect from April 1 2016, is yet to be finalised, Pawar said. The Vishwa Kalyan Kamgar Sanghatana has around 1,000 members at the Chakan and Akurdi plants in Pune of the two-wheeler major. When contacted, Bajaj Auto declined to comment on the matter. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) CBI has furnished its report to National Human Rights Commission in connection with allegations of torture levelled on its DIG by the then Director General Corporate Affairs B K Bansal who had committed suicide. CBI sources said a detailed report has been submitted to NHRC which had issued notice to the agency. Bansal's wife and daughter had committed suicide in July, nearly three days after Bansal was arrested by CBI while allegedly accepting bribe to favour a pharma company Two months later, Bansal who was released on bail also committed suicide along with his son. In the suicide note, Bansal made serious allegations against CBI DIG Sanjeev Gautam and his team members for torturing his wife and daughter and also threatening action against him and his son. The CBI which received a notice from National Human Rights Commission in this regard had set up an internal inquiry under a joint director to look into allegations. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The first look of the biopic on India's paralympic gold winner Mariyappan Thangavelu produced by Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan has received an "overwhelming response", Aishwarya Dhanush, daughter of Tamil superstar Rajinikanth also directing the movie, said. Aishwaryaa, also wife of actor-producer Dhanush, who celebrated her birthday yesterday, thanked all for the "overwhelming response". "I take the pleasure once again...My 2017 kick-start..#Mariyappan#Excited. Thank you all for the overwhelming response to 1st look", she tweeted. The first look of the biopic was released on the micro blogging site Twitter by Shah Rukh Khan recently. "Here's presenting the first look of the biopic on #MariyappanThangavelu, our very own national hero, all the best @ash_r_dhanush", he wrote in micro-blogging site. Mariyappan Thangavelu bagged gold medal in the Paralympic Games' T-42 high-jump held in Rio, Brazil last year. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) BJP ally and Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray today appealed to President Pranab Mukherjee not to allow presentation of Budget before the scheduled elections in five states, saying the Union Government might use it to lure voters. "By making attractive announcements in Budget, government can grab votes indirectly," Thackeray said, addressing a statewide gathering of Sena workers here. The Sena president asked his party MPs to meet the President and request him to postpone the Budget beyond polls. Congress, Left, Samajwadi Party and some others have already represented to the Election Commission not to allow the Centre to present the Budget during poll process. "Also, the Prime Minister should not address campaign rallies (in the poll-bound states). PM is of the country and not of any party," Thackeray said. Without naming Narendra Modi, Thackeray said, "I don't have any assurances to give you, but the Santa Claus is giving the people a lot of assurances." Modi recently laid foundation stone of Pune Metro project but the National Green Tribunal stayed the work, and hence there should be proper planning for the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project (to avoid such embarrassment), he said. On prospects of alliance with BJP for Mumbai civic polls, he said Sena will not beg for seats. "It (alliance) will be on our terms and conditions. Shiv Sainiks' opinion will be considered while taking the decision," Uddhav said. He also slammed the NDA government over Ram temple issue and income tax raids on priests at temple town of Tribakeshwar near Nashik. He dared the IT department to conduct raids on holy places of other religions. He also hit out at NABARD and the Union Government for getting "rural banks in trouble" with the decision of demonetisation. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Citing a media report, BJP on Thursday claimed that properties worth Rs 15,000 crore owned by Dawood Ibrahim, one of India's most wanted criminals, have been seized in the UAE on the basis of a dossier provided by the Indian government. "Major diplomatic success of PM Modi: One of India's most wanted criminals, Dawood Ibrahim's properties worth Rs. 15,000 crore seized in UAE," the official Twitter account of the party claimed. "Master-stroke diplomacy by PM Narendra Modi hits at the right place. Prime Minister had handed over the list of his (Dawood's) assets to the UAE government during his 2015 visit and demanded action," a graphic put out by it said. The saffron party quoted a media report to make the claim. Efforts are on to bring Dawood to face law in India, it added. From Kolkata to New Delhi to Bhubaneshwar, TMC MPs, leaders and workers held protests against yesterday's arrest of their MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay as alleged workers of West Bengal's ruling party attacked BJP offices, hurling bombs and setting them on fire. Furious over the arrest of Bandyopadhyay, TMC leader in the Lok Sabha and a close Mamata Banerjee aide, party workers also demonstrated in front of CBI offices in Kolkata and Bhubaneshwar, where the MP was taken for production in a court after his arrest. A BJP delegation met West Bengal Governor K N Tripathi and petitioned him for imposition of President's rule in the state due to deteriorating law and order situation. TMC MPs attempted a protest march to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's residence in the national capital but were detained mid way. "We are protesting against Bandyopadhyay's arrest, demanding Modi's resignation and inquiry into his taking money from Birla and Sahara groups. We are also demanding Babul Supriyo (Union Minister) for his involvement in the Rose Valley scam case," TMC MP Sugata Roy told reporters at Tughlak Road police station where they were under detention. "We were marching peacefully towards the Prime Minister's residence, but the police detained us mid-way and manhandled few of our MPs," Roy said, adding 36 TMC MPs took part in the protest march. They were let off in the evening. Bandyopadhyay, TMC's face in New Delhi, was the second party MP after actor-turned-politician Tapas Pal to be held in connection with the alleged Rs 15,000 crore chit fund scam which spanned several states including West Bengal and Odisha. Hours after alleged TMC workers vandalised the state BJP headquarters in downtown Kolkata last evening, they attacked the house of state party general secretary Krishna Bhattacharya in Hooghly district. Three men with their faces covered came on a motorcycle to her house in Konnanagar Jorapukur Ghat at 9 last night and started hurling bombs, Bhattacharya said. They barged into the house, abused her, smashed a windowpane, damaged furniture and assaulted her, Bhattacharya said in her police complaint. In another incident at Chinsurah in Hooghly district, alleged TMC workers set on fire a BJP office. A police officer said some miscreants set ablaze the Chinsurah Mandal office of the BJP this evening after beating up two party workers and chasing them away. "Our party offices have been ransacked throughout the state. Bombs have been hurled at homes of various party leaders. The police is just a mute spectator," BJP national secretary Rahul Sinha said. BJP national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya held out a veiled threat to TMC to "mend its ways or face consequences" and wondered if Mamata Banerjee and her MPs would be able to go around the country or enter New Delhi if his party began a protest against them. "We may not be as strong as TMC in Bengal. But in the entire country we are the strongest political force. I wonder if BJP workers in Delhi decide that TMC MPs would not be allowed to enter Delhi, would they be able to enter Delhi? "The answer is no. If BJP workers decide to protest across the country, would Mamata Banerjee be able to roam the country freely? If TMC doesn't mend its ways, we will also not sit silently," Vijyavargiya, who is also BJP observer in-charge of West Bengal, told reporters in Kolkata. Vijayvargiya lashed out at Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar for allegedly turning a "blind eye" to the attack on BJP offices. He urged the CBI to investigate the alleged role of Kumar in "wiping out" evidence against TMC leaders in the chit fund scam during his tenure as the head of the state government- formed SIT. "Is this is a democracy? Is this is a sign of law and order? For five hours, hundreds of TMC activists surrounded the BJP office and pelted stones, injured the workers, and police remained a mute spectator. Why is BJP being targeted? BJP has no role in the CBI investigation, it is taking place under the orders of Supreme Court," he said. Vijayvargiya warned police officials to work impartially or else they will face the music if BJP comes to power in next Assembly elections. "The CBI is investigating the case under the instructions of Supreme Court following Abdul Manan's appeal to the apex court. Then how come BJP is accused of vendetta politics. You can oppose demonetisation as long as you want, you have this democratic right. But why are BJP workers being beaten up and our party offices are being attacked?" he asked. Vijayvargiya asked Congress President Sonia Gandhi to make clear her stand on the ponzi scam and wondered why her party was rallying behind TMC on the issue as the Supreme Court has ordered a CBI inquiry into it based on an appeal by Congress leader Abdul Manan. "Sonia Gandhi should clear her party's stand on the ponzi scams in Bengal. Because we are confused by the statements of Congress leadership. Yesterday, the Congress had said that the CBI arrests are nothing but vendetta politics of BJP. But the CBI is investigating the case under instructions of Supreme Court following Congress leader and now leader of opposition Abdul Manan's appeal to Supreme court," he said. TMC workers took to the streets in various parts of West Bengal to protest the arrest of Bandyopadhyay and staged a demonstration in front of Union Minister Babul Supriyo's house in Kolkata demanding his arrest. Supriyo alleged TMC activists burnt BJP flag in front of the housing society he had a flat in and questioned the role of the police in maintaining law and order. "My parents and other residents are scared. Let Didi (Mamata Banerjee) give proof of my involvement in the Rose Valley scam, I will be arrested", he said. State BJP president Dilip Ghosh led a party delegation to Raj Bhavan and apprised the Governor of the attack on its offices. The delegation urged Governor K N Tripathi to send a report to the Centre recommending imposition of President's Rule in view of "growing lawlessness" in the state. "It is unthinkable. We did not expect this. Our party office was attacked at different places including Hooghly and Durgapur. Babul Supriyo's house was attacked. We are concerned. It should stop", he said. A senior official of West Bengal police said they are looking into the complaints. Congress, which has warmed up to TMC following demonetisation, questioned the timing of the arrest of Pal and Bandyopadhyay. "We are questioning the timing of the arrests. For more than a year the CBI was silent, but all of a sudden it has become active when the opposition is getting united on the issue of demonetisation. This is an attempt to break the unity of the opposition on the issue of demonetisation," Congress general secretary C P Joshi told reporters in Kolkata. Congress had yesterday alleged Bandyopadhyay's arrest by the CBI was "vendetta unleashed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his detractors" and wondered if it was in reaction to the "opposition unity". When asked why Congress was backing TMC on the issue of the arrests when it was its own leader Abdul Mannan's petition which had led to institution of a CBI probe into the chit fund scam, Joshi parried a reply, saying "The matter is sub-judice, so it won't be right to comment on the matter." As for Mannan, he said,"Demonetisation is an issue of 125 crore people of India. All opposition parties have united on this issue. But, the chit fund is an issue of two crore people. So you need to prioritise." A four-time Lok Sabha member and Minister of State in the Manmohan Singh government, Bandyopadhyay was arrested after he allegedly failed to give satisfactory answers to many questions and was found to be uncooperative. He is alleged to have received favours from the Rose Valley group which funded his foreign trips. Tapas Pal was a director in two group companies. In a veiled warning to TMC to "mend its ways" or face consequences, BJP general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya today wondered whether TMC MPs and party supremo Mamata Banerjee would be able to go around the country and enter New Delhi if his party starts protesting against them. Furious over the attack on state BJP headquarters by TMC activists yesterday following the arrest of TMC MP Sudip Bandopadhyay, Vijayvargiya lashed out at City Police commissioner Rajeev Kumar for tuning a "blind eye" to the attack on BJP office. He urged the CBI to investigate the alleged role of Kumar in wiping out evidences against TMC leaders in the chit fund scam, during his tenure as the head of the state government-formed SIT. Refuting allegations that CBI arrests in chit fund scams were a "political vendetta" against TMC as it has been opposing demonetisation, Vijyavargiya warned TMC to mend its ways and stop attacking BJP offices and workers or else the the party would also not sit silently. "We may not be as strong as TMC in Bengal. But in the entire country we are the strongest political force. I wonder if BJP workers in Delhi decide that TMC MPs would not be allowed to enter Delhi, would they be able to enter Delhi? "The answer is no. If BJP workers decide to protest across the country, would Mamata Banerjee be able to roam the country freely? If TMC doesn't mend its ways, we will also not sit silently," he said. "Is this is a democracy? Is this is a sign of law and order? For five hours, hundreds of TMC activists surrounded the BJP office and pelted stones, injured the workers, and police remained a mute spectator. Why is BJP being targeted? BJP has no role in the CBI investigation, it is taking place under the orders of Supreme Court," he said. Several BJP workers were injured and party office was vandalised when activists of the students wing of Trinamool Congress attacked the state party headquarters here with stones to protest the arrest of Bandyopadhyay in Rose Valley chit fund scam case. "I'm being told that present Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar is a TMC man. He is the same person who allegedly covered up the Saradha chit scam and wiped out evidence against TMC leaders. We would urge the CBI to also look into the role of Kumar," he said. Vijayvargiya warned police officials to work impartially or else they will face the music if BJP comes to power in next Assembly elections. "The CBI is investigating the case under the instructions of Supreme Court following Abdul Manan's appeal to the apex court. Then how come BJP is accused of vendetta . You can oppose demonetisation as long as you want, you have this democratic right. But why are BJP workers being beaten up and our party offices are being attacked?" he asked. When asked whether BJP would appeal for President's Rule in the state, he said, "Its too early to comment on it. But if things keep going on like this we will ponder over it. Hailing the Assembly election schedule for Uttarakhand that goes to polls on February 15, state BJP chief Ajay Bhatt today said the enforcement of Model Code of Conduct had put an end to "Congress' rule of fear and loot" in the state. "The BJP welcomes the announcement of poll dates for Uttarakhand by the Election Commission. The party is fully prepared for the polls and is confident of forming the next government with two-third majority by dint of people's blessings," he said in a statement here. "With the elections dates announced and the Model Code of Conduct brought into force, people of Uttarakhand are free from the clutches of fear, corruption and loot," Bhatt said. Accusing Congress of looting the state, he claimed all sections of society were eager to be emancipated from the rule of fear, corruption and loot. He said a BJP government will herald a new era of development in Uttarakhand that was created by (former prime minister) Atal Bihari Vajpayee will be built by (Prime Minister) Narendra Modi . (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Delhi Congress today threatened to move court if the AAP government fails to come out with the final draft of the delimitation of municipal wards in next three days, accusing the Arvind Kejriwal dispensation of "delaying" it for "political reasons". "Delhi Congress will approach the court if the Lt Governor does not give his approval to the final draft order on delimitation of the MCD wards within three days," chief spokesperson of Delhi Congress, Sharmistha Mukherjee said today. "AAP government is sitting over the final draft order on delimitation of wards in three municipal corporations of Delhi, which was submitted to it by the Delhi Election Commission on November 17 last year. It is to be forwarded to the Lt Governor for his approval but till date the government has not despite passage of two months," Mukherjee told a press conference. The Aam Admi Party (AAP) "fears" defeat in the MCD polls and is sitting over the final draft to delay elections due in April, she alleged. Delhi Congress has also written a letter to Lt Governor Anil Baijal, complaining against "intentional delay" in finalisation of delimitation by Delhi government, she said. "We demand the Lt Governor to ask for the file of the final draft order on delimitation of wards and accord his sanction within three days, otherwise Congress will go to the court." Mukherjee said her party has "learnt" that the AAP government has sent back the file of the final draft order to the Delhi Election Commission, seeking some changes in it. Party leader and chairman of delimitation committee of Delhi Congress, Chatar Singh alleged that some AAP leaders want changes in certain wards, which is illegal. "As per information, some AAP leaders want changes in certain wards at this juncture, which is illegal and cannot be accepted. Even the State Election Commission has no power to make changes in the final draft order at this stage," Singh said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) With opposition parties protesting the move to present Union Budget on February 1, BJP on Wednesday rubbished their claims saying it is a constitutional exercise that should not be linked to election cycle. A senior party leader also did not rule out announcement of sops for different segments of society in the budget, saying Union budgets have been presented in the past during elections and it cannot be any different this year. "Union Budget's timing and announcements cannot be subject to schedule of various elections. It has never been like this," he said. Several opposition parties have sought postponement of the budget, alleging that the government may use this to influence the upcoming Assembly polls in five states. Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi on Wednesday said the Election Commission is examining the representation of various political parties for not allowing the presentation of the Union Budget during the poll process of five states and will take a call on it soon. The Cabinet today gave its approval to two separate bilateral agreements that India will sign with Portugal and Kenya for co-operation in agriculture and allied sectors. The proposed memorandum of understanding (MoU) was approved in the Cabinet meeting headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The agreements will come into force on the date of their signing and will remain valid for five years, an official statement said. The two MoUs provide for setting up of a joint working group for developing a detailed co-operation programme and monitoring implementation of the bilateral pact. The MoU to be signed with Portugal covers exchange of scientific and technical information, trade in plants and plant products, exchange of information in phytosanitary issues, training programmes, seminars and visits of experts and consultants. The proposed agreement with Kenya will focus on agricultural research, animal husbandry and dairy, livestock and fisheries horticulture, natural resource management, post-harvest management and marketing. The two countries will also work on soil and conservation, water management, irrigation farming system development, integrated watershed development machinery, sanitary and phytosanitary issues, among others. The pact can automatically be renewed for a further five years unless either party notifies the other in writing, six months before the expiry of the validity, of the intention to terminate it, the statement added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Delhi High Court today asked the Centre and a city-based TB hospital whether it can make available to a patient, suffering from an extensively drug resistant variant of the disease, a new medicine which is not available in the market and is only supplied by the manufacturer. Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva asked the Lal Ram Swarup (LRS) TB hospital to file an affidavit stating whether the 18-year-old female patient meets the requirements under the WHO guidelines and Revised National TB Control programme for being treated by Bedaquiline, made by US drug company Johnson and Johnson. The court asked the hospital to also respond to the contention, by an expert in the field of TB treatment, that it was not following the guidelines by calling for further drug sensitivity tests before administering the drug, which according to the patient's father is the last option for her. The father, Kaushal Tripathi, has sought that if the hospital was not willing to take the risk of administering the drug without further tests then he be provided the medicine and he will get it administered by some other hospital or doctor. The hospital, in its defence, said that it was following the protocols put in place for administering the drug and same cannot be flouted by it. The court, however, said that sometimes in the medical profession judgement calls are made after informing the patient about the risk and same can be done in the instant case. It said that in the case the patient was willing to take the risk. It also said that either the drug would cure her or will speed up the end-result of the illness. The court asked the central government and the hospital to file their affidavits within three days and listed the matter for hearing on January 9. Tripathi in his plea has also sought easier access to the medicine as it is available only at the six TB centres in India. According to the petitioner, there is a second drug -- Delamanid by Japanese drugmaker Otsuka Pharma -- but it is not available in India and would need to be imported. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The CBI has registered a case against five SBI officials posted in Tanuku branch in West Godavati district for allowing private companies to withdraw over Rs 2.49 crore in a day post-demonetisation. The case was registered on December 31, 2016 against the officials for allowing private companies to withdraw over Rs 2.49 crore in a single day, which was against the RBI guidelines that were issued after the demonetisation notification, the central agency said in a release today. It said that following the withdrawal of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes, the RBI had issued directions to all the banks restricting over-the-counter cash withdrawal. "However, with utter disregard to the RBI instructions, the officials posted at SBI's Tanuku main branch, entered into a criminal conspiracy with several firms and allowed them to withdraw Rs 2.49 crore in a single day," the CBI said. Public Servants also withdrew amounts beyond the prescribed limits from their own accounts in the branch, it said. "After the registration of the case on December 31, searches were conducted at the residential premises of the accused and several incriminating documents were found," it added. The investigation is in progress, the CBI release said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A special court today granted CBI till January 6 custody of sand mining baron J Shekar Reddy and two others in a fresh case relating to seizure of Rs eight crore worth currency notes from his house here. Special Judge Venkataswamy observed that when ordinary citizens were "facing trouble by standing in queues to get Rs 2000 per head at ATMs how this much of huge quantities were converted by the accused Shekar Reddy, Premkumar and Srinivasulu needed a thorough interrogation". He also observed that it is the duty of all officials involved in the central government's demonetisation scheme to make it a success, adding, "it is the duty of the investigating agency to find out how this much of huge quantity of currency reached the hands of the accused." Stating that "this is not possible only by the lower level bank staff", the judge directed CBI, which is investigating the case, to find out the truth in the matter. While referring to the other seizures from the accused from different places, the judge said, "It is the duty of the investigating agency to find out who are all the officers involved in the conversion and to bring them before the court." The judge granted CBI their custody till 5.30 pm on January 6. CBI had filed the fresh case against Reddy, Premkumar and Srinivasulu yesterday and had moved the special court seeking their custody for interrogation. The amount was seized from Reddy's house at Venkat Narayanan Road, Chennai. Reddy, Premkumar and Srinivasulu and two others were arrested by CBI on December 21 following the "seizure" of 127 kg gold and over Rs 170 crore in cash, including new currency notes, from their premises by the Income-Tax department in coordinated searchers. The judge extended till January 17 judicial custody of two other accused--Rathinam and Muthupettai Ramachandran who were arrested in this case and whose custody came to an end today. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Kerala Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala today lashed out at the state government and its vigilance department saying governance is "absent" in the state as the ruling LDF is "adept" only at staging protests. Chennithala also alleged that Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has turned the vigilance department into a puppet in his hands by not conducting probes into the complaints against the LDF ministers. "LDF doesn't know how to govern. They are but well-versed in staging protests. They talk only about strikes. Governance is something which they don't know," Chennithala told a press meet here. "Vigilance department is in critical ICU these days. The complaint against former minister E P Jayarajan is still lying there. No enquiry has yet commenced against the Fisheries minister Mercykutty Amma. Minister M M Mani's discharge petition was dismissed by the court," Chennithala said. The Opposition leader also said that even the court has criticised the vigilance department. "The vigilance director is probing cases of his interest. They are suppressing cases against the state ministers," he said. The former UDF minister also alleged the state government is running away from its responsibilities of ensuring a better socio-economic situation in Kerala. "Seven-month rule of LDF has left the governance in the state in shambles. The government has not interfered in any issues to mitigate the trouble of common people arising post demonetisation," he said. He also said the Opposition is planning to intensify the protest against the LDF government's "anti-people policies". Chennithala, who is also in charge of the Congress party in Manipur, today met President Pranab Mukharjee and AICC president Sonia Gandhi along with Manipur Congress delegation and apprised them of the political scenario arising out of the insurgency and the economic blockade imposed by the United Naga Council (UNC) in the eastern state. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Chief warden of Katihar district jail in Bihar was suspended today following the death of an inmate under mysterious circumstances two days ago, an official said. District magistrate Lalanji said jail superintendent Sujit Kumar Jha has suspended chief warden Umesh Rajak in the wake of protest by large number of inmates alleging laxity in various arrangements in the prison following death of inmate Vinod Uraon (25) under mysterious circumstances. He said sub-divisional officer (SDO) Subhash Narayan and sub-divisional police officer (SDPO) Lalbabu Yadav have been directed to address the issues being raised by the inmates of Katihar district jail. Meanwhile, the post mortem report was awaited to find out the reason behind the death of the inmate, who was undergoing trial in a murder case, the DM added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) China today said it supports the Philippines for assuming the rotating presidency of ASEAN as the two countries warm up to each other, shelving their bitter maritime dispute over the South China Sea. "China hopes to push relations with ASEAN to a new level," China's Foreign Ministry spokesman, Geng Shuang told a media briefing here. Relations between the two nations which were frozen over the maritime dispute improved after Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte came to power last year. China claims the whole of the resiurce-rich South China Sea but its claims are contested by its neighbours - Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan. Duterte has downgraded ties with traditional ally the US following criticism over his violent anti-drug campaign in which over 5,000 people were killed and has improved ties with China. The Chinese government has always regarded Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) as a priority in its diplomacy with neighboring countries, Geng said. China and ASEAN commemorated the 25th anniversary of relations between the two sides in September, 2016. During their meetings, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and leaders from the 10 ASEAN members agreed to lift China-ASEAN cooperation to a new level, which demonstrated the firm resolve of the two sides to deepen mutual trust and enhance cooperation, said Geng. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the founding of ASEAN and it is also the China-ASEAN year of tourism cooperation, he said, adding that China is ready to work with the regional bloc to enhance policy communication, alignment of development strategies and pragmatic cooperation. China hopes that the two sides can deepen all-round cooperation, especially in the areas of the economy and trade, interconnectivity and industrial capacity, said Geng. China is willing to work with ASEAN to implement the third action plan for their strategic partnership and push for positive results from the upgrading of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area (FTA). (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Chinese media and netizens today hailed the death of Xinjiang's most wanted terrorist in US air strikes in Syria as "superb New Year's gift", stressing the importance of global fight against terrorism while glossing over China's stonewalling of India's bid to slap UN ban on JeM leader Masood Azhar. Abu Omar al-Turkistani, head of China's Turkistan Islamic Party (TIP) - a branch of the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) fighting for the separation of Xinjiang province, was killed in a US drone strike in Syria on Sunday. The air strike in Sarmada in northwestern Syria reportedly claimed the lives of eight persons, an article in the state-run Global Times said today. A large number of Uyghur militants from Xinjiang have reportedly joined the Islamic State and are fighting along with it in Syria. While the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman, Geng Shuang, declined to react saying he is not aware of the details, the daily said many Chinese netizens gave their thumbs up and even called it a "superb New Year's gift". "Amid applause for the move from the US, the event also indicates the internationalisation of terrorism and the significance of joint anti-terror efforts," the article said. ETIM, which is active in the Uyghur Muslim-majority province of Xinjiang, has been listed as terrorist body by UN for its alleged involvement in a spate of violent attacks in China. "The UN listed ETIM as a terrorist organisation in 2002. Yet over the past years, some Western nations have been refusing to cooperate with Beijing, and even accused China of violating freedom of religion when it comes to cracking down on ETIM, which shielded the emergence of the extremist group," the article said. "Given geopolitical factors, interests and competition among major powers, international anti-terror collaborative actions have been far from effective. "However, if every nation only cares about its own interests and short-term prospects while standing aloof from other countries' terrorist threats, nobody can be immune from the expansion of terrorism in the end," it said, skirting any reference to China repeatedly blocking India's efforts to get Azhar listed as terrorist by the UN. China justified its efforts to block India's move saying there was no consensus, amid assertions by New Delhi that Beijing was the only country in the 15-member committee to block the move to get Azhar listed as terrorist. As a result, India has to file a fresh application before the UN 1267 Committee this year along with details of charge sheet about Azhar's involvement in Pathankot terror attack. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Days after China blocked its move to ban JeM chief Masood Azhar by the UN, India today asked Beijing to hear the "voice of the world" in dealing with terror and hoped it would be able to persuade the country to understand the "depth and evil" of the menace. Referring to Pakistan's support to terror, India also hoped that as a "responsible and a mature" nation, China will understand the "double standards" and "simply self-defeating and suicidal" approach of Islamabad to terrorism. "We really do expect China to hear the voice of the world, not just voice of India on terrorism," Minister of State for External Affairs M J Akbar said at a joint press conference with his ministerial colleague Gen (retd) VK Singh, while presenting MEA's achievements in the last two-and-half years. On China's opposition to India's membership of the Nuclear Suppliers' Group, Singh said government was engaging with all concerned to make them understand its "concerns" and "credentials", hoping that Beijing will end its resistance. Referring to China once again blocking India's proposal at the UN to list Masood Azhar as a terrorist, Akbar said, "Terrorism is a snake that bites the hand that feeds it" and that Beijing needs to understand the reality. Hoping to persuade China to reverse its position on Azhar, the Minister said, "If we do not recognise the dangers of terrorism, we might hurt others a bit but we will wound ourselves far more." The press conference was addressed by Singh and Akbar as External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, who underwent a kidney transplant last month, has not fully recovered. "China has its own problem of terrorism. China recognises it. China addresses them in bilateral agreements. We hope and are sure that China can be persuaded to see the depth and evil of the menace," Akbar said, adding India will continue to point out "absurdity" of the decision of the 1267 sanctions committee of the UN of not designating Azhar a global terrorist. He said only China blocked India's move as 14 out of 15 member countries agreed on taking action against Azhar. "There was only one hold out and we hope that the hold out disappears." Referring to terror infrastructure as well as the situation in Pakistan, Akbar said there has been instability in that country, adding these are "self-inflicted wounds". (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A senior city official in China today burst into a meeting and shot the city's mayor and secretary of the ruling Communist Party before committing suicide, in a rare case of gun violence in the country. The incident occurred in the southwestern Chinese city of Panzhihua, Sichuan Province, local authorities said. The city's Communist Party chief Zhang Yan and mayor Li Jianqin were injured around 11 am when they were participating in a meeting at a local conference and exhibition center, Xinhua agency reported. They have no life threatening injuries, officials of the information department of Panzhihua city said. The suspect, who was identified as the city's land and resources chief Chen Zhongshu, 54, committed suicide after the shooting, the report said without citing the reason why he went on a shooting spree. Zhang, the party secretary, has worked in Panzhihua since 2006, and the mayor, Li, has worked there since last year, according to Chinese reports. Both officials went to meetings and inspection visits with Chen previously, but there was nothing in the earlier reports to suggest trouble brewing. Photos on Chinese websites showed armored vehicles and paramilitary troops massed outside the exhibition center in the aftermath of the violence. Since China has imposed a virtual ban on private ownership of guns, gun-related violence are rare in the country. Because of this gun attacks on officials by colleagues are also uncommon. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Britain's Queen Elizabeth II, still recovering from a heavy cold, stepped out for the first time in the New Year to present an honour to a trusted member of her staff. The UK's Court Circular - a daily diary of royal engagements - recorded that the 90-year-old monarch invested Ray Wheaton, the Queen's Page of the Chambers, with the insignia of a Lieutenant of the Royal Victorian Order in Sandringham yesterday. Referred to as the LVO, the honour is the Queen's personal gift, presented independent of the Downing Street recommendation to those who have served her or the monarchy in a personal way. The Order was founded by Queen Victoria in April 1896 as a way of rewarding personal service to her. Buckingham Palace said the Queen continues to recuperate from her cold but has been attending to government papers, which come to the monarch in traditional red boxes. "She is continuing to recuperate and she is dealing with her regular red boxes of official papers," a palace spokesperson said. Earlier this week, the monarch had also sent a message of condolence to the President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, following the terror attack in an Istanbul nightclub on New Year's Eve which left 39 people dead and around 70 wounded. "Prince Philip and I were saddened to learn of the terrible attack in Istanbul on New Year's Day. Our thoughts are with the families of the victims and the wounded, and with the Turkish people at this time," shesaid in a statement. The Queen and her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, became ill in the run-up to Christmas and were late travelling to Sandringham Estate in Norfolk where they traditionally spend the Christmas period. She then missed the Christmas Day church service, which she has attended nearly every year for three decades, due to her ill health. The monarch also did not attend a New Year's Day church service. However, she is expected to attend church in Sandringham this Sunday. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Arunachal Pradesh unit of Congress today hit out at the Narendra Modi government accusing it of having a "backyard policy" of promoting 50 corporate families to "channelise" their black money and befooling the poor. AICC secretary and in-charge of party's state unit K Jayakumar described Prime Minister Modi as "anti-people" during a party meeting held here. "Modi was elected on his aid campaign of 'Acche Din' for 'Aam Aadmi', but his backyard policy of promoting 50 families of the country among the corporate sector have rather prompted to channelise their black money earned in various sectors as overseas investment and real estate business befooling the poor people," Jayakumar said. The state unit of Congress has formulated strategies for its anti-demonetisation campaign against the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre, a party release said. Rajya Sabha MP Ranee Narah, who is also the AICC coordinator for Arunachal, suggested constituting a state-level campaign committee with former minister Tako Dabi as its chairman for a pan-India campaign. He additionally asked the state unit to coordinate with AICC for nation-wide protest against demonetisation and anti-people policies of the Modi government, it said. Congress state unit president Padi Richo has directed all its members to remain united while fighting against demonetisation as per the programme set by AICC, the statement said. Former Chief Minister Nabam Tuki questioned Modi for failing in all his commitments before he was elected. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Congress today did not rule out the possibility of a pre-poll alliance with like-minded parties like Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh, while its chief ministerial face Sheila Dikshit offered to step aside in favour of a young Akhilesh Yadav. Soon after the announcement of poll schedule for five states including the key battleground state of UP, Congress kept its options open to ally with Samajwadi Party to stop the "fascist" forces from coming to power. Congress spokesman Shaktisinh Gohil told reporters that the party is preparing to contest all seats in the state as there is no talk of an alliance or an understanding today, but is ready to join forces with like-minded parties. "But if the issue of coming together of like minded parties will gain ground to defeat 'fascist and communal' forces, the Congress high command will take a decision in the matter," he said. Gohil welcomed the announcement of poll schedule by the Election Commission and said, "The Congress party is fully prepared to contest in these states". "We are confident that in four states, with the blessings of the voters, we shall form government," he said, adding that in Uttar Pradesh, Rahul Gandhi received a lot of support from people during his Kisan Yatra. Dikshit, when asked about her role in case of an alliance, said, "There are unconfirmed reports of an alliance with Samajwadi Party. If that happens, then certainly I would like to see a young chief minister of Uttar Pradesh." Dikshit said she has only heard from Akhilesh Yadav that if there is an alliance between Congress and his party, the results would be good. "If the report that Mr Akhilesh is going to lead the campaign (is true), then it would be proper for me to step out. If we get together, I would rather have him there than me," she said, adding that he is young as well as experienced. She, however, rejected suggestions that she was being made a "scapegoat" in Uttar Pradesh as she would abide by whatever the party decides and asks her to do. In Lucknow, Congress general secretary Ghulam Nabi Azad said, "As of now, we are working on the recommendations of the screening committee for all the 403 seats in the state ... what can happen in future will be known only later ... But there is a lot of pressure on secular parties (for alliance)." Azad, who attended the state party's executive committee meeting said, "The 36-member State Election Committee will meet here from tomorrow for three days in which names of the candidates will be finalised." The Congress leader, however, did not openly advocate alliance with any party for the coming polls. Talk of a possible alliance with Congress had hit a roadblock with SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav ruling out such a possibility and favouring only merger of parties with SP. With the Akhilesh faction breaking away from the original Samajwadi Party, the possibility of an alliance with Congress has brightened. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Maharashtra Congress today asked the state government to lodge a cheating case against the Centre for promulgating an ordinance staying its earlier decision to allow citizens to deposit the scrapped Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes in banks. Addressing a press conference, party spokesman Sachin Sawant said on November 8, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said that old notes could be deposited in banks by December 31, 2016, while the RBI would accept the old notes after the December 31 deadline. "Union Finance Ministry had issued a notification to this effect. However, on December 30, the Centre promulgated an ordinance saying that only those citizens who were out of the country after November 9, can deposit their old notes with RBI," he said. "Because of this ordinance, RBI has refused to accept old notes from citizens, who are now facing trouble since they could not deposit their notes in banks by December 31 for various reasons. Senior citizens protested outside RBI as well," he said. Sawant said due to the contradictory decisions of the Centre, citizens are feeling cheated. "This is an economic fraud and a Centre-sponsored loot on the hard-earned money of ordinary citizens. The state government should file a cheating case against the Centre," he alleged. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Bhiwandi crime unit officials in the last couple of days have arrested 13 persons and seized allegedly stolen property worth over Rs 55 lakhs, police said. Those arrested hail from various places like Virar, Pune, Gujarat, Dhule and Nashik, DCP (Crime) Parag Manere told reporters here today. "In the first case police arrested nine persons, of which five belonged to Sikalkar gang which operated in and around Thane. Police seized 755 grams of gold and 14.707 kgs of silver totally valued at Rs 26,02,767 from them," the officer said. They were wanted in various cases registered with Kapurbawdi police station and also with Mumbra police, said the official. Police also arrested three others from Vasai and seized allegedly stolen goods valued at Rs 20,94,389. The goods were stolen from Narpoli and the case was registered there, the DCP said. One person was arrested from Nalasopara and 100 allegedly stolen tyres of a popular brand worth Rs 8,87,315 were seized from him, the officer said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Keeping in view of the increasing demand, Japanese air conditioner maker Daikin has plans for setting up its third manufacturing plant in India and is evaluating various locations and options, a top company official said today. The company is in talks with Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana governments in this regard, however, any decision on setting up the third manufacturing unit is likely to be taken only after March 2018, Daikin Airconditioning India Managing Director Kanwal Jeet Jawa said here. "We have one manufacturing facility at Neemrana in Rajasthan. Already we have decided to put up a second factory also at Neemrana.. About 40 acre with an investment of Rs 600 crore plus. The second unit will be operational from September this year," Jawa said. "With the second plant coming up, the production capacity will go up to 12 lakh room air-conditioners a year, from the present five lakh units," he said. "Current capacity will not be sufficient after 2018. So at that time we will take a call to set up it (third factory) either in Maharashtra or AP or Telangana," Jawa said. Daikin Airconditioning India had a turnover of Rs 2,750 crore in last fiscal. It is expecting to clock a turnover of Rs 3,500 crore in current financial year. The company, which enjoys over 60 per cent market share in variable refrigerant volumes (VRVs) is targeting to increase its market share from 15 per cent to 18 per cent in room air-conditioning segment. "We plan to have 10,000 dealers by 2020 up from 4,000 dealers currently," Jawa added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) For Dana Awartani, her art practice - which includes paintings, drawings, embroideries and woodwork - doubles as both a medium for spiritual expression and a tribute to mathematical symmetry. The Saudi-Palestinian artist is exhibiting her unique style of embroidery at the ongoing third edition of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale (KMB). She marries history with symbolism to explore spaces for the contemporary within the bounds of the traditional. Through this, Awartani hopes to trigger a revival of Islamic art forms. "First, Islamic Art is not made for the sake of art alone. It is a sacred spiritual practice that is used as a way to worship God. It teaches one 'sabr' (patience) and respect. As a practitioner of Islamic art, my work is a form of prayer and 'dhikr' (remembrance). "I need to be 100 per cent focused and in a good mood to be able to do it, otherwise it doesn't work," Awartani said. Her exhibit, titled 'Love is My Law, Love is My Faith', features a set of eight embroidered cloth panels inspired by verses of 12thCentury Sufi poet Ibn Arabi on his experience in the holy city of Mecca, a KMB release said today. The panels, on display at David Hall, Fort Kochi, are arranged in order of decreasing size and intended as a spiritual journey towards the sublime. Awartani works within the mysticism of the Sufi tradition, which considers symbolism an essential means to approach and engage with the Eternal. She also has a deep fascination for geometry, through which she blends the art with mathematics. "Sufi poetry and teachings are layered with evocative symbols that strive to inform and awaken different levels of intellect, being and understanding. My effort is to familiarise Islamic art to the contemporary world using the medium of mathematics," she said. KMB 2016 curator Sudarshan Shetty said Awartani's deft use of traditional patterns in a contemporary form was impressive. "Her work stands out because it is based on the traditional methods and strategies of making objects, but is employed in a contemporary form. The nod to mathematics in her works adds to their distinctiveness," Shetty said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Puducherry Chief Minister V Narayanasamy today met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and requested the NDA government to declare the union territory as drought-hit besides sending a central team to assess the situation. He also discussed about cashless transactions with Modi and pitched for its phase-wise implementation because of inadequate availability of Point of Sale (PoS) machines and people's limited access to debit cards in the Union Territory. Puducherry Health and Tourism Minister Malladi Krishna Rao was also present during Narayansamy's meeting with the PM. "I requested the PM to declare Pondicherry as drought-hit and send a team to assess the situation and grant a relief package," Narayanasamy told media after the meeting. Farming community in the UT has been affected because of deficiency in rainfall upto 79 per cent. The water crisis has aggravated as the Cauvery water has not reached till Karaikal, he added. On cashless transactions, the Chief Minister said the issue was discussed with Modi in detail and suggested for slow migration from cash transactions to digital payments. Narayanasamy was here in the national capital to take part in pre-budget and GST meetings. In his meeting with PM, the Chief Minister said he has asked "for release of 70 per cent of non-plan expenditure of the UT that has been pending for the last five years". He also demanded funds for construction of a hospital in Yanam district. In a a telephonic conversation with union transport minister Nitin Gadkari, Narayanasamy said he demanded transit of 4 lakh tonnes of freight through Pondicherry from Chennai port apart from extending Vizag-Chennai Industrial Corridor till Pondicherry. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Delhi government offices will remain closed tomorrow as Lt Governor Anil Baijal today approved holiday on the occasion of the 350th birth anniversary of Guru Gobind Singh. The birth anniversary of the 10th Sikh Guru is being celebrated across the country with special festivities lined up in Patna Sahib where he was born. The Delhi government had recently sent a file to the LG office, seeking declaration of holiday on the occasion. "The Lt Governor has approved declaration of holiday tomorrow on the occasion of 350th birth anniversary of Guru Gobind Singh ji," an official said. Since he took charge, it is perhaps the first proposal of Delhi government that Anil Baijal's office has approved. Earlier this week, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had gone to Patna to pay obeisance at Takht Harmandir Sahib. Kejriwal's Patna visit during 'Prakash Parv' assumed significance as his party is eyeing to do well in Punjab Assembly election to be held on February 4. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Hollywood star Johnny Depp has claimed that Amber Heard is making a "blatant attempt to extend her 15 minutes of fame" through their divorce. In the documents in which the actress filed a Request for Order motion she claims that Depp has not lived to to his "obligations to me under the (settlement), including payments, allowing me to retrieve my personal property, transferring title of a vehicle to me and meeting regarding division of the furniture and furnishings in the residential units we occupied," reported E! online. Heard, 30, also denies Depp's request for USD 100,000 in court sanctions and is now seeking more money in the settlement to account for the additional attorney's fees and costs associated with her request. The 53-year-old star's team responded on December 30, claiming the actress is only using the divorce to seek more fame. "Her request is entirely unnecessary under the law and suggests a last-ditch effort to garner media attention and somehow further her public persona by virtue of proximity to Johnny Depp. From the inception of this dissolution Amber has sought to build a case in the court of public opinion. "Amber is now courting renewed media attention with this unnecessary Request for Order. Her application is not only a blatant attempt to extend her fifteen minutes of fame but also a waste of the Court's limited time and resources and an embarrassing grab for addition and unwarranted attorney's fees," the response states. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Sikh devotees from Delhi and Punjab are converging in Patna for the 350th birth anniversary of Guru Gobind Singh, even as gurudwaras in the national capital wear a festive look to mark the grand occasion. Bihar government has made elaborate arrangements, from tent cities to beautification drive, to host a sea of people, who have descended in the Bihar capital, from all parts of the world, to pay obeisance to the 10th Sikh Guru at his birthplace. While most of the 'sangats' have reached Patna, many are reaching there tomorrow, as the celebrations culminate in that city, after weeks of grand festivities. In Delhi, gurudwaras, from small to big, have been lit up and display banners of the 350th birth anniversary. The national capital is home to a huge population from the Sikh community, many of whom are in Patna to join in the festivities, while those who could not travel out, would mark the occasion here. From Punjab, thousands of people have already travelled by train, bus or flights, to reach Patna Sahib or Takht Harmandir Sahib, considered one of the holiest places by Sikh, after the Golden Temple in Amritsar. "Everyday six buses are travelling to Patna to ferry 'sangats' for the celebrations. People are travelling in big numbers, from Delhi and Punjab," a staff of Punjab Roadways said. Delhi's major gurudwaras include Sisganj Gurdwara in Chandani Chowk, Moti Bagh Gurudwara and those in south Delhi at Lajapt Nagar are decked up for the occasion. "This is a grand occasion and whether in Patna Sahib or here, we are united by one spirit. The teachings of Guru Gobind Singji is for humanity and this celebration is also a time to look back on his life and learn lessons for a better society," said a member of a gurudwara in south Delhi. A huge tent city has been erected in the famous Gandhi Maidan at Patna, and two more at the Kangan Ghat and Bypass Road. Inside Gandhi Maidan, a huge and striking replica of Takht Harmandir Sahib gurudwara has been erected while temporary ornate structures have been built around it, which have also been lit up, drawing a huge crowd. A special laser show has also been organised at the Mangal Talab, a pond located near Patna Sahib, which has been given a major facelift for the occasion. New guest houses have also been constructed to accommodate devotees coming from other parts of the country and world over, including Canada, the UK, the US and Australia. Patna Sahib railway station has been redeveloped on a larger scale and bathed in glittering lighting to welcome devotees arriving in Patna City by trains. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Commerce Ministry is planning to appoint a consulting agency for assistance in improving India's business climate and bettering its ranking in World Bank's ease of doing business index. The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), under the ministry, said the government has undertaken series of reforms to make India an easier place to do business in. But there is still need to do a lot more to achieve the vision of becoming top country in ease of doing business (EoDB), it said in its request for proposal for "assistance in ease of doing business initiatives and for improving country's ranking in World Bank doing business index". "There are major requirements of business reform initiatives to be undertaken by the concerned Ministries and departments for promoting EoDB in India," it added. It said in light of experience of last two years with the reform and ranking process, DIPP is expected to play a proactive role and provide insights to concerned ministries and state governments to ensure effective implementation of reforms. "In this regard, DIPP intends to on-board an agency to assist in improving the business climate in the country by ensuring effective and on ground reform implementation," it added. The main objective of the assignment is to assist central and state government ministries/departments/agencies to implement the business reforms in order to improve India's ranking to top 50 countries in next year's World Bank Doing Business assessment. The World Bank conducts annual study in 190 economies to assess the business climate in countries. The business climate is evaluated in terms of how easy or difficult it is for a local entrepreneur to open and run a small to medium-size business when complying with relevant regulations. The study is conducted across 10 indicators to arrive at a ranking. "It is observed that while many reforms were undertaken by central and state governments, the on ground impact on business remained minimal. Primarily, this has caused World Bank, in their Doing Business Report, 2017, to rank us at 130 out of 190 economies," it said. In light of this, it is required that focused efforts are made in each of the parameters to realise the top 50 ranking for India, it said. "The department proposes to engage a reputed consultancy organisation to assist in improving the business climate in the country by ensuring effective and on ground reform implementation on the 10 indicators," it said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The European Commission said today it regretted that Britain's ambassador to the EU Ivan Rogers had resigned, just as London prepared to launch fraught Brexit divorce negotiations. "We regret the loss of a very professional, very knowledgeable while not always easy interlocutor and diplomat, who always loyally defended the interests of his government," said Natasha Bertaud, a spokeswoman for the Commission, the EU's executive arm. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Taking advantage of the recent crackdown of Delhi Police on black money, some men posing as Crime Branch officers allegedly duped a mobile phone trader of more than USD 1,000 and Rs 4.25 lakh in new currency notes at central Delhi's Deshbandhu Gupta Road area, police said today. The victim, Sandeep Khurana, was called by four men asking him to meet them, they added. Of the four, three posed as Crime Branch officers and told Khurana that as part of their crackdown on black money on December 10, they had called him for questioning. The fourth person, whose office was the venue of the meeting, was an accountant known to Khurana, police said. The three fake Crime Branch officers allegedly slapped Khurana and threatened to implicate him in a false case involving black money, they added. They forcefully took away Rs 4.25 lakh and USD 1,015 from the victim, police said. The accused also told him that if he was found to be "innocent", the money would be returned. Subsequently, Khurana kept calling the accountant for the money but the latter kept on dilly-dallying, police said. Yesterday, the victim filed a complaint at Deshbandhu Gupta Road police station. The matter was being looked into and prima facie, it appeared that the three men who met Khurana were not real policemen, police said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A tourist from West Bengal and his son were killed and his wife was critically injured when the car in which they were travelling skidded off the road at Satasankha in Odisha's Puri district this morning. The mishap took place as the vehicle dashed against a culvert railing when the victims from Belgharia in West Bengal's North 24 Parganas were proceeding to the seaside pilgrim town of Puri, police said. While the man, identified as Manoj Kumar Dey (46) died on the spot, his son Mirzanka (10) succumbed on way to hospital, the police said. The woman was admitted to a hospital in Bhubaneswar for treatment where her condition was stated to be serious. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Former prime minister H D Deve Gowda today suggested that TMC supremo and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee should take legal recourse over the arrest of her party MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay by the CBI which smacks of "politicalvindictiveness' by the Centre. "... I don't know some of these things (arrest of Bandyopadhyay) gives room for people to think that the action taken by the central government is politicalvindictiveness," he told PTI after the Janata Dal (Secular) meeting here. "My only appeal to Mamata Banerjee is that things cannot be fought on the streets. Legally, she should fight. That is all my humble appeal is," he added. Gowda said he was not holding any brief for Banerjee, but the country knows she is not a corrupt, but poor politician. Bandyopadhyay, TMC leader in Lok Sabha, was yesterday arrested by CBI in the Rose Valley chit fund scam, provoking a violent attack by his supporters on BJP's state headquarters here which left several people injured and set off a fresh bout of recrimination between the two parties. Gowda alleged that were some ommissions and commissions in the scam, but Bandyopadhyay's arrest leads to certain confrontation. On the family feud in ruling Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh, Gowda expressed pain and hoped for a reconciliation between Mulayam Singh Yadav and his chief minister son Akhilesh Yadav in a day or two. "Will there be any reconciliation between father and son? Let us wait and watch. However, it is a very painful episode for me as Samajwadi Party has grown strongly in Uttar Pradesh under the leadership of Mulayam Singh," he said. Gowda also feigned ignorance about the cause of the family spat. "They may reconcile within a day or two, and also nobody can speak anything about the boy (Akhilesh) who has a face value. I don't know how the trouble started. They may reconcile within a day or two," he added. Yesterday, the split in the SP had been formalised, with the Akhilesh Yadav camp approaching the Election Commission to assert that the party was "actually" headed by the Chief Minister now and not its founder Mulayam Singh, who had knocked at the doors of the poll panel on January 2 to lay claim on the 'cycle' symbol. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Two police officials were injured today when two persons of rival groups opened fired at an undertrial in Yamunanagar court complex. Monu Rana was being taken out from the court after a hearing in a murder case when Sahil and his friend Gaurav fired shots at him, which hit two the policemen, police said. After the incident, Sahil was arrested on the spot while Gaurav managed to flee on a motorcycle, they said. Police recovered two pistols and eight cartridges from Sahil. An old rivalry between the two groups is stated to be the reason behind the shooting. The injured have been hospitalised and stated to be out of danger, police said, adding a case has been registered in this connection. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Creating history for a minority ethnic community that comprises just one per cent of the US population, five Indian Americans took oath as members of the Congress. 52-year-old Kamala Harris whose mother was from India and father from Jamaica of African heritage was sworn in on Tuesday as the Senator from California by the outgoing US Vice President Joe Biden. She is the first Indian-American to have ever served in the Senate. She was accompanied by her husband Doug Emhoff, sister Maya Harris and other members of her immediate family members during the swearing in ceremony. Harris, who before the swearing in held the position of California Attorney General replaced Senator Barbara Boxer, who decided against seeking re-election. She is one of the seven new Senators to have taken office in the new Congress. "Today I was sworn-in to the US Senate. I am humbled and honoured to serve you and the people of California. Let's get to work," Harris said immediately thereafter. After her elections, she has made it clear that her top priority would be to fight out the alleged divisive policies of the Republicans who are now in majority in both the House of Representative and the Senate. A few hours later, the focus of the community shifted to the House Chambers wherein as many as four Indian Americans were sworn in as its members, including Congressman Ami Bera, who has been re-elected for the third consecutive term. In the process, he equalled the record of Dalip Singh Saundh, who exactly 60-years ago became the first Indian-American to be elected as a member of the US Congress. Joining Bera were young and dynamic Ro Khanna (40) representing the Silicon Valley. He was sworn in on a bicentennial edition of the Constitution on loan from the rare books division of the Library of Congress. Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi, 42, who won the election from Illinois took the oath on Gita. He is only the second US lawmaker after Tulsi Gabbard from Hawaii to take the oath on a Gita. Gabbard, the first ever Hindu to be elected to the US Congress took the oath for third consecutive term. A record five Indian-Americans took oath as members of the US Congress, scripting history for the minority ethnic community that comprises just one per cent of America's population. 52-year-old Kamala Harris, whose mother was from India and father from Jamaica, was sworn in yesterday as the Senator from California by outgoing US Vice President Joe Biden. She is the first Indian-American to have ever served in the Senate. She was accompanied by her husband Doug Emhoff, sister Maya Harris and other members of her immediate family during the swearing in ceremony. Harris, who before the swearing in held the position of California Attorney General, replaced Senator Barbara Boxer, who decided against seeking re-election. She is one of the seven new Senators to have taken office in the new Congress. "Today I was sworn-in to the US Senate. I am humbled and honoured to serve you and the people of California. Let's get to work," Harris said immediately thereafter. After her elections, she has made it clear that her top priority would be to fight out the alleged divisive policies of the Republicans who are now in majority in both the House of Representative and the Senate. A few hours later, the focus of the community shifted to the House Chambers wherein as many as four Indian-Americans were sworn in as its members, including Congressman Ami Bera, who has been re-elected for the third consecutive term. In the process Bera, 51, equalled the record of Dalip Singh Saundh, who exactly 60-years ago became the first Indian-American to be elected as a member of the US Congress. Joining Bera was young and dynamic Ro Khanna (40) representing the Silicon Valley. He was sworn in on a bicentennial edition of the Constitution on loan from the rare books division of the Library of Congress. Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi, 42, who won the election from Illinois took the oath on Gita. He is only the second US lawmaker after Tulsi Gabbard from Hawaii to take the oath on a Gita. Gabbard, the first ever Hindu to be elected to the US Congress took the oath for third consecutive term. Having created a national niche for herself even before being sworn in, Pramila Jayapal (51) is the first Indian American woman in the US House of Representatives. Her 78-year-old mother, who especially came in from India, watched the proceedings from the gallery. "Today is not about me. It's about we. It is about the movement of hundreds of thousands of people in Washington's seventh Congressional District, a diverse coalition of people from all walks of life, who want to ensure that we continue to provide opportunity for all," she said. "In Congress, I pledge to draw on my experiences as a woman of colour, as an immigrant, and as a Washingtonian to speak out against injustice, even when it is not popular, to push for creative solutions to people's everyday problems, and to find common ground where it can be found," said Jayapal, who is one of only 23 Members of Congress born in another country apart from Krishnamoorthi. Less than a mile away, Indian-Americans from across the country gathered later in the night to celebrate the historic occasion at a gala organised by Indiaspora. "This is a historic moment. Today we are celebrating from success to significance," said M R Rangaswami, eminent investor, philanthropist and entrepreneur. "Today, we are actually one per cent of the Congress. We have come a long way but we have a long way to go," Rangaswami said. "The best of the (Indian American) community is yet to come," said eminent Indian-American Ashley Telis at a pre-gala conference, adding that more is in store from the next generation of Indian Americans. "Indian Americans running for office and winning for Congress is really historic," said political activist Neera Tanden. Jan Adhikar Manch, an outfit of fixed pay employees, today called off their agitation against Vibrant Gujarat Summit after Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani assured them of "positively" considering the demand for parity in salary with other state government employees. In a statement after holding meeting with Rupani at Gandhinagar today, leader of the Manch, Pravin Ram, announced that fixed-pay employees as well as contractual workers will not stage any protests during the upcoming Summit, to be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on January 10. "During the meeting, CM Rupani said that his government is positively considering all the demands of fixed pay employees. He also assured that state government would file a favourable affidavit in the Supreme Court on January 10. After that assurance, we have decided to call off our agitation," said Ram in a statement. An official release said the meeting remained fruitful as agitators were convinced with the assurances given by the CM and subsequently dropped their plans to disrupt the upcoming Vibrant Summit. Representatives of Jan Adhikar Manch were also informed during the meeting that government intends to recruit around 67,000 youths within one year, while 26,000 were already given employment. The state government also informed the agitators that a mechanism to ensure that companies opening their units in Gujarat employ 85 per cent local youths will be developed, said the release. On January 1, thousands of fixed-pay employees as well as contractual workers under the banner of Jan Adhikar Manch held demonstrations at Gandhinagar demanding parity in salary and abolition of fixed-pay regime. The agitators had announced that employees will disrupt the Vibrant Summit if the government does not come up with a concrete assurance by January 7. A day later, Deputy CM Nitin Patel announced that the government is mulling to induct maximum number of such fixed-pay wagers as regular state government employees. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) For M K Stalin, widely perceived to be a natural heir to DMK supremo M Karunanidhi notwithstanding his protestations, the elevation as Working President of the party caps his steady rise in the party in his nearly five-decade long political career. In a smooth 'succession', Stalin was today named Working President by the party General Council with all powers of the post of President, a position his 93-year-old father M Karunanidhi continues to hold. After steadily climbing in the party hierarchy from starting as a municipal-ward level representative to becoming the Treasurer and now the Working President, the 63-year old leaders enters a decisive phase in his political career. His elevation comes at a time when Tamil Nadu's politics is on the cusp of a change with the failing health of Karunanidhi, death of former AIADMK chief J Jayalalithaa and her aide V K Sasikala becoming the party General Secretary. Known as "Thalapathi" (commander) among his supporters, Stalin had held various posts in the party such as deputy general secretary and youth wing chief besides being a minister and later Deputy Chief Minister in his father's cabinet and Chennai Mayor. With affable and easily accessible traits, Stalin endeared himself to the party's rank and file more by taking up new initiatives. Through his "Pesalam Vaanga" (Come let us talk) and "Namakku Naame" (we for ourselves) state-wide tours in the run up to the elections, Stalin freely mingled with the common man and established himself as the man at the helm of DMK. In the past few years, Stalin could arguably be said to have steered the political discourse though AIADMK and the ruling establishment preferring silence on most issues, a striking feature when Jayalalithaa was at the helm. Stalin could now be expected to target the state government even more aggressively as he tightens his grip further over the DMK which had seen factional feud in the past. With no presence of his elder brother and former Union Minister M K Alagiri, in the party, there is none to stop Stalin DMK with top leaders who count firmly behind him. Madurai-based Azhagiri had in the past opposed elevation of Stalin saying he would not accept any one other than Karunanidhi as his leader, prompting the party patriarch to push the succession issue to the back burner. However, Stalin has a good rapport with his half-sister and DMK Rajya Sabha member Kanimozhi. Be it any issue including the Cauvery, agrarian distress or the civic polls, which were cancelled by the Madras High Court in October last on a DMK plea, Stalin got his party catapulted into the forefront of political narrative. Though victory eluded DMK in the last year's Assembly polls, in which he led the campaign, it was his proactive electoral field work that made the contest pretty close between his party and the AIADMK. DMK bagged as many as 89 seats making his party a robust Opposition, robbing the shine of the back-to-back winning march of ruling AIADMK a bit. Stalin became the Leader of Opposition for the first time. Stalin patiently waited for his elevation though his name was doing the rounds as early as 2007 when it was expected that he will be named "successor" of Karunanidhi at a party youth wing conference in Tirunelveli. All along, he had also scotched "rumours" that he was fed up with not being elevated. In 2015, he had dismissed as malicious rumours a claim that he had offered to quit his post of Treasurer as he was not allowed to contest for a higher post like that of general secretary in the organisational polls. Be it the reorganisation of party structure in 2015 when district party units were made 65 to accommodate aspiring party leaders and better field work, the organisational polls last year, selection of candidates for Assembly polls, the signature of Stalin was evident. However he continued to project his father despite his supporters wanting him to take over the mantle as he did not want to allow room for any dissent or suspicion from the old guard in the party. Born March 1, 1953 he campaigned for DMK in the 1967 elections when he was a 14-year old school student. He was incarcerated under MISA during the emergency in 1976. He became the party's Youth Wing Secretary in 1984 and since then he has been holding the post despite advancing years. Stalin's growth has been steady and he became party Deputy General Secretary in 2003 and was re-elected Treasurer for the second five-year term in January 2015. He became an MLA for the first time in 1989 from Thousand Lights constituency in Chennai, which he had won thrice. In 1996, he was elected Mayor of Chennai Corporation and re-elected in 2001. However, he had to make an exit from the post with the AIADMK capturing power and enacting a law that barred elected representatives also holding positions in local bodies. Groomed by Karunanidhi in governance, in 2006 Stalin became the Local Administration Minister in the DMK government and went on to become the Deputy Chief Minister in 2009. German prosecutors say an acquaintance of suspected Berlin Christmas market attacker Anis Amri has been arrested in a separate case. Frauke Koehler, a spokeswoman for federal prosecutors, said that the 26-year-old Tunisian had known Amri since the end of 2015 and the pair ate together at a restaurant the night before the December 19 attack. That led prosecutors to believe that the man may have known about the attack. But Koehler said that they don't currently have enough evidence to seek an arrest warrant. Koehler said the man's accommodation was searched on Tuesday and he's under investigation on suspicion of participating in plans for the attack. She said on Wendnsday, he was arrested in a separate case run by local prosecutors, but would not give details. Goa Forward party has written to Election Commission requesting that Union budget be presented after election process in five states, including Goa, is over as its scheduled tabling on February 1 could be utilised by the BJP to launch "populist" measures to "woo" voters. "Budget provides an opportunity only to the ruling party to announce populist schemes and programmes and thereby lure and woo the electorate," the party president Prabhakar Timble stated in a petition filed before ECI, without taking name of BJP. "Such power in the hands of ruling party kills the content and spirit of the election code of conduct and destroy the principle of free and fair elections," it said. The newly formed outfit is contesting five out of total 40 seats in Goa, going to polls on February 4. "Union Budget should be presented after the election process in all the five states is completed. The presentation of the budget and the announcements therein, which would basically to lure the voters, would demolish the level playing field for all political parties and contesting candidates," it said. Election Commission today announced schedule of Assembly elections to be held in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur between February 4 and March 8. Goa Forward has also filed a complaint with EC alleging that recruitments are on in various government departments in Goa in a bid to "lure voters." In a complaint filed before Joint Chief Electoral Officer Narayan Navti, Goa Forward spokesperson Durgadas Kamat has said, "despite the ban recruitments for the post of lower divisional clerk, upper divisional clerk, data entry operators are being undertaken in departments like Accounts, PWD and Handicraft corporation." Earlier this week, a number of opposition parties, including the Congress, wrote to President Pranab Mukherjee and Chief Election Commissioner claiming that the move to advance the budget is an attempt to influence the assembly elections. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Air Intelligence Unit of Mumbai Customs today detected three cases of smuggling involving gold, i-phones and new currency worth Rs 36.77 lakh. In the first case the customs officials apprehended three persons -- Firoj Iraqi, Abrar Naik and Mohammed Ibrahim -- who were leaving for Dubai. They were found to be carrying 245 notes of Rs 2,000 worth Rs 4.9 lakh. In another case Soraab Ali who had arrived from Riyadh was found carrying six gold bars of 10 tola each, weighing 696 grams in total and valued at about Rs 17.77 lakh. Ali had concealed the gold inside the battery of a rechargeable LED torchlight. While in the third case Harunrashid Patel, who had arrived from Adis Ababa, was caught with 65 used iPhones valued at Rs 14.10 lakh. Patel claimed that phones belonged to one Ayyub Patel who was to pay him Rs 65,000 for bringing them. Further probe was on. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Gour Banga University today decided to cancel affiliation of two B Ed colleges in north Bengal. Vice Chancellor Gopal Chandra Misra said the two colleges were Vivekananda College and Vidyasagar College. The VC said the varsity had to take the unfair decision in the greater interest of students. The decisions were necessitated as the students were not getting enough teaching scope despite reminders by the varsity, the VC said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Government today approved transfer of land for the purpose of establishing a Second Diplomatic Enclave in Dwarka in New Delhi that will house embassies and chanceries. The decision was taken at a meeting of the Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi here. The Cabinet approved "transfer of 34.87 hectares land in Sector 24, Dwarka, New Delhi, from the Delhi Development Authority to the Land and Development Office for the purpose of proposed Second Diplomatic Enclave", an official statement said. Currently, there is one Diplomatic Enclave in Chanakyapuri, where land has been allotted to the embassies by the Land and Development Office (L&DO). However, the Ministry of External Affairs had expressed need for more land for allotment to diplomatic missions and international organisations to build their chanceries and embassies in Delhi. "For this, DDA has earmarked 34.87 ha land in Sector 24, Dwarka, which will be transferred to L&DO. This will provide land for Second Diplomatic Enclave in the capital," the statement said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) More than 350 people, including two Padma award-winning environmentalists, participated in an indefinite dharna launched here today to save a piece of land inside the Agriculture College campus that has been earmarked for construction of a new building of the district court. Besides the environmentalists, students, agriculture scientists and farmers also took part in the sit-in where around 350 protesters were present. "This step would adversely hit the important agriculture research work going on since several years in the college campus," said environmentalist Govindan Kutty Menon, a Padma Shri awardee, at the protest site. Menon said the Madhya Pradesh Government should withdraw the proposal of constructing the court building on the land which belongs to Agriculture College. Instead, an organic agriculture research centre in the memory of former Chief Minister Sundarlal Patwa should be opened in the campus, he demanded. Another Padma Shri award winning environmentalist and photographer Bhalu Mondhe said, "A lot of open land is available across the city. The Government should construct the new court building at one of these places." At present, the district court building is situated at MG Road. Due to lack of facilities and inadequate space, the Government has proposed to construct a new court building on 20 acres land inside the college, which is spread over 150 acres. The dharna has been started to save the land. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Stalemate over GST continued with states hardening their positions on issues like territorial jurisdiction over high sea sales and control over tax assessees, even as Finance Minister Arun Jaitley hoped these matters would be resolved at the next GST Council meet. While April 1 rollout schedule has long been ruled out, non-BJP ruled states put the new implementation schedule not before September. Jaitley was non-committal on the roll-out dates saying "we know the difficulty, we are moving against time". The next meeting of the GST Council on January 16 would discuss the issue of jurisdiction over assessees as well as try to reach a finality on taxation of territorial waters. "The IGST law, having 11 chapters, was discussed today. The initial 10 chapters have been approved and some issues remain open because they are in the process of being discussed. We will be meeting again, because the nature of discussion was inconclusive, on January 16 and have a seating to conclude the discussion on those specific points," he told reporters here. Stating that the issue of territory is a complex issue, Jaitley said the area within 12 nautical miles into the sea is an Indian territory and a question is whose territory is it. "Conventionally service tax and customs are charged by Government of India in those areas. Some states had, as far as fishing business is concerned the Constitution provides for fishing rights to states in that area. Some states have been levying taxes in the nature of sales tax/VAT," he said Jaitley said since states have been levying these taxes, they want to continue to levy them, but the contra argument is that high sea area strictly doesn't fall within the definition of state and as per Constitution is an Union Territory. This issue is currently before the Supreme Court. "The case of states is we should be allowed to raise taxes. It is an issue on which Constitutional solution has to be followed and the solution has to be legally tenable... The issue is very close to resolution but we need a legal response to it, it has to be adequately tested," Jaitley said. Kerala Finance Minister Thomas Isaac said the other remaining issues before the GST Council include ways to fund the compensation to states for GST rollout and states participation in Integrated GST (IGST). "Working overtime, it should be possible to meet the deadline of September. I am not very optimistic about rolling GST out in June/July. Because it is a new tax and lot of complexity involved, it would be better to move in after full preparation. So GST, to my understanding, will be implemented from September," he said. Jaitley said the two main issues that remain to be iron out at the GST Council meet include definition of word territory and that of cross empowerment and dual control. He said Karnataka has suggested some formulation with regard to taxation in high seas, which will be considered. With regard to the issue of dual control which has been held up for long, he said a majority of states want to find a solution to the issue but the Centre would want to take every decision by consensus. "I have been consciously avoiding the voting. GST Council is a federal institution and a federal institution is a very delicate organisation. The fact that we have so far been able to resolve the issue by discussion, we want to establish this as a precedent of how the Council functions," he said. Some states like West Bengal and Kerala want a minimum turnover criteria be fixed to decide who control which assessee, a proposal the Centre is not agreeable to because states lack expertise on levies like service tax. West Bengal Finance Minister Amit Mitra said his party TMC's election manifesto of 2009 had GST and the party strongly supports the indirect tax regime. "But we can't have a GST which is non-sustainable, that does not work. Industry is saying that we are not ready for GST. GST Council is going section by section to see if GST can be sustainable," he said. Isaac said in today's meeting some states wanted the GST revenue from the highest tax bracket to be shared in 60:40 ratio with the Centre, instead of the present 50:50 sharing. "There are 4 different rates that have been fixed. Highest bracket is 28 per cent and of this how much will be the Centre and state's share, nowhere in the law it defines and it seems to be taken for granted it is 50:50. Ever since the Independence in the Centre-state financial relation the imbalance has been growing wider and states' rights have been curtailed. "That can be corrected by ensuring that state's share in GST will be 60 per cent. Many states also supported this. The Centre did not respond to the demand but it was decided to be discussed later," he said. Tunisian suspect Anis Amri smuggled the weapon used in the Berlin Christmas market attack across borders to Italy and used it in the shoot-out in which he was killed, police said today. Italian police said ballistic tests proved the gun fired at an officer in Milan was the same as the one used to kill the Polish driver of the hijacked truck which Amri is believed to have ploughed into the crowd on December 19, killing 12. "The weapon that killed the driver of the Berlin massacre truck is the same as the one Anis Amri used to wound a policeman in Milan," forensic police said in a statement. An investigation was underway to see whether the weapon had been used "in other criminal episodes, in Italy or elsewhere". Amri, 24, the prime suspect in the Berlin Christmas market attack, was shot dead after travelling from the Netherlands to France before heading to Italy. The Tunisian was approached by two policemen as he loitered outside a Milan train station. He fired at one officer before being shot dead by the other. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Haryana Public Works (Buildings and Roads) Minister Rao Narbir Singh today urged Japanese global automotive components manufacturer Denso International India to focus on development of Bhangrola and Kakrola villages located near its plant at IMT Manesar as part of its corporate social responsibility. Managing Executive Officer of Denso International India Private Limited, Nobuhiro Takahashi, along with other company officials, called on the minister here. Takahashi said that India has witnessed a positive change after the formation of the present government at the Centre. He said it was due to the support of the government that Denso has undertaken maximum expansion in the state. He praised the steps taken by the state government to improve highways, which improved transportation facilities. Singh presented a Special Recognition Certificate to Takahashi 'in recognition of his significant contribution in making advises and persuasions for infrastructure development to help industries and support expansion of business through new project establishment of Denso in Haryana state'. It was informed in the meeting that Denso was the first company which had set up its plant in Manesar, an official spokesman said. Denso has turnover of about Rs 3,500 crore in India. The company has its regional headquarters and manufacturing plant in Manesar, besides another manufacturing plant in Jhajjar. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Kerala High Court today deferred to February 13 the hearing on a revision petition filed by CBI challenging a special court verdict discharging Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and six others in a case related to alleged corruption in a hydel project deal with a Canadian firm two decades ago. Justice P Ubaid deferred the hearing after the counsels for both CBI and Vijayan sought adjournment on personal grounds. In the previous hearing, the court had posted the petition for continuous hearing from today. The revision petition was filed against the November 2013 Thiruvananthapuram CBI special court order, discharging Vijayan and six others from the case relating to alleged loss of Rs 374.50 crore caused by them to the state exchequer in the award of contract to Canadian firm SNC Lavalin for renovating three hydel projects in the state. Vijayan was then the Power Minister in the LDF government headed by E K Nayanar. The previous Congress-led UDF government had alleged that it was Vijayan who finalised the deal with the Canadian firm. In February last year, the high court had rejected a plea by the then state government for an early hearing of CBI's revision petition challenging the acquittal of Vijayan. CPI(M) had come out publicly against the then Congress-led UDF government, alleging that it wanted early hearing to build a case against the party and its leader Vijayan for political reasons. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) India positioned itself as a major player in 2016 in the fight against global warming, ratifying the historic Paris agreement and also playing a "constructive" role in the Marrakesh climate summit to ensure actions are based on principles of "equity and climate justice". Anil Madhav Dave, who took charge of the Environment Ministry in July, led the Indian delegation at the Marrakesh summit and also oversaw the signing ceremony of Framework Agreement on International Solar Alliance, to which over 20 countries are signatories. The ISA was jointly launched in 2015 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Francois Hollande at the CoP21 in Paris. It is an alliance of 121 solar resource-rich countries lying fully or partially between the tropic of Cancer and tropic of Capricorn. Countries including India at the Marrakesh summit agreed to conclude the framing of rules for the implementation of Paris agreement by 2018. India along with more than 170 countries signed the Paris Agreement at the UN General Assembly on April 22, 2016. Apart from this, India also played a very crucial role in another climate summit held in October after it ordered incineration or elimination of HFC-23, a potent greenhouse gas with high global warming potential, after it steered the negotiations on the amendment in Montreal Protocol for amendment for phase down of HFCs at Kigali, Rwanda. India also took the lead on other climate issues with Dave emphasising the relevance of Indian lifestyle and its low carbon footprint at negotiations for phasing down of HFCs in Kigali. One hundred and ninety-seven nations, including India, struck a legally-binding deal after intense negotiations in Kigali to phase down hydrofluorocarbons. India welcomed the pact saying it is a reaffirmation of the global intent to mitigate and exemplifies international cooperation in this regard. On the home front, poor air quality continued to be a concern for the government in the national capital as well as the Centre, as stubble burning in neighbouring states and burning of fire crackers during Diwali night and the week following it, led to quality of air deteriorating to "severe". Springing into action, the Environment Ministry reviewed the ambient air quality status of Delhi and also directed neighbouring states to effectively enforce the ban on stubble burning on October 31, 2016. On November 4, the Ministry held a meeting with NCR states on measures to control air pollution and also directed the chairman of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) to review the progress of action taken on measures to control pollution with the states concerned on a monthly basis. Given the poor quality of air, the ministry also decided to undertake such a review on a quarterly basis. The national capital had resembled a "gas chamber" as it had come under a thick cover of the pollutant-laden smog of scary proportions, forcing the residents to inhale 'severe' quality air, days after Diwali. On the contentious issue of genetically-modified crops, the Environment Ministry continued to assert it had not taken any final decision on allowing it to be grown commercially. Biotech regulator Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC), under the ministry, invited comments for the proposal on the authorisation of an Environmental release of Genetically Engineered Mustard on September 6. The regulator had constituted a sub-committee of scientific experts to examine the biosafety data on GM mustard. The report was placed on the Environment Ministry's website, inviting comments from stakeholders within a period of 30 days before the biotech regulator took a decision. The comments which were received were again sent to the committee for assessment. Upping the ante against such crops, an anti-GM group had alleged that subcommittee constituted by GEAC to examine the biosafety data on GM mustard, did not have any health expert and three of its members have a conflict of interest. Representatives of over 120 organisations from 20 states also gathered at Jantar Mantar to demand a ban on the commercial release of GM mustard. Meanwhile, the Centre had in October told the Supreme Court that it would not commercially release GM Mustard crop seeds without its permission. The ministry meanwhile notified the Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2016 which extended right to the village level to ensure proper plastic waste management right at the grass-roots level where plastic is now much in use. In as early as March, the ministry also notified the new environment standards for gensets running on (LPG), Natural Gas (NG), diesel with LPG, NG and petrol with LPG, NG operated in various cities and towns with an aim to control air and noise pollution. In March itself, the Ministry also notified the E-Waste Management Rules, 2016 which for the first time, brought the producers under Extended Producer Responsibility, along with targets. It also notified the new Bio-medical Waste Management Rules in the same month which among others mandated bar code system for proper control. At the same time in April, the ministry notified the revised Hazardous Waste Management Rules to ensure resource recovery and disposal of hazardous waste in an environment- friendly way and also for the first time made a distinction between hazardous waste and other wastes. The government also notified the Solid Waste Management Rules on April 5. The government also finalised the re-categorisation of industries as - Red, Orange, Green and White - based on the level of pollution they were emitting, while deciding on continuously monitoring disposal of pollutants from industries through 24x7 real-time monitoring system. One of Britain's largest Indian community organisations helda protest in London's iconic Piccadilly Circus, highlighting the plight of some of the first generation migrant Indian women in the UK who are abused and exploited by their spouses and let down by the system. Members of Indian Ladies in UK (ILUK), a 14,000-strong women's group made up of first generation female migrants from India, braved the December cold and became "homeless" for one night, sleeping rough on the frigid streets of London on December 23. They wantedto shed light on the plight of scores of women who have been left physically, mentally and emotionally abused and destitute by their spouses. Among the protesters wasa woman from Gujaratwhose British-Indian husband took her to India in mid 2016 only to abandon her and kidnap her children and take them to his parent's home in Madagascar. The woman who was identified as 'C' was left stranded in Delhi without money or her travel documents. She soon made contact with ILUK which helped organise a passport and an airline ticket back to Britain where she is currently pursuing legal action against her husband and his family. ILUK and its members have also organised accommodation and counselling for her as well as representing her in court. Another woman from Hyderabad, returned to London in October after a visit to India to find that she had been locked out of her home by her IT executive husband who claimed that he had obtained a divorce through the "triple talaq" system of Islamic divorce. She was left homeless before she made contact with ILUK who organised help for her. Many of the victims often have little knowledge about how to find help in what is, for many, a largely alien country and are often turned away by police and local councils with the excuse that they have "no recourse to public funds", a reference to their residency status in the UK. Poonam Joshi, founder of ILUK, said, "These are young women who come here with great hopes and dreams and are left in the lurch by the very people who they trust the most - their partners. "I firmly believe that we as a community need tocome together to help, support and empower these women so they can become better integrated into their new homes. This protest is a way of highlighting the work that we do and appeal to both the Indian and British governments to do more to protect these young women." Founded in August 2015, the ILUK group was created with the intention of providing a social media platform for first generation migrant women from India to connect, network interact with each other and to empower them. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Indian and Lanka Coast Guard today discussed various measures for the release and repatriation of arrested fishermen among other cooperation in the maritime security scenario. A three member delegation led by Director General Sri Lanka Coast Guard (SLCG) Rear Admiral Samantha Wimalathunge, is on a three day visit to India from yesterday for talks with the Indian Coast Guard. The Indian delegation was led by coast Guard chief Rajendra Singh. The visit was in continuation of the various efforts by the two governments in furthering cooperation between the coast guards of two countries on maritime issues of mutual concerns to formulate a cooperative approach, a statement by the Indian Coast Guard said. Of late the Lankan Coast Guard has been proactive in meeting the challenges in the new global safety and security regime in this region, the statement said. The focus of the meeting was on further strengthening the operational level interaction for search and rescue, preservation & protection of marine environment, revalidating operational & communication procedures between the two coast guards. Lankan delegation also called on the Defence Secretary G Mohan Kumar and deliberated on issues of common maritime interests. During the high level discussions, it was mutually agreed to strengthen the cooperation on evolving collaborative approach, in addressing a spectrum of maritime issues concerning safety and security and further streamlining the procedure for release and repatriation of fishermen, the statement said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Army chief Gen Bipin Rawat today supported the creation of a post of 'Chief of Defence Staff' saying integration among the three services and with the Defence Ministry is mportant. He also spoke about Lt Gen Parveen Bakshi, who was superseded by him and is currently on a month-long leave, saying the support extended by him was positive. Gen Rawat refused to get into the issue of ranks when told that the post of CDS is likely to be a five-star rank, which will be above the three service chiefs. "I would not like to comment on the rank structure of CDS but I would say that integration among three services and of the services with Ministry of Defence is important," he told PTI in an interview to PTI. If one is able to integrate, he said, the forces will be able to improve procurement procedure. "We would be able to also ensure that we have common logistics, and of course jointmanship will lead to better conduct of operations," he said. Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar is expected to meet Prime Ministry Narendra Modi shortly to take forward the plans on the creation of the post of CDS. The CDS will be a single-point military advisor to the defence minister on military matters. If it is a five-star post, he will have authority over the three chiefs but the chiefs will be over all responsible for the functioning of their individual forces. The post of CDS was recommended in 2001 following a review of the the national security system in the aftermath of the Kargil War. The recommendation, if implemented, would be the first major military reform by the Narendra Modi government, which has already announced significant changes in the procurement process. Speaking about Lt Gen Bakshi, the army chief said both have been "brothers in arms" and have served together. "Of course he was my senior and we have broken bread together. And I find that there has been no change, whatsoever, in the nature of support he has been extending to me after my announcement as Chief of Army Staff," Gen Rawat said. He added that the Eastern Army Commander is on leave for personal reasons. "As far as the kind of support he has extended, it has been very positive," he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) An imprisoned Iranian activist has ended a 70-day hunger strike after officials agreed to temporarily release his wife following a public outcry, Iranian media reported. Their cause won widespread support on social media and protesters rallied on Monday in support of the couple. Arash Sadeghi, who is serving 15 years in prison on charges of conspiracy, publishing false information and propaganda against the regime, launched the hunger strike in protest at his wife's prison conditions. Sadeghi's wife, Golrokh Ebrahimi Iraee, is serving six years for "insulting Islamic sanctities" and "spreading propaganda against the regime". The couple's lawyer Amir Raeisian said Sadeghi had given up the hunger strike after authorities agreed yesterday to grant Iraee temporary leave from prison. "Normally it will be five to six days and extendable," he told agency ISNA. "Arash Sadeghi will also be transferred to hospital for treatment." The ILNA agency reported that Iraee's family secured a deposit of five billion rials (USD 128,000) for her leave. Speaking to the judiciary-linked Mizan website, Tehran's chief prosecutor Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi on Wednesday confirmed the temporary release and the end to Sadeghi's hunger strike. He said Iraee could appeal her sentence and noted that under Iranian law, Sadeghi was eligible for release after serving seven and half years. Sadeghi's hunger strike attracted tremendous attention among social media users and high-ranking reformist officials. Monday's protest saw dozens marching outside Tehran's notorious Evin prison, where the couple was being held. The hashtag #SaveArash was among the top trends for a few hours on Twitter this week, even though the site is blocked in Iran. The head of the reformist camp Mohammad Reza Aref and outspoken lawmakers Ali Motahari and Mahmoud Sadeghi were among those who voiced concern for Sadeghi's health, according to the reformist Vaghaye daily. Motahari in a social media post thanked officials for granting Iraee leave and raised the case of another hunger-striking activist, Ali Shariati, whose case was also trending on Twitter today. Shariati is serving a five-year sentence for protesting outside parliament against acid attacks on women and has been on hunger strike for 65 days, Motahari wrote. "I hope judicial officials resolve this issue wisely to prevent human rights excuses for the enemies of the Islamic revolution," he wrote, posting a photo of a frail-looking Shariati in hospital receiving an injection. Last month Iranian President Hassan Rouhani unveiled a landmark bill of rights guaranteeing freedom of speech, protest, fair trials and privacy, in an apparent effort to rally reformist supporters ahead of a re-election bid in May. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) An Iraqi attack helicopter crashed today south of the Mosul battlefield, killing all four crew members, security officials said. "During an army aviation mission this morning, an aircraft crashed due to a technical failure," the Joint Operations Command coordinating the fight against the Islamic State jihadist group said in a statement. An official in the JOC said the entire crew was killed in the crash. "The crew of four -- two pilots and two technicians -- was killed," a captain in Iraq's army aviation told AFP. "They were heading to Qayyarah on a routine mission," he said, referring to an area that has been the main military hub south of Mosul since the launch on October 17 of an operation to retake the city from IS. The helicopter was a Russian-made Mi-35 gunship, he said. He said that the intensity of the war on IS recently meant that the necessary maintenance work on such helicopters was not always satisfactory. "There is a lot of strain on these aircraft, that have ust kept flying lately," the captain said, speaking on condition of anonymity. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) India's space agency ISRO will launch a record 103 satellites--all but three of them foreign--at one go on a single rocket in the first week of February in what will be a major feat not attempted by any country. As India looks to grab a larger slice of the lucrative commercial space market, 100 of the 103 satellites set for launch by ISRO's workhorse rocket PSLV-C37 in February from from its Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh belong to foreign nations, including the US and Germany. "We are making a century by launching over 100 satellites at one go," S Somnath, Director of the Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), told a plenary session on the second day of the ongoing Indian Science Congress here today. The space agency had earlier planned a launch of 83 satellites in the last week of January, of which 80 were foreign ones. But with the addition of 20 more foreign satellites, the launch was delayed by a week and will now take place in first week of February, Somnath said. He, however, did not specify the number of countries that would launch its satellites in this mission, but said it includes nations like the US and Germany. "These will be 100 micro-small satellites, which will be launched using a PSLV (Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle)- C37. The weight of the payload will be 1350 kgs, of which 500-600 kgs will be the satellite's weight," Somnath added. The launch will be a major feat in country's space history as no exercise on this scale has been attempted before. Last year, ISRO launched record 20 satellites at one go. The highest number of satellites launched in a single mission is 37, a record that Russia set in 2014. The US space agency NASA launched 29. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's pet South Asian satellite project, meanwhile, will take off in March. The South Asian satellite will be a part of GSAT-9, which will be launched in March this year, M Nageshwara Rao, Associate Director of ISRO said. The communication satellite was to be launched in December 2016, but was slightly delayed as some other satellites are to be launched before that. Sources said talks with Afghanistan to have the country on-board for the project is in its final stages. Envisaged as a gift to its neighbours, the project, earlier known as SAARC satellite, faced stiff resistance from Pakistan. The neighbouring country wanted it to be launched under the aegis of the South Asian regional forum. It later backed out of the project. Apart from India, the satellite will benefit Sri Lanka, Maldives, Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Italy vowed today to increase deportations of migrants whose asylum requests have been rejected, after a riot in a reception centre sparked by the death of a young woman. The country, which has been on the frontline of migrants arriving across the Mediterranean from North Africa, is pushing for an agreement with Niger and a renewed deal with Tunisia to facilitate returns. "We have saved many lives but we cannot accept rule-breaking. We need to speed up deportations," Foreign Minister Angelino Alfano, the country's former interior minister, said in an interview with La Stampa daily. He was "working to tie up agreements which will reduce arrivals and prevent departures" from the coast of North Africa, he said after a record 181,000 people were rescued from the Mediterranean and brought to safety in Italy in 2016. Asylum seekers set fires inside the reception facility near Venice earlier this week in a protest over living conditions and access to healthcare after a 25-year-old woman from the Ivory Coast died. The migrants cut the electricity and forced social workers to barricade themselves in their offices at the centre in Cona, where 1,500 people were housed in a space designed for 15 according to the local mayor. The nearby hamlet, which has just 190 residents, has seen the number of migrants lodged in flimsy tents balloon over the past year. Protesters had complained of a delay in calling an ambulance for the woman, who died in a bathroom of a blood clot. Some 100 people were transferred today from the Cona centre to Bologna, where they were destined for other facilities. They were met by a small group of Italian demonstrators holding banners reading: "Solidarity with those who revolt". Interior Minister Marco Minniti said at least one "Centre for Identification and Expulsion" (CIE) will be opened in every region of Italy in the coming weeks, where those who have had their asylum request rejected will be held before deportation. Returning migrants is a costly, time-consuming process that requires bilateral agreements with the countries of origin. Alfano said three countries were "key" to tackling the biggest migrant crisis since World War II: Libya, Niger and Tunisia. The EU believes just over half the migrants arriving in Italy travel first through Niger and last month it offered Niamey 610 million euros (USD 635 million) to curb transit towards Europe. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) US Secretary of State John Kerry spoke to Pakistani Finance Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar over the phone on (IWT) issue and encouraged both the South Asian neighbours to work together to resolve their differences. "I can confirm that he (Kerry) did speak on the 29th of December with Finance Minister Dar. I am not going to read that out in any great detail," State Department spokesperson John Kirby told reporters at his daily news conference. "The IWT has served, as a model for peaceful cooperation between India and Pakistan for now 50 years. We encourage, as we have in the past, India and Pakistan to work together to resolve any differences," Kirby said. However, he refused to entertain questions on if the US has offered help to India and Pakistan resolve the issue. "As I said, we encourage India and Pakistan to work together bilaterally to resolve their differences," he said. "We are in regular communication with the Indian and Pakistani governments on a wide range of issues," Kirby said. Earlier, Pakistan had sought the support of the US on the implementation of the IWT with India even as Secretary of State John Kerry had called for an amicable settlement of the issue between New Delhi and Islamabad. The US today asked India and Pakistan to work together bilaterally to resolve any differences over the key Indus Water Treaty while skirting questions whether it would mediate between the two nations to settle the issue. US Secretary of State John Kerry spoke to Pakistani Finance Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar over phone on the Indus Water Treaty issue. "I can confirm that he (Kerry) did speak on the 29th of December with Finance Minister Dar. I am not going to read that out in any great detail," State Department spokesperson John Kirby told reporters at his daily conference. "The Indus Waters Treaty has served, as a model for peaceful cooperation between India and Pakistan for now 50 years. "We encourage, as we have in the past, India and Pakistan to work together to resolve any differences," Kirby said. However, he refused to entertain questions on if the US has offered help to India and Pakistan resolve the issue. "As I said, we encourage India and Pakistan to work together bilaterally to resolve their differences," he said. "We are in regular communication with the Indian and Pakistani governments on a wide range of issues," Kirby said. Earlier, Pakistan had sought support of the US on the implementation of the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) with India even as Kerry had called for an amicable settlement of the issue between New Delhi and Islamabad. The development came after Pakistan was irked by the World Bank pause in mediation to resolve differences over construction of two water projects by India. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Jammu and Kashmir Governor N N Vohra has greeted the people of Jammu and Kashmir on the auspicious occasion of the birth anniversary of Guru Gobind Singh. In a message, the Governor observed that Guru Gobind Singh ji was a warrior and a philosopher-poet who strived for establishing a society based on equality, brotherhood and respect for women. He said that the values underlying the teachings of the great Guru should guide our endeavours to establish a just social order. The Governor expressed hope that this auspicious occasion would usher the state towards peace, progress and prosperity, strengthen the bonds of communal harmony and brotherhood and re-invigorate the secular traditions which have been the hallmark of the glorious heritage of Jammu and Kashmir for the centuries past. The Governor prayed for the well-being of the people of the state. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Delhi Minister Satyendar Jain today slammed the CBI for the recent searches at the office of his "former" OSD in Delhi Secretariat and wondered why the probe agency doesn't investigate the appointments of OSDs by Union Ministers. "If the CBI has to conduct raids on the issue of appointment of OSD to the Delhi Health Minister, you can imagine where the level of the probe agency has reached," he said The CBI had on December 29 registered an FIR in connection with alleged irregularities in the appointment of Nikunj Aggarwal at Chacha Nehru Bal Chikitsalya and subsequently as OSD to Jain. The next day, it carried out searches at office of Aggarwal in connection with the case. According to Delhi government, there was no irregularity in appointment of Nikunj Aggarwal. "Since October, he has not been holding any official post in the Delhi government as the Health Minister had discontinued his service. Aggarwal had been appointed on contractual basis," a senior official had said after the CBI's searches. Jain said that there was no need for a CBI search if the Centre had asked him as to how the appointment of Aggarwal was made. "In the Central government, there are 73 ministers. They (CBI) should also ask Union ministers as to how they have appointed their OSD. Why doesn't they (CBI) ask them whether they had issued advertisements, sought approval from someone before appointing their OSD," the Delhi Health Minister asked. He claimed it is the prerogative of a minister to appoint his OSD or hire his personal staff. To a question on whether officers are afraid of such incident (CBI searches), Jain said although the working atmosphere gets affected, officers should work honestly. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) With rivals opposing presentation of Union Budget before polls, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today defended the move and asked why are the opponents afraid of it when they also claim demonetisation is an unpopular decision. "These are the those political parties which say that popularity of demonetisation is very low. So, why they are afraid of the Budget," Jaitley told reporters here. When asked about the presentation of the Budget in March 2012 after the elections in states, including Uttar Pradesh, he said, "This is not a tradition (for following) everytime." "Interim budget is presented just before Lok Sabha elections. No one has stopped that. Even in 2014, interim budget was presented some days before the general elections. This is a constitutional necessity." With a view to start spending on welfare and other scheme right from Day 1 of the fiscal year, the government has shed long-standing tradition of presenting the Budget on the last day of February. It yesterday decided to convene the Budget session of Parliament from January 31 and present the Budget for 2017-18 fiscal the very next day. Punjab and Goa go to polls on February 4, followed by elections in three more states, including Uttar Pradesh. Some political parties have gone to President and the Election Commission against February 1 budget. Political parties including Congress, Left, Samajwadi Party and BSP have voiced reservation against the move as they feel budget may be used to announce sops to influence voters. Jaitley said starting expenditure early is one of the objectives behind advancing the Budget as following previous year patterns led to spending beginning after monsoon months. "The actual expenditure must start from April rather than half the year being lost and starting after the monsoons. That is the whole object of this exercise and we stand by that exercise," he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Brother of a JD(U) MLA, along with two others, was named in an FIR today lodged in connection with the alleged murder of journalist Braj Kumar Singh at Salkhani village here in the district. The FIR has been registered against Lal Babu Singh, brother of JD(U) MLA from Bibhutipur Ram Balak Singh, Kamal Kishore Kamal, elder brother of the the slain journalist and his sister-in-law Kiran Kumari, Officer in-charge of Bibhutipur police station Sanjeet Kumar said. Besides the trio, the FIR, filed by Shyam Kishore, the eldest brother of Singh, mentions five unidentified persons in the gruesome gunning down of the journalist late last evening, the OC added. Singh was the youngest of the three brothers, Kumar said. Preliminary investigation suggests that the murder is a fallout of a property dispute, he added. Meanwhile, the body, after post-mortem, was handed over to the slain journalist's family members today for the last rites to be performed at his native Salkhani village. Around five-six unidentified persons opened fire at Singh, killing him on the spot. Singh was associated with a prominent Hindi daily. He also ran a brick kiln where he was shot dead by the gunmen. The murder has drawn widespread anger. Last year in November, Dharmendra Singh, a journalist of a prominent vernacular daily, was shot dead in Rohtas district, apparently over his articles on illegal stone chip units. Hindi daily Hindustan's Siwan bureau chief Rajdeo Ranjan was shot dead in Siwan district in May, 2016. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A court in Sri Lanka has asked the army to submit by January 30 the list of persons who had surrendered to it during the final phases of the war with the LTTE in 2009 as it heard a case related to individuals who allegedly disappeared after surrendering. The Mullaithivu district judge M S M Samsudeen yesterday asked the army to submit the list by January 30, KS Ratnavel, an attorney said. The magisterial order came as a Habeas Corpus case was heard in respect of those LTTE members who had allegedly disappeared after surrendering. The military at the previous hearing had said they were in possession of a list of those who had surrendered. However, Ratnavel had argued the list contains the names of those who had been sent to the government rehabilitation and not those who had allegedly disappeared. The government said it had successfully rehabilitated over 8,000 of the LTTE cadres who had surrendered. According to the UN figures, up to 40,000 Tamil civilians were killed by security forces during the Mahinda Rajapaksa's regime that brought an end to the nearly three decades-long war with the defeat of the LTTE. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Lebanon's new government has issued key decrees to prepare the way for oil and gas extraction off its coast, after more than two years of political deadlock had stymied previous efforts. The decrees, which came today, authorize regulators to divide the offshore areas into blocks for drilling and exploration and to issue tenders. Earlier this decade, geologists discovered a bonanza of gas reserves off the coasts of Lebanon and Israel, sparking a frenzy of development on the Israeli side to tap into the fields. Lebanon's government, beset by infighting and corruption, made only marginal progress toward that goal. A portion of the reserves lies in territory disputed by the two countries. The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah has issued numerous threats warning Israel not to tap into Lebanon's gas reserves. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A suspected militant belonging to the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) has been arrested from north Kashmir's Kupwara district, police said today. Acting on an intelligence input, a joint team of police and army arrested Ashiq Ahmed alias Abu Haider from Handwara area of the district, a police spokesman said here. A cache of arms and ammunition, including an AK-47 rifle, three magazines, a Chinese Pistol with a magazine, three hand grenades, a magazine pouch and a map, was seized from him. During interrogation, Ahmed said he was a close associate of Abu Bakar -- an LeT Commander who was killed in an encounter in Sopore township last month, the spokesman said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Madras High Court today orally ordered the arrest within 48 hours of a sub-registrar, facing charges of registering a property when its owner was in an unconscious state. Justice R Mahadevan directed Additional Public Prosecutor Emilias to inform authorities concerned that Sub-Registrar of Neelangari here M G Dhamu should be arrested within 48 hours, failing which police will have to face the consequences. He then posted the matter to January 24 for further hearing. The judge passed the order during the hearing of a petition filed by Sakthi Kumar of Thiruvanmiyur here seeking quashing of a case filed against him by police in connection with the registration of his father's property in his name. The Additional Public Prosecutor earlier informed the court that the Sub-Registrar had applied for anticipatory bail after a case was registered against him for allegedly colluding with Kumar and registering the document of the property of the man's father when he was in an unconscious state. The case was registered on the direction of the high court on a petition by Kumar's sister. Kumar, who had been arrested on December 23, in his petition contended that police had not followed due process of law and arrested him. He also questioned the police action in a civil dispute of a family. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Maharashtra government has given the Mayor's bungalow at Shivaji Park in central Mumbai on a 30 years lease for a memorial of the late Bal Thackeray, the Shiv Sena founder. According to an ordinance issued by Urban Development Department yesterday to amend the Mumbai Municipal Corporation Act, the commissioner was empowered, with the sanction of corporation, to grant any immovable property belonging to the corporation for the purpose of Thackeray memorial. Sena MP Vinayak Raut made announcement of government decision at a party meeting today. He told PTI that the Mayor's bungalow and adjoining premises will be handed over to Balasaheb Thackeray Memorial Trust which is headed by Sena president Uddhav Thackeray. "The memorial project will be planned in such a way that heritage structure on the premises is unchanged. Details will be decided later," he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) In a bid to help farmers to get better prices for their produce, the Maharashtra Government has decided to organise 'Krushi Mahotsav' (agriculture festivals) in 34 districts of the state, a senior official said. As per the plan, the Agriculture Technology Management Agency (ATMA) will coordinate to organise these five-days long festivals for the next three years. These events are planned be held in all the districts of Maharashtra except Mumbai city district and Mumbai suburban district. The state took the decision to this effect yesterday and as per the plan, each district will get Rs 20 lakh to organise the event, the official said. According to the official, the state government had been organising these agriculture festivals since the last decade and farmers were encouraged to take part in the district-level event, where they could sell their produce directly to consumers. However, due to the severe drought the event could not held in the last two years. "In the last couple of years, these Mahotsavs were held only at a few places. This was mainly due to water scarcity and reduced agriculture production," the official said. "However, since there was a good rainfall and rise in foodgrain production this year, the government has decided to promote the festivals, so that farmers will earn better than what they earn through conventional way-- supplying their foodgrains to APMCs (agriculture produce market committees), where commission agents control the rates," he added. He said these Mahotsavs could be organised as per the convenience of the local administration any time between October and March. The kharif cropping season is from July to October, while the rabi crop is harvested by March. Therefore, if the festivals are held during this period, farmers can sell their crop there. Maharashtra Minister of State for Agriculture and Marketing, Sadabhau Khot, said, "Such events will certainly support farmers as their earning would be more than the conventional trading. The farmers should also be trained for efficient way of handling the foodgrain to reduce the losses in transport. This will not only save the loss of foodgrain, but also keep the prices under control. Such practice will avoid fluctuation in prices due to the shortage of supply or excess production. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A maid, who was physically assaulted allegedly by her employer in northwest Delhi's Mukherjee Nagar area, died today at a private hospital. The accused employer, Atul Kr Lohia, was arrested three days back after the condition of the maid deteriorated. Lohia was later released on bail. "The accused employer was arrested three days back since the condition of the woman was deteriorating. A medical board will conduct post mortem of her body to ascertain the exact cause of her death. Section 304(culpable homicide) has been added to the case registered in this regard earlier," said a senior police officer. DCW chief Swati Maliwal took to Twitter to share of the maid's death. "Terrible. She has died due to brutal beatings by employer. Section 302 shud be added to FIR. Placement agency need to be regulated in Delhi!" she tweeted. The placement agency owner, Ganesh Burman, and a woman agent were also arrested in connection with the matter. The alleged woman agent, Saraswati, who had brought the maid from her employer's home after she was "physically assaulted was also arrested last month. It was found that Barman used to lure women through agents from areas like West Bengal on the pretext of jobs in Delhi. Saraswati, who claimed to be her relative, brought her from her employer's home and kept her in a room, police said. The maid was suffering from tuberculosis and when her condition deteriorated, Saraswati took her to RML hospital and left, they added. Police said the agent and the placement agency owner allegedly used to threaten to file cases against employers of the maids and extort money from them. The maid's mother had also come from West Bengal and had been taking care of her daughter who was later shifted to a private hospital where she died today. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) AProfessor of Management Studies at Jamia Hamdard University in Delhi has donated one of his kidneys to a stranger in Kerala,suffering from renal failure and undergoing dialysis. "I wanted to give lease of life to someone while I was alive," said Sakhi John, a native of Thiruvalla in Kerala, fulfilling this resolve by donating one of his kidneys to 44-year old Shaju Paul, a labourer from Peechi in Thrissur district. The transplantation took place at the VPS Lakeshore Hospital here on December 28 last. Paul was selected as the recipient from those who had registered with the Kidney Federation of India, founded by Fr Davis Chiramel, a kidney donor himself, according to a hospital release here today. "When my father passed away in 2011, his eyes were donated. Later when I met the ophthalmologist who had conducted the transplants on two recipients, he told me how they could see the world again because of my father," 45-year old John. "That was when I thought of donating my organs," said John, who has been working with AIDS patients and had been actively associated with an NGO working for slum kids. In 2015, John met Father Chiramel and volunteered to donate his kidney. Paul, who was the sole breadwinner of the family, comprising his wife Shibi and children Alwin and Angel, had lost all hope when he was informed in July last year that both of his kidneys were damaged. It was when John came as an angel with the gift of life. But, money was a matter of concern for Shaju, who was a daily wage earner, till the villagers of Manakkuzhi in Peechi, came together and collected Rs 22 lakh to fund the transplant. According to the hospital authorities, both the donor and the recipient are in good condition. John was discharged on January 2 and Shaju has been shifted to room, they said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The ripples of the ongoing economic blockade in Manipur were today felt in the national capital with rival Manipuri and Naga groups staging protests over the tense law-and-order situation in the state which will go to polls in March. While members of the Delhi Manipuri Society highlighted the "humanitarian crisis" due to the indefinite economic blockade imposed by the United Naga Council (UNC) since November 1, the Naga groups demanded imposition of President's Rule in the state. The UNC had imposed the blockade against the creation of seven new districts in the landlocked state by bifurcating the existing ones. "It is a question of survival. The blockade is inhumane. People are facing extreme difficulties in terms of food, medicines, fuel. The essentials to lead a normal life are either absent or beyond the reach of the common man. Is the government scared of the UNC? Is there something called rule of law?", Delhi Manipuri Society vice-president Sangeeta asked. A large number of Manipuri youths took part in the day-long sit-in at Jantar Mantar here with posters containing messages demanding an immediate end to the blockade. Meanwhile, members of the Joint Naga Civil Societies demonstrated outside Manipur Bhawan alleging that "Manipuri mobs backed by the state government" had "attacked" Naga civilians after December 18. "We demand President's Rule because the law-and-order situation in Manipur is bad. New districts have been carved out undemocratically and UNC leaders are in jail. Nagas are not safe under the Manipuri security forces," Lakpachui Siro, convener of the committee, said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The country's largest carmaker, India (MSI), today opened online booking for its premium hatchback 'Ignis' that it plans to launch next week. "India's largest passenger vehicle maker opens online booking for #IGNIS, the premium urban compact vehicle, for the millennials," the company said in a statement. The model will be launched at an EDM concert on January 13, featuring Axwell, Swedish DJ, record producer and remixer, it added. This is for the first time an option of online booking has been introduced through Nexa's exclusive website, MSI said. The new model will be sold through the company's Nexa premium outlets. Customers can book the model with an initial payment of Rs 11,000. The car will be available in 1.2 litre petrol and 1.3 litre diesel engine options. It will also offer automatic gearshift option in both. This will be the entry-level car for the premium Nexa chain, which also sells Baleno and S-Cross models of the company. At present, MSI has 197 Nexa outlets in close to 115 cities in India. The Ignis will be produced at MSI's Gurugram (earlier known as Gurgaon) plant and is meant mainly for the domestic market. A day after his party's leader in Lok Sabha, Sudip Bandyopadhyay, was arrested by CBI, West Bengal Finance Minister Amit Mitra today staged an angry walkout from a pre-Budget meeting saying there was 'financial emergency and 'political environment of fear' in the country. Mitra, who was in full attendance at the two-day meeting of the GST Council chaired by Jaitley that ended today, said the Union Budget had become a "meaningless" exercise after Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his address to the nation on new year's eve, made announcements similar to a Budget presentation. He said that before walking out, he made the Union Finance Minister, who had called the meeting, hear the expectations of States on his fourth budget to be presented on February 1 and also make him aware of the "financial emergency" imposed by demonetisation and the job losses it has led to. "I wanted the Finance Minister to hear the reality on the ground, the financial emergency in the country, the political environment of fear all around," he told reporters after emerging from the meeting. Bandyopadhyay was arrested by the CBI in Kolkata yesterday in connection with the Rose Valley chit fund scam -- a move that promoted West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to allege that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was using central agencies like the CBI, Enforcement Directorate and Income Tax department against his political rivals who were raising their voice against demonetisation. The Trinamool Congress, he said, is today demonstrating against "the political emergency that seems to have happened at every nook and corner on every matter." Mitra also said currency demonetiation has led to closure of small industries and left hundreds jobless across the country, including the BJP-ruled States. While the leather industry in West Bengal has completely collapsed, closure of 12 lakh powerlooms in Maharashtra had led to workers returning to their native places in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Telangana. In case of Maharashtra, the red chilli industry has collapsed, falling by 30-40 per cent; while in Nagpur, oranges industry has collapsed, he said. "There is a financial emergency that is not being talked about. Even the data that Honorable Finance Minister gave on his receiving taxes, none of the media got the facts as he gave it from April to end of November, not after November 8," he said. Mitra said, he wanted Jaitley to hear the truth. "I would like to say to you today with a very heavy heart that I have walked out of the meeting after making my presentation...," he said. The Budget, he said, has "become meaningless for the first time in the history of India. Budget has already been announced by the Honourable Prime Minister. It doesn't happen anywhere else. Given this perspective, I had to protest it and I had to walk out in protest. Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) will contest all the seats for the Yavatmal Zilla Parishad and 16 Panchayat Samiti election to be held in near future, a party office-bearer said. "This time we have decided to field our candidates in all the seats for both Zilla Parishad and Panchayat Samiti," party's state vice-president Anand Embadwar told reporters here in a press conference yesterday. The party has already started collecting application forms from the aspirants. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Faced with an insistent barrage of attacks from Narendra Modi supporters on social media, Congress today accused the Prime Minister of being the "first leader in the free world to run an army of trolls". Party spokesman Ajoy Kumar claimed that the rise of Modi as the Prime Minister is "directly linked with exponential rise of abuse and hate-mongering on digital media." Given the low entry barrier, relatively hidden identity and zero accountability, creating and propagating fake and attacking individuals based on race, gender, religion, region and caste has been the "modus operandi" of BJP, he alleged. "It is unprecedented that Prime Minister of the country follows, meets and actively encourages such trolls," he claimed. Sadhvi Khosla, a former Modi supporter, has recently "exposed" these scandalous practices to a noted journalist. "Shockingly, the troll army are now senselessly attacking Khosla and the journalist," said Kumar at the AICC briefing showing video clips of the trolls and detailing how some businessmen were active in this campaign from the beginning. He claimed that some of these scandalous practices to "berate, humiliate and threaten" are by identifying people, who have written anything criticising Modi, and attack them, bully them, threaten them with a view to silence their voice into submission. Citing an instance, he alleged that morphed and vulgar pictures of Nandana Sen, daughter of Amartya Sen were circulated over social media only because of criticism of the Prime Minister by the Noble laurete. "This troll army did not even spare the son of former Union Minister Arun Shourie, who is challenged by Cerebral Palsy, only because Shourie dared to criticise Modi," he added. Political activists criticising Modi and his policies have suffered the worst kind of lewd, dirty and filthy abuse and treatment online, Kumar claimed. He said he wanted the Prime Minister to tell as to who are these trolling individuals and organisations whom he "hosts, follows, encourages and protects?" "Why does Modi act as the benefactor, protector, nurturer of these hate mongers and misogynists?" he said, adding whether the Prime Minister would show courage of conviction to constitute a special committee under judicial supervision to identify and punish such scandalous troll army involved solely in suppression of opinion and indulging, abuse, hate, communal polarisation, threats and pushing morphed and scandalous content. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Suspected Muslim rebels staged the Philippines' biggest jailbreak today when they stormed a dilapidated jail in the violence-plagued south of the country, freeing 158 inmates and killing a guard, authorities said. The attack added to a long history of daring jailbreaks in the southern Philippines, home to a decades-old Muslim separatist insurgency as well as extremist gangs that have recently declared allegiance to the Islamic State group. More than 100 armed men believed to have been led by a local Muslim guerrilla commander attacked the jail in Kidapawan city about 1:00 AM (local time) in what appeared to be a well-planned raid to free fellow rebels, jail authorities said. "There are high-value targets in our custody who were the subject of a rescue operation," jail warden Peter John Bonggat told AFP. Six of the escapees were killed and eight captured as security forces hunted them in nearby farmlands throughout today, according to Bonggat. The assailants were heavily armed and overwhelmed the 24 guards at the jail, according to Bonggat, who was involved in the effort to repel the gunmen and said one of his officers had been killed. At least 158 prisoners escaped, Bonggat told AFP, although it was unclear how many of those were linked to the attackers or were just other inmates who took advantage of the chaos. Bonggat said the jail, which housed 1,511 inmates, was a run-down former school building located in a forested, secluded area. Kidapawan, 950 kilometres south of Manila, is home to various Muslim rebel groups, criminal gangs and communist insurgents. "We have many Muslim personalities (in the jail) that are members of various organised, syndicated groups," Bonggat said. He said the attackers were believed to be militants who had broken away from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the nation's largest Muslim rebel organisation which is in peace talks with the government. Acting provincial governor Shirlyn Macasarte said authorities had been tipped off that one of the breakaway groups, the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, had been planning the jailbreak. "We had reports that a group of BIFF members wanted to rescue brothers who were involved in killings and had experience of making bombs," Macasarte told ABS-CBN television. Islamic militants have staged a series of raids on poorly funded and secured jails in the south over the past 15 years that have led to mass escapes, but authorities said today's was the largest. "It is the biggest ever jailbreak in our history," Bureau of Jail Management and Penology spokesman Xavier Solda said. "We were really underpowered and undermanned." Militants have attacked the Kidapawan jail repeatedly. In 2007, gunmen freed 49 inmates there. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Bodies of film producer-realtor Abis Rizvi and fashion designer Khushi Shah, who were among 39 people killed in the Istanbul terror attack, arrived here early today. "The Turkish Airlines plane carrying the bodies landed at Mumbai airport shortly after 5 AM," BJP MP Kirit Somaiya, who received the bodies at the airport, told PTI. While Rizvi's body has been taken to his home in suburban Bandra, Khushi's body was flown to Vadodara for cremation later today, he said. Rizvi's burial will also take place today. The flight carrying the bodies left Istanbul last night. Khushi and Rizvi were among the 15 foreigners who were killed when a gunman went on a rampage at the waterside Reina nightclub in Istanbul where revellers were celebrating the New Year. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Mughal road, which connects Jammu region's Poonch district with Kashmir's Shopian area, has been closed for vehicular traffic due to snowfall at Peer ki Gali and its adjoining areas. The road has been closed from today for vehicular traffic between Chandi Marh in Bufliaz sector and Heerpora in Shopian sector with immediate effect till further advisory from the authorities concerned, an official spokesman said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Nepal's Speaker Onsari Gharti Magar today urged Prime Minister Prachanda to forge consensus with the agitating opposition parties before the next Parliament session on Sunday to end the long-pending political stalemate over the Constitution amendment. Gharti met the Prime Minister at his residence in Baluwatar to make the request in order to resume the House meetings which have been disrupted since November last year. Prachanda, in response, expressed his commitment to end the stalemate and forge consensus with the agitating political parties, including Madhesis, local media reported. Meanwhile, the leading political parties have begun fresh talks after the Supreme Court's order to let the Parliament endorse the second Constitution amendment bill, which aims at addressing the concerns of Madhesis - largely of Indian-origin - and other ethnic minorities. The main opposition CPN-UML has also hinted it would not obstruct the House meetings anymore. Opposition parties, including the CPN-UML, have been obstructing the House proceedings time and again protesting the Constitution amendment bill registered by the ruling coalition. Press Advisor to the Speaker, Babin Sharma said Gharti told the Prime Minister that she was ready to conduct the House meeting despite the obstruction if parties fail to reach an understanding. Prachanda tried to assure the Speaker that an accord will be reached soon. "I am working to forge a consensus on ending the deadlock in the House. I am optimistic that an accord will be reached before the parliament meeting slated for Sunday," Sharma quoted the premier as saying. The Speaker yesterday held separate meetings with the leaders of other political parties to request the same. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) An Israeli soldier was convicted of manslaughter today in the deadly shooting of a badly wounded Palestinian attacker, capping a nine-month saga that has deeply divided the country. The verdict, which marks an extremely rare case of an Israeli military court convicting a soldier for lethal action taken in the field, threatened to deepen the rift. Military commanders have condemned the soldier's conduct while much of the public, along with leading members of the nationalist ruling coalition, have rallied behind him. With Sergeant Elor Azaria's sentencing believed to be weeks away, the country now faces a heated debate over whether he deserves clemency. Within minutes of the verdict, leading politicians were already calling for him to be pardoned. Under Israeli law, the country's largely ceremonial president has the authority to issue a pardon. Hours after the verdict, Prime Minister called for Azaria to be pardoned, plunging into the raging political debate that has divided the country and putting himself at odds with the military. On his Facebook page, Netanyahu wrote: "I support granting Elor Azaria a pardon." He also urged the public to support the army and its commanders. Azaria, an army medic, was caught on video in March fatally shooting the wounded Palestinian who had stabbed a soldier in the West Bank city of Hebron. The Palestinian, Abdel Fattah al-Sharif, was lying on the ground and already unarmed when Azaria shot him in the head. In delivering the verdict, which lasted nearly three hours, Colonel Maya Heller, head of a three-judge panel, rejected Azaria's defense in painstaking detail. She said there was no evidence to support his contradictory claims that the attacker was already dead or that he posed any threat at the time, telling him he "couldn't have both sides of the stick." She called his testimony "unreliable" and said he "needlessly" shot the assailant. "We found there was no room to accept his arguments," she said. "His motive for shooting was that he felt the terrorist deserved to die." Azaria faces a maximum penalty of 20 years behind bars, though he is not expected to receive that much time. The military said he would be sentenced on January 15. The defense team said it would appeal. The 20-year-old Azaria entered the court smiling and appearing confident, and he was embraced by a few dozen relatives and friends. But as the verdict was delivered, he stared gloomily ahead, and tensions quickly boiled over in the cramped, crowded courtroom. JNU students, whom the varsity has punished for indiscipline in connection with the controversial February 9 last year event, today told the Delhi High Court that they were never told by JNU that a high-level enquiry committee (HLEC) was carrying out disciplinary proceedings. "It was only an enquiry committee, set up purely to enquire. It was to be a fact-finding exercise. No one knew it was a disciplinary proceeding," the lawyer for JNU student Umar Khalid, who was arrested by the police in connection with the event, argued before Justice V K Rao. "It (HLEC) was not set up to find someone guilty and punish them. It was set up to enquire into the incident and then recommend what action was to be taken," Umar's counsel Akhil Sibal said. He also argued that his client was first found guilty of indiscipline and then was charged for it. He contended that no notice of enquiry was served on the student, who was in hiding for several days before surrendering after which he was in jail till March 18, 2016. After hearing arguments on behalf of Umar and Anirban Bhattacharya, the court listed the matter on January 9. Till then the interim order putting on hold the varsity's decision would continue, it said. Besides Umar, Anirban and former JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar were also arrested by the police in the sedition case which was lodged after the event during which anti-India slogans were allegedly raised. The court was hearing appeals by 21 students, including Kanhaiya, against the varsity's order holding them guilty of indiscipline in connection with the February 9 event. The students have contended that not giving them due opportunity to defend themselves against the charge of indiscipline, violated the principles of natural justice. They have also challenged their punishment which ranges from rustication for a few semesters to withdrawal of hostel facilities. The appellate authority of the university had rusticated Umar from JNU till December 2016, while Bhattacharya was asked to be out of the varsity for five years. Kanhaiya, Khalid and Bhattacharya were earlier arrested in a sedition case in connection with the February 9 event on the campus against hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru during which anti-national slogans were allegedly raised. They are now out on bail. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) There have been no extremist-related incidents in Tripura during the last two years but insurgents are still in hiding in neighbouring Bangladesh, a top police official said today. "There were no extremist related incidents in Tripura for the last two years. Combating insurgency in the state became possible due to the coordinated efforts of Tripura police, BSF, CRPF and Assam Rifles and overwhelming support from people, but some camps still exist in neighbouring Bangladesh," Director General of Police K Nagraj told reporters. The state has been ravaged by insurgency for the last three decades. He said, "It is a pride for Tripura police that it is being recognised as a role model for containing insurgency." The overall crime report has come down 16 per cent in the last year as compared to the previous years, Nagraj said. "A detailed analysis shows that property offences were down by 17 per cent, crime against women by 21 per cent, bodily offences by 11 per cent and motor accident cases by 14 per cent during 2016 as compared to previous years," he said. The DGP said multi-pronged strategies like opening new women police stations, women helpdesk in all police stations, close monitoring and enhancing women police force have contributed to reducing the crime against women in the state. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Closed since 2002, the Odisha government is hopeful on the revival of the Talcher Fertiliser Plant of the Fertiliser Corporation of India by 2020, officials said. "The defunct unit will be revived at an investment of Rs 8,000 crore. Four companies will pump this amount," Odisha Chief Secretary A P Padhi told reporters, after presiding over a coordination committee meeting attended by Joint Secretary, Union Ministry of Fertiliser and Chemicals, over the revival of the Talcher Fertiliser Plant in the state. Padhi said that the Gas Authority of India Ltd (GAIL), Rashtriya Chemical and Fertiliser Ltd (RCF), Coal India Limited (CIL) and Fertiliser Corporation of India Limited would pump money for the revival of the plant. Padhi said that the plant would require 5 MMT of coal per annum and after it was commissioned, it would produce 1.2 MMT of fertiliser per annum. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), after a series of deliberation, had in 2014 decided to revive the Talcher Unit. The Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (BIFR) ordered the closure of Talcher unit in 2002 as it was making consistent losses. The previous UPA government in 2012 had made the revival plans. The fertiliser plant, after its revival, would create direct employment opportunities for 550 people and indirect job to 4,000 people, officials said, adding, the state government would provide land, water and road communication for the smooth functioning of the plant. The Chief Secretary also said the plant would procure coal from the MCL and power from the GRIDCO, instead of going for a captive mine and an independent power plant. A decision has been taken to revive five plants including the Talcher unit, said Union Fertiliser and Chemical joint secretary S K Lohani and work would begin after the tender process is finalised. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, which has been monitoring the pro-Russian insurgency in eastern Ukraine, said today it was displeased with the "status quo" in the 32-month conflict. The OSCE's new chairman, Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz, said the organisation was "not satisfied with the status quo we have now" during a visit to the government-held city of Mariupol outside rebel-controlled regions. "We want to make efforts to see change for the better," Kurz told reporters. During his two-day visit to Ukraine's war-torn east, Kurz stressed the importance of implementing the so-called Minsk agreements designed to bring an end to a conflict that has claimed 10,000 lives since 2014. "Although there are many concerns surrounding the state of these agreements, I must say that the situation at the time of their signing was worse than it is now," he said. "And it could be even worse." Kurz added that expectations regarding the possible deployment of an armed OSCE police force in rebel-held areas needed to be "realistic." Kiev has pressing for an international armed police presence in the region so that it can be brought under control and seal Ukraine's porous eastern border with Russia -- allegedly used by rebels to smuggle in weapons and supplies. But the idea of arming the OSCE mission has been met with resistance by the pro-Russian "people's republics" in the industrial regions of most Lugansk and Donetsk. Kiev and the West have accused Russia of supporting the rebels and deploying troops across the border, claims Moscow has repeatedly denied. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Over 100 clerics were among 150 people arrested today in Pakistan's Punjab province for trying to hold a rally to 'celebrate' the killing of liberal governor Salmaan Taseer in 2011 over the controversial blasphemy issue. Defying prohibitory orders, clerics gathered here to hold a rally on Main Boulevard in Gulberg area to 'celebrate' Taseer's sixth death anniversary, local media reported. Protesters belonging to religious parties like Sunni Tehreek, Tehreek-i-Khatme Nabuwat and Tehreek-i-Labbaik Ya Rasool (SAW) were among those who had planned to march from Kalma Chowk to Liberty Chowk in Lahore to eulogise Taseer's killer and express support for blasphemy laws. Taseer was killed on January 4, 2011 in Islamabad by his bodyguard Mumtaz Qadri for allegedly criticising the blasphemy laws in the country - a hugely sensitive issue in the country. A police official said that the clerics had planned two separate rallies in Gulberg and the Mall Road areas of the city. The government banned the Gulberg protest while allowing the clerics to hold a rally on the Mall Road. Defying government decision, hundreds of supporters of the three religious groups gathered in Gulberg for a rally but police went into action, disrupting the protest and arresting around 150 of them, over 100 of whom were clerics, local media reported. Protesters also put up dozens of banners in Lahore and other cities declaring Qadri as a hero. Senior police officials said no one had permission to hold a rally in Lahore. They added that the Punjab government had not allowed the demonstrators to hold any rally in Lahore and police would block routes and make arrests if necessary. Main area and arterial roads were blocked and police personnel were heavily deployed across the city. Due to the diversions, capital of Pakistan's most populous province also witnessed severe traffic jams along certain routes. Qadri was apparently infuriated when the governor visited a Christian woman called Aasia Bibi, who was given death sentence for alleged blasphemy, and on the occasion he termed blasphemy regulations as 'black law'. Qadri, who was arrested and convicted of murder, was hanged in Rawalpindi's Adiala jail in 2016 and buried in Bhara Kau area of Islamabad where his supporters are constructing a shrine to honour him. Blasphemy laws were enacted by former military ruler Ziaul Haq in 1980s and clerics have refused to allow any reforms in the laws despite concerns about their misuse. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Various political parties today welcomed the announcement of assembly elections in five states with BJP exuding confidence of victory due to the "positive undercurrent" post demonetisation and Congress urging Election Commission to ensure free and fair polls. "State elections are fought largely on the state-level issues...(but) there is a positive undercurrent for BJP across the country which is what we have seen post-demonetisation. "There is a strong undercurrent. Therefore, we expect to win all the states...Our stakes are the lowest, but our gains are going to be highest," BJP national spokesperson GVL Narsimha Rao said. To drive his point, Rao cited the examples of the party's impressive show in the recently held by-elections and civic polls, particularly in Gujarat and Maharashtra. He said BJP is now going to be an "important player" in the poll-bound states of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Goa and Manipur. Stating that BJP did not enjoy a big strength in Manipur earlier, he said, his party has done really well in the by-elections there. Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala described the polls to the five states including Uttarakhand and Manipur, where his party will seek another term in row, as a 'yagna' of democracy and urged the EC to ensure "free, fair and independent polls". "We also hope that the use of muscle power, abuse of government power and misuse of money power will be checked once and for all and it will be good for democracy," he said, while welcoming the poll schedule. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, whose AAP is fancying chances of clinching power in Punjab and Goa, claimed the situation in the two states, where the BJP is in power or sharing it, is "bad" and people want to bring in an "honest" government led by his party in the upcoming polls. "Both in Punjab and Goa, the situation is bad. In Punjab, people want to throw the BJP coalition government and bring in an honest AAP government so that they get freed from drugs and corruption," he said. Sanjay Raut, an MP from NDA constituent Shiv Sena, said poll preparations of the saffron party are "complete", particularly in northern states and BJP-ruled Goa. "Shiv Sena is holding an important meeting chaired by party president Uddhav Thackeray where such issues will be discussed. Our preparations are complete for the polls," he said. Naresh Agrawal, who was recently expelled by Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh in the midst of feud within the ruling party of Uttar Pradesh, insisted the EC to see the budget session announced by the central government be postponed to ensure that the voters do not get influenced. "The manner in which the budget session has been convened in between the polls, we will urge the Election Commission to get it postponed, the way 2012 budget session was postponed, to ensure free and fair poll," Agarwal said. Targeting the BJP and Samajwadi Party, BSP leader Sudhindra Bhadoria said both the parties have caused "harassment" to people through goonda raj and demonetisation respectively and that the Mayawati-led party was "eagerly" waiting for announcement of dates to take on them. Meanwhile, Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Singh hailed the EC's decision to hold elections in the state in one go, a move, which he said, was in line with a request his party had made to the EC to ensure proper law and order situation during polls period there. "This is good, we will beat both the Akali-BJP coalition and the AAP and they will know where Punjab is standing," he added. Congress' Chief Ministerial candidate in Uttar Pradesh, Sheila Dikshit, too said the party will go for a time-bound programme in the politically crucial state and "will contest to win". BJP leader from Uttarakhand, Vijay Bahuguna, said people from the hill state were "awaiting" to throw the "corrupt and anti-people" Congress government, led by Harish Rawat. He said the party will bank on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's canvassing to gain power. With the government taking steps to promote intellectual property rights, filing of patents by Indians have increased by about 2 per cent to 8,273 during April-November this financial year. According to the data of the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), domestic filing of patents stood at 8,130 during April-November 2015-16. However, filing of applications by foreigners have dipped to 21,142 in the nine months period of the current fiscal as against 23,105 during the same period previous year. During the April-December period, overall filing of patent applications declined to 33,193 as against 35,430 in the corresponding period previous fiscal, the data showed. "The numbers have come down because foreign fillings have dipped," Joint Secretary in DIPP, Rajiv Aggarwal, told reporters here. On the other hand, the number of applications for trademarks increased to 2,09,563 in April-December as against 2,07,923 in the same period of previous year. Talking about the awareness programmes on intellectual property rights (IPRs), Aggarwal said that Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has launched an IPR Enforcement Toolkit for police. He said that this toolkit is a ready reckoner for police officials across the country in dealing with IP crimes, specifically Trade Marks counterfeiting and Copyrights piracy. In addition to details of offences under various laws, it provides for checklists for registering a complaint and conducting search and seizures. It also lays down general guidelines for search and seizure in case of IP crimes. This toolkit will be provided to all state police departments across the nation and will assist them in dealing with the cases relating to Trademarks and Copyrights infringements. "We will translate the kit in other regional languages also. We have already conducted two workshops in Andhra Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. The response from police officers were very encouraging," he added. The toolkit has been jointly prepared by Cell for IPR Promotion and Management (CIPAM) and FICCI. The DIPP has asked all the police training academies to include this issue in their training programmes. Similarly, for school children also, the department has prepared certain text on IPR. "We have written to public school association, CBSE and the Delhi government regarding increasing awareness among children on IPR," he said adding content will also be prepared for college, universities and industry. This exercise is part of the plan under the National Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) policy to spread awareness about this important issue. CIPAM is collaborating with the International Trademark Association to launch an IPR awareness campaign for children. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) NCP chief Sharad Pawar today condemned the vandalisation of a bust of Marathi playwright and humorist Ram Ganesh Gadkari at a civic park in Pune by a pro-Maratha organisation. "It needs to be condemned. Battle of thoughts should be fought only with thought. I have not come across any such writing (as alleged by those who vandalised the bust) by Gadkari," he said, speaking to reporters here. The bust was knocked down and taken away in the wee hours yesterday before the police recovered it today. Sambhaji Brigade, a pro-Maratha group, claimed responsibility for the act, saying it was done in retaliation for the "poor portrayal" of King Shivaji's son Sambhaji in a play written by Gadkari. About the off-shore memorial of Shivaji in Mumbai, which is estimated to cost Rs 3,600 crore, Pawar said his party welcomed the plan to build a memorial, but it should be considered how much money is to be spent on it. "We (when NCP-Congress were in power) had made provision of Rs 100 crore for the same, but the present memorial is going to cost thousands of crores," he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Police rescued a 2-year-old girl who was kidnapped from central Delhi's Paharganj and arrested the person who had abducted her. Twenty year old Rakesh was also known as Falak and Iksha when he appeared in women clothing, among local eunuchs of Paharganj was arrested from Trilokpuri last night in connection with the kidnapping of the 2-year-old girl on January 2, said MS Randhawa, DCP(central). A complaint was filed by mother of the girl, Rukhsana at Paharganj police station regarding kidnapping of her daughter. A case was registered and investigation was undertaken to identify the accused who kidnapped the girl. Rukhsana told police that one 'Behrupia' known to her as Rakesh used to come to her house for last 2-3 years. She alleged that he abducted her daughter after taking her with him on the pretext of buying her eatables. During investigation, police learnt that the address or phone number of the accused were not known to the complainant. However, they learnt that he was seen with eunuchs of the area. The local eunuchs when contacted by police for a lead, a photograph of the accused was obtained from them. Complainant identified the accused and a manhunt was launched to arrest him, he said. The cops managed finally to trace the accused in Trilok Puri. Eunuchs there again helped police in pinpointing address of the accused and he was finally arrested and the girl was rescued from his aunt's house, said the officer. Further investigation is in progress to explore the motive of accused behind kidnapping of the girl child although he claimed during interrogation that he liked the girl and took her away. He added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A host of political leaders and celebrities including Tamil film Superstar Rajinikanth, have congratulated DMK leader MK Stalin, who was elevated as the party's Working President here, today. Stalin who paid homage to former Chief Minister CN Annadurai and "Thanthai" Periyar at their memorials, was greeted by various political leaders, a party release here said. Union Minister of State for Road and Shipping Pon Radhakrishnan, Puducherry Chief Minister V Narayanasamy, Tamil Nadu Congress Committee President Su Thirunavukkarasar, BJP State President Tamilisai Sounderrajan and Tamil Maanila Congress party President, GK Vasan were among those who greeted Stalin for his elevation. Tamil Film Superstar Rajinikanth and noted lyricist Vairamuthu conveyed their wishes to Stalin over telephone, the release added. Sixty three-year-old Stalin, also the Opposition Leader of the State Assembly, was elevated to the post of Working President at the General Council meet held today at Anna Arivalayam, the party headquarters here. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The high-stakes assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh will be held in seven phases between February 11 and March 8, while Punjab and Goa will go to polls together on February 4, Uttarakhand on February 15 and Manipur in two phases on March 4 and 8, with counting to be held on March 11. Announcing the poll schedule for five states, Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi said the seven-phased UP Assembly polls for 403 constituencies will be held on February 11, 15, 19, 23, 27, March 4 and 8. He said over 16 crore people will participate in these polls for a total of 690 constituencies in five states, for which the Commission has set up 1.85 lakh polling stations, which are 15 per cent more than those set up in 2012 polls. The CEC flanked by the two Election Commissioners A K Joti and O P Rawat announced that the poll process will commence with the issue of notification on January 11 for Punjab and Goa polls where candidates can start filing their nominations. "The Model Code of Conduct will come into immediate effect and will apply on political parties and state governments concerned, besides the Central government in terms of announcements in these states," Zaidi told reporters. The CEC said candidates will have to open a fresh bank account for all election expenses and all expenses above Rs 20,000 will be made through cheques from their respective accounts. He added that all donations will also be accepted through cheques. The maximum limit for expenses for each candidates in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Uttarakhand is Rs 28 lakh, while that in Goa and Manipur is Rs 20 lakh, he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Puducherry Chief Minister V Narayanasamy today urged the Centre to declare Puducherry and Karaikal districts as drought-hit regions. Narayanasamy made the appeal when he met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi, a release from the Chief Minister's office issued here said. Narayanasamy also presented a detailed memorandum in this regard to the Prime Minister and also sought hike in allocation of funds for the Union Territory to meet its budgetary commitments, it said. He was accompanied by Puducherry Health and Tourism Minister Malladi Krishna Rao. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A 200-year-old ancestral house in Margao town is getting spruced up to welcome its family member and Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa, during his Goa trip on January 11-12, which is a part of his India visit. "Christmas has just concluded, so right now I have to clean up the house. I will spruce up the house a bit. We will prepare meal for him. But it would be a private affair. During his India visit, he needs private time with his family where he can talk to us and rest a bit," said Anna Kaarina Costa, the first cousin of the Prime Minister, who currently lives at the Costa house located on Abade Faria Road of Margao. For 55-year-old Costa from Portugal, which ruled the state till 1961, this would be his second visit to the house, the first being when he was a teen and had come with his parents. Anna, who is a hospitality industry professional, would be cooking for her cousin, whom she describes as a very low profile person. "I really don't know what his favourite food is but he is quite a foodie himself," she says remembering the time when she met him in April last year in Lisbon, soon after he was elected as the Prime Minister of Portugal. "He is just coming here for a quick visit. He will come here for quick meal. There is no much time to take him around," she said. "He is the only cousin I have. For me to meet him, I still have to think that he is the Prime Minister, for me first he is my cousin. I could have thought of having a big bash here but I feel he should get some private time, some rest and spend some time with us," she said. At Costa House, Anna lives with her mother, husband and a daughter. "I had requests from people asking 'do you think he can visit us'. But I told them, I can't say. Security has already asked us where he will be having food," she said. Speaking about her Portugal trip, Anna described how the Prime Minister drove his own car to join the family in a restaurant for a meal. When asked whether she had invited him to Goa, Anna said "I didn't invite him but we mentioned that Goans were waiting for him to visit and he said that he was planning a visit to Goa. He did not know which month. He said it will all depend on the government and invitations coming from here." "When we went to Portugal, we stayed with his brother. But we met him one evening at a restaurant close to his brother's place. He stays little outskirts of Lisbon. Second time we met him for my daughter's birthday at his brother's house in Portugal, that time also he came driving his own car and there was not a security." For Costa's Goa visit, the security from Lisbon had arrived with officials from Portuguese Consulate in Goa to see the House. "They spent some 10-15 minutes and went away," she said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Police today said a preliminary investigation into the murder of former Puducherry Agriculture Minister VMC Sivakumar here suggested that previous enmity was the reason behind the killing. Sivakumar was hacked to death at his native town Neravy-TR Pattinam in Karaikal district yesterday by an unidentified gang. The gang had first hurled a country bomb on Sivakumar when he was inspecting a building construction work. However, as it failed to explode, they attacked him with sickles killing him on the spot. District Senior Superintendent of Police V J Chandran said a preliminary investigation suggested that previous enmity between the gang members and Sivakumar was the reason behind the murder. Chandran said a few months back Sivakumar had lodged a complaint fearing threat to his life following which police security was provided to him. "The gang suddenly entered the construction site and threatened the police constable on security duty at knife point. They had snatched the away the gun possessed by the constable and hacked Sivakumar to death and fled the scene," Chandran said. Three special teams had been formed to nab the culprits and trace the gun, he said. Sivakumar belonged to the powerful political family in the district known as 'VMC family'. In nine elections to the Puducherry assembly from 1977 to 2011, only the members from the VMC family have been elected from the Neravy-TR Pattinam constituency. Apart from VMC Sivakumar, who was elected five times, other MLAs from his family include his elder brother VMC Varadhapillai and his son VMCV Ganapathy. Only in the 2016, a person outside from the VMC family was elected in the assembly polls. Between 1996-2000, he served as the speaker of Puducherry assembly and between 2000-01, he served as the agriculture minister. Until 2011, Sivakumar had been with the DMK. In 2011, he was denied DMK ticket and contested as an independent and won. In 2015, he joined the AIADMK. Meanwhile, as tension prevailed in Neravy-TR Pattinam area, District Collector P Parthiban has issuedprohibitory orders undersection144of criminal procedure code till tonight. All shops in the area remain closed. Vehicles from Nagapattinam towards Karaikal are plying via Nagore byepass road instead of entering TR Pattinam. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Rajasthan government is taking some serious steps to make the Centre's idea of a cashless economy a reality, and Jaipur metro going cashless first time in the country is one such example, an official said today. Ajmer is among the top five districts in the country to go cashless in a major way. The district Collector Guarav Goyal was recently conferred the Scroll of Honour by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Goyal said he has taken initiatives that include making Ajmer and 26 villages in Pushkar cashless. "We have activated 3.5 lakh RuPay cards out of 5 lakh cards in the rural areas through sensitisation," Goyal told PTI. Talking about the popular Pushkar fair in October last year, dates of which clashed with the Centre's note ban announcement, he said the authorities co-ordinated with banks, hotels, guides and tourists to ensure a hassle-free experience amidst the cash crunch. "I encouraged booth operators of Ajmer dairy to opt for digital payment and made awareness for the same among those involved in dairy business. We are making payments to teachers and other involved in the conducting exam of gram sewak and hostel wardens of hostels in digital way," Goyal said. The Jaipur Metro officials claim it to be the first cashless Metro train in the country where the entire transaction of purchasing tickets has been made cashless. "All nine stations have been made cashless where you can buy tickets or top-up your smart cards just by swiping your debit or credit card. We are the first Metro in the country to go cashless, JMRC Director (operation and system) C S Jeengar said. State Insurance and Provident Fund Department (SIPFD) director (insurance) Kishna Ram Isarwal said he has issued orders to directly transfer insurance money into bank accounts of beneficiaries. "On retirement, government officials were paid the insurance amount in the form of cash. But, now, we have made provisions to transfer the amount directly into their bank accounts," he said. On the other hand, higher education department officials claimed that they gone cashless much before the demonetisation. "We are already cashless. From accepting fees to paying scholarships to students, everything is digital. We have done it way back to provide facility and convenience to our students," said Mahavir Singh, Deputy Secretary of state higher education department. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Singh may see himself locked in an electoral battle with another former soldier, J J Singh, for the Patiala assembly seat during the polls in the state. Singh, a former army general, on Wednesday said he was ready to take on Amarinder as an SAD candidate from the PCC president's bastion. Though he has not yet been announced formally as the candidate from the seat, Shiromani Akali Dal General Secretary Prem Singh Chandumajra has said a "famous personality" would be pitted by the party against Amarinder. "Yes, I am ready for my third innings now, as I served in the Army and also as the governor of Arunachal Pardesh" Singh said. Underlining his close association with Patiala, Singh said his family had shifted there after Partition and the place had been home to him for years. "It is time I pay something back to Patiala socially, politically and economically," he said. Singh was 2 years old when his family had shifted here from Rawalpindi. The former sodier visited Gurdwara Dukhniwaran Sahib here to pay obeisance where he was given a 'siropa' (robe of honour) by the head granthi Pranaam Singh. Punjab goes to polls on February 4. Indian Red Cross Society today joined hands with Mohali-based Rayat Bahra University to build resilience of communities to disaster and climate change through education, research and awareness programmes. IRCS and the University signed a pact to envisage covering subjects like water sanitation and hygiene promotion (WASH), climate change adaptation among others while both the organizations also agreed to jointly design certification of educational programmes in related fields. "Given an opportunity to the students to learn, among other things, first-aid and disaster response mechanism which shall keep them in good stead in their prospective careers and lives," IRCS Vice Chairman Avinash Rai Khanna said. He said such collaborations bring mutual strength and expertise which are beneficial to the partners. Outlining the salient features of the MoU, IRCS Joint Secretary Veer Bhushan said the initial term of collaboration shall be three years and both parties will work within the mandates of each organization and adhere to principles of humanitarian action as followed by the Red Cross Movement worldwide. "The MoU shall cover areas for building resilience of communities to disaster and climate change through education, research and awareness programmes, emphasis on disaster risk management on natural, manmade hazards and related environmental, technological and health hazards, preventing new risk, reducing existing risk and strengthening resilience and water sanitation and hygiene promotion." Raj Singh, Vice Chancellor of the university said that students participation in voluntary work in communities has now picked up in India during the last couple of years. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Scientists, including one of Indian origin, have found that reduced blood flow in a brain region linked to speech production causes people to stutter, an advance that could lead to new therapies to treat the condition. Researchers at Children's Hospital Los Angeles in the US demonstrated evidence of a common underlying lifelong vulnerability in both children and adults who stutter. They discovered that regional cerebral blood flow is reduced in the Broca's area - the region in the frontal lobe of the brain linked to speech production - in persons who stutter. More severe stuttering is associated with even greater reductions in blood flow to this region. In addition, a greater abnormality of cerebral blood flow in the posterior language loop, associated with processing words that we hear, correlates with more severe stuttering. This finding suggests that a common pathophysiology throughout the neural "language" loop that connects the frontal and posterior temporal lobe likely contributes to stuttering severity. Such a study of resting blood flow, or perfusion, has never before been conducted in persons who stutter, said Bradley Peterson, from University of Southern California. The flow study suggests that disturbances in the speech processing areas of the brain are likely of central importance as a cause of stuttering. According to Peterson, the research provides scientists with a completely different window into the brain. The researchers were able to zero in on the Broca's area as well as related brain circuitry specifically linked to speech, using regional cerebral blood flow as a measure of brain activity, since blood flow is typically coupled with neural activity. "When other portions of the brain circuit related to speech were also affected according to our blood flow measurements, we saw more severe stuttering in both children and adults," said Jay Desai, a clinical neurologist at CHLA. "Blood flow was inversely correlated to the degree of stuttering - the more severe the stuttering, the less blood flow to this part of the brain," said Desai. The study was published in the journal Human Brain Mapping. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Three persons were today arrested with counterfeit Rs 2,000 notes having a face value of Rs 7.64 lakh from Pukharian area in Kanpur Dehat district, police said. After a tip-off, the police raided the house of Samrendra Sachan and seized fake notes in huge numbers along with a high quality printer and a scanner. Paswan was arrested on the spot, SP Prabhakar Chowdhary said. The remaining two accused, Prasoon Sachan and Ashish Gupta, were arrested after Samrendra gave their location during an interrogation, he said, adding fake notes with face-value Rs 7.64 was recovered from them. "The accused said that they have circulated fake Rs 500 and Rs 2,000 notes having face value Rs 80 lakh in Kanpur and its surrounding areas. They used to exchange people's demonetised notes with fake ones," the SP claimed. Even though the seized notes look similar to the real ones, the paper is thinner and the RBI mark is missing on the notes, he said. The accused were all graduates and one of them was a M.Sc in Computer, Chowdhary said, adding the police has lodged a manhunt to nab other members of the gang. A case has been lodged under relevant sections of the IPC and the matter is being probed, the SP said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Over 500 retired Chinese army personnel held a rare demonstration in the Chinese capital, the second in about three months demanding pensions, social security, jobs and other welfare measures taking the ruling Communist Party by surprise. Veterans of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) staged the protest in Beijing on December 28 over unpaid benefits, Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported today. The protest followed after October's demonstration, the first in which thousands of veterans besieged the military headquarters in the heart of Beijing triggering alarm in the top leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC) as it was first such show of strength by retired personnel. A veteran from Hebei who attended the October protest confirmed the latest protest, which was held outside the state petition office, the report said. He also said while top officials held lengthy negotiations and promised to address all the problems by November last, nothing happened as a result a second demonstration has taken place. He also alleged several veterans who took part in the October demonstration were taken away by the authorities, with their whereabouts unknown. He said during the October demonstration, thousands of veterans, mostly in their 40s to 60s, gathered outside the headquarters of the Central Military Commission, (CMC) PLA's top decision-making body headed by Chinese President Xi Jinping. They gathered to petition the central authorities for benefits they say they were promised in lieu of jobs, such as pension payments and social security. There have been previous protests and petitions by veterans from China's brief 1979 border war with Vietnam and the Korean war (1950-1953) to demand pensions, social security, jobs and other welfare promised when they enlisted. But October's protest was the first time such a large number of former servicemen and women had converged to put pressure on the Communist regime, the report said. It was the biggest protest by former military personnel since the founding of the People's Republic in 1949 and the biggest protest at a sensitive location in Beijing since thousands of Falun Gong practitioners besieged the party leadership's Zhongnanhai compound in 1999. The central government banned the sect soon afterwards, branding it an "evil cult", it said. "Thousands of retired soldiers from across the country were there to beleaguer the PLA headquarters that afternoon, with 37 coming from my home county of Qinghe (in Xingtai, Hebei province)," Huang Huagui, a former PLA officer who retired 18 years ago told the Post. "A source from the northwestern province of Shaanxi who helped organise it said the line of demonstrators stretched for about 3km and must have incensed an embarrassed party leadership," the report said. The protests by military veterans are being held as Xi has ordered the retrenchment of three lakh troops in 2014 to down size the world's largest standing military of 2.3 million troops. PLA regulations require local governments to find jobs for volunteer soldiers, who are told to hand in their farmland at home in return. Today, in the face of an economic downturn and tight job market, securing work for tens of thousands of demobilised soldiers across the country remains a tall order for regional and local officials, the Post report said. Besides the three lakh troops to be demobilised, Chinese local governments were saddled to find jobs for 7.5 million graduates coming out colleges and universities every year. A Delhi court today granted bail to Sanjeev Tyagi, cousin of ex-IAF chief S P Tyagi, and lawyer Gautam Khaitan in VVIP chopper scam case, saying that no purpose would be served by keeping them in custody. Special CBI Judge Arvind Kumar gave the relief to both the accused on a personal bond of Rs 2 lakh each and one surety of like amount while imposing certain conditions on them. The court ordered them not to tamper with the evidence or try to influence the witnesses. The court had earlier granted bail to 72-year-old former IAF chief Tyagi, saying that CBI has failed to state the alleged bribe amount and when it was paid. It had noted that Tyagi had joined the investigation as and when CBI called him and it was not the case that he either tampered with evidence after registration of the FIR or influenced witnesses in the case. Tyagi, who retired in 2007, his cousin Sanjeev and Khaitan were arrested on December 9, 2016 by CBI in connection with the case which relates to procurement of 12 VVIP choppers from UK-based firm during the UPA-2 regime. Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for CBI, had earlier opposed the bail pleas of the accused, saying if set free, they might influence witnesses and hamper the "multi-layered probe by various agencies in more than one jurisdiction involving several countries". Advocate Pramod Kumar Dubey, counsel for Khaitan, had also countered CBI's argument, claiming that the agency was trying to sensationalise the matter and there was no allegation that his client had not joined the probe or tried to influence it. Sanjeev's counsel had also opposed CBI's contention saying there was no reason to claim that if granted the relief, his client would hamper the probe. The accused sought bail on the grounds that the evidence was documentary in nature and had already been seized by CBI and they have cooperated with the probe agency. Sanjeev and Khaitan were lodged in judicial custody. CBI had said it was a "very serious" and "a very high-profile" case requiring interrogation to unearth larger conspiracy as the "interest of the nation was compromised". Tyagi's counsel had earlier claimed that the decision to procure VVIP choppers from AgustaWestland was a "collective" one and Prime Minister's Office (PMO) was also a part of it. The ED had pressed for an open-ended NBW to bring James from the UK to face trial. An open-ended NBW does not carry a time limit for execution. In June last year, the ED had filed a 1,300-page prosecution complaint (equivalent of a charge sheet) in connection with its money laundering probe in the case. It had claimed that its probe had found that James had allegedly received Euro 30 million (about Rs 225 crore) from M/s AgustaWestland and alleged that this was nothing but kickbacks paid by the company to execute the deal for sale of 12 helicopters to India in favour of the firm in the guise of genuine transactions for performing multiple work contracts. James is one of the three alleged middlemen being probed by the ED and the CBI in the case, apart from Guido Haschke and Carlo Gerosa. Both the agencies have also notified an Interpol Red Corner Notice or a global arrest warrant against him. The complaint delved into the detailed role of James in the deal, his multiple visits to India and his transactions. The first complaint in the case was filed in November 2014. According to sources, the ED has already sought extradition of James from the UK. In its complaint, the ED also claimed that the three middlemen "managed" to make inroads into the Indian Air Force in order to influence and subvert the force's stand regarding reducing the service ceiling -- the altitude at which a helicopter can fly -- from 6,000 to 4,500 metres in 2005 after which AgustaWestland became eligible to supply the dozen choppers for VVIP flying duties. It had said the remittances made by James through his Dubai-based firm M/s Global Services, FZE to the firm he had floated here, were made from the funds which he got from M/s AgustaWestland SpA through "criminal activity" and corruption being done in the chopper deal. Four days after taking over as AIADMK General Secretary, V K Sasikala today held consultative meetings with district level cadres, MLAs and MPs at the party headquarters here. The series of meetings with functionaries from various districts across Tamil Nadu, expected to go on till January 9, comes in the background of several party units passing resolutions urging her to take up the post of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister. Party sources said Sasikala met general council members, district office-bearers, MPs, MLAs and functionaries at the levels of town, town panchayat and panchayat union. Today functionaries from Chennai, Kanchipuram, Tiruvallur, Vellore and Tiruvannamalai took part in the meetings. While no meeting has been scheduled by AIADMK tomorrow, functionaries from districts including Theni and Dindigul will meet Sasikala on January 6. Senior party leader and Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker M Thambidurai had on January 2 appealed to Sasikala to become the Chief Minister, saying the leadership in both the party and governance should be with the same person. Almost all state ministers, part of the O Panneerselvam cabinet, had made similar appeals urging her to take over as Tamil Nadu Chief Minister. Sasikala, appointed as General Secretary by AIADMK's top decision-making body General Council on December 29, had taken charge of the post on December 31, pledging to take forward the legacy of late Chief Minister Jayalalithaa. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) After DMK working president M K Stalin attacked the ruling party on the "Jallikattu" issue, AIADMK General Secretary VK Sasikala today accused the former of burying "truths" and asserted that falsehood cannot hold water. In her first ever political salvo after taking over as the ruling party chief, she squarely blamed the main opposition and its ally Congress on the issue. "It is not a responsible act to divert people by burying the fact that a Centre's notification (2011) had led to a situation of the sport getting banned (by Supreme Court)," she said in a statement here. She asked Stalin not to try to "conceal truths and besmirch the reputation of Amma" by brushing off the late leader's efforts. Sasikala claimed that the then UPA regime in which DMK was a constituent had issued a notification in 2011 barring use of bulls as performing animals. Stalin had "swept under the carpet" the serious efforts of late Jayalalithaa in the Jallikattu issue and has been "talking stuff far from truth," the AIADMK chief who took over the reins of party on December 29 said. The DMK leader has been maintaining that "breach of conditions" imposed by the Supreme Court led to the sport getting banned in 2014 though it had faced legal hurdles during the DMK tenure too. "It may have been the trick of the past generations to repeat a lie and try to project it as truth. In this e-age, false propaganda cannot hold water for a long time," she said. Stating that Jallikattu issue had been in the Courts since 2006, which culminated in the Apex court banning it in 2014, she recalled the efforts initiated by Jayalalithaa to get it revoked including a review petition by the state government. The former Chief Minister had also had given a memorandum to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take steps to get the ban lifted through avenues like an ordinance or a comprehensive legislation. It may be recalled that the review petition was dismissed by the Apex Court in December last, and a matter related to the Centre's 2016 notification allowing Jallikattu has been reserved for final disposal. Sasikala said that though the Centre had issued a notification in January last, exempting use of bulls only during Jallikattu or other similar traditional events, it, however, did not interfere with bulls being barred as "performing animals." In view of such factors, the Court had declined to lift the ban in last January, she added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Britain's Prince Harry has said that he believes saving animals is like God's test for humanity as the royal called for an international body to regulate anyone who owns or manageswildlife to ensure protection of endangered species. "I do worry. I think everyone should worry. We need to look after them [animals], because otherwise our children will not have a chance to see what we have seen," Harry said. "This is God's test: If we can't save some animals in a wilderness area, what else can't we do," the 32-year-old prince told US magazine'Town & Country'. Britain's fifth in line to the throne had spoken to the magazine while he was working on a conservation project in Malawi last year. He was working on an elephant relocation project run by African Parks when he felt the lack of a regulatory body. "I do believe we need a regulatory body so that everyone who owns or manages wildlife is subject to inspection and rated on how well they look after the animals and how the communities benefit. We have to come together," he said. On a personal note, he recalled how he had first visited Africa after his mother Princess Diana died in 1997. "I first came in 1997, straight after my mum died. My dad told my brother and me to pack our bags - we were going to Africa to get away from it all. This is where I feel more like myself than anywhere else in the world. I wish I could spend more time in Africa. I have this intense sense of complete relaxation and normality here. "To not get recognised, to lose myself in the bush with what I would call the most down-to-earth people on the planet, people (dedicated to conservation) with no ulterior motives, no agendas, who would sacrifice everything for the betterment of nature," he said. The magazine has him on the cover posing in a dark green shirt under the headline "Bachelors of the year". During his time in Africa last year, the royal had helped catch anaesthetised elephants and load them on trucks which moved them 200 miles from Liwonde National Park and Majete Wildlife Reserve to the Nkhotakota reserve, where the elephants can thrive. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) State Bank of India, Coca-Cola India and Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages have signed an agreement to enable over 2.6 million retailers and 5,000 distributors in conducting business transactions digitally. Arundhati Bhattacharya, Chairman, SBI and T Krishnakumar, Chairman & CEO HCCBPL & Region Director(South Asia) signed the MoU to forge the strategic partnership. It entails initiating the digitisation process among the retailers by on-boarding them into the SBI's digital payment options such as Buddy P2P, Buddy Merchant App, SBI Pay, a statement said here. To aid a smooth transition process, Coca-Cola and SBI will provide training to the retailers on new and evolving digital business transaction solutions. Speaking at the ceremony, Arundhati Bhattacharya said, "We are happy to announce this joint endeavour by two leading organisations in response to Prime Minister's vision for a Digital India". "Our digital payment platforms such as Buddy, SBI Pay and State Bank Collect provide our customers easy-to-use and convenient modes of transactions. They also act as the tip of the spear for onboarding consumers and merchants to our larger range of financial products," she added. Krishnakumar said, "We recognize and support the government's vision of 'Digital India' centered on making the country a digitally empowered economy". "We have been forerunners in the digital solution space and while all of our payment to suppliers and more than 90 per cent of our collections from our partners are digitised, we propose to extend this facility to every retailer in the market place", he said. "Our partnership with SBI is a step forward in this direction. The digital payment solutions in business transactions will help further strengthen our retail chain ecosystem covering over 2.6 million retailers and 5,000 distributors and will substantially reduce the dependence on cash," Krishnakumar said. "As India moves towards digitization, "it is critical that the country's un-organised retail sector adopt digital payment systems which will provide them an opportunity to further grow their businesses," said Venkatesh Kini, President, Coca-Cola (India and South West Asia). HCCBPL and CCIPL will leverage "Coca-Cola University on Wheels" (CCU) under its "Parivartan" programme to train the retailers and distributors on handling digital payments. HCCBPL is the bottling arm of Coa-Cola India in the country. The training will integrate SBI's developed digital payments module into the training capsule. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Ford Motor Company's cancellation of plans to build a $1.6 billion auto manufacturing plant in San Luis Potosi has sounded alarms throughout Mexico. Even as the country is being rocked by rowdy nationwide protests against a January 1 gasoline price hike, the Ford news led the front pages of Mexico's most influential newspapers today, and they tied the development directly to President-elect . "Trump leaves Mexico without 3,600 jobs," read the headline on El Universal. "Ford's braking jolts the peso," said Reforma, referring to the Mexican currency's nearly 1 percent slump following the news. "The jobs created in Mexico have contributed to maintaining manufacturing jobs in the United States which otherwise would have disappeared in the face of Asian competition," the Mexico Economy Department said. Mexicans have been nervous about Trump's tough rhetoric toward their country, including disparaging remarks about immigrants who come to the US illegally and vows to wall off the border and renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement, upsetting ties with what is by far Mexico's largest trading partner. Two weeks before inauguration, the scuttling of the planned Ford factory and Trump's pressure on General Motors should be a "much-needed wake-up call," said Mexico analyst Alejandro Hope. It shows "how much actual leverage Trump has within specific companies, which is far greater than what Mexican elites thought until recently," Hope said. "They claimed that at the end of the day economic interests would prevail over political messaging. That's clearly not the case." In an editorial, El Universal also recalled the deal Trump struck in December with Carrier to keep 800 of 1,300 jobs at an Indiana furnace factory from being sent to Mexico, in return for millions of dollars in tax incentives. It also implicitly criticised the Mexican government's response to the incoming administration. "Mexico loses thousands of jobs with no word on a clear strategy for confronting the next US government which has presented itself as protectionist and, especially, anti-Mexican," the paper wrote. "Trump will try to recover as many US that have set up in Mexico as possible. He will try to make them return at whatever cost, through threats or using public resources." "Ford's decision is indicative of what awaits the economies of both countries," the daily La Jornada said. A top ruling Chinese Communist Party official, who reportedly criticised President Xi Jinping's policies, has been dismissed from the party ahead of his prosecution for corruption and "severe" violation of "political discipline", an official statement said today. Huang Xingguo, former acting Party chief and mayor of Tianjin Municipality, has been expelled from the Communist Party of China (CPC) and dismissed from public office, the Party's discipline agency said. He was also blamed for the massive 2015 explosion at the Tianjin port in which 162 people were killed and hundreds injured. "Huang severely violated political discipline and the political code of conduct," CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection said. Huang, 62, made groundless criticisms of the Party's key policies, sabotaged the CPC's centralisation and unity, complied with Party rules in public while opposing them in private, practised superstitious activities, interfered in details of his case and confronted an organisational probe, the CPC statement said. It outlined a litany of violations on Huang's part, including giving out positions and other favours, accepting huge bribes of property and money, conniving with relatives, allowing them to use his influence to seek profits; taking advantage of his post to seek profits for his son and others; arranging an official entourage larger than allowed; and failing to supervise people around him. "Huang was found to have disintegrated politically, grown greedy economically and become depraved in life," the statement said, adding that the nature of his violations was very serious. Huang's actions caused "very bad influence, seriously undermining the political ecosystem in Tianjin and damaging the cause of the Party and its image," it said. His ill-gotten gains will be confiscated, and his case will be transferred to the judiciary, the statement said. Huang is also the acting Party chief of the port city, located close to Beijing and carries lot of political weight for its proximity to the capital and as an economic hub. He was made mayor of Tianjin in 2007 and took on the additional role of acting party secretary in 2014 but he had not yet been permanently appointed - an unusually long time in provincial politics, Hong Kong-based 'South China Morning Post' reported. The anti-graft probe was announced 13 months after a deadly warehouse blast in Tianjin for which Huang previously said he bore "inexcusable" responsibility. Huang is among thousands of "tigers and flies" who faced investigations for corruption in Xi's massive anti-graft drive in the last three years amid allegations that it is also being effectively used to purge the party and military of elements hostile to him as he has emerged as the most powerful leader, heading the party, the government and the military. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) To show solidarity with party MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay, arrested by the CBI in connection with the Rose Valley chit fund scam, top TMC leaders like Partha Chatterjee and state President Subrata Bakshi will travel to Bhubaneswar this Sunday to meet the incarcerated leader. Bandyopadhyay was taken to Bhubaneswar soon after he was arrested by the CBI after questioning at its office here. "This is to show solidarity with Sudip (da). Partha Chatterjee and Subrata Bakshi will be travelling to Bhubaneswar this Sunday to meet him there," a top party source said. Asked whether the duo will meet another party leader Tapas Paul, also in CBI custody in Bhubaneswar, the source said, "That is yet to be decided. But any decision whether to meet Paul will be taken there." Meanwhile, the TMC source rubbished reports in a section of the media about questions asked by the CBI to Bandyopadhyay. "Reports in the media on the questions asked by the CBI to Sudip (da) are wrong. He was not asked a single question. We have confirmed this," the source said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) At least seven elderly people were killed today after a major fire broke out in a rest home in Northeast China. The fire broke out at the privately-owned rest home in Chaoyang township of Jilin province around 4 am, state-run Xinhua agency reported. The blaze was put out within 20 minutes but seven elderly people were killed, while 32 of the residents were rescued by firefighters, it said. There were 39 aged people living in the privately-run rest home. The cause of the fire was being investigated. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia today said the Centre must compensate state governments for their "revenue loss due to demonetisation", saying development works being implemented by the Delhi government may suffer as the city administration may not achieve the target of tax revenue. Sisodia's suggestion came at a Pre-Union Budget consultation meeting of all state Finance ministers chaired by Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. The Deputy CM, who also holds the Finance portfolio, said that due to the scrapping of high value notes, the growth of tax revenue has shown a negative growth in December this year as compared to December 2015. "Deputy CM suggested that the Central government must compensate the state governments for their revenue losses due to demonetisation," stated a statement issued by the Delhi government. It also stated the Deputy Chief Minister also pointed out that as a result of demonetisation, it will not be possible to achieve the target of tax revenue in the current financial year and as a result, all developmental works being implemented by the Government may suffer due to lack of resources. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and the ruling Aam Aadmi Party have criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi, terming as "failure" the demonetisation move. At the meeting, Sisodia suggested withdrawal of service tax 15 per cent which is applicable on 40 per cent of the total revenue collected from air conditioned bus service imposed by the Central government as per Notification dated February 29, 2016. "Deputy CM informed that Delhi government is making all efforts to promote public transport to mitigate the air pollution in the city and to offset the additional liability of service tax imposed by Centre, about 6% of the fare of AC Buses needs to be increased which will discourage the common man to use the public transport. "He further pointed out that the Central Excise Duty of about 12.625% on fully built CNG buses may also be exempted by the central government to reduce the cost of public transport," the statement also stated. Sisodia also demanded that the Union Government should increase Delhi's share in the central taxes, which is Rs 325 crore for 15 years. "The local bodies are not getting any basic and performance grants as recommended by 14th Central Finance Commission to all Local Bodies of other states," he said. Deputy CM also raised the issue that the Centre treated Delhi as a Union Territory for payment of share in Central Taxes and as a State when 100% central funding of Centrally Sponsored Schemes to Union Territory comes into the picture. He informed that the Sub-Group of Chief Ministers constituted by the Government of India on rationalisation of Centrally Sponsored Schemes had recommended 100% central funding for Union Territories since the devolution of Finance Commission Grant is not applicable to Union Territories. However, the NITI Aayog in its office memorandum issued in the month of August, 2016 stated that all CSS would be funded 100% by Centre in all UTs (without Legislature) and for UTs (with Legislature) existing funding pattern will be followed, Sisodia further said. In a setback to the government, a civil society panel appointed by the Sri Lankan Prime Minister has endorsed the UNHRC call for including international judges to probe war crimes allegations against the Lankan troops and the LTTE during the last phase of the decades-long civil war. The Consultation Task Force on Reconciliation Mechanisms was appointed by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe last year to seek public views and comments on the proposed mechanisms for transitional justice and reconciliation in terms of the UN Human Rights Council resolution on Sri Lanka in October 2015. The government opposes a mechanism with international judges and maintains that the Sri Lankan judiciary system had the capacity to try those responsible for war crimes. However, the Tamil rights groups have challenged the government's stand. In sharp variance with the government's stand, the task force report recommends the setting up of a special court and office of special counsel, the court shall ensure that there will be a majority of national judges and at least one international judge on every bench. It adds that the special court should be mandated to try international crimes including war crimes and crimes against humanity and pay particular attention to crimes of sexual violence and crimes against children. The UNHRC resolution had accused both the army troops and the Tamil Tigers for war crimes during the final battles. Commenting on the report, Minister of Health Rajitha Senaratne said the government would not waver from its original stance of not having foreign judges. "We have said that we will limit all mechanisms to local judges. The civil society is free to express an opinion but it will be the government who would decide on the issue," Senaratne told reporters. The Lankan troops in 2009 defeated the LTTE which was fighting for an independent state for minority ethnic Tamils. According to a 2011 report by the UN, about 40,000 Tamil civilians were killed in the final weeks of the civil war. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A MLA's gunner was left flabbergasted when he found that his account has been mysteriously credited by nearly Rs 100 crore. Kanpur District Magistrate Kaushal Raj Sharma said that SP MLA Irfan Solanki's bodyguard Ghulam Jilani has an account with SBI's Mall Road branch. He had gone to withdraw money from an ATM last night where he found that his account was credited with a total of Rs 99,99,02,724. Jilani then approached Solanki who reported the matter to the DM. "I have spoken to the Deputy General Manager of SBI branch and they have asked Jilani to submit an application," said Kaushal. His bank account has been seized, said the DM, adding that he will not be able to withdraw money from it for the time being. Jilani, who hails from Padrauna area of Kushinagar district, lives in a rented room in Jajmau area of the city. States today demanded fiscal stimulus from Centre to deal with shortfall in tax revenues post demonetisation as well as allowing them to borrow more funds from the market to boost spending on infrastructure. At their pre-budget meeting with Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, states demanded higher outlay for rural employment generation programmes, revival of National Rural Drinking Water Programme and launching of new schemes for urban poor. They also sought more funds for agriculture, irrigation, unorganised, MSME and service sectors, among others. "Common suggestions made during the meeting included more focus on relaxing FRBM limit in case of states for raising their borrowing capacity by raising it by 1 per cent or at least by 0.5 per cent, expansion of bank branches in most remote areas of the country and expressed need for giving fiscal stimulus," Finance Ministry said in a statement issued after the meeting. The meeting was also marked by West Bengal Finance Minister Amit Mitra staging an angry walkout, saying there was "financial emergency" and "political environment of fear" in the country. This came in the backdrop of CBI arresting his party's leader in the Lok Sabha Sudip Bandyopadhyay last night for his alleged involvement in a ponzi scheme. States also demanded certainty about devolution of funds well in advance and said any changes should be made with adequate notice so that they can plan accordingly and make effective use of funds. They also wanted limit of NABARD refinancing of cooperative bank loans to farmers be raised for extending affordable credit to them, higher MSPs be declared for pulses and coarse cereals and timely release of funds for centrally sponsored schemes such as Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan and Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan, among others. Jaitley, on his part, said various steps taken by the Centre in recent past to unearth black money will help in curbing corruption and making the economy more cleaner, transparent and efficient. The world economy is passing through a difficult phase and is quite fragile, he said, adding macro and micro indicators are quite strong and India is able to emerge as one of the fastest growing economies in the world. Jaitley said multifarious reforms initiated by the Central government in recent past would be taken forward in the coming months and urged the states to work together for putting India on the path of higher growth. "It was suggested that there is need to move from fiscal federalism to resource federalism," the statement added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Sterlite Power Transmission today said that it has tied up with Yes Bank to fund a transmission project that will increase electricity supply in Haryana. "The transmission project will increase power supply by 2,000-3,000 MW to the energy starved region and strengthen the transmission network," the company said in a statement. According to the statement, the financial closure was achieved by Yes Bank by underwriting Project Finance Facility of Rs 800 crores for a period of 15 years for the project. "We are confident of commissioning the project ahead of schedule, as we have done in our other projects. It will ensure quality power for ever expanding areas of Haryana," said Sterlite Power Chairman Pravin Agarwal in the statement. Sterlite Power is a private developer of independent transmission networks. Speaking on this, Yes Bank Managing Director & CEO Rana Kapoor said,"We are pleased to partner with Sterlite Power to set up their Rs 1,000 crores inter-state power transmission asset in Haryana under the Point of Connection mechanism." The project, to be commissioned by a special purpose vehicle, entails 170 kms transmission line and three high-power sub-stations aiming to raise wheeling capacity to get rid of generators and power cuts besides strengthening the grid network. Sterlite Power Transmission Ltd is a leading solution provider of energy delivery. It is currently executing 10 transmission projects in 15 states spanning nearly 7,000 circuit Kms, with a capital commitment of USD 2 billion. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Joining the opposition chorus, BJP's ally Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray today appealed to President Pranab Mukherjee to not allow presentation of the Union Budget days ahead of elections to five states, a move that will not go down well with the Centre or Maharashtra government. The Sena president asked his party MPs to meet the President and request him to postpone the Budget beyond polls. Congress, Left, Samajwadi Party and some others have already represented to the Election Commission not to allow the Centre to present the Budget when the poll process would be on. "By making attractive announcements in the Budget, government can grab votes indirectly," Thackeray, whose party shares power with BJP both at the Centre and in Maharashtra, told a state-level gathering of Shiv Sena workers here. In remarks that would rub BJP the wrong way, Uddhav also said Prime Minister Narendra Modi should not address any campaign rallies in the poll-bound states as he is the "PM of the country". "Also, the Prime Minister should not address campaign rallies (in the poll-bound states). PM is of the country and not of any party," Thackeray said. On prospects of alliance with BJP for Mumbai civic polls, he said Sena will not beg for seats. "It (alliance) will be on our terms and conditions. Shiv Sainiks' opinion will be considered while taking the decision," Uddhav said. He also slammed the NDA government over Ram temple issue and income tax raids on priests at temple town of Trimbakeshwar near Nashik. He dared the IT department to conduct raids on holy places of other religions. Though Shiv Sena is the oldest ally of BJP, their alliance hit a rocky patch when the latter walked out of it just ahead of the last Maharashtra assembly elections. Though they later came together to form the government, bitterness endures. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) About 100 students of Government Arts College here today staged a demonstration seeking lifting of ban on 'Jallikkattu' and protect the traditional sport of Tamils. The students gathered in front of the College and raised slogans in support of their demand. Holding a big banner, they wanted the government to take steps to lift the ban on Jallikkattu permanently, police said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) An alleged Islamic State jihadist accused of scoping out potential targets for an attack in Berlin, including the Brandenburg Gate and Reichstag building, went on trial in Germany today. It was the country's first trial of a suspected IS militant deployed to Germany from Syria during the chaotic 2015 refugee influx -- in contrast to "lone wolf" attacks or plots by extremists who were radicalised elsewhere. The defendant, identified only as 19-year-old Syrian national Shaas al-Mohammad, allegedly fought with the Islamist militia in his war-torn homeland for two years before arriving in Germany as a refugee in August 2015. Dressed in a blue pullover and a black cap, Mohammad hid his face behind a folder as he took his seat in the courtroom. Two police trucks were parked outside the entrance, with officers armed with machine guns guarding the proceedings. Mohammad was standing trial at a special state security court in Berlin on charges of membership of a foreign terrorist organisation, which carries up to 10 years in jail, and military weapons law violations. The trial comes just over two weeks after an IS extremist from Tunisia allegedly ploughed a truck through a Berlin Christmas market in an attack that killed 12 people. Prosecutors claim the defendant joined the jihadist group as a teenager in mid-2013, taking part in combat operations, handling an AK-47 assault rifle and supplying food to fighters. He arrived in Germany near the peak of a mass influx of people fleeing Syria, Iraq and other crisis-torn countries that brought almost 900,000 asylum seekers to Europe's biggest economy in 2015. He allegedly stayed in "close contact" with IS and repeatedly visited the German capital until February 2016 to scout out landmark targets and busy tourist sites for an attack. Among the suspected targets was the area around the glass-domed Reichstag parliament building, the nearby Brandenburg Gate monument and the busy shopping square Alexanderplatz. He then allegedly "passed the information about the potential attack targets onto his contacts at the IS", said the court in a statement. "In addition, he arranged to send at least one person to Syria as a fighter and offered his services as a contact person for potential attackers in Germany," it added. The young Syrian was arrested on March 22 last year and has been in pre-trial detention ever since. The court has set 25 hearings until April. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) More than 130 inmates have escaped in one of the largest jailbreaks in recent years after suspected Muslim rebels attacked a jail in the southern Philippines before dawn today, officials said. Jail warden Superintendent Peter Bongat said a guard was killed and an inmate was wounded in a gunbattle when dozens of gunmen stormed the North Cotabato District Jail in Kidapawan. The city is in Cotabato Province. Kidapawan police chief Superintendent Leo Ajero said two prisoners of the 132 who escaped had been recaptured, and army troops and police were searching for the others. The jail held more than 1,500 inmates. Local village leader Alexander Austria told The Associated Press by telephone that he and his men captured one of the men. He said the exchanges of gunfire woke his village, which was several kilometers (miles) from the prison, and he immediately posted guards because of worries the attackers and escaped inmates could enter the village. "We heard the gunfire and we sprang into action to guard our village," Austria said. "We were afraid the escapees could try to enter our village to hide or take hostages. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Terming Google "as much an Indian company as American", IT Minister today said it needs to play a larger role in the domestic market by tailoring its products and working more on cyber security. "Google is as much an Indian as American. The sheer extension which I would say... The manner in which people of India have accepted you... Therefore, Google has as much obligation for India as you have for the US and the world," Prasad said at a Google event here. He stressed that Google India needs to tailor its operation more to the country's psyche. "Google India needs to tailor its operation more to India's psyche, local languages, local aspirations, local products... India's digital economy is going to be USD 1 trillion plus in the coming 3-4 years," he said. Stressing that Google should be more involved, the minister highlighted areas including cyber security where the technology giant could play a bigger role. A growth of digital payments will lead to stronger challenge of cyber security, which "our Prime Minister has termed as a bloodless war", he said. "I would appeal to Google to work more to ensure digital security... There has to be greater technological strengthening of the IT walls," he added. There has been a spike in digital transactions across platforms like mobile wallets, UPI and USSD after the liquid cash crunch following the government's move to scrap old Rs 500 and 1,000 notes. This has put digital payment under severe scrutiny as users and experts question their preparedness to deal with cyber attacks. A local court today convicted a 38-year-old man who was accused of killing his wife and storing his dismembered body in the refrigerator three years ago. District and Sessions Judge Mrudula Bhatia convicted Girish Pote for killing his 33-year-old wife Madhuwanti Pathak, who was born and brought up in France and held a French passport, under IPC sections 302 (murder) and 201 (causing disappearance of evidence). The judge observed that prosecution has proved beyond reasonable doubt the "gruesome" murder by the accused. After the judgement was made, when the accused was asked regarding the quantum of sentence he remained silent. Public prosecutor Buleshwar Hinge, arguing for the quantum of sentence, demanded capital punishment for Pote by highlighting the brutal manner in which the crime was committed. The prosecutor told the court that the accused had on December 3, 2013, killed his wife, chopped her body into pieces and later hid the body parts in the refrigerator. The judge after hearing both the sides posted for tomorrow the decision regarding the quantum of sentence. The crime came to light after Pote told his cousin Nitin Gadare about the murder, who later informed the police. The prosecutor informed that Madhuwanti and Pote got married on June 20, 2011. They have a child who is two-year-old now. Pathak's mother, a musician, had married an Indian and in 2009 returned to France where she died, said the prosecutor. Pote worked as a sales manager in a garment's showroom but was jobless for six months before the incident took place. The couple lived in the flat which belonged to the victim's mother, the prosecutor said. "Madhuwanti wanted to go back to France after selling the property in Mumbai. During investigation, Pote revealed that his wife disliked India and wanted to take the money and fly back to France. But he had opposed the idea, leading to frequent fights between them," said the prosecutor. Four days prior to the incident, the child was sent to a relative's house in Thane. On the day of the incident, Pote convinced Madhuwanti that he would allow her to go back to France. Later, he went to a mall and bought a packet of knives, Hinge said. After returning home, he killed her. However, he could not take the body out of the flat as the building had CCTV cameras installed in the lobby and the lift. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A train carrying about 1,900 tonnes of bottled mineral water from Tibet has reached China's eastern coastal province of Zhejiang after travelling 4,500 km over five days. The 35-carriage train, which left Lhasa, capital of Tibet, last Wednesday, arrived in Beilun Port railway station in Ningbo, Zhejiang on Monday after passing through Qinghai, Gansu, Shaanxi, Henan, and Anhui provinces. A ceremony was held today at the station to mark the success of the first cargo train between Lhasa and Ningbo. The freight, all bottled glacier mineral water, will be distributed to places in Zhejiang and Shanghai, state-run Xinhua agency reported. Tibet, often called Asia's Water Tower, is rich in water resources. It produced over 400,000 tonnes of natural drinking water in 2015, but high transportation costs made it difficult to reach other parts of China. The new trains will facilitate transportation of cargo from Tibet to cities in the east. There are plans to run cargo trains between Lhasa and other cities such as Beijing, Qingdao, Zhengzhou, Guangzhou, Chengdu and Lanzhou. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Echoing Trinamool Congress, Congress today said the arrests of TMC leaders were aimed at breaking the opposition unity on the issue of demonetisation and raised concern about the "timing" of the CBI actions. "We are questioning the timing of the arrests. For more than a year the CBI was silent, but all of a sudden it has become active when the opposition is getting united on the issue of demonetisation. This is an attempt to break the unity of the opposition on the issue of demonetisation," Congress general secretary C P Joshi told reporters here. The "timing of the arrests" has raised a question mark over the impartiality of the probe, he remarked. Congress had yesterday alleged TMC Parliamentary Party leader in Lok Sabha Sudip Bandyopadhyay's arrest by the CBI was "vendetta unleashed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his detractors" and wondered if it was in reaction to the "opposition unity". Notably, the Supreme Court had ordered the CBI probe into the chit fund scam based on an appeal by senior Congress leader Abdul Mannan. When asked about it, Joshi said, "The matter is sub judice, so it won't be right to comment on the matter." The state Congress leadership, under the instruction of party high command, took a U-turn and said presently demonetisation was a much bigger issue than chit fund scam. "The demonetisation is a issue of 125 crore people of India. All opposition parties have united on this issue. But, the chit fund is an issue of two crore people. So you need to prioritise," Mannan told reporters. State Congress sources said the party high command has clearly instructed the state leadership not to rub TMC in a wrong way, as both parties were fighting unitedly at the Centre on the issue of demonetisation. State Congress president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, when asked about the attack on state BJP office by TMC activists, said, "I condemn it. Political party offices should not be a target of any attack. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Trinamool Congress today alleged that a "clandestine nexus" between Chief Minister Manik Sarkar and Prime Minister Narendra Modi has resisted the security agencies to investigate corruptions by Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) in Tripura. TMC MLA and former Leader of Opposition in Tripura Assembly Sudip Roy Burman and party's state unit president Asish Saha claimed that despite alerting the Sarkar government that chit fund companies and NBFCs were cheating depositors, it did not take any action as the leaders of the ruling CPI(M) were directly indulging with those companies. "It is clear that there is a clandestine nexus between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Manik Sarkar as a result of which the Prime Minister did not take any action against chit fund groups," Burman claimed during a press conference here. "We demand that the Centre engage ED (Enforcement Directorate) and CBI to investigate all matters against chit fund companies which have been referred to by the state government," he said adding, the arrest of TMC MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay in Kolkata by the CBI was "politically motivated". They alleged that Sarkar himself inaugurated the Rose Valley amusement park here in 2008 and that park was still open as the government did not take any action. Burman alleged that though the state government wrote to the CBI for investigating against 27 cases on May 12, 2013, the name of Rose Valley group was not included. Later, on May 27, 2013, the state government again requested the CBI to take up 10 more cases, where the name of Rose Valley group was included, but very meagre amount was shown as a result of which CBI did not accept the cases, he claimed. He claimed that he had requested the PM in April, 2015 to send a CBI team to investigate the activities of NBFCs in Tripura which Modi had acknowledged with the receipt of the letter, but did not take any action against any chit fund group in the state. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday lashed out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the arrest of a Trinamool Congress (TMC) parliamentarian by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), deploring the action as "vendetta politics". Kejriwal, a bitter critic of Modi, alleged that the arrest of Sudip Bandopadhyay had its roots in TMC's opposition to the invalidation of 1,000 and 500 rupee notes. The Aam Aadmi Party led by Kejriwal and Mamata Banerjee-headed TMC have been quite vocal against the November 8 move and the two leaders had also staged joint protests on the issue. "This is vendetta of Modi ji. His msg is - Agar kisi ne notbandi ke khilaaf bola to chhodenge nahi. Really deplorable," the AAP leader tweeted. Bandopadhyay, TMC's leader in the Lok Sabha, was arrested by the CBI in connection with the on Tuesday. Accusing the BJP government of indulging in "vindictive politics", Trinamool Congress (TMC) MPs today took out a protest march towards the Prime Minister's residence here raising slogans "Modi hatao desh bachao" (remove Modi, save country). TMC MPs were detained for about three hours by the police while they were marching to PM's residence to protest the arrest of Trinamool Congress Leader in the Lok Sabha, Sudip Bandyopadhyay by CBI in Rose valley chit fund case. "It is nothing but vindictive politics. But we will continue to fight this," TMC leader Derek O'brien said after coming out of the Tughlaq Police station along with other party MPs here. "There were 34 TMC MPs who held a peaceful protest outside 7 RCR. We protested the political vendetta. Our aim was Modi hatao Desh bachao," Obrien said. There are total 46 TMC MPs in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha out of which 34 has participated in the protest march and subsequently detained at the police station. "It is not financial emergency anymore. It is now emergency as you have seen by now", TMC MP Kakoli Dastidar, who was also detained along with other MPs said. She alleged that police manhandled the MPs while taking them into custody. "There was no lady police to arrest women MPs. Many of our MPs were roughed up while being taken into police custody," she alleged. Obrien claimed, "Three MPs - Kalyan Banerjee, Prasoon Banerjee and Saugata Ray were attacked by police when they were staging peaceful dharna. But we will carry on our protest. Because it is a political vendetta." He further said "Nothing is going to scare us. We will carry out the movement not only in Bengal but in six-seven other states as well." Asked whether this was a protest against arrest of Sudeep Bandyopadhyay, Obrien said "Protest is against demonetisation and it is all linked. The movement was started on November 9 and it will continue. Other like minded political parties are also supporting us. Congress is also supporting us on this fight against Modi government. AAP is also supporting us. Opposition is very united on this." Accusing "misuse of CBI" by Modi government, Kalyan Banerjee said "They are misusing CBI against the Opposition to harass us. I was roughed up by the police. But despite that we will continue our fight against Modi government." Asked about the tomorrow's programme, Obrien said "We are now released. We will again meet tomorrow. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A Trinamool Chhatra Parishad (TMCP) activist was seriusly injured after being stabbed by assailants, allegedly belonging to a rival student union faction, in Jalpaiguri district last night. A senior police officer said the TMCP activist Shuvankar Mitra was attacked near his house by a group and stabbed multiple times. A bleeding Shuvankar was taken to Jalpaiguri Hospital and was now at CCU cabin, a hospital doctor said. Two persons were arrested in connnection with the incident, the officer said adding police were yet to verify if the arrested youths belonged to the rival faction of local TMCP unit. Local people said two factions of the TMCP unit were aat loggerhead over control of the local college. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The ruling AIADMK's populist free bicycle scheme was today formally rolled out by Chief Minister O Panneerselvam here for the academic year 2016-17 to students of class eleven, costing Rs 243.96 crore to the exchequer. Late AIADMK supremo Jayalalithaa had introduced the scheme during the 2001-02 academic year, benefitting students of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. It was later expanded to students of those schools receiving financial assistance from the government. At a function at the Secretariat today, Panneerselvam handed over the bicycles to seven students as part of kick-starting the scheme, an official release said. Adi Dravidar and Tribal Welfare Minister V M Rajalakshmi, Backward Classes and Minorities Welfare Minister S Valarmathi and senior government officials were present, it said. Earlier, Panneerselvam chaired a cabinet meeting at the Secretariat, sources said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The top Democrat in the Senate is warning President-elect Donald Trump about his eventual Supreme Court choice: Name a "mainstream" nominee or Democrats will oppose the individual "with everything we have." "My worry is, with the hard right running the show, that the likelihood of the nominee being mainstream is decreasing every day," New York Senator Chuck Schumer said today in an interview. Schumer made the comments a day after saying on MSNBC's "The Rachel Maddow Show" that Democrats will "absolutely" do their best to keep the Supreme Court seat open if Trump doesn't nominate someone whom Democrats could support. The seat has been vacant for 11 months since the death of Justice Antonin Scalia last February. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., blocked consideration of President Barack Obama's nominee, Judge Merrick Garland, saying the next president should make the pick. The strategy paid off, and the Republican Senate will consider whomever Trump nominates. As minority leader, Schumer won't have the same power as McConnell to block a nominee. But his words signal that Democrats could filibuster and force Republicans to round up 60 votes to move ahead. That will be a challenge for the GOP since they only hold 52 seats. If Republicans can't get enough Democratic votes, then they do have another option -- change the rules and curb the filibuster for Supreme Court nominees. Former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., did that for lower court nominees and other nominations in 2013. Schumer didn't define what he meant by "mainstream." But he did say on Maddow's show that Garland, Obama's unsuccessful pick, was "a very moderate, mainstream nominee." Garland has been considered a liberal-leaning moderate in his years on the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A 35-year-old cloth store owner was shot dead by unidentified men near Dhaka village of Guhiajori locality in Dumka district last evening, police today said. The victim Sanjay Bhalotia was returning home in Dumka on motorcycle after collection from his clients at Karbindha village under Ramgarh police station area when he was intercepted by the motorcycle-borne miscreants, who shot him dead, Superintendent of Police Prabhat Kumar said. Kumar did not rule out the possibility that the miscreants have looted the money and the mobile phone of Bhalotia, a resident of Naya Para Mohalla in Dumka, before fleeing from the spot. Kumar, however, said police has started investigation from all possible angle. The SP said three teams of police have been formed to apprehend the culprits after a case was registered in this connection. Meanwhile, Shops and market were downed their shutter following a bandh call given today by Dumka Chamber of Commerce and Industry in protest against the incident. Shiyaram Ghadiya, the Patron of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said the business community were feeling insecure following the incident and downed their shutter spontaneously to express solidarity with the deceased kin. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A group of trekkers camping at a fort in Lonavala near here were allegedly roughed up, and male members humiliated by being forced to strip, by some people who claimed to be 'heritage buffs', police said. Ten people, including three women, were arrested this evening by Pune rural police for assaulting the trekkers, who were camping at Visapur fort on the New Year eve. The victims, who had came to celebrate New Year at the fort, had registered through a website for the camp at Lonavala, about 50 kms from here. According to a police complaint registered by a 36-year-old woman from Pune, 10 to 12 men and women, who claimed to be members of a 'fort lovers' group, allegedly roughed them up with sticks and belts. She also alleged that the accused humiliated the male trekkers by forcing them to strip and abused the women. "I along with my husband and other fellow couples had booked a camp, which was organised at Visapur Fort, through a website," said the complainant, a fitness trainer, who claimed she suffered a hand fracture in the incident. "We reached the spot at around 1 PM on December 31 and found that there were around 25 more couples, who too had come on New Year's eve through the same organisers," the woman said in her complaint. "At around 9.30 PM, we were sitting around a camp fire when 10 to 12 persons came and accused us of littering the place," she said. "One of the women came near me and snatched a glass of cold drink. She thrashed me with a stick and kicked me and accused us of littering the fort," she alleged. Later, the other accused forced male trekkers to strip and thrashed them with sticks and belts, and hurled abuses at the women, the victim said in her statement to police. She said the accused also roughed up the event organiser and warned all of them not to come back to the fort. "The people who had attacked us even called our families and told them that we were indulging in obscene act by consuming liquor," the woman told PTI. The complainant said with the help of some villagers, they managed to leave the place and later reported the matter to police. "We have registered a case of rioting against 10 to 12 people, including women, belonging to a 'fort lovers' group and investigation is on," Assistant Police Inspector at Lonavala Rural Police Station Sandip Yede-Patil said. Meanwhile, the Archaeological department lodged a complaint against the organiser of the camp and other group members for allegedly digging up and littering on the fort. Police said that surveyor of the Archaeological department approached the police this evening and lodged complaint under the relevant sections of Ancient Monuments Act, 1958. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) His inauguration less than three weeks away, President-elect Donald Trump is raising new doubts about the nation's intelligence community, tweeting fresh criticism at the same people who will help inform his most sensitive decisions once he takes office. Trump charged yesterday on Twitter, without evidence, that the timing of an upcoming intelligence briefing on suspected Russian interference in the 2016 election had been delayed. "Perhaps more time needed to build a case. Very strange!" he wrote, using quote marks around the word "intelligence." Trump's tweet, in line with repeated criticism of his nation's intelligence leaders, caused confusion among intelligence officials, who said there was no delay in the briefing schedule. The fresh clash came as Trump took further steps to fill his Cabinet and key White House positions, with his attention shifting toward the challenges of governing. Trump's plans for repealing President Barack Obama's signature health care law are expected to be the focus as Vice President-elect Mike Pence and secretary of state choice Rex Tillerson meet with top Republicans on Capitol Hill today. Pence issued a direct challenge to Washington Republicans yesterday: "The president-elect has a very clear message to Capitol Hill. And that is, it's time to get to work." Trump signaled he would not bless all of the GOP's priorities on Capitol Hill, openly questioning the timing of the House Republican push to gut an independent ethics board just as the new Congress gathered. "Do they really have to make the weakening of the Independent Ethics Watchdog, as unfair as it may be, their number one act and priority"? Trump tweeted. The House GOP later dropped the effort. The president-elect promised late yesterday to hold his first formal conference since his November 8 election victory next week in New York. He has already waited longer than any other president-elect in the modern era to hold his first exchange with journalists. Most have held such events within days of their elections. It was unclear if the conference would be the venue for his delayed announcement on how he plans to avoid potential conflicts of interest involving his businesses after taking office. Transition officials said multiple topics could be covered, but would not specifically say whether they included Trump's businesses. Trump was supposed to detail the arrangements at a mid-December conference, but postponed the event. Earlier yesterday, Trump tapped as US trade representative a former Reagan official who has condemned Republicans' commitment to free trade. Trump indicated that Robert Lighthizer, who is expected to take a hard line against China, would represent "the United States as we fight for good trade deals that put the American worker first. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Turkey has identified the gunman in the Istanbul nightclub massacre that killed 39 people, including two Indians, the foreign minister said today as the president vowed that the country won't surrender to terrorists or become divided. The gunman, who killed 39 people during New Year's celebrations at the Reina club, is still at large. But Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said authorities had identified the man, without providing details. "The identity of the person who carried out the attack on the Reina nightclub has been established," Cavusoglu told Anadolu in a live televised interview. Turkish police, meanwhile, detained at least five suspected Islamic State group militants believed to be linked to the attack, the state-run agency reported. The operation was launched in the Aegean port city of Izmir and was ongoing, Anadolu Agency said. IS has claimed responsibility for the attack, which also wounded nearly 70 people. Of those killed 27 were foreigners, many from the Middle East. Islamic State said a "soldier of the caliphate" had carried out the mass shooting to avenge Turkish military operations against IS in northern Syria. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that the attack aims to set Turks against each other and deepen fault lines, but the country won't fall for this game. Erdogan made the comments in a live speech from Ankara, the first time he has publicly addressed the nation since the attack. Responding to accusations in the past that Turkey had given support to the Islamic State group, Erdogan said that "to present the country which is leading the greatest struggle against Daesh as one supporting terrorism is what the terror organization wants." Erdogan said that "in Turkey, no one's way of life is under any threat. Those who claim this have to prove it. It is my duty to protect everyone's rights." He also said that "to say Turkey has surrendered to terrorism is to take sides with the terrorists and terror organisations." Police in Istanbul have set up checkpoints and are checking vehicles across the city as security levels remained high. Police were stopping cars and Istanbul's ubiquitous yellow taxis, with passengers and drivers holding up their identifications while officers inspected inside the vehicles. Istanbul has been on high alert since the attack, with the gunman still at large. The private Dogan agency said that today's police operation targeted three families who had arrived in Izmir about 20 days ago from Konya a city in central Turkey where the gunman is thought to have been based before carrying out the nightclub attack. It said 27 people, including women and children, were taken into custody. At least 14 people were previously detained in connection with the attack, including two foreigners stopped yesterday at the international terminal of Istanbul's Ataturk Airport after police checked their cellphones and luggage, according to Anadolu. Funerals were held in Jordan, Lebanon, Israel and Turkey for the dead and today, a Turkish Airlines jet carrying the bodies of two Indian citizens killed in the shooting landed in Mumbai. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Turkey said today it had identified the gunman behind the New Year's massacre on an elite Istanbul nightclub that killed 39, as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned the attack aimed to polarise Turkish society. The assailant stormed the glamorous Reina nightclub on the Bosphorus early on Sunday morning, spraying 120 bullets at terrified partygoers celebrating the start of 2017. Of the 39 dead, 27 were foreigners including citizens from Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Jordan, Iraq, Tunisia and Morocco. At least 36 people have now been detained in the probe, but the gunman himself remains on the run after slipping into the night following the attack. "The identity of the person responsible for the attack has been established," Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said during an interview with state-run Anadolu agency, without giving any name. The attack was claimed by the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group, with reports suggesting the authorities suspect the gunman may be from either Kyrgyzstan or Uzbekistan, both ex-Soviet states. "Efforts to capture him continue," said Cavusoglu, adding that the house the suspect lived in "has been searched" and the attack he mounted had been "professionally" planned. IS took responsibility for the massacre in a statement on Monday, marking the first time it has issued a clear and undisputed claim for a major attack inside Turkey. Hitting a nightclub on New Year's night, the attack struck at the heart of secular Turkey, with analysts saying IS clearly sought to widen splits in Turkish society. In his first spoken comments on the attack, Erdogan said the aim was "to create a fissure and polarise society". He insisted Turkey would resist efforts to divide the country, vowing Turks would "stand tall and keep our sangfroid." "No-one's lifestyle in Turkey is under a systematic threat. We would never let this happen. In 14 years in power, we have never given this a chance," Erdogan said in a speech at the presidential palace in Ankara. IS said the attack was a response to Turkey's military intervention against the jihadists in war-ravaged Syria where Turkish troops are pressing a four-month incursion to oust jihadists from the border area. Since the lightning advance into northern Syria in August, removing IS elements from the Turkish border, Ankara has faced a tougher fight to capture the town of Al Bab from IS. But Erdogan insisted the operation would continue and Turkey would clear areas wherever "terrorist organisations" are. "The operation in Syria's Al Bab will be finished in a short time, God willing," he said. Almost forty Turkish soldiers have been killed in the operation and today, Dogan agency reported one soldier was killed and four were injured in an IS attack in Al Bab. In the western city of Izmir, at least 20 people including 11 women were taken into custody as part of the investigation into the attack, Anadolu reported. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Turkey today warned that planned Syrian peace talks co-sponsored by Russia were at risk, calling on the Damascus regime of President Bashar al-Assad to halt violations of a ceasefire. Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Iran, the main backer of Assad along with Russia, must put pressure on allied Shiite militias to abide by the truce that is to form the basis for a ceasefire. If the truce is properly observed, he said the peace talks would start on January 23 in Kazakhstan's capital Astana under the auspices of Turkey and Russia. "If we do not stop the increasing violations, the Astana process could fail. After the ceasefire, we see violations," Cavusoglu told the state-run Anadolu agency in an interview. "When we look at who commits these violations, it is Hezbollah, in particular Shiite groups and the regime," he added, referring to the powerful Lebanese Shiite movement supporting Damascus. Last month, a process sponsored by regime ally Russia and rebel backer Turkey saw the start of a truce which is meant to lead to negotiations in Astana this month. But earlier this week, the process was already under threat after a dozen Syrian rebel factions suspended talks on negotiations accusing Assad of violating the four-day-old ceasefire. Cavusoglu called on Iran to "put pressure on Shiite militias and the regime" to stop such violations. The deal, brokered by Turkey and Russia, saw a ceasefire begin late December and the "main forces of the armed opposition" sign a document expressing a readiness to start peace talks. While Moscow is Assad's most powerful ally, Turkey has repeatedly called for Assad to go. But as the countries continue their warming relationship, they have been working together closely on Syria. Moscow and Ankara are guarantors of the talks and the ceasefire but Tehran, conspicuously, is not. Cavusoglu also said Russian officials would be coming to Turkey on January 9 and 10 to discuss the Astana process. More than 310,000 people have been killed and millions forced to flee their homes since the conflict broke out in March 2011. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Two persons, including a mechanical engineer, have been arrested for allegedly duping people of Rs 50 lakh by debiting money from the victims bank accounts to their e-wallets after getting details by posing as Reserve Bank of India officials, police said today. Vikas Jha, 25, and Ashutosh, 23, have been arrested and it has been found that they had cheated various people to the tune of Rs 50 lakh, DCP (South) Ishwar Singh said. On December 17 last, an RK Puram resident SK Nair told police that he had lodged a complaint on www.Complaintboard.In for non-issuance of cheque book against his bank account in Andhra Bank. "Following his complaint, he received a call where a man introduced himself as an RBI official and asked for his bank account number and details of his debit card. When Nair shared the details, he received an SMS about Rs 1.57 lakh being debited from his account," Singh said. During probe, it was found that the amount of Rs 1.57 lakh was transferred to various e-wallets like Paytm, Free Charge, The Mobile Wallet and UDIO. Police obtained the mobile numbers of accused persons, call detail records and developed criminal intelligence to get clues about the culprits. "Police zeroed in on various e-wallet accounts such as paytm, freecharge, the mobile wallet and UDIO in which the money was transferred," he said, adding the technical investigation led police to Jha. "To trace him, records of around 200 mobile phones, details of 50 handsets, around 40 e-wallet records were scanned. "It was found that he used to move around various seven- star and five-star hotels in Delhi and Noida," he added. On December 31, Jha's movement was noticed around Hyatt Hotel, following which a trap was laid and Vikas and his associate Ashutosh were apprehended, he said. During interrogation, the accused told police they used to get data of people from various online portals. They then used to call them to get their bank account details and transfer the money into their e-wallets. "They disclosed that they used to spend money on shopping through online portals and sell those articles through online portals. They have sold around 10 high-end phones like Apple 7, five scooties, etc. Through portals like OLX, Amazon, Flipkart, etc." he added. Ashutosh is a mechanical engineer and had been conning people this way for the last three years, he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Two policemen from Aurangabad police commissionerate have been nominated to the Maharashtra Police Karmachari Vrund Parishad (MPKVP), a state level council for police employees. Senior Police Inspector Dhananjay Yerule of Kranti Chowk police station and head constable Dwarkadas Bhange have been nominated to the council for a period of two years, said Khushalchad Vaheti, ACP and spokesperson of Aurangabad Police. These names of the cops were sent by respective unit commanders, along with a confidential report, following which the state Director General of Police (DGP), who heads the council, made the decision to nominate them, a police official said. Meetings of the council will be held at state police headquarters in Mumbai once in a six month to discuss issues, grievences, duties, responsiblities, implementation of laws related to police, he added. The council is headed by the state DGP and includes the additional director general of police (planning and coordination), additional director general of police (coordination), inspector general of police (administration) and senior officers holding charge of the welfare department, official said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A 50-year-old man has been arrested at London Heathrow airport on suspicion of a terrorism offense. British police say the man was taken into custody by counter-terrorism officers after arriving in Britain on a flight from Cairo today. He was arrested on suspicion of possessing articles which contained information likely to be useful to a person planning an act of terrorism. A property in north London was being searched as part of the investigation. Police have said that the arrest was pre-planned and not related to the Islamic State group or the conflict in Syria. Mounting concern over the possibility of an extremist attack in Britain has led to increased airport security and increased checks of passengers on incoming flights from the Middle East. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Azhar Ali and Younis Khan kept Pakistan on course after Peter Handscomb became Australia's third centurion for the innings as it put a huge first-innings total before declaring on the second day of the third and final Test, being played in Sydney, on Wednesday (January 4).Pakistan, which has already lost the series after losses in Brisbane and Melbourne, got off to a poor start after Australia stoppped at 538 for 8, leaving seven overs to bat before tea. Within that time, Pakistan lost Sharjeel Khan, the debutant, and Babar Azam in one Josh Hazlewood over with just six runs on the board.It could have spelled trouble for Pakistan, but Azhar and Younis steadied the innings with a century stand and took Pakistan to stumps at 126 for 2. Azhar, who made an impressive, unbeaten 205 in last week's Melbourne Test, was on 58 with Younis providing good support on 64 as the side trailed Australia by 412 runs. Azhar got a reprieve on 51 when David Warner dropped a sharp one-handed catch at leg-slip off Nathan Lyon.Australia has had more to smile about this Test, as in the series, and had another bright spot in Handscomb, 25, who scored his second century in just four Tests to join Warner (113) and Matt Renshaw (184) in piling on the agony for Pakistan.Handscomb looked great before he was out in strange fashion, hit wicket for 110, when he went back in his crease to cut Wahab Riaz only for his bat to dislodge the leg bail. He played 205 balls and hit nine boundaries.Earlier, Renshaw's knock ended inside the first half-hour when he played Imran Khan on to his stumps. His first century in his fourth Test came off 293 balls with 20 fours and he put together 142 runs with Handscomb in an exciting stand.Hilton Cartwright, brought in for Nic Maddinson at No. 6 for the match, hit 37 before he was bowled by Imran. Matthew Wade also chipped in with 29 before he was caught sweeping Azhar and after Mitchell Starc's dismissal for 16, Smith brought the innings to a halt.Hazlewood then struck twice in five balls with Sharjeel caught by Renshaw at slip for four and Babar lbw for nought. Expressing concern over growing conflicts and scourge of terrorism, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres acknowledged he is not a "miracle-maker" as he called for unity among nations to deal with the challenges facing the world. "I think we should have no illusions. We are facing very challenging times. On one hand, we see everywhere in the world conflicts that multiply, that are interlinked, that also have triggered this new phenomenon of global terrorism, conflicts in which international humanitarian law is not respected, situations in which we see massive human rights violations, even refugee law is no longer as respected as it was few years ago," 67-year-old Guterres said in his remarks to staff at the world body on his first day in office. Guterres said his election as the UN chief has generated a lot of expectations but he cautioned that there are no miracles. "I am sure I am not a miracle-maker. And the only way for us to be able to achieve our goals is to really work together as a team, and to be able to deserve to serve the noble values enshrined in the Charter (of the United Nations)," he said. He said nations are failing to recognise that there is a unifying factor in everything we do. "And that factor is people. People is undivided. And when we look at the different areas of action in the UN, we need to integrate them, because people integrate them on the receiving end," he said. Guterres also stressed on the need to ensure that "we are able to reform the UN development system as Member States have asked us, and we need to try to get rid of this straight jacket of bureaucracy that makes our lives so difficult in many of the things we do. "This requires a lot of effort from ourselves, but this also requires a lot of discussion and dialogue and mutual understanding with Member States and we need to overcome many of the divides that still exist within the organisation." Guterres called for teamwork, saying it is not enough to the "do the right thing, we need to earn the right to do the right thing." "It is important for us to recognise our achievements (...) but we also need to recognise our shortcomings, to recognise our failures and where we are not able to deliver as we should," he said, outlining the multitude of challenges - ranging from complex conflicts to global terrorism - confronting the world. Guterres' first day at UN Headquarters as Secretary General began with the laying of a wreath at the Memorial Wall. Shortly after taking office two days ago, he made an appeal for peace. "Let us make 2017 a year in which we all - citizens, governments, leaders - strive to overcome our differences," Guterres said Sunday morning, urging people to share his New Year's resolution: "Let us resolve to put peace first." He will serve for a five-year period until December 31, 2021. He was Prime Minister of Portugal from 1995 to 2002, and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees from June 2005 to December 2015. He succeeds Ban Ki-moon who served as the Secretary-General from 2007 until December 2016. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Acknowledging that he is not a "miracle-maker", the new UN chief Antonio Guterres has said that conflicts in the world are multiplying and interlinked and have triggered "a new phenomenon of global terrorism". Speaking to his staff on his first day at the UN headquarters after taking over the world body's reins from Ban Ki-moon, 67-year-old Guterres said his election as the UN chief has generated a lot of expectations but he cautioned that there are no miracles. "I think we should have no illusions. We are facing very challenging times. On one hand, we see everywhere in the world conflicts that multiply, that are interlinked, that also have triggered this new phenomenon of global terrorism, conflicts in which international humanitarian law is not respected, situations in which we see massive human rights violations, even refugee law is no longer as respected as it was few years ago," he said. "I am sure I am not a miracle-maker. And the only way for us to be able to achieve our goals is to really work together as a team, and to be able to deserve to serve the noble values enshrined in the Charter (of the United Nations)," he said. The former Portuguese prime minister said "nations are failing to recognise that there is a unifying factor in everything we do." "And that factor is people. People is undivided. And when we look at the different areas of action in the UN, we need to integrate them, because people integrate them on the receiving end," he said. Guterres also stressed on the need to ensure that "we are able to reform the UN development system as Member States have asked us, and we need to try to get rid of this straight jacket of bureaucracy that makes our lives so difficult in many of the things we do. "This requires a lot of effort from ourselves, but this also requires a lot of discussion and dialogue and mutual understanding with Member States and we need to overcome many of the divides that still exist within the organisation." Guterres called for teamwork, saying it is not enough to the "do the right thing, we need to earn the right to do the right thing." "It is important for us to recognise our achievements (...) but we also need to recognise our shortcomings, to recognise our failures and where we are not able to deliver as we should," he said, outlining the multitude of challenges - ranging from complex conflicts to global terrorism - confronting the world. Guterres' first day at UN Headquarters as Secretary General began with the laying of a wreath at the Memorial Wall. Shortly after taking office two days ago, he made an appeal for peace. "Let us make 2017 a year in which we all - citizens, governments, leaders - strive to overcome our differences," Guterres said Sunday morning, urging people to share his New Year's resolution: "Let us resolve to put peace first. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A Palestinian UN worker accused by Israel of aiding the Islamist group Hamas was sentenced to seven months' jail today in a plea deal which will see him released soon. Waheed Borsh was convicted of "rendering services to an illegal organisation without intention", his lawyer Lea Tsemel told AFP. The Israeli justice ministry confirmed the plea deal, saying that it also included eight months' probation. Borsh was arrested in July and with time already served and good behaviour, he is expected to be released on January 12. The case centred on accusations that rubble in Gaza under the responsibility of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) was misused by the militant group Hamas that controls the enclave. Coming shortly after accusations against a senior employee of the World Vision NGO, the case caused a major stir in Israel, with officials accusing the UN of naivete and alleging systematic misuse of aid by Hamas. Israel originally alleged that Borsh had been recruited by Hamas, which is considered a terrorist organisation by the European Union, the United States and Israel, and had deliberately diverted rubble to a port -- which was then used to build a military jetty. But Tsemel stressed that her client had been convicted only of unintentionally aiding the Islamists for "moving some rubble". "The prosecution claimed that he should have checked better as this could have helped Hamas." Since 2008, Israel has fought three wars with Palestinian militants in Gaza. There were was no immediate comment from the UNDP. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A woman was killed and five others were seriously injured when a car carrying them turned over after its tyre burst on the Delhi-Dehradun Nationbal Highway in the district, police said today. The incident happened near Rampur Nagli village yesterday when the victims were on their way to Muzaffarnagar from Meerut. The deceased woman has been identified as Reshma (45), while the injured -- Reshma (27), Uvesh (12), Saira (4), Shana (10) and Naimuddin (50) were taken to hospital in a serious condition. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The nine-year-old son of an aspiring film producer, who was in the process of producing a film on Akhilesh Yadav, allegedly consumed poison here today as he was apparently upset over the recent developments in the Samajwadi Party. The incident occurred in southeast Delhi's Jamia Nagar area following which the boy was rushed to a hospital where he was stated to be out of danger. Muneer, a class IV student and a resident of Shaheen Bagh, was apparently a fan of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and the policies he had implemented, his father Azhar Dilshad Khan said. Describing Muneer as a "brilliant" student, he said while children of his age usually spent time playing, he used to discuss the political scenario of Uttar Pradesh with his mother. Khan added that he was in the process of producing a film on Akhilesh and had stalled the project after the family feud in the SP surfaced. "Muneer was supposed to play the role of a young boy in the film who is in awe of the chief minister. We could not foresee that it would turn out to be a case of the real imitating the reel," Khan said, adding that the boy "grew up" watching YouTube clips of Akhilesh. All the members of the family, which hailed from Meerut, were fans of Akhilesh, Khan said. Meanwhile, police said that even though the family members told them that Muneer was a fan of Akhilesh and was upset over the recent developments in the SP, in writing they maintained that the boy had "accidentally" consumed an unknown poisonous substance. He was admitted to Alshifa Hospital, said a senior police officer. "The boy is now fit to give statement and is out of danger. His father has given in writing that his son had accidentally consumed some poisonous substance and he does not want any legal action. His mother has said that her son was a fan of Akhilesh Yadav and had consumed rat poison by mistake and that she does not suspect any other person's involvement in the matter," he added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) has issued a warning letter to for violating current good manufacturing practice norms, including its failure to ensure proper clothing for workers at its Ankleshwar plant in Gujarat. In the letter to Chairman and Group Chief Executive Officer Habil Khorakiwala, the USFDA said inspectors during an inspection from December 7 to 15, 2015, found "significant violations" of current good manufacturing practice (CGMP) regulations for finished pharmaceuticals as well as for active pharmaceutical ingredients (API). USFDA has already banned the import of products from the facility into the US market since August 5, 2016. Elaborating on the violations at the plant, the USFDA noted that the company failed to ensure that manufacturing personnel wear clothing appropriate to protect drug product from contamination. "Our investigator observed employees working in gowns that had unravelled stitching extending from hoods, zippers, and pants. Your firm approved these gowns for operations...You should have discarded these garments," it noted. The other violations include the firm's failure to establish and follow appropriate written procedures designed to prevent microbiological contamination of drug products purporting to be sterile. "Under dynamic conditions, air did not sufficiently sweep across and away from sterile connections, so the sterility of any product processed under these conditions could be compromised," the USFDA said. Besides, the inspectors identified multiple aseptic technique breaches during aseptic connection of the equipment. "Your equipment design and aseptic processing operator competencies appear to contribute to the lack of unidirectionality," the health regulator said. Also, the firm failed to ensure that laboratory records included complete data derived from all tests necessary to assure compliance with established specifications and standards, the USFDA said. The firm also failed to exercise appropriate control over computer or related systems to assure that only authorised personnel institute changes in master production and control records. Commenting on the API production issues, the USFDA said, "The company failed to record activities at the time they are performed, and destruction of original records". Besides, the quality system does not adequately ensure the accuracy and integrity of data to support the safety, effectiveness, and quality of the drugs manufactured at the plant, it said. Until the company corrects all violations and deviations completely and the USFDA confirms its compliance with CGMP, it may withhold approval of any new applications, it said. "Failure to correct these violations and deviations may also result in FDA continuing to refuse admission of articles manufactured at Ankleshwar, Gujarat, into the United States," it added. In a filing to the BSE, said it has already initiated required steps to address the concerns raised by the USFDA and is "putting all its efforts to resolve the same." Shares of the drug firm were trading 0.50 per cent down at Rs 662.30 apiece on BSE. Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat will sit on a one-day hunger strike here tomorrow to protest against the Centre's "neglect" of the hill state. Soon after the announcement of Assembly election dates in five states by the Election Commission today, Rawat arrived in the national capital ahead of his planned protest. Earlier, he had announced his plans to stage protests against the "rejection" of the Uttarakhand government's masterplan on Bhagirathi eco-sensitive zone. Rawat, whose government was briefly dismissed last year, has frequently been at loggerheads with the Centre. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A local court today issued an arrest warrant against absconding Independent MLA Julius Dorphang, wanted in a case of sexual exploitation of a 14-year-old girl. The chief judicial magistrate, Shillong, issued the warrant against Dorphang, legislator of Mawhati constituency, who is supporting the ruling Congress government. East Khasi Hills district SP M Kharkrang said the police began searching for the MLA who disappeared after being booked for his alleged role in sexually exploiting and trafficking the girl. Dorphang was also the founding chairman of the outlawed Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council (HNLC) militant outfit. The case was registered at Laitumkhrah police station in the city and Dorphang was booked under section 366 (A) of the IPC read with section 3 (a)/4 of the POCSO Act and under section 5 of Immoral Trafficking Prevention Act (ITPA). The matter first surfaced last month after a waiter at a guest house owned by Meghalaya Home Minister HDR Lyngdoh's son was arrested for trafficking the victim. She later told the State Commission for Protection of Child Rights that she had been taken to many guest houses and hotels. Five persons including four women were arrested in the case for allegedly acting as the pimp of the girl. Women activists demanded that Chief Minister Mukul Sangma drop the Home Minister to allow a free and fair trial of the case. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Actress Amyra Dastur, who will be seen sharing screen space with actor Jackie Chan in "Kung Fu Yoga", says she was starstruck to meet the Hollywood star for the first time. "The first thing I told him was I love him a lot and he said, 'Oh My God..!' It took me a week to be normal with him. I was starstruck," Amyra told PTI. The "Issaq" actress says Chan helped her in doing the action sequences right in the film. "It is an action-comedy film, so most of the film has action sequences. I get frustrated when I don't get things properly on screen. I wasn't able to do a sequence in a graceful manner..I couldn't understand why I was not getting right," she said. "Jackie saw me struggling to do the scenes. He asked me to do a scene for him and he pointed my mistakes, explained where exactly I was going wrong. In the next shot, it was done perfectly," she added. Amyra said when she hurt her back, Jackie told her to rest. "I had sprained my back badly in one of the action sequences as I fell flat on a rod. When you are doing an action film you are bound to get some bruises. Jackie felt sad when I got hurt... He told me to rest for two days." Amyra said she admires the quality of generosity in the actor. "He (Chan) doesn't act like a star. I have worked with Emraan Hashmi, he is a sweetheart but there is star quality in him. Jackie is chilled out and he is happy all the time. He is happy with his life. He says whatever you call me star or superstar, I am grateful to God and my family," she said. Also starring Sonu Sood, Disha Patni, "Kung Fu Yoga" releases this month in China. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Fuming over the "unconstitutional" deployment of CRPF outside the BJP office here last night, the West Bengal government is set to write a letter to the Centre pointing out its infringement on the state's rights on law and order. According to a top official in the State Secretariat, the letter will point out that since law and order is a state subject the deployment of the paramilitary force outside the BJP office is an "infringement into the state's rights". It would question why the CRPF, actually meant for BJP national secretary Rahul Sinha's security, was deployed outside the party's office, the source told PTI. A CRPF contingent was rushed to secure BJP office in Kolkata and ensure safety of its workers after a violent attack by arrested TMC leader Sudip Bandyopahyay's supporters on the saffron party's state headquarters here which left several people injured and set off a fresh bout of recrimination between the two parties. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A former Argentina youth international, Conca - who is still currently recovering from a knee injury sustained last August - enjoyed highly successful spells in China with both Shanghai and domestic rivals Guangzhou Evergrande. Having joined Guangzhou from Brazils Fluminese in 2011, the attacking midfielder went on to win three successive Chinese Super League titles, the Chinese FA Cup and Chinese FA Super Cup in 2012 and, a year later, the AFC Champions League. A second stint at Fluminese followed in 2014, before Conca opted to play for Shanghai where he made nearly 50 appearances over the course of two seasons. Shanghai made headlines around the world last month when they signed Brazil international Oscar from Chelsea for a reported 60million a fee that smashed the Asian transfer record. Photo: AFP Stating that law-and-order was a state matter, West Bengal Education Minister and TMC secretary general Partha Chatterjee today questioned how CRPF personnel could be deployed outside the BJP head office in the city. Alleging that the Centre was trying to "disturb" the federal structure of the country, he said Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi had not recommended the deployment. "How was the CRPF deployed on the basis of (BJP national secretary) Rahul Sinha's words? Who has given them the rights to do so...They (the Centre) are trying to disturb the federal structure of the country. Law-and-order is a state matter," Chatterjee told reporters at the state secretariat. "I spoke to the Governor today...He said he had not recommended the CRPF deployment," he added. Hours after the arrest of Trinamool Congress MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay by the CBI yesterday in connection with the Rose Valley chit fund scam, the BJP office in central Kolkata was attacked allegedly by the activists of the TMC's student wing. Subsequently, CRPF personnel, meant for Sinha's personal security, were deployed outside the office which triggered a controversy. Sinha later said the CRPF personnel were called for his own security. "I get CRPF protection. For my security, more CRPF personnel have been deputed in view of the ongoing violence," he had said. Continuing his tirade against the BJP, Chatterjee alleged that the saffron party's "jallad bahini" (henchmen) and the CPI(M)'s "harmads" (the term derived from the Portuguese word for 'pirates') had "joined hands to disrupt the development works in the state". "For 34 years, CPI(M)'s 'harmads' have destroyed the state...Now, BJP's 'jallad bahini' has joined them to stall the development works taken up by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee," the TMC leader said. Reacting to BJP general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya's "warning" to the TMC today to "mend its ways or face consequences", Chatterjee said "such corrupt people should not question others but mind their own businesses". "Some half-leaders have surfaced these days. Such corrupt leaders who have lost their posts must mind their own businesses...And, instead of questioning the stability of a government or criticising it, they must run a check on their own stability. Such corrupt people have no right to criticise others...The people of India will one day teach them a lesson," he said. Asserting that the TMC would continue with its protests against the BJP-led Centre's demonetisation move, Chatterjee said the party would stage demonstrations and take out rallies in all the blocks, divisions, sub-divisions and districts of West Bengal for three consecutive days starting January 9. "We will also demonstrate in front of the RBI office in the city on these three days. We will continue with our fight for the right of the people," he added. India today expressed confidence that the Indo-US relationship will be "brighter" under Donald Trump's presidency and said there has been high-level engagement with his prospective team in deepening the ties. "We are very clear that the future of Indo-US relationship will be brighter than it has been in the immediate past. The reason is very simple. The key strength of the relationship lies in the fact that it has bipartisan support," Minister of State of External Affairs M J Akbar said. He was addressing a joint press conference with his ministerial colleague V K Singh where they listed achievements of the MEA in the last two-and-half years. There was a very warm and productive initial conversation between President-elect Trump and our Prime Minister. Already there has been a series of high-level engagements involving the NSA and the Foreign Secretary, Akbar said. He said India was "very confident" that the elements of the ties like defence partnership and strategic complementarities will drive the equation between the two countries to greater heights. Replying to a question on media reports about seizure of wanted terrorist Dawood Ibrahim's properties by authorities in United Arab Emirates, Akbar refused to give a direct reply and only said there has been cooperation between security agencies of the two countries. Sources said the reports were not verified. Replying to a question on why Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's visit here was postponed, Akbar said there were certain "scheduling problem", adding he had a very fruitful meeting with her in Dhaka recently. "We hope the new dates will be negotiated soon," he said. When asked about proposed Teesta water agreement between India and Bangladesh, he admitted there were issues and said government was trying for internal consensus over it. He also clearly indicated that West Bengal government was opposed to it. "We hope there will be agreement between the Centre and Bengal government on Teesta and other water related issues." On the festering issue of fishermen with Sri Lanka, Singh said both India and Sri Lanka had agreed to explore the possibility of installing tracking systems on fishing boats so that fishermen from each other's country do not cross territorial waters. He said the technology to be installed is being worked out and it will be finalised very soon. Singh said the issue was discussed in detail during the ministerial meeting on Monday and India requested for immediate release of the fishing boats. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Top women scientists gathered here today to discuss the challenges faced by them in terms of career growth in the field of science and technology and rued that their representation in leadership positions is very low. Speakers at the Women Science Congress, asserted that optimal growth of science and technology would only be possible with equal participation of men and women. They also emphasised on the need for promotion, awareness and policies that can encourage women scientists. The Women Science Congress, which was inaugurated by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu here today, is being held along with the Indian Science Congress (ISC). H S Savithri, of the biochemistry department in Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, said at present, in India, 40 per cent of the undergraduate students in science and engineering are women. However, their representation as faculties, as heads of laboratories, or as members of governing or advisory board is very low, Savithri said. Highlighting the issue of very few women in leadership positions in academic institutions and research labs, Prof Nupur Prakash, Vice-Chancellor of the Indira Gandhi Delhi Technical University for Women said this happens despite having the right kind of attitude and qualification. "Today, women are in the mainstream of science and many of the world's top scientists are women," said Tessy Thomas, scientist from the Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Missile Complex, a laboratory under DRDO. The face of modern science would be unrecognizable without the major contributions made by women, including more than a dozen noble laureates, Thomas said. Sudha Nair, CEO of the Chennai-based Golden Jubilee Biotech Park for Women, advised women scientists to be strong while encountering problems. "You can cry, get angry, but don't let people see that that. Have a decorum, maintain balance. That is very important," Nair said. Vandana Singh, scientist at the Department of Science and Technology under the Department of Science & Technology, said the government has come up with different schemes to promote women scientists ,including the Knowledge Involvement in Research Advancement Through Nurturing and said more than 3,700 women scientists have been supported under this scheme so far. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The world's oldest killer whale, a 100-year-old animal affectionately known as Granny, is missing and presumed dead, scientists say. Following Granny and other matriarch killer whales has shown their crucial role within the family group. They guide the pod as it forages, take care of other females' young calves and even feed the larger males, researchers said. These post-reproductive female leaders help their families to survive, and the advantage they offer could show what drives a species to evolve to stop reproducing. "It was inevitable that this day was going to come but it is very sad and a further blow to this population," said Darren Croft from the University of Exeter in the UK, who leads this evolutionary biology research. In her later years she had "been helping her family group to survive by sharing her knowledge of when and where to find food," said Croft. The orcas of an area known as the Salish Sea - close to Vancouver and Seattle - have been the subject of a four decades long study led by Ken Balcomb from the Center for Whale Research (CWR). He had first photographed Granny, official named J2, in 1976, 'BBC News' reported. On the centre's website, which first reported Granny's death, Balcomb wrote that he last saw her on October 12 last year as she swam north far ahead of the others. "Perhaps other dedicated whale-watchers have seen her since then, but by year's end she is officially missing from the Southern Resident Killer Whale population, and with regret we now consider her deceased," he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Bangladeshi Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, founder of micro-financing organisation Grameen Bank, today exhorted the scientists to come up with exact solutions for problems. Delivering a lecture at the Indian Science Congress (ISC), Yunus said the scientific community can make the Health care services "costless" with the use of technology. "Health care is the best medium to offer your services. Make it costless with the use of technology. Don't give people what they have, give what fits them well... Exactly in the way solutions are required," Yunus said. He also appealed to the scientists to come up with solutions in the field of energy conservation. Referring to microfinancing scam by a company in Andhra Pradesh, the nobel laureate, who is known for his work in the microfinancing sector, said few people have brought bad name to microfinancing and such instances are not good examples. "Good microfinancing does not exploit people," he said. Yunus is also here to inaugurate a Social Business Centre in the Andhra University. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) 1. It first came to light in the 1490s when two explorers, Rodrigo De Jerez and Luis de Torres, working for Christopher Columbus, spotted and imbibed the habits of Cubans who stuffed a particular commodity in the leaves or ears of corn and consumed it. Jerezs addiction to it caused his imprisonment when he returned to Spain. China is the largest and India is the second largest producer of this commodity. Tobacco 2. Backseat spreader, Dark Brown5 (DB5), Dark Secrets, Mangry and Beauty and the Yeast are all terms submitted by users of a particular brand whose main ingredient is also the key ingredient for beer and bread makers. It is a brand founded in the UK with a French name. Identify it. Marmite. It is concentrated brewers yeast that can be stored in a bottle and eaten. It is a French term for a large covered earthenware. Originally, the British Marmite was supplied in earthen pots. It is a rare sign of protest from a brand that is used to being trodden upon. Bata, a near-generic term for shoes among a generation of Indians, has sent out a public notice over a recently released trailer of the movie Jolly LLB 2. The company has objected to a dialogue where actor Akshay Kumar is berated for being the type of person who wears the Bata brand of shoes by Annu Kapoor. The company believes this devalues the brand in the minds of the audience and could be, it says in the notice: perhaps at the instance of some competitors of (Bata) whose products are promoted by Mr Akshay Kumar as a brand ambassador. Senior academician and expert on financial market regulation Jayant R Varma has asked the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) to disclose the documents related to its ongoing probe at the National Stock Exchange (NSE). Referring to disclosures relating to alleged unfair access to the bourses colocation platform in the recent draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) filed by the NSE, Varma, who teaches at IIM Ahmedabad and sits on the regulators internal committees, said such details which concern the integrity of the market infrastructure could not be linked to listing. He also criticised the apparent double standards in Sebi's treatment of material information in its/exchanges' hands vis-a-vis other listed companies. In his personal blog posted on the IIM A website late on Tuesday, Varma wrote, In my view, all the documents whose existence has now been disclosed represent material information about the operation of one of Indias most critical Financial Market Infrastructure (FMI). These documents ought to have been disclosed long ago, but it is still not too late for the regulator to release suitably redacted versions of all these documents. He listed key disclosures made in risk factor number three, which refers to complaints about unfair access being provided to some trading members at the . The DRHP revealed that Sebi received these complaints nearly two years ago and the response to Sebi more than a year ago. Other critical pieces of information confirmed in the DRHP are that a year ago, Sebi engaged a team headed by professors of the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, to examine these complaints. The report of this team was sent to the nine months ago. The NSE, in turn, submitted a response disputing these findings. Four months ago, Sebi sent an Observation Letter to the NSE stating that the architecture of [NSE] with respect to dissemination of TBT (tick-by-tick) data ... was prone to manipulation and market abuse and advised the NSE to appoint an independent agency to conduct an examination of all the concerns highlighted in the IIT Interim report. The report of the Independent Agency was filed with Sebi a fortnight ago. Varma stated that linking disclosure by a market infrastructure institution like the NSE to listing would amount to a very narrow view. All this information is becoming public only as a result of the NSE filing for a public issue. SEBI seems to have taken the narrow and untenable view that the operations of a large FMI are of concern only to its shareholders and so disclosure is required only when the FMI goes public. Such a view would mean all other market infrastructure institutions should also go for listing to facilitate better disclosures. It is surely absurd to claim that listed companies should be held to higher disclosure standards than key regulated entities. If this absurdity is really the regulators view, then it should forthwith require that all depositories, exchanges and clearing corporations become listed companies so that they conform to higher disclosure standards. Since some of the facts were disputed, both sides to the story should be disclosed with a clear disclaimer, Varma stated. The names of individuals and proprietary confidential information, too, could be redacted before such publication, he added. In an effort to diversify its focus on the Indian market, Google's India-born CEO Sundar Pichai on Wednesday announced digital training programme for small and medium business (SMB) in the country. Featured Post Mohawk Nation News: Mohawk Bar Assn. Address -- Oct. 14, 2022 INDIGENOUS BAR ASSN. ADDRESS OCT. 14, 2022 Posted on November 3, 2022 Mohawk Nation News https://mohawknationnews.com/blog/ MNN. Nov.... White Mesa Ute Spiritual March to Shut Down Uranium Mill Mohawk Warrior Society Book Launch Lakota Jean Roach: The True Story of Leonard Peltier Justice for Dad: Taylor Dewey Shares the Harsh Road to Justice Justice Dept Files Lawsuit Against Rapid City Hotel Western Shoshone Ian Zabarte Speaks on Radiation Archive Search This Blog About Censored News Censored News is published by Brenda Norrell. Since 2006, Censored News has received more than 20 million pageviews. As a collective of writers, photographers and broadcasters, we publish news of Indigenous Peoples and human rights. Contact publisher Brenda Norrell: brendanorrell@gmail.com From the publisher Censored News is published by Brenda Norrell, a journalist in Indian country for 40 years. Norrell created Censored News after she was censored and terminated as a staff reporter at Indian Country Today in 2006. She began as a reporter at Navajo Times during the 18 years that she lived on the Navajo Nation. She was a stringer for AP and USA Today and later traveled with the Zapatistas through Mexico. She has been blacklisted by all the mainstream media for 14 years. Contact brendanorrell@gmail.com Translate While some states have complained of declining tax revenues due to demonetisation, the Centre is hopeful of exceeding its Budget Estimates (BE) for 2016-17 in both direct and indirect tax collections. The Odisha government has revisited its demand for revision of coal royalty in the run up to the Budget for 2017-18. The demand for revising coal royalty was made by state Finance Minister Pradip Amat at the recent pre-Budget consultative meeting organised with states by the Centre. Following demands by some political parties to postpone presentation of the Union Budget till assembly elections in five states are over, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Wednesday said presenting the Budget is a "constitutional requirement". "Presenting the budget is a constitutional requirement," Jaitley said. Shiv Sena President Uddhav Thackeray on Wednesday demanded postponement of the Budget presentation in Parliament till the assembly elections are over. Without naming anyone, Jaitley said: "This is the same party that protests against demonetisation; why are they bothered with the Budget." The minister said an interim budget was presented even before the 2014 Lok Sabha polls and earlier too budgets had been presented ahead of elections. 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 In fresh roadblocks to GST rollout, states on Tuesday demanded taxation rights for sales in high seas and also increasing the number of items on which cess is to be levied to compensate the states to deal with revenue loss estimated at Rs 90,000 crore post demonetisation. Initially a Rs 55,000 crore GST compensation fund was proposed to be created by levying cess on demerit or sin goods and luxury items, but post demonetisation the compensation amount is expected to go up to Rs 90,000 crore as most states have seen revenue decline of up to 40 per cent, non-BJP ruled states claimed. Also, coastal states pressed for rights to levy GST on trade of goods within 12 nautical miles offshore, holding up finalising of the draft law for levy of Integrated-GST (IGST) on inter-state trade. ALSO READ: From demonetisation to GST: 10 major events in the Indian economy in 2016 At the eighth meeting of the all-powerful GST Council, TMC-ruled West Bengal, CPM-led Kerala and Congress-ruled Karnataka pressed for including area up to 12 nautical miles in the definition of states within IGST law, a standoff that led to chairman and Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley agreeing to seek legal opinion on its Constitutional validity. "We couldn't reach a consensus on a very important issue that relates to defining of a state. This is 12 nautical miles from the state. Can states charge GST from them or not? Right now states like Gujarat, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, West Bengal and Odisha are charging VAT or sales tax within 12 nautical miles. For eg when a ship is loaded with oil or products, the tax on that is charged by the states. ALSO READ: I-T Dept will be even more effective in catching tax evaders. Here's why "All the coastal states, irrespective of parties, combined in saying that we must have 12 nautical miles within the state jurisdiction. Whereas the draft IGST law was looking at having taxation rights with the Centre," West Bengal Finance Minister Amit Mitra told reporters. The Day 1 of the panel meeting did not take up the contentious issue of control of assesses which had been till now holding up roll out of Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime. The issue would be discussed today. While representatives of opposition-ruled states were unanimous in saying April 1 target date for rollout of the new regime is not possible, even BJP-ruled Gujarat said GST could become a reality from September. A few banks have restored levy of transaction fee for use of debit card for payment in absence of any clear direction from the government or the Reserve Bank. However, a few others like Citi is still providing waiver on Merchant Discount Rates (MDR) till January 7. "The MDR charges waiver has been extended till January 7 and the review would be done after that," Citi India spokesperson said. With regard to cap on free-of-charge withdrawals from ATMs, which also varies from banks to banks. Some of the public sector banks like Bank of India have extended this facility on their own till March 31, 2017. Prior to demonetisation, bank customers in six metros -- Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Hyderabad and Bengaluru -- were allowed to withdraw money free of charge only five times a month from their home ATMs and every transaction beyond this limit was charged Rs 20 per use. However, ATM transactions were made free-of-charge during the demonetisation period. Thus, the waiver was applicable on transactions (inclusive of both financial and non-financial transactions) done at ATMs from November 10 till December 30. Although cash withdrawal limit from ATMs has been reviewed and raised by RBI to Rs 4,500 from the earlier limit of Rs 2,500 on December 30, there is no official communication as far as free-of-charge transaction limit is concerned. According to December 16 notification, RBI lowered MDR charges on payments made through debit cards to 0.25 per cent for payment up to Rs 1,000 from January 1 to March 31. The MDR for debit card payments, including payments made to government, will be capped at 0.25 per cent for transactions up to Rs 1,000 and 0.5 per cent between Rs 1,000 and Rs 2,000, RBI had said. Similarly, it had asked banks and prepaid payment instrument issuers not to levy any charges for transactions up to Rs 1,000 from January 1 to March 31. This would cover transactions through Immediate Payment Service (IMPS), USSD-based *99# and Unified Payment Interface (UPI) systems. The relaxations, RBI had said, are in tandem with initiatives taken by the government to "incentivise greater adoption of digital payments by large sections of the society." PTI DP CS JM China has launched its first freight train to London over 12,000 kms away as part of efforts by the worlds second largest economy to expand rail links to different areas across the globe to improve its dwindling exports and stabilise slowdown. The train departed from Chinas international commodity hub Yiwu in Zhejiang Province on Sunday. It will travel for about 18 days and more than 12,000 kilometres before reaching its destination in Britain, the China Railway Corporation (CRC) said. Yiwu is known for producing small commodities, and the train mainly carried such goods, including household items, garments, cloth, bags and suitcases. It will pass through Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus, Poland, Germany, Belgium and France before arriving in London, state- run Xinhua news agency reported. London is the 15th city in Europe added to China-Europe freight train services. The service will improve China-Britain trade ties, strengthen connectivity with western Europe, while better serving Chinas Belt and Road Initiative, an infrastructure and trade network connecting Asia with Europe and Africa along ancient trade routes, the CRC said. Chinas exports totalled to USD 2.27 trillion in 2015 slowing down from USD 2.34 trillion in 2014. Its economy grew at 6.9 per cent in 2015, slipping below seven per cent in a quarter of century. ALSO READ: Indus Water Treaty: Resolve issues, advises US to India and Pakistan As part of its efforts to stabilise its exports and economy, China has embarked on multi-billion dollar global connectivity project called the One Belt One Road (Silk Road). ALSO READ: Box Office Business: Meet Aamir, the new 'Sultan' I would like to believe that my grandchildren will find comfortable jobs one day as per what they are learning today in terms of both academics and skills. The idea that half of today's jobs across the world may totally disappear has pushed me into thinking austerely about the future of my posterity. Suddenly people all over are growing concerned about advancing automation. Various studies across industries have shown that it reduces employment potential by 10 per cent to 40 per cent. The present worker is a knowledge worker. He has traditionally required management education, knowledge of systems and processes that enable him taking decisions in different business and market situations. Machines in their phase of origin took over soiled and dangerous jobs from workers predominantly in industries like textile, steel, jute, copper, automotives et al. With development of technology, machines took over dull technology. Computers were born leading to relevance of knowledge and advent of smart workers. Last week, a friend met a retired professor who taught textile designing to his students in one of India's premier institutes based in Ahmadabad. He is now one amongst the few living legends across the world possessing an ancient art form of hand braiding, a very innovative technique for creating seamless garments. Historically, this may have started as a dire need to acquire a skill with minimum tools to meet a certain kind of geographical requirement. The camel girths in the regions of Rajasthan and Gujarat were made and presumably still are essential to hold the saddle upright in the desserts, may be the scale would vary now given the physical labor that has been replaced with automated machines or simply put, finely processed leather or other rugged cloth material would have replaced those hand-braided animal wool or hair girths. A skill then, an art now. One cannot help but notice the diminishing sense of utility attached to hand skills which was evident once upon a time. There is a manufacturer-turned-importer in Varanasi who had hundreds of laborers working on furnaces or lamps to handcraft beautiful irregular asymmetrical glass beads. The city sometime back had over 1,33,000 workers in the trade but was left with perhaps 1/3rd in the last few years. The locals say that not just exports but even the regional market has taken a hit, there are now beads that are churned out from machines more regular in shape and pattern uniformity and a scale difficult to match up to by these humble hand-skilled wagers. A young intern working with a renowned clothing label feels there is lack of originality and she is asked to search and copy designs of international brands from the web and get them developed with few modifications suiting Indian tastes and pockets. She strongly feels she can conceptualize and develop better designs having spent half a decade in an academy only if the prototypes can be funded well. She has technical knowhow and is updated on applications that will help create scientifically superior product designs but feels the faith in trying something new is absent and pushes her into dungeons of obliteration rather than into creation or innovation. These are just few personal experiences, but I presume the next era may slowly take away decisions from employees which may appear threatening. It looks that humanity is seeing elimination in its face due to over reliance or burdening the function of Artificial Intelligence (AI). One CEO of an AI Company is sure that lot of jobs belonging to executives of today will be done by machines of tomorrow. I met a carpenter who only had elementary education in his small village in Uttar Pradesh, had forbidden use of old tools in his team and invests a decent amount periodically on buying the latest gadgets. He is happy serving a client request as per their web search results and is competitive when it comes to quality of contemporary material used in interiors. Basically, he is excellent in executing an idea that came out from the advanced technologies. He may still lack the knowledge and expertise of disseminating knowledge about his work and existence to a wider audience and depends largely on word-of-mouth; nonetheless it was impressive to see that he has learnt as much to upgrade himself to stay in business. At sidelines of his work at my neighbors' house he also informs me that if he does not he may find it hard feed his family of six given there are many ecommerce websites offering interiors and looks of rooms or apartments. Had he been not in India, he would have created a local brand for himself already with some help from techpreneurs in provinces under a social initiative. But I hope this still sounds hopeful, I wanted to break the chain of despairing thoughts I had realized I created in the first half of this article. It is obvious that automation is intimidating. It starts with a baseline of what people do in a given job which is then taken over by machines, sooner or later. The future will hold a daunting challenge for employees to turn into 'super knowledge workers' and handle things which machines of tomorrow will not be able to handle. They will have to understand and feel the chaos in complexities in tandem with a specific consumer market that cannot be quantified for Artificial Intelligence to handle and see a pattern in these hundreds of chaotic complexities, which will form one small pattern in his mind and provide clarity to take a decision. The process will be augmentation and with that kind of a mindset and knowledge, a worker will come to see smart machines as partners and collaborators in creative problem solving. I find companies like TCS are trying to form a pattern or some form of a systematic approach in dealing with sea of people at AIIMS, the apex healthcare and medical research body. Last year the OPD transformation project streamlined the flow of patient movement visiting 21 OPDS. The technology introduced has been benefitting over 3 million people since then, reducing average waiting time from 6 hours to 2 hours and managing overcrowding. This digitization is also helping tightening patient records and schedules well bearing a positive impact on overall patient care. Besides optimization, TCS created necessary infrastructure - a new waiting hall with 2550 seating capacity was created, older halls were refurbished, 120 patient care coordinators were introduced for assistance and guidance, web kiosks and large LED real time appointment status boards were put, centralized patient registration centers with 52 counters catering to 10,000 patients per day were introduced. TCS designed the way-finding solution and introduced information dissemination methodologies. A good example of public-private collaboration, can serve as a lesson in automation and simultaneous job creation or maintaining employability while also adding flexibility. Workers will have to keep upgrading their knowledge; but algorithms cannot be developed for complex brain stimuli like empathy or intuition. For e.g. In above example the 120 patient assistance coordinators may not be taught the degree of empathy they must demonstrate towards patients, that has no set coding or machine learning but may be a distinctive factor in times to come. Experts at Harvard, Thomas H. Davenport and Julia Kirby suggests five paths towards employability: Algorithms are spinning success stories when it comes to self driven cars or in times to come we will see automated travel experiences when algorithms will take advanced forms. Roles of workforce may change but must not be reduced. The super knowledge workers will have to have top-down view of various issues to win the augmentative technology era. We could restructure the threat of automation as an opportunity for augmentation. It is not less cognitive or physically challenging work that necessarily must witness success in automation, it should be way of doing work rather than work. Let us not overstate the extent of machine substitution for human labor and discount the argument or ignore the strong complementariness that increase productivity, earnings and also augment further demand for skilled labor. The writer is a Management Thinker & Philosopher, a Mentor and a Strategy Consultant, an Academician and a Veteran in consumer durables and retail. He was formerly associated with LG Electronics as its COO and Director. He is also a member on boards of banks and a few other business houses across various industry verticals and consults them on plans and policies. He is a PHD in organisational behaviour from IIT-Kharagpur. He can be reached at yasho.v.verma@gmail.com Chinese smartphone vendors last year captured about 40 per cent share in India, the second largest smartphone market in the world, the official media in Beijing reported. Among all, Lenovo saw its shipment volume rise to the second only after Samsung in the third quarter last year, state-run China Daily quoted global research firm International Data Corporation (IDC) survey as saying. Xiaomi took the third spot with a market share of 10.7 per cent, whereas Chinese vendors collectively took up 40 per cent, according to the survey conducted across 30 major Indian cities. The forays by Chinese phone makers comes as India's domestic brands saw decline in market share. Micromax reported a 16.7 per cent month-over-month sales drop in October, the survey said. Analysts noted that as smartphone giants look at India which has a population of 1.34 billion, to be the "new China" and the competition will be intense, the report said. ALSO READ: Budget 2017 may spring sweet surprises for startups Despite growth, price war remains fierce in what is becoming the world's second-largest smartphone market where the price of a mobile averages only USD 100, the survey said. "Lenovo has retained its duo-brand strategy in India," Rahul Agarwal, the company's managing director, told state-run Beijing News, adding that Motorola is focused on high-end market, taking up a third of its sales, whereas Lenovo phones targeting lower end account for two thirds. Indian customers are even more price sensitive than Chinese users, Ni Fei, co-founder and CEO of Nubia Technology, said. Besides price war, patent rights and tariff could also hinder further growth in India, analysts said, citing patent disputes faced by Chinese smartphone makers OPPO, VIVO and Xiaomi in recent years. ALSO READ: Six things taxpayers expect from Budget 2017 OPPO is planning to invest 1.5 billion yuan (USD 215 million) to build an industrial park in India to bring down manufacturing cost, according to media reports earlier last month. The company already has a factory in Greater Noida. Google CEO Sundar Pichai unveiled new app and training modules for small and medium businesses in India at an event in the capital today. The new app Primer and training modules were launched under the Google's My Business offering, as it looks to further tap the 51-million strong small and medium businesses (SMB) market in India. Making the announcements, Google's India-born CEO Sundar Pichai said the company is working on products for India that can be expanded globally. "When we solve for a place like India, we solve for everyone around the world. That has led us to grow our team here and spend more time and ensure the products are useful for everyone," he said. Google's My Business will help small businesses set up website from their mobile devices and all they need is a smart phone and a few minutes, he said. The company has also launched Digital Unlocked, an education programme, in association with industry body FICCI and Indian School of Business. The programme will offer mobile and online courses to help small businesses start their digital journey. ALSO READ: Indus Water Treaty: Resolve issues, advises US to India and Pakistan "SMBs have always been key users of our platform right from the beginning," said Rajan Anandan, Vice-President India and South-East Asia Google. IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and MeitY Secretary Aruna Sundararajan were also present. In his previous visit to India in December 2015, Pichai had announced that Google would provide free WiFi in 400 railway stations in India in collaboration with Rail Tel. Currently, the facility is available in 100 stations. Going for Growth is inviting applications from ambitious female entrepreneurs, who are serious about growing their business, to apply for participation in the 9th cycle of this award-winning programme. Going for Growth was designed and developed in 2008 and over 450 female entrepreneurs have participated in the initiative to date. The evidence from these previous participants is that the peer support approach delivers major impacts for both the entrepreneur and for her business - reducing psychological isolation and increasing confidence, motivation and know-how, which leads to the achievement of growth goals. The programme will run from February to June 2017. The initiative, which is sponsored by Enterprise Ireland and KPMG, offers a unique programme of peer support focused on growth to women owner managers, regardless of sector. There is no charge to those who are successful in being selected. The selection process is competitive and the critical factor is that successful applicants need to demonstrate a significant desire for growth. Ideally the businesses will be well established and will have been trading for at least two years. Reports from last years programme show participants businesses experienced a combined growth in sales over the cycle of 7.5m (+28%), the number of exporters increased by 43% and employment in participants businesses rose to 485 (+ 17%). The programme won the European Enterprise Promotion Award 2015 Investing in Entrepreneurial Skills Category, further evidence of the strong reputation the initiative has for delivering real impact for participants and their businesses. The latest cycle of Going for Growth will get underway on 17th February 2017. It will run over six months and involves a time commitment of two full days (February and June) and four half days (February May). The closing date for applications is 20th January 2017. National Director at Going for Growth, Paula Fitzsimons says, "Our mission in Going for Growth is to support female entrepreneurs to achieve their growth ambitions and to get more female owner managers into a growth frame of mind. I am delighted to say that we are doing just that through a focus on growth goals, peer support and the sharing of experiences in a collaborative and confidential environment." Source: www.businessworld.ie More information can be found below: http://www.goingforgrowth.com/GFG%20EBROCHURE.pdf LOGAN Deputies have released the identity of a body that was found inside a burned out car near Petersboro, December 19. A press release from the Cache County Sheriffs Office said state medical examiners had identified the remains of the person found as Clint Yonk, a 47-year-old man from Petersboro. Yonks body was found by deputies when they were called to the scene of a suspicious vehicle found on private property. It appeared to have been destroyed by fire. The vehicle was found by Yonks family, who had gone looking for him, after he had failed to return home after several days. The press release also said investigators, reviewing evidence and conducting interviews, believe that the incident was accidental. They are waiting for the Utah State Medical Examiners final report though on the exact cause of death.

will@cvradio.com EU referendums: beyond desinformation and the democratic crisis Published on December 31, 2016 Story by Eyes on Europe en es it fr de pl In 1972, the first referendum on European integration took place in France. Since then, 40 referendums on EU topics have been conducted in member states and candidate countries. Topics ranged from membership issues to the Eurozone and the Greek bailout. While referendums attract many critical voices, a strong case can also be made in favour of them. Referendums have always attracted vocal critics. One can easily raise concerns on the simplicity of a yes/no question. Indeed, the complexity of the issues at stake are usually of such controversial nature that they rarely fit into one simple question. The outcome of a referendum, be it a yes or no, can easily be utilized for offsetting the decreasing legitimacy of politicians actions. It can be operated as a sort of carte blanche for questionable decisions, as a very convincing argument leading his policy choices, since it is the peoples will. Furthermore, a referendum per se does not consist of a form of democracy if correct and complete information to citizens is not available. Due to the lack of nuance, referendums tend to have a very divisive effect on a population. Although shortfalls of referendums are numerous, certainly support can also be found for this form of direct democracy. It can count as an effort to mobilize citizens for the political cause, for example. In this regard, the main disadvantage, namely the simplicity of the question can also be seen as an advantage. Indeed, many citizens that normally opt out on complex and opaque politics, can feel empowered to give their opinion. European Constitution In 2005, French and Dutch citizens voted against the so called European Constitution which consequently was never ratified. The referendum in the Netherlands was one of consultative status, thus non-binding for the government. In the referendum, 61.6% of the voters said no, 38.4% voted in favor of the Constitution. Whereas one could conclude from this that the Dutch are apparently a rather Eurosceptic people, a more nuanced view is needed. Indeed, many Dutch voted against because they opposed the so called primacy of EU laws in relation to national laws. One can argue rightly that the democratic value of this repacking of the EU constitution into different wording was questionable to say the least. Brexit This referendum is an especially good example of the problem of the simplicity of the question asked. Indeed, in the case of the Brexit no opinion was asked on whether voters opted for a hard or soft Brexit. Because voters were forced to choose between yes or no however, there was no room left for nuance. The whole out-camp was portrayed as a homogenous group, while the contrary was true. Furthermore, it seemed that a lot of voters were ill informed about the consequences of a possible exit of the UK out the EU, since the campaign was focused on catch phrases rather than facts. Therefore, we can conclude that yes, many British voters wanted the UK to leave the EU, but this does not take away the fact that these reasoned and competent decisions were in many cases based on misleading information. Very doubtful promises have been made during the campaign, and it is unquestionably true that a large part of the voters based themselves on these kind of promises when voting. Another thorny issue on this referendum, was the age distribution of the yes and no votes. Furthermore, youngsters voted to stay in the EU, whilst older people opted to exit the EU. This resulted in a lot of frustration amongst young people and the feeling of feeling "betrayed by the older generation. Migrants A third referendum that exposes some weak point of referendums is the Hungarian migrant quota referendum in October 2016. Citizens were asked to vote on whether they agreed with the proposed relocation scheme for migrants, as set out by the EU. The English translation of the question asked, goes as follows: Do you want the European Union to be able to mandate the obligatory resettlement of non-Hungarian citizens into Hungary even without the approval of the National Assembly? This connotation makes it seem as if the EU is to impose impossible burdens on Hungary, while the contrary was true. Hungary would benefit from the relocation scheme, since 54,000 refugees would be relocated from Hungary to other EU states. From this, it becomes clear that this referendum was more about rhetoric and political visibility for Viktor Orban, rather than real questions. This narrative clearly worked, since Hungarian voters, in an almost unanimous way, voted against the relocation plan. This referendum, besides the misinformation, also illustrates the opportunity for a leader to exploit the outcome of a referendum. Viktor Orban will happily use this will of his people to ignore EU obligations. How to move on from this? The narrative of the big EU monster imposing its will on powerless EU states is eagerly exploited by many European leaders that call for referendums. A referendum is an easy way for a protest vote, where, no matter which specific issue is at stake, disillusioned voters are tend to vote in whatever way the EU would be disadvantaged. Moreover, it is also possible that referendums become second-order elections. This concept is based upon the notion that EU politics are too complicated and far removed from national voters to allow them to engage with it meaningfully, which leads voters to rely on national proxies as a cue. At this point, we thus have to find a form of political participation that includes the advantages of referendums, such as the mobilization of citizens. However, it should always be complemented with a more nuanced form of participation, where citizens can not only give a simple yes or no, but are also encouraged to argue why they chose this. In this way, a lack of information, or even worse, false information, can be countered by other citizens giving their opinion. As such, citizens are not obligated to choose between black and white but rather are encouraged to form opinions, listen, compromise and so on. The outcome of these representative groups of societys debates could have the same function as the outcome of the referendum, namely help politicians decide on controversial matters, while taking into account citizens grief. This article was originally published on the official website of Eyes on Europe. * | Eyes On Europe Created in 2004 by a group of students, Eyes On Europe is an organization dealing with European affairs. Through their magazine and their website, they promote European citizenship and dialogue. For more information, check their Facebook page. Story by Eyes on Europe Raneem Matouk: How to survive a Syrian prison Published on January 4, 2017 Story by Ivo Alho Cabral en pl it de fr es According to Amnesty International, more than 18,000 people have died in Syrian prisons under Bashar Al-Assad's regime. Raneem, a Syrian refugee who has lived in Germany since 2015, spent four months in prison, where torture was part of her everyday life. A lot has been aired about the airstrikes and hordes of Syrian refugees fleeing their country but not so much has been said about arbitrary arrests and tortures in prisons across the whole country. The Syrian Network for Human Rights, an independent and non-partisan organisation, claims to possess lists of over 117,000 detainees with no criminal charges against them. Amnesty International (AI) issued a report last August claiming that 17,723 people had been killed. Survivors have spoken of torture, forced confessions, "welcome party" beatings, rape, electric shocks, solitary confinement and other psychological and physical mistreatment. To shed some light on their situation, Amnesty launched a campaign which involved creating a 3D model of the infamous Saydnaya prison, based on prisoners' testimonies. Amnesty International says most of the people arrested are peaceful activists, journalists, writers and human rights defenders. Raneem Matouk, a fine arts student who spent four months under custody of the Syrian authorities, fits that description. Her only crimes were participating in peaceful protests against the government, and being daughter of a well-known human rights lawyer. Raneems agony started with an unexpected visit from a group of policemen. Thirty officers broke into the house; all of them looking to arrest a girl of 5'2", cowering in her own home with her mother and little brother. She was taken to a detention centre in Kafar Souseh, in Damascus, more than two hours away by car from her native Homs. 25-year-old Raneem, who has lively dark eyes and dark curly hair, explains her situation in a conference organised last December in Brussels by a local citizens' platform for the support of refugees. More than a hundred people packed out a classroom. She starts by asking if there are any kids in the room: the story she is about to tell is not suitable for minors and sensitive people. But Raneem remains undaunted when explaining the ironically-named "welcoming ceremony" at the police station. Abandoning her usual smile, she explains how the officers put her naked against the wall. "They stripped and frisked us. They started beating us up without asking any warning, mostly my face and my head. They took it out on me." She shared a cell measuring two metres by four metres with nine other women, some of whom were pregnant. There were only five mattresses on the floor. They had to take turns sleeping, or at least trying to: "From our cell, we could see the torture chambers. They were even using electricity." Through her interpreter, she explains how officers attacked and raped them. "24 hours a day we could hear people screaming. The smell of death was with us all the time. There was a small window in the iron door which we spent our time watching in case we saw somebody we knew, particularly a family member." According to Raneem, the prisons of the regime have other purposes further than repression: "I've seen people taken away from their cells to have their organs removed, then thrown back in there to die. Sometimes corpses stayed within the cells for days, where other inmates continued living." One day, she had enough and started a hunger strike. The governor called her to his office, where there was already another girl who had come up with the same idea. Raneem doesnt tell what happened to her, as if she didnt want to remember, but relates how her colleague got raped, being obliged to sit on a bottle. In June, after four months of smelling death, Raneem was brought to court, where the judge asked her if she had money. Luckily for her, she did she went home. Suddenly, her smile comes back to her face. "Sometimes I laugh or we do theatre about what happens in prisons." She explained to me how once, in university, she heard a mortar attack. A friend who was with her said: "Shall we go see if someone needs help?" She replied, chuckling: "OK, but if we die it will be on you." "We transform fear into jokes," she says. "Every day, when leaving for my university lessons, I had to say goodbye to my mother, my brother, my friends Would we ever see each other again? Every day could be our last." After leaving prison, Raneem knew it was time to escape. She took a taxi to the border with Lebanon, 20 kilometres from Homs. She got lucky: the taxi driver turned out to be against the regime too. When she got to the border a customs officer stopped her, but he knew a relative of hers and let her go. Once in Lebanon, the driver dropped her off, making her promise to "never ever ever come back." Few days after, she applied for a refugee visa at the German embassy in Beirut. Now she is safe and living in Neubrandenburg. Raneem is not sure if she will keep her promise to the taxi driver. She wants to return home once the rule of law is back. "It depends on the attitude of Russia and the US and when they decide to put an end to Al Assad. Germany is very very tough. Syria is a very beautiful land. I cannot imagine someone living in my house." Story by Ivo Alho Cabral News / Local by Mary Charamba Government has reportedly imposed a ban on food vending in Harare as the capital city is battling typhoid, Bulawayo24.com has heard.The prohibition order was announced by Government inter-ministerial task force committee today.Two deaths have been reported in Harare out of 126 suspected and 12 confirmed cases.A treatment camp has since been set up at Beatrice Road Infectious Diseases Hospital.The task force comprise of Ministry of Health, Local Government, Water, Environment and Climate and Small to Medium and Co-operative Development.More to follow : CATTU SG - Government Has Intenstion To Destroy Union Leaders Through Corruption Wilson MUSA The National Executive Secretary of Cameroon Teachers Trade Union, CATTU, Wilfred Tassang has revealed that the government of Cameroon is presently in a desperate attempt to forcefully get schools to resume come Monday Jan 9. He discloses that Huge sums of money were dulled out to traditional rulers this Christmas through Governors to First class rulers, SDOs to Second class and DOs to Third class rulers. However this cannot be verified. Mr Wilfred Tassang has cautioned chiefs against taking such money to sell their consciences, he says Whilst we caution any of our fathers who have taken this money of wickedness not to further desecrate the throne and their authority by taking the wrong side in this struggle, we appeal to all stakeholders not get give up at this point in time, when victory is so close. He added that "Those who are for us are more than those who are against us. That's the only reason to be advanced for the fact the President's speech leaked more than 3hrs to presentation. We have friends in very high places. According to Mr Tassang after governments failure to force-start schools on the 9th, Yaounde will also be forced to face reality. To him, the multiple secret visits to Bamenda Tuesday January 4, 2017 and this Wednesday by very highly placed and thought of members of government is another sign of desperation. That the government up to now has not affected nor announced any measures taken to solve either the problems raised by lawyers or teachers is indicative of the fact that they all run a great danger if they allow the strike to collapse. If it does, we shall be greatly spited and the regime will not be under pressure to address these grievances. Mr Tassang has warned union leaders against taking of bribes that will undermine the strike, in his words For union leaders and others at the forefront of this struggle, beware! It has been revealed in the spirit realms, the release of a huge amount of VOODOO money meant to maim the brain and cause heavy carnage. We hereby call on all to fear God and resist the enemy that he may flee from us. The firebrand Executive Secretary of Cameroon Teachers trade Union, Wilfred Tassang ended by appealing on fathers, mothers, and children, to remember that teachers and lawyers are not fighting for personal gains and also not to forget that their kids gave up their lives so that their siblings may have a brighter future; that scores of them are still under abduction. Prime Minister Philemon yang has been announced for Bamenda this Wednesday January 4, 2017 but Teachers Trade Unionists say they have not been summoned to any meeting. It is also widely believed that higher Education Minister Prof. Jacques Fame Ndongo was in Kumba to do same exercise. News / National by Staff reporter A man believed to be a police officer allegedly gunned down himself over maintenance issues.A photograph of the dead body lying next to a gun on a heap of sand with the head shot has emerged online.Some people on social media claim that the cop was stations at Matapi Police Station in Mbare, Harare.More to follow... Paul Atanga Nji Archives Some Elites and members of government including Cameroon Peoples Democratic Movement, CPDM, MPs, Senators and General Managers of State Structures, who hail from the North West region have signed a communique asking parents to send their children to school come Monday January 9, 2017. They maintained that the end of year message of Head of State Paul Biya was clear and certain that he wanted dialogue to take centre stage in the ongoing crisis. Read Full Release Communique by the North West Elite, Senators and Members of National Assembly reechoing their call for peace and resumption of schools in the North West and South West Regions. "Mindful of the Head State's New Year Message to the Nation on 31st December, 2016; Mindful of his strong condemnation of all acts of violence regardless of their sources and their perpetrators and his resolve to draw conclusions from the ongoing enquiries on all the allegations of the recent violence carried out in the North West and South West Regions; Considering his reassurances that "all voices that spoke have been heard and most of the substantive issues cannot be overlooked because of their pertinence" and his resolve to find lasting solutions to all the problems posed through peaceful dialogue; Mindful of his appeal urging the various parties concerned to participate without any bias in the various discussions and engage in frank dialogue within the framework of the two Ad Hoc Committees created to look into the Anglophone teachers' and lawyers' grievances; Considering the Head of State's unwavering determination to continue the building of a united, inclusive and bilingual nation, embarked upon by all Cameroonians without exception, a legacy bequeathed by our founding fathers and national heroes; Considering the Head of State's reaffirmation that the Cameroonian experience is unique in Africa and can be perfected as we listen to each other and remain open to constructive ideas within the framework of the laws and regulations in force in our country; Considering the announcement by the Head of State to go the extra mile and put in place a National Entity tasked with proposing solutions aimed at maintaining peace, consolidating our country's unity and strengthening our resolve and our day-to-day experiences of LIVING TOGETHER; Mindful of the Head of State's strong resolve to ensure that all Cameroonians live in peace, unity and harmony in ONE united and INDIVISIBLE Nation, Cameroon. We, the North West Elite, Senators and Members of the National Assembly, pursuant to our communique of 4th December 2016 hereby: Appeal for schools to reopen in the North West and South West Regions come January 9, 2017 and for peace and harmony to continue to reign in the two Regions; Appeal to all teachers, teachers' syndicates, school proprietors, parents, the civil society, politicians, traders, economic operators, taxi men, motorbike riders, students, pupils and all citizens of good will, to ensure that schools effectively resume in the North West and South West Regions to save our children the already jeopardized school year and hence ensure their future; Reiterate our total support for peace, stability and tranquility in our Regions; Reaffirm our unflinching support for a One, United, Bilingual and Indivisible fatherland, Cameroon; and Pledge our unflinching support to His Excellency President Paul Biya as he continues to find lasting solutions to all our challenges in view of consolidating our National Unity." Done in Yaounde, on Tuesday, 3rd January 2017 Signed: Atanga Nji Paul, Mbah Acha nee Rose Fomundam, Fuh Calistus Gentry, Doh Jerome Penbaga, Shey Jones Yembe, Enyih Atogho, Abety Peter, Awanga Zacharias, Emma Eno Lafon, Dingha Ignatius B., Nji Fidelis, Njingum Musa, Fon Chafah Isaac, Doh Anderson, Roselyne Mutia, Melo Uphie Chinje, Fru Angwafor, Sammy Chumbow, Tan Paul, Baye Francis, Gabsa Wilfred, Nwa Emeutes a Bamenda (08/12/2016) CIN SC Read in all churches on New Year as message of the Moderator to Christians. Rt Rev Dr Fonki Samuel called on the government to hasten the dialogue process because the main people in North West have refused dialogue which will not be genuine. Read On: Presbyterian Church in Cameroon Dear Presbyterians, Dear brothers and Sisters in the Lord. Pastoral Letter: Our God is a God of History We bring you fraternal greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace and the Lord of Lords. We join you to thank God for the blessings and graces of 2016, the year of our Lord. The year 2016 was a challenging one for us as a church and as a nation amidst collective and personal successes on the field of evangelization and our drive towards transformation on the one hand; And on the other hand, we all were affected by the Esseka train accident and towards the end of the year, there were upheavals in the major towns of the Northwest and Southwest Regions of our country mainly the English-speaking part of our country. In all these challenges, the God whom we serve showed himself as our refuge, stronghold and comfort in times of trouble. When such calamities happen, we should not lose faith because Jesus Christ himself warns us that, In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world (John 16:33). Increasingly, we cannot trust the systems of this world for peace, that is why Christ said, Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your heart be troubled and do not be afraid (John 14:27). We look forward to the year 2017 with great expectations for what we want to achieve as a church. We are also looking up to our hope in the Lord Jesus Christ as a people and as a faith community. Yet our anxieties and uncertainties on some of the things happening around us continue to be of great concern. We hear news of civil strife, we are not certain how the school year will commence, and we do not know how a breakthrough will come in a deadlock pitting the government of Cameroon and the Teachers Trade Union and the Common-Law Lawyers. We are not sure whether many Cameroonians may be able to afford food, medicines and basic utilities. This is the reason why as a church we must pray and lend ourselves to the service of God and our nation, to pray for peace but also to take our responsibilities in peace building. Let me share our thoughts on the common issue plaguing our country today. We are referring to what has been called the marginalization of Anglophone. In the last few months our country has witnessed upheavals in some towns and cities in the English-speaking parts of Cameroon creating a situation of mutual suspicion between the leaders of Teachers Trade Unions and the government of Cameroon, each side portraying their own version that further deepen wounds and heighten the elements of suspicion and mistrust. This kind of situation may lead our leaders into the temptation of the insistence of an uneasy co-existence, secession, federalism and the much talked about decentralization. One thing is clear; the God we serve is the God of our history. None of us can explain how they came to be born in Cameroon; none of us know why God permitted the Germans to be defeated during the 1st World War. None of us know why God permitted the French and the English mandate to dominate Cameroon after the Versailles treaty. None of us know why God permitted a small section of our country to be called Southern Cameroons. Only God knows why the things that are, came into being. Therefore, in times like this, we should repent from relying on our human wisdom on issues that have a bearing in Gods genuine plan for Cameroonians and for mankind as a whole. One thing which is clear is that God remains the Lord of our history and calls us to repentance so that our country can experience the reason why He made us Cameroonians. Those who insist on the uneasy coexistence should be able to answer how can there be co-existence without mutuality and trust? Those who call for federalism must also be reminded that even in the new fragments of the federation, there would be minority problems. Those who call for secession must be reminded historically that there cannot be any secession without bloodshed like the cases of Yugoslavia, South Sudan, and Eritrea to mention a few. Those who call for decentralization must answer why for all this while the so-called devolution of competences to local councils have dragged on or why should institutions in one council pay their taxes to another council area. So, you see, the problem of Cameroon has been one of peace without justice and Justice without truth. This is the time for truth. Our today just like our tomorrow remains in Gods hands. We cannot craft out a future outside of Gods plan for our lives, we cannot build tomorrow by our own might and neither can we redeem our history by our own strength. So the question is what is Gods plan for Cameroon at this juncture? In times like this when our history challenges us and our people cry out for justice, no weapon or might can stop the restlessness of a people who cry out to God in distress seeking rescue. Rather, we all must come together like a family to pray together and seek Gods face so that our country should not degenerate into despair. So we call on all Cameroonians to turn to God Cameroon, keep God at the center of your politics, keep God at the center of your thinking, keep God at the center of your actions and it will surprise you what the Lord God Almighty will do for you. The cultural heritage of English speaking Cameroon and its bearing on their professional and socio-economic life is a fact of history that no amount of political gymnastics can erase or hide. Nonetheless, we also recognize the strength of our unity and no parochial political interests should be allowed to destroy a people with a long geographical, political and cultural ancestry. We should seek Gods favor as we look forward to 2017, we should attempt great things for God and we must be determined to cultivate peace so that the children of God can rise up and claim their inheritance in true brotherly love. Some people are confused on our stance on this issue. But as you all know, the church is not the Moderator, the PCC is her Christians and the specialized committees that have been formed to govern the church. We can only say what the respective bodies of the church ask us to say. Therefore, do not confuse the prophetic expressions of some pastors on the field. It represents their individual emotions and understandings of the things that are happening; some of those expressions genuine or not genuine do not represent the official opinions of the church. The role of the Presbyterian Education Teachers Trade Union (PEATTU) is independent, as a trade union they reserve the right to join other trade unions to militate on issues affecting their sector. The Synod of Unfailing Love meeting in Bamenda from the 20th 21st of November 2016 addressed a message to the Head of State of the Republic of Cameroon, amongst other things calling for urgent dialogue between the government of Cameroon, Teachers Trade Unions and Common Law Lawyers. After the sad incident of violence that happened in Bamenda on the 8th of December 2016 will reiterate emphatically our stance as a church. We recognize the efforts of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Cameroon in creating ad hoc committees to see into the issues tabled by Teachers Trade Union and Common Law Lawyers. While this is a starting point, may all the preliminary objections be cleared comprehensively in order for these committees to function fully? Those who are called to these committees must show a high sense of patriotism, truth and humaneness. We call for dialogue, peace and understanding so that we can identify the points of weaknesses, the areas of our common strength and how we can rekindle a spirit of trust, a spirit of tolerance and a spirit of love. We condemn acts of violence perpetuated by forces of law and order and some civil authorities. Such acts should be investigated and those officers brought to book. In the same light, anyone who is in detention should be proven guilty of violence before detention; otherwise it is unlawful to keep people behind bars for an indeterminate period of time. All proposals for reconciliation should have both short and long term considerations. The government of Cameroon, the Teachers Trade Unions and Common Law Lawyers should do everything possible to see into the commencement of schools and private practice of the Common-Law Lawyers. We volunteer our services and our facilities as a church that will lead to genuine reconciliation and long lasting peace; hoping that this will contribute to the healing of our Land. Our times are not in our hands but in Gods hands for He is the Lord of our history, He is the author of our lives, He is the beginning and the end, the pioneer and perfecta of our faith. We call on Cameroon and Cameroonians to pray fervently and to call upon God to direct our minds to be our Light as we grapple with the dark edges of our political history. Finally, we anticipate that 2017 shall be hopeful and more rewarding. We look forward to ensure sustainability of our Mission fields and business operations, we anticipate commitment of our staff especially those in the health and educational departments so that they as co-creators in Gods vineyard will be able to touch lives in a positive way and further the kingdom of God here on earth. We trust that the spiritual lives of our Christians will experience a surge in 2017 and that we would be able to win more souls for Christ Jesus. We enjoin Christians to remain peaceful and hopeful in the expression of their faith so that together we may be able to do great things for God in 2017. May God in His infinite mercy redeem our land and accompany each and every one of us safely on to the shores of 2017. Yours for the Sake of the Faith Rt. Rev. Fonki Samuel Forba Moderator, PCC | BY Ricki Green | The latest installment of the Budget Directs new campaign has launched via 303 MullenLowe, Sydney. In the commercial, Captain Risky has somehow managed to crash his gyrocopter into the only tree in the outback and is now helplessly stuck. There is one tiny ray of hope. A curious but slightly skittish kangaroo. Will he go to the farmhouse and get Risky some help? Says Jonathan Kerr, director, marketing and digital at Budget Direct: This campaign is all about setting up the contrast between the calm, ordered lives of Budget Direct customers and Captain Riskys world. Our customers Get More with a 24/7 phone claims service, something they can depend on, night or day. Captain Risky gets a kangaroo. Says Richard Morgan, ECD, 303 MullenLowe: Captain Risky is a classic daredevil, the kind of character we recognise from 70s TV shows. Kangaroo happily plays in that world, its a world we all know and love while also managing to make a serious point. Budget Direct Captain Riskys Kangaroo is now running across television, digital and social channels. Client: Budget Direct Director, Marketing & Digital: Jonathan Kerr General Manager Brand and Media Marketing: Warren Marsh Marketing Manager- New Customer Acquisition: Catherine Harty Agency: 303MullenLowe Sydney ECD: Richard Morgan Head of Copy: Sean Larkin Head of Art: Adam Whitehead Agency Producer: Sean Ascroft Head of Business Management: Tony Dunseath Business Director: James Lammert Production Company: Goodoil Films Director: Hamish Rothwell Executive Producer: Sam Long Producer: Andrew McLean DOP: Crighton Bone VFX: ALT VFX Editor: ARC Edit Trump to Iowa crowd: 'I will very, very, very probably' run for president Donald Trump teased the crowd with his expected presidential candidacy at a Sioux City event where he stumped for Chuck Grassley and Kim Reynolds. Wednesday, January 4, 2017 at 3:30AM You know Lenovos ThinkPad line as a staple in the enterprise market. Making sure this segment gets the latest and greatest specs and features, Lenovo has updated this line to fit current requirements and wants of the modern-day worker. We take a quick look at the three devices. First, we have the more conventional laptop, the ThinkPad X1 Carbon. It smaller and lighter but still as powerful. It comes in at under 2.5 lbs. and has a 14-inch IPS display housed in a 13-inch form factor. It runs on 64-bit Microsoft Windows 10 Pro, up to Intel Core 7th-generation processor, and up to 1TB storage. Its said to have LTE-A (4G) connectivity to help you stay connected while on the move. The big draw for the Carbon though is the promised 15.5-hour battery life. Security is key with support for Windows Hello, a fingerprint sensor, and FIDO-enabled biometric authentication for PayPal. The ThinkPad X1 Carbon retails for US$1,349 (roughly CA$1,800) and will come with a silver color option when its released in February. Next, we have the flexible, multi-mode-capable ThinkPad X1 Yoga. This model also gets the silver treatment and shares a lot of other features with the Carbon. Just like the Carbon, it has Thunderbolt 3 port for faster file transfers, it runs on Windows 10 Pro, up to 1TB storage, and around 15 hours of battery life. The Yoga is more for a doodler, though, as it comes with a new ThinkPad Pen Pro. The design of this rather durable hybrid laptop introduces a retractable keyboard that hides away when you lay the keyboard side flat on a surface, making it easier to sketch or write on the 14-inch OLED display. The ThinkPad X1 Yoga will be available next month for US$1,499 (roughly CA$2,010). Last, is the more portable ThinkPad X1 Tablet. Like the Yoga, this slate has been tested against 12 military-grade requirements and passed over 200 quality checks. The Tablet can run on either Windows 10 Pro Signature Edition like the others or on Windows 10 Home. LTE-A (4G) connectivity is also present with this device. A stylus included with the Tablet fully supports Office 2016. It can take up to 1TB of storage as well and last up to 15 hours of life, if you add on the Productivity Module. The ThinkPad X1 Tablet will be released in March for US$949 (roughly CA$1,270). "Then we kept in touch, we had coffee a few times and it was actually Zed that contacted me, I think it was the end of 2011, and said 'I know that we talked about this and you said maybe you had an interest in politics, we've got an election coming up next year, have you thought about running in it?' " News / National by Staff Reporter Some Indian investors have expressed interest to acquire land to establish a sugarcane plantation in Zimbabwe.This was said by India's ambassador to Zimbabwe, Ambassador Rungsung Masakui when he paid a courtesy call on Acting President Emmerson Mnangagwa this Wednesday morning.Ambassador Masakui embarked on his tour of duty as India's top diplomat in June last year.Talking to journalists after a closed door meeting with Mnangagwa, Ambassador Masakui said the courtesy call was to renew and follow up on discussions held when he presented his credentials and promised to deepen relations in the agriculture and health sectors.An Indian company, Varun Beverages is currently constructing a US$30 million Pepsi bottling plant in Harare and Ambassador Masakui said some Indian investors have expressed interest to establish a sugar plantation in Zimbabwe.Ambassador Masakui said they held fruitful discussions with Mnangagwa who gave them some options whether to engage private players, ARDA or government and they will be taking the matter to the Minister of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development.He also revealed that a medical team from India will be visiting Zimbabwe from the 16th to 18th of this month to assess the health sector needs and meet with stakeholders as they are plans to set up a speciality hospital probably in partnership with Parkview Hospital.Ambassador Masakui said he made submission for Indian doctors to come to Zimbabwe on a rotational basis which is not possible at the moment.He also said Indian universities have expressed interest to collaborate with Zimbabwean universities, especially in the medical field.India is already co-operating with Zimbabwe in the SMEs sector where it has provided machinery at the Harare Institute of Technology. "Once these people have entered the communities of the host country and have stayed there for several years, their claims to remain permanently are influenced by factors unrelated to the original claims for refugee status such as marriage and other compassionate or humanitarian grounds," his cabinet proposal reads. Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce: "What it clearly shows to people is there's a future for the coal industry and there better be 'cause it's one of our nation's biggest exports and it's one of NSW's biggest exports and it employs an awful lot of people." Photo: Bradley Kanaris The agency says the relocation compensation package is still a draft and yet to be finalised and that there will be work for its employees in Canberra right up to 2019 so they have plenty of time to make plans for their families. SpeedCast International, a global satellite communications and network service provider, has entered a multi-year service agreement with Roshan, Afghanistan's main telecommunications provider, to upgrade its cellular backhaul network to support 3G services over satellite in Zabul province, southwestern Afghanistan. Roshan has more than 6.5 million active subscribers across 287 districts and cities in all 34 provinces of Afghanistan. With the upgraded network, operators like Roshan can provide new and better service offerings to end users by providing reliable and scalable connectivity. Once customers have access to better connectivity, it inevitably leads to a rapid increase in bandwidth demand. The new backhaul network over satellite also allows operators to explore and develop new business opportunities and revenue streams, such as offering broadband and managed network solutions to banks, governments and home users using VSAT, said PJ Beylier, CEO of SpeedCast. This is our first 3G backhaul service deployment in Afghanistan Mr. Beylier commented. This win provides us a strong foothold in the growing cellular backhaul market in the Middle East, as mobile operators and service providers are upgrading their service capacity to meet the surging data adoption in both the enterprise and consumer markets. SpeedCast sees cellular backhaul as an important growth driver for us as telecommunication providers continue to expand coverage into remote areas, he said. SpeedCasts cellular backhaul suite of solutions, under the CelCast brand, are designed to optimize satellite traffic in telecommunication environments, lowering the total cost of ownership and bringing unrivalled quality of service to its customers networks. Opinion / Columnist HARARE - Any hopes that there would be a let-up in Zanu PF's vicious tribal, factional and succession wars in 2017 have evaporated before the new year has barely got out of first gear, with the ruling party's two brawling camps going at each other hammer and tongs this week.On the one hand, the powerful Zanu PF women's league - linked to the Generation 40 (G40) group, which is rabidly opposed to Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa succeeding President Robert Mugabe - confirmed to the Daily News yesterday that it was upping its efforts to regain one of the ruling party's two vice presidency posts.On the other hand, Zanu PF supporter and pro-Mnangagwa activist Energy Mutodi, has released his own 2016 ratings of the ruling party's politburo members, in which he predictably rubbishes Mugabe and all G40-linked bigwigs while praising those who are in the opposite Team Lacoste camp (the Mnangagwa faction).In an interview with the Daily News this week, women's league secretary for finance Sarah Mahoka said - following last month's complaint by Mugabe regarding Zanu PF's lack of implementation of party resolutions - they would be going all out to ensure the re-introduction of the policy that guarantees a woman was one of the party's two vice presidents."The president made it clear (at last December's Zanu PF annual conference in Masvingo) that he was not happy with a situation where the party makes resolutions that are not implemented," said the outspoken Hurungwe East legislator."So, Amai (influential First Lady Grace Mugabe, who also leads the women's league) said we should start implementing all our resolutions now by making sure that the women's quota clause is incorporated in the party's constitution," Mahoka said.The women's league, which was interestingly the only party organ which was given the chance to present its resolutions at the Masvingo conference, went big on the issue of women's representation in Zanu PF's presidium - in a move that party insiders say could torpedo Mnangagwa's mooted presidential aspirations."We are concerned with lack of implementation of party resolutions made in 2015 in Victoria Falls. We made it clear that we wanted the constitution to be changed to allow an earlier provision that one of the two VPs should be a woman. This has not been implemented," the league's deputy secretary, Eunice Sandi-Moyo, thundered at the Masvingo gathering.Mahoka said yesterday that the women's league was waiting for Grace's return from her month-long annual holiday with Mugabe, to receive instructions on how it would follow up on this critical issue and other league programmes."She is away right now and we are waiting for her return. Remember we take instructions from our leaders and all we do is carry out the work that is assigned to us. We do not talk too much, we act," she said."Amai has said she wants women to participate more in the politics of the country, especially in the 2018 elections. She wants women to vie for elected positions and become MPs, councillors and so forth," the Zanu PF Member of Parliament said."It is clear also what the president wants and we have since endorsed him as our candidate for 2018, despite claims by some sections that he was going to hand over power to someone else at the Masvingo conference, which did not happen," she said."We expected those we hear to be harbouring ambitions to replace him to come forth and declare their interest, but all they do is talk, with no action. We want action that takes the country forward. We want to see our roads rehabilitated, and we want to see our economy picking up, not all this divisive talk they engage in every day," Mahoka added in an apparent dig at Mnangagwa and his allies.The Zanu PF Mashonaland West provincial executive has previously launched a stinging attack on the Midlands godfather, accusing him of failing to rein in his allies who are allegedly causing divisions in Zanu PF by pushing for his ascendancy to the presidency.And her women's league also accuses party secretary for legal affairs, Patrick Chinamasa - who is linked to Team Lacoste - of deliberately blocking the implementation of the controversial resolution to have a woman become one of the party's two vice presidents again.Writing on his Facebook page yesterday, businessman-cum-musician, Mutodi, savaged Mugabe and all alleged G40 kingpins in his politburo ratings for 2016.In a move that will horrify many of the increasingly frail nonagenarian's supporters, he ranked Mugabe only at number four in terms of "performance", in a list in which he predictably placed Mnangagwa first and Defence minister Sydney Sekeramayi number two.Not surprisingly, his worst 10 politburo members, starting with allegedly "the most incompetent" were Vice President Phelekezela Mphoko, Higher Education minister Jonathan Moyo, Zanu PF youth league leader Kudzai Chipanga, Indigenisation minister Patrick Zhuwao, Local Government minister Saviour Kasukuwere, Sandi-Moyo, politburo member Cleveria Chizema, Industry minister Mike Bimha, Labour minister Prisca Mupfumira and Bulawayo resident minister Cain Mathema." . . . Mugabe has shed three places in politburo rankings for the year 2016. The veteran president, who is the country's only ruler since independence from Britain in 1980, has presided over a dying economy mainly due to his poor policies, corruption and economic mismanagement," he said."Among these polices include the land reform and the indigenisation policies that do not only scare away investors but also breed unemployment and poverty. Zimbabwe no longer has a currency of its own and millions of its people have fled to other countries in search of employment and better standards of living," Mutodi said."Mugabe's poor rankings in the latest politburo rankings are best explained by his refusal to name a successor despite his old age, as well as his shielding of corrupt ministers from arrest. He has also been accused of nepotism after he appointed his son-in-law Simba Chikore as new Air Zimbabwe boss," the maverick politician said."The president has also recently shown signs of poor reasoning after he fell prey to a G-40 led ploy to isolate him from his support base, mainly war veterans, who delivered the country's independence," Mutodi charged. Updates throughout the day at http://calevbenyefuneh.blog spot.com. If you enjoy "Love of the Land", please be a subscriber. Just put your email address in the "Subscribe" box on the upper right-hand corner of the page.Twitter updates at LoveoftheLand as well as our Love of the Land page at Facebook which has additional pieces of interest besides that which is posted on the blog. Also check-out This Ongoing War by Frimet and Arnold Roth. An excellent blog, very important work. . ..Commentary Magazine..03 January '17..For the mainstream media, explaining Israeli politics is difficult work. A country where the poor and disenfranchised immigrants from the Middle East have traditionally supported the party of the right (Likud) while the wealthy and the upper middle-class of largely European origin are the last strongholds of the political left does not translate easily into American political context. In the United States, political culture is rooted in very different concerns than those of the average Israeli, where security issues and attitudes toward the Arab world still dominate. The temptation to make flawed analogies, it seems, is still irresistible. That led to the New York Timess attempt to ascribe reactions in Israel to Secretary of State John Kerrys astonishing attack on the Jewish state last week to a divide between red state and blue state Israeli voters. The piece not only failed to effectively analyze the Israeli response to the Obama administration but also the reason why the Middle East conflict hasnt been solved.NewJerusalem bureau chief Peter Baker isnt entirely wrong when he says that there is a stark divide between left and right in Israel. For some who live in secular and liberal Tel Aviv, what goes in Jerusalem and even along the border with Gazalet alone West Bank settlementshas sometimes been of little interest. I can recall conversing with Tel Aviv residents about a visit to Sderot in the south eight years ago, which at the time was besieged by Palestinian missile fire, in which they reacted as if I was speaking of what was happening in Afghanistan. The disconnect between the minority who blame their own country for the lack of peace and the majority who correctly see the problem as the function of Palestinian intransigence is great, even if Hamass 2014 missile attacks on the secular metropolis erased some of the lefts complacency.Yet the left-wing establishment that once dominated Israeli politics and society was effectively marginalized by the collapse of the peace process in the carnage of the second intifada. In the wake of the Palestinians refusal of an offer of statehood from the last Labor-led government in 2000, the even split between left and right that had characterized Israeli politics since the 1970s was transformed into a new reality in which power rested with a dominant right and an ever-changing roster of centrist parties. The fact that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is now serving his third consecutive term in power and that the only viable alternative comes from Yair Lapid of the centrist Yesh Atid Party speaks volumes about how little influence leftist organs likehave, even as it continues to support attacks on the Jewish state from foreign critics like Kerry.Even Baker had to acknowledge his red state/blue state analogy falls short because of the decline of the left. Many liberal Israelis took umbrage at Kerrys speech just as they were appalled by Obamas Cairo speech in 2009. The one-sided, anti-Israel bias of both speeches, as well as the way Kerry and Obama have worked hard to treat Jewish Jerusalem as being as much of an illegal settlement as the most remote West Bank hilltop settlement, discredited the administration in the eyes of many Israelis. That, and Obamas appeasement of Iran, only strengthened Netanyahus continued hold on power.Theres a broader problem with the red and blue story line. The Islamists of Hamas make no distinction between the settlers that Obama let the UN brand as outlaws and those blue state Israelis lounging in Tel Aviv cafes sniping at Netanyahu. They want them all dead. The moderates of Fatah sometimes pay lip service to a two-state solution. But when pressed to say the words that would mean they are giving up the war against Zionism for gooda recognition of the legitimacy of a Jewish state, no matter where its borders might be drawnthey also still refuse and continue to praise terrorists and foment hatred of Israelis and Jews that fuels violence.Whether or not they oppose settlements or embrace a two-state solution, the vast majority of Israelis understand that what happened at the UN was an effort to strip their country of any leverage it might have in the peace talks the Palestinians refuse to rejoin. Whether or not they like Netanyahu, a clear majority know that Palestinians have repeatedly rejected peace and still have a conception of national identity that makes peace impossible for the present. Israeli society is split along religious, economic, security, and political fault lines. But when placed in the context of Palestinian hate, international anti-Semitism and Obamas betrayal, the cultural divide between right and left is not quite as great as Israels critics would have us believe. Avtex and Genesys Partner for Better Contact Center Solutions Customer service is one of those areas where theres always room for improvement. This is true in any environment, whether it be retail, in a restaurant, or in a contact center. Agents are constantly learning from past experiences and centers are always looking for the best contact center solutions to implement in order to improve services further. On the surface, it would appear that Avtex and Genesys are as good as it gets when it comes to customer service. After all, both companies are known for their exceptional services and offerings. Avtex is a full-service Customer Experience consultancy focused on helping organizations build trust with their customers. The company offers a full line-up of CX supporting technologies, including solutions for Contact Center, Customer Intelligence, Business Productivity and more. Meanwhile, Genesys is an omnichannel customer experience and contact center solutions provider. Customer service and contact center solutions are the name of their game, yet both companies can still improve. How so? Well, theyve taken a major step in the right direction by forming a strategic partnership. By coming together, Avtex will be joining the Genesys Value Added Reseller network of providers authorized to architect, build, deliver and support the full suite of products and solutions on the Genesys Customer Experience Platform. This partnership brings together Genesys proven technological solutions and Avtexs hands-on customer support approach. Now, current and future Genesys clients will have the option to rely on Avtex for personalized deployment, integration and maintenance of Genesys products. Meanwhile, Avtex clients will benefit as well because they will be offered additional technology options to execute CX strategies. Both companies are excited about the partnership and look forward to what the future has to bring: We are excited about this new partnership and look forward to the deployment capabilities and innovation that Avtex has to offer, said Paul Rolfe, Genesys VP Global Partners and Alliance. Avtex and Genesys have a common goal to enable our clients to deliver exceptional customer experiences. This partnership will allow us to extend in to contact center back office automation and deeper omnichannel integrations. Our focus on CX consulting and rich CX technology application development, as well as our mutual alliance with Microsoft Digital CX Technologies, make this partnership a great fit for our customers long term success, says George Demou, President and CEO of Avtex. We are truly excited to add the Genesys product line to our portfolio, and look forward to creating a lasting relationship with an organization that shares our vision and values. 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. If you've dreamed of studying Down Under and exploring the outback of Australia, you're not alone. Australia is the third most popular study-abroad destination behind the United States and United Kingdom - and for good reason. Australia isn't just kangaroos, koalas and beautiful scenery. Australia is also known for its vibrant cities like Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and Brisbane, along with its outstanding university system. Educational institutions in Australia offer a wide variety of courses and degrees with affordable tuition. Not to mention, Australia is at the forefront of technology and scientific research. [You might also want to read: Why study in Australia?] That's why, in 2015 over 600,000 students chose Australia as their study destination, a 9.8 percent increase on 2014 and comparable to the average annual growth rate of 6.1 percent per year over the past 10 years. How much does it cost to study in Australia? Australia continues to be a top destination for Indian students with 72,504 enrolling in 2015. Those students accounted for 11.2 percent of all international students in Australia, behind only China, and up 15.6 percent since last year. If you're looking to study in Australia, you'll need to prove your English-language skills for a student visa. Lucky for you, the TOEFL test is accepted by every single university in Australia. That means that no matter which university you apply to, your TOEFL score will be recognized. The TOEFL test is an English-language assessment that measures your ability to use and understand English as it is read, written, heard and spoken in the university classroom. So your future professors will trust that when you attend class, you'll be an active participant. If you're looking to admire the Sydney Opera House or explore the Great Barrier Reef, the TOEFL test can take you anywhere in Australia. Even more good news: Once you don your cap and gown and receive your diploma, you can apply to stay in Australia. TOEFL scores are now used for Australia's post-study, business, skilled migration, work and holiday visas. This means you can focus on preparing for one test throughout your entire journey. For more information about the TOEFL test and how scores can be used, visit the TOEFL website. Also read: CAMEROUN :: South West CPDM barons have declared their unflinching support for the Southern Cameroons struggle Highly placed government officials from the South West region have declared their unflinching support for the Southern Cameroons nationalism. The political elites based in Yaounde the nations capital have reportedly addressed an anonymous letter to the Anglophone teachers and the Common Law Lawyers consortium. Our senior political correspondent in the Center region reported that tension seems to be mounting deep within the ruling party for Biya to resolve amicably the Anglophone problem. Below is a copy of the document as sent to our London news desk: To Southern Cameroonians and Particularly To The Consortium. We want to applaud the efforts put forth already by the southern Cameroonians in the fight for our liberation. We understand that as CPDM militants our efforts might be hindered by party lines but with what a few of us have seen and experience these days in Yaounde has made some of us to start having a rethink thereby choosing the liberation movement over party bonuses. We want all of you to first of all understand that this fight is legitimate as it is backed by our constitution. We all as Southern Cameroonians have been marginalized and manipulated irrespective of our political affiliations. The future of our grand and great grandchildren is in jeopardy. During the last presidential address, the president ignored all our advices given to him which were aimed at either organizing a referendum for a federal state or putting the decentralization model into practice. We also asked him not to be harsh when addressing the Anglophone problem but because his believes in what Prof. Fame Ndongo tells him, he went on to call us extremist. How can he then call for dialogue with people termed as Extremist?. Our main aim of writing is to encourage all southern Cameroonians not to give up now. Yaounde the capital is in serious dilemma. If we relent our efforts and go back to school or courts it means we will NEVER be taken seriously. This is the period to double our efforts so that our demands can be made instantly. For this to be achieved we call on the various Teachers Trade Union Leaders and Lawyers. Parents most understand that this fight is for a more propitious future for their children because if we allow things they way there are now, our children will not have any voice in this Union in the next thirty years or so. Most ministers, directors, and corrupt government officials have build many hostels in Buea and they are afraid of their investment being destroyed. Also most of their children are in Anglophone boarding secondary schools and Universities thus they will want our grievances to be resolved at all cost. We should understand at this point that the president hardly fulfils his promises. If we dont double our efforts his promise of creating a permanent National Institution to look into our problems will just die a natural death just like other previous promises. What we are saying in that the STRIKE MOST CONTINUE in full swing. We have gone far and many people have died for this struggle to end without concrete solutions. We are happy because with your expertise in social media as we have experienced, this message will be rapidly spread for everyone to be aware of some of our positions to this struggle. New York States Department of Financial Services (DFS) in December issued a new regulation that prohibits insurance companies from denying commercial crime insurance coverage to New York businesses employing people with criminal convictions. The regulation, called Insurance Regulation 209, serves as the first of its kind in the U.S. and is set to take effect on July 1, 2017, with respect to all insurance policies issued, renewed or delivered in New York state on or after that date. New York is among a select group of states that often set the tone for a broader development of regulation and law. The regulation defines commercial crime coverage as coverage under a policy of commercial risk insurance that provides burglary and theft insurance or fidelity insurance. Its aim is to make it easier for businesses across New York state to hire formerly incarcerated employees, as well as help those businesses obtain coverage for any loss or damage caused by an employee with a criminal record. Some in the industry have applauded these efforts as a step forward in ending discrimination and enabling Americans with criminal records to find jobs and integrate back into society. We support Governor Cuomos efforts to provide employers with commercial crime insurance that does not exclude coverage for individuals on the basis of their past criminal records, Andrew Potash, chairman of Distinguished and a board member of The Osborne Association, said in a press release issued by the New York State DFS. John S. Kiernan, president of the New York City Bar Association, added in the release that the new regulation will not only help to increase employment opportunities for individuals with criminal records, but it is also consistent with the states public policy and efforts to support its communities. It will eliminate the catch-22 currently faced by employers trying to comply with state law but also to obtain the insurance they need to protect their businesses, he said. Paul King, senior vice president, national MPS director and cyber practice leader at USI Insurance Services added that increased premium levels in a historically depressed crime market could be one benefit seen from the new regulation. Other potential benefits include justification for increased deductibles and self-insured retentions due to increased risk, as well as New York insureds having to implement better processes and controls due to increased risk of loss, he added. Challenges for Insurers That said, others in the insurance industry are not as optimistic, expressing concerns about increased losses for insurers and difficulty for underwriters due to the new regulation. I dont see much in the way of benefits, said Tim Dodge, assistant vice-president of research at Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of New York Inc. Its pretty clear from the comments that [the industry has] misgivings about this. One big challenge insurers see with the new rule is that they will now have to provide coverage in situations where an employee with a past felony record steals from his employer, Dodge explained. Underwriters will have to evaluate these employees when deciding whether or not to offer crime insurance to a given employer. They will have to weigh factors such as the seriousness of the prior offense, how long ago it happened, signs of rehabilitation or recidivism and job duties, he said. These are evaluations they dont currently have to make. So the challenge for insurers will be complying with the regulation while still underwriting the risks in ways that will be profitable. Increased losses on crime policies in aggregate dollars, percentage of book or both are an anticipated challenge at the top of many insurers minds, King said. Insureds are likely correct in thinking it could give rise to increases in premium or deductibles, he said. For brokers and insurers alike, making sure clients/insureds do not run afoul of regulatory issues will increase workload, etc. There are other lines of cover that must be considered beyond just crime coverage EPL insurance, contractual/MSA impact, etc. These will all need to be considered in light of this new law. Insurers have until next summer to file new policy forms that comply with the regulation, Dodge said. They will then phase in the new forms as individual accounts are newly written or renew through the second half of the year. While its possible that underwriters may become more cautious about offering crime insurance, and they may start charging higher premiums, I do not foresee this change causing them to make the coverage less available, he added, stating that while there is a lack of enthusiasm from the industry regarding the new regulation, he anticipates it will have minimal impact on the market as crime insurance produces relatively low premium volume compared to other lines of coverage such as liability, property and workers compensation. Background on the Regulation According to the press release issued by the New York State DFS, 2.3 million people in New York have a criminal conviction on their record. This new regulation will ensure employers can obtain this coverage after considering a set of eight factors outlined in New York States Correction Law that oversee the hiring of employees with criminal convictions. These factors include whether the offense is related to the duties the employee will perform, the time that has passed since the conviction and evidence of good conduct by the applicant. This first-in-the-nation action will further break down artificial barriers that prevent previously incarcerated New Yorkers from obtaining work and turning their lives around, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said in the release. We are taking one more step to restore fairness and dignity to our society while also increasing public safety by providing opportunity and reducing recidivism. This move comes as commercial crime insurance policies in New York are often found to have provisions excluding coverage for loss or damage caused by an employee who has been convicted of a criminal offense, where the employer knew about the conviction prior to the loss or damage, according to the regulation. This puts employers in the untenable position of either not being able to obtain insurance or violating the Correction Law by not hiring the individual, even though a review of the Correction Law factors would weigh in favor of employment, the regulation states. Because of this, New York Department of Financial Services Superintendent Maria T. Vullo determined that it would be an unfair method of competition or an unfair or deceptive practice in the insurance industry in New York for an insurer that writes commercial crime insurance policies to exclude coverage where the employer has weighed the factors set out in New York law and decided to hire the employee, according to the regulation. It is simply inexcusable for an insurer in New York to exclude a potentially valuable employee from insurance coverage just because he or she has a criminal conviction, Superintendent Vullo said in the release. So long as every business owner follows the letter of the law, we should encourage more companies to hire prospective employees rather than punish someone for a mistake in the past. How Crime Insurance Works Crime insurance is often written as part of a package policy that includes liability and property coverages, but it is seldom written by itself, Dodge said. Probably the single biggest factor underwriters consider is the controls the employer has in place to prevent or detect crime losses, Dodge said. For example, they want to see multiple people involved with bookkeeping, so the person reconciling the books is not the same person who writes the checks. Theyre interested in supervision of employees who may have the opportunity to steal money or property. If an employer has a history of past employee dishonesty losses, the underwriter will want to know what the employer is doing differently now to prevent future losses, and a higher deductible than the one the employer requested may be a condition of offering coverage. There is typically a standard crime insurance application process that asks questions about background check practices, any known losses caused by employees at current or previous places of employment, what control procedures are in place to ensure dual controls and checks/balances around money. A history of frequent losses and/or inadequate controls in place to prevent losses would most likely cause an underwriter to decline to offer coverage. It is not arduous, but it is a standardized process that either results in a quote or request for additional or supplemental information, King said. What Happens Next? Going forward, insurance application forms will need to be changed to address this new regulation, most likely via endorsement for New York insureds until the carveback becomes standardized, King said. For forms that do not exclude insureds who hire employees with past convictions, the changes should be minimal, he added, stating that most crime policies have a prior dishonesty clause stating crime coverage terminates for any employee as soon as the employer becomes aware of any prior dishonest or fraudulent act. Because the New York State DFS adopted this regulation due to obligations employers have under New York States Correction Law, if other states have similar requirements in their laws, they could be seen adopting this regulation as well, Dodge said. New York, like California, Illinois, Delaware and a few other states often sets the tone for development of regulation and law, said King. There is no reason other states wont follow suit, especially in light of New Yorks decision and the ability of the plaintiffs bar to point to that development, specifically in bringing actions against employers in other states. The new regulation is the latest recommendation offered by Governor Cuomos Council on Community Reentry and Reintegration in support of criminal justice reform. Beginning last spring, the Governors Council engaged in a series of conversations with employers across the state about the challenges and rewards they experienced in hiring people with criminal convictions. The Council heard from business owners repeatedly about not having access to loss or damage insurance coverage for this group of employees. Alfa Romeo is getting ready to launch their first high performance model in years, Giulia QV in Australia. Scheduled to hit dealers in February, the car is carrying a starting price of AU$143,900 (equal to USD $103,825), plus on-road costs, which means that its roughly AU$4,000 (US$2,886) more expensive than the equivalent BMW M3, but AU$11,000 (US$7,937) cheaper than the Mercedes-AMG C63 S. The range-topping Giulia comes with numerous technology and driver assist equipment, but the highlight is the 2.9-liter twin-turbo V6 engine, which was co-developed with Ferrari, paired to an eight-speed automatic. It pushes out 503 horsepower and 600 Nm (442 lb-ft) of torque to the rear wheels, allowing the QV to accelerate from rest to 100 km/h (62 mph) in just 3.9 seconds, before topping out at 305 km/h (190 mph). In this form, the impressive Italian machine holds the Nurburgring lap record for production sedans at 7 minutes and 32 seconds, but its not just fast, as it turns out to be safe too, after achieving the top rating in Euro NCAPs tests. PHOTO GALLERY The driver of a dark saloon crashed while entering an 80 km/h (50 mph) zone on the Bruxner Highway in Australia, ditching the car after a very rough impact. As many of the comments indicate, its possible the car was stolen or perhaps the driver had been drinking, hence the swift departure from the scene of the accident. NSW police said that there were three men inside the car at the time of the accident, all of whom fled the scene, according to the DailyTelegraph. Police have been told a green Ford Falcon was traveling west into Alstonville when it overtook another vehicle, lost control and rolled, landing on its roof. Three males on-board fled the scene and police were called. It is unknown if the three occupants were injured as a result of the crash, said the police in a statement. Regardless of why the driver ran away, it would be interesting to know what compelled him to ignore the law and fail to reduce his speed the rearwards camera angle points to a considerable speed difference between the dashcam vehicle and the saloon that crashed. We can imagine how disturbing of an image this was for the driver of the dashcam car, who had to perform an evasive maneuver in order to avoid the debris that got sprayed onto the highway after the initial impact. In the end, this feels like yet another accident that could have been easily avoided. VIDEO Kia has dropped the first official images and details of the new generation Picanto, which is set to celebrate its premiere in a couple of months, during the 2017 Geneva Motor Show. Penned by the brands design centers in Frankfurt, Germany and Namyang, South Korea, the small hatch comes with new looks and a 15 mm (0.59 in) longer wheelbase, which now spans 2,400 mm (94 in), while maintaining the same length as its predecessor at 3,595 mm (141.5 in). The color palette is said to be more vibrant than ever and the cabin has been reworked too, adding the latest technology features, a new touchscreen infotainment system with a floating design, automatic climate control, a multifunction steering wheel, heated front seats, AUX and USB ports, leather seats with contrast stitching and others, available either as standard or optional. Besides the added tech, Kia also states that the cabin and cargo space of the all-new Picanto is more generous than its rivals, without providing numbers though just yet. There are no details on the engine lineup either, but previous info indicates towards the usage of a 1.0-liter petrol lump, taken from its predecessor, along with a 1.0-liter T-GDI 3-cylinder turbo borrowed from the Ceed. Full details on the 2018 Kia Picanto will be released in March, once the city car arrives on set at the Swiss automotive event. PHOTO GALLERY McLaren officially confirmed that the 650S successor will be revealed in Geneva, showing us for the first time the second-generation carbon fiber Monocage II tub. Codenamed P14, the model that will replace the 650S in McLarens lineup will reportedly carry the 720S nameplate and according to the company, will tip the scales at just 1,283kg, which is 18kg less than a 650S with comparable specification. McLaren says that their new Super Series models will be the lightest in its class, thanks to the new Monocage II carbon tub. The new chassis structure also allowed for an even lower centre of gravity for better handling, a wider cabin entrance and lower sills to improve access. The company also revealed that they will offer a Visible Monocage option to customers who wish to showcase the carbon chassis, exposing the material on the inside area of the A-pillar. Super Series is the core of the McLaren business and personifies the blend of extreme performance, crafted luxury and unparalleled driver involvement that is the McLaren heartland, said McLarens CEO, Mike Flewitt. This is the first time we have replaced a product family and the new Super Series will be absolutely true to McLarens pioneering spirit in being a revolutionary leap forwards, both for our brand and the supercar segment. So far we heard that the new, reportedly named 720S will be powered by an updated twin-turbo 4.0-litre V8 that makes 710hp (720PS), with the new supercar to feature a hardcore Track mode which is similar to that of the P1. The same reports say that sections of the dashboard will physically lower when Track mode is enabled in order to help the driver focus on his driving, with the only visible information to be the tachometer, current gear, oil and cooling temperature and tire pressure. And since this is McLaren were talking about, the new car is also said that it will be as fast as the P1 on track, as the company is eager to showcase their progress with the new generation. The new McLaren will make its debut on March 7 at the Geneva Motor Show, so expect the first official images to show up in early March. Test car photo sourced from Petrol Ped, YouTube PHOTO GALLERY It might be nothing more than an artists study, but this Mitsubishi looks just about ready to take off. Penned by Piotr Moskala and posted on DesignerSpace, the small SUV features aggressive lines across its exterior, an odd-shaped grille that sits above an aggressive bumper, flanked by futuristic-looking headlights and large wheels wrapped in low-profile tires. So far, however, theres no indication so far that Mitsubishi plans to enter the subcompact SUV segment. Instead, the Japanese automaker is busy readying the next generation of the Outlander Sport / ASX that should launch sometime this year. The new crossover has been already scooped in the wild, with its styling cues inspired by the XR-PHEV II Concept, with a slightly sloping roof line and a sporty rear end. The new SUV will be powered by a range of petrol and diesel engines and come in front- and all-wheel drive versions, while a plug-in hybrid could also be part of the lineup. PHOTO GALLERY In the lead up to the Geneva Motor Show in March, Pagani has released a new teaser image of the upcoming Huayra Roadster. Although it is hard to pinpoint just what part of the car is revealed, it does show an engraved Roadster emblem on a component finished in a beautiful shade of gold. Although Pagani is bound to release more teaser images in the coming weeks, we already know what the droptop Huayra will look like, thanks to numerous spy shots and the release of an official rendering. Among the most obvious visual changes will be a new diffuser, prominent rear buttresses and aerodynamic flics above the taillights. As with the coupe, power will continue to come from a twin-turbocharged 6.0-liter V12 AMG engine but power is expected to rise by approximately 20 hp, lifting power to around 750 hp. Despite the extra strengthening set to be employed to ensure the Huayra Roadster remains exceptionally rigid, Horacio Pagani revealed in early 2015 that the car will actually be lighter than its hardtop sibling. So everything had to come together as if it was a car carved out of a block of Carrara marble Horacio Pagani. #pagani #huayra #roadster #huayraroadster #geneva2017 A photo posted by Pagani Automobili Official (@paganiautomobili) on Jan 3, 2017 at 7:01am PST PHOTO GALLERY A group of backpackers in Australia have been left devastated after one of their rented SUVs rolled off a ferry near Australias Fraser Island. The moment was captured by backpacker Chloe Swift and shows the Toyota Land Cruiser slowly rolling off the back of the ferry and into the water. It then stayed afloat for about 30 seconds before sinking. In a Facebook post, Swift said Luckily nobody inside the car! But quite a few phones, debit cards, passports and valuables all gone. Speaking with the Brisbane Times, another tourist who was on board, Katrina Lawrence, said that the Land Cruiser began to slowly roll backwards at approximately 11 am. Despite one mans attempt to stop the vehicle by grabbing onto it, nothing could be done to stop it slipping off the back of the ferry. According to Manta Ray Fraser Island Barges who operate the boat, an internal investigation has been launched. Video If you won the lottery or an enormous inheritance from some relative you never knew, what would be the first thing you would buy? If youre like us (and if youre reading these pages we suspect you might be), picking up a million-dollar hypercar would likely rank high on your list. But ordering one new could take months or even years. So what are you to do (in the meantime at least)? Head to one of the worlds premier supercar dealerships, like SEMCO Exclusive Cars. Located in Munich, Germany, SEMCO has a jaw-dropping array of exotics for sale on JamesList. Dig the latest generation of hybrid hypercars? The dealer has two silver Porsche 918 Spyders (at $1.4 million apiece), a black McLaren P1 ($2m), and a red LaFerrari ($3m) on offer and it looks like it recently handled another LaFerrari as well. Want a Bugatti? SEMCO has two: a Veyron Vitesse roadster enveloped in brown carbon fiber ($2.3m) and a Sang Noir edition ($1.6m). It also has a Pagani Huayra ($2m) and a one-off Koenigsegg Agera (price on request). Prefer a naturally aspirated Prancing Horse? The showroom features a Ferrari F12 TdF ($994k), a 599 Speciale Aperta ($1.36m), and a 458 Speciale Aperta ($680k). McLarens more your thing? Try one of three orange 675LTs (~$400k each) or the 650S Can-Am ($300k). Lambos? Theres an Aventador LP720-4 anniversary edition ($440k), an LP750-4 SuperVeloce ($500k), and a Huracan Spyder ($225k). Theres even a Porsche Carrera GT ($840k) and a rare Mercedes SLR Stirling Moss speedster. Its enough to go quietly mad or not so quietly, for that matter. And if we were in the market, itd be one of the first places wed look. The biggest problem wed have, then, is choosing which one to take home (though our eyes keep getting drawn in by that gorgeous blue carbon Huayra). Cost no object, which would you pick? Photo Gallery Photo: Contributed Kelowna Transit is marking 40 years of service with a year-long marketing and promotional campaign. The campaign will focus on the role transit plays in the community and build on the advancements of transit within the community. It is an exciting year ahead for the Kelowna Regional Transit system, said Jerry Dombowsky, transit and programs manager. An interactive timeline has been set up, outlining the various service and infrastructure milestones of the local transit system during the past 40 years. These include: 1981 - Introduction of HandyDart 1982 - Opening of Orchard Park exchange and service to what is now West Kelowna. 1992 - Service introduced to Peachland and Lake Country 2002 - Introduction of double decker buses to the fleet 2007 - RapidBus funding announced Weve created a transit trivia game that people can follow on the Citys Facebook page, Dombowsky said. " The trivia questions will be posted on the citys Facebook page and all of the answers to the transit trivia questions can be found on the transit timeline." The campaign will share interesting facts about the history of transit in Kelowna and the province. Photo: Contributed The Okanagan Valley saw nine overdoses over the course of New Year's Eve and New Year's Day this year. Officials with the BC Ambulance service were not able to break down on which day nor in which cities those overdoses occurred, citing privacy concerns. BC Ambulance records data for full days, rather than on an hourly basis, and does not provide numbers for communities when those numbers are five or fewer for that day. For both days, in each community from Vernon down to Osoyoos, BC Ambulance reported five or fewer overdoses. But combined, the entire Valley saw nine overdoses over both days. This New Years Eve had the potential to be a deadly one, in the midst of a nation-wide crisis which has led to recent decisions to set up new supervised injection sites in Kelowna and Kamloops, causing considerable debate. The overdose crisis also hit Vernon by surprise, including one day in August that saw a total of five overdoses, while in Penticton the crisis came late, but hit suddenly in November. Photo: The Canadian Press A decision expected later today could drive up the cost of rebuilding Fort McMurray after a wildfire swept through the northern Alberta city last spring. Prices for drywall, a building material considered vital to replace 1,800 houses and dozens of other structures destroyed by the fire, have risen dramatically since Canada slapped anti-dumping duties in September on U.S.-made products imported to Western Canada. Claude Bureau, owner of Genroc Drywall in Fort McMurray, says he is paying wholesale suppliers about $4.60 more per 4x12 sheet of drywall now compared with the price before duties were imposed. He said he has had to raise his price including installation by $1.25 per square foot, adding about $1,750 to the cost of building a typical 1,400-square-foot house. Fort McMurray Mayor Melissa Blake is asking the federal government to fund a grant program to help property owners recover increased costs related to the drywall duties. The Canadian International Trade Tribunal is scheduled to rule today on whether to make permanent its preliminary duties of up to 276 per cent on U.S. drywall imports into Canada for use in the four western provinces and the Yukon and Northwest Territories. Photo: The Canadian Press A man and three females, including a 10-year-old girl, have been found shot to death in a home in rural Nova Scotia. RCMP found the bodies at about 6 p.m. Tuesday after being called to the home in Upper Big Tracadie, a largely African-Nova Scotian community of about 40 people. Initial indications are that a 33-year-old man shot himself and that three females, aged 52, 31 and 10, also died of apparent gunshot wounds, police said. Two guns were found at the scene, they said. "The male's gunshot wounds appear to be self-inflicted. There were no signs of forced entry into the residence," police said in a release. "The RCMP extends sincere condolences to the family and community during this difficult time." Cpl. Jennifer Clarke would not comment on the relationships of the victims, citing the Privacy Act, but one relative told The Canadian Press family members were among the deceased. She said her sister was among the dead, and she described herself as an aunt to other deceased. "It's hard to explain right now," said the relative, overcome with emotion. Deputy warden Sheila Pelly of the Municipality of the District of Guysborough said the deaths have stunned the community, adding that she knew the people but did not want to comment. "Everybody's in shock," she said. "They can't believe it." Madonna Boucher, who lives down the road from the scene of the deaths on Highway 16, said she heard police vehicles racing to the area Tuesday evening, but didn't know what was happening. "It's sad, really sad," she said. "It's crazy I've never experienced anything around here like that." Clarke said there was no risk to the public. She said she could not release further details about what RCMP found because authorities were in the initial stages of the investigation. A press conference is planned for this afternoon at the Mounties' Antigonish detachment. Photo: Getty Images Once again, Vernon residents dug deep and not only helped the Vernon Jubilee Hospital Foundations Light a Bulb Campaign reach its goal, but surpass it. When the annual campaign launched in December, 2016 it had a target of $250,000, but donors took their giving a step farther and the campaign raised $280,000. Every donation we received was important in making this happen. We want to sincerely thank everyone who contributed to Light a Bulb for better health care in the North Okanagan, said Kevin Arbuckle, Light a Bulb chairperson. Funds raised from Light a Bulb will purchase high-definition camera heads and control units for VJH operating rooms. Benefits of the new equipment include enabling 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. More than 3,000 surgeries are performed each year at VJH, with nearly one-third being laparoscopic. This new equipment will help deliver better health outcomes for North Okanagan residents. Photo: Contributed He's not even 10 years old, but already Toran Edwards is one of the best BMX racers in the nation. The nine-year-old Vernon phenom currently holds district, provincial and national No. 1 rankings in his age group. He also is ranked third for all boys of all ages in Canada for points standing, said his mom, Naomi Shaw. Later this month Edwards, who races out of the Vernon BMX Club, will be heading south of the border to compete. He will be racing his first U.S race Jan.13-15 in Las Vegas, Nevada, said Shaw, adding Edwards was recently factory sponsored by the CBS/Rift/Tangent factory team. Photo: Contributed A couple who showed up at an alleged drug dealer's home in Penticton last week got an unpleasant surprise once he answered the door. The pair had taken a taxi to a residence on Van Horne Street at about 1 a.m. on Dec. 30 because the husband wanted to confront the man who lived there for selling crack cocaine to his wife, said Cpl. Don Wrigglesworth with the Penticton RCMP. When the man answered the door he was holding a firearm, causing the pair to call the police. Once police arrived, the firearm turned out to be a pellet gun, which was not pointed at anyone. Police escorted the two parties to safe locations and told them stay away from each other. Photo: Getty Images Crystal Brook is resting a little easier knowing a suspect who is believed to have broken into her home has been arrested. On Monday, Jan. 2, at around 9 a.m., Brook stepped out of her Alexis Park home for a few minutes to take her husband to work. When she returned 15 minutes later, she found her house had been robbed while four of her children slept in their beds. On Wednesday, Brook told Castanet that police had made an arrest in the brazen morning robbery. Police have not released the name of the suspect and Brook said none of the stolen items, which included a Playstation 4, games, a tablet and an iPhone, were recovered. It feels good he has been caught, said Brook. Castanet has called the RCMP for comment. Photo: Getty Images The Canadian Taxpayers Federation is supporting Vernon city councillor Bob Spiers' parliamentary e-petition against a federal tax that is levied on top of B.C.'s carbon tax. I hate tax on tax & was glad to sign Bob Spiers's new HoC petition to have feds stop GST on carbon tax, tweeted Jordan Bateman, Canadian Taxpayers Federation director, who posted a link to the petition. The so-called 'tax on a tax' petition protests the amount of money being siphoned off to Ottawa for the GST (Goods and Services Tax) being charged on the carbon tax, explained Spiers, adding that an estimated $63 million from B.C. was paid in 2016 fiscal year. The Alberta government has just imposed a carbon tax which is also being taxed by the federal government to the tune of an estimated $60 million this year, Spiers said. The councillor hopes Canadians from across the country will sign his petition but points out he needs just 500 signatures for it to make its way onto the floor of the House of Commmons. The petition has been sponsored by North Okanagan Shuswap MP Mel Arnold. It is open for signature until May 4. Petition to the Government of Canada Whereas: The Government of British Columbia instituted a carbon tax in 2008 and the federal government GST (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. Optimising a dynamic process Dr Michael Clark By Published 04 January 2017 The cement production process is dynamic, with substantial opportunities for optimisation, improving plant productivity as well as profitability. Cemtech Technical Workshops are an important way of disseminating this information among plant staff and have proven highly successful. We take a look at what lies ahead in the 2017 programme of Cemtech Workshops. By Dr Michael Clark, UK. As you read this months Technical Forum in the first ICR issue of 2017, preparations for the Cemtech conference in Dubai in February will be well underway. The Cemtech conference at the Grand Hyatt in Dubai has become the first major event of the Technical Forum year over the last 10 years and marks a new Technical Workshop to be delivered alongside the Cemtech conference. Solving a conundrum The Technical Workshop in 2016 was entitled The progressive levels of optimisation and was delivered in Dubai, Manila and Madrid. The workshop was well received by people from cement companies in Azerbaijan, Bosnia, China, Cyprus, Ethiopia, Fiji, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippines, Poland, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Spain, the UK and Yemen. It would be difficult to reach such a diverse audience through any other forum than the Cemtech Technical Workshops held alongside Cemtech conferences in the Middle East, southeast Asia and Europe. The success of the 2016 workshop presents a conundrum for the moderator who develops and leads these workshops: How to preserve and maintain that success while keeping the workshops fresh and up-to-date? In 2017 this will be solved by retaining the best aspects of the 2016 workshop with the addition of 20-30 per cent new material in a workshop entitled Optimising a dynamic process. Preparing the kiln feed In 2016, the first of the progressive levels of optimisation reflected on the steps taken to prepare the kiln feed properly for conversion into clinker in the kiln, both chemically and physically. This includes selecting the appropriate raw materials for cement manufacture and bringing those raw materials together in the right proportions to produce clinker of the required mineralogy by process of raw mix design. The ashes from the fuels burnt on the kiln that will be incorporated in the clinker must also be taken into consideration. The cement producer needs to move beyond planning the optimisation of the kiln feed to the practical steps to be taken in the quarries, crushers, pre-homogenisation, raw grinding and kiln feed blending systems of cement factories. What will be new in 2017? Increasingly modern cement plants use vertical roller mills (VRMs) for raw grinding. The opportunities for optimisation of VRMs are less obvious than with ball mills. All the processes of grinding, drying, classification and regrinding take place within the body of the mill and there are no opportunities to take samples to assess the performance of the separator or the recirculating load in the mill, or the progress of size reduction along the grinding path. However, this does not mean there are no opportunities for optimisation. The gas flow and velocities through the different parts of the VRM have a critical impact on the external recirculation of materials, the pressure loss across the mill and the electricity consumed by the mill induced draught fan. The depth of the bed of material on the table and the hydraulic pressure on the rollers impact on the grinding efficiency and production rate of the mill. Any adjustments to affect the gas flow and velocity through the mill, the depth of material on the table or the pressure on the rollers will have multiple impacts on the performance of the mill. The process is dynamic and adjustments lead to multiple changes. Fuels and their combustion The second of the progressive levels of optimisation in 2016 was the fuels used to fire the cement kiln and the appropriate combustion of those fuels. Fuel types Cement manufacturers continuously look to optimise the fuels used to fire their cement kilns because these are usually the highest variable cost item for manufacturing clinker and cement. That is why ICR and Cemtech conferences are full of articles and presentations about projects to burn alternative fuels in cement kilns or switch from one type of fuel to another. The complexities of burning alternative fuels should not be underestimated, nor should the complexities of switching traditional fuels between fuel oil, natural gas, coal and petcoke. Optimising the combustion of the fuels in the kiln involves much more than providing sufficient fuel for the thermal energy requirements of the process. The fuel at the main burner must be burnt with sufficient intensity to reach the maximum temperature required in the burning zone of the kiln for clinker combination, but also to have the required temperature profile through the kiln to produce clinker of optimal hydraulic reactivity when the clinker is converted into cement. Again, what will be new in 2017? The impact of the combustion conditions, the temperature regime through the process, and the incorporation of the ash from the fuels on the ultimate quality of the clinker will receive more coverage. To really monitor and understand the impact of combustion, temperature history and incorporation of trace components into the clinker requires more than simply calculating the Bogue mineralogy of the clinker. Ideally the real mineralogy of the clinker needs to be monitored by XRD or microscopy. If that is not possible the likely impact on the real mineralogy needs to be at least anticipated. Impact of combustion conditions The impact of combustion conditions is where the cement kiln process becomes truly dynamic. The combustion must be sufficiently intense to reach the required temperatures and temperature profile with the minimum amount of fuel and the minimum amount of excess air drawn into the kiln. Sub-optimal combustion quickly leads to excessive sulphur circulation in the kiln, leading to clogging of preheaters, formation of rings and balls in the kiln, and dusty and high free lime clinker. Dust recirculating from the cooler kiln further reduces combustion efficiency, driving ever greater sulphur recirculation and a downward spiral of process stability. As the moderator writes he is returning from Latin America where a catalogue of preheater clogging, ring and ball formation issues have been solved by kiln main burner adjustments and accepting a higher free lime content of the clinker produced from the kiln. Trying to achieve less than one per cent free lime in clinker is counter-productive in kilns with high sulphur inputs. Over-burning leads to sulphur circulation, and in turn leads to higher free lime clinker, resulting in more over-burning to try to reduce free lime. This causes even higher sulphur recirculation, and even higher free lime content of clinker in a vicious cycle, all ultimately leading to severely reduced clinker output, higher specific fuel consumption and kiln stoppages due to clogging, rings and balls. These dynamic impacts of the combustion of the fuel in the kiln are almost always kiln specific and best illustrated by case studies. Those will be incorporated in the 2017 Cemtech Technical Workshop, but a common thread needs to be drawn through these case studies so that participants can relate them to their particular kilns and circumstances. There is almost nothing that happens in a particular cement kiln that has not happened somewhere else in the world. Gas flow The third of the progressive levels of optimisation in the 2016 Technical Workshop was the gas flow through the cement kiln process. This includes process air as well as emissions from areas such as the kiln. Air flow This subject starts with providing the preheated air required for the combustion of the fuels from the cooler of the kiln. That air combines with the carbon and hydrogen in the fuels to form the combustion product gases that are drawn through the process together with the carbon dioxide derived from the calcium carbonate in the kiln feed. The dynamic nature of the cement kiln process now starts to become apparent. Air supply from the cooler affects many parts of the process, including: fuel combustion combustion product gases and volume temperature profile in the kiln clinker quality recirculation of volatile species pressure loss across the kiln system electricity drawn by the preheater induced draught fan ability of the induced draught fan to draw air into the kiln from the clinker cooler. In the 2017 workshop these dynamic interactions are illustrated with case studies, but will also try to demonstrate the commonalities between the case studies. Emissions When considering the gas flow through the process we must consider the gases that exit the process, ie the emissions. The emissions from a cement kiln are both simple and complex, benign and noxious. This is a topic that could certainly consume an entire Technical Forum and probably an entire Technical Workshop. Emissions from cement kilns is a topic of relevance to all cement producers, but the priority attached to emissions certainly changes from region to region. In Europe and North America it is a top priority and is becoming increasingly important in parts of Asia and Latin America. However, in other parts of Asia and Africa it is further down the list. How to cope with these different priorities in the Cemtech Technical Workshops? Well, in truth there are far more potential topics to talk about than can be covered in a three-day workshop. In these Cemtech Technical Workshops we allow the participants to determine the priorities to a certain extent. In the Middle East and Africa the priorities might be primarily productivity and reliability. In Asia energy efficiency along with productivity. In Europe the same but with an increasing emphasis on environmental performance. The Cemtech Technical Workshops try to cater to these differences by letting participants nominate their own priorities during these sessions. Optimising profitability as the ultimate goal Reasons for optimisation of the cement manufacturing process might be to improve plant productivity, resource consumption efficiency, productivity or environmental performance. Ultimately what needs to be optimised is the profitability of the cement factory and company. The Cemtech Technical Workshops are technical hence the name. However, the impact of optimisation on profitability must be the underlying reason for that optimisation. The workshop will always try to illustrate the potential impacts on profitability as its starting point. We look forward to your participation in the updated Cemtech Technical Workshops in Dubai, UAE, 20-22 February 2017, or at any of the other Cemtech conference venues in southeast Asia and Europe to be held later in 2017. Trinidad Cement directors recommend rejection of Cemex bid ICR Newsroom By 04 January 2017 The board of directors of Trinidad Cement Ltd (TCL) has written to shareholders advising them to reject Cemex's TTD597m (US$89m) offer for a controlling interest in the company, the Jamaica Observer reports. The company (TCL) has experienced a turnaround after multiple past efforts to do so. The evidence of the turnaround is supported by the companys return to sustainable profitability in 2015 and continuing to produce positive net income throughout 2016, said the directors in their letter. The Board has carefully considered the offer and has examined the proposed business strategy therein and has concluded that the consideration to be received by shareholders under the offer is not fair, from a financial point of view, to the shareholders, they added. Cemex already hold 39.5 per cent of TCLs shares through the formers Sierra subsidiary. Their offer, which prices TCL at TTD4.50 per share, expires on 10 January 2017. Published under Vietnam: Vicem sells 25.8Mt of cement and clinker in 2016 ICR Newsroom By 04 January 2017 State-owned Vietnam Cement Industry Corp (Vicem) sold around 25.8Mt of cement and clinker in 2016, representing a YoY rise of 11.2 per cent and surpassing the years target by 11 per cent. Some 22.73Mt of cement and clinker were sold in the domestic market, a 8.8 per cent rise when compared with 2015. Vicem increased its exports by 45.8 per cent to 3.07Mt. Output by the countrys leading cement producer advanced by 9.3 per cent YoY to 18.74Mt of clinker and by 13.1Mt to 22.72Mt of cement. For 2017 Vicems clinker and production targets have been set at 18Mt and 22Mt, respectively. Published under This service applies to you if your subscription has not yet expired on our old site. You will have continued access until your subscription expires; then you will need to purchase an ongoing subscription through our new system. Please contact The Chanute Tribune office at 620-431-4100 if you have any questions This is a scanning transmission electron microscope image of a nickel-platinum composite material created at The Ohio State University. At left, the image is overlaid with false-color maps of elements in the material, including platinum (red), nickel (green) and oxygen (blue). 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. 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. PARK Je-Geun, Associate Director at the Center for Correlated Electron Systems, within the Institute for Basic Science (IBS), working in collaboration with CHEONG Hyeonsik at Sogang University and PARK Cheol-Hwan at Seoul National University demonstrated the magnetic behavior of a special class of 2D materials. This is the first experimental proof to a theory proposed more than 70 years ago. Recently, scientists all over the world are investigating the properties and applications of extremely thin 2D materials, just one-atom-thick, like graphene. Studying the properties of 2D materials in comparison with their 3D counterparts raises many thought-provoking questions; one of them concerns magnetic phase transitions. Some materials are magnetic because of the behavior of the spins of their electrons. In simple terms, spins (spin quantum numbers, or more precisely their associated magnetic moments), are just like tiny magnets, conventionally shown as arrows. At extremely low temperatures, these spins tend to align, lowering the electrons' total energy. However, above a specific temperature that varies from material to material, spins lose their alignment and become randomly oriented. Similar to how ice loses its internal order and becomes liquid above a certain temperature; 3D magnets also lose their magnetization above a critical temperature. This is called phase transition and is an ever-present process in 3D objects. However, what happens to 1D and 2D systems at low temperatures? Do they experience a phase transition? In other words, are we going to see a transition from solid to liquid in a chain of water molecules (1D) or in a one-atom thick sheet of water (2D)? About one century ago, the physicist Wilhelm Lenz asked his student Ernst Ising to solve this problem for 1D systems. Ising explained it in 1925 and concluded that 1D materials do not have phase transitions. Then, Ising tried to grapple with the same question for a particular type of 2D materials. The problem turned out to be much harder. The solution came in 1943 courtesy of Lars Onsager, who received the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1968. Indeed, Onsager found that the materials, which follow the Ising spin model, have a phase transition. However, despite the huge importance this theory has in the following development of the whole physics of phase transitions, it has never been tested experimentally using a real magnetic material. "The physics of 2D systems is unique and exciting. The Onsager solution is taught on every advanced statistical mechanics course. That's where I learned this problem. However, when I discovered much later that it has not been tested experimentally with a magnetic material, I thought it was a shame for experimentalists like me, so it was natural for me to look for a real material to test it," explains PARK Je-Geun. In order to prove the Onsager model, the research team produced crystals of iron trithiohypophosphate (FePS3) with a technique called chemical vapour transport. The crystals are made of layers bound by weak interactions, known as Van der Waals interactions. Layers can be peeled off from the crystal by using scotch tape, in the same way tape can strip paint from a wall. The scientists peeled the layers until they were left with just one layer of FePS3 (2D). "We can call these materials magnetic Van der Waals materials or magnetic graphene: they are magnetic and they have easy-to-cleave Van der Waals bonds between layers. They are very rare, and their physics is still unexplored," says the professor. While there are several methods to measure the magnetic properties of bulk 3D materials, these techniques have no practical use to measure magnetic signals coming from monolayer materials. Therefore, the team used Raman spectroscopy, a technique normally used to measure vibrations inside the material. They used vibrations as an indirect measure of magnetism, the more vibrations, the less magnetization. Park's team and colleagues first used Raman spectroscopy on bulk 3D FePS3 material at different temperatures and then tested FePS3 2D monolayer. "The test with the bulk sample showed us that the Raman signals can be used as a kind of the fingerprint of phase transition at temperatures around 118 Kelvin, or minus 155 degrees Celsius. With this confirmation we then measured the monolayer sample and found the same patterns," points out Park. "We conclude that 3D and 2D FePS3 have the same signature of the phase transition visible in the Raman spectrum." Both in the bulk sample and the monolayer, FePS3' spins are ordered (antiferromagnetic) at very low temperatures, and become disordered (paramagnetic) above 118 degrees Kelvin. "Showing magnetic phase transition with this tour-de-force experiment is a beautiful test for the Onsager solution," concludes the physicist. In the future, the team would like to study other 2D transition metal materials, going beyond the 2D Ising spin model. Mediafly, a 10-year-old Chicago-based company that makes software for salespeople, has raised $10 million, it announced Wednesday. The company started in 2006 as a platform for distributing podcasts. A pivot to serve enterprise clients started around early 2010, said CEO and founder Carson Conant. Advertisement He said Mediafly creates tools for companies with large sales staffs, including PepsiCo, Disney and MillerCoors. Unlike industry juggernaut Salesforce which makes customer retention management, sales automation and other tools Mediafly's products are meant to be used in face-to-face interactions. Conant said he thinks his tools better serve salespeople in meetings. Advertisement "We really believe in the humans on the ground and there's a lot of sales, particularly in the B2B world, that really need a human to get over the last mile," Conant said. Mediafly's products deliver information to salespeople, and offer tools that they can use in meetings with existing or potential clients, Conant said. The tools are intended to help the people on the "front lines" of sales do their jobs better, he said. Competitors include Chicago-based SAVO, San Francisco-based Showpad and Waltham, Mass.-based Bigtincan, Conant said. The Series B round comes after years of taking smaller, more frequent investments from angels. This investment, from Wayne, Pa., private equity firm Boathouse Capital, brings Mediafly's total funding to $22 million. The company plans to use the funding to hire 20 to 30 sales and marketing employees as soon as possible, Conant said. Mediafly currently has 40 employees, the vast majority of whom are based in its Chicago office. A handful of salespeople work remotely from around the country, he said. As the company eyes international expansion, Conant said he thinks the company will need more offices in the future. Mediafly could also use the funding to acquire companies that do content for salespeople, Conant said. Any such moves are at least a year off, he said. Conant declined to comment on current revenue, but said he expected it to double this year. Mediafly has appeared on the Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing companies annually since 2014. Inc. reported the company had $5 million in revenue in 2015. Advertisement aelahi@chicagotribune.com Twitter @aminamania A Southwest jet aircraft arrives for a landing at Midway Airport, at 63rd St. and Cicero Ave. in Chicago, Sunday, Sept. 11, 2016. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune) Midway Airport beat out O'Hare International Airport when it came to on-time air travel in 2016, according to analysts at OAG, which tracks timeliness in airlines and airports around the world. Midway, with an on-time performance rate of 81.33 percent in 2016, ranked 19th on OAG's list of the 20 most punctual large airports. Large airports are defined as those that had 10 to 20 million departing seats each year. O'Hare did not make the most recent list. Advertisement Last year, O'Hare ranked 20th among North American airports, with an on-time performance rate of 78.29 percent, making it the "most improved airport in North America and eighth most improved in the world." O'Hare moved up from a 71.4 percent on-time performance rate in 2014 to 78.3 percent in 2015. Midway was ranked No. 12 in 2015. The OAG report also focused on the timeliness of international and domestic airline carriers. Advertisement Delta's on-time performance rate was 84.29 percent in 2016, surpassing United's on-time performance rate of 80 percent, the report said. That on-time performance rate put Delta in the No. 3 spot and United in sixth place on the list of most punctual North American carriers. The No. 1 spot on the North American list went to Hawaiian Airlines, which also holds the top spot among global carriers with an on-time performance rate of 89.87 percent. At an investor conference last year, United said it is trying to catch up to Delta when it comes to getting passengers and bags to their destinations on time. Currently, United takes about 6 percent longer than its competitors, officials said at the conference. crshropshire@chicagotribune.com Twitter @corilyns Joe Espanol, left, works the counter at Honey Butter Fried Chicken in December 2015 in Chicago. The Avondale spot is among a number of restaurants across the country to sign onto a new "sanctuary restaurant" movement meant to offer safe workplaces for immigrants, Muslims and other communities they feel are under threat in the current political climate. (Phil Velasquez / Chicago Tribune) Chicago's Honey Butter Fried Chicken is among a couple of dozen restaurants across the country to sign onto a new "sanctuary restaurant" movement meant to offer safe workplaces for immigrants, Muslims and other communities they feel are under threat in the current political climate. The movement is a joint project of ROC United, a national group that advocates for higher wages for restaurant workers, and Presente.org, whose mission is to "advance Latinx power" (Latinx is a gender-neutral alternative to Latino and Latina). Advertisement According to a news release Wednesday, sanctuary restaurants do not allow harassment of individuals based on immigrant or refugee status or race, religion, gender or sexual orientation; participate in peer networks to exchange ideas for protecting targeted workers; and agree to place prominent signs that state "SANCTUARY RESTAURANTS: A Place At the Table for Everyone" at their establishments. ROC United co-founder and co-director Saru Jayaraman said in the news release that restaurant workers "are on the front lines of discrimination and hate in America." Advertisement "While the restaurant industry suffers from a labor shortage, anti-immigrant and sexist rhetoric is now commonplace. Sanctuary Restaurants seeks to create the world we want establishments free from hate and discrimination, where everyone has a seat at the table," Jayaraman said. ROC in November had urged signatures for an open letter to President-elect Donald Trump penned by RAISE, its subgroup of supportive employers, asking him to alleviate fear of deportation and harassment of immigrant workers in the restaurant industry. "We must retain each and every employee and we depend heavily, especially in metropolitan areas, on immigrant workers," the letter said. "Many have lived in this country for decades, paid taxes, and contributed to our industry; some acquire their own restaurants and provide even more jobs. The restaurant industry must maintain a robust pool of workers; we need immigrants and non-immigrants, and people of all races, religions, genders, and sexual orientations." While it is unknown how immigration policy will take shape under Trump, blocking undocumented immigration was a major talking point of Trump's campaign, and reports of anti-immigrant hostilities in communities following his win have left some people fearful. Trump said after the election that he wants to deport people with criminal records who are in this country illegally , a number he put at 2 to 3 million, and one of his position papers suggests mandating E-Verify, a program for confirming a worker's legal status, for private employers nationwide. The leisure and hospitality industry, of which restaurants are a part, is one of the largest employers of undocumented workers in the U.S., according to a Pew Research Center analysis of federal data. Wednesday's release announcing the sanctuary restaurants movement said dozens of restaurants have signed on and listed a sample of 24, which included Zingerman's Deli in Ann Arbor, Mich., and Colors restaurants in Detroit and New York. Honey Butter, a casual spot in the Avondale neighborhood, was the only Chicago restaurant on the list. "It's a positive response to what at times has been not so productive or positive rhetoric in our national politics," said Honey Butter co-owner Josh Kulp, who offers his workers paid sick and parental leave and advocates for pro-worker policies. Uncertainty about the future has caused a lot of "fear and anxiety" among workers in the industry, he said, and "what we're trying to say to them and to our customers is that we're a safe haven, and we're a restaurant committed to putting our neighborhood and our community and our staff first." "I hope that good businesses all over the country already do these things," Kulp added. "Sometimes it's important to make it clear, especially in times when you feel that not everyone is on that same page." Advertisement aelejalderuiz@chicagotribune.com Twitter @alexiaer Sears Holdings is again tapping the pockets of CEO Edward Lampert. The Hoffman Estates-based retailer said Wednesday that affiliates of Lampert's hedge fund, ESL Investments, agreed to loan the company up to $500 million, backed by mortgages on Sears' properties, to fund operations while it works to sell real estate to pay back debts. Advertisement Sears will receive $321 million immediately and can draw up to $179 million more in the future. "This Loan Facility will provide Sears Holdings with additional financial flexibility and support our operations as we meet all of our financial obligations," Jason Hollar, Sears' chief financial officer, said in a news release. Advertisement It's the second time in a week that Lampert, Sears' biggest investor, has stepped in to fund the ailing retailer as it tries to slow shrinking sales and turn around losses. Affiliates of Lampert's hedge fund gave the retailer a $200 million letter of credit that could be expanded to $500 million, Sears said last week. Add it all up, and Lampert and his hedge fund have lent Sears more than $1 billion since September 2014. Sears last month reported a $748 million loss in 2016's third quarter, with sales in Sears and Kmart stores open at least a year down 7.4 percent from the same period the previous year. Lampert has said he wants to turn the struggling department store chain into a retailer with a smaller real estate footprint and stronger online sales. Sears has turned to real estate for cash before. In 2015, it sold 235 stores to a real estate investment trust spinoff, Seritage Growth Properties, and raised $2.72 billion, Sears said at the time. Sears still leases many of those stores, but has shut down some and shrunk its space at others, including an Oakbrook Center Sears. Seritage disclosed 19 more Sears store closures in a separate regulatory filing Tuesday, with stores expected to close by April, according to Seritage. None are in the Chicago area, Sears said. Advertisement lzumbach@chicagotribune.com Twitter @laurenzumbach After suffering from joint pain, Katlin Smith, now 28, took a hard look at her eating habits and opted for more whole, natural foods. She soon discovered a lack of options for prepared food especially baked goods without chemicals or additives. In 2013, the Charlotte, N.C., native created Simple Mills, a natural baking-mix company that uses ingredients like almond flour and coconut sugar in place of common packaged-food ingredients including wheat and high-fructose corn syrup. All Simple Mills products are free of gluten, grains, soy and genetically modified ingredients. Advertisement When the company was still in its infancy, Smith attended University of Chicago's Booth School of Business, where the concept won funding and cachet through the school's New Venture Challenge. Simple Mills which has grown to include crackers and frosting in addition to those baking mixes is now based in River North. On Tuesday, Smith was named to Forbes magazine's "30 under 30" list and answered emailed questions for the Tribune about the company's progress. The interview has been edited for length and clarity. Advertisement Q: How have you grown from the early days? A: Less than four years ago, we were a brand-new company and had no retail distribution at all. I got my first placements by baking my muffin mixes and taking samples to each Whole Foods store in Atlanta, where I was living. Today, our products are sold in over 6,500 stores. In terms of online business, we started selling on Amazon in 2013 with three products. Since then, we have expanded our Amazon offerings (and) grown sales on that site alone by 375 percent. Q: You just launched frosting. How long was that in development? What's next for the company? A: We've had our eye on frosting for a while because consumers can use it in conjunction with our cake and muffin mixes, providing a complete clean-ingredient baking solution. Actual product development took about six months. As soon as we had perfected our frosting recipes, we started working on two new product lines that we are launching this February. I can't tell you what they are yet. Q: What ingredient has been the most difficult to source? A: Pumpkin powder. Initially, all of the sources we found for this product had an ingredient list that included maltodextrin an additive that is typically made from corn. We rejected those options because corn is a digestive irritant for many consumers. We never use it. To solve the problem, we worked closely with one of our suppliers to create a product without maltodextrin. That product is now available in the market for us as well as other companies to use. This is one example of how a rising tide lifts all boats, which is exactly what we hope to do be a positive impact for the way that food is made. Advertisement Q: What's the long-term goal as far as number of products? A: We don't have a specific goal for number of products we'd like to develop. Instead we aim to fill holes in the market products that consumers need or are asking for, or where there are particular pain points for consumers. Q: What has surprised you most about your growth and success? A: The explosive growth of the natural foods category we're in. The food industry was a high-barrier market with powerful gatekeepers for decades. Less than 10 years ago, it was virtually impossible to break into food business and see the success so many young companies have today let alone to do so with natural and alternative ingredients as companies like Simple Mills use. We certainly expected the category to thrive, but the degree that high-growth food startups are changing the food supply and driving a new era in the industry is unprecedented. sbomkamp@chicagotribune.com Twitter @SamWillTravel As president, Donald Trump won't be able to punish General Motors for building cars in Mexico without violating NAFTA. That may not stop him from taking an unprecedented step against an American company. Trade experts agree that presidents have wide latitude to impose penalties on imports, at least temporarily, even if courts later find them unlawful. Targeting a single company with a tariff as Trump threatened to do with GM in a tweet Tuesday is unheard of and barred under the North American Free Trade Agreement, according to trade experts. Punishing GM with a tariff on its Mexico-made cars -- or any other U.S. company that has shifted production there -- could prompt a Mexican response that would hurt U.S. exports and raise the price of all goods from the country. "The notion of using emergency tariff-raising authority to influence the investment location decisions of a single company would be an unprecedented use of that authority and far beyond what Congress ever intended," said Edward Alden, a trade expert at the Council on Foreign Relations. "Turning those powers on a single U.S. company because you don't like its strategy just takes us to a whole new realm." The Republican rattled automakers on Tuesday when he tweeted that he would make General Motors pay a "big border tax" on Chevy Cruze models manufactured in Mexico and shipped across the border to U.S. dealers. On the same day, GM's competitor, Ford, canceled plans to expand in Mexico and said it would add jobs in Michigan instead. A GM spokesman said the company has imported to the U.S. only 4,500 of the Cruze hatchbacks it's manufactured in Mexico. Americans have bought about 190,000 Cruze sedans that were all built in Lordstown, Ohio, a second company spokesman said. The mere threat of a tariff or other punishment may be enough for Trump to get what he wants. The president-elect has repeatedly used the bully pulpit to pressure companies to change their business plans since winning election Nov. 8, as when United Technologies Corp. unit Carrier announced in November it would keep open a furnace plant in Indianapolis instead of moving about 850 jobs to Mexico. Doug Holtz-Eakin, a former director of the Congressional Budget Office who is president of the right-leaning research group American Action Forum in Washington, said that Trump's GM tweet might be better understood as the "opening bid in the negotiations." "A lot of this is about setting the agenda and getting people to talk about what he wants to talk about," Holtz-Eakin said. "It's not something that in the end generates great policy." GM might be able to challenge any Trump tariff in court and win; the 1974 law that Trump would likely cite as the source of his trade authority allows presidents to target countries, not companies, said Gary Hufbauer, a researcher at the Peterson Institute for International Economics and a former U.S. government tax and trade official. Trump has vowed to renegotiate the two-decade-old NAFTA, which bars the U.S. from assessing tariffs on goods made in Canada or Mexico. As president, Trump would have the power to withdraw from NAFTA entirely, though no president has abandoned a trade treaty since the 1800s. But even pulling out of the three-nation pact wouldn't necessarily enable Trump to ratchet up tariffs to 35 percent, the level he pledged during his campaign. Duties on goods produced in Mexico would only rise to the rate for countries with "most favored nation" status in the U.S.: about 4 percent, said Doug Irwin, an economist and trade expert at Dartmouth College. Trump could impose 15 percent duties for 100 days on GM's cars, claiming a "balance payments emergency," but that would fall short of the punishment he's threatened. Other fines, such as anti-dumping duties, require special and lengthy procedures to enact. For his 35 percent tariff to stick, Trump would likely have to ask Congress to include it in a broader overhaul of the U.S. tax code. Republican Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio publicly expressed unease with Trump's proposed GM tariff. "If we do that it will end up hurting our consumers here because everything at Wal-Mart's going to go up dramatically because they'll retaliate against us," said Portman, a former U.S. trade representative and a member of the Senate Finance Committee. Trump and House Republicans are aligned on much of their tax policy, but they differ starkly on how imports should be treated. Both want to lower the current top corporate income tax rate -- Trump to 15 percent and House Republicans to 20 percent. But the Republicans also propose a system known as "border adjustments" that would levy the 20 percent rate only on U.S. companies' domestic sales. Their exports would be untaxed, and their imported goods would be taxed at 20 percent, much lower than Trump's 35 percent tariff. The Republicans' border-adjustments plan also "would probably violate NAFTA rules," said Steve Charnovitz, a professor of public international law at The George Washington University Law School. Trump's tariffs would likely result in additional negative economic effects. If taxes on exports were not simultaneously eased, all U.S. companies that buy or sell things abroad would be harmed, said Alan Cole, an economist at the Tax Foundation in Washington. "There are right ways and wrong ways of doing this," Cole said in an interview. "A tariff is discriminatory." And focusing on specific companies could cause damage by creating uncertainty about the rules and how they apply, he said -- though Washington's influence industry may view that as upside. "It just creates incentives for out-sized lobbying budgets," he said. Bloomberg contributors: David Welch, Keith Naughton, Justin Sink and Steven T. Dennis. January 4, Bishop of Rheims, Saint Rigobert, Rheims, Daily Saints, Bishop. Source: Indcatholicnews.com Roman martyrology: In the city of Reims, in Neustria (today France), saint Rigoberto, Bishop, having been expelled from its headquarters by Carlos Martel, against the provisions of the canons, led a humble life. . Etymology: He who is admired by his power or acquisition. SHORT BIOGRAPHY This 8th century French Benedictine archbishop, is also known as Saint Robert of Rheims. After serving for a time as abbot of Orbais, he was appointed archbishop of Rheims. He was known for his kindness and ascetic nature. While bishop he lived in a small chamber over the city gates and had a ladder installed so he could easily get into the church to pray. As a result of a dispute with Charles Martel, the powerful Frankish mayor of the palace, he was banished and the see was bestowed upon the prelate Muon. . While he was away, another was appointed bishop, when the matter was resolved and Rigobert returned to Reims, but to prevent scandal and dissention among the faithful, he did not try to recover his bishopric, and spent the rest of his days as a hermit. Rigobert was long venerated as a model of patience and was credited with many miracles. One story describes how he was given a live goose to take home for his dinner. Rigobert put the bird in the arms of a servant-boy accompanying him. Along the way, as Rigobert was reciting the Divine Office, the bird broke free and flew away. The boy was very concerned about this mishap, but Rigobert comforted him, urging him to trust in God. When Rigobert resumed his prayers, the goose flew back to them. Thereafter, the archbishop kept the bird as a pet. The goose would walk with him to church and wait patiently for him while he celebrated Mass at an altar dedicated to the Virgin Mary. Rigobert died 743 and was buried in the Church of Saint-Thierry in Rheims. 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In 1956, the Chattanooga Pastors Association noticed the rise of juvenile delinquency due to the lack of male guidance. Big Brothers began when 50 male volunteers were matched to 50 boys. With support from the President of Big Brothers, Porter Warner Jr., and the agencys first Director Irvin Jacob Richmond, the organization achieved its charter on Jan. 3, 1957 and became Big Brothers Association of Chattanooga. Big Sisters International merged with Big Brothers in 1977 to expand the services offered to boys and girls in Chattanooga and Northwest Georgia. During the past 60 years, over 21,000 youth in the Chattanooga and Northwest Georgia areas have been served through Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Chattanooga. "Big Brothers Big Sisters is the largest and oldest mentoring organization in the country. Locally, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Chattanooga serves children ages 6-18 in Bradley, Marion, Hamilton, Catoosa, Walker and Dade counties," officials said. "The mission of BBBS is to provide children facing adversity with strong and enduring, professionally supported, one-to-one relationships that change their lives for the better, forever. "By partnering with parents/guardians, volunteers an,d others in the community, BBBS holds itself accountable to its goal that all children in the program achieve higher aspirations, greater confidence, better relationships, avoidance of risky behaviors, and educational success. "BBBS provides at-risk children with personalized, one-to-one mentoring relationships. Each child is carefully 'matched' with a caring adult mentor and is supported and monitored by a professional case manager. The agency ensures that all mentors go through a layered background check, training, and thorough screening/ interview process. Volunteers spend an average of four hours a month mentoring in one of our programs. "Research and evidence show specifically that BBBS one-to-one mentoring helps at-risk youth overcome the many challenges they face, especially at a time in their lives when even small choices can change the course of their future." For further information about Big Brothers Big Sisters, contact Ansley Kellermann at ansley@bbbschatt.org, or call 423-698-8017. Bob Bovee will be in concert at Charles and Myrtle's Coffeehouse on Friday, Feb. 3, at 8 p.m. The coffeehouse is inside Christ Unity Church at 105 McBrien Road. There is a $10 suggested donation at the door. Review for Bob Bovee: A Nebraska native whose family sang and played the old-time songs, Bob Bovee now lives in the rural area of southeastern Minnesota. He plays guitar, harmonica, autoharp and banjo, sings and yodels, and is also a humorist and storyteller. Performances include a liberal dose of traditional cowboy songs, many learned from his family, southern mountain music, blues and rags, and a varied assortment of songs picked up over his 45 years as a fulltime musician. He has entertained audiences from the San Diego Folk Festival to Merlefest in North Carolina up to Winnipeg, Canada and across the sea for five tours in Europe. The concert at Charles and Myrtle's Coffeehouse is is part of a five-week southern tour including performances in St. Louis, Memphis, Birmingham, Atlanta, Galax, Va., etc. For more information visit www.boveeheil.com. Local writer Jan Hamilton Powell and Chattanooga native Leigh Neely have published their second novel with The Wild Rose Press, Awakening Magic by Neely Powell. This is the first in a trilogy of paranormal novels about the Connelly witches, a modern-day coven that uses white magic to protect their North Georgia mountain hometown from an ancient curse and demonic forces. Ms. Powell wrote 24 romance novels as Celeste Hamilton, and romance plays a role in this new collaboration with Ms. Neely. But the struggle between good and evil is at the heart of the story. The cowriters took inspiration from Practical Magic, and they cite authors Patricia Briggs and Charlaine Harris as influences. Ms. Powell is a marketing/communications professional in Chattanooga, and Ms. Neely is managing editor of a regional publication in Leesburg, Fl. Awakening Magic is their second published novel, following Second Nature. Both titles are available in digital and print formats from Amazon or thewildrosepress.com. For more information visit NeelyPowellAuthor.com and facebook.com/neelypowellauthor. China National Petroleum Corp, one of the country's oil giants, has been invited to bid for Iran's crude and natural gas development projects as the Persian Gulf state seeks investments in energy. CNPC, together with 28 other oil companies including Total SA, Royal Dutch Shell Plc and PJSC Gazprom, are among the international companies that have qualified to bid for tenders, according to Iran's oil ministry. If CNPC wins, the deal would be in the interests of both countries, reviving Iran's energy industry which has been hard hit by international sanctions while satisfying China, the world's second-largest economy, which has strong energy demand. Iran is trying to fast-track projects to boost oil and gas production amid low prices and wants to sign agreements as soon as possible. However, Alastair Syme, an oil analyst at Citigroup Inc in London, warned companies to be wary of investing too quickly or too much in Iran. According to a senior engineer with CNPC, despite years of sanctions leading to a hammered economy and infrastructure, Iran, with the world's biggest natural gas reserves, estimated by BP Plc at 34 trillion cubic meters, still has significant strategic importance, with its substantial reserves of oil and gas. Strategically located in the Middle East and sharing land borders with 15 nations, Iran also plays a crucial role in the Belt and Road Initiative as an energy hub, he said. According to CNPC, the company has been present in Iran since 2004 and is engaged in oil and gas operations and oilfield services. In 2009, the company signed contracts with National Iranian Oil Co to develop the North Azadegan Oilfield and the Phase 11 of the South Pars gas field, which began trial production in 2015. Iran exported 500,000 to 600,000 barrels of crude oil per day to China in 2015, and the country recently signed a $4.8 billion natural gas development project with CNPC and Total. Iran aims to attract more than $100 billion in foreign investment to boost the country's energy sector. Iran has doubled its exports as crude prices rallied. Iran boosted oil output in 2016 by 870,000 barrels per day to 3.67 million bpd by November, and has reached several preliminary agreements with international companies, despite no concrete deals having been signed yet, Bloomberg said. The country has set a target of daily output of 5.7 million bpd of crude and condensate early in the next decade, according to Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh. A court in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region on Tuesday commuted the sentence of a woman, who had originally been sentenced to death, to life in prison for fraudulent fundraising. The woman, Su Yenyu, was sentenced to death by the Erdos Intermediate People's Court and the higher people's court in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region in 2013 for cheating investors out of 1.23 billion yuan (177 million U.S. dollars). However, the Supreme People's Court remanded the case in March 2015, upon consideration that Su had surrendered herself to the police. Erdos Intermediate People's Court retried the case publicly in July 2016 and commuted the sentence to life in prison Tuesday. She was also deprived of political rights for life, and all her personal property was confiscated. Su began illegally raising money in 2006 and cheated investors out of 1.23 billion yuan, luring them with promises of high returns, and personally misappropriated 552 million yuan. She used the funds to invest in restaurants, health clubs, coal mines and farms, as well as to buy property, cars, lottery tickets and jewelry for herself. She burned all documents related to her business between 2006 and October 2009 out of fear her illegal acts would be exposed. She surrendered to police on Sept. 20, 2011. Ren Wenxiang, who supported Su's endeavors, was sentenced to four years and three months in prison and fined 500,000 yuan. China will take countermeasures if an arms buildup by the United States in the South China Sea poses a security risk to Chinese territory, experts said on Tuesday regarding reports of US plans to deploy more weapons in the area. The website of the US Navy Times newspaper reported on Dec 31 that the Nimitz class supercarrier USS Carl Vinson and its escorts, along with 7,500 sailors, are set to deploy late this week for a Western Pacific cruise. In another report, the National Interest magazine said on Jan 1 that senior US Army and Pentagon strategists are considering ways to use existing weapons platforms in new waysincluding the possible placement of mobile artillery units in areas of the South China Sea to, if necessary, function as air-defense weapons to down rockets and cruise missiles. The magazine said officials had made no decisions along those lines, but that it is "one of the things being considered". "At the same time, Pentagon officials have publicly stated the US will continue 'freedom of navigation' exercises wherein Navy ships sail within 12 miles of territory claimed by the Chinese. "In addition to these activities, it is entirely possible the US could also find ways to deploy more offensive and defensive weapons to the region," the article said. "Apparently, the US military wants to find new approaches to the South China Sea to contain China," said Zhao Xiaozhuo, director at the Center on China-US Defense Relations at the People's Liberation Army Academy of Military Science. "We will see how long the USS Carl Vinson will stay here. Is it just a cruise or a long stay or to hold exercises? And how far is it from the Chinese-occupied islands? We'll keep a close watch," he said. Zhao said the reason to implement mobile artillery units would be to quickly intervene in any conflict near South China Sea islands. Zhang Junshe, a senior researcher at the PLA Naval Military Studies Research Institute, said once US arms implementation in the South China Sea poses a threat to Chinese islands, facilities or personnel, "China will certainly take countermeasures". On Monday, China's J-15 fighters, flying from the country's sole aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, conducted flight exercises in "complex sea conditions", the Chinese Navy said on its microblog that day. The Liaoning and its accompanying fleet entered the Pacific through the Miyako Strait for the first time on Dec 25 for a routine exercise in the Western Pacific, the Navy said. According to Hunan Economic TV Station, a transfer station for pigs fed pigs mud to increase their weight in Xiangtan, Hunan Province. Pigs are sent to the transfer station at about 3:30 p.m.. The transfer station is located in a remote area in Yangjiaqiao Town, Xiangtan City, Hunan Province. A few hundred of pigs were sent to this transfer station at about 3 p.m. every day, then, after about two hours, screams from the pigs were heard by nearby residents. The illegal pedlars used a pump to feed the pigs mud. It took only two minutes to fill a pig with mud. The pigs screamed during the entire process and some pigs collapsed afterwards. Each pig can gain as much as 20 kilograms. According to the current market price of 11 yuan (US$1.6) per kilo, buyers can lose 220 yuan on each mud-filled pig. If a buyer purchases 50 pigs, then more than ten thousand yuan will be wasted. It costs only 10 yuan to fill each pig. Officials from Xiangtan Animal Husbandry and Fishery Bureau investigated the transfer after receiving reports from the media. Some illegal pedlars have been arrested and the pigs have been seized. You are here: Home Two leading officials in the southwestern Chinese city of Panzhihua, Sichuan Province, were injured in a shooting incident on Wednesday morning, local authorities said. The city's Party chief Zhang Yan and mayor Li Jianqin were injured around 10:50 a.m. when they were having a meeting at a local conference and exhibition center. They have no life threatening injuries, the publicity department of Panzhihua city confirmed. The suspect, who was identified as the city's land and resources chief Chen Zhongshu, committed suicide after the shooting. You are here: Home Chinese prosecutors have filed cases against four local officials on suspicion of taking bribes, the Supreme People's Procuratorate said Wednesday. Wang Fuqiang, former inspector of Tianjin investment and promotion office, was accused of taking bribes and has been transferred to public prosecution departments, a procuratorate statement said. Lu Wang, former deputy director of Jizhou District people's congress of Tianjin, is being probed for taking bribes and placed under "coercive measures." Li Yaoxin, former chairman of the supervisory board of INESA (Group), a state-owned enterprise with a mission to develop information technology and smart city construction, is being investigated for taking bribes and placed under "coercive measures." Gao Yuqing, former Party chief of Shandong Academy of Governance, has been arrested on bribery charges. Members of the city Industrial Development Board said they would keep a close eye on city efforts to collect a $13.1 million debt from General Electric, parent company of Alstom. That came after Helen Burns Sharp, taxpayer advocate, asked for a progress report on the city effort. City Attorney Wade Hinton said the city continues in negotiations with GE. Alstom had been given $13.1 million in tax breaks, but closed the plant and did not follow through on job promises. It was noted that Alstom did pay school taxes while the PILOT was in place. In the final two weeks of 2016, Chinese diplomacy has scored an impressive hat-trick: normalization of relations with Norway, Mongolia's commitment not to allow Dalai Lama visits, and restoration of diplomatic ties with Sao Tome and Principe after the country cut relations with Taiwan. This diplomatic treble was no accident. The seemingly unrelated cases share a similarity: recanting perceived challenges to China's core interests. They sent a strong signal to the world that the appeal of good Chinese diplomatic relations is rising and that respecting China's concerns is not empty talk. The one-China principle, which concerns China's core interests and the feelings of its 1.3 billion people, is the unshakable basis for China to develop relations with other countries. After Norway reaffirmed its commitment to the one-China principle and respect for China's sovereignty and territorial integrity, China agreed to resume free trade negotiations and to promote investment in the Nordic country. The 2010 Nobel Peace Prize award to Liu Xiaobo, a Chinese criminal convicted of inciting subversion of state power, was an infamous decision by the Norwegian Nobel committee and resulted in China-Norway ties being frozen for six years. Mongolia, learning lessons from the Dalai Lama's visit in November, promised never to allow such visits again, just one month later. Mongolia's move rings alarm bells for any countries that have contact with this political exile who attempts to split Tibet from China under the cloak religion and such a move will severely jeopardize ties with China. The big strides prove that while China advocates mutual respect and win-win relationships when dealing with foreign countries, any country with a keen interest to develop relations with China needs to do the same. China's international engagement has become increasingly proactive and pioneering. From garnering support of over 90 countries and 230 political parties on the so-called South China Sea arbitration to hosting the Hangzhou G20 Summit that gathered more than 30 world leaders, China is increasingly confident on the world stage and reaped a bumper diplomatic harvest in 2016. Nonetheless, Westerners who cannot get accustomed to China's rising international status find China's diplomatic triumphs hard to swallow. The claim that China uses economic leverage to achieve diplomatic successes makes no sense. Take the case of Sao Tome and Principe: Taiwan poached it from China with a considerable financial package in 1997, before that the African country had established diplomatic relations with China in 1975. However, checkbook diplomacy is not at work in the resumption of China-Sao Tome and Principe ties. China has made it crystal clear that it will never trade on the one-China principle with money. China knows that lavishing money will not lead to the long-term development of the poor island country. After establishing a liaison office in Sao Tome and Principe in November 2013 for trade and cultural exchanges, China started to help improve the country's infrastructure. It now aims to help the country develop its economy through cooperation in tourism, agriculture and fishery. Anyone who dares challenge China's red lines, especially the one-China principle, will pay the price. Countries with an ambiguous position are better off adopting a sober attitude rather than making a rod for their own backs. The authors are Xinhua writers. Flash China firmly opposes any form of terrorism and is ready to work with Turkey and the international community to prevent and respond to the threat of terrorism, said Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang on Tuesday. Geng made the remarks at a daily press briefing when asked to respond to an attack on a nightclub in Istanbul, Turkey in the early hours of the new year that killed at least 39 people. Some media reports said the suspects in the New Year's attack may belong to East Turkistan terrorist forces. In response, Geng said the result of the investigation is yet to be confirmed by Turkey. However, he stressed that East Turkistan terrorist forces, led by the East Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM), are moving around Central Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia and the Middle East, constituting a grave security menace to many countries and regions, including China. China is ready to enhance coordination and cooperation with Turkey and the international community to jointly prevent and cope with the threats of terrorism to safeguard regional and world peace and security, said Geng. After the attack, the Chinese Consulate General in Istanbul began an emergency mechanism and issued safety alerts on its website, warning overseas Chinese nationals about security hazards, he said. There have been no reports of deaths or injuries of Chinese nationals in Istanbul so far, said Geng. A gunman stormed into Reina nightclub early Sunday morning and shot at hundreds of people who had gathered there for New Year celebrations, leaving at least 39 dead and over 60 injured. Istanbul Governor Vasip Sahin described the shooting spree as an act of terrorism. A total of 12 suspects have been detained in Istanbul over their suspected links to the nightclub attack, press reports said. Flash Paul Ryan raises the gavel after being re-elected as House Speaker during the opening of the 115th U.S. Congress on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C., the United States, on Jan. 3, 2017. The 115th U.S. Congress convenes on Tuesday with Republican Paul Ryan re-elected as House Speaker as expected while outgoing Vice President Joe Biden presides over the old Senate chamber for the last time. [Photo/Xinhua] Intense bipartisan fights are expected across the two-year 115th U.S. Congress sworn in Tuesday, which will be dominated by Republicans. Republican lawmakers are urged to "buckle up" to lay the groundwork for incoming President-elect Donald Trump's action-packed first 100 days, while their Democratic counterparts are determined to defend outgoing President Barack Obama's legacy. Inherent divide Once Trump takes oath on Jan. 20 and after new senators are sworn in on Tuesday by Vice President Joe Biden and House members by Speaker Paul Ryan, Republicans will hold the White House and both chambers of Congress for the first time since early 2007. Republicans will have a 52-48 advantage in the Senate and a hefty 241-194 majority in the House. Since most legislation needs 60 votes in the Senate, the republicans still have to garner bipartisan support to fulfill their major policy tasks such as reforming the immigration system, passing spending bills, raising the federal borrowing limit as well as repealing and replacing the whole package of Obamacare. The two mainstream parties now represent very different Americans. Eighty-seven percent of House Republicans will be white men, who only account for 41 percent of House Democrats, according to the independent Cok Political Report. Blue-collar whites living across the Rust Belt are the key force that sent Trump to the White House. In sharp comparison, the makeup of Democrats in the two chambers is much more racially diverse and largely metropolitan, including districts in and around cities and along the two coasts of the United States. "The white working class completely left Democrats," Josh Huder, a senior fellow with the Government Affairs Institute at Georgetown University, was quoted by a Wall Street Journal report as saying. Complicated agenda Capitol Hill's January agenda, at least on the Republican side, is huge. On the top of the GOP's to-do list will be votes to confirm many of Trump's cabinet picks and put the wheels in motion to repeal the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, which became law in 2010 and has been seen as Obama's the most important component of his domestic policy legacy. The Senate is expected to swiftly begin vetting and holding confirmation hearings for Trump's most controversial cabinet nominees, including ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson, tapped by Trump to serve as secretary of state, and Senator Jeff Sessions as attorney general. So far Tillerson is the only pick under the spotlight of a handful of Republicans for his close ties with Russia. Lawmakers from the two parties are also eager to know how he will tangle with Russia when dealing with hot foreign policy issues such as Syria, Iran and a recent string of cyberattacks. As early as this week, the new Congress will hold its first vote on whether to unlock a fast-track budget process, known as "reconciliation," as the first step to dismantle Obamacare, Senator majority leader Mitch McConnell said last month. Under the rules of "reconciliation," there is no limit on repealing the items in the law that have a direct impact on the federal budget. Therefore, Republicans could overcome a Democratic filibuster and use the procedure to pass the repeal in the Senate with a simple majority. However, this is not technically an official repeal and it is unclear how many items of the bill will be swiped away and what the Republicans have planned for a replacement, analysts say. Also on the Republican agenda is the so-called "midnight rules" bill aimed to axe Obama-era regulations, enact the "REINS Act" to curb executive branch regulatory powers, cut taxes and fill a long-vacant Supreme Court seat. There will also be debate about how to pursue investigations into alleged Russian hacking during the U.S. presidential election. Trump has dismissed it as a partisan move aimed at diluting his presidency with repeated calls to "move on," but many Republican lawmakers including prominent Senator John McCain view it as a serious threat. Big partisan fights Though Democrats don't have the votes to block every bit of Republican legislation, they are lining up to fight nevertheless. One day after the new Congress takes oath, Obama will visit Capitol Hill to "discuss fighting GOP plans to repeal (Obamacare)" with House and Senate Democrats, local media reported. Democrats are preparing an aggressive public relations campaign to highlight how Obamacare has helped the 20 million now insured because of the law, and the other benefits such as better preventive care, said the reports. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, incoming Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders announced January 15 as a national "Our First Stand: Save Health Care" day of action for advocacy groups and Democrats to criticize Republicans for working to target the health care law. "The ball is in their (Republicans') court," Pelosi said of the looming repealing of Obamacare during a Democratic conference call on Monday. "You break it, you own it." Democrats are also expected to make robust grillings of Trump's cabinet picks at a series of high-profile committee hearings, in an attempt to draw contrasts with Republicans on key issues including the environment and foreign policy. They are expected to fight Trump's choices such as Sessions as attorney general and Tillerson as secretary of State. "Republicans shouldn't expect their nominees to sail through if those nominees won't provide the disclosure that past nominees provided and that senators, and the American public, deserve," Matt House, a spokesman for Schumer, told CNN. Though any confirmation delay would just be symbolic, if Democrats use the full amount of debate time allowed under Senate rules, then a vote on each nominee that would normally take place in one or two days could stretch out a week, local analysts say. That could mean it could take months to clear through all Trump's cabinet picks, and other priorities like repealing Obamacare could also be delayed. In this regard, the Republicans need Democrat votes in the Senate, said McConnell one day after the Nov. 8 Election Day, emphasizing that Republican lawmakers can't read their sweep as a license "to push through a strictly partisan agenda." "I don't think we should act as if we're going to be in the majority forever," said McConnell. Flash At least 13 members of the the Yemen-based al-Qaida branch and 10 soldiers were killed during heavy clashes in Yemen's southern province of Abyan on Tuesday, a military official told Xinhua. The military official in Abyan said on condition of anonymity that the fighting broke out near al-Qaida hideouts in the Marakisha mountains of Abyan province. The Yemeni military source said the newly-trained troops launched a surprise attack on al-Qaida hideouts in the area, sparking a gun battle that continued for two hours and 45 minutes. "The troops supported by the Saudi-led Arab coalition will continue to conduct pursuit operations and intensify the conduct of military operations to kick al-Qaida militants out of Abyan's mountainous areas," he added. A medical source confirmed that more than 13 al-Qaida gunmen and about 10 soldiers were killed during the armed confrontations between the two sides. Elsewhere in Abyan province, suspected al-Qaida militants ambushed three vehicles of the government forces in the coastal town of Shoqra, leaving about 8 soldiers injured. The Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces launched anti-terror offensives and drived out scores of gunmen linked to the al-Qaida and the Yemen-based affiliate of the Islamic State from key neighborhoods and government compounds in Lahj and Abyan provinces during the past few months. Yemen, an impoverished Arab country, has been gripped by one of the most active regional al-Qaida insurgencies in the Middle East. The Yemen-based al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), also known locally as Ansar al-Sharia, emerged in January 2009. It had claimed responsibility for a number of terrorist attacks on Yemen's army and government institutions. It took advantage of the current security vacuum and the ongoing civil war to expand its influence and seize more territories in Yemen's southern part. Security in Yemen has deteriorated since March 2015, when war broke out between the Shiite Houthi group, supported by former President Ali Abdullash Saleh, and the government backed by the Saudi-led Arab coalition. More than 10,000 people have been killed in ground battles and airstrikes since then, half of them civilians. Flash The death toll of the airstrikes that targeted al-Qaida affiliates in northern Syria on Tuesday rose to 40, according to pan-Arab al-Mayadeen TV. The airstrikes, believed to have been carried out by the U.S.-led anti-terror coalition, targeted a headquarter of the Jabhat Fateh al-Sham rebels, formerly known as al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front, in the town of Sarmada in the northern province of Idlib near the Turkish borders, said the report. It added that all those killed were rebels and commanders of the same group. The airstrike wasn't the first this month, as similar offensive killed eight commanders of the Jabhat Fateh al-Sham near Sarmada on Sunday, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor group. Last July, the leaders of al-Qaida's Syrian affiliate Nusra Front said the rebel group had severed ties with the international terrorist organization in a bid to stop Russian and the U.S. airstrikes on opposition-held areas of the country. Still, the group remained designated as a terrorist group by the international community and was excluded from a currently-underway nationwide ceasefire in Syria. Flash Iran denied on Tuesday that Lebanese Hezbollah militants will retreat from Syria, Tehran Times daily reported. It is propaganda by enemies ill-disposed to the resistance movement in the region, Ali Akbar Velayati, the senior advisor of Iran's Supreme Leader, was quoted as saying. "The news about the withdrawal of Hezbollah forces in Syria after the ceasefire is not true, but it is part of the enemies' propaganda claims," Velayati said in a joint press conference with the visiting former Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki on Tuesday. The Iranian official made the comments in reaction to the recent media reports that Tehran has backed down from its previous stances in Syria, including the status of Hezbollah militants in the country, after a tripartite meeting with Russia and Turkey in Moscow last month. According to the report, Hezbollah officials have insisted that the militants of the Lebanese party would remain in Syria after the ceasefire. Velayati stressed that the Islamic republic of Iran will continue to back the resistance fronts, including Hezbollah, "fully and continuously." Flash Responses from several corners to Pyongyang's nuclear forecast at the onset of 2017 may be an early sign of tensions to come on the Korean Peninsula. Senior officials from the United States, Japan and South Korea will meet Thursday in Washington to discuss a trilateral approach to the Korean Peninsula's nuclear issue, the U.S. State Department said Tuesday. The meeting is scheduled several days after Kim Jong Un, top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), said Sunday during his New Year's address that his country's preparations for launching an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) have "reached the final stage." The State Department said the meeting with two of its top allies in the region will focus on "shared regional and global priorities, including our efforts to promote peace and stability." The response reaffirms a desire for the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula as a top priority on the regional and global agenda. However, previous rounds of cooperation between those three have resulted in joint military exercises which have only incited Pyongyang. The time has come for a new approach. The U.S., Japan and South Korea have failed to grasp the underlying causes that swiftly put an end to the six-party denuclearization talks years ago. It should be remembered that in April 2009, due in part to the U.S.-South Korea joint military exercise, Pyongyang tossed aside its promises for denuclearization in talks with Washington, Beijing, Moscow, Seoul and Tokyo. Pyongyang also blamed U.S. hostility for its withdrawal at the time. It blasted Washington for pushing for toughened United Nations sanctions in response to Pyongyang's nuclear tests. The DPRK says those tests are necessary to ensure its national security. Without moves to address Pyongyang's security concerns, denuclearization is merely an elusive dream. How can the DPRK move forward when it has to constantly watch its back? By now it should be clear: mounting pressure and punitive measures will not force Pyongyang back to the six-party talks. The six-party talks have proven so far to be the only solution to the peninsula's nuclear issue. The talk's approach of balancing the concerns of all parties through dialogue is the only workable way to resolve this longstanding issue. In his Monday response to Pyongyang via Twitter, incoming U.S. President Donald Trump added China to the fray by criticizing the country for being unhelpful in resolving the issue. But the president-elect ignores one crucial fact: Beijing proposed the six-party talks and advocates their resumption. Moreover, Trump's aggressive remark towards Pyongyang indicates a zero-sum mentality that may kill any chance to restore talks. Pyongyang "stated that it is in the final stages of developing a nuclear weapon capable of reaching parts of the U.S. It won't happen!" Trump tweeted. On Trump's remarks, White House said Tuesday it will "let his team explain exactly what he means." Trump's unpredictability and differences with the outgoing President Barack Obama on several issues are sure to add variables of uncertainty to a volatile nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula. In what has become an annual event, students in the registered nursing program at Chattanooga State sponsored a wellness health fair at the Chattanooga Community Kitchen prior to the end of the semester. At this years event, students from the dental hygiene and the massage therapy programs joined nursing students to serve more than 150 clients. Attendees received hats, socks, gloves, blankets, shoulder and foot massages, dental supplies, blood pressure checks, and a variety of food items. In addition to services provided, numerous clothing items also were donated to the thrift store located at the center. "All of this would not have been possible without the generous donations from businesses in the community, faculty from Chattanooga State, and students," officials said. A student summarized the event, I believe the greatest gifts given today were those of smiling faces, time, and conversation. We were all touched by how thankful the homeless were for the gifts and services they received. For more information about Nursing and Allied Health programs at Chattanooga State, call 423-697-4450 or visit https://www.chattanoogastate.edu/nursing-allied-health. The Gospel Herald By Leah Marieann Klett Sep 01, 2016 10:58 am EDT Zhang Kai, a Chinese Christian lawyer who was released in March after being detained while defending churches that were being forced to remove their crosses, has once again roused the ire of Communist authorities after publicly renouncing statements he was forced to make in an interview. According to China Aid, Zhangs mother revealed on Wednesday that police surrounded her home and attempted to seize her son, angered that he had renounced statements he made during an interview earlier that month. The report notes that officials had forced Zhang to attend the trial of lawyer Zhou Shifeng, after which he was pressured into condoning the governments treatment of human rights lawyers in an interview. However, last week, Zhang posted a video on WeChat, a popular social media service, refuting his statements and requesting the forgiveness of the lawyers family members. He explained that he had been under great duress after experiencing a six-month detention that was all black and no daylight. Human rights lawyer Zhang Kai was originally apprehended last August for legally representing about 100 churches affected by an ongoing cross demolition campaign in Zhejiang province. Reuters As earlier reported, Zhang was originally apprehended last August for legally representing about 100 churches affected by an ongoing cross demolition campaign in Zhejiang province. At the time of his arrest, Zhang was advising a church in Wenzhou, a region known as Chinas Jerusalem due to its large Christian population, according to the New York Times. Zhang was charged with gathering a crowd to disturb public order and stealing, spying, buying and illegally providing state secrets and intelligence to entities outside of China, prompting police to issue an order to place him under secret detention for up to six months. In February, Zhang reappeared on state television, and confessed to his crimes, apparently under coercion. He admitted to encouraging Christians to come together to protect their rights after the authorities removed crosses from churches. I really regret doing these things, I feel very remorseful, Zhang said. These things violated Chinas law and violated my personal integrity as a lawyer, and they harmed societal structure and national security. Shortly thereafter, he received a criminal detention sentence, which was cut short when he was released on bail on March 23. Since then, he has been living with his family in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia. Following the televised confession, Bob Fu, China Aids director, denounced what he called the Communist Partys propaganda efforts but applauded Zhangs release: As a close friend of Zhang Kai, I am very pleased to hear this good news, although further details about the conditions of his release are still unknown. Communist China officially guarantees freedom of religion though authorities are sometimes suspicious of religious groups. Experts believe there are a staggering 60 million Protestants in China, divided between official and unregistered churches. Over the past year, up to 1,700 churches have been demolished or had their crosses removed in Zhejiang province, and a significant number of pastors and human rights lawyers have been arrested and imprisoned. Authorities in the region have said crosses are removed because they violate regulations against illegal structures, but rights groups say demolishing crosses restricts Christianity and religious freedoms. ChinaAid Media Team Cell: (432) 553-1080 | Office: 1+ (888) 889-7757 | Other: (432) 689-6985 Email: [email protected] For more information, click here Officials with the Erlanger Health System have been notified that HCA has formally withdrawn its appeal of the Certificate of Need granted to Erlanger last year for a new 88-bed behavioral health hospital in Chattanooga. HCA owns Parkridge Valley Child and Adolescent Services and Parkridge Valley Adult and Senior Services in Chattanooga. HCA filed notice with the Office of the Tennessee Secretary of State and State of Tennessee, Health Services and Development Agency withdrawing its appeal of the Certificate of Need granted to Erlanger for construction of a new 88 bed behavioral health hospital in Chattanooga. Community need for the new behavioral health facility was supported by overwhelming evidence, according to Joe Winick, senior vice president at Erlanger. Mr. Winick said he had filed three large boxes last month with thousands of pages of evidence demonstrating need for this project. The new hospital, which will employ 200 staff members, is located at Holtzclaw and Citigo, and has an estimated project cost of $25 million. This project is a joint venture between Erlanger and Acadia Healthcare, based in Nashville. Zoning for the project has already been approved. Kevin M. Spiegel, FACHE, Erlanger president and CEO, said he felt confident that a judge would ultimately rule in Erlangers favor given the need and because Erlanger is already the defacto provider of behavioral health services in this community. This new hospital will greatly improve access to critically-needed mental health services, and enable Erlanger to improve the health of those in need throughout this region, Mr. Spiegel said. Construction of the new hospital is expected to start in May. Christian Today James Macintyre Published 04 January 2017 A Christian woman in China who was beaten repeatedly by officials and suffered two miscarriages as a result is in need of urgent cancer treatment that she cannot afford, according to a Christian charity. China Aid reported that Huang Yan, a 47-year-old human rights defender, has been refused a necessary operation for her ovarian cancer, despite previously having undergone one in the autumn of 2013. Huang Yan, a Chinese Christian human rights defender who was beaten by the authorities, suffered two miscarriages and now needs urgent treatment for cancer China Aid The non-profit organisation said that public security bureau officials beat Huang in 2010 and 2012 and she lost her unborn children both times. According to China Aid, during the second instance the officials burst into the bathroom, where she had just miscarried her child, and continued to abuse her. At the time of that second attack, her husband was reportedly taken to the public security bureau and received injuries at the hands of the authorities. Since then, Huang developed cancer on top of diabetes and other threatening conditions. According to China Aid, Huang suspects that medical staff were pressured by government officials not to allow her treatment because of her human rights work with other Christians. Recently, she arrived in a safe environment and is awaiting the approval of a medical visa to Taiwan, the charity said. If the Taiwanese government refuses to grant her a visa, she is in a location where she can receive medical treatment as a backup plan. However, she needs financial assistance in order to be able to have this important procedure. China Aid is currently taking emergency donations on her behalf. On 26 November, Huang was arrested on what China Aid called falsified charges of spreading false terrorist information. Then, when she was transferred to Guangzhou No. 2 Detention Centrelate last year, her charge was changed to obstructing official business. The charity reported that while Huang was imprisoned, she was treated at a military police hospital, where she was restrained with 23-pound and 15-pound shackles, subjected to 12 ultrasounds in four days, and coerced to take a drug. The 15-pound restraints remained on her ankles for so long that they began to bleed and waste away. China Aid supports Chinese Christians who are persecuted for their faith like Huang Yan, and assists persecuted Christians in promoting religious freedom, human rights, and rule of law. ChinaAid Media Team Cell: (432) 553-1080 | Office: 1+ (888) 889-7757 | Other: (432) 689-6985 Email: [email protected] For more information, click here Huang Yan (Photo: China Aid) China Aid (Midland, TexasJan. 3, 2017) A Christian human rights defender is in need of urgent cancer treatment that she cannot afford after a Chinese medical team canceled a critical operation. Huang Yan, a 47-year-old Christian woman who has assisted many prisoners of conscience, including Gao Zhisheng, was refused a necessary operation for her ovarian cancer, despite previously having one in the fall of 2013. Public security bureau officials beat Huang in 2010 and 2012, respectively, and she lost her unborn children both times. During the second instance, the officials burst into the bathroom, where she had just miscarried her child, and continued to abuse her. At that time, her husband was taken to the public security bureau and received injuries at the hands of the authorities. As a result of the miscarriages, she contracted cancer. She also suffers from diabetes and other threatening conditions. Huang suspects the medical staff were pressured by government officials to refuse her treatment, on account of her involvement with important Christians and other human rights activists. Recently, she arrived in a safe environment and is awaiting the approval of a medical visa to Taiwan. If the Taiwanese government refuses to grant her a visa, she is in a location where she can receive medical treatment as a backup plan. However, she needs financial assistance in order to be able to have this important procedure, and China Aid is currently taking emergency donations on her behalf. Previously, on Nov. 26, 2015, authorities arrested Huang on falsified charges of spreading false terrorist information. When she was transferred to Guangzhou No. 2 Detention Center last year, her charge was changed to obstructing official business. While imprisoned, she was treated at a military police hospital, where she was restrained with 23-pound and 15-pound shackles, subjected to 12 ultrasounds in four days, and coerced to take a drug. The 15-pound restraints remained on her ankles for so long that they began to bleed and waste away. Additionally, learned that officials beat three other Christian women incarcerated with her for holding a Bible study. China Aid supports Chinese Christians who are persecuted for their faith like Huang Yan, and assists persecuted Christians in promoting religious freedom, human rights, and rule of law. ChinaAid Media Team Cell: (432) 553-1080 | Office: 1+ (888) 889-7757 | Other: (432) 689-6985 Email: [email protected] For more information, click here China Aviation Daily | Jan. 04, 2017 The internationally-acclaimed full-service airline Hong Kong Airlines and Kenya Airways, the flag carrier of Kenya, have signed a codeshare agreement to enhance connectivity in Asia. Under the agreement, Kenya Airways will place its "KQ" code on Hong Kong Airlines' flights between Bangkok, Thailand (BKK) and Hong Kong (HKG). The agreement allows the national carrier, Kenya Airways, to have a daily product between the two key business cities. The codeshare will provide new growth opportunities for both airlines' to work together to improve flight schedules options in the region. Mr Li Dianchun, Chief Commercial Officer of Hong Kong Airlines said, "We are very glad to welcome Kenya Airways, a respectful international airline from Africa, as our latest codeshare partner. Hong Kong Airlines launched the route to Bangkok since 2010 and now the city has become one of our best connected destinations with 34 weekly flights currently. The codeshare enables passengers of Kenya Airways to choose from our flights between Hong Kong and Bangkok connecting their journey to and from Nairobi with much flexibility. We look forward to serving passengers from Kenya Airways on board with our Skytrax 4-star quality service." Kenya Airways Group Managing Director and CEO Mr Mbuvi Ngunze said, "This partnership will enable us and Hong Kong Airlines to offer our customers seamless connection, especially for our passengers in the region who mainly travel to these Asian cities for business. Our guests will now be able to enjoy daily flights between Hong Kong and Nairobi up from the current three weekly flights." Contributed by Hong Kong Airlines Iranian oil workers at a refinery south of the capital Teheran. The country is wooing foreign investment in the energy sector. [Photo/Agencies] China National Petroleum Corp, one of the country's oil giants, has been invited to bid for Iran's crude and natural gas development projects as the Persian Gulf state seeks investments in energy. CNPC, together with 28 other oil companies including Total SA, Royal Dutch Shell Plc and PJSC Gazprom, are among the international companies that have qualified to bid for tenders, according to Iran's oil ministry. If CNPC wins, the deal would be in the interests of both countries, reviving Iran's energy industry which has been hard hit by international sanctions while satisfying China, the world's second-largest economy, which has strong energy demand. Iran is trying to fast-track projects to boost oil and gas production amid low prices and wants to sign agreements as soon as possible. However, Alastair Syme, an oil analyst at Citigroup Inc in London, warned companies to be wary of investing too quickly or too much in Iran. According to a senior engineer with CNPC, despite years of sanctions leading to a hammered economy and infrastructure, Iran, with the world's biggest natural gas reserves, estimated by BP Plc at 34 trillion cubic meters, still has significant strategic importance, with its substantial reserves of oil and gas. Strategically located in the Middle East and sharing land borders with 15 nations, Iran also plays a crucial role in the Belt and Road Initiative as an energy hub, he said. According to CNPC, the company has been present in Iran since 2004 and is engaged in oil and gas operations and oilfield services. In 2009, the company signed contracts with National Iranian Oil Co to develop the North Azadegan Oilfield and the Phase 11 of the South Pars gas field, which began trial production in 2015. Iran exported 500,000 to 600,000 barrels of crude oil per day to China in 2015, and the country recently signed a $4.8 billion natural gas development project with CNPC and Total. Iran aims to attract more than $100 billion in foreign investment to boost the country's energy sector. Iran has doubled its exports as crude prices rallied. Iran boosted oil output in 2016 by 870,000 barrels per day to 3.67 million bpd by November, and has reached several preliminary agreements with international companies, despite no concrete deals having been signed yet, Bloomberg said. The country has set a target of daily output of 5.7 million bpd of crude and condensate early in the next decade, according to Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh. A sales representative of roseonly arranges flower product samples at its outlet in Beijing. [Photo by Feng Yongbin/China Daily] Jewelry, perfumes, fashion, accessories... make for luxury brands, sure. But fragrant flowers like roses? Definitely, said Pu Yi, founder and CEO of roseonly, a Beijing-based startup of 2013 vintage. "Just like Tiffany in the US, and Mikimoto in Japan, roseonly is gradually becoming a new signature luxury brand embraced by the country's middle class. We want to become a homegrown Chinese luxury brand," said Pu. That aspiration may sound ambitious but is realistic. roseonlythat's how it spells its name, with a lower-case 'r'has blazed to unprecedented success in China selling premium roses imported from Ecuador in South America to upwardly mobile, newly wealthy upper middle-class consumers. Its bouquets are among the hottest gift choices among young Chinese. roseonly's prices range from 999 yuan for an 11-rose bunch to 9,999 yuan for a 99-rose bouquet. The startup expects the sales in 2016 via outlets in multiple cities and online stores to reach around 250 million yuan ($35.86 million), up from 130 million yuan in 2015, 61 million yuan in 2014 and 14.6 million yuan in 2013. It expects sales to exceed 300 million yuan this year. Clearly, annual sales revenue has been surging, probably due to roseonly's unique packaging and marketing, which emphasize not the imported roses but once-in-a-lifetime expression of love for one special person (who is, usually, the buyer's girlfriend, fiancee or wife). Stated differently, roseonly stores information of buyers and bouquet recipients on a database at the time of purchase. This information cannot be changed later. That would mean, a consumer can buy at roseonly only onceno repeat purchases by the same customer for different recipients are allowed. roseonly's seemingly self-defeating strategy has paid offthe sales figures cited earlier are proof. If more proof were needed, twice in recent months, roseonly witnessed sales surges. The latest one was during the Christmas-New Year week. "We've seen a 40 percent rise in sales during the Christmas season," Pu said. The earlier spike was around the Qixi festival or the Chinese Valentine's Day in August. "If my boyfriend buys me an expensive roseonly bouquet, that would contain more than a bunch of rosesit would signal his confession and a reassuring promise," said Wang Qin, 23, a Beijing resident. Investors may have had a whiff of the scent of potential money in roses. Angels had chipped in with some funds two months after roseonly launched. Tencent, owner of the WeChat app, poured $10 million into the startup. In 2014, IDG capital and Acccel Partners invested more than $10 million, followed by 190 million yuan from Genesis Capital, Prosperity Investment and Echo Capital. All that money over the years has helped roseonly to open 28 outlets in Beijing, Shanghai and other first- and second-tier cities. It is the biggest flower vendor on Tmall, Alibaba's online marketplace. The florist is now valued at $100 million, according to TechinAsia. Not surprisingly, roseonly wants to go beyond the Chinese mainland. It plans to open shops in Malaysia, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea and Singapore in the years to come. Pu describes the brand's target demographic as men and women between the ages 25 and 45, with stable incomes and an appreciation for high-quality goods or affordable luxuries. According to a report by McKinsey, generational change and the rising prosperity of inland cities will power consumption for years to come. By 2022, more than 75 percent of China's urban consumers will earn 60,000 yuan to 229,000 yuan ($9,000 to $34,000) a year, the McKinsey report said. "There will be not only challenges but also plenty of opportunities for companies whose strategies reflect China's new constellation of rising incomes, shifting urban landscapes, and generational change," said Pu. To ride the trend, roseonly has launched new offerings like bouquets of exotic flowers, which it bundles with jewelry pieces in exquisite gift packages. "We will expand the business to the high-end gift market," said Pu. "We've so far come up with many love-related jewelry gifts like bracelets, necklaces and earrings, and will cooperate more with some of the world's renowned designers and celebrities. "The jewelry market has more potential than the flower market, and the gift market has even more." Most of roseonly's jewelry gifts are designed to be rose-related, and target young girls. It also sells tailor-made gifts during peak seasons, like a snowman necklace during Christmas and limited-edition designer jewelry associated with celebrities. A courier en route to deliver packages in Beiing, Oct 11, 2014. [Photo/IC] Alibaba Group Holding Ltd has achieved one-third of its pledged goal of creating 100 million jobs in 20 years, as the e-commerce giant sees 2017 as a crucial year to "redefine the real economy". The internet conglomerate, incorporating both its e-tail platforms and payment arm Ant Financial Services Group, paid 23.8 billion yuan ($3.42 billion) of tax in 2016 and has created a cumulative total of more than 30 million jobs since 2003, the Hangzhou-based firm said on Tuesday. The figures echoed what company founder Jack Ma advocated as "blurring the lines" between real and virtual companies. "A new form of economy has emerged to bring forth an enormous social effect. Alibaba will be a key player in this transformation," said Daniel Zhang, chief executive officer of Alibaba. With China's employment rate surging, efforts by the likes of Alibaba in bringing employment flexibility into the economy should be well acknowledged, according to a report on job creation issued by Renmin University of China. Alibaba also invested more than 100 billion yuan in traditional industries, from bricks-and-mortar retail malls like Suning Commerce Group Co Ltd to domestic couriers such as Shanghai YTO Express (Logistics) Co Ltd. On the financial front, Ant Financial is empowering small and micro enterprises with easier access to loans. Its electronics payment platform Alipay has facilitated more than 600 million users globally to make payments and is quickly expanding into wealth management and credit scoring, based on big data backed by cloud technologies. The cloud business, which is the latest area that Alibaba is actively venturing into, has maintained a three-digit growth rate over the past six quarters, making AliCloud in the same league as peer services such as Amazon.com Inc's AWS and Microsoft Corp's Azure. PwC said that the value of IPOs in 2016 fell by 5.2 percent to 150.4 billion yuan ($21.6 billion). [Photo/IC] The number of initial public offerings on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock markets is expected to increase rapidly in the current yearand their total value will grow substantiallyafter 227 took place in 2016, a 3.7 percent rise from the year earlier, according to accounting and auditing firm PwC. The firm said that the value of IPOs in 2016 fell by 5.2 percent to 150.4 billion yuan ($21.6 billion). Data released by PwC on Tuesday show that 103 IPOs were completed on the main board of Shanghai Stock Exchange with a value of 101.9 billion yuan in 2016and the number of IPOs completed on Shenzhen SME Board was 46 with a value of 22.7 billion yuan. PwC said there has been a spurt in the number of IPOs since August, as the China Securities Regulatory Commission moved to accelerate the pace of listings. "Due to global instability and IPO suspension and resumption in 2015, the A-share market was still in recovery mode in the first half of 2016, resulting in a moderate increase in IPOs from a low point," said Frank Lyn, a senior partner and the head of markets at PwC. "Generally speaking, the second half of 2016 saw a stable market operation and accelerated IPO verification, which are expected to be sustained," he said. Based on the figures in the second half of last year, Lyn forecast that the number of companies to complete IPOs on both stock markets would reach 320 to 350 in 2017 and the size of deals would hit 220 to 250 billion yuan. The launch of Shenzhen-Hong Kong Stock Connect will also attract international investors to the A-share market and increase their knowledge of the Chinese market and companies, said Wilson Chow, assurance partner at PwC China. The sectors that dominated the number of IPOs on the main Shanghai and Shenzhen boards in 2016 were the retail, consumer goods and services, IT and telecommunications, as well as the financial service sectors. PwC said also of note is the number of city and rural commercial banks lining up for IPOs, after the A-share market reopened its doors to commercial lenders after a regulatory halt since 2010. Last year, Bank of Shanghai Co Ltd raised 10.7 billion yuan from its IPO, ranking first among its peers, followed by Bank of Jiangsu Co Ltd with 7.2 billion yuan. The number of companies listed on the National Equities Exchange and Quotations market, also known as China's "New Third Board", experienced a rapid growth from 356 at the end of 2013 to 10,163 as of 2016, raising 116.5 billion yuan last year, according to PwC. "By giving strong support to the New Third Board, the government is paving the way for IPO registration system reform," said Jean Sun, assurance partner of PwC China. China has begun its first freight train service to London from Yiwu, a famed wholesale market town in the eastern province of Zhejiang, Xinhua News Agency reported. The train will travel for 18 days over more than 12,000 kilometers to reach Britain from China, Xinhua said. It will pass through Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus, Poland, Germany, Belgium and France before arriving in London. Former British Prime Minister David Cameron raised some eyebrows with allies by pitching Britain as the pre-eminent gateway to the West for investment from China and proposing to make London the main international trading center for offshore yuan. Prime Minister Theresa May has said the relationship with China remains "golden" as she seeks to bring in billions of dollars in Chinese investment as Britain prepares to leave the European Union. BEIJING - Coal consumption in Beijing has fallen by as much as 57 percent in the past three years, as the city works to curb smog, according to the municipal environmental watchdog. Statistics released by the municipal environmental protection bureau on Tuesday show Beijing burned less than 10 million tonnes of coal in 2016, down from 23 million metric tons in 2013. Emissions from coal are cited as a cause of the high concentration of breathable toxic particulate matter, known as PM 2.5, which causes smog. Beijing's 21 million inhabitants used to rely heavily on coal for electricity and winter heating. Across China, coal remains the primary source of energy. Li Kunsheng, a municipal environment official, said the city's urban districts have completely removed coal-burning furnaces used for heating. Last year, the city ordered 424,000 old vehicles off the road and closed 335 polluting factories. More than 4,000 companies were ordered to reshuffle their production operations to meet environmental standards. Beijing has suffered from frequent winter smog in recent years, triggering widespread public concern. Government statistics show steady drops in sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, PM 10, and even PM 2.5, but not enough to end smog for good. The city has been under thick smog since the beginning of 2017. It is not expected to disappear until Jan 7. River City Sessions will be held Thursday, Jan. 12, at Granfalloon. It will feature the Bluegrass Band Connection 27, Webb Baringer and Corrie White. Admission is $5. Doors open at 7 p.m. and the show begins at 7:30 p.m. Review for the performers: Connection 27 was formed in June of 2014. Its founding members are Jimmy Redden, John Shook, Tim Smith, and Jeff Graves. Doug Barron joined the band playing fiddle and adding vocals in December of 2015. Their inspirations are bands that have a drive and a feel that make you want to move in your seat, bands like Lonesome River Band, Junior Sisk & Ramblers Choice, and Sideline. They strive to achieve a sound that is mainly a hard driving mix of traditional and progressive bluegrass and bluegrass gospel without going too far away from the roots of bluegrass. Three of the five members have been in professional touring bands in the past and they use that experience to arrange their music a certain way. Stir up a pot of blues, folk and rock, top it off with homegrown lyrics, season it with a bit of harmonica and you have Webb Baringer. A talent from Chattanooga, he has blasted on the scene. Poet Corrie White was on the show a few months ago and has been picked up by the Chattahatchie Review. She will do a reading, act as co-host and has a surprise cooked up. RCS at The Hunter will be held Jan. 26 with Spirits of the Forest featuring Robin Burke, Holli Richey, and Michael Gray. BUENOS AIRES - China will remain as an engine of global economic growth in 2017 due to its stability in an uncertain international context, said Argentine sociologist Josefina de Rosa. China's "new normal" of economic growth has allowed its economy to grow steadily, de Rosa said, citing China's average growth of 6.7 percent in the first three quarters of 2016. "The predicted hard landing did not happen," she said. "China's proposals...which were materialized at the Hangzhou G20 Summit, concerning the Belt and Road Initiative and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), are examples of its importance," de Rosa said. According to the International Monetary Fund, China is the second largest economy in the world and the main export destination for over 100 economies. The Belt and Road Initiative, proposed by China in 2013, saw the development of infrastructure and railways in areas along its routes in 2016. The AIIB, launched in late 2015, issued loans totaling $1.73 billion for nine infrastructure projects in seven countries in 2016. Furthermore, China has actively pushed for the implementation of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and participants at the G20 summit held in September in the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou reached important consensus on the agenda's implementation. China has made economic stability its priority in 2017, De Rosa said. "China will continue being an engine of global growth in 2017. Its stand for globalization and against protectionism are helpful, when other economies are facing uncertainties from a slow recovery," she noted. BEIJING - China's state-run railway operator has released its major development targets for the year ahead, promising to boost investment, expand the network and increase the number of scheduled trains. To help achieve its targets, it has been assigned a budget of 800 billion yuan ($115 billion) by the central government, the same as in 2016, according to statement released after China Railway Corp's (CRC) work conference Tuesday. China aims to spend 3.5 trillion yuan on building railways during the 13th Five-Year Plan period (2016-2020), a vice minister of transport said Thursday. Railways will generate gross revenue of 911.6 billion yuan, deliver over three billion passengers and 2.75 billion tons of cargo, CRC predicted. This year, the country will add 2,100 km of track and electrify 4,000 km of railways, CRC added. By the end of 2016, China had a 124,000 km railway network, featuring the world's largest high-speed rail network of more than 20,000 km. More than half of the 2.7-billion passenger trips were made on bullet trains. While the vast network has enhanced connectivity in large swathes of the country, construction lags behind in the less developed western regions. The government wants to address this gap. Much of this year's construction projects will happen in China's central and western regions, to support the wider poverty-relief campaign, CRC said. CRC said it would also continue to improve its China-Europe freight train service, and overseas railroad projects under the Belt and Road initiative. The trans-continental cargo link, or "China Railway Express," connects eastern and central Asia with Europe. Last year, 1,702 west-bound trains left China, a 109 percent year-on-year increase, CRC said. Chinese smartphone vendors are achieving initial success in India, after they ramped up efforts to lure consumers during the largest festival in the world's fastest-growing smartphone market. In October, Chinese players collectively accounted for a more than 40 percent market share in India's top 30 cities, research firm International Data Corp said in its latest report. India's largest festival, Diwali, fell during the month. Xiaomi Corp climbed to third place, with a market share of 10.7 percent. That is up from 7.4 percent in the third quarter. Lenovo Group Ltd, the world's largest PC maker, also saw its market share rise to 13.4 percent from 9.6 percent. "It was almost like a Chinese smartphone Diwali across all city tiers," Upasana Joshi, a senior market analyst at IDC India, said in the report. "China-based players contributed significantly to the growth at the offline retail counters, while continuing to dominate the online channel." The progress came after Chinese smartphone vendors doubled their investment in India, which surpassed the United States as the second-largest global smartphone market in terms of users in early 2016. The country is on track to cross the mark of 500 million smartphone users within the next four years, research firm Counterpoint Technology Market Research estimated. Huawei Technologies Co Ltd started assembling handsets in India in October. Zhao Ming, a senior executive at Huawei, said: "India is a market no one can neglect and we have a long-term commitment to it." Gionee Communications Equipment Co Ltd also said it would invest 495 million yuan ($73.8 million) to build smartphone plants in India. Nicole Peng, research director at Shanghai-based consultancy Canalys, said Chinese smartphone makers are eyeing India for growth because the domestic market is reaching saturation point and the Indian market is similar to that in China several years ago, as it is filled with opportunities. "Chinese players' efforts have started to bear fruit. But the Indian market is still dominated by low-end handsets, and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd and local vendors have a strong advantage," Peng said. A mother cuts instant noodles with her teeth, while her child opens her mouth waiting to be fed in a waiting lounge at Beijing West Railway station on Jan 18, 2006. Ting Hsin International Group recently announced that it is terminating its instant noodle brand 'Master Kong Taiwan'. Master Kong is one of the best-known types of instant noodles sold in China. This news triggers Chinese people to look back at their memories involving instant noodles. [Photo/VCG] Official concedes improvement 'not huge enough' yet Beijing experienced 12 more blue-sky days last year compared with 2015 and saw a 9.9 percent drop in the average daily concentration of PM2.5, according to data released on Tuesday, when the capital was again shrouded in thick smog. The city had 198 "good air" days, while the number of "severely polluted" days fell by seven to 39, Zhang Dawei, director of pollution monitoring for the Beijing Environmental Protection Bureau, said at a news conference. "Good air" days are those when the daily concentration of PM2.5airborne particles of 2.5 microns in diameter or smaller that are harmful to healthis below 75 micrograms per cubic meter, while "severely polluted" is higher than 150 mcg per cum. The average level was 73 mcg per cum, down by 9.9 percent year-on-year, although that was still more than double the national standard set by the State Council. The bureau's report said the reduction could be attributed to the government's strict controls on coal consumption, the phasing out of polluting vehicles and companies, and strengthened pollution monitoring. Fang Li, the bureau's director, previously said the capital would take tough measures to cut the average level of PM2.5 to 60 in 2017. The Temple of Heaven in Beijing is seen in this picture on Dec 29, 2016. [Photo/IC] Meanwhile, Beijing experienced another bout of severe air pollution that started on Friday, prompting authorities to issue an orange alertthe second-highest level in a four-tier emergency response system. The smog was forecast to remain until Sunday. Despite the data indicating an overall improvement in air quality, many Beijing residents were not convinced. Li Xinying, 45, a stay-at-home mother, said she has had a severe cough during the New Year holiday, which she blamed on the worsened air quality. "It felt like we had more smoggy days in 2016 than in 2015," she said. Yu Jianhua, the Beijing environmental bureau's chief engineer, conceded that the improvements made last year were "not huge enough" to change residents' perception of overall air quality. Xie Shaodong, a professor of environmental sciences at Peking University, said that while the government's data is authentic, he understood why many people might believe little progress has been made. "When the PM2.5 concentration is higher than 35 mcg per cu m, any increase or reduction in concentration will make little difference in terms of visibility," he said. Even if the PM2.5 reading fell from 100 to 50, visibility would in most cases stay below 15 kilometers, he said. "But if the reading is lower than 35, the reduction of every microgram per cubic meter would improve the visibility largely." Xie said this is based on theories, widely agreed upon among global environmental experts, linking PM2.5 and visibility. Beijing's efforts and contributions to the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula are widely acknowledged by the international community, the Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday after US president-elect Donald Trump said China was not helping with the issue. Analysts said China, which plays a key role in stabilizing the Korean Peninsula, should not be bypassed in resolving the Democratic People's Republic of Korea nuclear issue. "China's efforts are widely recognized, and we hope all sides will avoid remarks and actions to escalate the situation," Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told a regular news conference. His comment was in response to a tweet in which Trump criticized China on Monday, saying it was not being helpful in addressing the DPRK nuclear issue. Trump tweeted, "China has been taking out massive amounts of money & wealth from the US in totally one-sided trade, but won't help with North Korea. Nice!" DPRK top leader Kim Jong-un said in a televised New Year's Day speech that his country was about to test its first intercontinental ballistic missile. On Monday, John Schindler, a former analyst for the US National Security Agency, said Trump's tweet was a big mistake, since China has sided with the United Nations to oppose the DPRK's nuclear programs. In May, Trump said he would enter direct talks with Kim as a way to try to deter the country's development of nuclear weapons. Shi Yinhong, director of the Center of US Studies of Renmin University of China, said it's unlikely that Trump would have direct talks with the DPRK after he takes office on Jan 20. "What if the United States got nothing after Trump talks with Kim? It would be hard (for Trump) to explain away," he said, adding that Trump's remark on direct talks with Kim was merely an irresponsible political show during the election. Zhang Jingquan, a professor of Northeast Asian studies at Jilin University, said that China's role is irreplaceable in stabilizing the Korean Peninsula, where there has been no serious conflict or confrontation for years. "The DPRK nuclear issue cannot be resolved quickly," he said, adding that Trump should not bypass China to address the DPRK nuclear issue. Males often spend more than girls as they seldom compare prices Students pick up goods, which they purchased online, at Shanxi University of Finance and Economics on Oct 8.Wu Junjie / China News Service College students in China prefer paying bills through mobile devices, a survey has found. The study, conducted by China University Media Union and Ant Financial Services Group, collected consumption data from more than 10 million students from 4,000 universities and colleges. According to the survey, 92 percent of those born in the 1990s used mobile payments in 2016, with each college student paying an average of 40,839 yuan ($5,900) through Alipay, a 97-percent increase from 2015. Chen Lin, who studies at a university in Beijing, said she has been using mobile payments for a long time and uses cash on very few occasions, often carrying only 100 or 200 yuan on her. "Almost all the shopping on and around campus, either buying food in the canteen or purchasing books and snacks at other stores, can be done with a cellphone and a campus card," she said, adding that even some of the most inconspicuous stalls agree to accept payment via mobile devices. The survey also found that female students use e-payments more often than their male peers, though male students tended to spend more. Hu Hao, a junior at a university in Shanghai, calculated that he spent about 16,000 yuan online purchases in 2016, accounting for about 70 percent of the total of his expenditures for the whole year. He said that judging from his own experience, male college students seemed to spend more because they seldom compare prices. "In addition, some male students may have to buy gifts or pay bills for their girlfriends, which may also be a reason why they spend more," Hu added. Jin Xiaotong, deputy director of Jilin University Business School, said college students, most of whom are still not economically independent, should be particularly cautious with spending money. They should plan in advance and learn to tell which things must be bought and which are not necessary, so that irrational consumption or a waste of resources could be avoided, she said. Vegetable farmers prepare to board a train in Chenzhou, Hunan province, late last month. He Maofeng/For China Daily China's railways are forecast to handle 3.025 billion passenger trips in 2017, China Railway Corp said on Tuesday during its annual meeting in Beijing. That would put the railroads over 3 billion trips for the first time. In 2016, 2.77 billion trips were made on China's railways, including 1.44 billion trips by high-speed trains, which is more than 52 percent of the total, said Lu Dongfu, general manager of China Railway Corp, the nation's railway operator. The record for a single day was 14.43 million trips, during October's Golden Week holiday travel rush. In 2016, over 60 percent of tickets were sold online, and more than 40 percent were bought via mobile phones. This year, China will add 2,100 kilometers of track, 2,500 km of double-track rail lines and 4,000 km of electrified rail lines. By the end of 2016, the nation's rail system had reached a total length of 124,000 km, including 22,000 km of high-speed railway, which is 65 percent of the world's total of high-speed rails. Four major high-speed lines were opened in 2016: the Zhengzhou-Xuzhou Railway connecting Central and East China; the Chongqing-Wanzhou Railway, the first high-speed connection to the Three Gorges area; the Kunming-Guiyang Railway, completing the link from Shanghai to Kunming; and the Kunming-Baise Railway, completing Kunming's connection to Guangzhou. The newly completed Kunming-Shanghai connection, at 2,252 km, is the longest of China's east-west lines. China also continued to make technological improvements and innovative breakthroughs. "Last year, China's railway companies developed bullet trains with a speed of 350 kilometers an hour," Lu said, noting that China has the rights to the technology. The number of trains transporting goods between China and Europe also increased dramatically. In 2016, 1,702 trains transported goods between those markets, an increase of 109 percent from 2015. On Jan 1, a train with a full load of Chinese goods departed from Yiwu in Zhejiang province headed for London, a new terminus point for trains from China. The train will travel 18 days and more than 12,000 km to reach London's Barking station. Goose Island Clybourn Brewpub Getting Major Renovation, Menu Overhaul By Stephen Gossett in Food on Jan 3, 2017 11:38PM (From Goose Island Clybourn's Facebook) One of Chicago's longest-running and most iconic brewpubs is getting a major makeover. The Goose Island Clybourn brewpub is closing its doors for five months to undergo a considerable renovation effort and menu overhaul, according to Tribune beer reporter Josh Noel. The renovation is the first of its kind for the brewpub since it opened way back in 1988, which in craft-beer years, places it roughly in the Mesozoic Eraalthough we personally never had an issue with its digs. The big, central, space-anchoring bar will be stripped down to provide a more open space; brewing tanks will replace the loft seating area; and a refurbished kitchen will be made open-view from the dining area. Expect a more contempo-industrial vibe all around. Perhaps most exciting, however, is the news that acclaimed chef Paul Virant (Vie, in Western Springs, and Vistro, in Hinsdale) is assisting with a new menu. Check out the full story from Noelwho is literally writing the book on Goose Islandhere; and take some time, if you have a moment, with his excellent coverage of Goose's "rare" controversy. Guideline promotes fair access to the public good that is fundamental to social fairness China will focus on promoting equal access to education, educational reforms and encouraging private investment to enter the field in the next five years, according to a guideline approved by the central government. The guideline was approved at a State Council executive meeting, presided over by Premier Li Keqiang last Wednesday, on educational development under the 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-20). The nation will continue to attach strategic importance, and give priority, to education as it has done before, a statement released after the meeting said. The guideline said more resources will go to less-developed central and western regions, as well as poverty-stricken and border areas, while key universities will recruit more students from these regions. It targets ensuring equal access for students with disabilities, from impoverished families and those left behind by migrant-worker parents. It also called for cooperation among contributors to the country's educational system, especially private investors. Non-profit schools and private schools will be granted differentiated favorable policies while the former will get more support. In addition, the meeting also called for big data and cloud computing to be utilized to promote the sharing of educational resources, the statement said. The premier has reiterated on a number of occasions that rich human resources are one of China's biggest advantages, and education is a fundamental way to boost such an advantage. "And we should attach great importance and unwaveringly boost educational development to enhance social and economic development as well as economic transformation," he said at the meeting. Education has been a priority for the central government, while equal access has been regarded as imperative for those in less-developed areas. The guideline may change the fact that an economic disparity between the east and the west has led to an educational discrepancy in these regions, said Xia Xueluan, a visiting professor of sociology at Sanya University in Hainan province. As the country promotes Western China Development and economic transformation in central China, these areas will benefit more from funds while industrial upgrading demands a large amount of expertise, Xia said. The guideline received positive feedback from teachers. Yang Shangen, deputy principal of Huangwei Middle School in Anqing city of East China's Anhui province, said students in rural areas will benefit from the guideline. During recent decades, the government has provided increased funding to rural schools and teachers, including Yang's school that is located in a nationally-recognized impoverished county. The school now has projectors and computers, both of which were considered luxuries before 2008. On top of this, teachers receive higher salaries of about 5,000 yuan ($724) per month, on average, approximating the average in the provincial capital of Hefei, Yang said. "About 10 years ago, many young teachers left the school to join better-paid ones. At that time, my salary was only half of what it is this year," Yang said. For many kids in rural areas, education is one of the few ways to change their destinies, Yang said. In Anhui, recent decades have seen thousands of locals migrate to big cities for better jobs, leaving their kids at home. For these parents, it will be a source of great pride if their children go to universities, Yang said. His opinion was echoed by the premier, who has often cited a migrant worker he met in Northeast China's Jilin province last year to exemplify the significance of education. The worker, Li Zhuobing, worked on a construction site with his wife in Changchun, Jilin's capital, and all the money they saved was used to support their son who was pursuing a bachelor's degree. For many migrant worker families, education is an indispensible way to cultivate hope for the younger generation, Premier Li said on a visit to Shenzhen in October. "Fair access to education is fundamental to social fairness and kids in every family should be granted better opportunities for higher-quality education," Li said at the meeting last Wednesday. Documentary is intended to educate the public and warn discipline officers After learning about the stepping down of numerous corrupt officials, the public is for the first time hearing from some of the disgraced discipline officials themselves in a cautionary tale for public servants. A three-part anti-corruption documentary, produced by the Communist Party of China's Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, the country's top discipline watchdog, and China Central Television, began airing nightly on Tuesday at 8 pm on CCTV-1. It comes right before an annual key meeting of the commission, which is expected to develop enhanced supervision and stricter rules for Party members. "The TV series provides a first full look inside the stories of these corrupt discipline officials, including their luxurious lives lived at the public's expense and tearful expressions of regret, with analysis of their illegal behavior and ideological transformation, serving to educate the public and act as a strong warning to public servants," according to a statement by the commission on Tuesday. It features the cases of 10 former senior anti-graft officials, including Zhu Mingguo, who was once in charge of fighting corruption in the southern Guangdong province, and Jin Daoming, former head of the discipline watchdog in North China's Shanxi province. Zhu received the death penalty with a two-year reprieve and Jin was sentenced to life in jail, both for taking bribes. On Tuesday's episode, Wei Jian, former director of the CCDI's No 4 disciplinary inspection office, expressed remorse over his graft practices. It's the second time the top anti-graft watchdog has filmed a TV series focusing on corruption. In October, the commission aired an eight-part documentary that featured the cases of 10 former provincial or ministerial-level officials and one former State leader - Su Rong, former vice-chairman of China's top political advisory body - in a warning to public servants. Last week, the top leadership held a meeting at which it was decided that a plenary session of the CCDI will be held in Beijing from Friday to Sunday. At the meeting, the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, the country's top decision-making body, required discipline officials at all levels to receive supervision from both inside the Party and from the public and media so as to build a clean team that the Party can rely upon and the people can trust. Commission statistics show that since late 2012, 38 officials at the top anti-graft watchdog were punished for corruption. More than 7,200 anti-graft officers across the country were investigated for violating Party rules or corruption. Broadcasting the TV series before an annual key meeting of the commission is "a good chance to educate people on anti-graft and the supervision system to promote building a clean and honest government," said Hong Daode, a law professor at China University of Political Science and Law. "The priority is to clean up corruption and make the cases public to act as a warning. Making stricter Party rules will be an important issue during the key meeting," said Zheng Chuankai, a lawyer from the Beijing Lawyers Association, who specializes in handling graft cases. "After watching the anti-graft stories, anti-graft officers will learn lessons and regulate their own behaviors according to the new rules, then strengthen efforts to investigate more graft cases," Zheng said. According to the commission, the series' production team visited 15 provinces and regions to collect information on former top officials involved in corruption cases. They also interviewed 30 experts from home and abroad as well as anti-graft officers to further explain the cases and how they were handled. Since the new leadership was elected in November 2012, anti-corruption has become a top priority in China and President Xi Jinping has conducted a sweeping drive to fight both high and low-ranking officials. To date, more than 180 high-ranking officials have been investigated for graft issues, including Zhou Yongkang, a former top security chief, who was sentenced to life imprisonment in June 2015. A former official of China's Food and Drug Administration has been jailed for taking bribes from vaccine manufacturers, reports said on Tuesday. Yin Hongzhang, former deputy director of the administration's drug testing center, received a 10-year sentence and was fined 500,000 yuan ($71,800) for taking bribes to help vaccine manufacturers gain approval for their drugs, Legal Evening News reported. Yin's wife and son earlier received prison sentences for participating in the scheme and accepting property and bribes worth 3.56 million yuan, including ivory products worth 180,000 yuan, it said. Yin was taken into custody in April 2015 and charged with taking payouts in relation to four biotech firms' efforts to obtain government permits for a variety of vaccines, including for SARS and avian flu. The sentence follows the revelation in March last year of a massive vaccine scandal that enraged the public. That case involved the improper storage, transport and sale of vaccines - many of them expired. From 2010, the pair, a mother and daughter from Shandong province in eastern China, sold 25 different kinds of expired or improperly stored vaccines worth more than 570 million yuan ($88 million), Xinhua News Agency reported at the time. Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site. 0108263 License for publishing multimedia online Registration Number: 130349 Registration Number: 130349 Chinese students were able to embrace and enjoy Shakespeare's works as the UK's Globe Education brought workshops to many schools in China. "We were supporting Shakespeare Lives, a project which aims to bring the work of Shakespeare to students across the world," said Georghia Ellinas, head of learning at Globe Education. "It is special because this year we are commemorating the death of Shakespeare 400 years ago, the same year that the great Chinese poet Tan Xianshu died. It is also special because we're working with students in a way which many of them have not experienced before," she added. The arts education organization visited a number of Chinese schools in Tianjin, Jinan, Xi'an and Nanjing between Nov 28 and Dec 8, bringing Shakespeare to life for students by using teaching and rehearsal techniques from Shakespeare's Globe. They run a series of workshops and classes to help Chinese students explore the language, imagery and themes of some of Shakespeare's most famous plays. The ages of Chinese students participating in workshops ranged from 9 to 22. However, students are not sitting idly behind desks reading the plays as if they were books. "We ask them to become actors, exploring and thinking about the plays as something to be performed. That makes students think harder about what the words mean, how they should be said, what impact they have on the audience, and how they can say them in different ways to prompt a different reaction," Ellinas explained. One Chinese student whose English name is Vivian, from Northwestern Polytechnical University, enjoyed the workshop. "Great! First time I have ever had an experience like this, I feel like I understand Shakespeare for the first time," she said. Dang Zhengsheng, vice principal of Xi'an International Studies University, said, "The Shakespeare Lives activity gave the university a precious opportunity to learn Shakespeare from real experts from the theatres Shakespeare worked in." BEIJING -- Chinese prosecutors have filed cases against four local officials on suspicion of taking bribes, the Supreme People's Procuratorate said Wednesday. Wang Fuqiang, former inspector of Tianjin investment and promotion office, was accused of taking bribes and has been transferred to public prosecution departments, a procuratorate statement said. Lu Wang, former deputy director of Jizhou District people's congress of Tianjin, is being probed for taking bribes and placed under "coercive measures." Li Yaoxin, former chairman of the supervisory board of INESA (Group), a state-owned enterprise with a mission to develop information technology and smart city construction, is being investigated for taking bribes and placed under "coercive measures." Gao Yuqing, former Party chief of Shandong Academy of Governance, has been arrested on bribery charges. Police in Guangdong province confirmed on Wednesday that they have detained a woman captured on camera riding a motorized scooter over a child's legs. The woman, identified only as Chen, 29, was taken into custody on Tuesday and has confessed to assault against a 6-year-old girl, according to a statement from Yangjiang city's public security bureau. A police officer said that during interviews Chen had said she intended only to frighten the child, as she was "being naughty by laying on the ground and refusing to go home for dinner". The girl was taken to hospital where doctors found injuries to both legs, the statement said. Police launched an investigation after a video began to circulate online on Tuesday that showed a woman on a scooter riding over a girl's legs. The child was also seen being dragged along the ground by another child. The incident took place in Yangjiang's Fuyuannan Road at about 2 pm. Liang Jinhai, the city's vice-mayor and director of public security, gave the order for a task force to investigate the case, which led to Chens detention a day later. According to the statement on Wednesday, Chen has phoned the child's father, identified as Ye, to apologize and is actively cooperating with police. Police said Chen and the injured child's grandfather, 50, have lived together since 2014. They have a son together, age 2. Chen also has a 6-year-old daughter from a previous relationship. The victim was placed in the couple's care in April 2016 when Ye moved away for work in another city. Her mother had left after divorcing her father and has since remarried. Ye has now returned home to look after his daughter, police said. A stone lion on a bridge in Tianjin is covered with a mask in the heavy smog that has hit much of the country's northern regions. [Photo by TONG YU For China Daily] A combination of pollution and heavy fog affected countless road, rail and air passengers across northern China on Wednesday. By 4:30 pm, 154 flights had been canceled at Tianjin Binhai International Airport, with another 120 delayed. A total of 450 flights were scheduled to arrive and depart during the day. The city also closed all 20 freeways due to low visibility in the morning, although half were reopened at 2 pm, according to the local transportation commission. At Shijiazhuang Zhengding International Airport in Hebei province, 88 flights were canceled and 17 delayed as of noon on Wednesday. All trans-provincial bus service from Beijing Capital International Airport was suspended. Zhou Caixiang bought tickets to fly from Zhengzhou, capital of Henan province, to her home city of Shenzhen in Guangdong province, weeks ago. However, on Wednesday she abandoned the plan due to heavy smog. The 26-year-old instead bought seats on the bullet train. "It is better to spend hours on a train than waiting anxiously at an airport," she said, adding that the journey takes two hours by air and seven hours by high-speed rail. At least 32 cities have issued red alerts for air pollution, the highest emergency response in the four-tiered system, the Ministry of Environmental Protection said. The lingering smog has made Beijing extend its orange alert, which started on Dec 30, until Saturday. Chicago Cop Who Killed Unarmed Man While Off-Duty Has Been Stripped Of Police Powers By Rachel Cromidas in News on Jan 4, 2017 4:07PM Screenshot / ABC7 The off-duty cop who fatally shot a Hermosa man during an argument Monday morning has been stripped of his police powers. The 57-year-old officer, whose name has not been released, shot unarmed neighbor Jose Nieves, 38, multiple times, killing him. Nieves' sister, Angelica Nieves, has told reporters that the officer was a problem neighbor who pulled a weapon on Nieves in the past and prompted her to call 911 on him numerous times before. She said the officer was harassing Nieves's girlfriend while he was moving furniture Monday morning, and that he shot Nieves three times, once in the back. The officer was stripped of his police powers by police chief Eddie Johnson "as part of the ongoing investigation," as police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi told the Sun-Times. The department is investigating the shooting, which has been declared a homicide, in-tandem with the Independent Police Review Authority, which investigates incidents of police misconduct. Court records found by the Sun-Times show Nieves has been arrested at least 20 times on various charges including domestic battery, theft, burglary and assault, but only has one criminal convictiona 2012 conviction for marijuana possession and possession of a fake gunfor which he was sentenced to court supervision. Nieves's death was the second shooting by Chicago police so far in 2017. [Photo provided to China Daily] Since first opened in 10 years ago, sake-themed Japanese restaurant chain Sake Manzo has always been very popular among Beijing diners, with its collection of more than 100 sakes and dependable Japanese cuisine. Now, founder Taka Yamamoto, who is a renowned sake master, has opened a new branch at Tianshuiyuan area in Beijing. The new branch is able to serve for more 150 diners at a seat with both public dining area and private rooms, and also has various high-end sake containers imported from Japan. The menu in the new restaurant also includes sake hotpot, oyster delicacies, and grilled beef roll with sea urchin. In January, the restaurant, together with other dozens of Japanese restaurants in Beijing, will offer diners special sakes to celebrate the coming of a new spring. If you go: 6 pm to midnight. 6 Daojiayuan Street, Chaoyang district, Beijing. 010-8770-8767. [Photo provided to China Daily] Related: Take your pick, have your fill Food insider: The Spring Festival dish on every Cantonese table UK real estate a magnet for HK, mainland investors Updated: 2017-01-04 07:47 By Oswald Chan in Hong Kong(HK Edition) Contrary to expectations, institutional investors and private family offices from Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland are stepping up their exposure to properties in the United Kingdom, which is seen as a safe haven that offers stable cash-flow returns deemed important in a highly uncertain global investment market. While Britain's shock decision in June last year to abandon the European Union has not put off global capital flooding the country's homes market, investors are also cashing in on the UK's status as a renowned tourist attraction and mainland retailers' growing presence there. Real-estate analysts said there was abundant market liquidity last year as institutional investors poured their money into properties. A bus with an advertisement featuring a design depicting the Union Jack, passes the Bank of England in the City of London. Institutional investors from Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland remain confident and have plowed money into the UK real estate despite Britain's vote to exit the European Union in June last year. Luke MacGregor / Bloomberg According to global real-estate advisory firm Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL), the Chinese mainland overtook the United States to become the largest cross-border real-estate investor in the third quarter of 2016, having invested nearly $18 billion in commercial property assets worldwide in the first three quarters of the year. "Investing overseas is a strategic move for most mainland investors and we expect few long-term structural changes," said Stuart Crow, JLL's head of Asia Pacific Capital Markets. "The trend of mainland capital being sunk into real estate has not abated, and will further gather momentum due to the mainland's enormous capital base." Another real-estate advisory firm DTZ/Cushman & Wakefield said close to 74 percent of respondents in a recent survey, in fact, felt that post-Brexit represents a good opportunity to invest in UK properties in the next five years. The poll on Chinese outbound investors' intentions in 2016 was aimed at gauging mainland investors' perceptions of overseas property investments. The investors surveyed said that, on average, they currently allocate 10 percent of their total overseas funds to the UK property market. In dollar terms, the UK's property market accounted for 6 percent of mainland outbound investments by transaction value in the first eight months of last year, according to data from Real Capital Analytics - a global real-estate analysis firm. Besides mainland investors, those from Hong Kong are also very much attracted to investing in various forms of properties in the UK, especially after the Brexit vote, which caused the sterling exchange rate to plummet, rendering UK property investments cheap. Among various property sectors, institutional investors and Hong Kong-based family offices are increasingly interested in the UK's retail property segment, taking advantage of the country's popularity as a major international tourist destination. New West End Company Group (NWECG), which represents more than 600 retail businesses located in over 25 streets in London, including Bond Street, Oxford Street and Regent Street, has so far drawn more than HK$8 million from Hong Kong investors. After having received an upfront investment, the company will deliver management and marketing services, as well as public realm enhancement in the shopping district. "Some 12 percent of retail properties located in London's West End area are owned by Hong Kong institutional and private investors, underscoring robust demand for UK retail properties, with rental yield from properties in the UK higher than Hong Kong's," David Shaw, property steering group chairman at NWECG, told China Daily. With the projected opening of the London metro's Elizabeth Line late next year, the West End shopping district is expected to attract 260 million visitors each year by 2020 - up 30 percent, compared with the current annual figure of 200 million visitors. This retail shopping area is tipped to contribute 11 billion pounds to the UK's gross domestic product (GDP) in 2020, according to NWECG. An additional 2.5 million square feet of new and refurbished commercial facilities is also due for completion by the end of 2018. Last year, more than 40 new stores opened in the West End area. Another key asset in UK retail property investment is the increased desire of mainland retailers to establish their presence in UK retail areas. "Attracting investments from overseas retailers and property investors in London's West End is an important new focus of our business. We envisage different spectrums of Chinese mainland retailers making their footprint in the West End region," said NWECG Chief Executive Jace Tyrrell. During last year's Chinese "Golden Week" holidays in September, sales generated in the West End shopping district skyrocketed 300 percent, compared to the same period in 2015. Mainland visitors pump about 337 million pounds in additional revenue into the UK's GDP every year, NWECG data showed. Hong Kong and mainland property investors, however, have been warned of the business risks associated with the cyclical nature of retail-property investment. "The UK property market is a cyclical one which is determined by occupation demand, investment appetite for income streams; as well as demand for and supply of retail space," Shaw cautioned. "If there're any political and economic uncertainties, the market could result in a material correction." DTZ/Cushman &Wakefield said mainland investors it had surveyed are not interested in the UK's retail and leisure properties, while 80 percent of them are interested in office assets as this segment offers stable cash flow due to the typical long-lease period and straightforward asset management in office property investment. oswald@chinadailyhk.com (HK Edition 01/04/2017 page9) China-Russia-Mongolia sci-fi paintings on display By Zhao Xiao (chinadaily.com.cn) Updated: 2017-01-03 An exhibition to showcase sci-fi paintings by teenagers from China, Russia and Mongolia was recently held at Inner Mongolia Science Museum, Hohhot, capital of Inner Mongolia autonomous region. Officials address the opening ceremony of the China-Russia-Mongolia Teenager Science Fiction Paintings Exhibition held at Inner Mongolia Science Museum, Hohhot, capital of Inner Mongolia autonomous region. [Photo/Inner Mongolia Science Museum] The exhibition aimed to highlight the artwork exchanges of teenagers from China, Russia, and Mongolia in science imagination. The exhibition contained over 600 sci-fi paintings, which showcased the influence that modern science and technology has had on human beings in the transformation of living environments and peoples lifestyles. Officials from the Mongolia Artists Association, the Information Office of Inner Mongolia Peoples Government, and the Inner Mongolia Science and Technology Association attended the event. In line with the Belt and Road Initiative, the event aimed to enhance the cultural exchange among young people from China, Russia and Mongolia, especially in sectors of science education and art creation. Through the event, teenagers themselves from the three countries have played a role in improving cultural communication, according to Sun Junqing, president of the Inner Mongolia Science and Technology Association. During the event, officials and young representatives visited the painting display at Inner Mongolia Science Museum. A girl views paintings by teenagers from China, Russia and Mongolia exhibited at Inner Mongolia Science Museum, Hohhot, capital of Inner Mongolia autonomous region. [Photo/Inner Mongolia Science Museum] US President-elect Donald Trump pauses as he talks to members of the media at Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, US, December 21, 2016. [Photo/Agencies] US president-elect Donald Trump has not moderated his anti-trade tone since winning the election. Instead, he has upped the ante and fired a series of early warning shots in what could turn into a full-blown global trade war, with disastrous consequences for the United States and the rest of the world. Consider Trump's key personnel decisions. Industrialist Wilbur Ross, the commerce secretary-designate, has been vocal in his desire to abrogate the US' "dumb" trade deals. Peter Navarro, an economics professor at the University of California-Irvine, will be the director of the National Trade Councila new White House policy shop to be set up on a par with the National Security Council and the National Economic Council. Navarro is one of the US' most extreme China hawks. The titles of his two recent books, Death by China (2011) and Crouching Tiger: What China's Militarism Means for the World (2015)speak volumes about his tabloid-level biases. Trump has made it clear that he will immediately withdraw the US from the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreementin keeping with Ross' criticism of the US' trade deals. And there seems little doubt that his administration will follow Navarro's prescription and take dead aim at China, the US' largest and most powerful trading partner. Of course, Trump may simply be talking tough, in order to put China and the world on notice. But while such tough talk played well with voters, it fails a key reality check: the US' large trade deficita visible manifestation of its low savingscalls into question the very notion of economic strength. A significant domestic savings deficit, such as that which afflicts the US, accounts for the US' insatiable appetite for surplus savings from abroad, which in turn spawns its chronic current-account deficit and a massive trade deficit. Dealmakers who try to address this macroeconomic problem one country at a time cannot possibly succeed: the US had trade deficits with 101 countries in 2015. Unless the source of the problema savings shortfall that is likely to worsen in the face of Trump's inevitable widening of federal budget deficitsis addressed, the US' current account and trade deficits will only widen. Squeezing China would merely shift the trade imbalance to other countries. But the story doesn't end there. The Trump administration is playing with live ammunition, implying profound, global repercussions. Nowhere is this more evident than in the likely Chinese response to the US' new muscle-flexing. The Trump team is dismissive of China's reaction to its threatsbelieving that the US has nothing to lose and everything to gain. Alas, that may not be the case. Like it or not, the US and China are locked in a codependent economic relationship. Yes, China depends on US demand for its exports, but the US also depends on China: the Chinese own over $1.5 trillion in US Treasury securities and other US dollar-based assets. Moreover, China is the US' third-largest export market and the one that is expanding most rapidlyhardly inconsequential for a growth-starved US economy. It is foolish to think that the US holds all the cards in this bilateral economic relationship. Codependency is a very reactive connection. If the US goes after China, it must also face the consequences. On the economic front, that spells the possibility of reciprocal tariffs on US exports to China, as well as potential ramifications for Chinese purchases of Treasuries. And other countriestightly linked to China through global supply chainsmay well impose countervailing tariffs of their own. Global trade wars are rare. But, like military conflicts, they often start with accidental skirmishes or misunderstandings. More than 85 years ago, US Senator Reed Smoot and Representative Willis Hawley fired the first shot in sponsoring the Tariff Act of 1930. That led to a catastrophic global trade war, which many believe turned a serious recession into the Great Depression. It is the height of folly to ignore the lessons of history. For today's savings-short, deficit-prone US economy, it will take far more than China-bashing to make the US great again. Turning trade into a weapon of mass economic destruction could be a policy blunder of epic proportions. The author, a faculty member at Yale University and former chairman of Morgan Stanley Asia, is the author of Unbalanced: The Codependency of America and China. Project Syndicate Construction on a bridge is under way in Nantong, East china's Jiangsu province, on August 1, 2016. [Photo/IC] This year is significant in China's political calendar as the 19th Communist Party of China National Congress will convene in Beijing in the second half of this year. The whole world will be paying close attention as the 2,300 delegates, chosen by over 88 million Party members, assemble to elect a new Central Committee. It is expected that by then there will have been further elaboration on how the Party will strictly govern itself and how it will navigate the complex external and internal environments to lead the country toward the realization of the two centenary goals: the doubling of China's GDP and per-capita income 2010 levels by 2020, and the building of a modern socialist country that is prosperous, strong, democratic, culturally advanced and harmonious by the middle of this century. To achieve these two goals the economy needs to be rebalanced, and problems regarding reform, development and stability have to be overcome to achieve innovative, coordinated, green, open and shared development. China's decades-long reform drive is now in the deep-water zone as the easier reforms have been accomplished and the remaining reforms are hard nuts to crack. However, the leadership of the CPC Central Committee, with Xi Jinping as the core, has demonstrated it has the will and resolve to push forward the necessary reforms. Extensive supply-side structural reform, including reducing pollution and phasing out excess capacity, is being advanced, and State Council agencies have already canceled or delegated administrative approval for 618 items, in a bid to invigorate the economy by cutting red tape and streamlining governance. Breakthroughs have also been made in judicial reform, fiscal and tax reform, reform of State-owned enterprises, and reform of the military, where a tiered command system including the Central Military Commission and five theater commands have been established. The results are encouraging. Today, China is one of the world's fastest growing major economies and a top trading body. It boasts a strong military of over 2 million people and is the biggest contributor to international peacekeeping personnel among the permanent members of the UN Security Council. Its rural population living in poverty decreased from 770 million to 55.75 million between 1978 and 2015, and another 10 million were lifted out of poverty last year. The leadership aims to lift all people out of poverty in the country by 2020. At the same time, the Party's battle against corruption has maintained its momentum, demonstrating as Xi has said that: "All people are equal before the law and regulations, and the enforcement of such rules allow no privilege or exception." China is also moving closer to the center of the world stage. Xi's vision and efforts toward a fairer global governance system and a new type of international relations featuring win-win cooperation, as well as his busy globetrotting51 countries in 24 trips in about four yearshave helped create an open, inclusive and responsible image for China on the international stage. The Silk Road Economic Belt and 21st Century Maritime Silk Road proposed by Xi in 2013 are being participated in by more than 100 countries and international organizations. While China's initiative to provide funding for the needed infrastructure in the region, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, has been launched with 57 members. Xi has also set a new global agenda for peace, progress, prosperity with his proposal that all countries work together to build a community of shared destiny for all humankind. This year will see China further build on these achievements and take further steps toward the two centenary goals. Xinhua News Agency WANG XIAOYING/CHINA DAILY Beijing and Shanghai enacted rules on car-hailing services at the end of December, keeping most of the strict requirements of the previous drafts. Drivers hired by car-hailing platforms such as Didi Chuxing are still required to have local household registration and their vehicles must have local license plates. But some changes have been made in the rules. In Beijing, the standard for engine displacement has been lowered from 2 liters to 1.8 liters, and the wheelbase requirement is down from 270 cm to 265 cm. Drivers in the capital have been given five months to make sure they and their cars meet the requirements. But just 10.7 percent of the Didi drivers in Beijing are permanent residents of the capital and less than 10 percent of Shanghai's ride-sharing drivers can meet the new standards, according to reports. In Beijing's case, non-local drivers are automatically disqualified from applying for the car-hailing driving tests, which all applicants have to pass to stay in or enter the business. Shock waves are yet to be felt, but a few things are worth noting. Some ineligible drivers in Shanghai, who do not have the five-month "transition period", were caught offering car-hailing services to passengers four days after the new regulation came into effect. When asked, they said they had not been informed of the new restrictions even by the car-hailing platforms they work for. Illegal yet legitimate-looking taxis at the Beijing Capital International Airport are another cause for concern. A recent report said that apart from picking up passengers from restricted areas and ripping them off, many unauthorized drivers pay 1,200 yuan ($173) to the taxi coordinators a month in exchange for the "luxury" of cutting the line. This dirty business driven by power-money exchanges must be thwarted. But the new ride-sharing regulations in many Chinese cities, Beijing and Shanghai included, may force the burgeoning market into the "rule of the jungle" again. It is estimated that more than 100,000 illegal taxis still ply the roads of Beijing and pick up passengers from train stations and airports despite years of crackdown on them. But there are only about 60,000 authorized taxis in Beijing, and some registered taxi drivers, at times, refuse to go to the airport terminals because they cannot compete with those who have paid coordinators off to receive preferential treatment. Ride-sharing cars are not allowed to even go there according to the new rules. Given the continually growing demand for car-on-demand services and the past failures to rein in illegal taxis, the legalized car-hailing market is unlikely to shrink, raising a question mark on the implementation of the new rules. With an expected fall in the number of eligible online-hailing cars, public transport authorities and ride-sharing platforms are likely to feel the pain sooner than later. In particular, cities such as Shanghai and Guangzhou, where the new rules came into immediate effect, may face more troubles because illegitimate drivers and enthusiastic passengers are likely to continue bypassing the restrictions. Overcrowded mega-cities do need to keep a tighter rein on the local population. They also have good reasons to demand that car-hailing services are run by local residents for security and management concerns. But a better alternative would be industrial transformation and relocation rather than squeezing non-local drivers and cars out of the competition. Zhu Wei is deputy director of the Communication Law Center at China University of Political Science and Law. The article is an excerpt from his interview with China Daily's Cui Shoufeng. Democratic People's Republic of Korea launches a long range rocket launched into the air in this file still image taken from KRT video footage, released by Yonhap on February 7, 2016. [Photo/Agencies] US president-elect Donald Trump has adopted a belligerent tone whenever he talks about Chinahis equivalent of Pinocchio's nose, perhapsand his latest bid to tar China with the brush of responsibility for seemingly any and every issue that catches his attention was no exception. "China has been taking out massive amounts of money & wealth from the US in totally one-sided trade, but won't help with North Korea. Nice!" he tweeted on Monday. Such accusations are deliberately manipulative, and bode ill for ties between the world's top two economies, each being the other's biggest trading partner. Trade between China and the United States, nearly $560 billion last year, has thrived on mutual benefits as the two economies are complementary to each other. It is not a favor given by one to the other. And, contrary to what Trump claimed, China has always played an active and responsible role in trying to maintain peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula. It has worked with the US and other countries to impose UN mandated sanctions against the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and send a strong and united response to Pyongyang's provocative moves. Most recently, China, together with the US, voted in favor of a UN resolution in December to tighten sanctions on the DPRK after its fifth nuclear test in September. Trump also conveniently neglected to mention that the hostile stance of the US and its Asian allies toward the DPRK has only increased the DPRK's fears about its survival. And their aggressive moves, such as the planned deployment of the US' Terminal High Altitude Area Defense anti-missile system in the Republic of Korea and large-scale joint military exercises, have only fueled Pyongyang's desire to accelerate its nuclear weapons program. Rather than accusing China of not doing enough to help the US with its strategic aims on the Korean Peninsula and reinforcing the DPRK's survival fears, Trump would do better to heed his own words and leverage his image as a maverick to engage in talks with Pyongyang. The DPRK regards a nuclear deterrent as crucial to ensure its survival, the only way to change that belief and secure stability on the peninsula is for the incoming Trump administration to alter the US' approach and help find a peaceful and permanent solution through the Six-Party Talks. A farmer leans on his shovel as he takes a break from turning soil to plant crops in the town of Tianying, Anhui province, in this file photo dated November 19, 2012. [Photo/Agencies] Half a year after the State Council, China's Cabinet, issued a national soil pollution prevention action plan, the Guangdong provincial government in South China has published a detailed implementation plan on its website. Southern Metropolis Daily comments: China has experienced rapid economic growth since the early 1980s, but the harmful side effects of that growth have become increasingly evident. One of those unwanted side effects is soil pollution. Official data show that 16.1 percent of the soil nationwide is affected, of which 1.1 percent is heavily polluted. And heavy metals are major contaminants that not only harm the ecology, but also pose potential threats to the health of residents. Especially, in relatively industrialized regions such as the Pearl River Delta, located in Guangdong province, many plants have moved away after having polluted the soil. The central government has been paying ample attention to the problem of soil pollution. In June, a milestone national soil pollution prevention action plan was passed. The 2016 national budget for the treatment of soil pollution is 9.1 billion yuan ($1.3 billion), almost 2.5 times that of 2015. Now Guangdong has become the first province to make its own plan to address soil pollution. It has not only set the short-term objective of curbing all soil pollution in the province by 2018, but also listed specific measures for specific industrialized areas such as the delta. More importantly, it has set legal conditions for developing on polluted land. If any commercial developer wants to construct a building on polluted land, it must test the soil first, draft a plan for remediation and rehabilitation, and pass an evaluation of the soil after treatment. The whole process should be transparent. Of course, these measures need strict implementation in order to be effective, and we hope the Guangdong provincial government will be diligent in implementing the plan. We hope Guangdong province will set a cooling-off period for polluted land before it is made available for commercial use again, which is a common practice in some of the developed countries, so as to better protect people's lives and health. Wang Xiaohui, editor-in-chief of China.org.cn The year 2016 was eventful both to China and other countries. In addition to growing regional conflicts and incessant terrorist attacks, the presidential election of the United States, the exit of Great Britain from the EU, disputes over South Chinese Sea islands between China and the Philippines and the deployment of U.S. Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system in South Korea have all added to the uncertainty of international politics and world order and posed great challenges to China's diplomatic work. As Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi put it, the year 2016 could be summed up with two words - "changes" and "chaos." Review I. Chinese-U.S. ties remained stable but eventful. Ties between China and the United States remained stable in 2016 despite various incidents. After President Obama's visit to Beijing and the G20 Hangzhou Summit, the two countries have strengthened strategic communication, built mutual trust and dispersed doubts, thus ensuring a sound development of ties. But strategic doubts still remain, especially where geopolitics, territorial sovereignty and economic interests are concerned. The South China Sea disputes between China and the Philippines, in which Washington had played a behind-the-scenes role, and the deployment of the U.S. THAAD system in South Korea are just two cases in point. Since Donald Trump was elected to be the next President of the United States, Chinese-U.S. relations have shown worrisome signs. On Dec. 2, Trump talked with Taiwanese leader Tsai Ing-wen on the phone. Despite explanations by the President-elect himself and the White House's spokesperson afterwards, the call cast a shadow over bilateral ties, as such a thing hadn't happened in the 37 years since the two countries established diplomatic ties. Moreover, Trump's cabinet picks and their attitudes toward China also indicated that the development of bilateral relations will face great pressure from the White House in the future. II. Frequent "black swan" events affected the world. A lot of events happened in 2016 that were unexpected and had a major impact on the world. They made the world even more uncertain and are highly likely to change the progress of international politics. Trump's surprise win in the U.S. presidential election, the shock of Brexit and the following resignation of British Prime Minister David Cameron, the final resignation of scandal-embattled South Korean president Park Geun-hye, the resignations of the prime ministers of New Zealand and Italy on the same day and the assassination of Russian ambassador in Turkey are just a few of the major "black swan" events from last year. What will happen to the United States after its businessman-cum-president assumes office with his team of billionaires? Will there be another round of trade wars with China? Besides the jitters in the financial market, what impact will Brexit and Italy's referendum leave on an already struggling E.U.? The changes of state leaders in the United States, Brazil, Britain, South Korea, Italy, Thailand, New Zealand and many other countries will surely affect world politics. III. Philippines' U-turn towards China after the South China Sea arbitration case. The arbitration of the South China Sea disputes, which was initiated unilaterally by former Filipino president Benigno S. Aquino III, the United States, Japan and a handful of other third-party countries, had a deep impression on the Chinese people last year, as it started on the first day of the Chinese lunar new year and ended in July with an illegal and void ruling. During the process, China showed strong political power and responded skillfully. When Rodrigo Duterte assumed office as the new Filipino president on June 30, the realistic man didn't inherent the negative political baggage left behind by his predecessor, but made the wise choice to choose China as the first country to visit outside the ASEAN region, thus mending ties with China. The gradual return to stability in the South China Sea and the restoration of Chinese-Filipino relations will lay a foundation for solving the South China Sea issue through talks and joint development. It's also vitally important to promoting a peaceful environment for China's development. This event will go down in history. Amateur art detective Aravind Venkataraman talks about the India Pride Project.Arun Sankar / Agence Francepresse By day, Arvind Venkatraman works as a software engineer in India's tech hub Chennai. But in his spare time, he is an international art detective whose efforts have helped bring back some of his country's most valuable antiquities. Venkatraman is part of a group of art enthusiasts known as the India Pride Project, who are using Facebook and other social media to identify religious artifacts stolen from temples around the country and secure their return. Art theft is big business in India. But the richest pickings are in Venkatraman's home state of Tamil Nadu, where centuries-old religious artifacts with huge potential sale values in the West lie largely unprotected in out-of-the-way rural temples. Two years ago, the IPP claimed a significant victory when the National Gallery of Australia returned a $5 million bronze statue of the Hindu god Shiva that had been stolen from a Tamil Nadu temple. At first Venkatraman says the gallery, which is now suing the Manhattan dealership that sold it the statue, was reluctant to entertain the idea that its purchase was stolen. So the IPP organized a social media campaign using images comparing the stolen idol with the one on display at the museum. "Initially typically there is a denial," he said in Chennai. "Whether it's Australia, Europe, Singapore or the US, initially there will be resistance from the museum curators ... because they've spent a lot of money and they wouldn't want to let go of an object." The idol is among those allegedly trafficked by Subhash Kapoor, a former Manhattan art dealer who was the subject of a massive US federal investigation known as Operation Hidden Idol. Kapoor was arrested in Germany in 2012 and is now on trial in India, accused of conspiring in the theft, trafficking and sale of religious idols. He denies all charges. Many of the antiquities he dealt in dated back to the 11th and 12th centuries, when the Chola dynasty presided over a flourishing of Hindu art in Tamil Nadu. "This operation went on for many years," said Prateep V Philip, who heads Tamil Nadu's Idol Wing - India's only police team dedicated to tackling art theft. "He (Kapoor) was himself not on the scene, but he was the mastermind." Philip said Kapoor won over the international art world by donating millions of dollars' worth of pieces to museums in the United States. He ran his own freight company in India, allegedly concealing priceless antiques among modern replicas. "Whenever a theft took place in the past, sometimes people were not even aware," said Philip, describing the thousands of small shrines that dot the state as "easy prey". "It would be a derelict temple only visited at certain times of the year. So when a theft took place it was discovered long after." This means much of India's stolen sacred art is never even registered as missing, allowing it to be bought and sold on the international market. Donna Yates, who lectures in antiquities trafficking at the University of Glasgow in Scotland, said she was "absolutely flabbergasted" when it emerged the Australian gallery's statue was stolen. "If you'd asked me in 2011 (before Kapoor's arrest) whether this kind of thing was still possible, I'd have said no. I believed the due diligence of museums had vastly improved," she said. But idols are still disappearing. This year, Philip's team arrested an art dealer in Chennai after recovering hundreds of metal and stone statues of Hindu gods from a warehouse. The volunteers, who are all passionate about Indian art, go through old catalogs from auction houses, using any blemishes or imperfections to match lots with idols stolen from temples. Founded by two Singapore-based art enthusiasts, it now includes activists from all over the world. The work is unpaid, but Venkatraman says it is all worth it when an idol is returned to the temple it belongs in. "When finally the idol is restituted, the temple comes alive," he said. "It's a kind of cycle ... Once that cycle is complete it's like saying, ok, the puzzle is finally solved." George Saunders, Misty Copeland, Parents Of Trayvon Martin To Headline Chicago Humanities Festival By Stephen Gossett in Arts & Entertainment on Jan 4, 2017 6:51PM Chicago Humanities Festival The Chicago Humanities Festival just announced its headliners for the upcoming winter program, and true to form, the lineup doesnt disappoint. Scheduled to appear in separate events are Chicago-native short-story great George Saunders, color-barrier-breaking American Ballet Theatre dancer Misty Copeland, and Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin, mother and father of the late Trayvon Martin. Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin on Thursday, Feb. 17 and Friday, Feb. 18 Five years after the tragic, controversial death of their son, Trayvon Martin, his parents come to a city grappling with its own problems of racism, violence and criminal justice to share their experience and perspective. A book by Fulton and Martin, Rest in Power: The Enduring Life of Trayvon Martin, comes out in hardcover on January 31. George Saunders on Thursday, March 2 The Chicago native and MacArthur Genius Grant recipient has written some of the most celebrated short fiction of the last two decades, including the National Book Award finalist Tenth of December and (a Chicagoist favorite) CivilWarLand in Bad Decline. Saunders returns to his old stomping grounds to discuss his upcoming debut novel, Lincoln in the Bardo. Misty Copeland on Thursday, March 23 The first African-American principal dancer at the American Ballet Theatre, Copeland talks with longtime Chicago broadcaster Robin Robinson about diversity in ballet and overcoming racism and personal injury. Tickets are available now for CHF members and go on sale to the general public on Thursday, Jan. 12. Tickets, times and location information are available here. Police grilled Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for three hours on Monday on suspicion of receiving gifts from businessmen, as part of a graft probe that has shaken the country's politics. Investigators quizzed Netanyahu at his residence in central Jerusalem under caution "on suspicion of receiving benefits", a police spokesman said afterward, adding there were no further details to give. Ahead of the questioning, Netanyahu denied any wrongdoing and told his political opponents to put any "celebrations" on hold. The Justice Ministry said in a statement that officers from a police anti-corruption unit carried out the questioning, adding that Netanyahu was "suspected of having received gifts from businessmen". The long-running graft inquiry has looked into whether wealthy Israeli and foreign businessmen have offered gifts worth tens of thousands of dollars as well as another unspecified issue, according to media reports. Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit has reportedly decided to upgrade the inquiry to a criminal probe, although he has yet to confirm this. Earlier on Monday, screens were mounted at the entrance to the compound in central Jerusalem in an apparent bid to shield the investigators' arrival. "We hear all the media reports. We see and hear the festive spirit and atmosphere in television studios and in the corridors of the opposition," Netanyahu told lawmakers from his Likud party on Monday, according to a video posted to his Facebook page. "I want to tell them to wait for the celebrations. Do not rush. I told you and I repeat: There will be nothing because there is nothing. You will continue to inflate hot air balloons and we will continue to lead Israel." Monthslong inquiry Police have carried out the probe in secret over eight months and recently made an important breakthrough, reports said. About 50 witnesses are said to have been questioned. In July, Mandelblit said he had ordered a preliminary examination into an unspecified affair involving Netanyahu, with no details given. US billionaire and World Jewish Congress President Ronald Lauder has been among those questioned in the probe over gifts he allegedly gave Netanyahu and alleged spending on trips for him, Israeli media reported. Lauder, whose family founded the Estee Lauder cosmetics giant, has long been seen as an ally of Netanyahu, who in the late 1990s put him in charge of negotiating with then Syrian President Hafez al-Assad. Netanyahu has acknowledged receiving money from French tycoon Arnaud Mimran, who was sentenced to eight years in prison over a scam amounting to $296 million involving the trade of carbon emissions permits and taxes on them. Netanyahu's office said he had received $40,000 in contributions from Mimran in 2001, when he was not in office, as part of a fund for public activities, including appearances abroad to promote Israel. He has also come under scrutiny over an alleged conflict of interest in the purchase of submarines from a German firm. Donald Trump pumps his fist as he arrives to speak at a campaign rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on Nov 8, when he was the Republican Party's presidential candidate. [EVAN VUCCI/AP] Donald Trump could prompt a sea change in the relationship between China and the United States. By Chen Weihua in New York, Li Xiaokun in Beijing and Fu Jing in Brussels. In light of US President-Elect Donald Trump's hawkish remarks about China, allied to a number of unexpected moves in the wake of his election victory, experts in Sino-US studies around the world have expressed deep concerns about the key relationship. Many of the experts have warned that the Sino-US relationship may revert to the deep, mutual distrust that characterized relations between the countries during the 1960s. Ted Carpenter, senior fellow of defense and foreign policy at the Cato Institute in Washington, said he is "increasingly worried" about Trump's policies regarding China. "At first, I thought that Trump was engaging in the 'China-bashing' that is fairly typical of US presidential campaigns. Yet once in office, new presidents have pursued policies very similar to those of their predecessors since the early 1970s," he said, adding that Trump's post-election actions suggest that something else may be going on. "The telephone conversation with Tsai Ing-wen was startling enough, but the Trump transition team's insistence on referring to her as the 'President of Taiwan' indicated sympathy with hard-line Taiwanese separatists," he said, referring to a phone call between Trump and the Taiwan leader on Dec 2, which broke with decades of diplomatic precedent. Later, Trump said he didn't feel "bound by the one-China policy" unless the US could gain benefits from China in trade and other areas. Rear Admiral Huang Xinjian (second from left), of the People's Liberation Army Navy, is welcomed at the US port of San Diego where three PLA Navy ships arrived on Dec 6. [YANG LEI/XINHUA] Emotional stake "It was clear that he saw Taiwan, the South China Sea, trade issues, currency valuations and North Korea as roughly equal bargaining chips for bilateral negotiations," Carpenter said. "I believe that his attitude greatly underestimates China's emotional stake in those issuesespecially the South China Sea and Taiwan. "If Trump is serious about discarding the one-China policy, we are in for a very tense and dangerous period. Hasty action could trigger a ruinous economic crisis or much worse, a military conflagration." Jon R. Taylor, professor and chair of the department of political science at the University of St. Thomas in Houston, Texas, said: "Trump is about to create a very difficult period in China-US relations, one that may rival that of the 1950s and 60s. I am deeply concerned that Trump is rapidly moving US foreign policy toward a deep Cold War mindset regarding China. "My profound fear is that Trump has surrounded himself with anti-China hardliners who have little experience with or expertise on China, have rarely, if ever, visited the country, and have little understanding beyond textbooks and oped pieces of the nuances and subtleties of China's history, culture, and political system." Yongwook Ryu, a visiting professor at the Graduate School of International Studies at Yonsei University in Seoul, believes that Trump's foreign policy will be more focused and selective, with the overarching purpose of maximizing US economic interests. "If China and the US attempt to test each other's resolve, then we are highly likely to see tensions rise in the regionin the East China Sea and the South China Sea," he said. As for the impact of a US power shift on China's relations with its neighbors, Ryu said US policy toward Asia will see more continuity, "although it will be less multilateralist because Trump is likely to strengthen its (the US') alliance with Japan, South Korea, and Australia". Professor David Fouquet, vice-president of the executive board of the European Center for International Research and Strategy in Brussels, said some people in the US might accept a tougher policy on China. "But would America's Asian allies, who have repeatedly asked to not have to make a choice in a US-China showdown and are dependent economically on China, and could suffer morein addition to already having been abandoned by the American reversal on the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement?" he said. "There is a lengthy list of tradeoffs, compromises or concessions to make in such complex relationships, and I am not convinced that the new American leadership understands this." Soldiers participate in joint humanitarian relief drills held by Chinese and US armed forces in Kunming, the capital of Yunnan province, on Nov 18. [NATALIE THOMAS/REUTERS] Russian influence Artyom Lukin, deputy director of research at the School of Regional and International Studies at the Far Eastern Federal University in Vladivostock, Russia, said the exchange of goodwill between Trump and Moscow signals subtle changes in Russia's ties with China. According to public opinion surveys, Russia was the only country to prefer Trump over Hillary Clinton, the Democratic Party's presidential candidate. "Since 2012, ties between Moscow and Beijing have been expanding and deepening, especially in the political-military domain," Lukin said. If Moscow normalizes relations with Washington, "the Sino-Russian partnership will continue, with the emphasis shifting to economics and trade", he added. Shada Islam, director of Europe and geopolitics at Friends of Europe, a think tank in Brussels, advised Beijing to "stay cool and calm" about any changes made by Trump, "and firm on its core interests, but without falling into the trap of becoming belligerent". "Trump's presidency will be a chance for China to show its own maturity and its role as a responsible global actor," she said. Testing the water? Cui Hongjian, director of the department of European studies at the China Institute of International Studies in Beijing, was relatively optimistic about the incoming US administration. "Even though Trump is not a professional politician, even though he has some ideas which are different from mainstream elites in the past, as long as he is smart, he will understand that disordered China policies will not only affect China, but also himself," he said. Cui suggested that Trump "might be just testing the water and changing the sequence in which he plays his cards". Instead of guessing which cards the US will play, China should think deeply about the cards it has and sometimes take the initiative, he said. "Some people say Trump follows the thinking of businessmen about trade benefits. If so, we need to think about two questions: first, whether China accepts the model; and second, what our model will be if we do not accept his (model) and what we can trade with if we do accept," he added. Li Guofu, head of the Middle East department at CIIS, said certain basic facts will still apply, no matter who occupies the White House. "To develop its economy, the US has to cooperate with China. If Trump is rational, given his business background there will be more, not fewer, fields of potential cooperation between the two powers," he said. Ren Qi and Chu Yi in Beijing contributed to this story. South Korean President Park Geun-hye delivers a speech during a ceremony to mark the anniversary of the 1919 independence movement against Japanese rule over the Korean peninsula, in Seoul March 1, 2016. [Photo/Agencies] Of the many elections that will be held across the world this year, a possible presidential poll in the Republic of Korea could have the biggest impact on China, according to observers. The ROK President Park Geun-hye has been impeached after a scandal in which Choi Soon-sil, Park's friend and informal adviser, was accused of influence-peddling and using her connections with Park to pressure businesses into paying millions of dollars to foundations that support her initiatives. "If the Constitutional Court finds President Park guilty, then there would be an early presidential election, probably between April and June 2017", said Yongwook Ryu, a visiting professor at the Graduate School of International Studies at Yonsei University in Seoul. If an opposition party wins the election, important changes could be forthcoming in the country's foreign policy, he added. For instance, Moon Jae-in, a former leader of the opposition Minjoo Party of Korea and a major presidential contender, has publicly declared that if elected he would scrap THAAD (the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system) and Seoul's agreements with Tokyo on 'comfort women'women used as sexual slaves by Japanese troops during World War IIand the GSOMIA (the General Security of Military Information Agreement).Moon has also intimated that he would restart a policy of engagement toward the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. In July, Washington and Seoul announced that the ROK would deploy THAAD in response to the threats posed by Pyongyang's nuclear and conventional weapons. However, China vehemently opposes the system, whose radar would be able to monitor its missiles, and has vowed to take "necessary measures" in response. In November, Japan and the ROK signed the General Security of Military Information Agreement, under which the two countries will share defense secrets. The US believes the move will help the three sides to finally build a security triangle, but the ROK's opposition party said it will help Japan to become a major military power. Another possible major contender is the former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, whose term of office ended on Saturday, who is said to be considering a presidential bid. If Ban were to stand and win, "we would very likely see the continuation of the previous policies on THAAD and cooperation with Tokyo", Ryu said. According to a former Chinese ambassador to South Korea, who asked not to be named, despite the current political chaos, Seoul is speeding up the implementation of THAAD and is possibly looking to complete the process before May. "If so, it will pose a big challenge to relations between Beijing and Seoul. The situation in Northeast Asia will also be affected. We'll see whether the attempts of the US, South Korea and Japan to forge a military alliance in the region will be strengthened or weakened after the election," the person said. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani speaks at a news conference near the United Nations General Assembly in the Manhattan borough of New York, U.S., September 22, 2016. [Photo/Agencies] Close ties with Iran Meanwhile, Iran, a country with which China maintains close ties, will hold a presidential election in May. "Growing trade and diplomatic cooperation between Iran and China should continue if Iranian President Hassan Rouhani wins re-election. Trump's election and hard-line views toward Iran could be beneficial in enhancing China-Iran ties," said Jon R. Taylor, professor and chair of the department of political science at the University of St. Thomas in Houston, Texas. Li Guofu, director of Middle East studies at the China Institute of International Studies in Beijing, believes that Sino-Iranian relations will not see big changes, irrespective of who wins the election. "So far, both sides have shown a strong will to cooperate on the Belt and Road initiative, while relevant projects are proceeding swiftly," he said. In Europe, France will have a presidential election in the spring, while Germany will hold a federal election in the fall. Both may prove beneficial to China, according to Taylor. "There is a good chance that France will elect a more free-market leader in Francois Fillon. While he tends to be friendly toward Russia, this may also bode well for Chinese economic relations and FDI opportunities via the Belt and Road (initiative)," he said, adding that if Angela Merkel is reelected, the close trade and investment relations between China and Germany should continue. "However, if far-right and/or nationalist candidates win, then all bets are off because we may see Trump-like anti-China policies arise (as well as a clampdown on both trade and immigration) and the potential breakup of the EU," he said. Cui Hongjian, director of European studies at the China Institute of International Studies, said Europe as a whole is turning to the right in the face of economic and social problems. "As a result, European countries will be more direct when seeking solutions to economic problems," he said. Chen Weihua contributed to this story. The gunman who killed 39 people in an Istanbul nightclub on New Year's Day in an attack claimed by the Islamic State group appears to have been well versed in guerrilla warfare and may have trained in Syria, a newspaper report and a security source said on Tuesday. The attacker, who remains at large, shot dead a police officer and a civilian at the entrance to the exclusive Reina nightclub on Sunday. He then opened fire with an automatic rifle inside, reloading his weapon half a dozen times and shooting the wounded as they lay on the ground. In a statement claiming the attack on Monday, IS said the shooting was revenge for Turkish military involvement in Syria. "The assailant has experience in combat for sure. ... He could have been fighting in Syria for years," one security source said, saying that he was likely to have been directed in his actions by the group. The Haberturk newspaper said police investigations had revealed that the gunman had entered Turkey from Syria and went to the central city of Konya in November, traveling with his wife and two children so as not to attract attention. CNN Turk said he was believed to be of Kyrgyz origin. Government spokesman Numan Kurtulmus said on Monday that the authorities were close to fully identifying the gunman, after gathering fingerprints and information on his appearance, and had detained eight other people. A selfie video of the alleged attacker, apparently walking around Istanbul's central Taksim Square, was broadcast by Turkish news channels on Tuesday as police operations to try to track him down continued. NATO member Turkey is part of the US-led coalition against IS extremists and since August has been conducting military operations in Syria. IS extremists have been blamed for at least half a dozen attacks on civilian targets in Turkey over last 18 months. But it was the first time it has directly claimed any of them. Haberturk cited a barman at the club as saying the gunman had thrown explosive devices several times during the shooting spree, apparently in order to disorientate people and give himself time to reload. The Russian Navy said on Tuesday it was planning to hold war games with the Philippines, as two of its ships made a rare stop in Manila following President Rodrigo Duterte's pivot from the United States. Admiral Tributs, an anti-submarine vessel, and a sea tanker Boris Butoma, arrived in Manila late on Tuesday for a four-day goodwill visit, with its crew expected to demonstrate anti-terrorism capability and hold talks, said Rear Admiral Eduard Mikhailov, head of the flotilla of the Russian Navy Pacific Fleet. "Our governments will maybe discuss in some period of time the possibilities of our maritime exercises," Mikhailov said, adding Russia has been holding drills with the Indonesian Navy. "The biggest problem now in the world is terrorism and piracy, and all our exercises we have, for example, with you we will have to fight these problems and we will show you what we can do and we will see what you can do and show us," he added as the Russian Navy showcased the warships. A spokesman for the Philippine Navy told reporters this is the first official interaction with the Russian Navy, an arch rival of its former colonial master and closest ally in the region, the US. Washington and the Philippines have been holding naval exercises annually but Duterte has instructed the Defense Ministry to "reformat" drills with Washington. During a trip to Beijing in October, Duterte enthused about his plans to forge closer relations with Russia and China. Mikhailov said they were willing to help train Philippine counterparts to fight piracy and terrorism and they hope to foster stronger security in the region. The Philippines has been struggling to prevent Islamist militants from abducting crew of slow-moving tugboat and foreigners sailing on yachts in the southern maritime borders with Indonesia and Malaysia. The Abu Sayyaf, a small but violent group which has had links to al-Qaida and has pledged allegiance to Islamic State group, is holding a German tourist and more than 10 Malaysian and Indonesian crewmen. A Dutch and a Japanese are also being held captive. Last month, Duterte sent his foreign and defense ministers to Moscow to explore arms deal after a US senator said he will block the sale of 26,000 assault rifles to the Philippines. MANILA - Armed men with links to Muslim rebels stormed a prison early on Wednesday in the southern Philippines, killing a guard and freeing more than a 150 inmates, police said. The Southeast Asian nation has for decades been plagued by insurgencies by Muslim rebels in its southern islands, with President Rodrigo Duterte seeking to promote broad peace in the predominantly Catholic country. The gunmen opened fire at guards at the North Cotabato District Jail in Kidapawan city around 1:00 a.m. (1700 GMT), prison warden Peter Bongat told a local radio station. Of the jail's 1,511 inmates, 158 managed to escape and four were recaptured, he said. "It's well planned. Escapees used blanket as their getaway...We have a manhunt operation," said Bongat. The rebel commander belonged to the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) based on initial information, Bongat said. In 2014, the government signed a peace deal with the MILF, the biggest Muslim rebel group but clashes still occur with smaller groups. He Jiang,the first Chinese orator at Harvard commencement addresses, has joined a roll call of the other young people making the 2017 Forbes 30 Under 30 List. [Photo/provided to China Daily] He Jiang, who was the first person from China to deliver a Harvard University commencement address, has made the 2017 Forbes 30 Under 30 List. "I received this message (about the list) this morning. I'm a little surprised but very happy about that," He told China Daily on Tuesday. Forbes' 30 Under 30 is a set of lists issued annually by Forbes magazine. On Tuesday, the magazine released the sixth annual 30 Under 30, featuring 600 young innovators, entrepreneurs and leaders who challenge conventional wisdom and rewrite the rules for the next generation. The list recognizes 30 game-changers in each of 20 industries. All under 30 years old, the honorees were vetted by a panel of judges in their respective fields. Previous winners include Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Snapchat's Evan Spiegel, Saturday Night Live's Kate McKinnon, Chance the Rapper and YouTube phenom Michelle Phan. "These are the people that will run every field for the next 50 years," said Randall Lane, editor of Forbes. He, a 29-year-old postdoctoral fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was chosen for the healthcare category. He was nominated by his professors at Harvard. "I didn't know I was nominated until December," said He. At Harvard, He used a new technology called single-virus tracking super-resolution imaging (STORM) to understand more about how influenza infects cells, and discovered human genes with strong anti-viral effects. He is now applying the same techniques to neurons and white blood cells. He hopes the lab research he did could be put to practical use in healthcare. He grew up in a small village with limited educational opportunities. By studying hard, He graduated from the University of Science and Technology of China - one of China's top universities - with a bachelor's degree in 2009, and was accepted into Harvard's PhD program on a full scholarship the same year. In May, the biochemistry PhD delivered a speech representing the university's 13 graduate and professional schools at the commencement. In the speech, He talked about the uneven distribution of science and technology in the world and expressed his passion to get science and medicine into places they aren't reaching, like his own village, where his mother once treated his spider bite with fire. Seventeen of the 600 winners in 2017 are from China. One in six on the list are immigrants from 44 countries. xiaohong@chinadailyusa.com A man places flowers at the entrance of Reina nightclub, which was attacked by a gunman, in Istanbul, Turkey January 3, 2017. [Photo/Agencies] ISTANBUL - Turkish police have detained five Islamic State suspects in the western city of Izmir in connection with the gun attack in an Istanbul nightclub which killed 39 people on New Year's Day, the state-run Anadolu agency said on Wednesday. Anadolu reported on Tuesday that 14 people had been detained over the attack, which Islamic State has claimed, while NTV reported that two foreign nationals had been detained at Istanbul's main Ataturk airport. The gunman, who fled after the attack, remains at large. HANOI - Doctors in Vietnam have removed surgical forceps from a man who unknowingly carried them inside his body for 18 years, national television VTV reported. Ma Van Nhat, 54, said the forceps had probably been left in his abdomen in 1998 when he had emergency surgery after a traffic accident. Nhat had felt only the occasional pain and a clinic had given him medicine for a suspected stomach ulcer. An X-ray taken late last year showed the forceps were to blame. The 15 cm (six inch) long instrument had broken apart and become lodged in Nhat's stomach. They were removed in an operation. The director of Bac Kan Hospital, Trinh Thi Luong, told VTV that officials were trying to find out who might have left the forceps in Nhat. "Even if they are already retired we will still inform them," she said. "This is a lesson to all doctors". Medical errors are not uncommon in Vietnam. Over the past year there have been two cases of doctors operating on wrong limbs, and three cases of men being diagnosed as pregnant. Steve Dolinsky Went On Epic Quest To Find Chicago's Best Pho By Anthony Todd in Food on Jan 4, 2017 3:20PM Pho at Tank Noodle, #17 on Dolinsky's list. Photo via Facebook. Many Chicagoans only know Steve Dolinsky from his short appearances as ABC's Hungry Hound or his pretty face hanging in (seemingly) every restaurant in town. But in reality, he's a pretty darn serious food expert, and he particularly excels in doing massive, city-wide studies of a particular dish. In 2015, he did the most extensive study of pizza we've ever seen. This time, he's turned his attention to pho. Pho, the amazingly comforting Vietnamese soup, is a seemingly simple dish, but like most simple dishes, the gap in quality between the best and the worst can be enormous. There's a ton of subtle variety, most of which comes from the flavors added to the the broth and the quality of the cooking. It's also tough to compare phos between restaurants without a pretty big sample size. Dolinksy (and his "Pho-Conspirator" Paul Nguyen) have gotten that big sample size. They tasted every single restaurant in Chicago they could find where pho is a main offeringa total of 31 places. They created an elaborate statistical ranking system. They even discovered an inverse relationship between price and quality, as the more expensive phos fared worse in their rankings. Starting today, they're releasing the full results of all of their soup-tastic work. Here's the list of phos ranked 12-31, just released. The best on this list is King Pho, number 12, in Edgewater, but the best of the best won't be revealed until this Friday. And unlike Donald Trump, when Dolinsky says he has secret food information to reveal, he really means it. So tune into his website Thursday for phos 6-11 and Friday for 1-5. A displaced man, who fled the Islamic State stronghold of Mosul, carries a woman in the Mithaq district of eastern Mosul, Iraq, January 3, 2017. [Photo/Agencies] NEAR MOSUL/ERBIL, Iraq - More than 2,000 Iraqis a day are fleeing Mosul, several hundred more each day than before US-led coalition forces began a new phase of their battle to retake the city from Islamic State, the United Nations said on Wednesday. After quick initial advances, the operation stalled for several weeks but last Thursday Iraqi forces renewed their push from Mosul's east towards the Tigris River on three fronts. Elite interior ministry troops were clearing the Mithaq district on Wednesday, after entering it on Tuesday when counterterrorism forces also retook an industrial zone. Federal police advanced in the Wahda district, the military said on Wednesday, in the 12th week of Iraq's largest military campaign since the US-led invasion of 2003. As they advanced, many more civilian casualties were also being recorded, the UN said. Vastly outnumbered, the militants have embedded themselves among residents and are using the city terrain to their advantage, concealing car bombs in narrow alleys, posting snipers on tall buildings with civilians on lower floors, and making tunnels and surface-level passageways between buildings. "We were very afraid," one Mithaq resident said. Emergency responders work near a train that sits derailed near the community of New Hyde Park on Long Island in New York, US, October 9, 2016. [Photo/Agencies] NEW YORK - A New York City train derailed after ramming into a bumper at a downtown Brooklyn terminal during Wednesday's morning rush hour, injuring more than 100 commuters in the metropolitan area's second major rail accident since late September. Emergency crews swarmed Atlantic Terminal after the Long Island Railroad train went off the tracks inside the busy transportation hub at about 8:30 am local time, the New York City Fire Department said. While none of the injuries were life-threatening, at least 11 people were sent to the hospital, Deputy Assistant Chief Dan Donoghue said at a briefing at the crash site. The train, arriving from the Queens neighborhood of Far Rockaway, failed to stop on time and struck a bumping block at a fairly low rate of speed, which caused it to derail, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said at the briefing. About 103 people were injured in the accident, the fire department said in a Twitter message. The front two cars of the six-carriage train were severely damaged. The engineer was probably responsible for failing to stop the train before it hit the bumper, said Tom Prendergast, chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the agency that runs the LIRR. "At that speed, it's pretty much the locomotive engineer's responsibility to stop the train," Prendergast said as he stood beside Cuomo at the briefing. China's top leadership has called for more efforts to ensure food safety, noting there are still many problems despite an improving food safety situation. More efforts should be made to ensure food safety for the public, said President Xi Jinping in his latest instructions on the country's food safety work. The president called for the most rigorous standards, the most stringent regulation, the most severe punishment and the most serious accountability for improving food safety control. He stressed administration under the law, enhancement of work at the grassroots level and the professionalism of food safety inspectors, and demanded a comprehensive food safety system from farm to table. Premier Li Keqiang said in recent instructions that food safety is an important hallmark for building an all-round moderately prosperous society and should be given a more prominent position this year. Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli presided over a meeting of the State Council's food safety commission on Tuesday, which laid out measures to ensure food safety this year. The vice premier said deeper problems affecting food safety have not been fundamentally solved and called for stricter management of food safety. Zhang demanded quick improvement of the food safety standard system, which will be integrated with international standards, and the most stringent regulation to ensure no systemic or regional food safety risks. Zhang also demanded relevant authorities move quickly to screen for risks and work to ensure food safety during the coming Spring Festival and "two sessions" -- the plenary meetings of national lawmakers and political advisors. Vice Premier Wang Yang also addressed Tuesday's meeting, which was attended by officials from relevant departments and experts with the State Council's food safety commission. (Photo : Getty Images) The Caixin Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) in December stood at 51.9, up from 50.9 clocked in November. Advertisement In the latest sign that the Chinese economy is heading towards recovery, a leading independent research on Tuesday claimed that last month the activities in smaller manufacturing units in the country grew at the quickest pace seen over the past three years. The Caixin Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) in December stood at 51.9, up from 50.9 clocked in November. The reading of 51.9 comfortably surpassed market expectations. Like Us on Facebook Advertisement This was Caixin's highest score for China's manufacturing sector since December 2013. The financial magazine noted that all the economic parameters looked pretty robust last month. "The Chinese manufacturing economy continued to improve in December, with the majority of sub-indices looking optimistic," Caixin analyst Zhong Zhengsheng said in a statement. The financial magazine claims that the good showing in December was due to robust demand and increase in new clients for Chinese manufacturers. Meanwhile, the Chinese government on Sunday released the official purchasing managers' index (PMI), which usually takes into account activities in larger factories and mines. The official PMI for the month of December stood at 51.4, down from 51.7 shown in the last month. Nonetheless, the reading of 51.4 signified growth for the fifth consecutive month for manufacturing sector on a year-on-year basis. China's manufacturing sector has been stagnating ever since a recession took over the world's second largest economy. Tepid domestic demand coupled with dull global export market severely affected the sentiments across Chinese factories over the last one year. Many economists have described the on-going recession as the worst that the Asian giant has seen over the last two decades. Advertisement TagsChina Caxin PMI, China Manufacturing PMI, china, China manufacturing, Chinese Economy (Photo : PLAN) Shenyang J-15 fighters take-off from the CNS Liaoning. Advertisement China confirmed on late Monday that its aircraft carrier has conducted drills in the South China Sea for the first time with a formation of other warships and fighter jets, a move that could raise concerns among its neighbors, according to the Associated Press. Like Us on Facebook Advertisement The confirmation came days after Taiwan's Defense Minister Feng Shih-Kuan said that China's Liaoning, an aircraft carrier, and five other warships had sailed around the east coast of Taiwan, a move that China called a routine drill. Several J-15 fighter jets also took off and landed on the flight deck of Liaoning on Monday, according to China's Defense Ministry. The first drill is just a part of a routine open-sea exercise of China, but this could add to tensions between Beijing and Taipei. Tensions with Other Neighbors The initiaitve follows after tensions have mounted in the South China Sea. Both the US and China have accused each other of engaging in a dangerous military buildup. The carrier drills also come at a time when China has a heightened strain with Taiwan, following US President-elect Donald Trump's phone call with the Taiwanese president. Carrier Liaoning On the other hand, the aircraft carrier Liaoning was purchased as an incomplete hull from Ukraine more than a decade ago, but it was commissioned only in 2013. By November, Liaoning was declared ready to engage in combat by the ship's political commissar, but China has not described specifically how it intends to use the aircraft carrier. However, many have seen it as a tool to help reinforce China's increasingly assertive claims in the South China Sea in the face of challenges from the US Navy and others. Advertisement Tagschina, Aircraft Carrier Drill, South China Sea, Liaoning, First Carrier Drills, China-Taiwan relations Yao Tandong, a geographer with the Chinese Academy of Sciences has won the 2017 Vega Medal for his research accomplishment on plateau glaciers and environment, announced the Swedish Society for Anthropology and Geography (SSAG). Yao Tandong. [File Photo: The Paper] The award, widely considered as one of the most prestigious in the field, has been dubbed by some as the "Nobel Prize in geography." Yao Tandong has now become the first Asian scientist to win this prize. As President of the China Society on Tibet Plateau and the Chinese Academy for Excellence in Tibetan Plateau Earth Sciences, Yao Tanfeng is widely regarded by those in the field as one of the leading scientists in the study of the cryosphere. In the past twenty years, Yao and his team have been cooperating with scientists from dozens of countries, including the United States, France, Germany and Switzerland, to study environmental changes and their influence on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, reported The Paper. Yao also initiated the Third Pole Environment project with international partners to study the environmental changes in Tibet. The Vega Medal is awarded to one scholar every three years by the King of Sweden. The prize was started in 1881 and is issued by the Swedish Society for Anthropology and Geography. (Photo : Getty Images) China is all set to launch Change-5 in December 2017. The Change-5 would mark China's third phase in the lunar exploration. Its main aim would be collecting samples from moon and bringing back to earth. Advertisement China's space program will hit a new high with the launch of Chang'e-5 by end of this year. The Chang'e-5 marks China's third phase in the lunar probe and its primary function would include bringing back samples from moon to earth for scientific analysis. The Chang'e-5 will reportedly consist of an orbiter, the return vehicle, the ascender, and the lander. The orbiter and return vehicle will help Chang'e-5 in orbiting the earth, while the lander and ascender will facilitate the landing and aid in collecting the samples from the moon. Like Us on Facebook Advertisement After collecting the samples, the spacecraft would land at Siziwang Banner in Inner Mongolia. From there, the samples will be taken to a laboratory for analysis. "Once the samples are back, we can begin our analysis right away," Ouyang Ziyuan, chief scientist of China's Lunar Exploration Project, told reporters in October. According to Hu Hao, the chief designer of the third phase, Chang'e-5 weighs 8.2 tons and will be launched into space by the rocket Long March 5. Before Chang'e-5, China successfully completed the first two phases in lunar exploration. The Chang'e-1 and -2 constituted the first phase launched in 2007 and 2010, respectively, while Chang'e-3 in 2013 constituted the third phase. China's latest lunar exploration would test its space capabilities to hilt, as it would be the first time since nearly five decades that a lunar mission would try to collect samples and retrieve back to earth. In early 1970s, US crewed and Soviet Union robotic missions successfully collected samples from moon and returned back to earth. The Chang'e-5 mission represents China's unrelenting pursuit to become a self-reliant country in space exploration. Many experts claimed that the Chinese government wants to demonstrate the country's newly found economic status through its space missions. Advertisement TagsChange 5, chinese space program, Chang'e-3, Chinese Lunar Exploration, china (Photo : YouTube Screenshot) TrackR announced that it will be introducing the new TrackR Wallet 2.0, an updated version of the original TrackR wallet that has an improved form factor that closely resembles that of a credit card, making it easier to be stored inside a wallet. Advertisement TrackR recently announced that it will be unveiling new devices at the upcoming Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. TrackR is a startup that manufactures small devices that help users in tracking lost things through a combination of Bluetooth connection and a technology called "crowd GPS." Like Us on Facebook Advertisement On top of the list is the new TrackR Wallet 2.0, which is an updated version of the original TrackR wallet. The new wallet has an improved form factor that closely resembles that of a credit card, making it easier to be stored inside a wallet. Measuring just 2 mm thick, TrackR claimed that the new Wallet 2.0 is the "thinnest item-finder on the market." The TrackR Wallet 2.0 has a replaceable battery, which users can easily replace when it runs out. Like all TrackR devices, the Wallet 2.0 can track an item within 100 feet through Bluetooth. Once the item is outside of that range, it will rely on a crowdsourced network created by other TrackR products in order to locate it. The so-called crowd GPS feature is reliant on the number of networked TrackR devices within the user's neighborhood, according to The Verge. Engadget also reported that all TrackR devices are compatible with Amazon Alexa. This feature makes it easy for users to locate lost items by simply asking Alexa for help like retracing their steps. TrackR said that the Wallet 2.0 will hit the market sometime this spring, with a price tag of $29.99. Aside from the upgraded Wallet, TrackR is also planning to release a cheaper version of the TrackR bravo called TrackR pixel, which now has a plastic casing instead of aluminum. Due to this change in material, the pixel only costs $24.99. Advertisement TagsTrackR, TrackR trackers, TrackR Wallet, TrackR Wallet 2.0, TrackR pixel, TrackR bravo (Photo : YouTube Screenshot) Chip maker Qualcomm accidentally leaked the upcoming Asus ZenFone AR ahead of its official debut in the CES 2017. Advertisement With the 2017 Consumer Electronics Show fast approaching, the tech community is busy hustling for tidbits of information from tech companies about their upcoming releases or revelations. Recently, chip manufacturer Qualcomm inadvertently revealed the upcoming Asus ZenFone AR, the newest Android phone to super Google's Tango technology, ahead of its official debut. Like Us on Facebook Advertisement The Asus ZenFone AR will be the second smartphone to have a built-in support for Tango technology. Qualcomm has already removed the blog post, which was unceremoniously shared, but not even before the tech community caught a glimpse of it. Based on the post, the Asus ZenFone AR will have a powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 chipset and will support Daydream, according to Android Police. It was also reported that the ZenFone AR will support both Google's virtual reality and augmented reality platforms. Some may argue that the Snapdragon 821 is not exactly the most powerful chipset on Qualcomm's lineup, especially with the upcoming release of the Snapdragon 835. However, the chipset is still an impressive piece of hardware, which is certainly capable of powering the next Tango-enabled device, according to Digital Trends. Notable tech insider Evan Blass confirmed the Asus ZenFone AR through a post on his official Twitter account, where he posted a front and rear snap of the smartphone. Based on Blass's photo, the phone will have a physical Home key on the lower front panel and will sport an impressive dual-camera configuration. Asus is yet to confirm the official release date and the official specs of the ZenFone AR. Advertisement TagsQualcomm, Qualcomm, Snapdragon, Asus, Asus Zenfone, ZenFone, ZenFone VR, Asus ZenFone VR (Photo : Facebook) As announced last year, China is starting to shake up its millennial-old salt monopoly system. Advertisement China has started to shake up its millennial-old salt monopoly by releasing new regulations effective this year that allow producers to set prices and sell directly to the market. China's state media on Monday said that the move would lead to lower prices, with broadcaster CCTV hailing it as a "policy red envelope," which refers to the money-filled packets traditionally given away around Chinese new year, according to Fortune. Like Us on Facebook Advertisement What's in New Regulation? Under the new regulation, existing wholesalers will now be allowed to operate outside their previously designated areas, run marketing campaigns, and introduce modern ways of salt distribution. The new regulation is under a plan published by China's State Council last year, wherein government planners will retain supervision over retail pricing to prevent abnormal fluctuations, but prices will otherwise be set by the market. The National Development and Reform Commission also said last year that starting 2017, producers will be able to sell salt at a price set based on production costs, quality of product, and the supply and demand of the market. Reform or Improvement Meanwhile, store managers and market observers are hopeful that salt prices will soon fall and that new salt products will arrive on shelves. However, Zou Jialai, a Shanghai-based lawyer who has represented private salt producers, cautioned against trumpeting an end to the monopoly. He said he expects state-owned firms to continue to control how salt is sold, but with more competition than before. "I want to say that it is not reform; it is just an improvement," Zou said. History of Salt Monopoly The worldwide production of salt is more than 200 million tons per year, and China is one of the five nations in the world that dominates the salt industry, according to statistics. The other nations are US, Canada, India, and Germany. The practice of monopolizing salt in China, which began during the rule of Emperor Wu of Han onwards, helped pay the construction of the Great Wall. Every dynasty in China's history has instituted a salt monopoly system for taxation purposes since salt was a necessary commodity used in daily life. Advertisement Tagschina, Millennial-Old Salt Monopoly, Salt Industry, National Development and Reform Commission, Reformation (Photo : Getty Images) China has expanded its regulations at the Tibet border to reduce separatism and terror attacks while promoting trade in the region following the launch of the Tibet-Nepal rail and road initiative. Advertisement China on Sunday introduced new regulations on its Tibet border, a move aimed at reducing any future terror risks and separatism while promoting trade. The specified border areas under the new policies will now cover ports, scenic views, and trading zones. The Sunday regulations are a revamp of the earlier law that had been in place since 2000. Like Us on Facebook Advertisement During an interview with the Global Times, Wang Chunhuan, the deputy director of the Theoretical Marxism of the Tibet Academy of Social Sciences, explained that the new regulations were necessary. "The update of border regulations provides a legal foundation to combat potential terrorist activities brought by the further opening up of Tibet of the Belt and Road initiative," Wang said. Wang, who also played a key role in the amendments, further explained that even though the border areas are not currently under terrorism threat, Tibet is positioned as a gateway in China's Belt and Road initiative. Meanwhile, the deputy head of the border police in Tibet, Ba Zhu, was quoted in mid-December last year, saying that despite the economic growth in Tibet, the border region has remained a hub of war and various criminal activities ranging from separatism to terror attacks, according to Reuters. The new regulations come just after China launched the Tibet and Nepal rail and road link. During the launch, trucks carrying goods departed from the Tibetan border port of Gyoirong going to Kathmandu. China plans to extend the road and railway initiative to India and other South Asian countries in a bid to promote trade links. Advertisement Tagschina, Tibet, New Regulations, Rail and Road Initiative (Photo : Getty Images) Catalonia President Carles Puigdemont has vowed to hold an independence referendum. Advertisement Spain's Catalonia region is headed for a new face-off with Madrid after Catalan President Carles Puigdemont declared that he will hold an independence referendum this year. Like Us on Facebook Advertisement In his televised New Year's speech, Puigdemont said that he will hold a "legal and binding" vote to allow the Catalans to freely decide for their future through a referendum. The vote is expected to take place in September, and the decision will be based on a resolution passed by the region's parliament where separatists are the majority. However, Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy on Friday dashed any hopes of such a referendum. "It is not possible to hold a referendum that will do away with national sovereignty and the equality of Spaniards," the Prime Minister said, adding that the referendum plans are not going anywhere. Following an inconclusive general election in June last year, Rajoy and his conservative Popular Party recently won opposition support to rule as a minority government. His government has since sanctioned Catalan officials involved in holding the outlawed ballot in 2014. The Prime Minister, on the other hand, has accused the officials fighting for secession of trying to "liquidate" the nation. The region held a consultative ballot in 2004 and recorded a huge majority for independence, but the results were ignored by Spain. Separatists' sentiments in the region have morphed into mass movement in the past five years. This has promoted the growth of a distinct Catalan identity that dates to five centuries back. Advertisement TagsSpain, Catalonia, Catalan independence referendum (Photo : US Army) M777 firing Advertisement The United States will continue its "freedom of navigation operations" (FONOPS) in the South China Sea and will deploy more offensive and defensive weapons on islets or reefs held by its allies in the disputed sea. The loss of the Philippines as an ally due to the pro-communist leanings of president Rodrigo Duterte means the U.S. is left with Vietnam and the Republic of China (Taiwan). Of these countries, Vietnam might likely be more receptive while Taiwan will reject it outright. Like Us on Facebook Advertisement Which might leave the U.S. the option of building its own islands in the South China Sea. As the U.S. ponders its options, the U.S. Army is continuing plans it made in 2016 to deploy its long-range artillery howitzers to friendly islands in the South China Sea. In essence, a new type of ammunition will transform army howitzers and navy cannons into anti-aircraft guns capable of shooting down enemy missiles. The army and the U.S. Navy are undertaking coordinated programs to allow their existing artillery systems to fire the new hypervelocity projectiles (HVPs) designed originally for electromagnetic railguns as missile-killing ammunition for its conventional naval guns and ground artillery systems. Studies by the Department of Defense have revealed HVPs fired from 5 inch (127 mm) Mk-45 guns aboard U.S. Navy warships such as the Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyers, and the 155 mm guns aboard the Zumwalt-class destroyers can neutralize anti-ship missile (AShM) salvoes. AShMs will be the chosen mode of attack by China and Russia against U.S. Navy warships, especially aircraft carriers, in any future conflict. DoD believes "if we can close the fire support with a controlled solution," HVPs will be able to shoot down most of the missiles in a 100 AShM attack. When fired from conventional 5 inch guns, HVPs achieve a speed of Mach 3 (3,700 km/h), half the speed it achieves when fired from a railgun, but more than twice the speed of a conventional high-explosive round. A project of the Office of Naval Research (ONR), HVP is a next-generation, common, low drag, guided projectile for gun systems such as the Navy 5 inch, 155 mm and future railguns. HVP's low drag aerodynamic design enables high-velocity, maneuverability and decreased time-to-target. The high-velocity compact design relieves the need for a rocket motor to extend gun range. The U.S. Army plans similar tests of the HVP with its 155 mm M109A6 Paladin self-propelled howitzers and its M777 155 mm Ultra-Light Towed Howitzers. Firing smaller more accurate rounds improves danger close/collateral damage requirements and provides potential for deeper magazines and improved shipboard safety. The modular design will allow HVP to be configured for multiple gun systems and to address different missions. HVP is being designed to provide lethality and performance enhancements to current and future gun systems. The M777 and the Paladin can be used as a mobile, direct countermeasures to incoming rockets. A key advantage to using a Paladin is that it's a mobile platform that can better adjust to fast-changing, incoming enemy fire. Advertisement TagsUnited States, freedom of navigation operations, hypervelocity projectiles, U.S. Army, South China Sea, M109A6 Paladin self-propelled howitzer, M777 155 mm Ultra-Light Towed Howitzer (Photo : Getty Images) Xinhua has said that Trump is addicted to the social media platform, Twitter, where he dishes on his foreign policies. Advertisement China's state-run news agency, Xinhua, has chided US President-elect Donald Trump for his latest tweets attacking Beijing anew, and for conducting his foreign policy on the social media platform, Twitter. In a commentary titled " Addiction to Twitter Diplomacy is Unwise," the state media said on Tuesday night that Trump's use of Twitter to announce his foreign policy had raised widespread concerns among American politicians and academics. Like Us on Facebook Advertisement The article was published a day after Trump fired a fresh round of attacks against China, accusing Beijing of not doing enough to help contain North Korea's nuclear development program. Child's Play "China has been taking out massive amounts of money & wealth from the US in totally one-sided trade, but won't help with North Korea. Nice!," Trump tweeted on Monday. Irked by Trump's salvo against Beijing, Xinhua slammed the US president-elect saying that "diplomacy is not child's play and you can't run it like a business." The article also cited Trump's recent comments on the United Nations which he said was "just a club for people to have a good time." Diplomatic Protocols "These tweets have broken decades-old diplomatic protocols held by the US, including some anti-China comments," the article said. Trump also tweeted on North Korea's recent threats that it was going to launch an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) directed at the US mainland. Trump stated that Pyongyang does not have the capability to make such kind of missile and that "it (missile launch) would not happen." Trump has repeatedly angered China for sending out tweets critical of Beijing's policies including the recent US drone drama in which Trump called Beijing a thief for seizing an underwater drone that belongs to the US in the waters of the South China Sea. Drone China has since returned the drone to US authorities but not after Trump sent out a barrage of tweets saying Beijing could keep the drone because "we don't need it." "We should tell China that we don't want the drone they stole back. Let them keep it!," he said. Earlier, Trump also tweeted about his anti-China stance, calling Beijing a currency manipulator and lambasting the Asian giant for building a "military complex" in the disputed South China Sea. Advertisement TagsTwitter, Xinhua News Agency, President-elect Donald Trump, North Korea nuclear program, intercontinental ballistic missile, United Nations, diplomatic protocols, US, china (Photo : Getty Images) Indias army chief General Bipin Rawat told a local news channel that if the need arises, India is fully prepared to fight two frontal war against China and Pakistan. Advertisement India's newly appointed army chief has issued a stern warning to China and Pakistan about New Delhi's preparedness for a two-front war, if at all such a situation arises. "As far as the armed forces are concerned, we are tasked to be prepared for a two-front war and I think we are capable of carrying out our task in whatever manner that we may be asked to do by the political hierarchy," General Bipin Rawat told Indian news channel NewsX. Like Us on Facebook Advertisement Rawat, however, stressed that military confrontation with neighboring countries must be used as a last resort and emphasized that all the contagious issues must be resolved through cooperation. Talking about cooperation, he reminded that India is continuously holding meetings with Chinese forces in border areas. "This is to ensure that while we may be competing with each other for space, economic development and prosperity, there are also areas of cooperation," Rawat said. Rawat was appointed as the 27th army chief of India in December 2016. Known as a counter insurgency specialist, Rawat's appointment comes at a time when India's relation with its two rival neighbors - Pakistan and China - has become immensely strained in recent times. India's Relation with China and Pakistan Hitting All Time Low Meanwhile, although New Delhi has never shared a cordial relation with Islamabad and Beijing, its bilateral relationship with both its neighbors has hit a new low during recent years. The vexed issue of Kashmir propelled tension between India and Pakistan to a new unprecedented level, with the Modi government launching surgical strike across the border in October last year. On the other hand, India also shared a tense relation with Beijing at a diplomatic level. New Delhi was left frustrated with the Chinese government's inflexible stance on contiguous issues of Nuclear Supplier Group and Masood Azhar. Beijing has been taking a hardened stance on both issues allegedly at the behest of Pakistan. China and Pakistan's mutual animosity against India stems largely from unresolved border issues, which continue to haunt their bilateral relation even today. Both nations have fought full-fledged war against India to resolve the border issues. Advertisement TagsNew Indian Army Chief, India, India and China, General Bipin Rawat, India and Pakistan, china, Pakistan (Photo : Getty Images) A Chinese consortium has secured a multi-billion dollar contract to to build the world's tallest twin towers in Cambodian capital Phnom Penh. Advertisement A consortium led by Chinese construction company, Sino Great Wall International, won a $2.7 billion contract on Thursday to build possibly one of the world's tallest twin towers in the heart of Cambodian capital Phnom Penh. Reuters reported that the contract will become effective once the consortium, which also includes another Chinese company Wuchang Shipbuilding Industry, finalizes the funding process. Like Us on Facebook Advertisement Both Chinese companies said in a statement that the twin tower project will be located in a high-class area in the Phnom Penh city center. It will include host of facilities such as residential areas, commercial areas, exhibition halls, and hotels, as well as an underground parking lot. The contract will last for five years or 60 months, according to the information revealed by Sino Great Wall's latest filing in the Shenzhen stock exchange. After completion, the 133-storey skyscrapers are poised to become not only the tallest world trade center in the Southeast Asian region but also the tallest twin towers in the world. At present, the 39-story Vattanac Capital building is the tallest twin tower in Cambodia. However, it did not achieve the desired commercial success with only 30 percent occupancy rate in the middle of the previous year. At the global level, the coveted status of the world's tallest twin building goes to the 88-storey Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Other famous twin constructions in the world are JW Marriott Marquis and Emirates Towers in Dubai. China's SPG Global Twin Towers also rank among the world's tallest twin buildings. Advertisement TagsWorld's Tallest Twin Towers, Chinese Engineering Firms, Famous Twin Towers in World, China and Cambodia, Cambodia A court has ruled that a transgender Chinese man was fired illegally, though it cleared the company of discrimination. The man, known as Mr C in court, was born a woman but identifies as a man and generally wears men's clothing. He was sacked after seven days working for a health center in southwest China's Guizhou Province. The court in Guiyang, the provincial capital ordered the company to pay him 843 yuan (US$121) in salary as well as compensation of 1,500 yuan. But last month it decided there was a lack of evidence his dismissal was due to discrimination, according to news website thepaper.cn. Mr C said he was "quite happy" with the result. "It is the first case in China where a sexual minority wins," he said. "It is also a piece of good news for the community." He had sued after losing a case at a labor arbitration panel, which ruled he had been fired for lacking adequate skills. Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people have won wider acceptance in major Chinese cities in recent years but conservative attitudes persist. Last month, a Chinese court ruled against two men who were seeking permission to get married. In 2014, a Beijing court ordered a clinic to pay a gay man compensation after it had administered electric shocks in an attempt to make him heterosexual. (Photo : Getty Images) With tough competition from the Indian manufacturing sector heating up, a popular state-owned Chinese tabloid urged China's manufacturing sector to rise to the occasion and enhance its efficiency. Advertisement A Chinese state-owned tabloid on Wednesday urged Beijing to upgrade its manufacturing industry in a bid to stop big multinational companies from investing in India. An op-ed published in the popular English tabloid The Global Times especially took a critical note of Apple's decision to set a manufacturing unit in the Indian state of Gujarat. Like Us on Facebook Advertisement "If Apple expands in India, more global tech giants may follow suit and China is likely to see a further transfer of the supply chain given India's abundant supply of working-age labour and low labour costs," it said. The nationalistic tabloid warned China that it cannot afford to lose manufacturing jobs as it has not made much headway in improving its local industry and also "while (US President-elect) Trump plans to draw manufacturing jobs back home." It also pointed that India enjoys undue advantage over its neighbor on "low labor costs," claiming that Indian labors charge far less wage than its Chinese counterparts. To counter this advantage, the op-ed advocated Beijing to exploit low labor costs in its central and western regions. "Certainly China has options. The country's central and western regions, with cheaper labour, could become an investment haven for manufacturers as these regions need capital to boost the local economy," the tabloid said. The article also called on the Chinese government to carry out a major overhaul in the manufacturing industry by reorganizing technologies, talents, capital, and other resources. This, it argued, would create a conducive environment for investment and job opportunities. The Indian government over the years has been busying reviving its latent manufacturing sector with its 'Make in India' project, which aims to portray India as an "emerging manufacturing hub" of the world. Many analysts claimed that the 'Make in India' project is partly inspired by China's path-breaking success in manufacturing sector witnessed over the last few decades. Advertisement Tagschina, Chinas Manufacturing Sector, China and India, India Manufacturing Sector, Chinese Economy, India (Photo : YouTube) Long March 7 at the Wenchang Satellite Launch Center. Advertisement China's space program under the control of and funded by the People's Liberation Army (PLA) plans to launch 30 space missions in 2017. If achieved, this year will be the busiest in the history of China's space program since its start in 1960. Like Us on Facebook Advertisement China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) said among the highlights for this year will be the use of the Long March-5 and Long March-7 launch vehicles to carry out most of the missions. State-owned CASC is the main contractor for the Chinese space program. It designs, develops and manufactures a range of spacecraft, launch vehicles, strategic and tactical missile systems and ground equipment for the military-led space program. Despite the stepped-up pace of launches, China's record still pales compared to that of the United States. The U.S. conducted 60 successful launch missions in 2016 and should exceed that number this year. China conducted 22 launch missions in 2016 and 19 in 2015. Wang Yu, general director of the Long March-5 program, said this year is a critical year for China's new generation of launch vehicles. Long March-5 will launch Chang'e-5 lunar probe into space. The probe will land on the Moon, collect samples and return to Earth. After Chang'e-5, China will launch the Chang'e-4 lunar probe in 2018 to achieve mankind's first soft landing on the far side of the Moon. Long March-7, the more powerful version of Long March-2, will loft Tianzhou-1, China's first cargo spacecraft, into low Earth orbit in the first half of 2017, said Wang Zhaoyao, director of China Manned Space Engineering Office. Tianzhou-1 will dock with Tiangong-2 space lab and conduct propellant experiments. China successfully tested Long March-7 rocket in June 2015 and has shifted to new generation rockets that reduce the use of toxic rocket fuels. Over the next five years, China will provide space services such as satellite communications to countries involved in the One Belt, One Road (OBOR) initiative, a development strategy and framework proposed by President Xi Jinping. OBOR focuses on connectivity and cooperation among countries in Eurasia and China. It consists of consists of two main components: the land-based "Silk Road Economic Belt" (SREB) and oceangoing "Maritime Silk Road" (MSR). Advertisement TagsChina's space program, People's Liberation Army, 30 space missions in 2017, China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, Chang'e-5 lunar probe, Chang'e-4 lunar probe, Long March 7, Tianzhou-1 A man was recently taken into custody for allegedly setting fire to a New Hampshire church and for stabbing two residents at a condominium complex. SRNNews.com reports that 27-year-old Anthony Boisvert of New Hampshire is in custody with his bail set at $500,000. He is facing charges of arson and of stabbing two people. He reportedly set fire to the historic First Baptist Church in Lebanon on Dec. 28. Police were not able locate Boisvert at that time. The church was completely destroyed. The New Hampshire Union Leader also reported that Boisvert set another fire on Mascoma St. Through investigation, the Lebanon Police Department developed information that both fires were deliberately set and began pursuing a person of interest," according to a statement by the department. Then, on Jan. 1, he stabbed two people at a Lebanon condominium couple. The victims of the attack sustained serious injuries. They identified Boisvert as the assailant. Police were able to locate him and bring him into custody soon after. During his arraignment, Boisvert reportedly began yelling. He is seeking an attorney to represent him. Boisvert admitted to being the perpetrator of both crimes, adding that he set an American flag on fire at the church. Publication date: January 4, 2017 A retired Anglican bishop in northern Uganda is agitating for restorative justice in a region where the wounds of a brutal war unleashed by the Lords Resistance Army persist. Bishop Macleord Baker Ochola II, 84, has been responding to community concerns that the modern court system may not deliver justice for the people who suffered in the complex conflict. In 1980s and 90s, the LRA rebels, led by Joseph Kony, terrorized civilians in northern Uganda, abducting children and forcefully recruiting boys as soldiers and girls as sex slaves. Kony turned child soldiers into killing machines against their own community. By 2005, the LRA had abducted over 60,000 children and killed more than 100,000 people, while displacing 2.5 million people. Ochola buried the dead, walked with returning child soldiers and at one point was forced into exile. The conflict took a toll on his family. His wife died in 1997 after a land mine blast hit a car she was traveling in. Ten years earlier, his daughter committed suicide after being gang-raped by the rebels. But Ochola has refused to remain bitter, choosing to promote peace, forgiveness and reconciliation among his people. If there is no process of reconciliation, there is no healing, and if there is no healing there is no restoration and justice, said Ochola, who served the Diocese of Kitgum. Healing and restoration brings transformation of life for those affected. The International Criminal Court in The Hague indicted five top leaders of the rebel group in 2005. Last month, it put on trial Dominic Ongwen, a 41-year-old former rebel commander who was abducted at age 10. He faces 70 charges, including murder, attempted murder, rape, torture, sexual slavery and forced marriage. He is the first former child soldier to appear before court. In the name of God, I deny all these charges, Ongwen said in court. Ochola has been urging the court to carefully reconsider the circumstances under which children-turned-commanders were trapped in LRA captivity. While he does not deny the courts charges, he fears the court may not offer restorative justice but is seeking punishment or retribution. He is also concerned it will divide the community, which is in dire need of unity in the aftermath of LRA atrocities. Like many other cultural and religious leaders in Uganda, he stresses a traditional justice system known as Mato Oput, which he thinks is more holistic. Centered on forgiveness, it involves truth telling, compensation and a ritual in which food is shared and the accused drinks bitter herbs. It brings restoration to broken human relationships, transforms lives and heals the hearts of those involved, said Ochola. The court system, which is retributive, promotes polarization, alienating both sides. Mato Oput mirrors many of the forgiveness and reconciliation efforts central to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in post-apartheid South Africa and the Gacaca courts used in Rwanda after the 1994 genocide. Mato Oput is the justice system of the Acholi people of northern Uganda, the community most affected by the LRA conflict. The LRA left northern Uganda in 2005 and is now believed to operate along the border region of the Central African Republic, South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The LRA is still at large and they are still fighting so we must continue with the work, said Ochola. In 1997, Ochola was one of the founders of the Acholi Religious Leaders Peace Initiative, an interfaith organization led by cultural and religious leaders that sought to peacefully end the LRA insurgency. ARLPI has been facilitating grass-roots and intercommunal reconciliation and peaceful coexistence. One aspect of that is trying to help the government and LRA go through a process of truth telling. This would involve accepting full responsibility and making public acknowledgment of what one has done, said Ochola. One problem, he said, is the governments lack of political will to dismantle the LRA. In the case of Ongwen, Ochola had hoped the former rebel would be brought to the community for truth telling. Since that did not happen, Ongwen will likely refuse to accept responsibility. As a victim, he continues to be punished twice, said Ochola. Sheikh Musa Khalil, a northern Uganda Muslim leader and the ARLPI vice chairman, backs Ochola, saying that with Ongwen, the traditional system could have achieved more. It mirrors what is in the Quran and Bible, said Khalil. Its based on forgiveness. We feel he should have been brought to us. The bishop believes a change is needed in the general wordview that when a child is abducted as in the case of northern Uganda he or she must take full responsibility in adulthood for any crimes committed while a captive. For northern Uganda, he said, this is wrong because the children had their humanity destroyed. Fredrick Nzwili is a reporter based in Nairobi Courtesy: Religion News Service Publication date: January 4, 2017 The LORD is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. He fulfills the desires of those who fear him; he hears their cry and saves them. Most members of the 115th Congress identify themselves as Christian, according to a new Pew Research Center study released on Tuesday. The study showed that almost 91 percent (90.7 percent) of the 115th Congress identify themselves as Christians. The percentage is slightly lower than that of the 114th Congress, in which almost 92 percent (91.8 percent) identified themselves as Christian. Most of the Republicans in Congress identify themselves as Christians. Only two Republicans do not, and instead identify themselves as Jewish. Among the Democratic members of Congress, 80 percent identify as Christian. Others identify themselves as Buddhist, Hindu, and Muslim. One member identifies as Unitarian Universalist, and one member identifies as religiously unaffiliated. One of the aspects of the study results that was noted by the researchers was the significantly high number of those identifying as Christian in Congress despite their recent studies showing that those who identify as Christian in the general American population has been on the decline. In contrast, though Pew had found that 23 percent of Americans identify themselves as religiously unaffiliated in a separate study, that population is represented by only one member of Congress. What explains the difference? Why have the nones grown in the public, but not among Congress? Greg Smith, associate director for research at Pew, told Religion News Service. One possible explanation is people tell us they would rather vote for an elected representative who is religious than for one who is not religious. Among those who identify as Christian, the number of Protestants in Congress has seen a decline over the decades, while the population of Catholic members of Congress has grown. About 56 percent of the 115th Congress identifies as Protestant, a decline from 75 percent who did so in the 87th Congress in 1961. Meanwhile, Catholics make up some 31 percent of the new Congress, an increase from 19 percent in 1961. The rush to sign kids up for summer camps is always intense, but this past summer, few filled up as quickly as the one targeted at girls interested in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics). My family lives in a college town, home to one of the top-ranked science schools in the country, and getting my scientifically curious nine-year-old daughter into that camp felt like shooting for the stars. We didnt even make the waiting list for the camp last summer. However, this last week I did make the long drive into the city to take my daughter to see an early screening of Hidden Figures, which in some ways offers something better than a STEM camp. Summer camps and chemistry kits under the Christmas tree do much to kindle curiosity in the sciences, but this movie presented an opportunity to fan that curiosity into flame with a potent story of possibility. This, after all, is the power of fictional and nonfictional role models: They give concrete shape to inchoate longings. The stories of Katherine G. Johnson (played by Taraji P. Henson), Dorothy Vaughan (Octavia Spencer), and Mary Jackson (Janelle Monae) provide compelling inspiration. Adapted from Margot Lee Shetterlys book, Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race, the film centers on these three African American women who worked at NASA as computers calculating the complex mathematics needed to make space travel possible. Vaughan was an expert in programming and the first female African American promoted to personnel supervisor at what would eventually become NASA, and Jackson was the first female African American aeronautical engineer. The film gives ... 1 home Faith Catholic diocese files complaint against Obama administration's transgender health care regulation An organization of 60 Catholic archdioceses and dioceses has filed a lawsuit against the new Obamacare ruling that will require religious healthcare providers to offer gender transition procedures and abortion services. The regulation in question comes from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). It implements Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act, which mandates against discrimination based sex, age, disability, race, color, or national origin while citing Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972. The HHS ruling requires hospitals and health care providers to provide transgender services such as hormonal treatments, counseling, and surgeries that would remove or transform sexual organs of patients seeking gender reassignment, and for group health plans to cover such procedures and services. The HHS regulation, which was set to take effect starting Jan. 1, does not include religious exemption, which means that Catholic healthcare institutions and professionals, medical practitioners, and employers will have to provide or cover the abovementioned procedures even if such are against the teachings of the Catholic faith. The complaint was filed in the United States District Court of North Dakota on Wednesday by the Diocese of Fargo, Catholic Charities of North Dakota, and the Catholic Benefits Association, which represents over 880 Catholic employers, 5,000 parishes, and 90,000 employees, according to The Christian Post. Catholic Benefits Association chairman Archbishop William E. Lori of Baltimore said in a statement, as reported by Catholic News Service, "For decades, Congress and the courts have understood the term 'sex' in federal law to mean biological sex a male and female." He added, "By redefining 'sex' to mean both 'gender identity' and 'termination of pregnancy,' the Obama administration is not only trying to sidestep Congress and impose radical new health care mandates on hospitals and employers, it is creating a moral problem for Catholic employers that must be addressed." According to Bishop John T. Folda of Fargo, they do not discriminate based on a person's orientation, but their hands are tied when it comes to paying for or performing procedures that go against the Catholic faith. In a statement released by the Catholic Benefits Association, he said, "We ask only for the freedom to serve consistent with our conscience and our Catholic faith." home US Less than half of Americans believe Transgenderism occurs naturally A new survey from the Williams Institute and Ipsos indicated that less than half of Americans believe that being transgender is a natural occurrence. The poll revealed that 20 percent agreed that being transgender is natural, Pink News reported. Twenty-four percent said that they somewhat agreed. About 21 percent said they strongly disagreed while 16.6 percent somewhat disagreed. The rest, which makes up 17.9 percent of the respondents, say that they do not know. As many as 44.6 percent of American respondents said that people should be allowed to switch their legal sex after complying with medical or government criteria. Only 22.7 percent said that people should be allowed to change their recorded sex at will. At least 23 percent said they are opposed to any sex-related change to identity documents while 17.1 percent did not offer a reply. According to Buzzfeed News, the survey was conducted online from Oct. 21 to Nov. 4, 2016 in 22 countries. The surveyors also conducted in-person interviews with 610 adult respondents in India from Aug. 5 to 29, 2016. The results show that 70 percent of respondents from all countries agree that transgenders should be allowed to have surgery and should be protected by the government from discrimination. In 15 countries, a majority agreed that transgenders should be able to use restrooms according to their gender identity. The respondents from India (71.6 percent), Spain (76.7 percent) and Argentina (72.4 percent) were the most supportive. In the U.S., only 47 percent agreed. In Russia, 53 percent disagreed that transgenders should be able to use bathrooms associated with their gender identity. A separate report from BuzzFeed News stated that the people who personally know someone who is transgender are more likely to support transgender rights in most countries. Fifty percent of the respondents in Brazil said that they know a transgender person. In Spain, only 25 percent reported familiarity with a transgender. Spain received the highest score with 81 points in public support for transgender rights based on the answers of the respondents. Sweden came in second with 77 points, followed by Argentina and Canada, with each receiving 76 points. The U.S. came in at 10th place with 66 points while Russia came in last with 44 points. home Life Max Lucado reminds Christians who doubt their salvation that 'God does not let go' Pastor Max Lucado issued a strong reminder to Christians who have doubts about their salvation that Jesus made a promise that He will not let go of them. In a daily devotional posted on his website, Lucado noted that many Christians are wondering whether they are really saved. "Our behavior gives us reason to wonder. We're strong one day, weak the next. Devoted one hour, flagging the next. Believing, then unbelieving," said Lucado. "Conventional wisdom draws a line through the middle of these fluctuations. Perform above this line, and enjoy God's acceptance. But dip below it, and expect a pink slip from Heaven. Salvation then becomes a matter of timing and you just hope you die on an upswing," he continued. Lucado said that Jesus gave a very strong answer regarding the question of salvation and pointed to John 10:28, which stated: "And I give them eternal life, and they shall never lose it or perish throughout the ages ... and no one is able to snatch them out of My hand." "God doesn't let go and He won't let go of you!" the pastor remarked. In his devotional in April 2016, Lucado emphasized that Jesus is the only one who can provide salvation. He noted that many historians have put Christ on the same page as Muhammad, Moses, Confucius and other spiritual leaders, but the Bible states that Jesus is the only path to God. In another devotional published in February 2015, he pointed out that there are no examples in scripture of people who gained salvation and lost it. Lucado explained that people who have no assurance of salvation cannot experience peace or joy. He encouraged his readers to put their trust in God and reminded them that God's love, faithfulness and performance does not depend on believers. Christian blogger Matt Moore also made the same observation that many Christians struggle with the question of salvation. He stated that many believers have doubted the legitimacy of their faith as soon as they began following Christ. Moore cautioned against seeking a mystical experience and said that the only way to dispel doubts is to grow in obedience. He encouraged Christians to focus on Christ and continue to follow his commandments in order to be certain about their salvation. home US Planned Parenthood files lawsuit to prevent Texas from cutting off Medicaid funds Planned Parenthood has filed a lawsuit on Friday asking for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction against Texas to prevent the state from cutting off the organization's Medicaid funding. In December, the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) announced that Planned Parenthood will no longer receive taxpayer money through the Medicaid program. HHSC Inspector General Stuart Bowen said that the undercover videos, which allegedly showed Planned Parenthood officials discussing the sales of aborted baby parts, was the main reason behind the decision. Around $4.2 million in taxpayer money was received by the abortion provider through Medicaid in 2015. Texas is set to stop sending the funds to Planned Parenthood on Jan. 21 unless the judge grants an injunction. Federal judges have prevented the efforts of other states such as Arkansas, Alabama, Kansas and Mississippi to prevent the abortion chain from receiving Medicaid funding. "Courts have unanimously prevented these terminations and agreed that preventing Medicaid enrollees from obtaining care from the qualified provider of their choice violates federal law," the Planned Parenthood lawyers wrote in their lawsuit, according to The Guardian. Bowen said that the undercover videos showed that Planned Parenthood "violated state and federal law." "Your actions violate generally accepted medical standards, as reflected in state and federal law, and are Medicaid program violations that justify termination," Bowen wrote in his letter to the abortion provider. In its petition, Planned Parenthood insisted that it did not commit illegal acts regarding its handling of aborted baby parts. It argued that the state's decision to cut off its Medicaid funding would cause difficulties for low-income women seeking its health services. "Women and men who are unable to obtain family planning care, or encounter delays in obtaining it, can face devastating consequences, including undetected cancers and diseases," the petition stated. "Delays in obtaining contraception will result in unintended pregnancies, many of which may end in abortion," it continued. Last month, a new Department of Health and Human Services regulation was approved by President Barack Obama to prevent states from blocking Title X funding from health care providers that perform abortions. According to Life News, Planned Parenthood performs around 320,000 abortions in the U.S. and receives $550 million in taxpayer money nationally each year. home Entertainment Ray Comfort's 'The Atheist Delusion' receives nomination at science film festival Ray Comfort's documentary "The Atheist Delusion," which purported to "destroy atheism with one scientific question," has been nominated for an award at the Raw Science Film Festival. "We are so honored to have this film officially recognized by such an important film festival," said Comfort in a statement released on Monday. "To be recognized for our scientific approach and proofs of what is normally dismissed as simple religion is humbling. In the argument of religion versus science, we hope to show people that it's not either/or, but that science supports the existence of the Creator, and our creator is the very author of science," he added. The panel of judges at the festival include an Oscar winner, an explorer with the National Geographic, an MIT Board of Governors member and other distinguished jurists. The film features Comfort challenging several atheists on their beliefs and trying to convince them of God's existence. He points to verses in the Bible that made declarations about the Universe that were scientifically proven thousands of years later. Comfort has admitted that the film is unlikely to change the mind of hardened atheists, but he believes that those who are open-minded will be convinced of God's existence. The movie received low ratings on IMDB after it premiered at the Ark Encounter last October. He accused atheists of down-voting the film and said that it was targeted because it "disproves atheism with one scientific question." Hemant Mehta of The Friendly Atheist blog insisted that there is "nothing scientific" about Comfort's film, and he questioned the credibility of the Raw Science Film Festival. He claimed that past winners have said that they did not receive any prize money or recognition. "So it's a festival that damn near anyone can be nominated for as long as you fill out the entry form and one where even the winners aren't entirely thrilled," he remarked. The movie was made available for free on YouTube on the same day of the premiere. It has received endorsements from prominent Christian figures such as Lousiana Sen. Ryan Gatti, Answers in Genesis CEO Ken Ham, Fox News contributor Sandy Rios, American Family Association President Tim Wildmon, TV Host Jason Benham and World Net Daily CEO Joseph Farah. home US Repealing Obamacare is 'first order of business', says Mike Pence President-elect Donald Trump has made repealing President Barack Obama's signature healthcare law the "first order of business" and intends a smooth transition to a "market-based" medical insurance system, Vice President-elect Mike Pence on Wednesday. Democratic leaders met with Obama on Capitol Hill to discuss how they can protect the law and accused Republicans of wanting rip apart the American healthcare system with no plan on how to replace it. Trump and his fellow Republicans who control the U.S. Congress risk causing chaos in the health insurance market in scuttling the 2010 Affordable Care Act, which is known as Obamacare, as well as political backlash against Republicans. Pence met with Republican congressional leaders. Afterward neither he nor House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan offered few details on what a Republican-backed replacement for Obamacare would look like. Ryan said lawmakers will take action that does not "pull the rug out from anybody." Obama met on Wednesday morning with Democratic legislators, including U.S. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, to discuss how they can protect the Democratic-backed law, which was passed nearly seven years ago over unified Republican opposition. Obama "encouraged us to fight," Democratic Representative Elijah Cummings told reporters. The law has enabled upward of 20 million Americans who previously had no medical insurance to get coverage and is considered Obama's top legislative achievement. Republicans, who will control both Congress and the White House in 2017, condemn it as a government overreach. "The first order of business is to keep our promise to repeal Obamacare and replace it with the kind of healthcare reform that will lower the cost of health insurance without growing the size of government," Pence said at a news conference. Pence said it must be done in a way that does not "work a hardship" on the economy or Americans who gained insurance through Obamacare. Pence said Trump, who takes office Jan. 20, will work in concert with congressional leaders for a "legislative and executive action agenda for an orderly and smooth transition to a market-based healthcare reform system." Ryan said Republicans have a plan and "plenty of ideas" to replace Obamacare but offered few specifics. Trump had said earlier on Twitter that Republicans "must be careful in that the Dems own the failed ObamaCare disaster, with its poor coverage and massive premium increases." "Don't let the Schumer clowns out of this web," he added, referring to Senate Democratic leader Charles Schumer. Obama walked into a Democratic caucus meeting on Capitol Hill accompanied by House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi. He ignored a shouted question from a reporter about how to stop repeal of the healthcare law. "I think the issue here is the impact on people's lives," Democratic Senator Jack Reed said. "Many people don't really understand that they're protected by Obamacare." Reed said Democrats will "point out that you are taking the protections away and you have nothing in place." home World Sudanese pastor acquitted of capital crimes but three more Christians remain on trial Rev. Kuwa Shamaal, a Sudanese pastor who was accused of crimes related to national security, was released on Monday after he was acquitted of all charges against him. However, three of his co-accused are still on trial. Shamaal was arrested from his home on Dec. 18, 2015. The judge found no sufficient evidence against him and dismissed the charges ranging from spying to inciting hatred against the government, Morning Star News reported. "Yes, he was released today after the court found that he was not guilty of the charges brought against him," said attorney Muhanad Nur, who is one of the lawyers defending Shamaal and the other three Christians. The court will continue to hear the case against Rev. Hassan Abduraheem, Petr Jasek and Adbulmonem Abdumawla, who were accused of crimes against the state. The next hearing will be on Jan. 9, 2017. The case against the men stems from their attempts to help Ali Omer, a young man who was injured in a demonstration in 2013. After learning about Omer's situation, Jasek, a Czech aid worker, went to Khartoum to meet him and donated $5,000 for his treatment. The meeting was set up by Abduraheem. Abdumawla was also collecting money for Omer's treatment. Jasek was stopped and searched at the Khartoum Airport by National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) agents as he was leaving Sudan. He was arrested, and his personal belongings, including his mobile phone, laptop and camera, were seized by the authorities. The trial against the four men had been subjected to many delays. The judges were said to be out of the country during the scheduled hearings. A Khartoum church leader alleged that the government is delaying the trial on purpose in order to avoid releasing the Christians. Christian Solidarity Worldwide's (CSW's) Chief Executive Mervyn Thomas welcomed the acquittal of Shamaal and called for the release of the other three Christians. "We urge the Sudanese government to ensure the immediate and unconditional release of these men, who have been detained since December 2015, simply for an act of kindness," Thomas said in a statement. Beaten During Miscarriages, Imprisoned And Now Suffering With Cancer: The Chinese Christian Activist Urgently In Need Of Help A Christian woman in China who was beaten repeatedly by officials and suffered two miscarriages as a result is in need of urgent cancer treatment that she cannot afford, according to a Christian charity. China Aid reported that Huang Yan, a 47-year-old human rights defender, has been refused a necessary operation for her ovarian cancer, despite previously having undergone one in the autumn of 2013. The non-profit organisation said that "public security bureau officials" beat Huang in 2010 and 2012 and she lost her unborn children both times. According to China Aid, "during the second instance the officials burst into the bathroom, where she had just miscarried her child, and continued to abuse her." At the time of that second attack, her husband was reportedly taken to the public security bureau "and received injuries at the hands of the authorities." Since then, Huang developed cancer on top of diabetes and other threatening conditions. According to China Aid, Huang suspects that medical staff were pressured by government officials not to allow her treatment because of her human rights work with other Christians. "Recently, she arrived in a safe environment and is awaiting the approval of a medical visa to Taiwan," the charity said. "If the Taiwanese government refuses to grant her a visa, she is in a location where she can receive medical treatment as a backup plan. However, she needs financial assistance in order to be able to have this important procedure". China Aid is currently taking emergency donations on her behalf. On 26 November, Huang was arrested on what China Aid called "falsified charges of spreading false terrorist information." Then, when she was transferred to Guangzhou No. 2 Detention Centrelate last year, her charge was changed to "obstructing official business." The charity reported that while Huang was imprisoned, she was treated at a military police hospital, where "she was restrained with 23-pound and 15-pound shackles, subjected to 12 ultrasounds in four days, and coerced to take a drug. The 15-pound restraints remained on her ankles for so long that they began to bleed and waste away." China Aid "supports Chinese Christians who are persecuted for their faith like Huang Yan, and assists persecuted Christians in promoting religious freedom, human rights, and rule of law." Britain's EU Envoy Slams Government's 'Muddled Thinking' In Resignation Letter Britain's outgoing ambassador to the European Union has said Prime Minister Theresa May's negotiating objectives for Brexit were unknown to her government's representatives in Brussels. In a letter to staff announcing his resignation less than three months before London triggers formal exit talks, envoy Ivan Rogers made a scarcely-veiled attack on the government's Brexit strategy, which he implied had not been thoroughly prepared. He referred to "the uncertainty that I know, from our many discussions in the autumn, you are all feeling about the role of UKRep in the coming months and years of negotiations over Brexit". In a revelation bound to be embarrassing to the government, he said: ""We do not yet know what the government will set as negotiating objectives for the UK's relationship with the EU after exit." He also warned that EU negotiators would be better resourced than Britain's, saying: "Serious multilateral negotiating experience is in short supply in Whitehall, and that is not the case in the [European] Commission or in the Council." In an implicit criticism of his political masters, Rogers told his team: "I hope you will continue to challenge ill-founded arguments and muddled thinking and that you will never be afraid to speak the truth to those in power." Evidently attacking an ideologically-based approach to Brexit, he said: "Contrary to the beliefs of some, free trade does not just happen when it is not thwarted by authorities: increasing market access to other markets and consumer choice in our own, depends on the deals, multilateral, plurilateral and bilateral that we strike, and the terms that we agree. I shall advise my successor to continue to make these points." Rogers has previously said a trade deal with the EU might take 10 years to strike, angering Brexit supporters who believe it will be a straightforward process. Additional reporting by Reuters. Christian Arrested Over Blasphemy Claims In Pakistan A Christian in Pakistan has been arrested by police after allegedly committing blasphemy. Babu Shahbaz, 41, was arrested on December 30 and is now being detained in Lahore, according to the Centre for Legal Aid, Assistance and Settlement (CLAAS), and the British Pakistani Christian Association (BPCA). Shahbaz is accused of committing blasphemy after his name was found on Quranic pages scattered in the street. He has been charged with section 295B of the Pakistan Penal Code. However, CLAAS says that Shahbaz is illiterate and does not know how to read. The complainant against Shahbaz is Haji Nadeem, a rival shopkeeper with an alleged rivalry with Shahbaz's family. In his statement he reported that while on the way to the mosque for prayer, he and others found 100 torn Quranic pages inscribed with Shahbaz's name scattered in the street. Shahbaz is married with two sons, and has been an evangelist for 15 years, organising healing prayer meetings at his home in Kamahan village. It is alleged that Shahbaz's meetings were drawing numbers from Peer Baba Gujjar's following, triggering animoisty against Shahbaz. CLAAS reports that Nadeem, Guijar and other local Muslims were unhappy with Shahbaz's growing popularity and have implicated him in a false charge of blasphemy. Shahbaz's family sought the help of CLAAS on the day of the arrest, and have been promised the family food, shelter, and legal aid. Police have insisted that a fair investigation will take place, however the incident has incited violence from some Muslims towards local Christians, forcing many to flee in fear. Major Nathaniel Sahid, from the Salvation Army Church in Kamahan, told the BCPA: "Local Christians are terrified, we are getting threats from local Muslim men that are community will be attacked. If we leave our homes will be robbed, if we stay we could get beaten, robbed or even killed. It is sad that a petty jealousy can lead to such hatred and the persecution of innocent people." Wilson Chowdhry, chairman of the BPCA, said: "This latest blasphemy case highlights the little progress made by the Government of Pakistan towards improving the rights of minorities under their protection... Britain and the US have both maintained Pakistan as their largest foreign aid recipient for over a decade. The influence this provides them should be used as a lever to bring hope to minorities, instead it seems only to prolong the horror that Christians and other minorities face." Nasir Saeed, director of CLAAS-UK, said that the misuse of Pakistan's blasphemy law continues to increase against Christians and other minorities, and is considered to be a root cause of persecution. "I wish the matter is resolved out of court as soon as possible, otherwise Shahbaz's fate will be the same as the Aasia Bibi, Sawan Masih, Zaffar Bhatti and many others who have been languishing in jails for years." Saeed said. "If the government does not change this law sadly we can expect several reports of false cases of blasphemy against religious minorities stemming from property issues, professional and business jealously and family vendettas in 2017." He added: "Blasphemy laws clearly violate international human rights treaties ratified by the Pakistani government, therefore it is the duty of the international community to build pressure on the Pakistani government to fulfil their international obligations and bring their law in line with these treaties." Church In Cairo Suicide Bomb Blast Fully Restored - Right Down To The Icons An Egyptian church in which a suicide bomber killed 27 people on 11 December has been fully restored, the Coptic news site Watani reports. The Boutrossiya chapel, which lies next door to the Coptic Orthodox Cathedral of St. Mark in Cairo, was restored following a pledge from President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi that it would be ready for Coptic Christmas celebrations on 7 January. A week ahead of that the church, which is consecrated to St. Peter and St. Paul, reopened on New Year's Eve. On New Year's Day, the Coptic leader Pope Tawadros II presided over Mass and then met with the families of the victims of the attack over breakfast in the church hall. It was initially reported that a woman had left a bag in the church which later exploded. But the Egyptian government later said that Mahmoud Shafik, a 22-year-old radicalised Muslim, had detonated a suicide vest at the scene. Three of his accomplices were arrested. For the reopening, some of the walls and columns were left pockmarked by shrapnel from the blast, as a "testimony and remembrance" of the victims. The Armed Forces' construction department carried out the major repairs, to the wooden roof, the doors and the windows. Damaged chandeliers were replaced by old-style ones that had been kept in storage, and new pews and drapes were brought in. Meanwhile, a team of Italian specialists in icon restoration are handling the delicate work on the icons which date back to the outset of the 20th century and were painted by the Italian Primo Panciroli, Watani reported. At the time of the attack, Pope Tawadros II denounced it as "not just a disaster for the church but a disaster for the whole nation". He added: "Those who commit acts such as this do not belong to Egypt at all, even if they are on its land." Those killed in the blast were given a state funeral, attended by Sisi. But there is reportedly a growing feeling among many Copts that Sisi is presiding over a culture of impunity among those who attack Christians in Egypt, especially in towns like that of Minya, 140 miles south of Cairo. Christians were repeatedly targeted in Minya during 2016. In May, a 70-year-old woman in the town of Karam was paraded naked through the streets after being accused of having an affair with a Muslim. A database compiled by the Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy lists 54 incidents against religious minorities in Egypt during last year. Dismayed By Homelessness In Tunbridge Wells: How Ten Churches Are Working Together To Help A cross-denominational group of ten churches is providing accommodation and three meals a day for homeless people amid the bitterly cold conditions this winter. The Tunbridge Wells Churches Winter Shelter, which is now in its sixth year, rotates between eleven church halls across the Kent town. The shelter, which runs this week until 5 March, provides 12 beds, breakfast, a takeaway lunch and a two course dinner. But with the help of a support worker, the shelter also helps the 15 homeless people known to sleep rough in Tunbridge Wells find permanent accommodation as well as other practical steps such as registering with a GP. "We do a rough sleeper count annually and at the last count we found 15 people sleeping rough in Tunbridge Wells, that doesn't take into account the hidden homeless," the project's manager, Wendy Hogg told Christian Today. "We are well supported by people from the churches in Tunbridge Wells and also from the local community," added Hogg, who has the support of 180 volunteers. "We welcome volunteers from anywhere. "Virtually no day goes by when someone doesn't ring offering something - a pile of towels or food or something." But the shelter is about much more than physical provisions. "It's not just about shelter it's about helping people move on and find appropriate accommodation," said Hogg. "We have a support worker who works with the homeless and tries to help as the system can be hard to negotiate knowing how to apply to local hostels, filling in paperwork and so on. "Our aim is that people are in a better condition than when they came into the shelter. We maybe get them on the housing register, get them registered with a GP those kind of practical things." The staff and the team leaders are all Christians from various denominations. "We all work together very well whatever our backgrounds," said Hogg. "Logistically there is a lot of work because we have to pick everything up and move it the next night. We move around a lot." The Times of Tunbridge Wells reported that the opening of the shelter this year comes in the wake of an incident demonstrating how vulnerable the homeless are in the area. Last month a man who was sleeping in a car park found his bedding and clothes had been set alight and destroyed. The fire brigade and police attended the scene. The local newspaper reported that the 30-year-old man, who is of Polish descent, has since been provided with new clothing and bedding by members of the public after two local teenagers launched campaigns on social media. Hogg told the Times of Tunbridge Wells: "The aim is twofold: The first thing is to get rough sleepers off the streets at the coldest time of the year because they can die out there. And you know how cold it has been in the last few days. "Then we provide them with intensive support so that they can move on when the shelter closes in March. Nine weeks is not always long enough to get people into accommodation so I carry on that work after the shelter closes, all year round until we get a good outcome from that situation." The project is funded by the Churches for Tunbridge Wells group and also receives a contribution from the borough council. If you would like to help the Tunbridge Wells Churches Winter Shelter please call 07513 377951 or email office.twcws@gmail.com Fat Cat Wednesday And GK Chesterton: What A Great Christian Apologist Has To Say About Equality The sums involved are stupefying. Apparently the median pay for a FTSE chief executive in 2015 was 4 million, or 1,000 an hour. The national living wage is 7.20. Hence the accusation: the people who earn this (for a given value of the word "earn") are Fat Cats. The image is of an obese, pampered feline, gazing contemptuously at the unwashed toilers by whose labours it subsists and for whose welfare it has not the slightest regard (dogs, as we all know, have owners; cats have staff). It's not a pretty picture and the label was too much for one high-flyer. Ian Gorham, chief executive of investment firm Hargreaves Lansdown is leaving the firm and not up taking a similar role, according to the Telegraph. He said: "When you wake up every morning and you're trying to work hard and do a good job like everyone in the country, you don't want to read about how you're a fatcat. It's become quite abusive and I don't think it's a good thing for the country." Well: perhaps. And of course, everyone knows the 'Fat Cat' label is often unfair. These people are hugely talented, driven and successful. They work extremely hard and get results for their companies. Some of them are probably very nice. But maybe what isn't a good thing for the country is that there is such a huge wealth gap between rich and poor. Because for every super-rich executive there are thousands who are Just About Managing, and many more who are not managing at all. And if we want to see a society where every human being is free to flourish in body, mind and spirit as God intended, we have to question whether this is right. There are at least two reasons why it might not be. First, unequal societies don't work as well as more equal ones. In their book The Spirit Level: Why More Equal Societies Almost Always Do Better which has been robustly criticised and robustly defended Kate Pickett and Richard Wilkinson show "the pernicious effects that inequality has on societies: eroding trust, increasing anxiety and illness, [and] encouraging excessive consumption". For each of eleven different health and social problems: physical health, mental health, drug abuse, education, imprisonment, obesity, social mobility, trust and community life, violence, teenage pregnancies, and child well-being, outcomes are significantly worse in more unequal rich countries. But there's a second reason that is more troubling. Money is power, and power cannot be entrusted into the hands of the unaccountable few. Christians shouldn't pretend that the Bible has a blueprint for an economic system; it was written in very different times. But one principle is that the rulers and the rich are to operate under exactly the same moral and legal system as everyone else. The story of Naboth's vineyard is told to drive home just that point: kings and queens can't just do as they please. One of the greatest Christian apologists of the last century was GK Chesterton. A fierce critic of socialism, he was the last person to argue for a redistribution of wealth in the name of a spurious equality. But as an independent-minded Conservative, he saw the huge damage to the fabric of society caused by the concentration of wealth in the hands of class of wealthy individuals. He argued for a "Peasant Proprietorship" in which everyone would have enough to be able to live a decent family life, and that to achieve this "the strong centres of modern English property must swiftly or slowly be broken up". "Property" at the end of the 19th century generated the same sort of wealth as the commercial and financial sectors today. Chesterton drew a lesson from a public health measure of the time requiring poor children to have their heads shaved as a precaution against lice. He said: "Now the case for this particular interference was this, that the poor are pressed down from above into such stinking and suffocating underworlds of squalor, that poor people must not be allowed to have hair, because in their case it would mean lice in the hair. Therefore, the doctors propose to abolish the hair. It never seems to have occurred to them to abolish the lice." And, he continues: "In the same way, if it should ever happen that poor children, screaming with toothache, disturbed any schoolmaster or artistic gentlemen, it would be easy to pull out all the teeth of the poor; if their nails were disgustingly dirty, their nails could be plucked out; if their noses were indecently blown, their noses could be cut off. The appearance of our humbler fellow-citizens could be quite strikingly simplified before we had done with him." So, he says: "It never seems to strike these people that the lesson of lice in the slums is the wrongness of slums, not the wrongness of hair." Chesterton was a great thinker and a great writer who saw what was wrong in his society among other things, that a few people had far, far too much, and that a great many people had not nearly enough. When that happens, poverty becomes moralised and the poor are blamed or ignored. Society works for the rich, not the poor and what else drove the massive anti-establishment reactions in the UK and the US last year, and the widespread disgust with how international financial institutions have treated Greece? When it takes some very wealthy individuals four days to earn what others do in a year and what many don't do at all there is something alarmingly unbalanced in how our society works. You don't have to be a socialist to see that, any more than Chesterton was; you just need to pay attention. Follow Mark Woods on Twitter: @RevMarkWoods France's Front National Lashes Out At The Catholic Church Over Refugees Three leaders of the French nationalist party Front National have hit out at French bishops for supporting refugees. They demanded that Catholic leaders stay out of politics and concentrate instead on "filling their churches". In one of several post-Christmas radio interviews given by the party figures, the party's vice-president Louis Aliot complained about the attitude of the bishops towards the Front. "I've never seen a large majority of Catholics voting for us," he said. "I've seen a large majority of bishops spit in our face, one has to say, and systemically denigrate the Front National, its leaders and its policies." Aliot went on: "Catholics should concern themselves with filling their churches which is not certain they can do, let me tell you and should let the political parties manage public affairs." Gilbert Collard, one of FN's two MPs in the National Assembly, said the church was "disconnected from reality". He added: "In the name of welcoming others, they reject us." He claimed that the church was "represented today by political bishops, who are opponents of the faith". And while party secretary-general Nicolas Bay denied that the interviews were a "declaration of war", he added that the Front National "didn't need to hear any lessons from the clergy about migration". Bay said that he would prefer to hear bishops "remind people of the social doctrine of the church, which is very far from the ultra-liberalism we see today." The attacks came as France prepares for presidential and parliamentary elections in the spring. The race for president appears to be between the Front leader Marine Le Pen and conservative Francois Fillon. Fillon enjoys strong support among Catholics, but The Tablet reported that there is division within the FN over whether to seek to woo members of the church. On the one hand, Le Pen and Aliot reportedly reject the church while others, including Le Pen's niece Marion Marechal-Le Pen, have been trying to appeal to traditional Catholics. Polls show rising support for Front National among churchgoers in recent years but it is not clear whether this merely reflects the nationalist party's growing appeal across France. Many pundits believe Le Pen will perform the latest major upset amid the rise of populism that saw the Brexit vote in the UK and the election of Donald Trump as president in the US. Muslim Migrant Torches Church Nativity Scene, Says He Wants to Destroy Christian Symbols At least one Muslim migrant in Italy shares one thing in common with the devil: They both hate Christian symbols and want to destroy them. The unnamed 25-year-old homeless Muslim migrant originally from Gambia was arrested for setting fire to a Nativity scene in the parish of Madonna del Rosario in Foggia, southern Italy, on Monday, the Daily Express reported. The church's priest caught the man in the act of torching the Nativity scene showing the infant Jesus in the manger with Mary, Joseph, the shepherds, the three wise men, and the animals. The priest quickly notified the police who rushed to the scene and restrained the man after a brief struggle. He was later charged with damage to private property, arson and resisting arrest. A local official was quoted as saying that the arrested suspect was suffering from a "visible psycho-physical crisis." The man told police he was a Muslim and wanted to destroy Christian symbols, local reports said. He said he had already destroyed a statue of Mary before he began burning the Nativity display. The man, who holds a legal residency permit, has been living in Italy for two years. The church arson attack took place just days after an asylum seeker stormed a children's Nativity play in Austria, terrifying toddlers and parents watching the show, especially after he shouted that he would kill unbelievers, the Daily Express also reported. The refugee, who was of Somali descent, suddenly leapt on stage and took out a copy of the Quran from his rucksack and started preaching. The 24-year-old asylum seeker, who was wearing a white robe, was eventually overpowered by a number of men, including his two brothers, while shouting "Allahu Akbar." Witnesses said the people watching the play were horrified, thinking it was a prelude to a terrorist attack or a massacre. They thought the man was carrying weapons in his rucksack. But authorities later found out the bag only contained clothes. Police said the Somali native had been living in the area for two years and that he suffered from manic depression, for which he is receiving treatment. Muslims And Christians Unite To Win Backing For New Jersey Mosque Muslims have won a lawsuit granting them the right to build a mosque in a town in New Jersey. Unusually, they had the backing of influential evangelical Christians including Southern Baptists. District Judge Michael A Shipp ruled in favour of the Islamic Society of Basking Ridge and against the township of Bernards, The Christian Post reports. Planners in Bernards rejected the mosque application in 2015. Judge Shipp ruled this to be a violation of the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act which codifies some "narrow" exceptions such as a nondiscrimination provision. Shipp said the planning refusal constituted "impermissible discrimination on the basis of religion". The victory of the Islamic Society of Basking Ridge came with the support of two key evangelical Christian groups, who defended the group on the basis of freedom of religion. The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention and the National Association of Evangelicals were two several faith-based and civil rights groups that signed an amicus brief in support of the Muslim group last May. Top Southern Baptist Russell Moore, president of the commission, said that for Baptists, defending this cause was essential. "What it means to be a Baptist is to support soul freedom for everybody," he said. Some Southern Baptists criticised this stance, fearing a proliferation of mosques would encourage the rise of a violent, radicalised Islam. The original rejection of the Muslim group by Bernards planners was unanimous, and met with enthusiastic cheering from locals at the time. Moore said: "Brothers and sisters, when you have a government that says 'we can decide whether or not a house of worship can be constructed based upon the theological beliefs of that house of worship,' then there are going to be Southern Baptist churches in San Francisco and New York and throughout this country who are not going to be able to build." The amicus brief wrote in support: "A Muslim mosque cannot be subjected to a different land-use approval process than a Christian church simply because local protesters oppose the mosque," adding that "defendants have improperly applied different legal standards to a mosque simply because it is a mosque." Peace Beckons In Congo After Catholic Bishops Broker Accord Catholic leaders in Congo have said they hope for a lasting peace as they seek to help find practical ways of implementing the government-opposition accord signed on New Year's Eve. The Church's bishops played a key role in bringing about the new accord. "We're all saluting this great step, the fruit of a dialogue arranged by the church," said Monsignor Leonard Santedi Kinkupu, the rector of Kinshasa's Catholic University and former secretary-general of the bishops' conference. "Being a Catholic country has given us an advantage over other African states when it comes to seeking peace, and it's good the church and its bishops have been instrumental in bringing this about," he told the Catholic News Service. He was speaking as talks began on taking forward the accord between opposition leaders and representatives of President Joseph Kabila. Kinkupu told CNS that the church had played a key role in bringing together Congo's feuding politicians. "The church has always been involved in the work for peace and could use its moral authority to bring about direct negotiations. "We now have a real chance of sparing our country from further violence, and this is why everyone has welcomed the church's engagement and offer of hope." The bishops launched a mediation bid in August, after opposition leaders accused Kabila of seeking to delay autumn elections. They then withdrew from a national dialogue in October amid worsening violence. Then, on December 8 days before Kabila's second and final term was due to come to an end on 20 December - both sides agreed to resume talks mediated by church officials. Under new accord, witnessed by foreign diplomats, Kabila will remain in power, pending elections by the end of 2017. He will work with a government headed by a prime minister nominated by the opposition. Kabila agreed to comply with constitutional provisions barring him from seeking a third term. A National Transition Council, headed by 84-year-old opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi, will be established in March to monitor the electoral process. The bishops' conference president, Archbishop Marcel Utembi Tapa of Kisangani, welcomed the accord osaid he counted on all groups to "apply it in good faith". He admitted it would be "another thing to put the compromise in place". Agence France-Presse reported yesterday that agreement still had to be reached on composition of the new government and transitional council, as well as on dates for the 2017 elections. Several opposition groups have yet to sign the accord. There is also uncertainty over the fate of around 400 political prisoners. The bishops' conference secretary-general, Monsignor Donatien Nshole Babula, who helped negotiate the accord, told journalists yesterday that the document was binding, pending agreement on "certain practical modalities". Catholics make up around half of the 67.5 million inhabitants of the Congo, where up to 6 million people died in a series of wars between 1996-2003. Pope Francis Might Allow Married Catholic Priests, Says Top Theologian A leading Catholic theologian has revealed that Pope Francis could soon relax the rules on priestly celibacy and allow Catholic priests to marry. Leonardo Boff, from Brazil, a prominent liberation theologian who himself resigned as a priest after his liberal views put him at odds with the hierarchy, said the Brazilian bishops had explicitly asked Pope Francis to allow men who had left the ministry to marry to serve as priests again. Currently there are thousands of ordained priests worldwide who left the active ministry to marry. The Catholic Church makes rare exceptions to its celibacy rule. Eastern Rite priests are, like their Orthodox counterparts, allowed to be married if they married before ordination, although they cannot become bishops. In the UK, the Catholic Church has ordained married Anglican clergy who wished to become Catholic priests after the vote to ordain women. But in general the celibacy rule stands. And the Catholic Church is entering a massive crisis over an international shortage of new priests and a rapidly-ageing existing priesthood. In an interview with the German daily newspaper Kolner Stadt-Anzeiger, Boff says it is possible that married priests could be used again in pastoral care. "This is an explicit request from the Brazilian bishops to the Pope, especially his friend, the emeritus Brazilian Cardinal Claudio Hummes. "I heard that the Pope wanted to comply with this request initially for an experimental phase in Brazil." Brazil has 140 million Catholics and needs at least 100,000 priests, but there are currently just 18,000. Boff says: "Institutionally, this is a disaster. It is no wonder that the faithful overflow with the evangelicals and Pentecostals who fill the vacuum. "If the many thousands of married priests were to be able to exercise their office again, this would be a first step towards improving the situation." As a former Franciscan, he says he does not personally need this change because he still exercises his priestly ministry: "I baptise, I bury, and when I go to a church without a priest, I celebrate the Mass together with the people." He says he has never been criticised or forbidden from doing this. "The bishops even rejoice and tell me: 'The people have a right to the Eucharist. So keep quiet!' My theological teacher, Cardinal Paulo Evaristo Arns, who died a few days ago, for example, was very open. He went so far as to bring married priests, whom he saw sitting in the bench during the Mass, to the front of the altar, and together with them celebrated the Eucharistic celebration. He often did that and said. 'You are still priests, and you will remain priests!" Boff, who currently serves as Professor Emeritus of Ethics, Philosophy of Religion and Ecology at Rio de Janeiro State University in Brazil, resigned in 1992 after years criticising the church leadership. He has consistently backed the ordination of women and allowing priests to marry. He made his name as a liberation theologian speaking out for the poor of Latin America. Boff also defends in the interview Pope Francis against the criticism of senior conservative cardinals in the church including Raymond Burke. Boff describes Burke as "the Donald Trump of the Catholic Church". Burke and three other cardinals wrote to the Pope last year challenging his teaching after his statement in September that divorced and remarried Catholics can in "some cases" receive Holy Communion without living as "brother and sister" and without getting an annulment. But unlike Trump, says Boff, Burke is now "in the cold in the Curia thank God". He condemns Burke and his fellow conservatives for attempting to correct the Pope. "These people actually believe they should correct the Pope. As if they were above the Pope. Such a thing is unusual, if not unprecedented in the Church's history. You can criticise the Pope, discuss it. I have done this often enough. But that Cardinals publicly accuse the Pope of spreading theological errors or even heresies, which I think is too much. This is an affront... The Pope can not be condemned, that is Church teaching." He says Pope Francis is more interested in the survival of mankind and the future of the earth rather than preserving his own Church hierarchy. "Both are in danger, and one must ask whether Christianity can contribute to overcoming this great crisis that threatens humanity." Wang Xiaohui, editor-in-chief of China.org.cn The year 2016 was eventful both to China and other countries. In addition to growing regional conflicts and incessant terrorist attacks, the presidential election of the United States, the exit of Great Britain from the EU, disputes over South Chinese Sea islands between China and the Philippines and the deployment of U.S. Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system in South Korea have all added to the uncertainty of international politics and world order and posed great challenges to China's diplomatic work. As Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi put it, the year 2016 could be summed up with two words - "changes" and "chaos." Review I. Chinese-U.S. ties remained stable but eventful. Ties between China and the United States remained stable in 2016 despite various incidents. After President Obama's visit to Beijing and the G20 Hangzhou Summit, the two countries have strengthened strategic communication, built mutual trust and dispersed doubts, thus ensuring a sound development of ties. But strategic doubts still remain, especially where geopolitics, territorial sovereignty and economic interests are concerned. The South China Sea disputes between China and the Philippines, in which Washington had played a behind-the-scenes role, and the deployment of the U.S. THAAD system in South Korea are just two cases in point. Since Donald Trump was elected to be the next President of the United States, Chinese-U.S. relations have shown worrisome signs. On Dec. 2, Trump talked with Taiwanese leader Tsai Ing-wen on the phone. Despite explanations by the President-elect himself and the White House's spokesperson afterwards, the call cast a shadow over bilateral ties, as such a thing hadn't happened in the 37 years since the two countries established diplomatic ties. Moreover, Trump's cabinet picks and their attitudes toward China also indicated that the development of bilateral relations will face great pressure from the White House in the future. II. Frequent "black swan" events affected the world. A lot of events happened in 2016 that were unexpected and had a major impact on the world. They made the world even more uncertain and are highly likely to change the progress of international politics. Trump's surprise win in the U.S. presidential election, the shock of Brexit and the following resignation of British Prime Minister David Cameron, the final resignation of scandal-embattled South Korean president Park Geun-hye, the resignations of the prime ministers of New Zealand and Italy on the same day and the assassination of Russian ambassador in Turkey are just a few of the major "black swan" events from last year. What will happen to the United States after its businessman-cum-president assumes office with his team of billionaires? Will there be another round of trade wars with China? Besides the jitters in the financial market, what impact will Brexit and Italy's referendum leave on an already struggling EU? The changes of state leaders in the United States, Brazil, Britain, South Korea, Italy, Thailand, New Zealand and many other countries will surely affect world politics. III. Philippines' U-turn towards China after the South China Sea arbitration case. The arbitration of the South China Sea disputes, which was initiated unilaterally by former Filipino president Benigno S. Aquino III, the United States, Japan and a handful of other third-party countries, had a deep impression on the Chinese people last year, as it started on the first day of the Chinese lunar new year and ended in July with an illegal and void ruling. During the process, China showed strong political power and responded skillfully. When Rodrigo Duterte assumed office as the new Filipino president on June 30, the realistic man didn't inherent the negative political baggage left behind by his predecessor, but made the wise choice to choose China as the first country to visit outside the ASEAN region, thus mending ties with China. The gradual return to stability in the South China Sea and the restoration of Chinese-Filipino relations will lay a foundation for solving the South China Sea issue through talks and joint development. It's also vitally important to promoting a peaceful environment for China's development. This event will go down in history. IV. The Belt and Road Initiative made steady progress; diplomatic activities with neighboring countries achieved positive results. Last year saw the steady and comprehensive progress of the Belt and Road Initiative proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping. With the establishment of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), the Silk Road Fund and various economic cooperative programs, the initiative has gradually come into being. At the G20 Hangzhou Summit in September last year, China provided the world with a new model of global governance, and the Belt and Road Initiative provided a promotional platform for the model. The five overseas trips to 14 countries President Xi made last year were a boon to the development of the initiative. Moreover, much progress has been made in China's diplomatic activities with neighboring countries. The G20 Hangzhou Summit offered a platform for China to participate in global governance and enhance its ties with neighbors. President Xi's visit to Cambodia, Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi's choice of China as the first country to visit outside the ASEAN region and Sri Lanka's resumption of the Colombo Port City project are just a few of the results China achieved last year. China consistently pursues a foreign policy of building friendship and partnership with its neighbors. It also keeps a consistent and clear position when major issues like regional security, national interests and territorial sovereignty are concerned. Therefore, China has insisted on the promotion of the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, on opposition to the deployment of the U.S. THAAD system in South Korea, on the dismissal of the illegal claims on the South China Sea islands by the Philippines and on a firm reaction to all of Japan's trouble-making activities. All the achievements China has made in the diplomatic field should be attributed to its regional policy of amity, sincerity, mutual benefit and inclusiveness, its firm stance on important issues and its skillful approaches in diplomatic activities. V. China upheld free trade while anti-globalization gained increasing popularity. Anti-globalization is nothing new, but a concomitant of globalization. It stems from the economic recession that followed in the wake of the global financial crisis. In recent years, the United States and Japan have witnessed sluggish growth, Europe has been stuck in recession, and the refugee crisis remains unresolved in the Middle East - all these issues have given rise to trade protectionism and a trend of anti-globalization. In late 2016, Japan announced it would not recognize China's market economy status, the European Union said it would continue with the alternative country approach in trade and American President-elect Donald Trump threatened to impose 45 percent tariff on Chinese goods. This was one of the most severe anti-globalization moves in 2016. Since the 1980s, China has been committed to reform and opening-up, integrating itself into the international community and engaging in global governance. It has changed its role from a major beneficiary to an unwavering promoter of globalization. During the G20 Hangzhou Summit in September 2016, China contributed its plans for building an innovative, invigorated, interconnected and inclusive world economy, which was one of the greatest contributions made to globalization. Of course, the contribution cannot come without the country's own economic development. In Deng Xiaoping's words, development is key. Prospects A major country should have a befitting presence and take on its due responsibilities. Peace and development will still be the main theme in the world in 2017, but chaos and disorder will linger as well. China will be playing the stabilizing role in a complicated and capricious international arena, creating a peaceful environment for its own development as well as contributing to the peace and development of the world. First, China should properly handle relations with major countries, ensuring the continuation of sound and stable development in China-U.S. and China-Russia ties. The key to China-U.S. relations is to manage disagreements before committing to pragmatic cooperation. The two countries can only have long-term stable cooperation and achieve mutual benefit and win-win results when they respect each other and take into consideration the issues concerning the other's core interests and major concerns, for instance the Taiwan question. The current China-Russian strategic partnership is sound and stable. While enhancing cooperation with Russia, China should closely watch new developments in U.S.-Russia and Japan-Russia ties in 2017. Second, China should cement the diplomatic achievements made after the South China Sea arbitration in 2016 and strive for the long-time stability of its southern waters. The improvements in China-Philippines relations can and should be used as a demonstration of China's commitment to the principle of "shelving disputes and engaging in joint exploitation," as well as its pledge to playing by the book. Third, China should keep a close eye on the Korean Peninsula and invest in the relations with its neighbors. The situation on the Korean Peninsula is becoming more intense and unpredictable, as North Korea continues to carry out nuclear tests and South Korea intends to deploy the THAAD system while in the midst of a transition in leadership following the impeachment of its scandal-ridden president. The peninsula is a key for China's foreign relations, and the country must uphold the principle of denuclearization on the peninsula. Fourth, while promoting bilateral relations with Southeast Asian countries, China should pay attention to its relations with Singapore, which is moving closer to the United States. China should also forge closer economic ties and other forms of cooperation with Central Asian countries through the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the Belt and Road Initiative. Fifth, the Belt and Road Initiative should be promoted, and economic cooperation should facilitate diplomacy. The Belt and Road is not only a platform for economic cooperation but also for foreign relations. The year 2017 marks the fourth year of the introduction of the Belt and Road Initiative, and the initial achievements have been made and won the recognition and support of an increasing number of countries. This proves that innovations in deepening international cooperation must go along with major diplomatic moves so as to benefit each other. Sixth, China should actively participate in global governance and have greater presence in the international community. It should implement the agreements achieved in the G20 Hangzhou Summit, make good use of a number of multilateral cooperation mechanisms - including the World Economic Forum and Shanghai Cooperation Organization - as well as of the opportunity to host the Belt and Road international forum and the 9th BRICS summit, in order to contribute Chinese solutions to global governance while engaging with the international community. The world will not be a peaceful one in 2017, but Chinese diplomacy will be more than remarkable. Let me quote a line from the great ancient poet Li Bai as a wish for the new year: "A time will come to ride the wind and cleave the waves, I'll set my cloudlike sail to cross the sea which raves." The author Wang Xiaohui is editor-in-chief of China.org.cn. The 12 Worst Countries For Christian Persecution Around The World The staggering levels of persecution against Christians around the world is documented in a new 'Hall of Shame' list released by watchdog International Christian Concern (ICC). ICC on Wednesday said that North Korea, Iraq, Syria and Nigeria were the worst state persecutors of Christians, while Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, China, India and Egypt were "perennial abusers of religious freedom". The persecution watchdog also listed a third category, 'New and Noteworthy', in which it placed countries where "events... indicate declining religious freedom and are cause for alarm". Within this list was the US, Russia and Mexico. In North Korea, former prisoners described horrific torture witnessed in the country's notorious labour camps. One told ICC that prisoners were forced to stone each other to death, while another reported seeing the execution of entire families in gas chambers. CSW, a UK-based religious freedom charity, said in a report released last September that freedom of religion or belief "is largely non-existent" under dictator Kim Jong-Un's leadership. "Religious beliefs are seen as a threat to the loyalty demanded by the Supreme Leader, so anyone holding these beliefs is severely persecuted," the report said. "Christians suffer significantly because of the anti-revolutionary and imperialist labels attached to them by the country's leadership." Among the documented incidents against Christians are "being hung on a cross over a fire, crushed under a steamroller, herded off bridges and trampled underfoot". Isaac Six, advocacy director at ICC, previously told Christian Today it was "nearly impossible to imagine the horrors that are a daily reality for so many of faith in North Korea". In Nigeria, ICC said Christians face "brutal daily persecution for their faith from the Islamic extremist groups Boko Haram and the Fulani militias". The government's attempt to eradicate Boko Haram - whose leader has vowed to eradicate Christianity in Nigeria - has been "a massive failure overall", ICC said, and "has only refocused them [Boko Haram] on attacking Christians". Meanwhile in Iraq and Syria, "Christianity... is on the verge of extinction," the report warned, and many of the hundreds of thousands of Christians who have fled the region in recent years are unlikely to return. ICC condemned the "escalation of attacks on Christians" in India, and tactics of "intimidation, arrests, destruction of church property, and church closures" used against Chinese Christians by the Communist government. "The government is the primary persecutor of Christians in China as it seeks to consolidate power over the people," the report said. Russian President Vladimir Putin in July 2016 signed into law the 'Yarovaya' package, under which house churches are illegal and religious activity or evangelism is prohibited anywhere outside a registered church or religious site, including private homes and online. Only named members of religious organisations are now allowed to share their faith, and even informal witnessing between individuals is forbidden. Critics have branded it a draconian attempt to stifle religious freedom under the guise of clamping down on terrorism. ICC said the Yarovaya laws "are just the most recent crackdown in a trend of stifling religious expression" in Russia, and named Pastor Donald Ossewaarde as one of a number of Christian missionaries to have been fined under the new legislation. The inclusion of America in the "New and Noteworthy" category was because "Christians and all religious people are being marginalised through the law," the report said. There has been "a broad cultural shift towards secularism" and "Anti-Christian entities have been able to leverage the growing secularisation of society and culture to their advantage, utilising the courts as a preferred venue to gradually marginalise and silence Christians." "While there is no comparison between the life of a Christian in the US with persecuted believers overseas, ICC sees these worrying trends as an alarming indication of a decline in religious liberty in the United States," the report concluded. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Two Texas businesses aren't going to pot, they're discussing a merger to make one big medical marijuana company. The discussions between Houston-based Indoor Harvest Corp. and San Antonio-based Alamo CBD would have Indoor Harvest acquire all of Alamo CBD. From there, Indoor Harvest would spin off it's produce business and maintain full control of that. Stockholders in Indoor Harvest would also get 60 percent of the marijuana business and Alamo stockholders would keep 40 percent. ALTERNATIVE PUNISHMENT: Texas cop lets teen do 200 pushups instead of arrest for pot bust The merger precedes the licensing of three pot dispensing organizations by Sept. 1 of this year under the state's Compassionate Use Program. Once in place, Texas will join 28 other states and the District of Columbia in authorizing legal medical marijuana. The measure, initially passed in 2015, allows licensed businesses to grow, process and dispense low-THC cannabis to prescribed patients who have been diagnosed with intractable epilepsy. Alamo is currently planning to use 10 acres of land, including water rights, in La Vernia in Wilson County to build a 17,500 square foot pharmaceutical production facility for marijuana and seek a license to operate their facility under the Texas Compassionate Use Act. LEGISLATION: Texas state senator files medical marijuana bill The merger comes after Alamo signed a deal with Houston-based biopharmaceuticals company Vyripharm Enterprises. The agreement forms a partnership for pharmaceutical cannabinoids research. When everything shakes out, Alamo plans to use Indoor Harvests biomanufacturing platform to provide pure medical cannabis oil and products to the undertaking. The goal is to create specific chemical profiles customized for each patient to treat multiple medical conditions. The deal to set up the joint venture is expected to close Feb. 15. Ask the Fool Insurance for failed brokerage Q: What happens if I open a brokerage account and the brokerage goes out of business? - T.R., Augusta, Ga. A: Fear not. Most brokerages carry Securities Investor Protection Corp., or SIPC, insurance, protecting your account for up to $500,000, including up to $250,000 in cash. (Many carry additional insurance, too.) It protects you in the event of your brokerage failing - but it won't give your money back if your stock crashes, wiping out your investment. To make sure a brokerage is SIPC-protected, check its website for assurance, or call it up and ask. Learn more about brokerages and how to choose a good one at fool.com/how-to-invest/broker/ and more about the SIPC at sipc.org. the take Medical dollars and devices If you're seeking a company that offers regular dividend increases and stable cash flow, consider medical device king Medtronic (NYSE: MDT). The company has increased its dividend for 39 years in a row, averaging annual increases of 12 percent over the past five years. It recently yielded 2.3 percent. Medtronic has a giant global footprint in the medical device industry, with its product portfolio ranging from pacemakers to insulin pumps and pretty much everything in between. Its stake in nearly every medical device market gives it economies of scale and pricing power. Although Medtronic's top line hasn't quite performed as expected in recent quarters, new product launches should help boost revenue. The company is also beginning to see real benefits from its purchase of Covidien. Being able to move its headquarters to Ireland, a country with a very favorable corporate tax environment, didn't alter its tax rate much, but it will free up billions in capital that was being held overseas. It also allows Medtronic to better deploy its capital, with a goal outlined in 2014 of reinvesting $10 billion into research and development over the next decade. By next fiscal year, the combined entity could realize $850 million in cost synergies. Smart income investors would be wise to give Medtronic a closer look. (The Motley Fool owns shares of Medtronic.) Foolish Trivia Name that company I trace my roots back to 1902, when 30 gypsum and plaster makers merged, creating a company with 37 mining and calcining plants producing plaster for agriculture and construction. My early products were fireproof tiles and drywall - which covered walls without warping or burning - and the housing boom after World War II was great for business. Today, based in Chicago and with a market value around $4 billion, I'm a giant in my field, offering products such as Sheetrock, cement board, joint compound, flooring materials, caulking, primers, acoustical ceiling panels and suspended ceiling systems. Who am I? Last week's trivia answer: Campbell Soup Universal Uclick Of course, you've heard of all of the big, new restaurant openings of the year, but several smaller places might have fallen under the radar. Here are a few notable spots that opened in the last three months: This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate A recovery center in McKinney, Texas might soon have a branch-off facility in the form of a residential community formed by tiny homes. Shannon White, who was once a Collin County Jail inmate, now offers her time to Grace To Change in the effort to help incarcerated women transition to sober lives in this state. White is among the organizers helping to launch Tiny House Big Recovery, a small network of tiny homes where former inmates can have a place to live. A Facebook page for the project describes it as an agency that will help to "provide short and long term housing for those who want to change but shelter is a roadblock." CONTAINER HOUSING: Houston area builder gets a big break on HGTV's 'Tiny House' In addition to having a roof over their heads, the makeshift neighborhood could also provide newly released women with a moral support network that could help them resist the urge to relapse. Many times, when a prisoner is released, they return to the same set of circumstances and friendships that landed them in jail. When 23-year-old Christine Duke is released from jail this month, she explains that she will have no where to go. Duke told KHOU that she was on track to becoming a college student when she became involved with a crowd that led her to experiment with drugs. That led to a string of arrests in a state where she doesn't have family, and where her only friends are "not good influences." (Story continues below.) "It leaves hotel rooms or old places and hotel rooms are where all addicts congregate," Duke said. Released inmates who relapse are statistically more likely to be imprisoned again. COLLEGE AID: College students in Alabama work to provide desirable homes for the homeless White explains that this creates a cost strain on McKinney's Collin County, where she says that taxpayers spend roughly $70 per day on each inmate. She says that having the Tiny House Big Recovery community as an alternative to imprisonment would be a better option. Currently the recovery effort has only extended as far as the center's parking lot, but some McKinney residents are determined to help the organization obtain a 20- to 40-acre tract of land where tiny homes can be erected, KHOU reports. When asked about the prospect of McKinney residents resisting having this type of place nearby, White says, "You have them in your backyard already, but they are un-treated." Houston police are investigating after a male body was found on Wednesday morning along the Gulf Freeway. A passer-by found the victim, who has not been identified yet, at 3700 Gulf Freeway at about 10:50 a.m. During her run for the White House this year, Hillary Clinton's campaign chairman John Podesta and the Democratic National Committee were subject to numerous email hacks. Many of the private emails showed up on WikiLeaks, covering topics ranging from aliens to Clinton's team poking fun at Ted Cruz being born in Canada. The hacks spurred an investigation from the FBI while Clinton's team blamed Russia. Turns out, it may have been Podesta's fault. WIKILEAKS VS. THE U.S.: Donald Trump trusts Assange more than U.S. intelligence Wikileaks founder Julian Assange told Fox News' Sean Hannity Tuesday night that Podesta used the word "password" for all of his passwords. Assange also said Podesta responded to phishing emails. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 3 1 of 3 Peter Macdiarmid/Staff Show More Show Less 2 of 3 Paul Sancya Show More Show Less 3 of 3 "Podesta gave out that his password was the word 'password,'" Assange said to Hannity. "His own staff said this email that you've received, this is totally legitimate. So this is something... a 14-year-old kid could have hacked Podesta that way." According to Fox News, Hannity interviewed Assange at the Ecuadorean Embassy in London. Assange has been at the embassy for the past five years, fighting an extradition to Sweden on sexual assault charges. NOT A FAN: Paul Ryan calls Assange 'a sycophant for Russia' The WikiLeaks founder also told Hannity that his source for the emails were not from the Russian government or any other government. President Barack Obama's administration has accused Russia of hacking the DNC and has imposed sanctions. Assange denied that Russia had any involvement with the hacks. Assange's interview with Hannity has brought praise from some of his biggest critics . Former vice presidential candidate and former Fox News contributor Sarah Palin praised Assange onFacebook Tuesday. Palin once called Assange a creep for publishing her emails during the 2008 presidential election. On Tuesday, Palin apologized to Assange. To Julian Assange: I apologize. Please watch Sean Hannity's interview with Julian Assange (Wikileaks). Exposing the... Posted by Sarah Palin on Tuesday, January 3, 2017 THE PERFECT WEAPON: How Russia cyber power invaded the U.S. President-elect Donald Trump acknowledged Assange's interview, tweeting on Wednesday "why was DNC so careless?" CNN pointed out that in the past, Trump has not been a fan of Assange. Trump said there should "be like death penalty or something" in a 2010 interview of Wikileaks' activity. Assange told Hannity that he would have "absolutely" released emails about Trump and his campaign had he gotten any. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate The next time you invite your grandparents and other older relatives over, you may be considered a life saver. Researchers at the University of California, San Francisco found loneliness can lead to functional decline and a premature death. OLD AGE, YOUNG MIND: What we know about people who have the brain of a 'superager' The study "Loneliness in Older Persons" followed 1,600 adults who had an average age of 71 years. Approximately 23 percent of participants who said they were lonely died within six years of the study. When it came to participants who said they had adequate companionship, only 14 percent of them died within six years of the study. When it comes to quality of life in old age, having friends, family and other connections is a must. "The need we've had our entire lives - people who know us, value us, who bring us joy - that never goes away," Barbara Moscowitz, senior geriatric social worker at Massachusetts General Hospital, told the New York Times. KIDS JUT DON'T UNDERSTAND: Younger people just won't understand these basic things some of us grew up with Some elderly people told the New York Times that they created new friends and socialized more once they moved into retirement communities and nursing homes. Younger family members benefit from spending time with their elders too, learning family history and secret recipes, among other things. The research, then, is clear: Spend more time with your elders. It's beneficial for everyone. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Three Clear Creek Independent School District students are challenging the state's academic assessment exam, and they are getting some attention from area educators and policymakers. The students, Elena Michnovicz, Bailey Buchanan and Elissa Chotas attend Clear Brook High School and are in Cary Johnson's English II Leadership class. The teacher asked the students to select a policy issue they would like to address, research the policy using credible sources, create a research-based solution to the policy issue, create a presentation outlining their findings and to present the results to a panel of professionals. The students decided to challenge the Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness, or STAAR, test. The girls argue that there is a better way to measure student progress without infringing on the unique learning opportunities a student can have. "It places unnecessary stress on students," Buchanan said in a news release announcing the results of their research. The result of their work is a presentation titled, "The Fault in Our STAAR." Through their research, the trio outlined why they believe the STAAR test does not measure what it was intended to gauge. The girls didn't simply present evidence why STAAR test doesn't work. The students also propose adopting a test they say is based on actual mastery of skill and not simply a comprehension exam like STAAR. For example, Buchanan said the reading sections of the STAAR test are supposed to measure comprehension of passages. Instead, she said, "it is just a game of trying to guess the answers from clues." The high school students attended the Dec. 5 meeting of the Bay Area School Consortium, which is composed of 10 school districts in Galveston and Harris counties with more than 140,000 students. The districts that make up the consortium are Clear Creek, Dickinson, Friendswood, Galveston, Hitchcock, La Porte, Pasadena, Santa Fe and Texas City. During the meeting, the consortium outlined its top 10 challenges and concerns facing education to state representatives for the upcoming legislative session. During the presentation, the Clear Creek students provided an example of how the STAAR test doesn't work, often presenting topics below what students should be able to master at their grade levels. On last year's STAAR test, according to the girls, ninth grade students were asked to write about what a true friend is, Buchanan said. "That's a topic that's way below level," she added. Their research revealed two assessments that they believe would better serve students and teachers. One is the National Assessment of Educational Progress and the other is the PISA Financial Literacy Test. The National Assessment of Educational Progress is the largest nationally representative and continuing assessment of what America's students know and can do in various subject areas, according to the students' report. Chotas said it has straightforward questions, measures comprehension and is developmentally appropriate. And it is a significantly shorter test compared to the state's test and measures a student's yearlong improvement. The PISA Financial Literacy Assessment focuses on real world application, according to the girls. It is a test they failed miserably, Buchanan said. According to the trio, the test can be used to gauge how well students master knowledge of important life skills. "From this, I learned how to read bills and taxes," Michnovicz said. "If STAAR was designed to measure mastery of skill, it failed us." If one student isn't benefiting from this type of assessment, that's one too many, according to the girls. "We don't learn or grow from STAAR," Buchanan said. "Why don't we have a test that allows us to learn and grow?" It is a question the trio of high school students have been asking area professionals, educators and legislators. Since presenting their project to the Bay Area Schools Consortium, the girls have been asked to meet with State Sen. Larry Taylor (R-District 11), for a second time. Before Taylor's election to the Texas senate in 2012, he served five terms in the Texas House of Representatives. Accoording to his online legislative bio, he currently is chairman of the Senate Committee on Education and as a member of the Senate Finance, Business and Commerce and Intergovernmental Relations Committees. His request to meet with the girls for a second time, said Johnson, the English II teacher, shows how "incredibly committed to changing testing in Texas." "Through this project, they have become very knowledgeable about the state of testing in Texas," she said. You are here: Home Flash Somali troops and African Union peacekeeping forces on Tuesday captured a town in southwest Somalia from Al-Shabaab militants, an army official said. Somali military commander Abdullahi Farah told Xinhua Al-Shabaab militants withdrew from Mooragaabey town in Bakool region as the joint forces were advancing. Farah said the forces were conducting an operation to push back and catch Al-Shabaab fighters, who are controlling parts of Bakool region. Somalia-based Al-Shabaab extremist group has been forced out of its major strongholds by the AU and Somali forces but continues to launch bomb and gun attacks in the country. Dec. 19 At 4:04 a.m., Officer Andrade was dispatched to the 4700 block of Fournace Place in reference to a welfare check on male driver passed out behind the wheel of his vehicle. Officer Andrade located the vehicle and attempted to make contact with the driver. The driver refused to obey Officer Andrade's commands and evaded in his vehicle driving the wrong way on a one-way street. After further investigation, the driver was arrested for driving while intoxicated and felony evading in a vehicle. At 11:49 a.m., Officer Trujillo was dispatched to 5110 Jessamine Street, Bellaire Police Department, in reference to a credit card abuse call. Upon Officer Trujillo's arrival he spoke to the victim, who stated an unknown person(s) obtained his debit card along with his pin and used it without the victim's permission. Dec. 21 At 4:02 p.m., Officer Manriquez was dispatched to 5419 Bellaire Blvd. in regards to a theft. The store clerk informed Officer Manriquez that a black male stole a remote control drone from the store. Dec. 22 At 4:20 a.m., the victim was northbound on the service road and stopped at the light at 6300 ESR at 4600 Bissonnet St. an unknown black male opened the victim's vehicle and attempted to rob him. The suspect had a gun and put it in the face of the victim. The victim fought against the suspect and was able to flee the area in his vehicle. At 6:46 a.m., Officer Trujillo was dispatched to the 4500 block of Bissonnet Street in reference to a burglary of a building. Upon the Officer's arrival he spoke to the complainant who stated between 12/21/2016 at 5:30 p.m. and 12/22/2016 at 6:30 a.m. an unknown person(s) broke out the side window pane of the front doors of the business. A suspect was caught on the same date from a separate burglary. At 4:20 a.m., officers were dispatched to the 4500 block of Bissonnet Street in reference to an in-progress burglary of a building call. Upon arrival, officers observed a suspect running away from the building carrying a cash register drawer. Officers chased after the suspect on foot and the suspect was placed into custody a short distance from scene. During the investigation the suspect was charged with burglary of a building and evading arrest. At 1:47 p.m., Officer Younger initiated a traffic stop in the 8000 block of IH610 West Service Road on a silver 2002 Volvo S60 for expired registration. The traffic stop investigation found the paper registration plates to be fictitious. The driver was placed into custody for fictitious plates and transported to the Bellaire Jail to be processed. At 3:38 p.m., Officer Younger was dispatched to the 500 block of College Street in regards to an identity theft report. Officer Younger arrived at 3:47 p.m. and made contact with the victim who advised an unknown suspect used his identifying information to open a bank account. At 5:32 p.m., Officer Delgado conducted a traffic stop on a 2004 Volkswagen Jetta in the 6300 block of North First Street, for expired motor vehicle registration 09/16. Officer Delgado made contact with the driver who presented his name and date of birth and proof of financial responsibility. Officer Delgado conducted a computer inquiry on the name and date of birth and the returned showed a Texas Driver License which was not eligible. Officer Delgado observed a registration sticker affixed to the windshield of the driver's vehicle showing 09/17. The driver was charged with fictitious registration. Dec. 23 At 12:56 p.m., Officer H. Lopez was dispatched to the Randalls Grocery store at 5130 Bellaire Blvd. in reference to a theft in progress. The reportee stated that a black male had exited the store without paying for the items. The black male, along with the stolen items, were located at the Metro bus stop across the street from Randalls and the suspect was placed under arrest for the theft. At 1:54 p.m., Officer Younger was dispatched to the Randall's Grocery store at 5130 Bellaire Blvd. in reference to a theft in progress. The reportee stated that a Hispanic male had exited the store without paying for the item. The Hispanic male was located behind Randall's and placed under arrest for the theft. At 8:41 p.m., Officer Liccketto conducted a traffic stop on a white 2003 Nissan Murano in the 5100 block of Braeburn Drive for failing to stop designated point. Upon the traffic stop investigation, the passenger was found to be in possession of a controlled substance. Officer Liccketto placed the passenger in custody for possession of a controlled substance. Dec. 24 At 1:09 a.m., Officer Proctor observed a red, Chevrolet Colorado traveling westbound in the 4600 block of Bellaire Boulevard. Officer Proctor ran the vehicle's license plate and received a return showing the vehicle to have expired registration as of 01/2016. Officer Proctor initiated a traffic stop on the vehicle at the 6700 block of Interstate Highway 610 East Service Road and made contact with the driver. After further investigation Officer Proctor found the driver to be driving while license invalid with a previous suspension from Gonzales County Court on 02/11/2016. At approximately 1:26 a.m., Officer Proctor placed the driver into custody for DWLI Enhanced and transported him to Bellaire Jail for booking. At 3:26 a.m., Officers R. Bellard and R. Guerra were dispatched to 4747 Bellaire Blvd. in reference to alarm call. Upon arrival, Officers noticed that the full length front window was shattered. Upon further investigation it was determined that a burglary of a building had occurred. At 11 p.m., Officer Ortega was dispatched to the 4900 block of Beech Street in reference to an in progress burglary of habitation. Upon arrival, Officers met with the victim who stated three unknown suspects forced open their front door. When the victims appeared in hallway one of the suspects held the male victim at gunpoint. The female victim observed all suspects to be armed with handguns and retreated to the downstairs bedroom closet and contacted the police. No items were taken from the house. Dec. 25 At 5:02 a.m., Officer C. Barber was dispatched to the 4600 block of Bellaire Boulevard (Blvd) in response to an attempted aggravated robbery. Montrose Avenue is a heavily-traveled thoroughfare just west of downtown Houston. It paves the way to trendy restaurants, museums and vintage shops offering all the funkiness of the neighborhood in the form of eclectic furniture and knickknacks. At the corner of the avenue and West Dallas Street, a 1940s art-deco marquee from the Montrose Management District was recently installed. The marker at the intersection is the first in a total of 13, said a representative for the district Thursday. The markers, all of which are to be installed by the time the Super Bowl comes to town in February, will have neon lights and are choreographed with the lighted bridges over the Southwest Freeway. The district, which exists by way of taxes from area businesses, has operated under the radar of most residents' awareness, but business owners in the neighborhood are long-familiar, and some are not in favor of the district, least of all the $576,000 marquee project. "What good is a marker?" said John Holzer, an attorney and rental property owner who had to lobby the district to remove him from its tax-roll after he discovered the number of units he owns is lower than the required number to be included in the assessments by the district. The district refunded 100 percent of the $7,000 he paid over about six years without any complaints, he said. But he never felt good about where his money was going during the years he was included. "If I was a management district, I would canvass the area and ask business owners, 'What do you want us to do?' The things that improve an area are low crime rates, and if there's blighted properties, they should work with the landlords to make the place better," he said. In response to these concerns, the representative for MMD said in an email that the marker project fits into the group's mission to make the area a safer and greener place to live and work. The timing of the markers comes just weeks after Judge Joseph Halbach ruled in a lawsuit brought by one area business owner, that MMD made unlawful assessments and should repay the $6.5 million it collected illegitimately, and that the petition that originally gave the district the ability to collect the fees is invalid. "None of the levied assessments were valid and are void as a matter of law," court documents show. "Bob Rose is the hero of the century to have the courage and pocketbook to do this," said Jim Bartley about the plaintiff who filed the lawsuit. Bartley is a rental property owner in Montrose who has been taxed by the district since 2007. "Montrose is small mom and pop businesses, these are little people that get stuck with this tax," he said. Both landlords say the district doesn't do a good job listening to their constituents. And after petitions circulated around town that garnered around 80 percent of commercial property owners asserting they thought the district should disband, Holzer says MMD officials should have immediately met with the group to hear their concerns. Bartley thinks improvements to the landscaping around Montrose, like the ones on Post Oak Boulevard or Kirby Drive, would have been more beneficial than markers that will require electrical upkeep and more money in the future. Despite Halbach's order stating, "The West Montrose Management District must reimburse its unlawful assessment to those who paid them," MMD posted on its website: "The Montrose Management District remains in full compliance with all state and local laws...No refunds are currently being planned while the case remains pending." On Thursday, Halbach and attorneys in the lawsuit talked in a closed-door meeting, said sources close to the case, and said the judge reasserted his position that the taxes are illegal, and it could be as early as next week that new developments in the case are announced. "We're all for improving Montrose," said Holzer. "I didn't see any benefit, they don't patrol my streets, they don't provide me with any information on how to be a better landlord. We were not getting any value for the taxes we pay." Ilis niamet, volore veriustrud te feum iusciduisi. Pit, si et aut ver sit venisl utpatin heniat dolobore dio odolor ad et eumsandigna commy num veratem quam, secte dolore corper accummy nullummod dolesto et prat, quat adignibh esectet praesequisi. Aliquamcon utpat atum zzrilit, con ut alit il iure conummo dolore magna facillum quiscil laoreet la consenis eu feuis ex ea feugait ilit loPeriuscilit lummy nostin volore ming eum ilit velenis modiam et ut niam irit nonsendio euismolore core do consequat augait ulput aci bla feuisl dio od tatin ut nos ex ercinisi. Con henit praessequis aut pratem in venim num in et laor sectet am vel dolorero od delit lor alis alis at, velis at, quat at. Lore te tinim iliquat, quatet dolutpat. Ut iriusti onsendit acil il dolore delessi te tem aut nos nis nostiscilla feuisl delisci duisim dunt volorer aesequa metuerosting euismodipis nim velit am velendiam irillan hendre er sim zzrilit accum dipit, quatue dolorperos augait iurem eros dolessi bla consectet, sim zzriuscip eugait, quat. Ut pratin utpate modiatumsan henit wisl ulla faccum num autpationum vel doloreetue minci tatet ute dipisci elis aut prat. Lan henit atummy nonseAt. Agniam del eugiam ipsuscilis esectet wis am, This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate A Florida man is behind bars after troopers with the Florida Highway Patrol said he shot at cows while inside of a car. According to news station WFTV, Elvis Antonio Artola, 33, is accused of shooting at cows with an AR-15 on the Florida Turnpike. SORE WINNER: Florida man, 83, hits car salesman in the head with golf club after winning gift card Trooper Konner Achors was on patrol Sunday when he received a call that someone in a blue Hyundai Sonata was shooting at cows in Kissimmee, the news station reports. Achors said Artola was in the passenger seat and denied firing off a rifle. Artola told the trooper that he did have a weapon in the vehicle. When Achors asked Artola to put his hands behind his back, WFTV reports he refused to. Achors had to call for back up to get Artola to put his hands behind his back. According to the news station, the driver told troopers he stopped along the side of the Turnpike so Artola could use the restroom. He said Artola stepped out the vehicle and fired into the woods with the AR-15. KEEPING THEM SAFE: Florida county takes steps to track animal abusers like sex offenders The driver said Artola fired shots from the car window as they drove away. WFTV reports the driver wasn't sure if Artola was attempting to hit the cows. Troopers said a fully-loaded Bushmaster rifle was in the trunk of the car. Artola is being held in the Orange County Jail. Deputies said three suspects are in custody after they robbed a check cashing store on Monday in northwest Harris County. They are accused of striking a Cash Store about 2:30 p.m. Monday in the 12200 block of Jones Road. The City of Deer Park may be small - only 10 square miles in size - but its residents can make a big impact when they lend their support to local businesses. Leona Roberts, who co-owns custom bakery Somethin' Sweet with her sister Sarah Gray, is a testament to how quickly a business can grow once word gets out around town. "Word of mouth for us was huge (in growing our business)," Roberts said, adding once people knew about her cupcakes she could count on lots of interest. "Deer Park people are awesome. They support everything from their local schools to their local businesses." Roberts' journey from school employee to business owner was a scant nine months. She first began selling cupcakes out of her home them quickly moved on to offering them at a friend's place of business before taking the plunge and opening her own location at 4201 Center St. in 2011. Now, five years later, business is strong and she's thrilled. "It's a lot of work, but I love coming to work every day," she said. As the city's first economic development administrator, Debbie Westbeld makes good use of Deer Park's strong sense of community when advocating for companies to look to the city as a smart choice to do business. She said that community spirit contributes to other strong bargaining tactics which make the area attractive to perspective companies. "Deer Park's a very easy sell because there's a low cost of living and people here make a lot of money," she said. "Also, because we're in between Pasadena and La Porte we tap into those markets, essentially about 100,000 people in a 10-mile radius around us. Essentially we're a small town with the buying power of a bigger town because we're in close proximity to so many other people." Westbeld said the city also does what it can to make it easy for businesses to set up shop. In fact, she said the time it usually takes to obtain the proper permits in Deer Park is often half the time it might take in other cities. She said the city departments such as permitting, public works and others work well together to ensure there isn't a lot of bureaucracy involved in getting new companies in and ready to go. "We have an efficient system and rules that were made with developers in mind, and we're a small city so we're easier to work with," Westbeld said. "We make sure we're welcoming." Communicating with residents and being tuned in to what type of businesses they would like to see in their town is another vital part of Westbeld's job. She stays in touch people through her department's Facebook page, which has approximately 4,500 followers. She also writes articles for the city's newsletter promoting new businesses, serves on the city's Chamber of Commerce board of directors and often fields calls from residents about what type of companies they'd like to see in Deer Park. "Every day I'm communicating with people and this helps me understand the community and what people want so I can serve as an effective liaison with the retail and commercial developers," Westbeld said. Eight years ago, the City of Deer Park created Westbeld's position. With limited land in the city, it was important to make sure available space was strategically developed. "Someday we will run out of raw available land for commercial development and, eight years ago, no one was keeping a close eye on who was coming here," Westbeld said. "(The city) wanted to make sure the last remaining acres were developed in a way that was beneficial to the city." Since she's come on, Westbeld has seen the business landscape change dramatically. In addition to new retail, shopping and restaurant options, a new 80,000-square-foot H-E-B grocery store at 4700 East Blvd. recently opened and will anchor a large shopping center that's being built out in phases. The new store replaced the previous HEB at the corner of Center Street and Pasadena Boulevard. What's more, not only are residents now enjoying the larger and updated H-E-B, the old location was never at risk of becoming a vacant building or an dilapidated eyesore. "The building was bought before they even closed the doors," Westbeld said. "In fact it was an easy sell and they already have two leases (in the rest of the shopping center) for a Dollar King and a Planet Fitness." These incoming businesses join new eateries such as Deer Park Sushi, which recently opened its doors at 3811 Center St., and KZ Sweet Boutique located at 3428 Center St. Also, Bush's Chicken is set to open at the end of December in the College Park Plaza Shopping Center at 8035 Spencer Highway. The new year promises even more dining selections including Chipotle Mexican Grill, which will open early this year in the College Park Shopping Center. With about 60 restaurants now operating within city limits and ongoing efforts to continue attracting a mix of shopping and retail businesses, Westbeld said she and other city officials work with an important goal in mind when it comes to economic growth. "We don't want empty buildings, we don't want blight, and we don't want people to have to leave Deer Park to shop," she said. "We want to make sure we have every kind of business people need." The former Teala's Mexican Restaurant at 3210 W. Dallas is about to get a new look and theme courtesy of one of Houston's prominent restaurateurs. Sam Governale, operating partner of the River Oaks outpost of Fleming's Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar, has announced he is creating his own restaurant group, DOCG Interests, with plans to turn the former Teala's into a "neighborhood-focused" restaurant and bar slated to open spring 2017. The new restaurant will be called Emmaline. Governale will remain at Fleming's through February to honor his current contract. Meanwhile he and his investors have begun to transform the 4,400-square-foot space between Shepherd and Waugh (Teala's closed in 2015) into a new restaurant that will feature multiple patios and a second-floor terrace. Ashley Putman, a longtime friend of Governale's, is the creative director for the project. . "Ashley and I share a common vision for the restaurant, developed from our mutual experiences in metropolitan cities where the comfort and grace of neighborhood spots seem so natural, easy and alive," Governale said. "She brings a stylish, yet timeless perspective to the project, creating a genuine setting and dynamic energy to an iconic building that, we think, will fit so well into the lifestyle of Houstonians." Governale said it was a tough decision to leave Fleming's. "The last eight years with Fleming's have been filled with amazingly creative and passionate people and too many unforgettable dining experiences and faces to count," he said. "As an operating partner at the River Oaks location, I've had the distinct pleasure to serve a dynamic community during its time of exponential growth. I am extremely proud of what we have accomplished and feel honored to have shared in those milestones and celebrations with both an incredible staff of people and our loyal guests. While the decision to move on was a difficult one to make, the time has come for me to pursue new opportunities and challenges as part of my further growth in the hospitality industry. I feel so fortunate to have found a one-of-a-kind location near the same vibrant neighborhood that has shown me such great affection. It's the perfect place for me to introduce a concept that will be very much an extension of my own home and the way I love to enjoy food and entertain guests." This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate When 21-year-old Shifa Abuzaid decided in May to begin wearing a hijab, she said her parents worried it might bring about incidents like the one she says she recently experienced. A man passing Abuzaid, along with her younger cousins and siblings, called them a "bunch of terrorists" on Saturday in Sugar Land Town Square, Abuzaid recounted in a Facebook post that has since been shared on the medium more than 2,500 times. Abuzaid was the eldest of her family members present at the time. The youngest was 10. The group had been walking to their car after lunch when they passed the verbally abusive man and a woman, Abuzaid said in a phone interview Tuesday. Abuzaid was walking in front and was the only one with a hijab, a head covering worn in public by some Muslim women. Story continues below. When they passed the couple, she said she tried to appear friendly, as she often does because of the political climate regarding Muslims. She smiled. But the younger kids stopped in their tracks after the couple passed, she said. They told Abuzaid what they had heard the man say. She felt shocked -- then she decided to try to talk with him about it. As Abuzaid told it, she followed the man into a store. She said they asked him politely why he had called them terrorists. She found his reaction was confrontational. Her sister began to cry as the man got close to her face, and when her 15-year-old brother stepped in front of her, Abuzaid alleged the man pushed him. The man then began to deny their account, Abuzaid said. A manager at the store, Sur La Table, stepped in to help. The store had called security, and the man and woman left. (The company did not immediately return a request for comment.) A police officer who later arrived told Abuzaid he couldn't do anything because no one was physically harmed, she said. (Sugar Land Police Chief Douglas Brinkley said they have since re-connected with the family to talk with them again.) So, at 4:29 p.m. Saturday, Abuzaid posted her account of what had happened along with a short video her cousin recorded of part of their exchange with the man. Ahead of New Year's Eve celebrations, she said she wanted people to know this man might be there. Abuzaid still doesn't know his name -- and points out that he didn't know hers, either. Nor did he likely know she was a student at the University of Houston, born in the United States. "You don't even know my name," she said. "You don't know my story." This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Black Swan Yoga Studio swooped into Houston from its Austin home-base last year with a grand opening on Jan. 1, 2016. Since then, the donation-based yoga group - owned by Onnit Academy, a health and fitness gym in Austin that allows loose franchises of the yoga studios - has cultivated a devoted group of yogis not only in the Heights where the studio sits White Oak Drive, but from all over the city. The one-room studio runs classes seven days a week, sometimes as late as 11 p.m. with 25 yoga teachers rotating in throughout the day. "It's a really beautiful studio," said Roxane Eslami as she admired the artwork on the white lobby wall and sipped her frozen, green concoction freshly squeezed for her at the Juiceland counter inside the studio. Eslami, who came to the studio strictly for the Juiceland drink, knows a thing or two about yoga aesthetics, she works at Lululemon in the Galleria, the yoga apparel "it" brand that hit its zenith with the rise of yoga popularity across the country over the last decade. Beyond the clean white lines of the lobby with the occasional natural-wood accent and pop of color from the artwork, the activity inside the studio walls is what draws the students. "Every teacher has their own style," said Eslami, who lives outside the Sam Houston Tollway. "You get a little bit of everything." The owners of the studio bring different professional backgrounds with them, too. "We're pretty lucky to be able to support each other," said Olivia Keller, co-owner of Black Swan Houston. She and her brother, Roland Keller and friend Claire Asmann own and manage the business. Olivia and Asmann taught yoga classes at the Austin locations together, while Asmann was tempting Roland with the business opportunity in Houston in hopes of tapping his years of commercial real estate experience for the acquisition of the right space. After moving to Houston for a corporate job, Asmann said she knew she wanted something different and took a leap of faith. "I saw the potential here in Houston and wanted to bring something here that was affordable, donation-based and created community," said Asmann. "People have developed relationships here. They come for the class and stay for a long time before and after, I love to be a part of that." Part of the community building efforts are their classes at White Oak Music Hall and Raven Tower in the Heights, two of the newest music venues in town. The groups hosts yoga classes at Raven Tower on the patio every Sunday morning, and quarterly they do night classes on the outdoor stage at WOMH which allows for about 1,000 people to participate said Asmann. Her Wednesday night class usually draws about 65 students, the absolute maximum the studio can hold. Over the holiday break Raquel Harris, who lives in Austin and attends BSY sessions there, brought her boyfriend's 60-year-old mother, Oby Egbuonu, to the BSY Heights for Egbuonu's first-ever yoga class. "I feel much better, I don't feel my blood pressure," said Egbuonu who suffers from high blood pressure. The two drove from southwest Houston to attend the class. The other Austin feature the group brought with them is the Juiceland counter inside the space. The popular fresh-juice brand is all over in Austin and has locations in Dallas and New York, but BWY in the Heights is the only one in Houston. With the class sizes and community partnerships growing so rapidly, Asmann feels thankful for that leap of faith she took just one short year ago. "It's definitely been even beyond my wildest dreams seeing the community that's developed here, it's been a blessing," said Asmann. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate When Brooklyn Miller got off the bus at Memorial High School in Spring Branch ISD on Wednesday, the first thing she saw was a swastika. The 18-year-old senior looked around and saw someone had spray-painted "f--- school" nearby. Down the hall, Miller could see the n-word and other racist messages. She and other students were upset. "At one point there was a girl crying. Her mom came up to the school and was really mad," Miller said. "The girl left, and a lot of other people of color were distraught, but some kids were laughing." Students at Memorial High returned from winter break Wednesday to find racist and other offensive graffiti scrawled across the school's walls, floors and windows, according to social media posts and district officials. Crudely drawn swastikas, the phrase "white power," sexually explicit phrases and symbols and several pentagrams which are often associated with paganism and Satanism were also found by school administrators as they arrived to school. Students shared images of the vandalism on Twitter, Facebook and Snapchat. Several said the hateful depictions covered the school, with a different scribble nearly every 10 feet along some hallways. Steve Brunsman, a district spokesman, said all of the graffiti was cleaned up by the time students were dismissed from classes. "Spring Branch ISD joins with the Memorial High School community in expressing outrage regarding the defacement of the high school campus earlier today as well as the highly offensive nature of the content," Brunsman said in a statement. "We stand against hate in all its forms and will never tolerate behavior that makes any member of the Spring Branch ISD family feel unsafe or disrespected." The discovery of the graffiti follows several other racially charged incidents in public schools in the Houston area and nationwide. After several students at Tomball High School wore black in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement, a white student wore a makeshift Ku Klux Klan robe and hood on campus and walked the hallways doing a Nazi salute. The student was punished according to the district's Student Code of Conduct, Tomball ISD officials said at the time. In April, a Cinco Ranch High School student was disciplined for wearing a mask that resembled a KKK hood during class. The 15-year-old Katy ISD student said he was unfamiliar with the white-supremacist group at the time of the incident and was not a racist. Students of color at Lamar High School in Houston ISD complained in April after a white classmate wore blackface to an off-campus party. She painted her face and arms black and wore a shirt depicting the late rapper Tupac Shakur. Some classmates defended the student, saying she was trying to dress like a shadow, despite the historical connotations of blackface. Spring ISD straddles Interstate 10 and covers an area west of Houston's 610 loop. Memorial High is located just east of the Memorial City Mall and two blocks south of I-10. Security footage from the school showed a lone figure, possibly a juvenile, spray-painting the building at about 12:30 a.m. Wednesday, according to Brunsman Spring Branch ISD and Houston Crime Stoppers are seeking information relating to the vandalism. Crime Stoppers is offering up to $5,000 to anyone who presents information that leads to the vandal's identification. In a letter to parents and students Wednesday, Memorial High School Principal Lisa Weir said she was shocked and angered by the "mean-spirited" vandalism. "At MHS, we stand against hate. We are shocked and angered that our school has been targeted, and that our students returned to a new year to find their campus defaced in such a mean-spirited way," Weir wrote. Weir conveyed her sadness about the incident in a PA address to students and staff. "I shared how we find strength in and take pride in our diversity, and how important it is for us to be sensitive to each other," Weir wrote. Nearly two-thirds of Memorial High's students are white, while 17 percent are Hispanic, 16 percent are Asian and only 2 percent are black, according to Texas Education Agency data. The school has been proactive in combating racist or hateful attitudes. It is one of the Anti-Defamation League's "No Place for Hate" campuses, which means students and staff members already have a system in place to respond to such situations. The program also gives tools to teachers and students to reject hateful language and to create a campus that promotes diversity and inclusion. The Anti-Defamation League commended Weir and Spring Branch ISD for their quick responses to the graffiti on Wednesday. "Our conversations with the school and Spring Branch ISD officials reflect that the situation is being addressed from all angles, and we are confident that Memorial High School students understand that respect is of utmost importance on campus and administrators, counselors and faculty are doing everything they can so that students feel they are in a safe learning environment," said Dayan Gross, Southwest regional director for the ADL. Students said Wednesday that the offensive messages do not reflect racial relations at the school, and that students are typically friendly to one another. James Wainaina, 18, Andrew Chipman, 14, and Cristo Gayoso, 15, talked about their shock and anger over the incident as they walked to soccer practice. "There's nothing fun or funny about it," Chipman said. "There's such a friendly environment here, so for something like this to happen is so rare. I'm just glad this district handled it well." Wainaina, who is black, said he didn't think something like this could happen at Memorial High. "We all joke about some stuff with close friends," Wainaina said. "But I didn't think someone here could be so racist." Parents were similarly disgusted. As Jane Hammond waited for her daughter to be released from school, she said she was glad students and staff members had denounced the hate symbols and rose above the name-calling. "It's scary and unnerving that there's someone who could do something like that in our kids' school and so close to our home," Hammond said. "And for it to be right on the heels of Christmas and the holidays is just terrible." Brooklyn Miller said one person's hateful actions do not reflect the attitudes of her classmates. But before she went into class Wednesday morning, the 18-year-old saw white classmates posing with the "white power" graffiti piece. "That made me feel terrible; I thought Memorial was more respectful," Miller said. "We're a very diverse school, but there are some people who don't really show respect for other races here." At a news conference Wednesday, leaders of the NAACP's Houston branch condemned the graffiti and called for more cultural sensitivity training at the high school. "It is unfortunate that children in 2017 have to return to school and find these disturbing images," said Dallas Jones, a chapter vice president. Jones and Yolanda Smith, the branch's executive director, said educators should consider how that small minority at a majority-white school is affected by white peers posing for pictures in front of racial slurs or the words "white power." Jones decried a nationwide "onset of racist movements," and Smith lamented the political season's impact. "We're seeing this more and more, and we're going to call it out every time we see it," Smith said. You are here: Home Flash South Sudan's First Vice President Taban Deng Gai said Tuesday that regional leaders support the country's opposition leader Riek Machar's exile in South Africa. Gai, a former opposition commander under Machar, said that leaders from East African countries didn't want Machar to move around in their countries to plan ways of increasing conflict in South Sudan. Machar fled South Sudan and was replaced by Gai as first vice president after renewed fighting broke out in July 2016 between his forces and troops of President Salva Kiir. He is now in residence in Pretoria, South Arica. "He (Machar) is hidden there because he is spreading war," Gai told a crowd in Yei, a town some 150 km southwest of the capital Juba. Gai alleged regional countries saw Machar as a war monger after he declared renewed rebellion against the government following the July 2016 fighting. South Sudan descended into civil war in December 2013 after a fallout between President Kiir and his sacked deputy Riek Machar. A peace deal signed in 2015 under UN pressure between the two led to a short-lived unity government formed in April last year, but was shattered by the renewed fighting. Gai, who was Machar's chief peace negotiator, currently heads a splinter faction of the opposition party in the unity government. Violence in the country has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced more than one million to neighboring countries since late 2013. Gai asked Machar's followers to denounce rebellion and return to Juba. "Machar will not be seen again. He would be seen again in elections if there is peace," he said. Under the August 2015 peace agreement, South Sudan is due to hold elections in 2018. Twitter Moments Roger Marshall rose to prominence on Tuesday, being sworn into office with Speaker of the House Paul Ryan on Tuesday. Unfortunately, the Kansas congressman was upstaged by his son's dance moves, which have reportedly confused Ryan. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Several new schools are under construction as area school districts work to keep up with enrollment growth. Four new schools are under construction in Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District - Bridgeland High School, Jim and Pam Wells Elementary School, Janet Brenner Hoover Elementary School and Matzke Elementary. In addition, the district is working on major renovations at Watkins Middle School and Adam and Bane elementary schools. The district will also be completing the final phase of upgrading technology infrastructure. Two of the new schools - Wells Elementary and Bridgeland High are part of a multi-campus site at 10607 Mason Road that will also include a future middle school. Hoover Elementary School, serving Pre-K through second grade, is located across from Jowell Elementary School, at 6425 Greenhouse Road. Three of Cy-Fair's new schools will open in 2017-18 - Wells, Hoover and Matzke elementary schools. "We will not have enrollment projections until later this spring, but feel confident will be well over 115,000 students," said Stephanie Migl, a spokeswoman for the district. Klein Independent School District is building a new high school, Klein Cain High School, which will open for the beginning of school in August 2017. "The district is excited about the opening of Klein Cain High School," said Klein ISD spokeswoman Judy Rimato. "Principal Nicole Patin continues to build her team of educators to welcome the Hurricanes in August of 2017." In addition, Klein will begin construction in 2017 of a new intermediate school on West Rayford next to Metzler Elementary. The school will open in August of 2018. "We look forward to watching the progress of that campus as it is a new intermediate school design for Klein ISD," Rimato said. Current enrollment at Klein ISD is 51,773 students and the district projects an enrollment of just over 52,800 students at peak enrollment. Enrollment during the first year at Klein Cain High School is expected to be between 1,500 and 1,750 students, Rimato said. At Magnolia Independent School District, construction is underway for the new Magnolia Intermediate, renovations for the new Bear Branch Intermediate and a renovated cafeteria at Williams Elementary. Steel is up at Magnolia Intermediate School and the retaining wall has been built at Bear Branch Intermediate, said Denise Meyers, spokeswoman for the district. The district is also upgrading the cafeteria at Williams Elementary. The structural steel and roof decking are complete for the cafeteria and the electrical work has started. In addition, Magnolia ISD's new District Conference Center is estimated to be complete by December 2017. The upgrades are part of Magnolia ISD's 2015 $92 million bond. The district's current enrollment is 12,771. "As the Houston economy has slowed, the district will be working with a demographer in the spring to look at projections in relation to current Houston economic trends and the current mobility projects within the county," Meyers said. Tomball Independent School District does not have any schools currently under construction. The district opened Creekside Park Junior High School in August 2016. In addition, Tomball ISD opened three other new schools in 2015 - Creekview Elementary, Wildwood Elementary and Oakcrest Intermediate. The schools were funded with the district's $160 million bond referendum in 2013. "We appreciate the community's support of Bond 2013," said Staci Stanfield, Tomball ISD's director of communications. "The passage of the bond has enabled the district to build schools to accommodate new growth." Tomball's current enrollment is 14,980 students, and the district expects to grow to 15,800 students in the 2017-18 school year, Stanfield said. Waller County 4-H Ambassadors had a very busy December. The Ambassadors worked their regular first weekend at the House of Help, starting at 9:30 a.m. and working until 3:30 p.m. They served 75 families by packing, delivering and preparing food packages. They additionally moved about 300 pounds of meat from storage to the distribution freezer area. The Ambassadors day ended with the team's total hours for the day at 37 hours collectively. The second part of the month leading up to the week before Christmas, Waller County saw the Ambassadors back in action. The Toys for Tots program has a special distribution point in Waller County for the families in need. All of the toys are brought to one common location and sorted and packed per the individual family needs. The Ambassadors sorted toys in categories and packed bags based on the request from the family in need. The bags are then double checked by the director and placed into a collection area. The week before Christmas, the families that requested help come back and pick up the toys based on their individual needs. The sorting and packing is very organized it just takes some time to get all of it ready for distribution and collection by the family. The Ambassadors sorted, packed, and delivered to each family's car a special Christmas. The Ambassador Team contributed another 76 hours this month for this program that is a community ministry led by the House of Help. For the month, the Ambassador team contributed more than 103 hours at the House of Help for these major projects over several days. For anyone interested in learning more about the Ambassador program, an Ambassador will come to your club and speak about the program and the requirements of the interview process. Contact the Extension office or reach out directly to the Ambassador Adult Leader to arrange a visit to your club by a 4-H Ambassador. Contact Amanda Shortt at the Extension Office or email Adult Leader Chuck Anderson at Anderson1985@sbcglobal.net to arrange an Ambassador visit to your Club. Flash Western High Court of Denmark on Tuesday rejected an appeal made by Chung Yoo-ra, daughter of impeached South Korean President Park Geun-hye's longtime confidante Choi Soon-sil, against a local court's decision to remand her in custody for four weeks. Western High Court decided that the 20-year-old, wanted by the South Korean police for alleged economic crime, should remain in custody for four weeks after her arrest by Danish police on Sunday, a prosecutor's office said in a statement. Chung was arrested by police in the northern Danish city of Aalborg after a tip from a South Korean journalist said that she was staying at a certain address in the city. After a hearing on Monday, the Court of Aalborg decided to remand Chung in custody for four weeks. The case has since been forwarded to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, the authority in Denmark that deals with extradition requests from other countries. The Office said that it is still awaiting the formal extradition request from the South Korean authorities. When the Office receives this request, the extradition case proceedings can begin, according to the statement. "How long it takes us to reach a decision in the extradition case is partly dependent on when we receive the necessary documents from South Korea," said Mohammad Ahsan, deputy director from the Office, noting that a decision will be made within a few weeks after receiving all required documents. "The case is being treated with the same respect for Danish law as in any other extradition case. There are procedures that we must follow, but of course we are processing the case as efficiently as possible," Ahsan added. Chung's mother Choi is charged with using her friendship with President Park to extort funds from large businesses and meddling in state affairs though she has no government position and security clearance. Chung is alleged to have received illegal favors when entering a prestigious university. Houston police said Tuesday that a 16-year-old girl who was found dead over the weekend, was accidentally shot by her father. Police were called to the home in the 4200 block of Oak Shadows around 2:30 a.m. on Saturday, HPD homicide investigator Michael Cass said. The teen was found dead with a single gunshot wound. Several people were detained after a robbery early Wednesday morning in north Harris County. The robbery happened about 12:15 a.m. at an IHOP at Cypress Station and FM 1960, according to the Harris County Sheriff's Office. At least one Dallas mother said she's learned the hard way to be more cautious about talking around voice-activated electronic devices. Megan Neitzel recently received an Amazon Echo Dot device that uses Amazon's voice-controlled "Alexa" system, according to FoxNews.com. Alexa and Echo Dot can do a host of things from turning off the lights to placing online orders, judging by the write-up touting the system's talents that are "Always getting smarter and adding new features." STORE ROBOTS: Here come 'smart stores' with interactive shelves Neitzel, however, was surprised when she got an email confirmation of her purchase of a $170 dollhouse and a 4-pound tin of cookies, FoxNews.com reported. Neitzel told the website she was sure such an order would have been placed by her 6-year-old daughter, who denied ordering anything. The girl noted that she had asked Alexa about cookies and a dollhouse, which the smart technology mistook for a shopping list and dutifully placed the order. The Neitzel family has apparently taken the episode with good humor, opting to use it as a "teachable moment." They're eating the cookies and are planning to donate the dollhouse, FoxNews.com reported. As soon as investigators and medical personnel examined the severe injuries of a 1-year-old girl who was reportedly attacked by dogs, they knew her injuries didnt match the story her relatives told authorities, said Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar. The baby, he said, suffered life-threatening injuries consistent with a brutal sexual assault. Police arrested two people in connection with the alleged incident, including the childs relative, Crystal Herrera, and her boyfriend Isaac Andrew Cardenas. Cardenas, 23, was being held on a charge of super aggravated sexual assault. Bail was set at $300,000. Authorities said Herrera, 22, was providing false information to keep detectives from finding out what occurred. She was booked in the Bexar County Jail on a charge of injury to a child by omission. I cant even begin to describe to you the level of depravity that went into this crime, Salazar said. Its a horrendous case. Police said Herrera called 911 at 9 a.m. Saturday, saying the girl had wandered out of their South Bexar County home in the middle of the night and was attacked by dogs. But as detectives spoke to Herrera and Cardenas, they noticed their stories didnt add up, Salazar said. Later, Bexar County animal control officers told police that the dogs they were sent to pick up showed no aggression. Medical personnel examining the childs injuries quickly determined she had suffered life-threatening stab wounds. Authorities said the stab wounds on her upper body and private parts were nonaccidental. Ive got seasoned detectives and emergency room personnel that have all agreed that this is one of the worst cases theyve seen, Salazar said during his first news conference since being sworn in as sheriff. This is one of those cases, Ill be honest with you, its something that I havent even seen the pictures, I dont want to see the pictures, Salazar said. Its been described to me and just imagining it is enough to chill any of us. The child was transported to University Hospital, where she was in stable condition Tuesday. You cant even imagine what would possess somebody to do something like this to anyone, much less an innocent child thats totally defenseless, Salazar said. Salazar said detectives are looking into any history of abuse of the girl, who is to be put in the custody of Child Protective Services. A child this small to suffer these types of injuries shes going to carry this with her for the rest of her life, physically, emotionally, and also as a family he said. Its a heartbreaking case. jbeltran@express-news.net Twitter: @JBfromSA An unclassified document from the Drug Enforcement Agency shows the areas of influence generated by Mexico's major criminal organizations. The "intelligence report," dated July 2015, includes three maps that show the various DEA offices around the country and the cartel-related cases they deal with; potential markets that drug cartels will exploit due to population density; and heroin deaths by state. Pat Sullivan/STF AUSTIN Attorney General Ken Paxton sued the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Monday after a more-than-yearlong fight over Texas decision to import a drug used in death row executions, which federal officials say is not approved for human injections. Paxton, a first-term Republican, said the FDA which in 2015 seized 1,000 vials of thiopental sodium at a Houston airport has yet to decide whether to permit the drug into the country, calling it gross incompetence or willful obstruction. The Texas Department of Criminal Justice since has argued to the FDA that the importation is lawful for the purposes of carrying out death sentences, according to the lawsuit. 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. Canadian Immigration Questions and Answers with Attorney David Cohen CIC News Aa Accessibility Font Style Serif Sans Font Size A A Every month, Attorney David Cohen will answer a few general Canadian immigration questions submitted by our readers. These questions cover immigration programs, eligibility, processing, language requirements, investing in Canada, landing, admissibility, studying in Canada, working in Canada, and much more. Here are this months questions and answers. 1. If parents or grandparents are in Canada on a Super Visa, can they work for an employer in Canada? A Super Visa does not grant its bearer the right to work in Canada. It is not a work permit, and parents and grandparents of Canadian citizens and permanent residents in Canada on a Super Visa should not engage in any work in Canada unless authorized to do so. The Super Visa allows its bearer multiple entries to Canada for a period up to 10 years. The key difference between a Super Visa and a visitor visa is that the Super Visa allows an individual to stay for up to two years on initial entry into Canada, while a 10-year multiple entry visitor visa would only have a status period for each entry of six months only. 2. Is it true that dual citizens of Canada now need to travel on a Canadian passport if travelling to Canada by air? Until November 10, 2016, individuals who hold Canadian citizenship as well as citizenship of another country could enter Canada with a passport from the country of their non-Canadian citizenship. As of November 10, however, Canadian citizens require a Canadian passport in order to board their flight to travel to Canada. There is an exception for American-Canadian citizens, who may enter Canada with an American passport. In some cases, special authorization may be given for Canadian citizens to travel to Canada by air on a non-Canadian passport. Until January 31, 2017, Canadian citizens without a Canadian passport can apply for a special authorization to travel to Canada by air if they: have a flight to Canada that leaves in less than 10 days, and have a valid passport from a visa-exempt country. And one of the following: have previously received a certificate of Canadian citizenship, or held a Canadian passport in the past, or were granted Canadian citizenship after having been a permanent resident of Canada. The individuals information will be verified to confirm that he or she is indeed a Canadian citizen. This authorization will be valid for only four days from the date of travel selected on the form. If it is not used within this time, the individual will need to apply for a new authorization. The government of Canada states that, for individuals who are not eligible for the special authorization, there are no quick fixes to help you get on a flight. The government encourages affected persons to Contact the nearest government of Canada office abroad to find out what their options are. Only under strict conditions and on a case-by-case basis will temporary passports or emergency travel documents be issued. 3. Can we expect more Invitations to Apply to be issued under the Express Entry system in 2017 than in previous years? Although it is not possible to know for certain what the future may bring to Canadian immigration programs and systems, the short answer to your question is yes we can expect more Invitations to Apply (ITAs) to be issued this year, compared with previous years. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) representatives have made numerous mentions of the departments objective to increase the number of ITAs issued. However, the clearest evidence comes with IRCCs 2017 Immigration Levels Plan, which was released just over two months ago. Of all the targets that were announced in the 2017 plan, arguably the most significant is the increased role that Express Entry is expected to play. Up to 75,300 new immigrants will land in Canada through one of the federal economic immigration programs in 2017, an increase of around 23 percent on last year, when the target was 59,000. This includes applicants who applied prior to the launch of Express Entry and whose applications remain in the inventory of applications that have not yet been processed to completion. Moreover, the inventory of applications submitted before 2015 was larger at that time. Consequently, the number of people to be invited to apply for Canadian permanent residence through Express Entry in 2017 is expected to go up considerably. 2017 CICNews All Rights Reserved CRS Requirement Decreases in Largest Ever Express Entry Draw CIC News Aa Accessibility Font Style Serif Sans Font Size A A The first Express Entry draw for immigration to Canada of 2017 has taken place, with 2,902 candidates in the pool having been issued an Invitation to Apply (ITA) for Canadian permanent residence on January 4. The number of Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) points required in order for a candidate to receive an ITA in this draw was 468, the joint-lowest CRS threshold since February of last year. Invited candidates have 90 days to submit their application, including supporting documents. Once Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has approved an application a process that usually takes less than six months these individuals, as well as accompanying family members, may land in Canada as new permanent residents. The response to the latest draw, the 51st in total since Express Entry was first launched two years ago, has been positive. Over the latter months of last year, the number of ITAs issued per draw increased, to the point where draw sizes are now around four times what they were during the summer months of 2016. The beginning of this steady increase in draw sizes came at a time when IRCC was preparing to make significant changes to the CRS. These changes came into force on November 19, 2016, with the aim of placing greater emphasis within the system on human capital, skills and experience. Over recent weeks, many candidates profiles have become more competitive, principally due to the fact that qualifying job offers are now awarded far fewer points than was previously the case. It should also be noted that candidates who obtain an enhanced nomination certificate through a Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) category will continue to be awarded 600 points, even after the recent changes to the CRS. This makes PNPs by far the single most valuable factor under the new system. CRS requirement coming down Keen observers of the Express Entry system noted after the recent changes came into force that those changes may have the short-term effect of the CRS threshold actually increasing, before eventually coming down. This prediction, which turned out to be accurate, came from an observation that the requirements on qualifying job offers have been relaxed to include many candidates holding an employer-specific work permit in Canada (such as a NAFTA work permit, or a work permit issued to an intra-company transferee). As a result, more candidates could claim points for a job offer. However, the number of CRS points awarded for a job offer has decreased substantially in most cases, from 600 points down to 50 points (though some senior managerial level positions are worth 200 points). Once this increased group of candidates with a qualifying job offer had exited the pool, it was expected that the CRS cut-off score would decrease. Another important factor that bolstered this prediction came from the fact that over recent months IRCC representatives had made numerous statements that the number of ITAs issued per draw would increase. Although 468 is not the lowest ever CRS cut-off threshold, many candidates remaining in the pool have good reason to be hopeful that the requirement will continue to go down. A positive start to 2017 Over the last three or four months of 2016, positive developments in Express Entry came one after the other, and quickly. There was the announcement of the of the 2017 Immigration Levels Plan, which targets more newcomers through the system than ever before, then there were the welcome changes to the Comprehensive Ranking System. These changes should allow more candidates to realize their goal of settling in Canada as permanent residents, says Attorney David Cohen. In addition, we are seeing larger draws than ever. Combined with the recent changes, this has had the effect of the point threshold decreasing. A New CRS Calculator is Available The new and improved CRS Calculator allows candidates in the Express Entry pool, as well as individuals thinking of creating an Express Entry profile, to find out what their score would be under the new points system. To find out if you are eligible to immigrate to Canada permanently, fill out a free online assessment form. 2017 CICNews All Rights Reserved New Electronic Travel Authorization Requirement Continues to Surprise Travellers to Canada CIC News Aa Accessibility Font Style Serif Sans Font Size A A Certain prospective visitors to Canada are still encountering issues with the Electronic Travel Authorization (eTA), an electronic document that is required for most visa-exempt visitors to Canada. Over the holiday period, many accounts emerged of travellers facing delays, or missed flights, because they were not aware of the eTA requirement. First introduced in August, 2015, the eTA became mandatory for most visa-exempt visitors to Canada coming by air as of November 10, 2016. However, this lengthy roll-out period appears to have been insufficient to fully inform potential travellers of the new documentation requirement. The eTA is a pre-screening process that requires most visa-exempt travellers entering Canada by air to complete an online form and pay a fee of $7 CAD. The eTA is linked to the holders passport, and is valid for five years or until the expiry of the passport, whichever is earlier. Travellers from the United States, or from countries whose citizens require a Temporary Resident Visa (TRV) in order to enter Canada, are not required to obtain an eTA before travelling to Canada. In most cases, the eTA may be issued within minutes. However, in some cases it can take significantly longer than this. In November, a British comedian live-tweeted his wait for an eTA, which caused him to miss his flight to Canada and ultimately, a stand-up show he had booked in Toronto. Holiday Plans Go Awry A year and a half after the introduction of the eTA, many travellers are still uninformed about the new requirement. A Nova Scotia resident, Mark Ashworth, had arranged for his father, David Ashworth, who lives in England, to join the family in Canada for the Christmas period. David Ashworth, who has mobility issues and required a wheelchair at the airport, was unaware of the eTA requirement when he arrived at Heathrow Airport in London for his flight to Canada. Without an email address or credit card, he was unable to apply for the eTA at the airport, even though the airline provided him with a tablet at the airport. Consequently, he was unable to board his flight. Mark Ashworth, waiting in Canada, was unaware of his fathers plight as he watched the travellers from the flight disembark in Halifax. When his father was not among the passengers, he tried to trace him through the airline before resorting to calling the British police. His father finally got in touch after returning to his home. The Ashworths later found out that Mark would have been able to apply for an eTA on his fathers behalf while his father waited in the airport. The eTA form offers the option to indicate if the applicant is applying on behalf of a friend or family member who is travelling to Canada. The Take-Home Message The Ashworths lament that they were not informed of the eTA requirement at any stage of the ticket booking process, by the airline or the travel agency. Similar accounts of a lack of information have emerged repeatedly during the roll-out period. In the case of David Ashworth, the travel service through which he booked his flight stated that we advise [travellers] of any applicable travel authorization [including visas and eTAs], as well as applicable fees. It is crucial that travellers to Canada inform themselves of the requirements in order to enter Canada, to ensure a smooth trip for themselves and their families, says Attorney David Cohen. The eTA process is ultimately designed to ease travel to Canada, and individuals who prepare in advance are likely to have a smooth journey and an enjoyable time in Canada. To determine what you need to do to visit Canada, use the Visiting Canada Tool. If you have any questions or concerns about the process of obtaining an eTA and gaining entry to Canada, please send a detailed email to eta@canadavisa.com. For a list of frequently asked questions regarding the eTA, visit the comprehensive eTA FAQ page. 2017 CICNews All Rights Reserved Was 2016 a historical turning point, or merely a year like many others? No one knows yet. The rioters who stormed the Bastille in Paris on July 14, 1789, had no idea that they were launching one of historys great revolutions. Wine and the summer heat, some said, sparked their actions as much as republican ideals. Stendahl immortalized this inability to grasp the true significance of an event as it occurs in the character of Fabrice in The Charterhouse of Parma. Fabrice fights with all his might against English and Prussian soldiers in the Battle of Waterloo, but he is unaware of the stakes of the struggle. Only afterward does he learn that he was part of a great event, now known as Waterloo, which marked the end of an empire and the birth of a new political order in Europe. If we look back over 2016, we can observe at least three major phenomena: the resurgence of populism, the return of brute force to international relations, and the weakening of democracy. These trends have sent the media scrambling for meaning, but do they really portend our future? Perhaps were not looking in the right place. After all, when Jesus was born in Bethlehem, was anyone looking for him there other than three wise men? Lets assume for the sake of argument that 2016 was in fact a populist milestone, with Brexit, the unexpected election of Donald Trump in the United States, and the rise of conservative parties in France, Italy, Poland, the Netherlands, Austria, and Hungary. We should take a closer look at the meaning of the term populist. Populists usually define themselves as patriots who want to take back control of their destinies. They see themselves as alienated by policies concerning immigration, globalization, and, in Europe, Europeanization (as opposed to national identity). They are against cosmopolitan intrusions, and they position themselves as an authentic people through their devotion to culture, language, and origins. They are united more by their passions, though, than by solutions. Will populists push the international order toward a breakdown, and possible violence? Or will the gulf between populist promises and reality extinguish these enflamed passions? We dont know yet. Likewise, we dont know whether the recourse to brute force will displace the art of diplomatic negotiation in 2017. Without question, the leaders of China, Russia, Turkey, and Syria believe that they have won major victories in 2016 by disregarding international law, human rights, the U.N., and international treaties. But here again, the crucial questiondo these trends represent a new order, or a fleeting moment of weakness on the part of Western democracies?will go unanswered for the time being. Certainly, 2016 was a bad year for democracies. While Africa had appeared to be on the right path, the continent has moved backward of late, with the commendable exceptions of Nigeria and Ghana. In Zimbabwe, Gambia, and the Congo, dictators are blocking free elections and rejecting the principle of regular changes in administration. The Ibrahim Prize, which rewards heads of state who step down from power in deference to their legal term, was not awarded in 2016. Around the world, the principles of pluralist democracy, respect for minorities, and the rights of opposition have been weakened. Worse, the West seems indifferent to these regressions. We are accustomed to the fact that the Russians, the Chinese, and the Arabs are subject to tyranny, as if it were their cultural destiny. Against the backdrop of Western silence, Syria is dying under the bombs of Bashar al-Assad. No demonstrations greeted the imprisonment of Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo and his wife Liu Xia. The West doesnt appear to care that the new Egyptian dictator has crushed dissidents with even more cruelty than his predecessor, Hosni Mubarak. Only Tunisia seems determined to maintain a state of law inherited from the Arab Spring. The final example of the progress of cynicism in 2016 is Myanmar (Burma). Since the admirable, long-detained Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi has taken power, she has allowed her army to crush the Rohingya minority because they are Muslims and not authentic Burmese. All those who fought to free Suu Kyi have received little for their pains, and have chosen the cowardly option of staying silent. Will 2017 contradict or confirm these trends? Developments in the United States and France will be telling. Will Donald Trump deliver on what he promisedand if he does, what will be the results? If he fails to do so, how will his supporters react? In France, will the rise of populism be contained by the presidential elections next spring? If so, Europe will be saved, but if not, the entire continent could be plunged into brutality reminiscent of the 1930s. But now I am prophesying, which is both erroneous and vain. Stendhals Fabrice knew that he did not know, and that is a sign of wisdom for us to emulate in the year ahead. Photo by Yana Paskova/Getty Images Audio Transcript Steve Malanga: Hello everyone. My name is Steve Malanga, senior editor at City Journal. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey was founded in 1921 to quell the squabbling between the two states for control over the New York Harbor. It was conceived as a good government agency that was supposed to be organized to operate efficiently and beyond politics. Today the Authority is responsible for operations and security for some of the largest transit and shipping hubs in the world, and for some of the region's most valuable real estate. But it has been embroiled in controversy for decades. City Journal has written several articles dedicated to problems at the Port Authority, from bloated budgets to unmanageable assets, to political corruption. Our latest piece, The New York Police Force That Doesn't Work, is on controversy surrounding the law enforcement agency responsible for security at Port Authority properties, a force of 1,900 officers operating entirely separate from the NYPD or other state agencies. The piece, written by Judy Miller, includes revelations about a till-now secret report which found that the Port Authority's security practices were profoundly deficient at every level in every key functional area. Judy is a contributing editor to City Journal and a fellow at the Manhattan Institute. Before she was with us, Judy was a reporter with the New York Times, where she was part of a team that won the Pulitzer Prize. Judy, thanks for joining us. Judith Miller: Thank you Steve. Steve Malanga: Now let's begin with a recent high profile case back in August at JFK Airport that some say illustrated the problems at the Port Authority Police Department. There was a false alarm that provoked some fear that there was a terrorist attack in progress at the terminals. How did security teams respond to this and what did it tell us about potential problems? Judith Miller: Well I think the response fell far short of what anybody would expect from a response at the nation's airports fifteen years after 9/11. I mean the response was completely uncoordinated, people were running in all directions, there was no single broadcast message warning people, one, about a potential threat, and then two, calming them down to assure them that there was no threat. But more than that, it turned out that the Port Authority Police, who are supposed to be responsible for security at these airports, didn't even have access to the camera feed that was collecting information and supposed to be 24/7, right, but the police didn't even have access to that information and so they couldn't even figure out themselves what was going on at the facility they were supposed to protect. So it was a mess and I think several of us were struck by the fact that it was made more of a mess and people were even more concerned after all New York and New Jersey officials said no problem here, everything is fine, move right along, you know. The police responded well. Well the fact of the matter is they didn't. Even the union wrote letters complaining about the problems that they say which impeded the response. So you know, that's just typical of what we get from the Port Authority Police. And as you pointed out, Steve, these facilities are so crucial to New York. We're talking about the bridges, the tunnels, the trains, the airports, the ports of New York and New Jersey, and the airports alone, which carry about you know, a third of all the commercial traffic in the country through these areas. So deficiencies in policing and security should be of concern to everyone, not only those in the metropolitan region but everyone who flies through New York airport. Steve Malanga: Sure. Now the thing is that obviously the thing about the Port Authority as an agency, its properties overlap the territory of New York State and New Jersey, and so the different police departments actually kind of share responsibility. But what we've had here actually in New York though has been something of a turf war over property, especially in the city, such as at ground zero, the idea you know, the turf war over who has primary responsibility for these valuable properties. Now some critics at the PA Police force say that the NYPD is far more qualified to take the lead at a place like ground zero. Can you talk a little bit about why critics think the current division of labor is a problem? Judith Miller: Well I think just the numbers tell you something about the story. I mean you now have, after some increases, about 1,900 Port Authority policemen who are supposed to, some of whom are deployed to protect that iconic, high-value terrorist target in our city and now one of the biggest tourist attractions as well. That 1,900, that's the total force versus a total NYPD force of 35,000; 1,000 of whom have been specially trained to handle counterterrorism activities. And it just strikes a lot of people as nuts, to think that you can recreate in a mini version the capabilities of the NYPD and say well, they can you know, they are responsible for the most important target in the United States. No, they shouldn't be. And I think that that was something that Ray Kelly, the former police commissioner, understood and that he was you know kind of banging his head against a wall to try and get resolved. Now, they have a sharing agreement now on who is going to patrol what and what each police force is going to do, but the problem is really that the NYPD is the agency. It is the law enforcement agency which should be involved and should have top responsibility for this facility. But why doesn't it? Well, look at politics. I mean what we learned during the famous Bridgegate trial over the summer and the fall was that the reason the Port Authority got primary jurisdiction over the World Trade Center is that Governor Chris Christie wanted the endorsement of the very powerful Port Authority Police union. And because he wanted their endorsement, Governor Christie said that it would be over his dead body that anybody other than the Port Authority Police would ever have primary responsibility for that facility. Now, we have to acknowledge that many, that proportionately and numerically, more Port Authority Police died at the World Trade Center site in 2001 but that still doesn't answer or address the question of you know, who is best suited to assure security at the facility. And I think that you know, that shouldn't be decided based on a political pledge, or political factors, it should be decided on who has the capability. Steve Malanga: Well you use the term you know, powerful, with respect to the - politically powerful - with respect to the police union there. And as we're written about it in our previous articles, the Port Authority unions in general, because they do have control over key assets in the region, have accumulated an enormous amount of power. In particular I wonder how do union contracts and union work rules potentially affect the Port Authority's ability to police its own properties? And how does that compare to the kind of work rules that maybe we see elsewhere in the New York/New Jersey region? Judith Miller: Well I think that this is one of the major factors, that a group called The Chertoff Group - that's named after the former head of the Department of Homeland Security, Michael Chertoff - he was hired in 2011 to assess the police and the Port Authority security operations and he was the one. It was his report that found them so derelict and so unable to assume their responsibilities as charged. And Chertoff found that the relationship between the union and the management, this very tense and unpleasant acrimonious relationship, and the number of concessions that management had made to the union basically made the Port Authority unable to supervise, and to manage, and to deploy its police effectively, that that role was effectively now being done by the union. And it was one of their major criticisms. And one of the solutions that Mr. Chertoff recommended was that basically the contracts that have been in place that hamstring, that so hamstring this management process, be renegotiated. That they just be - we start again, because The Chertoff Group concluded that there was no way that the Port Authority Police would be able to do a really effective job of protecting these facilities unless some of these rules were revisited. That of course hasn't happened because neither Governor Christie nor Governor Cuomo seems to have the effective management of Port Authority Police at the top of their political agendas. Steve Malanga: Now, you mentioned the Chertoff report. Now first of all I think it's important to point out that up until this point that report has really never been made public and, thanks to your reporting, you have at least a sense of some of the things that were said in that report and also that in fact a number of the Port Authority commissioners have, let's say, maybe complained -- I don't know if that's too strong a word Judith Miller: Right. Steve Malanga: That they really haven't, that the Port Authority hasn't actually implemented many of the recommendations, so where are we now in terms of some of the key deficiencies? I know that, among other things, the Port Authority has hired I guess you would call it a chief investigator... Judith Miller: A security chief. Steve Malanga: A security chief, right, over the police department itself, so that's one of the things that I think is a sense of progress, but what has he been able to accomplish? There have been two of them now. What have they been able to accomplish and what are some of the other things that need to be done? Judith Miller: Right. Well, Joe Dunne and Tom Gelfiore have done - these are both former NYPD policemen, police officers, by the way... Steve Malanga: Talk about turf wars. Judith Miller: Right. They have been able to accomplish a great deal and they have done a good job insofar as they have been able to work within the constraints of these onerous contracts and traditions of the Port Authority, but what they haven't been able to do, and that even though they have been able to hire more people, and train them better, and institute more counterterrorism training, what they haven't been able to do is get into the work rules themselves. So even they are stuck with this extraordinary overtime problem. You know, in which, as Ken Lipper, who is one of the commissioners appointed by Andrew Cuomo, as he said to me in an interview, he said look, you know, there's a culture at the Port Authority Police in which people, actually younger officers, defer to older officers. They give up overtime assignments and requests to the older officers so that the older officers can pad their pensions so that they can retire with a higher pension, and that's just the way the Port Authority always works. And what this has done is it has meant that overtime costs and security costs at the Port Authority are out of control. I mean we have you know, $300,000 a day in overtime, roughly. Two million dollars a week, a hundred million dollars a year. This is real money. And every time you pay a toll or go through one of these facilities you are paying the results of that inefficiency. And so yeah they have not been able to address either the work rules or the basic culture that leads to these inefficiencies. Steve Malanga: Right. And I think it is important to say, as you've pointed out, every time we cross a bridge or a tunnel in New York we are paying for this. Judith Miller: Absolutely. Everyone who does - a tourist, a resident, it doesn't matter. But you know this is such an important institution. And that both governors, because this is a bi-state agency, have permitted it to be so badly managed and out of control for so long, does not speak well of the management. People love to blame the unions and yes, unions do what unions do. They get the best possible payment, and treatment, and rules for their workers. But it ultimately comes down to the Port Authority management saying this is a public agency and we are supposed to operate for the public good, and we're not going to give in on you know, demand X, Y, and Z. And that just hasn't happened because neither governor has really put the safety and security of the people who use these facilities at the top of their political agendas. Steve Malanga: Well clearly this is an important story. Don't forget to check out Judy's article, The New York Police Force That Doesn't Work, which was in the Autumn issue of City Journal, and is on our website at City-Journal.org. Lastly, if you like our show and want to hear more, please leave ratings and reviews on iTunes. Thanks for listening and thank you, again, Judy. Judith Miller: Thank you Steve. AO Centrul de Drept al Avocatilor anunta concurs pentru procurarea/elaborarea panourilor informative pentru Inspectoratul General al Politiei de Frontiera A potential solution to a troublesome sand shortage off Southeast Florida is tucked away in a massive water resources funding bill President Barack Obama signed into law last month. The 2016 Water Resources Development Act authorizes the Army Corps of Engineers to study the potential of using foreign sand, such as from the Bahamas, to widen shorelines and protect coasts from hurricanes like the ones that lashed the Big Bend and northeastern Florida last summer. In its Shrinking Shores investigation last year, the Naples Daily News reported Miami-Dade and Broward counties have exhausted their deposits of available offshore sand, leaving only sand that is too far offshore to retrieve or is nestled among protected reefs or other underwater marine features. A federal search found enough sand to last 50 years, but beach project managers told the Daily News the sand is too dark and risks triggering sand wars with other coastal counties. Project managers said Bahamian sand is the regions best chance to end expensive and inefficient sand hauls from inland mines. But a ban, backed by the U.S dredging industry, on spending federal money on beach projects that use foreign sand stands in the way. Coastal communities can ill afford to forgo federal money for their beaches, the Daily News found. Florida members of Congress tried again last year, unsuccessfully, to lift the ban. The study provision in WRDA 2016 represents a compromise, said U.S. Rep. Lois Frankel, D-Boca Raton, who co-sponsored legislation to end the ban. I think were moving in a good direction, Frankel said. She said she would be in touch with the Corps of Engineers about whether the agency has money to conduct the study or money needs to be put in a budget. The WRDA provision put no timeline on the study, but she said she hopes it will be done by the next time Congress reauthorizes WRDA, scheduled for 2018. The Secretary (of the Army) is authorized to undertake a study of the economic and non-economic costs, benefits and impacts of acquiring by purchase, exchange or otherwise sediment from domestic and non-domestic sources for shoreline protection, the provision states. Upon completion of the study, the Secretary shall report to Congress on the availability, benefits and impacts of using domestic and non-domestic sources of sediment for shoreline protection, it reads. An end to the ban on foreign sand is only part of any solution that would allow use of Bahamian sand. U.S. law, also backed by U.S. dredgers, prevents foreign-flagged vessels from bringing sand from the Bahamas to eroded Florida coastlines. To get around the law, sand would have to be transferred to a U.S.-flagged vessel, an expensive extra step. Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. A Texas woman who fell from a chairlift at a small Colorado ski resort last week died from a rupture of the aorta and other traumatic injuries, an autopsy has concluded. Kelly Huber, 40, of San Antonio fell 20 feet from the lift on Thursday at Granby Ranch Ski Resort about 90 miles west of Denver. Two daughters, ages 12 and 9, also fell with Huber. The 12-year-old was treated and released from a local hospital, while the 9-year-old was being treated at Childrens Hospital in suburban Denver. Her condition hasnt been released. Granby Police Chief James Kraker released the autopsy results this weekend. Authorities were still investigating how the three fell. The Quick Draw Express lift at Granby will stay closed until state regulators can determine it is safe, said Lee Rasizer, a spokesman for the Colorado Passenger Tramway Safety Board. The lift has safety bars, but it wasnt known if Huber was using one, according to Chris Linsmayer, a spokesman for Colorado Ski Country USA, a trade group. Fatal falls from U.S. ski lifts are rare. The National Ski Areas Association says there have been three deaths since 2004 in falls not related to mechanical problems. The last fatal fall in Colorado, which accounts for more than a fifth of skier visits nationwide, happened in 2002 when the manager of Winter Park Ski Resort fell about 15 feet from a lift after suffering seizure-like symptoms. In 1976, four people were killed after cable wires became entangled in a gondola at Vail Mountain Resort. In 1985, two people died at Keystone Resort after the welding on the large wheel used to pull the cable failed. Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. A luxury high rise condominium located in Las Vegas, Nevada, was found to have been barred from recovery of its $5 million window damage claim, according to a ruling by the Ninth Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals. The December 2016 appeals court ruling affirms a Nevada judges decision to dismiss the case based on an insurance limitation clause that barred the plaintiff from recovery of a claim unless an action was filed within 12 months of discovery of the loss or damage that gave rise to the claim. Queensridge Towers LLC, the developer of the luxury high rise condominium, filed a lawsuit against Allianz Global Risks US Insurance Company, the projects builders risk insurer. According to facts outlined in the appeal, on April 29, 2008, Perini Building Company, the general contractor, gave notice to Queenridge of damage to 62 panes of glass. Nearly three years later, Queensridge submitted a sworn proof of loss that identified 5,364 damaged panes of glass. The developer claimed $5 million in repair and replacement costs as a result of the damaged glass panes. Allianz denied the claim on January 9, 2012. A year later, Queensridge filed suit in state court against Allianz and alleged breach of the insurance contract. The insurer had the case moved to federal court on diversity grounds, according to the appeal. The federal district court ruled in favor of Allianz based on the insurers limitation clause. According to the appellate courts decision, Nevada law equitably tolls such insurance limitation clauses during the period between the date the insured first gave notice of the loss until the date the insurer formally denies liability. The court noted that evidence produced by the parties revealed that the developer discovered the glass damage prior to April 27, 2008. According to the appeals court decision, Because Queensbridge discovered the glass damage more than twelve months before filing this action even taking into account equitable tolling the limitation provision bars its claim for breach of contract. AKRON, Ohio - For decades, the Akron Battered Women's Shelter served victims of domestic abuse in Summit and Medina counties, working behind the scenes through a fragmented network of deteriorating properties. Now, in the new Huntington Center for Hope and Healing, the shelter is clean, modern and equipped to serve many more women and children, as well as seniors and men. It also houses the area's rape crisis center. In addition to safety and privacy, the one-time nursing home now offers dignity. The address isn't a secret. Women can bring their dogs. Moms and kids can stay in suites, with semi-private bathrooms. And the public has been invited in, to see the space and to donate necessities. The shelter opened a registry at Target. "At the old shelter, we had to convince people life would get better," said CEO Terri Heckman. "Here, we can start from day one." Akron Battered Women's Shelter - Huntington Center for Hope & Healing Akron hotline: 330-374-1111, toll free 888-395-4357 Medina hotline: 330-723-3900, toll free 877-414-1344 General information:330-374-0740 Donations: 330-374-0119 The move to consolidate Bringing the shelter's operations under one roof was pondered for nearly a decade. The shelter's two residences, foreclosed houses donated in the '70s, were crumbling, with no funding to repair failing slate roofs and collapsing infrastructures. A single site often housed a dozen women and twice that many kids under 10, who shared a single bathroom and slept six to a room next to complete strangers. In all, the shelter offered a combined 68 beds operating mainly as emergency safe houses on streets with no security. The sites were so bad, families who stayed there often couldn't wait to get out, Heckman said. The current 160-bed, 50,000-square-foot facility was practically free. In 2012, the shelter traded a donated property, the U.S. Naval Reserve Center on Dan Street, to the city of Akron for a shuttered nursing home in the Middlebury neighborhood in a move that benefited both entities. Before consolidating, Heckman asked the shelter's residents for their thoughts. "They said 'If you can keep us safe then why are we hiding?" she said. During early construction, Heckman also took residents to see the site. They told her they would have left their abusive situations far sooner had they known they could take their children to a place like that, to show them life could be normal. In addition to greater space and security, the new shelter offers: laundry rooms family-sized suites and bath areas an outdoor, protected patio a chapel/meditation room a beauty salon a health clinic a clothing room computer and conference areas separate recreational areas for families, teens and toddlers It takes a community The shelter begins each year not knowing where operating funding is coming from. It relies mostly on state and federal funds, and foundation support. But it's never ended a year in debt. "No nonprofit should be in debt," Heckman said. When the decision was made to move to the new site, Melissa Hamlin, director of advancement, began to give tours to raise donations for the $2.5 million needed to renovate the site. During almost every tour, visitors revealed they had either known someone who benefited from the shelter's services, or they themselves had, she said. The shelter also hosted an open house for the community in 2014. With naming rights starting at $10,000, payable over time, it was possible for small businesses, families and individuals to become donors, and many agreed. Local entities offered services and materials for the facility's design and construction. Nonprofits came forward and community groups organized to raise money for specific areas of the shelter. "Funders were much more receptive to this building," Hamlin said. "They were not going to keep dumping money into a money pit." The shelter itself is now named for Huntington Bank, which donated $250,000, which was matched by the community, toward construction of a new $1.1 million kitchen. That's because the original kitchen, built decades ago in the basement, isn't allowed under today's building codes. The shelter also credits three local philanthropists, Rennick Andreoli, president of RDA Hotel Management Co., Phil Maynard and Roger Read, as integral in bringing in contractors and getting out word to the community about the shelter's needs. As a result, a walk through the shelter reveals a donor name, sometimes with a message of hope, above almost every door in the three-story facility. In all, more than 1,000 donors have helped prepare the shelter for a new era. An open-address shelter When people ask Heckman why the facility's location is no longer private, she's got several reasons informed by her more than 20 years of running the shelter. "Violent domestic offenders do it in private," she said. Over the years, she's only seen three abusers attempt to contact survivors, and none of them, at the time, were intending harm. In fact, domestic abuse survivors are in the greatest danger in the 48 hours after leaving a shelter. What's more, for those in imminent danger, secure off-site housing will always be available, she said. And in the new building she's better equipped to keep residents safe than in the old locations. The new site has: a guard on duty 24/7 a robust surveillance system shatterproof windows all around double security doors an entrance on one street, which the city closed to the public neighboring businesses running security patrols that check up on the shelter a next-door fire station staffed around the clock And this spring, the dog kennel will be operational. Like a protective moat around a fortress, the kennel will circle the building, enabling residents to bring their dogs to safety where they can run the perimeter of the building. Ways to help In addition to donations that fulfill ongoing needs, such as clothing, paper products and diapers, the shelter also accepts financial donations and food through the Akron-Canton Regional Food Bank. With the move to the larger site, the shelter also needs new basic furnishings. An online registry will be open through January at Target to allow the community to donate specific items. To learn about donating, contact Melissa Hamlin at 330-860-5624 or send an email to melissah@scmcbws.org. CreditScoreGraphic1.gif CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Regulators are finally cracking down a bit on the credit score industry that often confuses consumers more than it helps them. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau today said Equifax and TransUnion lied to consumers about the credit scores they paid for in years past. The two bureaus, which are two of the big three, misrepresented that the scores consumers purchased would help them evaluate their own credit standing. In reality, the credit scoring models used by Equifax and TransUnion in these cases aren't even used by banks and other creditors. Equifax and TransUnion were ordered to pay $17.6 million in restitution to consumers and fines of $5.5 million to the CFPB. The companies were also criticized by the CFPB for luring people into signing up monthly credit-monitoring or related products that were misrepresented. "We applaud the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau for taking strong and vigorous actions against TransUnion and Equifax to protect the interests of American consumers," said Chi Chi Wu, staff attorney with the National Consumer Law Center in Boston. "This consent order will protect consumers from being ripped off in the future over deceptive credit monitoring products and sales practices." This is a battle that's been brewing for more than a dozen years, after federal law required credit bureaus to start provide credit reports (but not scores) to consumers once a year at no charge. In what some see as an attempt to confuse consumers, the credit bureaus started coming up with new types of credit scores. "TransUnion and Equifax deceived consumers about the usefulness of the credit scores they marketed, and lured consumers into expensive recurring payments with false promises," CFPB Director Richard Cordray said in a statement. "Credit scores are central to a consumer's financial life and people deserve honest and accurate information about them." The CFPB hit on one of the industry's dirty little secrets -- there is no one credit score. Different banks often use different credit scoring models. Meanwhile, the credit bureaus, credit cards and third-party providers like Credit Sesame, Credit Karma and others may provide completely different scores. But they typically don't make it clear that everyone may be singing from different hymnals. The score that one company peddles could be useless or confusing to a consumer if it's not made clear whether the highest possible score for that model is 850 or 900 or 990 or something else. TransUnion sells scores based on a model from VantageScore, the CFPB said. "Although TransUnion has marketed VantageScores to lenders and other commercial users, VantageScores are not typically used for credit decisions," the agency said. Meanwhile, Equifax sells scores to consumers based on its own proprietary model, called the Equifax Credit Score. It's meant to be "an educational credit score," but is not not one generally used by lenders. Under the federal law that took effect in 2003, the bureaus must provide everyone who asks with a copy of his or her credit report at no charge once a year. But the credit score costs about $8 per bureau. In 2014, a bill was introduced into Congress to also give consumers the right to request a free credit score once a year. But it hasn't yet gained traction. The White House, the CFPB and consumer groups have strongly pushed credit card companies and banks to provide free credit scores to consumers, a trend that began in 2013. It's a start, but there's still much room for confusion if consumers aren't clear whether the scoring model being used is anything close to a real model used by an actual bank. The CFPB said that TransUnion has violated the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Financial Protection Act since July 2011 and Equifax violated it between July 2011 and March 2014 because "they falsely represented that the credit scores they marketed and provided to consumers were the same scores lenders typically use to make credit decisions. In fact, the scores sold by TransUnion and Equifax were not typically used by lenders to make those decisions." It's not surprising that the credit bureaus have peddled non-FICO scores for more than a decade. The industry in the 1990s fought pressure to disclose scores, even if a consumer paid for the information. Fair Isaac argued that its FICO scores were designed for businesses to use, not for consumers to try to understand. It wasn't until late 2000, as Congress opened hearings to require bureaus to give people their credit scores, that the industry caved and voluntarily started offering consumers the ability to pay money to find out their score. One company that's in the middle of this issue, VantageScore Solutions, which developed the scoring model by the same name, defended itself. "As the CFPB has pointed out, no one credit score model can singularly represent the consumer lending marketplace," said Barrett Burns, president & CEO of VantageScore. "When a score is provided to a consumer, he or she should be clearly informed that a credit score is only one of many factors considered by lenders and that the particular score being provided is unlikely to be the one actually used to make any given credit decision. "Although VantageScore Solutions does not sell credit scores," Burns added, "we work hard to ensure that consumers who receive a VantageScore credit score will also be able to review educational content about our model and the credit scoring process in general." Also Wednesday, the CFPB said the two bureaus deceived consumers into enrolling in subscription programs. They'd claim their credit scores and credit-related products were free or only $1. But customers who signed up for the free trial of seven days or 30 days were automatically enrolled in an ongoing program that carried a recurring fee, often $16 or more each month. To avoid the charge, customers had to cancel during the free trial period. "This billing structure, known as a 'negative option,' was not clearly and conspicuously disclosed to consumers," the CFPB said. Equifax also violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the CFPB said. That requires each bureau to provide a free credit report once a year to those who request it through a central source - AnnualCreditReport.com. But until January 2014, consumers looking for their credit report first had to wade through Equifax advertisements. "This violates the Fair Credit Reporting Act, which prohibits such advertising until after consumers receive their report," the CFPB said. Equifax spokeswoman Marisa Salcines said Equifax has agreed to modify certain marketing practices. She noted that the company started making changes that addressed the CFPB's concerns soon after its investigation began three years ago. "While Equifax does not believe it has violated any laws and has not admitted any liability, Equifax determined it was in its best interest to resolve the matter with the CFPB," Salcines said. "Equifax remains committed to providing products and services that educate and alert consumers about their credit and identity and ensuring transparency and clarity about the value of those products and services." Equifax's portion of the settlement is $3.8 million in consumer restitution and $2.5 million in civil penalties. A spokesman for TransUnion didn't immediately provide comment. CLEVELAND, Ohio - Children living in University Heights and Willoughby Hills are more likely to attend private schools than students from any other city in Ohio, according to new census estimates. The U.S. Census Bureau estimates that 48.8 percent of the school-age children in University Heights attend private schools, just ahead of Willoughby Hills, where 46.6 percent of students attend private schools. The rates for both cities are more than four times the median rate of 11 percent among cities statewide. (Find public and private school enrollment ratios for each city in the state at the bottom of this story. The statistics are for students in grades kindergarten through high school.) Among cities in the Cleveland-Akron area, the lowest rate of private school enrollment is 3.7 percent in Aurora. Twenty-five cities in mostly rural areas of Ohio have even lower rates. The highest rates in the Cleveland-Akron area, after University Heights and Willoughby Hills, are for Seven Hills (35.2 percent), Pepper Pike (31.3 percent), Beachwood (28.7 percent), Cleveland Heights (28.1 percent), Munroe Falls (28.1 percent), Parma Heights (27.6 percent) and Fairview Park (26.2 percent). Not included in this listing are villages - places with fewer than 5,000 people. Margins of error from the census surveys are much higher in those places. Previously: See census bureau estimates on other topics and census-related stories. Ohio cities Statistics shown are from surveys that were conducted from 2011 through 2015 and released in December 2016. They are the latest estimates available from U.S. Census Bureau for smaller areas. Separately, the Census Bureau releases annual estimates for large cities and counties, but they do not include smaller places. City Percent enrolled in public school Percent enrolled in private school Akron 87.9 12.1 Alliance 94.7 5.3 Amherst 90.2 9.8 Ashland 91.9 8.1 Ashtabula 95.6 4.4 Athens 99.1 0.9 Aurora 96.3 3.7 Avon 77.2 22.8 Avon Lake 82.3 17.7 Barberton 94.6 5.4 Bay Village 86.9 13.1 Beachwood 71.3 28.7 Beavercreek 84.9 15.1 Bedford 86.3 13.7 Bedford Heights 91.4 8.6 Bellbrook 87.2 12.8 Bellefontaine 95.6 4.4 Bellevue 87.6 12.4 Belpre 89.5 10.5 Berea 87.9 12.1 Bexley 89.4 10.6 Blue Ash 91.5 8.5 Bowling Green 82.7 17.3 Brecksville 85.2 14.8 Broadview Heights 82.6 17.4 Brooklyn 81.8 18.2 Brook Park 90.6 9.4 Brookville 97.3 2.7 Brunswick 88.3 11.7 Bryan 94.8 5.2 Bucyrus 95.3 4.7 Cambridge 90.5 9.5 Campbell 96.7 3.3 Canal Fulton 98.2 1.8 Canal Winchester 91.4 8.6 Canfield 93.4 6.6 Canton 92.6 7.4 Celina 99.0 1.0 Centerville 90.6 9.4 Chardon 94.7 5.3 Cheviot 60.4 39.6 Chillicothe 95.4 4.6 Cincinnati 79.7 20.3 Circleville 90.9 9.1 Clayton 80.8 19.2 Cleveland 78.8 21.2 Cleveland Heights 71.9 28.1 Clyde 97.6 2.4 Columbiana 100.0 0.0 Columbus 88.7 11.3 Conneaut 88.1 11.9 Cortland 91.2 8.8 Coshocton 95.0 5.0 Cuyahoga Falls 82.8 17.2 Dayton 82.3 17.7 Deer Park 89.0 11.0 Defiance 91.7 8.3 Delaware 93.0 7.0 Delphos 72.1 27.9 Dover 98.0 2.0 Dublin 86.4 13.6 East Cleveland 88.9 11.1 Eastlake 95.3 4.7 East Liverpool 89.8 10.2 Eaton 97.9 2.1 Elyria 90.2 9.8 Englewood 92.5 7.5 Euclid 78.2 21.8 Fairborn 89.7 10.3 Fairfield 84.8 15.2 Fairlawn 81.8 18.2 Fairview Park 73.8 26.2 Findlay 89.5 10.5 Forest Park 87.1 12.9 Fostoria 85.3 14.7 Franklin 90.2 9.8 Fremont 91.0 9.0 Gahanna 88.7 11.3 Galion 93.6 6.4 Garfield Heights 81.6 18.4 Geneva 89.1 10.9 Germantown 95.5 4.5 Girard 95.0 5.0 Grandview Heights 96.6 3.4 Green 88.9 11.1 Greenville 94.4 5.6 Grove City 89.0 11.0 Groveport 83.1 16.9 Hamilton 86.5 13.5 Harrison 96.5 3.5 Heath 88.0 12.0 Highland Heights 80.0 20.0 Hilliard 86.7 13.3 Hillsboro 94.1 5.9 Hubbard 94.4 5.6 Huber Heights 85.5 14.5 Hudson 83.9 16.1 Huron 90.0 10.0 Independence 81.3 18.7 Indian Hill 67.1 32.9 Ironton 91.9 8.1 Jackson 98.2 1.8 Kent 88.3 11.7 Kenton 99.6 0.4 Kettering 86.9 13.1 Kirtland 83.6 16.4 Lakewood 84.3 15.7 Lancaster 90.3 9.7 Lebanon 91.4 8.6 Lima 87.8 12.2 Logan 95.1 4.9 London 90.8 9.2 Lorain 90.0 10.0 Louisville 90.9 9.1 Loveland 85.4 14.6 Lyndhurst 74.2 25.8 Macedonia 86.2 13.8 Madeira 88.7 11.3 Mansfield 68.1 31.9 Maple Heights 86.8 13.2 Marietta 82.7 17.3 Marion 96.3 3.7 Martins Ferry 98.2 1.8 Marysville 93.2 6.8 Mason 86.7 13.3 Massillon 93.0 7.0 Maumee 86.3 13.7 Mayfield Heights 91.6 8.4 Medina 90.1 9.9 Mentor 83.9 16.1 Mentor-on-the-Lake 90.3 9.7 Miamisburg 94.2 5.8 Middleburg Heights 85.1 14.9 Middletown 88.7 11.3 Milford 93.4 6.6 Monroe 88.7 11.3 Montgomery 83.8 16.2 Moraine 98.5 1.5 Mount Healthy 87.9 12.1 Mount Vernon 87.3 12.7 Munroe Falls 71.9 28.1 Napoleon 91.7 8.3 Nelsonville 89.8 10.2 New Albany 82.5 17.5 Newark 88.6 11.4 New Carlisle 99.4 0.6 New Franklin 88.4 11.6 New Philadelphia 91.5 8.5 Niles 89.8 10.2 North Canton 87.5 12.5 North College Hill 84.6 15.4 North Olmsted 82.8 17.2 North Ridgeville 81.5 18.5 North Royalton 78.8 21.2 Northwood 98.7 1.3 Norton 95.6 4.4 Norwalk 84.1 15.9 Norwood 78.7 21.3 Oakwood 91.7 8.3 Oberlin 81.9 18.1 Olmsted Falls 86.7 13.3 Ontario 94.0 6.0 Oregon 92.9 7.1 Orrville 89.1 10.9 Oxford 95.4 4.6 Painesville 92.0 8.0 Parma 76.6 23.4 Parma Heights 72.4 27.6 Pataskala 88.3 11.7 Pepper Pike 68.7 31.3 Perrysburg 83.9 16.1 Pickerington 96.2 3.8 Piqua 93.5 6.5 Port Clinton 95.8 4.2 Portsmouth 92.9 7.1 Powell 89.3 10.7 Ravenna 96.6 3.4 Reading 89.1 10.9 Reynoldsburg 87.0 13.0 Richmond Heights 80.8 19.2 Rittman 95.3 4.7 Riverside 81.6 18.4 Rocky River 82.8 17.2 Rossford 76.2 23.8 St. Clairsville 87.6 12.4 St. Marys 90.3 9.7 Salem 100.0 0.0 Sandusky 89.2 10.8 Seven Hills 64.8 35.2 Shaker Heights 82.1 17.9 Sharonville 74.4 25.6 Sheffield Lake 80.6 19.4 Shelby 95.6 4.4 Sidney 90.7 9.3 Solon 87.6 12.4 South Euclid 87.2 12.8 Springboro 87.7 12.3 Springdale 80.0 20.0 Springfield 84.6 15.4 Steubenville 73.7 26.3 Stow 87.5 12.5 Streetsboro 88.2 11.8 Strongsville 78.3 21.7 Struthers 91.1 8.9 Sylvania 84.6 15.4 Tallmadge 94.3 5.7 Tiffin 86.1 13.9 Tipp City 86.5 13.5 Toledo 82.5 17.5 Toronto 90.5 9.5 Trenton 96.3 3.7 Trotwood 85.9 14.1 Troy 92.2 7.8 Twinsburg 87.6 12.4 Uhrichsville 94.4 5.6 Union 98.2 1.8 University Heights 51.2 48.8 Upper Arlington 88.4 11.6 Upper Sandusky 94.3 5.7 Urbana 96.1 3.9 Vandalia 84.5 15.5 Van Wert 92.3 7.7 Vermilion 81.8 18.2 Wadsworth 93.8 6.2 Wapakoneta 98.4 1.6 Warren 92.1 7.9 Warrensville Heights 85.9 14.1 Washington Court House 96.6 3.4 Waterville 89.5 10.5 Wauseon 96.8 3.2 Wellston 94.8 5.2 West Carrollton 93.4 6.6 Westerville 84.5 15.5 Westlake 79.0 21.0 Whitehall 89.4 10.6 Wickliffe 80.4 19.6 Willard 98.7 1.3 Willoughby 88.5 11.5 Willoughby Hills 53.4 46.6 Willowick 88.3 11.7 Wilmington 99.0 1.0 Wooster 92.2 7.8 Worthington 84.8 15.2 Wyoming 95.8 4.2 Xenia 90.2 9.8 Youngstown 82.4 17.6 Zanesville 96.0 4.0 Source: U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey, 2011-2015) Michael Bont, Paul Hoffman, Mike Devol, David Bruzza, Anders Beck, Greensky Bluegrass, Suwannee Springfest Ohio native Mike Devol, third from left, grew up as a classical music cellist with the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra. Today, he makes a living playing bass for Greensky Bluegrass. The band, from left, Michael Bont, Paul Hoffman, Devol, David Bruzza and Anders Beck, returns to Northeast Ohio for a Wednesday, Jan. 11, stop at the House of Blues. (John Davisson / AP file) PREVIEW Greensky Bluegrass When: 8 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 11. Where: House of Blues, East Fourth Street and Euclid Avenue, Cleveland. Tickets: $20 to $30, at the box office, Ticketmaster outlets, online at and and by phone at 1-800-745-3000. CLEVELAND, Ohio - Mike Devol carved a somewhat unique path to stardom with Greensky Bluegrass: First, grow up in Manchester, right outside of Akron. Second, become a master of the cello, in part by taking lessons at the Cleveland Institute of Music, and hone your skills to the point where your high school years are spent as a cellist with the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra. That's a sort of junior varsity version of the storied Cleveland Orchestra, but one musically capable of kicking classical booty all over the country. Third, head to Western Michigan University and earn a degree in cello performance. Fourth, get a job at a brewery in Kalamazoo, Michigan, and meet the guys of Greensky Bluegrass, a band that was doing pretty well on the local scene. Fifth, realize that being good might not be good enough for a career in the classical world. "I was being realistic with myself about trying to attempt a career in classical performance,'' said Devol in a call from his home in Oakland, California. (He also opted to trade the snow and cold of Midwest winters in Ohio and Michigan for the sunnier climes of California.) "I originally approached them to help from a business standpoint,'' said Devol, who was calling to talk about Greensky's Wednesday, Jan. 11, date at the House of Blues. "They didn't have a manager or anybody doing promotions. Not that I would have been a good manager; I knew nothing about it.'' Fortunately, the founders of the band - Michael Arlen Bont (banjo), Dave Bruzza (guitar) and Paul Hoffman (mandolin) - took a different tack. "They had a bass player at the time who was a new father who worked for Apple or something,'' Devol said. "He was a great bass player but didn't want to tour.'' "I thought, I was a good cellist, so maybe I could become a good bass player,'' he said. "I was this classical cellist with this big, clumsy instrument in my hands, and I hit the ground running with it.'' The biggest challenge - aside from singing, which all five members do (dobro player Anders Beck joined in 2007) - wasn't picking up proficiency on the bass itself; it was becoming comfortable with the improvisation that's inherent in the genre. As a classical cellist, "you're playing a piece of music that was written hundreds of years ago, and your job is to immediately execute it,'' he said. That being said, there are some similarities. "One parallel I've always liked to draw is that bluegrass is like chamber music,'' he said. "My favorite thing in classical was playing in a string quartet, where the cellist acts a lot like the bass - texturizes the bottom. "And there's no unquestioned leader - everybody is breathing and moving together,'' Devol said. "There are a lot of similarities in that and being in a bluegrass band.'' The group's newest album, "Shouted, Written Down & Quoted,'' shows the evolution of a band that's now in its 16th year, and has been averaging nearly 200 shows a year. Interestingly, Greensky is going a little against the grain for bluegrass bands - taking more and more time to record an album. "Greensky is very much a live band,'' Devol said, noting that the recording of "Shouted,'' done mostly in an Asheville, North Carolina, studio called Echo Mountain in October 2015, was able to capture the spontaneity of a live performance. But having the time between then and February 2016, when the final pieces of the album were put together, was "a very cool new thing for us, when we could listen and try to keep in the mindset that nothing is permanent and anything can be changed.'' "Living Over,'' a track on the album that boasts a lengthy jam, perfectly captures where the band is at this stage in its development, Devol said, because it showcases the band's spontaneity. "In the right circumstances, we're able to open, and 'Living Over' captures that,'' he said. "It's the perfect balance between our abilities as songwriters and arrangers and our ability as improvisers.'' Call it Step 6 on that path to stardom. beachwoodmall.jpg Beachwood Place mall will require that minors 17 and younger be accompanied by an adult while visiting the mall on Friday and Saturday evenings. The policy was implemented following a Dec. 26 brawl at the mall involving mostly teenagers. Should your local mall adopt the same regulations? Share your thoughts in the box below. ((Adam Ferrise/cleveland.com)) ((Adam Ferrise/cleveland.com)) CLEVELAND, Ohio - Beachwood Place mall, not known for violent outbreaks, was the scene of a post-Christmas brawl. The incident involved mostly teenagers. The mall was evacuated and pepper spray was used. The brawl led to yesterday's announcement of a new adult supervision policy that starts Friday at the mall. The policy states that "all mall visitors 17 and under must be accompanied by a parent or supervising adult who is at least 21 years old" and effective on Fridays and Saturdays after 5 p.m." Additionally, public safety officers will check the IDs of anyone who appears underage. Brawls erupted in several malls around the country Dec. 26, the same night of the Beachwood incident. Where you do you stand on this policy? Would you like to see these regulations put into effect in other malls throughout the Greater Cleveland area? Would you feel safer under the new policy - or is it an overreach? Share your thoughts in the box below. Select comments will be used in the Sun newspapers. to load this Caspio . to load this Caspio . Lakewood High School academic wing Lakewood High School students Jan. 3 began attending classes in the new academic wing. (Lakewood High School webcam) Jim Reitenbach, executive director of operations and construction, updates the Lakewood school board on the opening of Lakewood High School's new academic wing. LAKEWOOD, Ohio - Lakewood High School students Tuesday moved into the new academic wing constructed as part of a major remodeling and reconstruction project at the high school scheduled to be completed in the fall. Construction on the academic wing originally wasn't scheduled for completion for another six months, but school officials credited Turner/Regency/AKA, the construction manager, with substantially completing work on the new academic wing well ahead of schedule. Students on Tuesday moved into the new wing, abandoning modular classrooms that had been in place for 10 years across Franklin Boulevard from the main school building. This is a look inside one of the classrooms inside the new academic wing at Lakewood High School. "Jan. 3, 2017 is a historic day for this school district," Jim Reitenbach, executive director of operations and construction for the Lakewood city schools, said during a Tuesday school board meeting. "I know how anxious you have been to move those students out of the modular units into the academic wing of the High School." Reitenbach also thanked school teachers and staff who worked over the Christmas break to move the classrooms from the modular units into the new academic wing in preparation for the resumption of classes in January. "The important thing is our students today at the High School are learning in a brand new educational environment that is very conducive to learning, which they haven't had for 10 years," Reitenbach said. "For 10 years, they've been in those modular units." School district officials said they were glad students wouldn't face another winter of moving between the main building and the modular classrooms. "It was good not to see 1,200 students crossing Franklin Boulevard every 40 minutes today," Superintendent Jeff Patterson said. The district has sold the modular classrooms and they should be off the district's property by March. Reconstruction continues on the eastern half of Lakewood High School, including the cafeteria, media center, music center, gymnasium and fitness center. Most of the remaining work should be completed by the start of the next school year. However, work on the fitness center and gym are not expected to be completed until November, Reitenbach said. Voters in November 2013 approved a $50 million bond issue to pay for renovations and reconstruction of several school buildings. The district received another $50 million from the Ohio Facilities Construction Commission. The money paid for three elementary school buildings to be demolished and rebuilt as well as reconstruction and modernization at the High School. The new elementary school buildings - Lincoln, Roosevelt and Grant - opened this fall. The Lakewood city school district has a web page devoted to construction updates. An open house for the new academic wing is scheduled for 6 p.m. Jan. 24. Although John Kerry's Security Council speech was superbly organized and presented with careful and logical thinking, his conclusions were false because he omitted many essential facts. Kerry started by telling us that he loves Israel, but the main point of his speech was that Israel is responsible for the failure to negotiate peace with the Palestinians, and that this has endangered the whole region. Somehow he failed to acknowledge that Israel's leader, Netanyahu, had made frequent offers to meet with Abbas and the PA leaders, but had been turned down every time. Kerry did not state that Palestinians had rejected all prior Israeli peace offers, and had never made counter-proposals. Kerry never mentioned the Palestinian charters' clearly stated goal of destroying the Jewish state, and NOT to be tricked into negotiations. The Palestinian covenant explicitly stated these goals and never clearly repudiated them. Palestinian kindergarten children are still taught to lunge with wooden guns and to shout "Kill a Jew!" Parks and High Schools are still named after "martyrs who killed Jews" in terror attacks. Kerry ignored the implications of these facts (even though Israel has had hundreds of terror attacks throughout the past year). Finally, in proposing the 1967 borders as a good basis for starting a negotiation, he failed to state that in 1967, Israel was attacked by many Arab nations, but heroically defeated them and recaptured Jerusalem and other territories, much returned to Egypt in exchange for a durable peace agreement. Palestine refused a peace agreement, and should not now be rewarded with the return of these territories under conditions dictated by other countries or the UN. Herbert S. Caron, Parma CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A man who pleaded guilty to kidnapping his toddler son from his mother's home in Alabama and raising him in Cleveland under fake names wants released from prison early. The lawyer representing Bobby Hernandez filed a motion requesting a hearing in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court so the 54-year-old could make his case for early release after serving just more than one year of a four-year sentence. Prosecutors have not filed a response to the motion and Judge Cassandra Collier-Williams has not decided whether to set a hearing. Hernandez reported to Lorain Correctional Institution on April 16, after he pleaded guilty to kidnapping, a first-degree felony, two counts of interference with custody and nine counts of tampering with records. He got credit for more than five months he spent in Cuyahoga County Jail as his case moved through the courts. Hernandez in 2002 took his then-5-year-old son Julian Hernandez from his mother's home, leaving a note that said he had been fishing, according to Alabama police reports. The mother reported the boy missing and authorities launched a search, but turned up empty-handed until 2015 when authorities discovered that Julian was living with Hernandez in a house in Cleveland's Tremont neighborhood. The discovery was made when Julian Hernandez used his Social Security number to apply for college. Hernandez recognizes that he must be punished for his actions, which includes denying the boy's mother access to her son for more than a decade, attorney Ralph DeFranco wrote in Hernandez's motion for judicial release. "On the other side, the child was cared for and thrived," the motion says. "His father was hands on and the child accomplished everything he could, getting his education and so forth." The statements echo those made by Julian Hernandez at his father's sentencing in April. "He loved me and protected me more than anybody else could during my life," Hernandez told Cuyahoga Common Pleas Judge Cassandra Collier-Williams. "I don't know what else to say other than not to send my father to jail." The motion also cites issues with the boy's mother, but does not elaborate, and says Hernandez has participated in several programs while behind bars and can find work should he get released. Any further incarceration would be "valueless" to Hernandez and to the society, the motion says. To comment on this story, please visit Wednesday's crime and courts comments page. cwrutinkhamondrey.jpg Author Margot Lee Shetterly will speak at CWRU's Tinkham Veale University Center on Feb. 3. (Thomas Ondrey, The Plain Dealer ) Margot Lee Shetterly CLEVELAND, Ohio - Bestselling author Margot Lee Shetterly, whose book on black women mathematicians working on the space race, will deliver the keynote address at Case Western Reserve University's 2017 Martin Luther King Jr. Convocation. The event, free and open to the public, is at 12:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 3, in the Kelvin and Eleanor Smith Foundation Ballroom at the Tinkham Veale University Center, 11038 Bellflower Road. A book-signing and reception follows her talk. To attend, register at case.edu/events/mlk/. Shetterly is the author of "Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race." The movie based on her book will be released nationwide on Friday. The book tells the story of a group of black women mathematicians who worked behind the scenes at NASA in the early years of space exploration. In her speech Shetterly will touch on issues of race, gender, science, innovation and more--detailing the often-unheralded contributions of women and minorities to American innovation. Referred to as "human computers," Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson, Katherine Johnson and Christine Darden - from World War II through the Cold War - were vital in devising aeronautic calculations that propelled the United States as a leader in space exploration. Teaching math at segregated schools in the South, the women were called into service during the labor shortages of World War II to the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory, in Hampton, Virginia. Shetterly, whose father was among the early generation of black NASA engineers and scientists, was raised in Hampton. She had direct access to NASA executives and the women featured in the book. She grew up near the historically black Hampton College, where the women in Hidden Figures studied, and used Langley Memorial/NASA employee newsletters dating back to 1942 as a resource for the book. Shetterly, the founder of the Human Computer Project, a digital archive of the women's stories, graduated from the University of Virginia and is a 2014 Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Fellow. It was so difficult to get on the 's list of top 10 performers in 2016; Jim Cramer says it will be hard to have a repeat performance in 2017. "Some of the S&P's biggest winners from last year have run out of fuel," the "Mad Money" host said. For example, the top performer of the S&P in 2016 was Nvidia , which more than doubled. The trajectory of the stock was steadily climbing higher until it suddenly skyrocketed in November to $117 from $68, before hitting $107 in the last days of the year. Nvidia reminded Cramer of Intel or Qualcomm in their heyday. Unfortunately, as the markets for PCs and cellphone chips matured, so did the stock. And while Nvidia could head higher after it settles, Cramer said the numbers would need to come up substantially because of its sky high valuation. It's that time again! Jim Cramer rang the lightning round bell, which means he gave his take on caller favorite stocks at rapid speed: Sirius XM Holdings : "I like that call, pull the trigger. I think it is an inexpensive stock. Boy do I wish Apple would buy them, but Apple does what it wants to do." Medtronic : "Medtronic was downgraded today. I mean, now they downgrade it? The stock is off big from its high. I agree with your idea, I like buying Medtronic. I think it's got a good product profile." Carlyle Group : "I typically do not like these stocks, because we don't really know what they own. But I am predicting a better 2017 because I think the IPO market is going to be unfrozen. And with that, CG can make some money." TherapeuticsMD : "We have looked at it and we decided that we would bless it only as a spec. Remember, we have seen these stocks completely blow up. When you only have a couple of products or one product. But as a spec, I'm OK." Sprouts Farmers Market : "We are so worried about the interesting struggle among all the different companies in the supermarket business. Too many are taking shots, I'm not a buyer." Buffalo Wild Wings : "I feel like we've got to wait for a bigger dip. I'm worried about the restaurant group because of the minimum wage and some costs, and I feel it's kind of rolling over. Let's hold off on that one." High operating costs, intense competition and the collapse of Kingfisher Airlines had weakened both business and civil sectors in previous years, but recently the Indian market has turned a corner into the world's fastest growing, largely thanks to supportive government policies. After a long rough patch, Indian aviation is finally booming, but that burst of growth is now taking a toll on the industry's infrastructure. India is currently the sole bright spot in Asia's aviation sector, Neil Book, CEO at the largest independent aviation firm JSSI, told CNBC's "Squawk Box" on Wednesday. Private jet sales are up and the emerging middle/upper classes have witnessed double-digit growth rates in travel, he explained. The upper middle class made up 8 percent of the population in 2015, and is set to hit 12 percent by 2020, according to Boston Consulting Group. Meanwhile, the ultra-high net worth population--defined as those whose net worth exceeds $50 million--stood at 178,000 in 2016 and will increase 57 percent by 2021, estimates Credit Suisse. Unlike his predecessors, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has loosened industry restrictions that are set to increase new aircraft deliveries as well as in-service and used business jets, Book continued. Indeed, 2016 was a landmark year for Indian carriers as Modi unveiled a national civil aviation policy aimed at expanding air travel. Under the policy, domestic airlines are no longer required to log five years of domestic routes before getting an overseas permit, known as the 5/20 rule. The government also said it would limit base fares on regional routes to 2,500 rupees ($37) per hour of travel in an attempt to make flying more viable for commercial passengers. As strong economic fundamentals boosts air traffic, India may even overtake Japan this year to become the world's third largest domestic market behind the U.S. and China, the Centre of Aviation (CAPA) stated in a new report. As more legislators mull the idea of free higher education, public colleges may be worth a closer look. New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo announced Tuesday a proposal to make college tuition-free at all state public two- and four-year colleges. His plan, if approved by the legislature, would implement a scholarship program to supplement aid for in-state residents whose families earn $125,000 or less. The program would phase in over three years, and benefit an estimated 940,000 families, according to a briefing. watch now watch now "A college education is not a luxury it is an absolute necessity for any chance at economic mobility," Gov. Cuomo said in the announcement. "With these first-in-the-nation Excelsior Scholarships, we're providing the opportunity for New Yorkers to succeed, no matter what zip code they come from and without the anchor of student debt weighing them down." Pitches for free college education shouldn't influence your savings habits, said David Levy, editor of Edvisors.com. Although the number of parents saving for college hit an all-time high last year, the median balance isn't enough to cover even a year of in-state expenses at a public, four-year college. "If I were a family, I wouldn't be banking on this kind of thing," he said. "It's a proposal." But as you start your college search, public schools are worth a closer look. Even if Cuomo's proposal doesn't go through, New York's average in-state tuition of $7,710 for the 2016-17 academic year makes it the 12th-cheapest nationwide, based on data from the College Board. If you're out-of-state, public colleges are often less of a bargain, Levy said. The premium for non-resident students is steep, he said, and state residency requirements can require a scholar to live locally for more than a year to qualify for the in-state rate. According to College Board data, these 10 states have the least expensive average in-state tuition: 10. Mississippi Average in-state tuition and fees: $7,410 Five-year change: 23 percent Average out-of-state tuition and fees: $20,260 9. North Carolina Average in-state tuition and fees: $7,200 Five-year change: 19 percent Average out-of-state tuition and fees: $23,750 8. Alaska Average in-state tuition and fees: $7,130 Five-year change: 23 percent Average out-of-state tuition and fees: $21,800 7. Idaho Average in-state tuition and fees: $7,010 Five-year change: 16 percent Average out-of-state tuition and fees: $21,250 6. Nevada Average in-state tuition and fees: $6,910 Five-year change: 7 percent Average out-of-state tuition and fees: $20,720 The original proponents of the 401(k) plan, which has become the dominant source of retirement savings for most Americans, are rueful about the revolution they unintentionally began. "[Many early backers of the 401(k)] say it wasn't designed to be a primary retirement tool and acknowledge they used forecasts that were too optimistic to sell the plan in its early days," The Wall Street Journal reports. "Others say the proliferation of 401(k) plans has exposed workers to big drops in the stock market and high fees from Wall Street money managers." Even the "father of the 401(k)," Ted Benna, tells The Journal with some regret that he "helped open the door for Wall Street to make even more money than they were already making." Other experts agree: On its blog, the Economic Policy Institute recently declared 401(k)s "a poor substitute" for the defined benefit pension plans many workers primarily relied on, which provide a fixed payout for employees at retirement, and which have now become increasingly rare. Nowadays, "just 13% of all private-sector workers have a traditional pension, compared with 38% in 1979," reports The Journal. That's despite the fact that 401(k)s are far less safe: "Unlike defined-benefit pensions, which provide set payouts for life, 401(k) accounts rise and fall with financial markets." The accidental retirement revolution began in 1978, when Congress decided to alter the tax code with the Revenue Act. Amazon has a "monster hit" on its hands with its artificial intelligence personal assistant Alexa, and it's only going to get better, RBC Capital Markets analyst Mark Mahaney told CNBC on Wednesday. Alexa, which is already built into the Echo speaker, is now going to be built directly into certain TV sets, along with the rest of Amazon's Fire TV software. The e-commerce giant is also working with Whirlpool to develop voice-enabled smart appliances. While those smart appliances may work for just a small percentage of households today, it is "big deal" that people can do basic things like play music, and order from a store through voice commands instead of leaving the home or logging onto a PC, Mahaney said. "This will take a while for consumers to change their patterns but this ... we think it's the Trojan horse for Amazon, frankly, into the refrigerator," he told "Power Lunch." For now, it's also helping drive revenue for the company. Manahey said his firm's survey data shows that about a quarter of people who have the Echo devices end up purchasing more from Amazon. "That's kind of the long-term win here for Amazon. It's a customer acquisition tool but really it's a customer retention tool and a chance for people to more easily remove the friction, purchase more from Amazon," he said. Mahaney has a $950 price target on the stock. Amazon closed slightly higher on Wednesday at $757.18. CNBC's Gino Siniscalchi contributed to this report. Disclosures: RBC Capital markets is currently providing Amazon.com with nonsecurities services. is taking the fight to sellers of counterfeit goods and, for the first time, suing two merchants on one of its e-commerce platforms just days after it was blacklisted by the U.S. government for hosting fake items. The Chinese firm filed a lawsuit against two sellers of fake Swarovski watches on its eBay-like Taobao platform with the Shenzhen Longgang District People's Court, claiming 1.4 million yuan ($201,482) in damages. While it may not seem like a large amount for a company like Alibaba but the company is hoping to stop others from hosting dodgy items. "We want to mete out to counterfeiters the punishment they deserve in order to protect brand owners. We will bring the full force of the law to bear on these counterfeiters so as to deter others from engaging in this crime wherever they are," said Zheng Junfang, chief platform governance officer at Alibaba Group, said in a press release on Wednesday. Is Alibaba's Jack Ma buying AC Milan? Lucy Nicholson | Reuters Shenzhen Luohu District police raided the seller on August 10, 2016 and confiscated over 125 counterfeit Swarovski watches, valuing nearly 2 million yuan, Alibaba said. Another fake Swarovski seller on Taobao was also found relating to the case during the raid. Using data to sniff out fakes It's the first time Alibaba or any e-commerce site in China has taken legal action against its sellers and comes amid increasing criticism of the company's alleged inability to tackle counterfeits. The U.S. Office of the Trade Representative added Taobao to its "notorious markets" list after it was taken off in 2012. "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 USTR report in December said. At the time, Alibaba said in a statement that it was "disappointed" by the move, claiming that in 2016 alone it had "proactively removed more than double the number of infringing product listings than in 2015". The company has been taking steps to deal with the fake goods issue. It employs 2,000 permanent staff and 5,000 volunteers to help find counterfeit goods. Alibaba also uses data and artificial intelligence to root out fake items. Its algorithms monitor hundreds of data points such as price and transaction records of sellers to root out illegitimate products. The e-commerce giant said it was able to scan images and logos and find mismatches between the text of a listing and the accompanying photo. For example, a name brand watch might be listed for one price, but the image might show a lower figure. In 2015, Alibaba said it spent 150 million yuan to test-buy suspected counterfeit goods from vendors on its shopping sites, as another way to find fake goods. Online fakes widespread That means people purchasing Seiki, Westinghouse and Element Electronics 4K smart TVs will be able to access loads of streaming services, channels, apps and live broadcasts directly from the set. The U.S. e-commerce giant currently sells the Fire TV stick, which plugs into a TV and allows users to access a variety of streaming services such as Amazon Prime Video and Netflix. But now Amazon has integrated its Fire TV software directly into TV sets made by Chinese electronics giant Tongfang. And the TVs will come with a voice-control remote that features Alexa Amazon's artificial intelligence personal assistant, similar to Apple's Siri or Google Assistant. Users, for example, will be able to ask Alexa via the TV set to control lights in their home. For consumers, the Fire TV software will allow them to access all of their streaming services and many apps, including Amazon's own, from their TVs in their living room and bedrooms. Also, Amazon hosts 4K content, which will allow consumers to consume this high-resolution programming on their new TVs. And for Amazon, this is a further push into consumers' lives and homes. By integrating its Fire TV software on sets, it gives another way for Prime users to access the services that they pay for as part of the $99 per year subscription. Amazon has also integrated Alexa as part of this as it looks to increase the uptake of its voice assistant and make it a key part of the home. Amazon currently sells the Echo a speaker with Alexa built in and expanded it into the U.K. and Germany last year. The U.S. technology firm has looked to put Alexa on a number of devices, even ones it doesn't make. It wants to make the use of Alexa wide-spread to drive consumers to its services. The deal with Tongfang could also lay the groundwork for Amazon to seek partnerships with other TV manufacturers. And the move also poses a challenge to rivals such as Apple which has its own box that can plugged into TV sets. Amazon and Tongfang did not reveal the financial terms of the deal or the price of the TVs, but said they would be available "later this year" on Amazon.com and authorized retailers across the U.S. In this May 11, 2016 photo, University of Massachusetts Medical School student Dylan Perry, far right, demonstrates a nasal Naloxone for emergency treatment of opioid overdose to actor-patients coping with addiction during a simulation at the medical school in Worcester, Mass. | watch now Taylor Kay was driving on Interstate 290, heading east near Chicago, when a car veered across lanes of traffic into the highway median. "I thought, 'Something is wrong,'" the 26-year-old said. "So I get out of my car, and I see he's overdosing, with a needle still in his arm." Kay recognized what was happening to the driver because it could have happened to her. She had used heroin for six years, until she was 24, and she herself has overdosed. She knew what to do. "I go to my car and I get my Narcan, because I always have it with me," Kay said, referring to the brand name of the drug naloxone, which quickly reverses opioid overdoses. "Once I put the Narcan in him, it took about 20 seconds. I was so scared that this kid was going to die." He didn't; he woke up, Kay said. She called 911, and the paramedics who arrived later told her the driver had taken fentanyl a synthetic opioid up to 100 times more potent than morphine. "Any longer," Kay said, "he would have died." It's an epidemic playing out across America as prescription painkillers lead to addiction, and their price on the street often causes people to turn to heroin. In 2015, for the first time, the number of deaths from heroin overdoses in the U.S. surpassed those from gun homicides, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In total, more than 33,000 people in the U.S. died from opioid overdoses. As the number of opioid overdoses has skyrocketed in the U.S., so has the price of the drug that can wake someone up from a situation like Kay described. And in some cases, the rising prices make it hard for first responders and others to carry naloxone, which public health experts say threatens their ability to save lives. "I've seen the price of Narcan as well as epinephrine just skyrocket," said Brandon Heard, a fire department captain in Farmington, New Mexico. While he referred to the brand name Narcan, Farmington Fire uses a generic form of the medicine. "It makes it difficult for us as a municipality to purchase the same medications and provide the same treatment and abilities that we have in years past." Farmington Fire is switching away from the EpiPen, the lifesaving auto-injector for allergy attacks, in favor of vials of generic epinephrine and syringes, in order to save money. The department already uses a makeshift system for naloxone, with a preloaded syringe and a nasal spray attachment. Public health experts say having naloxone in the hands of first responders from firefighters to police officers is vital; it can provide precious minutes before more medical help can arrive. The antidote When someone takes too much of an opioid drug like heroin or prescription painkillers, which bind to opioid receptors in the brain, it can cause the body to stop breathing. Naloxone acts as an opioid antagonist, knocking opioids off those receptors in the brain and restoring breathing. Administration can bring someone back in seconds. Naloxone has been available since 1971, originally under the brand name Narcan, and now in several generic forms, as well as formulations with new delivery systems. Both categories have their own cost stories; a generic form made by Hospira, now owned by Pfizer , rose in price from less than $1 per milliliter vial in 2005 to more than $15 in 2014. The newer delivery systems range in price from $125 for two doses to as much as $3,750. It's a pricing story not unique to naloxone. Prices have risen for certain generic drugs across the pharmaceutical industry, most recently garnering headlines with EpiPen, which is owned by Mylan . In many ways, aspects of the naloxone story are similar: While the prices of some older generic drugs rise, new delivery systems carry higher and higher price tags. Cost of convenience Taylor Kay was carrying the Evzio auto-injector that day on the highway. Made by Richmond, Virginia-based drug developer Kaleo Pharma, the device is about the size of a deck of cards, and actually talks to users while they administer it. "I love that it talks to you," Kay said. "With the syringe, it's like: You have to go get the syringe, get the vial, and put the medicine in with the auto-injector, you just take the cap off, and it speaks to you, and then it talks you through how to use it. So it is a lot faster." The Evzio has a list price of $3,750 for two auto-injectors, up more than 550 percent since it was introduced in 2014, according to data from Truven Health Analytics. "We call it the Courvoisier of the overdose injector," said Dan Bigg, director of the Chicago Recovery Alliance, a group that works with the drug-using community to distribute naloxone, among other services. Kay works with CRA, which received a charitable donation of the auto-injectors from Kaleo. But some question whether the high price is justified by the new delivery system. "We have all kinds of pretty amazing children's toys that talk to us, too, which are pretty inexpensive," said Dr. Eric Ketcham, medical director of the emergency department at San Juan Regional Medical Center in Farmington, New Mexico. Ketcham testified in front of Congress in September about the price of both naloxone and buprenorphine, a medicine to treat opioid addiction. The Evzio is one of two naloxone products approved in recent years focused on use in the community, not in medical settings. The other is a nasal spray made by Adapt Pharma, the only naloxone product that actually still bears the Narcan brand. That medicine has a list price before any discounts of $125 for two doses. Adapt says it hasn't raised the price of Narcan nasal spray since it was approved in 2015, and that it provides steep discounts to $75 for a carton of two devices for first responders, community organizations, law enforcement and other public agencies. And it says for patients picking up the drug at the pharmacy, a majority has insurance coverage and pay a co-pay of $10 or less. But some, like Ketcham, still see the cost as prohibitive, and similarly to the Evzio not justified by the changes in delivery system. "The squirt bottle is pretty simple technology," he told CNBC. And while Ketcham took issue with Adapt's pricing, in his congressional testimony he called the Evzio's price "truly astounding," a sentiment echoed by others. It's "not only the big percentage increase that we've seen in the price, but also the amount of dollars involved," said Michael Rea, founder and CEO of Rx Savings Solutions, which offers a software to help make decisions about prescription drugs, including based on their cost. "That gets your attention." Spencer Williamson, Kaleo's chief executive, says it's not that simple. "The list price, which gets a lot of media attention, is a price that really nobody pays," Williamson told CNBC in a telephone interview. "What we focus on is what a patient pays." Williamson was referring to what the patient pays at the pharmacy, the co-pay. He said Kaleo has a financial assistance program to cover the co-pay for any patient with commercial insurance who has trouble affording it a program the company put in place after a patient who was prescribed the Evzio died because she didn't fill her prescription, he said. "Unfortunately, in that first year, about 75 percent of the time the physician wrote a prescription, the patient never got the product," Williamson said. In order to increase patient assistance, he said, Kaleo raised the Evzio's list price. The company also will cover the whole cost of the drug if a patient has trouble with insurance coverage. "When you net all that out, it's a business model that works," Williamson said. "But it's primarily focused on ensuring the patient is not paying out of pocket to access this lifesaving therapy." Kaleo has also donated more than 150,000 auto-injectors to first responders, public health departments and not-for-profit community groups across 34 states, Williamson said. He noted more than 2,400 lives have been saved with the Evzio since it was introduced. "We're proud of our access and affordability," he said. The model of raising a product's list price while making it cost less to patients at the pharmacy is an example of the complicated calculus governing how we pay for drugs in this country, said Ronny Gal, a biopharmaceuticals analyst at Bernstein. Because of differences in insurance coverage, some patients are exposed to greater portions of the cost of their medicines, and those patients feel price increases more acutely. The outcry over the EpiPen's rising price, for example, was primarily from a segment of patients without insurance or with high-deductible plans, who saw their own costs going up at the pharmacy counter, he said. "In order to be able to raise your price on an entire population 20 to 30 percent, you want to make sure that the population who cannot pay for this is insulated," Gal told CNBC. The drug industry, he said, "is finding channels to pay for people who cannot afford it so they can raise prices on the people who can." View of an 'Overdose Rescue Kit,' which includes naloxone, a syringe for nasal atomization, and instructions, as displayed at Howard Center, Burlington, Vermont, May 24, 2016. Robert Nickelsberg | Getty Images Covering patients' co-pays or giving away medicines for free, he said, are some of those channels. Ultimately though, the rising prices affect everyone. "At the end of the day, somebody's always paying for it," Rea said. "The chances are good it's you and me, either via tax money or via our health insurance premiums." Competitions false promise Dr. Leana Wen, health commissioner for Baltimore, declared opioid overdose a public health emergency in 2015. And she says access to naloxone is a key part of making a difference in the epidemic. "I've seen how it saves someone's life within seconds," Wen told CNBC. She has issued a blanket prescription for naloxone to every person in Baltimore. "Everyone should have naloxone in their first-aid kit. Everyone should carry it in their purse, their bag, their worksites. Because if we can save someone's life in a couple seconds, it's our obligation and our duty to do so." But, Wen said, the price of the drug can be a problem. "The price of naloxone has escalated in our city, just like in other cities across the country," she said, "which is limiting our ability to save lives." Wen takes particular issue with the price of generic forms of the medicine, which have risen despite competition. There are now at least four manufacturers of generic naloxone in the U.S., and each product is priced similarly. It's a picture that runs contrary to the argument that competition should bring prices down. The generic naloxone made by Hospira cost $9.20 for 10 1-milliliter vials in 2005, according to data from Truven. By July 2013, that price was $109.90. Six months later, Hospira doubled the price, to $219.90, or about $21.90 per milliliter, before settling at $158.30. Later in 2014, a competitor's price followed a similar pattern: Amphastar's naloxone jumped from $169.50 for 10 2-milliliter vials to $330, or about $16.50 per milliliter a near doubling in price a few months after Hospira's. Two other manufacturers sell generic naloxone at similar prices: Mylan, at just under $19 per milliliter, and West-Ward Pharmaceutical, at $17. "From the perspective of a producer, if you come into the market and you can get a fair share without bringing your price down, you would," said Gal, the Bernstein analyst. "The reason you raise prices is because you can." The process for the U.K. to leave the European Union (EU) is due to begin in March, but as the deadline approaches it is less clear how the negotiations will unfold. However, the path towards Brexit became a lot less clear Tuesday with the U.K. ambassador to the EU, Ivan Rogers, resigning, fuelling concerns that the U.K. government is not ready to quit Europe. In its resignation letter, Rogers warned that the U.K. lacked negotiating expertise when compared to EU officials and asked for a quick appointment of the British negotiating team. "Serious multilateral negotiating experience is in short supply in Whitehall, and that is not the case in the Commission or in the Council," the former ambassador wrote. "Senior ministers, who will decide on our positions, issue by issue, also need from you detailed, unvarnished - even where this is uncomfortable - and nuanced understanding of the views, interests and incentives of the other 27," Sir Ivan Rogers added. Downing Street said in a statement on Tuesday that "Sir Ivan has taken this decision now to enable a successor to be appointed before the UK invokes Article 50 by the end of March." However, the former ambassador considered one of the most experience U.K. officials, has reportedly had conflicting views with the national government. Last December, Sir Ivan Rogers warned the U.K. government that it could take up to 10 years to conclude a trade deal with the EU, the BBC reported. At the time, he also mentioned that even after a trade deal is finalized, national parliaments across the EU could reject the agreement. "It seems the U.K. ambassador to EU left over government reluctance to hear what EU really think about Brexit," Robin Bew, managing director at the Economist Intelligence Unit said on Twitter on Wednesday. Rogers apologized for fuelling Brexit uncertainty and recognized that the ongoing political concerns go beyond the U.K.'s objectives for Brexit. California's Democratic state leadership Wednesday tapped former Attorney General Eric Holder as a legal advisor to the legislature as the state prepares for conflicts with a new Republican-controlled Congress and President-elect Donald Trump. California is likely to see challenges to its policies for immigration, health care, climate change, education and civil rights given the new political landscape in Washington. "It's going to be California versus Donald Trump quite frankly, from the state level on up," said Sherry Bebitch Jeffe, a political analyst and political science professor at the University of Southern California. She called it a "wise decision politically and strategically" for California legislators to retain Holder to be on the ground in Washington "to be onsite opposition to Trump and his policies." Holder currently serves as a partner at the law firm Covington & Burling. He served from 2009 to 2015 in President Barack Obama's Cabinet and was the first African-American to hold the office of attorney general. Prior to that, Holder held positions requiring Senate confirmation in the administrations of Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton. "I am honored that the legislature chose Covington to serve as its legal advisor as it considers how to respond to potential changes in federal law that could impact California's residents and policy priorities," Holder said in a statement. "I am confident that our expertise across a wide array of federal legal and regulatory issues will be a great resource to the legislature." As U.S. attorney general, Holder defended constitutional challenges to the 2010 Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare. Covered California, the health insurance marketplace formed to implement Obamacare in the state, currently has 1.3 million enrollees making it the largest of the state-run health exchanges. Check out which companies are making headlines before the bell: Alphabet Google's parent company is turning its focus to India, where it will help small businesses create an online presence for free in an effort to tap into a new user population. Amazon.com The online retail giant will sell TVs from Chinese electronics maker Tongfang equipped with Amazon's Fire TV software, giving users a range of streaming services and the ability to talk to artificial intelligence voice-activated assistant Alexa. Regeneron Pharmaceuticals A federal court said it would not throw out a verdict upholding two patents Amgen has on its cholesterol drug, dealing a blow to rivals Sanofi and Regeneron, who produce a similar medication. Pfizer Gene therapy company Spark Therapeutics received a $15 million payment from Pfizer for continued progress in developing a landmark medication to combat hemophilia. Johnson & Johnson A U.S. judge nearly halved an award in a December verdict that ordered the health care manufacturer to pay over $1 billion in damages to plaintiffs hurt by the company's DePuy Orthopaedics Pinnacle hip implants. Hershey The candy maker revealed plans to seek dismissal of a class action lawsuit filed by a customer claiming Hershey's deliberately misrepresented the number of flavors of Hersey Kisses in its 12-ounce bags. Tesla , Apple Guggenheim initiated a "buy" on Tesla and Apple. The company said that next-generation automotive is a sector to watch as electrification and autonomous driving come into view and hailed the smartphone as "tech's most valuable piece of real estate." Carnival Corp . The world's largest travel company unveiled an interactive guest experience platform, the Ocean Medallion, a wearable device the company said will enhance and personalize vacations by simulating a personal concierge. Facebook Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg made a New Year's resolution to visit and meet people in every U.S. state by the end of 2017. Mastercard U.K. regulators said Mastercard's acquisition of payment systems company VocaLink raises competition concerns and asked the firms to either offer a solution or subject the $920 million deal to investigations. Want to travel somewhere warm this winter? Consider the U.S. Virgin Islands. The archipelago is offering $300 in travel credits for travelers who stay for at least three nights in 2017. According to the director of communications for V.I. Tourism, Alani Henneman-Todman, the credit can be used on things like tours, kayaking, dive shops and anything that offers a historical perspective of the islands. The territory is celebrating its 100th year as part of the United States. In 1917, the Danish sold the island chain to the U.S. for $25 million in gold coins. In order to qualify for the promotion, tourists must stay at one of the hotels on the main islands of St. Croix, St. Thomas and St. John listed on the Virgin Islands tourism website, book travel by October 1, 2017, and visit before December 31, 2017. Bon voyage! Repealing Obamacare will cost the federal government as much as $350 billion, according to a new estimate. Congressional Republicans are eagerly anticipating their long-awaited chance to repeal the 6-year-old Affordable Care Act, one of the signature achievements of the Obama administration. That enthusiasm may be dampened when they learn how much the repeal will cost. The $350 billion cost estimate in an analysis released Wednesday by the nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Budget would be spread over 10 years unless key provisions of the law are maintained or replaced. "Repealing the entire ACA would leave no funds available for 'replace' legislation, and in fact would require further deficit reduction to avoid adding to the debt," the report said. Most of the law's opponents have focused on the added cost of subsidizing health insurance. But the law also includes dozens of provisions that cut health care and raise taxes that more than offset the money spent. Despite the GOP's steadfast opposition to the law, that net cost of repealing it could give pause to the party's fiscal hawks on Capitol Hill. The new analysis looks only at the net cost to the federal government and doesn't take into account the far bigger economic impact on insurers, hospitals, doctors, drug companies and other parts of the sprawling American health system. Nor does its estimate include the financial impact on the roughly 23 million Americans who, the group estimates, would lose coverage if the ACA is fully repealed and not replaced. After more than 60 failed votes to gut the ACA under President Barack Obama, Republicans now about to be in control of the White House and Congress are poised to eliminate the law that extended health insurance to millions of American families. President-elect Donald Trump and congressional Republicans have vowed to move quickly to repeal the law before articulating the complicated details of a potential replacement. Vice President-elect Mike Pence went to Capitol Hill on Wednesday to plot strategy with fellow Republicans. A senior adviser to Trump said Tuesday that after Obamacare is repealed and replaced with different health-care law, no one who has health insurance would lose their coverage. "That is correct. We don't want anyone who currently has insurance to not have insurance," the adviser, Kellyanne Conway, said on MSNBC's "Morning Joe." Until details are worked out, though, it's impossible to estimate the financial impact of any replacement plan on the government, the health system and those currently covered by Obamacare. In its analysis of the cost of repeal, the Committee for a Responsible Budget said the $350 billion price tag could be reduced by indirect economic benefits that would cut the long-term impact to $150 billion over 10 years. Like the health care system itself, the ACA has lots of moving parts that create costs and savings to the government and generate revenues to help pay for the plan. The committee's analysis, which used Congressional Budget Office figures, breaks them down into three main categories. watch now Iraq is stuck between a rock and a hard place in its effort to contribute to OPEC's planned production cuts in the first half of 2017. Those cuts which are designed to help the world work through a glut of existing oil supplies and thereby reduce prices were scheduled to take effect this week. But big questions remain about how exactly Iraq will manage to hit its agreed-upon quota and cut out 210,000 barrels a day. That includes how Iraq will handle its contractual commitments to the international oil companies that operate its massive southern oil fields, and whether the northern region of Iraq that's controlled by its Kurdish minority will go along with cuts. Iraq is OPEC's second biggest producer, and it has promised some of the largest cuts among cartel members and other big producers like Russia. The overall goal among parties to the agreement is to remove nearly 1.8 million barrels a day from the market. "Of the Middle East producers that agreed to the cuts, it's probably the one that has the most [international oil company]-operated production," Jessica Brewer, principal analyst for Middle East and North Africa upstream oil and gas at energy consultancy Wood Mackenzie. "There are a lot more parties involved, which makes it more complex." Baghdad's contracts with foreign oil drillers include provisions that require the government to compensate them when production is curtailed for reasons beyond the drillers' control, Reuters reported after viewing contract excerpts in November. Government-imposed production cuts could trigger those provisions, according to Brewer. What type of compensation that could entail can be negotiated, but it's possible the government could have to pay back the oil companies for lost revenue, she said. That would be painful for Iraq. The country is already in financial straits after more than two years of low oil prices. Currently, there are no clear signs Iraq has reached a deal to cut output with international oil companies such as BP , Exxon Mobil and Royal Dutch Shell , Brewer said. Meanwhile, OPEC's compliance panel meets to make its first assessment of output reductions on Jan. 21 and 22 in Vienna. CNBC Iraq could dodge its problems it made the cuts from state-operated fields in the country's north, but that option provides no easy solution either, Brewer added. That's because the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government took control of the city of Kirkuk after central government forces failed to defend it from Islamic State militants in 2014. The Kurds now control some of the oil production in the region and may not be willing to cut output, because their government is also struggling financially. Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi complained the Kurds were exporting more oil than they are allowed, Reuters reported on Tuesday. Under the 2017 budget, Kurds are permitted to export 250,000 barrels a day. The Kurds, who can ship oil to Turkey via a pipeline from Iraqi Kurdistan, oppose the export limits. The central government and Kurdish leaders have long feuded over the Kurds' oil exports, which Baghdad says violate the constitution because only federal officials are authorized to sell the country's crude. That said, a deal between Baghdad and the Kurds to cut northern output is "definitely not out of the question. It's just not something you would expect them to come to an agreement to overnight," she said. Two department store chains detailed massive closure plans Wednesday, setting the stage for more than 200 of their combined locations to close this spring. Sears Holdings will shutter 108 Kmart and 42 Sears stores over the next few months, as it looks to stem its operating losses. The company released the list of stores it plans to close after an SEC filing from Seritage Growth Properties was posted Wednesday. The real estate investment trust disclosed that it would terminate the leases on 19 unprofitable stores that had been sold off to it. Meanwhile, Macy's provided a list of 68 stores it has close or will close by the middle of this year as part of a previously announced plan to close 100 stores. Macy's, which also disclosed plans to restructure its management, has been shifting its strategy to reallocate spending toward new store concepts and its website amid declining sales. Macy's will close another 30 or so locations over the next few years as leases or operating covenants expire, or sale transactions are completed. The industry has been keeping a close eye on where Sears and Macy's will go dark, as it could be a death knell for a mall to lose both anchor tenants. In a note to investors on Tuesday, Morgan Stanley analysts said they had identified 578 malls that have Sears as a tenant about 53 percent of those included in its proprietary database. More importantly, the firm noted that there is "high tenant overlap, with 350 of these malls (or 61 percent) having both Sears and Macy's as a tenant." Appearing on both retailers lists', the Shenango Valley Mall, in Hermitage, Pennsylvania, is one such example. J.C. Penney is also listed as a current tenant at that mall. For a closer look at the where the looming store closings are, see the map below. An artists conception of the Lucy spacecraft flying by the Trojan Eurybates one of the six diverse and scientifically important Trojans to be studied. NASA will launch two space missions to asteroids to gather evidence about the early days of the solar system. The unmanned Lucy and Psyche missions will launch in 2021, and 2023, respectively. Both will travel to asteroids Lucy to a cluster of asteroids near Jupiter known as the Trojan asteroids, and Psyche to an unexplored, and unusual, large asteroid made of metal in the main asteroid belt. The Trojan asteroids near Jupiter are thought to be remnants of an earlier period in the history of the solar system. "This is a unique opportunity," said Harold F. Levison, principal investigator of the Lucy mission from the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado, in a news release."Because the Trojans are remnants of the primordial material that formed the outer planets, they hold vital clues to deciphering the history of the solar system. Lucy, like the human fossil for which it is named, will revolutionize the understanding of our origins." The Psyche mission will travel to the asteroid 16 Psyche, which is comprised mostly of iron and nickel, unlike most asteroids, which tend to be rocky or icy, according to the release. The metals are also found in the Earth's core, leading researchers to think the asteroid may be the remnants of a Mars- or Earth-like planet that long ago lost its rocky outer layers. "16 Psyche is the only known object of its kind in the solar system, and this is the only way humans will ever visit a core," said Psyche Principal Investigator Lindy Elkins-Tanton, of Arizona State University. The growing anti-establishment sentiment and surge of populist parties are a concern for many, especially in Europe, where a raft of key elections is happening this year. However, the current support for populism may could soon come to an end, one analyst believes. Populist parties "are more powerful when they aren't in power because it's easy to throw stones," David Moss, European equities fund manager at BMO Global Asset Management, told CNBC on Wednesday. Greece, for example, is currently being governed by Syriza, a populist left-wing party headed by Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras. He came to power in 2015, when Greek voters were angry at the establishment parties for several years of economic struggles. Tsipras, who at one time enjoyed approval ratings of above 80 percent, has seen public support plummeting over the last few months as the promised significant economic improvements and end to austerity have failed to appear. In an attempt to boost his ratings, Prime Minister Tsipras announced Christmas benefits to Greek pensioners. But such step made European creditors angry, leading to the delay of some debt relief measures. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is proposing a plan that would give free tuition to the state's two- and four-year public colleges to students whose parents earn less than $125,000 per year. In a statement delivered alongside progressive Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, Cuomo announced the so-called "Excelsior Scholarship" on Tuesday morning. It aims to alleviate the "crushing burden of student loans" and help put millions of young people on the "path to financial security." Recent college graduates differ on whether Cuomo's plan is the best solution. But they agree that high student debt is harming young people's careers. The average graduate leaves school with approximately $29,000 in debt. High monthly payments restrict job choices, graduates say. "After college, students graduate with tens of thousands of dollars in debt, there is a ticking clock to start paying them off," says Eirik Amun, a 2011 graduate of the State University of New York (SUNY) New Paltz. "This forces graduates to just take what is available in their immediate job market," he says. President Obama will huddle with Congressional Democrats Wednesday morning to help plot the political defense of his signature health care law while Vice President-elect Mike Pence meets with GOP members to rally his party around efforts to dispose of it. But the battle really began in earnest on Tuesday when Republicans made the first move to undo the Affordable Care Act through a Senate budget resolution, beginning their long, complicated journey to repealing and replacing the Democrats' signature achievement. The Senate Budget Committee's resolution, which starts a two-step process known as reconciliation, directs two committees in the House of Representatives and two committees in the Senate to do the hard work of writing the language that repeals the bill. More from NBC News: The fight begins to destroy or save Obamacare Five things you may not know about Obamacare Democrats to fight almost any Trump Supreme Court nominee: Schumer But even just repealing the massive bill is proving onerous as Republicans debate the merits of doing so without a replacement ready. House Republicans have a lot of practice repealing the law, but have never had to deal with what might come next. They passed a repeal of Obamacare more than 60 times over the last six years, including one proposal that is said to be the framework for the current effort that reached Obama's desk in 2015. He vetoed it. Now, however, with a Republican president about to assume the Oval Office, any legislation they pass will have real-world consequences. They must consider the 20 million people who have gained insurance through the ACA, business interests of the health care industry and the impact any changes will have on the economy. In addition, Republican leaders have to balance the economic impact with the demands of their members who span the conservative ideological spectrum. Fractures are already forming around the timeline for replacement, the tax components that have raised billions of dollars and how far-reaching the scope of the repeal should be all elements that must be addressed in the repeal legislation. Members of the House Freedom Caucus, including its leader, Rep. Mark Meadows of North Carolina, are insistent on the timeline, threatening to vote against any replacement if it is not guaranteed before the midterm elections in 2018. "It would have to be an unbelievable, compelling case to suggest we need more than two years to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act," Meadows said Tuesday. Irish researchers say the human body has an additional organ that has been misunderstood for at least a century. J. Calvin Coffey, a professor at the University of Limerick's Graduate Entry Medical School, says the mesentery, which connects the abdomen to the intestines, is not a fragmented group of tissues as the scientific community has long held, but a single, unified organ. So now, the human body has 79 organs, as noted by The Independent, which first picked up the story. Credit Suisse put together a list of heavily shorted stocks that may rally if hedge funds are wrong on their bearish bets. The firm aggregated holdings data from its hedge fund clients and then analyzed the stocks with its proprietary investing framework. "A crowded trade presents risk to those holding short positions and in turn creates a potential opportunity for long investors to outperform in the event of a short squeeze," strategist Richard Curry wrote in a note to clients on Dec. 28. "Crowded shorts with attractive characteristics in the HOLT framework can present an opportunity for long investors." HOLT is a quantitative Credit Suisse valuation model that measures a company's ability to generate cash flow, reinvest earnings at high rates of return and its valuation. When a company with a high level of short interest releases positive fundamental news, there is high potential for a short squeeze rally in its shares, according to the strategist. Here are 10 stocks on Credit Suisse's "most crowded shorts" report and the two companies on the list that rated the best under the HOLT framework. VMware and Diamond Offshore are the only stocks on Credit Suisse's "most crowded shorts" list that have positive HOLT ratings for valuation and cash flow return on investment momentum. Mario Tama | Getty Images News | Getty Images California investigators found repeated violations of foreclosure laws at OneWest when the bank was being run by President-elect Donald Trump's Treasury secretary pick Steven Mnuchin, according to a memo obtained by The Intercept. A spokesman for Mnuchin called the report "garbage." During 2009 to 2015, when Mnuchin headed the bank, investigators "uncovered evidence suggestive of widespread misconduct," according to the 2013 memo from then-California Attorney General Kamala Harris' office. The period includes the aftermath of the Great Recession, which was triggered in part by banks approving risky mortgages. Among the allegations, according to The Intercept: The bank "rushed delinquent homeowners out of their homes by violating notice and waiting period statutes, illegally backdated key documents, and effectively gamed foreclosure auctions." President-elect Donald Trump's recent questions about U.S. intelligence agencies were "sincere" and showed a "healthy American skepticism," Vice President-elect Mike Pence told reporters Wednesday. Earlier Wednesday, Trump tweeted some of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange's comments regarding the hacking of Democratic email accounts during the campaign. @realDonaldTrump: "Julian Assange said "a 14 year old could have hacked Podesta" - why was DNC so careless? Also said Russians did not give him the info!" When asked about the president-elect's use of Assange to cast doubt on the U.S. intelligence reports of Russia's alleged involvement in the 2016 U.S. election, Pence confirmed that he and Trump will receive a briefing from the leadership of U.S. intelligence agencies on Friday. "I think the president-elect has expressed his very sincere and healthy American skepticism about intelligence conclusions, but we're going to sit down later this week," Pence said. Assange has criticized U.S. intelligence reports suggesting that Russia hacked the DNC, allowing WikiLeaks to publish emails belonging to several aides to Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. Tuesday night, Trump suggested the intelligence briefing was delayed to allow for more time to "build a case" against Russia. @realDonaldTrump: The "Intelligence" briefing on so-called "Russian hacking" was delayed until Friday, perhaps more time needed to build a case. Very strange! However, two U.S. intelligence officials told NBC News the briefing had always had been scheduled for Friday at Trump Tower in Manhattan. They said it would be conducted by senior leaders, including Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, National Security Agency Chief Mike Rogers, CIA Director John Brennan and FBI chief James Comey. Another well-placed senior intelligence official, however, told NBC News that the Trump transition team had at one point been notified that the briefing would occur on Wednesday, and this may explain his tweet. NBC News contributed to this report. "The difference in the principles at stake explains why Apple was right in refusing to help the FBI save lives from a potential, imminent terrorist attack, while Amazon's refusal to help clear an isolated crime whose victim is already dead is a mistake." The FBI attempted to seize control of a team of Apple's engineersthe tech-sector's dominant "mode of production." Their motivation was soundpreventing further terror attacks on Americansbut their demand was unreasonable. American capitalism respects and protects private ownership of the modes of production. Commandeering an Apple engineering team is no different from seizing a manufacturing plantnot because the owner did anything wrong, but rather to serve some purpose deemed critical to the national interest. The schools of economic organization under which such seizures are acceptableeven encouragedare not approaches that we should want to adopt. There have been countries that maintained the illusion of private ownership of productive assets, but in reality only let private parties operate those facilities for the benefit of "the nation." When their governments decided that "the nation" needed to divert their use, the collective good compelled their diversion, and the private "owners" were required to comply. The technical name for such an organization of a nation's industry is national socialism; it helped Mussolini get the trains to run on time and it allowed Hitler to rescue the basket case of an economy he inherited from the Weimar Republic. History has shown, however, that is also has a terrible dark side. When the government is empowered to commandeer and redirect private resources in the name of the common good, freedom and human rights suffer greatly. As unobjectionableand even laudableas the FBI's request may have been, it is inconsistent with the cause of freedom. The Bentonville police, on the other hand, are simply asking Amazon to turn over data already in Amazon's possession. Amazon's refusal rests upon its desire to protect its customer's privacyboth as a matter of principle and as a matter of sound business practice. Requests of this sort are hardly unusual. They arise, for example, whenever the police ask a bank to open a safety deposit box. Obviously, it infringes the holder's privacy rightsbut were the police never allowed to open these boxes, they would soon overflow with physical evidence of significant crimes. American courts have considerable experience balancing these concerns on a case-by-case basis. If the Bentonville courts decide that disclosure is warranted here, Amazon should comply. The conflict between technology and law is likely to be a defining feature of the twenty-first century. If we are to remain a free society, we must apply the right principles to the resolution of all such conflicts. Commentary by Bruce Abramson, Ph.D., J.D., a technology lawyer and expert witness in private practice. He is the author of Digital Phoenix (MIT Press) and The Secret Circuit (Rowman & Littlefield), and numerous articles on the interplay among technology, business, law and public policy. He is also a senior fellow at the London Center for Policy Research, and director of policy at the Iron Dome Alliance. Follow him on Twitter @bdabramson. For more insight from CNBC contributors, follow @CNBCopinion onTwitter. Now he's back, having reinvented himself as a critic of the Washington lobbying industry he once dominated and as a speaker and radio show host. He calls much of the lobbying industry "legalized bribery" and gives advice on the temptations of corruption. Once one of the most prominent Republican lobbyists in the capital, known for flying congressmen to global junkets on a private jet, his spectacular downfall led to a three-and-a-half year stint in federal prison where he wasn't even allowed to hold enough change in his pocket to operate the vending machines. So you might think Abramoff would have some interesting things to say about the incoming Trump administration, and he does. For one, despite his new efforts as a reformer, Abramoff doesn't think Trump should be forced to release his tax returns. "I don't know that it matters," Abramoff said in an interview with CNBC. "I think most Americans basically say, 'On one hand, we get to see Donald Trump's tax returns. On the other hand, we get to try to return the country to what it should be. I'll go with returning the country to what it should be. I don't care what's in his tax returns.'" Abramoff also said he understands Trump's desire for privacy, given that Abramoff's own scandal involved the release of thousands of private email messages and the damaging fallout from those private conversations. Abramoff doesn't think Trump will divest himself from the Trump Organization conglomerate that made him a billionaire. "He'll figure out what are the laws, what exactly is legal and not legal, and he'll do that and not care about the optics because, guess what, for the last year and a half he's not cared about optics and he got elected president," Abramoff said. NEW YORK, N.Y. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Tuesday announced a plan to offer free tuition at state colleges for the states middle-class and low-income college students. Under the governors proposal, more than 940,000 college-aged children from households making up to $125,000 per year would qualify to attend college tuition-free at all public universities in New York, including SUNY (State University of New York) and CUNY (City University of New York) four-year schools, as well as two-year community colleges. The governors tuition-free college-degree plan is dubbed the Excelsior Scholarship, according to a news release Cuomos office issued. Cuomo announced the proposal, the first of his 2017 State of the State agenda, during an appearance at LaGuardia Community College in Queens. Cuomo will deliver his annual State of the State message in a series of regional addresses, including an appearance in Syracuse on Jan. 11. The scholarship program would require participating students to be enrolled at a SUNY or CUNY two- or four-year college full-time. Based on enrollment projections, the plan will cost an estimated $163 million per year once fully phased in, Cuomos office said. The governor didnt detail how the free tuition program would be fully paid for, but the release stated the initiative will leverage New York States Tuition Assistance Program (TAP), which provides nearly $1 billion in grants to college students statewide. Eligible students would still receive TAP and any applicable federal grants. Additional state funds would be needed to be cover the remaining tuition costs for incoming or existing eligible students. New York would phase the new initiative in over three years, beginning for New Yorkers making up to $100,000 annually in the fall of 2017, increasing to $110,000 in 2018, and reaching $125,000 in 2019. The initiative will cover middle-class families and individuals making up to $125,000 through a supplemental aid program, per the news release. Cuomos office contends 80 percent of New York households statewide currently make $125,000 or less with an estimated 940,000 households having college-aged children that would be eligible for the program. SUNY undergraduate tuition currently costs $6,470 for New York State residents, while community college tuition is $4,350. Cuomo contends the scholarship program will make college affordable for students and families as student debt continues to soar. That debt has reached $1.2 trillion nationwide, Cuomos office said, surpassing credit-card debt, car debt and home-equity lines of credit as the second largest source of consumer debt. Cuomos office described the Excelsior scholarship as the first of its kind in the nation that will help alleviate the crushing burden of student debt. A college education is not a luxury it is an absolute necessity for any chance at economic mobility, and with these first-in-the-nation Excelsior scholarships, were providing the opportunity for New Yorkers to succeed, no matter what zip code they come from and without the anchor of student debt weighing them down, Cuomo said in the release. U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (IVermont) joined Cuomo for the Tuesday announcement. Sanders had proposed his own national free-tuition program when running for the 2016 Democratic Party nomination for president. Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com this is a cigar that elevates the Davidoff Nicaragua line to the next level as this is one outstanding offering. Wrapper: Nicaragua Habana Oscuro Binder: Nicaragua Habana Jalapa Filler: Nicaraguan tobaccos from Ometepe, Condega and Esteli Country or Origin: Dominican Republic (TABADOM) Box Pressed Toro: 6 x 52 Price: $17.90 Review: Davidoff Nicaragua Box Pressed Toro Brand Appearances on Countdown: 4 (2013, 2014, 2015, 2016) Coming in at #8 is the Davidoff Nicaragua Box Pressed Toro. Box Pressed offerings are not something commonly found in the Davidoff portfolio. While we have seen box pressed offerings in the Avo brand with the Avo Syncro Nicaragua and the Avo Movement TAA, the Davidoff Nicaragua Box Pressed line is the first box press to carry the Davidoff name. There have seen companies with three or more cigars on a single years Cigar of the Year Countdown, but this is only the second time a brand has placed three cigars on the Countdown. We have to go back to La Gloria Cubana in 2010 as the last time this happened. Currently, the Davidoff Yamasa Piramides (#15) and Davidoff Scorecard 2016 (#20) are the other two Davidoff branded cigars on the Countdown. The Davidoff Nicaraguan Box Pressed Toro also becomes the fourth box-pressed offering on this years Countdown. Although its made in the Dominican Republic, it is the first Nicaraguan puro to land on this years Countdown. This is not just a box pressed version of the original Davidoff Nicaragua offering. It has two differences. First up, the Davidoff Nicaragua Box Pressed uses a Nicaraguan Habana Oscuro wrapper as opposed to the Nicaragua Habana Rosado wrapper on the base line. Secondly, the Esteli Visus priming found in the original Davidoff Nicaragua was upgraded to ligero priming. The intent here was to deliver a bolder, more intense smoking experience. This 6 x 52 box-pressed Toro delivers notes of coffee, cedar, wood, white pepper, citrus, and a slight creamy undertone. The strength and body both start off medium and surprisingly for a Davidoff cigar both attributes increase to full by the end of the cigar. This cigar definitely succeeds at Davidoffs goal of delivering a bolder and spicier experience. When Davidoff CEO Hans-Kristian Hoejsgaard took the reins of Davidoff in 2011, he implemented a program of innovation. A box-pressed and bolder offering is another successful result of this program. While Yamasa got a lot of the attention and was still a Top 15 cigar, the Davidoff Nicaragua Box-Pressed was one of the stellar releases of 2016 and earns this #8 ranking. For details of the 2016 Cigar of the Year Countdown, see our 2016 criteria. Photo Credits: Cigar Coop, except where noted. You won't be able to pick up last-minute sides at Hy-Vee on Thanksgiving Our Bodies, Our Voices: Columbus Women Reflect on Abortion Rights The fall of Roe v. Wade has created a fury that is personal. These 10 essays and stories reflect how Central Ohio residents are feeling. Microsoft wasn't idle during the holiday break. It announced a pair of community sites designed to foster greater communication with end users. The first is the Windows Insider Community Blog, a change to its #WINsiders4Good initiative designed to explore how Windows enthusiasts could help the company improve Windows 10 and solve bigger problems while using its software. Now known as #Insiders4Good, Microsoft has also launched a new blog, a home for the Windows Insider community itself. Windows Insider Program chief Dona Sarkar announced a new blog, The Insider's Blog, where people talk about their efforts to solve problems using Microsoft products. The Windows Insider blog will also continue to operate, she said. "Well work to give you more insight into what the team is doing, how engineering decisions are made, what issues were prioritizing each week, how we can improve our processes/tools and much more 'behind the scenes' things. This will all start next week when everyone is back in the office on the standard Windows channels you know and love. Those are not going anywhere. Nor is the program changing for anything other than deeper engagement. Same bat-time, same bat-place," wrote Sarkar. The blog already has guest posts from some insiders and fellows around the world, many in Africa. Those who wish to contribute and share their stories on the blog can email Microsoft at NinjaCatTeam@outlook.com. The second is a program that for now is just in India, but knowing Microsoft, it will go global soon enough. Titled Windows Scoop Fans, Microsoft calls this a program for "the biggest fans of Windows," and invites them to register and get exclusive updates on the operating system, as well as news on the latest apps and services, devices, tips and tricks, and invitations to special fan events. The Windows Insider team sent a letter to Indian Insiders that read in part: Interested in joining this exclusive Windows fan programme? Send us an email (from the same email you use for Facebook*) answering this one question Why Im the biggest fan of Windows. Tell us about a favourite feature, a Windows app youve created or how Windows helps you do great things. Were open to a wide range of responses. And feel free to add photos, videos, etc. Please note that the deadline for submissions is 5 January, 2017. Well then follow up by email to selected Windows Scoop Fan participants by January 15, 2017. All users have to do is send an email to scoopfans@microsoft.com with a message that describes their passion for Windows. I have to admit, trying to get people all rah-rah for an OS is an unusual move, especially for one that is mainstream and dominant. I get the passion around Linux and MacOS. They are the outsiders, the ones resisting Microsoft hegemony. You don't see enthusiasm for the establishment player, which Microsoft is, you see it for the new disruptors. Of course, it's not about the OS -- it's about what you can do with it. I've been seeing this theme in Microsoft TV commercials as well. Still, you don't associate such cheerleading with a staid old brand. Is this an attempt to change its image? After the overtly pushy Windows 10 upgrade program, Microsoft could use it. President-elect Donald Trump has been tweeting up a storm, suggesting the delay in the intelligence briefing on Russian hacking was very strange and even seeming to back WikiLeaks founder Julian Assanges version of the hacking over that of what US intelligence agencies said with 100 percent certainty happened. Trump had previously claimed during a New Years Eve party that he knew things that other people dont know about the Russian hacking, adding that he would reveal new details about the alleged Russian hacking on Tuesday or Wednesday. Unnamed, top intelligence officials pushed back after Trumps tweet, telling CNN that even President Obama hasnt received the full Russian hacking report since the report isnt completed yet, and the scheduled meeting was to take place on Friday. Director of National Intelligence James Clapper was reportedly not scheduled to be in New York City to see Trump yesterday or today, so he was perplexed about the delay Trump claimed was taking place. But Trump was on a roll after suggesting intelligence agencies were perhaps still trying to build a case and started quoting Julian Assange. This was one of the most high-profile nods to Assange; it seems like most high-ranking US officials consider WikiLeaks to be some sort of Satans spawn. Apparently, Trump was following the Assange interview on Fox News. During the interview, Assange told Sean Hannity that the Russians were not the source of John Podestas / DNC emails that were published by WikiLeaks. Our source is not the Russian government, Assange again stated. It is not state parties. Assange hammered on dishonest media coverage and Trump echoed that sentiment. The president-elect also took the opportunity to bash the Democratic National Committee for failing at cyber security. Yet a plethora of three-letter US agencies as well as the Obama Administration are confident the Russians are to blame for interfering with the election; Obama came out with sanctions and kicked 35 diplomats and their families out of the US. It remains to be seen what Trump will say after he is briefed on the full Russian hacking report. As for Trumps previous suggestion to write down very important information and have it delivered by courier, since no computer is safe, perhaps someone can educate him about encryption. Crypto is not the devil, its the solution. If Trump is going to take a stand against US Intelligence, then he should consider championing encryption. BMW Group, Intel and computer vision maker Mobileye today announced they will collaborate to create a fleet of about 40 autonomous BMW vehicles that will hit U.S. and European roads by the second half of 2017. The pilot project is aimed at demonstrating advances the three companies have made in technology that enables fully self-driving vehicles. The BMW 7 Series will be used as the initial platform for Intel processor and Mobileye computer vision technology during the global trials. Mobileye, an Israeli technology company, is a leader in developing both software and proprietary computer chip technology (EyeQ) to support vision-based advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) that provide warnings for collision prevention and mitigation. Mobileye has also partnered with other automakers and multi-billion-dollar tier 1 auto parts maker Delphi to supply its technology to the industry. Mobileye and Delphi plan to demonstrate their "Central Sensing Localization and Planning" (CSLP) platform for self-driving cars in urban and highway driving conditions during the Consumer Electronics Show taking place now in Las Vegas. They plan to start production in 2019. Mobileye, Delphi Mobileye and Delphi plan to demonstrate their platform for self-driving cars in urban and highway driving conditions during CES 2017 and start production in 2019. In July, BMW, Intel and Mobileye announced a development partnership that BMW said would result in a completely autonomous car called iNEXT, suited for both city streets and highways, by 2021. Like Google with its autonomous vehicle technology, the three firms have developed a scalable architecture that can be adopted by other automotive developers and carmakers to create differentiated brands. The offerings scale from individual key integrated modules to a complete end-to-end autonomous system that provides "a wide range of differentiated consumer experiences." BMW believes self-driving cars will be widely used in ride-hailing services such as Uber, which has already deployed a self-driving test car in Pittsburgh. In related news, Intel announced Intel GO In-Vehicle Development Platforms for Automated Driving, which is specifically tailored for the self-driving technology market in that it's highly scalable and designed to meet the high compute demands of the fully autonomous driving industry. Intel GO computer systems will span the car, connectivity and cloud with multiple development kits that scale in performance based on its next-generation Intel Atom processor as well as Intel Xeon processors plus Arria 10 FPGAs. The technology, Intel claims, is also the industry's first 5G-ready development platform for automated driving. Maggie Hassan reenacts her swearing in ceremony to the U.S. Senate on Tuesday with her husband Tom and Vice President Joe Biden in Washington D.C. Courtesy photo Maggie Hassan was escorted by fellow Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen as she walked into the United States Senate Chamber on Tuesday to be sworn in as New Hampshire newest U.S. senator by Vice President Joe Biden. The two senators hold the distinction of being the first and second women in the nation to serve as both governor and U.S. senator. Hassan was sworn in on Tuesday afternoon, using a bible her mother gave her when she was a child. Hassan defeated Republican Sen. Kelly Ayotte in the November election. She was previously New Hampshires 81st governor, serving since 2013. After taking her oath of office, Hassan chatted with her new colleagues as she waited to sign the Senate registry. Her friends and family watched the proceedings from the Senate gallery, including husband Tom; her two children, Ben and Meg; mother Peggy; and two siblings. In an interview Tuesday afternoon, Hassan said her first day on Capitol Hill was busy, but a very good day. Its nice to get started, she said, adding that it was good to continue the tradition of celebrating the start of a new congress and honoring our constitution, which has for all these years called for a peaceful transition of power. Hassan said she was glad to be joined by her family, friends and other New Hampshire figures who had traveled down for the ceremony. Its always nice to have family with you when youre taking on a change, taking on challenges and thinking about the purpose you bring to the job, Hassan said. Hassan and other new senators were welcomed by Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and by Democratic Minority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York. Take a moment to celebrate the rich tradition of this day, McConnell told the new senators. I hope you enjoy these ceremonies with your families and colleagues as you embark on your new Senate careers. We know the coming days are going to require hard work and cooperation from both sides. Schumer had a similar message for his new colleagues, but took a much sharper tone when he spoke about upcoming policy fights. The repeal and replacement of the Affordable Care Act is expected to be one of the first priorities of the Republican-controlled Congress, and one of the biggest showdowns between Republicans and Democrats. Schumers message was clear: Senate Democrats are still prepared to fight for affordable health care and a fairer economy for middle- and lower-class Americans. The Democratic minority in the Senate has a very important task ahead of it, Schumer said. Well fight for our principles, well fight for our values, and well fulfill our solemn constitutional duty to hold the other branches of government accountable. Hassan said that while she will work to find common group and bipartisan compromise with her Republican colleagues, she reiterated Schumers call to hold President-elect Donald Trump true to his promises. Its certainly our job to keep him accountable and stand up to him when we need to, she said. In the U.S. House of Representatives, New Hampshires Democratic Congresswomen Annie Kuster and Carol Shea-Porter were also sworn in Tuesday. The four women represent the nations first all-Democratic, all-female delegation. Hassan handed over the reins of state government to Republican Senate President Chuck Morse. He is serving as governor until Gov.-elect Chris Sununu, also a Republican, is inaugurated Thursday. (Ella Nilsen can be reached at 369-3322, enilsen@cmonitor.com or on Twitter @ella_nilsen. Material from the Associated Press was used in this report.) Republicans warn of election if First Minister doesnt stand aside The News Letter reports that Sinn Fein, one of the two ruling parties in the Northern Ireland Executive, has warned the Province may face new elections if the First Minister doesnt step down. Last month I set out the background to the current scandal besetting Arlene Foster, the leader of the Democratic Unionists, namely the botching of a renewable energy scheme that will cost the Ulster taxpayer more than 400 million. Since then fresh revelations and her own conduct have made her position increasingly precarious. But the DUP are standing by her, insisting she wont step aside from her role for a single day. Conservatives should be keeping a close eye on these developments: Fosters leadership has seen her party, with its very useful clutch of Westminster MPs, working much more closely with the Government. A new leader may take a different stance, making Theresa Mays job that much more difficult. Scottish Labour reject call for pact with SNP as woes deepen A proposal that Labour form an electoral pact with the Scottish Nationalists has been roundly rejected by the partys Scottish branch, according to Politics Home. The Fabian Society floated the idea as perhaps the only way for the Opposition to take power in a report on the dire state of the party. But Scottish Labour point out, entirely rightly, that the SNP doesnt actually govern progressively. Scottish Labour also, again probably rightly, fear such an alliance would be electoral suicide: their pro-independence supporters are long gone, and a formal pact with the separatists would only see them shed further unionist support to the Conservatives. As we reported earlier this week, leaked internal polling showed that Labour is down to 15 per cent ahead of this years Scottish local elections against the Tories 25 per cent and have shed around half of their 2015 vote has abandoned the party, with most going to the Tories. Welsh Conservatives condemn vast fund for NHS negligence claims Tories have criticised the Welsh Government for paying almost 700 million into a fund intended to reimburse NHS bodies for clinical negligence and personal injury claims, Wales Online reports. The Labour administration in Cardiff Bay says the sum is to cover several years claims, and potential costs from previous claims, but the Conservatives insist there are more cost-effective ways to mitigate against risk and are demanding an inquiry. Angela Burns, their health spokesman, said: The Welsh Labour Government should instigate an urgent inquiry into its medical practices to ascertain why were seeing such a rise in claims against the health service, and put measures in place to prevent harm from arising in the first place. Number of Scottish applicants failing to get a university place doubles under SNP The advent of much broader devolution over domestic issues is making it harder for the Scottish Government to shift blame to Westminster, and the Nationalists are starting to feel the heat for poor domestic policy. Transport has been the most high-profile case recently, but this week two more cracks appeared. Both relate to young people: in the first instance the Scotsman reports that a flagship national drive to reduce youth unemployment has suffered a blow after figures showed a rise in jobless youngsters last year. More seriously, according to the Daily Telegraph the number of Scottish applicants missing out on a university place has more than doubled over the past ten years of Nationalist rule at Holyrood. Keeping higher education free has been a flagship SNP policy: but its only financially sustainable because the number of Scottish (and EU) students eligible for places at Scottish universities is capped. Thus rising application numbers have simply led to fierce competition, with more and more Scots squeezed out by fee-paying overseas (and English, Welsh, and Northern Irish) students. Plaid demand right to challenge UK legislation in court According to Wales Online a Welsh Nationalist AM has called for the Welsh Government to be able to challenge Westminster legislation in court. Steffan Lewis claims the current asymmetry means that there is a potential Westminster veto, which may be wielded by a dangerous UK establishment emboldened by Brexit. He insists that the Wales Bill, which allows the Government to challenge Welsh legislation if it thinks it strays into reserved areas, may somehow allow Westminster to start legislating unilaterally over issues that fall wholly or partially within devolved policy areas. The motivations for this move soon reveal themselves: complicating Brexit and undermining Parliaments sovereignty and authority in reserved areas like foreign policy. Lewis says as much when he complains that: Westminster has asserted that it alone will make the final decisions on our future relations with the EU and this is a threat to policy areas where Wales has jurisdiction within current EU frameworks. Rebecca Coulson is a freelance writer, and was Parliamentary Candidate for the City of Durham at the 2015 General Election. Whats in a letter or two? Durers rhinos would be lonely without his monograms. Gershwins heroines dreamt of enhancing theirs by adding the initials of their crushes. And in the golden age of crime fiction Desdemonas strawberries seeming too subtle few handkerchiefs lacked the letters that could kill the alibis of their owners. That said, on facing an overconfident Cadillac salesman, the uncertainty of Evan S. Connells unlikely hero, Mr Bridge, is only settled when hes told that many of our owners prefer three initials printed on their new cars fenders: the suggestion that he should advertise himself by putting his initials on the door was so offensive that several weeks after the demonstration he bought a Chrysler. Some girl in a bar, who was also called Rebecca, once told me about her faith in numerology. She even ran a premium-rate phone line, scamming customers into trusting in the fates awaiting them, based on the mystic numerical value of their names. I asked what Rebecca revealed, and she said I had a great future. So great, in fact, that shed changed her name to it from something else the contradiction of which still makes me smile. But what effects do the names were given have on us? Endless studies confirm the ballot-paper expediency of being early in the alphabet. And, in The Folly of Fools, Robert Trivers, the American evolutionary biologist, discusses name-letter biases at length from a general theory professing a universal preference for the letters contained within ones own name, to suggestions about specific tendencies, such as living in places that share the first four letters of our surnames. He tells us that people with a C or a D at the beginning of either their first or last names show lower academic performance (grade-point average) than do those with As, Bs, or other letters, apparently because lower grades (Cs and Ds) are (unconsciously) less aversive to them. What about E, however? As any crossword fan knows, that letter (or, ok, more usually her full monogram) represents the Queen. And heres why using four words de jour it seems a topical signifier: Executive Times have changed since the Queens ancestors synonymised this. Might it be the word of 2017? What will the coming Supreme Court Brexit judgement mean for executive power here in Britain? Will this judgement and related developments force us to define, justify, and codify its content officially, once and for all? Has this flexible uncertainty been part of our national strength? Or have changes already left that idea impotent? One to watch, for sure. Establishment Owen Jones is to this as the Green Party is to environmentalism: the way in which theyre seen to have conquered their topics lets their own biases propagate. The latters green policy is lacking, and what I remember of Joness The Establishment is that, for all he criticises other typical establishment groups, he avoids much mention of Oxbridge, where he went. We hate relying on experts (see below) nowadays, anyway, so I ran a little whats the establishment? vox pop, instead. Answers included the classic suspects, but with the added cynicism youd expect. This ranged from whatever group of people the person using the phrase wants to project blame on for their own perceived injustices and life failings, to anyone who has any incentive in keeping things as they are. The neatest was simply the powers that be. Elite This is one of those words that still fares well in the locker room, but, elsewhere, leaves us uncomfortable nowhere more than the political playing field. Reports such as the Sutton Trusts Parliamentary Privilege series claim that parliament is becoming slightly more representative than it was, yet revel in the relatively numerous MPs who went to high-end research-led universities, independent schools, and particularly Eton (10 per cent). Theres no time here to address this properly, but its unhelpful to conflate attendance at famous schools with having the academic aptitude to go to an elite university. It seems right to want to ensure that everyone has equal chances to pursue the opportunities that might take them to the top of their chosen vocation; its counter-productive to be angry that there are such goals to which to aspire. Experts I guess its inappropriate to look this up in my twenty-volume OED. Or is it? Surely, those claiming to hate experts dont mean experts in their totality. Of the masses extending their wrath towards dictionary compilers, presumably only a subset feels similarly about brain surgeons. And fewer again might scorn pilots (though Trivers has great reasons why we should). The real problem is that we dont like being lectured about things we think we already know, usually based (somewhat ironically) on our own perceived depth of experience or knowledge. (Hence why its especially hard to name popular education or health secretaries.) We might be happy for Henry Marsh to clip our aneurisms, but guys like him or Prince Charles had better not weigh in on other stuff (unless they agree with us). The deeper problem, of course, is increased awareness of the disappointment awaiting those wanting easy empirical answers to complex or even empirically-unanswerable questions of politics and economics. Any conspiracy theory stemming from Es ubiquity can aside from the excuse of a long-winded run-in to a Christmas-holiday column be easily refuted. On top of coincidence, links between thematic words that happen to begin with the same letter can often be explained through commonality of prefixes, more reasons of progeny, and other phrases including words beginning with P. And, while Trivers does seem convinced that if your name is Charles Darwin, you will tend to do slightly less well academically than everyone else around you, he debunks grander suggestions*: For one brief shining moment, it appeared as if the name-letter effect had widespread important effects on our behaviour of which we were completely unconscious. [] People appeared to be making major life decisions based on trivial egoistic coincidences. [] Fortunately, perhaps, the entire edifice collapsed when a very careful reanalysis [] showed that every single one was due to hidden biases in procedure or logic. Nonetheless, you havent seen the end of the powerful Es yet. Not least and this is my one prediction for 2017 election. ____ *Including the surname-residence suggestion. CORNWALL, Ontario One Cornwall business has been selected to take part in the first Common Kindness Day next week. An anonymous business has made Jan. 10 Common Kindness Day. Its a kind of unofficial holiday. Independently owned shops from around the Province have been sponsored by this nameless benefactor with the goal of spreading kindness across Ontario nest Tuesday. There have been 10 locations in total in the Province that have been chosen. The Grind in Cornwall is one of those locations. I think its really nice, said Susan Lalonde-Martin, of The Grind. It feels great that they chose us. The benefactor has given The Grind enough money to give out 100 coffees free of charge. The only thing asked in return, is that customers consider passing on the favour for the next person. When someone is handed one of the free coffees at The Grind, they will have the option of paying a little bit back into the tab so that the free coffees can keep on coming. The goal is to see how many coffees the tab can be stretched to pay for over that day. The business behind this day of charity is unknown, but Susan Lalonde-Martin said that she felt that this effort showed real support for small businesses and communities. I think its the type of business that they are, she said. Theyre very involved and being kind to people helps the community. Close Zebrafish may be key to early detection of childhood leukemia, one of the most common blood cancers. It suppresses the production of normal blood cells and other blood-forming organs which increase the production of immature or abnormal leukocytes. The new research revealed that zebrafish can identify the genetic and environmental factors of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia. The new research has been funded by Kids Without Cancer organization and a non-profit group of parents of a cancer patient from the Children's Hospital of Michigan. The Wayne State University School of Medicine has been committed to funding $356,000 for researchers. Researchers used zebrafish as a model for childhood leukemia that can help scientists to understand the leukemia treatment resistance and may improve therapeutic strategies. The zebrafish is a vertebrate organism which has unique strengths for efficient transgenesis, transplantation and precise genome editing which led to exquisite details of leukemic initiation, progression, and the regression. Zebrafish is the simplest way to determine the hematopoiesis which begins around the endothelial cells that cue to rise to hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs). The HSCs subsequently give all hematopoietic lineages throughout the life of the fish which make the vertebrate a good model. The leukemia modeling generated zebrafish in showing the mechanisms of the T-ALL cells and the discovering of the NOTCH1. Leukemia transplantations are the important methods for the pathophysiology of cancer. It gives scientists the idea on how the human leukemia cells lines to generate and efficacy and toxicity to other cells. Zebrafishes are useful in contributing the research on how to determine the tumorigenesis and treatment of childhood leukemia. Nevertheless, the evolutionary distance between the zebra fishes and humans valid mammalian models which requires a further validation in the clinical development. Despite the limitations, zebrafish genome pose has a useful role in the gene inactivation studies and antibody production due to modification of glycosylation proteins. See Now: What Republicans Don't Want You To Know About Obamacare Close A 10-month-old baby in Massachusetts nearly lost her life after being exposed to fentanyl. Doctors revived her twice after she stopped breathing as she was the latest victim of an opioid epidemic that has been blamed for hundreds of deaths in the state. Police officers arrived at the Methuen residence in the early afternoon of December 31 after receiving a report of a child not breathing. Authorities, who responded to the house, took the baby to the hospital where she was revived twice. She was airlifted to Tufts Medical Center in Boston, where she's now in a stable condition. Tests show the baby had the potent synthetic opioid fentanyl in her system. The Department of Children and Families has taken the baby into its custody and a probe has been initiated. "The opioid epidemic knows no boundaries," Stephen Zanni, Methuen Mayor, said in a release as reported by CBS News. "We must continue to be vigilant in ensuring that children do not have access to harmful substances and to do everything we can to fight the disease of addiction," he added. What Is Fentanyl? According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, fentanyl is a powerful synthetic opioid analgesic that is similar to morphine. However, fentanyl is 50 to 100 times more powerful and usually used to treat patients with severe pain. Over the past years, many countries across the globe have struggled with opioid abuse. Now, it has been dubbed as an epidemic since it's affecting many individuals across the globe. In fact, fentanyl has taken over heroin as a primary cause of fatal overdoses in 2016. Fentanyl Killed Thousands In 2016 Fentanyl is an incredibly potent synthetic opioid usually prescribed for pain management. However, in the recent years, illegal manufacturing of fentanyl soared and as a result, there was a drastic increase in the number of drug overdose deaths, Vox reports. In 2010, about 17,094 people died from an opioid-induced drug overdose and in 2014, the number nearly doubled to 31,271 deaths. Fentanyl-related deaths in 2016, however, has spurred panic and worry not only among authorities but also families in the United States. Now, even Canada faces a significant increase of drug overdose deaths this year. New York's Pix11 reports that popular music icon, Prince, was found death inside an elevator in April, with an autopsy showing he died from accidental overdose of fentanyl. In Long Island alone, at least 220 people died from fentanyl overdoses in 2016. Moreover, British Columbia in Canada reports about 488 illicit drug overdose deaths between January and August 2016 alone. That compares to an overall 505 reported drug overdose deaths in B.C. in 2015. See Now: What Republicans Don't Want You To Know About Obamacare Close Originally reported as a pair of rusty scissors, doctors removed a surgical clamp from a Vietnamese man's stomach 18 years after his surgery. Ma Van Nhat, 54 years old, went under the knife on December 31 at Cast-Iron and Steel Hospital in Thai Nguyen Province after specialists from Viet Duc Hospital in Hanoi were asked to assist with the procedure. Nhat complained of stomach ache and on December 27, he underwent ultrasonography (ultrasound) to determine the root cause of the pain. Doctors were surprised to see a pair of a rusty surgical clamp in the man's stomach, where he had a surgery almost two decades ago. The 6-inch (15-centimeter) clamp, which was first reported as a pair of scissors, was lodged near his colon. Tuoi Tre News reports that the handles of the surgical tool had become rusty and some of the organs had stuck to it. An Accident Led To The Discovery Nhat had not felt anything strange over the past years and said he had not visited a doctor for any problem related to the lodged clamp in his stomach. In fact, it was a blessing in disguise when he got into a road accident in December when he was brought to the hospital for a medical consultation. It was in 1998 when he underwent an operation at Bac Kan General Hospital. He claimed that he never had any other proceudre ever since. Recently, he also felt pain in his abdominal area but only tried to treat it with medicines. The Ministry of Health has initiated an investigation on the incident but said hospitals tend to file patient records for only 15 years. Thus, it will be hard to determine who is to blame for the bizarre medical case. "We are trying to find out who was in the operation crew, and even if they are already retired, we will still inform them about the incident that took place during their career," Trinh Thi Luong, hospital director of Bac Kan General Hospital, said as reported by Global News. "This is a lesson to all doctors, especially to surgeons who are working with surgical equipment, this is a valuable experience," Luong added. See Now: What Republicans Don't Want You To Know About Obamacare Rio Haryanto's plans to return to F1 have been dealt a hefty blow after state-owned energy company Pertamina announced it would be dropping its sponsorship. Haryanto became the first Indonesian driver in F1 history last year when he joined Manor alongside Pascal Wehrlein but replaced by Esteban Ocon after 12 races when his sponsorship fell through. The 23-year-old stated he will look to return to the sport in 2017 with possible options at Sauber or a comeback at Manor - who are currently in takeover talks - but his hopes have taken a hit by the loss of Pertamina as backers. "This year there will not be a continuation of participation by Pertamina in F1," a spokesperson told Reuters. "Of course we regret this very much, but we have already made maximal efforts for Rio and Indonesia." Haryanto will look for new sponsors to cover the reported ?4.23M funding gap which Pertamina stacked up as part of the Indonesian driver's deal with Manor in 2016. Sauber is likely to confirm Mercedes-backed Pascal Wehrlein alongside the already-announced Marcus Ericsson having been overlooked in favour of Valtteri Bottas as Nico Rosberg's replacement at Mercedes for 2017. Felipe Massa is believed to make a U-turn on his decision to retire from F1 and return to the Williams fold with Bottas switching to Mercedes. Related Articles 10 Things to WATCH out for in F1 2017 Video of 10 Things to WATCH out for in F1 2017 Latest Tweets from Crash.net & GPF1rst The New Sheriff in Town Xerox will aggressively grow its business with multivendor channel partners thanks to a more affordable offering of smaller, tabletop A4 printers and an industry-leading managed print services portfolio, according to Jeff Jacobson, the Norwalk, Conn.-based company's new CEO. Jacobson discussed exclusively with CRN what's prompting partners not working with Xerox today to reconsider, why the company is interested in attracting larger solution providers, and his experience attending a partner recruitment meeting in New York. Jacobson started as CEO Sunday after the completion of the split of Xerox's $7 billion business process outsourcing division which was renamed Conduent from its $11 billion document technology business. Jacobson had been president of Xerox's technology business since July 2014 and started with the company in February 2012. Read on to learn what Jacobson sees as Xerox's competitive differentiators, where the company plans to invest, and how he believes his performance should be measured. Cruise Newfoundland and Labrador and its port members are expecting a blockbuster 2017, with around 100 calls from 29 ships and just under 100,000 passengers expected to the groups 29 ports. This is a major bump up from the previous record of 68,325 passengers in 2012. More expedition ships are in the cards for 2017. Other inaugural visits for 2017 include, but are not limited to, Ponants Le Soleal, the Silver Muse and the Viking Sky and Sea, in addition to the Mein Schiff 6 and Vision of the Seas. Among the highlights is Red Bay at Gros Morne National Park, and this past summer, guests aboard the Silver Explorer had a unique experience learning about the Basques who occupied the region 50 years after Columbus made his voyage to the so-called new world. Cruise lines can turn the dial back further at LAnse aux Meadows and the nearby port of St. Anthony, where excursions show off the early days of Leif Erickson and the Vikings assault on North America. There is also Port Aux Basques, which features a railway heritage museum that captures history, trails and excursions in the area, and promotes Newfoundland culture, according to a local representative. --- Get an in-depth, behind the scenes look at the North America cruise market and the ports that make it happen in the 2016-2017 Winter edition Cruise Industry News Quarterly Magazine. Subscribe today. Star Cruises today announced a three-month homeporting plan for the SuperStar Virgo in Kaohsiung, where the ship will offer a six-day/five-night Golden Triangle program. Calls and interport turnaround opportunities for passengers include not only Kaohsiung, but also Hong Kong and Manila. This new homeport and itinerary will provide a boost to the travel industry of Kaohsiung, Taiwan, Star said in a prepared statement. The ship had previously homeported in Kaohsiung in both 2013 and 2015, and will return this March. Meanwhile, also in Taiwan, the SuperStar Aquarius will continue to homeport in Keelung, sailing to Naha, Ishigaki and Miyakojima in Okinawa, After two years and with the support of Taiwanese passengers, we are pleased to return to Kaohsiung with a brand-new Golden Triangle Journey, a unique experience pioneered by Star Cruises that showcases Hong Kong, Kaohsiung, Manila and Laoag in one cruise journey for the first time, said Ang Moo Lim, president of Star Cruises. Wayne Liu, deputy director of the Tourism Bureau, Ministry of Transportation and Communications in Taiwan, added: Collaboration between cruise destinations and cruise lines is crucial to the development of the cruise travel industry. The 2017 triple homeport deployment of Star Cruises in Taiwan, the Philippines and Hong Kong reflects the mutual objective shared between Star Cruises and Asia Cruise Cooperation (ACC) to expand the cruise travel market and create a mutually beneficial business environment. The Ministry of Transportation and Communications stands in full support, ready to welcome new travellers to Taiwan. We also encourage our travel industry partners to expand the horizon with more shore excursions to attract more travellers to enjoy Asia by cruise. Ken Muskat has been named the new CEO at SkySea Cruise Line, which Royal Caribbean Cruises called a "growing cruise line" focused on the emerging Chinese cruise market, in a prepared statement. SkySea is a joint venture between Royal Caribbean and Ctrip, China's largest online travel agency. Muskat is expected to help SkySea accelerate its campaign to become the top choice for Chinese cruise guests seeking new vacation experiences in a familiar East-meets-West style, said Royal Caribbean, in a statement. "Ken Muskat is known for his ability to generate consumer excitement and revenue generation, which are key elements in building a new cruise line and setting the stage for long-term growth," said Min Fan, vice chairman of Ctrip.com and executive chairman of SkySea. Muskat will join a leadership team that also includes Hernan Zini, COO. "There is no challenge I like better than creating a winning business proposition in a competitive market," Muskat said. "I appreciate the confidence shown in me by the owners of SkySea, and I look forward to using my experience to help this exciting new brand grow to be a leader." Muskat comes to SkySea from MSC Cruises, where he was involved in the commercial efforts in driving MSC's expansion in the competitive US market. He also had a long career at Royal Caribbean Cruises before joining MSC. "I look forward to bringing to bear everything I've learned in my career and helping SkySea become a standout performer," Muskat said. "There is an important role for a Chinese-centered brand like this in this large and growing market." Muskat assumes the role beginning mid-January. Happy New Year to all our readers. Im not a lawyer but I play one on TV. But seriously! This is an article I have been meaning to write ever since we performed an IT audit for a large law firm a year or so ago. The firm was responding to the HIPAA law that requires all third-party vendors working with healthcare organizations to have a Risk Assessment. This further proves my point that most businesses wont do much in the area of cyber security or compliance, not even an IT risk assessment unless required by law. Its hard to believe that even at this stage with countless breaches over the past few years Target, Sony, Anthem, OPM, Yahoo and so on. Its no longer a matter of if you will be breached, but rather a matter of when or have you already been breached and you just dont know it. Every person, SMB or large corporation that has an internet connection is vulnerable. So every connected device on the internet must meet minimum compliance standards and thats just the tip of the iceberg. Its no longer acceptable to just be backward looking legalistic IT compliant, organizations must design in security privacy architectures and have plans in place to proactively detect and respond to incidents. So all connected enterprises have about the same risk just by being connected to the internet, but more specifically each sector is at one time or another more targeted. Like healthcare is more targeted than retailers now because credit cards dont pay out that much anymore, but stealing ones complete identity and medical insurance is. Lets look at some specifics about the legal sector: ALM Legal Intelligence has reported the following facts on the legal sector. Nearly 10% of firms have not performed a formal information security and privacy assessment. Approximately one-third of firms do not hold cyber liability insurance policies. More than 55% of firms have either already established a cybersecurity practice or have plans to form one. A whopping 98% of law firm respondents to the ALM intelligence law firm survey believe that the legal industry is increasingly a target for attacks. 22% of law firms dont have a data breach plan in place Only 50% of law firms have a cybersecurity team in place 87% state they train users on basic security practices yet only 47% conduct drills Most view cybersecurity as an IT issue vs the reality, Its a business issue 71% of law firms have performed a formal information, privacy and security assessment 70% of law firms have purchased cyber liability insurance. Additionally Daniel Solove, professor at George Washington University Law School and organizer of the privacy + Security forum, said On a scale of 1 to 10, the risks law firms are facing are an 11. Well that is the background evidence based on a trusted survey but whats been happening lately? First we have the Panama Papers: The New York Times April 4, 2016. The Panama Papers have exposed how some of the worlds most powerful people may have used offshore bank accounts and shell companies to conceal their wealth or avoid taxes. The papers millions of leaked confidential documents from the Mossack Fonseca law firm in Panama identify international politicians, business leaders and celebrities involved in webs of suspicious financial transactions. The revelations have raised questions about secrecy and corruption in the global financial system. On a scale of 1 to 10, the risks law firms are facing are an 11. Daniel Solove, professor at George Washington University Law School Consider this recent law firm hacking headline! SC Magazine reported the following on Dec. 28, 2016 "Chinese hackers of NY law firm charged": After hacking their way into the networks of seven law firms and siphoning out data that was used in making $4 million profit in trades, three Chinese men were hit with charges and one was arrested. Somehow law firms have escaped being subject to the same legal compliance mandates that many other businesses must adhere to. The American Bar Association has certainly visited this issue and stated the following in 2013. Many firms are now asking, What do we do to keep our systems and data safe? How can we keep this from happening to us? There is a simple answer to this question: Hire a chief information security officer, give him or her a budget to hire the staff needed to build and maintain an enterprise security program (ESP), and exercise appropriate governance over the firms digital assets. But do law firms have a security standard like FISMA, PCI DSS, HIPAA or SOX? Not really one specific compliance mandate for law firms. If they handle credit cards it's PCI DSS, if they handle HIPAA, then HIPAA third party kicks in. Its a disconnected disjointed, patchwork of laws written by? Legal professionals. Add privacy laws to the mix. Forty-seven states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam and the Virgin Islands have all enacted statutes requiring companies to provide notification if a breach of personal information occurs. We live in a world where our national security is threatened by cyberterrorists, and where private enterprise is forced to respond to cyber theft of intellectual property on a daily basis. The ABA Cybersecurity Legal Task Force is examining risks posed by criminals, terrorists and nations that seek to steal personal and financial information, disrupt critical infrastructure and wage cyberwar. When our national security and economy are threatened, lawyers will not stand on the sidelines," said Laurel Bellows, 2012-2013 President of the American Bar Association. All law firms that dont have a cybersecurity program in place should hire someone to do an IT risk assessment. The assessment should consider the types of data, and consider data security and data privacy as it relates to credit cards, intellectual property, government data, HIPAA and so on. Every type of data has different data security and data privacy laws to adhere to, and it will remain that way until we get better at blanket programs. Add on PCI DSS etc and then we are stuck with a confusing and siloed approach. All businesses could adopt the NIST cyber security framework, it works well with any business as it looks at technology, data and the risk associated with using it. Once the risk assessment is complete, the consultant will be able to customize a program to fit the needs of the organization. The blue print for the NIST implementation will look something like this: Identify Develop the organizational understanding to manage cybersecurity risk to systems, assets, data, and capabilities. Protect Develop and implement the appropriate safeguards to ensure delivery of critical infrastructure services. Detect Develop and implement the appropriate activities to identify the occurrence of a cybersecurity event. Respond Develop and implement the appropriate activities to take action regarding a detected cybersecurity event. Add the appropriate people, policies and technology to the NIST framework and you are on your way. Law firms need to put an information security program in place which includes hiring a CISO, security analyst, security manager and IT security experts or they need to outsource this to a consulting firm. Either way ignoring the problem wont make it go away and only increases risk and the resulting lost reputation and credibility, all of which is priceless to a trusted law firm! This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate HARTFORD Gov. Dannel P. Malloy offered a financial-recovery roadmap to the new General Assembly on Wednesday, calling for massive spending reductions, union givebacks and a total revamp of the municipal aid and school-funding formulas. Republicans, with a deadlock in the Senate and a near tie in the House, embraced the call and said they feel a new sense of inclusion following Malloys cost-cutting pitch. But those changes, which Malloy will detail next month with his budget proposal, could threaten the flow of state cash to affluent towns, while investing more in the poorer towns and cities. So it simply would not be fair for us to talk about continued state agency reductions, or talk about the need for labor concessions, without talking about new ways to provide town aid, Malloy said in a half-hour state-of-the-state speech. He said that while the current $5.1-billion in local aid is the largest single expense in the state budget, it has to be redirected to support cities and school districts that need it most. Stratford Mayor John Harkins, a former House Republican who attended the speech in a jammed House chamber, said the states projected $1.5-billion deficit meant funding was bound to change. The state has no money, Harkins said after Malloys speech kicked off the 22-week budget-setting session. It hasnt had it for years. Weve been fortunate to get the amount of aid weve had in the past, but the Legislature has some tough decisions that are right for the state. Education funding reform is crucial for the states large and mid-size cities, as are union concessions for future pension reforms, Senate Majority Bob Duff, D-Norwalk, said. All those things are extremely important for us, Duff said as the House chamber emptied. Its an important signal to the business community to reduce that debt and to continue to deal with the state budget. Full GOP participation House Minority Leader Themis Klarides, R-Derby said that with recent gains in both chambers, comes the responsibility to cooperatively craft a new budget. There has been a huge disparity in Connecticut between the cities and the suburbs, she told reporters. I certainly dont have a magic wand. I think were all open minded to see where its going to go. Malloys speech has finally opened the door for full GOP participation after 20 years as a minority, Republican Senate Leader Len Fasano said This is the first time Gov. Malloy has said all issues are on the table, Fasano said. Were talking about a clean slate, with no sacred cows. The Senate is tied at 17 Democrats and 17 Republicans, pending two upcoming special elections, while House Democrats cling to a 78-72 edge, pending one special election to fill the seat of Rep. Stephen Dargan, D-West Haven, who on the eve of the session accepted a post on the state Board of Pardons and Paroles. Feeling their new muscle, following Malloys speech, House Republicans proposed a rule change that would have drastically rewritten the way public-employee contracts are approved. It failed in a partisan 76-72 vote, underscoring the Houses tight margin. Earlier, the Senate approved a rule that contracts could be introduced for votes in that chamber. Currently, contracts merely have to stay on the legislative calendars for 30 days and they automatically go into effect, without a vote. Across the divide During an otherwise friendly and ceremonious opening day, a glaring split between Democrats and Republicans occurred toward the end of Malloys speech, when he pointed out the states welcoming reputation. Regardless of whether your family settled in Connecticut 300 years ago or three days ago, you are welcome here, Malloy said. Two Democratic lawmakers, Sen. Beth Bye of West Hartford and Sen. Mae Flexer, of Killingly, both stood up in applause, followed by the entire Democratic side of the House chamber in the loudest ovation of the address. Republicans sat on their hands. kdixon@ctpost.com; WESTPORT The National Audubon Society places Great Meadows Marsh in eastern Fairfield County among the best birding sites in the country labeling it a globally important bird area. Only 12 miles to the west along the gold coast in Westport there is another great place for birds - and people, at 12 Hedley Farms Road. This address is located on a parcel of land only about a block from Long Island Sound and walking distance to Southport Beach in neighboring Fairfield. The property itself has an off white-colored stucco contemporary house that sits along Ardel Pond, which attracts incredible birds - particularly in the summer season. The surrounding property is conservation land protected under the auspices of Connecticut Audubon Society, the oldest, continuously operating conservation organization in Connecticut. Although Long Island Sound is close it is not in view from the 11-room house, although the pond can be seen from almost every room. Tall walls of glass in many of the rooms allow for pond and bird views while visually inviting the outdoors inside. While most birders have to travel to enjoy their bird-watching hobby the residents of this house can do it from the comfort of their living room sofa or the patios or balconies throughout the house. At any given moment they can find blue herons and egrets standing majestically in the sun or on the hunt for fish in the pond. As one might imagine the number of windows and their size also invite inside a great deal of natural light, which is ideal for artists as the current owner is. More Information ABOUT THIS HOUSE STYLE: Contemporary ADDRESS: 12 Hedley Farms Road PRICE: $2,495,000 ROOMS: 11 FEATURES: pond, pond views, located at the end of a cul-de-sac, walk to Southport Beach, located on a private road, Gunite heated in-ground swimming pool, 2.01-acre level and partially fenced property, bluestone patio, balconies, decks, proximity to Greens Farms Metro North train stations, only minutes to shopping in Westport and Fairfield, front and rear staircases, skylights, two fireplaces, loft, steam sauna, two-car attached garage, four bedrooms, four full and one half baths SCHOOLS: Greens Farms Elementary, Bedford Middle, Staples High School ASSESSMENT: $1,377,300 MILL RATE: 16.86 mills TAXES: $23,221 See More Collapse The two-acre property is at the end of a cul-de-sac on a private road in the Greens Farms neighborhood so it feels quite secluded despite its proximity to stores, restaurants and the Greens Farms and Southport train stations in both Westport and Fairfield. The 4,664-square-foot house boasts a dramatic two and a half story foyer. The floor plan is open for todays lifestyle. Off the foyer are two separate wings of the house. One contains a half bath, a circular staircase to the second floor, laundry room, and access to the two-car attached garage. The other side contains the two-story living room, kitchen, dining room, and sitting room. Step down into the living room, which has a fireplace, wall-to-wall carpeting, and two walls of tall windows topped with another set of wide square windows on the second floor level. The den or sitting room next to it has a shelf for books, displays of art work or media equipment. It also has sliding doors to a concrete patio. From there step down to another patio where there is a Gunite heated in-ground swimming pool. The upper patio just off the den has a cabana room with a full bath and plenty of room for storage of pool equipment. The dining room has a bleached hardwood floor and sliding doors to a wood deck. The kitchen features include a white ceramic tile floor, Corian counters, a large center island with a Gaggenau cook top, and double stainless sinks. Floating cabinets separate the prep part of the kitchen from a breakfast room, which has a rounded wall of glass cubes and an L-shaped banquette. A dry bar sits between the den and breakfast room. There is also a first floor master bedroom suite with wall-to-wall carpeting, floor-to-ceiling windows, tons of closets, and a dressing area. The cavernous master bath has coral-colored marble floors, shower stall, steam sauna, and a rounded alcove of rectangular glass cubes that houses a sunken soaking tub. A skylight above the tub floods this area with natural light. On the second floor there are two loft areas. The first is a large room that could be a family or media room. It has a vaulted ceiling, fireplace, a wall of built-in bookshelves and a sliding door to a private wood deck/balcony. The second loft area looks down into the living room. It also has a long wall of built-in bookshelves that the family calls their library. This level also has three bedrooms and a large art studio with two skylights, two built-in desk areas, counter space, and shelving. In this area and throughout the house there are lots of nooks and crannies and lots of storage closets and spaces. Two of the bedrooms share a Jack and Jill-style bath and both have sliding doors to a shared balcony looking over the pond. For more information or to make an appointment to see the house contact Merrily Eisnitz of Berkshire Hathaway Home Services New England Properties at 203-912-7312 or meisnitz@bhhsne.com. To start the new year, lets highlight the news from a couple busy chamber committees in this weeks column. The Legislative Committee of the Columbus Area Chamber of Commerce will hit the ground running in 2017. The committee will continue its tradition of hosting receptions for the Platte County Board of Supervisors and the Columbus City Council. These informal events are a thank you for the service of these elected leaders. The committee will visit the city council on Jan. 16 at 5:30 p.m. and the county board on Jan. 24 at 8:30 a.m. All chamber members are welcome to attend both events. The Legislative Committee also hosts the annual Legislative Kick-off Breakfast with State Sen. Paul Schumacher on Jan. 16 at 7 a.m. at the chamber office. These events give us insight into the hot news from this years legislative session. We will also have the chance to share our legislative priorities with Sen. Schumacher, and that includes the opportunity for members to share their individual concerns. All chamber members are welcome to attend this event. A breakfast is served for $5. RSVPs to the chamber office are appreciated. You can register at 402-564-2769, chamber@megavision.com or online at www.thecolumbuspage.com/events. Meanwhile, the BIE Committee continues its work in overseeing the Drive for Five, still the only comprehensive talent initiative in the state. The most recent project of the Drive for Five was College Week for the Columbus Public Schools. College is an important part of getting the job and income you want, but no college is a one-size-fits-all institution. That is what fourth- and fifth-grade students at West Park, North Park and Emerson elementary schools learned during their College Week experience. Finding the right fit includes considering price, location, degree or certificate desired, class size, how soon you want to begin working, how much money you hope to earn, and many other important considerations. Activities during college week included a kickoff pep rally, classroom activities throughout the week to help with developing a college and career plan, a college campus tour, visits with college recruiters, Q&A with current and past college students, and a graduation ceremony declaring the students officially college-bound. Judging by the attendance at graduation, the students had great support from parents and grand-parents during this activity. Students at Lakeview Community Schools will get their turn to experience College Week in January. The chamber thanks those who helped make College Week a success. Those partners include the Columbus Public Schools Foundation, Columbus United Federal Credit Union, Easy Screen Printing, Central Community College, Raider Rex, the Columbus business community, Nebraska colleges and universities, Columbus High School drum line and the Nebraska Extension 4-H Youth Development Program. College Week is one of the projects of the Drive for Fives School-Business Partnership. The partnership brings together Columbus Public Schools and Lakeview Community Schools with the local business community to provide awesome opportunities for our students. The Columbus Area Chamber of Commerce is proud of the partnerships we enjoy with all local educational institutions, public and private. Im very confident in saying these connections are enhancing learning for local students while at the same time building that future talent pipeline. It doesnt get much better than that. On the first day of the new Congress, Rep. Jeff Fortenberry turned an eye to the possibilities of tax and health care reform along with an infrastructure program that offers the potential for bipartisan cooperation. But Fortenberry also has an eye cast on a special concern of his, the dangerous spread of nuclear weapons and increasingly loose talk about nuclear arms that should also be "a grievous concern not just for Americans, but for humanity." Fortenberry, who is entering his seventh term as Nebraska's 1st District congressman, is co-founder of the Congressional Nuclear Security Caucus. His deep concern about nuclear weapons has been heightened by evidence that "the danger is going up significantly." "The consequences of a nuclear weapons explosion are so grave that you can't get your arms around it," he said. "This is a race between collaboration and catastrophe. "It remains one of my priorities." Fortenberry said he agreed with the decision by House Republicans on Tuesday to walk back earlier action in the GOP caucus to weaken an ethics office that had been created to serve as an independent congressional watchdog. While he voted in support of the original action by the caucus on Monday, he said, he had mixed feelings about it and believes any action should be considered in a bipartisan way. While arguing that "people deserve the highest ethical behavior" by members of Congress, Fortenberry said he has concerns about the manner in which the watchdog body is structured now. As Congress begins the new year, Republicans control both the House and the Senate and later this month will also have the White House in their hands. "Movement to change the nature of the current health care law will be the first thing," Fortenberry said, but a vote to repeal Obamacare will only mark "a movement to change the nature of the current health care law" with full replacement lying years ahead. "We can't leave anybody out and behind," he said. "We're not going back to excluding people with pre-existing conditions. We're looking at a vision of what could be: access to affordable, quality, major medical insurance for everyone." A major infrastructure program, heralded by President-elect Donald Trump, "could be a good win for Republicans and Democrats," Fortenberry said, with the potential to achieve "a politically good economic impact" for the nation. Tax reform can create a more fair and robust economic system, he said, but "whether short-term, bipartisan agreement is possible is a harder question." Fortenberry said he proposed an amendment during the meeting of the Republican caucus that stated a House-Senate conference committee could not change a legislative provision that already had been agreed to by both the House and Senate, but withdrew it when it encountered leadership opposition. "This is the last vestige in an inappropriate concentration of power," the congressman said. "It was my shot to change the institution" in a manner that empowers members, he said. 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. WAVERLY Tractor Supply Co. is planning a big expansion to its distribution center in Waverly. The Waverly City Council last month approved plans for a large addition to the company's distribution center along U.S. 6 as well as a new retail store directly north of the distribution center. Tractor Supply declined to provide details on the plans, saying in a statement that it is "continuing to conduct due diligence on the project and is still in the initial planning stages." Tom Huston, a Lincoln attorney who represented Tractor Supply at the Waverly City Council meeting, said the company is planning to add anywhere from 170,000 to 200,000 square feet to its 420,000-square-foot distribution center, which is one of the company's smallest. The retail store would be about 30,000 square feet and be similar to the company's store on North 27th Street near the Interstate 80 exit in Lincoln. It would be built along U.S. 6. The two projects combined would cost about $16 million, and the distribution center expansion will create 70 new jobs. Huston said the center currently employs about 200 people. He said the company wants to start construction on the warehouse expansion this spring and have it completed before the end of the year. The retail store would be built after that. Waverly has approved the use of about $1.8 million in tax-increment funding for the project. TIF is a funding incentive that allows the additional property taxes created by the increased value of the property to pay for aspects of the project that benefit the public. When Tractor Supply opened the center in December 2005, it supplied around 60 stores, with the company projecting it eventually would serve 140 stores. A company official told the Waverly City Council that the center now supplies 180 stores, and the expansion would allow it to supply about 50 more. Tractor Supply currently has about 1,600 stores, including two in Lincoln and a dozen overall in Nebraska, and plans to grow to 2,500. WHITECLAY -- Consider the consequences of this simple math: Seven cans of beer are purchased every minute of every hour of every day in Whiteclay. Perched on the northern edge of Sheridan County, the unincorporated town of a dozen residents is home to four beer stores that collectively sold the equivalent of 3.5 million cans of beer in 2015 almost all of it to Native Americans from the Pine Ridge Reservation, which hugs the state border on the South Dakota side. The Whiteclay beer store owners, brewers, beer distributors, bootleggers, the state of Nebraska and the federal government all profit from beer sold in the town. But each pop of a tab comes with costs that far exceed the money made from the simple sales transaction. They include: costs to law enforcement handling violence and drunkenness in the town and on the reservation, costs to health care providers treating alcohol-related injuries and illnesses, including an epidemic of babies born with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders, costs to county, state and federal governments caring for unemployed alcoholics and their dependents, and costs to natives of the Pine Ridge Reservation in lost lives and broken families. No one not the federal government, not the states of Nebraska or South Dakota, not local or national news organizations has tallied up all of the costs. But months of research into data from tribal, county, state and federal sources make it evident the total is in the tens of millions of dollars annually. While the costs may be murky, one thing is crystal clear: Who picks up the tab. It all comes from taxpayers, said Matt Walz, a founding member of the South Dakota Alcohol Policy Alliance. No matter which way you slice it. But those are just the costs in dollars and cents. For the Lakota of the legally dry Pine Ridge Reservation, the bill is paid in pain and suffering. Its in every single one of our families, said 40-year-old Olowan Martinez, a longtime Whiteclay activist and Pine Ridge resident. No matter how educated, no matter how nice our homes and how good we live. We could be some of the haves, of have-nots, and still be affected by it. * * * At the end of a long day in October, Sheridan County Sheriff Terry Robbins points his new white Ford F150 north toward Whiteclay. At just a tick under the speed limit, the 22-mile journey up Nebraska 87 from Rushville takes about 25 minutes. He wears a standard-issue brown shirt and sandy-colored pants accessorized with a big silver belt buckle. His cream-colored cowboy hat rests on the dash. Robbins says he usually travels to Whiteclay a couple of times each week the town accounts for about 5 percent of his departments calls and he spends no more than a few hours there total. Most of the problems go unattended, Robbins says, because no one is monitoring the town 24/7. Just before Robbins arrives at Whiteclays short, dusty main street, he turns onto a gravel road. There, in a grassy ditch under the shade of a tree, sit two Lakota men. One hides his beer behind his back; the other pulls down an open can of Camo Black Ice from his mouth. Is that open? the sheriff asks. Ill spill it out, the man replies. He tips the can upside down, and watches as 24 ounces of high-octane malt liquor splash onto the gravel road. Its easy to get drunk on a few bucks in Whiteclay, where beer is cheaper than water. Most of the Lakota drink big cans of high gravity malt liquors, such as Hurricane and Camo Black Ice. For about $1.50, each 24-ounce can delivers the equivalent of a six pack of beer or four shots of whiskey. Thats about 38 cents a shot. Of that $1.50, about a quarter is taken out for taxes. The state of Nebraska receives 7 cents in sales tax and 6 cents in excise tax, which is paid on products such as alcohol and gasoline. The federal government receives 11 cents. That leaves $1.26 for the brewers, distributors and the four Whiteclay beer store owners. The breakdown of who gets what isnt publicly available. But $2,142,000 what you get when you collect $1.26 for each of the 1.7 million 24-ounce cans sold in 2015 is a lot of money to divvy up. Asked to discuss the situation in Whiteclay, three of the beer store owners declined to comment on the record. The fourth owner could not be reached. As for the taxes, the federal government received $192,221 in 2015 and the state of Nebraska $102,739. All of the states money goes into the general fund. South Dakota, where nearly all Whiteclay beer is consumed, doesnt see a penny in tax receipts. Instead, every can consumed by South Dakota residents costs their state $1.59, according to a 2015 report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Based on a standard-size alcoholic drink, like a shot of whiskey or a 12-ounce beer, the CDC number takes into account all costs attributable to excessive drinking, including those in the health care, law enforcement and criminal justice systems as well as the cost of reduced workplace productivity. But $1.59 is an average cost to South Dakota for each alcoholic beverage consumed in the state. Whiteclay alcohol is likely to carry an even higher price tag; at 24 ounces, cans of Hurricane and Camo Black Ice are twice the size of a standard beer and four times the alcohol content. Back in Whiteclay, Robbins pulls up next to a man lying on the ground, just yards away from the highway. The sheriff steps out of the truck, walks over and helps him sit up. Get up, Robbins says. I will, the man replies as he sits up and slouches against a fence, his eyelids stuck in a drunken droop. Are you drunk, or are you just chillin? The man mumbles something inaudible. What have you been drinking? Beer? the sheriff asks. Just Kool-Aid. The sheriff makes sure the man stays sitting up before driving away. Theres not a lot he can do to help. Taking a drunk home is rarely an option the reservation is about the size of Delaware and Rhode Island combined. Plus, theres not an easily accessible detox. From Whiteclay, the nearest one is 37 miles away in Gordon. The reservation does have an eight-bed detox but theres a year-long wait. The sheriffs realistic options are to take a Whiteclay drunk to the county jail in Rushville or to the Pine Ridge Hospital just a few miles down the road. But the hospital has no detox unit or the money to pay for one. Still, it often bears the brunt of the cost of dealing with the problems related to Whiteclay alcohol. Robbins said he takes street people to the hospital at least once each week. In 2015, the hospital handled 152 ambulance calls to the tiny town. With the nearest Nebraska hospital in Gordon, the Pine Ridge ambulance is often the sole responder to a Whiteclay call. As for the jail, Robbins said he doesnt like to burden the Sheridan County taxpayers with the cost of detaining Whiteclay street people. County Commissioner James Krotz has said a third of the Sheridan County budget goes to Whiteclay. When asked further to explain that number, he said it was roughly attributed to an 8-year-old study on the county jail, which found a third of the people detained in Rushville had Pine Ridge addresses. At an Oct. 11 hearing at the Nebraska State Capitol, Sheridan County Commissioner Jack Andersen succinctly summarized the countys Whiteclay problem: We really need help with law enforcement. But Paul Thibeault, a lawyer at Legal Aid of Nebraska, said his research has found Sheridan County actually has minimal involvement in Whiteclay. The truth is that they ignore Whiteclay, and they minimize their expenses to Whiteclay, he said. Without any compensation, without any agreement, they transfer the burden to the reservation. Four hundred yards north of Whiteclay is the reservations law enforcement counterpart to Sheridan County. The Oglala Sioux Tribe Department of Public Safety is on the frontline of Whiteclay troubles. Interim Police Chief Mark Mesteth says Whiteclay, a town just barely out of his departments jurisdiction, is responsible for 80 percent of his calls. That makes Mesteth a busy man. In October, the only place he could meet to talk about Whiteclay was a reservation jail in the small town of Kyle, South Dakota, where he was meeting federal investigators to discuss a drug-related killing outside a reservation youth complex. He only had 10 minutes for an interview that had been scheduled to take place six hours earlier and 34 miles away. Appointed interim chief in July, Mesteth inherited an understaffed and overworked department. As of October, he had only 26 officers to police a population of 32,152 spread over 3,469 square miles. By comparison, Rapid City, South Dakota, just north of Pine Ridge, has a force of 125 officers and a population of 70,812. Thats one officer for every 566 people. On the reservation, its one officer for every 1,237 people. Mesteth said his department struggles to keep up with the Whiteclay problems. Hed like more officers. In fact, he has the money to hire another 18. Applications are scarce, however, and the department has a high turnover rate because its a burnout job. He said there needs to be a solution to the deluge of Whiteclay-related calls, such as shutting down the towns beer stores or legalizing alcohol on the reservation. We could be cops instead of chasing drunks, he said. * * * The frontline of Whiteclay first responders stretches along U.S. 18 from the reservations police headquarters to the Pine Ridge Hospital 3 miles away. Rainey Enjady, CEO of the hospital, echoed Mesteths assessment. Alcohol, she said, is a huge expense one the hospital cant afford. Like Mesteth, Enjady is an interim appointment, arriving from New Mexico at the beginning of September. She directs the reservations only hospital and its $51.8 million annual budget. In 2015, just $4 million of that budget was supplied by payments from private insurance. The rest came from the government: $502,000 from Veterans Affairs, $22 million from Medicaid, $5.1 million from Medicare and an estimated $20 million from Indian Health Services, also a federally funded organization. That means only about 8 percent of the budget is privately funded. While its easy to say where the money comes from, its difficult to pin down how the hospital spends it. Enjady was uncertain about alcohol-related expenses. She said the hospital tracks the number of alcohol-related illnesses, but she couldnt find it. Lack of numbers notwithstanding, Enjady said the cost of alcohol is a big one. Alcohol-related items that we see are very expensive and contribute to a lot of our deficit, she said. Other high-ups on the reservation also couldnt quantify the impact. According to Cleve Her Many Horses, superintendent of the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Pine Ridge, no one tracks alcohol consumption or alcoholism on the reservation. Alcohol plays a role in a variety of diseases. Well known are cirrhosis of the liver and eight types of cancer, including liver and breast cancers. Assigning a specific cost to the role of alcohol in some diseases can be problematic. But theres one disease in which alcohols cost can be clearly assigned: Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD). FASD is not widely known to the general public, but it has occurred at epidemic proportions on the Pine Ridge Reservation. At one point, The New York Times reported, as many as one in four babies on the reservation was born with FASD. Drinking alcohol while pregnant causes FASD. Its effects vary according to when during the pregnancy the alcohol was consumed and how much was consumed. Mild effects can be as simple as learning disabilities, such as having difficulty focusing. More severe effects include abnormal organ development most lethally of the heart seizures, brain damage and relatively low IQs. In the most severe cases, the fetus doesnt survive. FASD carries a high price. The disorder costs the federal government about $4 billion annually, according to the CDC, and caring for a child with FASD costs $2 million over a lifetime. Thats the average, though. In a double-wide trailer 40 miles west of Rapid City, Nora and Randy Boesem raise and care for nine adopted children. Each has some form of FASD. By age 3, their daughter, Arianna, had required surgeries, medications and hospitalizations costing more than $3 million. To meet the familys needs, Nora said, the local pharmacy had to hire someone specifically to fill their medications. The Boesems couldnt begin to afford these astronomical health care costs. So, the state of South Dakota, through its Medicaid program, picks up the tab. Frank LaMere, a member of the Winnebago Tribe and long-time campaigner for change in Whiteclay, said alcohol sold there is a tragedy because of what it does to babies and future generations. We continue to export the misery of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome north to Pine Ridge, he said, while sending revenue and tax dollars south to Nebraska. The carnage, he said, must be stopped. * * * Sitting at a small table in Big Bats, the gas station and convenience store hub of reservation activity in the town of Pine Ridge, Bryan Brewer says, Hi, to all the regulars walking by. The current school board president and former tribal president, Brewer is well-known on the reservation. Nursing his coffee, he recounts the first time he watched TV. It was in a bar in Whiteclay. He and other kids sat at the bar, watching the Ed Sullivan Show on a tiny screen, while their parents drank. Brewer knows the cost of alcohol to his people far exceeds dollars-and-cents accounting. Hes heard the news of a teenage girl dying from cirrhosis of the liver and a 6-year-old boy attempting suicide. And hes paid the price himself. Brewer picked up his parents drinking habit as a teenager. Then he went to Vietnam, and his drinking worsened. When he returned from the war, he and other vets spent much of their time in Whiteclay. We were the abusers, he says today. We were in Whiteclay in the bars fighting each other, abusing women, our wives. But he realized he had to change. So, he started attending Black Hills State University and quit drinking. He taught high schoolers on the reservation for 30 years, became tribal president and now sits as the head of the Oglala Lakota County School Board. The reservation, he says, needs a lot of healing. The biggest cost is to our children and the adults that were losing because of alcoholism. But for Brewer alcoholism is a symptom of the bigger problem on the reservation generational poverty. Brewer remembers an 18-year-old who walked into his office when he was tribal president and asked for a job. The teenager said he didnt know how to get one. His parents never had a job; his grandparents never had a job. But he wanted his life to be different. Fifty-five percent of Pine Ridge residents are unemployed, according to 2015 census data and the 2013 American Indian Population and Labor Force Report. The reservation has a few thriving businesses, like the Prairie Wind Casino & Hotel and Big Bats. Otherwise, reservation businesses are few and far between. Theres not even a place to buy a coat. As board president, Brewer says hes seen too many kids walk into school without winter coats. And too many parents, he says, spend what little money they have on alcohol. So, each year, Brewer budgets money to buy coats for the kids. On the reservation, coatless children too often end up as tragic victims of suicide and drunk-driving accidents. Adults dont fare much better. Most people on the reservation do not live to retirement age. According to hospital data, the life expectancy for men on the Pine Ridge Reservation is 47 the lowest in the world. For women, it is 55 the seventh lowest in the world. It is not an exaggeration, Frank LaMere said, to say tens of thousands have died in Pine Ridge because of alcohol attributed to Whiteclay. Over the years, Brewer has tried to work with the state of Nebraska to resolve the problems the village of 12 has caused his people. He remembers one such attempt in particular. While tribal president, Brewer had arranged a meeting with then-Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman. He walked into the governors office, hoping to get a minute to talk about Whiteclay. The meeting was short. The governor told me that, Whiteclay is your problem; its not mine. Meeting ended. It was not good, Brewer recalls. I never went back. As for the meeting, Brewer and Heineman agreed on one thing it was short. The former governor had a different take. Heineman said he told Brewer, that as tribal president, he should educate his people on alcohol and alcoholism. I felt like that was a responsibility for him as a leader to help educate Native Americans about that. And he just didnt want to talk about that, said Heineman, who received $47,500 in campaign contributions from 2005 to 2012 from Anheuser-Busch Companies LLC one of the brewers of Whiteclay malt liquor. So, after all these years and all these efforts, what would Brewer do about Whiteclay? He says closing the beer stores wouldnt resolve all of the problems the town has caused the reservation. And it isnt the only answer to pulling Pine Ridge out of poverty. But shutting down that evil place, he says, would be a good start. We dont go sell meth in Nebraska or anything that would hurt your people, Brewer says. Why would you do it to us? Recovering from a heavy cold the Queen has been trying homeopathic cures, sampling her own blends of potions and lotions. Even an injured corgi has received the Queens personal treatment. While accepting advice from her conventional doctors HM has been indulging in the fad she has passed on to her son Prince Charles after inheriting it from her late mother and long-time patron of the British Homeopathic Association. Prince Philip, struck down on the same day, prefers more traditional medicine and has made a much quicker recovery despite being five years older than the Queen. Recovering from a heavy cold the Queen has reportedly been trying homeopathic cures When Sir Cliff Richard fulfils his pledge to reunite with original band The Shadows he wont be boasting about his canoodling with Carol Costa, wife of bassist Jet Harris who died in 2011 aged 71. I pretty much knew something was going on between him and my wife, Jet said in 2008. But I went on stage every night there and stood behind the man... I just kept schtum. Ooooh Cliff, whod have thought it! Delightfully dotty Speakers wife Sally Bercow is hoping to reinvent herself as a novelist Delightfully dotty Speakers wife Sally Bercow is hoping to reinvent herself as a novelist. Sally, 47 obliged to maintain a low profile after a series of embarrassments including swapping life-styles with an Irish gipsy and an affair with husband John Bercows cousin in 2015 is currently hawking a political thriller about the London publishing houses. One says: Writing fiction doesnt appear to be among Sallys strengths. Surely the real-life antics of Saucy Sally, pictured on Celebrity Big Brother, put any fictional effort in the shade! Former Lib Dem MP and ex-Cheeky Girl consort Lembit Opik, 51, was surprisingly chosen to be guest of honour at a UKIP New Years Eve bash in Sunderland. Having seemingly burned bridges with his old party, could 2017 see UKIP boasting a new high-profile recruit? Surely no one could suggest Lembit and the partys new comedic-looking leader Paul Nuttall, 40, are lookalikes. Presenter Emma Forbes, 51, was photographed in Barbados looking better in a swimsuit than women half her age Presenter Emma Forbes, 51, photographed in Barbados looking better in a swimsuit than women half her age, should credit her gorgeous mother Nanette Newman, now 82 and wife of her dad, Bryan Forbes. One of Nanettes admirers was Peter Sellers, who told his pal Forbes he was besotted with his spouse and intended to make a new life with her. When Forbes calmly enquired: What does Nanette think? Sellers innocently replied: She doesnt know. I thought Id tell you first. Already struggling to stick to those ambitiously worthy New Year resolutions? Here's six surprising and realistic sex resolutions to take the pressure off and revitalise your sex life - all backed up by research. And surprisingly, setting a sex schedule and sticking to it instead of waiting until you feel 'in the mood' could be the key to boosting your love life. Scroll down for video Tracey Cox gives her tips on improving your sex life in the new year and she recommends planning sex sessions with your partner Have less spontaneous sex Yes, you read it correctly! Instead of waiting to feel magically turned on enough to rip each other's clothes off (easy at the start, not so realistic a few years in), plan sex sessions. A UK study found married couples who had at least one date night per month were less likely to break up. And US sex therapist Ian Kerner is backed by many prominent sexologists who believes planned sex means better sex. 'You have to stop saying "we'll definitely do it tomorrow, but let's just cuddle as a symbol of our undying affection for each other tonight" and start scheduling sex on your calendar. It's the only way you'll ever get back into doing it regularly,' says Kerner. She also says that there is no need to worry about getting old in your relationship as sex can improve with age Yes it goes against all you ever thought about sex - that it should happen spontaneously - but how far has that got you, really? Think of it like this: if you wanted a dinner party to be extra special, would you plan ahead or just see what's in the fridge on the night? You'd plan it, of course. Beans-on-toast style sex is fine but it's not going to thrill you if that's all you're having day in, day out, week in, week out, year in... Once a week is enough A significant 2016 study found couples who had sex more than once a week were no happier than couples who did it weekly. Once a week appears to be the magic number for long-term sexual happiness with new evidence (from a university in Qatar) suggesting too much sex can actually make you miserable, leading to a decrease in desire and enjoyment. Five minutes is fine An Australian study that looked at how long penetrative sex actually lasts with most heterosexual couples came up with this answer: 5.4 minutes. The results ranged from 33 seconds to 44 minutes but that was the average time for intercourse, across couples of all ages and stages. Sex sessions don't have to last a long time to qualify as good, satisfying sex. Don't worry about getting old A Canadian study found older adults (40 plus) are having more sex and better sex than they had when younger. Older couples are getting more creative and adventurous with more than half surveyed saying they are more up to trying new things now than they were a decade earlier. Have an orgasm any way you fancy We're moving away from research that firmly implied there is only one way for women to orgasm through direct stimulation of the tip of the clitoris (the part you can see). Tracey says that it is important to remember that sex lives take hard work and effort Researchers (in Montreal) found orgasm can actually be caused by stimulation of several hot zones in the body: the external clitoral gland (as above), the internal clitoral bulbs (concentrated around the G-spot), the cervix and non-genital areas like the nipples. The age-old argument of 'clitoral versus vaginal' orgasm appears irrelevant since women seem capable of having orgasms by stimulation of everything from their lips and nipples to ears and neck. Everyone else ISN'T having fantastic, effortless sex ten years in A study of 1900 people (in Canada) found those in long-term relationships who were the most satisfied with their sex lives were those that accepted it takes hard work and effort. The least satisfied? People who thought if their partner was 'truly right' for them, good sex would automatically happen. Have to say, I was personally particularly pleased with this result. When I wrote my first book in 1998 (Hot Sex: How to Do it), I had more than a few people tell me sex books weren't necessary: we were somehow born great lovers and all you needed was the right partner. Don't me wrong, the right partner helps enormously! But you need to keep trying new things, honing new skills and continually seeking inspiration to keep it all ticking along nicely long-term. It's the 1843 Danish fairy tale which is applicable to so many people. A homely little bird - the ugly duckling - transforms almost overnight into a preternaturally beautiful swan. Here, FEMAIL takes a look at some of the most incredulous before and after transformations shared on the Internet. It's hard to even tell that they're the same people. Resonating: Pictures shared on the Internet show incredible before and after transformations of people from ugly ducklings to swans (pictured) Viral: Many of the snaps shared online have gone viral on social media and forums like Reddit (pictured left, before, and right, after) One transformation captures a man at age 17 in university and then again at age 25. In the first photograph, his hair is longer, he's wearing glasses and appears to be carrying a bit more weight. In the second photo, however, the man stares nonchalantly at the camera, his evident muscles visible through his T-shirt. Another before and after captures a woman's movement from goofy to glamorous. Many of the photos have been widely shared on the Internet. Same person? One transformation shared online captures a man at age 17 in university and then again at age 25 (pictured) Not alone: It's not only normal people who have admitted to suffering from Ugly Duckling Syndrome (pictured: Victoria Beckham as a child) Insecure: The former Spice Girl famously wrote an emotional letter to her 'plump' teenage self last year, telling her not to worry about her looks (pictured now) It's not just normal people who have struggled with Ugly Duckling Syndrome (UDS), either. Countless celebrities have admitted they felt as though they had to grow into their looks, too. Famously, Victoria Beckham wrote an emotional letter to her 'plump' teenage self last year, telling her not to worry about her looks. These days, the former Spice Girl is now one of the most glamorous, envied women in the world. Origins: The Ugly Duckling was originally written in Denmark in 1843 as a fairy tale (pictured Kate Hudson as a child and now) Story: In the original fairy tale, a homely little bird - the ugly duckling - transforms almost overnight into a preternaturally beautiful swan (pictured: one woman's before and after) Spot the difference: With some of the pictures on Reddit (pictured) people no longer look like the same person Fellow friends: Others who have suffered from UDS include January Jones (pictured), and Nicole Scherzinger, who described herself as a 'geek in high school' Others who have suffered from UDS include Nicole Scherzinger, who described herself as a 'geek in high school', January Jones and Kate Hudson. Meanwhile, there are ongoing Reddit threads and social media groups dedicated to the subject and our endless fascination with it. Turns out you weren't the only one after all. 1. U.S. acceptance of coexistence as the only alternative to atomic war. 2. U.S. willingness to capitulate in preference to engaging in atomic war. 3. Develop the illusion that total disarmament of the United States would be a demonstration of moral strength. 4. Permit free trade between all nations regardless of Communist affiliation and regardless of whether or not items could be used for war. 5. Extension of long-term loans to Russia and Soviet satellites. 6. Provide American aid to all nations regardless of Communist domination. 7. Grant recognition of Red China. Admission of Red China to the U.N. 8. Set up East and West Germany as separate states in spite of Khrushchev's promise in 1955 to settle the German question by free elections under supervision of the U.N. 9. Prolong the conferences to ban atomic tests because the United States has agreed to suspend tests as long as negotiations are in progress. 10. Allow all Soviet satellites individual representation in the U.N. 11. Promote the U.N. as the only hope for mankind. If its charter is rewritten, demand that it be set up as a one-world government with its own independent armed forces. (Some Communist leaders believe the world can be taken over as easily by the U.N. as by Moscow. Sometimes these two centers compete with each other as they are now doing in the Congo.) 12. Resist any attempt to outlaw the Communist Party. 13. Do away with all loyalty oaths. 14. Continue giving Russia access to the U.S. Patent Office. 15. Capture one or both of the political parties in the United States. 16. Use technical decisions of the courts to weaken basic American institutions by claiming their activities violate civil rights. 17. Get control of the schools. Use them as transmission belts for socialism and current Communist propaganda. Soften the curriculum. Get control of teachers' associations. Put the party line in textbooks. 18. Gain control of all student newspapers. 19. Use student riots to foment public protests against programs or organizations which are under Communist attack. 20. Infiltrate the press. Get control of book-review assignments, editorial writing, policymaking positions. 21. Gain control of key positions in radio, TV, and motion pictures. 22. Continue discrediting American culture by degrading all forms of artistic expression. An American Communist cell was told to "eliminate all good sculpture from parks and buildings, substitute shapeless, awkward and meaningless forms." 23. Control art critics and directors of art museums. "Our plan is to promote ugliness, repulsive, meaningless art." 24. Eliminate all laws governing obscenity by calling them "censorship" and a violation of free speech and free press. 25. Break down cultural standards of morality by promoting pornography and obscenity in books, magazines, motion pictures, radio, and TV. 26. Present homosexuality, degeneracy and promiscuity as "normal, natural, healthy." 27. Infiltrate the churches and replace revealed religion with "social" religion. Discredit the Bible and emphasize the need for intellectual maturity which does not need a "religious crutch." 28. Eliminate prayer or any phase of religious expression in the schools on the ground that it violates the principle of "separation of church and state." 29. Discredit the American Constitution by calling it inadequate, old-fashioned, out of step with modern needs, a hindrance to cooperation between nations on a worldwide basis. 30. Discredit the American Founding Fathers. Present them as selfish aristocrats who had no concern for the "common man." 31. Belittle all forms of American culture and discourage the teaching of American history on the ground that it was only a minor part of the "big picture." Give more emphasis to Russian history since the Communists took over. 32. Support any socialist movement to give centralized control over any part of the culture--education, social agencies, welfare programs, mental health clinics, etc. 33. Eliminate all laws or procedures which interfere with the operation of the Communist apparatus. 34. Eliminate the House Committee on Un-American Activities. 35. Discredit and eventually dismantle the FBI. 36. Infiltrate and gain control of more unions. 37. Infiltrate and gain control of big business. 38. Transfer some of the powers of arrest from the police to social agencies. Treat all behavioral problems as psychiatric disorders which no one but psychiatrists can understand. 39. Dominate the psychiatric profession and use mental health laws as a means of gaining coercive control over those who oppose Communist goals. 40. Discredit the family as an institution. Encourage promiscuity and easy divorce. 41. Emphasize the need to raise children away from the negative influence of parents. Attribute prejudices, mental blocks and retarding of children to suppressive influence of parents. 42. Create the impression that violence and insurrection are legitimate aspects of the American tradition; that students and special-interest groups should rise up and use united force to solve economic, political or social problems. 43. Overthrow all colonial governments before native populations are ready for self-government. 44. Internationalize the Panama Canal. 45. Repeal the Connally reservation so the United States cannot prevent the World Court from seizing jurisdiction over nations and individuals alike. One spent 27 years living on a desert island encountering cannibals and pirates along the way, while the other spent three hours on a beach before falling ill and being attended to by a private doctor. They may have a similar first name but the parallels between Daniel Defoe's 17th century castaway Robinson Crusoe and ITV star Robson Green pretty much end there, it seems. Robson Crusoe: A Surprising Adventure, aired last night and was billed as an hour-long programme dedicated to seeing how Green, 52, would survive stranded on a faraway isle, inspired by his favourite book. Scroll down for video Robson Green heads for his Phillipines island idyll in last night's Robson Crusoe: A Surprising Adventure...but viewers weren't entirely convinced the ITV star was roughing it Taking inspiration from Daniel Defoe's novel Robinson Crusoe, Green attempted to survive as a castaway, albeit with one that had a tent, cooking equipment and a personal doctor at his disposal He's having a laugh! Viewers ribbed the star on Twitter for his lavish approach to island life However, viewers tuning in to the show quickly took to Twitter to mercilessly mock the 'pampered' star for having expert medical attention at his disposal alongside a host of other luxury survival items. Wearing sun-glasses, a white shirt and chinos, Robson looked for all the world like he could have been heading to a celebrity party. He was actually bound for a small island in the Philippines and was supposed to be roughing it - but took a guitar, snorkel and even a mirror with him as well as a boat, a saucepan and water purification tablets. @Crazylegsuk thought the star had lucked in: 'Hat off Robson Green, he's blagged a well equipped camping holiday in the south Pacific from a TV company.' @CruisingTheCut quipped: 'He's probably got a chainsaw stashed somewhere for that coconut tree. Or he'll find there's an island branch of Waitrose.' Sick as a parrot: Green vomits on camera just eleven minutes into the show before retreating into the bush to be sick again It's fine though, because a medic is waiting in the wings to attend to Green's illness Not a bad gig: the verdant Philippines island where Robson is stranded What would Defoe's fictional hero do? Green took his favourite boyhood book along with him for inspiration Ian Moore was miffed at the luxuries: 'He's been given tools, a boat, filtration tablets and a chicken. Hardly an authentic experience #RobsonCrusoe.' The show saw the actor, who shot to fame in Soldier, Soldier in the 90s, retreat to a luxury hotel to be rehydrated after suffering with a dodgy tummy. When he returned, he was seen filtering water - with his water filtering tablets, trying to catch a fish and finally sleeping in a tent when attempts to bed down under the stars are scuppered by a faltering mosquito net. @matt_stanny agreed, saying: 'Robson Green surviving armed only with a boat, knife, water purifying tabs, finishing line and hooks, rope, a chicken and a doctor.' @danielrmilligan resorted to sarcasm: 'A programme about Robson Green on a desert island...except he gets ill and has to leave after 3 hours. Superb TV.' @DavidtheFixer quipped: 'He's hardly Bear Grylls #robinsoncrusoe' Others suggested the show might have been devised purely on the grounds that Green shares a similar name to Defoe's protagonist. You might have watched it a hundred times, but the moment Captain Mainwaring foolishly utters: 'Don't tell him, Pike' in a 1973 episode of Dad's Army, is still hard to resist. The nugget of television gold has been voted the best one-liner in a British comedy by 100 comedians, closely followed by rib-ticklers from Fawlty Towers, Hancock's Half Hour and Father Ted. Comics including Alexei Sayle, Ricky Tomlinson and David Baddiel offered their expertise on television's funniest moments and, perhaps unsurprisingly, most of the winners feature in the telly shows of yesteryear. Scroll down for video Gold: 'Don't tell him, Pike' Captain Manwairing (Arthur Lowe) famously shot himself in the foot while being grilled by a German U-boat commander in a 1973 episode of Dad's Army - revealing Private Pike's identity all by himself Captain Mainwaring's (Arthur Lowe) famous line, unleashed when a German U-boat captain demands to know Private Pike's name, topped the list but was closely followed by other well-known gems. There's the line from Blackadder, when Lord Flashheart (Rik Mayall) conjures up yet another cunning plan. He quips: 'I've got a plan and it's as hot as my pants.' Elsewhere, time has been kind to Tony Hancock's funny about donating blood. When told he needs to give a pint, he ripostes: 'A pint? Why that's very nearly an armful!' Radio show Hancock's Half Hour was a huge hit in the fifties...and the jokes still stand up. Hancock's blood donation gag was deemed the second funniest joke by comics today 'I know noth-ing!' A winning horse comes in...but Manuel (Andrew Sachs) hasn't put a bet on for his red-faced boss Basil Fawlty (John Cleese) - and there's hell to pay A friend, a boss and an entertainer: David Brent's misguided self-belief (Ricky Gervais) in The Office is still a rib-tickler And who could forget the recently departed Andrew Sachs - aka Spanish waiter Manuel in Fawlty Towers - who played a blinder when under pressure from his cantankerous boss for not placing a bet on a winning horse. 'I know noth-ing', he said, coining a phrase that's since fallen into common language. Critic Bruce Dessau, who helped compile the list to celebrate television channel Gold's 25th anniversary said: 'Many of these characters, lines and sitcoms are brilliant examples of the very best in British TV comedy.' 'You were expecting a bloke: beard, Bible and bad breath. Instead you've got a babe with a bob cut and a magnificent bosom' The Rev Geraldine Granger makes herself known after arriving in the new parish of Dibley in the hit BBC series The Vicar of Dibley When it came to picking the funniest show, Fawlty Towers, created by John Cleese, was deemed the pick of the last 100 years, with Im Alan Partridge and Blackadder also celebrated. When it came to scenes, the moment Alan Partridge (Steve Coogan) came face-to-face with an adoring superfan was voted the best sketch. The comedians also voted on their favourite characters, with Alan Partridge beating The Office's David Brent (Ricky Gervais) and Only Fools and Horses' Del Boy (David Jason) to the top spot. Comics were polled to the celebrate the launch of We Have Been Watching on Gold, which starts on Wednesday 4th January at 8pm. LAUGH TIL YOU CRY: THE TOP TEN BRITISH COMEDY ONE-LINERS DAD'S ARMY: 'Don't tell him Pike!' Captain Mainwaring to Private Pike, after he's been asked to tell a U-boat commander his name HANCOCK'S HALF HOUR: 'A pint? Why that's very nearly an armful!' Tony Hancock in the hit BBC series, decides a pint might be a little too much FATHER TED: 'These [toy cows] are small. But those [real cows] out there are far away. [Points to toy cow] Small . . . [points to real cow] far away.' A patient Father Ted tackles the idea of perspective with Father Dougal Seventies classic Fawlty Towers was named the best comedy programme by the 100 comedians queried FAWLTY TOWERS: 'I know noth-ing' Manuel (Andrew Sachs) , Basil Fawlty's beleaguered Spanish waiter clams up when asked if he's placed a bet on a winning horse for his boss I'M ALAN PARTRIDGE: 'Monkey Tennis?' Alan Partridge spectacularly runs out of ideas as he pitches to a BBC commissioning editor ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS: 'One more facelift on this one, and she'll have a beard.' Patsy (Joanna Lumley) offers her verdict on the changing looks of celebrities Satire: Patsy's (Joanna Lumley) astute observation about famous faces - 'One more facelift on this one, and she'll have a beard' - was declared a winner THE OFFICE: 'I suppose I've created an atmosphere where I'm a friend first, and a boss second. Probably an entertainer third.' David Brent is the perfect boss, no? I'M ALAN PARTRIDGE: 'They're only the band the Beatles could have been.' Mr Partridge pokes fun at Paul McCartney's less successful group Rowan Atkinson's historical comedy Blackadder won plaudits for a plan that was as hot as Lord Flashherat's pants BLACKADDER: 'I've got a plan, and it's as hot as my pants.' Lord Flashheart comes up with another stellar idea THE VICAR OF DIBLEY: 'You were expecting a bloke: beard, Bible and bad breath. Instead you've got a babe with a bob cut and a magnificent bosom.' The Rev Geraldine Granger makes herself known after arriving in the new parish of Dibley. Advertisement Aldi has announced that it is trialling seatbelts in its shopping trolleys. The news comes after a mother set up an online petition, demanding Aldi change the design of their trolley child seats. Claire O'Callaghan launched the campaign after she claimed her nine month-old son fell out of an Aldi trolley and hit his head on the floor in December. She was shopping in the Ashby, Leicestershire branch of the store with her son Emmet in the trolley seat when he 'launched' himself out and landed head first on the hard floor. Claire O'Callaghan, pictured outside the Aldi store in Ashby-de-la-Zouch was left outraged that her young son Emmet, was able to climb out of the supermarket trolley on a recent shopping trip. Aldi has since announced that it is trialling seatbelts in its shopping trolleys It happened while Claire looked away for a moment and she said it was only thanks to his soft hood - which cushioned his fall - that he was not injured. Soon after she got a call from the Aldi area manager telling her that the supermarket chain was now trialling trolley seatbelts in certain stores in Essex. Aldi's trolleys have come under fire after two people claim instances of babies falling from their seats. Jodie Shawcross from Ashton-Under-Lyne, Manchester, created an online petition for Aldi to put straps on their trolleys after her toddler stood up in one. Claire, 38, who is a hairdresser, said: 'Quite a lot has happened since the story first appeared. The youngster, pictured, fell to the ground after clambering out of the trolley 'While I was out the area manager came around to my house with lots of toys for Emmet because of what happened. I was never after anything like that so I'm donating them to the Sure Start centre here. 'I called the area manager back and he said he thought what had happened was awful. He rang me back a few days ago and told me they were rolling out belts throughout the Chelmsford area in January. 'He said he would get back to me in February about whether they're going to have them in all their stores. If this leads to positive steps then that's really good. 'I'm not looking for compensation or anything - I just want change. 'I'm not going to let Emmet go in an Aldi trolley until they have the belts.' An Aldi spokeswoman confirmed yesterday that the belts were being trialled this month in a number of stores to see how well they were received. Speaking to MailOnline, a spokesperson for Aldi said: 'We are currently trialling child seat straps on our trolleys at a small number of stores. 'The results of this trial will be evaluated and a decision on whether to introduce this feature to all our trolleys will be made in due course.' Ms O'Callaghan complained Aldi's trolleys do not have a lap strap to restrain the passenger A mother who is raising Britain's tallest sisters believes they are growing at such a rate that she can see the change from one day to the next. Donna Lisle, 33, from Stockwell, South London, is mother to 11-year-old Liana who is 5ft 8ins and three-year-old Chyna who is already 3ft 9ins. Both girls, who are around a foot taller than the average child of the same age, tower over their peers and Liana in particular is constantly being mistaken for a much older teenager. Her mum worries that she will be taken advantage of because of her looks - as she has even been asked out by men who assume she's older, leaving her feeling confused and upset. Donna Lisle, 33, from Stockwell, south London, is a mother to 11-year-old Liana (above right) who is 5ft8 and three-year-old Chyna (above left) who is 3ft9. For that reason, Donna says she started sex education with Liana, who has already started puberty, at nine years old. Liana, 11, hit headlines in 2011 as she was dubbed Britain's tallest six-year-old and is still growing - even wearing size seven women's shoes. She was born weighing 7lbs 4 and a regular height, but her mother tells how she quickly shot up in height. She now has to wear size six women's clothes but even they are not long enough for her legs. Liana, (above right), 11, hit headlines in 2011 as she was dubbed Britain's tallest six-year-old and is still growing - even wearing size seven women's shoes. Liana (above right with sister Chyna) was born weighing 7lbs4 and a regular height, but her mother tells how she quickly shot up in height Liana (above) now has to wear size six women's clothes but even they are not long enough for her legs Now, Liana has a little sister, Chyna, aged three, who also shares her tall genes - and is nearly a foot taller than the average child her age. Mother Donna, who is 5ft 10 herself, says she is constantly surprised by her growing brood - and puts it down to her side of the family. HEIGHT CHART 11-year-old Liana: 5ft 8ins Average 11-year-old: 4ft 7ins Three-year-old Chyna: 3ft 9ins Average three-year-old: 3ft Advertisement She says: 'My two girls have different fathers, so it has to come from my side of the family. 'My family does have very tall genes - my dad is 6ft 7ins, for example.' 'Both my girls are very beautiful and they've both got modelling careers ahead of them.' Donna says growing Liana is always hungry according to her mum, who says she has cereal and toast for breakfast, a school dinner at lunch, a sandwich when she gets home and then dinner, often followed by another snack. Liana has a little sister, Chyna, (above) aged three, who also shares her tall genes - and is nearly a foot taller than the average child her age Mother Donna, who is 5ft10 herself, says she is constantly surprised by her growing brood - and puts it down to her side of the family Meanwhile, Chyna, who is nearly a foot taller than her peers, doesn't know her own strength according to Donna. She says: 'She's a lot bigger than other kids her age. She's also a lot stronger, but she's clumsy. I think she accidentally hurts children sometimes because she doesn't know her own strength.' Donna says that it's tough for both the girls at school because they look so different to their peers. She says: 'It's hard for both of the girls at school. They're both outgoing girls but because they are so big they attract a lot of attention.' Donna says growing Liana (above right) is always hungry according to her mum, who says she has cereal and toast for breakfast, a school dinner at lunch, a sandwich when she gets home and then dinner, often followed by another snack Strangers mistake the sisters as being much older - Liana has been told she passes for a 16-year-old and Chyna (above) for a six-year-old Liana was investigated for Marfan Syndrome, a condition which affects the tissue in the body making people abnormally tall, but doctors found no evidence she had the condition. She is due to start high school next year, and mum says that she hopes that there she will fit in more. Donna said: 'Liana towers over her peers at school, and in that way she stands out a lot. Crown Princess Mary of Denmark has donned an elegant plum gown to attend Wednesday night's New Year's Reception at Christiansborg Palace. It is the second time the Australian-born princess has dressed herself in the vibrant plum colour in the past week alone. Princess Mary, 44, appears to be taking advantage of her enviable wardrobe by re-wearing the very same plum coat she wore to usher in the new year at a royal event on January 1. Crown Princess Mary of Denmark stuns in a head-to-toe plum gown for New Year's Reception She was wearing in the same coat at Queen Margarethe II of Denmark's 76 birthday on Sunday. Alongside her husband Crown Prince Frederik, 48, Mary graced the royal Christiansborg Palace in Copenhagen on Wednesday evening. Embracing the theme, Mary is also seen carrying a red-coloured clutch matching perfectly against her floor-sweeping dress and coat ensemble. Mary, who originally hails from Tasmania, also paired her outfit with a blue sash, which added an additional pop of colour to the outfit. Embracing the theme, Mary is also seen carrying a plum-coloured clutch matching perfectly against her dress and coat Mary appears to be taking advantage of her enviable wardrobe and re-wearing the very same plum coat she wore to usher in the new year at a royal event on January 1 (right) Mary is pictured alongside her husband Crown Prince Frederik, who was also impeccably dressed in his Danish military garb Despite it only being the first week of 2017, Princess Mary and Prince Frederik have been extremely busy with formal events Her husband was also pictured impeccably dressed in his Danish military garb. Despite it only being the first week of 2017, Princess Mary and Prince Frederik have been extremely busy with formal events. Just the previous night, the pair also attended an event at Christiansborg Palace for the New Year's Diplomatic Reception - an annual event held in honour of the members of the diplomatic corps. On January 1, they were also tied up with royal duties, attending the annual New Year royal banquet at Amalienborg Palace in Copenhagen. On Tuesday night the pair also attended an event at Christiansborg Palace for the New Year's Diplomatic Reception When my wife Kate touches the side of her jaw, its because it aches. If she stands in a certain way, her sciatica is playing up. These days I notice these tiny inferences that shes feeling under par. I listen when she talks, making eye contact, whereas once I would have hidden behind my newspaper grunting intermittently, feigning interest. Today, I can say that our marriage is robust and joyful: full of laughter, occasional healthy bouts of contention, and above all, love. And the reason is that Im in tune with Kate. Ive learned to put her first; to think about her and what she needs. Thats hard to do all the time, but Im getting better at it. When my wife Kate touches the side of her jaw, its because it aches. If she stands in a certain way, her sciatica is playing up, writes Harry Benson (File photo) Ive learned from my own bitter experience that a marriage can unravel when a husband ceases to care enough about his wife. In fact, most marriages dont end with rows, adultery or even incompatibility, but with an aimless drift into separation. Growing apart has now officially overtaken infidelity as the main cause of family breakdown in Britain, and the tragedy is that it is often utterly avoidable. Relationships that could be salvaged that are just going through normal, unhappy phases are needlessly in jeopardy as couples sleepwalk into divorce. Weve reached crisis point. Nearly half of teenagers sitting their GCSEs this year are not living with both natural parents. Yet there is hope. It may sound counterintuitive, but the evidence is that staying together in an unhappy marriage and Im not for one second talking about the tiny minority of awful or abusive ones could be the best thing a couple ever do. This seems an astonishing proposition until we recognise that unhappiness is often a transient state. Bad situations improve. Children grow up and become easier to manage. People change their attitudes. Intent is the over-riding factor: if we want to stick together for better, for worse, in sickness and in health then we will. Ive spent the past 20 years teaching thousands of couples how to have a happy marriage and am now research director for Marriage Foundation. And my formula for fixing things is a simple one: Happy wife, happy life is a maxim that is backed by research and has saved my own marriage. First-hand experience and a survey of almost 300 mothers my wife Kate and I carried out for our latest book, What Mums Want (And Dads Need to Know), corroborates this. Half the mothers we questioned who were now happy with their relationship had at some point in the past been unhappy. One-quarter had been very unhappy. And the mums we surveyed told us that friendship, being interested in me and interested in the children, and being kind are the key qualities they seek in their spouse. Surprisingly, at the bottom of the list come fixing things, earning a decent wage and being adventurous, strong and sexy. Whats more, when Mum is happy, the rest of the family tend to be happy. This is much less true for dads. It is a simple truth that I have now acknowledged. When I take responsibility for our marriage, and put Kate first in my pecking order of priorities, the rest will follow. I learned this through first-hand experience when our relationship reached a crisis point. It happened eight years into our marriage when Kate told me she was profoundly unhappy. I learned this through first-hand experience when our relationship reached a crisis point. Pictured, Harry Benson You know I love you, Harry, she said. But since weve had the children, Ive found it harder and harder to talk to you. We have a comfortable life and youre wonderful with the children when it suits you. But you dont seem at all interested in me. We dont seem to be friends any more. I feel lonely and unimportant. Im not sure how long I can go on like this. The white flash that shot through my head like a thunderbolt temporarily blinded me with a mixture of panic and terror. Was my marriage over? I never saw it coming. Looking back, I cant believe I could have been so oblivious to the fact that we were so perilously close to collapsing. Wed rarely rowed. We had two young daughters we both adored and my job as a stockbroker in Hong Kong gave us a comfortable lifestyle. My immediate fear was that Id lose my children. Losing Kate would mean losing them. The thought shocked me to the core. Everyone accepts that good marriages can go bad. But it was never going to happen to us, was it? Yet insidiously wed grown apart and, without knowing it, were drifting toward a break-up. Fortunately for us both, Kate didnt leave me. As a result of the decision I made to put her first, to be her friend and take notice of her, we not only stayed together, but after 30 years of marriage Im now 56 and Kate is 52 I can honestly say that today were both happier than weve ever been. Had I known then what I know now, we would never have got into the mess we did. Kate was a natural mum so it was easy for me to take a back seat at home. I now know that my prime role is to take responsibility for my marriage, to love Kate, to be her friend, to be kind. When I do that, our marriage stays strong, we parent well as a team, and family life works well. Thats what mums want. Thats what dads need to know. After Kates ultimatum 22 years ago, we went, reluctantly on my part I admit, on a marriage course. On every level since, our lives have undergone a sea change. We moved back to Britain in 1997, went on to have four more children our brood of six comprises Rosie, 25, Polly, 23, Gracie, 19, Sizzle (Cicely), 17, Charlie, 15, and 13-year-old Johnnie. I learned to stop taking Kate for granted. I started to show her affection, to say, I love you; to notice the new dress she was wearing and to ask how she was feeling. I learnt to be kind to her and this meant sometimes not doing the things I wanted to do. And this week, the first in January after the New Year holidays, when lawyers are inundated with couples seeking divorces, Id advise all of them to pause before they take an irrevocable step. In conjunction with Professor Stephen McKay of the University of Lincoln, we analysed data from a large national survey of mothers. Most of the mums who were unhappy with their relationship when their babies were born now said they were happy. More amazingly, half of the mums who had been unhappiest now rated themselves very happy with their partners a decade later. The biggest worry is the tendency for couples who are reasonably happy to drift into separation. In a study I did for Marriage Foundation, this time with Professor Spencer James of Brigham Young University, Utah, we found that two out of three couples who separated had reported one year earlier that they were happy. Like Kate, most women want friendship more than anything from their husbands. Thats it. Its not about being a doormat. I learned to really love Kate and she loved me back. Thats what mums want. And thats what dads need to know. Its a disarmingly simple formula, but it is the key to a happy and enduring marriage. Sitting in the hospital consultancy room with her husband Ken by her side, Wendy Benton felt vulnerable and anxious. For months she had suffered crippling pains which had left the devoted couple unable to make love. Yes, it was embarrassing, but Wendy forced herself to put her shyness aside. Her gynaecologist was a professional, after all, she told herself. This was her third visit to Rod Irvine since he had performed surgery a year earlier to separate an ovary from the lining of her stomach. Surely something could be done? As Ken pointed out, Wendy was beginning to feel fobbed off. But rather than reassure his patient, what happened next shocked the couple. Irvine accused Ken of questioning his integrity, angrily banged his fists against his desk and ordered us both to follow him to his examination room next door, recalls Wendy. Wendy Benton, 68, first met gynaecologist Rod Irvine at Queen Marys Hospital in Sidcup in October 2010 There Wendy, 68, says she was ordered to take off her underwear, and subjected to what she describes as a humiliating sexual assault. Although no intimate examination is ever comfortable, under no circumstances could what Wendy says Irvine did to her that day be described as the conduct of a professional. He made a crude reference to Ken about the size of his genitalia, commenting that unless he was over three inches, he wouldnt have a problem, remembers Wendy. Aside from his inappropriate comments there was no screen to protect my modesty. Irvine wasnt even wearing gloves. I felt violated. Four years on and Wendy still suffers flashbacks. I havent been able to have sex since. Nor will I do so ever again. Every time I think about it I remember what happened. I start shaking and feel sick. The impact on my marriage has been huge. Ken and I have come close to breaking up and are only still together because we sleep in separate rooms. Wendy is one of up to 100 former patients of Irvine who worked as a gynaecologist for the NHS across a string of South London hospitals, as well as in private practice taking legal action for medical negligence and inappropriate behaviour. At least one other allegation involves similarly crass innuendo. Others claim Irvine operated on the wrong part of their body, that he punctured vital organs during surgery and delayed cancer diagnoses through incompetent treatment. Irvine has been linked to the deaths of at least three former patients, accused of practising without medical insurance and is being investigated by police over allegations of sexual assault, although no charges have been brought. A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police said: Detectives are investigating two sexual assault allegations and one assault allegation. The offences are said to have been committed at Queen Marys Hospital, Sidcup, between 2009 and 2012. Wendy is one of up to 100 former patients of Irvine taking legal action for medical negligence and inappropriate behaviour A 58-year-old man was questioned under caution in October 2016 regarding these allegations. No arrests have been made. Enquiries continue. But although concerns about his behaviour were first raised in November 2012, leading to the NHS suspending him and launching an investigation, it seems the General Medical Council (GMC) has been slow to act on the mounting evidence. Despite being suspended during an NHS review, he was allowed to return to work in March 2015 Last month, however, Irvine was finally held to account. A hearing by the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service in Manchester instructed by the GMC found Irvine had practised without medical insurance. He was found to have behaved unacceptably professionally the fact he put a 68-year-old woman with heart disease on HRT and lacked the understanding of how to carry out basic life support were cited as examples. He advised surgery on a 43-year-old with cerebral palsy without considering other options; performed a hysterectomy without justification that led to the patient suffering an incisional hernia (a type of hernia caused by an incompletely healed surgical wound) and on a number of occasions carried out unnecessary internal examinations. He was found to have failed to ensure safety and quality; to have relied on junior doctors to contact him by phone despite dealing with high-risk patients, and to have constantly omitted dates and signatures from his surgical notes. Described as showing persistent and calculated dishonesty he was struck off the medical register; his once illustrious career in tatters. Some of the more sordid allegations as to Irvines inappropriate sexual remarks he is alleged to have told one patient she would not need Viagra after he treated her, and another that he could make her feel like a teenager again were heard at the tribunal but not proven. A patients allegations of conduct tantamount to sexual assault were also not proven. More such as Wendys were not heard by the tribunal. Instead they are the subject of ongoing civil claims. What he did to me amounts to sexual assault. Im glad hes been struck off but he should be imprisoned, says Wendy. Taking action against him has nothing to do with money. Its to make people realise what a horrible man he is. Margaret Tooke, 81, was referred to Irvine in September 2011 for minor keyhole surgery to remove an ovarian cyst An articulate, quietly spoken woman, Wendy first met Irvine at Queen Marys Hospital in Sidcup in October 2010. She had been referred by her GP after complaining of stomach aches, and after an MRI scan Irvine told Wendy that her ovary was stuck to her bowel and stomach lining, and would require surgery. He bragged about how busy he was but I felt reassured something was being done, says Wendy, a retired counsellor from London, who has been with Ken, 69, a retired plumbing contractor, for 26 years and married for 14. Sadly, the operation in March 2011 seemed to make her stomach aches worse. I saw Irvine twice in the following months but he said his job was finished, and I couldnt expect any more from him. I felt fobbed off. Painkillers didnt help. The post-operative care was non-existent. I had to quit work and Ken and I couldnt make love because it hurt too much. Wendy made her third visit to Irvine, at Erith Hospital (the outpatient service of Queen Marys) in Kent, in May 2012. It was then he performed his examination which Wendy believes was nothing but a power trip on the part of the gynaecologist. I was too shocked to consider refusing to do as he said. Ken asked afterwards if I could believe what just happened. I shook my head, cried and threw up when I got home. Shortly afterwards, Wendy reported Irvines behaviour to her GP during a consultation, who referred her to a different gynaecologist at Queen Marys Hospital. Yet unknown to her, an NHS investigation into Irvine was already underway, after concerns were raised during an audit of his operations the previous November. In July 2013, Wendy was one of 2,000 of Irvines former patients who received a letter from South London Healthcare NHS Trust, telling her they were conducting a review of women he treated between August 2010 and 2012. I was overcome with relief, says Wendy. After reporting what happened to the NHS they asked if she wanted to report him to the police. I said yes but after initially making contact the police said they couldnt do anything because of the ongoing investigation, says Wendy. He was finally questioned under caution a few months ago but wasnt arrested. The police now say they want to interview Ken. I was incredibly frustrated by their lack of action. But for Wendy, who has had 20 sessions with a psychiatrist to try to deal with her trauma, the damage has already been done: I cant even let Ken cuddle me. He has been supportive but understandably feels isolated. In October 2014, in an attempt to avoid lengthy court cases, the NHS Litigation Authority and the handful of legal firms handling the patients claims agreed to jointly instruct an independent gynaecologist to review their medical notes. Astonishingly, in Wendys case which has still not been settled it was revealed that she hadnt needed surgery in the first place. I feel angry and completely confused, says Wendy, whose stomach aches have since subsided. Ill never get over what happened but the fact he cant hurt others the way he hurt me is at least some relief. Former patients of Irvine, a bachelor, of Caterham, Surrey, paint a portrait of a flamboyant man with delusions of infallibility who switched effortlessly from charmer to bully in seconds. He often blamed patients when treatments went wrong, says Dr Bob Gill, who helped set up a support group for them. Margaret Tooke, 81, was referred to Irvine in September 2011 for minor keyhole surgery to remove an ovarian cyst. She says: He talked incessantly about his secretary and how annoyed he was shed gone on holiday, and that he hoped it rained where she was. It was unprofessional. I asked if he chattered away like this while operating. He said: You wouldnt know. Youll be asleep. I was nervous at the prospect of him operating on me. With good reason. When Margaret, a retired mortgage consultant, came round from the operation at Queen Marys that October she discovered a scar stitched up from the left to the right side of her stomach. Irvine said hed been unable to find my ovaries with keyhole surgery, so had to cut across my stomach to remove them, she says. He said he had pierced my bladder in the process but told me not to worry. He wasnt apologetic. Margaret, who has been married to John, 85, a retired carpenter, for 60 years, was discharged after three days. But a week later she was re-admitted to hospital with severe diarrhoea and nausea. Over the following days she drifted in and out of consciousness and her body started to swell alarmingly. My face got so big I couldnt open my eyes. Doctors told my family to prepare to lose me. All I could think was that I couldnt die and leave John behind. An investigation revealed that Margarets bowel had been punctured as well as her bladder, causing infection and a potentially fatal condition called peritonitis. It took months for the swelling to completely subside, and she had to wear a colostomy bag for a year until her bowel had healed. Meanwhile, Margaret, too, received a letter from the NHS to tell her Irvine was being investigated. But, she says: I was told that as my treatment had been successful I had nothing to worry about. Furious, thats when I decided to take legal action. It wasnt about the money. He just shouldnt be allowed to get away with this. Margarets case was settled in July. Her solicitor Emma Wray, from Hodge Jones & Allen, who is also handling a second case lodged by a former patient of Irvines, says: The NHS admitted liability for a three-day delay in diagnosis of a perforated bowel and the fact that she developed peritonitis. The Trust solicitors apologised for the admitted failings. My clients have suffered significant physical and psychological damage as a result of what happened to them. Certainly, Margaret, previously outgoing with a zest for life, says: Im a different woman now. I dont like going out. I have panic attacks and cry. What Irvine did is terrible. Kings College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust assumed responsibility as Irvines employer after South London Healthcare NHS Trust was dissolved in 2013 and Irvine was employed at Kings College Hospital as a consultant colposcopist, examining for cervical abnormalities, until he was struck off last month. Patient safety is our No 1 priority and always will be, a spokesman for the trust told the Mail. They added that after concluding reviews into Irvines practice, we were confident it was safe for Mr Irvine to work at Kings in this limited area of practice. For Stephen Venn, knowing Irvine was allowed to carry on working for so long is a bitter pill to swallow. His wife of 40 years, Julie, died after being placed in Irvines care in early 2012 with stomach pains. Scans revealed she had growths on her womb. But that June, instead of investigating to see if they were cancerous, a junior doctor at Erith Hospital in Kent instructed by Irvine told Julie there was nothing to worry about, and gave her antibiotics. Stephen, 63, a retired steel fixer and father-of-three, says Julies stomach pains grew progressively worse throughout the year until she was too weak to eat. Yet it wasnt until December that hospital staff finally agreed to do scans that found cancer in her womb, which had spread to the pelvis and lymph nodes. Doctors said there was nothing they could do, says Stephen. He held Julie as she took her last breath in January 2013, aged just 56. Julie was my best friend and when she died, I died, too, he says. Dartford and Gravesend NHS Trust, which now runs Erith Hospital after the dissolution of South London Health Care Trust, has admitted financial liability. A source said the Trust found Irvine was responsible for taking Julie off the cancer pathway (a patients journey from the initial suspicion of cancer through investigations, diagnosis and treatment) that would have led to earlier treatment. Whether she would have died in any event is still an issue, and the next step is an oncologist report which will determine whether she would have survived had they handled her treatment differently. For Stephen, there is no doubt Irvine is culpable: He should have taken the time to see Julie, instead of referring her to a junior doctor. It should have been obvious she had cancer and she should have been given a hysterectomy that I think would have saved her life. For most young married couples, getting ready for their first child is exciting. But for Courtney and Josh Hayes the experience is tinged with mourning and fear. The pair have suffered four miscarriages in just two years - both natural conceptions and IVF. Now, weeks away from finally welcoming their first son, they have received the devastating news that he has a debilitating heart condition, truncus arteriosus. It means he will initially suffer from heart failure, which manifest as rapid breathing, poor feeding and failure to gain weight and grow properly. Without surgery, damage of the blood vessels of the lung could life-threateningly restrict blood flow. To give him the best chance at survival, Courtney and Josh have to relocate from Arizona to Philadelphia, home to some of the nation's top fetal heart surgeons, to begin care eight weeks ahead of the birth. And the wait is agonizing. 'It's a big roller coaster,' Courtney, a 33-year-old swimming instructor, told Daily Mail Online. Long journey: Courtney and Josh Hayes (here in December 2016) are ready to welcome their first child after four miscarriages - but have to face their baby having heart surgery on birth Their 18-week scan revealed their son has a potentially fatal heart condition 'I have bad days and good. It just depends on what I'm doing or what I hear. So many things trigger me. 'Somebody telling me they're pregnant, that triggers me. It makes me really sad because I feel like I'm missing out on the fun things of pregnancy. 'Obviously all pregnancies have risk but most people don't have to think or worry about their baby dying right after birth. 'I try to stay positive but that's difficult. In the back of my mind it's always there. 'I don't know how you prepare saying goodbye to your child.' It is a bleak prospect to face on the heels of four losses. Courtney started dating Josh, a physical therapist seven years ago. They had been married two years when they got pregnant for the first time. Weeks into their first pregnancy, conceived naturally at the start of 2015, the baby's heart inexplicably stopped beating. Courtney then became pregnant again soon after, but despite her hormone levels rising the baby could not be found and she miscarried again. Turning to in-vitro fertilization at the end of 2015, their results and condition looked perfect, and they conceived a healthy embryo. Courtney started dating Josh, a physical therapist seven years ago. They had been married two years when they got pregnant for the first time. Pictured: November 2016 Their first two babies, conceived naturally, inexplicably stopped breathing early on. Their third and fourth babies conceived through IVF had an extra ninth chromosome that proved fatal. They are pictured here in August, shortly after announcing their latest pregnancy But nine weeks later the baby's heartbeat stopped. They discovered - in a development that doctors described as 'incredibly bad luck' - that their baby had Trisomy 9 Mosaicism, a rare chromosomal issue that was unable to be detected due to not all the cells having the extra ninth chromosome. Devastated, they decided to pursue adoption and stop structuring their lives around being as healthy as possible to conceive. Courtney went on holiday to Lake Tahoe with her friends - drinking wine, running up and down mountains, eating a lot, and not caring about her fertility at all. When she returned she felt strange, and recognized the symptoms: she was pregnant again. I always thought of myself as strong. But after getting all the bad news over and over again, I just feel weak This time the couple decided to relax as much as possible, not fearing for the worst. However, during a full anatomy ultrasound at 18 weeks they received the news that their baby boy had a potentially fatal heart condition. 'It was devastating,' Courtney recalled. 'Now I'm just in a weakened state of mind and strength. 'I always thought of myself as strong. But after getting all the bad news and bad news and bad news over and over again, I just feel weak. 'On my good days I feel very excited, we're fixing up the nursery, we have so many baby clothes. 'I do let myself go there and envision what it's going to be like. I've wanted a baby for several years now and I really didn't think it was going to happen. I can't wait to hold him and touch his skin and see his face.' But the bad days can be excruciating. Courtney follows a number of online support groups to learn more about truncus arteriosis, but it's a Catch-22 situation: among all the good stories, there are posts about babies that didn't make it. Courtney (pictured in November 2016) decided to forget about pregnancy and went on a holiday with her girlfriends, drinking and eating and hiking. It was then that she realized she was pregnant again WHAT IS TRUNCUS ARTERIOSIS? Truncus arteriosis is a rare type of heart disease where a single blood vessel comes out of the right and left ventricles of the heart, instead of the normal two. It means that too much blood will get sent to the lungs. Initially, the Hayes' baby will suffer from heart failure, rapid breathing, poor feeding and failure to gain weight and grow properly. Without surgery, damage of the blood vessels of the lung could life-threateningly restrict blood flow. Advertisement 'We had a horrible New Year's Eve,' Courtney admits. 'We just read about a couple of babies that had died and we just sat in silence. 'Josh just seemed broken, I've never seen him like that.' Truncus arteriosus, though uncommon, is not impossible to treat. With the right treatment, the survival rate is high. Fortunately for the Hayes', Josh, a physical therapist, was born and raised just an hour away from the best center for fetal cardiology, the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, and plenty of his family is still there. The couple will be able to stay with family, and Josh's company has found him physical therapy clients in the area. Courtney, however, will be out of work two months longer than they had planned, dealing a blow to their finances. It is likely they will not meet all these expenses before they have to move in late January. But the main focus for them is making sure they get there to start treatment as early as possible in case Courtney goes into labor early. 'The doctors said to keep living life as normal as possible. The safest he will ever be is in my womb. 'So I've been swimming and doing weight. It's also important for the baby that I keep a healthy mental state,' Courtney explained. 'It is really difficult. We just have to stay as strong as possible.' An adorable tot has been dubbed the 'Baby Hulk' due to a watermelon-sized tumour that makes her look like a bodybuilder. Madison Gatlin, from Crestview in Florida, was born with CLOVES, a condition that causes lymphatic fluid to swell beneath her arms and chest. The ultra-rare illness, caused by a gene mutation, affects only 200 people worldwide. Brave: Mother Joni Gatlin is determined to manage her 18 month-old daughter's rare condition using humour and awareness-raising Doctors first spotted unusual fluid during an ultrasound at 15-weeks and believe the little girl is lucky to be alive. Since her birth, the swelling around her upper torso and arms have continued to grow and is estimated to weigh 5lbs - the same weight as a bag of sugar. Her parents have nicknamed her 'Baby Hulk' for her muscular appearance. Eighteen-month-old Madison is considered a medical miracle after defying death and learning to walk despite doctors prediction she wouldn't be able to.. Joni, a full-time mum-of-two, said: 'The upper half of her body looks like she's gained weight and it makes her look like a bodybuilder, she's like a 'baby Hulk'. 'Her nickname started during an instance where twin boys asked me what was wrong with her, I told them her daddy was the Hulk and they thought it was the coolest thing ever. 'After I told them she was the Hulk's daughter they wanted to be her best friend.I don't want people to be scared of my daughter, there's nothing wrong with her, she just has a gene malfunction. Call to arms: When the youngster was born, the growth on her right arm weighed 3lbs , whereas it now weights 5lbs Hidden activity: Doctors first spotted unusual fluid during an ultrasound at 15-weeks and believe the little girl is lucky to be alive She continued: 'I've told younger children she's a baby Hulk because I don't think they would understand the condition and this way they aren't scared of her and don't treat her differently. 'You have to try to have a sense of humour with something like this.' After months of testing Madison was diagnosed with the rare progressive overgrowth disorder. Her nickname started during an instance where twin boys asked me what was wrong with her, I told them her daddy was the Hulk and they thought it was the coolest thing ever. Joni Gatlin Joni added: 'When she was born Madison looked drastically different to what I expected, from her high waist up to her shoulders she looked very muscular. 'The majority of her upper body and arms are filled with lymphatic fluid that her body is unable to drain back into her bloodstream - leading to cystic masses developing in those areas. 'Particularly in her right arm, the mass is currently the size of a small watermelon, it will continue to grow with her body based upon her height and weight. 'When she was born she looked like a cute little blog with legs, we believed the mass weighed 3lb, now I think it's around 5lb.' Managing the condition: Madison also has to wear compression garments 24-hours a day and has the fluid drained twice a day Heavy load: Eighteen-month-old Madison is considered to be a medical miracle for surviving To prevent the growth from expanding, specialists have to perform chemical cauterisation - where a small amount of fluid is withdrawn from her body and reinjected with a mix of medication and saline. She also has to wear compression garments 24-hours a day and has the fluid drained twice a day. Over time it's hoped that treatment will reduce the swelling to a size where surgeons will be able to operate, until then her mum has learned to treat her at home. Intervention: To prevent the growth from expanding, specialists have to perform chemical cauterisation - where a small amount of fluid is withdrawn from her body CLOVES is an acronym standing for Congential, Lipomatous Overgrowth, Vascular Malformations, Epidermal Nevi & Spinal/Skeletal/Seizures. Kristen Davis, Executive Director of CLOVES Syndrome Community, said: 'CLOVES is caused by non-hereditary somatic mutation - the affected gene that causes CLOVES is called PIK3ca, a mutation that is often implicated in aggressive cancers. 'Overgrowth related to CLOVES can occur anywhere in the body including brain, trunk, limbs including hands/feet, as well as internal soft tissue tumors and vascular malformations. 'Some people have overgrowth in many parts of the body, some only have a few parts of the body affected. The problems that each person has, depends on where the overgrowth is located.' The Gatlin family are now fundraising to try to help gather the money to cover Madison's medical bills. To donate, click here. There have been great strides in the battle against HIV and AIDS. However, current prevention methods could be revolutionised with news of a potential implant which would offer daily protection from infection risk. A subdermal implant called the Medici drug delivery system is being developed by scientists in Boston, who believe it could be a game-changer - thanks to fact it would release a regular dose of PrEP. Game-changer? Current HIV prevention methods could be revolutionised with news of a potential implant which would offer daily PrEP protection from infection risk The company behind it, Intarcia Therapeutics Inc, revealed on Wednesday that they have been bankrolled by a 114 million grant from The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to help make the project a reality. Assuming success over time, additional grants will be made, they noted in a statement - including some in the first quarter of this year. It's not yet clear when it could be available for public use, but the device - which still in the creation phase - would theoretically deliver a daily dose of PrEP, or pre-exposure prophylaxis, without being prompted. No bigger than a matchstick, it would operate continuously for 12 months before needing to be replaced. This would avoid problems of consistent patient usage, which see the medicine's effectiveness reduced when patients forget a dose. 'Theres a vital need for an HIV/AIDS intervention that allows those at risk to incorporate prevention more easily into their daily lives,' said Sue Desmond-Hellmann, CEO of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. UK Numbers: 88,769 people, including 315 children aged under 15, received HIV care in 2015 'We feel optimistic about our partnership with Intarcia and the prospect of an implantable prophylactic device that could make a world of difference for people most in need.' The news comes just weeks after NHS England launched a trial of the controversial HIV treatment after losing a Court of Appeal battle over who should fund it. The drug, described as a "game changer" in the fight against HIV and Aids, has been shown to reduce the risk of infection in people who are at high risk by more than 90%. Support: Intarcia Therapeutics Inc. have been granted 114 million from The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation In November, the Court of Appeal upheld a High Court ruling which said NHS England did have the power to fund the drug despite its pleas that the responsibility lie with local authorities. Now, the organisation has announced it will fund "a large scale clinical trial in the early financial year 2017/18" for the drug, which has the brand name Truvada. NHS England said that although the evidence around the clinical effectiveness of PrEP "is strong", Public Health England (PHE) has highlighted potential issues with its rollout that need answering. "These questions will be answered by the clinical trial, paving the way for full rollout", NHS England said. Gonorrhea has been pinpointed as the most likely sexually-transmitted disease to become un-treatable in the near future. But a new breakthrough could change that, scientists claim. Researchers at the University of York have developed a new antibiotic specifically targeting Neisseria gonorrheae, the strain which has become highly drug-resistant. They claim their results, published on Wednesday, prove there is a way to beat the disease. Breakthrough: Scientists say they have found a way to prevent gonorrhea becoming incurable 'We think our study is an important breakthrough. It isn't the final drug yet but it is pretty close to it,' Professor Ian Fairlamb, of the University's Chemistry Department, said. 'People might perceive gonorrhea as a trivial bacterial infection, but the disease is becoming more dangerous and resistant to antibiotics.' Around 35,000 cases were reported in England in 2014, mostly among men and women under the age of 25. America sees roughly 700,000 new cases a year. The United Nations even held a summit in September to discuss the dangers of gonorrhea's drug-resistance, given that it is the second-most common STD. According to the York team, the most effective way to target increasingly-strengthening strains is by using carbon monoxide, a colorless and odorless gas. Though our bodies naturally produce CO, a recent swell of studies have shown that these molecules can help give a boost to antibiotics. The team of chemists and biologists targeted the 'engine room' of the bacteria using carbon monoxide-releasing molecules (CO-RMs). They found that Neisseria gonorrheae is more sensitive to CO-based toxicity than most other bacterial pathogens. It means this strain of gonorrhea could be treated with antimicrobial therapy using CO-RMs. The CO molecule works by binding to the bacteria, preventing them from producing energy. Scientists believe the breakthrough, published in the journal MedChemComm, could pave the way for new treatments. 'The carbon monoxide molecule targets the engine room, stopping the bacteria from respiring,' Professor Fairlamb explained. 'Gonorrhea only has one enzyme that needs inhibiting and then it can't respire oxygen and it dies. 'People will be well aware that CO is a toxic molecule but that is at high concentrations. Here we are using very low concentrations which we know the bacteria are sensitive to. 'We are looking at a molecule that can be released in a safe and controlled way to where it is needed.' The next step is to develop a drug, either in the form of a pill or cream, so that the fundamental research findings can be translated on to future clinical trials. Co-author Professor James Moir, from the University's Department of Biology, added: 'Antimicrobial resistance is a massive global problem which isn't going away. 'We need to use many different approaches, and the development of new drugs using bioinorganic chemistry is one crucial way we can tackle this problem, to control important bacterial pathogens before the current therapies stop working.' A group of art enthusiasts are using Facebook and other social media to identify religious artifacts stolen from temples around the country and secure their return. Art theft is big business all over India, but the richest pickings are in Tamil Nadu, where centuries-old religious artifacts with huge potential sale values in the West lie largely unprotected in out-of-the-way rural temples. Arvind Venkatraman from Tamil Nadu is one of the activists part of the group calling itself the India Pride Project (IPP) which is using digital media to tackle the issue. By day, he works as a software engineer in India's tech hub Chennai. But in his spare time, he is an international art detective whose efforts have helped bring back some of his country's most valuable antiquities. Indian temple priests carry an idol of Hindu god Parthasarathy in Chennai, capital of Tamil Nadu state, which is home to centuries-old religious artefacts Two years ago, the IPP claimed a significant victory when the National Gallery of Australia returned a $5 million bronze statue of the Hindu god Shiva that had been stolen from a Tamil Nadu temple. At first Venkatraman says the gallery, which is now suing the Manhattan dealership that sold it the statue, was reluctant to entertain the idea that its purchase was stolen. So the IPP organised a social media campaign using images comparing the stolen idol with the one on display at the museum. 'Initially typically there is a denial,' he told AFP in Chennai. Bystanders gather at the entrance to 'Manikandeshwarar Temple' at Kanchipuram in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu 'Whether it's Australia, Europe, Singapore or the US, initially there will be resistance from the museum curators... because they've spent a lot of money and they wouldn't want to let go of an object.' The idol is among those allegedly trafficked by Subhash Kapoor, a former Manhattan art dealer who was the subject of a massive US federal investigation known as Operation Hidden Idol. Kapoor was arrested in Germany in 2012 and is now on trial in India, accused of conspiring in the theft, trafficking and sale of religious idols. He denies all charges. Many of the antiquities he dealt in dated back to the 11th and 12th centuries, when the Chola dynasty presided over a flourishing of Hindu art in Tamil Nadu. 'This operation went on for many years,' said Prateep V Philip, who heads Tamil Nadu's Idol Wing - India's only police team dedicated to tackling art theft. 'He (Kapoor) was himself not on the scene, but he was the mastermind.' Prateep V Philip heads Tamil Nadu's Idol Wing - India's only police team dedicated to tackling art theft Philip said Kapoor won over the international art world by donating millions of dollars' worth of pieces to museums in the United States. He ran his own freight company in India, allegedly concealing priceless antiques among modern replicas. 'Whenever a theft took place in the past, sometimes people were not even aware,' said Philip, describing the thousands of small shrines that dot the state as 'easy prey'. 'It would be a derelict temple only visited at certain times of the year. So when a theft took place it was only discovered long after.' This means much of India's stolen sacred art is never even registered as missing, allowing it to be bought and sold on the international market. Art enthusiast Aravind Venkataraman's efforts have helped bring back some of India's most valuable stolen antiquities Donna Yates, who lectures in antiquities trafficking at the University of Glasgow, said she was 'absolutely flabbergasted' when it emerged the Australian gallery's statue was stolen. 'If you'd asked me in 2011 (before Kapoor's arrest) whether this kind of thing was still possible, I'd have said no. I believed the due diligence of museums had vastly improved,' she said in a phone interview. Since the arrest, Washington has returned hundreds of artifacts recovered under Operation Hidden Idol to India. But idols are still disappearing. This year, Philip's team arrested an art dealer in Chennai after recovering hundreds of metal and stone statues of Hindu gods from a warehouse. Yates believes the grassroots work of the IPP in documenting cases of theft and bringing them to public attention is crucial - and unmatched anywhere in the world. 'The amount that they've been able to do with zero resources is amazing. It has happened nowhere else,' she said. The volunteers, who are all passionate about Indian art, go through old catalogues from auction houses, using any blemishes or imperfections to match lots with idols stolen from temples. Founded by two Singapore-based art enthusiasts, it now includes activists from all over the world. The work is unpaid, but Venkatraman says it is all worth it when an idol is returned to the temple it belongs in. 'When finally the idol is restituted, the temple comes alive,' he said. Calls for a crackdown on worker exploitation and abuse have been made after it emerged that six migrant workers who died in a bakery fire had been locked inside the premises. The workers died on Friday morning after a blaze tore through the bakery in Pune, western Maharashtra, where they had been asleep on the mezzanine floor where they also baked cakes and cookies. They were unable to escape the inferno - caused by a short circuit - as the bakery owner had locked the shutter door from outside to prevent theft. Six migrants were killed after being trapped in a bakery fire (Photo for representation only) When firemen broke into the bakery, they found the workers' bodies on the mezzanine floor. The workers died of suffocation and burns, officials said. The deaths have triggered calls for decades-old labour laws to be implemented to crack down on worker exploitation and abuse. 'When such cases occur, the law enforcement agencies look at the more obvious crime and ignore other sections' of the law, said Chandan Kumar, a core group member on bonded labour with the National Human Rights Commission. The employer was arrested and charged with culpable homicide not amounting to murder, keeping the workers locked up, constructing an illegal mezzanine where the workers lived and worked, and operating the bakery without government approval. Activists say the employer should also have been charged with violating labour laws. More than 90 percent of India's workforce - an estimated 400 million people - are in informal employment. This includes labourers on farms and construction sites, as well as in shops, hotels and restaurants. Many work in conditions that violate Indian laws enacted decades ago to protect labour rights. One law that is not enforced requires migrant workers' data to be recorded in their home state and their destination of employment, said Umi Daniel, South Asia regional head of the non-governmental organisation Aide et Action International. 'It is important to record this data as it would not only enumerate migrant workers from each state, but also identify where they are working and help in better regulation of their work conditions,' Daniel told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. In the Pune bakery fire, neither the employer nor the government had home addresses of the six workers who had migrated from northern Uttar Pradesh state. Police inspector Varsharani Patil said their relatives working in bakeries nearby helped contact their families back home. Officials said bonded labour laws were not applicable in the case because the workers chose to live in the bakery to save money. Experts called for improved understanding of bonded labour. 'Any person working on nominal wages is forced labour, and that is bonded labour,' said Nirmal Gorana who heads a national campaign to end bonded labour. Experts say an Indian law to protect minimum wage and ensure compensation to families in the event of a worker's death on the job also is not implemented. 'We are not remotely close to implementing this law. There is no mechanism to cater to the informal sector,' said Kumar, of the National Human Rights Commission. A recent survey report has found how with the national Capital has become the most undesirable city for female workers in India. Of the total 6,092 participants, 63 per cent of victims came from Delhi. (file pic) A recent survey report has found how the national Capital has become the most unpleasant city for female workers in India. Of the total 6,092 case studies in the survey, 63 per cent of the victims came from Delhi. Mumbai and Bengaluru followed with all three cities reporting the highest number of victims claiming that male co-workers make demands for sexual favours, touch inappropriately and make lewd comments during office hours. The findings also indicated that the workplace harassment was the highest in the IT sector, followed by education, media and legal sectors. 'I am not surprised,' Swati Maliwal, head of the Delhi Commission for Women told Mail Today. 'If you look at the rate of crime against women in Delhi, the average is higher than other metropolitan cities.' Maliwal said the commission has been receiving a lot of complaints of the nature which shows that women workers in Delhi are in distress. 'There are several lacunae in the implementation of the law (against harassment of women at workplace) which is adding to the problem.' The study conducted by the Indian National Bar Association was carried out over seven months, from April to October 2016, to assess the severity and the current status of sexual harassment at workplace. The respondents from various fields were interviewed in Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Pune, Assam, Jalandar, Kolkata, Ahemdabad, Hyderabad and Lucknow. The survey showed that higher authorities in their companies often turn a blind eye towards such complaints. In 66.7 per cent cases, where the complaints were filed, the respondents said the internal complaints committee did not deal with the issue fairly. The victims also felt that the legal protection given the Act is not implemented in an organised manner, making the complainant further vulnerable, with 57. 8 per cent of the respondents saying they did not receive support from their peers while the rest were left disappointed. In the cases where a complaint was lodged, only 50 per cent decided to continue with the same organisation after the completion of the internal inquiry, while the rest chose to quit. Zameer Nathani, chairperson, media of the association, told Mail Today that the awareness on how to deal with sexual harassment cases is still very low in the country. 'The most shocking fact was to learn the unawareness about the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace Act 2013.' Nathani said, 'The common perception is that sexual harassment at workplace is limited to the interactions between the male boss and the female employees. 'This is not true. 'The harassment can occur between any two co-workers. The offender can be a customer, vendor, supplier, supervisor or manager. It can include peer to peer harassment, same sex harassment, men being harassed by women and vice-versa.' About the reasons for not reporting such incidents, the survey found that 68.9 percent of victims did so because of fear of retaliation and subsequent repercussions. The victims decided to take matters in their own hands due to fear, embarrassment and the lack of confidence in the complaint mechanism and unawareness of the functioning of the mechanism. The survey highlighted that the 65.2 per cent of the respondents felt that the companies were still unaware of the process under sexual harassment of women at workplace Act 2013, even after the complaint was made. The findings also indicated that the workplace harassment was the highest in IT sector, followed by education, media and legal sectors They revealed that the companies did not follow the due procedure while investigating the matter. The 50.7 per cent of victims also revealed that they were targets of harassment through social networking sites. The survey said that the harassment was done at the hands of immediate colleagues, superiors and others in the organisation and the duration for which went from six months to over a year. 'The victims are maximum harassed physically or inappropriate touching and passing lewd comment. 'This comprise of total 75 per cent while rest includes sexism or asking for sexual favors,' the report said. Speaking about the steps taken by the Delhi commission to deal with the issue, Maliwal said that it has ensured a local complaints committee in almost all the districts. 'For the districts that are remaining, we have issued summons to their district magistrate and are in the process of implementing them. A hashtag trending in the wake of the mass molestation of women in Bengaluru on New Year's Eve has caused outrage on social media. Controversial remarks by Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara, blaming the incident on young women 'copying' Westerners, had already provoked anger among many. But a number of tweets in response to the incident, with the hashtag 'Not All Men' served to further inflame debate surrounding the incident - with both men and women hitting back. Thousands of Twitter users have been debating the hashtag 'Not All Men' A male Twitter user called Garvit said: '#NotAllMen are molesters, but that is a really stupid argument to make. Even if a few are, I am ashamed to be one.' Tanushree said: 'Why is #NotAllMen even allowed to be a hashtag? Why do you want a trophy for being a decent human being? Vaishnavi, meanwhile, commented: '#NotAllMen just another opportunity for men to turn something about themselves.' Adithya Viswanathan simply asserted: 'This #NotAllMen shows exactly what's wrong with this society.' One woman said the #notallmen hashtag was an attempt among some to 'soothe the male ego' Arpita Das said: '#NotAllMen hurt women? Well, #notallmen stand up to those who do either. So stop whining.' Anamika Srivastava commented: 'It's so sad that #NotAllMen is even considered as a valid response.' Another Twitter user, called Shabana, said: 'All Indian men could think of is a #Notallmen trend?? Seriously??? I would have been happy to see some solidarity for women but then...' 'It actually astounds me that instead of being rightfully outraged by MASS MOLESTATION we're supposed to soothe the male ego with #notallmen,' tweeted a woman calling herself M. But others said that the hashtag was to demonstrate that innocent, random men were the 'real victims' Deepika Amin said: 'Delightful to know #notallmen are molesters. Yet each and #everywoman has been harrassed at some point. Obviously, #toomanymen are #guilty.' Anjana George commented: '#Notallmen that's how you successfully kill dialogue. Unfortunate. Outrageous.' But Adrian Delgado hit back, saying: 'The #notallmen trending from India is comically opposed by the same SJWs [social justice warriors] who support #notall with regards to Islamist violence.' And comedian Sorabh Pant commented: '#NotAllMen because in an incident involving the molestation of women, random men were the real victims.' The authorities were called into action on Monday after several women were molested in Bengaluru on New Year's Eve The authorities were called into action on Monday after several women were molested in Bengaluru on New Year's Eve. Officials asked commercial establishments in the area to share their security camera footage while the police scanned videos from 25 CCTV cameras installed in the heart of the city - Brigade Road and M G Road - where the incident took place. The episode comes as an early test for Bengaluru police commissioner Praveen Sood who took charge on January 1. Eyewitness accounts suggest women were molested, groped and lewd remarks were also passed by miscreants even as 1,500 police personnel had reportedly been deployed to control the crowds. In controversial remarks, Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara said: 'They (women) tried to copy the Westerners, not only in their mindset but even in their dressing. So, some girls were harassed, these kind of things do happen.' The police have not received any complaints from any of the revellers so far. However, cops will take up investigation suo motu based on the CCTV footage. Though plenty of venues organise New Year celebrations in the city, youths still congregate on Brigade Road, one of the oldest commercial joints in Bengaluru. Vehicular movement on Brigade Road and MG Road is restricted and people can walk on the two roads till midnight. Men outnumbered the women and the latter became easy targets However, this time, the situation went out of hand as clubs and restaurants there were permitted to remain open till 2am, sources say. When New Year's revellers started pouring out of the pubs and lounge bars around 1.30 am, they were targeted by unruly mobs on Brigade Road and M G Road. The men outnumbered the women and the latter became easy targets. Many revellers complained that men passed lewd comments and used derogatory words in the presence of cops A local newspaper photographer captured inebriated men groping women or physically harassing them under the pretext of wishing them a happy new year. A few girls had to seek police help to leave the area. Many revellers complained that men passed lewd comments and used derogatory words in the presence of cops. After Bengaluru, Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara attributed the New Year's Eve Mass molestation in Bengaluru to Indian women copying western mindset and dress sense, Abu Azmi of the Samajwadi Party also decided to offer his thoughts on the scenes. 'If there's gasoline, there will be fire. If there's spilt sugar, ants will gravitate towards it for sure,' Azmi said. He added, 'In these modern times, the more skin women show, the more they are considered fashionable. 'If my sister or daughter stays out beyond sunset celebrating December 31 with a man who isn't their husband or brother, that's not right'. Abu Azmi's comments come after the authorities were called into action on Monday after several women were molested in Bengaluru on New Year's Eve. Eyewitness accounts suggest women were molested, groped and lewd remarks were also passed by miscreants even as 1,500 police personnel had reportedly been deployed to control the crowds. Abu Azmi of the Samajwadi Party decided to offer his thoughts on the NYE scenes saying 'If there's gasoline, there will be fire. If there's spilt sugar, ants will gravitate towards it for sure' When New Year's revellers began pouring out of the pubs and lounge bars around 1.30 am, they were targeted by unruly mobs on Brigade Road and M G Road. The men outnumbered the women and the latter became easy targets. Azmi's words on the reports are however not without context. Two years ago the SP leader was reported by Times of India as having said that women should receive the death penalty for having sex outside of marriage: 'In India, there is death penalty for rape, but when there's consensual sex outside marriage, there's no death penalty against women. 'If a woman is caught (in a rape case), then both she and the boy should be punished'. When New Year's revellers began pouring out of the pubs and lounge bars around 1.30 am, they were targeted by unruly mobs However, Azmi took to Twitter to explain that his recent comments had been taken out of context and that he condemns the Bangalore incident, but does feel that Indian women should 'follow our culture'. Azmi said on Twitter: 'Media is just making a issue out of it. All crime against women is condemnable. Our Culture should be strictly followed is my firm opinion.' Do you get calls asking for the password of your bank accounts, insurance, credit cards and so forth? If you do, there's a great chance they may be originating from the jungles of Jamtara, a sleepy district in Jharkhand, where the perpetrators of the country's massive hacking scams live, operate and lead lavish lifestyles. India Today's Special Investigation Team has busted wide open the suspected underground arsenal of the nation's online robbers. India Today's Special Investigation Team has busted the suspected underground arsenal of the nation's online robbers Operating out Jamtara, some 225 km of the state capital of the state capital of Ranchi, these impostors use a variety of traps to access usernames, passwords and OTPs from their targets. And once their victims share their secret codes with these complete strangers, poof - it's gone! Their bank accounts empty out in the blink of an eye. If you see their homes, you will find LED TVs, sofas, beds and most modern equipment Inspector Surendra Prasad, Jamtara Narayanpur Police Spread over 1,800 sqkm, Jamtara is home to around eight lakh people, most of them rural. But traffic on the cellphone towers and the lifestyle of many of the district's residents belie its thin population and official statistics on poverty. 'If you see their homes, you will find LED TVs, sofas, beds and most modern equipment,' said Surendra Prasad, an inspector at Jamtara's Narayanpur police station. An independent investigation by India Today revealed how a number of Jamtara's young men were living well from stealing and exploiting the trust of hard working people across India. The probe found this Jharkhand district has in fact turned into the country's hub of phishing calls - a widespread criminal practice of stealing private and financial information from the vulnerable in order to swindle them out of their money, digitally. Top sources in the Intelligence Bureau and the NIA are also alarmed. Most cyber crimes, they say, are now being traced to Jamtara. The young frauds use various tricks to dupe their victims across the country, the investigation discovered. 'You use an ATM card. Did you get a message two days ago that it had been blocked?' said Asghar, giving a dry run of how his band of crooks would strike a conversation with their potential targets on the phone. 'You didn't have its renewal verified as per the order of the Modi government,' he continued, sitting on his motorbike underneath a cluster of bamboo trees. Their method involves playing on people's fears and anxieties. They intimidate their victims about a possible loss or even arrest so much so that many of them would irrationally share their tightly-guarded financial and computer codes, Asghar explains. Every day, alleged scammers like Asghar make innumerable calls from the forests of Jamtara, impersonating as representatives of reputed companies to insidiously seek out information they require for their digital robbery. Asghar told India Today's special team that they, at times, would make off with as high Rs 1 lakh in a matter of hours. They would use basic techniques to obtain even 3D-secure PINs from their targets after preying skilfully on their fears. Cyber crime has risen alarmingly in the country - more than 20 percent in a year alone. According to the latest NCRB data, India recorded 11,592 cases in 2015 over 9,622 the year before. A majority of them - almost 66 percent - involved online cheating in 2015. Jamtara has become a hunting ground for cyber police from all over India investigating online crimes because many cases of digital fraud are traced to this back-of-beyond district. 'You need to generate a new password,' Ashgar said, giving a training session to India Today's undercover team on accessing passcodes in cold calls. 'For that you are being given a secret number, 1025, to add up to your old password. Local police say nearly 80 per cent of all cyber crimes in the country have their roots in Jamtara Let us know what you get after adding and we will deactivate your old password with that code,' he continued. If their victim shared the result, Asghar and his accomplices would quickly subtract 1025 from it to access the original password. And that's what they wanted to strike their target's account. Probed how they maintained a data-base of their victims, Asghar revealed his gang would ring up as many people as possible in different states, at random. As more and more people fell into their traps, driven largely by fears of non-compliance to government rules after the note ban, the e-wallets and bank cards of these digital swindlers puffed up with the booty. 'We got a lot of money these days. We had from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 2 lakh dropping in two cards alone,' admitted Asghar. 'We bought a (Honda) CR-V in one day by swiping two of our cards.' They, said Asghar, would also rent out their cards to potential customers for hefty commissions. He also offered one to the undercover reporter. 'The percentage is between 70 and 75. Get this card swiped at a store known to you, where they don't demand Aadhar. There you can buy as much as you want,' he said. By the their own admission, local police say nearly 80 per cent of all cyber crimes in the country have their roots in Jamtara. As India Today reporters drove deeper into the district, they found that the entire system here had been subverted to enable parallel economy feed voraciously on the bank savings of taxpayers. The unqualified digital loot in Jamtara was found to be also encouraging unscrupulous elements in neighbouring districts to extract similar sums. when it comes to the sterilizing of stray dogs On average 56 people are bitten each day in the Capital, yet all three municipal corporations are delivering a poor performance in sterilizing just 1 per cent of the stray dogs roaming in the streets of Delhi as of 2016. In a shocking revelation, South Delhi Municipal Corporation has sterilized only 0.01 per cent of 1,89,285 stray dogs in the past one year. According to sources, more than 1,000 incidents of dog bites have surfaced in the past one month. On average 56 people are bitten in a day in the Capital, yet all three municipal corporations are delivering a poor performance in sterilizing even 1 per cent of the stray dogs on the streets Falling prey to the menace, one of the residents told Mail Today that last month, the residents of Greater Kailash woke up to a loud scuffle and barking of dogs late at night for three days consecutively. On discovering, it was found that an unknown vehicle unloaded 10-15 dogs in a compound nearby. 'We tried getting the number of the vehicle traced but all we came to know that it was a registered vehicle from Najafgarh but it clearly looks like an unscrupulous act of capturing dogs from one locality and releasing the same lot somewhere else,' said Rajiv Kakria, a civil activist residing in the same locality. He also claimed that things are now getting out of hand with the security guards also getting bitten. 'No one is spared from this mounting problem, from security guards to managing committee members, we see cases of dog bites every month. My guard was bitten twice despite having a cane stick,' said Rajiv. Residents, who are yet to see even one official from the municipality to step in for a dialogue, are left in the lurch. 'We have never been contacted by any municipal officer for addressing this issue. 'When the problem is difficult to contain, we end up calling an NGO and if the SDMC claims to have deployed other NGOs on the ground to sterilize the dogs, why are they nowhere to be seen?' asks another resident of Greater Kailash. Raking up the issue in the recent budget speech, Farhad Suri, Leader of Opposition said, at this pace the sterilization rate is grossly inadequate. 'For the dogs' population to remain static, at least 70 per cent need to be sterilized,' said Suri. One of the reasons why the problem of taming dog population surfaces every year, is the ineffective sterilization drives. 'It is a misconception that sterilization drives stabilise the dog population. However, one problem that sterilization does solve effectively is, controlling the dog bites and nuisance behaviour aspect of the stray dogs,' said Rahul Sehgal from Humane Society International. The prime indicator of a successful sterilization drive include a drastic reduction in the number of puppies in the breeding season followed by a significant reduction in the dog bite, Sehgal told. The corporations will have to carry out sterilization drives consecutively for five to six years to ensure that there is a reduction in the dog bites, confirmed a corporation official. General Bipin Rawat has taken over the reins of the 1.3-million strong Indian Army, at the weekend, for a three-year stint as its head. He will get more time than any Army chief, since Gen Ved Malik in 2000. Advice galore will come his way at this stage because if there is a complex job anyone handles it is his. New Army Chief General Bipin Rawat after a guard of honour at South Block in New Delhi Hierarchy As the single man on the top of a hierarchy, officials line up at all times to take decisions from him. However, at the outset he must remember that one of the most successful chiefs in recent times was General Nirmal Vij and that success was largely due to his ability to trust and delegate responsibility and decision-making to his vice-chief and the principal staff officers (PSOs). General Rawat's appointment comes at the head of a controversy about his selection, with the rationale of his greater operational experience swinging the decision. That should not tie him down to only the operations domain to make a mark and overensure against security glitches which anyway are bound to occur. His competent DGMO and connected staff of the MO directorate will work overtime as they always do. His operational experience will come to the fore when he has to advise the government on tricky issues involving response or pre-emptive actions and execute the final decisions. For much of his early days the new chief must get down to restoring self-esteem and functional balance. Attempting to take on too much is going to be counterproductive. It is not as if he is taking over a defunct organisation. It will be better to ask the PSOs to identify two or three key areas in their charter which need immediate focus to make a difference and where attention has been lacking in the past. Many important appointments are lying vacant which must be filled on priority and with a mind to give viable tenures to senior functionaries. General Bipin Rawat paying homage at Amar Jawan Jyoti, India Gate, in New Delhi Operations (including intelligence and training), equipment (including ammunition), logistics and personnel form the quad on which all functioning is based. On the operations side he must get his advisers and training institutions to war game scenarios realistically, independent of the field armies and formations. There is a wealth of talent at these institutions under the Army Training Command which must contribute more than just training personnel. Attention One of the tasks for immediate attention is the security of the rear areas in J&K and Punjab. The Army's garrisons are all vulnerable as the focus of security has been at the border where too there are glitches at the bases of the LoC. There is a need to refocus training and awareness with a revisit to basics which is something all armies do from time to time. What the training side really needs is a reorientation to hybrid warfare, a subject perfunctorily treated at training institutions. It's a tall order to train for both conventional and hybrid warfare and conventional being the basic must always take overriding priority. However, the reality also cannot be ignored that the immediate threat is of the hybrid variety and a percentage of focus needs to shift there. Ammunition and equipment are already under sufficient focus but acquisition needs to be expedited. The chief can facilitate better handling at staff levels through pragmatic policies on personnel who man these crucial jobs. Normal personnel policies must not apply and extended tenures with pragmatic continuity in each such organisation such as the Technical Manager Land Systems, Weapons and Equipment Directorate and some appointments in the Master General of Ordnance Branch need greater experience on the job. Field storage of ammunition is another area which lags behind as a surge in ammunition acquisition could be expected in the near future. This must be funded adequately and no compromise in the technical requirements of ammunition storage must be accepted. Management It is in the field of personnel management where the Army will really need General Rawat's expertise. Very few are aware of the nuances of policy handling and implications. He formerly headed the policy section of the Military Secretary (MS) Branch and is aware of the circumstances under which past decisions were taken; decisions which have led to much turbulence in the promotion system in terms of vacancies and selection for higher ranks. An early visit to this is the need of the hour. There have been too many studies in the recent past and General Rawat is fully aware of the details of these. He need not initiate any more such studies and simply order a compilation of recent recommendations. On the contentious policy which dictates the division of vacancies in the General Cadre (the cadre which assumes the command appointments upwards of unit level), a series of brainstorming sessions with all stakeholders should be conducted. India is in the process of buying weaponry including new tanks and fighter jets The unfortunate thing has been the lack of any open brainstorming or seminars on personnel management in the Army. If these are transparently conducted and acceptable solutions to promotion policies are found early in his tenure, the new chief will have all the time to concentrate on far more important things such as the security of vulnerable rear areas, better artillery and air defence systems, getting a small arms family of weapons for the infantry, and the status of Army personnel with reference to other government servants and the anomalies of both the 6th and 7th Pay Commissions. CM Akhilesh Yadav on his bike The feud in the Samajwadi Party remained deadlocked with both factions making accusations and counter-accusations as they battle over the party symbol, the cycle. The son, UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav, seems to hold the advantage, as his uncle Ram Gopal Yadav paid a visit to the Election Commission office in the Capital on Tuesday to stake a claim over the symbol. Yadav told reporters: 'We have told the EC that 90 per cent of the party leaders and workers are supporting akhilesh Yadav ji and hence the party led by him must be considered as the Samajwadi Party.' Now, with the rival factions staking claim over the party and its symbol, the ball is in the Commission's court. Since the assembly elections to Uttar Pradesh are set to be announced any day now, the Commission has little time to adjudicate the matter. The two-decade-old 'bicycle' symbol may go missing from the high-voltage UP assembly elections as the ruling Samajwadi Party stands on the verge of a vertical split As an interim measure, it is now likely to freeze the cycle symbol and ask the two factions to contest on a new symbol. It may also give the two sides a new name to contest the polls till the time a final decision is taken on the real 'ownership' of Samajwadi Party and its symbol 'cycle'. Earlier on Monday, a politically bruised Mulayam Singh reached out to Akhilesh Yadav, even while officially both factions were at war. After the telephone conversation, Mulayam Singh Yadav, who was in Delhi, flew down to Lucknow for a face-to-face with his son - the meeting lasted nearly two hours and neither side were accompanied by their loyalists. Mulayam Singh Yadav has staked his claim for SP's election symbol 'bicycle' and said that his faction is the actual Samajwadi Party Though, later Shivpal Yadav, who was sacked as the state president of the party by the Akhilesh Yadav faction, also joined them. The meeting however failed to make headway. Meanwhile several conspiracy theories flew thick and wild. Expelled party leader Kiranmoy Nanda claimed that Mulayam Singh's writing was different in the letter that expelled the CM and Ramgopal, and the one that was sent to him declaring the National Executive as unconstitutional. The Muslim face of SP, Azam Khan, also made a fresh proposal to broker a peace deal between the father and the son. But the Akhilesh camp seemed unfazed. 'There is no possibility of a patch up,' said Ram Gopal. Khan, however, said a split in the party was detrimental for Muslim votes in UP elections. Once the elections are over, the EC may adjudicate as to which of the two factions should retain the 'bicycle' symbol. The year 2016 will be long remembered for the decision by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to nullify Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes, and replace them with newly designed, more secure Rs 500 and Rs 2,000 notes. This scheme is perhaps one of the most far-reaching policy decisions taken by any Indian government in recent years. The nation is still struggling to come to terms with it and it will have significant long-term implications for India's economic growth trajectory. Modi and the Deputy Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Reformer In many ways, 2016 was the year when Modi, the economic reformer, got his groove back. His government managed to pass the landmark GST Bill through Parliament. By levying one indirect tax for the whole nation, it will make India one unified common market. Modi, with his centre-right political inclinations, does not share ideological attachment to Jawaharlal Nehru's ideas. It is the biggest reform in India's indirect tax structure since the economy started opening up 25 years ago and is likely to be implemented in 2017. India remained one of the few fast growing major economies in the world in 2016, thereby managing to make its presence felt on the international platform. And Modi remained one of the most dynamic leaders on the foreign policy front, putting his imprimatur on global politics. In a move of great symbolism, Modi did not attend the 17th non-alignment summit despite host Venezuela's repeated attempts to woo him. Modi continues to invest in non-Western platforms such as BRICS - Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa Instead, he dispatched Vice-President Hamid Ansari. Following Charan Singh in 1979, Modi was the second prime minister to miss the summit since the country had co-founded the movement. Modi, with his centre-right political inclinations, does not share ideological attachment to Jawaharlal Nehru's ideas. He has gradually but decisively shifted Indian foreign policy in directions which few would have dared try before. While sections of the Indian intellectual establishment still retain reflexive anti-Americanism, Modi has used his decisive mandate to carve a new partnership with the United States to harness its capital and technology for his domestic development agenda. He is not ambivalent about positioning India as a challenger to China's growing regional might and assertiveness. With this in mind, he signed the bilateral Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement with the United States in 2016 for facilitating logistical support, supplies and services between the US and Indian militaries on a reimbursable basis and providing a framework to govern such exchanges. Modi is also busy pursuing strong partnerships with US allies in the region including Japan, Australia and Vietnam. He has taken a strong position on the South China Sea dispute in favour of states such as Vietnam and the Philippines as well as expanded the US-India bilateral naval exercises to include Japan. The PM also recognises the domestic challenges as he pivots India closer to the US. So he continues to invest in non-Western platforms such as BRICS - Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. Economically the grouping is less attractive, given economic troubles in Russia, Brazil and South Africa. Still, India hosted the eighth annual BRICS summit in Goa in October with great fanfare, if only to assuage domestic critics that Delhi does not intend to put all its eggs in one US basket. Summit The other dramatic change in South Asia came when the Indian Army's Special Forces took out terror camps across the Line of Control in Kashmir in response to an attack on an Indian Army post in Kashmir by Pakistan-based terrorists that killed 20 soldiers on September 18. The Indian response came almost 11 days after the initial attack and reflected an attempt by the Modi government to pressurise Pakistan on multiple fronts, thereby gaining leverage over an adversary that had long used terrorism and proxies to challenge India. At the regional level, the Modi government succeeded in ensuring the postponement of the SAARC summit after several member states took India's lead and decided to boycott the Islamabad meeting in November. This was one of the rare occasions when regional states spoke in one voice against Pakistan's use of terror as an instrument of state policy. Big Year for India: The year 2016 will be long remembered for the decision by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to nullify Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes Military Even as Pakistan was reeling from these pressures, the Modi government decided to use the instrumentality of military power - a tool which New Delhi had avoided for a long time. What was new was not that cross-border raids took place, but that India decided to publicise them to the extent it did. Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the BJP parliamentary board meeting in New Delhi Equally significant was the Modi government's decision to call the world's attention to the plight of Balochi people who have resisted the Punjabi-dominated military establishment of Pakistan. Pakistan, however, continues to be backed by China. The Sino-Pak relationship is blossoming with China poised to deploy its naval ships along with Pakistan navy to safeguard the strategic Gwadar port and trade routes under the $46 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). If this move goes ahead as planned, it will be the logical culmination of a long drawn Chinese involvement in Pakistan, giving the Chinese Navy a foothold in the first overseas location - the Indian Ocean and the Arabia Sea. Other equations in South Asia are also changing with the US getting more impatient with Pakistan and Russia moving closer to Pakistan, changing its decades-old policy of being consistently pro-India. The South Asian strategic milieu is in flux and old rules no longer apply. The year 2016 has been about dramatic changes which are only likely to gain further momentum in the coming years. The BJP appears poised to bag the crucial battleground state of Uttar Pradesh despite the inconvenience faced by citizens after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's surprise announcement on demonetisation in November. The latest opinion poll by Axis My India for India Today TV shows the ruling party at the Centre is in pole position to end its 14-year wait in UP. The survey projects that the BJP will secure a majority by bagging between 206 and 216 seats in the seven-phase Uttar Pradesh elections to be held in February-March. A poll by Axis My India for India Today TV predicts that the BJP will secure a majority in UP by bagging between 206 and 216 seats This is about 30 seats more than the number thrown up in the first UP opinion poll done by Axis My India in October. An overwhelming 76 per cent of the respondents supported demonetisation, though people are split on whether the common man has been inconvenienced by the move. While 58 per cent reported that they have been facing problems because of the note ban, 42 per cent said they have not faced hassles. The jump in the BJP's vote share in this poll indicates that despite the inconvenience caused, people believe that the PM's move will ultimately benefit the nation. More than half the respondents (51 per cent) say they believe demonetisation will help eliminate black money and fake notes. The polls in the state of more than 200 million people will be crucial to Modi's long-term plan for re-election in 2019. The ruling Samajwadi Party (in its current avatar) is projected to emerge as the second largest party, bagging between 92-97 seats. Despite the infighting, in the past three months the SP's graph seems to have risen while the BSP has slipped from second to third place. Modi's method: An overwhelming 76% of the respondents supported demonetisation Mayawati's party is likely to bag 79-85 seats, down from 115-124 predicted by the previous survey. The reason behind the decline seems to be its inability to get incremental voters beyond its traditional Dalit vote bank. In 2007, BSP had won on the back of Brahmins joining the Dalit bandwagon. A decade later, the party's appeal among non-Dalits appears limited. Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi's high-voltage campaign and strategist Prashant Kishor's electoral planning seems to have made little to no difference to the party's fortunes. Its tally is projected to decline to 5-9 seats from 28 in the 2012 elections. The BJP's projected vote share has gone up to 33 per cent from 31 per cent in the opinion poll done by Axis My India in October. Though both SP and BSP have 26 per cent votes, the state's ruling party is likely to bag more seats because it's vote share is concentrated, unlike the rival whose votes are spread across the state. Akhilesh Yadav is the top choice to be the state's next CM, with 33 per cent of the respondents backing him for the job The BJP's attempts to break into the SP's Yadav vote bank is not making much headway. 72 per cent of the Yadavs polled said they will vote for the undivided SP. One of the reasons behind the BSP's falling graph is that the Muslims of UP who were earlier divided between the SP and BSP now seem to be gravitating towards the former. 71 per cent of the Muslims polled in December said they will vote for the SP while in October the party's Muslim support stood at 58 per cent. In the same period, the BSP's support among Muslims has fallen from 21 per cent to 14 per cent. The SP's support is highest among the youth, thanks to the image Akhilesh has been able to build among the state's youngsters. The BJP is most popular among the 60+ voters of UP where it has 37 per cent support, four per cent more than its overall vote share. Young Akhilesh Yadav is the top choice to be the state's next CM, with 33 per cent of the respondents backing him for the job. Mayawati comes in second with 25 per cent support. Though Home Minister Rajnath Singh has indicated he's not in the race, he's still the BJP's best bet with 20 per cent of respondents backing him. As has been the case in previous opinion polls, Mayawati has the highest approval ratings when it comes to the question of who's best placed to handle law and order in UP. 48 per cent of the respondents thought that she would do the best job while 28 per cent backed Akhilesh Yadav. The opinion poll has a sample size of 8,480 and was carried out by a team of 35 surveyors from December 12-24. The survey does not factor in the impact of any possible split in the Samajwadi Party nor does it look at the impact of an alliance among the SP, Congress and RLD. In a multi-corner race with small margins, the coming together of 'secular forces' can change all current calculations. Explaining what could change from here on, Pradeep Gupta, the lead pollster for Axis My India, told India Today TV, 'As of now, Muslim votes are consolidated behind SP. But if it splits, Muslims will have to rethink their support. 'Minorities could once again swing towards BSP or pick the Akhilesh and Congress alliance. A Dalit and Muslim alliance can pose a serious challenge for BJP.' Battling demonetisation headwinds, the BJP believes it will do even better than the survey suggests. Party general secretary in charge of Uttar Pradesh, Om Mathur, told India Today TV, 'For the last two and a half years, BJP workers have been working on every booth in the state. 'Our efforts will deliver even better results than what your poll shows. Our own calculation shows we will get more than 300 seats. You can take this in writing from me.' BSP leaders refused to comment on the findings, saying polls always tend to underestimate the party's vote share. Reacting to the poll findings, SP spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia told India Today TV, 'The current differences in the party will be resolved by dialogue and the party will fight as one united front. If your flight has been cancelled or delayed you have the right to compensation under European law. Under EU Regulation 261/2004, passengers are entitled to up to 600 (534) in compensation when their flight lands at their destination more than three hours late. While for cancelled flights, you have the right to take an alternative flight with the same airline to your destination, or cancel the flight and receive a full refund. But airlines don't always have to pay out and can avoid doing so if the delay is caused by an extraordinary circumstance, such as bad weather or crew strikes. If your flight has been delayed or cancelled you should be able to claim compensation Previously, airlines routinely refused to pay out for delays caused by technical faults, claiming they counted as extraordinary events. But in 2014 two landmark Supreme Court rulings declared that carriers should pay out when a delay was caused by a technical fault. We explain below when you're entitled to compensation, how to claim it, what to do if your claim is rejected and we have included template letters for you to use. While these are the current rules under EU law, your rights will remain the same after Brexit according to the Government, whether we exit with, or without, a deal. What exactly are my rights? Airlines must compensate passengers if their flight is cancelled or heavily delayed. They must also offer you meals, refreshments and hotel accommodation as appropriate whilst you wait for a rearranged flight. There are no time or monetary limits on the provision of this assistance but if your airline does not provide assistance, then keep your spending to a minimum, and make sure you get receipts and claim reimbursement from your airline when you get home. Download Regulation (EC) 261/2004 WHAT IF EXTRAORDINARY CIRCUMSTANCES DO OCCUR? Airlines have a duty of care to look after stranded passengers, even if cancellations are due to extraordinary circumstances out of their control. If you have been left stuck and out of pocket by your airline, then you will need to keep a record of what you have spent, including receipts and try to reclaim from airline using the EU rule. How does compensation work for delayed flights? Under the rules, airlines must pay compensation for cancelled or heavily delayed flights, but how much youre entitled to depends on the flight you booked and the amount of time youve been delayed by. At present, the flight must have departed from an EU airport, operating by any airline, or it must be arriving into an EU airport and be operated by an EU airline. The 'EU airport' also includes the following countries; Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. It also needs to have been at least three hours late arriving at your destination to be eligible for compensation. The amounts available start from 250 (223) for flights of less than 1,500km long which are delayed by at least three hours and go up to 600 (536) for flights of more than 3,500km between an EU and non-EU airport, delayed by at least four hours. HOW MUCH YOU'RE ENTITLED TO IF YOUR FLIGHT IS DELAYED Delay to your arrival Flight distance Amount of compensation At least three hours Less than 1,500km 250 Between 1,500km and 3,500km 400 More than 1,500km and within the EU 400 Three to four hours More than 3,500km, between an EU and non-EU airport 300 At least four hours More than 3,500km, between an EU and non-EU airport 600 How to claim compensation for a delay Passengers can claim by telling the airline their flight number, names of passengers and the reason for the delay (we have included template letters at the end of this guide). If you cant remember how long the delay was, the website Flightstats.com is free to use and will show you how long a flight has been delayed for, although it wont state what the delay was for. If the claim is rejected, but you believe it's valid you can escalate it to the ombudsman or the relevant regulator (this will depend on the airline). If you still dont get the answer you believe is right it is possible to take the airline to the small claims court. How to claim compensation for a cancelled flight If a flight is cancelled you should be offered an alternative flight with the same airline to your destination either on the day or the day after, if there is room, or a full refund for the flight you booked. But if neither of these are possible you should be given the option of a flight with a different airline to your destination, if theres space. If you end up paying for this separately you should be able to claim any extra money paid back if you can prove no other suitable option was given by the original airline. If you were given more than 14 days notice about the cancellation, you will only be entitled to a new flight or a refund for your original flight. But if you were given 14 or less days notice, you might be able to claim compensation on top of a refund or alternative flight. The amount of compensation of offer differs depending on when you were told about the cancellation, the length of the flight, and how long you had to wait for a new flight. The cancellation also needs to have been something which could have been avoided by the airline so you won't be able to claim for reasons such as a crew strike or extreme weather conditions. To apply for compensation, which can be from 125 to 600, contact the airline directly and outline what has happened and why you are entitled to it. There are free template letters for you to use at the end of this article. Rules: You should be able to claim compensation for flight delays dating back six years. Can my airline turn down my claim? Airlines don't have to accept every claim and they can turn them down if 'extraordinary circumstances' apply. However if this is the case, the airline still has a duty of care to passengers. The rules state that airlines must provide passengers with accommodation, meals and refreshments and transport between the airport and accommodation. Airlines are breaking the rules if they shirk this obligation. If your airline turns down your claim under extraordinary circumstances you can challenge this if you do not believe it to be true. Write back to them explaining why this is not the case and explain that you will take the matter up with the Civil Aviation Authority if it is not settled properly. The problem is that many airlines are still trying to wriggle out of such claims and a classic example of this is airlines claiming technical faults as extraordinary circumstances. This is because the regulation gives no definition of exactly what extraordinary circumstances are, but does give some examples. It says: 'As under the Montreal Convention, obligations on operating air carriers should be limited or excluded in cases where an event has been caused by extraordinary circumstances which could not have been avoided even if all reasonable measures had been taken. 'Such circumstances may, in particular, occur in cases of political instability, meteorological conditions incompatible with the operation of the flight concerned, security risks, unexpected flight safety shortcomings and strikes that affect the operation of an operating air carrier.' The crucial part of this is that it says 'which could not have been avoided even if all reasonable measures had been taken'. This means that you can challenge the technical fault defence on the basis that an airline should have reasonable expectation that things can go wrong on an aircraft and should have contingency plans in place, such as having replacement parts or access to them where it operates. If your flight is delayed by more than three hours you should be able to claim from your airline If your airline tries to claim extraordinary circumstances, challenge them to explain exactly what they were and why they could not have been reasonably avoided. The onus is on them to prove this. How far back can I claim? Regulation (EC) 261 does not set a time limit on how far back claims can go, instead stating that this should be determined by the laws in respective EU countries. In the UK, the statute of limitations law is six years, so by this logic an airline should consider claims for delays dating back six years from the time the claim is submitted. Some airlines have used legal loopholes to avoid paying out here too. In 2014 we reported the case of a Monarch passenger who found the airline was delaying their claim while it waited for a court ruling. When that ruling arrived in the passengers' favour, the This is Money reader tried to claim only to be told that he was out of the six years. When he contested this on the basis it was Monarch that delayed things not him, he was told that despite having been in touch regularly over the years, as he had not made a court claim within the past six years he was outside the allotted time period. Monarch said: 'If a customer presents their claim to an airline within six years but does not issue court proceedings and the six years have now expired, they are unfortunately unable to claim. You will not be able to claim compensation if you are delayed because of bad weather 'It is our customers' responsibility to seek legal advice from either the Citizen's Advice Bureau, Civil Aviation Authority, or otherwise in order to find out if they need to take any action to stop time running out under the Limitation Act.' What will happen when I ask for compensation? If you are not given the assistance that you are due, you will need to make a claim against the airline. You will need receipts and proof of expenses and they must be reasonable. What about travel insurance? Most travel insurance policies should cover passengers for extra expenses incurred if they are stuck. Depending on the policy, this could cover the knock-on effects of not being able to fly. Cancelled hotels, trips and other expenses already paid out could be reclaimed under your travel insurance. It is important to check your policy carefully to see what is covered, any exclusions and the relevant excesses. Once again keep any extra spending to reasonable level, hold onto receipts and if in doubt, call your insurer before paying for anything. Travel insurance does not override airlines duty of care, but you cannot claim for the same thing twice. It is always unclear what airlines will do when faced with claims. Some may try and refuse to pay and stave off claims. If this happens passengers need to use the courts to force payment. The best way to do this is through the small claims track of the county court. How to use the small claims court What can't I claim? Your expenses should be reasonable such as a hotel similar to the standard of the one you were staying in or a simple meal. Living it large and then trying to charge it to the airline is unlikely to work. You are also unlikely to find airlines paying for the expense of you abandoning your flight and navigating your way home yourself. Although, if you have taken the simplest and best-value route you may be covered and if you had been advised to get yourself home and that you would be reimbursed by the airline, then you should state this and claim. This is Money has heard a lot of reports of airlines trying to fob off passengers, deny they are issuing reimbursements or claim that this is not the law. That is untrue and while you may need to be persistent, you should get your money. If your airline does claim extraordinary circumstances, they need not pay the compensation amounts above but still have a duty of care to look after you and get you where you are meant to be going. You should tell them that under Regulation (EC) 261/2004 Article 5 you are entitled to be reimbursed or re-routed under Article 8 and also offered assistance, including accommodation, meals and transport under Article 9. Reclaim: The sample letter below can be copied and pasted to help you with your claim. You should also state that under Article 5, airlines are able to not pay compensation in accordance with article 7 in the case of 'extraordinary circumstances', but crucially that this extraordinary circumstances clause does not apply to the entitlement to assistance under Article 9. The sample reclaim letters We have provided a sample paragraph and letter for you to use. Either copy and paste the paragraph into your letter, or use the letter template and add your personal details into it. Copy and paste the text, as needed, adding in your details. For more advice visit the Civil Aviation Authority website . Delays or cancellations not classed as extraordinary circumstances Dear Sir/Madam I am writing regarding flight [flight number] on [date] from [departure airport] to [arrival airport] with the scheduled departure time of [scheduled departure time]. My booking reference is [booking or reservation reference if available]. This flight arrived [number of hours] hours late at [airport] (or) This flight was cancelled and I arrived late on [time and date of arrival]. The passengers in the party were [names of party]. The judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union in Tui & others v CAA confirmed the applicability of compensation for delay as set out in the Sturgeon case. As such, I am seeking compensation under EC Regulation 261/2004 for this delayed flight. My scheduled flight length was [number of kilometres see here if you need to check flight length http://gc.kls2.com /], therefore I am seeking [if less than 1500km: 250, if more than 1500km but less than 3500km: 400, if more than 3500km: 600) per delayed passenger in my party. The total compensation sought is ]. I look forward to hearing from you and would welcome a response in 14 days, Yours faithfully, [passenger name] Delays or cancellations classed as extraordinary circumstances Dear Sir/Madam I am writing regarding flight [flight number] on [date] from [departure airport] to [arrival airport] with the scheduled departure time of [scheduled departure time]. My booking reference is [booking or reservation reference if available]. This flight arrived [number of hours] hours late at [airport] (or) This flight was cancelled and I arrived late on [time and date of arrival]. Unfortunately, your airline failed to meet its obligations under EU rules and did not provide me with the assistance it should have in the form of rerouting home / accommodation / meals / transport to the airport. [Delete as applicable.] I am therefore asking you to please compensate me for ----. I enclose receipts. The EU rules that state that I should have been assisted by yourselves are in Regulation (EC) 261/2004. In this Article 5 states that in the case of cancellation or delay of more than one day I am entitled to be reimbursed or re-routed under Article 8 and also offered assistance, including accommodation, meals and transport under Article 9. Article 9 states: 1. Where reference is made to this Article, passengers shall be offered free of charge: (a) meals and refreshments in a reasonable relation to the waiting time; (b) hotel accommodation in cases where a stay of one or more nights becomes necessary, or where a stay additional to that intended by the passenger becomes necessary; (c) transport between the airport and place of accommodation (hotel or other). 2. In addition, passengers shall be offered free of charge two telephone calls, telex or fax messages, or e-mails. 3. In applying this Article, the operating air carrier shall pay particular attention to the needs of persons with reduced mobility and any persons accompanying them, as well as to the needs of unaccompanied children. Under Article 5 part 3, airlines are able to avoid paying compensation in accordance with Article 7 in the case of 'extraordinary circumstances', but this extraordinary circumstances clause does not apply to the entitlement to assistance under Article 9. A 2014 ruling ratified by the Supreme Court, in the case of Huzar vs Jet2, says that European airlines can no longer claim technical faults as extraordinary circumstances, so must pay out compensation for flight delays of longer than three hours such cases. I thank you for your assistance with this and await your response, 17.25: The FTSE 100 closed up 11.85 points at 7189.74 - yet another record closing high for London's top market. However, the index failed to breach yesterday's mid-session high of 7,205.45 on a mostly lacklustre trading day ahead of publication of the latest Federal Reserve minutes, which are expected to shed light on the US interest rate rise in December. The Dow Jones was up 45.9 points at 19,927.6. Brent crude was at $56.28 and the pound was at $1.23 against the dollar. Market watch: Federal Reserve minutes will be scrutinised by traders 'The FTSE 100 spent most of Wednesday trading back and forth around the flat line. The bullish fever that catapulted shares to a new record high on the first day of trading in 2017 was more tempered by day two,' said Jasper Lawler of London Capital Group. 'Disappointing Christmas sales figures by high street and catalogue retailer Next as well as strength in the British pound, a negative for multinational earnings, weighed on UK investor sentiment. 'The scheduled release of the minutes from the December meeting of the Federal Reserve after the European market close meant there was an element of wait and see going on.' Joshua Mahony of IG said: 'Todays FOMC minutes provide a key insight into the thinking of the committee when they took the hawkish step of raising rates in December. 'Given that the Fed projection of three rate hikes in 2017 only saw "some" of the members factoring in the impact Trump will have, there is a distinct possibility that big any fiscal stimulus measures would drive an increasingly hawkish Fed.' The London index was relatively buoyant despite major losses from retailers including Next, which emerged as the biggest faller on the FTSE 100, down 685p at 4,085p after warning profits were expected to drop by 3.6 per cent in the year to January 2017. Next said trading woes are set to deepen over the following 12 months, with profits tumbling as much as 14 per cent in the worst case scenario in the year to January 2018. The news hit fellow retailers including Marks and Spencer Group which fell 21.1p to 323.4p, and Primark owner Associated British Foods which dropped 101p to 2,610p. But home builders including Barratt Developments and Taylor Wimpey dragged the index higher, buoyed by comments from Deutsche Bank which said there was 'appealing value' in the sector. Barratt Developments, which was the best performer on the FTSE 100, jumped 18.9p at 483.9p, while Taylor Wimpey rose 5.9p at 161.4p, and Persimmon gained 50p to reach 1,180p. B&M shares rose nearly 9.5 per cent after the discount retailer reported a 7.2 per cent jump in like-for-like sales in the three months to December, with revenue rising over 20 per cent to 789.1million. The company put the performance down to strong festive sales and 'improved in-store standards' for customers. The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were Barratt Developments up 18.9p at 483.9p, Taylor Wimpey up 5.9p at 161.4p, Fresnillo up 48p at 1,314p, and Persimmon up 50p at 1,180p. The biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 were Next down 685p at 4,085p, Marks and Spencer Group down 21.1p at 323.4p, Associated British Foods down 101p at 2,610p, and ITV down 6.6p at 201.4p. 17.01: The FTSE 100 closed up 11.85 points at 7189.74. More to come. 15:20: The Footsie was struggling for momentum by the afternoon as US stocks opened slightly higher with investors awaiting the minutes of the Federal Reserve's December meeting - where the central bank raised interest rates. With just over an hour to go the FTSE 100 index was off 3 points at 7,174.6, a level it has been hovering around for most of the session. On Wall Street the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 28.01 points at 19,909.77, the S&P 500 increased 4.6 points at 2,262.43 and the Nasdaq composite gained 11.16 points at 5,440.24. Change of heart: Today Trump wall full of praise for Ford - sending the firm's shares higher Tweet bomb: Yesterday Trump slammed General Motors for sending Mexican-made models of its Chevy Cruze to US car dealers without paying border taxes The Fed raised rates for the first time last year, citing strength in the labor market and a slight uptick in inflation. Investors will be keen to assess policymakers' view on inflation, especially after a spate of strong economic data. With just over two weeks left before President-elect Donald Trump takes office, investors are waiting for the finer details of his proposed policies such as tax cuts and higher fiscal spending. And Trump has again grabbed the headlines with his now infamous market moving tweets. This time it was in favour of Ford after the company said it is dropping its plan to build a $1.6billion US plant in Mexico, a plan criticized by Donald Trump throughout last year's presidential primary campaign. Ford also announced it plans to invest about $700million in a Michigan factory that will build high-tech autonomous and electric vehicles. Shares this session in the car maker have moved 3 per cent higher. 13:00: The Footsie was stuck in the red by lunch, weighed down by retail stocks after Next warned sales and profits would be under pressure in the year ahead. London's top flight index has been hovering around 7,175 point mark all session, not far off yesterday's all-time closing high of 7,177.89, but still below the mid-session record of 7,205.45. Retail stocks were by far and away the worst performers on the index. Losers: Next and Marks & Spencer were languishing at the bottom of the FTSE 100 table Next shares were down 12 per cent, holding onto the bottom spot on the FTSE 100. The high street giant said it was bracing for 'tougher times' ahead, with profits expected to drop by 3.6 per cent in the year to January 2017 after sales in the 54 days to December 24 fell 0.4 per cent, and end-of-season clearance sales plunged 7 per cent. It added that trading woes are set to deepen over the following 12 months, with profits tumbling as much as 14 per cent in the worst case scenario in the year to January 2018. This also led Marks & Spencer 4 per cent lower, while Burberry lost 2 per cent. Shares in AB Foods, which owns Primark, fell 3.6 per cent. Neil Wilson, a senior market analyst at ETX Capital said: 'Marks & Spencer and Debenhams have both tumbled 5 per cent this morning as the fallout from Next's Christmas trading statement is chewed over by investors. 'Both of these face similar problems to Next - cost pressures and a failure to stay fresh in the eyes of consumers. 'Investors are clearly wary about high street dinosaurs as we head into an uncertain 2017, with Brexit, inflation and a weak pound all a major concern.' But housebuilders were enjoying a strong session with Barratt, Persimmon and Taylor Wimpey all up over 2 per cent. Drug stocks were also having some cheer after JP Morgan put out its 2017 drugs preview. It said: 'Shire remains our top pick. GSK is our second choice, we see the dividend secure, and consensus forecasts well underpinned even with timely generic Advair approval; however, there are limited catalysts, and the valuation look fair rather than compelling.' Shire was up 16p at 4,776p, while GlaxoSmithKline added 6.5p at 1,568.5p. In currency markets, the pound was up 0.3 per cent against the US dollar at around $1.227. Sterling was little affected by the Markit construction PMI which came in at a better-than-expected 54.2 for December, up from 52.8 in November. Economists had been expecting a reading of 52.6. It marked the fastest pace of construction output in 10 months, having been driven by improved order books and a rebound in business conditions. Across Europe, the French Cac 40 was relatively flat and the German Dax was down nearly 0.2 per cent. In oil markets, Brent crude prices were up 0.3 per cent at around $55.69, as investors cheered reports that Saudi Arabia was set to increase oil prices in February as part of a deal between major producers to tackle the supply glut. Away from London's top tier index, B&M shares rose 6.7 per cent after the discount retailer reported a 7.2 per cent jump in like-for-like sales in the three months to December, with revenue rising over 20% to 789.1million. The company put the performance down to strong festive sales and 'improved in-store standards' for customers. 08:30: The Footsie made a slow start to the session, in what looks like the start of a woeful time for British retailers. In early deals the index was down 4 points at 7,174.4, having finished up 35.06 points at 7177.89 yesterday - a new record closing high for London's top market. Overnight Asian shares were mostly flat. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index edged down 0.31 per cent to and China's Shanghai Composite was 0.58 per cent higher. In London, the index's lacklustre start was being led by Next, Marks & Spencer, Associated British Foods and Tesco - all of which were down over 2 per cent. The hardest hit was Next after the High Street retailer said full-price sales fell by 0.4 per cent in the 54 days to 24 December, with annual profits now set to be at the low end of expectations. Trouble: Next reported poor results over Christmas and analysts expect other retailers to follow It shares are down 12 per cent, or 584p at 4,187.5p. But elsewhere the commodity, banking and housebuilder sectors helped to prevent the index from falling further. Barratt Developments was up over 2 per cent, while Taylor Wimpey gained 1.5 per cent. Still to come this morning is December's construction PMI, with analysts expecting a slight decrease from 52.8 to 52.6 month-on-month. The market will also be receiving an insight into home sales and building in the UK with an update on mortgage approvals and construction. Stocks in focus in London include: NEXT - The British clothing retailer Next cut profit guidance for its current financial year and also warned on the outlook for the following year, saying it is preparing the company for tougher times. IAG - British Airways cabin crew plan to hold a 48-hour strike starting on January 10, after suspending previous plans to walk out over Christmas. Data: UK Construction PMI at 9.30am UK mortgage approvals at 9.30am Walking towards the Chanel make-up counter in Debenhams, I take a deep breath and clear my throat. My stomach turns as I speak to the sales assistant. Whats the best price you can give me if I buy two, please? I say, holding aloft a couple of 96 bottles of Chanel No 5 perfume. The womans smile turns to barely concealed hostility. Chanel doesnt do discounts, she says. I steel myself and try again. Scroll down for video Louise Eccles tries to get a bargain by using haggling techniques on the High Street Would you mind checking with your manager? But she will not be swayed. Before I can say another word she turns on her heel to serve another customer. This is my first foray into haggling and it has not got off to the best start. Ive come to Londons Oxford Street to try my hand at bargaining techniques that most Britons attempt only when buying trinkets on holiday or buying a house. My inspiration is new research which reveals that shoppers who have tried haggling on the High Street have been far more successful than you might think. Remarkably, three in four who have tried to negotiate cheaper prices have succeeded in John Lewis, TK Maxx and Carphone Warehouse. More than half have won discounts in Debenhams, B&Q and Homebase, and some have even earned money off in Marks & Spencer and Clarks, according to the research by the MoneySavingExpert website. While many major department stores offer to match the prices of selected rivals, experts say some will also offer discounts on multiple purchases or big ticket items, and price match even the most obscure shops and online retailers. Three in four shoppers have scored cheaper prices by haggling in John Lewis, TK Maxx and Carphone Warehouse The January sales are tipped as the best time of the year to haggle because stores are desperate to shift old stock. Martyn James, of consumer complaints website Resolver, says: Haggling doesnt come naturally to many of us, and it might sound difficult to get a decent discount with a High Street retailer. But theres a brutal war going on between High Street stores and new online competitors and shops know they have to fight for your custom. The key is not to give up at the first hurdle. If you are turned down in one store, try again in another. Theres no shame in trying; after all, youll probably never see the sales assistant again. So with an expert haggler in Martyn by my side, can I bag a bargain on the busiest High Street in Britain? It is still only 9.05am on Oxford Street as we start early to catch the managers before they are too busy. This is especially important during the hectic sales. Feeling bruised by my experience with Chanel, I suggest we leave Debenhams and try a different shop. But Martyn says often each brand within a department store can have completely different discount policies. We stay and browse the beauty depart-ment and a friendly sales assistant for the skincare brand Elemis approaches me. I pick up two 89 Elemis Frangipani gift sets and say that though Id been thinking of buying them for my mother and auntie, theyre a little out of my price range. Martyn has told me to stick to some rules: be friendly, but dont overdo the small talk no elaborate back story or lengthy preamble. They seem to work. Without hesitation, the assistant tells me that though Elemis staff are banned from giving cash discounts on goods, they are allowed to throw in freebies. Be friendly, but dont overdo the small talk no elaborate back story or lengthy preamble She disappears behind the counter and presents me with a gift bag of five miniature creams. It turns out the same sweetener is handed out to anyone buying two or more items, so I try again: I dont suppose there is anything else you could throw in? Its just that these gift boxes are over my budget. She pretends to think about my request very hard, as if its unusual but we both know were playing a game of cat and mouse. She disappears and returns with a 25 bottle of skin nourishing shower cream. You can have one of these if you buy both sets today, she says. It all seems a little too easy. Martyn says if a store gives you a discount too readily, you should try again for a bigger discount or an extra gift. The January sales are tipped as the best time of the year to haggle because stores are desperate to shift old stock So after telling the sales assistant Ill think about it, I wander off for a few minutes. On my return I say Ill take the boxes if she throws in a second bottle of skin cream. My face flushes none of this is coming naturally to me but she doesnt look at all concerned and agrees to my request as a one-off. Thats 50 of free luxuries on my 178 purchase. Suddenly, that awkward conversation doesnt seem such a big deal. To put off hagglers, shop staff might claim the company bans them from discounting. Martyn says this is often untrue and you should persevere. However, the head offices for some retailers genuinely do lay down a no-discount policy. Thats the time to target a free gift. Back on Oxford Street, a sales assistant for watch brand Tissot tells us the store doesnt have a discount function on its tills. Tissot informs shoppers it doesnt have a discount function on its tills. Yet when Martyn and I spend a few minutes debating aloud whether we can afford the 525 watch, she offers to throw in two Tissot-branded cotton scarves. We move on to John Lewis. Surely the store that boasts it has never knowingly undersold will be more willing to negotiate? Under its price match promise, John Lewis reduces prices to the same level as any High Street retailer on like-for-like items. You just have to ask. There are a lot of exceptions: no online retailers, no factory outlets, shopping channels, market stalls, mail order companies, showrooms or duty-free shops. Crucially, though, it does offer to match the prices in tiny independent High Street shops. We approach a sales assistant to ask for a price match on a set of top-of-the-range Bose speakers. The John Lewis store in Oxford Street is selling them for 89.95. Weve found a small independent shop called Peter Tyson 285 miles away in Newcastle that sells them for 74.99 almost 15 cheaper. To my surprise, the John Lewis sales assistant checks the Peter Tyson website on my smartphone and agrees to match the lower price. Martyn says: You might want to buy expensive items from a well-known retailer such as John Lewis or M&S because they have good returns policies or extended warranties but that doesnt always mean you need to pay more. At the very least, always check what their rivals charge and ask to match that price. John Lewis wont match online retailers because it doesnt want a price war with Amazon or Ao.com, which have lower overheads because they have no bricks and mortar stores to run and maintain. Jewellery shops and electrical stores are among the best for haggling because staff often have targets or are paid commission,' says Martyn James Securing a discount on own-branded John Lewis goods or getting more than a price match promise is a Herculean feat. After an hour in John Lewis, we have failed to secure a discount on an 849 leather armchair with a tiny hole in it, a 180 Maxi-Cosi childrens car seat, which is 11 cheaper online, and a 999 oak dining table on display. When we ask for a small discount on a 1,950 Tag Heuer watch, we are cut down to size by a shop assistant, who says: That is the price because . . . that is the price on the price tag. Defeated, we head to jeweller Goldsmiths. Before we go in, Martyn offers some tips: Jewellery shops and electrical stores are among the best for haggling because staff often have targets or are paid commission. Point out youve seen a reduction in a rival shop and if they turn you down, walk away. Swing by 15 minutes later and browse. Martyn says you should target a middle manager. The store manager is likely to be too busy and a sales assistant will not have the authority to knock down the price. In a smaller store, look for a supervisor or sales manager. In a department store, ask to speak to the brand manager. For example, if you want to negotiate the price of an Yves Saint Laurent perfume, ask for the assistant in charge of YSL products. You can also ask them to call the brands sales representative, who works for the designer rather than the store and might have more authority to approve discounts. At Goldsmiths, Martyn asks to try on a 3,840 Breitling Colt automatic watch with a brown leather strap. The sales manager seems delighted we have picked out such an expensive design and compliments our choice. But weve done our research. A website is offering the same watch for 3,075 a full 765, or almost 20 per cent, cheaper. To put off hagglers, shop staff might claim the company bans them from discounting items The website looks so unprofessional Im not sure Id buy from it. The sales manager is clearly unconvinced and says the websites two-year warranty would not be with Breitling. So if the watch broke, we would have to send it back to the website rather than take it into a Breitling or Goldsmiths store. The 765 discount is so big I tell him Ill take my chances. He looks at me for a couple of seconds, weighing me up, and then pulls out a calculator. Hes going to make a deal. The manager offers us 15 per cent off a whopping 576 discount. One call to his area manager later and the discount is signed off. Guy Anker, managing editor of MoneySavingExpert and discount fanatic, says: The January sales are a perfect hunting ground for hagglers. Go for already discounted and clearance items as the price has been flexed and the retailer has accepted it is not getting the full price. He also recommends saying you want the stores warranty. Staff are often on targets for how many warranties they sell and may cut the price to seal the deal. If you go ahead, you can change your mind and cancel the warranty within 45 days under consumer legislation. Mr Anker also recommends staying quiet after inquiring about a discount. Make them fill the awkward silence with a cheaper offer, he says. Armed with this advice, I leave the bustle of Oxford Street and try Bentalls department store, owned by Fenwick, in Kingston, Surrey. When the brand manager returns from lunch, I ask outright for a discount on a 69 silver bracelet in the Georgiana Scott collection. The chirpy manager explains she cannot discount new stock, but shows me similar styles in the sale. I try on a bracelet with a leaf design reduced from 89 to 62.30 and, before I have even opened my mouth, she offers it at half-price 44.50. It would seem that, despite my British bashfulness, I may crack the art of High Street haggling after all. Discount retailer B&M has reported a revenue rise of more than 20 per cent after hoards of shoppers hit stores to snap up bargains in the run-up to Christmas. The chain, chaired by former Tesco boss Terry Leahy, said like-for-like sales grew 7.2 per cent in the three months to December 24, adding that it welcomed more than 5.5million customers in a single week. The company, which saw takings jump to 789.1million, put the performance down to strong festive sales and 'improved in-store standards' for customers. Discount retailer B&M is celebrating a revenue rise of more than 20 per cent after hoards of shoppers hit stores to snap up bargains in the run up to Christmas Commenting on the positive trend, CEO Simon Arora said: 'We have once again demonstrated the strength, relative appeal and popularity of our model at a time of uncertainty for consumers generally and continuing structural change in the retailing sector. 'We have delivered our best ever Christmas trading and served over 5.5 million customers in a single week in the UK alone as we continue to gain market share.' The company, which offers everything from beauty products to DIY tools, warned in November that shoppers would have to stomach rising prices in 2017 as the slump in sterling hits import costs. The firm shielded customers from a price jump last year after hedging against currency swings, but said it will have to pass on cost rises from the spring. On the up: This year, B&M opened 14 stores in the quarter and trades from 533 in the UK B&M embarked on an IPO in 2014, taking Poundland's lead, as it's owners looked to capitalise on a boom in the sector. The business, founded in 1978, was acquired in 2004 by the three business-savvy brothers Simon, Bobby and Robin Arora. Simon Arora went to Manchester Grammar School, studied law at Cambridge and headed to the City where he cut his teeth at McKinsey, Barclays and 3i. In 1995 he and his brothers, created Orient Sourcing Services and sold soft furnishings to Argos and BHS. They sold this business and in 2004 and bought B&M which had just 21 discount stores with a turnover of 65million. Expanding the group with cashflow, they grew to 300 stores in just seven years with a 1billion turnover. This year, B&M opened 14 stores in the quarter and trades from 533 in the UK. Cabinet Office staff have been getting training in 'conflict resolution' as ministers struggle to forge a strategy for Brexit. The department spent nearly 3,000 this autumn on bizarre sessions that use 'improvisational theatre' techniques to defuse clashes. The training comes amid signs of tensions within Theresa May's top team over how to approach the looming divorce negotiations with Brussels. The training comes amid signs of tensions within Theresa May's top team over how to approach the looming divorce negotiations with Brussels Chancellor Philip Hammond has been advocating caution and stressing the importance of access to the EU market for the economy. He has suggested a transitional deal may be needed after we formally leave the bloc. But other Cabinet ministers are thought to be keen to take a tougher line - including Brexit Secretary David Davis and International Trade Secretary Liam Fox. There have already been bitter clashes with Scottish First minister Nicola Sturgeon, who is demanding Scotland stays in the EU single market even if the rest of the UK leaves. Mrs May is also facing difficult questions over whether to pay a 'divorce' settlement demand from the EU that could be as much as 60billion. Any suggestion that Britain should continue to contribute to Brussels coffers after we formally cut ties is likely to be met with a furious response. Shadow Cabinet Office minister Ian Lavery said: 'The Cabinet Office is responsible for coordinating the Prime Minister's policies and making sure her priorities are well understood and enacted by every Whitehall department. 'It's their job to deal with the daily arguments and conflicts that occur as a result. Chancellor Philip Hammond has been advocating caution and stressing the importance of access to the EU market for the economy. Scottish First minister Nicola Sturgeon is demanding Scotland stays in the single market even if the rest of the UK leaves Other Cabinet ministers are thought to be keen to take a tougher line - including the so-called 'Three Brexiteers' of (left to right) Liam Fox, Boris Johnson, and David Davis 'The fact Cabinet Office staff are themselves receiving conflict resolution training suggests there is a serious malfunction at the heart of government. According to the transparency logs at the department - which provides support for the PM - three payments of 960 each were made to attend Together London conferences in October. The sessions are likely to have taken place later in the year. It is not clear what staff were involved in the training. The website for the organisation, which is run by guru Jonathan Kahn, states that it 'helps teams to reframe differences of perspective as gifts that enable learning and collaboration'. 'At our events people learn to create safe spaces using techniques from facilitation, conflict resolution, and improvisational theatre, the website adds. The Argentine government has been forced to apologise after tweeting a map at New Year that failed to show the Falklands Islands as its own territory. The Social Development Ministry responded to an uproar by posting a tweet saying sorry for the map which was included in an otherwise unremarkable New Year greeting. The post had otherwise expressed the hope that 2017 'finds us united and in peace.' Failure to include the Falklands on the image of Argentina outraged some veterans of the country's failed 1982 attempt to conquer the British-held islands, which Argentines call the Malvinas. The Argentine government has been forced to apologise after tweeting a map (pictured) at New Year that failed to show the Falklands Islands (pictured) as its own territory The ministry apologised for the blunder and laid the blame on its design team The ministry apologised for the blunder and laid the blame on its design team. Nationalistic critics of the government have also questioned a September agreement with Britain to remove some restrictions on trade and travel. It comes after Argentina and Britain agreed to identify the bodies of 123 Argentine soldiers buried on the Falkland Islands. The two countries, which have had strained relations for decades, also agreed to try to increase the number of flights to the remote islands. Britain has been keen to improve relations with Argentina since pro-business President Mauricio Macri took over from Cristina Fernandez in December, although Argentina continues to claim sovereignty over the islands. Britain has been keen to improve relations with Argentina since pro-business President Mauricio Macri (pictured) took over from Cristina Fernandez in December They will then compare the DNA with that of consenting relatives, the statement said. There are 123 unknown soldiers buried in the Falkland Islands, though not all families of the deceased have given consent for DNA testing. More than 600 Argentines and 255 British servicemen were killed after Argentina seized the islands and Britain sent a task force to retake them, sparking the conflict. Under the agreement signed by British Foreign Office Minister Alan Duncan and Argentina's Vice Foreign Minister Pedro Delgado, forensic experts from the International Committee of the Red Cross will take DNA samples from the soldiers' bodies. They will then compare the DNA with that of consenting relatives, the statement said. More than 600 Argentines and 255 British servicemen were killed after Argentina seized the islands and Britain sent a task force to retake them, sparking the conflict There are 123 unknown soldiers buried in the Falkland Islands, though not all families of the deceased have given consent for DNA testing. More than 600 Argentines and 255 British servicemen were killed after Argentina seized the islands and Britain sent a task force to retake them, sparking the conflict. Both countries also agreed to consult with airport authorities in Brazil and Chile to link more flights to the islands, located about 435 miles off the coast of southern Argentina. The overwhelming majority of the islands' 3,000 inhabitants say they want the islands to remain a British overseas territory. Only one monthly flight reaches the Falkland Islands currently, departing from Chile with a stop in the Patagonian city of Rio Gallegos. A Syrian A-list actor who fled to America to escape the war is now set to star in a film with Nicole Kidman Jay Abdo was one of the Arab world's biggest stars before the conflict in Syria made him just another anonymous refugee on the mean streets of Los Angeles. Just a few years ago, the 54-year-old actor could not walk the streets in any Middle Eastern country without being mobbed by fans or dine out without being offered free meals. But his fortunes changed when war broke out in Syria, and after fleeing to America he became a nobody and ended up working as a Domino's pizza man to survive. Scroll down for video Actor Jay Abdo, who stared in 43 movies and more than 1,000 TV episodes in Syria, has struggled to gain recognition in Hollywood Abdo stars in Werner Herzog's biopic of the British archeologist Gertrude Bell, due for release in the spring A household name and a veteran of 43 movies and more than 1,000 TV episodes, Abdo was admired not just for his acting skills but his willingness to speak his mind in public. 'I had a pretty beautiful life,' he told AFP. 'People loved me, on screen and on talk shows when I spoke to people and expressed my culture and points of view.' Known in Syria by his real first name, Jihad, Abdo is best known for his role in 'Bab al-Hara' ('The Neighborhood Gate'), one of the biggest soap operas in history, with up to 50 million viewers per episode. His path to Hollywood started in 2011 as tensions in Syria were escalating in the wake of the Arab Spring uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt. His wife, painter and human rights lawyer Fadia Afashe, was a senior official in Syria's department of culture, and found herself having to flee Bashar al-Assad's brutal regime after being caught meeting opposition activists during a trip to France. She went to study public policy at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, intending to return to Syria after graduating. Jay Abdo's Hollywood break came when he landed a part alongside Nicole Kidman in the movie 'Queen of the Desert' Kidman plays archeologist Gertrude Bell, and all of Abdo's scens were filmed alongside her But Abdo himself was beginning to become a major annoyance to Assad's crumbling regime after turning down numerous invitations to back the president at rallies and TV talk shows. Matters came to a head when he gave an interview to the Los Angeles Times during a trip to Beirut in which he accused Syria's secret service of torture and corruption. Strangers threatened him on his return to Syria, his car windows were smashed and he faced repeated demands to apologize to Assad on television. Having seen friends arrested or disappear - some are still missing - he uprooted in October 2011, leaving behind almost all his wealth and property, to join his wife in Minneapolis. The couple applied for asylum and drove for three days to Los Angeles with everything they owned so Abdo could find work. Abdo appears not only alongside Nicole Kidman but also with other A list movie stars including James Franco and Robert Pattinson It was only while the cast were filming in Morocco - where Abdo was recognised - that they realised just how famous he was in the Arab world 'I met so many people who were shocked that my name was Jihad,' he says, explaining why he became Jay. 'They didn't know it was Christian and I was named after a Christian lawyer in Damascus - a very good friend to my family.' Even with a more palatable name, more than 100 failed auditions followed as the couple lived a desperate existence on just $3 a day. It took more than a year to find work with a florist and delivering pizzas for Domino's, earning up to $300 a week. Director Werner Herzog says he didn't realise Jay Abdo's reputation until the Syrian star was mobbed while filming in Morocco The Syrian actor's career is finally back on track after he got his lucky break in the film Abdo's break finally came when he landed a part alongside Nicole Kidman and James Franco in 'Queen of the Desert,' Werner Herzog's biopic of the British archeologist Gertrude Bell, due for release in spring. 'All my scenes were with Nicole,' Abdo says. 'I can't praise her enough. She's very sweet, extremely professional, a very good hearted woman - very smart and sharp. Above all, she supported me from the first minute.' Herzog has since described in interviews finally grasping how famous his Syrian hire was when they visited a souk in Marrakesh during filming in Morocco. 'Everyone wanted a photo with him. The merchants in the souk gave us everything for half price,' the filmmaker told The Wall Street Journal. In a sign that Tinseltown really does like its happy endings, the actor's career is finally back on track. He has a part in the Amazon television series 'The Patriot' and 'Bon Voyage,' a short film he made with Swiss director Marc Raymond Wilkins, has just been shortlisted for an Oscar. Last year, he appeared alongside Tom Hanks in 'A Hologram for the King,' a comedy about a failed corporate salesman trying to do business in Saudi Arabia. Devastated by the worsening plight of the Syrian people in the five years since he escaped the Assad regime, Abdo is unsure whether he'll ever return. But he believes he couldn't be in a better place. The family of a British backpacker found dead in an Australian 'gentleman's' club had no idea she was working as an exotic dancer and would have been 'horrified', her cousin said today. As Stacey Tierney's heartbroken parents try come to terms with their daughter's unexplained and sudden death her older cousin Paul said: 'We are devastated and think there was foul play. 'And whoever is responsible is a coward and a low life for leaving her dying or dead and failing to get any help.It is shocking behaviour and very distressing.' 'Since she lost her life rumours have surfaced of her being a stripper but we know absolutely nothing about this,' Mr Tierney said. Tragic Stacey's uncle Graham Tierney, in Manchester, said: 'I didn't know she was working in that club and I don't think anyone in the family did. 'As far as we knew, she was just travelling around Australia and enjoying it. I saw all her photos on Facebook and it looked like she was having a good time. 'She wasn't the type of girl to get involved with drugs as far as I know but we just do not know what has happened. Maybe her drink was spiked or something like that, who knows?' Trip of a lifetime: British backpacker Stacey Tierney, 29, pictured at Wyndham on William, Melbourne, last January, was an exotic dancer at the city's Dreams Gentlemen's Club where she died in mysterious circumstances on December 17. She had been entertaining a private party of unnamed men. Her body was discovered on Sunday - 24 hours after she died Wild moon child: Friends described Ms Tierney, pictured in October 2015, on Australia's Gold Coast, as a free spirit who was living the 'backpacker's dream' during her three years there. But her cousin Paul Tierney she kept her job working as a stripper hidden from her family High octane: Fitness fanatic Stacey's Facebook page is filled with photos, chronicling her adventures in Australia including an adrenalin-fuelled skydive in March 2014, eight months after she arrived in July 2013. She said she was 'so happy' she had made the jump 'Love these girls': Stacey hid the truth about her exotic dancing from her family, according to friend Briar Rose, pictured centre in a picture from Stacey's Facebook page, above. She funded her travels with strip dances, according to friend Yasmin Donaldson, right Live for the moment: An extraordinary online diary chronicling her adventures show free-spirited Stacey diving from a plane, sunbathing on a yacht, taking epic road trips and enjoying wild parties are prefaced with the words: 'The happiest time of my life is now' He went on: 'I know my brother, Stacey's dad, has been trying to get some answers from the Australian authorities but everyone seems to be tight lipped at the moment. We only know what everyone else knows - the reports which have been in the papers. 'All the family seem very upset because she was such a great girl who was enjoying life.' Stunning fitness fanatic Stacey, 29, swapped the rain of Manchester for the white-sand beaches of Queensland in 2013, and for more than three years lived the backpacker's dream. On her Facebook page she posted scores of incredible pictures showing her diving from a plane, sunbathing on a yacht, taking epic road trips and enjoying wild parties, prefaced with the words: 'The happiest time of my life is now'. She described herself proudly as a 'free spirit' and a 'wild moon child'. But behind the smiles and ocean sunsets that she invited her family and friends to view, the trained dancer hid the truth of how she was paying for glamorous lifestyle. HGV driver Paul, 32 - whose dad Alan is brother of the victim's dad Steven - said Stacey from Stockport, Greater Manchester, who had been due to celebrate her milestone 30th birthday in just two weeks on January 20, 'absolutely loved' Australia. Paul, from Mitcham, Surrey, explained: 'She had lots of friends there and I really think she wanted to settle there for good. 'She was always in great spirits and just oozed life. She was very pretty and petite and very energetic and would light up a room. 'We were in contact on social media and knew Stacey was working hard to pay for her lifestyle, doing some pole dancing for cash, but not anything shameful which would cause any embarrassment to her family. He said he still hoped it was not true 'Her parents would be horrified. 'It was all harmless dancing, her friends in Melbourne have since told us. She was also into fitness and loved doing all that energetic Zumba.' Paul said he last saw her two years ago during a trip to Australia. He recalled: 'I went on holiday in June 2014 to help settle another cousin who had just moved over there. At the time Stacey was in Brisbane and we met up for the day and went to the beach. She was in great spirits and loving life.' Fighting back tears, he said: 'That was the last time I ever saw her. I can't believe she has gone and in such mysterious circumstances. 'We will have no closure until we know what happened. The police have been hopeless and haven't told us much at all.' Dingo Divas: Sun-kissed snaps show her living life to the full with trips down Australia's Gold Coast before her mysterious death. In October 2015, she toured Fraser Island and posted a photo of a human pyramid with the caption: 'It took a few attempts but we did it! Beach bum: Backpacker Stacey, pictured on Fraser Island, loved her carefree lifestyle with few commitments. She joyfully described her adventure as having 'no actual plan, just winging it'. 'Down Under!' In February, ten months before her mysterious death, Stacey was pictured on a boat of Australia's coast soaking up the sun and seemingly without a care in the world Close friend and fellow exotic dancer Briar Rose has revealed to MailOnline how Stacey danced 'as much as she could' to fund her travels, a secret the young Briton apparently kept hidden. Briar Rose said: 'I don't think her family knew she was a [exotic] dancer. I don't think she spoke [to her family] about it. She's been dancing a few years on and off.' New Zealander Briar worked with Stacey as an exotic dancer in strip clubs in Brisbane and Darwin, hard-partying cities in Australia's north-east. Ms Rose has revealed how the young Briton had to attend private parties and offer private dances in order to make money. Asked by MailOnline if Stacey offered private dances, she replied; 'Yes. That's how we all make money. If we didn't do private lap dances we wouldn't get paid so much.' And the Kiwi revealed the precarious nature of earning potential with club management taking almost half of their earnings. On some nights dancers would walk out of the club with nothing, she said. 'We get paid for tips and privates [dances]. At the end [of the night] the money we make [the management] took 45 per cent. 'So you can have s*** nights and good nights. 'You can easily make hundreds [of Australian dollars] or you can walk out with nothing.' While working at Brisbane's Showgirls nightclub Stacey befriended another dancer, Yasmin Donaldson, before the Briton left Queensland for Melbourne. She told MailOnline: 'We were both strippers. Stacey was really nice. 'She was travelling from England and she was staying in Brisbane at a backpackers place and we used to do shifts [at Showgirls nightclub] together.' Miss Donaldson added she was 'pretty sure' that the Briton had 'funded' her glamorous travelling lifestyle through exotic dancing. 'I went to her backpackers place where she was staying once. We went to the gay pride march with another stripper who worked with us. We had a really good talk and had a few drinks and had a really good time.' She added: 'Stacey left Brisbane and went to Melbourne I think with some friends or other backpackers.' As well as working in clubs in Brisbane and Darwin Stacey also performed as an exotic dancer in three venues in Melbourne when she arrived in the Victoria city about six months ago. The Briton worked at Goldfingers, Men's Gallery and Dreams Gentlemen's Club where her lifeless body was discovered slumped in a corner just days before Christmas. She had allegedly been there for 12 hours. Halloween queen: Stacey quit her job at the sports nutrition retailer Bodybuilding Warehouse Stacey arrived in Australia in July 2013, where she set up home in Brisbane. Her closest friends said she was a fun-loving party girl who liked to dress up Stacey's Uncle Graham Tierney said: 'We are finding it difficult to get information, and realise there is an investigation regarding the suspicious circumstances.' Her father Stephen Tierney said he was heartbroken by the loss of his 'beautiful' daughter, he added, while the mystery surrounding what happened to her was only adding to their grief. The third of four sisters - Stephanie, Kristie and Kelly-Anne - Stacey grew up in a large and loving family in south Manchester. Originally from Withington, she studied dance at Oldham College, then started teaching zumba and fitness classes at the Manchester Aquatics Centre. The year before she left for Australia, she was working at Bodybuilding Warehouse, a company that sells fitness supplements. She had told her family she planned to become a student in Melbourne, and when she returned home for Christmas last year her cousin believed she was working as a fitness instructor. Stacey's cousin Colleen told the Manchester Evening News just before Christmas: 'We obviously knew how great she was. We were so proud of her and spoke to her all the time. 'She was so fit and loved dancing. She came back for Christmas last year. She had been working as a fitness instructor but she decided she was going to reapply and she was accepted back on a student visa.' Full of life: During her time in Australia she toured the Gold Coast's tourist attractions including the stunning Whitsunday Islands and Fraser Island with other backpackers, pictured Tragedy: In a tribute to Stacey, pictured lying on 'remarkable rocks' in February, Nathan Cartwright wrote: 'Dark day to hear of someone so full of life to come to such a tragic end' Party loving: Stacey, whose mother Michelle, 52, and sisters live in Stockport in the UK, made friends easily as she stayed in backpackers' hostels and told her friends on Facebook she was 'In love with the Gold Coast' when this photo was taken in July last year 'Happiest time of my life is now': Former Oldham College pupil Stacey was pictured doing yoga on the lookout Torquay Surf Beach on the Great Ocean Road, Victoria, in April - eight months before she died Sunday climbs: In Melbourne, Stacey reportedly made a close group of friends, with whom she had recently moved in with. Here she is pictured at an indoor climbing centre in the city in May In fact, Stacey was reliant on the income from three separate lapdancing clubs in Melbourne to fund her dream, according to friends she had made locally. She is reported to have been entertaining a group of men at a private party at the strip-club when she fell ill. The unnamed men are then said to have left without raising the alarm or calling for help for ailing Stacey. Murder squad detectives are now part of the investigation into Stacey's death. Her cousin Paul blasted some reports that his cousin may have died after dabbling in drugs. He insisted: 'Stacey would never take drugs. She liked a drink but did not do drugs. She was too into her fitness. 'The worst thing is apart from losing her is that we don't know the circumstances of her death. I don't know when we will find out, the police over there are still investigating. 'Something suspicious has happened and someone knows exactly what! The club where she worked was closed but had been opened up by somebody for a private party. 'Her poor parents are devastated and can hardly cope with the lack of information. It's tearing them apart. The body hasn't been repatriated yet and they and we don't know if we should be going to Australia. No one is really telling us anything.' A desperate Paul fumed: 'How can they [the police] rule out foul play. Why aren't they treating it as suspected manslaughter or murder? Police are not being helpful.' Paul told of the moment he learned his cousin was dead. He recalled: 'It was the Tuesday before Christmas and my niece phoned to break the news. It was dreadful.' Stacey, who had joyfully described her trip as having 'no actual plan, [I'm] just winging it', had initially gone backpacking to Australia about three and a half years ago with her boyfriend Matthew Girvan , 29. Paul said: 'They had been together for a long time but they split up while they were over there. He had a contract as an engineer.' Stacey retuned to the UK when her first visa ran out. Paul explained: 'She loved it so much and just wanted to go back so she applied for a visa to study. It was her dream to become a nurse. Setting up home in Brisbane, she took part in a sky-dive - posting heartstopping pictures of herself in a tandem parachute jump with an instructor. And over the coming months she visited some of Queensland's incredible nature spots including the paradise-like Whitsunday Islands. Stacey, pictured with a friend, chronicled the first two and a half years of her trip of a lifetime in Australia on her Facebook page, but for the last six months of her life the photos dried up Party girl: In one of the last pictures she posted, in July, Stacey posed for a selfie at a nightclub with a male friend which she wrote along with the caption: 'I'm in love with the Gold Coast' Stacey, pictured left with a male friend, had been partying with a group of men at the club where she worked on December 18. It is believed the club was closed and she was with them at a private party. Stacey is believed to have complained that she felt unwell and the men left. He body was discovered on December 19, 24 hours later A fun-loving party girl, Stacey loved dressing up, particularly for Halloween. One year she dressed in a black and white stripped convicts uniform, the following year as a 'she-devil', in a tight leather all-in-one suit and a horned tiara. Christmas 2014 was a far cry from the wind and cold of Manchester with horse rides along a soft sand beach followed by a doze in a beach-side hammock. New Year's Eve was a raucous party back in Brisbane. Making the most of her exotic location Stacey took frequent trips out of town, sleeping under the stars in Nossa Everglades and visiting Fraser Island, famed for its white sand beaches and quiet lagoons. In another cute post she reveals she took the chance to hug a koala bear. Sleeping in backpackers hostels and taking forest hikes, Stacey marvelled at Australia's tropical north during a trip to Darwin and watched open-air music concerts on the beach. The party-loving young woman from Manchester also danced the night away the Queensland's Brisbane Pride Festival with friends Briar Rose and Yasmin Donaldson, both exotic dancers who she had met while working as a stripper. In January last year Stacey took a trip to Victoria, staying at the prestigious Wyndham on William Hotel. With friends she took in the awe-inspiring twelve apostles sea rock formations during an epic drive with friends along the Great Ocean Road and McKenzie Falls in Victoria. She also visited the Remarkable Rocks national park in South Australia. Paradise lost: The former fitness trainer, from Greater Manchester, in England's north west, had reportedly been partying at the club with a group of men while the venue was closed Mystery: Friends of Stacey, pictured at at Halloween party in November 2015, said it was out of character for her to be spending time with men she did not know at a club she worked in after hours. There is no suggestion that the club's management is implicated in her death Stacey returned to Melbourne about six months ago and started work at the Dreams Gentlemen's Club, where she was finally to lose her life. It was around this time when public posts stopped appearing on her usually prolific Facebook feed. The club, which boasts that it is Melbourne's 'finest table top dancing venue' with 'a selection of the most exquisite ladies' offers 'full throttle' nights where lapdances last three songs for 'just $50'. Shockingly, the sister of the club's owner has questioned whether her death was an overdose after claiming girls who work at strip clubs 'get high on whatever drug'. Antoinette Aparo, 51 - the sister of Dreams Gentlemen's Club owner Salvatore - told Daily Mail Australia: 'I know strip clubs and I know the type of girls who work there.' 'They go get high on ... whatever drug ... then they go to work, do their dancing and go home - how do we know this girl didn't just overdose?' 'All I can say is it will be interesting to see what the police come up with.' However, a friend of Stacey pictured in 2014, has raised doubts about her death, saying she had never taken drugs. Briar Rose said: 'As soon as I heard she had died I asked if she had been killed I knew in my heart that something was not right.' However Stacey's friends and family have vehemently disputed Ms Aparo's allegations, insisting the young Briton was the 'first to say no' if offered drugs. Friend and fellow stripper Briar told DailyMail Australia: 'Stacey was healthy, didn't touch drugs and was so upbeat about life she wouldn't take her own life.' She added: 'She would not get high then go to work. When I was working with her she was hardly drunk at all.' Friends and colleagues at the club have told of their sadness at her tragic death. Heartbroken exotic dancer Cherly Minxy Grant said: 'You didn't deserve this. No-one does. 'I thought it would make things easier if we knew what happened but with each new detail I think everyone becomes more shocked and heartbroken that in your last hours on this earth you had to endure what you did. 'I really hope you know how much you are loved and that we won't stop until whoever did this to you is put behind bars.' Her cousin Paul added: 'She was living the dream. What happened was so tragic, she didn't deserve to die. A couple were stunned when they stumbled across a children's hamster toy in Debenhams which sounded as though it was having sex. Luke King, 27, was browsing the store's toy section with wife Francesca in Salisbury when he spotted the cuddly rodent on the shelf. But, when he pressed the 'try me' button, the toy started banging up and down on the shelf and screaming. Scroll down for video Luke King, 27, and his wife Francesca (together left) were left red-faced when they spotted a cuddly hamster toy in Debenhams which started making noises as though it was having sex Mr King was so mortified at the apparent sex noises that he and his wife left the store. He said: 'It started coming out with very unusual sounds for a kids' toy. It was making these screaming sounds and I was like, "Oh my God". 'I was a bit embarrassed because there were quite a few people looking at me. 'My wife told me to shut it off because it was really loud and it didn't sound very appropriate. 'It sounded like a woman engaging in sexual activity. It definitely raised a few eyebrows.' The Bam Bam soft toy hamster is made by Spanish manufacturer IMC Toys under the Club Petz brand. It's sold in the UK by retailers including Tesco, Argos, Toys R Us, Amazon and Smyths. The Bam Bam soft toy hamster, made by Spanish manufacturer IMC Toys, sold in the UK by retailers including Tesco, Argos, Toys R Us, Amazon and Smyths, but is currently on sale Its makers describe it as a 'cute and cuddly bonkers bouncing hamster' which will start 'shaking and bouncing all over' if you give it a squeeze. The odd product usually retails for around 20, but Mr King said it was in the reduced section. Debenhams have since slashed the price to just 10 in the January sales. Mr King, from Tavistock, Devon, who had been looking for a gift for Francesca's niece, said: 'I don't know the background to the toy. 'But you would think it would get to the marketing or developing stage and someone would think, 'Hold on a sec, this doesn't sound right. 'Maybe that's why it wasn't selling.' Gretchen Carlson made her way back to the anchor desk on Tuesday morning, hosting the third hour of Today alongside Al Roker and fellow guest host Sheinelle Jones. It was Carlson's first time back in the studio since she was unceremoniously dumped by Fox News and the network's then-CEO Roger Ailes in June after a successful 11-year career with the cable news giant. She filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against Ailes two weeks later, which was later settled for $20million and a public apology from her former employer. It also led to the ousting of Ailes after numerous women alleged both publicly and privately that they had been sexually harassed by the 76-year-old executive. Carlson meanwhile found a new cause to champion as a result of her experience, which she spoke about on Tuesday when asked what she was most looking forward to in the upcoming year. 'One of the things that I really want to do is give back. I'm setting up a fund to empower women and young girls. And I'm going to be contributing to that,' said Carlson. 'And it's really important for all of us, women and men, to build confidence and to stand up for what we believe in. And in some cases to fight back.' Scroll down for video Back in action: Gretchen Carlson hosted the third hour of Today on Tuesday morning (above) New friends: Carlson and Roker mugged for photos backstage ahead of her appearance on Tuesday (above) Roker also acknowledged that Carlson had a 'challenging' year before very clearly stating that she was 'legally' barred from speaking about Fox News, the lawsuit or 21st Century Fox on air. Carlson seemed to suggest to Roker however that she was ready to move on from the situation, though not forget what she had to endure. She said was looking forward to new beginning,'s before adding: 'I'm a huge believer in being optimistic and starting over and getting a fresh start.' Carlson, 50, also used her appearance to reveal that she has landed a new job, he first since Fox News opted not to renew her contract. 'I'm going to be a marquee columnist for Time magazine's Motto [website], which reaches 37 million people online,' announced Carlson. 'I'm going to write articles about empowering women and issues surrounding that.' Carlson's welcome return to TV was unfortunately a brief one sadly, as her Today hosting duties lasted just one day. NBC News also announced on Tuesday that another Fox News alum would soon been appearing on the network when Megyn Kelly joins the team later this year. In a statement, NBC revealed that Kelly will anchor a one hour daytime program running Monday through Friday on the network, along with a Sunday evening news magazine show. She will also be involved in the network's political and breaking news coverage Triumph: It was Carlson's first time back in the studio and behind an anchor desk since she was let go by Fox News this past June (above with Al Roker and guest host Sheinelle Jones) Carlson already got started getting her new message across this past October when she appeared in a cover story for her new employer. It was Carlson's most extensive interview since she had filed her lawsuit, and she used most of it to talk about issues affecting all women rather than ones that were specific to her own struggles. 'I am saddened by the prevalence of powerful men disrespecting and objectifying womenand getting away with it for years,' said Carlson, who in that instance was referring to Donald Trump and his rhetoric on the campaign trail. 'I am particularly distressed when people in the public eye who influence our culture perpetuate sexism.' Carlson also revealed in that Time interview that she will be testifying in front of Congress this year about forced arbitration in employee contracts, something that affected her at Fox and made it more difficult for her to file a lawsuit against the network and her alleged harasser, Ailes. 'A lot of people that Ive heard from [about being unfairly dismissed] find themselves in the middle of either legal action or, more likely, forced arbitration,' said Carlson. 'It is a huge problem. Because its secret. And it plays into why we think that weve come so far in society and we probably really haventbecause we dont hear about it.' She then added: 'The intent of the Supreme Court when they ruled on arbitration was to unclog the courts. It was not to put issues of discrimination and harassment into covert operations.' Fighting back: Two weeks sfter being let go, Carlson (left) filed a sexual harassment suit against the network's CEO Roger Ailes (right) which was later settled for $20million In a subsequent op-ed that was published by The New York Times, Carlson used her voice to talk about sexual harassment. 'The most important part of this, in my mind, is men and women working together. This is not only a womens issue. Its a societal issue,' wrote Carlson. The former Fox News host said that she had been dealing with many sleepless nights since she launched her own battle against sexual harassment in the workplace by filing a lawsuit against her former employer and the network's CEO Roger Ailes. 'I want to do everything I can to end sexual harassment in the workplace. I didnt expect to be cast in this role,' wrote Carlson. 'But as a result of the news reports concerning my departure from Fox News, letters, emails and texts from victims of harassment have poured in to me, and I cant turn away.' Carlson also detailed the ways that men could help the cause, and what is needed to change things. 'Men need to hire more women and put them in higher positions of power within organizations,' wrote Carlson. She then later added: 'Men also need to stop enabling harassers by egging them on or covering up or excusing their bad behavior.' Carlson closed out the piece by stating: ' Women shouldnt be expected to solve this issue alone. We need men to be onboard, too.' That same month she also appeared on the ABC program 20/20 to detail how she was sexually harassed multiple times very early on in her career, which began shortly after she was crowned Miss America in the 1989 pageant. Helping hand: 'It's really important for all of us, women and men, to build confidence and to stand up for what we believe in. And in some cases to fight back,' said Carlson (above with husband Casey Close) Carlson wrote in her July court filing about a conversation she had with Ailes in September of last year in which he allegedly said to her: 'I think you and I should have had a sexual relationship a long time ago and then you'd be good and better and I'd be good and better.' That conversation allegedly occurred when Carlson went to speak with Ailes about what she believed were discriminatory practices at the network. The popular Fox News host alleged that her refusal to have a sexual relationship with her boss was why she was let go by the network. Ailes and reps at Fox News quickly denied her allegations, stating: 'Gretchen Carlsons allegations are false. This is a retaliatory suit for the networks decision not to renew her contract, which was due to the fact that her disappointingly low ratings were dragging down the afternoon lineup.' That statement went on to say: 'When Fox News did not commence any negotiations to renew her contract, Ms Carlson became aware that her career with the network was likely over and conveniently began to pursue a lawsuit. 'Ironically, Fox News provided her with more on-air opportunities over her 11-year tenure than any other employer in the industry, for which she thanked me in her recent book. 'This defamatory lawsuit is not only offensive, it is wholly without merit and will be defended vigorously.' Carlson's lawyers said in their own statement after Ailes resigned from the network: 'We hope that all businesses now understand that women will no longer tolerate sexual harassment and reputable companies will no longer shield those who abuse women. Prince Harry has met his girlfriend Meghan Markle's father, DailyMail.com can disclose. The meeting between the royal, 32, and Thomas Markle, a 72-year-old former lighting director, is understood to have taken place during one of the prince's visits to Toronto, Canada. It was disclosed by her older brother, Thomas Markle Jr, who told DailyMail.com that Markle's father was 'proud' of the relationship and that the prince and the actress, 35, were 'very much in love'. 'My dad knew about [the relationship] from the start,' said 50-year-old Thomas Jr in an exclusive interview with DailyMail.com. 'He first met Prince Harry about six months ago out in Toronto. He goes once every couple of months [Meghan and Thomas Markle Sr] are very close and they stay in close contact. 'He's pretty happy about Harry and he's extremely proud of her [Markle]. They have an amazing relationship, they're very close and they always have been.' So happy together: Meghan Markle's brother Thomas tells DailyMail.com that his sister and Prince Harry are 'very much in love' The meeting between the Prince Harry, 32, and Thomas Sr is understood to have taken place during one of the prince's visits to Toronto. Pictured above, Markle at 11 years old with (from left to right), her nephew Thomas Dooley, her father Thomas Markle Sr, her nephew Tyler Dooley and then-sister-in-law Tracey Dooley, who was married to Meghan's older brother Thomas Thomas Jr paints a picture of the young Markle as being a happy little girl who took her parents' divorce, when she was just six, in her stride. Pictured above, Markle plays with Rugrats toys with her father, Thomas Markle Sr, and nephew, Tyler Dooley Thomas Markle Jr, Meghan Markle's half brother, has spoken out about his half-sister's relationship with Prince Harry Thomas Jr says that his sister and Prince Harry are 'extremely happy together'. She and her brother have been close despite the 15-year age gap between them - with Markle sitting on her brother's lap when she was a baby and he was a teenager Markle is understood to have met members of the Royal Family, including Prince William and his wife the Duchess of Cambridge, during a visit to London at the start of December. She is also thought to have been introduced to Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall, but Thomas Jr said he does not know if Markle's mother, Doria Ragland, 60, has met Harry. Now Thomas Jr, whose father had the actress by his second marriage, after divorce from Thomas Jr's mother Roslyn, hopes to become the next member of the Markle clan to meet the prince. He told DailyMail.com his sister is 'very much in love' with her royal boyfriend. 'They're extremely happy together, they look great together and she's done good,' Thomas Jr told DailyMail.com. 'She's very much in love and she's obviously happy because if she wasn't happy, she wouldn't be there. 'So she is happy and [the relationship is] taking off, which is good, and I wish them all the best. I couldn't be happier for her.' He added: 'I think it is wonderful. As long as he takes care of and loves Meg, he doesn't have to do anything else although I would like to shake his hand and meet him.' The couple are thought to have been dating since May, when Prince Harry visited Toronto to launch the 2017 Invictus Games, although the romance did not become public until November. Since then, the pair have enjoyed numerous weekends together with Markle making two trips to London and Harry tacking a visit to Toronto onto the end of November's Caribbean tour. Although the couple spent Christmas apart Markle in Toronto with her mother Doria and Harry with the royals at Sandringham the pair are expected to reunite early in the New Year. Apart from Thomas Sr and Ragland, Thomas Jr is Markle's closest relative and, although 15 years old when she was born, lived with her during her earliest years before moving into a home close by. Now living in Grants Pass, Oregon, with girlfriend Darlene Blount, 36, he works as a window fitter and moved north to be closer to his sons from an earlier marriage, Tyler, 27, and Thomas Dooley, 25, four months ago. Prince Harry, who was seen in London on the Friday before the New Year break, is believed to have met Markle during his whirlwind trip to Toronto in May 2016, for the launch of the 2017 Invictus Games which will be held in the city SO close too: Meghan Markle spent Christmas in Toronto with her mother Doria Radlan but it is unclear if she has met the Prince - while her father did about six months ago But during Markle's childhood, he and his former wife Tracy Dooley, now 51, lived in Topanga Canyon a suburb of Los Angeles not far from the Suits star's Woodland Hills family home. Thomas Jr, who was born in Chicago, is the only son of Markle's father Thomas and his first wife Roslyn, now 71. He has a full sister in Samantha Grant, 52, who now lives in Florida with her boyfriend Mark Phillips, 58. After his parents split up in 1976, as a result of his father's move to Los Angeles, he and Grant remained in Chicago for two years before moving to Albuquerque, New Mexico, with their mother. But by the time Markle was born, in 1981, Thomas Jr was again living with his father, sister Samantha and step-mother Doria in Los Angeles. The year Markle was born, Roslyn also had another child, a son named Bobby Lucero, now 35. Both still live in Albuquerque, as does Samantha's divorced second husband, Scott Rasmussen, 57, and their 18-year-old daughter Noelle. Samantha, who has been married twice, also has two older children Ashleigh and Christopher Hale, 31 and 30 respectively, who now live in Virginia. Thomas Jr paints a picture of the young Markle as being a happy little girl who took her parents' divorce, when she was just six, in her stride and who was always destined for the spotlight. But although she loved fairytales such as Cinderella and The Little Mermaid, Thomas Jr says Markle never harbored ambitions to become a princess and never had Prince Harry posters on her bedroom wall unlike Kate Middleton who is said to have had a picture of Prince William beside her bed during her time at Marlborough College, a prestigious private boarding school in Wiltshire, England. 'Meghan is already accomplished in life and now there's this on top of it,' Thomas Jr said. 'I mean it's every girl's dream to become a princess but she never said anything about it. 'She did like Cinderella and The Little Mermaid but she never had a Prince Harry poster or anything like that. But still, I think she fits the bill more than anyone.' Thomas Jr says that says that his father, Thomas Markle Sr, has already met Harry. Pictured above, Markle at 11 years old with (from left to right), her nephew Thomas Dooley, her father Thomas Markle Sr, her nephew Tyler Dooley and then-sister-in-law Tracey Dooley, who was married to Meghan's half-brother Thomas After moving out of his parents home, Thomas Jr lived in a nearby neighborhood and watched Meghan grow up as he raised his own two children. Pictured above, Thomas Markle Jr (center) smiles with his father, Thomas Markle Sr (left), and son, Tyler Dooley (right) Thomas Jr, who was born in Chicago, is the only son of Markle's father Thomas and his first wife Roslyn, now 71. Pictured above, Thomas Markle Jr and Thomas Markle Sr smile with Thomas Jr's sons, Thomas Dooley (left) and Tyler Dooley (right) Unlike Kate, who grew up in a comfortable home with her parents in Chapel Row, Berkshire, outside London, and is the daughter of a flight dispatcher and an air hostess, Markle spent much of her early life on set in particular that of long-running soap opera General Hospital, where her father worked as a lighting director. 'She used to go and hang out with my dad all the time when he was working,' said Thomas Jr. 'She would run around the studio on the set of General Hospital and I think that's when she decided she wanted to be an actress. 'She actually got on General Hospital a couple of times.' Her mother Doria, now a yoga teacher and social worker, also worked on General Hospital as a make-up artist and met Thomas Sr during her time there. 'Doria is very nice,' said Thomas Jr of his former step-mother. 'She probably felt a little bit out of place at first, coming into a new household where it had just been me, my sister [Samantha] and my father. 'But her and my dad got along really good when they first got together. They got married and Meg was born really quickly after. 'She was just a happy little baby. You could tell right off the bat from the beginning that she was meant for the camera. She lit up.' Of his father and step-mother's 1987 divorce, he added: 'Meg has been intelligent since the day she was born so I think she figured out things were wrong for herself. 'But she knew she was completely loved by both sides of the family and she didn't sweat it and she didn't have anything to worry about. 'In the end, she took it very well. She knew things were going to be OK. After they split up, she lived with her mom for a while and then my father, then back and forth for a while. 'But really, she was always with everybody.' Educated first at the Hollywood Little Red Schoolhouse and then at the Catholic, all-girls, Immaculate Heart High School in Los Angeles, the young Markle adored her studies according to her brother. And it was during her time in high school, where she was unsuccessfully nominated for prom queen in her final year, that she began to hone her acting skills. According to Thomas Jr, her besotted father would regularly get involved in school plays, including a production of Damn Yankees!, donating his time and lighting skills to the school for nothing. 'She did a lot of plays,' he told DailyMail.com. 'I remember I would go down and meet my dad and he would be at Immaculate Heart setting up lights, countless times. Thomas Jr says that Meghan as around TV sets and stages from an early age because her father did lights for the soap opera General Hospital. Pictured above, Meghan Markle plays outside with her nephew, Thomas Dooley Thomas Jr says that despite moving to Toronto, Meghan is still quite close with her family members. Pictured above, Meghan plays on a swing in her family's backyard in an old family photo 'He really put a lot of his time into that school, for her and for her friends. He was like the anchor for everybody down there and for her. 'He gave her confidence he would say, 'The whole world is yours, go get it'. That's what my dad did for her.' But while Markle was happy to take center stage in school plays, her brother says that unlike the famously mischievous Prince Harry, she never got caught up in pranks. Instead, he remembers a teenager who was devoted to school and the stage, although she wasn't above the odd comedy moment. 'Her school was the most important thing for her that and the stage,' said Thomas Jr. 'I never saw Meg get in trouble or do anything that might jeopardize her never. She was good. 'There was one very funny moment though, which was when we met at the duck park [in Los Angeles] one day when she was about 13. Thomas Markle Jr now lives in Grant, California, with his girlfriend Darlene Blount 'There were these little dispensers where you put money in and then you go take a bag of corn to go feed the ducks. 'So she did that and I remember she was throwing the food in the water or trying to feed one of the ducks by hand. 'Then one of the ducks nipped her or something like that and she got scared and ran away. She just ran off screaming.' The clan would also meet regularly at weekends, when Markle and her father would be joined by Thomas Jr and his two sons Tyler and Thomas III at their home in Woodland Hills. 'Meghan was always a girly girl and she's always been cute - she's had that since day one, ever since she first stood up on stage and was a natural,' said Thomas Jr. 'She was so photogenic back then and she still is now. Actually, she is even more now. She had a lot of fun with the kids, Thomas and Tyler. She loved playing with them.' Although Markle moved away to study International Studies and Drama at Northwestern University in Illinois after finishing high school, Thomas Jr says she would always come home for birthdays and holidays and remains close to her family today. The family also remained close during her short-lived marriage to producer Trevor Engleson, 40, although Thomas Jr says he still isn't entirely sure what went wrong. Markle is now based in Toronto, where she films the show Suits. She plays lawyer Rachel Zane in the drama. Pictured above is a scene from the show 'He was a nice guy,' he recalled to DailyMail.com. 'I'm not sure what happened with them. They were together for a few years but I'm not quite sure what their falling out was. 'I guess they just decided to go their separate ways. It's a Hollywood thing I guess.' Of Markle's new love, her brother says he hopes things will work out and adds that among the things which impress him about Prince Harry is his decade-long career as a British Army officer, which included service in Afghanistan. 'He looks like a genuinely good man - and he was in the Services as well,' he said. 'He looks happy, he looks like he's stress-free and like he could be a good guy for Meg. 'They get along and that's what matters.' On Markle herself, he added: 'There's been a lot of things said about Markle but it really doesn't matter what people come up with and what they say. 'She's the right girl for the job [of being a princess]. It's not a job but she's the right girl. You couldn't get a more refined, well-rounded person than her. 'Look at them when they look at each other they love each other. So it'll be great, it'll be royal. I just want her to be happy. 'Last time I saw her it was over some family stuff and it was nice, it was good. We spent a long time together, over a weekend a lot of good quality time and it was nice. Many people in the Syrian capital, Damascus, have gone without water for 13 days after government forces accidentally damaged the city's main spring during fighting with rebels. 'I have stopped cleaning the house, washing dishes or clothes. We no longer take showers,' said Mona Maqssoud, a 50-year-old resident of Damascus. She said residents have relied on water tankers that come by occasionally and give 20 litres of water to each house, but she said it was not enough. 'We begged the drivers (to return) to our neighbourhood, but they refused,' said Mrs Maqssoud. Syrian residents filling up buckets and gallons of spring water from a pipe on the side of the road, in Damascus. Water supplies have been largely cut off for nearly two weeks Most areas of the city have been without water since December 22. The Jaish al-Fateh rebel group has long controlled Wadi Barada, the valley northwest of Damascus through which a river flows to the capital. The Barada River and its source, the Ain al-Fijeh spring, supply 70 percent of the water for Damascus. The government and the opposition had previously had an understanding to keep water services running. But last month President Bashar Assad's forces and his allies, the Lebanese Hezbollah fighters, attacked the valley, which is home to around 100,000 people. The two sides blame each other for the cut-off. An activist-run media collective in the Barada Valley said government and Russian aircraft had bombed the Ain el-Fijeh water processing facility, puncturing its fuel depots and contaminating a stream. Images showed the roof of the facility collapsed into the main water basin at the Ain el-Fijeh water processing facility (pictured) The collective said the plant's electrical control systems had been destroyed. Images showed the roof of the facility collapsed into its main water basin. An activist with the group, Abu Mohammed al-Bardawi, said it would take at least two months to get the facilities working again. But the Assad regime said they were forced to shut off the water after the rebels poured diesel into the river. The government denied attacking the water processing facility, saying it would not set out to harm its own population. But it would not be the first time it strikes its own facilities: government strikes hit pumping stations in the northern city of Aleppo in April, September, and November. The battle for resources has always been an undercurrent to the war. The government, in particular, has advertised its efforts to keep electricity and water flowing to areas under its control, while it blocks the UN and other relief agencies from supplying opposition zones. Syrian boys carrying gallons of spring water after they fill them from a pipe on the side of the road, in Damascus But rarely has that struggle been so starkly felt inside the capital. Damascus, the seat of Assad's power, has been spared from the widespread destruction in other parts of the country, though rebels on the outskirts occasionally fire mortar rounds into the city. Hundreds of thousands of Syrians have flocked to the capital seeking its relative security, doubling its population to four million, according to the UN. For its residents, the water cuts are a gruelling reminder of the war beyond. 'If this goes on, I will rent a room at a hotel just to take a shower,' said a 60-year-old woman carrying a pair of buckets back to her apartment on the sixth-floor of a walk-up building. Like many others in the capital, she was filling her basins from distribution points at a parks and mosques. The local press is reporting soaring prices for unregulated private water. Residents are making adjustments to cope. Some are now flushing their toilets with bottled water. Others are dining on disposable tableware as an alternative to doing the dishes. Ground wells around Damascus, even at maximum capacity, can only cover about a third of the minimum water demand of around 600,000 cubic meters a day, according to UNICEF spokeswoman Juliette Touma. The agency has rehabilitated some 200 wells around the capital since 2011, partially insuring the government against the effects of its own Barada Valley campaign. This year, UNICEF funded $50 million in water projects in Syria. The Barada Valley is surrounded by all sides by the Syrian army and Hezbollah forces, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the conflict. Syrian residents filling up buckets and gallons of spring water from a pipe on the side of the road, in Damascus Pro-government forces have kept up their assault with airstrikes, artillery and infantry pushes, despite a Russia and Turkey-brokered cease-fire that went into effect Friday. The government and the Observatory say fighters loyal to al-Qaida are present in the valley, and the militant are not included in the cease-fire. Local residents say there are no al-Qaida fighters in the valley. 'Most of the food depots have now been struck and burned,' said al-Bardawi. 'They are striking the schools we are using for shelters.' Last month pro-government media reported efforts by officials to reach a so-called 'reconciliation agreement' with the towns and villages of Barada Valley, under which thousands of dissidents, military defectors and draft-dodgers would leave in exchange for the valley submitting to government control. The opposition and the UN have likened these sorts of agreements to forced displacement. Such deals were reached in other areas around the capital under the pressure of years of government bombardment and siege. Barada opposition fighters and councils have held out against any settlement. Activists say they believe that prompted the renewed government assault. Opposition forces have retaliated by choking a natural gas pipeline to Damascus to pressure the government to stop its offensive, compounding the woes of the resource starved capital. A group of rebels calling themselves the Coalition for the Joint Defence of Syria filmed themselves cutting the gas to the capital at an isolated station outside the capital on Thursday. President Barack Obama will pay congressional Democrats a rare visit tomorrow on Capitol Hill. The outgoing president will meet with members of his party on Wednesday morning on their turf to personally prep them for the fight with the new administration over his signature law, Obamacare. Vice President-elect Mike Pence will be on the Hill tomorrow, too, huddling with his party about repeal and replacement efforts. Senate Republicans have already introduced legislation to scrap the parts of the law they don't like through a process known as reconciliation that only requires a simple majority of lawmakers to process. President Barack Obama will pay congressional Democrats a rare visit tomorrow on Capitol Hill The move will keep Democrats from blocking the legislative action that would require 50 votes to overcome a filibuster under the regular rules. Democrats have no chance of convincing Republicans to ditch the repeal effort they campaigned on for six years. They could slow it down by playing up Republicans' bickering over a replacement strategy. And they can set the stage for Republican defeat in the midterm elections by emphasizing the disorganization of of the party that took the Affordable Care Act away. Obama will advise Democrats on how to properly message the benefits of the law so that Republicans will have more difficulty taking some of the provisions away. 'There are stiff headwinds that we have encountered in trying to make the argument in favor of the Affordable Care Act,' White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said Tuesday. The Obama spokesman said 'the one thing that has proved to be true is that the more the people understand what's included in the Affordable Care Act and how they benefit from it, the more popular the program is, and the harder it is for Republicans to have political support for tearing it down.' Earnest's comments came after House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi stated on a Monday call with other party leaders 'that if there is one thing I wouldve done differently about the Affordable Care Act right from the start was to message it in a much stronger way, to recognize the poisoning of the well that the Republicans were doing.' Vice President-elect Mike Pence will be on the Hill tomorrow, too, huddling with his party about repeal and replacement efforts 'Right now, because of the fear that is being instilled by the Republicans, it is necessary for us to make that fight,' she said, explaining why Democrats are spending so much time talking about the law. 'I would just say to the American people: take a second look, take a second look.' President-elect Trump took aim the health care law this morning on Twitter. 'People must remember that ObamaCare just doesn't work, and it is not affordable - 116% increases (Arizona). Bill Clinton called it "CRAZY",' he said. A follow-up message read, 'The Democrat Governor.of Minnesota said "The Affordable Care Act (ObamaCare) is no longer affordable!" - And, it is lousy healthcare.' Trump has not released a detailed plan for replacement legislation. Senior aide Kellanne Conway said Trump wants to replace it with something that is 'more fair'. The president-elect has said he'd like to keep a provision that allows dependents to stay on their parents' healthcare plans until they turn 26. It's one of the most popular parts of the bill and congressional Republicans have also said they don't want to strike it. Republicans could get rid of the Obamacare law as early as next week but keep it in effect until the beginning of 2018, or longer, while they sort out a replacement. Democrats and calling the 'repeal and delay' strategy 'cynical'. Some Republicans are arguing that it would cost the party politically. The outgoing president will meet with members of his party on Wednesday morning on their turf to personally prep them for the fight with the new administration over his signature law, Obamacare Steny Hoyer, House Democrats' top vote counter, said on the Monday call 'that its a very cynical, political approach.' 'Its essentially an admission that what theyve been trying to do for the last six years would be very detrimental and would have not only an extraordinarily adverse health effect on the American people, but also a very adverse political effect when the American people see the results of the repeal,' Hoyer stated. The Democratic lawmaker said Republicans want to delay the effects of Obamacare repeal 'so they do not have to bear the political responsibility of the consequences.' Pelosi chimed it to say that 'the repeal and delay is an act of cowardice on the part of Republicans.' The Democratic leader said Republicans 'have shown nothing in their ranting and raving that shows any level of knowledge of where they would go, where they would take this except to say: if you need a subsidy and youre part of the exchanges, youre off. 'And they say that they want to keep preexisting condition provision. Well, if you have that without the rest of the bill, you will have a very big, expensive policy that you probably cant afford,' she said. 'Thats why people didnt have it before because they couldnt afford it before.' Republican Sen. Rand Paul warned members of his party in an-oped today of the risks of rescinding Obamacare before they're ready to introduce back-up legislation. 'If Congress fails to vote on a replacement at the same time as repeal, the repealers risk assuming the blame for the continued unraveling of Obamacare,' he said on conservative news site Rare. 'For mark my words, Obamacare will continue to unravel and wreak havoc for years to come.' Republicans could get rid of the Obamacare law as early as next week but keep it in effect until the beginning of 2018, or longer, while they sort out a replacement The White House mocked Republicans today for dissent within the ranks about how to repeal and replace the health law. 'It's not surprising to me that there are some Republicans who are now a little queasy about the prospect of the impact that repealing Obamacare would have on their own supporters, on people in their congressional districts,' Earnest said. 'And the prospect of taking it away is a question of life or death for some people, and - so it's not surprising to me that that does leave some Republicans queasy.' Earnest insisted that Obama's motivation for heading to the Hill tomorrow was to help Democrats try to save coverage for 22 million people, not his reputation. 'There's a lot of discussion about the president's legacy, that some people might think that well, the president's very concerned about the political capital that he's invested in this and he doesn't want to see it all go away,' Earnest said. 'That's certainly true. He said 'the president's priority,' though is helping Obamacare enrollees keep their coverage. Senate Republicans introduced a resolution to repeal Obamacare as soon as the new legislative session started today. 'This is the first step toward relief for Americans struggling under Obamacare,' House Speaker Paul Ryan said in response. 'This resolution sets the stage for repeal followed by a stable transition to a better health care system. Ryan said the goal 'is to ensure that patients will be in control of their health care and have greater access to quality, affordable coverage' and today's announcement was the beginning of the fulfillment of that promise. Vice President-elect Pence told reporters this morning that he'd speak to Republican members tomorrow about Obamacare and 'how we can move forward an agenda to make America great again.' 'Were focused on repealing and replacing Obamacare,' he said. 'We look forward to legislation that will give us the tools to roll back the avalanche of red tape and regulation that have been stifling American jobs.' Senate Republicans introduced a resolution to repeal Obamacare as soon as the new legislative session started today. 'This is the first step toward relief for Americans struggling under Obamacare,' House Speaker Paul Ryan said in response Continuing, Pence, a former lawmaker, said, 'The President elect has a very clear message for Capitol Hill, and that is, its time to get to work. And its time to keep our word to the American people and make this country great again, make it prosperous again.' Democratic messaging efforts will center on the law's extension of healthcare to 20 million Americans, benefits the law offered to women, children and seniors and the price tag associated with repeal. Tossing out the healthcare law could increase Medicare costs by $802 billion over 10 years, the Congressional Budget Office has said. Republicans, led by Ryan, have said that Medicare will go belly up in 10 years without reforms, however, and they're deciding now whether to tackle the problem now, as part of Obamacare repeal, or as a separate issue at a later date. Ryan wants to see a private option introduced to give seniors more healthcare options and create a competitive market that would bring costs down, as well. GOP proposals to raise the retirement age and introduce means testing to Medicare have been controversial, and some lawmakers want to keep that effort separate from the legislative effort to replace Obamacare. The House leader has said Medicare reform and changes to Obamacare go hand in hand. 'Medicare has got some serious problems because of Obamacare,' Ryan said after the election. 'Those things are part of our plan to replace Obamacare.' Democratic Congressman Rich Neal said on the Monday call that he believes the entitlement program, along with Medicaid, is now entangled with Obamacare, too. President-elect Trump took aim the health care law this morning on Twitter Bill Clinton was arguing in favor of a public option when he said the current system is 'crazy' in the speech Trump referred to on Twitter - not railing against Obamacare The solution is not to ax them, though, it's to implement the government-run healthcare program Democrats have wanted for decades. 'I think that Medicare, the ACA and Medicaid are now wed. And you cant alter one without disrupting the others. And I think that this takes us to the path that weve all envisioned and thats universal healthcare,' he stated. Pelosi came in behind him, saying they are now 'wedded.' Bill Clinton was arguing in favor of a public option when he said the current system is 'crazy' in the speech Trump referred to on Twitter Tuesday. 'As time goes on, it's obvious that the adversaries of health care, who didn't want there to be a public option, and have voted 57 times to repeal it, are trying to use a problem that the bill has or a class of people that haven't been helped, and they worked hard to make sure those people didn't get helped,' he said in other remarks that week. Had the law been passed with a public option, like the president wanted, 'we wouldn't be dealing with this,' Bill said. An American hiker who died last week on the Matterhorn in Switzerland has been identified as a father-of-four facing child pornography charges in Pennsylvania. Swiss authorities said it appeared Patrick James Harper 'for an undetermined reason' fell to his death along a steep, icy slope at least 500 feet high on December 26. His body was reportedly taken off the mountain by helicopter. Harper, 52, from Penn Township was charged in November with 52 child pornography counts, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. He faced a preliminary hearing on Wednesday. It's unclear when he was scheduled to return to the states. Hiker Patrick Harper of Pennsylvania was facing 52 child pornography counts back home in the states when he decided to take a vacation while out on bond Harper was out on $10,000 bond and reportedly on vacation with his wife, Beth. Butler County District Attorney Richard Goldinger said that while Harper wasn't technically violating the terms of his bail, it is 'unusual' for someone to leave the country so close to a hearing date, and said 'I question what he was doing there,' according to the Butler Eagle. The hearing would have determined whether Harper went to trial. According to the affidavit, it is alleged he told police that he had 400 or 500 still images and about a dozen videos. He said he had erased them off his computer the day he was interviewed. Harper was reportedly climbing the Matterhorn in Zermatt (above) when he fell to his death Harper was caught in a child porn sting in 2014. According to police, he was downloading child porn via BitTorrent and admitted to investigators that he had downloaded child porn on to his laptop. Harper was an avid hiker, skier and climber. Apparently he was on the mountain alone when he went on to a snowy trail closed to tourists. Harper was in Switzerland with his wife, Beth, according to Harper's mother - but apparently was hiking alone when he fell His mother, Pat Fickess, said her son wanted to take photos in the same spots in which he'd taken them when he climbed the mountain in 2007, according to USA Today. 'He had made it to the top and was coming down,' she told the outlet. 'They told me it was icy, and the wind came up.' His wife, Beth was also a fan of the Matterhorn. to be moving into a $5.5million home located on Tracy Place Couple plus their three children is Advertisement As the new first family gears up for the big move to Washington, D.C., Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner may have found a new home for their family in the nation's capital. The 35-year-old businesswoman and her real estate mogul husband have completed a deal for a beautiful home in an elite neighborhood, according to the Washingtonian. Numerous real estate sources say that Ivanka and her family will be moving to the Kalorama neighborhood of the city, as the 94-year-old recently renovated home the couple is said to be moving into is just blocks away from the Obamas who are said to move into that area once they leave the White House. Big move ahead: Ivanka Trump and her husband, Jared Kushner, are set to make a big move to Washington, D.C., as her father prepares to take office in the coming weeks. The family of five is pictured above including children, Arabella, Joseph and Theodore New beginnings: As the new first family gears up for the big move to Washington, D.C., Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner may have found a new home (above) for their family in the nation's capital Fresh: The 35-year-old businesswoman and her real estate mogul husband are rumored to have completed a deal for a beautiful home in an elite neighborhood. Above is the living area inside the home the couple is rumored to be moving into Natural: Numerous real estate sources say that Ivanka and her family will be moving to a home on Tracy Place (above) in the Kalorama neighborhood. Above natural light can be seen flooding inside the home she's reportedly moving into New neighbors?: The home Ivanka is said to be moving into is located just blocks away from the Obamas who are said to move into that area once they leave the White House Modern: The home Trump and Kushner are said to be moving into soon sold in December for a cool $5.5million. Above a large dining area is pictured inside the couple's potential new abode Future: The gourmet chef's kitchen inside the home is complete with a stainless steel refrigerator and finishings, as hundreds of meals in the future for the family of five will likely be prepared inside the home Washington Fine Properties Executive Vice President William F.X. Moody represented both the buyer and the seller in the deal. 'It's so close to downtown, and it's about as tony as a neighborhood gets,' Moody told News4. He would not confirm the address, but dozens of real-estate sources said the six-bedroom home located within the 2000 block of Tracy Place that was sold in December for a cool $5.5million is where they will be living, according to the Washingtontian. It's unclear if the couple purchased the home outright or if they will be renting it from the buyers. The lavish modern mansion is complete with 6.5 bathrooms and has plenty of space for hosting a large number of family and friends. Spacious: The six-bedroom home located at 2000 block of Tracy Place has plenty of space for the family of five. Above one of the bedrooms is pictured inside the DC abode Cozy: The gorgeous home was recently renovated with classic details that will surely prove to be perfect for the new First Daughter and her husband Growing up: The Trump and Kushner children will seemingly spend the next four years growing up inside the new home, as there is plenty of space for the three children There's also a lovely garden terrace on the second floor of the home that can be accessed via the master bedroom. In addition, the 6,870 square foot home was recently renovated with classic details that includes a gourmet chef's kitchen with table space. The pricey home also has a library, sun-room, a garden that also has irrigation for it, as well as a two car garage. Flawless: The flawless abode where the family is said to be moving to is complete with 6.5 bathrooms, as the one above has both a glass shower and lovely bathtub Perfection: The home's nice-sized windows offer plenty of natural light to flood in, as the bathroom above appears to be perfectly lit Study time: The pricey home also has a library, where Ivanka and Jared's children will likely spend a lot of time studying hard if the couple does indeed move in To stay cozy during the winter months, the new First Family is likely to make use of the five fireplaces inside the large residence that was built in 1923. The real estate agency who helped the couple reportedly find the home in the tony neighborhood also assisted with others who are apart of the incoming administration. Commerce Secretary nominee, Wilbur Ross, purchased a home for $12million through Washington Fine Properties, as well as Treasury Secretary pick, Steve Mnuchin whose home is located in the Massachusetts Avenue Heights area. It's unclear what role the mother-of-three or her husband will play in the new administration. Sizable: The couple's three young children are sure to have plenty of space inside the residence, as the room above is wide open and could be transformed into a beautiful play room for the children Relaxing: The palatial D.C. home also includes a sun-room, a garden that also has irrigation for it, as well as two car garage. The room above is sure to be a relaxing space for the new residents of D.C. It was reported in December that the couple would be planning to move to the nation's capital. The former fashion model has said that she hopes to influence several policy areas, including child care for working mothers and maternity leave. Advertisement Property prices in Sydney are soaring by a rate of $10,000 a month with home values doubling in just the last eight years. Sydney has been dubbed the 'New York of Australia' where only white collar professionals or people who have inherited money can afford to buy a home. With the city's median house price sitting at a daunting $852,000, CoreLogic data shows Sydney's dwelling values have almost doubled, rising by 97.5 per cent since the global financial crisis. A three-bedroom weatherboard house in Parramatta bought for $535,000 in 2011 sold in December for $1,060,000. The property is currently being rented for $850 a week Sydney has been dubbed the 'New York of Australia' where only white collar professionals or people who have inherited money can afford to buy a home (Parramatta property pictured) Sydney's median house price is more than double Brisbane's $486,000 and easily trumps Melbourne's $641,000, according to the data (Parramatta property pictured) Sydney's median house price is more than double Brisbane's $486,000 and easily trumps Melbourne's $641,000, according to the data. Australian property mogul John McGrath likened Sydney to the notoriously expensive Manhattan, and said he was surprised by the pace of the market since 2009. 'Sydney is the New York of Australia,' he told realestate.com.au. 'Like in Manhattan, people just accept that if they want the lifestyle, they'll have to rent.' Recent sales in Sydney's west, where housing prices have ballooned 147 per cent in some areas in just the last five years, show the staggering rate of growth. A three-bedroom weatherboard house in Parramatta bought for $535,000 in 2011 sold in December for $1,060,000. The property is currently being rented for $850 a week. A three-bedroom cottage in Pagewood, in Sydney's east (pictured) sold in June for $1.43million. It sold for $510,000 in 2007 Recent sales in Sydney's west, where housing prices have ballooned 147 per cent in some areas in just the last five years, show the staggering rate of growth (Pagewood property pictured) A three-bedroom cottage in Pagewood, in Sydney's east sold in June for $1.43million. It sold for $510,000 in 2007. Head of research at CoreLogic, Tim Lawless said the rate of growth does present challenges for first home buyers. 'Sydneysiders saw dwelling values increase by approximately $10,000 per month over the past year, creating a significant boost in wealth for home owners,' he said. 'At the same time we've seen mounting affordability challenges for aspiring home owners.' It's part of politics, kissing babies, but one particular infant didn't get the memo when outgoing Vice President Joe Biden went in for a smooch. The 10-month-old, who belonged to the family of Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., went for the head fake as Biden leaned in and cooed. The vice president recovered from the rejection by carrying on in a whisper with Burr's granddaughter. 'We're having a conversation,' he told the family, as the child squeaked out a cry. This was one of the handful of memorable moments from today's swearing-in ceremony in the Senate, in which the veep with only 17 days in his term left lived up to his reputation as 'America's uncle.' Scroll down for video HEY BABY: Vice President Joe Biden tried to make nice with a baby belonging to the family of North Carolina Republican Sen. Richard Burr Joe Biden locked eyes with the infant during today's swearing-in ceremony for U.S. senators on Capitol Hill The vice president went in for a smooch, but missed his mark, as the baby bobbed her head forward seeming to care less Not accepting the rejection, the vice president continued to whisper at the small child, telling the family 'We're having a conversation!' The Senate Chamber is used for the official swearing-in ceremonies, but Senate rules limit cameras, so the vice president does the whole thing again with the families present and poses for pictures after each senator comes through. Today Biden found himself striking out with some of the children. Besides the head-faking baby, two-year-old Abigail, the daughter of incoming Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., didn't look so pleased when the vice president came in for a tickle. 'How you doing Abigail. She's saying "when's this over, Mom?"' Biden said as the little girl rode in on her mom's lap as the military veteran rolled up in her wheelchair. Relations between the toddler and the veep warmed up later as Duckworth asked her daughter to blow the vice president an air kiss. She did and the vice president blew an air kiss right back. Vice President Joe Biden was also rejected by the two-year-old daughter of Sen. Tammy Duckworth. He went in for a tickle. Abigail, Duckworth's daughter, wasn't impressed Joe Biden took a selfie with the family of Sen. Richard Blumenthal at today's mock swearing-in ceremony of senators on Capitol Hill All smiles: Biden takes a selfie with Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., left, and his children Claire and David Biden also brought out his famous 'finger guns' and instructed several sons and grandsons of senators to 'keep the boys away from your sister.' 'Who's got the camera? Who's got the selfie camera?' he remarked as he made Sen. Richard Blumenthal's family crouch together for a selfie. When it was Sen. Marco Rubio's turn, Biden decided to push the Florida Republican and former presidential contender out of the frame momentarily, so he could just pose for a picture with Rubio's four young kids. He occasionally got political too. When he saw Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., re-elected for a sixth term, Biden uttered, 'Thank God, you're here John.' Biden, right, talks to Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind., and his kids during swearing-in ceremony in the Capitol's Old Senate Chamber US Senate Oath of Office ceremony, Washington DC Biden, center, greets Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and his brother-in-law Father Claude Pomerleau, during the swearing-in ceremony Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., is administered an oath as his wife Iris Weinshall looks on, by Vice President Joe Biden during the swearing-in ceremony McCain, along with his Senate buddy Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., has already been putting pressure on President-elect Donald Trump over the future White House occupant's cozy relationship with Russia and unwillingness to connect the Kremlin with the election year hacks, which mainly targeted Democrats. 'I'm so glad you ran again, I really am,' Biden told McCain, as a testament to their across-the-aisle friendship. In another show of bipartisan support, when Biden saw longtime Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and his wife, he smooched Barbara Grassley right on her lips. And in another, he made up a creative compliment for Sen. Richard Shelby's wife, Annette. 'You're not vertical, you're beautiful,' Biden told the Alabama Republican's spouse. 'I'm the only Irish man you're going to find that doesn't drink,' he told members of Sen. Patty Murray's family. 'I'm kind of boring,' he added. Just 4% of voters believe the press regulator should be funded by donations from wealthy individuals, such as Max Mosley, who has given 3.8m to Impress Only 4 per cent of voters think a Press regulator should be funded by donations from wealthy individuals and trusts, such as that set up by the shamed motor racing tycoon Max Mosley. By contrast, almost half of the public believe that the regulator should be funded by the newspaper industry itself, a survey found. The YouGov poll also placed Press regulation at the bottom of a list of priorities for the Government over the next few years. Only 1 per cent said it should be the top issue for ministers, compared with 53 per cent who said they should focus on leaving the EU. Other top priorities were health (48 per cent), immigration and asylum (45 per cent) and the economy (44 per cent). Culture Secretary Karen Bradley is holding a consultation on Press regulation, which is due to close next Tuesday. At the heart of the issue is whether Mrs Bradley should implement section 40 of the Crime and Courts Act. Under section 40, newspapers that refuse to sign up to a State-backed regulator which would end 300 years of Press freedom would be forced to pay the costs in libel cases, even if they won. The only State-approved regulator Impress is almost entirely reliant on Mr Mosley, who has given 3.8million towards its running costs. The multi-millionaire ex-Formula One boss has been a vocal supporter of shackles on the Press since being exposed by the News of the World for taking part in a sado-masochistic orgy with prostitutes. Most newspapers, including the Daily Mail, are instead members of the independent regulator IPSO, which is free of State control. Crucially, IPSO is funded by its members which is the model suggested by Lord Justice Leveson's report into Press standards in November 2012. The YouGov poll found that 49 per cent of the public agree that a Press regulator should be funded by the industry, while only 4 per cent believe that a regulator should be funded by a wealthy individual or trust, as is the case with Impress. Some 25 per cent said the regulator should be funded by the Government, through taxes, while 22 per cent said they did not know. The News Media Association, which represents newspaper publishers, commissioned the poll of 1,632 adults. Culture Secretary Karen Bradley is holding a consultation on Press regulation and whether to implement section 40 of the Crime and Courts Act The Government is also consulting on whether part two of the Leveson Inquiry, which would look at the police and Press, should go ahead. Lynne Anderson, deputy chief executive of the association, said: 'This survey demonstrates conclusively that a regulatory regime led by Impress which is completely reliant upon funding from one wealthy individual, Max Mosley cannot command the confidence of the public. 'It is also abundantly clear from the poll that there is no public appetite for further activity from the Government in this area such as the reopening of the Leveson Inquiry when there are more pressing priorities.' Mr Mosley claimed it was 'eminently fair for newspapers to have to pay costs in a court case even if they win' as a means of encouraging low cost arbitration for complainants despite local newspapers warning it could drive them out of business. Seth Johnson died aged 7-years-of-age. His parents are charged with child neglect A couple have been charged with neglect in the death of their adopted seven-year-old son, who died in 2015 with various ailments after they allegedly refused to take him to a doctor. Timothy D. Johnson, 39, and Sarah N. Johnson, 38, were charged in Hennepin County, Minnesota last week with gross-misdemeanor child neglect in connection with the death of son Seth Johnson, according to Star Tribune. Johnson allegedly died in agony on a vomit-stained bed from an inflamed pancreas and various infections while at the family's home in Plymouth on March 30, 2015. The extremely religious parents had 'issues with going to doctors' said the criminal complaint. They allegedly never sought medical attention for their child's various ailments, including cuts and bruises that seemed to have become infected. The complaint said the home schooled boy was also severely physically underdeveloped. The weekend before he died, Seth was left in the care of his 16-year-old brother while his parents were out of town at a wedding, said the outlet. According to police, authorities were called to the 6100 block of Vicksburg Lane N. about 7:40am and found Timothy Johnson giving CPR to Seth, who lay on the bathroom floor. He was already dead. Attending police said the boy had bruises all over his body and 'skin breaks' on the majority of his body. Parents told law enforcement that the boy had behavioral issues and would throw himself down the stairs. Seth died of acute pancreatitis and possible sepsis after his parents refused to take him to a doctor, said police, and instead prayed for him and gave him vitamins They said in the weeks leading up to his death, he developed lesions, blisters, would shake, and stopped sleeping. Despite all of this, the parents never sought medical help, say police. Instead, they gave him vitamins, antibiotic ointment, and 'medicinal honey.' The parents diagnosed him as having PTSD and traumatic brain injury. His condition worsened. While the parents were out of town, Seth's teenage brother called them to tell them that Seth wasn't speaking and couldn't get out of bed. The parents thought about leaving the wedding, but once they learned the boy had eaten some Cheerios, decided to stay. When they returned home the next day, Seth was unresponsive on the floor and instead of calling 911, the parents prayed, according to police. They then tried to feed him some pizza, bathed him, and put him on a mattress. According to the couple, they thought about getting medical help but decided to wait until morning. By morning, it was too late. According to the Hennepin County Medical Examiner's report, the boy's cause of death was acute pancreatitis and possible sepsis, reports KSTP. Hennepin County District Court, Minnesota where the hearing will take place The blisters on his legs were consistent with bullous impetigo. On the boy's obituary, he is described as dying 'unexpectedly.' The parents also set up an online fundraising page that described Seth as being a 'very quiet and hurting little boy' who was adopted by the family at age three. The fundraiser raised $7,680, above the goal. A shared Facebook page that says it belongs to them wrote: 'You. Our dear friends & family. Have carried us through these last 2 weeks... We couldn't walk, we didn't know how to get out of bed... And you came. You stood by us, you took us by the hand, you fed us, watched over our children, loved them, cleaned our home, prayed for us & over us.' 'You came together as the body of Christ and provided for us spiritually, emotionally, physically & financially. In this time of devastation, weakness, heartbrokenness... You came. We are thankful for you...' At the height of David Camerons botched negotiations with the EU in the run-up to the referendum, the British ambassador in Brussels, Sir Ivan Rogers, had another tantrum. In increasingly heated exchanges in emails and curt telephone calls with political aides in Downing Street the Foreign Office mandarin threatened to resign. Again. Oxford-educated Rogers was said to be contemptuous of people, especially politicians, whom he regarded as his intellectual inferiors. Sir Ivan Rogers (pictured, right) threatened to resign at the height of David Cameron's key negotiations with the EU in the run-up to the referendum He would send emails that were the stuff of legend, one Downing Street aide was quoted saying in All Out War, a new book on the referendum campaign. I lost count of the times he threatened to resign, he said. When he told Downing Street he was quitting yesterday there was no attempt to persuade him to stay. Quite the contrary, Theresa May and David Davis, the Brexit Secretary, will have breathed sighs of relief. After months of bickering and disagreements, not to mention even more acrimonious emails, they were tiring of Rogers, a staunch and uncompromising supporter of Britains membership of the EU. The only surprise is that it took Rogers so long to agree to go. He presided over the negotiations before the referendum, which were an utter failure, so it was surprising that he didnt leave with Cameron, says a senior political source. Neither Mrs May nor her Brexit Secretary expected him to stick around. He never believed in what we were doing, and never tried to hide the fact. The PM is hugely optimistic, he is a gloomy pessimist. Its so draining. He was like a grieving man who couldnt come to terms with the fact the British people voted for Brexit. Sir Ivan Rogers (pictured) was said to be contemptuous of people, especially politicians, whom he regarded as his intellectual inferiors Instead of coming with us he dug in his heels, fought us on everything, telling everyone the PM is too thin-skinned to accept the EU wont deliver what she wants. He was shown the way to the door. It was a matter of time before he walked through it. So it seems the writing had been on the wall for months for a man some say was a sour and sullen presence at the Brexit discussions. Someone with more emotional intelligence would have cottoned on a bit sooner, says the source. With his contract up for renewal in November, the diplomat knew there was no prospect of being asked to stay on, so he fell on his sword. He will move into another comfortable Whitehall sinecure, but will lose his luxurious grace-and-favour home in Brussels. The resignation is another political scalp for David Davis, a former SAS reservist, who saw off several Labour home secretaries when he was their shadow in the Tories opposition years. Clever, tough, and a veteran Eurosceptic, his last job in government was Europe minister under Sir John Major. A political bruiser in more ways than one, Daviss distinctive flat nose is the result of breaking it five times three times playing rugby, once in a swimming accident, and once in a fight on Clapham Common. He was always going to be a match for the scruffy, donnish Rogers who is a classic Sir Humphrey Appleby, the fictional diplomat from Yes Minister. Rogers, 56, was educated at Balliol College, Oxford. A career civil servant, his appointment in 2013 as Permanent Representative of the United Kingdom to the European Union, to give him his full moniker, was always provocative to Eurosceptics, since even a cursory glance at his CV speaks volumes about his allegiances. He was principal private secretary to Ken Clarke, the former Tory Chancellor, whose passion for the EU cost him his chance of becoming Tory leader. Clarke was the only Tory MP to vote last month against giving the PM the authority to trigger Article 50, which begins the formal divorce from the EU. Rogers also served as chief of staff to the former vice-president of the European Commission, the late Lord Brittan. Clarke and Brittan were champions of Britain joining the euro, and of closer political integration with Brussels. Rogers, who was knighted last year a standard procedure for senior civil servants also served as principal private secretary to Tony Blair, who is now talking of setting up a pressure group to block Brexit. He makes little secret of his disdain of Tory Eurosceptics. He hated the idea of dancing to their tune in the Brexit negotiations, says one senior Tory. While Rogers conceded the Eurosceptics were right to say the EU was in urgent need of reform, he was aghast at the Brexit result because he had become a fully paid-up member of the Brussels Establishment. Married with two children, he spent five years outside the Civil Service working in the City for Citigroup, heading up their Brussels arm, and with Barclays Capital. He was made David Camerons EU adviser in 2011, and ambassador two years later on a salary of 175,000. Thus it fell to Rogers to mastermind Camerons renegotiation with the other 27 EU leaders before the referendum. Even the former prime ministers most ardent supporters concede his efforts were a miserable failure. He diluted Camerons attempts to win significant reforms by repeatedly warning that they would be rejected by Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor. This world view meant that he appears to have taken a negative stance on Brexit which made Downing Street increasingly restless. When, last month, it was leaked to the BBC that he had warned ministers it could take ten years to negotiate a free trade deal with Europe, Brexiteers were enraged though there was also a suspicion his comments had been leaked from within Whitehall to undermine him. There would be an agreed line between us and the team in Brussels, says another Whitehall source. It was felt that he would go off message and give his own views, which made things impossible. Hundreds of thousands of Southern Rail passengers will be left out of pocket after the company refused to compensate them for problems caused by nearly a year of strike misery on the network. Severe delays and cancellations have forced passengers to pay for hotels, taxis, rental accommodation, childcare fees and missed medical appointments. None of this expenditure will be reimbursed by the rail firm. The blow came as Southern Rail warned its long-suffering customers to not travel at all during a week-long strike starting on Monday and has admitted it is still has no alternative travel arrangements in place. Hundreds of thousands of Southern Rail passengers will be left out of pocket after the company refused to compensate them The companys 300,000 passengers can apply online for their daily tickets or season tickets to be reimbursed after delays of 15 minutes or more, but any resulting expenditure will not be. This means commuters wont be reimbursed for using alternatives such as taxis or hire-cars. And parents who are late home wont have their extra childcare costs covered. Commuters wont be reimbursed for using alternatives such as taxis or hire-cars during strikes The same applies to those who are carers for elderly relatives and those who have missed medical appointments. BA cabin crew announce walkout dates British Airways cabin crew have announced dates for a 48-hour strike. The airline has not ruled out disruption to flights as a result of the walkout, which begins on January 10. However, it said it plans to ensure that all our customers travel to their destinations. The strike has been called by the Unite union, run by Red Len McCluskey, who has played a key role in propping up the leadership of Jeremy Corbyn. Unite announced last night that members had opted to strike after it rejected a new pay offer in December. The dispute has arisen because cabin crew who joined BA from 2010 as part of the companys mixed fleet operation were given a different contract to those who had worked there for longer. Unite claims that the mixed fleet contract had been advertised between 21,000 and 25,000, but in reality staff were being paid just over 12,000, plus 3 an hour flying pay. Last night, BA said its pay data for full-time mixed fleet crew between September 1, 2015 and August 31, 2016 showed they all received between 21,151.35 and 27,356.30. Cabin crew had been due to strike on Christmas Day and Boxing Day. The action was later suspended. Advertisement Others have had to fork out thousands of pounds for accommodation when they have been stranded and to ensure they can make it to work on time. This also will not be reimbursed. Passengers stranded at stations or on crowded trains and forced to buy food or drink will also have to cover these costs. The Government announced last year that it will compensate all affected Southern Rail season ticket holders with the equivalent of a months travel around 350. But for many this will be only a fraction of the huge amounts they have had to fork out. A spokesman for Southern Rail whose parent company is Govia Thameslink Railway, owned in turn by bus company Go-Ahead and Keolis, a venture of French rail operator SNCF said: Compensation can be claimed for delays of 15 minutes or more on strike days. However, we are not liable for consequential expenses. Southern Rails network will grind to a halt from Monday to Saturday next week as drivers and conductors begin their latest walkout. Although it is majority-owned by bus firm Go-Ahead, Southern said it has not yet made any back-up travel arrangements. Britain is to increase foreign aid to Pakistan by more than 100million even though it has a space programme and nuclear weapons. The Asian country is now the biggest recipient of UK handouts despite preparing to splash out billions on arms including a new fleet of submarines. It comes after the Mail yesterday revealed how 300million of British taxpayers money is being handed out to Pakistanis on pre-loaded cash cards as part of a scheme dogged by claims of corruption. Scroll down for video Aid: Pakistan will get 100million more from Britain even though it has a space programme (Pictured, people queuing for cash in Peshawar) The allegations have led to renewed calls for the UK to ditch its foreign aid targets when there is a crisis in social care at home. Figures from Britains overseas aid department, the Department for International Development, show total spending on Pakistan will soar by more than 30 per cent this year. Some 441million will be handed to projects in 2016-17, up 105million from 336million in 2015-16. Yet Islamabad has unveiled a massive military spending plan, pumping 654million into the defence budget this year an 11 per cent boost to 6.7billion. The figures do not include money spent on its atomic weapons programme. The country is one of a small number of nuclear powers, and has between 110 and 130 warheads. Pakistan spends around 3.6 per cent of its national income on defence, compared to Britain, which only just fulfils its Nato commitment of at least two per cent. Last year Pakistan announced it would buy eight new submarines at a cost of around 4billion, with the country expected to lavish more than 10billion on new weapons by 2024. Standing in line: These Pakistani families wait at a cashpoint used to withdraw money on cards loaded with funds from British taxpayers Its space programme has successfully launched a satellite and has an annual budget of around 19.5million. Backbenchers have been calling on Theresa May to ditch the Governments commitment to spend 0.7 per cent of national income on overseas aid when there is a crisis in care for the elderly in Britain. Tory MP Peter Bone said last night: These sums of money are eye-watering, especially when they are going to a country that spends a lot on its armed forces and has a space programme. People will ask why their hard-earned money is going in taxes to support something like this when at home they see the problems with social care. It is just plain wrong. Ukips spokesman on international development, Lisa Duffy, said: Our own UK taxpayers are facing more and more cuts on a daily basis whilst we are providing benefits to the citizens of Pakistan. The Mail revealed how 1billion had been doled out in cash in the past five years in an income-boosting scheme funded by UK taxpayers. But an investigation found Pakistani families withdrawing money with cashpoint cards they obtained by paying kickbacks to officials. The Prime Ministers spokesman last night said the system helped focus aid on those who need it, when they need it. The aide said the policy was an investment in our security and claimed there were robust policies in place to protect against fraud and corruption. A Dfid spokesman added: Our investment in Pakistan is making the world a safer place by tackling poverty, improving governance and disrupting serious crime, which left unchallenged breeds violent extremism and drives mass migration. NBC hosts Savannah Guthrie, Hoda Kotb, Kathie Lee Gifford and Chuck Todd shared their excitement on Twitter after the news that Kelly was hired She reportedly asked Fox last minuted for $25million, but they said no Kelly decided not to re-up with Fox News despite their offer of a $20m annual contract to keep hosting The Kelly File, which premiered in October 2013 She will have a triple role at NBC with a daytime news program, a Sunday night news show and will also be part of the network's political coverage 'We hope she enjoys tremendous success in her career and wish her and her family all the best,' said Rupert Murdoch 'I remain deeply grateful to Fox News, to Rupert, Lachlan and James Murdoch, and especially to all of the FNC viewers,' Kelly said in a statement She will continue to host The Kelly File through the week, with Friday being her last day at Fox News blow for Fox News, where Kelly, 46, was seen as the future of the network among a number of networks to sign the Fox News host Megyn Kelly has taken a job with NBC after a heated After announcing she's heading to NBC News for a new 'triple role' at the network, Megyn Kelly showed off a wide smile while in the rain as she looked TV-ready to host one of her final shows on Fox News. The 46-year-old longtime Fox News anchor seemed to be in an upbeat and happy mood, as she was ushered by a doorman to her awaiting chauffeured car. Kelly reportedly asked Fox last minute for a $25million contract to remain at the network, as they allegedly turned down her demand for more money than the rumored $20million she was initially offered, New York Magazine reported. Earlier on Tuesday, a publicist for the host of The Kelly File told CNN Money that Kelly's final day at Fox News will be Friday, though she will not be able to move over to NBC until her current contract expires in July. There has been no word yet from Fox News about which host will replace Kelly next week and if there will be a new program or the show will be renamed The File. News Corp CEO and Chairman Rupert Murdoch released a statement with some kind words for Kelly after learning the news, saying: 'We hope she enjoys tremendous success in her career and wish her and her family all the best.' Kelly also released a rare public statement on Tuesday after news of the NBC deal broke in which she spoke about her new position and gave thanks to everyone at Fox News. 'While I will greatly miss my colleagues at Fox, I am delighted to be joining the NBC News family and taking on a new challenge,' wrote Kelly on Facebook. 'I remain deeply grateful to Fox News, to Rupert, Lachlan and James Murdoch, and especially to all of the FNC viewers, who have taught me so much about what really matters.' That same statement was also posted on her Twitter account, with Kelly writing: 'An ending, and a new beginning...' Scroll down for video New start: After announcing she's heading to NBC News for a new 'triple role' at the network, Megyn Kelly showed off a wide smile while in the rain as she looked TV-ready to host one of her final shows on Fox News Happy: The 46-year-old longtime Fox News anchor seemed to be in an upbeat and happy mood while walking in the rain, as her doorman held an umbrella for her All smiles: The announcement about Kelly's move over to NBC was made on Tuesday, as it's been reported for months she was in talks with other networks Game over: Kelly (above in portrait from May) took the NBC job after a heated battle among a number of networks to sign the Fox News host New friends: Savannah Guthrie shared her excitement about NBC hiring Kelly despite being out on maternity leave, posting a pic from November (above) Booze cruise: Today host Hoda Kotb invited Kelly to join her and Kathie Lee Gifford for a boozey celebration (above) DC buds: Meet the Press moderator Chuck Todd was also quick to tell Kelly how excited he was to work with her at NBC (above) In a statement released on Tuesday, NBC revealed that Kelly will anchor a one hour daytime program running Monday through Friday on the network, along with a Sunday evening news magazine show. She will also be involved in the network's political and breaking news coverage 'Megyn is an exceptional journalist and news anchor, who has had an extraordinary career,' NBC Chairman Andrew Lack said of his high-profile hire. MEGYN'S FAREWELL TO FOX NEWS ' Over a dozen years ago I started at Fox News in a job that would change my life. 'Now, I have decided to end my time at FNC, incredibly enriched for the experiences I've had. 'I have agreed to join NBC News, where I will be launching a new daytime show Monday through Friday, along with a Sunday evening news magazine program. 'I will also participate in NBC's breaking news coverage and its political and special events coverage. 'While I will greatly miss my colleagues at Fox, I am delighted to be joining the NBC News family and taking on a new challenge. 'I remain deeply grateful to Fox News, to Rupert, Lachlan and James Murdoch, and especially to all of the FNC viewers, who have taught me so much about what really matters. 'More to come soon. 'Happy New Year, and God bless.' Advertisement 'Shes demonstrated tremendous skill and poise, and were lucky to have her.' Kelly's decision to not re-up her contract with Fox News, where she has worked for the past 12 years, is a devastating blow for the network. She was reportedly offered an annual salary of over $20million to stay on at the channel, where her program The Kelly File has been a massive ratings success ever since it debuted back in October 2013. Kelly's new colleagues also seem excited about the new addition to their team, with Meet the Press moderator Chuck Todd writing on Twitter: 'Welcome @MegynKelly! No disrespect to others, but hope you are already realizing, there's no place like NBC. Can't wait to work together.' Nightly News anchor Lester Holt also welcomed Kelly with open arms to the Peacock network. 'We're delighted to welcome her to the NBC News family,' Holt said. Savannah Guthrie also shared her excitement despite being out on maternity leave, posting a photo of herself and Kelly on Twitter and saying: Big welcome to @MegynKelly - awesome get for @NBCNews !! May I not be nine months pregnant in the next picture we take side-by-side!' Today host Hoda Kotb also voiced her joy and offered her signature warm welcome to Kelly, writing: '@MegynKelly !!!! So excited you are heading to NBC! Pls stop by and have a glass of Chardonnay wth me and @KathieLGifford xo #welcome !!' Kathie Lee Gifford then retweeted her co-host on the fourth hour of the NBC morning show. There has been no comment from any of Kelly's Fox News colleagues however, including her two closest friends at the network, Dana Perino and Bill Hemmer. The New York Times, who first broke the news, said that it was the triple role that Lack offered Kelly at the network which persuaded her to sign with NBC. She will also be working with the NBC News teams to help develop her weekday news program ahead of its premiere. There is no word on how much money Kelly will be making in her much broader new role at NBC, but it will be less than her Fox News offer. She is currently making $15million for what is now her final year with Fox News according to the Wall Street Journal. Meanwhile, Kelly's move to NBC will not happen until later this summer at the earliest as Kelly's contract with Fox News runs through July of this year. It will also be a relatively easy office move for Kelly, as Fox News headquarters is just two blocks away from Rockefeller Center, which is the home of NBC. It was Vanity Fair that first reported Kelly was in talks with NBC in a story published last month about the 'last-minute suitors' looking to hire Kelly. Uptown girl: Kelly will be moving just two blocks to Rockefeller Center from Fox News Headquarters. She was there in February with husband Doug Brunt for a Fallon appearance The other networks chasing Kelly included ABC and CNN they claimed, along with the news that money was 'less of an issue' for Kelly. CNN President Jeff Zucker was said to be 'moving the Himalayan mountains to get [Kelly]' on the network at the time but could not match the $20million Fox News already had on the table. And while Fox News executives were eager to keep Kelly, others at the network were apparently less fond of the network star. Her non-stop press appearances to promote her memoir Settle For More in November and December reportedly earned Kelly a new nickname at work - 'Me-again.' The news of Kelly's departure from Fox News for a post at NBC now puts to an end months of speculation about the future of the popular host. It also marks a remarkable ascent for Kelly, who got into the field later in life after becoming disillusioned with her career as an attorney. She began shooting up the ranks at Fox News soon after she landed a role as a contributor for the network back in 2004, at which time she was working in their Washington DC office. Kelly began appearing on the network's most popular shows, and by 2007 she was already hosting her own program on the network, America's Newsroom. Three years into that job she got another big promotion, leaving behind Newsroom and her co-host Bill Hemmer for a solo hosting gig on America Live. And after three years in that role Fox News made the announcement that Kelly would be given her own primetime news program. Polite farewell: 'I remain deeply grateful to Fox News, to Rupert, Lachlan and James Murdoch, and especially to all of the FNC viewers,' Kelly said in a statement (l to r: lachlan, Rupert and James Murdoch in March) Battle of the blondes: Donald Trump spent much of the election going after Kelly, but the two made nice in April (above Trump and Kelly shooting her May primetime special) Kelly helped to develop The Kelly File before its premiere at Fox News, and has easily won her time slot over the past three years. Kelly consistently has the number one news program in overall viewers as well as the critical 25 - 54 demo across cable news. News Corp CEO and Chairman Rupert Murdoch made it clear however in October that he believes it would be easy to fill Kelly's spot if she decided to jump ship. '[W]e have a deep bench of talent, many of whom would give their right arm for that spot,' Murdoch told the Wall Street Journal. Kelly largely refused to speak or even comment about her future at Fox News over the past few months. She did however confirm some reports about what Fox News was offering her last month in an interview with The Washington Post. Kelly stressed how happy she was to be at Fox News in that interview, and confirmed that her new boss Lachlan Murdoch did provide her with a 'generous offer' to continue hosting The Kelly File. And while that praise made it appear as if Kelly was likely to say, she also made a point of saying there were 'great options' to consider' later on in the interview. Kelly said that after Murdoch presented her with what the network was prepared to offer her come July, she told him that she wanted time to think things through and make the best decision for herself and her family. 'Oh, my next deal is all about greater balance. I mean, thats - I had professional success, right? Thankfully,' said Kelly. 'And I feel like Im at a level in my business where Ive established myself as a professional. And the one thing I havent managed to do is find a way to achieve a better balance.' She then explained that she would like to have a schedule that allowed her to spend more time with her children at the end of the day and not come home from hosting a live program at 9pm to find the three asleep in bed, as is the case most evenings. Kelly and her second husband, writer Douglas Brunt, have three children - sons Edward Yates, 7, and Thatcher Bray, 3, as well as a 5-year-old daughter, Yardley Evans. Brunt's third book, Trophy Son: A Novel, will be released this May. Family outing: Kelly and her second husband, writer Douglas Brunt, have three children - sons Edward Yates, 7, and Thatcher Bray, 3, as well as a 5-year-old daughter, Yardley Evans (above in October) Thoughts: Kelly posted her statement on Twitter with a bittersweet message about the future (above) This has been a tumultuous year for Fox News, who are now number one in total viewers across all cable. The network stole the top spot away from ESPN thanks in no small part to the recent election. Kelly also became a big past of the election after being attacked multiple times by the Trump campaign, most notably after the first Republican primary debate last August. The attacks on Kelly began after she grilled him about his controversial comments about women. 'You've called women you don't like 'fat pigs,' 'dogs,' 'slobs' and 'disgusting animals,'' Kelly said. 'Does that sound to you like the temperament of a man we should elect as president?' Trump replied: 'Honestly, Megyn, if you don't like it, I'm sorry . . . I've been very nice to you, although I could probably not be, based on the way you have treated me.' He then said of Kelly the following day: 'You could see there was blood coming out of her eyes. Blood coming out of her ... wherever.' Kelly will have a triple role at NBC when she starts later this year The attacks by Trump against Kelly continued for months, and he took to Twitter countless times to lash out at the host or retweet criticisms of her and her show, The Kelly File. He even backed out of a Fox News-sponsored debate in Iowa that she was moderating earlier this year. The two eventually made amends and in May, and Trump appeared on Kelly's primetime special which aired across Fox platforms that same month. Trump was back to his old ways however in late October when he voiced his support for Newt Gingrich after the former Speaker of the House went off on Kelly while appearing on her show. Kelly has continued to not get involved for the most part and usually refuses to engage with Trump. She also urged the audience at a Women in Hollywood event last month to give Trump a chance. That comment came despite the fact that she and her children still have to travel with armed guards due to the threats being made against the host and her family by some Trump supporters. That was not the only big story Kelly found herself a part of either this year, though the other represented a shocking low point for Fox News. She played a crucial role in the ousting of Ailes' as CEO of the network after speaking with a team sent to investigate possible sexual harassment at Fox News following a lawsuit filed by fired host Gretchen Carlson. Kelly did not speak about the ongoing turmoil at the time, deciding to instead save it all for her book. In her memoir Settle For More, Kelly claims that Ailes tried to kiss her against her will, made inappropriate sexual comments in her presence and even told her about some 'very sexy bras' he would like to watch her wear. Kelly also claims that Ailes offered to advance her career soon after she was hired as a legal correspondent for the network in 2005 in exchange for sexual favors. Kelly's decision to go back and add a section detailing Ailes' harassment was made after her book had already been completed and sent off to her publisher. Ailes had already left Fox News by that point as well, with a reported $42million severance package. Key player: In addition to her own show Kelly was involved in special event coverage for Fox News and moderated debates for the network (above with Chris Wallace and Bret Baier in August 2015) Reports had been circulating for months as well claiming that there is little chance that both O'Reilly and Kelly would re-up their contracts, though neither of the two said anything to confirm that claim. The uncertain relationship between the pair made headlines in November after comments O'Reilly made about Kelly during an appearance on CBS This Morning. O'Reilly was asked during his appearance on the morning news show if Kelly might appear on his Fox News program to promote her book, to which he replied: 'I don't know. We'll see if she's going to be on the show or not. I want to be that candid. I'm not that interested in this.' That is when anchor Norah O'Donnell, a longtime friend of O'Reilly's, cut in and asked: 'You're not interested in sexual harassment?' Fox News is the most watched network on cable this year, overtaking ESPN A clearly annoyed and angry O'Reilly replied to this by saying: 'I'm not interested in basically litigating something that is finished that makes my network look bad. Okay? 'I'm not interested in making my network look bad at all. That doesn't interest me one bit.' O'Reilly seemed to be referencing the chapter in Kelly's book where she details former Fox news CEO Roger Ailes' sexual harassment of her and her decision to cooperate with the company's investigation into its CEO this past July. The preternaturally cool and collected Kelly responded to O'Reilly's comments the very next day, during her own appearance on CBS This Morning. 'Well I will say this, I am very proud of the fact that I discussed this with Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch before I wrote this chapter in my book, and we were all on the same page,' she said. 'And it was an important chapter to include and I am proud of them that they feel as I do, that sunlight is the best disinfectant.' Hospital should not collude with ambulance-chasing lawyers, the head of the NHS has warned. Simon Stevens said personal injury claims firms were sucking 440million a year out of the Health Service enough to pay for 15,000 nurses. He was reacting to evidence gathered by the Daily Mail that no win no fee companies are being allowed to target patients inside hospitals. Addenbrookes in Cambridge and Southampton General are even allowing them to hire office space in public concourses. Simon Stevens, head of the NHS, said personal injury claims firms were sucking 440million a year out of the Health Service enough to pay for 15,000 nurses Dozens of other hospitals take money for allowing compensation firms to advertise on NHS-branded information leaflets in casualty units. Mr Stevens, who is chief executive of NHS England, said the commercial deals were corrosive. He added: We need a sense that we practise what we preach, that we dont have ambulance-chasing adverts in our A&E those are things we still need to get right. Latest figures show that lawyers skimmed off for themselves nearly 30 pence out of every pound that the NHS spent on compensating patients who experienced genuine harm. The 440million a year that law firms are sucking out of NHS could otherwise have funded new patient treatments and 15,000 more nurses. Wherever possible lets keep lawyers out of hospital and doctors out of court. Dozens of hospitals take money for allowing compensation firms to advertise on NHS-branded information leaflets in casualty units Pledging action, health minister Lord Prior yesterday described the situation as completely unacceptable. Litigation cases cost the NHS more than 1.5billion a year and guidance clearly states that organisations should not let these companies advertise in their buildings, he said. Seven out of 17 NHS hospitals visited by the Mail have contracts to either advertise or host personal injury law firms. The NHS-branded leaflets, which provide basic advice for problems such as head injuries and nose bleeds, give patients phone numbers for no-win no-fee firms that specialise in medical blunders. The deals prevent law firms from suing the hospitals they are contracted with. Andrew Bridgen, Conservative MP for North West Leicestershire, has been campaigning against advertising in hospitals for years One set of NHS-branded leaflets, which a hospital in Dudley is paid 12,000 a year to display, tells patients: There is no shame in making an honest claim. For years hospitals have been warned in official guidance not to advertise the services of personal injury lawyers. But many trusts, which have the power to make their own decisions on commercial arrangements, have ignored the guidance, which has no legal force. Hospitals in Birmingham, Dudley, Bristol and Merseyside display marketing materials for personal injury lawyers in their waiting rooms, most often printed on the back of information leaflets branded with NHS logos. Two marketing companies BOE Publishing and Pro Vision Systems have more than 300 contracts between them to supply leaflets to hospital sites, and sell advertising space on the leaflets. Andrew Bridgen, Tory MP for North West Leicestershire, has been campaigning against the advertising deals for years. He said: This is completely immoral. These hospitals are feeding the monster that is devouring it. They think they have safeguards in place that the companies cant sue the hospitals they are dealing with but if they believe those claims are not being passed on to another party, they are living in dream land. Centrelink staff will be given 'aggression training' as vulnerable Australians claim they have been hounded by debt collectors for money they don't owe. The government welfare agency has sent out 169,000 debt recovery notices over the past six months after introducing a new automated data matching system. Countless Australians have complained they have been sent the bills in error - and the Commonwealth Ombudsman has now been called in. Amidst the backlash, the Department of Human Services has been in touch with private contractors to provide staff with 'Advanced Customer Aggression Training Services', ABC reports. Centrelink staff will be given 'aggression training' as vulnerable Australians claim they have been hounded by debt collectors for money they don't owe. The Commonwealth Ombudsman has been called in (stock image) Social media has been flooded with complaints the phone lines have not been working, with one welfare recipient claiming to have attempted to reach Centrelink by phone 306 times at 10.30 in the morning The Department said it was 'seeking providers suitably qualified to deliver high quality Advanced Customer Aggression Training Services to the Department's Customer Facing Staff, Team Leaders and Managers'. WHAT'S THE CONTROVERSY? Centrelink has sent out 169,000 debt notices over the last six months using an automated system, which matches data from different agencies. Many have claimed their debts are false. The system also divides total annual incomes from a year by 26 fortnights to create an average income - even if a person was not working for the period they were on welfare. This has caused people who were not earning any income for a period to be told they owe money because they earned an average income. Others said the system thought they had been working full-time work instead of one because of slight spelling differences. Advertisement The training would be provided to Centrelink, Medicare and Child Support staff, according to a contract tender released in December. But the Department told ABC the concept was not new, and said training was required every four years. Following the complaints, the Commonwealth Ombudsman has been called into investigate the new system. Independent MP Andrew Wilkie has asked the ombudsman to step in after receiving more than 100 complaints to his electoral office about problems with the debt recovery process. 'The government has terrified countless people, ruined the Christmases of many and even driven some people to contemplate taking their own lives,' Mr Wilkie said in a statement. The ombudsman's office told AAP it was seeking further information from Centrelink but would not comment further. Centrelink has sent out text messages asking for meetings last month, despite it already being past the date Andrew Wilkie has received more than 100 complaints to his Tasmanian electoral office from people who had received debt notices. He said four of them presented as suicidal Mr Wilkie has received more than 100 complaints to his Tasmanian electoral office from people who had received debt notices. 'I've had four people now approach me... who I would describe as presenting as suicidal,' Mr Wilkie told reporters in Hobart. 'This is terrifying people, and we've got a government who is saying there is no problem.' He cited the case of one woman who received a debt notice of $69,000 - more money than she has ever received from Centrelink. When she queried it she was told it was an error and she actually owed $3000, but Centrelink could not explain why, Mr Wilkie said. Independent senator Nick Xenophon said welfare recipients were being 'treated like criminals'. 'They need to apologise and go back to the drawing board,' he told reporters in Adelaide. The federal government is looking to claw back $4 billion in overpayments. Social Services Minister Christian Porter insists the system is working 'incredibly well' and the complaint rate was low - only 276 complaints out of 169,000 letters. But Mr Wilkie insists the minister has his head in the sand. Most of the issues, though not all, appear to be the result of a lack of nuance in the system by dividing total annual incomes by 26 fortnights to create an average income even if a person was not working for the period they were on welfare (example is pictured) Social Services Minister Christian Porter (pictured) insists the system is working 'incredibly well' and the complaint rate was low - only 276 complaints out of 169,000 letters 'You don't have to be a genius to tell that taking someone's yearly income and dividing by 26 is not always going to produce accurate results if only because people's circumstances change,' he said. Labor's spokeswoman on human services Linda Burney called for the system to be suspended immediately until an algorithm is fixed. 'The way in which the debt is being calculated is absolutely wrong,' she told Nine Network. The social services minister has defended Centrelink's 'polite' debt letters generated by a new automated system amid criticism some welfare recipients have been hounded over false debts. Christian Porter confirmed so far this financial year 169,000 review letters have been sent out, indicating there might be discrepancies after data from different agencies is matched up. 'The complaint rate is running at 0.16 per cent... only 276 complaints out of 169,000 letters and that process has raised $300 million worth of money back to the taxpayer,' he told ABC Radio on Tuesday. Nicole Rogerson, CEO of Autism Awareness Australia, said her autistic 21-year-old son was wrongly sent a $3,000 debt 'My son with ASD works full time, doesn't need Centrelink but also doesn't need false targeting over none existent debt,' Mrs Rogerson wrote on Twitter The federal government is looking to claw back $4 billion in overpayments. Mr Porter characterised the letters as polite. He declined to provide the number of people who are challenging the debt letters. Mr Porter said the letter asks people to provide more information which they can do online. He dismissed claims there were problems with the Centrelink website. 'If anyone is having difficulties they can seek an extension of time if they wish,' he said. Mr Porter said the high volume system was 'working incredibly well'. Welfare recipients are tweeting criticism of the system under the hashtag #notmydebt. Labor's spokeswoman on human services Linda Burney has called for the system to be suspended. 'Get it right before threatening people - not that hard,' Ms Burney tweeted. She said no MPs who checked the emails to their electorate office could possibly say the system was working. Most of the issues, though not all, appear to be the result of a lack of nuance in the system by dividing total annual incomes by 26 fortnights to create an average income even if a person was not working for the period they were on welfare. Advertisement Doom-mongers have already predicted this month will be one of the coldest Januarys on record to hit Britain. But contrary to a big chill, daytime temperatures are forecast to reach double figures with parts of England as warm as Madrid once the hard overnight frost has thawed. And for those braced for a cold start to the beginning of 2017, forecasters have predicted that the mild weather could last into next week as well. While a lack of cloud cover will mean that the nights are freezing, reaching temperatures as low as -6C (21F) in parts of the south of England, sunny spells during the day are predicted to bring plenty of milder weather. The sun sets behind the old West Pier in Brighton after forecasters said temperatures are to reach double figures with parts of England as warm as Madrid A woman and her dog walk across a frost-covered Regent's Park in London after forecasters issued a 'yellow' weather alert for ice across parts of southern England On Friday, temperatures in the south are expected to reach as high as 12C (54F), 2C (4F) higher than the temperature in Madrid. In the north of England, similarly mild weather is predicted by the weekend despite temperatures in the low single figures expected today and tomorrow. By Friday, the temperature as far north as Newcastle is set to reach 10C (50F), while the whole of England can look forward to 11C (52F) highs over the weekend, forecasters say. In Wales, temperatures were expected to be generally mild for January, with Cardiff predicted to tip the mercury at 10C (50F) today, rising to as high as 12C (54F) by Friday. Birds return to roost on the old West Pier as the sun sets in Brighton, East Sussex as commuters faced a frosty start as they returned to work after the festive break as temperatures dropped below freezing across swathes of the country Early snowdrops bloom in a graveyard in Cane End, Oxfordshire as temperatures plunged bringing a cold start to the beginning of 2017 And in Scotland, too, the likes of Glasgow and Aberdeen could see temperatures as high as 11C (52F). Alessio Martini, a forecaster at the MeteoGroup, said: 'The weather is going to be quite mild at the weekend, with highs of up to 11C (52F) in both the north and south of England. Even the low could be as high as 6C (43F). 'It's going to stay quite mild, too, for at least the beginning of next week. 'Looking at the long range forecast, in general it looks quite mild and while there may be some frost at times, it does not look like it will be turning very cold for the first few weeks of January. A frosted riverbank near Benson, Oxfordshire where temperatures in the area dropped to -6C after forecasters issued a 'yellow' weather warning The sun sets behind the old West Pier in Brighton, after the Meteorological Office warned that parts of England and Wales could have received overnight snow at the beginning of the week 'A lack of cloud cover will mean that it is quite brisk overnight into Wednesday morning with some frost to be expected. 'But high pressure combined with dry weather in the north and south, as well as light wind, will mean that it gets warmer on Thursday with sunny spells. 'It will turn a bit more cloudy on Friday with patchy rain in the north and north west, moving towards the east. Dry weather can be expected in the south, though, and perhaps a little patchy rain in the afternoon. 'Next week is due to be windy, compared to this week, but it will be quite mild for this time of the year.' A jogger runs through a frost-covered Regent's Park in London after some predicted this month will be one of the coldest Januarys on record to hit Britain Birds return to roost on the old West Pier in Brighton. In parts of the south of England, sunny spells during the day are predicted to bring milder weather in the coming days The forecast comes after the Meteorological Office warned that parts of England and Wales could have received overnight snow at the beginning of the week, prompting some weather watchers to claim this January would be the coldest on record. Last night Grahame Madge, a spokesman for the Met Office, said: 'There's nothing that we are aware of that will back up that it will be the coldest January on record. Daytime temperatures are forecast to reach double figures 'It is possible that the lack of cloud cover means that it will be very cold during the night but, like with the mild Christmas conditions, we could still have sunny spells and milder temperatures during the day.' The temperatures predicted for some parts of the country during the coming weeks is double the normal January daytime average of 6C (43F) for England and Wales. In the south, the average rises slightly to 7C (45F) but falls to 4C (39F) for the north. The record high temperature for January in England and Wales was 18.3C (65F), recorded in Aber, Gwynedd, North Wales, on Jan 27, 1958. Meanwhile, the lowest temperature on record was -26.1C (-15F), in Newport, Shropshire, on Jan 10, 1982. The record warmest January was 2007, with an average of 8.7C (48F) over the UK as a whole, whereas the coldest was 1963 with an average of 0.9C (34F) across the country, according to Meteorological Office records which go back to 1940. Irish novelist and playwright Sebastian Barry was made favourite by the bookies The five writers in the running for the Costa Book of the Year award were named yesterday. Irish novelist and playwright Sebastian Barry was made favourite by the bookies after his historical piece Days Without End won the category for novels. Set in 1850s America, it reintroduces the reader to Irish characters who have featured in several of his previous novels. He will compete against the other four category winners who each won 5,000 for the 30,000 top prize, which will be awarded at a ceremony in London on January 31. Francis Spufford won the First Novel category for his debut work Golden Hill, set in New York in the winter of 1746, which was called captivating and dazzlingly original. The Cambridge professor pays homage to the novels of the era as he paints colourful pictures of the Manhattan social elite of the time. Barry's historical piece Days Without End won the category for novels Debut non-fiction writer Keggie Carew won the Costa Biography Award for Dadland, her attempt to learn about her fathers past as he slips into dementia. In July last year Mrs Carew wrote in the Daily Mail about her experiences writing the book, which touched on her mothers decision to marry an impecunious maverick. Alice Oswald has been named winner of the Costa Poetry Award for Falling Awake, a collection of poems written to be read aloud. Brian Conaghan has taken the Costa Childrens Book Award for The Bombs That Brought Us Together. The overall winner will be decided by a panel of judges chaired by historian Professor Kate Williams. It will be announced at the awards ceremony along with the winner of the Costa Short Story Award, which is voted for by the public. Jobless people are being paid a guaranteed basic income of nearly 6,000 a year in a radical experiment in Finland. The Scandinavian country became the first in Europe to trial such a scheme, with 2,000 unemployed receiving 560 Euros (475) a month for two years from January 1. The recipients are free to spend the money on anything they choose, do not need to prove they are looking for work and will still receive the basic income even if they do get a full- or part-time job. Finland's Prime Minister Juha Sipila wants to tackle the country's unemployment problem Finnish government agency Kela, which is responsible for the countrys social benefits, hopes the scheme will encourage the recipients to seek employment, remove disincentives to work and reduce bureaucracy. But critics fear getting a guaranteed basic income could have the opposite effect by making some unemployed people lazier and less inclined to look for a job. The scheme is part of the measures by the centre-right government of Prime Minister Juha Sipila to tackle Finlands joblessness problem. The unemployment rate of Finland, a nation of 5.5 million, stood at 8.1 percent in November 2106 with some 213,000 people without a job, unchanged from the previous year. Marjukka Turunen, head of Kelas legal affairs unit, said: At present, unemployed persons may not gain any additional income even if they find work because earnings reduce social benefits. Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell expressed support for a universal basic income in the UK For someone receiving a basic income, there are no repercussions if they work a few days or a couple of weeks. Incidental earnings do not reduce the basic income, so working and self-employment are worthwhile no matter what. This is the key idea behind the basic income. According to her, the basic income, which is paid in advance at the beginning of each month, also helps its recipients plan their finances and provides a sense of security. More and more people are working part-time or temporarily or are self-employed and coordinating social security systems with non-standard work is often challenging. Cost of living: This table shows the cost of living in Finland vs the UK Kela say basic income should help to reduce bureaucracy as the recipients, who were randomly selected and aged between 25 and 58, do not have to report the number of hours they work or to fill in various forms. The average private sector income in Finland is 3,500 Euros (2,975) per month, according to official data. Professor Olli Kangas, director of research at Kela, said it will be highly interesting to see how the basic income makes people behave. He said: Will this lead them to boldly experiment with different kinds of jobs? Or, as some critics claim, make them lazier with the knowledge of getting a basic income without doing anything? The basic income experiment may be expanded later in Finland to other low-income groups such as freelancers, small-scale entrepreneurs and part-time workers. In the UK, Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell expressed support for a universal basic income the state would pay to every citizen, regardless of whether they worked, at Labours annual conference in September. There are different variations of a universal basic income but the core principle is the government giving everyone a certain amount of money each month. Samantha Cameron, pictured with husband David, is to launch a range of underwear Known for her demure taste and impeccable sense of style, Samantha Cameron has always turned heads with her wardrobe. From sophisticated pencil dresses to glamorous evening gowns, Mrs Cameron even topped Vanity Fair's Best Dressed Women list in 2015. Now it seems she's turning her keen eye to what's beneath her glamorous attire after trademark filing documents reveal she is to launch her own range of underwear. Keen to expand her fashion empire, she has also registered a trademark for perfume, swimwear, candles and sunglasses. In October, Mrs Cameron registered her company - Samantha Cameron Studio Limited - and designed a range of 40 pieces priced from 100 to 300. The line is set to go on sale this spring on Net-a-Porter and at Selfridges under the brand name Cefinn. She unveiled the clothing line in a shoot for Vogue Magazine, where Mrs Cameron was pictured wearing her own designs. Asked whether she designed the collection with herself in mind, Mrs Cameron said: 'Well obviously you're thinking about yourself, but at the same time it can't be all about yourself because that would be pointless. 'I've spent a lot of time trying stuff on my friends.' After leaving No.10 Downing Street with husband David Cameron and their three children, pictured, the family have moved back into their Victorian terrace house in west London After leaving No.10 Downing Street with husband David Cameron and their three children, the family have moved back into their Victorian terrace house in west London. They are reported to have spent 100,000 refurbishing the four-bedroom home. The fine art graduate was once the creative director of luxury Bond Street brand Smythson, a role which won her a British Glamour Magazine Award for Best Accessory Designer in 2009. A newborn baby boy who was dumped in a hospital toilet by his mother survived after he was discovered by a cleaner, a court heard. The baby was found after the cleaner heard a muffled squeaking noise coming from a bin in the toilets of the Royal Albert Edward Infirmary, in Wigan, on July 5 last year. The newborn was still in the foetal position and had tissues stuffed in his mouth, it was heard. Yesterday his mother Orsolya-Anamaria Balogh, 27, appeared at Liverpool Crown Court after admitting attempted infanticide. The baby was found after the cleaner heard a muffled squeaking noise coming from a bin in the toilets of the Royal Albert Edward Infirmary, in Wigan, pictured, on July 5 last year A sentencing hearing heard how Balogh had gone to the hospital's A&E department at around 7.40pm on July 5 last year, complaining of abdominal pain.She told a triage nurse there was no possibility she could be pregnant. Hospital staff said Balogh spent some time in the toilets but left by the time a nurse was ready to see her at around 10.20pm. Richard Pratt QC, prosecuting, said at around 10.40pm a cleaner went to empty the bin in the toilet area but noticed it felt unusually heavy and heard a muffled squeaking noise. She called for assistance from a hospital security guard before opening the bin bag and finding the baby. The newborn was given oxygen and made a full recovery. Mr Pratt said: 'The baby survived his ordeal with remarkable fortitude and, with medical intervention, was effectively unscathed by the circumstances of his birth.' Enquiries by hospital staff revealed Balogh had left the hospital shortly after 10.10pm and she and her partner had taken a taxi back to their home in Wigan. Yesterday his mother Orsolya-Anamaria Balogh, 27, appeared at Liverpool Crown Court, pictured, after admitting attempted infanticide Balogh and her partner initially denied she had given birth. This was disproved by a midwife examination. Balogh, now of no fixed address, eventually confirmed she had given birth in the toilet but said the baby had not been breathing and she thought he was dead. She said she had not known she was pregnant. Police later found internet searches relating to pregnancy and home birth on her computer. The court heard reports by consultant psychiatrists found the balance of Balogh's mind was disturbed after the birth and she experienced dissociation. Balogh, who had a Romanian interpreter for the court proceedings, has been remanded in custody since July 6, 2016. Judge Neil Flewitt QC told her he hoped to make an order that would allow her to be released into the community with the appropriate level of support. Petrol prices have soared to a two-year high in a punishing setback for millions of drivers. The average price of unleaded is now 117.9p a litre, up from 102.69p a year ago. This is the highest since December 2014, according to the AA. It costs nearly 8.40 more to fill up a typical family car than it did a year ago and experts believe there could be worse to come. Some fear petrol is heading for 130p a litre in the coming weeks. Pump prices have jumped up to 117.9p a litre, up from 102.69p and could be heading for 130p That would push up the cost of a 55-litre tank of fuel to 71.50, from 64.85 today, compared to 56.48 a year ago. Petrol prices have been pushed up as oil rises on global commodity markets. Supermarket price war The cost of food fell last month amid a supermarket price war, figures published today show. Groceries were 0.7 per cent lower than a year earlier, a report led by the British Retail Consortium revealed. The figures confound warnings from Remain campaigners that the falling pound would push up food costs following the Brexit vote. However, a weak sterling is starting to feed through to products such as clothing, the cost of which rose 1.1 per cent between November and December the first increase in nearly two years. Advertisement Yesterday crude oil hit an 18-month high above $58 a barrel a level not seen since July 2015 after the major oil exporting nations agreed to a cut in production. The weak pound has also pushed up the price of fuel as wholesale petrol is priced in dollars, making it more expensive when sterling falls. Jason Lloyd, managing director of PetrolPrices.com, said: 2017 is going to be another difficult year for fuel prices. We are unlikely to see the extremes of pricing near the 145p of 2012 with the oil strikes but we do expect prices to reach between 120p and 130p per litre in 2017. Diesel prices have also risen from 105.99p a litre 12 months ago to 120.35p now the highest since July 2015. AA spokesman Luke Bosdet said: Drivers have had a bad start to 2017, seeing 1p, 2p and even 3p ticking up on the fuel price boards over the Christmas and New Year holiday period. Petrol prices hit 130p a litre in 2014 but dropped back in 2015 but have been rising throughout 2016 STOCK PHOTO Petrol is back to where it was in December 2014 and diesel at a level last seen in July 2015. All in all, with the cold weather, its been a pretty miserable return to work. Brian Madderson, chairman of the Petrol Retailers Association, added: The prospects for 2017 look disappointing. The UK is a road transport economy and this disappointing outlook does not look set to aid economic recovery. Oil was trading at less than $30 a barrel early last year, having been as high as $115 in mid-2014, pushing the cost of petrol down to around 1 a litre. But it has been steadily rising in recent months after Opec, the global cartel which controls a third of crude supply, agreed with other producers to cut output. The agreement, effective from January 1, is meant to address a supply glut in a bid to buoy prices. Opec typically cuts production when it wants to prop up prices but a deal had proved elusive until now. Nicholas Hyett, analyst at financial firm Hargreaves Lansdown, said: Twelve months ago, oil prices were eyeing their lowest prices in more than a decade. A family of four have been killed after the small plane they were on crashed on its way to a Colorado ski resort. The bodies of Eric Falbe, 44, his wife Carrie, 34, and his two daughters from a previous marriage - 14-year-old Victoria and 12-year-old Skylar - were found in the plane wreckage in Arizona on Tuesday. Searchers found the bodies among the debris from the single-engine Cessna 210 after it was spotted north of Payson on the rugged Mogollon Rim. The bodies of Eric Falbe, 44, wife Carrie, 34, and his two teenager daughters - 14-year-old Victoria and 12-year-old Skylar - were found in the plane wreckage in Arizona on Tuesday The plane crashed on a flight from Scottsdale, Arizona to the ski resort town of Telluride in Colorado for the family's annual holiday. The plane had been reported missing Monday night. Gila County Sheriff Adam Shepherd said the cause of the crash wasn't immediately known. The sheriff's office verified the plane's tail number matched Federal Aviation Administration records identifying the owner as Mr Falbe. Mr Falbe was a lawyer who specialized in real estate mediation. Searchers found the bodies of the family of four among the debris from the single-engine Cessna 210 after it was spotted north of Payson in Arizona The plane was owned by 44-year-old lawyer Eric Falbe and his 34-year-old wife Carrie Falbe's law firm confirmed that he was aboard the downed plane along with his wife, and his two daughters His law partner confirmed that he was aboard the downed plane along with his wife, and his two daughters. The girls, Victoria and Skylar, attended Cicero Preparatory Academy in Scottsdale. 'Our sincerest condolences go out to the Falbe family for their tragic loss,' school officials said in a statement. 'Grief counselors will be available when school returns Monday.' The sheriff's office was notified about the missing plane by Scottsdale police. According to the police report, a man told authorities his 31-year-old daughter, son-in-law and two girls didn't check in after planning to fly to Telluride. The girls - Victoria, 14, and Skylar, 12 - were from their father Eric's first marriage Victoria and Skylar (pictured on the plane at an earlier time) attended Cicero Preparatory Academy in Scottsdale, Arizona The plane crashed on a flight from Scottsdale, Arizona to the ski resort town of Telluride in Colorado for the family's annual holiday The four were on a yearly trip they always take around the Christmas holidays, according to relatives. Police started a search for the family's cellphone signal and one was detected near Payson. A state police helicopter, the Civil Air Patrol and sheriff's searchers on the ground worked together to find the plane. Rescuers had to hike nearly an hour to the crash site. 'The terrain up there is just really super rugged,' Shepherd said. 'It's pretty rough, steep, straight up and down.' Joel was first drawn to Shakespeare through Tupac, who praised the playwright He fled war-torn Uganda to Australia without knowing one word of English Most native English speakers struggle to grasp the meaning of Shakespeares poetic language. Joel Loum Okumu - who fled war-torn Uganda to Australia without knowing one word of English went above and beyond by putting his own spin on the classic plays. The 17-year-old high school graduate from Newcastle, New South Wales, has been chosen from 200 hopefuls to perform the immortal works of Shakespeare alongside some of Australia's finest actors. Joel will travel to Sydney this month for a masterclass and mentoring from the Bell Shakespeare theatre company, one of the countrys top drama groups. Scroll down for video Joel Loum Okumu wows the judges of Sydney's Bell Shakespeare theatre with his personal interpretation of Hamlet I couldnt believe it. I thought it wasnt true, then I thought wait a second, I actually won? Joel told Daily Mail Australia, of the moment his teacher gave him the news. Despite only acting for two years, Joel wowed the judges with his unique interpretation of Hamlet, the antihero of the Shakespearean tragedy. I was performing two characters Hamlet and his father at the same time. I incorporated elements of Nigerian witchcraft, which is a big deal in Africa. 'The performance was basically channelling my own experiences and aggression. While many students are turned off Shakespeare after being force fed his plays at school, Joel was drawn to the writer on a personal level. I first heard about him through the rapper Tupac. When I was learning English I was listening to rap music, and Tupac always said he was influenced by Shakespeare. The Ugandan refugee has been awarded a prestigious Bell Shakespeare theatre scholarship in Sydney The teenager (seen with school friends from Newcastle) fled war-torn Uganda to Australia without knowing one word of English Joel was drawn to Shakespeare through Tupac, who praised the playwright I couldnt believe it. I thought it wasnt true, then I thought wait a second, I actually won? When I looked into it, started reading the language, I was like I was like wow, this is so advanced. 'I love how he follows the extremes of emotion, and I love the language.' Joels family came to Australia after fleeing their native Uganda, which was in the grip of a bloody tribal war. We were in a dangerous refugee camp. One night a rebel soldier came to our camp in the middle of the night holding an AK-47. That was our wake-up call. But tragedy followed the family to Australia. Joel lost both his parents at seven years old when his father killed his mother, leaving the children to move in with a guardian. His father was found in 2008 to be not guilty of murder by reason of mental illness. Joels family came to Australia (puctured in Newcastle) after leaving their native Uganda, which was in the grip of a bloody tribal war The theatre company said his personal hardships praised his interpretation of the immoartal plays Joel will travel to Bell Shakespeare's headquarters in Sydney this month to begin the master classes Its this hardship that caught the eye of Bell Shakespeare head of education Joanna Erskine, who told Daily Mail Australia she had never seen a performance like Joel's. It was an interpretation of the play we had never seen before, so were very excited to see how things play out. He gave an amazing and raw performance. For somebody who has only been acting for two years, its clear Joel has a natural gift. It was impossible not to take him on board. Cressida Dick, 56, is tipped to become the next Scotland Yard commissioner Theresa May is to oversee appointments to high profile roles in the police, the church and the BBC with women among the leading contenders for each post. The Prime Minister has a role in each appointment and has long campaigned for women to make more progress in public life. Applications close today for the role of Metropolitan Police Commissioner, with Cressida Dick, a former assistant commissioner, among the favourites. Home Secretary Amber Rudd will make the final decision on who is successful but Mrs May is likely to show a keen interest. Within weeks, Mrs May will also take the final decision on appointing the first chairman to a new unitary management board for the BBC. Camilla Cavendish, who last month quit the Tory whip just weeks after being made a peer, is rumoured to have been interviewed for the powerful post, The Times said. A series of women are also in the running to be the next Bishop of London, an appointment Mrs May will be asked to approve. Baroness Cavendish, a former policy adviser to David Cameron, became an independent peer last month after making just one appearance as a Conservative. The move is a common one for a peer taking up a politically neutral post and it came a day after interviews for the BBC job ended. Culture Secretary Karen Bradley is due to recommend a name to Mrs May within weeks. Leading candidates for the Bishop of London post are thought to include the Right Rev Rachel Treweek, the Bishop of Gloucester; the Right Rev Christine Hardman, the Bishop of Newcastle; the Right Rev Jo Wells, the Bishop of Dorking; and Reverend Vivienne Faull, Dean of York Minster. The Right Rev Richard Chartres is due to complete his final public appearance as Bishop of London next month. Camilla Cavendish, a former policy adviser to David Cameron, is rumoured to be a front runner for a powerful new job at the BBC after she controversially quit the Tory whip in the House of Lords just weeks after being made a peer. She is pictured making her maiden speech in December Ms Dick, 56, retired from the Met in 2015 to take up a job as a senior Foreign Office mandarin. She leads of a field of at least four candidates vying for the prestigious 280,000 post to succeed Sir Bernard Hogan Howe. The others are Metropolitan Police counter terrorism chief Mark Rowley, Essex boss Stephen Kavanagh and 'chief of chiefs' Sara Thornton. But Dick, who has a good relationship with the Prime Minister, is widely considered to be the favourite despite her controversial past. One source said she received weeks of 'favourable overtures' from Home Office officials urging her to apply and highlighting her strengths. 'There is absolutely no doubt she has the experience, the ability and the record to lead the most high profile police force in the world,' the source said. 'She comes across like a Whitehall permanent secretary and she is hugely respected by the rank-and-file. It is difficult to see how she can be beaten.' Bishop of Gloucester Rachel Treweek (left) is thought to be among the leading contenders to become Bishop of London after the Right Rev Richard Chartres (right) completes his final public engagement in the post next month Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe will step down at the end of February after six turbulent years leading the Metropolitan Police. His request for a significant extension to his contract was turned down and his final month comes seven months before his term was originally due to expire. Despite success reducing crime amid huge budget cuts, his tenure has been marred by a series of ugly skirmishes, most notably the bungled VIP child sex abuse inquiry. Miss Dick retired from the force in 2014 to take up a low-profile and secretive role as a director general at the Foreign and Commonwealth office. But she is best known for her role as the senior commander in charge of the botched operation that led to the fatal shooting of de Menezes at Stockwell Tube station in 2005. Prime Minister Theresa May has a role in each appointment and has long campaigned for women to make more progress in public life She oversaw the operation that led to officers mistakenly identifying him as an on-the-run suicide bomber, two weeks after the July 7 London bombings. The Metropolitan Police was successfully prosecuted for health and safety failings, but in an unusual move the jury attacked the Met but said it did not hold Miss Dick responsible. The child of two academics and educated at Balliol College, Oxford, Miss Dick briefly worked in accounting before signing up the police and rising through the ranks. If Miss Dick is successful, it would mean all three leading roles in British policing would be held by women. Former Surrey chief Lynne Owens is the director general of the National Crime Agency and Sara Thornton runs the National Police Chiefs' Council. Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe will step down at the end of February after six turbulent years Miss Dick will need to be re-sworn as a police officer, a move which is not without precedent after Sir Norman Bettison returned from a civilian role to head West Yorkshire Police. The Home Office opened the role to non-British candidates for the first time, but it is believed that none have applied, despite interest from a senior Canadian officer. The power to choose the next commissioner lies with Home Secretary Amber Rudd, who must have 'regard' for the views of Labour London Mayor Sadiq Khan. But first a series of interviews will take place, led by Home Office permanent secretary Mark Sedwill, who will sit with other senior figures in policing. Whoever wins the post faces considerable challenges, not least balancing the books once again as hundreds of millions of pounds more are taken from the budget. Miss Dick was the senior commander in charge of the botched operation that led to the fatal shooting of de Menezes Beat officers complain morale is low, burglary and violent crimes are rising and a severe terrorist threat hangs over the capital and country as a whole. Another source close to the process added: 'The Home Office has been very clear that Cressida is the applicant to beat. 'Her record is exemplary and she has achieved many firsts. There have been careful talks with City Hall which has no objection. 'It will also work to her advantage that she has been working outside policing as Minister are desperate for someone at the top to inject some fresh ideas.' Interviews and a battery of vetting procedures and tests, including psychometric testing, will take place this month with an appointment expected to be made by March. Shocking footage shows a teenage girl held in a headlock by a mall employee. The girl was with her family at a J.C. Penney in Mishawaka, Indiana on Thursday. The man in the video, a store employee, told them they didn't belong there and had to leave. Indecently exposed: The man in the video can be seen holding the girl in a headlock - which caused her shirt to rise up and exposed her bra Violent: The man, a store employee, kept the girl in a headlock as people shouted to 'let her go' and family members said she could pay for the damage she had wrought She knocked over a display on her way out and the man proceeded to put her in a headlock. People in the video can be heard yelling at him to 'let her go!' as her family said that she could pay for the promotional display she had knocked down. But the man showed no sign of releasing her - even as her shirt began to ride up her back which exposed her bra. He said he would release her if family members 'backed away' but did not do so even as the appeared to. A lengthy detainment: The girl was kept in the headlock until mall security arrived to handcuff her Mall security later arrived to handcuff her and when her father later arrived at the store she was free to go. The mall, the store and the man in the video all declined to comment or did not return phone calls, WNDU reported. The ex-wife of jailed ex-Billabong boss Mathew Perrin has told of the nightmare her family's been through over the past nine years. Nicole Bricknell wrote a New Year's message on Facebook to say the saga that finished in Perrin's imprisonment in December showed that 'we are survivors'. Perrin was found guilty of fraud and forgery on December 20 after faking his ex-wife Bricknell's signature to mortgage the family's $15 million house in Surfers Paradise, Queensland, in 2008. Scroll down for video Nicole Bricknell (pictured) has described the 'nightmare' her family has had to endure Former Billabong CEO Matthew Perrin (pictured holding hands with his now-partner Belinda Otton) was convicted of nine counts of fraud and forgery on December 20 'Happy New Year. For my beautiful children... my family, extended family, myself and friends... I will stay strong, work hard and provide everything I can for my children,' she wrote. 'I'm so proud of them and their strength and courage throughout this nightmare 9 years. 'It's been horrific and they have generally been amazing. We've had ups and many many downs, but we are survivors. 'I love them so deeply and am beyond proud of my 3 [children].' 'I will stay strong, work hard and provide everything I can for my children,' Ms Bricknell (pictured) wrote on Facebook Perrin faked his ex-wife Bricknell's signature on bank documents in 2008 (Ms Bricknell is pictured) A jury found Perrin guilty of three counts of fraud and six counts of forgery. The jury was unable to reach a verdict on three further charges. He is set to be sentenced on January 27 and has been remanded in custody. He insisted Ms Bricknell knew exactly what he was doing and gave permission for him to sign the documents in 2008 on her behalf. Ms Bricknell told the court she 'never, ever' gave her former partner permission to sign on her behalf. Ms Bricknell took to social media to express how she felt about the whole saga She also posted this image on her Facebook to show she has moved on Perrin (pictured) insisted Ms Bricknell knew exactly what he was doing and gave permission for him to sign the documents in 2008 on her behalf 'This man has taken from me and my children without my permission and knowledge, that's worse than having an affair in my opinion,' Ms Bricknell told the Brisbane District Court throughout the trial. 'I always protected my children and I never, ever would have allowed him to sign my name on anything - that was not the right thing to do,' she said. The mother-of-three told the court she won't be able to find peace until he is in jail. Perrin told the court he often signed Ms Bricknell's name on documents throughout their marriage. 'If Nicole was available and convenient she would sign them ... if she wasn't I would sign them for her,' he said. The former surfwear CEO mortgaged the family's $15 million property in Surfers Paradise, Queensland, without permission from his former partner Nicole Bricknell, who owned the house The jury was shown a document which Perrin said gave him authority to act on Ms Bricknell's behalf in respect of their finances, including debts in her name. Perrin, who is also a qualified solicitor, was also accused of forging his brother Fraser Perrin's signature on the paperwork. He denied the 12 total charges, nine of which he was convicted over. Perrin made a total of around $57 million from his investment in Billabong before he resigned as CEO in 2003. By 2009 he had lost it all through bad investments and was declared bankrupt, the court was told. The lawyers who defended Royal Marine Alexander Blackman, who was accused of murdering a wounded Taliban fighter in Afghanistan, made a string of mistakes that made his conviction unsafe, according to the Criminal Cases Review Commission. The CCRC said Sergeant Blackman's team, including prominent barrister Anthony Berry QC, carried out 'inadequate' preparations for the court martial in 2013. The Daily Telegraph said they had seen an official report which cited 'deficiencies in the standard of defence'. Sergeant Alexander Blackman (pictured) has been refused bail pending his appeal against his conviction for murder Last month the CCRC granted him a new appeal against his murder conviction after a new team, led by Jonathan Goldberg QC, found psychiatric evidence suggesting he was suffering from an undiagnosed mental disorder at the time of the incident. Irwin Mitchell, a firm of solicitors acting for Sgt Blackman, has written to three members of his original legal team warning them they may face a claim for professional negligence. The Telegraph has seen extracts from the 70-page CCRC report, which refers to 'arguably flawed decision making', and says their overall performance 'fell below the standard required'. The document states: 'The CCRC concludes that there is a real possibility that the Court of Appeal would consider Mr Blackman's conviction for murder to be unsafe on the basis that the conduct of his defence prior to trial was deficient to the extent that it led to identifiable errors which rendered the trial process unfair.' During the trial, Blackman denied murder and said he thought the man was already dead when he fired his pistol into his chest at point blank range. The CCRC said Mr Berry's team failed to take a detailed 'proof of evidence' statement from Blackman and there was a 'failureto take detailed instructions and give persuasive legal advice'. Claire Blackman (pictured) has been campaigning for her husband to be freed and has been supported by many serving and former Royal Marines The CCRC said if Mr Berry, who lists Sgt Blackman's court martials as one of his 'notable recent cases' on his website, had carried out 'fuller preparation' he would have realised 'a psychiatric report should have been obtained to assess Mr Blackman's state of mind at the time of the incident.' This might have led to the former marine pleading guilty to manslaughter by way of diminished responsibility. The report said: 'Had psychiatric evidence been obtained prior to trial it would have identified Mr Blackman's medical condition and should have caused both Mr Blackman and his legal representatives to re-assess the incident, his level of culpability and the nature of his defence. 'In the absence of such evidence Mr Blackman was able to explain only partially, and in an unsatisfactory way, his actions and belief.' John Bennett, a solicitor acting on behalf of Mr Berry and junior barrister Peter Glenser, told the Telegraph they had conducted the case 'on the basis of the clear, unambiguous and emphatic instructions received from Mr Blackman'. The mother of a 21-year-old autistic man who claims he has been wrongly billed $3,000 for Centrelink debts says the government's new debt collecting system is 'heartless' and a form of 'financial bullying'. Jack Rogerson is among an emerging number of Australians who claim they are being unfairly hounded by debt collectors because of the new automated system. His mother, Nicole Rogerson, CEO of Autism Awareness Australia, said the government's approach under the new system is 'harming the most vulnerable'. Meanwhile, a Brisbane man who also claims to have been wrongly billed warned the stress of being chased for debts that should not exist could lead to suicide and called on the government to put the new system on hold. Nicole Rogerson, the mother of a 21-year-old autistic man Jack (pictured together) who was wrongly billed for a $3,000 Centrelink debt, said the 'heartless' new system is a form of 'financial bullying' Brisbane filmmaker Michael Griffin was wrongly billed and said the government must 'pause the system' until the issue is resolved Mr Rogerson, 21, had learned of his alleged debt about two weeks before Christmas when he was phoned by a private debt collector agency. Mrs Rogerson looked into it, and said she discovered the apparent debt related to three months he was on a disability benefit before he found work as a chef's apprentice. She told Daily Mail Australia the debt was incorrect and would be appealed. But Mrs Rogerson fears others like her son would end up paying the debt because they don't have the resources to challenge it. 'It's okay for families like mine to have this experience, Jack has a working mum and dad and we can get through this,' Mrs Rogerson told Daily Mail Australia. 'What about the truly vulnerable people who rely on Centrelink to live every week?' She said her family was still 'in a fight with Centrelink' and were still getting all the paperwork together but that it has been overwhelming. But Mrs Rogerson fears others like her son would end up paying the debt because they don't have the resources to challenge it 'Appalling! Imagine the confusion of my Jack getting called by a debt collector on Christmas week,' Mrs Rogerson wrote on Twitter Mrs Rogerson said she had been contacted by thousands of families with similar experiences since speaking out on Twitter 'If it's overwhelming for me, what's it like for the people on the fringes of the community?' Mrs Rogerson said she had been contacted by thousands of families with 'similar, horrifying stories' since she spoke out on Twitter two days ago. She said the system was 'harming the most vulnerable people', and was 'rigged' to hurt those with disabilities. Michael Griffin, a Brisbane filmmaker who was also sent a $3,000 bill ahead of Christmas, said he believes the most vulnerable people would be fearing for their livelihoods. The 34-year-old had received the bill in a letter from Centrelink, and was asked to confirm he earned $26,000 in the financial year to June 2014. For about three months in that period, Mr Griffin was on Newstart allowance, known as the dole. He earned no income for most fortnightly reporting periods, and the times he earned a little income he correctly reported it. He then went into full-time work for the remaining nine months of the financial year and required no welfare support. Michael Griffin (pictured), 34, was also sent a $3,000 bill ahead of Christmas The automated system divided his annual income over 26 fortnights to create an average fortnightly income of $1,000 even on the periods when he earned no income Over the Christmas period, Mr Griffin was told to confirm he earned $26,000 that year but was only given a 'yes' or 'no' option. Mr Griffin clicked 'yes', and the automated system then divided the income over 26 fortnights to create an average fortnightly income of $1,000 even on the periods when he earned no income. Centrelink then informed him he owed $3,000, based on the incorrect fortnightly earnings. He said the process to have an appeal resolved is 'long and complicated'. 'It's extraordinarily difficult.' Mr Griffin said he understands it may take until March for the appeals to even be looked at, and in the meantime they are referred to debt collectors who force people to begin the repayments. 'The system is flawed, it's a system that's based on an incorrect understanding of the way the Centrelink system has been designed,' Mr Griffin told Daily Mail Australia. He took issue with the onus of proof being left with the recipient, who may need to find payslips from several years ago to prove the debt is incorrect. 'They've created a monster. One welfare recipient claimed to have attempted to reach Centrelink by phone 306 times at 10.30 in the morning 'The government needs to pause the system until they've worked out the kinks, and then after that they can restart it. If people have been overpaid, they should pay it back. But they should not be paying false debt back.' He likened the situation to 'extortion' and said the situation was a 'pressure cooker' that would explode and could lead to suicides. Mrs Rogerson said the insinuation of the 'cold, hard' debt letters was that the welfare recipients are bludgers. 'The undertone of this is that they are welfare cheats,' she told Daily Mail Australia. She said it was 'seriously heartless' to send out the debt letters over the Christmas period in what essentially amounts to 'financial bullying'. 'There are people who just don't feel like they can take on Centrelink anymore. 'I'm deeply, deeply upset at the system I just find the government's hardline position on this appalling. 'It's really scaring families.' She rejected the government's defence there had not been an increase in complaints. 'Look out, mate, because they're complaining. They just can't get through.' Social Services Minister Christian Porter insists the system is working 'incredibly well' (stock image of Centrelink) Social media has been flooded with complaints the phone lines have not been working, with one welfare recipient claiming to have attempted to reach Centrelink by phone 306 times at 10.30 in the morning. WHAT'S THE CONTROVERSY? Centrelink has sent out 169,000 debt notices over the last six months using an automated system, which matches data from different agencies. Many have claimed their debts are false. The system also divides total annual incomes from a year by 26 fortnights to create an average income - even if a person was not working for the period they were on welfare. This has caused people who were not earning any income for a period to be told they owe money because they earned an average income. Others said the system thought they had been working full-time work instead of one because of slight spelling differences. Advertisement Mrs Rogerson said the government needed to admit the error to solve it. 'The arrogance of their tough, hardline, view is baffling for me at this point.' Social Services Minister Christian Porter insists the system is working 'incredibly well' and said the complaint rate was low - only 276 complaints out of 169,000 letters. Independent MP Andrew Wilkie has called in the Commonwealth Ombudsman to investigate the new automated system. Most of the issues, though not all, appear to be the result of a lack of nuance in the system by dividing total annual incomes by 26 fortnights to create an average income even if a person was not working for the period they were on welfare. A bizarre optical illusion makes these hikers seem like they are flying across a beach. The walkers were filming their stroll on the sand in Schiermonnikoog, The Netherlands, when high winds struck. The gust picked up grains of sand and blew them across the beach into the direction of the oncoming pair. A bizarre optical illusion makes these hikers seem like they are flying across a beach The walkers were filming their stroll on the sand when high winds struck When the hikers stood still the grains of sand rushed past so fast that they made the couple look as though they were flying across the sand. The woman, who is standing ahead of the man, put her arms by her sides and bowed her head to make her flying look deliberate. The wind was so strong that she could barely stand up and at one point lost her balance and had to take a step back. A host of optical illusions have been sweeping the web in recent weeks, including one picture of a flock of camels. The gust picked up grains of sand and blew them across the beach into the direction of the oncoming couple When the pair stood still the grains of sand rushed past so fast that they made the couple look as though they were flying across the sand At first glance, it looks like a group of black camels making their way across the desert. If you look closely though, you will be able to notice that the dark outlines are in fact their shadows rather than the camels themselves. The lighter shapes at their feet are the backs of the camels as they head to grazing pastures near Wadi Mitan, western Oman. Britain's booming food and drink industry is defying Brexit doom-mongers and challenging national stereotypes around the world by selling cheese to France, chocolate to Switzerland and even wine to Italy, official figures reveal. Britain's spirits are drank in nearly every corner of the world, with exports of gin to the US worth 158million and sales of whiskey rocketing by up to 40 per cent. Britain sells 42,000 tonnes of pork to China every year, 400million worth of smoked salmon around the globe and nearly 300million of beef, government trade figures show. Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Secretary Andrea Leadsom hailed Britain's 'trailblazing' exporters and told MailOnline that the popularity of our food and drink products in every corner of the world was proof Britain can thrive outside the EU. Britain's booming food and drink industry is defying Brexit doom-mongers and breaking national stereotypes around the world by selling cheese to France, chocolate to Switzerland and even wine to Italy, official figures reveal She and other Brexit supporters say Britain will enjoy even further export growth when Britain officially cuts ties with Brussels and can strike new bilateral trade deals across with non-European nations. One of Britain's strongest food exports is cheese worth a staggering 356million in 2016 after a rise of 50 per cent over the last five years. Surprisingly, one in every seven pounds-worth of British cheese is sold to France the world's cheese capital. Nearly 40million of cheese exports goes to the US. Britain is also busting national stereotypes in Switzerland, where it sells 5million worth of chocolate a year. FOOD AND DRINK EXPORTS IN NUMBERS 42,000 Tonnes of British pork sold to China every year 356m The sales of British cheese overseas 50m The value of British cheese exported to France in a year 140 The number of countries buying British chocolate 158m The value of gin exports to the US 27 The number of countries we export English sparkling wine to around the world - a new record 41% The rise in exports of whiskey to India in the first half of last year alone Advertisement British chocolate is munched in a total of 140 countries and exports rose by two thirds in the last six years. English sparkling wine is now shipped to a record 27 countries around the world, including major wine producing countries like France, Italy and South Africa. It is also breaking into new markets in the Caribbean and Japan. Other types of alcohol exported abroad include English cider sold to Russia, 158million of gin a year to the US, while exports of whiskey to India in the first half of 2016 rose by 41 per cent compared to the previous year. British langoustine are being enjoyed overseas, with exports to Mediterranean countries like Spain worth 80million a year. Britain's famous Nairn's biscuits are extremely popular in the US, Canada and South Africa, while Tiptree jam exports have seen a significant boost in demand from China and the Middle East. China is also a mass market for British pork, worth an estimated 420million last year up an impressive 73 per cent on the previous year. Other major markets for British pork include the US and Australia. UK beef exports have been given a boost by demand for premium cuts in Hong Kong and Singapore. And the value of smoked salmon sales overseas rose by 11 per cent this year and are worth nearly 400million a year. English sparkling wine is now shipped to a record 27 countries around the world, including major wine producing countries like France, Italy and South Africa One of Britain's strongest food exports is cheese worth a staggering 356million in 2016 after a rise of 50 per cent over the last five years. Pictured, traditional farmhouse cheddar Americans are the biggest fans of the luxury food, with the US buying 121million in the first seven months of 2016 but we also exported nearly 40million to China and 6million to Vietnam in the same period. Praising British food and drink exporters, Environment Secretary Mrs Leadsom said: 'Our food and drink industry is a global success story and it is fantastic to think our high-quality meat, award-winning cheese and traditional smoked salmon are enjoyed around the world. 'It is our reputation for safety, welfare and traceability that attracts international customers and in the year ahead I hope our trailblazing exporters to help our newer businesses reach these markets and generate millions for our growing economy.' The Government's Great British Food campaign has recently published a new strategy to target nine key emerging markets, including Australia and the United Arab Emirates, which it has pinpointed as having the biggest growth potential. Southern Rail and Thameslink staff missed a fake bomb planted on a train as part of a covert security drill. A memo seen by The Times which was sent in November by Tony Holland, the crime and security manager of Govia Thameslink Rail, which is the parent company of Southern and Thameslink, warned staff to be vigilant. It followed the discovery of a real bomb at North Greenwich underground station in October. The memo was sent Tony Holland, the crime and security manager of Govia Thameslink Rail, which is the parent company of Southern and Thameslink The rucksack full of explosives was found dumped on the floor of a Tube carriage, sparking a major security alert The note from Mr Holland read: Last week Transport Security Inspectors from the Department for Transport carried out a covert test on one of our trains. A police officer stands guard at North Greenwich underground station, where a real bomb was discovered in October 'The test involved leaving an unattended bag on a train, which contained a suspicious item. Cambridge has topped a list of property hotspots where asking prices have exploded by 75% in just a decade. The famous university city leads a league of UK areas outside London where people are desperate to live. In 2006 the average asking price for a pad in the city famous for its boating and being the former home of film director Richard Attenborough was 264,227. In just ten years that has shot up by a staggering 75.3% to 463,093. Cambridge has topped a list of property hotspots where asking prices have exploded by 75% in just a decade Cantabrigians - the official name for those who studied or worked at Cambridge Uni - include Prince Charles, Stephen Fry, 59, Hugh Laurie, 57, John Cleese, 77, Lord Richard Attenborough, Mel Giedroyc, 48, Jimmy Carr, 44, and actresses Rachel Weisz, 46, Thandie Newton, 44, and Emma Thompson, 57. And it's not the only place outside London that has seen incredible gains. Leafy Walton-on-Thames in Surrey has had similar rises, with asking prices there shooting up by 71.8% from 386,427 in 2006 to 663,811 in the last quarter of 2016. The seaside town of Whitstable in Kent - famous for its oysters - comes third with asking price hikes of 70% in ten years, from 228,786 in 2006 to 388,986 today. And other places to make the top ten are all areas which have taken population overspill from the capital. Maidenhead in Berkshire - the county where the Duchess of Cambridge was born - has seen a 65.3% rise in prices in a decade, going from an average of 326,454 in 2006 to 539,653 in the final quarter of 2016. Residents of Leigh-On-Sea, Essex, have enjoyed seeing their homes shoot up by 65.2% from an average asking price of 238,748 to 394,333, while Slough, Berks - home to BBC sitcom The Office - has risen 64.1% from 221,457 to 363,381. Another university city making the top ten is Oxford, where homeowners can now expect to pay an average of 63.7% more than 2006, with asking prices leaping from 287,825 to a mammoth 471,087. Loughton in Essex - mentioned in telly series TOWIE and the place Lydia Bright, 26, has her clothing boutique - has also seen 63.5% rises from an average of 335,011 to 547,795. The figures show the deepening north south property price divide, with all of those in the top ten in the south. The last two of the top ten are both Home Counties towns that may have taken people moving into the countryside from London. Bracknell in Berkshire and Watford, Herts, both have rises of 60.4% in ten years, from average asking prices of 238,758 and 273,902 to 383,022 and 439,400. The new figures, from property website RightMove, exclude London, where on average asking prices have shot up by 84.7% in the last decade. They use statistics from the last quarter of 2006 and 2016 meaning they are completely up to date. The seaside town of Whitstable in Kent - famous for its oysters - comes third with asking price hikes of 70% in ten years, from 228,786 in 2006 to 388,986 today Property expert Henry Pryor said: 'When looking for a new home it's all about location, location, location and most people have heeded this advice over the years, paying more for property in better places. 'Over the past few years, with prices so high, buyers have often had to settle for secondary locations which in turn has driven up the prices of these areas - which is presumably why Whitstable appears in the list. 'People have been priced out of the more fashionable parts of the country.' The town with the largest surge in asking prices i the last year was Luton. The town had the dubious honour of being voted the worst place to live in Britain in a 2004 book. But in a major turnaround, the Bedfordshire town has become an unlikely property hotspot - with house prices rising 42,000 in a year. Property values there surged by 19.4 per cent in the last year, more than twice as fast as the UK average and higher than anywhere else in the country. Britains ambassador to the EU, Sir Ivan Rogers has resigned his position The resignation of Britains ambassador to the EU, Sir Ivan Rogers, can be summed up in two words: good riddance! Every inch the Foreign Office mandarin and Brussels insider, Sir Ivan viewed the Brexit vote as a disaster and Brexiteers with barely disguised contempt. Is it any wonder David Camerons renegotiation finished as a total sham, when Sir Ivan was advising the then prime minister to ask for so little especially on immigration from the EU? Indeed, given Sir Ivans prominent role in that debacle, it is something of a surprise he hung around as long as he did after June 23. The final nail in his coffin was the revelation he was telling ministers it could take ten years to negotiate a trade deal with the remaining 27 states. As the Mail said at the time, there is no good reason an agreement with some of our closest allies should take nearly twice as long as it did to defeat the Nazis. Nor can a man with such defeatist views be the right person to represent this country in the negotiations ahead. Predictably, the mandarin class closed ranks to defend one of its own, backed by Remoaners such as George Osborne, Peter Mandelson and Nick Clegg. When they are the ones grieving his loss we can be sure it is good news for the country. Indeed, for Theresa May it represents a great start to a year in which, even though she is facing a critical Supreme Court ruling on Article 50, she will be confident of firing the starting gun on Brexit. Choosing Sir Ivans replacement will give Mrs May the chance to hire an ambassador with ambition, determination and none of his relentless gloom. While shes at it, might Mrs May consider a long overdue clearout of the dead wood at the Foreign Office, to be replaced by diplomats who believe as this newspaper wholeheartedly does in the exciting opportunities of Brexit. Leeching off the NHS Ambulance-chasing lawyers who drive up compensation bills with their stratospheric fees have long been a terrible drain on precious NHS resources. Just imagine what a difference the 440million they pocket every year could make if it was instead spent on patient care. Hospital managers should be doing everything they can to force these legal vultures out of the health service. But instead, in a grotesque act of self-harm, we now learn they are welcoming them in, with several law firms renting office space in prime hospital locations or paying for advertising on NHS-branded leaflets in waiting rooms. NHS chief executive Simon Stevens has condemned those hospitals which allow no-win-no-fee firms to target their patients Yes, doctors and nurses make mistakes, sometimes serious ones, and anyone whose health has been affected deserves appropriate financial redress. But nearly 30p in every pound spent on compensation goes to lawyers and in some cases they even end up with more money than the injured patient. NHS chief executive Simon Stevens deserves praise for his unequivocal condemnation of those hospitals which allow no-win-no-fee firms to target their patients. Health bosses should now kick the lawyers out of every NHS building and make sure they never come back. Help end gender injustice in society but only for women How utterly typical of right-on human rights campaigner turned Labour peer Shami Chakrabarti to launch a 500,000 bursary at the University of Essex to help end gender injustice in society but only for women. Bosses at Britains biggest companies will have made more money by the end of today than a typical worker will earn all year, according to a think-tank. The High Pay Centre has branded today Fat Cat Wednesday because of the shocking figures. It takes the average chief executive of a leading business just two-and-a-half days to earn the average salary of 28,200, said the independent body. So if bosses had returned to their desks on Monday to work the bank holiday, then they would hit that total today. It would take just over an hour-and-a-half for the best paid, Sir Martin Sorrell, to earn 28,200 It would take just over an hour-and-a-half for the best paid, Sir Martin Sorrell, said the centre. As boss of advertising giant WPP, a long-term bonus took his total package to 70million last year. Stefan Stern, HPC director, said: The continuing pay gap creates problems for us all. Fat Cat Wednesday is an important reminder of the continuing problem of the unfair pay gap. We hope the Government will recognise that further reforms to pay practices are needed. The findings published today will pile pressure on Theresa May to tackle excessive pay after she criticised the irrational and unhealthy divide between bosses and ordinary workers. Even the Institute of Directors has called for corporate awareness. It has warned that some executives have assumed massive rewards while taking little of the personal risk usually associated with entrepreneurs. The average pay for a FTSE 100 chief executive is nearly 4million or just over 1,000 an hour, said the High Pay Centre. It assumes they put in 3,940 hours a year, which requires working 12 hours a day and most weekends while taking fewer than ten days for holidays. With a typical worker earning 28,200 a year, it would take around 28 hours for a blue-chip boss to pass this average something they would achieve today. Top bosses will already have made more money by the first Wednesday of 2017 than the typical UK worker will earn all year, said the HPC report. After a year in which elites were criticised for being out of touch and ignorant about the concerns of ordinary people, these figures confirm that there are dramatically different rates of pay at the top compared with everyone else. The top ten: The findings published today will pile pressure on Theresa May to tackle excessive pay after she criticised the irrational and unhealthy divide between bosses and ordinary workers The centre warns that excessive pay deals in the private sector set a bad example to the public sector and not-for-profit organisations. This is seen by the huge amounts given to some headteachers and leaders of NHS trusts, councils and charities. Simon Walker, director general at the Institute of Directors, pointed to the threat of an official clampdown. Unless boards show they are listening and responding, the Governments trigger finger will just get itchier and itchier, he said. The problem is that over the past few decades managers have assumed massive rewards while taking little of the personal risk. Frances OGrady, general secretary of the TUC, said: Working people deserve a fair share of the wealth they help create. The Prime Minister must stick to her promise to tackle excessive pay at the top. Advertisement Four people were killed in severe weather across the Southern United States last night have been named. Michelle Lewis, 53; her niece Amanda Blair, 27; and family friends Terina Brookshire, 51 and Carla Lambart, 53 died when a tornado sent a tree crashing into their mobile home in Rehoboth, Alabama. Three others including Lawana Henrich, sister to Michelle Lewis and mother to Amanda Blair, were in the home and survived. The four deaths are among six caused by the storms across the South. Scroll down for video Friends and family survey the trailer where a tree fell and killed four people after a deadly storm hit Rehobeth, Alabama Tim McElveen of Rehoboth, Alabama contemplates the damage to his home. A fallen tree in Rehobeth killed four people Shelley Reynolds cuddles her four-month-old daughter Reagan after the deadly storm in Rehobeth, Alabama A tattered American flag on the porch of Margie Peters following the storm that devastated Rehobeth, Alabama The victim in an accidental drowning in Florida was identified as William Corley, 70. An alert by the sheriff's office is pictured above Henrich saw a weather alert on television and told the group to take shelter, CBS News reported. Houston County Coroner Robert Byrd said four women who went into one bathroom were killed when a tree collapsed on it while Henrich, her husband and an unidentified man escaped the tornado in another bathroom. William Corley, 70, drowned near his submerged vehicle in Mossy Head, Florida, the Weather Channel reported. Police said they believe he was trying to evacuate from a travel trailer on Monday afternoon. And an unnamed woman died in southwestern Georgia on Monday night. A man in Vicksburg, Mississippi was struck by lightning while duck hunting in the Mahanna Wildlife Management area but is still alive. And the Alabama Gulf Coast Zoo in Gulf Shores will be closed for at least week following damage to animal enclosures. Courtesy of Cory Pippin from WPMI The rain is expected to subside in the next couple days before picking up again on Friday following Winter Storm Helena, the Weather Channel forecasts. Winter Storm Helena is expected to pummel the Western United States before potentially bringing snow and ice across the South. The Southeastern seaboard and much of the Florida panhandle is to experience minor rain of less than one inch But the bad weather may pick up again on Friday as Winter Storm Helena is expected to bring snow and ice across the South. Parts of northern Florida remain on tornado watch while much of South Carolina remains at risk for flash flooding Much of the Southeastern seaboard may experience snow and ice this weekend due to Winter Storm Helena At least a dozen tornadoes struck the Southeast which caused several house fires and left more than 80,000 people without power. The storm system that moved from Texas across the South left a trail of damage reported in at least 28 Mississippi counties, 15 Louisiana parishes and 15 Texas counties. The four dead were in Rehobeth, Alabama near the Florida border. More than four inches of rain fell from Biloxi, Mississippi to Augusta, Georgia while some parts of southern Mississippi and southwest Alabama received more than eight inches. But parts of the Southeast are still categorized as experiencing 'exceptional drought,' according to the National Drought Mitigation Center. Dominck Curran cuts a tree that fell in front of Rehobeth Middle School the day after the devastating storm Cort Brown works on cutting a tree in Rehobeth, Alabama following the storm that killed four people there Korey Jackson, with Jackson's Tree Service, surveys damage at a park behind the town hall after a deadly storm in hit Rehobeth, Alabama In a Marksville, Louisiana Walmart, the severe weather blew out skylights which sent water and glass cascading onto shoppers. It also knocked over 18-wheel truck trailers and punched holes in the store's roof. State emergency officials reported no injuries or deaths in Louisiana and Mississippi. And tornadoes continued to threaten southern Alabama, southwest Georgia and the Florida Panhandle after sundown. Officials in Houston County, Alabama said there was 'major flooding,' ABC reported. Crewmen work to remove downed trees and debris in Covington County, Mississippi Violent: A storm ripped across the South today and left a trail of damage in at least 28 Mississippi counties, 15 Louisiana parishes and 15 Texas counties A damaged home in Mount Olive, Mississippi following the violent storms today. State emergency officials reported no injuries or deaths in Louisiana and Mississippi The storm also knocked over 18-wheel truck trailers and punched holes in the Walmart's roof in Marksville, Louisiana Walmart spokeswoman Erica Jones said the Arkansas-based company hopes to reopen the store Tuesday. The destruction at the Marksville store is seen above More than 50,000 customers in Louisiana and more than 30,000 in Mississippi lost power at the height of the storm. The squall line hit Louisiana's Avoyelles Parish just before noon. Bunkie Fire Chief Joey Frank says trees fell on three houses in his town, while Marksville Fire Chief Jerry Bordelon said a fireworks stand in the Walmart parking lot was tossed 30 or 40 yards. In Louisiana, there was also relatively serious damage in the southwestern parishes of Beauregard and Allen, including the town of Reeves. Pictured: Damage in Mount Olive, Mississippi The storms damages farm buildings and homes across Mississippi, Texas and Louisiana. Debris in Mississippi is seen above The fire department ordered shoppers to leave the store, but some didn't want to leave even as managers closed it. Bordelon said: 'Believe it or not, we had some people in there who were still trying to shop.' Walmart spokeswoman Erica Jones said the Arkansas-based company hopes to reopen the store Tuesday. But needed repairs to a natural gas line may cause a delay. Storms in central Mississippi near Mendenhall and Mount Olive were identified as tornadoes by the National Weather Service, based in part on radar signatures. Both storms damaged farm buildings and homes. Freddie Zeigler, a meteorologist in the Weather Service's New Orleans office, said heavy winds were preceding the squall line, possibly contributing to power outages. Pictured: Crews removing debris in Covington County, Mississippi In Louisiana, there was also relatively serious damage in the southwestern parishes of Beauregard and Allen, including the town of Reeves. Some wind damage was also reported in Houston and throughout East Texas. Though Arkansas had also been included in warnings, there was only a stray report of hail in Jackson County in the northeast part of the state. Freddie Zeigler, a meteorologist in the Weather Service's New Orleans office, said heavy winds were preceding the squall line, possibly contributing to power outages. A gust of 52 mph was reported at McComb, Mississippi, about 1pm Monday. It was the second episode of heavy rain within days for some areas. Rain dance: University of Oklahoma cheerleaders splash in puddles en route to the Sugar Bowl at the Superdome in New Orleans Waterworld: Attendees at the Sugar Bowl trudged through water to cheer on their teams An area stretching from Biloxi, Mississippi, through Alabama and across Macon and Augusta, Georgia received more than four inches of rain Monday, according to radar estimates. Parts of southern Mississippi and southwest Alabama have received more than 8 inches of rain since Saturday. Though rivers along the Gulf Coast were rising rapidly Monday, only minor flooding was predicted. And severe weather exited Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi which allowed Auburn University and the University of Oklahoma fans to reach Monday night's Sugar Bowl in New Orleans. A prison guard has been killed during a two-hour firefight after Muslim rebels stormed a Filipino jail in a pre-dawn raid in which 150 inmates escaped. The attack added to a long history of daring jailbreaks in the country's south, home to a decades-old Muslim separatist insurgency as well as extremist gangs that have recently declared allegiance to ISIS. A two-hour long firefight broke out when more than 100 armed men believed to have been led by a local rebel commander attacked the jail in Kidapawan city at about 1am. Scroll down for video A prison guard has been killed during a two-hour firefight after Muslim rebels stormed a Filipino jail (pictured) in a pre-dawn raid in which 150 inmates escaped 'It's to rescue their comrades under our custody. It is a rescue operation,' jail warden Peter John Bonggat told local ABS-CBN television. Bonggat said the attackers were believed to be a breakaway faction of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the nation's largest Muslim rebel organisation that is in peace talks with the government. At least 158 prisoners had escaped, Bonggat told AFP, although it was unclear how many of those were linked to the attackers or were just other inmates who took advantage of the chaos. 'The (inmates) took chances because of the volume of fire... they used their bedding, piled them on top of each other to escape,' Bonggat said. The attack added to a long history of daring jailbreaks in the country's south, home to a decades-old Muslim separatist insurgency as well as extremist gangs that have recently declared allegiance to ISIS Authorities said the jail, which housed 1,511 inmates, lacked guards and was a dilapidated former school building located in a forested, secluded area Bonggat said the jail, which housed 1,511 inmates, lacked guards and was a dilapidated former school building located in a forested, secluded area. Three inmates facing charges of illegal possession of explosives and drugs escaped from the jail last year. Kidapawan, 590 miles south of Manila, is home to various Muslim rebel groups, criminal gangs and communist insurgents. 'We have many Muslim personalities (in the jail) that are members of various organised, syndicated groups,' Bonggat told AFP. Security forces pursued the assailants and the escapees throughout Wednesday morning, with local authorities reporting up to six had been killed in the hunt. MILF spokesman Von al-Haq told AFP the group did not know who the attackers were and was contacting its members to get more information. A two-hour long firefight broke out when more than 100 armed men believed to have been led by a local rebel commander attacked the jail in Kidapawan city at about 1am The MILF has about 10,000 armed followers, but they have been observing a ceasefire with the government as part of the peace efforts. The southern region of Mindanao is the ancestral homeland of the Muslim minority in the largely Catholic Philippines. More than 120,000 people have been killed in the rebellion. While the MILF is aiming for peace, there are various breakaway groups that are determined to continue fighting and have declared allegiance to the IS group. Police are investigating the poisoning of an entire family after an Amarillo, Texas father used professional-grade, restricted mouse pellets under the family's home, releasing a deadly gas. The father told police that he had obtained the Weevil-Cide pellets - which are only supposed to be placed by two fully trained professionals at a time - from a friend. It's believed that those pellets released deadly gas when they reacted to water he had sprayed on them, killing four of his children and hospitalizing six other family members, CBS News reported. Scroll down for video Yasmeen Balderas, 17, was the oldest of four Amarillo, Texas kids who died when their dad Peter sprayed an industrial pesticide under their home with water, releasing a deadly gas Felipe Balderas, seven; Johnnie Balderas, nine; Josue Balderas, 11 (all pictured above) also died of phosphide gas poisoning. Their dad told police investigators he got the pellets from a friend Speaking to police through a Spanish-language interpreter, the father, Peter Balderas admitted to obtaining the powerful pesticide, which is used industrially to kill mice and insects and isn't available to the public. According to the online guide, the pellets, which are made of aluminum phosphide, are only to be placed by two professionally trained experts at a time. A police officer told CBS that the father is not believed to be certified to use the product; it's not known if his friend is trained. After neighbors complained about the smell, Balderas used a hose to wash out the pellets. They reacted with the water, creating phosphine gas that killed Felipe Balderas, seven; Johnnie Balderas, nine; Josue Balderas, 11 and Yasmeen Balderas, 17. One child died at the scene. The three other siblings died at a hospital. Balderas's wife, Martha, was left on life support but was responding to questions by squeezing her hand on Monday morning, an update from a GoFundMe page said. Peter and four other children were in stable condition in hospital. Phosphine gas can cause respiratory failure and in severe cases can cause a pulmonary edema, which fills the lungs full of fluid. Police closed off the family's mobile home and began an investigation. Balderas does not have the proper certification to use the pellets; police don't yet know whether his friend does Once the investigation is closed, the local DA will decide whether to press charges. Peter, his wife and four other kids were hospitalized, also due to inhaling the gas Once police have concluded their investigation, the results will be given to the local district attorney who will decide whether to press charges. Other federal and state agencies may also become involved, because of the use of a restricted chemical, Amarillo police spokesman Officer Jeb Hilton said. Figures from the American Association of Poison Control Centers show that deaths from Weevil-Cide are rare. Cynthia Aaron, medical director for the Michigan Regional Poison Control Center at Children's Hospital of Michigan, said doctors there more often treated adult patients for exposure because the pesticide is often used in industrial shipping. 'It's not a rare exposure, but deaths like this are rare,' she said. 'We see mostly the overdoses. For example, they used to use this in ship holds when they ship grain. 'So if they are de-mousing the big ship hold and someone doesn't realize the pesticide has been activated or they haven't yet been aired out properly, they might enter and pass out or die.' Crews responded to the Balderas's home at 1301 Carolyn Street at 5am on Monday. Four other children in the home and their father are in stable condition while their mother is in serious condition and is being treated at a hospital in Lubbock. One of the recovering children cannot eat due to 'lingering effects' but two others are 'eating and responding well.' Police were called out at 5am and initially thought the issue was carbon monoxide poisoning. Balderas's wife is seriously ill, but he and his surviving children are in stable condition There were also 10 first responders at the scene who were taken to hospital as a precautionary measure but did not show signs of the illness, Amarillo Globe-News reported. Responders worked throughout the day to clear the area, ABC7 reported. The house was sealed off by police, who initially thought that carbon monoxide poisoning was to blame. The toxic gas emerged Sunday and it would have festered in the house overnight, the Amarillo Fire Department said. The GoFundMe page was set up by a teacher at Eastridge Elementary School, which three of the youngest siblings attended. The oldest, Yasmeen, was a student at Palo Duro High School where she served as a student life contributor for the student newspaper. What happened to Stacey? Ms Tierney's lifeless body was found at Melbourne's Dreams nightspot on December 19 The sister of the owner of Melbournes Dreams nightspot where exotic dancer Stacey Tierney was found dead has questioned if the 29-year-olds death was an overdose after claiming girls who work at strip clubs get high on whatever drug. Antoinette Aparo, 51 - the sister of Dreams Gentlemen's Club owner Salvatore - told Daily Mail Australia people should wait for the investigation to conclude before passing judgement on what happened. 'I know strip clubs and I know the type of girls who work there,' Ms Aparo said in an interview. 'They go get high on ... whatever drug ... then they go to work, do their dancing and go home - how do we know this girl didn't just overdose?' 'All I can say is it will be interesting to see what the police come up with.' Ms Tierney was working at three separate gentlemen's clubs before her lifeless body was found at Dreams on December 19, slumped in a corner and forgotten for 12 hours. The British woman, 29, had lived in Melbourne for just six months before she died in mysterious circumstances. She worked at the clubs Goldfingers and Men's Gallery on Lonsdale Street, as well as the much newer 'Dreams' club on Flinders Street. She had reportedly been working at Dreams for just five weeks before she died. Dream's owners, staff and management released a statement on Wednesday night extending their 'sincere sympathies and condolences to the family and friends of Stacey Tierney, who recently passed away.' 'We will continue to co-operate with and assist Victoria Police with their ongoing investigation into the circumstances surrounding Stacey's death, however, until such time as all the facts are known and the Police investigation has concluded, we are unable to make any further comment or statements in relation to this matter.' Scroll down for video Antoinette Aparo, 51 - the sister of Dreams owner Salvatore - told Daily Mail Australia people should wait for the investigation to conclude before passing judgement on what happened Ms Tierney, a fitness instructor from Manchester, was dead for 12 hours before her body was found The street entrance of Dreams Gentlemen's Club where Ms Tierney was found dead after 12 hours Homicide detectives have joined an investigation into the death of the British woman, 29 A friend of Ms Tierney said she was also working for two other Melbourne venues - Goldfingers (pictured) and The Men's Gallery It comes after the club came under fire on social media for refusing to acknowledge Ms Tierney's tragic death - even posting a provocative video of a scantily-dressed woman swinging on a pole to promote 'Sexy Poker Tuesdays'. This week, the club has also promoted a number of other function nights including Lingerie Wednesdays, Full Throttle Thursdays, Super Sexy Fridays and Party on Saturdays. Furious members of the public expressed outrage on the Dreams Facebook page, with user complaining the club had 'made zero public acknowledgement of the fact that this has even happened... beyond shameful and beyond disrespectful'. 'I'm disgusted that you haven't even acknowledged what has happened, shame on you,' said another. Well-known strip club owner Maxine Fensom has slammed Ms Aparo's comments about drug use in the industry as 'callous and insensitive.' 'She has just branded every stripper with the same brush and said all strippers do drugs.' 'A lot of the girls who work for me and in my industry are fit, healthy women who do it to make money,' she said. Ms Fensom said Ms Aparo was 'speaking out of turn' because she does not work in the industry. 'It is so insensitive for a woman, and I assume mother, to come out and say something like that - I mean don't be so insensitive, that 29-year-old is someone's kid.' Ms Tierney's is said to have been 'partying' with some men in the club on the previous Sunday while it was closed but they reportedly fled when she died. Her friends expressed shock at her death and said the health-conscious young woman 'never touched drugs'. Homicide detectives have joined the police investigation. Video of an unnamed dancer was used to promote the Melbourne strip club on Tuesday Some of the social media backlash against Dreams nightclub is pictured here Security guards are pictured here ushering women into the Dreams club this week Well-known strip club owner Maxine Fensom (pictured) has slammed Ms Aparo's comments about drug use in the industry as 'callous and insensitive' One well-respected business owner, who declined to be named, said she was surprised Ms Tierney had performed at three separate venues. 'None of my managers have ever seen her near my clubs.' A dancer, who did not want to be named, also told Daily Mail Australia Ms Tierney was also working for Goldfingers and The Men's Gallery. Both clubs declined to comment. Ms Tierney's uncle, Graham Tierney, described his niece as a 'hard-working young lady who was full of life'. 'We are finding it difficult to get information, and realise there is an investigation regarding the suspicious circumstances,' he told News Corp Australia . A fellow dancer who worked with Ms Tierney in Brisbane told Daily Mail Australia she believed she funded her three years of travels across the country through exotic dancing. The fitness instructor from Manchester had been dead for about 12 hours when she was found in Dreams Gentlemen's Club on Monday, December 19, while it was closed A second dancer who worked with Stacey in Queensland around May said she thought sure Ms Tierney has been dancing for a couple of years on and off and that she worked as much as she could. The young woman said she was open about what she did when meeting people in Australia but didn't believe her family knew of her occupation. The friend, worked with Ms Tierney at a strip club in the Gold Coast, also insisted the 29-year-old would never go to a place she worked out of hours. 'As soon as I heard she had died I asked if she had been killed... [I] knew in my heart that something was not right,' the dancer said. The dancer said it was out of character for Mr Tierney to be spending time with men she did not know at a club she worked in after hours. There is no suggestion that the management of the club is implicated in her death. 'She was healthy, didn't touch drugs and was so upbeat about life she wouldn't take her own life,' the friend said. The New Zealand woman said there was no way Ms Tierney would have been able to gain access to the club alone and insisted she was always the 'first to say no' if offered drugs. Detectives have now taken over the investigation into the mysterious death of the fitness instructor from Manchester and are awaiting a post-mortem examination Ms Tierney had been doing well in Melbourne after leaving the Gold Coast six months ago Ms Rose said it was out of character for Mr Tierney to be spending time with men she did not know at a club she worked in after hours The club caters to bucks parties and private functions, with secluded rooms available away from the marble-clad podiums where the 'Dream Girls' parade kicks off at 1am on Saturday Ms Tierney was working at three Melbourne strip clubs at the time of her death She said: 'Strippers don't go to clubs when they're closed. It just isn't done.' Earlier, police confirmed Melbourne Crime Investigation Unit investigators had spoken to Ms Tierney's family and the Homicide Squad is included in the investigation of her mysterious death. Authorities are awaiting a post-mortem examination. Ms Tierney reportedly told club staff members she was not feeling well when she arrived for her shift on Saturday, December 17, according to 9News. Friends who danced with Ms Tierney at a strip club in Queensland said they immediately feared she had met foul play. News of the 'vivacious' young woman's death started circulating around the globe after her body was found, with her family informed she was dead just before Christmas. Ms Tierney's former boyfriend, Matthew Girvan, expressed his disbelief after learning of her death while he was travelling in Indonesia. 'My ex-girlfriend I was with for 6 years passed away. Words can't describe how devastated I am,' he wrote, also sharing an image of them riding a zip line together. Ms Tierney's former boyfriend, Matthew Girvan, expressed his disbelief after learning of her death while travelling in Indonesia and shared an image of them together Advertisement New photos show a side of Russia that starkly contrast the grandeur of Moscow with its beautiful colors and well maintained architecture. A photo series shows the grim reality of the people who live in Russia's abandoned villages in a forested area northeast of Moscow. Photographers Liza Zhakova and Dima Zharov from St Petersburg chronicled their trip through 'Russia's desert'. They report it is not unusual for an entire village to be inhabited by just one person and published the photos on Zhakovazharov.ru. Alexey Fedorovich and Zoya Timofeevna Chernovs's hayloft is surrounded by broken pieces of another home Sasha tries to repair his home which is falling apart in nearly abandoned Elyakovo Village Lecha is a miner in Spirdovo who fills his day with hunting and drinking in the empty village Lecha (center) doesn't have electricity in his home in the desolate village of Spirdovo in the Kostroma region The photographers said they were under the impression that the Russian government had abandoned these villages on purpose to get people to move. The publication Roads and Kingdoms reports there are only 660,000 residents for its 23,000 throughout Russia's Kostroma region. This area spans 23,000 square miles which close to the size of West Virginia. Russia's wealth is primarily centralized in its major cities. This means villagers are subjected to lower wages and social services compared to those who live in urban areas. Lecha smokes with his hunter friends in their deserted village of Spirdovo Lecha's hunter friends (pictured above) spend time hunting and drinking to kill the hours in their gloomy town Lecha's hunter friend holds a cigarette in the dark because the home does not have electricity Lecha has fathered 10 children with three different women. He does not understand why people leave his village One of the people left was a man named Lecha who lives in the village of Spirdovo. They spoke to the miner who gets by with a minimum pension payment. He doesn't have the need to pay an electricity bill which cuts down on his expenses. Lecha said he as 10 children with three different women. He also detailed his relationship with alcohol saying: 'Ive been on a binge for 10 days. Take 6-7 bottles and Im already wasted.' He continued: 'Whats the difference whether I die today or 10 years later no difference at all.' Another person the photographers spoke to was Sasha from Elyakovo Village. He also hunts for food and says he noticed a decline in wildlife. But Sasha is not interested in moving. He said: 'I dont like city at all, I can go for a trip there for 4 days, but I cant stand more than that.' Sasha lives in Elyakovo Village alone. He is not interested in leaving his town for the city like many of the other villagers Sasha's home (pictured) is one of the few inhabited residences in Elyakovo Village Sasha gets ready in the morning in his nearly abandoned town of Elyakovo Village Alexey Fedorovich and Zoya Timofeevna Chernovs are the only two people who reside in Assorino Village. The husband and wife raised livestock but have stopped working. Like Lecha, they also talked about binge drinking. He told the photographers: 'There were some binges, come to think of it. The problem is I have a screw loose. If there is some alcohol left, and I need to work the hell Im gonna work.' 'If you drink again, you need more. And how can you work when you are drunk.' Alcoholism is a problem in rural Russia as well as urban parts. A study by The Lancet revealed 25% of Russian men die before they turn 55 primarily because of alcohol and tobacco consumption. Zoya Timofeevna Chernovs does laundry in the deserted village of Assorino The family of Alexey Fedorovich and Zoya Timofeevna Chernovs traveled in to their town to help with their home Alexey Chernov drinks tea after a long day of farming in Assorino village Alexey Chernov tends to the livestock in the village of Assorino where he and his wife live alone Alexey Chernov naps in the only inhabited house in Assorino. He and his wife are the only two residents recovery one year after the Her father has spoken of her The father of a 17-year-old burns victim has spoken of his daughter's miraculous recovery one year after a house fire left her in a coma. In January last year a devastating house fire ripped through Brianna Creenaune's family home in Ipswich, Queensland. As the 17-year-old ran to escape, the verandah roof collapsed on top of her, setting her alight and causing severe burns to 60 per cent of her body. Mr Creenaune said he is proud of her daughter, who still managed to graduate and attend her school formal, despite being in and out of hospital The brave 17-year-old has come to feel proud of her scars (pictured one year after fire) As the 17-year-old ran to escape, the verandah roof collapsed on top of her causing severe burns to 60 per cent of her body (Brianna is pictured one year after the fire) Her father Tony, 53, took to Facebook on Monday in an emotional post marking one year since the fire. '12 months ago I woke up to the worst phone call any parent wants to receive that your daughter is in hospital after a house fire,' he wrote. Speaking to Daily Mail Australia about the tragic incident he said nothing prepared him for walking into the ICU room that day. 'Walking into see Brianna like that, nothing prepared me, I almost fell to the ground crying, I was totally overwhelmed,' Mr Creenaune said. Due to the nature of her injuries doctors placed the Queensland high school student in a medically induced coma. She had countless operations, including skin grafts, to treat the burns. The burns to her hands were so severe the tendons were visible and doctors were forced to amputate one of her pinky toes and half of another toe. Miss Creenaune (pictured before accident) suffered burns to one side of her face, back, legs, arms and hands Queensland teenager Brianna Creenaune, 17 (pictured with her father Tony), suffered burns to 60 per cent of her body in a horrific house fire In January last year a devastating house fire ripped through Brianna Creenaune's family home in Ipswich, Queensland Her long hair was shaved so they could perform a skin graft on her head. Four months after she was admitted, she was discharged from hospital. 'It was amazing to see her come out of ICU, to see her learning to walk again, using her arms and hands again,' her father said. 'No one would have understood the pain she was in.' Mr Creenaune said he is proud of her daughter, who still managed to graduate and attend her school formal, despite being in and out of hospital. 'She's an amazing strong woman who astounds me every day,' he said. A family of five are unaccounted for after a fatal fire burned down their Oregon home. The body of one person was found by firefighters inside the burning home near Hubbard in Oregon on Tuesday afternoon. The home belongs to Keith and Erin Kroeker who live at the property with their 10-year-old twin boys and seven-year-old daughter. Authorities hold grave fears for the Kroeker family whose whereabouts are not yet known. Keith and Erin Kroeker and their twin boys, 10, and seven-year-old daughter are unaccounted for after a fire tore through their home in Hubbard, Oregon on Tuesday afternoon Firefighters responded to reports of the house fire at about 3am on Tuesday and found three different structures alight, including the house, a detached garage and shed. The Marion County Sheriff's Office is calling the blaze suspicious given all three structures, which are not close together, were set on fire. Firefighters found the dead body inside one of the structures about 30 minutes after they arrived. The body has not been identified. The body of one person was found by firefighters inside the burning home near Hubbard in Oregon on Tuesday afternoon Firefighters responded to reports of the house fire at about 3am on Tuesday and found three different structures alight, including the house The sheriff's office said firefighters were trying to stabilize the destroyed home so they could get inside. 'With the amount of destruction, the amount of debris there's no clear view of the residence,' the sheriff's office spokesman Chris Baldridge told KATU . 'Until we stabilize the home and it cools down, our investigators can't get inside. They believe they may be able to enter on Wednesday morning. A beauty queen has warned parents not to use the Cancer Council's Peppa Pig sunscreen after it left her with painful first and second degree burns. Mother-of-two Kim Cancellier, 31, from Sydney, purchased a bottle of the kids-branded sunscreen in December and decided to test the product on her own skin before using it on her two young daughters, aged three and five. The former Mrs Oceania International and current Mrs Universe applied the cream twice before heading into the sun at Dee Why beach for around two hours and was left in 'agony' when her skin turned red and flaky. Mrs Universe Kim Cancellier (left) was left with chemical burns after using Peppa Pig sunscreen The mother-of-two applied the cream twice before heading into the sun for around two hours and was left in 'agony' when her skin turned red and flaky 'Instead of acting as a sunscreen and protecting me from the suns rays it had the opposite effect and turned me bright red,' she said. Ms Cancellier, an anti-domestic violence advocate, said the burns were so severe she could not move and her skin felt as if it were 'on fire'. 'I am burnt to a point my body feels like it's on fire. I can barely move and every small touch causes nothing but agony.' 'I'm 31 and if I'm in this much pain then I can't even begin to imagine the pain a child would be in.' Ms Cancellier decided to test the product on her own skin before using it on her two young daughters, aged three and five 'Instead of acting as a sunscreen and protecting me from the suns rays it had the opposite effect and turned me bright red,' Ms Cancellier claimed Doctors told Ms Cancellier the sunscreen had left her with first and second degree chemical burns on her stomach and chest The Peppa Pig sunscreen is endorsed and sold by the Cancer Council, one of Australia's largest cancer charities. The skin under her breast was red raw A spokesperson for the Cancer Council said it takes the safety and effectiveness of its sunscreens 'very seriously' and is investigating Mrs Cancellier's case. More than 250,000 bottles of the Peppa Pig product had been sold with very few uses resulting in complaints. 'On some occasions, we conclude that there has been an allergic or chemical reaction to particular, but different, ingredients in the product this is why we always recommend doing a small patch test before applying any sunscreen to yourself or other family members,' the spokesperson said. Ms Cancellier said she was shocked that the product had been targeted at children, with doctors telling her the sunscreen had left her with first and second degree chemical burns on her stomach and chest. Mrs Universe Kim Cancellier has warned parents of her experience with Peppa Pig sunscreen Four weeks on from the incident and Ms Cancellier's skin still has not recovered fully [My doctor] believed it wasn't an allergic reaction but more of a chemical reaction to the product,' she told Daily Mail Australia. 'It was like the sunscreen acted as an accelerant instead of a protectant. Ms Cancellier took photographs of her skin at intervals during her recovery that show large flakes peeling off, leaving raw fresh skin underneath exposed. Four weeks on from the incident and Ms Cancellier's skin still has not recovered fully. She said it has almost finished peeling, but thinks it will be another week before she will be able to safely go in the sun. The reigning Mrs Universe has been forced to turn down work due to the appearance of her skin Ms Cancellier did some research and found numerous complaints about the product The bottle advises the SPF 50+ sunscreen is designed for kids with delicate skin The model has been forced to turn down work due to the appearance of her skin She said she has been forced to turn down work due to the appearance of her skin. 'It was hard as one of my jobs is to model so for the past month I've turned down a lot of photo work, haven't done any TV work or made my contracted appearances with my title.' Ms Cancellier has recently reached out to the mother of a three-month-old boy who spent three days in hospital after having a reaction to the same cream. 'I'm an adult and I can manage the pain... the poor baby who had the same reaction can't. I can't even begin to imagine how he must be feeling,' she said. The boy's mother, from Queensland, shared a shocking image of her son laying in a hospital cot with a swollen face and blistering rash after applying the kids-branded 50+ SPF sunscreen to his body this week. 'I've turned down a lot of photo work, haven't done any TV work or made my contracted appearances with my title,' Ms Cancellier said The bottle is designed with the children's cartoon character Peppa Pig on the front She said her son was not left in the sun for an extended period of time and that doctors told her it appears to be a serious reaction to the chemicals in the cream as the rash is all over his body, not just where his skin was exposed to the sun. Ms Cancellier said the Cancer Council were quick to respond to her complaint and took the product back for testing. The charity also offered to cover her medical expenses. NBC hosts Savannah Guthrie, Hoda Kotb, Kathie Lee Gifford and Chuck Todd shared their excitement on Twitter after the news that Kelly was hired She reportedly asked Fox last minute for $25million, but they said no Kelly decided not to re-up with Fox News despite their offer of a $20m annual contract to keep hosting The Kelly File, which premiered in October 2013 She will have a triple role at NBC with a daytime news program, a Sunday night news show and will also be part of the network's political coverage Earlier in day, Rupert Murdoch said: 'We hope she enjoys tremendous success in her career and wish her and her family all the best' Kelly said on Tuesday night: 'This was a tough decision for me because I love this show, our staff, my crew, my colleagues here at Fox, and you, all of you' Friday will be her last day of hosting her popular show, The Kelly File blow for Fox News, where Kelly, 46, was seen as the future of the network During one of her final broadcasts on Fox News, an emotional Megyn Kelly said it was a 'tough decision' for her to leave the network for her new role at NBC News. The 46-year-old longtime Fox News anchor waited until the end of The Kelly File show to make an on-air announcement about her departure from Fox News that was announced earlier Tuesday. 'Finally, a personal note and a professional note from me to you. After more than a dozen years at Fox News, I have decided to pursue a new challenge,' the mother-of-three said. 'This was a tough decision for me because I love this show, our staff, my crew, my colleagues here at Fox, and you, all of you. 'Those who write me the lovely handwritten notes asking about my kids, and even those who very rarely complain on Twitter about our coverage after our show or a presidential debate. 'Now I don't actually know most of you, so perhaps it's not true love, but it's the kind of feeling that makes one feel connected to another human being.' The Syracuse, New York native added that is why she 'believes we're here for a human connection.' 'The truth is, I need more of that in my life, in particular when it comes to my children, who are seven, five and three,' she continued as she started to get emotional. Scroll down for video Tough decision: During one of her final broadcasts on Fox News, an emotional Megyn Kelly (above) said it was a 'tough decision' for her to leave the network for her new role at NBC News The 46-year-old longtime Fox News anchor waited until the end of The Kelly File show to make an on-air announcement about her departure from Fox News that was announced earlier Tuesday Kelly said: 'This was a tough decision for me because I love this show, our staff, my crew, my colleagues here at Fox, and you, all of you' 'So I'll be leaving Fox News at the weeks end, and starting a new adventure, joining the journalists at NBC News who I deeply admire. I'll be anchoring a daytime show there, along with a Sunday night news magazine, and you'll see me there on the big nights too, for politics. 'I am very grateful for NBC for his opportunity, and I am deeply thankful to Fox News for the wonderful 12 years I have had here. I have grown up here and been given every chance a young reporter could ever ask for. 'The Murdoch family has been kind and good to me at every turn, and my colleagues are like a second family to me. So I will miss them, this show and you. and i hope our human connection continues albeit over a different line. Thank you for watching, with love.' Prior to making the on air announcement about her departure, Kelly appeared confident as ever while sitting behind the anchor desk. While sporting a classic black dress that featured a sheer sleeve, Kelly kept it business as usual during her one-hour airtime slot. Hours after the announcement, Kelly showed off a wide smile as she looked TV-ready while her doorman held an umbrella for her in the rain Tuesday evening. Photographs show the mother-of-three seemingly to be in an upbeat and happy mood when prior to getting into her chauffeured car to be taken to Fox News Headquarters in Midtown Manhattan. Kelly reportedly asked Fox last minute for a $25million contract to remain at the network, as they allegedly turned down her demand for more money than the rumored $20million she was initially offered, New York Magazine reported. Her final day at Fox News will be Friday, though she will not be able to move over to NBC until her current contract expires in July. New start: Hours after announcing she's heading to NBC News for a new 'triple role' at the network, Megyn Kelly showed off a wide smile while in the rain as she looked TV-ready to host one of her final shows on Fox News Happy: The 46-year-old longtime Fox News anchor seemed to be in an upbeat and happy mood while walking in the rain, as her doorman held an umbrella for her All smiles: The announcement about Kelly's move over to NBC was made on Tuesday, as it's been reported for months she was in talks with other networks There has been no word yet from Fox News about which host will replace Kelly next week and if there will be a new program or the show will be renamed The File. News Corp CEO and Chairman Rupert Murdoch released a statement with some kind words for Kelly after learning the news, saying: 'We hope she enjoys tremendous success in her career and wish her and her family all the best.' Kelly also released a rare public statement on Tuesday after news of the NBC deal broke in which she spoke about her new position and gave thanks to everyone at Fox News. 'While I will greatly miss my colleagues at Fox, I am delighted to be joining the NBC News family and taking on a new challenge,' wrote Kelly on Facebook. 'I remain deeply grateful to Fox News, to Rupert, Lachlan and James Murdoch, and especially to all of the FNC viewers, who have taught me so much about what really matters.' That same statement was also posted on her Twitter account, with Kelly writing: 'An ending, and a new beginning...' In a statement released on Tuesday, NBC revealed that Kelly will anchor a one hour daytime program running Monday through Friday on the network, along with a Sunday evening news magazine show. She will also be involved in the network's political and breaking news coverage 'Megyn is an exceptional journalist and news anchor, who has had an extraordinary career,' NBC Chairman Andrew Lack said of his high-profile hire. 'Shes demonstrated tremendous skill and poise, and were lucky to have her.' Kelly's decision to not re-up her contract with Fox News, where she has worked for the past 12 years, is a devastating blow for the network. Game over: Kelly (above in portrait from May) took the NBC job after a heated battle among a number of networks to sign the Fox News host New friends: Savannah Guthrie shared her excitement about NBC hiring Kelly despite being out on maternity leave, posting a pic from November (above) Booze cruise: Today host Hoda Kotb invited Kelly to join her and Kathie Lee Gifford for a boozey celebration (above) DC buds: Meet the Press moderator Chuck Todd was also quick to tell Kelly how excited he was to work with her at NBC (above) She was reportedly offered an annual salary of over $20million to stay on at the channel, where her program The Kelly File has been a massive ratings success ever since it debuted back in October 2013. Kelly's new colleagues also seem excited about the new addition to their team, with Meet the Press moderator Chuck Todd writing on Twitter: 'Welcome @MegynKelly! No disrespect to others, but hope you are already realizing, there's no place like NBC. Can't wait to work together.' Nightly News anchor Lester Holt also welcomed Kelly with open arms to the Peacock network. 'We're delighted to welcome her to the NBC News family,' Holt said. Savannah Guthrie also shared her excitement despite being out on maternity leave, posting a photo of herself and Kelly on Twitter and saying: Big welcome to @MegynKelly - awesome get for @NBCNews !! May I not be nine months pregnant in the next picture we take side-by-side!' Today host Hoda Kotb also voiced her joy and offered her signature warm welcome to Kelly, writing: '@MegynKelly !!!! So excited you are heading to NBC! Pls stop by and have a glass of Chardonnay wth me and @KathieLGifford xo #welcome !!' Kathie Lee Gifford then retweeted her co-host on the fourth hour of the NBC morning show. There has been no comment from any of Kelly's Fox News colleagues however, including her two closest friends at the network, Dana Perino and Bill Hemmer. THE KELLY FILE FAREWELL During her Tuesday night broadcast of The Kelly File, the 46-year-old anchor took time at the end of the show to announce on camera that she would be leaving Fox News after over 12 years with the network. Below is the full transcript of what Megyn Kelly said: 'Finally, a personal note and a professional note from me to you. After more than a dozen years at fox news, I have decided to pursue a new challenge. 'This was a tough decision for me because I love this show, our staff, my crew, my colleagues here at fox, and you, all of you. 'Those who write me the lovely handwritten notes asking about my kids, and even those who very rarely complain on Twitter about our coverage after our show or a presidential debate. 'Now I don't actually know most of you, so perhaps it's not true love, but it's the kind of feeling that makes one feel connected to another human being. 'And that after all is why i believe we're here human connection. 'The truth is, I need more of that in my life, in particular when it comes to my children, who are seven, five and three. 'So I'll be leaving Fox News at the weeks end, and starting a new adventure, joining the journalists at NBC News who I deeply admire. 'I'll be anchoring a daytime show there, along with a Sunday night news magazine, and you'll see me there on the big nights too, for politics. 'I am very grateful for NBC for his opportunity, and I am deeply thankful to Fox News for the wonderful 12 years I have had here. 'I have grown up here and been given every chance a young reporter could ever ask for. 'The Murdoch family has been kind and good to me at every turn, and my colleagues are like a second family to me. So I will miss them, this show and you. And I hope our human connection continues albeit over a different line. Thank you for watching, with love.' Advertisement The New York Times, who first broke the news, said that it was the triple role that Lack offered Kelly at the network which persuaded her to sign with NBC. She will also be working with the NBC News teams to help develop her weekday news program ahead of its premiere. There is no word on how much money Kelly will be making in her much broader new role at NBC, but it will be less than her Fox News offer. She is currently making $15million for what is now her final year with Fox News according to the Wall Street Journal. Meanwhile, Kelly's move to NBC will not happen until later this summer at the earliest as Kelly's contract with Fox News runs through July of this year. It will also be a relatively easy office move for Kelly, as Fox News headquarters is just two blocks away from Rockefeller Center, which is the home of NBC. It was Vanity Fair that first reported Kelly was in talks with NBC in a story published last month about the 'last-minute suitors' looking to hire Kelly. Uptown girl: Kelly will be moving just two blocks to Rockefeller Center from Fox News Headquarters. She was there in February with husband Doug Brunt for a Fallon appearance The other networks chasing Kelly included ABC and CNN they claimed, along with the news that money was 'less of an issue' for Kelly. CNN President Jeff Zucker was said to be 'moving the Himalayan mountains to get [Kelly]' on the network at the time but could not match the $20million Fox News already had on the table. And while Fox News executives were eager to keep Kelly, others at the network were apparently less fond of the network star. Her non-stop press appearances to promote her memoir Settle For More in November and December reportedly earned Kelly a new nickname at work - 'Me-again.' The news of Kelly's departure from Fox News for a post at NBC now puts to an end months of speculation about the future of the popular host. It also marks a remarkable ascent for Kelly, who got into the field later in life after becoming disillusioned with her career as an attorney. She began shooting up the ranks at Fox News soon after she landed a role as a contributor for the network back in 2004, at which time she was working in their Washington DC office. Kelly began appearing on the network's most popular shows, and by 2007 she was already hosting her own program on the network, America's Newsroom. Three years into that job she got another big promotion, leaving behind Newsroom and her co-host Bill Hemmer for a solo hosting gig on America Live. And after three years in that role Fox News made the announcement that Kelly would be given her own primetime news program. Polite farewell: 'I remain deeply grateful to Fox News, to Rupert, Lachlan and James Murdoch, and especially to all of the FNC viewers,' Kelly said in a statement (l to r: lachlan, Rupert and James Murdoch in March) Battle of the blondes: Donald Trump spent much of the election going after Kelly, but the two made nice in April (above Trump and Kelly shooting her May primetime special) Kelly helped to develop The Kelly File before its premiere at Fox News, and has easily won her time slot over the past three years. Kelly consistently has the number one news program in overall viewers as well as the critical 25 - 54 demo across cable news. News Corp CEO and Chairman Rupert Murdoch made it clear however in October that he believes it would be easy to fill Kelly's spot if she decided to jump ship. MEGYN'S FOX NEWS FAREWELL STATEMENT ' Over a dozen years ago I started at Fox News in a job that would change my life. 'Now, I have decided to end my time at FNC, incredibly enriched for the experiences I've had. 'I have agreed to join NBC News, where I will be launching a new daytime show Monday through Friday, along with a Sunday evening news magazine program. 'I will also participate in NBC's breaking news coverage and its political and special events coverage. 'While I will greatly miss my colleagues at Fox, I am delighted to be joining the NBC News family and taking on a new challenge. 'I remain deeply grateful to Fox News, to Rupert, Lachlan and James Murdoch, and especially to all of the FNC viewers, who have taught me so much about what really matters. 'More to come soon. 'Happy New Year, and God bless.' Advertisement '[W]e have a deep bench of talent, many of whom would give their right arm for that spot,' Murdoch told the Wall Street Journal. Kelly largely refused to speak or even comment about her future at Fox News over the past few months. She did however confirm some reports about what Fox News was offering her last month in an interview with The Washington Post. Kelly stressed how happy she was to be at Fox News in that interview, and confirmed that her new boss Lachlan Murdoch did provide her with a 'generous offer' to continue hosting The Kelly File. And while that praise made it appear as if Kelly was likely to say, she also made a point of saying there were 'great options' to consider' later on in the interview. Kelly said that after Murdoch presented her with what the network was prepared to offer her come July, she told him that she wanted time to think things through and make the best decision for herself and her family. 'Oh, my next deal is all about greater balance. I mean, thats - I had professional success, right? Thankfully,' said Kelly. 'And I feel like Im at a level in my business where Ive established myself as a professional. And the one thing I havent managed to do is find a way to achieve a better balance.' She then explained that she would like to have a schedule that allowed her to spend more time with her children at the end of the day and not come home from hosting a live program at 9pm to find the three asleep in bed, as is the case most evenings. Kelly and her second husband, writer Douglas Brunt, have three children - sons Edward Yates, 7, and Thatcher Bray, 3, as well as a 5-year-old daughter, Yardley Evans. Brunt's third book, Trophy Son: A Novel, will be released this May. Family outing: Kelly and her second husband, writer Douglas Brunt, have three children - sons Edward Yates, 7, and Thatcher Bray, 3, as well as a 5-year-old daughter, Yardley Evans (above in October) Thoughts: Kelly posted her statement on Twitter with a bittersweet message about the future (above) This has been a tumultuous year for Fox News, who are now number one in total viewers across all cable. The network stole the top spot away from ESPN thanks in no small part to the recent election. Kelly also became a big past of the election after being attacked multiple times by the Trump campaign, most notably after the first Republican primary debate last August. The attacks on Kelly began after she grilled him about his controversial comments about women. 'You've called women you don't like 'fat pigs,' 'dogs,' 'slobs' and 'disgusting animals,'' Kelly said. 'Does that sound to you like the temperament of a man we should elect as president?' Trump replied: 'Honestly, Megyn, if you don't like it, I'm sorry . . . I've been very nice to you, although I could probably not be, based on the way you have treated me.' He then said of Kelly the following day: 'You could see there was blood coming out of her eyes. Blood coming out of her ... wherever.' Kelly will have a triple role at NBC when she starts later this year The attacks by Trump against Kelly continued for months, and he took to Twitter countless times to lash out at the host or retweet criticisms of her and her show, The Kelly File. He even backed out of a Fox News-sponsored debate in Iowa that she was moderating earlier this year. The two eventually made amends and in May, and Trump appeared on Kelly's primetime special which aired across Fox platforms that same month. Trump was back to his old ways however in late October when he voiced his support for Newt Gingrich after the former Speaker of the House went off on Kelly while appearing on her show. Kelly has continued to not get involved for the most part and usually refuses to engage with Trump. She also urged the audience at a Women in Hollywood event last month to give Trump a chance. That comment came despite the fact that she and her children still have to travel with armed guards due to the threats being made against the host and her family by some Trump supporters. That was not the only big story Kelly found herself a part of either this year, though the other represented a shocking low point for Fox News. She played a crucial role in the ousting of Ailes' as CEO of the network after speaking with a team sent to investigate possible sexual harassment at Fox News following a lawsuit filed by fired host Gretchen Carlson. Kelly did not speak about the ongoing turmoil at the time, deciding to instead save it all for her book. In her memoir Settle For More, Kelly claims that Ailes tried to kiss her against her will, made inappropriate sexual comments in her presence and even told her about some 'very sexy bras' he would like to watch her wear. Kelly also claims that Ailes offered to advance her career soon after she was hired as a legal correspondent for the network in 2005 in exchange for sexual favors. Kelly's decision to go back and add a section detailing Ailes' harassment was made after her book had already been completed and sent off to her publisher. Ailes had already left Fox News by that point as well, with a reported $42million severance package. Key player: In addition to her own show Kelly was involved in special event coverage for Fox News and moderated debates for the network (above with Chris Wallace and Bret Baier in August 2015) Reports had been circulating for months as well claiming that there is little chance that both O'Reilly and Kelly would re-up their contracts, though neither of the two said anything to confirm that claim. The uncertain relationship between the pair made headlines in November after comments O'Reilly made about Kelly during an appearance on CBS This Morning. O'Reilly was asked during his appearance on the morning news show if Kelly might appear on his Fox News program to promote her book, to which he replied: 'I don't know. We'll see if she's going to be on the show or not. I want to be that candid. I'm not that interested in this.' That is when anchor Norah O'Donnell, a longtime friend of O'Reilly's, cut in and asked: 'You're not interested in sexual harassment?' Fox News is the most watched network on cable this year, overtaking ESPN A clearly annoyed and angry O'Reilly replied to this by saying: 'I'm not interested in basically litigating something that is finished that makes my network look bad. Okay? 'I'm not interested in making my network look bad at all. That doesn't interest me one bit.' O'Reilly seemed to be referencing the chapter in Kelly's book where she details former Fox news CEO Roger Ailes' sexual harassment of her and her decision to cooperate with the company's investigation into its CEO this past July. The preternaturally cool and collected Kelly responded to O'Reilly's comments the very next day, during her own appearance on CBS This Morning. 'Well I will say this, I am very proud of the fact that I discussed this with Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch before I wrote this chapter in my book, and we were all on the same page,' she said. 'And it was an important chapter to include and I am proud of them that they feel as I do, that sunlight is the best disinfectant.' Fourteen people including several children have been injured in New South Wales after being smashed against rocks by a freak wave, it has been reported. The group were swimming in a well-known rock pool at Crescent Head, New South Wales, when a freak wave hit them at around 12.30pm. In total 10 people have been taken to hospital including one 10-year-old boy who suffered a head injury and a 48-year-old man who had a dislocated shoulder. Fourteen people including several children have been injured after they were smashed by a freak wave while swimming in a rock pool at Crescent Head, New South Wales A boy gestures as he is treated by a paramedic after the incident at Crescent Heads on Wednesday Sophie Shepherd, who was one of the swimmers, told The Macleay Argus: 'One [wave] came and that was all good, but then a second came and that was when it smashed everyone. 'Some people stayed in the water, I went towards the cliff. We ran up to get service on our phones, and called the ambulance.' A New South Wales Ambulance spokesman told Daily Mail Australia that 11 ambulances have transported patients following the incident. One suffered a dislocated shoulder, another had a fractured toe, and a third had cuts to their head. The rest suffered cuts and abrasions. A Westpac helicopter was called to the scene, but was not needed in rescue efforts. All of those swimming in the rock pool at the time the wave struck have been accounted for. Ten people have been taken to hospital including one 10-year-old boy who suffered a head injury and a 48-year-old man who suffered a dislocated shoulder A 48-year-old man suffered a dislocated shoulder during the freak wave on Wednesday Sophie Shepherd (right) said she was thrown back against the cliff by the wave. She said one 10-year-old was left with head injuries, while a 48-year-old man dislocated his shoulder Initially rescue workers had tried to reach the remote location by boat, but called in the Westpac helicopter after that proved impractical. Crescent Head, where the accident took place, is around 20km north of Port Macquire and is accessible via a single road that runs along the coast. The incident comes amid an 'unprecedented' summer spate of drownings in waterways and backyard pools in New South Wales. So far 18 people have died since the start of December, with the latest being a fisherman who body was found on Wednesday. Fourteen people including several children have been injured in New South Wales after being smashed against rocks by a freak wave Donald Trump has come out swinging at US intelligence agencies after they allegedly delayed a briefing with him on the Russian hacks until Friday. In a tweet on Tuesday night, Trump questioned whether the 'intelligence' briefing - he put the word in quotation marks - was put back because his advisers didn't actually have a case. 'The "Intelligence" briefing on so-called "Russian hacking" was delayed until Friday, perhaps more time needed to build a case,' he wrote. 'Very strange!' 'Strange': Trump claimed on Tue that intelligence briefings had been pushed back to Friday - something he described as 'strange'. He'd promised to reveal insider info Tue or Wed this week Delay: Trump implied in a tweet that intelligence agencies lacked a proper case. But earlier Tue it had emerged that more evidence of Russian hacks in the US had been found The defensive Tweet followed on from Trump's New Year's Eve promise that he would reveal more about what he knows of the hacks this week. The president-elect made the remark to reporters outside his Mar-a-Lago New Year's Eve party, when asked about CIA claims that Russian hackers deliberately cracked Democratic email addresses to influence the election in favor of Trump. 'I think it's unfair if [the intelligence services] don't know,' he said. 'And I know a lot about hacking. And hacking is a very hard thing to prove. So it could be someone else. 'And I also know things that other people don't know, and so they cannot be sure of the situation. When asked by the reporter what he knows that others do not, the President-elect said: 'You'll find out on Tuesday or Wednesday.' No reason for the alleged delay was given by Trump. Suspect: The CIA said Putin tried to help Trump win - something Trump denies. It's not known if the evidence of new hacks caused the alleged delay to the meeting But hours earlier, on Tuesday morning, CBS reported that more cases of Russian cyberattacks against the US - some possibly successful - had been identified by intelligence agencies. Officials connected to Vermont's electrical grid said that signatures of tools believed to be used by Russian hackers had been found on a Burlington Electric Department laptop. There was no sign the grid had been penetrated by the hackers, however, officials said. Trump has long been dismissive of claims that the Russian government - to which he expressed a more benign view than Hillary Clinton during the election - attempted to influence American voters in his favor. Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds will be laid to rest in a private ceremony tomorrow, ahead of a public memorial where Meryl Streep is said to be leading the tributes. Fisher has already been cremated, and some of her ashes will be placed into Reynolds's coffin as she is buried in a private ceremony at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in the Hollywood Hills, TMZ reported. The Star Wars icon's brother, Todd Fisher, and her daughter, Billie Lourd, have been planning the funeral in the wake of the Hollywood actresses' deaths last month. A joint funeral service has been planned for Debbie Reynolds (left) and her daughter Carrie Fisher (right) at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in the Hollywood Hills The simultaneous ceremony was complicated by the two stars' differing wills, with Fisher wanting to be cremated and Reynolds expressly wishing to be buried. The solution was to place some of the Star Wars actress's ashes with her mom. Reynolds's son Todd Fisher told ABC's '20/20' on Friday he was planning the joint service at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in California with the help of Billie Lourd, his niece and Carrie Fisher's daughter. A family source, quoted by The Hollywood Reporter, confirmed there would also be an event at the Beverly Hills compound where Reynolds and Fisher were neighbors. 'I'm not sure what they're calling it - a funeral or a wake - but it will be Thursday at the house,' the source said. 'It will be exactly what they both wanted, to be together.' Meryl Streep has reportedly been asked to pen a eulogy for the public ceremony The family is understood to be discussing a public memorial during which Meryl Streep will read they keynote eulogy, although no plans have been announced. Streep played Carrie Fisher in Postcards from the Edge and was a close friend of Debbie Reynolds, according to TMZ. It is thought the public ceremony will be more of a celebration of their work, where costumes from Singin' in the Rain and Star Wars will be displayed. The Star Wars cast and crew are expected to attend. Other celebrities laid to rest at Forest Lawn include Bette Davis, Reynolds's onscreen mother in A Catered Affair, and Reynolds's close friend Liberace. Silent film star Buster Keaton, Oscar-winning Rod Steiger and David Carradine, the star of Kung Fu and Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill films, are also buried there. Reynolds, who tap-danced her way into American hearts as a star of Singin' in the Rain, died on Wednesday last week, a day after daughter Carrie Fisher's death. The 84-year-old suffered a stroke at the Beverly Hills compound as she was making funeral arrangements for Fisher, who had suffered a heart attack. 'She didn't die of a broken heart. She just left to be with Carrie,' Todd Fisher told '20/20.' Billie Lourd (left) with her grandmother Debbie Reynolds (center) and mother Carrie Fisher Carrie Fisher and her mom, Debbie Reynolds, are the subjects of a poignant documentary about their personal and professional bond on HBO Those to have been buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in California include actors Bette Davis (left) and Robert Steiger (right) Silent film star Buster Keaton (right), and David Carradine, the star of Kung Fu and Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill films, are also buried at the site in the Hollywood Hills Debbie Reynolds's son Todd Fisher (left) said he was planning the joint funeral for his mother (center) and sister Carrie Fisher (right) Fisher, who catapulted to worldwide stardom as rebel warrior Princess Leia in the original Star Wars trilogy, died at the age of 60 in Los Angeles four days after suffering a heart attack on a transatlantic flight. Lourd opened up on Monday about losing her mother and grandmother just a day apart, telling her Instagram followers their prayers and kind words had given her strength 'during a time I thought strength could not exist'. 'There are no words to express how much I will miss my Abadaba and my one and only Momby. The U.S. administration is '100 percent certain' that the Russian government played a role in hacking emails during the bitter presidential election. State Department Spokesman John Kirby told CNN on Tuesday that there was 'no question' about Russia's involvement. 'The information is there, and it's rock solid. And we obviously would not have pursued the measures that we pursued without that level of certainty,' he said. 'So, yes, we are a 100% certain.' Scroll down for video State Department Spokesman John Kirby said the U.S. administration is '100 percent certain' that the Russian government played a role in hacking emails Kirby said it was not just the assessment of President Obama or Secretary of State John Kerry, but the entire intelligence community. President-elect Donald Trump has repeatedly doubted the suggestion Russian hackers help influence the election. 'If Russia, or some other entity, was hacking, why did the White House wait so long to act? Why did they only complain after Hillary lost?' he tweeted last month. 'Unless you catch "hackers" in the act, it is very hard to determine who was doing the hacking. Why wasn't this brought up before election?' Trump followed up with. It comes after Trump spokesman Sean Spicer insisted on Monday that there was still 'zero evidence' the election was swayed by hackers. President-elect Donald Trump has repeatedly doubted the suggestion Russian hackers help influence the election 'Whether or not they were hacked, and [Russians] did anything, is a completely different story. The way the mainstream media is playing this up is that they had an influence in the election,' Spicer said on Fox & Frience. 'There is zero evidence that they actually influenced the election.' WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange said Obama was 'trying to delegitimize the Trump administration' by claiming the Russian government hacked Democrats' emails. In an interview with Sean Hannity on Fox News on Tuesday, Assange reiterated his claims that Russia was not the source of the hacks. Last week Obama expelled 35 Russians over the hacking allegations during the presidential election Moscow has denied claims Russia (pictured President Vladimir Putin) were involved in any way in election-related hacking He told Hannity 'with 1000 per cent' confidence that the Russian government was not responsible for emails stolen from the Democratic National Committee and John Podesta, Hillary Clinton's campaign chairman. Those emails were published online by WikiLeaks in the lead-up to the November 8 vote. Democrats claimed the hacks were a deliberate attempt to undermine Mrs Clinton's campaign and boost support for Donald Trump. Last week as the row intensified, Obama expelled 35 Russian diplomats from the country. They arrived back in Russia on Monday morning. Moscow denies any involvement in election-related hacking. In tonight's interview on Fox News, Assange claims Obama's administration are 'trying to say that President-elect Trump is not a legitimate President' The bikini-clad teenager who was thrown to the ground, grabbed by the hair, and forcefully arrested by a Texas police officer during a summer pool party in 2015 is suing for $5million. Dajerria Becton, who was 15 at the time of the arrest, and her legal guardian, Shashona Becton, are suing former cop Eric Casebolt, the city of McKinney, and the police department, according to Dallas News. They are asking for $5million in damages for 'mental anguish, loss of quality of life as well as attorney fees.' They say the harsh treatment the teen received is consistent with the training practices of the department. Scroll down for video Dajerria Becton, who was 15 when she was thrown to the ground by former Texas cop Eric Casebolt, is suing him, the police department and the city of McKinney for $5million Eric Casebolt, above, was shown dragging the teen to the ground by her hair and sitting on her The city and the police department have denied the claims, saying in a statement: 'McKinney prides itself in cultivating the highest standards of training and professionalism for our officers, and it strongly believes that its standards and training will withstand legal challenge. Casebolt resigned from the force four days after the June 5 incident and received what he said were thousands of death threats. Last year, a grand jury declined to indict him on criminal charges. In the suit, Dajerria said she was in the process of leaving the party when Casebolt came after her with his baton raised, threw her down to the ground, grabbed her by her long braids, and slammed her face into the grass. He then pinned her with one knee. Video shot by a teen at the party shows Casebolt waving his gun at several of the teens. The complaint says - and the video shows - that the officer then sat on Dajerria's back and handcuffed her. Dajerria said the overly-forceful arrest caused injuries both physical and psychological; Casebolt resigned four days after the incident and went into hiding 'The entire time D.B. she could do nothing [but] cry out in pain and repeatedly beg for her 'Momma' as she endured the pain inflicted upon her by Defendant Casebolt's physical assault,' the lawsuit reads, according to Dallas News. Dajerria said the overly-forceful arrest caused injuries both physical and psychological but didn't elaborate. The lawsuit says the force used by the officer was consistent with the department's officer training. 'There exists a practice of excessive force incidents that result from the training or lack thereof, received by MPD officers. Upon information and belief, MPD officers are trained by individuals with little or no experience working in the field,' said the lawsuit. Casebolt was shown on video waving his gun at the teens, swearing at them, and then finally arresting Dajerria, who says she was in the process of leaving the party Last year, Dajerria's attorney approached representatives for the city and offered not to bring a lawsuit if the girl was paid $2.5million, claiming the girl suffered 'social damage' and needs to attend a private school, according to the outlet. Her family also asked that officers be retrained to learn how to handle teens. The city declined the offer. Casebolt said he was forced to go into hiding because of death threats. He also denied to the Dailymail.com last year that he was racist, with a friend relaying his message: 'I am a victim of all that has been going on right now. I'm just sorry that I have contributed to it. On another time, nobody could have accused me of being racist. 'Things got the better of me and that's all. I am very concerned that folk stop judging me in that way.' Earlier on the day of the incident, Casebolt had dealt with two suicide calls, including comforting a woman whose husband who shot himself dead in front of children at an apartment complex. Two teenagers have been charged over a shocking one-punch attack that left a 'gentle' young man fighting for life in hospital. Thom Dover, 21, was put into a medically-induced coma and rushed to Gold Coast University hospital with traumatic head injuries at around 2am on Wednesday after being attacked in the heart of Surfers Paradise, Queensland. Police allege a 16-year-old boy struck Mr Dover in the back of the head and knocked him out, leaving him in a pool of blood as his head hit the pavement. Friends have told of the young man's gentle nature and said they were certain he would have tried to avoid an altercation if approached. Scroll down for video Thom Dover was the victim of a shocking one-punch attack in Surfers Paradise on Wednesday He was left laying in a pool of blood on the street after a teenage boy allegedly hit him from behind in a 'one punch attack' Mr Dover had been walking with his friend Patrick O'Callaghan on Ferney Avenue only metres from two police stations when the incident took place and reportedly tried to avoid his alleged attacker before he delivered the devastating blow. Damien Wright, from the Gold Coast, was with the men on Tuesday night and said they are lovely people who would never seek out a fight. 'Thom and Patty are some of the most kind-hearted, genuine guys I know,' he told Daily Mail Australia. 'They would never seek out violence and I know they would try and walk away from any altercation.' 'It's devastating what has happened,' he added. Friends of Mr Dover (pictured) said the 'kind hearted' 21-year-old would never seek out a fight The 16-year-old was with another boy, aged 14, who allegedly punched Mr O'Callaghan (pictured), but he managed to escape with only relatively minor injuries The 16-year-old was with another boy, aged 14, who allegedly punched Mr O'Callaghan, but he managed to escape with only relatively minor injuries. Police were on the scene within minutes and took the two boys into custody. The 16-year-old, from Churchill, was charged with causing grievous bodily harm, common assault and being a public nuisance on Wednesday afternoon. His 14-year-old accomplice, from Goodna, also faced charges of common assault and being a public nuisance. Friends of Mr Dover have taken to social media to condemn the attack and wish for his swift recovery. Police interview a shirtless male in Surfers Paradise following a one-punch attack 'This just breaks my heart how much does it take to realise you are putting lives in jeopardy,' one man wrote. Confronting images of the scene show a pool of his blood left on the street. A witness said he was shocked when he stumbled upon the unconscious man as a paramedic desperately tried to stabilise him. 'I came across a guy on the footpath out cold and bleeding heavily... he was attacked by 2 teenagers in another coward punch incident,' the man said. The local Surfers Paradise man said the area he lives in is full of excitement for families and tourists, but was often marred by drug and alcohol fuelled violence. 'There is a seedy element that does frequent this place and wreak havoc. 'Queensland; beautiful one day, vicious the next,' he added. The victim, a 21-year-old man, was placed in a medically induced coma and rushed to hospital Gold Coast High Acuity Response Unit paramedic Darrin Hatchman said the man was struck so hard he had lost consciousness before collapsing on the ground and suffered a 'traumatic brain injury'. 'Apparently he's been struck from behind on his head and gone to the ground unconscious,' Mr Hatchman told AAP. 'It's very sad he's ended up with quite serious injuries,' he added. The man's friend was also reportedly struck but only sustained minor injuries. Police were on the scene in minutes and took the two boys into custody for questioning. A pillow lay strewn on the pavement at the site of a one-punch attack in Surfers Paradise A spokesperson from Gold Coast University Hospital said the man remained in a critical condition on Wednesday. Queensland introduced tough new laws in 2014 in a bid to combat alcohol-fuelled violence and deaths from one-punch attacks, including a maximum penalty of life-imprisonment. A 23-year-old man suffered critical injuries in October when he was struck in a one-punch attack in Surfers Paradise. A suspected drunk driver accused of causing a collision that killed the mother of a young child was arraigned from her hospital bed Tuesday. Alexandria Bayne, 34, pleaded not guilty to murder and other charges after she allegedly caused a wrong-way, head-on collision while drunk driving in California. She was arraigned at Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla, California and will be held on $3m bail for causing the death of Sarita Shakaya, 38. Alexandria Bayne, 34, was arraigned from her hospital bed for causing a collision that killed the mother of a young child Bayne drove into the vehicle driven by Sarita Shakaya, left. The collision killed Shakaya instantly Shakaya is survived by her husband and four-year-old daughter Video courtesy of CBS 8: Her blood-alcohol level was .33 percent when she crashed into a Toyota Carolla driven by Shakaya, who died at the scene of the crash on December 17, cbs8 reported. Shakaya is survived by her husband and four-year-old daughter. Bayne is charged with murder, gross vehicular manslaughter, felony child abuse and DUI causing injury among other charges. If convicted, she would receive at least 25 years in prison and could receive a life sentence. A homeless man accused of killing his older lover confessed to castrating the man and said he would have fried and eaten his penis if police hadn't have caught him first. Jerry Pagan, 32, confessed to the murder of 68-year-old Richard Reed at his Bronx home in New York last month, according to court documents. Pagan is accused of showing up to his older lover's home on December 3 and striking him in the head with a hammer and stabbing him with scissors after the pair had a verbal argument. Scroll down for video Homeless man Jerry Pagan, 32, confessed to the grisly murder and castration of his older lover Richard Reed, 68, at his Bronx home in New York in December He told police that they had unprotected sex a few days before and Pagan had wanted to get tested but could not get the money from Reed to do so, DNA Info reports. Pagan said he then went to the victim's house to carry out the grisly killing. 'I stabbed him with a knife and hit him over the head with a hammer and cut off his penis and put it in the sink,' Pagan told police. 'I wanted to cut his head off and throw him in the river, but you got to me too early. 'I was going to fry the penis up and eat it too.' Pagan is accused of showing up to his older lover's home on December 3 and striking him in the head with a hammer and stabbing him with scissors after the pair had a verbal argument When police arrived at the home, Pagan told them the victim's penis was still in the sink. 'If you don't believe me, go check for yourself,' Pagan said, according to court documents. Police said last month that Pagan and the victim had known each other for years. Pagan, who was charged with second-degree murder, appeared in Bronx Supreme Court on Tuesday dressed in an orange prison jumpsuit. He pleaded not guilty to murder and manslaughter charges. Pagan is due back in court on March 30 and will be held without bail. Just days following the deaths of Debbie Reynolds and her daughter, Carrie Fisher, HBO has released the trailer for the highly anticipated documentary about their incredible, yet complex relationship as mother and daughter. The 94-minute film, Bright Lights: Starring Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds, bills itself as a 'story of the family's complicated love,' and promises 'an intimate portrait of Hollywood royalty in all its eccentricity'. The roughly two-minute trailer of the documentary directed by Alexis Bloom and Fisher Stevens displays exactly that, as well as several sweet moments including joking between the two iconic actresses. The trailer opens up with Fisher walking over to her mother's home right next door, carrying a tray of food for the beloved actress. Scroll down for video Just days following the deaths of Debbie Reynolds and her daughter, Carrie Fisher, HBO released the trailer for the documentary about their incredible, yet complex relationship as mother and daughter (above) The trailer opens up with Fisher walking over to her mother's home right next door, carrying a tray of food for the beloved actress (above) As Fisher walks in, she tells her mother she can't keep this seemingly old school flip-phone, while Reynolds appears to be trying to fix it (above) Fisher then helps her mother select outfits for an upcoming trip, as they exchange several witty comments back and forth to each other (above) As Fisher walks in, she tells her mother she can't keep this seemingly old school flip-phone, while Reynolds appears to be trying to fix it. 'Works fine,' the 84-year-old actress tells her daughter, who quickly quips 'it's ridiculous.' Fisher then helps her mother select outfits for an upcoming trip, as they exchange several witty comments back and forth to each other. Moving the funny moments along about their relationship, t he trailer then highlights how Fisher and her brother, Todd, are concerned about their elderly mother's health. 'My mother, she'll forget she's not 35,' Fisher says. 'Age is horrible for all of us, but she falls from a greater height.' Moving the funny moments along about their relationship, t he trailer then highlights how Fisher and her brother, Todd, are concerned about their elderly mother's health (above) Fisher said: 'My mother, she'll forget she's not 35. Age is horrible for all of us, but she falls from a greater height.' Above is a scene from the documentary showing a vintage video of the two siblings playing near a pool with their mother Reynolds (above) then discusses how her daughter was diagnosed later on in life as manic depressive and how early on the disorder was mostly unknown Reynolds then discusses how her daughter was diagnosed later on in life as manic depressive and how early on the disorder was mostly unknown. Moments later, Fisher says she is her 'mom's best friend', before Reynolds adds, 'I share everything with my daughter, especially the check.' The HBO documentary seems to have captured the loving bond between the duo, as its March release date has been moved up to January 7 at 8 pm likely in wake of their tragic deaths. The film seems to be mostly shot in 2014 and 2015, as it chronicles the months leading up to the 84-year-old Reynolds's receiving the 2015 Lifetime Achievement Award from SAG. At that time, Fisher, 60, was in preparations to reprise Princess Leia, her most recognizable and iconic role, in Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens. Moments later, Fisher says she is her 'mom's best friend', before Reynolds adds, 'I share everything with my daughter, especially the check.' The documentary also shows several archival footage and vintage family films that helps breath a new life into the pair's relationship. Bloom and Stevens had a rare opportunity to film their relationship, as they lived right next door to each other in the same Beverly Hill compound. In speaking about the highly anticipated film, Bloom and Stevens said:'At the one end of the family compound in Beverly Hills lived Debbie Reynolds, star of Singin' in the Rain, with Dorothy's red slippers from The Wizard of Oz on the mantelpiece,' the two directors explained to People. 'Adjacent was Princess Leia, in a house where Bette Davis once lived. You don't get more Hollywood royalty than that. Storytelling magic lived around them They had what Carrie called 'rampant empathy' for each other.' 'We started out making a film about Hollywood royalty,' they added. 'And we ended up making a film about love.' Fisher, who catapulted to worldwide stardom as rebel warrior Princess Leia in the original 'Star Wars' trilogy, died on December 27 in Los Angeles - four days after suffering a heart attack on a transatlantic flight at the age of 60. Reynolds, who tap-danced her way into American hearts as a star of 'Singin' in the Rain,' died a day after daughter after suffering an apparent stroke. Timothy D. Blake has been arrested and charged with squirting women with his semen A man has been charged with serial semen syringe squirting. The man, Timothy D. Blake, 28, of Sams Creek Road, Mineral Wells, West Virginia, was charged with being the suspect who had terrorized and grossed out a series of women in Marietta, Ohio who said they'd had semen squirted at them. Blake allegedly admitted to 12 instances over two months of masturbating, then filling a syringe with his semen, and following women around a Walmart in Washington County and spraying their backsides with his bodily fluids, reports News and Sentinel. He was tracked down when a woman noticed a 'creepy man' lingering around her as she shopped in the makeup aisle and then felt something wet and squishy on her backside and went to the bathroom to clean it off, but it was sticky, according to the criminal complaint. She said when she came out, she found Blake staring at her. Blake would target women at the Marietta Walmart (above) and spray them with his semen, according to police When he tried to leave, she followed him and saw the company truck he was driving, which had a distinctive bumblebee insignia for the oilfield company where he works. Using this description as well as that from other women and surveillance video, police were able to identify and locate Blake, said the outlet. He was arrested as he ate dinner at a restaurant with his wife. 'It's not something that we've encountered before and after we arrested Mr. Blake, we asked him about it, and he said it was something that he had discovered on the internet and decided to try it,' Sheriff Mincks of the Washington County Sheriff's Office told WTAP. According to the criminal complaint, Blake said the material used was egg yolks until an officer advised that they'd had the material tested, at which point he admitted to it being semen, but only some of the time. According to a court filing, Blake said he would masturbate in his truck or in the Walmart parking lot and then fill a syringe with his bodily fluid. When pressed as to what he thought he was doing, he replied 'maybe it was his way of having sex with these women and that was what he thought of when committing these acts.' He also said he was molested as a child, and said his wife was completely unaware of his activities. Blake allegedly drove three company trucks, all 2014 Fords, one black, one white and the third brown, during his alleged acts. Former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd dodged senior US officials in an attempt to set up a meeting with then secretary of state Hillary Clinton, newly released emails reportedly show. The emails surfaced from Mrs Clinton's State Department show her senior adviser Huma Abedin warned her about Mr Rudd's bizarre attempt to secure a bilateral meeting in December 2011. The email, titled 'Warning', allegedly revealed Mrs Clinton's staff refused Mr Rudd's request and advised her what to do if he 'tried to grab [her],' according to the Sydney Morning Herald. Former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd dodged senior US officials in an attempt to set up a meeting with then secretary of state Hillary Clinton 'If Rudd tries to grab you, want to remind you he emailed me for a bilat,' the email reportedly read. 'I told you I was working on it. Needless to say, Kurt's staff and Jeff Bleich are surprised he went around them to get to you directly without co-ordination on message/policy etc.' It is not the first time Mr Rudd has found himself in the Democratic presidential candidate's emails, which were released after it was revealed she used a private server at her home while secretary of state. In October, it was revealed Mr Rudd reached out to Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign chairman John Podesta seeking a meeting in the US in 2015. The timing of the first email, December 14, 2015, came just before Mr Rudd's infamous December 23 meeting with Malcolm Turnbull to discuss support for the UN secretary-general job. Mr Rudd reached out again to Mr Podesta on February 26 seeking meetings with Mr Podesta on March 1 or March 4, according to emails leaked by WikiLeaks. A woman who hijacked an Air New Zealand flight and stabbed the aircraft's two pilots will walk free in February - even though she has threatened to do it again when she is released. Asha Ali Abdille, 42, was sentenced to nine years behind bars after she hijacked the Air New Zealand flight from Blenheim to Christchurch, New Zealand in February 2008. Abdille, then 33, stabbed both pilots on the aircraft as well as a female passenger who suffered minor wounds when she intercepted Abdille and tried to prevent her hostile attack. Asha Ali Abdille (pictured) was sentenced to nine years behind bars after she hijacked the flight from Blenheim to Christchurch, New Zealand in February 2008 The Somali-born refugee had taken knives onto the small plane, which was forced to make an emergency landing in Christchurch. In a statement read to the court in 2010 when she was sentenced, Abdille said she hijacked the 19-seater plane because she wanted to leave New Zealand, go to Australia and make her way back to Somalia. Since her sentencing, Abdille has warned she would hijack another aircraft upon her release. Although the Somalian woman is still classified as a high-risk, she is due to be released on February 7. In a document prepared by the parole board, it was revealed Abdille not only warned she would 'attempt to hijack another plane', but also 'threatened to set herself on fire'. Abdille reportedly said she hijacked the 19-seater plane because she wanted to leave New Zealand, go to Australia and make her way back to Somalia The flight is pictured sitting on the tarmac at Christchurch Airport, New Zealand on Friday February 8, 2008 following the hijacking The report, obtained by Daily Mail Australia, stated hospital staff held 'ongoing concerns about potential risky behaviour in the community on any release'. Abdille is currently held in a psychiatric unit in the Wellington region and will be released into the care of the mental health system when her sentence ends. Her transfer into the mental health system has been made compulsory as part of her conditions for release. Conditions also state she is 'not to travel on any aeroplane, or enter the grounds of any airport ... without the prior written consent of (her) probation officer'. The Air New Zealand aircraft was forced to make an emergency landing after the hijacking in 2008 After Abdille's transfer into the health system, any decisions about her leave will be the responsibility of her clinician. A Parole Board spokesman told Daily Mail Australia there was very little likely hood Abdille would be released into the community in February. He said it was up to the health system what they did with her, but they would have to believe she was not a risk to the community to grant her release. While the Parole Board spokesman said her immediate release was unlikely, he said it was in the health system's hands, and they were not commenting due to privacy reasons. A policeman suspected of murdering a Greek ambassador in Brazil was caught on CCTV entering the victim's home and leaving in a car containing his body, it is claimed. Police believe ambassador Kyriakos Amiridis, 59, was killed in a crime of passion by a law enforcer who was having an affair with the diplomat's wife. Amiridis has been missing since Monday night, and a burned corpse was discovered on Thursday evening inside his rented car. Police in Rio de Janeiro say 29-year-old officer Sergio Moreira has confessed to the murder, and Amiridis' wife has been arrested. The footage allegedly shows police officer Sergio Moreira and his cousin at the ambassador's home Police believe ambassador Kyriakos Amiridis, 59, was killed in a crime of passion by a law enforcer who was having an affair with the diplomat's wife Moreira is alleged to have been having a relationship with the diplomat's Brazilian wife, Francoise Souza Oliveira - mother of the ambassador's 10-year-old daughter. Francoise, 40, reported her husband missing on Wednesday, and has since been arrested, accused of planning the killing. A cousin of the officer has also been arrested, accused of acting as a lookout. It is alleged that he helped carry the body from the house, having been promised a fee of 80,000 reais - the equivalent of 20,000. Investigator Evaristo Magalhaes told reporters that Francoise, 40, and Moreira had arranged the murder a few days in advance. He said after the wife's arrest: 'This was a tragic, cowardly act, but we worked tirelessly to crack this case as soon as possible. It was a crime of passion.' Kyriakos Amiridis (pictured with his wife), 59, mysteriously vanished on Boxing Day night after leaving his relatives' home in a poor suburb of Rio de Janeiro Ambassador Kyriakos Amiridis' wife Francoise (pictured) raised the alarm, saying she had been unable to contact him for two days The Ford Ka car Amiridis had rented to spend Christmas with his wife's family was found underneath an overpass at the entrance to the Nova Iguacu district of Rio He said blood was found on a couch inside the home and the ambassador was likely stabbed to death as no shots were reported in the area. But no cause of death has been established because the body was burned in an an attempt to cover up the killing, Magalhaes said. Brazilian President Michel Temer, in a letter addressed to Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, said the ambassador's killing had caused him profound sadness and he extended his condolences to the ambassador's family, friends and the Greek people. The CCTV footage was taken at the home the ambassador shared with his wife and daughter Francoise Souza Oliveira (centre), 40, held a shirt over her head while officers escorted her out of the police station to a jail in Belford Roxo Amiridis (right), is pictured talking to Brazil's President Michel Temer during a government ceremony in Brasilia in March The Greek embassy in Brasilia declined to comment. In Athens, Greek foreign ministry spokesman Stratos Efthymiou said the government also had no comment. Amiridis served as Greece's consul general in Rio from 2001 to 2004. He was Greece's ambassador to Libya from 2012 until he took the top Brazil post at the beginning of 2016. Magalhaes said thatHowever, he said it was not yet possible to determine the exact cause of death because the policeman had burned the ambassador's body in an attempt to cover up the crime. The Nova Iguacu area of Metropolitan Rio, where Mr Amiridis and his wife were passing the Christmas holidays, is notorious for crime and its high murder rate. In the run up to Brazil's municipal elections, at least 14 politicians were murdered in the region in nine months, blamed on death squads operating in the region. Disturbing new details have emerged of a sophisticated, undercover ISIS network that infiltrated the Istanbul New Year's Eve killer into Turkey and used advanced special forces techniques to massacre unarmed revellers. The killer, reportedly a battle-hardened militant trained in Syria, was spirited into the country by a mysterious ISIS handler codenamed 'Teacher Yusuf', according to leaked information published in Turkish media. The attacker himself was reportedly codenamed 'Abu Muhammed Horasani', though his true identity either remains unknown or has not been released by investigators. It comes as fresh footage emerged showing the suspect walking into a bus terminal in the city of Konya last month and as anti-terror police made a series of arrests in the western city of Izmir. Scroll down for video Disturbing new details have emerged of a sophisticated, undercover ISIS network that infiltrated the Istanbul New Year's Eve killer into Turkey. Video has also emerged showing the suspect at a bus terminal last month (pictured) Turkish police have detained a number of people in the Istanbul investigation after a raid in the western city of Izmir (pictured) Both the gunman and his alleged handler remain at large despite the country being in a state of emergency and a massive international manhunt, apparently demonstrating ISIS' advanced operating capability that experts fear may one day bring carnage to the streets of Britain. The revelations which have not yet been confirmed by police but has appeared widely in the leading Turkish newspaper Hurriyet and elsewhere allege that Teacher Yusuf installed the killer and his family in a safe house in the central town of Konya, in an apartment block where three other families were living, in November. The other families, thought to be part of the ISIS cell, vanished following the atrocity but were detained by police 300 miles away, in the coastal Turkish town of Izmir, this morning. The gunman's wife and two children have been detained by police, but have denied having any knowledge of the suspect's ISIS connections. The attacker himself was reportedly codenamed 'Abu Muhammed Horasani', though his true identity either remains unknown or has not been released by investigators As many as 27 men and women have been detained by police in the eastern Turkish town of Izmir An elderly woman was pictured being led to a police cat in the city of Izmir, western Turkey Reports suggest a total of 27 men and women were detained by police in the western Turkish town of Izmir. They are reportedly from Syria, the Russian Republic of Dagestan, Xinjiang in northeastern China known by separatists as East Turkestan and Kyrgyzstan, thought to be the gunman's home country. The suspects had 20 children with them, Turkish media reported. According to the Milliyet newspaper, sniper equipment, night vision binoculars, backpacks, GPS trackers and other military supplies were seized in the raids. MILITARY ITEMS SEIZED IN RAID Pictures of military equipment seized in the western Turkish city of Izmir, where 11 men and nine women were arrested by anti-terror squads today, have been released by police. The suspects are thought to be members of an ISIS cell that may be connected to the New Year's Eve attacks, and lived in the same apartment block as the nightclub killer and his family, Turkey's Hurriyet newspaper reported. They are all non-Turkish, from a number of Central Asian and North African countries. Pictures of military equipment seized in the western Turkish city of Izmir, where 11 men and nine women were arrested by anti-terror squads today, have been released by police The suspects are thought to be members of an ISIS cell that may be connected to the New Year's Eve attacks, and lived in the same apartment block as the nightclub killer and his family, it has been reported. Pictures show a broken door and passports found at the scene The detainees were apprehended at three separate addresses in the Bornova and Buca districts of Izmir along with their 20 children, who are thought to have been used as cover so that the suspects could appear less suspicious. Pictures taken inside one of the raided apartments were also released by police. Forty-one passports from multiple countries were also found, most of which were forgeries, as well as 15 fake identity cards, according to police. In addition, 13 mobile phones were seized, along with one tablet, one military jacket, one GPS unit, sniper sights and night vision binoculars. Officers are working to establish possible links between the latest suspects and the New Year's Eve massacre, Turkish media reported. Advertisement Security has been tightened in Kirklareli, a Turkish town near the border with Bulgaria, amid fears that the Istanbul gunman may try to escape into Europe. Police officers with high velocity weapons and body armour were deployed at the entrance and exit points of the city, as well as at the Derekoy border gate leading to Bulgaria, Turkish media reported. In the days leading up to the attack, the terrorist and his shady handler travelled together bus to Istanbul, a journey of more than 400 miles, to make their final preparations. There they stayed in a second safe house in Zeytinburnu, a working-class district of the capital, carrying out reconnaissance for the massacre, according to reports. Both addresses have since been raided by police. The killer was described as highly trained, calm and experienced in urban warfare, but according to Turkish media made one key error: while discarding his jacket after the attack, he left 500 Turkish Lira (114), all the money he had, in the pocket. This meant he was unable to pay the taxi fare when attempting to flee from the scene. Funerals of victims have been taking place around the world, including in Beirut, Lebanon (pictured), where Ilyas Vardini was laid to rest A funeral for four of the victims of the Reina nightclub attack takes place in Istanbul, Turkey The suspect approached a taxi and told the driver he would get money to pay him when arrived at his destination. The offer was refused, however, forcing him to flag down a second cab. This time, he was successful, it has been reported. The terrorist made a call from the taxi driver's phone, the Vatan newspaper claimed, but the number had been unavailable for three months. Police believe it may have been used as a decoy. The suspect was driven back to the safe house in Zeytinburnu, a journey of about 35 minutes, where he allegedly knocked on the door of an Uighur ethnic restaurant and was given the cash to pay the taxi driver. Seven people of ethnic Uighur background have been detailed by anti-terror police. It comes as it emerged that the last bullet in each of the gunman's magazines was a tracer round, allowing him to reload as quickly as possible, adding to the list of advanced military techniques used by the terrorist. Last night, taxi drivers staged an angry protest outside the scene of the atrocity, driving past in a slow procession sounding their horns before laying red carnations outside. An intense manhunt continues throughout Turkey and beyond for the nightclub killer, his ISIS handler and accomplices this morning, as the investigation enters its fourth day. Alp Mehmet, vice-chairman of Migration Watch UK, said businesses were 'crying wolf' about the impact of curbs on numbers A major think tank campaigning for lower immigration to Britain has accused businesses of 'crying wolf' over the the risks of curbing numbers. Migration Watch analysed a cap on skilled migrants arriving in Britain from outside the EU and found it had never been reached. As Home Secretary, Theresa May ruled in 2010 that a maximum of 20,700 visas would be issued to skilled migrants each year. The number of applications has been exceeded only once in 2015-16 when 22,037 visas were granted - but almost 2,800 were never used. Alp Mehmet, vice-chairman of Migration Watch UK, told The Times: 'The business lobby have been crying wolf for years about the impact of the cap on business but it has now become clear that the annual cap has never been breached. 'The very same lobby is now claiming that a reduction in migration from the EU for low-skilled work will be a disaster but, with their record, the public will not be convinced.' In its latest report, Migration Watch said failure of business to fully use the Restricted Certificates of Sponsorship system showed there was nothing to fear from new curbs on migration after Brexit. Skilled migrants can get visas via other routes - particularly if they can show exceptional talent or demonstrate they are funded entrepreneurs or investors. Companies can also bring in migrants via internal transfers. Under current rules, skilled migrants from EU countries can freely live and work in the UK but this is likely to end after Brexit. Prime Minister Theresa May has vowed to get greater border control as part of her Brexit deal with the European Union Institute of Directors employment and skills policy chief Seamus Nevin warned an extension of the current system would hurt business - warning the visa rules were 'not fit for purpose'. He told The Times: 'Employers must answer over 100 questions about a prospective employee when applying for a visa on their behalf and applications are typically 85 pages in length. 'Home Office officials must then consult 1,300 pages of instructions before deciding if a visa will be issued, so employers are often left waiting for months to hear whether an application has been granted. 'If Migration Watch think this is a good system, clearly they know little about the realities of running a business.' Total immigration is running at record highs of 650,000 - leaving net migration at more than 330,000 a year Immigration is at the heart of the debate over Brexit and Mrs May's negotiating goals in Brussels. The Prime Minister has insisted the referendum result was a clear demand for tighter border control, while maintaining the 'best possible access' for firms to the European single market. An author claims royal archivists tried to censor a flirtatious exchange which took place between Queen Victoria and her servant John Brown. According to the Queen's doctor, the former monarch - who began a controversial relationship with Brown after Prince Albert's death - lifted her skirt in front of her favourite gillie. Sir James Reid described in his diaries how the duo were at the door to Queen Victoria's room in Windsor Castle when Brown lifted his kilt and said: 'Oh, I thought it was here.' An author claims royal archivists tried to censor a flirtatious exchange which took place between Queen Victoria (left, in a painting) and her servant John Brown (right, in a portrait) The Queen's doctor said the former monarch - who began a controversial relationship with Brown after death of Prince Albert - lifted her skirt in front of her favourite servant (pictured) Victoria replied by lifting her own skirt and saying, 'No it is here.' At the time, the monarch's relationship with the devoted gillie set tongues wagging and one politician even claimed they were secretly married. But when author Julia Baird included the fresh revelation in her biography about Queen Victoria, a senior archivist apparently asked her to remove the passage. According to The Times, Baird - an Australian journalist and commentator - was forced to show her manuscript for Victoria: The Queen to Pamela Clark, assistant keeper of archives, in return for being allowed to conduct research. Australian author Julia Baird (pictured) was asked to remove the fresh revelation from her biography about Queen Victoria Ms Clark then asked the author to remove the passage, even though she obtained the information from papers the archives do not hold. But Baird - who says she was denied access to the royal archives for years - refused to remove the excerpt. She has now published details of the incident in her US and Australian editions of her book, but not the British. She wrote that she received some 'helpful comments and minor corrections' from the archivist which she happily made. But she added: 'To my surprise, the reply also asked me to remove large sections of my book based on material I had found not inside but outside the archives. 'The expressed concerns focused on the papers of Victoria's doctor, Sir James Reid, which are held by his family.' The true nature of the relationship between Queen Victoria and Brown has long been debated. Lewis Harcourt, a politician and minister in HH Asquith's government, claimed in 2003 that Rev Norman Macleod, the Queen's chaplain, made a death-bed confession that he had secretly married the couple. The true nature of the relationship between Queen Victoria and Brown (pictured together) has long been debated Lewis Harcourt, a politician and minister in HH Asquith's government, claimed in 2003 that the Rev Norman Macleod, the Queen's chaplain, made a death-bed confession that he had secretly married the couple (pictured together, in around 1895) But the monarch's biographer, AN Wilson, has previously said the couple only 'hugged one another and slept together' and the relationship was never consummated. Mark Bostridge, who reviewed the book for the Times Literary Supplement, said the Royal Archive had a 'continuing desire to bury any attempt at reaching the truth about Victoria's relationship with her Highland servant innocuous or not.' Buckingham Palace declined to comment on the case. An armed gang has held terrified jewellery shop workers at gunpoint as they smashed open cabinets and got away with diamond rings and bracelets worth $150,000. Horrifying CCTV footage from H&H Jewellery, in south-east Melbourne, shows a masked thug holding a gun to the owner of the store's head. Two staff members cowered in fear underneath desks in the store's back office as their boss was forced to open a safe. The three brazen men, who were armed with a handgun and a machete, charged into the store at 1.40pm on Wednesday and set about smashing open cases and cabinets before making off with the valuable goods. An armed gang has held terrified jewellery shop workers at gunpoint as they smashed open cabinets and got away with diamond rings and bracelets worth $150,000 Security camera footage obtained by 9 News shows one of the masked men holding a gun to the store owner's neck as he edges towards a safe. The robbers, who concealed their identities by wrapping shirts around their faces, are then seen jumping on top of jewellery cases and smashing them with hammers. They stole rings, bracelets and gold chains worth approximately $150,000 before escaping in a getaway car. Victoria Police believe one of the men switched from the black Holden Commodore to a black Ford Territory a couple of kilometres away. The Holden did not have registration plates, police said. The three brazen men, who were armed with a handgun and a machete, charged into the store at 1.40pm on Wednesday The thugs smashed open cases and cabinets before making off with the valuable goods Acting Detective Sergeant Nathan Toohey said the men were of Sudanese appearance. He added that the shop's workers - the owner, who is a father-of-two, and two women - had been left 'pretty shaken and terrified'. No one was injured during the robbery. Jordon Woods, pictured, 18, broke into a man's flat, slept in his bed, ate his food and 'trashed' the home while the occupier was in hospital A 'goldilocks' burglar slept in his victim's bed, ate his food and trashed his home while he was receiving emergency treatment in hospital, a court heard. Jordon Woods occupied the flat in North Shields while he knew the man was away from home. A court heard Woods and others 'lived like animals' and caused extensive damage, leaving the victim feeling violated. But now the 18-year-old has walked free from Newcastle Crown Court after he was handed a suspended prison sentence. The court heard Woods broke into the man's flat on Horsham Grove, North Shields, between September 18 and 28. When the victim, who was known to Woods, returned after his spell in hospital, he was left shocked by the state of his home. The court heard the victim said: 'Whoever had been there had been cooking my food and sleeping in my bed. 'I feel so angry this has happened and I feel vulnerable and completely violated. 'I want these people brought to justice. They have no right to enter my property and trash it.' Prosecutor Emma Dowling told the court: 'When he [the victim] returned to his address, he discovered his home had been damaged. 'He could see somebody had forced entry to the front door, smashing it. It's an upstairs flat and as he climbed the stairs, he could see the living room door had been ripped from its hinges. 'As he moved through the flat he could see the place was trashed. 'A picture frame was broken, the TV remote was smashed, there were crisps on the floor, glass everywhere, a table was smashed, carpets were ruined with stains. The flat was ruined.' The court heard the damage caused was estimated to have been to the value of around 1,000. Woods' blood was found on a towel in the kitchen and he was arrested. Miss Dowling said: 'It seems other people have been named as also having entered the property. 'It's not clear whether he acted alone or with others.' Woods, of North Shields, pleaded guilty to burglary with intent to do unlawful damage. He was given nine months suspended for 18 months with 150 hours unpaid work and a three-month curfew between 9pm and 7am. Recorder Andrew Dallas told him: 'It rather looks like you and others occupied someone's house and I strongly suspect you or somebody had information you weren't going to be disturbed as the unfortunate occupier of the flat was in hospital requiring emergency treatment. 'It looks like you and others occupied it and you trashed it. 'You didn't steal anything he could see but you lived basically like animals, in a way you would never have dreamt of living in your own house. He was handed a nine-month suspended sentence at Newcastle Crown Court (pictured) 'The effect on this poor man coming home from hospital to be greeted by that is something I hope you will think about.' Jamie Adams, defending, said: 'He is not a habitual burglar and this is not a burglary in the usual way we see it.' Mr Adams added that Woods is living with his mother and is on a bricklaying training course. The court heard he has been before the courts 'on many occasions' but never for anything as serious. Recorder Dallas told him: 'You have had chances in the past but have not taken them. 'You have got to break this cycle of offending. Pictures of TV presenter Eloisa Gonzalez have been widely shared online A Spanish TV presenter has been forced to counter claims she went commando on New Year's Eve after a series of pictures of her went viral. Tenerife-born Eloisa Gonzalez has been tasked with leading the countdown to January 1 on Canarian television for nearly a decade. But the regional state TV channel's decision to transmit live on the windy island of La Gomera - combined with the brunette's decision to don a revealing red dress for the TV gala - turned this weekend's show into the most memorable. Her high cut dress gave the impression she wasn't wearing underwear. Now Eloisa, who defines herself on her Instagram page as a presenter, actress, model and lover of animals, has broken days of silence to insist she was appropriately attired underneath her dress. The 35-year-old, who began her TV career as a reporter covering the famous Canary Islands carnivals, said despite the apparent evidence to the contrary: 'I wasn't aware of what had happened at the time and I didn't even notice the cold. 'I had underwear on as well as stockings. 'I was constantly grabbing hold of the lower part of my dress because I didn't trust its front split. 'But there was a moment when I had to swivel round to speak with a companion and while I was turning round the wind whipped up and it was then that I was informed over my earpiece that they'd seen "something".' Denying claims from some sectors that it was a deliberate stunt to boost ratings and her personal profile, she added: 'I don't even choose my wardrobe. 'I confide what I wear every year to my stylist Yurena and a few days ago she said to me, "This year you're wearing red". 'I replied, "That's perfect" and I tried the dress on two days before New Year's Eve. That's the importance I give these things.' Eloisa Gonzalez (second left) has been tasked with leading the countdown to January 1 on Canarian television for nearly a decade Social media users have been quick to show their appreciation in their replies to a photo Eloisa posted on her Instagram page showing her in her famous red dress during a more dignified moment alongside her co-presenters. Fan Raquel Perez, responding to comments not fit to publish in a family newspaper, said: 'Eloisa, don't worry about what people say. We're your true fans. Ignore some of the comments you're getting. Thousands of kisses.' It is not the first time Eloisa, a former presenter of Spanish reality television show Supermodel, has made headlines with her New Year's Eve dresses. Eloisa Gonzalez has said she was appropriately attired underneath her dress The TV presenter said: 'I was constantly grabbing hold of the lower part of my dress because I didn't trust its front split' Her low-cut 2012 number led to male admirers creating a Facebook page called: 'Eloisa's New Year's Eve T**s.' She ushered in 2016 with a daring electric blue dress which led to comparisons with Jennifer Lopez and Beyonce. Her choice for this New Year's Eve was similar to the high-cut dresses flaunted by style icons like Bella Hadid and Kendall Jenner that are now pushing the boundaries on the red carpet. The look has been branded the high-cut crotch. Stylist Naomi Isted warned when celebs first started wearing them: 'It's not a realistic look for the public to wear. It's quite a dangerous look as it could go horribly wrong. Anis Amri killed 12 when he drove a lorry into a Christmas Market in Berlin Elite German police commandos stormed a refugee home in Berlin on Tuesday evening to seize a man said to be a supporter of Christmas market truck killer Anis Amri. Units of the SAS trained GSG9 and the SEK anti-terrorist police swooped on the home in the Spandau district of the capital shortly before 9.00pm. A Tunisian man, aged 26, suspected of aiding Amri on his Isis-backed murder mission was seized on the grounds that 'he knew of the attack plans and possibly helped Anis Amri,' according to prosecutors. They said he had known Amri since the end of 2015 and was believed to have remained in contact with him 'shortly before the attack.' Another individual, possibly a former roomate of Amri's, was arrested at an apartment elsewhere in the city. Again, it is suspected he knew of the attack plans and may have aided Amri in the hours and days before he drove the hijacked lorry into the crowd at the market on December 19. Twelve people were killed and 48 injured in the attack. Amri, 24, fled to Italy where he was shot dead by police at a routine roadblock on December 23. A memorial to the victims of the massacre in Berlin, where 12 people were killed by terrorist Anis Amri Boxes of documents were taken away from the refugee home in the city following the raid. German intelligence and security forces have gone into overdrive to round up the terror cell which underwrote Amri's operation and prevent it from carrying out further carnage. A Tunisian man arrested by police special forces a week ago in connection with the market attack has since been released. The frenetic police activity comes as Germany seeks ways to destory terrorist structures put in place by bogus refugees who took advantage of the country's open door policy towards migrants to infiltrate themselves in society. An entrepreneur who spent her life savings on a 'Prosecco van' has been banned from using the name of the sparkling wine by EU red tape. Caroline Roberts, 33, has been ordered by eurocrats to call her fizz Frizzante 1754 - even though it is exactly the same as Prosecco - because she is offering it on tap rather than from the bottle. She launched 'Bella - The Prosecco Van' last month after she and her husband Steven, 33, pooled 20,000 together to afford it. Mrs Roberts, who runs firm Events by Caroline Louise, aimed to get bookings at parties and weddings to serve up glasses of the popular drink on demand. Caroline Roberts, 33, pictured, and her husband Steven spent thousands of pounds of their life savings on a 'Prosecco van' but have been told they have to call their wine Frizzante 1754 Mrs Roberts, pictured in the van, has been warned by the EU that the name Prosecco can only be used if the substance is poured out of a bottle But EU lawmakers told her she can only call it Prosecco if it's poured from a bottle. Despite sourcing her wine from the correct Conegliano-Valdobbiadene area of north-east Italy, once she serves it from tap it has to be called Frizzante 1754 despite being exactly the same fizz. She can keep the van name, however, as she also serves customers full bottles at the events and weddings she attends. Mrs Roberts, of Old Colwyn, North Wales said she had to abide by the rules or face a potential Euro 20,000 fine. She said: 'At Events by Caroline Louise we understand the Prosecco Consortium are protecting the image and quality of Prosecco, just like the French who protect Champagne. 'Bella, the Prosecco van serves Frizzante 1754 on tap, whilst also having bottles of Prosecco available to purchase too. 'The beverage that goes into the bottles and labelled as Prosecco is exactly the same liquid that goes into the kegs and labelled as Frizzante 1754. 'It can be quite a mouthful when explaining to Bella's customers. 'We sell glasses of fizz and bottles of prosecco, but we'd rather take the time to get it right so we don't offend anyone, and to ensure we're not fined Euro 20,000.' Prosecco is registered with Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) status. The entrepreneur, pictured, said she had to comply or else face a 20,000 Euro fine It means any product labelled prosecco must meet strict criteria. These include that it must be produced from the glera grape from the Conegliano-Valdobbiadene area of Italy and sold in glass containers up to a maximum capacity of five litres. The Prosecco Consortium contacted the UK's Food Standards Agency and Intellectual Property Office to ensure the rules are enforced in the UK. They say it ensures the quality of the wine served to consumers. It is not the first time the serving of Prosecco has caused controversy in the UK. Two years ago, Italian winemakers threatened legal action against British pubs which served the beverage on tap. The group, backed by the Italian government, warned establishments about the 20,000 euro fine and told them to stop the 'illegal' trade of selling the sparkling drink from kegs. She runs an events company and planned to use the van, pictured, at weddings and parties They insist that selling the fizzy wine in the same manner as lager or cider is illegal under EU laws, which state the drink must be sold by the bottle. The producers also say that drinking Prosecco on tap ruins the taste of the drink and is causing damage to the industry's reputation. The winemakers said that, under a European law from 2009, it is illegal to sell Prosecco on tap and that it should be 'marketed exclusively in traditional glass bottles'. In 2014 Britain became the top export market for prosecco, overtaking Germany, with sales often increasing dramatically over Christmas and New Year. Demand for the popular fizz has rocketed to the point where it is being mass produced on a grand scale in factories in northern Italy. The devastated mother of an Iraq war hero who died after a freak accident in a New Year's Day pram race has talked of her heartbreak after the loss. Francis 'Titch' O'Sullivan, 52, died in hospital after suffering severe head injuries after tumbling out of his homemade 'Spitfire' cart in Sutton Valence, Kent. He was airlifted to a specialist head injuries unit at Kings College Hospital but died in the early hours of this morning. Tragedy: Fancy dress pilot, named locally as Francis O'Sullivan, 52, has died after being thrown from this makeshift cart pictured at the start of a Kent village's annual New Year's Day charity pram race Floral tributes left near the scene in Sutton Valence, near Maidstone, Kent, following the death of fundraiser Francis O'Sullivan, known as Titch This handwritten tribute called 'Titch[ one of the most honest, caring and funny men 'I have ever met His devastated mother Kathleen O'Sullivan, 77, from Leeds, near Maidstone, Kent, described the death of the father-of-two, who served in Iraq, as a 'tragic waste'. She said: 'He will be sadly missed by me, his mum, his children, his brothers and sisters and so many friends. 'It is a tragic waste of life. It should not have happened. No one can believe it. 'After being out in the war and coming back to die this way. It's tragic. 'He would come around a few times a week to see me. I will miss that.' 'This should never have happened. The pram race has been going on over 30 years. It's a tragic death' Writing on Facebook, his sister Jeannette Gribben, 53, said: 'To my beautiful brother who has peacefully past away following a tragic accident. God bless him RIP.' She added: 'My beautiful brother tragic accident whilst competing in the Sutton Valence pram race. 'Love you always and forever in our thoughts. A great Brother Dad and Uncle. May you sleep tight and smile down on us. Sweet dreams. Love you for ever your family.' Tragedy: Footage taken shortly before the crash showed the homemade cart - built to look like a Spitfire - flying down a hill in the village of Sutton Valence in Kent (pictured) Video: Spectators cheered and shouted 'no way' as they saw how fast it was travelling just before it flipped over Much-missed: The 52-year-old victim, nicknamed Titch, was in a pram designed to look like an Second World War fighter plane Mr O'Sullivan served as a tank driver with Prince Harry's former regiment the Blues and Royals - part of the Household Cavalry - in the first Gulf War in 1990. He moved back to Kent six years ago after living in Germany and was taking part in the race with two friends, all dressed as RAF wartime pilots. Footage taken shortly before the crash showed the 'pram' driven by three men in RAF-style aviator jackets hurtling down a hill. Spectators cheered and shouted 'no way' as they saw how fast it was travelling just before it flipped over. The two friends are thought to have been hanging on to the sides of the pram as it hurtled down the road, while Mr O'Sullivan was sitting inside. 'Titch', as he was known to friends, was thrown from its driver's seat in front of more than a hundred people. An off duty doctor and horrified spectators at the popular event rushed to help and paramedics were called. The delivery driver was then flown by air ambulance to a specialist head injuries unit at Kings College Hospital where he sadly died the next day. Mrs O'Sullivan, described as 'popular' by locals, said that he had also competed in the pram race last year. Lee Bellchambers also said on Facebook: 'Rip titch, you'll be missed at work pal..... cruel world.' And friend Lee Deeble added on social media: 'My colleague and friend 'titch' passed away yesterday after this crash. 'He was one of the most caring, fun loving gentleman you could have ever met & will be missed so much. He would want the charity race to continue, he was like that & me and his colleagues will be completing the race on his behalf at a later time. RIP my friend, we are going to miss you so much.' Injuries: An off-duty doctor, paramedics and stewards all tended to the man where he fell in Sutton Valence, Kent Assistance: The air ambulance was called and the 52-year-old was flown to a London hospital but he has since died Friend Stacey Beal said: 'I can't believe that I'm actually writing this but today we lost one of our dear friends in the most tragic way, our Titch. 'You will be so incredibly missed by everyone and The George won't be the same without you and that infectious and cheeky grin of yours. 'You made me laugh and smile every time I saw you and 'those stories' we will never forget! 'Have a Guinness for me up there my darling, we will miss you so very very much xxxxxx.' She added: 'It's awful and just so tragic, he was taking part in the Sutton valence charity pram race and he came out of the pram and sustained severe head injuries which once he got to hospital proved to be fatal.' The charity fund raising pram race is organised by The Queen's Head Oddfellows Fund and Mr O'Sullivan, described as 'popular' by locals, also took part last year. There is not thought to have been any serious injuries in the past at the fun event which has grown in popularity over more than 35 years. Each team had to complete two laps of the loop road in the village, including 'pit stops' at the pubs along the way. Popular: The annual pram race is extremely popular and raises large amounts for charity Busy: Crowds of people packed the streets and lanes of the village to watch the array of carts zooming down hills Witnesses: People said the man was thrown out and fell at the feet of the crowd - an off-duty doctor and paramedic tended to the man One eye witness said: 'Three men dressed in RAF costumes and a pram designed like an airplane came down the street at speed before the pram flipped over. 'It literally happened a few feet in front of me; they fell at my feet. 'It all happened so quickly and then I saw blood on the floor.' The witness added that the event's first aid tent was next to where the man fell, so people were with him immediately. The witness added: 'The three RAF guys were going a lot quicker than the pram in front of them. 'As soon as I saw them coming at that speed I thought there was going to be a crash, but I didn't think it was going to be that bad.' One spectator from the day has told how she rushed to get blankets following the crash. The woman, who would only give her name as Nikki, from Sutton Valence said: 'It happened right outside my house. I ran and got blankets and did all we could for him. 'Everyone came to his rescue - people were straight there to him. There was an off duty paramedic who helped too. 'And the air ambulance was here so quickly.' She added of Mr O'Sullivan: 'I didn't know him well but I knew of him. He was a very nice man. My two boys were watching the race and he said hello to them. 'I've watched the race for the last six years. I hope it doesn't stop. It was a tragic accident.' Contestants in fancy dress speed around the village of Sutton Valence in Kent in homemade 'prams', stopping off at the village's three pubs for a pint in each The soapbox hurtled down the track 'a lot quicker' than other competitors before the trio were sent flying. Witness Melanie Williams said: 'He's a friend of a friend of ours. Suspected broken jaw, fracture skull and neck injury. We saw it, it was awful. They went out if control.' Floral tributes and candles have been left on the green in the village. One tribute, from a Carl, reads: 'Titch, what a special gentleman you was (sic). Always had time to talk to everybody, was always happy and smiling and of course running. You will be missed by so many. So glad I had the pleasure of knowing you. Rip Bud.' Another, from a fellow racer, said: 'Rest in peace. Tragic loss.' Sarah, Janet and Louisa, onlookers from the day, said: 'So sorry for the loss of such a charitable man. Rip. Thoughts are with all for the loss.' Police are treating his death as a tragic accident. A Kent Police spokesman said: 'Police was called to High Street, Sutton Valence at 12.33pm on January 1 after a man fell from a pram during an organised event. 'The 52-year-old suffered a serious head injury and was airlifted to a London hospital. He later died at hospital at around 1am on 3 January. Next of kin are aware. John Mason, who represents the Glasgow Shettleston area, was accused of trivialising sexual consent An SNP MSP has been slammed on Twitter after he said 'the girl does not always say yes first time' in a social media debate on Scottish independence. John Mason, who represents the Glasgow Shettleston area, was accused of trivialising sexual consent with his remarks - and some people calling for his resignation or punishment. He tweeted: 'Marginal view was no to indy. We hope to change that. The girl does not always say yes first time!' The online post sparked a huge backlash and Mr Mason was forced to apologise for any offence he caused, but he denied that his comment made any reference to sexual consent. Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale said the SNP must now decide on what disciplinary action should be taken against Mr Mason. 'This is an entirely unacceptable comment from SNP MSP John Mason, which has caused considerable offence and hurt,' Ms Dugdale told The Scotsman. Scottish Conservative equalities spokeswoman Annie Wells also described the tweet as 'damaging'. Mr Mason was caught up in a debate on Scottish independence with some of his followers on Twitter. His remark sparked anger on the social media site, including from SNP and pro-independence supporters. Maggie McTernan wrote: 'Please do not use an analogy that implies overriding a woman's consent.' Jack Fossey replied: 'Quite frankly, I am disgusted. Using such language to encourage rape culture as though it's acceptable. Shame on you.' Maxie said: 'So when girls are saying no they are really saying yes John? Just abuse and rape them eh?' Jimmy posted: 'That remarks is disgusting john resign your seat now.' Scott Sorley added: 'I have been pro independence and pro SNP my entire life but this comment disgusts me. You need to apologise.' Mr Mason appeared to backtrack on his comments, before apologising. He tweeted: 'My view is that women always have a veto - on relationship or marriage. Scotland has veto on independence. 'Happy to apologise to anyone who innocently misunderstood me. But not apologising to those who twist my words.' Following the backlash he told The Scotsman: 'This was intended to be an entirely harmless tweet about apparently more innocent days when asking a girl for a dance or a social event might be turned down and it was always worth asking again,' he said. 'I am sorry if it was misinterpreted as something else which of course I would never condone.' First Minister Nicola Sturgeon laid out proposals last month to get a 'bespoke' Brexit deal - threatening a second independence referendum if Theresa May did not agree. Setting out a list of demands to Mrs May, the SNP leader published a 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. Tony Blair's ex chief of staff Jonathan Powell laughed at Iain Duncan Smith's defence of Brexit today after Britain's EU ambassador explosively resigned. Mr Duncan Smith was insisting the Government had a 'very simple' strategy for Brexit and rejecting a claim from Sir Ivan Rogers in an incendiary memo that ministers were 'muddled'. But Mr Powell, who was being interviewed alongside the former Tory leader, burst out laughing during the live Today programme feature. Brexit backers reacted with fury today amid growing criticism of Sir Ivan for the manner of his early resignation. Jonathan Powell, former chief of staff to Tony Blair (pictured left), laughed at Iain Duncan Smith's Brexit defence today Asked if he knew what the government's Brexit objective was, Mr Duncan Smith replied: 'Yes, it's very simple, we are leaving the European Union.' Mr Powell laughed and interrupted the Vote Leave campaigner, who then continued: 'It's absolutely clear. We are leaving the rule of European law. 'We are taking back control of our borders. And we will then look to make arrangements with European Union over what kind of trading system.' Tory MP Andrew Bridgen told MailOnline: 'I think he is tainted with Tony Blair's brush. IN FULL: IAIN DUNCAN SMITH VS JONATHAN POWELL Appearing on the Radio 4 Today programme to discuss Sir Ivan Rogers resignation, Iain Duncan Smith claimed that there was no 'muddled thinking' about Brexit. Asked if he knew what the government's 'objective' was, he replied: 'Yes, it's very simple, we are leaving the European Union.' Mr Duncan Smith was then interrupted by fellow studio guest Jonathan Powell, former chief of staff to Tony Blair, laughing at the simplicity of his answer. Presenter John Humphries was forced to intervene to make clear it was not him laughing. Despite the interruption, Mr Duncan Smith pressed on and said: 'Hang on... It's absolutely clear. 'We are leaving the rule of European law. We are taking back control of our borders. 'And we will then look to make arrangements with European Union over what kind of trading system.' Advertisement 'He is laughing at the will of the British people - that is to leave the European Union.' Mr Bridgen added: 'IDS is one of the most principled politicians that I have met in my life - something that cannot be said for Tony Blair.' In his own contribution to the interview, Mr Powell told Today Sir Ivan had performed an important task in briefing ministers on the pitfalls ahead. Brexit supporters have said Sir Ivan must be replaced by someone who backs Britain's departure from the European Union. But Mr Powell said: 'But if you are not prepared to have the argument, if you are not prepared to have someone who will tell you what the problems are, you are going to end up in a disaster. 'And that's what's going to happen with these negotiations if they really go for a patsy.' Attention turned today to who will take on the powerful post with Bank of England deputy governor Sir John Cunliffe - who has done the job before - and Treasury official Tom Scholar in the frame. The European Commission expressed its regret at Sir Ivan's departure today. Ex-Ukip leader Nigel Farage has said he would be delighted to take the job. Sir Ivan Rogers, pictured right with Chancellor Philip Hammond, told staff today that he will be stepping down from his post early, despite his role being crucial in Britain's departure from the EU Mr Duncan Smith told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme: 'He knew very well what he was doing. BRITAIN'S MAN IN BRUSSELS: WHO IS IN THE FRAME? Sir John Cunliffe, Deputy Governor of the Bank of England for Financial Stability: It would be a case of deja vu for Sir John, who was Sir Ivan's predecessor at 'UKRep' until his move to the BoE in 2013. Tom Scholar, Permanent Secretary to the Treasury: David Cameron's chief adviser during his re-negotiation of Britain's membership of the EU. Alex Ellis, former UK ambassador to Brazil: After more than three years in charge of the British mission in Brazil Mr Ellis was appointed director general of the Department for Exiting the European Union in November. Michael Ellam, a managing director at HSBC: The former director of communications for Gordon Brown also worked for David Cameron as a senior civil servant at the Treasury. Nigel Farage, ex-Ukip leader: A veteran of the Brexit battle, Mr Farage is without a job after finally giving up the party leadership in November. He has said he would take the job but has frequently annoyed Mrs May and No 10. Advertisement 'Probably also knew very well what he was doing when that previous email got leaked. 'When a civil servant starts to go public on stuff that you, as ministers, can no longer trust that individual. 'You must have absolute trust and cooperation and you cannot have this stuff coming out publicly.' Mr Duncan Smith added: ' There's a problem here for the civil service. They have never faced a challenge like this before. 'They are having to tear up the rule book on what they normally do with regard to their relationships in the EU. 'They are now having to accept and understand that we are leaving.' As well as Sir John and Mr Scholar, other possible candidates were swirling around Westminster. Among them were Alex Ellis, a former UK ambassador to Brazil who was appointed director general of the Department for Exiting the European Union in November. He is due to take up the post in January, when he will take on responsibility for the negotiation strategy and for relations with EU member states and institutions. Also suggested was Michael Ellam, a managing director at HSBC. The former director of communications for Gordon Brown also worked for David Cameron as a senior civil servant at the Treasury. Iain Duncan Smith led a backlash from Brexit supporters who said Sir Ivan must be replaced by someone who believes in Brexit Whitehall veterans have rallied to support Sir Ivan after he blasted Mrs May's Government for 'muddled thinking' and warned that with less than three months until talks begin there was no Brexit plan. Sir Ivan surprised No 10 by announcing his early resignation yesterday and a 1,400-word memo emailed to his colleagues laid bare his concern at Mrs May's Brexit strategy. Sir Ivan has warned ministers need to hear the 'unvarnished' truth from civil servants who must 'speak truth to those in power' The Prime Minister plans to invoke Article 50 of the EU treaties to formally trigger talks on Britain's Brexit by the end of March. Sir Simon Fraser, a former head of the Foreign Office staff, said Sir Ivan was a 'highly intelligent, knowledgeable and experienced official'. He told the BBC Today programme: ' I do think that his sort of in-depth knowledge and expertise is a loss as we go into what is going to be, as [Brexit secretary] David Davis himself has said, a very complex set of negotiations.' Jonathan Powell, a former chief of staff to Tony Blair, told Sky News: 'If civil servants are just going to confirm the prejudices of politicians, then we're going to have a big problem.' Ex Ukip leader Mr Farage - who reacted with delight to news of Sir Ivan's departure - has been tipped as a possible successor. He told LBC: 'If they offer me (Sir Ivan's) job, I'll definitely take it.' In his 1,400-word resignation letter, Sir Ivan said ministers needed to hear 'unvarnished' and 'uncomfortable' views from Europe. He wrote: 'I hope you will continue to challenge ill-founded arguments and muddled thinking and that you will never be afraid to speak the truth to those in power. 'I hope that you will support each other in those difficult moments where you have to deliver messages that are disagreeable to those who need to hear them.' The note was seen as a barely coded attack on Mrs May and her top team, who have been accused of failing to spell out their plan for Brexit. The Brussels veteran opted to walk after being cut adrift by Mrs May and her top team. His contract was up in November and he did not expect it to be renewed. The timing of his resignation triggered claims of chaos and 'amateurism' in No 10. But diplomatic sources said Sir Ivan, who presided over David Cameron's botched negotiations with Brussels, had decided to go only after it was made plain to him that his 'days were numbered'. Senior figures in No 10 and David Davis's Brexit department were said to have been 'baffled' that Sir Ivan did not resign at the same time as Mr Cameron. Allies of the former prime minister heaped blame on Sir Ivan for being too 'happy to take no for an answer, happy to believe things weren't possible when they could be possible'. Aides of Mr Cameron claimed the ambassador had repeatedly threatened to resign during the EU negotiations before June's referendum if his advice was ignored. Nigel Farage welcomed Sir Ivan's resignation, adding: 'The Foreign Office needs a complete clear out' But pro-European Sir Nicholas Soames said it was 'really very bad news indeed' and warned that 'we cannot afford to lose people of this calibre and experience' Former Scottish first minister and Labour peer Jack McConnell said Sir Ivan's departure meant 'a serious loss of talent and experience' for Britain Ukip's Michael Heaver said Sir Ivan's departure was 'good' and urged Theresa May to appoint a replacement who 'believes in Brexit'. Leave.EU rejoiced news that Sir Ivan Rogers had stepped down as Britain's EU ambassador Senior ministers and officials privately insisted Sir Ivan's departure was 'no loss'. They said his resignation provided Mrs May with an opportunity to appoint a replacement who 'believes in Brexit'. OSBORNE PRAISES 'PATRIOT' DIPLOMAT IN SWIPE AT MAY George Osborne last night waded into the ambassador row by praising Sir Ivan Rogers as a 'patriot'. The former chancellor, in what was seen as a dig at the Prime Minister, described the outgoing diplomat as 'a perceptive, pragmatic and patriotic public servant'. At the same time, Mr Osborne's ex-permanent secretary in the Treasury attacked the 'amateurism' of the May Government. Lord Macpherson of Earl's Court condemned Number 10 for letting Sir Ivan leave. The ex-mandarin given a peerage by David Cameron last year wrote on Twitter: 'Ivan Rogers huge loss. Can't understand wilful & total destruction of EU expertise.' He finished with the hashtag '#amateurism'. Mr Osborne also used Twitter to launch his defence of Sir Ivan and suggest Number 10 had let a top operator slip through its fingers. He said: 'Ivan Rogers helped me on many ECOFIN [Economic and Financial Affairs Council] deals over the years. He is a perceptive, pragmatic & patriotic public servant. Thank you.' Allies of Mr Cameron, however, privately expressed satisfaction at Sir Ivan's downfall. Some members of the PM's inner circle have not forgiven his botched role in the Brexit negotiations, in which he was attacked for being 'too quick to take no for an answer'. Tensions between Mr Osborne and Mrs May have been strained since she fired him in July, only hours after becoming PM. Mr Osborne has used Twitter on a number of occasions to take aim at Mrs May. When Lord Jim O'Neill quit the May Government, he wrote that his ex-colleague 'was one of those rare things in British politics an outside expert who made a big difference on the inside. He will be missed.' Last night Ukip leapt on the resignation of Sir Ivan to make mischief. MEP Gerard Batten said: 'Perhaps Nigel Farage would consider taking up the post? After all, he ably demonstrated in the referendum campaign that he knows more about the EU than any other British politician.' Advertisement Meanwhile Tory MP Jacob Rees Mogg told MailOnline: ' It is crucial that whoever represents us in Brussels is wholly committed to Brexit. 'Sadly the impartiality of the civil service came into question during the referendum campaign which made the position of the highly intelligent Sir Ivan difficult.' But EU enthusiasts warned that losing Sir Ivan's experience and knowledge of Brussels dealt a 'body blow' to Britain's hopes of getting a good Brexit deal. Lord Mandelson, Britain's former EU trade commissioner, yesterday suggested he had quit because of undue interference from ministers. He said: 'I would not expect him to comment further but everyone knows that civil servants are being increasingly inhibited in offering objective opinion and advice to Ministers. 'Our negotiation as a whole will go nowhere if Ministers are going to delude themselves about the immense difficulty and challenges Britain faces in implementing the referendum decision.' Arch-Remainer Nick Clegg said Sir Ivan's resignation was a 'body blow' to the Government's Brexit plans and attacked Brexit supporters for forcing him out. 'If the reports are true that he has been hounded out by hostile Brexiteers in Government, it counts as a spectacular own goal,' he said. 'The Government needs all the help it can get from good civil servants to deliver a workable Brexit.' Mr Cameron appointed him to the Brussels post in 2013 after promising a referendum on the EU and he has been a leading advisor to No 10 over the last four years. His shock resignation deals a major blow to the Prime Minister's preparations for triggering Article 50 - the formal mechanism for leaving the EU - because of his significant experience and knowledge of Brussels. MPs have already started speculating over Sir Ivan's replacement. Mr Rees-Mogg suggested his pro-Brexit colleague Sir Bill Cash should replace Sir Ivan in Brussels, pointing out that Britain appointed a political ambassador - the late Lord Rippon - when we joined the European Community in 1973. 'As a politician was the prime mover on the way in, Geoffrey later Lord Rippon, perhaps someone like Bill Cash should do so on the way out,' he said. Tory MP Jacob Rees Mogg, pictured, told MailOnline: ' It is crucial that whoever represents us in Brussels is wholly committed to Brexit' Hilary Benn, Labour MP and chair of the influential Commons Brexit committee, pictured on Sky News today, said Sir Ivan's resignation was 'not a good thing' and said it was vital the Government ensures a smooth hand-over as soon as possible WE'LL PULL DOWN THE EU BILLBOARDS, SAYS LEADSOM Andrea Leadsom: She wants common sense rules EU diktats forcing farmers to erect huge pro-Brussels billboards on their land are to be scrapped. Environment Secretary Andrea Leadsom will pledge to sweep away a raft of EU red tape in the wake of Brexit. She will tell the Oxford Farming Conference that this red tape is 'weighing down farmers in mountains of paperwork' that costs 5million a year and 300,000 man hours. Mrs Leadsom will also vow to ditch the 'three crop rule' which sets out how many different crops farms must plant each year freeing 40,000 farmers to grow what they like. Mrs Leadsom, one of the leaders of the Brexit campaign, will tell the conference: 'For too long, a bureaucratic system which tries to meet the needs of 28 countries has held farmers back. But now, leaving the EU means we can focus on what works best for the UK. 'Our farmers will finally be free to get on with the job of growing fantastic food in a way that meets our aims of a world leading food industry and a better protected environment. My priority will be common sense rules that work for the United Kingdom.' Applicants to the Countryside Stewardship scheme, which rewards landowners for work done to protect wildlife and natural landscapes, are required by EU law to meet publicity guidance, which normally involves putting up large pro-Brussels signs. Measuring as much as 6ft by 4ft for the biggest grants, they must be displayed permanently to avoid a penalty. The rules also require farmers to set aside 5 per cent of their land for 'ecological focus areas' around hedges, ditches and ponds. Whitehall officials say that, outside of the EU, more 'common sense definitions' can be introduced. Advertisement Brexit supporters rejoiced his resignation, with Arron Banks, the Leave.EU chairman and Ukip's biggest donor, calling for a diplomat who is more energetically pro-Brexit to replace him. He said: 'This is a man who claimed it could take up to 10 years to agree a Brexit deal. 'He is far too much of a pessimist and yet another of the establishment's pro-EU old guard. He has at least done the honourable thing in resigning. 'It's time now for someone who is optimistic about the future that lies ahead for Brexit Britain. Enough talk, we need to get on with getting out.' Ukip's Michael Heaver said Sir Ivan's departure was 'good' and urged Theresa May to appoint a replacement who 'believes in Brexit,' adding that a 'further clear-out' was needed. But Europhiles told Brexiteers rejoicing Sir Ivan's departure to 'put champagne on ice'. Jonathan Lis, deputy director of the Europhile British Influence thinktank, warned Britain was losing a knowledgeable, effective representative who was prepared to speak truth to Govt [sic]'. Brexit supporters rejoiced his resignation, with Arron Banks, pictured, the Leave.EU chairman and Ukip's biggest donor, calling for a more 'optimistic' diplomat to replace him Other EU enthusiasts warned that losing Sir Ivan - one of Britain's most experienced negotiators who knows EU institutions and key figures inside out - puts Britain on the back foot ahead of crunch Brexit talks. Pro-European Sir Nicholas Soames said it was 'really very bad news indeed' and warned that 'we cannot afford to lose people of this calibre and experience'. Hilary Benn, Labour MP and chair of the influential Commons Brexit committee, said his resignation was 'not a good thing' and said it was vital the Government ensures a smooth hand-over as soon as possible. He told the BBC: 'I think that it means that the Government will have to get its skates on to make sure there is a replacement in place so he or she can work with Sir Ivan in the transition, the handover,' he said. 'But the hard work is going to start very soon, because if Article 50 is triggered, as the Government says it wishes to, by the end of March, then negotiations will probably begin shortly thereafter. Jonathan Lis, deputy director of the Europhile British Influence thinktank, told Brexit supporters rejoicing Sir Ivan's departure to 'put champagne on ice' because Britain was losing a knowledgeable, effective representative who was prepared to speak truth to Govt [sic]'. David Cameron, pictured, appointed Sir Ivan to the Brussels post in 2013 after promising a referendum on the EU and he has been a leading advisor to No 10 over the last four years Sir Ivan did not give a reason for stepping down early and had a good relationship with Mrs May, pictured, although his strained relations with pro-Brexit figures in the Cabinet could have been a factor in his decision to quit 'And having a handover in the middle of that, depending on when exactly he goes, is not ideal.' Sir Ivan had come under pressure to resign last month after Eurosceptics claimed Sir Ivan, a former private secretary to ex-Tory chancellor Ken Clarke, was 'scarred' by his time spent negotiating Mr Cameron's failed referendum deal and, as a veteran of Brussels, was 'out of his comfort zone'. There was also speculation that his warnings of a 10-year trade negotiation with the EU were deliberately leaked to undermine his position. A ten-year timetable is at odds with the stated position of both Downing Street and Brexit Secretary David Davis. Mr Davis predicted a deal could be done in 18 months last month, while Number Ten reiterated its commitment to completing the Brexit process in two years. 'I hope you will continue to challenge ill-founded arguments and muddled thinking and that you will never be afraid to speak the truth to those in power': Sir Ivan's resignation letter in full Dear All, Happy New Year! I hope that you have all had/are still having, a great break, and that you will come back refreshed and ready for an exciting year ahead. I am writing to you all on the first day back to tell you that I am today resigning as Permanent Representative. As most of you will know, I started here in November 2013. My four-year tour is therefore due to end in October although in practice if we had been doing the Presidency my time here would have been extended by a few months. As we look ahead to the likely timetable for the next few years, and with the invocation of Article 50 coming up shortly, it is obvious that it will be best if the top team in situ at the time that Article 50 is invoked remains there till the end of the process and can also see through the negotiations for any new deal between the UK and the EU27. It would obviously make no sense for my role to change hands later this year. I have therefore decided to step down now, having done everything that I could in the last 6 months to contribute my experience, expertise and address book to get the new team at political and official level under way. This will permit a new appointee to be in place by the time Article 50 is invoked. Importantly, it will also enable that person to play a role in the appointment of Shan's replacement as DPR. I know from experience both my own hugely positive experience of working in partnership with Shan, and from seeing past, less happy, examples how imperative it is that the PR and DPR operate as a team, if UKREP is to function as well as I believe it has done over the last few years. I want to put on record how grateful I am to Shan for the great working relationship we have had. She will be hugely missed in UKREP, and by many others here in Brussels, but she will be a tremendous asset to the Welsh Government. From my soundings before Christmas, I am optimistic that there will be a very good field of candidates for the DPR role. But it is right these two roles now get considered and filled alongside each other, and for my successor to play the leading role in making the DPR appointment. I shall therefore stand aside from the process at this point. I know that this news will add, temporarily, to the uncertainty that I know, from our many discussions in the autumn, you are all feeling about the role of UKREP in the coming months and years of negotiations over 'Brexit.' I am sorry about that, but I hope that it will help produce earlier and greater clarity on the role that UKREP should play. My own view remains as it has always been. We do not yet know what the Government will set as negotiating objectives for the UK's relationship with the EU after exit. There is much we will not know until later this year about the political shape of the EU itself, and who the political protagonists in any negotiation with the UK will be. But in any negotiation which addresses the new relationship, the technical expertise, the detailed knowledge of positions on the other side of the table and the reasons for them, and the divisions amongst them and the negotiating experience and savvy that the people in this building bring, make it essential for all parts of UKREP to be centrally involved in the negotiations if the UK is to achieve the best possible outcomes. Serious multilateral negotiating experience is in short supply in Whitehall, and that is not the case in the Commission or in the Council. The Government will only achieve the best for the country if it harnesses the best experience we have a large proportion of which is concentrated in UKREP and negotiates resolutely. Senior Ministers, who will decide on our positions, issue by issue, also need from you detailed, unvarnished even where this is uncomfortable - and nuanced understanding of the views, interests and incentives of the other 27. The structure of the UK's negotiating team and the allocation of roles and responsibilities to support that team, needs rapid resolution. The working methods which enable the team in London and Brussels to function seamlessly need also to be strengthened. The great strength of the UK system at least as it has been perceived by all others in the EU has always been its unique combination of policy depth, expertise and coherence, message co-ordination and discipline, and the ability to negotiate with skill and determination. UKREP has always been key to all of that. We shall need it more than ever in the years ahead. As I have argued consistently at every level since June, many opportunities for the UK in the future will derive from the mere fact of having left and being free to take a different path. But others will depend entirely on the precise shape of deals we can negotiate in the years ahead. Contrary to the beliefs of some, free trade does not just happen when it is not thwarted by authorities: increasing market access to other markets and consumer choice in our own, depends on the deals, multilateral, plurilateral and bilateral that we strike, and the terms that we agree. I shall advise my successor to continue to make these points. Meanwhile, I would urge you all to stick with it, to keep on working at intensifying your links with opposite numbers in DEXEU and line Ministries and to keep on contributing your expertise to the policy-making process as negotiating objectives get drawn up. The famed UKREP combination of immense creativity with realism ground in negotiating experience, is needed more than ever right now. On a personal level, leaving UKREP will be a tremendous wrench. I have had the great good fortune, and the immense privilege, in my civil service career, to have held some really interesting and challenging roles: to have served 4 successive UK Prime Ministers very closely; to have been EU, G20 and G8 Sherpa; to have chaired a G8 Presidency and to have taken part in some of the most fraught, and fascinating, EU negotiations of the last 25 years in areas from tax, to the MFF to the renegotiation. Of all of these posts, I have enjoyed being the Permanent Representative more than any other I have ever held. That is, overwhelmingly, because of all of you and what you all make UKREP: a supremely professional place, with a fantastic co-operative culture, which brings together talented people whether locally employed or UK-based and uniquely brings together people from the home civil service with those from the Foreign Office. UKREP sets itself demanding standards, but people also take the time to support each other which also helps make it an amazingly fun and stimulating place to work. I am grateful for everything you have all done over the last few years to make this such a fantastic operation. For my part, I hope that in my day-to-day dealings with you I have demonstrated the values which I have always espoused as a public servant. I hope you will continue to challenge ill-founded arguments and muddled thinking and that you will never be afraid to speak the truth to those in power. I hope that you will support each other in those difficult moments where you have to deliver messages that are disagreeable to those who need to hear them. I hope that you will continue to be interested in the views of others, even where you disagree with them, and in understanding why others act and think in the way that they do. I hope that you will always provide the best advice and counsel you can to the politicians that our people have elected, and be proud of the essential role we play in the service of a great democracy. Wikileaks founder Julian Assange has said a 14-year-old could have hacked into the emails of Hillary Clinton's campaign chairman. John Podesta's emails were made public by the whistleblowing website and proved to be a hammer blow to the Democrat's election campaign as she lost out to Trump. In an interview, Assange revealed the campaign chairman's password was 'password' and that he had responded to phishing emails. The Wikileaks founder said he was 1,000 percent confident the Russians did not hack the Clinton campaign, adding Barack Obama was 'trying to delegitimize the Trump administration'. Julian Assange, whose interview will aired Fox News Tuesday, reiterated his claims that the Russian government was not responsible for the hacks during the 2016 presidential election and that a child could have hacked into the Democrats' emails 'A 14-year-old kid could have hacked Podesta that way,' Assange told Sean Hannity on Fox News. He added Clinton made 'almost no attempt' to secure her private emails, which featured in more than 50,000 leaked documents published by WIkileaks. Assange, who was interviewed at the Ecuadorian embassy in London, also said he questioned whether US media outlets would have done the same. 'It's more like, "You rub my back, I'll rub yours. I'll give you information, you'll come to my I'll invite you to my child's christening or my next big party",' he said in the interview, referring to the Clinton party's relationship with reporters. President-elect Trump reacted to the news by tweeting: 'Julian Assange said "a 14-year-old could have hacked Podesta" - why was DNC so careless? Also said Russians did not give him the info!' In Tuesday's interview on Fox News, Assange claimed Obama's administration were 'trying to say that President-elect Trump is not a legitimate President' John Podesta, whose emails Julian Assange said could have been hacked by a 14-year-old Assange, whose interview with Sean Hannity aired on Fox News last night, also reiterated his claims that Russia was not the source of the hacks. He told Hannity 'with a thousand per cent' confidence that the Russian government was not responsible for emails stolen from the Democratic National Committee and John Podesta, Hillary Clinton's campaign chairman. Those emails were published online by WikiLeaks in the lead-up to the November 8 vote. Democrats claimed the hacks were a deliberate attempt to undermine Mrs Clinton's campaign and boost support for Donald Trump. Last week as the row intensified, Obama expelled 35 Russian diplomats from the country. They arrived back in Russia on Monday morning. Moscow denies any involvement in election-related hacking. Last week Obama expelled 35 Russians over the hacking allegations during the presidential election Assange is currently living under political asylum in the Ecuadorian embassy in London, where he sought refuge from a Swedish investigation into rape allegations from his 2010 visit to the country. The interview marked his first face-to-face TV news appearance. WIKILEAKS: '2017 WILL BLOW YOU AWAY' A tweet from the WikiLeaks account last night said: ' If you thought 2016 was a big WikiLeaks year 2017 will blow you away.' The post also called for donations to help the site 'prepare for the showdown'. Advertisement Speaking to Hannity about the WikiLeaks revelations, he said: 'We can say, we have said, repeatedly that over the last two months that our source is not the Russian government and it is not a state party. 'Our publications had wide uptake by the American people, they're all true. 'But that's not the allegation that's being presented by the Obama White House. 'So, why such a dramatic response? Well, the reason is obvious. They're trying to delegitimize the Trump administration as it goes into the White House. 'They are trying to say that President-elect Trump is not a legitimate President.' Last week Obama expelled 35 Russians over the hacking allegations during the presidential election. The US government accused the diplomats of 'acting in a manner inconsistent with their diplomatic status' a euphemism for spying and gave them 72 hours to leave the country. A tweet from the WikiLeaks account last night said: ' If you thought 2016 was a big WikiLeaks year 2017 will blow you away' Using Cold War rhetoric, he said the hacking 'could only have been directed by the highest levels of the Russian government', suggesting Russian President Vladimir Putin was personally involved. The Russian government dismissed hacking allegations as absurd but Putin declined to order a tit-for-tat expulsion of American diplomats, claiming he would not 'stoop' to Obama's level. An alleged ISIS jihadist accused of scoping out potential targets for an attack in Berlin, including the Brandenburg Gate and Reichstag building, has gone on trial in Germany. The defendant, identified only as 19-year-old Syrian national Shaas al-Mohammad, allegedly fought with ISIS in his war-torn homeland for two years before arriving in Germany as a refugee in August 2015. Dressed in a blue pullover and a black cap, Mohammad hid his face behind a folder as he took his seat in the courtroom. Two police trucks were parked outside the entrance, with officers armed with machine guns guarding the proceedings. It is the country's first trial of a suspected ISIS militant deployed to Germany from Syria during the chaotic 2015 refugee influx - in contrast to 'lone wolf' attacks or plots by extremists who were radicalised elsewhere. An alleged ISIS jihadist accused of scoping out potential targets for an attack in Berlin, has gone on trial in Germany. He is pictured covering his face in court The defendant is alleged to have scoped out the Brandenburg Gate (pictured) and Reichstag building as potential attack sites Mohammad was standing trial at a special state security court in Berlin on charges of membership of a foreign terrorist organisation, which carries up to 10 years in jail, and military weapons law violations. The trial comes just over two weeks after an ISIS extremist from Tunisia allegedly ploughed a truck through a Berlin Christmas market in an attack that killed 12 people. Prosecutors claim the defendant joined the jihadist group as a teenager in mid-2013, taking part in combat operations, handling an AK-47 assault rifle and supplying food to fighters. He arrived in Germany near the peak of a mass influx of people fleeing Syria, Iraq and other crisis-torn countries that brought almost 900,000 asylum seekers to Europe's biggest economy in 2015. He allegedly stayed in 'close contact' with ISIS and repeatedly visited the German capital until February 2016 to scout out landmark targets and busy tourist sites for an attack. The defendant (pictured hiding his face in the dock), identified only as 19-year-old Syrian national Shaas al-Mohammad, allegedly fought with ISIS in his war-torn homeland for two years before arriving in Germany as a refugee in August 2015 Among the suspected targets was the area around the glass-domed Reichstag parliament building, the nearby Brandenburg Gate monument and the busy shopping square Alexanderplatz. He then allegedly 'passed the information about the potential attack targets onto his contacts at the IS', said the court in a statement. 'In addition, he arranged to send at least one person to Syria as a fighter and offered his services as a contact person for potential attackers in Germany,' it added. The young Syrian was arrested on March 22 last year and has been in pre-trial detention ever since. The court has set 25 hearings until April. Germany has been shocked by a spate of ISIS-claimed attacks, and some foiled plots which a growing rightwing populist movement has blamed on the open-door refugee policy of Chancellor Angela Merkel. Two police trucks were parked outside the entrance, with officers armed with machine guns guarding the proceedings Dressed in a blue pullover and a black cap, Mohammad hid his face behind a folder as he took his seat in the courtroom In some cases last year, the jihadists were home-grown, while others were migrants and refugees. More attacks are feared when some of the 400-odd German jihadists still in Syria and Iraq return home. In June last year, police arrested three Syrian men over an alleged plan to use guns and suicide vests in an IS attack in Duesseldorf. In July, a 17-year-old Afghan refugee wounded five people in an axe rampage on a train before police shot him dead. Days later a 27-year-old Syrian blew himself up outside a music festival, wounding 15 people. Among the suspected targets was the area around the glass-domed Reichstag parliament building, the nearby Brandenburg Gate monument and the busy shopping square Alexanderplatz In October, police say they prevented an attack on a Berlin airport by a Syrian refugee, 22-year-old Jaber al-Bakr. Bakr evaded a police raid but was caught by Syrian compatriots soon after and handed over to police. Two days later, he was found hanged in his cell, sparking a scandal over the security lapse in custody. December saw the worst IS-claimed attack when Tunisian suspect Anis Amri, 24, allegedly drove a hijacked truck into a packed Berlin Christmas market. The attack claimed 12 lives, including the lorry's registered Polish driver. Amri was shot dead four days later in Italy after firing first at police there. Germany's domestic security service estimates that the number of radical Islamists in Germany rose above 9,000 last year, from some 3,800 in 2011. The father of a toddler who was found dead lying face down in the mud after trying to flee Myanmar has pleaded with the world to take notice of their plight. Rohingya refugee Mohammed Shohayet, a 16-month-old boy, had been trying to leave his home in Rakhine State with his family and head to Bangladesh. The Rohingya people have claimed they have been persecuted by the Myanmar military and many fleeing the country have told of rape, murder and arson at the hands of security forces. Mohammed Shohayet, a 16-month-old boy, who had been trying to leave his home in Rakhine State with his family and head to Bangladesh when he drowned Mohammed had been with his mother and brother as they tried to cross Naf River and make it Bangladesh when their boat sank. The boy's body was later found washed up, face down in the mud and a haunting picture of Mohammed has been compared to that of refugee Aylan Kurdi, who drowned off the coast of Turkey while trying to flee Syria. And now Mohammed's father Zafor Alam, who had earlier made it safely to Bangladesh, is pleading with the world to take notice of the plight of the Rohingya people. He told CNN: 'In our village, helicopters fired guns at us, and the Myanmar soldiers also opened fire on us. My grandfather and grandmother were burnt to death. Our whole village was burnt by the military. Nothing left. The haunting picture of Mohammed has been compared to that of refugee Aylan Kurdi, pictured, who drowned off the coast of Turkey while trying to flee Syria 'When I see the picture, I feel like I would rather die. There is no point in me living in this world.' 'I want to let the whole world know. The Myanmar government should not be given any more time. If you take time to take action, they will kill all Rohingyas.' The fleeing of Rohingya people from Myanmar, also known as Burma, comes as tens of thousands have crossed the border into Bangladesh as they are loathed by the country's Buddhist majority. More than 120,000 have been trapped in squalid displacement camps since violence erupted in 2012 in Rakhine, where they are denied citizenship, access to healthcare and education. The Rohingya people have claimed they have been persecuted by the Myanmar military and many fleeing the country have told of rape, murder and arson at the hands of security forces In the past week a video has emerged showing Myanmar police beating civilians from the Muslim minority. But the country's led by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, has said the allegations are made up and has resisted mounting international pressure to act to protect the minority. Last week, a commission set up to investigate the violence released its interim report dismissing claims security forces had carried out abuses or has embarked on a campaign to force the Rohingya out. Many of those fleeing Myanmar have ended up in Bangladesh but are forced to live in refugee camps Myanmar refuses to recognise the Rohingya as one of the country's ethnic minorities, instead describing them as Bengalis. Pictured are Rohingyas in their refugee camp The size of the 'Bengali' population, mosques and religious buildings in the unrest-hit area 'are proof that there were no cases of genocide and religious persecution,' it said in a statement carried in state media. Myanmar refuses to recognise the Rohingya as one of the country's ethnic minorities, instead describing them as Bengalis - or illegal immigrants from neighbouring Bangladesh. A businessman's spokeswoman has hit back at a Maori woman who accused him of racism saying: 'She's barely coffee-coloured.' Earlier this week, New Zealand woman Lara Bridger, 23, posted a video to social media detailing a conversation she had with businessman Sir Peter Leitch on Waiheke Island near Auckland. She claims Sir Peter said she was not a local of the island because it was a 'white man's island'. Ms Bridger's video was viewed almost 100,000 times but has since been deleted. Scroll down for video Waiheke Island-born woman Lara Bridger, 23, claims she was told by a prominent white New Zealand businessman she didn't belong on the island Prime Minister of New Zealand John Key with the 'Mad Butcher' Sir Peter Leitch - whom Ms Bridger says upset her with his comments Sir Peter's spokeswoman, Michelle Boag, said his comments couldn't have been racist as Ms Bridger was 'barely coffee-coloured' Waiheke Island (pictured) is located in the Hauraki Gulf near Auckland, New Zealand Responding to the video, Sir Peter's spokeswoman Michelle Boag told Maori Television his comments could not have been racist as Ms Bridger was 'barely coffee-coloured' - a reference to her being a light-skinned Maori woman. She also claimed Ms Bridger only made the video because she 'wanted to be famous'. In the video, Ms Bridger says Sir Peter - who is nicknamed 'The Mad Butcher' for his chain of butcheries - told them not to drink and drive. She reassured him she would not be and her mother would be the one driving home as she was not drinking. Ms Bridger then claims Sir Peter made the suggestion they were not local but Ms Bridger said she was in fact born on the island. To this, he said it was a 'white man's island' and she needed to acknowledge that. Ms Bridger made the now-deleted video after meeting Sir Peter at a Waiheke Island vineyard Ms Bridger said in the video that Sir Peter's comments had upset her 'Ok, I'm f**king upset you know... I was f**king born here and people like him think that wow, because they have millions of dollars they can come here and f**king this is their island,' Ms Bridger said in her video. After she uploaded the video, Sir Peter defended himself, saying he was 'extremely disappointed that a young woman on Waiheke Island had misinterpreted some light-hearted banter he had with her', the New Zealand Herald reported. He also said he 'apologised unreservedly'. Ms Bridger deleted the video from social media, stating: 'Deleted the vid as my point was made. I was just upset that someone whom I once looked up to had that mentality. 'People were going a bit overboard with threats and racist comments... Waiheke is a beautiful place everyone should be able to enjoy.' Ms Bridger said she intended to contact him and hoped he would understand why she was upset. A 2010 photograph shows former NRL Warriors team captain Benji Marshall and Sir Peter together The incident is claimed to have occurred at a vineyard on Waiheke Island Hundreds of teenage girls were turned away from the first day back at school for wearing skirts that are too short. Ebbsfleet Academy in Dartford, Kent, has a strict policy which states that girls can wear a navy A-line skirt 'of a suitable length for school, that is, no more than 5cm (2ins) above the knee'. Around 200 pupils were said to have been turned away on the first day after the festive period on Tuesday. The school has now been labelled 'irresponsible', with one parent claiming the school is 'letting kids down'. Principal Alison Colwell has been criticised before after she sent home five per cent of its pupils in one day for breaching uniform rules in 2013. Girls from the Ebbsfleet Academy, wearing the short skirts that are at the centre of the controversy Local mother Kim O'Brien posted on Facebook to claim her 15-year-old daughter was turned away alongside 'about 200' other girls. She said: 'The school sent letters home before Christmas asking us to check that our daughters' skirts weren't more than five centimetres above the knee. 'My daughter turned up to school today in her old school skirt, which she's never had a problem with before, and they told her to stand to one side and wouldn't let her in. 'There's nothing wrong with her skirt, it's sensible and the right length - she came in a minute ago and it isn't that short. 'When I contacted the school, they said they'd sent her away with a letter about how she could come in and change her skirt but they just left them outside. 'They should have let them in rather than just leaving them on the street. 'I've looked at some of the girls outside and there are some girls in very short skirts but she isn't one of them. 'According to some of the kids they sent away about 200 pupils.' Brooke O'Hara showing what lenth her skirt should be according to Ebbsfleet Academy, where hundreds of girls where sent home due to their skirts being above the knee Brooke O'Hara showing what lenth her skirt was at when she was sent home from Ebbsfleet Academy Mother-of-five Charlene O'Hara, 36 has criticised the school for excluding daughter Brooke, 16, just months before her GCSEs. She says she does not understand how, to the school, uniform appears to be more important than education. Ms O'Hara said: 'A lot of the girls are in year 11 and they're being kept away from their work - they've got exams coming up and every lesson is vital. 'The teachers were so rude, and we've bought this from their supplier but now they're saying it's not good enough. 'I told them my daughter was missing out on valuable learning time but she was sent home again today. 'I can't go back into town and buy her a new skirt until the end of next week now but they won't let her in until she's got a replacement. Principal Alison Colwell has been criticised before after she sent home five per cent of its pupils in one day for breaching uniform rules in 2013 'I don't understand how a skirt is more important than their education, it doesn't make sense. 'I've got five kids, we've just had Christmas, and now you're expecting me to buy another new skirt. 'If they were okay in December, why aren't they now? 'They sent 200 girls away yesterday and another 60 today, it's ridiculous.' Community mental health nurse Ms O'Brien says the school is letting down less well-off pupils, and believes it is unsafe to leave children wandering the streets. She says the academy has failed in its duty of care to vulnerable children, particularly those who may have nowhere else to go. The mother-of-three added: 'They're letting their pupils down by turning them away, they're shutting the gates in their faces for silly reasons. 'I'm very angry - school is a place where these kids should be able to feel safe, they just want to go to school. 'There are a lot of children in the community who will have had a c**p Christmas, they're very vulnerable and don't have things like heating and now the school are turning them away. 'What if they get run over, raped or attacked? It's bitterly cold and kids who can't get home will be left on the streets..' Hundreds of teenage girls were turned away from the first day back at school for wearing skirts that are too short. Ms O'Brien has now complained to the school, but says that because they are an academy, she has struggled to get any answers. The mother claims her requests for a meeting with the governors was refused, and that there is no-one accountable to parents when things do go wrong. She said: 'I've sent a lot of emails complaining, but because they're an academy, they're a business. 'They're not governed by the county council, so who is really in charge? 'When this happened before, I sent an email to school saying I wanted a meeting with governor and was refused. 'I pay my tax for my child to go to school and I just don't know who is responsible for things.' The school previously came under fire for sending home five per cent of pupils at the beginning of September for rule infringements such as drawing on eyebrows and coloured shoe tags. The mother claims her requests for a meeting with the governors was refused, and that there is no-one accountable to parents when things do go wrong The mother-of-three says her daughter was also turned away last year because her bag was too small - despite it fitting all her books and stationery. She added: 'A similar thing happened last summer as well when they issued a uniform change during the holidays regarding bags. 'I had checked on the Sunday night, before she went back to school, what the rules were, and it said any plain navy bag as long as it could hold everything. 'I bought her one which fitted that description and she was sent home. 'I'm sure my complaints will fall on deaf ears again.' Parents were warned by Alison Colwell that the uniform policy will be enforced 'consistently and constantly' Katie Lake, 32, says her daughter was turned away again yesterday morning for the second day in a row. She was not told by the school that her 13-year-old daughter Daisy had been sent home and says no parents were informed of the decision. Ms Lake said: 'Daisy turned up to school at 10:30 yesterday and there were teachers stood outside the gates. 'They wouldn't let her in because her skirt was slightly shorter tham 5cm above the knee, and they told her she won't be allowed in until her skirt is 'appropriate'. 'She was sent home and luckily I was in but I wasn't notified. 'I tried ringing them to find out what had happened but I couldn't get through to them, and I left voicemails but have had no response. 'This morning I received a text saying she isn't in school even though they were the ones who sent her home. 'It's disgusting, we expect our kids to be safe and in school, not walking the streets. Ebbsfleet Academy in Dartford, Kent, has a strict policy which states that girls can wear a navy A-line skirt ''of a suitable length for school, that is, no more than 5cm (2ins) above the knee' 'They're expecting me to just buy Daisy a new skirt but they're not cheap and there's a waiting list to buy them from the school outfitter's website. 'I've said to them 'why do it straight after Christmas?', they should at least give parents six weeks to rectify the problem. 'A lot of people don't get paid until the end of month and don't have the money to just buy a skirt.' Jane Peck, 54, says daughter Nicola was forced to make the 45 minute bus journey home to Dartford alone after being locked out of the gates. The 15-year-old was sent home straight away, and says members of staff 'looked them up and down and locked them out'. Jane said: 'I didn't know she'd been sent home until she got back here. 'She has a ten to 11 year old size waist, so I had to buy her the smallest skirt available for it to fit. 'It's not that far off her knees, and I bought it from the school website, so it's not as if it's from New Look or somewhere. 'The school have now told me to buy the next size up and get them altered, but why should I pay a fortune for that? 'You have to buy uniform from their website and you can't try them on first, so I can't win. 'She went in today, and sent her with a letter explaining the situation. 'She could well be in internal exclusion, but it's not fair for her to be refused entry wearing the school's own skirt. 'I had two daughters and son who had been there and had no trouble at all, which is the whole reason I sent her out of the area where we live to school - my other kids did well there. 'Obviously at the time, I didn't realise there'd be all this trouble.' Holly Beaumont (left) and Maddie Rasoda with the bag that's too small and breached uniform rules In 2013, the school hit the headlines when it was dubbed 'Colditz Academy' after Ms Colwell sent home five per cent of its pupils in one day for breaching new uniform rules. One girl was turned away from the gates of Ebbsfleet Academy in Swanscombe, Kent, because her bag was too small while another female pupil, who has no eyebrows, was sent straight home because she broke make-up rules by using an eyebrow pencil. Other pupils were told to leave because the coloured tags on popular footwear brand Kickers breached an 'all black' rule. In total 30 out of the 600-odd pupils at Ebbsfleet Academy were sent home on the first day of term. Furious students took to Facebook to complain - branding the former Swan Valley Community School 'Colditz Academy' because they could not bend the rules. Instead of parents supporting the rules to make the students appear neater and adhere to the policy, they were angry at headteacher Alison Colwell for being insensitive to self-conscious teenagers. A herd of 60 wild elephants caused pandemonium in a village after they stormed through the centre and ruined 25 houses. Hair-raising footage, captured on a smartphone, shows the gigantic animals and their little ones struggle to find a way out of the village. It shows the bizarre moment the animals had wandered into the human habitat in Numaligarh in the hilly state of Assam, India, after they lost their way. The herd of 60 elephants (pictured) started to run through the tiny village in Assam, India Angry villagers came out of their homes to try and scare the elephants away armed with sticks The village is just two miles from the forest and instead of hiding in their homes, stunned villagers ran out of their homes armed with sticks to chase the elephants. Mahesh Kumar, who suffered a great loss to his shop in the chaos, said: 'The elephants started running impulsively when men from forest department reached the spot for our rescue. 'The chaos resulted in a huge loss as many shops and houses were damaged.' Forest officials were called in who took the charge of the situation. Jayanta Goswami, beat forest officer of Numaligarh, said: 'Incidents like these have happened in the past. 'This is the paddy season in the state and elephants come out of the forests in search of food and end up in villages where paddy is grown. 'In the recent incident, the number of the elephants were huge but luckily, none of them attacked any villager. 'We have learnt of some damages to the houses but that would be compensated. It becomes really difficult to control an elephant if it loses its cool. We are glad there was no injury this time.' The elephants had caused mayhem after they got lost in the village in Numaligarh, Assam, India The villagers eventually managed to make the elephants after they chased them off in India Assam, the densely forested state, is known as the natural habitat for the wild elephants in the country with a recorded population of 5,620. But with an increasing population and fast developed townships, incidents of wild animals entering the villages in search of food have become very common of late. Emiratis have been banned from keeping wild animal as pets as authorities crackdown on people owning big cats as status symbols Emiratis have been banned from keeping wild animal as pets as authorities crackdown on people owning big cats as status symbols. The pets, including endangered cheetahs are known to have been domesticated in the UAE and neighbouring Gulf countries with some even spotted being taken for walks in the middle of big cities. In October footage was captured showing five tigers paddling in the water on the beach near to Dubai's iconic Burj Al-Arab hotel. Meanwhile other Emiratis have been picked posing with lions on top of their luxury cars and even driving around in them. The trade in big cats in the Gulf reflects how status among the wealthy is all important, where a rare white lion will sell for around 40,000. But now, according to Gulf News, a new law has come into force banning the dealing and ownership of 'all types of wild and domesticated dangerous animals.' The newspaper added that such creatures can only be kept in zoos, wildlife parks, circuses, and breading and research centres. And if anybody takes a leopard, cheetah or any other exotic animal out in public, they could face jail and a fine of up to 500,000 dirhams (111,000). In October footage was captured showing five tigers paddling in the water on the beach near to Dubai's iconic Burj Al-Arab hotel Meanwhile those who use their wild pets to terrorise others would see the fine increase to 700,000 dirhams (155,000). However, the new legislation doesn't just apply to wild animals as it also imposes new restrictions on traditional pets. Dog owners are required to get permits and keep the animals on leashes in public, the reports said. A teacher who resigned after a student spread nude pictures of her has dropped a lawsuit against her former employer. Leigh Anne Arthur, who taught at a vocational school in Union, South Carolina, was patrolling the halls when a student stole her phone and circulated nude photos she took for her husband on Valentine's Day. She resigned from her position and sued both the Union County School District and former interim Superintendent David Eubanks - but dropped the case in December. Leigh Anne Arthur (pictured) taught at the Union County Career and Technology Center when a student stole her phone and circulated nude images she took for her husband She resigned from her position and sued both the Union County School District and former interim Superintendent David Eubanks (pictured) - but dropped the case in December 2016 Arthur taught mechatronics (a blend of mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, computer control and information technology) at the Union County Career and Technology Center. In February 2016, she claims a 16-year-old student who was failing her class took her phone - which was not passcode protected - and accessed partially nude photos she took for her husband. The student, who had also warned her that something bad was coming, sent the images to other students through text messages and social media, according to WSPA. The student told her that 'your day of reckoning is coming', according to Arthur. When school officials got wind of the situation, they took action against Arthur, giving her the choice to either resign or be fired, according to Eubanks. The superintendent said Arthur had failed to supervise her students, and that she was in the wrong because the nude photos were available to her students, WYFF reported. Arthur eventually stepped down, but tried to retract her resignation the next day. The superintendent said Arthur had failed to supervise her students, and that she was in the wrong because the nude photos were available to her students An online petition to reinstate her as a teacher at the school also attracted more than 17,000 signatures, but Arthur remained out of a job Arthur had said she has been struggling emotionally and wanted her dignity back after being forced to quit Courtesy WSPA An online petition to reinstate her as a teacher at the school also attracted more than 17,000 signatures, but Arthur remained out of a job. Weeks later, she confirmed that her attorneys filed a lawsuit against the school district as well as Eubanks. She told WYFF in March: 'I can also confirm the lawsuit is based on the false accusations made by Dr. David Eubanks against me along with policies and due process not appropriately followed by Union County School District.' Arthur, who said she has been struggling emotionally and wanted her dignity back after being forced to quit, dropped the case on December 2, according to online court records. The student was charged with a computer crime and voyeurism. A 17-year-old fisherman who was filmed reeling in a huge shark has defended himself after being criticised online. Jack Alexander and a group of friends caught the bronze whaler shark at Pauanui beach on New Zealand's North Island before tagging it and hauling it back into the sea. The young men were criticised for taking a selfie with the two-and-a-half metre animal as it lay stranded on the sand, but Jack insisted they were 'helping the species'. Teenage fisherman Jack Alexander, who was filmed reeling in a huge shark, has defended himself after being criticised online 'This was nothing out of the usual. The shark was only out of the water for two minutes and had water going through its gills the whole time,' the teenager told the New Zealand Herald. 'We bring them up onto the beach, tag them and write down all their details. 'Tagging the sharks means if they are caught you can track how much weight it has put on, its length, its movements and where its been breeding.' In the video, the teenager is seen dragging the shark ashore and appearing to pull a hook out of its mouth before posing for a picture with the creature. One witness wrote on social media that the boys had not taken proper care of the stricken animal. 'They dragged the shark up the beach... and had to take a few goes to cut the hook out of the lip,' they wrote, adding: 'Then to require a selfie.' The young men were criticised for taking a selfie with the two-and-a-half metre animal as it lay stranded on the sand, but Jack insisted they were 'helping the species' Jack and a group of friends caught the bronze whaler shark at Pauanui beach on New Zealand's North Island before tagging it and hauling it back into the sea Jack said it was normal to take a picture with each catch and said he had caught and tagged 25 sharks this year. He added sharks as big as the one in the video would barely feel the hook and tag. Witness Simon List, who filmed the incident, said he was impressed by how 'cool' and calm the boys were as they tagged the shark. The historic Battle of Trafalgar in October 1805 was won by the Royal Navy but cost Lord Nelson (pictured) his life after he was shot on HMS Victory by a French sniper An extraordinary 200-year-old letter sent by the cuckolded husband of Admiral Lord Nelson's mistress revealed he had the utmost respect for him - despite being in a long-term affair with his wife. Sir William Hamilton took taking the moral high ground to another level with the British naval hero, who was sleeping with his wife Lady Emma Hamilton. Instead of getting angry, Sir William wrote a letter to Lord Nelson, describing him as his 'noble and brave friend'. His letter, addressed to George Unwin, Nelson's secretary, and was written on December 10, 1800 - a month after the trio had returned to London from Italy. At the time Lady Hamilton was seven-and-a-half months pregnant with Horatia, the secret lovechild she and Nelson had together. The letter belonged to passionate collector Jon Evans, who died last year. He amassed more than 1,000 signatures and letters of famous historical figures including The Duke of Wellington and Sir Winston Churchill. It is now being sold at auction for a pre-sale estimate of 300. The letter reads in full: 'This morning I communicated your letter and statement to our noble and brave friend Lord Nelson. 'His lordship seemed greatly pleased and much gratified with the idea of his having in some measure contributed to the increase of this branch of the commerce of our country. 'In short I saw plainly that Lord Nelson was really pleased with this mark of attachment to him, but who can know this extraordinary hero and good man, without a sincere attachment to him.' Nelson's six year affair with Lady Hamilton was the biggest scandal of the age. He first met her in 1793, when he was a post captain and she was the wife of Sir William Hamilton, the British Envoy to Naples. The second meeting between the couple was in Naples in 1797. A year later, after fleeing Naples, Nelson, Lady Hamilton and Sir William Hamilton rented a house in Palermo together. Nelson's wife Fanny demanded he give up his mistress but he decided instead to separate from her and remain with Lady Hamilton. He eventually returned to sea, leaving Emma eight months pregnant. Nelson wrote to her pretending his letters were on behalf of a seaman under his command called Thompson, whose pregnant wife was under Lady Hamilton's protection. Sir William died in 1803. Sir William Hamilton (left) took taking the moral high ground to another level with the British naval hero, who was sleeping with his wife Lady Emma Hamilton (right) His letter, addressed to George Unwin, Nelson's secretary, and was written on December 10, 1800 - a month after the trio had returned to London from Italy Nelson finally returned to England and Horatia in August 1805 but could only stay for a month before he was called back to sea to engage Napoleon's French navy at Cape Trafalgar near Cadiz. The historic Battle of Trafalgar in October 1805 was won by the Royal Navy but cost Lord Nelson his life after he was shot on HMS Victory by a French sniper. As he died, he made a plea to the government to care for Mrs Hamilton and Horatia. Paul Campbell, specialist at Campbells Auctioneers of Worthing, West Sussex, which is selling the letter, said: 'It is amusing that Sir William Hamilton writes about his obvious respect for Lord Nelson and his achievements even though he was aware he was having a long term affair with his wife. 'Had he been anyone else having an open relationship with the wife of someone who was also highly regarded, the admiralty would have come down very hard on such a person. 'But, because it was Lord Nelson, they turned a blind eye to the whole affair and handled it very discreetly.' There have been seven arrests of 'terrorists' in Tunisia and sending 12 youths to go and fight The group was said to be Tunisian security forces have dismantled a 13-member 'terrorist cell' that was funnelling young recruits to jihadist groups as part of a growing crackdown on extremists. The suspects, aged between 22 and 43, were arrested on Tuesday in Hergla, a town north of the coastal resort city of Sousse, the interior ministry said in a statement on Wednesday. Members of the cell held 'secret meetings in a mosque' and admitted to recruiting and sending 12 youths to fight with jihadist groups abroad, it said, linking it to the Okba Ibn Nafaa Battalion, a group connected to Al-Qaeda. Tunisian special forces attend an official ceremony inside the barracks of the presidential security service in Gammarth, a suburb of Tunis late last year It was the seventh announcement in less than a week of arrests of alleged 'terrorists' in Tunisia, which has detained more than 70 people in a widening crackdown on jihadists since December 25. Authorities stepped up their efforts after Tunisian Anis Amri was identified as the primary suspect in last month's attack on a Berlin Christmas market that killed 12 people. Amri was shot dead by police in the Italian city of Milan four days after the attack, which was claimed by the Islamic State group. Since the 2011 uprising that toppled longtime dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, Tunisia has been battling a jihadist movement that has killed dozens of soldiers and police officers as well as civilians including 59 foreign tourists. Some 3,000 Tunisians have joined the ranks of jihadist groups fighting in neighbouring Libya, as well as in Syria and Iraq, according to officials. The United Nations puts the figure at 5,000. Tunisia's government said last week that it had jailed or closely monitored 800 jihadists who had returned from foreign battlefields. Commuter's rail strike misery will be dragged out until the end of the month in a cynical ploy by unions to ease the impact on drivers pay. Members of the Aslef union were due to walk out for six days from Monday in a dispute over the role of conductors on Southern rail. The union announced yesterday that it will now strike for only three days on January 10, 11 and 13. But it will then stage further industrial action on January 24, 25 and 27, prolonging the frustration for passengers. Striking train drivers have already completely closed routes run by Southern Rail for several days during a dispute over driver-only trains It is thought that dragging out the strike will ease the financial burden on drivers, as the cut in wages for failing to turn up for work will come out of two months pay packets rather than one. But staging it on non-continuous days will make disruption even worse for commuters. It takes 24 hours after a strike for the network to get back to normal because of trains left in the wrong places, meaning services will also be affected between the walkouts. Aslef has also banned its members from doing overtime, which has caused chaos on Southern rail for months, even on non-strike days. The operator said services including the Gatwick Express would be disrupted or cancelled every day because of the ban. This week the majority of Southerns routes, which operate across the Home Counties, have been badly disrupted. Yesterday there were no trains at all on nine services, including between Milton Keynes Central and East Croydon, and to and from Wimbledon. Many have been hit since late November, forcing commuters to find alternative transport to get to work. There was a severely reduced service on six other lines yesterday, including the peak service between Brighton and London. Many passengers had no idea their service was cancelled before they arrived at the station to find no trains. They said the only announcement Southern made about the disruption was a service update towards the bottom of its website. Some commuters are so fed up with the months of continuing uncertainty they are threatening to sue the rail firm for compensation. At present, they are only entitled to refunds on their fares or season tickets, and cannot claim for additional costs Some commuters are so fed up with the months of continuing uncertainty they are threatening to sue the rail firm for compensation. At present, they are only entitled to refunds on their fares or season tickets, and cannot claim for additional costs. But passengers in both Surrey and Sussex are now considering joint-funded class actions. One group has threatened a legal challenge against the Department for Transports handling of the crisis. Of Aslefs decision to extend its strikes, a Southern rail spokesman said last night: This is a cynical ploy to minimise the impact on Aslef drivers pay packets and maximises misery, disruption and hardship for passengers. Aslefs move shows pure contempt for the travelling public and it still causes massive disruption over next week. Aslef chief Mick Whelan has announced a fresh wave of train strikes on Southern Rail for the end of January but cut next week's walk out from six days to three These strikes are pointless and they should call the whole thing off and let common sense prevail. Meanwhile Aslefs general secretary, Mick Whelan, warned yesterday of yet more strikes to come in the dispute, which centres on drivers operating train doors rather than guards. He said: We are taking a longer-term view of this trade dispute. The company has not been prepared to move it is simply going through the motions, turning up at [conciliation service] Acas and telling us that it intends to impose driver-only operation. We remain committed to a negotiated settlement, as was reached with [Scottish operator] ScotRail, but it is difficult to negotiate with people who are not prepared to be flexible. He added: We still believe a deal can be done but we are, at the moment, a long way from that position. In November, 87 per cent of Aslefs members voted to join train conductors, represented by the RMT union, in strike action over the Christmas period and this month. Rail minister Paul Maynard, pictured in the Commons last year, said the 'wholly unnecessary strikes' would cause 'massive disruption' Unions say there are safety risks with driver-only operated trains, a claim denied by Southern and rail industry bodies. Southern has failed to offer any alternative transport for the 300,000 passengers affected by the industrial action. But yesterday, dozens of bus companies announced they would send more than 200 coaches to areas affected by next weeks strike to get commuters to work, in a blow to the unions. Family-run firms from as far away as Northumberland have offered to send drivers to run rail replacement services. They said they would prioritise getting key workers, such as nurses, to where they need to be. The bus fleet was organised by the Confederation of Passenger Transport, the trade body for the bus and coach industry, whose 1,000-plus members include the Go-Ahead group, which owns Southern Rail through its Govia Thameslink company. Rex Tillerson, the nominee of President-elect Donald Trump for secretary of state, is severing ties with Exxon Mobil through a $182 million retirement package ahead of his Senate confirmation hearing. Tillerson was expected to step down as CEO of Exxon Mobil Corp. in March when he turned 65, the company's mandatory retirement age. Exxon said in a regulatory filing Wednesday that Tillerson has agreed to give up approximately 2 million unvested shares. ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson, the nominee of President-elect Donald Trump for secretary of state, is severing ties with Exxon Mobil through a $180 million retirement package If his appointment is confirmed, the value of those shares worth about $182 million at Tuesday's closing price that Tillerson would have received over the next 10 years will be transferred to an independently managed trust, the company said in a statement. The share awards will be canceled and Tillerson will also surrender entitlement to more than $4.1 million in cash bonuses, scheduled to pay out over the next three years, and other benefits, Exxon Mobil said. Separately, Tillerson also committed to the State Department that, if confirmed, he would sell the more than 600,000 Exxon shares he currently owns, the company said. Tillerson, who worked for Exxon for more than 40 years, is giving up about $7 million in compensation and benefits that he would have received if he had he stayed until March. Exxon said last month its president, Darren Woods, will become chief executive and chairman in January following the retirement of Tillerson. Tillerson could face a rocky confirmation process, given concerns among both Democrats and Republicans about his ties to Russia. Katie Langan, 33, with daughter Layla, has claimed security staff at Heathrow airport handled her breast milk 'like it was dog food' when she had a five days' worth supply confiscated A mother has claimed security staff at Heathrow airport handled her breast milk 'like it was dog food' when she had a five days' supply confiscated. Katie Langan, 33, an HR manager who now lives in the Netherlands, had expressed the milk over the course of a five-day break with friends in London. But when flying home on New Year's Day she was forced to ditch the supply at Heathrow's Terminal 5. She was banned with travelling with the ten 150ml bags as she was told they were over the general limit for liquids. She offered to check the milk in and suggested other possible solutions such as decanting it into approved containers and paying 60 for extra baggage - but was refused. She said: 'I felt embarrassed and unsupported. It was a terrible experience.' Ms Langan, originally from Swansea, who has a one-year-old daughter, Layla, said she was treated with 'contempt' and a 'lack of respect' and was left in tears in front of queues of people. 'I was humiliated...I had to explain my breastfeeding to a man', she said. 'I was totally heartbroken that I had to dump this breast milk that I had put love and time into pumping. It is a chore but it's a labour of love. 'This means that the next time I go away, my baby can't have breast milk.' She was banned with travelling with the ten 150ml bags as she was told they were over the general limit for liquids Speaking after the incident on January 1, she added: 'I just don't want other women to experience what I experienced. 'I was absolutely horrified by the guy's reaction. I was quite creative in thinking up solutions and thought of a few different ways that I could get around it. 'But he was not willing to help me. It was extremely frustrating. 'It was either stand there and argue with him or miss my flight, which I didn't want to do because I had been away from my baby.' She said she had travelled with above the allowed limit of 100ml bottles of breast milk with no problem at Cardiff, Bristol, Edinburgh, Stockholm, Oslo, Portland and Boston While she was away, she pumped two to three times a day, giving her 10 bags of milk, each of which took around 20 minutes. If mothers do not continue to express milk while away from their babies, their supply reduces meaning they cannot produce as much when they return. She said she had travelled with above the allowed limit of 100ml bottles of breast milk with no problem at Cardiff, Bristol, Edinburgh, Stockholm, Oslo, Portland and Boston. Ms Langan, who lives in Holland with her partner Winus Van Asselt, 34, said: added: 'The security staff ask kindly if they can swab the bottles or put it into their testing machines and the whole process takes five minutes max and they are usually very considerate and respectful. 'This time as usual I went through the X-ray machine and when I got to the end this man opened up my bag. 'He said, 'It is above the limit for general liquids.' I said, 'Breast milk is exempt, I have done this before and never had a problem.' 'He said he couldn't understand why I was travelling with breast milk without my baby.' She said the man handled her breast milk 'like it was dog food' and added: 'They just don't care.' 'I received a response from Heathrow but it was just copy and paste c*** from the policy.' She added: 'Why is Heathrow so much stricter than other airports I have travelled through in Europe and not had a problem?' Parents travelling through UK airports can take breast milk on a plane as long as they are travelling with a baby or infant, according to the Department for Transport. Heathrow airport said that when travelling without a child, the restriction limits apply without exception. It said it had a legal obligation to enforce the regulations. A spokesman told MailOnline: 'We do appreciate that this has been a frustrating experience for Ms Langan and we always regret causing inconvenience. However, the aviation security regulations on liquids mandated by the Department for Transport are clear and publicly available on our website. They are there to protect the travelling public and Heathrow has a legal obligation to enforce them. A prankster convinced someone selling a rare 5 note to burn a hole in it by putting it into the microwave to 'smooth it out' after he was abusive to a woman online. Shaun Munro saw that the seller had called a woman a 'fat cow' when she inquired about the note, with a rare AB01 serial number, on a public buy and sell group. Mr Munro, 31, decided to get his revenge and offered to pay up to 1,500 for the note, as long as it was in mint condition. Prankster Shaun Munro (left) convinced someone selling a rare 5 note to burn a hole in it (right) by putting it into the microwave to 'smooth it out' after he was abusive to a woman He asked the seller to flatten the plastic note using an iron before eventually convincing him to wrap the money in tissue and microwave it. The note's furious owner then sent Shaun a picture of the note with a hole in it, and ranted: 'The note is ruined.' Mr Munro, from Llanarmon-yn-Ial, north Wales, said: 'I thought he was out of order so I gave him a taste of his own medicine. I never thought he'd actually go along with it. 'He put it up for sale in one of the buy-and-sell groups I'm in claiming that it was worth a lot because of its serial number. 'But every time a certain woman came on and enquired about it, he would give her all sorts of abuse. He even called her a fat cow. 'The worst thing you can do is say something horrible to a woman about her appearance. I thought he was a bit of an idiot. Mr Munro posed as someone wanting to buy the note, offering the seller 1,000 for it but saying he was 'concerned about the folds' IS YOUR FIVER WORTH THOUSANDS? The new plastic 5 notes have been selling for hundreds or even thousands since they were introduced in September. Those with the early AA01 serial numbers, meaning they were in the first million produced, have been selling on online auction site eBay for up to 800. Notes with the AK47 number have also become valuable, with one selling for 80,000 but the seller, Gareth Wright, was left empty-handed when the buyer refused to pay because he was waiting for 'a shipment of cocaine', he claimed. There are also four 5 notes in the country believed to be worth 50,000, engraved with an image of Jane Austen and a quote. The images on the notes were created by specialist micro-engraver Graham Short, who travelled to different locations in the UK to spend them. Another person, Gail Meikle, also managed to sell a note with a slight misprint for 1,699. Coins can make money too, with a special-edition WWF design released in 2011 with the famous panda logo and 50 other animals, regularly selling for more than 200. Advertisement 'I expected him to realise I was joking when I asked him to get the iron out but he was going along with it. 'Then he said he didn't have an iron - what sort of person doesn't have an iron? So I told him the microwave would do the same job getting the creases out and he did that instead. 'I was sitting on my sofa p*****g myself basically. I didn't really feel bad about it at all because he was being abusive to this woman.' Mr Munro made his initial enquiry about the note - which the seller claimed was worth more because of its AB01 serial number - on New Year's Day. He then claimed he had contacts in Mayfair who were willing to send a courier to collect the note within 24 hours. But, he continued, they had some concerns about the flatness of the note, and so he proposed a series of methods to smooth it out. After initial reservations, the seller agrees to 'heat press' the note, but cannot locate an iron and proceeds with putting it in a microwave for 10 seconds. Mr Munro, who owns a masonry business, said: 'I could believe it when he sent me the picture back. There were three holes in the note and part of it had melted. After a long exchange asking the seller to flatten the note, Mr Munro convinced him to put it in the microwave. After ten seconds, there was a black hole in it (right) Mr Munro (pictured), who owns a masonry business, said: 'I could believe it when he sent me the picture back. There were three holes in the note and part of it had melted 'I actually did some research to make sure the note wasn't worth a fortune - that way I knew I wouldn't owe him more than a fiver if he did burn it. 'New Year's Day was one of my only days off so I was just fixing some bits in the garage and lying about on the sofa having a laugh to pass the time. 'I was messaging him for about four hours. My initial plan was to pretend to pay him with Monopoly money but I realised I could have a bit of fun with him. Rebecca Deferia, pictured, 30, is on trial accused of conspiring to murder her former boyfriend Jonathan Catchpole The daughter of a millionaire businessman is accused of conspiring with him to hire hitmen to murder her ex-boyfriend after he broke up with her, a court heard. Rebecca Deferia's former partner Jonathan Catchpole was blasted in the chest with a sawn-off shotgun at point blank range after three men burst into his flat in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk in August 2015. The 39-year-old was left for dead but made a miracle recovery despite having 42 shotgun pellets removed from his chest by surgeons. Rebecca Deferia, 30, allegedly arranged with her father to hire the hitmen to shoot Mr Catchpole and Ipswich Crown Court heard one of the gang shouted, 'Rebecca wants you dead' as they attacked him. Prosecutor Andrew Jackson said it was 'the final act of an elaborate conspiracy or plan to murder Mr Catchpole' which was hatched by Deferia, her father and the hitmen. He said that her father Colin Deferia was a wealthy and successful businessman with his own construction firm and his daughter was an only child who 'appeared to want for nothing'. The court was told how she had been in a long-running dispute with her former partner and was tied to the murder plot by evidence of phone calls on pay as you go mobile phones. Mr Jackson said there was also evidence that Deferia, who worked in the accounts department at her father's firm, had organised an earlier attack on Mr Catchpole's car when its brake lines were severed. He also alleged that she had targeted Mr Catchpole's relatives in a campaign of threats and intimidation after hiring a private detective with her father to spy on them. Deferia, of Suffolk, denies a charge of conspiracy to murder Mr Catchpole between August 2014 and the day he was shot. Mr Jackson said the prosecution alleged that Deferia and her father had arranged for a relative's partner, Paul Baker, 35, to have Mr Catchpole killed in a 'careful and meticulous plan for assassination.' Baker in turn arranged for Andrew Seaton, 40, Simon Webber, 32, and Frank Warren, 52, to carry out the 'execution' to distance himself from the plot. The four men who were due to be paid 'several thousand pounds in cash' were all earlier convicted of murder alongside Colin Deferia. Mr Jackson said that Seaton, Webber and Warren had travelled from their homes in Dorset to attack Mr Catchpole at his flat. Deferia's (left) father Colin (right), 60, was previously jailed last September He said: 'Mr Catchpole was on his own and no match for these three would be killers. Before the trigger was pulled, one of the three men shouted, 'Rebecca wants you dead'. 'Mr Catchpole was then shot and having shot him, the three men left him for dead. 'Mercifully, although he sustained a terrible shotgun wound, Mr Catchpole survived that assassination attempt.' The court was told that Deferia had ended her five-year relationship with Catchpole on June 2013. She then changed the locks on the home they shared in Bury St Edmunds, preventing him from picking up his clothing and possessions, said Mr Jackson. Shortly after the couple split, Deferia and her father went to the Neptune Kitchens showroom in Bury St Edmunds where Mr Catchpole worked. Deferia then went inside to speak to her former partner before she and her father emptied bin bags in the car park containing Mr Catchpole's clothes and shoes which had been cut with scissors or a knife, said Mr Jackson. Paul Baker, left, was jailed for his role as 'middle man' between Colin Deferia and the 'would-be assassins', including Simon Webber, right Her father allegedly shouted: 'I am going to have you Catchpole, you better watch your back. I am going to rip your head off and cut your d*** off.' Deferia and her father hired a private detective called Barry Parker to carry out surveillance on Mr Catchpole and gather information about him and his relatives, said Mr Jackson. He described Mr Parker's investigation as 'thorough and highly intrusive' and involved putting a tracking device on his car to monitor his movements. Mr Jackson added: 'It tells you that this defendant was absolutely determined to find any information to further her aims and ambitions in having him killed.' But he said that Mr Parker had failed to unearth 'anything remotely untoward' about Mr Catchpole and his lifestyle. Mr Jackson said that Deferia or her father had sent a briefing pack to Baker in August 2014, setting out how he should target Mr Catchpole and giving information about him. The letter was found in Baker's car in an envelope which had been sent from a franking machine at Mr Deferia's business Precon Products in Rougham near Bury St Edmunds. Mr Jackson said: 'It was say the prosecution no less than a briefing pack for the targeting of Mr Catchpole and his family and ultimately his execution. Andrew Seaton, left, and Frank Warren, right, were also jailed after being found guilty of conspiracy to murder after they and Webber attacked Mr Catchpole at his home He claimed that Deferia had used a fake Twitter account set up by her father to follow Mr Catchpole's sister Sarah Spinks account on social media. The fake account was used to post a message to Mrs Spinks in July 2014, remarking about the death of her first husband 13 years previously. Mr Jackson said the tweet left Mrs Spinks distressed and was an attempt to intimidate her. Mrs Spinks, who sympathised with her brother after his split from Deferia, received an anonymous note posted through her door in Colchester, Essex, saying: 'This is your last chance. You know what you have done. Shut your mouth or see what happens.' Mr Jackson said that a pay as you go phone, registered by Deferia as belonging to her on her iPhone, had been used to make calls to police falsely alleging that Mr Catchpole was a drug dealer being targeted by men with firearms. He described it as 'a false trail' to try and convince police that Mr Catchpole's murder was due to a drugs vendetta. The attack on Mr Catchpole was carried out with a sawn-off shotgun, similar to this file picture Mr Jackson said texts sent by one of the hitmen revealed that they expected to be paid 12,500. Mr Catchpole was airlifted to hospital and had 42 shotgun pellets and cartridge wadding removed from his chest. The 54-year-old woman charged after allegedly ramming her husband's van because she thought he was cheating on her with a younger woman has been named. Sonya Ruprecht will face court next week charged with driving recklessly, furiously, at speed or in a dangerous manner. Her arrest on Wednesday came after dashcam footage emerged allegedly showing a jilted wife ramming a car owned by her husband, Danny Ruprecht, after she supposedly caught him cheating with a younger woman. Mrs Ruprecht is claimed to have shouted 'stay away from my husband' as she drove into another car - a Kia owned by the woman her husband is alleged to have been having an affair with. Scroll down for video The 54-year-old woman arrested after allegedly ramming her husband's van because she thought he was cheating on her with a younger woman has been named as Sonya Ruprecht Mrs Ruprecht, from Manning Great Lakes, was arrested on Wednesday morning, five days after she was released without charge because of a lack of evidence following the incident. Dashcam footage shows a dark blue Ford Ranger driving into a Ford Transit van and forcing it off a road near Crowdy Head, New South Wales. Witnesses claim they saw a 'disgruntled wife' drive the same vehicle into a car owned by a younger woman who had parked up at a nearby surf club moments earlier. According to the Daily Telegraph, the couple drove off in separate cars before Mrs Ruprecht allegedly rammed her husband. The husband of the supposed 40-year-old mistress reportedly said Mrs Ruprecht was wrong to believe her husband was having an affair with his wife. 'My wife had nothing to do with it. She wasn't even in the car. Some crazy wife thinks she is having an affair and my wife happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time,' he said. 'She drove up to (my wife) and said something along the lines of "stay away from my husband".' He added that his wife was simply 'in the wrong place at the wrong time'. Police have charged a 54-year-old woman after footage emerged online showing a truck ramming a camper van during an alleged domestic incident The arrest comes after dashcam footage emerged allegedly showing a jilted wife ramming her husband's car when she caught him cheating with a younger woman Footage shows a dark blue Ford Ranger driving into a Ford Transit van and forcing it off a road near Crowdy Head, New South Wales Police were called to Crowdy Head Surf Club at about 1pm on December 30 and a 54-year-old woman was arrested. At the time she was taken to Taree Police Station and was released without charge pending further investigation. A 57-year-old man and a 40-year-old woman - believed to be the owner of the Kia - spoke to police at the scene but were not arrested. A police source told Daily Mail Australia that the incident was 'domestic'. 'The wife found her hubby down the road with another girlfriend and she's rammed him in his car,' the source told Daily Mail Australia. A witness, who wished to remain anonymous, said the woman drove her 4x4 'head-on' into the husband's girlfriend's car. Jake Shepherd (pictured), 26, and his friends had been drinking heavily on the 14-hour Thomas Cook flight from Manchester A groom who launched a foul-mouthed rant when his 26-strong stag party were refused drinks on a flight to Las Vegas has been fined. Jake Shepherd, 26, and his friends had been drinking heavily on the 14-hour Thomas Cook flight from Manchester and cabin crew imposed an in-flight ban on serving them anymore alcohol when they became too raucous. The incident took place on June 15 last year after the A330 Airbus took off from the UK at 9.30am for its 8,000-mile journey to the American party city. As the plane cruised at 30,000ft, oil piper engineer Shepherd became angry when he was refused vodka. He told stewardess Joanne Pugh: 'This airline is a f*****g joke. You treat me like a f*****g idiot and I'll speak to you like a f*****g idiot.' Other members of the group were heard swearing 'loudly and aggressively' with one saying: 'This service is s**t,' Manchester Magistrates Court heard. Shepherd, from Sale was held on his return to the UK following his stag weekend. Today, on the day his bride was due to give birth to their first child, Shepherd - who flies to Australia 12 times a year due to his work - was fined 1,400 after he pleaded guilty to a charge of using threatening and abusive or insulting words towards a member of a flight crew under the Air Navigation Order 2009. Prosecuting, Robin Lynch said: 'Twenty-six males boarded the flight for a stag party. 'There were no concerns with the group at first but they soon became very loud and were asked to calm down. 'They bought numerous drinks and were buying drinks for others in the party.. The group had been spoken to about the volume. They then stopped serving them alcohol and the party were not happy. 'One of the group said: "This service is s**t." Another member swore loudly and aggressively. Eight hours into the flight Mr Shepherd went to buy some vodka and was refused. The court heard Shepherd had one undisclosed previous conviction from 2008. In mitigation defence lawyer Stephen Munton said: 'This case was dealt with upon Mr Shepherd's return to the UK and he made full admissions. 'It is a very regrettable incident for Mr Shepherd as this was his own stag party. 'Drinks were served and ran for two hours and in the course of that service the group became loud and the group were spoken to. The incident took place on June 15 last year after the A330 Airbus took off from the UK at 9.30am for its 8,000-mile journey to the American party city (file photo) 'They were not interfering with other passengers. Five hours later Mr Shepherd went to the toilet and asked for a drink on his return to his seat. He was not aware of the ban on drinks for the group at the time. 'He had actually been the one to try and calm the group down throughout the beginning of the flight. The member of cabin crew expressed that this behaviour was unsatisfactory and he regrets it. 'He is fully employed as a pipe welder and is recently married. He and his wife are expecting their first baby who is in fact due today. 'His employment takes him around the world on a regular basis. He has flown to Australia 12 times this year and has had no problems before. A groom who launched a foul-mouthed rant when his 26-strong stag party were refused drinks on a flight to Las Vegas has avoided jail Passing sentence District Judge Nicholas Sanders said: 'I give you full credit for your guilty plea but the trouble is there are hundreds of people trapped in a small metal tube thousands of feet above the air and behaviour like this is unacceptable for anybody. 'The behaviour your group displayed caused disruption to the crew and passengers and the problem is with your behaviour to the member of cabin crew. Please make sure this does not happen again.' Indonesia has suspended military cooperation with Australia after the word 'crazy' featured on teaching materials at a Special Forces base in Perth. A language trainer was apparently upset at material featuring the Bahasa word 'pancagila', meaning crazy, which was used to mock Indonesia's post-1945 Independence principles known as 'Pancasila'. Australian Defence Minister Marise Payne has confirmed joint activities between the two nations would be postponed as the Australian Army investigated the 'serious concerns' raised by an Indonesian National Armed Forces officer late last year. Scroll down for video Elite Indonesian army special forces command known Kopassus stand in formation 'Indonesia has informed Australia that defence cooperation would be suspended,' Senator Payne said on Wednesday afternoon. 'As a result, some interaction between the two Defence organisations has been postponed until the matter is resolved. 'Cooperation in other areas is continuing.' Indonesian military spokesman Major General Wuryanto said a broad range of joint activities between Australia and Indonesia would be affected as a result of 'technical matters'. Australian Defence Minister Marise Payne (pictured right) met her Indonesian counterpart Ryamizard Ryacudu in Jakarta last year 'All forms of cooperation have been suspended,' he said. Wuryanto said it was 'highly likely' cooperation would resume once those issues were resolved. The material at the Perth base was insulting to the Indonesian state ideology of Pancasila, a set of five principles which cover belief in one God, just and civilised humanity, Indonesian unity, democracy and social justice. Indonesian Army's Kopassus special forces patrol outside the venues of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation An Indonesian instructor in Perth was upset his nation's Javanese hawk-eagle symbol had been mocked, online news website Abadikini said. The bird of prey also features on the nation's Garuda Pancasila coat of arms and symbolises strength and power in Muslim-majority Indonesia, which also has Hindu and Buddhist heritage. The Pancasila ideology was mocked as 'five crazy principles'. Indonesia's Kompas newspaper said the suspension began in early December after a complaint from a trainer with the Indonesian Army's special forces known as Kopassus. The Australian Defence Association said it was hypocritical for Indonesians to be offended as Jakarta's ethnic Chinese Christian Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama faced blasphemy charges for insulting Islam. An Indonesian military officer was upset his nation's Pancasila symbol of independence had been mocked. (Pictured is a Javan hawk-eagle symbol outside an official building) 'Jakarta governor's politically-motivated "blasphemy" trial genuinely contravenes Pancasila, so odd cause cited for Australian-Indonesian military cooperation problem,' the Canberra-based think tank said. The Australian Chief of the Defence Force, Air Chief Marshall Mark Binskin wrote to his Indonesian counterpart General Gatot Nurmantyo promising to address the issue seriously, Senator Payne said. Indonesian Special Forces group Kopassus trains with the Special Air Service at Perth's Campbell Barracks. This is controversial considering that Kopassus was linked to atrocities in East Timor in the decades before it achieved independence from Indonesia in 1999. The Australian Defence Association says Indonesian outrage is misplaced in light of a Christian governor facing blasphemy charges for insulting Islam The offending material in Perth may have been critical of this. The defence minister said Australia wanted to restore full training cooperation with Indonesia 'as soon as possible'. 'Australia is committed to building a strong Defence relationship with Indonesia, including through cooperation in training,' she said. A 14-year-old boy was shot dead by two men hiding in the bushes while he was returning home to his family member's home in North Carolina. Anthony Frazier, the teenage son of a Kannapolis police officer Daniel Frazier, was shot in the head while he was visiting family in Charlotte about 25 miles away. Frazier died at the Carolinas Medical Center on Tuesday and police are searching for the two men who were reportedly hiding in the bushes outside his aunt's house, WSOC reported. Scroll down for video Anthony Frazier, 14, was shot in the head while he was in the car with his aunt in Charlotte, North Carolina He was the teenage son of a Kannapolis police officer Daniel Frazier (left). It is unclear whether the 14-year-old was specifically targeted in the shooting Courtesy WSOC TV Frazier and his aunt were pulling into a home in the 2200 block of Finchley Drive around 10.20pm on Monday when the two young men ran from the bushes, WSOC reported. One man turned around and opened fire, hitting Frazier while he was still in the backseat of the car, sources told WSOC. His aunt drove to a gas station less than a mile away on the 900 block of Eastway Drive to get help, according to Charlotte Mecklenburg Police. Photos of the car, with doors on both sides left open, show the rear windshield shattered. The teen died in the hospital, and it is unclear whether Frazier was specifically targeted in the shooting. Police are now searching for the two suspects, thought to be in their teens or early 20s. They are both are described by police as black men with thin builds. They were last seen wearing hoodies and a $5,000 reward is being offered through Crime Stoppers. Frazier and his aunt were pulling into a home in the 2200 block of Finchley Drive (pictured) when the two young men ran from the bushes, WSOC reported His aunt drove to a gas station less than a mile away on the 900 block of Eastway Drive to get help. Photos of the car, with doors on both sides left open, show the rear windshield shattered A $5,000 reward is being offered through Crime Stoppers for the two suspects thought to be in their teens or early 20s His father Daniel Frazier, has worked for the Kannapolis police force for less than two years, and police chief Woody Chavis said they were 'heartbroken over the loss of one of our family members...' He added: 'Our families are the backbone of our department and without them we could not survive. 'We are stunned that once again a senseless tragedy has impacted the lives of our children and our officers.' Frazier, who was an eighth-grader at Kannapolis Middle School, will hold a candlelight vigil for him at 6pm on Thursday. Jeniffer Suhocky wrote on Facebook: 'I am sitting here thinking about Anthony Frazier and his family, friends and aquaintainces... 'He was such a sweet little boy with such a bright future. He had a great personality and was funny too. The Lord has taken this angel home way to soon..my condolences to all that are affected by this tragic loss...' A GoFundMe page set up in his memory has raised more than $1,300. A Michigan father is punishing his daughter with credit card fraud charges after she purchased a $1,200 plane ticket to Germany to see her boyfriend. The 18-year-old was minutes away from jetting overseas on Sunday morning. However, she was soon pulled off the plane by TSA officials at Cherry Capital Airport in Traverse City. A Michigan father is looking to press charges for credit card fraud after his 18-year-old daughter purchased a $1,200 plane ticket to Germany to see her boyfriend The incident happened at 9.15am after h er father found about his daughter's plans when he received a call from his bank about suspicious charges to a travel agency,WBPN reported. Traverse City Police said the girl's parents are looking to press charges on credit card fraud after the incident. A man serving a prison sentence in Ohio for abducting his then-5-year-old son from the boy's mother in Alabama in 2002 and settling in Cleveland under fake names for more than a decade is seeking early release. Bobby Hernandez's defense attorney, Ralph DeFranco, argued in a recently filed motion that his 54-year-old client took responsibility for his actions, has served about a year behind bars and should be freed, possibly under some other form of court supervision. On Wednesday, the prosecutor's office responded to DeFranco's filing, saying it plans to oppose the dad's early release. Scroll down for video Plea: A lawyer for Bobby Hernandez, pictured in court in this December 2015 file photo, has filed a motion seeking early release from a four-year prison sentence he received for kidnapping his then-5-year-old son from the child's mother in Alabama Hernandez (left), a US Navy veteran, was arrested in 2015 after his son, pictured right, aged five, found a discrepancy in his Social Security number while applying for colleges Hernandez was sentenced in April to four years in prison after pleading guilty to kidnapping and other charges. His now-19-year-old son, Julian, said then that Hernandez had given him everything he needed and he forgives his dad. Hernandez acknowledges taking the boy from the Birmingham suburb of Vestavia Hills and keeping the child from his mother for 13 years but provided a stable life in which his son thrived as an honors student in school and in other activities, DeFranco wrote in the filing last month, which was first reported by WJW-TV. Hernandez, a US Navy veteran with no significant criminal history, wants to return to his family and is willing to remain under whatever alternative supervision the court might deem appropriate, DeFranco said. Hernandez's deceptions came to light in 2015, when Julian discovered a discrepancy with his Social Security number while starting the college application process. Julian said he had been told his mother and father had broken up and he knew she lived somewhere else. Hiding in plain sight: Bobby and Julian Hernandez had lived in this home in Cleveland, Ohio, for 13 years under false identities Hernandez changed his name to Jonathan Mangina after moving with his son to Cleveland, where he forged driver's licenses, car titles and school records to evade detection. He raised Julian under the name 'Jay' or 'JJ.' His disappearance triggered a national missing-person alert and police investigated hundreds of possible sightings but Julian's real identity was only discovered when he applied for college. A school counselor learned the teen was actually Julian Hernandez and that he was listed as missing by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. The teen received an almost perfect score on the ACT test, and friends said he was hoping to attend the Ohio State University. In a statement read at Hernandez's sentencing by an attorney, Julian's mother said not knowing where Julian was or whether he was safe had a physical and emotional toll. Julian and his father around the time of their disappearance and Julian as he might look now in an age-progressed picture made by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children as part of a campaign to find him DeFranco indicated those effects aren't lost on Hernandez. 'Clearly the defendant understands and appreciates the gravity of this case and understands that he denied the child's mother access to him for many years,' DeFranco said in the document. The Cuyahoga County prosecutor who handled the case, Tim McGinty, had cited that loss of relationship in pushing for a lengthy sentence for Hernandez. SNP MP Eilidh Whiteford is currently in the Number One spot on SexyMP.co.uk - the most popular banned website at Parliament A website that ranks 'sexy' MPs has been criticised for being 'threatening and sinister' to women. Set up by Made in Chelsea's Francis Boulle, the website asks visitors to click on the photo of the MP they would prefer to have sex with and the results are recorded in a leader board. Caron Lindsay, the editor of Liberal Democrats Voice, said: 'Treating our MPs in this way is dehumanising and degrading. 'It comes across as threatening and sinister to some women...men are less likely to be objectified in the same way.' SNP MP Eilidh Whiteford is currently in the Number One spot on SexyMP.co.uk - the most popular banned website at Parliament. The site is prohibited from being accessed on parliamentary computers and blocked by parliament's internet filters. Dr Whiteford, 47, who represents Banff and Buchan, currently has the highest score on the website in the mixed and female section. However the leaderboard constantly changes every few minutes. Angela Eagle, who unsuccessfully challenged Jeremy Corbyn for the Labour leadership last year, was also temporarily in number one spot today. Social media users have now questioned the accuracy of the page. Some also claim Tory MPs have been buried 'near the bottom.' One Reddit user wrote: 'Someone has manipulated the rankings so that Conservative female MPs are all at the bottom of the rankings. 'You will note that all the Conservative MPs have been buried near the bottom of the page. SNP MP Eilidh Whiteford is currently number one on the site, with Bridget Phillipson second Labour's Debbie Abrahams (left) is third on the website, while Rachel Reeves is fourth Alison McGovern, of Labour, (left) and Caroline Flint (also of Labour) are ranked fifth and sixth Jess Phillips and Anna Turley are seventh and eighth on the list that features few Tories Luciana Berger, MP for Liverpool Wavertree, and Thangam Debbonaire, a former professional cellist, are also in the top ten - although the site constantly changes Dr Whiteford, 47, who represents Banff and Buchan, currently has the highest score on the website in the mixed and female section - however it changes ever few minutes 'This is not normal. The site wasn't in this state a few months ago. Historical Rankings shows no significant favouritism for one party over any other. This effect is also not seen among male MPs.' He added: 'My best guess is that someone wrote a script to play SexyMP and have it automatically select the non-Conservative option when a Conservative came up. I estimate that 200,000 votes in total performed by this script.' Regarding her number one spot, a spokesman for Dr Whiteford said: 'There is no comment.' The administrators of the website have been approached for comment. You may never actually see snakes on a plane, but one could end up in your toilet. That's what one Virginia resident realized when they went to the bathroom in their apartment and found a 5ft anaconda waiting inside. The Arlington County Animal Control had to be called on to the scene to safely remove the snake, which they discovered was a juvenile yellow anaconda. Officers weren't surprised to hear a snake was in the toilet, but they were shocked when they saw just how big it was. Scroll down for video This 5ft juvenile yellow anaconda was removed from the toilet at a Virginia apartment by Arlington County Animal Control last week 'Usually those calls are nothing we are too concerned about,' Chelsea Lindsey, the agency's communication specialist, told WTOP. 'Normally we deal with smaller snakes [in toilets] like wild snake or ball pythons, but we discovered it wasn't a python - it was a yellow anaconda.' The anaconda, which the officers named 'Sir Hiss', was safely removed from the toilet and no one was injured. Lindsey said the snake was not aggressive, but actually scared of the situation. 'He is a more unusual, larger type of snake,' she said. 'But he wasn't going around trying to eat people.' The Animal Welfare League of Arlington (AWLA) is investigating how the snake ended up in the toilet. Lindsey believes the anaconda was likely abandoned by its owner and then went into the toilet seeking rats or mice to eat. 'We don't want people thinking there was an anaconda outside that came inside,' she said. Although they are non-venomous, yellow anacondas can be dangerous when they reach their full size. They can grow up to 13ft and weigh more than 100lb (file photo of adult anaconda) 'There wasn't an anaconda crawling around Arlington.' A specialist familiar with the anaconda's species has since taken custody of Sir His and will give him 'the care that he needs', AWLA wrote on their Facebook. Yellow anacondas need specialized care as they can grow up to 13ft long and weigh more than 100lb. Although they are non-venomous, yellow anacondas can be dangerous when they reach their full size if they are not well-socialized. 'We are glad that in this circumstance we were able to rescue this snake,' AWLA wrote. 'And that he did not make it out of the apartment complex and into the wild.' She sought his help to lose more than 20kg, A Melbourne couple have shed more than 100kg together after overcoming years of weight issues, anxiety and low self-esteem which left them extremely unhappy and unwilling to go out in public. Matt Wolfs was in his mid-20s and weighed 180kg when his doctor told him he would not live the past the age of 30 if he continued his lifestyle. His wife, Courtney Ley, was a size 18 and weighed 100kg by the time she was 24. When Ms Ley was single she often stayed at home and didn't want to go out on dates or meet new people because she was uncomfortable with the way she looked. Melbourne husband and wife, Matt Wolfs (pictured) and Courtney Ley, have lost more than 100kg combined after both struggled with their weight, anxiety and low self-esteem for years Ms Ley lost about 25kg in the two years after she met Mr Wolfs in 2012 and asked him to be her personal trainer, during which they fell in love Just five years after they met, the couple - who married in December 2015 in New York - have maintained a combined weight loss of 105kg and are running their own gym, personal training business and podcast. Ms Ley, 28, and Mr Wolfs, 39, told Daily Mail Australia they feel like they have lived two very different lives. Mr Wolfs, who is 198cms tall, said he was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes when he was in his early 20s but didn't take it very seriously despite having issues with his vision and feeling unwell. By the time he reached 180kg, he said he decided to join a gym after heeding a doctor's warning. 'They told me if I didn't do anything I could expect to be dead by the time I was 30 because I was 180kg and very sick and unhealthy,' he said. Ms Ley weighed 100kg when she began exercising at the age of 24 (left). Mr Wolfs weighed 180kg by the time he reached his mid-20s (right) Not long after their relationship began, Mr Wolfs decided to open a gym and personal training business that they now run together. They are launching a podcast this month Before losing the weight, Ms Ley was single but avoided going out out on dates or meeting new people Mr Wolfs, who is 198cms tall, said he was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes when he was in his early 20s but didn't take it very seriously Mr Wolfs said he began exercising every week or two but ramped up his workout plan to six days a week, three hours a day when he noticed nothing was changing. 'But then I would go home and binge out on junk food,' he said. 'So I spent four years doing this, banging my head against the wall and nothing was changing and the frustration mounted up and started effecting my mental health there was a risk of self-harm I was cutting myself and being very, very hard to be around.' The 39-year-old told Daily Mail Australia he was 'very close to committing suicide' when something switched in his head and pushed him to make a change. 'I didn't work, I was at home collecting government pensions and stayed at home eating junk food and laying computer games,' he said. 'I made a promise to myself and my family, whatever it took, I was going to find out the best version of me it had to be better than what I was used to.' 'I was approaching my mid 20s and I was single and I just came to the realisation that I didn't even want to go on dates or go out and meet anyone because I was so unhappy,' Ms Ley said Ms Ley said her body is still changing as she continues to work out and eat a more balanced diet 'Our main focus is talking about the cause of where we make mistakes and how to overcome those,' Ms Ley said regarding the couple's podcast Mr Wolfs and Ms Ley were married in December 2015 in New York Matt and Courtney's weight loss tips 1. Find a support network - it's nearly impossible on your own, find a group of like-minded people who you can share the journey with. Make sure your partner supports you! 2. Don't try to change everything at once - keep it simple and work on one thing at a time, it will do your confidence the world of good. 3. Embrace your mistakes, you WILL make them - mistakes are what makes you better as you learn from them. You WILL make mistakes and you WILL get a few things wrong along the way...and it's okay! 4. Block out the noise - there are a lot of fads and gimmicks in our industry. Use your common sense. 5. It will take longer than you think/want/would like it to - if diets worked you'd never need to them more than once. A sustainable approach will take time and effort. More than you think. 6. Think long-term - your wallet will lose more weight than you if you're looking at short-term fixes. Commit to yourself in the long haul and your life will change in ways you can never imagine. 7. Commitment beats motivation - even for PTs motivation comes and goes. Commitment is what has you doing what you know you have to do even when you don't feel like doing it. 8. Find your "why" - anchor yourself to a powerful, personal and emotional goal that means the world to you. It'll keep you going when you are struggling. 9. Strive for balance, not perfection - anyone who says they're 100% all the time is lying to do. Enjoy the occasional treat and bonus food or drink with friends and family, but stay consistent as it pays off! 10. The weights room is your friend! - contrary to popular belief, weights make you more firm and lean ladies! Advertisement Mr Wolfs said he began approaching his workout routine and what he was eating with common sense. 'I put my head down and bum up and stuck with it and everything changed from there.' 'It was two-and-a-half years from the point where I was going to kill myself, to the point where people couldn't recognize who I was because,' he said. He became a personal trainer in 2010 and two years later, Ms Ley walked into his gym on a mission to begin her own weight loss journey. Ms Ley said she also reached a 'snap point' before she began training with her future husband. 'I was approaching my mid 20s and I was single and I just came to the realisation that I didn't even want to go on dates or go out and meet anyone because I was so unhappy and uncomfortable with the way I looked. I knew then it was time to make a change,' she said. The 28-year-old said Mr Wolfs taught her about common sense nutrition and showed her how to lose fat with weight training. It took her about two-and-a-half years to lose 20kg and she is continuing to lose weight now, sitting around 75kg. Not long after they began dating Mr Wolfs decided to open a gym, which they run together. Their success has paved the way for a podcast, which the couple says will tackle the root of problems for a lot of people, such as emotional eating and self-sabotage, Mr Wolfs said. 'Our main focus is talking about the cause of where we make mistakes and how to overcome those,' Ms Ley said. 'I lost less than Matt did but it took me the same amount of time because I made multiple mistakes along, which is how you learn.' Their hard work has paid off and after seven years of being on medication for type 2 diabetes, Mr Wolfs has reversed his diagnosis and the couple are feeling more confident for their future than ever before. The couple have maintained a combined weight loss of 105kg Gary Lee Sampson (pictured), 57, was convicted of killing three men and is having a sentencing retrial in Boston Jurors in Massachusetts must decide whether to sentence to death a triple murderer who stabbed two men before slitting their throats in 2001 and later strangling a third man. Gary Lee Sampson, 57, was convicted of carjacking and killing Jonathan Rizzo, 19, and Philip McCloskey, 69, in 2001. He also received a separate life sentence for the death of 58-year-old Robert 'Eli' Whitney in New Hampshire. Sampson received a death sentence in 2003 for Rizzo's and McCloskey's slayings, but a judge overturned that decision and granted him a new sentencing trial in 2011. The judge found that one of the jurors at his first trial had lied about her background as a victim of domestic violence. Jurors were shown gruesome photos of Sampson's victims Wednesday in Boston, while a prosecutor described how the murderer stabbed them over and over while they begged for their lives. Sampson tricked the carjack victims into thinking he would spare their lives but then stabbed them more than a dozen times, slit their throats and left them to die in the woods, prosecutors said. Sampson, 57, was convicted of carjacking and killing Philip McCloskey (left), 69, and Jonathan Rizzo (right), 19, in 2001. He pleaded guilty to killing them after hailing them as a hitchhiker The admitted triple murderer could be the second person sentenced to death by a federal jury in Massachusetts in two years, a rarity in a state whose laws do not allow the death penalty. Sampson pleaded guilty to killing McCloskey and Rizzo in Massachusetts after hailing them as a hitchhiker and taking them to secluded wooded areas where he tied them up before stabbing them to death. In a police tape played to the jury, Sampson told his interrogator that he changed his murder method for his last victim, the caretaker of a home on Lake Winnipesaukee, because 'I didn't want no more blood on me'. Assistant US Attorney Zachary Hafer showed the jury the pocketknife Sampson used in the killings, as well as photos of his victims before and after their slayings. Robert 'Eli' Whitney (pictured), 58, was strangled by Sampson in New Hampshire 'Three kind, caring souls, seemingly unconnected to each other in any way but brought together in the most unimaginably tragic way, brought together by the pure heinousness and cruelty of that man,' Hafer said, pointing to Sampson. But Michael Burt, a lawyer for Sampson, asked jurors to spare his client's life, saying he took responsibility by confessing and pleading guilty. Sampson is not offering excuses or justification for his crimes, Burt said, but is asking only to live a 'very narrow and restricted life' in prison without the possibility of release. 'If we could take away all that harm by executing Mr Sampson, I would be the first to do that by injecting that poison into his veins,' Burt said. A sentence of life in prison without possibility of release, the sole alternative, he said, would 'punish him in a very severe way.' Sampson's lawyers are asking the jury to consider 115 mitigating factors they say support a life sentence rather than the death penalty, including brain damage they say he suffered during a troubled childhood. Burt said each juror should consult his or her own conscience to decide whether Sampson should receive a life sentence or the death penalty. 'It's about as stark and gray a moral question as anybody could ask any human being to decide,' Burt said. The jury did not immediately rule. Sampson (pictured in 2004) tricked the carjack victims into thinking he would spare their lives but then stabbed them more than a dozen times and slit their throats, prosecutors said GMS says it builds the sedans it sells in the the US in Ohio; the Chevy Cruze model that is manufactured in Mexico is President-elect Donald Trump promised this morning that Ford's about-face on a new plant in Mexico is a sign of things to come. 'Thank you to Ford for scrapping a new plant in Mexico and creating 700 new jobs in the U.S. This is just the beginning - much more to follow,' Trump said in a tweet this morning. Ford announced a $700 million investment in Michigan, in addition to the jobs that were referenced by Trump, on Tuesday. It cancelled its plans to build a $1.6 billion plant in Mexico for production of the Ford Focus and said it would build the next generation of the vehicle at an existing factory in the foreign country. Scroll down for video President-elect Donald Trump promised this morning that Ford's about-face on a new plant in Mexico is a sign of things to come Ford announced a $700 million investment in Michigan, in addition to the jobs that were referenced by Trump, on Tuesday Ford CEO Mark Fields said at a news conference that the 'pro-growth' polices of President-elect Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress are encouraging. Trump had threatened General Motors with a 'big border tax' earlier that day if it continued to make a version of its Chevy Cruze in Mexico. Fields told CNN his company did not make a deal with Trump. The decision was a 'vote of confidence' in the U.S. economy, he asserted. 'We didn't cut a deal with Trump. We did it for our business,' Fields told the news network. At a news conference Fields credited Trump's economic policies with the shift and said that tax and regulatory reforms 'are critically important to boost U.S. competitiveness.' 'We look at all the factors, and our view is we see a more positive U.S. manufacturing business environment under President-elect Trump and the pro-growth policies and proposals that he is talking about, so this is a vote of confidence for President-elect Trump and some of the policies that they may be pursuing,' Fields said. At the White House daily press briefing Tuesday afternoon President Barack Obama's press secretary, Josh Earnest, claimed that Ford's decision wasn't tied to any 'political considerations.' It cancelled its plans to build a $1.6 billion plant in Mexico on Tuesday. Ford CEO Mark Fields is seen speaking at a press conference announcing the change After DailyMail.com brought up Fields' comments about the 'pro-growth' policies of Trump and congressional Republicans, Earnest said he doubted that the Ford executive would want his comments interpreted as a calculation that it would be better to build cars in the U.S. under Trump. My guess is that you should ask that question to the Ford CEO but I dont think that he would want his comments to be interpreted that way,' Earnest said. The White House later said the president's spokesman was referring to Fields' statement to CNN about the lack of a deal with Trump. Ford did not respond to a request for comment. Trump celebrated the Ford announcement on Tuesday by sharing a graphic to Instagram that said: 'Instead of driving jobs and wealth away, AMERICA will become the world's great magnet for INNOVATION and JOB CREATION.' The Republican had slapped Ford around on the campaign trail for its plans to build more cars in Mexico. He said he'd hit the company with a 35 percent tariff on vehicles it makes over the border and sells in the U.S. The automotive company said in a statement it builds the cars it sells in the United States in an Ohio factory. The Chevy Cruze model that is manufactured in Mexico is sold in foreign markets After Ford announced its decision, President-elect Donald Trump shared a graphic on Instagram suggesting the country would be a 'great magnet' for jobs under his watch Ford said Michigan-based employees would be charged with building future Lincoln Continentals. The 2017 version of the car is on the left. The company also pledged to make new Ford Mustangs, right, in the factory located in Fort Wayne, Michigan Trump had threatened General Motors with a 'big border tax' if it continued to make a version of its Chevy Cruze in Mexico The car company said in a statement Tuesday morning that it would invest $700 million over four years into its Flat Rock Assembly Plant in Fort Wayne, Michigan. Employees will build an 'all-new small utility vehicle with extended battery range,' Ford said, 'as well as the fully autonomous vehicle for ride-hailing or ride-sharing' and the Mustang and Lincoln Continental. Ford further announced a cancellation of the San Luis Potosi, Mexico plant. It said the change of plans would safeguard 3,500 U.S. jobs at the Michigan plant where the Focus is produced at present. Ford will still move production of the Focus to Mexico, but it will be built at the pre-existing Hermosillo factory. Trump is already using the bully pulpit of the presidency to get businesses to abandon their plans to invest in manufacturing south of the U.S. border. His administration convinced Carrier, an air conditioning company, to keep 730 jobs in Indiana last year. The state, led by Vice President-elect Mike Pence, had offered $7 million in incentives. Sprint said it would 'create or bring back to America' 5,000 jobs and OneWeb said it would hire 3,000 workers after Masayoshi 'Masa' Son, CEO of SoftBank, a Japanese company with a controlling interest in both, met with Trump. Son committed to 50,000 new jobs in the United States. Trump has repeatedly said he'd hit companies that produce products overseas and sell them in America with a 35 percent tariff. 'The U.S. is going to substantialy reduce taxes and regulations on businesses, but any business that leaves our country for another country, fires its employees, builds a new factory or plant in the other country, and then thinks it will sell its product back into the U.S without retribution or consequence, is WRONG! 'There will be a tax on our soon to be strong border of 35% for these companies,' Trump said in a series of Dec. 4 tweets. Trump singled out GM for its over-the-border production of the Chevy Cruze on Tuesday. 'General Motors is sending Mexican made model of Chevy Cruze to U.S. car dealers-tax free across border. Make in U.S.A.or pay big border tax!' he tweeted. The automotive company said in a statement it builds the sedans it sells in the United States in an Ohio factory. The Chevy Cruze model that is manufactured in Ramos, Mexico is primarily sold in foreign markets. A 'small number' of the Mexican-made model does end up in the United States, GM said. 'General Motors manufactures the Chevrolet Cruze sedan in Lordstown, Ohio. All Chevrolet Cruze sedans sold in the U.S. are built in GM's assembly plant in Lordstown, Ohio. GM builds the Chevrolet Cruze hatchback for global markets in Mexico, with a small number sold in the U.S,' it said in a statement. Ford said Tuesday that it would build the next generation of the Ford Focus at an existing factory in Mexico. A Focus is seen on the assembly line at the Wayne, Michigan, factory two years ago GM told CNBC that it sold some 190,000 Cruzes in the United States last year. It said the Mexican-made model accounted for roughly 4,500 of those sales, 2.4 percent. The company said in November that it was laying off 2,000 employees in the U.S. at two plants, one of which was the Lordstown facility, and the cuts would be implemented in early 2017. In his briefing today Earnest said Trump's tariff threat is 'contrary to the approach that President Obama has taken when it comes to trying to manage our trade relationships around the world.' Earnest said economists have assessed that taxes like the one Trump suggested would 'have a starkly negative impact on the economy because it would not just result in higher prices being paid by American customers, it means that American goods that are shipped overseas face a similar, retaliatory tariff.' 'Many economists have made the argument that imposing a tariff like that is actually the worst of both worlds,' he said. 'That's why the president has tried a much different approach.' The president's spokesman said Obama 'has a very strong track record when you consider the performance of the U.S. economy under his leadership.' 'But the incoming president was elected on a promise... to try different things and to do things differently,' he said. 'And we'll have an opportunity to evaluate how well it works.' House Speaker Paul Ryan said Wednesday that Republican lawmakers would not approve the tariffs Trump's threatening, though. Donald Trump used his Twitter megaphone on Wednesday to ratchet up the debat over WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange's claim that Russia's government was not involved in hacking Hillary Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta's Gmail account. In a tweet, the president-elect repeated Assange's claim that a teenage hacker could have done the job just as easily. And he contended that the Democratic National Committee's own lax IT security, not a foreign cyber attack, was the root cause of the party's embarrassment after a separate hack struck its computer network. 'Julian Assange said "a 14 year old could have hacked Podesta" - why was DNC so careless? Also said Russians did not give him the info!' he wrote on Twitter after misspelling Assange's name as 'Assuage,' deleting it and then posting a second draft. House Speaker Paul Ryan later fired back, saying on the Hugh Hewitt radio show that Assange 'is a sycophant for Russia. He leaks, he steals data and compromises national security.' Donald Trump backed Julian Assange's insistence that Russia was not behind election-year hacks of Democrats' computers and e mails The president-elect repeated the WikiLeaks founder's claim that 'a 14 year old' could have breached Hillary Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta's Gmail account Assange reiterated in a Fox news interview Tuesday that Russian actors did not give him the leaked Podesta emails The whistle-blowing WikiLeaks website published Podesta's emails, delivering a daily dose of embarrassment to Clinton in the campaign's final days. In an interview, Assange revealed Podesta's password was 'password' and that he had responded to phishing emails. The Wikileaks founder said he was 1,000 percent confident the Russians did not hack the Clinton campaign, adding Barack Obama was 'trying to delegitimize the Trump administration.' 'A 14-year-old kid could have hacked Podesta that way,' Assange told Sean Hannity on the Fox News Channel. But a State Department spokesman said Tuesday on CNN that we are a hundred per cent certain' that Russia was behind it all. John Kirby insisted there was 'no question' about Moscow's involvement. Vice President-elect Mike Pence (left) said on Capitol Hill that recent intelligence failures haven't inspired Trump's confidence in the American government's dirt-diggers Trump tweeted a jab at the Democratic National Committee on Wednesday morning, blaming the party's lax IT security not Russia for its own cyber attack Conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt said Wednesday morning that he couldn't support Assange's contentions, and Trump shouldn't either. 'The guy is a creep. He's wanted on a rape in Sweden. I don't trust a word he says. He is a Russian front,' Hewitt said. 'Anyone who believes anything Julian Assange says, you just have to ask yourself: When are you going to wake up to the fact he's a very bad guy? He said that Trump 'does not need to elevate and in any way rely upon a creep like Assange.' Speaker of the House Paul Ryan agreed. 'Hopefully he'll get up to speed on what has been happening and what Russia has or has not done, and he'll get better informed on that,' he said of Trump. Ryan added his belief that Assange 'is a sycophant for Russia. He leaks, he steals data and compromises national security.' But the president-elect continues to doubt the assessment of the U.S. Intelligence Community, made up of portions of 17 different agencies. Vice president-elect Mike Pence said Wednesday that Trump formed his view based on 'intelligence failures of recent years.' 'I think that the president-elect has expressed his very sincere and healthy American skepticism about intelligence conclusions,' Pence told reporters during a press conference at the U.S. Capitol. Separately, Trump launched a more direct attack on Twitter in the Democratic National Committee's direction. Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (center) said in a radio interview that Julia Assange 'is a sycophant for Russia. He leaks, he steals data and compromises national security' 'Somebody hacked the DNC but why did they not have "hacking defense" like the RNC has and why have they not responded to the terrible things they did and said (like giving the questions to the debate to H),' he wrote in a pair of tweets. 'A total double standard! Media, as usual, gave them a pass.' Trump has never let go of one series of Podesta emails in which CNN commentator Donna Brazile who was also a party official appeared to give the DNC an advance copy of a question that would be asked in a town hall broadcast. The party is believed to have given the information to the Clinton camp in order to give the former secretary of state an advantage over her primary rival Bernie Sanders. Trump's reference to lax IT security at the DNC refers to a memo circulated last week by the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security a how-to manual telling the party headquarters how to defend itself against phishing emails and malware attacks. Assange, whose interview with Sean Hannity aired on Fox News Tuesday, reiterated his claims Tuesday night that Russia was not the source of the hacks whose product he published . He told Hannity 'with a thousand per cent' confidence that the Russian government was not responsible. Democrats have claimed the hacks were a deliberate attempt to undermine Clinton's campaign and ensure Trump's election on Nov. 8. Last week President Barack Obama expelled 35 Russians over election-year hacking allegations Last week President Obama expelled 35 Russian diplomats from the U.S. in retaliation. Moscow denies any involvement in election-year hacking. The Russian personnel were accused of 'acting in a manner inconsistent with their diplomatic status' a euphemism for spying. Speaking to Hannity about the WikiLeaks revelations, he said: 'We can say, we have said, repeatedly that over the last two months that our source is not the Russian government and it is not a state party. 'Our publications had wide uptake by the American people, they're all true. But that's not the allegation that's being presented by the Obama White House. A solicitor accused of assaulting a woman at a busy tube station has appeared in court. Dr Geoffrey Critchlow, 58, is charged with assaulting Charlotte Stevenson by beating at St Paul's underground station in central London last November. Critchlow, who lives in a 2 million house off Goldhawk Road in west London, denied assault when he appeared on bail at Westminster Magistrates Court. Dr Geoffrey Critchlow, left, who lives in a 2million home in west London, right, denies assaulting a woman at St Paul's tube station last November Ijaz Malik, prosecuting, said: 'This defendant was allegedly seen barging into persons including the witness Zoe Roberts. 'She said it was unprovoked, just pushing witnesses around. Wearing a suit and glasses, the grey-haired solicitor spoke only to confirm his name and address and to plead not guilty to the single charge. District Judge Margot Coleman said: 'You pleaded not guilty to this charge and there will be a trial at Magistrates Court in City of London.' Critchlow was released on unconditional bail until the trial in March. Anis Amri was able to smuggle his gun out of Germany, through the Netherlands and France before arriving in Italy Terrorist Anis Amri, who killed 12 people when he drove a lorry into the heart of a Christmas market in Berlin, managed to smuggle his weapon across borders to Italy. Italian police have confirmed the weapon Amri used in a shootout with police, during which he was shot dead, was the same as that used to kill Polish driver Lukasz Urban. Mr Urban was killed when the 24-year-old, who had pledged allegiance to ISIS, hijacked his vehicle. Amri steered the lorry into the middle of a crowd, killing 12 and injuring 40. A statement from forensic police in Italy said: 'The weapon that killed the driver of the Berlin massacre truck is the same as the one Anis Amri used to wound a policeman in Milan.' Officers are now investigating whether the gun was used in 'other criminal episodes, in Italy or elsewhere'. Forensic police technician Daphne De Simone examines the gun used by Anis Amri under a microscope. Ballistic experts are now checking whether it was used in other crimes The gun was used to shoot dead Polish lorry driver Lukasz Urban, whose truck was used to carry out the massacre at the Christmas Market in Berlin Italian police have released this image of a bullet taken from Anis Amri's pistol Italian forensic experts say that the weapon that Anis Amri used in Milan was the same as the one which killed Polish truck driver Lukasz Urban in Berlin Amri died on October 23 after he opened fire on two police officers who approached him outside a train station. One officer, Christian Movio, was hit in the shoulder and was hospitalised. Movio's colleague, Luca Scata, shot Amri dead. Police in Texas have issued a warrant for the arrest of a suspect charged with murder in the ambush attack of a father-of-two who was smashed in the head with a bike helmet inside a Walmart. The incident took place at around 1am on Monday at the Walmart on State Highway 249 in Tomball where the victim, 37-yer-old Justin 'JJ' Jones, was shopping with a friend. According to investigators, at some point Jones and the suspect, identified as 29-year-old Michael Jemison, had some words and the younger man struck the victim with his motorcycle helmet, knocking him unconscious and causing him to collapse to the floor. Warrant: Michael Jemison, 29 (left), has been charged with murder in the ambush killing of his old nemesis, father-of-two Justin Jones, 37 (right) 'Murder' weapon: This CCTV screenshot depicts the suspect holding a white bike helmet, which he allegedly used to bash Jones in the head Shopping trip gone wrong: Jones was shopping at this Tomball Walmart early Monday when police say Jemison got into a dispute with him Jones was rushed to Memorial Herman Hospital, where he was pronounced dead from severe head trauma just before 4pm. Police said they have determined that Jones and Jemison knew each other and that there had been an ongoing feud between the two men for some time. Jemison fled the store immediately after the attack, but a surveillance camera captured him on his way out. The screenshot from the CCTV video, released by police, showed the wanted man holding the white bike helmet allegedly used in the killing. On Tuesday, a warrant was issued charging Jemison with murder in Jones' death. Bad blood: Investigators say Jones, pictured left with his dog, and Jemison, right, knew each other and had been in a feaud for a long time Online records indicate that the 29-year-old has a past criminal record that included an arrest in 2013 on a theft charge. Jones' girlfriend, Lindsey Stover, told the station KPRC she does not know Michael Jemison but called on him to come forward and take responsibility for his actions. Criminal past: Online records indicate that the 29-year-old has a criminal record that includes an arrest in 2013 'I don't think it was spur of the moment,' Stover said of the attack. 'This guy saw an old enemy.' Jones, who according to his Facebook page worked for an air conditioning company, leaves behind two young sons, his mother and sister. 'He was great with kids. My kids, my sister's kids, his own kids especially,' Stover said. 'He was a big kid himself. Happy, full of life.' A relative has launched a GoFundMe page to help Jones family with his funeral expenses. As of Wednesday morning, the campaign has drawn just over $700 in donations. A university has been slammed for 'living in cuckoo land' after advertising a 63,000-a-year position for a professor in storytelling. The position, with a salary of more than 1,000-a-week, is being advertised as an 'academic role' in teaching and research at the University of South Wales in Cardiff. The university, whose alumni include leader of Plaid Cymru leader Leanne Wood and Mark Labett, The Beast from ITV's The Chase, claims storytelling is a serious matter. The University of South Wales in Cardiff (pictured) has advertised a 63,000-a-year post for a professor in story telling But MP David Davies called on the campus to scrap the post, which he said was another example of universities wasting money on 'dead end' courses that don't lead to jobs. He said: 'Universities are forever bleating about the fact they've got no money. How can they afford to fund a 60k plus job to sit around reading Janet and John books? 'Storytelling is for primary school children not university students. And what students ought to realise is that there fees are going towards paying for this nonsense. The advertisement states: 'We welcome applications from individuals with international standing and expertise in any area of storytelling.' MP David Davies (pictured) called on the university to scrap the post and leave storytelling to Britain's world-renowned authors like Dickens and J K Rowling The pay scale is between 57,674 and 63,009 and is up for grabs at the University of South Wales' Cardiff campus. The professor chosen for the role will also head up the UK's only academic research centre devoted to the study of storytelling - The George Ewart Evans Centre. But Mr Davies urged the university to leave storytelling to Britain's world-renowned authors like Dickens and J K Rowling. The MP for Monmouthshire said: 'We need scientists, doctors and engineers - you don't get those qualifications by sitting around reading Ladybird books. 'A professor of storytelling is ludicrous - the university is living in cloud cuckoo-land. 'I hope the Government takes notice - we don't have the money to blow on this sort of airy-fairy appointment. 'The one thing that is for certain is that there is no happy ending for the taxpayer.' But Ruth McElroy, from the centre,has defended the post, using the example of a patient/doctor exchange to explain its importance. The position, with a salary of more than 1,000-a-week, is being advertised as an 'academic role' at the University of South Wales in Cardiff (pictured) She said: 'Storytelling is a key way in which we engage. It's empowering people to tell their stories about different experiences and in their own terms. 'When you walk into a GP surgery, both the clinician and patient have a story to tell. It's not only how patients can tell their stories but how they can make sense of their own experience. 'It's hugely traumatic dealing for patients but we can work to better understand and help improve storytelling on both sides to have a positive outcome'. Storytelling training and research has been conducted with people include patients groups and cancer patients. A spokesperson from the University of South Wales said: 'Storytelling has been a subject of academic research and practice for many years and is becoming an increasingly important way of understanding our lives, work and future. Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte has revealed he has cousins who have joined the terror group and vows to take them on if they ever 'meet in a corner'. The hardline leader, who has launched a deadly crackdown on drugs in his country, issued the warning as he conceded 'ISIS seems to be everywhere'. Duterte pledged to take action if he was to 'meet in a corner' with relatives who had joined ISIS-linked groups. Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte (pictured, centre) has revealed he has cousins who have joined the terror group and vows to take them on if they ever 'meet in a corner' He told Rappler: 'To be frank, I have cousins on the other side, with MI and MN. Some, I heard, are with ISIS.' The 71-year-old was referring to extremist groups Moro Islamic Liberation Front and Moro National Liberation Front - linked to ISIS. Duterte has drawn global criticism including from the United States and the United Nations for a war on drugs that has killed over 5,000 people. He won last year's elections in a landslide on a promise to eradicate narcotics by killing tens of thousands of criminals. He also vowed to roll out Davao -style law and order measures nationwide, including banning smoking in restaurants and hotels and curbing drinking in public places. His latest outburst comes after suspected Muslim rebels staged the Philippines' biggest jailbreak when they stormed a dilapidated jail in the violence-plagued south of the country, freeing 158 inmates and killing a guard. The attack added to a long history of daring jailbreaks in the southern Philippines, home to a decades-old Muslim separatist insurgency as well as extremist gangs that have recently declared allegiance to ISIS. The hardline leader, who has launched a deadly crackdown on drugs in his country, issued the warning as he conceded 'ISIS seems to be everywhere' More than 100 armed men believed to have been led by a local Muslim guerrilla commander attacked the jail in Kidapawan city about 1am in what appeared to be a well-planned raid to free fellow rebels, jail authorities said. The assailants were heavily armed and overwhelmed the 24 guards at the jail. At least 158 prisoners escaped although it was unclear how many of those were linked to the attackers or were just other inmates who took advantage of the chaos. Kidapawan, 590 miles south of Manila, is home to various Muslim rebel groups, criminal gangs and communist insurgents. The attackers were believed to be militants who had broken away from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the nation's largest Muslim rebel organisation which is in peace talks with the government. Acting provincial governor Shirlyn Macasarte said there were intelligence reports that one of the breakaway groups, the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, had been planning the jailbreak. Six of the escapees were killed and eight captured as security forces hunted them in nearby farmlands throughout Wednesday. India is set to launch a rocket carrying 103 satellites next month in a record single mission. The country's famously frugal space agency is seeking to zoom ahead in the commercial space race, according to reports. The rocket will blast off from the southern spaceport of Sriharikota carrying three Indian satellites and 100 from countries including from the US, France and Germany, the Press Trust of India said. If it succeeds, India will set a world record as the first country to launch the most satellites in one go and leave behind Russia, which launched 39 satellites in a single mission in June 2014. Last June, India set a national record after it successfully launched a rocket carrying 20 satellites 'We are making a century by launching over 100 satellites at one go,' S. Somnath, a director at the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), was quoted as saying at a science convention in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh. Another official told AFP that most of the 100 foreign satellites were meant for commercial purposes, while the Indian satellites were intended to observe and measure the Earth's atmosphere. The business of putting commercial satellites into space for a fee is growing as phone, internet and other companies as well as countries seek greater and more high-tech communications. India is competing with other international players for a greater share of that launch market, and is known for its low-cost space programme. Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) Spacecraft, blasting off from the Satish Dhawan Space Center Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh, in November 2013 Last June, India set a national record after it successfully launched a rocket carrying 20 satellites, including 13 from the US. In May, it successfully launched its first mini space shuttle as it joined the global race to make reusable rockets. It sent an unmanned rocket to orbit Mars in 2013 at a cost of just $73 million, compared with NASA's Maven Mars mission which had a $671 million price tag. ISRO is also mulling the idea of missions to Jupiter and Venus, according to PTI. 'We are looking at other planets that we can explore... two of them are Jupiter and Venus,' M. Nageswara Rao, an associate director at ISRO, said Wednesday, adding 'it may take few years from now'. The small boy was left bleeding after the glass door collapsed A six-year-old boy was left with blood streaming from his head after a glass door smashed on his head at a busy Russian shopping centre. The child had to be rushed to hospital after being injured at the mall in the city of Sterlitamak in south-western Russia's Republic of Bashkortostan. He was reportedly left unattended while his mother went outside the city's Arbat shopping centre. Left to his own devices, he began impatiently pulling on the chrome handle of the glass door, which suddenly toppled over. The shocked little boy, whose name has not been released, was left standing in a pile of shattered glass with blood pouring from wounds on his head. At first, an eyewitness said, nobody went to his aide, until he started crying and his mother came running. She said: 'No one offered any help. The boy's head was bleeding. His shocked mom had to call an ambulance on her own with her hands and voice shaking.' The young boy was left covered in blood after the glass shattered in the shopping centre The mother then sat with her son on a bench in the shopping centre, tending to his wounds as best she could, until paramedics arrived at the scene. The boy was then rushed by ambulance to hospital where medics stitched up the wounds in his head. A spokeswoman for the shopping centre said that security camera footage confirmed that the glass door had collapsed while the boy was shaking the handle. She said that the mother should not have left her young son unattended. However, police are concerned that the glass door collapsed under the weight of a six-year-old boy and are reportedly investigating safety standards at the shopping centre. A Chinese woman desperate to guard her property waved her soiled sanitary pad at the demolition team to stop them from bulldozing her home by force. Her self-defence tactic apparently worked as the uniformed construction workers retreated from her house, as a social media video shows. The dialect used in the footage suggests that the incident took place in Putian city, south-east China's Fujian province. An angry homeowner waggled a soiled pad to fend off the demolition team in China The 53-second-long clip was posted yesterday on Miaopai, a Chinese video-sharing platform, by a user called First Hand Video. The beginning of the video shows the woman, thought to be a local resident, surrounded by almost a dozen workers in camouflage uniforms. She was not holding any weapon, instead she was waving a used sanitary pad. The group of men can be heard discussing how to avoid being attacked by the woman as they said: 'Where are the shields? The shields?' Some men held transparent shields at the time. The furious homeowner, standing in front of a bulldozer on a construction site, was trying to prevent others from operating the machine. She kept flapping the pad while spinning her body around. Some workers held transparent shields to stop the woman from attacking them with the pad The furious homeowner, standing in front of a bulldozer on a construction site, was trying to prevent others from operating the machine The video uploader did not disclose the time and location of the incident. However, the woman and others can be heard conversing in a local dialect of Fujian Province. An official working at the publicity bureau of Putian city told a reporter from the First Hand Video: 'Their quarrel was noisy.' 'There are no obvious landmarks to suggest the incident was in Putian. Yet they were conversing in our local dialect.' The official had reported the incident to the local public security bureau, which apparently also had no clue about the attack. The time and location of the incident is not stated. However, the woman and others can be heard conversing in a local dialect of Fujian province The footage, posted yesterday has attracted 4.75 million views. Thousands of online users left comments on Weibo to discuss the incident. One user said: 'Nobody would want to act like that if there had been better ways to confront a demolition team.' Another web user sympathised with the woman: 'Can you imagine how much stress she must have endured? That would make a person lose their sanity.' President-elect Donald Trump urged Republicans to blame Democrats for the 'mess' of Obamacare, while President Obama counseled Democrats not to 'rescue' Republicans by signing on to replacement efforts once Republicans go through with their plan to repeal Obama's signature proposal. The countercharges in the rekindled Obamacare wars came as Republicans are planning an immediate attack on the law thorough executive actions and an early legislative push. Obama went to the Capitol to meet with Congressional Democrats to plot strategy in an effort to prevent his achievement from getting dismantled a victory Democrats won only at great cost, including with the loss of their congressional majorities. The president told Democrats not to 'rescue' Republicans by joining their effort to passing replacement measures, amid GOP efforts to court some conservative Democrats. He pointed to the post-Obamacare Tea Party revolution, and even urged his party to try to brand Republican-backed changes as 'Trumpcare' as a rhetorical way to saddle the opposition party with responsibility for what ensues, CNN reported. Asked by reporters what he said on his way out of the closed door meeting, Obama said only, 'Look out for the American people.' White House press secretary Josh Earnest said Obama said he felt 'envy' for those who have the opportunity to 'keep up the fight' as he prepares to decamp the White House for a rented home in Northwest Washington. Republicans, who caucused withe Vice President-elect Mike Pence on Wednesday, are forging ahead with their plan to repeal the law with Trump planning swift executive actions on the day he takes office. President Barack Obama arrives on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday to meet with members of Congress to discuss his signature healthcare law, From left are, Rep. Frederica Wilson, D-Fla., Obama, Rep. Joe Crowley, D-N.Y., Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer of N.Y., and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of Calif. Scroll down for video The new Senate Demoratic leader, Charles Schumer, warned that the GOP's new plan would lead to 'chaos' and mocked Trump's campaign slogan with a sarcastic response, saying Republicans would 'Make America Sick Again.' Trump kicked off the dustup when he provided political advice to Republicans via Twitter Wednesday morning. 'Massive increases of ObamaCare will take place this year and Dems are to blame for the mess. It will fall of its own weight - be careful!' Trump warned Republicans in one of a series of Tweets Wednesday. He began his missives with an admonition that: 'Republicans must be careful in that the Dems own the failed ObamaCare disaster, with its poor coverage and massive premium increases......' Sixteen minutes later, he finished his thought, adding: 'like the 116% hike in Arizona. Also, deductibles are so high that it is practically useless. Don't let the Schumer clowns out of this web...' It wasn't entirely clear if Trump was stressing that Democrats passed Obamacare without Republican support all 60 of the Senate votes during its creation came from Democrats and independents who caucus with Democrats. Pence called for an 'orderly transition' that 'doesn't work a hardship on our economy' in the repeal, but provided no details on which parts of the health law would remain in place or what alternatives Republicans would offer. He told reporters on Capitol Hill that repeal efforts would 'literally begin on day one' through executive actions. 'Before the end of the day we do anticipate that the president-elect will be in the Oval Office taking action to both repeal executive orders and also set into motion through executive action policies to implement promises that were made on the campaign trail,' he said, without going into much detail. He later added: 'We're working right now, the White House staff is, on a series of executive orders that will enable that orderly transition to take place even as the Congress appropriately debates alternatives to and replacement of Obamacare.' 'The first order of business is to repeal and replace Obamacare. And that was our message today and it'll be our message on Capitol Hill,' he added. 'Our president-elect took his place to the American people to repeal and replace Obamacare, and the American people voted decisively for a better future for health care in this country and we are determined to give them that,' Pence said. Pence at a press conference in the Capitol referenced Trump's tweets . 'You read his Tweet this morning that he has admonished the Congress to be careful. And I reiterated that before the Republican conference today. Look, we're talking about people's lives,' he said. 'The president in his first day in office is going to do some level of executive orders related to ObamaCare,' said Rep. Chris Collins (R-N.Y.), an early Trump supporter,' The Hill reported. 'No details whatsoever,' he added. Vice President-elect Mike Pence (L) said Trump would take executive actions on healthcare on 'Day One.' Democrats warned that Republicans would 'Make America Sick Again' and dismantle Medicare and Medicaid as well as the Affordable Care Act Vice President elect Mike Pence and Speaker Paul Ryan talk about repealing Obamacare on Capital Hill Wednesday NO BOZO: Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer hit back at Trump for his shot at Democratic 'clowns,' saying Republicans 'should stop clowning around with the peoples Medicare, Medicaid and health care' LIKE OLD TIMES: Vice President-elect Mike Pence, a former House member, left, is welcomed before a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2017, by, from second from left, House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wis., House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy of Calif., and House Majority Whip Steve Scalise of La. 'We don't' want to pull the rug out from under people while we're replacing this law,' said House Speaker Paul Ryan after the GOP meeting. Trump's shot at 'Schumer clowns' was in reference to new Demoratic Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, who in a speech Tuesday warned against a 'Twitter presidency' and tried to rally Democrats to take on Trump when they disagree with him. Schumer hit back at the tweet in his own remarks Wednesday. 'Well, I think Republicans should stop clowning around with the peoples Medicare, Medicaid and health care,' he said. Trump pledged during the presidential campaign to erase Obama's law, though he's said he wants to retain popular provisions like ensuring coverage for people with pre-existing medical problems. Obama's and Pence's strategy sessions were coming on the second day of the new, GOP-led Congress. In 16 days, Trump replaces Obama at the White House, putting the party's longtime goal of annulling much of the 2010 health care overhaul within reach. Vice President-elect Mike Pence (L), along with Donald Trump's incoming Chief of Staff Reince Priebus (R), walks to a meeting with Republican to discuss their attempts to repeal Obamacare in the Capitol Trump tweeted about Obamacare Wednesday morning as President Obama prepared to meet with congressional Democrats to salvage the plan He blasted 'Schumer clowns' and high deductibles, although one Republican alternative is to allow more plans with catastrophic coverage, which include high deductibles Trump warned that Obamacare would 'fall of its own weight,' although Vice President-elect Mike Pence said repeal plans would go forward 'This law has failed. Americans are struggling,' said Speaker Paul Ryan after the GOP meeting with Pence. 'We need to reverse the damage that has been done,' he said. 'Once we repeal this law,' he added, Republicans would provide a 'stable transition to a truly patient-centered system.' Schumer said Republicans don't quite know what to do now that they have gotten elected vowing to repeal Obamacare. 'Theyre like the dog who caught the bus. They can repeal, but they have nothing to put in its place, and that means so many good things go away,' he said. He accused the GOP of plotting a 'full scale assault' on the Affordable Care Act, Medicare, and Medicaid. 'The Republican plan to cut health care wouldnt make America great again, it would make America sick again and lead to chaos instead of affordable care,' he said. Plenty of questions remain, including the repeal bill's details, costs and when it would take effect. Republicans also face divisions over the next step replacement legislation that will likely take months or years to resolve. While they can hardly prevent the GOP repeal effort from proceeding, the president and House and Senate Democrats were meeting Wednesday to discuss how to best defend a law that's extended health insurance coverage to 20 million Americans and which Obama considers one of the proudest pillars of his legacy. 'The more the people understand what's included in the Affordable Care Act and how they benefit from it, the more popular the program is, and the harder it is for Republicans to have political support for tearing it down,' White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters Tuesday, using the law's formal name. Republicans eager to show quick action against Obama's health care law took an initial procedural step Tuesday, introducing a budget bill that would have to be considered under a parliamentary procedure that would prevent Democrats from using a Senate filibuster to protect the health care law. Republicans control the Senate by a 52-48 margin, but it takes 60 votes to end a filibuster, a procedural roadblock that can kill legislation. The Senate was expected to complete the budget by next week. House approval would follow. 'This is the first step toward relief for Americans struggling under Obamacare,' said Ryan. The budget legislation gives congressional committees until Jan. 27 a blink of an eye for lawmakers to write legislation repealing major parts of the health care law. Likely targets include the law's tax penalties for people who don't obtain insurance, its requirement that many companies cover workers and tax increases on higher-earning individuals and many health care firms. Aware they have no chance of quickly agreeing on replacement legislation, Republicans plan to delay when their repeal would actually take effect. A range of 18 months to three years perhaps longer has been under discussion. Trump has provided few specifics about how he would revamp the nation's $3 trillion-a-year health care system. Steps he and congressional Republicans have mentioned include greater reliance on tax credits to help people afford coverage. Republicans don't want to abruptly end health care coverage for millions of voters who live in GOP-represented districts and states, or cause chaos in health care markets and prompt insurance companies to stop selling policies. So they are considering including provisions in their repeal bill to protect consumers and insurers during the transition period. Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., a member of the GOP Senate leadership, said that could include money to temporarily continue helping people afford to buy coverage and language letting the Department of Health and Human Services help stabilize insurance markets. An Indiana speeder who killed a recently engaged nurse in a car crash was branded a 'punk' by a judge who laced into him at his sentencing hearing. Iqpal Kandhola, 20, was sentenced Tuesday to four years in prison and one on probation in the death of 26-year-old Lisa Strueh. The nurse died in April while on her way back from a shift at an Indianapolis hospital after Kandhola struck her at an intersection. He had run a red light while coming from the opposite direction, investigators have said. 'What do you think you are, a gangsta?' Judge Stephanie LeMay-Luken asked Kandhola at sentencing. 'You're not What I found is, sir, you're a punk.' Kandhola was going from 61 mph to 71 mph in an area restricted to 45 mph and went around at least one stopped car at the intersection, according to testimony and court documents. Data retrieved from his Honda showed he kept the accelerator to the floor up to just half a second before the crash, the Indy Star reported. Iqpal Kandhola (left), 20, was sentenced Tuesday to four years in prison and one on probation in the car crash death of 26-year-old nurse Lisa Strueh (right) in Avon, Indiana Judge LeMay-Luken lashed out at Kandhola after seeing an Instagram video in which he appeared to be holding a marijuana joint while at the wheel, five months after the crash that killed Strueh. The 20-year-old was also branded a 'ticking time bomb' by Hendricks County deputy prosecutor Loren Delp. 'He was basically death on wheels. It was just a matter of when,' Delp said. Kandhola, who had pleaded guilty to reckless homicide, was sentenced to five years in total - one less than the maximum in Indiana. He will spend four behind bars and one on probation. LeMay-Luken also forbade him to use social media while on probation. The 26-year-old nurse was also an avid runner. She had just gotten engaged The speeder had marijuana in his system, according to toxicology reports. Kandhola, however, told the court he hadn't smoked pot on the day of the crash but said he had a few shots of alcohol in the previous hours. Police said they had found marijuana in his 2014 Honda Accord. Kandhola tried to argue that Strueh was also to blame for the crash, saying she should not have tried to make a left turn until he'd cleared the intersection of Ronald Reagan Parkway and Hendricks County Road. But Deputy Prosecutor Delp painted him as a serial offender whose driving record foreshadowed the fatal crash. Indiana State Police trooper Jeremy Mason recalled chasing Kandhola after catching him going at 105 mph on Interstate 69 in March last year. Strueh, a dedicated runner, died in the hospital the night of the crash. She had gotten engaged to be married just two weeks prior, on a cruise with her fiance. 'I refuse to say it was an accident,' her father Tim Strueh told the court Tuesday. 'When he had run a red light, it was like he pointed a gun. When he accelerated to 71 mph, it was like the driver pulled the trigger.' Jerry Oppenheimer is the New York Times best-selling author of books about the Clintons, the Kennedys and the Hiltons. His thirteenth book, 'The Kardashians: The True, Untold Story,' will be published in 2017. President Obama has made more than a tidy $15 million from his books since he published his first - Dreams from My Father - in 1995, and now he's set to earn another $15 to $20 million - or even more - from his forthcoming presidential memoir, top publishing insiders tell DailyMail.com. And high-ranking publishing insiders are talking at least another '$20 million' in an advance paycheck for First Lady Michelle Obama's long-awaited - and highly anticipated - memoir about her eight White House years. A source claims she's been quietly working on her book already. President Obama is set to earn $20 million or more from his forthcoming presidential memoir after leaving the White House, top publishing insiders say 'Michelle's more popular and likable than Barack - and definitely more salable,' one top acquisition editor tells DailyMail.com, 'so she's likely to garner an even bigger advance than the president. 'If I jump into the bidding, I'd definitely offer more for her story than his. 'He's a known quantity, she's the golden goose with the best dishy stories about her White House life. And I think she can be very catty.' As The Wall Street Journal points out, 'Michelle Obama's talents as a memoirist are so far untested, but with a 59 percent approval ratingshe is one of the most well-liked figures in American public life. 'As publishers prepare to compete for a slew of political memoirs, all eyes are on the president and first lady.' And there is some chatter in the highly competitive New York publishing world that the Obamas might collaborate and pen a dual memoir with a pay day of many millions of dollars more. Since becoming the first couple eight years ago, book sales have made the Obamas - from middle-class Chicago roots - multimillionaires, with more big bucks on the way. 'Not a bad nest egg for their golden years,' observes former senior White House aide Tevi Troy, who wrote a book about White House pop culture. Michelle Obama could receive an 'advance paycheck' of $20 million for her own memoirs, if she dishes on White House gossip, her daughters and the 'ups and downs' of her marriage For the biggest advance, sources interviewed for this story agree, the president is going to have to reveal long-held Oval Office secrets to make readers want to spend $30 or more per copy. As one top editor from a major publishing house, who requested anonymity because he will be involved in the bidding, told DailyMail.com, 'We want to know the Obamas true feelings about the Clintons. 'We know there is no love lost, but we need to hear that in the president's words, or directly from the first lady, and in her own candid words. 'We want to hear what the president's true reaction was when Benghazi happened, when he first learned about Mrs. Clinton's secret email server, and how he felt about Mrs. Clinton's failed candidacy, and his true feeling about Donald Trump all of that needs to be told in no uncertain terms, because that's what the public the book buyers are interested in hearing. 'And all of that if honestly told will garner a publicity tsunami. We'll sell hundreds of thousands of books, and make the Obamas even richer with the royalties.' A high-ranking female publishing executive who also asked for anonymity reveals she'd 'kill and offer millions to get the first lady's book.' Publishers would 'kill' and 'offer millions' for the Obamas' books if they reveal their 'true feelings' about the Clintons. One top publisher said: 'We know there is no love lost, but we need to hear that in the president's words, or directly from the first lady, and in her own words' But she asserts that Mrs. Obama needs to give gossipy White House dish 'the ups and downs of her marriage, horror stories about raising her two daughters in the public spotlight.' For their $30, readers will expect to have Michelle's take on some of the shenanigans of her oldest daughter Malia Obama, 18, who was pictured smoking a 'marijuana cigarette' at Lollapalooza - a music festival in Chicago in July 2016. They will also want insights such as what went through Michelle's mind when she first met and sat with Melania Trump, and her feelings about Ivanka Trump... and Hillary. 'That and more and we'd have to do ten huge printings. But Michelle has to open up about all of that. The days of staid presidential and first lady memoirs are long over. We're in a tabloid world,' adds the publishing executive. The one key component of President Obama's presidential memoir to make it a critical success, the sources stress, is honesty. And Obama has had issues in that area in one of his previous best-selling books, Dreams From My Father, written years before he became president. Questions were raised about his truthfulness when he ran for his second term in 2012. Obama biographer David Maraniss, a reporter for The Washington Post, interviewed many people in Obama's life and discovered a number of contradictions in his narrative. As The New York Times headlined in reviewing Maraniss's account, 'New Book Raises Questions About Obama's Memoir,' and noted that some of Obama's questionable claims were 'very small, a few largeNow, Republicans are poised to try and portray Mr. Obama as having been less than truthful in his recollections about his life.' If fans of the first lady were hoping for her to reveal in her memoir that she plans to carve out her own political career, she shot down that dream in her White House interview with Oprah Editors want to hear from 'catty' Michelle about raising her two daughters in the public spotlight, and what went through her mind when she first sat down with Melania Trump According to The Times story, Maraniss's book 'suggests that the real story of Mr. Obama's life was less dramatic - and more routine - than the president made it out to be in the memoir.' Appearing for an interview on MSNBC's 'Morning Joe' program to promote his book, Maraniss maintained that Obama did not write a factual life history, but was 'trying to see everything through a racial lens.' Maraniss claimed, for instance, that Obama wrote a 'concocted myth' about how his adopted step-grandfather had died. Obama wrote that he was killed while fighting Dutch troops in Indonesia. In Maraniss's book, he actually died while unsuccessfully trying to hang draperies. For a $30 book price, readers will expect to have Michelle's take on some of the shennanigans of her oldest daughter Malia Obama, 18, pictured smoking a 'marijuana cigarette' at Lollapalooza - a music festival in Chicago in July 2016 As The Times pointed out, 'Maraniss documents several of the efforts by Mr. Obama to invent or alter characters to help his narrative.' Other reporters looking into Obama's past and attempting to confirm anecdotes in his book found more contradictions. Now, in his forthcoming important and historical presidential memoir, 'We want him to be truthful and candid and honest. We don't want typical White House memoir bullshit,' a publishing executive told DailyMail.com. 'If he's evasive, it'll seriously hurt the bottom line. Everyone's a fact-checker these days.' Some in publishing are predicting that Obama will beat Bill Clinton's record-setting $10 million advance for his memoir - a 950-page doorstop entitled, 'My Life,' in which he dealt with such issues as the Monica Lewinsky scandal, but blamed others. It sold a reported two million copies, and was described as 'self-indulgent' George Bush got a $7 million advance for his presidential memoir, Decision Points. The publisher of PublicAffairs, an imprint that specializes in non-fiction and political books, suspects that the huge advance that will be offered to Obama 'will be more than the initial sales will support,' he told the New York Observer owned by President-elect Donald J. Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner. 'Obama has been a very cautious president, has not made more friends in office than he had before he got there, and seems to swing unpredictably between rather wooden and emotionless affect and has much more personal delivery.' Obama has already written three books (pictured at a signing for 'The Audacity of Hope') and has made over $15 million in book sales since his first memoir was published in 1995 So, publisher Clive Priddle wonders, 'Which voice will show up in the memoir?' In former senior White House aide Tevi Troy's 2014 opinion page piece in The Washington Post, he noted that Obama faced hurdles in writing his memoir. 'Expectations will be ludicrously high, not just because of the probably enormous advance but because his first memoir, Dreams From My Father, received so much praise. 'He also faces such a polarized electorate that it is unlikely anything he writes will sway anyone on, for instance, the merits of the Affordable Care Act or his handling of the economy.' If fans of first lady Michelle Obama were hoping to hear her reveal in her memoir that she plans to carve out her own political career, she shot down that dream in her final White House interview with Oprah. 'If I were interested in it, I'd say it,' she said. But even before her sit-down with Oprah, the man of the White House told Rolling Stone: 'Michelle will never run for office. She is as talented a person as I know. You can see the incredible resonance she has with the American people. 'But I joke that she's too sensible to want to be in politicsMichelle does not have the patience or the inclination to actually be a candidate herself. That's one thing y'all can take to the bank.' House Speaker Paul Ryan said Wednesday that Congress would not be raising taxes on companies that ship jobs over the border and sell their products in the United States. Ryan said congressional Republicans would not rubber stamp the president-elect's trade agenda and raise tariffs, as he's repeatedly promised. 'No, we're not going to be raising tariffs,' Ryan told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt. SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEO House Speaker Paul Ryan said Wednesday that Congress would not be raising taxes on companies that ship jobs over the border and sell their products in the United States The GOP leader, who's clashed with Donald Trump on Russia, taxes, immigration and entitlement reform, said Wednesday that his caucus does not believe higher tariffs are the solution to economic disparities. 'We think tax reform is the better way of addressing imbalances, leveling the playing field without starting trade wars...without having the adverse effects that you get with protectionism or trade wars,' Ryan asserted. The newly reelected House Speaker told Hewitt, 'We think leveling the playing field on taxes, reducing the costs on American businesses by reducing regulatory costs, healthcare costs, that's the secret to making a businesses more competitive. 'Not raising prices or raising tariffs but lowering the costs and leveling the playing field,' he added. Trump has been threatening 'big' border taxes on companies that defy his orders to keep jobs in the U.S. The president-elect has said on numerous occasions that companies ignoring his demands will pay a steep price - a 35 percent tariff. 'The U.S. is going to substantialy reduce taxes and regulations on businesses, but any business that leaves our country for another country, fires its employees, builds a new factory or plant in the other country, and then thinks it will sell its product back into the U.S without retribution or consequence, is WRONG! 'There will be a tax on our soon to be strong border of 35% for these companies,' Trump said in a series of Dec. 4 tweets. Trump has been threatening 'big' border taxes on companies that defy his orders to keep jobs in the U.S. The president-elect has said on numerous occasions that companies ignoring his demands will pay a steep price - a 35 percent tariff Ford has been a favorite target. Trump told Fox News in September that after he slapped the car company with a 35 percent tariff, 'you know what's gonna happen? They're never going to leave.' Trump singled out General Motors on Tuesday for its over-the-border production of the Chevy Cruze it sells in foreign markets. 'General Motors is sending Mexican made model of Chevy Cruze to U.S. car dealers-tax free across border. Make in U.S.A.or pay big border tax!' he tweeted. The automotive company said in a statement it builds the sedans it sells in the United States in its Lordstown, Ohio factory. Only a 'small number' of the Chevy Cruzes that are manufactured in Ramos, Mexico make their way back to the United States, GM says. Economists say the tariffs Trump's proposing would hurt the U.S. economy. Costs would be passed down to consumers, and Americans would end up paying more for goods. Ford announced a $700 million investment in Michigan, in addition to the jobs that were referenced by Trump, on Tuesday, and the cancellation of a plant it planned to build in Mexico after Trump tweeted about tariffs again A 35 tariff on Ford would have amounted to $2.8 billion in taxes in 2016, CNN Money reported. That's more than Ford reported in income in the third quarter of last year, according to its most recent FEC filing. Ford announced a $700 million investment in Michigan and 700 new jobs on Tuesday, cancelling its plans to build a $1.6 billion plant in Mexico for production of the Ford Focus. It said it would build the next generation of the vehicle at an existing factory in the foreign country. Employees of its Flat Rock Assembly Plant in Fort Wayne, Michigan, will build an 'all-new small utility vehicle with extended battery range,' Ford said, 'as well as the fully autonomous vehicle for ride-hailing or ride-sharing,' the Mustang and the Lincoln Continental. A pro-pot legalization group plans to hand out free joints to people heading to Donald Trump's inauguration asking recipients to spark those doobies during the president-elect's speech. The event is being billed as a protest of sorts, to get weed legalized at the federal level. The group sponsoring the giveaway, the DC Cannabis Coalition, was responsible for the 2014 ballot initiative that made marijuana legal in the nation's capital. 'The main message is it's time to legalize cannabis at a federal level,' Adam Eidinger told local CBS affiliate WUSA9. 'We don't want any money exchanged, whatsoever. This is really a gift for people who come to Washington, D.C.' Scroll down for video A CAREER HIGH? President-elect Donald Trump's speech could be interrupted by the smell of weed, as activists plan to hand out free joints on inauguration morning In Washington, D.C., you're allowed to possess up to two ounces of pot, though it can't be smoked outside or on federal lands. It also can't be sold or bought Marijuana legalization activists are hoping smokers will engage in civil disobedience on inauguration day in an effort to get weed legal on a federal level The joints being handed out also have to be given out for free, because of the current D.C. law. In November 2014, 64.87 percent of the District's residents voted for weed legalization, but it came with a catch. The law, which went into effect in February 2015, allowed for possession of up to two ounces. It also permitted residents to grow pot and give it away, but not sell it or buy it. Pro-pot protesters will gather at 8 a.m. at the west side of Dupont Circle on January 20, before marching toward the National Mall. Even with marijuana being legal in D.C., smoking outside is prohibited. Smoking weed and being in possession of the substance is also illegal on federal land. That includes the National Mall, where Trump's swearing-in will take place. The plan is for smokers to light up their joints four minutes and 20 seconds into Donald Trump's speech, as '420' has become a symbolic reference for weed Donald Trump garnered a C+ on pot when compared to his general election counterparts, though activists fear that his selection of Jeff Sessions for attorney general will be damaging to legalization efforts The group is asking people to light up their joints four minutes and 20 seconds into Trump's speech, as '420' has become a national code for the smoking of marijuana. 'We are going to tell them that is they smoke on federal property, they are risking arrest. But, that's a form of civil disobedience,' Eidinger told the TV station. 'I think it's a good protest. If someone wants to do it, they are risking arrest, but it's a protest and you know what, the National Mall is a place for protest. Eidinger made it clear that the pro-pot protest is not supposed to be anti-Trump. 'If there are people from Texas, some Cowboys fan, who is walking down the street in a cowboy hat and a big fur coat and he walks up to our demonstrators, I want him to feel welcome in D.C.,' the activist said. The group plans to hand out 4,200 joints. Eidinger also told WUSA9 that he hoped the new administration hinder pot legalization efforts around the country, though feared for the worst. The Marijuana Policy Project gave Trump a C+ grade on his stances on pot legalization, lower than all of the other general election candidates. In the 1990s Trump stood for drug legalization, but as he moved more politically to the right, he changed his tune, saying he opposes legalizing and regulating marijuana. In February 2016, he pushed back when Fox News Network's Bill O'Reilly suggested that medical marijuana is nothing but a 'ruse.' 'But I know people that have serious problems and they did that they really it really does help them,' Trump interjected at the time. The president-elect's pick of Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions for attorney general is more worrisome of those hoping to legalize the drug. French firebrand socialist Arnaud Montebourg has proposed a supertax on banks French firebrand socialist Arnaud Montebourg has proposed a supertax on banks to raise 5 billion euros (4.25 billion) and has said that he would be prepared to nationalise a bank if elected president in May. The 54-year-old, an outsider in the race for his party's nomination, was economy minister early in the current Socialist government. Montebourg made the policy promise ahead of a late-January primary contest for the ruling party's presidential ticket. 'The five biggest French banks made a profit of 25 billion euros last year, so I propose a supertax of five billion euros,' said Montebourg. The stance is evocative of President Francois Hollande who called the financial sector his 'enemy' before his election in 2012. Hollande slapped a supertax on the rich in 2012 but waved a discreet goodbye to the levy two years later when he switched course and adopted more business-friendly reforms, a shift that set him on a collision course with Montebourg and ended the minister's time in office. In the wake of the global financial crisis that erupted in 2008, Britain also targeted bankers, first with a tax on bonuses under Labour Prime Minister Gordon Brown and then a levy on banks' balance sheets under a Conservative government. Hollande is not seeking a second term and will leave behind a Socialist Party divided between hardline leftists like Montebourg, who want a return to its more traditional Socialist roots, and moderates like former prime minister Manuel Valls. Pollsters tip Valls to win the party's January 22 and 29 primary contest, but the presidential race is expected to come down to a runoff between conservative Francois Fillon and National Front leader Marine Le Pen, a duel Fillon is tipped to win. Arnaud Montebourg, pictured centre, at a nomination ceremony, in Paris in 2012 with Francois Hollande, right, with French actress Julie Gayet Mindful of the faultlines running through the party, Valls on Tuesday courted traditional leftwingers with promises to avoid draconian spending cuts and push through welfare reforms. Montebourg, who surprised by scoring a sizeable 17 percent of votes in a previous Socialist primary in 2011, said banks were to blame for a financial crisis that inflated France's national debt by 20 percent. He said that, if elected, he would also oblige banks to separate retail business from financial market activities, cap traders' pay and ensure that retail banking became a bigger portion of their overall business. 'If this measure does not help to replenish financing of the economy I am ready to nationalise a bank to show the way by example,' he said. Christopher Epperson, 20, was arrested on Tuesday for allegedly holding a female Lyft driver against her will A 20-year-old Florida man was arrested after he allegedly held his female Lyft driver against her will and threatened that she may never see her children again. Christopher Tyree Epperson was taken into custody on Tuesday after state troopers found a loaded 9mm pistol, duct tape and a glove in his pocket. The driver, only identified as Emilia, said Epperson told her she had to drive her SUV to several dark locations if she 'ever wanted to see her children again'. Emilia, who picked up Epperson around 7am, said she knew something was wrong when her passenger changed the address twice within five minutes of the ride. She said Epperson then began asking her personal questions. 'He asked about my family,' Emilia told WKMG. 'He asked me if you have children. I said, "Yes, I have children.'" 'He said, "Maybe you'll see your children no more.'" Emilia said she was 'scared' and 'nervous', and kept her phone by her side in case she needed to call 911. But at one point Epperson even tried to take her cell phone, according to troopers. Emilia stayed calm and kept driving around as she tried to figure out what to do, and soon spotted a Florida State Trooper. Epperson was taken into custody on Tuesday after state troopers found a loaded 9mm pistol, duct tape and a glove (pictured) in his pocket The Lyft driver, named Emilia, possibly saved her own life when she spotted a Florida State Trooper and pulled her black SUV into the Florida Highway Patrol Station The quick-thinking driver followed the trooper right to the Florida Highway Patrol station and immediately jumped out of the car, according to WOFL. Emilia flagged down a trooper and told him she feared for her life. Epperson was asked to get out of the SUV for questioning. Emilia said she knew something was wrong when Epperson changed the address twice within five minutes of the ride (file photo) Two more troopers then arrived and one of them immediately noticed a bulge in Epperson's pocket. When they asked him what was inside, Epperson tried to run away. The troopers quickly caught him and found the gun, tape and glove inside his pockets. Epperson, who claimed the gun did not belong to him, has been charged with false imprisonment and possession of a concealed weapon. He is being held at Orange County Jail on $6,300 bond. He has no criminal record. Lyft said Epperson's access to the ride-sharing app has since been blocked. 'The safety of our community members is always our top priority and we've been in close touch with Emilia,' the company said in a released statement. 'We are so glad she is doing okay after this terrible ordeal and commend her bravery.' It was only Emilia's third week on the job. She said it is likely she will not drive for Lyft ever again. A Texas man has been charged with sexually assaulting and repeatedly stabbing a 21-month-old girl in her genitals on New Years Eve, in what investigators have described as one of the worst, child abuse cases they have ever encountered. According to Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar, at around 9am on Saturday deputies and EMS workers responded to a call about an injured child who had been mauled by a dog. They were told by a man at the scene, later identified as 23-year-old Isaac Cardenas, that the 21-month-old girl had wandered outside in the middle of the night and was attacked by dogs living at the residence in South Bexar County. Shocking crime: Isaac Cardenas, 23 (left), has been charged in a brutal sexual assault and stabbing of a young girl. His girlfriend, Crystal Herrera, 22 (right), was arrested on one count of serious bodily injury to a child by omission As investigators questioned Cardenas and his girlfriend, the victims relative Crystal Herrera, they determined that their versions of events were inconsistent with the crime scene and the evidence, according to Sheriff Salazar. The young victim sustained life-threatening injuries consistent with a brutal sexual assault and non-accidental stab wounds. Video courtesy of KSAT 12 The toddler was rushed to University Hospital, where her condition was listed as stable on Tuesday. Doctors at the hospital confirmed that the child had not been mauled by dogs, but that she had been sexually assaulted and repeatedly stabbed in her upper body and her private parts. Additionally, investigators said when officers with Animal Care Services went to Cardenas and Herreras home to pick up the dogs, the animals showed no signs of aggression whatsoever. Chilling crime: Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar said the details of the case were chilling and described the attack on the defenseless child as 'egregious' and 'heartbreaking' Cover-up: Investigators say Cardenas (left) initially said the victim wandered outside overnight and was mauled by dogs. His girlfriend said she noticed blood on the toddler while bathing her Cardenas was arrested and charged with super aggravated sexual assault of a child, which is a capital felony punishable by a minimum sentence of 20 years in prison. His bond was set at $300,000. Crystal Herrera, 22, was charged with serious bodily injury to a child by omission. According to an affidavit filed in this case and cited by the station KSAT, Crystal Herrera called 911 on Saturday morning, three hours after she noticed blood while bathing the victim. The 22-year-old woman claimed that she tried to take the girl to a hospital, but her car got stuck in sand The 22-year-old woman claimed that she tried to take the girl to a hospital, but her car got stuck in sand. The document also revealed that the 21-month-old girl suffered 'acute respiratory failure' and will have to undergo reconstructive surgery to repair her injuries. Speaking of the case to reporters, Sheriff Salazar described the abuse sustained by the child as egregious and heart-breaking. 'I can't even begin to describe to you the level of depravity that went into this crime,' the sheriff told the San Antonio Express-News. 'It's a horrendous case.' The sheriff said the details of the crime were chilling and that the young victim is going to 'carry this for the rest of her life.' An activist in Iran has ended a 70-day hunger strike after authorities agreed to temporarily release his wife from prison. Arash Sadeghi, who is serving 15 years in prison on charges of conspiracy, publishing false information and propaganda against the regime, launched the hunger strike in protest at his wife's prison conditions. His wife, Golrokh Ebrahimi Iraee, is serving six years for 'insulting Islamic sanctities' and 'spreading propaganda against the regime'. Arash Sadeghi has ended a 70-day hunger strike in protest at the treatment of his wife, Golrokh Ebrahimi Iraee. The couple, pictured together, were both arrested in 2014 She was jailed in October after Iran's Revolutionary Guard discovered an unpublished story she had written, about a woman being stoned to death. Her story describes a woman who watches the film 'The Stoning of Soraya M' - which tells the true story of a young woman stoned to death for adultery - and becomes so enraged that she burns a copy of the Qur'an. She was arrested in September 2014, and feared she would be executed during long interrogations. Her husband was arrested at the same time, and the couple are being held in Tehran's notorious Evin prison. The couple's lawyer Amir Raeisian today said Sadeghi has given up the hunger strike after authorities agreed to grant Iraee temporary leave from prison. Arash Sadeghi has been sentenced to 15 years behind bars, while Iraee has been jailed for six because of an unpublished story 'Normally it will be five to six days and extendable,' he told news agency ISNA. 'Arash Sadeghi will also be transferred to hospital for treatment.' The ILNA news agency reported that Iraee's family secured a deposit of five billion rials ($128,000) for her leave. Speaking to the judiciary-linked Mizan website, Tehran's chief prosecutor Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi confirmed the temporary release and the end to Sadeghi's hunger strike. He said Iraee could appeal her sentence and noted that under Iranian law, Sadeghi was eligible for release after serving seven and half years. Hundreds of people marched outside the prison on Monday in protest over their treatment. The couple's lawyer Amir Raeisian today said Sadeghi has given up the hunger strike after authorities agreed to grant Iraee temporary leave from prison The hashtag #SaveArash was among the top trends for a few hours on Twitter this week, even though the site is blocked in Iran. The head of the reformist camp Mohammad Reza Aref and outspoken lawmakers Ali Motahari and Mahmoud Sadeghi were among those who voiced concern for Sadeghi's health, according to the reformist Vaghaye daily. Motahari in a social media post thanked officials for granting Iraee leave and raised the case of another hunger-striking activist, Ali Shariati, whose case was also trending on Twitter on Wednesday. Shariati is serving a five-year sentence for protesting outside parliament against acid attacks on women and has been on hunger strike for 65 days, Motahari wrote. 'I hope judicial officials resolve this issue wisely to prevent human rights excuses for the enemies of the Islamic revolution,' he wrote, posting a photo of a frail-looking Shariati in hospital receiving an injection. say both have a history of drug use The Florida state trooper who found a couple dead outside their SUV after suffering an apparent overdose has revealed their three sons were strapped in the back seat watching a movie. The officer who found Heather and Daniel Kelsey, 30 and 32 respectively, stated that the boys were unharmed while their parents lay dying outside. The three boys, Aiden, two, Nicholas, one, and infant Joseph, are currently being cared for by relatives. Heather Kelsey, 30, and Daniel Kelsey, 32, were discovered by police on the I-4 near DeLand, Florida on New Year's Eve Police arrived at the scene at 2.08am at mile marker 122 on the eastbound side of I-4 near DeLand John Harrell, spokesman for the Florida Department of Children and Families, told the Daytona Beach News-Journal the agency is working with local authorities. 'We're very sensitive to what these children have been through,' Harrell said. 'That's the main priority.' Daytona Beach, Florida Police Chief Mike Chitwood said Tuesday that they are still waiting on the autopsy reports to make a final conclusion on the couple's deaths. Their sons aged eight months to four years were found unharmed in the back of their SUV The husband and wife of six years were found dead not far from their SUV on Saturday, which was found stopped on the side of I-4 with the hazards blinking. The two were pronounced dead not long after emergency crews arrived on the scene, and found their three young boys alive and unharmed in the back of the vehicle. 'At first glance, investigators feel [Daniel's death] was an overdose. There was some concern with the female that an autopsy will clear up,' Chitwood said. He added that Daniel Kelsey tested 'presumptive positive' for drugs and had a 'presence of weed' in his urine. Police discovered the couple outside their vehicle around 2am on Saturday Chitwood said there are no signs of foul play in the couple's death, and no outward signs of trauma. Police arrived at the scene at 2.08am at mile marker 122 on the eastbound side of I-4 near DeLand, a report states. They found Mr and Mrs Kelsey unconscious at the scene and they were pronounced dead a short time later. Her husband was pronounced dead just a few minutes later. The boys aged from eight months to four years in age, were taken to Halifax Health Medical Center in Daytona Beach as a precaution. The couple were found on the I-4 near DeLand, about thirty minutes from Daytona Beach Daniel's long-time friend Jerrell Jackson described the pain of coping with his death, which happened on Jackson's 32nd birthday. Jackson told the News Journal that the couple's youngest son had recently started walking, and that the two were 'doing great' in their new city. He said in a Facebook post: 'I can tell you Dan was a loving, devoted father (who) did anything for his kids,' Article 552 has been in place since the late 1940s and has drawn protests After a number of protests a parliamentary committee in Lebanon has recommended repealing a law that allows rapists' sentences to be squashed if they marry their victim. Although men convicted of rape in the Middle Eastern nation can face five years in jail the law currently says if he marries the woman he raped he can escape persecution. The recommendation to repeal Article 522 of the country's penal code, which has been in place since the 1940s, could see the maximum jail term risen to seven years and rape classified as a crime against women. Scroll down for video A dozen Lebanese women, dressed as brides in white wedding dresses stained with fake blood and bandaging their eyes, knees and hands stand in front of the government building in downtown Beirut, Lebanon in December However the committee recommendation must now go through parliament and could take months to get approved. Most women affected by the law are raped by members of the family, such as a cousin, or a neighbor and are then pressured to marry the perpetrator, said Roula Masri, a senior programme manager with the local gender-rights NGO, ABAAD. 'There's the psychological trauma,' Masri told Al Jazeera. 'Victims usually have to undergo therapy. They may feel that sex is disgusting Usually, the victims, the girls, are obliged [to marry their rapist] by family members. They would blame you, and they would push the marriage forward, to save the family's honour.' 'Currently, the law does not think or indicate that the rapist is a criminal,' said Masri who added that four women a week get raped in Lebanon although many cases go unreported. In early December a dozen Lebanese women, dressed as brides in white wedding dresses stained with fake blood and bandages, gathered outside government buildings capital Beirut to protest the law. The activists were protesting a Lebanese law that allows a rapist or kidnapper to get away with his crime if he marries the survivor 'We reject this violation of women regardless of their age, background, environment, whether they have special needs or the circumstances of the rape,' said Ghida Anani, head of Abaad, a local NGO campaigning against the law. Some supporters of the law argue that the marriage will salvage the honor of the woman and her family. During parliament discussions, some lawmakers proposed amending it and leaving the marriage option as a choice for families, Anani said. Police in Austria are investigating an unprecedented number of sex assaults carried out by a group of men on New Year's Eve. It happened in the western city of Innsbruck, where 18 women reported having been groped by up to 10 men in the main square. Around 25,000 people gathered in the square in ring in 2017, senior police official Ernst Kranebitter said. Police say 18 women were assaulted during the New Year's celebrations in the city's main square 'We've not had anything like this happen here before,' Kranebitter told AFP. 'They were dancing around the victims and then suddenly grabbed their breast or stuck their hands between their legs. 'That's what made it hard for others to notice what was going on - it all happened amid festivities.' Amateur video footage of the incidents has so far failed to help investigators identify the suspects because the image quality was too poor The suspects have been described as being in their late teens, said Kranebitter. Amateur video footage of the incidents has so far failed to help investigators identify the suspects because the image quality was too poor. The assault came a year after hundreds of women were mugged and groped in a crowd of men of mainly Arab and north African appearance in the German city of Cologne on December 31. To avoid a similar incident, police in Vienna distributed 6,000 pocket alarms on New Year's Eve last week to help prevent attacks. Jorge Luis Chavez, 25, was found dead in a murder suicide in South Carolina on Sunday The woman who was killed along with her two children called 911 to report her ex-boyfriend was breaking into her home and was that he was armed with a gun just moments before she died. Marissa Hope Reynoso, 26, was found dead in a home in West Columbia, South Carolina, along with two of her children - Elijah Chavez, four, and Ezra Chavez, one - on Sunday evening. Police initially launched a search for Jorge Luis Chavez, 25, believed to be the father of the two children, but later recovered his body inside the home. It has now been revealed Reynoso desperately called 911 as Chavez was trying to get inside her home. On the 911 call, her voice is calm for 40 seconds before someone screams 'He's got a gun!' The majority of the seven-minute call was spent by the operator trying to get Reynoso back on the line. Police reports show the 26-year-old mother had also called police about her ex-boyfriend in November and December. Chavez once told her he would 'see you in heaven.' It comes after Lexington County Coroner Margaret Fisher said all four people were found dead with gunshot wounds inside a property in the 1100 block of Old Barnwell Road about 8pm on Sunday. Scroll down for video Marissa Hope Reynoso (pictured), 26, desperately called 911 as Chavez was trying to get inside her home Marissa Hope Reynoso, 26, was found dead in a home in West Columbia, along with two of her children - Elijah Chavez (left), four, and Ezra Chavez (right), one - on Sunday evening The Lexington County Sheriff's Office initially released a picture of Chavez on social media and said they were 'actively searching' for him. Hours later, the sheriff's office announced Chavez was found dead inside the home. An investigation is ongoing and authorities have not revealed details regarding their deaths. Reynoso had an older child who was not home at the time of the murder-suicide, according to Fisher. Marissa Hope Reynoso, 26, (center) was found dead in a home in West Columbia, along with two of her children Elijah Chavez, four, (bottom right) and Ezra Chavez, one (top right) Reynoso (pictured) had an older child who was not home at the time of the murder-suicide, according to Lexington County Coroner Margaret Fisher A police misconduct hearing into a married female detective accused of having an illicit relationship with a criminal was held behind closed doors today. DC Nina Bartlett, 40, of Cambridgeshire Police, allegedly failed to declare a relationship with a criminally convicted person as soon as possible. She is also accused of concealing the relationship and failing to submit a 'notifiable association' report to the force's Professional Standards Departments. The officer, believed to be a mother-of-two, is also alleged to have used a police computer to carry searches on her new partner. DC Nina Bartlett, pictured left and right concealing her face with an umbrella, is accused of having an 'illicit affair' with a criminal and failing to declare it. She appeared at a misconduct hearing today that was due to be heard in public but is now being held in private The two-day hearing got under way at Peterborough City College, Cambridgeshire, today. Despite the public being invited to the hearing by Cambridgeshire Police, its panel chairman Peter Nicholls ruled that it would be held in private. After hearing submissions from the press which argued that it was public interest for the proceedings to be help in the open, he decided it should be behind closed doors. Mr Nicholls said when deciding whether to hold the hearing in private they had to 'balance' the officer's welfare with the public interest. The panel heard claims that the officer's health would be damaged if the hearing was held in public. Mr Nicholls added that he was not going to 'set out details of the medical evidence that the panel has considered'. After reaching his decision to exclude the press and public he said: 'The major concern here has been the delivery of medical evidence, medical report and admission of those medical notes in respect of the health of the officer. 'In considering these notes the panel was mindful that the position that this misconduct hearing should be in public and there should be a strong and cogent reasons if a hearing or part of a hearing is not to be held in public. He added: 'We categorise this case as one where we will be unable to elicit the full information to do justice not only in the public interest but in fairness and justice to the officer and therefore balancing those two different factors we have reached the conclusion, with some reluctance, that these proceedings will proceed in private. 'In due course the outcome of this case will be put in the public domain but the hearing will proceed in private session for all these reasons.' The hearing was eventually held in private at Peterborough City College, pictured During submissions the panel heard that the officer had previously tried to have the hearing held in private. But she missed the deadline for applications on December 6, at 4.30pm She in fact submitted an application on December 22, and unsuccessfully applied for an extension. Chairman Peter Nicholls said there was some 'confusion' over whether the application had been granted but it had not. The panel received another email on January 1 which applied to have the notice of the hearing not published. got him to dry land he was rushed to the By the time Vidal was reached he was not A Minnesota man was killed after he swam out to sea in a desperate bid to try and save his son as the teenage boy was being carried out by a strong current. Vidal Guzman, 60, of Minneapolis was on vacation with his entire family in Puerto Rico for the holidays when the group went swimming on Monday at Balneario Poza Las Mujeres in Manati, about an hour west of San Jose. Towards the end of the day his son, Vidal Guzman III, began to struggle in the water, and when he tried to get to the boy to help him he too was swept away and drowned, while his son was able to get to safety. In addition to his son, Vidal is survived by his wife, Lidibette, and three daughters. Tragedy: Vidal Guzman, 60, drowned off a beach in Manti, Puerto Rico on Monday (above with son Vidal III) Scene: He was swept out to see when he tried to rescue his son, who was being pulled out by the strong current (beach where Vidal drowned above) It was shortly before 4:30pm, Vidal's son signaled that he was in danger to his father, who rushed in to try and save him according to Telemundo Tu Canal. The strong current and waves soon proved to difficult to navigate for Vidal, while at the same time his son was pushed toward a rock where he was able to cling on and save himself. Vidal's son signaled to others that his father was in danger and they were able to get into the ocean and get to the man, but by then it was too late. He was rushed to Manati Medical Center Hospital, but arrived with no vital signs. Soon after news of his death made its way back home, friends of Vidal's children began leaving condolence messages on there Facebook pages. Vidal works as a senior manager at Public Radio International according to his Linked In. His responsibilities there included 'sales, marketing, maintenance, audience research, fundraising and performance of PRI programs on PRI affiliate stations.' Family: Vidal Guzman III, 19, was eventually able to grab a rock and cling on, at which point he signaled to people on the beach that his father needed help (Vidal with his son and two of his daughters) Peter Martinson, a friend of Vidal remembered the father in an interview with the Star Tribune. 'It was impossible to be in a bad mood around Val, he said, adding that he had been posting photos of the beach the same day that he drowned. Krista Smith, another friend, also had nothing but praise for the man. 'You want people like him in your life,' said Smith. Parcels addressed to Prime Minister Theresa May from Next have been found dumped on a doorstep. A surprised Facebook user noticed a number of errant packages on the doorstep of her home in Berkshire before asking if anybody knew who a 'Mrs T May' was, in the hope of reuniting the parcel with its rightful owner. Lauren Carne-Powell took to social media and had a number of people respond to her within minutes. Parcels addressed to Prime Minister Theresa May from Next have been found dumped on a doorstep Parcels addressed to Prime Minister Theresa May (pictured is her home) from Next have been found dumped on a doorstep Within just 30 minutes the Facebook post racked up 14 comments and 10 reactions with one person offering to deliver the package to the Prime Minister who lives in Sonning-on-Thames She posted: 'Does anyone know a Mrs T May, Sonning? Her Next home parcel has been delivered here (Caversham, Berks.,) for some reason. Will let know (sic) tomorrow if no luck on here. Thanks!' Within just 30 minutes the Facebook post racked up 14 comments and 10 reactions with one person offering to deliver the package to the Prime Minister who lives in SOnning-on-Thames. One group member replied to Mrs Carne-Powell's post confirming the package was destined for the PM's home before it was dumped. Another member commented and said: 'Theresa May PM?! I wonder if it's a pair of leather trousers.' Somebody else added: 'Wouldn't have had her down as a Next girl!' Mrs Carne-Powell posted again just minutes later following a number of comments to give an update on the delivery dilemma. She said: 'So it seems that Next decided to dump quite a few parcels on my door including the Prime Minister's. 'If you know any of these people please let me know. I have reached out to Next but they aren't responding.' Mrs Carne-Powell later told those who had commented on her post that a Next delivery driver will soon turn up to pick up the package and deliver it to the Prime Minister. Next cut its profit forecast for the current financial year after a poor Christmas and warned of a further decline in 2017-18, sending shockwaves through Britain's clothing sector as the most successful performer of the last decade faltered. is now being investigated after endangering the safety of others A reckless daredevil risked his life and endangered others when he scaled a high-rise crane - and used a selfie stick to film himself. The man carried out the stunt in the city of Ipoh in the Perak State of north-western Malaysia. Terrifying footage which he later posted online shows the vertiginous heights he scales as he hangs off the crane, with no safety harness or equipment. Terrifying footage later posted online shows the vertiginous heights he scales as he hangs off the crane, with no safety harness or equipment The young man has not yet been identified, but police say they are investigating the incident, as he faces charges for endangering his own life and the lives of others. The heart-stopping clip of the feat has since gone viral after being uploaded to video-sharing platforms. It shows the man's feet as he scales the red crane, with a horrifying view below showing just how high up he is. He can be heard exhaling as he undertakes what appears to be a tiring climb. The climber then holds a selfie stick in the air and smiles to the camera as he sits looking relaxed at the top of the crane, looking out at the view. Police are now searching for the climber and may press charges after he 'endangered lives' The video shows the man's feet as he scales the red crane, with a horrifying view below showing just how high up he is The incident was uploaded under the username 'VisitMalaysia' on social media and the video is believed to have been shot at the Ipoh Convention Centre construction site. Another video on social media last week showed a group of youngsters climbing the nearby Ipoh signboard on top of Gunung Lang, Jalan Kuala Kangsar, with the caption thanking the local council for giving them permission. But Ipoh mayor Datuk Zamri Man denied that city authorities had given any approval for the 'dangerous stunt.' Chief of Police, Sum Chang Keong said both matters were being investigated under Section 336 of the Penal Code for endangering the safety of others. It is believed the eight people involved in the Ipoh signboard stunt have gone to police while the crane climber has still not been found. Edward Tron allegedly bragged about making 100,000 from drug smuggling as he plotted to sneak cocaine off his ship hidden in a hi-vis vest, a court has heard A P&O ship steward allegedly bragged about making 100,000 from drug smuggling as he plotted to take cocaine off his ship hidden in a hi-vis vest, a court has heard. Edward Tron, 51, was secretly filmed explaining to an undercover police officer how he planned to sew drugs into jackets so he could sneak cocaine on and off the Pride of Hull from Rotterdam. At the time, Tron - who earnt 20,000 a year as P&O night steward - was found to have banked 138,000 over a four-year period, which the prosecution say was from drug smuggling. He later told the undercover officer that he had frittered it away and was instead trying to bring in money through a smaller operation. Today, the jury at Hull Crown Court was shown a 30-minute video recording of Tron allegedly confessing his entire drug operation to an undercover National Crime Squad officer. The conversation took place in the officer's car outside a bookmakers in Hull on April 15 2015. During the record, Tron told the officer he had smuggled 'charlie' with former crewmate John Heald, who had been jailed for two and a half years for money laundering. He said the operation had gone bust because Heald had got greedy and was taking more than 10kg a time. 'He pushed it too far. He had done two trips,' he told the officer. 'We should have had 20,000 in the bank each - but the third he got collared. I didn't get nowt - I think he got away with my f****** money. 'Honestly it was a f****** dream. He f***** it up. He f***** it up by being greedy. The thing is he was 'clever c***. He then bragged that he had been 'sitting on 100,000 in cash'. 'To me he has just f***** my life up,' he was recorded as saying. 'I had a sound life. Our lass gave her job up. 'How I f****** blew it I don't know. I was the kind bloke, buying every f***** drinks. This time I will save it.' He added that he had promised his wife he would not waste his money again. Tron was filmed saying: 'Even if I am making 4,000 - not making 10,000 - at least I can get my debts sorted.' Mark Quilliam (left), Tron's colleague on the Pride of York, denies two charges of conspiracy to import cocaine. Susan Tron (right), 54, of Gateshead, has denied money laundering Tron told the officer he did not want to get too many people involved and would introduce him to the method of moving drugs. He said he previously used rucksacks but was planning instead to sew drugs in to the lining of their work jackets. Tron was found with three jackets at his home on his arrest. Tron said Heald had been rumbled when he took an 80 euro taxi in Amsterdam, leaving colleagues on board to wonder how he could afford it. Tron said: 'I think that way he brought the heat on himself.' Crown barrister Paul Jury said Tron earned 20,000 a year and his wife up to 9,000. But, between 2008 and 2014, he made 138,000 in unexplained cash deposits. 'The Crown says the deposits are so regular and so large they are clear evidence of criminal activity,' said Mr Mitchell. 'The splitting of these to small amounts was to disguise from the banks what was happening.' Mr Mitchell said Tron fell for the police sting after a recording device was placed in his cabin on board the Pride of Hull. In police interview Tron told officers he had made up a fantasy and everything he had told the undercover officer was not true. When arrested he told police : 'I used to know a bloke who was arrested for money laundering. Was it owt to do with that?' Edward Tron, 51, of Gateshead and fellow P&O employee Mark Quilliam, a chef, on the Pride of York, of Liverpool, deny two charges of conspiracy to import cocaine. Susan Tron, 54, of Gateshead, has denied a charge of money laundering. Triple Crown winner American Pharoah has welcomed his first foal, conceived in exchange for a $200,000 stud fee. The thoroughbred's first offspring was born Tuesday at Brookdale Farm in Versailles, Kentucky to maiden mare Kakadu, who comes from a lineage of award-winning horses. American Pharoah retired after becoming the first Triple Crown winner in 37 years in 2015. He later mated with more than 200 mares in 115 days, meaning his offspring could generate $40 million. The stud's owner, Ahmed Zayat, sold American Pharoah's breeding rights to Coolmore's Ashford Stud in Versailles for an undisclosed amount in May 2015. American Pharoah's first foal (pictured) was born early on Tuesday in Brookdale Farm in Versailles, Kentucky, to maiden mare Kakadu The thoroughbred became the first Triple Crown winner in 37 years in 2015. He is pictured crossing the finish line of the Belmont Stakes, the last of the Crown's three competitions Brookdale Farm shared a photo of American Pharoah's first foal on Facebook. The racetrack royalty baby was born at 12.30am on Tuesday. 'He seems to be a big, strong, attractive boy,' Brookdale Farm general manager Fred Seitz Jr told the Lexington Herald-Leader. No name has been announced yet for the new baby. American Pharoah, who is almost five years old, won the Triple Crown in 2015, meaning he came first during the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness Stakes and the Belmont Stakes. It was the first time since 1978 that a single horse had won all three events. He went on to accomplish a Grand Slam after winning the Triple Crown and the Breeders' Cup Classic. American Pharoah then retired and bred with more than 200 mares in 115 days for a $200,000 stud fee, ESPN reported in June. Zayat still owns an undisclosed share of the horse's stallion rights according to the network. Gestation for mares last for 11 months on average, meaning there could be more American Pharoah offspring in the future. About 15 per cent of pregnancies do not see the birth of a live foal. American Pharoah (pictured winning the Belmont Stakes and thus the Triple Crown) later retired and bred with more than 200 mares in 115 days for a $200,000 stud fee President Barack Obama called for a smooth handover of control of the U.S. military to incoming commander in chief Donald Trump as he met Wednesday with military leaders for the last time. 'We've got to make sure that during this transition period that there is a seamless passing of the baton, that there's continuity,' the outgoing president said. Obama said it was critical to ensure that 'we are doing everything we can to make sure that the next president will benefit from the same kinds of outstanding advice and service that these people around the table have provided me.' President Barack Obama called for a smooth handover of control of the U.S. military to incoming commander in chief Donald Trump on Wednesday The president was also honored at a farewell ceremony at Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall, a short drive from the White House Prior to his remarks, Defense Secretary Ash Carter presented Obama with the Medal of Distinguished Public Service as a token of appreciation for his service as commander in chief In praising the military Wednesday Obama appeared to call attention to traditions that Democrats are most concerned that Trump may not uphold Obama said he was optimistic about the country's future because the military upholds 'the values of rule of law and professionalism and integrity, and recognizes our constitutional structure' The president was also honored at a farewell ceremony at Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall, a short drive from the White House. Addressing a room of men and women from the various branches of the military, Obama praised their service and sacrifice. He said there is 'no greater privilege and no greater honor' than serving as commander in chief. 'As I reflect on the challenges we have faced together and on those to come, I believe that one of the greatest tasks before our armed forces is to retain the high confidence that the American people rightly place in you,' Obama said. 'We must never hesitate to act when necessary to defend our nation, but we must also never rush into war because sending you into harm's way should be a last and not first resort.' Prior to his remarks, Defense Secretary Ash Carter presented Obama with the Medal of Distinguished Public Service as a token of appreciation for his service as commander in chief. In praising the military Wednesday Obama appeared to call attention to traditions that Democrats are most concerned that Trump may not uphold. Obama's comments as he sat down with the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the military's combatant commanders came amid concerns in military and diplomatic circles about how Trump may handle national security challenges. Over the last few days, Trump has disputed the U.S. intelligence community's assessments about Russian hacking, insisted without explanation that North Korea won't develop a nuclear weapon that could hit the U.S. and questioned the worth of the United Nations. Addressing a room of men and women from the various branches of the military, Obama praised their service and sacrifice Obama said there is 'no greater privilege and no greater honor' than serving as commander in chief. President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and Defense Secretary Ash Carter watch the Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps perform a 'Troops In Review,' during an Armed Forces Full Honor Farewell Review for the president Obama pointed to a handful of conflicts that Trump will inherit when he takes office on Jan. 20, including the fight against the Islamic State group in Syria and in the Iraqi city of Mosul, the biggest ISIS stronghold in Iraq and last major Iraqi city where the extremist group still has control. He also noted that the conflict in Afghanistan 'is still active.' Trump has nominated retired Marine Corps Gen. James Mattis for defense secretary despite the prohibition on recently departed military members running the civilian-led Pentagon. At one point in the campaign, Trump called for reinstating waterboarding and other harsh interrogation techniques. Obama said he was optimistic about the country's future because the military upholds 'the values of rule of law and professionalism and integrity, and recognizes our constitutional structure. Furthermore, it 'maintains strict adherence and respect for civilian authority and democratic practices in determining how we use the awesome force of the American military,' he stated. We must never hesitate to act when necessary to defend our nation, but we must also never rush into war because sending you into harm's way should be a last and not first resort,' Obama said today 'As I reflect on the challenges we have faced together and on those to come, I believe that one of the greatest tasks before our armed forces is to retain the high confidence that the American people rightly place in you,' Obama said A murder investigation has been launched after a man's body was found in a forest where he was reported missing with a woman who survived. The pair, who have not been named, drove to Savage River State Forest in Grantsville, Maryland, separately on Tuesday night at around 5pm. They were both reported missing by the same person at 2.15am. At around 9am, the woman 'walked out' of the forest and sought help at the nearby home of a stranger. She was taken to hospital with hypothermia. A man has died and a woman been left with hypothermia in Savage River State Forest in Maryland overnight on Tuesday The man's body was found after police helicopters scanned the woodland. It was lying next to a swamp found on private property. Maryland State Police is investigating the incident but so far no arrests have been made. 'We have a lot of questions as this point,' said police spokesman Greg Shipley. While the cause of death has not yet been given, Shipley said there was evidence of trauma on the man's body. Maryland Natural Resources Police, which looks after the state's forests and parks, was initially tasked with investigating it. 'Missing female located. Walked out of woods. Being treated by EMS. Search continuing by foot & helicopter for male in Savage River SF,' it said in a Twitter post at around 9am. Maryland Natural Resources Police initially looked in to the incident but turned it over to State Police after learning the man's body was discovered on private property Later, the department confirmed the man's body had been found. 'Body of male located by State Police helicopter. Officers in recovery effort now.' They removed it from private property around an hour later. The relationship between the man and woman is not known. State Police were unable to disclose what kind of property the man's body was found on. There are camping grounds and a luxury retreat within the forest. An employee at the latter knew nothing of the incident when contacted by DailyMail.com. It is not yet clear how the man died. Labib Chammas, the husband of former deputy chief of mission Judith Chammas (above), pleaded guilty to sexual abuse of an employee at the couple's State Department-owned home in Morocco A former US embassy official's husband has been sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison after pleading guilty to sexually abusing a household staff member while they lived in State Department-owned housing in Morocco. Sixty-five-year-old Labib Chammas of McLean, Virginia, also must register as a sex offender for 15 years and pay a $15,000 fine as part of his sentence, which the US Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia announced on Wednesday. Chammas admitted as part of a plea agreement that he sexually abused the staff member from 2010 to 2013, while his wife, Judith Chammas, served as deputy chief of mission in Morocco. He pleaded guilty to a single count of abusive sexual conduct. Labib's attorney didn't immediately return a call seeking comment. In pleading guilty, Labib admitted that he sexually abused a woman who had worked at the Rabat residence for 16 years. In pleading guilty, Labib Chammas admitted that he sexually abused a woman who had worked at the Rabat residence for 16 years. The US embassy in Rabat is seen above According to the plea agreement, Labib supervised the staff at the residence and repeatedly threatened to fire staff members. Out of fear that she would lose her job, the victim complied with Labib's requests that she massage his legs, hip and back, and then with his subsequent demands that she 'massage' his genitalia, the Justice Department said. The United States has deployed dozens of special forces troops to the Baltic region in recent months in a bid to lift the morale of anxious European allies who are suspicious of Russia, it was learned on Wednesday. The Americans are eager to help the small armies of Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia repel any possible threat from their neighbor to the east. The Baltic countries have grown increasingly nervous over President-elect Donald Trump's stated intentions to improve relations with Russia, The New York Times reported. That is why the US and NATO allies plan to deploy battalions that number between 800 and 1,200 to each of the three Baltic countries and Poland by the spring. During the election campaign, Trump said he would pursue a different policy that has been in place since the end of World War Two with respect to NATO. Scroll down for video Members of the US 173rd Airborne Brigade clear an enemy trench during the Iron Sword multinational military exercises on November 24, 2016 near Pabrade, Lithuania. The US has sent dozens of special forces soldiers to the Baltic states in recent months Trump said the US should only grant protection to European allies and NATO members who pay a greater share for their defense. That remark in addition to Trump's public embrace of Putin sent alarm bells ringing in the capitals of Eastern European countries that have long felt menaced by the Russian Bear. 'They're scared to death of Russia,' General Raymond Thomas, the head of the Pentagon's Special Operations Command, said of the Baltic countries. 'They are very open about that. They're desperate for our leadership.' The Americans are eager to help the small armies of Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia repel any possible threat from their neighbor to the east. US troops are seen above preparing a simulated attack during the Iron Sword exercises in Lithuania The Americans want to boost training of troops in the region as well as gain a greater ability to anticipate future Russian moves. The US can help its Baltic friends with sophisticated intelligence and surveillance technology. In turn, the Baltic militaries have a deep knowledge of Russian military capabilities as well as Russia's non-military means to undermine its adversaries, like hacking and spreading disinformation. The Baltic governments have watched with apprehension as Russia has become increasingly aggressive in Ukraine and Crimea. The Russians have also increased its military presence off the Baltic coast. The US and its NATO allies have done some muscle-flexing of their own. Donald Trump's (left) comments about wanting better relations with Russia and its president, Vladimir Putin (right), have sowed doubts about the future of the US commitment to NATO Since Russia's intervention in Ukraine three years ago, all three Baltic countries have boosted spending on defense equipment, according to the Times. Since 2014, Latvia and Lithuania have had the two fastest-growing defense budgets in the world, IHS Jane's reported. The alliance recently wrapped up its 'Iron Sword' exercise a large-scale military drill involving 4,000 soldiers from 11 different countries. The exercise, which was held in Lithuania last month, was aimed at 'testing the combat readiness' of alliance members, NATO said. The alliance wants to send the message that it is up to the task of defending itself if necessary. Still, even with Trump set to take charge, it still anticipates the US will fulfil its historic role. Lithuania's president, Dalia Grybauskaite told the Associated Press recently that as 'the guarantor of peace after the Second World War in Europe,' the United States long has shared responsibility for the continent's safety. 'We expect that this mission, and this understanding, will stay,' she said. The American special forces troops who have been stationed in the region are also sending a message to Russia. This adorable baby orangutan has certainly put the zoo in Zoolander - by making a 'Blue Steel' pout just like Ben Stiller's character in the film. The unnamed infant was born on December 20 at the Brookfield Zoo near Chicago, IL, and seemed content and unbothered as she clings to her mother's chest during her first public appearance on Tuesday. Her mother, Sophia, can be seen chomping on lettuce and nursing the baby girl while excited zoo-goers and camera crews watch in awe. Scroll down for video A baby orangutan made her first public debut to the public on Tuesday morning, January 3 at Brookfield Zoo, near Chicago The adorable newborn orangutan put the zoo in Zoolander by making a 'Blue Steel' face just like Ben Stiller's character in the film Sophia seems to take to motherhood easily as this is her fourth birth at Brookfield and sixth overall. At ease, she swings from trees, has a snack, and chases after one of her other offspring, all with an infant latched onto her chest. Nava Greenblatt, the lead keeper of primates at the Brookfield Zoo told the Tribune that the birth was completely natural and that they do not interfere in any way. The unnamed infant was born on December 20 and seemed content and unbothered as she clings to her mothers chest during her first public appearance The pair only make public appearances sporadically for the time being, and are normally kept off exhibit and watched by zoo staff for signs of good health and bonding. Greenblatt said Sophia bounced back quickly from the birth and 8.5 month gestation period. Nava Greenblatt, the lead keeper of primates at the Brookfield Zoo told the Tribune that the birth was completely natural and that they do not interfere in any way The orangutan population is a critically endangered one, as its habitat in Southeast Asia is rapidly shrinking. Zoo staff were excited that the 35-year-old female was encouraged to breed again with the infant's father Ben, and were also excited to learn that the baby's gender due to an imbalance of males to females in the domestic population. Orangutans are very similar to humans in their upbringing, with long childhoods and being nursed to the age of five. President Barack Obama will bow out of the fight over his signature law once he exits the Oval Office. Obama's leaving congressional Democrats to pick up the pieces after Donald Trump and Republican lawmakers take a sledgehammer to the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare. 'Its going to be time for somebody else to pick up the mantle,' his spokesman, Josh Earnest, said today. President Barack Obama will bow out of the fight over his signature law once he exits the Oval Office, the White House said today Obama's leaving congressional Democrats to pick up the pieces after Donald Trump and Republican lawmakers take a sledgehammer to the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare Obama made a final visit to Capitol Hill today before Trump's Jan. 20 swearing in to show his 'gratitude' to Democrats for their loyalty during his eight years in office and to encourage them in their battle over healthcare with Republicans The White House cast the announcement as an 'opportunity' for the next generation of Democratic leaders to prove their mettle. The president 'is enormously proud' of his record - he took on a challenge that presidents of both parties had tried and failed to address and 'succeeded in getting it done' - but 'it's time for fresh blood,' Obama's spokesman said. 'The president thinks that's important for the country,' Earnest stated. 'It also ends up being important for the Democratic Party in terms of making sure that the next generation of Democrats is ready to take up the mantle.' Republicans are making quick work of a campaign promise to disassemble the law Obama drained his political capital forcing through the federal legislature his first year in office. Senate Republicans have already passed a resolution giving lawmakers the means to to strip away the parts of the law they oppose while he retains office. Republicans in the House will do the same. Obamacare could be no more before President-elect Donald Trump even takes office. Obama made a final visit to Capitol Hill today before Trump's Jan. 20 swearing in to show his 'gratitude' to Democrats for their loyalty during his eight years in office and to encourage them in their battle over healthcare with Republicans. 'Even though Democrats will not have that kind of cooperative partner that they've enjoyed for the last eight years in the White House, they still have a set of values and priorities worth fighting for,' Earnest said Obama told his fellow Democrats. The president expressed his 'envy for the opportunity that they have to keep up that fight,' Earnest said, 'his confidence in their ability to not only wage those fights with passion' and 'confidence in their ability to succeed.' The president advised them on what he believes are 'effective tactics' for winning the messaging war but he did not give them legislative marching orders, the White House says. He did not join Democratic leaders at a press conference after the meeting, where they recast Trump's 'Make America Great Again' slogan as 'Make America Sick Again' Obama did not join Democratic leaders at a press conference after the meeting, where they recast Trump's 'Make America Great Again' slogan as 'Make America Sick Again.' The Democratic president told members of his party during a question and answer session beforehand that he's leaving the national stage' and it's their job now to defend the healthcare law they he begged them to pass. That is what the Constitution requires. That's certainly consistent with his wife's preferences, and its going to be time for somebody else to pick up the mantle,' Earnest stated. 'Does that mean that the president is any less committed to these issues than he was before? Of course not? Earnest left the door open to future engagement on the topic if Obama feels that basic fundamental American values are being undermined by a specific policy proposal. 'But it is his hope, and I would say even his expectation that that is not something that he will have to do,' he added. He doesn't intend to involve himself in 'routine public engagement' on the issue - 'that's the responsibility of Congress. That's the responsibility of the next generation of Democrats,' Earnest stated. White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest left the door open to future engagement on the topic if Obama feels that basic fundamental American values are being undermined by a specific policy proposal' 'And look it's a remarkable opportunity. They're on the playing field, fighting for the issues and priorities and values that this party and this country had long stood for, and there's nobility in that,' the president's press secretary said. The White House says another reason Obama will stay out of the public spat over healthcare is to give his successor the breathing room he was afforded when he took office by George W. Bush. 'The president has been clear about post White House plans. He's gonna take a vacation and he expects to be in a position that he can observe and follow the traditions that previous presidents have shown.' Obama believes that Trump should have the 'opportunity to go and lead the country in the direction that he believes is right,' Earnest indicated. He also thinks 'it's time for the next generation of Democrats and even some Republicans who share his values to speak up and speak out.' 'It's time for them to get the spotlight. It's time for them to have an opportunity to make that argument.' Obama thinks 'it's time for the next generation of Democrats and even some Republicans who share his values to speak up and speak out,' his spokesman said That doesn't mean that Obama, whose leased a house in Washington not too far from his current stomping grounds, will be idle. The 55-year-old former president will return to his roots as a community organizer, training future public servants and promoting entrepreneurship, the White House says. 'He still has a lot of ambition, and a lot more that he would like to do. Most of it he hopes that he will be able to do behind the scenes,' Earnest told reporters today. Facing inquiries about Obama's future, Earnest said, 'I don't want to leave you with the impression that... there's still not a lot of important work for former President Obama to be engaged in. The leader of Italy's populist Five Star movement has caused a stir by accusing the country's journalists of 'manufacturing false news'. Comic Beppe Grillo, founder of the anti-euro movement, lashed out at print and TV journalists, accusing them of fabricating news to keep his party, the Five Stars, down. 'Newspapers and television news programmes are the biggest manufacturers of false news in the country, with the aim of ensuring those who have power keep it,' he said on his blog on Tuesday. He called for 'a popular jury to determine the veracity of the news published,' and said in cases of fake news 'the editor must, head bowed, make a public apology and publish the correct version at the start of the programme or on the paper's front page'. Comic Beppe Grillo, founder of the anti-euro movement, lashed out at print and TV journalists Grillo said members of the general public 'picked at random' would be shown newspaper articles and programmes and asked 'to determine their accuracy.' The blog was accompanied by a montage of the banners and logos of Italy's main newspapers and television news programmes. The media world was enraged by comments, as were politicians from Italy's traditional parties. The news director of the private TG La7 channel, Enrico Mentana, said he would sue the comedian, while journalists' union FNSI slammed the 'lynching of all journalists'. Grillo is campaigning hard for the next general election, which could be held in coming months The opposition Five Stars was running neck-and-neck with the ruling centre-left Democratic Party (PD) before Matteo Renzi's downfall last month and Grillo is campaigning hard for the next general election, which could be held in coming months. What Grillo is proposing 'is called Fascism, and those who play it down are accomplices,' PD senator Stefano Esposito said. The centre-right Forza Italia (FI) party, founded by ex-prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, said Grillo wanted a 'minculpop 2.0', a reference to the propaganda and censorship ministry under dictator Benito Mussolini. Grillo has had a difficult relationship with the media since launching the Five Stars (M5S) in 2009, banning members from appearing on talk shows and giving international media priority over their Italian counterparts at his rallies. His claim that journalists were to blame for the country's poor standing on the World Press Freedom Index - where it ranks 77th - was dismissed by the editor in chief of the Repubblica daily. 'It's not because of an enslavement to power, but the opposite: there are too many journalists threatened by the mafia and organised crime groups over their investigations into shady dealings and corruption,' Mario Calabresi said. Grillo said members of the general public 'picked at random' would be shown newspaper articles and programmes and asked 'to determine their accuracy' 'And if that wasn't enough, we hold the record for the number of lawsuits against journalists brought by politicians who cannot bear the idea that someone would look into their business or criticise them,' he added. Marco Travaglio, editor of the far-left Il Fatto Quotidiano daily, agreed with Grillo but said the popular jury idea would never work. 'The biggest lies are those spread by the television and newspapers, but the solution he is proposing is naive,' he said. Grillo's comments follow widespread debate in the United States and Britain over whether fake news may have played a part in persuading people to vote for Republican candidate Donald Trump and for Brexit. to leave the EU in less than three months time to engage with Merkel is causing some 'concern' in Whitehall Prime Minister Theresa May has an 'almost non-existent' with German chancellor Angela Merkel causing concern among senior British officials about imminent Brexit negotiations. Britain is set to trigger Article 50 and begin negotiations to leave the EU in less than three months time. However, despite six months as PM, officials are dismayed that May has been unable to strike up a relationship with Merkel, reports the Telegraph. Scroll down for video Prime Minister Theresa has an 'almost non-existent' with German chancellor Angela Merkel, according to senior officials The news comes as Sir Ivan Rogers, the UK's top diplomat in Brussels, resigned over the 'muddled thinking' surrounding Brexit. In his 1,400-word resignation letter Sir Ivan added that ministers needed to hear 'unvarnished' and 'uncomfortable' views from Europe. The concern reflects the growing difference in viewpoints between Downing Street and Whitehall. 'The relationship is basically non-existent which is a big worry. Mrs Merkel can't fix everything but she is still the only game in town when it comes to making things happen in Europe. We need that relationship in working order,' a senior UK government source told the Telegraph. In December the feelings surrounding the Brexit challenge were laid bare as European leaders gave May the cold shoulder at a key EU summit in Brussels As the other 27 heads of state hugged and kissed ahead of the meeting, the Prime Minister was left fiddling with her cuffs with no one to talk to They added that, while Merkel had often talked about David Cameron, May 'hardly gets a mention'. In December the feelings surrounding the Brexit challenge were laid bare as European leaders gave May the cold shoulder at a key EU summit in Brussels. As the other 27 heads of state hugged and kissed ahead of the meeting, the Prime Minister was left with no one to talk to. It is believed that Merkel is taking a hard line on Brexit as Berlin closes ranks with Paris against the UK. Merkel reportedly had a good relationship with former Prime Minister David Cameron but May 'hardly gets a mention' Sir Ivan Rogers, pictured, unexpectedly quit as Britain's ambassador to the EU yesterday However, Merkel has hinted she might be prepared to do a deal on free movement rules with Britain. She said the EU must 'discuss further' the principle of free movement amid growing concern across the continent about its impact. But the Chancellor's remarks stand in stark contrast to other EU politicians who have insisted there can be no watering down of the bloc's principles just to suit the UK. Merkel has also been warned that Britain and Germany must have a comprehensive trade deal after Brexit. Bavarian Economy Minister Ilse Aigner said the UK quitting the EU was a 'high risk' to the German economy. Group home resident Lindale Cunningham, 32, has been charged with murder in the death of a 66-year-old employee A group home resident is behind bars after he allegedly stabbed an employee to death with a steak knife. Lindale Cunningham, 32, has been charged with murder in the death of 66-year-old Sally Berry. Berry was found in a pool of blood by another employee at the Community Alternatives of Elizabethtown, which is part of the ResCare organization. Authorities arrived at the scene around 3.45am on Wednesday and said Cunningham admitted to the murder. Hardin County Sheriff John Ward said it remains unknown what led to the stabbing. 'We didn't receive a call of a fight or anything like that,' he told WDRB. 'We just received a call from the worker coming in to relieve the victim and that's when she found the victim laying on the floor.' Cunningham was one of three patients in the home at the time of the murder. Scroll down for video Sally Berry was found in a pool of blood by another employee at the Community Alternatives of Elizabethtown (pictured), which is part of the ResCare organization Courtesy WDRB ResCare claims to be the largest private provider of services to people with disabilities in the country. The company said Berry had given 'years of dedicated service as a caregiver'. 'Our number one priority is to ensure the safety and well-being of each and every one of our clients and staff members at all times,' it said in a statement. 'We are cooperating fully with the police investigation.' A French olive farmer, who has become a folk hero for helping African migrants slip across the border from Italy and giving them shelter, went on trial today for aiding illegal immigrants. Cedric Herrou, 37, is one of three people to appear before the courts in southern France for assisting migrants fleeing war, poverty and persecution to Europe. He is accused of 'helping undocumented foreigners enter, move about and reside in' France and risks up to five years in prison and a 30,000 euro (25,500) fine if convicted. Cedric Herrou (pictured) told around 300 supporters outside the court: 'If we have to break the law to help people, let's do it' As his trial began in Nice today, he struck an unrepentant tone, telling the judge: 'I'm doing it because there are people in need. I'm doing it because it has to be done... Families are suffering.' Herrou's olive farm sits in a valley on the border of France and Italy, near a popular route for migrants trying to slip past French border controls, which were reimposed in 2015 after the Paris attacks and strengthened after last year's Nice massacre. He has been unapologetic about helping migrants and told around 300 supporters outside the courthouse: 'If we have to break the law to help people, let's do it.' African migrants cry as Italian police attempt to remove them at the Franco-Italian border between Menton and Ventimiglia, Italy. Herrou has been unapologetic about helping migrants STOCK PHOTO 'Our role is to help people overcome danger, and the danger is this border,' he said, accusing French police of detaining 'thousands' of children and dumping them back across the border. In October, Herrou led a group of activists who occupied a disused holiday village belonging to state railway company SNCF and opened it up to a group of migrants. Police intervened after three days to evacuate the makeshift camp, arresting Herrou. Cutting a bohemian figure with his black beard, round glasses and flat cap, he claimed he was picking up the slack for 'a state that put borders in place and is absolutely not managing the consequences.' Herrou (pictured) cut a bohemian figure as he appeared in court and he refused to apologise for his actions when he addressed the judge Two months earlier, he had been arrested for trying to smuggle eight Eritrean migrants by car from Italy into France. That case was later dropped, with prosecutors acknowledging that he acted on humanitarian grounds. But their patience has worn thin with Herrou and others, like a 73-year-old academic who was convicted and fined 1,500 euros last month for a similar offence. A university researcher was also prosecuted in October after being caught giving a lift to three Eritrean women near Nice, shortly after their arrival from Italy. Septuagenarian suspect: Ali Zafar, 73, has been arrested for allegedly opening fire on his relatives, three of whom were killed A long-simmering family feud over money boiled over early Wednesday when police in Southern California a 73-year-old man killed three relatives and critically wounded a fourth. Ali Zafar, of Escondido, was arrested on suspicion of homicide shortly after the shootings inside an apartment in Fontana, police Sergeant Kevin Goltara said. When officers entered the apartment, they found two women and one man dead from gunshot wounds. Another male victim was taken to a hospital in critical condition. NBC Los Angeles reported, citing police sources, that the victims were Zafars nieces and nephews and the killings stemmed from a long-standing financial dispute. Six gunshots were reported shortly before 3am and responding officers confronted a male suspect with a gun walking inside the Village Drive Apartments at 14520 Village Drive in Fontana, Goltara said. Six shots were reported inside the Village Drive Apartments in Fontana, California, overnight The man, later identified as Ali Zafar, complied with orders to drop the gun and was taken into custody without further incident, according to police. Police Sgt. Keith Zagorin told the Sun newspaper that the shootings took place inside a second-floor apartment, and it appears at least one person was shot while asleep in bed. Another woman in the home managed to flee the apartment unharmed, police said. Officials said the two-bedroom apartment had a modified living room where people slept. Neighbor Eddie Frias told The Press-Enterprise that the man who was critically wounded in the shooting sought refuge inside an apartment occupied by Frias' sister. Blood money: Police say Zafar, pictured left and right, shot two of his nieces and two nephews, three of them fatally. Another woman managed to escape unharmed. The killings stemmed from a long-standing financial dispute According to Frias, the injured man said his uncle shot him in the mouth and his sister proceeded to try and stop the victim's bleeding using towels. 'It took three large bath towels and they were just soaked in blood,' Frias recounted. they had no idea who the perpetrators of the unusual crime were A man in Germany returned home from a night shift to find he could not get into his house - because a brick wall had been built across the front door. The unfortunate homeowner came back to his house in Mainhausen, near Frankfurt, on Monday morning to find that a wall had been built during the night. The man had to take an axe and smash down the wall to let himself into his house, police said. Police in the town, in the state of Hesse, told local media that they had no idea who the perpetrators of the unusual crime were. A man in Germany came home from working a night shift to find a brick wall had been built across the door Police spokesman Ingbery Zacharias said the man 'must have felt like a Berliner in August 1961,' referring to East Germany's unannounced sealing of its border with the Berlin Wall. 'That went up pretty quickly, too,' he joked to German website hessenschau.de. Mr Zacharias told news agency dpa that officers did not know whether the wall had been constructed as a prank, a dare or an act of revenge. The incident happened in the town of Mainhausen, near Frankfurt, in the state of Hesse 'We don't know if it was a prank. It could also be revenge or a dare,' Zacharias said. 'It's a crime and no joke,' he added. An estimated 500 (425) worth of damage was done to the property, police added. A former British soldier who was stopped by police as he boarded a plane to fight ISIS in Syria received 'extremely nasty' threats from Islamic extremists after his arrest, a court heard. Robert Clarke was stopped by anti-terror police as he prepared to board a flight from Heathrow to Jordan in September last year. He had allegedly planned to meet up with Kurdish fighters who would take him to the front line in Syria. The 23-year-old, who served in the Army for four years, was arrested after he refused to give detectives his smartphone passcode so they could examine the device. Robert Clarke, pictured, was stopped by police as he prepared to board a flight from Heathrow to Jordan in September last year. He later received threats from Islamic extremists Clarke was remanded in custody last month after pleading guilty to obstructing or frustrating a Schedule Seven search under the Terrorism 2000 Act. Westminster Magistrates' Court heard today that Clarke had received 'extremely nasty threats' from Islamic extremists while in prison and had spent time in solitary confinement. Mitigating, Karina Claire said Clarke, who is unemployed, had moved from his home in Wales to an address in London following the threats. She said: 'As a result of press coverage he was sent extremely nasty threats from Islamic extremists or people purporting to support Islamic extremism. 'When he went into custody on the last occasion I received a phone call from a member of staff at the prison he went to and they had concerns about his safety in prison given he had openly said he wanted to fight ISIS. 'There are a number of people there on remand for cases of terrorism or supporting that offence of terrorism who would not take kindly to the presence of someone like Mr Clarke. He had to spend time in solitary confinement.' Westminster Magistrates' Court heard today that Clarke had received 'extremely nasty threats' from Islamic extremists while in prison and had spent time in solitary confinement Louise Gray, prosecuting, said Clarke had first come to the attention of police in July last year because information on his social media accounts suggested he wanted to fight ISIS on behalf of the Kurds. Police contacted him four times to advise him of the dangers of travelling to Syria and had also given him leaflets on the issues. However on September 8 Clarke informed police officers he was booked on a flight to Jordan. He was subsequently stopped at Heathrow and later refused to hand over his smartphone passcode. He then told detectives during the interview: 'I ain't telling you s**t, charge me with perverting the court of justice, f**k your interview and f**k you.' Ms Claire told the court Clarke had wanted to protect 'women and children' and that his cause was 'humanitarian'. She said he had packed 'medical supplies' but admitted he had also packed 'military paraphenalia' and items 'to defend himself in armed combat'. District Jude John Zani told Clarke: 'I am afraid Mr Clarke we live in difficult and potentially dangerous times when frustration has to be relaxed when you're asked to supply important information by police officers, who are merely doing their job trying got keep everyone, including yourself safe. 'Nobody knows what was on your phone because you never handed over your pin. Had you not served the time you have you would almost certainly be going to prison.' Joseph Talbot (pictured), 43, of Newark, was arrested last week in Wayne County and charged with driving while intoxicated A bank executive who was charged with drunk driving in Upstate New York bought hundreds of copies of his local newspaper in a failed bid to hide his arrest, the newspaper's editor has said. Bank vice-president Joseph Talbot, 43, of Newark, was arrested last week in Wayne County and charged with driving while intoxicated. Police said they had seen his car swerving on Route 31 around 10pm Thursday, after which Talbot failed sobriety tests. Talbot is also accused of refusing to be fingerprinted and photographed, telling officers he didn't want his mugshot to appear in the paper. But officials took his photo regardless and the Times Of Wayne County ran it on Saturday along with a story - and also published it on its website. Several newsstands called the paper Saturday morning saying a man identified as Talbot had bought all of the copies, according to an update posted by the Times Of Wayne County. The paper's editor and owner Ron Holdraker said Talbot had bought almost 1,000 copies. Talbot's refusal to have his photo and fingerprints taken earned him an additional obstruction charge. Police said he also declined to provide a breath sample. The Newark man bought all the copies of the Times Of Wayne County at several newsstands in the Newark area in an apparent effort to keep his mugshot from circulating, the Times Of Wayne County reported after receiving phone calls from the sellers. Talbot bought almost 1,000 copies costing $1.25 each, NBC New York reported citing Holdraker. The Times Of Wayne County has a circulation of about 12,000. A store clerk told WHAM he had bought 70 copies from her. 'He told me he went to about four, five other stores before he got here,' Amber Streeter said. 'Also that he wasn't going to stop until he bought every paper out.' The newspaper had obtained the mugshot from the county jail and had published it both in its pages and online. The newsstands were later restocked and Talbot's story ended up making national headlines. Afghan-born Jamshid Piruz (pictured) was allowed to enter the UK unchallenged despite being a convicted murderer A convicted murderer from Holland was able to walk through Britains porous borders without any checks and went on to attack two police officers with a claw-hammer. Afghan-born Jamshid Piruz was allowed to enter the UK unchallenged despite being sentenced to 12 years in jail for slaughtering his female tenant in cold-blood after watching a Taliban beheading video. Fury erupted after it emerged that the jobless 34-year-old was the latest in a string of foreign criminals to commit horrific offences in Britain after exploiting EU free movement rules. MPs condemned the shocking lack of checks on offenders from the EU which left gaping holes in UK border controls. European countries have no obligation to alert the UK about convictions of murderers or sex offenders, meaning many are able to travel to the UK unhindered. Outraged critics blasted the embattled Home Office for allowing the scandal, by failing to ensure the authorities were notified about EU convicts before they set foot on our shores. Politicians have called for Home Secretary Amber Rudd to introduce a tougher US-style warning system to flag up whether any traveller has a conviction as they attempt to enter Britain. Failure to control the countrys borders and the number of serious criminals arriving here was a major reason why millions of people voted for Britain to leave the Brussels bloc last June. Piruz, who was a permanent Dutch resident, will be sentenced on Friday after pleading guilty to an appalling hammer attack on PC Jessica Chick and PC Stewart Young, of Sussex Police, on January 7 last year. PC Young was taken to hospital with head injuries but later recovered. The officers were later praised in Parliament by ministers for their bravery. Piruz had been in the UK a matter of days when he launched a frenzied assault on two police officers as they investigated a burglary in Crawley, West Sussex Piruz had been in the UK a matter of days when he launched the frenzied assault on the officers as they investigated a burglary in Crawley, West Sussex. Days earlier he had assaulted a member of staff at Gatwick Airport but was released onto the streets by local magistrates. Piruz got into Britain despite being a convicted murderer in Holland. In June 2006, he murdered his Chinese female tenant by cutting off her head at a house in Almere, a city close to Amsterdam. Court documents in Holland said he was inspired by Taliban movies in which beheadings were seen. It is staggering that someone could assault staff at Gatwick and then a couple of days later attack two police officers. The files said he locked his victim in her room, snatched her mobile phone, then cut her throat. They said he acted intentionally and with premeditation. Rejecting his plea of insanity, Dutch judges concluded: The killing of the victim was not the result of an instantaneous violent emotion, but a decision to do so. Piruz was convicted of murder in August 2007 and sentenced to 12 years behind bars. He was released in 2014, after serving seven years. As a permanent Dutch resident, the killer was allowed to travel freely across the EU. Last night WED Tory MP Henry Smith, who represents Crawley, said: The country has got to have tougher border controls. Clearly, being a member of the EU did not protect us on this occasion. A very dangerous individual was allowed to travel here without us having prior knowledge that hed committed murder in the Netherlands. It is staggering that someone could assault staff at Gatwick and then a couple of days later attack two police officers. Why was the information that he was a violent offender not available to us from our EU partners? Why was the information that he was a violent offender not available to us from our EU partners? This is an appalling example of the kind of people who are getting into the country undetected. Piruz pleaded guilty at Hove to two counts of attempting to cause grievous bodily harm with intent, burglary and affray. Two counts of attempted burglary and one of threatening with an offensive weapon will lie on file. Simon Blackford, defending, said there was a long gap between the murder and the latest offences. He said: This offence was committed at a time of stress for my client. He was in a foreign country. He seems to have been vulnerable. He seems to have been hallucinating. He was very confused by the vehicles driving on a different side of the road than he was used to. Politicians have called for Home Secretary Amber Rudd to introduce a tougher US-style warning system to flag up whether any traveller has a conviction When EU nationals arrive at the border, their passport details are checked against a watchlist of suspected terrorists and foreign criminals compiled by the border agency. But unless an offender is high profile, is known to have committed crimes in several countries, or is on the Interpol wanted list, the system is unlikely to be aware of their previous convictions leaving a gaping hole in our border controls. Except in the most extreme circumstances, Brussels does not force member states to share information on known criminals who might be planning to travel. France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Poland flag up potential dangermen to the UK so they can be put on a watchlist and turned away at the port or airport. But if countries do not warn the UK that a dangerous offender is on the way and some do not even keep information of convictions for their own internal use there is little we can do to stop them slipping through the net. Even if a new arrival does have a known conviction, they cannot automatically be picked up and refused entry. Normally, a person can be excluded from the UK only if they pose a genuine, present and sufficiently serious threat to society and the public. This is an appalling example of the kind of people who are getting into the country undetected. This means that it is not enough for an EU citizen to have a serious criminal conviction if it is some time in the past, the UK may fall foul of Brussels directives if they refuse to allow that person into the country. In a bid to tighten up Britains borders, the Government has finally negotiated access to the Second Generation Schengen Information System, known as SIS II, which has details of 250,000 wanted or missing people. But the system, used by 28 countries, will only issue alerts about the most dangerous on-the-run criminals as well as suspected jihadists returning from Syria and Iraq, missing people and stolen goods. President Obama has made an emotional pitch to President-elect Donald Trump not to reverse his executive actions that have shielded immigrants brought here illegally as children from deportation. He told Democrats in a closed door meeting he felt strongly about the issue in personal terms, and apparently has made a similar appeal to his successor. The issue is politically fraught and was central to Democratic appeals to Hispanic voters in their opposition to Trump's election. 'He said ... he felt very strongly about this and he understood former presidents are supposed to step back from the field, but he said this one means so much to him personally that he would not step away from the responsibility of saying something if necessary,' Senator Richard Durbin of Illinois told NBC. Durbin said he asked Obama about the issue during a caucus meeting where Democrats strategized about how to protect Obamacare from Republican repeal. President Obama has urged President-elect Donald Trump not to deport DREAMers children brought here illegally by their parents, according to lawmakers 'His message was, those are good kids who didn't do anything wrong,' a lawmaker told Politico. 'That was heartfelt. He brought that up,' the lawmaker added. Obama 'spoke to Trump very directly' about the issue, according to the publication. The two men met in person at the White House and have had multiple phone conversations since. Obama's personal plea stands in contrast to how the White House said he would proceed when it comes to his namesake legacy of Obamacare. 'It's time for somebody else to pick up the mantle,' White House press secretary Josh Earnest said, when discussing whether Obama planned to defend the law after he leaves the White House. Obama signed the executive actions, called DACA, to protect the DREAMers after the collapse of bipartisan immigration reform legislation in 2012. Democrats including Hillary Clinton featured the move in their campaigns, while Trump vowed to reverse Obama's actions. Trump called for reversing Obama's immigration actions during the elections, but has soften his rhetoric in more recent comments US President Barack Obama signs two Presidential Memoranda associated with his Executive Actions on immigration in his office on board Air Force One in Las Vegas, Nevada, November 21, 2014 Immigration reform supporters rally outside of the Supreme Court as oral arguments are heard on President Obama's executive actions which would help defer deportation for undocumented people in April Illinois senator Richard Durbin said Obama told Democrats he 'felt very strongly' about the immigration issue Obama took additional actions to protect the parents of immigrant children who are U.S. citizens, but none of the moves have the force of permanent law. Trump sounded open to the appeal during an interview with Time magazine last month, despite his vows to reverse Obama on the issue. 'We're going to work something out that's going to make people happy and proud,' Trump said. Tony Blair yesterday announced he is ploughing almost 10million into his new crusade against 'populists'. The former Prime Minister has vowed to use his riches and influence to fight Brexit and stop Britain quitting the European Union. He is winding up his secretive money-making empire and setting up the Tony Blair Institute, a not-for-profit organisation entirely owned by him. Yesterday, as his firms' annual accounts were published, he revealed he is giving 9.3million from his companies to the new institute, whose purpose will be to tackle 'the new populism' which he said was driving the world apart on Brexit and other issues. Tony Blair has vowed to use his riches and influence to fight Brexit and stop Britain quitting the European Union But as usual, Mr Blair's accounts do not reveal how much money he has taken for himself on his 'final payday' before he starts working for free. The complex web of companies named Windrush and Firerush - was set up ten years ago in such a way that it is impossible to see what he earned. However the accounts do offer a clue that profits may have risen significantly in the past year. Tony and his wife Cherie own 38 properties worth more than 32million From the limited information available, a firm named Windrush Ventures No. 3 appears to be the real money-maker for Mr Blair. Because it is a 'limited partnership', it is not obliged to make public its profits. Yet the accounts show that this firm was able to pay out a share of profits worth 3.2million to other Windrush companies a 42 per cent increase on a similar profit share paid last year. It was also able to pay out nearly 15million to other Windrush companies for admin services. Mr Blair has pledged to work for nothing at his new institute. His office said yesterday: 'On his instruction, the articles of association stipulate that he will not receive any salary or remuneration for this role.' The millionaire ex-Labour leader has previously suggested he is not worth more than 20million, even though he and his wife Cherie own 38 properties worth more than 32million. When he announced last September that he was winding down his Windrush and Firerush companies, after years of raking in millions of pounds from foreign despots, Mr Blair claimed he wanted to concentrate on charity work. The dramatic move was interpreted as a desperate bid to salvage his reputation, shortly after it was trashed by the Chilcot report into the Iraq war. But critics suggested that he had simply made so much money, he did not need any more. Blair has been holding clandestine meetings with like-minded 'progressives' such as former Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg Now Mr Blair says he is returning to the Westminster stage to 'play at least a small part' in shaping the UK's future. He says his new institute will 'inform and support' political leaders, but insists he is not looking for office himself. He has said: 'This is not about my returning to the front line of politics. I have made it abundantly clear that this is not possible. Tony Blair is winding up his secretive money-making empire and setting up the Tony Blair Institute, a not-for-profit organisation entirely owned by him 'However, I care about my country and the world my children and grandchildren will grow up in; and want to play at least a small part in contributing to the debate about the future of both.' His first grandchild was born in October. In recent weeks, Mr Blair, 63, has been holding clandestine meetings with like-minded 'progressives' such as former Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg to draw up plans aimed at keeping Britain in the EU. In November, he declared that Brexit 'can be stopped' because he said many Leave supporters would change their minds once they realised the economic case 'doesn't stack up'. Explaining his new not-for-profit institute, Mr Blair said it was 'not a think tank', but 'a platform for engagement to inform and support the practising politician'. It would 'build a new policy agenda for the centre ground' with networks to link people together. Hopes nations restore co-operation after an investigation into training material Defence Minister Marise Payne has denied Australia recruited Indonesian military officers as spies while defending the government's handling of a military suspension between the countries. Senator Payne is hopeful Indonesia will restore military co-operation with Australia after an investigation into offensive material seen at Perth military base caused military co-operation between the two nations to be put on ice. It's believed the offensive material involved a reference to West Papua and the ridiculing of Indonesia's national ideology, Pancasila. Scroll down for video Elite Indonesian army special forces command known Kopassus stand in formation Defence Minister Marise Payne has denied Australia recruited Indonesian military officers as spies The Indonesia's military chief General Gatot Nurmantyo has been quoted by the ABC saying he stopped sending his best soldiers for training in Australia out of fears they would be 'recruited'. Senator Payne told ABC Radio she vehemently denied the claim, voicing her confidence an inquiry would resume relations between the two nations. 'It is something we would not countenance..I would hope at the conclusion of the inquiry, when we're able to indicate to Indonesia the steps that have been taken in Australia to address any of these concerns, we'll be able to discuss resuming the relationship across the board then,' she said. 'The investigation requires an examination of materials, interviews with the Australians involved and an opportunity for the Indonesian officer to comment, these things need to done appropriately and fairly which takes time,' the minister said. She knew about the issue back in November, however only wrote to her Indonesian counterpart this week. The issue had been handled between Australia's chief of defence force and chief of army, Senator Payne said. Australian Defence Minister Marise Payne (pictured right) met her Indonesian counterpart Ryamizard Ryacudu in Jakarta last year A group of Indonesian military staff college students was due to visit Australia but that arrangement was cancelled. Senator Payne said Indonesia's participation in an upcoming muli-national naval exercise is up in the air. Indonesia's Defence Minister Ryamizard Ryacudu has said the Australian lieutenant involved in the incident had been punished, but Senator Payne refused to confirm any action. Retired Major General Jim Molan predicts the issue will blow over soon. 'We can be insensitive at the bottom level, not at the top level,' he told Sky News. 'We can be irreverent at the bottom level and the Indonesians can be overly sensitive all the way up and down their chain.' Indonesian Army's Kopassus special forces patrol outside the venues of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Indonesian Special Forces group Kopassus trains with the Special Air Service at Perth's Campbell Barracks. A Kopassus instructor was offended by material on display at the training facility, Indonesian newspaper Kompas reported. The material was insulting to the Indonesian state ideology of Pancasila, which is symbolised by a Javan hawk-eagle. The Indonesian trainer in Perth was upset this symbol had been mocked, online news website Abadikini said. An Indonesian military officer was upset his nation's Pancasila symbol of independence had been mocked. (Pictured is a Javan hawk-eagle symbol outside an official building) The Australian Defence Association said it was hypocritical for Indonesians to be offended by the ridicule of Pancasila democracy as Jakarta's Christian Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama faced blasphemy charges for insulting Islam. 'Jakarta governor's politically-motivated 'blasphemy' trial genuinely contravenes Pancasila, so odd cause cited for Australian-Indonesian military cooperation problem,' the Canberra-based think tank said. Indonesia executed Australian drug smugglers Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran in 2015 despite believing in the Pancasila principle of 'just and civilised humanity'. Leslie Van Houten - Murderer - In prison She met Charles Manson and the Family in 1968 as a 19-year-old and moved onto his ranch. Van Houten quickly became infatuated with the monster, and she committed murder less than a year later. She walked into the home of Leno and Rosemary LaBianca and stabbed the latter 16 times. Shortly after she was found guilty and sentenced to death in 1971, California banned executions, so her tariff was changed to life. In April last year, having had 19 of her previous parole hearings thrown out, a panel recommended her for release. But Governor Jerry Brown overturned the decision and the 67-year-old remains in prison. Bobby Beausoleil - Murderer - In prison Beausoleil was an aspiring musician and actor before he joined the Manson family. He was originally was sentenced to death for the 1969 slaying of musician Gary Hinman, but it was commuted to life in prison when the California Supreme Court ruled the death penalty unconstitutional in 1972. He was transferred in 1994 to the Oregon State Penitentiary in Salem at his request, after he married a woman from Oregon while in prison and fathered four children. If parole officials recommend his release, the decision will be reviewed by the entire parole board and California Governor Jerry Brown could also block his parole. He has spent 45 years in prison and has been denied supervised release 18 times. Paul Watkins - Family member - Dead Watkins became entranced by Charles Manson and became close to him during his time sporadically living at the ranch. After the leader's shift towards violence, Watkins left the Family and hid out while they carried out the murders. He testified against Manson, revealing his 'Helter Skelter' prophecy, and went on to lecture on the effects of drugs and cults. Watkins died of Leukemia in 1990 at the age of 40. Catherine Share - Convict - Born-again Christian Share was a World War Two survivor who was sent to the US after her parents committed suicide in an act of defiance against the Nazis. She found solace at Manson's ranch where she met Bobby Beausoleil on the shoot of a soft-porn movie. Share became a recruiter for the Family, bringing in Van Houten, and was although she wasn't convicted of the murders, she was sent to prison for witness tampering and hijacking. It is claimed she gave birth to Manson's son in prison, but when she walked out a free woman in 1975 having served five years, she turned her back on the cult and became a devout Christian. Mary Brunner - Convict - Released with new identity The college graduate was the first follower of Charles Manson's cult and was present during the 1969 murder of musician Gary Allen Hinman. A year earlier she had given birth to Manson's third son - Valentine Michael Manson - after she and the boy's father had become lovers. She was sentenced to 20 years to life but was paroled in 1977 and has managed to keep a low profile with a new name. Susan Atkins - Murderer - Dead Atkins met Manson in 1967 and gave birth to a son on the ranch which the cult leader named Zezozose Zadfrack Glutz. She was convicted of the 1969 murder of Gary Hinman, who was beaten to death, as well as the later murders of actress Sharon Tate and four others. Shortly after she was found guilty and sentenced to death in 1971, California banned executions, so her tariff was changed to life. Atkins died in prison in 2009, and at the time of her death was the longest-serving female inmate in the state of California. Linda Kasabian - Family member - Living as a traveller Having joined the family as a 20-year-old hippie, she moved onto the ranch in 1969. Kasabian witness the Manson murders and claimed to have fled in horror. She became the key witness in the murder trials and was granted immunity for her testimony. Kasabian moved in with her mother in New Hampshire but was hounded regularly, so changed her name and tried to vanish. A film crew caught up with her in 2009 when she was living as a traveller. Steve Grogan - Murderer - Free man having served 15 years Grogan moved onto the ranch in the late 1960s and was with Manson when the LaBiancas were murdered. Although he played no part in killing them, two weeks later he killed Hollywood stuntman Donald 'Shorty' Shea. Grogan served less than 15 years for the murder, orchestrated by Manson, and is now living as a free man at the age of 64. He was initially sentenced to death, but it was reduced to life due to diminished responsibility because of his sobriety and intelligence. Patricia Krenwinkel - Murderer - Awaiting parole Krenwinkel helped kill pregnant actress Sharon Tate and six other people at the urging of Manson 47 years ago. Shortly after she was found guilty and sentenced to death in 1971, California banned executions, so her tariff was changed to life. A two-member parole panel has delayed making a decision on whether to release the longest-serving female inmate in California. The 69-year-old has previously been denied parole 13 times, most recently in 2011. Charles Watson - Murderer - In prison Watson, 71, is serving a life sentence for the murders of Tate and four others at her Beverly Hills, California, home on August 9, 1969. California parole officials recommended in October that Charles 'Tex' Watson, the self-described right-hand man of murderous cult leader Charles Manson, should remain in prison 47 years after he helped plan and carry out the slayings of pregnant actress Sharon Tate and six other people. The next night, he helped kill grocer Leno LaBianca and his wife, Rosemary. Watson's 17th parole hearing was held at Mule Creek State Prison, near Sacramento. He can seek parole again in five years. Squeaky Fromme - Attempted assassin - Released on parole Fromme was one of Manson's most trusted member of the Family. She was never actively involved in any of the murders, but was a permanent fixture at the trials where she voiced her support of Manson. In 1975, she pulled a pistol on the then President Gerald Ford in Sacramento's Capitol Park. The gun did not go off and Fromme was wrestled to the ground by a Secret Service agent. She was sentenced to life but now walks free at the age of 68 having been released in 2009, despite escaping to see Manson who she heard had developed cancer. Source: Biography.com But what about his ACTUAL family? A number of people have come forward claiming to be illegitimate children of Charles Manson either by way of rape or relationship. The definitive family tree of one of the world's most disturbing men may never be fully proved. But here are the children and their mothers that we know for sure to be his. Rosalie Jean Willis - Former spouse - Dead Charles Manson married his first wife Rosalie Jean Willis in 1955 in West Virginia. Shortly after, they decided to move to Los Angeles to be with his mother, and he stole a car to make the trip for which he was arrested and jailed. While in prison, Willis gave birth to Charles Milles Manson Jr in 1956. They divorced a year later and she died in 2009 of lung cancer at the age of 72. Candy Stevens - Former spouse - Dead The prostitute pleaded with a judge in court after Manson had been convicted of attempting to forge a cheque. With tears streaming down her face, she begged the bench to free him so that they could get married. They tied the knot in 1959, had a child together - Charles Luther Manson - and divorced in 1963. Charles Manson Jr - Son - Dead He was born in 1956 with his father in prison. His mother Rosalie Jean Willis and Manson Sr divorced in 1957 when he was barely a year old. In 1993, he was found on the side of the road in his car having reportedly shot himself in the head. Charles Luther Manson - Son - Unknown The murderer's second son was born shortly after his father and prostitute Candy Stevens married in 1959. Unsurprisingly, he disassociated himself with the family name and his whereabouts are unknown. It is not clear if he is alive or not. Mary Brunner - Partner - On parole The college graduate was the first follower of Charles Manson's cult and was present during the 1969 murder of musician Gary Allen Hinman. A year earlier she had given birth to Manson's third son - Valentine Michael Manson - after she and the boy's father had become lovers. She was sentenced to 20 years to life but was paroled in 1977 and has managed to keep a low profile. Valentine Michael Manson - Son - Alive Manson's third son was adopted by his grandparents as a child, and he quickly abandoned the family name. Four young children, including three from the same family, are battling meningococcal in the latest outbreak. The two siblings and their cousin, all aged under five, from Brisbane's north came down with the deadly infection on New Year's Day. It followed an extended family gathering over the holiday period and they all celebrated New Year's Eve in South Bank alongside 90,000 others. The fourth unrelated child from South Brisbane was diagnosed on December 31. Four young children, including three from the same family, are battling meningococcal in the latest outbreak (stock image) All four are recovering at Lady Cilento Childrens Hospital, one of the related trio in a serious but stable condition and the others in stable conditions. All were expected to recover. Sarah Smith, whose son Finn contracted meningococcal in 2013, warned parents to look out for 'tremors' in their children. She told the Courier Mail that the disease was difficult to spot because its symptoms were similar to the flu during its incubation period, and parents should seek help if their child was 'more miserable than normal'. Finn lost both his legs below the knee, his right hand and most of the fingers on his left from blood poisoning caused by the dangerous type B meningococcal septicaemia strain. The two siblings and their cousin, all aged under five, from Brisbane's north came down with the deadly infection on New Year's Day Ms Smith said the toddler, who was 13-months-old at the time, just had a runny nose but was still happy the day before he was admitted to hospital. In a matter of hours that night his condition rapidly worsened and he became miserable and with cold shivers. She rushed him to hospital when he developed the tell-tale red or purple rash but the infection had already entered his blood. The rash is one of the last symptoms to show, starting as a single spot or blister before spreading like a bruise across the body. There are vaccines for types and A and B, the two most common, but only type A is on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme with stocks of type B run out for at least another month Finn, now four years old, was fitted with prosthetic legs and was recently able to walk a few steps on his own, Ms Smith said. Public health physician Megan Young said there was no increased danger following the four new cases, after panic spread across social media. 'People should, as always, just be aware of signs and symptoms and if they are concerned that they may be coming down with meningococcal disease, they should see their medical practitioner,' she said. She said all those close to the children were identified and treated with anitbiotics as a precaution. All four are recovering at Lady Cilento Childrens Hospital, one of the related trio in a serious but stable condition and the others in stable conditions. All were expected to recover Common symptoms include vomiting, fever, headache, stiff neck, light sensitivity and a red or purple rash. Meningococcal is particularly deadly to children, killing about 10 per cent of those diagnosed. There are vaccines for types and A and B, the two most common, but only type A is on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme with stocks of type B run out for at least another month. A Chinese woman was caught on film running over a six-year-old girl's legs after the child refused to come home for lunch. The incident occurred on January 2 in Yangjiang City, southern China's Guangdong Province, reported the People's Daily Online. The girl was later found to have suffered internal bleeding, and the woman is the girlfriend of her grandfather. The six-year-old victim, surnamed Ye, was being dragged by another girl in Yangjiang, China The 41-second-long clip, posted to Miaopai was widely shared by outraged internet users across Chinese social media on January 2. At the beginning of the footage, the girl, surnamed Ye, was being dragged by another girl of the same age along the floor outside a house on South Fuyuan Road in Yangjiang. The female motorcyclist, surnamed Chen, slowly rode her vehicle over Ye's legs. Ye was dragged further by the girl while Chen rode the bike towards her. Chen can then be seen riding over the victim's legs. The horrifying clip has caught attention from web users and local police. Shocking: The female motorcyclist, surnamed Chen, slowly rode the vehicle over Ye's legs The injured girl was taken to the hospital where she was found to have internal bleeding Yangjiang police said in a statement on Weibo that Chen, 29, had been the live-in partner of the girl's grandfather, 50, since 2014. The child who was pulling Ye is Chen's daughter. Chen was responsible for taking care of Ye while her grandfather and father were away working in other cities. Chen said Ye was playing outside and refused to return home for lunch. Chen's own daughter tried to drag Ye back home, while Chen rode the bike towards Ye to threaten her. The woman told the police that she accidentally ran over Ye's legs and she didn't intend to hurt her. Ye was taken to the hospital where she was found to have internal bleeding. She is now in the care of her father, who returned to Yangjiang after watching the video. Chen was arrested by police on January 3. Advertisement China issued its first national red alert for air pollution on Wednesday as the country continues to battle poor air quality. The red alert affects over 20 Chinese cities and means that visibility could be down to 50 metres (160 feet) in just two hours, reports the People's Daily Online. China's National Observatory have also warned drivers in the affected cities to drive with caution while airports and ports are bracing themselves for cancellations. Scroll down for video Barely visible: Airplanes are seen parked at Beijing Capital International Airport as haze covers parts of Beijing Hard work: A traffic officer directs vehicles in Qingzhou, China's Shandong province as haze affects northern China Dangerous driving: Motorcycle riders try to continue on with daily life as fog blankets the city of Qingzhou Delays and cancellations are expected at airports across northern China following the red alert. Red is the highest level in China's four tier system for air pollution warnings. There are 21 cities in China also on an orange alert, the second highest. Largely affected regions include Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei provinces. Beijing has since banned heavy polluting petrol vehicles and trucks loaded with construction garbage from driving on roads. Northern China has been battling poor air quality for the past few days with air quality ratings already reaching beyond the World Health Organisation's unhealthy index. According to Ma Xuejie from China's Meteorological Observatory, the red alert for fog has only been introduced since 2014. Ma told reporters: 'Recently the haze has gradually increased reaching the relevant standards so the Central Meteorological Observatory issued the first red fog warning.' When speaking about PM2.5, the harmful particles found in smog, Ma said: 'The greater the particle diameter, the poorer the visibility.' Delays expected: Airplanes are parked at Beijing Caiptal International Airport as haze continues to shroud the city Chinese paramilitary policemen prepare to change shifts at Beijing's Tiananmen Square amid heavy pollution Where's the city? High-rise buildings in Beijing are barely seen as smog blanketed the Chinese capital on January 4 Riding through the smog: A cyclist wears a face mask while riding on a road in Fuyang City, east China's Anhui province On January 3, a time lapse video emerged showing smog smothering the Chinese capital, completely changing the skyline in just 20 minutes. Thousands of primary schools have suspended classes across the region. China's Ministry of Environmental Protection announced on January 2 that it had punished 500 enterprises and construction sites for continuing to operate despite demands to close. Photos taken on January 4 show the full extent of the air pollution. Many people have taken to social media site Weibo to complain about the pollution. One user wrote: 'I would rather have a slowdown in economy than heavy pollution.' While another commented: 'the smog is so horrible...maybe we should have Chinese new year holidays earlier.' And one user said: 'I haven't seen the nearby buildings for days now.' Air pollution in China increases during the winter months with last November proving to be a particularly troublesome time for northern regions. Red alerts were issued in Jiangxi and Shanxi provinces during that time. Dancing in the dark: Local residents wear face masks while dancing in heavy fog in Fuyang City, China's Anhui province Invisible skyline: High-rise buildings are barely seen after heavy fog hit China's Anhui province on January 4 Queues of traffic: Jinan City was left wrapped in fog and haze in east China's Shandong province on January 4 Poor quality: An aerial photo from a passenger plane shows heavy haze covering northern outskirts of Beijing A recently emerged video has shown just how money could ruin a marriage in China. The footage, widely shared on Chinese social media, shows that a bride changed her mind on the day of her wedding after she deemed the cash gift given by her future in-laws had not met her expectation. The woman, in her wedding gown, yelled 'I won't marry' to her groom and his parents during a traditional tea-serving ceremony. The bride, in wedding dress, served a cup of tea to the future father-in-law sitting in the video The video was posted to Miaopai, a video-sharing website in China, on January 3. The Chinese bride is said to accuse her future father-in-law for tricking her into marrying his son. The father had promised to offer the bride 10,001 yuan (1,173) as a wedding gift, according to the video. However, during the tea-serving ceremony which is usually held before the wedding banquet, the woman became furious after she found out she was given 1,001 yuan (117) instead. The footage adds to the long list of recent incidents which reflect the financial burden on China's bridegrooms and their families in order to pay expensive betrothal gifts. In return, the man handed a red envelope containing cash to the bride as a wedding gift The beginning of video shows the bride, identified as Xiaoli, kneeling in front of her father-in-law together with her fiance. The woman presented a cup of tea to her future father-in-law who sat on the sofa. In the Chinese wedding customs, a couple would offer tea to their elders to show their respect and gratitude before they hold the wedding ceremony. After Xiaoli served tea to her groom's father, the man handed a red envelope containing cash to Xiaoli as her wedding gift. The amount of cash in the envelope carries specific meanings. The amount of 10,001 yuan (1,173) is usually given by the parents to the couple, according to People's Daily. It means that their child's other half is chosen out of the 10,000 people. Xiaoli opened the envelope and was disappointed to see that she had only got 1,001 yuan (1,173). The bride was disappointed to see only 1,001 yuan. She was about to throw the cash to the table Feeling angry, the bride yelled towards her future in-laws: 'You said earlier you would give 10,001 yuan to me. Now it's only 1,001 yuan!' She threw the banknotes on the table and shouted: 'I won't marry!' The father looked distressed seeing the bride's reactions while the bridegroom was trying to calm her down. The video is believed to be shot in a Chinese city. However, the video uploader didn't not state the location and time of the wedding ceremony. The angry woman yelled 'I won't marry' as the father looked distressed to see her reactions The clip only features one of the many Chinese families who are troubled by the high wedding expenses. As a cultural tradition in China, the groom's family would give a large sum of money to the bride's family for the marriage. But in recent years, the betrothal gift has caused a great burden for many families, particularly in rural areas of China, reports People's Daily. A groom-to-be from Henan province of central China said in the report that he had to spend half of his parents' savings on the upcoming wedding as the bride's family had asked for a 160,000-yuan-car (18,762) as the wedding gift. Some families in the region spend over 400,000 yuan (46,889) on wedding ceremonies. Together with the gifts, the wedding could have depleted the families' assets. To stop more families from getting into debts due to their childrens' weddings, Henan's Taiqian county has recently released a guideline on wedding gifts. Two Chinese city leaders were shot and wounded today after a gunman burst into a meeting they were in and opened fire. The gunman is suspected to be another senior official of the city who was found dead after committing suicide, reported People'a Daily Online. The incident occurred at 10:50am local time in Panzhihua city, south-west China's Sichuan Province. Zhang Yan (left) and Li Jianqin (right), leaders of Panzhihua, were shot and wounded today. Mr Zhang is the secretary of the Communist Party for Panzhihua and Mr Li is the city's mayor The shooting occurred at 10:50am at the Panzhihua Conference and Exhibition Centre. Pictures from Chinese media show the exhibition centre was sealed off by the police today The two wounded officials are reported to be Zhang Yan, the secretary of the Communist Party for Panzhihua city, and Li Jianqin, the mayor of Panzhihua city. They were attending a meeting at the Panzhihua Conference and Exhibition Centre when they were attacked. According to the government website of Panzhihua, Zhang Yan, 54, the city's former mayor, was appointed the party secretary of Panzhihua in June, 2015. Li Jianqin, 52, the city's former deputy party secretary, was appointed the mayor of Panzhihua in August, 2016. Both officials were taken to the hospital immediately. They sustain non-life-threatening injuries, the People's Daily report said. Chen Zhongshu (right), the chief of the city's Land and Resources Bureau, was suspected to be the gunman. He was later found dead in the exhibition centre (left) after committing suicide Located in south-west China, Panzhihua is a multi-ethnic city with around 1.2 million residents Chen Zhongshu, who was the chief of the city's Land and Resources Bureau, was suspected to have carried out the shooting rampage. The 52-year-old was later found dead on the first floor of the same exhibition centre. He had committed suicide, said the report. Chen was said to be working as usual prior to the shooting. The police is yet to release a statement regarding the incident. No details have been reported about the suspect's possible motive. A man armed with a knife went on the rampage on Wednesday at a Chinese kindergarten stabbing 11 young children. According to reports, the man climbed over the wall of the kindergarten in Pingxiang, southern China's Guangxi autonomous region, reports Huanqiu, an affiliation with the People's Daily Online. Their conditions are not thought to be life threatening. Sickening: 11 children were injured in the attack on the kindergarten in southern China The children were not said to be in a life threatening condition after the attack The suspect entered the building at 3.30pm local time. All of the wounded children have been sent to hospital. However their conditions are not thought to be life threatening. China Central Television said that the suspect had been detained by police and the incident was being investigated. Horrifying: The man entered the building at 3.30pm local time armed with a knife Traumatic event: All of the wounded children have been taken to hospital Pingxiang Police Department later revealed that the suspect was 41-year-old Jia Pengan from Nanshan village. A statement from the police department said: 'On January 4, 15.30, we received a report that the suspect climbed over the wall of Xiaocongzi kindergarten to stab students. 'Police immediately arrived at the scene to investigate the incident and interrogate the suspect. The suspect has been detained and police are still investigating his motive. 'Suspect Jia Pengan was born in 1975. He also resides in Pingxiang City.' According to a witness, the suspect is thought to have children at the kindergarten with his wife also working at the school as a teacher. There has been a series of knife and axe attacks in recent years including attacks on schools and kindergartens. In 2010 a man stabbed 29 school children and three teachers at a kindergarten in Taixing City. The 47-year-old was handed the death sentence for the attack. People have spoken about the incident on social media site Weibo. One user wrote: 'The children are too young, how could they bear such a psychological wound?' While another commented: 'What's the point of attacking innocent children?' Advertisement After 15 years of development and more than 200 flights, an Israel firm is confident its autonomous flying ambulance will be ready to hit the market by 2020 and will come with a $14 million price tag. The Cormorant, formally known as the 'AirMule', can transport about a half a ton (500kg) of weight at 115 miles (185 km) per hour. Designed by Urban Aeronautics, its developers say the military drone will be able to reach areas unfit for helicopters to deliver supplies and carry wounded soldiers to safety. Scroll down for videos After 15 years of development and more than 200 flights, an Israel firm is confident its autonomous flying ambulance will be ready to hit the market by 2020 and will cost about $14 million. The Cormorant, formally known as the 'AirMule', can transport about a half a ton (500kg) of weight at 115 miles (185 km) per hour CORMORANT FIGURES Capacity: 2 patients Length: 20 ft 4 in (6.2 m) Width: 11 ft 6 in (3.5 m) , 2.15 m without thrusters Height: 7 ft 7 in (2.3 m) , 1.8 m without thrusters Advertisement 'Just imagine a dirty bomb in a city and chemical substance of something else and this vehicle can come in robotically, remotely piloted, come into a street and decontaminate an area,' Urban Aeronautics founder and CEO Rafi Yoeli told Reuters. Although the firm has set 2020 for its release date, they say there is still plenty of work required before the autonomous vehicle hits the market. The Cormorant made its first solo flight over terrain in November, but during test, the team found small issues with conflicting data sent by on board sensors. Regardless, industry experts say this technology could say lives. 'It could revolutionize several aspects of warfare, including medical evacuation of soldiers on the battlefield,' said Tal Inbar, head of the UAV research center at Israel's Fisher Institute for Air and Space Strategic Studies. The Cormorant's sole purpose is to transport troops, civilian passengers or supplies within tight quarters where helicopters are unable to travel. The test flight, which was carried out on November 3, was the first time the Cormorant took to the skies over uneven terrain while piloting itself. Its developers say the military drone will be able to reach areas unfit for helicopters to deliver supplies to war zones and carry wounded soldiers to safety. Although the firm has set 2020 for its release, they say there is still plenty of work required before the autonomous vehicle hits the market. Pictures is Rafi Yoeli, founder and CEO of Urban Aeronautics This vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft has rotors (pictured) instead of propellers and is capable of carrying 1,000 pounds over 31 miles, allowing it to deliver supplies to war zones and carry wounded soldiers to safety 'This flight paves the way forward for the immediate evolution of Cormorant from prototype to near-term production and ultimately commercialization of this groundbreaking technology - for broad applications and markets, said Urban Aeronautics founder Rafi Yoeli. 'This is the most exciting time in the Company's history and we look forward to accelerating our progress now that the technology is fully proven.' Engineers designed the craft with a Flight Management System (FMS), which lets it to make 'split second decisions' if any of its sensors detect a problem during a mission. The craft will then make the judgment call on its own - it decides between continuing the journey, retreating home or making an immediate landing to wait for further instructions from a human operator. The Cormorant was developed the Israeli firm Tactical Robotics, a subsidiary of the 'Fancraft' technology pioneer Urban Aeronautics, who has conducted more than 200 flights with this military machine. The test flight (pictured), which was carried out on November 3, was the first time the Cormorant took to the skies over uneven terrain while piloting itself 'The challenge in designing and testing an FMS for a configuration that is has never been addressed by standard flight control algorithms, is analogous to a novice pilot attempting to fly for the first time with an understanding of basic aerodynamic principles but no instructor,' explained Urban Aeronautics. During the test flight, Cormorant's FMS corrected itself in response to unexpected events. Two instances were related to height above ground over the field (resulting from inaccuracies in laser beam return over uneven terrain and ground conditions). WHAT ARE THE FEATURES OF THE CORMORANT? Has completed about 200 flights with the prototype. Can carry just a little over 1,000 pounds of cargo. It can reach speeds of 100 knots (115 mph) and operate at altitudes of up to 18,000 feet. Features lift rotors that are safely enclosed inside its body and uses duct fans to operate. Powered by remote control or autonomous control system and it's equipped with rear propellers that enable it to take-off horizontally. The vehicles are powered by a 730 shp Turbomeca Arriel 1D1 turboshaft and the final versions will use the more powerful ARRIEL 2 variant, capable of providing 985 shp at takeoff. Tactical Robotics Ltd hopes the Cormorant will be in the field over the next few years. Cormorant will be able to deliver supplies day after day and can also be a maritime force multiplier on vessels that are too small for a traditional helicopter, as noted by Defense Update. Advertisement The Cormorant is set to replace medivac choppers, like the one from the television show MASH (pictured), in order to reach tight quarters helicopters cannot go The third event occurred over the tarmac, which was caused by 'poor judgment' on the part of the Flight Control System (FCS), causing the aircraft to descend too early in its landing approach. Instead of using traditional propellers, the Cormorant is designed with duct fans that keep the rotors enclosed in a protective shield in case the vehicle hits a wall or any other object in its path, reports LiveScience. These duct fans enable it to to take-off and land horizontally, and it also has vertical movement that is controlled by internal rotors, which can only be seen from directly above or below. However, Urban Aeronautics reveals that the team is working on obstacle avoidance sensors that will keep the vehicle away from oncoming objects, which they hope to add to the vehicle in the near future. The Cormorant has enough strength to carry 1,000 pounds per 30 miles, which means it can hull about 13,000 pounds in a full day. Engineers designed the craft with a Flight Management System (FMS), which lets it to make 'split second decisions' if any of its sensors detect a problem during a mission. The craft will then make the judgment call on its own - it decides between continuing the journey, retreating home or making an immediate landing to wait for further instructions The craft flies itself using an array of laser altimeters, radars and sensors, and it is capable of reaching speeds of 100 knots (115 mph) and operate at altitudes of up to 18,000 feet. It weighs about one-ton and can be operated with a specially made remote control or by using its own autonomous control system. Earlier this year, the Cormorant, which was known as the 'AirMule' at the time, hit a milestone that allowed it to successfully complete its autonomous flight. In January, the craft performed its first ever untethered flight, which it demonstrated a vertical takeoff and landing, followed by stability checks and forward flights at low speeds, reports Defense Update. Two instances were related to height above ground over the field (resulting from inaccuracies in laser beam return over uneven terrain and ground conditions). The third event occurred over the tarmac, which was caused by 'poor judgment' on the part of the Flight Control System (FCS), causing the aircraft to descend too early in its landing approach 'Looking back at a decade of internal rotor VTOL aircraft development at Urban Aeronautics Ltd', said Yoeli regarding the earlier this year. 'It gives me great satisfaction to see that we are able to transform a dream into a safe and reliable aircraft that is designed to meet manned helicopters safety criteria and absolutely stands up to existing airworthiness standards.' With the strength of the Cormorant, it will be able to deliver supplies day after day and can also be a maritime force multiplier on vessels that are too small for a traditional helicopter, as noted by Defense Update. The craft flies itself using an array of laser altimeters, radars and sensors, and it is capable of reaching speeds of 100 knots (115 mph) and operate at altitudes of up to 18,000 feet. It weighs about one-ton and can be operated with a specially made remote control or by using its own autonomous control system The craft's test flight took place on December 30th at the Megiddo airfield in the northern part of Israel. Urban Aeronautics is also working on compact, car-sized VTOL aircraft for civilians, called Metro Skyways. 'Metro Skyways is at an early stage of exploring business opportunities that will develop Urban's 'Fancraft' technologies into a family of safe, FAA certifiable personal and commercial, manned VTOL aircraft for the civil market', according to the company. This model may be the flying cars we have all so desperately hoped for. , so adults can order products via the speaker Forget human babysitters, Mattel has designed a virtual assistant that will keep an eye on your children. Deemed the 'worlds first smart baby monitor, Aristotle orders diapers, reads children bedtime stories, sings lullabies and teaches them a second language. The speaker is also equipped with a HD camera that streams live video through an encrypted cloud connection - which Mattel claims makes it safe for parents to watch their children from anywhere. Scroll down for video Aristotle will help parents order diapers, read bedtimes, sing lullabies and teach children a second language. The speaker is also equip with an HD camera that streams live video through an encrypted cloud connection WHAT IT CAN DO Automatically recognize when a baby wakes up, and sooth them to sleep with a lullaby, white noise, a favorite song, or a night light Log dirty diapers and feedings Automatically order more diapers and/or formula Recognize and answer young kids' questions after a voice recognition training session Answer questions until your child falls asleep Play guessing games with kids based on animal noises (say the name of the animal) or shapes held up to the camera (say the name of the shape), and light up with the correct answer Read aloud from a selection of thousands of children's books, via partnerships Recognize specially designed kids' toys with embedded NFC chips, or with its camera Advertisement Although Aristotle is aimed at watching over little ones, it is being compared to Amazons Echo and Google's Home because it is also a Wi-Fi speaker and boasts similar functions - and in fact has Amazon's shopping software built in. However, Mattel has teamed up with a range of tech giants to create this device, including Qualcomm and Microsoft, that helps it standout from the other home assistants, reports Fast Company. It is also much more expensive than Amazons virtual assistant Mattels device runs $399. Aristotle is equip with an accompanied app that lets parents program the device and where they can see live videos of their children. Users can instruct the assistant to soothe a crying baby by playing music or turn on a glow to set it up as a nightlight. The app also allows parents to program behaviors for when the baby is sleeping in order to assist in sleep training. But what many parents may deem a lifesaver is that the technology keeps track of things they do, such as changing dirty diapers and feeding schedules. Parents simply log in different activities using voice commands and Aristotle will keep a digital log. And it lets you know when things need to be replenished. For example, the device will say, It looks like you need more diapers, would you like to order more, reports Mark Wilson with Fast Company. After it hits stores in June 2017, it will already have partnered with a range of retailers including Pampers making it easier to get your favorite brands delivered right to your door. Parents can log in activities using voice commands and Aristotle will keep a digital log - such as diaper changes and feeding. And it lets you know when things need to be purchased. Mattel also says Aristotle is able to understand almost every young child when they talk Even though it is being compared to Amazons Alexa, the technology isnt competitive - Mattel designed it to be compatible. Parents can access Alexa in parent mode by simply saying 'Alexa', rather than starting off with Aristotle, which is child mode - this AI believes she is a descended from the Greek philosopher himself. The reason Mattel designed the device with two AIs is because you dont want your child ordering a bunch of diapers or anything else theyre asking for, Robb Fujioka, senior vice president, chief products officer at Mattel, told Fast Company. Children can use Aristotle as they would a kindergarten teacher. ALEXA'S BIG MISUNDERSTANDING Mattel prides themselves on Aristotle being able to understand almost every young child when they talk - something Alexa and Google Home have failed to do. When a child is first given their smart baby monitor, they will be asked to read a paragraph out loud so the technology can learn to recognize their voice. Recently a little boy asked got more than he bargained for when he asked his family's new Amazon Echo Dot to play him some of his favorite kid's songs. A hilarious YouTube video sees a boy named William holding the smart speaker while asking the Alexa voice service to 'play digger, digger'. However, things take a very X-rated turn when Alexa suggests some very vulgar categories of pornography instead. The clip begins with William hunched over a table while trying out the new Echo Dot, which his family presumably got for Christmas. While Alexa ponders what William was asking for when he said what sounds like 'play digger, digger' his mom suggests that he ask to hear Wheels on the Bus. However, Alexa interrupts to announce 'porn detected' before she starts saying 'c**t, s**t, sex, c**k, p***y, anal, dildo'. Advertisement They can ask questions like who made the first American flag or ask it to play a game with them. Mattel prides itself on Aristotle being able to understand almost every young child when they talk - something Alexa and Google Home have failed to do. When a child is first given their smart baby monitor, they will be asked to read a paragraph out loud so the technology can learn to recognize their voice. Parents can access Alexa, the assistant in Amazon Echo (pictured) in parent mode, rather than starting off with Aristotle, which is a child mode and believes she is a descended from the Greek philosopher himself The cameras fitted in the speaker are designed with object recognition, which can identify flashcards and toys a child shows it. Mattel says that they were very serious when creating a secure speaker and put 256bit encryption on all transmissions to Aristotle's servers. However, the toy companys technology may keep faceless hackers at bay, but they themselves have been accused on use their toys to spy on children. After a two-year probe Mattel, along with Viacom, Hasbro and JumpStart, was ordered to pay $835,000 in fines for tracking and collecting personal data of children online in September. All four companies allowed tracking technology on their websites, which violates the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act that limits marketing to children under 13. And this included Mattels popular Wi-Fi enabled Barbie. IS BARBIE SPYING ON YOUR KIDS? Last year, an expert claimed Mattel's Wi-Fi enabled Barbie can be hacked and the toy could even act like a surveillance device by listening into a family's conversations. Hello Barbie (pictured) launched last year that has parents wonder if the toy maker is eavesdropping on their children This follows on from the news that a hacker obtained photos of children and chat logs from toymaker VTech, which makes electronic learning devices. The doll connects to the internet via Wi-Fi so it can search responses to questions via software company ToyTalk. It also has a microphone to record a child's speech and respond to them. Because the doll remembers conversations and learns from the data to provide tailored responses, it almost seems like 'she's alive', explained the firm. Matt Jakubowski told NBC that he has discovered the toy is vulnerable to hacking. He hacked the doll's operating system to get access to network names and IDs. Once inside a network, he said it is easy to access account information and stored audio files as well as gain access to the microphone. Mattel released Hello Barbie last year, which uses voice recognition software and Wi-Fi connection to have a two-way conversation with children as they play and has come under fire for privacy issues. Speech recognition software is implanted into the doll, which converts audio into text and artificial intelligence software pulls keywords from human responses, reported Newsweek. They really shouldn't call it Hello Barbie; they should call it Surveillance Barbie,' Susan Linn, founding director of Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood (CCFC), told Newsweek in March. The nonprofit launched a 'Hell No Barbie' campaign that month with the hope of shutting down the product. 'Kids talking to Hello Barbie aren't just talking to a doll; they're talking to Mattel...a multinational corporation whose only interest in them is financial.' But Michelle Chidoni, head of Mattel's communications, says, 'It's not a surveillance device. There's not a camera in the doll.' Advertisement All of the companies are now required to do regular audits of their websites to make sure no new tracking tools have magically appeared. The settlements also state that the companies conduct due diligence with all the third-party services prior to working with them. Astronomers may have witnessed the birth of new solar systems after discovering hundreds of newborn stars - some of which may eventually support life. The new type of stars, called MNors, were discovered while a team of international researchers surveyed around 300 million stars in our galaxy. A total of 816 stars, at least half of which are new, were uncovered while experts were attempting to solve a long-standing mystery surrounding star formation. Scroll down for video Astronomers witnessed the birth of new solar systems after discovering hundreds of newborn stars - some of which may eventually support life. These infrared telescopic images show the before and after shots of a brightening outburst captured by the team as a new star formed HOW DO PLANETS AND STARS FORM? According to our current understanding, a star and its planets form out of a collapsing cloud of dust and gas within a larger cloud called a nebula. As gravity pulls material in the collapsing cloud closer together, the center of the cloud gets more and more compressed and, in turn, gets hotter. This dense, hot core becomes the kernel of a new star. Meanwhile, inherent motions within the collapsing cloud cause it to churn. As the cloud gets exceedingly compressed, much of the cloud begins rotating in the same direction. The rotating cloud eventually flattens into a disk that gets thinner as it spins, kind of like a spinning clump of dough flattening into the shape of a pizza. These 'circumstellar' or 'protoplanetary' disks, as astronomers call them, are the birthplaces of planets. Advertisement The team of scientists, led by Dr Carlos Contreras and Dr Philip Lucas from the University of Hertfordshire, say their findings have led to more questions about the new star population. 'Stars and planets are known to form in a spinning disc of gas and dust that gradually feeds matter on to the newborn star, or "protostar", at the centre,' said lead author Dr Contreras. 'This process is hidden from view in visible light for about half a million years. 'Once this has happened, then the obscuring cloak of matter around a newborn solar system is gathered in or dispersed.' The team from Hertfordshire University worked in collaboration with researchers from the University of Valparaiso and Andres Bello University in Chile. Over a period of five years, from 2010 to 2015, astronomers surveyed the stars and found that over 100 of the new MNor stars have major eruptions that see them brighten up for several years. For more than 30 years experts have seen sudden eruptions of light in stars which become 100 times brighter in visible light because of a large amount of matter suddenly dumped on to the surface of the protostar by the surrounding disc. To understand why this change happens, the team used a VISTA infrared telescope based in Chile to see through obscuring dust and discovered that newborn protostars cannot usually be seen in visible light. Eruptions are far more common in the MNor stars than in older systems and around 4 per cent of the monitored protostars had an eruption over a period of 4 years. The structure of these newborn solar systems is not yet clear, but some of them may contain planets. The new type of stars, called MNors, were discovered while a team of international researchers surveyed around 300 million stars in the Milky Way Galaxy. Pictured here is the Paranal observatory in Chile that the team used in their research The team used a VISTA infrared telescope based in Chile (pictured here) to see through obscuring dust and discovered that newborn protostars cannot usually be seen in visible light Dr Phil Lucas from Hertfordshire University's Centre for Astrophysics Research (CAR) said: 'It still remains to be seen whether most stars are assembled in fits and starts like this, or by a gentle steady accumulation of matter. 'These discoveries have led to more questions about the nature of this new population of extreme variable stars.' Dr Kurtev said: 'The duration of the outbursts in regular stars is also different when compared to MNors. 'Previously seen outbursts in visible light either lasted many decades or only about a year, compared to a few years in the new optically hidden MNors. 'In some MNors the rise and fall seems to be periodic, suggesting that an interaction with a companion star or planet may be responsible. 'This timescale of typically a few years is different but it seems clear that many new solar systems have a bumpy start.' Dr Lucas added: 'This is an exciting discovery that could change the way we think about star formation. It throws up a lot of questions in relation to how stars are born, but this is something we will continue to research.' And he suggests that there could be reason to explore the new systems further in future. 'It is possible that these newborn stars host newborn Earth-sized planets,' he told MailOnline. 'Given the right conditions, they could develop life at some future date, though at present these new solar systems are chaotic places, almost certainly too young and too chaotic for life to have begun.' The research was published in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. Engravings of a cross and menorah carved side by side have been found in an ancient Israeli cave. The 2,000-year-old symbols, though positioned close together, were likely carved hundreds of years apart, according to Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA). Hikers stumbled upon the timeworn symbols while exploring subterranean passages in southern Israel. Engravings of a cross and menorah carved side by side (pictured) have been found in an ancient Israeli cave. The 2,000-year-old symbols, though positioned close together, were likely carved hundreds of years apart, according to Israel Antiquities Authority HISTORY OF THE CAVES Some of the underground caves at the lowland site, found in South-Central Israel and known as the 'Judean Shephelah', had been used as hideouts by Jews 2,000 years ago. Jewish rebels of the then-Roman province of Judea hid and lived in the caves during the famous uprising against the Roman Empire led by Simon bar Kokhba around 130 AD. The rebellion erupted as a result of rising religious and political tensions after a failed initial Judean revolt just 60 years prior. The revolt was eventually quashed in 136 AD, and the Roman Empire swiftly begun to systematically destroy all remaining Jewish villages in the region. Advertisement Archaeologists have dated the cross symbol to the fourth century AD, while the menorah carving is older, carved around 200 years earlier. Alongside the engravings was a key carved into the bedrock, and several more symbols that are yet to be identified. Dozens of niches, used to raise doves, also pepper the walls of the ancient cave. The IAA notes that during the Second Temple period of Jewish history (530BC-70AD) doves were used as part of sacrificial rites in religious temples. Some of the underground caves at the lowland site, found in South-Central Israel and known as the 'Judean Shephelah', had been used as hideouts by renegade Jews 2,000 years ago. 'The menorah was probably etched in the cistern after the cave's nearby water installation was hewn in the bedrock, maybe by inhabitants of the Jewish settlement that was situated there during the Second Temple period and the time of Bar Kokhba,' Mr Ganor said in the statement. 'The cross was etched later on, during the Byzantine period,' he added. Two millennia ago, Jewish rebels of the then-Roman province of Judea hid and lived in the caves during the famous uprising against the Roman Empire led by Simon bar Kokhba around 130 AD. The rebellion erupted as a result of rising religious and political tensions after a failed initial Judean revolt just 60 years prior. Some of the underground caves at the lowland site, found in South-Central Israel and known as the 'Judean Shephelah' (pictured), were used as hideouts by Jewish rebels 2,000 years ago Alongside the engravings was a key carved into the bedrock (pictured), and several more symbols that are yet to be identified. Hikers stumbled upon the timeworn symbols while exploring subterranean passages in southern Israel The revolt was eventually quashed in 136 AD, and the Roman Empire swiftly begun to systematically destroy all remaining Jewish villages in the region. And now carvings from this important part of Jewish history have been uncovered by three lucky explorers. The ancient cross and menorah engravings were found by three members of an Israeli Caving Club, who said they had decided to go off-piste around the subterranean caves. The three explorers - Mickey Barkal, Sefi Givoni and Ido Meroz - say they had heard the little-explored caves were particularly beautiful off the beaten path. 'We heard there are interesting caves in the region,' Mr Meroz said. 'We began to peer into them, and that's how we came to this cave, which is extremely impressive with rock-carved niches and engravings on the wall.' And Mr Meroz say they came across the engravings just as they were about to leave the caves. 'When we realized this is an ancient depiction of a menorah, we became very excited,' Meroz added. 'Its appearance was quite distinct.' The menorah, a candelabrum with seven arms and three legs, symbolises the traditional piece that stood in the second temple of Jerusalem. The seven-branches menorah is a symbolic piece, as opposed to the nine-branched menorah used during Hanukkah. It is described in the bible as a seven-lamped ancient Hebrew lamp stand made of pure gold. The menorah has been a symbol of Judaism since ancient times and is the emblem on the flag of the modern state of Israel. 'It's rare to find a wall engraving of a menorah,' said Mr Ganor. 'The menorah is a distinctly Jewish symbol of the Second Temple period,' the archeologist continued. Archaeologists have dated the cross symbol to the fourth century AD, while the menorah symbol is older, carved around 200 years earlier. This image shows hiker Ido Meroz standing next to a wall engraving, which appears to depict a key 'To date, only two engravings of menorahs are known in the region of the Judean Shephelah: One on oil press at Bet Loya, where the same style menorah is depicted, and the other in a burial complex in the vicinity of Bet Guvrin. 'Other menorahs are portrayed on clay lamps from Beit Natif.' Mr Ganor says that the amateur finding adds another important tier to the archaeological information and knowledge of the region. Further exploration of the site will continue throughout the year. The world's wildlife is being wiped out by trade hotspots that are fuelling loss of habitat, over fishing, over hunting and climate change, according to new research. A global map has been unveiled that shows for the first time how a cup of cappuccino sipped in a cafe thousands of miles away is endangering the spider monkey in central America, for example. Researchers hope that the map will enable conservationists to target the routes having the most impact on biodiversity. Scroll down for video The unique chart was drawn up by scientists after a 2012 study revealed a third of species around the world are being threatened by international trade. The dark purple shows areas where terrestrial animals are affected by consumption in the US WHAT DOES THE MAP SHOW? - Goods imported by Germany threaten more than 600 species in countries including Russia, Sudan and Madagascar. - About two percent of the stud footed toad's threat score in Brazil can be directly attributed to logging, driven by the consumption of goods in the United States. - Japan has a significant impact on marine life around Papua New Guinea. - Mining for gold affects the mangroves, home to critically endangered plants, and the vulnerable sea cow. - In Spain a hydro electric dam project aimed at controlling irrigation for agriculture, including olive oil which is exported to the US, is affecting the habitat of the critically endangered Iberian lynx. Advertisement One of the major causes of man made biodiversity loss is the exploitation of natural resources by big business, like the logging and fisheries industries. Pinpointing which areas pose the greatest danger is crucial for effective conservation management. But previous analyses have generally not considered the role of supply chains in connecting demand for resources with final consumption of goods. The unique chart was drawn up by scientists after a 2012 study revealed a third of species around the world are being threatened by international trade. It found goods imported by Germany threaten more than 600 species in countries including Russia, Sudan and Madagascar. The researchers looked at 6,803 vulnerable, endangered or critically endangered marine and terrestrial species on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List, mapping each animal's range. After mapping each animal's range, they calculated how much consumption of goods in other countries contributed to each animal's threat level. For instance, about two percent of the stud footed toad's threat score in Brazil can be directly attributed to logging, driven by the consumption of goods in the United States. Consumption in China causes problems for wildlife in France, Spain, Russia and Mongolia, all shown in dark purple on the map The rest is probably down to consumption in other countries, and by disease. When all species in Brazil are combined, this total threat score can be meaningfully compared with those from other countries that also do business with the United States. This reveals geographic hotspots of threat in the southern Brazilian rainforests, while at the same time uncovering less expected threats in countries like Spain and Portugal where a number of threatened fish and birds are at risk. The map shows for the first time how a cup of capuccino sipped in a cafe thousands of miles away is endangering the spider monkey in central America, for example (stock image) Meanwhile, Japan has a significant impact on marine life around Papua New Guinea. Mining for gold affects the mangroves, home to critically endangered plants, and the vulnerable sea cow. In Spain a hydro electric dam project aimed at controlling irrigation for agriculture, including olive oil which is exported to the US, is affecting the habitat of the critically endangered Iberian lynx. Areas threatened by consumption in the EU include Russia, Sudan and Madagascar, all shown in dark purple on the map The combined scores from all species illustrates the total consumer driven 'threat footprint' a focal country exerts on the rest of the world. The researchers hope the map, published in Nature Ecology & Evolution, will enable conservationists to target the routes having the most impact on biodiversity, leading to more sustainable trade and protecting the world's wildlife. They said human induced biodiversity threats which also include overfishing, over hunting and climate change, often arise from incursion into natural ecosystems in search of food and resources, mainly through the production of goods for export. In Spain a hydro electric dam project aimed at controlling irrigation for agriculture, including olive oil which is exported to the US, is affecting the habitat of the critically endangered Iberian lynx (pictured) Dr Keiichiro Kanemoto, of Shinshu University, Matsumoto, Japan, said: 'Identifying hotspots of species threat has been a successful approach for setting conservation priorities. 'One important challenge in conservation is that, in many hotspots, export industries continue to drive over exploitation. 'Conservation measures must consider not just the point of impact, but also the consumer demand that ultimately drives resource use. Consumption in Japan has a significant impact on marine life around Papua New Guinea (shown in lime green on the map), as well as terrestrial animals in Ethiopia (shown in dark purple) 'To understand which species threat hotspots are driven by which consumers, we have developed a new approach to link a set of biodiversity footprint accounts to the hotspots of threatened species on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 'The result is a map connecting consumption to spatially explicit hotspots driven by production on a global scale. 'Locating biodiversity threat hotspots driven by consumption of goods and services can help to connect conservationists, consumers, companies and governments in order to better target conservation actions.' It is now complete and going through a series of tests to simulate its launch The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), expected to launch in 2018, has failed its latest test. Computer sensors forced the shut-down of a machine during vibration testing to see whether the telescope could withstand the vibration expected during launch. The telescope, the largest space telescope ever built, was not damaged and vibration tests are expected to resume later in January, Nasa has said. Scroll down for videos The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), expected to launch in 2018, has failed its latest test. Computer sensors forced the shut-down of a machine during vibration testing at the Goddard Space Flight Center (pictured) WHAT WENT WRONG? Since the start of November the telescope has been put through a series of tests, designed to equip the structure for its take-off in October next year. During the vibration testing on 3 December, accelerometers attached to the telescope detected unexpected responses and the test shut itself down to protect the hardware. The shut-down came a fraction of a second after a higher-than-expected response was detected at a particular frequency of vibration, about one note lower than the lowest note on a piano. The telescope will resume testing later this month, and those tests 'may or may not reveal additional unexpected responses, but that is the purpose of these tests' says Nasa. Advertisement When it is launched into space it will be able to peer back in time 3.5 billion years, teaching us more than ever before about the start of the universe. The huge machine stands, completed and almost ready to go to space, in an enormous clean room at Nasa's Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland. Since the start of November the telescope has been put through a series of tests, designed to equip the structure for its take-off in October next year. The telescope must pass multiple tests before it can be sent into space. But, according to a Nasa release today, it failed its latest one. 'During routine testing of Nasa's James Webb Space Telescope, an unexpected response occurred from several of the more than 100 devices designed to detect small changes in the motion of the structure,' the space agency said. When it is launched into space it will be able to peer back in time 3.5 billion years, teaching us more than ever before about the start of the universe. THE JAMES WEBB TELESCOPE The James Webb telescope has been described as a 'time machine' that could help unravel the secrets of our universe. The telescope will be used to look back to the first galaxies born in the early universe more than 13.5 billion years ago, and observe the sources of stars, exoplanets, and even the moons and planets of our solar system. When it is launched in 2018, it will be the world's biggest and most powerful telescope, capable of peering back 200 million years after the Big Bang. Advertisement 'This prompted the engineers put the vibration tests on hold to determine the cause.' During the vibration testing on 3 December at Nasa Goddard, accelerometers attached to the telescope detected unexpected responses and the test shut itself down to protect the hardware. The shut-down came a fraction of a second after a higher-than-expected response was detected at a particular frequency of vibration, about one note lower than the lowest note on a piano. 'Currently, the team is continuing their analyses with the goal of having a review of their findings, conclusions and plans for resuming vibration testing in January,' said Eric Smith, program director for Nasa's James Webb Space Telescope, in Washington. 'This is why we test -- to know how things really are, as opposed to how we think they are,' said Paul Geithner, deputy project manager technical for the Webb telescope at Nasa's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. The James Webb telescope has been described as a 'time machine' that could help unravel the secrets of our universe. The telescope will be used to look back to the first galaxies born in the early universe. Artist's impression of the telescope in space, pictured WHAT WEBB WILL DO Webb's primary mirror will collect light for the observatory in the scientific quest to better understand our solar system and beyond. Using these mirrors and Webb's infrared vision scientists will peer back over 13.5 billion years to see the first stars and galaxies forming out of the darkness of the early universe. Unprecedented infrared sensitivity will help astronomers to compare the faintest, earliest galaxies to today's grand spirals and ellipticals, helping us to understand how galaxies assemble over billions of years. Webb will see behind cosmic dust clouds to see where stars and planetary systems are being born. It will also help reveal information about atmospheres of planets outside our solar system, and perhaps even find signs of the building blocks of life elsewhere in the universe. Advertisement 'The Webb telescope is the most dynamically complex test article ever tested at Goddard, so the responses were a bit different than expected,' Geithner said. The telescope will resume testing later this month, and those tests 'may or may not reveal additional unexpected responses, but that is the purpose of these tests' says Nasa. The James Webb telescope has been described as a 'time machine' that could help unravel the secrets of our universe. The telescope will be used to look back to the first galaxies born in the early universe more than 13.5 billion years ago, and observe the sources of stars, exoplanets, and even the moons and planets of our solar system. When it is launched in 2018, it will be the world's biggest and most powerful telescope, capable of peering back 200 million years after the Big Bang. The main component of the telescope is the primary mirror, which consists of 18 hexagonal mirrors and looks like a giant puzzle piece. The massive golden mirror is made up of 18 components which will work together as one structure. The massive golden mirror is made up of 18 components which will work together as one structure. Each coffee table-sized mirror segment is made from beryllium and weighs roughly 46 pounds (20.8kg) Webb's primary mirror will collect light for the observatory in the scientific quest to better understand our solar system and beyond. Each coffee table-sized mirror segment is made from beryllium and weighs roughly 46 pounds (20.8kg). The parts are each coated with a fine film of vaporized gold to optimise the reflection of infrared light. Webb's primary mirror will collect light for the observatory in the scientific quest to better understand our solar system and beyond. Using these mirrors and Webb's infrared vision scientists will peer back over 13.5 billion years to see the first stars and galaxies forming out of the darkness of the early universe. Unprecedented infrared sensitivity will help astronomers to compare the faintest, earliest galaxies to today's grand spirals and ellipticals, helping us to understand how galaxies assemble over billions of years. Webb will see behind cosmic dust clouds to see where stars and planetary systems are being born. Rare and brief bursts of cosmic radio waves have puzzled astronomers since they were first detected nearly 10 years ago. Some suggested these mysterious bursts of energy could be a sign of alien life trying to contact us. Now the signals have finally been tied to a source - a dwarf galaxy more than 3 billion light years from Earth. Rare and brief bursts of cosmic radio waves have puzzled astronomers since they were first detected nearly 10 years ago. Now the signals have finally been tied to a source - a dwarf galaxy more than 3 billion light years from Earth. Artist's impression pictured TRACKING DOWN THE ALIEN SIGNALS Fast radio bursts, or FRBs, were first 'heard' by radio telescopes back in 2007. A repeating burst discovered in 2012, however, provided the opportunity for a team of researchers from the University of California, Berkeley and Cornell University to repeatedly monitor its area of the sky. The team used the Karl Jansky Very Large Array in New Mexico and the Arecibo radio dish in Puerto Rico, in hopes of pinpointing its location. Using new software, the VLA last year detected a total of nine bursts over a period of a month, which was enough to pinpoint its location in the sky. 'We now know that this particular burst comes from a dwarf galaxy more than three billion light-years from Earth,' said Shami Chatterjee, of Cornell University. The discovery that the bursts come from such a long distance away rules out any source in our own galaxy. Advertisement Fast radio bursts, or FRBs, were first 'heard' by radio telescopes back in 2007. The signal was so temporary and seemingly random that it took years for astronomers to agree it was not a glitch in one of the telescope's instruments, and none of those first observed were ever seen again. A repeating burst discovered in 2012, however, provided the opportunity for a team of researchers from the University of California, Berkeley and Cornell University to repeatedly monitor its area of the sky. 'We now know that this particular burst comes from a dwarf galaxy more than three billion light-years from Earth,' said Shami Chatterjee, of Cornell University. 'That simple fact is a huge advance in our understanding of these events,' he added. The team used the Karl Jansky Very Large Array in New Mexico and the Arecibo radio dish in Puerto Rico, in hopes of pinpointing its location. 'For a long time, we came up empty, then got a string of bursts that gave us exactly what we needed,' said Casey Law, from the University of California at Berkeley. Using new software, the VLA last year detected a total of nine bursts over a period of a month, which was enough to pinpoint its location in the sky. Further analysis by other telescopes allowed its location to be narrowed down. 'The VLA data allowed us to narrow down the position very accurately,' said Sarah Burke-Spolaor, of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) and West Virginia University. Berkeley's Casey Law says his favourite hypothesis about the origin of fast radio bursts is a magnetar surrounded by either material ejected by a supernova explosion. Artist's impression of a supernova shown The discovery that the bursts come from such a long distance away rules out any source in our own galaxy. WHAT ARE FAST RADIO BURSTS? Fast radio bursts, or FRBs, are radio emissions that appear temporarily and randomly, making them not only hard to find, but also hard to study. The mystery stems from the fact it is not known what could produce such a short and sharp burst. This has led some to speculate they could be anything from stars colliding to artificially created messages. The first FRB was spotted, or rather 'heard' by radio telescopes, back in 2007. But it was so temporary and seemingly random that it took years for astronomers to agree it was not a glitch in one of the telescope's instruments. Advertisement 'Before we knew the distance to any FRBs, several proposed explanations for their origins said they could be coming from within or near our own Milky Way Galaxy,' said Shriharsh Tendulkar, of McGill University in Montreal, Canada. 'We now have ruled out those explanations, at least for this FRB.' But exactly what is causing the bursts in the dwarf galaxy is still not known. Extremely bright exploding stars, called superluminous supernovae, and long gamma ray bursts also occur in the type of galaxy discovered in the new paper. Both are hypothesized to be associated with massive, highly magnetic and rapidly rotating neutron stars called magnetars. 'All these threads point to the idea that in this environment, something generates these magnetars,' Law said. 'It could be created by a superluminous supernova or a long gamma ray burst, and then later on, as it evolves and its rotation slows down a bit, it produces these fast radio bursts as well as continuous radio emission powered by that spindown. One alternative possibility is the galaxy's active nucleus, with radio emission coming from jets of material emitted from the region surrounding a supermassive black hole. Artist's concept pictured 'Later on in life, it looks like the magnetars we see in our galaxy, which have extremely strong magnetic fields but rotate more like ordinary pulsars.' WHAT CAUSES THE SIGNALS? Berkeley's Casey Law says his favourite hypothesis about the origin of fast radio bursts is a magnetar surrounded by either material ejected by a supernova explosion or material ejected by a resulting pulsar. But there are other possibilities. One alternative is the galaxy's active nucleus, with radio emission coming from jets of material emitted from the region surrounding a supermassive black hole. The source of the fast radio burst is within 100 light years of the continuous radio emissions from the core of the galaxy, which means they are the same or physically associated with one another. Advertisement In that interpretation, he said, fast radio bursts are like the tantrums of a toddler. 'We are the first to show that this is a cosmological phenomenon. It's not something in our backyard. And we are the first to see where this thing is happening, in this little galaxy, which I think is a surprise,' Law said. 'Now our objective is to figure out why that happens.' Law says his favourite hypothesis about the origin of fast radio bursts is a magnetar surrounded by either material ejected by a supernova explosion or material ejected by a resulting pulsar. But there are other possibilities. One alternative is the galaxy's active nucleus, with radio emission coming from jets of material emitted from the region surrounding a supermassive black hole. The source of the fast radio burst is within 100 light years of the continuous radio emissions from the core of the galaxy, which means they are the same or physically associated with one another. 'Finding the host galaxy of this FRB, and its distance, is a big step forward, but we still have much more to do before we fully understand what these things are,' Chatterjee said. New anti-surveillance clothing has the ability to hide its wearer from security cameras. The clothing uses ghostly coloured patterns of digitalised faces to trick facial recognition software. The patterns confuse facial recognition systems by overwhelming them with too many false 'faces' to read at once. Scroll down for video New anti-surveillance clothing hides its wearer from security cameras. The clothing uses ghostly coloured patterns of digitalised faces (prototype pictured) to trick facial recognition software HOW IT WORKS The 'Hyperface' project prints ghostly patterns of eyes, noses and mouths onto clothing and textiles. The patterns modify: 'The things that appear next to you, around you, and that can also modify the computer vision confidence score,' creator Adam Harvey claims. The patterns oversaturate facial-recognition software with faces to divert the gaze of the computer vision algorithm. This confuses the software and leaves it unable to tell which of the faces is real. Advertisement The clothing was produced as part of the 'Hyperface' project, which prints patterns of eyes, noses and mouths onto clothing and textiles. Computer algorithms recognise these patterns as a face. The software is bombarded with so many fake hits that it doesn't know which face is the real one. The Hyperface project is the brainchild of Berlin artist and technologist Adam Harvey. And this is not the first anti-surveillance trend he has started. In a previous project, labelled 'CV Dazzle', the artist tried to invent a style that would also block facial recognition software. He developed dazzling florescent makeup and hairstyling that hung in front of the face to disrupt surveillance software. 'As I've looked at in an earlier project, you can change the way you appear, but, in camouflage you can think of the figure and the ground relationship,' Mr Harvey said at the recent Chaos Communications Congress hacking conference in Hamburg. 'There's also an opportunity to modify the 'ground', the things that appear next to you, around you, and that can also modify the computer vision confidence score.' And Hyperface aims to dirupt security software doing just that, Mr Harvey says, by: 'Overloading an algorithm with what it wants, over-saturating an area with faces to divert the gaze of the computer vision algorithm.' Facial recognition software is on the rise, with a range of commercial face-reading CCTV cameras now available for home use. In previous project 'CV Dazzle' (pictured) the artist behind Hyperface tried to invent a style that would also block facial recognition software Artist Adam Harvey developed dazzling florescent makeup (pictured) and hairstyles that hang in front of the face to disrupt surveillance software The eerie patterns that this creates can be worn directly or used to blanket an area from the watchful eye of ever-present security tech. 'It can be used to modify the environment around you, whether it's someone next to you, whether you're wearing it, maybe around your head or in a new way,' Mr Harvey said. During his talk, Mr Harvey presented the audience with a street scene from 1910, in which every passerby wore a hat that covered their face. 'In 100 years from now, we're going to have a similar transformation of fashion and the way that we appear. 'What will that look like? Hopefully it will look like something that appears to optimise our personal privacy.' Facial recognition technology can now tell more about us than ever before. Recent research from Shanghai Jiao Tong University claims to be able to predict criminality from subtle facial details such as the nose-mouth angle and lip curvature. 'A lot of other researchers are looking at how to take that very small data and turn it into insights that can be used for marketing,' Harvey said. 'What all this reminds me of is Francis Galton and eugenics. 'The real criminal, in these cases, are people who are perpetrating this idea, not the people who are being looked at.' If you want to get something done, you might want to put your mobile phone back in your pocket. Researchers have found that the mere presence of a handset is distracting even if it is not your own. And the devices are likely to sidetrack you, even if they are not ringing or pinging with text messages. If you want to get something done, you might want to put your mobile phone back in your pocket. Researchers have found that the mere presence of a handset is distracting even if it is not your own (stock image) People asked to carry out electronic tests of their attention spans were found to perform worse when a mobile phone was present than other people performing in the presence of a paper notepad. Scientists from Hokkaido University in Japan said that their findings show that it is harder to concentrate when one of the electronic gadgets is present. The effect was most marked on people who are not regular users of phones. In tests on 40 undergraduates, Associate Professor Jun-ichiro Kawahara and a colleague split the subjects inot two groups one asked to carry out tests in the presence of an Apple iPhone next to a computer monitor, and the others in the presence of a notebook. The test involved asking the participant to search for a particular character amid a jumble of other characters on the screen. Researchers measured the time it took to find the target. People asked to carry out electronic tests of their attention spans were found to perform worse when a mobile phone was present than other people performing in the presence of a paper notepad The results of the experiment found that those with the mobile phone took longer to find the character indicating that participants were automatically distracted by the presence of the phone, the authors said. The researchers suggest that people are drawn to the presence of a mobile phone although there are individual differences in how one attempts to ignore it. In conclusion, Professor Kawahara said The mere presence of a mobile phone was a distraction among infrequent internet users. The evidence that mobile phones is distracting has been piling up in recent years. Many studies have shown that talking on mobile phones impairs driving performance. Another finding is that the unpredictability of listening to one half of a mobile phone conversation also distracts people, and other studies have found that placing a mobile phone in view has a negative impact on the quality of face-to-face communications. Holding a mobile phone makes you less likely to get a fair hearing from others. One study found that holding a phone in your hand when you are talking has been found to reduce the amount of empathy shown to you by listeners. Whether youre travelling by plane, car or even bicycle, crossing an international border can be a harrowing experience. Border agents may deliberately level bizarre and inane questions at you, just to ensure that you are passing through legitimately. As such, thousands of travellers have taken to an online forum to reveal the strangest questions they have been asked at a countrys border, including whether theyre a secret agent, can play a song and or have any human body parts hidden in their luggage. Read on for some of the highlights. It is apparently common for holidaymakers to the Soloman Islands to steal skulls and human body parts from traditional burial sites, reported one Quora user after he was questioned at the border over the contents of his case Are you carrying a bomb or human body parts? Answering the Quora post, entrepreneur and amateur historian Bryan Cockel shared that he was leaving the Soloman Islands when he was confronted with a question of whether he had stashed any explosives as souvenirs. He explained: Live ordnance is still all over the place in the Solomons and more than one yahoo has picked up unexploded mortar rounds, cannon shells, even land mines as "souvenirs", trying to stash these now highly unstable explosives in their luggage in an apparent attempt to self-remove themselves from the gene pool. He added that it is apparently also common for holidaymakers to steal skulls and human body parts from traditional burial sites on the island and so it is a question you may be asked when departing the destination. Are you a spy? An Anglican priest who said he works with victims of child trafficking in eastern Europe explained how his religious outfit and extensive travels baffled a Kiev airport immigration agent who didnt seem to believe his vocation. Bill Haymaker claimed that firstly an immigration official held up his British passport and asked him if he was American before looking through every single page of the document. He shared: She now demanded Show me guns! And I responded quickly this time. No guns! I retorted. And I added Priest, pointing to my collar. The woman half laughed, half sneered at me. Again, she thumbed through my passport. She looked up at me and with pointed eyes, half whispering, half demanding with emphasis asked CIA?' She then proceeded to ask whether he was an MI6 agent or from the Security Service of Moldova. After much frustration he told her he was 'OAF - Old and Fat' which he reported seemed to do the trick and she eventually let him in. What are you hiding with those air fresheners? While travelling across the US-Canadian border with her roommate, Thang Tran encountered a border control officer who was concerned by how many car fresheners hung under the cars rear view mirror. She said: The officer was suspecting that we were hiding marijuana in the car. I'm not sure about other countries but in the US, a lot of car fresheners have a tree-like shape. My roommate has never removed any one of them over the past three years and the result is that he has a forest of tree fresheners there. They had to wait for almost four hours in -34 C before being agents confirmed they were not carrying anything illegal in the car and let them in. Can you play us a song? A border patrol agent told one traveller she'd have to serenade them with a song for them to believe she was a real musician A professional violist was travelling on an orchestra tour through Europe by bus. While crossing into Serbia, Smilyana Lozanova revealed she had to wait for half an hour while officials investigated their bus. The orchestra were told to 'get up and open their instruments.' She explained: 'The border patrols said they'd let us go only after they get a serenade. That way they'll know for sure we are real musicians. The musician said they had to improvise a Serbian tune but the border patrol team let them through. Do you want to be my friend? Luke Nathaniel Sims claimed that when he was travelling through Bangladesh with his wife a border official asked for his number. He then repeatedly called him for weeks inviting him out in the hopes that they could become friends. Are you really sure you want to go to Russia? A cyclist in Finland was discouraged by the border agent from going to 'dangerous Russia' Phil Dundas who has travelled through 70 countries by bicycle shared an amusing incident at a Finnish border as he tried to depart the country for Russia. The official said: Are you sure you really wish to do this? Finland is a very nice place why don't you stay here and ride your bicycle around here instead? After explaining he wanted to cycle around Russia and Albania, the agent reportedly called Mr Dundas crazy claiming that Russia is a very bad place with lots of dangerous people. The agent pleaded with him that he may not survive his planned trip. After asking him several times if he really wanted to go, the agent eventually capitulated, shaking his head. Curiosity may not have killed this cat, but it did manage to ground an entire aircraft. An El Al Airlines flight from Israel to New York's JFK airport was due to depart from Ben-Gurion Airport on Tuesday when a passenger's cat managed to wriggle free from its crate and get lost in the cargo hold. All passengers were asked to disembark the plane and a frantic search ensued, delaying the flight for four hours, it has been reported, but the flight later took off despite the cat not being located. EL AL Airlines Flight LY7 from Israel to New York's JFK was due to depart from Ben-Gurion Airport, pictured, when a passenger's cat escaped and got lost (stock image) Airlive News reported on the afternoon of 3 January: 'The search has stopped and the flight is to depart imminently despite the cat not found'. The furry houdini was being carried in a cage by its owner in the cabin when it made a bid for freedom on Flight LY7. It reportedly ended up somewhere in the cargo hold - cats are notoriously good at hiding - where it presumably remained following the unfruitful search. In accordance with the Israeli airline's online policy, pets weighing up to 17lbs 'are accepted for carriage in the cabin with an accompanying passenger', provided they are in cage. All passengers were asked to disembark the plane and a frantic search ensued but the flight later took off despite the cat remaining AWOL (stock image) The airline also stipulated that 'animals must remain in the cage throughout the flight'. According to tracking website Flight Aware, the plane landed at JFK following an 11-hour flight at 11.30pm. The whereabouts of the wandering cat remains unknown. They've spent a blissful 13 years together. And Paul McCartney, 74, looked as loved up as ever with wife Nancy Shevell, 57, on their family trip to the French Caribbean island of Saint-Barthelemy on Tuesday. The couple - who wed in 2011 - put on a cosy display as they soaked up some winter sunshine, with the Beatles legend wrapping his arm around Nancy in a warm embrace. Scroll down for video Cute couple: Paul McCartney, 74, looked as loved up as ever with wife Nancy Shevell, 57, on their family trip to the French Caribbean island of Saint-Barthelemy on Tuesday It was no wonder Paul couldn't keep his hands off his gorgeous wife as she looked incredible in a leopard print one-piece. Clinging to her slender figure, the garment highlighted her perky bust and enviably lean legs, whilst the neon straps gave the costume a quirky edge. She wore her raven tresses in loose beach waves before fully immersing herself in the ocean and letting the long locks soak up the salt water. Wild thing! It was no wonder Paul couldn't keep his hands off his gorgeous wife as she looked incredible in a leopard print one-piece Perfect pair: The couple - who wed in 2011 - put on a cosy display as they soaked up some winter sunshine, with the Beatles legend wrapping his arm around Nancy in a warm embrace Loving life: The pair seemed in good spirits as they chatted away in the sunshine Masking her make-up free face was a pair of over-sized sunglasses which only added to the superstar feel of her beach babe look. Wrapping up after her dip in the sea, the brunette beauty concealed her lithe figure beneath a thick white towel. Meanwhile, Paul teamed his navy swimming trunks with a black T-shirt for her beach break. Brunette bombshell: Clinging to her slender figure, Nancy's swimsuit highlighted her perky bust and enviably lean legs, whilst the neon straps gave the costume a quirky edge Glamorous: She wore her raven tresses in loose beach waves before fully immersing herself in the ocean and letting the long locks soak up the salt water All about the accessories: Masking her make-up free face was a pair of over-sized sunglasses which only added to the superstar feel of her beach babe look Leggy lady! Nancy's high-cut swimsuit offered a generous look at her enviably lean legs and pert posterior as she strolled along the beach That's a wrap: Wrapping up after her dip in the sea, the brunette beauty concealed her lithe figure beneath a thick white towel That's a wrap: Wrapping up after her dip in the sea, the brunette beauty concealed her lithe figure beneath a thick white towel Beach buff: Paul teamed his navy swimming trunks with a black T-shirt for her beach break The pair were joined on the trip by Paul's daughter Stella, along with her husband Alasdhair with their sons Miller, 11, and Beckett, eight and elder daughter Bailey, and youngest daughter Reiley, six. Nancy and Paul celebrated their fifth wedding anniversary in October. The Hey Jude hitmaker was previously married to Heather Mills and the late Linda McCartney. They found love on The Bachelor series last year. And mother-of-one Alex Nation, 25, and her beau Richie Strahan, 31, welcomed the new year with a special experience in Western Australia's Ningaloo Reef. The hot couple took to Instagram on Tuesday to announce they had completed a three-day scuba diving course. Scroll down for video Deep sea, baby! The Bachelor's Alex Nation and beau Richie Strahan complete three-day scuba diving course in beautiful Nigaloo Reef, after heading to Coral Bay for the Christmas gift experience Richie introduced Melbourne-based Alex to scuba diving after gifting a diving experience for Christmas. The blonde stunner admits she was hesitant about the experience before travelling to Coral Bay, but the encounter changed her. Alex said the experience reduced her fear of open water and sharks, and she now has a newfound appreciation for the creatures. The model posted a proud picture in her scuba gear displaying two shaka hand signals, with the caption: 'So.. I am now a certified diver. #scubanation' Scuba Nation!: The reality starlet posted a proud picture in her scuba gear displaying two shaka hand signals, with the caption: 'So.. I am now a certified diver' Fear, no more! Alex said the experience reduced her fear of open water and sharks, and she now has a newfound appreciation for the creatures The reality starlet also uploaded a black and white image mid-swim, in which she simply described: 'Just livin'.' Richie also couldn't contain his excitement at completing the diving course, sharing an underwater photograph of the couple with their instructor. He spoke of the surreal experience in his post: 'I can't thank @ningalooreefdive enough for making our trip up to coral bay an experience both Alex and I will never forget!' 'Alex and I will never forget!' Richie reflected on their special three days in Western Australia by claiming they will never forgot it 'Days like these': Richie - who is also a budding model - stands in front of black a Land Rover Defender, flexes his muscles as he looks off camera, towards the sand Richie - who is also a budding model - stood in front of a black Land Rover Defender on Monday, flexing his muscles as he looked off camera, towards the sand. Flaunting his buff body going shirtless, the former Bachelor star captioned his shot: 'Days like these.' Meanwhile, stripping down to a G-string bikini, Alex showed off her shapely derriere and washboard abs as she swam in the ocean on the same day. 'Sun and salt': On New Year's Day, mother-of-one Alex Nation, 25, and her beau Richie Strahan, 31, showed off their flawless physiques at Coral Bay, Western Australia In one snap shared to Instagram, Alex has her back to the camera and gazes out at the pristine water. Her costume is tan in colour and she has her short locks out and straightened over her shoulders, blowing in the breeze. The model captioned the image: 'sun and salt.' In another image, she can be seen smiling and laughing as she walks, wearing a pair of aviator shades. If you've got it! In another image, she can be seen smiling and laughing as she walks, wearing a pair of aviator shades 'Challenging and rewarding': At the weekend, Alex shared a shot of herself diving in the water and making a love heart with her hands, writing alongside it a lengthy post reflecting on 2016 Reunited: Alex and Richie are in the ropes access technician's home state, after they spent Christmas apart At the weekend, Alex shared a shot of herself diving in the water and making a love heart with her hands, writing alongside it a lengthy post reflecting on 2016. 'It has been both challenging and rewarding, but ultimately it has been so fulfilling. I am filled abundantly with gratitude for this year and what it has brought me,' part of Alex's post read. Alex and Richie are in the ropes access technician's home state, after they spent Christmas apart. Alex's son Elijah, six, spent New Year's with his father and his father's partner. Angelina Jolie has returned to Los Angeles with her children, after spending the holidays in the snowy ski town of Crested Butte, Colorado. The actress, 41, was spotted on Monday descending from her private jet alongside daughters Zahara, 11, Shiloh, 11, and twins Vivienne and Knox, ages eight. Angelina, who has suffered from a painful split from husband Brad Pitt in September, appeared to be in good spirits once she stepped onto the ground, smiling and chatting with friends. Back home: Angelina Jolie has returned home to Los Angeles with her children on Tuesday, after spending the holidays in the snowy ski town of Crested Butte, Colorado The Lara Croft: Tomb Raider actress wore a pair of sunglasses and had her jet black hair styled down for her flight home. She also kept things casual in a black sweater, and had tote bag on her arm. Her youngest daughter Vivienne had her arms full with plush belongings, and she also wore a green-blue backpack and cosy white footwear. Vivienne's big sister Zahara followed close behind, wearing a grey sweatshirt, black top, and had her hair slicked up into a ponytail. Follow the leader: Her youngest daughter Vivienne had her arms full with plush belongings, and she also wore a green-blue backpack and cosy white footwear Angelina has been enjoying these last few days with her children in the ski town of Crested Butte in Colorado, and on Sunday was spotted exploring the winter resort with Knox, Shiloh, and Vivienne. The family also enjoyed a day out together on the slopes that same day. Angelina's estranged husband Brad did not accompany them on the trip, after he and Angelina split in September. Down they go: Zahara wore a sweatshirt and had her hair scraped up into a ponytail as she walked downstairs ahead of brother Knox Travelling in style: The actress wore a pair of sunglasses and had her jet black hair styled down for her flight home The actress filed for divorce from Brad on September 19. Brad is reported to have recently told one of his closest friends: 'This has been the worst holiday season of my life.' The actor is still coming to terms with having only supervised visits with his children. Rest and relax: Jolie has been enjoying these last few days with her children in the ski town of Crested Butte in Colorado Here she comes! Vivienne continued walking downstairs as her mother began speaking with friends Speaking to The Mail on Sunday the source explained: 'Brad's anguish is palpable right now. He desperately misses having his kids with him at Christmas and New Year. These supervised visits are sheer hell on him. He's broken down in tears so many times hes not ashamed to cry any more.' He reportedly met five of his children in Los Angeles on Christmas Day but Maddox didn't want to see him. Yet four months on and things appear to have gone from bad to worse for the estranged couple - with sources recently telling DailyMail.com that Angelina had been surprised by Brad's recent legal move, believing it 'made no sense.' Late last month, Brad's legal team requested an LA Superior Court judge to seal the records of their six children, claiming it violates their privacy, noting that information on the children's 'therapists and other mental health professionals' has already wound up in publication. Here they come: Angelina had her tote bag on her arm as she followed behind Shiloh Home is where the heart is: Angelina, who has suffered from a painful split from husband Brad Pitt this last year, appeared to be in good spirits once she arrived onto the tarmac, smiling and chatting with friends It was stated that Angelina 'appears to be determined to ignore even agreed upon standards relating to the children's best interest.' However, the actress had already signed a deal agreeing to have the documents sealed, a source tells DailyMail.com - with the inside adding that because this was already cleared up, the Oscar winner believed it to be a 'press move.' The family had allegedly got into an argument aboard a private plane in September - which caused an anonymous source to call the DCFS. Brad was later cleared of all charges of abuse however, and the pair are now locked in a tense custody battle - with her asking for sole guardianship of their children, while he has requested joint. Arriving in style: The family were spotted beside their jet Sundae funday: The actress spotted exploring the winter resort Crested Butte with Knox, Shiloh, and Vivienne on Sunday Married At First Sight's Zoe Hendrix and Alex Garner brought their daughter Harper-Rose home in November. And now the plumber has learned first hand how to keep a new mama happy. Zoe, 27, shared a photo to Instagram on Tuesday that showed a rather disgruntled Alex, 30, changing their baby daughter's dirty nappy. Scroll down for video Daddy day care: Zoe shared a photo to Instagram on Tuesday that showed a rather grossed out Alex, 30, changing their baby daughter's dirty nappy But the mum suggested that her reality TV hubby would get a sweet reward if he went through with the messy task. 'HOT TIP to all new dads out there, if you want to get lucky in the bedroom, get busy on your nappy change game,' she captioned the picture. Zoe then listed several other chores Alex could do around the house before she'd be ready for some 'couples time'. Prizes galore: Zoe suggested that her reality TV hubby would get a pretty sweet reward if he went through with the messy task 'Bath the baby, do a load of laundry, empty the dishwasher, to a tired mama that shit is so SEXY! And appreciated, (sic),' she added. The happy moments follow Harper's dramatic delivery. Zoe was induced on November 14 after she suffered with pelvic problems. The couple have settled into family life since meeting on Married At First Sight in 2015. Happy together: The couple have settled into family life since meeting on Married At First Sight in 2015 The pair tied the knot on TV without having ever met but the ceremony wasn't legal, and the couple are yet to officially wed. Zoe told OK! Magazine that a wedding is certainly on the cards and will be as unusual as they are. 'We hope to get married - I'd love a non-traditional, fun wedding that shows our personalities,' Zoe said. They've been inseparable since Georgia Love chose Lee Elliott on the grand finale episode of The Bachelorette Australia. And the popular couple looked very much in love, as they captured a date night at Sydney's est. restaurant, to their Instagram stories on Tuesday. 'Foie gras, French wine and my love, bliss,' the 28-year-old brunette captioned a clip shared to the social media site, that saw 35-year-old Lee enjoying the fine dining experience. Scroll down for video 'Foie gras, French wine and my love, bliss': The Bachelorette's Georgia Love, 28, shared an Instagram story on Tuesday, that saw her and Lee Elliott, 35, enjoying a date night at Sydney's est. restaurant Georgia pulled out all the stops for the occasion. A silk black off-the-shoulder frock skimmed over her slimline curves and flashed just a glimpse of flesh. Elongating her toned legs with a pair of nude strappy heels, Georgia accessorised further with a tan leather handbag. Glam couple: A silk black off-the-shoulder frock skimmed over Georgia's slimline curves and flashed just a glimpse of flesh, while Lee cut a suave figure in a Ralph Lauren button-up shirt and white trousers Fine dining: The couple enjoyed red wine and an array of gourmet delights A delicate gold bracelet added a touch of sparkle to her elegant ensemble. Sweeping her brunette locks into a sleek style at the nape of her neck, the journalist and reality star, allowed a few strands to frame her face. Keeping to an elegant makeup palette, Georgia highlighted a flawless complexion, defined brows, lashings of mascara and a coat of glossy nude lipstick. Lee cut a suave look for the date night at one of Sydney's trendiest restaurants. Thirsty work! The pair were also seen indulging in cocktails, which Lee captured to his Instagram story Pulling out all the stops: The popular personalities looked to enjoy a bit of relaxation at the top notch venue A pale blue Ralph Lauren button-up shirt clung to his muscular upper frame, and was tucked into a pair of form-fitting white trousers. A thin tan leather belt, coordinating loafers and a silver statement watch worked as accessories. The mechanical plumber was sure to document the occasion to his Instagram story, sharing a snap to his followers of the pair inside a lift, taking a mirror selfie. Other moments captured to his account saw the high profile couple enjoying cocktails and red wine. Delight: Georgia and Lee managed to squeeze in two delicious desserts 'Dont stop': Georgia appeared to be having a ball on date night Playful: The brunette beauty showed off her humorous side, posting a clip of a directory board Georgia and Lee recently became ambassadors to the Pancare charity, which works to fund research and provide assistance to people diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, after Georgia lost her mother Belinda to the disease. Georgia enjoyed a close relationship with her mother, who worked as a nurse, and was devastated by her death. She and Lee hosted an event which allowed 12 people to go on a 'date' with some of the failed Bachelorette contestants. The endeavour allowed the couple to donate $10,000 to the charity. She's one of Australia's most in-demand actresses, having just wrapped up a lead role in Zoe Foster Blake's television drama, The Wrong Girl. And Jessica Marais showed off her star appeal mid-December, enjoying a frolic in the surf at Bondi Beach. The 31-year-old blonde beauty had all eyes on her, revealing her impressively taut torso in a skimpy patterned two-piece. Sizzling hot! The Wrong Girl actress Jessica Marais, 31, showed off her toned bikini body in a patterned two-piece, as she frolicked in the surf at Bondi Beach, mid-December The triangle-style top showed off her delicate decolletage, with stitching just under the bust drawing attention to her enviably taut torso. A pair of high-cut briefs with ties at the side, added a girly dimension and elongated her lean legs. Jessica appeared to go makeup-free, showing off her natural beauty. That's a bit cheeky! The mother-of-one drew attention to her pert derriere as she cooled off in the water Svelte: There was not an inch to pinch on Jessica's flawless bikini body as she waded in and out of the surf Her signature blonde locks were slicked back off her face, drawing even more attention to her striking facial features. Enjoying quality time with gal pal Shannon Dooley, the mother-of-one looked a picture of content, beaming from ear-to-ear. Shannon, who runs a 1980s inspired workout school Retrosweat, was seen embracing Jessica, while showing off her toned frame in a skimpy bikini top and high-waisted briefs. Close pals: Jessica was seen embracing her friend Shannon Dooley, who runs a 1980s inspired workout school, Retrosweat Girl time: Shannon sported a skimpy bikini top and high-waisted briefs, and looked very pleased to be enjoying time at the beach with her friend The pair later headed back to the sand, enjoying a casual chat with a brunette friend. Jessica swept her tresses back into an effortless bun and shielded her eyes behind a pair of dark sunglasses. Once her locks were dry, she added a stylish wide-brimmed hat to her beach ensemble. Jessica sparked rumours she was dating the fitness instructor after the pictures emerged of the two at the beach, but a source close to the pair reported to the Daily Telegraph on Wednesday, that they are not a couple. The source said: 'They were just being silly, having fun at the beach, that is what friends do. They are 100 per cent not dating.' Relaxed: The pair later headed back to the sand to dry off and were joined by a brunette companion Low-key: Jessica swept her wet tresses into an effortless bun and shielded her eyes behind a pair of dark sunglasses On Monday, Woman's Day published claims that Jessica had ended her self-imposed 'mantox' following a very public break-up in 2015. They quoted a close friend as saying: 'Men have been public enemy number one for Jess since her split with James Stewart, and she's just enjoying having a bit of fun at the moment.' 'Jess and Shannon have been mates for years and have been a great support to one another. They've both been having a tough time of late and it's nice they can lean on each other.' The actress split from fiance James, 41, after a five-year engagement, during which time they welcomed a daughter, Scout, into the world. Casual: The trio enjoyed conversation as they worked on their tans Trim and terrific: Jessica drew attention to her enviably svelte frame as she stood on the sand to dry off Jessica's close friend Shannon, has also been sharing snaps of the duo to social media over the past few weeks, including a photo of the South African-born actress sunbathing in a G-string bikini. 'Stop. It. #therightgirl,' gasped Shannon in the caption. In September, Jessica spoke to Women's Health about embarking upon a self-enforced 'mantox' rather than rushing to find a new man. 'There have been times in my life when I've felt the need to work on my own personal growth without depending on affirmation from a man or from an external source, where you say, "You know, I need to sort myself out on my own,"' she said. Effortless: The blonde beauty appeared to go makeup-free for the outing They have been enjoying an island vacation in Bora Bora since last week. And on Tuesday, Sofia Vergara and Joe Manganiello returned to LAX from their luxurious, French Polynesian getaway. The attractive couple jetted off to the romantic destination to celebrate Joe's 40th birthday and ring in the New Year. Back home! On Tuesday, Sofia Vergara, 44, and Joe Manganiello, 40, returned to LAX from their luxurious, French Polynesian getaway Sofia, 44, was stylishly cosy in a black top layered underneath a grey, wrap sweater. The mum-of-one added a pair of distressed boyfriend jeans to her look, along with a pair of Nike high-top sneakers. The Latina beauty accessorized with her wedding ring, bracelets, shades and an oversize purse. Joe was casual in a fitted, V-neck T-shirt, jeans and trainers combo. Comfortable: Sofia was stylishly cosy in a black top layered underneath a grey, wrap sweater Finishing touches: The mum-of-one added a pair of distressed boyfriend jeans to her look, along with a pair of Nike high-top sneakers Handsome: Joe was casual in a fitted, V-neck T-shirt, jeans and trainers combo The husband and wife of over a year surely enjoyed a vacation from their daytime acting duties. Joe and Sofia first travelled to Mexico to spend Christmas with her family, before heading to the island of Bora Bora. The duo celebrated Joe's milestone 40th birthday on December 28 beforing ringing in the new year a few days later. Happy to be home: Sofia flashed her signature smile as she headed out of the airport in a nearby vehicle Couples' time: Joe and Sofia surely enjoyed a vacation from their daytime acting duties Their return to LA meant back to reality - and back to work- for the couple. Sofia currently stars on Modern Family as Gloria Delgado-Pritchett. The role helped her earn the title of the highest paid TV actress ($43 million), according to Forbes. Later this year, the actress will appear in the comedic flick, The Female Brain. Hubby Joe also has a busy 2017 ahead of him, as he is set to star in five films, including The Batman, alongside Ben Affleck. Latina beauty! Sofia showed off her slim waist in a printed, off-the-shoulder one piece during her Christmas and New Year's vacation She recently confirmed she was '100 per cent' not in a relationship with close gal pal, Shannon Dooley. But the pictures that sparked rumours Jessica Marais, 31, was dating her friend show the pair putting on a friendly display as she they frolicked on Bondi Beach, last month. Wearing a floral string bikini, The Wrong Girl actress showcased her svelte limbs as she was seen hugging and nestling into Shannon's chest. Scroll down for video Close: Jessica Marais put on an friendly display with gal pal Shannon Dooley last month at Bondi Beach, sparking rumours that the pair were more than just friends Shannon also opted to wear a tiny string bikini and flaunted her enviable curves as she leaned in to embrace Jessica. Laughing and joking, the pair looked to be in high spirits as they cuddled in the water. At one point they appeared to lean in for a possible embrace. Embrace: Wearing a floral string bikini, The Wrong Girl actress showcased her svelte llimbs as she was seen hugging and nestling into Shannon's chest Amorous: Jessica held her arms tightly round Shannon's back as she leaned in close Jessica held her arms tightly round Shannon's back as she drew in closer to her friend's chest. Despite their obvious closeness, The Daily Telegraph reported on Wednesday that a source close to the pair has denied that they are dating. The source said: 'They were just being silly, having fun at the beach, that is what friends do. They are 100 per cent not dating.' Denial: Despite their obvious closeness, The Daily Telegraph reported on Wednesday that a source close to the pair has denied that they are dating Just having fun: The source said: 'They were just being silly, having fun at the beach, that is what friends do. They are 100 per cent not dating' Close: Jessica leaned on her gal pal Shannon for a close embrace Friendly: In other pictures she is seen placing her hand around her friend's waist Mantoxing: On Monday, Women's Day published the original claims that the 31-year-old had ended her self-imposed 'mantox' following a very public break-up in 2015 On Monday, Women's Day published the original claims that Jessica had ended her self-imposed 'mantox' following a very public break-up in 2015. They quoted a close friend as saying: 'Men have been public enemy number one for Jess since her split with James, and she's just enjoying having a bit of fun at the moment.' No men for Jess? They quoted a close friend as saying: 'Men have been public enemy number one for Jess since her split with James, and she's just enjoying having a bit of fun at the moment.' Supportive: According to a the magazine's source, Jess and Shannon have been mates for years and have been a great support to one another Ready to date again? Rumours have been flying that she was finally ready to date again with Shannon, who she attended the prestigious Australian drama school NIDA with Sharing is caring: Jessica's close friend, who runs 1980's inspired workout school Retrosweat, has also been sharing intimate snaps of the duo on her social media over the past few weeks, including a photo of the South African-born actress sunbathing in a G-string bikini 'Jess and Shannon have been mates for years and have been a great support to one another. They've both been having a tough time of late and it's nice they can lean on each other.' The actress split from fiance James Stewart after a five-year engagement, during which time they welcomed a daughter, Scout, into the world. But rumours have been flying that she was finally ready to date again with Shannon, who she attended the prestigious Australian drama school NIDA with. Not rushing in: In September, mother-of-one Jessica spoke to Women's Health about embarking upon a self-enforced 'mantox' rather than rushing to find a new man Jessica's close friend, who runs 1980's inspired workout school Retrosweat, has also been sharing intimate snaps of the duo on her social media over the past few weeks, including a photo of the South African-born actress sunbathing in a G-string bikini. 'Stop. It. #therightgirl,' gasped Shannon in the caption. In September, mother-of-one Jessica spoke to Women's Health about embarking upon a self-enforced 'mantox' rather than rushing to find a new man. 'There have been times in my life when I've felt the need to work on my own personal growth without depending on affirmation from a man or from an external source, where you say, "You know, I need to sort myself out on my own,"' she said. Tim Blackwell sparked fan outrage in November after an image showed him clearly touching radio co-host Kate Ritchie's backside. This time, the the duo kept their hands to themselves. The hosts took to Instagram on Wednesday to share images of a star-studded boat party on Sydney harbour, while Kate's husband was notably absent. Scroll Down For Video Boat Party! Kate Ritchie (Centre Right) and radio co-host Tim Blackwell (Back Right) were snapped on a wild boat party on Wednesday. The star-studded snap also featured Rob Mills (Front Left), Kirk Pengily (Back Right), Layne Beachley (Centre) and Tim's wife Monique (on Kate's Right) In the snap, Tim and Kate are joined by surfing royalty Layne Beachley, former Australian Idol dreamboat Rob Mills, INXS legend Kirk Pengilly, and Tim's wife Monique. Perhaps in a nod to the recent derriere controversy, Tim kept his arms outstretched and visible in an exaggerated pose. Interestingly, Kate's husband Stuart Webb was not present in the post. 'I'm blaming all of these people #andothersnotpictured for me not feeling #brighteyedandbushytailed this morning (sic).' Kate wrote in the caption. Over on Tim's Instagram, the long-haired host was pictured in a hazy-eyed state with a less-than-impressed looking Richard Wilkins. Unimpressed! Over on Tim's Instagram, the long-haired host was pictured in a hazy-eyed state with a less-than-impressed looking Richard Wilkins Titanic! He was also snapped attempting to re-enact the Infamous 'I'm Flying' Titanic scene with Rob Mills He was also snapped attempting to re-enact the Infamous 'I'm Flying' Titanic scene with Rob Mills. In a later image, Kate posed with the iconic Sydney Harbour Bridge in the background. She let her luscious brown locks fall onto her bust, which was covered with a long Polka Dot dress. 'This is ME. On the Harbour. In polka dots. Being cheeky.' The former Home And Away star captioned the image. She added the hashtag 'My best impersonation of someone young and carefree.' Carefree: In a later image, Kate posed with the iconic Sydney Harbour Bridge in the background. She added the hashtag 'My best impersonation of someone young and carefree,' Young and carefree is probably the kind of label the 38-year-old is hoping to avoid, after sparking fan outrage in November in an image that showed Tim firmly clutching her backside. 'Friends don't touch a married woman's a**,' one person commented on the image captured during Melbourne Cup celebrations. The pair are a regular feature looking friendly on each-other's Instagram accounts. Too Carefree? Carefree is probably the kind of label the 38-year-old is hoping to avoid, after sparking fan outrage in November in an image that showed Tim firmly clutching her backside In December, Woman's Day claimed that the pair have become 'incredibly close' since they began working together on Nova. 'They're best mates and are literally inseparable,' the magazine's radio insider claimed, adding that the former Home And Away actress 'lights up when Tim is around'. 'It would only be natural if Tim's wife Monique or Kate's husband Stuart weren't entirely comfortable about their friendship,' the source concluded. 'Inseparable': A source claimed to Woman's Day that the duo are 'best mates and are literally inseparable' Stuart's absence from Wednesdays post - despite the presence of Monique - only helps to fuel split rumours that have been plaguing the couple for months. In August, it was claimed the pair had been living separately, with Stuart residing in their newly-purchased Southern Highlands home while Kate and their daughter Mae stayed in Sydney. They further fueled speculation of 'trouble in paradise' after stepping out without their wedding rings. Kate seemingly put the rumours to rest in September by wishing her husband a happy anniversary on social media. Split rumours: Meanwhile, Kate and her husband Stuart Webb (pictured) have been plagued with split rumours for months. Stuart's absence on Wednesday only helps to fuel speculation Sparks were flying between The Bachelor's Megan Marx and Tiffany Scanlon on New Year's Day at Perth's Cuban Club party. But Tiffany claims they don't have a picture of their first New Year's kiss together, and cheekily blames the photographer for missing the special moment. Taking to Instagram on Wednesday, the 30-year-old blonde posted a loved-up snap of the pair in each other's arms lingering their lips for the smooch. Scroll down for video Better luck next year! Bachelor's Tiffany Scanlon cheekily blames photographer for missing special New Year's kiss with girlfriend Megan Marx in Perth within an Instagram post on Wednesday The reality starlet captioned the post, in part: ' The closest we have to a new years kiss photo, blame the photographer lol!' However, seemingly not phased by the slip, she laughed it off with a 'lol' and claimed it was her 'happy place'. 'My biggest accomplishment in my arms': Bachelor's Megan gushes over girlfriend Tiffany after spending New Year's Day together at Perth's Cuban Club party Her girlfriend Megan, 27, also shared a sweet image from the bash on Monday, where the pair appeared smitten with each other. She held Tiffany in her arms as they partied among other festival revellers. Megan captioned the doting romantic shot: 'My biggest accomplishment in my arms on the first day of 2017.' New Year's Day: Bachelor's favourite couple, Megan Marx and her girlfriend Tiffany Scanlon are joined by Bachelorette's Cameron Cranley to start the new year Earlier in the day, Australia's favourite The Bachelor couple were joined by The Bachelorette's Cameron Cranley to kick off 2017. The loved up couple posted shots of them getting excited for their New Year's Day party, before being joined by the hunky fireman. Taking to Instagram, Tiffany posted a video of the trio admitting that Cameron is their 'famous third wheel'. 'Megan and I have been joined by a very special VIP. Who other than Cam - our famous third wheel,' said Tiffany in the short clip. Pictures posted on social media by the trio saw them beaming as they enjoyed the exclusive music event held at Perth's Flying Squadron Yacht Club. Cam posted a picture of the trio with the one-word caption 'LOL' followed by the hash tag '2017'. Tiffany was also posting pictures of herself with Megan, taking to Instagram to share her pic of the pair with Cam, in which she is adorably poking out her tongue, captioned: 'Sorry mum, suns out tongues out. Three is a crowd: Pictures posted on social media saw the trio beaming as they enjoyed the exclusive music event at Perth's Flying Squadron Yacht Club '@cubanclub with our regular third wheel @camcranley,' she finished with the hash tags, 'newyearsday', 'happynewyear2016', 'cubanclub17', 'thirdwheel' and 'love them'. Megan also posted a picture of the trio and wrote: '@camcranley the third wheel. @cubanclub @tiffany_janes WE ARE NOT DRUBK (sic)'. Tiffany cut a casual figure in loose fitting floral pants and an olive green tank top which she paired with a wide brimmed white hat. Looking good: Megan and Tiffany cut casual figures as they stepped out on New Year's Day and both appeared mostly make up free for the occasion apart from a hint of mascara Megan wore a simple plunging white tie-up blouse and white skirt with geometric details and a pair of dark shades. Both wore their hair out and straight for the occasion and appeared mostly makeup free with a hint of mascara. Cameron cut a similarly crisp casual figure in shorts and a button down shirt, which he paired with black loafers and dark shades. Polo in the city: In December last year, Cameron was seen wearing a smart casual outfit as he attended Perth's Polo In The City, where he was spotted with Megan and Tiffany This isn't the first time the trio have been spotted together, often seen hanging out on the Bachelor and Bachelorette social circuit at exclusive events. In December last year, Cameron was seen wearing a smart casual outfit as he attended Perth's Polo In The City, where he was spotted with Megan and Tiffany. The trio took the opportunity to take yet another photo together as they enjoyed their day in the sun. Race day: In October the trio were seen posed together with Cameron's brother at Melbourne's Spring Races In October the trio were seen posed together with Cameron's brother at Melbourne's Spring Races. Megan and Tiffany fell in love last year during a trip to Bali, after starring in The Bachelor with Richie Strahan. Cameron found fame after starring on The Bachelorette with Georgia Love, but was brutally dumped on national television during the show. George Kosana, who played the beefy Sheriff McClelland in the 1968 cult zombie film, Night of the Living Dead, has died. He was 81. He was found deceased in his home in his home in Clairton, Pennsylvania, on Friday, according to his longtime friend John Russo, who co-wrote the 1968 cult horror classic. He said Kosana's body was discovered after friends became concerned he was not returning telephone calls. Scroll down for video R.I.P.: George Kosana, who played the sheriff in the 1968 zombie classic The Night Of The Living Dead, has died. He was 81. He's pictured at a fan convention in 2009 It was Russo who had suggested to Kosana that he should take on the role of the sheriff in the horror flick, describing him as a 'natural' for the part, 'It seemed to fit his personality,' Russo recalled, adding that his friend was 'cantankerous, amusing, blustery and sincere.' It was during the audition that Kosana ad-libbed what became his most memorable line in the film: 'They're dead. They're all messed up.' Kosana also received a credit in the film as production manager. Role of a lifetime: Kosana found fame in the gorefest directed by George A. Romero and while he continued to work at the steel mill in his hometown of Clairton, Pennsylvania, he enjoyed attending fan conventions where he signed autographs and sold collectibles On the movie's shoestring budget, he pitched in in various roles and even hung some of his stuffed animal heads from hunting trips as props in the house where the movie was shot. The film a 90-minute gorefest about a handful of western Pennsylvania townsfolk running from man-eating ghouls left viewers aghast when it debuted nearly five decades ago. It was placed in the Library of Congress' National Film Registry in 1999. In the following decades, Kosana was a regular at horror film conventions, where he sold T-shirts with the famous quote, posed for photos, signed autographs and sold collectibles. 'He just kind of gloried in the adulation he got,' Russo recalled. Kosana continued to work in the steel mill in Clariton while still working on movies with Russo. The job led to numerous health issues, his friend said. Russo, who still makes horror movies, cast Kosana in his latest film, a 2016 horror comedy My Uncle John Is A Zombie. In it, he reprised his role and lampoons McClelland. Bella Thorne and her older sister Dani Thorne have been on holiday in the Bahamas with a group of friends. And on Tuesday, the 19-year-old actress took to Snapchat as she and her look-a-like sibling, 23, continued to enjoy their Caribbean vacation with a visit to Big Major Cay, also known as Pig Beach. Bella inundated her social media story with shots of the pair showing off their perfect physiques in itty-bitty bikinis while frolicking in the sand with the cute pigs which inhabit the tiny island. Scroll down for video Tourist hotspot: On Tuesday, Bella Thorne continued her holiday in the Bahamas with a visit to Pig Island, or Big Major Cay as it is officially known Pig pals: Bella documented her older sister, Dani Thorne, soaking up the sun while playing with some swine that inhabit the tiny Caribbean island Bella put her enviable figure on display in a navy and white polka dot bikini with red straps as she went barefoot in the sand. The former Disney star's lean legs and taut tummy were impossible to miss as she picked up a piglet and posed for all of her followers to see. The beauty left her blue-dyed locks down to blow in the breeze and shielded her face from the sun with a pair of white round shades. Bella's Snapchat feed also showed her sister playing on the beach with another pig. Sharks! Later Bella showcased her bravery as she swapped the swine for sharks Swimming with sharks: Dani looked like a mermaid as she submerged herself completely into the crystal clear water infested with sharks Dani showed off her svelte body in a tan bikini as she smiled while enjoying her new pink and black spotted furry friend. Later, the girls showcased their bravery as they swapped the swine for sharks. Both of the beauties submerged themselves into the crystal clear water infested with friendly looking sharks. No fear! Dani couldn't stop petting the sharks Water babe: Bella put her enviable figure on display in a navy and white polka dot bikini with red straps She's not leaving: Multiple Snapchat pictures showed the sisters, especially Dani, enjoying their time at the Bahamas tourist attraction Multiple Snapchat pictures showed the sisters, especially Dani, enjoying their time at the Bahamas tourist attraction. Other Snapchat photos included shots of Bella just showing off her bikini body, which clearly wasn't affected by any holiday weight gain. Bella struck a sexy pose while aboard a boat back to the mainland competing with the picturesque view of the ocean behind her. Soaking up the sun: Bella struck a sexy pose while aboard a boat back to the mainland competing with the picturesque view of the ocean behind her Artsy: Bella got artsy with her Snapchat feed as she took a picture of her white sunnies which showed her reflection in the rounded lenses On a boat: Dani didn't let Bella have all the attention as she flaunted her cleavage in an itty-bitty nude bikini While on the boat, Bella was also sure to capture plenty of swimsuit shots of her sister too. Dani didn't let her famous sibling have all the attention as she flaunted her cleavage in an itty-bitty nude bikini. The close sisters enjoyed each other's company and even took a selfie with their tongues out showing off their matching nose rings and tousled locks. These are the latest in a string of social media posts that the sisters have shared during their Bahama getaway. Close sisters: They enjoyed each other's company and even took a selfie with their tongues out showing off their matching nose rings and tousled locks She shines! Bella sported glitter on her nose and chest Selfie time! Bella took more photos of herself showing off her holiday beach look And another! The former Disney star is proud of her body He recently confirmed his relationship with My Kitchen Rules alum and aspiring chef Nelly Riggio while taking a romantic holiday in the Maldives. And Adriano Zumbo seems to be taking the plunge head first as he posted a video of himself jumping into a pool to his Instagram account on Tuesday. Wearing nothing more than a pair of tight white undies, the TV star captioned the post: 'Jump at things that mean the most! And make a splash while doing it.' Scroll down for video Taking the plunge! Adriano Zumbo seems to be taking the plunge head first as he posted a video of himself jumping into a pool to his Instagram account on Tuesday In the video, the bronzed Zumbo star is seen dive bombing into the crystal clear pool at the Dusit Thani Hotel. As he takes the leap and pushes himself into a ball, the 'sweet assassin' pulls a number of faces and leaves little to the imagination in his bizzarre choice of swimwear. The video ends in him making a huge splash in the pool. One, two, three! Wearning nothing more than a pair of tight white undies, the TV star captioned the post: 'Jump at things that mean the most! And make a splash while doing it. Splash! The video ends in him making a huge splash in the pool The post comes days after Adriano went public with his relationship with Nelly. The the slender brunette uploaded a loved up snap to Instagram with her new beau. 'Positive vibes,' she captioned a photo, that saw her 35-year-old partner holding her up in the air in front of a picturesque backdrop. 'Positive vibes': My Kitchen Rules alum and aspiring chef Nelly Riggio, took to Instagram on Tuesday, sharing a loved-up snap with beau Adriano Zumbo, 35, just days after the pair confirmed their relationship The post which also included the hash-tags #love, #allsmiles and #dinnerdate, saw Nelly and Riggio appearing a picture of content as they stood at a stunning location in the Maldives. Adriano, dressed casually in a white T-shirt, dark shorts and thongs, was seen holding Nelly up in the air, with her arms resting on her beau's shoulders. The couple looked to be coordinating in their attire, with Nelly donning a slim-fitting white top, shorts that exposed her lean legs, and a pair of thongs. Making it official: On Sunday, Adriano confirmed he was dating Nelly, cuddling up to the pretty brunette during a trip to the Maldives On Sunday, Adriano confirmed he was dating Nelly, cuddling up to the pretty brunette during the trip. 'Happy New Year 2017 from the Maldives!!!! Looking forward to many more years with this hottie,' adding in two emojis with love heart eyes. While Nelly took to her own Instagram account after, posting a snap that saw her embracing her famous boyfriend. 'Too distracted to write anything,' Nelly captioned the photo, adding in the hashtags #spadate and #massages. Time away from home: Nelly took to her own Instagram account after, posting a snap that saw her embracing her famous beau, while enjoying a spa date in the Maldives Relocation: The Daily Telegraph's Confidential reported on Tuesday that Nelly took up an offer of a role in resources and development at Zumbo's dessert chain in Sydney, seeing her relocate from Brisbane Instagram fans soon questioned the timing of the relationship, referencing past boyfriend JP Huillet. The couple were referred to as the 'lovebirds' in promo campaigns for the last season of My Kitchen Rules. 'But what happened to jp,' wrote one social media user, alongside a sad face emoji. While another commented: 'Are you guys together? Awe what happened to jp and nelly,' adding in a love heart emoji. Online chatter: Instagram fans soon questioned the timing of the relationship, referencing past boyfriend JP Huillet Fan favourites: The couple referred to as the 'lovebirds' in promo campaigns for the last season of My Kitchen Rules 'Hope it wasn't too hard on them': Another social media user offered their well wishes, hoping the break up was amicable Another Instagram follower offered their well wishes: 'Clear that they split, hope it wasn't too hard on them, break ups [are] never easy.' The Daily Telegraph's Confidential reported on Tuesday, that Nelly, who starred on the last season of My Kitchen Rules with then-boyfriend JP Huillet, landed a job in Sydney for Zumbo's dessert chain. Nelly moved from Brisbane to Sydney last September, to take on a role in research and development. It is a disease that has brought them together after years of acrimony. And Paris Jackson hailed her 'badass mom' Debbie Rowe when she shared an image of her mother following a cancer treatment on Tuesday. The 18-year-old was proud as punch of her parent, who grinned as she stared at the camera while holding a sign saying, 'chemo done.' Fighter: Paris Jackson hailed her 'badass mom' Debbie Rowe when she shared an image of her mother following a cancer treatment on Tuesday Proud Paris said: 'My badass mom, kickin butt n takin names. ain't she f***in fabulous????' The 58-year-old ex-wife of the late Michael Jackson - who reconciled her daughter after being estranged for more than a year - recently described the teen as her 'rock' as she undergoes her treatment for breast cancer. The former nurse, who was diagnosed in the summer, told ET: 'She's my rock, she's amazing. She's been with me the whole time. 'She was there. First phone call, [it] took her 30 seconds [to reach out] when she found out.' 'My rock': The former nurse has hailed her daughter for looking after her Before before the fallout: Debbie and Paris before their feud back in 2013 The Washington native - who was married to the Prince Of Pop from from 1996 to 1999 - explained that Paris has been her 'reason' to get out of bed each day. She admitted: 'You have to work very hard to get up every morning and do this.' At the beginning of October, Paris shared a sweet Instagram snapshot of the pair as she placed a loving kiss upon her mom following a chemotherapy session. 'I'm a fighter because she's a fighter. love you mom,' the platinum blonde beauty captioned the image Debbie, who is also the mother of the Smooth Criminal star's 19-year-old son Prince said: 'For her to kiss my bald head [her love] is pretty unconditional.' It seems her cancer diagnosis pushed the two women to mend fences, years after Paris shut Debbie out of her life and refused to answer her phone calls. Husband: She was married to Prince Of Pop Michael Jackson from from 1996 to 1999 Chip off the old block: She is also mother to Michael's eldest son Prince She's the Australian actress who regularly talks all things motherhood while raising a family in Los Angeles. And Tammin Sursok was every bit the doting mother on Wednesday when she shared an adorable tribute to her three-year-old daughter Phoenix on Instagram. The actress, 33, was seen squeezing the cheeks of the blonde toddler's face as the pair shared humorous grins while rugged up in coats. Scroll down for video 'Enjoy every wild, wacky and magical moment': Tammin Sursok shares touching tribute to three-year-old daughter Phoenix ... after doting over her family as she welcomed 2017 She captioned the playful snap: 'This picture truly encapsulates my daughter @whatphoenixtoldgreyson and my relationship.' The former Home And Away star went on to say: 'She makes me present and enjoy every wild, wacky and magical moment.' Her daughter appeared to attempt to blow raspberries with her lips as Tammin gently held her face while staring lovingly at her. Doting Mum! Only a few days ago, the star bid farewell to 2016 with a series of moving posts in dedication to her family and husband, producer Sean McEwen Only a few days ago, the star bid farewell to 2016 with a series of moving posts in dedication to her family and husband, producer Sean McEwen. She posted a loved-up photo of the pair to Instagram, wishing her husband of five years a happy birthday, while rining in the new year. The caption read: 'Love I have for you can't be measured. It is infinite. We are infinite together. Our souls are connected now and through eternity.' Loved up: Wishing her husband of five years a happy birthday, Tammin captioned an emotional Instagram photo of the pair: 'Love I have for you can't be measured. It is infinite' She continued: 'You are my beginning, my end and everything between. I'm so f*******g excited for 2017. I now realize that life's possibilities are endless.' The Pretty Little Liar's actress also added: 'And I'm the luckiest woman alive that I get to share them with you. I love you boo.' The pair were married in 2011, in an epic ceremony and reception that lasted over three days and was held in the Italian city of Florence. Promoting her children's clothing line on an episode of The Morning Show in October, the beauty told host Larry Emdur she and her husband kept things spicy and have sex on 'Tuesdays and Fridays.' Carefree: The Pretty Little Liar's actress called herself 'the luckiest woman alive' in a heartfelt Instagram post dedicated to her partner The South African born star then added that her toddler daughter already 'knows how she was conceived.' On New Year's Eve, the former soap starlet posted a sun-drenched bikini selfie to Instagram, in which she is seen skipping along a dock by the water. In the carefree image, the brunette beauty shows off her trim figure in a black and white polka dot bikini as her hair flows behind her in the breeze. New start: 'Goodbye 2016. You were good to our family,' the 33-year-old, posing here with daughter Phoenix, three, said in a post to her Instagram fans 'Goodbye 2016. You were good to our family. Can't wait to see what 2017 brings,' the 33-year-old captioned the image, adding a heart emoji. Tammin has much to look forward to. Other than her role in Pretty Little Liars and her own children's clothing line, she recently starred in the film Girlfriends of Christmas Past. Nicole Kidman was newly single when she last attended the Palm Springs Film Festival with her father twelve years ago. The 49-year-old was back again this year, but sadly, Antony Kidman was not. The Australian actress was moved to tears as she paid tribute to her late 'papa' while accepting the International Star award for her role in the film Lion. Scroll Down For Video Emotional! Nicole Kidman was moved to tears as she paid tribute to her late 'papa' while accepting an award for her role in the film Lion Dressed in a playful cream gown featuring several illustrations and embroidery, the Oscar winner referenced her former husband Tom Cruise in the heart-wrenching speech. 'I was here twelve years ago and I was here with my papa, who was alive then,' she began. 'I was newly single... and he held my hand and we walked up the red carpet. And I still have photos of that so...' Nicole paused before she added: 'So this is a really emotional evening for me.' Playful! Dressed in a playful cream gown, the Oscar winner referenced her former husband Tom Cruise in the heart-wrenching speech Memories! 'I was newly single ... and he held my hand and we walked up the red carpet. And I still have photos of that.' The 49-year-old said, before she began to cry Seemingly lost in the roaring applause her sentiment sparked, she began to cry. Nicole went on to imply that her fathers sudden passing made her realise she needed to re-evaluate her priorities in life. Antony was a clinical psychologist at Royal North Shore Hospital and a director of health psychology at the University of Technology Sydney. Sudden: Antony Kidman (R) suffered a heart attack inside a Singapore hotel restaurant in 2014 and died shortly after in hospital. He suffered a heart attack inside a Singapore hotel restaurant in 2014 and died shortly after in hospital. Nicole attended the ceremony with her Lion co-star Dev Patel, 26. The film, which hit US theaters last month, tells the story of an Indian boy who, at 30, searches for his birth-family after being adopted by an Australian one 25 years earlier. They're the power couple who aren't shy in showing affection for one another. And Monday was no different for actress Lindsay Price, 40, sharing a loved-up snap to Instagram, with her husband Curtis Stone, 41. The stunning brunette was captured gazing into the famous chef's eyes, while seated on board a flight. Scroll down for video Only eyes for each other! Lindsay Price, 40, shared a snap to Instagram on Monday, that saw her gazing affectionately at husband Curtis Stone, 41, while on board a flight Lindsay, best known for her role as Janet Sosna on Beverly Hills 90210, added a playful caption to the photo. 'Starting 2017 like [waving hand emoji], alongside several plane emojis and the hash-tag #notexcitedatall. The image saw the mother-of-two dressed in a black sweater and looking directly at her famous beau, while beaming from ear-to-ear. Curtis cut a casual figure in a simple white T-shirt, and was seen grinning just as enthusiastically. Explorers! The post comes after the couple enjoyed quality family time while returning to Curtis' hometown of Melbourne. Lindsay is pictured with sons Hudson (L) five, and Emerson, two The post comes after the couple enjoyed quality family time while returning to Curtis' hometown of Melbourne. Lindsay shared an adorable family photo to Instagram of herself with their two children Hudson, five, and Emerson, two, in the city's well-known Hozier Lane. The beauty beamed for the snap as she posed with her offspring in front of colourful street art. She highlighted her lean figure in a white summer dress and styled her long locks in loose waves. Home for the holidays! Curtis and his family reside in Los Angeles, but recently travelled to Australia for Christmas While they usually reside in Los Angeles, the family travelled to Australia for the holidays. Lindsay shared an Instagram photo of herself hanging up her family's clothes at Curtis' mothers house. 'Can't quite describe the pleasure I get from pegging out the washing at my mother in laws,' she wrote in the caption. The couple began dating in 2009 after meeting on a blind date. They became engaged three years later in 2012 and married in Spain in 2013. Simple pleasures: Lindsay, 31, recently posted an Instagram photo of herself hanging up her family's clothes at Curtis' mothers house She is widely tipped to earn her fourth Oscar nomination for her performance in the movie Manchester By The Sea. But on Tuesday night it was the New York Film Critics Circle who feted Michelle Williams at their annual awards show in Manhattan. The platinum blonde actress, 36, dazzled in a black dress with gold trim as she posed for photos on the red carpet ahead of the ceremony where she took Best Supporting actress. Golden girl: Michelle Williams was feted for her performance in Manchester By The Sea at the New York Film Critics Circle Awards in Manhattan on Tuesday night The win was in recognition of two tour de force performances this year, Certain Women and Manchester By The Sea, which saw her costar Casey Affleck win Best Actor. Michelle's dress was sleeveless and fell to just above her knee. It had burnished trim at the shoulders and down the front of the bodice. The finishing touch was a pair of gold sandals and an embellished box clutch. Dazzled: The platinum blonde actress, 36, shone in a black dress with gold trim at the shoulders and down the bodice as she posed for photos on the red carpet Coordinated look: Michelle's sleeveless dress fell to just above her knee. The finishing touch was a pair of gold sandals and an embellished box clutch The Brokeback Mountain star wore her cropped hair parted on one side and slicked across her forehead. She penciled in her brows in a shade matching her brown eyes and added black mascara to her lashes. A dusting of rosy blush adorned her cheeks and her lips were colored with a matte red shade. Flawless: The Brokeback Mountain star wore her cropped hair parted on one side and slicked across her forehead. She added brown brow pencil, black mascara and a touch of rosy blush Acclaimed performance: Also being honored Tuesday night was Manchester By The Sea leading man Casey Affleck, 41 Starring role: The younger brother of Ben Affleck looked dapper in a two-piece black suit and white shirt with dotted tie Manchester By The Sea is also tipped to bring a second Academy Award nod for Casey Affleck following his Broadcast Film Critics win for Best Actor in December. He showed up for the NY awards show looking dapper in a two-piece black suit and white shirt with dotted tie. Also on hand were Silence and Star wars: Episode VIII star Adam Driver and actress Amy Ryan, who starred with Casey Affleck in 2007's Gone Baby Gone. Co-stars: Affleck and Williams are staples of the awards show circuit this season On the guest list: Actress Amy Ryan and actor Adam Driver were among the celebrities who showed up to support the event Reunion: Affleck and Ryan who starred together in 2007's Gone Baby Gone greeted each other warmly inside the awards show Supporting film: New York-based actor and filmmaker John Turturro and French actress Isabelle Huppert also attended the event Kyle Sandilands' girlfriend is known for speaking her mind. Now, Imogen Anthony has claimed that there is 'no such thing as freedom of speech anymore' in a series of Instagram videos posted on Wednesday. The controversial fashion designer, 25, also called for a 'social media revolution' in an expletive-ridden speech. The videos mark her latest response to a journalist who put her on the 'The Ugly List' for her unique outfit at last year's ARIA awards. Scroll down for video Hitting back: Imogen Anthony has claimed there is 'no such thing as freedom of speech anymore' on Instagram after being featured in an end-of-year 'worst dressed' list In the first clip from a series she titled 'Losing Faith in new age humanity' Imogen lambasted those who 'attack people for no reason'. She claimed the videos were just a 'call-out to the f****tards on social media who don't know how to handle themselves.' The glamour model claimed she was a 'fan of the worst dressed list' but will not condone a 'biased' reporter who continues to attack her. Persistent: The videos mark her latest response to a journalist who put her on the 'The Ugly List' for her unique outfit at last year's ARIA awards. Pictured: Imogen and Kyle Sandilands The start of the trouble: Earlier this week, Imogen shared a photo of the article which criticised her ARIAs outfit as well as her choice in partner Imogen also addressed criticisms that she 'chose' to be famous and should therefore learn to deal with the limelight. 'Get f*****d, he found me!' she replied, implying that she did not pursue fame through her relationship with Kyle. She also wrote in the video's caption: 'There is no such thing as freedom of speech anymore, especially on social media, if it is harmful or detrimental to another person.' 'Get f*****, he found me!' Imogen also addressed criticisms that she 'chose' to be famous and should therefore learn to deal with the limelight Take that! The tirade comes after Imogen treated her fans to a naked photo, adding the caption 'Give ya something to talk about' The tirade comes after the socialite treated her fans to a naked snap of herself taking a shower, writing in the caption: 'Give ya something to talk about.' Hours after her Wednesday rant, Imogen also posted a cryptic image that showed a pair of red knickers stabbed into a wall with a knife. She captioned the image 'I was here.' The Australian beauty has spent the past few weeks in her native country for the festive season. But Megan Blake Irwin was spotted leaving Adelaide Airport on Wednesday morning, possibly en route to her base in New York. The model, 22, cut a casual figure in blue skin-tight leggings and a band T-shirt as she strutted through the terminal. Scroll down for video Holidays are over! Model Megan Blake Irwin cuts a casual figure as she jets out of Adelaide Airport on Wednesday en route to her base in New York City Ditching heels for designer boots, she tied a cardigan loosely around her waist while carrying three carry-on bags through the airport. The stunner, who is known for her glamorous lingerie shoots, chose to opt for minimal makeup and aviator sunglasses while leaving her long blonde locks loose. In an effort to perk herself up for the early flight she was also seen purchasing a caffeinated beverage before boarding commenced. Feeling tired? Megan sought out a caffeinated beverage before boarding her early flight, with the coffee shop clerk appearing pleased with the star as she took her order with a cheery smile Fresh faced! The stunner, who is known for her glamorous lingerie shoots, chose to opt for minimal makeup and aviator sunglasses while leaving her long blonde freely flowing The coffee shop clerk appeared to be pleased with the star's presence as she took her order with a cheery smile. Megan has been in Adelaide for the last few days spending time with family. 'Quick family trip to Radelaide with my sister from the same mister @bykirstyirwin,' she captioned an image on Tuesday. Sister act! Megan spent the past few days in Adelaide with family, including her 'sister from the same mister'., as they posed with each other for a cute image on Tuesday The Guess model also spent some time with friends in Sydney, having claimed to have a 'ladies night' on one of her first night's back in the country. Sporting a pit, she shared an image to her more than 100k followers with two pals at Bondi's Icebergs in glitzy attire. Among her entourage was TV host Carissa Walford and model Zoe Cross. Ladies night! The Guess model also spent some time with friends in Sydney, promoting a night out at Bondi's Icebergs with TV host Carissa Walford and model Zoe Cross She announced her arrival in the country four weeks ago with two Sydney Harbour images, captioned: 'I've lived all over the world and nowhere does summer like Sydney' and 'Natural habitat.' Megan was previously linked to reality TV star Scott Disick following his split with Kourtney Kardashian. She has since modelled for Guess and been featured in Harper's Bazaar. 'Natural habitat': She announced her arrival in the country four weeks ago with two images of herself aboard a yacht in the Sydney Harbour She's the flashy Australian comedian with an estimated net worth of $2.5m So it's no wonder Rebel Wilson's wardrobe reflects her earnings, with the Pitch Perfect 2 starlet toting her latest designer accessories in Sydney on Tuesday. The sassy blonde was spotted arriving at Sydney Airport sporting a Louis Vuitton x Marc Newson fleece backpack, worth over $8,000. Scroll down for video Expensive cargo! Rebel Wilson was spotted arriving at Sydney Airport sporting a Louis Vuitton x Marc Newson fleece backpack, worth over $8,000 Clad in a casual pair of skinny jeans and a long-sleeve black top, Rebel completed her look with a pair of designer sunglasses and a chunky gold bangle. She was later seen strolling through the departures terminal flanked by her entourage as she made her way to the flight. It comes just days after Rebel rang in the New Year with pals during a lavish island getaway. Staying shady: Clad in a casual pair of skinny jeans and a long-sleeve black top, Rebel completed her look with a pair of designer sunglasses The actress shared a slew snaps from the lavish holiday, one of which depicts her and three friends enjoying lunch and champagne at a picnic table semi-submerged in the ocean. Rebel and her pals, hair stylist Nicole Leal, photographer Josh Separzadeh and London-based Aussie Nicholas Hills, were seen raising a toast with their wine glasses, while surrounded by crystal-clear blue water. She captioned the post: 'Starting off 2017 right! Great friends + great floating picnic x'. Keeping a low profile: She was later seen strolling through the departures terminal flanked by her entourage as she made her way to the flight Rebel is gearing up to reprise her role as Fat Amy in the upcoming film Pitch Perfect 3 later this year. Joining the cast is fellow Australian Ruby Rose, who has already made a name for herself in Hollywood by starring in the likes of John Wick: Chapter 2 and Resident Evil: The Final Chapter. Anna Kendrick, Anna Camp, Brittany Snow and Hailee Steinfeld are also expected to make a return to the franchise. Sea-ing in the new year: Rebel Wilson heralded the New Year on an island, posting this image of herself and three pals enjoying a buoyant picnic last week She's the wife of a Gold Logie winning social media abstainer. But Dr Susan Carland, 37, has nailed the ultimate Instagram classic food post by uploading a picture of her breakfast seemingly from her accommodation in Sri Lanka, the 5-star Galle Face Hotel. The prominent Australian Muslim, who is married to The Project host Waleed Aly, 38, was quick to add that the meat shown in the shot was 'chicken bacon' and thus Halal - allowed to be eaten under Islamic doctrine. Scroll down for video Insta-classic: Dr Susan Carland, 37, has nailed the ultimate Instagram classic post by uploading a picture of her breakfast of tea and chicken bacon The image has been meticulously framed, with the fibres of the place mat underneath the crockery perfectly vertical within the shot. In the middle of the frame sits a simple white tea cup and saucer, filled with what appears to be milky tea. Resting on the saucer is a single slice of chicken bacon. The caption simply reads 'Breakfast!' In a comment, the self-described 'hijabulous' academic added 'this is chicken bacon' with the hashtag '#KeepinItHalal'. Hashtag Halal: The prominent Australian Muslim was quick to add that the meat shown in the shot was 'chicken bacon' and thus Halal - allowed to be eaten under Islamic doctrine Dr Carland has been very active in the last few days, sharing several images of the water near her holiday hotel. On Wednesday, she posted another new shot, taken from distance, of her resting at the side of a pool, gazing out at the sunset over the ocean. The caption read: 'That's me in there! Another city, another pool, same sun.' On Wednesday she posted a new shot, taken from distance, of her resting at the side of a pool, gazing out at the sunset over the ocean While she has not confirmed the location of her holiday - nor whether Waleed has joined her on her vacation - sharp-eyed observers have identified the location as Sri Lanka's 5-star Galle Face Hotel. One stunning Instagram image of a vibrant beach side location captioned: 'Guess where?' on Monday appeared to be taken at the luxury hot spot in Colombo. Even The Today Show's Lisa Wilkinson had a guess, commenting: 'Heaven? xxx.' Mystery man: Despite multiple social media posts over the last few days, Susan has not confirmed the location of her holiday - nor whether Waleed has joined her on her vacation Guess Where? Susan Carland, the wife of Gold Logie winning host Waleed Aly, has shared a set of cryptic holiday images that have been identified as coming from Sri Lanka's Galle Face Hotel A second image, showcasing the iconic set of beach chairs beneath a luscious multicoloured sunset allowed fans to correctly identify the hotel. Susan snapped the image from behind a bed of crystalline blue water. 'As you can see, I'm really struggling here guys,' she joked in the caption. Her face wasn't on display in the shots, and there was no sign of Waleed, although a break in airing for Channel Ten's The Project would indicate the host was likely in attendance. Got it! An image showcasing the iconic set of beach chairs beneath a luscious multi-coloured sunset allowed fans to correctly identify the hotel She's the Home And Away star known for her killer curves. And Pia Miller looked simply flawless in snaps captured and posted to Instagram on Wednesday from her Bali holiday. The 33-year-old flaunted her cleavage and slender frame in a skimpy bikini, as she posed in front of a stunning backdrop in Lembongan Island with beau Tyson Mullane. Scroll down for video No filter needed! Pia Miller, 33, showed off her cleavage and slender frame in a skimpy bikini, as she posed for snaps shared to Instagram on Wednesday, while enjoying a Bali vacation with beau Tyson Mullane Pia simply sizzled in an itsy-bitsy marble bikini. The triangle-style top showed off her cleavage, while the white hue contrasted against her complexion. While reclining on a sun chair, the Channel Seven actress offered a glimpse of her taut torso and lean legs. Sweeping her long tresses into an effortless top knot and appearing to go makeup-free, Pia concealed her eyes behind a pair of stylish Ray-Ban sunglasses. Sweet embrace: Another snap captured to beau Tyson's Instagram account saw the couple putting on an affectionate display Cozy: A later image shared to Pia's account saw the two lovebirds packing on the PDA, enjoying a steamy kiss next to a stunning lap pool Another snap posted on beau Tyson's Instagram account saw the genetically-blessed couple putting on an affectionate display. This time, Pia had her tresses styled into a half-up, half-down do, with several strands falling over one shoulder. The mother-of-two beamed for the camera, as she sat on her partner's lap and wrapped her right arm around his shoulders. Tyson, a model-turned-film producer, embraced his stunning girlfriend, drawing attention to several tattoos on his chest and arms. Living the life! The Chilean-born beauty has been making the most of her picturesque vacation, sharing stunning snaps to Instagram A later image shared to Pia's account saw the two lovebirds packing on the PDA, enjoying a steamy kiss next to a stunning lap pool. The couple appear to go from strength to strength in their relationship. Pia separated from her husband of 10 years, former AFL player Brad Miller, in October 2015. The Chilean-born beauty started dating film producer Tyson shortly after. Pia is also a mother to two sons, Isaiah Loyola and Lennox Miller. My Kitchen Rules star JP Huillet has broken his silence after his ex-girlfriend Nelly Riggio revealed her new romance with dessert chef, Adriano Zumbo. The 30-year-old said he wished 'nothing but the best for everyone involved' after the Just Desserts star whisked his former love away to the Maldives for a romantic getaway. He did however admit that it has been a 'tough time' as Nelly and Adriano continue to post a slew of loved-up snaps of their vacation all over the internet. Scroll down for video 'Nothing will hold me down!' MKR star JP Huillet breaks his silence via a lengthy Instagram post on Wednesday after Adriano Zumbo whisked away his ex-girlfriend Nelly Riggio for a romantic holiday to the Maldives 'Just wanted to say a MASSIVE thank you to everyone who supported me yesterday,' the 30-year-old amateur chef began his lengthy Instagram post on Wednesday. Labeling a bright yellow 'THANK YOU' over his selfie, JP chose to conceal his eyes with dark lensed sunglasses as he candidly spoke from the heart. 'Your kind words and messages have helped through a tough time... So just to show my endless appreciation to EVERYONE thank you and I love you all!' he detailed his gratitude to friends, family and fans. Lovebirds, no more! It's unsure when the couple, who were previously labeled the 'QLD Lovebirds', parted ways or the time between Nelly breaking up with JP and dating Zumbo While fans had reached out with words of support and concern, he was quick to reassure them: 'I'm super positive I love life and nothing will hold me down!' 'Just so everyone knows I'm happy and healthy and wish nothing but the best for everyone involved,' he wrote for the intention of pointing out ex Nelly and her new flame Zumbo. The Queensland local had joined the My Kitchen Rules series early last year as the 'QLD Lovebirds' team. 'No hate': JP took the opportunity to say thanks to his supporters online, while claiming there was no bad blood between 'everyone involved' In happier times: While JP heals over the break-up, he has said he's super positive, love's life and added: 'nothing will hold me down!' 'Keep up that positivity': After fans saw JP break his silence over the shock couple announcement, they commented words of encouragement to the reality star online The pair often seen smitten with each other on screen. The post from JP comes days after Adriano confirmed he was dating Nelly, cuddling up to the pretty brunette during a romantic trip to the Maldives. 'Happy New Year 2017 from the Maldives!!!! Looking forward to many more years with this hottie,' he captioned the post with two love heart eye emojis. He's got his mates! Close friends of the former reality star also added encouraging messages to his thread Meanwhile, while fans saw JP break his silence over the shock couple announcement, they commented words of encouragement to the reality star. 'Glad to hear your doing well mate your a legend everybody knows that keep up that positivity,' wrote one fan. While close friends also added to the thread, with: 'You just keep being your awesome self buddy and everything will fall into place! Your positivity is infectious and always makes everyone around you happy! It is a privilege to call you a mate! Keep smiling and lifting brother' and ' Of course. Always here. We love you JP!! See you the (sic) weekend.' Making it official: On Sunday, Adriano Zumbo confirmed he was dating Nelly, cuddling up to the pretty brunette during a romantic trip to the Maldives Nelly, 26, is yet to address the split, but has been open about parading her new beau on social media. The aspiring chef uploaded a loved up snap to Instagram with the dessert master on Tuesday. 'Positive vibes,' she captioned a photo, that saw her 35-year-old partner holding her up in the air in front of a picturesque backdrop. 'Positive vibes': My Kitchen Rules alum and aspiring chef, Nelly, took to Instagram on Tuesday, sharing a loved-up snap with beau Zumbo, 35, just days after the pair confirmed their relationship The slender brunette also took to her own Instagram account earlier that day, posting a snap that saw her embracing her famous boyfriend. 'Too distracted to write anything,' Nelly captioned the photo, adding in the hashtags #spadate and #massages. Instagram fans soon questioned the timing of the relationship, referencing past boyfriend JP. 'But what happened to jp,' wrote one social media user, alongside a sad face emoji. While another commented: 'Are you guys together? Awe what happened to jp and nelly,' adding in a love heart emoji. Time away from home: Nelly took to her own Instagram account after, posting a snap that saw her embracing her famous beau, while enjoying a spa date in the Maldives Fan favourites: The couple referred to as the 'lovebirds' in promo campaigns for the last season of My Kitchen Rules 'Hope it wasn't too hard on them': Another social media user offered their well wishes, hoping the break up was amicable Another Instagram follower offered their well wishes: 'Clear that they split, hope it wasn't too hard on them, break ups [are] never easy.' The Daily Telegraph's Confidential reported on Tuesday, that Nelly, who starred on the last season of My Kitchen Rules with then-boyfriend JP Huillet, landed a job in Sydney for Zumbo's dessert chain. Nelly moved from Brisbane to Sydney last September, to take on a role in research and development. He's garnered a legion of female admirers due to his muscular frame and insanely good looks. And Hollywood superstar Scott Eastwood, son of veteran actor Clint, reminded fans of his appeal on Wednesday, capturing an impressive headstand to his Instagram story. 'Some lunchtime yoga,' the 30-year-old captioned the clip, which saw him flaunting his chiselled torso and buff arms, while on a break from filming Pacific Rim: Maelstrom in Australia. Scroll down for video 'Some lunchtime yoga': Scott Eastwood, 30, shared an Instagram story on Wednesday, that saw him showing off his chiselled torso and buff arms while performing a headstand, during a break in filming of Pacific Rim: Maelstrom in Australia Going shirtless, Scott drew the eye to his gym-honed frame in a pair of black workout shorts. Positioning a black towel on the grass outside his trailer, the Suicide Squad star rested his forearms on the ground, performing an impressive headstand. As the camera scanned around Scott, the actor took things up a notch, stretching his legs out. Buff: Going shirtless, the hunk drew the eye to his gym-honed frame in a pair of black workout shorts Bend it like Eastwood: Positioning a black towel on the grass outside his trailer, the Suicide Squad star rested his forearms on the ground, performing an impressive headstand Scott has been making the most of his time while in Sydney, as he films Pacific Rim: Maelstrom. In previous videos shared to Instagram, the popular personality spent the last day of 2016 soaking up the sun on a yacht in Sydney Harbour. And after dark, Scott secured prime position to watch the fireworks over the Harbour Bridge. 'Oh Jesus this is the best fireworks show ever!' Scott couldn't hide his excitement while watching New Year's Eve fireworks in Sydney In a short clip shared to his Instagram story, The Fate of the Furious star, filmed the fireworks and couldn't hide his delight as he narrated the spectacular display. 'Oh my god! This is the best fireworks show ever! Oh my god what!' Scott said excitedly. He added: 'Oh Jesus this is the best fireworks show ever!' Pretty sight: Scott has been making the most of his time while in Sydney, as he films Pacific Rim: Maelstrom Scott was also amazed when the Harbour Bridge became a part of the pyrotechnic display. 'It's like on fire, it's melting,' Scott exclaimed. He began filming the sequel to Pacific Rim in mid-November, with shooting reportedly taking place at Sydney's Fox Studios and in Queensland. The film also starts Star Wars: The Force Awaken's actor John Boyega. He recently lost his wife Zsa Zsa Gabor, who died on December 18 from a heart attack at age 99. On Tuesday Frederic Prinz von Anhalt was spotted dining out for lunch at Il Pastaio in Beverly Hills just four days after his late spouse's memorial service which was held on December 30. The 73-year-old - who was Gabor's ninth husband - appeared to have enjoyed his meal al fresco with a friend at the celebrity favorite Italian eatery. Spotted: Frederic Prinz von Anhalt was seen out for lunch at Il Pastaio in Beverly Hills just four days after his wife Zsa Zsa Gabor's memorial service which was held on December 30 Coping: The 73-year-old - who was Gabor's ninth husband - appeared to have enjoyed his meal al fresco with a friend at the celebrity favorite Italian eatery Von Anhalt was extremely dressed down in a cap, bomber jacket, blue jeans and hiking boots. At one point he donned spectacles and cracked a smile as he appeared to be looking at a photo on a cell phone. Later in the meal, he appeared to be thumbing through some paperwork with a pen in hand. This outing comes soon after he gave the eulogy at the memorial mass for his late wife at the Good Shepard Catholic Church in Beverly Hills last Friday. Casual: Von Anhalt was extremely dressed down in a cap, bomber jacket, blue jeans and hiking boots Still fresh: This outing comes soon after he gave the eulogy at the memorial mass for his late wife at the Good Shepard Catholic Church in Beverly Hills last Friday The Hollywood star was remembered for her love of glamour and red carpets at the service where Von Anhalt paid tribute to his wife - whom he married in 1986 - and said his life was 'empty' without her. Concluding his lengthy speech, Von Anhalt gave some last touching words about his loss. 'I was my wife's partner. I was her best friend,' he added. 'It was my duty, and it's the duty of any husband or any wife, to care for your partner. 'My wife was my life': Von Anhalt said during his touching tribute to his wife - whom he married in 1986. Gabor died on December 18 from a heart attack at age 99 Tragic: Von Anhalt is also coping with the loss of his and Gabor's adopted son, Oliver Prinz von Anhalt, who passed away one week after Gabor from his injuries in a motorcycle accident 'My wife was my life. Right now my life is empty. I was glued to my partner.' Von Anhalt is also coping with the loss of his and Gabor's adopted son, Oliver Prinz von Anhalt. The 45-year-old was critically injured in a motorcycle accident in Los Angeles the very same day that Zsa Zsa died. Oliver was hospitalized, but later passed away from his injuries one week after Gabor on Christmas Day. Ruth Negga looked stunning in a silver and blue ensemble as she presented Jeff Nichols, 38, with Variety's Creative Impact in Directing Award at the 20th anniversary of the magazine's 10 Directors to Watch luncheon. The event was held in conjunction with the Palm Springs Film Festival at the Parker Palm Springs on Tuesday. It was fitting for Negga, 34, to present the award to Nichols, as he received it for directing the romantic drama and biopic Loving, of which Negga is the star. Silver stunner: Ruth Negga looked stunning in a silver and blue ensemble as she presented Jeff Nichols, 38, with Variety's Creative Impact in Directing Award at the 20th anniversary of the magazine's 10 Directors to Watch luncheon Award winner: It was fitting for Negga, 34, to present the award to Nichols, as he received it for directing the romantic drama and biopic Loving, of which Negga is the star Loving is the story of Mildred, played by Negga, and Richard Loving, played by Joel Edgerton whose arrest in Virginia under anti-miscegenation laws after their inter-racial marriage leads to an historic legal battle that goes all the up to the US Supreme Court. Negga is up for Best Actress for her role in the film at the Golden Globes, as well as Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture at the NAACP Image Awards, held in January and February, respectively. Also up for Best Actress at the Critics' Choice Movie Awards held in December for the same role, the World War Z star lost out to Natalie Portman for her portrayal of the title character in Jackie. Bold beauty: The Preacher star paired a long and flared-sleeve top with floral print in hues of blue with a sleek, long silver skirt with a hint of metallic sheen, both from Erdem Warming it up: The actor topped the look off with a leopard print jacket, worn while seated, and a shiny, silver pointed-toe heel The Preacher star didn't shy away from a bold look at the Variety celebration, pairing a long and flared-sleeve Erdem top with floral print in hues of blue with a sleek, long silver Sacha skirt with a hint of metallic sheen from Erdem. The skirt echoed the tones in the top with bird embellishments, accented with a pastel pink band at the waist. The actor topped the look off with a leopard print jacket, worn while seated, and a shiny, silver pointed-toe heel. What an honor: Viggo Mortensen, 58, received Variety's Creative Impact in Acting Award for his role in Captain Fantastic The others honored at the function were Viggo Mortensen, 58, who received Variety's Creative Impact in Acting Award for his role in Captain Fantastic, and Pharrell Williams, 43, who was bestowed with the Creative Impact in Producing Award for his role in bringing the film Hidden Figures to fruition with producing partner Mimi Valdez. Hidden Figures' Janelle Monae and The Big Bang Theory's Jim Parsons were on hand to introduce Pharrell. Finally, Variety's 10 Directors to Watch for 2017 were named as Maren Ade (Toni Erdmann), Ritesh Batra (The Sense of an Ending), Otto Bell (The Eagle Huntress), Julia Ducournau (Raw), Geremy Jasper (Patti Cake$), Barry Jenkins (Moonlight), brothers Emmett and Brendan Malloy (Tribes of Palos Verdes), Kleber Mendonca Filho (Aquarius), William Oldroyd (Lady Macbeth), and David Sandberg (Lights Out). Visionaries: Hidden Figures' Janelle Monae and The Big Bang Theory's Jim Parsons were on hand to introduce Pharrell, who won the Creative Impact in Producing Award Halle Berry reportedly rushed to finalise her divorce from third husband Olivier Martinez before the new year for financial reasons. According to TMZ, the Oscar winner - who boasts a $70M fortune - didn't want the Frenchman to get a piece of her 'pending contracts and deals.' In legal documents, the Kevin Hart: What Now? star indicated that lucrative offers were in the works long before their October 2015 separation. Scroll down for video Securing her empire: Halle Berry reportedly rushed to finalise her divorce from third husband Olivier Martinez before the new year for financial reasons The 50-year-old actors - who had a prenup - will share joint legal and physical custody of their three-year-old son Maceo. But Berry and Martinez - who met on the 2010 South African set of Dark Tide - have not resolved their property settlement. It's been said that the former boxer's violent temper was partly to blame for the split, having shoved an LAX employee with a baby seat in 2015. Breadwinner: According to TMZ, the Oscar winner - who boasts a $70M fortune - didn't want the Frenchman to get a piece of her 'pending contracts and deals' (pictured in 2014) 'Proud mama moment!' The 50-year-old actors - who had a prenup - will share joint legal and physical custody of their three-year-old son Maceo It's still not over: But Berry and Martinez - who met on the 2010 South African set of Dark Tide - have not resolved their property settlement Anger management: It's been said that the former boxer's violent temper was partly to blame for the split, having shoved an LAX employee with a baby seat in 2015 (pictured November 28) On Monday, Halle - born Maria - shared a balloon-filled snap of her eight-year-old daughter Nahla with her French-Canadian ex Gabriel Aubry. According to Variety, the former Bond girl began filming the 1992-set indie drama Kings with Daniel Craig last week in South Central Los Angeles. Meanwhile, Martinez was last seen as Mars Missions Corporation CEO Ed Grann in National Geographic's six-part docudrama Mars. '2017 .. up we go!' On Monday, Halle - born Maria - shared a balloon-filled snap of her eight-year-old daughter Nahla with her French-Canadian ex Gabriel Aubry Hard at work: According to Variety, the former Bond girl began filming the 1992-set indie drama Kings with Daniel Craig last week in South Central Los Angeles In the year 2033: Meanwhile, Martinez was last seen as Mars Missions Corporation CEO Ed Grann in National Geographic's six-part docudrama Mars At this point, it's unclear if audiences will ever get to see Berry in the thriller Kidnap, which she also executive-produced. The original 2015 release date for the flick has been postponed three times, and it's currently slated to hit US theaters on March 10. 'You took the wrong kid!' At this point, it's unclear if audiences will ever get to see Berry in the thriller Kidnap, which she also executive-produced She's the glamourous lawyer who found love on the first season of The Bachelor. And Anna Heinrich, 30, is starting 2017 off with a fitness bang, hitting the pavement for a run. It comes after speculation that her beau Tim Robards, 33, may have proposed to her on New Year's Eve. Scroll down for video 'Sweating up a storm': Anna Heinrich works out amid rumours beau Tim Robards proposed on New Year's Eve The blonde beauty shared her fitness regime to her Instagram story on Wednesday. She first posted a picture of her runner clad feet and a water bottle, as she perched on the edge of a street curb. 'Back on track 2017,' Anna captioned the photo. Getting ready to run! She first posted a picture of her runner clad feet and a water bottle, as she perched on the edge of a street curb A later selfie showed a flushed Anna looking sweaty as she clearly recovers from an intense workout. She looks stunning in little to no makeup, with her long blonde locks pulled back from her face in a ponytail. The reality TV star is dressed to workout in the summer heat, wearing a purple singlet. 'It's time': Tim Robards sent fans into overdrive questioning if he has proposed to long-time girlfriend Anna Heinrich, after posting a photo to Instagram last Saturday of a prized piece of bling her fingers 'Sweating up a storm,' Anna captions the selfie. The 'back to normal' photos come after speculation went into overdrive that Anna had received a proposal while holidaying with her beau. On Saturday Tim took to Instagram to share a close-up snap of his girlfriend with a piece of prized bling on her fingers. Same ring? Anna appeared to be wearing that very same ring in a photo from earlier in the week Fans soon went into overdrive, with one simply commenting: 'it's time.' 'Peekaboo!' Tim captioned the snap shared with his 137,000 Instagram followers. The image saw the criminal lawyer concealing the majority of her face with her hands, which sported a delicate gold ring on one of her fingers. Speculation: Tim and Anna have been at the centre of engagement rumours Anna's blonde locks framed her face, while she was seen beaming for the camera. Tim previously hinted at an engagement during an appearance on KIIS FM's Kyle and Jackie O show in November. 'It's three years on, so probably getting around that time,' he said. 'I know where I'd probably go to get [the ring]...I know what she likes. I need to steal one of her other ones to find out the size.' On-screen love: Anna and Tim have been together for just over three years, finding love on dating reality series, The Bachelor Australia She has always shown her magnanimous side throughout their confrontations. And Denise Richards proved she also has a talent for understatement after she toasted a 'colourful year' as she shared a photo from a family meal she enjoyed with ex Charlie Sheen on social media on Tuesday. In the Twitter image she sits at a table with the Two And A Half Men star and their daughters Sam, 12, and 11-year-old Lola Rose, as well as her younger daughter Eloise who she adopted on her own. Denise Richards proved she also has a talent for understatement after she toasted a 'colourful year' as she shared a photo from a family meal she enjoyed with ex Charlie Sheen on social media on Tuesday The 45-year-old Starship Troopers star said: 'We've had a colourful year, at the end of the day... we're still a family.' No doubt they are hoping 2017 will be better than 2016, which saw Charlie, 51, battling his former wife through the courts to have his child support payments reduced, a matter which was finally settled last August. Meanwhile Charlie is getting ready for his big comeback since announcing he is HIV Positive. Mad Families 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. In a trailer for the film Charlie, who plays the white patriarch even though he is actually Hispanic, tells a racist joke about a 'black man in a suit' in the promotional trailer for film. Mother's pride: Charlie Sheen poses with on-screen stepmother Leah Remini in a still he posted on Instagram His big comeback will be debuting on January 12 on Crackle. The star looked full of beans as he poses with his on-screen stepmother Leah Remini in a still from his forthcoming film Mad Families he posted on social media. The controversial actor looks as trendy as ever in a lumberjack shirt, T-shirt and khaki shorts. King of Queens favourite Leah, 46, looked good for her age in a white T-shirt and blue jeans. Blundering buffoon Charlie originally wrote Lisa was his 'Missus,' before amending his Instagram caption to: 'Me and the Stepmom. #MadFamilies.' He sticks to what he is good at in the show, which he executive produces, as he is playing a good natured, if rather grumpy, man-child in the film. Smokin': Charlie seemed to be enjoying having a puff on set in Los Angeles back in October 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 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. Well he is the executive producer: Glamour model Charlotte McKinney plays Charlie's wife 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 2015, he said that opening up about his health issue was 'liberating'. Playing to his strengths: His man-child character sounds much like who he played in Two And A Half Men 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. It was later reported he had been filmed smoking crack cocaine and performing oral sex on another man, and that he had attempted to cover up the existence of 'at least' five sex tapes of him that were recorded around the time of his public breakdown five years ago. She regularly shares loved-up images of herself with Swedish boyfriend, Johannes Jarl. And this week, Swedish-Australian model Kelly Gale shared a sweet image of herself giving her man a smooch on New Year's Eve, to mark their anniversary. The 21-year-old gushed on Instagram, captioning the shot: 'Can't wait for a third year with you.' Scroll down for video 'Can't wait for a third year with you': Victoria's Secret model Kelly Gale celebrates her anniversary with boyfriend Johannes Jarl 'Happy anniversary to us. And Happy New Year to all of you guys,' Kelly added. The Victoria's Secret model - who has an Indian mother and Australian father and was born in Sweden - stuns in a blue and green sequinned dress. Appearing to be dressed up for the occasion, Johannes also dons a black tuxedo and bow tie. Turning heads: Last month, Kelly stunned as she walked in the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show A week ago, the couple enjoyed breakfast together at a cafe, with Kelly writing online that they slept for ten hours and then went for a bite to eat Smitten: The pair regularly post loved-up images of one another online A week ago, the couple enjoyed breakfast together at a cafe, with Kelly writing online that they slept for ten hours and then went for a bite to eat. Last month, Kelly stunned as she walked in the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show. She first walked for the brand in 2013 and again in 2014. Strutting her stuff: She first walked for the brand in 2013 and again in 2014 (seen last year in Paris) 'Oh yeah she sparkles': Johannes gushed at the Victoria's Secret after party (pictured) about Kelly, saying how proud he was of her Johannes joined his love at the show and watched from afar, gushing over her at the time, writing: 'Kelly completely owned the show. You'll never understand how incredibly, crazy proud I am of you.' He also shared a shot of her in a sequinned mini dress at the after party, writing: 'Oh yeah she sparkles.' Kelly has modelled for the likes of Chanel, Tommy Hilfiger and Ralph Lauren and has posed for Playboy. The Shannara Chronicles star has a slew of new projects in the works for the upcoming year. And Daniel MacPherson is set to kick off 2017 on stage hosting the AACTA International Awards in Los Angeles on Friday. The 36-year-old announced the big news to his Instagram followers on Wednesday in an enthusiastic post addressed to his mother Annie. Round two: Daniel MacPherson will host the AACTA International Awards for the second time in a row, but this time he's taking the stage solo He shared a picture of himself on a promotional flyer alongside Nicole Kidman, Mel Gibson and Isla Fisher. 'Look mum, I made it,' he began excitedly before joking: 'either that or the picture editor thought I was Joel Edgerton.' 'Either way, very much looking forward to being a part of the AACTA International Awards on Friday in LA.' Joel from Neighbours or Joel Edgerton? Daniel was excited to see himself on the AACTA advertisement, but joked the organisation may have gotten him mixed up with Joel Edgerton He finished the post with the hashtag: 'Really need to find a suit.' Daniel took the stage as host last year as well, but while he appeared alongside Rachel Griffiths then, it appears he will be undertaking the hosting duties solo this time. When the former Neighbours star does find a suit, he's sure to look extra dashing this year, as he recently began the gruelling training regime for his role on the reboot of Strike Back. The show follows a recently re-banded military task force as they try to track down a terrorist, and former versions of the show have seen cast members undergo training with SAS and SBS servicemen. Mum and me: The Australian actor tagged his mother Annie (pictured left) in his excited Instagram post, eager to share his success with her Last week he shared an image of himself on a shooting range, training with a former Navy SEAL among other instructors. He told followers 'prep has begun' for the action packed television series, which had the cast 'working our butts off' in a range of new skills. 'This week was on the range with transition drills,' he added. The show, just one of Daniel's upcoming projects, will begin filming this year. Learning: Daniel has begun the gruelling training for his upcoming starring role on Strike Back, which last week saw him on a shooting range with a former Navy SEAL Fans were left heartbroken when it was announced last year that Paul Hollywood and Mary Berry were calling time on their TV partnership. But the Great British Bake Off duo could be back on screen together, according to a new report from The Sun - but on the other side of the Atlantic. It's thought US TV executives are keen to recreate the onscreen chemistry of Hollywood and Berry for the US version of the smash hit baking series. Back together: Great British Bake Off stars Paul Hollywood and Mary Berry could be reunited for the US version of the hit show Mary, 81, has just finished her first series at the helm of the Great American Baking Show, and has reportedly impressed TV executives. In a bid to boost ratings for a new series, The Sun claim that Paul could be enticed back to the show to recreate the onscreen magic of GBBO. A source said: 'The Great American Baking Show did really well in the ratings and execs love the British accent. She's a hit: Mary, 81, has just finished her first series at the helm of the Great American Baking Show, and has reportedly impressed TV executives 'They may want to get the pair back together again for their on-screen chemistry. 'There would also be a lot of interest here and a UK channel would probably show it for the first time.' Paul previously appeared on a version of the show in 2013, aired by ABC, but it was a ratings flop. Hollywood, but not with Paul: Mary teamed up with New York pastry chef Johnny Luzzini for the show, but a new report claims Paul Hollywood could be lured back to the States for the next series The last series saw Mary teaming up with celebrated New York pastry chef Johnny Luzzini to judge the contestants who, just like in the UK version, try and cook up a storm in a tent. The Great American Baking Show is made by Love Productions, who signed a new deal with Channel 4 last year to show the next series of the Great British Bake Off. Channel 4 paid 75million for the global hit back in September, but while the move from the BBC led to Paul signing a new contract, Mary decided to quit the series alongside show hosts Sue Perkins and Mel Giedroyc. Quit: Mary, along with GBBO hosts Mel and Sue, quit the British version of the show last year when it moved to Channel 4, but Paul has remained Filming for the new series of Bake Off is due to kick off in May. While GBBO attracted 15 million viewers at its peak, The Great American Baking Show managed only a fraction of those viewing figures - with 4.6million tuning in for Mary's premiere episode last year. However many tuned in for Berry's plummy British accent and her wise baking advice - calling her the 'only upside' of the American version. A representative for Paul has been contacted by MailOnline for comment. Recipe for success: In a bid to boost ratings for a new series, The Sun claim that Paul could be enticed back to the show to recreate the onscreen magic of GBBO The Footy Show funnyman has spent his New Year's break on a road trip up to Coolangatta with his family. But Beau Ryan discovered there is a downside to travelling long distances by car - the traffic. In a hilarious post to Instagram this week, the former Cronulla Sharks player detailed his nightmare trip back to Sydney. Stay calm! The Footy Show's Beau Ryan looked on edge as he road tripped back from a holiday in Queensland with his wife Kara and daughter Remi The picture, shared with his 341,000 Instagram followers, shows Beau looking aggravated while his wife Kara and daughter Remi appeared quite content with the situation. 'I have "Do you want to build a snowman?" on repeat, in the worst traffic I have ever seen, and I haven't had a coffee for 4 hours,' he wrote in the caption, before using the hashtag: 'Namaste.' The 31-year-old was quick to add a disclaimer to the 'Insta Cops' that his car was stopped and parked at the time. Heading north! Beau, Kara and Remi stopped off at The Big Banana as they journeyed north towards Brisbane in the car before New Year's Eve The family have been spotted travelling north up the east coast of Australia towards Brisbane over the holiday break. Kara Ryan, a makeup artist, shared a photograph of the trio posing outside The Big Banana in Coffs Harbour just before New Year's Eve. The Ryan's appeared to celebrate the New Year in Coolangatta, Queensland, with a picture showing them on a balcony holding sparklers. The big bash: The Ryan's appeared to keep things low key for the holiday, and celebrated on a balcony in Coolangatta with sparklers during the night, before spending the first day of 2017 on a boat On New Year's Day, Beau and Kara appeared to be celebrating on a boat with family and friends, before they began the long journey back home. While the trip took place as the family celebrated the start of 2017, they also appeared to be celebrating the birth of their daughter Remi, who turned four. On December 30, the former NRL player shared an adorable picture of his daughter looking up at the camera and wished her a happy fourth birthday. They've managed to keep their legion of fans and many a critic happy with their adrenaline-fueled motoring japes so far. And it seems that Amazon Prime subscribers are certainly getting more bang for their buck with The Grand Tour, as episode nine has yet more explosive scenes in it. In the brand new teaser for the hit show, Jeremy Clarkson and James May take their rivalry with Richard Hammond to new levels as they blow his van up with a rocket. Scroll down for video More bang for your buck? It seems that Amazon Prime subscribers are certainly getting more bang for their buck with The Grand Tour, as episode nine has yet more explosive scenes in it Heading to Stuttgart, Germany, for the latest tent location, the trio look to have upped the motoring mayhem following their Namibia beach buggy special. In the trailer for the episode, which is titled Berks To The Future, the trio head to Germany for the prospect of no speeding tickets whilst driving super cars on the motorway. But it's not the cars stealing the spotlight in the trailer for the ninth installment of series one, as it seems Jeremy and James have turned on Richard. Bit extreme? In the brand new teaser for the hit show, Jeremy Clarkson and James May take their rivalry with Richard Hammond to new levels as they blow his van up with a rocket Heading to a 'top secret' location, Richard is seen driving around in a heavily modified van which he claims is armour plated. Describing how 'safe' he feels, the shot then cuts to the van exploding as a rocket propelled grenade hits it. Stood gloating over the 'good shot' Clarkson and May look to have made it their mission to try and destroy Richard's creation in what could be the trio's most dangerous challenge yet. All on his own: it's not the cars stealing the spotlight in the trailer for the ninth installment of series one, as it seems Jeremy and James have turned on Richard Back on the road: Heading to Stuttgart, Germany, for the latest tent location, the trio look to have upped the motoring mayhem following their Namibia beach buggy special Speed demons? Another highlight from the show sees the former Top Gear stars driving a convoy of supercars and rapid speed around the roads of Germany Another highlight from the show, which will go live on Friday at midnight, sees the former Top Gear stars driving a convoy of supercars and rapid speed around the roads of Germany. The episode will also featured a new creation of Jeremy's, which appears to be a convertible MG MGB modified to be a convertible 4X4. Following in the steps of previous episodes, it seems that trio have set up camp with their new studio tent in Southern Germany, whilst their free-reign to 'out Top Gear' Top Gear seems to be working. Episode Nine of The Grand Tour will go live on the Amazon Prime streaming service in the UK at 0:00 on Friday January 6. She's the Aussie model known for her chic wardrobe both on and off the red carpet. But Lara Bingle (married name Worthington) has temporarily swapped her trademark designer apparel for a simple dressing gown. In a photo shared to the 29-year-old's Instagram story on Wednesday, the blonde beauty wears no makeup in a selfie shared to the social media site. Scroll down for video She even makes dressing gowns look chic! Lara Bingle goes makeup free in mirror selfie while wearing only a robe The mother of two poses in front of a mirror wearing a crisp white robe which fell to just above her ankles. Lara looks tanned, wearing no makeup with her trademark blonde locks slicked back from her face. The picture has been taken in the doorway of a lush tropical hut, prompting speculation that Lara is on a beach holiday with their two small children. Best face forward: The model is known for turning heads in fashionable makeup and apparel on and off the red carpet Doting: On New Year's Eve, Australian-born model Lara rang in 2017 with her family and even shared a rare snap of eldest child, Rocket Zot, 2 (Pictured) Lara, who is married to notoriously private Aussie actor Sam Worthington, previously shared pictures of a deserted-looking beach to her Instagram story last Sunday. Lara's stunning selfie comes after she shared an adorable image of two-year-old son Rocket Zot celebrating New Year's Eve. Rocket Zot can be seen posing in front on an art fixture featuring grass letters, saying: 'Happy New Year, welcome 2017.' Quality time: In another short Story, Lara can be seen walking along a beach with Rocket, but keeping the camera on their feet Lara's little man is wearing a black long-sleeved top and has his back to the camera, with long mousy brown locks on display. Lara - who is based in New York with her sons and actor husband Sam - also shared an Instagram story to her more than 480,000 followers. In the short story, Lara can be seen walking along a beach with Rocket, but keeping the camera on their feet. On vacation: Lara, who is married to notoriously private Aussie actor Sam Worthington, previously shared pictures of a deserted-looking beach to her Instagram story last Sunday She also shared a shot of Rocket reaching for a small plant as she looked on. Lara celebrated Christmas in New York with her clan, as well as her mother Sharon and brother Joshua, who both jetted in from Australia to New York to join them. Lara recently shared online with her fans some of the Christmas presents she bought for her sons, including a Land Rover toy for Rocket. He and his family have had a tough couple of months. And Kanye West remained in a somber mood as he headed out for dinner on Tuesday night after arriving home in Los Angeles. The rapper was without his wife Kim Kardashian for the dinner date, but seemed to be joined by a group of pals as he left the restaurant. No hint of a smile: Kanye West remained in a somber mood as he headed out for dinner on Tuesday night after arriving home in Los Angeles Kanye failed to raise a smile despite his night out, keeping a straight face as he strolled outside. The star was dressed down in camo trousers teamed with a baggy white hoodie, and sported the blonde buzz cut he's had for a couple of weeks. There was no sign of Kanye's wife Kim on the outing, but the couple did spend time together over the holidays. Dinner outing: The rapper was without his wife Kim Kardashian for the dinner date, but seemed to be joined by a group of pals as he left the restaurant Moody: Kanye failed to raise a smile despite his night out, keeping a straight face as he strolled outside The night before Kanye's dinner, the family was seen arriving back in their home city of LA after a trip to Oklahoma City. Kanye and Kim took their children North, three, and Saint, one, to visit the grave of the rapper's beloved mother Donda in an emotional New Years trip. It was the first time Kanye had taken 36-year-old wife Kim along with North and Saint to visit the site according to a Tuesday report from TMZ. Casual outing: The star was dressed down for the dinner with friends Signature style: in camo trousers teamed with a baggy white hoodie, and sported the blonde buzz cut he's had for a couple of weeks They are also said to have spent time meeting up with other members of the West Family. On Tuesday, Kim made her return to social media, posting for the first time in three months. The 36-year-old reality star took to both her Twitter and Instagram to share an adorable family photo. Solo: There was no sign of Kanye's wife Kim on the outing, but the couple did spend time together over the holidays In the snap she is joined by rapper husband Kanye as well their two children, with the star simply captioning the sweet shot: 'family.' The foursome could be seen all wearing white as they posed together on a wooden deck. Perhaps the Keeping Up With The Kardashians star was thinking of returning with a completely new social media persona as she temporarily changed her Twitter name to simply 'Kim' before reverting it back to Kim Kardashian West. Under cover: Kanye didn't attract much attention as he waited for his car outside Troubled time: In November, Kanye was rushed to hospital in Los Angeles after a psychotic breakdown, thought to be brought on by exhaustion Recovering: The star has been keeping away from the limelight The star also shared intimate home movie footage on her website this week. The sweet clip, released on her website on Tuesday, paints a picture of domestic bliss and features the couple enjoying kisses and cuddles and cooing over their children. The home movie includes footage recorded at Christmas time that shows Saint learning to walk while Kim cheers him on. Back home: The night before Kanye's dinner, the family was seen arriving back in their home city of LA after a trip to Oklahoma City to visit his beloved mother's grave She's back: On Tuesday, Kim made her return to social media, posting for the first time in three months as she shared a sweet family snap The brunette beauty accompanied the footage, which showed the happy couple - who got married in 2014 - cuddling their children in various clips, with the caption: 'Kanye made me two versions for my Christmas present,' followed by a tree, present and heart emoji. The video's release follows months of rumours of marital strife between the couple and claims Kim is considering divorcing her troubled husband. What divorce rumours? The star also shared intimate home movie footage on her website this week Saint's walking! The clip features Christmas footage that shows their son taking a few wobbly steps while his mother cheers him on Last year was particularly difficult for the couple. Kim was left traumatised after she was she was tied up, gagged and had jewellery worth $8.5 million snatched from her hotel room in Paris, France, in October. She has remained largely out of the spotlight but is gearing up to make a return to work this month with a scheduled trip to Dubai. Then in November, Kanye was rushed to hospital in Los Angeles after a psychotic breakdown, thought to be brought on by exhaustion. For the cameras: The reality star seemed delighted with her son's progress Tuesday evening saw a fresh batch of celebrities enter the Big Brother compound for the winter 2017 season of CBB. And as each celebrity was unveiled one-by-one by host Emma Willis, Twitter gradually began to erupt with remarks about the British to American ratio in attendance. This year's series sees ex-housemates take part as well as a new selection of famous faces, and both the old and the new list of stars feature celebs from across the pond. Scroll down for video 'What is this? CBB USA?': British public slam Channel 5 for featuring mostly Americans on new series of Celebrity Big Brother as the likes of Ray J, Jasmine Waltz and Speidi enter house Of the 15 contestants inside the new CBB house, seven of them are from the States (including Calum Best who has lived in LA for much of his life). Others featuring this year include Austin Armacost, Ray J, Jasmine Waltz and married couple Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt. Although this indeed makes up nearly half of the cast, it's no different to 2015's UK vs USA series, which pitted the two nations against one another with an equal amount of British and American personalities taking part. However, the Great British public were not happy, taking to Twitter to rant about how many non-UK-based stars were involved in the current season. The Americans have landed: Others featuring this year include Austin Armacost, Ray J, Jasmine Waltz and married couple Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt 'Slightly annoying that #CBBUK is full of Americans. I refuse to believe that James Jordan and Coleen Nolan are the best us Brits have #cbb,' one fan of the show seethed. Another sarcastic viewer typed: 'Good to see #CBB have delivered once again...absolute shocker line up! Higher percentage = American!! Thought it was UK BB? #CBB #BBUK!' 'With the number of American housemates so far it's feeling more like U.K. vs USA again rather than All Stars and New Stars #CBB,' observed someone elsewhere. 'Watching #CBB on +1 and apart from the strictly bloke I ain't got a Scooby who these American celebrities are!! #morenoncelebrities,' screeched another distressed watcher. From across the pond: Of the 15 contestants inside the new CBB house, seven of them are from the States Another equally irate viewer remarked: 'Am I missing something with #cbb?? Am I still living in England? Just checking because why are all the z listers American? #sodisappointed!' Others were clearly distressed that Calum Best has adopted an American accent since living abroad for years: 'Calum Best is not interesting. Calum Best is not good looking. Calum Best is not an All Star. And Calum Best is not American. #cbb.' 'Does American Celebrity Big Brother fill up with pointless British 'celebrities'? Is Kerry Katona on Celebrity Big Brother USA?' questioned someone else. Some, however, defended the line-up, insisting that some of the best housemates from past seasons have indeed been from abroad. 'Thank god for the American housemates on this years #cbb. Would be boring without. Love Austin Armacost!' came one happier tweet. USrAy-J: Celebrity Big Brother has notoriously made sure to include at least a couple of Hollywood personalities in their line-ups over the years 'Love how there's more Americans this series,' rejoiced someone else. Another typed: 'Just when I thought I was watching American big brother they throw #brandonblock in.... thank you!! #ledge #CBBUK #cbb!' Celebrity Big Brother has notoriously made sure to include at least a couple of Hollywood personalities in their line-ups over the years. Some of the most infamous and most explosive episodes of the show have featured blazing arguments featuring the likes of Perez Hilton, Farrah Abraham and Janice Dickinson (none of whom are taking part in the present season). Love him! 'Thank god for the American housemates on this years #cbb. Would be boring without. Love Austin Armacost!' came one happier tweet And there are more to come, as it has been revealed that two further housemates are making their way inside the compound at the end of the week. It appears that one of the new addition is yet another visitor from the US - Kim Kardashian's best friend Jonathan Cheban, who featured in last year's edition but quit after six days. He is allegedly heading inside to have it out with current New Star housemate, Ray J, who already has a checkered history with fellow New Star contestant Stacy Francis. She joked around with her social media followers recently that she was posing naked underneath a menu while holidaying in Bali. But on Thursday, Neighbours star Olympia Valance showed off a chic outfit and incredibly fit figure on Instagram. The 23-year-old actress showed off her washboard abs and put on a very busty display in a white crop top and pants, at the Da Maria Bali restaurant. Scroll down for video A babe in Bali: On Thursday, Neighbours star Olympia Valance showed off her chic outfit - and incredibly fit figure - on Instagram while holidaying in Bali Showing off her holiday tan, the brunette beauty smouldered in front of the camera, with her pants being high-waisted and featuring thigh-high splits. The younger sister of Holly Candy (nee Valance) wore her white and blue bustier with nude heels and a clutch. Her hair was tied back off her face into a tight bun and she wore a full face of makeup, including dewy foundation and a nude lip. Stunning: Her hair was tied back off her face into a tight bun and she wore a full face of makeup, including dewy foundation and a nude lip It comes after she posted a cheeky snap to Instagram, at a Greek restaurant, with a menu covering her so much she looked naked. However, dark shorts could be seen peeping at the bottom of the menu. Part of her post mentioned her boyfriend Greg Cannell who took the snap, reading: 'And I guess that's the last time I take creative direction from Greg for photos. #swearimnotnaked.' 'Swear I'm not naked': It comes after she posted a cheeky snap to Instagram, at a Greek restaurant, with a menu covering her so much she looked naked The pair enjoyed time together in Byron Bay before heading to Bali for New Years. Olympia and her man, who reconciled last August after splitting six months earlier, were joined by friends as they counted down to 2017. Olympia is known for playing Paige Smith on the long-running Australian soap, Neighbours. New beginnings: Olympia and her man Greg Cannell (seen), who reconciled last August after splitting six months earlier, were joined by friends as they counted down to 2017 Melissa Gorga documented the launch of her Envy boutique throughout the past season of her hit reality show. But the 37-year-old Real Housewives of New Jersey star has been forced to close shop temporarily due to a 'difference of opinion' with business partner Jackie Beard Robinson. The Bravo star's rep released a statement to UsWeekly that stated: 'Melissa and Jackie have had a difference of opinion on how the store should be run and at this point. Jackie is no longer involved in managing the boutique.' Parting ways: Melissa Gorga was forced to close her Envy boutique due to a 'difference of opinion' with her business partner Jackie Beard Robinson They continued: 'But Melissa intends to maintain the success of the boutique by managing it on her own, and she is excited to open with a new inventory of spring fashions.' Back in August the sister-in-law to Teresa Giudice said during an episode: 'I made it very clear to Jackie when she came into this that she is there for the business end. Everything that's going to go in the store is going to be by Melissa Gorga.' A source told the publication that Melissa and Jackie haven't agreed on several issues including the budget and how to run their endeavor. 'Excited to open with a new inventory': The 37-year-old Real Housewives of New Jersey star's reps insist the closure is only temporary The insider claimed that the wife of Joe Gorga 'was unhappy, and she was like, "You arent operating this store to make a profit. This isnt working."' 'She wanted to dissolve their agreement but Jackie wanted Melissa to just give up her stake and be a paid spokesperson,' the source added. It was also revealed that Jackie has linked up with RHONJ regular Kim DePaola, who owns her own Posche boutique, and moved all the store's inventory to her store. Entrepreneur: Melissa Gorga spent much time launching The Envy boutique throughout the past season of her hit reality show Meanwhile, Kim gave her own version of what played out between the ladies. 'Envy is closed. Jackie was the real owner all along. Im going to help her liquidate everything that was in the store. The store is empty,' she explained. 'They stripped the chandeliers, the furniture, the computer, the cameras, all the clothes, its all gone. Jackie stripped it all because she owns it.' Kim also took the opportunity to promote a new location of her boutique, which has been featured several times before on RHONJ. 'Were going to have an Envy liquidation sale at Posche, the new Posche in Allendale.' 'It's all gone': It was revealed that Jackie has linked up with RHONJ regular Kim DePaola, who owns her own Posche boutique, and moved all the store's inventory to her store She added: 'Melissa made a deal with Jackie that she would promote, she would put pictures of herself on Instagram and she would get a percentage of what was sold.' The Love Italian Style: The Secrets of My Hot and Happy Marriage author and Jackie first met at Jackie's boutique in Delray Beach, Florida, Ginjer, with her husband Joe. The two became friends and Melissa eventually approached Jackie with the idea for Envy. 'Stripped it all': Kim DePaola gave her own version of what played out between the ladies and said that 'Jackie was the real owner all along' Jackie - who has a background in marketing and sales in the fitness industry - agreed and told The Daily Dish in August, '[Melissa] is a very good friend of mine. She's a dear person to me. And I love Joe. He's very funny, so it was a good combination. It was a good thing. I think we've done well together.' 'She's a hard worker,' Jackie continued. 'I'm really impressed with the way she listens to what we have to advise her, the advice that we give her from a business standpoint.' 'I respect her a lot because she does put in the effort. She's in the store. She actually works in the store. She works a lot outside of the store. So she's pretty amazing to me. I've only grown to like her even more after working with her, I've got to say,' Jackie gushed of Melissa at the time. Kim Kardashian's posted her second Twitter and Instagram update since she broke her three-month social media silence on Tuesday. On Wednesday, she uploaded an adorable photo in which she crouched behind her one-year-old son Saint West and wrapped her arms about him. The reality star gazed pensively off to the side as her younger child, who wore a red onesie, played with his mother's hair. Scroll down for video Mother and child: On Wednesday, Kim Kardashian uploaded an adorable photo in which she crouched behind her one-year-old son Saint West and wrapped her arms about him Their stylised photo was taken in an empty room with white walls and a white floor, flooded with blue lighting at the back. She captioned: 'my son' with a heart emoji. Within 90 minutes of appearing online, the Instagram post had accumulated more than 1.3 million likes, the tweet over 64 thousand. Before Tuesday, she'd not posted on social media since the armed robbery in Paris back in October. She's back: On Tuesday, she'd posted on social media for the first time since October For her highly-anticipated return to social media, the 36-year-old reality star took to both her Twitter and Instagram to share an adorable family photo. In the snap she's joined by her husband Kanye West and their two children: Saint and his three-year-old sister North. The caption read simply: 'family.' The foursome could be seen all wearin white tops as they posed together on a wooden deck. New identity?: The 36-year-old star temporarily changed her Twitter name to just 'Kim' before reverting it back to 'Kim Kardashian West' Persona: The change also happened temporarily on her Instagram 'Family': In the cute snap she is joined by rapper husband Kanye West as well their two children: three-year-old daughter North and one-year-old son Saint Perhaps the Keeping Up With The Kardashians star was thinking of returning with a completely new social media persona as she temporarily changed her Twitter name to simply 'Kim' before reverting it back to Kim Kardashian West. Kim has not posted since she was accosted inside her room at the No Address Hotel in Paris back in early October. Her ordeal saw her robbed of over $8.5 million worth of jewellery; she was gagged, handcuffed and held at gunpoint. Break: Her last post on Twitter before the hiatus was on October 2 as it featured a video message to promote her game app Hiatus: On Instagram she shared a few photos from Paris Fashion Week just days before the robbery as she strutted her stuff wearing Balenciaga Her last post on Twitter before the hiatus was on October 2 and featured a video message to promote her game app. On Instagram, she'd shared a few photos from Paris Fashion Week just days before the robbery as she strutted her stuff wearing Balenciaga. She's remained largely out of the spotlight but is gearing up to make a return to work this month with a scheduled trip to Dubai. What divorce rumours? Savvy Kim and Kanye looked a picture of domestic bliss in a new home video released on her website earlier that day Saint's walking! The clip features Christmas footage that shows their son taking a few wobbly steps while his mother cheers him on North's cuddles with mom: Kim has been away from the spotlight, but cameras have still been rolling inside the Kardashian house Then in November, Kanye was rushed to hospital in Los Angeles after a temporary psychosis thought to be brought on by exhaustion. As if that weren't tumultuous enough there have been months of rumours of marital strife between she and Kanye, and even divorce speculation. Earlier on the same day the two released an intimate home video footage of their life together with North and Saint. The sweet clip, released on her website painted a picture of domestic bliss and features the couple enjoying kisses and cuddles and cooing over their kids. Kanye the doting dad: The troubled rapper is seen cooing over his children Jonathan Rhys Meyer, 39, has reportedly welcomed his first child with fiancee Mara Lane. The couple - who have been together for three years - welcomed a son on December 15 named Wolf Rhys Meyers, E! News reports. It's believed the birth was at home and their son was delivered by a midwife. Scroll down for video Proud parents: Jonathan Rhys Meyer has reportedly welcomed his first child with fiancee Mara Lane. The pair are said to have welcomed a son on December 15 named Wolf Rhys Meyers MailOnline have contacted representatives for Jonathan for comment. The news comes just weeks after the Irish actor's fiancee confirmed the happy news to followers on Instagram. Posing in a festive themed shoot, she sweetly compared her blossoming bump to Santa Claus' belly. She wrote in December: '#IncomingPackage best present. #ThankYouLord #SantaBelly.' Time to share: Mara revealed their pregnancy news on Instagram last month, sharing a series of snaps showing off her baby bump She also updated another snap of her showing off her pregnancy figure in a floaty maternity dress. Posing next to a decorated Christmas tree, she wrote: 'Our other official prego wego dress.' Mara also revealed that she hasn't been able to eat meat the entire pregnancy, and thanked her baby for being 'connected & aware'. She added: 'Baby ... is super conscious, connected & aware. Has not let me eat much meat entire pregnancy either ... has me thinking about things I'd rather live in ignorance to. #thankful for my soon to be best teacher and friend.' What a gift! Posing in a festive themed shoot, she sweetly compared her blossoming bump to Santa Claus' belly Just the four of us: She looked relaxed as she laid back on a hammock alongside the couple's dog, Toca Posting a sweet snap of her man, she then wrote: 'Thank you for the opportunity to be a Mummy, Sweetheart! #ILoveYou #ManCrushMonday #MCM everyday for me .#firsttimemom #firsttimepregnant #everydayanadventure when you're #largeandincharge' Jonathan, 39, and Mara reportedly became engaged back in late 2014, but they have never confirmed publicly. They began dating in early 2013. It was rumoured in September that the pair had secretly tied the knot after The Tudors hunk was spotted wearing a gold band on a photoshoot. He was also seen wearing the jewellery in another snap featured on Mara's Instagram. Two become one: Jonathan, 39, and Mara reportedly became engaged back in late 2014, but they have never confirmed publicly. They began dating in early 2013 She hinted at marriage again when she changed her account to read 'Mara & Toca Lane Rhys Meyers', in reference to the couple's dog. It's some happy news for the actor, who finally appears to be on the straight and narrow after years of battling alcohol addiction. In May 2015 he shocked fans after he was snapped staggering down a London street looking dishevelled while swigging vodka straight from the bottle. Something to tell us? It was rumoured in September that the pair had secretly tied the knot after The Tudors hunk was spotted wearing a gold band on a photoshoot Mara - an actress and successful producer who is from a well-off family - is believed to have had a positive influence on the actor's life. His own mother's deathnine years ago is believed to exacerbated his condition, with him entering rehab three times between 2005 and 2010. Talking about his demons, he has said: 'I was wild, I was as wild as you can get. When you are on the front of newspapers for stupidity, getting drunk at airports, fighting with cops and stuff like that, you wake up the next day and you can hardly... remember it. Responsibility gets diminished. 'As you get older you see the stupid things you have done. It is not the consequences for yourself but your family gets hurt, your friends get hurt.' He's the outspoken Australian musician who made headlines last year for slamming Canberra's 3am alcohol ban in bars and nightclubs. Now, Peking Duk's Adam Hyde has hit out at government authorities for turning their backs on DIY drug testing kits at music festivals. 'A lot of kids out there are going to take drugs no matter what, which means young people are taking pulls when they have no idea what is in them,' The Australian musician told The Daily Telegraph this week. 'A lot of kids pout there are going to take drugs no matter what': Peking Duk's Adam Hyde has hit out at government authorities for turning their backs on DIY drug testing kits at music festivals 'Pill testing makes sense, it makes for a better environment and better control over the situation,' he later added. Adam dismissed the argument that allowing for DIY drug test implies that the drugs are safe to take in the first place. '[The view] is very outdated and doesn't relate to the lifestyle we live,' he said. 'Outdated': Adam dismissed the argument that allowing for DIY drug test implies that the drugs are safe to take in the first place Last month, New South Wales Police claimed they had seized seven ecstasy testing kits from a Newtown store, despite the fact that they are not prohibited by law. Will Tregonig, of safe drug use campaigning organisation Unharm, critiqued the police raid, telling News.com.au: 'Its ludicrous for police to be boasting about confiscating these kits. This is dangerous, and police should reconsider.' 'They are promoting harm in order to deter drug use,' he added later. New gig: Meanwhile, Peking Duk is set to play at Sydney's FOMO festival this weekend Meanwhile, Peking Duk is set to play at Sydney's FOMO festival this weekend. The pair also recently celebrated going platinum at the Sony Records offices in Sydney with their single Stranger. Taking to Instagram to celebrate their victory, the pair posed with a pair of framed records alongside the caption: 'HOLY F*** stranger just went platinum thank you for the support and love.' It's rumored she will score an Oscar nomination for her latest role. And Nicole Kidman looked confident as she strolled into a screening for her new film Lion in New York City on Wednesday. The 49-year-old actress showed off her trim figure in a fitted black pencil skirt with buttoned detailing along the pockets. Scroll down for video Picture of sophistication: Nicole Kidman looked confident as she strolled into a screening for her new film Lion in New York City on Wednesday Figure-hugging: The 49-year-old actress showed off her trim frame in a fitted black pencil skirt with buttoned detailing along the pockets She paired the figure-hugging skirt with a gorgeous long-sleeved studded collared top. The sweater was striped with silver studs from top to bottom and she had it tucked in to show off her famous figure. The 5' 11" star smiled brightly to the cameras as she made her way into the Park Avenue screening room in Manhattan with her long blonde hair pulled back into a glamorous updo. The mother of four paired the sophisticated outfit with black strappy stilettos and carried her black handbag into the building as she emerged from the SUV. Once inside, Nicole took time to pose on the red carpet before going in to see the screening of her critically-acclaimed film. Star-studded: The mother of four paired the skirt with a studded striped blouse that she tucked into the skirt Graceful: The sophisticated actress wore her blonde tresses in a loose updo that fell around her face Her flattering makeup showed off her dewy complexion and was just the right amount to highlight her gorgeous features. The star also posed with Denise Albert and Melissa Musen Gerstein, two celebrity mom bloggers who's company The MOMS hosted the screening. The MOMS regularly partner with film distributors, book publishers and celebrity publicists to present engaging and informative conversations around topics important to parents year round. The Australia beauty posed with Denise Albert and Melissa Musen Gerstein, two celebrity mom bloggers who's company The MOMS hosted the screening Just last week, the film siren attended the premiere of her film in her home country of Australia where it was rumored she got into a big fight with husband Keith Urban on the red carpet. The cause of the alleged spat is claimed to be Keith's purported displeasure at his wife's career getting in the way of their reunited family time in Australia. An insider allegedly revealed hectic work schedules - Keith's six months of touring and Nicole's back-to-back films - caused the pair to spend most of 2016 apart. Trouble at home? Just last week, the film siren attended the premiere of her film in her home country of Australia where she apparently got into a big fight with husband Keith Urban The actress plays Sue Brierley, an Australian woman who adopts two young boys from India.' Slumdog Millionaire star Dev Patel plays Nicole's adopted son in the film. The film, which hit theaters last month, tells the story of an Indian boy who, at 30, searches for his birth-family after being adopted by an Australian one 25 years earlier. Iraqi journalist freed week after kidnapping: sister Iraqi journalist Afrah Shawqi was released Tuesday, a week after being abducted from her Baghdad home by gunmen, her sister and security officials said. "It's true," her sister Nibras Shawqi told AFP in a text message when asked about reports of her sibling's release. Iraq's Joint Operations Command in Baghdad also confirmed she was free. Protesters hold protraits of Iraqi female journalist Afrah Shawqi during a demonstration calling for her release on December 30, 2016, in Baghdad SABAH ARAR (AFP/File) Afrah Shawqi, 43, is employed by Asharq al-Awsat, a London-based pan-Arab newspaper, as well as a number of news websites including Aklaam. Last week, she published a stinging article on the website in which she hit out at the armed groups which "act with impunity" in Iraq. During a press conference before news of her release on Tuesday, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi had said that the motives of the kidnapping were both political and criminal. Iraq is one of the most dangerous countries in the world for journalists, along with Syria, Afghanistan and Mexico. Coalition jets back Turkey in Syria op Jets with the US-led coalition fighting the Islamic State group backed a Turkish army operation near Al-Bab in Syria last week but did not use weapons, the Pentagon said Tuesday. The coalition's military support mission suggests warming ties between the two partners. "Last week, there was a request... when some Turkish forces came under fire for air support and there were flights conducted by the coalition at that time," said Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook. Turkish forces have been engaged for several weeks in deadly fighting against the Islamic State group to retake the city of Al-Bab Nazeer al-Khatib (AFP/File) "My understanding of that was there was not a strike specifically, but there were aircraft involved in that effort, a visible show of force if you will, by coalition aircraft." Turkish forces have been engaged for several weeks in deadly fighting against the Islamic State group to retake the city. But despite Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's requests, coalition planes had previously refused to directly help the Turks. The coalition criticizes Turkey for launching the offensive unilaterally without first reaching an agreement with its partners. "We continue to talk with the government of Turkey about the appropriate level of support for the efforts there in Al-Bab and that's an ongoing conversations, even happening today," Cook stressed. The Americans supported the first part of the Turkish offensive in Syria in mid-2016. But they are concerned that the Turks, after the conquest of Al-Bab, might attack the Kurdish-led Arab-Kurdish coalition of the Syrian Democratic Forces. The United States sees the SDF as their most effective ally in the fight against IS in Syria. The FDS is currently leading the first part of the offensive against Raqa, the self-proclaimed IS capital in Syria. US mass murderer Manson 'seriously ill' in hospital: media US mass murderer Charles Manson is "seriously ill" in hospital after being transferred from prison for undisclosed medical condition, according to media reports on Tuesday. The 82-year-old was moved from Corcoran State Prison in Kings County, California, to a hospital 60 miles (100 kilometers) to the south in Bakersfield, according to celebrity news portal TMZ. A state corrections official refused to comment on the reports and would confirm only that Manson had not died, but the Los Angeles Times cited an unnamed source who said Manson was "seriously ill," without elaborating. Charles Manson waiting to hear his death sentence in 1971 -- the 82-year-old mass murderer is now in a California hospital Manson headed an apocalyptic cult that committed murders in upscale, mostly white neighborhoods of Los Angeles in order to blame the crimes on African Americans, in the hope of sparking what he termed a "Helter Skelter" race war. He has been in prison for more than four decades after the 1969 killings, which included the brutal murder of director Roman Polanski's actress wife, Sharon Tate, who was heavily pregnant. He was sentenced to death in 1969 along with four of his "Manson Family" disciples for having led the killing of seven people, but their sentences were later commuted to life in prison. Manson, who was not actually present but ordered the killings, applied for parole in 2012 but was denied release and is not eligible to apply again until 2027. He was granted permission in 2014 to wed then 26-year-old Afton Elaine Burton, described in US media as a slender brunette, who had been visiting him in prison. But the 90-day license expired without the ceremony going ahead. More than 150 inmates escape in Philippine jail raid Suspected Muslim rebels staged the Philippines' biggest jailbreak Wednesday when they stormed a dilapidated jail in the violence-plagued south of the country, freeing 158 inmates and killing a guard, authorities said. The attack added to a long history of daring jailbreaks in the southern Philippines, home to a decades-old Muslim separatist insurgency as well as extremist gangs that have recently declared allegiance to the Islamic State group. More than 100 armed men believed to have been led by a local Muslim guerrilla commander attacked the jail in Kidapawan city about 1:00am in what appeared to be a well-planned raid to free fellow rebels, jail authorities said. A raid by suspected Muslim rebels on a jail in Mindanao results in 158 inmates escaping, the biggest jailbreak in Philippines history FERDINANDH CABRERA (AFP) "There are high-value targets in our custody who were the subject of a rescue operation," jail warden Peter John Bonggat told AFP. The assailants were heavily armed and overwhelmed the 24 guards at the jail, according to Bonggat, who was involved in the effort to repel the gunmen and said one of his officers had been killed. At least 158 prisoners escaped, Bonggat told AFP, although it was unclear how many of those were linked to the attackers or were just other inmates who took advantage of the chaos. Bonggat said the jail, which housed 1,511 inmates, was a run-down former school building located in a forested, secluded area. Kidapawan, 950 kilometres (590 miles) south of Manila, is home to various Muslim rebel groups, criminal gangs and communist insurgents. "We have many Muslim personalities (in the jail) that are members of various organised, syndicated groups," Bonggat said. He said the attackers were believed to be militants who had broken away from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the nation's largest Muslim rebel organisation which is in peace talks with the government. Six of the escapees were killed and eight captured as security forces hunted them in nearby farmlands throughout Wednesday, according to Bonggat. - Overpowered, undermanned - Acting provincial governor Shirlyn Macasarte said authorities had been tipped off that one of the breakaway groups, the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, had been planning the jailbreak. "We had reports that a group of BIFF members wanted to rescue brothers who were involved in killings and had experience of making bombs," Macasarte told ABS-CBN television. Islamic militants have staged a series of raids on poorly funded and secured jails in the south over the past 15 years that have led to mass escapes, but authorities said Wednesday's was the largest. "It is the biggest ever jailbreak in our history," Bureau of Jail Management and Penology spokesman Xavier Solda told AFP. "We were really underpowered and undermanned." Militants have attacked the Kidapawan jail repeatedly. In 2007, gunmen freed 49 inmates there. Among those who escaped was Khair Mundos, one of the main leaders of the Abu Sayyaf, which is blamed for the Philippines' worst terrorist attacks. He was recaptured in 2014. The southern region of Mindanao is the ancestral homeland of the Muslim minority in the largely Catholic Philippines. The MILF, which has about 10,000 armed followers, is the largest of the rebel groups that have been fighting since the 1970s for independence or autonomy. More than 120,000 people have been killed in the rebellion. The MILF has in recent years been observing a ceasefire as part of peace efforts with the government. MILF spokesman Von al-Haq told AFP the group did not know who the attackers in Wednesday's raid were. The BIFF is one of several breakaway groups that are determined to continue fighting and have declared allegiance to IS. The BIFF split from the MILF in 2008 after the previous peace process collapsed, then carried out attacks on Christian communities that left more than 400 people dead and 600,000 displaced. The Maute group, regarded as one of the most dangerous extremist organisations, freed 23 inmates in a jailbreak last year near Kidapawan. Philippines AFP (AFP) Turkey warns Syria talks at risk over truce violations Turkey warned Wednesday that a new round of Syria peace talks was at risk, accusing President Bashar al-Assad's government of violating a fragile truce it brokered with Russia last week. The nationwide ceasefire has brought quiet to large parts of Syria, but has been threatened by ongoing fighting in the Wadi Barada region near Damascus. Government forces backed by Lebanon's Hezbollah group are fighting to recapture the area, the main source of water to the capital. The nationwide ceasefire has brought quiet to large parts of Syria, but has been threatened by ongoing fighting in the Wadi Barada region near the capital Damascus Abd DOUMANY (AFP/File) Supply has been cut since December 22, with the regime and rebels trading accusations over responsibility. Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on Wednesday urged the regime and its backers to end their "violations" of the truce, warning they were jeopardising the planned talks in Kazakh capital Astana this month. "If we do not stop the increasing violations, the Astana process could fail. After the ceasefire, we see violations," Cavusoglu told the state-run Anadolu news agency. "When we look at who commits these violations, it is Hezbollah, in particular Shiite groups and the regime," he added. He urged Russia and Iran, which both back Assad and are also helping prepare the Astana talks, to pressure Damascus and Hezbollah to stop the fighting. Despite the call, fighting continued on the ground in Wadi Barada on Wednesday, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor said. It reported ongoing clashes as well as government air strikes and artillery fire in the area, but had no immediate details on casualties. - Talks to halt fighting - Wadi Barada has been under government siege since 2015, but government forces upped pressure on the region several weeks ago as they tried to secure a "reconciliation deal" with rebels there. The regime has reached a series of such deals with opposition forces around Damascus in recent months, offering rebels safe passage to other parts of the country in return for their surrender. The government accuses rebels in the area of deliberately targeting water infrastructure, causing leaking fuel to poison the supply to the capital, and then cutting the flow altogether. Rebels say the infrastructure was damaged in government strikes, and deny responsibility for the damage that has left four million people without water since December 22. On Tuesday, the government brought reinforcements to the area, the Observatory said. But opposition officials and Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman also reported ongoing talks on a deal to end the fighting and repair the water infrastructure. "Local officials want... Russian teams to enter to fix the infrastructure" in exchange for a halt to the fighting, Abdel Rahman told AFP. "But the regime wants control of the spring and the pumps to prevent any blackmail or threats in the future," he added. "This is their condition for halting military operations." - Iranian official in Damascus - The opposition accused Hezbollah of preventing Russian officials from entering Wadi Barada to assess the work needed and continue negotiations. "A checkpoint belonging to the Hezbollah militia prevented the Russian officers from entering," Ahmed Ramadan of the National Coalition opposition body said in a message to journalists. The ceasefire and Astana talks are the latest bid to resolve nearly six years of conflict in Syria, which has been ravaged by violence since an uprising began in March 2011. More than 310,000 people have been killed and over half the country displaced in the violence, which has drawn in regional and international players. Regime ally Moscow began a military campaign in support of Assad's government in September 2015, and Turkey launched its own fight against the Islamic State group and Kurdish fighters in northern Syria in August last year. The US-led anti-IS coalition said Wednesday it was prepared to support Turkish forces battling the jihadists. "I can confirm for you that those discussions have been happening and the Turks are aware of some of the things that might be in store," Colonel John Dorrian said, speaking via video conference from Baghdad but declining to elaborate. Despite backing opposite sides in the conflict, Ankara and Moscow have worked closely to broker the ceasefire and plan the Astana talks, which Cavusoglu said could take place on January 23. Regime ally Iran is also involved in organising the talks, and top official Alaeddin Boroujerdi was in Damascus on Wednesday for talks with Assad. He praised the government's recapture of Aleppo city last month, and pledged that Iran would continue to back the government, Syrian state media reported. Number of displaced in Mosul op passes 125,000: UN More than 125,000 Iraqis have been displaced since the start in October of an offensive to retake Mosul from jihadists, the United Nations said Wednesday. "Following the intensification of military operations in Mosul city on 29 December, the rate of displacement from Mosul has increased markedly, with over 9,000 people having fled the city in the space of four days," said the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. OCHA also said about 14,000 of the 125,568 people confirmed to have been displaced in 11 weeks have already returned to their homes in recaptured areas. More than 3.3 million people are currently displaced in Iraq, where a total of 10 million need humanitarian assistance, according to the UN Ahmad al-Rubaye (AFP/File) After a lull in the offensive launched on October 17 to retake what is now the Islamic State group's last major stronghold in the country, Iraqi forces started a fresh push last week, engaging in heavy fighting in eastern Mosul. A senior commander from the elite Counter-Terrorism Service that has done most of the front-line fighting inside the city told AFP on Sunday that Iraqi forces now controlled more than 60 percent of Mosul's eastern half. AFP reporters saw streams of civilians fleeing the fighting on foot in recent days, carrying what belongings they could bring along in bags. More than 3.3 million people are currently displaced in Iraq, where a total of 10 million need humanitarian assistance, according to the UN. Officials say it could be months before Iraqi forces are able to completely retake Mosul, Iraq's second city, where hundreds of thousands of civilians still live. 'Thousands' of pilgrims return to China before Dalai Lama event Thousands of mostly Tibetan pilgrims who travelled to India for a rare Buddhist ceremony held by the Dalai Lama have returned to China under pressure from Beijing, organisers said Wednesday. The 81-year-old Tibetan spiritual leader will this month preside over the Kalachakra teachings at Bodhgaya in eastern India, where the Buddha is said to have attained enlightenment more than 2,000 years ago. Tens of thousands of pilgrims from all over the world are expected to attend the event, which is held only once every few years. Tibetan Spiritual Leader The Dalai Lama gestures as he attends a special religious prayer during the Kalachakra event at Bodhgaya on January 4, 2017 Dibyangshu Sarkar (AFP) But as preparations got under way on Wednesday, the chairman of the organising committee Karma Gelek Yuthok said almost 7,000 pilgrims had returned to China, citing pressure from authorities there. "It is unfortunate, they have returned after Chinese pressure. They are nearly 7,000," he told journalists in Bodhgaya. "They planned to end their pilgrimage in Bodhgaya (but) just because of this they have gone back." Yuthok, who is a member of the Tibetan government-in-exile based in the north Indian town of Dharamsala, said some pilgrims had reported receiving threats to relatives in China if they did not return. In 2012 China detained hundreds of Tibetans after they returned from the Kalachakra in Bodhgaya. Last month Radio Free Asia reported that many Tibetan pilgrims who travelled to Dharamsala ahead of the Kalachakra had been ordered to return home before the end of the year, preventing them from heading on to Bodhgaya. It said the Dalai Lama had held a special audience for them in Dharamsala last month. The Chinese embassy in Delhi declined to comment when contacted by AFP. The Dalai Lama fled to India after a failed uprising in 1959 but is still deeply revered by many Tibetans. Beijing says its troops "peacefully liberated" Tibet in 1951 and accuses the Nobel Peace laureate of seeking Tibetan independence through "spiritual terrorism". He says he merely wants greater autonomy for his homeland, where many accuse the central government of religious repression and eroding the Tibetan culture. The Kalachakra opened in Bodhgaya on Tuesday, although the main teaching section will only begin next week. A spokesman for the Indian government said it was unaware of the issue. Tens of thousands of pilgrims from all over the world are expected to attend the Kalachakra event, which is held only once every few years Dibyangshu Sarkar (AFP) Israel says China to send thousands of construction workers China has agreed for thousands of migrant construction labourers to work in Israel in a bid to alleviate a housing crisis in the Jewish state, the Israeli government said Wednesday. The agreement would see 6,000 Chinese workers arrive in Israel in the six months after the formal signature of the deal expected at the end of February, a joint statement from the interior and finance ministries said. An Israeli delegation and China's commerce ministry have signed a draft agreement in China, it said. Housing costs in Israel have been rising steeply since 2008, significantly impacting the cost of living Ahmad Gharabli (AFP/File) The statement quoted Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon as saying the arrival of the Chinese workers would "energise efforts to solve the housing crisis". Housing costs in Israel have been rising steeply since 2008, according to Bank of Israel data, significantly impacting the cost of living and triggering a wave of street protests in 2011. Kahlon, whose Kulanu party ran in the 2015 general election on a platform of lowering living costs, came under fire after an August government report showed apartment prices had risen by eight percent in a year. Nearly 9,000 foreign construction labourers work in Israel, all of them from east European countries and half of them under bilateral agreements, according to the interior ministry. Gambia army chief backs president as region watches The Gambia's army chief on Wednesday reaffirmed his loyalty to President Yahya Jammeh, despite the threat of a regional military intervention if the strongman refuses to step down. Lieutenant General Ousman Badjie used a New Year message published in the pro-government Daily Observer newspaper to "renew to Your Excellency (Jammeh) the assurance of the unflinching loyalty and support of The Gambia Armed Forces". Regional leaders warned last month that the 15-member Economic Community Of West African States (ECOWAS) would "take all necessary action" to enforce the results of a disputed December 1 poll that Jammeh lost to Adama Barrow. Lieutenant General Ousman Badjie used a New Year message published in the pro-government Daily Observer newspaper to reaffirm his loyalty to President Yahya Jammeh Seyllou (AFP/File) Top ECOWAS official Marcel Alain de Souza described force as a "possible solution" if Jammeh clings to power, while Senegalese President Macky Sall, whose nation almost entirely surrounds The Gambia, said a military intervention could be the final course of action. - Poll U-turn - Jammeh, who has been in power for 22 years, stunned observers by initially accepting his defeat, but then made a U-turn a week later, rejecting the results and then filing a court challenge against the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC). Diplomats in the region have voiced private concern that Barrow's safety is not being guaranteed by the state, as he relies on unarmed volunteers to act as bodyguards. Barrow initially claimed the army chief had personally assured him of his support, but Badjie subsequently appeared at high-level mediation talks in Banjul in mid-December saying the incumbent was still his boss. A crackdown in recent days by security agents has also shut two radio stations, while a group of traders selling t-shirts featuring Barrow's image were briefly detained. Hannah Forster, executive director of the Gambia-based African Centre for Democracy and Human Rights Studies, described the media repression as "a blow to democracy" on Wednesday. "These radio stations have been sharing information in the local languages...I would like the government to reconsider their decision," she told AFP. On Tuesday evening Jammeh and his party filed two more legal complaints with the Supreme Court, claiming two regions had their results doctored and alleging Jammeh was denied a "well-earned victory". "If the result was properly collated, the outcome would have shown that the Petitioner (Jammeh) won the election," said a court filing lodged by Jammeh himself and seen by AFP Wednesday. Meanwhile 20,000 Jammeh supporters in these regions were "dissuaded by IEC officials from voting," the filing said, calling for a re-run in the areas affected. - Safety fears - The head of Gambia's electoral commission has fled to neighbouring Senegal fearing for his safety, meaning he is unlikely to appear in any of the three court cases now lodged against him. Alieu Momar Njie suspected a plot against him after his commission's headquarters were locked down by the security forces for several days while Jammeh challenges the election result in the Supreme Court. The second complaint lodged by Jammeh's campaign chief Yankuba Colley on Tuesday said it represented 5,300 voters denied the right to cast their ballots. If they had been permitted to vote it "would have altered the result of the election," according to the document. The election was hailed internationally as free and fair, but Jammeh has cited a recount issued in the days after the election as evidence of manipulation by the IEC. UN worker accused of aiding Hamas sentenced to 7 months A Palestinian UN worker accused by Israel of aiding the Islamist group Hamas was sentenced to seven months' jail Wednesday in a plea deal which will see him released soon. Waheed Borsh was convicted of "rendering services to an illegal organisation without intention", his lawyer Lea Tsemel told AFP. The Israeli justice ministry confirmed the plea deal, saying that it also included eight months' probation. Palestinian Waheed Borsh, a UN Development Programme employee accused of aiding the Islamist movement Hamas, pictured during his indictment at a district court in the southern Israeli city of Beersheva on August 28, 2016 AHMAD GHARABLI (AFP/File) Borsh's employer, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), said the deal showed there had been no wrongdoing by the organisation. He was arrested in July and with time already served and good behaviour, is expected to be released on January 12. The case centred on accusations that rubble in Gaza under the responsibility of the UNDP was misused by Hamas which controls the enclave. Coming shortly after accusations against a senior employee of the World Vision NGO, the case caused a major stir in Israel, with officials accusing the UN of naivete and alleging systematic misuse of aid by Hamas. Israel originally alleged that Borsh had been recruited by Hamas, which is considered a terrorist organisation by the European Union, the United States and Israel, and had deliberately diverted rubble to a port -- which was then used to build a military jetty. But Tsemel stressed that her client had been convicted only of unintentionally aiding the Islamists by "moving some rubble". "The prosecution claimed that he should have checked better as this could have helped Hamas." The UNDP said it had "zero tolerance for wrongdoing", but that the case did not prove deliberate intent. "This outcome confirms that there was no wrongdoing by UNDP," the body said in a statement. - Aid wars - Since 2008, Israel has fought three wars with Palestinian militants in Gaza. Israel has long alleged that Hamas has sought to infiltrate humanitarian organisations and divert aid, accusations the Islamist movement denies. Aid workers privately admit to pressure from Hamas. But they also say materials taken into Gaza are subject to some of the strictest monitoring in the world and that the blockade is preventing needed goods from entering the impoverished enclave. More than two thirds of the population of the Gaza Strip, which Israel has blockaded for a decade, are reliant on some form of aid, according to the UN. The allegations against the UNDP, which were first announced in August, as well as the more serious ones against World Vision's Gaza head Mohammed al-Halabi, were trumpeted by Israeli officials. Halabi is accused of siphoning millions of dollars to Hamas in a case still in the Israeli courts. Danny Danon, Israel's ambassador to the UN, said at the time the cases were evidence of a "troubling trend of the systematic exploitation by Hamas". AFP visited the site of the alleged UNDP misuse last summer and found a new-looking jetty extending around 50 metres (yards) into the sea. Perhaps 10 feet (three yards) wide, it had wooden slats erected on one side to obscure the view. Armed Hamas fighters were in nearby fields. UNDP officials privately accepted that rubble from one of its projects may have been used in the construction of the jetty. But they stressed the disposal occurred in conjunction with the Ministry of Public Works, which is run by Hamas's rivals Fatah. Israeli soldier dies of wounds from 2014 Gaza war: army An Israeli army officer wounded in the 2014 Gaza Strip war against Hamas has died of his injuries, the military said on Wednesday. The death of Major Hagai Ben-Ari brings the number of soldiers killed in the offensive, codenamed Operation Protective Edge, to 68. Six civilians also died on the Israeli side. An Israeli soldier walks close to a mobil artillery canon stationed along the southern Israeli border with the Gaza Strip on July 11, 2014, during Operation Protective Edge JACK GUEZ (AFP/File) "Major Hagai Ben-Ari, who was severely injured by sniper fire in Operation Protective Edge, passed away late Tuesday evening," an army statement said. US-led coalition boosts Mosul military advisors to 450: official The US-led coalition said Wednesday it has doubled to about 450 the number of military advisors assisting Iraqi troops engaged in the fight to retake Mosul from Islamic State fighters. "We have increased the number of advise and assist forces that are there with the ISF (Iraqi Security Forces) command elements to help advise them as they move forward and to synchronize operations," coalition spokesman Colonel John Dorrian said in a video conference from Baghdad. Dorrian said the reinforcements were part of a series of measures taken to "accelerate the advance of the Iraqi security forces." Iraqi forces run for cover as they advance in Mosul's eastern Al-Intisar neighbourhood on December 30, 2016, during an ongoing military operation against Islamic State group jihadists AHMAD AL-RUBAYE (AFP/File) While military advisors are behind the frontlines, they have already entered the city several times, he added. American military forces are carrying out air and artillery strikes in Iraq as part of a US-led coalition against the Islamic State group, and have provided training, advice and other assistance to Baghdad's forces. There are about 5,000 American military personnel in Iraq, according to the coalition, and US special forces personnel have also fought IS on the ground. More than 125,000 Iraqis have been displaced since the Mosul offensive began in mid-October, according to the United Nations. More than 3.3 million people are currently displaced in all of Iraq. A senior commander from the elite Counter-Terrorism Service that has done most of the front-line fighting inside the city told AFP on Sunday that Iraqi forces now controlled more than 60 percent of Mosul's eastern half. "There are more than 200,000 buildings in Mosul and ... you end up having to clear each one," Dorrian said. "And that goes from rooftop level, often in four-story or higher buildings, through every single room, and every single closet, and into tunnels that have been dug between these buildings, and sometimes beneath them," he added. "It's going to take time. It's going to be extraordinarily dangerous." Iraqi forces have yet to enter west Mosul, which is still completely held by IS fighters. "There's been a lot of discussion about the losses that Iraqis are taking -- the enemy is taking an order of magnitude greater," Dorrian said. Officials say it could be months before Iraqi forces are able to completely retake Iraq's second city, where hundreds of thousands of civilians still live. US ready to help Turkish forces in Syria The US-led coalition fighting the Islamic State group is prepared to support Turkish forces battling the fighters in northern Syria, a US military official said Wednesday. Turkey has asked for such assistance from the coalition but none has been forthcoming so far. Colonel John Dorrian, speaking via video conference from Baghdad, said support will be offered. Colonel John Corrian confirmed on January 4, 2017, that the US-led coalition fighting the Islamic State group will aid Turkish forces, pictured, in northern Syria Bulent Kilic (AFP/File) "I can confirm for you that those discussions have been happening and the Turks are aware of some of the things that might be in store," Dorrian said, declining to provide further details. Turkish forces have been engaged for several weeks in deadly fighting against the Islamic State group to retake the Syrian city of Al-Bab. But despite Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's requests, coalition planes have not been deployed to directly help the Turks. Coalition aircraft did make a show of force last week near Al-Bab at the request of Turkish forces but did not fire any weapons. The coalition criticizes Turkey for launching the offensive unilaterally without first reaching an agreement with its partners. The Americans supported the first part of the Turkish offensive in Syria in mid-2016. Neither the coalition nor Turkey have said why the coalition stopped supporting Turkish forces in Syria as they did at the start of the Turkish offensive in August. But US officials have suggested they are concerned that the Turks, after the conquest of Al-Bab, might attack the Kurdish-led Arab-Kurdish coalition of the Syrian Democratic Forces. The United States sees the SDF as their most effective ally in the fight against Islamic State in Syria. The SDF is currently leading the first part of the offensive against Raqa, the self-proclaimed IS capital in Syria. Egypt-Saudi deal protesters ordered to be detained Egyptian prosecutors ordered Wednesday that 12 people held during a protest against the controversial transfer of two Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia be detained for four days, officials said. They were arrested during a rare demonstration in central Cairo on Monday, renewing protests from earlier this year against the transfer of Tiran and Sanafir islands. The 12 are accused of staging a protest without informing the interior ministry beforehand, said judiciary and security officials and lawyer Ahmed Othman, who is defending one of those held. A man reacts on December 19, 2016 at the high administrative court as a judge announces a court ruling in the case of two Red Sea islands in Cairo MOHAMED EL-SHAHED (AFP/File) Under a 2013 law, demonstrators are required to tell the ministry they are planning a protest, and the ministry is then able to grant or refuse permission. The 12, who are also accused of attacking policemen and destroying public property, are being held pending further investigation and possible charges. The transfer of the islands was part of a maritime borders accord signed during an April visit to Cairo by Saudi Arabia's King Salman. This is being disputed in Egyptian courts, with the government pressing to approve the transfer, saying the islands were Saudi to begin with but leased to Egypt in the 1950s. Pakistan police arrest 160 supporters of governor's assassin Pakistan police arrested 160 people Wednesday at a rally to celebrate the assassination of a liberal provincial governor who called for the country's tough blasphemy laws to be reformed. Salman Taseer was gunned down in Islamabad by his own security guard Mumtaz Qadri on January 4, 2011 after he spoke out for Asia Bibi -- a Christian mother on death row over blasphemy. Blasphemy is a hugely sensitive issue in Pakistan, and anyone even accused of insulting Islam risks a violent and bloody death at the hands of vigilantes. Salman Taseer was gunned down by his own security guard on January 4, 2011 after he spoke out for Asia Bibi, a Christian mother on death row over blasphemy Farooq Naeem (AFP/File) Qadri was hanged last year in a step liberals hailed as progressive, but which brought hardliners onto the streets supporting Qadri and demanding Bibi be killed. Police said around 300 clerics attended two separate rallies in Lahore on Wednesday blocking main roads, under the banner of "Save Islam Movement" and "Lubaik Ya Rasool Allah movement" -- referring to the collective name of some hardline Islamist groups. "We have arrested some 160 people who clashed with police," senior police official Haider Ashraf told AFP. Another police official said clashes erupted when barricades were placed on roads to prevent the rally from reaching Liberty Market, where Taseer's supporters were to hold a candlelight vigil to mark the anniversary of his assassination. Last week hardliners also filed blasphemy charges against Taseer's son, Shaan Taseer, and issued a fatwa calling for his death after he posted a Christmas video on his Facebook page calling for a review of the blasphemy law and supporting Bibi. Mohammad Zulfiqar, an organiser of Lubaik Ya Rasool Allah movement, criticised Wednesday's arrests. "The purpose was to defend Islam and express solidarity with Muslims in Kashmir and Burma (Myanmar)," he said of the rallies. "We also held them to stop the burning of candles for a blasphemer and celebrate the assassination (of Taseer) because on this day Mumtaz Qadri sent a blasphemer to hell." Obama, Team Trump in health care showdown US President Barack Obama called on congressional Democrats Wednesday to "fight" to preserve his signature health care reform, with its future in doubt as Donald Trump's incoming administration vowed a swift repeal of the controversial law. Obamacare, the fruit of an eight-year drive to extend medical coverage to tens of millions of Americans, will come under sustained assault when Trump takes office on January 20 with Republican majorities in both chambers of Congress. But the debate over US health care began in earnest Wednesday at the highest levels, with Obama and Vice President-elect Mike Pence making duelling visits to Capitol Hill to urge their legislative foot soldiers to gird for battle. US President Barack Obama greets Senate pages as he leaves a meeting with the House and Senate Democratic Caucuses to discuss the Affordable Care Act at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, January 4, 2017 SAUL LOEB (AFP) "I envy you for the opportunity you are going to have to engage in this fight to protect health care for the American people," the outgoing president told Senate and House Democrats, according to Senator Ed Markey, who attended the 100-minute meeting. After a crushing election loss, Democrats may have limited options for stalling a repeal of Obamacare without significant Republican defections. They also face criticism that Obama's reforms have led to rising insurance premiums and a string of technical problems. But certain elements of Obamacare remain popular, notably the provisions barring companies from refusing coverage due to pre-existing conditions and allowing children to retain coverage on family plans through age 26. - Repeal and then what? - Republican opposition in general to Obamacare is clear -- "They broke the health care system," House Speaker Paul Ryan said of Obama's administration -- but his party's prescription to fix it is not. Ryan has proposed a tax credit system as a possible replacement, but the costs to government and individuals remain vague. The White House is betting that American voters will revolt if Trump moves to strip millions of their coverage with no viable alternative -- forcing the incoming president to confront the most radical reformers within his own party. While Pence addressed the issue gingerly in Congress, he stressed that Trump would make the process of repealing the Affordable Care Act one of the administration's top priorities. "The first order of business is to repeal and replace Obamacare," Pence told reporters in the US Capitol shortly after meeting with House Republicans. But Trump himself cautioned against over-hasty action. "Republicans must be careful in that the Dems own the failed ObamaCare disaster," the president-elect said on Twitter, warning Republicans to allow it to "fall of its own weight." While urging a full repeal of the law, Ryan also said Republicans should avoid putting millions of families in further financial jeopardy by gutting Obamacare without a viable alternative in place. "We've got to fix this by replacing it with something better. In that transition, we want to make sure we don't pull the rug out from anybody," he said. One Republican lawmaker, Chris Collins, said the party was looking at a six-month timeline for crafting an Obamacare alternative. Other Republicans said that was far too ambitious. Senator John McCain expressed confidence that fellow Republicans would be able to forge a replacement plan to go along with legislative repeal action. "We'll be doing both," McCain said. "We'll know what the replacement is." Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who has already launched the legislative process for repeal, welcomed Pence to lunch with all Senate Republicans after his House huddle. Pence, addressing reporters afterward, provided no details on the replacement plan being crafted by his party. But "the architecture of the replacement of Obamacare will come together, as it should, through the legislative process in the weeks and months ahead," he said. - 'A little queasy' - Republican legislators are eager to take charge after eight years spent fighting against Obama's policies. But some are wary that white working-class Americans, who helped send them to office, may bear the brunt of any reforms. Dismantling Obamacare could also have knock-on effects for funding health care for retirees, a group essential to the Republican Party's survival. In these two issues, Democrats see pressure points they hope to exploit in defense of Obama's plan. "It's not surprising to me that there are some Republicans who are now a little queasy about the prospect of the impact that repealing Obamacare would have on their own supporters," said White House spokesman Josh Earnest. "We know there are people all across the country who benefit from this law, who are protected by this law, whose lives have been saved by this law." Democratic leaders voiced support for a stiff defense of the Affordable Care Act in the face of Republican attacks. "Instead of working to further ensure affordable care for all Americans, they seek to rip health care away from millions of Americans, creating chaos in our entire economy," charged Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer. US Vice President-elect Mike Pence speaks with Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (L), R-Wisconsin, during a press conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, January 4, 2017 JIM WATSON (AFP) Kabila backs bishops' role in DR Congo crisis DR Congo President Joseph Kabila gave the green light Wednesday for the Catholic Church to pursue mediation to end the crisis sparked by his refusal to step down, sources said. The country's influential bishops brokered a New Year's Eve deal to sketch a timetable under which Kabila will stay in office before new elections are held in late 2017, in a bid to prevent more bloodshed in a crisis that has already claimed dozens of lives. "Things are clear after the exchange between the bishops and the president, who asked them to do everything to implement the deal," a clerical source told AFP. Congolese President Joseph Kabila was due to step down on December 20 at the end of his second and final mandate, but has shown no signs of wanting to leave office LIONEL HEALING (AFP/File) A close aide to the president confirmed that Kabila had met with the bishops but declined to give details of their discussions. The president, who has been in power since 2001, was due to step down on December 20 at the end of his second and final mandate, but has shown no signs of wanting to leave office. Scores of people have been killed in clashes before and since the deadline, with the Church leading efforts to reach a deal between the government and opposition on a way out of the crisis. On Tuesday the ruling coalition said Kabila should have the right to approve Catholic mediation to haul the vast country out of a dangerous impasse, warning it might otherwise not join negotiations. The bishops had asked both the government and opposition to submit written proposals Wednesday on arrangements for issues including the naming of a new prime minister and the size of the government. Until the elections now due at the end of next year, a transitional body will be set up, headed by 84-year-old opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi, and a prime minister will be named from opposition ranks. Christophe Lutundula, who signed the agreement for the opposition, said the next talks would be about "specific arrangements" for the transitional body, named the National Council for Overseeing the Electoral Agreement and Process (CNSAP). Issues include methods for appointing CNSAP's 28 members and "the composition of the (transitional) government," Lutundula told AFP. Kabila took office after his father Laurent was assassinated in 2001 at the height of the Second Congo War. He was confirmed as leader in 2006 during the first free elections since independence, and re-elected for a second term in 2011 in a vote marred by accusations of fraud. Endowed with natural resources but chronically poor, sapped by corruption and politically unstable, the Democratic Republic of Congo has never witnessed a peaceful transfer of power since it gained independence from Belgium in 1960. Murders, shootings at 25-year low in New York The number of murders and shootings in New York continued to fall last year to hit their lowest levels since the early 1990s, new figures showed Wednesday. The good news for New York, the largest US metropolis with a population of 8.5 million, comes as other American cities like Chicago struggle with an explosion in murder and other violent crimes. New York notched 335 murders in 2016, a 4.8 percent decrease from 2015, according to the latest police statistics. New York City recorded a 12 percent drop in shootings, the lowest level ever on record for a category created in the early 1990s KENA BETANCUR (GETTY/AFP/File) The city recorded 998 shootings last year, 140 fewer than 2015 or a 12 percent drop. It was the lowest level ever on record for a category created in the early 1990s. Police chief James O'Neill, promoted in September following the retirement of the highly respected William Bratton, welcomed the continuation of a trend that began in the mid-1990s under then-mayor Rudy Giuliani, a Republican. "We have been working hard at reducing crime to historic lows, when many said it could not be done," he said, attributing the fall to community-based policing and "laser-like" police work against gangs. The number of gang-related shootings dropped to 412 in 2016, down from 560 in 2015, a decrease of 25 percent. By comparison, more than 760 murders were committed in Chicago in 2016, the highest number in 20 years, mainly due to an uptick in gang violence. New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, a Democrat preparing for his re-election campaign next November, said the city was reaping the benefits of strategies aiming at curtailing the unpopular "stop and frisk" practice, which allows police to spontaneously question and search people on the street. The latest strategies "have built trust between police and communities and enabled New Yorkers to take an active role in ensuring the safety of their neighborhoods," he said. Crime was not evenly spread across New York, the statistics showed. Wealthy Manhattan was largely spared, while the boroughs of Queens, Brooklyn and the Bronx contain some dangerous pockets. Crimes often took place at night, with a third of killings and shootings happening between 10 pm and 2 am, the New York Times reported. Egypt extends custody of Jazeera reporter for 15 days Egyptian prosecutors extended the detention of an Al-Jazeera journalist accused of incitement and fabricating news for another 15 days on Wednesday, officials said. Mahmoud Hussein, 51, an Egyptian national, flew to Cairo two weeks ago for a family holiday but was stopped and interrogated at the airport for several hours before being released. Police raided his Cairo home on December 23 and arrested him. After being questioned again, he was ordered to be detained. An Egyptian riot policeman stands guard during a protest of journalists on May 4, 2016 outside the Journalists' Syndicate headquarters in Cairo MOHAMED EL-SHAHED (AFP) It was the latest move against the Qatar-based broadcaster which Egypt accuses of supporting the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood of ousted president Mohamed Morsi. The interior ministry said after Hussein's arrest that he was implicated in an Al-Jazeera "plot" aimed at "fomenting discord and inciting against state institutions... and broadcasting false news as well as fabricated news reports and documentaries". In November, Al-Jazeera broadcast a documentary called "The Soldiers" in which former conscripts spoke about compulsory military service in Egypt, drawing criticism from the media. Al-Jazeera Managing Director Yasser Abu Hilalah denounced Hussein's arrest, saying the broadcaster "will continue to cover Egypt and we don't succumb to pressure". Egypt provoked international condemnation in 2013 when it arrested three Al-Jazeera journalists, including a Canadian and an Australian, and sentenced them to jail on similar accusations. They were later released. Man pleads guilty to killing Kansas police detective KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) A man pleaded guilty Tuesday to capital murder in the shooting death last year of a Kansas police detective, avoiding a possible death sentence while agreeing to spend the rest of his life in prison. A prosecutor said after Curtis Ayers' court hearing that his taking the death penalty off the table came with the blessing of slain Kansas City, Kansas, Detective Brad Lancaster's family, given the lack of executions in the state under its 1994 capital punishment law. Kansas, with 10 inmates on death row, hasn't executed anyone in more than half a century. When sentenced March 14, Ayers faces additional possible prison terms for nine related felonies to which he also pleaded guilty, including burglary, robbery, battery, kidnapping, assault and weapons counts. FILE - This undated file photo provided by the Kansas Department of Corrections shows Curtis Ayers. Ayers, who is accused of killing Kansas City, Kan., police Detective Brad Lancaster on May 9, 2016, pleaded guilty to capital murder Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2017. He also pleaded guilty to nine other charges related to Lancaster's death. Ayers agreed to serve life without parole on the murder count. (Kansas Department of Corrections via AP, File) Ayers, 28, acknowledged in court outgoing Wyandotte County District Attorney Jerome Gorman's account of Lancaster's death, which occurred after the detective drove up to Ayers in his unmarked police car on May 9 while responding to a report of a suspicious person near a casino. While Lancaster was still in his car, Ayers pulled a gun from his waistband and opened fire, wounding the detective seven times. Lancaster died later at a hospital. Ayers sped away in Lancaster's car, shot at another officer and carjacked a Kansas woman's vehicle with her two young children still inside, later leaving them unharmed. The mother suffered a broken arm after Ayers pulled her from her vehicle. Ayers eventually stole a third vehicle before being shot by Kansas City, Missouri, police and arrested, authorities have said. Charges related to the third carjacking and other crimes he's accused of committing that day remain unresolved. Lancaster's widow, Jamie Lancaster, attended Tuesday's hearing. She wiped away tears as the prosecutor recounted how her husband a 39-year-old father of two young daughters was killed. She did not speak to reporters afterward. Gorman, who lost in last August's primary and soon will leave office, told reporters that Lancaster's family signed off on Ayers' pleas, partly to "put this to bed" knowing that Ayers no longer would pose a public threat under a life sentence. But Gorman added that the state's failure to execute anyone since reinstating capital punishment 23 years ago also factored into his discussions with the family. NYC police fatally shoot man armed with knife in Brooklyn NEW YORK (AP) Authorities say a 63-year-old man has been shot and killed after he came at police officers with a large knife in Brooklyn. The shooting happened at a house in the city's Canarsie neighborhood just before 9:30 p.m. Tuesday while officers were responding to a report of an emotionally disturbed person. Police say James Owens came from a back room, grabbed a 13-inch knife and began moving toward the officers. They say he was shot with a stun gun, but it had no effect. An officer then fired his weapon, striking Owens in the chest. Owens was taken to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead. No police officers were injured A knife has been recovered at the scene. Police question Iraqi journalist freed by her abductors BAGHDAD (AP) Police on Wednesday questioned an Iraqi journalist who was abducted last week from her Baghdad home, after she was released by her captors the previous night. Details remain sketchy about the abduction of Afrah Shawqi al-Qaisi, a veteran journalist and a vocal critic of Iraq's endemic corruption who is also an employee of the culture ministry. No group has claimed responsibility for snatching her. Elsewhere, an Iraqi military helicopter crashed north of Baghdad on Wednesday, killing the four-member crew, while Iraqi forces battling the Islamic State group in Mosul said they have taken two more neighborhoods of the city from the militants. Iraqi security forces arrest a suspected fighter with the Islamic State group during a military operation to regain control of the eastern side of Mosul, Iraq, Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2017. (AP Photo/ Khalid Mohammed) The case of al-Qaisi has shaken Baghdad residents. The gunmen who abducted her on Dec. 26 had claimed they were members of the security forces and asked to search her home before snatching her. They also took gold, money, phones, laptops and her car. "Thank God, I'm fine," al-Qaisi told the local NRT satellite TV station shortly after her release. "They treated me well." Her sister, Nibras al-Qaisi, told The Associated Press on Wednesday that Iraqi security forces had sealed off the area around the journalist's home and were questioning her. Iraq is considered one of the most dangerous countries for journalists, who have been frequently targeted by militant groups since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein. Dozens of journalists have been killed while covering military operations. In one of Afrah Shawqi al-Qaisi's recent articles published in local media, she criticized an Interior Ministry officer who badly beat a school principal inside the school grounds, before the eyes of the teachers and students, for refusing to punish a student who had quarreled with the official's daughter. An Iraqi military officer said the deadly helicopter crash north of Baghdad was due to technical failure. An investigation is underway to determine what had caused the Russian-made Mi-35 helicopter to crash near the town of Beiji, about 250 kilometers (155 miles) from Baghdad, the officer said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media. In Mosul, government forces captured two neighborhoods known as Wahda and Industrial in the eastern part of the city. The troops resumed fighting militants last week, following a two-week lull forced by stiff IS resistance and bad weather. Backed by the U.S.-led international coalition, Iraqi government troops and paramilitary forces launched the campaign in mid-October to dislodge IS from Mosul Iraq's second-largest city and the last major IS urban bastion in the country. Displaced Iraqis, who fled fighting between Iraqi security forces and Islamic State militants, return to their homes in neighborhoods retaken by Iraqi government forces in the eastern side of Mosul, Iraq, Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2017. (AP Photo/ Khalid Mohammed) Chinese official shoots 2 cadres, then kills himself BEIJING (AP) An official allegedly shot and injured two leaders of a city in southwestern China on Wednesday as the pair held a meeting in a conference center, and later killed himself, local authorities said. The suspect entered the venue where the Communist Party chief and mayor of Panzhihua city in Sichuan province were meeting and shot continuously before running off, according to a statement from the city's information office. The statement said that the suspect, identified as the city's land and resources chief, Chen Zhongshu, was found dead on a basement floor in the conference center. It said he had committed suicide. The statement gave no possible motive for the attack. The injuries of the city's party chief, Zhang Yan, and mayor, Li Jianqin, were not life-threatening, the statement said. Pope appeals for humane prisons after Brazil prison riot VATICAN CITY (AP) Pope Francis has prayed for those who were killed in this week's Brazil prison riots, saying penitentiary conditions must be 'worthy of human persons." Francis invited faithful at his weekly Wednesday audience at the Vatican to pray for the 60 who died in gang fights in the Brazil Amazon region prisons and their families, as well as inmates and prison workers worldwide. He said he was "pained and concerned" about what happened in Brazil. He renewed his appeal so that prisons would be "places of re-education" and "not overcrowded but places for re-insertion" in society after sentences are served. Pope Francis caresses a child during his weekly general audience at the Vatican, Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2017. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini) Throughout his papacy, Francis has pressed for better prison conditions and the need for rehabilitation of inmates. He has also denounced life imprisonment as a virtual death sentence. Pope Francis waves to faithful as he arrives for his weekly general audience at the Vatican, Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2017. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini) Pope Francis arrives for his weekly general audience at the Vatican, Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2017. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini) Pope Francis stops to greet some children as he leaves at the end of his weekly general audience at the Vatican, Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2017. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini) France's Le Pen lauds Ford decision as win for protectionism PARIS (AP) French far-right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen cheered Ford Motor Co.'s decision to shift investment from Mexico to the U.S., saying on Wednesday that it is victory for the protectionist policies she champions. In a New Year's address to journalists, Le Pen said Ford's decision is proof that "protectionism works, when it is led by determination, and when a country can exercise its economic independence." The National Front party leader, a top candidate in France's presidential election next spring, has already suggested that President-elect Donald Trump's victory could have a favorable impact on her own campaign, along with Britain's Brexit vote to leave the European Union. Far-right leader and candidate for next spring presidential elections Marine le Pen, delivers her New Year's address to the media in Paris, Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2017. French far right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen is cheering Ford Motor Co.'s decision to shift investment from Mexico to the U.S., calling it a victory for the protectionist policies she champions. (AP Photo/Michel Euler) Le Pen dubs herself a "patriot" and campaigns against immigration, the EU and a system of politicians, banks and other deciders she claims is bringing France down and which she vows to break. "Political will pays," she said. "The proof is what Donald Trump obtained." Ford is canceling plans to build a $1.6 billion factory in Mexico and will instead invest some of that money in a U.S. factory. Le Pen wasn't the only French presidential candidate to lavish kudos on Trump for Ford's decision. Arnaud Montebourg, a former economics minister seeking the Socialist Party candidacy, also proposes protectionist measures to help French industry. "I see that Donald Trump used the Montebourg method!," he joked at a Wednesday news conference. "A strong and protecting state is a state which pays attention to the country's industrial and economic interests ... because it's a power struggle between politics and economy." Montebourg advocates state intervention to protect national interests and keep jobs and companies in the country. As economy minister from 2012 to 2014, he was responsible for a decree broadening the government's right to intervene when foreign companies want to buy firms the state considers vital, for instance in the energy, transport, health and communications sectors. Montebourg is among seven running for the Socialist candidacy in a two-round primary this month. Socialist President Francois Hollande, bowing to his personal unpopularity, isn't seeking a second term, and is leaving his party in disarray. In contrast, the far-right candidate, now in her second presidential race, said she and her team are "ready, resolute, organized," and she is already preparing her first five years in office. "I know where I'm going and how I'm going to get there." Speaking privately, she refused to name any French companies that might be squeezed to bend to what she calls "economic patriotism." "It's nearly an excess of numbers," she laughed. The National Front's No. 2, Florian Philippot, said that no one company comes to mind but the French auto industry, in particular, outsources to third countries and the "same arguments, the same will, the same tools" used by Trump would be employed in a France run by the National Front. "We can imagine an equivalent solution. We must imagine ... we have a duty." Echoing Le Pen's vision of a France freed from the syndrome of politics as usual, Philippot said the April 23 and May 7 presidential election is "practically a referendum ... on a free France or a France under (EU) guardianship." ___ Sylvie Corbet and Angela Charlton in Paris contributed. Far-right leader and candidate for next spring presidential elections Marine le Pen, gestures as she delivers her New Year's address to the media in Paris, Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2017. French far right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen is cheering Ford Motor Co.'s decision to shift investment from Mexico to the U.S., calling it a victory for the protectionist policies she champions. (AP Photo/Michel Euler) Far-right leader and candidate for next spring presidential elections Marine le Pen, arrives for her New Year's address to the media in Paris, Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2017. French far right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen is cheering Ford Motor Co.'s decision to shift investment from Mexico to the U.S., calling it a victory for the protectionist policies she champions. (AP Photo/Michel Euler) Leftist contender for the Socialist primary election, Arnaud Montebourg, talks during a press conference, in Paris, Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2017. Montebourg is among seven candidates in the leftist primary Jan. 22 and 29, seeking a nomination that looks like a poisoned chalice. Polls suggest the mainstream left's candidate in France's April-May election may not even make it past the first round of voting amid mass disappointment with Socialist Francois Hollande's presidency. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus) Leaflets with the image of leftist contender for the Socialist primary election, Arnaud Montebourg in a box, during a press conference, in Paris, Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2017. Montebourg is among seven candidates in the leftist primary Jan. 22 and 29, seeking a nomination that looks like a poisoned chalice. Polls suggest the mainstream left's candidate in France's April-May election may not even make it past the first round of voting amid mass disappointment with Socialist Francois Hollande's presidency. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus) Israeli president opposes contacts with Europe's far-right VIENNA (AP) Indirectly rejecting overtures by Austria's right-wing party toward Israel, Israeli President Reuven Rivlin has told Jewish officials that he strongly opposes contacts between European parties with a history of anti-Semitism and his country's officials. Rivlin, in a letter emailed to The Associated Press Wednesday by Vienna's Jewish Community, says he will "never condone" meetings between representatives of Israel and "European parties of the far right that are tainted with a history of anti-Semitism, Holocaust denial ... or the promotion of racial hatred or intolerance." Dated Dec. 20, the letter is in response to one sent in November by World Jewish Congress Vice President Ariel Muzicant and Vienna Jewish Community head Oskar Deutsch that the community also emailed to the AP. The two complain that "certain politicians in Israel are willing to meet populist parties of the European extreme right," including Austria's Freedom Party and ask Israeli leaders "to draw a very clear red line between us (the Jews/Israel) and those who represent hate, Neonazism and anti-Semitism. Founded by former Nazi officials after the war, the Freedom Party has ditched anti-Jewish outbursts in the last two decades to concentrate on wooing a broader voter base. It has become Austria's strongest political force, due in great part to disenchantment with established parties. Although Freedom Party candidate Norbert Hofer lost presidential elections last month, he garnered more than 46 percent of the vote. The party describes itself as right-wing but not far right. But its supporters also include the neo-Nazi fringe, and its surge in popularity is largely linked to the embrace of many Austrians of an anti-immigration message tinged with anti-Muslim overtones. Party leader Heinz-Christian Strache last year blamed "uncontrolled immigration" for the "import of Islamic anti-Semitism" to Europe, at a party event entitled "The New Anti-Semitism in Europe" that the party says was attended by several former Israeli Knesset members. Rivlin told Muzicant and Deutsch that his comments applied to all "political parties you mention." But The Freedom Party rejected any link to itself. A party statement Wednesday said that in past visits to Israel, Strache had met officially with government ministers and Knesset members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party. And it quoted Freedom Party legislator David Lasar, himself a member of the Vienna Jewish Community, as saying the party is "neither extreme right, nor racist and definitely not anti-Semitic." "We ...condemn the Holocaust as the most horrible crime in human history," he said. " Food stocks low in southern Haiti in wake of storm PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) Hundreds of thousands of people in southern Haiti are facing food shortages three months after Hurricane Matthew destroyed crops and livestock in the region, an international aid organization said Wednesday. A "very poor" harvest is expected over the next two months in the South and Grand Anse departments of the southern Haitian peninsula, an area where most people depend on subsistence farming to survive, Oxfam said in a report calling for more support for a U.N. assistance fund. The U.N. announced it would provide $139 million in assistance to the region, but that program is underfunded by 38 percent, the aid group said. FILE - In this Oct. 10, 2016 file photo, banana and coconut trees are bent and broken along a southern coast road near the town of Roche-a-Bateau, Haiti, left behind by Hurricane Matthew. Hundreds of thousands of people in southern Haiti are facing food shortages three months after the storm destroyed crops and livestock in the region, international aid organization Oxfam said Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2017. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell, File) Hurricane Matthew made landfall near Les Anglais on Oct. 4 as a Category 4 storm, causing widespread damage. The storm destroyed 80 percent of crops and much of the livestock in some of the hardest-hit parts of a region considered the breadbasket of the impoverished Caribbean country. The Haitian government put the death toll at 546. "Hurricane Matthew swept through Haiti in a matter of hours but has created a long-term catastrophe that will take the country years to recover from," Damien Berrendorf, country director of Oxfam in Haiti, said in the report. Merkel migrant critic sticks to demand for cap on newcomers BERLIN (AP) German Chancellor Angela Merkel's most prominent domestic critic on migrant policy is sticking to his demand for a cap on newcomers at the beginning of an election year in which Merkel will seek a fourth term. Horst Seehofer, who leads the Christian Social Union the Bavarian sister party to Merkel's Christian Democratic Union has been demanding for a year an annual limit of 200,000 on new migrants to Germany. Merkel opposes the idea. Seehofer suggested recently that his party wouldn't join the next government without a cap. He said Wednesday that "we mean this demand very seriously." Bavarian governor and head of the Christian Social Union party, Horst Seehofer, speaks during a party meeting in Seeon, Germany, Wednesday Jan. 4, 2017. Seehofer is sticking to his demand for a cap on newcomers at the beginning of an election year in which Chancellor Angela Merkel will seek fourth term. (Sven Hoppe/dpa via AP) Attacker sneaks into school, stabs 12 children in China BEIJING (AP) A vengeful man stabbed 12 children with a kitchen knife at a kindergarten in southern China on Wednesday, seriously injuring five of them, local authorities said. The attacker "sneaked into" the school in the afternoon and stabbed children in his child's class while the students were eating, according to a statement from the Pingxiang city government's information office, citing police. Two teachers fought back with plastic chairs, and police called to the school in the largely rural region of Guangxi managed to detain him. None of the children has life-threatening injuries, the statement said. The government said the suspect was Qin Peng'an, a man from Nanshan village that is under the jurisdiction of Pingxiang city. It said Qin told staff at Xiaocongzai Kindergarten that he was picking up his child as an excuse to get into the school. It said an initial police investigation found that Qin felt bullied in the village so he stabbed the children out of anger and revenge. The Latest: Democrats tag 'most troublesome' Trump picks WASHINGTON (AP) The Latest on Congress (all times EST): 5:30 p.m. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer says Democrats have identified eight of President-elect Donald Trump's "most troublesome" Cabinet picks and are hoping for fair hearings on those nominees. Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer of N.Y. listens to a question during a news conference on President Barack Obama's signature healthcare law, Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2017, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) Those potential nominees are Rex Tillerson for secretary of state, Tom Price for secretary of Health and Human Services, Steven Mnuchin for Treasury secretary, Scott Pruitt for administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, Mick Mulvaney for director of the Office of Management and Budget, Jeff Sessions for attorney general, Betsy DeVos for education secretary and Andrew Puzder for labor secretary. Missing from the list are Trump choices who are expected to have an easy time winning Senate confirmation, such as James Mattis for defense secretary and John Kelly for Homeland Security. Schumer says a "fair hearing" means at least two days, and says all of the paperwork on the nominee's background, tax returns and other disclosures must be in. ___ 5 p.m. House Republicans have passed legislation that would allow Congress to overturn, with a single vote, executive branch regulations finalized near the end of an outgoing president's term. The bill was approved Wednesday by a 238-184 vote. It is part of the GOP's efforts to block or undo scores of regulations and executive orders issued by President Barack Obama. Republicans say the bill would stem what they call a growing trend by presidents of both parties to impose costly "midnight rules" during their last few months in office. The bill's chief sponsor, Rep. Darrell Issa of California, says it would strengthen executive-branch oversight and "ensure that unaccountable, last-minute regulations don't continue crippling our economy, crushing small businesses and raising costs on middle-class families." The bill now goes to the Senate. ___ 4:40 p.m. The Obama administration says at least 8.8 million people signed up through Dec. 31 for 2017 coverage under the president's health care law. That's about 200,000 more than at the same point in the last open enrollment season. Wednesday's numbers are partial, for 39 states using the federal HealthCare.gov website. Others including major states like California and New York were not included because they run their own insurance markets. Independent expert Caroline Pearson says it will be a stretch for the administration to meet its nationwide target of 13.8 million sign-ups. Pearson is with the Avalere Health consultancy. The administration says demand is strong and growing, heading toward the end of open enrollment Jan. 31. The report comes as the Republican-led Congress is moving to repeal the health care law. ___ 4:35 p.m. A Republican-run House panel created to investigate Planned Parenthood and fetal tissue research wants to halt federal payments to the organization. The recommendation was included in the special committee's final report and was no surprise. Many Republicans hope that with Donald Trump becoming president, Congress will cut off money to the women's health organization. Most GOP lawmakers have long opposed the organization because many of its clinics provide abortions. Their antagonism intensified after anti-abortion activists released secretly recorded videos in 2015 showing Planned Parenthood officials discussing how they sometimes provide fetal tissue to researchers. Democrats say Planned Parenthood payments should continue and say House GOP investigators have unearthed no evidence of wrongdoing. Planned Parenthood has denied breaking laws and says the videos were doctored. ___ 4 p.m. Republican Sen. Rand Paul is blasting his party for a budget blueprint that would increase the national debt by almost $10 trillion over the coming decade. The Kentucky lawmaker gave a speech on the Senate floor Wednesday in which explained why he opposed taking the first step toward repealing President Barack Obama's health care law. He says the vote would have been an endorsement of an unbalanced budget. Paul, who hails from the GOP's small-government, libertarian wing, is lambasting his party for ignoring the nation's debt problems in the very first piece of legislation brought up in the era of Donald Trump. Paul asks, "Is that really what the Republican Party represents?" The Senate is debating the budget measure, a precursor to a bill to repealing the health care law. ___ 1:49 p.m. Add another confirmation hearing to the growing list of Senate hearings next Wednesday. The Senate Intelligence committee will hold its hearing on President-elect Donald Trump's pick for CIA Director, Rep. Mike Pompeo. The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions will holds its hearing on Betsy DeVos, Trump's choice for education secretary, the same day. Separately, Senate panels plan confirmation hearings that same day for Sen. Jeff Sessions, the choice for attorney general, and Rex Tillerson, the pick for secretary of State. Even though Trump won't be sworn in until Jan. 20, Senate Republicans are intent on moving swiftly to get his Cabinet and other agency leaders in place. ___ 1:35 p.m. The top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee says Rex Tillerson told him he supports the Paris climate agreement to reduce carbon emissions. Ben Cardin of Maryland spoke with reporters Wednesday outside his Senate office after a one-hour meeting with Tillerson, the Exxon Mobil CEO whom President-elect Donald Trump has tapped for secretary of state. Cardin says Tillerson's backing of the international pact to combat climate change "was encouraging to hear." He says Tillerson stressed his background in science and told Cardin "that he is a believer in science." During the presidential campaign, Trump said he would pull the U.S. out of the Paris accord. But since being elected, he's shifted that stance and now says he is "studying" the agreement. Tillerson's Senate confirmation hearing is tentatively scheduled for next week. __ 1:20 p.m. The Senate has taken its first vote on the way to repealing so-called Obamacare. The 51-48 procedural tally broke mostly along party lines and officially begins debate on a special budget measure that is a precursor to a follow-up bill to repeal Obama's health care law. Kentucky Republican Rand Paul opposed the measure since it endorses large budget deficits. Once Wednesday's legislation passes both House and Senate, Republicans controlling Congress could pass the follow-up measure without the threat of a filibuster by Senate Democrats. The vote came after both Vice President-elect Mike Pence and President Barack Obama trekked to Capitol Hill to rally their respective sides for the looming fight. The preliminary measure is on track to pass both House and Senate next week, but details on the binding repeal bill are still being worked out. __ 1:10 p.m. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer is sending a warning to President-elect Donald Trump: Democrats will oppose a Supreme Court pick "with everything we have" if a nominee isn't what they consider mainstream. Schumer in an interview explains his concern. He says "with the hard right running the show," the likelihood of the nominee "being mainstream is decreasing every day." The New Yorker made the comments one day after saying on MSNBC's "The Rachel Maddow Show" that Democrats will "absolutely" do their best to keep the vacant Supreme Court open if Trump doesn't nominate someone Democrats support. The seat has already been open for 11 months since the death of Justice Antonin Scalia. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell blocked consideration of President Obama's nominee, Judge Merrick Garland. ___ 12:30 p.m. House Republicans say they will begin introducing legislation on Jan. 30 to repeal a series of Obama administration regulations, with the early focus on environmental rules. Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy says GOP leaders haven't yet picked which agency regulation Congress will seek to overturn first. He said he expects swift action on invalidating a rule designed to reduce methane emissions and another designed to reduce the environmental impact of coal mining on the nation's streams. McCarthy says the two rules "limit our energy production." Republicans will also seek to repeal regulations implementing an education reform bill that some state officials have complained erodes local decision-making. Before the House goes after specific agency rules, McCarthy says it will tackle the regulatory process itself to give Congress more control. ___ 11:13 a.m. "Look out for the American people." Those were President Barack Obama's parting words after a lengthy closed-door meeting with House and Senate Democrats about preserving his health care law. Republicans are pushing ahead on repealing the law while they work on a replacement. Virginia Rep. Gerry Connolly says Obama's message was to "make sure that every American who loses his or her health care knows that the Republican repeal vote did that." Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer warns that repeal would throw the insurance marketplace into chaos. ___ 10:30 a.m. Democrats say President Barack Obama is making the case for keeping his health care law. Obama made a rare trip to the Capitol on Wednesday to meet with House and Senate Democrats. New York Rep. Louise Slaughter says Obama focused on how well the law is working, and on how many letters he's gotten in support of it. She calls it "a very nostalgic speech." Maryland Sen. Ben Cardin says Obama's message is that the individual parts of the law are popular, and that repealing it would affect all Americans. "We need to personalize this," Cardin says echoing the president. Republicans promise to move quickly to repeal the law, but they've failed to coalesce around a replacement. ___ 10 a.m. Once he's sworn in, President-elect Donald Trump will move swiftly to undo Democratic President Barack Obama's policies. That's the message from Vice President-elect Mike Pence to House Republicans at a Capitol Hill strategy session Wednesday. On Jan. 20, Trump will use his power through executive orders to target the health care law and other policies. New York Rep. Chris Collins and Missouri Rep. Ann Wagner specifically mentioned health care, though it's unclear what changes could be made through executive order on the nearly 7-year-old law. Texas Rep. Blake Farenthold says Pence told the GOP: "What can be done with a pen and a phone can be undone with a pen and a phone." ___ 9:40 a.m. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee is holding a closed-door briefing Thursday for members to learn more about the Obama administration's response to suspected Russian interference in the 2016 election and harassment of U.S. diplomats. Also, U.S. intelligence officials, including national intelligence director James Clapper, are set to testify Thursday in an open session by the Senate Armed Services Committee. President Barack Obama struck back at Moscow last week with a set of punishments targeting Russia's leading spy agencies that the U.S. has accused of meddling in the presidential campaign. The U.S. also kicked out 35 Russian diplomats in response to what the White House says has been Russia's harassment of American envoys. ___ 9:30 a.m. President Barack Obama is at the Capitol to give congressional Democrats advice on how to combat the Republican drive to dismantle his health care overhaul. Vice President-elect Mike Pence is meeting with GOP lawmakers to discuss the best way to send Obama's cherished law to its graveyard and replace it with well, something. The separate strategy sessions come on the second day of the new GOP-led Congress. In 16 days, Republican Donald Trump replaces Obama at the White House, putting the party's longtime goal of annulling much of the 2010 health care overhaul within reach. President Barack Obama arrives on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2017, to meet with members of Congress to discuss his signature healthcare law. From left are, the president, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of Calif. Rep. Frederica Wilson, D-Fla., and Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer of N.Y. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) Germany arrests Tunisian who dined with market attacker BERLIN (AP) An acquaintance of suspected Berlin Christmas market attacker Anis Amri who dined with him the night before the rampage is under investigation for possible participation in planning the attack, German prosecutors said Wednesday. He was arrested, but in a separate case. The 26-year-old Tunisian had known Amri since the end of 2015 and the pair ate together at a Berlin restaurant the night before the Dec. 19 attack, said Frauke Koehler, a spokeswoman for federal prosecutors. His quarters at a refugee home were searched on Tuesday. The pair's meeting led prosecutors to believe that the man may have been involved in the attack or at least knew that Amri planned to commit one, Koehler said. She said that "communications devices" seized in Tuesday's search are being evaluated, but federal prosecutors do not currently have enough evidence to seek an arrest warrant against him. Security members stand in front of an asylum seekers' shelter in Berlin Wednesday Jan. 4, 2017. On Tuesday police searched the shelter. German police have searched two locations in Berlin linked to the man suspected of carrying out a deadly truck attack on a Christmas market in the capital last month. Federal prosecutors said Tuesday that police conducted one of the searches at the refugee shelter where a 26-year-old Tunisian man lived. (Michael Kappeler/dpa via AP) The man was, however, detained Tuesday in a separate case run by Berlin local prosecutors, Koehler said. Berlin prosecutors said the arrest was for allegedly falsely claiming benefits. A further search was conducted Tuesday at the home of a one-time roommate of Amri who is being treated as a witness in the case, Koehler said. Amri, a 24-year-old Tunisian, tried to reach that person on the morning and afternoon of Dec. 19, but it isn't clear whether they actually spoke, she added. Investigators say Amri drove the truck that plowed into a Christmas market in central Berlin. Twelve people were killed including the truck's regular driver, whose body was found in the cab after the attack. Koehler said that the Polish driver apparently was fatally shot before the truck set off for the market from its parking place north of central Berlin. She said investigations have shown "no indications that there was a third person in the cab at the time of the attack." Germany on Dec. 21 released a Europe-wide wanted notice for Amri, who used a string of different names and nationalities. He was killed in a shootout Dec. 23 with Italian police in a Milan suburb after they stopped him for a routine identity check. Surveillance footage from the Zoologischer Garten station, a few minutes' walk from the Christmas market, appears to show Amri shortly after the attack, Koehler said. The pictures "suggest that Amri was aware that he was being recorded by this video camera," she said. She added that he turned to the camera and showed a "tawhid finger", or a raised index finger an Islamic gesture sometimes used by jihadis. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack days afterward. On Dec. 21, footage from cameras in the Netherlands suggests that he was at the railway station in Nijmegen, Koehler said. Amri traveled by train from Nijmegen to Amsterdam the same day, then caught a train to Brussels, Dutch prosecutors said in a statement Wednesday. Belgian authorities said that he spent two hours at the Brussels North station coming from Amsterdam. He then traveled to Italy via France. Ballistics tests "confirmed 100 percent" that the .22-caliber, German-manufactured handgun, used by Amri to shoot one of the Italian policemen who had stopped him for a security check "was the same one that was fired in Germany at the Christmas market attack," said Gianpaolo Zambonini, of the Rome forensic police. Zambonini said investigations are ongoing to determine whether the gun might have been used in other crimes in Italy or elsewhere. The bullet that lodged in the wounded policeman's shoulder was too damaged to be used for comparison, so Italian police ballistics experts used a simulator at a laboratory in Rome to fire another bullet from the gun. Then they compared scratches on the bullet with those found on bullet cartridges recovered in Berlin, police said. Koehler said investigators are still trying to figure out how Amri got hold of the gun, but that's difficult because manufacturer Erma went bankrupt at the end of the 1990s, she added. Amri, who had previously spent time in prison in Italy, arrived in Germany in July 2015. German authorities tried last year to deport him to Tunisia after his asylum application was rejected. ___ Mike Corder in The Hague, Netherlands, and Frances D'Emilio in Rome contributed to this report. 'No saints' among 60 killed in Brazil prisons, governor says RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) The governor of a northern Brazilian state is under fire for prison riots in which 60 inmates died. Brazil's bar association is suing the Amazonas state government, accusing it of negligence and a judge has given Gov. Jose Melo 72 hours to respond to the accusation. Brazil's national justice minister says Melo's government knew there was a rising risk of prison riots. Relatives of prisoners hide their identities as they wait to know the names of inmates who died in a prison riot, outside Anisio Jobim Penitentiary Complex in Manaus, Brazil, Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2017. Authorities said that the inmates responsible for the killings of 56 rivals at this prison will be transferred to high security federal institutions and be prosecuted. Many of those slain were beheaded or dismembered. (AP Photo/Michael Dantas) Melo insists his administration is doing what's needed to avoid more mass killings. In an interview with CBN radio on Wednesday, Melo says those who died "were no saints. They were rapists, killers." The Latest: Comcast wants to tackle bad home internet LAS VEGAS (AP) Comcast is hoping to make Wi-Fi in the home faster through an updated router the machine that serves as data traffic cops for Wi-Fi networks. Although home internet speeds have gotten faster, laptops and phones on Wi-Fi might still feel sluggish because older routers can't transmit data as fast. Comcast's updated router costs $10 a month and comes with a modem. It's the same price as before. Customers can still buy their own equipment and save money over time. Comcast is also offering extenders to help Wi-Fi work all over a house, though the company wouldn't say what it might charge. Eero, Starry, Google and Luma are among the companies that have fancy new router systems, but they start at more than $100 and run as much as $500. Fewer than 5 million Comcast customers, mostly those on the most expensive internet packages, will get the new high-powered router this year. The company says it could take years to reach the bulk of its more than 24 million customers. Group home resident charged with killing employee ELIZABETHTOWN, Ky. (AP) A sheriff says a man who lived at a group home in central Kentucky has been charged with murder in the slaying of a female employee. Hardin County Sheriff John Ward says 32-year-old Lindale Cunningham was arrested early Wednesday morning in the slaying of 66-year-old Sally Berry, who worked at the facility in Elizabethtown. News media are quoting Ward as saying that another employee arrived to work at the ResCare facility Tuesday night and found the victim lying "in a pool of blood." He said she died from multiple stab wounds. Ward says Cunningham told deputies he stabbed Berry, but he said authorities have not determined a motive for the slaying. UK police arrest man on suspected terrorism link at Heathrow LONDON (AP) A 50-year-old man has been arrested at London Heathrow airport on suspicion of a terrorism offense. British police say the man was taken into custody by counter-terrorism officers after arriving in Britain on a flight from Cairo on Wednesday. He was arrested on suspicion of possessing articles which contained information likely to be useful to a person planning an act of terrorism. A property in north London was being searched as part of the investigation. Police have said that the arrest was pre-planned and not related to the Islamic State group or the conflict in Syria. Mechanicsburg Area School District representatives presented Tuesday information from a recently completed feasibility study to Mechanicsburg Borough Council. The school board authorized the feasibility study in June 2015 in response to the districts growing enrollment. Superintendent Mark Leidy said on Tuesday that the districts enrollment has grown by 260 students in the past decade and by 170 students in the past school year. Weve added modular units (to our buildings). These are not a plan, theyre a reaction. We have to do something, Leidy said, adding that Cumberland County has been rated as the fastest growing county is Pennsylvania. A couple of years ago, Forbes magazine rated our area as a top place for raising families. People want to live here. After the study was completed by architects Crabtree, Rohrbaugh and Associate, a 12-member committee of district and building administrators and PTO representatives began meeting on a monthly basis in May 2016 to discuss results and forward a final recommendation to the school board. Borough officials asked district officials to provide information about the committees recommendation to them before the school board votes on the matter. The school board is scheduled to review the committees final recommendation on Jan. 24, with a possible vote taking place in February, Leidy said. Numbers MASD Assistant Superintendent Alan Vandrew said that two elementary schools currently are operating over capacity. The Kindergarten Academy at Filbert Street is operating at 106 percent capacity and Upper Allen Elementary School sits at 102 percent capacity. The remaining elementary schools, high school and middle school are operating beneath full capacity the middle school is the lowest at 66 percent, but these schools still need renovations because theyre not fully adapted to the needs of 21st-century education. Leidy told borough council that the districts committee has recommended that the Kindergarten Academys configuration remain the same under the proposed reconfiguration. District students in grades 1-3 would be spread between Broad Street Elementary School, Northside Elementary School and Upper Allen Elementary School. All district students in grades 4-5 would attend Elmwood Elementary School and district offices would be relocated from the Elmwood building to the Shepardstown Elementary School building. No new buildings are being proposed, but some buildings would be expanded. All existing buildings would be renovated. Vandrew said that once the district hires an architect a schedule for construction and reconfiguration will be developed. We do not expect any changes for next school year, he said. A reconfiguration schedule is yet to be determined. Questions Borough Council member Kyle Miller said he works in the real estate field and has noticed that people like neighborhood schools and that its also reportedly a district standard. How do you believe this holds up with fourth- and fifth-graders all being transported to one school? Miller asked district representatives. Leidy responded that committee members mulled over that point for a long time, along with several other factors, before arriving at their final consensus. We dont necessarily have neighborhood schools now. Its more accurately portrayed as a concept of regional schools, Leidy said. Borough Council member John Anthony said hes heard concerns from borough residents about extra traffic a district reconfiguration might cause. Leidy said a transportation study determining the best and most efficient bus routes would be part of the district reconfiguration. Florida panther deaths still at record-high for 2016 TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) A record number of endangered Florida panthers died again last year 42 of the remaining big cats were killed, matching the 2015 record. Thirty-four were hit by vehicles in southwest Florida, where development is shrinking what's left of their habitat. The tally kept by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission includes six new litters, with a total of 14 cubs born in 2016. But the state estimates that only 100 to 180 of the big cats remain in the wild. UN welcomes Congo agreement, calls for swift implementation UNITED NATIONS (AP) The U.N. Security Council on Wednesday welcomed a political agreement in Congo calling for President Joseph Kabila to leave power after an election by the end of the year and urged "swift implementation." The council said in a presidential statement that it was encouraged "by the spirit of flexibility and compromise demonstrated by Congolese political leaders" in reaching the agreement. Council members stressed the importance of the government and its partners taking "all necessary steps to accelerate preparations for the elections without further delays, within the timeframe." Kabila, who became president in 2001 after his father's assassination, was constitutionally barred from seeking a new term after his term expired Dec. 19. But November elections were never held and a court ruled he could stay in power until a vote is held. His party said voting wasn't possible before mid-2018 for logistical reasons. The agreement to move up the election date was reached on New Year's Eve with mediation by Roman Catholic Church officials, following months of unrest sparked by Kabila's apparent attempt to stay in power. Dozens of people have died and the clashes threatened to further destabilize the vast Central African nation with a history of dictatorship and civil war. France's U.N. ambassador, Francois Delattre, who sponsored the Security Council resolution, said after the vote that "it's a very important and positive move." Responding to reporters' questions before the vote over how the agreement can be implemented if Kabila reportedly has not yet signed it, Delattre said: "If the Security Council is fully behind the text, we believe it will be a strong encouragement for every player to implement it." The council reiterated "its commitment to support implementation of the agreement in close cooperation with the African Union." Council members also called on Congo's friends and economic development partners to support efforts "to ensure establishment of sustainable peace and security in the country." Girl, 8, killed when tree crashes into Oregon home OTIS, Ore. (AP) High winds toppled a towering evergreen tree onto a house near the Oregon coast, killing an 8-year-old girl who was inside, authorities said Wednesday. Zaylee Schlect was taken to a hospital, but she could not be saved. The girl's father, a volunteer firefighter, was working Tuesday and responded with other crews to the 11:15 p.m. call in the town of Otis that a girl was trapped. About 18 firefighters cut limbs with chain saws and pulled them away to free Zaylee. She had been sleeping in her bedroom that she shares with her younger sister, who was not injured, when the tree smashed into the one-story home. Zaylee's two younger brothers and her mother were also in the home and were not injured, Capt. Jim Kusz of North Lincoln Fire & Rescue said in a statement. Red Cross volunteers assisted the family with temporary housing. Kusz said he estimated the tree to be around 70 feet high and 42 inches across. He said it was downed by high winds that also brought down power lines and other smaller trees in the area. "We had very high winds here last night, and snow on the coast, which is a very rare event," Kusz said over the phone. Pam Farrar told KGW-TV said she heard the crash and then people screaming to call 911. She tearfully told the station she feels bad because she told a little girl her sister was going to be OK. Hiding, feigning death: Surviving Turkish nightclub massacre ISTANBUL (AP) The survivors huddled atop a giant industrial freezer in terrified silence as the Islamic State gunman entered the nightclub kitchen. Wiping his automatic rifle free of fingerprints, he didn't see them as he changed clothes and put on a Santa hat. Then, smearing himself with the blood of New Year's revelers killed in the carnage minutes earlier, he left the kitchen and blended into the crowd of survivors being evacuated. Inside one of Istanbul's most glamorous nightclubs, the attacker had just fired as many as 180 rounds in seven minutes, killing 39 people. FILE - In this Sunday, Jan. 1, 2017 file photo, medics carry a wounded person at the scene after an attack at a popular nightclub in Istanbul. Survivors of the massacre at a Turkish nightclub describe an hour of pure terror and how they escaped, by feigning death, rappelling to the sea, or hiding anywhere they could find. The Islamic State gunman fired 180 rounds for seven minutes, killing 39 people on New Years Eve. He escaped after he wiped his Kalashnikov free of fingerprints, changed clothes, put on a Santa hat and blended into the crowd evacuating the bloody Reina nightclub. (IHA via AP, File) A traffic jam had nearly thwarted his arrival an hour earlier and he jumped out to walk the last few hundred yards (meters) to the Reina club. His Kalashnikov concealed beneath his coat, he pulled the weapon out only when he was within easy range of the club's unarmed guards. Ali Unal, the Reina co-owner, was having a smoke outside and talking on his cellphone. It was 1:20 a.m. and Unal thought the gunfire was just New Year's fireworks. Then bullets bounced off a heater in the entryway. After killing a guard and a bystander, the attacker tossed a stun grenade and entered the club unopposed. An hour of pure terror followed, according to the accounts of survivors interviewed by The Associated Press, as well as a review of surveillance video and reports in government-linked media. Sprawling along the narrow strait that links Europe and Asia, the three-story Reina had five restaurants and curtained terraces cascading down to the edge of the Bosporus Sea. When the assailant entered, it was packed with some 600 people. Starting from the upper terraces, he opened fire as he crossed blue-lighted dance floors pulsating with rave music. Some revelers fled to the seaside terraces and grabbed the long gray curtains to drop into the water below; others desperately sought hiding places. Many simply dropped to the ground as bodies fell over them, praying they wouldn't be seen. "I caught a curtain," said Karim Noureddine, a 27-year-old Lebanese who was at the club with his girlfriend. "I rappelled down and she followed me and I was able to escape," he said, speaking at the Beirut funeral of his friend, Elias Wardini, who was among those killed in the bloodbath. "I did not know what was going on inside, because I was out in the first 50 seconds and running toward the sea." For Sabri Ozturk, one of the club's restaurant managers, time stretched agonizingly. "The gunfire wouldn't cease," said Ozturk, whose wife and 19-year-old son had come to keep him company during the holiday shift. "They say seven minutes, but it felt like seven hours." Ozturk dropped to the floor and shouted to his family to do the same. "But it wasn't just them. It was everyone around them. Our feet and heads were on top of each other. My wife was beneath my arm. My hand was on my son's head because he is protesting. I'm closing his mouth, telling him to be silent." They stayed that way for about an hour, Ozturk said. "Then the noise stopped, but is the terrorist inside? Is he going to detonate a bomb? You start thinking: He should just blow it up so it can be over. That's the state you are in." Yunus Turk, a 25-year-old Frenchman at the Reina with his cousin, was hiding on the terrace as the gunman moved through the club. He grabbed a table and held it in front of him as a shield, hearing bullets ping off the metal. "I was just trying to calm the people around me, so the shooters wouldn't notice us. Because I thought at the time that there had to more than one. I would never have imagined that one person could do so much," 23-year-old Yussuf Kodat told France Television. Tuvana Tugsavul hid with eight or nine people inside a toilet stall. Others she has no idea how many were in the adjacent stall. "When I was in the toilet stall cabin, there was a moment when the electricity went out. I thought, 'This psychopath is going to kill us.' I even thought that he would detonate himself after they let the police in, with all the wounded and people trying to escape," she said. Security experts said the methodical attack was carried out by an experienced killer who emptied four machine gun cartridges in rapid succession, with magazines tied to each other for quicker action. "I'm not just talking about a training camp, I'm talking he fought," said Michael Horowitz, a security analyst. Most bullets hit upper torsos with deadly precision, and some people were shot point blank on the floor, according to witnesses and photos taken inside the club. "I was shot when I was already on the ground. He was shooting people that he had already shot," William Raak, an American who was wounded, told NBC News. Alaa Abd El Hai, a 30-year-old Arab Israeli dentist who had come to the club with three friends, was on the dance floor when the gunman opened fire. She thought the music stopped, but wasn't sure what happened to the DJs. Sensing the shooter nearby, El Hai crawled 15 yards (meters) to the kitchen with one of her friends and other club-goers, desperately searching for a hiding place. They tried a storage room but it was locked. Then they saw the freezer. Big enough for all of them, but too high for everyone to reach. The men climbed up first, then reached down for the women. El Hai wasn't sure exactly how many were crammed into the small space: Two Germans, two Iranians, two Turks, an Egyptian woman, she recalled. Four rounds later, the gunman ran out of ammunition and went to the kitchen. "The Egyptian woman saw the attacker through small openings in a curtain coming to the kitchen with the weapon pointed at the head of another woman. Thank God he did not see us," El Hai said. He spent 30 agonizing minutes wiping the Kalashnikov free of fingerprints then leaving it there along with his coat. He changed clothes, put on a Santa hat and blended into the panicked crowd smearing himself with blood on his chest, and limping. El Hai later learned that one of her friends, 18-year-old Layan Nasser, who became separated during the night's chaos, was among the dead. When police stormed the building 40 minutes after the massacre began, they demanded that everyone put their hands up. The survivors, not sure they were really policemen and terrified of a second wave of shooting, did not immediately comply. When the hundreds of people slowly evacuated into the street around 2:30 a.m., the shooter was among them. He hopped into a taxi unnoticed and remains at large. The cab driver told investigators the man spoke on his cellphone in Turkish and had no money to pay for the ride, according to government-linked media. Investigators later found 500 Turkish Lira ($140) in the pocket of his coat back in the kitchen. ___ Hinnant reported from Paris. Associated Press writers Neyran Elden and Cinar Kiper in Istanbul, Suzan Fraser in Ankara and Areej Hazboun in Jerusalem contributed. FILE - In this Sunday, Jan. 1, 2017 file photo, Turkish police officers block the road leading to the scene of an attack in Istanbul. Survivors of the massacre at a Turkish nightclub describe an hour of pure terror and how they escaped, by feigning death, rappelling to the sea, or hiding anywhere they could find. The Islamic State gunman fired 180 rounds for seven minutes, killing 39 people on New Years Eve. He escaped after he wiped his Kalashnikov free of fingerprints, changed clothes, put on a Santa hat and blended into the crowd evacuating the bloody Reina nightclub. (Depo Photos via AP, File) FILE - In this Sunday, Jan. 1, 2017 file photo, people leave as medics and security officials work at the scene after an attack at a popular nightclub in Istanbul. Survivors of the massacre at a Turkish nightclub describe an hour of pure terror and how they escaped, by feigning death, rappelling to the sea, or hiding anywhere they could find. The Islamic State gunman fired 180 rounds for seven minutes, killing 39 people on New Years Eve. He escaped after he wiped his Kalashnikov free of fingerprints, changed clothes, put on a Santa hat and blended into the crowd evacuating the bloody Reina nightclub. (IHA via AP, File) FILE - In this file photo obtained Tuesday Jan. 3, 2017, a man believed to be the gunman who killed dozens at an Istanbul nightclub, films himself as he wanders nearby to Istanbul's Taksim square. Survivors of the massacre at a Turkish nightclub describe an hour of pure terror and how they escaped, by feigning death, rappelling to the sea, or hiding anywhere they could find. The Islamic State gunman fired 180 rounds for seven minutes, killing 39 people on New Years Eve. He escaped after he wiped his Kalashnikov free of fingerprints, changed clothes, put on a Santa hat and blended into the crowd evacuating the bloody Reina nightclub. (DHA-Depo Photos via AP, File) FILE - In this Sunday, Jan. 1, 2017 file photo, a police armoured vehicle blocks the road leading to the scene of an attack in Istanbul. Survivors of the massacre at a Turkish nightclub describe an hour of pure terror and how they escaped, by feigning death, rappelling to the sea, or hiding anywhere they could find. The Islamic State gunman fired 180 rounds for seven minutes, killing 39 people on New Years Eve. He escaped after he wiped his Kalashnikov free of fingerprints, changed clothes, put on a Santa hat and blended into the crowd evacuating the bloody Reina nightclub. (AP Photo/File) Biden plans University of Delaware partnership WASHINGTON (AP) Vice President Joe Biden is developing a partnership with the University of Delaware that will focus on economic and domestic policy, a Biden aide said Wednesday, rounding out the vice president's plans for after he leaves the White House. In addition to working with the Delaware school, Biden's alma mater, he also plans an affiliation with the University of Pennsylvania. The Ivy League school in the state of his birth will house Biden's activities on foreign policy and global engagement initiatives, said the aide, who requested anonymity because the partnership hasn't yet been publicly announced. The two partnerships shed new light on how Biden will spend his time as a private citizen after more than four decades in public office. First elected to the Senate in 1972, Biden served there until becoming the vice president in 2009. Vice President Joe Biden, left, watches President Barack Obama, center, sitting with Defense Secretary Ash Carter, right, as they listen to Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Joseph Dunford talk about Obama during an Armed Forces Full Honor Farewell Review, Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2017, at Conmy Hall, Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall, Va. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh) Over the years, Biden has focused intensely on foreign policy, becoming the Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman, and on domestic issues including violence against women and middle-class economic issues. All are expected to remain part of Biden's work after the Obama administration. He also plans to continue with his more recent "cancer moonshot" effort to accelerate developments toward a cure. The initiative was launched after his son, former Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden, died from brain cancer in 2015. With backing from President Barack Obama, it has focused on trying to streamline efforts of the many cancer research institutions and increase sharing of data about specific tumors that can be used to develop targeted treatments. Biden was driven to establish a relationship with the University of Delaware because of his fondness for his alma mater and desire to stay connected to the state he represented in the Senate, the aide said. The former Delaware senator and his wife, Jill Biden, have visited campus frequently, and Biden last month attended the swearing-in for the university's new president. The vice president graduated in 1965 from the University of Delaware, which has its main campus in Newark and campuses in other Delaware communities. He was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, a two-hour drive from Philadelphia, where the University of Pennsylvania is located. Representatives for the University of Delaware and the University of Pennsylvania didn't immediately respond to requests for comment. The vice president appeared to reference the project at Penn on Tuesday when he was heard on a hot mic discussing his plans while swearing in new senators at the Capitol. He's expected to release more details about the work he'll perform at both universities after his term as vice president ends on Jan. 20. Biden, who considered running for president in 2016, has said recently he could consider running again in 2020. He opted not to run last year despite a significant effort to draft him into the Democratic primary, citing his ongoing grief over his son's death. ___ Review: Loach film is a searing call for humanity, decency Just like a Michael Moore documentary, there's nothing subtle about a Ken Loach drama. The 80-year-old British director and social critic has long been an ardent, insistent, eloquent champion of the more vulnerable members of society particularly working-class folks who are trying to do the right thing but just can't catch a break. Whether he's exploring homelessness, poverty or other social ills, Loach's arguments, and emotions, are always crystal clear. Loach has been making movies for a half-century some more effective than others but he's in beautiful form with "I, Daniel Blake," a searing look at one man's seemingly futile fight against the British welfare system, against the encroachment of technology into our lives, and most of all, against the forces that can conspire to make people feel small and insignificant and, well, not human. This image released by Sundance Selects shows Hayley Squires, left, and Dave Johns in a scene from, "I, Daniel Blake." (Joss Barratt/Sundance Selects via AP) There are moments when "I, Daniel Blake" which won the Palme D'Or at Cannes feels like a documentary, and that's largely due to the pitch-perfect cast Loach has assembled, from star Dave Johns a comedian who is occasionally funny here but also proud, anguished and increasingly angry down to those with the smallest parts: a security guard, a food bank employee, a kind-hearted worker at an employment office. Johns plays Daniel, a 59-year old, widowed carpenter in northeastern England, who's sidelined after a heart attack. Daniel aches to return to work, but doctors say his heart isn't ready. He's been receiving subsidies, but suddenly he's forced to undergo an assessment to determine whether he deserves them. Loach cleverly begins the film with merely the audio of this disheartening assessment interview, during which a clueless questioner asks absurd pre-ordained questions about, for example, the condition of his bowels. More disheartening is the result: Daniel gets 12 points, and needs 15 to keep getting assistance. Thus begins an obstacle course that feels increasingly Monty Python-esque though not funny. While Daniel waits for the mere chance to appeal, he must apply for unemployment benefits, or else he'll starve. To get them, he must prove he's spending 35 hours a week looking for work. Even though he can't work. And so Daniel pursues the farce. At a CV-writing workshop, Daniel's told he should make video CVs and send them from his smartphone he doesn't have one, and can't even operate a computer mouse. "You give me a plot of land and I can build a house on it, but I can't get near a computer," he says ruefully. At the welfare office one day, Daniel meets a single mother, in more dire straits than he is. Katie (Hayley Squires, natural and moving) has been squeezed out of London and offered dismal lodging up north instead. She's being "sanctioned" for being late, after getting on the wrong bus. Daniel befriends Katie, who's struggling so much, she needs to choose between heating her apartment and buying school clothes. She cooks for her children but doesn't have enough for herself. In one devastating scene at a food bank, she breaks open a can of beans and drinks the juice because she's so hungry. Her shame is agonizing to watch. So is her embarrassment when she's caught shoplifting sanitary products. Daniel tries to keep her from despair, but his own situation is worsening, too. There's little comic relief here how can there be? Loach and screenwriter Paul Laverty do give Daniel one quasi-humorous scene in which he makes a dramatic public call for recognition. The scene flirts with showiness, but does give us a break, however brief, from the bleakness. In the end, the title, seemingly unremarkable, reveals itself as especially poignant. Daniel is crying out for recognition as an "I'' even if he can't contribute, even if he needs help for a while. This prolific director will no doubt be making the same argument for years to come. "I, Daniel Blake," an IFC Films release, is rated R by the Motion Picture Association of America "for language." Running time: 100 minutes. Three stars out of four. ___ MPAA definition of R: Restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian. ___ Follow Jocelyn Noveck on Twitter at http://www.Twitter.com/JocelynNoveckAP This image released by Sundance Selects shows Hayley Squires, center, Briana Shann, foreground right, and Dylan McKiernan in a scene from, "I, Daniel Blake." (Joss Barratt/Sundance Selects via AP) This image released by Sundance Selects shows, from left, Briana Shann, Hayley Squires, Dave Johns and Dylan McKiernan, foreground right, in a scene from, "I, Daniel Blake." (Joss Barratt/Sundance Selects via AP) Natural History Museum visitors have just hours left to enjoy Dippy the Diplodocus before work to dismantle the exhibit begins. The 70ft (21.3m) plaster-cast sauropod replica made up of 292 bones has stood in Hintze Hall since 1979, but he will bid farewell to the public from Wednesday evening when the hall closes. A team of six will start the three-and-a-half week task of taking apart Dippy, piece by piece, beginning with the tail from January 5. Who knew you could flat pack a dinosaur? #dippyontour https://t.co/sQ9TwNihoZ Great North Museum: Hancock (@GNM_Hancock) January 2, 2017 Once he has been cleaned and repaired where necessary, Dippy is expected to fit into 12 crates and in anticipation of his two-year UK tour, the museum said he will be flat packed allowing him to be put together in around four days at each new destination. The tour will start in early 2018 and venues will include the Dorset County Museum, which has a gallery dedicated to Britains fossil-rich Jurassic Coast. He will also travel to Birmingham Museum, Ulster Museum, Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum in Glasgow, Great North Museum in Newcastle, the National Assembly of Wales in Cardiff, Number One Riverside in Rochdale, and Norwich Cathedral. Dippys coveted spot at the entrance to the museum is being taken by the real skeleton of an 83ft (25.2m) female blue whale, weighing 4.5 tonnes. The whale first went on display at the museum in 1938 when the mammals hall opened and has been suspended over a 94ft (28.6m) life size model since. She ended up as part of the collection after beaching herself in March 1891 at the mouth of Wexford Harbour, Ireland, and had already been injured by a whaler. When they said #dippyontour I imagined it travelling like this. Disappointed that they're taking it apart+reassembling. #childhoodmemories pic.twitter.com/mFk7cBiRtZ Caroline Cole (@accountantccole) January 4, 2017 The sea mammal will take up position in a diving pose as she is suspended from the ceiling of the newly renovated hall on 0.6in (15mm) wire strands. More than 10 new exhibits and more than 650 specimens will be placed alongside the whale with a big reveal expected in the summer. A shop owner has been branded the bookseller from hell after a parish council received more than 20 complaints about his rudeness. Steve Bloom, who runs second-hand bookshop Bloomingdales in the North Yorkshire village of Hawes, charges a 50p entry fee. According to a complaint made to Hawes Parish Council, one customer who declined to pay was branded a pain in the arse. Books in a window of the Market House in Hawes, North Yorkshire. The building houses the second-hand bookshop Bloomingdales, run by Steve Bloom (Tom Wilkinson/PA) John Blackie, chairman of Hawes & High Abbotside Parish Council, said the organisation has discussed the dreadfully rude and offensive bookseller five times since 2013, and in the past four years it has received more than 20 complaints. The decision to charge people an entry fee is often the flashpoint for upset, Mr Blackie said. Im afraid we have the bookseller from hell, he added. The parish council chairman said the shop is a discredit to Hawes. He seems to have a strategy unlike anybody elses, Mr Blackie, 68, said. He charges 50p, people object, and he is very rude to them. Yet he feels that improves his business. Alas no answer at the bookshop in Hawes at the centre of the rudeness claims. I had even got my 50p out ready to pay. pic.twitter.com/XCxfGEflkA Tom Wilkinson (@tommywilkinson) January 4, 2017 He added: The trouble is, he is doing a disservice to the other traders, to the reputation of the town which is very much a friendly town. We welcome people to come and visit us. Mr Blackie said Mr Bloom seems to enjoy the notoriety, and does not seem bothered by criticism online. One comment on the Yell website said other shoppers recoiled in embarrassment when the reviewer was asked to leave while browsing postcards, having refused to pay the 50p entry fee. Another gave only one star out of five, and said he and his wife received a very rude reception and were asked to pay the entry fee, returnable on purchase of a book. The bookshop is based in Hawes Market House, a charity, and although complaints have been passed on to the buildings trustees there has been no change, Mr Blackie said. The parish council chairman said he will visit Mr Bloom again and urge him to be polite. He can see the great difficulties, the upset that he causes in the local community, Mr Blackie said. He might be better off trying a charm offensive. If you charm them more and offend them less, you might have a business even better than it is now, and we can all live happily ever after. Mr Blackie said he will also urge the Market House Trustees to put pressure on Mr Bloom to mend his ways, or warn him he could be thrown out. President-elect Donald Trump has used WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to cast doubt on the US intelligence communitys case that Russia was behind the hacking of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) ahead of the 2016 election. He suggested that the DNC is to blame for the hacking of its computers and emails, including those of top Hillary Clinton adviser John Podesta. Mr Trump continued his tweetstorm on Wednesday by arguing the DNC did not have a hacking defence and questioning why the Democratic Party had not responded to the terrible things they did and said. Donald Trump ( Andrew Milligan/PA) He appeared to be referring to information in the DNC emails that was made public and led to the resignation of the DNC chairwoman and other officials. Julian Assange said a 14 year old could have hacked Podesta why was DNC so careless? Also said Russians did not give him the info! Mr Trump tweeted early on Wednesday. It was a striking spectacle for the incoming president to give credibility to Mr Assange, whose organisation has been under criminal investigation for its role in classified information leaks. Mr Assange has said his source for the hacked emails WikiLeaks published during the campaign was not a government, but his assertion has left open the possibility they came from a third party. The American intelligence community and Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill insist that Russia was behind the hacks, but Mr Trump has repeatedly dismissed that allegation, challenging the intelligence experts who will help him make the weightiest possible decisions once he becomes president on January 20. Mr Trump has insisted that the government does not really know who is behind the attacks. He has said he will release more information this week. In a series of tweets on Tuesday and early on Wednesday, Mr Trump wrote without evidence that the timing of an upcoming intelligence briefing on suspected Russian interference in the 2016 election had been delayed. Perhaps more time needed to build a case. Very strange! he wrote, using quote marks around the word intelligence. Mr Trumps tweets, in line with repeated criticism of his nations intelligence leaders, caused confusion among intelligence officials, who said there was no delay in the briefing schedule. The fresh clash came as Mr Trump took further steps to fill his cabinet and key White House positions, with his attention shifting towards the challenges of governing. Mr Trumps plans for repealing President Barack Obamas signature healthcare law are expected to be the focus as Vice President-elect Mike Pence and secretary of state choice Rex Tillerson meet top Republicans on Capitol Hill on Wednesday. Mr Pence issued a direct challenge to Washington Republicans on Tuesday, saying: The president-elect has a very clear message to Capitol Hill. And that is, its time to get to work. Mr Trump signalled he would not bless all of the partys priorities on Capitol Hill, openly questioning the timing of the House Republican push to gut an independent ethics board just as the new Congress gathered. The House Republican party later dropped the effort. Anthony Crolla has the opportunity to regain the WBA lightweight title he lost to Jorge Linares last year after a rematch between the pair was scheduled for March 25 at Manchester Arena. Crolla lost by a unanimous decision to the Japan-based Venezuelan last September at the same venue, surrendering the world title he won by defeating Darleys Perez in November 2015. The 30-year-old Mancunian, who has won 31 of his 39 professional contests, with five defeats and three draws, said: There had been lots of talk on the rematch since the first fight with Jorge so Im delighted to finally get this announced. Anthony Crolla and Jorge Linares during the WBA, WBC Diamond and Ring Magazine Lightweight World Titles fight (Richard Sellers/PA) I will have to show improvements in the rematch if I am to win. I came up short on the night against the better man - with those improvements I believe I can change the result this time around. I see Jorge as the best lightweight in the world and I want to be the best lightweight in the world. These are the fights that I want to be involved in. The last four fights have been the biggest fights of my career, all tough opponents. Im up for these big nights and people start expecting them. The motivation is always there for me, walking out at that arena with that crowd - its the level I feel Im at now. The better the opponent, the better I will perform. Crolla stopped Perez in the fifth round of their rematch, after a controversial draw in the first encounter, before successfully defending his strap with a seventh-round knockout of Ismael Barroso. But Crolla was soundly defeated by three-weight world champion Linares, who improved his record to 41 wins from 44 bouts. Linares said: I am really excited to be going back to Manchester. Asked/Answered is a weekly feature for reader-submitted questions. Follow the blog online at www.cumberlink.com: What is the status of the case against John Wayne Strawser Jr.? Three years ago Wednesday, Timothy Davison, 28, of Poland, Maine, was shot and killed on Interstate 81 near Greencastle in Franklin County. Davison was traveling from Florida, where he had visited family for the holidays, back to his home in Maine, when he was run off the road by a dark blue Ford Ranger, shot multiple times and killed in the early morning hours of Jan. 4, 2014. His death sparked a multi-state manhunt that came to an end in September 2015, but not until after Davisons accused killer John Wayne Strawser Jr., 39, of Terra Alta, West Virginia, murdered his ex-girlfriend Amy Lou Buckingham, 38, outside her Tunnelton, West Virginia home five months earlier in April. Buckingham, a mother of three, would have turned 40 years old Wednesday. Strawser has since been tried and convicted of murdering Buckingham. He was sentenced to serve life in prison without parole in October in that case in West Virginia. Strawser is charged with first degree murder for the shooting death of Davison and is currently awaiting extradition to Pennsylvania for proceedings in that case, according to court records. Representatives from Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf and West Virginia Gov. Earl Ray Tomblins offices have been working out an executive agreement to remove typical time constraints imposed on extraditions to allow time for Strawsers proceedings, according to Franklin County District Attorney Matthew Fogal. Fogal said that agreement was still being worked out. Dates for Strawsers preliminary arraignment and preliminary hearing have not been set, according to court records. Strawser is listed as residing in a state prison in Belington, West Virginia. Send us your questions Need an answer? We can help. The Sentinel wants to know what you have always wanted to know. Whether its politics, crime, history or just something youve always been curious about, if you have questions, The Sentinel will look for the answer and provide it in our online blog and as a weekly feature in the Sentinel print edition. Shoot us an email at frontdoor@cumberlink.com, call 240-7125 or stop by the office to submit your questions. The best questions will be featured in weekly Asked/Answered columns online and in print. Prince Harry has met his girlfriend Meghan Markles father, who is said to be proud of the relationship, according to reports. The actresss older brother revealed the meeting between the 32-year-old royal and Thomas Markle, a 72-year-old former lighting director, took place during one of Harrys visits to Toronto, Canada. Thomas Markle Jr told DailyMail.com: My dad knew about (the relationship) from the start. Prince Harry He first met Prince Harry about six months ago out in Toronto. He goes once every couple of months - (Meghan and Thomas Markle Sr) are very close and they stay in close contact. Hes pretty happy about Harry and hes extremely proud of her. They have an amazing relationship, theyre very close and they always have been. However Mr Markle said he was not sure whether Harry had met her mother yet. Meghan Markle It is thought the Suits star stayed with Harry at his home in the grounds of Kensington Palace when she visited in November. The princes relationship with the 35-year-old, which began in the summer, was confirmed when his communications secretary, Jason Knauf, issued a strongly-worded statement attacking the media over the wave of abuse and harassment the actress had experienced. Mr Knauf revealed the depth of Harrys feelings for his girlfriend when he said the Prince was worried about Ms Markles safety and deeply disappointed that he has not been able to protect her. Grim vigil for families after Brazil prison massacre By Ueslei Marcelino MANAUS, Brazil, Jan 3 (Reuters) - Brazil's justice minister on Tuesday proposed an overhaul of the penal system a day after 56 inmates were massacred in the deadliest riot in two decades. Meanwhile, hundreds of anguished relatives waited to learn if their loved ones were alive. The minister, Alexandre de Moraes, said Brazil needed to improve conditions in its jails, which are home to an estimated 600,000 inmates, after visiting the prison in the jungle city of Manaus where violence erupted between rival drug gangs on Monday. Meanwhile, hundreds of anguished relatives, hugging each other and sobbing uncontrollably, gathered outside the morgue in Manaus, waiting to discover if their loved ones were alive. A morgue employee emerged from time to time to read from a list of those confirmed dead. "Please help me bury my son," cried Diana after learning that her son Ronei Pinheiro had been killed. "I never imagined something like this could happen." Officials were forced to rent a refrigerated truck to store bodies because there were so many dead, while medical examiners tried to identify the remains. A war for control of the lucrative drug trade fueled the latest gang violence in Brazil's understaffed prisons, raising concerns that Monday's massacre could unleash a wave of reprisals. Some 223 inmates from other prisons in Amazonas state were relocated to an abandoned jail in Manaus to protect them from rival gangs following the riot. Moraes said the solution to Brazil's chronic prison violence was not just to keep opening new prisons. "We need to make sure those who deserve to be in jail stay there and those who committed minor crimes get out," Moraes told reporters after visiting the Anisio Jobim penitentiary. "If not, we are only providing organized crime groups with new soldiers." The minister said that 42 percent of inmates in Brazil's prisons are awaiting trial, versus a global average of just 20 percent. The prison system is among the worst in the world, according to human rights groups. Overcrowding and violence are common, and rights groups describe medieval conditions with food scarce and cells so packed that prisoners have no space to lie down. Brazil's federal government will provide 1.2 billion reais ($367.82 million) to states by June to beef up security and buy more X-ray machines to prevent weapons from entering prisons, Moraes said. The prison system in Amazonas state is run by two private companies that won a 27-year public contract. The massacre in Manaus occurred when members of a local criminal gang known as North Family, which controls the Anisio Jobim prison complex, attacked inmates from the rival First Capital Command (PCC), security officials said. Machete-wielding gangs decapitated inmates and threw their bodies over a wall of the prison, which houses more than three times the prison's capacity. A video seen by Reuters, whose authenticity could not be verified, showed prisoners tapping the decapitated heads of four men with knifes and yelling: "These are all PCC." SELFIE AFTER THEY ESCAPE Amnesty International called on Brazil to launch an independent investigation to bring those responsible to justice. Police erected roadblocks and increased patrols around Manaus to hunt down more than 100 inmates who escaped from the prison during the riot, which lasted about 17 hours. According to state officials, 54 inmates had been recaptured by Tuesday afternoon. One inmate had posted a selfie of him and other prisoners on his Facebook account shortly after they escaped by tearing down a wall. Fearing protectionism, Canada's Trudeau reaches out to U.S. Congress OTTAWA, Jan 3 (Reuters) - Prime Minister Justin Trudeau reached out in a video address to the new U.S. Congress on Tuesday to stress how tightly linked the economies of Canada and the United States are, amid fears of a protectionist Trump administration. U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, who has promised to either renegotiate or scrap the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), has said overhauling trade policy will be a top priority after he takes office on Jan. 20. Canada sends 75 percent of its exports to the United States and could suffer from changes to NAFTA, which also includes Mexico. Ford Motor Co on Tuesday scrapped a planned Mexican car factory and added 700 jobs in Michigan following criticism by Trump, who turned his attention toward General Motors Co with the threat of a "big border tax" over compact cars made in Mexico. In the video address, Trudeau and David MacNaughton, the Canadian ambassador to Washington, stressed the closeness of ties between the neighbors. "We've built an economic relationship that supports jobs in every Congressional district. We are the largest international customer for goods and services made in the USA," said Trudeau, who was filmed in his office in front of the U.S. and Canadian flags. MacNaughton said Canada was ready to work with Congress to make the lives of citizens in both nations better and more prosperous. Christine Constantin, a spokeswoman for the Canadian embassy in Washington, said ambassadors had sent video greetings to the two previous opening sessions of Congress. Trudeau, who has made ties with the United States a priority, was asked by the embassy to appear in the video, she said. Trudeau spokesman Cameron Ahmad declined to elaborate on the video, saying the prime minister's message spoke for itself. Azhar, Younus stall Australia in Sydney By Nick Mulvenney SYDNEY, Jan 4 (Reuters) - Pakistan's Azhar Ali and Younus Khan forged a 120-run partnership to stall a rampant Australia on day two of the third and final test on Wednesday after a Peter Handscomb century had helped drive the hosts to 538-8 declared. Opener Azhar, who hit a double century in the second test defeat in Melbourne that lost Pakistan the series, had contributed 58 to his side's 126 for two at close of play, while veteran Younus had forged ahead of his partner with 64 not out. Handscomb had earlier completed the third century of Australia's innings, matching openers David Warner and Matt Renshaw, as Steve Smith's men poured on the runs before the declaration, which came seven overs before tea. Paceman Josh Hazlewood immediately drove home the advantage by removing debutant Sharjeel Khan and Babar Azam cheaply inside five balls to leave the hapless tourists reeling at 16-2 at the second break. Half centuries from Azhar and Younus may have raised Pakistan's flagging spirits but the Australians will still be confident of victory and a series sweep going into day three at the Sydney Cricket Ground with a lead of 412 runs. Handscomb had resumed on 40 with Australia 365-3 and never looked like missing out on his second test hundred, becoming only the second Australian to score 50 or more in his first four tests along the way. Brought into the side with Renshaw in the wake of the Hobart humiliation at the hands of South Africa in November, the 25-year-old has proved a rock in what had become a fragile Australian middle order. He brought up the milestone with a single off the 194th ball he faced and had nine fours on the board when he was out for 110 in bizarre circumstances. A TV review showed he had got too deep into his crease when facing a Wahab Riaz delivery and his bat had dislodged a bail, resulting in a rare 'hit wicket' dismissal. Australia's fielders had the opposite problem as they tried to break up Pakistan's third wicket partnership in the final session and Handscomb rued two missed run-out chances. "It would have been nice to take one of those run out opportunities and you never know what could have come from there if we had them maybe four or five down," he said. "We just need to come out tomorrow and keep that pressure on." Renshaw earlier fell short of dislodging Don Bradman as Australia's youngest double centurian, the 20-year-old chopping on for 184 in the first hour of the day, and debutant Hilton Cartwright (37), Matt Wade (29) and Mitch Starc, who hit two huge sixes in his 16, also departed before the declaration. Pakistan coach Mickey Arthur admitted bowlers Mohammad Amir and Yasir Shah were "not in good shape" - the latter carrying a left hamstring injury - but thought the third-wicket stand had given his side a glimmer of hope. "The resilience and character and intent that has been shown by Younus and Azhar has been a real example to the rest of the dressing room of how we need to play," the South African said. Indonesian military says cooperation with Australian military suspended JAKARTA, Jan 4 (Reuters) - Indonesia suspended cooperation with the Australian military in December for "technical reasons", a spokesman for the Indonesian defence forces said on Wednesday, after offensive material was seen at an Australian training base. "All forms of cooperation have been suspended," Indonesian military spokesman Major General Wuryanto said. He said a broad range of activities would be affected. Indonesia says military acted alone to suspend cooperation with Australia By Fergus Jensen and Jonathan Barrett JAKARTA/SYDNEY, Jan 4 (Reuters) - Indonesia's military acted alone when it suspended cooperation with Australia's armed forces last week, Indonesian officials said on Wednesday, after what media described as insulting teaching materials were found at a base in Western Australia. A spokesman for Indonesian President Joko Widodo said there had been no discussion of the suspension with the president and the issue had been exaggerated. "This was not a decision of the president," spokesman Johan Budi told Reuters. Ties with Australia were "just fine", said Defence Minister Ryamizard Ryacudu, adding that he only learned about the matter on Wednesday. "We need to look at this properly first, not just from one side," he added. Australian Defence Minister Marise Payne said only some activities had been "postponed". Military cooperation between the two countries, which ranges from counterterrorism cooperation to border protection, was suspended for "technical reasons", a spokesman for the Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI) told Reuters. "All forms of cooperation have been suspended," Major General Wuryanto said. "There are technical matters that need to be discussed," Wuryanto said, referring to the training material seen at an Australian military base, but he declined to elaborate. It was "highly likely" cooperation would resume once those issues were resolved, Wuryanto said. Concerns were raised by an Indonesian military officer late last year about some teaching materials and remarks at an army language training facility in Australia, said Payne. "As a result, some interaction between the two defence organisations has been postponed until the matter is resolved. Cooperation in other areas is continuing," she said. A spokesman for Indonesia's Foreign Ministry did not answer telephone calls or respond to a written request for comment. "FOUNDING PRINCIPLES INSULTED" Indonesia last suspended military ties with Australia in 2013 over revelations that Australian spies had tapped the mobile telephone of then President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. Australia stopped joint training exercises with Indonesia's Kopassus special forces after accusations of abuses by the unit in East Timor in 1999, as the territory prepared for independence three years later. Jakarta and Canberra resumed military ties, saying cooperation on counterterrorism became imperative after the 2002 bombing of two nightclubs on the resort island of Bali that killed 202 people, including 88 Australians. With ties gradually warming, the first joint training exercise on Australian soil since 1995 was staged in the northern city of Darwin in September last year. But relations again became strained after an Indonesian special forces trainer saw training material that insulted the country's founding principles of "Pancasila", which include belief in god, the unity of Indonesia, social justice and democracy, Indonesian newspaper Kompas said. The suspension of cooperation took effect in a Dec. 29 telegram sent by Indonesian military chief Gatot Nurmantyo, it added. Australian media said the offensive material was found at Campbell Barracks in Perth, but officials at the army base declined to answer questions when contacted by Reuters. The offices of Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Foreign Minister Julie Bishop declined to comment. The suspension of military ties was met with skepticism by many analysts, who expect the relationship to be quickly mended. A suspension could threaten Australia's controversial policy of turning back asylum seekers, said Greg Barton, a professor of global Islamic politics at Deakin University, but he doubted intelligence sharing would stop. "Everyone acknowledges that the threat of an attack is the highest it has ever been," he added. Visiting Jakarta in October, Bishop said it was "utterly essential" for Australia and Indonesia to share information and work closely to guard citizens against terrorism. Turkey extends emergency rule to maintain purge of Gulen supporters - deputy PM ANKARA, Jan 4 (Reuters) - Turkey's parliament voted overnight to extend emergency rule by three months in a move which the government said was needed to sustain a purge of supporters of the U.S.-based Muslim cleric accused of orchestrating July's failed coup, state media said. Emergency rule, first imposed in Turkey after an attempted putsch on July 15 and then extended in October, enables the government to bypass parliament in enacting new laws and to limit or suspend rights and freedoms when deemed necessary. The extension, effective from Jan. 19, comes as Turkey reels from a series of attacks by Islamist or Kurdish militants, most recently on Sunday when a lone gunman shot dead 39 people in an Istanbul nightclub during New Year celebrations. Ankara accuses Pennsylvania-based preacher Fethullah Gulen and his supporters, whom it terms the Gulenist Terror Organisation (FETO), of being behind the July coup attempt. Gulen denies the allegations. "The purge of FETO from the state has not been completed. We need the implementation of emergency rule until FETO and all terror groups have been purged from the state," Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said in parliament ahead of the vote. More than 41,000 people have been jailed pending trial in connection with the attempted coup out of 100,000 who have faced investigation. Erratic Serena stunned by Brengle in Auckland Jan 4 (Reuters) - Serena Williams' Australian Open preparation suffered a jolt with fellow American Madison Brengle stunning the world number two 6-4 6-7(3) 6-4 in the second round of the Auckland Classic on Wednesday. Playing her first tournament since her semi-final loss at the U.S. Open last September, Serena was left to rue the 88 unforced errors she made in the contest against an opponent 70 rungs lower in the WTA rankings. "I really think I played - I'm trying to think of a word that's not obscene - but that's how I played," she said after the loss less than two weeks before the year's first grand slam at Melbourne Park. "Eighty eight unforced errors is too much, just way too many. It's a lot. I can't expect to win hitting that many errors," said the 35-year-old who had constant trouble with her ball toss in the swirling wind. Brengle was trailing 1-4 before she staged a brilliant comeback to run away with the first set against the 22-times grand slam singles champion who had triumphed 6-0 6-1 in their only previous meeting in 2015. Serena was a set and 4-3 down when she made a comeback of her own to clinch the tie-breaker and force the decider. The third set went on serve until the 10th game when Brengle held two match points, only for Serena to fight off both and slump in relief when she hit a crosscourt forehand to get back to deuce. Brengle strode confidently across court, secured her third match point and stared in disbelief as Serena double-faulted to hand her the biggest victory of her career. "I've never returned like that in my life. It's a little frustrating, especially since I worked so hard in the off-season, but at least the conditions won't be like this in Melbourne," Serena said. "She obviously did a much better job than I did. I really abhorred the conditions. I don't think I've ever hit 88 errors in my career. I could google that and that's probably accurate. So there's no need to look back on such a crappy game." Brengle meets seventh seed Jelena Ostapenko in the quarter-finals. "Honestly I don't know (how I won)," the 26-year-old American said. "It's so cool. It's what you dream about, playing the best in the world." Earlier, Serena's sister Venus downed local favourite Jade Lewis 7-6(2) 6-2 before withdrawing with a right arm injury. PRESS DIGEST - Bulgaria - Jan 4 SOFIA, Jan 4 (Reuters) - These are some of the main stories in Bulgarian newspapers on Wednesday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy. -- Former Finance Minister Simeon Diankov will be charged for deliberate mismanagement for the sale of a state minority stake in energy distributor, controlled by Austria's EVN, prosecutors said after charging former energy minister Traicho Traikov on the same grounds. Both have denied any wrongdoing. (Trud, Standart, 24 Chasa, Sega, Monitor, Capital Daily, Duma) -- Bulgarian vet authorities will cull another 120,000 ducks in the southern region of Plovdiv to prevent bird flu outbreak from spreading. Some 15,000 birds have been culled so far after the highly pathogenic virus was found in 22 farms. (Trud, Telegraph, Standart) -- A Bulgarian court ruled to extradite Lykke Helena Petronella Soontjens to the Netherlands, where the 33-year-old Dutch female is sought on terrorism charges. She was detained by the Bulgarian authorities when she tried to enter the country from Turkey. (Trud, Monitor) Italy service sector growth slows in December - PMI ROME, Jan 4 (Reuters) - Growth in Italy's service sector slowed in December, a survey showed on Wednesday, signalling a moderately positive end to the year for the euro zone's third-largest economy. The Markit/ADACI Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) fell to 52.3 in December from 53.3 the month earlier, its seventh straight month above the 50 mark that separates growth from contraction. New work at businesses from bars to banks supported the overall index, with a 53.5 reading of the sub-index in December indicating a slight slowdown from 53.8 the month before. A corresponding survey for both manufacturing and services also showed a small deceleration, to 52.9 in December compared with 53.4 the month before. Continued, albeit more limited, growth will make welcome reading for Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni, who took office last month, but the chronically sluggish economy is not out of the woods. "Italy looks to be in for a bumpy ride during 2017," Markit economist Phil Smith warned, adding he expected economic growth to slip back to 0.4 percent this year from a projected 0.9 percent in 2016. Markit's manufacturing survey, released on Monday, showed growth in that sector at its fastest since June. - Detailed PMI data are only available under licence from Markit and customers need to apply to Markit for a licence. To subscribe to the full data, click on the link below: http://www.markit.com/Contact-Us In his recent speech excoriating Israel for refusing to commit suicide by allowing a sworn enemy to have a state adjoining the Jewish state, Secretary of State John Kerry claimed the U.S. government did not draft or originate the UN resolution critical of Israeli settlements. Kerry said there were no American fingerprints on the resolution and that it was totally the idea of the Egyptians and Palestinians. Except that it wasnt, if one can believe Egyptian intelligence. The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) reports on a story published in an Egyptian newspaper with close ties to Egyptian Intelligence. According to the report, a secret meeting took place in Washington in mid-December attended by John Kerry, National Security Adviser Susan Rice and a rather large Palestinian delegation that included PLO Executive Committee secretary and negotiating team leader Saeb Erekat. If the report is true, the Palestinian delegation also supposedly met with representatives of Homeland Security and the CIA. Political discussions were also said to be part of the agenda. According to the transcribed minutes obtained by the Egyptian daily, Al-Youm Al-Sabi, the secret gathering reveals U.S. coordination leading up to the UN Security Council vote on Resolution 2334 regarding Israels settlements. ... It states that the sides agreed to cooperate in drafting a resolution on the settlements and that the U.S. representative in the Security Council was empowered to coordinate with the Palestinian UN representative on the resolution. The Egyptian newspaper further reported that the secret meeting in Washington was aimed at coordinating Kerrys attendance at the upcoming international Paris Conference set for Jan. 15, 2017, in order to propose his ideas for a permanent arrangement provided they are supported by the Palestinian side. Susan Rice is said to have warned the Palestinians about the danger of the incoming Trump administrations policies, adding that both she and Kerry had advised Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas not to make any preliminary moves that might provoke the new administration. The report also said Kerry and Rice had fulsomely praised Abbas policies and how he handled matters, and harshly criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying that he aims to destroy the two-state solution. This is remarkably cynical even in our cynical age. If the Egyptian newspaper report is true and the Obama administration has so far not denied it the administration is guilty of a two-faced solution to the conflict, which is no solution at all from the standpoint of Israel and the Jewish people who have been the targets of unprovoked attacks and wars since Israels rebirth in 1948. Not only has Abbas said he would expel all Jews from a Palestinian State, but neither he, nor any other regional player technically still at war with Israel has said they will ever recognize a Jewish state in their midst. Furthermore, since the Palestinian side now includes Hamas and Fatah in a unity coalition two entities that have vowed not only to never make peace with Israel, but to seek its destruction and the expulsion of all Jews from the land only a fool would believe that peace is possible under such circumstances. Peace, like success, is a byproduct, not a goal that can be reached without certain precursors. Success is achieved by hard work, a good education and right relationships. Peace is achieved when one side is victorious or two sides decide they dont want to fight anymore. Jordan and Egypt gave up on war, leading to peace with Israel. The Palestinian side fights on. They have an ally in the Obama administration, but only for a few more days. President-elect Trump has promised things will be different when it comes to U.S. policy toward Israel starting Jan. 20. One can only hope. Readers may email Cal Thomas at tcaeditors@tribpub.com. Taiwan objects to Vietnam deporting telecom fraud suspects to China TAIPEI, Jan 3 (Reuters) - Taiwan on Tuesday strongly objected to the deportation from Vietnam to China of four Taiwanese nationals suspected of telecommunications fraud, saying the move was carried out under pressure from Beijing. The latest deportation followed a series of similar cases this year where Taiwanese nationals in Kenya, Malaysia, Armenia and Cambodia have been arrested for alleged involvement in cross-border telecom scam groups and sent to China. The deportations arose from the "one-China" policy of most countries under which they maintain formal relations only with the People's Republic of China rather than Taiwan, a self-ruled island that Beijing regards as a renegade province. The four suspects, along with one Chinese national, were arrested in the northern Vietnamese city of Haiphong in December. Despite repeated requests from Taiwan envoys in Vietnam to have the four deported to Taiwan, they were "forcibly" sent to China, Taiwan's foreign ministry said. "China said that in this case the victims were mostly in China and demanded Vietnam to repatriate all of the suspects to China (based on a bilateral legal treaty), obstructing our efforts to understand the case and visit the Taiwanese suspects," it said in a statement. Taiwan's China policymaker, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC), urged Beijing on Tuesday to open dialogue as soon as possible, saying its actions were unhelpful in tracing the source of the cross-border fraud groups and affected mutual trust in joint Chinese-Taiwanese crime-fighting efforts. China has suspended dialogue with Taipei since June, a month after pro-independence Tsai Ing-wen took office as Taiwan's president, because Tsai has refused to accept Beijing's "one China" principle that deems Taiwan a part of China. "China and Vietnam maintain close cooperation in combating cross-border telecoms and internet fraud crime," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told a regular press briefing on Wednesday. Geng did not comment on Taiwan's objection, saying it was not a foreign affairs matter. According to MAC officials, there are over 200 Taiwanese suspected of telecom fraud who have been deported from third countries to China this year. Chinese authorities have sought to contain an explosion of telecom crime it says has led to huge financial losses, with callers often impersonating officials or authority figures and preying on the elderly, students or the unemployed. French trial of Equatorial Guinea leader's son postponed until June PARIS, Jan 4 (Reuters) - A French court on Wednesday postponed the corruption trial of the son of Equatorial Guinea's president until June 19, bringing proceedings to a halt two days after they had begun. The lawyer for Teodorin Obiang had asked for the hearing to be suspended on the grounds that his client, who was summoned to trial three weeks ago, had not been given enough time to prepare his defence in a complex case. Obiang, eldest son of President Teodoro Obiang and a vice-president of Equatorial Guinea, is accused of buying palatial Parisian properties and exotic cars with money plundered from his country, a small oil-rich state on Africa's west coast. Obiang has not appeared in France to answer the charges of laundering embezzled public funds, which expose him to a sentence of 10 years in jail and big fines if convicted. The case is the first of several to reach court in a broader judicial investigation into allegations of illicit acquisitions in France by long-time leaders and family relatives in several African countries including Gabon and Congo Republic. China's icy Harbin gets ready for annual snow festival By Xihao Jiang HARBIN, China, Jan 4 (Reuters) - Artists put the final touches on a dazzling display of ice sculptures in China's northern city of Harbin on Wednesday, home to one of the world's biggest ice and snow festivals. The 2017 Harbin International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival kicks off on Thursday and runs to the end of February. The event, in the northeastern province of Heilongjiang, draws visitors from all over China as well as foreign tourists to one of the country's coldest places, where winter temperatures can fall to minus 35 Celsius. Qing Wenyu, a tourist from the southern Guangxi region, was among the travellers getting a sneak peak at the sculptures mostly carved out of ice blocks cut from the frozen surface of a nearby river. "When I was in primary school, I read about how it snows in the northern part of our country in a textbook. So this has really attracted me to this place for some 10 years or so," said Qing after taking a ride down an ice slide. Nearby, artists laboured over their icy creations, some of which resembled famous historical figures and landmarks such as Italy's Leaning Tower of Pisa. Work on the ice carvings begins in mid-December, with some projects rising as high as a two- or three-storey building, the festival's official website said. In addition to the sculptures, Harbin offers visitors a slew of activities, ranging from winter swimming and ice sailing to a mass wedding ceremony on ice that attracts couples from around the globe. Zhang Yanyan, a 31-year-old tourist from southern Fujian province, said she was drawn to the colourful lights that illuminate the ice sculptures at night. Elgar scores fifty as South Africa stretch lead past 400 CAPE TOWN, Jan 4 (Reuters) - South Africa opener Dean Elgar continued his strong form with another half-century as the hosts extended their lead against Sri Lanka to 418 runs at lunch on the third day of the second test at Newlands on Wednesday. Seamer Suranga Lakmal took three wickets before the break in a much improved showing for the touring side after being pounded for the first two days. After resuming on 35-0, South Africa were 136-4 in their second innings, firmly in command having effectively batted Sri Lanka out of the contest to put themselves in a strong position to go 2-0 up in the three-test series. Elgar, who scored 129 in the first innings, made 55 in the second before edging veteran spinner Rangana Herath to Angelo Mathews at first slip to be the third wicket to fall on Wednesday. Lakmal made the first two breakthroughs in the same over. First to go was Stephen Cook, who was squared up and edged the ball to Dimuth Karunaratne in the slips, on 30. Five balls later Lakmal tempted Hashim Amla forward and a tentative push saw him get caught behind without scoring as his wretched run of form continued. JP Duminy was given out leg before wicket when on 18 but overturned the decision with a successful review, which showed Nuwan Pradeep's delivery was going over the wicket. Duminy (30) was adjudged lbw again when Lakmal wrapped him on the pads in the last over before lunch. The batsman considered another review but took too much time while discussing with batting partner Faf du Plessis and lost his chance to appeal. Lakmal went to lunch with figures of 3-34 while Du Plessis was 20 not out. Philander makes early inroads against Sri Lanka CAPE TOWN, Jan 4 (Reuters) - South African pace man Vernon Philander made early inroads on Wednesday as he took the first wicket of Sri Lanka's second innings and began the bid to bring an early end to the second test at Newlands. Sri Lanka were 17-1 at tea on the third day, facing the inevitably of defeat after being set a nominal target of 507 run to keep alive the series. South Africa declared their second innings midway through Wednesday's second session, giving themselves more than two days to claim the 10 wickets they need for a second successive test win and the series victory. Dimuth Karunaratne was clean bowled by a ball from Philander that swung back in and toppled the wickets in the sixth over of the innings. He had made just six. Kaushal Silva (7) and Kusal Mendis (4) were not out at tea but face a long haul as the home side seek to wrap up the result early. Sri Lanka were put into bat midway through the second session after the South Africans' lead went past 500 runs. They declared on 224 for seven, having resumed at 35-0 overnight. Seamer Suranga Lakmal took four wickets in a rare highlight for Sri Lanka while Dean Elgar top scored for the home side with 55, to add to his first-innings century, after being 19 not out overnight. He edged veteran spinner Rangana Herath to Angelo Mathews at first slip to be the third wicket to fall on Wednesday. First to go was Stephen Cook, who was squared up by Lakmal and edged the ball to Karunaratne in the slips, to be dismissed for 30. Five balls later Lakmal tempted Hashim Amla forward and a tentative push saw him get caught behind without scoring as his wretched run of form continued. JP Duminy (30) was adjudged lbw when Lakmal rapped him on the pads in the last over before lunch. After the break, Temba Bavuma was run out without scoring before Lakmal delivered another ball with a hint of away swing to have Faf du Plessis caught behind for 41. Quinton de Kock, another first-innings centurion, was then out for 29 leaving Keshav Maharaj (20) and Philander (15) not out at the crease when the declaration came. U.S. seeks death for 'heinous' admitted triple murderer By Scott Malone BOSTON, Jan 4 (Reuters) - A Massachusetts drifter who killed three men in a series of attacks in two states in 2001, refining his murder methods as he went, should be sentenced to death for the crimes he has admitted to, a federal prosecutor told a jury on Wednesday. The admitted triple murderer, Gary Lee Sampson, 57, could be the second person sentenced to death by a federal jury in Massachusetts in two years, a rarity in a state whose laws do not allow the death penalty. Sampson pleaded guilty to killing two men, aged 69 and 19, in Massachusetts after hailing them as a hitchhiker and taking them to secluded wooded areas where he tied them up before stabbing them to death, and later strangling a third man, 58, in New Hampshire. In a police tape played to the jury, Sampson told his interrogator that he changed his murder method for his last victim, the caretaker of a home on Lake Winnipesaukee, because "I didn't want no more blood on me." Assistant U.S. Attorney Zachary Hafer showed the jury the pocketknife Sampson used in the killings, as well as photos of his victims before and after their slayings. "Three kind, caring souls, seemingly unconnected to each other in any way but brought together in the most unimaginably tragic way, brought together by the pure heinousness and cruelty of that man," Hafer said, pointing to Sampson. At least one of the jurors could be seen sobbing and dabbing at her eyes with a tissue during the prosecution's closing statement. This is the second trial to determine if Sampson will be executed. He was sentenced to death in 2004, but a judge in 2011 overturned that sentence after learning that one of the jurors had lied about her history as a victim of domestic violence. Lawyers for Sampson, who will make their closing statement later on Wednesday, argued that the jury should spare his life due to his history as a victim of abuse as a child, mental illness and traumatic brain injuries. If the jury decides not to sentence Sampson to death, he will spend the rest of his life in federal prison. Sampson's victims were Philip McCloskey, 69, Jonathan Rizzo, 19, slain in Massachusetts, and Robert Whitney, 58, killed in New Hampshire. After that last slaying, Sampson recounted on the police interrogation tape, "I cooked some breakfast while he was dead in the bathroom." Two Moroccan UN peacekeepers killed in Central African Republic RABAT, Jan 4 (Reuters) - Two Moroccan U.N. peacekeepers in Central African Republic were killed and two others wounded by unknown attackers in the southeast of the country, the U.N. mission there said on Wednesday. The peacekeepers were escorting fuel trucks on Tuesday afternoon about 60 kilometres (37 miles) west of the town of Obo when they were attacked, the mission said in a statement, adding that the assailants fled into the bush. "No claim can justify individuals directing their grievances against peacekeepers whose presence on CAR soil is only aimed at helping the country emerge from the cycle of violence," mission head Parfait Onanga-Anyanga said in the statement. Central African Republic descended into chaos in 2013 when mainly Muslim Seleka rebels seized power in the majority Christian nation, ousting then-President Francois Bozize and sparking a backlash from Christian militias. The U.N. mission has 13,000 peacekeepers on the ground, but some civilians complain that it does not do enough to protect them against dozens of armed groups. Last month, U.N. sanctions monitors said that violence was spreading despite successful polls that elected a new government last February. Human Rights Watch said a new armed group had killed at least 50 civilians in a growing campaign to control parts of the northwest. Romania's new government wins vote of confidence By Radu-Sorin Marinas and Luiza Ilie BUCHAREST, Jan 4 (Reuters) - Romania's Social Democrat-led coalition government won a vote of confidence in parliament on Wednesday, as expected, returning to power after a one-year break. Led by Prime Minister Sorin Grindeanu, the new cabinet won by a vote of 295 to 133, parliament's ballot count data showed. The leftist coalition has an outright majority in the legislature. The Social Democrats (PSD) were ousted in November 2015, after a deadly fire in a Bucharest nightclub led to nationwide protests over graft and slipshod public administration. In various alliances, it had governed for a total of about 17 years since the fall of communism in 1989. "You will find in the governing programme all the measures presented during the campaign by the PSD leader," Grindeanu said. "In a normal country, the government seeks higher wages for citizens, not smaller wages in the hopes that more foreign investors will come," he said. "We want foreign investment, but one that offers well paid jobs for Romanians." Led by an official convicted in an election-rigging case, the PSD appears to have won the support of many Romanians with promises of increased social spending and economic security. However, its four-year term with junior coalition partner ALDE will be closely watched by Romania's partners in the European Union, because of concerns over government spending and a weakening of an anti-graft drive. Some economists warn the new government is likely to breach the EU's ceiling on the public deficit of three percent of GDP this year. A previously approved reduction in value-added tax of one percentage point went into effect this month. Two other levies were scrapped. The PSD has also promised a 16 percent increase in the minimum wage. Increases in pensions and wages in the public health and education sectors are already approved. The cabinet also wants to raise minimum pensions by 30 percent to 520 lei ($125) a month, increase welfare spending and scholarships and scrap several other taxes. During committee hearings on Wednesday, Finance Minister Viorel Stefan reaffirmed plans to boost spending. Estimated annual growth of 5.5 percent, better tax collection and EU development funds should allow for more social spending and keep the budget deficit below the EU's 3 percent ceiling, he said. Earlier on Wednesday, Justice Minister Florin Iordache told lawmakers he would propose to Grindeanu legal revisions, including changes in the criminal code. It was unclear what the revision would entail Together with other deputies, Iordache has backed several legislative initiatives to weaken a drive against graft. Massachusetts triple murderer's lawyer asks jury to spare him By Scott Malone BOSTON, Jan 4 (Reuters) - Jurors should spare the life of a Massachusetts drifter who killed three men in separate 2001 attacks because a series of brain injuries suffered as young as age 5 hurt his ability to control his emotions or impulses, his attorney said on Wednesday. Prosecutors challenged that claim, citing the detailed planning that Gary Lee Sampson went through before and during his killing spree, including buying rope to more securely tie his victims and switching from stabbing them to strangling them when he tired of getting victims' blood on himself. Sampson, 57, could be the second person sentenced to death by a federal jury in Massachusetts in two years, a rarity in a state whose laws do not allow the death penalty. He pleaded guilty to killing two men in Massachusetts after hailing them as a hitchhiker and taking them to secluded wooded areas where he tied them up before stabbing them to death. He later strangled a third man in New Hampshire. Sampson suffered a series of injuries, including from a fall of 10 feet (3 meters) when he was about 5 years old, that injured his brain and prevents him from fully controlling his actions or emotions, defense attorney Michael Burt said. "It's helpful to look at those injuries and ask not whether it excuses, not whether it justifies, his crimes but does it help explain how he had been doing all these horrific crimes and running amok?" said Burt, as he presented the jury with some 115 mitigating factors that he said justify sparing Sampson's life. Assistant U.S. Attorney Zachary Hafer dismissed the significance of the injuries. "This is a convenient brain injury, this is a strategic brain injury, this is an imaginary brain injury," Hafer said. He showed the jury the pocketknife Sampson used in the killings, as well as photos of his victims before and after their slayings. Sampson was sentenced to death in 2004, but a judge in 2011 overturned that sentence after learning that one of the jurors had lied about having been a victim of domestic violence. Sampson's victims were Philip McCloskey, 69, Jonathan Rizzo, 19, and Robert Whitney, 58. Russia's Rosneftegaz closes Rosneft privatisation deal MOSCOW, Jan 4 (Reuters) - Russian state holding company Rosneftegaz on Wednesday closed a deal with the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) and commodities trader Glencore to sell a 19.5 percent stake in state-owned oil major Rosneft, Rosneft said. The privatisation deal, which Rosneft Chief Executive Igor Sechin called the largest in Russia's history, was announced by Rosneft in a meeting with President Vladimir Putin in December. Its success suggests the lure of taking a share in one of the world's biggest oil companies outweighs the risks associated with Western sanctions imposed on Russia over the conflict in Ukraine. "The technical procedures for closing (the deal) required the preparation and signing of more than 50 documents and agreements," Rosneft said in a statement. "All this reflects the unprecedented complexity of the deal." Government approves new projects under Namami Gange for Haridwar and Varanasi Published: January 4, 2017 The National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) has approved new projects under Namami Gange programme in Haridwar (Uttarakhand) and Varanasi (Uttar Pradesh). In Haridwar, 68 MLD sewage treatment plants (STP) and 14 MLD STP in Sarai was with Central government funding and also under Hybrid Annuity based PPP mode. Besides, 50 MLD sewage treatment plant at Ramana in Varana under Hybrid Annuity-based PPP mode was also approved. About Namami Gange Programme The programme was launched to achieve the target of cleaning Ganga River in an effective manner with the unceasing involvement of all stakeholders, especially five major Ganga basin States Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal. It envisages Sewerage Treatment Infrastructure, River Surface Cleaning, River Front Development, Public Awareness and Bio-Diversity, Afforestation. It will be implemented by the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG), and its state counterpart State Program Management Groups (SPMGs). It seeks to improve coordination mechanisms between various Ministries/Agencies of the Union and State governments. Month: Current Affairs - January, 2017 Topics: Environment Ganga river Government Schemes Namami Gange National Uttar Pradesh Uttarakhand Latest E-Books After disparaging United Nations, Trump and new U.N. chief talk By Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS, Jan 4 (Reuters) - New United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres spoke with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday, and the two had "a very positive discussion on U.S./U.N. relations," said a U.N. spokesman, a week after Trump slammed the world body on Twitter. Guterres, a former Portuguese prime minister and U.N. refugee chief who began his five-year term on Sunday, spoke by phone with Trump, who will take office on Jan. 20, said U.N. spokesman Farhan Haq. "This was an introductory phone call during which they had a very positive discussion on U.S./U.N. relations. The secretary-general said that he looked forward to engaging with the president after his inauguration," Haq told reporters. Trump took to Twitter to disparage the 193-member world body after the United States abstained in a Dec. 23 U.N. Security Council vote, allowing the adoption of a resolution demanding an end to settlement building by U.S. ally Israel. Trump, who had called on the outgoing Obama administration to veto the resolution, warned that "things will be different" at the United Nations after he takes office, without offering any details. He followed up with another tweet on Dec. 26: "The United Nations has such great potential but right now it is just a club for people to get together, talk and have a good time. So sad!" Guterres responded in an interview with Snapchat on Tuesday: "President(-elect) Trump also said the U.N. has an enormous potential. That's exactly what I feel. My job is to make sure that potential becomes a reality." In an address to U.N. staff in New York on Tuesday, Guterres acknowledged that in some parts of the world there was a resistance and skepticism about the role of the United Nations. Trump spokesman Sean Spicer said on Wednesday that the president-elect would work with Rex Tillerson, his secretary of state nominee, and Nikki Haley, his choice for U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, to "demand some reform and change." Both Tillerson and Haley must be confirmed by the U.S. Senate before taking office. The United States is the largest contributor to the United Nations, paying 22 percent of the $5.4 billion core U.N. budget and 28 percent of the $7.9 billion U.N. peacekeeping budget. Following passage of the U.N. resolution on Israeli settlements, a top U.S. senator threatened to work to cut U.S. funding. A former Kosovan prime minister has been arrested over allegations of war crimes. Ramush Haradinaj, a guerrilla commander during the 1998-99 Kosovo war, was detained in France on a Serbian arrest warrant. Serbia considers Haradinaj a war criminal for his role in leading a guerrilla insurgency in its former southern province of Kosovo, which declared independence with Western backing in 2008. Haradinaj served briefly as prime minister of Kosovo in 2004 and 2005, while it was a ward of the United Nations, before being tried and acquitted twice of war crimes at a UN court in The Hague. Ramush Hardinaj (pictured in 2010) was arrested by French police on a Serbian arrest warrant 'He was stopped by French authorities based on an arrest warrant issued by Serbia in 2004 which for us is unacceptable,' Kosovo's Foreign Ministry said in a statement. It said it was doing everything possible to secure his release, which it expected to happen. French border police arrested him upon his arrival at Basel-Mulhouse airport in eastern France on a flight from Pristina, according to sources. A French judiciary source said that investigators would begin looking into whether there were reasons not to execute the extradition request - especially in the case that it had been issued for political reasons. They will also look at whether he had already been tried before the UN court on the same charges as those the arrest warrant had been issued on, the source added. Haradinaj, the leader of the opposition party Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK), was travelling on a diplomatic passport when he was stopped by French authorities. In June 2015 Haradinaj was arrested by Slovenian police but was released after two days following diplomatic pressure. Leading Constitutional Lawyer Manohara de Silva has authored a new book titled The strategy of separatists and Constitutional Amendments that deals with the 13, 16, 17 and 19 Amendments to the Constitution and the 2000 Draft Constitution. In an interview with , he speaks about the constitutional proposals and their implications on the country and the majority religion. Excerpts of the interview: QWhat prompted you to author this book? The primary reason is that people are misled by politicians. They say there is nothing to worry. They say there is just an innocent move of drafting a new Constitution. It is far from the truth. For instance, they say Buddhism will be accorded the foremost place and Buddha Sasana will be protected. Despite saying it, they are bringing in provisions that provide for conversions. If you read the recommendations by the committee that worked out proposals on fundamental rights to be incorporated in the proposed new Constitution, they have inserted a new word propagation. If the new proposals are implemented, the religious propagation will be a fundamental right. QWhen that right is guaranteed, it will also apply for the propagation of Buddhism. What is your response? You can propagate all the religions. But, if you assign foremost place to Buddhism, then, at the same time, you cannot propagate something else. If you have a secular state, the question does not arise. People of this country have always been for the protection of Buddha Sasana and giving it the principal place. That cannot be done by promoting other religions over it, instead. That is not even permitted in India. The other important thing is the limitation of cultural and religious practices to citizens in that country. There is a difference between the teaching of religions and the exercise of religious practices as opposed to propagation of religions. If you allow that kind of cultural and religious propagation alien to Sri Lanka, what will happen is all the fundamentalist churches of the United States of America and all the fundamentalist religious organizations of the Arab world will come here. The proposal is to open it up to non-citizens. Today, the citizens can enjoy cultural rights and exercise religious practices. But, non-citizens cannot. For example, if a fundamentalist religious organization from the US or Saudi Arabia wants to come here and propagate fundamentalism, it will get the chance as it is a right open for non-citizens under the proposed new constitution. That is the reason for the countries to restrict cultural propagation alien to them. Otherwise, their own cultures will vanish. Sri Lanka is a small country. We have a very rich culture. The 2500 -year civilization will be destroyed instantly if you allow other cultures to overwhelm it. Persons on visiting visas can come and do propagation. If the new proposal is implemented, the restriction on such persons will amount to the violation of their fundamental rights. QThere is a school of thought that giving foremost place to Buddhism will undermine the rights of minority religions. What are your views? If you want to maintain the identity of the country, it will be needed. As for Vatican and Italy, their established religion recognized by the Constitution is Catholicism. If you take Norway, for instance, the Head of State has to be someone from the Christian Lutheran church. That is a country talking very much about fundamental rights. It is same with the Orthodox Church in Greece. In England, it is the Church of England. There is no written constitution in this regard there. But, it is an established fact in England by conventions and practices. On dollar notes in the US, it is mentioned In God, we trust. There, every state has a separate constitution. In most of these constitutions, anyone not believing in God is barred from becoming the head of that particular state. They try to preach to us, with the sinister aim of suppressing Buddhism. Religion and culture are protected in the US, Europe and the Arab world. Then, why are they trying to destroy our culture? They do it purely to destroy Buddhism. We give Buddhism the foremost place, but Buddhists are not given the foremost place. There is a difference here. Giving Buddhism the foremost place does not mean giving the same for its followers. The present constitution does not say it. Article 9 says Buddhism should be given the foremost place, Buddha Sasana will be protected. At the same time, all the other religions are given their rights. The particular section says, The Republic of Sri Lanka shall give to Buddhism the foremost place, and accordingly, it has been the duty of state to protect and foster Buddha Sasana while assuring to all religions including Buddhism the rights guaranteed by Article 10 and 14 (1) (e). Buddhism is given foremost place. But, Buddhists and followers of other religions are equal. The preservation of our culture and civilization should be done. Otherwise, it is not to discriminate any other religious group. It is also to prevent other cultures coming in and overwhelming the prevailing majority culture. QYou advocate a unitary constitution. What do you mean by unitary character? A unitary status was interpreted by Justice Sarvananda quoting several authorities. Simply it is a situation where there is only one government. Federal state is where you find several governments. If you go a little bit further to explain this, in a unitary structure, Parliament is supreme. All other law making bodies are subordinate. That is the fundamental character. There cannot be independent bodies in a unitary state. In the present constitution, what has happened is that Parliament is not supreme. Though we say so much about supremacy of Parliament, it needs a two-thirds majority to repeal a statute of a provincial council. It can repeal its own laws by a simple majority. How can Sri Lanka Parliament be supreme when legislation by a subordinate body is held in such higher esteem than that passed by it? QDoes it mean that the constitution lacks unitary features? Yes. After the 13th Amendment was enacted, the unitary character was destroyed. We did not feel it because it was not implemented in full. If the police and land powers are given in keeping with the Constitution, in no time, it will lead to partition of the country. Fortunately, no government, including the government of former President the late J.R. Jayewardene who introduced it, implemented it in full. None of the Presidents, even former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, did so. Why? They know it will lead to disaster if the 13th Amendment is implemented in full. We despise the 13th Amendment as it affects the unitary character of our constitution. We must appreciate that the J.R. Jayewardene government placed certain safeguards for it. The appointment of provincial governors and the fact that the national policies should be formulated by the central government are two of them. Also, there is the concurrent list that categorizes subjects to be handled both by the central government and the provincial councils. Then, there are residuary powers. All these factors kept Sri Lanka together. What is now attempted through these proposals is to remove these safeguards. The moment you remove these safeguards to be replaced with these dangerous provisions, it will be detrimental. QThere is an argument that the rights of minorities cannot be guaranteed under a unitary character. In this manner, there is a demand for a Federal state so that the minorities can be looked after by their elected representatives. What are your views? If that is so, England has to be a country where minority rights are not guaranteed. In the world, there are only about 25 Federal countries out of the total 190 odd countries in the world. Majority are unitary states. Does it mean minority rights are not guaranteed in all these countries in the world? These elements are trying here to get a Federal state as a stepping stone to Federalism. Their argument has no validity. Many countries in the world including England are unitary states. Protection of fundamental rights has nothing to do with the structure of governance. People are treated equally. People have recourse in judiciary. You can certainly improve the constitution. I will cite one example. Under the 19th Amendment, there is a clause included to establish the national procurement commission. Where is it now? Even the opposition is not talking about it. All the politicians, be they in the government or the opposition, do not want such a commission. That is the way for them to rob people and nation. If there is such a commission, traders, be the Tamils or Sinhalese, can get their tenders approved depending on the prices quoted. If the rule of law is upheld, the rights of minorities will get protected automatically. They are not interested in the protection of rule of law. All these are brought to satisfy separatists. QBut, the advocates of Federalism say the countries such as the US, Canada and Switzerland remain united and prosper due to Federalism. How do you respond? If the country remains united, it should have a unitary constitution. What does a Federal state mean? It is a collective of states. What are the ingredients considered for the recognition of a separate country? You need a defined landmass. That is why, they asked for the merger of the north and the east. Then, they want a government of its own for that territory. They want subjects listed in the concurrent list to be transferred to the provincial councils. Sri Lanka is together today because of the unitary state. If you create a Federal state tomorrow, then the territory and powers will be there. The international recognition is there because the western powers will be glad to do so. They will have a hold here. It will be a puppet state of the West. The reason for them to ask for a Federal state here is that it will be pro-western. We know what they do to us in Geneva. If it is a Federal state, it will be a difference between the cup and the lip. Sri Lanka will be partitioned. QWhat is your view on the provincial council system as the unit of devolution? The 13th Amendment was introduced with Indian warships docked just outside our territorial waters. Their planes were roaring around. Curfew was imposed under emergency. Indian premier the late Rajiv Gandhi came and signed the agreement. What legitimacy is there for such an agreement? Consequent to that, you see how the 13th Amendment to the Constitution was passed. The MPs were brought to five star hotels in Colombo and hosted for fabulous meals. Then, they were taken in vehicles to Parliament. Under threat and duress only, it was passed. Power decentralization is always alright. I am not for a moment saying that all the powers must be exercised by the President and the Cabinet. You can have subsidiary bodies at provincial levels exercising power. That power must, however, be subjected to the centre without any restriction. If people across the country want to manage their local affairs like building access roads and all, that can happen but according to the national policies. If the centre cannot intervene when something is done against national interests, how can you expect the country to be together? We should go back to the First Past the Post System. We can have a mixture with proportional representation system, to ensure proper minority representation. Then, one can elect his own representative. People in villages can look after their affairs. QHow do you see improvements to the present constitution? If you want to repeal the statute passed by a provincial council, you need two-thirds in Parliament under Article 154 G (2), (3), (4). You cannot get it without the support of the minorities. The primary objective of the minority parties such as the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) is separation. Their action shows it. They are against Sinhala people coming and residing there. They are opposed to the places of Buddhist religious worship there. They do not want toddy from the north to be sold there. It means their divisive mindset. If people cannot understand it, it will be foolish. We need to amend the 13th Amendment and remove Article 154 G (2), (3), (4). Leo Burnett Sri Lanka, the local office of the global advertising network Leo Burnett Worldwide, is gearing up to host the eighth edition of Leo Art at the Galle Literary Festival, which brings the creative community, writers and artists from across the island and around the world together annually at the historic Dutch Fort in Galle. Powered by its Platinum Sponsor Master Card,the Leo Art exhibition will officially be launched on the 12th of January at 6.00p.mat the Fort Printers Hotel. The exhibition will continue until Sunday 15th January. To celebrate the launch of the 8th edition of Leo Art, renowned Sri Lankan author Nayomi Munaweera who is residing in the USwill read an extract from her latest book titled What lies between usat the preview. This is the eighth successful season of Leo Art which has been titled Art at the Fest.This edition of Leo Art will feature the work of 10 renowned local artists who will each present a new series of their work. This exhibition will feature 50 canvases crafted in a variety of mediausing varying styles and techniques. These 50 canvaseshave been created especially for this exhibition and will be showcased to art enthusiasts, buyers and festival attendees alike. The artists who have been selected to feature their work at this edition of Leo Art are,Sanjeewa Kumara, J.C.Ratnayake, Vajira Gunawardena, Dileepa Jeewantha, Susil Senanayake, Thushara Dep,Prageeth Ratnayake, Chamila Gamage, Chiranthi Gunasekara and Sanjaya Bandara Senevirathna. Leo Art is an artists-in-residence programme which was initiated by Leo Burnett to foster creativity in art. It provides young Sri Lankan artists with spaces to express their creative ideas. These artists also have the opportunity to collaborate with agency teams on commercial projects. Through Leo Art the artists and their work can be seen and appreciated by a larger audience. Leo Art has progressively grown over the years since it was launched in 2008. Last year, Leo Art Strokes at the Mewswas hosted at Park Street Mews as part of Leo Burnetts 81st global anniversary celebrations featuring the work of 19 artists. The success of Leo Art at the Mews resulted in the Galle Literary Festival inviting Leo Burnett to showcase Leo Art at the festival. Commenting on the upcoming exhibition Ranil de Silva Managing Director, Leo Burnett Sri Lanka, said: The Leo Art programme is an important part of Leo Burnett Sri Lankas commitment to giving back to Sri Lankas creative community.It started as a small-scale exhibition that we hosted in our quadrangle,since its inception Leo Art has rapidly evolved into a fully-fledged annual showcase of contemporary Sri Lankan art. It has flourished each year andhas received significant local and international recognition. We are proud to host the eighth edition of Leo Art at the Galle Literary Festival, which is one of the countrys most prestigiousliterary events. We are also delighted to have Master Card step forward to support Leo Art as a partner of the exhibition this year. Leo Burnett has had a long-standing history of spearheading and inspiring creative excellence, whilst nurturing the next generation of creative talent. Our efforts to build a strong creative platform for local artists helps them gain valuable exposure to help develop these artists in particular and creatively in general. This programme helps to fuel collaboration between our teams and the artistic community, which ultimately supports our ongoing efforts to create inspiring ideas. This year Leo Burnett Sri Lanka celebrates its 18th anniversary. Over the years, the agency has built many powerful brands and meaningful partnerships with its clients, whilst delivering gratifying results and gaining industry recognition in Sri Lanka, the region and globally. The company handles a diverse portfolio of clients; it is one of the worlds largest agency networks and is a member of the PublicisGroupe, the worlds fourth largest communications company. A baggage handler was locked inside the cargo area of a United Express flight from North Carolina to Northern Virginia on Sunday. (David J. Phillip/AP) By Shawn Boburg, Aaron C. Davis (c) 2017, The Washington Post A baggage handler was locked inside an airplanes cargo area during a 1.5-hour flight from North Carolina to Northern Virginia on Sunday. A United Airlines spokeswoman said Monday that the airline was looking into how it had happened. The baggage handler, Reginald Gaskin, 45, was unharmed. Reached by The Washington Post on Monday night, Gaskin declined to discuss how he wound up inside the plane. He said he had been advised by an attorney not to discuss the matter. I thank God, Gaskin said. He was with me. United Express Flight 6060, operated by Mesa Airlines, took off from Charlotte-Douglas International Airport just before 3 p.m. Sunday and landed at Washington Dulles International Airport on schedule about 90 minutes later. The plane, a 50-seat Embraer 170, rose to 27,000 feet, according to flight records. A United spokeswoman could not say Monday whether the planes cargo hold was temperature controlled or pressurized. At some point, workers in Charlotte, North Carolina, realized there was a possibility that Gaskin was locked in the belly of the airplane and contacted the Federal Aviation Administration. The Consultation Task Force on Reconciliation Mechanisms (CTF) in its final report submitted on Tuesday recommended to have a majority of national judges and at least one international judge on every bench to try war crimes and serious violation of Human Rights allegedly taken place in Sri Lanka. The Court shall ensure that there will be a majority of national judges and at least one international judge on every bench, it recommended. It also stated that: International crimes such as war crimes and crimes against humanity must be criminalised and incorporated into Sri Lankan law immediately through legislation, without temporal prescriptions and in a manner that allows for the prosecution of these crimes committed in the past, in line with Article 13(6) of the Constitution and Article 13(2) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). The report said that consultations in the North and East in particular, as well as in some in the rest of the country, revealed the overwhelming lack of trust in the State, its institutions and mechanisms. The belief was strongly expressed that exclusively domestic mechanisms would not be credible. At the same time, consultations outside of the North and East and with the armed forces, revealed strong opposition to international participation on the mechanisms. Many however, did recognise that given the limitations of existing national capacity in specific areas, international expertise should be engaged. The CTF also notes the commitments made by the Government of Sri Lanka on international participation in the mechanisms, in the resolution that it co-sponsored at the UN Human Rights Council in October 2015. Therefore, the CTF recommends the participation of both international and national personnel on the four mechanisms ranging from the provision of advice and expertise to active membership of the mechanisms including as judges and prosecutors, as spelt out in the UN Human Rights Council Resolution of October 2015, co-sponsored by the Government of Sri Lanka. It said. Further, the report recommend that the Special Court should be mandated to try international crimes, including war crimes and crimes against humanity and pay particular attention to crimes of sexual violence and crimes against children. Bearing in mind the mandate of the court in terms of transitional justice and addressing impunity, the CTF recommends that there be no temporal limitations to the jurisdiction of the Special Court. The CTF presented its final report to former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, the Chairperson of the Office for National Unity and Reconciliation (ONUR) on Tuesday at the Presidential Secretariat. The CTF was appointed by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on the January 26, 2016 to ascertain public views, particularly those of affected communities across the country, on the reconciliation mechanisms proposed by the Government and incorporated in the Resolution on Sri Lanka at the UN Human Rights Council. The CTF comprises 11 prominent civil society members with Manouri Muttetuwegama serving as Chairperson and Dr. Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu as Secretary. Issuing a statement the CTF said it was assisted in its work by two advisory panelsone of Experts and the other of Representatives. Consultations throughout the country were carried out by 15 CTF-appointed Zonal Task Forces (ZTFs). The ZTFs conducted public meetings in all districts as well as focus group discussions with affected individuals and communities. CTF recommends at least one intl judge to try war crimes by dmonlinelk on Scribd Currently, the most crucial discussions centre around the topic of the report of the Delimitation Committee. In this interview, the Chairman of the Committee Ashoka Peiris expresses his views. QCould you explain to us the present status of the delimitation committee report? The Committee had taken a decision to hand over the Delimitation Committee report on December 27, 2016. Though it was not a constitutional requirement, we felt that it was getting dragged on. I with my experience in a government department, we know that the date for an election is decided early, and we strive together to hold that election. Following in this same procedure we decided to hand over this report on the above date. There are three sections to this report. One about the changes to the electorates and our comments, second the gazette notification showing the composition of the electorates, and the third, the relevant map which refers to the gazette. We finalized all these, including the criteria of delimitation. But in accordance with the State language policy this had to be translated into the Tamil and English languages. It was apparent that certain individuals were keen in delaying this. QWho is keen in delaying this? The Ministry or better to say the government. Both the main parties in the government are keen to delay this. Q What do you think is the main reason for these groups to delay it? There is a political need. It is very clear but it does not apply to us. Due to an administrative issue, the Tamil translations were not available in five districts up to December 27. This has happened in the most essential districts such as Jaffna, Kilinochchi, Mannar, Mullaitheevu and Vavuniya. Without the Tamil translation, introducing the report was very unjustifiable. We had only two translators and that was was inadequate. These facilities were to be provided by the Ministry of Local Government and Provincial Councils. I am not levelling allegations, but the Ministry failed to provide these facilities well in time. I made a request about two months ago for additional translators as two were insufficient. As we failed to get the two translators whom I knew personally were attached to the Ministry of Lands were taken by us for this job. Even after acting in this manner, and if someone is trying to delay it, it is an act against the people of this country. Despite all these drawbacks we are continuing our efforts to hand over the report as early as possible. The failure to hand over the report on December 27 became a topic of discussion. This was not a deliberate action to delay in releasing the report, but it was due to certain administrative hiccups of the time. Q How would you relate the delay in releasing this report to Minister Faizer Mustaphas journey overseas? I cannot say anything positive on that now. The Minister knew that this report was to be handed over on December 27. I cannot express any opinion on the Ministers travel abroad. Q In the absence of the Minister, what prevented you from handing it over to the Ministry Secretary? According to the Act, this report has to be handed over only to the subject Minister and not to the Ministrys Secretary. As there is now an acting Minister, there wont be any such issue. Q You had a discussion with the Acting Minister Piyankara Jayarathne. What was the outcome? We met him on December 27, and after that we issued a media release stating that due to administrative shortcomings there had been a delay. Q The general public is clueless on this delimitation issue. Could you elaborate on the role that you all are playing on this? Good question. As you say people do not have a good knowledge about this subject, following a Census, delimitation of the electorates takes place. Accordingly in our country, several delimitations had been effected. There had been changes in the population levels in the electorates. Earlier it was 75,000 persons for every 1,000 square miles. Later it was increased to 90,000. Presently the action is based on Act No. 22 of 2012. There was a Parliamentary Select Committee headed by Dinesh Gunawardene. They proposed - instead of the proportional system - a combination of the proportional representation and first past the post system was suggested. Basing on this, the Act No. 22 of 2012 originated. This Act introduces four ways of delimitation. Diversity of population, density of population, level of economic development, and the geographical and physical factors were the matters that were based in the delimitation proposals. A committee was established, and after two-and-a-half years of deliberations, it released a report. But this was held back and shelved in the Ministry during the time of the Mahinda Rajapaksa government. At that time, Athaullah was the subject Minister. With the establishment of this government, President Maithripala Sirisena made a Gazette notification and with its release, there was much dialogue among the political parties and the public urging that there should be room for expression of views by both the public and all political parties on the delimitation. There was criticism that the former government acted unilaterally on this issue. Resulting from this, the subject Minister appointed a review committee, which was assigned with the task of finding out whether the earlier delimitation was done accurately and also to obtain the views of the people. This committee was established under my chairmanship. As from 1947 in all delimitation committees, the Commissioner of Elections functioned as the secretary. During the previous regime there was no representation by the Elections Department. The Secretary to the Local Government Ministry became the secretary of this committee. Something special in our committee is that, except for myself, all the other members are representatives nominated by political parties. Q Who are the other members of this committee? Senior Attorney S. Misbah was nominated by the UNP, former governor of Sabaragamuwa Saliya Mathew from the SLFP, the JVP recommended Attorney Upul Kumarapperuma and Balasundaram Pillai from the TNA. In sincerity of these members, I could say that none of these representatives had shown any political bias. They always acted in a non-political manner and their main concern was the public opinion. Q How were you able to receive the publics views? We created an awareness programme over the Media. Those who expressed their views were summoned to Colombo and their proposals were obtained. In addition to this, we visited all the 25 districts and held district meetings and received views and suggestions from all who showed a keenness on this matter. There was an appreciable public participation at these meetings. People from various strata of society were present. In the past, the publics views were never honoured. Q Were there any hiccups when the committee was preparing this report? There were no intimidations by anyone, not even from the President or the Prime Minister. The PM once requested me to come to Parliament and discuss this matter with representatives of all parties. A few days back, the President summoned me for a discussion. At any of these meetings there were no intimidations from anyone. Both of them were keen to have this report early. Q What about Minister Faizer Mustapha? Was he attempting to back track? We were given three months. It was actually insufficient. Therefore we planned it for July. But the Ministry wanted it to be delayed. The Minister, while asking us to drag it for some more time, informed the Media that we were pressing for time. This was the beginning of the conflict. The Minister is expressing a different view to the media. We did not resort to having a dispute with the Minister as it was unethical and with the Supreme Court case it ignited. Their lawyer argued that we were delaying, and the dispute emerged from this point. Q However, the message was that things were happening as per the agenda of a leader above the Minister.... That could be possible. Because the two main parties wanted it to be procrastinated. Q The people are waiting to see what would be the ultimate outcome of this report. Any comments on this... After we hand over this report, the Minister has to Gazette it with the number of councillors. This has not been done as yet. There should be an end to this issue without dragging it further. Q In your exhaustive exercise involving your time and concern, dont you feel that you are in a precarious situation? The way things are happening around, it is doubtful whether this would bring in the results that eventually bring benefits to the country. Actually we are living in uncertainty. Courtesy Sunday Lankadeepa According to the dictionary meaning Ethic is the study of what is right and what is wrong in human behaviour. In this context I would like to regard the meaning of the term work ethic in relation to public servants, in the simplest term to mean attitude to work. As human beings we do certain things in the proper way in keeping with the law of the country, rules and regulations, precedence social practices and cultural norms cherished and valued by the people with a view of satisfying the needs and wants of the General Public. Very often we fail to do things in the correct and proper way. My attempt in this piece of writing is to identify the instances when we go wrong in our efforts to do things as public servants in the proper way in keeping with the accepted procedures, rules and regulations in a manner to satisfy the needs and wants of the masses who are our masters. Direct and indirect taxes paid by them are used to pay ours salaries. Attitude to work Attitude to work on the part of an individual, organization or a society or even a country or a region is the result of the impact and influences of a number of variations, environmental and socio-cultural influences, ethnic prejudices and such other. This means that work ethics differ from country to country and even in respect of much smaller units of organizations and the society. Hence, work ethics in our country cannot be identified in Toto with those in other countries except in instances in which we experience similar economies and environments in general. Cultural influence and value systems Work ethics in any country or society is largely influenced by its culture. Culture has been defined a collective programming of the mind which distinguishes members of one group of a society from another. Culture is reflected in the meaning people attach to various aspects of life. Work ethics in any given society has a direct relationship to its value systems. Values are sets of inter-related ideas, concepts and principles which individuals, groups and societies attach strong sentiments. Every society has a set of values and it is this which differentiates people from one another. Values exist in regard to all realms of life and in any given society are in a sense a reflection of shared values. While integrated value systems provide a sense of meaning and purpose of existence and also a sense of stability and identity. It also results in strong attitudes and prejudices and thus what is a norm in one society becomes the aberration in another. Social prejudices, economic imperatives and structural forces Ethics in any society is also influenced by Social prejudices economic imperatives and structural forces of a particular organization. If one does not comprehend or does not care to comprehend the nature in a particular society he/she would fail to understand problems of that society. Sri Lankan experience in work ethics Sri Lankans have been subjected to two pervasive influences, viz. the Indian civilization and the Western colonization. The Indian cultural ethos as expressed n the Indian philosophies and religions have had deep impressions on the way of thinking of the people in Sri Lanka. This explains the similarities in behavioural pattern among the people in the sub continent including Sri Lanka Although we hail for a glorious past we have been weakened by centuries of colonial rule. Although we feel proud of our ancient times of cultural and social advancement we must admit the fact that we frankly acknowledged the superiority of the Western civilization and look to it for guidance. It is pertinent to salient traits in Si Lankan national character to understand the Sri Lankan attitude to everything including work ethic Absence of commitment and absence of total involvement There is a marked commitment and absence of total involvement that enables one to carry a task from the start to the end through trials and tribulations. It expresses itself at many levels. At the individual level promises are made but not kept or partly kept. A great amount of initial enthusiasm amounts to not more than the fizz of the soda bottle, At the collective level despite the loud proclamations of faith in objectives there are no sustained efforts In spite of various plans and programmes launched to fulfil the needs and wants of the people many of them suffer by not being able to achieve their ends.. Plans and projects are often not completed. In some areas farmers do not receive water in time for cultivation and they find it difficult to sell the yields at reasonable prices as arrangements for purchasing the crops and storing them are not made allowing the profiteers to have their own way. Ceremonies are held to open construction works, building roads and at later stages they remain undone . Sometimes bridges constructed halfway are washed away during the floods, Highway rules and regulations regarding hotels and eating houses garbage disposal, sanitation,, environment protection, gambling illicit distilling and a host of other measures are implemented off and on and sometimes limited to the opening ceremony like the fizz of a soda bottle and the culprits are free to have their own way leaving the masses to suffer. Sometimes projects inaugurated by one party remain undone not being followed up due to differences of opinion. This happens due to substantial effort not having been made at the individual level and the group level. Constraints in the growth of personal autonomy Colonial rule established an attitude of dependence which was reinforced by family environment is a constraint in the growth of personal autonomy. There is a pervasive dependence on the government for everything which has eroded self reliance. Along with dependence there is also deep distrust of authority hardly by a healthy and conducive climate for peoples participation. Diddling government funds and robbing or vandalizing government equipment is considered the done thing. Failure in expressing intense feeling South Asians including Sri Lankans have difficulties in expressing, especially in aggression and anxiety. Democratic principle of toleration and compromise is very often rejected. There is no pattering and shaping of aggression as in the West. When aggression is aroused in our part of the world it may burst out in a chaotic way as in 1971, 1983 and 1988. Workers are compelled to win their rights through threats, strikes, protest campaigns etc. because their masters or employers often cannot be convinced of the grievances through negotiations. Efficacy and power of words We exhibited a remarkable faith in the efficacy and power of words. Every day we read in our newspapers of men with high sounding words proclaiming to the world of anything and everything and in the final analysis nothing. They do not often bother about the implementation of what is proclaimed in words for much what is said is just not implementable.Words but not deeds. Ours is a nation of slogan shouters and bearers of banners with slogans Failure to believe in the value of time In our institutes of public service training and private sector training institutions seminars are conducted on the value of time management and the need to work without wasting time a single hour. However, all such seminars, lectures etc. fall on deaf ears of most of us. Often we wait for Good hours avoiding Bad Hoursbased on the horoscope readings. Time flies and we cannot catch and preserve time. Such attitudes deprive us of the benefit that can be achieved through time management. Attitudes of a public servant - to be a good Samaritan Everyone must feel and know that if he/she works hard he/she can go ahead. In any event he/she should maintain his/he self respect. Self respect can be earned by being virtuous by making the beneficiaries or the General Public the rate payers contended by providing the services to the best of his/her ability. He/she should be a Good Samaritan. One cannot be a Good Samaritan by showing his/her power and authority-by virtue of holding a high position occupying spacious and well equipped office rooms and using luxury cars. It is a pity that such high rank officers enjoy all that they wish while their counter parts in lower ranks are compelled to share tables in the corridors. In public service training institutions like SLIDA trainees are made to live with ordinary families during a certain period and gain experience (village immersion programme) They are thus provided with opportunities to change their attitudes towards the General Public. Trainees come to know the needs and wants of the people when once they occupy substantial positions they get inclined to serve the masses well. Thus if you want a healthy work ethic we have to create the conditions which would contribute to it respect for values and value systems enshrinement of the merit principle in recruitment and promotion, prospects of material achievement and above all self respect. A new year a new beginning. Dream big and reach higher this year. Live up to all those resolutions youve made over the years. Apply for your HSBC Credit Card and get one step closer to a world of benefits and privileges. Your HSBC credit card opens doors to a world of possibilities that spans end to end of your lifestyle from daily essentials to luxurious indulgences, from simple pleasures to ambitious grand plans. Theres a host of services, deals and value additions on offer across a multitude of categories for HSBC Credit Cardholders. If youre planning to take a trip to your dream destination or make time for that health checkup use your HSBC Credit Card and payback on a 12-month instalment scheme at 0% interest. 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Find and like us on Facebook at HSBC Sri Lanka to keep up to date with whats on offer. The joint opposition today lodged a complaint against International Trade Minister Malik Samarawickrama and Prime Minister's Advisor R. Paskaralingam with the Bribery Commission today for allegedly selling the Hambantota Harbour to a Chinese company incurring a loss of Rs. 330 billion to the State. Addressing a media briefing, Joint opposition member MP Mahindananda Aluthgamage said the government had decided to sell the Hambantota Harbour in order to pay the debt amounting to Rs. 1.1 billion which had been taken for the initial constructions of the Hambantota port by the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA). Accordingly, the Cabinet has approved the cabinet paper which was brought out regarding this issue, since this agreement is to pay the debts obtained to construct the Hambantota Harbour. Meanwhile, the officials of the Prime Ministers office have arrived to an agreement with an associate Chinese company without the approval of the Ports and Shipping Ministry, he said. He said later that the government had stated that not a single cent would be paid as the repayment of debt and those funds would be used for some other purpose. He said that it was reported that Ports and Shipping Minister Arjuna Ranatunga had not been informed or intervened in any of these decisions. Minister Samarawickrama and Mr. Paskaralingam have intentionally ignored Minister Ranatunga and instructed the SLPA to go ahead with this agreement, he said. He said Minister Ranatunga had informed the Cabinet that selling the harbour to China Merchant Port Holding Company Limited would cause a staggering Rs. 330 billion to the country. A group comprising Minister Samarawickrama, Mr. Paskaralingam and P. B. Mangala Yapa of the International Trade Ministry had justified this move and the committee of secretaries is intending to sign this agreement in the coming days, he said. (Kalathma Jayawardhane and Thilanka Kanakaratne) Video by Buddhi KCR BJP : - ; Stressing the need to ensure transparency when entering into agreements, the Mahanayake of the Malwatte Chapter, the Most Venerable Thibbotuwawe Sri Siddhartha Sumangala Thera said yesterday that he could not approve or disapprove of the agreement to hand over Hambantota Port without first perusing it. He expressed these views when Joint Opposition (JO) members, led by former speaker, UPFA MP Chamal Rajapaksa, met him at the Malwatte Maha Viharaya. The JO members had talks with the chief incumbents of the Malwatte and Asgiriya Chapters in Kandy yesterday (Jan 3) regarding the agreement to lease the Hambantota Port for 99-years. We should study the agreement before we proceed. We should not forget that this will provide many job opportunities for the residents of the area," he said. Mr. Chamal Rajapaksa said that the harbour had been built for the industrial development of the area.I was the minister when the harbour was built. People of the area are agitating as they do not know what this agreement is about. We request the government not to lease the harbour or the lands in the area on secret agreements. They should reveal the contents of the agreement to the country first, he said. He said that the residents of Hambantota were worried about the agreement and angry about their lands being given to the Chinese.(J.A.L. Jayasinghe) R. Sampanthan is the Leader of the Opposition. He is also the Senior-Most Citizen of Tamil Nationalism. Some might demand that the Nationalism descriptive is incorrect, but lets leave it at that. Its a new year, after all. Lets also leave aside track records. Mr. Sampanthan has made a statement, a gracious one in fact, and as such is richly deserving in reciprocated grace. In his New Year message as the Leader of the Opposition, Mr. Sampanthan has made an appeal to all citizens to put aside differences and build a prosperous and peaceful country. He has also predicted that 2017 would be a crucial year in the history of the country if a permanent and lasting solution to the national question is found. He believes that a new Constitution will deliver this. It is an important and hopeful message. If we dont read too much into it and delve into the subtext, as contextualized by Mr. Sampanthans past and the past of all the Tamil political organizations he has been in or supported, directly or indirectly, it can be read as a wholesome message that rises above tired ethnocentric narratives typical of Tamil nationalists. Mr. Sampanthan, while acknowledging diversity in (our) communities has appealed to all the people in the country to strive hard to not to let such diversity become a barrier to building a prosperous and peaceful country for (our) future generations. Laudable. Utterly. The issue is that he has pinned all this to what he calls the national question. So what IS this national question? Which description of this much used and even over-used term are we to take in our deliberations? Are we to take one of the many versions articulated by various strains of Tamil Nationalism, then invariably we get to the autonomy theme, which in its proposed concretization, is about devolution. That however, goes against the all-embracing, rising-above-communalism tone of Mr. Sampanthans statement. He cannot, for example, ask people to ensure that diversity is not a barrier to forging a better nation and then restrict relevant discussions to one that calls for all non-Tamil communities to accept the Tamil nationalist (we are being generous with the terminology here) frame of reference. We must hope that this is not what he is proposing. So, if we were to take the generous interpretation, we have to first and foremost contend with definitions and of course the underlying assumptions, claims and relevant extrapolations towards the multiplicity of preferred outcomes. Mr Sampanthan has issued a statement. He has made an appeal. He has, at least in statement, asked people not to be fixated about their identities and relevant politics. Instead of fixing a solution and politicking towards its realization, Mr. Sampanthans statement implicitly calls for a reconsideration of the terms and conditions. Terms as in terminology and conditions as in context, history, demography, economy rationalization and of course pragmatism which takes into account the kind of violence and destruction that mindless and racist-myth-modelling produced over the past few decades. What is the reality that supports calls for a devolution-based solution to this national question as described by Tamil nationalists? Not much. You cant have autonomy when almost half the community lives outside the historical homelands, so-called. You cant, in the first instance, even talk of history when all you have is a version that is thin on fact and heavily laden with chauvinistic historiography. The reality that needs to be acknowledged, discussed, debated and, where anomalies are established, resolved, comes under the subject-heading grievances. What are these grievances? They should be spelled out. They should be shed of myth and supported by fact. Once this is done, then and then alone must devolution even be considered. And, if indeed devolution makes sense, then the question of boundaries needs to be discussed, considering that the relevant lines are colonial constructs which ought to have been un-made almost 60 years ago. Mr. Sampanthan is calling for nothing less, nothing more, I like to believe. In the spirit of the new year, let me add. Let us all support him. Malinda Seneviratne is a freelance writer. Email: malindasenevi@gmail.com Blog: malindawords.blogspot.com Twitter: malindasene President Maithripala Sirisena has cancelled his Wednesdays visit to Jaffna due to unscheduled meetings in Colombo. A spokesman of the President has told the Indian Express that unscheduled meetings in Colombo led to the cancellation But he will be visiting Jaffna on January 25 or any other suitable date before that," the spokesman added. In Jaffna he was to inaugurate an island-wide mobile app facility to get in touch with the President and track the progress of requests through ministries and departments in the Center. He was also to release about 600 acres of private land occupied by the military. Indian Express said the President may have been held back by the developing political situation in South with a resurgent former President Mahinda Rajapaksa vowing to overthrow the government in 2017. The Joint Opposition group and the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) are gearing up for frenetic political activity to bring about a regime change this year. With a Sirisena group member Priyankara Jayaratne resigning from his post of State Minister, and another State Minister Palitha Range Bandara wondering if there is any point in being a minister without work, the media has been speculating about more resignations from the United National Party (UNP)-Sri Lanka Freedom Party Sirisena (SLFP-Sirisena) coalition and crossovers to the Joint Opposition led by Rajapaksa. With President Sirisena overturning many decisions of UNP ministers, UNP backbenchers in parliament got worried about the Presidents own commitment to the sustenance of the coalition government and the prospects of the government parties in the local bodies and Provincial Council elections in 2017. Thirty UNPers met the President last Friday in regard to this and the President assured them that he is committed to the coalition. Later he publicly stated that he would not tolerate any party member or coalition partner having links with Rajapaksa. However, several issues in the coalition remain unresolved. The latest is the disagreement over the deal the UNP-led government had entered into with a Chinese state owned company to manage the Hambantota port. Disapproving the deal to give the Chinese company 80 percent of the stake in the port for 99 years, the President recently appointed his own representative in the negotiating committee. Given this, there is speculation that he will not attend the January 7 signing ceremony, if it is held at all. Meanwhile, dissatisfaction and unrest are brewing in North Sri Lanka over the slow pace of post-war reconciliation mechanisms. Briefing Indian Express on the emerging situation, Northern Provincial Council (NPC) member M.K. Shivajilingam said that the President has not kept his promise to return private lands taken by the military during the war and after. He has released only bits here and there. According to Northern Chief Minister C.V. Wigneswaran, only 5.2 percent of the land has been returned. Government has rejected the demand for an international judicial mechanism to go into war crimes charges by the military. But it has not set up even a domestic judicial mechanism. The Office of Missing Persons exists only on paper. All major parties of the majority Sinhalese community have rejected the Tamils call for a federal constitution and the merger of the Northern and Eastern Provinces. Meanwhile, further centralization is taking place with the Governor of the Northern Province Reginold Cooray setting up an office in his official premises to channel peoples complaints to the President. He could have set up this facility in the Jaffna Secretariat or the Northern Provincial Council. When there is an elected government, why not allow it to be the channel of communication with the President? The Governors action comes in the wake of Tamils demands that the Governor be figure made a figurehead under the elected Chief Minister, Shivajilingam said. The discussed the oft said allegation that todays public service was inefficient, lethargic and under-productive with the former top public official Lionel Fernando, who has served as a Government Agent, Ministry Secretary, the Governor of the North, and Ambassador of Sri Lanka in France and UNESO.Excerpts from the interview: Q As a senior, veteran former public servant, how do you view what is stated by some that Sri Lankas public service was inefficient and underproductive? A:You mean to say that the public service is inefficient and underproductive. But has anyone made a statistical assessment of the public service as having been inefficient or underproductive in the recent past? Probably I am right in using term in the recent past because you imagine that this happened either after Independence in 1948 or due to constant regime change. Q I have heard many people talk about good old days of the public service. They used to say that under the British in the colonial Ceylon, the public service was one of the best in Asia in terms of discipline, efficiency and prestige. Your comments? I would like to make this initial statement in the backdrop of a thinking pattern amongst a lot of citizens of the country that public service had been better during the British period. But then we have also to understand that the needs have got to be considered in relation to the service delivery of the Sri Lankan public service. Q Since when has the so called deterioration set in, in the public Service? When you say the rot has set in the public service and also there is decay, then the question of responsibility for administration and accountability regarding State finances comes up. Let me recall the period after nationalization and establishment of State corporations, Boards and such. It was taken for granted these State nationlised organizations were for packing politicians vote bank. This happened way back in the early 1960s. Then the following regimes started doing better in bringing in their flock from the respective constituencies. Let me cite a couple of examples. The Ceylon Transport Board after Anil Moonasinghe began to be a mess. There were workers far bigger in numbers than the number of buses. Simply put the former was in mathematical progression to arithmetic progression of the latter. So, the others, the Port and even in Gunny Bag Corporation (Goni Sansthawa). By this time the famous or infamous employment exchange of the government housed at Lotus Road was done away with. By 1970 I do recollect that employment into the public service was done with the help of computerization. And that was also a job bank. All these were having their own deficiencies until 1977, when that was abandoned and the new Government set up what you call their own job bank. What is the moral of this? Q It is a known fact that politicians and body politic in Sri Lanka are heavily responsible for this decay in the public service. Do you agree? The politicians directly started recruiting large numbers of their loyalists from their constituencies into the service. And letters were issued by the political representatives of the Government where the government had its own elected members. Where there were Opposition members of Parliament, the electorate organizer of the governing party in power was directed to issue such letters for recruitment. When I was in the Ceylon Shipping Corporation, a Minister after the late Lalith Athulathmudali sent a circular to the Shipping Corporation stating that all those seeking jobs in the CSC must bring a letter of recommendation. Did the Minister not know that more than two thirds of the total staff was sea-going and must be technically proven? I sent the circular where it deserved to go. I do remember a very senior SLAS official bringing a letter to my Minister with signatures of the members of Parliament of the new Government recommending him for the Government Agency of Matale. I put an adverse stand. Now does not all this go for non-efficiency and lowering of the prestige of the organization? And the basic quality of discipline at the very outset has set in. Life was simple, education had no insoluble demands and the unemployed at the time were contented in joining the government after their higher education or taking to business with hardly any imported goods for sale. In the background of this how could you assess comparatively that it was the good old days and the public service had efficiency and prestige? Let me take your perception of efficiency and prestige. Civil servants prior to 1963 May, were brought into the public service less than ten in number annually. That was the policy of the government and the advisers on administration to the Government believed that was just enough to run the public service and the requirements of the government in the delivery to the public. QDoes making Sinhala the Official Language have any bearing on the so called unsatisfactory situation in the public service in Sri Lanka? After the Sinhala language was made the official language, let me go back to 1967, Dudley Senanayake-Chelvanayakam Pact agreeing to adopt the Tamil language in the Northern regions to discharge judicial matters. I would like to ask myself, have we got enough Sinhala-Tamil interpreters, translators and enough public servants who can discharge their public duties in the language of Tamil citizens of the country? To that extent have we not failed in our duty in either accentuate the language policy or failing to implement bureaucratically the tacit and correct implementation of governmental policy. To that extent with what you say I do agree. It is a minimum percentage of the public services amongst the Sinhalese who can work in Tamil it is still a lesser percentage who can work in English in both the communities. So, therefore could we be satisfied. I remember when I was in the Salaries and Cardres Commission, a Tamil medical officer and the wife of a former Tamil diplomat, received two letters on the same day to their personal addresses regarding their pension matters in the Sinhala language. We say we hold with dignity the rights of the others. Does not the public service come under that expectation of the non-Sinhalese community? Tamil and English came into the statutes forty years far too late. Let me answer your question with a reference to our closest neighbour India with a 1.3 billion population. On the threshold of independence to India the leaders at the time, coming from various communities, nationalities, religions, social classes, varied hue and colour, immediately addressed with singleness of purpose handling the language problem in order to avoid divisionism and found with magnanimity and in unanimity the most binding factor. That was in 1947 when English language against which many sacrifices were made in the British India. That was naturally forgotten for the sake of national unity in Maha Bharath. Q Another charge is that a majority of our public servants are backward, IT inept and do not stay in line with the fast changing world. Your comments? When you refer the public service and its negative interpretations do you anyway imagine that the private sector is far superior or efficient with all other superlatives you have attached to it? Basically the private sector runs on the basis of more income, more profits. Thereby it has intense training for its new recruits. And therefore an individual personality buildup, as well as all persons are competing with each other, to bring in more income to the organization. This conclusion too may be one of comparisons in your mind. Let me explain. Since 1948 our population has been appreciably expanding in quality of life, better education services, health, infrastructure, and in many other spheres. And with the beginning of the central schools and free education parents had a dream come true by admitting their children to such selected schools. Right now we have over 25 universities, locally built and there is freedom to study in international schools as well as foreign campuses in Sri Lanka. Now, I am not going to bisect or dissect the class system of those students who attend these schools. I believe in a level education system in whatever the school the 4.5 million students who are coming out into society. Now, the plantation industry economy, which the Dutch and British setup and maintained in our country cannot be compared to the type of expansion in the economy and all the services I have mentioned including the public services. A large number of students takes their degrees in arts science, economics, mathematics. Have we got the facilities to give a finishing school touch to such young scholars, who are newly recruited to the public service? So, naturally with no peers to emulate and follow they are in a world of their own. They read less shy away from indulging in the best of the arts circles, seeing good films and associating with somewhat academically elite company. Honestly, I have observed even in the high class banks and other commercial institutions, how the public and the staff members interact. There is hardly any courtesy, politeness amongst those who serve the public. Backwardness arises out of an individual inclination to emulate those peers, who don their uniform to enhance their own personality and the lack of communication in the national languages. Q Do you think the Establishment Code, Administrative and Financial Regulations are sufficient to prevent corruption, financial irregularities and mismanagement in the public sector? Please let me say this. Any service is a collection of individuals. What is our education for? Is it to sell our souls for a mere pottage as Sir Thomas More said as far back as 1500 in Great Britain? It is an individualistic choice. Without a change of heart corrupt practices can never be eradicated. All that could be done is to take preventive measures. Sandun you mentioned several Codes of the Govt. for punitive action. Most of these codes have their beginnings in 1832 from ColebrookCameron Administrative Reforms. However, quite a number of advisory notes have been issued by heads of department, the General Treasury beseeching the public sector employees regarding fiscal discipline and financial propriety. One such authority issued, if I remember right, in the year 1967 by Mr. Jinadasa Samarakkody, the Secretary to the General Treasury-a very astute and highly competent senior public officer is a case in point. Let me recount the gist of his thoughts on financial priority of Ministry Secretaries and senior heads of the service. In the area of procurement, calling of tenders and such other more responsible decision making it is always good to carry out the rules and regulations as given the Financial Regulations. However, one could always go for the greater good of the many and in good faith one could deviate, of course giving reasons for such deviation. QWhat are the remedial measures you suggest? Ships are secure when in anchor, but are ships made for that? So, then with prevarication of immediate solutions for the development of the public service since 1948 the negative aspects are being continued. Even now its not too late to put the act together by embodying such edifying resolutions into the new Constitution being be drafted. There are several retired senior public service personnel with maturity and still with basic intelligence intact, who are ready to serve the government if a brain storming team could be appointed with a view to administrative reforms that could be formulated to help resolve these issues. S-lon Lanka, the premier water management solutions provider and market leader of PVC pipes in Sri Lanka, has partnered the Chamber of Commerce and Industries of Yarlpanam (CCIY) to co-sponsor the 2017 edition of the Jaffna International Trade Fair (JITF) to be held in January 2017. This was announced at a press briefing held at Hotel Ramada recently. Speaking on the occasion, Manager Business Development and Trade Marketing Shalinie Navaratne said that S-lon had been a regular participant during the last four years as it considers Jaffna a lucrative business destination with vast potential for those in the construction industry. She further noted that the trade fair had continued to grow in leaps and bounds every year and had been renowned as the best and most potent platform for the meeting of investors and masses in the region. Navaratne also reiterated the fact that the huge turnout of exhibitors year-on-year shows that the business community value the opportunity of exhibiting their products and the JITF provides the business community an opportunity to explore and forge partnership options between the North and South and help industries to make inroads into the Jaffna peninsula and international market. S-lon Lanka will showcase the entire range of water management solutions and other allied products that form an integral part of the construction industry. The eighth edition of the JIFT exhibition scheduled for January 2017 will be held at the Municipal Grounds, Jaffna as in the previous years. The event is organised by Lanka Exhibition and Conference Services (Pvt.) Ltd (LECS) together with the Chamber of Commerce and Industries of Yarlpanam (CCIY) with the support of the Sri Lanka Convention Bureau (SLCB). The Sri LankaPakistan Business Council of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce will be partnering with the High Commission of Pakistan in Sri Lanka, Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) and Sri Lanka Export Development Board to organise the Business Matchmaking Session at the Single Country Exhibition of Pakistan from January 13 to 15, 2017, at the BMICH, Colombo. Following the successful conclusion of the Single Country Exhibition of Pakistan held in 2016, the Sri LankaPakistan Business Council has already initiated promoting the Business Matchmaking Session amongst the members of the council with a view to assist the members to establish potential business partnerships with business conglomerates attending the exhibition from Pakistan. More than 150 Pakistani companies are looking at local partners to expand their business in Sri Lanka. Hence, preregistration is required to attend the business-to-business (B2B) meetings. The exhibition will display an array of products such as engineering products, auto parts, agro foods, textile and clothing, designer wear, handicrafts, traditional textiles, pharmaceuticals, gems and jewellery, including promotion of various services where strong partnerships could be established to further strengthen trade between Sri Lanka and Pakistan. The Sri LankaPakistan Business Council will help the organiser of the exhibition to promote the event among its membership and to organise B2B meetings between Sri Lankan and Pakistani businessmen. It will also organise a Pakistani Food Festival and a cultural exhibition alongside the main event. Tourist arrivals to Sri Lanka in 2016 crossed little over 2.05 million, growing at a rate of 14 year-on-year (YoY), yet below the revised government target of 2.2 million tourists, the data released by the countrys tourism office showed. This was resulted by a slower tourist arrival growth of 9.1 percent year-on-year (YoY) to 224, 791 touriststhe third lower YoY arrival growth in 2016. Arrivals from Western Europe in December grew 9.3 percent YoY to 68, 355 tourists, with arrivals from the UK and Germany increasing 9 percent to 20, 446 and 5.9 percent to 11, 904, respectively. South Asian arrivals grew 5.7 percent yoy to 59, 573 with Indian arrivals growing 7.1 percent yoy to 37, 945. But arrivals from Maldives fell 2.2 percent yoy to 15, 912. Tourists from Eastern Europe grew 17 percent yoy to 22, 502 in December with higher arrivals from Russia and Ukraine. China accounted for more than half of the East Asian arrivals in December total arrivals from the region grew 11 percent yoy to 36, 345 and Chinese arrivals growing 21.9 percent yoy to 19, 318. Arrivals from Middle East fell 6.3 percent yoy to 6721 with fewer tourists from Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates visiting the island nations. However, tourist arrivals from Israel rose almost 30 percent yoy to 1, 068. Tourist arrivals from Australasia rose 14.3 percent yoy to 15, 601, with higher number of tourists coming from Australia and New Zealand compared to the previous year. On a cumulative basis, Western Europe, in 2016, was able to retain its position as Sri Lankas largest source market with 643, 333 arrivals, up 16.5 percent yoy. South Asia was second with cumulative arrivals of 513, 536, up 11.8 percent. Arrivals from India topped 350, 000the highest number of tourists from any countrygrowing at over 12 percent yoy. East Asia became the third largest source market for Sri Lanka in 2016 with cumulative arrivals of 425, 161, up 17.2 percent yoy. Chinese arrivals throughout the year grew at the faster rate of 26.4 percent. yoy to 271, 577. Lottery ticket agents and salesmen who flocked in front of the Colombo Fort Railway Station on Tuesday were of the opinion that the price hike was unfair, and that it would eventually discourage customers from buying lotteries. On the contrary, many others believed that the price hike was fair as long as the commission they received from the sales also increases. However, trusted sources revealed that there were approximately 300,000 street lottery sellers in Sri Lanka. According to what we gathered from the protestors at Fort, this figure included a number of disabled persons whose sole income was from the sale of lottery tickets. Undoubtedly, their courage and will to survive have to be feted and felicitated. But we questioned the perfectly-able individuals who also included a significant number of young able bodied men, as to why they chose the sale of lottery as their means of living. Lottery sales, a daunting task - Priyantha Obadarachchi, lottery salesman from Hambantota The minister has spoken as if a lottery ticket agent could be recruited overnight. This is not a job that could be done with a training of few days. The tickets we sell may be only Rs. 20, but the commitment we take is worth much more. We spend days in a small cubicle space, sun or rain, taking great care of our cash, maintaining our accounts and then convincing people to try their luck. We are only demanding a fair recognition for our toil. History of the Lottery Initially, the lottery was set up in Sri Lanka by the government to finance the impoverished health services sector. Accordingly, the Hospital Lotteries Board was established in 1955 according to a proposal by the then Local Government Minister. In 1960s, the government felt the need to widen the scope of activities of organised lottery as the country was in a dire need of funds for development. Hence, the Hospital Lotteries Board was abolished and the NLB set up in 1963. A Benz car was on offer in its first draw the Jathika Lottery in 1965. Many years lapsed, lotteries were renamed and televised and daily draws were introduced, signalling the beginning of an obsessive practice for the most hopeful of hopefuls. It has been 46 years since the introduction of the NLBs Mahajana Sampatha, the countrys most popular lottery ticket. NLB boasts that 16.5% of the turnover is contributed to the Consolidated Fund through this ticket. What does this mean for an island nation obsessed about the idea of winning the jackpot? Sale of dreams, set alight by aspirations Prof. Daya Amarasekara, Peradeniya University Sociology Dept. Impoverished people are in a constant chase of dreams and aspirations. When they feel defeated, a lottery offers them renewed hope. They are in a constant chase of finances, this pursuit comes to a point where individuals are compelled to earn more and more through whatever means they see possible. A lottery offers you that, Prof. Amarasekara explained. People think respect and reputation come through money. They are misguided with beliefs that this form of gambling brings a person status and character, so much so that it has now become the norm. The Technology Development helps them in their ideologies to establish these ideas further. To add to this burden, the relationship between generations are weak. So, even for the elderly, a lottery ticket is much more than just a ticket. It offers them a reason and will to momentarily escape alienation and isolation. That is why we come across individuals who have been buying lotteries for over 20 to 30 years. Age is not a barrier for this gamble, the professor said. The math of distraction Sri Lanka has a plethora of lottery tickets on sale under the banners of the NLB and DLB. In the most popular lottery under the NLB, the Mahajana Sampatha is drawn four times a week. It involves the selection of an alpha-numeric number from a machine comprising seven compartments. Each compartment contains 25 letters or numbers. When the draw takes place, one character of the alphabet except letter I and a six-digit number are drawn as the winning combination. But what does this mean for those who buy the lottery ticket with dreams of winning big? We approached Mathematician Mithrarathna Kanaththage to do the math for us. According to him, the chances of hitting the jackpot with the Mahajana Sampatha lottery are 1 in 25 million. Mr. Kanaththage broke down the formula in simple terms as following. Given the numerical combinations of 001 to 999, the probable winning numbers amount to 25 million combinations. What is even more mind-boggling is the super prize of Rs. 10 million is only awarded for a winning combination drawn every 7 or 8 draws, meaning that more prize money is allocated every time there is no winner for a draw. According to data available for this calculation, the NLB earns a revenue of around Rs. 50 million each week. Even though the jackpot is not awarded, consolation prizes amounting to Rs. 20-30 million are awarded to respective alpha-numeric combinations. Still, the NLB earns several millions in profits, weekly through this venture. As the unity government is keen on cutting down waste and unnecessary expenditure in government departments and statutory bodies, it certainly is not prudent to consolidate the various Lottery organisations in the country. However if the price hikes are introduced to uplift the lives of lottery dealers as the Finance Minister claims, we are forced to ask, at what cost will these measures pay off? The lottery optimises its game to draw the most money out of people, and the lottery dealer -- a seller of dreams-- thriving on hope himself. The money is supposed to go to various developments and social services. We doubt if the ordinary buyer of dreams were aware of his or her chances of winning in exactly 25 million possible outcomes, the development and social service oriented lotteries would seem far less dignified and the gamblers increasingly disheartened. A crash on northbound US 67 just after noon Tuesday claimed the life of one and left two seriously injured. According to the Missouri State Highway Patrol report, James Luksza, 32, of Farmington, was driving his 2002 Honda Accord northbound on U.S. 67 south of Cash Lane when the vehicle went off the right side of the road and struck a tree. James Luksza was seriously injured and was taken to St. Anthonys Medical Center by St. Francois County Ambulance. James Luksza Jr., 5, was seriously injured and taken to Mercy Jefferson by Joachim Plattin Ambulance and later airlifted to Cardinal Glennon. Chasen Luksza, 3, was taken to Parkland Health Center in Bonne Terre by St. Francois County Ambulance and was pronounced dead a short time later. The patrol is seeking charges against Luksza for possession of methamphetamine, driving while intoxicated (drugs), involuntary manslaughter, possession of marijuana under 35 grams, assault in the second degree and endangering the welfare of a child. All charges are pending warrant application. They are presenting preliminary reports to the PA to consider charges, stated Missouri State Highway Patrol Spokesperson Corporal Juston Wheetley. The kids, neither one of them were buckled. Charges will be reviewed by the prosecutor and they may pick him up tonight depending on how injured he was. Wheetley added the troopers went down to the prosecuting attorney to work on a probable cause statement to get a warrant. He was traveling northbound on U.S. 67, lost control of the car and went off the right side of the road, up an embankment and struck a tree, said Wheetley. Wheetley added both children were seated in a booster seat, but were not seat belted into the car. The 3-year-old was seated on the drivers side of the car behind the driver in the backseat. When they impacted he struck the back of the drivers seat because he was not restrained, explained Wheetley. He hit hard. The 5-year-old was behind the passenger seat. St. Francois County Ambulance District Administrator David Tetrault said De Soto Rural and Big River fire departments, along with two ambulances, were dispatched to the accident. Then we asked for a third one from (Joachin-Plattin Ambulance District) and fourth one to move up into our county from Valle, said Tetrault. We had three critical patients and the most critical went to (Parkland North) and the 5-year-old went to Mercy Jefferson in very critical condition. Tetrault said the man was taken to the trauma center at St. Anthonys Hospital in St. Louis. The 3 year-old boy, who was in very serious condition, was taken there because air services were unavailable due to the weather conditions, said Tetrault. (The child) was taken to the closest hospital, (Parkland) North, where efforts were made to stabilize the child without success and he was pronounced at the hospital. Tetrault added the father was alert and combative with multiple injuries of the upper and lower areas of his body. He was treated with splinting, IV, monitor, dressings and oxygen therapy. He was still in serious condition when he arrived at St. Anthonys trauma center. The third (ambulance) had the 5-year-old boy, who was also in serious condition and couldnt be airlifted due to the weather conditions, said Tetrault. He was taken to the next closest hospital, Mercy Jefferson, where efforts were made to stabilize the child for possible fractures of the lower legs and or pelvic area. He was airlifted to Cardinal Glennon and as of now his injuries were confirmed to be only a pelvic fracture at this time, but is still in serious condition. Tetrault wants to encourage those who need a car seat for their child or just need it checked to make sure they are in the correct sized child seat to come see them. Its free and this will save your childs life, said Tetrault. We have car seats and technicians to install them at our House #4 at 2600 Anchor Drive off 67 (at Parkway) in Park Hills. The child seat that the children were in were not the correct size or seat. I want to make sure that this doesnt ever happen again. The Daily Journal will provide more details as they become available and charges are filed. In an unrelated crash, two Potosi residents were injured on Jan. 2 at 1:04 p.m. on Highway 21 north of Tin Can Road in Washington County. According to the Missouri State Highway Patrol report, Katherine Watters, 39, was driving her 2011 Chevrolet Aveo north on Highway 21 when she failed to negotiate curve to the left. Her vehicle went off the left side of the road and struck an embankment. Watters was taken to Washington County Memorial Hospital by Washington County Ambulance with minor injuries and her passenger Peyton Gray, 54, was also taken to the same hospital with moderate injuries. Both were wearing seat belts. Citigroup Inc. is one of the worlds largest financial institutions. It is the 13th largest bank globally by assets and 8th by market cap with operations in consumer and institutional banking. In the US, Citigroup is the 3rd largest bank by assets and one of the Big Four deemed systemically important and too big to fail. Citigroup Inc. was founded in 1812 as the City Bank of New York. The bank was run by Samuel Osgood who led the company with success for many years, even throughout the War of 1812. The bank was later renamed the National City Bank of New York in 1865 and by 1895 is the largest bank in the US. In 1913 it was the first contributor to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and a few years later it began to expand into overseas territories. The bank became the First National City Bank of New York after another merger in 1955 and then later, the New York part was dropped off as part of the 150th-anniversary celebration. By 1974 the company is known as Citicorp which is still the operational branch of the business and a global banking powerhouse. A merger with Travelers insurance group in 1998 resulted in the name Citigroup but the joint venture did not last. By 2002 Travelers was publicly traded once again but Citigroup retained the new name. Today, the company is headquartered in New York, New York but boasts more than 200 million customer accounts in 160 countries worldwide. As of mid-2022, it operated 2,649 branches in the United States, Mexico, and Asia. The company reports nearly 725 branches in the US and 1499 in Mexico with the rest scattered throughout its territory. Total annual revenue topped $75 billion in 2022. Citigroup is a diversified financial services holding company that owns Citicorp among other assets. The companys mission is to serve as a trusted partner providing responsible financial solutions to its clients. Citigroup provides financial products and services to consumers, corporations, governments, and institutions. The company operates in two segments, Global Consumer Banking (GCB) and Institutional Clients Group (ICG). The GCB segment offers traditional banking services including deposit and saving accounts, credit cards, personal loans, home loans, and investment services. This segment operates through local branches and digital means. The ICG segment offers wholesale banking products and services to corporate, institutional, public sector, and high-net-worth clients. Parkland residents are waking up to mostly sunny skies but cold and blustery conditions this morning as the region's weather takes a more seasonal turn. A bitter cold weather pattern moving into the area today and continuing through Friday means it's going to feel like a typically cold January in Missouri with highs not expected to climb out of the mid-20s until Saturday when daytime temperatures hovering around the freezing mark. Don't be fooled this morning if the thermometer reads 30 degrees because it's going to feel much colder. In fact, the National Weather Service is forecasting wind chills in the mid- to high-teens. That means the kids need to be bundled up well for school and a winter jacket will serve as a practical fashion accessory whenever venturing outdoors. Clouds will be increasing throughout the day as a low pressure clipper system moves into the region, bringing light snow showers across southeast Missouri tonight through Thursday afternoon. NWS is predicting snow accumulations ranging from a light dusting to an inch or so of snow. As of press time Monday night, it appeared that a heavier band of snow could travel through St. Francois County. In any case, travel during the morning rush hour could see some slick spots and low visibility so it would be good for motorists to allow themselves extra time on the way to work. After Thursday's winter precipitation, the temperatures will still be cold, but there doesn't appear to be any more on the horizon until at least the middle of next week. For the latest on winter weather in the Parkland, check out the Daily Journal website at www.dailyjournalonline.com. A New Years Day pursuit ended with law enforcement recovering a car that was reported stolen out of Springfield, Missouri. Farmington Police Chief Rick Baker said at about 1:45 to 2 a.m. an officer on patrol saw a silver Buick car at the intersection of Maple Street and Maple Valley Drive. His attention was drawn to the vehicle because it did not display a license plate on the front, said Baker. He was able to get the license plate number off the rear of the vehicle and it returned to a 2013 Buick passenger vehicle registered out of Springfield Missouri. Baker said since it didnt have a front plate, he activated his lights and siren signaling the vehicle to stop. They didnt stop, so a pursuit ensued and continued northbound. They failed to slow and disobeyed the posted stop sign at the intersection of Maple Valley Drive and Market Street, explained Baker. The vehicle then continued northbound on Maple Valley Drive disobeying the red lights and crossing Karsch Boulevard. Baker said they then turned left onto Weber Road and accelerated to speeds of approximately 60 mph in a 30 mph zone. The pursuit continued on Weber Road, passed Wallace Road and approached Clover Lane. At that time the office decided due to safety issues he terminated the pursuit, said Baker. A short time later a trooper located the vehicle in the 600 block of Clover Lane at a dead end. The vehicle was unoccupied and still running. The trooper contacted our department and had the officer respond to his location where they located some ID information leading to a person of possible interest in this case. Baker added they ran the VIN on the car and discovered it had been stolen back in October from Springfield, Missouri. Due to it being stolen they did search the car and they found drug paraphernalia. The vehicle was impounded by Buckleys Towing and we are at this point still investigating this incident, said Baker. We do have a person of interest we are attempting to locate. 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Ireland United States Minor Outlying Islands United States of America Uruguay, Eastern Republic of Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of Viet Nam, Socialist Republic of Wallis and Futuna Islands Western Sahara Yemen Zambia, Republic of Zimbabwe 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 The city of Charlottesville is seeking a new company to manage the Market Street Parking Garage, signaling to the Charlottesville Parking Center that it could soon sever one of the ties between the embattled entities. The city issued a formal a request for proposals from companies interested in managing the day-to-day operations and maintenance of the garage, which currently is managed by the CPC. Additionally, the request says a potential contract also would require the new company to manage the surface parking lots at 411 E. High St. and 701 E. Market St. Chris Engel, director of economic development for the city, said Tuesday that the current contract with the CPC can be renewed by April 1 for one year. Although the CPC will be able to submit a proposal, he said the city is more likely [to] negotiate a new contract with one of the respondents to the RFP. According to the request for proposal form, any contract awarded will last one year starting April 1. The managing agent and the city would then have an option in each of the subsequent nine years to extend the contract by an additional year. City Manager Maurice Jones said the RFP is not unusual. We have periodically put the management of the garage out to bid. The last occurred in 2013, he said. However, in an email Tuesday evening, Mark Brown, who acquired the CPC in 2014, said the citys decision to seek a new managing agent is another escalation. Last year, Brown sued the city, alleging that city officials have prevented him from rightfully raising rates at another downtown parking garage the city and his company run in a public-private partnership. Among Browns complaints are that rates at the Water Street Parking Garage are well below assessed market rates, and that they are lower than what the city charges at its garage on Market Street. The city counter-sued, alleging that Brown acquired a greater stake in the garage from former stakeholders without giving the city its right to first refusal. While the case is seemingly over a rate dispute, city officials contend Brown has been orchestrating a private takeover of a garage that was originally built with the public good in mind. The dispute has led to threats of an eminent domain case against the company, which at one point last year threatened to close the garage over the dispute. After operating the Water Street garage through all of calendar year 2016 without a budget, the city and CPC have failed to pass a budget and rates for 2017. City officials maintain that the CPC is prohibited from ceasing operations at the garage regardless of whether theres budget in place. A meeting of the Water Street Parking Garage Condominium Association directors was held in November, but both sides remained deadlocked on the matter of rates. Us old folks are going to move on," said Throneburg to students, "and youre the ones who are going to inhabit and run this world." Last in a 12-part series. The areas abundant amount of charities aid countless people, but they also inspire others to do more for their community. For Ashton Ryan, 16, that vibrant strain of community caring has been a constant in his life. But it wasnt until his 12th birthday that he became a fixture in the community for his efforts. I said I want to have a giant party, and I want to invite the entire town. But everyone has to bring a coat, Ashton said. His mother, Kim Ryan, said she thought a coat drive was a lovely idea, but that itd be hard to get it organized just a few weeks before his Nov. 10 birthday. Kim told her son they could do a birthday dinner anywhere he wanted. Ashton asked if they could have it at Cicis Pizza at Seminole Square. Calling ahead to arrange a birthday dinner at the restaurant, she explained that her son originally had wanted to hold a coat drive, as well. Serendipitously, she said, the area manager answered her call. He said he wanted to hear more about it and invited us to speak, Ashton said. The whole marketing group for the shopping center was there. I told them about the idea, and it all happened there. The annual coat drive Ashtons Birthday Wish was born. In just the first year, more than 600 coats were collected. From that moment, he wanted to do it bigger. He said he wants to reach all the kids in the state, Kim said. Since then, the annual party has brought out tons of people from the community friends, classmates, relatives, other charities, firefighters and police officers who have donated more than 6,500 over the five-year period. Each year, those coats are donated to local schools, churches, the Salvation Army and other charities. This past fall, two parties were held at the Pantops Shopping Center. And a third party was held in the Richmond area. Kim said Ashton has always been interested in the welfare of others, and suspects that he might have inherited that concern from those around him while he was growing up. I think he has great role models who are people who care about the community. And Im thankful that hes grown up seeing that and wants to be that same way, she said. His first time volunteering was as a baby, Kim said, explaining that she would carry Ashton on her hip while organizing her own charity events, such as Easter from the Heart. As Ashton got older, Kim would bring him to the Hope Community Center in Charlottesvilles 10th and Page neighborhood. It was there that Ashton continued to see how those in the community would rally to help those in need. Ashton was always around, said Josh Bare, former director of the Hope center. Hes a great kid with a great family, always going above and beyond, willing to help other people. Its a lot of self-sacrifice you dont see every day. What seems to amaze some people is Ashtons consistency in the face of his own challenges. Ashton suffers from a medical complication that causes back and leg problems. He is currently a homebound student. But those issues have not dampened his enthusiasm to reach out to others. Last year, the citys Human Rights Commission passed a special resolution recognizing him for all of the other work he has done, including serving on the citys Youth Council, speaking to students at elementary schools and bringing gifts to homeless children in shelters during the Christmas season. Beth Cheuk, city schools spokeswoman, said Ashton has been instrumental in helping to shape an experimental program with a robot that has a video camera, which essentially allows him to telecommute and participate in his math class at Charlottesville High School. Ashtons been a very helpful and enthusiastic proponent of the project, not only for his own sake but because he recognizes that the robot system also has the potential to help students who are away from school stay connected socially, Cheuk said. Ashton said hes thinking about studying game design or animation after high school. But aside from that, he said he wants to continue helping people. I want to make the town safer and more connected and community oriented, he said. Community activist Charles Alexander, also known as Alex-Zan, said Ashton is a blessing to the community. Its all been put on by a young man who is concerned for his community, Alexander said about Ashtons annual coat drive. He has no self-serving agenda. I thought it was honorable of him with his health issues to be looking beyond himself to help others Hes creative and imaginative. I dont see him slowing down. This is a part of him. RICHMOND Gov. Terry McAuliffe announced Tuesday that hell push legislation this year to end Virginias practice of suspending the drivers licenses of people who fail to pay court costs and fines after a criminal conviction. The governor included the proposal in a broader package of criminal justice reform measures announced Tuesday morning at a news conference in Richmond. The General Assembly session convenes Jan. 11. McAuliffe also called for raising the states monetary threshold for grand larceny from $200 to $500 and said hell push to allow convicts to petition courts to prove their innocence if new DNA evidence emerges, even if they pleaded guilty to the crime. McAuliffe, a Democrat, called his proposals common sense reforms, but he demurred when asked how much support he expects to have in the Republican-controlled General Assembly. McAuliffes proposal on the drivers license issue, already the subject of a class-action lawsuit and scrutiny from the U.S. Justice Department, would also end suspensions for offenses unrelated to driving. The Charlottesville-based Legal Aid Justice Center, a nonprofit, is challenging the suspension policy in federal court, arguing it punishes the poor by stripping them of the ability to drive to work and earn money to pay off their fees. More than 900,000 Virginians had their licenses suspended last year because of unpaid costs or fines, according to the group. In roughly 40 percent of those cases, the group says, the underlying offense had nothing to do with driving. The state is contesting the lawsuit, saying it makes an argument that should be settled by state policymakers, not the courts. On Tuesday, McAuliffe echoed the lawsuits main argument that the suspensions impede Virginians ability to work. That means that that factory worker from Floyd County whose job is 30 miles away in Christiansburg cannot lawfully drive to work and earn money to pay off those fines, McAuliffe said. It makes no sense. The legislature has already rejected numerous attempts to raise the states grand larceny threshold, which has been unchanged since 1980. Making the case for an increase, McAuliffe said a pair of Nike shoes that cost $65 in 1985 goes for $250 today, a price that means stealing them could mean a felony instead of a misdemeanor. Im not here to excuse theft, McAuliffe said. But I am here to say that there has to be some proportionality in the punishment our courts hand out. Though some Democrats want to raise the threshold to $1,000 or more, the $500 amount has drawn bipartisan support in the past. The GOP-held Senate passed an increase to $500 last year, but the bill died in a House of Delegates subcommittee chaired by Del. Rob Bell, R-Albemarle. Bell could not immediately be reached for comment Tuesday. McAuliffe declined to outline what efforts he has made to build Republican support. Until I get into the session, I dont talk about who were meeting with, McAuliffe said. Charlottesville police are investigating a sexual assault that reportedly occurred on New Years Eve near the University of Virginia. On Jan. 1, a woman told UVa police she was raped the night before sometime between 7 p.m. Dec. 31 and 6 a.m. Jan. 1. at a home on Chancellor Street. Police said she told officers she met a college-age man at a local restaurant and was later physically and sexually assaulted. Police describe the suspect as a white male with a thin build and brown hair, standing 6 feet to 6 feet 2 inches. Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call Charlottesville police Detective Kirby at (434) 970-3604. BLACKSBURG Gov. Terry McAuliffe vowed Wednesday to veto any legislation he receives from Virginia lawmakers similar to North Carolinas controversial bathroom bill. His statement comes one day after Del. Bob Marshall, R-Prince William, prefiled the Physical Privacy Act. The bill stipulates people must use the restroom, locker room or changing room that corresponds to the gender assigned at birth as opposed to the gender with which they identify. The measure would apply to restrooms located in public schools, universities and government buildings. Asked about the proposal after an unrelated event Wednesday at Virginia Tech, McAuliffe said he would strike down all legislation that inhibits anyones individual rights. Stay away from the socially divisive issues, he said to legislators. We are not going to put a wall up around Virginia. Marshall said he doesn't introduce legislation based what McAuliffe likes and doesn't like. Virginia would be lucky to be as business-friendly and collect as much tax revenue as its neighbor to the south, Marshall said. The staunchly conservative delegate cited Forbes' annual Best States for Business list, which for the second year in a row, ranked North Carolina second, despite House Bill 2. The state's tax revenue also far exceeded expectations last year "Too bad we're not like North Carolina," he said. "North Carolina is doing very well." McAuliffe also noted a series of recent job wins for the commonwealth, arguing that businesses choose to come here because the state is open and welcoming, among other reasons. He pointed to CoStar, which last year announced plans to bring 732 jobs to Richmond. McAuliffe said the company was headed toward North Carolina, but changed plans because of that states bathroom law. Forbes magazine estimates North Carolinas House Bill 2 has led to $630 million in lost business for the state from the NBA pulling its all-star game from Charlotte to companies such as PayPal halting expansion plans and musicians such as Bruce Springsteen and Ringo Starr canceling North Carolina show dates. Last year, Del. Mark Cole, R-Spotsylvania, introduced a bill requiring people in state-owned buildings to use the bathroom corresponding to their biological sex. The bill died in committee. We will not tolerate that, McAuliffe said Wednesday. Look at what happened in North Carolina. Marshalls proposed HB 1612 goes a step further than North Carolinas bill by requiring public school principals to notify the parents of a child who requests to be recognized or treated as a member of the opposite sex, which could lead to school officials outing transgender students. Transgender people often do not subscribe to traditional gender roles and do not self-identity with the gender assigned to them at birth. Outing or publicly identifying someone as transgender without their consent can be an intense emotional experience for the person involved. The bill protects students' health and affirms the status quo, Marshall said. Boys and girls have been sent to bathrooms, locker rooms and changing rooms rooms corresponding to their gender for decades. More importantly, girls should not have to change in front of a boy simply because a male student says, "hey, I feel female today," he said. "If you have a 14-year-old daughter, do you want her changing in front of a 17-year-old guy?" Marshall said. "I think I know the answer." Virginias bill would also allow a person who encounters a member of the opposite sex in the restroom or changing facility of a state-owned building to sue the government entity that controls the building. The person suing may be awarded damages for physical and emotional pain, according to the bill. The bill stipulates the government buildings may install single-occupancy restrooms, changing rooms or locker rooms to avoid any confusion. They have yet to override one of my vetoes, McAuliffe said of lawmakers. If they send more to me, I will veto it and they wont be able to override it. And all theyre doing is giving Virginia a black eye. Last week, Marshall also proposed a resolution asking the state legislature to declare pornography a public health hazard. The challenge of finding space for high-tech companies, which in turn can fuel the best kind of local growth, may have moved toward a solution with news that a downtown building has been leased in order to provide affordable space to early-stage businesses. Whats more, nearby buildings including the large-footprint Main Street Arena are being eyed by the same company, generating speculation that the entire area might be converted into an innovation district. Taliaferro Junction has leased Citizens Commonwealth Building at the foot of Vinegar Hill, intending to offer affordable space to new businesses. Downtown Charlottesville has become a magnet for start-up companies and tech businesses. Both employees and entrepreneurs enjoy the vibe of the Downtown Mall and appreciate the nearby restaurants and night spots. It doesnt hurt, either, that the University of Virginia is just up the hill and down the street. UVa is a business generator both through companies spun off from university research and also from graduates who leave the university with their own ideas for new businesses. Our area also attracts businesses from elsewhere, such as those developed by entrepreneurs who now want to escape the big-city rat race but dont want to sacrifice every benefit of city living. Both Charlottesville and Albemarle want to lure high-tech businesses because they provide good-paying jobs without the environmental damage typically associated with industrial development. But there has been much consternation over where to put them. University research parks meet some of the need, as do many private business locations. The university also has its i.Lab, and the city has its Charlottesville Technology Incubator. Other efforts are underway to provide business space, or employee technical training, or development support and advice. Still, according to many entrepreneurs, a need continues to exist for the right kind of space, at the right location, in the right quantity, at the right price. Thats why the development community is intrigued by the recent announcement that Taliaferro Junction had leased the Commonwealth Building to provide affordable space for young businesses. Further news that Taliaferro Junction is considering buying the Main Street Arena and the Escafe restaurant fueled speculation that it might sponsor an innovation district. The company says it wants to erect a 21st-century office building. A centralized location offering high-tech space at reasonable prices is one of the things entrepreneurs say they want. They also want to be situated in close proximity to each other, so that they can share ideas and generate the mutually beneficial excitement of discovery. Success then fuels success and the community as a whole benefits. To employ a decidedly pre-tech metaphor, we shouldnt count our chickens before theyre hatched. Nonetheless, the prospect of a downtown innovation district of this size and quality is a hope worth encouraging. The first day of the year marked the second consecutive week that flu levels in Virginia have been widespread, according to the states Department of Health. But those levels are not necessarily worrisome yet, said Sarah Fenno, the states influenza surveillance coordinator. Widespread flucharacterized by cases of influenza in at least half of the regions in the stateis pretty typical for this time of year. Around December through March we see a lot of increases in flu cases, and especially around the holiday, Fenno said. Still, the spike in influenza cases makes prevention all the more important, she said, and the flu vaccination is the best way to ward off the illness. This years flu vaccine, Fenno said, is a good match to the strain circulating this season. Thats very good news, she said. And because the flu season usually lasts until May, she said it is still vital that people receive their vaccines now. She said the peak flu season typically happens between January and March, and the flu vaccine usually takes two weeks to become fully effective in the body. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Virginia is one of eight states in which the flu has been reported as widespread. Dr. Gonzalo Bearman, the medical director of infection prevention at VCU Health, said the flu level in Virginia has by no means reached epidemic or pandemic status. But VCU Healths (emergency department) does have heightened awareness about it, he said. Our hospital has now vaccinated all health care workers to minimize the risk for infection within the hospital. While the flu vaccine may not be 100 percent effective in preventing the flu, Bearman said it still provides a very good level of protection and can also prevent the flu from becoming too severe if an individual does contract it. There are other prevention tactics people can employ to avoid the flu in addition to the vaccine, though. He said ending habits that heighten risks for infection, such as smoking and heavy drinking, is the first step, as well as getting enough sleep. Getting appropriate sleep is critically important for our immune systems, as well as having good hand hygiene and washing hands frequently, especially before eating, he said. Bearman also recommended practicing respiratory etiquette, such as covering the mouth when coughing or sneezing and staying away from private environments when youre sick. If I were invited to a cocktail party tonight, I wouldnt be going if I werent feeling well, not only for myself but for the people who would also be there, he said. 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. New Delhi: Realty firm Godrej Properties today said over 300 apartments of Godrej Greens housing project in Pune have been sold within two months of its launch despite a slowdown in the market. This represents more than 75 per cent of the 400 apartments that were opened for sale, making it one of the most successful recent residential launches, the Mumbai-based developer said in a statement. However, the company did not disclose the sales booking value of 300 flats. Godrej Greens, a part of a larger 31 acre residential development at Undri, is spread across 10 acres. Godrej Properties MD and CEO Pirojsha Godrej said, "We are thrilled with the customer response to Godrej Greens. We consider Pune a critical growth opportunity for our company and hope to have many more successful launches in the city." Godrej Properties is currently developing residential, commercial and township projects spread across approximately 11.98 million square meters (129.56 million square feet) in 12 cities. New Delhi: Andhra Pradesh today opposed the definition of 'State' in the draft Integrated Goods and Services Tax law, saying it would force states to forgo revenue that is due to them. "The definition excluded the jurisdiction of territorial waters abutting the coastal states. The state has been levying VAT (Value Added Tax) on the transactions taking place in the territorial waters extending up to 12 nautical miles from the coast since independence," Andhra Pradesh Finance Minister Yanamala Ramakrishnudu said in a statement. The minister said the state is realising around Rs 600 crore per annum on the sales of bunker fuels to long-distance vessels and also from gas explored in territorial waters. "If the jurisdiction of territorial waters is taken away from the states it would result in loss of revenue to all the coastal states," added Ramakrishnudu. In fresh roadblocks to GST rollout, states today demanded taxation rights for sales in high seas under the proposed the Integrated Goods and Services Tax (IGST) law. At the eighth meeting of the all-powerful GST Council, states, including TMC-ruled West Bengal, CPM-led Kerala and Congress-ruled Karnataka, pressed for including area up to 12 nautical miles in the definition of states within IGST, holding up finalising of the draft law for levy of IGST on inter-state trade. Some states earn as much as Rs 600 crore and Gujarat gets Rs 1,200 crore revenue from taxing sales in high seas. As per the Board's data, the shipment of robusta variety coffee increased by 21 per cent to 2,01,979 tonnes from 1,67,466 tonnes New Delhi: India's coffee exports rose by 18 per cent to 3,60,949 tonnes during the 2016 calendar year on strong demand and higher international prices, according to the Coffee Board. In value terms also, the outbound shipments of coffee increased by 8.13 per cent to Rs 5,568.13 crore even as the export realisation was lower at Rs 1,54,263.42 a tonne. As per the Coffee Board's latest data, the overall coffee exports increased to Rs 3,60,949 tonnes in 2016 from 3,05,680 tonnes previous year. "Our export volumes have gone up because we had record 2015-16 crop and international prices improved in the second half of 2016," a senior Board official told PTI. Re-export of value-added coffee rose substantially during 2016. Much of the coffee was exported to Italy, Germany and Russia, he said. The official said that average export realisation for the year was lower because global coffee prices improved only in the second half of the year. As per the Board's data, the shipment of robusta variety coffee increased by 21 per cent to 2,01,979 tonnes from 1,67,466 tonnes, while that of arabica coffee jumped by 18 per cent to 51,648 tonnes from 43,785 tonnes in the said period. However, the export of instant coffee remained lower by 10 per cent at 25,546 tonnes in 2016 when compared with 28,366 tonnes in the last year. Though the total shipment volumes were higher but the export realisation remained lower at Rs 1,54,263.42 per tonne in 2016 as against Rs 1,68,460.14 per tonne previous year. During last year, coffee grown during the 2015-16 crop year (November-October) was exported. Normally, shipments peak during the March-June period. Presently, the new coffee is being harvested and traders of the view that the arrivals have slowed down due to demonetisation. Coffee output in the 2016-17 crop year is estimated to decline to 3,16,700 tonnes from the record level of 3,48,000 tonnes achieved last year, due to severe drought in some key growing states, especially Karnataka. Mumbai: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Wednesday cleared the air on speculations around presentation of Union Budget 2017 in Parliament in first week of February. He said that there is no such plan as yet to postpone the annual budgetary exercise. The government has announced that it will hold the Budget on February 1. Jaitleys clarification on holding Budget presentation comes in the backdrop of chief election commissioner Nasim Zaidi announcing dates for elections to five sate assemblies on Wednesday. Jaitley added that due to announcement of assembly election dates and subsequently model code of conduct coming into force, several political parties approached government with an appeal to postponed Budget date. Earlier in the day, CEC Nasim Zaid had also said that countrys apex election body was considering an appeal by political parties to postpone the budget which does not seem to be happening as of now. New Delhi: Terming Google "as much an Indian company as American", IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad today said it needs to play a larger role in the domestic market by tailoring its products and working more on cyber security. "Google is as much an Indian as American. The sheer extension which I would say... the manner in which people of India have accepted you... therefore, Google has as much obligation for India as you have for the US and the world," Prasad said at a Google event here. He stressed that Google India needs to tailor its operation more to the country's psyche. "Google India needs to tailor its operation more to India's psyche, local languages, local aspirations, local products... India's digital economy is going to be USD 1 trillion plus in the coming 3-4 years," he said. Stressing that Google should be more involved, the minister highlighted areas including cyber security where the technology giant could play a bigger role. A growth of digital payments will lead to stronger challenge of cyber security, which "our Prime Minister has termed as a bloodless war", he said. "I would appeal to Google to work more to ensure digital security... There has to be greater technological strengthening of the IT walls," he added. There has been a spike in digital transactions across platforms like mobile wallets, UPI and USSD after the liquid cash crunch following the government's move to scrap old Rs 500 and 1,000 notes.This has put digital payment companies under severe scrutiny as users and experts question their preparedness to deal with cyber attacks. New Delhi: Controversy plagues the presentation of the Union budget as the ruling NDA seemed to be in no mood to defer it even after the Election Commission (EC) announced the poll schedule on Wednesday. Moving away from the tradition of presenting the Budget on February 28, the Centre had on Tuesday officially advanced the day to February 1. While there were apprehensions that the Budget could influence voters if presented before the conclusion of the elections in March, Union finance minister Arun Jaitley claimed on Wednesday evening that there is no requirement for a delay. Bracing for a showdown with the Centre on the issue, the Opposition parties on Wednesday asked the EC to prevent the government from presenting the Budget before the conclusion of the elections. Claiming that the Budget could influence voters, BSP chief Mayawati requested the EC to instruct the Centre to present the Budget only after completion of polling in all the five states in March. The EC should instruct the central government not to present the Budget on February 1, and just as 2012, it be presented only after the completion of polling on March 8, she said. In 2012 , the UPA government had deferred the Union Budget to March 16 when the same five states Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur went to polls. Chief election commissioner (CEC) Naseem Zaidi said that the EC would examine the representations made by the political parties. That the government is not willing to budge became somewhat evident as Mr Jaitley pointed out that even in 2014 the Budget was presented before the polls. Reacting to the Opposition charges, Mr Jaitley said that these are the same parties which say there has been no positive effect of demonetisation so why are they worried about date of the Budget. Former Chief Election Commissioner T.S. Krishnamurthy and N. Goapalswamy told the media that the Union budget would have to be cut to a vote-on-account only if this was a Lok Sabha election. T.S. Krishnamurthy pointed out that any sops announced for the country without being specific to the poll-bound states will not violate the model code of conduct code which came into effect on Wednesday. Opposing the Centres move to present the Budget on February 1, the Congress maintained that since Independence, the Budget was traditionally presented on February 28. Fearing defeat and leaving aside the good traditions of Parliament, Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants to present the Budget before the elections, Congress spokesman Ajoy Kumar said. He pointed out that in 2012, the BJP had raised objections on the same grounds, and the then UPA government had only presented a vote-on-account. Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad also wrote a letter to the CEC in which he said, It is a collective and serious concern of the Opposition parties that advancing the presentation of the Budget will provide an opportunity to the government to make populist announcements to influence voters. Sara will soon be making her big-screen debut in a film by Karan Johar's Dharma Productions. Mumbai: Sara Ali Khan, Saif Ali Khan's gorgeous daughter is yet to make her B-town debut, but she's already become a regular at the gossip circles. Karan Johar's prized Dharma import has been associated with most big upcoming projects, including Zoya Akhtar's Ranveer Singh starrer 'Gully Boy' and Hrithik Roshan's upcoming dramedy by Karan Malhotra. Though Sara has been rumoured to be in a steady relationship with former Maharashtra CM Sushil Kumar Shinde's grandson Veer Pahariya, latest rumours suggest that she's actually dating another much sought after star-kid. And the lad is none other than Shahid Kapoor's half-brother and her fellow Dharma upcoming protege, Ishaan Khattar. This comes as no shock as the two were also rumoured to be debuting opposite each other in Karan Johar's official remake of Nagraj Manjule's Marathi blockbuster, 'Sairat'. However, since nothing has been confirmed as yet, apart from the fact that the two would be making their respective debuts soon, it remains to be seen if they'd be seen together. However, seems like the two have taken a liking for each other, way before a film together could materialise. Madhavan, who made a strong comeback with Sudha Kongaras Irudhi Suttru, is planning to do at least four films this year. It was announced that the actor would star in the Tamil remake of the Malayalam film Charlie, to be directed by AL Vijay but the film is said to be put on the backburner for now. Currently, Madhavan is busy wrapping up his portions in Pushkar-Gayathris Vikram Vedha. Now, the actor is in talks for another bilingual, which will be made in Tamil and Hindi. This movie will be directed by Malayalam director Sangeeth Sivan, brother of famed cinematographer Santhosh Sivan. Sangeeth Sivan says, We have initiated talks with Madhavan to play the lead role in the film. But, he is yet to sign on the dotted line. We will come up with a formal announcement by the end of January. This untitled venture is said to be a family drama involving a father and his young daughter. After wrapping up Vikram Vedha, the actor will shoot for Sarkunams next in which he is rumoured to play the role of a hunter. It is unclear when he would begin shooting for Sangeeths project. he crisis had begun when talks between representatives of theatre owners and producers and distributors over the percentage of box-office collection failed to reach a consensus last month. Mumbai: With the rift between Malayalam film exhibitors and producers over revenue sharing continuing and new releases being stopped from screening, eminent director Priyadarshan today requested Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to intervene in the matter to resolve the crisis. He said the Exhibitor's Federation used to create issues in the industry every year citing different subjects from revenue sharing to wide releases, pushing Malayalam cinema into a crisis. "The Film Exhibitors Federation has always tried to destroy Malayalam cinema. At a time when Malayalam cinema enters the Rs 100 crore club, a permanent solution should be found to end this," he told reporters here when his reaction was sought on the matter. "We now have a strong Chief Minister who can take strong decisions. The personal intervention by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will surely help break the deadlock," he said. The 'Kilukkam' director also added that strong and long-lasting decisions are needed to end the crisis and protect the interest of Malayalam cinema. The dispute between exhibitors, producers and distributors has pushed the state film industry to a standstill for the last 20 days with no new releases even during the Christmas season. The crisis had begun when talks between representatives of theatre owners and producers and distributors over the percentage of box-office collection failed to reach a consensus last month. According to industry sources, producers and distributors did not accept theatre owners' demand for 50 per cent share of theatre revenue. The crisis has affected release of a number of movies, including Mohanlal-starrer Munthirivallikal Thalirkkumbol and Dulquer Salmaan's Sathyan Anthikkad-directed movie 'Jomonte Suvisheshangal'. With the rift continuing, the producers and distributors recently withdrew all Malayalam movies from 'A' class theatres in the state. The concept of the New Year 'detox' with all-natural products is appealing to those less concerned with evidence-based medicine and more with complementary medicine. (Photo: Pixabay) London: New Year 'detox' may do more harm than good, warn doctors after a woman in the UK who was drinking lots of fluids and taking various herbal remedies developed a potentially life-threatening complication. Doctors from Milton Keynes Hospital in the UK said that patients should be advised of the potential harm of undertaking a New Year 'detox', especially if it involves consuming excessive amounts of fluid or alternative remedies. The previously fit and well 47-year-old woman had been consuming more fluids and herbal medicines than usual, including valerian root, over the New Year period. She was admitted to hospital following a brief period of confusion and repetitive behaviour, such as teeth grinding, which lasted for an hour. She then collapsed and suffered a seizure. Her family said that she had increased thirst over the past few days and had been drinking more water and tea as a result, but they did not note this to be excessive. She had also been taking herbal remedies for various minor symptoms and was regularly consuming milk thistle, molkosan, l-theanine, glutamine, vitamin B compound, vervain, sage tea, green tea and valerian root. The patient reported that she had more recently been under increased stress and suffering with low mood and had been increasingly taking them all together. The doctors say her initial confusion and seizures were caused by hyponatraemia - a condition where there is an abnormally low level of sodium in the blood. However, they were uncertain what the cause of the condition was. After researching the herbal remedies used by the patient, the doctors discovered one case of a man with a history of anxiety who had seizures due to severe hyponatraemia. His symptoms developed after consuming a large amount of herbal remedy that contained valerian root, along with lemon balm, passion flower, hops and chamomile. The doctors said that in both patients, the fluid intake did not seem to be excessive enough to cause such a low sodium level, which requires consumption of more than 10 litres per day for someone with healthy kidneys. They explain it may well be that the valerian root altered this threshold, and enabled hyponatraemia to develop at an earlier stage. "Valerian root has been suspected in two cases associated with severe, life-threatening hyponatraemia and healthcare professionals should be vigilant to this," they said. "The concept of the New Year 'detox' with all-natural products is appealing to those less concerned with evidence-based medicine and more with complementary medicine," the doctors said. "Excessive water intake as a way of 'purifying and cleansing' the body is also a popular regime with the belief that harmful waste products can thus be washed from the body." However, they warn that "despite marketing suggesting otherwise, all-natural products are not without side effects." The findings were published in the journal BMJ Case Reports. Gifting up to one ounce of Marijuana is legal though (Photo: AP) Boston: Sound business sense and salesmanship is all about being able to deliver what your clients want despite all kinds of obstacles. This might require a lot of effort and imagination when it comes to selling a product which isnt supposed to be marketed. Growing and possessing marijuana was legalised in Massachusetts in November after a ballot, but the governor signed a bill barring individuals from selling weed till mid 2018. Sandwich bags have been a great way to carry around a quick bite at work or on a short trip, but an entrepreneur in Boston has come up with a novel idea to sell marijuana using these bags. He is selling these for $20 to $325, as they come with free marijuana inside. While the strategy is clever since up to one ounce of marijuana can be legally gifted to someone, the seller went wrong since he advertised the gift on Craigslist. After the North-western District Attorney David Sullivan described the ply as ridiculous and fraudulent on New England Public Radio and clarified how its illegal, the entrepreneur changed the description of his listing to, Im not advertising free marijuana gifts. Oh no. Im just saying that Im awesome. E-mail me and we can go out for dinner. And talk more about the subject. smoke a fatty. And chill. Im not advertising free marijuana gifts. Today is Princess Niloufers 101st birthday. When she was in Hyderabad, married to Prince Moazzam Jah, she dressed immaculately but wearing very few jewels. Her favourites were her pearl earrings, and the seven-strand pearl necklace. Only very rarely did she sport a brooch. If jewels could speak, this brooch would tell a long tale because it has an interesting and unique provenance. In 1869, the Emperor of France, Napoleon III and his wife, Empress Eugenie visited Istanbul in Turkey. At that time, Sultan Abdul Aziz, ruled the Ottoman Empire. On social occasions during the visit, Empress Eugenie sported a diamond belt buckle on her dress. The jewel sparkled and glittered in the dazzling light of the chandeliers in the palace. Many of the Turkish ladies, watching the Empress from behind latticed screens, were impressed by the sparkle in the buckle. When word went back to the Sultan about the buckle, he resolved to get it copied. The piece that belonged to Empress Eugenie, wife of Napoleon III of France. But how do you get an Empress to show her belt buckle? In the end, it was very simple. A jeweller was invited to an event where the Empress was to be present. Assuming that the Empress would be standing for some time, the jeweler dressed as a woman and stood behind the latticed screens. Unfortunately for him, the Empress was carried away by the music from the Turkish band and danced the entire evening. The jeweller did the best he could to observe and copy the pattern of the buckle. You can see the Empresss buckle and what the jeweller created. Although not exactly the same, the result was still quite an astounding masterpiece. Having designed it, the jeweller then set about fixing the diamonds. To maximise the reflection, he cut each diamond in the shape of a rose. It took 40 diamonds to complete the brooch. When he showed it to the ladies at the palace, they were suitably impressed. The piece made for Sultan Abdul Aziz, which was finally handed over to Princess Niloufer This buckle passed from Sultan Abdul Aziz to Sultan Murad V. In turn, Murad V gave it to his granddaughter, Princess Adile Sultana. When Adiles daughter Niloufer married Moazzam Jah in 1931, this buckle was part of her wedding trousseau. As soon as she reached Hyderabad, Princess Niloufer realised it would be of no use in a land of sarees. She had a pin installed on the back of the buckle, and used it as a brooch. After her divorce in 1952, Princess Niloufer went to Paris. Much later, when she married Edward Pope, she had changed to wearing clothes in the European style. The brooch was not used much, and it lay consigned to a box. After her death, Edward Pope moved back to USA. When he married Evelyn Maddox, he gave her the brooch. Upon Edwards death, Evelyn distributed many of the Niloufer papers and paraphernalia to institutions. Due to my interest in Hyderabads history, Evelyn gave me the papers and photos of Princess Niloufer, along with the rights to their use. However, Evelyn Pope did not give me the brooch. It is only after her death in 2014, that her son got in touch with me. He had known that I was his mothers friend and offered me the brooch for a price, but I turned it down. However, a few weeks later, when the brooch was listed for auction, I feared it might disappear, and felt the extreme urge to own it. It now sits in a safe box in a bank in the United States. Arvind Acharya is a management consultant in New York. He can be reached at arvindach@gmail.com All the 11, including Jamalu, died on the spot, while two others were admitted to a hospital where their condition was stated to be critical. (Photo: Representational Image) Amethi: A man allegedly hacked to death 10 of his family members and then committed suicide in Mahnoa locality in Amethi, police said on Wednesday. 45-year-old Jamalu first fed pesticide to 12 family members and later hacked to death 10 of them. He then hanged himself, Superintendent of Police, Santosh Kumar Singh said. All the 11, including Jamalu, died on the spot, while two others were admitted to a hospital where their condition was stated to be critical. Police is probing the matter. The victim said that the youth entered the toilet and raped her. They then threatened her and told her not to inform anyone about the incident. (Photo: Representational Image) New Delhi: The Delhi Police on Wednesday apprehended two juveniles for allegedly raping a 13-year-old girl inside a public toilet at a transit camp in Anand Parbat on December 31 last year. A case has been registered under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) Act. The incident took place when the girl was going to a nearby shop to buy groceries and had stopped at the public toilet. She said that the youth entered the toilet and raped her. They then threatened her and told her not to inform anyone about the incident. The girl, whose family relocated here from Kathputli Colony after the recent demolition, went back to her tent and stayed quiet. However, her mother came to know of it when she complained of pain in the abdomen. She was taken for a medical examination where doctors confirmed that she was sexually assaulted. India attracted 8.91 lakh foreign tourists in November, registering a growth of 9.3 per cent over 8.16 lakh in November 2015. (Photo: Representational Image) New Delhi: Sustaining growth momentum in foreign tourists arrivals despite demonetisation and push for adventure tourism were some of the highlights of Tourism Ministry in the year gone by which also saw a controversy over Aamir Khan's exit as mascot of Incredible India campaign. During the year, the Ministry also failed to roll out the much-awaited Tourism Policy despite several assurances. The year began with the controversy over Aamir's exit from Incredible India campaign over his perceived intolerance remark though the government maintained its contract with the creative agency which had hired the actor for the campaign had expired. There was speculation that the new mascot may be either Amitabh Bachchan or Priyanka Chopra but the year ended with no official announcement in this regard. It was otherwise a good year for the ministry with 78.53 lakh overseas travellers arriving in India during the January-November period, registering a growth of whopping 10.4 per cent as compared to 2015's corresponding period figure of 71.14 lakh. India attracted 8.91 lakh foreign tourists in November, registering a growth of 9.3 per cent over 8.16 lakh in November 2015, negating fears of adverse impact on the sector due to withdrawal of high currency notes, a decision which caught people in the industry by surprise. Foreign exchange earnings (FEEs) from tourism sector rose by 14.7 per cent at Rs 1,38,845 crore during January-November as compared to Rs 1,21,041 crore in the corresponding period in 2015. To give push to adventure tourism, the Ministry also set up a task force for resolving issues related to development and promotion of adventure tourism in the country. One of the major initiatives of the ministry in 2016 was the launch of round-the-clock Incredible India helpline in 12 languages, including Hindi and English. The Ministry also launched 'Swachh Paryatan App' for 25 'Adarsh Smarak Monuments' protected by Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) wherein travellers can lodge their complaints about uncleanliness in and around the identified monuments by uploading photos with remarks. During the year, the ministry approved 29 projects worth Rs 2,497.29 crore for Swadesh Darshan scheme under which 13 circuits, including Northeast India Circuit, Buddhist Circuit, Himalayan Circuit, Krishna Circuit, Tribal Circuit, Ramayana Circuit and Heritage Circuit, which have been identified for development. The year also saw a three-day investors' meet in which over 1,800 delegates participated and over 85 MoUs were signed, aggregating close to Rs 15,000 crore investment in tourism sector. The Ministry also organised the fifth edition of the International Buddhist Conclave in which over 250 delegates from around 39 countries participated. India signed MoUs with Maldives, Qatar, South Africa and Kyrgyz for strengthening cooperation in the field of tourism. Mumbai: Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Abu Azmi on Wednesday came forward with another sexist comment, putting the onus on women again for their own safety and security, saying the women should take precautions in order to save themselves from incidents of molestation and sexual exploitation. "If my money gets robbed, I won't keep it at the same place again. I won't leave it on the police to sort it. Similarly, our daughters will have to take precautions of giving no chance to a person to be molested. This is not an insult, but words of respect," Abu Azmi told ANI. Justifying his earlier comment regarding the Bengaluru molestation incident stating that "short dresses" were the reason behind it and that "it had to happen," Azmi said he respects women and treats every girl like his own mother and daughter. Read: Today naked women called modern: SP leader Abu Azmi on B'luru molestation "I am being misquoted. Nothing is above mother and mother is a woman. I can even sacrifice my life for daughters. So how can I insult women? Law is not being followed properly in the country. If a girl goes out at 12 in night, she gets kidnapped. Delhi witnessed such a big case of rape (Nirbhaya) which led to national outrage. The provision of hanging the rapist, what Islam talked about 1500 years ago, also came to being but still there seems to be no decrease in the number of crimes related to rape and molestation," he said. "I am addressing all the women of India as my own mothers and daughters then how can I insult them? The guilty in the Bengaluru molestation incident should be caught and strictly punished," he added. Holding once again western culture responsible for heinous crimes such as rape and molestation, Azmi said the movies produced these days show obscenity, nudity and vulgarity. "The movies which show the kind of fashion and scenes, it would not allow any father to watch it with her daughter. The people following the Indian tradition would not be able to watch such naked movies. I have witnessed it myself. When such movies come on television, either my daughters move out of the room or somebody changes the channel," he said. Expressing his concern for all the girls of the country Azmi said, "I just want my daughters to be safe and not be available to any molester." Abu Azmi received wide flak over his sexist comment regarding the mass molestation incident. "In these modern times, the more skin women show, the more they are considered fashionable. If my sister or daughter stays out beyond sunset celebrating December 31 with a man who isn't their husband or brother, that's not right," he said. The National Commission for Women (NCW) issued summons against the minister on Tuesday, the reply of which has to be given within his five days of receiving it. Arrested sand mining contractor J. Sekhar Reddy and his associates coming out of the XI Additional Special Court for CBI Cases, in Chennai on Tuesday. (Photo: DC) Chennai: CBI has registered two more cases against former Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam board member Sekhar Reddy, his associates K.Srinvasulu and K.Prem Kumar in connection with two instances of cash seizures by the income-tax department in which new Rs 2,000 notes worth Rs 8 crore and Rs 1.63 crore were seized. The three were already arrested by CBI for the seizure of Rs 24 crore worth of new notes and are lodged in Puzhal prison. In the latest two cases also the CBI had listed unknown bank officials and public servants as suspects and cases were registered under criminal conspiracy, cheating as well as prevention of corruption act. Income-tax sleuths had seized Rs 131 crore cash and 177 kg gold during raids at the premises of Tamil Nadu PWD sand contractor Sekhar Reddy and his associates in the second week of December. The seizure had later led the income tax sleuths to the doorsteps of the then chief secretary P.Rama Mohana Rao and his son Vivek Papisetty. Income tax department has seized Rs 8 crore of new Rs 2,000 notes from the residence of Sekhar Reddy in Sudhama Building on Vijayaraghava Road, T Nagar on December 9. Sekhar Reddy is a government contractor who operates majority of government run sand quarries in Vellore and neighbouring districts. The other seizure of Rs 1.63 crore of new Rs 2,000 notes was made at his residence at Yogambal Street in T Nagar. The three suspects, with help of unknown public servants converted unauthorised cash held by them in old currency notes in to new Rs 2,000 notes, thus depriving the public in enforcing their rights. The bank officials had helped the suspects to change the old notes in large scale for their own benefits," a CBI official said. Sekhars case goes to new CBI court In a sudden twist, the Principal Special court for CBI cases, Chennai on Tuesday transferred the new currency exchange case registered against sand mining baron J. Sekhar Reddy and his business associates from the court to the XI Additional Special Court for CBI Cases. As the Principal Special Judge for CBI cases, G. Vijaylakshmi on Friday dismissed the police custody petition of CBI, the judicial custody of all the five accused is expected to end on Tuesday. When the matter came up for hearing before the principal special judge, G. Vijaylakshmi, the CBI sought to transfer the case to the XI Additional Special Court for CBI Cases, which conducts trial relating to bank fraud cases. Meanwhile, the Enforcement Directorate also registered a similar case against J. Sekhar Reddy and others. The ED alleged that the officials seized new currency notes in the house of Sekhar Reddy at Venkat Narayanan Road, Chennai. The ED also filed a petition before the CBI Judge seeking Prisoners Transit (PT) warrant to inquire Parasmal Lodha, who allegedly assisted Sekhar Reddy in the conversion of the new currency notes. Lodha, a native of Kolkata, was arrested by ED in Mumbai last week and now detained in Delhi prison. The XI Additional Special Judge K. Venkatasamy directed the personnel to produce Parasmal Lodha to assist the prosecution in the present case against Sekhar Reddy. The Judge issued the prisoner's transit warrant enabling Lodha to escort to Chennai and produce before the court. New Delhi: Congress leader Captain Amarinder Singh on Wednesday welcomed the Election Commission's decision to conduct single-phase polling in Punjab and expressed confidence that the grand old party would emerge victorious in the electoral battle. The former Punjab chief minister told ANI that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) stand on chances, adding both parties will be rejected by the people. "We will definitely give a strong competition to the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Aam Aadmi Party and we will show where we stand in Punjab," he told ANI. Captain Amarinder further said former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh will release the Congress Party's manifesto in the coming days. "Our manifesto is very comprehensive and former PM Manmohan Singh ji will release this manifesto. We had requested the Election Commission to conduct polls in a single-phase in Punjab," he said. The Congress, which is leaving no stone unturned to win the Punjab Assembly polls, has invited Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to Punjab to campaign for the grand old party. "I requested Nitish for support in the Punjab assembly polls and was hopeful of getting the same," Captain Amarinder said earlier, adding that the Congress and Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal (United) were working well together as an alliance in Bihar and had a lot to learn from each other. Punjab will go for polls in a single-phase on February 4. The date of notification is January 11, the last date of nomination is January 18, the scrutiny of nomination will take place on January 19 and the withdrawal of candidature will take place on January 21. Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi, who today announced the dates for assembly polls in Punjab, Goa, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Manipur, said the counting of votes in all five states will take place on March 11. Chennai: The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) on Wednesday passes a resolution urging the Centre to lift THE ban on bull taming sport Jallikattu. The resolution was passed in the DMK's general council meeting in Chennai. Earlier in May 2014, the Supreme Court banned the practice of Jallikattu, citing animal welfare issues. The Government of India later on January 8, 2016, passed an order exempting Jallikattu from all performances where bulls cannot be used, effectively reversing the ban. The Supreme Court, however, on January 15, 2016, upheld its ban on the event, leading to protests across Tamil Nadu. Hyderabad: Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao on Wednesday asserted that leaders should not give false hope to students about government jobs as there are very few in the state. "We have to guide students properly. Leaders shouldn't give false hope about government jobs. In our state, there are only three lakh government employees, eight lakh IT employees. We can't give government jobs to everyone," Rao said. He further said that government can easily afford two and a half thousand crore rupee reimbursement and urged them not to make an issue out of it. "Our government has already paid Rs. 4688.82 crore since we came into government. We won't create problem to students at any cost," he said. He said that the state has the highest residential schools for Schedule Caste and minority students. "20 lakh we are giving to each student for them to study abroad which has never been done by any government," he said. "I spoke to engineering college students. They expressed their problems on lab issues and staff inadequate problems. I suggested them to merge two or three colleges and run together. That is the reason the number of colleges have reduced," he added. New Delhi: The Election Commission is examining the representation of various political parties for not allowing the presentation of the Union Budget during the poll process of five states and will take a call on it soon. Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi said various political parties have represented to the Election Commission regarding the issue of presentation of Union Budget which is likely to be presented on February 1 by the central government as it falls during the election campaign to five states. "The Commission has received one representation sent by some political parties. This representation is with regards to presentation of the budget. The Commission is examining this representation and in due course of time will take a call on this," he told reporters when asked about the issue. Read: Advancement of budget is govt's attempt to win polls, alleges Oppn Various political parties, including Congress, Left, Samajwadi Party and some others, have represented to the EC for not allowing the central government to present the budget during poll process as the sops that could be announced in it may influence voters in upcoming Assembly polls. Replying to a query on EC's preparations on the Supreme Court judgement disallowing seeking of votes on religious grounds, the CEC said separate instructions are being prepared to help implement the apex court order during the Assembly polls to states of Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Goa, Uttarakhand and Manipur which start on February 4. "The law department of the election commission is preparing instructions based on the Supreme Court order. The order will further strengthen the hands of the commission and it wants all political parties to follow the order of the SC on their own as well," he said. In a landmark verdict seeking to separate religion, caste and other issues from politics, the Supreme Court, by a majority verdict, had held as "corrupt" the practice of candidates appealing for votes on the basis of these identities included not only him but his agents and voters. The court held that the provisions of the R P Act, which say that seeking vote by a candidate in the name of "his" religion, caste, race, religion and language in the election law, included candidates, his agents and voters also. "An appeal in the name of religion, race, caste, community or language is impermissible under the R P Act, 1951 and would constitute a corrupt practice sufficient to annul the election in which such an appeal was made regardless whether the appeal was in the name of the candidate's religion or the religion of the election agent or that of the opponent or that of the voter's," the CJI, who concurred with majority verdict written by Justice M B Lokur, said. Zaidi also said the use of black money in these elections is expected to reduce post demonetisation, but use of other "illegal inducements" in different forms may see an increase. "In this upcoming election, the EC machinery will see what measures need to be taken to curb the use of black money post demonetisation. But, as per information received the availability of black money for use in the forthcoming election is expected to be less. As the poll process picks up, we will monitor it," he said. Mangaluru: Police have registered an FIR against Dakshina Kannada BJP MP Nalin Kumar Kateel, after a jurisdictional magistrate court directed them to investigate an alleged hate speech by him. In his speech on January 2, Kateel had allegedly said Dakshina Kannada district would be set on fire if murderers of Karthik Raj of his party were not caught within 10 days. Raj, the son of former Mangaluru taluk panchayat president Umesh Ganiga, had died on October 23 last year after he was attacked by unknown assailants. Kateel's reported remarks has evoked sharp criticism from all quarters. The case has been registered under section 506 (criminal intimidation) of the IPC, police said. Meanwhile, Kateel has clarified that he did not intend to disturb communal harmony. The Court has sought more information on the incident while the police are awaiting further directions to take up the next course of action. Deputy Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) M Shantharaju said Konaje police, where Congress leaders had filed complaint in this connection, would investigate the case. Chikkamagaluru: Minister for Cooperation and Sugar, H S Mahadev Prasad (59) was found dead in a room at a resort in Chikkamagaluru Tuesday morning. The minister is believed to have suffered a heart attack while he was asleep. In Chikkamagaluru, to attend the silver jubilee celebrations of the Transport Cooperative Society at Koppa, he had arrived Monday at around 8.30 pm and had dinner at former MLA I. B. Shankars home before returning to the resort. His party leaders were asked to join him there the next morning so they could leave together for Koppa. But when Chikkamagaluru district unit Congress president, Vijaykumar and other leaders arrived at the resort at around 8. 30 am Tuesday, there was no sign of the minister and repeated calls on his phone went unanswered. Growing suspicious, one of the minister's assistants and Mr Vijaykumar knocked on his door, but when there was no response, the room was opened with the help of the resort staff at around 9.45 am. The minister was found dead in his bed. Mahadev Prasad passes away Chikkamagaluru district surgeon, Kumar Naik, who examined him, said he had suffered a severe heart attack. In the past, Mr Prasad had undergone a bypass surgery and was on pacemaker. "By the time I reached the room at around 10.25 am, he had been dead for at least six hours," the doctor said, adding that heart attacks were common during cold weather and Chikkamagaluru was one of the coldest places in the state. A collective decision was taken by the officials concerned not to conduct a post-mortem on the body. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who was informed on the phone by Mr Vijaykumar about Mr Prasad's death, was expectedly, shocked at his sudden passing away. Several leaders paid their last respects to the minister before his body was taken to Chamarajanagar via Hassan and Mysuru for the last rites. The victim, whose body was found in a naked state, was reportedly murdered on January 1. (Photo: Representational Image) Idukki: The police on Wednesday arrested two labourers in Kerala's Idukki District on charges of raping and killing a 30-year-old woman. The victim, whose body was found in a naked state, was reportedly murdered on January 1. She herself was a migrant labourer from Odisha and had been living with her husband in Kerala for the last one year. The accused, identified as Viswanatham (54) and Prahladh Badra (20), were migrant labourers, who hailed from Tamil Nadu and Odisha respectively. The duo allegedly hit the victim on her head with a sharp object, and raped her before abandoning her in a bush. As per the postmortem report, the victim succumbed to her head injuries. Kozhikode: The seizure of Rs 2,000-currency, amounting to Rs 1.34 crore and Rs 25 lakh, at Chennai and Mumbai airports within a week, has led to suspicion that new high-value denomination notes are being spirited out of the country to buy gold and repatriate it or facilitate terror funding. Ever since the demonetisation announcement, Customs officials have been alert to clandestine operations by smuggling rackets, but they have been hamstrung by the acute staff shortage at airports and the focus on immigration to prevent dubious entries. This has by default lowered the vigil on currency smuggling. Customs commissioner K.N. Raghavan confirmed that there was alert on money being smuggled outside. However, there is a limit in security checks as priority is always given to the passengers and goods entering the airport. Many are unaware that Indian currency cannot be bought and sold and it is a crime. Mostly, the new currencies are used for hawala transactions. We cannot rule out the possibility of it being used for anti-national activities since once they are converted into unaccounted money, the same can be used for any purpose, he said. On December 22, Directorate of Revenue Intelligence seized Rs 1.34 crore of new Rs 2,000-rupee currency near Chennai airport and Mumbai Customs seized Rs 69 L, with Rs 25 lakh in Rs 2,000 notes. In the latter case, the passenger was travelling to Dubai. Intelligence officials confirm that exchanging currencies is easy in GCC countries buy gold or other valuables. If other airports are smuggling new currencies to the Gulf, there are high chances that it is taking place in Kerala, which has the highest number of transactions with Gulf compared to any other state, an official said. However, some officials suspect a nexus with bank officials, facilitating dispensing of bulk amounts to be sold to NRIs or tourists, visiting India, who find it difficult to queue up for withdrawals. The limit on withdrawals attracts people to buy money on the sly, though for a premium, the official added. New Delhi: Karnataka has been directed to continue releasing 2,000 cusecs of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu daily till the Supreme Court decides on tribunal order. The top court said that it will conduct day-to-day hearing on the appeals filed by Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala against the 2007 award of the Cauvery Water Dispute Tribunal (CWDT) on sharing of water. A bench of Justices Dipak Misra, Amitava Roy and A M Khanwilkar reiterated its October 18, 2016 order and said that it will remain effective till further orders and fixed the pleas on the vexatious dispute for final hearing on February 7. On October 18, the apex court had directed Karnataka to keep releasing 2000 cusecs of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu till further orders. The apex court had on December 9 upheld the maintainability of appeals filed by the riparian states, saying it has the "jurisdiction to decide the parameters, scope, authority and jurisdiction of the tribunal". The court had earlier said that it would first go into the issue of maintainability of appeals filed by Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala against the award of tribunal and then hear arguments on the report filed by Supervisory Committee formed to assess the ground realities in the Cauvery basin region. The Centre had raised a preliminary objection claiming that the CWDT award amounted to a final decree in the dispute and the apex court had no jurisdiction to hear appeals against the award of the tribunal. But the states had contended that their appeals were maintainable saying the Supreme Court had the jurisdiction to adjudicate the appeals filed by the states against the award of tribunal and that no statute can take away the appellate powers of the apex court under Article 136 of the Constitution. The defence in the court claimed that 2008 Malegaon bomb blasts case was fully fabricated and politically motivated by previous state and Central governments. (Photo: Representational Image) Mumbai: Kin of Ramjee Kalsangra, one of the absconding accused in the 2008 Malegaon bomb blast case who according to a suspended ATS officer was falsely shown as "alive" though "dead" by high ranking officials, on Wednesday demanded a high level inquiry into the "revelation". In a sensational claim, Mehboob Mujawar, suspended in connection with the Arms Act and criminal intimidation, had told a Solapur court in August that Kalsangra and co-accused Sandeep Dange are in fact "dead" but falsely shown as "alive" by high ranking police officers. The application was filed by Mujawar before a magistrate court in Solapur in August. "Government should thoroughly investigate Mujawar's revelation and find out who were the guilty officers. Photographs of two dead bodies are being circulated with this regard. But, I cannot 100 per cent say that one of them is of my missing brother. I don't have any evidence to prove that he has been eliminated," said Ramjee's brother Shivnarayan Kalsangra. His remarks came amid reports attributed to Mujawar that the duo were killed in custody. Incidentally, Shivanarayan was earlier arrested for three years in the blats case before given a clean chit by National Investigation Agency. Ramjee's wife Lakshmibai, son Devavrat and Shivnarayan came to Mumbai from Madhya Pradesh and addressed reporters on Wednesday. Lakshmibai said, "Whoever is guilty in this case must be punished" while Devavrat demanded that "guilty police officials must be hanged till death." They said a high-level inquiry should be ordered into Mujawar's claims and guilty be punished. Ramswaroop, brother of another suspect in the blasts case Dilip Patidar who has been missing since last eight years, and Dilip Nahar who was taken into custody for 20 days before given clean chit by NIA, were also present at the presser. Their lawyer Prashant Maggu demanded that Chief Minister Devendra Fadanvis should order an investigation into Mujawar's claims and "deliver justice to these families." "Suspended ATS officer Mujawar had revealed in his affidavit that ATS eliminated Kalsangra and Dange in custody by ATS officers and their bodies were disposed of by falsely calling them as unrecognised victims of 26/11 terror attack," he alleged. "After this revelation it is proved that the agencies like ATS were used for political gains," he said. Maggu further said that 2008 Malegaon bomb blasts case was "fully fabricated and politically motivated by previous state and Central governments." He claimed that Mujawar had written a letter to state DGP office, but the then government didn't take any action. Kolkata: In a veiled warning to TMC to "mend its ways" or face consequences, BJP general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya on Wednesday wondered whether TMC MPs and party supreme Mamata Banerjee would be able to go around the country and enter New Delhi if his party starts protesting against them. Furious over the attack on state BJP headquarters by TMC activists on Tuesday following the arrest of TMC MP Sudip Bandopadhyay, Vijayvargiya lashed out at City Police commissioner Rajeev Kumar for tuning a "blind eye" to the attack on BJP office. He urged the CBI to investigate the alleged role of Kumar in wiping out evidences against TMC leaders in the chit fund scam, during his tenure as the head of the state government-formed SIT. Refuting allegations that CBI arrests in chit fund scams were a "political vendetta" against TMC as it has been opposing demonetisation, Vijyavargiya warned TMC to mend its ways and stop attacking BJP offices and workers or else the party would also not sit silently. "We may not be as strong as TMC in Bengal. But in the entire country we are the strongest political force. I wonder if BJP workers in Delhi decide that TMC MPs would not be allowed to enter Delhi, would they be able to enter Delhi? The answer is no. If BJP workers decide to protest across the country, would Mamata Banerjee be able to roam the country freely? If TMC doesn't mend its ways, we will also not sit silently," he said. "Is this is a democracy? Is this is a sign of law and order? For five hours, hundreds of TMC activists surrounded the BJP office and pelted stones, injured the workers, and police remained a mute spectator. Why is BJP being targeted? BJP has no role in the CBI investigation, it is taking place under the orders of Supreme Court," he said. Several BJP workers were injured and party office was vandalised when activists of the students wing of Trinamool Congress attacked the state party headquarters here with stones to protest the arrest of Bandyopadhyay in Rose Valley chit fund scam case. "I'm being told that present Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar is a TMC man. He is the same person who allegedly covered up the Saradha chit scam and wiped out evidence against TMC leaders. We would urge the CBI to also look into the role of Kumar," he said. Vijayvargiya warned police officials to work impartially or else they will face the music if BJP comes to power in next Assembly elections. "The CBI is investigating the case under the instructions of Supreme Court following Abdul Manan's appeal to the apex court. Then how come BJP is accused of vendetta politics. You can oppose demonetisation as long as you want, you have this democratic right. But why are BJP workers being beaten up and our party offices are being attacked?" he asked. When asked whether BJP would appeal for President's Rule in the state, he said, "Its too early to comment on it. But if things keep going on like this we will ponder over it." New Delhi: Welcoming the announcement of a two-phase Assembly election in the state by the Election Commission, Manipur Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh on Wednesday slammed the Union Home Ministry for its report to the poll watchdog that painted a grim picture of the law-and-order situation in the state. Heading a delegation of ministers and MLAs from Manipur, the Congress leader reached the national capital on Tuesday to raise the issue with President Pranab Mukherjee, the EC and the party high-command. Though the meetings were held as per schedule, the EC's announcement that Assembly polls in Manipur will be held in two phases (on March 4 and 8), unlike the last time, came as a relief for Singh who is eyeing a fourth consecutive term. "We had suggested to the EC that the polls should be held in two phases. We are extremely happy and grateful to it for announcing a two-phase election in the state and hope that our party will win again," the chief minister said. The announcement came when Singh was on his may to meet Congress chief Sonia Gandhi. Later, he met the President and Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi. Speaking to reporters after his meeting with the President, Singh rubbished the MHA report, submitted on January 2, saying it had "wrongly" concluded that the prevailing situation in the state was "grave" and "not conducive" to conduct a free-and-fair election. "I am told that there is a negative report sent by the MHA to the EC that the law-and-order situation in Manipur is not conducive to conduct free-and-fair polls. It is totally wrong and baseless," he said. The MHA had stated in its report that the ground situation in Manipur in the aftermath of the blockade of two national highways by the United Naga Council (UNC) and the state government's "failure" to restore normal traffic even after 60 days was "grave". The chief minister said issues such as insurgency, blockades, strikes were not unique to Manipur but the entire north-east was affected by them and that even in 2012, the state Assembly polls were boycotted by hill and valley-based underground organisations, including the PLA and the UNLF. "The Congress in particular is not allowed to hold public meetings. But, ultimately the people support the party. They gave it a thumping majority in the last polls and even this time, there will not be any problem," Singh said. It is learnt that the chief minister has told the CEC that that the situation was not as alarming as reported by the MHA. Congress' Manipur election in-charge Ramesh Chennithala, who accompanied Singh during the meetings, accused the BJP of "attempting to impose President's Rule in the state in the garb of the economic blockade and insurgency". Meanwhile, rival Manipuri and Naga groups staged separate protests here over the tense law-and-order situation in Manipur due to the imposition of the blockade by the UNC, following the creation of seven new districts by bifurcating the existing ones. Mumbai: With Anna Hazare moving the Bombay High Court seeking a CBI inquiry into the alleged "Rs 25,000 crore sugar cooperative factories scam", the NCP on Wednesday dubbed the social activist as an "agent of the RSS". NCP spokesman Nawab Malik alleged that Hazare was playing a role in the "RSS conspiracy" to defame senior NCP leaders like Sharad Pawar. "Why is Hazare not protesting over any issue in the BJP-ruled Maharashtra," Malik asked. Hazare recently moved the Bombay High Court seeking a CBI inquiry into what he termed a "Rs 25,000 crore sugar cooperative factories scam". He filed two civil PILs and a criminal PIL seeking a CBI probe into the issue. The criminal PIL is listed for hearing on January 6 before a bench headed by Justice Abhay Oka. The petitions alleged that fraud had been committed in governance by first burdening sugar cooperative factories with debts and thereafter selling these sick units at a throwaway price, causing loss of Rs 25,000 crore to the government, cooperative sector and members of public. The petitions also demanded an inquiry by a Special Investigating Team (SIT) into alleged role of "politicians into the sugar cooperative scam, including NCP president and former Union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar and his nephew and former irrigation minister Ajit Pawar". Tirupati: Difficulties that arose in wake of the note ban are slowly easing with the availability of new 500 rupee notes, Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Wednesday said, days after he stated the solution to the problems arising out of demonetisation remained elusive. Chandrababu, who also heads the panel of chief ministers formed to give recommendations on how to promote digital payment systems, transparency, financial inclusion post note-ban, said the committee will soon give its interim report to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "Situation is easing slowly. People are using digital transactions. I am confident, we will move forward. 25 per cent transactions in Andhra Pradesh are digital. Very soon, we will give our report to the PM. It will be an interim report. We will study further and try to incorporate best practises from all over the world," he said. Chandrababu, who initially had supported demonetisation, later said solutions to problems arising out of the note ban were still elusive. He had subsequently clarified his statement was misinterpreted. Speaking at the Indian Science Congress, Chandrababu, in the presence of Modi, said, demonetisation was a bold decision and it, along with GST, is one of the biggest economic reforms since Independence. "We can simplify business, eradicate tax evasion, and put an end to the parallel economy, which helps anti-social elements," he said. The Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister also said he wants to replicate another Silicon Valley success story in his state. He said, the state government is establishing an Innovation Society in each University and College, with incubation centres to promote start-ups. "Andhra Pradesh has been in the forefront in promoting science and technology. Our government has launched the Andhra Pradesh Knowledge Mission as a first step in transforming our state into an Education hub and Knowledge State and to strengthen its research and academic base," he said. The sanctioning of 11 prestigious central institutions to our state by the Union Government would also go a long way in buttressing our efforts in this regard. They will help develop core technologies with our own research and thus truly transform India into a global design and manufacturing hub," he said. Karaikal: Police on Wednesday said a preliminary investigation into the murder of former Puducherry Agriculture Minister VMC Sivakumar in Karaikal suggested that previous enmity was the reason behind the killing. Sivakumar was hacked to death at his native town Neravy-TR Pattinam in Karaikal district on Tuesday by an unidentified gang. The gang had first hurled a country bomb on Sivakumar when he was inspecting a building construction work. However, as it failed to explode, they attacked him with sickles killing him on the spot. District Senior Superintendent of Police V J Chandran said a preliminary investigation suggested that previous enmity between the gang members and Sivakumar was the reason behind the murder. Chandran said a few months back Sivakumar had lodged a complaint fearing threat to his life following which police security was provided to him. "The gang suddenly entered the construction site and threatened the police constable on security duty at knife point. They had snatched the away the gun possessed by the constable and hacked Sivakumar to death and fled the scene," Chandran said. Three special teams had been formed to nab the culprits and trace the gun, he said. Sivakumar belonged to the powerful political family in the district known as 'VMC family'. In nine elections to the Puducherry assembly from 1977 to 2011, only the members from the VMC family have been elected from the Neravy-TR Pattinam constituency. Apart from VMC Sivakumar, who was elected five times, other MLAs from his family include his elder brother VMC Varadhapillai and his son VMCV Ganapathy. Only in the 2016, a person outside from the VMC family was elected in the assembly polls. Between 1996-2000, he served as the speaker of Puducherry assembly and between 2000-01, he served as the agriculture minister. Until 2011, Sivakumar had been with the DMK. In 2011, he was denied DMK ticket and contested as an independent and won. In 2015, he joined the AIADMK. Meanwhile, as tension prevailed in Neravy-TR Pattinam area, District Collector P Parthiban has issued prohibitory orders under section 144 of criminal procedure code till tonight. All shops in the area remain closed. Vehicles from Nagapattinam towards Karaikal are plying via Nagore byepass road instead of entering TR Pattinam. Kolkata: General Secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya on Wednesday asked Congress President Sonia Gandhi to clear her stand on the West Bengal ponzi scam. He wondered why her party was rallying behind TMC on the issue as the Supreme Court has ordered a CBI inquiry into it based on an appeal by Congress leader Abdul Manan. "Sonia Gandhi should clear her party's stand on the ponzi scams in Bengal, because we are confused by the statements of the Congress leadership. Yesterday, the Congress had said that the CBI arrests are nothing but vendetta politics of BJP. But the CBI is investigating the case under the instructions of Supreme Court following Congress leader and now leader of opposition Abdul Manan's appeal to Supreme court demanding the same," Vijayvargiya said. The Congress had on Tuesday alleged that TMC Parliamentary Party leader in Lok Sabha Sudip Bandyopadhyay's arrest by the CBI was "vendetta unleashed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his detractors" and wondered if it was in reaction to the "opposition unity". "Even Rahul Gandhi during his election rallies in Bengal during last Assembly polls spoke against Saradha and Narada scams. He had also demanded that the culprits should be punished. So now what went wrong? Why are they making those self contradictory statements," he questioned. Vijayvargiya said Congress leadership should clearly say whether they support ponzi scams and whether they want a CBI inquiry into it. New Delhi: New Indian Army chief Bipin Rawat has said that India has the right to conduct more surgical strikes across the border if necessary. In an interview to NDTV, Rawat said that the surgical strikes were meant to send out a message. "If there are terrorist bases across and if they continue to disrupt the situation on our side of the LoC, then we have a right to take action against the terrorists, who are being supported from across by the adversary," he added. As the Vice-Chief of Army Staff during the surgical strikes, Rawat had personally overseen the operation. He said they had been conducted in a well planned manner. Extensive preparation was carried out and then it was executed, he said. The plans were kept on a need to know basis to ensure safety of the troops and the strike was being monitored "real time", he added. Rawat, who was picked for the top job superseding two senior officers, credited his predecessor Dalbir Singh Suhag for the well-planned attack. Perhaps commenting upon the outrage in the Opposition due to supercession of officers, Rawat said a government decision cannot be "influenced by individuals". "We have broken bread a number of times, we have grown up together so I think we understand each other, he said of the two officers - Lt Gen Praveen Bakshi, who headed the Eastern Command and Southern Command Chief PM Hariz whom he had superseded. Chennai: The ruling AIADMK's populist free bicycle scheme was on Wednesday formally rolled out by Chief Minister O Panneerselvam in Chennai for the academic year 2016-17 to students of class eleven, costing Rs 243.96 crore to the exchequer. Late AIADMK supremo Jayalalithaa had introduced the scheme during the 2001-02 academic year, benefiting students of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. It was later expanded to students of those schools receiving financial assistance from the government. At a function at the Secretariat on Wednesday, Panneerselvam handed over the bicycles to seven students as part of kick-starting the scheme, an official release said. Adi Dravidar and Tribal Welfare Minister V M Rajalakshmi, Backward Classes and Minorities Welfare Minister S Valarmathi and senior government officials were present, it said. Earlier, Panneerselvam chaired a cabinet meeting at the Secretariat, sources said. Hyderabad: Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on Wednesday told the State Legislative Assembly that two state-owned power discoms have signed a MoU with the Centre to join Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana (UDAY) scheme. Making a statement in the House, Rao said the two discoms in the state are having a long term debt of Rs 11897 crore (TSSPDCL- Rs 7392 crores and TSNPDCL - Rs 4505 crores) as on September 30, 2015 and under the Uday Scheme, the state government is taking over 75 per cent of the Discoms debt amounting to Rs 8923 crore. "The balance loan amount of Rs 2974 crore will be restructured by the discoms by issuing bonds with Government Guarantee. As a result of taking over the loan by the state government, there is a relief of interest burden of Rs 890 crore per annum to the two Discoms and consumers at large. Discoms will be able to raise funds with competitive rates from the financial institutions towards capital expenditures. The Government of Telangana is already providing a subsidy of Rs 4584 crore to the Discoms/Consumers, he said. Taking a dig at the previous government for the state of affairs in power sector, KCR said the installed capacity of the state was 5863 MW as on June 2014 and his government initiated short, medium and long term measures to overcome the power problem. He hoped that with the completion of pending power projects, the total installed capacity of the state will be about 27187 MW by 2019. By 2019, 27187 mw power capacity will be there in our state. Then the state will become self sufficient in power sector. Additional power generation will be there even after meeting all the necessities (domestic requirement), he stated. According to him, backed by better performance of Discoms, power finance companies such as Rural Electrification Corporation and Power Finance Corporation have reduced their lending rates to 9.95 per cent from 12 per cent benefiting Rs 200 crores interest per annum and overall Rs 2000 crores in a loan period of ten years. Jammu: The terrorists, who attacked Uri and Nagrota army formations and Poonch in Jammu and Kashmir have not been identified as yet, Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti told the state Assembly on Tuesday. Replying to a question, Mehbooba said in written reply, as per reports, the ultras have not been identified so far. The Chief Minister said the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has taken up the investigation of two attacks. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) is investigating Uri and Nagrota terror attack incidents. Cases FIR No 71/2016 and Fir No 221/2016 stand registered at police station Uri and Police station Nagrota respectively. "Further case FIR No 149/2016 in respect of Poonch terror attack stands registered in Police Station Poonch and the matter is under investigation, she said. On September 18 last year, four terrorists attacked an army camp in Uri town of Baramulla district, killing 17 soldiers. On November 29, seven army men including two Majors lost their lives when three militants attacked an army installation in the Nagorta town on the outskirts of Jammu city. On September 12 last, three militants were gunned down and a policeman lost his life when militants attacked two different places in the Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir. To a question regarding the measures taken to check the recurrence of such incidents in the state, Mehbooba said several steps have been taken in this regard. "In view of the continued threat of insurgency sponsored from across the border, a number of measures have already been put in place in the state to combat terrorist violence and improve the security situation, she said. She said the measures include, maintaining greater synergy amongst various security and intelligence agencies, strengthening of counter insurgency grid, inceased alertness by second and third tier deployment along the Line of Control and the International Border. Sharing of intelligence between Intelligence Agencies on real time basis, holding review meetings at various levels, maintaining sustained pressure on terrorists, carrying out a regular patrolling, area domination and searches by the district police with the assistance of security forces, keeping a close watch on the activities of anti social elements, strengthening of security of vital installations etc, she said. Mehbooba said that in addition, the security forces, police have been briefed to enhance the level of alertness and maintain close vigil to check the recurrence of such incidents. The counter infiltration Grid has been strengthened further. Asked for the steps taken to revoke AFSPA in J&K as per the promises made in the Common Minimum Programme, the Chief Minister said, The need and desirabilty of revocation of Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) in various areas of the state requires critical review of the security situation and other relevant factors." Trinamool Congress activists shouting slogans in front of BJP State party office in Kolkata on Tuesday over the arrest of Sudip Bandyopadhyay. (Photo: PTI) New Delhi: Trinamool Congress (TMC) leaders on Wednesday marched to Prime Minister Narendra Modis residence to protest against the arrest of party MPs Sudip Bandyopadhay and Tapas Pal in the Rose Valley chit fund scam. Earlier, coming close on the heels of the TMC attack on the state party headquarters of the BJP in Kolkata on Tuesday, West Bengal BJP general secretary Krishna Bhattacharya's house was attacked with bombs in Hooghly district on Tuesday night. Three men, with their faces covered, came in a motorcycle to her house in Konnanagar Jorapukur Ghat at 9 pm on Tuesday and started hurling bombs. They barged into the house, smashed a windowpane, damaged furniture, and abused and assaulted her, Bhattacharya said in her police complaint. The BJP leader said in her complaint that it was the handiwork of "anti-socials harboured by the TMC". She has been admitted to Uttarpara State General Hospital where her condition has been described as stable, hospital sources said. The police said they rushed to her house after getting the information, adding that investigation was on. District TMC leader Tapan Dasgupta said no party supporter was involved in the incident. Several BJP workers were injured on Tuesday when activists of the students wing of Trinamool Congress had attacked the state party headquarters here with stones to protest the arrest of the TMC MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay in the Rose Valley chit fund scam case. Bhubaneswar: With the CBI bringing arrested TMC MP Sudip Bandyopadhya to Bhubaneswar, a group of party activists on Wednesday staged a demonstration outside the agency's state headquarters in Bhubaneswar to protest against the action. The TMC's Parliamentary Party leader was arrested by CBI in Kolkata on Tuesday for his alleged involvement in the Rose Valley Group's ponzi scam and brought in Bhubaneswar late last night. Earlier, CBI had arrested another TMC MP Tapas Pal on the same charge and kept him in remand for three days. A four-time Lok Sabha member and a minister of state in the Manmohan Singh government, Bandyopadhyay was arrested after he allegedly failed to give satisfactory answers to many questions and was found to be uncooperative. Protesting against the arrest of TMC leaders, party supporters led by Ramnagar MLA Akhil Giri staged a demonstration before the CBI office in Bhubaneswar. Many members of the TMC's Odisha unit and its state president Arya Kumar Gyanendra also joined the demonstration outside the CBI office in Bhubaneswar. "The CBI has arrested Sudip Bandyopadhyay and Tapas Pal on political consideration. We'll certainly oppose the action. The state unit of the TMC is planning a massive protest rally in Bhubaneswar on January 10," Gyanendra told PTI. Some prominent TMC leaders are being invited to the proposed protest rally. A two-member delegation of the TMC also met the senior officials of CBI here and lodged protest against the arrest of Bandyopadhyay and Pal. Sources in CBI here said Bandyopadhyay would be first sent to the Capital Hospital for medical examination before being produced in the CBI designated court. The investigating agency would seek remand of Bandyopadhyay as the TMC leader was not allegedly cooperating with the investigation, they said. However, Bandyopadhyays lawyer Rajiv Majumdar said he would move a bail petition in the court as his client is unwell. "He is ill. We'll move a bail application in the court," Majumdar told reporters outside the CBI office here. He also challenged the CBI to prove Bandyopadhyays involvement in the scam. Sources also said CBI was planning to interrogate both Bandyopadhyay and Pal together as both have been arrested on the charge of their involvement with Rs, 17000 crore scam. The Rose Valley Group has been accused of duping about Rs 17,000 investors in different states. While Pal was one of the directors of the Group, Bondyopadhyay is accused of being a promoter of the Ponzi firm. Hyderabad: Alleging that tolerance level of the TRS government has come down, MIM Floor leader Akbaruddin Owaisi on Wednesday accused Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao of running away from the fee reimbursement issue and denying fees to eligible students. In a strain to the friendly TRS-MIM ties, Mr Owaisi announced that the MIM will fight for the rights of students, SCs, STs, BCs along with minorities and sought their support in the state and legislature. In the Legislative Council, Leader of the Opposition Mohd. Ali Shabbir threatened to move contempt of House proceedings against the CM for failure to keep reimbursement promise. Mr Owaisi said, Time has come for SCs, STs to rise and come together in Legislature to raise their voices against government. He alleged that whenever government was on the back-foot, it denied the Opposition the opportunity of seeking clarification as the mike would be mysteriously switched off, as it happened on Wednesday, after the CMs reply. CM saab has much time to discuss monkeys coming from forests into the city, ample time to discuss fish and fisheries, but no time for fee reimbursement, Mr Owaisi said. He added, There is four-page note on fisheries ... two-page note on monkeys ... four-page note on trees but not even one page on fee reimbursement. Disputing the CMs statement, Mr Owaisi quoted the governments official website which said that only Rs 984 crore was released towards fee reimbursement and not `1,400 crore. He said a student admitted in 2014-15 in a course got scholarship and has to reapply again in 2015-16, 2016-17. Why? In SC department, 1,69,381 students are eligible for scholarship but only 1,40,761 were registered, in minority welfare department 80,000 are eligible but only 64,510 are registered. When they are eligible, all students must be registered, he said. Hyderabad: On June 7 last year, a 70 year old man, who came to give application for a water connection, was electrocuted at a Mee Seva centre at Rajendranagar. The customer J. Ramulu, mistakenly touched an exposed electric cable on the window of the building. Police had found that the exposed cable was an extra fitting done by Meeseva employees to put an extra light bulb near the window. The cable was torn and the insulation was gone. The cable was hanging near the window near the Staircase to the Mee Seva centre. This death had created flutter in the area leading to a police investigation and arrest of three Mee Seva employees. Similar to this there were also incidents of electrocutions in public places in city and in Telangana that attracted public outcry. Incidents of pedestrians getting electrocuted at Nampally in Old city, and other parts of city especially in rainy season had exposed the dangerous electric cables hanging on the streets. National Crime Records Bureau data shows that electrocutions at public and private places in Telangana are dangerously frequent. Over 500 people were killed in electrocution in Telangana in just a year, NCRB data revealed. The number is highest among the southern states. 12 of the victims were electricity board employees while the rest were general public . One of the shocking incident was when eight people belong to a marriage party were electrocuted and 10 others received critical injuries while they moving in a truck at Devula Naik tanda in Kangti mandal of Medak district late in the month of May last year. The low hanging cable had touched the truck killing those unfortunate people, said a senior police official. Human rights activists claim that the TSSPDCL and the local municipal authorities, who are responsible for maintenance of the infrastructure, have not done much to ensure safety of public so far. Leaders of a few trade unions and political parties extended support to the drivers and visited the camp. (Representational Image) Hyderabad: The indefinite hunger strike held at Dharna Chowk on Wednesday by the Telangana Cab Drivers and Operators Association was foiled by the Gandhinagar police who took the leaders into preventive custody. Association president V. Shiva along with nine others were taken from the hunger strike camp and to the Gandhinagar police station. Earlier, the leaders demanded that the Ola and Uber managements hold talks with the cab drivers and redress their demands. Leaders of a few trade unions and political parties extended support to the drivers and visited the camp. By 5.30 pm, Chikkad-pally ACP J. Narsaiah and police personnel visited the camp and asked the organisers to vacate the place as permission was given from 10 am to 5 pm. The drivers refused, and asked the police to allow them to continue with the hunger strike. Mr Narasaiah asked them to follow the rules and the police would give permission for the next day. The police gave them time to pack up. At about 6.30 pm, they arrested the leaders and took them to the Gandhinagar police station, where they were released. Mr Shiva said he would continue his hunger strike till the managements redressed their problems. Drivers continued their protests across the city and tried to block cabs, A few cab service providers reportedly changed the number plates to avoid inconvenience to the commuters. The Telangana government had expressed serious reservations on some of the amendments proposed in the Bill (Representational Image) Hyderabad: After strong objections from the state, the Centre has reportedly set aside the proposed road transport and safety Bill, which had tough provisions for erring motorists. The Union ministry of road transport informed the Telangana state government that the Bill was not being considered in its entirety, and only some amendments to the Motor Vehicles Act were being pursued. The main objection to the proposed Bill was that it would take away the powers of state governments. The TS government had expressed serious reservations on some of the amendments proposed in the Bill, at the recent Southern Zonal Council Standing Committee meeting recently. TS said the amendments would reduce the power of state governments to give licences, fitness certificate and others. Reacting to this, a representative of the Union ministry of road transport and highways said the Bill was not being considered at the moment. The Centre had published the draft Road Transport and Safety Bill, 2014 to repeal the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988. A senior TS official said that if the amendment Bill went through, the state government would not be able to formulate schemes or programmes which were state-specific. The control of road transport, road safety and planning would be with the Centre, the officer told this newspaper. The officer said vehicle tax was a major source of revenue for the governments; taking over this power from the states would be against the spirit of the Constitution. New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday directed Karnataka to release 2,000 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu till final orders are passed on the batch of appeals challenging the award of the Cauvery River Water Tribunal. A three-judge Bench gave this direction while posting the appeals for final hearing from February 7, after brief submissions from senior counsel Fali Nariman for Karnataka, Shekar Naphade for Tamil Nadu, Nambiar for Puducherry and Jaideep Gupta for Kerala. Rejecting TN's plea to first take up the issue of setting up of the Cauvery Management Board to implement the directions of the Cauvery Water disputes Tribunal given in February 2007, the Bench said it will dispose of the appeals as it did not want to deal with the issue piecemeal. Mr. Nariman and counsel Mohan Katarki said that from October last water was being released to TN and the deficit would only be around 11,000 cusecs of water. The Bench directed Karnataka to continue the release till the matter was decided. The Bench made it clear that even if it were to come to a conclusion that the allocation of water has not been made on equitable basis by the Tribunal, it will not remand the matter back to the Tribunal. The Bench said it will endeavour to determine the allocation based on facts to be furnished by the respective States. The EC had written to the governments of both TS and AP about a month ago to depute IAS officers for the forthcoming Assembly elections in five states. (Representational image) Hyderabad: Both the Telugu states have informed the Election Commission that they are not in a position to depute senior IAS officers for election duty. The EC had on Wednesday announced the schedule for Assembly elections in five states. The EC had written to the governments of both TS and AP about a month ago to depute IAS officers for the forthcoming Assembly elections in five states. As per sources, the EC said that if it was not possible to depute IAS officers for poll duty, they can depute IFS officers. AP government has allotted 26 All India Service officers for election duty four IAS, five IPS and 18 IFS officers. The TS government also deputed about 20 AIS officers, a majority of whom are IFS officers. The EC has directed officers deputed for election duty to attend the meeting to be held on January 10 in New Delhi. Experts say this could be very hard for some of these institutions as they will likely fall short on infrastructure, faculty requirements and other norms. (Representational image) Visakhapatnam: In a big blow to lakhs of Indian students, the US department of education has revoked its recognition to the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools (ACICS). There are about 250 SEVP (student and exchange visitor programme) certified colleges and schools in the US that were accredited by the ACICS. Now, following the revocation of recognition of the US largest accreditor of for profit colleges, Indian students (graduates) of these institutions are left in the lurch. They are denied an extension of the optional practical training (OPT) from December 12. These students may also have to migrate to other colleges as their institutions have lost their accreditation and they will not be eligible for OPT extension in future. Optional practical training (OPT) stretches for a period during which undergraduate and graduate (international) students with F-1 status, who have completed or have been pursuing their degrees for more than nine months, are permitted to work by way of getting practical training. This is to complement their field of studies, and would be for a period of 12 months, working for a US employer. OPT extensions take big hit Those who have graduated from a US college or university with a specific degree in the STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) can apply for an extension of their OPT (Optional Practical Training) for an additional 24 months. This brings their total post-graduation OPT time to up to 36 months. But, following the American Education Departments decision, officials have already started denying OPT extension for graduates of nearly 250 colleges. U. Vishnu Vardhan Reddy, CEO of Gurukul Overseas, a US-based consultancy, gave detailed insights into the accreditation procedure in the USA. Many for-profit institutions go for national accreditation to avoid the regional accreditation which lays down stringent norms. The students in these institutions, the students applying for OPT, and graduates from these institutions applying for OPT extensions, are all affected. US immigration and customs officials have started rejecting applications of the F-1 visa-holders, who were from these institutions and who had applied for OPT extensions. Indian students are now forced to study for another degree from an accredited college in the US if they want an OPT extension, added Vishnu Vardhan Reddy. Although ACICS is no longer a federally recognised accrediting agency, the US department of education will continue to provisionally certify ACICS-accredited institutions for continued participation in the federal student aid programmes for up to 18 months. This 18-month provisional certification period allows institutions to seek accreditation from another federally recognised accrediting agency. But experts say this could be very hard for some of these institutions as they will likely fall short on infrastructure, faculty requirements and other norms. Aaganti Chandra Sekhar, a representative from an education consultancy of Visakhapatnam, said: The ASICS has already started a legal battle. As there are 18 months time for the colleges, we are hoping these colleges will take care of matters and get accreditation. This is a wakeup call for Indian students in these 250 institutions to make alternative arrangements. Bengaluru: While the mass molestation of women in Bengalurus MG Road and Brigade Road on New Year kicked up a hornets nest on Tuesday, Chetali Wasnick, a working woman on her way back home, was forced to endure a similar humiliation in Indiranagar. Speaking to NDTV, Wasnick recounted that she was walking back to her home after work when she saw two suspicious looking men walk towards her. Wary, she moved aside and let them pass, but what happened next left her struggling to get her bearings together. He just groped me out of nowhere. I did not have any idea that he'll do that. I went totally blank, she said. But what outraged her the most was when bystanders, instead of coming to her aide, brushed off the incident and told her it happens. When I finally realised what really happened, I just went back to him and started hitting him and punching him and whatever I could do to take my anger out. After some time, something like 15 to 20 men came and they tried to stop me from hitting that molester. So I was very pissed off that why this person is stopping me from that molester. And they were like 'this is New Year, this happens so just let it be' " she said. Similar incidents were reported from Bengalurus iconic MG Road and Brigade Road, where women were harassed, groped, pawed and molested in large scale by drunk men roaming in groups under the guise of revellers. The state home minister had further triggered a controversy by claiming that the incident was to be blamed on the western culture of partying and revealing clothes. Samajwadi Party leader Abu Azmi had also shocked many by commenting that there is an increasing confusion among the younger generation between nudity and fashion. The state police came under flack for the incident, as majority of those present in the spot claimed that they were of no help at all. This, despite 1,500 police perosnnels and paramilitary forces being deployed in the area alone. "I was looking everywhere but there were no cops available at all. There were like five to 10 cops standing at the same spot but they did not come and ask me what happened or what is your problem or something," Chetali Wasnick said. The city police, after three days of denying that there was monumental mismanagement of crowd in MG Road, on Tuesday, acknowledged that it had credible evidence, and also invited any one with any information to come forward and share it with them. Farmers sell all the Kuruvai paddy while they keep some quantity of samba for their personal use and sell rest of the quantity. Thanjavur: Predominantly agriculture oriented, life in Thanjavur district revolves around farmers and farm workers. Everything will be fine for them if they take a bumper kuruvai (short-term paddy) and samba (long-term paddy) crops in a year. But during 2016, all was not well for them as they lost both kuruvai and samba in canal-irrigated areas. Starting of a good agriculture year hinges on the water storage at the time of closure of Mettur dam on January 28 every year. If the dam is closed with good storage, a successful kuruvai is ensured. If not, then opening of the dam on June 12, traditional date for opening of the dam for kuruvai cultivation in the Cauvery delta areas, will be postponed. This year, storage was not comfortable at the time of closure of the dam and it has not improved even after that. Hence, the dam was not opened on June 12. Farmers in canal- irrigated areas could not take up 'Kuruvai' in Thanjavur district. Loss of Kuruvai means loss of money to farmers, as it is a money-spinner. Farmers sell all the Kuruvai paddy while they keep some quantity of samba for their personal use and sell rest of the quantity. Loss of Kuruvai reflected in the subdued celebration of Deepavali also in Thanjavur district this year, as farmers did not have money that will come to them by selling the harvested Kuruvai paddy. Mettur dam was opened on September 20, rather late for even samba cultivation this year. But flow of water could not be maintained due to poor storage and truant monsoon. Water was given, that too in turn system, (giving water continuously in a river system, namely, either in Cauvery or Vennar for six days) for 40 days and water release was stopped on October 30. Cauvery, the lifeline of the delta districts in Tamil Nadu, could not come to the rescue of the farmers, as Karnataka was reluctant to release water. With Northeast monsoon also bringing scanty rainfall, samba raised in canal irrigated areas ran into rough weather. Farmers allowed cattle to graze the samba seedlings. The drought brought with it death and suicide of farmers which were attributed by their relatives to crop failure. With nearly ten farmers, (Thanjavur district alone-more in the delta and in Tamil Nadu), who either died naturally or committed suicide, a pall of gloom has descended in various villages. All the farmers who died were small farmers, many of whom have taken land on lease and cultivated borrowing loans. Cauvery issue dominated throughout the year and cast its shadow when finally Central Government refused to form the Cauvery Management Board (CMB). For the farmers, most of the months went in agitations this year than doing cultivation due to water scarcity. Even as the farmers end the year with agitations before collectorates demanding drought relief, they hope that at least 2017 may not be the same. This year is not a good year for farmers. This is only a difficult year and no farmer can feel happy. I expected to save at least direct sown samba crop as I felt that farmers can get at least two or three wettings in November or December, but it is not so. Meteorological predictions have gone wrong this year. Only crop insurance can help, said Mannargudi S. Ranganathan, secretary, Cauvery Delta Farmers Welfare Association. We have to have a water level of 65-ft to 70-ft, when Mettur dam is closed on January 28 to have a good Kuruvai crop. This year water level stood at only 45-ft. It has not reached 80-ft throughout the year. Hence dam could not be opened on June 12 and for samba it was opened on September 20, which was very late. I have not seen such a drought situation in the past 50 years, Ranganathan added. Sami Nadarajan, district secretary of Tamil Nadu Vivsayigal Sangam, affiliated to CPI (M), Sundara Vimalanathan, secretary, Thanjai District Cauvery Farmers Protection Association also echoed the same sentiments. Thiruvanananthapuram: The state government has stopped the printing of this year's diaries following a complaint raised by CPI ministers that the list of ministers was not printed in alphabetical order. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan intervened in the issue and stopped the production after almost 40,000 diaries were printed. The printing and stationery department handled by the chief minister is in charge of printing the diaries. The officials had the other day given the copies of the diaries to the chief minister in his chamber and also to CPI Minister V.S. Sunil Kumar who was present there. Mr Sunil Kumar protested to the chief minister after going through the diary about the faux pas. The names of CPM ministers were printed after that of the chief minister not according to the alphabetical order. The names of CPI ministers were printed only after the name of Transport Minister A.K. Saseendran of the NCP. Usually, the number two comes after the chief minister and the others in alphabetical order. The order was violated this time. LDF ration protest: LDF convener Vaikom Viswan announced after the LDF meeting on Tuesday a series of protest programmes against the central government policies allegedly aimed at derailing the ration distribution in the state. The LDF would organise a Raj Bhavan march on February 18 demanding urgent intervention of the centre to end the crisis in the distribution of ration items. It would also organise evening dharnas in various centres on January 12. Central meeting The three day CPM central committee meeting would begin on Thursday. The meeting will discuss the issues in the party. The politburo will meet on Thursday followed by the central committee. Chennai: Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam will chair a Cabinet meeting on Wednesday during which the convening of the Tamil Nadu Assembly, farmer suicides and other issues concerning the state are expected to be discussed. The meeting will take place at 9 am at the State Secretariat on Wednesday, sources said. "The meeting is likely to discuss convening of the Assembly session to condole the death of late Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa. The Assembly is usually convened in January and the dates are fixed by the Cabinet," a source said. Besides, the Cabinet is also expected to discuss the drought situation in the state and alleged suicide or deaths of farmers due to the distress situation. This is the second cabinet meeting after Mr Panneerselvam took oath as Chief Minister on December 6 hours after the death of CM J. Jayalalithaa. The heinous Saturday night bloodbath at a swanky nightclub on the banks of the Bosphorus in Istanbul brought what had already been a terrible year for Turkey to an exceptionally brutal conclusion. It was a year peppered with terrorist attacks, but its centrepiece was arguably a coup attempt in July that apparently came close to succeeding, followed by a sweeping wave of state repression that has deepened fractures in Turkish society amid shifting allegiances on the Syrian front that have resulted in a Nato stalwart effectively allying itself with Russia. If the idea behind the assassination a fortnight ago of the Russian ambassador to Turkey was to precipitate a stand-off between Moscow and Ankara, it has predictably failed. The assassin, an off-duty policeman, was killed immediately afterwards, so his precise motivations may never be known, but his Remember Aleppo! slogan while performing his dastardly act offers obvious pointers. Syrias largest city was recently wrested from rebel control by forces allied to the government of Bashar al-Assad, with the Russians and Iranians instrumental in producing this result. It has been claimed that Turkeys President Recep Tayyip Erdogan helped out by persuading his Islamist allies among the Syrian rebels to facilitate the evacuation of eastern Aleppo. The Erdogan government was involved in the Syrian conflict long before its troops directly stepped in, and its assistance to Islamist factions included turning a blind eye to international recruits many of them attracted by the militant Islamic State group entering the war-torn country through the Turkish border. ISIS turned against Turkey once this route became a lot more restricted, and after Ankara had second thoughts about its initial refusal to permit American and other Nato forces to use Turkish bases as a launching pad for airstrikes against ISIS on Syrian territory. Turkeys relations with the US have frayed markedly since the abortive coup in July, partly over Washingtons refusal to extradite Fethullah Gulen, who is accused of having masterminded the attempt to overthrow his former ally Erdogan. Whether the advent of the Trump administration will improve relations remains to be seen. Meanwhile, Turkey had visibly bristled at Russias intervention in Syria on behalf of Assad, and things came to a head after its forces shot down a Russian warplane that had allegedly strayed into Turkish airspace. Vladimir Putin resisted any temptation he may have had to ramp up the confrontation, instead using the incident as a lever to forge an unlikely informal alliance that had the twin advantage of facilitating his aims in Syria while driving a wedge between leading Nato members. It was thus Russia and Turkey, alongside Iran, that jointly announced a truce in Syria shortly before the Istanbul atrocity, and successfully sought the imprimatur of the UN. The cessation of hostilities does not include ISIS, and is anyhow not expected to last very long, but it apparently does cover Al Nusra, an organisation once formally allied with Al Qaeda that has played a key role in the rebellion against Assad and enjoyed Turkish favours in the bargain, but is also likely to have borne the brunt of Russian bombing campaigns. By some accounts, the primary purpose of Erdogans Syrian adventure has always been to forestall the likelihood of a de facto Kurdish state on Turkeys border, and he strove hard to prevent Turkish Kurds from aiding their Syrian comrades. A ceasefire between the Turkish state and the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) broke down in 2015, and the latter claimed responsibility for some of last years terrorist attacks, directed chiefly against security forces the PKK claims not to target civilians and roundly condemned the Reina nightclub massacre. The Americans have heeded some of Erdogans concerns while broadly backing the Kurdish Peoples Protection Units (YPG) in their fight against ISIS (and potentially Assad). But then the US strategy in Syria has anyhow been all over the place, and last months truce announcement conspicuously excluded Washington, demonstrating the extent to which it has been sidelined. Turkey under Erdogan, meanwhile, finds itself besieged on three fronts by the Gulenists, Kurds and ISIS, which belatedly claimed responsibility for the 39 deaths and dozens of injuries at the Reina nightclub. The Presidents reaction to Turkeys multiple woes has largely revolved around clamping down on all dissent and extending the breadth and depth of his autocracy, blaming everyone but his own often contradictory policies for all that is going horribly wrong in a nation that not long ago seriously aspired to become a fully fledged European state but has lately been sucked right back into the Middle Eastern cauldron, with its present blighted and its future increasingly uncertain. By arrangement with Dawn There is the general myth that Uttar Pradesh is the cockpit of Indian politics, and whoever wins the state will rule India. Through the 1990s and until the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, it did not matter who won or lost the elections in UP. The state ceased to be the big player it fancied itself to be. Even when Atal Behari Vajpayee won from Lucknow and led a BJP-NDA government at the Centre, UP remained one of the many players in the power game, and it was not a key one. It was only when the BJP won 73 of 80 Lok Sabha seats, when two outsiders, BJP president Amit Shah and prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, wrought a miracle of sorts and made a clean sweep of the states largest Lok Sabha contingent, that the old adage of the winner in UP ruling India revived, though not fully. The BJP hopes to ride on the crest of its 2014 Lok Sabha victory to win the coming seven-phase Assembly election, from February 11 to March 8. The Opposition seems to be in a disarray. The ruling Samajwadi Party is in a disintegrative mode. The other major local party, the Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party, is hoping to seize the reins of power as it had done in 2007. The 2007 and 2012 Assembly elections showed that the people of the state voted decisively for one or other of two major local players. The ostensible national parties, BJP and Congress, have been relegated to the margins. The Congress was last in power in the 1980s. The BJPs tenure in power has been patchy through the 1990s, except in 1991 when the Babri Masjid was demolished and the Kalyan Singh government resigned and was subsequently dismissed. The BJP lost the election that followed. UP then lost its political sheen because no one party seemed to represent the state in the state and at the Centre. The decline of the state in national politics was complete. What is left of the big stakes in state politics is who would win in the Assembly elections. It is as good or as interesting as to who would win the Assembly elections in West Bengal, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu or Rajasthan. The unending baroque family drama of the Mulayam Singh Yadav clan in the SP signifies the roil and turmoil that marks the politics of the most populous state in the country. The battle between Mulayam Singh Yadav, the SPs progenitor, and his chosen successor and incumbent chief minister Akhilesh Yadav, has undertones and overtones that mark the intrigues of any Asian family. The rivalries, factions, clashes are much too intertwined for anyone to unravel them and make sense of them. Mulayam Singh Yadav chose his son Akhilesh as chief minister much against opposition from party elders, including his brother Shivpal Yadav, and even party veteran Azam Khan. For five years, Akhilesh was hemmed in on all sides from functioning properly as chief minister. There have been times when Mulayam Singh would chide his CM son. It would have been an interesting political satire but for the fact that it is for real. Akhilesh wants to fend off not just his uncle, Shivpal, his fathers confidant Amar Singh, but also his step-sister-in-law Aparna Yadav. It cannot get more complicated. In the last few months, the internal feuding has intensified with Akhilesh removing Shivpal from the Cabinet and then reinstalling him, Mulayam Singh throwing out Akhileshs men from the party and then relenting, Mulayam Singh appointing Shivpal as party in-charge in the state, Akhilesh holding his own party conference and declaring himself the president of the party in the state, and then going back to the father to negotiate a settlement. To call this a political soap-opera would be unjust because the fight is for real, and each one of them is fighting a life-and-death political battle. However riveting the palace intrigues of the SP, the silent march of the BSP, and the vainglorious attempts by the BJP to ride to power in Lucknow and the pathetic bid by the Congress to retain its toehold in the state, there is not much doubt that UP is still far from retaining its prominence in national politics. If the BJP wins, and it has to do so convincingly and with substantial numbers as it did in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, the political fortunes of who reigns supreme in Lucknow would remain a matter of provincial importance. It will indeed be different if the BJP wins because it could then tilt the balance in favour of its own presidential nominee; the presidential election is due in July. But if no single party gets an overwhelming majority, then UP legislators vote the electoral college which chooses the President comprises the legislators from all states and members of the two Houses of Parliament will be as crucial as that of any other state. The BJP wants to win UP to flex its muscle at the national level. The SP and BSP would be fighting for their survival on home turf. They have no national ambition. Thus, the two regional parties have an advantage over the BJP. People voting in an Assembly election are focused on the local agenda. The UP voter is only too aware that he/she needs a government that works well for him or her, and he or she is not deluded by national glory as such. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who represents Varanasi, might be an adopted UP-ite but it may not work any wonders for the BJP in the Assembly poll. UP has no option but to look after its own interests. That will be the deciding factor, and not the performance of the BJPs government at the Centre. It is a provincial election, pure and simple. It is not a referendum on the Modi government or on demonetisation. The banks got a bonanza of an estimated Rs 13 lakh crores after the demonetisation of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 notes on November 8. This gave them a cushion after their balance sheets were battered by rising non-performing assets. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has urged banks to offer more schemes to small and marginalised people as they now have such huge funds. The banks were already funding these sections under RBI guidelines, but funding for small and medium enterprises must be looked at more sympathetically, while keeping commercial interests in mind. Most banks had already cut lending rates by hefty amounts, by their standards. Their rate cuts till now were mostly quarter per cent and on some rare occasions by half per cent. The nations top public sector lender, State Bank of India, set the pace by dropping rates by 90 basis points, and other banks followed with similar or lower amounts. It is likely that those buying homes or other property could benefit the most. Perhaps banks could go a step further, and be more generous with monthly instalment payments of home loans and personal loans. Credit growth to corporates arent expected to get a boost as most of them are still not in a position to borrow. They have significant idle capacity, with just 73-75 per cent capacity utilisation. But if retail loans increase, there will be more money in the hands of people, and this could boost consumer demand, which could kickstarting production. Consumer demand, which fuels the economy, took a hit with demonetisation and needs to return. TMC MP Sudip Bandopadhyay being taken by CBI officers to Bhubaneswar for further inquiry who was arrested in connection with Rose Valley chit fund scam. in Kolkata. (Photo: PTI) The CBIs arrest of Trinamul Congress Lok Sabha leader Sudip Bandopadhyay on Tuesday, and of the partys actor-MP Tapas Pal earlier, on charges of being involved in a chit fund scam due to their association with Rose Valley, an infrastructure and finance company with varied business interests, threatens to snowball into a major political confrontation at the national level. This is mainly because the CBI has unfortunately acquired the reputation of being a police outfit that is unleashed by the party in power at the Centre to hound political opponents in order to advance its political aims by weakening adversaries. This impression was strengthened when the Supreme Court called it a caged parrot a few years ago. This is why, no less than the allegations of corruption involving influential elements of the TMC, the row that has arisen is apt to become an examination of the nature of the institution of the CBI itself in its present form. Questions have already begun to be asked why Babul Supriyo, a Union minister from West Bengal who does not hide his association with Rose Valley, has not been questioned or arrested for questioning by the CBI. Rose Valley is active in West Bengal, Odisha and some neighbouring states. Business enterprises usually maintain good relations with ruling parties at the state and the Centre. In order to be fair, before others point this out, it will be in the fitness of things if the CBI takes a look at political personalities of all parties, including the BJP, to see if they have favoured irregular dealings of Rose Valley or other firms for a consideration the charge that is levelled at a clutch of high-ranking TMC figures. Since the Narendra Modi government came to power, the impression has gained ground that the BJP has been behaving in an holier-than-thou fashion, accusing its opponents of corruption with the purpose of harassing them and to prevent them from mounting a challenge to the government at the Centre, and disregarding allegations of corruption against its own leaders and state governments. West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, who led an unrestrained attack on top BJP leaders, including the PM and BJP president Amit Shah, said this openly Tuesday. With BSP supremo Mayawati, this has been a refrain for some time in the context of the CBIs activities, specially as in UP the BJP tended to view the BSP, rather than the incumbency-laden SP, as its main opponent. It has also been felt in political circles that the ruling party has been trying to constrain the Congress Party through the so-called National Herald case. In contrast, government investigators have thought the better of probing allegations arising from the Birla-Sahara diary jottings. The Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) mission will fly three space telescopes with cameras capable of measuring the polarization of these cosmic X-rays. NASA has selected a science mission that will allow astronomers to explore, for the first time, the hidden details of some of the most extreme and exotic astronomical objects, such as stellar and supermassive black holes, neutron stars and pulsars. Objects such as black holes can heat surrounding gases to more than a million degrees. The high-energy X-ray radiation from this gas can be polarized vibrating in a particular direction. The Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) mission will fly three space telescopes with cameras capable of measuring the polarization of these cosmic X-rays, allowing scientists to answer fundamental questions about these turbulent and extreme environments where gravitational, electric and magnetic fields are at their limits. We cannot directly image whats going on near objects like black holes and neutron stars, but studying the polarization of X-rays emitted from their surrounding environments reveals the physics of these enigmatic objects, said Paul Hertz, astrophysics division director for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. NASA has a great history of launching observatories in the Astrophysics Explorers Program with new and unique observational capabilities. IXPE will open a new window on the universe for astronomers to peer through. Today, we can only guess what we will find. NASA's Astrophysics Explorers Program requested proposals for new missions in September 2014. Fourteen proposals were submitted, and three mission concepts were selected for additional review by a panel of agency and external scientists. NASA determined the IXPE proposal provided the best science potential and most feasible development plan. The mission, slated for launch in 2020, will cost $188 million. This figure includes the cost of the launch vehicle and post-launch operations and data analysis. Principal Investigator Martin Weisskopf of NASAs Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, will lead the mission. Ball Aerospace in Broomfield, Colorado, will provide the spacecraft and mission integration. The Italian Space Agency will contribute the polarization sensitive X-ray detectors, which were developed in Italy. NASA's Explorers Program provides frequent, low-cost access to space using principal investigator-led space science investigations relevant to the agencys astrophysics and heliophysics programs. The program has launched more than 90 missions, including Explorer 1 in 1958, which discovered the Van Allen radiation belts around the Earth, and the Cosmic Background Explorer mission, which led to a Nobel Prize. NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, manages the Explorers Program for the agency's Science Mission Directorate. Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter. Google India today reaffirmed its commitment to digitally empower India s 51 million strong small and medium business communities. Making the announcements at an event held in the city today, Sundar Pichai, CEO-Google, spoke to representatives from hundreds of small and medium business from across the country on the benefits of the web and digital technology. At an event in Delhi, Sundar Pichai, CEO Google announces initiatives to digitally empower small and Medium Businesses in India. From left to right: Sundar Pichai, CEO Google; Honorable IT Minister, Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad; Aruna Sundararajan, Secretary, Ministry of Electronics & IT; Rajan Anandan, Vice President, South East Asia and India, Google During his address, Sundar Pichai said, The Internet is a powerful equalizer and we are motivated to bring the benefits of information and technology to as many people as possible. Building for everyone and making it available in the hands of as many people is at the heart and core of what we do. And we do this by investing in open ecosystems. Referring specifically to small and medium businesses, Pichai added, the Internet and digital technology will be an engine of growth for the Indian economy. Today, anyone can become an entrepreneur, a developer, or a creator, but it is important that they have the right tools and skills to digitize. We believe it is important for us to invest in training and equipping these individuals and small businesses to accelerate their journey of growth. Setting the context for the initiative Google unveiled a joint research study with KPMG titled "Impact of internet and digitization on SMBs in India ". The study reiterates that 68 per cent of the 51m Indian SMBs are offline. Highlighting the macro-economic impact of the internet, the research found that rising penetration and greater uptake for digital by SMBs could help increase their contribution to India s GDP by 10 percentage points, taking it up to 46-48 per cent by 2020. Ascertaining the benefits of going digital for small businesses, it determined that profits of digitally engaged SMBs grow twice as fast compared to offline SMBs. Likewise digitally engaged businesses are able to grow their customer base significantly with 52 per cent catering to customers beyond their home city versus only 29 per cent offline SMBs. The report cites the lack of understanding of the benefits of digital technologies and technical skills as the essential reasons for being offline. To address the gap, Google announced the launch of Digital Unlocked, a training program to empower thousands of Indian SMBs with essential digital skills that will enable them to get online and start using the power of the internet to grow their business. Google also previewed My Business Websites, an easy-to-use offering to help businesses to have a rich, mobile optimised digital presence that will be launched later this year. With Digital Unlocked, Google is committed to ensuring that every single small business in India that wants to go digital has access to quality training. In keeping with the varied learning needs of the millions of businesses in India , weve built this program across online, offline and mobile. The offline training is being conducted in partnership with FICCI and over the next three years, 5,000 workshops will be held across 40 Indian cities. The online training comprises a set of 90 self-paced video tutorials, curated specifically for India and is available free of charge at g.co/digitalunlocked. The tutorials cover a comprehensive set of topics ranging from building a web presence and driving online growth to reaching customers over mobile and video. The trainings are certified by Google, Indian School of Business and FICCI. Further, for India s mobile-first audience, Google also launched Primer, a free mobile app uniquely designed to teach digital marketing skills in a quick, easy and interactive way. It is available for download through the Google Play and iOS app store. Primer also works offline and is currently available in English and Hindi with Tamil, Telugu and Marathi versions coming shortly. At the event, Google also previewed My Business Websites, aimed at equipping the vast majority of small businesses with a simple way to start their digital journey by creating a free, mobile optimised website, easily and instantly. Available for Google My Business users later in the year, this new feature will provide simple, templated, editable websites for small businesses created from their data and photos on Google Maps. My Business Websites will be available in English, Hindi, Bengali, Telugu, Marathi, Tamil, Urdu, Gujarati, Kannada, and Malayalam. Google CEO, Sundar Pichai in a chat session with some of the successful SMBs at the Digital Unlocked event in Delhi. The SMBs shared with him inspiring stories of their journey on the internet so far. Several small businesses that have leveraged Googles products and technologies were also present at the event. Three of them - Walnut, Go Co-op and Maganlal Dresswalla - were in conversation with Sundar Pichai and shared their journey to digital using Google offerings including Google My Business, Google AdWords as well as the Google Cloud Platform. Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter. The San Diego-based technology company now says that it has granted Meizu a worldwide royalty-bearing patent license to develop, manufacture and sell 3G and 4G devices. Qualcomm had sued Chinese smartphone maker Meizu in several countries for violating a few patents last year, thus forcing the smartphone vendor to license its patents ahead. The company now confirms that it has reached a world-wide patent licensing agreement with Meizu. The new agreement has reportedly settled all disputes between the two companies. The Alibaba Group-backed Meizu is one of Chinas prominent smartphone makers competing with Xiaomi and others, and claiming over 20 million product sales in 2015. Qualcomm had filed a patent infringement suit against Meizu in June, 2016, alleging that it had spent more than a year negotiating with the company regarding its use of certain 3G and 4G standards. The San Diego-based technology company now says that it has granted Meizu a worldwide royalty-bearing patent license to develop, manufacture and sell 3G and 4G devices. "Qualcomm is pleased to sign the license agreement with Meizu and to help enhance Meizu's product line and generate a strong growth for the company, both in China and globally," said Alex Rogers, executive vice president and president, Qualcomm Technology Licensing. "Qualcomm's standardised technologies are enabling companies to build new products and services across the wireless ecosystem and are transforming people's lives." Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter. CEO of Google, Sundar Pichai is currently addressing the technology industry at an event in New Delhi . He is set to address key initiatives for small and medium enterprises of India . Information and Technology Minister, Ravi Shankar Prasad is also present at the event. At Google, we are excited about partnering the businesses to help them unlock exponential growth through the power of digital, Google had issued a statement. The announcements in the event are expected to represent Googles effort to connect more businesses online. This isnt the first time Pichai has visited India . His first visit was back in 2015 when he visited Prime Minister Narendra Modi to discuss possibilities of investment. His second visit started out as a private family holiday but soon ended with him announcing the Google for India initiative. He is expected to announce a new online learning tool for SBMs in India called Digital Unlocked at the event today. Stay tuned for more updates. Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter. Samsung Electronics is planning to launch Galaxy Note 8 in the second-half of the year after the release of its next flagship Galaxy S8 in April, according to a report by Business Korea. In a statement, the South Korean giant Samsung confirmed to stick to its Galaxy Note series despite the Note 7 disaster it experienced last year. The Galaxy Note 7 was very popular before user reports began circulating about devices that exploded or caught on fire while charging. As the phablet market, which was developed by Samsung Electronics, has been growing, the company will release the Note series this year again, an official from the electronics industry stated, reported Business Korea. Samsung is also expected to announce the results of Note 7 probe this month, explaining the root cause of Note 7 battery explosions. Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter. Among the Galaxy X smartphones to be launched this year, there will be phones with foldable panels, while others will feature displays that support 4K resolution. Samsungs next high-end series of smartphones will be dubbed as Galaxy X. The devices will include the latest innovations from the company. Whats unclear is if these smartphones will be launched as concept devices or will go on sale straight away globally. It is clear that the device will be limited knowing that Samsung isnt ready yet to mass produce the components required for these foldable smartphones. If the online reports are to be believed, the first Galaxy X smartphone will be unveiled in Q3-Q4 of 2017. There are also reports about Samsung launching the Galaxy Note 8 in the second half of 2017, just ahead of the Galaxy X announcement. According to SamMobile, the Korean giant will be launching five Galaxy flagships in 2017. Its still uncertain that the line-up will include the Galaxy S8 and Note 8, which are already in the pipeline. Among the Galaxy X smartphones to be launched this year, there will be phones with foldable panels, while others will feature displays that support 4K resolution. All the Galaxy X series smartphones will make use of advanced biometric features for added security. The foldable panels included in one or more of the Galaxy X phones will feature scrolling functionality and a touch area on the edge of the device. If the latest Samsung patents are an indication of what the company has in store for us, then the upcoming Galaxy X smartphones will surely play a key role in Samsungs revival after the Galaxy Note 7 fiasco. Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter. Washington: Former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton will attend the January 20 inauguration ceremony of President-elect Donald Trump, her bitter rival from the 2016 campaign. Hillary will attend the inauguration with her husband and former US President Bill Clinton. The Clintons announced their decision to attend the January 20 inauguration shortly after former President George W Bush's office said he would attend along with former first lady Laura Bush, CBS reported. Bush has had a difficult relationship with Trump after his brother Jeb Bush contested in Republican primaries against Trump. In December, former President Jimmy Carter, 92, announced that he would attend the inauguration. The report said that the Clintons decided to attend out of a sense of duty and respect for the democratic process. Trump won the Electoral College 306-232 while Clinton, the former first lady, Senator and Secretary of State, beat Trump in the popular vote by nearly 2.9 million votes. Since the election, Clinton has been lying low except for events for the Children's Defence Fund and a tribute to retiring Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, near the end of 2016. Meanwhile, Trump said he would address a news conference in New York next week on January 11. This would be his first news conference after his electoral victory in the November 8 general elections. "I will be having a general news conference on JANUARY ELEVENTH in NYC Thank you," Trump said in a tweet. He was originally scheduled to have a press conference in mid-December, but postponed it. The January 11 news conference would be a little more than a week before his January 20 inauguration when he would be sworn in as the 45th President of the US. Mexico City: Mexican environmental authorities seized a Bengal tiger after a man took it for a walk on a leash in a neighborhood of the border city of Tijuana. The attorney general's office for environmental protection said on Tuesday the 4-month-old tiger had been living in a private home with children. The man had papers showing he recently bought the tiger, which was found to be in good health but lacking its claws. But officials say the animal was seized and placed temporarily at a local zoo because the owner did not take appropriate security and animal-welfare measures. A resident called police to complain there was a man walking a tiger on a dog leash. Authorities caught the man outside the home, which is on Lion Street in a low-income neighborhood of Tijuana. New York: President-elect Donald Trump said Tuesday he will hold a press conference on January 11, during which he has previously indicated he would unveil plans to avoid any conflict of interest between the White House and his business dealings. Trump has not held a press conference since July, and his announcement gave just the latest date set for the much-delayed event previously due to take place December 15. He was elected in November. In a tweet, Trump said: "I will be having a general news conference on JANUARY ELEVENTH in NYC. Thank you." Precedent has seen American Presidents-elect field numerous press conferences during the transition to power to discuss matters such as their choices to fill their cabinet and policy plans for the incoming administration. Instead, Trump has relied largely on rallies, photo ops, select interviews and - in unprecedented fashion - on tweets. He has largely snubbed thus far the tradition that the presidential news conference has become. His methods of communicating news about the transition have been unorthodox for an incoming head of state. In December, he unexpectedly announced to reporters camped in the lobby of his Manhattan Trump Tower skyscraper that Masayoshi Son - the flamboyant head of Japanese telecoms giant SoftBank and a self-made billionaire - had announced a $50 billion investment in the US that would create 50,000 jobs. Economic announcements of this magnitude are rare and generally take place through a news release or a carefully planned press conference, requiring the efforts of many public relations experts who carefully consider every word and gesture. Steven Mnuchin, tapped to become Secretary of Treasury, and Wilbur Ross, the commerce pick, announced on CNBC television that they had been appointed to their Cabinet positions by Trump. The official announcement was published several hours later. As for the nomination of his future Secretary of Defense, James Mattis, the president-elect announced the pick during a rally in Cincinnati, Ohio, the first stop of his "thank you tour" in the industrial states that gave him the presidency. Russia hack 'intelligence' Trump later doubled down on his doubts about US intelligence findings that Russia meddled in the US election through computer hacking, a conclusion that triggered US sanctions against Moscow. He also claimed that an intelligence briefing he had been due to receive about the hack would now take place Friday. "The 'Intelligence' briefing on so-called 'Russian hacking' was delayed until Friday, perhaps more time needed to build a case. Very strange!" Trump tweeted. Trump, who is seeking warmer ties with Washington's former Cold War foe, has long treated accusations of Russian meddling as a thinly veiled effort by a Democratic president to delegitimize a Republican victory. But that defiant stance is running up against increasing opposition in his own party. Over the weekend, Trump also made the claim that he knows "things that other people don't know" on the issue. New York: New York's governor unveiled a proposal on Tuesday to make tuition at public colleges free for low and middle-income students, an idea championed by US Senator Bernie Sanders during his White House run. "Today, college is a mandatory step if you really want to be a success," Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo said, noting that the average American student carries $30,000 in debt. "This year, New York state is going to start the Excelsior scholarship: if you come from any family earning $125,000 or less, you are going to get free tuition," he said during a news conference at a university in Queens. "It's the first program of its kind in the US... and it should be a wake up call to this nation," Cuomo said. The governor, who is rumoured to have his eye on an eventual White House run, was joined at the news conference by Sanders, who offered his wishes. Sanders had garnered passionate support from young voters during the Democratic primary contest against Hillary Clinton, in part because of his impassioned calls for tuition-free college. Although he ultimately lost to Clinton, his free-college proposal was so popular that she added it to her White House platform. New York's most prestigious universities -- including Cornell, Columbia and New York University -- are private and presumably would not be involved in the free tuition plan. Tuition in the well-regarded State University of New York and City University of New York systems can be up to $6,500 a year Cuomo did not give details on the financing for the proposal, which has yet to be approved by lawmakers in this state of 20 million people. It is estimated to cost $163 million per year, and could benefit as many as one million households. Cuomo said he aims to have the program launched at the beginning of 2017, covering families with an annual income of less than $100,000, before expanding to cover students from families with an annual income of up to $125,000 at the beginning of 2018. Washington: WikiLeaks has appealed for leaked White House documents before President Barack Obama leaves office, as its founder Julian Assange again denied Russia was the source of hacked Democratic Party e-mails that hurt Hillary Clinton's bid for the US presidency. "System admins: Don't let the White House destroy US history again! Copy now, then send to WikiLeaks at your leisure," the secret-spilling website announced on Twitter, shortly before Assange gave an in-depth interview to US network Fox. "We are issuing a US 20,000 reward for information leading to the arrest or exposure of any Obama admin agent destroying significant records," the tweet said. Assange gave Fox an extended interview at the Ecuadoran embassy in London where he sought refuge in June 2012 to escape extradition to Sweden for questioning about an alleged rape. However, Assange shed no light on the source of thousands of hacked emails from the Democratic National Committee and from Clinton campaign chief John Podesta. WikiLeaks released the documents during the US election campaign, in what US intelligence reportedly concluded was an attempt by Russia to tip the election in favour of Clinton's Republican rival, Donald Trump, who went on to win the White House. Assange insisted, however, that no Russian government-linked party was the source of the hacked material. "The source is not the Russian government. It is not state parties," the 45-year-old Australian said. Pressed as to whether he thought the leaks of the Podesta and DNC emails led to Trump's election in November, he said,"Who knows, it's impossible to tell." He said his organisation was not political in nature but aimed to provide facts governments do not. "We have a perfect record for authenticating the information we publish," Assange said. "We try to preserve that reputation. What else do we have a record for?," he asked. Assange is wanted for questioning in Sweden into allegations by a woman who accused him of rape during a 2010 visit to Stockholm.He has denied the allegation, insisting they had consensual sex. He refused to travel to Sweden for questioning, fearing he would be extradited to the United States over WikiLeaks' release of 500,000 secret military files on the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq in 2010. In the last couple of days around 2,200 families have returned to the Hanano housing district. (Photo: AFP/Representational Image) Aleppo: Thousands of people are starting to return to the formerly rebel-held east Aleppo, despite freezing weather and destruction "beyond imagination", said a top U.N. official from the Syrian city. In the last couple of days around 2,200 families have returned to the Hanano housing district, said Sajjad Malik, country representative in Syria for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). "People are coming out to east Aleppo to see their shops, their houses, to see if the building is standing... to see, should they come back," he said in an interview. But given the current appalling conditions, the U.N. is not encouraging people to return. "It is extremely, bitterly cold here," said Malik. "The houses people are going back to have no windows or doors, no cooking facilities," he said. Aid is vital to prevent more deaths. The U.N. is helping people to restart their lives in one room of their apartments to begin with by giving the people mats, sleeping bags and plastic sheets to cover blown-out windows, he added. Bread and water Hanano was one of the first Aleppo neighbourhoods to fall to rebels in 2012, and the first to be retaken by the Syrian government on its way to seizing back full control of the northern city last month - the biggest victory for President Bashar al-Assad in nearly six years of war. As government forces rapidly advanced, some residents stayed put; tens of thousands fled of their own accord; and around 35,000 fighters and civilians were evacuated in late December in convoys organised by the Syrian government. After months of fierce Syrian and Russian air strikes, reconstruction will take a long time, Malik said, but the immediate priority is to keep people warm and fed. U.N.-supported partners provide hot meals twice a day to 21,000 people, and 40,000 people get baked bread every day. Over 1.1 million people once again have access to clean water in bottles or through tankers and wells. Mobile clinics are up and running, and more than 10,000 children have received polio vaccinations. Thousands of children who have not been able to attend school need reintegration into the education system through remedial classes to rebuild their confidence, Malik said. There was no register of births, deaths and marriages in the rebel-held sector, so the U.N. is working with the government to issue people with papers. "I met a woman with five children and she was excited that she now has her kids registered as Syrians. She has ID cards and a family book," he said. Bombing has destroyed hospitals, schools, roads and houses, and damaged the two main water pumping stations. The experienced U.N. official said the level of destruction surpassed anything he had seen in conflict zones like Afghanistan and Somalia. "Nothing would have prepared us to see the scale of destruction there, it's beyond imagination," he claimed. Beijing: A man wounded 11 children with a blade at their kindergarten school on Wednesday in China's southern region of Guangxi, said media, in the country's latest mass knifing incident. Compared to many other countries, violence crime is rare in China. But there has been a series of knife and axe attacks in recent years, many targeting children. China Central Television said in a post on its official micro-blog that a man climbed the wall of the kindergarten school in the city of Pingxiang and attacked the students. All of the wounded children had been sent to the hospital but their injuries were not life-threatening, CCTV said. It said the suspect had been detained by police and the incident was being investigated, but did not give his full name. Beijing: China plans to conduct a "record "number of 30 space launch missions this year as part of its efforts to expand its ambitious space programme, authorities said on Wednesday. The record-breaking space launches will be launched by Long March-5 and Long March-7 rockets, China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation said. Long March-5 is China's largest carrier rocket. The successful test launch of the vehicle in November in South China's Hainan Province will pave the way for space station construction, state-run China News Service reported. China recently released an official white paper on its space missions stating that it will launch a lunar probe in 2018 to achieve world's first soft landing on the far side of the moon and a mission to Mars in the same year. Wang Yu, General Director of the Long March-5 programme, said 2017 is a critical year for China's new generation of carrier rockets and the Long March-5 rockets will carry Chang'e-5 probe to space. The probe will land on the moon, collect samples and return to Earth, it said. On the other hand, Long March-7, the more powerful version of Long March-2, will send China's first cargo spacecraft Tianzhou-1 into space in the first half of 2017, according to Wang Zhaoyao, director of China Manned Space Engineering Office. Tianzhou-1 is expected to dock with Tiangong-2 space lab and conduct experiments on propellant supplement. China conducted 22 launch missions in 2016 and 19 in 2015. The country successfully tested its Long March-7 rocket in June 2016 and has gradually shifted to new generation rockets that reduce the use of toxic rocket fuels. In the next five years, China plans to provide space and aviation-related services to countries involved in the One Belt and One Road initiative, such as satellite communications, navigation and weather forecasting analysis. Protesters chanted slogans demanding the release of kidnapped journalist Afrah Shawqi al-Qaisi, seen in posters, during a demonstration earlier, in Baghdad. (Photo: AP) Baghdad: Iraqi journalist, Afrah Shawqi al-Qaisi, who was abducted from her Baghdad home last week has been released. "Thank God, I'm fine," Afrah Shawqi al-Qaisi told the local NRT satellite TV station on Tuesday, shortly after her release. "They treated me well. They just interrogated me and thank God they found me not guilty," she added, without providing further details. Gunmen who said they were members of the security forces asked to search her home last Monday before abducting her. They also took gold, money, phones, laptops and her car. Her sister, Nibras, told The Associated Press on Wednesday that Iraqi security forces had sealed off the area around the journalist's home and were questioning her. The sister declined to elaborate on who was behind the kidnapping. Iraq is considered one of the most dangerous countries for journalists, who have been frequently targeted by militant groups since the 2003 US-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein. Dozens of journalists have been killed while covering military operations. Al-Qaisi, a veteran journalist who is also an employee of the Culture Ministry, is a prominent critic of Iraq's endemic corruption and government mismanagement. In one of her articles, published in a local media outlet nearly a week before her kidnapping, she criticised an Interior Ministry officer who badly beat a school principal in front of students and teachers for refusing to punish a pupil who quarrelled with the official's daughter. Manila: President Rodrigo Duterte of Philippines, widely known for his strict drug laws and scathing tongue, said some of his family members might have joined the terrorist organisation Islamic State Speaking to the news site Rappler, President Duterte said, "ISIS seems to be everywhere." His cousins were earlier members of local Islamist groups Moro Islamic Liberation Front [MI] and the Moro National Liberation Front [MN], he said, adding that they could have possibly joined the Islamic State. To be frank, I have cousins on the other side, with MI and MN. Some, I heard, are with ISIS. Drawing attention to the two recent attacks that shook Philppines - one at the night market at Davao killing 14, wounding 70 and a blast outside a church in the Cotabato region on Christmas Eve that wounded around 13 - he said, could have been the doing of the IS. He told Rappler, even though he had discussed the issue with other heads of states, he was "not ready" to make the information public. Abu Sayyaf, a group with ISIS affiliation had earlier claimed responsibility for the Davao attack, even though at the time, Duterte had expected the involvement of drug cartels. Abu Sayyaf is based out of the southwest region of Philippines where Moro Islamist groups have led insugencies for decades. President Duterte was elected in June 2016, following which he led a violent war on drugs which has left approximately 6000 people dead across the country pending proper trial. The execution were mostly conducted by the police or vigilantes. When asked what would happen if he met his cousins who were allegedly with the Islamic State, he said, "Let's be understanding to each other. You are you and I am I, and I said, if we meet in one corner, so be it." Beirut: Turkey warned on Wednesday that repeated cease-fire violations by Syria's government were threatening peace talks scheduled for later this month. Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said the talks in Kazakhstan were scheduled for January 23, preceded by preparatory meetings between Turkish and Russian "experts" in Turkey. The Syrian government and allied militias have pressed on with an offensive to take the Barada Valley outside Damascus from rebels despite a cease-fire agreement signed shortly before the New Year. The government says the region was never included in the agreement. Rebels have retaliated with shelling and raids on government-held areas in other parts of the country. The rebels also accuse the government of carrying out air raids in the rebel-held province of Idlib, where hundreds of thousands of civilians have sought refuge. Cavusoglu called on Iran, a key ally of Syrian President Bashar Assad and one of the guarantors of the agreement, to address the violations by pro-government forces. Turkey supports the Syrian opposition. The cease-fire was supposed to prepare the way for the talks in the Kazakh capital of Astana, in what would be the first substantial diplomatic movement toward ending the conflict in nearly a year. Russia, Turkey, and Iran had agreed to broker those talks. Russia is also a key ally of Assad. Cavusoglu warned the Astana process "might fail if we cannot stop the escalating violations," in remarks made to Turkey's state-run Anadolu news agency. The foreign minister also said he had received assurances from Russia that the Kurdish Syrian PYD party would not be invited to Astana. Turkey considers the party and its armed wing an extension of its own, outlawed Kurdish insurgency and classifies it as a terror organization. The PYD controls most of the Syrian-Turkish frontier. Its armed wing enjoys the backing of the U.S. military, and is the most effective ground force battling the Islamic State group in Syria. Berlin: German trauma surgeons advised the public on Wednesday to walk like penguins to avoid slipping on pavements with freezing temperatures forecast nationwide over the next few days. An advisory published on the website of the German Society of Orthopaedics and Trauma Surgery said that walking like the aquatic birds involves leaning the torso forward so that the centre of gravity is on the front leg. A drawing attached to the advisory explains that when humans walk normally, body weight is split almost evenly over both legs, which the surgeons say increases the risk of losing one's balance and falling on slippery surfaces. Municipal authorities in Berlin were criticised over their failure to sprinkle the capital's pavements with rock salt earlier, despite warnings of a freeze from meteorologists. As a result, rescue services received more than 750 emergency calls and emergency rooms were overstretched with patients with bone fractures. Temperatures in Berlin are expected to plunge to -10 degrees Centigrade (14 Fahrenheit) on Saturday. Wigan: A cleaner rescued a newborn baby boy, allegedly abandoned by his mother, from a hospital toilet bin after he heard 'mumbled squeak' from a bag. Fortunately, the baby escaped unscathed, in spite of being dumped in a bin with paper tissue stuffed in its mouth. Mirror reported, the baby's mother Orsolya-Anamaria Balogh, 27, gave birth to the baby in the toilet cubicle at the Wigan Infirmary in Greater Manchester and she was not even aware of her condition until she gave birth. However, when her computer was checked, it was found that she had been studying about pregnancy and home births, the Manchester Evening News reported. After admitting attempted infanticide, Balogh spent the equivalent of 12 months in Styal prison, before the judge informed her he was considering her release on sympathetic grounds. She was due at Liverpool Crown Court on Wednesday but the case was adjourned until Monday, January 16, pending information from the probation services and a psychiatrist. Judge Neil Flewitt QC said, "I have in mind a suspended sentence with a community order." Previously a resident of Wigan, Balogh has no fixed address now. The judge ruled for accommodation for her to be arranged before her release, following which she was remanded in custody. Balogh arrived at the A&E department of the infirmary because of abdominal pains, on July 5, 2016, but refused to take painkillers, the prosecutor Richard Pratt QC reported. Even though she was stressing that there was no way that she could be pregnant, it was found that, neither Balogh nor her boyfriend used contraception. The court was also informed that she did not appear pregnant and did not show a 'bump'. After her blood pressure was measured, she was told to wait, since the department was busy. After a cleaner found the toilet occupied just before 9pm, he notified the nurse. When she knocked on the door a female voice replied, "Yes, I'm fine." She did not meet the doctor when her turn came. Around 11-40pm another cleaner, while cleaning the dust bin realized it was extra heavy. After taking the bag out of it, he heard noises following which he found the baby, with tissues stuffed in his mouth. The health of the baby recovered after the tissues were removed and he was given oxygen. When investigators arrived at the couple's house, the defendant refused giving birth, but an examination by a midwife confirmed otherwise. Pratt also informed the court that psychiatric evaluation of Balogh clarified that she was mentally unstable after birth and were showing symptoms of de-personalisation syndrome. It causes them to assume that the world around them is not real. London: Resuming her duties, Britain's Queen Elizabeth gave an honour to a member of her staff in a private ceremony, as she continued to recover from a heavy cold that forced her to skip Christmas and New Year church services, a spokeswoman said. The 90-year-old monarch who fell ill before Christmas, delayed her trip from London to her country estate at Sandringham in eastern England by a day. She also took the very rare decision not to attend the festive season church services. She has not been seen in public since before she became unwell and Buckingham Palace has said she was recuperating from a heavy cold. On Tuesday, the queen gave a member of her staff, Raymond Wheaton, the insignia of a Lieutenant of the Royal Victorian Order, an honour that usually rewards personal service to her or the monarchy. A spokeswoman said the private ceremony took place at Sandringham and no pictures were available. The queen also sent a personal message of condolence on Tuesday to Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan following the New Year's Eve attack on a nightclub in Istanbul that killed 39 people. Scene from the Berlin Christmas market after the attack. (Photo: File) Berlin: An alleged Islamic State jihadist accused of scoping out potential targets for an attack in Berlin, including the Brandenburg Gate and Reichstag building, goes on trial in Germany on Wednesday. It will be the country's first trial of a suspected IS militant deployed to Germany from Syria during the chaotic 2015 refugee influx - in contrast to "lone wolf" attacks or plots by extremists who were radicalized elsewhere. The defendant, identified only as 19-year-old Syrian national Shaas Al-M, allegedly fought with the Islamist militia in his war-torn homeland for two years before arriving in Germany as a refugee in August 2015. He will stand trial in a special state security court in Berlin on charges of membership of a foreign terrorist organization, which carries up to 10 years in jail, and military weapons law violations. The trial will be held under tight security, coming just over two weeks after an IS extremist from Tunisia ploughed a truck through a Berlin Christmas market in an attack that killed 12 people. 'Attack targets' Prosecutors claim the defendant joined the jihadist group as a teenager in mid-2013, taking part in combat operations, handling an AK-47 assault rifle and supplying food to fighters. He arrived in Germany near the peak of a mass influx of people fleeing Syria, Iraq and other crisis-torn countries that brought almost 900,000 asylum seekers to Europe's biggest economy in 2015. He allegedly stayed in "close contact" with IS and repeatedly visited the German capital until February 2016 to scout out landmark targets and busy tourist sites for an attack. Among the suspected targets were the area around the glass-domed Reichstag building that houses the lower house of parliament, the nearby Brandenburg Gate monument and the busy shopping square Alexanderplatz. He then allegedly "passed the information about the potential attack targets onto his contacts at the IS", said the court in a statement. "In addition, he arranged to send at least one person to Syria as a fighter and offered his services as a contact person for potential attackers in Germany," it added. The young Syrian was arrested on March 22 last year and has been in pre-trial detention since. The court has set 25 hearings until April. Truck rampage Germany has been shocked by a spate of IS-claimed attacks, and some foiled plots, that a growing right-wing populist movement has blamed on the open-door refugee policy of Chancellor Angela Merkel. In some cases in 2016, the jihadists were homegrown, while others were migrants and refugees. More attacks are feared when some of the 400-odd German jihadists still in Syria and Iraq return home. In June 2016, police arrested three Syrian men over an alleged plan to use guns and suicide vests in an IS attack in Duesseldorf. In July, a 17-year-old Afghan refugee wounded five people in an axe rampage on a train before police shot him dead. Days later a 27-year-old Syrian blew himself up outside a music festival, wounding 15 people. In October, police say they prevented an attack on a Berlin airport by a Syrian refugee, 22-year-old Jaber al-Bakr. Al-Bakr evaded a police raid but was caught by Syrian compatriots soon after and handed over to police. Two days later, he was found hanged in his cell, sparking a scandal over the security lapse in custody. December saw the worst IS-claimed attack when Tunisian Anis Amri, 24, drove a hijacked truck into a packed Berlin Christmas market. He killed 12 people, including the lorry's registered Polish driver, and was shot dead four days later in Italy after firing first at police there. Germany's domestic security service estimates that the number of radical Islamists in Germany rose above 9,000 in 2016, from some 3,800 in 2011. About 550 of them are considered dangerous and capable of a violent attack. Israeli solider Sgt. Elor Azaria waits with his parents for the verdict inside the military court in Tel Aviv, Israel on Wednesday. (Photo: AP) Tel Aviv: An Israeli soldier who has been in the news for shooting a wounded Palestinian assailant when he posed no apparent threat was convicted of manslaughter on Wednesday. The soldier, Elor Azaria, had been on trial for manslaughter in a military court since May. Right-wing politicians had defended the soldier despite top army brass harshly condemning the killing. The quantum of the sentence is expected to be revealed at a later date. The soldier can get up to 20 years in prison. Judge Colonel Maya Heller spent more than two-and-a-half hours reading out the decision, sharply criticising the arguments of Azaria's lawyers. On behalf of the three-judge panel, Heller said there was no reason for Azaria to open fire, since the Palestinian was not posing any threat. The Palestinian soldier was wounded and on the ground. She called Azaria's testimony "evolving and evasive." Azaria's demeanour drastically changed as the judge read the verdict. Dressed in a green army uniform, he had entered the courtroom smiling, with family members and supporters applauding him while one man embraced him. But he and his family later looked shaken as the judge spoke, with his mother and father huddling together. Azaria was 19 at the time of the killing in March 2016. On Wednesday morning, dozens of protesters scuffled with police as they gathered outside Israel's military headquarters in Tel Aviv, where the verdict was announced. They held a sign that read: "People of Israel do not abandon a soldier in the battlefield". Medics carry a wounded person at the scene after an attack at a popular nightclub in Istanbul on Sunday. (Photo: AP) Ankara: The Islamic State attack on an Istanbul nightclub that killed 39 people was aimed to polarise the Turkish society, said President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday. "The aim was clear -- to create a fissure and polarise society," he said in a speech at his presidential palace, in his first remarks on Sunday's pre-dawn attack, adding that the country will stand tall and keep its sangfroid." The president also said, "No one's lifestyle in Turkey is under a systematic threat. We would never let this happen. In 14 years in power, we have never given this a chance." Hitting a nightclub on New Year's night, the attack struck at the heart of secular Turkey, with analysts saying IS clearly sought to widen splits in Turkish society. "These attacks seek to make us put our emotions before our reason," said Erdogan reiterating that the attacks are not reasons to give in. Erdogan, who first came to power in 2003 as prime minister, has been accused of presiding over a creeping Islamisation in Turkey and accentuating splits in society. However, authorities firmly insist that Turkey remains to be a secular country and changes have only increased the right to freedom of worship for devout Muslims. Yangon: A commission probing violence in Myanmar's Rakhine state on Wednesday denied security forces have carried out a campaign against the Rohingya, days after a video emerged showing police beating civilians from the Muslim minority. Tens of thousands of Rohingya -- a group loathed by many among Myanmar's Buddhist majority -- have fled a military operation in the north-western state, launched after deadly attacks on police posts in October. Dozens have died in the crackdown, while escapees now in neighbouring Bangladesh have claimed they suffered rape, arson, murder and torture at the hands of police or soldiers. Myanmar's government, led by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, has said the allegations are invented and has resisted mounting international pressure to protect the minority. A state-appointed commission set up to investigate the violence released its interim report on Wednesday, dismissing claims troops and police have embarked on a campaign to force the Rohingya out of the country. Its interim findings come days after the government detained multiple police officers over a video showing policemen beating and kicking Rohingya villagers. The footage, shot by one of officers, has sparked outrage and undermined the government's blanket denials that soldiers and police have carried out rights abuses. The size of the "Bengali" population, mosques and religious buildings in the unrest-hit area "are proof that there were no cases of genocide and religious persecution", it said in a statement carried in state media. Myanmar has refused to recognise the Rohingya as one of the country's ethnic minorities, instead describing them as Bengalis -- or illegal immigrants from neighbouring Bangladesh -- even though many have lived in Myanmar for generations. The commission also found "insufficient evidence" of rape but added it was still looking into claims security forces committed arson, illegal arrests and torture of the Rohingya. It blamed the unrest on foreign-backed extremists, whom it said had attacked security forces in October to harm "the sovereignty of the state... with the intention of igniting riots and conflicts". Legal action has been taken against 485 people arrested during the army's subsequent clearance operation, it added, without giving further details. Totally unprofessional Chris Lewa, from the Arakan project, said the commission had failed to properly investigate the widespread allegations of rape and rights abuses. "The methodology is not credible, it's totally unprofessional," she said. "There is no corroboration from the villagers they are meant to have talked to. Their job was to verify the allegations and the report has not verified them," she alleged. The commission has faced opposition from across the spectrum since it was announced last month -- the second body created by Suu Kyi to try to heal the simmering religious divide in Rakhine state. Rights activists dismissed the 13-member commission as toothless, pointing out it is headed by the vice-president, a former army general. Rakhine nationalists and many of the state's MPs have denounced it as a tool for government propaganda. Malaysia's prime minister has accused Suu Kyi of allowing genocide on her watch, while more than a dozen Nobel Laureates wrote to the UN Security Council urging action to stop the "human tragedy amounting to ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity" in northern Rakhine. State media ran a statement from the Home Affairs Ministry on Wednesday saying eight officers have now been arrested over the incident depicted in the video. "Police committed abuses as they tried to arrest some villagers who fled the village and some who were hiding in their homes," the statement said. Myanmar has long discriminated against the stateless Rohingya. More than one million of them live in Rakhine, including 120,000 in displacement camps. Their movements are severely restricted as well as their access to basic services like health and education. Coming close on the heels of the TMC attack on the state party headquarters of the BJP in Kolkata yesterday, West Bengal BJP general secretary Krishna Bhattacharya's house was attacked with bombs in Hooghly district last night. Three men, with their faces covered, came in a motorcycle to her house in Konnanagar Jorapukur Ghat at 9 PM yesterday and started hurling bombs. They barged into the house, smashed a windowpane, damaged furniture, and abused and assaulted her, Bhattacharya said in her police complaint. The BJP leader said in her complaint that it was the handiwork of "anti-socials harboured by the TMC". She has been admitted to Uttarpara State General Hospital where her condition has been described as stable, hospital sources said. The police said they rushed to her house after getting the information, adding that investigation was on. District TMC leader Tapan Dasgupta said no party supporter was involved in the incident. Several BJP workers were injured yesterday when activists of the students wing of Trinamool Congress had attacked the state party headquarters here with stones to protest the arrest of the TMC MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay in the Rose Valley chit fund scam case. "Baywatch" star Pamela Anderson has requested President Barack Obama to consider "pardoning" Julian Assange after his website WikiLeaks leaked hacked Democratic emails in the run up to US Presidential election last year. The 49-year-old actress has penned a letter to Obama, who will step down as the American leader later this week, in a bid to stop the investigation into the hacking scandal. "...I request that you consider Pardoning Julian Assange in your last days in office. It would be a bold and exciting move for the time we live in- the information age generation. Please stop the grand jury investigation, and the bullying that is turning the world off America. "We must stop making Julian (or Russia) the scapegoat - Kids are smarter than this, and it is very divisive and tearing generations apart. It simply must end - and is doable by the stroke of your pen. (sic)" Anderson wrote. The actress, who posted the letter on her official website, went on to state that she knows if President Obama made the decision to call off the investigation it would cause uproar but thinks it's vital for the world going forward. "It may not be popular at first - but nothing worth anything is. There will be a dawning and utter gratitude - as people wake up. I understand Julian has been painted a bad guy - but he is not. He is a genius worth protection. The contents of the what he has published through Wikileaks are pure and uncensored. "They are just the truth - the distraction tactics are see through - it creates mistrust ... Julian and Wikileaks are essential - especially in this political climate. We need truth tellers more than ever (sic)," she continued. Anderson concluded by asking Obama to think about Julian and his children, who live in his native Australia as he is only trying to "protect" people from corruption. "And for Julian to be able to travel freely. See his children and his mother. He is protecting and informing us all. He has no agenda but to help end corruption of governments and empower people." A Samajwadi Party MLA's gunner was left flabbergasted when he found that his account has been mysteriously credited by nearly Rs 100 crore. Kanpur District Magistrate Kaushal Raj Sharma said that SP MLA Irfan Solanki's bodyguard Ghulam Jilani has an account with SBI's Mall Road branch. He had gone to withdraw money from an ATM last night where he found that his account was credited with a total of Rs 99,99,02,724. Jilani then approached Solanki who reported the matter to the DM. "I have spoken to the Deputy General Manager of SBI branch and they have asked Jilani to submit an application," said Kaushal. His bank account has been seized, said the DM, adding that he will not be able to withdraw money from it for the time being. Jilani, who hails from Padrauna area of Kushinagar district, lives in a rented room in Jajmau area of the city A special court today granted bail to Sanjeev Tyagi, cousin of ex-IAF chief S P Tyagi, and lawyer Gautam Khaitan in VVIP chopper scam case, saying that whether they took the "kickbacks", as alleged by CBI, can only be looked into during the course of the trial. Both Tyagi and Khaitan, who were interrogated by CBI in its custody for seven days, have been asked by special CBI judge Arvind Kumar to furnish a personal bond of Rs two lakh and one surety of like amount as pre-requisites for release on bail, after the court noted that co-accused S P Tyagi has already been relased on bail. The court asked both the accused not to leave the National Capital Region without its permission and ordered them not to tamper with the evidence or try to influence the witnesses. "The present case is based on documents. The accused have joined the probe as and when called by CBI and have also been interrogated in custody. Documents have alredy been seized by CBI after conducting searches at the house of the accused. "The correctness or otherwise of the allegation as to whether the accused have taken the kickbacks and in what manner they were connected with same, can only be looked into during the course of the trial... No purpose will be served by keeping the accused behind bars. Co-accused S P Tyagi has already been relased on bail," the court said. The court had on December 26 last year granted bail to 72-year-old former IAF chief Tyagi, saying that CBI had failed to state the alleged bribe amount and when it was paid. Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for CBI, had earlier opposed the bail pleas of the accused, saying if set free, they might influence witnesses and hamper the "multi-layered probe by various agencies in more than one jurisdiction involving several countries". Advocate Pramod Kumar Dubey, counsel for Khaitan, had countered CBI's argument, claiming that the agency was trying to sensationalise the matter and there was no allegation that his client had not joined the probe or tried to influence it. Sanjeev Tyagi's counsel Manav Gupta had also opposed CBI's contention saying there was no reason to claim that if granted the relief, his client would hamper the probe. S P Tyagi, who retired in 2007, Sanjeev Tyagi and Gautam Khaitan were arrested on December 9 last year by CBI in connection with the case which related to procurement of 12 VVIP choppers from UK-based firm AgustaWestland during the UPA-2 government. The deal was later cancelled. Over 100 clerics were among 150 people arrested today in Pakistan's Punjab province for trying to hold a rally to 'celebrate' the killing of liberal governor Salmaan Taseer in 2011 over the controversial blasphemy issue. Defying prohibitory orders, clerics gathered here to hold a rally on Main Boulevard in Gulberg area to 'celebrate' Taseer's sixth death anniversary, local media reported. Protesters belonging to religious parties like Sunni Tehreek, Tehreek-i-Khatme Nabuwat and Tehreek-i-Labbaik Ya Rasool (SAW) were among those who had planned to march from Kalma Chowk to Liberty Chowk in Lahore to eulogise Taseer's killer and express support for blasphemy laws. Taseer was killed on January 4, 2011 in Islamabad by his bodyguard Mumtaz Qadri for allegedly criticising the blasphemy laws in the country - a hugely sensitive issue in the country. A police official said that the clerics had planned two separate rallies in Gulberg and the Mall Road areas of the city. The government banned the Gulberg protest while allowing the clerics to hold a rally on the Mall Road. Defying government decision, hundreds of supporters of the three religious groups gathered in Gulberg for a rally but police went into action, disrupting the protest and arresting around 150 of them, over 100 of whom were clerics, local media reported. Protesters also put up dozens of banners in Lahore and other cities declaring Qadri as a hero. Senior police officials said no one had permission to hold a rally in Lahore. They added that the Punjab government had not allowed the demonstrators to hold any rally in Lahore and police would block routes and make arrests if necessary. Main area and arterial roads were blocked and police personnel were heavily deployed across the city. Due to the diversions, capital of Pakistan's most populous province also witnessed severe traffic jams along certain routes. Qadri was apparently infuriated when the governor visited a Christian woman called Aasia Bibi, who was given death sentence for alleged blasphemy, and on the occasion he termed blasphemy regulations as 'black law'. Qadri, who was arrested and convicted of murder, was hanged in Rawalpindi's Adiala jail in 2016 and buried in Bhara Kau area of Islamabad where his supporters are constructing a shrine to honour him. Blasphemy laws were enacted by former military ruler Ziaul Haq in 1980s and clerics have refused to allow any reforms in the laws despite concerns about their misuse. Opposition today remained unrelenting in its attack on the Narendra Modi government over its plans to present the Union Budget on February 1, three days prior to the start of voting in assembly elections in five states. The principal Opposition party said the budget is traditionally presented on February 28 since independence but the Modi government wants to present it during the time of elections. Party spokesperson Ajoy Kumar said it is a convention that when an assembly election is scheduled, the Centre presents a vote-on-account and presents a full-fledged budget later. He recalled that the BJP had raised objections in 2012 on the same count and the then UPA government had only presented a vote-on-account. "Fearing defeat and leaving aside the good traditions of Parliament, Prime Minister Modi wants to present the budget in the poll atmosphere. The public knows it all and Prime Minister will not be successful in his plans," he said. The Congress leader accused Modi of presenting a "mini-budget" two days ahead of the poll schedule announcement and making some lofty announcements in a bid to lure voters. "There is something called budgetary secrecy. Issues with financial implications are usually presented by the Finance Minister," he said. Another spokesperson Shaktisinh Gohil said the Congress and 15 other parties have also written to the President on the "ill-timed decision" of the Modi government to advance the date for budget presentation. "The poor decisions and mis-governance have left the Prime Minister shaken and clueless. Like the drowning man in the ocean, Prime Minister Modi made announcements three days before the election dates came out. As a result of his mis-governance, Modi will not receive the support of the people in these elections," he said. Gohil added that the announcements made by the Prime Minister were "too hollow" as he was trying to "mislead" the people of the country with announcements that are already in place since long. He said the reality is that the Rabi Season's crop finance, by and large has not been given or received yet and the Prime Minister's 60 days interest for the Rabi crop will be waived for farmers does not mean much. The Election Commission is already examining the representation of various political parties for not allowing the presentation of the Union Budget during the poll process of five states and will take a call on it soon. Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad also wrote a letter to the CEC in which he said, "It is a collective and serious concern of the Opposition parties that advancing the presentation of budget to February 1 will provide an opportunity to the government to make populist announcements to influence voters. "This will not only give unfair advantage to the ruling party but will also undermine the process of free and fair elections. It is therefore demanded that in view of the forthcoming elections and the precedent of 2012, the advancement of the presentation of the budget should not be allowed," he said. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, whose AAP is fancying chances of clinching power in Punjab and Goa, claimed the situation in the two states, where the BJP is in power or sharing it, is "bad" and people want to bring in an "honest" government led by his party in the upcoming polls. "Both in Punjab and Goa, the situation is bad. In Punjab, people want to throw the BJP coalition government and bring in an honest AAP government so that they get freed from drugs and corruption," he said. Sanjay Raut, an MP from NDA constituent Shiv Sena, said poll preparations of the saffron party are "complete", particularly in northern states and BJP-ruled Goa. "Shiv Sena is holding an important meeting chaired by party president Uddhav Thackeray where such issues will be discussed. Our preparations are complete for the polls," he said. Naresh Agrawal, who was recently expelled by Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh in the midst of feud within the ruling party of Uttar Pradesh, insisted the EC to see the budget session announced by the central government be postponed to ensure that the voters do not get influenced. "The manner in which the budget session has been convened in between the polls, we will urge the Election Commission to get it postponed, the way 2012 budget session was postponed, to ensure free and fair poll," Agarwal said. Targeting the BJP and Samajwadi Party, BSP leader Sudhindra Bhadoria said both the parties have caused "harassment" to people through goonda raj and demonetisation respectively and that the Mayawati-led party was "eagerly" waiting for announcement of dates to take on them. Meanwhile, Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Singh hailed the EC's decision to hold elections in the state in one go, a move, which he said, was in line with a request his party had made to the EC to ensure proper law and order situation during polls period there. "This is good, we will beat both the Akali-BJP coalition and the AAP and they will know where Punjab is standing," he added. Congress' Chief Ministerial candidate in Uttar Pradesh, Sheila Dikshit, too said the party will go for a time-bound programme in the politically crucial state and "will contest to win". BJP leader from Uttarakhand, Vijay Bahuguna, said people from the hill state were "awaiting" to throw the "corrupt and anti-people" Congress government, led by Harish Rawat. He said the party will bank on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's canvassing to gain power. American multinational mobile brand iPhone has been ranked as Indias Most Reputed Mobile Phone brand in a study by BlueBytes in association with TRA Research (both part of the Comniscient Group). In terms of sheer volume, Apple iPhone had the highest positive media appearances. The second most reputed brand in the list, despite the controversies surrounding the exploding Note 7, was South Koreas Samsung Mobiles, which had a Brand Rep Score 67% lower than the iPhone. The first Indian consumer electronics company to feature in the list and third in All-India featured Micromax with a Brand Rep Score of 94% lower than Samsung. The fourth and fifth position was secured by Chinas Xiaomi and Finlands Nokia, which recently promised a comeback in India with two Android phones. About 72 mobile phone brands were listed from 12 different countries featured in the Indias Most Reputed Mobile Phone Brands 2017 Report. Of these, Indian origin phones held the maximum positions 29 brands. As far as other brands in top 10 are concerned, Chinese multinationals Lenovo, Huawei, and Motorola (now owned by Lenovo) rank 6th, 7th, and 8th respectively. LG (South Korea) and Intex (India) completed the top 10 in this list. India's Most Reputed Mobile Phone Brands 2017 was a study conducted within the mobile phone industry with BlueBytes, analysing news of 72 mobile phone brands in all the major English and Hindi print media (newspapers and magazines) across nine cities as a representative of the news across all media. A total of more than 60,000 articles related to different mobile phone brands were captured in the period between November 1, 2015, and October 31, 2016. The Assembly polls of 2017 that were announced by the Election Commission on Wednesday will be seen as a mini referendum on Prime Minister Narendra Modis demonetisation drive that shook the country. These elections also come after his government has completed half of its five-year term. Therefore, it is a big opportunity for the Opposition, which has felt resurgent after the note ban, to regroup and find a common plank to upset the BJP in these states. A win for the BJP will boost image and morale to prepare for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. As BJP leaders say, the elections, particularly in a big state like Uttar Pradesh, can help Modi shore up his governments image. They can show that the BJP can win a major poll even after a controversial measure like demonetisation, which was described by former PM Manmohan Singh as a "monumental disaster." Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi too called it as loot of the poor to rebuff the BJPs campaign that it was against black money and corruption. In 2015, the BJP had lost the Bihar elections, which came as big blow for Modi after the 2014 parliamentary polls. This was after the AAP had swept the Delhi Assembly election in the same year. Therefore, a victory in UP and other states would be shot in the arm for PM. It will also enable the BJP in the Rajya Sabha polls when they are held to fill vacancies that will arise next year. The BJP can hope to gain majority in the upper house. On the other hand, a defeat for the BJP particularly in UP after Bihar and Delhi will be seen as a personal setback for the PM, admit party leaders. Modis vote catching power will appear to be on the decline despite the internal tussle of Mulayam Singh Yadavs family in UP and Mayawati facing a lot of problems. A defeat could fuel internal fissures in the BJP that are likely to get accentuated though an open revolt against the prime minister or party chief Amit Shah would take time to gather pace. The Congress and other opposition parties will quickly see the BJPs defeat as a proof that people have rejected demonetisation and Modis cashless initiatives. In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP won 71 seats by winning 328 (81%) of 403 Assembly segments in UP. This was unprecedented in the recent history of Uttar Pradesh elections. In terms of Assembly segments, the BJP won 253 out of the 403 constituencies with more than 40% vote share. Since then, the Samajwadi Party and Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party have tried to regain the lost ground. However, the outbreak of internal tussle in Mulayam Singh Yadavs family has dented the SPs prospects. The Congress, which is not in the pink of health in UP, is not a big player. But it hopes to form an alliance with Akhilesh Yadav if he proceeds to form his own party. For Rahul Gandhi, a defeat for Modi is more important target than any tangible benefit for the Congress. Among the five states, it is Punjab alone where the BJP does not expect a big win. It is bracing up for a heavy anti-incumbency mood among the voters as it has been in power in a coalition with the Akali Dal for the last 10 years. Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Admi Party (AAP) and the Congress under Capt Amarinder Singh are giving a tough time. However, in Uttarakhand, the BJP is confident of vanquishing the Congress government. In Manipur, the BJP finds the Congress on a defensive wicket. The political entry of activist Irom Sharmila and athlete Mary Kom have come as a big boost for the BJP. In Goa, the AAP is challenging the BJP as well as the Congress, which have taken turns to run the coastal state. Kejriwal hopes to break that cycle so that the AAP can be a kingmaker if not the real player. The Election Commission is preparing to implement the recent Supreme Court order barring invocation of religion, race, caste, community or language to seek votes in the polls. Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Nasim Zaidi told journalists that the commission would immediately implement the order of the apex court and take necessary steps so that it is strictly adhered to even during the forthcoming polls in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Goa and Manipur. The law department of the Election Commission is preparing instructions based on the Supreme Court order. The order will further strengthen the hands of the commission and it wants all political parties to follow the it on their own as well, Zaidi said after announcing the schedule of the polls in the five states. The Supreme Court on January 2 ruled that election of a candidate would be annulled if he or she had sought votes invoking religion, race, caste, community or language. The CEC was asked what would happen to the political parties with names having invocations of castes, religions or linguistic identities. He replied that the commission had in 2005 decided not to allow registration of parties by such names. The Assembly polls in the five states are going to be the first major elections after the Union government demonetised the high-value currency notes. Less black money The EC is expecting that the use of black money in the forthcoming elections would be lesser than the previous polls as a result of demonetisation. In this upcoming elections, the EC machinery will see what measures need to be taken to curb the use of black money post demonetisation. But, as per information received, the availability of black money for use in the forthcoming election is expected to be less. As the poll process picks up, we will monitor it, said Zaidi. He, however, said that the use of other illegal inducements might see a rise in the coming elections. The brazen molestation of a woman in Kammanahalli in the early hours of New Years Day, as captured by a CCTV camera, has shaken and rattled Bengaluru. The footage shows a woman, walking home after alighting from an autorickshaw, being molested by two bike-borne men at 5th main, 7th cross, Kammanahalli in eastern Bengaluru. The men also took away her purse. The incident would have remained under wraps, but for the gritty family living in the two-storeyed house where the camera was installed. The house owner learnt about the incident on the afternoon of January 1 when four girls came up to him and narrated what had happened on the night before. They requested him to check if his CCTV camera had captured the incident. The owner checked the footage and was horrified to see the incident unfold. We didnt know these girls. They told us they live a few metres ahead. They are not from Bengaluru. When we saw the video, we didnt ask the girls anything, as we were just dumbstruck. They thanked us and left. We realised they were too frightened and didnt want to talk about it, the owner told DH, requesting anonymity. But the family decided not to keep quiet. Another member of the family, who also didnt give his name, said, We decided that something should be done about it. We didnt want to just sit down and try to lie to ourselves when such a heinous crime took place right outside our house. Incidentally, the house owners son-in-law knows Srinivas T, the inspector of Hennur police station. On January 3, he called him up and told him about the footage. The inspector came over, saw the video and alerted his counterpart at the jurisdictional Banaswadi police station. The family gave the footage to police for investigation. Police and local residents lauded the family for installing the CCTV camera. A resident, Samuel, said, The building owner is a close friend of mine and he had asked me to instal a CCTV camera for my own safety. He had installed the camera just a few weeks ago. Now, we know how important a CCTV camera is. Without the CCTV camera, the incident would not have come to light. Local residents are yet to come to terms with the incident. Sheela Mary, who lives in the street where the incident took place, said, We didnt hear anything that night, though we come to check even if there is a minor disturbance outside. The street is just 10 feet wide and houses adjoin. The main road is just a few metres away. Numerous women pass through the lane daily. Now, we have to think twice before venturing out at night. A complaint has been filed with the Cubbon Park police against former Union minister and senior Congress leader C M Ibrahim, accusing him of forcibly aborting his daughter Ifas foetus. The complaint was filed on Wednesday evening by Ibrahims brother C M Khader. Ifa is married to Khaders son Faisal. The Cubbon Park police said they have started an inquiry in this regard. Khader has also accused Ibrahims son Fayiz of assaulting Faisal on December 22. My brother (Ibrahim) and his wife were in Dubai. Fayiz called my son and daughter-in-law and locked up his sister (Ifa). When my son protested, he was beaten up. There is still some swelling in his leg, Khader stated. Police sources said the assault has happened several days ago and they need to get further details in this regard. Meanwhile, the Karnataka State Commission for Women chairperson Nagalakshmi Bai on Wednesday said she has sought details from the police on the abortion suffered by Ifa. Nagalakshmi was speaking to journalists earlier in the day at Vikram Hospital here, where she came to meet Ifa after controversy erupted over allegations that her parents had forced the abortion. Nagalakshmi said Ifa was not in a condition to speak. I have written to the DCP, seeking information about the case registered against her husband, Faisal, she said. The doctors treating Ifa told me that the patient was rushed to the hospital in a critical condition as miscarriage had already happened. They did not waste time checking the patients background. They opted to save her life, she explained. Asked whether the commission would take any action, Nagalakshmi said she would wait for a response from the DCP. We want to know whether it was a forced abortion. Ifa has told the police on Wednesday morning that she would not like to give an oral statement and would give a written statement tomorrow (Thursday), she said. The Bengaluru urban district authorities on Wednesday exhumed the body of a man who died in November 2016 in Belur and was buried in Arehalli, southwest Bengaluru. According to district officials, R Manjunath (42) worked as lab technician in a government hospital where his wife Lakshmi too works as a nurse. The two fell in love and got married. On November 27, 2016, he died in Belur where his postmortem was conducted. His body was brought to Bengaluru and buried at the foot of Hanumagiri Hill in Arehalli. His brother R Shivakumar suspected foul play and lodged a complaint with the Arsikere police station demanding a thorough probe into the death. Considering the suspicious nature of the case, the matter was handed over to the Hassan Crime Branch. Meanwhile, Shivakumar brought in a court order seeking a fresh postmortem, suspecting foul play. Based on the court order, the body was exhumed on Wednesday in the presence of Bengaluru South tahsildar B M Shivakumar. The second autopsy on the body was conducted at KIMS Hospital. Details of the postmortem are yet to be known. JD(S) national president H D Deve Gowda said on Wednesday that the Centres failure to implement demonetisation scheme properly has caused a lot of inconvenience to people. The Reserve Bank of India has issued more than 60 circulars modifying rules related to the scheme repeatedly. People are struggling to withdraw their own money from banks even 50 days after the scheme was announced. This shows that the government has failed to implement the scheme, he told reporters. Gowda said Prime Minister Narendra Modi is a good orator. But he cannot solve misery of people by his oratory skills. I had initially welcomed the scheme. But it has now been proved that there was no planning on the part of the government for implementation...I am disappointed with his (Modi) December 31 address to the nation, he said. Gowda charged the Centre with misusing the CBI and suggested TMC leader Mamata Banerjee to take legal recourse over the arrest of her party MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay by the federal investigative agency. Uttara Kannada MP Ananth Kumar Hegdes assault on doctors in Sirsi has brought the focus back on the vulnerability of medical personnel. On Tuesday, Hegde thrashed two doctors and a hospital staffer, angry that his mother had been made to wait for the treatment of a fracture. Doctors, nurses, paramedical staff and even security guards fear assaults by relatives of patients in case of an unfavourable treatment outcome. Tall, muscular men walking around hospital corridors is not an uncommon sight in Mumbai, New Delhi, Pune, Hyderabad and Chennai. Fed up of the constant attacks they come under, hospitals there are hiring bouncers. They are not meant to intimidate patients but to protect doctors from physical harm. It is a costly affair, so in Maharashtra five to seven hospitals form a group and hire bouncers. When there is an alert from a hospitals, they rush there, a city doctor said. The practice is not followed in Bengaluru yet. At heart institute People barge into ICUs and when the guard tries to stop them, they attack him, said Dr C N Manjunath, director of Sri Jayadeva Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences and Research. Patients have unrealistic expectations from doctors, he reckons. Doctors are easily accessible, unlike government officials. So when something goes wrong, people immediately vent their anger on them, said Dr Veeranna, general secretary of the Indian Medical Association (IMA), Karnataka chapter. If the family believes doctors have been negligent, they should take legal recourse and complain to the authorities. Why beat them up, he wondered. Most hospitals have security guards but they stand at the entrance. If people attack the doctor in his consultation room, he has no protection, said Dr Rajashekar S Bellary, president of IMA, Karnataka. At Jayadeva Hospital, attacks were so frequent that female doctors refused to work on the night shift. To tackle this, the hospital appointed a gunman and stationed him in the Outpatient Department (OPD) during the day and the casualty ward at night. But not all hospitals can afford to hire gunmen and extra security guards, Dr Bellary said. Rural service Frequent attacks on doctors is one reason why many are reluctant to work in taluk and district hospitals, said Dr Manjunath. Such incidents are demoralising. If this goes on, common people will suffer because doctors will be scared to take up emergency cases, fearing harm, he said. The government passed the Karnataka Prohibition of Violence Against Medicare Service Personnel Act in 2009. However, doctors say it is hardly ever implemented. There is pressure on doctors and hospitals not to lodge complaints in such cases. Police try to broker a compromise because they are outnumbered by the mob, a doctor said. Hospitals display notices to inform people about the Act, and the agencies to contact in case of grievances, but this does little to deter attackers. If the police take strict action and immediately arrest the offender, people will have fear, said Dr Bellary of the Indian Medical Association. aa The Indian Medical Association is pushing for a similar Central law to protect those involved in providing medical care. The Act passed in 2009 protects doctors, nurses, trainees and other hospital staff from assaults. A visit to the BBMPs two maternity homes left Mayor G Padmavathi flabbergasted on Wednesday. The mayor carried out a sudden inspection of the Palike-run maternity homes only to come across the lack of hygiene in the hospitals and the missing doctors. She gave an earful to the medical health officers for the poor maintenance of these hospitals. The most annoying sight for the mayor was garbage littered all over the premises at Halasuru Maternity Home. Taking the garbage contractor to task, she ordered the officials to impose a penalty of Rs 50,000 on him. The mayor blasted Dr Latha who is in charge of the hospital for the untidy interiors. On noticing that the rusted operation table and racks, she directed the officials to immediately replace them. Infuriated with the pathetic condition of the hospital, Padmavathi questioned the officials, Why would anyone visit this hospital if it is so badly maintained? Is this how you keep your house? There were more shockers in store for the mayor at Murphy Town Hospital, where doctors were not present. The duty nurse too had gone to complete her personal chores. The pharmacist was playing the role of doctor by giving medicines to the patients. There was no medical or paramedical staff to look after the hospital. She directed the chief of medical officer to issue show-cause notices to the doctors why they were not present in the hospital. The mayor warned that henceforth she would not tolerate such indiscipline. A CBI special court on Wednesday posted for orders on the regular bail petition filed by S C Jayachandra, suspended chief project officer of State Highway Development Project, in the money laundering case filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). The special court heard the arguments from counsel appearing for Jayachandra and the ED and posted the matter for orders to January 7. Senior counsel C V Nagesh, appearing for the accused official, argued that the ED had kept Jayachandra in illegal detention. He contended that possession of demonetised notes as well as new currency would not amount to an offence. He cited various judgments of high courts and the Supreme Court on the issue of granting bail to those arrested under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. Jayachandras counsel also said that the bank officials concerned should be held responsible for dispensing new currency in violation of the notification issued by the Reserve Bank of India. The prosecutor, appearing for the ED, in the objection stated that the officer possessed 26 apartments besides other assets and, that they were proceeds of the crime. The ED stated that the cash, both demonetised and the new currency were part of the probe. However, Nagesh contended that though documents pertaining to the flats were recovered, the ED has so far not established that they are registered in the names of either Jayachandra or members of his family. The advocate also stated that Jayachandra has given a statement to the ED saying that the cash found in the house was part of advance money paid by three persons for a construction project. The CBI court judge Pradeep S Balekai posted the matter for orders. Jayachandra's judicial custody was extended till January 7. The CBI court had granted interim bail to Jayachandra on December 15, 2016. The ED had moved the high court seeking cancellation of the bail. The high court had directed the ED to file its objections before the CBI court in the regular bail application. Four years in the making, the Goraguntepalya Road Overbridge (RoB) along the Outer Ring Road is all set for a formal launch on January 6. Designed to decongest the ORR, the project will also ease traffic on Tumakuru Road, just in time for the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas event kicking off on Saturday. Built jointly by Bengaluru Development Authority (BDA) and South Western Railway, the RoB passes over two rail routes rendering the railway gates redundant. Frequent closures of the gates triggers massive traffic pile-ups on the busy Ring Road. The traffic police have often been at loggerheads with Railways, insisting that closure frequency cannot be increased. Perennially stuck at the gates in kilometre-long queues, ORR commuters are bound to heave a huge sigh of relief. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is expected to inaugurate the partially completed RoB on January 6, R Hithendra, Additional Commissioner of Police, Traffic, said. Two-way traffic will be allowed on the RoB, only one ramp of which is complete. SWR is expected to ready the second ramp soon. During gate closures - at least 20 times a day - the traffic pile-up extends all the way up to Tumakuru Road, a small stretch of which is part of the Ring Road. The commute from BEL Circle on ORR to Goraguntepalya now takes about an hour. The RoB is expected to make travelling on this stretch a breeze and reduce congestion at Goraguntepalya by over 50%. This, as traffic police officials point out, will benefit delegates heading to the Bangalore International Exhibition Centre, where the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas event is scheduled to be held from January 7 to 9. Once the railway gates underneath the bridge are permanently closed, train halts at Yeshwantpur railway station are likely to be reduced to three minutes. Currently, Tumakuru-bound trains are not allowed to proceed from the first three platforms till the gates are closed. Incoming trains are stuck at Chikkabanavara station. People advocating the suburban rail project say trains from the Krantivira Sangolli Rayanna city railway station can now chug into Yeshwantpur station at smaller intervals, decongesting tracks at the crowded city station. India on Wednesday asked China to hear the voice of the world and drop its policy of shielding the terror leaders based in Pakistan from United Nations sanctions. New Delhi also made it clear that it would not restart bilateral dialogue with Islamabad unless the export of anti-India terror from Pakistan and territories under control of Pakistan was stopped. We really do expect China to hear the voice of the world, not just the voice of India, on the issue of terrorism, Minister of State for External Affairs, M J Akbar, said, when a journalist asked him for New Delhis reaction to Beijings latest move to block New Delhi's bid at the United Nations to impose sanctions on Pakistan-based leader of Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) Masood Azhar. The voice of the world is heard over and over again at many fora, he added. With External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj recuperating after undergoing a kidney transplant surgery, Akbar and the other Minister of State, V K Singh, on Wednesday briefed reporters about the MEAs achievement in the two-and-a-half years tenure of the BJP government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. We hope China, as a matured and responsible nation will understand that double standards are simple self-defeating, even suicidal, said Akbar. New Delhi earlier this year made a fresh attempt to get the JeM chief designated as an international terrorist by a UN panel. All individuals and entities listed by the 1267/1989/2253 ISIL (Daesh) and Al Qaida Sanctions Committee of the UN are subjected to international sanctions, including travel restrictions and measures curbing financial transactions. Beijing, however, blocked the move by New Delhi in early April. It was only due to Chinas opposition that the UN panel had to put Indias plea on a technical hold for six months. China one of the five permanent members of the Security Council later managed to get the technical hold extended for three more months, beginning on October 1. It got the technical hold extended further on December 31. China has its own terrorist problems. China recognises them, addresses them in bilateral agreements. We hope and we are sure that China can be persuaded to see the depth and evil of this menace, Akbar said on Tuesday. Singh said that India had demonstrated its own good faith through repeated initiatives to normalise the relationship with Pakistan. However, as we have often stated, talks and terror cannot go together, added the Minister of state for external affairs. The aim of the surgical strikes that we conducted (after September 18 terror attack on Indian Army camp at Uri in Kashmir) was to convey to Pakistan that we will not countenance continued terrorism as the new normal in our relationship, he added. Those who have not heard the musical pillars of the famous Vijaya Vittala temple in Hampi, can see them at the three-day Pravasi Bharatiya Divas from January 7 to 9, at the Bengaluru International Exhibition Centre. There will six fibre glass models outside Hall Nos. 1 and 2 and at the helipad, where one can hear drum sounds by lightly tapping on the 12-foot pillars. Hariprasad G Shetty and his team of 100 creative designers, architects and artists have worked on creating these pillars. We are trying to showcase as much of Karnatakas history as possible in just three days. We have divided the whole exhibition centre into sections where we will showcase different styles of architecture of different historic locations of Karnataka, Shetty, creative director, Events and Exhibitions, Prathiroopi, told DH. Pre-cast pillars Nothing much could be seen on ground on Wednesday except for a few pillars. Shetty said that there was nothing to worry as pre-cast pillars are ready and they need to be placed at the right angles, after which final touches will be given. They are waiting for construction work to be over, since dust can mar the art works. The entrance to the exhibition centre on Tumakuru Road will showcase the Mysuru royal architecture which is the Indo-Saracenic style. The registration entrance will showcase the Hoysala architectural pillars with floral decorations on them, accompanied by a Nandi statue. Hall No. 3, which is the main hall where Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Pranab Mukherjee will address the diaspora, will have two entrances - one for the Prime Minister and President and the other for delegates. There will also be a crafts bazaar at the entrance and the exhibition halls. There will be two Yakshagana mock-ups and floral decorations. Where can one get the best piping hot idli-vada combo in Bengaluru? Which is the best place to savour masala dosa? Where can one get the best silk sarees and which is the best outlet to buy sandalwood sculptures ? Where can I chill out with some cold beer? These are some of the queries being posed by Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) who have registered for the three-day Pravasi Bharatiya Divas being held in Bengaluru from January 7. The delegates are also seeking information from the organisers on the best way to explore Bengaluru and also tourist attractions around the state capital. According to official sources, the state government has been sending e-mails to the registered delegates about the rich heritage, culture and delicacies of the state besides places where they can explore the sights and sounds of Karnataka. The sources said several delegates have replied to the e-mails stating that they will utilise the opportunity of their stay in the city to savour Bengalurus special delicacies including idli-vada and masala dosa. Minister of State for Tourism Priyank Kharge said his department will offer Bengaluru-circuit tours to delegates taking them to tourist attractions such as Lalbagh, Cubbon Park, Bannerghatta Biological Park among others. Special tours to the Nandi Hills, Savanadurga and longer duration tours to Kodagu, Bandipur, Nagarahole besides heritage packages will also offered, Kharge said. We have roped in Karnataka State Development Tourism Corporation and the Jungle Lodges and Resorts to make the necessary arrangements, the minister said. Confusion over common counselling for allocation of seats in medical and dental colleges prevails as the government and private colleges failed to reach a consensus over the issue. Dr Sharan Prakash Patil, Minister for Medical Education, held a discussion with representatives of private medical colleges to discuss the issue of counselling. The governments proposal to have the Karnataka Examinations Authority (KEA) conduct common counselling was not accepted by private colleges. For entrance to medical and dental colleges, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) conducts a common National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET). Recently, the Medical Council of India (MCI) sent a circular to the government, recommending that the state government should conduct common counselling after the rank list is announced, if possible. Patil tried to convince the board members of private colleges who attended the meeting that common counselling would be beneficial for students and this was the practice in many others states. The private college representatives, however, did not accept the proposal. Common counselling Last year, the government tried to conduct common counselling for seats in the all-India quota based on NEET ranks, but private colleges opposed the move. As a result, KEA, Comed-K, religious and linguistic minority colleges and six deemed universities conducted individual counselling. Students had to apply for each counselling separately. Representatives of the colleges said that they wanted to have control over the counselling at least. They said they would have discussions among themselves before deciding on the issue. Another meeting will be held soon with the college representatives and the government before taking a call, they said. The outbreak of Kyasanur Forest Disease (KFD), commonly known as moneky fever, in Thirthahalli taluk has triggered anxiety among people of Malnad region. A source in the Health Department said that eight KFD cases have been reported in the taluk so far. The laboratory based in Manipal, Udupi district, has confirmed that all the eight persons are affected by KFD after examining their blood samples. The department has started mobile health care units comprising doctors, which will visit villages where a large number of people are suffering from fever and administer vaccine to them. Blood samples of such persons are being sent to laboratories based in Manipal and Pune for medical examination. Taluk health officer Kiran told DH that KFD cases are reported in Chiduva, Kodige and Nellisara under Kudumallige gram panchayat. People who visit forest frequently have been directed to apply oil on their body given by the department. KFD cases are reported when the temperature is high. People should get vaccinated against KFD, he said. Seven people have been displaced after a Monday afternoon fire in a two-story home in Harrisburg. Firefighters from Harrisburg and Junction City responded at around 3:06 p.m. Monday to heavy smoke and fire coming from an add-on room to the main structure of the house in the 500 block of Seventh Street in Harrisburg, according to a press release from Harrisburg Fire & Rescue. Crews were able to extinguish the fire, but the blaze caused fire and smoke damage to the add-on room. Firefighter Mike Christensen said Tuesday that the fire also caused smoke damage to the entire home. The cause of the fire remains under investigation, and there were no reported injuries. Representatives with the American Red Cross responded Tuesday to provide temporary housing, food, clothing and comfort kits to the six adults and one child displaced by the fire, according to a release from the Red Cross. The Red Cross in Oregon and Southwest Washington serving the Cascades Region helps an average of three families affected by disasters such as house fires every day, according to the release. Google announced its Digital Unlocked programme and My Business Websites for SMBs in India to come online. Google has announced its Digital Unlocked skills programme in India today. In an SMB-focused event in Delhi, the company announced two new initiatives, including My Business Websites and Digital Unlocked. Google CEO, Sundar Pichai, revealed a joint study with KPMG, which says 68 percent of Indias 51 million SMBs are not online right now. According to the study, this is because of lack of technical skills, and understanding of the benefits of technology The Google Digital Unlocked training programme is aimed at bringing these SMBs online, teaching them essential skills for the same. The programme has been built online, offline and mobile platforms, says Google. While offline training will be provided over the next three years in partnership with FICCI, online training is through 90 video tutorials that Google has released. You can find these on g.co/digitalunlocked. FICCIs offline training program will include 5000 workshops, spread over 40 Indian cities. The training programs are certified by Google, FICCI and the Indian School of Business (ISB). To access Googles Digital Unlocked training programmes, users will have to download a mobile app called Primer, which is on iOS and Android right now. It provides access to the videos, is available in English and Hindi, and works offline. Google says support for Tamil, Marathi and Telugu is to be added soon. Those interested can also visit the digital Unlocked website to get details of the location of workshops. The announcement evet also saw Union IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad reiterate the governments digital initiatives, including the recently launched BHIM payments app. The minister also encouraged Google to help improve the country's cyber security situation, saying that Google is as much an Indian company as it is American. Further, Googles My Business Websites will be launched later this year. This service will allow businesses to create websites optimised for mobile viewing, for free. Businesses will also be able to use photos from Google Maps, and the service will be available in English, Hindi, Telugu, Marathi, Bengali, Tamil, Gujarati, Urdu, Kannada and Malayalam. You can watch the entire event in our live video below. It's a new year and Samsung can finally leave last year's nightmare behind. But CES has never really been about phones for this company. Over the past couple of years, Samsung has unveiled its newest TV technology in this event. Sure enough, the new QLED TVs lead the product line this year, while there is a generous helping of smartphones, smart home products, and even some tablets. Samsung QLED TVs The company claims its new Q7, Q8 and Q9 TVs can reproduce 100% colour volume, meaning they can represent all colours at different brightness levels, between 1500 to 2000 nits. The TVs still use Samsungs Quantum Dot technology, along with its new Smart TV Hub. The Hub will tailor content based on your viewing habits. Samsung FlexWash and FlexDry Laundry System This is Samsungs newest take on the washing machine. The FlexWash unit can wash two loads at the same time, meaning you can wash your white clothes and coloured clothes at the same time, without having to fear spoilage. Similarly, the FlexDry system allows drying two loads at the same time. Together, they make for a 4-in-1 system and can be controlled using Samsungs Smart Home app on an Android or iOS powered device. Samsung Galaxy A3, A5 and A7 All these devices run on octa-core SoCs, along with the design language Samsung followed on its flagship series in 2016. The Galaxy A5 and A7 have 16MP cameras on the front and back, while the Galaxy A3 has a 13MP rear and 8MP front camera. Needless to say, the A3 will be the budget offering, if and when these come to India. Samsung Galaxy Note Pro and Tab Pro tablets This ones interesting. Samsungs new Galaxy Note Pro tablet runs on the Snapdragon 800 SoC, clocked at 2.26GHz, and a 12.2 inch QHD screen. For some reason, Samsung decided to run its Magazine UX on Android 4.4 Kitkat on this one. The Galaxy Tab Pro on the other hand, is available in 8.4, 10.1 and 12.2 inch screen sizes. Of these, the 10.1 and 8.4 inch models have 2GB of RAM, while the 12.2 inch variant runs on 3GB of RAM. The basic difference between this and the Note Pro, though, is that the S-Pen isnt included on the Tab Pro. Samsung H7 Wireless Speaker, Soundbar, UHD Blu-ray Player All of these devices support Samsungs Ultra High Quality audio feature. This, apparently, produces 32 bit audio from any source that is available in 8-24 bit quality. This is of course done algorithmically, but is supposed to be even closer to the source than regular 32-bit audio. The Samsung H7 Wireless Speaker has even won the CES 2017 Innovation Award this year, with its bass response down to 35 Hz. Samsung Family HUB 2.0 This is the second iteration of Samsungs Family HUB 2.0 smart refrigerator. Samsung claims it has added new app partners, increased the number of models from four to 10, and added enhanced usability along with better app integration. What does all this mean? Well let you know when we actually get to see it! Samsung Powerbot VR7000 Robot Fridges, washing machines and now robots, the Samsung Powerbot VR7000 is a home cleaning robot thats less than 4 inches tall. Samsung claims its 28% slimmer than the earlier models as well. Samsung Quantum Dot Curved Monitor Samsung had announced its new CH711 Quantum Dot Curved monitor will be showcased at CES 2017. When the showfloor opens, this should be one of the big attraction for gamers. A1000 English > + Compare + Compare 13-May-2016 Market Status : DISCONTINUED Expected Date : 14 Feb, 2013 Official Website : Xolo Key Specifications Screen Size 5" (720 x 1280) Camera 8 | 1.2 MP Memory 4 GB/1 GB Battery 2100 mAh Variant/(s) Color A1000 Price in India: 13,499 set price drop alert See All Prices A1000 Alternatives Overview Specs Photos Alternatives User Reviews A1000 Full Specifications Basic Information Manufacturer : Lava Model : Xolo A1000 Launch date (global) : 15-02-2013 Operating system : Android OS version : 4.1 Type : Smartphone Status : Available Colors : default Product Name : Xolo A1000 Display Screen size (in inches) : 5 Display technology : IPS LCD Capacitive touchscreen Screen resolution (in pixels) : 720 x 1280 Pixel Density (PPI) : 294 Scratch Resistant Glass : No Camera Rear Camera Megapixel : 8 Maximum Video Resolution (in pixels) : N/A Front Camera Megapixel : 1.2 Front Facing Camera : Yes LED Flash : Yes Video Recording : Yes Geo-tagging : No Digital Zoom : No Autofocus : Yes Touch Focus : No Face Detection : No HDR : No Panorama Mode : No Battery Battery capacity (mAh) : 2100 Talk time (in hours) : 14 Removal Battery (Yes/No) : N/A Sensors And Features Multi touch : No Light Sensor : No Proximity Sensor : Yes G (Gravity) Sensor : No Finger print sensor : No Orientation Sensor : No Accelerometer : Yes Compass : Yes Barometer : No Magnetometer : No Gyroscope : No Dust proof and water resistant : No Connectivity SIM : Dual 3G Capability : Yes 4G Capability : N/A Wifi Capability : Yes Wifi HotSpot : Yes Bluetooth : N/A NFC : N/A GPS : Yes DLNA : N/A HDMI : N/A Technical Specifications CPU : Mediatek MT6577 CPU speed : 1 Ghz Processor cores : Dual RAM : 1 GB GPU : N/A Dimensions (lxbxh- in mm) : 143.5 x 70.8 x 8.8 Weight (in grams) : N/A Storage : 4 GB removable storage (yes or no) : Yes removable storage (included) : N/A removable storage (maximum) : 32 GB Error or missing information? Please let us know. A1000 Brief Description A1000 Smartphone 5 IPS LCD Capacitive touchscreen 720 x 1280 294 . 1 Ghz Dual 1 GB . A1000 Android 4.1 . : A1000 Smartphone February 2013 Dual Smartphone Mediatek MT6577 . 1 GB . 4 GB . A1000 Smartphone 5 IPS LCD Capacitive touchscreen 720 x 1280 294 . 1 Ghz Dual 1 GB . A1000 Android 4.1 . : A1000 Smartphone February 2013 Dual Smartphone Mediatek MT6577 . 1 GB . 4 GB . 32 GB . 2100 . A1000 : ,GPS,Wifi,HotSpot, 8 .. . A1000 s :Auto Focus,,Video Recording 1.2 Read More A1000 FAQs What is the starting price of A1000 ? The starting price of A1000 is 13,499 for the base variant with 1 GB 4 GB. What is the screen size of A1000 ? The A1000 features a 5 inches IPS LCD Capacitive touchscreen with 720 x 1280 resolution. What is the Battery capacity of A1000 ? The A1000 has a 2100 mAh battery. What is RAM size of A1000 ? The A1000 is available with 1 GB sizes to choose from. What is Storage capacity of A1000 ? The A1000 is available with 4 GB sizes to choose from. Disclaimer: Digit, like all other media houses, gives you links to online stores which contain embedded affiliate information, which allows us to get a tiny percentage of your purchase back from the online store. We urge all our readers to use our Buy button links to make their purchases as a way of supporting our work. If you are a user who already does this, thank you for supporting and keeping unbiased technology journalism alive in India. Specialist agricultural and distribution business NWF Group has announced the appointment of Christopher James Belsham as its new group finance director with effect from June. As group FD, Belsham will work closely with the experienced divisional and central finance teams and support the board in delivering the group's strategic goals. Belsham qualified as a chartered accountant in 1999 with PwC before joining KPMG Corporate Finance where he spent 15 years working on a broad range of transactions for both public and private companies across the UK. In 2014, he joined Irwin Mitchell as an Equity Partner and Head of Corporate Finance, responsible for leading on strategic acquisitions for the business. Chief executive Richard Whiting said: I am delighted that Chris will be joining us. He is someone I have worked with previously in his advisory capacity and I look forward to his excellent knowledge and expertise benefitting the group going forward." At 0823 GMT, the shares were down 0.6% to 175p. United States oil corporation ExxonMobil has agreed to cut all ties with former CEO Rex Tillerson as he prepares to step into Donald Trump's administration as Secretary of State, subject to Senate approval. The agreement was made in order to avoid a potential conflict of interest, with Tillerson's two million deferred shares in Exxon being transferred to an independent trust to manage. The shares have a value of $182m at the company's current market value. Tillerson also agreed to sell the 600,000 Exxon shares he currently owns, the company confirmed. In a statement released by ExxonMobil on Wednesday, it said that the total value of compensation of Tillerson's that will be reduced is $7m. Tillerson retired from Exxon after working for the company for more than four decades, but is expected to receive stern scrutiny from the Senate before he is confirmed for the top job of Secretary of State. Many commentators have criticised Trump's choice of Tillerson, among others, as it appears to contradict his campaign promise of "draining the swamp" of Wall Street interest from Washington. The former oil boss has also been in the spotlight for his warm relationship with Russian president Vladimir Putin through business connections. Trump himself has also been accused of cosying up to Putin during his election campaign, as well as after US intelligence officials concluded that Russia had attempted to influence the result of the presidential election. US carmaker Tesla Motors fell 3,000 cars short of reaching its 2016 target of 80,000 to 90,000 total cars delivered after production glitches with its new Model X SUV. Elon Musk's company delivered 22,200 vehicles during the final quarter of the year, but it was not enough to meet the firm's year-end goal. Last autumn Tesla blamed "short-term challenges starting at the end of October and lasting through early December" relating to its self-driving technology Autopilot. Tesla's share price finished 1.5% higher on Tuesday, and shot up 2.53% to $222.49 when markets opened on Wednesday. When the company's actual production numbers are considered, Tesla did hit its target by producing 83,922 vehicles in the year, an increase of 64$ from 2015, but almost 3,000 did not make it to customers due to transportation issues. Chief executive officer Musk has said that the innovative car company's goal is to make electric vehicles more affordable to a mass market, with its current models generally pricing at least six figures. The company's new Model 3 Sedan is his hope to bridge that gap, with starting prices for the vehicle beginning at $35,000. Last year was a busy year for Tesla, with an advance in its Autopilot technology attracting both praise and criticism from those in the industry. A driver was killed in Florida last year while using the partly-autonomous technology, although Tesla denied that Autopilot was the cause of the driver's death. Former conservative minister Iain Duncan Smith has accused the resigning British ambassador to the European Union Sir Ivan Rogers of being untrustworthy, after the envoy's controversial exit. Sir Ivan Rogers penned a 1,400-word resignation letter which was leaked on Tuesday, with the ambassador launching a thinly-veiled attack on Theresa May's government. Duncan Smith told Sky News that it was the right decision for Rogers to resign, and suggested that he had problems working under the authority of government ministers. "This is now the second time it may actually prove that ministers may well be right to say that they weren't prepared perhaps to trust him quite the way they would have done with others," he said. It is a critical time in the realm of British diplomacy, with the government preparing to invoke Article 50 and begin the formal negotiations for an exit from the EU, following last June's referendum. The Conservative poltician pointed out his belief that civil servants in general would have to become accustomed to the fact that the British people have spoken. "They are now having to accept and understand that we are leaving and that means therefore sometimes the views and the opinions of what you keep feeding back from various member states isn't actually sometimes quite relevant," Duncan Smith added. Meanwhile, a former head of the Foreign Office has lamented the departure of Rogers, who had been described as one of the "greatest experts" that Britain had in the lead up to the Brexit negotiations. Sir Simon Fraser served as permanent secretary of the Foreign Office from 2010 to 2015, and described Rogers' exit as a significant loss. "I do think that his sort of in-depth knowledge and expertise is a loss as we go into what is going to be, as David Davis himself has said, a very complex set of negotiations," Fraser told BBC Radio 4's Today programme. Stocks in London were little changed at the open after hitting fresh record highs in the previous session, with clothing retailer Next under pressure as it cut its profit guidance. At 0830 GMT, the FTSE 100 was flat at 7,174.28. Meanwhile, oil prices advanced, with West Texas Intermediate up 0.8% to $52.76 a barrel and Brent crude 0.9% firmer at $55.96. On Tuesday, the index kicked off the new year with a fresh record high, buoyed by encouraging manufacturing data out of China. The FTSE broke through 7,200 for the first time intraday, reaching a record high of 7,205.21 and ending the day at 7,177.89. Rebecca OKeeffe, head of investment at stockbroker Interactive Investor, said: European equities are attempting to follow Asian gains overnight, although contagion from Next's results on both its share price and the overall retail sector is slowing the FTSE 100 down. Seen as a bellwether for the sector and following on from a poor 2016, Next is struggling against a backdrop of anaemic demand and rising import prices. Across the UK market, investors need to start to face up to the additional challenges associated with the long and tortuous Brexit process. So far, this has mainly involved winners and losers from a weak pound. As 2017 unfolds, however, the effects are likely to be felt more widely across the UK economy. Sectoral volatility across the UK markets is therefore likely to remain high in the weeks and months ahead. Next tumbled to its lowest level for more than three and a half years after downgrading its profit guidance for the full year and warning of another challenging year ahead as sales over the key Christmas period slipped 0.4% on last year. Management's central profit guidance for the full year has been cut to 792m from the previous 785-825m range where the central point was 805m. Fellow retailers Marks & Spencer and Primark owner Associated British Foods were also weaker. Carillion nudged a touch lower after announcing that one of its joint ventures, Al Futtaim Carillion, had been awarded a 160m contract for phase 1A6 of the One Central development by the Dubai World Trade Centre. Medical products company ConvaTec was also just a smidge weaker as it said it has bought Dutch ostomy appliances manufacturer, EuroTec Beheer for 25m in order to strengthen its position in the France and Benelux markets. Ultra Electronics slipped despite winning a 9.7m contract extension with the Royal Navy. On the upside, Royal Dutch Shell ticked up after RBC Capital Markets upgraded the stock to outperform from sector perform. Ryanair flew a little higher after the budget carrier said traffic surged 20% in December from the same month last year to 9m customers. Eastern and Central Europe-focused budget airline Wizz Air was also in the black after it said passenger numbers grew by 23% in December. B&M European Value Retail rallied as it said revenue in the third quarter rose to 789.1m from 647.8m the year before. Aggreko edged up after saying it has been awarded a contract to the official temporary electricity generation provider for the Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018. On the data front, UK construction PMI and mortgage approvals are at 0930 GMT. In the US, the ADP employment report is at 1315 GMT, while the FOMC minutes are at 1900 GMT. Market Movers FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,174.28 -0.05% FTSE 250 (MCX) 18,139.22 -0.01% techMARK (TASX) 3,373.25 -0.10% FTSE 100 - Risers Barratt Developments (BDEV) 474.10p 1.96% Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 234.60p 1.56% Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 157.50p 1.29% Standard Chartered (STAN) 685.90p 1.20% Provident Financial (PFG) 2,892.00p 1.12% Barclays (BARC) 234.35p 1.06% Antofagasta (ANTO) 696.50p 0.94% Royal Mail (RMG) 465.70p 0.78% Persimmon (PSN) 1,773.00p 0.74% Shire Plc (SHP) 4,794.50p 0.72% FTSE 100 - Fallers Next (NXT) 4,181.00p -12.35% Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 327.90p -4.82% Associated British Foods (ABF) 2,599.00p -4.13% Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 1,843.00p -2.44% Tesco (TSCO) 202.50p -1.77% Kingfisher (KGF) 337.70p -1.26% National Grid (NG.) 931.50p -1.18% Severn Trent (SVT) 2,196.00p -1.17% ITV (ITV) 205.70p -1.11% United Utilities Group (UU.) 889.00p -1.06% FTSE 250 - Risers B&M European Value Retail S.A. (DI) (BME) 289.20p 4.40% McCarthy & Stone (MCS) 163.10p 2.58% Redefine International (RDI) 39.07p 2.55% esure Group (ESUR) 205.90p 1.93% Sophos Group (SOPH) 264.00p 1.93% Shawbrook Group (SHAW) 276.40p 1.84% Virgin Money Holdings (UK) (VM.) 307.80p 1.75% OneSavings Bank (OSB) 343.80p 1.69% Man Group (EMG) 123.00p 1.65% Redrow (RDW) 431.90p 1.60% FTSE 250 - Fallers Bovis Homes Group (BVS) 783.00p -4.57% Debenhams (DEB) 52.90p -3.91% Elementis (ELM) 273.90p -1.97% Brown (N.) Group (BWNG) 208.30p -1.75% Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 2,790.00p -1.59% Brewin Dolphin Holdings (BRW) 298.00p -1.59% Atkins (WS) (ATK) 1,448.00p -1.43% Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 886.00p -1.34% Cranswick (CWK) 2,305.00p -1.28% PZ Cussons (PZC) 337.70p -1.26% Women starting out their careers in their 20s are benefitting from a lower gender pay gap of just 5%, but will face wage setbacks later on in their adult lives when they have children, according to the Resolution Foundation. The effect of women earning less in their 30s is that they will still earn significantly less than their male counterparts over their careers. The think tanks analysis tracks the typical hourly pay of different generations of women over the course of their careers compared to men. The research shows that the gender pay gap has closed for every subsequent generation of women due to the rise in the number of women in higher education, giving them the ability to break into high-paying industries and occupations. Further challenges, however, remain with the pay penalty associated with having children. In their 20s, baby boomers (born between 1946 and 1965) experienced a pay gap of 16%, which fell to 9% for generation X (born between 1966 and 1980) and then to 5% for millennials (born between 1981 and 2000). In their 30s, this gap rose to 21% for the baby boomers, 10% for generation X and 9% for millennials. Laura Gardiner, Senior Policy Analyst at the Resolution Foundation, said: Young women today face relatively little disadvantage in terms of their pay packets compared to what their parents and grandparents generation faced. But while many millennial women havent experienced much of a pay gap yet, most probably will once they reach their 30s, when they start having children. Whats more this pay penalty is big and long-lasting, and remains for younger generations despite the progress in early careers. Companies with over 250 employees will have to disclose how much they are paying their male and female staff starting next year. To say that 2016 was a memorable year for Linn County commissioners Roger Nyquist, John Lindsey and Will Tucker would be an understatement. The trio of elected officials initiated a $1.4 billion breach-of-contract lawsuit against the Oregon Department of Forestry and also sued the state of Oregon over its new mandatory paid sick leave law. And Nyquist, who was elected to his fifth term in November, said those suits represent the crux of the countys key issue in 2017: Balancing a budget that grows by about 3 percent per year with salary and benefit costs that increase 5 to 7 percent annually. We need to change the trend of our budget, he said. Were fortunate that the Budget Committee has worked very hard, and I would like to think that all of our employees are taking a fiscally responsible approach to how we do things, but we can only continue so long with this type of overhang that began in the 1990s. Nyquist who retained his chairmanship on the board Tuesday with the support of Tucker and Lindsey said the welcome mid-valley upturn in housing construction is reflected in increased workflow for the Planning and Building Department, which had reduced staffing during the recession. [Department director] Robert Wheeldon has approval to hire a couple people, and I believe hes in the process of interviewing applicants, he said. The county is bracing for a 3-percent increase in its PERS contribution, which would amount to more than $1.3 million, Nyquist said, and payments from the Oregon Department of Forestry continue to fall. Ultimately, Nyquist said, the biggest question that will affect the county is what the state Legislature and the U.S. Congress do in terms of budgeting. The county could benefit greatly from state and federal transportation packages, Nyquist said. A key project would make improvements to Interstate 5 from Highway 20 to the Jefferson exit. It would cost hundreds of millions, he said. We need to make sure we are in a position to act if money becomes available. The county will continue to move forward with the development of a Justice Center in the former Albany Police Department building, once the city has completed the latter's new home, Nyquist said. This proposed center would house the Linn County Circuit Court and perhaps the District Attorneys office. The action is being considered in part due to discussions about the need for increased security at the courthouse, especially the third floor's Circuit Court. Many other county courthouses require visitors to pass through metal detectors. The commissioners have been hesitant to create such a process locally, believing citizens have the right to conduct business with little interference. A Justice Center also would eliminate the issue of courthouse wedding ceremony attendees being within proximity of inmates going to or from courtrooms. In October 2015, the commissioners announced plans to purchase the 5-acre National Guard armory near the Linn County Fairgrounds along with the Albany Police Department building for $1.75 million and completed the transaction in 2016. The properties had a combined total estimated value of $2.73 million. The Police Department was assessed at $1.18 million and the armory at $1.55 million. The commissioners will also continue to explore the potential development of a regional National Guard compound on county-owned property at Seven Mile Lane south of Albany. The thinking is that this could become a complex at which units from Albany, Corvallis, Springfield and elsewhere could drill on a regional basis. On another matter, Nyquist continues to believe programs that provide young people with job skills that fit local needs are vital and beneficial. Janet Steele and the folks at the Albany Chamber of Commerce are doing a great job working with (Linn-Benton Community College) and area high schools, he said. Its important that our young people train for the right skills that mesh with the type of jobs local industries will have available. Nyquist believes that for a few years, workforce education and job resources were not in sync. One of the bright spots were seeing in the county is that employers are ramping up, he said. They are putting Linn County citizens to work, many of whom have been unemployed or underemployed for some time. The Competition and Markets Authority has expressed concerns about Mastercards takeover of VocaLink Holdings, which runs Bacs, Faster Payments and Link cashpoint services. In particular, the watchdog said the deal could lead to competition issues with the LINK ATM network, which is run by VocaLink. It said the merger would reduce the number of bidders and limit the ability of the LINK scheme to obtain good value when tendering for an infrastructure provider. The companies now have until 11 January to offer a remedy to address the competition concerns identified and avoid the merger being referred for an in-depth investigation. Andrea Coscelli, acting chief executive of the CMA and decision maker in this case, said: The LINK ATM network provides an essential service for millions of customers. Its important that LINK has a good choice of providers when it comes to supplying the necessary infrastructure so it can take advantage of the opening up of payment systems to competition. These concerns warrant a closer investigation in the event that Mastercard cannot address them at this stage. The CMA said it does not have any concerns in the provision of payment infrastructure services to Bacs or FPS since there are many credible alternatives to VocaLink and Mastercard. Mastercard said on Wednesday that it welcomed the CMAs decision. The thoroughness of the CMAs review reflects the significance of this deal and its potential for the industry. In its announcement, the CMA noted that it has no concerns related to providing payment infrastructure services to Bacs or the Faster Payments Service. Were pleased to have the opportunity to address their one concern, regarding the LINK ATM scheme, in the timeframe provided. This acquisition promises to bring greater choice and innovation to the payment ecosystem, enabling people, governments and businesses to pay the way they want to pay. Three changes were made this month to the broker's top picks. In the smaller company portfolio, esure replaced Lancashire, Rathbones replaced IPF and Hilton foods was added to the list. In the larger company portfolio Britvic replaced Greencore and Johnson Matthey and Petrofac were added. In building and construction, its larger company pick was Bellway, rated at buy with a price target of 3,091p. Our analysis shows that Bellway's land buying, production and regional expansion will support substantial volume growth from here against what we see as a supportive market backdrop. Furthermore, we think that forecasts are set at a conservative level and upgrade momentum will continue to be towards the top-end of the sector. Polypipe was its smaller company pick, which was downgraded to add from buy with a price target of 330p. The broker felt the company has a broad-based exposure to UK construction activity with a track record of outperforming its markets. This and its strong operational gearing and relatively clean balance sheet will lead to earnings outperformance, according to Numis. For capital goods, FTSE 100 company GKN was chosen for the top tier index category with a buy rating and a price target of 390p. Restructuring, lack of start-up costs and currencies give the group an inherently higher starting point for 2017. For its small company category it has gone with Renishaw, with an add rating and a price target of 3,000p. The companys full year results for 2016 showed a strong core Metrology business, partly offset by a weaker performance in Healthcare. For chemicals, Johnson Matthey has replaced Victrex as its top pick, with an add rating and a price target of 3,754p. According to the broker, the company now offers the best upside scope on the basis of its price targets for the stocks researched. In the fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) sector, Britvic got the larger company spot, rated at buy with a price target of 574p. Tough markets, higher input costs and a looming UK sugar levy are some of the major factors overhanging the share price. Hilton food got the small company spot, rated at buy with a price target of 766p. The HFG track record has been an exemplary one and growth has been entirely organic based. Hallmarks of this stock have been consistent strong cash generation and successful business wins with both new and existing customers. In healthcare, BTG was its large company pick, rated at buy with a target price of 900p. We have noted an explosion of scientific and clinical progress in the field using innovative procedures that leverage significant investment in imaging, are less invasive than surgery, safer than drugs and more profitable for hospitals. Clinigen was its small company pick, with a buy rating and a 933p price target. The analysts believe the company can exploit ongoing market trends and its current strong competitive advantages to grow to a multiple of its current size. For Life Insurance, it has gone with FTSE 250 company JRP group, with a buy rating and target price of 150p. The companys management has delivered a merger, generated higher than expected cost savings, increased overall sales and answered questions on capital adequacy, growth prospects and new business pricing. In the media industry, DMGT gets the large company spot with a buy rating and price target 970p, after it reported a good set of 2016 results ahead of Numis estimates. Huntsworth gets the small company pick with buy rating and 53p price target, with its interim results encouraging in most areas and profit before tax in line with expectations. In mining, FTSE 100 listed Randgold Resources was picked along with AIM listed Pan African Resources. The broker retained its buy rating for Randgold Resources but bumped up its price target to 9,000p from 8,500p. Pan African Resources was rated buy with a price target of 32p. The broker feels the South African miner is well established with its three mines and three re-treatment operations. It also added that it has achieved a solid set of first half results after facing a number of operational challenges in 2015. Other sector top picks were non-life insurance- Admiral and esure, oil & gas- Petrofac, packaging- RPC Group, real estate-Derwent and UNITE, retail-B&M European Retail and Lookers, speciality Finance- Schroders Non-voting and Rathbones. Support services- Atkins and Northgate, Technology- accesso, Travel & Leisure- SSP group and the gym group. Overall since Numis started its top picks portfolio in the beginning of 2013, the larger company portfolio has performed better than the smaller companies. The large company portfolio return for 2016 was 35% ahead of the FTSE 350 compared to the small company return, which was at -7.7% compared to the benchmark of 12%. Defence and security firm Ultra Electronics has won a contract extension from the Royal Navy for the supply of sonobuoys that it said is worth 9.7m. The FTSE 250 companys command and sonar systems sonobuoy facility in Greenford, Middlesex was awarded a contract extension to supply sonobuoys for the Royal Navy's Merlin Mk2 maritime patrol helicopter fleet. The contract extension builds on its initial contract won in 2015 and enables the company to support technology capability insertion and international collaboration in the future. It also ensures that the Royal Navy can maintain anti-submarine warfare surveillance capability against hostile submarines. Ultra's chief executive, Rakesh Sharma, said: "Our long-standing partnership with the Merlin project team has allowed us to sustain and further develop the nation's airborne anti-submarine warfare capability, preserving a key battle-winning advantage for UK armed forces." 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. Police charge suspect who fired at police, was shot in exchange Barry G. Brandt, 74, died Saturday, Dec. 24, 2016, at his Monroe home. DeMoss-Durdan Funeral Home is handling arrangements. Dorothy F. Buckingham, 91, formerly of Corvallis, died Monday, Dec. 26, 2016, in Monroe. DeMoss-Durdan Funeral Home is handling arrangements. Wallace "Wally" Christianson, 96, of Corvallis died Saturday, Dec 31, at Corvallis Caring Place. McHenry Funeral Home is handling arrangements. Jessie I. Clayton, 95, of Scio died Jan. 1 at the Samaritan Albany General Hospital. Huston-Jost Funeral Home is handling arrangements. Lois Ann Coonrod, 78, died Monday, Dec. 26, 2016, at her Corvallis home. DeMoss-Durdan Funeral Home is handling arrangements. Janette I. Coughran, 52, of Albany died Sunday at her home. AAsum-Dufour Funeral Home is handling arrangements. Isabella M. Elliot, 90, died Monday, Jan. 2, 2017, at her Corvallis home. DeMoss-Durdan Funeral Home & Crematory is handling arrangements. Lois Fenner, 82, of Corvallis died Monday, Jan 2. McHenry Funeral Home is handling arrangements. Ron N. Guffnett, 77, of Albany died Dec. 31, 2016. AAsum-Dufour Funeral Home is handling arrangements. Eilleen L. Hansen, 89, died Sunday, Jan. 1 in Monroe. McHenry Funeral Home is handling arrangements. Christopher Hayward, 70, of Albany died at his home on Sunday. Services are pending. Fisher Funeral Home is handling arrangements. Harold E. Jenson, 86, of Lebanon died Jan. 2 at Providence St. Vincent Hospital in Portland. Huston-Jost Funeral Home is handling arrangements. Michael David Tolley, 72 of Albany, passed away on Friday, Dec. 30, 2016. AAsum-Dufour Funeral Home is handling arrangements. Gloria June Wallach, 93, of Philomath died in Corvallis on Saturday, Dec 31. McHenry Funeral Home is handling arrangements. Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed. Morality cannot be legislated, but behavior can be regulated. Judicial decrees may not change the heart, but they can restrain the heartless. A right delayed is a right denied.Like an unchecked cancer, hate corrodes the personality and eats away its vital unity. Hate destroys a man's sense of values and his objectivity. It causes him to describe the beautiful as ugly and the ugly as beautiful, and to confuse the true with the false and the false with the true. Martin Luther King Jr. No one is born hating another person People must learn to hate and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite. Nelson Mandela We can disagree and still love each other, unless your disagreement is rooted in my oppression and denial of my humanity and right to exist James Baldwin There is a fine line between free speech and hate speech. Free speech encourages debate whereas hate speech incites violence. Newton Lee The world will not be destroyed by those who do evil, but by those who watch them without doing anything. Albert Einstein India the world's largest importer of military hardware is now turning its eye to exports. Indian defence exports will touch $2 billion (about Rs13,500 crore) six times the current level - by 2019, defence minister Manohar Parrikar said at a Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) function in New Delhi on Tuesday. India exported Rs1,100 crore worth of defence equipment in 2013-14, and Rs1,582 crore in 2014-15. In 2016, Indian defence equipment exports stood at Rs2,060 crore. India is looking at countries like Vietnam, Mauritius, Bangladesh, the Philippines, Afghanistan and Oman to export defence equipment. The items that India is looking to export include bridging equipment, missiles, warships, off-Shore patrol vessels (OPVs), and self-propelled artillery guns (SP Guns), the defence minister said, adding that Oman is keen to import border fencing equipment from India. Indian-made OPVs are already guarding Mauritian waters and it is in the process of finalising sale of warships to Vietnam. Asked whether India will export the Brahmos supersonic cruise missiles to Vietnam, the defence minister said, "Vietnam is a friend, I will not confirm the nature of the missiles to be exported. We are, however, helping build capabilities." Earlier, Vietnam had shown keen interest in buying the Brahmos from India. Exporting defence equipment will have diplomatic ramifications. For instance, Pakistan is unlikely to be happy with India exporting defence platforms to Afghanistan. Similarly, Indian-made warships and missiles in the Vietnamese armoury are likely to unsettle Beijing. "India has developed a lot of equipment and technologies but no one really applied their mind to export them," the defence minister said. "The private sector has developed artillery guns and once needs of the Indian Army is met, these can be exported." The rise in export of defence equipments is despite the list of items included in the "defence equipment list" being cropped. It is "only one third of the original list", Parrikar said. The push in defence exports is accompanied by increased production of the Ordnance Factory Boards (OFB) and the defence Public Sector Units (DPSUs). In the last two years, production in the OFBs and DPSUs has shot up by over 25 per cent. Russia has said it would look into holding naval exercises in the South China Sea with the Philippines, China and Malaysia to counter terrorism and piracy, as a Russian warship arrived in Manila on a "goodwill visit". "We really hope that in a few years, military exercises in your region and the South China Sea will take a very big part for the participants, not only Russia and the Philippines, but also China and Malaysia," said rear-admiral Eduard Mikhailov, deputy commander of Russia's Pacific Fleet. Mikhailov was speaking at a news briefing in Manila yesterday after the anti-submarine destroyer Admiral Tributs docked in Manila. The vessel was escorted by Russian oil tanker Boris Butoma. The two ships would leave on Saturday. Choosing not to broach the issue of territorial disputes in the region, Rear-Admiral Mikhailov said: "The main task is safety The biggest problems now are terrorism and piracy. Our exercises with you will help fight these problems. "We will show what we can do, and we will see what you can do and show us." Since assuming office in June lat, Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte has been reviewing decades-long security arrangements with the US, that are bound by a mutual defence pact. Meanwhile, according to commentators, compared with those of China, the US and Japan, Russia's strategic and maritime security interests in the South China Sea were relatively limited. They point out that the needs of the Russian navy in the region had largely been met through security cooperation with Vietnam, which had deepened as Hanoi sought to offset China's rising military might and maritime presence. Against this backdrop, Russia would likely not go to great lengths to boost cooperation with the Philippines. At the same time, from Moscow's perspective, tighter relations with Manila served as an additional hedge against China's regional influence and a way to potentially divide Washington and the government of Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte, undermining US interests in the region. 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. Skoda has increased its warranty coverage period in an attempt to improve its long-term ownership credentials. The Czech-based sister brand to Volkswagen has announced it has extended its warranty period for all new cars sold from January 2017 to five years/unlimited kilometres on private, fleet and government vehicle sales and five years or 150,000km (whichever occurs first) on vehicles purchased for commercial use. Although Skoda sold more vehicles last year than ever before, it has generally struggled to gain popularity in the Australian market against rival European brands despite critical acclaim, including its flagship Superb wagon winning Drive's Best Family Car category in the 2016 Car of the Year awards. The extended warranty is another step in repairing its poor resale values while offering greater peace of mind for owners, along with other schemes such as capped price servicing and guaranteed future value financing. Skoda has previously offered a standard three-year warranty with an extended two-year period available as a cost option, which it admits was popular among new customers and was a catalyst for the move to a five-year period. "Given that some 50 per cent of our customers were going for the optional extended warranty, it was logical that we add it to all models," said Skoda Australia's Managing Director, Michael Irmer. Skoda is setting itself up for a busy year of product roll outs, including a fully refreshed lineup of Octavia models and the arrival of its first genuine SUV, the seven-seat Kodiaq. Home Four wheelers Ford Cancels $1.6 Billion Worth Factory Deal In Mexico oi-Rajkamal American carmaker Ford has said that the company will cancel a $1.6 billion factory deal in Mexico, and instead invest $700 million for a factory at Michigan, after undergoing criticism from Donald Trump. {photo-feature} Many historical accounts have been written on the military aspects of the 1916 Rising in County Louth and on the participation of members of the Louth Volunteers in that event. However, there has been a paucity of information available on Constable Charles (Charlie) Mc Gee who was fatally wounded in the village of Castlebellingham, County Louth, on Easter Monday evening 1916 at approximately 7.30 p.m. He was the first member of the Royal Irish Constabulary to die in the Rising. The narrative of his life and death is going to be published by his grand-niece, Dr Madge OBoyle, on 22 December 2016 as part of the 1916-2016 County Louth Commemorative Programme. Madge is well known to people in Dundalk as she spent many years teaching in St Malachys School and was involved in organisations such as the Gaelic League. Books will be for sale on Thursday 22 December 2016 in the County Museum, Dundalk, in Carrolls Newsagents on Clanbrassil Street, or from Madge OBoyle Facebook page. The author taught in St Malachys School for twenty-five years and is currently employed by Colaiste Mhuire, Marino Institute of Education, Dublin. She holds a PhD in Irish History from Queens University, Belfast. The publication will be an heirloom account of the 1916 Rising in County Louth for future generations of Dundalk people. The publication will be officially launched in the County Museum at 7 p.m. on Thursday 19 January 2017. The account reveals the complexities of Irish history and the network of relationships that linked counties Donegal, Louth and Antrim in 1916. It is fortunate that Constable Mc Gees story and the 100 years of societys refusal to acknowledge the memory of members of the R.I.C., is finally being recognised in the inclusive 2016 Centenary Commemorative Programme. However, Madge wishes to stress that this book is not just about Constable Mc Gee, as it delineates the development of Nationalism in Dundalk from the late 1890s and records the whole history of the County Louth Volunteers, as well as the 1916 Rising in County Louth. It is a serious academic work that seeks to give a balanced view of what happened in the county during Easter Week 1916 and includes the activities of various local Volunteers who participated in the insurrection. A native Irish speaker from Inishbofin Island on the north-west coast of County Donegal, Charles Mc Gee was encouraged by his teacher, Master Sweeney, to join the police force in December 1912, and was appointed to Gilbertstown Barracks in County Louth on 10 May, 1913. At that time, the only other option of employment was either fishing or emigration. He was later described by Louth Volunteer, James Mc Guill, as a popular man and was involved in sporting activities in the area. He knew the clouds of trouble were gathering over the country by 1916. Before the Rising, he had been approached by the Volunteers to procure arms for them, which he refused to do. He had, also, expressed the desire to resign from the R.I.C. and to become a detective policeman in Scotland as he knew that trouble was brewing in Ireland, but that was not to be. Local accounts record that kind people in the Gilbertstown district had warned him not to go to Castlebellingham on that fateful evening, but he proceeded to do his duty by delivering despatches to the R.I.C. barracks in the village, where he cycled into the chaos that was created by the Volunteers who decided to commandeer food provisions and cars before proceeding on their way to Tara Hill. By this they were tired, cold and hungry after spending the previous night sleeping out in the village of Slane. Confusion reigned due to Eoin MacNeills Countermanding Order. They held two members of the Irish Constabulary and made them stand along the village park. It was then that Constable Mc Gee arrived in the village on his bicycle to post mail in the local Post Office and he was made stand alongside the two other policemen. Then, a Lieutenant Robert Dunville of the Grenadier Guards and of the famous Dunville Whisky Company in Belfast, arrived in his car and was ordered to stand alongside the other prisoners. Due to his anxiety in catching the boast at Dun Laoghaire (then Kingston), he created much tension in the Volunteers. As the cavalcade of Volunteer cars were leaving the village, one of the Volunteers claimed that he thought he saw Dunville making an attempt to draw a gun. He fired a shot which injured Lieutenant Dunville and proved to be fatal in the case of Constable Mc Gee. He died of his injuries at 9.30 p.m. in the Louth County Infirmary. He was given a military funeral and is buried in the graveyard in his native Gortahork, County Donegal. Sean MacEntee from Belfast, who later became a minister in the Fianna Fail Government, and three other Louth Volunteers were courtmartialled and accused of his murder, even though they did not fire the fatal shot shot. MacEntees family once owned the Crown Bar in Belfast and his father was a Home Rule politician on the Belfast Council. Sean MacEntee narrowly escaped execution as he was second in command of the Louth Volunteers on that evening. It was the character reference of a Belfast Protestant that saved him from execution. The men were given penal servitude sentences. They were released as a result of the general Amnesty in 1917. The man who admitted to firing one of two shots on that Monday evening went on the run, and despite many notices in the Hue and Cry police publication, he was never tried for the murder of Constable Mc Gee. Constable Mc Gee was given a military funeral and is buried in the graveyard in Gortahork, County Donegal. Louth Deputy Peter Fitzpatrick has said that 2016 was a record year for Irish tourism, benefitting communities and businesses in Louth. He also encouraged people to consider a staycation in 2017, as thoughts turn to summer holiday bookings. 2016 was a record year for Irish tourism, an industry that is absolutely crucial to communities and businesses here in Louth. The latest official data on overseas travel from the Central Statistics Office (CSO), showed an increase of 277,000 overseas visits to Ireland for the first eleven months of 2016 compared to the same period of 2015. This represents an increase of 11%. The largest increase was in visits from North America, up 18.3%. Visits from Mainland Europe grew by 8.8%; and visits from Great Britain were up by 11.1%. We must continue to prioritise our marketing of Irish tourism in Britain this coming year, particularly in the context of Brexit. Communities across Louth are so dependent on tourism and we know how it can benefit local businesses here. The CSO figures released in December show that spending in Ireland by overseas visitors (excluding fares) for the first nine months of the year rose by 9.4% compared with the corresponding period of 2015. My Fine Gael colleague, Minister for Tourism Patrick ODonovan, has noted that in addition to the strong performance in overseas tourism, our home holiday market is also growing. Domestic holiday trips and related expenditure were each up by over 3% in the first nine months of 2016 compared to the same period last year. The New Year period is a busy time of year for the holiday market, as people turn their thoughts to booking a summer trip. I strongly encourage Irish people to consider a staycation in 2017. Louth is well placed to cater for domestic visitors as well as those from overseas, with the many sites and attractions we have to offer here, including the medieval village of Carlingford and the surrounding area of the Cooley peninsula and the wonderful Boyne Valley to name but two." The 42nd MMFF (Metro Manila Film Festival) I think is one of the best MMFF we had since I dont know. Most of the movie are well done, well thought of and writen , plus you can see the effort when it comes to improving the Filipino industry. Last December 29, 2016, the awards night was held and the best of the 2016 MMFF was awarded, the event was co-presented by HOOQ. Jane Cruz-Walker, HOOQ Philippine Country Manager expressed enthusiasm over the partnership with MMFF and HOOQ saying how proud she was to be a part of the festival as it takes brave new steps in focusing on quality films, fresh casting choices and new approaches to filmmaking. Meanwhile, Metro Manila Development Authority Thomas Orbos was optimistic to say that the 42nd MMFF is the start of the change we Filipinos are looking for when it come to the Filipino movie industry. We are gathered here together not only to seek change but also to look back to the original theme of the MMFF which is to be a festival that celebrates Filipino artistic excellence. Change is never easy, it is a difficult path, but thanks to the MMFF Executive Committee we are here today amidst change. We believe that what we did with the MMFF this year may not be recognized now, but it will be appreciated by future generations. It is not about the money, it is about what we can give to our children later on by promoting quality films in the Philippines. With that said, here is the complete list of the 42nd MMFF awards night: Best Picture Sunday Beauty Queen Best Director Erik Matti (Seklusyon) Best Actress Irma Adlawan (Oro) Best Actor Paolo Ballesteros (Die Beautiful) Best Supporting Actress Phoebe Walker (Seklusyon) Best Supporting Actor Christian Balbes (Die Beautiful) Childrens Choice Saving Sally, Sunday Beauty Queen and Vince & Kath & James Peoples Choice (voted online) Die Beautiful Best Cast Ensemble Oro Special Jury Prize Rhed Bustamante (Seklusyon) Best Screenplay Seklusyon Best Sound Seklusyon Best Musical Score Saving Sally Best Theme Song Dominus Miserere (Francis De Veyra) Seklusyon Best Production Design Seklusyon Best Editing Sunday Beauty Queen Best Cinematography Seklusyon FPJ Memorial Award for Excellence Oro (AWARD deflected) Gatpuno Antonio J Villegas Cultural Award Sunday Beauty Queen Best Float Die Beautiful tor Paolo Ballesteros for Die Beautiful wasnt able to attend Gabi ng Parangal> Whinners While ORO was given one of the best award given during the MMFF , after a few days , the award was retracted because of the outrage about the dog killed in the movie for arts sake. The MMFF committee also banned showing of the movie unless the producer cuts off that scene. Good news guys, some cinemas in the country decided to extend the showing of some 42nd MMFF movies until January 7, 2017 (except the movie ORO) Here is the list of the cinemas: But if for any reason you still cant watch the movies by January 7, 2017, dont fret, all of the MMFF movies will be available on HOOQ . MMFF and HOOQ are also working together to encourage the next generation of movie makers through the HOOQ Short Films category. HOOQ awarded a host of Short Film prizes including the Special Jury Prize and the Best Short Film. Each HOOQ Short Film was partnered with a long-form finalist and were screened during the MMFF regular theater run from December 25 to January 3. Each film runs under 5 minutes and most will be available on HOOQ shortly after conclusion of the Metro Manila Film Festival. Stay gorgeous everyone! Over the past month and a half since the election, LOLGOP and I have been exhorting folks listening to our podcast to activate and be present in the lives of their state legislators, members of Congress, and their U.S. Senators. In fact, the cold open to our last podcast is a recording of us calling Senator Debbie Stabenows office to thank her for her ongoing support of the Affordable Care Act. Why? Because it works. And right now, more than ever, our lawmakers need to feel the power of their constituents to save Obamacare and to push back against the heinous things they are trying to do to our state and federal government. Heres what the New York Times had to say about the power of constituents when it comes to reconciliation bills like the one that will be used to repeal Obamacare: Yesterday, Congressional Republicans were forced to reverse themselves on a secret move they took just the day before to gut the power of the Office of Congressional Ethics. It was their first action of 2017 and can only be described as a complete faceplant. And who did the media give the credit to? Donald J. Trump who tweeted (of course) a couple of tweets criticizing THE TIMING of the move, not the move itself. What actually caused the abrupt reversal? People making calls: [GOP] resolve crumbled Tuesday morning, as thousands of phone calls flooded lawmakers offices and both conservative and liberal ethics groups issued statements condemning the vote. Some Republicans joined in, saying the measure sent the wrong message to the public. (Internet searches for the words Who is my representative surged after news of the plan broke Monday night and peaked Tuesday morning, according to Google.) Heres what that Google spike looked like: Heres Robert Costa: Most members tell me blizzard of angry constituent calls were most impt factor in getting the House to sideline the amdt Robert Costa (@costareports) January 3, 2017 Despite this, James Hohmann at the Washington Post doubled down on the idea that this is all Trumps doing in a piece titled Even when Trump shows backbone, his haters refuse to give him any credit. It took grit and gumption for Donald Trump to call out House Republicans yesterday, wrote Hohmann. So many on the left are so determined to deny Trump any victory, or even legitimacy, that they wont give him any credit for challenging his own party even when they agree with his aim and wanted the outcome. I think I sprained my eyes, I rolled them so hard at these patently absurd comments. And its a disgusting diss of all of the Americans who exercised their civic duty and made their feelings known by contacting their members of Congress. The truth is that the election of Turncoat Trump has galvanized Americans who are not going to let the Liar-in-Chief take this country in the wrong direction without a fight at every single juncture. And the same should go for our state legislatures, too, particularly in Democratic strongholds like Michigan and Wisconsin where gerrymandering has turned our governments over to tea party zealots who are taking us down the drain. Get yourself a pad of paper and write down the names and phone numbers of your state House representative, your state senator, your U.S. Senators, and your member of Congress. Then, anytime something significant comes up, take a few minutes to make your voice heard. It doesnt take much time and it WORKS! And, while youre at it, make sure you tweet and email any news outlet that suggests Donald Trump should get credit for YOUR activism. That is, perhaps, the biggest insult of them all. [Peace Monument photo credit: Anne Savage, special to Eclectablog] Racism hurts everyone and until we start pointing that out, we cant fix the economy Donald Trump isnt going to give up identity politics but some on the left think Democrats should about a post-identity liberalism in order to focus on winning over those 70,000 mostly white voters who gave Trump his narrow wins in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan, while presumably ignoring the many more non-white voters who sat home. What drives me crazy is that we have the answer for how to address the rights use of coded racial appears to turn white voters against their own interests and no one is using it. (Whereas we dont have a great answer for how much the Koch networks investments in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania may have given Trump the presidency.) In January of last year, Ian Haney-Lopez author of the essential Dog Whistle Politics and Demos Heather McGhee laid out a simple strategy for exposing how Trumps on barely coded attacks on minorities were part of familiar right-wing strategy to generate broad popular support for politicians and policies that transfer our nations wealth to the new robber barons. Heres what the strategy sounded like: The reactionary economic agenda made possible by dog-whistle politics is responsible not just for the devaluing of black lives but for the declining fortunes of the majority of white families. College costs have soared because anti-government dog whistling has mainstreamed extreme cuts to state budgets. Union busting, which drives down wages and benefits for all workers, has become popular because the image of the union worker has been tarred: now not a white man in a hardhat but a black woman behind a bureaucrats counter. When conservatives vilify every modest public benefit, from healthcare subsidies to unemployment insurance, as handouts to the undeserving, the social contract is shredded for everyone. By exposing how the political manipulation of racial anxiety has hollowed out of the middle class, Sanders can elevate a simple message: When racism wins, everyone loses. What Ive wondered is why no leading Democrat has sought to expose the scam behind Trumps racial appeals in a way that doesnt paint Trump voters as redeemable but victimized by policies that are encouraging class suicide. I asked Professor Haney-Lopez why he thinks this hasnt happened yet. Heres his answer: As to why progressive politicians shy away from race, I think the shortest answer is that politicians follow rather than lead, and progressives havent yet prepared the soil for a new conversation about race that focuses on how everyone, including whites themselves, lose when racial fear wins. To be reductive, there are two dominant progressive lines in contest over race: racism is pervasive and hurts people of color, versus talking about racism does little to change things even as it alienates whites. Neither line responds effectively to the conservative attack that says progressives care more about minorities than about whites: the former plays into it; the latter effectively repeats it. Progressive thought leadersfrom journalists to unionsneed to promote a new way of talking about race as a tool of economic elites that hurts everyone. Once that idea is out there, progressive politicians can pick it up and amplify it. As always it comes down FDRs legendary explanation of how politics works: I agree with you. I want to do it. Now make me do it. [Image by Evan Guest| Flickr] Blog Archive June 2021 (1) May 2021 (77) April 2021 (77) March 2021 (82) February 2021 (68) January 2021 (64) December 2020 (67) November 2020 (66) October 2020 (66) September 2020 (67) August 2020 (74) July 2020 (83) June 2020 (92) May 2020 (86) April 2020 (104) March 2020 (105) February 2020 (74) January 2020 (75) December 2019 (75) November 2019 (70) October 2019 (89) September 2019 (69) August 2019 (81) July 2019 (77) June 2019 (73) May 2019 (110) April 2019 (110) March 2019 (102) February 2019 (85) January 2019 (123) December 2018 (116) November 2018 (112) October 2018 (121) September 2018 (107) August 2018 (150) July 2018 (163) June 2018 (190) May 2018 (145) April 2018 (112) March 2018 (124) February 2018 (113) January 2018 (164) December 2017 (150) November 2017 (144) October 2017 (169) September 2017 (171) August 2017 (135) July 2017 (131) June 2017 (147) May 2017 (160) April 2017 (138) March 2017 (156) February 2017 (143) January 2017 (203) December 2016 (208) November 2016 (185) October 2016 (173) September 2016 (194) August 2016 (232) July 2016 (225) June 2016 (238) May 2016 (231) April 2016 (215) March 2016 (246) February 2016 (226) January 2016 (252) December 2015 (230) November 2015 (250) October 2015 (234) September 2015 (222) August 2015 (253) July 2015 (275) June 2015 (279) May 2015 (223) April 2015 (226) March 2015 (243) February 2015 (258) January 2015 (281) December 2014 (292) November 2014 (296) October 2014 (413) September 2014 (472) August 2014 (506) July 2014 (483) June 2014 (488) May 2014 (512) April 2014 (497) March 2014 (531) February 2014 (482) January 2014 (535) December 2013 (482) November 2013 (441) October 2013 (416) September 2013 (491) August 2013 (521) July 2013 (491) June 2013 (470) May 2013 (457) April 2013 (426) March 2013 (420) February 2013 (414) January 2013 (489) December 2012 (433) November 2012 (504) October 2012 (469) September 2012 (430) August 2012 (427) July 2012 (360) June 2012 (336) May 2012 (362) April 2012 (322) March 2012 (263) February 2012 (224) January 2012 (291) December 2011 (295) November 2011 (325) October 2011 (330) September 2011 (319) August 2011 (333) July 2011 (318) June 2011 (387) May 2011 (373) April 2011 (389) March 2011 (375) February 2011 (335) January 2011 (400) December 2010 (445) November 2010 (395) October 2010 (312) September 2010 (262) August 2010 (277) July 2010 (323) June 2010 (386) May 2010 (360) April 2010 (333) March 2010 (351) February 2010 (336) January 2010 (384) December 2009 (353) November 2009 (300) October 2009 (308) September 2009 (350) August 2009 (298) July 2009 (255) June 2009 (203) May 2009 (193) April 2009 (186) March 2009 (197) February 2009 (173) January 2009 (148) December 2008 (181) November 2008 (197) October 2008 (236) September 2008 (304) August 2008 (314) July 2008 (273) June 2008 (27) May 2008 (1) April 2008 (6) October 2007 (1) May 2007 (1) April 2007 (6) March 2007 (2) February 2007 (1) October 2006 (1) September 2006 (1) August 2006 (4) July 2006 (4) June 2006 (1) July 2005 (1) May 2005 (2) March 2005 (1) June 2004 (2) May 2004 (1) April 2004 (4) March 2004 (2) February 2004 (2) July 2003 (2) June 2003 (5) With a rough 2016 officially behind us, and a foreboding 2017 ahead, maybe we all need a good dose of 1990s nostalgia. This Spring, Bill Nye will make his long-awaited return to our screens with his new Netflix show, Bill Nye Saves the World. The Science Guy and his band of correspondentsmodel Karlie Kloss, Xploration Outer Space host Emily Calandrelli, comedians Joanna Hausmannm and Nazeem Hussain, and Veritasium host Derek Mullerwill explore some of the most complex scientific topics of the day, from climate change, vaccines and genetically modified organisms (GMOs). While Netflix first announced the show in late August, Nyes comeback seems all the more fitting with Donald Trumps presidential inauguration this Jan. 20. Each episode will tackle a topic from a scientific point of view, dispelling myths, and refuting anti-scientific claims that may be espoused by politicians, religious leaders or titans of industry, Netflix stated in a press release. Trump, as any EcoWatch reader knows, is just about as anti-science as it gets. The president-elect has plans to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement, undo President Obamas signature Clean Power Plan and other environmental initiatives, and has nominated an entire cabinet of fossil fuel puppets and executives. largely because of the success of modern farming. However, Nye cautioned that introducing new organisms into the ecosystem can have unintended consequences. My take on it now is genetically modified food is actually, in generalgenetically modified plants, in generalare not only not harmful, theyre actually a great benefit. However, you cant just go planting enormous monocultures and killing everything and expect the ecosystems to take it, he said. By Lauren McCauley Not willing to sit idle as Donald Trump and his cabinet take office and roll out an avowedly pro-fossil fuel, anti-regulation agenda, campaigners are preparing for a multi-faceted affront to the new administration. Tuesday marked the beginning of the 115th Congress and thus also marked Day 1 of the official pushback against Trumps climate agenda, according to 350.orgs Duncan Meisel. Their first job is to review Donald Trumps nominees for cabinet, Meisel wrote in an email Tuesday and ours is to make sure they reject the slate of climate deniers he has picked for every major climate and energy related position in his administration. Pointing specifically to Trumps selection of ExxonMobils CEO Rex Tillerson for secretary of state, Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency head, former Texas Gov. Rick Perry for Department of Energy and Rep. Ryan Zinke for Department of Interior, campaigners are asking constituents to flood their elected officials with calls and in-person visits to make clear they do not support a climate-denier cabinet. As part of the near-term resistance mode, as 350.org co-founder Jamie Henn put, campaigners are also organizing a Day Against Denial on Jan. 9 that will include rallies, phone-ins and direct conversations with legislative staff to pass along the message that we, as constituents and voters, do not accept Trumps dangerous nominations, according to the website. Beyond the confirmations, 350.org and other environmental groups are preparing for a far greater show of resistance. In an email to supporters on Monday, Henn announced the Peoples Climate Mobilization, on April 29 in Washington, DC. We believe that in this moment of division, turmoil and fear, its important to put forward an alternative vision that inspires and connects, Henn wrote. If we dont put forward our own visionof an economy built on justice and powered by clean, renewable energythen we let fossil-fuel-soaked nationalism, xenophobia and hatred win. We need to show that more people still believe in our shared vision for the future than in Donald Trumps. The event is expected to be a major march and a renewal of the vision set forth in the 400,000-strong Peoples Climate March on Sept. 21, 2014. That march made a huge impact, helping drive forward the Paris climate agreement and push President Obama to make climate action (including rejecting the Keystone XL pipeline) a priority during his last two years in office, Henn continued. To change everything, we need everyone, was the motto of the original march. This spring, Henn wrote, were renewing that visionto show that our movement is just as ready to fight Trumps racism and hatred as we are the fossil fuel industry thats poisoning our future. As bleak as the planets future may seem under a Trump administration, there is space to fight back. In an interview with Fusion published Tuesday, Henn observed that while the incoming administration will have the ability to approve new drilling leases and fossil fuel infrastructure projects, like pipelines, many of those decisions will still depend on local permits and cooperation, as Fusion put it, placing a great deal of power into the hands of local officials and on voters who hope to sway them. I think people realize that this sort of organizing can make a real impact, Henn told the outlet. Trump is going to help make protesting great again. Reposted with permission from our media associate Common Dreams. Donald Trump has not yet been sworn in, but the Republican Congress has convened. Shortly it will begin hearings on Trumps appointmentsas a block more like a cabinet suited for a corporatist President Ted Cruz than a populist like candidate Trump. Trump and the Republicans control the White House and Congress. What they dont controlwhere they are weakis the public conversation. Tweets turn out to be a good mechanism for getting headlines but not for creating a story lineand thats our opportunity. The confirmation hearings should be used by concerned Democratic and Republican Senators to hold Trump accountable for delivering on his incoherent smorgasbord of promises. The two key environmental nominees are Rex Tillerson and Scott Pruitt. The media has focused around their opposition to action on climate, Tillerson saying suck it up and endure climate chaos, Pruitt being a denialist. But it has not yet told the story of their full threat to our environment, our health, our economy and our national security. Below, to start this broader and more troubling dialogue, are ten questions the Senate must ask Tillerson and Pruitt before it votes on whether to confirm them. Questions for Rex Tillerson, Nominee for Secretary of State 1. Mr. Tillerson, Lee Raymond, your predecessor, made clear that he didnt view ExxonMobil as a U.S. company and didnt make decisions based on what is good for the U.S. Your have stated that you signed oil leases that undercut U.S. foreign policy in Iraq because I had to do what was best for my shareholders. Q: Can you explain where, specifically, the interests of the oil industry might diverge from those of the average American? What advice you would give the president to ensure that the interests of the U.S. prevailed over those of oil companies? 2. Following Russias invasion of the Ukraine and the seizure of the Crimea, you and ExxonMobil visibly continued to support Russias development of its off-shore Arctic oil fields. You pursued partnerships with Russian oil interests faced with western sanctions. You clearly aligned with Russia. Q: Did you believe these actions served the interests of the U.S.? Or were you putting your shareholders first? Putin and Tillerson Talk Drilling the Arctic on Saturday Night Live https://t.co/XmF2XL3N9U @savethearctic @EnvAm EcoWatch (@EcoWatch) December 18, 2016 3. Russias has refused to collaborate with international efforts to prevent human rights repression in Syria. This has resulted in the victory of the Assad regime and the butchery of Aleppo. The FBI and the CIA have concluded that Russia actively hacked American political parties in an effort to destabilize our democratic system and perhaps tilt the outcome. Q: Do you believe it is still in the interests of the U.S. for our oil companies, including ExxonMobil, to provide technical and financial support to assist Russia in becoming a more powerful oil producer? Do you still oppose sanctions against Russia for violating international norms in Syria, the Ukraine and around the U.S. elections? 4. Russia has recently joined with OPEC to artificially rig the oil market. Prices have risen 20 percent as a result. U.S. consumers are again paying more than a fair market price for gasoline and diesel. Q: What steps would you recommend the U.S. take to discourage Russia from conspiring with OPEC to price-gouge? How would you recommend to the president that he ensure that the price of oil never again soars to $70, $80, $90 even $100 level? In your view, how important to the U.S. are moderatebelow $60oil ? 5. You have repeatedly said that while you believe in climate change, it is not yet possible for the world to move beyond fossil fuels, because alternatives are not ready. Q: If we continue to rely on petroleum for 90 percent or more of our transportation energy, can you assure Americans that the price of getting around will never again spike to the levels we saw over the last decade? Is getting off oil just a climate issue or is it also an economic necessity? If alternatives are not yet ready, would you urge the U.S. to actively join with other oil importing countries for a Manhattan style project to bring low carbon transportation technologies to full competitiveness within the next four years? Questions for Scott Pruitt, Nominate as Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 1. Pruitt, 10 percent of American women have dangerous levels of mercury in their bodies. But recent data shows that since the U.S. started cleaning up emissions from coal power plants, not only has mercury pollution in the North Atlantic fallen dramatically, so has the concentration of mercury in Atlantic fisheries. Mercury in Atlantic blue-fin tuna is down 19 percent in only eight years. Q: Given this resounding confirmation that regulation works, how firmly can you assure us that if you are confirmed, EPAs recent successful crackdown on all sources of mercury emissions, including coal power plants will accelerate, rather than pulling back? 2. The president election has pledged that the kind of poisoning that devastated Flint would have never happened if I were president. More than 1,000 American communities have lead poisoning levels at least four times higher than Flints. More than 18 million American live in communities that dont properly test or violate, lead and copper contamination rules. Q: How many years will it take the Trump Administration to achieve pure, safe, drinking water for all Americans? Have you discussed with the president elect the resources you will need to deliver on his promise that a Flint-like crisis will never happen again? In addition to federal financial commitments, what other changes in laws or regulations will you need to guarantee every American family that their kids can drink the water without fear? 3. You have attacked the Obama Administrations Waters of the United States regulation, objecting to the significant negative impact such a rule would inflict on states and the landowners within their borders. Oklahomas major streams and rivers lie within two river basins, the Red and the Arkansas, both of which flow into other states. And Oklahoma receives most of its waters from upstream neighbors, particularly Texas. Q: Without national regulation, how would you suggest that that Oklahomas downstream neighborsArkansas and Louisianaguarantee the quality of the water that flows across their boundaries? And how would you suggest that Oklahoma protects the quality of the water that it receives from upstream neighbors like Texas? You appear to believe that the only parties with an interest in water are those within a state, not downstream neighbors. Why? 4. You campaigned in 2010 against a one-size-fits-all strategy towards environmental protection. That phrase is sometimes used to imply that whether American children should be adequatelyor inadequatelyprotected against poisonous air, water and food should be based on the political jurisdiction in which they happen to live. Q: Is that what you meantthat air and water health standards should vary from state to state? Do childrens hearts or seniors lungs vary in their vulnerability to pollution between Okahomans and Californians? Do you accept the premise at the heart of the Clean Air and Clean Water Acts that every American, wherever they live, should have a science based, legally guaranteed right to clean air, pure water and healthy food? Or do you think these decisions should be made by local politicians based on interest group lobbying? 5. In recent years spills, leaks and collapses of coal ash impoundments have become a greater and greater hazard to clean water. In fact, more than half of the total toxic water pollution found in Americas rivers, lakes and streams comes from such impoundments. Q: Do you believe that coal ash from power plants and other coal burning facilities should be regulated as a hazardous pollutant, given that its chemical composition includes lead, mercury, cadmium and arsenic? What would you do as Administrator to ensure that the kinds of ash spills recently devastating Kingston, Tennessee, and Dan River, North Carolina, never again occur, anywhere? These 10 questions are as much as a blog can handlebut a robust Senate confirmation hearing should probe a far wider range of topics and more deeply. Please, think up your own key questions for Tillerson and Pruittand for other Trump cabinet nominees like Interior Sec. Ryan Zinke. Send them to your SenatorsRepublican and Democraticand urge them to ask them and insist on real answers, not politically correct evasions. And then turn your questions into a letter to the editor of your local paper. Lets take control of the conversationas Abraham Lincoln said, what really matters in the long run in public sentiment. With it, everything, even surviving Donald Trump, is possible. (Photo: The Herald)Robert and Grace Mugabe Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe has ruled his country with an iron fist since 1980 and next month he will turn 93 with ambitions to run the nation until he is nearing his 100th birthday. He believes he is the only person to lead his country, and Zimbabwe's ruling Zanu-PF party on Dec. 17 chose him as its candidate for the 2018 presidential elections. His political opponents accuse the Mugabe family and a military clique of running the southern African nation that neighbors South Africa as a personal fiefdom. The role of his wife Grace Mugabe was highlighted over a spat after she had purchased a diamond ring for more than one million U.S. dollars. A Roman Catholic priest caused a stir when he castigated Grace Mugabe, linking her to corruption for acquiring a $1.3 million diamond ring at a time when many Zimbabweans are going hungry. Father Rungano Muchineripi of St. Johns Parish in Budiriro, Harare, was speaking at a funeral service for a woman who collapsed on her way to Zimbabwe from South Africa recently, NewZimbabwe reported. Without naming her, he used Grace Mugabe as an example that there is an evident lack of love among Zimbabweans. He said, "There is a lot of corruption in this country and if people had love for each other we would not be seeing someone buying a ring worth millions whilst the nation is hungry." "Bond notes also show that the level of corruption in this country has become unbearable. We are now confused and do not know what to do about it," the priest said referring to a cash shortage in the beleaguered southern African nation. MUGABE HOLIDAYING IN ASIA President Mugabe and his wife were spending a month holidaying in Asia over the Christmas period when the priest made his sermon, NewZimbawbe reported. "How can someone afford to be on holiday in the Far East in times like this?" Mugabe's former vice president and now rival, Joice Teurai Ropa Mujuru, said Jan. 1. "Mugabe and Zanu-PF have neither the competence nor commitment to address the self-inflicted problems that we face," said Mujuru who now leads Zimbabwe People First in a New Year's message. Analysts and opposition leaders say the president had rigged three previous elections, and this claim has been reiterated by Mujuru, who was a fierce ally of Robert Mugabe's until 2014. Mugabe became president of Zimbabwe when the country gained independence and he stirred international controversy with his policy of land seizures in 2000. The government said it would give the land back to the people, but critics of the process said local people living on the land were displaced in many cases and the land apportioned to ruling party elites. Before that Zimbabwe was considered one of Africa's food baskets. Now it is one of the poorest nations in the region and it struggles to feed its people. Mugabe has says the country's economic decline is due to sabotage of his economic policies by Western critics. MARRIED BY CATHOLIC CLERIC The Mugabes were married by a Catholic cleric in 1986, and the president was brought up in the Catholic Church. During his presidency, however, he has periodically been at loggerheads with Catholic leaders. A Harare judge has ordered Grace Mugabe to return three properties that she seized from a Lebanese businessman in the botched $1.35m diamond ring deal. Reports in November Grace Zimbabwe's First Lady bought the ring from a company owned by Jamal Ahmed, but later rejected it opting to have a refund. Ahmed approached went to as his properties were confiscated by the Grace Mugabe over the issue. In December the Zimbabwe High Court ordered her of Ahmed's properties which are in exclusive Harare suburbs. High Court judge Clement Phiri ordered the president's wife to remove her representatives from the properties that she seized after Lebanese national Ahmed failed to repay the money paid by her for the diamond ring. The ring had been meant to be Mugabe's wedding anniversary to Grace as 2016 marked the 20th anniversary of their wedding. Grace Mugabe has stated ambitions to take over her husband's decades-long presidency. Another Zimbabwean newspaper report in November said Grace Mugabe had told the ruling Zanu-PF party women's league that she is already the president, as she "plans and does everything with President Robert Mugabe." Mashonaland West Zanu-PF women's league chairperson Angeline Muchemeyi said, "Grace told an executive meeting that she is 'already the President' and would not want to be appointed VP, as it was a lower post, NewsDay reported. "The First Lady said I'm the wife of the President, I'm the president already ... I plan and do everything with the President, what more do I want, for now the position of the women boss is enough." Grace Mugabe is currently the Zanu-PF women's league secretary, a position she has held since 2014. It is understandable that school administrators and teachers focus their attention on the students who face the greatest academic struggles in the classroom. I did this myself when I was the chancellor of the New York City schools more than a decade ago, with an emphasis on reducing the dropout rate and enabling more students to graduate. But in doing so, educators fail to pay enough attention to the needs of some of the brightest students. Millions of K-12 students are capable of more challenging coursework than they are currently assigned. A recent study by Johns Hopkins University and Duke University used student-assessment data from multiple states to estimate that 20 percent to 40 percent of elementary and middle school students in the United States are performing at least one level above their current grade on standardized reading tests and between 11 percent and 30 percent above on standardized math tests, but are nonetheless taught their grade-level curricula. This suggests that many of the nations estimated 40.1 million pre-K-8 students in public and private schools are denied access to accelerated, challenging learning. While its encouraging to know that so many students are capable of doing so well in school, its disturbing that they are not all being given the opportunities they deserve to excel at the proper level. Whats even more troubling? Students are often selected for gifted programs in a discriminatory manner. Low-income and minority students are underrepresented in gifted education programs, according to a 2015 study by the National Bureau of Economic Research. After studying the screening process for gifted abilities in Floridas Broward County school district, researchers found that black and Latino students; students who got free or reduced-price lunches; English-language learners; and female students were underreferred to the gifted program. While the U.S. Department of Education reports that black and Hispanic students account for more than 40 percent of public school enrollment in the United States, they made up just 26 percent of the 3.2 million public school students enrolled nationwide in gifted education programs in 2011-12. This is not, of course, because these students are any less capable than their white and Asian-American classmates. One cause for the gaps is a lack of student referrals from educators. Black students are 66 percent less likely to be referred to gifted programs in math and reading than their white classmates, according to a 2016 study by researchers from Vanderbilt University. Recommendations for Hispanic students are 47 percent less common. But when black students are taught by a black teacher, they are three times more likely to be assigned to gifted programs. When black students are taught by a black teacher, they are three times more likely to be assigned to gifted programs." In fact, when every student is tested for entrance to gifted programs, the number of low-income and minority students greatly increases. In Broward County, the school system saw a 130 percent increase in the gifted rate among Latinos and an 80 percent increase among black students after implementing a universal-screening process. And when Orange Countys public schoolsa high-poverty district based in Orlando, Fla.also shifted to universal screening, the number of students who were identified as gifted increased by 7 percent in the first year. The extent of gifted educations current discrimination has the potential to affect students futures after high school. Between 2000 and 2010, five states adopted mandates requiring all high school juniors to take a nationally standardized college-entrance exam. In two of the states, nearly half of all students took tests, and 40 percent to 45 percent of them earned scores to qualify for selective colleges. The enrollment of students in those states at selective institutions rose by 20 percent. This shows that students may grow to underestimate what they are capable of when not given the chance to prove themselves. The path forward for our schools should be clear: Test every single child and then make appropriate placements. When we leave it up to teachers, parents, or even students themselves to determine who should be tested for high-ability classes, programs, and opportunities, many outstanding studentsespecially those who are black, Hispanic, or low-incomeget left out. We must stop underestimating students abilities and denying them the advanced instruction they deserve. I recently visited the Davidson Academy of Nevada, in Reno, a public school designed to meet the needs of middle and high school students who score in the 99.9 percentile on their IQ or college-entrance tests, such as the SAT or the ACT. Class assignments are made exclusively on the basis of ability, regardless of a students age. It is a route more schools should take. Our goal should be to find the most appropriate academic placement for each child to help him or her succeed. This also means accepting that a childs age doesnt always define his or her capabilities in every subject. For example, an 8-year-old in 3rd grade may be reading at the 5th grade level but doing 2nd grade math. Education should be tailored to meet the needs of every child. The best way to break the cycle of poverty from one generation to the next is to open the doors to equal educational opportunities for all students, regardless of race, ethnicity, or income. To do so, we must make gifted programs more accessible and affordable to all students and use professional development for educators to help them recognize and abandon stereotypes. Far too many bright young students are left to fend for themselves in an education system that too often venerates mediocrity. Our nation fails these boys and girls by not giving them the challenging education they need to reach their full potential. And we as a society fall short by not allowing our country to fully benefit from students brainpower and talents. Lets start enabling all of the nations students to live up to their potential. As a new political and policy era dawns in Washington, the status of the nations schools remains stable, though still earning a grade of C from Quality Counts 2017, the 21st annual report card issued by the Education Week Research Center. The C corresponds to a score of 74.2, which is nearly identical to the 74.4 the nation posted in 2016, when it also received a C. The steadiness of national results, notwithstanding, a handful of states saw their scores increase or decline by a full point or more. Quality Counts grades the states and the nation on educational performance across a range of key indicators, issuing overall A-F grades based on a traditional 100-point scale. The overall grade is based on three custom indices developed by the Research Center: The Chance-for-Success Index uses a cradle-to-career perspective to examine the role of education in promoting positive outcomes throughout an individuals lifetime. The school finance analysis evaluates spending on education and equity in funding across districts within a state. The K-12 Achievement Index, last updated in 2016, scores states on current academic performance, change over time, and poverty-based gaps. Massachusetts takes first place among the states for the third year in a row, with a B and a score of 86.5. Its followed by five states earning grades of B: New Jersey (85.6), Vermont (83.8), New Hampshire (83.4), Maryland (82.8), and Connecticut (82.7). At the other end of the spectrum, Nevada is at the bottom of the list as it was in 2016, receiving a D and a score of 65.0. Mississippi (65.8) and New Mexico (66.3) also receive grades of D. Grades and scores for those three states remain relatively unchanged from last years outcomes. Overall, the majority of states (34) land grades between C-minus and C-plus. Montana saw the biggest improvement between 2016 and 2017, with a gain of 1.3 points. New Hampshire and South Carolina also post increases of about one point. The uptick for New Hampshire places its overall score in the top five for the second time since Quality Counts revamped grading framework was introduced in 2015. By contrast, Alaska (-1.2) and Kansas (-1.0) are the only states to see their summative scores drop by a point or more. Alaskas decline can be attributed to a substantial drop in its results on the Chance-for-Success Index, while Kansas experienced a marked fall-off in school finance. Chance for Success For the 10th year in a row, the nation earns a C-plus grade on the Chance-for-Success Index. Performance is strongest for indicators related to educational foundations in early childhood where the nation earns a B-minus. By comparison, the U.S. receives a C and a C-plus for the school years and adult outcomes, respectively. State Grading Data Download Grading Summary (2017) PDF Chance for Success (2017) PDF School Finance (2017) PDF K-12 Achievement (2016) PDF The 13 indicators that make up the Chance-for-Success Index capture opportunities for children to get off to a good start, move smoothly through K-12 education, and ultimately achieve positive educational and workforce outcomes as adults. For a decade now, Massachusetts has stood at the top in this category and continues to lead the nation with a grade of A-minus (91.0). New Hampshire is the only other state to earn an A-minus (90.3) and is followed by three states at B-plusNew Jersey (87.8), Connecticut (87.4), and Vermont (86.8). New Mexico scores lowest, the sole state to receive a D (66.4). In all, 28 states have grades of C-plus or lower. Montana saw the largest increase (1.9 points) while Alaska experienced the most substantial decline (-3.4 points). The nations grade of C for school finance has remained the same for the past seven years, although its numeric score has dropped by half-a-point since last year. School Spending The school finance analysis examines two critical aspects of school spending. Of the eight indicators in this category, four assess school spending patterns, while the remaining metrics gauge equity in the distribution of funding across the districts within each state. The finance indicators in Quality Counts 2017 are based on the most recent data available from the federal government, which are from 2014. Quality Counts does not report raw spending data. All expenditures are adjusted by factors such as regional cost differences, in order to facilitate apples-to-apples comparisons. Wyoming regains its spot at the top of the rankings after slipping to second place in the 2016 report. It posts an A-minus (89.5) followed by four states with grades of B-plus: New York (88.7), New Jersey (88.1), Connecticut (87.4), and Maryland (86.6). Idaho is the only state to get an F (58.9). Montana and New Hampshire each improved by two points while Kansas and Virginia each saw their scores tumble by two or more points. The analysis finds that states generally did better on measures of equity than on overall spending. In fact, nearly half of the states (24) receive an F for spending. The U.S. average for per-pupil spending stands at $12,156 after adjusting for regional cost differences. Vermont spends the most at $19,654 per student, while Utah ranks last at $7,038. Nationally, the Research Centers equity analysis continues to find wide disparities in funding patterns across districts in many states. The Wealth Neutrality score indicates that just one state, Alaska, provides higher funding for property-poor districts than for their wealthier peers. The District of Columbia and Hawaii do not receive finance grades because they are single-district jurisdictions. K-12 Achievement The nation earned a C-minus for K-12 Achievement. Its letter grade has held steady over time. Numeric scores have inched up from 69.7 in 2012 and 70.2 in 2014 to 71.0 out of 100 in 2016. The achievement index, which counts for one-third of this years overall grade, gauges states performance on 18 indicators. Results for this category were published in Quality Counts 2016, and remain unchanged because they rely heavily on National Assessment of Educational Progress results, which are released every other year. Other elements of this index include high school graduation rates and Advanced Placement exam scores. To score well on this index, a state must demonstrate strong academic performance, combined with improvements over time and progress toward narrowing poverty-based achievement gaps. Massachusetts (85.2) ranked first for K-12 Achievement, posting the only B. It has been the leader in the rankings for nearly a decade. New Jersey (81.0), the only other state with a grade higher than a C-plus, earned a B-minus. Mississippi (60.0) and New Mexico (61.8) received the nations lowest grades at D-minus. Across the three indices in the Quality Counts report card, the nation receives its lowest mark in K-12 Achievement as scores in this area are dragged down by current academic performance. On the other hand, it fares best in the Chance-for-Success category, buoyed by solid results on indicators related to educational foundations in early childhood. The Every Student Succeeds Act opened the door to two types of assessment flexibility for all states that could seriously reshape the national testing landscape. But a year after the law was signed, few states or districts appear inclined to take advantage of them. The new federal education law allows states to permit school districts to substitute a nationally recognized high school test, such as the ACT or the SAT, for their states own high school exam. The law also lets states divide annual assessments into chunks, and roll those interim results into one summative score for accountability purposes. Both options are separate from a more-limited pilot program that will let a handful of states develop a new breed of assessments on their own. The limited pilot program has yet to get off the ground. Separately no state has yet decided to go with the aggregated-interims option, though at least one is exploring the idea. Arizona is the only state so far that plans to try the option of a locally chosen high school test. A law signed by Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey in March 2016 requires that states board of education to come up with a menu of tests that districts can use instead of the states own AzMerit. Districts are supposed to be able to choose from that list for grades 9-12 in the 2017-18 school year, and for grades 3-8 in 2018-19. Board member Calvin Baker said that the panel is starting to hear presentations from vendors, who will have to prove that their products are valid for use in the states accountability system. Baker, the superintendent of the Vail school district, near Tucson, said he is reserving judgment about the approach until the board completes its work. He likes its flexibility, but he wants to be sure that tests other than AzMerit yield the information the state needs. Ill want to know, do these other tests truly test our state standards? Is it possible to compare the results of one of those tests to our state test? he said. The bigger quest is to protect accountability. We want to be flexible, but we also need to be sure weve got a system that identifies schools accomplishments, and where they need help. But Arizona could run into legal problems with the menu approach in grades 3-8. ESSA requires states to administer the same test to all students in grades 3-8. Its only at the high school level that it allows states to substitute another assessment. State education department spokesman Charles Tack acknowledged that the new law would appear to be in conflict with ESSA. U.S. Department of Education spokeswoman Jessica Allen said federal officials are concerned about the menu approach to testing in grades 3-8. We understand that this portion of the law does not take effect until the 2018-19 school year, and we hope that the state will use this time to ensure that its schools administer high-quality assessments in accordance with the law, Allen said in an email. Florida lawmakers in their 2016 session considered a bill that would have allowed districts to use other tests, such as the PSAT, SAT, or ACT Aspire, instead of the states exam in high school, but the bill died without a vote by either chamber. A Colorado law requires the department of education to investigate and review assessment options, including one that would let local districts choose their own tests. The Colorado law also requires the education department to apply for another kind of ESSA testing flexibility, the innovative assessment pilot. Our juniors are test-fatigued. ... Its hard to get them motivated, and its hard not to empathize with their test fatigue." Testing was a hot topic in state legislatures in 2016. Key themes emerged from the hundreds of bills that passed through those chambers, according to Michelle Exstrom, the education program director at the National Conference of State Legislatures, which tracks state laws. Many of the bills dealt with switching assessments, clarifying parents rights to opt students out of tests, or giving districts more testing flexibility. But few moved states toward the kinds of testing flexibility ESSA offers, she said. In meetings last year about testing issues, most states expressed reluctance to let districts choose their own high school tests, said Marianne Perie, who oversees an assessment working group for the Council of Chief State School Officers. Complex Oversight One reason for that could be the complexity of overseeing different tests, said Scott Norton, the CCSSOs director of strategic initiatives in standards, accountability and assessment. Districts want to use a test that matters, and students care more about their SAT or ACT score than about their state test score, he said. If districts could use one of those, and get rid of their state test, theyd reduce their burden and get more [student] engagement. But states might not be that enthusiastic about managing different tests. Its simpler for them if everyone is on the same page. Though they may get pushback from their states, many school districts find the local high school option appealing. Vermont surveyed its stakeholders and found that 83 percent of administrators and 88 percent of teachers favored a switch from Smarter Balanced, a test designed by one of two federally funded consortia, to the SAT or ACT at the high school level. Our juniors are test-fatigued, said Mike McGraith, the principal of Montpelier High School in Montpelier, Vt. Many take AP tests in May, and theyre already taking the SAT multiple times, the PSAT in the fall, and the science [state test]. Then we have to turn to this group of 17-year-olds and say, Would you please try your hardest on this fairly involved long test that doesnt count for you, but it counts for us? Its hard to get them motivated, and its hard not to empathize with their test fatigue. In considering the option of rolling interim tests into a summative result, states and districts could enjoy some benefits, Norton said. As part of a coherent system, interim tests could help reduce testing overall by serving both as periodic, instructionally useful feedback, and also, combined, as a summative result for accountability, he said. But it would also be a heavy lift for states, since theyd have to ensure that the interims have met rigorous specifications, and give high-security tests several times a year, instead of just once, he said. North Carolina is in the second year of a pilot that uses the aggregated results of three interim tests each year to measure student achievement. But Tammy Howard, who is overseeing the so-called NC Check-In project as the states director of accountability services, said it isnt intended as a possible substitute for North Carolinas own end-of-grade and end-of-course tests. The state is simply interested in seeing how well segmented tests capture students mastery. Instructional Feedback Teachers love the interim tests so much, Howard said, that theyre asking the state not to use them as part of a summative system for accountability. Because the tests are for instructional feedback, theyre not held in high-security conditions, so teachers can get better access to the test questions, and detailed results, than if they were high-stakes accountability assessments, Howard said. Teachers find the feedback so useful, they want to keep it that way, she said. An assessment task force in Pennsylvania recommended that the state explore the possibility of using interim tests to get a summative score for accountability. Beth Olanoff, a special assistant to the state secretary of education on ESSA, said she and her colleagues are discussing the possibility and plan to conduct a feasibility study on the approach. Its appealing, on the one hand, because it would chunk summative tests into several sittings across the year, minimizing the impact of one big end-of-year test, especially on the youngest students, Olanoff said. And it could offer teachers more frequent, instructionally useful feedback. But testing is disruptive, and Pennsylvania officials still need to have a fuller conversation about whether [the approach is] worth that kind of disruption more frequently, Olanoff said. Venessa A. Keesler, Michigans deputy superintendent for educator, student, and school supports, said Michigan is mulling the use of interim tests in some grades, but psychometricians have raised caution flags about whether aggregated interim results would be valid for summative purposes. Teachers want tests with more of a formative feel, to help them better meet students needs, Keesler said. But whether thats possible in the context of a state accountability system isnt entirely clear, she said. No state is really doing that, Keesler said. This is emerging science. When Congress passed the Every Student Succeeds Act, state and district leaders were eager for the chance to try out a new breed of assessments, through a pilot program included in the law and open to a limited number of states. But, as state policymakers took a closer look at the language in ESSA outlining the so-called Innovative Assessment pilotincluding a set of what federal officials call stringent guardrails aimed partly at ensuring the new testing systems consider historically disadvantaged groups of studentsthey began to reconsider whether they wanted to participate. Now, more than a year after ESSAs passage, the pilot process has yet to officially get off the ground. There dont seem to be many potential takers among state officials, and there are still a lot of unknowns when it comes to how the pilot will play out. For one thing, the U.S. Department of Education under the Obama administration as of mid-December hadnt yet outlined what the application process for states would look like, or when it would get started, or which states would be allowed to participate initially. That leaves key details up to the incoming Trump administration. And its not even a sure thing that the Trump team will open the pilot at all; the law leaves it up to the education secretary to decide whether or not to let states take advantage of the flexibility. As of mid-December, neither Trump nor his choice of education secretary, Betsy DeVos, a school choice advocate and GOP donor, had said much about the pilot or testing in general. State Readiness The pilot was inspired by New Hampshire, which spent years experimenting with competency-based education, a model that considers whether students have mastered certain skills. In March of 2015, months before ESSA passed, the state received permission from the Education Department to try out new performance assessments in a handful of districts before eventually taking that system statewide. The pilot drew interestand visitorsfrom across the country, and ESSA ultimately included language that could eventually open similar opportunities up to every state. ESSA starts the pilot off small; no more than seven states can join in the initial phase. After three years, the law directs the Institute of Education Sciences, the research arm of the Education Department, to take stock of the programs progress. The secretary of education then can choose to open the flexibility up to all states. But, at least right now, few states are as prepared as New Hampshire was to take immediate advantage of the leeway in the law, said Lillian Pace, the senior director of national policy at KnowledgeWorks, a nonprofit that works to better personalize learning for students. She is hoping that a new administration would consider giving states some timeand some new fundingto really think through how they can take advantage of the flexibility. I would love to see the next administration actually provide start-up resources, said Pace, in an interview before the 2016 election. That would help bring the right expertise to the table. The pilot, she said, was meant to provide a bridge to a new generation of tests. The interest is there, but the barriers seem so overwhelming right now, Pace said. I dont know if were going to see this opportunity amount to as much as we had hoped. Guardrails in Place Even with more time and some additional funding, states that want to participate will still have to jump over some serious hurdles. For instance, ESSA requires states seeking to join the pilot to eventually take their new testing systems statewide. They also will have to make sure the tests are valid and reliable and that the results can be compared among different districts, including those that are taking the traditional statewide assessment. Participating states also must make sure that they are testing a representative sample of students by the end of the so-called demonstration period, which is supposed to last for five years, according to the law, with the possibility of a two-year extension. That means that a state with a big population of English-language learners, such as California, would have to make sure that it tests its new approach on districts with a hefty number of ELLs. Some states that had initially expressed interest in the pilot are now leaning against participating. We really looked at that. I almost feel like we can be more innovative without the innovative pilot, said Jillian Balow, Wyomings state superintendent of public instruction. The state is in the market for a new testing system. The innovative pilot says, This is how you have to be innovative. Being innovative on our own, without going into that pilot-state mode just gives us a little bit more flexibility. But Paul Leather, New Hampshires deputy commissioner, said that while the process has been challenging, its beginning to pay dividends. The Granite States pilot has been embraced by many in the local business community who want to hire employees that can collaborate and tackle problems in an innovative way. Almost every week, a new district asks to join the effort, Leather said. Best of all, the pilot is making a difference in the classroom, and, he thinks, boosting student learning. We have essentially placed assessment and accountability in the hands of local educators, Leather said. It has been very effective. Were already starting to see some significant improvements in performance in the second year of the flexibility. One year ago, President Barack Obama and longtime education leaders in Congress burst through years of deadlock to pass the Every Student Succeeds Act, the first update to the nations main K-12 law in over a decade. Now the law remains a work in progress, as states, districts, and a shifting cast of federal officials work furiously to prepare for its full rollout this fall. ESSAs architects said the law struck a careful compromise. On the one side, it moved away from what they saw as the worst aspects of the No Child Left Behind Actthe previous version of the landmark Elementary and Secondary Education Actincluding what many deemed an overemphasis on standardized tests and a too-heavy federal footprint. At the same time, it kept key safeguards for historically overlooked groups of students. But as the new law passes its first birthday, its an open question whether ESSA will be able to maintain that balance once it hits state education agencies, district central offices, and classrooms in full force in the 2017-18 school year. ESSA gives states and districts greater flexibility, but it also asks a lot of them. Instead of relying primarily on test results to gauge school performance, as policy officials did under No Child Left Behind, states must use a jumble of measures, including test scores, graduation rates, and at least one factor that gets at school quality or student success, such as school climate or achievement in advanced coursework. And states can move away from teacher evaluations based on student test scores and come up with their own definitions for what makes a teacher effective. States and districts also get to decide how to intervene in their lowest-performing schools and those where long-overlooked groupssuch as students of color, English-language learners, and children with disabilitiesarent performing up to snuff. Perspectives on ESSA's Impact As part of a nationwide survey, Education Week asked district leaders to indicate the extent to which they agree with six statements related to ESSA. Roughly one-third of survey respondents said they completely agree that their districts will be using students test scores to help evaluate teachers two years from now. Only 9 percent agreed that leaders in their districts have had sufficient impact on their states ESSA implementation plans. Source: Education Week Research Center, 2017 Given the range of state capacity, and states different K-12 priorities, ESSA implementation could look radically different on the ground from one state to the next, said Maria Voles Ferguson, the executive director of the Center on Education Policy, a public education advocacy group at the George Washington Universitys Graduate School of Education and Human Development. I think theres going to be a lot of different stories told throughout the country, said Ferguson, who served in the U.S. Department of Education working on K-12 policy and communications under President Bill Clinton. There are bright-shining-star [states] that are going to run and do really interesting things, and then therell be some sad, not-great stories. Its a little bit of survival of the fittest. For their part, state education chiefs recognize the challenges ahead, but say they welcome the opportunity to move toward what they hope will be more-nuanced accountability systems that present a clearer picture of student progress. And they know that the greater leeway may not be around forever. If we just use the flexibility to get out of things and not serve kids better, were going to be right back here soon with more federal prescription, said Chris Minnich, the executive director of the Council of Chief State School Officers. Meanwhile, President-elect Donald Trumps upset victory in November has muddied the waters at the federal level. For one thing, the Obama administration has spent the past year crafting regulations that flesh out ESSAs accountability, testing, and spending provisions. But its unclear how much of that work will end up influencing the laws direction in the long run. The incoming Trump administration will get to decide whether to delay, tweak, or toss those regulations. For now, state chiefs say they are not waiting for Trump and his pick for education secretary, school choice advocate Betsy DeVos, to put their stamp on the law. Instead, states are pressing forward with their own ESSA blueprints, honed in many cases after months of outreach, multiple listening tours, and hours of meetings. Setting Priorities for ESSA's Transition Education Week asked district leaders how much of a priority the ESSA transition will be for their districts during the 2016-17 and 2017-18 school years. One-third of district leaders responding to a September 2016 survey reported that it would be a high priority in the 2016-17 school year. A larger share (45%) said it will be a high priority in 2017-18. Source: Education Week Research Center, 2017 For instance, Virginia is leaning toward a plan that incorporates chronic absenteeism alongside test scores in gauging school performance, said Steven Staples, the state superintendent of public instruction. And hed like to see the new system take stock of whether schools are closing the achievement gaps that have often left minority students, those with disabilities, and other groups lagging behind. But some sticky issues still must be worked through, Staples said. For instance, the state will need to decide how to figure out whether a school is truly helping struggling students improve, or if the top students are simply slipping. And more generally, the Every Student Succeeds Act requires a shift in mindset for states, districts, and schools, said Jillian Balow, Wyomings superintendent of public instruction. Under No Child Left Behind, which President George W. Bush signed into law in 2002, our accountability systems really were designed to give us information about how well schools and school districts were playing the accountability game, and gave us very little information about how our students were really doing, Balow said. Were trying as a state to really close that gap between accountability for compliance and accountability for responsibility for student learning, she said. Equity Focus And the question that loomed over the celebrations hailing ESSAs passage in December 2015 remains: What will more state control mean for historically overlooked groups of students? Tony Evers, Wisconsins superintendent of public instruction, recalled that when ESSA became law, an influential civil rights leader in his state tweeted that hed lived through states rights and it hadnt worked out very well, a reference to segregation. I took that to heart, I took it as a personal obligation to make equity for all groups a central tenet of Wisconsins plan, Evers said. Civil rights advocates are heartened by such sentiments, but caution that states have a lot of decisions left to make. Were still kind of in the thick of it, said Daria Hall, the interim vice president for government affairs and communications at the Education Trust, which advocates in support of poor and minority students. Theres a lot of conversation going on right now, but I dont think were at a point where we can definitively say heres where that conversation is leading us, for good, bad, or other. Hall said civil rights advocates should keep an eye on where ESSA implementation stands in their states. We have to be really cautious because we know that states have a long track record of not making tough decisions when it comes to the interest of low-income students, students of color, English-language learners, she said. If states are going to walk away from those students, we are going to lose whatever progress weve made with those students, who now make up the majority of our public school population. Teachers unions are also working to make sure their members are at the table helping to craft state accountability plans. We are hopeful that states have not dug in on ESSA, said Donna Harris-Aikens, the National Education Associations director of policy and practice. The union and its affiliates, she said, have been telling state education officials: Dont go off into a room somewhere in the back and build a plan. Dont wait until you have a final draft of a plan before you reach out to your stakeholders. Make sure youve really gotten buy-in by the time youre done building your plan. School Choice Twist Even though the Trump administration will eventually be consumed with approving states ESSA plans, the president-elect has suggested that expanding school choice could be his initial focus in education policy. Some of Trumps campaign proposalslike redirecting $20 billion in federal funding to help students attend the private, public, or home school of their choicewould likely require renegotiating the portion of ESSA that deals with the formula for distributing Title I dollars to states and districts. But plenty of opportunities for expanding school choice are already written into the law, said Lindsay Fryer, who worked as an education aide to Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., the chairman of the Senate education committee, when Congress was writing ESSA. For instance, states can reserve up to 3 percent of their Title I dollars and channel it to such purposes as public school choice, distance learning, personalized learning, tutoring, and Advanced Placement coursetaking. Already under ESSA, choice can be utilized in a broader sense than where we hear the rhetoric now, said Fryer, who is now a vice-president at the Penn Hill Group, a government relations firm in Washington. And overall, she said, ESSA offers states a chance to shift their thinking. States have so long been in compliance mode, the bureaucratic back-and-forth of, Can I do science tests this way? Fryer said. Now is the opportunity for states to figure out what they want to do, she said. States will learn a lot from each other as these plans move forward. The 21st annual edition of Quality CountsUnder Construction: Building on ESSAs K-12 Foundationcontinues Education Weeks long-standing tradition of grading the states on their performance. A states overall grade is the average of its scores on the three separate indices tracked by the report. State Overview This year, Arizona finishes 44th among the 50 states and the District of Columbia, with an overall score of 68.6 out of 100 points and a grade of D-plus. The nation as a whole posts a grade of C. Diving into the findings for the three graded indices, Arizona earns a C in the Chance-for-Success category and ranks 44th. The average state earns a C-plus. In School Finance, Arizona receives a D-minus and ranks 46th. For the K-12 Achievement Index, last updated in the 2016 report, it finishes 26th with a grade of C-minus. The average state earns grades of C and C-minus in School Finance and K-12 Achievement, respectively. More details on results in these categories are reported below. Chance for Success The Education Week Research Center developed the Chance-for-Success Index to better understand the role that education plays in promoting positive outcomes across an individuals lifetime. Based on an original state-by-state analysis, this index combines information from 13 indicators that span a persons life from cradle to career. Those indicators fall into three sub-sections: early foundations, school years, and adult outcomes. For early foundations, which examines factors that help children get off to a good start, Arizona earns a grade of C-plus and ranks 44th. The average state posts a B-minus. Arizona receives a C-minus for the school years, a sub-category focusing on metrics related to pre-k enrollment through postsecondary participation. It finishes 42nd in the nation in this area. By comparison, the nation as a whole earns a C. In the area of adult outcomes, based on postsecondary educational attainment and workforce indicators, Arizonas grade is a C. It ranks 38th in the nation. The national average is a C-plus. School Finance The school finance analysis examines two critical aspects of school spending. Of the eight indicators in this category, four assess school spending patterns, while the remaining metrics gauge equity in the distribution of funding across the districts within each state. Across the spending indicators, Arizona finishes with a letter grade of F compared with a national average of D. Arizona ranks 50th in the nation in this area. On the equity measures, Arizonas grade is a B, which places it 35th in the national rankings. The nation as a whole earns a B. K-12 Achievement The K-12 Achievement Index examines 18 distinct achievement measures related to reading and math performance, high school graduation rates, and the results of Advanced Placement exams. The index assigns equal weight to current levels of performance and changes over time. It also places an emphasis on equity, by examining both poverty-based achievement gaps and progress in closing those gaps. The results of the K-12 Achievement Index reported here are from the Quality Counts 2016 report and have not been updated. Indicators in the index can be broken down into three sub-categories: status, change, and equity. Measures in the status sub-category evaluate a states current performance. Arizona receives a D-minus in this area and ranks 37th in the nation. The average state earns a D. The change sub-category examines a states improvement over time. In this area, Arizona posts a C and ranks seventh. The national average is a D-plus. In the equity sub-section, states are graded based on achievement gaps between low-income students and their more affluent peers. Arizonas grade on those poverty-gap measures stands at a B. Nationally, it ranks 28th in this area. The nation as a whole receives a B. Arizonas 2017 Highlights Report includes summarized results based on each of the nearly-40 indicators that make up Quality Counts overall grading rubric. Tables with the full results are available in PDF form below: - Grading Summary - Chance for Success - School Finance - K-12 Achievement The 21st annual edition of Quality CountsUnder Construction: Building on ESSAs K-12 Foundationcontinues Education Weeks long-standing tradition of grading the states on their performance. A states overall grade is the average of its scores on the three separate indices tracked by the report. State Overview This year, Arkansas finishes 43rd among the 50 states and the District of Columbia, with an overall score of 69.8 out of 100 points and a grade of C-minus. The nation as a whole posts a grade of C. Diving into the findings for the three graded indices, Arkansas earns a C-minus in the Chance-for-Success category and ranks 46th. The average state earns a C-plus. In School Finance, Arkansas receives a C-minus and ranks 29th. For the K-12 Achievement Index, last updated in the 2016 report, it finishes 41st with a grade of D. The average state earns grades of C and C-minus in School Finance and K-12 Achievement, respectively. More details on results in these categories are reported below. Chance for Success The Education Week Research Center developed the Chance-for-Success Index to better understand the role that education plays in promoting positive outcomes across an individuals lifetime. Based on an original state-by-state analysis, this index combines information from 13 indicators that span a persons life from cradle to career. Those indicators fall into three sub-sections: early foundations, school years, and adult outcomes. For early foundations, which examines factors that help children get off to a good start, Arkansas earns a grade of C and ranks 46th. The average state posts a B-minus. Arkansas receives a C-minus for the school years, a sub-category focusing on metrics related to pre-k enrollment through postsecondary participation. It finishes 40th in the nation in this area. By comparison, the nation as a whole earns a C. In the area of adult outcomes, based on postsecondary educational attainment and workforce indicators, Arkansass grade is a D-plus. It ranks 48th in the nation. The national average is a C-plus. School Finance The school finance analysis examines two critical aspects of school spending. Of the eight indicators in this category, four assess school spending patterns, while the remaining metrics gauge equity in the distribution of funding across the districts within each state. Across the spending indicators, Arkansas finishes with a letter grade of F compared with a national average of D. Arkansas ranks 30th in the nation in this area. On the equity measures, Arkansass grade is a B, which places it 24th in the national rankings. The nation as a whole earns a B. K-12 Achievement The K-12 Achievement Index examines 18 distinct achievement measures related to reading and math performance, high school graduation rates, and the results of Advanced Placement exams. The index assigns equal weight to current levels of performance and changes over time. It also places an emphasis on equity, by examining both poverty-based achievement gaps and progress in closing those gaps. The results of the K-12 Achievement Index reported here are from the Quality Counts 2016 report and have not been updated. Indicators in the index can be broken down into three sub-categories: status, change, and equity. Measures in the status sub-category evaluate a states current performance. Arkansas receives an F in this area and ranks 43rd in the nation. The average state earns a D. The change sub-category examines a states improvement over time. In this area, Arkansas posts a D-plus and ranks 26th. The national average is a D-plus. In the equity sub-section, states are graded based on achievement gaps between low-income students and their more affluent peers. Arkansass grade on those poverty-gap measures stands at a B. Nationally, it ranks 21st in this area. The nation as a whole receives a B. Arkansass 2017 Highlights Report includes summarized results based on each of the nearly-40 indicators that make up Quality Counts overall grading rubric. Tables with the full results are available in PDF form below: - Grading Summary - Chance for Success - School Finance - K-12 Achievement The 21st annual edition of Quality CountsUnder Construction: Building on ESSAs K-12 Foundationcontinues Education Weeks long-standing tradition of grading the states on their performance. A states overall grade is the average of its scores on the three separate indices tracked by the report. State Overview This year, North Carolina finishes 39th among the 50 states and the District of Columbia, with an overall score of 70.5 out of 100 points and a grade of C-minus. The nation as a whole posts a grade of C. Diving into the findings for the three graded indices, North Carolina earns a C-plus in the Chance-for-Success category and ranks 31st. The average state earns a C-plus. In School Finance, North Carolina receives a D and ranks 45th. For the K-12 Achievement Index, last updated in the 2016 report, it finishes 33rd with a grade of D-plus. The average state earns grades of C and C-minus in School Finance and K-12 Achievement, respectively. More details on results in these categories are reported below. Chance for Success The Education Week Research Center developed the Chance-for-Success Index to better understand the role that education plays in promoting positive outcomes across an individuals lifetime. Based on an original state-by-state analysis, this index combines information from 13 indicators that span a persons life from cradle to career. Those indicators fall into three sub-sections: early foundations, school years, and adult outcomes. For early foundations, which examines factors that help children get off to a good start, North Carolina earns a grade of B-minus and ranks 35th. The average state posts a B-minus. North Carolina receives a C for the school years, a sub-category focusing on metrics related to pre-k enrollment through postsecondary participation. It finishes 24th in the nation in this area. By comparison, the nation as a whole earns a C. In the area of adult outcomes, based on postsecondary educational attainment and workforce indicators, North Carolinas grade is a C. It ranks 32nd in the nation. The national average is a C-plus. School Finance The school finance analysis examines two critical aspects of school spending. Of the eight indicators in this category, four assess school spending patterns, while the remaining metrics gauge equity in the distribution of funding across the districts within each state. Across the spending indicators, North Carolina finishes with a letter grade of F compared with a national average of D. North Carolina ranks 47th in the nation in this area. On the equity measures, North Carolinas grade is a B-plus, which places it 16th in the national rankings. The nation as a whole earns a B. K-12 Achievement The K-12 Achievement Index examines 18 distinct achievement measures related to reading and math performance, high school graduation rates, and the results of Advanced Placement exams. The index assigns equal weight to current levels of performance and changes over time. It also places an emphasis on equity, by examining both poverty-based achievement gaps and progress in closing those gaps. The results of the K-12 Achievement Index reported here are from the Quality Counts 2016 report and have not been updated. Indicators in the index can be broken down into three sub-categories: status, change, and equity. Measures in the status sub-category evaluate a states current performance. North Carolina receives a D-plus in this area and ranks 19th in the nation. The average state earns a D. The change sub-category examines a states improvement over time. In this area, North Carolina posts a D and ranks 41st. The national average is a D-plus. In the equity sub-section, states are graded based on achievement gaps between low-income students and their more affluent peers. North Carolinas grade on those poverty-gap measures stands at a B-minus. Nationally, it ranks 39th in this area. The nation as a whole receives a B. North Carolinas 2017 Highlights Report includes summarized results based on each of the nearly-40 indicators that make up Quality Counts overall grading rubric. Tables with the full results are available in PDF form below: - Grading Summary - Chance for Success - School Finance - K-12 Achievement The 21st annual edition of Quality CountsUnder Construction: Building on ESSAs K-12 Foundationcontinues Education Weeks long-standing tradition of grading the states on their performance. A states overall grade is the average of its scores on the three separate indices tracked by the report. State Overview This year, South Dakota finishes 38th among the 50 states and the District of Columbia, with an overall score of 70.5 out of 100 points and a grade of C-minus. The nation as a whole posts a grade of C. Diving into the findings for the three graded indices, South Dakota earns a C-plus in the Chance-for-Success category and ranks 24th. The average state earns a C-plus. In School Finance, South Dakota receives a D-plus and ranks 41st. For the K-12 Achievement Index, last updated in the 2016 report, it finishes 44th with a grade of D. The average state earns grades of C and C-minus in School Finance and K-12 Achievement, respectively. More details on results in these categories are reported below. Chance for Success The Education Week Research Center developed the Chance-for-Success Index to better understand the role that education plays in promoting positive outcomes across an individuals lifetime. Based on an original state-by-state analysis, this index combines information from 13 indicators that span a persons life from cradle to career. Those indicators fall into three sub-sections: early foundations, school years, and adult outcomes. For early foundations, which examines factors that help children get off to a good start, South Dakota earns a grade of A-minus and ranks eighth. The average state posts a B-minus. South Dakota receives a C-minus for the school years, a sub-category focusing on metrics related to pre-k enrollment through postsecondary participation. It finishes 35th in the nation in this area. By comparison, the nation as a whole earns a C. In the area of adult outcomes, based on postsecondary educational attainment and workforce indicators, South Dakotas grade is a C-plus. It ranks 24th in the nation. The national average is a C-plus. School Finance The school finance analysis examines two critical aspects of school spending. Of the eight indicators in this category, four assess school spending patterns, while the remaining metrics gauge equity in the distribution of funding across the districts within each state. Across the spending indicators, South Dakota finishes with a letter grade of F compared with a national average of D. South Dakota ranks 39th in the nation in this area. On the equity measures, South Dakotas grade is a B, which places it 28th in the national rankings. The nation as a whole earns a B. K-12 Achievement The K-12 Achievement Index examines 18 distinct achievement measures related to reading and math performance, high school graduation rates, and the results of Advanced Placement exams. The index assigns equal weight to current levels of performance and changes over time. It also places an emphasis on equity, by examining both poverty-based achievement gaps and progress in closing those gaps. The results of the K-12 Achievement Index reported here are from the Quality Counts 2016 report and have not been updated. Indicators in the index can be broken down into three sub-categories: status, change, and equity. Measures in the status sub-category evaluate a states current performance. South Dakota receives a D-minus in this area and ranks 32nd in the nation. The average state earns a D. The change sub-category examines a states improvement over time. In this area, South Dakota posts an F and ranks 51st. The national average is a D-plus. In the equity sub-section, states are graded based on achievement gaps between low-income students and their more affluent peers. South Dakotas grade on those poverty-gap measures stands at a B. Nationally, it ranks 30th in this area. The nation as a whole receives a B. South Dakotas 2017 Highlights Report includes summarized results based on each of the nearly-40 indicators that make up Quality Counts overall grading rubric. 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shows that are highly anticipated by viewers this year. It has been roughly five months since the series has last been seen, so it is expected that its return will be gracefully welcomed by fans. Following the announcement of renewal for its third and fourth seasons, which will adapt the Outlander novels, Voyager and Drums of Autumn, several speculations and spoilers have since been appearing online. The previous season of the series showed a scene in 1948 where Claire, portrayed by Caitriona Balfe, was leaving Jamie Fraser, played by actor Sam Heughan. She decided to go back to her first husband, Tobias Menzies' character, Frank Randall. Claire then finds out that Jamie had survived from the Battle of Culloden twenty years later. According to a report from Movie Pilot, fans of Outlander are going to expect a lot more dramatic scenes between Jamie and Claire in the upcoming season. The show's executive producer, Matthew Roberts, revealed that the episodes, especially the finale, will be 'spine-tingling', which excite the fans more. He added that the third season will offer more emotional scenes that would definitely intensify the viewers' feelings. Fans are worried that this might mean a sign of bad things to happen among the characters. However, he said that the dramatic scenarios would mostly include tears of joy. Although he did not put in details the possible occurrences, his statement had put high hopes for the fans. Meanwhile, according to International Business Times, author of the Outlander novels, Diana Gabaldon, has reportedly confirmed that the newest character on the upcoming season, Mr. Willoughby, will be seen on season 7 despite the previous reports saying the show is going to skip the character's storyline. Mr. Willoughby will be the newest addition to the cast of the drama series. He is a scholar who worked for the Chinese government and will be met by Jamie Fraser during their encounter in Edinburgh. There has been no official casting announcement yet for Outlander but Gabaldon assures that this will be happening soon this year. Kate Middleton has been the "most popular and photographed member of the royal family" for a long time. But now her popularity seems to be threatened. According to Celeb Dirty Laundry, ever since Prince Harry's girlfriend Meghan Markle topped the list of Internet's most-Googled actress of 2016. Kate Middleton wonders whether she is going to be upstaged. Prince Harry is getting ready to propose to Meghan, even as the royal Palace is gearing up to welcome her into the palace, as per Washington Post. But does Kate Middleton feel "welcoming" towards her? Media speculations think not! Poor Kate may or may not be feeling threatened but either way, she suffers. Even if she doesn't feel envious of Meghan, just the rumors are enough to make her feel insecure. What makes Meghan Markle so popular is having been picked up by Prince Harry as a girlfriend. She was popular for the USA drama Suits but became a household name due to her romance with the prince. That is why everyone wanted to get to know all about her life and her background. Kate understands Meghan's social ambitions and figures out how she can get into the public eye. Being a Hollywood actress, beautiful and well-spoken makes Meghan a "celebrity humanitarian" who loves interacting with others. Hence, Meghan seems to be more worthy of attention than the Duchess of Cambridge. Once Prince Harry's wedding with her gets finalized, the public spotlight is bound to be fixed on the outsider, who is a new entrant. Being sparkling and evanescent, she is a hit in the royal palace and rules the spotlight. It has been reported that Kate Middleton shies away from publicity and attendance to royal engagements and she does not fulfil all her duties as a queen. However, the media feels that she just loves attention. She will most probably miss it when the "most searched for" celebrity, Meghan Markle, marries her brother-in-law. The fans have been waiting to see Elijah (Daniel Gillies) and Hayley (Phoebe Tonkin) in the coming The Originals Season 4. It has been a big brain teaser whom the werewolf-turned-hybrid will end up with as she also has a love-hate relationship with Klaus (Joseph Morgan). But, it has been said that her romance with the original vampire will be heavily dramatized. The show's executive producer Michael Narducci told TVLine that Elijah and Hayley have the most dynamic journeys that would be sensationalized as the chapter opens. Even though the two are on different planes, he assured that Hayley would do everything to get Elijah and his siblings back. As the couple is facing a lot of obstacles in their relationship, the showrunner revealed that real stand of their romance in The Originals Season 4. Narducci explained that Elijah and Hayley are two different beings that really love each other, although they are in a very complicated situation. Elijah has been known for being a thousand-year-old vampire that could do anything beyond what he is capable with while Hayley, in spite of being a hybrid, still carries life and value of a human being. "When their family is put in jeopardy, these two people are going to do whatever they have to do to protect each other," he said. Meanwhile, Enstarz recently reported that the production of The Originals Season 4 has now wrapped up before the holidays. In fact, Tonkin revealed the good news on her Twitter page, an indication that the show will soon be revealed. The 27-year-old Australian actress sent her gratitude to the people behind their show for working really hard to make the series complete. She even mentioned that their staff and crew have put their hearts and strengths to make The Originals Season 4 a success. The Originals Season 4 is set to return on March 17 only on The CW. Samsung Electronics has been reported to be working on with a new smartphone. Named as Samsung Galaxy X, the said device is anticipated to feature foldable screen and is slated to be unveiled on third quarter of 2017. WCCFTech has learned that the codename of Galaxy X is reportedly Project Valley. Some talks suggest that Samsung Electronics is anticipated to release a total of two foldable display handsets, with one appearing in 2017. At first, it was rumored that the Samsung Galaxy X might be unveiled during the MWC 2017 trade show or possibly shortly after that. But then it seems that these months will be secured for the Galaxy S8. Nevertheless, the Q3-Q4, 2017 announcement date might actually crash with the Galaxy Note 8. With this, it seems that there isn't much room left for Samsung since the publication of the device might take away some the spotlight from the rest of the smartphones. When it comes with the specs and features, Samsung Galaxy X is supposed to feature a book-like form as it might be equipped with foldable display that is flexible enough to turn into an actual book. Furthermore, Android Headlines reported that the foldable screen of Samsung Galaxy X will be equipped by OLED display having 4K pixel resolution. This smartphone is also expected to be powered by the Snapdragon 835 chip, which is anticipated to be seen under the chassis of quite a few premium smartphones this year. It can be remembered that a patent filling by Samsung last year showed that a smartphone was being developed by the company and it will arrive sporting fully foldable body. As a matter of fact, based on patent filing with the USPTO, the users will be capable of folding the smartphone at various different angles. The South Korean tech company has showcased its first-ever flexible display several years back. Samsung is rumored to release two foldable smartphones this year and the first one which is dubbed as Samsung Galaxy X might be unveiled around third quarter of 2017. Nonetheless, the tech giant hasn't uttered any word yet but it is anticipated to spill all the information soon. Transcription 1 Sudan: Terrorism and Money Laundering By: Ibrahim Musa & Mohamed Osman Adam Sudan has recently approved a new legislation banning money laundering and terrorism. It is the first comprehensive legislation for fighting money laundering and financing terrorism. The Parliament passed in late last June an interim decree law on fighting money laundering and financing terrorism for The law was meant as a substitute to the law combating money laundering for 2003 so as to cope with the international legislative developments of fighting the money laundering phenomenon. This was imperative after practical experience and the remarks made by the experts of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Sudanese experts indicated the existence of shortcomings in 2 the 2003 law; a matter that necessitated the issuance of a new law for The new law consists of 37 articles over seven chapters containing the title and the control and supervision authorities on the financial institutions and commitments thereof. It provides for the establishment of a unit for financial investigation, its seat and formation, demanding information and notifying the control and supervision authorities. It also provides for temporary suspension of suspected transactions, freezing money, publishing reports and exchanging information with similar units in other countries. Article 21 of the law outlined the jurisdictions and powers of the administrative committee for combating money laundering and financing terrorism, issuing rules that guide the administrative investigation, examination and prosecution in coordination with the relevant authorities. The outstanding motives of promulgation of this law include implementation by the Sudan of its international commitments and response to recommendations of the money laundering working committee that was set up by the summit of the industrialized group of seven in 1989 on fighting money laundering which oblige all countries to take measures and enact legislation they deem necessary for incriminating money laundering in compliance with the Vienna Convention. 3 Article 33 of the law defines the crimes of money laundering and terrorism financing, regarding a perpetrator of money laundering terrorism financing crime is a person who conducts a behavior of acquiring, possessing, disposing of, utilizing, transferring, administering, keeping, exchanging, investing or depositing proceeds by manipulating their value or movement or concealing or disguising their origin or their real nature or the manner in which they are handled or possessed or the relevant rights, whether the crime that resulted from these proceeds occurs in the Sudan or abroad and is punishable under the Sudanese law or that of the country where it is committed. The new law classifies a perpetrator of the crime of financing terrorism as the person who collects or offers funds directly or indirectly for committing a terrorist act or to be used a terrorist organization or individual. The law defines a terrorist act as one prohibited by the anti-terrorism law of 2001 or any other substitute law, or any act of a terrorist nature prohibited by an international treaty to which the Sudan is party. 4 The law regards a perpetrator of a crime of money laundering financing terrorism as a person who is about to commit, participates, instigates or helps in perpetrating this crime. He is liable to the same punishment set for the original perpetrator. The law provided in Article 3 for formation of a financial investigation unit that is tasked with analyzing information on funds suspected of having been obtained from a crime or for financing terrorism. The committee transmits the information to the concerned prosecution office to take action whenever it reaches evidence of a crime under the Criminal Code of 1991 or any other substitute law. The new law makes reference to so-called non-financial institutions which may be used for money laundering such as the real-estate agencies, gold merchants, goldsmiths and lawyers who register the companies, provided that the lawyers retain the right for confidentiality of the information. The law names the supervision and control authorities as the Central Bank, the Khartoum Stock Market and the General Board for the Insurance Control. The law stipulates that a person who commits a crime of money laundering and financing terrorism is sentenced to up to 10 years in prison and a fine that will be equal to double the amount that is mentioned in the case. The law state that the confiscated money be deposited aside from the public funds and spent for the treatment of patients suffering from diseases which are difficult to cure. A number of jurists and economists were in consensus on the timeliness of the law, noting that it conforms to the international economic development and would contribute to combating the phenomenon of money laundering and financing terrorism which they says has spread of late and 5 has led to the collapse of numerous international financial institutions. Dr. Babikir Mohamed al-tom, the Alternate Chairman of the National Assembly's Economic Committee, has described the new law as one of the most important legislations, indicating that it has provided for the formation of a supervisory committee and has empowered it to issue guiding rules for investigation and prosecution in addition to exchanging information, internally and externally, on the practice. This committee, Tom noted, is also empowered to monitor financial and non-financial activities. He also commended the provision of putting aside the confiscated money for the medical treatment of difficult cases and for fighting money laundering and other economic crimes. The law was issued on the right time, says Advocate Abboud Jabir Saeed who suggests the organization of a media campaign to enlighten the public on the danger of money laundering. He stresses that the legislative and executive bodies must continuously keep abreast of the developments in the methods of money laundering and terrorist crime for which he says Sudan has enacted legislation to counter its hazards to the safety and security of the society. Banking Violations Prosecution Under-Secretary Amir Mohamed Ibrahim says the timing of the law was wellchosen as this headed next November towards an assessment by an international team of the country's commitment to recommendations on money laundering. "By issuing this law, the Sudan has shown that it is committed to those recommendations and has made positive steps for fighting money laundering and financing terrorism," Ibrahim says. 6 It is one of the most advanced laws made by the international financial community for combating the money laundering practice as it has observed all of the 40 recommendations on money laundering and nine recommendations on financing terrorism, says the prosecution under-secretary. He added that the new law has included in chapter one term which were not mentioned in the anti-terrorism act of 2001 and anti-money laundering act of 2003 such as the transit agent and the real beneficiary of the money or the person who actually controls this money. The law has responded to the most prominent international requirement of establishing a financial investigation unit, or financial intelligence unit, tasked with verifying financial information to determine whether it conforms to the financial recommendations on money laundering and financing terrorism and submits this information to the concerned authorities for legal action, Ibrahim says. He described the creation of this unit as an advanced step made by the Sudan. The prosecution under-secretary also made reference to the provision in the new law on non-financial institutions which could play as channels for money laundering like real estate business, gold merchants and goldsmiths not included in the previous law. The law stipulates that the banks should feed the unit with the required information, says the jurist, making reference to the foreign currency declaration that should be made by an arriving person with the customs authorities. He says removing criminal, administrative and civil responsibility from a person who makes notification or gives 7 information offers a lawful immunity to that person. The prosecutor under-secretary points out the powers granted by the law, in Article 16, to the prosecutor general for withholding suspected any money. He also point to a provision by the new law on formation of an administrative committee to be chaired by the Justice Under-Secretary and to include the Central Bank of Sudan Deputy Governor, the Finance, External Trade and Investment Under-Secretaries and representatives of the customs, investigation, Interpol, banking control department and the national information center. The Head of the Banking System Prosecution says that, following the issuance of the new law, they filed two lawsuits under Article 33 of the money laundering law and that investigation is still going on in cooperation between the prosecution and the financial investigation unit. He explains that the financial investigation unit is in charge of coordination between the Sudan and the other countries in connection with the investigation, indicating the existence of cooperation between the Sudan and the concerned international institutions. 8 The banking system prosecution official believes that the new law is effective enough for fighting money laundering and financing terrorism because it meets all requirements set by the money laundering recommendations. He predicts that it will back the Sudan position during next November assessment of whether the country is coping with combating money laundering and financing terrorism. He says that the new law would not have an adverse impact on economic investment in the Sudan because the law deals with "dirty" money which the Sudan does not deal with, whether in the field of investment or otherwise. The prosecution official says the charitable tasks would not be affected as the anti-terrorism recommendations target organizations while the charity activities in the Sudan center on such transparent and public projects as mosques and water wells. Ends-Ibrahim Musa- Mohamed Osman Adam European countries could end up being cold this winter as Ukraine is pumping gas from the underground storage facilities to ensure the smooth supply flow, according to an interview with Vladimir Chizhov, Russias ambassador to the EU, published yesterday (3 January). Mr. Chizkov was interviewed by Russias news agency Interfax and made this remark when he was asked how he saw the current state of the EU-Russia affairs. Yet, he spoke favorably about the trilateral energy talks headed by EU Commissions Vice President Maros Sefcovic. The major outcome of the Russia-EU-Ukraine talks is the so-called Winter Package under which the EU helps Ukraine to buy gas from Russia during winter. Mr. Sefcovic has been mediating between Ukraine and Russia for the third consecutive year. Mr. Chizhov warned that for the package to work, Ukraine was supposed to buy gas from Russia. Instead, he said, the country was pumping gas from the underground storage facilities built during the Soviet times, the main goal of which is to guarantee supply during cold winters. The Russian diplomat said that the optimal level of gas held in the underground depots was 19 billion cubic meters (bcm), while the minimal level to ensure security of supply for Europe was 17 bcm. However, during the December trilateral talks, the level was 14 bcm, and in his opinion, it is very likely that it is even lower today. Mr. Chizkov summed up this situation saying that Ukraine had used gas for its own needs. Ukraines underground gas storage facilities were constructed in a way that allowed either refilling them or siphoning them. However, these processes cannot take place simultaneously, Mr. Chizhov explained and added that if all of a sudden, Ukraine decided to fill the gas storages, it would need to cut the supply for its own territory. Transcription 1 ERA Conference: Darfur and its Impact on Sudan and the Region Dr. Mudawi El-Turabi Story Summary of Panel 2 Is Darfur a Proxy War? [Chairman of Sudan s Parliamentary Defense and Security Subcommittee, and Deputy Secretary General of the Democratic Unionist Party. El-Turabi has a PhD in political science and his masters in military science from Hartford University in the US.] Opening his presentation by way of a definition El-Turabi ventured that: When we talk about war by proxy, we mean by nature directed and driven by the interests of the country or other political entity that does not wish to be seen as destabilizing the so-called target country. He said it was time consuming and often expensive to create proxies from scratch; the cheaper and quicker route is to infiltrate existing political organizations and to transform them into proxies, even though full control over the created entity might be impossible in the end: Unless proxy wars are brought under control, proxy forces could develop their own momentum and political status, like we are having in Darfur and this would make it very difficult to end the resulting conflict. El-Turabi said countries against which proxy wars had been unleashed, usually responded by creating proxy forces of their own in order to combat the threat. The crisis in Darfur is. a regional problem, and it also involves the use of multiple proxies. A number of Sudan s neighbors are involved, including Chad and the Central African Republic. The conflict is characterized by cross-border activities by the combatants (who have) fluid loyalties. He added that armed combatants who may easily shift allegiances across borders to further their political-military careers was characteristic of the current conflict, and had major implications both on the local and transnational level. El-Turabi stated that the contention that the Darfur conflict was being exported to eastern Chad via janjaweed militia was a dangerous oversimplification of the ethnic and political dynamics of the region. It most especially neglects the importance of the political crisis in Chad. He also dismissed the claim that the Khartoum government was behind the violence in Darfur, through its alleged ordering of Arab militia to attack other Arabs in the region. 1 2 He maintained that it would be impossible to end the conflict in Darfur without involving the whole region, particularly Chad and the Central African Republic, and other neighbors of the Sudan. El-Turabi acknowledged that conflicts in both Darfur and Chad influenced each other, and were also complicated by the ethnic links between groups in Sudan and Chad. Sudan and Chad have been (wracked with) conflict via rebel groups and proxy militias intensively since the end of the 2005 attempts by both states (to end the fighting). (Efforts) to set up a rebel coalition. have failed, leaving the field open to a multitude of armed factions which are increasingly local and increasingly divided along ethnic lines and are degrading the security situation even further. He blamed the Darfur situation largely on Chad. The chronic conflict, reactivated in 2005, between the Chadian government and political groups there who felt that they had no other alternative than to take up arms against the government, meant that the Darfur crisis was rooted in the failure of democratization in Chad. El-Turabi said it was clear that Chad and Sudan were engaged in a proxy war by means of the various rebel groups and militias each was sponsoring. The situation, he maintained, was exacerbated by ethnic conflict in Chad and Darfur between long-settled land-owning groups and newcomers with no traditional rights (to) the land. As a consequence, the conflict in Darfur was more than a mere proxy war, and the failure to recognize this was undermining the effectiveness of current peace initiatives and could see the proxy war phenomena spreading further out of control. Throughout his address, he attributed responsibility for the Darfur situation to Chad: The problem of Darfur was caused. due to the Chadian wars in Darfur which had resulted in a flood of small arms being available to Darfurians: That will (allow) conflicting groups in Darfur, whether they have got their conflict with the government of Sudan or (other ethnic groups), to resort to arms to solve their conflicts. El-Turabi added that the Sudan government had on a number of occasions tried to initiate peace with Chad, but that these efforts had failed due to Chadian resistance, and to Chad s willingness to resort to violence. As one who is in charge of the (Sudan parliament) subcommittee on security and defense, we have got thousands of evidence (sic) that the last attack of the JEM on Omdurman was supported, financed and logistically done by the Chadian government. 2 3 He acknowledged that neither Sudan nor Chad were democratic havens, but added that unlike Khartoum, which was in a process of democratization, Chad was inflaming its population by constantly suggesting that Sudan was invading Chad. El-Turabi also suggested that it would be foolish for the Khartoum rulers to cause conflict in Darfur, as in so doing the government would risk reversing the economic growth that Sudan had achieved in recent years. He, however, added that retaliation by Sudan Armed Forces was sometimes necessary in order to stem border conflicts, and his essential point was that Sudan was only defending itself against aggressors. This did not detract from his view that there is a kind of a proxy war in this region involving CAR, Sudan and Chad. He again accused Chad of constantly undermining peace efforts, suggesting that every time an agreement between the Sudan government and rebel groups in Darfur was about to reached, the Chadians would give the rebels a wrong signal for the rebels to raise up the ceiling of their demands or simply to walk out of the talks. El-Turabi repeatedly emphasized that Khartoum wanted peace, whereas all other players were bent on a course of war. He further suggested that peace efforts in Darfur were complicated because there were so many disparate rebel groups in the region. Today in Darfur we have got 26 armed groups. They don t have coherency, and they don t have (a) unified political agenda, and they don t have unified leadership. So sometimes it s rather difficult to (know) with whom are you talking. He was also dismissive of calls on the government to allow international forces into Darfur to maintain peace. He said the presence of two of the mightiest armies in the world, those of the US and Britain, in Iraq and Afghanistan, had failed to quell insurgencies there, and that this offered evidence that sending foreign troops into Darfur was not the answer. Instead it required a political will to end the violence by those who carried the arms and the people behind them. He stressed that Sudan was ready to coexist with Chad, subject to democratic transformation taking place in Chad and in Sudan. Nurane Bashir [A spokesman for the Chad government, being Charge de Affaires at the Embassy of Chad in Washington D.C.] 3 4 Bashir denied that Darfur was a proxy war, branding it completely and absolutely an internal issue of Sudan. Chad has no relation to this issue, in any way. The Sudanese government tried to link Chad to the problem, in order to solve the problem. Chad has not any interest to be part of this conflict. He maintained that it was the government in Khartoum, and not the Chadian authorities, who was to blame for the ongoing violence in the region. Throughout history, there are problems coming from Sudan to Chad, not vice versa. He claimed that Khartoum had sponsored several coups and attempted coups to overthrow democratically elected Chadian leaders ever since Chad had received independence in For example, Bashir said Hissene Habre, who came to power in a coup in 1982 and allegedly killed thousands of people perceived to be his opponents, was Sudan s person. The Chadian government spokesman said before staging his coup, Habre and his forces were based in Darfur. Bashir suggested that Sudan had allowed a number of anti-chad government rebels proxy forces of Sudan - through the years to be based in Darfur, from which they launched their attacks against N Djamena. He added that current Chadian President, Idriss Deby, had been forced to enter Sudan in order to fight Habre s forces: All the fighting between the former dictator and the current president took place inside Darfur, not inside Chad. Bashir claimed that because Deby was refusing to agree with everything the Sudanese said, Khartoum was now using proxy forces against Deby in an attempt to overthrow him. He said the recent political history of Chad was directly linked to Sudan, and that the Sudanese administration often boasted about this. Bashir alleged that the current Sudanese authorities are very proud to talk loudly that any (leadership) change in Chad will take place in Khartoum. On nine occasions, Sudanese government supported artificially-created mercenaries from Chad to attack Chad. It was in Khartoum s interests, said Bashir, to attempt to convince the world that they were not training and funding the Janjaweed militia to attack Darfurians, but that the violence was rather as a result of a local tribal conflict, a dispute of land and grass, and. water resources. He denied that Chad was in any way supporting Sudanese rebels, and fomenting the war in Darfur. He said this didn t make any sense, as Chad has suffered from the conflict of Darfur more than the Sudanese as a result of all the refugees spilling over into it, and the fact that Chad had been occupied and attacked by Sudanese supported mercenaries nine times in two years. 4 5 In addition, Bashir maintained that Chadians and Sudanese were really wellrelated and it was therefore against Chad s principles to foment war in Sudan: We have kilometers of border with Darfur. We have 36 tribal groups interexisted (related) between the two countries. You can t differentiate (between) the eastern part of Chad and western part of Darfur. We have not any interest to destabilize Darfur or Sudan. He added: Some people they think there is a problem between Sudan and Chad. Actually there is not any problem between Sudan and Chad! Sudan and Chad are historically linked to each other, tribally linked to each other, culturally everything is similar; you can t differentiate yourself if you are in Khartoum or N Djamena. The ladies wear the same dresses, have same traditions, same food; everything is (the same) there. However, he said Khartoum wanted to destabilize Chad, as N Djamena opposed the Sudanese government s concept of Arabization and Islamization of the region. He agreed that the Darfur problem was extremely complex, and that what had been a local issue had grown into a regional issue and then into an international issue. He felt that whatever the international community (does), whatever the region (does), if there is no will, there will be no solution. Bashir said the onus was on the Sudan government to end the violence: If there is no true will from the Sudanese government to solve this problem, there will be no solution. He stated that the biggest problem at the moment was the Sudanese government s mindset. They believe that they have to lead the region, they have to dictate the policies to the surrounding areas, they want to post (into power) whom they want to post. That culture, unless it changes, you can t solve such a problem (of Darfur). Bashir laid out a few steps that the Sudan government should embark upon if it was serious about gaining peace in Darfur and the region: Declare to the international community and your people that you have done a mistake. It s a mistake to kill your people. Stop killing your people, by stopping supporting and training the Janjaweed. Number two: Stop. the idea of influencing your other neighbors. Let them alone. Don t interfere in their internal sovereignty and stop funding rebels to overthrow the Chadian government. Dr. Alex de Waal 5 6 [The Programme Director at the Social Science Research Council, de Waal has been a respected commentator and analyst on Sudanese affairs since the 1980s. He is the co-director of Justice Africa in London, a distinguished Harvard University academic, and a former member of the African Union mediation team for Darfur.] De Waal said successive Sudanese political administrations had specialized in prevaricating and never making decisions: This is a skill that I ve seen practiced not only by Darfurians but by certain other Sudanese politicians in more recent years. He said the Sudanese did this in order to preserve power, and to also extract the best possible price from a whole range of far away patrons. They use strategic delays, prevarication, stalling. De Waal maintained that it was cash that was keeping the conflict in Darfur going, and that vast amounts of money were being spent by the various parties involved on subsidizing proxy militias and rebel groups. The main instrument that is actually used by security officers on the different sides is cash. They do provide weapons but cash is the number one (instrument). De Waal said the Darfur situation could definitely be viewed as a proxy war, but also as a direct war that was taking place in a marketplace of loyalties in which there are different bidders. And the preferred solution for the Sudan government is that it is the. only purchaser of loyalty. He added the successive governments in Chad were installed with the assistance financial and military and diplomatic of the Sudan government. For successive Sudanese governments, as with their forebears in the 19 th century, the frontiers don t really mean much; the security and mercantile peripheries of Sudan reach well beyond the frontiers of the country, into Chad, Central African Republic, Congo all neighboring countries. The way in which those in power - security and mercantile elites who have run the Sudanese state - deal with the heads of state in CAR, Chad, and local potentates in all neighboring countries, is not dissimilar to the way in which they deal with the groups in Darfur: They try and buy their loyalty. And very often the elites of these groups are very willing sellers in this game. They want to push up the price as high as they can. One way of doing it is by violence; another way is by bringing other competitors into the market - be they Libya, the international community, France, etc. It then is more expensive to buy loyalty. More guns move into the area from all sides, and the level of violence tends to increase. But De Waal said that Sudan s strategy in Chad had run into problems in recent years for a number of reasons: Number one: Chad acquired oil, and that made Idriss Deby not so much a seller of loyalty but he had the potential with that cash 6 7 to buy loyalty. So he became a much more powerful, independent player because of that cash some of it controlled by him, some of it controlled by his close relatives. The analyst maintained that one of the factors resulting in instability in the region, and therefore fomenting the Darfur conflict, was the political instability in Chad itself, where President Deby did not currently have the power to enforce his writ on his close relatives. The lack of trust that he could do that is one of the reasons why the government of Sudan has been keen to remove him. De Waal said Khartoum had largely provoked Chad into entering the arena of conflict in the region. We do have a very complex arena in which the international borders really don t matter that much in terms of flows of weapons, flows of money and indeed flows of individuals. A single individual can have loyalties that bring him into armed formations in Sudan, Chad (and) CAR, depending on circumstances, depending on what rewards are on offer at that particular moment. All of this, said De Waal, had ensured that the Darfur situation would be complicated to resolve, not least because: The international involvement, the international engagement, putting in troops, putting in (peace) efforts - plays into the hands of those who are the local armed elites, whether they call themselves militia, whether they call themselves tribal leaders, rebels, armed movements, who want to prevaricate and delay and get a better price in order to suspend or halt their activities. He added: Meanwhile, this skill of. prevarication, outlasting your adversaries, has also been a strategy perfected by those in power in Khartoum who I strongly suspect are intending simply to sit and outlast the energy and attention of the international community in this area, such that in their view hopefully the government of Idriss Deby will be replaced, the price of loyalty will go down and it ll be easier to buy more Darfurians and more Chadians. De Waal was convinced that the international attention on Darfur was set to wane, and therefore the increase in price of loyalties an outcome of international engagement will be reversed and the (government of Sudan s) security officers and their mercantile allies in Khartoum will be the last ones left standing. Instead of all the emphasis on placing thousands of peacekeepers in Darfur, forces of which had so far proved entirely ineffective, De Waal advocated a much more hard-headed regional political solution which doesn t try and transform the politics of this area in a utopian way. I don t think that can be done in short order, I think it has to be done over a long period of time and it has be a local and locally-driven solution in both Chad and Sudan. And it has to work with the grain of that political system to try and find mechanisms across the entire 7 8 region of coming to agreement and dampening down the violence and laying the foundations for good neighborliness, civility, people returning to their homes and so on. De Waal said that Libya s role in the Sudanese conflict had so far largely been ignored, even though Tripoli had historically played a dreadful role in the region. It ignited Arab supremacism in Chad and Darfur. He commented that Libya s current role in the Darfur crisis was more mysterious. If you look at this area as a political marketplace, it seems that (Libyan leader) Muammar Gaddafi is a sort of binge shopper. Every now and again he goes out and spends to the limit of his credit card. on whatever takes his fancy, and it seems as though his strategy is simply to remain relevant in the region. De Waal speculated that perhaps Libya had other reasons for becoming involved in regional conflict: (Gaddafi) doesn t want a solution to the problems in Chad and Darfur that brings the Americans and NATO and the European Union to his doorstep. He would rather have continuing problems than have that solution. He suggested that the international community s response so far to the Darfur crisis, in trying to foist a set of very high principled ideals about civilian protection, about justice, about achieving a complete equitable solution on Sudan was not realistic. Pressuring all the actors involved, especially the Sudan government, De Waal suggested, would require a quantum leap in the commitment of money, of diplomatic resources, of pressure, of troops - and we re already spending over four billion dollars on three peacekeeping missions, two in Sudan, one in Chad. This said of unrealistic expectations, he said, may have resulted in the international community becoming embroiled in a terrible trap, because we have raised the expectations among Darfurians and particularly amongst the rebels that this sort of thing will be delivered, that genuine civilian protection will be delivered, that complete justice will be delivered, etc, etc. And we have raised the fears of those who will lose out, those who are in power in Khartoum in the National Congress Party and in the (Sudanese) security agencies. So we end up with the worst of both worlds. De Waal said a much smarter approach would be to work for a regional, and not an international, solution to the crisis. All peace efforts, he maintained, should go with the grain of national politics because the solutions to these problems do not come from (the international community), they come from Sudan and Chad and Central African Republic. He said he had not seen any real strategic game coming from Khartoum for achieving stability in Darfur and Chad, beyond various slogans which he did not 8 9 think holds very much water. He felt that it was a responsibility of Khartoum to come up with a better game plan. Comments and Questions after the panel During the question and answer session, the question of genocide was broached and panelists were asked to respond on the issue. Due to the unprecedented level of world attention on the Darfur issue, El-Turabi said a number of international events had resulted in great focus on the situation in Sudan. This included the 2005 commemoration of the Rwandan genocide, and the fact that three of the top leaders in the world at the time when conflict in Darfur escalated were of African origin, namely, Colin Powell, who was then US Secretary of State, present US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who was then a member of the US National Security Council, as well as Kofi Annan, who was UN secretary general at the time Darfur became an international issue. These individuals, said El-Turabi, had been under a very heavy and deep pressure from the black caucuses (in the US and other parts of the world to do something about Darfur). This also caused the escalation of the conflict, and it went beyond control in the regional arena, and now it got this kind of international dimension. He suggested that various factors had conspired to create an atmosphere that was ripe for human rights groups and Washington to unfairly label the Darfur conflict a genocide that was being perpetrated by the Arab Sudan government. Twice the UN had sent in fact-finding missions to the country and not one of them had managed to determine that what is going on in Sudan is indeed ethnic cleansing or a genocide. Despite the presence of refugees and humanitarian workers and almost 130 NGOs in Darfur, he added, not a single mass grave (has) been found. to determine this is a genocide, or an ethnic cleansing. It is a conflict; there s people dying; yes of course.and the government of Sudan is doing its best to negotiate and we will continue negotiating with any armed groups. Regarding the characterization of Darfur as a genocide, De Waal commented: The findings of an international commission of inquiry. (used) these words: crimes no less heinous than genocide. And I don t think that any government should seek to hide behind that as exoneration. I don t think that really stands up. On the question of proxy support Sudan government representatives at the conference claimed that Bashir himself was a relative of a prominent leader of the JEM rebels, Tajjidine Bashir, who participated in the attack on Omdurman in May. 9 10 The Chadian Charge d Affaires responded: Of course, he s my brother. Most Sudanese and Chadians had relatives on both sides of the border. Sudanese government representatives at the conference said while this was indeed true, most Sudanese and Chadians with relatives in both countries were not blood relatives of rebel commanders. Address by Congressman Ed Royce [Royce is a senior member of the US Congress House committee on Foreign Affairs, and a ranking member of the Subcommittee on Terrorism. He has maintained an interest in Sudan for a long time, and has made a number of trips to the region, including Darfur, to investigate the situation there.] Congressman Royce said he was pessimistic about the prospects of peace in Darfur. We ve lost hundreds of thousands of lives in this theatre and the situation especially with regard to the difficult conditions now for the humanitarian workers there means that thousands more are going to die simply because we can t guarantee the safety of humanitarian workers on the ground. Royce said American political leaders remained focused on Darfur. I don t think there s any lessening of congressional interest in this, despite the enormous frustration over the years of trying to find a way to produce results. The legislation that s been passed has been helpful, but it s not been sufficient, obviously. Royce added that despite Washington spending about four billion dollars so far trying to end the violence, clearly, we re not in a position where we re gaining ground. He said the international community had for years been focused on increasing numbers of peacekeepers in Darfur, and he suggested that this focus had been misguided. To everyone I think except the Sudanese government, the African Union and the United Nations effort has been disappointing. Too few troops, too little equipment, too timid a presence. I visited the AU force there on the ground in Darfur who shared with me just how they were so outmatched, and just how their mandate was so tied up that they couldn t take the actions that they felt were necessary in order to their job. So this effort remains very, very feeble. 10 11 According to Royce, the constant struggle to beef up the peacekeeping force, unfortunately, has taken attention away from the political situation in the region: The ordeal of trying to get peacekeepers into Darfur has become the story, when what we need as the critical story right now is the political crisis (in Sudan) that has led to the brutality in Darfur. He suggested that increasing numbers of peacekeepers in Darfur was only a short-term solution: More hardware is not going to end this calamity. A political solution is what is essential. Royce stated that peace in Darfur would not be sustained unless there was an overall political agreement and settlement among the players in the conflict. The Congressman acknowledged that this would be very difficult to achieve: It looks intractable on the surface. He said he d met previously with the leadership of the rebel Justice and Equality Movement and the SLA (Sudan Liberation Army), but that all he d heard then was bickering between the rebels: My fear then was that this would go in the direction that rebel groups usually take, and sure enough: now there are reports that there are up to 50 independent rebel groups operating in that theater. Overlying this is the Chad-Sudan rivalry. This makes Darfur look like a kaleidoscope. There s no one to negotiate with, there s too many to negotiate with and there appears to be no John Garang (deceased leader of the Sudan People s Liberation Movement) who you can sit down and cut a deal with. It doesn t help that the rebel groups offer very little to the people of Darfur. Royce, though, added that he wanted it to be clear that he was not suggesting Khartoum did not bear the ultimate responsibility for the killing and dying; it does. In fact, it s divide-and-rule ploys have worsened the situation. He suggested that the international community, including the US, had very limited knowledge of what was motivating the rebel groups and the government of Sudan as regards Darfur. 11 12 Royce agreed that the problems in Sudan had to be addressed comprehensively. The north-south situation affects Darfur, and Darfur affects the north-south situation, and unfortunately, the north-south agreement needs a lot of help if it s to last. Ultimately, enough Sudanese need to want to make peace, to make a difference. He acknowledged that a small, powerful minority of Sudanese, who were profiting from war in Darfur, and some of who were motivated by radical Islam, still had the upper hand in the whole situation: I don t know if we re near tipping that balance. He stated that the issue of the sharing of oil revenues had helped to end the war in southern Sudan, but that he didn t see a similar windfall-type incentive in Darfur and it was hard to envision a win-win scenario being created to appease all those involved in the conflict. Ultimately, Royce said, it was up to the Sudanese to make the peace, although the US did possess some tools to alter the balance to have them do that. He pointed to US sanctions on the Khartoum government and said they d been frustrating but necessary. However, said Royce, the international community had largely failed to cooperate with Washington regarding sanctions, and more cooperation in this regard was required. The (Bush) administration has said that no options should be off the table (to pressure Khartoum), and I think that s right. He suggested that the international community should no longer be prepared to sit and watch innocent civilians being bombed by government aircraft and said this may be reason enough to take forceful action and to take out these bombers, or to install no-fly zones (over Darfur). These Antonovs (bombers) should be taken out. Royce said solutions to the Darfur problem would not be easy to achieve: I know how difficult it will be to produce the focus and sustained engagement, but we cannot give up, because those of us who have been there on the ground and have seen the cost to humanity know that we ve got to persevere in this. ENDS 12 Special ceremonies have been held in Canada to mark the 70th anniversary of the countrys citizenship act and events will be held throughout 2017.Canada was the first Commonwealth country to create its own citizenship separate from Great Britain when the act was introduced on 03 January 1947 and now all residents can apply for the status. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) hosted a special citizenship ceremony at the Supreme Court of Canada with 26 individuals invited to kick off celebrations and commemorations.The event resembled the first Canadian citizenship ceremony held 70 years ago when Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King received the first Canadian citizenship certificate, numbered 0001.In the past decade Canada has welcomed more than 1.5 million new citizens with residents, regardless of where they were born, able to apply for citizenship status.Throughout history, Canadas identity has been largely shaped by the significant cultural and economic contributions of immigrants, said John McCallum, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship.The 70th anniversary of Canadian citizenship is an opportunity to reflect on what it means to be Canadian, the rights we enjoy, the responsibilities we share, and the diversity that makes us strong. During Canada 150 celebrations and beyond, I encourage all Canadians to celebrate their citizenship, he added.Citizenship applicants need to be 18 years old, have a permanent resident card and been physically present in Canada as a permanent resident for at least 1,460 days during the six years immediately before the date of an application.Applicants must have met their personal income tax filing obligations in four taxation years that are fully or partially within the six years immediately before the date of application.They must also declare their intent to reside during the citizenship application process but once they become a Canadian citizen they will have the right to enter, remain in, or leave Canada which is regarded as one of the basic rights of citizenship.There is also a language requirement in either English or French and applicants need to show an understanding of Canadian history, values, institutions, and responsibilities in the form of a citizenship test. Do what you want... I don't work for Citizenship and Immigration Canada and I'm not an immigration advisor and don't claim to be. I'm also not telling you what to do or not do. All I am saying is that the UK refusal will not help your case, especially as your ban was put in place fairly recently. Again, the choice to apply to come to Canada or not is solely up to you and you alone. If you have a "valid case" to defend, then why haven't you defended yourself to the UK Home Office to have your refusal and 10 year ban overturned? You've had plenty of time in which to file an appeal. Also keep in mind that if you do decide to apply to come to Canada (or Australia or New Zealand) and are refused a visa, you will have to disclose this refusal (these refusals) on future applications, whenever you are asked, regardless of what country's immigration application asks you. Transcription 1 2016; 4(5): E-ISSN: P-ISSN: JEZS 2016; 4(5): JEZS Received: Accepted: Zongo Salifou Ilboudo Zakaria Doumma Ali Faculty of Science and Technology, University Abdou Moumouni, P Box 10662, Niamey, Niger Sembene Mbacke Department of Animal Biology, Faculty of Science and Technology, University Cheik Anta Diop, P. Sanon Antoine Correspondence Sanon Antoine Variations in body size and some life history traits among Callosobruchus maculatus (Fab.) (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae, Bruchinae) strains from different areas in three countries of West Africa Zongo Salifou, Ilboudo Zakaria, Doumma Ali, Sembene Mbacke and Sanon Antoine Abstract In West Africa, Callosobruchus maculatus is the main pest of stored cowpeas (Vigna unguiculata Walp.). An effective control of this pest depends on a good knowledge of its population growth ability and the diversity of strains in cowpea crop areas. In this study strains from Dakar (Senegal), Niamey (Niger) and five localities of Burkina Faso were collected and compared in similar laboratory conditions. We found that body size and life history traits slightly varied among the strains studied. In general, females from the Dakar strain were smaller and had lower intrinsic rate of natural increase. Specifically the small size of Dakar females seems to have caused a decrease in lifespan and fecundity coupled with an increase of development duration. Such variations may also occurred to a lesser extent among populations from the same country as it was noticed for Burkina strains. These results show that despite the apparent homogeneity of C. maculatus populations in West Africa, morphological and biological diversity exists and should be better understood and integrated for optimal pest control methods. Keywords: Callosobruchus maculatus strains, body size, life-history traits, biotic potential, environment variations, West Africa 1. Introduction Cowpea, Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp (Fabaceae) is the main food legume grown in West Africa a major production area of this crop [1]. Cowpea plays an important socio-economic role in the developing countries, because in addition to filling the nutritional deficiencies in protein, it is also a source of income for farmers [2, 3, 4]. However this important legume is subject to attack by the bruchid beetle Callosobruchus maculatus Fab. during the post-harvest storage of cowpeas and causing substantial losses each year. Proper storage of cowpeas ensures the availability of food resources as the crop production is most of the time seasonal. Similarly a good and longtime protection of stored cowpeas allow producers to improve their incomes as prices gradually increase from the harvest period [5]. Therefore cowpea is regarded as a promising sector to alleviate poverty among small scale farmers. During the last decade many studies have intensively focused on the assessment and development of cowpea storage methods in West Africa including several alternative control measures [6-8] as a response to so many hazards linked to insecticide applications [9]. Today triple bagging of cowpeas known as PICS bags developed by the Purdue Improved Cowpea Storage project ( is a very effective hermetic storage method for cowpeas and several other crops [7, 10, 11]. Therefore it is being actively extended in several areas of the world. However insects do not react the same way and the efficiency of a method may be related to the insect strain considered. A good pest control strategy should be based on an understanding of the diversity of these insects and their biotic potential in their habitats [12]. It is in the same direction as an author [13] proposed that the four basic hierarchical ecological scales, i. e. individual, populations, communities and ecosystems, should serve as the template for IPM integration. Moreover ccombining morphology with life history traits could give critical indications for successful comparison of an insect species populations living in different agroecological areas [14-16]. ~ 659 ~ 2 In this study we focused on C. maculatus populations evolving in different areas of cowpea production in West Africa to investigate whether this insect individuals from different ecological areas were morphologically and biologically similar or not. Therefore strains from different climatic areas, in Dakar (Senegal), Niamey (Niger) and in five localities of Burkina Faso were collected and compared in similar laboratory conditions based on their morphometry and some life history traits. 2. Material and methods 2.1 Origin of C. maculatus strains At the beginning of the study in October 2012 C. maculatus strains were collected from seven (07) sites in West Africa (Fig. 1), including five (05) in Burkina Faso (Hounde, Bobo- Dioulasso, Tenkodogo, Kombissiri and Dori), one (01) in Niger (Niamey) and one (01) in Senegal (Dakar). Fig 1: Origin of C. maculatus strains studied. Red points represent sampling localities in several areas of cowpea production in West Africa. These localities belong to four (04) different climatic zones including the Sahel (Niamey and Dori), the Sahelo-sudanian (Dakar), the South-sudanian (Bobo-Dioulasso and Hounde) and the North-Sudanian (Tenkodogo and Kombissiri) zones. The average temperatures vary among the localities between 24 and 30.5 C, the relative humidity was % and the mean annual rainfall ranged mm (Table 1). Table 1: Climatic parameters of the different areas of C. maculatus origin in three countries of West Africa Localities Countries Average temperature Relative Humidity ( C) (%) Rainfall (mm) Climate Zone Niamey Niger Sahelian Dakar Senegal Sahelo-Sudanian Dori Sahelian Bobo-Dioulasso South-Sudanian Hounde Burkina Faso South-Sudanian Tenkodogo North-Sudanian Kombissiri North-Sudanian 2.2 Collection of C. maculatus strains To set up various C. maculatus strains, cowpea was sampled using the same methodology in each of the above mentioned localities. Samples of either 1kg of cowpea pods or 500 g of seeds were taken with five farmers in each locality at the beginning of post-harvest storage period in October Each sample was labeled and packaged in cloth bags (40 x 20cm) and forwarded to the Applied Entomology. The pods/seeds from each sampling zone were separately monitor until insect emergence. Then, ~ 660 ~ newly emerging insects were used for continuous rearing and laboratory experiments from January to May Study environments All experiments and rearing were conducted in the Laboratory of Fundamental and Applied Entomology located at the University Ouaga I in Burkina Faso under controlled conditions in an incubator at the average temperature of 320.1 C and an average relative humidity of 36 1%. 3 2.4 Source of the cowpea seeds and insect rearing in laboratory Cowpea seeds of the landrace variety Moussa previously described [7] were used to maintain each C. maculatus strain into laboratory. Prior to their use cowpea seeds were examined and sorted to eliminate those carrying bruchid eggs or immature instars, and those that were perforated. Sorted seeds were then placed during 2 weeks in a freezer at a temperature of -18 C in order to destroy any initial infestation. For insect rearing, fifty (50) pairs of each strain were introduced with 200g of cleaned seeds in Plexiglas boxes (L = 17 cm; l = 11 cm and h = 4 cm) for 24 hours. At the end of the contact time, insects were removed and infested seeds left in the incubator until the emergence of a new insect generation used either for various experiments or up keeping the strains from the same procedure. 2.5 Determining body size variations among C. maculatus strains Two (2) batches of 50 males and females of each strain were individually placed in Petri dishes and asleep in the freezer (- 18 C) for 30 minutes. Then individual insect were directly measured with a caliper to determine the overall body size ranging from head to pygidium. The comparison was then made between same-sex insects from different strains. 2.6 Determining life history parameters for C maculatus strains Twenty (20) pairs of newly emerged C. maculatus were separately introduced in Petri dishes containing each 20 healthy seeds, for each strain and for 24h. After this time period, insects were removed and the infested seeds were placed in rearing conditions and monitored. The cowpea seeds were then renewed each day with the same pair of insects until the female died which ends the experiment. Each infested seed batch was carefully examined 7 days after infestation using a microscope, to count the eggs laid on the seeds and the hatched eggs. Infested seeds allowed the emergence of a new generation of insect followed from the first emergence date and ending 2 weeks later. Data recorded during the experiment were used to determine the following parameters: Female lifespan (L) The mean number of eggs laid per female (N) Larval survival rate (S) is the percentage of insects emerged relative to the total number of hatched eggs; The development duration (T): mean time between egg laying and the emergence of adults The intrinsic rate of natural increase (r) is a more synthetic parameter that incorporates the above cited ones. It is estimated using the following formula (Giga and Smith,1983): ; With ln= neperian logarithm 2.7 Statistical analysis Data were submitted to ANOVA and when the probabilities indicated significant differences, means were separated by the Student Newman-keuls multiple comparison test using SAS software 9.1 version. In all the cases means were considered as different when the test provided discrimination at the 5% level. 3. Results 3.1 Body size variations among C. maculatus strains Three body size levels were observed whatever the sex (Figures 2 and 3). Males and females of the Dakar (Senegal) strain were smaller than the others, while insects from the Bobo-Dioulasso (Burkina Faso) strain exhibited intermediate size. The strains from the other localities of Burkina Faso and from Niger (Niamey) seemed to have a similar body size both for males and females. Females of all the strains compared were significantly larger than males (P<0.05). Fig 2: Variation of mean size ( SD mm) in C. maculatus males from different strains (localities) in West Africa. BF = Burkina Faso. ~ 661 ~ 4 Fig 3: Variation of mean size ( SD mm) in C. maculatus females from different strains (localities) in West Africa. BF = Burkina Faso. 3.2 Comparison of life history traits for C. maculatus strains All the results are shown in Table 2. Table 2: Comparative life history traits among various C. maculatus strains from West Africa. Origin of C. maculatus strains Female lifespan (days) Number of eggs laid per female Larval survival (%) Development duration (days) Intrinsic rate of natural increase (r) (per day) Bobo-Dioulasso (BF) 3.3 0.79 b* 3.05 ab 79.6 0.09 ab 21.8 1.61 a 0.02 ab Dori (BF) 3.9 0.69 ab 1.98 a 76.6 0.12 b 19.9 1.21 b 0.03 ab Hounde (BF) 4.05 0.76 a 3.89 ab 88.1 0.09 a 1.38 b 0.02 ab Kombissiri (BF) 3.95 0.89 ab 3.11 ab 83.6 0.10 ab 1.05 b 0.02 a Niamey (Niger) 3.95 0.69 ab 1.09 ab 77.7 0.10 b 1.28 b 0.02 a Dakar (Senegal) 3.25 0.44 b 2.13 c 75.4 0.08 b 1.15 a 0.01b Tenkodogo (BF) 3.80 0.61 ab 4.92 a 82 0.11 ab 0.93 b 0.02 ab * Means (SD) within column followed by different letters are significantly different according to the Newman-Keuls multiple comparison test. P<0.05. BF = Burkina Faso Female lifespan Female lifespan significantly varied among the strains compared. Females from Hounde strain lived longer than females of the other strains whereas Dakar and Bobo- Dioulasso strains exhibited the shorter lifespan The mean number of eggs laid by females Females from Dakar (Senegal) strain laid fewer eggs than those of other areas. On the other hand there was no significant difference between the number of eggs laid by females of Niamey (Niger) and Burkina Faso strains whatever the locality of insect origin Larval survival Most of the Burkina Faso strains specifically that from Hounde, had better survival than those from Dakar (Senegal), Niamey (Niger) and Dori (Burkina Faso). In all cases survival rates were higher than 75% Development duration The C. maculatus development duration was higher in Dakar and Bobo-Dioulasso strains and significantly differed from the durations obtained in all the other strains. In the experiment conditions the development duration varied from (Tenkodogo strain) to (Dakar strain) days Intrinsic rate of natural increase Regarding the biotic potential three groups were distinguished including (1) the higher potential group for Kombissiri (Burkina Faso) and Niamey (Niger) strains, (2) the medium potential group with all the other Burkina Faso strains and (3) the lower biotic potential in the Dakar (Senegal) strain. 4. Discussion In this study several strains originating from various cowpea growing ecological areas of West Africa were compared in the same laboratory conditions. Thus, we can assume that any differences observed in these strains come from their origin and their intrinsic factors. The results showed that despite an apparent homogeneity of C. maculatus populations in all areas of cowpea production in West Africa [17-19] there may be differences among individuals in relation with their origin. Morphological comparison by body size measurement revealed a significant reduction in the size of C. maculatus individuals belonging to the Dakar strain in comparison to strains from Burkina Faso and Niger except insects from Bobo-Dioulasso in Burkina Faso that exhibited intermediate size. Thus it seems that within the same country a relative morphological variation can be observed in relation with the zone of insect origin. This unexpected result should be confirmed by extending the study to several strains from different agro-ecological zones of both Senegal and Niger. ~ 662 ~ 5 Nevertheless the observed results are probably related to the variations in climatic conditions of the areas of insect origin. It appears that the climatic conditions of Dakar are quite different from those of the localities of Burkina Faso and Niger where the strains came from. While Dakar is ranked in Sahelo-Sudanian climatic zone, the localities of Burkina Faso and Niger belong to the Sahelian, south- and north- Sudanian zones. Then main climatic factors that significantly vary are temperature and air relative humidity in correlation with rainfall. Several studies demonstrated the role of climatic conditions and host plant on insect morphology and specifically body size [20-24]. However some authors [25] studying geographic variation in body size of the weevil Stator limbatus concluded that clinal variation in three factors likely explains the cline in size: host plant seed size, moisture (humidity), and seasonality (within-year variation in humidity, precipitation, and temperature). In this study these complex factors co-varied among the zones of insect origin and may explain the variation in C. maculatus body size. Furthermore C. maculatus populations from Niger and Burkina Faso are geographically closer compared to Senegal strain which can explain why a relative homogeneity was noticed between Niger and Burkina strains. Finally morphological and physiological plasticity in insects is often thought to represent an adaptive response to variable environments [26]. However such morphological adaptations are to be correlated with genetic features [27]. Our results also indicated that life history traits varied in accordance with body size variations. Therefore the Dakar strain had lower biotic potential (intrinsic rate of natural increase) compared to strains from Burkina Faso and Niger. These results are consistent with those of previous studies that showed that body size of an insect influences its life history traits [28]. It is generally assumed that larger size, particularly in females, provides a reproductive advantage [29-32]. The life history traits that are particularly influenced by the size of females include longevity, fecundity and egg size. Interestingly female lifespan and fecundity were significantly reduced in the Dakar strain composed of smaller individuals. This study highlights some morphological and biological diversity of C. maculatus populations from three countries in West Africa. If such diversity can be seen as a result of adaptation of each population in its area of origin it remains to understand why the strain from Dakar in Senegal selects smaller individuals resulting in a lower biotic potential. In all cases this information is useful to establish the destructive capacity of each population in order to optimize pest control methods. 5. Acknowledgement Authors are grateful to all laboratory technicians who helped to collect Callosobruchus maculatus strains in Senegal, Niger and Burkina Faso. Dr. A Waongo is thanked for his assistance in Data analysis. 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Res. 1984; 20: Boeke S J, van Loon JJA, van Huis A, Dicke M. Host preference of Callosobruchus maculatus: a comparison of life history characteristics for three strains of beetles on two varieties of cowpea. Journal of Applied Entomology. 2004; 128(6): Silva FRJ, Battirola LD, Lhano MG, Sousa WO, Marques MI. Morphometry of Cornops aquaticum (Orthoptera: Acrididae: Leptysminae) in the Pantanal of Mato Grosso, Brazil. Braz. J Biol. 2014; 74(3): ~ 663 ~ 6 17. Alzouma I, Huignard J. Donnees preliminaires sur la biologie et le comportement de pontes de Bruchidius atrolineatus Pic. dans une zone sud sahelienne au Niger. Acta Oecologia. 1981; 2: Glitho IA. Les Bruchidae ravageurs de Vigna unguiculata (WaIp) en zone guineenne. Analyse de la diapause reproductrice chez les males de Bruchidius atrolineatus Pic. These de Doctorat, Tours. 1990; Sanon A, Dabire LCB, Ouedraogo AP, Huignard J. Field occurrence of bruchids pest of cowpea and associated parasitoids in a sub humid zone of Burkina Faso: importance on the infestation of two cowpea varieties at harvest. Plant Pathology Journal. 2005; 4(1): Bernays EA. Evolution of insect morphology in relation to plants. Phil Trans Roy Soc Lond B. 1991; 333: Sembene M, Delobel A. Identification morphometrique de populations soudano-saheliennes de bruche de l arachide, Caryedon serratus (Olivier) (Coleoptera Bruchidae). African Journal of Entomology. 1996; 110(5): Savalli UM, Czesak ME, Fox CW. Paternal investment in the seed beetle, Callosobruchus maculatus (Coleoptera: Bruchidae): variation among populations. Ann. Entomol. Soc. Am. 2000; 93: Moumouni DA, Doumma A, Ouali-N goran SWM, Sembene M, Sanon A. Morphometric identification of cowpea weevil populations, Bruchidius atrolineatus (Coleoptera-Bruchinae) from three varieties of cowpea, using a discriminant analysis (FDA). Sch. Acad. J Biosci. 2015; 3(7): Perez-V alencia LI, Moya-Raygoza G. Body Size Variation of Diaphorina citri (Hemiptera: Psyllidae) through an Elevation Gradient. Annals of the Entomological Society of America. 2015; 108(5): Stillwell RC, Geoffrey EM, Fox CW. Geographic Variation in Body Size and Sexual Size Dimorphism of a Seed-Feeding Beetle. The American Entomologist. 2007; 170(3): Kingsolver JG, Huey RB. Evolutionary analyses of morphological and physiological plasticity in thermally variable environments. American zoologist. 1998; 38(23):545 (16). 27. Tine EM, Diome T, Khadim K, Ndong A, Doumma A, Ketoh G, et al. Genetic diversity of Callosobruchus maculatus Fabricus (Cowpea weevil) populations in various agro ecological areas of five countries in West African sub region. South Asian Journal of Experimental Biology. 2013; 3(2): Brown, JH, Gillooly JF, Allen AP, Savage VM, West GB. Toward a metabolic theory of ecology. Ecology. 2004; 85: Del Castillo RC, Nunez-Farfan J, Cano-Santana Z. The role of body size in mating success of Sphenarium purpurascens in Central Mexico. Ecological Entomology. 1999; 24(2): Berger D, Walters R, Gotthard K. What limits insect fecundity? Body size- and temperature-dependent egg maturation and oviposition in a butterfly. Functional Ecology. 2008; 22: Trager MD, Daniels JC. Size Effects on Mating and Egg Production in the Miami Blue Butterfly. Journal of Insect Behavior. 2011; 24(1): Rhainds M. Size-Dependent Realized Fecundity in Two Lepidopteran Capital Breeders. Environmental Entomology. 2015; 44(4): ~ 664 ~ Tuesday, January 3, 2017 Welcome to 2017! Perhaps you made some goals or resolutions for the New Year. Whats the difference between goals and resolutions? You may resolve to lose weight, make or save more money, or simply enjoy your life more. But how do you measure your progress? My fellow Toastmaster TK OGeary just did a speech in our Albuquerque Challenge Toastmasters Club on how setting goals is more effective than making resolutions. Goals are: Specific. It clearly states what must happen. It clearly states what must happen. Measurable. Results can be easily validated. Results can be easily validated. Action-oriented. It begins with the word to, followed by a verb. It begins with the word to, followed by a verb. Realistic. It is challenging, yet practical and achievable not too high or low. It is challenging, yet practical and achievable not too high or low. Time-bounded. It contains a timetable for achievement. So, how about dropping old end-of-life issues youre dragging around from last year? You can make specific, measurable, action-oriented, time-bounded goals to: Clear your clutter in a specific area of your home spending 15 minutes a day. Update or make a will or trust, naming executor(s) and beneficiaries. Name a financial Power of Attorney who can handle transactions for you if you cant. Write out your advance medical directives and name a medical Power of Attorney. Make your funeral plans and gather the needed information to keep on file. Trust me, it wont kill you. Really. And talk your family. Everyone will benefit from your preparation and communication. Wishing you all the best for a great 2017! Links to recent posts at The Family Plot Blog, upcoming events and a funny quote follow. Please call 505.265.7215 if I can be of assistance! Gail Rubin, The Doyenne of Death The Family Plot Blog Highlights Click on the titles to read the blog post and see the associated videos. Review all posts on The Family Plot Blog or view just the Death Cartoons posted on the blog! [Video] How to Create an Iconic Jaguar Hearse In this video interview, illustrated with selected clips from the film Harold and Maude, Ken Roberts reveals how he recreated an automotive icon. What to Know About Four Remarkable Religions Funeral Traditions Listen to these four separate podcasts on A Good Goodbye Radio for in-depth insights on Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist and Greek Orthodox funeral traditions. Five Ways to Save Money on Death Care Costs I wrote this blog post for the popular womens website Sixty and Me. How to Make Pet Loss Easier to Bear These three A Good Goodbye Radio podcasts on pet loss issues provide answers. Seven Funeral Trends to Watch in 2017 Tips from my article which first appeared in Mortuary Management magazine. Upcoming Events and a Funny Quote See the Calendar page for a full listing of events. Tuesday, January 10, 2017 Gail speaks to the Coronado Thunderbirds, retirees from Sandia Laboratories, on Downsizing and Organizing Before You Die. This event is only open to members of the group. Friday, January 20, 2017, 2:00 p.m. KICKING THE BUCKET LIST: 100 Downsizing and Organizing Things to Do Before You Die talk at Alegria Community, 901 Cottonwood Circle, Bernalillo, NM. Saturday, January 21, 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Albuquerque Death Cafe at Gail Rubins home. RSVP for address or join the Meetup Group. Thursday, February 2, noon to 1:15 p.m. Gail speaks at Dr. Kris Roushs Death and Dying class at Central New Mexico Community College, Main Campus, Albuquerque, NM. Friday, February 10, 2017, 1:00 p.m. Laughing and Learning: An End-of-Life Workshop at the University of New Mexico, Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, Albuquerque, NM. Fee: $20. Register online for class 79681. March 10-12, 2017 Frozen Dead Guy Days in Nederland, Colorado, featuring The Newly-Dead Game and continuous showings of the documentary, Grandpas in the TUFF Shed. Saturday, March 18 Gail Rubin keynotes the Cancer Support Now conference in Albuquerque, NM. Her talk is titled, A Good Goodbye: Funeral Planning for Those Who Dont Plan to Die. If you have made mistakes, there is always another chance. You may have a fresh start any moment you choose, for this thing we call failure is not the falling down, but the staying down. Mary Pickford This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Over the objections of senior Roman Catholic leaders and some area residents, a McDonalds opened last week just outside Vatican City, within eyeshot of St. Peters Square. The fast-food chains plan to open a restaurant in a Vatican-owned building was met with derision when it was announced in October. The restaurant, at the corner of Borgo Pio and Via del Mascherino, is in the Roman district of Borgo, which leads to Vatican City. According to the Guardian, the Committee for the Protection of Borgo, a group of residents, called it a decisive blow on an already wounded animal, referring to the trinket-hawking vendors already proliferating in the area. In an interview with La Repubblica in October, Cardinal Elio Sgreccia called the restaurants arrival a disgrace, and said the space should have been used to help the needy. He said the addition of the restaurant clashed with the aesthetics of the area, and was not at all respectful of the architectural and urban traditions of one of the most characteristic squares overlooking the colonnade of St. Peter. And then there is the matter of the food itself, which does not offer guarantees for the health of the consumers, foods I would never eat, added the cardinal, who retired as the president of the Pontifical Academy for Life. Its a business decision that ignores the culinary tradition of Roman cuisine, he said. Despite the complaints, the Vatican agency that oversees its real estate holdings approved a lease, and the restaurant quietly opened last week without public protests. The Vatican will get about $31,375.50 per month in rent, La Repubblica reported. 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. Vatican officials also approved the addition of a Hard Rock Cafe on Via della Conciliazione, the main boulevard leading to St. Peters Square. It would replace a religious bookstore. It is not the first time McDonalds has had difficulty moving into a venerable area. The restaurant chain sued the City of Florence, Italy, for $20 million in November after leaders there blocked efforts to open a location in Piazza del Duomo, a popular tourist destination. The citys mayor, Dario Nardella, said he wanted to support traditional business in the area, according to Agence France-Presse. McDonalds has the right to submit an application because this is permitted under the law, but we also have the right to say no, he said. ALBANY, N.Y. New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo announced a plan Tuesday to offer free tuition at state colleges to hundreds of thousands of middle- and low-income New Yorkers, seizing on a popular liberal talking point on the eve of national Republican ascension. Under the governors plan, any college student who has been accepted to a state or city university in New York including two-year community colleges will be eligible provided they or their family earn $125,000 or less annually. Cuomo, a Democrat, unveiled his proposal at an event at LaGuardia Community College in Queens alongside Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who had sought their partys presidential nomination with a similar stance last year, arguing that student debt was crippling the prospects of generations of young Americans. Called the Excelsior Scholarship, the funds are envisioned as a way to complete tuition payments by supplementing existing state and federal loan and grant programs. Cuomo hopes for a quick start for his idea, with a three-year rollout beginning in the fall, though it will require legislative approval, a potential snag when the governor and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have been at odds over a pay raise and other issues. It was not immediately clear how the program would be paid for, though the administration said the state already provided nearly $1 billion in support through its tuition assistance program; those awards are capped at $5,165, and many of the grants are smaller. If the plan is approved, the Cuomo administration estimates the program would allow nearly a million New York families with college-age children, or independent adults, to qualify. The estimated costs of the program, when fully put in place in 2019, would be $163 million, though the administration acknowledges that estimate could be too low or too high depending on participation. Current tuition at four-year State University of New York schools for state residents is $6,470; at two-year community colleges the cost is $4,350. Costs for City University of New York schools are approximately the same. Cuomo, a centrist with rumored presidential ambition, has tracked left on a series of issues during his second term, championing a higher minimum wage and paid family leave, though he continues to face criticism from some progressive groups over sometimes working closely with Republicans who rule the state Senate. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate WASHINGTON The independent ethics agency targeted by House Republicans on the opening day of the new Congress was instrumental in bringing to light a lavish 2013 trip paid for by Azerbaijans state oil company involving 10 members of Congress, including four from Texas. GOP lawmakers, facing a withering public backlash abruptly changed course Tuesday and jettisoned plans to limit the Office of Congressional Ethics, which was created in 2008 in the wake of the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal. The dust-up laid down a marker: It showed that 119 GOP lawmakers meeting behind closed doors Monday voted to rein in the watchdog agency by placing it under the jurisdiction of the House Ethics Committee, which is evenly divided between Republican and Democratic members of Congress. Several of the proposed changes stemmed directly from the agencys public clash with the ethics panel two years ago over an all-expenses-paid trip to an energy conference in Baku, Azerbaijan, which included rugs and other expensive gifts to House members and their staffs. Among the Texans on the trip were Democrats Sheila Jackson Lee and Ruben Hinojosa, as well as Republicans Ted Poe and Steve Stockman. Hinojosa and Stockman no longer are in Congress. After the Houston Chronicle began investigating reports that the trip had been funded by Azerbaijans state oil company in apparent violation of U.S. House rules the ethics committee got involved and tried to shut down a probe already underway by the independent ethics office. The House panel exonerated all 10 lawmakers, saying they had been misled about the true sponsors of the 2013 trip and that they didnt knowingly break any law or House rules. The House also refused to publicly release the ethics offices report, though a leaked version showed it to be much more critical. In the ongoing turf battles between lawmakers and the office that investigates ethics complaints against them, This was Exhibit A, said congressional scholar Norman Ornstein. It was by any objective standard an outrageous thing, the idea that members didnt have any idea that this was being paid for by the country. It just didnt pass the smell test. In clearing the lawmakers, the House panel also took the unusual step of criticizing the Office of Congressional Ethics for not standing down after being informed that the House would conduct its own investigation. What this dispute showed is, the degree to which a process without the Office of Congressional Ethics is flawed and itself corrupt, said Ornstein, a resident scholar at the conservative American Enterprise Institute. We never would have heard about the controversy. It would have been completely quashed, and there would have been no ability for the office to even discuss anything publicly. Neither Jackson Lee nor Poe responded to multiple requests for comment Tuesday. While House investigators closed the Azerbaijan investigation in 2015, they said they would refer the allegations to the Justice Department to determine whether third parties involved in arranging the lawmakers travel engaged in a criminal conspiracy to lie to Congress. One of the key figures in the probe was Kemal Oksuz, who is closely associated with two Houston nonprofits that organized the trip, the Turquoise Council of Americans and Eurasians and the Assembly of the Friends of Azerbaijan. Oksuz invoked his Fifth Amendment right to refuse to testify in the House probe. No criminal action has been taken against him. The rules passed Monday by a 119-74 vote of the GOP conference would have allowed the House panel to stop the watchdog groups ongoing investigations, as well as prevented it from releasing any information about them to the public. Moreover, they would have required the independent investigators to defer to the House ethics panel on any matters involving potential criminal violations that could be referred to law enforcement agencies. Critics of the proposed House rules said the changes would severely weaken the offices transparency and independence. The measures sponsor, Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte of Virginia, said in a statement that it builds upon and strengthens the ethics offices work by instituting greater procedural safeguards for House members accused of wrongdoing. In the end, the controversy flickered out in a gale of criticism from both left and right. Ethics watchdogs like OCE (the Office of Congressional Ethics) need to be strengthened and expanded not taken out back and shot in the middle of the night, said Danielle Brian, executive director of the watchdog group Project of Government Oversight. If their barking keeps you up at night, it should. Thats their job. Ethics reformers on the right also put on the pressure. This drive-by effort to eliminate the Office of Congressional Ethics, which provides appropriate independence and transparency to the House ethics process, is a poor way for the Republican majority to begin draining the swamp, said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton, whose group was involved in lawsuits to expose former Secretary of State Hillary Clintons private email account throughout the bruising 2016 presidential campaign. Likely more decisive in derailing the ethics rules was the opposition of House Speaker Paul Ryan. There also was a piece of high-profile Internet shaming Tuesday by Trump, who tweeted, With all that Congress has to work on, do they really have to make the weakening of the Independent Ethics Watchdog, as unfair as it. Trump spokesman Sean Spicer said the President-elect was not taking sides in the debate, but merely questioning the timing, which would have made the effort the first substantive act of the new 2017 edition of Congress. Its pretty simple, Spicer said. Its not a question of strengthening or weakening. I think its a question of priorities and the presidents belief that with all that this country wants and needs to have happen, this really shouldnt be the priority. Amid the blowback, GOP leaders managed to get the ethics office measure stripped from a larger package of House rules adopted Tuesday. Pennsylvania Rep. Charlie Dent, chairman of the House Ethics Committee during the Azerbaijan probe, told reporters calmer heads prevailed this morning. Some government reform groups noted that Trump had referred to the office as unfair, and warned that it is too early to pronounce the agency safe from political meddling. Karen Hobert Flynn, president of Common Cause, argued that the office, run by a six-member board, should be given subpoena power and codified into law, instead of depending on rules periodically passed by lawmakers who fund the agency. This latest effort by House members to gut the Office of Congressional Ethics was not the first and it certainly wont be the last, she said. kevin.diaz@chron.com twitter.com/DiazChron AUSTIN Attorney General Ken Paxton sued the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Monday after a more-than-yearlong fight over Texas decision to import a drug for death row executions that federal officials say is not approved for human injections. Paxton, a first-term Republican, said the FDA which in 2015 seized 1,000 vials of thiopental sodium at a Houston airport has yet to decide whether to permit the drug into the country, calling it gross incompetence or willful obstruction. The vials were headed to Huntsville, where Texas carries out executions. Federal officials also seized a separate shipment of the drug destined for Arizona. In 2011, Kentucky and Tennessee were forced to hand over supplies of the imported drug to the Drug Enforcement Administration, and the agency later seized Georgias supply. The Texas Department of Criminal Justice since has argued to the FDA that the importation is lawful for the purposes of carrying out death sentences, according to the lawsuit. The FDA has an obligation to fulfill its responsibilities faithfully and in a timely manner, Paxton said in a statement. My office will not allow the FDA to sit on its hands and thereby impair Texas responsibility to carry out its law enforcement duties. An FDA spokeswoman, Lyndsay Meyer, said the agency does not comment on possible, pending or ongoing litigation. Thiopental sodium is an older anesthetic generally no longer available in the United States but widely used in developing countries. Several U.S. companies have stopped making the sedative and European suppliers who oppose the death penalty largely have banned their export, prompting recent shortages of thiopental sodium and other drugs used in executions. Texas has used it as part of a three-drug cocktail in executions since the early 1980s. In recent years, TDCJ officials have turned to another drug, pentobarbital, to replace thiopental sodium. More than a dozen states followed Texas lead in trying to find alternatives, at times using a single-drug method and obtaining drugs from compounding pharmacies not regulated by the federal government. TDCJ has previously purchased and used thiopental sodium in numerous executions, before it became commercially unavailable to Texas correctional facilities for that purpose, the lawsuit said. Through the import at issue in this case, TDCJ is attempting once again to utilize thiopental sodium for purposes of imposing lawful capital sentences. In a statement Tuesday, TDCJ spokesman Jason Clark said the lawsuit is the states only option now to obtain the drug. The Texas Department of Criminal Justice lawfully ordered and obtained the necessary license to import drugs used in the lethal injection process, yet the Food and Drug Administration stopped the shipment and continues to hold it without justification, Clark said. This has left the agency with no other recourse than to challenge the unjustified seizure in court. roberto.cervantes@chron.com twitter.com/BobbyCervantes RELATED: Explore a state-by-state database of all executions conducted in the U.S. since 1976 below. Accepting an invitation to perform in Donald Trumps presidential inauguration parade has brought sharp criticism to Texas State Universitys acclaimed female dance team, after racial threats and post-election protests divided campus last semester. Following the ugly reaction on the San Marcos campus after Trumps surprising November election victory, some students and alumni deem it poor taste for the Strutters to perform at his inauguration in Washington D.C. on Jan. 20. Emboldened by the election results, somebody placed fliers around campus advocating the arrest and torture of university leaders spouting off all this diversity garbage. A few students walked campus with signs supporting Trumps proposed Mexico border wall and ban of Muslims from entering the U.S. These events in November were chilling at a university that is roughly 33 percent Hispanic and 10 percent black, many students said. Hundreds of people assembled on the campus quad in a demonstration spanning hours. Verbal jousting broke out among crowds of students, similar to scenes that played out across the state and nation. In late November, Texas State President Denise Trauth responded in a letter saying she heard many people on campus felt anxious, marginalized, unwelcome, disrespected (and) targeted. She committed to adding foot and bike patrols for campus officers and holding meetings on democracy, protest and freedom of expression. More are planned for spring semester. Now, the Texas State Strutters are preparing to follow Trump and Vice President-elect Mike Pence down Pennsylvania Avenue, after the men are sworn in as holders of the top two elected positions in our country. The dance team has performed at two previous presidential inaugurations, including the one for alum Lyndon B. Johnson. Students had scattered for the holiday break by the time the Strutters announced they were among the groups chosen to perform during inauguration activities. But the news rippled through social media and group text messages. Many said they were disappointed and embarrassed for their school. Others, including former Strutters, said they were proud of the group. Jo Hogan, a 22-year-old senior studying musical theater, was sitting at her familys San Antonio dining room table after lunch when she saw the Strutters announcement on social media. Its odd that the campus itself would say that this is a time where we should be supporting our president and we should be performing for him, given whats been going down, she said in an interview, adding that the all-female team would be celebrating a man who thinks he can do whatever he wants, including to women. The Strutters applied to participate in the inaugural events in early 2016, well before Trump was even the Republican presidential nominee. Students on the dance team are paying their own way to the nations capital, university spokesman Matt Flores said Tuesday. University administrators were absolutely not worried about the performance bringing further unease on Texas States campus, Flores said. Other universities nationwide with groups performing in Trumps inaugural events also are facing criticism. More than 2,000 people signed a petition asking Olivet Nazarene University administrators in Illinois to pull the schools marching band from the parade. They argue that President-elect Trump has consistently articulated and advocated policies that undermine the Christian commitments of Olivet. The university did not respond to a request from the Houston Chronicle for comment Tuesday, but Olivets president told Inside Higher Education that he views the event as a chance to observe the presidential transition process. Alumni of Talladega College in Alabama also have criticized the historically black colleges bands decision to march in the inauguration parade, the Associated Press reported. The college didnt respond to a request for comment. Meanwhile, Strutters team members and some Texas State alumni have called the trip to the presidential inauguration a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Flores said no dancers have backed out of performing because of Trumps victory. Christmas came early for the (Strutters), Alexis Bonilla, the groups Pom Leader, said last month on Twitter. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate A South Texas businessman who pleaded guilty Tuesday to a money laundering conspiracy charge used the U.S. banking system to help former governors from three Mexican states launder tens of millions of dollars, according to the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Southern District of Texas. Luis Carlos Castillo Cervantes, a naturalized U.S. citizen from Mexico who lives in Mission, entered his plea before a federal magistrate judge in Corpus Christi. He faces up to 20 years in prison when hes sentenced at a later date. The money laundering charge also lets the federal government seize Castillos assets. His attorneys did not respond to phone calls and texts Wednesday seeking comment. Castillo had the exclusive rights to sell a type of paving machine and paid bribes to state officials in Mexico in exchange for contracts to do road work, according to prosecutors. The basic scheme is that Mr. Castillo received inflated payments for road contract work for his Mexican asphalt company in Mexico from the various Mexican state governments, then moved those funds to the United States to Mr. Castillo's account for his U.S. company, Rodmax. Mr. Castillo would then pay bribes in the U.S. to the government of Mexico officials, Assistant U.S. Attorney Julie Hampton said during Castillos plea hearing, according to the U.S. Attorneys Office. Along with the money laundering conspiracy charge, Castillo had been accused in an indictment of defrauding J.P. Morgan Chase Bank and Inter National Bank in McAllen. That charge will apparently be dropped as part of his plea agreement. Castillo was also a shareholder of INB bank and has been reported to numerous occasions called the Inter National Bank his bank, Hampton said, according to the U.S. Attorneys Office. Castillo brought numerous Politically Exposed Individual's onto the INB platform. Through manipulation of the banking system individuals were allowed to launder tens of millions of dollars of money laundering proceeds into and out of INB. Among those bribed, prosecutors said, were Jorge Juan Torres Lopez, the former interim governor of the Mexican state of Coahuila; Luis Aramando Reynoso Femat, the former governor of Aguascalientes; Eugenio Hernandez Flores, the former governor of the border state of Tamaulipas; and Humberto Moreira, the former Coahuila governor whose term Lopez filled out. Torres and Hernandez are both under indictment in Corpus Christi. Prosecutors have accused Torres of stealing money from state coffers and laundering it through the U.S. banking system before shipping the funds to a bank in Bermuda. According to federal prosecutors, Castillo was involved in moving money to offshore bank accounts in Bermuda. Hernandez, prosecutors alleged in a 2013 hearing, took bribes from the Zetas drug cartel. Both men are fugitives, but have maintained their innocence. Reynoso Femat has not been charged in the U.S. Federal prosecutors in San Antonio have filed an asset forfeiture lawsuit against several properties here owned by his son, Luis Armando Reynoso Lopez, or companies tied to his son, but both the former governor and Reynoso Lopez have maintained their innocence. The allegations in that case are under seal and havent been disclosed. Moreira, who left the Coahuila governorship in 2011 to serve as the head of Mexicos ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party, hasnt been charged in the U.S. either. He is the target of an investigation by U.S. officials into allegations that tens of millions of dollars stolen from the state, which is billions of dollars in debt, were laundered in South Texas real estate transactions. Casillo has now admitted that he defrauded the Mexican government; but in order to get a deal from the American government, he had to implicate others, said Kent Schaffer, Moreiras lawyer in Houston. So he did so in order to get an amazing plea bargain. But that has nothing to do with Governor Moreira. He did not accept bribes from Mr. Castillo at any time or in any manner. His mother-in-law last year agreed to give up her home on the North Side, and a Zetas financial adviser and paid government informant testified in a trial here this summer that the gang paid millions of dollars in bribes to Moreira in exchange for government contracts and permission to operate freely in the state. Federal prosecutors in court filings said they want to seize a 2008 Learjet 45XR, which both sides of the case agreed to sell last month, and a personal money judgment of $36 million as part of their case against Castillo. Along with his paving company in Mexico, Castillo developed property in South Texas, where he also donated to political campaigns. In 2002, one of Castillos Texas companies purchased nearly 100 acres in Hidalgo County, property records show. Over the next five years his companies bought and sold dozens of lots in what are now well-heeled neighborhoods in the McAllen and Mission area, including Los Jardinez de Cimarron and The Estates at Sharyland subdivisions, county property records show. In a court document filed when Castillo was indicted in September, prosecutors alerted the judge and parties in the case that charges against the businessman were connected to their investigation of Tamaulipas and Coahuila officials. In the notice of related cases, prosecutors said they charged Castillo as part of investigations that resulted in charges against Hector Javier Villarreal, the former Treasurer of Coahuila under Moreira, and Antonio Pena Arguelles, a San Antonio businessman who U.S. investigators alleged in court documents was an intermediary between the Zetas and Tomas Yarrington Ruvalcaba, another former Tamaulipas governor. Yarrington faces racketeering, drug trafficking and money laundering charges in Brownsville. Hes also a fugitive and has denied wrongdoing. Both Villarreal, who prosecutors alleged laundered money through the purchase of commercial properties in San Antonio and the Rio Grande Valley, and Pena Arguelles have admitted to financial crimes in San Antonio federal court. This story has been updated with the correct day Castillo pleaded guilty. jbuch@express-news.net Twitter: @jlbuch The cost of renting an apartment in San Antonio rose in December at the fastest rate in at least a year and a half as the growing local population pushed up demand. The median rent for a one-bedroom apartment was $890 last month, up 11.3 percent from $800 in December of last year, according to a report by Zumper, a website that tracks the national multifamily housing market. The median for a two-bedroom rose 13.9 percent, to $1,150 from $1,010. It is a larger increase than I would have expected; but if you look at demand, construction costs and growth, Im not really surprised, said Ernest Brown, an investment broker with Rohde, Ottmers & Siegel Realty Services. San Antonio is still a relatively cheap city to rent in, according to the report. In December, it ranked 49th out of the 100 largest metro areas in the U.S. for the cost of renting a one-bedroom. It is the cheapest of the top four major metros in Texas, by far: The median rent for a one-bedroom in Dallas was $1,280 in December; in Austin, $1,170; and in Houston, $1,140. In El Paso, the median rent was $640 a month. The local rent increase in December was the biggest since Zumper began keeping data in July 2014. The rate of increase for one-bedroom rents has been in the single digits every month except December and November, when it was at 10.1 percent. Local rents are also increasing because developers are building large amounts of class A apartments, catering to market demand for upscale amenities such as fitness centers and resort-style pools, Brown said. You dont see a lot of workforce housing or low-income housing being built, he said. The numbers have been skewed because theyre building higher-end items. Numerous upscale complexes have been built in San Antonio over the past few years, and several more are in the works, especially in the areas around the Pearl, Southtown and the Interstate 10 corridor. In addition, investors have increasingly been snatching up aging apartment complexes and renovating them into more upscale properties. Many developers expect the national market for luxury apartments to slow down this year due to a glut of complexes, causing rents to decline, according to an article published on Sunday in the Wall Street Journal. Many metro areas with expensive rents had increases that were near zero last month, and rents declined in many cities, according to Zumpers data. In Austin, the median rent dropped 1.7 percent for a one-bedroom and 2.7 percent for a two-bedroom. Rents for one-bedroom apartments also declined in New York City; San Jose, California; Los Angeles; and Seattle, Washington. Brown said he was doubtful that such a downturn would occur in San Antonio soon, due to the areas population surge. There continues to be high demand for luxury apartments around the Dominion and the Pearl, he said. Its possible, but I would be somewhat surprised to catch it this year, particularly on the heels of a 10-plus percentage increase in rental rates, Brown said. The cost of a home in San Antonio has also been rising sharply lately due to high demand and tight supply. The local areas median home price was $199,400 in November, an 8.8 percent increase from November 2015, according to data from the San Antonio Board of Realtors. Experts say rising costs are forcing many to wait longer before buying a home, adding to demand for rental housing. In December, the highest median rents in the U.S. were found in San Francisco, where a one-bedroom went for $3,350 and a two-bedroom for $4,510. The lowest were in Toledo, Ohio, where a one-bedroom cost $430 and a two-bedroom $550. rwebner@express-news.net @rwebner Transcription 1 New Mexico is an energyproducing state, which means that we produce more energy than we consume, and we export a significant amount of energy (in the form of oil, gas, and electricity) to surrounding states. This is a result primarily of New Mexico s rich natural resources, particularly oil and gas. Natural gas is likely to play an important role in our statewide energy mix down the line, thanks both to new discoveries in frontier gas provinces as well as expanding technologies for the development of existing resources. Furthermore, power companies are now investing in gas-generated power plants, which are seen as cleaner than the traditional coal-burning plants. Finally, for companies looking to invest in wind and solar, natural gas offers the promise of backup, allowing those industries to provide continuous power to the grid. Natural gas production in New Mexico dates from 1921 with the discovery of the Aztec field of the San Juan Basin in the northwestern corner of the state. Natural gas was discovered while drilling for oil in the Upper Cretaceous Farmington Sandstone at a depth of 890 feet. In the 1920s there was little demand for natural gas in northwestern New Mexico or anywhere in the American Southwest, so the gas was piped to the nearby community of Aztec where it was used for home heating and cooking. Oil was discovered in the San Juan Basin in 1922 and in the Permian Basin in Massive exploration, drilling, and New Mexico s Natural Gas Resources Basins and uplifts in New Mexico. development programs followed, and soon many large oil reservoirs were discovered, mostly in the Permian Basin and to a much lesser extent in the San Juan Basin. Crude oil was refined principally into motor fuel and other products such as heating oil and lubricants. Most of the oil fields in New Mexico produced substantial volumes of natural gas along with the oil. As no widespread markets existed for natural gas in those early days, much of the gas was flared (burned) at the wellhead. Exploration for and development of natural gas resources remained limited until years later, when the San Juan Basin was revealed to be a major natural gas province. winter 2012 Conventional Gas After World War II the demand for natural gas as an energy source soared. Exploratory vertical drilling in the 1950s and 1960s in the San Juan Basin resulted in new discoveries of major natural gas reservoirs. Some of these were conventional reservoirs, as the gas was produced from discrete accumulations in permeable rock. However, many were widespread, less permeable ( tight gas ), blankettype accumulations in Upper Cretaceous sandstones. This new gas not only filled the needs of New Mexicans, it was exported through interstate pipelines to California. Production boomed. Reservoirs filled with natural gas were now sought after rather than avoided. Additional drilling provided data that helped to define the extent and nature of natural gas reservoirs both in the San Juan and Permian Basins. Even as conventional gas has declined, discovery of substantial new and previously unrecognized gas reservoirs continues to this day. Coalbed Methane Underground coal miners have long known that coal beds are associated with natural gas that, if not properly vented, will result in large and often tragic explosions within the coal mines. In the 1980s it was found that coalbed methane (the term used for natural gas in coals) could be produced economically from the Upper Cretaceous Fruitland Formation of the San Juan Basin. The Fruitland coals were quickly Published by the New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources A Division of New Mexico Tech 2 and systematically developed through the drilling of exploration and production wells. The volume of natural gas produced from the Fruitland coals quickly equaled the production of natural gas from all other conventional/tight gas reservoirs in the San Juan Basin as well as all of those in the Permian Basin. Peak coalbed methane production was reached in 1999 when 612 billion cubic feet (BCF) was produced; production has subsequently fallen by 33 percent to 407 BCF as developed reservoirs have started to deplete. Peak natural gas production in New Mexico was reached in 2001 when 1.68 trillion cubic feet (TCF) was produced; production has since fallen by 22 percent to 1.3 TCF during 2010, largely as a result of depletion of coal reservoirs in the San Juan Basin but also with depletion of known, conventional gas reservoirs in both the San Juan and Permian Basins. In 1999 coalbed methane production began from the Upper Cretaceous and lower Tertiary Raton and Vermejo Formations in the Raton Basin of north-central New Mexico, after more than a decade of exploration and evaluation. The coals are thinner, more lenticular, and in general less thermally mature than those in the San Juan Basin, and they cover only a fraction of the area that the Fruitland coals cover. Nevertheless, 26 BCF of coalbed methane was produced annually from 2006 through 2010 from Annual production, BCF 2,000 1,500 1, the Raton Basin, supplying 2 percent of New Mexico s total gas production and bringing substantial economic activity to the Raton area Hydraulic Fracturing The growth of natural gas production in New Mexico has been possible by routine use of artificial fracturing ( fracking ) of oil and gas reservoirs. The tight gas sandstone reservoirs in the San Juan Basin have too little permeability to give up gas to the 1959 borehole without fracking. By increasing reservoir permeability, the process increases flow rates and the total volume of gas that will eventually be produced by the well. Since 1950 the reservoirs in most of the oil and gas wells drilled in New Mexico have been fracked with a technique that involves pumping water and sand down the borehole under pressure until the strength of the reservoir rock is exceeded. Fractures start to form, slowly radiating out from the well bore at depths where the well s steel casing has been selectively perforated. Because almost the entire well bore is protected by heavy steel casing that has been cemented in place, fractures can develop only along reservoir intervals where the steel casing has been perforated or in selected intervals where the well remains uncased. Before 1950 wells were fracked by lowering a cylinder of nitroglycerin into the well bore and setting off an explosion at the depth of the reservoir. This was not only less controllable and less effective than the hydraulic method, it was very dangerous. Development of the tight gas sandstone reservoirs of the San Juan Basin, once considered unconventional, is now routine, and these reservoirs currently yield about one-third of the state s gas through 30,000 wells. Hydraulic fracturing is not without its controversies. The potential for the Annual historical gas production in New Mexico from 1924 to 2010, in billion cubic feet (BCF). The increase in production in the 1990s was due to the discovery and production of coalbed methane in the San Juan Basin. Compiled with data obtained from U.S. Bureau of Mines, U.S. Department of Energy, and New Mexico Oil Conservation Division contamination of ground water from fracking is a major concern in parts of the country, particularly the eastern and southeastern U.S. At the end of 2011, the Environmental Protection Agency issued a preliminary report that linked hydraulic fracturing in Wyoming with ground water contamination. Most of the natural gas reservoirs in New Mexico are thousands of feet below the shallow aquifers. Nonetheless, it is an issue that will be of ongoing concern to New Mexicans. The Oil Conservation Division (OCD) of the New Mexico Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department regulates drilling and production of natural gas throughout New Mexico. In November 2011 the Oil Conservation Commission held a rulemaking hearing pertaining to hydraulic fracturing fluids. The rule was not officially adopted by the commission. However, during the commission s deliberation it was determined that an operator would need to file a disclosure form with OCD within 45 days of the completion of the well. Texas and Colorado have since passed more stringent requirements regarding disclosure of the composition of hydraulic fracturing fluids. On federal lands, drilling and production are regulated by the Bureau of Land Management. Shale Gas U.S. gas production has increased in recent years through the identification and development of shale gas reservoirs. A decade ago, shale gas accounted for only about 2 percent of all U.S. gas production. In 2011 shale reservoirs contributed 14 percent of U.S. gas production, and they are expected to contribute 46 percent of all gas production in 25 years. The first commercial gas production in the world was shale gas obtained in 1821 from wells penetrating shales near Fredonia, New York. Production was at low volumes because of the very low permeability of shale reservoirs. Although production soon spread throughout many parts of the Appalachian and Michigan Basins, these early shale gas wells provided only low volumes of production. With the advent of deeper drilling techniques in the late 1800s, shale gas was eclipsed by the higher volumes of production obtained from conventional reservoirs in sandstone and carbonate rocks. About 10 years ago, two advances in well drilling and completion technology rendered shale gas competitive: the development of economically viable methods to drill wells horizontally through reservoirs, and the development of techniques for multistage fracking of shale reservoirs penetrated by these horizontal wells. Horizontal drilling permits the well to come in contact with a much larger volume of the reservoir than is possible with traditional vertical wells. Multistage hydraulic fracking increases the permeability of the shale in proximity to the well. Together, these two advances increase flow rates and ultimate recovery of shale gas. new mexico earth matters 2 winter 2012 3 These new technologies are now so well understood and so often used that shale gas reservoirs are now generally considered conventional reservoirs rather than exotic and unconventional. Today, approximately one-half of the wells drilled in New Mexico are horizontal wells, and almost all of the wells are hydraulically fractured. Thus far there has been minimal shale gas exploration and production in New Mexico. Most development of shale gas has been confined to selected wells in the Upper Cretaceous Lewis Shale in the San Juan Basin. Existing vertical wells that produce conventional gas from deeper sandstone reservoirs in the Cretaceous section have been recompleted in the Lewis Shale in order to supplement declining production from the deeper reservoirs. However, the Lewis Shale has not become a major gas producer, and operators in the area have mostly pursued more conventional targets instead. Other, largely unevaluated, opportunities for shale gas abound in New Mexico. In the San Juan Basin, the Upper Cretaceous Mancos and Niobrara shales, as much as 1,400 feet thick, have definite shale gas possibilities in the deeper, more mature parts of the basin. In the Raton Basin, the Pierre and Niobrara shales have characteristics favorable for shale gas Economic Benefits of Natural Gas Production in New Mexico Natural gas production is a perennial mainstay of New Mexico s economy through the jobs it provides and the revenues it generates for state government and education. The oil and natural gas industry provides more than 13,000 direct jobs with average annual salaries of more than $64,000. Natural gas contributed $480 million in tax revenues during 2010 in the form of the School Tax, Severance Taxes, Conservation Tax, and ad valorem production taxes. Natural gas royalties to the state include $107 million received from production on state trust lands, and 48 percent (or $167 million) of the Annual gas production in New Mexico from 1970 to 2010, subdivided by gas type. Compiled from data obtained from New Mexico Oil Conservation Division. production and have been tested recently by three vertical exploratory wells that are part of a long-term evaluation effort. In the Permian Basin of southeastern New Mexico, several shales have possibilities: the Devonian-age Woodford Shale, the Mississippian-age Barnett Shale, the Pennsylvanian-age Morrow and Atoka shales, and the Permian-age Wolfcamp shales. Although these shales have not federal royalty received from natural gas production on federal lands in New Mexico. Another $48 million in royalties was received from hydrocarbon liquids (for example propane) that were extracted from produced natural gas at gas processing plants. In all, income obtained from both oil and natural gas production contributes approximately 30 percent of the state s general fund revenues and has contributed 95 percent of the Land Grant Permanent Fund, which distributed $566 million to public schools and universities in the state during fiscal year been adequately evaluated, all have general geologic properties that suggest the presence of shale gas. In southwestern New Mexico, the Devonian Percha Shale has some intriguing possibilities. Although it is unlikely that all of these shales will yield major gas production, it is almost certain that one or more of them will eventually contribute to natural gas production in New Mexico. The Future of Natural Gas Production in New Mexico Approximately one-half of natural gas production is obtained from wells drilled within the last five years. In the U.S. as a whole, production has increased over the last several years and is expected to continue to increase over the next three decades. The future of natural gas production is likely to include major new reserves of conventional gas as well as shale gas. New sources of conventional gas will continue to be discovered in the Permian and San Juan Basins. However, the hitherto unproductive and largely untested frontier basins in the state offer some of the most exciting possibilities for future production that will Recent and projected U.S. gas production by gas type. From DOE/EIA Annual Energy Outlook (2011). new mexico earth matters 3 winter 2012 4 be necessary to replace declining production from currently active gas reservoirs. Among these is the Tucumcari Basin of east-central New Mexico. Recent exploratory drilling that followed publication of a series of reports by the New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources has led to the discovery of natural gas. Full exploration and development of natural gas and associated liquids such as propane will take several decades. There has been much interest lately in the possibility of natural gas providing backup for developing sources of alternative and renewable energy, such as wind and solar, which by themselves can provide only an intermittent source of power. The increased construction of wind farms on the plains of eastern New Mexico will require an additional source of energy to maintain a steady source of power to the grid. The growth of natural gas production in the Tucumcari Basin could provide that backup, enabling the successful development of these alternative sources of energy. With construction of new natural gasfired plants over the next 25 years, natural gas is projected to account for 60 percent of the growth in U.S. electrical generation. Natural gas is favored over other forms of generation because of low cost of construction, safety, reliability, and clean output with relatively low CO 2 emissions. There is also a growing interest in the use of natural gas as a motor transport fuel. New resources of shale gas and gas produced from new areas will help fulfill the growing Total primary energy consumption in New Mexico in 2008 in trillion BTU. Wind energy provided more than half of the total renewable energy due to the significant growth of wind farms in the state since The percentage of energy from natural gas is likely to increase in the coming years. These figures include energy used for exported electricity. From New Mexico Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department Annual Report, demand for natural gas and will help offset declining production from older fields. Ron Broadhead and L. Greer Price Ron Broadhead is a principal senior petroleum geologist with the New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources in Socorro, where he has worked for more than 30 years. Most recently he has been involved in oil and gas resource assessments of the Tucumcari Basin, the Permian Basin, and Colfax and Mora Counties. L. Greer Price is currently interim director of the New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources, where he has worked for 11 years. He has been Chief Editor since 2001 and Deputy Director since Much of his time has been devoted to the publishing program and other outreach efforts. Helium: An Increasingly Important Byproduct Helium occurs in minute quantities in almost all natural gases, but only rarely in concentrations high enough (> 0.3 percent) to be of interest as a commodity that can be economically extracted. In New Mexico, helium has been produced since 1943 from several small accumulations in the Shiprock area of northwestern New Mexico. Originally the helium was used as a lifting gas for blimps during World War II. The known accumulations near Shiprock are now largely depleted. The extremely low density of helium, which renders it useful as a lifting gas in balloons and blimps, is not its only useful property. It is chemically inert so it won t react with other substances, catch fire, or explode. Helium also has the lowest boiling point of any substance (-269 o C = -452 o F = 4 degrees above absolute zero!) so that when it is compressed under extreme pressure to a liquid it becomes colder than any other substance. These properties give helium several unique uses. It is used to cool the powerful magnets in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) instruments that are so integral to modern medicine. It is also essential to the mass production of computer chips and fiber optic cables. Without adequate supplies of helium, much of today s advanced technology would not be widely available. Our country s supply of helium is principally obtained from natural gas accumulations in the strata of southwestern Kansas and the Oklahoma and Texas panhandles. Currently domestic production only meets 62 percent of U.S helium sales. Natural gas production from our main helium sources has fallen as the known and developed reservoirs have become increasingly depleted. In the meantime our demand for helium has increased as new technologies that require helium have become widely available in our society. Although large helium accumulations have been discovered in Algeria and Russia, these supplies seem destined for overseas markets only. Helium needed for U.S. industries will have to be produced from the U.S., and New Mexico may play a significant role in future production. Exploration for additional helium accumulations has been underway in the Shiprock area in recent years. In addition, some of the newly discovered natural gas accumulations in the Tucumcari Basin contain enhanced concentrations of helium and may end up being produced for their helium contents as well as for fuel. new mexico earth matters 4 winter 2012 5 Earth Science Achievement Awards The 2012 New Mexico Earth Science Achievement Awards will be presented on February 13 in Santa Fe. This year s winners are William C. Olson, for outstanding contributions advancing the role of earth science in areas of public service and public policy in New Mexico, and G. Emlen Hall, for outstanding contributions advancing the role of earth science in areas of applied science and education in New Mexico. These awards, co-sponsored by the New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources and the Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department (EMNRD) in Santa Fe, were initiated in 2003 to honor those often unrecognized champions of earth science issues vital to New Mexico. Selections were made following a statewide nomination process. The presentation will occur at noon in the rotunda of the state capitol building on Monday, February 13, during the legislative session, in conjunction with Earth Science Day. The public is invited to attend the ceremony. The John P. Taylor Lifetime Achievement Award The John P. Taylor Lifetime Achievement Award was awarded this fall to Dr. Paul Bauer, Associate Director at the New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources. The award honors the memory of John P. Taylor, a wildlife refuge biologist whose energy, perseverance, and foresight regarding land and water management activities earned him national recognition and respect. The award is given by the New Mexico Riparian Council, an organization dedicated to the continued survival, maintenance, and enhancement of riparian systems in New Mexico for further benefit and enjoyment of present and future generations. The award was made to Paul in recognition of his contribution of significant time and energy to the restoration and protection of riparian ecosystems, as well as his contribution toward research and environmental education. Paul managed the STATEMAP Program from 1993 to 2004 and served as program coordinator for the bureau s decision-makers field conferences. He has been involved in legislative outreach efforts on water and rivers of New Mexico and has worked cooperatively with agencies throughout the state, in addition to his own research. Bureau News USGS Grant The New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources was recently awarded a grant to research rare earth element potential in the Caballo and Burro Mountains of southern New Mexico. Specifically the project will examine occurrences associated with Cambrian-Ordovician magmatism. The proposal was submitted by Virginia McLemore and Nelia Dunbar and will include student support as well as funds for field and lab work. The grant for $60,000 was funded through the USGS Mineral Resources External Research Program. National Outdoor Book Award One of the bureau s newest publications, The Rio Grande: A River Guide to the Geology and Landscapes of Northern New Mexico, was recently honored with an award from the National Outdoor Book Association. Written by Paul Bauer and published in August 2011, the book won top honors in the Outdoor Adventure Guidebook category. The National Outdoor Book Awards is the outdoor world s largest and most prestigious book award program. It is a non-profit, educational program sponsored by the National Outdoor Book Awards Foundation, Association of Outdoor Recreation and Education, and Idaho State University. The purpose of the awards is to recognize and encourage outstanding writing and publishing. The book has been a popular seller since its appearance and is available through our publication sales office. Rockin Around New Mexico 2012 This summer our annual teacher s workshop, Rockin Around New Mexico, will return to the Jemez Mountains, to visit some of the places that were inaccessible last summer due to the fires burning at the time. Topics will include the geology of local seismic, volcanic, and geothermal features relating to the Valles caldera, and seismic hazards in New Mexico. This year s 3-day workshop is scheduled for July Classroom teachers in grades 1 12 are encouraged to attend. Teachers who are interested in attending should contact Susie Welch at (575) or via at Volume 12, Number 1 Published twice annually by the New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources L. Greer Price Interim Director a division of New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology Daniel H. Lopez President 801 Leroy Place Socorro, New Mexico (575) Albuquerque Office 2808 Central SE Albuquerque, New Mexico (505) Visit our main Web site geoinfo.nmt.edu Board of Regents Ex Officio Susana Martinez Governor of New Mexico Jose Z. Garcia Secretary of Higher Education Appointed Richard N. Carpenter President , Santa Fe Jerry A. Armijo Secretary/Treasurer , Socorro Deborah Peacock , Albuquerque Abe Silver, Jr , Santa Fe Omar Soliman , Socorro Editors L. Greer Price Jane C. Love Layout and Graphics Gina D Ambrosio Leo Gabaldon Earth Matters is a free publication. For subscription information please call (575) , or us at Cover photo of Ship Rock, New Mexico Gary Rasmussen new mexico earth matters 5 winter 2012 6 New Mexico Institute of Mining & Technology New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources 801 Leroy Place Socorro, New Mexico Return service requested NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION U.S. Postage PAID permit no Albuquerque, NM Publications Atlas of Major Rocky Mountain Gas Reservoirs, a co-publication of the New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources, the Gas Research Institute, and the U.S. Department of Energy, 1993, Over 200 pp, 17" x 22", ten large (24" x 36") colored map sheets, and CD ROM. $99.50 including domestic shipping (gross receipts tax applies for New Mexico transactions). ISBN# This oversized atlas (and accompanying database) synthesizes information on sixty-six major gas plays in Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming. Each is described and illustrated with maps, logs, and cross sections. The atlas includes descriptions and geologic engineering data for 861 reservoirs that, as of December 1990, each had produced more than 5 billion cubic feet of gas. Prepared in cooperation with the geological surveys of Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming. Minerals of New Mexico poster, recently reprinted, 24" x 36", $5.00 plus $4.50 shipping and handling including tax. The nineteen spectacular mineral specimens featured on this poster offer a glimpse of some of the most beautiful minerals in New Mexico. Photographed by renowned photographer Jeff Scovil, specimens are from the collection of the Mineral Museum on the campus of New Mexico Tech in Socorro. This poster was produced by the New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources in cooperation with the Mining and Minerals Division of New Mexico s Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department. For more information about these and other bureau publications: Visit our Web site at Write or visit our Publications Office on the campus of New Mexico Tech, 801 Leroy Place, Socorro, New Mexico Call (575) or us at Publication prices do not include shipping and handling or taxes where applicable. new mexico earth matters winter 2012 Happy New Year! With the holidays behind us, many of our thoughts are turning toward 2017. The beginning of the year is a great time to reflect on where we have been, where we are, and where we are headed. Reflection is something I have learned many people consider a luxury. We are too busy with the doing and often neglect the being. As we reflect, many of us make a list of resolutions, which will help make us better people. Lose weight. Spend less. Take better care of yourself. Get more exercise. Lower the cholesterol level. Be more patient. Eat and spend less. Smile more. Get to know your neighbors better. Attend church more regularly. Read the Bible. Spend less time at work. Lose the grouchy attitude. Slow down and smell the roses. Connect with those long lost friends and relatives. Reviewing our lives Resolutions allow us to stop and critically assess our lives. Instead of making resolutions, my best friend always picks a word to concentrate on each year. Simple enough, right? Just one word! So if you had to choose one word on which to focus for 2017 what would it be? My word for 2016 was organize. I made a lot of progress on that word and will continue to keep that word in my focus for this year as well. However, after a near-life ending experience Dec. 13, I have decided that my word for 2017 needs to be transition! So why, transition? Life-changing event On Dec. 13, I was flying from Columbus to teach two days of farm transition workshops for North Carolina State University. As Delta Flight 1695 began its ascent to head south, the plane started shaking and I heard terrible back firing noises from the right engine. When I looked out my window on the wing, I was surprised to see the right engine on fire. The next 15 minutes were quite nerve wracking and soul searching for everyone on board. My quick disaster calculations had us only having a 50 percent chance of surviving at best. Over those 15 minutes, I had time to think of all the things I had not completed and what the ramifications of my impending peril would be. Some of the things that flashed through my mind included: Why didnt I finish the new version of my will? Does anyone know the combination to the safe? Does anyone know where to find all my passwords to all the accounts? Does anyone know where I hid the bars of gold and silver (thats, right, I dont have any). Thankfully, we were able to land on a runway cleared for just us, complete with emergency vehicles. Keeping calm I credit the entire Delta crew for handling this situation with a great deal of calm and professionalism. They were literally life savers. So this year, it is my goal/resolution/word to make sure my loved ones and office team are prepared for a future without me. While I am not planning to die, wouldnt it be easier for everyone involved if a good transition plan was in the works for both home and work? In fact, a good transition plan may take over a decade to execute with your farm successors. So isnt now a great time to start? To help farm families plan for the future of their business, we will be hosting a farm succession and estate planning workshop, Planning for the Future of Your Farm on Jan. 18, from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Ashtabula County Extension office. If you are thinking of how and when to transfer your farm business to the next generation, this workshop is one which you will not want to miss. This workshop is designed to help farm families develop a succession plan for their farm business. Attend and learn ways to successfully transfer management skills and the farms business assets from one generation to the next. Learn how to have the crucial conversations about the future of your farm. Plan for future This workshop will challenge farm families to actively plan for the future of the farm business. Farm families are encouraged to bring members from each generation to the workshop. The featured speakers for this event will include Robert Moore, attorney at Law, Wright & Moore Law Company; and me. The fee is $20 per person with a registration deadline of Jan. 11. The class will be limited to the first 40 registrants. The fee includes lunch and program materials. More information can be obtained by calling the Ashtabula County Extension office at 440-576-9008 and a program flier can be found at http://go.osu.edu/ne-events. So, in 2017 I urge you to consider what word you will focus on. One word can make a huge difference. To close, I would like to share a quote from Elisabeth Kubler-Ross who stated, Its only when we truly know and understand that we have a limited time on earth and that we have no way of knowing when our time is up, we will then begin to live each day to the fullest, as if it was the only one we had. Have a good, and safe 2017. Related Content British farming faces significant risks after Brexit - including a loss of subsidies, tariffs and increased competition, according to a new report. The Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) report has highlighted concerns for the farming sector ahead of Brexit negotiations. The report acknowledges UK farmers face a triple jeopardy from changes in the UKs trading relationships negotiated after Brexit. The EAC says leaving the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) will 'threaten' the viability of some farms. Trade agreements which impose tariff or non-tariff barriers to UK farm exports will similarly threaten farm and food business incomes, and new trading relationships with states outside the European Union 'could lead to increased competition' from countries with lower food standards, animal welfare standards and environmental protection. The Committee has said new subsidies should have 'clearly defined objectives' linked to the delivery of public goods, like the promotion of biodiversity, preventing flooding and storing carbon, rather than simply providing income support to farmers. The report also urges Government, as part of its initial work to leave the EU, to assess the resources necessary to replace existing EU environmental funding to ensure that farm businesses remain viable. 'Disappointing' The National Farmers Union (NFU) has said that food security and food production should be regarded as strategically important for the country and good for the public. NFU Vice President Guy Smith has said it is disappointing that the EAC failed to mention this. Mr Smith gave evidence to the EAC last October. He said: British farmers work to a very high standard for animal welfare, food safety and environmental protection. We believe strongly that any standards are not watered down if we are forced to compete against agricultures in other parts of the world that clearly do not have such high standards as ours. Clearly we must not be put at a competitive disadvantage. It is essential for the food and farming sector to maintain full, unfettered access to the single market while having continued access to a flexible, competent and reliable workforce. Retaining tariff-free access is vital for UK farmers - its where 75% of our food exports go. The EAC recommended that support payments should be linked to public goods. It is our view that food security and food production should be regarded as strategically important for the country and good for the public. It is disappointing that the EAC failed to mention this. The NFU urges Government to commit to working with farmers to establish a domestic farming policy designed to ensure a resilient farming sector alongside work to protect and enhance the environment. The domestic agricultural policy should seek to deliver competitive, profitable and progressive farm businesses through a number of measures which also address price and market volatility and improvements in sectoral economic performance. Mr Smith added: Farmers across the country understand the importance of protecting the environment and ensuring we have a thriving countryside. For example, planting or restoring 30km of hedgerows and increasing the number of nectar and pollen rich areas by 134% in the past two years. Farmers continue to fulfil their role of providing high quality food, produced to exacting welfare and environmental standards. We want to maintain those standards once we leave Europe. 'Not necessary to create new legislation' The CLA which represents landowners, farmers and rural businesses has backed calls by MPs for certainty on the status of environmental laws currently set and enforced by the EU post-Brexit. However, the organisation has stopped short of backing the concept of a new Environment Protection Act to be in place before the Government triggers the Article 50 Brexit process. CLA Director of Policy and Advice Christopher Price said: Improving and enhancing our environment, from soil and water quality to managing wildlife habitats and nurturing biodiversity, has to remain a priority for us all through Brexit and beyond. We welcome this report that shines a light on the risks and complexities that have to be managed through the process of extricating the UK from EU agricultural and environmental law. We agree with the sentiment behind the Committees call for a new Environmental Protection Act. They are right to call for post-Brexit certainty on environmental laws, but we are not convinced it is necessary to create new legislation, other than the Great Repeal Bill, or for it to be rushed through in the timeframes the Committee sets out. The Government should transpose existing EU commitments into UK law then decide what needs to change rather than creating more confusion. It is important we take the time necessary to get post-Brexit environmental policy right. Mr Price added: Brexit creates an opportunity for governments in England and Wales to adopt a new Food, Farming and Environment Policy that delivers innovative approaches to promoting and protecting our environment, and doing so while supporting a resilient and productive farming sector. A Green MEP has accused the Environment Secretary, Andrea Leadsom of 'environmental irresponsibility' following her call to abandon a greening measure post Brexit. Ms Leadsom told the Oxford Farming Conference that the three crop rule, agreed unanimously by Agricultural ministers in 2013 as part of reforms to the Common Agricultural Policy, should be scrapped. The rule applies to farms of over 30 hectares where farmers must grow at least 3 crops and was agreed in order to help conserve the environment and contribute to addressing greenhouse emissions. Molly Scott Cato, Green MEP for the South West and a member of the European Parliaments Agricultural Committee, said her 'worst fears' about a post-Brexit farming landscape 'are being realised.' She said: "Rather than using the opportunities offered by Brexit to encourage a move towards a diverse and ecologically sustainable farming system, this government seem determined to dive headlong into encouraging damaging monocultures. "Leadsom has revealed she is set on shredding measures aimed at safeguarding our soils, protecting habitats and utilizing farmland for capturing and storing carbon. There is also a strong whiff of hypocrisy here since the greening measures that Leadsom is now vowing to rip up were agreed unanimously by all EU Agricultural ministers, including her own government's". 'Leaving farmers in the dark' Dr Scott Cato has also accused the government of leaving farmers in the dark over future plans post-Brexit. She said: "Farmers want to know, whats the plan? For instance, what are farmers supposed to be planting in the spring when they don't know what will happen with relative price and exchange rates? "Also, with uncertainty over whether the government will focus on staying within the single market, farmers dont know if they will face tariffs on their exports. The government is creating an impossible environment in which to make decisions about future investments. The Parliament's Environmental Audit Committee has warned that British farming faces significant risks after Brexit. Farmers could face tariffs of up to 50% on exports to the EU if Britain leaves the single market, the Commission has warned. British agrochemical regulation post-Brexit 'can benefit' food production, trade and the environment, the BCPC has said. Dr Colin Ruscoe, President of the British Crop Production Council (BCPC), addressed an Oxford Farming Conference audience on Crop protection regulation: threats and opportunities post-Brexit. He said the objective of the post-Brexit crop protection product regulation must be to provide 'safe, effective products', whilst enabling export of agricultural products to EU and elsewhere. It should maintain or improve human safety and environmental standards, and facilitate both Integrated Pest Management (IPM) and resistance management. We can get real benefits from Brexit for UK food production by maximising science-based, proportionate decision-making, whilst achieving harmonisation with global authorities to facilitate trade within and outside the EU. Dr Ruscoe argued that the UK should adopt a fully risk-based approach to product registration, involving US EPA-style practices, and simplified procedures for minor uses, bio-pesticides and other low risk products. He said: We should remove the EUs unscientific hazard-based assessments and the associated Candidates for Substitution and Comparative Assessment processes and, particularly, political interference in the regulatory process. Instead, the importance of the UK Chemicals Regulation Divisions (CRD) current approach open communication, stakeholder consultation and training, should be emphasised. Risk assessment-based registration can support a sustainable range of safe crop protection products, essential if farmers are to both grow more food and improve environmental protection without taking more land for cultivation. Dr Ruscoe concluded: It can underpin future UK regulation without prejudice to EU and global trade. It therefore deserves full support from Defra, CRD and from environmental organisations, said Dr Ruscoe. A couple of days ago New Yorks corrupt governor, Andrew Cuomo, was being derided for vetoing a bill to make sure indigent suspects had legal representation. But yesterday his praises were being sung by both Hillary Clinton and, especially, Bernie Sanders for his free tuition proposal . Under it, the state of New York will pay tuition for hundreds of thousands of middle- and low-income New Yorkers (kids whose families are making less than $125,000/year) at state colleges and at community colleges. This would be a pilot program for the whole country. I have some first hand experience with this system. My first choice after high school was Cornell University, a very expensive private university upstate. I was accepted and offered a scholarship but it wasnt enough and my parents didnt have the money to cover the difference. I opted for a state university instead, SUNY, Stony Brook. Recently I wrote a program of theirs into my will and wrote about it here . The program gives students from households making less than $15,000/year free tuition and housing. If Cuomos bill passes, I guess Ill have to come up with something else to do with my gift to my alma mater. Under the proposal, the state would complete students tuition payments by supplementing existing state and federal grant programs essentially covering the balance, though administration officials said some students could have their entire four-year education covered. In his remarks, the governor who had endorsed and campaigned for Hillary Clinton, Mr. Sanderss opponent in the primary picked up the senators mantle, arguing that student debt was crippling the prospects of generations of young Americans. Its like starting a race with an anchor tied to your leg, Mr. Cuomo said, adding that many students in New York and elsewhere left school $30,000 or more in debt. This society should say, Were going to pay for college because you need college to be successful, he added. And New York State New York State is going to do something about it. Mr. Cuomo hopes for a quick start for his idea, with a three-year rollout beginning in the fall, with a $100,000 income limit, rising to $125,000 by 2019, a timetable the administration billed as more speedy than the one embraced by Mrs. Clinton during her presidential campaign. (On Twitter, Mrs. Clinton said she was delighted by the governors proposal, calling it a plan that she and Mr. Sanders had worked hard on.) Still, Mr. Cuomos plan would affect a far smaller pool of students than federal proposals. Initial estimates from the administration said the program would allow nearly a million New York families with college-age children, or independent adults, to qualify. The actual number of students receiving tuition-free education would probably be about 200,000 by the time it was fully enacted in 2019, according to Jim Malatras, the director of state operations. It was likewise unclear how much the program would cost. The administration estimated that the states annual outlay would be $163 million by 2019, though it acknowledged that estimate could be affected by participation and level of need. There are some kids that arent getting anything right now that would be made whole, Mr. Malatras said. And some kids that are in the program, we would just fill in the gap. New York already offers in-state students one of the lowest tuition rates in the nation. Current full-time tuition at four-year State University of New York schools for residents is $6,470; at two-year community colleges, the cost is $4,350. Full-time costs for City University of New York schools are about the same. The state also provides nearly $1 billion in support through its tuition assistance program, which has an adjusted gross income limit of just under $100,000. Those awards top out at $5,165; many grants are smaller. Costs for the state could also rise as enrollment rises. Some 400,000 students currently attend state or city universities full time, but the administration projects that the lure of a tuition-free system could increase the student population by 10 percent by 2019. Estimates for other free-tuition proposals have said that costs would be even higher. A 2015 report by the citys Independent Budget Office put the cost for the citys community colleges alone at $138 million to $232 million. But Mr. Malatras expressed confidence in the administrations estimate, saying it had calculated costs considering a variety of factors, including the number of students already receiving money through federal Pell grants, the state tuition assistance program and tuition credits. But even some supporters expressed some doubt about how much Mr. Cuomos plan could cost the state. The cost estimate of $163 million begs the question: If it costs so little, why havent we done it before? said Assemblywoman Deborah J. Glick, chairwoman of the Assemblys Higher Education Committee. The tuition plan will require legislative approval, a potential challenge when the governor and lawmakers have been at odds over a raise and other issues. On Tuesday, both Democrats and Republicans offered qualified support for the plan, saying they wanted more details on the proposal and adding that each party also had worked to lower tuition. Bruce Gyory, an Albany-based political consultant, said the governors announcement would appeal to the same voters who flocked to Mr. Sanders during the Democratic presidential primaries last year and to voters with some college education but no degree, who swung to Donald J. Trumps column in the general election. Such voters made up nearly a third of the electorate, according to exit polls, Mr. Gyory said. When youre able to take an innovative policy and have it affect a broad cross section of the state and the electorate, and you know it also resonates nationally, thats not a bad play, Mr. Gyory said. In fact, its a very astute move. Students and faculty also seemed intrigued by the proposal. Katie Montwill, a junior studying health science at Stony Brook University, called the idea pretty awesome, on the outside, though she added she was not sure how it would be funded. Ms. Montwill, 20, also suggested that the idea of tuition-free education might not sit well with some parents including her own who did not want their tax dollars to help put other peoples children through school. I feel like my parents wouldnt be for it, she said. United University Professions, which represents 35,000 faculty members at New York State campuses, offered support for the plan but also argued for more full-time faculty, a sentiment echoed by other groups. For his part, Mr. Sanders who was greeted by shouts of I love you, Bernie and loud cheers by the crowd in Long Island City was effusive in his praise of Mr. Cuomos idea, calling it a revolutionary idea for higher education that he envisioned would be emulated elsewhere. Heres my prediction, the senator said. If New York State does it this year, mark my words, state after state will follow. Environment Secretary Andrea Leadsom has outlined today how red tape will be scrapped to help farmers get on and grow British food. Speaking at the Oxford Farming Conference to leaders from the food and farming industry, the Environment Secretary highlighted EU regulations that are weighing down farmers in paperwork and stopping them getting on with the job of growing food. Billboards publicising EU funding and rules on how many crops farmers should grow are examples of red tape that should be scrapped when we leave the European Union, Environment Secretary Andrea Leadsom said today. Dealing with red tape and farm inspections is estimated to cost the industry 5million per year and the loss of 300,000 hours. The Government will be consulting industry later this year on areas they would like to see reformed, and how a more 'common sense approach' could be applied. 'Bureaucratic system' In a keynote speech Andrea Leadsom said: For too long, a bureaucratic system which tries to meet the needs of 28 countries has held farmers back. But now, leaving the EU means we can focus on what works best for the United Kingdom. By cutting the red tape that comes out of Brussels, we will free our farmers to grow more, sell more and export more great British food whilst upholding our high standards for plant and animal health and welfare. My priority will be common sense rules that work for the United Kingdom. Ditch 'three crop rule' Following the UKs departure from the EU, the UK will be free to scrap rules requiring farmers and rural businesses to pay for and display billboards or posters to publicise the EU contribution for grants to grow their businesses. These signs - measuring as much as 6ft x 4ft for the biggest grants - must be displayed permanently to avoid a penalty. The UK will be able to ditch the three crop rule which sets out how many different crops farms must plant each year and free 40,000 farmers to grow the foods people want - adding millions of pounds to the economy. The Government wants to relax rules requiring complicated definitions applied across Europe to identify features in farmers fields for subsidy payments such as what makes a hedge a hedge or when a puddle becomes a pond and instead adopt a simpler approach. The Government is also looking at reducing the amount of paperwork flood-hit farmers need to provide to support claims for repairs for recovery of their land, allowing them to get on with urgent building work more quickly. The UK will also be able to reduce the number of government inspections on farms, by streamlining them or replacing them by better use of aerial photography. The Government has already cut 4,000 inspections this year and aims to remove 20,000 by 2020. A poll by the RSPCA has revealed eight out of ten people want animal welfare laws improved or at least kept the same after we leave the EU. The poll found that 81% of the public believe that post Brexit animal welfare laws in the UK should be improved or at least kept at the same level and only 5% disagreed. RSPCA's David Bowles said: This poll sends a really strong message to the Government as they negotiate our way out of the EU that the public care deeply about animal welfare. Theres no doubt that Brexit is going to be a complex issue, a lot of legislation covering farm animals in particular will need to be reviewed, but this is a golden opportunity for the Government to improve welfare and also consider rewarding farmers who rear to higher welfare standards. The Government has already said that leaving the European Union gives opportunities to update and improve animal welfare in some key areas. RSPCA's wants Requiring compulsory CCTV in abattoirs Mandatory labelling of food according to how animals were reared Reforming the slaughter legislation to end non stun slaughter and at least ensure that the meat from those animals that have not been stunned only goes to those communities exempt under the law Changing the way subsidies are paid to farmers to encourage those that improve animal welfare Putting in place measures to end live exports and reducing journey times for animals being transported Introducing legislation for other farm animals, including ducks, sheep, dairy and beef cattle Reforming the legislation on non commercial imports of puppies to stop it being used to evade controls by raising the age for puppies being transported from 15 weeks Banning the transit of whale meat through the UK Mr Bowles added: Although most of the opportunities to improve welfare focus on farm animals the Government can also use Brexit to reform the way we import puppies and prevent the thousands of sickly puppies that flood into the UK at present under EU rules. The Scottish Government has guaranteed funding for practical farm research in 2017 and unveiled a package of new money for its land reform agenda. Overall funding for land reform will be increased by 3.4 million, while the existing Scottish Land Fund budget, which supports communities in their bid to purchase land, will be maintained at 10 million. The additional funding will support the introduction of new measures which offer greater transparency around land ownership in Scotland for communities, tenants and land owners. Cabinet Secretary for the Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform, Roseanna Cunningham, said: Scotlands land is one of our most prized and valuable resources and has the potential to be a real driver for social justice. The further powers contained in the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2016 will help to ensure that we use our land to its full potential. Today we are reaffirming our commitment to provide 10 million for the Scottish Land Fund, which supports a diverse range of urban and rural community groups to purchase and take control of their own land, making their communities stronger, resilient and more sustainable. Funding for agricultural research projects Meanwhile Rural Economy Secretary Fergus Ewing guaranteed the continuation of funding for research projects. The money is part of a 50million programme of research into the environment and agriculture which aims to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of Scottish farming. A new test for tickborne fever in sheep, the effect of cow health on milk nutrients and identification of potato varieties with resistance to late blight are among the research projects benefiting Scottish farming. The projects include the development of a new molecular test for tickborne fever which is a sizeable hidden cost to the livestock industry, a study into levels of selenium in milk to ensure the selection of cows with optimal mineral status leading to healthier cows and healthier milk and the identification of potato varieties with resistance to the late potato blight genes to help improve resistance to a potato disease that causes the loss of entire crops. Rural Economy Secretary Fergus Ewing said: Identifying ways to help farmers and crofters improve efficiency on the farm is a key way for us to invest in the future of the industry. We fund a significant amount of research which can make a difference at a practical level. New tests for tickborne fever in sheep, improving potato resistance to late blight and helping farmers to select the best cows for milk production can all help make our crops and livestock healthier. That in turn can boost sustainability, productivity and profitability of farm businesses. We will continue to harness Scotlands first class research abilities to support our farming industry and maximise the contribution it makes to our economy. NFU Cymru Conference: Farmers need more help to 'weather current storms' Warrenton, VA (20186) Today Cloudy skies this morning will become partly cloudy this afternoon. Expect mist and reduced visibilities at times. High 73F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Partly cloudy skies early will give way to cloudy skies late. Low 57F. Winds light and variable. UPDATED: As of about 10 p.m. Monday, Dominion Energy had restored power to about 3,000 homes and businesses that lost electricity at about 8 p.m. due to an equipment issue, according to the Do Where to eat and drink in the Fayetteville area this weekend TPP: How Obama Traded Away His Legacy Donald Trump is preparing to wipe President Barack Obama's legacy from existence. The Affordable Care Act, Dodd-Frank and protections for the environment and immigrants all are set to disappear in no part small part thanks to President Obama himself and his relentless advocacy for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) right through Election Day. And President Obama still won't face the sorry truth, this week declaring that he would have beaten Trump if he had been the candidate. After years of siding with corporate America to pass various job-killing trade deals over the opposition of congressional Democrats, he announced that it was "nonsense" that anyone should have the view that "Democrats have somehow abandoned the white working class." Yet in fact, post-election polling and exit polls confirm that Trump flipped decisive states because he connected with voters' fury about job-killing trade deals. Trump's omnipresent attacks on "rigged" trade deals resonated with communities devastated by mass job offshoring. Polling shows that Americans viewed President Obama's TPP as a corporate power grab that would cost more jobs, lower wages and raise medicine prices. Trump won Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania by 23,000, 11,000 and 68,000 votes, respectively. The number of people in those states certified as having lost jobs to trade since the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA, is 78,331, 159,252 and 182,017 under just one government program that captures a fraction of trade-related job loss. Meanwhile, President Obama's closing argument for Clinton at a Michigan rally the day before the election was to "continue this journey of progress," effectively promising a third term of an Obama presidency that had spent the past two years prioritizing the implementation of a trade deal despised not only by working class Midwesterners, but the entire Democratic Party base. With High-Profile Help, Obama Plots Life After Presidency ...The dinner in the private upstairs dining room of the White House went so late that Reid Hoffman, the LinkedIn billionaire, finally suggested around midnight that President Obama might like to go to bed. Feel free to kick us out, Mr. Hoffman recalled telling the president. But Mr. Obama was just getting started. Ill kick you out when its time, he replied. He then lingered with his wife, Michelle, and their 13 guests among them the novelist Toni Morrison, the hedge fund manager Marc Lasry and the Silicon Valley venture capitalist John Doerr well past 2 a.m. Mr. Obama seemed incredibly relaxed, said another guest, the writer Malcolm Gladwell. He recalled how the group, which also included the actress Eva Longoria and Vinod Khosla, a founder of Sun Microsystems, tossed out ideas about what Mr. Obama should do after he leaves the White House. Publicly, Mr. Obama betrays little urgency about his future. Privately, he is preparing for his postpresidency with the same fierce discipline and fund-raising ambition that characterized the 2008 campaign that got him to the White House. The long-running dinner this past February is part of a methodical effort taking place inside and outside the White House as the president, first lady and a cadre of top aides map out a postpresidential infrastructure and endowment they estimate could cost as much as $1 billion. The presidents aides did not ask any of the guests for library contributions after the dinner, but a number of those at the table could be donors in the future. The $1 billion double what George W. Bush raised for his library and its various programs would be used for what one adviser called a digital-first presidential library loaded with modern technologies, and to establish a foundation with a worldwide reach. ... ...Including construction costs, Mr. Obamas associates set a goal of raising at least $800 million enough money, they say, to avoid never-ending fund-raising. One top adviser said that $800 million was a floor rather than a ceiling. So far, Mr. Obama has raised just over $5.4 million from 12 donors, with gifts ranging from $100,000 to $1 million. Michael J. Sacks, a Chicago businessman, gave $666,666. Fred Eychaner, the founder of Chicago-based Newsweb Corp., which owns community newspapers and radio stations, donated $1 million. Mark T. Gallogly, a private equity executive, and James H. Simons, a technology entrepreneur, each contributed $340,000 to a foundation set up to oversee development of the library. I'm about to say the obvious, but with so many dots getting connected in this post-election, pre-Trump interregnum, I want to connect just these two and let the obvious sink in.Barack Obama has a number of what his supporters call "legacy achievements" meant positively (I would add a number of inverse-legacy achievements as well) but chief among them, first in the list, is always the ACA, "Obamacare." Whatever its demerits, and they are many , it did accomplish a narrow task providing medical insurance, in some form, to millions of Americans who didn't have it before.That legacy achievement is about to be stripped away, all because Donald Trump, with a fully Republican Congress behind him, has been elected president.And what caused that Republican takeover of the White House? Again, many factors, but chief among them, in my estimation and in the estimation of a number of writers, is Obama's relentless push to pass TPP even as Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton was running to inhabit, in effect, Obama's third term and even as both Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders achieved or nearly achieved unpredicted upsets running"free" trade economics.Let that sink in, because it's not going to be said in too many public Democratic places.Again, you won't hear many Democrats say this, because the "free" trade wing of the Democratic Party is still in charge (of the Party, not the country). And that wing, which includes almost all Clinton supporters in the Party including Tim Kaine , her choice for vice-president, and including Tom Perez , Obama's "not Keith Ellison" choice for DNC chair is still in favor of job-killing trade deals. This intra-party dynamic, I predict, will keep them out of power for a generation, unless the Obama-Clinton wing is ousted from party leadership in something like the next six months. That's possible, of course, but it doesn't seem likely to happen.(And before you say, or hear, that Perez was forced to support TPP because, as Secretary of Labor, his boss supported it, consider that Perez didn't feel as compelled to support his boss's position on the recent UN condemnation of Israeli settlements .)Supporting my contention is this , written by Lori Wallach, head of Global Trade Watch at Public Citizen, and Murshed Zaheed, political director of CREDO Action. The whole piece is worth a read; they nail it.Notice the mention of NAFTA above. People have long memories when it comes to NAFTA, especially people out of work. NAFTA is almost iconic for "Democrat-sponsored job-killing trade deal."About my comment that Clinton was running for "Obama's third term":That clearly didn't sit well with Rust Belt voters.about the election, one of them anyway, is this: Voters didn't just vote for "change" in some vague dissatisfied way. Many voters specifically repudiated "Clintonism" Democratic Party-sponsored neoliberalism when they voted last November. Evidence for that is this Clinton's very high unpopularity, which cannot simply be chalked up to 90s-era right-wing smears. Too many younger voters, for whom the 90s occurred in the time of Alexander the Great (or at least Ronald Reagan), repudiated her candidacy as well, especially during the primary.To answer that, one must connect different dots. Here's two of them , via theThere are many more high-dollar names in the article, including these:Those two dots, of course, are Obama's post-electoral plans and its price. So, did Barack Obama push so hard for TPP in order to feather Hillary Clinton's electoral nest, the Democratic Party's electoral nest ... or his own post-electoral future?As a one-time mayor of Chicago, Hizzoner himself , used to say, "Youth wants to know." And so do the rest of us, though the answer seems fairly (as I said in this essay's first sentence) obvious. Hillary Clinton is off to a post-electoral retirement in semi-disgrace; the Democratic Party seems doomed to wander the wilderness for a good long time; and Obama ... he sails into a well-financed, almost golden, future sunset.GP Labels: Barack Obama, Culture of Corruption, Gaius Publius, Hillary Clinton, Obama legacy, Obamacare, TPP, Trump the Islamic State claimed that one of its soldiers had done the job. In its typical deranged language, the group said that it had happily struck the revellers, turning their joy into sorrows. The attack, the group said, was in retaliation for air strikes and other military operations carried out by the Turkish apostate government against isis in Syria. Last week brought word that Ahmet Sik, one of the countrys most fearless investigative reporters, had been arrested and detained; apparently, Turkish officials charged him with spreading terrorist propaganda through a series of tweets. In 2010 and 2011, he served a year in prison, in a blatant (and futile) attempt by Turkish authorities to halt publication of his investigation into the secretive activities of Gulen -- who, at the time, was Erdogans most important ally -- and his followers. I saw Sik this past August, after the purges had begun, and he told me he had little doubt that Erdogan aimed to remove all impediments to his rule. Very soon, I think, they will arrest me, too, he said. Following the New Years Eve attack, Erdogan asked his countrymen to remain calm. We will retain our coolheadedness as a nation, standing more closely together, and will never give ground to such dirty games, he said. If only Erdogan would follow his own advice. # The New YorkerAlthough I refrained from fobbing off my amateur speculations in taking note of the bloody New Year's Eve assault on that Istanbul nightclub -- at least 39 killed, scores injured -- you didn't have to be either clairvoyant or an expert on Turkish domestic affairs to call this one: that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan would use what seemed clearly another act of violence against the Turkish state to clamp down even further on the remaining opposition, as he did in the wake of the strange coup attempt against him perpetrated by elements in the Turkish military in July.To be sure, as's Dexter Filkins writes in a newyorker.com post today , although "the shooter has not yet been identified,"Filkins's post, it should be noted, is called "The End of Democracy in Turkey.""Since July," Filkins notes, "thousands of civilians have been arrested and jailed -- many, if not most, with no apparent connection to [Pennsylvania-resident Muslim cleric Fethullah] Gulen [whose followers may have been behind the coup attempt] or ISIS or Kurdish militants," and "hundreds of thousands of others have been either fired or suspended from their jobs," among them "university professors, career bureaucrats, leaders of the democratic opposition, and journalists."Filkins also notes the awkard role the Erdogan government has played in the fight against ISIS, which it eventually joined -- but only after having offered various kinds of support to the opposition, in hopes of seeing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad overthrown. "Turkeys leaders," Filkins notes, "bear a heavy responsibility for the rise of extremists across the borderand inside Turkey, too. ISIS, allowed to operate inside Turkey for years, is now well established there."Filkins concludes his piece:I don't think Filkins or anyone else is holding his breath for any such development. Labels: 12 Days of Christmas Scorn, Erdogan, New Yorker (The), Turkey Last month Forest Labs paid $38 million to settle allegations it paid doctors speaker fees for sometimes phony events so they would prescribe its drugs. It was the latest in a string of speaker fee cases. Between 2008 and 2011, the pharma allegedly paid doctors fees that ranged from $500 to $2,500 per event. Some doctors were paid when the speaking events didnt happen or no licensed health professionals attended, the DOJ said. Forest Labs settled the False Claims Act case without admitting liability. Here are some other cases with allegations of illegal speaker fees: In September this year, GSK paid the SEC $20 million to settle China FCPA violations. The SEC said GSK China spent about $17 million on speaker fees in 2012. At least $2 million of that amount was paid to people whose healthcare qualifications couldnt be verified. Earlier this year, AstraZeneca paid the SEC $5.5 million to resolve FCPA offenses in Russia and China. The China staff paid speaker fees to doctors reflected in documentation containing no meeting date, venue, subject or fees associated with the particular speaker event, the SEC said. In August last year, medical device maker NuVasive Inc. agreed to pay the United States $13.5 million to resolve allegations that it paid kickbacks to induce doctors to use the companys spinal fusion system. The alleged illegal payments included promotional speaker fees. In January 2015, global pharma Daiichi Sankyo Inc. paid the United States and state Medicaid programs $39 million to resolve allegations that it paid kickbacks to doctors so they would prescribe the companys drugs. The DOJ alleged that Daiichi paid doctors kickbacks in the form of speaker fees from 2005 through 2011. Payments went to doctors even when they spoke only to their own staffs at expensive Daiichi-paid dinners, the DOJ alleged. In 2013, Johnson & Johnson paid $2.2 billion to resolve criminal and civil claims arising from allegations of kickbacks to U.S. doctors and improper marketing claims about three of its prescription drugs. The DOJ alleged that a J&J subsidiary, Janssen Pharmaceuticals, paid speaker fees to doctors to influence them to write prescriptions for Risperdal. In 2010, Novartis paid $237.5 million to resolve civil allegations over kickbacks paid to doctors to prescribe six of the companys drugs. Novartis allegedly paid doctors honoraria of between $1,500 and $2,000 to speak at physician events about the benefits of Novartis drugs. Some doctors earned as much as $150,000 a year in honoraria. In 2007 alone, Novartis paid $9.5 million to doctors through its speakers bureau. Many of the doctors selected as speakers had no publications or teaching positions. Several speakers, the civil complaint against Novartis alleged, had difficulty with English. Other speakers were simply very poor communicators. Physician attendance at the events was sparse often just one or two other doctors. The venues were sometimes tables at restaurants, during the dinner hour, although the DOJ alleged that Novartis never really checked who attended or where the events were held. ___ Richard L. Cassin is the publisher and editor of the FCPA Blog. Job Title: Compliance Counsel Employer: Panasonic Avionics Corporation Location: Singapore JOB SUMMARY: Panasonic Avionics Corporation is looking to hire a Compliance Counsel in its regional Asia-Pacific headquarters in Singapore. Although the position will have a particular focus on anti-corruption compliance in the Asia Pacific region, it will also support the companys global international legal and ethical compliance program. The position reports to the Chief Compliance Officer in in the companys global headquarters in Lake Forest, California. . . . Continue Reading By Annabel Fielding, author of historical novel The Pearl and the Carnelian The Pearl and the Carnelian The interwar years of the 1930s was marked by tumultuous political and social upheavals that more than warrant its description as the Devils decade. It was a time when Hitler and the Nazis were on the ascendency in Germany, while fascism was taking root in Europe. The relationships between the UK and the fascist regimes of the continent during this period are often imagined in terms of inherent adversity: a reassuring tale of the sensible, egalitarian Brits inevitably triumphing over the violent and reactionary societies abroad. However, over the course of research for my historical novel, The Pearl and the Carnelian, I had to delve into far murkier waters and discover some unsavoury truths. One figure who can give us a glimpse of this darker side of the British history is Princess Stephanie von Hohenlohe a noblewoman, an adventuress, a diplomat and a notorious Nazi sympathizer. One of her most fruitful partnerships was with Lord Rothermere, an esteemed British peer and then owner of national newspaper the Daily Mail. Rothermere had always been notoriously conservative. However, in the 1930s his sympathies and activities acquired a dangerous radical edge as he began a well-publicised overture to the new totalitarian regimes of Italy and Germany. Many people have heard of his infamous Hurrah for the Blackshirts! headline, referring to supporters of the British Union of Fascists led by Oswald Mosley, himself an aristocrat. Few, however, know that his connections to the far-Right movements, both overseas and at home, went much further than this. In 1933, Rothermere started his clandestine correspondence with Hitler and Stephanie became his exceptionally high-ranking courier. One of the first gifts Rothermere entrusted her to carry was his own portrait photograph mounted in a solid gold frame. The frame was made by Cartier of Paris and was worth more than 50,000 at todays prices. On the reverse of the frame was a reprint of the Daily Mail editorial hailing the New Germany. Such sentiments, of course, look shocking and bizarre to us however, they were far more common in the interwar British society than we would often care to admit. The list of Nazi sympathizers included plenty of surnames that we are more used to seeing in society columns: the Duke of Westminster, the richest landowner in Britain, joined The Link, a radical pro-Nazi organization, as late as 1939. A joke at the time was that one of his motives must have been to prevent Hitler from dropping bombs on London, because he owned so much of it! Even the Prince of Wales himself, the future Edward the 8th, frequently spoke in favour of the Anglo-German understanding. Often this support stemmed from fear. The rich and powerful feared the bogeyman of Communism and the fascist regimes on the continent, as well as Oswald Mosley's Blackshirts at home, seemed to promise a shield against the much-discussed Red threat. At the same time, more prosaic home-grown problems were cause for alarm. Scarcely a year passed without another desperate hunger march setting out from the destitute, jobless towns of the North. Fascism offered simple solutions; and simple solutions often sound extraordinarily seductive. Over the years of the Great War, the seemingly everlasting ancient monarchies of Europe proved to be about as stable as cardboard props, concealing long-rotten structures. Even in Britain the signs of a painful decline were only too apparent. The writing was on the wall: the old ways worked no longer. The disillusionment with the traditional structures of power reached such a point that it was easy to believe that anyone who does things differently would necessarily do things better. Scarily, similar thinking is once again emerging in the UK, as shown by the Brexit outcome. It was even easier to believe in the might and talent of the bold new regimes. To believe that they could solve the problems the old establishment stumbled around for decades, that they could lead Europe and Britain with it into the new age of peace and prosperity. Stephanie herself ended up appearing in my novel only as a cameo. However, the momentous processes that she was caught up in can be seen writ large in its landscape. It comes down to the difficulty of recognizing the signs of tragedy when you are only in the first act, and the conundrum of choosing your side when all the options seem equally unsavoury. The pain of seeing the war clouds looming on the horizon and knowing that the only question is when. And, of course, whom. The Pearl and the Carnelian by Annabel Fielding is out now, priced 12.30 in paperback and 4.61 as an eBook. Visit www.historygeekintown.com/the-pearl-and-the-carnelian/ The Duke of Cambridge is the new patron for the Metropolitan and City Police Orphans fund. Duke and Duchess of Cambridge The 34-year-old royal has been announced as the new benefactor of the charity, which was originally set up in 1870 and is the longest standing police charity, according to The Times newspaper. Prince William's role with the organisation will see him support the children of those who work for the Metropolitan Police and the City of London Police who have tragically passed away, and can no longer support their brood. And William's appointment comes 80 years after the orphanage was closed in 1937 and it was developed into the charity it is now. The Chief executive officer at the Metropolitan Police, Peter Smyth, has admitted he is "delighted" to have the backing of William - who has three-year-old son Prince George and 20-month-old daughter Princess Charlotte with his wife the Duchess of Cambridge - and the royal has accepted the role as their new patron. He said: "We are absolutely delighted that His Royal Highness The Duke of Cambridge has agreed to be our new patron." And Peter believes young children and officers will be "extremely pleased" at the news. He continued: "I am sure the children we support and serving police officers will also be extremely pleased." Meanwhile, William's wife Catherine has also been granted a patron and has received a lifetime honorary membership for the Royal Photographic Society, which promotes and supports those interested in the art form. Prince Harry feels "complete relaxation and normality" in Africa. Prince Harry The 32-year-old royal - who is the son of the late Princess Diana and Prince Charles - has revealed he feels most like himself than he does "anywhere else in the world" when he visits the continent. Speaking in the February issue of Town and Country magazine, the flame-haired hunk said: "This is where I feel more like myself than anywhere else in the world. "I have this intense sense of complete relaxation and normality here." And Harry - who is currently dating American actress Meghan Markle - has revealed ever since his first trip to Africa with his family in 1997 he has held a fondness in his heart. He said: "I first came in 1997, straight after my mum died. My dad told my brother and me to pack our bags -- we were going to Africa to get away from it all." And Harry has revealed he wishes he could visit Africa - where he has been working to help endangered elephants - more often. He said: "I wish I could spend more time in Africa." And Harry, who set up the charity Sentebale in memory of his late mother, has admitted he is proud of his achievements with the organisation and has teased he plans to work on more projects in the future. Speaking previously, he said: "Now, I can see exactly where I want to take it. The fact that I've managed to keep Sentebale going ... for the last 10/11 years has been fantastic because now everything else I'm involved with makes sense to me and I'm just getting started. "What started as an idea of me turning round and saying, right, I've got a year off, I want to do something really constructive with my life, want to do something that makes my mother proud. "Someone said, right, go to Lesotho, it's like where the hell is that? Now I can see exactly where I want to take it. I have huge amounts of passion for the causes and interests and charities I'm involved with." Princess Anne is set to visit Shrewsbury carers service next week. Princess Anne The 66-year-old royal - who is the daughter of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip - is set to visit Carers Trust 4all at Sutton Farm on Tuesday (10.01.17) as part of her duty as the president of Carers Trust. According to the Shropshire Star website, Anne is due to meet with the chair of the organisation, Michael James, as well as the chief executive Andrea Kinsey, whilst she is accompanied by the Lord Lieutenant of Shropshire Sir Algernon Heber-Percy. Anne is also set to meet with other trustees, commissioners and people who support the service by funding it, as well as the staff members who help to deliver the service, unpaid carers and those who rely on the organisation for career support and guidance. And it has been reported to mark Anne's visit she will receive a gift, which is yet to be known, from a carer, she will sign the visitors' book and leave a message at her discretion, and most importantly, she will unveil a plaque at the site to mark her stopover. Carers Trust 4all are "delighted" the brunette-haired royal will be spending some time with them and have admitted her trip will no doubt make its mark on all staff and volunteers associated to the organisation by giving them the "tremendous boost". Andrea said: "We are delighted that Her Royal Highness is visiting us. It is a tremendous boost for unpaid carers, staff and volunteers. During her visit, the Princess will be able to meet many of the adults and young carers we work with and hear about their experiences and views on how unpaid carers should be supported in the future." Anne is also set to meet with the Mayor of Shrewsbury, the Mayoress of Shrewsbury, Chief Executives of the Carers Trust as well as Councillor Ioan Jones. Now that I have some time on my hands-setting up an organic vegetable patch thanks to a company delightfully called DIRT #GoGreen A photo posted by Twinkle Khanna (@twinklerkhanna) on Dec 7, 2016 at 1:23am PST Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina said that it is important to explore additional international markets instead of depending on a few markets of selected countries. She is also of the opinion that no country in the world can deliver products as fast as Bangladesh and that citizens of the country need adequate training and the right path. She also urged businesspersons of the country to find markets that need Bangladeshi products, while addressing the audience at the inauguration of the 22nd Dhaka Internatinal Trade Fair (DITF). PM Hasina said that the Bangladeshi exports should not depend on a few traditional items. They need to diversify products and maintain international standards to ensure high quality, according to a Bangladeshi news agency. Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina said that it is important to explore additional international markets instead of depending on a few markets of selected countries. She is also of the opinion that no country in the world can deliver products as fast as Bangladesh and that citizens of the country need adequate training and the right path.# Private sector is the driving force of the countrys economy and it should carry out some welfare activities for the people of the country. They should also help develop the local market by improving the purchasing capacity of the citizens, she said. The prime minister also handed trophies to the leading exporters of the fiscal year 2013-14 during the inauguration ceremony. Over 580 stalls have been set up at DITF and more than 48 stalls have been occupied by international companies. Countries like India, China, Pakistan, Malaysia, Thailand, Iran, the US, Singapore, Turkey, South Korea, Nepal, Japan, Bhutan, Vietnam, Hong Kong and more are participating in the fair. Multiple products including fabrics, carpets, jute items, sanitary products and leather items are on display at the fair. (KD) Fibre2Fashion News Desk India The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) through its Standard Alliance, had organised standards-related events in Washington for the members of the Ghanaian textiles and apparel industry who recently visited the US. The events helped Ghanian delegates to understand the market opportunities and requirements for textiles and apparel in the US. The events were organised through ANSIs public-private partnership with the US Agency for International Development (USAID) known as the Standards Alliance with the help of strategic international trade advisor Sandler Trade LLC. The Ghana delegations visit was part of the US State Departments International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP). The 10-day IVLP visit, from December 5-13, provided nine Ghanaian participants a detailed introduction to the US textiles and apparel market as well as the US regulatory environment. During the first day, Ghanaian participants travelled to the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR), where they discussed international trade agreements, US trade preference programs, and technical regulations required to gain access to the US market. The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) through its Standard Alliance, had organised standards-related events in Washington for the members of the Ghanaian textiles and apparel industry who recently visited the US. The events helped Ghanian delegates to understand the market opportunities and requirements for textiles and apparel in the US.# Following their meeting with the USTR, delegates travelled to Sandler Trade LLC to learn about the development of the voluntary standards and testing systems that form the foundation of US testing and regulatory requirements. Presentations by the US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) detailed specific regulatory requirements, while ASTM International and Bureau Veritas provided context to the regulations by explaining voluntary standards and testing systems in the US. Discussions between Sandler and the delegates about the Us textiles market helped the Ghanaian participants brainstorm how their products might fit in the US market and helped to further solidify the importance of technical regulations to gain access to the market. The delegation also met with the American Apparel and Footwear Association (AAFA), Fair Trade America (FTA), and the Fair Trade Federation (FTF). Presentations by these organisations provided additional information on fair trade market requirements and related certifications. The standards-related events built a foundation for the remainder of the trip. Following their Washington visit, the IVLP delegates travelled to North Carolina to view US on-the-ground design, production, and retail operations. The delegates visited US companies operating in North Carolina and learned about US marketing approaches, US import practices and state government promotion of trade. They also visited universities, trade associations and US government agencies involved in importing goods. (KD) Fibre2Fashion News Desk India critic's rating: 4.0/5 Director: Gareth Edwards Cast: Felicity Jones, Diego Luna, Alan Tudyk, Donnie Yen, Wen Jiang, Ben Mendelsohn, Forest Whitaker, Riz Ahmed, Mads Mikkelsen, Jimmy Smits, Alistair Petrie, Genevieve O'Reilly, Beau Gadsdon, Dolly Gadsdon Quick take: The definite Star Wars story that fans were waiting for Filmfare rating : 4/5 One of the biggest debates among fans of the Star Wars franchise is about how the rebel faction got hold of the plans to Death Star. Well, this off-shoot story tells you how. Chronologically, this is a direct prequel to the 1977 film. And keeping that in mind, director Gareth Edwards has managed to give a retro feel to the CGI. Another clever thing he has done is to keep the film free of Jedis and lightsabers. Yes, Darth Vader does comes towards the end and wreaks havoc and thereby provides much needed relief to parched fans but the film doesnt centre around the Force as such. Its more about believing in the Force, in the goodness of things than in the actual usage of Force by central characters. Galen Erso (Mads Mikkelsen) is a retired scientist who has taken to farming into some sort of an inhabitable planet. Hes also one of the chief architects of Death Star. His wife is killed and hes forced back into doing Vader and the Emperors bidding. His daughter Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones) is brought by rogue rebel Saw Gerrera (Forest Whitaker) and he manages to send her the message which tells her about the fatal flaw in Death Star. The rest of the film revolves around how she goes about her impossible mission The central characters in the film dont find a mention in the original franchise and thats Rogue Ones greatest strength. So instead of catering to prototypes, director Edwards can make them more flesh and blood, earthy, flawed characters that manage to overcome their inner hurdles and rise to the occasion. The battle scenes, though grand in scope, feel more like footage from the trenches than from some space opera. And the central point, that struggle against tyranny needs sacrifices and martyrs, is made poignantly. All this doesnt mean that the CGI or the production values have been compromised. They have even recreated Peter Cushing digitally and used him chillingly well and the final battle scenes would give any Sci-fi fan worth their moneys worth. Felicity Jones emerges as one of the feistiest and well-rounded heroines of the Star Wars universe and Diego Luna (Cassian Andor) as rebel spy and assassin is a darker version of Han Solo. The actor who gets the most claps though is Donnie Yen, who plays Chirrut Imwe, a blind warrior priest who isnt is a Jedi quite yet but unflinchingly believes in the Force. The ensemble cast, as a whole, relievers the goods and more. Beware that this is no childrens film. This is Star Wars for adults. Well-loved characters die, the violence is gory by and large and the atmosphere is more on the lines of the French Resistance during World War II than the light-hearted thrillers that George Lucas films were. Its full of Easter Eggs for fans to explore over many viewings and that perhaps is its sole weakness. Dont go to the movie with a friend who hasnt seen any of the films as youd only be explaining things to him/her Saif Ali Khan's daughter Sara Ali Khan is one of the most beautiful star kids of Bollywood and the media loves to write about her. She always remains in the news for her fashionable appearances, Bollywood debut and love life. It was being said that Sara Ali Khan is dating former Union minister Sushil Kumar Shinde's grandson Veer Pahariya but according to Filmfare, Sara Ali Khan is now in a relationship with Shahid Kapoor's younger brother Ishaan Khattar. Read more about it below. Sara In A Relationship With Ishaan Sara Ali Khan and Ishaan Khattar are apparently an item. While the media is busy speculating about Sara's relationship with Veer Pahariya, looks like Saif Ali Khan and Amrita Singh's gorgeous daughter is busy spending time with Ishaan, Shahid Kapoor's younger brother. Sara & Ishaan Were Said To Debut Together The two were rumoured to be making their debut with Karan Johar's Student Of The Year 2. Later, it was being reported that Sara and Ishaan will come together for the remake of The Fault In Our Stars. But none of the reports were true. Sara Ali Khan & Ex-Boyfriend Veer Pahariya Reportedly, before Ishaan, Sara was dating the grandson of a famous politician, Veer Pahariya. They had been classmates at school and have been in a long-distance relationship since Veer went to Dubai for further studies. Sara Ali Khan Was Also Linked To Orhan Awatramani A few days ago, it was reported that Sara Ali Khan is seeing her good friend Orhan Awatramani. Their affair rumours started when some of their pictures went viral on the Internet. On a related note, Sara Ali Khan is all geared up for her big Bollywood debut. Sara Ali Khan's father Saif Ali Khan confirmed in a recent interview to a leading daily that Sara has decided to make her career in films and he supports her decision. Also Read: Interesting! Katrina Kaif Taking Tips From Ex-Boyfriend Salman Khan About Ranbir Kapoor; Here's Why He had said, ''It's a very creative and a wonderful job. I bless Sara for what she has learned. She has wanted to do this since she was two years old, but I asked her to finish college first. In fact, she has done theater in the US as well. She wants to enjoy the acting and not treat it as a superficial, glamorous profession." "I have a wonderful relationship with her, wherein I am like a guide, a friend and a philosopher. But we discuss lots of things. We went on a holiday to Italy and spoke about art, life, and recently, about films as well. I've given her so much advice. I said, "Write them down and treat them like the Ten Commandments. It's everything I have learnt. And your mother (Amrita Singh) also taught me so much when I first came to Mumbai,'' the doting father had said. After ringing in the new year in various parts of the world, Bollywood celebs are finally coming back home. B-town celebs including Akshay Kumar, Twinkle Khanna, Kajol, Jacqueline Fernandez and Ileana D'Cruz were spotted at the Mumbai airport in their uber cool avatars. But the only cutie, who grabbed everyone's attention was Akshay-Twinkle's daughter Nitara! We all know both Akshay & Twinkle are quite protective of Nitara and often covers her face so that she doesn't get clicked by the paparazzi! However, this time, the scenario at the airport was not the same and we got to see the quirky avatar of Nitara! Check Out Hers & Other Celebs' Pictures Below.. Nitara Gets Goofy How sweet! Akshay Kumar's daughter playfully pose for the camera and her antics at the airport were too cute to be missed. Nitara & Twinkle Seen here is mommy Twinkle Khanna in her stylish avatar, accompanying her daughter Nitara, while strolling through the airport. Akshay Kumar Daddy Akshay Kumar is all smiles as he candidly gets captured by the paparazzi at the Mumbai airport. Kajol With Yug Apart from the Kumars, actress Kajol was also spotted at the Mumbai airport, returning from a vacation along with her son Yug and daughter Nysa. Ajay Devgn Actor Ajay Devgn, who was last seen in Shivaay, gets clicked by the shutterbugs at the Mumbai airport. Jacqueline Fernandez Jacqueline Fernandez pouts like a pro as she poses for the shutterbugs, gathered outside the airport! Ileana DCruz Actress Ileana D'Cruz, who will be next seen in Arjun Kapoor starrer Mubarakan, also returned to India post holidaying abroad. Coming back to Akshay Kumar's daughter Nitara, recently, the actor had revealed his plans for Nitara and here's what he had said: "She will be starting her training when she turns four, which is not too far. It is important for girls to feel that they have the confidence, and the strength to defend themselves - anytime, anywhere and against anyone." "A man can't imagine the insecurities, and the fear some women have to face on a daily basis. I can only protect my daughter if she learns to protect herself. I wish I could hold her hand for the rest of her life, but I know that that's just a father's dream." "Whether she likes it or not, she will have to learn these self-defence techniques. I already have a feeling that Nitara's going to be a little Ninja. There is power in her big brown eyes, and I can't wait to put that to some good use." It looks like the year 2017 started on a bad note for actor Arjun Kapoor as the civic authorities have demolished the unauthorized structure on his terrace that functioned as a terrace gym. Apart from demolishing the illegal structure, the BMC has also slapped a fine of 10,000 rupees on the actor. Bengaluru Molestation Case! Salim Khan Asks PM Narendra Modi To Address The Issue Immediately The authorities revealed that Arjun Kapoor had encroached the terrace of Raheja Orchid building by constructing a 30x16 sq ft glass-and-brick room without permission. Arjun lives on the seventh floor of the same building and had no valid papers to build the terrace gym. An activist had complained to the municipal corporation about the illegal structure constructed by Arjun Kapoor and the authorities were quick to act based on the complaint. The activist is believed to not be a resident of the building. Bengaluru Molestation Case! Farhan Akhtar Lashes Out At Politicians The BMC staff visited the building on December 30, 2016 and sent workers to demolish the structure on January 1, 2017. Since there was shortage of workers on new year's day, the demolition was completed on January 2. Arjun Kapoor has not been available for comments on the matter. Katrina Kaif Becomes A Mentor To Bollywood Newbie Elena Fernandes! Every new year brings in more promises, expectations and resolutions of being a better person and while some achieve it by being dedicated in what they want, the others fizzle out by just letting it go! Evelyn Sharma's new year success mantra is quite exciting as she has listed a lot of good stuff to achieve this year. Arvind Kejriwal's Name Should Be Changed To Mr. Complaint Box! Says Roshi Kapoor She took to Instagram and posted a superhot picture of herself with gold pants and heels and captioned it as, "Starting 2017 in full power! Fashion, fitness, films and philanthropy! What's your mantra this year?" Well, there you go! Evelyn Sharma's success mantra for 2017 is fashion, fitness, films and philanthropy. We are getting a feeling that she'll surely achieve all of it and be successful by the end of the year. Bengaluru Molestation Case! Salim Khan Asks PM Narendra Modi To Address The Issue Immediately On the work front, Evelyn Sharma is currently shooting for Imtiaz Ali's upcoming film 'The Ring' and it also stars Shahrukh Khan, Anushka Sharma and Sayani Gupta. The first leg of the film was shot in Budapest, Prague and Amsterdam. The film will also be shot in Punjab and Gujarat. Bengaluru Molestation Case! Farhan Akhtar Lashes Out At Politicians Mallika Sherawat has been invited by the prestigious Oxford University to give a speech at the Oxford Union and it looks like the actress might turn down the offer. The last time an Indian spoke at the Oxford Union was Shashi Tharoor and his speech went viral in no time. The same golden opportunity has come knocking on Mallika's doors and she's giving more preference to her movie shoot instead. She was quoted as saying, "I am thrilled and it's a great honour for me to be invited to speak at the historic Oxford Union." Bengaluru Molestation Case! Salim Khan Asks PM Narendra Modi To Address The Issue Immediately Then Mallika went on to say that her film shoot is more important than the Oxford Union speech, "I would love to be there and address the students but right now I want to concentrate on shooting for my new film which will start its first schedule in Mauritius". Well, all we can hope is that the film has to be exceptionally good if she's planning to skip the Oxford Union speech. Also, notable figures such as Jon Bon Jovi, Dalai Lama, Mother Teresa, Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking had delivered a speech to the students on the same stage. Arvind Kejriwal's Name Should Be Changed To Mr. Complaint Box! Says Roshi Kapoor Mallika Sherawat has been in the international circuit for a long time now and will soon be seen in a Chinese film named 'Time Raiders'. The film has been released in China already and will soon be out in the Indian market as well. Bengaluru Molestation Case! Farhan Akhtar Lashes Out At Politicians Celebrated Hollywood actor Ben Affleck who had quite a busy last year, opens up regarding Donald Trump's election as the US President. The actor says despite what happened with the election in US, he still believes in the basic goodness of people. Affleck finds similarity of agenda between Brexit in England and Trump in US, both considered immigrants as threats to their nations above all. "I spent five months in London and I have to say the Brexit vote smacked of the same kinds of things I heard here. People whose overarching political agenda is that immigrants are ruining things for us or immigrants are getting one over on us somehow, taking advantage." Said Affleck. "In London, it's Polish people and here it's Mexican Americans. I still believe in the basic goodness of people, but that doesn't mean we aren't going through a spell where we're in thrall to some ugly ideas and ugly notions." The actor added. "I met Trump once at a Fashion Week event in Milan. You knew you were at a cheesy party if Donald Trump was there. He would kind of trawl around them. He was famous for only granting permission for films to shoot on his real estate locations if they put him in as a cameo." He stated. "The ego was there a long time ago." Concluded Ben. Dulquer Salmaan is on a high. The actor had a memorable 2016 with his films hitting the bulls-eye and some big and exciting projects in his kitty, he is sure to make his fans happy in 2017, as well. The actor is gearing up for the release of his next film Jomonte Suvisheshangal, which would be his first release in 2017. Dulquer Salmaan also has Amal Neerad's upcoming film and Bejoy Nambiar's Solo in his kitty. Now, the big news is that the actor is all set to do his next film in Tamil. According to a latest report by Behindwoods, the actor has given the nod for a Tamil film, which would be directed by R A Karthick. Reportedly, the film will be a romantic entertainer and the movie would feature three female lead actresses in it. If reports are to be believed, the film will be in the lines of Bollywood movies like Jab We Met and Highway. Nothing much has been revealed about the rest of the cast and crew of the film. The makers are expected to make an official announcement regarding the project once Dulquer Salmaan's dates for the project have been blocked. The actor's previous Tamil release was Mani Ratnam's OK Kanmani, which had Nitya Menen paired opposite him. The film was a runaway success and the movie earned him a huge fan base in Tamil Nadu. In fact, his debut Tamil venture was Balaji Mohan's Vaayai Moodi Pesavum, which also featured Nazriya Nazim in the lead role. VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 01/03/17 -- RYU Apparel Inc. (TSX VENTURE: RYU)(FRANKFURT: RYA), creator of "tailored innovation for the urban athlete", is pleased to announce the launch of its Up Down Program as part of their overall Athlete Members Program. The Up Down Program is designed to encourage athletes to achieve their fitness goals by providing an added incentive to facilitate their journey. If your size changes within one year of purchasing an item, either by adding muscle or losing weight, simply return it and you will be able to get the same or similar item in your new size at 50% the regular price. This program not only motivates athletes to start their goals early but equips them with a fantastic new RYU work-out wardrobe. Always striving to support their communities, RYU will be donating all items that are returned through this program to local organizations to help facilitate others to achieve their own fitness goals. For the month of January, RYU will run a contest at its retail locations to have athletes write down their goals for 2017 and enter in a draw to win a top from the RYU Vapor Program. The contest is now open and will be running until Jan 27th. Winners will be drawn on Jan 28th. "We see local athletes working hard to achieve their fitness goals everyday. As we are immersed in the fitness community, we are thrilled to do our part in supporting these athletes any way we can," said Marcello Leone, CEO, President and Chairman of the Board for RYU. The Up Down Program officially launches on January 3rd 2017 and is available to athletes in RYU's flagship store at 1745 West 4th Avenue and its newest location at 805 Thurlow Street and online at ryu.com. About RYURespect Your Universe is tailored innovation for the urban athlete. Designed without compromise, RYU engineers apparel and accessories for the fitness and training of the multi-discipline athlete. Created for athletes by athletes, RYU exists to facilitate human performance. For more information, visit: http://ryu.com On Behalf of the Board RYU APPAREL INC. Marcello Leone, CEO, President and Chairman of the Board Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Contacts: RYU Apparel Inc. Investor Relations Contact: Anna Brazier +1 844 535 2880 investors@ryu.com www.ryu.com Media Relations Contact: Kelsi Carleton 604-738-2220 kelsi@talkshopmedia.com (2) Reflects the number of positions in issuers in which the Company has previously publicly disclosed an investment, which occurs after the Company has completed its accumulation. Cash, cash equivalents, direct or indirect currency or other hedges and income/expense items are excluded. Multiple financial instruments (for example, common stock and derivatives on common stock) associated with one (1) issuer count as one (1) position. A position that is included in the number of positions will be removed from the table only if the investment or if the investment becomes 0.0% of the portfolio. (3) For the purpose of determining the equity and debt exposures, investments are valued as follows: (a) equity or debt is valued at market value, (b) options referencing equity or debt are valued at market value, (c) long call options and short put options (or vice-versa, short call options and long put options) held on the same underlying issuer and with the same strike and same expiry are grouped together and treated as synthetic equity positions, and are valued at the market value of the equivalent long equity position (or vice-versa, the equivalent short equity position), and (d) swaps or forwards referencing equity or debt are valued at the market value of the notional equity or debt underlying the swaps or forwards. Whether a position is deemed to be long or short is determined by whether an investment has positive or negative exposure to price increases or decreases. For example, long puts are deemed to be short exposure. (4) Includes all issuer equity, debt, and derivatives related to issuer equity and debt, and associated currency hedges. Cash, cash equivalents, direct or indirect currency or other hedges and income/expense items are excluded. The market values of associated currency hedges are included as part of the associated investment. In the event that there is a change in market cap category with respect to any non-publicly disclosed position, this information is not updated until such position is publicly disclosed. (5) Portfolio composition is reflective of the publicly disclosed portfolio positions as of the date of this report. A position in an issuer is only assigned to a sector once it has been publicly disclosed. (6) "Pershing Square Holdings, Ltd. AUM" equals the assets under management of Pershing Square Holdings, Ltd.. Any performance fees crystallized as of the end of the year will be reflected in the following period's AUM. (7) "Total Strategy AUM" equals the aggregate assets under management of Pershing Square, L.P., Pershing Square International, Ltd., Pershing Square II, L.P. and Pershing Square Holdings, Ltd.. Redemptions effective as of the end of any period (including redemptions attributable to crystallized performance fees/allocations, if any) will be reflected in the following period's AUM Lebanon's parliament has overwhelmingly approved a national unity Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Saad Hariri with a vote of confidence. A new 30-member national unity Cabinet comprised of most of the country's political groups was announced in December, nearly two months after a president was elected. Hariri vowed that his top priority would be to protect the country from the effects of the civil war in neighboring Syria. In a statement, U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Elizabeth Richard welcomed the formation of a new government in Lebanon. I want to personally congratulate Prime Minister Hariri and commend him on forming a government, Ambassador Richard said. We look forward to working with him and his government. The Lebanese people are facing many challenges, and they now have a government that can get to work to address these issues. The United States reiterates its commitment to the Lebanese people and institutions, as well as its support for building a secure, stable, and prosperous future. Lebanon will not be alone in dealing with the challenges ahead." The United States also pays tribute to the steadfast leadership of Prime Minister Tammam Salam throughout this difficult period of political impasse, said Ambassador Richard. We appreciated his commitment to strong American-Lebanese relations and look forward to his continued counsel in the years to come. The United States is proud to work with its partner Lebanon for the peace and security of the people of Lebanon and the Middle East region. WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - J. C. Penney Company, Inc. (JCP) announced that it has completed the sale of its Home Office building and surrounding 45 acres of land in Plano, Texas to Dreien Opportunity Partners, LLC, general partner of Silos Opportunity Partners, LP, for a gross sale price of $353 million before closing and transaction costs. The Company previously announced that upon the transfer of ownership, JCPenney would lease back approximately 65 percent of the building, leaving the remaining square footage available for new tenants. The company noted that the building lease expense would be offset by a reduction in maintenance costs, property taxes and interest expense as a result of paying down debt with proceeds from the transaction. 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. DEARBORN (dpa-AFX) - Ford Motor Co (F) said it is canceling plans for a new $1.6 billion plant in San Luis Potosi, Mexico, and investing $700 million in the Flat Rock, Michigan, plant's expansion. Ford will build its next-generation Focus at an existing plant in Hermosillo, Mexico, to improve company profitability. Ford today detailed seven of the 13 new global electrified vehicles it plans to introduce in the next five years, including hybrid versions of the iconic F-150 pickup and Mustang in the U.S., a plug-in hybrid Transit Custom van in Europe and a fully electric SUV with an expected range of at least 300 miles for customers globally. Ford is adding 700 direct new U.S. jobs and investing $700 million during the next four years, creating the new Manufacturing Innovation Center at its Flat Rock Assembly Plant. Employees there will build the all-new small utility vehicle with extended battery range as well as the fully autonomous vehicle for ride-hailing or ride-sharing - along with the iconic Mustang and Lincoln Continental. This incremental investment in Flat Rock Assembly Plant comes from $1.6 billion the company previously had planned to invest in a new plant in Mexico. Ford announced it is cancelling plans for the new plant in San Luis Potosi, Mexico. It also announced that, to improve company profitability and ensure the financial as well as commercial success of this vehicle, the next-generation Focus will be built at an existing plant in Hermosillo, Mexico. This will make way for two new iconic products at Michigan Assembly Plant in Wayne, Michigan, where Focus is manufactured today - safeguarding approximately 3,500 U.S. jobs. The moves are part of a $4.5 billion investment in electrified vehicles by 2020, offering customers greater fuel efficiency, capability and power across Ford's global vehicle lineup. The plans are part of the company's expansion to be an auto and a mobility company, including leading in electrified and autonomous vehicles and providing new mobility solutions. In addition, in New York and several major U.S. cities, Ford is testing a fleet of 20 Transit Connect hybrid taxi and van prototypes in some of the world's most demanding traffic conditions. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Kostenloser Wertpapierhandel auf Smartbroker.de WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - With more U.S. states legalizing the use of cannabis, the number of jobs in the marijuana industry could double or triple in the coming years, Motley Fool has reported, citing analysts. Currently, twenty-eight states in the U.S. have legalized marijuana for medicinal use, while eight states have legalized marijuana for recreational purpose. More states are planning to take the marijuana legalization directly to voters through ballots, given the pressure mounted by citizen initiatives. Public opinion towards marijuana has changed significantly, with support for its legalization at a new all-time high of 60 percent in 2016, according to national pollster Gallup. States that have legalized marijuana are already reaping the benefits. Colorado, the first U.S. state to legalize cannabis for adult-use, has already recorded legal marijuana sales of more than $1 billion in the first ten months of 2016. The cannabis industry is now seen as an engine of growth for the economy and a job creator. The legal marijuana market in the U.S. is estimated to grow to $7.1 billion in 2016, which represents 26 percent growth over 2015, according to a report by New Frontier and ArcView Market Research. Citing analysts, Motley Fool reported that the marijuana job market could double or triple in the coming years, implying that up to 150,000 to 300,000 additional cannabis-related jobs could be added. As the pot industry expands beyond just growing the herb, more job opportunities are being created in the security, delivery, regulation and marketing fields, among others. Nevertheless, there are major challenges for the fledgling industry. Marijuana continues to be an illegal substance at the federal level. Marijuana-related business often have trouble access to banking services, even in states where it is legalized, as banks fear punishment by the federal government for doing business with the pot industry. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Kostenloser Wertpapierhandel auf Smartbroker.de HARRISON (dpa-AFX) - The U.K.'s Competition and Markets Authority or CMA said it has found that Mastercard Inc.'s (MA) acquisition of VocaLink gives rise to competition concerns. In relation to LINK ATM, the CMA found that VocaLink and Mastercard are 2 of the 3 most credible providers of infrastructure services to the LINK ATM network operating across the UK. As such, the merger would reduce the number of bidders and limit the ability of the LINK scheme to obtain good value when tendering for an infrastructure provider. Mastercard UK Holdco Ltd, a subsidiary of Mastercard International Incorporated, is buying VocaLink Holdings Ltd It already owns and operates credit and debit card schemes Mastercard, Maestro and Cirrus, and has also bid to supply infrastructure services to UK interbank payment systems. VocaLink is a supplier of payment infrastructure services to 3 major UK interbank payment systems: Bacs, the automated clearing system allowing credit and debit payments between bank accounts; the Faster Payments Service (FPS), which enables near 'real-time' payments between bank accounts within the UK; and the LINK ATM network. The CMA said it has not found concerns in the provision of payment infrastructure services to Bacs or FPS since there are many credible alternatives to VocaLink and Mastercard. The CMA noted that the companies can avoid the merger being referred for an in-depth investigation if they can offer a remedy to address the competition concerns identified. They have until 11 January 2017 to do so. In July 2016, MasterCard announced a definitive agreement to acquire 92.4 percent of VocaLink Holdings Limited for approximately $920 million, after adjusting for cash and certain other estimated liabilities. 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. YOQNEAM, Israel, Jan. 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --Neuronix Ltd. announced positive results from its pivotal double-blind, placebo-controlled, multi-center clinical study for the assessment of the safety and efficacy of the neuroAD Therapy System in the treatment of mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease (the "Study"). The results of the Study (the "Results") were presented on December 9, 2016, by Dr. Marwan Noel Sabbagh, M.D., FAAN (Barrow Neurological Institute, Phoenix, AZ), during the late-breaking session of the Clinical Trials in Alzheimer's Disease (CTAD) International Conference. Photo - http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/452639/Neuronix_neuroAD.jpg The Study enrolled 131 patients at nine medical centers in the United States and one in Israel. The Study evaluated the safety and efficacy of the neuroAD Therapy System in comparison to placebo, following six weeks of treatment and additional six weeks of follow-up, using the cognitive and behavioral standard scales for the evaluation of patients with Alzheimer's disease - ADAS-Cog and CGI-C, respectively. Statistical analysis was designed prospectively to evaluate the change in ADAS-Cog and CGI-C measures post treatment compared to baseline. Furthermore, the statistical plan also included an evaluation of the interaction between patients' disease stage and the response to the treatment, as well as broad covariate analysis. The Study recruited patients with mild-moderate Alzheimer's disease, either medicated (on stable dose) or non-medicated. The Study Results confirm and extend the results of former studies conducted across the world with the neuroAD Therapy System. Positive efficacy results were reported for patients with milder disease as determined by the Baseline ADAS-Cog. In that group of patients, which represented 85% of the enrolled population, a positive and statistically significant difference of -1.8 points in ADAS-Cog was noted between treatment group and placebo group, at the 12 week follow-up. In the entire Study cohort, including those with more severe disease at baseline based on the ADAS-Cog, results did not reach statistical significance. The CGI-C results in the overall population at week 12 showed a trend toward improvement, with a difference between treatment and placebo groups of -0.4 points. When analyzing the group of milder patients, as defined above, the difference between treatment and placebo groups reached -0.45. Furthermore, when measured on the CGI-C scale, only 16% of treated patients deteriorated, compared with 42% of patients in the sham group. In addition, results showed a favorable safety profile, with no patients experiencing seizures or other persistent, serious adverse events. Patients also showed a high degree of adherence to the treatment, with few discontinuations and a high rate of treatment completion. The Results, together with previous studies' similar outcomes, were used to support a United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) de-novo application filed by Neuronix in November 2016, seeking regulatory clearance to market the neuroAD Therapy System for treatment of Alzheimer's disease. This submission follows earlier communications with the FDA, as a result of which the neuroAD Therapy System was accepted for review under the Expedited Access Pathway (EAP) program, which is reserved exclusively for medical devices that present novel and breakthrough technologies, and target an unmet medical need which is life threatening or irreversibly debilitating. Alzheimer's disease is considered to be one of the greatest unmet medical needs in the world today, with only a few available drugs offering partial clinical benefit, frequently limited by side effects. The neuroAD Therapy System is a patent-protected, non-invasive medical device, uniquely combining transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) with cognitive training, to concurrently target brain regions affected by Alzheimer's disease. The neuroAD Therapy System can be used in conjunction with other treatments, such as drug therapies. "We are proud to present the data coming from our successful pivotal, multi-center Study, which was carried out in some of the most experienced Alzheimer's research centers in the United States," said Eyal Baror, CEO of Neuronix. "I wish to acknowledge all the people who took part in the Study, and in particular - to personally thank the patients and families who volunteered to participate in the Study. It is to them that we dedicate these great results, and for their fellow patients and families, in the U.S. and around the world, that we are doing our utmost to have the neuroAD System approved." "Alzheimer's disease is one of the greatest challenges in the world of medicine today, and as disease modifying agents are still evading us, we must bringsymptomatic therapies for our patients, which can alleviate some of the disease symptoms," said Dr. Marwan Sabbagh. "The Study shows that treatment with the neuroAD Therapy System shows very mild and transient side effects, and can be administered without interruption to on-going pharmacological interventions. It was clearly demonstrated that neuroAD has the potential to improve the patients' cognitive capabilities, as well as increase their day-to-day level of activities, especially for a clinically well-defined sub-group at the milder stages. Once it is hopefully cleared by the FDA, neuroAD will become a powerful tool in the battle against Alzheimer's disease - a battle currently fought with too few resources." About Neuronix Ltd. and the neuroAD' Therapy System: Neuronix Ltd. Is a privately-held company, with headquarters in Yoqneam, Israel, and with subsidiaries in USA and UK. Neuronix develops, manufactures and markets novel breakthrough medical-device technologies for treatment of Alzheimer's disease. Alzheimer's disease is considered one of the greatest unmet medical needs in the world today, with only a few available drugs offering partial clinical benefit, frequently limited by side effects. It affects more than 5M people in the United States, and estimated over 30M across the world. The neuroAD Therapy System is a patent-protected, non-invasive medical device, uniquely combining transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) with cognitive training, to concurrently target brain regions affected by Alzheimer's disease. This dual-stimulation is designed to improve cognitive performance of patients, following an intervention protocol, which lasts for six weeks, five days per week, with one hour-long session per day. The neuroAD' Therapy System is approved for use in Europe (CE Marked 0482), as well as in other territories. It is commercially available in leading Alzheimer's centers in Europe and Asia. In the United States, the neuroAD' Therapy System is an experimental device and is not available for sale. BSD Crown Ltd. (LSE: BSD) (the "Company") Company Update Ramat Gan, Israel, 4 January 2017 Parent Company Announcement - Share Pledge The Company has received information to suggest that Israel 18 BV ("Israel 18") has granted security over certain Company shares it beneficially owns (5.54% of the total issued and outstanding share capital of the Company (excluding dormant shares)) (the "Pledge") in favour of Meinl Bank in Austria (the "Bank"), as security for the provision of certain loans provided to Israel 18 (the "Loan"). The Loan and the Pledge were made previous to the date on which Mr. Gregory Gurtovoy became the controlling shareholder in Israel 18. On 3 January 2017 the Company received information to suggest that the Bank wished to exercise the Pledge and register itself as the owner of the shares over which the Pledge was taken. The Bank has claimed that the Loan is in default however no supporting documents have been presented to the Company. Subsequently to receipt of the above information, the Bank has clarified its position that it is not currently acting to enforce its security interest over such shares but rather considering the process for doing so. Based on the information provided to the Company, Israel 18 beneficially owns Company shares representing approximately 19.01% of the total issued and outstanding share capital of the Company (excluding dormant shares). BGI Investments (1961) Ltd. ("BGI") beneficially owns Company shares representing approximately 24.65% of the total issued and outstanding share capital of the Company (excluding dormant shares) and controls in aggregate, directly and through proxies from Israel 18, approximately 43.65% of the voting rights in the Company (excluding dormant shares). The Company is seeking clarifications from Israel 18 BV and from the Bank and will provide further updates in due course. Enquiries: Gregory Gurtovoy, Chairman of the Board: office@bsd-c.com 4 January 2017 Dissemination of a Regulatory Announcement that contains inside information according to REGULATION (EU) No 596/2014 (MAR) WALCOM GROUP LIMITED ("Walcom" or "the Company") Resignation of Director Walcom announces that Professor Hong Xun Yang, Chief Technical Officer and Chief Operating Officer of the Company in the Peoples Republic of China (the "PRC") and a director of the Company, has today tendered his resignation from the Board, effective 6 February 2017, when he will be 60 years of age and reaches the official retirement age in the PRC. The Company will be appointing MrPaitoon Buddhinunta-opas, currently general manager of Walcom Thailand, to assme Professor Yang's duties within Walcom. However, Mr Paitoon will not be joining the board of Walcom and it is not intended to appoint an additional director to the board of the Company at the current time. The board of the Company thanks Professor Yang for his service to the Company since he joined in 2007 and wishes him well for his retirement. Further enquiries: VIENNA (dpa-AFX) - U.K. shares were marginally lower on Wednesday as retailers Next and B&M European Value Retail came out with their festive trading updates. While clothing retailer Next posted weaker-than-expected sales and cautioned about the outlook, discount retailer B&M European Value Retail delivered its 'best-ever' Christmas trading, logging 7.2 percent growth in U.K. like-for-like sales in its third quarter. The benchmark FTSE 100 was down 4 points or 0.06 percent at 7,173 in late opening deals after rising half a percent in the previous session. The pound was little changed against its major rivals after the release of U.K. mortgage approvals data for November and CIPS/Markit construction PMI figures for December. Next shares slumped more than 8 percent. The retailer cut its profit guidance for the current financial year after reporting a drop in sales over the key Christmas period. Shares of Associated British Foods tumbled 3.5 percent and Marks and Spencer Group fell over 4 percent while B&M European Value Retail soared 7 percent. Scottish Investment Trust rose about 1 percent after hiking special dividend. Carnival shares edged up marginally after the cruise company unveiled the Ocean Medallion, a first-of-its-kind wearable device. 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. OSLO, Norway, Jan 04, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Kvantel AS, a 100% owned subsidiary of NextGenTel Holding ASA, and Nordic Choice Hotels (NCH) have signed a letter of intent to enter a partnership agreement for the delivery of a solution for unified communication that includes a new voice platform, mobile and fixed voice for deliveries to NCH headquarters and hotels in Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark. The final agreement will have a 3 year term with an option for NCH to extend the agreement with additional 1+1 year. The parties aim to finalize the agreement within 31 January 2017. Under this agreement, Kvantel will use Telia in the Nordic region as a partner for the delivery of mobile services. "As the largest mobile operator in the Nordics, this agreement is important for Telia to further grow with partners like Kvantel to be able to digitalize the future," says Vice President Kristian Renaas, Telia Norge AS. "Kvantel is very proud and pleased with the trust that NCH has given Kvantel to deliver these solutions for unified communication in the Nordic countries," says Ole Jacob Moldestad, CEO in Kvantel. According to Eirik Lunde, CEO in NextGenTel Group; "This agreement strengthens the NextGenTel strategy to further grow within the partner business market." CONTACT: This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com http://news.cision.com/nextgentel-holding-asa/r/kvantel-signed-letter-of-intent-with-nordic-choice-hotels,c2160301 SAN JOSE, California, January 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- CloudByte Names Evan Powell, Former CEO of StackStorm, Nexenta and Clarus Systems, as its Chairman CloudByte Inc., a leading software-defined storage company, today announced the appointment of Evan Powell as its new Chairman. Evan is a well known serial entrepreneur and builder of open source communities with successes at Clarus Systems, Nexenta and recently StackStorm. (Photo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/453665/PRNE_EvanPowell_CloudByte.jpg ) Since its inception in 2011, CloudByte has successfully delivered storage solutions to service providers and enterprises deploying private clouds. CloudByte's flagship product ElastiStor's unique capabilities include per volume QoS management, enabling it to eliminate the noisy neighbor problem. A free 25TB edition of the ElastiStor virtual storage appliance is available at http://www.cloudbyte.com; all flash hardware solutions are also available as are other solutions from partners including Q5 and Wipro. CloudByte recently released an early version of OpenEBS, an Apache Licensed 100% open source storage project addressing the needs of today's DevOps environments with native container integration and other capabilities. The OpenEBS project leverages some of the technology developed by CloudByte including the ability to control QoS from and for containerized storage controllers. Evan said, "The next wave of storage disruption is upon us and over the months and years to come you'll see CloudByte and the OpenEBS project delivering a new combination of technology, business model, and community to improve the lives of DevOps architects and operators. I'm already enjoying working with the CloudByte team and the growing OpenEBS community." "We are excited to have Evan join us as Chairman," said Uma Mukkara, Co-founder and CEO of CloudByte. "Storage requirements have changed with containers reaching mainstream. I am looking forward to working with Evan in building CloudByte and specifically in growing the OpenEBS community." About OpenEBS (http://www.openebs.io) OpenEBS (@openebs) is a new containerized storage platform for container-based environments. It addresses the challenge of large scale storage management faced by many container users and provides ease of use in part through its close integration with Kubernetes, Docker and other orchestration projects. About CloudByte (http://www.cloudbyte.com) CloudByte is the provider of Software-defined storage software and appliances. CloudByte's patented technology has been helping large storage deployments to realize significant cost savings. Established in 2011, CloudByte has development offices in India and Switzerland and customers world-wide. About Evan Powell Evan has been the founding CEO of three enterprise infrastructure software companies, Clarus Systems (RVBD), Nexenta Systems, and most recently StackStorm (BRCD). As founding CEO of Nexenta Systems, he helped to reimagine the storage industry as one in which the value of software and freedom from vendor lock-in would predominate. Under his leadership, Nexenta became the leader of the OpenStorage movement and the software-defined storage sector, with thousands of customers and hundreds of millions of dollars of annual partner sales. As founding CEO of StackStorm, Evan helped to create the event driven automation category, building a vibrant open source community leveraging and improving upon approaches used by the largest operators such as Facebook. Prominent StackStorm users include Netflix, Cisco, and Dimension Data. Brocade purchased StackStorm in early 2016. Currently Evan serves as an advisor and investor in a number of start-ups, including the emerging leader of intelligent object storage, Cloudian (http://www.cloudian.com), as well as Keewi, TextIQ, Journey Software and others. CloudByte Media Contact: Niti Suryawanshi niti.suryawanshi@cloudbyte.com 4300 Stevens Creek Boulevard Suite 270 San Jose, CA 95129 The United States of America and the Republic of Korea recently held the inaugural meeting of the Extended Deterrence Strategy and Consultation Group in Washington. 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 defense, to provide extended deterrence for South Korea, and 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 emphasized that it remains steadfast in meeting these enduring commitments and providing immediate support to South Korea. 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 defense of South Korea, as well as to enhance such measures and identify new or additional steps to strengthen deterrence. The officials also highlighted that the United States in 2016 demonstrated its commitment and resolve to South Korea by exercising extended deterrence through measures to enhance missile defense capabilities and through clear demonstrations of the U.S. nuclear triad. Emphasizing the importance of the Extended Deterrence Strategy and Consultation Group as a high-level consultative mechanism, the two sides expressed their intent to continue Alliance discussions through the group on how to best tailor our response to this evolving threat of North Korea. PUNE, India, January 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- According to a new market research report"Hadoop Big Data Analytics Marketby Component (Solution, Service), Application (Risk & Fraud Analytics, IoT, Merchandizing & SCM, Customer Analytics, Offloading Mainframe, Security Intelligence), Vertical, and Region - Global Forecast to 2021", published by MarketsandMarkets, the market projected to grow from USD 6.71 Billion in 2016 to USD 40.69 Billion by 2021, at a CAGR of 43.4% between 2016 and 2021. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160303/792302 ) Browse 69 market data Tables and 42 Figures spread through150 Pages and in-depth TOC on"Hadoop Big Data Analytics Market" http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/hadoop-market-766.html Early buyers will receive 10% customization on this report. The market is primarily driven by increasing demand for deployment of Hadoop big data analytics solutions for analyzing exponentially growing structured and unstructured data to obtain actionable insights from it. Moreover, the increased need for conversion of information gathered by big data and Internet of Things (IoT) for decision-making by organizations has fueled the demand for Hadoop big data analytics solutions, thereby leading towards the growth of the Hadoop Big Data Analytics Market during the forecast period. Among components, the solution segment is projected to lead theHadoop Big Data Analytics Marketduring the forecast period. Based on component, the Hadoop Big Data Analytics Market has been segmented into solution and service. The solution segment is projected to lead the Hadoop Big Data Analytics Market between 2016 and 2021. Increasing demand for cost-effective and highly scalable solutions provided by Hadoop to handle extremely large data sets on distributed computing environment is fueling the growth of the solution segment of the Hadoop Big Data Analytics Market. The performance monitoring software solution sub segment of the component segment of the Hadoop Big Data Analytics Market is projected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period due to increasing demand for data management on distributed computing platforms. The security intelligence application segment of the Hadoop Big Data Analytics Market is projected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period, 2016 to 2021. The security intelligence application segment of the Hadoop Big Data Analytics Market is projected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period due to growing need for enhanced visibility and protection of data through advanced analytics. Based on vertical, the BFSI segment is projected to lead theHadoop Big Data Analytics Marketduring the forecast period. Based on vertical, the BFSI segment is projected to lead the Hadoop Big Data Analytics Market during the forecast period due to early adoption of Hadoop big data analytics solutions and services by varied organizations to acquire improved understanding of the requirements of their customers and update their services and solutions accordingly to cater these requirements. Make an Enquiry @ http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Enquiry_Before_Buying.asp?id=766 The North American region is projected to lead the Hadoop Big Data Analytics Market during the forecast period. The Hadoop Big Data Analytics Market has been studied for North America, Asia-Pacific (APAC), Europe, the Middle East & Africa (MEA), and Latin America. The North American region is projected to lead the Hadoop Big Data Analytics Market between 2016 and 2021. In the North American region, amount of data generated by various organizations is increasing tremendously on daily basis. This growth of data has led to increased adoption of Hadoop big data analytics solutions in the BFSI and retail & consumer goods verticals of the North American region, thereby fueling the growth of the Hadoop Big Data Analytics Market in the region. Microsoft Corporation (U.S.), Amazon Web Services (U.S.), IBM Corporation (U.S.), Teradata Corporation (U.S.), Tableau Software, Inc. (U.S.), Cloudera Inc. (U.S.), Pentaho Corporation (USA), Marklogic Corporation (U.S.), SAP SE (Germany), and Pivotal Software, Inc. (U.S.) among others are the key players operating in the Hadoop Big Data Analytics Market. Browse Related Reports: Big Data Market by Component (Software and Services), Type (Structured, Semi-Structured and Unstructured), Deployment Model, Vertical, and Region (North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America & Middle East and Africa) - Global Forecast to 2021 http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/big-data-market-1068.html Big Data-As-A-Service Market by Type of Solutions (Hadoop-As-A-Service, Data-As-A-Service, Data Analytics-As-A-Service), by Deployment Model, by Organization Size, by Vertical, and by Region - Global Forecast to 2020 http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/big-data-as-a-service-market-4129107.html Know More About our Knowledge Store @ http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Knowledgestore.asp About MarketsandMarkets MarketsandMarkets is the largest market research firm worldwide in terms of annually published premium market research reports. Serving 1700 global fortune enterprises with more than 1200 premium studies in a year, M&M is catering to a multitude of clients across 8 different industrial verticals. We specialize in consulting assignments and business research across high growth markets, cutting edge technologies and newer applications. Our 850 fulltime analyst and SMEs at MarketsandMarkets are tracking global high growth markets following the "Growth Engagement Model - GEM". The GEM aims at proactive collaboration with the clients to identify new opportunities, identify most important customers, write "Attack, avoid and defend" strategies, identify sources of incremental revenues for both the company and its competitors. M&M's flagship competitive intelligence and market research platform, "RT" connects over 200,000 markets and entire value chains for deeper understanding of the unmet insights along with market sizing and forecasts of niche markets. The new included chapters on Methodology and Benchmarking presented with high quality analytical infographics in our reports gives complete visibility of how the numbers have been arrived and defend the accuracy of the numbers. We at MarketsandMarkets are inspired to help our clients grow by providing apt business insight with our huge market intelligence repository. Contact: Mr. Rohan MarketsandMarkets 701 Pike Street Suite 2175, Seattle, WA 98101, United States Tel: 1-888-600-6441 Email: sales@marketsandmarkets.com Visit MarketsandMarkets Blog @ http://www.marketsandmarketsblog.com/market-reports/telecom-it Connect with us on LinkedIn @ http://www.linkedin.com/company/marketsandmarkets WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - NASA plans to launch a $188 million science mission in 2020 to study black holes and cosmic X-ray mysteries. In a statement, the space agency said the mission would allow astronomers to explore, for the first time, the hidden details of some of the most extreme and exotic astronomical objects, such as stellar and supermassive black holes, neutron stars and pulsars. The expected cost of the mission includes the cost of the launch vehicle and post-launch operations and data analysis. Principal Investigator Martin Weisskopf of NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, will lead the mission. Ball Aerospace in Broomfield, Colorado, will provide the spacecraft and mission integration. Further, the Italian Space Agency will contribute the polarization sensitive X-ray detectors, which were developed in Italy. According to NASA, objects such as black holes can heat surrounding gases to more than a million degrees. The high-energy X-ray radiation from this gas can be polarized, vibrating in a particular direction. The agency plans Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer or IXPE mission that will fly three space telescopes with cameras capable of measuring the polarization of these cosmic X-rays. This will allow scientists to answer fundamental questions about these turbulent and extreme environments where gravitational, electric and magnetic fields are at their limits. Paul Hertz, astrophysics division director for the Science Mission Directorate, said, 'We cannot directly image what's going on near objects like black holes and neutron stars, but studying the polarization of X-rays emitted from their surrounding environments reveals the physics of these enigmatic objects.' It was in 2014 that NASA's Astrophysics Explorers Program requested proposals for new missions. Three mission concepts, in the total fourteen submitted proposals, were selected for additional review by a panel of agency and external scientists. NASA noted that the IXPE proposal provided the best science potential and most feasible development plan. NASA's Explorers Program has launched more than 90 missions, including Explorer 1 in 1958, which discovered the Van Allen radiation belts around the Earth. The Cosmic Background Explorer mission led to a Nobel Prize. NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, manages the Explorers Program for the agency's Science Mission Directorate. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Kostenloser Wertpapierhandel auf Smartbroker.de SUGAR LAND, TX -- (Marketwired) -- 01/04/17 -- Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas) -- Last year proved to be a busy one, with expansion efforts and planned maintenance, which jumpstarted the onslaught of new capacity expected to come online in 2017. Currently, there are five new ethylene unit projects, as well as a plant restart and a unit expansion, that are expected to complete construction and start up by the end of 2017. For details, view the entire article by subscribing to Industrial Info's Premium Industry News, or browse other breaking industrial news stories at www.industrialinfo.com. Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, five offices in North America and 10 international offices, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities. To contact an office in your area, visit the www.industrialinfo.com "Contact Us" page. Contact: Brian Ford (713) 980-9393 LONDON, January 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- LSBF students in Singapore to receive UK Bachelor's degree thanks to a partnership with The London Institute of Banking & Finance London School of Business and Finance (LSBF) in Singapore is proud to announce the launch of a new Bachelor's degree in Banking Practice and Management, which will provide students with globally-recognised British degree. The 3-year programme will be awarded by The London Institute of Banking & Finance, and will cover the essential elements of the financial services industry and the external environment in which it operates. London to Singapore and back The Bachelor of Science (Honours) Banking Practice and Management will be delivered by LSBF in its Singapore campus, starting from January 2017. The partnership between LSBF and The London Institute of Banking & Finance gives students in Asia the opportunity to study close to home, while enriching their curriculum with a global qualification awarded by a British higher education institution. "As a global institution with years of international experience, we want to help students make the most out of their academic choice. While studying abroad gives many people the possibility to enhance their career opportunities, at times they might be discouraged if the qualification they achieve doesn't hold any relevance in another country," said Rathakrishnan Govind, Managing Director of LSBF in Singapore. "By partnering with The London Institute of Banking & Finance we will be able to deliver in Singapore a bachelor's programme that ticks all the boxes when it comes to preparing to enter the global financial services industry." Alex Fraser, CEO, The London Institute of Banking & Finance said: "it is our goal to support the career development of banking and finance professionals both at home and abroad and as such we are delighted to be working with LSBF to promote our degree in Singapore. By combining our joint expertise, we can develop the skills and knowledge of the city's professionals, to ultimately support growth in one of the world's leading financial centres." A partnership for the students "We are delighted to have two of the best institutions from the UK bringing The London Institute of Banking & Finance degree programme into Singapore, thereby adding further interest in supporting the educational hub. This partnership is a great starting point to explore future regional expansion together," commented Michael Chow, President of The London Institute of Banking & Finance (Alumni Singapore) and Board Director of UK Council of Association of International Accountants. Alongside their undergraduate degrees, graduates will also earn the Chartered Associate status with The London Institute of Banking & Finance, an internationally-recognised professional qualification in the banking and finance industries. The collaboration will allow LSBF Singapore to further expand its portfolio of programme. "We have been waiting to start an undergraduate programme for the past three years," said Rathakrishnan Govind. "This will be our first, and we believe that it will be very successful with our students." Flexible studying and specialised knowledge The BSc Banking Practice and Management degree is designed to cater for a variety of different requirements including those starting out in a management career in financial services, particularly in retail and commercial banking. Providing essential core knowledge of the industry, the programme enables students to apply specialised, up-to-date knowledge within specific areas of the banking sector, utilising a work based learning approach where relevant. The undergraduate programme will be delivered through a wide range of activities and teaching methods, which will be accessible to both part-time and full-time students over four intakes every year. - ends - About London School of Business and Finance Singapore With two campuses in the heart of the city, LSBF in Singapore welcomes students from all over the world offering many programmes targeted for the Asian market. Having taught students from more than 20 countries since its establishment in 2011, LSBF in Singapore prides itself on its relatively short but already very successful history. The school is a Singapore QP Accredited Learning Organisation, and holds the Platinum Approved Learning Partner Status by the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA). Over the past five years, LSBF in Singapore has helped a total of 138 students to become ACCA Prize Winners, an award only given to the best performing ACCA candidates. In 2016, LSBF was awarded the Asia Enterprise Award, the School Green Lotus Award and the Spirit of Enterprise Award respectively, and received three prizes at this year's Training & Education Development Awards, establishing itself as one of Singapore's best providers of private sector education. About The London Institute of Banking & Finance Formerly known as ifs University College, The London Institute of Banking & Finance advances banking and finance by providing outstanding education and thinking, tailored to the needs of business, individuals, and society. Its focus is on lifelong learning; equipping individuals with the knowledge, skills and qualifications to achieve what they want throughout their career and life. It provides a balance of experience, insight and thought leadership into today's financial world, delivered by industry leaders, thinkers and members of our community. TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 01/04/17 -- Khan Resources Inc. (CSE: KRI)(CSE: KRI.CN) ("Khan" or "the Company") announced today that it has filed its financial statements and management's discussion and analysis for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2016 on SEDAR and has posted these documents to its website www.khanresources.com. Highlights for the year include: Return of Capital - On November 10, 2016, the shareholders approved a distribution of $0.85 per share by way of a return of capital that was paid on November 29, 2016 to shareholders of record at November 22, 2016. Liquidation of the Company - In conjunction with the approval of the $0.85 per share return of capital, the shareholders also approved a special resolution for the voluntary liquidation and dissolution of Khan. Pursuant to such liquidation, the winding up of Khan's remaining subsidiary, and the satisfaction of all liabilities including expenses of the winding up, a further distribution of cash will be made in one or more installments. Khan anticipates that any further distributions of cash as part of the winding up would aggregate between $0.01 and $0.08 per share Notwithstanding shareholder approval of the special resolution, at any time until appointment of the liquidator, the board of directors will retain the discretion to discontinue the winding up if it determines that continuing with the winding up is no longer in the best interests of the Company or its shareholders. Sale of Subsidiaries - On August 17, 2016, Khan Resources Bermuda Ltd. was sold to an independent third party. The sale included three other Khan subsidiaries, namely CAUC Holding Company Ltd. CAUC LLC and Khan Resources LLC. Prior to the sale, the Company's corporate structure had been simplified and fiscal year-ends for the Khan group of companies had been better aligned. Having consulted with its various professional advisors, the Company had concluded that the above reorganization and the sale of Khan Bermuda and its subsidiaries would accelerate and maximize the shareholder cash distribution by simplifying the corporate structure and avoiding the need to wind-up and repatriate cash from these foreign subsidiaries in multiple jurisdictions and reducing or eliminating any risks to Khan associated with such subsidiaries. International Arbitration Settlement - On May 18, 2016, the Company announced that it had received $70 million (U.S.) from the Government of Mongolia in settlement of all outstanding matters pursuant to the international arbitration award received by the Company on March 2, 2015. The following table summarizes financial results of the Company for the years ended September 30, 2016 and 2015. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sep. 30 2016 (Liquidation Sep. 30 basis) 2015 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cash and cash equivalents 84,814 1,571 Other current assets 156 121 Investment in Plateau Uranium 264 317 Current Income Tax Asset 570 - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Total assets 85,804 2,009 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Liquidation provision 1,450 - Accounts payable and accrued liabilities 142 267 Current income tax liability 1,125 - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Total liabilities 2,717 267 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Net assets 83,087 1,742 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Net assets per share (in Canadian cents) - basic 0.98 0.02 - diluted 0.97 0.02 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Weighted average number of shares outstanding - Basic 84,938,440 79,550,770 Weighted average number of shares outstanding - Diluted 85,400,610 79,550,770 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Khan has no operations other than managing its net assets in liquidation and related activities. At January 3, 2017, all share options have been exercised and 90,166,482 common shares were outstanding. The following table provides selected annual information for Khan for the years 2016, 2015 and 2014. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sep. 30 2016 (Liquidation Sep. 30 Sep. 30 basis) 2015 2014 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Revenue 90,669 4 7 Net income (loss) 79,623 (2,666) (2,429) Total assets 85,804 2,009 1,406 Total non-current liabilities - - - Earning (loss) per share - basic 0.94 (0.03) (0.03) - diluted 0.93 (0.03) (0.03) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Forward-Looking Statements and Information This press release may contain forward-looking statements and forward-looking information, which are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Forward-looking statements and information are characterized by words such as "will", "plan", "expect", "project", "intend", "believe", "anticipate", "forecast", "schedule", "estimate" and similar expressions, or statements that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur. Forward-looking statements and information are not historical facts and are based upon a number of estimates and assumptions and are inherently subject to significant business, social, economic, political, regulatory, competitive and other risks and uncertainties, contingencies and other factors, including the impact of international and Canadian laws, trade agreements and regulatory requirements on Khan's business, operations and capital structure, regulatory uncertainty and obtaining governmental and regulatory approvals, legislative, political, social, regulatory and economic developments or changes in jurisdictions in which Khan carries on business, changes in market conditions, changes or disruptions in the securities markets and market fluctuations in prices for Khan securities, the existence of third parties interested in purchasing some or all of the common shares or Khan's assets, the method of funding and availability of any potential alternative strategic transactions involving Khan or its assets, including those transactions that may produce strategic value to shareholders. In addition, a number of other factors could cause actual results to differ materially from the results discussed in such statements and information, and there is no assurance that actual results will be consistent with them. For further details, reference is made to the risk factors discussed or referred to in Khan's annual and interim management's discussion and analyses and Annual Information Form on file with the Canadian securities regulatory authorities and available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Such forward-looking statements and information are made or given as at the date of this news release, and Khan assumes no obligation to update or revise them, either publicly or otherwise, to reflect new events, information or circumstances, except as may be required under applicable securities law. Contacts: Investor Relations Contacts: Khan Resources Inc. Grant Edey President & CEO Office: 416.360.3405 gedey@rogers.com Khan Resources Inc. Bruce Gooding Chief Financial Officer Office: 416.360.3405 bgooding@khanresources.com TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 01/04/17 -- Detour Gold Corporation (TSX: DGC) ("Detour Gold" or the "Company") has been notified of an unsolicited mini-tender offer made by TRC Capital Corporation ("TRC Capital") to purchase up to 5,000,000 Detour Gold common shares, or approximately 2.86 percent of the Company's outstanding common shares, at a price of Cdn$15.25 per share. Detour Gold does not endorse this unsolicited mini-tender offer and recommends that shareholders do not tender their shares in response to the offer. Shareholders are cautioned that the mini-tender offer has been made at a price below market, representing a discount of 4.69 percent to the closing price of Detour Gold's common shares on December 23, 2016, the last trading day before the mini-tender offer was commenced. The Company does not endorse TRC Capital's unsolicited mini-tender offer and is not associated with TRC Capital, the mini-tender offer, or the mini-tender offer documentation. TRC Capital has made similar unsolicited mini-tender offers for shares of other public companies. Mini-tender offers are designed to seek less than five percent of a company's outstanding shares, thereby avoiding many disclosure and procedural requirements applicable to most bids under Canadian securities legislation. The Canadian Securities Administrators ("CSA") have expressed serious concerns about mini-tender offers such as the possibility that investors might tender to a mini-tender offer based upon a misunderstanding of the terms of the offer, including the per securities price available under the offer relative to the market price of such securities. Comments from the CSA on mini-tenders can be found on the Ontario Securities Commission website at: http://www.osc.gov.on.ca/en/SecuritiesLaw_csa_19991210_61-301.jsp. According to TRC Capital's offer documents, Detour Gold shareholders who have already tendered their shares may withdraw their shares at any time before 12:01 am (Toronto time) on January 27, 2017 by following the procedures described in the offer documents. About Detour Gold Detour Gold is an intermediate gold producer in Canada that holds a 100% interest in the Detour Lake mine, a long life large-scale open pit operation. Detour Gold's shares trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the trading symbol DGC. Contacts: Paul Martin President and CEO (416) 304.0800 Laurie Gaborit Director Investor Relations (416) 304.0581 OTTAWA, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 01/04/17 -- Cornerstone Capital Resources Inc. ("Cornerstone" or "the Company") (TSX VENTURE: CGP)(FRANKFURT: GWN)(BERLIN: GWN)(OTCBB: CTNXF) announces the following project update for the Cascabel copper-gold porphyry joint venture exploration project in northern Ecuador, in which the Company has a 15% interest financed through to completion of a feasibility study. SolGold Plc is funding 100% of the exploration at Cascabel and is the operator of the project. Figures, table and photographs referred to in this news release can be seen in PDF format by accessing the version of this release on the Company's website (www.cornerstoneresources.com) or by clicking on the link below: http://www.cornerstoneresources.com/i/pdf/NR17-01Figures.pdf. HIGHLIGHTS: -- Drill Hole CSD-16-019 ("Hole 19") intersects 835m of copper mineralization (estimated true width(1) of 560m) from 325.6m to current depth 1161.50m, including a more intensely mineralized section from 545.9m. -- Bornite (a copper rich sulphide mineral containing 63% copper) and molybdenite are present in the mineralized section of Hole 19. -- Bornite mineralization mapped at surface, and in Hole 19 to date, support the existence of Hematite Hill, Alpala Southeast, and Cristal as high priority targets over 750m of strike extension southeast of Alpala Central. -- Preparations for drill rigs 4 and 5 continue ahead of drill testing the zone southeast of Alpala. -- Hole 18 encountered intense veining and mineralization over 665m from 903.9m to 1568.9m, and continues at 2144.8m depth, testing the lower levels and southwestern side of the Alpala system. -- Hole 20R entered brecciated (fragmented) porphyry style copper mineralization at 905.4m, approximately 200m higher than predicted, supporting the existence of widening and shallowing of the mineralized zone on the east and northeast sides of Alpala Central. Mineralization continues to current depth of 1050.0m. (1) Estimates have been made in defining true widths due to insufficient drilling in the outer limits of the currently known extension of the Alpala deposit and drill results not having yet been assayed and interpreted. These estimates may change as more drilling is completed and results continue to be processed. FURTHER INFORMATION: The Cascabel Project is located within the gold-rich northern section of the prolific Andean Copper belt renowned as the production base for nearly half of the world's copper (Figure 1). The project area hosts mineralization of Eocene age, the same age as numerous Tier 1 deposits along the Andean Copper Belt in Chile and Peru to the south. The project base is located at Rocafuerte, in northwestern Ecuador just west of the City of Ibarra, approximately 3 hours drive north of Quito and close to water, power supply and Pacific Ports (Figure 2). SolGold holds an 85% interest in ENSA (Exploraciones Novomining S.A.) which holds the Cascabel concession. Fourteen different targets have been defined at Cascabel and only one of these, the Alpala Deposit has been drilled to date. The deposit at Alpala continues to grow with each new drill hole. Drilling has focussed on defining the geometry of the Alpala deposit, which is open in all directions. Over 27,000m of drilling has been completed to date (Figure 3). Planned drilling for the coming quarter focuses on expansion of the Alpala deposit as well as testing of the south easterly extensions of the greater Alpala system, at Hematite Hill and Alpala Southeast. (Figure 4). Examples of selected mineralization in drill core intersected recently in Holes 18, 19 and 20R show copper mineralization being encountered (Figures 5, 6, 7). Planned Drill Rig Deployment Solgold is continuing to deploy multiple drilling rigs at Cascabel. Currently there are three operational rigs at the project and upgraded infrastructure and services will enable the deployment of two additional rigs in the next two months. -- Rig 1 (current) will continue testing the upward extensions of the Alpala Central deposit. -- Rig 2 (current) will relocate southeast of Alpala Central to the Hematite Hill area. -- Rig 3 (current) will continue testing the deepest portion of the Alpala Central deposit, below known mineralization. -- Rig 4 (proposed) is scheduled to commence in February 2017 an extensive multi-hole directional drilling program on the Alpala Deposit in February 2017. -- Rig 5 (proposed) is scheduled to commence in March 2017 testing of the Alpala South area, approximately 1km southeast of the current drilling area at Alpala. Solgold plans to have 7 drilling rigs active on the project by the end of October 2017. Planned drilling over the coming quarter is shown in Figure 8, and priority target areas along the Alpala southwesterly trend are shown in long-section view in Figure 9. Independent Technical report on the Cascabel Project under National Instrument 43-101 and accompanying documents by SRK Exploration Pty Ltd are in preparation. About Cascabel: SolGold Plc owns 85% of the equity of Exploraciones Novomining S.A. ("ENSA"), an Ecuadorean company that holds 100% of the Cascabel concession in northern Ecuador. Cornerstone owns the remaining 15% of ENSA. SolGold is funding 100% of the exploration at Cascabel and is the operator of the project. Cornerstone's 15% interest is financed through completion of a feasibility study. Cascabel is located in northwestern Ecuador in an under-explored northern section of the Andean Copper Belt, 60 km northeast of the undeveloped inferred resource of 982 million tons at 0.89% Cu Llurimaga (formerly Junin) copper project (0.4% Cu cut-off grade; Micon International Co. Ltd. Technical Report for Ascendant Exploration SA, August 20, 2004, pages 28 & 29). Mineralization identified at the Llurimaga copper project is not necessarily indicative of the mineralization on the Cascabel Property. Plans: To date SolGold has completed geological mapping and soil sampling over 25 km2, along with and an additional 9km2 of Induced Polarisation and 14km2 Magnetotelluric "Orion" surveys over the Alpala cluster and Aguinaga targets. SolGold has completed over 27,000m of drilling and expended over USD 35M on the program, corporate costs and investments into Cornerstone. Intense diamond drilling is planned for the next 12 months with multiple drill rigs. The Alpala deposit is open at depth and in the upper extensions, as well as to the north, north-east, south-east and south-west. The mineralized zone at Alpala and Moran is closely modelled by magnetic signatures and currently encompasses over 10Bt of magnetic rock expected to be mineralized with copper and gold. SolGold is focussing on extending the dimensions of Alpala before completing a resource statement and drill testing the other key targets within the Cascabel concession at Alpala Southeast, Aguinaga, Trivino, Moran, Alpala Northwest, Hematite Hill, Cristal, Parambas, Carmen, Tandayama-America and Chinambicito. SolGold is planning further metallurgical testing and completion of a conceptual early stage mine and plant design and a scoping study (which may not be the equivalent of a National Instrument 43-101 Preliminary Economic Assessment) for an economic development at Cascabel. SolGold is investigating both high tonnage / low-medium grade open cut and underground block caving operations, and a high grade / low tonnage underground development. Qualified Person: Yvan Crepeau, MBA, P.Geo., Cornerstone's Vice President, Exploration and a qualified person in accordance with National Instrument 43-101, is responsible for supervising the exploration program at the Cascabel project for Cornerstone and has reviewed and approved the information contained in this news release. Logging, sampling and assaying Holes referred to in this release were or are being drilled using HTW, NTW, NQ and BQ core sizes (respectively 7.1, 5.6, 4.8 and 3.7 cm diameter). Geotechnical measurements such as core recovery, fracturing, rock quality designations (RQD's), specific density and photographic logging are performed systematically prior to assaying. The core is logged, magnetic susceptibility measured and key alteration minerals identified using an on-site portable spectrometer. Core is then sawed in half at the ENSA core logging facility, and half of the core is delivered by ENSA employees for preparation at LAC y Asociados ISO 9001-2008 certified sample preparation facility in Cuenca. Core samples are prepared crushing to 70% passing 2 mm (10 mesh), splitting 250 g and pulverizing to 85% passing 75 microns (200 mesh) (MSA code PRP-910). Prepared samples are then shipped to MS Analytical Services (MSA), an ISO 9001-2008 laboratory in Langley, BC, Canada where samples are assayed for a multi-element suite (MSA code IMS-230, 0.2g split, 4-acid digestion, ICP-AES/MS finish). Over limit results for Cu (greater than 1%) are systematically re-assayed (MSA code ICF-6Cu, 0.2 g, 4-acid digestion, ICP-AES finish). Gold is assayed using a 30 g split, Fire Assay (FA) and AAS finish (MSA code FAS 111). Over limit results for Au (greater than 10 g/t) are systematically re-assayed (MSA code FAS-415, FA, 30g., gravimetric finish). Drill hole intercepts from the Cascabel Property are calculated using a data aggregation method, defined by copper equivalent cut-off grades and reported with up to 10m internal dilution, excluding bridging to a single sample. Copper equivalent grades are calculated using a gold conversion factor of 0.89, determined using copper price of US$2.20/pound and gold price of US$1350/ounce. Copper equivalent calculation assumes 100% recoveries of copper and gold. All reported drill core intervals from the Cascabel Property are core lengths, unless otherwise indicated. At present the true thicknesses of all of the holes has not been calculated by SolGold. Low-grade intersections, where applicable, are expressed as average true widths (utilizing the "B-vein greater than 0.5%" shell orientations). High-grade intersections are better constrained for holes 1, 5, 8 and 9, and these intersections are also expressed as average true widths (utilizing the "B-veins greater than 20%" shell orientations). Quality assurance / Quality control (QA/QC) The MSA Analytical Laboratory is a qualified assayer that performs and makes available internal assaying controls. Duplicates, certified blanks and standards are systematically used (1 control sample every 15-20 samples) as part of Cornerstone's QA/QC program. Rejects, a 100 g pulp for each core sample and the remaining half-core are stored for future use and controls. About Cornerstone: Cornerstone Capital Resources Inc. is a well funded mineral exploration company with a diversified portfolio of projects in Ecuador and Chile, and a proven ability to identify, acquire and advance properties of merit. The company's business model is based on generating exploration projects whose subsequent development is funded primarily through partnerships. Further information is available on Cornerstone's website: www.cornerstoneresources.com and on Twitter. Cautionary Notice: This news release may contain 'Forward-Looking Statements' that involve risks and uncertainties, such as statements of Cornerstone's plans, objectives, strategies, intentions and expectations. The words "potential," "anticipate," "forecast," "believe," "estimate," "expect," "may," "project," "plan," and similar expressions are intended to be among the statements that identify 'Forward-Looking Statements.' Although Cornerstone believes that its expectations reflected in these 'Forward-Looking Statements' are reasonable, such statements may involve unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors disclosed in our regulatory filings, viewed on the SEDAR website at www.sedar.com. For us, uncertainties arise from the behaviour of financial and metals markets, predicting natural geological phenomena and from numerous other matters of national, regional, and global scale, including those of an environmental, climatic, natural, political, economic, business, competitive, or regulatory nature. These uncertainties may cause our actual future results to be materially different than those expressed in our Forward-Looking Statements. Although Cornerstone believes the facts and information contained in this news release to be as correct and current as possible, Cornerstone does not warrant or make any representation as to the accuracy, validity or completeness of any facts or information contained herein and these statements should not be relied upon as representing its views subsequent to the date of this news release. While Cornerstone anticipates that subsequent events may cause its views to change, it expressly disclaims any obligation to update the Forward-Looking Statements contained herein except where outcomes have varied materially from the original statements. On Behalf of the Board, Brooke Macdonald, President and CEO 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: For investor, corporate or media inquiries, please contact: Investor Relations (613) 421-6923 ir@cornerstoneresources.ca STOCKHOLM, January 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The electronic music festival "Into the Valley" has for two years attracted visitors from all around the world up to Dalhalla in Sweden. In 2017, the festival will be held in the new amazing place: an underwater prison of Rummu in Estonia, outside Tallinn. (Photo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/453695/Rummu_quarry.jpg ) Moreover, new festivals "Into the Factory" (Stockholm Couty, Sweden) and "Into the Castle" (Cape Town, South Africa) are revealed. All together, six new festivals will be established by 2019. These new experiences are arranged by "Music Goes Further" promo group and are based on seven key principles: unique locations, advanced electronic music, pioneering technology, innovative art, food and bar architecture, holistic awareness and social equality. Rummu, there Into the Valley takes place, has unique history. Since the late 1930s, it functioned as a limestone quarry, founded alongside with the Soviet prison Murru, in purpose of mining of limestone and marble. Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the mine has been closed and the quarry soon enough became a quarry lake. Some parts of the prison, mining machinery and equipment were covered by crystal clear water. Since few years back the prison was also closed and the quarry was abandoned, becoming an attractive place for hikers, scuba divers, bikers, photographers, and film-makers because of its unique landscape. There are rumours that the former prison used to be the one of the worst of its time, promoters however believe that it is now time for music and joy to seize the place and update the history. Into the Valley Festival will take place between June 29- July 1, 2017. The confirmed artists so far: Andrey Zots Kim Ann Foxman Anna Hanna Kink feat. Answer Code Request Rachel Row (live) Anthea Marcel Dettmann Bella Sarris Midland Cassy Nastia Cobblestone Jazz (live) Olga Korol Dixon Praslesh Hunee Recondite (live) Janina Regis Jeff Mills Renaat R & S Kask The Black Madonna The festival is about 45 km away from Tallinn, and two accomodation packages are available: hotel package for those who want to stay in Tallinn, and the camp package for visitors with private cars and caravans for staying at the festival area. Shuttle bus tickets for travelling between Tallinn and the festival are also available. The age limit for the festival is 23 years, but limited amount of "Under 23" tickets is available. WESTBROOK, ME -- (Marketwired) -- 01/04/17 -- Synergy CHC Corp ("Synergy") (OTCQB: SNYR) and Knight Therapeutics Inc. (TSX: GUD) announced as of December 23rd that, ("Knight"), through one of its wholly-owned subsidiaries has committed to invest up to US $2 million as a lead order toward the purchase of common shares of Synergy CHC Corp ("Synergy") (OTCQB: SNYR) conditional on Synergy meeting certain fundraising targets in 2017. In addition, Knight entered into an agreement with Synergy to swap its share purchase warrants and stock options of Synergy, which entitled Knight to purchase up to 9.1 million shares of Synergy at exercise prices ranging from US $0.25 to US $0.49 per share, in exchange for 7.5 million common shares of Synergy valued at US $2.9 million based on Synergy's December 23, 2016 closing price of US $0.39 per share. Knight originally received the share purchase warrants and stock options in connection with its secured loans to Synergy issued in 2015. Following the exchange, Knight owns 17.6 million or 19.9% of Synergy's common shares outstanding. Separately, with respect to FOCUSfactor and Hand MD, Knight appointed Synergy as its exclusive third party direct channel distributor in Canada, Israel, Romania, Russia and sub-Saharan Africa; and as its exclusive third party retail channel distributor in Canada. Additionally, Knight amended its direct channel distribution agreement with Synergy for Flat Tummy Tea in Canada. The initial term of these agreements ends on February 15, 2021. "While we missed the Christmukkah rush, we are confident that our continued partnership with Synergy will bring joy to both our company's respective shareholders," said Jonathan Ross Goodman, CEO of Knight. "We are very pleased to have licensed the right's of our brands back in the knight territories and also further deepen our incredible partnership with Knight. We are very blessed to have Knight as our partner" said Jack Ross, CEO of Synergy CHC. About Knight Therapeutics Inc. Knight Therapeutics Inc., headquartered in Montreal, Canada, is a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on acquiring or in-licensing innovative pharmaceutical products for the Canadian and select international markets. Knight Therapeutics Inc.'s shares trade on TSX under the symbol GUD. For more information about Knight Therapeutics Inc., please visit the company's web site at www.gud-knight.com or www.sedar.com. About Synergy CHC Corp. Synergy CHC Corp. is a consumer health care company that is in the process of building a portfolio of best-in-class consumer product brands. Synergy's strategy is to grow its portfolio both organically and by further acquisition. Synergy's diversified portfolio now includes FOCUSFactor, Flat Tummy Tea, Neuragen, and Hand MD . For more information, please visit www.synergychc.com. About FOCUSfactor "Another Synergy Brand" FOCUSfactor is sold at America's leading retailers such as Costco, Sam's Club, Wal-Mart, BJ's Walgreens, CVS and The Vitamin Shoppe. FOCUSfactor, America's leading brain health supplement, is a nutritional supplement that includes a proprietary blend of brain supporting vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and other nutrients. In December 2012, the United States Patent and Trademark Office issued US Patent 8,329,227 covering FOCUSfactor's proprietary formulation "for enhanced mental function." The issuance of the patent marked one of the few times a patent has been issued for a nationally branded nutritional supplement. FOCUSfactor is clinically tested with results demonstrating improvements in focus, concentration and memory in healthy adults. www.focusfactor.com About Flat Tummy Tea "Another Synergy Brand" Flat Tummy Tea's uniquely formulated two-step herbal detox tea works to naturally help speed metabolism, boost energy and reduce bloating to flatten your tummy. It's currently sold exclusively online to a global, 20-30 year old female, predominantly American market. Since being founded in 2013, Flat Tummy Tea has grown rapidly, largely attributed to the strength of their branding and their innovative and effective use of social media. Their secret is a very specific process and ROI based algorithm used on various online platforms. To date, Flat Tummy Tea has built a targeted social media following of over 1,100,000, many of whom are now customers. Flat Tummy Tea now has over 13,000 positive written reviews on their website, flattummytea.com or visit their Instagram page. About Neuragen "Another Synergy Brand" Neuragen is a topical product that works directly at the site of the pain as opposed to oral products. Neuragen reduces the spontaneous firing of damaged peripheral nerves. By calming these firings at the source, Neuragen is clinically shown to reduce shooting and burning pains quickly and without the side effects of orally taken medications. This is in part due to the small lipophilic molecules found in Neuragen which rapidly carry the active ingredients through the rough outer layer of the skin to the site of the pain. Neuragen is available over the counter in most local pharmacies either in the diabetic section or the analgesic (pain) section. For more information, please visit www.neuragen.com. About Hand MD "Another Synergy Brand" Hand MD is the world's first anti-aging skincare line formulated specifically for the hands. Hands reveal a woman's true age and the rejuvenation of the hand has become women's #1 aging concern. Developed by Kara Harshbarger and renowned celebrity dermatologist Dr. Alex Khadavi, Hand MD's extensive clinical trials show significant improvement in the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles, skin hydration, hyper-pigmentation and radiance. HAND MD launched on QVC and sold out in an astonishing 5 minutes. www.hand-md.com Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 that are subject to risks and uncertainties. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, regarding management's expectations, beliefs, goals, plans or Synergy's prospects should be considered forward-looking. Readers are cautioned that actual results may differ materially from projections or estimates due to a variety of important factors, including: Synergy's ability to integrate any new products into its current operations; the risks and uncertainties associated with Synergy's ability to manage its cash resources; obtaining additional financing to support Synergy's operations; Synergy's dependence on third parties for its research and development, manufacturing and distribution functions; Synergy's dependence on its license relationships; protecting the intellectual property developed by or licensed to Synergy; and Synergy's ability to build its operations to support its business strategy and promote its products. These and other risks are described in greater detail in Synergy's filings with the SEC, copies of which are available free of charge at the SEC's website (www.sec.gov) or upon request from Synergy. Synergy may not actually achieve the goals or plans described in its forward-looking statements, and investors should not place undue reliance on these statements. Synergy assumes no obligation and does not intend to update these forward-looking statements, except as required by law. Contact Information: Jack Ross Chairman / CEO Synergy CHC Corp Jack@synergychc.com 615-939-9004 SEATTLE, WA -- (Marketwired) -- 01/04/17 -- CFN Media Group ("CannabisFN"), the leading creative agency and media network dedicated to legal cannabis, announces publication of an article discussing Lexaria Bioscience Corp.'s (OTCQB: LXRP) innovative technology that makes cannabinoid-infused products more palatable and bioavailable for patients. The cannabis industry is expected to reach $50 billion by 2026, according to Cowen & Co., but there are still many hurdles to overcome. Aside from the legality of the drug, culinary experts like Greg Mowery have called cannabinoid-infused products 'bitter, acrid and unpalatable' and medical research has highlighted the struggle with metabolism and absorption. These challenges must be overcome for medical cannabis to become truly mainstream. Lexaria researchers processed a mixture of hemp oil, black tea, and select lipids to create a cannabinoid-infused tea that resulted in as much as a 499% increase in intestinal tissue permeability for cannabidiol (CBD) over a concentration matched mixture of just CBD and water. The key is 'shuttling' the cannabinoid molecules within lipid molecules to protect them as they pass through the stomach while still enabling them to be absorbed into the intestine. In addition, Lexaria and its partners have shown that Lexaria's technology results in onset of cannabinoid effectiveness in edible dosage forms in as little as 15-20 minutes, which compares favorably to conventional edibles often requiring 60-120 minutes to act. Encapsulating cannabinoid molecules has the added benefit of eliminating any undesirable tastes. After all, the actual molecules do not encounter the blood stream until the intestinal tract rather than on the tongue. This addresses issues stemming from the bitter taste and unpalatability of cannabinoids in edibles and beverages by removing the herbal flavor and enabling manufacturers to leverage any other flavoring elements. Please follow the link to read the full article: http://www.cannabisfn.com/lexaria-lxrp-technology-is-a-cannabinoid-breakthrough/ Learn how to become a CFN Media client company, brand or entrepreneur: http://www.cannabisfn.com/become-featured-company/ Download the CFN Media iOS mobile app to access the world of cannabis from the palm of your hand: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/cannabisfn/id988009247?ls=1&mt=8 Or visit our homepage and enter your mobile number under the Apple App Store logo to receive a download link text on your iPhone: http://www.cannabisfn.com About CFN Media CFN Media (CannabisFN), the leading creative agency and media network dedicated to legal cannabis, helps marijuana businesses attract investors, customers (B2B, B2C), capital, and media visibility. Private and public marijuana companies and brands in the US and Canada rely on CFN Media to grow and succeed. CFN launched in June of 2013 to initially serve the growing universe of publicly traded marijuana companies across North America. Today, CFN Media is also the digital media choice for the emerging brands in the space. Disclaimer: Except for the historical information presented herein, matters discussed in this release contain forward-looking statements that are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such statements. Emerging Growth LLC, which owns CFN Media and CannabisFN.com, is not registered with any financial or securities regulatory authority, and does not provide nor claims to provide investment advice or recommendations to readers of this release. Emerging Growth LLC may from time to time have a position in the securities mentioned herein and may increase or decrease such positions without notice. For making specific investment decisions, readers should seek their own advice. Emerging Growth LLC may be compensated for its services in the form of cash-based compensation or equity securities in the companies it writes about, or a combination of the two. For full disclosure please visit: http://www.cannabisfn.com/legal-disclaimer/. CFN Media Frank Lane 2063697050 flane@cannabisfn.com ELKO The Community for Accredited Online Schools has recognized the Electrical Systems Technology program at Great Basin College for offering one of the top electrician programs in the nation. The website www.accreditedschoolsonline.org released its annual ranking for the 2016-2017 school year, ranking GBC second among other four-year colleges and universities. We wanted to highlight schools like Great Basin College, who are striving for excellence in education, said Doug Jones, CEO and Founder of the Community for Accredited Online Schools. These colleges offer an exceptional educational experience, upholding rigorous accreditation standards and showing an overall commitment to maximizing student success. In order for colleges to qualify for the ranking, they must hold public or private not-for-profit status and carry institutional accreditation. Top schools are determined by using a value-based methodology that analyzes more than a dozen qualitative and quantitative data points. According to the website, the electrical program at GBC received acclamation for its student to teacher ratio, graduation rate, tuition and fees, job placement services, credit for experience and counseling services. GBC currently offers a certificate of achievement and associate degree in Electrical Systems Technology. Electrical students often intern in the community while completing their education. Depending on their path of study, students can complete the certificate and degree program in one to two years. GBC Dean of Business and Technology Bret Murphy also explained that employed electricians also have the opportunity to receive college credit for their work experience while completing hybrid courses online, eventually receiving a degree or certificate. GBC hasnt always offered hybrid, online training. It wasnt until 2007 when Round Mountain Gold approached the electrical department that this program was conceived. Round Mountain Gold, like other mining companies located in northern Nevada, have a demand for qualified electricians to keep their operations running, said Murphy. GBC instructors work closely with site supervisors to assure students are getting the hands-on experience needed to complete the program. Students must attend several mandatory training days at GBC to complete the four-year program. Murphy said the program has become so successful that other mining companies, like Barrick Gold Corp., are taking advantage of the opportunity for their employees. For more information about the electrical systems technology program, visit www.gbcnv.edu. Round Mountain Gold, like other mining companies located in northern Nevada, have a demand for qualified electricians to keep their operations running. Brett Murphy, GBC MURRIETA, CALIFORNIA -- (Marketwired) -- 01/04/17 -- IGEN Networks Corporation (OTCQB: IGEN)(CSE: IGN)(CSE: IGN.CN), a Company that offers a range of proprietary, self-provisioning applications that manage and recover stolen assets, provide access to roadside assistance programs, and improve productivity of commercial fleets, announces a number of milestones and important achievements that were met in 2016. Additionally, CEO Neil Chan will hold a conference call to discuss these achievements, the condition of the Company, the current market environment for the industry, and goals for 2017 at 1:15 pm PST tomorrow, Thursday, January 5. See call instructions at the bottom of this release. IGEN had a record breaking year in 2016. Some of the Company's accomplishments include: -- Partnership status with Verizon and IGEN's wholly-owned subsidiary Nimbo Tracking enabled the sharing of sales leads across the country, leading to record orders with thousands of new vehicle service activations and product shipments; -- First pre-load implementation of Nimbo services with automotive franchise dealers, supporting multiple automotive OEM brands, and requiring all vehicles to be service activated; -- Record breaking installation rate of more than 100 vehicle activations per day or 3000 vehicles over 30 days; -- Record revenues and gross profits with first ever positive funds flow from operations reported in Q3 of 2016 (including deferred revenues, and therefore on a non-GAAP basis); -- Launch of fleet analytics platform for consumer fleet applications -- Streamlining of distribution channels to leverage key market partner strengths including the expansion of IGEN's nationwide installation network of more than 900 installers across the United States; -- Continued expansion of the Company's pre-load and conventional automotive dealer channels; -- Continued investment in IGEN's IT infrastructure and product platform to support growth and provide scalability, improved functionality, stability, and performance CEO Neil Chan stated, "IGEN is now positioned for success better than any time in its history, and as we grow we continue to focus on our goals of increasing our positive fund flow and achieving net profitability." Mr. Chan added, "The massive market opportunity we are facing is underlined by the recent advertising program launched by Verizon for its aftermarket retail HUM device, a complementary program to our new car channels. Verizon continues to be a valuable strategic partner and contributes to our ability to land B2B contracts with dealerships. The addition of new car dealerships along with our new analytics platform for commercial fleets is increasing our ability to profitably leverage this massive market opportunity." IGEN Networks wishes to invite all shareholders and interested parties to listen to a conference call led by CEO Neil Chan that will take place tomorrow, Thursday, January 5 just after the close of trading at 1:15 pm PST / 4:30 pm EST. If calling from the United States, please call (310)372-7549 and from Canada call (514)312-2743. The conference code is 150727. The call will be recorded and posted on the Company's website. Please email matt@greenchipir.com if you would like the recorded call sent after conclusion, or if you wish to ask questions. About IGEN Networks Corporation: IGEN Networks Corporation invests in and manages companies that deliver cloud-based services through Machine-to-Machine (M2M) device technologies for the protection and management of mobile assets and commercial fleets. The Company offers a range of self-provisioning applications which are used to manage and recover stolen assets, provide access to roadside assistance programs, and improve productivity of commercial fleets. IGEN is a fully reporting company in both Canada and the United States. It is publicly traded on the OTCQB under the symbol IGEN, and listed on the CSE under the symbol IGN. For more information, please visit www.igen-networks.com. Forward-Looking Statements This news release may contain forward-looking statements or forward looking information within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and Canadian securities law. The terms and phrases "goal", "commitment", "guidance", "expects", "would", "will", "continuing", "drive", "believes", "indicate", "look forward", "grow", "outlook", "forecasts", "intend", and similar terms and phrases are intended to identify these forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on estimates and assumptions made by IGEN in light of its experience and its perception of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments, as well as other factors that IGEN believes are appropriate in the circumstances, including but not limited to statements regarding investment liquidity, financing options and long term goals of the Company, general economic conditions, IGEN's expectations regarding its business, customer base, strategy and prospects, and IGEN's confidence in the cash flow generation of its business. Many factors could cause IGEN's actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements, including, without limitation: risks related to competition; IGEN's reliance on key personnel; IGEN's ability to maintain and enhance its brand; and difficulties in forecasting IGEN's financial results, particularly over longer periods given the rapid technological changes, competition and short product life cycles that characterize the mobile application industry. These risk factors and others relating to IGEN that may cause actual results to differ are set forth in the under the heading "Risk Factors" in IGEN's periodic filings with the British Columbia Securities Commission and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (copies of which filings may be obtained at www.sedar.com or www.sec.gov. These factors should be considered carefully, and readers should not place undue reliance on IGEN's forward-looking statements. IGEN has no intention and undertakes no 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: Corporate Inquiries: IGEN Networks Corporation Richard Freeman 1(888)244-3650 rfreeman@igen-networks.com www.igen-networks.com Brunswick strengthens public affairs expertise with addition of former U.S. House Ways and Means member WASHINGTON, Jan. 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Brunswick Group, a leading corporate advisory firm, announced today that Tim Griffin has joined the firm as senior counselor. During his more than two decades of experience at the intersection of business, law, government, and politics, Tim worked on some of the most complex and critical policy issues of our time. His insights and expertise will further enhance the firm's capabilities and benefit clients. Tim will focus his time on public affairs, corporate reputation, and crisis matters as well as digital campaign strategies. The current lieutenant governor of Arkansas, Tim was previously elected to the U.S. House of Representatives where he served on the Ways and Means Committee, was Deputy Majority Whip for the Republican caucus, and was Vice Chair for Strategy and Communications at the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC). Earlier in his career, he was Special Assistant to the President and Deputy Director of the Office of Political Affairs for President George W. Bush. An attorney by training, Tim was also U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas and is currently serving as a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army JAG Corps. "We are delighted to welcome Tim Griffin to Brunswick. Helping our clients navigate the regulatory and policy landscape has never been more complex or important. Tim's experience and knowledge at the highest levels of politics will be a great asset to our U.S. and global clients," said Group Chief Executive Officer Susan Gilchrist. On joining the firm, Tim said: "I'm honored and excited to work with a world-class network of global advisors from a variety of disciplines." Tim Griffin Tim Griffin is currently serving as lieutenant governor of Arkansas. Tim was elected lieutenant governor of Arkansas on November 4, 2014, and took office on January 13, 2015. The Office of Lieutenant Governor for the State of Arkansas has historically been a part-time position, with many of its former occupants holding simultaneous public and private employment. From 2011-2015, Tim served as the 24th representative of Arkansas's Second Congressional District. For the 113th Congress, he was a member of the House Committee on Ways and Means while also serving as a Deputy Whip for the Majority. He also served as Vice Chair for Strategy and Communications at the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC). In the 112th Congress, he served as a member of the House Armed Services Committee, the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, the House Committee on Ethics, and the House Committee on the Judiciary. He also served as an Assistant Whip for the Majority. Tim has served in the U.S. Army Reserve for 20 years, was deployed to Iraq with the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), and holds the rank of lieutenant colonel. He is currently pursuing a master's degree in strategic studies from the U.S. Army War College, Carlisle Barracks, Pa. He also served as U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas and Special Assistant to the President, and Special Assistant to the President and Deputy Director of Political Affairs for President George W. Bush. Tim grew up in Magnolia, Ark., and is a fifth generation Arkansan and the youngest son of a minister and teacher. He graduated from Magnolia High School, Hendrix College in Conway, Ark., and Tulane Law School in New Orleans and attended graduate school at Pembroke College of Oxford University in England. His wife Elizabeth is from Camden, Ark., and they currently live in Little Rock, Ark. with their two children, Mary Katherine, 9, and John, 6. They are members of Immanuel Baptist Church of Little Rock. About Brunswick Group Brunswick Group LLP is an advisory firm specializing in critical issues and corporate relations. Founded in 1987, Brunswick is an organically grown, private partnership with 23 offices around the world. For more information, visit: www.brunswickgroup.com. Contact Cecilia Arradaza Tel: +1 202 393 7337 Email: carradaza@brunswickgroup.com NEW YORK, NY -- (Marketwired) -- 01/04/17 -- IT research and consulting firm, Osterman Research, has published a new report entitled, "Best Practices for Protecting Your Data When Employees Leave Your Company" (December 2016). The report details that based on its research, Osterman found incontrovertible evidence that employee turnover and attrition can lead to egregious data loss. In fact, it was rated as the number one data protection problem -- with 69% of the business organizations surveyed indicating that they had suffered significant data/knowledge loss resulting from employees who had left. The report explains that while there are generalized problems associated with the loss of corporate knowledge/expertise when employees leave, many of these problems are related to employees actually taking data with them when they depart, or leaving it in locations that are unknown or inaccessible to corporate data managers. "Whether its premeditated or simply in error, many employees leave their employers with a wide variety of data types that can include confidential or sensitive financial data, customer information, and/or product, sales and marketing roadmaps, as well as other business critical intellectual property," said Michael Osterman, CEO and Founder, Osterman Research. "This can leave a business organization vulnerable to regulations noncompliance, litigation, a loss in competitive edge and even embarrassing bad press with long-term ramifications -- the kind that can curb an otherwise promising IT career. And of course, it could also simply mean the information you need to get your job done just isn't there." Osterman continued, "There are however policies, procedures and technology solutions that can be proactively put into place that minimize, even eliminate, the potential for data exfiltration." The paper goes on to describe in detail the top policies, procedures and technologies that can be employed to protect sensitive and confidential data assets from departing employees. Please read "Best Practices for Protecting Your Data When Employees Leave Your Company" found here: http://info.archive360.com/wp-best-practices-for-protecting-data-when-employees-leave, to learn more about...: The top problems related to data protection Why employees leave with corporate data Signs of unusual behavior - potential "tells" that an employee is planning to steal corporate data The consequences of data exfiltration The top policies, procedures and technologies to protect against data exfiltration A checklist for managing a successful employee departure process Tweet this: .@mosterman Finds 69% of Business Orgs Have Experienced Data Loss Resulting from Employee Turnover / Attrition http://info.archive360.com/wp-best-practices-for-protecting-data-when-employees-leave About Archive360, primary sponsor of "Best Practices for Protecting Your Data When Employees Leave Your Company" Archive360 is the market leader in email archive migration software, successfully migrating more than 12 petabytes of data for more than 500 organizations worldwide since 2012. The company's flagship product, Archive2Anywhere, is the only solution in the market purpose-built to deliver consistently fast, trouble-free, predictable archive migrations, with verifiable data fidelity and defensible chain of custody reporting. Archive360's Archive2Azure solution is the industry's first regulatory compliance and grey data storage solution based on the Microsoft Azure platform. Archive360 is a global organization and delivers its solutions through a network of specialist partners. Archive360 is a Microsoft Cloud Solution Provider and the Archive2Azure solution is Microsoft Azure Certified. For further information, please visit: www.archive360.com. PR Contacts: Nicole Gorman The Ventana Group 508-397-0131 Email Contact Sabrina Sanchez The Ventana Group 925-785-3014 Email Contact NEW YORK, January 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Continuously growing automobile sales and expanding vehicle fleet to drive Asia-Pacific tire market through 2021 According to recently released TechSci Research report, "Asia-Pacific Tire Market Forecast and Opportunities, 2021", the tire market in Asia-Pacific region is forecast to grow at a CAGR of over 8% during 2016 - 2021, on account of increasing automobile production and expanding vehicle fleet, especially in China and India. In 2011, two-wheeler tire segment dominated the Asia-Pacific tire market in volume terms. However, the scenario changed in 2015, and passenger car tire segment accounted for the largest share in the region's tire market, owing to increasing sales of passenger cars due to rising disposable income and expanding middle class consumers. The region's tire market is dominated by the replacement tire segment on account of continuing expansion of automotive fleet. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140117/663730 ) Browse 91 market data Tables and 135 Figures spread through355 Pages and an in-depth TOC on "Asia-Pacific Tire Market" https://www.techsciresearch.com/report/apac-tire-market-forecast-opportunities/855.html China and India are the major demand generating countries for tires in the Asia-Pacific region, due to growing population base, expanding middle class population and rising disposable income. In 2015, the population of China and India stood at 1.37 billion and 1.31 billion, respectively. Launch of "Automotive Mission Plan, 2016-2026" is anticipated to augment the automobile production in India in the coming years, which is expected to drive demand for tires through 2021. Presence of major automotive OEMs such as Ford, Hyundai, Honda, Mahindra, Maruti Suzuki, TATA, BMW, etc., is propelling OEM tire demand in Asia-Pacific. Nevertheless, replacement segment continues to dominate demand for tires in the region due to continuing expansion of automobile fleet in Asia-Pacific. Download Sample Report @ https://www.techsciresearch.com/sample-report.aspx?cid=855 Customers can also request for 10% free customization on this report. "Asia-Pacific is undergoing a major infrastructure transformation. A large number of huge construction projects are underway or in pipeline, owing to growing developmental activities being undertaken in energy, communication, transport, water, health and housing sectors across the region. Consequently, demand for tires in Asia-Pacific is expected to continue growing over the next five years, on account of increasing vehicle sales as well as expanding vehicle fleet, both in commercial as well as non-commercial vehicle segments. Furthermore, rising number of automobile exports coupled with growing customer inclination towards purchasing passenger cars is expected to drive Asia-Pacific tire market during the forecast period.", said Mr. Karan Chechi, Research Director with TechSci Research, a research based global management consulting firm. "Asia-Pacific Tire Market Forecast and Opportunities, 2021" has evaluated the future growth potential of Asia-Pacific tire market and provides statistics and information on market size, structure and future market growth. The report intends to provide cutting-edge market intelligence and help decision makers take sound investment evaluation. Besides, the report also identifies and analyzes the emerging trends along with essential drivers, challenges and opportunities in Asia-Pacific tire market. Browse Related Reports Global Commercial Drone Market By Drone Type (Rotary Blade Drone, Fix Wing Drone, Hybrid Drone & Nano Drone), By Application (Mapping, Surveying & Photography, Precision Agriculture, etc.), By Region, Competition Forecast & Opportunities, 2015 - 2021 https://www.techsciresearch.com/report/global-commercial-drone-market-by-drone-type-rotary-blade-drone-fix-wing-drone-hybrid-drone-nano-drone-by-application-mapping-surveying-photography-precision-agriculture-etc-by-region-competition-forecast-opportunities-2015-2021/666.html. Global Tire Market Forecast & Opportunities, 2021 https://www.techsciresearch.com/report/global-tire-market-forecast-opportunities-2021/734.html Qatar Earthmoving Equipment Market By Type (Excavators, Loader, Motor Grader & Bulldozer), Competition Forecast & Opportunities, 2011-2021 https://www.techsciresearch.com/report/qatar-earthmoving-equipment-market-by-type-excavators-loader-motor-grader-bulldozer-competition-forecast-opportunities-2011-2021/745.html India Automotive Components Market By Vehicle Type (PC, LCV, M & HCV, 2W, 3W & OTR), By Demand Category (OEM vs Replacement), By Component Type (Engine Parts, Body & Chassis, Suspension & Brakes, etc.), Competition Forecast and Opportunities, 2011 - 2021 https://www.techsciresearch.com/report/india-automotive-components-market-by-vehicle-type-pc-lcv-m-hcv-2w-3w-otr-by-demand-category-oem-vs-replacement-by-component-type-engine-parts-body-chassis-suspension-brakes-etc-competition-forecast-and-opportunities-2011-2021/749.html About TechSci Research TechSci Research is a leading global market research firm publishing premium market research reports. Serving 700 global clients with more than 600 premium market research studies, TechSci Research is serving clients across 11 different industrial verticals. TechSci Research specializes in research based consulting assignments in high growth and emerging markets, leading technologies and niche applications. Our workforce of more than 100 fulltime Analysts and Consultants employing innovative research solutions and tracking global and country specific high growth markets helps TechSci clients to lead rather than follow market trends. Contact Mr. Ken Mathews 708 Third Avenue, Manhattan, NY, New York - 10017 Tel: +1-646-360-1656 Email: sales@techsciresearch.com Connect with us on Twitter - https://twitter.com/TechSciResearch SAINT-LAURENT, CANADA -- (Marketwired) -- 01/04/17 -- IntelGenx Corp., (TSX VENTURE: IGX) (OTCQX: IGXT), today announced the signing of a definitive agreement with Chemo Group ("Chemo") for the co-development and commercialization of a generic tablet in the area of CNS (central nervous system) on a worldwide basis. According to Global Data, worldwide sales in 2015 of the CNS related product exceeded $4 billion. This definitive agreement signed December 30, 2016 follows the binding term sheet announced on December 1, 2016. Under the agreement, IntelGenx is entitled to an upfront payment, development costs of the product and future milestone payments. Chemo and IntelGenx will also share the profits of commercialization. "We are very pleased by the relentless execution of strategy in 2016 to successfully conclude seven transactions of our innovative products towards future commercialization," said Dr. Horst Zerbe, President and CEO of IntelGenx. "Four of those innovative products have been concluded with our strategic partner, Chemo, which clearly validates IntelGenx' advanced oral delivery platforms. We look forward to growing our relationship with Chemo in 2017 in further expanding the global reach of our innovative pipeline." About Chemo Group: CHEMO operates across the entire pharmaceutical value chain, delivering specialized expertise and experience in scientific research, development, manufacturing, sales and marketing of a wide range of value-adding active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), finished dosage forms (FDFs) and branded pharmaceuticals, for human and animal health. While the main offices are located in Spain, Switzerland and Argentina, CHEMO is acting worldwide, creating a broad and balanced manufacturing and commercial network across Europe, America, Asia and Africa, to address global opportunities and customers' needs in all major pharmaceutical markets. CHEMO's activity is organized in three synergistic business areas: Industrial, Branded and Biotech, with over 5,000 professionals in more than 40 countries, 20 state-of-the-art facilities, 9 specialized R&D centers, 12 commercial offices and more than 50 pharmaceutical affiliates, serving 1,150 customers in 96 countries around the world. About IntelGenx: IntelGenx is a leading oral drug delivery company primarily focused on the development and manufacturing of innovative pharmaceutical oral films based on its proprietary VersaFilm technology platform. Established in 2003, the Montreal-based company is listed on the TSX-V and OTC-QX. IntelGenx highly skilled team provides comprehensive pharmaceuticals services to pharmaceutical partners, including R&D, analytical method development, clinical monitoring, IP and regulatory services. IntelGenx state-of-the-art manufacturing facility, established for the VersaFilm technology platform, supports lab-scale to pilot and commercial-scale production, offering full service capabilities to our clients. More information is available about the company at: www.intelgenx.com. Forward Looking Statements: This document may contain forward-looking information about IntelGenx' operating results and business prospects that involve substantial risks and uncertainties. Statements that are not purely historical are forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. These statements include, but are not limited to, statements about IntelGenx' plans, objectives, expectations, strategies, intentions or other characterizations of future events or circumstances and are generally identified by the words "may," "expects," "anticipates," "intends," "plans," "believes," "seeks," "estimates," "could," "would," and similar expressions. All forward looking statements are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. Because these forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, IntelGenx' actual results could differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward looking statements. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to, those discussed under the heading "Risk Factors" in IntelGenx' annual report on Form 10-K, filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission and available at www.sec.gov, and also filed with Canadian securities regulatory authorities and www.sedar.com. IntelGenx assumes no obligation to update any such forward-looking statements. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange), nor the OTCQX accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Source: IntelGenx Technologies Corp. Contacts: Edward Miller Director, IR and Corporate Communications IntelGenx Corp. +1 514-331-7440 (ext. 217) edward@intelgenx.com FOOTHILL RANCH, CA -- (Marketwired) -- 01/04/17 -- With its long history of serving the government and education sectors, Applied Voice & Speech Technologies, Inc. (AVST) is pleased to announce it has been awarded a multi-state contract by PEPPM, the national technology cooperative purchasing program. This PEPPM 2017 California contract is in addition to AVST's existing PEPPM Pennsylvania contract. Together, these contracts enable school districts, colleges, cities, counties, state governments, libraries, other public agencies and nonprofits to streamline the purchasing of AVST Unified Communications (UC) applications. PEPPM has been operated and administered by the Central Susquehanna Intermediate Unit for the past 35 years. The program reduces the time, effort and cost of purchasing technology products by eliminating the need for public agencies to bid. It ensures the most favorable pricing and complete bid protection. Under the PEPPM program, all 50 U.S. states can utilize these contracts to ease the purchasing of AVST's CX-E UC applications including voice messaging, unified messaging, mobile client, speech-enabled personal assistant, automated attendant, IVR, call center, and notification. "AVST has proven itself to be an excellent UC application provider to education and government agencies since 2013," said David Manney, Program Manager of the National PEPPM Technology Bidding and Purchasing Cooperative. "AVST has been a model for other suppliers to follow, providing reliable solutions at great discounted pricing, excellent service, and training throughout its previous contract terms." "With many of the largest government agencies, cities and universities relying on AVST's applications, we are pleased to be awarded this new contract to help streamline their procurement process," said Denny Michael, AVST Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing. PEPPM is one of several notable purchasing contracts AVST has in place. AVST has negotiated numerous cooperative purchasing contracts including GSA Schedule 70, NY OGS, Ohio State Schedule, and Texas DIR. For more information about AVST's applications for government and education, visit the company's website at www.avst.com. About AVST With more than 30 years of continuous innovation, Applied Voice & Speech Technologies, Inc. (AVST) is a trusted developer of software-based enterprise-class Unified Communications (UC) solutions. Our mission is to design, deliver and support communications solutions that transform the productivity of individual workers, teams and enterprises while leveraging the value of their existing and evolving IT infrastructure. Thousands of businesses worldwide rely on AVST to meet their mission-critical communications requirements, align their business with key trends and, with the world-class interoperability and flexibility of AVST's UC solutions, provide a bridge to their digital future. Headquartered in Orange County, California, AVST maintains facilities in Seattle, Washington, Victoria B.C., Canada and the United Kingdom and has remote sales offices throughout the United States. AVST's UC solutions are sold and supported worldwide by an extensive network of resellers and OEM partners. To learn more about AVST, our products and partners, please visit www.avst.com or you can follow us at Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn. Media Contact: Stephanie Olsen Lages & Associates (949) 453-8080 Email Contact BRASILIA (dpa-AFX) - Finland embarked on a two-year long experiment this week to make regular payments to the unemployed in a bid to modernize the social security system and to explore if a basic income would help to boost employment. The first stage of the Finnish basic income experiment, launched on January 1, involves 2,000 persons aged between 25 and 58, the country's Parliament-supervised social security institution, Kela said. Participants were selected from a random sample of existing jobless benefit recipients. They are set to receive a monthly income of EUR 560 for two years, in addition to existing welfare benefits. The first payment will be made on January 9. The basic income encourages recipients to seek employment, removes disincentives to work, and reduces bureaucracy, Marjukka Turunen, head of Kela's Legal Affairs Unit, said in a statement. Unemployed persons may not gain any additional income even if they find work because earnings reduce social benefits, Kela said. In the present social security system, Finns can reject a low-paying job or temporary work if that will reduce their welfare benefits drastically. The new income scheme allows the beneficiary to receive both the salary and the basic income even if they get a job. Thus, temporary or part-time work and self-employment will not affect basic income payments. Kela said the basic income also helps to reduce bureaucracy as the recipients do not have to report the number of hours they work or to fill in various forms. Further, the benefit also helps recipients to plan their finances and provides a sense of security, Turunen said. The tax-free payment will be made in advance at the beginning of each month and hence, the recipients can count on having at least that amount of money at their disposal. Currently, recipients of the labor market subsidy have to claim it afterwards. The latest experiment is the first step in a series of experiments testing various basic income solutions, Kela said. The institution will recommend an increase in the sample size in 2018 to include other persons with small incomes. Finland's unemployment rate was 9.4 percent in 2015 and 8.7 percent in 2014. In November, the figure was 8.1 percent. Universal basic income was often dismissed as an 'utopian' idea, for it found first mention in Thomas More's Utopia, a work of fiction and political philosophy published in 1516. Later, American political activist Thomas Paine suggested the idea of a 'citizen's dividend' or basic income for everyone in his 1795 essay Agrarian Justice. A darling for the Left to reduce poverty and inequality, the idea is being embraced by libertarians and some conservatives as they worry over rising unemployment in the era of robotic automation. The Belgium-based Basic Income Earth Network is an international network that serves as a link between individuals and groups committed to or interested in basic income. The think tank defines basic income as 'a periodic cash payment unconditionally delivered to all on an individual basis, without means test or work requirement.' Last June, Switzerland held a nationwide referendum on a basic monthly income for every resident, which was rejected overwhelmingly. Elsewhere in Europe, Scotland is set to trial universal basic income schemes in Fife and Glasgow later this year. The Netherlands also will carry out a two-year basic income scheme experiment in Utrecht and surrounding cities this year. The Italian coastal city of Livorno launched a scheme to provide a guaranteed basic income to the city's 100 poorest families in June last year. In Canada, Ontario's provincial government also announced plans to run a basic income pilot scheme. Meanwhile, Alaska's Permanent Fund Dividend is described as a working example of guaranteed basic income for all. Countries such as Brazil, India and Namibia have also tried similar localized basic income schemes. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Kostenloser Wertpapierhandel auf Smartbroker.de WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Voters want President-elect Donald Trump to focus on jobs and healing the country in his upcoming inaugural address, according to the results of a new Morning Consult/Politico poll. The poll found that 75 percent of voters think it is important for Trump to talk about bringing manufacturing jobs back from other countries and keeping manufacturing jobs in the U.S. Seventy-four percent of voters also said it is important for the president-elect to talk about healing the divisions in the country following a contentious election. A majority of voters also want to Trump to discuss appointing a new Supreme Court Justice, his efforts to structure his businesses to prevent potential conflicts of interest, and repealing Obamacare. Meanwhile, voters felt it was less important for Trump to talk about two of his more controversial proposals, banning Muslims from entering the country and building a border wall with Mexico. Forty-three percent of voters said they want Trump to talk about banning Muslims, while forty-one percent said it was important that he talk about building the border wall. Americans who identified as Trump voters were considerably more likely to say it is important that the president-elect discuss those issues. In light of Trump's frequent use of social media, the Morning Consult/Politico poll also examined voters' views on the most effective ways for the administration to communicate with people and the press. Eighty-four percent of voters said presidential speeches are an effective form of communication, while 83 percent said the same about press releases and statements. Morning Consult noted those traditional methods easily beat out newer methods, such as social media platforms Twitter and Facebook. Forty-six percent of voters said Facebook is an effective way for the president to communicate, and 44 percent said the same about Twitter. The Morning Consult/Politico survey of 2,000 registered voters was conducted December 28th and 29th and has a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Kostenloser Wertpapierhandel auf Smartbroker.de WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - A Miami college student has been sentenced to jail for cyberstalking a California woman she was obsessed with. 'An unwanted relationship was being pushed on a victim who ultimately felt terrorized by an obsessed individual she didn't even know,' said Assistant U.S. Attorney Jodi Anton, who supported the FBI during the investigation. Kassandra Cruz was completing her criminal justice degree at Florida International University. In June 2015, she became fixated on a woman she found on a pornography website and tracked down the actress through her social media accounts. FBI intervened and uncovered a trail of threats and extortion that led to her arrest in May 2016. In August 2016, Cruz was sentenced to 22 months in prison after having been found guilty of cyberstalking. 'Even while Cruz was being driven to jail, she still wanted to talk to the victim,' said Special Agent George Nau, who investigated the case out of the FBI's Miami Field Office. 'She was blinded by her obsession and oblivious to the impact of her crime.' 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. MOSCOW (dpa-AFX) - President-elect Donald Trump has supported Wikileaks founder Julian Assange in casting doubt on intelligence allegation that the Russian Government carried out cyber attacks targeting US general elections. Several US agencies including the FBI and the CIA believe Russia directed hacks against Democratic National Committee and the Hillary Clinton presidential campaign. The Director of National Intelligence confirmed that senior-level Russian officials were involved in the hacks of the emails of the Democratic Party and the campaign of its presidential candidate. Top Democratic Senators demanded a probe by a bipartisan commission on Russian role in the US election. Moscow, however, denied it. Trump had said last week that in the wake of the lingering controversy over alleged Russian interference in US politics, he would meet with leaders of the intelligence community in order to be updated on the facts of the allegation. But on Tuesday evening, the incoming President said the intelligence briefing on the so-called 'Russian hacking' was delayed until Friday. 'Perhaps more time needed to build a case. Very strange!,' he said on Twitter. On Wednesday, Assange told Fox News that a 14-year-old kid could have hacked Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta's computer, and denied Russia was the source for the site's mass leak of emails from the Democratic Party. Trump followed up on the issue with a series of tweets. 'Julian Assange said a 14 year old could have hacked Podesta - why was DNC so careless? Also said Russians did not give him the info!' And adding to Assange's criticism of the mainstream U.S. media for coverage of the Podesta emails, Trump said 'It's very dishonest....More dishonest than anyone knows.' Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Kostenloser Wertpapierhandel auf Smartbroker.de ELKO A midnight security check at a downtown bar led to the arrest of two alleged pot smokers. According to Police Lt. Ty Trouten, officers were doing a routine security check around midnight when they were overwhelmed by the smell of marijuana at Cowboys. Police confronted the two, who were lingering near the door just after midnight while others inside complained of the smell, said Trouten. Officers arrested Marcus Conner, 24, of Carlin and Stephany Dennis, 21, of Elko for smoking marijuana in public. When asked if he knew why they were charging him Connor reportedly said, I thought it was illegal but its the New Year. Trouten advised marijuana users to learn the laws of Nevada if they wish to partake of the substance. It is not legal to smoke marijuana in public, he said. He especially wanted to remind residents that smoking marijuana in your vehicle or driving while under the influence could result in arrest and penalty. Bail for Connor and Dennis is $740 each. ------- This story has been corrected to indicate the suspects were arrested shortly after midnight. OTTAWA, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 01/04/17 -- Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay announced today the appointment of Ms. Jennifer Hayes as Commissioner of the Canadian Dairy Commission (CDC). The appointment is for a three-year term effective January 3, 2017. Biographical notes are attached. Quick facts -- The CDC is a Crown Corporation established in 1966 to coordinate federal and provincial dairy policies and create a control mechanism for milk production aimed to avoid shortages and surpluses, and stabilize revenues. -- The CDC Board of Directors is appointed by the Government of Canada upon the recommendation of the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food. Quote "I am pleased to announce the appointment of Jennifer Hayes to the Canadian Dairy Commission. Jennifer's energy, talent and commitment to the Canadian dairy industry will be an asset to the Commission and her leadership and experience can serve as a model to young women considering a career in agriculture." -- Lawrence MacAulay, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Additional link Canadian Dairy Commission Biographical Note Jennifer Hayes Jennifer Hayes is a dairy and beef farmer on Quebec's Gaspe Peninsula. She is the third generation to farm at PineCrest Farms in Shigawake, which she co-owns with her father and uncle. Her farm is the most eastern dairy farm on the mainland in Quebec. Ms. Hayes has extensive governance experience as an active member of the UPA (L'Union des Producteurs Agricoles) and its specialized dairy, beef and local syndicates. Ms. Hayes holds an MBA from Concordia University and is actively engaged in rural development initiatives in her region. She has a particular interest in policies that strengthen the symbiotic relationship between rural communities and sustainable agriculture. Since 2012 she has acted as a Revitalization Agent at the MRC of Bonaventure, where she has accompanied rural municipalities in formalizing social and economic development plans, and elaborating essential community development projects. She is a skilled partnership broker incorporating partners from the private sector and multiple government agencies at the federal, provincial, regional and local levels. Ms. Hayes has two young daughters, aged 8 and 5 who she hopes will one day take their place beside her on the family farm. Follow us on Twitter: @AAFC_Canada Like us on Facebook: CanadianAgriculture Contacts: Guy Gallant Director of Communications Office of the Honourable Lawrence MacAulay 613-773-1059 Media Relations Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada Ottawa, Ontario 613-773-7972 1-866-345-7972 During JP Morgan Healthcare Conference San Francisco, January 9-11, 2017 Regulatory News: OSE Immunotherapeutics SA (Paris:OSE) (ISIN: FR0012127173; Mnemo: OSE), today announced that Dominique Costantini, CEO, will present an overview of the Company's business and will be available to participate in one-on-one meetings with investors at the Biotech Showcase 2017 to be held January 9-11, 2017, in San Francisco, CA. The details of OSE Immunotherapeutics' presentation are as follows: Event: Biotech Showcase 2017 Conference Date: Tuesday, January 10, 2017 Time: 10:00am (PT) 1:00pm (ET) Location: Room 3 (Ballroom level), Hilton San Francisco Union Square 333 O'Farrell Street The presentation will be webcast live and remain available for 3 months thereafter on https://event.webcasts.com/starthere.jsp?ei=1130361. ABOUT BIOTECH SHOWCASE Biotech Showcase is an investor and partnering conference devoted to providing private and public biotechnology and life sciences companies with an opportunity to present to, and meet with, investors and pharmaceutical executives 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. ABOUT OSE IMMUNOTHERAPEUTICS Our ambition is to become a world leader in activation and regulation immunotherapies OSE Immunotherapeutics is a biotechnology company focused on the development of innovative immunotherapies for immune activation and regulation in the fields of immuno-oncology, auto-immune diseases and transplantation. The company has a balanced portfolio of first-in-class products with a diversified risk profile ranging from clinical phase 3 registration trials to R&D: In immuno-oncology Tedopi, a combination of 10 optimized neo-epitopes to induce specific T activation in immuno-oncology - Currently in registration Phase 3 trial advanced NSCLC HLA A2+ patients EU /US Orphan Status in the US - Registration expected in 2020 a Phase 2 with Tedopi in combination with a checkpoint inhibitor in NSCLC is considered in 2017 to induce specific T activation in immuno-oncology - Orphan Status in the US in NSCLC is considered in 2017 Effi-DEM, new generation checkpoint inhibitor targeting the SIRP-a receptor In preclinical development for several cancer models. In auto-immune diseases and transplantation FR104, CD28-antagonist in immunotherapy Phase 1 trial completed - For the treatment of autoimmune diseases and for use with transplantation Licensed to Janssen Biotech Inc. to pursue clinical development. CD28-antagonist in immunotherapy - For the treatment of autoimmune diseases and for use with transplantation to pursue clinical development. Effi-7, interleukin receptor-7 antagonist In preclinical development for inflammatory bowel diseasesand other autoimmune diseases.License option agreement with Servierfor the development and commercialization. The portfolio's blockbuster potential gives OSE Immunotherapeutics the ability to enter global agreements at different stages of development with major pharmaceutical players. Immunotherapy is a highly promising and growing market. By 2023 Immunotherapy of cancer could represent nearly 60% of treatments against less than 3% at present and the projected market is estimated at $67 billion in 2018 **. There are more than 80 autoimmune diseases that represent a significant market including major players in the pharmaceutical industry with sales towards $10 billion for the main products. The medical need is largely unmet and requires the provision of new innovative products involved in the regulation of the immune system. *Citi Research Equity **BCC Research More information: http://ose-immuno.com Click and follow us on Twitter and Linkedln Forward-looking statements This press release contains express or implied information and statements that might be deemed forward-looking information and statements in respect of OSE Immunotherapeutics. They do not constitute historical facts. These information and statements include financial projections that are based upon certain assumptions and assessments made by OSE Immunotherapeutics' management in light of its experience and its perception of historical trends, current economic and industry conditions, expected future developments and other factors they believe to be appropriate. These forward-looking statements include statements typically using conditional and containing verbs such as "expect", "anticipate", "believe", "target", "plan", or "estimate", their declensions and conjugations and words of similar import. Although the OSE Immunotherapeutics management believes that the forward-looking statements and information are reasonable, the OSE Immunotherapeutics' shareholders and other investors are cautioned that the completion of such expectations is by nature subject to various risks, known or not, and uncertainties which are difficult to predict and generally beyond the control of OSE Immunotherapeutics. These risks could cause actual results and developments to differ materially from those expressed in or implied or projected by the forward-looking statements. These risks include those discussed or identified in the public filings made by OSE Immunotherapeutics with the AMF. Such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance. This press release includes only summary information and should be read with the OSE Immunotherapeutics Reference Document filed with the AMF on 8 June 2016 under the number R.16-052, the consolidated financial statements and the management report for the fiscal year 2015, as well as the Merger Document registered with the AMF on 26 April 2016 under number E.16-026, all available on the OSE Immunotherapeutics' website. Other than as required by applicable law, OSE Immunotherapeutics issues this press release at the date hereof and does not undertake any obligation to update or revise the forward-looking information or statements. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170104005697/en/ Contacts: OSE Immunotherapeutics Sylvie Detry, +33 143 297 857 sylvie.detry@ose-immuno.com or Contacts media: Alize RP Florence Portejoie Caroline Carmagnol, +33 647 389 004 oseimmuno@alizerp.com Regulatory News: Euronext (Paris:ENX) (Amsterdam:ENX) (Brussels:ENX) today announced that its Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) will take place on Wednesday 15 February 2017 at 11am CET, at Beursplein 5, 1012 JW Amsterdam, The Netherlands. The agenda for the meeting is as follows: 1. Opening 2. Proposal to approve the acquisition by Euronext N.V. of 100% of the issued share capital of Banque Centrale de Compensation S.A., trading as LCH.Clearnet S.A. (voting item) 3. Close The EGM will be conducted in English. Registration date Pursuant to Dutch law and Euronext N.V.'s Articles of Association, the persons who will be considered as entitled to attend and vote at the EGM are those persons who are registered as such in the administrations held by their financial intermediaries (the "Shareholders") on Wednesday 18 January 2017, after processing of all settlements on that date (the "Registration Date"). Registration Shareholders holding their shares through Euroclear France S.A. (i.e. the public) who wish to attend the EGM, provide instructions or grant a power of attorney to vote on their behalf, must complete the form (voting form attendance card request) provided for this purpose by their financial intermediary or by Euronext Securities Department BNP PARIBAS Securities Services. The Shareholders should be aware that these documents must be received, no later than Wednesday 8 February 2017 by their financial intermediary for receipt no later than Thursday 9 February 2017 by BNP Paribas Securities Service CTS Assemblees Generales, 9 rue du Debarcadere 93761 Pantin Cedex, France. The financial intermediary should deliver to the Shareholder a certificate of holding containing: name and city of residence of the Shareholder; number of shares; name and city of residence of the attendee (if different from the Shareholder) and declaration that the shares were in custody with the Euroclear France admitted institution on the Registration Date. This certificate will serve as the admission certificate for the EGM for the Shareholder. Shareholders holding their shares through Interbolsa in Portugal who wish to attend the EGM, provide instructions or grant a power of attorney to vote on their behalf, must complete the form (voting form attendance card request) provided for this purpose by Euronext Securities Department BNP PARIBAS Securities Services. The Shareholders should be aware that these documents must be received, no later than Wednesday 8 February 2017 by their financial intermediary for receipt no later than Thursday 9 February 2017 by BNP Paribas Securities Services, PT Local Team, Edificio ART'S Av. D. Joao II Lote 1.18.01, Bloco B, 1998-028 Lisboa, Portugal. The financial intermediary should deliver to the Shareholder a certificate of holding containing: name and city of residence of the Shareholder; number of shares on the Registration Date; name and city of residence of the attendee (if different from the Shareholder). This certificate will serve as admission certificate for the EGM for the Shareholder. We advise Shareholders to make contact with their financial intermediary for any questions. Persons without a valid admission certificate will not be given access to the meeting. Attendants may be asked for identification prior to being admitted. At the time of the publication of this convening notice, Euronext's total issued share capital in number of issued shares and in voting rights is published on Euronext's website: https://www.euronext.com/investors/share/capital-shareholding EGM Documentation The EGM Documentation (i.e. this convening notice, the agenda and the explanatory notes thereto and the Shareholder Presentation in relation to agenda item 2) is available: at the registered office of Euronext N.V.: Beursplein 5, 1012 JW Amsterdam, The Netherlands at the following addresses in Belgium: Euronext, Rue du Marquis, 1, bte 1 Markiesstraat 1, b1, 1000 Bruxelles 1000 Brussel, Belgium in France: Euronext, 14, place des Reflets, 92054 Paris La Defense Cedex, France in Portugal: Euronext, Av. da Liberdade, n. 196 7, 1250-147 Lisboa, Portugal in the United Kingdom: Euronext, Juxon House, 100 St Paul's Churchyard, London EC4M 8BU, United Kingdom on Euronext's website https://www.euronext.com/investors/general-meetings at BNP PARIBAS Securities Services CTS Assemblees Generales 9 rue du Debarcadere 93761 Pantin Cedex, France + 33 1 57 43 02 30 Managing Board and Supervisory Board of Euronext N.V. Beursplein 5, 1012 JW Amsterdam, The Netherlands Registered at the Dutch Chamber of Commerce, under number 60234520 About Euronext Euronext is the leading pan-European exchange in the Eurozone with more than 1 300 listed issuers worth close to 3.1 trillion in market capitalization as of end October 2016, an unmatched blue chip franchise consisting of 25 issuers in the EURO STOXX 50 benchmark and a strong diverse domestic and international client base. Euronext operates regulated and transparent equity and derivatives markets. Its total product offering includes Equities, Exchange Traded Funds, Warrants Certificates, Bonds, Derivatives, Commodities and Indices. Euronext also leverages its expertise in running markets by providing technology and managed services to third parties. Euronext operates regulated markets, Alternext and the Free Market; in addition it offers EnterNext, which facilitates SMEs' access to capital markets. For the latest news, find us on Twitter (twitter.com/euronext) and LinkedIn (linkedin.com/euronext). Disclaimer This press release is for information purposes only and is not a recommendation to engage in investment activities. This press release is provided "as is" without representation or warranty of any kind. While all reasonable care has been taken to ensure the accuracy of the content, Euronext does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness. Euronext will not be held liable for any loss or damages of any nature ensuing from using, trusting or acting on information provided. No information set out or referred to in this publication may be regarded as creating any right or obligation. The creation of rights and obligations in respect of financial products that are traded on the exchanges operated by Euronext's subsidiaries shall depend solely on the applicable rules of the market operator. All proprietary rights and interest in or connected with this publication shall vest in Euronext. This press release speaks only as of this date. Euronext refers to Euronext N.V. and its affiliates. Information regarding trademarks and intellectual property rights of Euronext is located at www.euronext.com/terms-use. 2017, Euronext N.V. All rights reserved. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170104006039/en/ Contacts: Euronext Analysts investors: Stephanie Bia, +33 1 70 48 24 17 sbia@euronext.com NEW YORK, NY -- (Marketwired) -- 01/04/17 -- Emmy Award-winning tech expert, Katie Linendoll, is launching her tech gadget reviews on Facebook Live at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week on "Katie Show LIVE." Linendoll is known for producing first-look technology stories and showcasing the latest tech gear in exclusive gadget roundups for nationally syndicated shows like, "Today," "The View," "FOX & Friends," "FOX Tech Take," "The Weather Channel's AMHQ," and "HLN Weekend Express," to name just a few. What viewers don't usually see is the rigorous review and testing process that Linendoll puts the tech gadgets through before they make the cut on to one of her segments. "The number of requests that I receive daily from companies and entrepreneurs to have me review their products, is exciting but overwhelming at times," admits Linendoll. "I don't think people realize how much work goes on behind the scenes to review these gadgets. At the same time, I'd love to be more accessible to both tech enthusiasts and entrepreneurs alike, so I'm taking my review sessions online to Facebook Live so consumers can participate in the review process and give me their feedback in real time." Linendoll's tech podcast "Katie (dot) Show" (www.katie.show) successfully launched last spring on Apple's iTunes and quickly became one of the highest ranking technology shows in the world earning several featured status spots. Her podcast is a more in-depth look at some of her recent projects, such as when she recently moderated an event for Apple and interviewed Nintendo legend, Shigeru Miyamoto, who created and developed "Super Mario," traveled to Iceland to interview Hordur Arnarson, CEO of Landsvirkjun, the company pioneering Iceland's electricity via geothermal energy and the insider interview she had with Matt Lauer from NBC's "Today" show that was ultimately featured on Apple iTunes. "The podcast has been a great opportunity for me to dive deeper into the technology stories that I usually have only 3-5 minutes to review or discuss on a television segment," said Linendoll. "Katie Show LIVE on Facebook Live will give audiences a front row seat into the daily life of my business, which is testing all the tech that I'm pitched on daily basis. Facebook has a powerful platform with its live feature and it's the perfect place to showcase a side of my business that the public rarely gets to see." Linendoll is constantly advising audiences to leverage technology in a way that can make their daily lives easier, and says this new endeavor with "Katie Show LIVE" on Facebook Live is her way of taking her own advice. "I've consulted with so many businesses and recommended that they strike on this platform while it's hot, and then I realized that I should be doing the same," said Linendoll. "Using Facebook Live, I'll be going live with review sessions, anytime, anywhere and allowing my audience the opportunity to share their input and ask questions instantly. This kind of instant feedback for companies and entrepreneurs is extremely valuable, and using this live technology is right up my alley." Companies and entrepreneurs can submit their tech gadgets for review at www.facebook.com/katie.linendoll by direct messaging Linendoll on her page. Linendoll will launch her "Katie Show LIVE" tech review at CES in Las Vegas, Jan. 5-8. Audiences who have liked Linendoll's Facebook page will receive her Facebook LIVE alerts and can then watch and give instant feedback, asking Linendoll questions as she reviews gadgets in real time. ABOUT KATIE LINENDOLL Katie Linendoll is an Emmy Award-winning TV personality, writer, tech expert and global tech consultant. Known for her first-look technology stories and gadget roundups, Linendoll is one of the most in-demand tech personalities in the country. Linendoll is the former host of "All Access Weekly" on Spike TV and A&E's "We Mean Business." She has also written for ESPN the Magazine, ESPN.com, PopSugar Tech, Shape Magazine, Today.com, CBS.com, Huffington Post, Popular Science and other national publications. As a techie since childhood she earned her networking certificates before graduating high school. Linendoll then went on to earn her Bachelor of Science degree in information technology new media from Rochester Institute of Technology before launching her professional career with ESPN. At age 22, she won her first Emmy Award for her work on "SportsCenter." Like Katie Linendoll at www.facebook.com/katie.linendoll, subscribe to "Katie (dot) Show" at www.katie.show and follow on Twitter at @KatieLinendoll. Image Available: http://www2.marketwire.com/mw/frame_mw?attachid=3095557 Media Contact: Amy Summers Pitch Publicity 212-757-3419 Email Contact Regulatory News: Adocia (Paris:ADOC) (Euronext Paris: FR0011184241 ADOC), a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focused on diabetes treatment with innovative formulations of approved proteins, announces today its financial calendar for 2017. February 14, 2017: Publication of revenue for Q4 2016 and 2016 full year. March 7, 2017: Publication of 2016 financial statements (Reference Document will be released during Q2 2017). April 18, 2017: Publication of revenue for Q1 2017. June 27, 2017: Annual shareholders' meeting. July 19, 2017: Publication of mid-year financial statements as of June 30, 2017. October 13, 2017: Publication of revenue for Q3 2017. In addition to regular meetings with the financial community, investors are recommended to consult the regularly updated information available on the company's website (www.adocia.com). All corporate information on the company such as its financial statements, corporate presentation and its articles of association is available on the company's website, in the section Financials-Investors Sections , Regulated Information . About ADOCIA: Adocia is a clinical-stage biotechnology company that specializes in the development of innovative formulations of already-approved therapeutic proteins. Adocia's insulin formulation portfolio, featuring four clinical-stage products and one preclinical product, is among the largest and most differentiated in the industry. The proprietary BioChaperone technological platform is designed to enhance the effectiveness and/or safety of therapeutic proteins while making them easier for patients to use. Adocia customizes BioChaperone to each protein for a given application in order to address specific patient needs. Adocia's clinical pipeline includes four novel insulin formulations for the treatment of diabetes: two ultra-rapid formulations of insulin analogs (BioChaperone Lispro U100 and U200), a rapid-acting formulation of human insulin (HinsBet U100) and a combination of basal insulin glargine and rapid-acting insulin lispro (BioChaperone Combo). Adocia is also developing an aqueous formulation of human glucagon (BioChaperone Human Glucagon), two combinations of insulin glargine with GLP-1s (BioChaperone Glargine Dulaglutide and BioChaperone Glargine Liraglutide) and a concentrated, rapid-acting formulation of human insulin (HinsBet U500), all of which are in preclinical development. In December 2014, Adocia signed a partnership with Eli Lilly for the development and commercialization of the BioChaperone Lispro projects. Adocia aims to deliver "Innovative medicine for everyone, everywhere." To learn more about Adocia, please visit us at www.adocia.com View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170104006060/en/ Contacts: Adocia Gerard Soula Chairman and CEO contactinvestisseurs@adocia.com Ph. +33 4 72 610 610 or Adocia Press Relations Europe MC Services AG Raimund Gabriel adocia@mc-services.eu Ph. +49 89 210 228 0 or Adocia Investor Relations USA The Ruth Group Tram Bui tbui@theruthgroup.com Ph.: +1 646 536 7035 Regulatory News: ABIVAX (Paris:ABVX) (Euronext Paris: FR0012333284 ABVX), an innovative biotechnology company targeting the immune system to eliminate viral disease, today announced that Prof. Hartmut Ehrlich, M.D., CEO of ABIVAX, will present at the Biotech Showcase Annual Conference to be held in San Francisco (CA, United States) on January 9 11, 2017 at the Hilton San Francisco Union Square Hotel. Biotech Showcase is an investor and partnering conference devoted to providing private and public biotechnology and life sciences companies with an opportunity to present to, and meet with, investors and pharmaceutical executives in one place during the course of one of the industry's largest annual healthcare investor conferences, J.P. Morgan Annual Healthcare Conference. Prof. Hartmut Ehrlich will present at the Biotech Showcase as follows: Date: Tuesday, January 10, 2017 Time: 10:00 am (PST) Track: Room 7 (Ball room) Venue: Hilton San Francisco Union Square Hotel 333 O'Farrell Street, San Francisco, CA (United States) About ABIVAX (www.abivax.com) ABIVAX is an innovative biotechnology company focused on targeting the immune system to eliminate viral disease. ABIVAX leverages three technology platforms for drug discovery: an anti-viral, an immune enhancement, and a polyclonal antibody platform. ABX464, its most advanced compound, is currently in Phase II clinical trials for providing a functional cure for patients with HIV/AIDS. It is a first-in-class oral small anti-viral molecule which blocks HIV replication through a unique mechanism of action and also has a strong anti-inflammatory effect. In addition, ABIVAX is advancing a clinical stage immune enhancer as well as multiple preclinical candidates against additional viral targets (i.e. Chikungunya, Ebola, Dengue), and several of these compounds are planned to enter clinical development within the next 18 months. ABIVAX is listed on Euronext compartment B (ISIN: FR0012333284 Mnemo: ABVX). More information on the company is available at www.abivax.com. Follow us on Twitter @ABIVAX_ View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170104006119/en/ Contacts: ABIVAX Finance Didier Blondel didier.blondel@abivax.com +33 1 53 83 08 41 or Communication Agency ALIZE RP Caroline Carmagnol/Margaux Pronost abivax@alizerp.com +33 6 64 18 99 59 +33 1 44 54 36 65 or Investors LifeSci Advisors Chris Maggos chris@lifesciadvisors.com +41 79 367 6254 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. DETROIT, MI--(Marketwired - January 04, 2017) - Say good riddance to your old career goals, start the New Year with a mission to renew, refocus and rewrite your career destiny. Renew, your outlook about the job search process by thinking positive to receive amazing results. The mindset of job seekers can sometimes hinder their ability to get hired. Try to manifest a winning attitude in 2017. Refocus, your career path direction by discovering transferable skills that can be applied to another career field. If you have spent 2016 knocking on doors for a same position with no luck, it is time to explore your skills and talents and apply them to a new career field. To identify yours skills, take a FREE Skills Assessment on the Career One Stop website at https://www.careeronestop.org Rewrite, your resume and cover letter upgrade the content and format of your resume. Instead of the standard chronological format try a functional format; also referred to as a skills profile, this style allows you to focus more on your skill sets. It allows you to choose which skill categories you want to emphasize and showcase. If your resume was written previously by a friend or family member it is time to seek the advice of a qualified professional that specializes in resume writing or career coaching. In 2017, make your presence known to recruiters and employers; hundreds of people use social media to broadcast who they are and what they can do. Use Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook to connect with the world. If you are currently a customer service representative, in 2017 become an expert in customer service. Post a weekly Facebook Live video provide the Top 5 Customer Service Tip. Build your professional brand and notify the world you are available for employment opportunities. Do something noteworthy in your community that will garner special recognition and build your positive reputation in your career field. Take advantage of free and low-cost programs to enhance your credentials. Participate in workshops that provide a certificate in your career field, Oakland Community College and Macomb Community College offer short-term certificate degree programs. Walden University has 75 Online Degree Programs, you can apply what you learn to your career. Review their website for more details at https://www.waldenu.edu/jobfairgiant. Global Information Technology offers several Information Technology (IT) Certification courses for candidates interested in lucrative careers in the growing IT industry. Review their website for more details at http://www.global-itech.com/contact.php. These programs are added credentials for professionals seeking to boost their career or retrain for a new career field. Volunteer your talent to the right company and discover new opportunities. Ever heard of pro bono work? Take-on a consulting contract, internships are not just for high schools or college kids. If you have the education for the job but lack the work experience volunteer for the position to build your work history. Only volunteer for the position you have interest in gaining experience in. Example: Bachelor's Degree in Accounting volunteer as an Accounting Assistant. You can add this title to your resume with a description of task performed. Image Available: http://www.marketwire.com/library/MwGo/2017/1/4/11G126467/Images/IMG_2091_300X300-4d5b7461ffe8af6c87ba371cd4dc5245.jpg Media Contact: By: CJ Eason The Job Doctor with JobFairGiant.com Telephone 734-956-4550 cj@jobfairgiant.com TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 01/04/17 -- Minsud Resources Corp. (TSX VENTURE: MSR) ("Minsud" or the "Company") completed 59 HQ diamond drill holes totaling 9,114 metres ("m") in 2011, 2014, 2015 and 2016 in the southern Chita Porphyry sector of the Chita Valley Project (see earlier press releases dated September 6, 2011, January 26, 2012, June 30, 2014, November 4. 2014, December 10, 2015 and November 1, 2016). Four historical holes completed in 1969, three holes from 1976 and one RC hole from 1996, most of which have been re-sampled and re-analyzed by Minsud, are added to the drilling database. The total database utilized for the updated Mineral Resource Estimate includes 66 core holes and 1 reverse circulation hole totaling 10,158 m and 150 m, respectively for a combined total of 10,308 m (see table below). The drill holes tested a substantial zone of Cu-Au-Ag-Mo mineralized multi-stage vein systems and hydrothermal breccias. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- DRILL HOLE DATABASE SUMMARY ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Drilling Type # Drill Metres of # Cu # Au # Ag # Mo Holes Drilling Assays Assays Assays Assays ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Historical Drill Holes 8 1,198 775 75 75 699 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2011 Minsud Drill Holes 3 880 877 877 877 877 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2014 Minsud Drill Holes 24 3,111 1,530 1,530 1,530 1,530 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2015 Minsud Drill Holes 20 3,419 1,669 1,669 1,669 1,669 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2016 Minsud Drill Holes 12 1,700 962 962 962 962 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Total 67 10,308 5,813 5,113 5,113 5,737 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- In March 2015, Minsud retained P&E Mining Consultants Inc. ("P&E") of Brampton, Ontario to review project data and prepare a Technical Report that complied with Canadian National Instrument 43-101 standards. The report included an initial Mineral Resource Estimate at a 0.3% Cu cut-off of 18.3 million tonnes averaging 0.44% Cu, 0.07 g/t Au, 2.4 g/t Ag and 0.019% Mo estimated under the CIM definition standards. In October 2015, Minsud again retained P&E to review more recently obtained project data and prepare an updated Technical Report and updated Mineral Resource Estimate. The second report included Mineral Resource Estimate at a 0.3% Cu cut-off of 31.5 million tonnes averaging 0.45% Cu, 0.07 g/t Au, 2.2 g/t Ag and 0.017% Mo estimated under the CIM definition standards(3). All mineral resources were classified as Inferred category. The Technical Reports dated June 19, 2015 and February 1, 2016 are publically filed under the Company's profile at www.sedar.com. In December 2016, Minsud again retained P&E Mining Consultants Inc. to prepare an updated Mineral Resource Estimate. In P&E's opinion, the drilling, assaying and exploration work of the Chita Porphyry supporting this Mineral Resource Estimate are sufficient to indicate a reasonable potential for economic extraction. All Mineral Resources at a 0.3% Cu cut-off were classified as Inferred category based on the geological interpretation, semi-variogram performance and drill hole spacing. The Mineral Resource Estimate is tabulated below. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- CHITA IN PIT MINERAL RESOURCE ESTIMATE STATEMENT(1-4) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- All Inferred Mineral Resource at 0.3% Cu Cut-off ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Contained Tonnes Cu % Cu M lb Au g/t Ag g/t Mo % ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 37.0 0.44 362.7 0.07 2.2 0.018 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- (1) Mineral resources which are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. The estimate of mineral resources may be materially affected by environmental, permitting, legal, title, taxation, socio-political, marketing, or other relevant issues. It is noted that no specific issues have been identified as yet. (2) The quantity and grade of reported Inferred resources in this estimation are uncertain in nature and there has been insufficient exploration to define these Inferred resources as an Indicated or Measured Mineral Resource and it is uncertain if further exploration will result in upgrading them to an Indicated or Measured mineral resource category. (3) The mineral resources in this report were estimated using the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM), CIM Standards on Mineral Resources and Reserves, Definitions and Guidelines prepared by the CIM Standing Committee on Reserve Definitions and adopted by the CIM Council. (4) The 0.30% Cu resource cut-off grade was derived from the Nov 30/16 three year trailing average Cu price of US$2.63/lb, 80% process recovery, 95% smelter payable, US$0.08/lb refining charge, US$10/t process cost, and US$3/t G&A cost. An optimized pit shell was utilized for resource reporting that utilized a US$2/t mining cost and 45 degree pit slopes. Mineral resources are sensitive to the selection of a reporting Cu cut-off grade. The Chita pit constrained mineral resource sensitivity of the Cu cut-off is demonstrated in the following table and illustrated in Figure 1 below. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- CHITA PIT CONSTRAINED MINERAL RESOURCE ESTIMATE SENSITIVITY ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Contained Cu Cut-off Tonnes Cu % Cu M lb Au g/t Ag g/t Mo % ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 0.80% 0.9 0.99 20.5 0.21 11.8 0.012 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 0.70% 1.8 0.87 34.8 0.20 9.3 0.014 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 0.60% 3.8 0.75 63.0 0.15 6.5 0.016 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 0.50% 8.5 0.64 118.8 0.11 4.4 0.017 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 0.45% 13.0 0.58 166.6 0.10 3.6 0.017 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 0.40% 19.6 0.53 227.5 0.09 3.0 0.018 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 0.35% 28.8 0.48 303.5 0.08 2.5 0.018 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 0.30% 37.0 0.44 362.7 0.07 2.2 0.018 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 0.25% 40.9 0.43 386.5 0.07 2.1 0.018 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- To view Figure 1, please visit the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/msr0104fig1.pdf. The mineralized sections include disseminated sulphides as well as A, B and D-type veins hosted by multiple stages of epizonal intrusions and hydrothermal breccias. The complex mineralization styles are not conducive to the classical concepts of true thickness measurement, therefore vertical thickness determinations that would conform to conceptual pit design parameters are used instead. Lithological units (Map 1), alteration patterns (Map 2) and a typical cross section (Map 3) are shown in the following diagrams. All pertinent lithological, alteration and magnetic features extend beyond the current drilling pattern. All Company core samples and check samples of historical drilling were submitted to either the Alex Stewart Argentina S.A. or the ALS Minerals Laboratories in Mendoza, Argentina for preparation and analysis. Both are certified to ISO-9001 international standards. All samples were analyzed for Au by fire assay/ AA finish, 50 or 30 g, plus a 33-element ICP scan. Minsud followed industry standard procedures for the work with a quality assurance/quality control (QA/QC) program. Field duplicates, standards and blanks were included with all sample shipments to the principal laboratory. A representative selection of pulps have also been submitted to ISO-9001 certified referee laboratory, Alex Stewart (Assayers) Argentina SA in Mendoza for analysis. Minsud's company QP, Mr. Howard Coates, P. Geo., conducted site visits and detected no significant QA/QC issues during review of the data. In addition P&E geologist and Independent QP, Mr. David Burga, P. Geo., conducted site visits and collected suites of field duplicate core samples for verification purposes in March and November, 2015. Again there were no significant issues. To view Map 1, please visit the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/msr0104map1.pdf. To view Map 2, please visit the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/msr0104map2.pdf. To view Map 3, please visit the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/msr0104map3.pdf. A third international laboratory Bondar Clegg Co. Ltd. merged with ALS Chemex the predecessor of ALS Minerals in December, 2001. The 1996 Bondar Clegg analytical data (for the single historical RC drill hole) is believed to be of the highest standards of the time, which predates the implementation of ISO/IEC 17025 standards. A fourth lab, historically operated by DGFM a department of the Government of Argentina, also predates ISO/IEC 17025 standards. This laboratory analyzed the DGFM core drilling from seven holes from 1969 and 1976. A total of 305 pulp samples were acquired by the Company in 2007 and submitted to the Alex Stewart Argentina S.A. This work predates the involvement of the in-house QP in the project. However, the QP has examined the remaining core and the 2007 analytical certificates without noting significant issues. The data is therefore considered to be adequate for current purposes of supporting an Inferred Mineral Resource Estimate. Minsud is encouraged by the generally consistent elevated concentrations of Cu, Ag and Mo as well as the more localized anomalous Au values. With maximum elevation in the sector below 3,100 m ASL (meters above mean sea level) field conditions are benign on a year round basis and no active alpine glaciers are possible below approximately 4,100 m ASL. Minsud plans to continue investigating the commercial possibilities for processing and recovering the key metals while at the same time conducting additional outline and definition drilling to further delimit the deposit and evaluate the grade distribution of the mineralization. Mr. Howard Coates, P.Geo., Director of the Company and a geological consultant, is a Qualified Person as defined by Canadian National Instrument 43-101. Mr. Eugene Puritch, P.Eng, President of P&E Mining Consultants Inc. and an Independent Qualified Person along with Mr. Coates have both reviewed and approved the contents of this news release. Carlos Massa, Minsud's President & CEO, states: "We are very pleased with the results of the modest but effective 2016 exploration program, highlighted by an approximate 17% increase of in-pit Inferred Mineral Resource over the 2015 Resource Estimate." About the Chita Valley Project, San Juan Province: The Chita Valley Project (the "Project") is a large exploration stage porphyry situation with classic alteration features, widespread porphyry style Cu-Mo-Ag-Au mineralization, and associated gold and silver-bearing polymetallic veins. San Juan Province has a robust mining sector and recognizes the important economic benefits of responsible development of its substantial mineral resource endowment. About Minsud Resources Corp.: Minsud is a mineral exploration company focused on exploring its flagship Chita Valley Cu-Mo-Au-Ag Project, in the Province of San Juan, Argentina. The Company also holds a 100% owned portfolio of selected early stage prospects, including 18,000 has in Santa Cruz Province, Argentina. CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION: This news release includes certain information that may constitute forward-looking information under applicable Canadian securities laws. Forward-looking information includes, but is not limited to, statements about strategic plans, spending commitments, future operations, results of exploration, anticipated financial results, future work programs, capital expenditures and objectives. Forward-looking information is 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 information including, but not limited to: fluctuations in the currency markets (such as the Canadian dollar, Argentina peso, and the U.S. dollar); changes in national and local government, legislation, taxation, controls, regulations and political or economic developments in Canada and Argentina or other countries in which the Corporation may carry on business in the future; operating or technical difficulties in connection with exploration and development activities; risks and hazards associated with the business of mineral exploration and development (including environmental hazards or industrial accidents); risks relating to the credit worthiness or financial condition of suppliers and other parties with whom the Company does business; presence of laws and regulations that may impose restrictions on mining, including those currently enacted in Argentina; employee relations; relationships with and claims by local communities; availability and increasing costs associated with operational inputs and labour; the speculative nature of mineral exploration and development, including the risks of obtaining necessary licenses, permits and approvals from government authorities; business opportunities that may be presented to, or pursued by, the Company; challenges to, or difficulty in maintaining, the Company's title to properties; risks relating to the Company's ability to raise funds; and the factors identified under "Risk Factors" in the Company's Filing Statement dated April 27, 2011. 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. All forward-looking-information contained in this news release is given as of the date hereof and is based upon the opinions and estimates of management and information available to management as at the date hereof. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by 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: Minsud Resources Corp. Carlos Massa President and Chief Executive Officer +54-11-4328-4067 info@minsud.com Minsud Resources Corp. Mike Johnston 416-479-4466 mike@minsud.com WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Looking to follow through on a key campaign promise, Vice President-elect Mike Pence said Wednesday repealing the Affordable Care Act will be President-elect Donald Trump's first order of business after taking office later this month. Pence said Trump would keep his promise to the American people to repeal the law known as Obamacare and replace it with a system that will lower the cost of health insurance without growing the size of government. The comments from Pence came after he met with Republicans on Capitol Hill to discuss plans to repeal and replace the controversial healthcare reform law. Republicans have offered few details on their Obamacare replacement, but Pence pledged an 'orderly and smooth transition' to a 'market-based' health insurance system. House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., spoke along with Pence and promised Republicans would not 'pull the rug out' from anyone. 'Once we repeal this law, we need to make sure that there is a stable transition to a truly patient-centered system,' Ryan said. 'We want every American to have access to quality, affordable health coverage.' He added, 'All of the things Obamacare has kept from the American people-more choices, more control, more freedom-we want to put them back in their hands.' Meanwhile, Democrats argued the GOP plan to repeal Obamacare would create chaos instead of affordable care for millions of Americans. Democrats claimed the Republican plan would kick 30 million Americans off their insurance and result in huge increases in the costs of insurance and prescription drugs. 'The republican plan to cut healthcare wouldn't make America great again, it would make America sick again,' said new Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., 'It would lead to chaos instead of affordable care.' He added, 'Republicans would create calamity in the healthcare system because they are stuck between a rock and a hard place, and have no idea what to put in place of the affordable care act.' The remarks by Schumer came after President Barack Obama met with Congressional Democrats to discuss ways to preserve his signature legislative achievement. (Photo: Gage Skidmore) 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. ABBOTT PARK, Illinois, Jan. 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Abbott (NYSE: ABT)announced today it has completed the acquisition of St. Jude Medical, Inc., establishing the company as a leader in the medical device arena. The transaction provides Abbott with expanded opportunities for future growth and is an important part of the company's ongoing effort to develop a strong, diverse portfolio of devices, diagnostics, nutritionals and branded generic pharmaceuticals. "Abbott has a strong track record of successfully integrating dozens of businesses on a global scale and accelerating growth," said Miles D. White, chairman and chief executive officer, Abbott. "The addition of St. Jude Medical strengthens our global medical device leadership while offering innovative products to address more areas of care, in more physicians' offices and hospitals around the world." Pursuant to the terms of the Merger Agreement, upon completion of the acquisition, St. Jude Medical became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Abbott. As a result of the completion of the acquisition, Jan. 4, 2017, was the last day of trading of St. Jude Medical shares on the New York Stock Exchange. Strategic Fit St. Jude Medical's strong positions in fast-growing areas such as atrial fibrillation, heart failure, structural heart and chronic pain complement Abbott's leading positions in coronary interventions and mitral valve disease. Together, the company will compete in nearly every area of the $30 billion cardiovascular market and hold the No. 1 or 2 positions across large and high-growth cardiovascular device markets. This leading combined portfolio will have the depth, breadth, scale and innovation to help patients restore their health, improve outcomes and deliver greater value to customers and payors. Furthermore, the acquisition balances and strengthens the Abbott portfolio, which includes leading positions across all of its four core businesses. Breakthrough Invention Abbott will have a powerful pipeline across cardiovascular and neuromodulation patient care ready to deliver next-generation medical technologies and offer improved efficiencies for health care systems around the world. In fact, Abbott will continue to bring numerous new products to key markets during the coming years, including: EnSite Precision ' (which received U.S. FDA approval last month) next-generation cardiac mapping system to visualize and navigate catheters in the heart during ablation procedures (which received U.S. FDA approval last month) next-generation cardiac mapping system to visualize and navigate catheters in the heart during ablation procedures ConfirmRx ' Implantable Cardiac Monitor to help physicians remotely diagnose and treat the most difficult to detect cardiac arrhythmias Implantable Cardiac Monitor to help physicians remotely diagnose and treat the most difficult to detect cardiac arrhythmias HeartMate 3 , which offers physicians more options for patients with advanced stage heart failure , which offers physicians more options for patients with advanced stage heart failure Portico ' Transcatheter Aortic Heart Valves for patients with severe aortic stenosis - the narrowing of the aortic valve that obstructs blood flow from the heart Transcatheter Aortic Heart Valves for patients with severe aortic stenosis - the narrowing of the aortic valve that obstructs blood flow from the heart Proclaim ' DRG system and other stimulation waveform technologies to provide more options for patients with chronic pain DRG system and other stimulation waveform technologies to provide more options for patients with chronic pain Absorb', the world's first bioresorbable coronary stent and MitraClip, the world's first transcatheter mitral-valve repair device in additional countries "We continue to deliberately shape our business for long-term success by securing leadership positions in attractive markets and focusing on customer needs," said Mr. White. "This philosophy has served as the foundation for significant and sustainable value creation for our shareholders. The addition of St. Jude Medical creates one of the broadest medical device portfolios in the world and provides a steady stream of new technologies and therapies for many years to come." About Abbott Abbott is a global healthcare company devoted to improving life through the development of products and technologies that span the breadth of healthcare. With a portfolio of leading, science-based offerings in diagnostics, medical devices, nutritionals and branded generic pharmaceuticals, Abbott serves people in more than 150 countries and employs approximately 74,000 people. Visit Abbott at www.abbott.com and connect with us on Twitter at @AbbottNews. - Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 - A Caution Concerning Forward-Looking Statements Some statements in this news release may be forward-looking statements for purposes of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Abbott cautions that these forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements, including but not limited to the ability of Abbott to successfully integrate St. Jude Medical's operations, and the ability of Abbott to implement its plans, forecasts and other expectations with respect to St. Jude Medical's business and realize expected synergies. Economic, competitive, governmental, technological and other factors that may affect Abbott's and St. Jude Medical's operations are discussed in Item 1A, "Risk Factors,' in each of Abbott's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended Dec. 31, 2015, and St. Jude Medical's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended Jan. 2, 2016, respectively, and under the heading "Risk Factors" in Abbott's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2016, and St. Jude Medical's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the fiscal quarter ended April 2, 2016, which are incorporated by reference. Abbott undertakes no obligation to release publicly any revisions to forward-looking statements as a result of subsequent events or developments, except as required by law. Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150928/271488LOGO LONDON, Jan. 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --Further to therelease of 24 October 2016, in whichVTTI BV, VTTI Energy Partners LP, (NYSE: VTTI) (together "VTTI") and Vitol stated that Buckeye Partners, L.P. ("Buckeye") had signed a definitive agreement to acquire a 50 percent equity interest in the holding company of VTTI, we today announce that the transaction has been completed. The joint shareholding of Buckeye and Vitol will add greater strategic value to VTTI and will further strengthen VTTI's position as a leading independent provider of energy storage solutions. About VTTI BV VTTI BV is a fee-based, growth-oriented business formed to own, operate, develop and acquire refined petroleum product and crude oil terminalling and related energy infrastructure assets on global scale. VTTI BV's assets include interests in a broad-based portfolio of terminals that are strategically located throughout the world with a combined total storage capacity of 54 million barrels including assets under construction. On 1 August 2014, VTTI Energy Partners LP began trading on the New York Stock Exchange as a master limited partnership (MLP). For more information: http://www.vtti.com/ http://www.vttienergypartners.com About Vitol Vitol is an energy and commodities company; its primary business is the trading and distribution of energy products globally - it trades over 6mbpd of crude oil and products and, at any time, has 200 ships transporting its cargoes. Vitol's clients include national oil companies, multinationals, leading industrial and chemical companies and the world's largest airlines. Founded in Rotterdam in 1966, today Vitol serves clients from some 40 offices worldwide and is invested in energy assets globally including; circa 15.5mm3 of storage across six continents, 390kbpd of refining capacity and Shell-branded downstream businesses in 16 African countries, as well as Australia. Revenues in 2015 were $168 billion. For more information: www.vitol.com. For more information: Vitol: Andrea Schlaepfer T: +44 (0)207 973 4230 M: +44 (0)7525 403796 acs@vitol.com VTTI: Lisanne Kosters M: +31(0)652526405 lis@vtti.com Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20141031/155895LOGO In the Malayalam film industry actors Vijay Babu and Sandra Thomas were known to be close friends. The duo were partners in a production company, Friday Film House, and when Sandra tied the knot with Wilson John Thomas (the owner of an event management company) in July 2016, Vijay was one of the guests. "Today is my best friend's wedding," Vijay proclaimed in a Facebook post, that had a picture of him hugging Sandra. "(Here's wishing) the best to Sandra and Wilson! God bless (you both)." A mere six months after that exuberant post, Vijay stands accused of assaulting Sandra. As per reports carried by several leading news outlets, the police registered a case against Vijay Babu after Sandra alleged that he physically assaulted her on the premises of their office in Elamakkara. Police sources were quoted as saying that Sandra was recuperating in a private hospital from her injuries. The police did not state what motives Sandra ascribed to Vijay for attacking her. A Facebook post that was put by Vijay after news of the case broke indicated that a business dispute had come between the two former friends. "A fake case has been filed against me by my most trusted partner and her husband for the sake for taking over (our) business property, which I disputed," Vijay wrote. The turn of events marks a turnaround from the time Vijay and Sandra first set up their company. At the time, Vijay had said in an interview, "I found the spark in Sandra. At that point, I was...on the lookout for the ideal business partner. For me, partnership is all about complementing each other's strengths and weaknesses. I found that Sandra and I have the same wavelengths and we complement each other too. I'm good with the profit side while Sandra is good at negotiating with people." How the dispute will be resolved is anyone's guess at present; what seems certain is that the Sandra-Vijay partnership will have ended for good. Gauri Shinde laughs a lot. Even while discussing issues as grave as the stigma surrounding therapy and the mandatory deification of parents in Indian society, she punctuates her comments including the most ruminative ones with hearty chuckles and bursts of unbridled laughter. Come to think of it, this is perhaps the best way to deal with a season in which your film is a box-office success but has irritated conservatives. Shindes Dear Zindagi her second film, the first being English Vinglish has become a hit despite its unconventional theme and the way it breaks Bollywood tradition by having a male megastar play second fiddle to a female star. Here is the writer-director-producer in a conversation about Alia Bhatt, Shah Rukh Khan, therapy and offended parents. Excerpts: Do you believe in genres? If yes, what genre does Dear Zindagi belong to? I never know how to slot a film, especially this. When people say slice of life and coming of age it limits the film, its objective or purpose. So I dont know. Because we know a few genres I think maybe it can come under human drama. If only we had a new genre called life stories How about the life as it happens genre? Life as it happens. Ya, thats a nicer one. So what is Dear Zindagis objective and purpose? The main one is to connect or reconnect with yourself in a meaningful way. Somewhere we forget why we are and what we are. So its to go back in time and find the source of whatever is blocking you from living to your fullest potential, through a friend, a close connection with someone, through therapy, ya. I wanted to communicate this and many other things without being preachy, and Ive left it fluid for anyone to take what they want. How would you assess Alia as an artist? Shes free, fearless, raw, instinctive. Shes such a natural. Theres no strategy, no theory, no intellectualisation. Another amazing thing is, she is attractive and pretty but that never hampers her performance. When she performs, she doesnt even look in the mirror, she just trusts you. How did you convince Shah Rukh to do a film in which he appears 40-plus minutes into the film? Fifty, actually. The great thing is, I dont think he was concerned about the number of minutes. He just liked the subject and was on board. I dont think he even cared that he is not the lead. I was happily surprised. Actually not so surprised because of the way he has been, it didnt seem like he ever was concerned about his stardom. Nobodys really strategised about what they want to achieve from this film, they just did it for the love of it and Im grateful for someone like him to actually do this. This happens only in Hollywood, where a Ralph Fiennes does a Reader or a George Clooney does a Gravity, so ya, (laughs) Shah Rukh Khan has done Dear Zindagi. Were you making a conscious effort to de-stigmatise mental illness through Dear Zindagi? Yes, in a light-hearted way. Many people I know have suffered on different levels, including deep depression, so I have always been concerned about it. My aunt is a therapist. And without having any tragedy in my life I have been to many therapists. Shah Rukhs character Dr Jahangir Khan is a therapist Id aspire to meet in my head. I deeply feel about this. Especially in India, people do not talk about these things. We should be able to say, I go to therapy or I need help. You dont take an off from work ever saying I feel mentally disturbed. You always say shit like you have a headache or youre puking. Its time we put it out in the open. I knew I was taking a big risk talking about this because many people may be averse to it but I was, like, what the hell, its important. I read this reaction on Facebook: Dear Zindagi gives a wrong impression of depression. If this is what depression is, then whats the big deal? How do you react? (Laughing) Kaira is not depressed. You dont have to be clinically depressed or an extreme case to seek help. Even the smallest thing needs to be addressed. It could lead to depression in the future, maybe when she turns 30 or 40, who knows, but right now this is it. How authentic is your portrayal of the patient-therapist sessions in the film? Well Ive already put a disclaimer in the beginning. It may not be entirely authentic or maybe someone like that exists. I have come close to someone whos 60-75 per cent like Dr Khan. Also keep in mind that when youre introducing such a subject in such a country, you need to introduce it in a manner that can endear you to accept the idea. At the end of the day its cinema. If Id been authentic, since most people dont know how sessions are, that would have been preachy. To converge cinema, aspiration and reality was the effort. Also, how conventional you are differs with each therapist. I made Dr Khan a maverick, an unconventional therapist right in his introduction. Which is why young people or someone like Kaira would think of going to him. I would like therapists who are far more approachable, endearing and not straitjacketed. Thats why I said Dr Khan is an aspiration. If there was someone as friendly who changed their therapy as per the individual patient, it would be nice. (Spoilers ahead) Why did Dr Khan so abruptly cancel that one session with Kaira and why did he end their series of sessions without laying the groundwork for it? Was that not harmful, considering that she was already struggling with abandonment issues? (Laughs) Youve become seriously interested in therapy. There are 2-3 reasons. First of all, you can take a break when you think it is wise to. Thats what hes done. She is on her path and he also says, Genius is about knowing when to stop. Also, he being a therapist and knowing more than the patient, probably realised she is developing feelings for him and it could be far more harmful to continue in a space like that. Also he has led her on to a path where she is and with that wisdom of knowing that he is leaving her at a point in which we see her, that it has not harmed her but it has done well for her. Thats why the conclusion of the film, otherwise it would be that shes feeling abandoned again. I get why he might have thought it best to stop having sessions. Im asking about the abruptness with which he cancelled, and the next time he meets her he says the next is their last session. Next week is the last session. So obviously Im not showing all the sessions because its a film. Its not exactly consecutive to the boat session. But she seems to think its abrupt. No, thats not what the reaction is. Its like, oh shit Im not going to see this guy, because shes developed feelings for him. So youre saying he might have laid the groundwork for ending their sessions in the space of time we dont see on screen? Absolutely. She also would be aware that at some point there could be this, but the shock is because shes in this space with these feelings or whatever. When Kaira finds Dr Khan on the ferry, his manner seemed to suggest that a personal problem was weighing on his mind. What was going on there? Uh, it could probably be with his own thing which he is trying to mask. He had just met his son, which is why he cancelled the session. But theres not much weighing on his mind. Its just about how to gently bring this girl to towards the finale. He mentions his wife, his divorce and the son to Kaira. Did I miss a mention on the ferry that he had just met the boy? No no, thats a part that got edited and where he explains to Kaira that thats where he had gone. We edited it because some other scene also got edited. Why did you feel the need to hint that Dr Khan was attracted to Kaira? It went against everything we had seen of him until then in the film. First of all I dont agree with attracted, thats not the emotion. Even a therapist is a bloody human being. Yes you are sticking to your ethics and professionalism, but you feel a connection with people, and this was a special person. Its somebody who he also liked but has not necessarily fallen in love with. I wouldnt use vulgar terms like attraction, thats why there were no words, there was just a little creak in the chair he had explained it to her, It only creaks when you really like someone but cant do anything about it. And why not? Why do we feel that its a Hindi film ending or whatever, where someone has to like someone? No, these are human qualities. Thats what is interesting for me in life and in cinema, when theres a human quality to the characters. Hes not just playing a postcard where he doesnt feel anything. He cannot do much about it and those are his issues to resolve. Were all just people with feelings at the end of the day. It is not in the zone of, oh my god I got attracted and its a love story. Its not even in the typical sense of a man falling for a woman, a woman falling for a man. Its just that he felt a deep connection and will also miss her. Except that up to that point, his vibe towards her was avuncular. Was he camouflaging his true feelings until then? No, it was when he finally gave in to what he really felt, and when he could be free to do it in his space, when she left. He was not camouflaging, he was just being a professional. Hes doing this job but he has a right to his own feelings in his own private space. Why do you describe the word attraction as vulgar? Its not the word attraction, its the insinuation that its the same typical thing, theyve fallen in love, a hero and heroine. For me the categorisation of the emotion is vulgar. Kaira being drawn to him fits perfectly. But when there is a suggestion that he reciprocates her feelings, it felt like Dear Zindagi is following the general Hindi film pattern that if you cast a major male star and major female star as your leads, then unless they are playing relatives they absolutely will at some point be attracted to each other if not fall in love. Thats our own biases of what weve seen, our conditioning. But this is fresh, this is a new relationship, a new space. Theyre human beings. And hes not even said what he feels. It just struck him that, oh my god I will probably also miss her, and I like her. Its as innocent as this. And whoever has to get it gets it, but this is what I truly wanted. And not for the sake that theres a male star, not because its Shah Rukh Khan. I could have done far more. This could have actually been a love story and gone in a really weird-ass way but no, its not about falling in love. You feel friendship, connections. Why is it misconstrued? You want to derive things from your own experience, your own bias of Hindi cinema and all that. Its not my bias. Ive heard viewers saying, Yes, Shah Rukh gets the girl. I cant control what people feel. I can only share my intention with you. What you understand from it is your prerogative. (Laughs) What you call bias or conditioning is perspective that comes from knowing Hindi film conventions. Your story seemed to defy convention and then seemed to succumb with the creak of the chair. Ya. But thats not what I had in mind, so what can I say about peoples interpretations being different from my intention? By introducing Aditya Roy Kapur, you seem to be letting us know there are more fulfilling romantic relationships in store for Kaira. Nothing wrong with that, but would it not have been even more uplifting if the point we take away in the end is that a relationship is not an essential part of a womans existence and that a woman may feel complete in herself? But thats exactly what I tried. She met this man, nobody is saying she started a relationship or what happened. Which is why she walks alone at the end. I wanted to say, Im free, Im open to new, healthy relationships, but this is me, Im now saying hi to life. She is with her camera on the beach. If Id ended with Aditya Roy Kapur and her, it would have been different. Was it necessary to have Aditya at all? It was like, now youre open. I didnt want her to be the extreme, I dont care about other men, Im in love with Jahangir. That needed to be resolved, that I got what I needed from Jahangir and I am good now. If Id not introduced Aditya and if she walked straight on the beach, it would still be, like, Jahangir is who she is moving on with in her head. So I needed to break that. Again, while I enjoyed the films humour, that scene in which Kairas uncle asks if she is Lebanese (when he meant to say lesbian) felt forced. Looking back, do you think it works? To be honest, at one point I did wonder if it seemed contrived, but my editors used to laugh every time we did that scene and actually this has happened to one of my ADs, so Im like, no, Im not removing it. Sometimes when things happen in real life and you put them on cinema they dont seem true, but they have happened. But ya, this is one thing Im accepting of yours because it went through my head too. Karan Johar re-edited Ae Dil Hai Mushkil to remove all references to Pakistan, after Maharashtra Navnirman Sena attacked his film for featuring a cameo by a Pakistani star. Did you consider removing Ali Zafars role in Dear Zindagi because he is Pakistani? It would be unfair for me to comment on Karans film. I dont even want to talk about my film in this context because this is not something that needs to be raked up. Nobody has done anything wrong to suffer this, nobody wanted to be in this situation. We never know what happens when, so I feel its best to let bygones be bygones as far as they can be. Of course any creative person would want our original vision to be in place. To have to change anything would break my heart. It would have broken my heart to change Ali Zafar, and Im thankful to the time, the stars and whatever, that did not happen. In a society that almost deifies parents, did it occur to you that it was risky to have your heroine critiquing her parents especially over an issue that unlike, say, child abuse many people would not even consider a big deal? Uh, I didnt think it was risky because I strongly believe children need to be respected a lot more. Were already so brainwashed about respecting elders. There needs to be a reason to respect people and they need to present that reason. Nobody questioned why English Vinglish was from a parents point of view but now, oh my god, they mind. I wanted to make Dear Zindagi from a childs point of view, that there are so many things happening and someone needs to pay attention, even if its a small thing. We dont have to go through abuse. It is the small things that affect a majority of us, sometimes even for no fault of the parents. Thats what I tried to say, that once we start looking at parents as regular people with flaws, we can understand them better. But as a child you dont get it, as a child theyre god, the be all and end all. I also personally believe there should be a test before you decide to have a child. If you have entrance tests for MBA, imagine parenting! Its a huge responsibility, and there is no entrance exam. (Laughs) I recall someone saying on FB that Kaira is nothing but a spoilt brat (Laughs) To judge someone like that is just unfortunate. I would say this viewer is a sad parent whos not understood. She is not a parent. I dont want to judge her myself, I dont want to be her, but she has probably not played out the child in her fully. (Laughs) I knew the film will make some people uncomfortable. When you react like this, sometimes it is a lot to do with yourself. (Still laughing) I understand if you dont agree with something or find the film boring, but if you feel disturbed and angry then theres something you are not addressing in yourself or you want to be in denial. I came across some people discussing their fears as parents of teenagers, that a film like Dear Zindagi normalises casual sex and makes it a fashion. (She laughs right through this answer) Yessssss. And Id like to say proudly, yes of course were normalising it. Sex happens. It can be casual. Deal with it. Earlier people didnt have the space and the wherewithal, but thats how it is. Refer to biology, to teenagers hormones. The film just states facts. This is how things are at least in urban India. To not want to deal with it is from our conservative prism of how we want our children to be. For many parents its a morality issue, but are there not also legitimate concerns about educating children on birth control, STDs, unwanted pregnancies? Ya, but Im not here to address social concerns. Im not an activist or making an educational film on birth control and sex. (Laughs) When I do that Ill address those, but for now this was the film I wanted to make. I dont want to sound derogatory, but a lot of people who saw beyond this and are more evolved have not been offended by casual sex or whatever the film is saying. (Still laughing) I dont understand this, Anna. Whenever somebody makes a film, people want them to make something else. They say, but this or that was not there. You can have a problem with the existing content, but they expect the film to have been made according to their wishes. And haan, you mentioned those worried parents, so let me clarify, Kaira is not a teenager. She is a 25-year-old, living alone, very much with the knowledge of her parents who have supported her career choice. The film is not about teenagers. I wouldnt have recklessly shown a teenager doing this. Someone wrote to me: Isnt this reverse stereotyping? Just because shes a liberal woman, do they have to show her permanently drunk and sleeping around? I asked him where she is permanently drunk, and how he concluded that she is sleeping around, but Exactly, thats what I too would like to know. And its a him. Perfect. Had to be a man. (She laughs through this answer) I dont know what to say. One reaction I heard about English Vinglish was, How come Sridevi in that character is drinking wine on the flight? That poor middle-class Indian woman enjoying a glass of wine with a strange man on a flight was a problem, so what is a poor 25-year-old to do? What to say now? Its fascinating that Kairas surname is not revealed in the film. How come? I didnt want to get into that zone. Just see the reactions that have come already, so imagine if she belonged to a particular community. That could have become, Arrey, hamare community mein sotey nahin, yeh nahin karte. (This doesnt happen in our community.) Im saying this because we just spoke about peoples reactions to alcohol and sleeping. (Laughs) Actually I didnt even think of what reactions would be. Personally I have wished we had the freedom to never have last names. But the real explanation is I didnt want to get into the nuances of a certain kind of people. I wanted to be free of baggage and focus on the individual. Its a subconscious learning from English Vinglish where she was Shashi Godbole. It was just convenient for me this time to not have a surname and get into accents, language and so on. Id like to end on a serious note... (Pause) What do you think of Italian opera? (Pauses, then laughs) What do I think of Italian opera? A serious note? Really? (We both laugh) Im sorry, Italians who read this. I love Italians, Italian food, Italian men, Italy, but I dont get Italian opera. Youve chosen a safe art form to say you dont get it. Because in India, well, Mohammad Rafi fans are upset with Karan Johar, Manoj Kumar was upset with Om Shanti Om. Ya man, you cant say anything nowadays. (Laughs) No but I never thought of this. When Im writing, I never think who will be upset. This is my own thing, I have never understood Italian opera. Ive been to La Scala, this great opera thing in Milan, and not got it. When Dr Khan doesnt get opera in Dear Zindagi, I was just being honest to something I dont get myself. So. (Laughs) RELATED LINKS: Anna MM Vetticads review of Dear Zindagi. http://www.firstpost.com/bollywood/dear-zindagi-movie-review-incredibly-cute-alia-shah-rukh-khan-need-a-more-consistent-script-3123586.html Karan Johars Directors Cut http://www.firstpost.com/bollywood/karan-johar-directors-cut-on-ageism-sexism-aishwarya-rai-bachchan-and-pakistan-3133692.html Also read: Crying beef over Ae Dil Hai Mushkil: Lets expose the fake patriotism, please http://www.firstpost.com/bollywood/crying-beef-over-ae-dil-hai-mushkil-lets-expose-the-fake-patriotism-please-3082404.html Dear Zindagi and the call to end mandatory maata-pitaa worship: Bravo, Kaira and Gauri Shinde http://www.firstpost.com/bollywood/dear-zindagi-and-the-call-to-end-mandatory-maata-pitaa-worship-bravo-kaira-and-gauri-shinde-3142216.html The post demonetisation days have made the job of union finance minister Arun Jaitleys task on goods and services tax (GST) roll-out a lot more difficult. The man, who spearheaded the consensus-making initiative from the very beginning--both with the states and political parties--will now have to face a fire test to rebuild the consensus in order to make the landmark indirect tax reform a reality at the earliest. GST appeared to be on schedule (for the roll out on 1 April) till Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes on 8 November, effectively scrapping 86.4 percent of the total currency in circulation overnight. Post this day, Jaitleys GST task got difficult and 1 April deadline almost looked impossible on account of the following reasons: One, the hard-won political consensus turned weak as majority opposition parties found little merit in the Modi governments reasoning for invalidating high value notes to check black money, fake currency corruption and terror funding, the originally stated objectives of the demonetisation. Also, the lack of preparedness of government in managing the currency swap resulting in a severe cash crunch irked all political parties. Two, the initial compensation estimate worked out for states lost relevance since most states have reported additional revenue losses on account of demonetisation-induced cash crunch. In Tuesdays GST council meeting, states highlighted this fact. According to West Bengal finance minister Amit Mitra, losses to states on account of note ban could go up to Rs 80,000-90,000 crore from Rs 55,000 crore estimated earlier. The GST council took a decision to create a fund of Rs 55,000 crore for compensating states with cess on demerit and luxury. This was the model before the tsunami of demonetisation. Now, everybodys compensation would go up. We had at that time estimated that at most five states would need compensation as others will manage to achieve 14 percent growth. But now many more states would need compensation, Mitra said. How will the government find the money required for additional compensation is a question given that there is not much room to expand the scope of demerit goods. Thus, whether Centre will be able to honor its promise of 100 percent compensation to states, reworking the compensation draft, factoring in the demonetisation loss, needs to be seen. Besides, there are also issues concerning dual control between the Centre and the states on the tax assessment rights for companies with annual turnover of Rs 1.5 crore and below. In Tuesdays meeting, few states also reportedly opposed Centres proposal to take away the rights of states under GST pertaining to their right to tax sales of fuel explored and sold from territorial waters. States want rights to collect tax upto 122 nautical miles away from the cost. To be sure, these arent unsolvable issues in the way of GST roll-out, but will need several rounds of discussions and consensus making. The deadline of 1 April is anyways ruled out for now. But to avoid a last-minute rush before September, when the time given by the constitutional amendment expires, FM Jaitley will have to work hard. Missing the 1 April deadline is actually a relief since the economy is still experiencing the pain of cash-crunch, as this writer pointed out in an earlier column. A GST roll out few months later, as said by some of the state finance ministers, since most of the pain that accompanied demonetisation will thin out by then. As of now, the Indian economy is passing through a self-imposed slowdown phase with visible problems in manufacturing, services sector and even on discretionary consumer spending. The PMI, bank credit and auto sales numbers offer enough evidence. The Reserve Bank of Indias (RBI) fiscal year 2017 growth downward revision (from 7.6 percent to 7.1 percent) , which doesnt even take into effect the demonetisation impact fully, adds to the worries. In this backdrop, the immediate disruptions GST roll out by April will have a double whammy effect on the economy, according to economists, and hence July-September period sounds more realistic. A delayed GST means no big surprise to investors given that we already missed one deadline last year and there were widespread concerns about the lack of preparedness of the country to migrate to a new regime at this stage. The note ban has already impacted most segments of the economy including the small traders and service sector. If the cash crunch prolongs, things will only worsen going ahead. Jaitley's task is double fold--repairing the demonetisation damage in the economy (plans of which should be laid out in the 2017 Budget) and rebuilding the GST consensus among states and political parties. New Delhi: In fresh roadblocks to GST rollout, states on Tuesday demanded taxation rights for sales in high seas and also increasing the number of items on which cess is to be levied to compensate the states to deal with revenue loss estimated at Rs 90,000 crore post demonetisation. Initially a Rs 55,000 crore GST compensation fund was proposed to be created by levying cess on demerit or sin goods and luxury items, but post demonetisation the compensation amount is expected to go up to Rs 90,000 crore as most states have seen revenue decline of up to 40 per cent, non-BJP ruled states claimed. Also, coastal states pressed for rights to levy GST on trade of goods within 12 nautical miles offshore, holding up finalising of the draft law for levy of Integrated-GST (IGST) on inter-state trade. At the eighth meeting of the all-powerful GST Council, TMC-ruled West Bengal, CPM-led Kerala and Congress-ruled Karnataka pressed for including area up to 12 nautical miles in the definition of states within IGST law, a standoff that led to chairman and Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley agreeing to seek legal opinion on its Constitutional validity. "We couldn't reach a consensus on a very important issue that relates to defining of a state. This is 12 nautical miles from the state. Can states charge GST from them or not? Right now states like Gujarat, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, West Bengal and Odisha are charging VAT or sales tax within 12 nautical miles. For eg when a ship is loaded with oil or products, the tax on that is charged by the states. "All the coastal states, irrespective of parties, combined in saying that we must have 12 nautical miles within the state jurisdiction. Whereas the draft IGST law was looking at having taxation rights with the Centre," West Bengal Finance Minister Amit Mitra told reporters. The Day 1 of the panel meeting did not take up the contentious issue of control of assesses which had been till now holding up roll out of Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime. The issue would be discussed tomorrow. While representatives of opposition-ruled states were unanimous in saying 1 April target date for rollout of the new regime is not possible, even BJP-ruled Gujarat said GST could become a reality from September. . The IIT Entrepreneurship Summit 2017 is holding its 11th edition this year. The E-Cell, IIT Bombay s The Ten Minute Million, will be held on 28 29 January at the E-Summit of IIT Bombay. The theme for this year is A Tryst with Tomorrow. Speakers and participants from numerous countries and genres will be attending the event. A first of its kind event in India, which premiered at E-Summit 2015, it involves 10 shortlisted startups pitch for 10 minutes in front of the investor panel and get an on-spot funding commitment for Rs 1.5 million or Rs 15 lakhs. "Our idea was that, you take 10 months, we believe it can be done in 10 minutes. I would have been happy even if I had got a fraction of the response. Right from the entrepreneurs, to the investors to the audience, this is an absolutely outstanding response", said Ajit Khurana, one of the investor panelists. One of the successful startups, Strike which got the promised amount then scaled up more than 10 times within a year, according to E-Summit. The past Investor panel consisted of angel investors like Ajeet Khurana, Anupam Mittal, Samir Shah, Sanjay Mehta and Aniruddh Malpani. An initiative by the Entrepreneurship Cell of IIT Bombay, E-Summit is a confluence of visionary students, professionals or anyone who wishes to be one of those crazy rebels who will change the world, start his own business or fund a business and become a trend-setter. Startups can register to pitch in The 10-Minute Million by visiting http://ecell.in/esummit/the10minutemillion/register The registration deadline is today January 4. The finalists will be declared shortly after. New Delhi: Paytm said it has received final approval of the Reserve Bank to formally launch its payments bank and it expects to start operations next month. Payments banks can accept deposits from individuals and small businesses up to Rs 1 lakh per account. "Today, Reserve Bank of India gave permission to formally launch Paytm Payments Bank. We cant wait to bring it in front of you," Vijay Shekhar Sharma, founder of One97 Communications, said in a blogpost on Tuesday. "No other role or responsibility means as much to me as the privilege of building Paytm Payments Bank, and I intend to take a full-time executive role in the Bank," Sharma said further. He added that at Paytm Payments Bank, the aim is to build a new business model in banking industry, focussed on bringing financial services to hundreds of millions of unserved or underserved Indians. When contacted, a Paytm spokesperson said the company hopes to launch operations in February with the first branch coming up in Noida, Uttar Pradesh. Paytm was earlier slated to begin operations around Diwali last year. In 2015, RBI had awarded in-principle approval to Vijay Shekhar Sharma, the founder of One97 Communications, to set up a Payments Bank along with 10 others. With the objective of deepening financial inclusion, RBI kicked off an era of differentiated banking by allowing SFBs (small finance banks) and PBs (payments banks) to start services. A total of 21 entities were given in-principle nod last year, including 11 for payments banks. Later, three entities -- Tech Mahindra, Cholamandalam Investment and Finance Company and a consortium of Dilip Shanghvi, IDFC Bank and Telenor Financial Services -- backed out of the payments bank licensing. Currently, Airtel is the only player that has commenced Payments Bank operations. Aditya Birla Idea Payments Bank is expected to launch services in the first half of 2017. Sharma will hold the majority share in Paytm Payments Bank, with the rest being held by One97 Communications. Last month, One97 Communications had restructured its business ahead of the launch of the Payments Bank, merging the wallet business with payments bank operation. Alibaba Group and its affiliate Ant Financial pumped in $680 million into Paytm's parent One97 Communications last year, taking its total shareholding to over 40 percent in the countrys largest mobile wallet operator, Paytm. However, the Chinese entity will not have a direct shareholding in the payments bank By Trevor Hunnicutt | NEW YORK NEW YORK Investors funnelled $375 billion into exchange-traded funds in 2016, investment manager BlackRock Inc (BLK.N) said on Tuesday, a global record that came as investors looked to cut costs.The total, which is preliminary, compares with $348 billion in 2015 and includes a record $286 billion haul in the United States, home to the funds' biggest market.ETFs are a basket of stocks or other assets traded by individual investors and institutions. Fund managers from BlackRock to Vanguard and Schwab (SCHW.N) offer index ETFs that try to track, not beat, the market. They have sliced management fees on some funds to as little as $3 annually for every $10,000 managed. All three companies announced price cuts last year.Those low fees along with other cost savings and conveniences have helped the more than $3 trillion ETF business take assets from rival financial products, including actively managed funds that attempt to beat the market but may fall short of that goal. U.S.-based active stock funds recorded $288 billion in withdrawals in 2016, the largest on record, according to preliminary Thomson Reuters Lipper data through November.ETF issuers were also able to draw investors into "smart beta" products that often attempt to beat the markets but do so based on a set of rules governing how they invest, rather than a portfolio manager making those calls. The products can be pricier for investors than traditional index funds while still undercutting active managers."The fact that we're at new-record inflows with such a slow start is a pretty strong reversal," said David Perlman, an ETF researcher at UBS (UBSG.S). Markets started 2016 in bad shape, after the U.S. Federal Reserve raised rates and as oil prices cratered. Stocks managed to rebound from a February low, but events including the U.S. presidential race and the British vote to exit the European Union kept investors skittish.Money moved to the perceived safety of the fixed-income market, and BlackRock's early data showed bond ETFs taking in a record $115 billion in 2016. BlackRock, with $1.3 trillion in global ETF assets, is the largest provider of such funds. Its iShares ETF brand attracted $140 billion globally during the year, BlackRock said, describing that figure as a record.In the U.S., BlackRock attracted $105 billion into ETFs during the year, followed by Vanguard's $94 billion, State Street's (STT.N) $52 billion and Schwab's $16 billion, according to separate estimates by FactSet Research Systems Inc. (Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt; Editing by Tom Brown and Alan Crosby) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. As 2016 turned into 2017, Bengaluru witnessed freedom at midnight. At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world slept, Bengaluru awakened to freedom for molesters and hooligans. With apologies to Jawaharlal Nehru, a moment of depravity comes, which comes but frequently in India's present, when we step out from the human to the beast, when reasoning ends, and when the soul of a molester, long suppressed, finds utterance. "We the underbelly of Bengaluru, having solemnly resolved to constitute Bengaluru into an unsafe, depraved, rowdy, city and to un-secure to all its citizens." India owes gratitude to that citizen in Kammanahalli in east Bengaluru who had a CCTV installed for the lane leading to his home. If not for him, the horrific footage of a young girl being groped and molested by two beasts on a scooter on the intervening night of 31 December and 1 January would not have shown a mirror to India. The ugly face of cockroaches on the prowl, desperate to get their hands on female form to quench the lust of their manhood. This incident captured on CCTV happened within a couple of hours after mayhem had broken out on Brigade Road and MG Road, the heart of Bengaluru. 'Mass molestation' screamed a newspaper, reporting that despite the cop strength of 1500, the city police could not control the molesters who had descended on the area, in the garb of new year 'revellers.' Eyewitnesses at Brigade Road have reported that several women were groped and pawed at by unknown men, who derived confidence from being mere hands in the anonymity of a swollen crowd. Some of the women, crying, stilettos in hand, rushed to the cops for help. A lathicharge that followed, did not quite help control the situation adequately. Talk to any old-time Bengalurean and he or she will tell you that Brigade Road does turn into Grope Street at Cinderella hour on New Year's eve. Lewd comments, catcalls, inappropriate touching are known to be a routine occurrence, as if Bacchus provides the leers with a no-objection certificate. Only a government blind and deaf to this would transfer the commissioner of police out and make 31 December his last working day at the commissionerate. The new top cop, Praveen Sood, who took over on 1 January insisted that unless a complaint was filed, he won't file a FIR. The Bengaluru police needs a classroom session to tell them that police stations staffed largely with cops insensitive to gender crimes are the last resort of a complainant. India's criminal justice system makes a criminal out of a victim because the woman more often than not, is slut-shamed. What were you wearing? Do your parents approve of your attire? Did you make any suggestion to the accused that may have given him an idea that you were willing? Couldn't it have been an accidental brushing past in a crowd? Do you have a boyfriend? Why do you live-in with a guy? Do your parents approve of your relationships? Why did you go to party till 230am? Shouldn't you be careful about your own safety?'' The rotten icing on the spoilt cake are some of India's politicians, with the "boys will be boys'' mindset. Karnataka's Home minister who blamed it on western influence, almost suggesting that the girls invited it upon themselves, did not cover himself with glory either. But the politicians are incidental to the issue. The problem is within us. It is to do with inability of families to keep a watch on our sons. It is to do with the inability of parents to teach their sons that if a girl is hugging her partner, it does not mean she is 'available'. It is to do with the inability of parents to ask probing questions about why they are out of home, zipping around on Bengaluru roads at 2. 40 am, most likely inebriated. It is to do with the inability to pick up warning signs that the son and his friends are plotting to shame their families and the city they live in. A look at the Kammanahalli footage will show you the three accomplices who are keeping watch while the two bikers molest the girl in the deserted lane. It is proof that it was a planned crime. It is to do with the lathi-wielding approach we have to policing. An intelligent approach would have entailed infiltrating the crowd with a large number of women police in plainclothes and a significant posse of mobile police videographers. In-the-face policing is what Bengaluru needed that night. When the Bengaluru police knew Brigade Road had a reputation for trouble every year the calendar changed, it should have moved away from a typical sarkari approach. What they are doing now is to deny any mass molestation happened, even when some of those who were violated have come forward with their versions. Admittedly, the cops cannot police every lane but if you are present on every main road, doing drunken driving checks, stopping bikers who are creating a nuisance, stalking women travelling back home in an auto (like the two girls in east Bengaluru locality of Kammanahalli were), ugly situations could have been avoided. The unfortunate incident in Kammanahalli showed a Bengalurean woman is not safe even at her doorstep. Because the wolves have taken over. And the gloves are off. And bear in mind that we know only about the Brigade Road and Kammanahalli incidents. How many more women were violated that night, away from CCTV cameras, is anyone's guess. It is not about the Congress or the BJP. The opposition BJP politicians can derive cheap thrills, taking potshots at the Congress but they need to be reminded how the likes of Pramod Muthalik and his goons ran riot, assaulting girls in Mangaluru in 2009 when a BJP government was in power in Karnataka. But there is no denying that the buck stops with Siddaramaiah now since he is power. The CM cannot afford to display the typical disdain that he reserves for most uncomfortable questions. But it is not as if Bengaluru alone is unable to zip up. This is the story of just about any part of India. A CCTV-equipped Bengaluru is able to spot the disease, in other non-monitored cities and towns, the culprits know Big Brother does not even exist. It is imperative that the Bengaluru police crack these cases of molestation very soon. If it does not, India will have to declare a curfew for men after 8 pm. Or Prime Minister Narendra Modi could consider De-Menetisation. Dogs and wolves are known to hunt in packs. Every time you wish to see men emulate this behaviour, do just three things: Allow them the high of alcohol, the company of friends, the anonymity of a mob and then put them in the midst of women. Samajwadi Party politician Abu Aazmi is wrong and, obviously, a specimen of the regressive and patriarchal politician that is dime a dozen in India. How molesters behave with women has nothing to do with what they wear shorts, skirts, salwars or sarees or which civilisational ethos they follow. The false bravado of alcohol, the feeling of security that comes in the company of men and their inner inadequacies and frustrations would make them pounce even on a mannequin in the Gobi Desert. If the Nirbhaya case did not convince us then, the Bengaluru episode should now: Men will not be men, boys, unfortunately, would not be boys. In groups, they would be dogs and wolves in packs. The incident in Bengaluru, where women were molested by revellers in the presence of cops, is just another example of the herd mentality of men, how they act and behave when individuals are stripped of their inhibitions and fears and their latent bestiality is exposed in the cover of darkness. Let us put this into perspective again. Imagine a world without cops which Bengaluru was on that night and fear of the law. Imagine hundreds of drunk, drooling men on a road. And then imagine a few women between them. This, essentially, is what we have now come to. It is a shame. In a country that has 65 percent of its population below 35. In an era where we claim rapid advances in education, civilisational values and cultural revolution, a next generation city like Bengaluru turns into a hunting ground for herds, a veritable jungle where wolves and dogs stalk their quarry without fear, shame, self-restraint or iota of self-respect. If this is the plight of Bengaluru--the cradle of Indian modernity, hub of technology--fear the fate of women in rest of India. What's the way out? Just as a mad elephant fears the ankush of his mahout, a deranged dog fears the stick of its master, fear of the law, of course, is the key for taming molesters. Unfortunately, cops are in so low numbers at such events and are outnumbered by a huge majority in Bengaluru there were just around 1500 cops for thousands of revellers preventive policing is simply not possible. So, that leaves us with the option of reactive policing catching the culprits and giving them exemplary punishment. But, as events in Bengaluru and before that in the Jyoti Singh case cops are simply not interested in acting swiftly and with adequate force. The standard response of the cops is same across India: First deny, then, if forced to act under public pressure, go slow on investigation. In Bengaluru, the police failed to register a single FIR in spite of the fact that its staff were present on the site and, as reports indicate, approached with complaints and entreaties for help by women who were pawed. Did not a single cop report the incident? Was the entire police force blind to the lawlessness and anarchy that night? Such denial and lethargy is the single-biggest motivation for criminals and louts. When they know that the statistical possibility of getting caught, punished and shamed is negligible, not only does it leads to repeat offenses but new converts to the culture of perversity. And then there are the politicians who simply don't get it. By blaming women, what they wear, their preferences and choices, Indian politicians just don't understand that it is the typical male psyche that needs to be diagnosed, addressed and cured. Their focus has to be on the malaise that grips molesters and perverts, not their victims. Soon after the Bengaluru incident, Karnataka's home minister, no lesson, told a TV channel "such incidents do happen on New Year's eve and on Christmas." This, of course, is a screaming indictment of his own inefficiency, incompetence and mindset. If he was aware that such behaviour is routine, why did he not ensure adequate preventive measures? And if all that he can do his wring his hands helplessly, resort to chalta-hai attitude, G Parameshwara should hang his head in shame and go. It is apparent politicians won't change their mindset even when they are shamed, in spite of a massive outcry. Just a few months ago, the BJP was shamed by its Uttar Pradesh vice-president Daya Shankar Singh, who compared former chief minister Mayawati with a sex worker. After putting up the pretence of propriety, apologising for his comments, the BJP sacked him. Guess what happened next? At prime minister Narendra Modi's rally in Lucknow, Singh was not only on the dais but also a subject of veneration and salutations. Clearly, politicians too would be politicians. What then is the way out? Fear of law doesn't work. Cops do not act with urgency and a sense of purpose. And politicians just don't get the root cause of the problem. Does that mean the roads be left for beasts to pack in hunts with impunity? Perhaps, as many in social media, have pointed out, it is time to tame the real beasts instead of reading out hypocritical moral and cultural sermons to the victims. How about imposing a code of conduct for men? Asking them to stay indoors after dark? Making it compulsory for them to remain sober in public places? And, asking them to wear chastity belts if they have to venture out among women? Outrageous? Men have owned the streets and roads for long. Putting on a leash those devoid of self-restraint, conscience, lack of respect for civilisational ethos and with a criminal bent of mind, is the best option to ensure now women on them. Stop with this Bengaluru stuff about women being molested as if there was an element of surprise in it. The most horrifying part of this incident is that we have to protest it and denounce it and label those idiot politicians who explain it in the most ludicrous terms. Every time we condemn the attitude or the act or the drivel of a defence in the aftermath, we trivialise it and it diminishes us. We only perpetuate the myth that it is just a couple of hoodlums, these things happen. And we let it go. So what if 20 odd girls are scarred for life. Hotha hai. Time to get into a reality check. Indian men are crude. They are louts and loafers who see girls as prey. Just read the messages from trolls on websites from behind their cloak of anonymity and the profanity flows as smoothly as the Ganga, most of it explicitly sexual. It is because of this mens club that politicians and TV panelists can be allowed to give their side of it as if rape and molestation and saying no had a flip side to it. It does not. The sickness is so deep that however outraged we are it only amounts to a fleeting dismay and disgust. After all, it is only girls in short dresses. The sexually frustrated male is not an exception, he is the rule. Having a massive lack of courtesy or grace or confidence in establishing a healthy relationship with women, Indian men learn early that crudeness, crassness and epithets set to the raucous music of wolf whistles and catcalls and roadside Romeo remarks are the best and most macho alternative to the stunting of their social skills. Porn from thousands of channels and feeding each others shabby egos with triumphs that never happened, these men in their legions resort to touching girls in buses and trains, nudging them in shopping centres and malls and bumping into them in elevators and classrooms. After a while this behaviour balloons into a birthright and is encouraged by the value system at home where mothers and sisters are hypocritically venerated but other girls are fair game. Add to this the fallout from fertile imaginations and these creepy crawlies begin to fantasise that the woman actually likes it, is asking for it and they are, in some way, doing her a favour by being it. The brainwash is very easy to do and flawed courage from numbers allows them to misbehave in rabid packs. This lack of respect is inbuilt and predicated to the belief that men are superior and women are objectified. The sexual frustration of the Indian male is not only criminal it is animalistic. After every such gross occurrence the equation is distilled and by some curious chemistry becomes the girls fault. When my daughters were young I taught them one lesson. There are no flipping uncles, no chachas and mamoos and no men are allowed to hug you or make you uncomfortable because they call you beta. Now, they have children of their own, I want the lesson repeated. Then I taught them another lesson. Where it hurts the most, kick him there and if you cannot manage that then spike his kneecap, hell never walk again. Unless we are as a society prepared to accept that our men have a problem with the opposite sex, are repressed, oppressed sexually and inclined towards being dirty-minded these sort of assaults will never stop. And if political party leaders and men of good faith permit their rank and file to mock the victims with a sly wink and a smile of conspiracy, what chance do we have. Last week, on New Years Eve, a friend of ours was watching a concert when she was assaulted by four louts. Here is what she wrote on her page: Need to share this Amidst all the amazing fun we had... I punched a guy. Yes, it's violent not typical for me not the politically correct thing to do. But a man pinched my bottom (and no, this is not ha-ha funny which is exactly what his mates thought). I thought I'd let it slide  I did punch him but I looked around to see there were young girls standing right next to me 9, 19, 26 who may never do anything about incidents like that. Found the police and the CID and got him taken away. Man was it worth it to see his sorry self being carted out of the concert. It is never ever okay to violate someone's personal space. Never ever okay to touch a girl or kids! True. It has nothing to do with clothes or with the time on the clock or their asking for it. It is just flat out a psychological mindset that is grotesque in its shape and given the tick mark by the elders. Unless the punishment is severe and instant we will keep going down the slippery slope. If these predators werent everywhere why would we have to protect our women? From whom? The first step is to be honest. Mumsie, your son is a freaking ill conceived lout. In yet another horrifying incident of gender-based violence, scores of women were molested by drunken revellers on New Year's Eve in Bengaluru. In response, politicians and law enforcement officials, yet again, exposed their callous indifference in such matters. Reactions from Karnataka's ministers and custodians of law and order exemplify reasons why such violent events recur time and again, all over the country. The unabashed misogyny at the highest political and administrative levels in the aftermath of every such incident shows why legal buffers if not the many laws and amendments will always prove ineffective in yielding results against gender-based violence. The all-round "blame the women" attitude by politicians and police serves to embolden perpetrators of violence. Depressingly, the discourse catapulted to the centre stage of national agenda following the gang-rape of a medical student in New Delhi five years ago but was hardly successful in resetting the terms of the national conversation on gendered violence. Things proceed as if it's business as usual. As has been the case in the past, politicians still offer lame, misogynistic excuses, pointing the finger at victims of assault, blaming them for succumbing to Western influences and deviating from the traditional norms of decency. Not surprisingly, this mindset was on full display after the recent Bengaluru incident as well. According to a report in The Guardian, an inspector at the Cubbon Park police station said in his response, "We had deployed 1,600 police personnel in the area for New Year's celebrations and around 60,000 people had come there that night." The inspector even went on to claim that they had the situation "under control". G Parmeshwara, Karnataka's home minister, blamed women partying at night in the streets for behaving "almost like foreigners". "They tried to copy the Westerners, not only in their mindset but even in their dressing," he said, adding, "(On) events like new year's, there are women who are harassed or treated badly." He shrugged off the violence, claiming that "these kinds of things do happen". It may be relevant in this context, to remember that five years ago, this was the very state where lawmakers were caught watching pornography in the state Assembly. Three ministers Lakshman Savdi, CC Patil (minister for women and child development) and Krishna B Palemar were caught watching porn clips on a cell phone. "Close up shots of the ministers watching blue films were beamed on television channels in the evening and sparked off a furore. The television visuals showed both ministers sitting next to each other, gazing into Savdi's handset and having a banter," a report in The Times of India said at the time. What makes matters worse is that the usual markers of political affiliation and ideological variation blur into insignificance when it comes to misogyny a behavioural trait all politicians seem to share in common. Markers of identity like caste and religion drive politicians into taking aggressive postures, trying to keep such issues alive in the discourse to facilitate political mobilisation. That, tragically, has never been the case with violence against women, though. The lack of women's representation in assemblies and Parliament further helps male politicians sidestep the issue. For decades, lawmakers have, in one form or another, combined their strengths to repeatedly stall the passage of the Women's Reservation Bill in the Parliament. Parties like the Congress and those from the Left, who publicly backed the 33 percent women's quota in the state assemblies and in the Lok Sabha, have also refused to take proactive steps to pass the legislation. The legislation has been hanging for over 20 years. This state of affairs, breeding indifference and inaction, is strengthened by the reality that women are still not a distinctly identifiable electoral constituency. Even though things are beginning to change in this direction, with women beginning to emerge as a separate "vote bank" in recent elections (consider Nitish Kumar's prohibitionist policies), the crystallisation of such a gender-based vote bank is yet to take place. But the question remains: For how long can governments and political parties remain impervious to womens concerns? Some form of punitive action must be initiated against officials and leaders who indulge in misogynist speeches and action especially in their responses to events like the one in question. That might be a starting point in changing our political and administrative culture. The responsibility for initiating this change squarely lies with the state and central governments and the political parties. Little wonder then, that there seems to be no real hope of such a transformation taking place in the near future. The Indian government looks set to finalise a $660 million deal with engineering firm Larsen and Tubro (L&T) to purchase heavy artillery for the Indian Army, which would provide a major fillip to the country's defence modernisation plans, said a report in the Economic Times. The deal is part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ambitious $250 billion plan to revitalise the aging firepower the armed forces currently use. The report quoted a senior army official as saying that the proposal to buy 100 heavy artillery guns from L&T is in its final phase before it would be cleared by the Cabinet Committee on Security, the topmost authority on security matters. The daily also quoted a senior strategic affairs analyst, SK Chatterji, as saying, "Artillery is the weapon of choice when armies want to deploy a great amount of firepower. It also gives the advantage to our forces over the enemy." India has been on a defence spending spree of late. In November, the government cleared a deal to buy 145 Howitzer 155mm ultra-light guns from the United States for approximately $750 million. This came closely on the heels of the Indian Army acquiring three indigenously-built Dhanush Howitzers in July 2016. L&T, like many other Indian private sector companies in the defence sector, like Tata and Mahindra, is now a key player in the Modi government's 'Make in India' project. The ambitious plan also intends to indigenise defence technology in order to reduce dependence on arms imports. A February 2016 report in Business Standard stated that L&T saw "huge potential" in the 'Make in India' project, and had also listed defence indigenisation as a potential investment opportunity. Along with the push for indigenisation, the government in June 2016 also liberalised investment-related rules for the defence sector. After having earlier raised the FDI limit to 49 percent, the government later allowed 100 percent foreign investment subject to government approval in the sector, but dropped the "state of the art technology" clause. However, a report in The Wire noted that the government's push for foreign investment in the sector seemed to have flopped, as less than one million dollars worth of FDI entered the sector since 2013. "Till September 2016, no FDI inflow has been received," Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar was quoted as saying. The report added that bureaucratic red-tapism and opaque acquisition process, which has not yet been addressed by the government are also reasons for the lack of growth in foreign investment. New Delhi: India will give a hard calibrated response to terror activities and will compel Pakistan to completely rethink its strategy on supporting insurgency and terrorism, new Army Chief General Bipin Rawat said. Rawat, who as vice-chief, was actively involved in the surgical strikes on terror camps across the LoC, said it has to be ensured that "pain is felt" by terrorists and their supporters, but the response need not be in the same manner. He brushed aside Pakistan's threat of tactically using nuclear weapons, saying such statements will not deter India when it comes to defending borders. "While we do agree that we have to retaliate and ensure that the pain is felt by the terrorists and their supporters, the response need not be the same every time," he told PTI. Rawat, who took over as the 27th army chief on 31 December, said, "We will calibrate the response in a manner that it hits them hard and compels them to think about the long run, whether they need to completely rethink their strategy on supporting insurgency and terrorism in our state." He was asked about Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar's statement that enemy needs to feel the pain too. Rawat also said that not every incident needs to be seen from the same perspective, as there are a large number of terrorists operating in the Valley, who are always attempting to carry out some sort of violence against the security forces and citizens. Asked about Pakistan's threat of using tactical nukes, the army chief said nuclear weapons are weapons of deterrence. "And if Pakistan is reviewing their strategy on using nuclear weapons, it is something that they have decided to strategise," he said, adding that Pakistan's statements doesn't find favour either with India or with the international community. Last week the top security brass thronged the 15 corps headquarters at Badamibagh in Srinagar for the Core Group Kashmir meeting, co-chaired by General Officer Commanding (GOC) Chinar Corps, Lieutenant-General JS Sandhu and former Director General of Police (DGP) K Rajendra Kumar. The meeting was called to discuss a new distinct challenge that the security forces are confronting on the ground, while carrying out counter-insurgency operations. The participants noted that the over the last year, the local residents were obstructing any counter-insurgency operation launched by the security forces in the Valley. The hostile residents were coming in the line of fire, distract security forces and pelt stones on them. There had been a number of such cases, wherein the locals had shielded the militants and helped them to break the security forces cordon and flee. There was a perceptible concern among the meeting participants about the possibilities of collateral damage in such operations, which could add fuel to fire. The core group meeting took place in the backdrop of a five-month long unrest, triggered by the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander and a charismatic local militant, Burhan Wani on 8 July. The sweeping cold waves of chilai kalan, the 40-day harsh period of Kashmiri winter and the growing fatigue finally put an end to the summer of unrest. But the onset of winter also means that the militants hiding in the forests move towards the hinterland, increasing the chances of confrontations and gun battles with the security forces. A week before the core group meeting, 50 kilometers north of Srinagar, Special Operations Group of JK Police and Armys 13 RR unit cordoned off Parray Mohalla of Hajin town in Bandipora, after receiving specific inputs about the presence of two militants. As forces and militants began exchanging fire, locals swarmed the encounter site and began protesting. The baffled security forces, despite several warnings to the people, could not force the locals to withdraw. The protesters pelted stones on security forces, ultimately enabling the militants to break the cordon and flee. The militants who were hiding in the village were later identified as Musaib, Maviya and Khitab, all Pakistani nationals, who had infiltrated in Kashmir few months. Security forces had been tracking them for many days in the area, but the locals protests during the encounter forced them to let the militants go. It was the third time that locals of Hajin had risked their lives and helped militants escape. Even at the time of writing this story, the locals had once again helped militants to break the cordon, by staging protests. Thirty-year-old Ayoub was one of those protesters, who has regularly participated in the protests, disturbing the momentum of the security forces during the encounters, and helping militants flee from the cordon. Every time, the security forces enter their neighbourhood to catch militants, he has tried his best to help them flee unharmed. He feels if one cannot pick a gun, one should help others who have picked up the weapon for their sake. Sometimes protesters win, sometimes the security forces. Ayoub believes that excessive policing and human rights violations have removed fear from the hearts of people about the security forces. This is echoed by Abdul Basit, a lawyer and a student of international relations and conflict studies, who described this trend as a dangerous shift in the peoples mentality. The same corners that have witnessed the bloodshed have erupted in rage. There was a time when if security forces fired on the street, people wouldnt come out for days. Today, people are attacking security installations. Fear, as a weapon of war has been overused. If they dont have fear to die, to have pain, to lose future, then how would you be able to control these people, Basit said. Luring them with better future prospects and incentives is unlikely to help. The Government needs to come up with a new engagement policy. Fear is an old currency in Kashmir, he remarked. For the police and army troopers, trained to fight a conventional war, the hostile populations activities during an encounter, is a completely new situation. They find themselves in a situation which was, perhaps, not taught in their military schools or even the veterans had not witnessed such unprecedented outburst of emotions. For the past one year, police have been making announcements and appeals, using loudspeakers, asking people to avoid getting closer to the encounter site, but it has had little effect on the people. On 31 December, nearly eight people were injured at South Kashmirs Samboora Hamlet in clashes between security forces and protesters who were trying to help militants flee the area and were successful. In another such instance, in south Kashmirs Arwani village on 8 December an emotional protester rushed towards the house where militants were believed to be holed up and was hit, as per police, by a stray bullet. He died instantly, leaving behind his fiance who had got engaged with him after convincing their families for several months. A top police officer, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the challenge for the security apparatus is not to eliminate a militant, but what follows after the gunfights. Encounter sites have emerged as a new battleground between youth and security forces. During 1990s, youth crossed the border out of curiosity and believed that they will come back with the gun and defeat the army. But that did not happen and everybody knows that those groups disintegrated for various reasons. Today, they are not crossing borders and are fighting with bare hands. They are driven by sentiments only, he said. We are seeing a different ball game now. Todays militant is more passionate about death, he added. While describing the intensity of the clashes during encounters he said, Everyone wants to be a martyr in Kashmir. Death is their incentive. You cannot defeat such mindset. Compared to earlier unrests, the marked difference is that the protesters this time are fearless. They have no fear of getting killed, caught, blinded or maimed. Look at these new militants. They are defying fear by removing the masks from their faces, unlike their predecessors of 1990s. Their brazen display has really appealed youth. Everybody wants to have Burhan like funeral (reportedly attended by two lakh people). So martyrdom is the new normal in Kashmir. To tackle the problem, security forces are adopting new techniques. Few days ago in north Kashmirs Bomai area of Sopore on December 14, the police suspended mobile phone services, in an attempt to prevent the word of encounter getting spread and thereby avoid the locals from gathering. The security forces were successful to kill top Lashker-e Taiba Commander Abu Bakar who was active in the area for nearly eight years. They were partially successful as after the operation, the security forces had to face ire of the irate locals. Senior Superintend of Police Baramulla, who has conducted several such operations, Imtiyaz Ali who feels that the phenomenon might be new but they have been conducting successful operations under hostile conditions for some time. All we need is to have the right approach. We have done a number of operations and at times we have finished operations with a few bullet shots. But, yes, these days we have to be extra careful as people can mess things up. So we travel with some additional force, which would be able to deal with the law and order situation. Protests were always there, but these days their intensity is high. So we also have to gear up. But nothing can bother us from eliminating these militants. Meanwhile, the Core Security Group Kashmir has asked the security forces to push militants to the forests, so that they can be eliminated without any law and order issue. One Sunday morning in early October 2016, Reyaz Ahmad woke up and started mopping and dusting the house, like any other day. After the health of his diabetic mother had worsened in recent years, he would often get up early, prepare Kashmiri salt tea (noon chai) and get bread from the baker before waking up his mother. Then he would start reading, remaining confined to his house for most of the day. But then on the fateful day, he finished his daily chores and turned up at the door of his mother's room. "Mauji bi hai nearai (Mother, I am leaving)," he said. This was an overused phrase in the early 1990s for hundreds of young Kashmiri men before leaving their houses to secretively take treacherous paths to reach Pakistan-administered Kashmir for arms training. Ahmad's mother had no idea about all that, so she responded: "Ga's khudayas hawal'e (May God be with you)." Frail, shocked and fatigued in her search, Parveena sat crosslegged inside her kitchen when I visited her house in Kulgam district in early December. The floor looked unclean and wrinkled clothes were hanging on a tarpaulin wire. "He used to cook food, wash utensils and make bed for both of us. Then he would study throughout the day but he would never go out like other boys. I though he was missing and might have been in police custody, like other boys. But then a letter arrived," she said. One day early in the morning, when Ahmads father was going to buy bread, he found a note lying on the verandah of his house. The son who held a postgraduate degree in economics had told his mother in that letter not to search for him as he had "chosen a path to stand up against oppression". For the family, the search ended that day According to the Jammu and Kashmir government, Ahmad is among 59 youths who have taken to militancy after the death of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Muzaffar Wani on 8 July in south Kashmirs Bumdoora village. In off-the-record conversations, senior police officers in south Kashmir would say that the number of young boys who have joined militancy after the unrest began in the Valley was less than 36 mostly from south Kashmir, and that there was the presence of at least 250 to 300 militants in the state. But Chief Minister Mehbooba Muftis written reply to the legislative Assembly on Tuesday that at least 59 youths have joined militancy since unrest began in the Valley last summer has surprised many here. "As reported by CID headquarters, 59 youths have joined militant ranks after 8 July, 2016," Mehbooba said in a written reply to the question by MLA Mubarak Gul in the state Assembly. This is the first time the state government has acknowledged that in last six months, many local youth have chosen the path of militancy, something that was already public knowledge in the streets of the Valley, although the number has surprised many. Unlike the ones before the death of Wani, the average life of a militant is likely to be three to four months as security agencies have multiplied efforts of counter-intelligence on the ground, particularly in south Kashmir where the writ of the state was missing for months during the unrest, and counterinsurgency operations were the last priority. The efforts to trace the fresh recruits have been multiplying for some time now, Shridhar Patil, SSP Kulgam, told Firstpost, recently, because we have moved from countering street unrest to concentrating on counter insurgency operations. However, despite this surge, the presence of foreign militants in the Valley has also shot up in the past few months. Sources in police department say the number of foreign militants in valley has almost doubled since the death of Wani. Before the unrest in the Valley, the police said the number of foreign militants was less than 70, which has gone up to the more than 170 in recent months. Police say the reason behind the surge is the six months of unrest in valley coupled with rising infiltration, despite a strong counter infiltration grid in place. Few among these foreign militants were able to carry out attacks like the one in Uri, which left at least 20 Indian soldiers dead in the premises of 12 brigade in the border town of Uri. This summer, police in north Kashmirs Sopore town said say the footfall of foreign militants have also increased in recent months. The number of encounters between police and militants have also seen a dramatic spike since last few weeks in the Valley. On Tuesday the police said they killed a militant belonging to Lashkar-e-Taiba in an encounter in Haritar Tarzoo area of Sopore. He took active part in the 2016 unrest and remained part of protests during which he resorted firing at many occasions, a statement issued by police, said. The state government says the militancy related incidents across the state have increased. Against 151 incidents in 2014, there were 143 incidents in 2015 which jumped to 243 in 2016. The number of militants operating in region, according to police, is estimated to be 235 to 250, Among them, 107 are linked to the LeT, 89 to Hizbul Mujahideen, 19 to Jaish-e-Mohammed and two to Al-Badr. With the winter chill imposing an uneasy calm in the Valley, the insurgency indicators point out that the coming summers are going to be hotter in the Valley. Are the agencies prepared to handle the challenges? It's the start of a new year, but we still have to deal with the same old sexism. India really hasn't maintained a good track record when it comes to ensuring women's safety. Take the aftermath of the Bengaluru molestation incident for example. The reactions of Karnataka's ministers, especially of Samajwadi Party's MLA Abu Azmi, pretty much highlighted the mentality of the officials of 'India's silicon valley'. This justifiably enraged social media users across India. But it wasn't just the horrfying mass molestations during the New Year's Eve celebrations that sparked the outrage amidst socia media users. What made matters worse was that right after the discussion on these reports began gaining momentum, the infamous hashtag #NotAllMen also started doing the rounds. It was, in fact, the trending hashtag on Twitter till the time Bengaluru's Commissioner of Police Praveen Sood declared that the police had found "credible evidence" of wrongful confinement, molestation and attempt to rob. He then went on to say that Bengaluru City Police was 'silently' working on solving the cases. We have taken action by registering a FIR. Investigation is in progress. Police is working.... though silently. Praveen Sood IPS (@CPBlr) January 3, 2017 But hordes of men on Twitter couldn't keep their silence, and their opinions away from the Bengaluru incident and had to 'defend their gender' through this hashtag. Naturally, social media also broke their silence about this 'trend'. Indians didn't hesitate to call out this #NotAllMen army on their absurd logic. Of course #NotAllMen. Not all men live with the fear of rape, molestation, sexual assault & physical violence. But #YesAllWomen do. Amena (@Fashionopolis) January 3, 2017 It is absolutely shameful that instead of concentrating on the issue of women's safety, here we are reassuring men of their image. Kapoor Neha (@PWNeha) January 2, 2017 Not just women, but even men joined in on the debate to point out why #NotAllMen was not just irrelevant, but also a toxic development that shouldn't unearth every time there is a case of women's safety being compromised in India. Men who are tweeting for #NotAllMen need to stop being pissy brats and realise that no-one is targeting them. Go on with your life. Akhil (@akhilrex) January 3, 2017 #NotAllMen because in an incident involving the molestation of women, random men were the real victims. Sorabh Pant (@hankypanty) January 3, 2017 AIB's Rohan Joshi decided to go on a pun tirade to channelize his indignation about the hashtag. Amidst all the quibbing, this video of a molestation incident in Bengaluru showas the gravity of this situation. The outrage over the Bengaluru mass molestation incident doesn't imply that all men are rapists and molesters, but about the fact all women, yes all of them, still feel unsafe in India. Outgoing Chief Justice of India TS Thakur said it was incumbent on the legal fraternity to uphold the independence of judiciary, as he pointed to pendency of three crore cases, poor judge-to-population ratio and problems of infrastructure. Thakur, who had a long battle with the Modi government on the appointment of judges, said, "This country can't progress unless the judiciary prepares itself to handle challenges it would face in cases regarding cyber laws and medico legal cases." Supreme Court Bar Association vice-president Ajit Sinha assured Thakur: "We will not allow any unjustified entry into judiciary. We as a bar will take a first blow." Addressing an overwhelming gathering of lawyers, and sitting and retired judges, the CJI, who had his last working day in the top court on Tuesday, said, "I will continue to work for upholding the prestige of the sanctum santorum of the Supreme Court." Thakur, who appeared emotional on his final day, said that he would be a "spectator, observer and contributor to pay back what the institution has given to him" post-retirement. Thanking God, his parents, teachers, colleagues and everybody for what he became in life, Thakur urged lawyers to desist from being in the race to be a judge or to be designated as senior lawyer. Telling the legal eagles to let these recognitions becoming a judge or designated as senior counsel "come uninvited", he said every case was a new challenge for the lawyers and they had to live up to the expectations of their clients. "Why should a lawyer want to be a judge when he is saturated with work?" he asked. "You have to raise yourself to a level where destiny itself beacons you." He told young lawyers that by taking every case as a challenge and preparing it well would earn them the respect of the bench (judges) and even their opponents. The farewell organised by the Supreme Court Bar Association saw everyone Chief Justice Thakur, Chief Justice designate Justice Jagdish Singh Khehar, Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi, SCBA president RS Suri, its vice-president Ajit Sinha and secretary Gaurav Bhati reciting couplets from Urdu poets. However, it were legendry Urdu poets Allama Iqbal and Mirza Ghalib that dominated proceedings, with everyone reciting a couplet in praise of the outgoing chief justice. On the eve of New Year celebrations and his weekend Delhi visit, the intelligence agencies of Andhra Pradesh and Delhi Police warned Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu of a fresh threat to his life from Maoists. Intelligence agencies stated that underground Maoist activists in Delhi had conducted a "recce" (reconnoitre) of the AP Bhavan six times in the past two months and some of them had "masqueraded as journalists" while doing so. Naidu, a media-savvy politician, often hosted get-togethers for journalists and even held casual chit-chats with them in the corridors there. But since the police warning, scribes, mostly of the electronic media, have been kept away from the chief minister whenever he was in Vijayawada. The routine practice of sending Naidus itinerary to scribes on WhatsApp or SMS has also been suspended. "You should come to AP Bhavan only when you are invited and need not hang around," they are told by security personnel at the gates. For three decades now, Naidu has been in the crosshairs of the erstwhile Peoples War Group and now the CPI (Maoists). Since the 1996 plenary of the outlaws held in the deep jungles of the Nallamala forests, Naidu has been identified by them as an "enemy of the people". This was after Naidu revoked the amnesty to Maoists granted by his predecessor NTR and re-issued the ban on PWG and six of its allied organisations imposed in 1992. On 24 October 2016, Naidus son Lokesh was added to the list after the encounter killing of 30 Maoist activists including Munna, the son of Maoist top gun Ramakrishna alias Akkiraju Hargopal earlier in 2016. Last weeks information about the "Maoists recce" is the third signal from the rebel group since the bifurcation of united AP. Maoist spokesperson Shyam had said in his letter dated of 27 October that the nexus of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chandrababu Naidu was suicidal to democracy and beneficial to big businesses and class enemies. "Both Naidu and Modi promoted mutually benefiting global capitalistic philosophies in the garb of the welfare of the common man," wrote Shyam in when Naidu had championed the idea of a cashless economy and note ban. In another open letter in November, after demonetisation, Maoists charged Naidu and Modi of global designs to curb the democratic protests of tribals in Visakhapatnam forests (Manyam forests) and also the construction of Polavaram project. "Naidu had managed to escape an attempt on his life in 2003 and he might not be so lucky the next time," the letter said and warned of a possible suicide attack sending ripples in both the NDA and the AP state administration. The recent Maoist letter had named five to six other top Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and Congress leaders of coastal Andhra region along with Lokesh and Chandrababu Naidu. "The Congress leaders are now shedding crocodile tears over Polavaram and bauxite mining issues though they were instrumental in unleashing untold hardships on tribals and weaker sections when in power," the letter in Telugu said. Letter of Maoists by Firstpost on Scribd Naidu puts on a brave face "I did harm to no one and I always wish for everybody to be happy," said Naidu last Saturday reacting to the latest intelligence alerts. During the 2003 attack on him, nine claymore mines exploded as he was travelling by car between Alipiri to Tirupati, wrecking his bullet-proof Ambassador and injuring his collar bone gravely. B Gopalakrishna Reddy, Minister for Information Technology, party MLAs from Tirupati and Puttur, Chadalavada Krishnamurthy (now Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam chairman) and R Rajasekhara Reddy were also seriously wounded. Similarly, Naidu had escaped another attempt on his life in 1998. The Peoples War Group had planted claymore mines in a bullock cart full of pots on a village road during an assembly byelection campaign in Karimnagar district. Maoists triggered the mines but Naidus caravan had changed the route minutes before, based on an intelligence tip-off. A constable present on the spot was killed. Naidu currently enjoys "Z plus" category protection. His security includes the elite NSG apart from state police's Intelligence Security Wing. At present, the chief minister has a security cover with 196 police personnel. He will get an additional 486 now, with the addition of 290 more posts. A separate Chief Ministers Security Group (CMSG) is being created in the Andhra Pradesh Police which will monitor movements through CCTV cameras at his residences, camp offices and party offices in Hyderabad and Vijayawada. The CMSG has been equipped with state of art firepower, latest gadgets imported from the US and Israel including surveillance drones. The finance ministry has cleared spending of nearly Rs 250 crores on CMSG in 2017-18. "We are developing infrastructure to ensure that Naidu is the most secure chief minister in India, almost on par with the prime minister, said N Sambashiv Rao, DGP of AP. Demonetisation Adds Anger Against Naidu Sources claim that the Maoists paid a heavy price due to demonetisation. Their funds, worth about few hundred crores, have almost become "waste paper". They could, with great difficulty, exchange 5-10 percent of the "banned currency" in their dumps through the support of local traders and politicians across the country. Most of their resources have been wiped out and they dont have funds to meet regular medical and life supporting expenses of cadres, their families and also the top guns," claimed a senior official of the Intelligence wing called Octopus in Hyderabad. Maoists are also sore about Naidus stand on Polavaram and bauxite mining in Visakhapatnam which they say will hurt the tribals. Visakhapatnam will become another mining hub like Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand where tribals' livelihood sources have been trampled," said Sagar, an official spokesperson of CPI (Maoists) of the Andhra-Odisha Border (AOB) unit in an open letter in October 2016. During YSRs period, the government took up canal work for Polavaram to circumvent the tribal and environment issues and benefit the contractors. What is the guarantee that Naidu will fulfil commitments after the project is completed, as most of the victims are in Telangana and Odisha? asked Ganesh a Maoist spokesman from AOB. Sources say that Naidu is milking the situation to his benefit. His security level, say sources, has been enhanced by the Centre and the Union Home Ministry has recommended upping the NSG quota to him from 75 to 200. "I am not scared of death but only that I want to finish the tasks taken up after bifurcation so that the transition of AP will be smooth," Naidu told his party men at Saturdays extended general body meeting in Vijayawada on New Years Eve. There is a word for what President Obama did this past week in declaring Gold Butte a national monument: dictatorial. In just more than a year Obama has unilaterally declared off-limits to productive economic uses 1 million acres of Nevada land first the 700,000-acre Basin and Range National Monument straddling the border between Lincoln and Nye counties and now the 300,000-acre Gold Butte National Monument in rural northeast Clark County. This brings Obamas total protected acreage to 550 million more than any predecessor and twice that set aside by Teddy Roosevelt under the Antiquities Act of 1906 though much of Obamas designations are underwater. Obamas designation of both Nevada national monuments completely ignored local elected officials and nearby residents, even though the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (flippantly know by the acronym Flip Ma) and the National Environment Policy Act (NEPA) require environmental reviews and public comments. Nevada Attorney General Adam Laxalt called Obamas action a unilateral land grab. Although I am not surprised by the presidents actions, I am deeply disappointed at his last minute attempt to cement his environmental legacy by undermining local control of Nevadas communities, and damaging our jobs and economy, Laxalt stated in a press release. Sen. Dean Heller said he was terribly disappointed by Obamas action, saying such action should be conducted in an open public process with congressional input. Retiring Sen. Harry Reid urged Obama to declare Gold Butte a monument before leaving office no matter what the local residents thought, and his hand-picked successor, Catherine Cortez Masto, sent out a tweet about Obamas action saying, We have an obligation to protect places like Gold Butte. Im grateful for President Obamas dedication to preserving our public lands. The areas newly elected Democratic Rep. Ruben Kihuen was all for the designation. As a Nevadan I couldnt be more thrilled that President Obama decided recently to give Gold Butte, Nevadas piece of the Grand Canyon, the full protection it deserves, Kihuen said in a statement. This newest national monument designation in Nevada means that we now have the tools to properly safeguard Gold Buttes thousands of awe-inspiring rock formations, ancient petroglyphs, and rare wildlife for all Nevadans to enjoy. Though resigned to the probability of the Gold Butte designation, Gov. Brian Sandoval said he worked to assure the local communities would continue to have access to water resources. He said he met with the White House and his staff held follow-up meetings. We also worked with the White House and Department of Interior to ensure Nevada water law is adhered to and that the Virgin Valley Water District would have access to its water infrastructure for continued development and maintenance, the governor related. In the official presidential declaration there is language referring to existing water rights, meaning that it is unlikely any new water resources could be developed for future needs since no new rights-of-way shall be authorized within the monument. Additionally, the proclamation says no grazing rights have been permitted on the land since 1998 and no grazing permits will be allowed within the monument. Sandoval tried to be hopeful, My priority was to mitigate any disruption a potential designation may cause the surrounding private land owners, communities and recreationists. We all share a common goal of enacting smart conservation measures which help preserve our lands for the use and enjoyment of all Nevadans. My strong preference is for a more collaborative process when making such an important designation. I firmly believe our ranchers, environmentalists, and community stakeholders are the best experts in ensuring Nevadas lands are preserved, protected and accessible. I also believe that with this designation comes duties, responsibilities and an expectation that the BLM will properly manage the area and commit the funds necessary to do so. Though the White House blatantly declared that President-elect Donald Trump cannot undo the creation of this and other monuments, the Congressional Review Act allows a simple majority of each house of Congress to revoke such decisions. It has rarely been successfully used since the president who issued the decision can veto an act of Congress and that takes two-thirds to override. The difference this time is that Trump takes office on Jan. 20. Also Trump could simply rescind the monument designation, but he has been waffling on whether locals should have more say on federal land issues. Also, the Nevada Washington delegation is now two-thirds Democrats, who are beholding only to urban Las Vegas. While announcing the dates for the Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa, Punjab and Manipur, Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi on Wednesday said that the EC is committed to abide by the Supreme Court's order on Hindutva case. EC is committed to abide by SC's order; it will be implemented effectively: Nasim Zaidi, ECI on SC's decision on Hindutva case pic.twitter.com/9aYFEFMRhs ANI (@ANI_news) January 4, 2017 While polling in Goa and Punjab will take place on 4 February, Uttarakhand will vote on 15 February and Manipur in two phases on 4 and 8 March. Uttar Pradesh will go to the polls in seven phases: 11, 15, 19, 23 and 27 February and 4 and 8 March. The results will be announced on 11 March, said Zaidi. He also said that the EC is in favour reducing limit of anonymous donations to Rs 2,000, also mulling on switching to digital payments. In a landmark verdict seeking to separate religion, caste and other issues from politics, the Supreme Court, by a majority verdict, had held as "corrupt" the practice of candidates appealing for votes on the basis of these identities included not only him but his agents and voters. In a marked departure from the view held in the 1995 "Hindutva" judgement that the term 'his' used in section 123 (3)of the Representation of the People Act meant the religion, caste, etc of candidates only, a seven-judge bench headed by the then Chief Justice TS Thakur, by a majority of 4:3, held that any appeal for votes on these grounds would amount to "corrupt practice". The court held that the provisions of the RP Act, which say that seeking vote by a candidate in the name of "his" religion, caste, race, religion and language in the election law, included candidates, his agents and voters also. "An appeal in the name of religion, race, caste, community or language is impermissible under the RP Act, 1951 and would constitute a corrupt practice sufficient to annul the election in which such an appeal was made regardless whether the appeal was in the name of the candidate's religion or the religion of the election agent or that of the opponent or that of the voter's," the CJI, who concurred with majority verdict written by Justice MB Lokur, said. "So read together, and for maintaining the purity of the electoral process and not vitiating it, sub-section (3) of Section 123 of the RP Act must be given a broad and purposive interpretation thereby bringing within the sweep of a corrupt practice any appeal made to an elector by a candidate or his agent or by any other person with the consent of a candidate or his election agent to vote or refrain from voting for the furtherance of the prospects of the election of that candidate or for prejudicially affecting the election of any candidate on the ground of the religion, race, caste, community or language of (i) any candidate or (ii) his agent or (iii) any other person making the appeal with the consent of the candidate or (iv) the elector," said the majority view, also shared by Justices S A Bobde and L Nageswara Rao, said, Justice Chandrachud, writing the minority verdict. With inputs from agencies The Election Commission is likely to announce the polling dates for five states Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Manipur, Punjab and Goa on Wednesday. According to a newsflash on NDTV, this could be as early as 12 pm. Ahead of the announcement, the Election Commission on Tuesday held a meeting with Chief Electoral Officers of the poll-bound states to finetune the arrangements. The law and order situation in Manipur due to road blockade by some Naga groups was the focus of attention of the Commission in the meeting, sources said. At the meeting, the assessment of the law and order situation, deployment of polling personnel, safety and electronic voting machines and strict implementation of the model code of conduct also came up for discussion. In its report to the EC, the Union Home Ministry has conveyed that ground situation in Manipur following the blockade of National Highway 2 by United Naga Council and the state government's alleged "failure" to resume normal traffic even after 60 days. "In the report, the Home Ministry told the EC about the ongoing tension and grave situation prevailing in Manipur. The EC may independently make an assessment of the situation so that election can be conducted properly," a top Home Ministry official had told PTI. Meanwhile, the Union Home Ministry will provide around 85,000 security personnel for deployment in the upcoming Assembly elections in the five states. At a high-level meeting with the Election Commission on Monday, top officials of the Ministry led by Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi conveyed that it would provide around 750 companies of paramilitary forces for smooth conduct of the election process in the five states. In addition, around 100 companies, most of which belong to State Armed Police Forces and India Reserve Battalions, will also be drawn from different states for deployment of election duties. A company of paramilitary force comprises of around 100 personnel. As of now, the Commission plans to hold seven-phased Assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh and single-phased in the other states. But with situation in Manipur assuming alarming proportions, the poll body may go for multiple phases in the north-eastern state. But there is no official word on it yet. With inputs from PTI A frown replaces his trademark smile as soon as Indias defence minister Manohar Parrikar lands at Dabolim Airport in his home state of Goa. The frown represents the tension building up inside him for some time. The defence minister finds himself pushed onto the back-foot in Goa, considering he is fully aware of the onerous task of guiding his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to victory in the fast-approaching state legislative Assembly elections. (Goa will vote on 4 February, the Election Commission has just announced.) Unlike the four other poll-bound states Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Manipur, the situation in Goa is different as the BJP is under pressure to retain power in a state it has been ruling for the past five years (Note: It shares power as a junior partner of the Shiromani Akali Dal in Punjab). Emerging victorious in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Manipur would only add feathers to Prime Minister Narendra Modis cap, especially since the next round of state polls comes around almost mid-way through his five-year tenure and the first since his contentious demonetisation policy. But losing power in Goa may tantamount to rejection of Modi by voters. Modi had granted Parrikars wish to let him name his successor as Goa chief minister when Modi requisitioned his services at the Centre as his new defence minister in November 2014. Parrikar was reluctant to leave Goa but Modi wanted someone like Parrikar with an impeccable record as a doer and untainted past. Following the existing political trend that you dont handpick someone who can become a rival to you on a subsequent date, Parrikar settled for an unassuming Laxmikant Parsekar, who was serving as the health minister under him, to replace him at the helm in Goa. In a way, Parrikar followed Modi who had earlier that year handpicked Anandiben Patel as his successes in Gujarat as the chief minister, though not necessarily on her merit. Parsekar was candid enough to admit after his unexpected promotion that it was a sort of on-the-job training for him. With Parsekar around, Parrikar was assured that he had anointed someone who could not match his aura and stature, and would make room for him should be is forced to return to the state politics. This was to ultimately make Parrikar function as 'Super Chief Minister of Goa', a role he has taken to rather seriously in the run-up to Assembly polls. The safety cushion that Parrikar wished for, however, is proving thorny. Given the lacklustre performance of Parsekar and pollsters predicting that the BJP can, at the most, hope to emerge as the single largest party in a hung Assembly, the party has decided not to seek votes in the name of Modi, lest his image gets dented. It cant afford to seek votes in the name of an uninspiring Parsekar either. No incumbent BJP chief minister has ever faced this kind of ignominy in the past. Modi, while serving as Gujarat chief minister, knew all along that he would be the chief minister if he led BJP to power in polls, which he did repeatedly. Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Raman Singh, chief ministers of other BJP-ruled states Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh respectively, also never faced the uncertainty that Parsekar is facing now. The BJP has merely announced that it will go to polls under his leadership without saying that he will remain the Goa chief minister in the event of the party retaining power. The idea is to leave the Goa voters confused that the possibility of Parrikar returning as the Goa chief minister cannot be completely ruled out, even though its highly unlikely. Parrikar thus has been left with no choice by the BJP but to do whatever he can to ensure BJP victory in Goa Indias tiniest state with unbridled political potential to embarrass Modi and the BJP. As the clock ticks, Parrikars desperation is becoming visible. Of late he is spending more time in Goa than in Delhi, even though cross-border firing has not stopped on Indias northern borders. He is probably left with no choice but to take centre-stage in Goa and act as its 'Super Chief Minister', irrespective of the fact that his party had, in the not-so-distant past, mocked the Congress party chief Sonia Gandhi as the 'Super Prime Minister' of the country during the regime of Modis predecessor Dr Manmohan Singh. Parrikar has served Goa as its chief minister for close to seven years since he was first sworn-in on 24 October 2000. His contributions in BJPs growth in Goa cannot be undermined as he along with Rajendra Arlekar, Speaker of the outgoing state Assembly, his fellow ministerial colleague Sripad Naik and Parsekar worked together as a team to make BJP a power to reckon with in the coastal south-western state. Parrikar emerged as a successful strategist when despite the BJP emerging as the single largest party in a hung Assembly elected in 2007, he made no effort to stich-up a post-poll coalition. He opted to wait in the wings patiently and let the rival Congress party face pains and pressures of running a coalition government. He was wiser from his 2002 experience when as leader of the single largest party and sitting chief minister, he formed a coalition government. It did not function properly with his partners in power demanding pound of flesh, even if unethical. His government lasted lesser than three years then. The strategy of sitting out of power in 2007 paid rich political dividends as BJP won a clear majority on its own five years down the line. The BJP won 21 seats despite contesting in only 27 constituencies in the 40-member Assembly as the senior partner in alliance with its now estranged ally, the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP). Parrikar, of late, can be seen losing his temper and shouting at probing journalists and locals demanding answers, appearing somewhat jittery as the polls approach. He is considered to be the man who gave the final sanction to Parsekar to sack the two MGP ministers the Dhavalikar brothers Ramakrishna (Sudin) and Pandurang (Deepak) on 12 December from his council of ministers. Parrikar was out justifying the sacking publicly the next day, making none in doubt who had taken the final decision to snap ties with the MGP. Speaking in his unofficial capacity as the 'Super Chief Minister of Goa', Parrikar was seen telling media that BJP had nothing to promise to Goa voters, as all promises made in 2012 stand fulfilled, although the state unit of the party and Parsekar did not go that far while seeking suggestions from the masses about issues to mention in the BJP manifesto. The latest was his reaction that half of Goa would be wiped out if the Supreme Court ruling to close down all liquor shops located within 500 metres of National and State Highways from the first day of April was implemented. Since the closure of liquor shops and bars restricting restaurants and hotels from serving alcohol if they happen to be located in the restricted zone anywhere in India has become a major issue considering it will directly impact Goas money-spinning tourism industry, Parrikar lost no time in siding with the affected even as Parsekar was struggling with how to react to the apex court ruling. "It is right that a person who drinks can cause accidents, but an alcoholic can even carry the bottle and drive on the highway," Parrikar said, virtually criticising the apex court and giving ideas to people, even though the Ministry of Defence that he heads would not be impacted by it. Parrikars frown is getting deeper and more noticeable with each passing day. He knows that he has to pay the price for naming Parsekar as his successor, because he will not get credit in the unlikely event of the BJP getting a simple majority on its own yet again (and the credit would go to Modi), but he would get blamed for BJPs defeat that, in turn, may have a bearing on his national ambitions in case he has developed any since shifting to Delhi 26 months ago. The state of Punjab will go to poll on 4 February, the Election Commission said on Wednesday. Goa will hold elections on Feb 4; Punjab will vote on Feb 4: CEC Nasim Zaidi pic.twitter.com/qIMnfAyr7X ANI (@ANI_news) January 4, 2017 Addressing a press conference on Wednesday, Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi said that election in Punjab will take place in a single phase with the last date for withdrawing nomination being 18 January, scrutiny of candidates on 19 January and withdrawal of candidate set on 21 January. The EC also said that it will enforce the recent Supreme Court ruling on religion in all poll going states including Punjab. Currently, under the rule of the Shiromani Akali Dal-Bharatiya Janata Party alliance, the state has been witnessing a lot of reshuffling from politicians over the last few months as political parties readied to gain control of the western state of India. However, the ruling alliance is likely to face stiff competition with demonetisation emerging as one of the main topics in the upcoming polls and the poll contest emerging into a trilateral contest with SAD-BJP placed against Congress and debutant Aam Aadmi party. Interestingly, the pre-poll surveys have given a sharp edge to the Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP. The opinion polls too, have revealed that AAP is enjoying an unprecedented novelty value in the state. That's not all, though. With issues like water scarcity for farmers, drugs and a law and order situation heating up the debate, the ruling SAD-BJP may also face a tough competition. Earlier, Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Singh on Tuesday had urged the Election Commission to check "proliferation" of firearms in the state. Alleging Punjab police had "failed" to ensure surrender of all firearms as per the EC directives, Amarinder had termed it a "deliberate ploy", instigated by the Badal government, to allow armed goons to "terrorise" the people in the run-up to the polls to "pressurise them to vote for the Akali Dal." He had alleged total lack of law and order in the state under the Badal regime, which had given a "free run" to armed gangs, criminals and mafias to unleash their terror on the people of Punjab. History gives us enough evidence that any challenger eyeing India had to first conquer and pass through Punjab. For those who consider an election modern-day equivalent of warfare, Punjab still holds the same importance. The importance of this year's election in Punjab can be stated in just one line: It will separate the contenders for 2019 elections from the pretenders. Its result will decide the destiny of two men eyeing for an opportunity to rise up and challenge the BJP in the next general election Arvind Kejriwal and Rahul Gandhi. Punjab is important because it is the only state out of the five going to polls between January and March where both Congress and AAP have a real chance of winning. Ten years of incumbency and the simmering anger against corruption, drug mafia and dynastic rule have put the BJP-SAD government in a tight corner. On current evidence, only a miracle arising out of a triangular contest would be able to rescue the Parkash Singh Badal and his heir apparent, the man ruling Punjab from behind the veil his son Sukhbir Singh Badal. For the Congress, a victory in Punjab would be the first sign of hope since it went into coma after the advent of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the scene. In 2013, since it lost Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi and Chhattisgarh, the Congress has managed to win only in Karnataka. A string of losses has put it on the verge of extinction. But, in Punjab, the party is a strong contender, primarily because of a combination of favourable factors. That the Congress is still an acceptable option in Punjab was apparent even in 2014, when, in spite of getting wiped out across India, it managed to won three seats and nearly 34 per cent votes, almost double of its national average. Though it has been a roller-coaster ride for the party, the Congress has managed to remain in the hunt in Punjab for two reasons: Rahul Gandhi's decision to give Captain Amarinder Singh free hand in Punjab. And, two, infighting, drama and self-goals by Kejriwal and his team. Reports from the ground indicate that the election now in Punjab is more about the Captain, than about the Congress. It is more about the question: Is Singh acceptable as Punjab Da Captain? And less about the voter's fascination, or the lack of it, with the Congress. Yet, a victory for the Congress would reverse the trend that started with in 2012, give Gandhi the first taste of success in almost five years and give the party some momentum before the next round of polls, first in Gujarat and then the cow belt in 2018. The biggest gain, of course, for the Congress would be Kejriwal's defeat, effectively ending the Delhi chief minister's plan to venture out of Delhi and acquire a national image for himself. For the past few months, Kejriwal has been trying to emerge as the second party in states where the Congress has had a strong presence. More than the BJP, the Congress has been under existential threat because of AAP's efforts to occupy the anti-BJP space in central and north India. A loss in Punjab, would effectively cut Kejriwal mid-flight and give Congress the opportunity to challenge the BJP in Gujarat, Rajasthan, MP and Chhattisgarh. In all likelihood, the Congress will enter the poll fray in Uttar Pradesh riding pillion on Akhilesh Yadav's motorcycle the likely symbol if cycle is frozen. For it, the best outcome of the election would be a victory in Punjab and an alliance government in UP. That would give it respite and time to regroup. For Kejriwal, who appeared the front-runner in Punjab till recently, the election is the defining moment of the short but tumultuous life. When he contested elections in Delhi, he was seen as an outsider who wanted to disrupt the existing system. Even if he would have failed to win in Delhi, he would have got more chances to prove his acceptability. But, in Punjab, where his party bagged four seats in the 2014 polls and nearly 30 percent vote share, he has always been seen as the top contender. Last year, when the three political parties organised rallies at the Maghi Mela, his tent held the biggest gathering, pointing at the popular mood. Since then Kejriwal has been through a bumpy ride. The rise of Amarinder Singh, the fracas with Sucha Singh Chhotepur, the inept handling of the Navjot Singh Sidhu episode who was left out in the cold after quitting the BJP and the growing perception of AAP being a party without a Sikh face have set its campaign back. Though Kejriwal claims his party would win 100 out of the 117 seats in the Assembly, his claim appears more talk than substance. Punjab will decide Kejriwal's future. Apart from the opportunity to follow his pan-India dreams, a victory would also give AAP the chance to rule a full-fledged state, where his powers would not be curtailed by some other constitutional authority, like the L-G in Delhi. But a loss would most likely confine him to Delhi, like a caged parrot. Perhaps the only party that may not be too worried about the outcome in Punjab is the BJP. With UP going to polls simultaneously, it would distance itself from Punjab and leave it to the Badals, a strategy that suits it by projecting the battle between SAD and its regional rivals. For the SAD, battling a decade of anti-incumbency and Supreme Court's recent ban on using religion as a poll pitch--it affects the Akali panthic agenda would be a huge challenge. In 2012, it had managed to win primarily because Badal's nephew Manpreet divided the anti-incumbency vote. Only an encore this year because of a poll triangle can save it. Modi would lose sleep only if he loses UP and the SAD-BJP gets alliance wiped out in Punjab. But, he would still be around in 2019 as the giant to beat. But, for Gandhi and Kejriwal, a loss could be mean the end of road to Delhi. Ahead of the Bharatiya Janata Partys national executive meeting to be held in New Delhi on 6 and 7 January and the upcoming Assembly elections in seven states, the last three days of the ongoing Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sanghs (RSS) meeting of the top brass in Ahmedabad seems to be of immense importance in terms of planning and strategy. According to an RSS source, the low profile meeting between the Sanghs senior functionaries including Sarsanghchalak Mohan Bhagwat and senior BJP leaders will delve into the "current economic and political issues impacting the countrys political domain", on 4 and 5 January. "Its expected that during the meet, two resolutions will be adopted: An economic one related to demonetisation and a political one on the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls. Besides, the deteriorating governance, and law and order situation in West Bengal especially after the attack on BJP office by TMC workers will be a talking point," the source said. The impact of demonetisation will be a major point of discussion both at the RSS meet and at the BJP national executive. Facing heat from the Opposition, the BJP will bring out a resolution supporting demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes at its two-day national executive meeting beginning Friday. Moreover, its the pressure from the Sangh-affiliated bodies like Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh, Bharatiya Kisan Sangh, Swadeshi Jagran Manch etc, who had been vocal on the ill-preparedness of demonetisation plan and its cascading effect on the poor, the labourers, daily wagers and small farmers, that ensured the RSS to discuss it with the BJP. The ongoing meeting has a special relevance as the deliberations during the brainstorming sessions will chart the course of action both for the BJPs top meet in Delhi and ground-level poll strategy for Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and the other other poll-bound states, besides deciding the organisations role in the upcoming elections. For the past four days, the meeting venue Chharodi Gurukul on SG Road in Ahmedabad has been abuzz with the presence of top RSS functionaries Mohan Bhagawat, Suresh Bhaiyyaji Joshi, Dattatreya Hosabale, Suresh Soni, Krishna Gopal, etc and BJP leaders Ram Lal and Ram Madhav. The meeting began on 3 January. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to address the valedictory session. "Its a routine affair in the RSS. Before an election, the Sanghs senior functionaries discuss issues and plans with those leaders in BJP who have been a part of RSS and are on deputation in the party. This time Ahmedabad has been selected as the meeting venue because Mohan Bhagwat is on an eight-day Gujarat tour to review the annual working of the Sangh and its affiliates in this zone," an RSS functionary said. The Sangh has divided the country into 11 zones and under each zone there are three to four 'prants' (units) and the RSS chief tours throughout the year to review functioning and activities of the Sangh in each zone. The meeting between Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani and Bhagwat on Tuesday is seen as an important development in terms of planning ahead of the Gujarat Assembly polls this year. "Rupani had a meeting with Bhagwat and various issues were discussed from impact of demonetisation in Gujarat to the states preparedness for the upcoming election and strengthening of RSS-BJP coordination in the state," said a source privy to the meeting. The Supreme Court verdict prohibiting any use of religion, caste, race, community or language to seek votes has raised several questions including if or not the apex court will force parties like the Shiv Sena, All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen, Akali Dal and Indian Union Muslim League among others, whose names symbolise or represent a particular community and religion, to change their names. Section 3 of the Peoples Representation Act, on which the apex court based its judgement terms, "the appeal by a candidate or his agent or by any other person with the consent of a candidate or his election agent to vote or refrain from voting for any person on the ground of his religion, race, caste, community or language or the use of, or appeal to religious symbols or the use of, or appeal to, national symbols, such as the national flag or the national emblem, for the furtherance of the prospects of the election of that candidate or for prejudicially affecting the election of any candidate" as a corrupt practice. While the above section of the People's Representation Act is subject to interpretation and doesn't necessarily mention whether the name of party based on religious lines could also be termed as a "corrupt practice", two former chief election commissioners N Gopalaswami and SY Quraishi recently said that parties whose names are based on religious lines may be forced to change their names, following the SC verdict. Speaking with News18, Gopalaswami said, There are parties like Akali Dal, All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), Shiv Sena, and Indian Union Muslim League who may have to change their names after the SC verdict. According to News18, Quraishi echoed Gopalaswami's view and said that changing names is high after the SC verdict. BJP is already questioning the names of a few political parties. I think parties with religious names should change their names after the apex court verdict, but courts will take the last call, Quraishi said. But then again a decision like that is very unlikely, especially since the SC verdict has not been notified, and a future hearing if a citizen files a petition in the SC about the names of these political parties may or may not result in a similar ruling. Especially, since three of the seven judges headed by Chief Justice TS Thakur, who formed the bench that gave the ruling on Monday dissented from the majority view. Three judges justices Adarsh Kumar Goel, UU Lalit and DY Chandrachud dissented with the majority opinion and said that the matter must be left to Parliament to decide, a report in Livemint said. And as Firstpost argued earlier, even the current ruling won't have much effect on the status quo unless the high courts of India follow. More so, when the Delhi High Court has already dismissed a petition seeking de-registration of political parties with religious connotation in 2016. For watchers of West Bengal politics, Mamata Banerjee's pyrotechnics is nothing new. But her firebrand ways have certainly taken the larger national audience by surprise, many of whom are only now beginning to take her as a serious player on the bigger stage. Make no mistake, the Bengal chief minister's 'spontaneous' outpouring of anger over close aide Sudip Bandyopadhyay's arrest is an attempt to send multiple messages on many fronts. The wily veteran sees the CBI move as an opportunity to pitchfork herself as the prime minister's fiercest competitor and through a series of calibrated steps, is preparing the ground for a sustained campaign against Narendra Modi. It would seem a little contradictory to propose that the arrest of two top TMC leaders in the space of a week on charges of graft presents a political opportunity for Mamata, more so at a time when the prime minister has declared an all-out war on corruption. Be it connection with multi-crore ponzi schemes, the menace of 'syndicate raj' or Narada scandal, Trinamool Congress has never been too adrift of corruption charges. If Bandyopadhyay and Tapal Pal are now in CBI custody for their alleged links with Rose Valley, party MP Kunal Ghosh and Bengal's ex-minister Madan Mitra have already served jail time in connection with Saradha scam. Not to speak of Srinjoy Bose, another party MP who was arrested earlier and is now out on bail. Logically, the tightening of CBI noose around key TMC figureheads should worry the Bengal chief minister who says the PMO is orchestrating the arrests. Talking to the media on Tuesday after Bandyopadhyay's arrest, Mamata hinted at possessing credible information that more of her party's senior leaders would now be targeted. If this sounds like "fear" to an untrained ear, it isn't. Behind this overt political posturing lies Mamata's cold calculation that CBI has become a discredited agency and no one seriously believes in its independence. Therefore, playing the victim card at this juncture would not only gain her public sympathy, it may also bring support from other political parties, many of whom have similar fat to burn against the BJP. As if on cue, the Congress came calling. Putting behind the Assembly poll frostbites, Sonia Gandhi's close aide Ahmed Patel, according to media reports, made the crucial call and after a quick internal meeting Congress party spokesperson Randeep Surjewala came out all guns blazing, accusing Modi of targeting Mamata because "she made the mistake of holding a joint news conference with Rahul Gandhi" against demonetisation. A mass leader herself with tremendous ground connect, Mamata well understands that Modi's popularity hasn't taken a major beating despite a hugely risky and largely botched up demonetisation drive and his grip over BJP's power structure hasn't loosened. To take on such a formidable adversary on a turf she isn't too familiar with, she'd be needing all the help she can muster. This calculation was at work when she dialed the number of several Opposition leaders on Tuesday seeking a larger coalition around CBI arrests, a logical continuation of the fragile unity she had forged out of the demonetisation fire. According to The Telegraph, the Bengal chief minister spoke to several leaders hoping to strike a chord of victimisation. "They are threatening people all the time. Sometimes it's Arvind (Kejriwal), sometimes it's Soniaji, sometimes Mayawatiji, sometimes Laluji. Everyone. Some are scared and therefore quiet. But everyone is unhappy I will request everyone to hit the streets to stop Modi," the newspaper quoted her, as saying. Her call of "hitting the streets" against Modi was answered so enthusiastically by party activists that by Wednesday afternoon, reports had poured in of widespread and sustained attacks on BJP's Bengal units. Tuesday's attack on BJP's Kolkata office and workers and vandalising of vehicles was followed by the bombing of BJP district President Krishna Bhattacharya's residence, who according to a report by Financial Express suffered injuries during the 9.30 pm attack. Elsewhere on Wednesday, Hindustan Times reported incidents of TMC leaders and supporters blocking arterial roads at different points across Bengal while reports also emerged of BJP party offices being demolished in two areas Canning in South 24 Parganas and Durgapur in Burdwan district. In between, BJP's Union minister Babul Supriyo took to Twitter to allege on Wednesday that "TMC goons (were) trying to 2 break open the gate of my apartment in Kailash Bose Street where my MumDad are staying" (sic). My KailashBose Street Apt where my MumDad stays, gheraoed by TMCSloganBaazi happening Won't b surprised if police allows them 2 vandalise Babul Supriyo (@SuPriyoBabul) January 4, 2017 TMC goons trying 2 break open the gate of my apartment in Kailash Bose Street where my MumDad are stayingWhat a shame pic.twitter.com/i2WRMLgebI Babul Supriyo (@SuPriyoBabul) January 4, 2017 This escalation of violence and confrontation tactics aren't just an internal assurance to beleaguered colleagues that the party will stand by their side despite CBI cosh, but also a message to the Opposition at large that she remains the "immovable object" to Modi's "unstoppable force". This serves two purposes. Apart from the hopes of rekindling the 'Third Front' fire, this also pitches her in direct confrontation with Modi a scenario that the prime minister's political rivals dream of and assiduously work towards. Mamata is getting ready for the long haul. U.S. Sen. Dean Heller (R-Nev.), along with senators Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), have introduced the Jerusalem Embassy and Recognition Act, legislation they say would fulfill Americas commitment to Israel to relocate the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. My support for Israel is unwavering. From my very first days as a United States Senator, I have prioritized the strengthening of the important relationship shared between Israel and the United States, said Heller. Thats why Im proud to reintroduce the Jerusalem Embassy and Recognition Act. For years, Ive advocated for Americas need to reaffirm its support for one of our nations strongest allies by recognizing Jerusalem as the undivided capital of Israel. It honors an important promise America made more than two decades ago but has yet to fulfill. While Administrations come and go, the lasting strength of our partnership with one of our strongest allies in the Middle East continues to endure. My legislation is a testament to that. Id like to thank Senators Rubio and Cruz for their support for this legislation and look forward to working with the new Administration to turn this bill into law. Jerusalem is the eternal and undivided capital of Israel, Cruz said. Unfortunately, the Obama administrations vendetta against the Jewish state has been so vicious that to even utter this simple truthlet alone the reality that Jerusalem is the appropriate venue for the American embassy in Israelis shocking in some circles. But it is finally time to cut through the double-speak and broken promises and do what Congress said we should do in 1995: formally move our embassy to the capital of our great ally Israel. I am pleased to co-sponsor this legislation with Senator Heller and Senator Rubio, and I look forward to working with the Trump administration to make this happen. Rubio continued, Jerusalem is the eternal capital of the Jewish state of Israel, and thats where Americas embassy belongs. Its time for Congress and the President-Elect to eliminate the loophole that has allowed presidents in both parties to ignore U.S. law and delay our embassys rightful relocation to Jerusalem for over two decades. New Delhi: Accusing the BJP government of indulging in "vindictive politics", Trinamool Congress (TMC) MPs on Wednesday took out a protest march towards the prime minister's residence in New Delhi raising slogans Modi hatao desh bachao (remove Modi, save country). TMC MPs were detained for about three hours by the police while they were marching to the prime minister's residence to protest the arrest of Trinamool Congress Leader in the Lok Sabha, Sudip Bandyopadhyay by CBI in Rose valley chit fund case. "It is nothing but vindictive politics. But we will continue to fight this," TMC leader Derek O'brien said after coming out of the Tughlaq Police station along with other party MPs. "There were 34 TMC MPs who held a peaceful protest outside 7 RCR. We protested the political vendetta. Our aim was Modi hatao Desh bachao," Obrien said. There are total 46 TMC MPs in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha out of which 34 has participated in the protest march and subsequently detained at the police station. "It is not the financial emergency anymore. It is now emergency as you have seen by now", TMC MP Kakoli Dastidar, who was also detained along with other MPs said. She alleged that police manhandled the MPs while taking them into custody. "There was no lady police to arrest women MPs. Many of our MPs were roughed up while being taken into police custody," she alleged. O'brien claimed, "Three MPs Kalyan Banerjee, Prasoon Banerjee and Saugata Ray were attacked by police when they were staging peaceful dharna. But we will carry on our protest. Because it is a political vendetta." He further said "Nothing is going to scare us. We will carry out the movement not only in Bengal but in six-seven other states as well." Asked whether this was a protest against arrest of Sudeep Bandyopadhyay, O'brien said, "Protest is against demonetisation and it is all linked. The movement was started on 9 November and it will continue. Other likeminded political parties are also supporting us. Congress is also supporting us on this fight against Modi government. AAP is also supporting us. Opposition is very united on this." Accusing "misuse of CBI" by Modi government, Kalyan Banerjee said "They are misusing CBI against the Opposition to harass us. I was roughed up by the police. But despite that we will continue our fight against Modi government." Asked about the tomorrow's programme, Obrien said "We are now released. We will again meet tomorrow." High drama unfolded on the streets of Kolkata on Tuesday after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) arrested Trinamool Congress MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay in connection with the alleged Rose Valley chit fund scam. Members of the TMC also attacked the BJP headquarters in Kolkata and injured several BJP workers. "More than 10-15 workers of our party received severe injuries. Stones were hurled at cars parked outside. Is this democracy? A person who has looted public money has been arrested. So why are they protesting against our party office?" said BJP national secretary Rahul Sinha told PTI on Tuesday. Meanwhile, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee cried political vendetta and in a Facebook post she wrote, "It is all because of our fight against #NoteBandi. We are and will be with the people. Nothing can stop us from being with the people and we will continue with our protest against #NoteBandi." A CBI statement said Bandyopadhyay has been charged under IPC sections 420 (cheating), 408 (criminal breach of trust), 120b (criminal conspiracy) and 34 (common intention) and various sections of Prize, Chits and Money Circulation (Banning) Act of 1978. Earlier, CBI had arrested another TMC MP Tapas Pal in connection with the same case and kept him in remand for three days. Bandyopadhyay was brought to Bhubaneswar and sources in the CBI told PTI that the TMC MP would be first sent to the Capital Hospital for medical examination before being produced in the CBI-designated court. The investigating agency would seek remand of Bandyopadhyay as the TMC leader was not allegedly cooperating with the investigation. Sources also said that the CBI was planning to interrogate both Bandyopadhyay and Pal together as both have been arrested on charges of their alleged involvement in the Rs 17,000-crore scam. Rose Valley chit fund scam The Rose Valley Group has been accused of duping investors of about Rs 17,000 crores in different states. The case is being investigated both by the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate (ED). While Pal was one of the directors of the group, Bandyopadhyay is accused of being a promoter of the ponzi firm. According to News 18, Rose Valley group owns nearly 23 properties across India and was the business empire was started by Kajal Kundu. After Kajal and his family were killed in a car accident, Gautam Kundu took over the reins of the company. Gautam was arrested by ED in March 2015. The report added that it was only in 2012 that the company ran into trouble after the IRDAI raised objections. As per The Hindu, the company had "violated RBI guidelines other related financial fraud control acts." The Indian Express reported that Rose Valley had floated a holiday membership plan and apart from Bandyopadhyay, Pal, Chief Ministers of Odisha and Tripura, Naveen Patnaik and Manik Sarkar respectively and BJP MP Babul Supriyo have been linked to the case. The investors were given the choice of opting for a holiday package or "a return on the investment with annualised interest". The report further stated Sebi found out that the company collected over Rs 10,000 crore without following due procedures. Moreover, a case was registered against the company by Assam police, for alleged earning Rs 1,006 crore through the scheme until February 2012. TMC protests TMC workers on Wednesday took to the streets in various parts of West Bengal to protest arrest of Bandyopadhyay and staged demonstration in front of Union minister Babul Supriyo's house demanding his arrest. The BJP, meanwhile, urged state governor K N Tripathi to send a report to the Centre demanding imposition of President's Rule in view of "growing lawlessness" in the state. TMC activists staged protest in front of the housing society where Supriyo's house is located, demanded his arrest and resorted to rail blockade at some places. Supriyo said the TMC activists burnt BJP flag in front of the society and questioned the role of the police. "My parents and other residents are scared. Let Didi (Mamata Banerjee) give proof of my involvement in the Rose Valley scam, I will be arrested", he said. The TMC also took out processions at various places and organised rail blockade at Kankurgachi here and staged protest in front of the CBI office here. A TMC delegation led by party secretary general Partha Chatterjee also met the governor and complained of "political vendetta" by the Centre against TMC which is opposing demonetisation. He also demanded that CBI arrest Supriyo in connection with Rose Valley chit fund scam. "They (BJP)cannot stop TMC by conspiring and arresting our leaders" he said. With inputs from agencies Bhubaneswar: A court on Wednesday sent Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay to six-day CBI remand for further questioning in the Rose Valley chit fund scam. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had asked for a 12-day remand from the Special CJM court. Bandyopadhyay's lawyer has moved a bail plea but the court is yet to pronounce order on it, said informed sources. "The CBI has to prove the allegation that Sudip has taken some money from the ponzi firm. He is a mere accused and all allegations against him are baseless. Sudip has been arrested due to political vendetta," his lawyer Rajiv Majumdar said. Bandyopadhyay was arrested on Tuesday by the CBI in Kolkata on the charge of involvement in the scam. Another TMC MP Tapas Pal is in CBI remand in the case. Earlier on Wednesday, TMC supporters staged a demonstration in front of the CBI office here to protest the arrest of the two MPs. Led by TMC MLA from Ramnagar Akhil Giri, the protesters held the demonstration and announced a mega rally on 10 January in Bhubaneswar. They dubbed the arrests politically motivated and said it is a conspiracy of the BJP-led central government to wipe out the TMC in West Bengal. "The BJP has hatched a conspiracy to eliminate our party after Mamata Banerjee protested against the 8 November demonetisation. We are going to organise a mega rally in Bhubaneswar on 10 January to protest against the CBI action. The allegations against our MPs are completely baseless," Giri said. By Praveen Chakravarty Electorally, 2017 is billed as the year of the Uttar Pradesh (UP) legislative assembly elections, with commentators arguing that this is a crucial election for Indias ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Indias most populous state. True to its billing, as elections were announced on 4 January, 2017, the theatrics continue in the Samajwadi Party (SP), which rules UP, over a father-son duel triggering a vertical split in the party. The overwhelming narrative is that the 2017 UP state elections will be a harbinger for the general elections of 2019. The drama aside, the only result of the 2017 UP elections that should be surprising is a BJP loss. Lets understand why. In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP won 71 parliament seats by winning 328 (81 percent) of 403 assembly segments. This was unprecedented in the recent history of UP elections. To put that in context, the last time a political party won more than 80 percent of all constituencies in UP was in 1977, when the Janata party won 80 percent of the seats in a post-emergency landslide Not only did the BJP win 81 percent of seats in 2014, but it did so by a massive margin. There are four major political parties in the fray in UPthe ruling SP, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Congress (INC) and the BJP. These parties have historically contested the UP elections independently. 2014 Uttar Pradesh Election In a four-cornered, first-past-the-post system, the winning party needs only a 25-30 percent vote share in each constituency. The BJP won 253 out of the 403 constituencies with greater than 40 percent vote share in the 2014 elections. This suggests that even if there had been opposition unity, the BJP may have still won well more than half of all seats. Further, it won an outright majority (more than 50 percent of votes) in 94 constituencies. There has been no political party that has won so many seats in UP with such huge margins in recent history. Depth of 2014 BJP victory = one predictable outcome: BJP victory in 2017 It was this victory in UP that enabled the BJP to be the first to win an outright majority in Parliament since 1984. The enormity of the BJP victory in UP just three years ago should ideally mean only one very predictable outcome of the 2017 state elections in UP a BJP majority. Yet, there is palpable excitement over other possible outcomes. For the BJP to get less than 200 seats and lose UP in 2017, it would have to lose nearly 40 percent of its seats from 2014. For that to happen, it would take nearly 15 percent of BJP voters in the 2014 election to switch loyalties en-masse to another political party. To put that in context, the BJP lost the Bihar elections of 2015 after winning it in 2014, by having no more than 4 percent of its voters switch loyalties. The BJP would need a performance nearly four times worse than Bihar to lose UP, given its magnitude of victory in 2014. If any two of the opposition parties get together, the BJP would still have to lose more than 10 percent of its voters to lose the UP election. Whichever way one looks at the data, it would take a massive shift of loyalties of 2014 BJP voters for the party to lose the 2017 election. Myth without evidence: Voters choose differently in state, national elections The standard counter to this analysis will be that the 2017 UP election is a state election while the 2014 election was a national election and hence voting patterns will be very different. That voters choose differently for state and national elections is one of the long-held myths about Indian elections for which there is little evidence. The typical evidence dished out in favour of this argument is a comparison of national and state elections across different time periods when many other changes have occurred to be able to attribute outcomes solely to voters choosing differently for the state and national elections. The 2015 loss of the BJP in Delhi to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) coming on the heels of a BJP sweep of Delhi in the 2014 elections is another popularly cited example. This again misses the fact that it was primarily the collapse of the Congress vote share that helped propel AAP to victory as opposed to any conclusive evidence of voters choosing BJP in the national elections and AAP in the state elections. To the contrary, my research has shown that when elections are held simultaneously to state and Centre, 77 percent of the voters choose the same party and do not differentiate between a state and a national election. Further, in five of the last six state and national elections in UP since 2002, the two regional parties have won a greater majority of the votes combined than the two national parties BJP & INC except in 2014. The SP won the 2002 state election and the subsequent 2004 national election in UP. The BSP won the 2007 state election and was the leading party in the 2009 national election in UP. If the BJP loses, it would make electoral history Despite all this, even if one were to accept that voters may vote slightly differently for state elections vis-a-vis national, this difference alone cannot explain a BJP loss in UP, if it were to occur. The BJPs performance in UP in 2014 is so far ahead of the other parties that an outright majority in the 2017 UP elections should have ideally been par for the course. This is also the reason why the speculation about the prime ministers demonetisation initiative being motivated by the upcoming UP elections is, perhaps, misplaced. Should the BJP secure less than 200 seats in the 2017 UP election, it would only mean that a large number of UP-ites changed the decision they made in 2014 and would also, perhaps, go down as among the most significant vote-share swings in Indias electoral history. Only under this scenario, can the 2017 UP electoral outcome be a true harbinger for the 2019 national elections, not otherwise. Indiaspend.com is a data-driven, public-interest journalism non-profit The high-stakes Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh will be held in seven phases between 11 February and 8 March, while Punjab and Goa will go to the polls together on 4 February, Uttarakhand on 15 February and Manipur in two phases on 4 and 8 March. Addressing the media on Wednesday, Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi said counting of votes in all five states will take place on 11 March. Zaidi added that the Model Code of Conduct becomes effective immediately. Announcing the poll schedule for five states, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Nasim Zaidi said the seven-phased Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls for 403 constituencies will be held on 11, 15, 19, 23, 27 February and 4 and 8 March. The main players in the five states include the Bharatiya Janata Party, Congress, Aam Aadmi Party, Shiromani Akali Dal, Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party and Manipur People's Party. Over 16 crore voters will exercise their democratic rights for a total of 690 constituencies in five states, for which the Commission has set up 1.85 lakh polling stations, which are 15 per cent more than those set up in 2012 polls, Zaidi told the press. The CEC flanked by the two election commissioners AK Joti and OP Rawat announced that the poll process will commence with the issue of notification on 11 January for Punjab and Goa polls where candidates can start filing their nominations. "The Model Code of Conduct will come into immediate effect and will apply on political parties and state governments concerned, besides the central government in terms of announcements in these states," Zaidi told reporters. The CEC said candidates will have to open a fresh bank account for all election expenses and all expenses above Rs 20,000 will be made through cheques from their respective accounts. He added that all donations will also be accepted through cheques. The maximum limit for expenses for each candidates in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Uttarakhand is Rs 28 lakh, while that in Goa and Manipur is Rs 20 lakh, he said. Height of voting compartments has been raised to 30 inch for secrecy: Nasim Zaidi, ECI pic.twitter.com/yVIji4URx5 ANI (@ANI_news) January 4, 2017 Nearly 100% voters have Electoral photo ID Card: CEC Nasim Zaidi pic.twitter.com/PwKyvJ5BiD ANI (@ANI_news) January 4, 2017 Every polling station will have 4 posters for voting procedure and dos and don'ts: Nasim Zaidi, ECI pic.twitter.com/GvWwkXVGa1 ANI (@ANI_news) January 4, 2017 Every polling station will have 4 posters for voting procedure and dos and don'ts: Nasim Zaidi, ECI pic.twitter.com/GvWwkXVGa1 ANI (@ANI_news) January 4, 2017 ECI to distribute Voters' Guide to facilitate voters; there will be voters Assistance booth manned by officials: CEC Nasim Zaidi ANI (@ANI_news) January 4, 2017 In addition to all of this, the Election Commission will also distribute photo voters slip to all voters. "These have been improved," Zaidi said. "A (multi-coloured) voter guide will be distributed to all families. This will have details of polling stations, date and time of polling, ID documents that can be used, etc. At least 1.85 Lakh polling stations will be covered under these polls. This has increased by 15 percent. For secrecy, height of the voting compartment has been raised to 30 inches," Zaidi said. Zaidi added that electronic voter machines will be used in all states. "As you know there is a symbol provided at bottom of EVM for 'None Of The Above' or NOTA. In certain constituencies there will be Voter-Verified Paper Audit Trail or VVPAT. The number of constituencies with VVPAT will be increased." The Election Commission is joining the rank of global leaders in the area of electronic transmission of votes. "This is a historic (first) step. Electronic transmission of votes done keeping in mind defence personnel. Postal votes will be transmitted one-way in certain constituencies. The CEC added that candidates will be required to file a no demand certificate. The rules have also been changed. "Candidates will have to fix a photograph on nomination paper. They will have to declare that they are citizens of India, not sought foreign citizenship." Zaidi said the use of black money in these elections is expected to reduce post demonetisation, but use of other illegal inducements in different forms may see an increase. He said for the first time the EC will issue Standard Operating Procedures for the first 72 hours of poll process after announcement of polls and for the last 72 hours before polling to ensure that the poll machinery is set rolling and activated. The EC has also for the first time made it mandatory for every candidate contesting these polls to file another affidavit in the form of a "No demand certificate" declaring any pending electricity, water, telephone bills and rent for government accommodation in their possession in last ten years. The CEC said candidates will also make a declaration while filing their nominations on their being a citizen of India and having not held citizenship of any other country. Polling station-wise mapping of Persons with Disabilities being done; Assembly Elections to be Persons with Disabilities-friendly: CEC ANI (@ANI_news) January 4, 2017 The limit for expenses for candidates is Rs 28 lakh for UP, Punjab, Uttarakhand & Rs 20 lakh for Manipur and Goa: ECI pic.twitter.com/Ck8C4m4zbk ANI (@ANI_news) January 4, 2017 ECI discourages use of environmentally hazardous material in Assembly Elections campaigns: CEC Nasim Zaidi pic.twitter.com/zhlqWhW1cx ANI (@ANI_news) January 4, 2017 Kiosks/bastas set up by candidates will be deemed to be set up by candidates, to be included in election exp. by candidates: CEC pic.twitter.com/2BemHUEleF ANI (@ANI_news) January 4, 2017 Here are the dates/details for all the states The affidavit is in compliance with a Delhi High Court ruling in this regard and failure to file it will lead to defects of substantial nature during scrutiny of nomination papers, Zaidi said. As part of another first of its kind initiative, the EC will accept online the service votes of defence, para-military personnel and those posted in missions abroad. This comes after the success of an experiment in Puducherry. Zaidi said VVPAT machines will be used in increasing number in select areas during these assembly polls and Goa will be saturated with VVPAT. While Electronic Voting Machines will be used in all polling stations, the ballot paper on EVM machines will for the first time carry photographs of candidates along with their names and poll symbols. The Commission will issue photo voter slips to voters ahead of polls and will for the first time also distribute a multi-coloured booklet that will guide the voters on date and time of polls and location of polling stations, besides Dos and Don'ts for them. To encourage more participation of women in election management, the EC will also have some all-woman polling stations this time around, besides making all polling stations disabilities-friendly. The tenure of Punjab, Goa and Manipur assemblies are ending on 18 March, while that of Uttarakhand will end on 26 March and Uttar Pradesh Assembly on 27 May. Of the total 690 constituencies going to polls in these five states, 133 are reserved for Scheduled Castes and 23 for Scheduled Tribes. Uttar Pradesh has 403 constituencies and elections will take place in seven phases Phase One: 73 Constituencies includes 15 districts Notification - 17 January, 2017 Last date of nominations - 24 January, 2017 Scrutiny of nominations - 25 January, 2017 Last date for withdrawal of nominations - 27 January, 2017 Elections will be held on 11 February, 2017 Phase Two: 67 Constituencies, includes 11 districts Notification - 20 January, 2017 Last date of nominations - 27 January, 2017 Scrutiny of nominations - 28 January, 2017 Last date for withdrawal of nominations - 30 January, 2017 Elections will be held on 15 February, 2017 Phase Three: 69 Constituencies, includes 12 districts Notification - 24 January, 2017 Last date of nominations - 31 January, 2017 Scrutiny of nominations - 2 February, 2017 Last date for withdrawal of nominations - 4 February, 2017 Elections will be held on 19 February, 2017 Phase Four: 53 Constituencies, includes 12 districts Notification - 30 January, 2017 Last date of nominations - 6 February, 2017 Scrutiny of nominations - 7 February, 2017 Last date for withdrawal of nominations - 9 February, 2017 Elections will be held on 23 February, 2017 Phase Five: 52 Constituencies, includes 11 Districts Notification - 2 February, 2017 Last date of nominations - 9 February, 2017 Scrutiny of nominations - 11 February, 2017 Last date for withdrawal of nominations - 13 February, 2017 Elections will be held on 27 February, 2017 Phase Six: 49 Constituencies, includes 7 Districts Notification - 8 February, 2017 Last date of nominations - 15 February, 2017 Scrutiny of nominations - 16 February, 2017 Last date for withdrawal of nominations - 18 February, 2017 Elections will be held on 4 March, 2017 Phase Seven: 40 Constituencies, includes 7 Districts Notification - 11 February, 2017 Last date of nominations - 18 February, 2017 Scrutiny of nominations - 20 February, 2017 Last date for withdrawal of nominations - 22 February, 2017 Elections will be held on 8 March, 2017 -- Goa has 40 Assembly seats and the election will be held in single phase Notification - 11 January, 2017 Last date of nominations - 18 January, 2017 Scrutiny of nominations - 19 January, 2017 Last date for withdrawal of nominations - 21 January, 2017. Elections will be held on 4 February, 2017 -- Manipur has 60 Assembly seats and the election will be held in two phases First Phase Notification - 8 February, 2017 Last date of nominations - 15 February, 2017 Scrutiny of nominations - 16 February, 2017 Last date for withdrawal of nominations - 18 February, 2017 First Phase election to be held on 4 March, 2017 Second Phase Notification: 11 February, 2017 Last date of nominations - 18 February, 2017 Scrutiny of nominations - 28 February, 2017 Last date for withdrawal of nominations - 2 March, 2017 Second phase elections will be held on 8 March, 2017 -- Punjab has 117 Assembly seats and elections will be held in single phase Notification - 11 January, 2017 Last date of nominations - 18 January, 2017 Scrutiny of nominations - 19 January, 2017 Last date for withdrawal of nominations - 21 January, 2017. Elections to be held on 4 February, 2017 -- Uttarakhand has 70 Assembly seats and elections will be held in single phase Notification - 20 January, 2017 Last date of nominations - 27 January, 2017 Scrutiny of nominations - 28 January, 2017 Last date for withdrawal of nominations - 30 January, 2017. Elections will be held on 15 February, 2017 Uttar Pradesh will vote in a seven-phase election for its 403 seats on 11, 15, 19, 23 and 27 February, and 4 and 8 March. This is probably 2017's biggest litmust test for political parties in fray for the upcoming Assembly elections. The fight is in five crucial states Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa, Manipur and Punjab. However, in the past few months Uttar Pradesh politics has garnered the most interest, thanks to the chacha-bhatija drama playing out in the ruling party of the state. The largest and the most crucial of all states - political parties in Uttar Pradesh will fight for 403 seats. The major parties in fray are Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party, Bharatiya Janata Party and Congress. BJP's campaign, spearheaded by none other than the prime minister himself, has boasted of attracting the most crowd in the state. The spirits are buoyed in the party, especially with the ruling SP mired in family skirmishes and ongoing drama between chief minister and now party chief Akhilesh Yadav, his father and party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav and Mulayam's brother Shivpal Yadav. Interestingly, in the 2014 general elections, the BJP had won more votes in Uttar Pradesh than the BSP and the SP put together. The BJP won 34.3 million votes, compared to the SPs 18 million and the BSPs 15.9 million. However, it will be mighty difficult to predict the election results in the state. Considering the poll fight will be a three or a four-way fight, it is too premature to foretell parties' future in the state. For the two national parties - BJP and Congress - who have been pushed to the margins by regional parties, the elections will set the tone for the 2019 Lok Sabha election. UP was crucial for BJP's 2014 election sweep. Of the 80 Lok Sabha seats the highest for any state the BJP won 71. So a win in the state is extremely high on their agenda, however a defeat would definitely worry the BJP leadership. The Election Commission is likely to hold a seven-phase poll in Uttar Pradesh and single-phased polling in the four other states. Deputy Election Commissioner Vijay Kumar Dev has directed the authorities in the western Uttar Pradesh districts to keep strict vigil and surveillance in order to thwart any untoward incident in the upcoming state Assembly polls. While addressing a meeting of senior police and administration officials of the region in Meerut on Monday, Dev asked the authorities in Muzaffarnagar, Shamli, Meerut, Ghaziabad, Saharanpur, Baghpat, Bulandshahr, Noida and Hapur to share the list with the Election Commission of proclaimed offenders and history-sheeters. The directions were given keeping in view the security and to prevent criminals indulge in any malpractices during the polls. Special barriers would be put up at the state borders to check vehicles entering from neighbouring Delhi, Haryana and Uttarakhand. This will include barricading on the Delhi-Dehradun and the Panipat-Khatima highways. Dev also asked the jail authorities in the concerned to provide a list of gangsters lodged in their respective jails. In Muzzaffarnagar district jails, a total of 478 criminals are lodged under the Gangster Act. By Michelle Nichols | UNITED NATIONS UNITED NATIONS New United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres spoke with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday, and the two had "a very positive discussion on U.S./U.N. relations," said a U.N. spokesman, a week after Trump slammed the world body on Twitter.Guterres, a former Portuguese prime minister and U.N. refugee chief who began his five-year term on Sunday, spoke by phone with Trump, who will take office on Jan. 20, said U.N. spokesman Farhan Haq. "This was an introductory phone call during which they had a very positive discussion on U.S./U.N. relations. The secretary-general said that he looked forward to engaging with the president after his inauguration," Haq told reporters.Trump took to Twitter to disparage the 193-member world body after the United States abstained in a Dec. 23 U.N. Security Council vote, allowing the adoption of a resolution demanding an end to settlement building by U.S. ally Israel. Trump, who had called on the outgoing Obama administration to veto the resolution, warned that "things will be different" at the United Nations after he takes office, without offering any details. He followed up with another tweet on Dec. 26: "The United Nations has such great potential but right now it is just a club for people to get together, talk and have a good time. So sad!"Guterres responded in an interview with Snapchat on Tuesday: "President(-elect) Trump also said the U.N. has an enormous potential. That's exactly what I feel. My job is to make sure that potential becomes a reality." In an address to U.N. staff in New York on Tuesday, Guterres acknowledged that in some parts of the world there was a resistance and scepticism about the role of the United Nations.Trump spokesman Sean Spicer said on Wednesday that the president-elect would work with Rex Tillerson, his secretary of state nominee, and Nikki Haley, his choice for U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, to "demand some reform and change." Both Tillerson and Haley must be confirmed by the U.S. Senate before taking office. The United States is the largest contributor to the United Nations, paying 22 percent of the $5.4 billion core U.N. budget and 28 percent of the $7.9 billion U.N. peacekeeping budget. Following passage of the U.N. resolution on Israeli settlements, a top U.S. senator threatened to work to cut U.S. funding."This gives Guterres a reason for going big on reform quickly," said a senior U.N. diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity. "He needs to make sure he is reforming the U.N. fast enough and radically enough in order to engage the incoming U.S. administration." (Additional reporting by Susan Heavey; Editing by Jonathan Oatis) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. By Brad Brooks | SAO PAULO SAO PAULO The killing of 56 inmates by fellow prisoners in Brazil's deadliest jail uprising in decades was a "butchery foretold" by escalating turf wars between drug gangs that threatens to plunge a chaotic penitentiary system deeper into violence. Prior to this week's massacre of members of the First Capital Command (PCC) in the Anisio Jobim penitentiary in the jungle city of Manaus, security experts warned for months about intensifying clashes in prisons between Brazil's two most powerful drug gangs - the Sao Paulo-based PCC and the Red Command, based in Rio de Janeiro.Now they fear the feud will escalate in prisons and on the streets of the South American nation of 207 million people. Rio, Brazil's most popular tourist destination, is particularly vulnerable, along with major cities in the north and northeast, the experts say. "This situation is tense, very ripe for new tragedies," said Camila Dias, a sociologist at the Federal University of ABC in Sao Paulo, who is an expert on Brazil's prison system and author of a book on the PCC. "This was a butchery foretold." For more than two decades, the PCC and Red Command maintained an uneasy working relationship to ensure a steady flow of marijuana, cocaine and guns over Brazil's porous borders and into its cities. But in June the partnership ended with the killing of Jorge Rafaat Toumani, a powerful Brazilian drug lord based in Paraguay who controlled trafficking routes along Brazil's southeastern border. While Toumani was not publicly affiliated to one group or another, and details of his death remain murky, Paraguayan officials believe he was killed at the PCC's behest so it could seize his lucrative trafficking routes. What is clear, security experts say, is that the PCC has taken control of Toumani's former domain. As a result, relations between the PCC and Red Command fell apart. Communications between the factions' leaders obtained by police and leaked in October, revealed a race to become Brazil's dominant gang. That same month, clashes between gang members in three prisons elsewhere in Brazil's Amazon left 22 dead. Control of the drug gangs' turf has been increasingly balkanized in recent months. That has left the Red Command weaker and allowed the PCC - powered by proceeds from their base in Sao Paulo, Brazil's richest city - to encroach on their turf in Rio. Brazilian intelligence services say that in response, the Red Command is strengthening ties with smaller groups elsewhere, like the North Family gang that carried out the slaughter of PCC members in the Manaus prison this week. Few now expect the PCC to turn the other cheek after dozens of its members were killed, including many who were decapitated. Videos of the slaughter have spread widely on social media. "Within the criminal code of conduct, an act like what we saw in the Manaus prison will never go unanswered," said Rafael Alcadipani, a public security expert at the Getulio Vargas Foundation think tank in Sao Paulo. He predicts gang battles in prisons across Brazil and on the streets of northern cities and Rio. "The civilian population will be at the mercy of this coming war," he said. Brazil's justice minister, Alexandre Moraes, and other government security officials have played down such fears, saying they are transferring imprisoned drug gang leaders to maximum security jails, where they will remain in isolation. In theory this will stop them from handing down orders to underlings, but in the past isolated gang leaders have still managed to retain control over their networks. DEADLY PRISONS Whether run by the state, or privately operated facilities like the one in Manaus, most Brazilian prisons lack resources which allows prisoners to easily take control of them and carry out massacres like the one seen this week. Horrific conditions and abuses are well documented. There are 622,000 inmates in Brazil's prison population, ranking only behind the United States, China and Russia, according to the University of London's Institute for Criminal Policy Research. Poor financing and administration mean that even in Sao Paulo, Brazil's wealthiest state, a single guard oversees 300 to 400 prisoners in some prisons, said Dias, the sociologist. "When the prisoners want to have an uprising, they have an uprising," she added. The Justice Ministry did not respond to requests for comment, but just last week the federal government announced it was immediately freeing 1.2 billion reais ($372.50 million) in funding for states to improve or build jails. Sergio Fontes, the top security official in Amazonas state, where Manaus is located, insists the state government has not lost control of the penitentiary system. Many public security experts disagree. They argue that the prisons mirror an overall lack of security in a country where authorities have long tolerated high homicide rates. (Reporting by Brad Brooks, editing by Daniel Flynn and Ross Colvin) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. LOS ANGELES Convicted mass murderer Charles Manson was taken from a California prison, where he is serving a life term, to a hospital for an undisclosed medical issue on Tuesday, news media reported.Manson, 82, was seriously ill, a source told the Los Angeles Times, but could not provide further information. TMZ reported that Manson was transported to a hospital in Bakersfield, California, about an hour from California State Prison in Corcoran, where he was being held. A California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation spokesman declined to comment to Reuters, citing inmate medical privacy issues.In the 1960s, Manson, a charismatic ex-convict, assembled a group of runaways and outcasts known as the "Manson Family." In the summer of 1969, he directed his mostly young, female followers to murder seven people in what prosecutors said was part of a plan to incite a race war. Members of the cult stabbed heavily pregnant Hollywood actress Sharon Tate 16 times in the early-morning hours of Aug. 9, 1969. Manson's followers stabbed or shot to death four other people at Tate's home. The following night, Manson's group entered the nearby home of grocery store chain owner Leno LaBianca and his wife, Rosemary, stabbed the couple to death and used their blood to write "Rise," "Death to Pigs," and "Healter Skelter," a misplaced reference to the Beatles song "Helter Skelter," on the walls and refrigerator door.Manson was originally sentenced to death but was spared execution and his sentence converted to life in prison after the California Supreme Court declared the death penalty unconstitutional in that state. (Reporting by Dan Whitcomb and Ben Klayman; Editing by Chris Reese and Jonathan Oatis) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. BERLIN German police have detained a 26-year-old Tunisian man over links with the perpetrator of an Islamist truck attack on a Berlin Christmas market that killed 12 people, a federal prosecutors' spokeswoman said on Wednesday.Police on Tuesday evening searched the living quarters of the man identified as Bilel A. after he was found to have had dinner with Anis Amri a day before Amri steered a truck through the market on Dec. 19, spokeswoman Frauke Koehler said."This contact person is a 26-year-old Tunisian. We are investigating him for possible participation in the attack," she told reporters.Amri, 24, also a Tunisian and failed asylum seeker, was killed in a shootout with Italian police on Dec. 23 after fleeing Germany and travelling through the Netherlands, Belgium and France. Islamic State militants claimed responsibility for the Berlin attack. Koehler said the investigation had shown Amri met the second Tunisian man in a restaurant in central Berlin on the eve of the attack and that the two engaged in "very intense discussions"."That triggered the suspicion for us that the suspect, this 26-year-old Tunisian, was possibly involved in the act, or at the very least knew of the attack plans of Anis Amri," she said. Koehler said there was insufficient evidence at this point to charge the man with any role in the Christmas market carnage, though had been previously investigated on suspicion of planning a violent attack.Officials were evaluating communications devices seized during the raid of the man's accommodations in a Berlin refugee centre, and in the course of a second raid the same evening at the flat of another man who had contact with Amri.In a separate statement, the Berlin state prosecutor's office said it had detained the 26-year-old Tunisian on Tuesday for suspected social benefit fraud in three German cities. A spokesman for the Berlin prosecutor's office said Bilel A. had used at least two aliases, Ahmad H. and Abu M., and also claimed to be Egyptian. He was believed to have arrived in Germany in 2014 or perhaps earlier.Berlin prosecutors in 2015 investigated whether the man had acquired explosives for an attack but dropped the inquiry in June last year for lack of evidence.Koehler said Amri stared into a surveillance camera at a subway station near the Berlin zoo shortly after the Christmas market attack, and raised his index finger in a gesture sometimes seen in Islamic State propaganda videos. She said forensic evidence showed that the Polish driver from whom Amri hijacked the truck was fatally shot while sitting in the passenger seat of the vehicle. The gun Amri used was the one found next to his body by police in Milan, Italy, she added.Belgian prosecutors said on Wednesday Amri made a two-hour stopover at the Brussels North station on Dec. 21 after entering Belgium on a train from Amsterdam, before heading onwards to France. (Reporting by Andrea Shalal and Michael Nienaber in Berlin, Alissa de Carbonnel in Brussels; editing by Mark Heinrich) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. Teresa Romero , a Spanish nursing assistant, is one of 17,323 Ebola survivors in the world. The latest outbreak killed 11,323 people, or 40% of all cases. The vast majority were infected in West Africa, and suffered from all the dreaded symptoms associated with the disease: fever, unbearable headaches, vomiting, diarrhea, and hemorrhaging from the mouth, rectum and even the eyes. Teresa Romero after being discharged from hospital. Luis Sevillano Romero, a nursing assistant at Madrids La Paz-Carlos III University Hospital who had worked directly with Ebola patients, became a patient herself in October 2014. She was the first person to acquire Ebola outside West Africa. I felt Death hounding me, like an entity leaning on my shoulder, waiting patiently for me. It is something that cannot be explained with words. Even now, I still dont know how I made it out of there, she recalls in a scientific article published in the Spanish-language medical journal Enfermeria Clinica. Far from feeling joy at the news of my recovery, I started crying over my dog, who was executed by health authorities The article, signed by three specialists of the highly infectious disease isolation unit at La Paz-Carlos III, details the care that Romero received during her 25 days of strict isolation there in Room 6008. Romeros ordeal began on October 7, 2014 when she was transferred to the unit within an airtight capsule. Two months earlier, she had provided medical care for Miguel Pajares, a 75-year-old missionary repatriated from Liberia who had become the first Spaniard to contract Ebola. On September 23, Romero was assigned to a second Ebola patient: Manuel Garcia Viejo, a 69-year-old priest who was infected in Sierra Leone. After he died, Romero cleaned his room. It was during one of these occasions that she contracted the disease herself, although the exact moment is unknown. On October 7, the 44-year-old Romero arrived in hospital in a white suit that included gloves and a hood. Teresa Romero being transferred inside an airtight unit. ATLAS I could barely breathe inside that small space. I was drenched in my own fluids. It was a moment of great anguish, she recalls. Three colleagues wearing hazmat suits were waiting for her in the north wing. Come on Teresa, chin up, we need to have our New Years Eve dinner together, one of them told her. It was inevitable to think about the two patients who were repatriated from Africa and whom I had treated, and about their sad end. I saw myself suffering the same fate, I felt panic, I didnt want to sleep, I felt that if I did, I would not wake up again, recounts Romero in the article. On October 8, her health took a turn for the worse. My lungs began to fail me, I felt like I was choking and could hardly breathe, it was agony. Two colleagues came in to increase the oxygen flow. I begged them to help me die. That was when she went into a critical state. She says her memory fades from this moment on. A month of fear Until Romero was declared free of the disease and for several weeks after that Spain was on alert over fears that the Ebola virus may have spread. Before being admitted into hospital, Romero had been to see her primary care physician, had made an appointment at the hairdresser's, and walked into the emergency services of another hospital. Around 20 people who were in direct contact with Romero in the days prior to her admission were quarantined to reduce the risk of an outbreak. Up to 108 people 87 women and 21 men walked into Teresa Romeros room a total of 352 times during those days, risking their own lives by doing so. Including the two previous patients, the article concludes that 165 hospital workers were exposed to the Ebola virus on 762 occasions. Despite the small army of professionals watching over her 24/7, and half the country following her ordeal in the news, Romero says she felt alone. The rest of the world did not exist; it was just me fighting for survival. I found comfort in the fact that I was connected to an infusion pump with the word morphine written on it, she recalls. Another drip was delivering blood serum from a nun who had contracted the disease and survived. At the same time, Romero was also being administered an experimental drug called favipiravir. That was one of the highlights of her day. I liked it a lot because it tasted good, and since it was dissolved in water and I was really thirsty, I longed for the moment when it was time to take it, she recalls. Despite all the medical and scientific effort that went into her treatment, Romero reveals other aspects that she feels helped with her recovery. Conditioning factors to overcome the disease: conveying hope, warmth and positive feelings; being able to communicate; not feeling pain; not feeling negative emotions; being able to breathe; being able to sleep; having access to antiviral treatment and blood serum from survivors, although whether this is really effective in treating the disease is under question, she writes. Romero was declared disease-free on October 19. But far from feeling joy at the news, I started crying over my dog, who was executed by health authorities on October 8, 2014, she writes. Exkalibur was put down by a team from the Complutense Universitys Veterinary Health Surveillance Center to prevent the risk of contagion. Perhaps I have left out many details; nobody can imagine what I went through in October 2014, except other Ebola survivors, concludes Romero. English version by Susana Urra. By Laila Kearney | NEW YORK NEW YORK At least 37 people have suffered non-life-threatening injuries in a New York City commuter train derailment on Wednesday during peak morning commuting hours, city officials said.Dozens of emergency crews swarmed Atlantic Terminal in the borough of Brooklyn after the Long Island Railroad train went off the tracks at about 8:30 a.m. local time inside the busy transportation hub, the New York City Fire Department said.The nature of the injuries was not immediately known, and the incident was under investigation, police Detective Ahmed Nasser said. Police and firefighters, some holding stretchers, could be seen entering the terminal as emergency vehicles blocked traffic.Commuters, meanwhile, described a frightening and chaotic scene on social media. "People flying everywhere," Serena Janae, who said she was a passenger on the derailed train, wrote on Facebook. The U.S. Federal Railroad Administration said it was sending investigators to the scene. Atlantic Terminal, which also connects commuters to nine city subway lines, is one of New York's busiest stations. (Additional reporting by Gina Cherelus, David Shepardson and Jonathan Oatis; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe and Lisa Von Ahn) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. WASHINGTON North Korea continues to pursue nuclear and ballistic missile technologies but the United States does not believe it is in a position to "tip" one of them with a nuclear warhead, State Department spokesman John Kirby said on Tuesday.North Korea's leader, Kim Jong Un, said on Sunday his nuclear-capable country was close to test-launching an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), raising the prospect of putting parts of the United States within range."We do not believe that at this point in time he has the capability to tip one of these with a nuclear warhead ... but we do know that he continues to want to have those capabilities and the programs continue to march in that direction," Kirby told reporters.Asked whether he would agree with President-elect Donald Trump's assessment that China was not helping to contain North Korea's nuclear ambitions, Kirby said: "We would not agree with that assessment."Trump, who will take office on Jan. 20, tweeted on Monday that North Korea would not be allowed to complete a nuclear weapon capable of reaching the United States, although he did not say how he would stop it. "It won't happen!" he said on Twitter. Trump's transition spokesman, Sean Spicer, said the tweet spoke for itself but added that it meant, "Under his watch he's going to make sure that that doesnt happen."Pyongyang's action will be discussed at a meeting in Washington on Thursday between the United States, Japan and South Korea, led by Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Kirby said. "No question that tensions on the Korean peninsula will be a topic of discussion (but) where that is going to take us, especially in light of Kim Jong Un's speech, I don't know," Kirby said.Asked about the possibility of more sanctions against Pyongyang, he added: "We haven't ruled out the possibility of additional sanctions." (Reporting by Lesley Wroughton; Writing by Doina Chiacu; Editing by James Dalgleish and Alan Crosby) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. LAHORE, Pakistan Pakistani police said they arrested 150 hardline Muslim activists on Wednesday as they tried to rally in support of the country's tough blasphemy law on the anniversary of a provincial governor's assassination over his call to reform the statute.Security was tight in the eastern city of Lahore throughout the day. Police barricaded many parts of Lahore to prevent demonstrators from gathering, causing massive traffic jams. Lahore Deputy Inspector General of Police Haider Ashraf said the arrested activists belonged to Tehreek-i-Labaik Ya Rasool Allah, a coalition of Islamist groups who were planning to attack people staging a vigil to commemorate the anniversary of the governor's killing.Tehreek-i-Labaik Ya Rasool Allah could not be reached for comment. Punjab Governor Salman Taseer was gunned down by his bodyguard Mumtaz Qadri six years ago for championing the case of a Christian woman who was sentenced to death under the blasphemy law, which he said needed to be reformed.Last February, Pakistan executed Taseer's killer, but tens of thousands of supporters turned up at his funeral and hailed him as a hero of Islam. "When police received reports that the Labaik Ya Rasool Allah Movement planned to attack the gathering, we reacted preemptively and cordoned off the area," Ashraf told Reuters. "The activists threw stones at police, who retaliated with baton charge and arrested 150 members."Ashraf said those arrested were booked for disrupting law and order and assaulting police. The head of the Labaik group, Maulana Khadim Hussain Rizvi, was also among those detained. Earlier this week, the hardline Islamist group Sunni Tehreek said it was demanding police in Lahore charge Shaan Taseer, the son of the slain governor, with blasphemy over a Christmas message calling for prayers for those charged under the law.Taseer told Reuters on Monday that he had received "very credible death threats" from supporters of the hardline Muslim philosophy that inspired his father's killer, bodyguard Mumtaz Qadri. Controversy over the blasphemy law has exposed the growing gap between hard-line religious conservatives and liberals in the South Asian country.More than 100 people are charged with blasphemy and jailed each year in predominantly Muslim Pakistan, many of them Christians and other minorities. Critics say the law is often invoked in cases of personal disputes.No one has yet been executed, but at least 65 people have been murdered in connection with blasphemy allegations since 1990, according to the Centre for Research and Security Studies and a Reuters tally. (Reporting Mubasher Bukhari; Writing by Mehreen Zahra-Malik; editing by Mark Heinrich) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. London: Britain's Prince Harry said he believes saving animals is like God's test for humanity, as the royal called for an international body to regulate anyone who owns or manages wildlife to ensure the protection of endangered species. "I do worry. I think everyone should worry. We need to look after them (animals), because otherwise our children will not have a chance to see what we have seen," Harry said. "This is God's test: If we can't save some animals in a wilderness area, what else can't we do." The 32-year-old prince, Britain's fifth in line to the throne, told US magazine Town & Country that it was while he was working on a conservation project in Malawi last year that he felt the lack of a regulatory body. "I do believe we need a regulatory body so that everyone who owns or manages wildlife is subject to inspection and rated on how well they look after the animals and how the communities benefit. We have to come together," he said. On a personal note, he recalled how he had first visited Africa after his mother, Princess Diana, died in 1997. "I first came in 1997, straight after my mum died. My dad told my brother and me to pack our bags we were going to Africa to get away from it all. This is where I feel more like myself than anywhere else in the world. I wish I could spend more time in Africa. I have this intense sense of complete relaxation and normality here," he said. "To not get recognised, to lose myself in the bush with what I would call the most down-to-earth people on the planet, people (dedicated to conservation) with no ulterior motives, no agendas, who would sacrifice everything for the betterment of nature," he said. The magazine has him on the cover posing in a dark green shirt under the headline "Bachelors of the Year". During his time in Africa last year, the royal had helped catch anaesthetised elephants and load them on trucks which moved them 200 miles from Liwonde National Park and Majete Wildlife Reserve to the Nkhotakota reserve, where the elephants can thrive. By Harriet McLeod | CHARLESTON, S.C. CHARLESTON, S.C. The widow of the pastor who was among the nine people killed by white supremacist Dylann Roof at a historic black church in South Carolina told a federal jury on Wednesday she heard the gunman say during the hate-fuelled rampage that he was not crazy.Jennifer Pinckney said she hid with her 6-year-old daughter under a desk as Roof opened fire in an adjoining room at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, where her husband, the Reverend Clementa Pinckney, and parishioners had gathered for a Bible study meeting on June 17, 2015. "I heard Mr. Roof say, 'I'm not crazy. I have to do this,'" said Pinckney, the first witness to testify for prosecutors who are seeking the death penalty for a crime that shocked the United States.The sentencing phase of Roof's federal trial opened earlier in the day with the defendant telling jurors that he was representing himself because he did not want them to hear any mental health evidence - but insisting he is not mentally ill.The same jury last month found Roof guilty of 33 federal counts of hate crimes resulting in death, obstruction of religion and firearms charges. "There's nothing wrong with me psychologically," said Roof, making no mention of the crime or the racist ideology prosecutors have said spurred the massacre.Roof also did not say during his short opening statement whether he wants to live, nor did he ask any questions of Pinckney when she took the witness stand.He described for jurors in a calm voice how he had been forced to undergo two mental health evaluations after his attorneys questioned his competency. U.S. District Judge Richard Gergel ruled on Monday that Roof was mentally fit to stand trial and act as his own lawyer.Roof acknowledged that his comments would seem "out of place" following the opening statement by Assistant U.S. Attorney Nathan Williams, who said Roof deserved to be executed.Williams highlighted Roof's months of planning, his lack of remorse and his motivation for carrying out the crime. "He killed them because of the colour of their skin, because he thought they were less than people," said Williams, who showed jurors photos of each victim. Six weeks after Roof's arrest, jailers found a handwritten note in his cell expressing white supremacist views, Williams said."I am not sorry," Roof wrote. "I have not shed a tear for the innocent people I killed." (Writing by Colleen Jenkins; Editing by Matthew Lewis) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. By Nick Tattersall and Daren Butler | ISTANBUL ISTANBUL Turkey has established the identity of the gunman who killed 39 people in an Istanbul nightclub on New Year's Day, its foreign minister said on Wednesday, as police detained suspected Islamic State members of Central Asian and North African origin.In an interview with the state-run Anadolu news agency, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu gave no further details about the gunman, whom Turkish officials have not named.The attacker shot his way into the exclusive Reina nightclub on Sunday, then opened fire with an automatic rifle, reloading his weapon half a dozen times and shooting the wounded as they lay on the ground. Turks as well as visitors from several Arab nations, India and Canada were among the dead.Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it was revenge for Turkish military involvement in Syria. Turkish media reports have said the attacker is believed to be an ethnic Uighur, possibly from Kyrgyzstan. He appeared to have been well-versed in guerrilla warfare and may have trained in Syria, according to one security source.Police in the Aegean coastal city of Izmir said they had detained 20 suspected Islamic State militants thought to be of Central Asian and North African origin in raids on three addresses. Fake passports, cell phones, and equipment including night vision goggles and a GPS device were seized.Police did not say whether the detentions were directly linked to the Istanbul nightclub attack. But local media reports have said the gunman is thought to have entered Turkey from Syria and spent time in Konya, travelling with his wife and two children so as not to attract attention. At least 36 people have been detained since the attack, according to Turkish media reports. Anadolu said on Tuesday that 14 people had been detained in Istanbul, while NTV reported that two foreign nationals had been held at Istanbul's main airport. Among those held in Istanbul were seven Uighurs detained at a restaurant in the working-class neighbourhood of Zeytinburnu, where the gunman was thought to have gone by taxi after the attack and asked to borrow money to pay the driver, according to the Haberturk newspaper.It said raids had been carried out on 50 addresses in the district, where many Uzbeks, Kyrgyz, Kazakhs and Uighurs live. "NOBODY'S LIFESTYLE UNDER THREAT" The shooting in Istanbul's Ortakoy neighbourhood, an upscale district on the Bosphorus shore, came after a year in which NATO member Turkey was shaken by a series of attacks by radical Islamist and Kurdish militants and by a failed coup. Parliament voted overnight to extend emergency rule, first imposed after the attempted putsch, by another three months, enabling the government to enact new laws and limit or suspend rights and freedoms when deemed necessary. President Tayyip Erdogan said the attack, which targeted a club popular with local celebrities and moneyed foreigners, was being exploited to try to divide the largely Sunni Muslim nation and that the state never meddled in how people lived."There is no point trying to blame the Ortakoy attack on differences in lifestyles," he said in a speech to local administrators at the presidential palace in Ankara. "Nobody's lifestyle is under systematic threat in Turkey. We will never allow this," he said in comments broadcast live. It was his first public speech since the shooting.Turkey's Religious Affairs Directorate, which condemned the attack in its immediate aftermath, had issued a statement in December saying celebrating the New Year did not fit with Muslim values, triggering criticism from some parts of Turkish society.Such calls have made many secular Turks suspicious of the Islamist background of Erdogan and the ruling AK Party, seeing them as bent on eroding the secular principles of the modern republic founded in 1923 by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk after the fall of the Ottoman empire. Erdogan rejects such suggestions. (Additional reporting by Humeyra Pamuk in Istanbul; Orhan Coskun, Tulay Karadeniz and Tuvan Gumrukcu in Ankara; Writing by Nick Tattersall; Editing by Larry King) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. The Spanish labor market maintained its pace of recovery in 2016, with 540,655 jobs created in twelve months as measured by Social Security affiliations. This is a 3.12% rise from 2015, and slightly below the 3.18% growth posted the previous year. Workers at the Volkswagen factory in Pamplona. Luis Sevillano Registered unemployment figures were also very good in 2016, with a fall of 390,534 in the number of people officially registered as out of work at the country's job offices, which represents the biggest drop in recorded history according to the Labor Ministry. The good news about job creation is dampened by the fact that many are short-term positions Nearly 20 million job contracts were signed from January to December, although many of these were short-term and linked to seasonal campaigns. The year ended with 17.8 million workers contributing to the Social Security system, while the number of jobless claims at national unemployment offices dropped to 3.7 million. The job market also reflects the good pace of domestic consumption as an engine of economic activity in Spain this past year. Retail (80,189 new jobs) and hospitality (77,737) hired the largest number of new workers, although most sectors increased their workforce. Only three sectors shed jobs in 2016, with the finance sector, which is undergoing a restructuring process, losing 2,679 workers. The pace of job creation slowed down slightly in the second quarter to below 3%, but it picked up again to end 2016 at 3.12%. New hirings in early 2017 EP The upcoming winter sales campaign is expected to create over 93,000 new jobs, representing a 6% rise from the previous year, according to a forecast made by recruiting firm Adecco. Most of the new hirings will take place in retail and hospitality. English version by Susana Urra. The 69 billion public debt strangling Puerto Rico has given a boost to backers of the idea of becoming a US state a movement led by the islands new governor. Ricardo Rossello, who took office on Monday, has pledged to do everything he can over the next four years to make Puerto Rico the 51st member of the union. A woman shields herself from the sun using Rossello campaign material. REUTERS More information Puerto Rico: unirse a Estados Unidos para huir de la bancarrota The crisis is directly tied to the collapse of the colony, said Rossello, who feels that the current status of Puerto Rico as a Free Associated State is keeping the island in a state of subordination that could be corrected through full incorporation into the worlds top power. Rossello, 37, is the son of another former governor, Pedro Rossello, who held office between 1993 and 2001. Known popularly as Ricky Rossello, he studied at MIT and his career includes stem cell research. As the new governor of Puerto Rico, he now faces the challenge of tackling a massive debt crisis, one that led to the first debt default by a public corporation in 2015 and pushed more than 200,000 citizens to emigrate, out of a population of three and a half million. The US cannot pretend to be a model of democracy when it is discriminating against its Puerto Rican citizens Ricardo Rossello, governor Unemployment on the island is in excess of 12%, whereas on the mainland it is under 5%. And per capita GDP is $28,000, compared with $53,000 in the US. Last summer, US Congress passed legislation provisionally protecting Puerto Rico from its creditors, but also setting up a fiscal oversight board made up of Washington congress members. Rossello speaking in San Juan. REUTERS The protection ends in February, and Rossello has said he will try to extend the deadline. On Tuesday, a day after being sworn into office, the new governor traveled to Washington to start drumming up support for his campaign to have the island become a US state. In his speech, the leader of the New Progressive Party blamed his predecessor, Alejandro Garcia Padilla, for the imposition of the oversight body. He also criticized the US, which cannot pretend to be a model of democracy when it is discriminating against its Puerto Rican citizens, denying them the right to political, economic and social equality under the US flag. Puerto Rico is in an emergency situation. Rossello has admitted that the pension fund is running dry, the money to pay government workers will run out in February, and the public health system is on the brink of collapse. English version by Susana Urra. It looks like HMD Global has big plans for 2017 with Nokia phones. We have already seen reports about Nokia D1C and E1 Android smartphones. Now, presentation slide from one of the Malaysian distributor, named Avaxx, suggests HMD Global is expected to release a total of six to seven Nokia Android smartphones before the end of 2017. As per the slide, these Android phones will be priced in all segments ranging fro, entry-level, affordable to premium flagships. It is also mentioned in the slide that series of attractive Nokia feature phones will also be launched to maintain the market share. Last month, HMD Global officially announced its entry into the phone market and said it will launch first smartphone products in the first half of 2017, alongside the existing Nokia branded feature phone business. The company will make its debut at the MWC between February 27th and March 2nd in Barcelona. Source Wall Street seems to be picking up good vibrations as of late, because stock valuations have been growing quite a bit. As a result, the list of quality companies with stocks trading at bargain-basement prices is getting smaller and smaller. For those price-conscious investors, though, there are still some small pockets of value left in the market. Two companies that look to have that rare combination of a quality business model and a cheap stock price today are aluminum manufacturer Alcoa Corporation (AA), and offshore rig company Transocean (RIG 15.23%). Here's a quick look at why these companies are both worthwhile investments, and why their stocks look cheap. A fresh face on an old company Quite often, when a company splits in two, one aspect of the business is built to soar, while the other is left in this purgatory with less-than-attractive assets and a balance sheet that isn't in great shape. When Alcoa's traditional aluminum business and the new value add manufacturing business Arconic (HWM -0.20%) split, though, it was done in a way that allowed both companies succeed. Arconic is the higher-margin business with lots of opportunities for growth, so it took a larger portion of the combined companies' debt with it. As a result, the legacy Alcoa business got a fresh start with a much better-looking balance sheet. Today, net debt to EBITDA is a very manageable 1.1 times, and its debt to capital ratio is also a very reasonable 13.9%. For a cyclical business like mining and metals, having a respectable balance sheet like that can really help it weather the ups and downs of the industry. At the same time, Alcoa remains the world's largest bauxite miner and refiner of alumina, while remaining on the lower end of the cost curve for the two commodities since it has sold off several higher-cost assets in recent years. It may not be as envious of a place to be if the aluminum market were in structural decline, but aluminum demand is set to grow as the automotive and aerospace industries look to use the lightweight metal to improve fuel efficiency. Even though the company has improved its competitive position in the bauxite, alumina, and aluminum markets and has a much better-looking balance sheet thanks to the Alcoa-Arconic split, shares of Alcoa trade today at 0.8 times tangible book value. That's an industry leader selling for less than its liquidation value. Like investing in other cyclical mining and metal companies, investing in Alcoa is going to have its ups and downs with the industry cycle. That being said, its current stock price suggests it's a great time to buy. Not the same company that we saw at the beginning of the oil slump There was a lot of fear from investors that many offshore rig companies were going to go belly-up after oil prices started to fall. As a result, shares of Transocean have been absolutely hammered over the past few years, so much so that today, the stock trades at a price to tangible book value of just 0.36 times. Usually, that denotes a company in serious distress, with almost no chance of making out of this oil downturn alive. If we were to look at this company three years ago, I would agree. It had one of the oldest fleets out there, and many of its rigs didn't meet the specifications needed to meet today's more complex drilling jobs in deeper waters and at deeper depths below the ocean floor. On top of that, it had a pretty large debt pile and several billion dollars' worth of obligations for new rigs currently under construction. Fast-forward to today, though, and you see a very different company. Sure, it still has about $8.3 billion in long-term debt outstanding, but about only $2.5 billion of that is due between now and 2018. When you combine that with the company's current cash on hand, as well as the operational cash flows from its contracts in place, it looks as though the company is going to have plenty of cash to get through the next couple of years in pretty decent financial shape. As far as its fleet is concerned, it too is much different than just a few years ago. Under CEO Jeremy Thigpen, who took the reigns in April of 2015, the company has retired 30 of its older, less capable rigs. While there are still a few still on the books, the company expects that by 2020, 80% of its floating fleet will be either ultra deepwater or harsh environment -- think North Sea around Norway or the Arctic Ocean -- capable. This fleet mix will commend much better day rates as offshore drilling activity picks back up again. The payoff for an investment in Transocean may be a ways off. The introduction of shale as a viable, economical source of oil could mean that offshore development gets pushed down the road. That being said, offshore oil will very likely remain a critical part of the production mix, and rig demand will come back. When it does, Transocean's fleet will be in much higher demand, and investors may be kicking themselves in the future for not looking at shares of Transocean at these prices. Over the last half-century, Warren Buffett has delivered a 21% compound annual return to Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A -2.26%) (BRK.B -1.94%) shareholders, in part by following the simple approach of investing in great companies when they are on sale. Mirroring that strategy might not turn you into a billionaire, but it will help you grow your nest egg, and sleep well at night. After the market's recent slide, it's an opportune time to go shopping, and Berkshire's stock portfolio is a great place to look for ideas. Buffett makes a habit of buying into strong companies during turbulent times in the market; lately, he's been nibbling at shares of Apple (AAPL -4.24%) and Bank of America (BAC -0.55%), and Berkshire has long held a stake in American Express (AXP -2.92%). A leading consumer (tech) brand Check out the latest Apple earnings call transcript. Apple faces a few significant challenges right now, with slowing iPhone unit sales, and slow growth in China, a market that supplied about a fifth of its total revenue over the last year. Despite those issues, Berkshire owns 252 million shares of Apple, worth $37 billion at current market prices. As of the end of the third quarter, Apple was Berkshire Hathaway's largest stock holding. Some of Buffett's greatest investments, such as Coca-Cola, have been consumer goods companies. And even though it's a tech company, Apple seems to fit that mold, given the strong pull its brand has on consumers. Consider that more than 500 million people visit an Apple Store every year, and there are currently more Apple devices active around the world than ever before. The iPhone maker is going through a transition as it maneuvers through a stagnant global smartphone market, but its large installed base of active devices is fueling double-digit percentage growth in non-iPhone revenue, especially from its services and wearables segments. Of course, the last reason Buffett would see Apple as a buy right now is that the stock is downright cheap, trading at a forward P/E ratio of just 10. A well-managed, diversified bank Check out the latest Bank of America earnings call transcript. Looking over Berkshire's stock holdings, it's obvious that Buffett believes bank stocks are good investments. Berkshire owns large stakes in six different major banks. As of the end of Q3, Berkshire owned 877 million shares of Bank of America, worth $23 billion, making it the second-largest holding in its portfolio. Moreover, the latest 13-F filing with the SEC shows that Berkshire increased its stake in the bank by almost 30% in the quarter, which indicates that Buffett still likes it at current market prices. He has been a big fan of CEO Brian Moynihan. Since Moynihan took over in 2009, Bank of America has emerged as one of the best-managed banks in the industry. Non-interest expense has come down from over $80 billion in 2011 to $54 billion over the last year. The implementation of tight cost controls has fueled a surge in profitability that put Bank of America's return on assets much closer to that of other industry leaders like Wells Fargo and JP Morgan. Bank of America serves about half of all U.S. households, and has been making concerted efforts to deepen its relationships with corporate and institutional clients as well. In Q3, the return on average assets reached 1.23%, which is better than the year-ago quarter's 0.95% and shows that management is not done improving profitability. The stock is trading at a forward P/E ratio of 9, and sports a dividend yield of 2.46%. A top credit card brand Check out the latest American Express earnings call transcript. Berkshire has been a stakeholder in American Express for many years: At the end of the last quarter, Berkshire owned 151 million shares worth about $2.3 billion. Amex has a difficult-to-duplicate business model that's rooted in deep customer relationships. It builds customer loyalty by offering premium perks, such as free airport lounge access and special deals at select merchants. Cardholders must pay an annual fee in return for these benefits, but many feel it's worth it. The company provided unrivaled customer service in its industry, and those who travel frequently can recoup the yearly outlay through reimbursements for baggage fees, airline fee credits, and Uber credits, among other benefits. American Express also charges fees to merchants that accept its cards. In return, Amex helps those merchants connect with customers and grow their businesses. Merchants are willing to pay the fees because Amex card members spend more on average than other cardholders, which is a big plus. Right now, you can buy one of the top credit card brands at a forward P/E ratio of just 12. That's very attractive considering Amex has delivered double-digit percentage growth on both the top and bottom lines through the first three quarters of 2018, and analysts expect the company to grow earnings at an annualized rate of 12.5% over the next five years. Apple, Bank of America, and American Express all have enduring qualities that should keep them generating returns for their shareholders for decades. They're also cheap at current prices, and pass Buffett's test as great companies worth owning for a long time. Somebody else a couple of days back was saying the same thing about the BDS drop bracket being off. I was just about to order up one of these setups in the 4 or 6in variety but might wait on that. I believe the other person said he ordered an adjustable track bar for his. When I talked with the shop that will be doing mine about the bracket, they said they have not seen that problem yet and they have done a ton of them. Hope they weren't just feeding me a line of ****. Founded in the 1940s, the Brazilian construction firm Odebrecht prospered in Latin America through large infrastructure projects. With a presence in 27 countries, the company has built subway lines in Peru, power dams in Panama and roads in Argentina. But there was a trick to the success story. The Odebrecht headquarters in Lima (Peru). REUTERS More information Odebrecht revela la corrupcion sistemica en Latinoamerica The company has now agreed to pay a record $3.5 billion penalty after being accused of paying $439 million to politicians, political parties and government workers in at least 12 countries in exchange for public works contracts. Some of the countries where Odebrecht bribed officials include Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, Panama, Peru and Venezuela. The company, which has 128,000 employees and gross annual revenue of $40 billion, plays a pivotal role in the corruption scheme uncovered by Operation Car Wash (Lava Jato in Portuguese). Since 2014, investigators have been picking apart a complex and longstanding web of kickbacks at the state-owned oil company Petrobras. Brazil, Odebrechts homeland, is not even the most corrupt nation in Latin America Peter Hakim, Inter-American Dialogue chairman Odebrecht had been signing contracts with Petrobras since the 1950s. It took investigators over a year to find the first pieces of evidence, and these led to Marcelo Odebrecht, CEO and grandson of the company founder, who was sentenced to prison in June 2015. As the probe proceeds, the company has become a very real threat to representatives of political power across Latin America: presidents, former presidents and congress-members in various countries have already been named by company officials anxious to cooperate with the justice system in order to become eligible for sentence reductions. Settlement Odebrechts CEO and a team of 77 top executives have negotiated deals in exchange for information. Marcelo Odebrecht was sentenced to 19 years for crimes ranging from money laundering to criminal association. The company agreed on a settlement deal to end proceedings in the US, Brazil and Switzerland. The US State Department has yet to divulge the names of any authority outside Brazil involved in the scandal, but prominent figures are widely expected to be on the list. Panama's Minister of the Presidency Alvaro Aleman (L) talks to the media about the Odebrecht corruption case next to Vice Minister of Public Works Marietta Jaen. STRINGER (REUTERS) Odebrecht has admitted to paying $29 million in bribes to Peruvian government workers between 2005 and 2014. This covers the period under three presidents: Alejandro Toledo (2001-2006), Alan Garcia (2006-2011) and Ollanta Humala (2011-2016). In February of last year, Humala was named as a recipient of $3 million in bribes from Odebrecht. The former leader has denied the charges. In Panama, there is speculation that one of the beneficiaries of the kickbacks is Luis Enrique Martinelli Linares, one of the sons of former president Ricardo Martinelli (2009-2014). Both men have also denied the charges. In Argentina, officials in the Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner administrations are thought to have accepted over $35 million in connection with three infrastructure projects between 2007 and 2014. And in Venezuela, whistleblowers have mentioned a $3 million contribution to the campaigns of the late Hugo Chavez and the current president, Nicolas Maduro. Offshore network In every country, the operating system was the same: Odebrecht used a sophisticated network of offshore firms to pay the bribes. On the Caribbean island of Antigua, it even purchased a local bank to make the transactions easier. Authorities say that Odebrecht used different layers of money laundering to hide its tracks. The payments to government officials were made from the companys Structured Operations Sector, which came to be known as the bribes department. It had a parallel accounting system, backed the funds and authorized the transfers with oversight from the CEO himself. The US State Department has yet to divulge the names of any authority outside Brazil involved in the scandal News about the settlement deal saw authorities in the nations involved react swiftly. Prosecutors in Argentina, Peru, Colombia, Panama and Ecuador have announced their own bribery investigations. In Mexico, the government and the oil company Pemex said they will also investigate the matter. But the documentation released by the US justice system could well be just the tip of the iceberg of this international corruption scheme. English version by Susana Urra. What do Elizabeth Holmes, John Stumpf, D.J. Koh and Hillary Clinton all have in common? A really bad year theyd just as soon forget. Theyre not alone in that respect; wed like to forget it too. Holmes and Theranos are being sued by investors, customers and Walgreens who say they were defrauded by the charismatic entrepreneur and her flawed blood testing technology. And Stumpf lost his cushy CEO job and gave up at least $41 million in stock because he pushed Wells Fargo employees too hard to meet overzealous sales goals. Meanwhile, Koh may have cut some corners on quality and reliability testing in an effort to rush Samsungs Galaxy Note 7 out the door. Now he has a botched recall of 2.5 million phones that may spontaneously catch fire at any time on his hands. Lucky for him, 2.8 million recalled Samsung washing machines are not his department. And had Clinton chosen not to use a private email server for U.S. State Department business and spend months hemming and hawing about it, she might very well be heading to the White House in a few weeks. Besides a bad year, all four leaders have something else in common. Underlying their troubles is a growing cultural phenomenon that makes it more and more acceptable for leaders to play by their own rules, integrity be damned. What that amounts to is ethics and quality taking a backseat to wealth and power. It was bad enough when leaders used the ends justify the means excuse, employing questionable means to achieve noble ends. Never mind that. Now its the ends we have to worry about. Of course, theyre still shrouded in noble-sounding rhetoric, but the goals of a growing swath of todays leaders are anything but virtuous. Tech startups used to be about creating great products, achieving sustainable growth and profitability, maybe an IPO and a company built to last. Everyone wins. Today, its all about growth for growths sake. Popular memes like fake it til you make it and move fast and break things have become euphemistic licenses for entrepreneurs to break the rules. We now have dozens of wildly overvalued unicorns, many of which are addicted to a cycle of making over-the-top investor pitches with overstated claims and fudged revenue projections to raise more capital at higher valuations. The result is the corruption of a once virtuous process and a private equity bubble that benefits no one. How else can we explain the way Holmes became one of the most celebrated entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley, raising more than $750 million at a most recent valuation of $9 billion, based on claims of a technology breakthrough that had never actually been vetted by anyone? Sure, she had a vision of bringing real-time diagnostics to the masses at affordable prices from a few drops of blood. But anyone can dream up and sell a far-fetched idea. Without the talent and ability to bring it to fruition, the means can become a slippery slope of deception to justify ends that are little more than fantasy. Parker Conrad, the hard-charging founder and CEO of HR benefits startup Zenefits, was forced to step down in February when it was discovered that he was helping unlicensed salespeople circumvent state regulations and illegally sell health insurance to businesses to accelerate growth. The company ended up taking a $2.5 billion hit to its valuation. Bloomberg BusinessWeek has accused Hampton Creek founder and CEO Josh Tetrick of sending out hundreds of overzealous Creekers to buy up millions of dollars of inventory of the companys flagship product, Just Mayo, in an effort to overinflate revenues and raise capital at a higher valuation. And Jessica Albas Honest Company got nailed by the Wall Street Journal for making products with a chemical it deemed toxic when its labels expressly said they were made without it. That led to lawsuits, layoffs and talks of a sale to Unilever at far less than its once lofty $1.7 billion valuation. Never mind the irony of the companys name. The phenomenon is hardly limited to the startup world. Despite discovering that thousands of employees were creating millions of fake accounts to meet his eight is great sales goal (eight Wells Fargo products per customer), Stumpf foolishly stuck by his mission. Why? Thats what hed pitched investors. That was apparently more important than defrauding customers. In the movie Grosse Pointe Blank, John Cusacks character sites moral flexibility as the attribute that landed him a job as an assassin with the CIA. Not exactly the kind of characteristic you want to have in someone running a big bank, diagnosing diseases, making incendiary products you take everywhere, or commanding the most powerful nation on Earth. And yet, here we are. Lets hope morals get a little backbone in 2017. Imagine if buying a car was as simple as buying a can of Coke from a vending machine. Thats exactly what one dealership is trying to do. Carvana CEO Ernie Garcia wants to make the car buying experience an easy one. By cutting out aggressive sales agents and a maze of dealerships auto buyers are forced to navigate, Garcia is trying to simplify the car buying process with a vending machine. We wanted to create an experience that was fun and easy for customers because we thought the experience was what was lacking. So, this vending machine was a way to tell our story, Garcia told the FOX Business Networks Dagen McDowell. According to Garcia, the process starts with customers choosing and purchasing their car online. The automobile is then delivered to a vending machine in Atlanta, Georgia or Nashville, Tennessee. We load it in, just like youre loading a can of soda, we give you a big oversized coin which is just kind of fun and then you put it into a huge coin receptacle, he said. Customers even get a chance to take the car for a test drive. Every car we sell gets a seven-day, no-questions-asked return policy, he said. It comes with a 100-day warranty, so we like to think the customers get seven days to test the car in their neighborhood. Federico Trillo will be relieved as Spanish ambassador to the UK, sources at the Foreign Ministry have confirmed. But the same sources denied any link between this move and a recent report by the Council of State , the governments top advisory body, laying responsibility for a 2003 military air crash at the door of the Defense Ministry. Trillo was the defense minister at the time of the tragedy, which claimed 62 lives . PM Mariano Rajoy (l) and Federico Trillo. In response to the report, the contents of which were revealed by EL PAIS on Tuesday, Spains two largest opposition parties, the Socialist Party (PSOE) and Podemos, called for Trillo to be removed as ambassador over his responsibility for the crash of the Yakovlev-42 against a mountainside in Turkey. Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has come out in defense of Trillo, who is reportedly being relieved along with 70 other diplomats who have served out their terms. If Rajoy does not offer him a new position in foreign service, Trillo will probably return to Spain Diplomatic career regulations set out a period of between three and five years for an ambassador. Trillo was sent to London in March 2012, which puts him within this timeframe. However, this rule only applies to career diplomats and not to politicians like Trillo or Jose Ignacio Wert, a former education minister who is now the Spanish ambassador to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). That is to say, the government could have kept Trillo in the post indefinitely. Trillo could still be assigned to another embassy. As a matter of fact, diplomatic sources said that he was aiming to head the Washington embassy after London, but was beaten to it by another former defense minister, Pedro Morenes. If Rajoy does not offer him a new position in foreign service, Trillo will probably return to Spain, where he runs a law firm that is currently being managed by his son. Trillo also happens to be a member in a legal capacity of the Council of State, the very same body that has drafted the report making the Defense Ministry responsible for the Yak-42 crash. English version by Susana Urra. Two years ago, department store giant Macy's (NYSE: M) decided to explore the possibility of creating a Macy's off-price business. After years of market share losses to off-price retailers like TJX Companies (NYSE: TJX) it clearly made sense for Macy's to try moving into this growing segment of the retail market. The first six Macy's Backstage pilot stores opened in the New York metro area during fall 2015. During 2016, Macy's further developed its off-price business by opening a handful of Backstage off-price stores within existing Macy's locations. The company has been particularly pleased with the economics of the store-within-a-store concept. Macy's has started adding Backstage off-price stores to some of its full-line locations. Image source: Author. I visited one of the stores-within-a-store -- at the Galleria in White Plains, New York -- on New Year's Eve. What I saw suggested that adding Backstage off-price sections to Macy's full-line stores could be a profitable strategy in many cases. What's in the store? There was plenty of apparel to be found at the Macy's Backstage store. Image source: Author. One of the biggest risks of putting an off-price store within a full-line location is that it could cannibalize sales from the rest of the store. Why would customers pay full price when they can find the same items for less in a different part of the store? (TJX has had great success marketing T.J. Maxx and Marshalls as offering department store-type merchandise for 20%-60% less.) There were plenty of racks of clothing in the Macy's Backstage store. As a result, the full-price and off-price sections of this Macy's store are competing with one another to some extent. On the other hand, Macy's management has emphasized that the Backstage stores also carry a lot of merchandise that wouldn't be found in a typical Macy's. Toys and home decor have been two particularly successful non-traditional merchandise categories. Macy's Backstage stores sell toys and other items that regular Macy's stores don't offer. Image source: Author. Based on the overall merchandise selection and store configuration, the Macy's Backstage store looked eerily similar to a Marshalls store I visited later the same day. Some deals are better than others There was a wide range in the amount that items were marked down at the Macy's Backstage location I visited. Two pairs of pants on the same clothing rack illustrate the range of discounts. The first pair of pants was priced at $19.99 compared to a $36 MSRP: a modest 44% discount. The other pair was marked down to $9.98 from a $59.50 MSRP and had a yellow "buy one get one free" tag. This meant it was effectively selling for more than 90% off. Some Macy's Backstage merchandise is deeply discounted. Image source: Author. Even moderately discounted merchandise could make Macy's Backstage an attractive option for many shoppers. For customers, part of the appeal of TJX's business model is that there are good deals available no matter when you shop. By contrast, Macy's full-line stores tend to rely on coupons, a steady stream of "one-day sales," and other promotions to drive customer traffic. If there aren't good deals available in the Macy's full-line store on a given day, the availability of 40%-50% discounts in the Macy's Backstage could keep customers from walking out and going to T.J. Maxx or Marshalls instead. Better sales productivity The furniture section of the full-line store looked like a ghost town when I visited. Image source: Author The main level of the White Plains Macy's store was fairly busy when I visited. That part of the store features the jewelry and beauty sections and most of the men's and women's apparel. By contrast, the home section on the lower level was nearly deserted. The Macy's Backstage store occupies perhaps a quarter to a third of the lower level. Given the lack of traffic in the surrounding home department, the Backstage store doesn't have to meet a very high bar to be a better use of space. Macy's management has indicated that, on average, adding a Backstage store to a full-line Macy's increases the sales for that location. Sure enough, the White Plains Macy's Backstage was quite busy. It was a fairly dramatic contrast with the rest of the lower level. The first floor location has the secondary benefit of providing an exterior entrance from Main St. directly to the Macy's Backstage store, which is prominently advertised on the street outside. There were plenty of shoppers at Macy's Backstage on New Year's Eve. Image source: Author. Macy's Backstage seems promising At this point, the Macy's Backstage store-within-a-store concept is less than a year old. Clearly, Macy's is still within the test-and-learn stage. However, based on my visit to the new Backstage store in White Plains, New York, this concept looks very promising. Macy's full-line stores already rely on coupons and discounts to drive customer traffic. Very little merchandise is sold at full price. Thus, investors may be exaggerating the downside risk of Macy's Backstage cannibalizing full-price sales. Meanwhile, with mall traffic on the decline, most Macy's stores have more space than they really need. Installing a Macy's Backstage store could significantly improve the sales productivity of these locations, leading to higher overall profitability. 10 stocks we like better than Macy's 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 Macy's 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 January 4, 2017 Adam Levine-Weinberg owns shares of Macy's and is long January 2018 $60 calls on The TJX Companies and short January 2018 $90 calls on The TJX Companies. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Canadian Parliament member and Conservative Party of Canada leadership candidate Kellie Leitch is calling for the screening of immigrants to Canada, despite much criticism. All Im advocating for is that when you go back to what we used to do in this country, that we meet every immigrant coming to the country, have a face to face interview, and ask them about Canadian values. I dont think thats asking too much and two-thirds of Canadians, average Canadians, agree with me, Leitch, who has been compared by some Canadian media outlets to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, told the FOX Business Network. Leitch said the current government still has no plan regarding face-to-face interviews with immigrants, despite a report put forth by the countrys Senate 18 months ago. Additionally, Leitchwho is also a medical doctorsaid there are issues with access to quality care in the country. The average Canadian seniors, individuals, that are working hard every day dont have access to the care that they need, she explained. I think that there are some changes we can look to in the future and make sure Canadians get better health care quality. Female brewers in Denver, Colo. are taking a stand against oppression, sexism and anti-LGBT sentiments by collaborating to produce a series of craft brews that will be released leading up to president-elect Donald Trump's inauguration later this month. The first batch of Makin Noise: A Pussy Riot Beer was produced on Dec. 28 at Goldspot Brewing. Kelissa Hieber, Goldspot's head brewer and one of the group's key organizers, told FoxNews.com that the goal of the project isn't about promoting anti-Trumpism (though she admitted to Westword that many felt "defeated" and "helpless" after the election) but rather to foster unity among likeminded individuals and beer lovers. "Despite a kneejerk reaction to assume that an inauguration day release insinuates a protest to Trump, however our only desire for this beer to to insight a larger sense of community and to stand up against injustice," Hieber said. "Bess [Dougherty, another organizer] and I wanted to use our art form of brewing beer to support some great local charities that are working to protect vulnerable communities in Colorado." ARE BEER SALES DECLINING IN MARKETS WITH LEGAL MARIJUANA? All of the "Making Noise" brews are imperial saison's that, according to Heiber, will pack a real punch with an ABV between 8.5 and 9.5 percent. And each of the five brewery's beers has a unique element. Goldspot's was brewed with strawberries; 3 Freaks Brewing's version features lavender; Black Sky's brew has peppercorns; Brewability has the Brazilian superfruit acai and Lady Justice Brewing will have Warrior hops, which are frequently used in stronger IPAs. A portion of the proceeds will then be donated to local charities like One Colorado-- the Colorado branch of the ACLU-- Planned Parenthood of the Rockies, and Conservation Colorado. The beverage's name derives from Pussy Riot, the Russian punk band known for their human rights activism. "For me, this isnt about supporting or not supporting a candidate," Betsy Lay of Lady Justice told FoxNews.com. "Its about showing people that the brewing industry cares about its community." Lay, who has been crafting beer since 2009, admits that while the beer industry is dominated by men, plenty of female brewers in Denver have been supportive and welcoming. When she first heard about "Making Noise" through Heiber's first call-to-action post on Facebook, Lay says knew she wanted to be apart of the effort. BREWERY APOLOGIZES FOR 'DATE GRAPE' BEER, ADMITS RAPE CULTURE ISN'T FUNNY The group's mission statement, first posted on Dec. 6 by Heiber, read: We felt it necessary to take action and decided to use our art to make our voices heard. We are coming out in support of those most at risk in our community and doing what we can to stand together as a united voice against hate and intolerance. This beer works to combat the hate and oppression while also lending support and solidarity to the fight for equality. We believe in this beautiful community, and we feel it is necessary to work together to protect it. We believe in an America that celebrates its diversity, an America that protects and supports anyone regardless of sexual orientation, gender, identity, race, religious views or immigration status. We condemn the hate that has always existed against marginalized groups, and we will not stand for the new strong wave hitting our country. In addition to the five main breweries involved, about 40 women, many of whom work as brewers or in other jobs in the craft brewing industry, have since joined the Facebook group and expressed interest in volunteering to bring each beer to fruition. FOR THE LATEST FOOD & DRINK FEATURES FOLLOW FOX LIFESTYLE ON FACEBOOK For now, the beers will only be available in the Denver area. Heiber says Goldspot and most of the breweries plan to release their brews to the public on inauguration day with special tap room tastings. They are also trying to get local bars and restaurants to join the cause. Colorado Plus, a brew pub and taphouse in Wheat Ridge, Colo., will be buying one keg from every brewery to do a tap takeover on Jan. 28, with proceeds going directly to the charity ProgressNow Colorado. Says Lay, "Beer is an artform and to be able to collaborate with such an amazing group of women for a great cause has been really, really amazing." Chicken eggs are one of the most commonly eaten foods on the planet, and also one of the most versatile. They can be fried, poached, hard boiled, deviled, coddled, shirred, or scrambled, and are incorporated, both cooked and raw, into thousands of recipes. Theyre the glue that holds much of the food we eat together, from brownies to meatloaf, and on top of all that, theyre delicious and nutritious. But we bet that there are some things that you didnt know about the incredibly versatile egg. Egg consumption statistics are mind-boggling. Every year, more than 6.6 billion dozen eggs (more than 79 billion in total) are produced in the United States, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture predicts that each American eats about 255 eggs per year which is actually down from the 1950s, when annual egg consumption was around 400 per person. There are about 280 million egg-laying chickens in the U.S., and egg farms even have their own advocacy groups, among them the Iowa Egg Council, the Virginia Egg Council, and the New England Brown Egg Council. Bird eggs have been a valuable food source since prehistoric times, and since then eggs have been an indispensable part of global cuisine, appearing in everything from Middle Eastern shakshuka to Taiwanese oyster omelettes, from Mexican huevos rancheros to Iranian baghali ghatogh, from Italian frittatas to British kedgeree, and from Jewish matzo brei to Japanese okonomiyaki. Their uses really are infinite. Read on to learn a whole bunch of things you most likely didnt know about chicken eggs. Eggs are one of those foods that you either love or hate some people gag at the smell of them, and others eat one for breakfast every day, like Abraham Lincoln did (fun fact) but you have to admit, eggs are one of the most indispensable foods in existence. 1. The most common breed of egg-laying chicken is the white leghorn. The breed was first imported to America in 1828 from the Italian port city of Livorno-- leghorn is an anglicization of the city's name. (Fans of the old Loony Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons may remember the strutting, stentorian rooster Foghorn J. Leghorn.) 2. Iowa is America's top egg-producing state. Nearly 15 billion eggs are produced in Iowa every year, with the egg industry employing about 8,000 workers. Other top egg-producing states include Ohio, Indiana, and Pennsylvania. 3. 219 million male chicks are killed by the egg industry each year. More from The Daily Meal Eggs in Purgatory Eggs for Breakfast Can Help with Weight Loss Lobster Eggs Benedict Scrambled Eggs with Crispy Tortillas Perfect Soft-Boiled Eggs with Toast Soldiers If only female chickens lay eggs, then what happens to all the male ones? Since leghorns arent considered viable meat producers (as opposed to broiler chickens, which are raised exclusively for meat production), unfortunately the most obvious answer is the correct one. 4. One leghorn produces about 280 eggs per year. Leghorns are lightweight and mature quickly, and also dont brood (sit on top of the eggs and behave threateningly toward all who approach), so theyre perfectly suited to egg production. Some produce up to 320 eggs per year. Hens start laying eggs at 19 weeks, and as they get older, the eggs grow in size; thelargest eggs are called Jumbo (30 ounces per dozen), while the smallest are called pee-wee (15 ounces per dozen). 5. You'll exceed the recommended daily cholesterol limit if you eat two eggs per day. Each large egg contains about 186 milligrams of cholesterol, and the USDA recommends that we limit our cholesterol intake to 300 milligrams per day. 6. Fresh eggs have cloudy whites. The whites of fresh eggs are cloudy, those of old eggs are clear. Fresher eggs are also more difficult to peel than older eggs, because the air cell surrounding the inside of the shell increases in size over time. While eggs can still be used within three weeks of the sell-by date on the carton, we suggest you use fresher eggs for poached and fried eggs and older eggs for scrambled eggs and omelettes, because the older an egg is, the more it spreads out. 7. Only 1.8 percent of eggs are laid in organic conditions. We all want to eat more organic foods, presumably, but in fact a very small percentage of eggs are produced in accordance with the USDA National Organic Program standards, and these eggs cost about twice as much as standard eggs. In order to be certified organic, the hens cant be treated with any hormones or antibiotics, and their feed cant contain any genetically modified ingredients or any ingredients treated with pesticides or herbicides, and cant be grown with fertilizers that contain chemical or synthetic additives. 8. Theyre loaded with vitamins and minerals. While they may be high in cholesterol, eggs are a lot more than just that and protein. They also contain antioxidants that help with eye health (lutein and zeaxanthin), vitamins A, B12, D, riboflavin, folate, and phosphorous, and an essential nutrient called choline, which helps with brain function. Read on for more surprising facts about eggs. It looks like many of those old Coca-Cola ads with long-haired, do-gooder hipsters teaching the world to sing or sharing a Coke and a smile. But the "Open Your Heart" holiday campaign by Coca-Cola Mexico is coming under fire as "faux philanthropy" and an insult to indigenous groups for its portrayal of a truckload of festive, fashion model-looking white people driving into the remote hills of Oaxaca hauling Coke and a Christmas tree as a service project. The Alliance for Food Health, a coalition of consumer rights and health groups, wants the Mexican government to block the ad, saying it is an attack on the dignity of indigenous people. It also says the ad contributes to the deteriorating health of Mexico's indigenous communities. Mexico is a major consumer of soda and other sugared drinks and has skyrocketing rates of obesity and diabetes. The alliance said it would formally ask the National Council to Prevent Discrimination to block the ad campaign immediately. "It's outrageous for the indigenous," said Diana Turner, a public relations person for Consumer Power, one of the groups in the alliance. Calls by the Associated Press to Coca-Cola Mexico all went to voice mail. In the commercial, the company says the campaign is meant to "break down prejudice and share." "This Christmas a group of young people decided to give something very special to the indigenous community of Totontepec (Villa) de Morelos in Oaxaca. You, too, open your heart," Coca-Cola says in the ad. The commercial says that 81.6 percent of Mexico's indigenous people feel rejected for speaking a language other than Spanish, though it doesn't cite the source. The ad shows long-haired blond women and bespectacled young men joyously sawing wood, welding and painting before they playfully head off in an El Camino pickup to the eastern mountains of Oaxaca where Totontepec is located. They build a red tree with Coca-Cola lights to the smiles, hugs and appreciation of the locals, who belong to the Mixe community. Across the lighted tree are the words "We will stay united" in the Mixe language. The commercial on YouTube and its hashtag #AbreTuCorazon (#OpenYourHeart in Spanish) have drawn a slew of critical comments. "Coca-Cola is working on some genius colonial branding in Mexico with its out-of-touch, racist #AbreTuCorazon campaign," one critic wrote. Another asked: "Why don't you have the people of Oaxaca taking their culture to other countries?" Coca-Cola responded: "We appreciated you sharing your concerns. We will be sure to pass along your comments." Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter & Instagram A Dominican court has blocked a new law that would have decriminalized abortions for the first time if a pregnant woman's life was at risk, backing a complaint filed by several religious groups. The ruling issued late Wednesday by the Constitutional Tribunal cannot be appealed and upholds a law from 1884. The new law was scheduled to go into effect Dec. 27. Critics of the ruling said it will put the health of women at risk. "This decision takes women's and girls' human rights back to the 19th century," said Erika Guevara, an Amnesty International director. "Its impact will be catastrophic for women and girls in the Dominican Republic who will continue to be criminalized, stigmatized and forced to seek out unsafe abortions because they are denied access to safe and legal medical treatment." Human rights groups estimate nearly 85,000 clandestine abortions are performed every year in the Dominican Republic, with some 15,000 women being hospitalized in serious condition as a result. The Constitutional Tribunal expects to issue an explanation for its ruling in the coming days. Happy Marriage, one of the groups that filed the complaint, said the law violated the constitution, which states that the right to life begins when a couple conceives. Abortions in cases of rape, incest or fetus malformation remain illegal in the Dominican Republic despite an earlier request from President Danilo Medina that legislators reverse that law as well. Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter & Instagram New HIV cases have been falling in the United States in most racial and ethnic groups, except among gay Hispanic men, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. CDC officials reported Sunday that HIV diagnoses have been declining in many groups, including gay and bisexual white men, heterosexuals and people who inject drugs. But that is no reason to celebrate just yet. The CDC shows a disturbing uptick of HIV cases among gay Hispanic males. The CDC says the number of Latinos diagnosed with HIV climbed 24 percent between 2005 and 2014. In 2013, according to the CDC, Latino accounted for one-third of all new diagnoses while only representing 17 percent of the U.S. population. Eugene McCray, director of the CDCs Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention, said the increase is a problem that the CDC has not been able to explain. "Is it because the prevention interventions are just not getting to that group in a way that's effective?" he told the Verge. "We're going to be looking at that very carefully." In gay black men, new infections is finally leveling off. The new figures show that the number of newly diagnosed cases in gay and bisexual black men hasn't moved up much since 2010 less than 1 percent. For younger men in that group who have had alarming infection rates new diagnoses dropped 2 percent. The group accounts for about 10,000 of the 40,000 new HIV cases diagnosed last year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which presented the new figures at a conference in Atlanta. The federal agency's Dr. Jonathan Mermin said the new numbers are a cause for hope, while another HIV expert said they are hardly good news. "Stabilizing at 10,000 is not a reason to celebrate," said Dr. Carlos del Rio of Emory University, head of a national group for doctors who treat AIDS and HIV. Government and private agencies have been working for decades to increase HIV testing and promote safe sex and prevention. But del Rio said a lot of credit should go to improvements in medical care. More and better treatment means more HIV infected people have lowered amounts of the virus in their blood, making them significantly less infectious, he said. The tally of new diagnoses comes from state health departments; doctors and hospitals are required to report new HIV infections. Last year, HIV was diagnosed in about 27,000 gay and bisexual men, 10,000 heterosexuals and 2,000 injection drug users. Based on reporting by the Associated Press. Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter & Instagram Mexican health authorities approved the first vaccine to gain official acceptance for use against the dengue virus, which sickens about 100 million people every year, mostly in Asia, Africa and Latin America. The federal medical safety agency said Wednesday the vaccine has undergone testing on over 29,000 patients worldwide. It said the vaccine's manufacturer had proved its safety and effectiveness, but did not name the drug. In a separate statement, the Lyon, France-based Sanofi Pasteur identified the vaccine as Dengvaxia. Mexico said the vaccine is aimed at people ages 9 to 45 and will be used in areas where the disease is endemic. According to a World Health Organization report published in late 2014, the vaccine had an average rate of effectiveness of about 60.8 percent in protecting against the four strains of dengue currently circulating. Sanofi said its vaccine was shown to" reduce dengue due to all four serotypes (strains) in two-thirds of the participants," a figure similar to the 65.6 percent rate reported in a study published in September by the New England Journal of Medicine. That is relatively low for a vaccine. Common vaccines like those for measles and polio are more than 95 percent effective. But Dengvaxia appeared to be particularly effective in protecting people from the most extreme, potentially life-threatening form of the disease, known as dengue hemorrhagic fever, which can cause internal bleeding, shock, organ failure and death. That form of the disease seems to hit people who have already had one strain of dengue, and then suffer a subsequent infection by a different strain. Because of that, Mexico said it planned to apply the vaccine in areas were exposure rates to at least one strain were 60 percent or more. Dr. In-Kyu Yoon, director of the international Dengue Vaccine Initiative, said the drug "may potentially have a significant public health impact," but noted "we still don't know how much Sanofi will charge." "It probably will work best in those regions and countries that have the highest rate" of dengue exposure, Yoon said. Sanofi said in its statement that the drug "prevented 9 out of 10 cases of severe dengue and 8 out 10 hospitalizations due to dengue." Dr. Cuauhtemoc Ruiz, chief of Pan American Health Organizations' immunization program, said that whether the vaccine will be widely used will depend on a cost-benefit analysis. Countries will have to weigh whether another treatment or simply spraying to reduce mosquitoes would prevent more illnesses and deaths for the same money. Ruiz added that at least five other dengue vaccines are in clinical development. Mexico's federal medical safety agency, known by its initials as Cofepris, said the vaccine could help prevent 104 deaths and 8,000 hospital admissions and save about $65 million in health expenditures annually. Mexico's Health Department declined to comment on whether the government would supply the vaccine to those who need it most in the country's largely poor, low-lying southern states. WHO's report said it was unclear how long the vaccine would protect those who receive it. Mosquitoes transmit the dengue virus. Symptoms include high fevers and severe muscle and joint pain. There's no specific treatment for dengue. Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter & Instagram The number of Hispanic children diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) has risen sharply since 2003 83 percent according to a new study published in the Journal of Clinical Psychology. Between 2003 and 2011 the number of Hispanic children ages 5 to 17 with ADHD went up from 4.2 percent to 7.7 percent the largest increase of any racial or ethnic group. Despite that, the disorder is still more prevalent among white and black children at 14 and 12.8 percent respectively. Researchers speculate that the dramatic rise in diagnosed ADHD cases in the Hispanic community can be attributed to two things: awareness and language. "There could be greater knowledge of the signs of ADHD in the school system and among parents, leading to more parents having their children assessed," Sean Cleary, associate professor of epidemiology and biostatistics at the School of Public Health at George Washington University, told Fox News Latino. This is the first time the National Survey of Children's Health has ever been offered in the Spanish language, which means a whole new population of parents were surveyed who didn't take part of previous studies. The survey of more than 190,000 children found that reported ADHD cases have gone up overall by 43 percent and that the number of girls with ADHD rose by 55 percent, which is higher than the increase among boys (40%). According to Cleary, this suggests that teachers, counselors and parents are doing a better job at noticing the symptoms of ADHD in girls. This disorder has largely been stereotyped as something that only boys get. "The signs and symptoms that are in girls are different. They are internalizing, more than externalizing ... more withdrawn, less [the] verbal aggression seen in a boy, which may be loud, shouting and physical," Clearly explained. For years, critics have said the increasing rate of ADHD cases is just a symptom of a society that tends to over-prescribe and over-diagnose its children. Professor Cleary believes the alternative of not diagnosing kids in school or when they are younger could have effects that are more dire. "A lack of treatment can lead to difficulties into adulthood," he told FNL, "specifically related to employment, getting a job and maintaining a job." Cardinal Norberto Rivera, the Catholic Church's top authority in Mexico, said he has no problem with the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes. The cardinal said Sunday that the church has never had a problem recommending the use of "all elements from nature that can be used to help improve health." He recalled that when he was a child the plant was commonly used for health reasons such as relieving pain, said Cardinal Rivera, who also serves as the archbishop of Mexico City. Rivera was asked about his views on the medicinal use of marijuana at a news conference. Back in November, the Supreme Court ruled that growing, possessing and smoking marijuana for recreation is legal under the right to freedom. The ruling did not approve the sale or commercial production of marijuana nor does it imply a general legalization. But if the court rules the same way on five similar petitions, it would then establish the precedent to change the law and allow general recreational use. A few days after the ruling, Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto said he opposes any legalization of marijuana. "For me, it would not be desirable, I am not in favor of an eventual legalization of marijuana," he said in a speech. But he did say he was willing to listen to other opinions. An October opinion survey by the Parametria polling firm said that 77 percent of Mexicans opposed legalizing marijuana, while 20 percent supported the idea. The poll had a margin of error of four percentage points. In the United States, the states of Washington, Colorado, Alaska and Oregon have legalized marijuana use. The South American nation of Uruguay adopted a plan to create a legal pot market in 2013. Based on reporting by the Associated Press. Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter & Instagram The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Monday it is investigating a more recent batch of E. coli cases linked to Chipotle, and that it does not know yet if they are linked to a larger outbreak that began in October. So far, the agency said five people have been reported sick in the new outbreak, with illnesses starting between Nov. 18 and Nov. 26. They include one person in Kansas, one in North Dakota and three in Oklahoma. All five said they ate at a Chipotle the week before they got sick. The North Dakotan had traveled to Kansas and ate at the same Chipotle location as the Kansas resident who fell ill. The development is the latest bad news for Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc., which saw its sales plummet after the emergence of the larger E. coli outbreak that has sickened 53 people in nine states. The most recent illness linked to Chipotle among those cases started Nov. 10. Each year, about 48 million people get sick from foodborne illnesses, according to the CDC. Following the outbreak, Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. assured customers that it would tighten its food safety standards. Spokesman Chris Arnold said in an email Monday that the chain is in the process of implementing its new programs, which include increased testing of ingredients and training for workers. He noted that even the most recent exposures reported by the CDC are now a month old. "We have indicated before that we expected that we may see additional cases stemming from this, and CDC is now reporting some additional cases," Arnold wrote. Chipotle co-CEO Steve Ells has told The Associated Press he doesn't think the company will ever know for sure the exact ingredient that sickened customers in the larger outbreak, but that he believes it was bacteria in fresh food like tomatoes or cilantro. In its annual report, Chipotle has said it may be at a higher risk for outbreaks of foodborne illnesses because of its "fresh produce and meats rather than frozen, and our reliance on employees cooking with traditional methods rather than automation." Those points of differentiation have long been marketing strengths for Chipotle, which has sought to distinguish itself as being of higher quality than traditional fast-food chains. To begin its image rehabilitation, Chipotle last week took out full-page ads in 61 newspapers around the country apologizing for the illnesses. But it's not clear how long it will take for the chain to regain its footing, and the company rescinded its sales outlook for 2016. Bill Marler, a food poisoning attorney who is representing customers who were sickened after eating at Chipotle, noted the chain had also been linked to other outbreaks of foodborne illnesses in California and Minnesota this summer. And this month, Chipotle closed a restaurant in Boston after dozens of students at Boston College reported gastrointestinal symptoms. Those cases were linked to norovirus, and Chipotle has said they were unrelated to the E. coli outbreak. Still, Marler noted the Chipotle cases pale in comparison to an E. coli outbreak in 1993 tied to Jack in the Box that sickened hundreds and led to four deaths. Shares of Chipotle dropped 3.5 percent, or $19.07, to close at $522.01. Earlier in trading, the stock hit a 52-week low of $508.10. Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter & Instagram A Chinese naval hospital ship is making a first-ever call at a South American port in a sign of the Asian economic giant's growing influence in the resource-rich region. The Peace Ark, with 500 beds and 118 medical professionals, docked Monday at a port outside Peru's capital of Lima for a seven-day service visit. It's the last destination on a three-month mission that also included stops in Australia, Mexico, Barbados, Grenada and the U.S. The 756-foot ship is expected to perform 2,000 free medical procedures during its stay in Peru. "We're very thankful because during this holiday season they're going to give the gift of health care," Peruvian Health Minister Anibal Velasquez said at a ceremony alongside China's ambassador to Peru. Such goodwill visits have been a mainstay of U.S. diplomacy in Latin America for decades, the latest being the hospital ship USS Comfort's visit to 11 nations during a regional tour earlier this year. But the Chinese outreach is more recent, having gained momentum as the country's demand for Latin America's natural resources has soared over the past decade. "It's definitely an approach that was partially inspired or learned from U.S. actions," said Evan Ellis, an expert on China-Latin America relations at the U.S. Army War College in Carlyle, Pennsylvania. "It's like the Boy Scouts. You show up and see who you can help." While Ellis says the humanitarian mission in what has traditionally been Washington's backyard shouldn't set off alarm bells, the timing of the visit, with the U.S. distracted by unrest elsewhere, is propitious for Chinese aims of gradually expanding its military influence around the world. "It's not necessarily nefarious, but one does notice what is happening," Ellis said. "It impacts the U.S. position as the partner of choice" for several Latin American countries. Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter & Instagram In the early weeks of Angelica Pereira's pregnancy, a mosquito bite began bothering her. At first it seemed a small thing. But the next day she awoke with a rash, a headache, a fever and a burning in her eyes. The symptoms disappeared within four days, but she fears the virus has left lasting consequences. Pereira's daughter Luiza was born in October with a head more than an inch below the range defined as healthy by doctors, a rare condition known as microcephaly that often results in mental retardation. A neurologist soon gave Pereira and her husband more bad news: The brain damage had caused cerebral palsy. "My heart stopped. All I kept thinking about was all the struggles and discrimination my baby will suffer," said Pereira, a 20-year-old seamstress who lives in Santa Cruz do Capibaribe, a small, garment-manufacturing city in northeast Brazil. More than 2,700 babies have been born in Brazil with microcephaly this year, up from fewer than 150 in 2014. Brazil's health officials say they're convinced the jump is linked to a sudden outbreak of the Zika virus that infected Pereira, though international experts caution it's far too early to be sure and note the condition can have many other causes. Brazil alone estimates it's already had between 440,000 and 1.3 million cases of Zika since the first local transmission of the virus was detected in May. The mosquito-borne disease was first identified in the Americas less than two years ago and has spread rapidly across South and Central America. "We are looking at the beginning of an epidemic in a country that has in between 200,000 and 300,000 births per year, which shows how worried we are. It's a virus we don't know that much about," said Rodrigo Stabeli, vice president of the Rio de Janeiro-based Fiocruz research institute. "We are preparing for the unknown." Brazilians are so concerned that some obstetricians, such as Helga Monaco at Sao Paulo's Samaritano Hospital, recommend women avoid becoming pregnant during the rainy season when mosquitoes are most prevalent. "All the women I see at the hospital or in my office who are pregnant or wanting to get pregnant are very alarmed, almost panicky," she said. The Zika virus, first detected in humans about 40 years ago in Uganda, has long seen as a less-painful cousin to dengue and chikunguya, which are spread by the same Aedes mosquito. Until a few months ago, investigators had no reported evidence it might be related to microcephaly. Suspicion arose after officials recorded 17 cases of central nervous system malformations among fetuses and newborns after a Zika outbreak began last year in French Polynesia, according to the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control. And in November, Brazilian researchers reported the Zika virus genome had been found in amniotic fluid samples from two women whose fetuses were been diagnosed with microcephaly by ultrasound exams. Brazil announced on Nov. 28 that researchers had found the Zika virus present in brain tissue of a newborn with microcephaly who died. As more evidence arose from further Brazilian tests, PAHO and the World Health Organization recently urged officials in the Americas to watch for possible neurological problems or congenital malformations elsewhere related to cases of Zika. While there's never before been a detected link between the virus and microcephaly, "there has never been an epidemic of Zika in the proportions that we are looking at now in Brazil," said Pedro Fernando Vasconcelos, a researcher at Evandro Chagas Institute who found the virus in the newborn child. International health officials say the link isn't yet proven. A recent message from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said "the association of Zika virus infection and microcephaly and is still under investigation" and added, "It will take time to determine the cause of the microcephaly for the cases being reported in Brazil." It noted there are numerous causes of microcephaly, including genetic abnormalities, infections or exposure to toxic substances during pregnancy. "One shouldn't just jump to the conclusion that just because it's associated, it is causing it," said Sanjaya Senanayake, an associate professor of infectious diseases at the Australian National University who has studied the virus for decades. "At the end of the day, it certainly could cause it," he said. "But they need to run more epidemiology studies looking at various groups of pregnant women." Brazilian officials aren't waiting. Claudio Maierovitch, the director of Brazil's equivalent of the CDC, told a news conference on Tuesday "there is no doubt that the majority of the microcephaly cases (in Brazil) are related to the Zika virus." The Health Ministry announced it would send an army of 266,000 people to inspect every house, farm and business in the country and warn about the risks of Zika. There are no known cases of infection by the Zika virus in the United States, though it has been seen in returning travelers. Chile, Colombia, Panama, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Paraguay, Suriname and Venezuela have reported cases of Zika, but have found no indication of corresponding birth defects, according to the Pan American Health Organization. Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter & Instagram A couple in Ecuador is making history with a unique pregnancy: The father-to-be is carrying the baby of his transgender partner. Fernando Machado and Diane Rodriguez announced their pregnancy, believed to be the first of its kind in South America, on social media earlier this month and it's received widespread attention in a continent that has seen a sudden explosion in the rights and visibility of trans people. Rodriguez, who was born Luis, is one of Ecuador's most-prominent LGBT activists and says she and her Venezuelan-born partner, whose birth name was Maria, decided to publicize the pregnancy to help change attitudes in the staunchly Roman Catholic society. Although both take hormones, neither has undergone gender-reassignment surgery, so the child-to-be was conceived the old-fashioned way with no known medical complications to date. "We're trying to break the myths about transsexuality," Rodriguez told the Associated Press. So far, church leaders have remained silent, something that Rodriguez says both surprises and pleases here. "The church is always criticizing gays and homosexuals for adopting children, so it would be a contradiction to criticize us for giving birth naturally," she said from her home in Guayaquil. The trans community has made major advances across South America. About six months ago, Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos issued a decree allowing individuals to change their gender on the national ID cards with little more than a trip to a public notary. To date, at least 340 people have made the switch. Argentina has gone even further with legislation guaranteeing free hormone treatment and gender reassignment surgery. However, trans people still face widespread discrimination in the region. Between 2008 and 2011, 79 percent of the murders of transgender people reported throughout the world took place in Latin America, with a total of 664 cases, according to a study by the International AIDS Alliance. Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter & Instagram The runner-up to one of Brazils largest beauty pageants has reportedly died after getting cosmetic surgery to remove wrinkles on her face. According to the Daily Mail, model Raquel Santos of Rio de Janeiro suffered a heart attack after having fillers injected into her face on Monday. The 28-year-old, who was a finalist in the popular Musa do Brasil competition in December, reportedly used an illegal horse medicine which she injected daily before workouts as a performance enhancer. Police are investigating if it might have contributed to her death. Police reportedly interrupted Santos funeral and removed the body for further examination after claims the models death certificate had been wrongly completed, the Daily Mail reported. The Potenay drug, which contains a cardio-respiratory stimulant, is being increasingly used in Brazil by bodybuilders for muscle gain. According to friends, the mother of two was allegedly terrified of dying during plastic surgery but was a slave of vanity so she did every procedure imaginable. She was very concerned about her looks, her friend Debora Azevedo told Brazils G1 website, according to the Daily Mail. She would go off and have procedures without telling her friends so we wouldnt fight with her. She continued: She was terrified of dying during surgery. But she did it anyway, that was how much she was obsessed with looking good. And she did every aesthetic procedure imaginable, from artificial tans to lymphatic drainage. Azevedo said her friend was so vain and worked out religiously. She was as addicted to working out as she was to plastic surgery, she added. Wagner Moraes, the plastic surgeon who did Santos surgery, insisted that the procedure was not the cause of her death. 'It was a simple procedure which lasted two minutes, he said. The big problem is that she was already suffering health complications, applying Potenay to her body every day, including on the day of the surgery.' Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter & Instagram A pill routinely prescribed for morning sickness may not be an effective nausea remedy, researchers say - although not all doctors agree. The warning comes from researchers who conducted a new analysis of a previously unpublished trial that was used to win marketing approval for the drug in the U.S. and Canada. The drug, pyridoxine-doxylamine, is sold as Diclegis in the U.S. and Diclectin in Canada. It has been taken by millions of pregnant women since it was developed in the 1970s, researchers note in PLOS One. An older version of the medicine with an additional ingredient has been used as far back as the 1950s. For the current study, researchers reviewed data from a decades-old trial and found little evidence that the medicine is effective, said study co-author Dr. Navindra Persaud, a researcher at St. Michael's Hospital and the University of Toronto in Canada. "This medication is recommended as the first-line treatment for nausea and vomiting during pregnancy," Persaud said by email. "We now have more information about this 1970s study that should make us question whether this medication should have been approved and whether it was ever proven to be effective." The original trial in the 1970s was designed to determine if the drug could alleviate morning sickness in the first trimester of pregnancy. To see if those results proved the drug effective, Persaud and co-author Dr. Rujun Zhang of the University of Toronto examined 36,000 pages of documents from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, including the original study report, the protocol and summary results, and other documents from Health Canada. About 2,300 pregnant women participated in the original trial at 14 clinics in the U.S., the researchers found. All of the women were experiencing nausea and vomiting in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. Women were randomly assigned to eight treatment groups, including one that received a placebo or dummy pill and seven that received a variety of drugs including the combination currently sold as Diclectin. Each participant was asked to take two tablets a day at bedtime and one additional pill in the afternoon as needed for one week. Based on data from 1,599 women who completed the study, participants were 14 percent more likely to report treatment was moderate or excellent with Diclectin than with placebo, the new analysis found. But this finding may not be reliable because the final study results aren't available and 37 percent of participants in the placebo group dropped out before the study ended, researchers note in the current analysis. In the new analysis, researchers also couldn't see how physicians scored symptoms. And, data for 30 patients recruited in the original trial were excluded from analysis by regulators because there were data recorded without a record of patient visits, the new study notes. Persaud wasn't able to contact any of the original researchers, and many of them may have died. Still, Persaud said women prescribed this drug should stop taking it and speak to their doctors about other options to treat morning sickness. But not all doctors agree with this assessment. "Studies that have been done since this trial was completed in the 1970s show that doxylamine and pyridoxine are an effective treatment for nausea and vomiting in pregnancy," said Dr. Siripanth Nippita, a researcher at Harvard Medical School and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston who wasn't involved in the current analysis. "Based on research involving over 200,000 women, we can say that doxylamine and pyridoxine are safe to take during pregnancy," Nippita added by email. "They can be an important part of treatment for nausea and vomiting." A new law in France bans spanking of children, making it the 52nd country to prohibit the practice. The law, known as the "equality and citizenship bill," was passed in France on Dec. 22, according to Marta Santos Pais, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG) on Violence against Children. It forbids "all cruel degrading or humiliating treatment, including corporal punishment," by parents, according to the SRSG. The ban falls under the country's civil law, which means that people who break the law will not face criminal charges. "This law is a very strong symbolic act to make parents understand just how all violence can be harmful for the child," Dr. Gilles Lazimi, who led an anti-spanking campaign for the Foundation for Childhood in France, was quoted as saying by the Telegraph. "Above all, it removes the notion of a threshold: There is no small or big violence. There is violence, full stop." A growing body of research suggests that spanking poses risks to children. A 2016 analysis of more than 50 years of research found that children who are spanked are more likely to defy their parents, develop mental health problems and show antisocial behavior and aggression. Most countries in Europe now ban spanking, with the exception of the United Kingdom, Italy, Switzerland and the Czech Republic, the Telegraph said. The United States allows spanking. Original article on Live Science. An Ohio toddler whose three-year fight against an abnormally large birth mark that caused her heart to slow and her blood pressure to drop is improving after surgeons successfully operated on the mass, called a hemangioma, in December. Brianna Brewers recovery is in large part thanks to her mother, Holliana Lockhart, who haphazardly posted about her daughters condition on Facebook, and Dr. Linda Rozell-Shannon, president and founder of the Vascular Birthmarks Foundation (VBF), who took notice. Briannas struggle began when she was only 2 weeks old, at which point Lockhart noticed a birthmark developing inside her daughters mouth. Two weeks later, doctors at Nationwide Childrens Hospital in Columbus diagnosed Brianna with an Infantile Hemangioma and placed her on propranolol to halt the marks growth. Lockhart and her husband, Robert, had been petitioning for their daughter to undergo surgery to remove the hemangioma, but doctors resisted due to Briannas age and the delicate nature of hemangiomas. According to VBF, about 30 percent of hemangiomas are visible at birth, while the remaining 70 percent present one to four weeks afterward. About 83 percent of these birthmarks appear on the head and neck area, with the average growth period of up to 18 months. According to VBF, regression of hemangiomas, a process known as involution, can take between three to 10 years. Even at two weeks, it was twice the size it shouldve been, but at her age, it had complications, Lockhart told FoxNews.com. Her heart could slow down; her blood pressure would drop so low, she would pass out. An early hospitalization resulted in a dose of propranolol every six hours and follow-up instructions to monitor Brianna for blue lips, slowing heart rate or any other symptoms that could be related to the birthmark, as well as strict instructions not to administer the medicine in case of an illness. In the beginning, we saw a lot of improvements, it looked like it had shrunk from the time she was in the hospital, but the problem was she was sick, Lockhart said. In southern Ohio, it gets cold during winter, and I have two other children we passed the plague around all the time. Without the medicine, Briannas hemangioma grew at a rapid pace, undoing all the progress propranolol had made, Lockhart said. Meanwhile, Brianna was missing growth milestones due to the hemangiomas size. Her mouth was so swollen that her top teeth couldnt come in, and she formed an under-bite. She also struggled with speech because her lips couldnt properly close, and she struggled to fit a spoon in her mouth during feedings. Lockhart said doctors left Briannas surgical fate in the opinion of a pathologist, who determined development delays not the hemangioma were the source of Briannas struggles. Lockhart sought to enroll Brianna in an early education program believing that if she had developmental delays, early intervention would help. During a tour of the school, Lockhart said an incident with another child who reacted negatively to Briannas appearance left her in tears and she sought support from a Facebook group. I made a post [on Facebook]. I said if this boy said that, then what would others at head-start say, and I cant be there to pick her up, Lockhart said. Rozell-Shannon, who grappled with doctors for years over treatment for her daughters hemangioma, saw Lockharts post and intervened. Through her foundation, Rozell-Shannon arranged an appointment between Brianna and Dr. Chad Perlyn, a pediatric plastic surgeon at Nicklaus Childrens Hospital in Miami, Florida. On Dec. 7, 2016, Brianna became the foundations 100,000th patient, with the familys medical and travel expenses covered by VBF and the Frank Catalanotto Foundation. Catalanotto and his family are honorary chairs of VBF, and became involved with the foundations work after their daughter Morgan was diagnosed with a hemangioma in 1999. We are an orphan disease, even though we are the most common birth defect in infants, Rozell-Shannon told FoxNews.com. Because 90 percent [of hemangiomas] go away, the 10 percent I deal with are insignificant, she said, quoting some doctors. Rozell-Shannon has assembled a team of surgeons affiliated with VBF who perform the 90-minute outpatient procedure on hemangioma patients after an initial consultation. The VBF website also provides information for parents and doctors of patients with hemangioma, as well as outlets for support. Less than a month after the surgery, Briannas speech has improved, and the swelling continues to subside. Lockhart said Perlyn predicts she will not need another surgery and her lip should return to normal size. Briannas story is one of the many that provide hope to young patients with vascular formations, Perlyn said. I am confident that this surgery will not only improve her physical development, it will also offer Brianna and her family a better social and emotional quality of life. As a Latina I grew up at a time when signs read, No dogs, Negros or Mexicans Allowed. I was not permitted to eat my lunch in the first grade because I spoke Spanish in the cafeteria. Thankfully, signs barring people of color are no longer acceptable and, despite these beginnings, I earned a doctorate, a career in higher education and I work helping to prepare people to serve in top administration, including college presidents. Unless we commit to developing new leaders of color, we become complicit in maintaining the status quo. Instead of tearing down young change agents, let's nurture their talent and prepare them for leadership in nonprofits, business, government and education. Sofia Martinez Ramos Yet the barriers that people of color experience in higher education and other places are just as damaging. The lack of representation at the top policy-making positions leads institutions to develop budgets, policies, and strategic plans for us, about us, but without us. Emerging student leaders are providing an important but missing voice about many important issues on college campuses. Hailed by some and criticized by others, students of color are stirring a debate on leadership tactics, but we must also consider what leaders should look like. In Missouri, Jonathan Butler's seven-day hunger strike led to the resignation of his university president. In Arizona, amidst a contentious divide regarding an impending ban of Ethnic Studies, students organized, protested and filed a lawsuit in 2011. Among these student protesters are the types of leaders that should become college presidents. The available data provides clear evidence of the distinct lack of voice and representation of people of color at the top ranks of colleges and universities. Their numbers and proportion in policy-making positions continue to trail behind their white counterparts and result in a lack of cultural sensitivity and competency where it matters most. Court challenges continue to gut affirmative action and key programs, effective at producing faculty and administrators of color. After providing the majority opinion in Grutter v. Bollinger Sandra Day OConnor said, The Court expects that 25 years from now, the use of racial preferences will no longer be necessary to further the interest approved today. She believed population diversity increases would bring equity, but 12 years have passed and in many ways we have moved backwards. In U.S. colleges and universities, the numbers tell a compelling story. Comparison data from the two most recent ACE reports on college presidents found racial diversity declined from 14 percent in 2006 to 13 percent in 2011. This number is inflated because it includes Minority Serving Institutions, which, when removed, presidents of color representation drops to 9 percent. The ACE survey also showed Hispanics, at 3.8 percent of all presidents, had declined almost 1 percent (0.7) between 2006-2011. In positions believed to be part of the pipeline to the presidency, people of color also declined. In Chief Academic Officer (CAO) positions, African-Americans went from 3.7 to 2.3 percent, Asian-Americans from 3.7 to 2.4 percent, and Hispanics from 1.5 to 0.8 percent in 2013. Women are making strides. In 1986 just 10 percent of college presidents were women, while today 26 percent of institutional leaders are female. Women in senior leadership positions increased from 40 to 43 percent overall, with 41 percent of female CAOs, 72 percent of chiefs of staff, 28 percent of academic deans and 36 percent of executive vice presidents. Colleges and universities proclaim commitment to diversity, setting up committees and offices meant to diversify the institution. Yet, formidable hurdles continue to thwart success, including a lack of advanced degree and faculty pipelines, lack of comprehensive institutional support, unconscious bias and the need for specialized knowledge and experience. Efforts to diversify higher education have had considerable success. For example, over the past 50 years, the Ford Foundation nurtured the growth of at least 14 fellows who became university presidents or provosts, and at least 23 vice presidents or vice provosts. More than 5,000 students got fellowships to pursue graduate degrees. Juliet Garcia, a Ford Fellow, was the first Latina to serve as a university president in the nation at UT- Brownsville. This trailblazer explained, There is nothing wrong with the human capital in a minority population. The difference is having the opportunity to fulfill it. Strides have been made but the numbers are a clear call to action. Unless we commit to developing new leaders of color, we become complicit in maintaining the status quo. Instead of tearing down young change agents, let's nurture their talent and prepare them for leadership in nonprofits, business, government and education. Coloradans know all too well the importance of the environment for our states tourism industry and the jobs it supports. But our families health is also deeply intertwined with the state of our environment. Hispanics suffer disproportionately from the carbon pollution that fuels the problem. For us, climate change is not a distant future event its affecting us now. As the worlds leaders gather in Paris to discuss a coordinated global agreement to roll back climate change, we need to keep in mind the immediacy of this issue for our community. [The Clean Power Plan] is a solid, commonsense plan that will benefit our community and will translate into healthier children and families in Colorado. It provides states with the flexibility to implement a plan that makes sense for their own energy needs, as well as their particular geographic and economic realities. Chaz Tedesco The American Lung Associations most recent State of the Air report listed Denver as the 13th most smog-polluted city in the nation. Adams County, where I serve as county commissioner, has a power plant, located in Globeville, one of our poorest neighborhoods and a heavily Latino area. For a long time, when this plant relied on coal, the air in that neighborhood was heavily polluted. When researchers compare where Hispanics live and the incidence of respiratory illnesses, the correlation is clear. That is why I testified last month at an Environmental Protection Agency hearing on the Clean Power Plan, which seeks to cut carbon emissions 32 percent by the year 2030 and to reverse the dangerous effects of climate change, including exacerbated smog and other air quality issues. It is an understatement to say this plan is vital for the Latino community. For my constituents in Globeville, and more than half of all Hispanics in this country, addressing and limiting climate change is critical to our health and well-being. From a geopolitical standpoint, this plan gives President Obama the moral high ground to ask other nations to also make significant reductions in their greenhouse gas emissions. But its also the right thing to do for our population. Half of all Latinos in America live in the areas with the nations worst air quality. The effects of coal-fired plants close to an urban population are real. Latinos are 60 percent more likely to visit the hospital for asthma and Hispanic children are 40 percent more likely to die from asthma attacks compared to non-Hispanic whites, according to the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Minority Health. This statistic mirrors the reality of Globeville compared to other metro Denver residents, people living in Globeville are more likely to suffer from chronic health conditions, such as asthma. And among those, the most affected are children. Thankfully, the Globeville plant recently converted to natural gas, which is less polluting. Sadly, that is not case in many other Latino communities around the nation. Coal plants are the nations top source of carbon pollution. Coal is a leading cause of smog, acid rain and toxic air pollution. Some pollution can be significantly reduced with safeguards, but most coal plants have not installed these technologies. The Clean Power Plan would make the air Latinos breathe significantly cleaner. That is why I expressed my full support for the Clean Power Plan at the hearings last month. It is a solid, commonsense plan that will benefit our community and will translate into healthier children and families in Colorado. It provides states with the flexibility to implement a plan that makes sense for their own energy needs, as well as their particular geographic and economic realities. If not for this plan, our communities and children will continue breathing dirty air. However, climate deniers are already working to stop this plan. Sadly, our own Attorney General in Colorado is trying to gum up its implementation by filing a lawsuit, even though our governor says the state will, and should, implement the Clean Power Plan because it will help the state economy and improve the health of our residents. Not taking action only helps the big polluters, who make millions of dollars at the expense of our communitys health. Aside from very tangible health costs of inaction, there are real economic costs. Colorados Latino community will drive a significant portion of the states projected population growth, according to 2015 Colorado Climate Change Vulnerability Study. This also means economic growth. But health care costs could dampen it. The study also said that Colorados tourism industry which is a major state employer, bringing in between $8.5 and $15 billion annually is likely to suffer as climate change fuels extreme weather, temperature extremes and lower. These are all reasons why Latinos need climate change policies now. In Paris, it is our economys health, and most important of all, the health of our children, that are at stake. It was on this day in 1989 that the U.S. and the Soviet Union came to terms on ending the Cold War. It happened off the coast of Malta, where President George Bush and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev were meeting and it culminated with statements by both leaders signaling the end alas. President Bush was picking up where Ronald Reagan had left off when he came to terms on the issue of arms control, to which both nations were willing to agree. For his part, Gorbachev wanted desperately to move on from the hostilities so he could spend more time and resources pursuing his domestic reform agenda. The U.S. media coverage of the vicious and undeniably newsworthy Paris attack has dwarfed the coverage of the Russian plane shot down by ISIS, the attacks by Boko Haram in Nigeria, and the daily carnage in places like San Pedro Sula, Honduras. Rick Sanchez But what made the end of the Cold War possible wasnt so much about arms controls or domestic agendas as much as it was about honesty and acceptance, because the Cold War was more than anything else about fear, a mutual fear that was at times neither rational nor honest. And it wasnt until the U.S. media and the people of both the United States and Soviet Union were willing to courageously and honestly put aside that fear that both countries were able to move forward. Essentially, the Cold War ended because we wanted it to end. Compare that to today in our battle with ISIS, and what we see and hear is an entirely different scenario. While Americans in 1989 were willing to begin to put away their fears, Americans today seem to approach all matters relating to our dealings in the Middle East with an immovable foundation of dread. Its a fear that is unfortunately being stoked both in our media and in our politics. It is why two weeks into the tragedy in Paris, TV news presenters are still there live reporting breathlessly about the next attack. Viewers are not allowed to move on, nor are they provided perspective. Perspective is about facts. Its also about contrast and comparison. The U.S. media coverage of the vicious and undeniably newsworthy Paris attack has dwarfed the coverage of the Russian plane shot down by ISIS, the attacks by Boko Haram in Nigeria, and the daily carnage in places like San Pedro Sula, Honduras. American media consumers are denied perspective and facts like these: almost 100 more people were killed in the plane shot down over Egypt than were murdered in Paris; Boko Haram has killed more people than ISIS; and San Pedro Sula is the most dangerous city in the world, a place where women and children are slain daily by the cartels who produce the drugs that are generally consumed in the U.S. We seem to be told that those news stories shouldnt scare us as much as ISIS, but they should. Each should provide us with the perspective to help us understand that dealing with a dangerous world involves more than fear, because all lives matter. On this day in 1989, rationality and honesty won out over irrationality and fear. Can the media and our politicians allow us to look beyond the bogeyman under our bed? Can we muster that same level of comparative, sober rationality again? I pray we can, because we must. My maternal grandfather was born in 1901 to the Ovalle family and raised in the Mexican border town of Piedras Negras, just across the Texas border. He had his first job at age 10. After school and in the summer, my grandfather and his three brothers sold homemade candies, known as "leche quemada," on the town's downtown streets. That early work experience, no doubt, played an important role throughout his life. In the mid-1920s, my grandfather moved to Texas with his new bride, learned the construction trade, and eventually started his own construction business in San Antonio. If America is to remain competitive, innovative, and vibrant over the next century, we must recognize the growing importance of Hispanics in the nations labor market and must be willing to remove the tax and regulatory barriers that undermine small business formation and expansion. Would-be Hispanic entrepreneurs stand ready to succeed or fail on their own merits. Naomi Lopez Bauman That entrepreneurial tradition has been, for many, the pathway to the American dream. But recent research suggests that occupational licensing, particularly in areas such as the construction industry, could be disproportionately affecting prospects for would-be Hispanic entrepreneurs. The reach and impact of these state-level regulations cannot be over-stated. Take the Green sisters, ages 7 and 8, of Overton, Texas. These children recently ran afoul of Texas health code laws when they sold lemonade without the proper permit. The police chief ordered the girls to shut down the stand. While these types of laws might protect the public from "cooties," customers are probably not overly-concerned with the health risks associated with unlicensed lemonade vendors. In the construction industry, 28 states license who can paint according to 2012 study from the Institute for Justice. In New Mexico, for example, painting is building specialty requiring two years of work experience and costing about $250 in application, testing and licensing fees. Florida and Texas do not require occupational licenses for commercial/general painters. Indeed, it is difficult to imagine that my grandfather would have the same success if he were starting his businesses today. While there has been a growing interest in the role that Hispanics play in small business formation, little work has been done on entrepreneurial activity on the state level. Using data from the Kaufman Foundation and the Institute for Justice, as well as previous research from the Goldwater Institute, a recent analysis examines state-level occupational licensing in the construction industry. The study focused on three states Florida, New Mexico, and Texas which all have significant Hispanic populations and relatively large concentrations of Hispanic-owned businesses. In 1997, these three states all had Hispanic populations that were 20 percent or more of their total populations. Hispanic-owned firms also accounted for 20 percent or more of the total firms. But these states had disparate rates of Hispanic entrepreneurial activity. While many factors affect entrepreneurship, this new research suggests that state-level occupational licensing in the construction industry, where Hispanic workers and Hispanic-owned firms are concentrated, creates barriers to entry for Hispanics through educational requirements and/or increases the capital requirements to start a construction business and may be dampening entrepreneurial activity for would-be Hispanic entrepreneurs. According to one recent estimate, there are now 3.2 million Hispanic-owned businesses in the U.S., comprised primarily of small businesses. In the coming decades, Americas economic growth will likely increasingly rely on Hispanics' continued contributions to the entrepreneurial economy. This is a promising trend that can continue to positively impact the nation's job growth and economic well-being. That is why policymakers should carefully examine the utility of the government-created obstacles that increase the barriers to entry to entrepreneurship; especially those that disproportionately tend to discourage Hispanic entrepreneurship. In particular, occupational licensing should be evaluated and removed in those instances where there is no compelling public safety interest. If America is to remain competitive, innovative, and vibrant over the next century, we must recognize the growing importance of Hispanics in the nations labor market and must be willing to remove the tax and regulatory barriers that undermine small business formation and expansion. Would-be Hispanic entrepreneurs stand ready to succeed or fail on their own merits. They are more than up to the task. The spirit that motivated my grandfather to sell leche quemada in Piedras Negras and search for "La Tierra Prometida" (the Promised Land) is still alive today. The only question is whether policymakers will seek to unleash this entrepreneurial potential or continue to dampen it. Millions of Venezuelans defied government intimidation and fearmongering on Sunday, voting for candidates from the opposition Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD) in legislative elections. Voter participation reached 74 percent. The result: after 16 years of Chavismo dominance in the National Assembly, the opposition has at least won a majority of seats in the 167-member legislative body. Caracas swarmed with anxiety in waiting for the first official results to be released. Just after midnight, the National Electoral Council declared that MUD candidates received at least 99 seats while the governments United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) secured 46 seats. Who wins the remaining 22 seats will determine the degree of actual power for the opposition. Momentum is with the opposition. It must now show that it can effectively govern for the presidency to one day be in its reach. Jason Marczak Expectations of a government defeat were high going into the vote. Pre-election polls predicted the opposition would walk away with a 20 percentage point victory. What is impressive about this opposition win is it was done despite all the levers of the state apparatus working overtime to try to eke out a PSUV victory. The elections may have been relatively fair on voting day, but the weeks and months leading up to it were rife with manipulation of the democratic process. Public resources were doled out to essentially buy votes, favorable press coverage was only given to PSUV candidates, voting cards were designed to confuse opposition voters, and prominent candidates barred from the ballot. Still, the end result is that ten years after mistakenly boycotting these elections, opposition candidates now technically hold a number of powers once they take office on January 5, 2016. For one, holding at least the simple majority, they can choose new leadership in the National Assembly. The constitution also gives the majority the right to approve an amnesty law, which would free Leopoldo Lopez and other prominent politicians in jail or under house arrest. Budget approval would also technically fall to the opposition. In the likely scenario the MUD secures two more seats, it wins a qualified majority by holding three-fifths of the National Assembly. Thats significant as it would allow for the opposition coalition to revoke presidential decrees and to censure and remove certain government officials. With 112 seatsa scenario the MUD says is within reachthe oppositions powers increase substantially including giving it the ability to modify organic laws, amend the constitution, and even call for a constituent assembly. But this list of new powers assumes two things. First, that the opposition will stay united when in the National Assembly. One of the top roadblocks to the opposition wresting any control from chavismo has historically been the opposition itself. It is a coalition that unifies a variety of interests and strategies, coming together at key moments but then splintering when times get tough. Now in control, the pressure is even greater to keep the coalition together. Second, and even more significant, it is uncertain whether the state apparatus will truly share powers with a chamber that can no longer be counted on to simply rubber stamp policies. The PSUV has near total control of the state and wants to keep it that way. On election night, President Nicolas Maduro was conciliatory, giving the illusion of true democracy to try to silence international critics. How long will that last? He is increasingly isolated in the region. With the inauguration of President-elect Mauricio Macri in Argentina on December 10who has called for Venezuela to be kicked out of the Mercosur bloc if it doesnt respect democracyMaduro has lost a steadfast ally. Brazil is also rumored to be privately putting significant pressure on the Venezuelan government to get their house in order. Even the Organization of American Statesa body allergic to confrontationis stepping in, with its secretary general, Luis Almagro, criticizing the lack of fair electoral observation and openly condemning the government for the assassination of an opposition leader just over one week before the election. The world was watching what happened on December 6. But international attention cannot let up now. The next test for Venezuela is in the weeks and months ahead. Maduro, like Chavez, manufactures crises when times are tough. He did this again in August in declaring a state of emergency along the Colombian border after police were killed. Will he create another crisis as an excuse to reassert authority? That is possible as is PSUV inspired violence in the streets. Sundays election marked the biggest defeat for chavismo (after Chavez passing) since it came to power. Momentum is with the opposition. It must now show that it can effectively govern for the presidency to one day be in its reach. The political earthquake in Argentina had a replica in Venezuela on Sunday. The opposition coalition, Mesa de Unidad Democratica (MUD-Unidad), won both the raw popular vote and a supermajority of two-thirds in the National Assembly. The excuses of "economic war" and conspiracies did not work. The people held the government of Nicolas Maduro and his party accountable for the deep economic crisis in which Venezuelans see themselves immerse after decades of oil bonanza a fact that renders the suffering unexplainable. The challenge and responsibility on the shoulders of the emerging leaders on both sides of the political spectrum, after the parliamentary elections in Venezuela, is to start a new chapter in the country's history. Leopoldo Martinez Nucete Neither the intimidation to government employees and social programs beneficiaries, nor the persecution of key leaders held as political prisoners or the menace of political violence at its worse with the brutal assassination of Luis Manuel Diaz, a regional opposition leader a week before the elections could stop the people from turning out to vote and demand change. The doubts hovering over a pacific, electoral and constitutional path to resolve the crisis and rebuild democracy in Venezuela, after years of neo-authoritarian populist rule, have been dissipated. Leaders as Henrique Capriles and other in MUD-Unidad had insisted without hesitation, despite of the critics and cynicism, that it was possible. They were right, and this is probably the most important political impact of Sunday's electoral result. Chavismo without Chavez is no longer wrapped in an aura of invincibility. Fears and doubts are now defeated by facts, and this empowers citizens and the political alternative to the regime in a way that will show more results as the country walks into governor races in 2016, municipal elections in 2017, and presidential elections in 2018. And here come the bigger questions: Will the government embrace changes and get the message, or will it continue this self-destructive strategy of radicalization? Can the country wait if electoral results don't translate into actual changes in peoples day-to-day economic nightmares? And will the opposition escalate from this result to a referendum that would call for a new presidential election altogether? The new parliamentary majority held by MUD-Unidad cannot be used as a political bat. It would be a grave error to not embrace tolerance, especially since one of the big challenges for the new Assembly will be to enact an Amnesty Law that puts an end to persecution for the polarizing events of the past 15 years, and therefore release political prisoners such as Leopoldo Lopez. Amnesty does not imply impunity, but the reestablishment of an independent judiciary that can provide fair trials, under due process, to the many corruption cases that surround the current government elite. In the political and social front though, a social dialogue must promote amnesty and reconciliation. The ruling Chavista elite did not realize that while the economic crisis accelerated discontent, it also took their credibility to provide excuses or place blame on others, such as the private sector. The people of Venezuela held them accountable for their neglect to address credible and efficient economic reforms, but also for lying recklessly about why this was crisis was actually taking place. The narrative of the economic war or conspiracy became offensive. Now a national agreement continues to be necessary and the new majority in the National Assembly must engage in providing the people who elected them, in good measure as a punishment vote to the incumbents, with a path to economic recovery and reform. The democratic leadership must prevent the Assembly to be reduced to a sterile field for political conflict, unable to influence in the management of a crisis that will worsen in 2016, both in economic terms and in social terms. The objectives of political amnesty, reconciliation without impunity, as well as a national agreement to re-launch the economy through investment and production are priorities to address the crisis wisely. There is the potential for a conflict of powers between the executive branch and the packed Constitutional chamber of the Supreme Court, and soon to be former Assembly Speaker Diosdado Cabello has been clear that such a conflict is coming. Thus, the only way to challenge that contention is by unfolding a comprehensive proposal to cure the nation with a narrative and actions aimed at the people who expect much more from their institutions. In such efforts, one strategic question is how to persuade some sectors of the Chavista ruling elite, not necessarily visible but those whose voices are silenced by the leadership, that their time has come. In fact, Nicolas Maduros negative ratings are beginning to have an impact over the positive image of Chavez." A set of recent polling data by Keller and Associates, which predicted the outcome of Sundays election, confirms that fact. At first, amid the decline in popular support for Maduro, Chavez's image remained intact over 65 percent on average, with a peak in 2014 at 68 percent. It is no longer the case. Only in 2015 Maduro went from 33 percent to almost 18 percent, and now he dragged his "political father" positive memory to 49 percent. Venezuelas 6D parliamentary elections outcome should be interpreted by all as an opportunity to take a turn towards democracy ... or else enter a worse, much worse stage than that experienced in recent years. The challenge and responsibility on the shoulders of the emerging leaders on both sides of the political spectrum, after the parliamentary elections in Venezuela, is to start a new chapter in the country's history. Hopefully, if common sense prevails, it will be a better one. Mike Fernandez is a billionaire. We need more Mike Fernandezs. We dont need more like him because hes a billionaire far from it. We need more Fernandezs because hes a thought leader in our business sector, who is willing to take on the menace of hate and demagoguery that is afflicting our politics. We cant rely on our media. Its too conflicted to challenge the goose providing them with ratings gold. Neither can we rely on professional politicians. They are too scared to burden themselves with principles not if it means having to engage the schoolyard bully and possibly lose. Frightening stuff! Fernandezs full-page ad is apparently bothering Trump, because hes firing back. The candidate who has insulted blacks, Hispanics, women, veterans and now suggests that Muslims should be barred from entering the U.S. is threatening to sue Fernandez for I guess daring to not like him. Rick Sanchez Mike Fernandez is among the most admired and respected business leaders in America. The health care magnate has achieved much more than Donald Trump, because hes built his fortune not with his daddys money, rather from nothing. He is a conservative Republican and hes outraged. So much so that hes purchased a full-page ad in the Miami Herald calling Trump a narcissistic bully-ionaire with a hunger to be adored. He compares him to historys bloodiest demagogues. Fernandez, who arrived in the United States penniless at the age of 12, served in the U.S. army, got a job selling insurance, went on to create some of the largest health insurance companies in America and has since founded MBF Healthcare Partners, a private equity firm in Coral Gables, is genuinely angry. Hes as angry as many of Americas business thought leaders when it comes to the damage that Donald Trumps rhetoric and ideas can cause for America. But unlike many of his peers, hes willing to go after Trump. You have no idea how furious I am with my friends in the Republican Party who have embraced this guy, Fernandez said. Why is it so important for Mike Fernandez to step up right now against Trump? Cliche for emphasis; because the business of America is business. And while most Americans have been schooled to believe that the only opinion makers that matter are talking heads on TV, Op Ed writers, politicians and entertainers, more often its business leaders who succeed by earnestly following the rules of the free market who direct the course of our democracy. They understand that the viability of our economy depends not on fear, but on confidence. It depends not on throwing people out, but rather allowing for and attracting new blood to bolster their workforce. It depends not on knee-jerk decisions, exaggerations or short-term solutions, but rather on metrics-based analyses that lead to market growth. Even more importantly, they are more adept at spotting a fake, a phony and carnival act like Donald Trump, because theyve seen many a Donald Trumps come and go in their respective fields. Fernandezs full-page ad is apparently bothering Trump, because hes firing back. The candidate who has insulted blacks, Hispanics, women, veterans and now suggests that Muslims should be barred from entering the U.S. is threatening to sue Fernandez for I guess daring to not like him. In Fernandez, Trump may have met his match, because soon after receiving the letter, Fernandez Trumpishly posted it on Facebook for the entire world to see. A Cuban exile who struggled his whole life and who unlike Trump, has never had to resort to bankruptcy court to get ahead, Fernandez is still not backing down. Here is part of the statement he provided me today: I fully stand behind my comments regarding Donald Trump. The problem with Donald Trump is that so much about him is unstable his positions, his rhetoric and I am afraid this country and our world cannot bounce back if someone like him becomes president. The potential damage to our nation and our future could be catastrophic, Fernandez added. Fernandez is convinced the last thing America needs is another Donald Trump. I would suggest that what America needs is more Mike Fernandezs. The rhetoric on the campaign trail is white hot, and amid the mud flinging and fact twisting, the American voter is sometimes left wondering exactly what the GOP candidates are proposing. This election cycle has been dominated by discussion of border security and immigration reform, both critical, pressing issues for the nation. Leaving the talking points aside, just what do the GOP candidates have in mind? Listen to the man and read up on what he is proposing. Youll see as I do that when the rhetoric is silent and the chips are down, theres really only one serious candidate on the GOP stage. Nelson Balido Trump: The Trump Campaigns written immigration platform describes a 2,000-mile-long wall along the U.S. southern border, paid for by Mexico. From the stump, Mr. Trump has also expounded on his idea for a federal police force that would be charged primarily with executing his plan to kick 11 million illegal immigrants out of the United States. Its worth noting that in 2011, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) revealed it costs the United States $12,500 to arrest, detain and deport an illegal resident. Multiply that by 11 million, and were looking at a $200 billion price tag on Mr. Trumps plan. Thats about four times as much as Congress allocates to the entire Department of Homeland Security each year. Lets call it what it isor rather, what its not. It is not a conservative plan. Adding $200 billion in new spending when the national bank account is so deeply in the red sounds a lot like something that would come out of the spend-happy Democratic Party. Its also not a workable plan. All logic tells us that another country will not be amenable to forking over billions of dollars for a piece of infrastructure in a neighboring land that frankly is not their priority (i.e., Mexico paying for the wall). Likewise, the fight in Congress to create a Federal police force would be never-ending; standing up the force would take years; finding every illegal immigrant in the United States would demand an Orwellian invasion of neighborhoods; and there would be a century of legal battles resulting from all the deportations, those legitimate and in error. And most importantly, this plan will not address illegal immigration, nor will it lead to greater border security. The issues that have led to Americas current immigration woes are complex and crosscutting, and they cannot be resolved with a mountain of concrete and a goose-stepping federal police force demanding to see your passport. Carson: Dr. Carson, to his credit, has indicated skepticism over Mr. Trumps plan. Unlike Trump, however, Dr. Carson doesnt really have a platform so much as he has what are best described as sentiments. He said on CBS Face the Nation that the southern border would be sealed within the first year of his administration. That is as unrealistic as many of the other wild ideas pitched this political season. What Dr. Carson seems to ignore is that there have been legions of people striving for a sealed border for years. All of the previous attempts have fallen short in some way and for a variety of reasons, but that should tell Dr. Carson something. Locking down the southern border is an enormous challenge, and even as political will has sometimes been lacking (notably over the last 7 years), there have been ongoing real efforts to secure the border and were not even close. The details about how a Carson Administration would achieve this enormous feat within one year have not been released (because they probably dont exist). Meanwhile, Dr. Carson has also floated the idea of a guest-worker program to address the illegal residents already here. While a more pragmatic approach than mass deportation, this also has its problems. For example, the H-1B visa program is a guest-worker program that has helped U.S. businesses compete for the worlds best and brightest in specialized fields (like technology or manufacturing). In some cases, it has also likely granted a temporary job to a foreign worker over an American worker. The cost-benefit analysis on H-1B is a worthwhile investigation, but the Carson campaign (and the GOP writ large) should be cautious in proposing guest-worker programs as a solution to the illegal resident issue: a hardline electorate might not respond favorably to such programs if they come at the expense of American jobs. Rubio: Sen. Rubio is a more serious candidate with more serious ideas about border security and immigration. The Florida Senator was part of the much-debated Gang of Eight, the bipartisan group that wrote a comprehensive immigration reform bill that included a provision that looked a lot like amnesty for the 11 million illegal residents in the United Statesone reason the House didnt touch it and it died on the Senate floor. Sen. Rubio apparently learned a lesson from this worthwhile attempt at comprehensive immigration reform, as the plan hes pitching on the campaign trail takes the issue of 11 million illegal residents and punts it down the field an administration or two. Theres a perfect example of why Sen. Rubio is accurately pegged as the establishment candidate who will perpetuate the failures of the past. At some point, weve got to stop kicking this can. Sen. Rubio has offered a glimpse of his immigration proposal, though it falls short of a full, professional, executive-level platform. Nevertheless, in a three-step effort, Sen. Rubio says the first is to prove to the American people that illegal immigration is under control by completing fence building and adding more border security officers and technology. As a part of this, the Senator adds we need to implement an electronic verification system to prevent U.S. businesses from hiring illegal residents (weve been trying to implement e-verify for years) and create a biometric entry/exit system to pump data into the e-verify system (something else weve been trying to implement for years). These are not new ideas, but the reason the Florida Senators platform is immature is that he proposes to do just what everyone before him has tried to do, but he doesnt give us any new ideas that explain how he will succeed where others have not. Its not that these ideas lack merit; its that restating them without adding the all-important details is not a real platform. Its pandering rhetoric, at best. Cruz: Which brings us to Senator Ted Cruz. To be sure, the general solutions to Americas border security and immigration challenges are well known, and they are issues Ive written about previously. These same issues border security, intelligence sharing, technology infrastructure, biometric entry/exit tracking these and more are present in the Texas Senators plans, but where he sets himself apart is that his plan provides real details and new ideas. Its the difference between a high school book report and a PhD dissertation; one regurgitates someone elses ideas while the other advances knowledge with creative thinking and deep research. Sen. Cruzs immigration plan is offered in expansive detail on his website, and I encourage you to read it in full. What becomes immediately apparent is that unlike anyone else on the primary stage, the reasons behind Sen. Cruzs plan are as important as the plan itself. That is, his ideas and methodology are rigidly oriented around the rule of law. Its telling that in our current political environment, being a Constitutional Conservative is considered non-establishment. As a nation, weve drifted farther and farther from a pure adherence to the document that has faithfully guided this country for more than two centuries. Today, we have a president unilaterally dictating immigration law with executive order overreach; we have Senators from both parties proposing an immigration plan that quite simply ignores the Constitution and grants amnesty; we have legions of unelected bureaucrats meting out regulations at a breakneck pace; and we have a furious electorate that just wants to see something anything get done in Washington that doesnt smack of a politburo shooting from the hip. We already have clear-cut, tested laws that can guide our decisions in what is a contentious, challenging issue. What we need is an elected leader who is more impassioned about the brilliance of the Constitution than the glory of their own ego and interests. As Sen. Cruz said during the primary debate in Milwaukee: For those of us who believe people ought to come to this country legally, and we should enforce the law, were tired of being told its anti-immigrant. Its offensive. I am the son of an immigrant who came legally from Cuba to seek the American dream. And, we can embrace legal immigration while believing in the rule of law. Well said. And primary voters agree. In the latest polls from Iowa, Sen. Cruz has rocketed ahead of Sen. Rubio, past the languishing Dr. Carson and within reach of the ever-entertaining Mr. Trump. Sen. Cruz is advancing in other primary states as well, and it is because the Republican electorate is digging in on the issues and finding that the only candidate that brings details and a proven, real conservative record is Sen. Cruz. And here is an even more exciting detail when it comes to the Cruz campaign. There is a meager 1.3 points between Sec. Clinton and Sen. Cruz in a general election, according to Real Clear Politics, which is closer than that predicted for Sen. Rubio. For his thoughtful, Constitution-driven plans for border security and immigration reform, his allegiance to the rule of law, the American people, and his very real chance to out-compete the likely Democratic nominee, the best choice for the GOP and the nation is electing Sen. Cruz to be the 45th President of the United States. But dont take my word for it. Listen to the man and read up on what he is proposing. Youll see as I do that when the rhetoric is silent and the chips are down, theres really only one serious candidate on the GOP stage. The Latino community is facing hard times. The economy remains sluggish and schools are not improving, putting us at a disadvantage, while priority issues like immigration reform remain stalled. When presidential candidates do choose to appeal to our concerns over such issues, it is important to evaluate both their rhetoric and their record. We should not let ourselves be deceived about her dedication to the interests of Latinos. What counts are the results, and she has delivered few for our communityeven pulling us further away from the finish line in some cases. Daniel Garza Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton recently spoke here in Texas, staking her claim to the backing of the nations Latinos. She portrayed herself as a life-long defender of the immigrant community, recalling working as a babysitter for migrant farmworkers near her home in Chicago. She said her passion for supporting the immigrant community comes from watching those families and realizing theyre just like we are. In her telling, that experience made her into a life-long supporter of the immigrant community, one who has always stood with Latinos and always will. Her actions throughout her career and many missed opportunities to make a real difference say otherwise. Clintons record shows that she hasnt been a consistent defender of the immigrant community in general, nor of Latinos in particular. The facts paint her as willing to sidestep issues important to our community when theyre politically dangerous. Just last month we learned from former New York Governor Spitzer that her campaign had pressured him in 2007 to drop potential legislation allowing drivers licenses for undocumented immigrants. It presented a problem for her during the primaries, and her staff told Spitzer they want this issue gone. This wasnt the first time Secretary Clinton was missing in action when it came to defending Americas immigrant community. In 2003 when it was beneficial to take a harder line on immigration she said she was adamantly against illegal immigrants and called for new easures preventing undocumented immigrants from finding work in America. Thats an odd position for someone who claims to have always been dedicated to helping migrant workers. We saw her counterproductive actions again in 2007, when the Senate debated an immigration reform package pushed by President George W. Bush. The legislation under debate was a carefully-crafted compromise that had to satisfy many competing interests before becoming law. One such provision was a program allowing foreign workers to come to the United States for two years at a time. But Clinton voted for a poison pill amendment that ended the program after five years, defying the compromise. The amendment passed by just one vote meaning her vote was decisive. Without this program, the bill could not pass the Senate and immigration reform was defeated. Despite her claims to the contrary, Clinton appears uninterested in long lasting, bipartisan reform, instead focusing her comments on unilateral action.This is doubling down on a losing strategy. One reason immigration reform is not happening is because Republicans are reluctant to compromise with a president who unilaterally suspended legal provisions of the Affordable Care Act, ignored the requirements of welfare reform, and circumvented Congress with executive orders such as DACA and DAPA when he didnt get his way. Its time for a president who can bring people together to pass needed reforms not someone who regards their political opposition as enemies to be deceived and evaded. When a candidate vows to go beyond Barack Obama in the controversial use of unilateral executive orders, it moves our community backwards. Unilateral actions have left uncertainty for those affected by them. For permanent reform to become law, both sides will need to compromise. That means working with Republicans who favor work permits and stronger border security. If a president refuses to compromise to get something done, all the promises in the world wont make a difference. I recall another senator who made promises on immigration reform and who was rewarded with an overwhelming majority in the House and Senate, but frittered away the opportunity and put other interest groups first. Promises were made, promises were broken, and Latinos were left disillusioned. Giving lip service to peoples hopes has been a political staple since the beginning of democracy, but making promises you know you cannot deliver on is just cruel. Hillary Clinton isnt the first politician to switch sides when it is politically convenient, and she certainly wont be the last. We should not let ourselves be deceived about her dedication to the interests of Latinos. What counts are the results, and she has delivered few for our community even pulling us further away from the finish line in some cases. To successfully overcome the hard times Latinos are enduring, well need leaders who are with us even when its not politically expedient. Hillary Clintons words may say one thing, but her actions show that shell be with us only when its in her interests. We deserve better. Last night, I attended the commencement ceremonies at Florida International University. There I was with thousands of parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, sisters and brothers all watching a loved one celebrate a milestone. No exchange made me more uncomfortable than that between former Florida Governor Jeb Bush and Donald Trump, which began with Trump getting booed after whining about not getting enough good questions. Bush seized the opportunity and lit into him. Then it got weird. Rick Sanchez FIU happens to be one of the most diverse universities in the United States. It is a place where more than half of the enrollment speaks a second language. And its also a place where immigration is not an angry campaign speech, but rather a way of life more than half of the students are immigrants themselves or children of immigrants. Its also a place that has named one of its most important buildings after President Ronald Reagan. In fact, the Reagan legacy and some would say, Reagan spirit is found all over campus. Was I filled with pride watching my son Robert Francisco Sanchez accept his diploma? Of course I was. But I was also proud and moved by the sense of hope in the air. It was a celebration of light. It was about faith in the future. It was about Americans of many faiths and races and nationalities coming together to share in the promise of America. Because it was uplifting, positive and inspiring, it actually made me feel good after a long work day. And that feeling stayed with me right up until the time I got home, turned on CNN and began watching my recorded version of the Republican Primary debate. It was as if someone had switched off the lights and there I was surrounded now by darkness, not because of the late hour, but rather because of the tone of the debate. Can you say ANGRY? If the GOP hopes to win back the presidency, it must find a way to avoid spectacles like what America witnessed last night. I mean, come on. A couple of polls come out showing Americans are concerned about their security in the wake of the San Bernardino shooting and the candidates go full tilt, sky is falling Chicken Little. Unless you want to be frightened and angry, this gathering of negative Nelsons and Nancys will surely hurt your party in the long run. If there is such a thing as sounding Reaganesque, this wasnt it. Move along folks, no shining city on a hill here. No call to uphold the principals of morality, self discipline and liberty. In fact, it was mostly about this: Isis is coming to kill us all Fear, fear and more fear! Were no good any more. Were nothing but losers. We shouldnt trust anyone. We shouldnt accept anyone. When the candidates werent sounding angry at the world, they started up on each other with catfights between Senator Rand Paul, Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz, which at times made me uncomfortable. But no exchange made me more uncomfortable than that between former Florida Governor Jeb Bush and Donald Trump, which began with Trump getting booed after whining about not getting enough good questions. Bush seized the opportunity and lit into him. Then it got weird. If you think this is tough, imagine what its going to be like dealing with Putin, Bush said almost chuckling. I know, oh yeah, youre a tough guy, Jeb, Trump shot back with rage in his face almost to the point of salivating. It was an ugly scene, highlighting what seemed to me a debate which stoked way too much irrational fear and hate and very little confidence in the future. Pollsters, talking heads and others who are part of the chattering class say thats the mood America is in. Dont tell that to the tens of thousands last night at FIU who missed the debate to attend a commencement, which highlighted confidence and hope in the future. They were in the right place. And as for the debate, they didnt miss much. The December 15 GOP primary debate was certainly an interesting evening. Donald Trump learned what the U.S. nuclear triad means; Ben Carson talked about Putin when he was asked about North Korea; and Jeb Bush had a hard time making it through a sentence without stumbling over his memorized lines. In the aftermath of these and other low-lights, the pundits have piled on to express who they think won the night. Some publications have said Sen. Marco Rubio won. Were we watching the same debate? To my mind, the metric for winning should be accurate statements, and Sen. Rubio said a lot in Las Vegas that is just plain false. Two points are so glaring they need to be called out and clarified. 1: Sen. Cruzs vote for the USA Freedom Act made America less secure. Nonsense. A little background: the Patriot Act, which authorized the federal governments bulk collection of millions of Americans phone metadata, expired on June 1, 2015. It had to be replaced, and it needed an upgrade. On June 2, we passed the USA Freedom Act, which reinstated many of the provisions of the Patriot Act but with two very important improvements. Sen. Cruz explained during the debate: Number one, it ended the federal governments bulk collection of phone metadata of millions of law-abiding citizens. But number two, and the second half of it is critical, it strengthened the tools of national security and law enforcement to go after terrorists. Yet, Sen. Rubio just kept hammering away at his talking pointsuntil Sen. Cruz laid out real facts and figures, at which point the Florida Senator intimated that classified information had been revealed. It hadnt. Rubios knack for spin is a perfect example of how he, and quite a few other establishment candidates on the stage, are content with politics as usual. 2: Sen. Cruz will not rule out a path to legalization for the 11 million illegal residents in the United States. Yes, he does. He said so in the debate, and then the campaigns chair Chad Sweet reiterated it after the debate. Sen. Cruzs 11-page immigration plan describes a thoughtful, strategic, constitutional approach to address Americas significant and crosscutting immigration challengesand nowhere in that plan is there any whisper of amnesty. Unlike Sen. Cruzs direct responses, Sen. Rubio danced around the issue, eventually admitting (in a quiet tone of humility) that he does in fact support legalization for the 11 million people living in the United States illegally. Its the same view that informed his work with the Gang of Eight and New York Democrat Chuck Schumer on crafting the 2013 comprehensive immigration reform bill, which included a version of amnesty. The bill died on the Senate floor because the House, representing the will of the people, wouldnt touch it. Yet, all of a sudden Sen. Rubios external polling numbers are telling him that his position is out-of-touch with conservative voters, and he is now trying to change his story. Too late! A Time for Choosing Every primary and nationwide poll has shown that this is an anti-establishment race. What the nation saw at the December debate was a finer delineation between Sens. Cruz and Rubio, and their remarks exemplify the larger discussion happening across the country. Folks like President Obama, his heir apparent Hillary Clinton, and Sen. Rubio would like to dictate to Congress which laws the federal legislature will make. They also support overreaching domestic surveillance in the name of national security. Some voters seem to like this. Meanwhile, leaders like Sen. Cruz are fighting for a balance between security and civil liberties. Amending the law to reflect the will of the people is a good thing (particularly when the amended law improves security and data gathering, as the USA Freedom Act does). The legal process that has served our nation well for centuries is as much the answer to the security-privacy debate as it is to immigration. Indeed, for Sen. Cruz, granting or not granting amnesty is not the presidents business. Laws are made and changed in Congress. To that point, Sen. Cruzs plan for immigration and border security has one orienting principle (as, indeed, do all his platforms): Follow the law. Section 4, Article 4 of the U.S. Constitution says that the federal government has an obligation to protect any state that requests it. The states along the southern border have been screaming for support for years, and the next president needs to follow the law and give the states the support and resources to which they are entitled in our republic. At the same time, U.S. immigration law is perfectly clear on the standard for legal or illegal residency in the United States. If one is not born in the United States or to American parents, if one does not become naturalized, or if ones visa expires and they remain, the law says they must be deported. It is deeply troubling to hear any politician pander to voters with sentiments that fly in the face of standing U.S. law. Troubling in part because it sends a confusing message to the border and law enforcement officers who swore an oath to uphold all U.S. laws. There is a way to change federal law. The will of the people is represented in Congress, and it is through these representatives that we create the rules that govern our country. Perhaps at some point Congress will change the law but in the meantime, the law is the law. Sen. Cruz is offering real leadership, not because he is telling the people what they want to hear, no matter what the Constitution says, but because he is holding fast to what the Founding Fathers set down, even when it might be unpopular with the voting public. We are sure to see further differences of opinion and policy between Sens. Cruz and Rubio in the months ahead. This is an important time for us as a nation. The decisions we make and votes we cast will impact the nature of our country for generations to come. Will we send another quasi-autocrat to the Oval Office? Or will we follow the Constitution and the law? As President Reagan said, there is a time for choosing. And that time is now. A year after the Obama Administration began its "negotiations" to restore diplomatic and economic relations with Cuba, it is clear Cuba is getting the better of the bargain. Just yesterday, U.S. officials announced an agreement that would allow dozens of direct flights between U.S. cities and Cuba, potentially funneling millions of American tourist dollars into the repressive Marxist state. These are millions of dollars that would otherwise stay in the U.S. or go to other Caribbean nations, many of whom have been loyal American allies. Instead, we plan to inject Cuba with an abundant supply of hard currency, effectively giving a transfusion into the dying economy of a country that has been our enemy for more than half a century. This government fights no war on terrorism. It falls all over itself to release or trade Islamic terrorist detainees from our Guantanamo Bay, Cuba facility, and allows convicted terrorists like Morales and Chesimard to remain in Cuba. Joe Connor In addition to its well documented history of antagonism against the U.S., for decades the murderous Castro regime has provided safe harbor to convicted terrorist bomber William Morales and BLA cop killer Joanne Chesimard and others among the 70 U.S. fugitives currently in Cuba. Morales was the chief bomb-maker and one of the leaders of the clandestine Puerto Rican terrorist group, Armed Forces for National Liberation (FALN), one of the most prolific terrorist organizations ever to wage war against the United States. Between 1974 and 1983, the FALN claimed responsibility for over 130 bombings that killed 6 in the U.S. and Puerto Rico, including the premeditated bombing of New Yorks historic Fraunces Tavern. My 33-year-old father Frank Connor was murdered in cold blood in that calculated, savage attack. Morales most certainly built the sinister device that killed our father the very day our family was set to celebrate my 9th and my brothers 11th birthday. Ironically, on what would have been my dads 37th birthday, July 12, 1978, Morales blew the fingers off of both his hands and part of his face when a bomb he was crafting exploded in his bomb factory in Queens. Morales was captured, tried and convicted in federal and state courts and sentenced in 1979 to up to 99 years in prison but escaped from Bellevue prison hospital with the assistance of white radicals who called themselves the Revolutionary Armed Task Force. During the state trial Morales had boasted, No jail is going to hold me forever. They can put 1,000 of us in jail. They are not going to hold us forever. Thats what I have to say. Through a FALN investigation run by the Chicago Terrorist Task Force, Morales was eventually located in Puebla, Mexico, in 1983. When the Mexican police closed in, he and an accomplice killed a Mexican police officer. Morales was arrested and charged with being an accessory to murder. Despite the Reagan administrations request for extradition, the sympathetic Mexican government sent him to Cuba in 1988. Between 1981 and 1983, 16 core members of the FALN and Los Macheteros, a related group, were arrested, convicted and sentenced to long and well-deserved sentences. Despite my regular communications with the Clinton departments of State and Justice beginning in the early 1990s, demanding the return of Morales, in 1999 President Clinton with the cover of then-Deputy Attorney General Eric Holder, infamously granted clemency to 16 unrepentant FALN and Machetero comrades. Now President Obama and U.S. government officials blather about fighting a war on terror yet they ignore bringing justice to convicted terrorists like Morales and Chesimard. This government fights no war on terrorism. It falls all over itself to release or trade Islamic terrorist detainees from our Guantanamo Bay, Cuba facility, and allows convicted terrorists like Morales and Chesimard to remain in Cuba. Our family is directly affected by both failures as our fathers godson, my cousin, Steve Schlag was murdered on 9/11 as I witnessed the attacks from my nearby office window having just commuted through the World Trade Center. Americans must be aware of what is at stake here. We cannot allow Obama to needlessly give away our safety and prestige, receiving nothing in return. If they are serious about winning a war on terror, I ask President Obama, Cuban-American presidential candidates Cruz and Rubio and the other Democrat and Republican candidates, including Hillary Clinton, to join with me in publicly demanding and securing these fugitives return and imprisonment. Clemency to these fugitives, as was provided to Morales comrades by the Clintons and has been rumored as a possibility, is no option. My fathers life and untimely death in the name of an illegitimate political cause has haunted my family for over 40 years. Now we have the chance to bring justice to one of the conspirators while furthering our war on terrorists. My mother Mary told me last Christmas she always hoped she would live long enough to see Morales brought to justice. This is our chance to grant her that wish. Over the past eight years we have seen Americas standing in the world deteriorate. The Obama administration has refused to name our enemies and backed away from our allies all while threats across the globe multiply. There is no one better equipped to understand the dangers we face, how to repair our world image, and set us on a path to rebuild our military than President-elect Trumps nominee for Secretary of Defense, General James Mattis. General Mattis is respected by Republicans and Democrats alike for his leadership and integrity. In fact, it was a Democratic lawmaker from Massachusetts who recently called him a truly moral leader, and noted that on the eve of the Iraq invasion he reminded troops to engage our brains before our weapons, and treat all noncombatants with decency, chivalry, and compassion. After serving 44 years in the United States Marine Corps and coming up through the ranks, General Mattis knows better than anyone the cost of sending our troops into battle. If you dont believe it, look no further than the heartfelt, hand-written notes he sent to the parents of every soldier, sailor, and Marine who was killed under his command. This is a leader America can trust to ask the tough questions and to make Americas presence felt by both friends and foes. General Mattis is the true warrior monk, a student of history with a personal library of some 7,000 volumes. In partnership with General David Petraeus, General Mattis wrote the book on U.S. counterinsurgency tactics. His formidable talents will bring something to the Pentagon that has been woefully lacking during the last eight years: strategic vision. General Mattis also understands that the military alone cannot keep our nation safe. His longstanding history of championing investments in development and diplomacy earned him the endorsement of the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition (USGLC). The organization noted that General Mattis values the State Department and USAID as essential to promoting Americas interests abroad along with preventing conflict and countering extremism. As the world becomes increasingly unstable, the American people will be fortunate to have Jim Mattis leading the Defense Department. He has the vision and he has the strength. We urge our colleagues to send General Mattis to the Pentagon. Republican Brian Mast represents Florida's 19th District in the U.S. House of Representatives. Republican Mike Gallagher represents Wisconsin's Eighth District in the U.S. House of Representatives; Republican Jim Banks represents Indiana's Third District in the U.S. House of Representatives and Republican Don Bacon represents Nebraska's Second District in the U.S. House of Representatives. Two more weeks until the new administration begins! I wonder if President Donald Trump will stick to his campaign promises -- like reducing immigration and slamming consumers by imposing a 35 percent tariff. Hope not. But it could have been much worse. Bernie Sanders wanted to make college free, even though professors say classes are filled with privileged students who party and just kill time. Both Sanders and Hillary Clinton promised a higher minimum wage and a thousand other new commandments that would do more harm than good. Every Republican candidate vowed to increase defense spending, even though the U.S. is going broke and already spends more than the next seven biggest nations combined, while half the democratic world freeloads off America's armed forces. I'm relieved that many of Trump's promises were vague or contradictory. That allows me to hope that he'll only do things that I like. At this point, I'm in somewhat of an infatuation period, like that afflicting a teenager excited about a new boyfriend or girlfriend. No, I'm not infatuated with Trump. His magical thinking scares me. What gives me optimism are many of Trump's appointments. He's surrounded himself with people who "get it," who understand the harm done by overregulation and the benefits created by economic growth. Larry Kudlow as economic advisor?! Paul Atkins, Andy Puzder and Betsy DeVos in important positions?! Who would have thought that?! Not me. I bet Mitt Romney wouldn't have appointed them. I also celebrate waking up and realizing that our new president-elect is not Hillary Clinton. We don't have to suffer through more years of progressive sanctimony. So what will Donald Trump's presidency bring? Will America be "great again"? Will we "have win after win" until we "get sick and tired of winning"? I doubt it. It would be easier to judge progress had the Libertarian Party candidate won. We could measure whether the party kept its promise to shrink government, cut spending, lower taxes, decrease overseas military commitments, deregulate and butt out of people's private lives. Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson, sounding like the Founders of our nation, often answered reporters' grandiose questions by saying, "I'm not running for king." Unlike Donald Trump, a narcissistic bully who often tells us he's "in charge," Johnson understood that decision-making power is best left in the hands of individual citizens. Libertarians also respect Friedrich Hayek's insight: "The curious task of economics is to demonstrate to men how little they know about what they imagine they can design." Will such modesty carry weight in Trump's administration? I'm still hopeful. So are stock market investors. But none of us knows enough to be sure. I assume 2017 will be about the same as the years before, even with someone as unusual as Trump in the White House. He talks about "draining the swamp," but we've seen how quickly he can pivot back to business as usual. Many Iowa voters love the federal government's ethanol subsidies (even though they're cruel and expensive to most of America), so during Iowa's Republican primary, Trump joined the ethanol-praising club. In fact, he said regulators should force gas stations to increase the ethanol they use. It was a pander to try to take votes from Trump's main Iowa rival, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, who courageously said the ethanol mandate should be phased out. Trump is a businessman, so I assume he knew that the ethanol mandate is a special interest scam. But in Iowa, Trump just said, "Ethanol is terrific." I fear that 2017 will bring us more of the same: politicians doing what they think will make the loudest voters happy. They want us to think we can have it both ways -- that we can reduce deficits while boosting spending on infrastructure and defense and not touching entitlements, etc. That's what Donald Trump has promised. I hope he breaks many of his promises soon. Hear us again for the first time! Effective Conservatism and the Republican Study Committee. The Republican Study Committee (RSC) has been the foundation of conservative policy in Congress for more than four decades. The RSCs dedication to enacting conservative principles in policy should be unwavering and I am honored to follow strong leaders including Vice President-elect Mike Pence, Dr. Tom Price and other previous chairmen. There is overwhelming evidence to support a hopeful and optimistic outlook for the 115th Congress. Through a rare opportunity enabled by unified government we can pursue impactful and effective conservative policy. Congress will repeal ObamaCare, deliver on authentic tax reform, secure our borders, and protect religious liberty. Moreover, conservatives will hold the line against proposals that expand government, limit individual freedom and threaten our national security. The stakes are high and the decisions we make, the policy we create, and the votes we take should lead to better law that positively impacts all communities. Yet, we must also ask the question -- is knowing the right policy alone enough? I believe the day has arrived when preaching to the choir is no longer adequate -- thats the easy road. The worn-out language and rhetoric may be attractive language to our base, but the oft-repeated talking points of individual liberty and personal prosperity falls short in reaching many of our communities. We can do better. For too long some conservatives have stubbornly refused to modify the approach and voice in promoting and advocating a conservative message and agenda. We have invested poorly in community relationships with a blind eye to the suffering thinking that a better program or a pandering policy would be the solution, even as we know that no government program, however well intentioned, can provide for the authentic needs of our neighbors. I am growing more convinced that policy alone is insufficient without the right approach and the right voice. The American people are demanding effective conservatism and I am certain that all three the right policy, the right approach, and the right voice can be accomplished. Hear us again for the first time! Conservatives need to reintroduce our voice, vision, policies, rationale, and principles to all people and communities. Doing this does not require the Republican Party to be a Big Tent party with a purpose only to include more ideas that trample the principles and standards that conservatives adhere to, but this mission is about having an opportunity to better explain why we believe in the things we believe. Through the power of persuasion and winning the debate, conservatives will put points on the board that result in clear wins for the American People. As RSC chairman, my hope is to lay out clear and measurable objectives with contemporary messaging that communicates our principles of opportunity, liberty, and security. I dont assume that were the first to share such a vision but the American People have afforded us this momentum and we must act with urgency not out of political gain or posturing but rather out of the belief that good policy with the right approach can change America for the better. Why is the RSC the key to Effective Conservatism? The RSC consists of conservative members in the House of Representatives. The House of Representatives represents the People, and accountability of Representatives to the American People must be strictly enforced by voters, or the will of the people will be ignored. I believe members of the RSC were elected to represent conservatism. Together, conservatives can make a difference and change the misguided policies and laws that have broken the family, stifled entrepreneurship, and veered away from the Constitution. Liberty. Opportunity. Security. I understand there are huge challenges ahead. Some would question whether it is even possible to be conservative and effective in Congress. But I have confidence and faith in the Republican Study Committee and the men and women who make up the largest caucus in all of Congress. We will work to rediscover the path to Effective Conservatism and the vision of our Founding Fathers. We will listen to the American People and implement their ideas into our solutions. It is not too late to save what has been broken by big government. It is not too late to reestablish a constitutionally limited government that is efficient and productive. It is not too late to be heard again for the first time. The State Department on Tuesday ordered most embassy personnel out of Yemen and urged all U.S. citizens currently in that country to leave over the Al Qaeda threat that triggered the shutdown of 19 American diplomatic posts this week. The U.S. Air Force already has flown State Department personnel out of the capital of Sanaa as part of the broad evacuation effort. According to a senior U.S. official, fewer than 90 embassy personnel were flown out on a military aircraft. "The U.S. Department of Defense continues to have personnel on the ground in Yemen to support the U.S. State Department and monitor the security situation," Pentagon spokesman George Little said. The rapid-fire developments on Tuesday came as two drone strikes killed four suspected Al Qaeda militants in the Yemeni province of Mareb, an Al Qaeda stronghold. The sources said that one strike hit a car with four militants inside, while the other hit a militant hideout. There have been six drone strikes in Yemen in the past six days, Fox News has learned. Daily politics news delivered to your inbox: sign up for our newsletter The Obama administration has offered few specifics on the nature of the threat, but repeatedly has said it appears to originate in -- and possibly be directed toward -- the Arabian Peninsula, which is where Yemen is located and which houses Al Qaeda's most notorious affiliate. The department said in a travel warning that it had ordered the staff departures "due to the continued potential for terrorist attacks" and added that all Americans in Yemen should leave immediately because of an "extremely high" security threat level. "As staff levels at the Embassy are restricted, our ability to assist U.S. citizens in an emergency and provide routine consular services remains limited and may be further constrained by the fluid security situation," the State Department travel warning said in part. Less than two hours after the State Department issued their warning, the British government said it had "temporarily withdrawn" all staff from its embassy in Yemen due to the terror threat. Sources tell Fox News that Al Qaeda could be planning attacks on other foreign offices, infrastructure, and organizations in Yemen in addition to the American embassy. A Yemeni government official had said Monday that the embassy itself was "heavily fortified," adding: "You would need a small army to penetrate the post." In an official statement, the Yemeni government said it was taking "all necessary precautions to secure diplomatic facilities, vital installations and strategic assets." The Associated Press reported that Yemeni officials were also focusing on the strategic Bab al-Mandeb straits at the entrance to the Red Sea as a possible target of an attack. Officials cited intelligence that Al Qaeda could be targeting foreign or Yemeni interests at the vital Red Sea corridor, which is a main thoroughfare for international shipping but also a crossing point of for smuggled weapons and illegal immigrants between east Africa and Yemen. The government of Yemen has released a list of 25 terrorists it deems most likely to carry out "operations" in Saana. At the top of the list is Ibrahim al-Rubaish, a Saudi who is described as a spiritual and strategic leader of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. Al-Rubaish was at one point held at the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, but was released in 2006. The number-two person on the official list is Ibrahim al-Asiri, described as the group's master bomb maker. He has been described as the explosives expert behind the botched Christmas Day 2009 bombing of an airliner bound for Detroit and the explosives-laden parcels intercepted aboard cargo flights a year later. The Yemeni statement said security forces will pay $23,000 to anyone who comes forward with information that leads to the arrests of any of the wanted men. Fox News has also confirmed that a Yemeni intelligence official was fatally shot just south of Saana on Sunday. The official's death is believed to be related to the latest terror scare. On Monday, a U.S. intelligence source told Fox News that the terror threat that led to the closure of nearly two dozen U.S. embassies and consulates resulted from intercepted communications between the head of Al Qaeda and the leader of its Arabian Peninsula affiliate. The confirmation shows just how high the alleged threat goes in the terror network and is the most specific detail to emerge over the nature and origin of the threat. The source said the communications were intercepted between Ayman al-Zawahiri -- who is Usama bin Laden's successor -- and Nasir al-Wuhayshi, head of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. Asked about the claim, officials with the CIA and Office of the Director of National Intelligence would not confirm the details of any such intercepted communications. Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula has been widely considered Al Qaeda's most dangerous affiliate for several years. Earlier Monday, officials with the White House and State Department declined to provide further specifics about the nature of the threat. White House Press Secretary Jay Carney would say only that the threat potentially goes "beyond" the Arabian Peninsula. Some analysts pointed to the lack of specificity in questioning whether the threat was being blown out of proportion. Anthony Shaffer, a former military intelligence officer who now works with the Center for Advanced Defense Studies, said this might just be "Al Qaeda pushing our buttons" to see how the U.S. responds. State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf pushed back when asked at Monday's press briefing about the possibility that the intelligence was a ruse. "Without speaking to the specific stream of reporting, without getting into the intelligence on this threat, our folks that look at these things and analyze them always take a very hard look at them to make sure that they're credible ... to look at them to see if they're ... possibly something to throw us off," Harf said. Fox News' Greg Palkot and Jennifer Griffin and FoxNews.com's Judson Berger and The Associated Press contributed to this report. Republican presidential contender Ted Cruz and fellow Tea Party favorite Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions have sent a sharply worded letter to the Obama administration demanding the release of the immigration history of the husband and wife responsible for the mass shooting in San Bernardino, California. In a joint letter to Secretary of Homeland Security Jay Johnson, Secretary of State John Kerry and Attorney General Loretta Lynch, the two Republican lawmakers said they want "basic information" about San Bernardino shooters Syed Farook and Tashfeen Malik along with 72 other individuals in the United States who have been identified as having a connection to terrorism. "A response is not only long overdue, but urgent in light of a series of assaults, including: the heinous attacks in San Bernardino, California, the earlier attacks on the military recruiting center in Chattanooga, the Boston Bombing, and Congress imminent consideration of government funding legislation that would include funding for myriad immigration programs that have allowed for these events to occur," the letter from the senators stated. Farook was born in Chicago on June 14, 1987 to parents born in Pakistan and was raised in Southern California. He met his wife, Malik, in Pakistan and the two moved back to the U.S., with Malik using a K-1 visa to enter the U.S. The K-1 visa is issued to the fiance or fiancee of a United States citizen to enter the United States. CBS News reported that Malik passed a DHS counterterrorism screening as part of her vetting for K-1 visa. The two were married on Aug. 16, 2014, in Riverside County, according to their marriage license. Both listed their religion as Muslim. The couple had a 6-month-old daughter who they dropped with relatives Wednesday morning before the shooting. "In our struggle against terrorism, we are dealing with an enemy that has shown it is not only capable of bypassing U.S. screening, but of recruiting and radicalizing Muslim migrants after their entry to the United States," Cruz and Sessions wrote in the letter. "The recruitment of terrorists in the U.S. is not limited to adult migrants, but to their young children and to their U.S.-born children which is why family immigration history is necessary to understand the nature of the threat." The FBI was investigating the shootings as a potential act of terrorism but reached no firm conclusions Thursday, said a U.S. official briefed on the probe. Separately, a U.S. intelligence official said Farook had been in contact with known Islamic extremists on social media. Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the investigation publicly. At the same time, law enforcement officials from local police to Attorney General Lynch cautioned it could have been work-related rage, or possibly even a twisted hybrid of religion and personal vendetta. Farook had no criminal record and was not under scrutiny by local or federal law enforcement before the attacks. The letter by Cruz and Sessions came on the heels of comments the Texas senator made during a meeting of the Republican Jewish Coalition, in which Cruz said he's worried that the mass shooting in California may be an act of what he's calling "Islamic terrorism." Cruz told the crowd of Jewish activists gathered in Washington D.C. that "all of us are deeply concerned that this is yet another manifestation of terrorism, radical Islamic terrorism here at home." Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter & Instagram Governors from 19 Western states called Friday for expansion of a program that screens international travelers at airports abroad, in a bid to encourage tourism and stop terrorists before they arrive in the U.S. Montana Gov. Steve Bullock told the Western Governors' Association in Las Vegas that expanding a U.S. government pre-clearance program would serve two purposes. "First, it enhances national security by keeping potential terrorists from even arriving on U.S.," he said. "Second, it encourages tourists to travel to the U.S. by reducing the hassle and wait times at customs checkpoints" when they arrive. Security was a key issue for Bullock, a Democrat, and the Republican governors of Wyoming, Idaho and Nevada during the conference at the Four Seasons resort. But Bullock said the resolution endorsed by governors of 15 of the 19 states, with some ballots still pending, was in the works long before a mass shooting Wednesday in nearby Southern California killed 14 people and wounded 21 at a holiday event at a government office in San Bernardino. The husband-and-wife assailants, who had ties to Pakistan, were killed in a shootout with police. The governors' resolution asks U.S. customs and immigration authorities to put screeners at airports in Belgium, the Dominican Republic, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Turkey and England. It notes that screeners are currently stationed at 15 airports in Ireland, Canada, Aruba, the Bahamas, Bermuda and the United Arab Emirates The governors also approved resolutions calling for federal funding for sustainable forest management in the West, implementation of the 2014 Farm Bill and safe transportation of defense-related radioactive waste. Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead, association chairman, called security the No. 1 priority for governors of every state, not just the 19 members of the association, also including Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Utah and Washington. "You can't think of security of any individual state without thinking of the security of the country as a whole," Mead said, adding that he expected the larger and separate National Governors Association might address the issue. Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval offered prayers and condolences to people affected by the shooting and pointed to preparations being made for New Year's Eve events including fireworks expected to draw up to 350,000 people to the Las Vegas Strip. Sandoval said 1,500 law enforcement officials and the National Guard will be involved. "We have to be extremely vigilant how we protect our visitors (and) how we protect our residents," he said. U.S. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell focused during a keynote speech on issues including drought, wildfires, species protection and abandoned mines. She urged states to continue working with federal officials to address them. Jewell said adopting rules this year to protect habitat for the greater sage grouse in 11 Western states, rather than declare the chicken-sized bird an endangered species, was one example of cooperation. The nation's top land manager acknowledged the breadth of the regulations created lots of work for lawyers. "But I will say that it's way better than a listing," she said. "It provides certainty to developers ... states ... and the conservation community as well." Jewell and Sandoval met separately and reached agreement to use new maps of sage grouse habitat in Nevada to correct inaccuracies that showed the birds living near urban areas in Reno and Sparks stopping plans for a badly needed school and a veterans' cemetery. The budget-busting cost of fighting wildfires was another burning issue during the twice-yearly governors' meeting. Robert Bonnie, a U.S. Department of Agriculture undersecretary, said the cost of fighting wildfires has exploded from about 16 percent of the U.S. Forest Service budget in the mid-1990s to more than half the agency budget in recent drought-stricken years. Fires this year in Washington state and California were among the worst on record, and Idaho Gov. Butch Otter noted that the so-called Soda Fire in the southwest of his state burned nearly 450 square miles. States are calling for the federal government to classify severe wildfires as natural disasters for funding purposes. Bonnie said the problem is that the Forest Service spent $3 billion of its $5 billion budget fighting fires that charred nearly 10 million acres in 2015, leaving few resources for needed forest management, research and recreation programs. Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter & Instagram Univision struck back Friday at Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump's $500 million lawsuit claiming that it unjustly broke a contract to broadcast beauty pageants, citing his "disgraceful allegations" about Mexican immigrants. Univision lawyers filed papers in Manhattan federal court asking a judge to toss out the lawsuit Trump filed in July. The lawyers said Trump destroyed the value of Univision's rights to broadcast the Miss USA and Miss Universe pageants when he announced June 16 that he was running for president. "Trump offended millions during that announcement when he made disgraceful allegations about Mexican immigrants, whom, he claims, 'Mexico sends' across the border to America," the lawyers wrote. They said his remarks "outraged Mexican Americans, Mexican immigrants, Hispanics, and other Americans of all backgrounds," prompting at least 20 companies and the city of New York to terminate business relationships with Trump and his brand in the weeks after the announcement. Trump's lawsuit claimed breach of contract, defamation and First Amendment violations. Matthew Maron, an attorney for Trump, said Univision's attempt to dismiss the suit is "laughable." "Univision can try to distract the court and the public from the real issues in dispute all it wants. The fact remains that Univision willfully breached their contract, acted in bad faith and caused my clients to suffer significant damages," Maron said. "For this, Univision will pay in the end." Univision lawyers noted that the network was the leading media company serving Hispanic America when Trump delivered "extreme and controversial opinions on race and national origin." "Through his diatribe, Trump destroyed the value of those broadcast rights, and neither Trump nor Miss Universe did anything to repair the damage in the aftermath of his speech," Univision's lawyers said in a document signed by attorney Randy M. Mastro. In January, Univision signed a five-year license agreement for the exclusive right to air the Miss USA and Miss Universe pageants in Spanish in the United States. Univision's lawyers said Trump worsened the damage caused by his initial remarks about Hispanics by saying in the days afterward that his statements were "totally accurate." Univision announced on June 25 that it was ending its business relationship with the pageants. "By the end of June, it was clear that Trump's anti-Mexican and anti-immigrant views would be a focal point of his campaign and that the damage done to Univision's programming deal was irrevocable," the lawyers wrote. "Trump shocked the nation's conscience by accusing almost every Mexican immigrant (and many Univision viewers) of being criminals and rapists then promising to become president of the United States on the strength of that indictment." Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter & Instagram On Capitol Hill, it's the establishment's turn. After months where tea party lawmakers provoked crisis and unrest in Congress, even driving out a speaker, GOP leaders have turned to the business of governing, pushing forward a series of bills destined to get the president's signature. Major highway legislation and a sweeping federal education rewrite passed the House this past week despite conservatives' objections and are expected to become law. A massive spending bill for every federal agency is in the works, as is legislation to extend dozens of tax breaks worth hundreds of billions of dollars. Negotiations on the spending bill could melt down before Friday's deadline as conservatives push for language barring Syrian refugees and cutting money for Planned Parenthood. Yet after months of turmoil in the Capitol, where conservatives began the spring by provoking a near-shutdown of the Homeland Security Department and ended September by ousting Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, lawmakers are marveling that they suddenly seem to be getting things done. "It has been pleasant to serve here for the last few weeks, which was not always the case earlier in this Congress," said Rep. Carlos Curbelo of Florida, an establishment-aligned Republican. "Don't want to get too optimistic yet, but it's certainly been a positive change." The change comes about partly because of timing. The trauma of September and October gave way to the traditional end-of-year legislative rush, when partisan battling turns to compromise as deadlines for must-pass spending bills and other legislation come due. In the House, Boehner's sudden departure was followed by a month of chaos as lawmakers searched for a successor. New Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., was sworn in at the end of October, and has gotten high marks for making good on his promises of opening up decision-making in the House and keeping the conservatives who battled Boehner in the fold. Other Republicans were simply tired of agreeing to the demands of a small group of tea party lawmakers who derived their power from their ability to sink legislation on the floor. The best example is the federal Export-Import Bank, which advanced through the House in October despite opposition from GOP leaders pressured by the tea party. Business-friendly Republicans banded together on an obscure parliamentary maneuver that forced a floor vote. Despite personally opposing the measure, Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., acceded to including it in the final version of the highway bill, which President Barack Obama signed on Friday. Even as conservatives find themselves on the losing end of legislative fights, their thirst for rebellion seems to have slaked and they do not seem inclined to turn on Ryan, at least not yet. "We all realized from the outset that we weren't going to win every fight, we conservatives, but that we'd get a shot," said Rep. Matt Salmon, R-Ariz., a leading member of the hard-line Freedom Caucus. Describing Ryan, Salmon added: "True to his word he's been doing exactly what he said he'd do and that's kind of refreshing." Some of the bills Ryan is now shepherding were developed under Boehner. The now-retired Boehner had pledged to "clean out the barn" and he signed off on a major two-year budget and debt deal. That forestalled the possibility of a default and set top-line spending levels, easing work on the current spending bill. Other legislation, including the highway and education bills, was largely the work of the Senate. For Ryan and the House, the true test may not come until next year, when conservatives say the new speaker no longer will get a pass. Ryan has said he intends to set a bold election-year agenda designed to show a clear contrast with Democrats. His own lawmakers will be watching to make sure he holds true to his pledges of empowering committee chairmen and individual lawmakers and hewing to "regular order" whereby legislation advances through committees, rather than getting dropped onto the floor by leadership with little debate. For now, many GOP lawmakers are feeling cautiously optimistic. At the same time, burned by long experience with the House GOP's ability to self-destruct, most are far from declaring victory until they can see the results of upcoming negotiations on the "omnibus" spending bill that must pass by Friday or risk a partial government shutdown. "Ask me after the omnibus how things are going," said Rep. Charlie Dent, R-Pa. Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter & Instagram Donald Trump may be able to joke about himself, but that doesnt mean he takes things lightly. Especially not when they involve full-page ads in the Miami Herald and newspapers in early battleground states comparing him to some of the greatest despots of the 20th century. Mike B. Fernandez, a South Florida billionaire who is the chairman of a Coral Gables private-equity firm, ran a full-page ad in the Herald on Sunday denouncing the forked-tongue hatefulness of the narcissistic bully-ionaire. History reminds us that when governments promise enticing favors and fail to deliver, the people lose confidence. They become scared and seek out strong and frequently despotic leaders Look at Hitler in Germany, Mussolini in Italy and [Juan] Peron in Argentina. When people lose hope, they are susceptible to those who offer to think for them. Topped by pictures drawing a (negative) comparison between Trump and Abraham Lincoln, Fernandez describes himself in the ad as a Republican, a reasonable conservative and an immigrant his family moved to the U.S. from Cuba in 1964. When the Trump campaign first got wind of the ad, the real estate tycoons attorney Alan Garten sent a letter to Fernandez's firm, MBF Healthcare Partners, on Friday. It read, It has come to my attention that you plan on producing and disseminating certain radio, television and newspaper advertisements directly and personally attacking my client. Though we believe your decision is fool hearted [sic], please be advised that in the event your ads contain any false or defamatory statements against Trump, we will not hesitate to seek immediate legal action to prevent such distribution and hold you jointly and severally liable to the fullest extent of the law. It concludes, And will look forward to doing it. Please be guided accordingly. Fernandez is a longtime supporter of former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, one of Trumps rivals for the GOP nomination, and he is the biggest donor to the Right to Rise PAC, but neither the candidate nor the PAC supporting his candidacy were involved in the newspaper ad. Fernandez said he plans to run the ad again next Sunday in newspapers in Des Moines, Iowa, and Las Vegas, Nevada, both early-battleground states. The next Republican debate takes place in Vegas on Dec. 16. The reality TV star and magnate hasn't been shy about threatening lawsuits. In June, his immigration comments sparked a number of companies to cut business ties with him and properties of his such as the Miss Universe pageant (which has since been sold). He threatened breach-of-contract suits with Univision and others. On the political arena, he has warned the conservative Club for Growth and the PAC backing Ohio Gov. John Kasich about possible legal action over ads attacking him. In a previous article in the Miami Herald, Fernandez explained that he is unhappy about the candidates anti-immigration rhetoric. You have no idea how furious I am with my friends in the Republican Party who have embraced this guy, Fernandez told the Herald. If I have a choice and you can put it in bold if I have a choice between Trump and Hillary Clinton, Im choosing Hillary Shes the lesser of two evils. In a 2014 interview, Fernandez spoke to Fox News Latino with pride about his family history and their success in the United States. We came from very humble beginnings. My father was a sandwich maker. But his ambitions and perseverance seem anything but humble. He has spent more than a year trying to build the tallest flagpole in North America in downtown Miami. And he has a propensity for full-page newspaper ads. In 2014, he bought another ad in the Miami Herald to celebrate Americas relationship to Israel. The person who first gave me a job was Jewish, he told FNL at the time. My father, my motherwe all got a lot of opportunities here from Jews. I am very grateful for that. Fernandez was a finance co-chairman for Gov. Rick Scotts re-election campaign, but he resigned that position after an associate told him he overheard Scott staffers making disparaging comments about Mexicans. According to the Miami Herald, Trump's lawyer also sent the letter to James P. Robinson, the treasurer for the Right to Rise leadership PAC, a separate but affiliated group from Right to Rise USA, the super PAC that has raised more than $100 million to bolster Bushs candidacy. As the Herald pointed out, its unclear why Robinson or anyone from Right to Rise was addressed, given that Fernandez purchased the ads on his own. This lawsuit appears to validate Mr. Fernandezs accurate claims that Donald Trump lacks the temperament to be president of the United States, Paul Lindsay, spokesman for Right to Rise USA told the newspaper. It follows the pattern throughout Donalds career of using bullying tactics and the legal system to make up for his deep-seated insecurities and repeated business failures. On ABC News This Week, George Stephanopoulos asked Bush about the ad. While the candidate conceded that the comparison between Trump and Hitler, Mussolini and Peron was inappropriate, he didnt entirely denounce Fernandezs effort. I think that people are going to see that Donald Trump is not a serious candidate, that his message of division is not what we need, Bush said. Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter & Instagram In a rare Oval Office address, President Barack Obama vowed Sunday night the U.S. will overcome a new phase of the terror threat that seeks to "poison the minds" of people here and around the world, as he sought to reassure Americans shaken by recent attacks in Paris and California. "I know that after so much war, many Americans are asking whether we are confronted by a cancer that has no immediate cure," he said, speaking from a lectern in his West Wing office. "The threat from terrorism is real, but we will overcome it," he declared. But two Republican presidential candidates who want to replace President Barack Obama in the White House were not impressed with his Oval Office speech on the terrorist threat. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., in fact, dismissed Obama's remarks as "silliness." The president's speech followed Wednesday's shooting in San Bernardino, California, that killed 14 people and wounded 21. Authorities say a couple carried out the attack and the wife pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group and its leader in a Facebook post. Obama said that while there was no evidence the shooters were directed by a terror network overseas or part of a broader plot, "the two of them had gone down the dark path of radicalization." "This was an act of terrorism designed to kill innocent people," he said in the 13-minute address. In speaking from the Oval Office, Obama turned to a tool of the presidency that he has used infrequently. His decision to speak in prime time reflected the White House's concern that his message on the recent attacks hasn't broken through, particularly in the midst of a heated presidential campaign. Yet Obama's speech was likely to leave his critics unsatisfied. He announced no significant shift in U.S. strategy and offered no new policy prescriptions for defeating IS, underscoring both his confidence in his current approach and the lack of easy options for countering the extremist group. "Nothing that happened in the speech tonight is going to assuage people's fears," Rubio, a Republican presidential candidate, said on Fox News. Rubio said people are growing scared because "we have a president who is completely overwhelmed" by the terrorist threat. He said on Fox News that he heard nothing new in the president's speech except a call for gun control, which would make no difference. And he said the president may have made things worse, rather than making things better. He said the Islamic State group is rapidly expanding its influence around the world. "I think not only did the president not make things better tonight, I fear he may have made things worse in the minds of many Americans," Rubio said. "This is not a time for ideological silliness, this is a time for serious action because the future security of our country is at stake." Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, a rival for the GOP nomination, said, "Obama has finally been forced to abandon the political fantasy he has perpetuated for years that the threat of terrorism was receding." Bush said it's time to remove the constraints from the military and intelligence operations and "put in place an aggressive strategy to defeat ISIS and radical Islamic terrorism as I have proposed." Obama did call for cooperation between private companies and law enforcement to ensure potential attackers can't use technology to evade detection. He also urged Congress to pass new force authorization for military actions underway against IS in Iraq and Syria, and also to approve legislation to bar guns from being sold to people on a no-fly list. And he implored Americans to not turn against Muslims at home, saying the Islamic State is driven by a desire to spark a war between the West and Islam. Still, he called on Muslims in the U.S. and around the world to take up the cause of fighting extremism. The spread of radical Islam into American communities, he said, is "a real problem that Muslims must confront without excuse." The president's most specific policy announcement was to order the departments of State and Homeland Security to review the fiance visa program that the female shooter in California used to enter the U.S. In his remarks, Obama referred to a visa waiver program that Congress is also reviewing, but the White House later clarified he meant the fiance program He also reiterated his call for broader gun control legislation, saying no matter how effective law enforcement and intelligence agencies are, they can't identify every would-be shooter. He called it a matter of national security to prevent potential killers from getting guns. "What we can do, and must do, is make it harder for them to kill," he said. Obama stands little chance of getting the Republican-led Congress to agree to any gun control measures. On Thursday, the Senate rejected legislation barring people the government suspects of acts of terror from purchasing firearms. Gun rights advocates say such a ban would violate the rights of people who haven't been convicted of crimes. Congress also has been unable to coalesce behind any plan to authorize more force against IS, and the administration's proposal has languished since February. Obama repeated his long-standing opposition to an American-led ground war in the Middle East and made no mention of the more aggressive action others have suggested, including a enforcing a no-fly zone and safe corridors in Syria. "Our success won't depend on tough talk, or abandoning our values or giving in to fear," he said. "Instead, we will prevail by being strong and smart, resilient and relentless." After the speech, the president appeared as previously scheduled at the Kennedy Center Honors tribute in Washington. The president's critics and increasingly, some members of his own party have questioned his strategy. Hours before he spoke, Hillary Clinton his former secretary of state and the front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination said the U.S. is "not winning" the fight against IS. Obama has insisted that the Islamic State is contained in Iraq and Syria. However, the group has set its sights elsewhere in the world, launching attacks in Lebanon and Turkey and downing a Russia airliner over Egypt. The Nov. 13 attacks in Paris marked the group's most aggressive actions in Europe, a coordinated effort that left 130 people dead and wounded hundreds more. Last week, the terror threat drew even closer for Americans when a couple a 29-year-old woman originally from Pakistan and her 28-year-old American-born husband launched an attack on a holiday luncheon in San Bernardino. The FBI is investigating the massacre as an act of terror that, if proved, would be the deadliest by Islamic extremists on American soil since Sept. 11, 2001. The woman pledged allegiance to IS and its leader in a Facebook post, according to U.S. official who was not authorized to discuss the case publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. A Facebook official said the post came about the time the couple stormed the San Bernardino social service center. Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter & Instagram Elected officials from both sides of the political aisle welcomed the outcome of Sundays legislative election in Venezuela and congratulated the people of the country for making their voices heard in a peaceful manner. Florida Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen said she kept a close eye on Sundays developments. Throughout the day, the Cuban-American lawmaker monitored the reports of voting irregularities, such as pressuring and intimidating voters, but at the end of the day her concerns were wiped out by the unprecedented outcome. In spite of many challenges, the Venezuelan opposition has been able to gain control of the National Assembly," Ros-Lehtinen said Monday in a statement. In stunning fashion, Venezuelas ruling party lost its hold of the National Assembly for the first time in over a decade -- the opposition coalition secured at least 99 seats in the 167-seat legislature, while the ruling socialist party won 46 seats. Presidential candidate Marco Rubio trumpeted the results and said the Venezuelan people rejected the Maduro regime and all the misery it has brought to Venezuela.He said Venezuela should act quickly and release all of its political prisoners who have been punished with jail time for speaking their mind. "Acknowledging the will of the Venezuelan people by releasing all political prisoners, including Leopoldo Lopez, Caracas Mayor Antonio Ledezma and San Cristobal Mayor Daniel Ceballos, would be a positive start and should happen immediately," Rubio said. Sen. Bob Menendez, also of Cuban descent, said in a statement to Fox News Latino that the Venezuelan people displayed a forceful showing of unity. "No one should be surprised that 17 years of Chavismo have led to democratic deterioration, economic ruin, rampant criminality and to an increasingly dangerous political polarization," he said. "But Venezuelans took a momentous first step this weekend in correcting course and bringing their country back from the brink of being a failed state by exercising their most fundamental democratic right." Menendez added: "(President Nicolas) Maduros term may not be up yet, but this election was a resounding demonstration of his complete failure." Secretary of State John Kerry also issued a statement lauding the democratic process. Venezuelan voters expressed their overwhelming desire for a change in the direction of their country, it read. Dialogue among all parties in Venezuela is necessary to address the social and economic challenges facing the country, and the United States stands ready to support such a dialogue together with others in the international community. While celebrating the historic win, Ros-Lehtinen cautioned that the Obama administration should not see the results as an excuse to further delay any pressure on Maduros presidency. She called for the U.S. to denounce the abuses and tensions leading up to the elections and to impose sanctions against those responsible for the voting irregularities that took place. The continued assaults on democracy by the Maduro regime, such as the sentencing of Leopoldo (Lopez) and the assassination of Luis Manuel Diaz during the campaign, must be a catalyst to impose further sanctions on the regime officials who perpetrate these human rights abuses, she said in her statement. Menendez echoed Ros-Lehtinen's call, saying that it is now time for the "international community to maintain pressure on Maduro." "(It is the time) to speak in unison about consequences to any deviation from an orderly transition of power, and to stand ready to assist as new leadership plots a new course forward for the Venezuelan people," he said. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter & Instagram Driven by the Paris terror attacks, the House voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to tighten controls on travel to the U.S. and require visas for anyone who's been in Iraq or Syria in the previous five years. The legislation takes aim at the "visa waiver" program that allows citizens of 38 countries to travel to the U.S. for stays of 90 days and less without first obtaining a visa from an embassy or consulate. Belgium and France, home to most of the perpetrators of last month's Paris attacks, are among the participating countries. The bill, which passed 407-19, would institute a series of changes, including the new visa requirement for citizens of Iraq, Syria and any other country deemed a terrorist hotspot, along with anyone who's traveled to those countries in the previous five years. Exceptions are made for official government visits and military service. Countries in the visa waiver program would also be required to share counterterror information with the U.S. or face expulsion from the program. All travelers would be checked against Interpol databases, and visa waiver countries would be required to issue "e-passports" with biometric information. "You have more than 5,000 individuals that have Western passports in this program that have gone to Iraq or Syria in the last five years," said Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy. "Those are gaps that we need to fix." Some 20 million visitors come to the U.S. annually under the visa waiver program. They already are screened through an online system maintained by the Department of Homeland Security, and the White House has recently announced a series of improvements to that and other aspects of the program. But in past years, the program has been used by would-be terrorists, including "shoe bomber" Richard Reid, who boarded a flight from Paris to Miami in December 2001 without a visa and attempted to set off a bomb. Zacarias Moussaoui, the "20th hijacker" from 9/11, also flew from London to Chicago with a French passport and no visa in February 2001, according to a Homeland Security Inspector General report from 2004. Lawmakers of both parties spoke in favor of the legislation, which is also backed by the White House. It's a rare area of bipartisan agreement after the Obama administration's fury when the House passed legislation last month cracking down on the Syrian refugee program in the immediate aftermath of the Paris attacks. The Syrian refugee bill, which the administration said was unnecessary because the small number of Syrian refugees are already extensively screened, has not gone anywhere in the Senate and looks unlikely to advance. The visa waivers bill, on the other hand, may be added to a must-pass year-end spending bill now being finalized on Capitol Hill. There is a different version in the Senate by Democrat Dianne Feinstein of California and Republican Jeff Flake of Arizona. The travel industry, which backs the House bill as a balanced approach, says the Senate bill goes too far in adding new biometric requirements for all visa waiver travelers that might be difficult to enact. Separately, some lawmakers are also talking about looking at the fiance visa program that allowed Tashfeen Malik, the shooter in the recent attacks in San Bernardino, California, into the country. The Homeland Security Department has already announced a review of that program. A handful of Democratic lawmakers spoke against the visa waiver legislation before its passage. Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., said the bill is overbroad in stripping visa waiver privileges from all Syrian and Iraqi nationals and said it should include more exceptions for more people, such as journalists and researchers. "Our focus should be on terrorism, not just country or origin," Ellison said. But most Democrats joined Republicans in enthusiastically embracing the bill. "This is a good bill, it's one that's time has come," said Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, top Democrat on the House Committee on Homeland Security. Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter & Instagram New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez says President Barack Obama's call for stricter gun control only "politicizes tragedy" after the San Bernardino, California, shooting. The Republican and nation's only Latina governor said Monday in Albuquerque that Obama's call to ban those on the federal "no-fly" list from purchasing firearms would have done nothing to stop the shooting. She says such gun control measures would only take firearms from Americans. Martinez says some Americans also appear in the federal "no-fly" list by mistake. Martinez, a rising star in the GOP and a gun owner, says Obama's address to the nation on Sunday night gave "no solutions, nothing new whatsoever" to fighting terrorism. The president's speech followed Wednesday's shooting in San Bernardino, California, that killed 14 people and wounded 21. Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter & Instagram The response from his fellow 2016 presidential hopefuls to Donald Trumps call for a "total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States" was swift and condemning assailing the real estate moguls rhetoric as everything from divisive to unhinged. Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, whose recent surge in the polls has made him a frequent target of Trumps attacks, said he disagreed with Trumps comments. His habit of making offensive and outlandish statements will not bring Americans together, Rubio tweeted on Monday night. Trumps proposed ban would apply to immigrants and visitors alike, a sweeping prohibition affecting all adherents of Islam who want to come to the U.S. The idea faced an immediate challenge to its legality and feasibility from experts who could point to no formal exclusion of immigrants based on religion in America's history. Trump's campaign said in a statement such a ban should stand "until our country's representatives can figure out what is going on." It said the proposal comes in response to a level of hatred among "large segments of the Muslim population" toward Americans. "Until we are able to determine and understand this problem and the dangerous threat it poses, our country cannot be the victims of horrendous attacks by people that believe only in jihad, and have no sense of reason or respect for human life," Trump said in the statement. At an evening rally in South Carolina, Trump supporters cheered and shouted in support as he read his statement. Trump warned during his speech that without drastic action, the threat of attacks is "going to get worse and worse." "As he says, we have to find out who they are and why they are here," Rod Weader, a 68-year-old real estate agent from North Charleston who attended the rally and said he agreed with Trump's plan "150 percent." ''Like he said, they are going to kill us and we've got to stop it." While many of Trumps supporters voiced their support of the moguls call for a shutdown, even some of the most hardline conservative presidential candidates tried to distance themselves from the comments. "Well, that is not my policy, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz said. I've introduced legislation in the Senate that would put in place a three-year moratorium on refugees coming from countries where ISIS or al-Qaida control a substantial amount of territory. And the reason is that's where the threat is coming from." New Jersey Gov. Chris Christies comments were more forceful and direct. There are folks in this race who don't care about what the law says because they're used to being able to just fire people indiscriminately on television. So, they don't have to worry about what laws say or not say." Trumps campaign did not immediately respond to questions about whether it would also include Muslims who are U.S. citizens and travel outside of the country, including members of the military, or how a determination of someone's religion might be made by customs and border officials. Instead, Trump said via a campaign spokeswoman: "Because I am so politically correct, I would never be the one to say. You figure it out!" There are more than 5,800 servicemen and women on active U.S. military duty and in the reserves who self-identify as Muslim and could be assigned to serve overseas. Trump said in an interview Monday night on Fox News, "They'll come home." He added, "This does not apply to people living in the country, except that we have to vigilant." It was also unclear whether Trump's ban would apply to Muslim allies in the fight against Islamic State militants. Ari Fleischer, a former aide to Republican President George W. Bush, tweeted, "Under Trump, the King Abdullah of Jordan, who is fighting ISIS, won't be allowed in the US to talk about how to fight ISIS." Bushs vice president, Dick Cheney, who has shied away from the spotlight since leaving office, even weighed on Trumpss comments. I think this whole notion that we can just say no more Muslims, and just ban a whole religion goes against everything we stand for and believe in, Cheney said. Religious freedom has been a very important part of our history and where we came from. ... It's a mistaken notion. Democratic frontrunner Hillary Rodham Clinton also weighed in on Trumps comments, calling them reprehensible, prejudiced and divisive, while Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders said [w]e are a weak nation when we allow racism and xenophobia to divide us." The Associated Press contributed to this report. Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter & Instagram One person, one vote. What exactly does that mean? That is the question before the U.S. Supreme Court as it ponders whether states must count all residents, or only eligible voters, in drawing electoral districts. The justices on Tuesday displayed little of the aggressiveness that often marks Supreme Court arguments as they heard a case about the meaning of the principle of "one person, one vote." The court established 50 years ago that districts must be roughly equal in population. Two Texas voters are asking the court to prohibit states from basing electoral maps on total population, instead of the number of eligible voters. They argue that including children and people who are not citizens inflates the voting power of urban residents and dilutes the votes of rural residents. Civil rights groups say such a change would damage Latino political influence. Texas picked up four congressional seats after the 2010 census, mainly because of the growth in its Hispanic population. If the challengers prevail, many of those new Texans would not be counted in drawing legislative district lines because they are too young to vote, not citizens or otherwise prohibited from voting. Justice Anthony Kennedy at one point wondered whether states could produce districts that were roughly equal in terms of overall population and eligible voters. "Why is one option exclusive of the other? Why can't they have both?" Kennedy asked. Texas Solicitor General Scott Keller said such an outcome could only be achieved at the expense of other traditional requirements about redistricting, including relatively compact districts that don't split counties. Kennedy sounded persuaded. "That sounds highly probable," he said. Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito appeared most open to the challengers' argument, but another usually reliable conservative voice was silent. Justice Antonin Scalia did not comment at all during the hour-long session. "It is called ... one person, one vote. That seems to be designed to protect voters," Roberts said. The court's liberal justices seemed more clearly disposed to upholding the districting plan for the Texas Senate that is being reviewed. Questioning William Consovoy, the Texas voters' lawyer, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg noted that a decision in his favor would mean that women in America should have been excluded from redistricting decisions before they won the right to vote. Ginsburg also pointed to a half-century tradition of states using total population. "Now you're saying they can't do it anymore," Ginsburg said. Consovoy responded that if "tradition were the rule," the court's landmark "one person, one vote" cases would have come out the other way. His clients, Texas residents Sue Evenwel and Edward Pfenninger, live in mainly rural districts outside Houston. Their districts have at least 170,000 more eligible voters than a downtown Houston district with equal population. If the court upholds the Texas districts as drawn, it could say that the use of total population does not violate the Constitution. Or it could rule that states may choose which method to use. Justice Department official Ian Gerhsengorn argued Tuesday that the once-a-decade census that produces the total population count is the only reliable population data. Keller, representing Texas, urged the justices to allow states to choose. A decision in Evenwel v. Abbott, 14-940, is expected by late June. Based on reporting by the Associated Press. Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter & Instagram Sen. Ted Cruz, the Texas tea party firebrand whose status in polls, particularly in Iowa, has been rising as national security becomes a greater concern for U.S. voters, seized the top slot in a new poll of likely GOP caucusgoers in the Hawkeye State. In the poll, by Monmouth University, Cruz was the favorite of 24 percent of respondents, a 14-point jump over the last poll the college released, in October, that had the senator at 10 percent. That had him in third place, tied with Sen. Marco Rubio, of Florida, and behind retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, who was in first place, and real estate mogul Donald Trump, who was in the second spot. Rubio himself saw an impressive gain. He got 17 percent in the new poll, placing him in second place, a statistical tie with Trump, who got 19 percent. Carsons support plunged to 13 percent from the 32 percent he had in October. But several presidential candidates are showing concern about Cruzs growing momentum, and are focusing attack ads on him. It is the first time Cruz has seized the top spot in a critical poll. Rubio began directly criticizing Cruz in the last few weeks, and Hillary Clintons campaign began zeroing in on the senator in earnest this week, picking apart Cruzs use of a congressional hearing to tear down climate change theories. The Clinton campaign is now operating on the idea that her biggest threats in the election at this point are Cruz, Rubio and Trump. The Cruz scenario depicted by the Clinton campaign, Politico reported, is that he would excite the conservative Christian base and add to that group of supporters people who now are behind Trump but for one reason or another would not remain loyal to him. Political experts have attributed the shift in poll results on GOP candidates in large part to the terrorist attacks in Paris, and how they have made tough talk on foreign policy and fighting the Islamic State highly appealing to would-be voters. Trump has remained strong in polls even as he has made controversial calls for keeping Muslims from entering the United States, as well as uttered other comments that have been condemned by his own party, including those running against him for the GOP presidential nomination. Cruz has not gone as far as Trump in his comments on how to respond to the growing boldness and savagery of ISIS, but he has taken a tough stance on how to address terrorism. What we need is a commander in chief who stands up and, number one, doesnt engage in politically correct doublespeak and doesnt refuse to say the words radical Islamic terrorism as Obama and Hillary and all the Democrats do, Cruz said in an interview with conservative radio show host Mike Gallagher on Monday. Number two, [we need someone] who says we will defeat ISIS, were going to carpet bomb them in oblivion, were going to arm the Kurds, were going to go and find them and hunt them down and kill them. Cruz also got a boost among Iowans from their congressman, Steve King, a deeply conservative Republican who often makes headlines with his strict views on undocumented immigrants and support for tightened border enforcement. This marks the first time Ted Cruz has held a lead in any of the crucial early states. As Ben Carsons stock has fallen, Cruz has been able to corral most of those voters, said Patrick Murray, director of the independent Monmouth University Polling Institute in West Long Branch, NJ. Congressman Kings endorsement may not be the primary reason for this swing, but it certainly put a stamp on the Cruz surge in Iowa. In an interview with Fox News Latino last week, King said that many Iowans have told him that they decided to support Cruz after learning of his endorsement of the senator. King said some voters told him they had even switched their choice to Cruz because of his support for the Texan. If some are scratching their heads over Cruzs success in the new Iowa poll, Clinton friend and operative James Carville is not. He has placed a bet on Cruz on the website PredictIt.com, according to Politico. Ive been on Cruz since Day One, Politico quoted Carville as saying, adding that the diehard Democrats wife, Republican strategist Mary Matalin, hosted a fundraiser for Cruz about a year ago at their home. I saw the people that were there, people Id never seen before ... I was fascinated. I saw that these were not typical political people. Hes smart, he has a message and hes positioned himself just right in this race. For his part, King says he hopes that his favorite presidential candidate in this election cycle can sustain his momentum. King said to Fox News Latino that polls can be roller coasters, and that many people dont even begin to tune in to the details of a presidential race until after the beginning of the year. Statistically, in Iowa, hes moved to the front of this race, King said of Cruz. His biggest challenge is to maintain the momentum for the next two months. Its a hard place to be at the top. Strategically, I would have advised Lets not get there right away, so soon, lets wait until Christmas. But he believes that Cruz can energize the conservative and evangelical base, and get those voters to turn out at the Iowa caucus as well as the general election. Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter & Instagram The female in a terrorist duo that killed 14 people in San Bernardino, Calif. on Dec. 2 came to the United States in a seemingly unconventional way, at least for those seeking to do harm to Americans. Tashfeen Malik, who with her husband Syek Farook slaughtered people gathered for a holiday party at the Inland Regional Center, arrived in the United States last year on a K-1 visa, also known as a fiance visa. Farook was an employee of the Department of Public Health, the division that was having the holiday gathering. After being at the gathering and leaving abruptly, he returned with Malik, both of them heavily armed, and opened fire being killed hours later near their home by police. While news that Malik, a Pakistani national, gained entry to the United States after being petitioned for a K-1 visa by Farook, who was a naturalized citizen, experts say that it is not a visa rife with exploitable loopholes. Still, many are starting the question the program and whether it needs to be reevaluated. Experts say that it is one of the more difficult visas to obtain, as U.S. authorities screen the couple for authenticity of their relationship, proof that they will be getting married, and for any information such as past criminal activity and ties to terrorism that would make them ineligible. "It's a very detailed petition," said California immigration attorney Roman P. Mosqueda to the Los Angeles Times. "If you're getting married in a church, you have to show proof of getting a church date for the wedding, a date for the restaurant for the reception.... It's very strict." House lawmakers passed legislation Tuesday tightening controls on visa-free travel and requiring visas for anyone who has been in Iraq or Syria in the previous five years. Some lawmakers said they also planned to re-examine the visa used by Malik. Immigration officials take roughly five months to review an application for a K-1 visa, which then is taken up by the U.S. State Department, whose part of the processing of the petition includes police checks, an interview with the fiancee, and a medical exam. The couple must marry within 90 days of the fiancee arriving in the United States, then the visa holder may apply for a permanent resident card, more commonly known as the green card. Police checks are rigorous, experts say, and includes fingerprint checks and facial recognition software. "It's not an easy procedure," the Times quoted immigration attorney Paul Herzog as saying. "Beginning to end, you're looking at at least six to nine months" from the date of application to the date of receiving a visa. Some 25,000 people enter the United States each year on K-1 visas. The largest sending nation is the Philippines, which sends about 5,000 people, according to the Times. Other countries that account for the largest groups of K-1 visa holders are China and Mexico, with more than 1,000 each, the Times reported, citing U.S. immigration data. "The Philippines is one of the most difficult countries" from which to get a U.S. visa, said J Craig Fong, an immigration attorney, to the Times. "There are people in the Philippines with money, but the U.S. is wary that they'll come over and jump off the boat and disappear and go work in a restaurant. We won't give them a visa because we don't trust them." Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter & Instagram For the second time, the Supreme Court is hearing a white Texan's challenge to the use of race in college admissions. Abigail Fisher has been out of college since 2012, but the justices' renewed interest in her case is a sign that the court's conservative majority is poised to cut back, or even end, affirmative action in higher education. The arguments Wednesday are expected to focus on whether the University of Texas' flagship campus in Austin has compelling reasons to consider race among other factors when it evaluates applicants for about a quarter of its freshman class. Most students are admitted to the university through a plan that guarantees slots to Texans who graduate in the top 10 percent of their high school classes. Fisher says the "top 10" program works well to bring in Hispanic and African-American students, without considering race. Texas says the program alone is not enough and it needs the freedom to fill out incoming classes as it sees fit. Twelve years ago, the justices reaffirmed the consideration of race in the quest for diversity on campus. A more conservative court first heard Fisher's case in 2012, but the case ended inconclusively with a tepid decision that ordered a lower court review. The federal appeals court in New Orleans has twice upheld the Texas admissions program and rejected Fisher's appeal. Fisher's case was conceived by Edward Blum, an opponent of racial preferences. Blum also is behind lawsuits against Harvard University and the University of North Carolina that aim to eliminate any consideration of race in college admissions. Texas is unique in marrying the top 10 plan to a separate admissions review in which race is one of many factors considered. The university's current freshman class is 22 percent Hispanic and 4.5 percent African-American. White students make up less than half the school's freshmen. Eight states prohibit the use of race in public college admissions: Arizona, California, Florida, Michigan, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Oklahoma and Washington. The Obama administration, dozens of colleges and many of the nation's largest businesses are supporting Texas in defending its program. There also are competing arguments over whether racial preference programs actually limit the number of students from Asian backgrounds, who are disproportionately represented in student bodies relative to their share of the population. The case is Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin, 14-981. Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter & Instagram As the year draws to a close, a slew of President Barack Obamas nominees for ambassador and judicial posts are still waiting for confirmation votes in the Senate. The Senate now has the lowest number of confirmations in three decades, Politico reports. One of the most high-profile nominees awaiting a vote is Roberta Jacobson, a candidate for U.S. ambassador to Mexico, a post that has been vacant since the end of July, when Earl Anthony Wayne stepped down before his retirement. Jacobson, who is the assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere Affairs, was approved by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in November with a vote of 12-7. Jacobson must be approved by the full 100 member Senate before she can become ambassador. Much of the blame for the inaction is falling on Cuban-American Sen. Marco Rubio, a Florida Republican who is accused by some of thwarting a quick vote on the floor because of Jacobsons pivotal role in the normalization of relations between the United States and Cuba. Rubio, like his Democratic colleague and fellow Cuban-American Robert Menendez, has been a vocal opponent of having diplomatic relations with the Communist government of Raul Castro, especially while the Cuban president refuses to take steps toward democratic reforms and stop oppression on the island. On Friday, 17 Latino members of Congress sent a letter to Rubio demanding that he stop holding up Jacobsons confirmation. The United States has been without an Ambassador to Mexico since July, following the retirement of Tony Wayne, said a press release from Rep. Ruben Gallego, an Arizona Democrat. This lapse in leadership at the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City comes at a time when the importance of the security and economic partnership between our two countries has never been greater. Sen. Rubio has made it clear that his reasons for blocking Ms. Jacobsons confirmation are purely political, Gallego said in a statement included in the press release. At a time when our nation faces security threats abroad, it is more important than ever to make sure our security partnership with our neighboring countries remains strong. Rubio is putting our nations security and our economic ties with Mexico at risk, and its time he put his grudges aside and did what was best for this country. Sen. Ben Cardin of Maryland, the ranking Democrat on the committee, told Politico that the delays in her approval have everything to do with the Cuban policy. Thats not Roberta Jacobson. Thats the Obama policy. Both Rubio and Menendez voted no on Jacobson in the November committee vote. Menendez, the only Democrat to reject her nomination, read a statement before the vote expressing concerns about human rights in Cuba. Rubio raised his own concerns, including whether the State Department had been tough enough in seeking the extradition of Sinaloa Cartel leader, Joaquin El Chapo Guzman, who escaped in July from a Mexican prison. In an opinion piece in the Los Angeles Times, Michael Camunez, who was U.S. Assistant Secretary of Commerce, blasted the inaction on the nomination. It's been six months since President Obama nominated Roberta Jacobson, the current assistant secretary of State for the Western Hemisphere, to serve in Mexico, he wrote. A career civil servant not a political appointee with deep expertise in the region and fluency in Spanish, Jacobson is among the most highly qualified people ever tapped to represent the U.S. in Mexico. Camunez lays the blame squarely at the feet of two senators Rubio and Texan Ted Cruz, who is also of Cuban-American descent saying they "have placed 'holds' on her nomination." Although Americans may assume that ambassadors are just figureheads, that's certainly not the case for our chief of mission in Mexico City, Camunez wrote. The U.S. ambassador and her team coordinate the entire national security and commercial apparatus of our government at post in Mexico. Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter & Instagram Ever since Donald Trump entered the race for the White House back in June, his Republican presidential rival Ted Cruz has kept any criticism of the boisterous businessman off the table. But the amity between the firebrand Texas senator and the real estate mogul seems to be eroding, at least behind closed doors. During a private fundraiser in New York City on Wednesday, Cruz questioned Trump's "judgment" to be president and deliberated on the mogul's "strength," two sources who attended the event told the New York Times. For months Cruz and Trump have played nice with each other or at least as nice as the two hard-hitting candidates know how to with Cruz praising Trump for making immigration a focal point of his candidacy, while the magnate has hinted that if he gets the GOP nomination he would choose Cruz to be his running mate. Publically at least with the exception of Trump's proposed ban on Muslims entering the country the two candidates are still very much in accord on the issues and continue to heap praise on each other. Both have centered their campaigns as counters to the so-called "Establishment" in Washington and preached hardline stances on matters like immigration and national security. On the same day of the New York City fundraiser, Cruz made an appearance on Fox News saying he liked and respected Mr. Trump and "I don't anticipate that changing at all." "The reason why I won't get engaged in personal insults and attacks, I don't think the American people care about a bunch of politicians bickering like schoolchildren," Cruz said. "I'm grateful Donald Trump is running." The comments at the private event, however, appear to paint a different picture from a candidate who stands to be the biggest beneficiary of any loss of supporters for Trump. Cruz has been making gains on the front-runner Trump, pulling ahead of him in the latest Monmouth University in Iowa by five points and coming in second in Thursday's CBS/New York Times poll. Yet another poll from Iowa released on Monday by CNN has Trump comfortably ahead in the Hawkeye state and most polls still have him with a double-digit lead nationally. During the fundraiser, Cruz also lumped Trump in with fellow candidate, retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson. "I don't believe either one of them is going to be our president," he said, adding that both Trump and Carson campaigns have a "natural arch" with gravity "pulling them down" now. Cruz did mention that Carson's descent has been much faster than Trump's. "You look at Paris, you look at San Bernardino, it's given a seriousness to this race, that people are looking for: Who is prepared to be a commander in chief? Who understands the threats we face?" Cruz asked. "Who am I comfortable having their finger on the button? Now that's a question of strength, but it's also a question of judgment. And I think that is a question that is a challenging question for both of them." Cruz's campaign on Thursday attempted to downplay the New York Times story, calling the newspaper's report of the Texas lawmaker criticizing Trump "misleading." "In the course of a presidential election, the voters are going to make a decision about every candidate," Cruz said in a press release. "And ultimately the decision is, who has the right judgment and the right experience to serve as Commander in Chief? Every one of us who is running is being assessed by the voters under that metric, and that is exactly why we have a democratic election to make that determination." Trump's communications director Hope Hicks told Fox News Latino that the campaign was not making a comment about Cruz's statement. Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter & Instagram Democratic congresswoman Loretta Sanchez, a candidate running for California's open Senate seat, said on Wednesday that "between 5 and 20 percent" of Muslims "have a desire for a caliphate and to institute that in any way possible," including through the use of terrorism. She made the comments during an interview with Larry King on his political show "PoliticKING." "Certainly we know that there is a small group and we dont know how big that is, it can be anywhere between 5 and 20 percent from the people that I speak to that Islam is their religion and who have a desire for a caliphate and to institute that in any way possible, and in particular go after what they consider Western norms, our way of life, Sanchez said. Her comments came under fire, with critics calling for everything from an apology to demanding that Sanchez drop out of the Senate race. Late Friday night, Sanchez issued a response saying that she did not intend to slight the entire Muslim community, and that she respects Muslims in general. I want to reiterate that my reference to those numbers does not reflect my views of the Muslim community in my district, in America or the vast majority of Muslims around the world," Sanchez said in a statement to Fox News Latino. "I believe that Muslim Americans are fully committed to the security and prosperity of our country." A caliphate is an Islamic state, a unified Muslim community operating under Sharia law, led by a caliph a political and religious leader seen as the successor to the Islamic prophet Mohammad. The terror group ISIS has declared itself a caliphate. They are not content enough to have their way of looking at the world, they want to put their way on everybody in the world, said Sanchez, who is running for the Senate seat being vacated by Barbara Boxer. And again, I dont know how big [a percentage] that is, depending on who you talk to, but they are ... willing to go to extremes. They are willing to use, and they do use, terrorism, and it is in the name of a very wrong way of looking at Islam." The liberal activist group Courage Campaign has called on Sanchez to drop out of the Senate race, according to the Los Angeles Times and an immigrant rights group is calling for an apology. At a time when bigoted, Islamophobic rhetoric is spurring troubling incidents of hate across the country including in Orange County Representative Loretta Sanchez' wildly off-the-mark claims are irresponsible and dangerous, Reshma Shamasunder, executive director of the California Immigrant Policy Center in Oakland, said in statement to the LA Times. We expect California's representatives to uphold our values of inclusion and diversity, not trample them. We call upon Rep. Sanchez to immediately apologize. A spokesperson for Sanchez, who is a senior member of the Congressional Armed Services and Homeland Security committees, reemphasized in a statement to Politico that there are varying estimates as to how many Muslims support a caliphate. I strongly support the Muslim community in America and believe that the overwhelming majority of Muslims do not support terrorism or ISIS. We must enlist the voices of the Muslim community in our fight against ISIS instead of alienating them through fear-mongering and discrimination," Sanchez said in the statement. Sanchez made the comments in response to King asking why President Barack Obama refuses to refer to terrorist acts by ISIS and others as "radical Islamic terrorism." The representative answered, "I dont fault the president on his verbiage, I want him to understand and go after this ISIL, ISIS DAESH state that people are trying to form, because its going after us." Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter & Instagram While the White House has condemned Donald Trump's call for a ban on Muslim immigrants as "disqualifying" and "toxic," President Barack Obama may have only himself to blame if a President Trump ever succeeds in putting his plan, or some version of it, into action. In his efforts to work around Congress, Obama has made the aggressive use of executive power, particularly on immigration, an increasingly effective and politically accepted presidential tool. While legal scholars are divided on whether Obama has accelerated or merely continued a drift of power toward the executive branch, there's little debate that he's paved a path for his successor. Depending on who that is, many Obama backers could rue the day they cheered his "pen-and-phone" campaign to get past Republican opposition in Congress. The unilateral steps he took to raise environmental standards, tighten gun control measures and ease the threat of deportation for millions of immigrants in the U.S. illegally, may serve as precedent for moves they won't cheer. "Unfortunately I think the bill will come due for many Democrats," said Jonathon Turley, a George Washington University law professor. "In a future administration, they will hear the same arguments played back to them as they watch a different president go after a different set of priorities." Candidates from both parties have shown they see the political advantage to promising fast, executive action. Hillary Clinton has vowed to go further than Obama without a vote in Congress on making changes to gun control, immigration and corporate tax regulations. Trump has promised to "unsign" many of Obama's moves. "You know the great thing about executive orders __ I don't have to go back to Congress," Trump said recently at rally in Manassas, Va. "We're going to be unsigning a lot of executive orders, especially his order that basically lets anybody they want just pour into our country," Trump said. "That's going to end." To be sure, the verdict is still out on how much Obama's presidency may have tipped the scales in the balance of powers between the courts, the executive and Congress. Some court challenges are undecided, most notably one contesting his second major immigration action granting temporary reprieve to millions ofimmigrants living in the U.S. illegally. Meanwhile, the White House has yet to decide whether to go ahead on two significant executive actions prompted by opposition in Congress one that would expand background checks on gun sales and another that would close the prison at Guantanamo Bay and move detainees to U.S. soil. How such actions, particularly the latter, would play out in the courts and court of public opinion would be important factors in how Obama's record is judged by history and his successor. Experts view Obama's influence as considerable when it comes to war powers, particularly his case for killing American suspects of terrorism on foreign soil. But a paradox is evident on immigration issues where he has very publicly seized the broad authority given to the executive and where the gap between his policies and his potential Republican successors is wide. In 2012 and 2014, after long maintaining he did not have such authority, Obama ordered federal immigrationauthorities not to deport certain groups of immigrants living in the U.S. illegally. The administration askedimmigrants to apply for a temporary new legal status. The White House said it was using its prosecutorial discretion the power to determine how limited resources should be used to enforce the law. That power has been used by all presidents on a broad range of issues, but rarely has a president called a news conference to announce it or created a formal system to use it, said Hiroshi Motomura, a University of California at Los Angeles professor and expert in immigration law. "Every president has different priorities, but Obama has actually changed things by being more systematized and transparent and that's what led to critics and the legal challenge," Motomura said. A future president might take the same principle into another arena, Turley argued, choosing not to enforce pollution regulation against some businesses or temporarily granting some taxpayers a reprieve. If not a full ban on Muslim visitors, as Trump proposed, prosecutorial discretion might be used to argue for prioritizing deportation of Muslim immigrants. A president might place visitors from Muslim countries under special screening or ask them to register, moves that would have some recent precedent. Whether such executive moves would survive a lawsuit is far from clear. In the wake of Trump's proposed ban, many legal scholars lambasted the idea but didn't label it impossible. Congress already has granted broad authority for the president to bar "any class of aliens" entry into the United States if he determines it would be "detrimental to the interests of the United States." While some argue barring entry based on religion would be discriminatory, precisely how constitutional and legal protections against discrimination apply to a foreign national is unclear. These murky legal questions don't always rule the day in presidential politics, noted Eric Posner, a University of Chicago law professor. "The Supreme Court very rarely issues rulings on presidential power. It tends to try to duck cases where somebody tries to say the president doesn't have the power to do something," said Posner, who has written on the rise of executive power in "The Executive Unbound." Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter & Instagram Jeb Bush stared across the Londonderry Senior Center in disbelief. A voter at his town hall had just told him she'd read the candidate's 3,000-word tax plan. "The fact that you read it makes me feel so pleased even if you didn't like it," Bush said, unsuccessfully holding back a grin. It was the sort of moment Bush surely dreamed about when he announced his 2016 bid six months ago. Soon, the two were deep in the weeds of his proposals for capital gains taxes on estates, when Bush paused. "We're having a real wonk-a-thon right now," he said gleefully. It was also a moment all too rare for Bush, a former front-runner stubbornly sticking to a sober-minded approach to his campaign despite months of evidence that Republican voters aren't much interested in what he's selling. These days, Bush is back to focusing on his policy ideas on the campaign trail. He has largely abandoned his tentative and poorly reviewed attacks on Florida Sen. Marco Rubio. Gone, too, are his campaign's early tussles with Donald Trump on social media. The portion of Republican registered voters who think Bush could win the general election, should he win his party's nomination, has dropped to 40 percent in a new Associated Press-GfK poll, down from 60 percent in October. Republicans are now no more likely than Democrats to see Bush as a potential general election winner, and 39 percent say they view Bush unfavorably almost the same percentage as billionaire front-runner and frequent Bush foilTrump. Perhaps even more troubling for Bush, given his insistence on talking about policy and his ability to govern, the poll found that GOP voters view Trump, the real estate mogul and reality TV star, as more competent than the two-term governor of Florida. After setbacks in October, including deep campaign spending cuts and a widely criticized debate performance, Bush sought to reassure donors who have contributed more than $100 million to his campaign and a separate pro-Bush organization by resetting his effort with the auspicious slogan: "Jeb Can Fix It." Part of the shift in strategy was redoubling Bush's emphasis on New Hampshire, where aides said the candidate's serious style and affinity for one-on-one policy engagement was a close fit with New Englanders, who also typically hold themselves as independent of the national story line. Since then, Bush has held nearly 20 town hall-style meetings in the state, each with about 100 voters attending, including in places most other candidates have not visited. But the content of Bush's town halls remains the same, with the brother and son of former presidents passing on Trump's flash and penchant for bombast to remain centered on telling the story of his time as governor and his detailed plans for the nation's economy and military. He has faith and some good-natured bullheadedness that voters will eventually come around. In answering immigration lawyer Marisa DiFranco's question about what to do with the millions of immigrants in the United States illegally at an event this week, Bush mentioned the immigration policy book he co-authored, explained the economic criteria he would use to increase legal immigration, and then paused. "Being able to complete that sentence about what I'm for, in the political environment I'm now in, is an extraordinary opportunity," Bush said dryly, "and I thank you for it." On Thursday in Milford, Bush said after being asked about the federal debt, Social Security, Medicare and taxes: "I'm the only person running for president that has details on any of this stuff, just to remind you." He went on, needling in a friendly way the voters he was trying to win over. "I'm not running for entertainer or anything like this. I hope you want a candidate who has actually thought it through, who actually has plans." "It is refreshing isn't it? To have a conversation rather than have 140 characters drive a campaign," Bush told reporters this week. Even when given the chance to connect with voters on a personal level, the self-proclaimed introvert who says he's more comfortable reading a book than planning a party struggles to campaign in a way that, in his words, gives "people a full measure of a person." Take this week's "The Life of the Party" events at Manchester's St. Anselm College. Forceful Trump critic and fellow policy wonk John Kasich, the governor of Ohio, made the most of the not-so-serious questions posed by the gathering of students and young professionals. In a lengthy answer about his favorite music, Kasich listed Pearl Jam, Linkin Park and Foo Fighters. "The problem with traditional radio, if you listen to it, you hear a lot of things that you like, but they never tell you who the band is," Kasich said. Asked what music he would play and what food he would serve at a hypothetical White House party, Bush said, "I don't know," and suggested he didn't like the line of questioning. "It might have to be something more serious, I apologize." The students were undeterred, and pressed on by asking Bush what celebrity he'd like to meet. "I don't know," Bush said, again. "I really don't believe in celebritydom. I find it superficial. I'd rather be with people who have done things." Based on reporting by The Associated Press. Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter & Instagram Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has finally unleashed a verbal assault on the one rival he has so far spared. Trump went after Ted Cruz at a town hall event in Iowa Friday evening, accusing the Texas senator of being beholden to big oil companies because he opposes ethanol subsidies, which are deeply popular in this agricultural state. "He's a nice guy. I mean, everything I say he agrees with me, no matter what I say," Trump began. "But with the ethanol, really, he's got to come a long way." He added: "If Ted Cruz is against ethanol, how does he win in Iowa? Because that's very anti-Iowa." I do like Ted Cruz, but not a lot of evangelicals come out of Cuba. Donald Trump, at Iowa campaign rally Trump also appeared to take a veiled shot at Cruz's family background, suggesting Cruz might have trouble appealing to the state's evangelical voters. "I do like Ted Cruz, but not a lot of evangelicals come out of Cuba," he said of the country where Cruz's father, an evangelical preacher, was born. The attacks came after The New York Times reported that Cruz had questioned Trump's judgment at a closed-door fundraiser, straining the rare detente between two of the race's most outspoken candidates. Trump has gone after his other opponents gleefully and viciously, panning Jeb Bush as low-energy, Ben Carson as "pathological" and Marco Rubio as a lightweight who drinks too much water. But the billionaire businessman had refrained from attacked Cruz, even as the Texas senator has surged in opinion polls, becoming Trump's most serious challenger in early-voting Iowa. Trump previewed his attack lines on Twitter Friday morning. Cruz "should not make statements behind closed doors to his bosses, he should bring them out into the open - more fun that way!" he wrote. Trump predicted Cruz would "fall like all others. Will be easy!" In the audio leaked to the Times, Cruz said his approach has been to "bear hug" Trump. But he appeared less than eager to engage on Friday. "The Establishment's only hope: Trump & me in a cage match," he tweeted. "Sorry to disappoint -- @realDonaldTrump is terrific. #DealWithIt" Cruz's campaign spokeswoman, Catherine Frazier, declined to comment on Trump's attacks. Several attendees at Trump's town hall event said in interviews before he spoke that they were torn between supporting Trump and Cruz, underscoring the risks each man faces going after the other too strongly. Indeed, Trump was relatively reserved in his criticism, repeatedly telling the crowd he liked Cruz. Asked at one point whether he would consider selecting Cruz as his running mate or nominating him to the Supreme Court, Trump was receptive. "I would say that we would certainly have things in mind for Ted," he said. Trump took a new approach at the event at the Iowa State Fairgrounds, standing on a riser in the center of supporters, and speaking without a lectern. During his remarks, Trump stressed the importance of winning the state. "If we win Iowa," he said, "I think we're going to win everything after that." Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter & Instagram The Republican establishment has flexed its muscle in New Hampshire's presidential primaries for years. But in the unpredictable 2016 election, the state's standard political playbook faces challenges on two fronts. Donald Trump's brash brand of populism is resonating with voters, and he's sustained a commanding lead in statewide preference polls for months. While several experienced politicians are well-liked, some party elites fear none will emerge as a consensus choice in time for the Feb. 9 primary, allowing Trump to win a plurality. "If the center-right doesn't coalesce here, it runs the risk of allowing a far-right, ideological candidate to go unchecked," said Tom Rath, a New Hampshire-based Republican strategist backing Ohio Gov. John Kasich. Kasich is competing most directly for support with New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio. Some centrist voters are fond of former Hewlett-Packard chief executive Carly Fiorina, but she is lagging behind the others. A decisive victory in New Hampshire could reset a race dominated by Trump's unexpected durability. A weak showing would leave the establishment generally understood to mean party leaders and insiders, mainstream donors and other influential figures who avoid the ideological extreme with few options for a quick rebound. The primary is sandwiched between contests in Iowa and South Carolina that favor conservatives. Centrist candidates will have to survive the Southern states that vote in the delegate-rich contests March 1 Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia before the race turns to more hospitable territory. With less than two months until voting begins, some in New Hampshire's establishment see Christie as best-positioned to carry their presidential hopes out of New England. Christie has been a constant presence in New Hampshire for months, despite being largely ignored in national political circles, and has begun to pull in big endorsements. "The excitement is with Governor Christie," said Jeb Bradley, the state Senate majority leader. Bradley endorsed Christie this month and said that among the experienced politicians running, "he represents the best chance to win." Still, Bradley added, "Mr. Trump is pretty strong." Trump, a billionaire real estate mogul and reality television star, has shown little sympathy for the establishment's woes. "I'm sorry I did this to you, but you got to get used to it," Trump said on "Fox News Sunday." Republican leaders are worried about more than Trump. Some are equally wary of Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, an uncompromising conservative deemed unelectable as president by some GOP leaders, ultimately siphoning off Trump's support. Even if Christie's standing strengthens, it's unlikely he can clear the field before the primary. Kasich and Bush are largely staking their bids on New Hampshire, where they are spending significant time and money. Rubio has endeared himself to more mainstream Republicans despite being ushered into office as part of the 2010 tea party wave. His advisers believe he can pull support from a broader pool of voters than can the three governors. "People who have traditionally been active in the party are spread across a whole series of major candidates," said Judd Gregg, a Bush supporter and former U.S. senator from New Hampshire. It's not like 2012, Gregg said, when most officeholders past and present backed Mitt Romney, the eventual nominee. To Fergus Cullen, a former New Hampshire GOP chairman, the establishment candidates are "all so clustered that anyone can win that bracket." So far, Republican operatives some insisting on anonymity to discuss private conversations say there is no organized effort to persuade one of those candidates to leave the race before the primary in order to narrow voters' choices. But there have been preliminary discussions about what to do if four or five of those candidates finish within a few percentage points of each other in New Hampshire and all want to stay in the race. Republicans have discussed asking a party leader such as Romney or U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., to step in at that point and help broker exits for some candidates. These strategists said Romney and Ryan have not been approached about doing that and probably wouldn't be until after the primary. Cullen said he hopes the whittling down happens "organically." He suggested that even if the experienced politicians finished bunched together, those at the bottom may have no choice but to step aside. "A pretty good candidate is going to finish sixth or seventh in New Hampshire," he said. Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter & Instagram When Donald Trump has unleashed his attacks on presidential race rivals during the presidential election, hes more often than not succeeded in getting an angry, defensive response even from those who have strived to remain cool and collected. But his latest target, the one-time Trump ally, Sen. Ted Cruz, is a master of using popular culture to tear into people and policies without publicly breaking a sweat. Trump managed to raise eyebrows when he, in a roundabout, thinly-veiled way, referred to Cruz as a maniac. In an interview on Fox News Sunday with host Chris Wallace, Trump described Cruz as unfit for the presidency because of his well-known habit of alienating his GOP colleagues, which, among other things, led to the infamous government shutdown in 2013 over the Affordable Care Act and, more recently, an unsuccessful threat to cause another shutdown over Planned Parenthood funding. Look at the way hes dealt with the Senate, where he goes in there like a you know, frankly like a little bit of a maniac. Youre never going to get things done that way," Trump said. "You can't walk into the Senate and scream and call people liars and not be able to cajole and get along with people," the real estate tycoon and reality TV personality told Wallace. "He'll never be able to get anything done, and that's the problem with Ted." Cruz, who in his quirkier moments has taken to reading Dr. Seusss Green Eggs and Ham on the Senate floor during his 21-hour Obamacare filibuster and recording an "audition" to become a voice actor on "The Simpsons," responded to Trumps attack with a Twitter link to the hit song, Maniac," from the 1983 blockbuster Flashdance, a movie the senator is said to love. In honor of my friend @realDonaldTrump and good-hearted #Maniacs everywhere: https://t.co/KOPIi4XTVt Cruz also retweeted a tweet by a fan suggesting the hashtag #cruzmaniacs. Before the recent exchanges, Cruz and Trump had claimed the most amicable relationship among the GOP presidential rivals until Cruz crossed the billionaires electoral red line when he outperformed him in recent voter polls, and to boot criticized Trump at a private fundraiser in Manhattan. Speaking about Trump and the other political outsider near the top of the GOP polls, retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, Cruz said, "I dont believe either one of them is going to be our president. According to an audio recording of the event that was made available to the New York Times, Cruz went on, You look at Paris, you look at San Bernardino, its given a seriousness to this race that people are looking for: Who is prepared to be a commander in chief? Who understands the threats we face? he asked. He went on, Who am I comfortable having their finger on the button? Now thats a question of strength, but its also a question of judgment. And I think that is a question that is a challenging question for both of them. A recent poll of Iowa likely Republican caucus-goers by the Des Moines Register showed Cruz leading Trump by 10 percentage points. Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter & Instagram On the heels of reassurances by Texas officials to residents that the federal government will provide the funds and support for the hundreds of unaccompanied minors from Central America who are being sheltered there, Sylvia Burwell, the secretary of Health and Human Services, is warning Congress that her agency faces a budget shortfall and could be overwhelmed by the new influx of children. In a letter obtain by the Associated Press, Burwell told members of the U.S. House of Representatives' Appropriations Committee that even with increased contingency funding requested by the president, the agency still faces a shortage that could lead to "the situation we faced in (2014) when children were left at the border for unacceptable periods of time." Agency spokesman Mark Weber said the secretary is communicating with members of Congress to take all the necessary steps to "make sure that we're prepared," and that the letter doesn't demand funds beyond the president's budget request. Last week, Local officials in Texas said they were prepared to receive hundreds of Central American children who are described by U.S. federal authorities as having fled violence in their home countries. At a press conference Thursday, Ellis County officials said some 500 undocumented children were be transported to a camp area in the next few days. They were expected to be at the Lakeview Camp and Retreat Center for the next three weeks as plans are developed on where they will go from there, according to the Dallas Morning News. Rick DuBose, superintendent of the Assemblies of God, said that some 50 percent of the unaccompanied children will be returned to their countries. Others are expected to be resettled with relatives here, DuBose said. DuBose said Lakeviews agreement with a non-profit organization was to house 500 children and more than 200 support staffers. The children are mainly between 12 and 17 years old, according to published reports. We didnt feel like there was any way we could turn them away and not care for them and feed them when we have the beds that are empty and food that can be served and a process here, DuBose said, according to KeraNews.org. Its our slowest time of year. So we were very available. Weve jumped on it. Were honored to give these kids a place to live for the next three weeks. Ellis County Sheriff Johnny Brown said there would be enough police security to keep the facility safe for everyone. Every two children would have one adult worker assigned to them, Brown said. I want to make sure the citizens of Ellis County know that this is under control and we have everything secure and they have no fears at this point. We do have a plan in place for any kind of emergencies, Brown said, according to KeraNews.org. This will become a miniature city for the next 21 days. They have fire control, EMS, everything under control. A total of 10,588 unaccompanied children crossed the U.S.-Mexico border in October and November, more than double the 5,129 who crossed during the same two months last year, according to the U.S. Border Patrol. The number of family members crossing together has nearly tripled, to 12,505. The administration is hoping to avoid a repeat of the crisis it saw in the summer of 2014, when tens of thousands of children and families poured over the southwest border. Border Patrol holding areas became overcrowded, with children sleeping on concrete floors covered by aluminum foil-like blankets. The surge in children arriving without parents overwhelmed the U.S. government and the White House labelled it "a humanitarian crisis." A total of 10,588 unaccompanied children crossed the U.S.-Mexico border in October and November, compared with 5,129 who crossed during the same two months last year, according to the U.S. Border Patrol. The uptick has already prompted the agency to open two shelters in Texas and one in California. Burwell says in her letter that "it's impossible to know whether these trends will continue." Border crossings have not reached the levels of summer last year, when more than 10,000 children arrived in the United States that June alone. By law, unaccompanied child migrants from countries that don't border the United States must be handed over to the Department of Health and Human Services within 72 hours of being detained. The government is responsible for caring for the children until they are united with a relative or sponsor in the U.S. and immigration courts can rule on their cases. Not only has the number of unaccompanied minors doubled, but the number of family members crossing together has nearly tripled from the same time last year, to 12,505 during the past two months. Adult male immigrants are usually sent to detention centers, and families, the majority women with children, are usually sent to detention centers, though detention times have become shorter since a federal judge's ruling that children can only be detained in these facilities for a matter of weeks at most. Experts say increasing gang violence in Central America is pushing people to flee. The tiny country of El Salvador has seen its homicide rate skyrocket to levels not seen since the country's civil war, and violence continues to plague Honduras and Guatemala. The increase in migration is worrisome, they say, because it comes at a time of year when the cold usually keeps people away. Though Mexico has cracked down on migrants within its borders and returned a large number to their home countries, experts say smugglers are finding new ways around checkpoints and have established new networks of bribes that allow them to get migrants to the U.S. border. The AP contributed to this report. Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter & Instagram President Barack Obama hopes to visit Cuba in 2016, but only if the conditions exist for meeting with dissidents on the island, he said in an exclusive interview with Yahoo News released on Monday. "If I go on a visit, then part of the deal is that I get to talk to everybody," Obama said in the interview, granted in the run-up to the first anniversary of the historic announcement of the normalizing of relations between the United States and the communist island. "I've made very clear in my conversations directly with President (Raul) Castro that we would continue to reach out to those who want to broaden the scope for, you know, free expression inside of Cuba," the U.S. president said. Obama said that he is "very much interested" in visiting Cuba in 2016 and strongly suggested that he would make a decision on the matter within "the next several months." The president said that if he believes that progress is occurring in freedom and the possibilities for the average Cuban, he would like to use an official visit as a way to emphasize that progress. But, if backsliding is detected, there is no reason for him to go, he said, adding that he is not interested in validating the status quo on the island. On Dec. 17, 2014, Obama and Raul Castro announced the start of a process to normalize relations that resulted, last July, in the opening of embassies in Havana and Washington after a rupture of more than 50 years. Last week, the two countries took another step toward full normalization with the announcement of an agreement to reestablish direct postal service via a pilot transportation plan for mail and packages. The two nations are also negotiating accords to establish regular commercial flights between the United States and Cuba and, in late November, representatives of the two governments met in Washington to discuss immigration and the fight against drug trafficking. Amid the crisis of thousands of Cuban refugees who are currently stranded in Central America, Cuba is urging the United States to end the 1966 Cuban Adjustment Act and the accompanying "wet foot, dry foot" policy that favors Cubans who manage to make it to U.S. territory, albeit illegally. However, Washington to date has denied that there will be any changes in that policy. Another issue that continues to impede the full normalization of relations is the U.S. economic embargo that has been in place against Cuba and the lifting of which may only be done by the U.S. Congress, although Obama has taken executive action to ease travel restrictions and some commercial transactions with the island. Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter & Instagram next Image 1 of 2 prev Image 2 of 2 The governor of Puerto Rico announced Monday that he will not seek a second four-year term leading this debt-swamped U.S. territory. In a brief televised message, Gov. Alejandro Garcia Padilla said running for the November election as the candidate for the Popular Democratic Party would be a distraction even though he wants to campaign "with all my heart." "Over the coming months, it would be inconsistent with putting all my efforts to bring Puerto Rico out this crisis and prevent those who created the crisis to return to power," Garcia said. Struggling Puerto Rico faces more than $900 million in bond payments in January, including a $357 million general obligation bond payment due Jan. 1. It would be the island's first major default if the payment is not made. Puerto Rico's Public Finance Corporation already missed a $58 million bond payment in August. Last week, Garcia said it was probable that the U.S. island will be unable to make more upcoming debt payments because it has no more money amid a worsening economic crisis. He made the comments during a trip to Washington to meet with Republican legislators and others before a vote by Congress that might include a provision giving Puerto Rico public agencies access to Chapter 9 bankruptcy provisions. Like all U.S. states and territories, Puerto Rico currently cannot declare bankruptcy under federal law, though mainland municipalities and their public utilities can. Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter & Instagram Arizona's contentious SB 1070 immigration law has resulted in a lot of immigration checks, but very few deportations from the Tucson area. An analysis of records by the Arizona Daily Star shows Tucson police ran 26,000 immigration checks for the 16-month period ending Oct. 2. Of all of those checks, 83 people were taken into custody by the U.S. Border Patrol. The law requires officers enforcing other laws to question the immigration status of those suspected of being in the country illegally. It also requires checks on the status of arrested people before they can be released. The overwhelming majority of the checks documented were based on the latter requirement, while only 51 were done because an officer suspected the person was undocumented. Ninety-nine-plus percent of the time our efforts were really not finding people that the Border Patrol was interested in coming to take custody of or to deport, Tucson Police Department chief, Roberto Villasenor, told the Daily Star. Within the 16-month period, most of the arrests 55 out of 83 took place before December 2014. That's when the agency narrowed its policies to focus on deporting those with felonies or significant misdemeanors, and suspected terrorists who pose a threat to national security. As of February of this year, Tucson police have stopped questioning witnesses, crime victims or passengers about their immigration status. Maybe grandma got robbed the other night, and we caught the guy who was doing it," Tucson police officer Robert Cormier told the Daily Star. "She may be here on an expired visa from years ago ... If we were to keep running these people and deporting them, we may not get that information from anyone. Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter & Instagram Texas Sen. Ted Cruz enters Tuesday's Republican presidential debate with a burst of momentum, a robust campaign infrastructure and a target on his back. It's a shift for Cruz, whose campaign got off to a low-key start. Now, he's challenging Donald Trump for the lead in the kickoff Iowa caucus and casting himself as a more electable alternative who still shares the bombastic billionaire's anti-Washington appeal. Trump and Cruz have been friendly on the campaign trail for months. But signs of a split have emerged in recent days, with Cruz appearing to question Trump's judgment at a private fundraiser, according to audio obtained by the New York Times, and Trump calling Cruz "a little bit of a maniac." "Looks like @tedcruz is getting ready to attack," Trump wrote on Twitter last week. "I am leading by so much he must. I hope so, he will fall like all others. Will be easy!" Trump didn't go after Cruz by name during a Las Vegas rally on the eve of the debate, but said the primetime faceoff could turn messy. "I am giving them a chance for them to making total fools of themselves in front of millions of people," Trump said, adding that he's expecting to be attacked. "This will not be like an evening in paradise for me. Do we agree?" he asked. Another intriguing dynamic in Tuesday's prime-time debate in Las Vegas involves Cruz and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, another first-term senator and Cuban-American. Cruz and Rubio have been sparring from afar for weeks, particularly over national security, which is now a top campaign issue following the attacks in Paris and San Bernardino, California. Rubio has tried to brand Cruz as an isolationist and has criticized his support for ending the bulk collection of Americans' phone records, saying it weakens the government's ability to identify potential terrorists. "There are some differences in policy," Rubio said of Cruz in an interview Monday with the Associated Press. "I think we need to be the national security party, the party of strong national security, committed to ensuring we have the strongest military force in the world." More broadly, Rubio's campaign is eager to cast Cruz, who prides himself on being a conservative "truth-teller," as a politically expedient flip-flopper who is willing to say whatever is necessary to win an election. Rubio's campaign has raised questions about the consistency of Cruz's positions on sending troops to the Middle East, as well as what they consider ambiguous answers he gives on whether he would allow immigrants living in the U.S. illegally to stay here. Cruz's campaign has dismissed Rubio's criticism, with spokesman Rick Tyler saying, "Nobody believes Senator Cruz is weak on national defense and security." Tuesday's debate will be the first for Republicans in more than a month, and also the first since the attacks in France and California. The four previous GOP debates had record viewership, giving the candidates an unparalleled platform to reach voters. With just six weeks until voting begins, the broad contours of the race remain consistent. Trump still sits atop the GOP field, displaying a talent for connecting with voters frustrated with Washington and on edge about the threat of terrorism. He continues to make controversial comments that might disqualify more traditional candidates, including his recent call for a ban on Muslims entering the U.S. More experienced politicians are still struggling to break through in the crowded field. Some party leaders fear that unless the GOP establishment wing quickly rallies around one candidate, the nomination could go to Trump or Cruz candidates they see as all but unelectable in a contest with Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton. Still, there have been some signs of movement in early voting states since Republicans last took the debate stage. Cruz's rise in Iowa has been accompanied by a precipitous decline for Ben Carson, the retired neurosurgeon who has struggled with inexperience on national security matters. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is enjoying increasing support in New Hampshire, which helped him regain his spot on the main debate stage after being downgraded in November. "I've been making executive decisions for 13 years and been held accountable for them," Christie said in an interview with The Associated Press. "There's no other way to get ready for the presidency than that; you have to have executive experience to be successful." Also on the main stage Tuesday night will be Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, former business executive Carly Fiorina, Ohio Gov. John Kasich and Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul. Four lower-polling candidates will appear at an earlier event: former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, former New York Gov. George Pataki and South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham. For struggling candidates, the debates will be one of their last opportunities to change the trajectory of their campaigns before voting begins in Iowa Feb. 1. The stakes are particularly high for Bush, who was once seen as a front-runner for the Republican nomination and has raised more money than any other candidate. Bush has scoffed at suggestions that he should drop out of the race before voting begins. But that idea is likely to build if he delivers another lackluster debate performance. Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter & Instagram Carefully worded state laws in Texas could and might already aid the state in cracking down on undocumented immigrants without running into problems with the U.S. constitution, a state attorney recently claimed. Texas Deputy Attorney General Brantley Starr told lawmakers in Austin during a House State Affairs committee hearing on border security and immigration that they may have some more wiggle room when it comes to enforcing immigration laws. "You do have the ability to create state-level offenses that have an immigration element to them as long as they are sufficiently unique," Starr said, according to the Texas Tribune. To prove his point, Starr cited House Bill 11, the Legislature's 2015 omnibus border security bill, which was signed by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott in June and made it a state felony to smuggle someone into the country for pay. While the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that "foreign policy and related matters, such as immigration, are one of the few enumerated powers the federal government has," the Texas attorney believes that the bill could stand up to a court challenge on constitutional grounds if one were brought up. "There were new state-level elements to that offense [in] that you're taking money in exchange for bringing someone across the border illegally," Starr said. "And the addition of the new state-level elements to that offense made it sufficiently unique." Starr's comments come as immigration has become a major talking point both on the presidential campaign trail and in the Lone Star state, with GOP lawmakers across the country accusing he Obama administration of failing to secure the U.S. border. Earlier this week, Texas' Abbott ordered the state's National Guard troops to remain at the Mexico border, extending again a mission that began in 2014 when unaccompanied children started pouring into the country. Neither Abbott nor the Texas National Guard would say when troops would now go home. Lt. Col. Travis Walters also would not disclose how many troops would remain, but said no new troops would be deployed. "Texas will not sit idle in the face of this challenge," Abbott said. "We will not be victimized as a state by a federal government's apathetic response to border security." Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steve McCraw told the committee last week that laws like House Bill 11 were already helping law enforcement in Texas to arrest human smugglers. "With Border Patrol and the U.S. Attorney's office, it was too low under their threshold," he said. "[The state] can go to the district attorney's office and say, Wait a minute,' and the district attorney took that offense." Another law that Starr believes Texas could pass without problems from the federal government is one outlawing so-called "sanctuary cities." An important part of the state's sanctuary cities bill would be to make an exception for school districts, as the Supreme Court has already ruled that students cannot be questioned about their immigration status. Some observers warned the committee that Starr's argument was not as simple or clear-cut as he made it seem. "This opinion does not foreclose other pre-emption and constitutional challenges to the law," said Jacqueline Watson, the president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association's Texas chapter. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter & Instagram There will be no investigation into whether or not Texas Sen. Ted Cruz disclosed classified information during Tuesday night's GOP presidential debate, the leaders of the Senate Intelligence committee said late Wednesday. The panel released a statement a few hours after the committee's chairman, Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., had said they were checking Cruz's comments. Burr released a joint statement with Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, the top Democrat on the committee, simply stating: "The committee is not investigating anything said during last night's Republican presidential debate." Cruz made a claim during an exchange with Florida Sen. Marco Rubio about the new USA Freedom Act, which Cruz supported and Rubio opposed. Cruz said that "nearly 100 percent" of phone numbers can be checked for terror ties under the new program, compared with "20 percent to 30 percent" under earlier Patriot Act provisions. Rubio responded that national television is not the place to discuss classified information, before going on to dispute Cruz's suggestions. Burr said that any time specific numbers are discussed a question emerges as to whether it's classified or open source. "The question had been raised. Therefore I asked them to look at it and see if there was any validity to it," Burr told reporters. Burr added: "It's not as clear as just reading what he said. We've got to search all sorts of media outlets to see if anyone had reported that number independently." Catherine Frazier, a spokesperson for Ted Cruz told Fox News Latino that the Texas lawmaker did not say anything in the debate that had not been previously reported, citing articles in both the Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal that mention the 30 percent and 20 percent figures respectively. There is also congressional testimony from an NSA official suggesting the USA Freedom Act could expand the universe of calls available to the agency to search. The material, Frazier noted, is "all publicly available." Cruz himself told reporters at Los Angeles International airport on Wednesday: "What I said last night has been widely reported. It's been saturated in the public sphere. And what has been said over and over again, what the intelligence community told Congress, was that the USA Freedom Act expanded their ability to target terrorists. And listen, this is another example of the Rubio campaign trying to spread misinformation." Burr noted that he had not actually seen the GOP debate exchange in question. "The Voice was on. It was the final episode," he said. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter & Instagram Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz had a moment Wednesday when questioned by Fox News' Bret Baier about comments he made in 2013 as the Senate considered an immigration reform bill. Questioning the Texas lawmaker about a statement he made during this week's GOP presidential debate "I've never supported legalization, I do not intend to support it" Baier brought up purportedly contradictory statements Cruz made in 2013. Baier played a clip of Cruz calling "people of good faith on both sides of the aisle" to pass a bill "that allows those that are here illegally to come in out of the shadows." Cruz responded by saying his amendment would "remove citizenship." "The fact that I introduced an amendment to remove part of the Gang of Eight bill doesn't mean I support the rest of the Gang of Eight bill," he said. Baier, however, tripped the usually self-assured senator up by quoting the lawmaker saying that the legislation was "the compromise that can pass." "If my amendment were adopted, this bill would pass," Cruz also said. Cruz told Baier that although he wanted his amendment to pass, it didn't mean he "supported other aspects of the bill" and went on to defend his strict stance on immigration by referencing the support he has from Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions. The candidate said his amendment to the bill "illustrated hypocrisy of the Democrats" and "succeeded in defeating the bill." Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter & Instagram One day after a debate clash with Jeb Bush, Donald Trump said he's been "a little bit divisive" and wants to see Republicans come together. In an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel's late-night show Wednesday, the GOP presidential candidate looked relaxed as Kimmel queried him about campaign issues. Trump, who has argued for temporarily banning Muslims from entering the United States, said he's gotten calls of thanks from friends who are Muslim. "Those may have been crank calls," Kimmel replied, smiling. The ABC host then turned to immigration, using the example of his on-air sidekick, Guillermo Rodriguez, to question Trump's call for mass deportation. Kimmel said Rodriguez came to the United States illegally from Mexico but went through the legalization process. He suggested to Trump that people who are willing to risk everything to get to the United States are good for the country. Trump was unfazed, calling Hispanics "unbelievable people" but not backtracking on his position. He called for a Mexico-U.S. border wall with "a big beautiful door" for legal entry. Kimmel said it appeared Trump had made an effort to be nicer to his fellow candidates in the debate, including lauding Sen. Ted Cruz's temperament after previously calling him a something of a "maniac." "I would like to see the Republican party come together, and I've been a little bit divisive in the sense of hitting people hard," Trump replied. That didn't stop him from repeating his characterization of Jeb Bush as low-energy, although he added he was a "nice person." Bush, well behind front-runner Trump in national polls, said during the debate that the billionaire couldn't insult his way to the presidency and called him a "chaos candidate." Kimmel ended the interview by sharing a mock children's book, in the style of Dr. Seuss, which he said he'd ghost-written for Trump. "Here are some frogs I do not like at all. We must kick these frogs out and then build a wall," Kimmel read from one page. Trump had canceled a previously scheduled appearance on "Jimmy Kimmel Live," but Kimmel didn't make an issue of being stood up. Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter & Instagram One year since Presidents Barack Obama and Raul Castro announced plans to restore diplomatic relations between Cuba and the United States, many who are playing key roles in trying to bring the two sides together on several fronts say that in many ways much more has been accomplished than they expected, but that many roadblocks remain. You can really feel the difference in Cuba from month to month from this time last year, said James Williams, president of Engage Cuba, a bipartisan public policy group that focuses on the normalization of U.S.-Cuba relations. Williams, or members of his group, travel to Cuba about twice a month to continue nurturing ties between the two nations. Some [changes] were moving, a lot of trends were already in place, Williams said to Fox News Latino. But theyve accelerated at a pace beyond what anybody could have expected. Williams, like others who have been traveling to Cuba for some time, say the number of new entrepreneurial ventures is perceptibly higher, and there is an optimism and hope for a better future among everyday Cubans that didnt exist before. The expectation and hope that things will improve are broadly shared, Williams said, people are expecting that their lives are going to get better. Its touched some people more directly than others, such as people who interact with tourists. On Thursday, U.S. officials said they had reached an agreement with Cuba allowing dozens of direct daily flights, likely starting in 2016. Many believe this will drive down the often high cost of traveling to Cuba from the United States, and increase contact between Cubans and Americans, leading to more changes in Cuban society. Many people in the tourist industry, both in Cuba and the United States, say that hotels and other accommodations, for instance, are filled to capacity months in advance. If youre an engineer, life may not have changed as dramatically for you, but thats not the result of U.S. policy. Many experts, and people who have supported and pushed the restoration of relations, concede that Cuba has been slow, or reluctant in some cases, to let go of old ways of handling things such technology and control over its population. In a statement marking the anniversary of the agreement to restore diplomatic ties, Obama said in a statement: We continue to have differences with the Cuban government, but we raise those issues directly, and we will always stand for human rights and the universal values that we support around the globe. Change does not happen overnight, and normalization will be a long journey. The last 12 months, however, are a reminder of the progress we can make when we set the course toward a better future. Critics of the restoration of ties say the Obama administration made a deal in which the United States has gained little and Cuban leaders have made no concessions in important areas, such as human rights and freedom of speech. They say Cuba agreed to restore ties only after seeing its economy further suffer because of the financial crisis of its ally, Venezuela, its main oil supplier. The critics say that Cuba entered the deal only to benefit itself economically, and has no intentions of implementing democratic reforms a goal the Obama administration has highlighted as an impetus for the change in policy toward Cuba. President Obama granted diplomatic recognition to the Castro dictatorship, said Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, Florida Republican, in a statement, removed it from the state sponsors of terrorism list, released convicted spies including one serving a life sentence for conspiracy to murder, and eased sanctions on financial transactions and trade with a dictatorship that holds the worst human rights record in our hemisphere. What have the U.S., and the Cuban people, gained from President Obama's policy? continued Diaz-Balart. Just take a look at the facts. Political arrests totaled 1,447 in November, the highest monthly tally this year, and there have been 7,686 political arrests this year to date. Supporters of the renewed ties say that after a trade and travel embargo against Cuba that spanned more than 50 years, a different approach to advance U.S. interests and human rights goals was necessary. "After 54 years of a failed, punitive policy that had achieved none of its objectives, President Obama and President Raul Castro wisely decided it was time to chart a new path," Sen. Patrick Leahy, a Vermont Democrat who played a central role in talks that led up to the restored relations, said on the Senate floor Thursday. He took issue with "the small handful of members of Congress who continue to defend a discredited policy of isolation that has been repudiated by large majorities of their own constituents, denounced by every other government in this hemisphere, and that even they acknowledge has not succeeded." "Yet their answer is to keep it in place," Leahy said, adding that he never believed that announcing a change in U.S.-Cuba policy would abruptly eliminate oppression on the island. "Cubas leaders are steadfast believers in a repressive political system that has enabled them to hold onto power unchallenged for more than half a century," Leahy said. "Their economic policies have been a disaster, resulting in daily hardships for the Cuban people ...Why not support the private sector in Cuba as we do everywhere else in the world? Why not open the United States to an emerging Cuban market?" Part of the $1.14 trillion budget deal that Congress sent Friday to President Barack Obama includes a provision to spend more than $1.6 billion over the coming two years to resettle undocumented minors who have come to the United States from Latin America in recent months. The provision, which was reported by the Washington Free Beacon, comes as U.S. Border Patrol reported that more than 10,000 unaccompanied children crossed into the U.S. in October and November, double the number of crossings in the same two months of last year. The increase prompted federal officials to open two shelters in Texas and one in California. Some 1,000 children are expected to be sent to two sites in Texas and to be reunited with family members who are living in the United States. The bill would give $1,645,201,000 through fiscal year 2018 "for necessary expenses for refugee and entrant assistance activities" under the Immigration and Nationality Act and the Refugee Education Assistance Act, according to the text released Tuesday. A 65-33 Senate vote on the total budget deal on Friday sent the measure, which combines $1.14 trillion in new spending in 2016 and $680 billion in tax cuts over the coming decade, to Obama for his signature. It had swept through the House on a pair of decisive votes on Thursday and Friday, marking a peaceful end to a yearlong struggle over the budget, taxes and Republican efforts to derail the president's regulatory agenda. Obama is expected sign the measure, which includes many of the spending increases he fought for all year and is largely cleansed of GOP attempts to block efforts on the environment, financial regulation and consumer protection. Republicans won a spending increase for the military and an end to a ban on exporting U.S. oil, as well as permanent tax cuts for business investment. Senate Republicans were evenly split on the bill, with 27 of them voting in favor and 26 against. Presidential contender Marco Rubio missed the vote. Only six Democrats along with Independent Bernie Sanders, who is running for the Democratic presidential nomination, voted against the measure. With the votes, lawmakers wrapped up a surprisingly productive, bipartisan burst of late-session legislation. The budget pact was the last major item in a late-session flurry of bipartisanship in Washington, including easy passage of long-stalled legislation funding highway programs and a rewrite of education programs. It was an impressive first few weeks for new House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wisconsin), who got the benefit of the doubt from most Republicans. House GOP members had opposed by a wide margin earlier legislation that established the framework for the budget package. House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi of California, a key negotiator, swung forcefully behind the measure after showing initial frustration over its lifting of an oil export ban and lack of action on helping Puerto Rico address its fiscal troubles. "They wanted big oil so much that they gave away the store," Pelosi said, citing increased spending on domestic programs, as well as tax breaks for working families and renewable energy. "This bipartisan compromise secures meaningful wins for Republicans and the American people, such as the repeal of the outdated, anti-growth ban on oil exports," Ryan said, also declaring victory on the large budget increase for the Pentagon and curbs on the Environmental Protection Agency and the Internal Revenue Service. The House voted on the spending portion of the measure on Friday, when it won support from House Republicans by a 150-95 margin. Democrats followed Pelosi's lead and backed the bill by a 166-18 margin. In a procedural quirk, the House passed most of the tax cuts virtually all of them financed with deficit dollars on Thursday. The bill extends more than 50 expiring tax cuts, with more than 20 becoming permanent, including credits for companies' expenditures for research and equipment purchases and reductions for lower-earning families and households with children and college students. The spending measure would fund the operations of every Cabinet agency. It awards increases of about 6 percent, on average, above tight spending caps that were a relic from a 2011 budget deal and were opposed by both GOP defense hawks and Democrats seeking more domestic spending. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter & Instagram They appear to be the two presidential candidates who are the most alike: They are young, Cuban-American, eloquent and can fire up their base. But when it comes to the issue that Hispanics care the most about, immigration, they are a picture of contrasts. In fact, immigration has become such a wedge issue between Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz that they are engaging in nasty back-and-forth over who has the right position on the divisive issue. The exchanges are spilling over from the Republican presidential debate in Las Vegas earlier this week, where the two traded barbs, to the campaign trail. Cruz, the firebrand senator who favors plaid shirts and bacon cooked on gun muzzles over guayaberas and Cuban sandwiches, has lashed out at his rival for supporting a more forgiving immigration policy. Cruz says Rubios position is his greatest weakness among conservatives, who overwhelmingly oppose a pathway to citizenship for immigrants in the country illegally. Rubio, who plays up his family's working-class, immigrant roots, has hit back by saying that Cruz's shifting rhetoric on immigration is a prime example of a larger pattern of political pandering. Rubio supporters say his attacks are showing his political prowess while revealing Cruzs Achille's heel. "Cruz's response [to Rubio] highlights his greatest weakness: He's just too slick and self-aggrandizing," Stuart Stevens, a GOP strategist who guided Mitt Romney's 2012 campaign, told Politico. "Cruz is that guy in high school who really, really wanted to be homeroom president. Marco Rubio is the guy who knew it was a joke. I'd bet on the latter." While there certainly are other issues the senators disagree on, there are few that offer a clearer contrast in tone, if not policy, between the two. "He's going to have a hard time because he's not told the truth about his position in the past on legalization," Rubio said of Cruz while campaigning in Iowa. "It's not an attack. It's a fact." Cruz shot back angrily. "That is utter nonsense," Cruz told reporters. As he did during the debate, the Texas senator declined to say what he would do with the estimated 11 million immigrants currently in the country illegally, but he accused Rubio of joining with Democrats to support "amnesty." Cruz was referring to Rubio's leading role in the Gang of Eight a bipartisan group of senators who crafted an immigration reform package in 2013 that aimed to strengthen border security, overhaul legal immigration and allow a pathway to citizenship for millions of immigrants in the country illegally. The Senate approved the bill, but it was blocked by House Republicans and widely attacked by conservatives. Once the bill's leading salesman, Rubio distanced himself from his own plan as the presidential contest neared, suggesting it was a mistake to push for comprehensive legislation. He's now calling for a piecemeal approach that begins with border security and offers a pathway to legalization only after the influx of illegal immigration is stopped. Observers, however, point to the harsher stance that both Rubio and Cruz are taking on immigration and border security as something that could hurt them in the primary race, and definitely if either one becomes the Republican nominee. Often playing defense on immigration, the Florida senator shifted to offense this week by going after Cruz. Rubio said his rival's repeated attacks on immigration left him little choice but to examine the Texan's record on the issue. "I was attacked by Ted Cruz on the debate stage, and I responded by saying I'm puzzled by his attacks on this," Rubio said, accusing Cruz of using "crafty language." ''He's the one that, for example, supports doubling the number of green cards. He's the one that supports a 500 percent increase in guest workers into the United States, and he's the one that supported legalization and legalizing people that are in the country illegally." Cruz insisted that's not the case during Tuesday's debate and did so again Thursday night during a campaign stop in Minnesota. "I oppose amnesty. I oppose citizenship. I oppose legalization for those here illegally. I have always opposed amnesty, citizenship or legalization," Cruz said. "And I will always oppose amnesty, citizenship or legalization, and I encourage Sen. Rubio or any other candidate running to make that same statement, to be clear where they stand." Cruz has previously supported broadening legal immigration in some cases. And as part of the immigration reform debate in 2013, Cruz introduced an amendment that proposed eventual legal status for millions. But Cruzs rhetoric has some Latino conservatives concerned. And they say that even with two Latino candidates running for president, the tone could turn off Hispanic voters. "If you don't have a positive, constructive tone, you will have a hard time getting support from Latinos," Alfonso Aguilar, the executive director of the Latino Partnership for Conservative Principles, told the New York Times. "Hispanics won't vote for someone just because they're Hispanic." But its not just Hispanics who care about immigration. A surprising amount of conservative voters actually support a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, according to a recent AP-GfK poll. The poll found that 4 in 10 conservative Republicans and 3 in 10 tea party Republicans favor a path to citizenship. That's compared to 54 percent of all Americans who support a way for immigrants who are already in the country illegally to become citizens, while 44 percent are opposed. More than 7 in 10 Democrats are in favor. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter & Instagram More Americans favor than oppose a pathway to citizenship for immigrants who are living in the United States illegally, a new Associated Press-GfK poll shows. While most Republicans oppose such a path to citizenship, it doesn't seem to be a deal-breaker issue for them. Here are some things to know about Americans' opinions on immigration policy from the new AP-GfK poll: MOST SUPPORT CITIZENSHIP A majority of Americans 54 percent support a way for immigrants who are already in the country illegally to become citizens, while 44 percent are opposed. More than 7 in 10 Democrats are in favor, while about 6 in 10 Republicans are opposed. Still, a significant minority of Republicans 4 in 10 do support a path to citizenship. Four in 10 conservative Republicans and 3 in 10 tea party Republicans favor a path to citizenship for immigrants already in the country illegally. Six in 10 Americans, including three-quarters of Democrats and nearly half of Republicans, favor providing immigrants who were brought to the country illegally as children with a way to stay in the country legally. NOT A DEALBREAKER FOR GOP The new poll shows that while tough rhetoric on immigration appeals to a majority of Republicans, most still don't consider it a deal breaker issue. The poll shows that immigration action taken last year by President Barack Obama allowing some immigrants to apply for temporary legal status is a particular sticking point for Republicans, with 73 percent of them saying they prefer to support someone who would undo those immigration steps taken by a president deeply unpopular within their party. But 25 percent of Republicans say they would prefer to vote for a candidate who would keep Obama's immigration actions in place. And another 34 percent say they could vote for such a candidate even though they disagree on that issue, so long as they see eye to eye on other matters. Even among conservative Republicans, more than half say they either prefer a candidate who would keep the immigration action in place (16 percent) or that they could imagine voting for a presidential candidate who would (40 percent). DIVISION ON OBAMA'S ACTIONS The poll shows that overall, Americans are split on what they want a 2016 presidential candidate to do about the executive action Obama took last year. Just over half (51 percent) say they're more likely to support someone who wants to keep that action in place, while 46 percent are more likely to support someone who wants to undo it. Still, 60 percent of Americans disapprove of the way President Barack Obama is handling immigration, while just 38 percent approve. BIG ISSUE FOR HISPANICS Among Hispanics, a large majority about three quarters support a pathway to citizenship for immigrants in the country illegally. Hispanics are far more likely to say they prefer a presidential candidate who would keep the president's immigration action in place than one who would prefer to undo it, by a 74 percent to 20 percent margin. More than half 56 percent say they could not imagine voting for a candidate who wanted to reverse it, even if they agreed on other issues. IMPORTANCE GOES UP Americans are slightly more likely than they were two months ago to see immigration as a very or extremely important issue, with 61 percent saying so now after 57 percent said so in October. Republicans are more likely than Democrats to consider it an important issue, 76 percent to 51 percent. Neither party emerges as the clear winner on who Americans trust more to handle the issue. Twenty-nine percent say they trust the Democratic Party to do a better job and 27 percent trust the Republican Party more, while 31 percent say they trust neither party on handling immigration. The AP-GfK Poll of 1,007 adults was conducted online Dec. 3-7, using a sample drawn from GfK's probability-based KnowledgePanel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for all respondents is plus or minus 3.4 percentage points. Respondents were first selected randomly using telephone or mail survey methods, and later interviewed online. People selected for KnowledgePanel who didn't otherwise have access to the Internet were provided access at no cost to them. Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter & Instagram One relative of a man killed in the San Bernardino attack believes President Barack Obama's plan to meet with victim families Friday will bring comfort. Another woman wonders what solace Obama can bring when her 26-year-old sister-in-law can never be brought back. When Obama lands in Southern California before heading to Hawaii for his annual Christmas vacation he will encounter a group of families still burying their dead. Some are just beginning to grapple with what happened while others describe being in a state of continued shock. Ahead of the meeting, two victim relatives described conflicting emotions: One hopeful, the other with doubt. "It won't bring any closure to us," said Evelyn Godoy, whose sister-in-law, Aurora Godoy, the mother of a toddler, was killed in the attack. "But it's nice he's going to stop." Fourteen people were killed when Syed Rizwan Farook, 28, and his wife, Tashfeen Malik, 29, opened fire on his colleagues at a holiday meeting Dec. 2. Twenty-one others were injured in the attack. Both Farook and Malik were later killed in a gunfight with police. In the aftermath of the massacre, families of those killed have grieved while also slowly learning the unsettling details about the couple who killed their loved ones. Federal investigators say they pledged allegiance to the leader of Islamic State terror organization before executing the attack. "Of course we have questions and we would like to know how and what happened," said Robel Tekleab, whose brother-in-law, Isaac Amanios, 60, was killed. "But that is for another time. Tomorrow is all about grieving together and comforting each other." Amanios greatly admired Obama, raising money for his 2008 campaign even through the immigrant from Eritrea was still not eligible to vote, said Tekleab, who worked as a field staffer on the president's 2012 re-election campaign. Amanios even traveled to D.C. to attend Obama's 2009 inauguration. Tekleab said he wants Obama to know who his brother-in-law was. "His presence itself is comforting," he said. Evelyn Godoy said she didn't know what her family was hoping to hear. On the one hand, his visit felt like a nice gesture. On the other, when she read in the news that he was stopping on his way to Hawaii for his vacation she couldn't help but feel "like we were a throw in." "At the end of the day my sister-in-law isn't coming back," she said. "It doesn't bring her back." Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter & Instagram With just a year left in the term-limited post of House Democratic Caucus chairmanship, Rep. Xavier Becerra, known for being ambitious, already seems to be eyeing his next leadership move, Politico reports. Becerra, of California, has been inviting Democrats from Congress to dinner and making other kinds of overtures that some find intriguing, saying that theyve never been chummy with the lawmaker. Some familiar with Becerras moves speculate he may be hoping to be the ranking Democrat on the House Budget Committee, which is a powerful panel, or that he may be entertaining challenging Minority Whip Steny Hoyer. You get to this point, and its your only play. You have to have a lightning strike or be resigned to the back benches, Politico quoted a senior Democratic lawmaker it did not name. It almost doesnt matter what title he is putting into peoples head it gets people to start thinking about the consolation prize. Many Democrats and Republicans who hold leadership positions dont move out of them easily if there are no term limits. Rep. Nancy Pelosi, of California, for instance, has been the House Democratic leader since 2003. Becerra actually has mentioned going for Pelosis post if the opportunity presented itself. Some think Becerra would be ideal for the Budget Committee, an important panel in the House, because he is known as a numbers geek, Politico said. Then again, Becerra, who mulled a run for retiring Sen. Barbara Boxer's seat, also is considered a possible candidate to succeed Sen. Dianne Feinstein in 2018 if she retires, Politico said. Becerra has not been coy about campaigning, directly or indirectly, for support from his Democratic brethren for a potential run for a leadership post in Congress someday. Hes enlisted some colleagues, such as Rep. Filemon Vela, Jr. of Texas, to put together dinners with lawmakers Becerra does not have close ties with, Politico reported. I am helping Congressman Becerra raise for other members, Vela said. I have folks back home who help me raise money for members all across the country. Its coordinating some of that for Congressman Becerra. Becerra has more than established his leadership chops. He was chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, and has had senior positions on important House committees. Becerra, 57, has been in the House since 1992. To be sure, there are other Democrats waiting in the wings for leadership posts to become available they include fellow Latinos Rep. Ben Ray Lujan of New Mexico, and Rep. Linda Sanchez, the CHC chair. Hes never naturally come up through the ranks, said a Hispanic lawmaker of Becerra. Having a job created for him, I would think, that would be his best bet. Hes not going to get Ways and Means and running against Steny Hoyer that would be suicidal. But the problem is, if there is a Latino running, do you need to create a job? Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter & Instagram New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez is apologizing for her staff's conduct at her annual holiday party at a downtown Santa Fe hotel. A noise complaint resulted in police responding to one of her staffer's rooms. In a statement Friday night, Martinez said someone threw snowballs from a hotel balcony and says that behavior is unacceptable. Martinez also said she made a mistake by speaking to the hotel receptionist and asking about the noise complaint. The governor said she shouldn't have gotten involved in trying to resolve the situation and she should have handled it differently. Martinez said she was holding her annual staff holiday party at a downtown Santa Fe hotel when a noise complaint resulted in police responding to one of her staffer's rooms. The governor's office said Friday that Martinez and staff helped clean up the hotel ballroom following last weekend's party and retired to the room to eat pizza with several other guests. Spokesman Chris Sanchez said unbeknownst to the governor, there had been complaints about noise and someone throwing what turned out to be snowballs from the balcony of that room earlier in the night. In police dispatch tapes, the governor can be heard saying there was no need to send officers to the hotel. She also demanded to know who lodged the complaint. Sanchez said the governor regrets the way she and her staff handled the situation. Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter & Instagram The girlfriend of one of the 14 people killed in the Dec. 2 shooting in San Bernardino said President Barack Obama immediately asked her for a hug when he came to talk with her. Obama and his wife, Michelle, met with members of each of the 14 families in the library of Indian Springs High School on Friday night before heading to Hawaii for their annual holiday getaway. A separate table was set up for each family, and the Obamas moved from one to the next, spending about 10 minutes with each victim's relatives. When Obama approached the table where Mandy Pifer was sitting, he said, "Words aren't enough. How about a hug?" Pifer's boyfriend Shannon Johnson, 45, was killed in the attack. "I've been watching you give hugs," Pifer recalled telling him. "I need a hug." "It just felt like they were really present in their conversation with me," she said. "They are sick and tired of doing these things, meeting our families." Obama said meeting with the families was a reminder "of what's good in this country." "As difficult as this time is for them and for the entire community, they're also representative of the strength and the unity and the love that exists in this community and in this country," Obama said late Friday after the meetings with family members. Pifer had told the Obamas about Johnson, how he loved life, his virtues and their future plans. She also shared with them what she knows about his last moments: His colleague Denise Peraza, who survived the attack, said he huddled with her under a table as bullets flew across the room. He held her close and told her, "I got you." Peraza credits Johnson with her survival, and since then the phrase "I got you" has spread across social media. When she mentioned the phrase to the Obamas, they nodded, indicating it was a story they already knew, she said. She brought a sign stating "#IGotYou" that they all posed for a photo with it. Johnson and Peraza are in the initial stages of planning a foundation in Johnson's memory. "I feel like they're on my side," she said. "They're on our side. And that he's going to keep working to make this better even after he's left office. It's personal for them." The Obamas encouraged her to reach out and promised to provide whatever support they could. "Mrs. Obama she did say that she would rap or perform at our fundraising concert," Pifer said. "I will try to make her keep her word on that." Pifer said the Obamas' visit was helpful. "It's helping the grieving process," Pifer said. "It was very comforting." Obama said the family members were "inspiring" as they spoke with pride about their loved ones. "As we go into the holiday season, even as we are vigilant about preventing terrorist attacks from happening, even as we insist we can't accept the notion of mass shootings in public places, in places of work and worship, we have to remind ourselves of the overwhelming good that exists out there," he said. Ahead of the visit, two victim relatives described conflicting emotions: One hopeful, the other with doubt. "It won't bring any closure to us," said Evelyn Godoy, whose sister-in-law, Aurora Godoy, the mother of a toddler, was killed in the attack. "But it's nice he's going to stop." In the aftermath of the massacre, families of those killed have grieved while also slowly learning the unsettling details about the couple, Syed Rizwan Farook, 28, and his wife, Tashfeen Malik, 29, who killed their loved ones. Federal investigators say they pledged allegiance to the leader of Islamic State terror organization before executing the attack at a holiday meeting Dec. 2. Twenty-one others were injured in the attack. Both Farook and Malik were later killed in a gunfight with police. "Of course we have questions and we would like to know how and what happened," said Robel Tekleab, whose brother-in-law, Isaac Amanios, 60, was killed. "But that is for another time. Tomorrow is all about grieving together and comforting each other." Amanios greatly admired Obama, raising money for his 2008 campaign even through the immigrant from Eritrea was still not eligible to vote, said Tekleab, who worked as a field staffer on the president's 2012 re-election campaign. Amanios even traveled to D.C. to attend Obama's 2009 inauguration. Tekleab said he wants Obama to know who his brother-in-law was. "His presence itself is comforting," he said. Evelyn Godoy said she didn't know what her family was hoping to hear. On the one hand, his visit felt like a nice gesture. On the other, when she read in the news that he was stopping on his way to Hawaii for his vacation she couldn't help but feel "like we were a throw in." "At the end of the day my sister-in-law isn't coming back," she said. "It doesn't bring her back." Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter & Instagram Spain's opposition Socialist party Monday said it would vote against having acting Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy form a new government, thus killing one of Rajoy's options to stay in power after voters elected a fragmented Parliament. Rajoy's ruling conservative Popular Party came first in Sunday's general election, winning 123 seats but falling far short of the 176 seats it needs for a majority and losing a chunk of the 186 seats it won in 2011. Rajoy, seeking a second term, said he will "try to form a stable government'" but has no immediately obvious partner to do that. The Socialists came second with 90 seats and could seek a coalition with other leftist groups. Two newcomer parties burst onto the scene, capitalizing on many voters' disenchantment with high unemployment, constant corruption cases and the country's political status quo. The far-left Podemos party gained 69 seats for third place, making it a possible kingmaker, while the centrist, business-friendly Ciudadanos party got an influential 40. "Spain is not going to be the same anymore," said jubilant Podemos leader Pablo Iglesias. Socialist party official Cesar Luena said Rajoy's Popular Party, which won the most votes, should have the first crack at forming a government but ruled out supporting Rajoy, eliminating the possibility of an unprecedented coalition between the two parties which have dominated Spanish politics for decades. Sunday's inconclusive result paves the way to weeks or possibly months of negotiations. Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at OANDA in London, said Spain may now face an era of "political paralysis and instability." Spain's benchmark Ibex 35 index was down 2 percent in trading Monday, suggesting investor jitters following the result. If forced out of office, Rajoy's Popular Party would become the third European victim this year of a voter backlash against austerity measures following elections in Greece and Portugal seen as rebellions against unpopular tax hikes and spending cuts. Rajoy's best chance would seem to be with Ciudadanos because of their shared center-right, business-friendly politics but the party has ruled out supporting Rajoy as prime minister, chiefly because of corruption cases in his party. Ciudadanos' leader, Albert Rivera, said Monday that his party and the Socialists should abstain in the Parliament vote and give the Popular Party a possibility of forming a minority government. Under the constitution, King Felipe VI will invite a party leader normally from the party with the most votes to form a government. The nominee must garner a majority of deputies' votes in Parliament in a first round to take office, or the most votes in the second round. Deputies take their seats by Jan. 13 but there is no time limit on staging the first vote. If the candidate is not immediately successful, Parliament has two months to elect a prime minister or call a new election. The German government, a strong supporter of Rajoy, said Monday it had not been in touch with the Spanish government. Spokeswoman Christiane Wirtz said the Spanish people can be congratulated on the 73 percent turnout, "but otherwise I don't yet see so clearly who one can congratulate in this situation." Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter & Instagram The Obama administration formally disclosed Tuesday that it deported the fewest immigrants since 2006. In the last fiscal year, between October 2014 and September 2015, the Homeland Security Department oversaw the deportation of about 235,413 people that's almost 81,000 people less than the year before. Of the 235,413 removed by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), nearly 70,000 were arrested inside the United States and most of them had been convicted of serious crimes, according to the annual statistical report for the fiscal year that ended on Sept. 30. Almost 166,000 were arrested as they crossed or shortly after trying to cross the border illegally, the report said. DHS has previously said the drop in deportations overseen by ICE is largely due to the decline in arrests at the border. Border arrests dropped about 30 percent from 2014 to 2015. The 2015 border arrests included roughly 79,800 people traveling as families and children traveling alone, mostly from Central America. The overall total of deportations generally does not include Mexicans caught at the border and quickly returned home by the Border Patrol. "Last year's removal numbers reflect this department's increased focus on prioritizing convicted criminals and threats to public safety, border security and national security," DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson said in a statement. Roughly 136,700 convicted criminals were deported in the 2015 budget year. The share of criminal immigrant deported rose slightly from about 56 percent to roughly 59 percent from 2014 to 2015. Obama's immigration policies have been alternately criticized as too harsh and too weak. Immigrant advocates derisively dubbed the president the "Deporter-In-Chief" after ICE removed a record of more than 409,000 immigrants in 2012. Meanwhile Republicans have decried his policies as "back-door amnesty." The question of what to do with the estimated 11 million immigrants living in the country illegally and how to enforce immigration laws has been a top topic in the 2016 presidential race. Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton has pledged to be "less harsh and aggressive" than Obama while Republican Donald Trump has pledged to deport millions of people in the country illegally and build a wall along the Mexican border to stop future illegal immigration. Based on reporting by the Associated Press. Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter & Instagram Nearly 100 Mexicans have sought to return to the U.S. by Wednesday's deadline under the settlement of a class-action lawsuit that accused federal immigration officials in Southern California of failing to advise people of their rights. The American Civil Liberties Union sued the Department of Homeland Security in 2013 over the use of a procedure to expel people from the country known as a voluntary return. Under the procedure, people surrender rights to appear before an immigration judge and can't legally return to the U.S. for up to 10 years. The lawsuit claimed authorities threatened people into accepting the terms. The government didn't acknowledge wrongdoing but agreed to changes in California that include a revised form that spells out the consequences and options of a voluntary return, new training and procedures and an information hotline for detainees seeking legal aid. The government also agreed to let some Mexicans return to the U.S. to resume efforts to stay legally. The ACLU, which had estimated thousands might be eligible for that chance, identified nearly 100 who might qualify to return to the U.S., said staff attorney Gabriela Rivera. Of those, the government has so far approved more than 20 to return and was reviewing other cases. The number reflects the high bar to qualify, Rivera said. The requirements include being married to a U.S. citizen after entering the country legally, being in the country for at least 10 years and having a spouse, child or parent who relies on them, or being eligible to be shielded from deportation under President Barack Obama's 2012 executive order. Applicants also must have accepted a voluntary return in Southern California between 2009 and 2014. Lucy Sanchez, who came to California in 1996, was on a fishing boat in San Diego's Mission Bay in October 2009 when authorities asked her legal status. She said they told her she might be jailed for months if she fought to stay and would be released immediately to Mexico if she agreed to a voluntary return. "They didn't even let me read it, they just said sign here," said Sanchez, 35, a wife and mother of U.S. citizens. Sanchez lived in Tijuana, Mexico, for six years with her daughter, now 7, and was among a small group of Mexicans allowed to return to the U.S. in August to plead her case before an immigration judge. She has a court date in April. The ACLU spearheaded an extensive campaign on both sides of the border that included workshops, billboards and television advertising to reach the estimated 200,000 people who accepted voluntary returns in Southern California during the period covered by the settlement. The settlement applies only to the Border Patrol's San Diego sector and Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Los Angeles and San Diego field offices, and the requirements on the agencies to change its procedures expire in August 2017, said ACLU staff attorney Mitra Ebadolahi. It was unclear if the agencies have changed practices in other parts of the country or if they planned to keep the procedures in place in Southern California after 2017. Officials at the Homeland Security and Justice departments, Customs and Border Protection or Immigration and Customs Enforcement either declined comment or didn't respond to questions. Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter & Instagram next Image 1 of 2 prev Image 2 of 2 Hundreds, possibly thousands, of families in the United States illegally arent likely to have a good start to 2016. Reports in the Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal claim that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), a division of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), is planning a series of raids targeting hundreds of families who entered the country illegally since the start of last year and have already been ordered removed from the country by an immigration judge. The nationwide campaign could begin as soon as the first week of January, according to the Post, which cited multiple unnamed sources who spoke to the paper on the condition of anonymity because the operation hasnt been approved by DHS. An official told the Journal that the decision to pursue family units which include minors who entered the U.S. with one parent is intended to convey a message to would-be border-crossers that they will not be allowed to remain in the U.S. While not commenting on any possible ICE operation, spokesperson Marsha Catron told the Post that DHS chief Jeh Johnson has consistently said our border is not open to illegal immigration and if individuals come here illegally, do not qualify for asylum or other relief, and have final orders of removal, they will be sent back, consistent with our laws and our values. Margaret Stock, an immigration attorney in Anchorage, Alaska, told the WSJ, Jeh Johnson wants to send a message to Central Americans: dont come north. But Washington hasnt solved the underlying problem of massive violence in their home countries that is causing them to come north in the first place. Although the overall number of undocumented migrants entering the country has fallen in recent years, the flow of family units and minors traveling alone fleeing Central American violence has risen dramatically. According to the Journal, more than 12,000 people in family units were caught crossing the border without documentation in October and November of this year, almost three times as much as the 4,500 who entered during the same months last year. At the peak of the so-called border surge in the summer of 2014, more than 10,000 Central American minors entered the U.S. illegally every month. The current administrations detention and deportation policy has had something of a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde quality to it over the years. While more undocumented migrants have been deported during President Barack Obamas time in office than under any other chief executive, he is characterized as soft on immigration by conservatives, chiefly for the executive actions on immigration that he announced at the end of last year that extended deportation protections to millions of undocumented people currently in the country. Immigrant advocates are alarmed at the possibility of mass raids and deportations of families. It would be an outrage if the administration subjected Central American families to even more aggressive enforcement tactics, Gregory Chen, director of advocacy for the American Immigration Lawyers Association, told the Post. This administration has never acknowledged the truth: that these families are refugees seeking asylum who should be given humanitarian protection rather than being detained or rounded up. When other countries are welcoming far more refugees, the U.S. should be ashamed for using jails and even contemplating large-scale deportation tactics. Ill believe it when I see it, Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, told the paper. What share is this going to be?... Its a drop in the bucket compared to the number theyve admitted into the country. If you have photogenic raids on a few dozen illegal families and thats the end of it, its just for show. Its just a [public relations] thing: enforcement theater. The emergence of the report coincides with a recent court ruling that families cannot be maintained for long in government detention centers. This is the last thing we expected from the administration at this point, given the court decision, Marilena Hincapie, executive director of the National Immigration Law Center in Los Angeles, told the Journal. It is time that administration acknowledge once and for all that these mothers and children are refugees. Earlier this week, the administration reported that 235,413 people were deported during Fiscal Year 2015, which ended Sept. 30 25 percent less than the 315,953 deported in 2014 and the lowest annual figure during Obamas White House tenure. Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter & Instagram The U.S. Department of Agriculture is embarking on a partnership with universities across the country in hopes of infusing its ranks with more diversity as it faces civil rights complaints from Latino farmers and ranchers. But some members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus are voicing frustration, saying the agency has been dragging its feet and has yet to adequately address their concerns. The caucus had asked for a meeting with Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack in October, saying members received reports from constituents indicating significant civil rights violations and discrimination by the agency. Caucus members also pointed to a 2013 review that found noncompliance with civil rights requirements and regulations by U.S. Forest Service offices in New Mexico and Colorado. "I am not convinced that the USDA is being as forthcoming as I would expect," said U.S. Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham, a New Mexico Democrat. "I look forward to pressing the secretary to provide more details that adequately address our concerns." The USDA said this week that it's willing to meet with caucus members, but it can't address the civil rights review or other discrimination issues because of pending litigation. The agency cited one case being heard by a federal judge in Albuquerque involving grazing permits in northern New Mexico and other cases that stem from claims of discrimination regarding the issuance and management of farm loans over a period of two decades. Attorneys representing the New Mexico ranchers argued that the civil rights review wasn't part of the grazing case and should be addressed. The agency's general counsel said the case involves civil rights matters in general, putting it off limits for discussion. In a letter to the caucus that was obtained by The Associated Press, the agency also defended a $1.3 billion settlement that was reached with Hispanic and women farmers over the farm loans. The USDA argued that it had no role in adjudicating any of the claims, a task that fell to an independent contractor to ensure impartiality. That process was then reviewed by the USDA's Office of Inspector General. Critics have said claims filed by Latinos and women have been denied at much higher rates than those of other minority groups, including black and Native American farmers who settled following separate class-action lawsuits. U.S. Rep. Ben Ray Lujan, a member of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, said farmers and ranchers who have been discriminated against deserve to be made whole and that he looks forward to meeting with the secretary. "This issue impacts the livelihood of so many in my district and the USDA must be held accountable," the New Mexico Democrat said. Despite an indefinite delay in addressing civil rights with the caucus, the agency noted in its letter that progress is being made on other fronts and pointed to the new partnership with the nation's Hispanic-serving colleges and universities. The USDA's Office of Advocacy and Outreach in early December signed a cooperative agreement with the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities to fund 180 paid internships at the agency. The association represents more than 470 schools. Officials said the program will increase awareness about career opportunities as well as foster the secretary's goals of a diverse, inclusive workforce. Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter & Instagram A man from Guatemala being held in the California's biggest immigrant detention center has died after a heart attack. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said in a statement that 54-year-old Jose Manuel Azurida-Hernandez died Wednesday after suffering a heart attack and being hospitalized Saturday. Azurida-Hernandez had served 16-month sentence on an attempted robbery conviction at Wasco State Prison and in June was transferred to Adelanto Detention Facility because he was in the United States illegally. His deportation case was pending at the time of his death. Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter & Instagram The seven children had just crossed the river, shoes still caked with mud, when U.S. Border Patrol agents stopped them. The youngest was 6, Jon Smith Figueroa Acosta, he said, and he'd made the 2,000-mile journey from Honduras. He did not know to what city or state he was headed, but he had a phone number for his father in the United States. "Estoy solo," he said, meaning, "I'm alone." It was unclear how long the group had been traveling together, or who had brought them across the Rio Grande. There were two teenage siblings whose mother had sent for them after their elderly grandmother in Honduras could no longer care for them, and two teenage Nicaraguans. Luis Arias Dubon, 15, said the trip required that he walk through much of Mexico for nearly a month. He left San Pedro Sula, Honduras, when he was threatened by members of the deadly 18th Street gang. "They tried to force me into the gang," he said, adding that he was afraid they'd kill him. The recent spike in the number of unaccompanied minors crossing the border brought U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner R. Gil Kerlikowske to the Rio Grande Valley sector this month. "Historically the numbers would not be at the levels we see right now," Kerlikowske said, while standing in a warehouse where about 20 migrant children rested on large green mattresses, wrapped in reflective plastic blankets. "The concerning part is, are we seeing the new normal?" A total of 10,588 unaccompanied children crossed the U.S.-Mexico border in October and November, more than double the 5,129 who crossed during the same two months in 2014, federal statistics show. The number of family members crossing together, meanwhile, has nearly tripled, to 12,505. And though the influx began in July, the numbers were slightly higher this fall, a time when colder weather usually drives down the number of migrants crossing. Kerlikowske said his agency was better prepared to handle the influx than in summer 2014, when tens of thousands of unaccompanied children and families poured over the border, taxing agents and holding areas. Recently, two camps in North Texas have opened as shelters, housing 900 unaccompanied child migrants from countries that don't border the U.S., who under federal law must be handed over to the Department of Health and Human Services within three days of being detained. A third facility is on the way, which will hold another 200. The children are being sent north to prevent a backlog at the border, health officials said. The child migrants must be cared for until they can be united with a relative or sponsor, where they remain until immigration courts can decide on their cases. In McAllen, a respite center run by Catholic Charities looks after families who have been released by Border Patrol and given notices to appear at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement offices and immigration courts. Recently, mothers with children described various reasons for leaving: fleeing gang or domestic violence, providing opportunities to study for their children, reuniting with family who had long lived in the United States. Ester Franco, 38, of El Salvador, said she left with her two teenage daughters, Yesica and Isela, out of fear for them because they are of the age when local gang members start to accost young girls. She had already pulled them out of school and still didn't feel safe, so she decided to bring them to Maryland, where her husband lives. "What I want is security for my girls," she said. "I want them to be able to study." On the other side of the border in Reynosa, Mexico, migrant shelters where people await their opportunity to cross were mostly empty. Maria Nidelvia Avila, the director of the Casa del Migrante, said children who travel without a parent don't stay in shelters. Instead, they go to bus terminals, then to stash houses around the outskirts of the city. The journey through Mexico can be dangerous, as Marleny Gonzalez, who was staying at a nearby shelter in Mexico with her daughter, could attest. The 24-year-old Guatemalan was in the bed of a pickup truck with other Central American migrants when it overturned near San Fernando, two hours south of Reynosa. Gonzalez wasn't hurt, but her 4-year-old's legs were broken. The child was in a cast covering her entire bottom half of her body, unable to sit up. "Almost all my family is in the United States," Gonzalez, said, including her daughter's father. "I felt alone. My girl didn't have a father, so I wanted to travel." Given her daughter's precarious state, she wasn't sure now whether she would make the rest of the trip. Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter & Instagram Only two states say their National Guard operations could provide facilities to house unaccompanied immigrant children following a request for options from the government. California and Virginia told the National Guard Bureau they have facilities that could be used but they would require additional funding if asked to meet federal requirements. Other states responding to the National Guard Bureau's request late last month say they aren't set up to handle that kind of housing or they lack the proper facilities. Ohio also voiced concern about the government's oversight of the program, pointing to a case of labor trafficking at a large egg farm in the state earlier this year. The "government has attempted to increase capacity and push people through the system too quickly causing unintended consequences," Ohio Adj. Gen. Mark Bartman said in the state response obtained by The Associated Press. Bartman said he and Gov. John Kasich have concerns about the government's ability to safely handle the increased number of children in refugee resettlement programs. Kasich, a Republican candidate for president, raised similar issues in an August letter to President Barack Obama. Among his concerns was a lack of information shared with the state about children settled in Ohio. U.S. Sen. Rob Portman, an Ohio Republican running for re-election, has pushed for an investigation into the way the government screens sponsors getting custody of unaccompanied children. The government says about 1,100 children have been released to sponsors in Ohio's Franklin, Hamilton and Tuscarawas counties. A total of 10,588 unaccompanied children crossed the U.S.-Mexico border in October and November, compared with 5,129 who crossed during the same two months last year, according to the U.S. Border Patrol. U.S. immigration policy dictates that unaccompanied minors trying to escape dangerous situations can't be turned away. In the Ohio case, federal prosecutors say several teens were fraudulently plucked from U.S. custody by conspirators posing as friends or family who forced them to work as virtual slaves on egg farms near Marion. The case occurred at a time when the country's immigration system was being overwhelmed by unaccompanied children fleeing unrest in Central America. The Guard request to states was part of a bigger request by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to the military looking for possible sites. The request sought facilities large enough to hold 300 beds for two months. Although Virginia told the National Guard Bureau it would consider the request if funding became available, questions remain about the viability of such an operation, said Virginia Guard spokesman Cotton Puryear. "While we are very sensitive to the needs of these unaccompanied children to find adequate housing, our primary concern is the possible negative impact on the readiness of units," Puryear said. In California, all facilities would require work for fencing or other items to meet the requirements, said California Guard spokesman Brandon Honig. Earlier this month, HHS Director Sylvia Burwell formally asked the Defense Department to provide up to 5,000 temporary beds within 30 days for the minors. The government has recently assessed Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico; Fort Hood, Texas; Joint Base Lewis McChord, Washington; Fort McCoy, Wisconsin; and Naval Station Great Lakes, Illinois, for potential use as temporary shelters, according to HHS. The government's expansion of its temporary ability to house children "is a prudent step to ensure that the Border Patrol can continue its vital national security mission to prevent illegal migration, trafficking, and protect the borders of the United States," said HHS spokesman Mark Weber. Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter & Instagram With a deeper-than-ever split between Republicans and Democrats over abortion, activists on both sides of the debate foresee a 2016 presidential campaign in which the nominees tackle the volatile topic more aggressively than in past elections. Friction over the issue also is likely to surface in key Senate races. And the opposing camps will be further energized by Republican-led congressional investigations of Planned Parenthood and by Supreme Court consideration of tough anti-abortion laws in Texas. "It's an amazing convergence of events," said Charmaine Yoest, CEO of the anti-abortion group Americans United for Life. "We haven't seen a moment like this for 40 years." In the presidential race, Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton is a longtime defender of abortion rights and has voiced strong support for Planned Parenthood a major provider of abortions, health screenings and contraceptives as it is assailed by anti-abortion activists and Republican officeholders. In contrast, nearly all of the GOP candidates favor overturning the Supreme Court's 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion nationwide. Some of the top contenders including Sens. Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio disapprove of abortions even in cases of rape and incest. "We may very well have the most extreme Republican presidential nominee since Roe a nominee who's not in favor of abortion in any possible way," said Stephanie Schriock, president of EMILY's List. The organization, which supports female candidates who back abortion rights, says it is en route to breaking its fundraising records. A similar claim is made by some anti-abortion political action groups. What's changed for this election? One factor is the increased polarization of the two major parties. Only a handful of anti-abortion Democrats and abortion-rights Republicans remain in Congress, and recent votes attempting to ban late-term abortions and halt federal funding to Planned Parenthood closely followed party lines. Another difference: Republicans in the presidential field and in Congress seem more willing than in past campaigns to take the offensive on abortion-related issues. Past nominees George W. Bush, John McCain and Mitt Romney opposed abortion but were not as outspoken as some of the current GOP candidates. "Abortion will bubble over into the general election," said Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the Susan B. Anthony List, which supports female candidates opposed to abortion. "If you don't know how to handle this issue, you will be eviscerated." As the campaign unfolds, other factors will help keep the abortion debate in the spotlight. The Supreme Court will be hearing arguments, probably in March, regarding a Texas law enacted in 2013 that would force numerous abortion clinics to close. One contested provision requires abortion facilities to be constructed like surgical centers; another says doctors performing abortions at clinics must have admitting privileges at a local hospital. The Texas dispute will have echoes in other states as social conservatives lobby for more laws restricting abortion. Americans United for Life plans a multistate push for a package of bills called the Infants' Protection Project; one measure would ban abortions performed because of fetal abnormalities such as Down syndrome while another would ban abortions after five months of pregnancy. Also unfolding during the campaign will be a new investigation launched by House Republicans to examine the practices of Planned Parenthood and other major abortion providers. The panel's chair, Rep. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, says its work will likely continue past Election Day. The investigation denounced by Democrats as a partisan witch hunt is among several congressional and state probes resulting from the release of undercover videos made by anti-abortion activists. They claim the videos show Planned Parenthood officials negotiating the sale of fetal tissue in violation of federal law; Planned Parenthood denies any wrongdoing and says the programs in question at a handful of its clinics entailed legal donations of fetal tissue. Cruz is among many Republicans who have already passed judgment on Planned Parenthood, calling it "an ongoing criminal enterprise." He welcomed the endorsement of anti-abortion activist Troy Newman, who helped orchestrate the undercover video operation. Donald Trump, who leads the GOP presidential polls, has been harder to pin down on the issue. He describes himself as "pro-life" and open to defunding Planned Parenthood, while acknowledging that he held different views in the past. Planned Parenthood's leaders say a majority of U.S. voters oppose efforts to cut off its federal funding, most of which subsidizes non-abortion health services for patients on Medicaid. Planned Parenthood's political action fund hopes to spend a record amount more than $15 million on election-related advocacy. The fund's executive vice president, Dawn Laguens, contends that some GOP presidential hopefuls, including Cruz and Rubio, may have hurt their general election prospects by making strong bids for anti-abortion votes in the primaries. "They've gone so far out on the limb that they won't be able to crawl back," she said. National polls over the years show the American public deeply divided on abortion. An Associated Press-GfK poll released Dec. 22 found 58 percent of U.S. adults saying abortion should be legal in most or all cases, and 39 percent saying it should be illegal in most or all cases. Forty-five percent viewed Planned Parenthood favorably; 30 percent unfavorably. Abortion and Planned Parenthood are likely to surface as divisive issues in several of the races that will decide control of the Senate. New Hampshire features an intriguing race between two women. Democratic Gov. Maggie Hassan, a supporter of abortion rights, hopes to unseat GOP incumbent Kelly Ayotte, who is endorsed by anti-abortion groups and favors halting Planned Parenthood's federal funding. Other key Senate races likely to feature sharp divisions over abortion include those in Pennsylvania, Nevada, Wisconsin and the crucial presidential battleground of Ohio, where GOP incumbent Rob Portman is expected to be challenged by former Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland. Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter & Instagram Dozens of churches say they will open their parishes and offer sanctuary to undocumented immigrants who could be the target of a series of raids early next year. The announcement by the Sanctuary movement, a religious and political campaign started in 1980s to provide safe-haven for Central American refugees fleeing the region's civil conflicts, comes as the Obama administration plans a series of nationwide raids on undocumented immigrants early in 2016. The faith-based Sanctuary group said it was offering its houses of worship to any migrant seeking safe haven from the crackdown. The Washington Post reported last week that Immigration and Customs Enforcement was planning a series of raids that would begin as soon as next month and would likely affect hundreds of immigrants who fled violence in Central America since the start of 2014. In a statement last week, ICE spokeswoman Gillian Christensen would not comment on the Post story but said that as part of civil enforcement priorities announced by DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson in November 2014, the agency will focus on individuals "who pose a threat to national security, public safety and border security." That group includes people who have been caught trying to enter the U.S. illegally and those who have been ordered removed from the country since January 2014. "As Secretary Johnson has consistently said, our border is not open to illegal immigration, and if individuals come here illegally, do not qualify for asylum or other relief, and have final orders of removal, they will be sent back consistent with our laws and our values," she said. Leaders from the Sanctuary Movement, which has granted safe haven from deportation to at least 10 immigrants in the last year and a half, joined Democratic presidential candidates and human rights groups in criticizing the Obama administration's crackdown. Referencing the Christmas holiday, the movement made mention of the Nativity story of Mary and Joseph being turned away from the village inn before giving birth to Jesus in a stable. The organization encompasses about 50 congregations in a dozen U.S. cities, Rev. Alison Harrington, pastor of Southside Presbyterian Church in Tucson told the Washington Post. The Obama administration disclosed this week that in the 2015 budget year, the U.S. deported the fewest immigrants since 2006. ICE said that of the 235,413 people removed or returned during that time period, 98 percent met one or more of ICE's enforcement priorities. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter & Instagram With a nationally focused campaign that leans on strong debate performances and television advertising, Marco Rubio isn't going all out in any one of the early voting states. That's raised eyebrows among Republicans in states such as Iowa, where people are used to being lavished with attention in a presidential campaign. As 2015 wanes, the Florida senator is back in Iowa on Tuesday for a multi-day swing, hoping to shore up support and finish in the top tier of candidates in the Feb. 1 caucuses. But he is continuing to spread his time and money across the early states, showing no indication he will choose just one to make his mark. That's unlike Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who has set his sights on Iowa, and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who is pushing hard in New Hampshire. While supporters say Rubio just needs to stay in the top cluster in the first few states, some see the approach as risky. "The caucuses are about organize, organize, organize and get hot at the end," said Iowa Republican strategist Doug Gross, who has not endorsed a candidate. But as for Rubio and his people, "I think they've intentionally tried to run a different campaign." In another early voting state, South Carolina, former Republican Party chair Karen Floyd described Rubio's approach as "curious," saying his organization there has not been as visible as several of his rivals. Rubio spokesman Alex Conant said the campaign has no plans to "give up on states we can win." But it is risky to be seen as having to win a particular state a month before the voting, he said. "We see four states where Marco can succeed," Conant said, referring to the four earliest ones Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada. In Iowa, recent polls have found Cruz and Donald Trump battling for first, with Rubio usually a distant third. He's seen as competing most directly with others considered part of the GOP establishment Bush, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Ohio Gov. John Kasich. Most agree he doesn't actually need to win the caucuses, but must emerge as the leader of that group. "As 2016 starts, Iowa feels it's Cruz's to lose," said Matt Strawn, a former Iowa Republican Party chairman. "A lot of Senator Rubio's success will be determined by whether he can blunt the momentum or not allow any of his New Hampshire competitors to build momentum." A good organization is important in Iowa because caucuses take more effort than a primary, requiring voters to show up at a fixed time on a winter night. The Republican caucuses drew about 120,000 voters in 2008 and 2012 roughly 20 percent of registered Republicans. Cruz has perhaps the strongest traditional organization in Iowa, with backing from churches, an active volunteer network and some key endorsements. Rival Ben Carson has been wooing churches and Bush and Rand Paul have had staff in the state for months. The biggest wild card remains Trump, who has been drawing massive crowds, but must translate that into caucus voters. Rubio has less paid staff than some competitors and his state director hails from Arkansas. He draws large, enthusiastic crowds and has done at least 49 public events in the state this year more than Bush or Christie, but significantly fewer than Cruz, who has done at least 80. Iowa Rep. Bobby Kaufmann, who is backing Rubio, said the pace will pick up in the next month with "a more traditional Iowa campaign." Iowans have been exposed to more commercials promoting Rubio than they have almost any other candidate. Rubio's campaign and two outside groups helping him, including one that keeps its donors secret, together aired about 4,000 ads on broadcast TV in 2015, according to advertising tracker Kantar Media's CMAG. That's second only to Right to Rise, a super political action committee backing Bush, which had about 5,600 ads up this year. Bush's own campaign didn't do any Iowa broadcast advertising, CMAG shows. Cruz broadcast only about 800 commercials in the state, and groups helping him have put just a few more on Iowa TV. Trump hasn't had any local commercials. There's much more to come. Information from CMAG shows some $18 million in commercials already on deck for January. Rubio's campaign, so far, plans to spend the most in the state, with the Bush super PAC close behind. But because the ad rates are so much higher for outside groups than for the candidates themselves, Rubio will probably get much more airtime for his money. Questions about Rubio's organization efforts are being echoed in other early voting states, including New Hampshire and South Carolina. Christie, Bush and Kasich have spent far more time in New Hampshire than Rubio. Rubio has taken one major step in South Carolina, picking up the endorsement from Rep. Trey Gowdy, nationally known among conservative activists and the lead congressional figure on the murders of four Americans at the U.S. diplomatic outpost in Benghazi, Libya in September 2012. Gowdy is scheduled to appear with Rubio in Iowa this week. Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter & Instagram The U.S. government plans to open three new shelters in three states to house unaccompanied migrant children as officials brace for another influx of young Central American immigrants crossing the border. The temporary shelters in Colorado, Florida and New Mexico, all located on federal property, are in addition to shelters that opened outside Dallas earlier this month to deal with the growing number of immigrants expected in the spring and summer of 2016. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services plans to house up to 1,000 children in a renovated warehouse in the sprawling Federal Center complex in the Denver suburb of Lakewood. Another 800 will be housed at a Job Corps site in Homestead, Florida, and 400 more at Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico, Mark Weber, a spokesman for HHS, which is responsible for overseeing the children's care, said Thursday. The new planned shelters, combined with the camps opened in Rockwall and Ellis counties in Texas this month, represent a 42 percent increase over the 8,400 permanent shelter beds the agency previously relied on in 12 states mainly along the Mexican border. Children in the shelters, most of them between ages 14 and 17, stay an average of 32 days. They receive schooling and medical care on site until they can be placed with sponsors as they wait to hear whether they will be allowed to stay in the U.S. or will be deported. Officials in Colorado and Florida were quietly informed Wednesday about the decision to open the shelter there. Last week, U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter directed Holloman Air Force Base officials to get ready to house immigrant children in a vacant building once used by the 4th Space Surveillance Squadron starting in January. Children could arrive at the Florida facility as soon as February. The Colorado warehouse still needs to be renovated and isn't expected to open until April. The federal government is trying to avoid a repeat of the summer of 2014, when so many children crossed the border into the U.S. from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador that they were forced to stay in Border Patrol facilities, which aren't designed to house children. That also diverted officers from securing the border, even though the law requires children under 17 who enter the country alone to be turned over to HHS. "This is out of an abundance of caution," Weber said of the new temporary shelters. It's not yet known how much renovating and operating the new shelters will cost, Weber said. The permanent shelters cost $223 per bed per day to operate, and the temporary locations cost more, he said. Border crossings haven't returned to 2014 levels, but the numbers began to pick up again in June and have remained high even though migration usually slows down in the fall and winter. According to the U.S. Border Patrol, 10,588 unaccompanied children crossed the U.S.-Mexico border in October and November, more than double the 5,129 who crossed during the same two months last year. The number of family members crossing together has nearly tripled, to 12,505. In an interview on "Bill Bennett's Morning in America" before Christmas, House Speaker Paul Ryan said officials want to be prepared for another influx and place children in the "least restrictive environment possible." "We're worried that there may be another episode on the border this coming summer and we want to be prepared for that," Ryan said. Such an episode would come in the midst of a presidential election that has already been dominated by concerns over immigration and border security. U.S. Rep. Ed Perlmutter, a Democrat who represents the swing district where the Colorado shelter will be located, downplayed the potential impact on the surrounding community since the children won't be allowed to leave the site. While candidates may debate immigration policy, he said officials still have to deal with the fact that these children have managed to end up in the U.S. and have been apprehended. "It's a sad situation, but you have to step up and acknowledge the reality of the situation and provide these services," he said. Lakewood Mayor Adam Paul said he wished the government had waited until after the holidays to announce the shelter, giving him and other leaders more time to learn about it and be ready to answer questions from the community. "We're just going to demand that they communicate with us," he said. Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter & Instagram Several candidates for the presidency in 2016 have proposed building more border wall along the nearly 2,000 mile frontier with Mexico to keep people from crossing into the U.S. illegally. Here is what they have to say about a border wall. ___ DONALD TRUMP Trump has been the most outspoken about building a wall, and insists he'll make Mexico pay for it. "We're going to do a wall. We're going to create a border," he said during the third Republican debate in October. Trump also made reference to the Great Wall of China, and claimed that "Mexico is going to pay for the wall." On his website, Trump reiterates his assertion that "there must be a wall across our southern border." In November, after eight Syrian Christians sought asylum and turned themselves in to officials in Laredo, Texas, Trump tweeted, "WE NEED A BIG & BEAUTIFUL WALL". ___ TED CRUZ The Texas senator pledges on his website to "build a wall that works," and to "complete the wall," though he offers no specifics as to how he would do so. ___ MARCO RUBIO The Florida senator says the most vulnerable sectors of the southwest border must be secured, according to his website. During the Republican debate in September, in response to a question, he said that "we must secure our border, the physical border, with a wall, absolutely." ___ JEB BUSH In contrast to his rivals, Bush has said he considers a massive border fence to be unnecessary. "We don't need to build a wall," he told a group of Latino business owners in September. A month before in McAllen, Texas, across the river from Reynosa, Mexico, the former governor of Florida told supporters that Trump's wall strategy "not based in reality." ___ HILLARY CLINTON At a November town hall campaign event in New Hampshire, where she was asked about securing the U.S.-Mexico border, the former New York senator and secretary of state stressed that she'd voted for the 2006 legislation that authorized the building of some 650 miles of wall. "I voted numerous times when I was a senator to spend money to build a barrier to try to prevent illegal immigrants from coming in," Clinton said, "and I do think that you have to control your borders." She later apologized for using the term "illegal immigrants." She has not said whether she would extend the wall. ___ BERNIE SANDERS The independent senator from Vermont sees the importance of securing the border, but is opposed to building a fence to do so, according to his website. "I also opposed tying immigration reform to the building of a border fence," he said during a speech in June to the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials. Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter & Instagram Ted Cruz's reputation as an arrogant, grating, in-your-face ideologue has dogged him throughout the Republican presidential race. But it hasn't stopped the Texas senator's rise. Cruz is increasingly embracing his irascible persona, trying to turn what could be a liability into an asset. "If you want someone to grab a beer with, I may not be that guy," Cruz said at a Republican debate this fall when asked to describe his biggest weakness. "But if you want someone to drive you home, I will get the job done and I will get you home." Cruz and his supporters relish his outsider status, highlighting his conflicts with fellow Republican senators. Not one has endorsed him for president. A group backing Cruz's candidacy sent out a fundraising email plea in December with the subject line "Washington hates Ted Cruz." Cruz frequently rails against the "Washington cartel," which he argues is scared that conservatives are uniting behind him, and says he's glad that "Washington elites" despise him. Cruz supporters, including some who turned up for a large rally at an evangelical church near Richmond, Virginia, in December, are embracing the abrasiveness that's caused Cruz to clash with other Republicans. "They view him as a renegade in the GOP," said Carter Cobb, 56 and retired from the Navy, from Mechanicsville, Virginia. "He doesn't toe the party line. That's what we're trying to get away from." To Cobb and others, Cruz is the only candidate willing to make anyone angry and stand up for what he believes in. "It makes me like him all the more. I've always liked people who were on the outside," said Daniel Daehlin, 51, from Richfield, Minnesota. "Ronald Reagan never got along with the establishment. They hated him in 1976 and '80. I like Mr. Smith Goes to Washington someone who goes there, speaks his mind and doesn't try to cater to the inside-the-Beltway crowd." Myra Simons, a Cruz backer from Murfreesboro, Tennessee, agrees. "Are we going to elect someone just because you can't sit across the table and have dinner with them?" Simons said. "Or are you going to stand with someone who stands with the Constitution and is serious about the trouble our country is in?" Cruz made his reputation in the Senate by refusing to compromise. He filibustered for 21 hours against President Barack Obama's health care law. The confrontational strategy he championed resulted in a 16-day partial government shutdown and alienated GOP leaders. But his reading of "Green Eggs and Ham" during that filibuster became a seminal moment for Cruz. He frequently refers to it, including in a recent television ad he ran in Iowa where he reads to his two daughters from reimagined holiday stories with a conservative bent such as "The Grinch Who Lost Her Emails." While the ad was designed to be funny, Cruz is not known for his sense of humor. Foreign Policy magazine once described him as "the human equivalent of one of those flower-squirters that clowns wear on their lapels." The national collegiate debating champion has shown his brusque side in the presidential debates, including the most recent one in Las Vegas when he refused to stop talking even as moderator Wolf Blitzer of CNN tried to shut him down. Craig Mazin, who was Cruz's freshman roommate at Princeton, went so far as to tell the Daily Beast in a 2013 interview that he would be happier with anyone other than Cruz as president. "I would rather pick somebody from the phone book," Mazin said. But Cruz has shown a lighter side that his campaign says demonstrates he's not as unlikable as his reputation suggests. Cruz acted out scenes from "The Princess Bride" during a November interview at WMUR in New Hampshire, and that clip has been watched more than 250,000 times on YouTube. After rival Donald Trump referred to Cruz as "a little bit of a maniac," the Cruz campaign tried to laugh it off by posting a video on Twitter of the song "Maniac" from the film "Flashdance." Research shows that the importance of a candidates' likability may be overrated anyway, said David Redlawsk, a Rutgers University expert in Iowa electoral politics who is spending the fall at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa. "Voters are looking for a whole range of things," Redlawsk said, "and likability is just one small part of that." Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter & Instagram next Image 1 of 2 prev Image 2 of 2 Immigration agents have begun rounding up Central American immigrants who have not complied with deportation orders, according to multiple published reports. The raids have taken place in Texas and Georgia, and mark the first of what reportedly will be a national effort by the Obama administration to crack down on Central Americans who showed up at the U.S.-Mexico border by the tens of thousands in 2014 often in family units and usually seeking political asylum. We are expecting these raids to occur on a national level since these families are all over the country, Michelle Mendez, a lawyer with Catholic Legal Immigration Network, a national immigrant-rights organization, told the Wall Street Journal. Reports began circulating in the last week of December that the administration was planning to conduct mass raids to track down and deport Central Americans who had ignored deportation orders. The reports came as the number of Central Americans seeking to enter the United States through the border rose again after having remained low for the better part of a year. Many of the immigrants, who included thousands of unaccompanied minors, told of fleeing because of rampant gang violence and poverty in Central America. Many youths said they had fled after being pressured to, as they put it, join or die gangs. Most of the families have fled from Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson defended the raids on Monday, saying they are necessary to deter migrants from illegally crossing the border. "I know there are many who loudly condemn our enforcement efforts as far too harsh, while there will be others who say these actions dont go far enough," Johnson said. "I also recognize the reality of the pain that deportations do in fact cause. But, we must enforce the law consistent with our priorities." He said his agency was simply making sure people follow federal laws. "As I have said repeatedly, our borders are not open to illegal migration," he said. "If you come here illegally, we will send you back consistent with our laws and values." Critics of the administrations handling of the border surge, which reached a peak in the summer of 2014, pointed out that migrants who were surveyed last year said they believed that anyone who managed to get into the United States would be allowed to stay. Immigration advocacy groups are assailing the administration for choosing to expel families that ended up with deportation orders, they say, only because they lacked legal counsel to make their case for political asylum. Instead of ensuring access to legal counsel and due process so eligibility for asylum can be properly determined, the federal government is sending these families back to the terror and violence they fled. America is better than this, Ali Noorani, executive director of the National Immigration Forum, told the Journal. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials in Georgia and Texas declined to comment to the newspaper about on the raids. The WSJ quoted an unnamed Department of Homeland Security official as saying, Attempting to unlawfully enter the United States as a family unit does not protect individuals from being subject to the immigration laws of this country. The repatriation of individuals with final orders of removal including families and unaccompanied minors to their home countries is part of our broader ongoing effort to address the rising surge of families and individuals arriving at our southern border, the official said. Immigration attorneys in Georgia and Texas depict the raids as overzealous, and say they do not know where many of the families were taken after being picked up by ICE agents. Charles Kuck, an attorney in Atlanta, was quoted in the Journal as saying that one mother and her three children were taken into custody when ICE agents pretending to be looking for a criminal, ... asked to enter the house to check whether he was there. Kuck added, We do not yet know where they were taken. In anticipation of the raids, scores of rights groups sent a letter to President Barack Obama last week protesting the plan to conduct mass arrests of Central Americans. In October and November, about 12,000 people, usually coming in family units, were arrested at the border. That is about three times as many as were arrested during those months in the surge year of 2014. At one point in 2014, about 10,000 Central American minors were arriving each month presenting a dilemma that the administration is eager not to relive. As with almost any aspect of immigration, the issue of the unaccompanied Central American minors became a political point of contention, with those who prefer a hard line pushing for them to be returned, and those who want more leniency saying they should be allowed to remain here. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton drew the ire of immigration advocacy groups when she said in 2014 that the children should be returned to their homelands. Meanwhile, GOP candidate Donald Trump says that the Obama administration is taking a page from his campaign promise of mass deportations to address illegal immigrants already here and to deter others from coming without permission. Democrats and President Obama are now," the GOP front-runner has said, "because of me, starting to deport people who are here illegally. Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter & Instagram Marco Rubio is lashing out at Republican rivals in a New Hampshire speech focused on national security. The Florida Republican declined to call them out by name in the Monday morning address, but said some Republican presidential candidates would weaken the nation's military and intelligence programs designed to prevent terrorism. "They talk tough," Rubio said in prepared remarks, "yet they would strip us of the ability to keep our people safe." The shot, and others like it, was a clear reference to Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul. Cruz in particular has emerged as a top competitor to Rubio with Iowa's leadoff caucuses less than a month away. Cruz has called for limits on U.S. intervention abroad, while Rubio has aligned himself with his party's national security hawks. The Florida senator is looking to strengthen the U.S. government's intelligence gathering programs at home. He also said in the Monday address he has "no qualms" about treating Americans as enemy combatants if they betray their country by refusing to disclose "actionable information" about terrorist threats. Rubio and Cruz, both Cuban-American, have engaged in a bitter back-and-forth as both senators rise in the polls. Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter & Instagram Ted Cruz's presidential campaign on Tuesday released a new television spot that features men and women in business clothes traversing rivers and sprinting through scrubland in a fictionalized version of the trip thousands of migrants take from Latin America to the U.S. Entitled "Invasion" and running in the early primary battleground state of New Hampshire, the Cruz camp says the ad hopes to make the case that the immigration in the U.S. debate "would take on a different tone if those illegally entering the country were taking the jobs of lawyers, bankers, or journalists." "I understand that when the mainstream media covers immigration, it doesn't often see it as an economic issue. But I can tell you, it is a very personal economic issue," Cruz says in the ad. "And I will say, the politics of it would be very, very different if a bunch of lawyers or bankers were coming across the Rio Grande." Cruz, a firebrand first-term senator from Texas who has recently seen his stock in the polls rise, is known as an immigration hardliner whose campaign recently outlined its approach to immigration if he won the presidency. The Texas lawmaker has vowed to complete 700 miles of fencing along the border, triple the Border Patrol staff, and bolster aerial surveillance, among other things. The senator's recent immigration announcement, however, was met with scorn by Cruz's rival, billionaire businessman Donald Trump, who has argued that Cruz is copying his own proposal. "Well, first of all, his plan just happened, OK?" Trump said during a Sunday morning interview on CBS' "Face the Nation." "In fact, I was watching the other day. And I was watching Ted talk. And he said, 'We will build a wall.' The first time I've ever heard him say it." "And my wife, who was sitting next to me, said, 'Oh, look. He's copying what you've been saying for a long period of time.'" Trump continued: "Ted Cruz is trying to step up his whole game on amnesty and on illegal immigration, because it was actually quite weak." Cruz, who has so far refrained from attacking Trump during this campaign season, has instead focused his attention on fellow senator, Marco Rubio of Florida comparing his fellow Cuban-American's immigration stance to that of President Barack Obama. "Some choose to stand with Barack Obama and (New York senator) Chuck Schumer and support amnesty," Cruz said during the final GOP debate of 2015 in December. "And some stand by (Alabama Senator) Jeff Sessions and (Iowa congressman) Steve King and the American people." Both Sessions and King are known for their strict stance toward illegal immigration. "I have never supported legalization and I do not intend to support legalization." Cruz added. Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter & Instagram Just a few weeks out from Iowas first-in-the-nation presidential contest, Hillary Clinton mindful of the bruising she got there when running for the Democratic nomination in 2008 is leaving nothing to chance. She has spent far more time in Iowa, shaking hands, holding town hall meetings, and going to gatherings in private homes, than she did when she ran against then-Sen. Barack Obama, at the time preferring to hold impersonal, less frequent event-style functions that turned off many in the Hawkeye State. "I need you," she said during a recent appearance in Iowa as she shook hands with residents and posed for selfies. And, indeed, she does need Iowa quite badly this time around. Her lead over her rival, Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, among Iowans has narrowed, from one of double-digits months ago to roughly 9 points most recently. In 2008, Clinton campaigned like an inevitability, and Iowans resented it, flocking to caucuses for the first time for many of them and choosing Obama as their choice. Clinton, in fact, came in third, behind Obama and Sen. John Edwards, of North Carolina. Obama got nearly 38 percent of the vote, Edwards got 27.7 percent and Clinton got 29.4. Now, having learned from Obamas well-organized ground infrastructure and presence in Iowa in 2008, Clinton has a solid campaign organization there, and at virtually any time, either she or a surrogate of her campaign is visible in the state. "We can't take anything for granted," Clinton said Monday night at Des Moines' State Historical Museum, a replica of a massive wooly mammoth looming off to the side as she spoke. "It doesn't happen just because we wish it. It doesn't happen because it's inevitable." I know if I get off to a good start in Iowa, were halfway home, Clinton said, according to Politico. Former President Bill Clinton was appearing in Cedar Rapids and Dubuque on Thursday on behalf of his wife, and is certain to return. Her team is also dispatching backers like Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, a top adviser during her 2008 campaign, and actress Lena Dunham of HBO's "Girls" in the coming days. "Nobody's complacent because of the 2007 and 2008 experience. This is not a done deal," said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, a former Iowa governor who introduced Clinton at events on Monday. "I like what she's doing she's reminding people what's at stake here. That's a motivating factor." Sanders lacks the kind of statewide presence in Iowa that Clinton has, though he is a favorite among younger caucus-goers. A Fox survey showed the senator leading Clinton among caucus-goers under the age of 45 by more than 30 points 56 percent to 34 percent. Clinton leads among caucus-goers older than 45 years old, who are more likely to go to the caucuses. With Sanders being led by Clinton in New Hampshire by just a few points, experts say it is particularly crucial that Clinton nail Iowa. She has been pushing her experience, and herself as having the best shot at being elected. I think Im the only candidate with the experience to fill that job description, she said at a town hall in Osage. Much of Clinton's message revolves around defending Obama's legacy. She warns that a Republican president would repeal Obama's health care law, slash taxes on the wealthy and undercut executive actions on gun violence and pollution. Part of her goal is to make a personal connection with voters over issues, as she puts it, "that keep families up at night." In Sioux City on Tuesday, she rolled out a new initiative to provide more federal resources for 3.5 million Americans with autism. Last month, she announced a $2 billion plan to address Alzheimer's during a stop in Fairfield, Iowa, and she frequently talks about substance abuse and mental health problems at events. Democrats say Sanders appears to have made a more emotional connection with his supporters. "He seems more genuine," said Dan McCarthy of Bettendorf, a defense worker who spoke about Sanders as he sat with his mother before a Clinton event in Davenport. "I don't like the idea of having the same people over and over again. You're not going to change anything." McCarthy said he was supporting the Vermont senator while his mother, Joan, said she was still assessing the Democratic field. But Clinton's argument brought at least one fence-sitter onto her side in Des Moines. "To me, it's who is more electable," said Al Hart, a retired social studies teacher from Ankeny who said he decided to support Clinton after listening to her speech at the museum. "I think she's got the fire in belly to get elected. She's been through this before." Grant Woodard, a Des Moines lawyer and veteran of several Democratic campaigns, said the size of the caucus would play a major role given Sanders' attempt to attract college students and first-time caucus-goers. Most expect it to fall somewhere between 2008's record of about 240,000 and the 125,000 who participated in 2004. "Sanders people are more motivated but I am not sure there's enough of them," Woodard said. As for Clinton, he said the challenge was simple: "How do you keep them motivated when folks think this is in the bag?" The Associated Press contributed to this report. Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter & Instagram At least 20 people swept up in last weeks immigration raids have been granted a temporary reprieve from deportation because they had not exhausted their legal options and four more families are also waiting a stay that would allow their appeals to be heard, their lawyers told Fox News Latino. Among those whose deportations were halted were three mothers and five children targeted in the raid who were pulled out of a plane Thursday morning as they were in the process of being deported to El Salvador. Those three families, who had boarded a plane in Texas, narrowly escaped deportation. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents had raided their homes last weekend during an operation that targeted adults and their children in Georgia, North Carolina and Texas, many escaping gang-related violence in their Central American homes. They had been sent to a family detention center in Dilley, Texas. But to at least eight families, including the ones pulled off the plane, the Board of Immigration Appeals halted their deportation because there were still legal avenues they had not pursued in their immigration case. Advocates say these episodes call into question how thorough the agency is to make sure they do not expel immigrants who still have a right to pursue their cases. They also say the immigrants are the victims of a legal system that has failed them. Getting a stay from the Board of Immigration Appeals is actually pretty difficult, said Laura Lichter, general counsel for the American Immigration Lawyers Association. The fact that theyve been granted and 100 percent granted is pretty significant. The sad part is there are another 100 that havent seen an attorney, that dont know they can appeal and that are most likely going to be removed that are going to face serious harm. But ICE insists that the immigrants had ample opportunities to appeal their cases before the raid and had not. So it was well within its legal justification to remove them. As of Tuesday night, 12 people (four mothers with two children each) had received temporary relief from deportation while their case was appealed. By Thursday afternoon, eight more people (two mothers with two children and one with one child) received stays. Lawyers said four more families had pending appeals as of Thursday evening. We are talking about real people who have real relief but the system has failed them, said Lichter. By January 4, ICE had detained 121 people. A total of 77 of these detainees were deported to Honduras, Guatemala and Mexico, ICE told Fox News Latino. These people had deportation orders from a judge, did not have pending appeals before the Board of Immigration Appeals and the time to file their appeals had expired,according to an ICE statement reasserting the validity of their raids. But lawyers in Dilley found that almost all the women they spoke to hadnt filed the appeals they were entitled to because, in some cases, they were poorly represented and, in others, they werent informed of subsequent steps. In these cases, deportation orders were late (generally such an action is allowed within 30 days of a judges ruling), which means that stays were granted on a case-by-case basis. Lawyers expressed dismay at the fact that ICE had placed people on a plane knowing they had filed for an appeal and a stay. We dont think any vulnerable kids and moms should be returned to the northern triangle now, said Lindsay Harris, a legal fellow with the American Immigration Council. Certainly, legally, ICE is supposed to allow all pending legal processes to play out prior to deportation. ICE would not comment on matters pending litigation but reinforced their raids. While ICE will respect any lawfully issued stays of removal, the ICE statement said, we also reserve the right to pursue any legal avenues available to us to further litigate these matters. A Kansas legislator said Thursday that he regrets sharing a post on Facebook that mocked Hispanics who speak accented English to make a derogatory comment about President Barack Obama. Rep. John Bradford, a Lansing Republican, said in a statement that sharing the post this week was "in bad taste." The posting on the Conservative Country community Facebook page featured a photo of a man wearing a sombrero and a headline, "Mexican words of the day." It then jokingly fashioned unrelated words into a mock sentence in heavily accented English that celebrated Obama's leaving office in January 2017. It also included an altered picture of the Democratic president. The posting received additional attention because Bradford was among nine GOP conservatives who last year filed a formal complaint against Democratic Rep. Valdenia Winn of Kansas City over remarks she made during a House Education Committee meeting. Winn described supporters of a bill denying in-state tuition to people who are in the U.S. illegally as "racist bigots." Several Democrats and Pedro Irigonegaray, a prominent Topeka attorney and Cuban immigrant, described Bradford's posting as racist. Irigonegaray and Kansas Senate Minority Leader Anthony Hensley, a Topeka Democrat, said the GOP-dominated House should investigate and consider disciplinary action. "Kansans should not have to tolerate this type of bigoted mentality from anyone, especially an elected official," said former state Rep. Melody McCray-Miller, the Kansas Democratic Party's vice chairwoman. The original posting was Sunday, and the Wichita Eagle reported that Bradford shared it Tuesday. Bradford removed it from his Facebook page by Thursday afternoon, but Hensley's statement included an image of Bradford's post. "I did not create the image, but I did share it, which was in bad taste. I regret that decision," Bradford said in his statement, declining to say more in a later telephone call with The Associated Press. Bradford released his statement through House Speaker Ray Merrick's office. Merrick, a Stilwell Republican, didn't issue a separate statement or respond publicly to calls for an investigation of the posting. When Bradford and other GOP conservatives filed their complaint against Winn last year, Merrick was required under the House rules to appoint a bipartisan investigating committee. Winn is black; Bradford is white, but two of the nine lawmakers filing the complaint also are black. Bradford and the other Republicans saw Winn's comments as an unfair and inappropriate criticism of committee members. In response to objections during the meeting, Winn said she was referring to "supporters" of the immigration legislation but added, "If the shoe fits, it fits." The investigating committee dismissed the complaint in June on free speech grounds. Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter & Instagram One year ago, the Cuban government began releasing 53 political prisoners that President Barack Obama wanted freed as part of a historic deal to re-establish diplomatic relations between the former Cold War foes. Obama says he could make the first visit by a sitting U.S. president to post-revolutionary Cuba as early as this spring if he thinks human rights on the island are improving and a presidential trip will help. The fates of the released dissidents show just how hard it will be for the U.S. to push human rights in Cuba in the direction the Obama administration desires. U.S. government information and an Associated Press assessment of the dissidents' lives 12 months after their release shows that at least 35 have asked for refugee status allowing them to move permanently to the U.S., reducing the ranks of an already weak and divided opposition movement. Many applications have been delayed by vetting of the dissidents' criminal records, some of which have little to do with political activity. Seven have either left Cuba for or are preparing to leave this month. Among those who remain, at least six men are back in Cuban prison on what their allies say are politically related charges. Others have abandoned activism altogether. A number of Cuban activists say the new U.S. policy of engagement focuses on diplomatic and economic ties instead of improving human rights. Others say easing tensions between the U.S. and Cuba will inevitably lead to better conditions on the island. International advocacy groups such as Amnesty International say that no matter what the United States does, it's up to Cuba to improve the island's human rights situation. "The reforms that have to be made in terms of restrictions of liberty must come from the Cuban government, not from the government of the United States," said Marselha Goncalves Margerin, Amnesty International's advocacy director for the Americas. Cuba's dissidents are viewed with skepticism by many ordinary Cubans who question their backing and motivation. The government historically has characterized them as U.S.-backed mercenaries and for decades has quashed any attempts to organize independent resistance to the single-party state founded by Fidel Castro and run by his brother, Raul. Cuban officials did not respond to requests for comment on how the freed dissidents are faring. In a statement Thursday night, the State Department said: "?We have publicly called for the release of political prisoners and others jailed for exercising their internationally recognized freedoms in Cuba, and will continue to do so." It added that the U.S. Embassy has been in contact with many of those freed last year. Among those back behind bars is Wilberto Parada, who was arrested for public disorder in October when he protested in front of a prosecutor's office in Havana. Vladimir Morera, from the central province of Villa Clara, has been jailed since May on charges of assault. Fellow dissidents said he held a weekslong hunger strike that ended last month. Another freed government opponent, Carlos Manuel Figueroa Alvarez, was charged with jumping the fence protecting the U.S. Embassy to claim refugee status after he said he was denied a refugee visa in September. Figueroa is now held on Cuban charges of violating a diplomatic site. Angel Yunier Remon, a rapper from the eastern province of Granma, said he also was denied refugee status despite being named by the State Department several times as a victim of political repression before he was freed in January 2015. "I'd never opted for refugee status, but government aggression made me feel like an enemy in my own land," Remon said by telephone. Remon said the U.S. Embassy gave him a document that recognized him as worthy of refugee status, but said he was "non-admissible" to the United States. He said an embassy employee told him that was because of a robbery conviction he had before becoming a political activist. U.S. officials says that most of the 53 political prisoners who have applied for refugee status are likely to receive it and that those who complain about delays may be misinterpreting normal processing times as problems with their applications. They remain eligible for refugee status, the officials said. Several of the freed dissidents nonetheless complain they have waited for months to hear from U.S. consular officials, saying they are at risk of harassment while still in Cuba. "I was very grateful for Obama's effort to free me in January, but now I'm upset about the wait," said Sandalio Mejias, who said he recently was notified of his second appointment, next month, to present documents supporting an a request for refugee status filed nearly a year ago. About 20 of the freed dissidents have decided not to leave, some because they've abandoned political activism. But others want to stay and work to change the government. "Our commitment is here," said Jose Daniel Ferrer, leader of the Patriotic Union of Cuba, a group based in the country's east. "We do a lot to make our members aware of that, so that they don't leave." Along with the freeing the dissidents last year, the U.S. has said it's trying to improve conditions for Cubans by increasing American trade and travel to the island and encouraging Havana to improve telecommunications and the flow of information to one of the world's least-connected countries. American officials say Cuba's opening of at least 58 public Wi-Fi hotspots nationwide shows its new policy is working, even though Cuban officials don't describe the new Internet facilities as a result of detente. Meanwhile, U.S. officials privately express concerns about a reverse in Cuba's policy of granting greater freedoms for its people in recent years. The government decided late last year to prevent thousands of medical specialists from leaving the country even for brief vacations without the Health Ministry's permission. The move came after a flood of doctors began leaving Cuba last year as part of a broader exodus sparked by fears that better relations with the U.S. could end special Cold War migration privileges for Cubans. Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter & Instagram Sen. Marco Rubio is not taking New Jersey Gov. Chris Christies putdowns of him lightly. The Florida Republican, whom Christie said this week will not be able to slime his way to the White House, said on Thursday that the governor is weak on guns, has contributed to Planned Parenthood, and is not all that different than President Barack Obama when it comes to a whole host of issues. Chris Christie has supported Common Core, and in fact has badmouthed Republicans that oppose it, Rubio said in an interview on Fox Business Network. Chris Christie has supported gun control. Chris Christie supported an assault weapons ban. Its the reason why he got into politics to begin with. I just dont think this country can afford to elect a president that will not stand up and undo the damage Barack Obama has done to this country, Rubio continued. This is an issue-based disagreement, its not personal. But its significant, its important in this election. We cant get this election wrong." Its the latest in a war of words between Rubio and Christie, who are gearing up for the first presidential contests that are fast approaching. Iowa will have its caucuses on Feb. 1, and New Hampshire will have its primary two weeks after that. Sen. Ted Cruz, of Texas, and billionaire Donald Trump, lead the pack in polls of Iowa Republican caucus-goers. In New Hampshire, surveys of Republicans likely to participate in the primary show Rubio, Cruz and Christie hovering around third and fourth place. Coming in second or third in New Hampshire would help boost Christies image in the race as a serious player. He has not fared well in polls of GOP voters nationwide. A spokesman for the super PAC backing Rubio, Conservative Solutions, was quoted in the National Review as saying that Christie has the ability to alter or to affect who becomes the Republican nominee. The super PAC is airing ads in New Hampshire taking aim at Christie. Christie has hit Rubio hard, particularly this week. He said that a general election that would include Rubio facing Hillary Clinton would almost certainly mean a loss for Republicans. Hes never been in a tough race in his life, Christie said. Christie spokeswoman Samantha Smith told FOXBusiness.com that Rubios criticism highlighted his lack of political experience. "This is the difference between a senator and an executive, she said. While Senator Rubio has no doubt given some nice speeches on these issues, Governor Christie has vetoed on Planned Parenthood funding, ended Common Core in New Jersey, and protected the rights of gun owners." Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter & Instagram Texas Sen. Ted Cruz said Thursday that fellow Sen. John McCain is calling for an exploration of his right to run for president because he intends to endorse Marco Rubio in the race. McCain on Wednesday said questions about Cruz's eligibility due to his being born in Canada should be explored, keeping the issue alive after Donald Trump raised concerns about it earlier in the week. Cruz has dismissed the issue, saying it's part of the political "silly season" as Iowa's Feb. 1 caucuses near. "Everybody knows that John McCain is going to endorse Marco Rubio," Cruz said before a town hall meeting in an airplane hangar in Webster City, Iowa. "Their foreign policies are almost identical. Their immigration policies are identical. And so it's no surprise people supporting other candidates in this race are going to jump on with the silly attacks that occur as we get closer and closer to election day." Speaking on the Chris Merrill Show in Phoenix late Wednesday, McCain said concerns raised by Republican front-runner Donald Trump over whether Cruz can be president are legitimate. "I think there is a question," McCain said. "I am not a constitutional scholar on that. But I think it's worth looking into. I don't think it's illegitimate to look into it." Cruz was born in Alberta, Canada to an American mother and Cuban father. He renounced his Canadian citizenship in 2014. McCain himself was born on a military base in the Panama Canal, an issue raised during his 2008 presidential run against Barack Obama, whose American birth was doubted by some, leading to failed legal challenges. "That's different from being born on foreign soil," McCain said of his own situation, noting that the Panama Canal was an unorganized territory of the United States for much of the 20th century. At a campaign stop in Iowa on Wednesday, Cruz said it is "quite straightforward and settled law that the child of a U.S. citizen born abroad is a natural born citizen." "John McCain was born in Panama, but he was a natural born citizen because his parents were U.S. citizens," Cruz added. Both men used the example of Barry Goldwater, the Republican party's nominee for president in 1964, as an example to defend their claims. Goldwater was born in Arizona before it became a state, but both of his parents held U.S. citizenship, allowing him to run. Cruz on Thursday also said he would not seek a declaratory judgment from a judge to clear up any question about his eligibility given his Canadian birth. Trump has suggested Cruz seek such a judgment. "It's not anything that's going to happen and I'm not going to be taking legal advice any time soon from Donald Trump," Cruz said. Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter & Instagram Self-described as a policy nerd and tagged as "low energy" by Donald Trump, Jeb Bush is reaching deeper to show voters the man inside as he fights for his political survival ahead of New Hampshire's Republican presidential primary. Bush is speaking more passionately at campaign stops, and not just in outrage toward Trump, the bombastic billionaire leading the GOP in national polls. He's offering a closer look inside his heart chiefly as the father of a former drug addict than he has over the past year in his unexpectedly difficult campaign for the presidency. "What I learned was that the pain that you feel when you have a loved one who has addiction challenges and kind of spirals out of control is something that is shared with a whole lot of people," Bush told about 300 addiction recovery advocates Tuesday at a conference near Manchester. New Hampshire has become a center of the nation's renewed battle with heroin. Bush's elaboration about the ordeal that he says put his family "through hell" came as the one-time front-runner showed renewed confidence campaigning in New Hampshire. He was talking about his daughter, Noelle, who was arrested in 2002, accused of trying to fill a fraudulent prescription for Xanax, a powerful anti-anxiety medication. The arrest was a public spectacle for Bush, then a first-term governor of Florida planning to seek re-election. He has mentioned the episode briefly during the current campaign, among the precious few personal struggles he divulges about his very public family. In May, he mentioned the difficulty of having a loved one suffering dementia, a reference to his wife's elderly mother. With his daughter's ordeal long past, Bush said he called Noelle this week to seek her permission to discuss its impact on him. Though the wonkish Bush made certain to point out the drug treatment policy enacted during his tenure as governor, he also said the public exposure enlightened him about the plight of others. "I could be at a chamber of commerce event, and someone would look at me," Bush said. "I could look them in the eyes and know that, as a mom or a dad or a spouse, that they were going through the same things." Far from unrestrained, it was simply a glimpse at Bush's inner reflection, seldom seen as his highly anticipated campaign steered into uncertainty. Beth Myers, 2012 GOP nominee Mitt Romney's campaign manager, said it's a sign that Bush has "found his footing." "He's confident and comfortable talking about the serious issues that interest New Hampshire voters, even when those issues touch him personally," said Myers, who is not affiliated with any 2016 campaigns. Bush said often last year that people knew him as the son of former President George H.W. Bush and brother of former President George W. Bush, "but I'm going to have to show who I am, show my heart." And yet he seldom went further than offering the story of meeting his wife-to-be while traveling in her native Mexico as an exchange student in high school. Asked about discussing his daughter's ordeal, Bush told reporters, "It's not easy, no." "We went through hell." Other candidates have compelling personal stories they tell with passion. Former tech company CEO Carly Fiorina, who also attended the addiction forum, has talked about losing her stepdaughter Lori to a drug overdose in 2009. Florida Sen. Marco Rubio talks with pride of his upbringing by Cuban-born parents. And while Bush shares little about his life in a dynastic Republican family, he has become more passionate with the anecdotes he shares about his time as governor. Speaking in Dover, he shook his head in frustration discussing the plight of single mothers in Florida when he became governor. "It's not a pretty one," he said grimly. In Peterborough, he held a clenched fist to his chest as he described a high school senior's struggle with basic math on a graduation test prior to education policy changes he enacted. "I cannot tell you how that angered me," he said. Voters have noticed. "I think he's very sincere," said John Polychronis, who asked Bush during a campaign stop about young people's declining faith in government. "It's clear he focuses on what you're saying." Bush's contempt for Trump bubbled over Wednesday when he was asked by New Hampshire voter Tom Emanuel to explain why he called his GOP rival "a jerk" last month. Bush, who often discusses action he took improving care for Florida's disabled, lashed out at Trump for mocking a New York Times reporter who is disabled during a campaign event last year. "When anybody anybody disparages people with disabilities, it sets me off," Bush said. "At what point do we say, enough of this!" Bush's remarks were punctuated by a spontaneous and rare, if more common this week, burst of applause. Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter & Instagram Facing rising outrage among its allies, the White House on Friday defended its deportation policies and suggested it had no plans to shift course after a series of holiday-season raids seeking Central American immigrants angered activists and Democratic lawmakers. President Barack Obama was aware of the outrage over the raids, White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters Friday, but "the enforcement strategy and priorities that the administration has articulated are not going to change." Earnest said the raids reflected the administration's top priorities for deportation people with criminal convictions and people caught crossing the U.S.-Mexico border illegally. Homeland Security officials have said the raids targeted 121 people with final order of removal. The raids riled some Democratic lawmakers and activists, groups long critical of the administration's deportation policies. Lawmakers said the searches were ill-timed and disruptive, spreading fear across immigrant communities and breaking apart families. White House officials met Thursday with lawmakers on Capitol Hill to try to quell the criticism, with no apparent success. On Friday, No. 2 House Democrat Rep. Steny Hoyer of Maryland, who earlier in the week struck a cautious tone when questioned on the raids, appeared at a press conference with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus to denounce them. "We need to respect our values, and those are not the actions that ought to be followed," Hoyer said. He said the raids "were presumably designed to send a message to those in Central America, but ... sent a terrifying message to those here in America." The deportations come amid concerns that growing immigration from Central America may be signaling a repeat of the crisis of 2014, when a surge of women, children and families stole headlines and consumed Congress' attention. Leaders of the Hispanic Caucus called on the administration to halt the raids and said they had requested a meeting with Obama to discuss getting temporary protected status for those targeted. Lawmakers insisted the people in question should be viewed not as immigrants but as refugees, fleeing horrific violence in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras. "This must stop and it must stop today," said Rep. Nydia Velazquez of New York. "Immigrants and their families are terrorized. ... These are some of the most vulnerable members of society and we are treating them like criminals." Earnest said the administration's policies follow due process, allowing immigrants to make asylum claims and to exhaust their legal options. But the lawmakers argued that not all the immigrants had been properly represented. "Instead of deporting these people we should be fixing our broken asylum system," said Rep. Linda Sanchez of California, the Hispanic Caucus chairwoman. "It has caused this wave of terror." Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter & Instagram Ted Cruz relishes his role as Washington insurgent and tea party agitator, but today's political outsider built much of his career around being a GOP insider thriving in powerful circles he now says he'd like to dismantle. A Princeton graduate and Harvard-trained attorney, Cruz clerked for Chief Justice William Rehnquist at the Supreme Court the very court he now accuses of "judicial tyranny." While working as a Washington lawyer in 1998, Cruz represented one of his future Capitol Hill nemeses, John Boehner. He helped get George W. Bush elected president in 2000 before the Bush White House enraged conservative activists by running up federal deficits. His first political appointment back home came in 2003. Texas' then-Attorney General Greg Abbott saw in Cruz a hungry young attorney who would enforce his own vision for conservative legal governance, luring him back from Washington to be state solicitor general. "The first time I ever heard his name was from a longtime party establishment person," says Dale Huls, a suburban Houston tea party activist, referring to an area Republican precinct chair. Now Huls is preparing to campaign for Cruz in Iowa. Like many supporters, he says he doesn't hold Cruz's non-outsider past against him because "he has not disappointed us one single time" since being elected. ' "You take your experience from the times you were living," Huls says. "At that time, Bush was the guy. I voted for Bush twice." Cruz's unforeseen 2012 Senate victory got a $5.5 million bump from the Club for Growth, a small-government activist group based not in his home state, but Washington. Despite his insider resume, he got the backing of conservative grass-roots activists who helped him tap into the emerging tea party wave. The experience helped show him the power of being an uncompromising conservative and a political insurgent was born. As senator, Cruz has lived up to that billing, helping shut down the government and accusing his own party's Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, of lying. Bob Larson, who recently heard Cruz speak in the Iowa town of Humboldt, said the senator's past work in elite circles helped him be more effective battling the system today. "I think he has learned from those and learned to do the right thing for what the people need," said Larson, a 66-year-old farmer. While campaigning, Cruz emphasizes his battles with what he calls the "Washington cartel." "When you've been walking the walk, it is evident from every step of the way," Cruz said this week in Sibley, when asked how voters could be sure he wouldn't go to Washington and be "corrupted." "Every candidate in this race talks about how they're going to stand up to Washington," he said. "The natural follow-up is OK, when have you stood up to Washington?" Before he even got to Washington, Cruz's Senate campaign victory shook the Texas' GOP establishment when he bested 9-year Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, who'd been endorsed by nearly every statewide officeholder. Because of Cruz's support from the Club for Growth and other Washington-based conservative groups, the Dewhurst campaign tried unsuccessfully to suggest Cruz would be co-opted by "D.C. insiders." "He had a bunch of Washington jobs and worked for a while for the state government, we tried all that," said Dave Carney, a GOP strategist who helped run Dewhurst's campaign. "Your resume has something to do with it, but it's more your attitude, your vision." Pressure from Cruz allies and some of the U.S. House's most-conservative wing helped push Boehner to resign as House Speaker, and Boehner called the Texas senator a "false prophet." But Cruz had served as Boehner's attorney in 1998, when the Ohio Republican sued a Democratic colleague over the release of a recorded phone conversation. Mike Carvin, who was then one of Cruz's bosses at the Cooper, Carvin & Rosenthal law firm, praised Cruz's early work in the case, which Boehner eventually won in 2008. "We knew some folks in the Bush campaign and Ted did as well," said Carvin, who said Cruz went to work there "with our blessing and support." Cruz was a domestic policy adviser to Bush's 2000 presidential run, then was an associate deputy U.S. attorney general and worked with the Federal Trade Commission. Abbott, then Texas' attorney general and now governor, tapped Cruz as solicitor general in 2003 and he argued before the Supreme Court eight times. Cruz has spent much of his life revering the high court, but after its rulings on the health care law and same-sex marriage last summer, he suggested its justices had "crossed from the realm of activism into the arena of oligarchy." While that may look like a political about-face to some, others aren't worried that his background could undermine his insurgent credibility. "The reason they say he's an outsider is because he doesn't agree with the way things are done," said Curtis Stover, 55, of Fort Dodge. Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter & Instagram Donald Trump taunted fellow Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz over his eligibility to be president on Saturday, offering the following response to Cruz's instance that he's a natural born citizen: "You're not." "You can't have a person running for office, even though Ted is very glib and he goes out and he says, 'Oh, well, I'm a natural born citizen.' The point is, you're not," Trump said during a rally in Clear Lake, Iowa. "I mean, you've got to get a declaratory judgement, you have to have the courts come up with a ruling or you have a candidate who just cannot run because the other side will immediately bring suit and you've got that cloud on your head." Cruz, who has long maintained there is no issue with his Canadian birth since his mother was a U.S. citizen, repeated Saturday that "the laws and facts are quite straightforward." The Constitution says only a "natural born citizen" may be president. Legal scholars generally agree the description covers foreign-born children of U.S. parents. "I understand that a lot of candidates in the field are dismayed. They're dismayed because they're seeing conservatives uniting behind our campaign," Cruz told reporters Saturday night before the 28th and final campaign stop of a six-day swing through Iowa. "As that happens you're seeing candidates trying to throw whatever rocks they can. That's fine, that's their prerogative. I like Donald Trump, I respect Donald Trump, he's welcome to toss whatever attacks he wants." The comments were the latest sign that the delicate detente between the Texas senator and the billionaire businessman on display last year has been shattered as Cruz has jumped ahead of Trump in polls in Iowa, which holds its leadoff caucuses Feb. 1. Trump late last year began efforts to undermine Cruz, questioning the senator's religion and accusing him at recent events of stealing his idea to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. The intensity escalated this past week when Trump questioned whether the Canadian-born Cruz was eligible to be president. On Saturday, Trump lashed out at Cruz on multiple fronts at a rally in Ottumwa, expressing bafflement that he's not beating Cruz in Iowa polls to a packed, 665-person capacity auditorium, with many more voters crowded into an overflow room. "The polls are essentially tied. I don't get it," Trump said in the first of several references to Cruz. The billionaire also attacked Cruz's apparent shift on ethanol subsidies, the influence of wealthy campaign donors and renewed questions about the Texas senator's Canadian birth. "He's got to straighten out his problem," Trump said just two minutes into his address. "You can't have that problem and go and be the nominee." The rhetoric intensified later in the day, when a Trump delivered a second, saltier speech at a rally in Clear Lake. "You cannot put someone there, folks, that's going to go in and he's going to be immediately sued by the Democrats because they're saying he was born in Canada, he's not allowed to run for president," Trump said of Cruz, who renounced his Canadian citizenship in 2014. Trump again called on Cruz to get a court judgment about his ballot status advice Cruz has rejected before suggesting the issue would cost Cruz the nomination. "I don't want to win this way," he said. "I want to win fair and square." Up until now, Cruz has been careful not to take on Trump directly. But he appeared to offer a counterpunch on Friday, when he suggested that Trump wasn't devoting the time and energy to wooing Iowa voters that history shows is needed to win. "There is an Iowa way of campaigning and deciding caucuses," Cruz told supporters packed into a basement of a pizza restaurant in Decorah. "I believe the only way to compete and win in the state of Iowa is to come and spend the time asking the voters for their support. Looking them in the eye." "You come here, you have the humility to stand before the men and women of this state and answer your questions," he said in a Charles City coffee shop Friday when the question came up again. With Trump in Iowa for the first time in the new year, Iowans were also seeing a sharp contrast between the grinding Iowa campaign of Cruz and the splashy mega-rallies that have become as much Trump's brand as his gilded hotels. Both have attracted overflow crowds: Trump at large halls and stadiums; Cruz in countless coffee shops, convenience stores, churches and diners. While Trump's style marks a break from tradition, his campaign says he's able to reach far more potential voters than candidates at smaller events can do. Campaign manager Corey Lewandowski said earlier in the week that Trump has a series of stops planned for the next three weeks leading to the caucuses, including multiple overnight stays. "Next couple of weeks, I'm going to be seeing you so much that you're going to be so sick of me," Trump said in Clear Lake. Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter & Instagram A formerly homeless veteran from Las Vegas will sit in first lady Michelle Obama's visitor box during the State of the Union address Tuesday night. Cynthia Dias, 64, served during the Vietnam War on a hospital ship as a registered nurse and attributed her years of homelessness to post-traumatic stress disorder. About a year ago, Dias says, she was able to move from a homeless shelter for women and children into a former motel in downtown Las Vegas that was renovated through private donations to provide 122 units of housing for veterans. While staying in Veterans Village, residents like Dias get access to health care, job training and counseling. The Obama administration is highlighting a challenge that the first lady and Jill Biden, the vice president's wife, issued for local leaders to do more to end veteran homelessness in 2015. Las Vegas responded to the call, and city leaders say they have enough services and programs in place to house every homeless veteran. Dias said she's in shock from Mrs. Obama's invitation and hopes people will think about her survival when they see her. "I survived and I'm thriving here at Veterans Village," Dias said. "For me, it's been a heaven-sent gift to be among other veterans who are suffering from PTSD," she said. "The camaraderie that veterans have for one another, it's better medication than the anti-depressants." The founder of Veterans Village, Arnold Stalk, said it's important to get veterans off the street first and into a stable environment. Once that happens, it's easier to provide the health care and other support they'll need to live in a home permanently. Dias will join two other Obama guests, early supporters who the president says provided early inspiration to his campaign. Edith Childs, of Greenwood, South Carolina, met Obama at a rally in her state in June 2007. Obama credits her with coining the "Fired up! Ready to go!" call-and-response that became a rallying cry for both of his White House bids. Another guest, Earl Smith, was head of security at an Austin hotel when he met Obama in February 2008. He gave Obama a military patch he had carried with him for 40 years; Obama carried it with him for the rest of the campaign. Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter & Instagram Democratic presidential hopefuls Bernie Sanders and Martin O'Malley used a liberal forum in Iowa on Saturday to rail against holiday-season raids seeking Central American immigrants for deportation. Before about 1,000 people packed into a Des Moines church, Sanders said that while he works closely with President Barack Obama, "I do not agree with him on his policy toward deportation." And O'Malley bemoaned the timing of the raids, stating that "Jesus himself was a refugee child." Both candidates had previously criticized the raids, which first became public when The Washington Post published a story about the plans just before Christmas. The White House defended the policies Friday. Obama spokesman Josh Earnest said the raids reflected the administration's top priorities for deportation people with criminal convictions and people caught crossing the U.S.-Mexico border illegally. But critics said the searches were ill-timed and disruptive for families. Offering support for comprehensive immigration reform at the Putting Families First Presidential Forum, Sanders and O'Malley also slammed Republican front-runner Donald Trump over his statements about Muslims. O'Malley, a former governor of Maryland, called Trump an "immigrant-bashing carnival barker." Sanders, a U.S. senator for Vermont, said he would "do everything I can to stand up to the Donald Trumps of the world and their bigotry and their xenophobia." Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton leads the polls in the leadoff caucus state, with Sanders coming in second and O'Malley lagging far behind. Clinton did not attend the forum. In a statement released after the plan became public, Clinton spokeswoman Xochitl Hinojosa said Clinton "believes the United States should give refuge to people fleeing persecution. ... She believes we should not be conducting large-scale raids and roundups that sow fear and division in our communities." Clinton has campaigned heavily in Iowa, but some in the crowd of liberal activists were not pleased that she did not join them. At one point some people began to chant "Where is Clinton?" Sanders and O'Malley both offered a variety of proposals to support the middle class. O'Malley pledged to increase federal investment in transportation and affordable housing. Sanders said he'd like to see basic banking services offered at post offices to help people avoid predatory lending. Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter & Instagram From the political left to political right. Front-runner to last place. Every pundit, party head and politician in this hectic and harried presidential campaign has espoused the importance of Latino voters to winning the nomination and ultimately the White House. While there are Latino voters in every state on the union, political observers argue that Texas, Florida, Nevada and Colorado states where the white vote is expected to be split between a number of candidates during the primaries is where Hispanics will help decide who is on the ballot this year. "Latino voters are virtually insignificant in the primary races unless there is a split among white voters," Luis Fraga, a professor of political science at the University of Notre Dame, told Fox News Latino. In Texas, polling currently indicates a showdown in the Republican primary between Sen. Ted Cruz and real estate mogul Donald Trump when Lone Star state voters cast their ballots on Super Tuesday. The latest University of Texas/Texas Tribune poll has Cruz and Trump in a dead heat with each holding 27 percent of the vote, while former neurosurgeon Ben Carson sits in a distant third at 19 percent. Cruz, who represents Texas in the U.S. Senate and draws strong support from the state's conservative base, looks to split the vote with Trump thanks to the magnate's growing backing of the Tea Party in Texas making the 30 percent or so of Republican Latinos who vote in the primary a big factor come March 1. While in many places with the right demographic a Latino last name is enough to edge someone to victory, experts say that Cruz's strict stance on immigration and other issues important to Hispanics cancels out his Cuban heritage at the polls. "Cruz's background does not have the appeal to voters in Texas like Marco Rubio does in Florida," Fraga said. Florida is another state where Latinos are deemed crucial in the Republican primary race, given the changing demographics of its Cuban-American population and the recent influx of Puerto Ricans fleeing the territory's economic woes. Recent poll data from Florida Atlantic University has Trump holding a commanding lead of 31.5 percent among prospective voters in the Sunshine state, but analysts say that Rubio who is currently in second with 19.2 percent of the vote could pull of a win in his home state with the help of Latino voters. With 471,000 registered Republican Latino voters out the total 4.2 million Republicans in Florida, Rubio stands to benefit from the disdain many Hispanics feel for Trump following his notorious immigration comments and Florida Gov. Jeb Bush's failure to make a strong comeback. "A lot of people are divided over who they'll vote for," said Evelyn Perez-Verdia, a political analyst and founder of Political Pasion. "This is not going to be an easy race for Rubio, but if it comes down to him being one of the final candidates in a close race, he will win." Three time zones away in Nevada, there is broad agreement that the burgeoning Hispanic population paired with its newly vested importance as an early voting state has many analysts and insiders warning candidates that, if they hope to lock down the Silver state, they have to listen to the concerns of Hispanic voters namely on topics such as immigration reform, jobs and education. "Nevada is a microcosm of what is happening in the U.S.," David Damore, a political science professor at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas and a researcher for Latino Decisions, told FNL. "That means increased diversification and increased urbanization." While the most visible candidate in Nevada has been Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton setting up her ground game early and racking up big time endorsements from powerful unions the GOP candidates are starting to ramp it up in a state that is nearly 28 percent Latino. Analysts note that they are making a more concerted effort than they did in the past, hosting town hall and neighborhood meetings, and making multiple visits to the state. But they say the grassroots efforts evident in the Clinton camp, and to a lesser extent other Democratic candidates, is not there yet among Republicans. "Jeb Bush is making a good effort here and so is Marco Rubio," Fernando Romero, the founder of Hispanics in Politics told FNL. "But even Bush and Rubio the two best candidates for Latinos are not doing enough outreach right now to win over the Latino vote." Marco Rubio is increasingly portraying immigration as a national security issue rather than a question of what to do with millions of people in the country illegally, a sign of his evolving stance on a topic that remains one of his liabilities with conservative voters. "The issue is not the same one we had a few years ago," Rubio told voters recently in New Hampshire. "This issue's different now; we have radical jihadist groups that are using our immigration system against us." As he seeks to emerge as a top contender in the GOP's crowded presidential field, Rubio still finds himself explaining his past support for an immigration overhaul bill that included a path to citizenship. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, one of his chief rivals, tries to use the bill to brand Rubio as too soft on the issue. And on the campaign trail, Rubio is often asked about immigration, either by skeptical voters or those simply seeking an explanation of where he stands. "He still hasn't made up with me yet regarding the Gang of Eight," said David Merritt, a Massachusetts voter who came to see Rubio in Atkinson, New Hampshire. Merritt's comments refer to the immigration bill Rubio co-authored. "I'm not 100 percent sure that I trust him," Merritt said. The overhaul bill passed the Senate, with Rubio's help, but he later backed off the proposal as it began to draw fire from the conservative right. Asked to explain, he says he now favors a one-piece-at-a-time approach. He says the federal government needs to boost border security and modernize the legal immigration system before it deals with the 11 million people here illegally. He says the government must do better at tracking the millions who overstay visas and must make mandatory the e-verify system, an Internet-based program that allows employers to check the eligibility of prospective employees through federal databases. But in recent weeks, Rubio also has shifted the conversation, starting the immigration segment of his stump speech by painting gaps in the U.S.-Mexico border and the existing legal immigration system as a national security threat. And he's taken to telling voters that the Islamic State group is actively recruiting fighters to send to the United States posing as doctors, students and investors. "Radical jihadist groups, the same people who carried out the attacks in Paris, who inspired the attacks in California, are trying to use our immigration system against us," Rubio said Thursday to a crowd packed into a Bedford home. "They've already gotten someone into this country as a fiancee," he said, referring to Tashfeen Malif, the wife accused in the California shootings. A Pakistani citizen, she was allowed into the country in 2014 to marry a U.S. citizen. The FBI said after the shooting that Malif and her husband had been radicalized for some time, but the FBI also said recently there's no evidence of outside actors in coordinating the shooting. Rubio says if the government doesn't know "100 percent" who someone is or why they are coming into the United States, they won't be allowed in under his administration. "This has become a national security issue, and when an issue changes, so must your policies," he said. But Rubio's stance on immigration was fluid long before the Islamic State was a concern. As Florida's House speaker in 2008, Rubio came under fire from GOP colleagues for not bringing several bills aimed at discouraging illegal immigration to the House floor for a vote, including bills to increase employer verification requirements and require police to report those suspected of being in the country illegally. He began to shift rightward when he ran for the Senate in 2010 as a tea party favorite, pledging to oppose any legislation that would grant amnesty to the millions here illegally. Pressed about what to do with millions already here illegally, Rubio said then that they would return to their homelands and re-enter once the federal government enforced a legal immigration system "that works." He also opposed a 2007 comprehensive immigration reform bill authored by Sen. John McCain because it included "amnesty" for millions. Yet the bill he helped craft in 2013 included a path to citizenship. Rubio's shifting stance isn't a problem for some voters. Cindy Coutu of Bedford considers immigration a top concern, and she appreciates his focus on the issue from a national security perspective. "Who's coming in? Who are you? Where are you from? Let's get a better idea, and then start dealing with who is already here," she said. "That makes sense." Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter & Instagram Last but not least, a federal judge has become Barack Obama's final remaining nominee to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate to the federal appeals court bench. Luis Felipe Restrepo was nominated by the president to the U.S. Court of Appeals on Nov. 12, 2014. On Monday, 400 days later, the Senate confirmed him by an 82-6 vote, which makes him the first Hispanic appeals court judge in the 3rd Circuit in Pennsylvania. The delay also highlights the lengthy wait many of Obama's nominees have faced, and the slow pace of confirmations since Republicans retook control of the Senate last year. Restrepo, 55, was born in Medellin, Colombia, and was brought to the U.S. at the age of 2. He has served as a district court judge since 2013, but his elevation to the appeals court was delayed after Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pennsylvania, withheld his approval, and GOP leaders subsequently delayed a floor vote. "Judge Restrepo exemplifies the kind of consensus nominee that should have been easily confirmed," said Patrick Leahy, D-Vermont, who reminded his colleagues that he moved 40 of former President George W. Bush's nominees when chairing the Judiciary Committee in 2007-2008. "This highly qualified Hispanic judge was told to go to the back of the line, wait 14 months. It's wrong. It's absolutely wrong." Nine appeals court vacancies remain, but Obama has yet to nominate people for those posts. Dozens of district court judgeships are open as well. Thirty of Obama's nominees for those posts are awaiting confirmation. The vacancy rate for the federal judiciary remains above levels experienced under George W. Bush, but it's dropped below the number during Obama's first term. Many of those, however, went through before Republicans took control of the Senate. In 2014, then-majority Democrats rewrote the chamber's filibuster rules and rammed through 89 nomination, almost double the amount approved the previous year, and the most since President Bill Clinton's second year in office. When 2015 opened, there were just 40 vacancies out of 852 authorized federal appeals and trial judges. Last year, the GOP-led chamber confirmed 11 federal judges, the least in recent memory. Democrats have cried foul, suggesting the pace is dictated by electoral politics. "It's glacial," says New York Sen. Chuck Schumer, one of the Democrats' point men on judges. "It's for the partisan purpose of hoping for a Republican president." It is true that the number of vacancies has risen, but it is still below the situation confronting Obama in his first year in office in 2009. Vacancies spiked that year as more judges stepped down after Democrats retook the White House and as the Obama White House moved slowly on nominating replacements. Confirmations such federal courts are lifetime appointments, an issue that has long been a flash-point in an increasingly polarized Washington. Almost a decade before the 2014 struggle over new rules that divided the Senate, a spate of Democratic filibusters of President George W. Bush's judicial nominees led GOP leaders to explore the same "nuclear option" to get its nominees confirmed, but a bipartisan compromise diffused the fight. Democrats note that they confirmed many more judges 40 in the seventh year of Bush's presidency than Republicans confirmed last year. "The analogy is the last two years of the Bush administration," Schumer said. "And we confirmed many more." There's little doubt that the hardball tactics employed by Democrats in 2014 are part of the reason confirmations dropped last year. The process typically requires the Senate to agree unanimously to schedule a vote if a confirmation is to occur, and the chamber is stocked with Republicans opposed to Obama. Senate leaders have agreed that four more judges will be confirmed over the next few weeks. Since more than two-thirds of the vacancies are in states with at least one GOP senator, it's likely that at least a few more nominees will get a vote before the process virtually shuts down for an election year. Based on reporting by the Associated Press. Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter & Instagram Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz had harsh words for two protestors and the media after being interrupted on Monday during a Second Amendment rally in New Hampshire. Each protestor, who walked on stage at different times, addressed the crowd. One asked the crowd at the gun rights rally, "What made everyone so weird and sad that they had to come out?" Both were quickly escorted off stage. Cruz took an opportunity after the interruptions to mock liberal stances on gun control and to go after Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders. The latest polls have the senator from neighboring Vermont currently in the lead against Hillary Clinton in the Granite State and catching up with her nationally. "Its almost like did he not get the memo, "'Live free or die.' Am I right?" Cruz said, referencing the New Hampshire state motto, according to The Hill. "Its not 'Live coddled by a bunch of nanny-state liberals who want to control every aspect of your life or die,'" he added. "Its almost like the Bernie Sanders's guys are scared. The Bern-istas are out in force." After noticing that one of the protestors was speaking to reporters gathered at the event, Cruz went on to harangue the media for what he sees as its liberal bias. "The little protestor, notice our friends in the media. Our friends in the media gather around the lefties that want to strip our rights, apparently because those are their values," Cruz said. "Look, it is not news that there are liberals who want to take away our guns. It is, in fact, the case that reporters agree with them." Cruzs Second Amendment rally came only hours before Pres. Barack Obama took the stage for his final State of the Union address, where many thought the president would make gun control a hallmark of his address. Obama, however, did not dwell on his gun control initiative in his address. His only reference to the issue was a six-word call for progress on "protecting our kids from gun violence." He sandwiched it in between calls for fixing immigration and ensuring equal pay for women. Obama's address to a joint session of Congress comes just one week after he unveiled a series of unilateral actions to reduce gun violence, including an attempt to expand background checks. That plan has drawn consternation from Republicans in Congress and gun rights groups. The president has also renewed his call for Congress to pass new gun laws a long shot in an election year. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter & Instagram The race for who will succeed retiring Sen. Harry Reid is one of the most intense in the nation, with Republicans and Democrats both confident that their preferred candidate can snatch a victory. Democrats are hoping that their candidate, former Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto, will motivate Latinos to go to the polls in large numbers out of an eagerness to see the nations first Latina senator. She has, of course, received the support of Reid, who holds considerable sway in the state, particularly among Latinos. Nevada is one of a handful of states where Republicans and Democrats are locked in a fight for control of the Senate. Republicans need to defend 24 of 34 seats in this election cycle. Nevada and Colorado are cited by experts as two states where the GOP has a shot at picking up Democratic seats. In the Nevada race, Republicans are optimistic that they can appeal to Latinos, who are 27 percent of the state population, through their candidate, Rep. Joe Heck, who has won three Las Vegas-area congressional elections thanks in large part to his moderate tone toward immigration reform, according to Politico. Heck has expressed support, for instance, to allowing undocumented immigrants brought here as minors to be able to legalize their status. He also condemned presidential candidate Donald Trumps comments on Mexico and Mexicans crossing the border last year. "That's Donald Trump's opinion, and certainly he said it only in a way that only he can, which is to promote himself and generate controversy," Heck said to reporters after the billionaire, who is leading in most national GOP voter polls, made his controversial remarks. "You can't stereotype an entire ethnicity, and that's what he attempted to do." Jennifer Duffy, a Washington-based newsletter editor and Senate expert, said to FoxNews.com: It really is an even race right now. But Nevada is a good possibility for Republicans. But Democrats are saying: Not so fast. They note, to anyone wholl listen, that Heck has not been completely in line with advocates for immigration. They say, for example, that he has spoken in favor of ending birthright citizenship for U.S.-born children of undocumented immigrants. Republicans, for their part, are highlighting Cortez Mastos travel expenses as attorney general, characterizing them as lavish. On another level, Nevada holds symbolic importance because of election results that could be taken as Reids legacy, noted the Las Vegas Review Journal. This is his legacy, said Fred Lokken, professor of political science at Truckee Meadows Community College in Reno, was quoted as saying in the Las Vegas Review Journal last year. He does not want to see it go Republican. Harry Reid is not running for re-election, but he will be a huge factor in the race. Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter & Instagram The ad calls Sen. Marco Rubio a flip-flopper, an amnesty fanatic, and someone who lacks the stature literally to be president of the United States. The shots at the presidential candidate are coming from the super PAC supporting the campaign of his one-time friend and mentor, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who is barely registering in many polls across the country after having entered the presidential race as the presumptive GOP nominee. And some Republicans don't like it one bit. Many GOP insiders fear that the jabs by the super PAC Right to Rise which they view as cheap shots that are also misleading and will do more than harm than good, according to Politico. They see Bush, who has been languishing at about 5-6 percent in opinion polls, as having little chance of becoming the establishment GOP alternative to conservative firebrands Donald Trump and Sen. Ted Cruz. Rubio, by contrast, has maintained a formidable position in many national, regional and state polls, and has delivered strong performances in debates. Establishment GOP insiders see Rubio as their most potent antidote to Cruz and Trump, and fear that the Bush super PACs growing efforts to undermine the Florida lawmaker will end up helping Cruz and Trump. This is something Jeb Bush has to decide. Does he want his legacy to be that he elected Donald Trump or Ted Cruz? Politico quoted Stuart Stevens, the GOP strategist who ran Mitt Romneys 2012 campaign, as saying. He cant control that super PAC, but he ought to call on the super PAC to stop and stop attacking people with whom he mostly agrees. Bush himself backed off hitting hard at Rubio, including in GOP debates, after it seemed only to bolster Rubio and cast Bush in a negative light. Republicans say that having the super PAC continue the approach to criticizing Rubio probably won't produce better results for Bush. This thing has been mismanaged and screwed up since the beginning, Politico quoted an unidentified Jeb Bush backer who also worked in both previous Bush administrations. Its gotten to the point where the old-timers are saying its really sad. How as presumptive leader with $100 million in the bank did you get yourself in a box where you have to attack Rubio and [New Jersey Gov. Chris] Christie to win your lane? In its recently-released third anti-Rubio advertisement, Right to Rise cast the Florida senator as a chameleon on the issue of immigration. It shows Rubio as a weather vane on a roof, pointing one way then the other, to depict what it characterizes as his changing positions on immigration. Marco Rubio ran for Senate saying he opposed amnesty, a narrator says. Then he flipped, and worked with liberal Chuck Schumer to co-author the path to citizenship. He threatened to vote against it, and then voted for it. He supported his own Dream Act, and then he abandoned it. Some experts say that, if anything, immigration is not the issue to use to hammer away at Rubio, since Bush himself has expressed support in the past for giving undocumented immigrants a path to legal status. Bush defenders say hes still a player in the race and that it would make no sense for him to go after Trump and Cruz, two candidates whose supporters he has little chance of getting to convert to his side. Christie, they say, has hurled direct, insulting comments at Rubios camp, and isnt getting the kind of frowns in response from establishment Republicans. Ive not heard Jeb say Rubio is trying to slime his way to the White House, said Ron Kaufman, a Bush backer and long-time GOP operative in Massachusetts, to Politico. Why should Jeb Bush, the only candidate in the Republican race with a legitimate national network, why is it not okay for him to draw contrasts when all of these guys are battling to be the finalist in the centrist conservative lane? Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter & Instagram A super PAC that supported Jeb Bush and called itself Vamos for Jeb, which translates into Were going for Jeb, has gone really gone. Expressing exasperation about setbacks with Bushs campaign, the PAC informed the Federal Election Commission on Tuesday that it is ceasing its operation, according to Politico. One of the heads of the PAC, political website Elephant News founder Claire Hardwick, told Politico she started it with Nicaraguan-American Andrea Wong to highlight Latino support for Bush, who initially was expected to be the front-runner for the GOP nomination in the presidential race. "When Jeb Bush first announced he was going to run we thought he was really going to be the president to go for it and unite Hispanics with Americans, but then obviously Donald Trump came in the picture and completely changed everything," Hardwick was quoted as saying in Politico. "We got a lot of followers. I still do think he will be the candidate to appeal to the Hispanics." Hardwick said to Politico that her efforts now would focus more generally on the presidential election. "I think they are still really excited about him, but they just don't have as much attention," Hardwick said, according to Politico. "That's something Vamos for Jeb did, it kind of showed how excited Hispanic Americans were for Jeb Bush." Bush, who was popular in Florida as governor and was seen as moderate on many issues, appeared to launch his campaign with the front-runner halo, given his experience, family political legacy and hefty coffers. But Trump upended things in this election cycle from the start, with his headline-grabbing jaw-dropping comments when he announced his candidacy, and later, when he defied the many predictions that hed quickly crash and burn. Trump succeeded in putting Bush on the defensive too, relentlessly mocking his low energy an image that Bush had trouble shaking, particularly with ho-hum performances in the GOP debates. With the first presidential contests in the nation fast approaching, in Iowa and New Hampshire, Bush is trailing many other GOP contenders, according to an MSNBC report. He is not in the top four slots in either Iowa, where Sen. Ted Cruz and Trump are battling it out at about the 25 percent spot among likely caucus-goers, followed by Marco Rubio with 13 percent, Ben Carson, who has 11 percent, then Bush with 9 percent. It doesnt get much better in New Hampshire, where Bush got 9 percent again, trailing Trump, who got 30 percent, Rubio, with 14 percent, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, with 12 percent, and Cruz, who got 10 percent. Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter & Instagram The Republican Party's response to President Barack Obama's last State of the Union address on Tuesday night differed very slightly, but in telling ways, depending on whether you heard it in English or Spanish. South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, the U.S.-born daughter of Indian immigrants, offered the GOP response in English, urging Americans to resist "the siren call of the angriest voices" in how the nation treats immigrants. Her discussion about immigration focused on protecting the border. Meantime, longtime Miami Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, a U.S. born son of Cuban immigrants, delivered essentially the same speech in Spanish, offering an identical warning to "resist the temptation" of listening to those angry voices, but Diaz-Balart focused on passing immigration reform as the main solution to the problem. Without mentioning names, both speeches nearly word for word versions of each other offered an alternative to the hard-line immigration messages resonating from the Republican presidential campaign. Front-runner Donald Trump has called for deporting millions of immigrants and Sens. Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz are attacking one another over who is tougher on the issue. The subtle differences in how the GOP chose to present the message on immigration between Haley and Diaz-Balart underscores the partys need to attract Spanish-speaking Hispanic voters, a majority of whom favor comprehensive immigration overhaul one of Obama's 2008 election. Below is an excerpt from Haley's speech: No one who is willing to work hard, abide by our laws and love our traditions should ever feel unwelcome in this country. At the same time, that does not mean we just flat out open our borders. We can't do that. We cannot continue to allow immigrants to come here illegally, and in this age of terrorism, we must not let in refugees whose intentions cannot be determined. We must fix our broken immigration system. That means stopping illegal immigration and it means welcoming properly vetted legal immigrants, regardless of their race or religion, just like we have for centuries. I have no doubt that if we act with proper focus, we can protect our borders, our sovereignty and our citizens, all while remaining true to America's noblest legacies. Below is a translated excerpt from Diaz-Balart's speech: No one who is willing to work hard, abide by our laws and love our traditions should ever feel unwelcome in this country. It is not who we are. At the same, it is obvious that our immigration system needs to be reformed. The current system puts our national security at risk and is an obstacle for our economy. It's essential that we find a legislative solution to protect our nation, defend our borders, offer a permanent and human solution to those who live in the shadows, respect the rule of law, modernize the visa system and push the economy forward. I have no doubt that if we work together, we can achieve this and continue to be faithful to the noblest legacies of the United States. The speeches included another difference, while Governor Haley spoke of the June attack in her state at a Charleston church that left 12 people dead, Diaz-Balart instead spoke about Cuba and Venezuela. "In our own hemisphere, the Cuban people have not had a free election in more than 57 years, and political detentions and oppression keep increasing," he said. "And the Venezuelan people suffer the existence of political prisoners and corruption in the most important democratic institutions." (function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "//connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js#xfbml=1&version=v2.3"; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);}(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk')); Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter & Instagram In an attempt to stem the tide of Central American migrants crossing the United States' southern border with Mexico, the White House has asked the United Nations to set up processing centers throughout the region to screen people fleeing violence-torn nations. The New York Times is reporting that U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is expected to announce on Wednesday the new refugee resettlement program concerning migrants from El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala the three countries in Central America most plagued by violence. The program calls for the U.S. and the U.N. to set-up processing centers where U.N. officials would help determine if the migrants are eligible for refugee status. While administration officials said that as many as 9,000 migrants from the three Central American nations could end up settling in the U.S., some refugees would also be resettled in nearby countries. The new program will allow any adult claiming to be fleeing persecution to apply to the United Nations for refugee status, but U.S. laws determining eligibility will not change. The plan is instead supposed to offer an alternative to migrants who pay smugglers to ferry them on a dangerous trip to the U.S. through Mexico and also to stem the flow of illegal entries into the U.S. "We want to do our utmost to honor humanitarian claims but also to protect the border," one senior administration official told the Times. Officials have not named the countries where temporary centers would be set up as processing way station citing that negotiations are still underway but people briefed on the plans said Belize, Costa Rica and Mexico are all under consideration. The resettlement program comes only a few weeks after major backlash by Democratic lawmakers and immigration activists over a series of deportation raids across the country. The number of Central American families and unaccompanied minors arriving at the border this fall more than doubled from the year before, according to the most recent figures. The numbers could go even higher beginning in February and early spring, when arrivals traditionally increase, potentially eclipsing the levels that produced the 2014 crisis. Such concerns helped prompt the Department of Homeland Security, with the close involvement of the White House, to initiate crackdowns on migrants in several states over the holidays, picking up 121 people for deportation. In some instances, people were detained during surprise early-morning home raids that have spread fear across immigrant communities and infuriated the president's Democratic allies. "Having people afraid to open their doors to strangers, not going to work, etc., is not a healthy development," said Democratic Rep. Zoe Lofgren of California. The raids also turned the Democratic presidential candidates against the Obama administration, with former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley all decrying the actions. Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter & Instagram Chris Christie is pressing people in New Hampshire to avoid voting for a first-time senator in the coming presidential primary, and holding out Barack Obama as an example of what can happen when they do. "The U.S. Senate is like school," he told a packed firehouse Wednesday. "They tell you where to go, what time to show up, what kind of questions you're going to get." The New Jersey governor said, "That's not the way it works when you're a governor, I can tell you. The issues come at you from every direction at all hours of the day and the night." Christie's remarks were a swipe Sens. Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz, two rising contenders for the GOP nomination. He's competing in particular with Rubio in New Hampshire, the state where Christie has pinned his presidential hopes. Christie's pitch centers on his executive experience as governor and a former U.S. attorney. He said voters should have learned a lesson from electing Obama, who was in his first term in the Senate when he ran in 2008 and won the presidency. "When the American people elected (Obama), they knew he had never run anything bigger than a 30-person Senate staff," Christie said. "We as a country put him in charge of the largest, most complex government the world has ever known, and we wonder why things aren't working the right way." Christie has seen his stock rise in New Hampshire as people search for an alternative to Donald Trump, who continues to dominate preference polls in the first primary state, which votes Feb. 9. Christie casts himself as a tested governor who can take on threats from the Islamic State and other terrorist organizations and often questions whether the rest of the candidates possess the experience to make tough decisions. He'll join six other candidates, Rubio and Cruz among them, on stage Thursday night for the next Republican primary debate. But he told voters to be thinking farther ahead, to when the Republican nominee is on stage debating Hillary Clinton, who he presumes will win the Democratic nomination. If an untested candidate makes it to that stage, Christie said, Clinton will "eat you alive." "She will pat some people on the head and cut their hearts out," he said. "Let me guarantee you one thing: She won't do that to a guy from New Jersey." Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter & Instagram Marco Rubio is launching an ad blitz in Iowa, the first state to hold a presidential contest through its caucus process. The senators campaign is airing roughly 7,000 ads in the Hawkeye State until the Feb. 1 caucuses, according to published reports. That amounts to about one third of all the presidential election ads airing during that period, reports The Des Moines Register, which added that the effort carries a price tag of some $5 million for Rubios campaign and his super PAC. Back in the middle of 2015, we were, because of strong fundraising in the early part of the year, able to reserve significant portions of airtime in Iowa in December and January leading into the caucus, said Jeff Sadosky, a spokesman for the pro-Rubio Conservative Solutions PAC, in an interview with the Register. That was done both to ensure were operating as cost effectively as possible but also to ensure access to prime television time. Iowans are accustomed to being bombarded with television presidential campaign ads. By the time the caucuses are held on Feb. 1, more than 60,000 will have aired, the Register said. Rubios supporters have said that, on some level, they feel he can establish a connection with more Iowans through television than face-to-face interactions, which hes also conducting. The Register noted that Rubios national campaign manager, Terry Sullivan, said last year to the New York Times More people in Iowa see Marco on Fox and Friends than see Marco when he is in Iowa. Rubio also plans to have his face across television screens in New Hampshire and South Carolina before those states have primaries, according to The New York Times. A new Bloomberg Politics/Des Moines Register poll in Iowa shows Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and Donald Trump basically tied for first place among likely Republican caucus participants. Cruz has 25 percent, Trump has 22 percent. Rubio is essentially tied with retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, with 12 percent for the Florida lawmaker and 11 percent for Carson. The rest of the GOP field got less than 5 percent. Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter & Instagram Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz failed to disclose on federal fundraising reports that he relied on $1 million in loans to help finance his 2012 Senate campaign. The borrowed money included a sum from Goldman Sachs, where his wife, Heidi Cruz, is an employee. The Texas senator's 2016 campaign spokeswoman Catherine Frazier called the failure to report those loans on fundraising documents, as required, a "mistake." She said Wednesday that the campaign is seeking guidance from federal regulators on how to update the old reports. Cruz learned he should have disclosed the loans as part of his fundraising from a New York Times reporter, who published a story on the matter late Wednesday. The Times described the loans as totaling as much as $1 million from Goldman and Citibank and said they were paid down in late 2012. Frazier did not dispute those details. Frazier said Cruz has made no secret of the loans, pointing to their disclosure later in separate personal financial reports required of all federal elected officials. Yet Cruz has never mentioned the loans on the 2016 campaign trail. Instead, he has said that he and his wife liquidated "our entire net worth" to finance his underdog Senate bid. Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter & Instagram COLLEGE PARK, Md. There is a disturbing trend in Prince Georges County schools that has officials there concerned. At issue is dropping attendance among Latino students that is fueled by fears over possible deportation raids by the federal government. The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) launched a new effort in 2016 to step up deportation efforts against people who have broken the law and entered the country illegally. News of these deportation raids are spreading. According to a letter from Prince Georges County Public Schools CEO Dr. Kevin Maxwell, principals are reporting a drop off in attendance by Latino students. School administrators believe unfounded rumors are leading students with questionable legal status of being in the United States fearing they could be detained or deported just by attending school. We have seen a decrease in attendance at some of our schools, said Prince Georges County Public Schools spokesperson Sherrie Johnson. It's not widespread, but we have seen somewhat of a decrease at some of our schools. It's important to note that we want all students to come to school and we understand it's a very difficult time. This is a scary time. In Montgomery County, Executive Isiah Leggett and the county council issued a letter saying the county and its law enforcement won't take part in helping the federal government deport undocumented immigrants. The letter was somewhat surprising to county police as they told us they never were involved in deportation efforts and their long-established policy is to interview crime victims and witnesses without inquiring about immigration status. Leggett said the political leaders in Montgomery County wanted to send a message to undocumented immigrants to not live in fear of the county government. Montgomery County does not support the policy of the federal government that this is a real concern nationally, said Leggett. But locally, we're not going to enforce ICE's mandates and we would hope that people understand that. Read more stories at FOX5 Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter & Instagram Republican presidential hopeful Sen. Marco Rubio is taking his avid defense of the Second Amendment to the campaign trail this weekend not only did he bring up the issue repeatedly while stumping in New Hampshire and Iowa, he also revealed he recently bought a gun to protect his family against ISIS. I have a right to protect my family if someone were to come after us, he said on CBSs "Face the Nation" on Sunday. If ISIS were to visit us or our communities at any moment, the last line of defense between ISIS and my family is the ability that I have to protect my family from them or from a criminal or anyone else who seeks to do us harm, he said. Millions of Americans feel that way, he added. In New Hampshire on Friday, the Cuban-American lawmaker made a campaign stop at a gun store and then held a rally at Sturm, Ruger & Co., a firearms manufacturing company, ABC News reported. Rubio, who said he and his wife are proud gun owners, was given a rifle as a present during the rally. This our first rifle in our home. It will be a nice addition, he told the companys employees. Rubio was once again critical of Pres. Barack Obamas recent executive order calling for extended background checks on gun buyers. I am convinced if this president could confiscate every gun, he would, Rubio said. The Second Amendment is not an option. It is not a suggestion. It is a right. Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter & Instagram Ted Cruz on Monday accused his Republican rival Donald Trump of not being a trustworthy conservative and said the billionaire investor is becoming "rattled" and "dismayed" by his gains. Both Cruz and Trump were campaigning Monday in New Hampshire, which holds the second contest in the country's critical primary season. The war of words between Cruz and Trump has intensified in recent days, with Trump going on the offensive over Cruz's eligibility to be on the ballot given his Canadian birth and for Cruz's failure to disclose loans received from Citibank and Goldman Sachs for his 2012 Senate race. Trump on Sunday called Cruz a "nasty guy" whom no one likes. Cruz tried to turn the insult into a joke Monday, posting a message on Twitter saying Americans feel "nasty" toward the "Washington Cartel." He also posted a link to the video of Janet Jackson's hit song "Nasty." "Donald seems to be a little rattled," Cruz told reporters before a town hall in Washington, New Hampshire. "For whatever reason he is very, very dismayed. I guess as conservatives continue to unite behind our campaign, as his poll numbers continue to go down, he's a little testier." Polls show Cruz and Trump locked in a tight race in Iowa, but Trump is polling considerably better in New Hampshire. Cruz embarked on a five-day swing through the Granite State this week as his numbers began to show new strength. Cruz questioned whether Trump is a true conservative, noting donations he's made to Democrats over the years, including $50,000 in 2010 to Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, the former chief of staff to President Barack Obama. And Cruz rejected Trump's self-comparison to Ronald Reagan, saying he was "pretty sure" Reagan never supported or made large donations to Democrats. Trump, campaigning in New Hampshire late Monday, did not bring up his rival's accusations. Trump has taken to Twitter to blast Cruz in the past, a move Cruz suggested will turn off voters. "The American people want a steady hand at the helm," Cruz told The Associated Press in an interview on his campaign bus Monday. "They don't want, I believe, a commander in chief who wakes up obsessed with the latest polls and driven to issue a frenzy of tweets. Instead, they want a principled, steady, conservative leader who will do everything necessary to protect this nation and keep America safe." At a town hall meeting Monday night in Whitefield, New Hampshire, Cruz said voters need to question Trump's credibility, saying he was "nowhere to be found" during the debate in Congress over whether to grant amnesty to immigrants living in the country illegally. "If you didn't stand up and fight amnesty, when the stakes were live or die, do we lose this permanently or do we win, I would suggest as voters you have reasons to doubt the credibility of the promises of a political candidate who discovers the issue after he announces for president," Cruz said. Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter & Instagram The Supreme Court has agreed to review President Barack Obamas executive actions that could allow up to 5 million immigrants to come out of the shadows, in his words, and work legally in the United States. The justices, who have twice rejected challenges to Obamas health care law, said Tuesday that they will consider undoing lower court rulings that have blocked the plan from taking effect. Whatever their decision, it is likely to dominate a presidential campaign already roiled by immigration issue. The case probably will be argued in April and decided by late June, about a month before both parties' presidential nominating conventions. Fourteen months ago, Obama ordered the creation of a program called Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents, or DAPA intended to allow undocumented immigrants who are the parents of U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents to be shielded from deportation and providing them with work permits. Texas is leading 26 states in challenging the immigration executive actions. So far, the federal courts have sided with the states to keep the administration from issuing work permits and allowing the immigrants to begin receiving some federal benefits. If the justices eventually side with the administration, that would leave roughly seven months in Obama's presidency to implement his plans. At issue is DAPA, which Obama said in late 2014 would allow people who have been in the United States more than five years and who have children who are in the country legally to "come out of the shadows and get right with the law." Texas quickly led a legal challenge to the program and has won every round in court so far. Most recently, in November, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the states, prompting the appeal to the Supreme Court. Solicitor General Donald Verrilli Jr. said in his court filing that allowing those rulings to stand would force millions of people "to continue to work off the books, without the option of lawful employment to provide for their families." The administration said Texas and the other states don't even have the right to challenge the plan in federal court. The lower courts decided that Texas does have the right, or standing, to sue because at least 500,000 people living in Texas would qualify for work permits and thus become eligible for driver licenses, the cost of which are subsidized by the state. "Texas would incur millions of dollars in costs," the state said in its brief to the Supreme Court. The future of the estimated 11 million immigrants living in the country illegally has been much discussed by Republican and Democratic presidential candidates. Democratic front-runner Hillary Rodham Clinton has pledged to go further than Obama to protect large groups of immigrants from deportation. Republican candidate Donald Trump has proposed deporting all people who are living in the U.S. illegally, an idea embraced by some GOP candidates and dismissed by others. Obama said he was spurred to act on his own by Congress' failure to pass comprehensive immigration legislation. An earlier program that is not being challenged, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, shields immigrants brought to the country illegally as children. More than 720,000 young immigrants have been granted permission under that program to live and work legally in the United States. The White House also has shifted its enforcement actions to focus on criminals, those who pose a threat to national security or public safety, and recent border-crossers. The change means that people who are here illegally but who are not otherwise violating the law are less likely to face deportation. About 235,000 people were deported in the federal fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, according to the Department of Homeland Security. That was the smallest number since 2006 and a 42 percent drop since a record high of more than 409,000 in 2012. Still, the administration drew criticism from Democrats and immigration advocates for raids this month that resulted in the arrest of more than 120 immigrants from Central America who came to the country illegally since 2014. Those recent arrivals are not among immigrants who would benefit from Obama's plan. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter & Instagram Despite pleas from two Latino rights groups, a Georgia county has rejected a request to provide Spanish-language ballots for the upcoming November elections. Officials in Gwinnett County voted 4-1 against the motion and defended the move by saying they do not have enough information to determine whether the county should provide bilingual ballots and voting materials. The two groups who filed the request the Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials (GALEO) and the New York-based LatinoJustice cited a provision of the federal Voting Rights Act that requires local governments to make Spanish-language ballots available to people from Puerto Rico who have difficulty reading English. This law was designed to help Puerto Ricans who are American citizens who move to mainland of the U.S. "Unfortunately Gwinnett County chose to continue to be out of compliance with the Voting Rights Act and decided that the Puerto Rican community's voting rights should not be protected," GALEO executive director Jerry Gonzalez told Fox News Latino in an email. "We tried to work with the county to come up with an implementation plan to avoid litigation, but the county has refused to move forward in an amicable manner." Gwinnett Board of Registrations and Elections chair Alice O'Lenick told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that the board would wait to hear from the state or federal government or a court before taking up the issue again. This could happen sooner rather than later, thanks in large part to the sizable Latino population in the county. U.S. Census Bureau data shows that there are an estimated 171,000 Latinos in Gwinnett County about one out of every five residents. Section 203 of the Voting Rights Act requires jurisdictions to provide bilingual ballots if they include more than five percent of the population or 10,000 citizens of a single language minority who are eligible to vote and have difficulty speaking English. A spokesperson for the county told Fox News Latino that while the language of the Voting Rights Act is "subject to some interpretation," Gwinnett County will follow through with providing Spanish-language ballots if ordered to. "I think GALEO will pursue litigation," said Joe Sorenson, the Gwinnett County communications director. "If the court decides that GALEO was right and our decision was wrong, we will certainly change it." Already enmeshed in controversy over nationwide raids of undocumented families at the beginning of the month, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Department of Homeland Security as well as eight other federal agencies are being sued in federal court to obtain documents information about a new community co-operation program. The groups, which include the National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON) and the Immigration Justice Clinic at Cardozo Law School, filed the suit after ICE failed to provide them any documents relating to the Priority Enforcement Program (PEP), despite a request under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Altogether, of the 10 agencies with which the groups have filed FOIA requests, only five documents have been provided. "There is a major lack of clarity and scope with the new program," Salvador Sarmiento, a spokesperson for NDLON told Fox News Latino. "We want to bring some clarity to what ICE is up to." PEP was established by Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson as a replacement for the controversial Secure Communities program. The new program uses biometric data to prioritize the deportation of detained immigrants who have been "convicted of an offense listed under the DHS civil immigration enforcement priorities, has intentionally participated in an organized criminal gang to further the illegal activity of the gang or poses a danger to national security," per ICE's website. While PEP has been praised by Johnson, activists on both sides of the immigration debate have had qualms about it. Immigration advocates say it will foster distrust between migrant communities and law enforcement, and those who favor stricter immigration enforcement have called it ineffective and a threat to community safety. "The implementation of ICE's new Priority Enforcement Program (PEP) is a major setback to rule of law in our country," Jessica Vaughan, director of policy studies, Center for Immigration Studies, said last summer. "It further scales back immigration enforcement by ICE, and it explicitly facilitates sanctuary jurisdictions in obstructing ICE efforts to take custody of criminal aliens." NDLON's Sarmiento argued that the information that ICE has kept under wraps is especially important now with the presidential election less than 11 months away and with incendiary remarks about immigrants frequently being made by candidates like Donald Trump. "We represent migrant workers and day laborers people that are the first to be deported and who have very little rights," he said. "The fact that this is a political year makes it all the more pressing that we have some transparency." Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter & Instagram Jasiel Correia is 24 years old, the maker of a smartphone app and a former Nordstrom shoe salesman and this hard-luck former manufacturing hub's third mayor in 13 months. Two weeks into his term, Correia is tackling the economic malaise that has depressed this waterfront city for decades. Also on his agenda is dumping the city's meek motto: "We'll try." "It's on our seal somewhere," said Correia, a Democrat. "We've got to change that." New York state welcomed its youngest mayor this month in 25-year-old Republican Billy Barlow in Oswego. Kurt Cobain's hometown of Aberdeen, Washington, elected 23-year-old Democrat Erik Larson. Other young mayors have matured into incumbency, such as Republican Erin Stewart, elected at 26 in New Britain, Connecticut, and now in her second term. But no one as young as Correia (whose name is pronounced JAY'-zil koh-RAY'-uh) has been elected to run a city as big as Fall River, according to the U.S. Conference of Mayors. Correia will be in the company of hundreds of other urban mayors, along with President Barack Obama, when the conference holds its winter gathering this week in Washington. The population of Fall River, a longtime immigrant destination, dropped from a high of more than 120,000 to fewer than 89,000 over the past century along with the decline of the textile industry. It's better known as the site of the 1892 ax killings of which Lizzie Borden later immortalized in a macabre nursery rhyme was acquitted. Correia embodies the story many residents would rather tell about the enterprising spirit of a place where celebrity chef Emeril Lagasse was born and learned how to cook. The son of immigrants from Cape Verde and Portugal's Azores islands, Correia grew up in a tenement near a street lined with Portuguese bakeries that slopes down to Mount Hope Bay. It used to be that "if you made it in Fall River, you went out to Somerset," Correia said, pointing from his new office in city hall to the suburbs on the other side of the bay. His parents contemplated such a move when he was in middle school, said his mother, Maria Correia. But her son a compelling public speaker already steeped in an anti-drug coalition and other community activism resisted. "He told us, 'Mom and Dad, you can't move out of Fall River, because I want to be mayor,'" she said. Voters elected Correia to the city council when he was 21. He attended meetings between studying political science and marketing at Providence College and founding a business promotions app called SnoOwl, which employs about five people in an old mill. Then came a period of tumultuous politics. He told the police chief that Mayor Will Flanagan, a former ally, intimidated him with a gun during a late-night meeting over Correia's support of a mayoral recall petition. A special prosecutor's investigation did not lead to charges, but Flanagan's plummeting popularity helped a former district attorney, Sam Sutter, oust him in a 2014 recall election. Sutter and Correia, both Democrats, duked it out in the November 2015 general election, which Correia won over the better-funded incumbent with 52 percent of the vote. Correia has touted an optimistic platform centered on urban reinvestment, capitalizing on cheap rents and proposed business incentives to draw back millennials and empty-nesters who share his love of walkable city living. Sutter, 63, said it was the $10 monthly trash fee he imposed to fill a budget hole that cost him the election. Correia has promised to repeal the unpopular fee, but Sutter is skeptical. "This particular 24-year-old has not run an organization," Sutter said. "That's going to be the issue. The lack of experience, not necessarily the age." Dave Lavoie, city hall's chief custodian, said he has high hopes for his new boss, who is half his age. "I think the kid'll be all right if he gets the right people behind him," said Lavoie, who has now worked for nine mayors. Voters have been giving a chance to youngsters they see as "energetic, innovative, trying to do new things," often in cities seeking a jolt of change, said John Celock, author of "The Next Generation," a book about young elected officials. "People in the first year were referencing me as the kid, citing my inexperience," said James Diossa, elected mayor of nearby Central Falls, Rhode Island, at age 26 while his city was emerging from bankruptcy and his predecessor was battling corruption charges. "I knew I had to work twice as hard to get the job done." Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter & Instagram Republican Gov. Susana Martinez called on state lawmakers to crack down on violent crime and put public safety at the top of state priorities as New Mexico's Legislature convened Tuesday for a 30-day budgetary session. Legislators are tasked with crafting a budget aimed at keeping pace with soaring health care costs for low-income residents, stimulating a sluggish state economy and possibly increasing pay to teachers and police. With little time to spare, lawmakers already are clamoring to push through major policy initiatives designed to address concerns about public safety and political corruption. Addressing the Legislature, Martinez described a state under siege from violent criminals, habitual drunken drivers, marauding teens and "turnstile thugs" set loose by the courts. She placed public safety at the top of her agenda, followed by education and jobs programs. House Republicans are calling for indelible changes to the criminal justice system in response to a string of high-profile cases over the last year, including the shooting deaths of two police officers and a 4-year-old girl killed during a road-rage incident in Albuquerque. Martinez, who has wide discretion over which bills are heard, threw her support behind proposals to expand crimes subject to three-strikes sentencing rules and to allow judges to deny bail to dangerous defendants. A bipartisan coalition of lawmakers and state court administrators are backing a constitutional amendment to overhaul New Mexico's bail system not only to give judges more authority to deny bail but also to allow low-risk defendants to be released pending trial if they don't have the means to make bond. Martinez made no mention of the proposal for broadening pre-trial release for nonviolent offenders. Democratic Senate floor leader Michael Sanchez of Belen characterized the governor's public safety agenda as pro-incarceration and lacking in rehabilitation funding. "That's contrary to what's going on in the rest of the country, where people don't want to lock people up," Sanchez said. He said violent crime problems are centered in Albuquerque, where dissatisfaction with the police force runs high. Martinez welcomed to the House Chambers the widows of slain police officers Nigel Benner and Dan Webster and invoked their pain and sadness in her call for criminal justice reforms. "We have vicious, heinous criminals among us who are willing to take the lives of our greatest heroes," Martinez said. "Our laws are too lax, our justice system too weak particularly when it comes to violent, dangerous offenders." The governor and lawmakers also are under pressure from the federal government to resolve a stalemate over immigrant driver's licenses and the state's failure to comply with the REAL ID Act. Democrat Senate leaders remain at odds with the governor's proposal to replace driver's licenses for immigrants with a driving privilege card. Some immigrant-rights advocates complain new requirements for immigrants would be onerous and could make them targets for persecution by authorities. Political stakes will be high during the session, with every legislative seat coming up for election in November. Republicans hope to extend their control of the lower House to the Senate, where Democrats hold 24 out of 42 seats. Legislative leaders have largely agreed with the governor on priorities for a nearly $6.5 billion budget proposal that increases spending 3.7 percent. A third of new spending would go toward new state Medicaid expenses. At the same time, political fractures are appearing as revenue estimates tighten unexpectedly because of low crude oil prices linked to state royalties and severance taxes. An influential legislative committee wants to put on hold $77 million in state pay raises primarily for school teachers over the objections of the executive branch. The bulk of those pay raises would go to entry-level teachers under the governor's budget recommendations, while leading Democrats favor pay raises for all teachers and support staff. Martinez also wants to expand the ranks of law enforcement and raise pay for State Police, prison guards and child abuse case workers. House Democrats have urged the governor to call up a raft of proposals for reforming the campaign finance reporting system and creating a statewide ethics commission. Calls for reform were sparked last year by a scandal that brought down former Republican Secretary of State Dianna Duran, who pleaded guilty to misusing campaign funds to fuel a gambling spree. She completed a 30-day jail sentence on Sunday. Martinez touched on campaign finance issues briefly, endorsing a cooling off period for former public officials who go to work as lobbyists and greater disclosures about ties to private clients and infrastructure projects. Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter & Instagram Under pressure to emerge as the Republican mainstream's presidential contender, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio is increasingly relying on a national strategy as he lowers expectations for February's primary contests. He's betting big that Republican voters across the political spectrum will ultimately coalesce behind his candidacy in the state-by-state slog for delegates his team envisions for the months ahead. It's a strategy fraught with risk for Rubio, who's still fighting to break out among the pack of candidates looking up at New York billionaire Donald Trump and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz. The outsider favorites are dominating in Iowa less than two weeks before the state's leadoff caucuses. For now at least, Rubio, a first-term senator, is embracing a patient approach that goes well beyond the four states with contests in February: Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada. Rubio in recent days has cast himself as a passionate evangelical conservative, a national security hawk, an empathizer of immigrants in the country illegally, and someone who can bring new voters to the Republican Party. This, as he jabs at Trump, Cruz and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, yet works to capture the anger and frustration that fuel their candidacies. "I won't be able to appeal to everybody on everything," Rubio told The Associated Press on Monday. "I want to get enough delegates to be the nominee." But that's exactly the theme he projected as he campaigned through Iowa this week before a trip to New Hampshire, where he hopes to rise from a cluster of so-called establishment alternatives to Trump and Cruz. "Too often, I think, as Republicans we have a bad choice," said Iowa state Sen. Jack Whitver, Rubio's state campaign chairman, introducing him at one of his many Iowa stops this week. The choice, he said, is often between "the establishment, moderate person that everyone says can win the election, or we have a true consistent conservative that everyone says can't win the election." "This year we don't have to make that choice," he said. "This year, we can have it all." Given Jeb Bush's continued struggles, some major Republican donors and elected officials see Rubio as their party's best candidate to defeat the leading Democrat, Hillary Clinton, in this fall's general election. But in a year when voters appear to be rejecting insiders, Rubio has struggled to tap the anti-establishment anger, putting him behind Cruz and Trump with time running out before the Feb. 1 Iowa caucuses. Facing that reality, Rubio's team has conceded he's unlikely to win any of the first three contests: Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina. No Republican in the modern political era has won the presidential nomination without winning one of the first three states. Rubio's team sees a path around that history: finishing in the top three in those states and surviving until March. That's when party insiders expect the race to become a long haul because of new rules that award delegates proportionally. The strategy also assumes some of Rubio's mainstream challengers will drop out out, leaving Rubio's mix of messages his tea party rise, national security background and abiding conservative social positions to allow him to unify the GOP. "Any preconceived notions you have from previous cycles are out the window," said California-based donor John Jordan, who is running a pro-Rubio super PAC. "Given that, I don't think it's necessary to win one of the early states." He calls this "a rolling national election." Rubio's team describes his message not as scattered, but as based on Ronald Reagan's "three-legged stool" with conservative approaches to economic, social and national security policy. Rubio emphasized his religious faith in Iowa, where he's running an ad highlighting his opposition to abortion rights and where he told voters in the more socially conservative northern part of the state that his Christianity is "the single greatest influence in my life." In more moderate eastern Iowa, Rubio asserted his credentials on military and foreign policy as unmatched in the field. "It's not even close," he said. And the 44-year-old son of Cuban immigrants pressed the point in Ottumwa that he can bring people into the party who normally don't vote for it. "We have some differences," Rubio said of the candidates in the field. "But it's a big tent." Yet when asked why he was more electable than Trump, he nodded to the raucous throngs that have flocked to Trump's rallies. "What he's tapped into is a real frustration that needs to be addressed," Rubio said. Ottumwa physician Michael Shaeffer, who asked Rubio what set him apart, wanted more, but still plans to support him. "We're not going to vote necessarily for the best person," Shaeffer said. "We're going to vote for the one with the best chance of winning." Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter & Instagram With a set of new measures to increase voter registration rolls this year in California, expectations are high for the impact Latino voters will have on the 2016 elections in the Golden State. Along with automatic voter registration and a new statewide voter database, new projections that forecast a surge in the number of eligible Latino voters is seen by political experts as evidence that Latinos will change the outcome of many of the states election contests. California Secretary of State Alex Padilla told Fox News Latino that voters from the Hispanic community will have an impact in the upcoming electoral processes. Latinos represent such a big percentage of the eligible but unregistered voters in California, he said. Over time, as the Latino population continues to grow, automatic registration will help ensure that the potential political flex for the Latino community grows even quicker. Due to a new law signed by Governor Jerry Brown in 2015, California will begin to automatically register eligible citizens to vote this year. The measure allows the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to send voter registration information directly to the secretary of states office when people receive a drivers license or state ID card. California is the second state in the nation to implement automatic voter registration. Under a new law passed in Oregon in March 2015, any eligible resident with a driver's license will be automatically registered to vote and will receive a ballot by mail weeks before Election Day. Overall, legislators in 18 states plus the District of Columbia have introduced bills that would automatically register citizens who interact with motor vehicle offices and ensure that voter information is electronically and securely sent to the voter rolls. Most of these new registrants, experts predict, would come from underrepresented communities, including people of color, the young and people with low income. More than 60 percent would be Latino or Asian American, according to a study from the California Civic Engagement Project at the University of California Davis Center for Regional Change. The percentage of Latino voters is expected to rise to 21.2 percent of the state's voters by the time of the 2016 presidential election, an increase from the 19.3 percent in 2012, adds the report. Even with low turnout rate, there will be a bigger portion of the vote that is going to be Latino, said says Mindy Romero, director of the California Civic Engagement Project. She added that with the Latino population growing, that means that they will have larger percent of the vote even if their turnout rates remain the same. But, according to a provision of the law, the automatic registration system cannot be put in place until the secretary of state certifies the new statewide voter registration database, called Votecal. Padilla promised that it will be up and running by June. Its been delayed in years past prior to my term starting here in this office but we are on track he said. The secretary of state added that more than two thirds of Californias counties have already migrated from the old systems to Votecal, including Los Angeles, the state's most populous. But experts caution that automatic registration and a Latino voter population on the rise do not mean Latinos will actually show up to vote if they are not properly motivated. Theres a lot of outreach that will be needed, said Romero. It is a positive step because you cant vote if youre not registered, but it doesnt mean that they will vote. She added that there has to be an education component as well. You dont want people to think were all registered, because it wont be everybody at the same time, she said. Nevertheless, how Latinos are mobilized, particularly millennials who are a growing share of Latino voters, could help determine the outcome of a number of the states races in 2016 and beyond, added Romero. Latinos, who recently surpassed whites as the largest ethnic group in California, make up 39 percent of the states population. Yet in 2014 they represented only 15 percent of the electorate, and only 17 percent of all Latinos who were eligible to vote did so. By the 2016 general election, non-Latino whites will fall to 49 percent of Californias eligible voters. Thus, for the first time, a majority of eligible voters in California will be minority voters. Meanwhile, if Latinos maintain their 2012 California eligible turnout rate of 39.4 percent, their percent of the states vote in 2016 is projected to rise to 21.2, up from 19.3 percent four years before. Secretary of State Padilla said his office is trying to work with the DMV to see what kind of outreach can be done before the November election to encourage people who are eligible but not registered to do so and go to the polls. There are about 6.7 eligible unregistered people in California, Padilla said. Even a small percentage are big numbers in our state. Following months of uncertainty and heated partisan exchanges, New Mexico lawmakers will make their first attempt to discuss a bill that would bring the state in line with the REAL ID Act amid pressure from federal agencies and promises from immigrant advocates to fight any proposal they deem unacceptable. A House committee is scheduled Thursday to take up a GOP proposal that would create a REAL ID-compliant driver's license and allow immigrants who are in the country illegally to obtain driver's permits. It is one of at least two REAL ID-related proposals lawmakers are expected to tackle this session. REAL ID Act requirements mandate proof of legal U.S. residency for holders who want to use state IDs for federal purposes. New Mexico has no such requirement, and allows immigrants who are in the country illegally to obtain state's driver's licenses. Previous attempts to repeal the state's immigrant driver's license law have been met with charges of racism, angry committee meetings and one lawmaker comparing the REAL ID Act to the Holocaust. "I hope this time we can all listen to each other with respect and agree to disagree," said Rep. Paul Pacheco, R-Albuquerque, a co-sponsor of the House proposal. Pacheco will discuss his legislation before the House Regulatory and Public Affairs Committee. Immigrant advocates are vowing to crowd the meeting with people who they say would be affected by any changes to driver's license law. "Anything that doesn't allow immigrants to keep their driver's licenses is unacceptable to us," said Marcela Diaz, executive director of the Santa Fe-based immigrant advocacy group Somos Un Pueblo Unido. Diaz said her group opposes anything that puts "scarlet letters" on driver's cards and opens immigrants to discrimination and deportation. She favors other proposals like one sponsored by Senate Democrats that would create a "two tier" system -- granting REAL ID-compliant licenses to residents and noncompliant ones to any resident who wants them. The Senate has not scheduled a committee hearing on that bill yet. At the start of the legislative session Tuesday, immigrant advocates held signs outside the Capitol comparing Gov. Susana Martinez, a Republican, to GOP presidential hopeful Donald Trump, a candidate who has come under criticism for his comments about Mexican immigrants. Diaz said Martinez is "pushing an anti-immigrant agenda" because she previously supported repeal and now backs the House bill. But Martinez, the nation's only Latina governor, remains one of the few elected Republicans who have publicly denounced Trump for his remarks. The REAL ID issue took even more immediacy in the state this week after the U.S. Defense Department announced military installations would no longer accept New Mexico driver's licenses as proof of identification for entrance. The U.S. Homeland Security Department also said beginning in 2018, noncompliant IDs won't be accepted to board commercial flights. Martinez said she hoped lawmakers could come to a compromise and finally put the issue to rest. "We have a good compromise bill that solves the problem and stops giving driver's licenses to illegal immigrants, and I hope the Senate Democrats will support it," Martinez said. Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter & Instagram Republican senators are confronting an unsettling possibility: Sen. Ted Cruz, their least favorite colleague, stands within reach of becoming the party's presidential nominee and standard-bearer. Worse than that, many GOP lawmakers and aides fear the Texas senator could ruin Republicans' chances of hanging onto control of the Senate in November's elections, alienating voters in a half-dozen key swing states with his hardline stances on issues from immigration to abortion. And yet, these fellow Republicans say they're essentially powerless to stop him. Any attempt to weaken Cruz in his primary campaign against Donald Trump and other GOP candidates risks bolstering his argument that he's running against the "Washington cartel." So there's little Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and other Republicans can do beyond watch in dismay as Cruz, isolated and boxed out in the clubby Senate after repeatedly angering colleagues, rises in the polls in first-voting Iowa and elsewhere. With Cruz as the nominee, "state and local races that take place in ideologically moderate electorates could be a bloodbath," says Josh Holmes, McConnell's former chief of staff and a GOP strategist. Vulnerable Republican senators are partly insulated by strong campaign organizations, "but there is no question their job could get tougher," Holmes says. In the presidential primaries, Cruz has attempted to make a virtue of his rejection by the Washington establishment, and his allies say he will actually help fellow Republicans by energizing the base and turning out evangelicals and others. One of his favorite lines on the stump is quoting a newspaper article that, according to him, said, "Cruz can't win because the Washington elites despise him." "I kinda thought that was the whole point of the campaign," Cruz says, almost always generating applause. Back in the Senate, Cruz has alienated fellow Republican senators on so many occasions they are hard to count. And now, with Democrats optimistic they might win the five seats needed to retake control of the Senate four if they keep the White House Republicans are desperate to protect vulnerable incumbents in states like Pennsylvania, Ohio and New Hampshire, where a Cruz candidacy could turn off independents. "He's a very rock-ribbed conservative and very intelligent young man, very knowledgeable, put it that way," says Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah. "And I haven't seen any great desire on his part to really bring the party along with him so that's something that worries me. ... I think it would help him a lot if he would learn how other people feel and work with other people a little bit better, and I think that naturally will occur." Some GOP lawmakers and pollsters view Cruz as more problematic than businessman Trump, since Trump might have more cross-over appeal to independents. Polling shown to House Republicans recently identified Cruz as the most difficult presidential nominee for any of them to share a ballot with. ""He would definitely be a negative," said GOP Rep. Pete King of New York, who represents an evenly divided Long Island district. King dismissed Cruz as a "fraud" and said, "I don't know of anyone else in Washington, certainly, who gets this opposition from his own people. ... I'm talking about people as conservative as he is who just can't stand him." In one clear barometer, four GOP senators have endorsed Florida Sen. Marco Rubio's bid for president, while none has backed Cruz. On the other hand, Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio, one of the most vulnerable Republican incumbents this year, says, "If you run a good campaign and let people know what you stand for, you don't have to worry as much about the top of the ticket." Still, Cruz has become such a pariah that one of his colleagues, Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina, told supporters at a campaign fundraiser for his own re-election that he would vote for liberal Sen. Bernie Sanders for president before Cruz, according to one person who attended the event. Burr did not appear to be joking, said the person, who demanded anonymity to discuss the private gathering. The negative reactions started shortly after Cruz arrived in the Senate in 2013. During a confirmation hearing for former GOP Sen. Chuck Hagel as secretary of defense, Cruz implied, without offering evidence, that Hagel had received compensation from North Korea. That drew rebukes from fellow GOP Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and John McCain of Arizona. Later that year, Cruz pushed for confrontation with President Barack Obama over the new health care law, coordinating with tea party conservatives in the House. Their strategy resulted in a 16-day partial government shutdown that caused the GOP's poll numbers to temporarily plummet. In December 2014, Cruz again infuriated fellow Republicans when he kept the Senate in session in a failed bid to oppose Obama's immigration policies. This had the result of allowing Democrats to confirm a raft of Obama nominees, mostly lifetime judicial choices, who might otherwise have languished. Last year, in a dramatic breach of decorum, Cruz delivered a floor speech in which he accused McConnell of lying about scheduling a vote on the federal Export-Import Bank. Senate leaders were livid and went so far as to block Cruz's routine request for a roll-call vote, something all but unheard-of. Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter & Instagram Rep. Steve King thinks of his friend Sarah Palins endorsement of billionaire Donald Trump and laments what he depicts as a missed opportunity to have her back his choice for president, Sen. Ted Cruz. It was early this year, the congressman said Wednesday during an interview at an Iowa hotel with Fox News Latino, when King, Iowas conservative kingmaker, and the group Citizens United hosted the Freedom Summit, dubbed on its website as an effort to bring grassroots activists from across Iowa to hear directly from conservative leaders on how we can get America back on track by focusing on our core principles of pro-growth economics, social conservatism, and a strong national defense. I had Sarah Palin and Ted Cruz together at dinner then, King said. We were planning a pheasant hunt for the next day, and I just didnt press hard enough to hold Sarah for the next day (hunt). If we had gone out to the field together with a shotgun, I think she would have endorsed Ted Cruz, King said, smiling. So Im taking the blame. Palin and Cruz and King are avid hunters, a chance, the congressman suggested partly in jest and partly seriously, for the firebrand former Alaska governor and the firebrand Texas senator to bond especially in a way that city slicker Trump cant with the former governor who boasts about liking the rough and tumble outdoors. Palin has defended hunting, saying: I especially love moose and caribou. I always remind people from outside our state that theres plenty of room for all Alaskas animals right next to the mashed potatoes. Last November, amid the cornstalks of the Hawkeye State, Cruz and King, who every year hosts pheasant hunts, participated in one, posing at the end with photos of their dead prey. Palin, a Tea Party conservative who was Sen. John McCains running mate in 2008, and became known for her irreverent one-liners and bashing of establishment Washington politics, announced her endorsement of Trump on Tuesday. The endorsement came as Trump is locked in a dead heat with Cruz in Iowa, the first state to vote for the selection of the nominee of each party for the presidential race. King, one the Houses most conservative members and an influential figure in Iowa whose endorsement is pursued by Republicans running for president, says that in all seriousness, Palin shares more fundamental qualities and views with Cruz than with Trump. I dont think it will move Trump forward very much, King said, referring to poll numbers or his standing in Iowa, where Cruz has for the most part enjoyed a lead over the other GOP candidates. Sarah Palins endorsement does move the focus of the press on her and [Trump] while shes in town. I wish her well, Im glad shes back in public life. With tens of thousands of Central American immigrants arriving on the U.S.-Mexico border in the last two years, federal authorities are launching a program Thursday to encourage more of them to show up for their hearings in immigration court. Immigration and Customs Enforcement hired a contractor to help some immigrant families find transportation, housing and low-cost lawyers, hoping that getting them on stable footing will make them more likely to attend court hearings that determine whether they should be allowed to stay in the country or deported. When immigrants show up for court, federal authorities can keep track of asylum cases to ensure those who lose return home. Advocates want immigrants to attend the hearings because they believe many of those arriving from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras have a strong shot of winning asylum but must be in court to do so. Judges routinely issue deportation orders for those who don't show. As many as 800 families who pass an initial asylum screening can join the program in Los Angeles, New York, Washington, Chicago and Miami starting Thursday. Caseworkers will help newly arriving immigrants with tasks such as finding transportation to immigration court and enrolling their children in school. Later, they will help those who lose their bids to stay in the country head home. The program will cost $11 million a year and reach a tiny sliver of the 54,000 Central American immigrants with children who have arrived on the southwestern border since October 2014. It comes as the Obama administration faces court-imposed limits on the detention of immigrant families and as authorities began arresting those who lost their asylum cases in raids earlier this month. Those eligible for the program include pregnant women, nursing mothers and immigrants with mental illness, ICE said. "We are looking at Central American mothers, predominantly heads of households, because that is what we're seeing now as the biggest population to be served," said Andrew Lorenzen-Strait, a deputy assistant director for enforcement and removal at ICE. Since 2014, immigrant families have been sent to family detention centers or released and told to appear in immigration court. Nearly 790 deportation orders have been issued for immigrants with children who have arrived since July 2014 and were detained. More than two-thirds were for those who didn't show up for hearings, court statistics show. Advocates welcomed the new program, hoping immigrants can prove they are fleeing persecution and win the right to stay in the U.S. It faces opposition from those who want the government to quickly screen immigrants on the border and turn away those who don't qualify for asylum. "Instead, the administration continues to take actions that encourage more illegal immigration, such as providing taxpayer benefits to those who have come here illegally," said Rep. Bob Goodlatte, the Republican chairman of the House Judiciary Committee. Immigrant advocates said newcomers are often overwhelmed when they start life here and may miss key hearings if they get bogged down with enrolling their children in school or forget to update their address with the courts. They applauded the aid to immigrants but questioned ICE's selection of a contractor to run the program that is a unit of GEO Group, which also oversees immigration detention centers. The company declined to comment. The surge in border arrivals has stoked raucous debate on the presidential campaign trail and in Washington. The Obama administration arrested 121 people with deportation orders several weeks ago in raids targeting Central Americans who came here in recent years. Since last year, federal authorities have released immigrant families more quickly from detention centers after a federal judge ruled that mothers with children could not be held for lengthy periods of time. Some were outfitted with ankle bracelets after being freed. Before launching the new plan, ICE ran a pilot program with two nonprofits in which participants almost always attended their immigration hearings and appointments, agency officials said. "A lot of these people are not going to be deported," said Annie Wilson, chief strategy officer for Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service. "The more important question is: How should we be treating people who are going to be here, and who are going to win asylum?" Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter & Instagram Ted Cruz once proudly wore a belt buckle borrowed from George H.W. Bush that said: "President of the United States." He campaigned and worked for that former president's son, Dubya, former President George W. Bush. And Cruz helped write a book lavishing praise on him. Also, the endorsement of George P. Bush, the family's latest rising political star and son of Jeb Bush, lent credibility to Cruz's then little-known 2012 Senate campaign. Now, though, things aren't so simpatico between the Bushes and Cruz and not only because one of the Texas senator's GOP presidential primary competitors is Jeb Bush, the former governor of Florida. Rising tensions reflect Cruz potentially helping to dent the Bushes' position as one of the nation's pre-eminent political families, personifying a deeper internal Republican Party struggle between insurgent conservative outsiders and the old guard establishment. "There is this question of, 'When are the adults going to come in and change the race?' I think the adults are at the table. I certainly consider myself one," said Mica Mosbacher, a prominent Cruz fundraiser whose late husband, Robert, was secretary of commerce under George H.W. Bush. "Some people are still in denial." Cruz supporters point to October, when George W. Bush said of Cruz to a roomful of donors: "I just don't like that guy." "I think it hurt him," Mosbacher said of the former president. "He failed to have his finger on the pulse." Ray Sullivan, who was national spokesman for George W. Bush's 2000 campaign, said the comment "underscores a highly competitive, multicandidate race and different segments of the Republican Party." But he also conceded that it was somewhat unusual for George W. Bush to openly criticize a fellow Republican. "The Bushes are a competitive lot," said Sullivan, who ran a PAC backing Rick Perry's short-lived 2016 presidential bid before jumping to Jeb Bush's campaign in September. "I viewed that as almost a game-day, rally-the-troops commentary." Cruz hasn't retaliated, but being criticized by George W. Bush delighted his tea party base. Since then, Cruz's candidacy has risen in the polls, while Jeb Bush's bid has struggled. Clay Johnson III, a friend of George W. Bush since high school and former top budget official in his administration, said he recently spent time with the former president and they discussed how many of the crowded field of GOP White House hopefuls "have no idea at all about what's involved in being president." Still, that public display of bad blood in Bush's comment to donors was a far cry from Bush's 2000 presidential campaign, when Cruz was a domestic policy adviser. Cruz later held jobs in the Bush administration in the Justice Department and Federal Trade Commission and, on the verge of the 2004 Republican National Convention, wrote a chapter in "Thank You, President Bush," a book meant to answer "Bush-haters." In it, Cruz likened George W. Bush to Abraham Lincoln and Ronald Reagan and wrote that some fiscal conservatives decried Bush for increased government spending, but "those concerns are often overstated." In his own autobiography published last year, however, Cruz made it clear his views had changed, criticizing Bush for excessive federal spending. Also in his book, Cruz recalled borrowing jeans, a shirt and that belt buckle from George H.W. Bush for a 2009 sailing outing, writing that "it was surreal to be wearing his clothes." Before his 2012 Senate bid, Cruz explored running for Texas attorney general. In the autobiography, he detailed how, after the sailing trip, George H.W. Bush agreed to endorse that campaign. But Cruz wrote that Karl Rove, a top strategist for George W. Bush, pressured him not to publicize that. Rove disputed the book's assertion last summer, prompting the Cruz campaign to release 2009 emails from Rove that it said backed up Cruz's account. Cruz wrote that George H.W. Bush had wanted to call him "the future of the Republican Party." Three years later, Bush's grandson, George P., used those same words to praise Cruz during his Senate run. In a 2012 statement backing Cruz, who was then an underdog in Texas' Republican primary, George P. Bush saluted him and another now presidential hopeful, Marco Rubio, saying both "will inspire a new generation of leaders to stand up and defend American Exceptionalism." George P. Bush, Jeb's eldest son, was elected Texas land commissioner in 2014. Through his office, George P. Bush declined to comment for this story, but he has said he still considers Cruz a friend even if he's now campaigning for his dad. Brendan Steinhauser, a GOP strategist who is uncommitted in the presidential race, called the falling out between Cruz and the Bushes "a good example of the battle for the heart and soul" of the Republican Party. "There may be frustration on the Bush side that this isn't the party from 2000 to 2008, and certainly not before that under Bush senior," Steinhauser said. "The tea party, the rise of the grassroots ... that started during the younger Bush's presidency." Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter & Instagram People in New Hampshire live nearly 2,400 miles from El Paso, Texas, one of the busiest crossings on America's Southern border. And it's only home to about 10,000 people living illegally in the U.S. a far cry from states like California, Texas or Florida. Yet, illegal immigration is a paramount concern to New Hampshire voters, and Republican presidential candidates are being faced with tough questions from voters in this small, mostly white, state on how they will handle the issue if elected. While GOP front-runner Donald Trump has called for a wall across the Southern border, many voters in this early voting state are searching for more in-depth solutions to the country's immigration shortfalls. They characterize their concerns with illegal immigration as a case of fundamental fairness combined with national security or economic concerns. Of the 1.3 million people living in New Hampshire, roughly 94 percent of them are white, according to 2014 census data. Just 3.3 percent of the state's population is Hispanic or Latino, compared to 17 percent nationwide, while about 5 percent is foreign-born, compared to 13 percent nationally. New Hampshire voters will head to the polls Feb. 9 for the country's second primary season contest. But Bob Belanger, a voter from Brookline who recently challenged Marco Rubio on the subject during a campaign stop, said immigration concerns among New Hampshire residents do not equate to xenophobia. "People tend to think that we are anti-immigrant, but we're not," he said. "We are all immigrants, for crying out loud. We just want to know who's coming in the front door of our country. That's all." Belanger, 57, said he's proud of his immigrant family's heritage. He carries around his grandfather's green card. His grandfather was Canadian; his grandmother was originally from Ireland. He works for a New Hampshire-based manufacturing firm that builds piping for companies all over the region and the world, and says immigration personally affects him from an economic perspective. He believes those working here illegally drive down wages and benefits. "Whether it's roofers or whether it's welders, it affects me even when they are in Texas or California," he said. "We are in a global economy." Belanger, like many voters here, said he's looking for a more substantial solution than building a wall and deporting everyone who lives here illegally, as Trump proposes. Speaking with Rubio last week, Belanger said he's concerned about any immigration reform that looks similar to a plan passed in 1986 under Ronald Reagan. Back then, nearly 3 million people were granted legal status, but the federal government failed, as promised in the law, to crack down on employers who hired illegals or to secure the border. "We were sold a bill of goods where we allowed amnesty for millions of people and then we secured the border," he told Rubio. "The Congress never secured the borders." Rubio, Florida's junior senator, agreed and emphasized his opposition to granting legal status to people already in the U.S. before securing the border. "Until you prove to people that illegal immigration is under control, not just pass a law, until they actually see it's working, they are not going to support doing anything for the people here illegally," he said. Rubio has made immigration a central part of his stump speech, but other candidates including Jeb Bush and Chris Christie are frequently asked about border security and immigration reform in town hall meetings. John Kasich was recently asked by a voter in Concord what he would do to "deport" everyone living here illegally. His answer: "I wouldn't." Cindy Coutu, a Bedford voter, said immigration is one of her top three concerns, partly for security reasons, partly due to fairness. "We have people that are leaching off of our system," she said. "People that are here illegally are receiving benefits without having worked for it, that's bothersome to me." Regardless of voters' reasons for seeing immigration as a top concern, former state Republican Party chairman Fergus Cullen said the state's low level of diversity makes it an "abstract" issue for many voters here. Because voters here don't confront immigration on a daily basis, Cullen said their views on the issue may run along ideological or theoretical lines. Cullen now leads a non-profit that promotes immigration reform, called Americans by Choice. "The fact is, in New Hampshire you don't see large Spanish-speaking populations," he said. "And I think that matters." But that doesn't prevent some New Hampshire voters from expressing concerns. Kathy and Brian Hybsch, of Auburn, said immigration has become their "number 1" issue, primarily for national security reasons. After terrorist attacks last year in Paris and San Bernardino, California, many of the Republican candidates began framing immigration as, first and foremost, an issue of security. Most of the Republican candidates support a temporary halt on refugees coming into the country from Syria, and Trump took the calls further, saying the country should stop letting in Muslims. Kathy, who said she is a Trump supporter, said she doesn't consider herself anti-immigrant but agrees with the proposals. "It might not have made sense 20 years ago," she said, "but it's not 20 years ago." Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter & Instagram With less than two weeks before voters in New Hampshire head to the polls for the first primary contest of the presidential campaign season, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Julian Castro made a whirlwind tour through the Granite state on Monday in an effort to rally support for Hillary Clinton. The rising star in the Democratic Party made a number of stops throughout New Hampshire alongside his brother, Congressman Joaquin Castro, before ending the day stumping for Clinton at a Mexican restaurant in Manchester. We need a president who will invest in this nation and that president will be Hillary Clinton, Castro told a crowd gathered inside the Puerto Vallarta restaurant. Hillary Clinton believes in a United States that includes all of us. While national polls still have Clinton holding a double-digit lead over Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, she is lagging far behind her opponent in New Hampshire. A Fox News poll released on Monday has Sanders up 22 points on Clinton in the countdown to primary day. The swing through New Hampshire by the Castro brothers comes as Clinton attempts to hold on to her narrow lead in the first presidential contest state, Iowa, and also rally her base support a sizeable portion of which comes from the Latino community to head to polls on February 9. Speaking to a mainly Latino crowd inside the restaurant, Castro highlighted his familys immigrants roots and the struggles they had growing up in San Antonio, Texas, while touching on Clinton talking points, such as affordable colleges and healthcare. Our nation has been the greatest when we invest in our people, Castro said. Speaking to Fox News Latino after the event, Castro addressed the failure to pass comprehensive immigration reform under the presidency of Barack Obama, saying after the last presidential election 2012 there was strong bipartisan support in the Senate for comprehensive immigration, but the Republican-led House wouldnt let it go to a vote on the floor. But, he said, those who are strongly against immigration will have to reconsider their position after the November election. Latinos, he said, will rally against those with harsh views on to immigration and theyre going to have no choice but to reconsider their reluctance to pass comprehensive immigration reform. Castro also bashed the presidential contenders like Donald Trump and Ted Cruz, whose tough stances on immigration, saying that most American voters immigrant or not would not want to elect a president with the hardline views. There is no way that with a President Trump or a President Cruz or a President [Marco] Rubio that this is going to be a welcoming America, he told FNL. Castros appearance on the stump for Clinton comes only two days after the HUD secretary received the endorsement for vice president from the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. Castro has so far played down the speculation saying he is focused on getting Clinton elected and that he does not believe he would be selected. "I'm focused completely on being supportive of Hillary. There's a Democratic primary," Castro said during an event in Iowa on Sunday, according to the Texas Tribune. "I don't believe that that's going to happen, and I've said that." He added: I fully expect to be back in Texas a year from now. The HUD secretary made national headlines in 2012 when it was announced that the then mayor of San Antonio would be the keynote speaker at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C. It was a move that made history; Castro was the first Hispanic ever to deliver the keynote speech at a Democratic convention. Only 14 percent of state legislators are minorities, according to a report released on Monday. The New American Leaders Project surveyed state lawmakers in 2015 and found that black politicians held around 9 percent of the seats, Latino and Latina politicians held about 4 percent of the seats and Asian American politicians held about 2 percent of the seats. Native American officeholders numbered less than 1 percent. This number is far below the racial and ethnic makeup of this country, with minorities making up 40 percent of the population. Sayu Bhojwani, president and founder of the New American Leaders Project, said the major political parties could do more to help usher more minority candidates to state-level offices. She also wants more support for minority candidates once they decide to seek office and foundations to invest in preparing future lawmakers. "Part of the reason for the representation gap because the existing and traditional parties are not reaching out and encouraging Asians and Latinos and Latinas to run," she said. Having more minority officeholders at the state level would mean minority communities would have someone who not only understands their issues but also likely has experienced what they are going through, she said. "If we could reduce the barriers, we could have a much more representative government," she said. The survey also found a gender gap in state Legislatures, with women holding 24 percent of the lawmaking jobs and men holding 76 percent. Republicans also held a decisive advantage, holding 56 percent of state-level legislator positions while Democrats hold 43 percent. One percent is held by third-party candidates or independents. Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter & Instagram Ted Cruz and Hillary Clinton both called for lowering the temperature in the presidential primary race Monday, even as their campaigns and supporters kept up their attacks with a week to go until the Iowa caucuses. Campaigning at a pizza place, Cruz passed up an opportunity to take a swipe at Donald Trump, who has been hitting Cruz as the Texas senator has climbed in the polls. Until recently, Trump and Cruz had avoided direct confrontation on the campaign trail, but Trump's description of his opponent as a "nasty guy" seemed to invite a response. "I will not engage in insults," Cruz said in Manchester, Iowa. "I will not engage in personal attacks. Donald has changed how he has approached me. He is now insulting me every day. He can do that. That is his prerogative. I do not intend to respond in kind." But behind the scenes, Cruz's campaign was on the air with an ad assailing Trump over his business practices, while a super PAC supporting Cruz unleashed its own ads criticizing Trump. Cruz said he would "continue to sing Donald's praises personally" while pointing out policy differences with the real estate mogul. Trump wasn't holding back. He took to Twitter to call Cruz a "nervous wreck" who was "dropping like a rock" in the GOP race. Cruz's reluctance to bash his opponent too directly reflects the delicate balance both he and Trump are trying to strike. Even as they work to take each other down, neither wants to alienate the other's supporters. Clinton, campaigning before a Jewish organization in Des Moines, said she hoped for a "cooling off" of some of the heated rhetoric in the presidential campaign. Without singling out any candidate or party, she said politicians should be "under some level of scrutiny for what they say." Clinton and Bernie Sanders, locked in an unexpectedly tight race, planned to deliver their final-stretch pitches Monday evening in a televised town hall forum. Clinton's campaign spent the day working to revive a debate about gun control, building on her previous criticism of Sanders for backing legislation granting gun manufacturers legal immunity. Adding a new flavor of uncertainty was word over the weekend that former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg is considering an independent bid, eyeing an opportunity if Trump and Sanders should end up as the Republican and Democratic nominees. Trump told CNN he would "love to" face Bloomberg, insisting he would win. "We used to be friends. I guess we're not friends anymore," Trump said of his fellow New Yorker. Cruz picked up an endorsement Monday from Rick Perry, the former governor of his home state, who dropped out of the presidential race last year. Florida Sen. Marco Rubio also won, if not an official endorsement, a glowing introduction from the freshman Republican Sen. Joni Ernst, a popular figure in the Iowa GOP who called him "near and dear" to her heart. With most of the Republicans circling each other in Iowa, Chris Christie and John Kasich were searching for votes in New Hampshire, where the GOP base is friendlier to more mainstream, socially moderate candidates. Speaking to reporters in Newmarket, Kasich seemed to capture the mood of all of the candidates many months into a grueling campaign. "I think there's so many undecided people, and I wish they were all committed to me," Kasich said. "What am I not doing right?" Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter & Instagram Immigrant rights attorneys filed a federal lawsuit Monday challenging part of a Texas border security bill they say could allow state authorities to target shelters and landlords for harboring immigrants who are in the country illegally. The Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund is asking a judge to find unconstitutional part of the far-reaching security bill the state passed in 2015. The group suing includes two landlords who say they could be hurt by the law because they don't ask the immigration status of their tenants. Also suing is Jonathan Ryan, director of a San Antonio-based immigration legal services center that also runs a shelter for migrants whose staff and volunteers, he says, could be subject to prosecution. Republican state Rep. Dennis Bonnen, who authored the bill in question, called the lawsuit "frivolous" and said the legislation was never intended to target shelters, aid workers or landlords and could not be used to do so. But Nina Perales, the lead lawyer with MALDEF, said the law is intended to target people who do business with immigrants, such as landlords, or people carrying out humanitarian work in shelters. "There can be no explanation for this harboring statute than to intimidate people," she said. "There is no public safety function." Gov. Greg Abbott signed the bill, known as HB 11, into law by last year as part of an $800 million border security effort undertaken by the Legislature. Under one provision of HB 11, people who profit from, encourage or induce a person to enter or stay in the country illegally "by concealing, harboring, or shielding that person from detection" can be charged with various felony degrees. The charges depend on the age of the immigrant and whether he or she becomes victim of sexual assault or other crimes. The bill also creates the new crime of "continuous harboring" of immigrants for 10 days or more. David Cruz, a San Antonio landlord who is one of the plaintiffs, called the law "pretty broad and vague." The law "could affect me if I have to be determining the residency status of my tenants," he said. "I feel it's not my role." Bonnen called the suit "a political stunt," saying the bill had been "carefully crafted to go after the drug cartel leaders who are smuggling individuals into our state," and forcing them into prostitution, or making them victims of "violence, forced labor, sexual assault and other heinous crimes." Abbott's spokesman John Wittman said the law is intended to fight human smuggling and that the governor was proud to have signed it. The harboring provision was called into question at last year's hearings as potentially vulnerable to a constitutional challenge, because the federal government has authority over immigration. Moreover, Perales said, existing federal and state laws already prohibit most of the activities described in HB 11. In recent years, federal courts have struck down immigrant harboring laws in Arizona, Georgia, Pennsylvania, and South Carolina as pre-empted by federal law. In Texas, the suburban Dallas community of Farmers Branch made national headlines after passing an ordinance a decade ago that would have fined or revoked renter's licenses for landlords who lease property to immigrants in the country illegally. The 5th U.S. Court of Appeals later ruled the ordinance unconstitutional, and the U.S. Supreme Court in 2014 declined to hear the city's appeal. The high court has held since 2012 that immigration issues are largely a matter for federal agencies, not local governments, to regulate. Ryan, the director of RAICES in San Antonio, said he was confident that the harboring provisions of HB 11 will be struck down, "and in doing so send a deterring message to those who would seek to pass unjust unconstitutional laws." As the direct of a nonprofit professional legal services group, he said, "I must have an assurance that my operations are legal." Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter & Instagram Even as he is embroiled in a dispute that may leave him out of the Republican debate Thursday night, Donald Trump is breaking from his reputation as a flame-throwing outsider with just days to go before Iowa's leadoff caucuses, highlighting his willingness to work with Democrats in Congress as part of a closing argument with a distinctly bipartisan tone. The billionaire businessman's promise to get things done in Washington is a direct contrast to leading GOP rival Ted Cruz, the Texas senator whose brief Washington career has been defined in part by his inability to get along with his own party. Trump's can-do message comes as adversaries begin pouring money into tough ads questioning his commitment to conservative values attacks that some in the GOP's establishment wing have long awaited. It's unclear whether it's too little and too late to stop Trump as he tries to become the first Republican in modern political history to win opening primary contests in both Iowa and New Hampshire. Trump is doing plenty of his own attacking. "I don't think he'll get anything through Congress because everybody hates him," Trump said of Cruz Tuesday on MSNBC's "Morning Joe." Trump claimed to have good relationships with such top congressional Democrats as Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer, predicting he could get things done in a way Cruz could not. "Ted Cruz lies. He is a liar. That's why nobody likes him," Trump said. "That's why he stands on the middle of the Senate floor and can't make a deal with anybody. ... And you know, there's something to say about having a little bit of ability to get other people to do things. The change in message is playing out against the drama of Thursday night's debate, which is being hosted by Fox News and is to be moderated by Megyn Kelly, an anchor that Trump locked horns with earlier in the campaign. The candidate has indicated that he may stay home rather than participate unless the network replaces her. In some ways, Trump's message plays into the hands of his Republican critics, who have long questioned his willingness to stick to conservative principles. Such questions are the focus of a burst of concentrated ads coming from an unusual coalition of Cruz boosters and mainstream GOP figures. Cruz allies have circulated no fewer than six anti-Trump ads in recent days, the bulk of the advertising coming from super political action committees in a billionaire-funded network called Keep the Promise. "Donald Trump is not a conservative," one of the ads charges before looping footage of him in 1999 declaring, "I am pro-choice in every respect." Trump says he has since changed his position and opposes abortion rights. That commercial is part of a $2.5 million TV ad buy in Iowa and South Carolina. Another Keep the Promise ad released on Tuesday proclaims, "Donald Trump will make very bad deals with Democrats." It shows him saying, "Let's get to be a little establishment. We've got to get things done, folks, OK?" Cruz's own campaign has a new Iowa ad out that hits Trump for having "New York values." That commercial also has a clip of the businessman saying, "How stupid are the people of Iowa?" an insult he hurled after his poll numbers dipped in an earlier survey. Some mainstream Republicans have joined the Trump pile-on. Katie Packer, a senior aide to Mitt Romney's 2012 campaign, launched a super PAC in recent days that's spending hundreds of thousands of dollars for an Iowa-focused anti-Trump campaign that includes television and radio ads in addition to mailers. "I'm not a big Ted Cruz fan, but I believe that Donald Trump represents a long-term threat to our party beyond just losing the general election," Packer said. "If we nominate a guy without any anchor on our core issues, we've essentially nominated a Democrat." Backers of other Republican candidates are spending big on negative ads, too, as they fight for support as the establishment alternative to the two front-runners. Outside groups aiding former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, Ohio Gov. John Kasich and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie have spent more than $36 million on ads that largely focus on tearing each other down, data from ad tracker Kantar Media's CMAG show. Those groups are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars more on direct mail and digital ads along the same lines, according to filings with federal election regulators. Those four candidates are vying to be a surprise winner in New Hampshire, the second-to-vote state. Trump is polling at the top of the field there, too. And all the while, some high-profile conservatives are rallying behind Trump, who has thrilled many in the Republican base with aggressive plans to crack down on illegal immigration and ban Muslims from entering the country, at least temporarily, to safeguard against terrorist threats. After winning former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's endorsement last week, Trump on Tuesday announced the backing of Christian conservative leader Jerry Falwell, Jr., the son of the late televangelist. Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, whose fame has spread beyond Arizona thanks to his hard-line stance against immigrants in the country illegally, joined Trump at a rally Tuesday in Iowa. Cruz, too, has unveiled big-name conservative support in recent days, commentator Glenn Beck and former Texas Gov. Rick Perry among them. Yet Falwell's support for Trump may particularly sting. Falwell is the president of Liberty University, where Cruz formally launched his presidential campaign. Backing from such well-known conservatives could give Trump political cover to promote his relationships with Democrats. "I've always had a good relationship with Nancy Pelosi. I've never had a problem," Trump said of the House's top Democrat. He said he's "always had a decent relationship" with top Senate Democrat Harry Reid and was "close to" third-ranking Chuck Schumer. "It's important that you get along," Trump said. Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter & Instagram Just moments after Donald Trump declared he would boycott the last Republican debate before the Iowa caucuses, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz sensing an opening began attacking Trump for abandoning Iowan voters and being 'so afraid' of Fox News moderator Megyn Kelly. "I think any candidate for president owes it to the voters to go and stand in front of them, to answer the hard questions," Cruz said in an interview with Fox News anchor Sean Hannity on Tuesday night. "I mean, it's a matter of basic respect to the men and women of Iowa." Trump declared he is boycotting the Fox News debate because of moderator anchor Megyn Kelly who he called a "third rate reporter" who had been toying with him. Trump has been upset about Kelly since she asked him about his disparaging remarks about women in a debate she co-hosted last year. Cruz, who is running in a deadlocked race with Trump in Iowa, called out the front-runner Republican candidate for being afraid of Kelly. "I think it's really remarkable that Donald Trump thinks so little of the men and women of Iowa that he is willing to skip the debate altogether," Cruz said. "He doesn't think he should have any questions on his record. And it's really quite astonishing that Donald is apparently so afraid of Megyn Kelly." On Tuesday night's 'Megyn Kelly Tonight,' Kelly shot back at Trump on her nightly show, arguing that Trump is used to getting his way but can't control the media. She said her network and CEO Roger Ailes had made it clear to Trump for months that they wouldn't change their moderator line-up. "I'll be there," Kelly said. "The debate will go on with or without Mr. Trump." Cruz, meanwhile, went on to challenge Trump to a one-on-one debate before the Iowa caucus on Monday accusing Trump of hiding from Iowa voters. He said he would debate Trump in an Iowa town hall one on one format answering questions from Iowans who are set to vote in the caucus. "If he doesn't accept, he's telling the men and women of Iowa he's not willing to defend his record," Cruz said about Trump. "He can't defend the record. He's admitting that he cannot stand the scrutiny, and that means he's not up to the job of being commander-in-chief. Anyone scared of Megyn Kelly is not going to be able to stand up to Hillary Clinton or Vladimir Putin. And we need a strong, principled, conservative president." Contains some reporting by the Associated Press. Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter & Instagram The National Hispanic Chamber of Commerces push for Obama administration official Julian Castro to be picked as a vice presidential candidate is generating a mixed reaction among Latino leaders. The reaction generally is falling along party lines. Supporters of Castro, who is U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, and former mayor of San Antonio, say the Democratic rising star deserves to be considered for a top slot in the presidential election, and praise the chamber president, Javier Palomarez, for endorsing him over the weekend. What theyre voicing is what we know: Julian is a proven leader, said Cristobal Alex, the president of the Latino Victory Project, a group founded by actress Eva Longoria and Henry Munoz, the Democratic Partys finance chair, to raise the number of Latino political candidates. He was the executive of one of our nations greatest cities for three terms. He put his own political career in jeopardy to pass a tax increase to fund pre-K education. He can win the Latino vote, especially millennial Latinos. Alfonso Aguilar, president of the Latino Partnership for Conservative Principles, an advocacy group, said he objects to the chambers endorsement of any political candidate. The Hispanic chamber is a non-partisan organization, said Aguilar, who is supporting the campaign of former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush. Thats a reason not to get involved in endorsements. Youre saying youre an organization that represents Hispanic businesses across the country, many owned by Republicans and Independents and people without any political agenda, Aguilar said. Its putting at risk the reputation of the organization. Would they endorse somebody like [New Mexico] Gov. Susana Martinez as a vice presidential candidate? Martinez is a Republican and was often mentioned as a potential vice presidential candidate in 2012 when former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney was the GOP presidential nominee. Aguilar said that beyond his objection of endorsements by the chamber, he holds Castro in a less lofty light than the business organization. He has no experience to be a heartbeat away from the presidency, Aguilar said. His performance at HUD has been irrelevant. Palomarez balked at the criticism, characterizing it as predictable whining by people who did not have one of their favorites endorsed. Palomarez, who also is from Texas, said that it is precisely fitting for a business group to get behind Castro, who has been a supporter of small businesses. We look at track records, at a history of having supported small businesses, Palomarez said. Julian has that track record. If Julian was a Republican, and had the same track record, Id support him as well. He has a long, proven track record of a) supporting small business, b) Hispanic small business and c) the Hispanic community in general. Julian Castro has endorsed Hillary Clinton for president, and is campaigning for her. Clinton indicated last year that Castro is impressive and she would consider him for a position of some kind if she were elected president. Palomarez said his backing of Castro did not mean he also is endorsing Clinton. The chamber head told Politico. Ive had conversations with other candidates running for the presidency and theyre [interested in adding Castro to their ticket]. We should wait and see how things land. He said to Fox News Latino that there are qualities he likes in GOP presidential candidates, as well. He said that while he disagrees with some of Sen. Ted Cruzs views on immigration, for instance, he likes his support for business. Cruz for quite a while backed quintupling the number of visas in the H1-B program, which aims to bring in highly skilled workers. Palomarez said: For us as a business organization, that makes perfect sense. (Cruz has recently amended his public call for an expansion of H1-B visas, calling for a hold on the program so that abuses of it by employers can be examined. He also is advocating that several other safeguards be put in place in the H1-B visa system to make sure it is being used as originally intended.) Castro, a graduate of Harvard Law School, rose to national prominence when he was chosen to deliver the keynote speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention. The chamber has been holding a series of question and answer forums with presidential candidates from both parties. Donald Trump's absence from the 7th Republican debate brightened the spotlight Thursday on his main GOP rivals, Senators Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, as the Iowa caucus looms near. Rubio and Cruz engaged in a lengthy debate on immigration, one of the most contentious issues among Republicans. Both have been accused of shifting their stances on legalizing some of those in the United States illegally, a position opposed by many GOP voters. Cruz accused Rubio of making a "politically advantageous" decision to support a 2013 Senate bill that included a pathway to citizenship, while the Florida senator said his rival was "willing to say or do anything to get votes." Trump decided to boycott the debate which comes at a crucial time because of Feb. 1 caucus saying that he felt the Fox News Channel was not fair to him. Fox defended its tough questioning of him, as well as others, during the debates, saying it was the role of journalists to challenge presidential candidates. In a rare standout debate moment for Jeb Bush, the former Florida governor sharply sided with Cruz in accusing Rubio of having "cut and run" on the Senate immigration bill. Video clips shown by moderators of past statements Ted Cruz has made about immigration led to a heated exchange. The clips showed Cruz claiming he would support immigration reform legislation if some of his amendments had been approved. But at the debate, Cruz said his intention was to ensure people in the country illegally couldn't gain legal status. Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky responded that Cruz claims that only he is "perfect" on immigration issues. Rubio jumped into the exchange, calling Cruz's comment about his superiority on immigration "the lie that Ted's campaign is built upon." Given the importance of immigration to Republicans, Rubio said Cruz is trying to "out-Trump Trump" on immigration. Trump has called for the removal of all people in the country illegally. Cruz said Rubio is charming and smooth but that when both men ran for the U.S. Senate, they each promised to fight amnesty. Cruz said only he was true to his word. Absent Trump, the Republican presidential candidates strained to take advantage of a rare opportunity to step out of the front-runner's shadow in Thursday night's debate a policy-heavy contest that offered a glimpse of what the GOP contest might have been without the unpredictable businessman. Still, the candidates couldn't resist mocking Trump for boycotting the final debate before Iowa kicks off voting in the 2016 campaign on Monday. Cruz, who is locked in a tight contest with Trump in Iowa, opened the debate with a sarcastic impression of the real estate mogul's frequent insults of his opponents. "I'm a maniac and everyone on this stage is stupid, fat and ugly," Cruz said. Then he thanked his fellow candidates for showing Iowa voters respect by showing up. Bush, a frequent target of Trump, said with a wry smile, "I kind of miss Donald Trump; he was a teddy bear to me." Never one to go quietly, Trump was holding a competing rally elsewhere in Des Moines, an event his campaign said was raising money for military veterans. "When you're treated badly, you have to stick up for your rights," Trump said in explaining he was skipping the debate because he felt Fox News had dealt with him unfairly. Broadening his point, he said, "We have to stick up for ourselves as people and we have to stick up for our country if we're being mistreated." With their White House hopes on the line, the candidates worked hard to cast themselves as best prepared to be commander in chief and take on terror threats emanating both from abroad and within the United States. Rubio struck an aggressive posture, pledging that as president he would go after terrorists "wherever they are. And if we capture them alive, we're sending them to Guantanamo." Rubio also stood by his previous calls for shutting down mosques in the U.S if there were indications that the Muslim religious centers were being used to radicalize terrorists. Paul back on the main debate stage after being downgraded to an undercard event because of low poll numbers earlier this month warned against closing down mosques. A proponent of a more isolationist foreign policy, Paul also raised concerns about the U.S. getting involved militarily in Syria, where the Islamic State group has a stronghold. The candidates largely sidestepped direct confrontations with each other, focusing some of their most pointed attacks on Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton. "She is not qualified to be president of the United States," New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said. "What we need is someone on that stage who has been tested who has been through it." Christie is part of a crowded field of more mainstream candidates who have struggled to break through in an election year where Trump, and increasingly Cruz, have tapped into voter anger with the political system. Party leaders have grown increasingly antsy for some of the more traditional candidates to step aside after the first contests to allow one to rise up and challenge for the nomination. Asked whether the crowded establishment lane was putting Trump in position to be the nominee, Bush said, "We're just starting out. The first vote hasn't been counted. Why don't we let the process work?" Bush also defended the flurry of critical advertisements his well-funded super PAC has launched against Rubio and other rivals. "It's called politics," Bush said. "That's the way it is. I'm running hard." It's unclear whether Trump's unusual move will hurt his standing with Iowa voters. But his absence did give his rivals more time to make their case to voters. .Based on reporting by The Associated Press. Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter & Instagram Two super PACs supporting Sen. Ted Cruz's presidential campaign are offering to donate $1.5 million to charities that help military veterans if Donald Trump will debate Cruz head-to-head before the Iowa caucuses. The political action committees, Keep the Promise I and II, are proposing a one-hour debate to be held in Iowa on or before Jan. 31, the day before the caucuses, with a moderator chosen by the candidates. Cruz himself sent a letter to Trump Wednesday inviting him to debate in Sioux City, Iowa, on Saturday night. The Cruz campaign suggested conservative radio hosts Mark Levin, Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh as possible moderators. Trump dismissed Cruz's proposal earlier Wednesday. He is skipping Thursday's night's GOP debate amid a feud with debate host Fox News Channel. "Even though I beat him in the first six debates, especially the last one, Ted Cruz wants to debate me again. Can we do it in Canada?" Trump tweeted, referencing Cruz's birthplace. "It's not really that Donald is afraid of me," Cruz said at a rally Wednesday night outside of Des Moines. "He's afraid of you. He doesn't want to answer questions from the men and women of Iowa about how his record doesn't match what he's selling." Some foes saw the shakeup as an opening to rise above the ruckus. "These kinds of theatrics by Ted Cruz and Donald Trump are an entertaining sideshow, but they have nothing to do with defeating Hillary Clinton," Florida Sen. Marco Rubio said. "We don't have time for these kinds of distractions." Despite the attention, there was little sense that Trump's move would significantly change the trajectory of the Republican contest in Iowa. While the former reality television star holds a big lead in most national polls, he and Cruz are locked in a tight race here. "My sense is those Iowa Republicans who weren't fans of Donald Trump before yesterday, this has only validated their opinion of him, and those Iowans who have been drawn to his passionate attack on the media and political elites in our country are even more emboldened by their guy today," said former Iowa GOP chairman Matt Strawn. Trump has substituted mass rallies for normal meet-and-greet events, made inflammatory statements that would have sunk other candidates, and spent much of his time giving his views on television news shows and Twitter. Instead of debating Thursday night, Trump will host what his campaign is calling a "special event to benefit veterans' organizations." The campaign on Wednesday evening formally announced details for the event, scheduled to begin at the same time as the debate and just two miles away. Campaigning Wednesday evening in South Carolina, Trump drew cheers when he noted his plans to return to Iowa for the fundraiser. But he made no direct reference to the debate, off-handedly saying, "I've not been treated fairly." In Iowa, Plymouth County GOP Chairman Don Kass called it "typical Trump" and said the candidate could benefit by "making a bigger splash" with his own event. "Frankly, you know, in the past, anytime somebody thought he did something that cost him, it didn't cost him," Kass said. In December, Trump threatened to skip a CNN debate unless the network paid him $5 million, which he said he'd donate to charity. The network did not pay up, and he showed up nonetheless. And in October, he and rival Ben Carson's campaign threatened not to show unless their demands for a shorter run time and other conditions were met. The network adjusted and they appeared. Trump's Fox feud dates back to the first primary debate, when Kelly took him to task over derogatory statements he'd made about women. Some conservative leaders suggested Trump was taking a risk. The debate is "going to be the Donald Trump hatefest," said Mark Meckler, one of the tea party movement's original leaders. And one voter said he was deeply disappointed by Trump's decision. "You don't like something, you don't whine," said Tom Moore, a 55-year-old casket maker from Asbury, Iowa. "Be a man, take it and answer the questions 'cause you're going to get that from everybody." Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter & Instagram With the absence of Donald Trump from the Republican debate stage on Thursday night, much of the attention and criticism was focused squarely on the no-show's closest rival in Iowa: Ted Cruz. The Texas senator, who trails Trump in Iowa somewhere between seven and eight points in the latest polls, was hoping to use the absence to pick up support among undecided voters. Analysts and pundits, however, say that the often-contentious Texas senator came off as defensive on issues like immigration and ethanol subsidies and that his squabbles with Fox News hosts Chris Wallace, Bret Baier and Megyn Kelly, worked to his disadvantage. "His entanglement with the moderators was one of the worst moments for a candidate in any of the debates," a New Hampshire Republican told Politico. "His opposition to ethanol was also highlighted on the eve of the Iowa caucuses." Another voter said, "He did not explain his switch on immigration policy very well." Cruz also faced sharp questions on national security and, perhaps most importantly, whether he was trustworthy. "TrusTed" is the theme of the fiery conservative's campaign, and several candidates questioned his authenticity. "Ted, throughout this campaign, you've been willing to say or do anything in order to get votes," Florida Sen. Marco Rubio said. Cruz fought back by accusing Rubio of bending to the will of donors on immigration, but it was hardly a decisive victory. While observers say that Cruz didn't do irreparable damage to his chances of winning the Hawkeye State on Monday, he will need to ramp up his ground game if he hopes to overtake Trump in the election season's first contest. While Cruz was struggling in the center podium, analysts say another Cuban-American senator made big strides. Separate surveys taken by Politico and political consultant Frank Luntz said that Rubio had the strongest debate performance, with one New Hampshire Republican voter calling him "the most articulate of the candidates on a variety of issues, and the most aspirational of the Republicans onstage." One surprise was the performance of former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush. Bush was once considered a shoo-in for the GOP nomination, but his prospects fell as those of Trump rose, and his debate performances sharing the stage with Trump have been fair to lousy. But Thursday, Bush had arguably his best debate performance of the presidential season. He appeared more comfortable onstage without the presence of Trump, analysts said, and that while his debate performance may not help him in Iowa, it may be beneficial farther down the primary road. "Given his previous performances, few would believe that Jeb Bush would [come] out of one of these debates as the winner," a New Hampshire Republican told Politico. "Yet he stood and delivered in a strong way. It may not help him in Iowa, but it comes at an opportune time for him as he sees a surge in New Hampshire." Bush currently sits middle of the pack in polls nationally and in Iowa and New Hampshire at around 4 percent. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter & Instagram The mayor of Miami-Dade County, Carlos Gimenez, was angry enough at Chris Matthews that he did something very old-fashioned: He sat down to write him a letter. As has been widely reported, the irascible MSNBC host on Tuesday, while reporting on the possibility that GOP frontrunner Donald J. Trump would skip the Republican debate Thursday night, leaving Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas and Marco Rubio of Florida as the main draws of the debate, said Who is going to watch a debate between the two Cuban guys? According to Gimenezs letter, which was dated Thursday, Every single American who has a vested interest in the future of our great nation. The mayor opened his letter, As a proud Cuban-American and the mayor of a county with the largest population of Cuban-Americans in the United States, I was deeply offended by your distasteful remarks about tonights Republican debate. He added, Your comments displayed bigotry and ignorance about nationality and what it means to be an American in the 21st century. Politics aside, Senators Cruz and Rubio are both highly qualified Presidential candidates. They are Americans. Period. Gimenez who is known as a political ally of former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush continued, Perhaps our definition of American differs, but let me assure you that despite being born in Cuba to Cuban parents, I am every bit as American as you. And so are Senators Rubio and Cruz. In his original comments, Matthews was talking to a reporter and an analyst, and he posed the question to them: Who is going to watch a debate between the two Cuban guys? Who is going to watch a debate between Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz. Who cares? You know theyve been fighting in this interleague fight over who is the hawkish guy, or whatever. Who is going to watch that Thursday night? Gimenez wrapped up his note to Matthews saying, I dont expect you to retract your commentary or apologize, but I hope that my words have at least made you reconsider your antiquated and appalling remarks. According to CBSMiami.com, the mayor hasnt heard back from either the anchor or the news network. But Matthews did apologize on the air on Thursday evening. He said his comments had been misconstrued and "had nothing to do with the point I was making. It came off as condescending, even derogatory. It sounded like I was putting them down because of their background," he said. "Im sorry I said it. Thats it. I mean it. This isnt the first time Matthews has courted controversy over the ethnicity of Cruz and Rubio. While analyzing the two presidential hopefuls performance in a November debate, he wondered on the air whether or not Cruz and Rubio should be considered Hispanic. Im not sure the right word for them is Hispanic because they are Cuban nationals, or they come from Cuba, he said. Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter & Instagram The Mexican national charged with fatally shooting a young San Francisco woman walking on a city pier is seeking dismissal of his criminal case, which added to the national debate over illegal immigration. Juan Francisco Sanchez-Lopez and his lawyer Matt Gonzalez are expected to ask a judge Friday to drop a second-degree murder charge and related counts, arguing that Sanchez-Lopez that the judge presiding over a preliminary hearing late last year made procedural mistakes. He has pleaded not guilty. Gonzalez didn't return a phone call and email inquiry. A San Francisco judge on Sept. 4 ordered Sanchez-Lopez to stand trial on murder charges after a five-day preliminary hearing. Kate Steinle, 32, of San Francisco was walking with her father along the city's popular and crowded waterfront on July 1 when she was shot in the back. She died in her father's arms. Sanchez-Lopez was arrested several hours later a few blocks from the incident. Sanchez-Lopez told police he found a gun on the pier and that it fired accidentally when he picked it up. The gun was the service weapon of a Bureau of Land Management ranger, who reported it stolen from his car in late June. Lopez-Sanchez was in the country illegally when he was released from the San Francisco jail despite federal immigration authorities requesting he remain in custody for possible deportation. Lopez-Sanchez was previously deported five times to his native Mexico. Former Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi said jailers released Sanchez-Lopez after local prosecutors dropped a marijuana-related charge. Mirkarimi said he was following city policy of non-cooperation with federal immigration officials by releasing Lopez-Sanchez. Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump has repeatedly mentioned the killing of Steinle as he calls for a border wall and mass deportations to curb illegal immigration. Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter & Instagram The U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce on Friday endorsed New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez as the Republican candidate for vice president of the United States just a couple of days before the nation's first presidential contest in the Iowa caucus. The announcement Friday comes a week after the nonpartisan chamber endorsed Julian Castro, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, as vice president on the Democratic side. "Our endorsement of both Governor Martinez and Secretary Julian Castro is not an endorsement of a particular presidential candidate or party, but rather a firm recommendation to the future presidential nominee of each party," Javier Palomarez, CEO and president of the USHCC, said in a statement. "On the heels of yesterdays Republican debate, we urge all participating candidates to seriously consider Governor Martinez as their running mate." Martinez is New Mexico's first female governor and the first Hispanic female elected governor in the United States. "Shes tirelessly advocated for job creation in New Mexico by supporting critical industries in her state," the statement read. "A principled and pragmatic leader, Governor Martinez easily won re-election in 2014, with 48 percent of the Hispanic vote in a state that leans Democrat." The endorsement by the chamber is just the latest political move made by the traditionally non-partisan organization. Under the leadership of Palomarez,the chamber has found its way into the political discussion during this election cycle much more than ever before. The chamber has hosted 90-minute question-and-answer sessions with presidential candidates from both major parties, and Palomarez was involved in a much-publicized dispute with the leading GOP candidate, Donald Trump after the real estate magnate abruptly backed out of a commitment to appear at a chamber an event in October. At the time, Palomarez said Trump's about-face "really spelled the end of his campaign." Under his leadership, the chamber is becoming a political force representing not only 4.1 million Hispanic businesses, but for the Latino voter base as a whole. Palomarezhas said he feels that Latinos get little chance to hear at length from candidates during campaigns, especially early in election cycles. The unusual endorsement last Saturdayof Castro as a vice president when no presidential nominee has been determined drew criticism from some conservative leaders and groups, among them Alfonso Aguilar, president of the Latino Partnership for Conservative Principles. Youre saying youre an organization that represents Hispanic businesses across the country, many owned by Republicans and Independents and people without any political agenda, Aguilar told Fox News Latino at the time. Its putting at risk the reputation of the organization. Would they endorse somebody like [New Mexico] Gov. Susana Martinez as a vice presidential candidate? Contacted again after the Martinez endorsement, Aguilar echoed that sentiment while explaining that he is supportive of Gov. Martinez. "You have people [at the chamber] who are non-political, many are Republicans, and he took advantage of his position in a nonpartisan organization to advance his own political agenda," Aguilar told FNL on Friday. He believes the endorsements send the wrong message. "Endorsing candidates just because they are Hispanic, its insulting to Latino voters," Aguilar said. "Just being Hispanic is not a reason to support someone. It seems to me that is the standard for Palomarez." First there was the promise of political change in Barack Obama's historic 2008 election. Then the pledge to upend Washington's ways after the 2010 conservative tea party wave. But for some Americans, the change and disruption have come too slowly, or failed altogether. On the eve of the first voting contest in the 2016 presidential election, these voters are pushing for bolder, more uncompromising action, with an intensity that has shaken both the Republican and Democratic establishments. Candidates with deep ties to party leadership have been unexpectedly challenged by a billionaire businessman-turned-reality television star, a young senator loathed by Republican leaders, and an unabashed democratic socialist. "A lot of people feel like the status quo is a machine that's grinding them down," said Sen. Claire McCaskill, a Democrat from Missouri. "They are gravitating toward candidates that are disruptive and promising massive change." Indeed, the campaigns of Republicans Donald Trump and Ted Cruz, as well as Bernie Sanders in the Democratic race, have been fueled for months by anger, frustration and anxiety over an economic and national security landscape that is undeniably in flux. Wages have barely budged and the costs for housing, education and health care are soaring. The country is more racially and ethnically diverse than at any point in its history, with census data projecting white Americans will make up less than half the population by mid-century. New terror threats feel both confusing and very close to home. Monday's Iowa caucuses will offer the first hard evidence of whether the outsider candidates can turn the energy around their campaigns into votes. Trump and Cruz have been battling for supremacy in Iowa, while Sanders has been cutting into Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton's lead. Sanders, an independent who caucuses with Democrats in the Senate, has spent years railing against the influence of wealthy and corporate interests on American politics. Yet even he says he's surprised by what's happening. "My gut told me that this message would resonate with the American people but to be honest with you it has resonated stronger and faster than I thought it would," Sanders told The Associated Press. For years, surveys have shown a large majority of Americans say the country is headed in the wrong direction. But that sentiment now appears to be disproportionately driven by frustration with politics and the political system. A recent AP-GfK poll showed that among the 74 percent of Americans with a negative view of the country's direction, 51 percent of Republicans and 38 percent of Democrats listed at least one political reason for their negative outlook far more than listed an economic or foreign policy-related reason. No candidate has tapped into the public's disillusionment with politics better than Trump, whose controversial comments about Mexicans, Muslims and women are seen by his supporters as a welcome change from most candidates' careful political correctness. Cruz has tapped into a similar anti-establishment sentiment. Despite being in the Senate, Cruz aligned himself with Republicans who believe party elites made lofty promises to win the House in 2010 and the Senate in 2014, then ignored the will of the voters who drove those victories. "Republicans get to Washington and become part of Washington," said Brendan O'Brien, 51, of Portsmouth, New Hampshire. It's not just Republicans grappling with a disillusioned electorate. Clinton entered the Democratic race with all of the institutional advantages. Most Democrats who were seen as potentially tough challengers decided against a run, including Vice President Joe Biden. At the heart of the fight between Clinton and Sanders is how much the government should do to ease economic burdens for the middle class. Sanders wants to make tuition at public colleges and universities free. Clinton wants to lessen the burden of the student loan repayment system and create incentives for institutions to lower costs. With prescription drug costs soaring, Clinton wants to cap out-of-pocket drug costs at $250 a month. Sanders wants to change to a single-payer health care system that he says would lower overall health care costs, even including the tax hike to help pay for the program. McCaskill, a Clinton supporter, says Sanders is running on "promises that in his gut he's got to know can't be kept." The Republican establishment makes the same argument about Trump's proposals. But all that matters is whether voters believe the candidates' plans can fly or whether that factors into their vote at all. Soon, they'll have their say. Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter & Instagram A delegation from Cuba has taken part for the first time in a Caribbean regional security conference co-hosted by the United States. But officials sought to downplay their participation as the four-day event came to a close Friday in the Jamaican capital. Maj. Gen. Antony Bertram Anderson of the Jamaica Defense Force, which co-hosted the event with U.S. Southern Command, started a closing news conference by thanking the U.S. for agreeing to invite Cuba for the first time to the annual event and the Cubans for sending a delegation. He noted, however, that their presence was not a focus of attention. "They were at the table like everybody else," Anderson said. "It was quite a normal thing. It is the first time but it is what it is. They are a regional country." U.S. Navy Adm. Kurt Tidd, the new commander of Miami-based Southern Command, said Cuba was one of the 18 countries from across the region taking part in discussions of humanitarian assistance, disaster relief and other challenges. "We share challenges, all of the countries across this region," Tidd said. "Cuba is one of those countries in this region. And so I believe in the future we'll have opportunities to find ways to work together." Later, Army Col. Lisa Garcia, a Southern Command spokeswoman, said that Jamaica had technically issued the invitation since it was the host country and that Tidd did not mention the Cuban participation in his official closing remarks because "the conference was about more than Cuba; it was about all the Caribbean nations." The admiral said the subject of the U.S. Navy base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, did not come up. The base is the oldest U.S. overseas military outpost and the Cubans have long demanded its return. President Barack Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro restored relations in December 2014 and relations have been improving but the U.S. has said returning Guantanamo is not on the table. The Cuban delegation was led by Gustavo Machin Gomez, deputy director general of the U.S. department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It also included an official with the Cuban coast guard and the country's ambassador to Jamaica. Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter & Instagram Republican presidential hopeful Sen. Marco Rubio said Friday that if he is elected president, he will not look to deport 12 million people in the U.S. illegally, and will instead propose solutions to accommodate those who have no criminal record. In an interview with The Associated Press, Rubio, campaigning in Iowa ahead of the state's leadoff presidential caucuses, said that the realistic approach to America's problems with illegal immigration is to round up only criminals, while finding ways to accommodate the rest. "We're not going to round up and deport 12 million people," Rubio said, speaking on his campaign bus from eastern Iowa. "Criminals can't stay. Felons, people who are dangerous they are not staying." "But we're going to deal with the people that are here," he added. Addressing reporters later Friday, Rubio noted that the approach he sees as feasible is to administer a background check for individuals who have lived in the U.S. "for a defined period of time." If passed, provide authorization for anyone in the U.S. illegally to get a 10-year work permit. "We're not going to force it down their throat," he said in the interview, later remarking to journalists: "You have to learn English. You have to pay a huge fine. You have to start paying taxes. You get a work permit. And that's what you'll have for at least 10 years. That's my idea." Immigration has become a critical issue for Florida's freshman senator, who co-wrote a lengthy 2013 immigration bill that detailed a path to citizenship for many of the 11 million immigrants in the country illegally. The legislation passed in the Senate on a bipartisan vote but ended up dying in the House. Rubio has since distanced himself from the sweeping bill, saying he wants to secure the border before dealing with the millions of people living in the U.S. illegally. At the Fox News GOP debate Thursday, Rubio and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush squared off over immigration policy. Rubio said he never supported a pathway to citizenship for people in the country illegally. Former Gov. Jeb Bush asserted that Rubio did. Rubio was challenged to defend his past statements as a candidate for Senate where he opposed "blanket amnesty," but then went on to lead a bipartisan Senate group that would have allowed people to seek citizenship after a series of other requirements. Speaking to reporters Friday, Rubio explained that "blanket amnesty" means "anyone here would be granted legalization or citizenship" and that the American people should decide what criteria should determine who can and cannot stay. Accusations of flip-flopping ensued throughout Thursday's debate and into Friday. In his closing argument to Iowa voters, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz cast himself as the only true conservative who can be trusted to keep his word, especially on immigration. At a restaurant in Ringsted, Iowa, Cruz drew sharp contrasts between Rubio and national front-runner Donald Trump. Cruz, fighting to retake his December lead in Iowa, took a swipe at Rubio, saying he campaigned for the U.S. Senate in 2010 by opposing amnesty for immigrants living in the country illegally, but then flipped his position after being elected. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, whose presidential campaign rests largely on how well he does in the Feb. 9 New Hampshire primary, charged both Rubio and Cruz with both changing their positions on immigration. "Neither of them will admit it," Christie said during an appearance on MSNBC's "Morning Joe." "America needs a Washington-to-English dictionary so they can understand what these people are talking about," Christie said. "Sen. Rubio did not tell the truth on that stage." Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter & Instagram For Ted Cruz, the path to victory in Iowa doesn't run through Des Moines or Davenport or other voter-rich parts of this sprawling, largely rural state. Instead, it goes through out-of-the-way dots on the map like Ringsted population 422 situated closer to the Minnesota border than to Des Moines, a three-hour drive to the south. Cruz began his final 14-stop, four-day blitz toward Monday's caucuses with a stop Friday at the 3 Generations Bar & Grill in Ringsted. From there he ventures on to Fenton population 279 followed by the relatively booming metropolises of Emmetsburg, Wilton and Wapello, each with populations somewhere between 2,000 and 4,000. Why is Cruz spending so much time so far away from where most people live? It's called the "full Grassley," in Iowa caucus-speak. It refers to longtime Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley's annual trek to all 99 of the state's counties, something he's been doing religiously since 1981. It's no small feat in a state with 56,000 square miles to cover roughly six times as much as New Hampshire, where the country's second contest is scheduled for Feb. 9. But completing the "full Grassley" has become the ultimate challenge for many presidential candidates. The effort can be hit or miss. Covering all of Iowa's 99 counties demands a lot of time and energy, with candidates having to travel hundreds of miles, often to remote areas with small crowds and sparse media coverage. "I think it's great," said Joy Anderson, 47, who came from nearby Estherville, Iowa, to see Cruz in Ringsted. "He's reaching out to small town America and out here in Iowa. That's what we want." Some have questioned Cruz's delay in tackling the Iowa challenge, which has ultimately drawn him away from population centers in the final hours leading up to the Feb. 1 contest. "It's an unneeded distraction for his staff," said longtime Iowa strategist Eric Woolson, who mapped out Michele Bachmann's 99-county tour in 2012 and worked for Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's campaign this cycle. "I would suspect if they could go back and do this again, they would have been more aggressive in getting those counties marked off the list in October, November or even early December." But Woolson said he didn't think Cruz would be hurt too much by having to wrap it up so late because, as one of the front-runners, he will get coverage no matter where he is. The Texas senator is embracing an old-school campaigning style in Iowa. Unlike rival Donald Trump, who flies in and out and holds massive rallies drawing thousands, Cruz is content to meet with anywhere from a few dozen people to several hundred. He's visited Pizza Ranches a trademark Iowa campaign stop and stopped by small-town diners, coffee shops and church basements that form the fabric of the vast Iowa landscape. Cruz contrasts his dedication to visiting every corner of the state with Trump's approach. "What we're doing is what we've been doing from the very beginning," Cruz told reporters before a campaign stop Tuesday at Bogie's Steakhouse in Albia, Iowa population 3,800. "Doing town halls, doing retail meetings, just looking in the eyes of the men and women across Iowa asking for their support, asking for them to stand with us on caucus night. I believe the only way to win the state of Iowa is to go and ask, one on one, for the support of the grass roots." Many have tried the "full Grassley" approach and failed. Walker only got about a third of the way through before his campaign imploded in September. Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal and former Texas Gov. Rick Perry the latter is now campaigning with Cruz both ended their campaigns before completing it. Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum hit up all 99 Iowa counties by September, revisiting the 2012 strategy that earned him a win in Iowa. This time around, being a road warrior hasn't proven as successful for Santorum. He is mired at the bottom of the polls and was relegated to the undercard debate in Des Moines on Thursday night. But Cruz sees it as a winning strategy. "I don't believe Iowa can be won from a Manhattan TV studio or a D.C. TV studio," Cruz said Tuesday in a dig at Trump. "It has to be won on the ground." Cruz is slated to complete his 99th county when he visits Jefferson on Monday afternoon, just hours before the caucuses, when he will see if the strategy paid off. Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter & Instagram In a high-stakes test of enthusiasm versus organization, Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Bernie Sanders hope to ride voter energy into victories in Monday's Iowa caucuses, as Ted Cruz and Hillary Clinton bank on sophisticated get-out-the vote operations months in the making. The caucuses kick off the 2016 presidential nominating contests, marking a new phase in a tumultuous election that has exposed Americans' deep frustration with Washington and given rise to candidates few expected to challenge for their party's nomination when they first entered the race. After months of campaigning and more than $200 million spent on advertising, the race for supremacy in Iowa is close in both parties. Among Republicans, Trump appears to hold a slim edge over Cruz, a fiery senator from Texas. Clinton and Sanders entered Monday in a surprisingly tight Democratic race, reviving memories of the former secretary of state's disappointing showing in Iowa eight years ago. "Stick with me," Clinton said as she rallied supporters Sunday in Council Bluffs. "Stick with a plan. Stick with experience." Sanders, the Vermont senator who has been generating big, youthful crowds across the state, urged voters to help him "make history" with a win in Iowa. In a show of financial strength, Sanders' campaign announced Sunday it had raised $20 million in January alone. While Sanders has a large team in Iowa, his operation got off to a later start, particularly compared with Clinton, who has had staff on the ground in the state for nearly a year. Monday's contest will also offer the first hard evidence of whether Trump can turn the legion of fans drawn to his plainspoken populism into voters. The scope of the billionaire's organization in Iowa is a mystery, though Trump himself has intensified his campaign schedule during the final sprint, including a pair of rallies Monday. Cruz has modeled his campaign after past Iowa winners, visiting all of the state's 99 counties and courting influential evangelical and conservative leaders. With the state seemingly tailor-made for his brand of uncompromising conservatism, a loss to Trump will likely be viewed as a failure to meet expectations. Seeking to tamp down expectations, Cruz said Sunday that he's just pleased to be in the mix for first place. "If you had told me a year ago that two days out from the Iowa caucuses we would be neck and neck, effectively tied for first place in the state of Iowa, I would have been thrilled," Cruz said. Cruz has spent the closing days of the Iowa campaign focused intensely on Marco Rubio, trying to ensure the Florida senator doesn't inch into second place. Rubio is viewed by many Republicans as a more mainstream alternative to Trump and Cruz, though he'll need to stay competitive in Iowa in order to maintain his viability. The campaigns were anxiously keeping an eye on the weather. A snowfall forecast to start Monday night appeared more likely to hinder the hopefuls in their rush out of Iowa than the voters. Republican John Kasich already had decamped to New Hampshire, with New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush following behind Monday afternoon, hours before the caucuses start. The trio of governors has had a light footprint in Iowa, banking instead on strong showings in New Hampshire's Feb. 9 primary to jumpstart their White House bids. Yet some Republican leaders worry that if Trump or Cruz pull off a big victory in Iowa, it would be difficult to slow their momentum. Bush, for example, started the year as a fundraising juggernaut. But according to records released Sunday, both his super PAC and campaign fundraising declined significantly in the later months of 2015 as he struggled to keep up with Trump. Unlike in primaries, where voters can cast their ballots throughout the day, the caucuses begin across Iowa at 7 p.m. CST. Democrats will gather at 1,100 locations and Republicans at nearly 900 spots. Turnout was expected to be high. The Iowa Republican Party expected GOP turnout to top the previous record of 120,000 people in 2012. Democrats also expect a strong turnout, though not nearly as large as the record-setting 240,000 people who caucused in the 2008 contest between Clinton, Barack Obama and John Edwards. Iowa has decidedly mixed results in picking the parties' eventual nominees. The past two Republican caucus winners former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum faded as the race stretched on. But Obama's unexpected 2008 victory was instrumental in his path to the nomination, easing the anxieties of those who worried the young black senator would struggle to win white voters. While both parties caucus on the same night, they do so with different rules. Republicans vote by private ballot. The state's 30 Republican delegates are awarded proportionally based on the stateside vote. Democrats take a more interactive approach, with voters forming groups and publicly declaring their support for a candidate. If the number of people in any group is fewer than 15 percent of the total, they can either choose not to participate or can join another viable candidate's group. Those numbers are awarded proportionately, based on statewide and congressional district voting, as Iowa Democrats determine their 44 delegates to the national convention. Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter & Instagram When Michelle Obama helps recognize the school counselor of the year later this week, aides say it will also mark her final public event as first lady. Mrs. Obama joked last year that Friday's ceremony might be one of the last White House events "before they kick us out in January of 2017" and she could be right. President Barack Obama's term ends two weeks later, at noon on Jan. 20. School counselors from across the country are expected in the White House East Room on Friday to help honor the 2017 school counselor of the year. The American School Counselor Association says that person is Terri Tchorzynski from the Calhoun Area Career Center in Battle Creek, Michigan. Republicans delivered Tuesday on their Day One promise to start repealing ObamaCare at the start of the 115th Congress, introducing a resolution to dismantle the 2010 health care law. Today, we take the first steps to repair the nations broken health care system, removing Washington from the equation and putting control back where it belongs: with patients, their families and their doctors, said Wyoming GOP Sen. Mike Enzi, chairman of the Senate Budget Committee. Enzi and other leaders of the Republican-controlled Congress are relying on a parliamentary maneuver known as budget reconciliation to dismantle the law because it avoids a Senate Democrat filibuster and requires only a 51-vote majority for passage in the chamber, not the 60-vote majority. Republicans have a 52-to-48 member majority in the Senate and a 241-to-194 majority in the House, which requires only a simple majority for passage. The GOP can use the reconciliation tactic because federally-subsidized ObamaCare directly impacts the federal budget. (And congressional Democrats used the same tactic in 2009 to complete passage of the law, officially known as the Affordable Care Act.) Incoming GOP President Donald Trump won the 2016 White House race in part on a vow to repeal ObamaCare on day one of his administration and to replace it with something terrific. But the dismantling process will be decidedly longer and more complicated. Top congressional Republicans in the weeks after Trumps Nov. 8 win started saying that replacing ObamaCare could take two to four years. A top Senate aide declined Tuesday to give a timeline on when the resolution -- which must pass in two House and two Senate committees -- will be passed and ObamaCare will officially be repealed. The aide said the focus is on getting through the process as quickly as possible. However, Enzis office said that Senate debate on the issue will begin next week and that the committees should hold preliminary repeal legislation votes by Jan. 27. The House is expected to begin debate on the issue next week. To be sure, Republicans are now the party under pressure with ObamaCare -- after years of crticizing the law and now that they finally have a president who will sign repeal-and-replace legislation. In addition, some of the most conservative House Republicans are already raising concerns about their leaders wanting multiple years to implement a replacement plan, fearing backlash from voters at home. And Trumps victory over Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton has spotlighted her partys argument that Republicans have no viable ObamaCare replacement, despite years of criticism and promises. Meanwhile, President Obama will be on Capitol Hill on Wednesday to talk with fellow Democrats about how to save his signature health care law. And Democratic congressional leaders are urging rank-and-file members to hold rallies to tell voters about the importance of preserving ObamaCare. They have planned a national Day of Action on the matter for January 15. Dismantling the government-mandated insurance without an alternative for the roughly 20 million Americans now enrolled could indeed be a political disaster, particularly before the 2018 midterms. ObamaCare was created to drive down overall insurance costs by reducing emergency-care visits and other uninsured medical expenses. However, lower-than-projected enrollment among younger, healthy Americans and insurance companies dropping out of the program have contributed to significantly increasing premium costs. And while 2016 voters disaffected with big government will likely want Trump to fulfill his repeal-replace promise, the president-elect and others have hinted at keeping some parts of ObamaCare, including young adults being allowed to stay on their parents plan. Late Tuesday, the House passed the set of rules that will govern the body through the 115th Congress -- minus a controversial provision quietly inserted late Monday by Republican members to gut the independent Office of Congressional Ethics and put it under lawmakers' control. The provision was removed under pressure from Trump, as well as furious Democrats. The approved rules package, however, now includes provisions that allow Republican leaders to fine members who use electronic devices to take pictures or video from the House floor. The change comes six months after Democrats live-streamed a sit-in on the House floor for 26 hours to call attention to their demand for votes on gun control. Under the new rules, first-offenders get a warning. The next offense comes with a $500 fine, and ensuing ones could cost members $2,500 apiece. The Associated Press contributed to this report. In a surprising move, the Ford Motor Company has decided to completely scrap plans for a $1.6 billion automobile plant in Mexico. The Trump effect strikes again. "We believe these tax and regulatory reforms are necessary to boost U.S. competitiveness." The company will instead invest $700 million in a Michigan assembly plant. Ford officials directly cited Donald Trump's policies as the reason. Ford CEO Mark Fields said he believes Trump's new pro-business policies, soon to be passed by the GOP Congress, will make building at a Michigan plant more attractive. Trump, who will be sworn in on Jan. 20, has used his campaign as a "bully pulpit" to pound U.S. companies that move their jobs across the border, or overseas, to build items they later import into the United States for sale. Shortly after Trump was elected president on Nov. 8, Ford announced it would keep making Lincoln utility vehicles at the Louisville Assembly Plant in Kentucky. And after being elected, Trump did not tone down his condemnations of U.S. companies that fail to make their products in the United States. On Tuesday, he repeated an oft-made claim that he will impose tariffs on U.S. companies. But this time, he targeted GM. "General Motors is sending Mexican made model of Chevy Cruze to U.S. car dealers -- tax free across border. Make in U.S.A. or pay big border tax!" Trump tweeted on Tuesday morning. Shortly after the tweet, as if on cue, Ford said it would cancel the Mexico plant, the one plant that had caught Trump's earlier ire. Fields praised GOP policies coming soon. "We believe these tax and regulatory reforms are necessary to boost U.S. competitiveness," said Fields. Trump is relishing his role as the nation's chief economic development officer -- and behaving very much like a governor who lists each job creation in his or her state. He was able to score a major victory in early December when Carrier Corp. agreed to stay in Indiana and keep 700 jobs in the Indianapolis region. The company, which makes air conditioners and furnaces, had planned to move to Mexico. Its move to Mexico was announced in early 2016, and went viral as an issue because video leaked of Hoosier employees wailing at the news. Then, just before New Year's Eve, Sprint announced it would be bringing back to the United States about 5,000 jobs. Trump made the announcement from his Florida home at Mar-A-Lago. Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe on Tuesday proposed a series of criminal justice reforms he hopes to get passed in the new legislative session, including language that would end the state's practice of suspending the drivers' licenses of people who fail to pay court fees. "That means that that factory worker from Floyd County whose job is 30 miles away in Christiansburg cannot lawfully drive to work and earn money to pay off those fines," McAuliffe said in announcing the reforms. "It makes no sense." Virginia's General Assembly which is Republican controlled convenes next week, which will make it hard for McAuliffe to pass his proposals. But according to McAuliffe's office, nearly 650,000 Virginians have a suspended driver license because they cannot afford to pay their legal fees and court costs. "The governor's agenda makes commonsense changes to our system that will maintain public safety while ensuring that individuals who make mistakes have every opportunity to turn their lives around," Virginia's Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security Brian Moran said in a statement. Read more on WashingtonExaminer.com Four Gitmo detainees are slated to be transferred to Saudi Arabia in the next 24 hours, the first of the final wave of up to 20 transfers expected before Inauguration Day, two U.S. officials tell Fox News. The identities of the four detainees are not immediately known. The transfers are proceeding despite renewed opposition from President-elect Donald Trump, who tweeted on Tuesday: There should be no further releases from Gitmo. These are extremely dangerous people and should not be allowed back onto the battlefield. The Pentagon said Gitmo transfers would continue over Trumps objection. There is one commander in chief at a time and the secretary of Defense will continue to carry out his responsibilities as he sees appropriate, said Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook in response to Trumps tweet. There are 59 Gitmo detainees remaining. Roughly 20 are expected to be transferred before Trump is sworn in later this month. Saudi Arabia received detainees most recently in April, when the Obama administration transferred nine to the country, including an alleged bodyguard of Usama Bin Laden. All nine detainees were linked to Al Qaeda. U.S. officials say 30 percent of released detainees are suspected of returning to the battlefield. Trumps nominee to run the Department of Homeland Security, retired Marine Gen. John Kelly, told Pentagon reporters in January that all remaining Gitmo detainees were bad boys. Some of them were more effective in being bad boys than others, he said. EXCLUSIVE: Romanian hacker Marcel Lehel Lazar, weighing in from a prison 3,700 miles away on the latest diplomatic dust-up between the U.S. and Russia, told Fox News in an exclusive interview that he doubts the Obama administration's allegations about Moscow directing cyberattacks against Democratic groups in the 2016 election. Lazar, 44, also known as "Guccifer," spoke to Fox News Senior Executive Producer Pamela Browne in a series of recorded phone calls from his Romanian jail cell in late December. He described the administration's allegation of Russia cyber-attacks during the 2016 elections as part of "a fake cyber war." "Americans are crazy about the Russian thing and that Russians are invading the United States, Lazar said, suggesting the allegations are overblown because of Cold War sensitivities. Its crazy ... its this hysteria you know?" he said. Lazar has been convicted and sentenced to prison in two separate countries, the U.S. and Romania, for his hacking and taunting of major celebrity and political figures. Lazar is expected to finish his Romanian sentence in 2019 and then will be returned to the U.S. to face 52 months in an American prison after pleading guilty to two counts of a nine-count indictment. Largely regarded as a nuisance hacker motivated through his disillusionment and frustration -- and some say obsession -- with political figures both in the U.S. and Romania, Lazar was the first to expose Hillary Clintons use of the private Clintonemail.com address. This revelation ultimately led to the identification of Clintons personal account used for all government business while she served as secretary of State. FBI Director James Comey described the handling of classified material as extremely careless. The FBI and administration have since turned their attention to responding to alleged Russian hacking of Democratic accounts, which some Clinton allies have blamed for her election loss. In interviews conducted two weeks before the Obama administrations expulsion of 35 Russian diplomats in retaliation for alleged interference in the U.S. elections, Lazar predicted there "will be probes and indictments against some Russian people." Lazar told Fox News that he remains frustrated the FBI still has 70, perhaps 100 gigabytes of his files that were handed over as part of an agreement with the Justice Department. In multiple conversations from his prison near Arad, Romania, Lazar stressed that he gave the passwords which were confirmed by government agents as authentic. Outside cyber experts tell Fox that 70 gigabytes of data is about 1.75 million pages. In the summary of its interview with Lazar as part of the Clinton probe, the FBI said Lazar began by stating that he had never claimed to hack the Clinton server," despite having made such claims in an earlier interview with Fox News. Asked about that interview, according to the summary, Lazar then stated that he recalled the interview with Fox News, and that he had lied to them about hacking the CLINTON server. Pressed by Fox News last month, Lazar had a different version of events. The agents said, Okay. Can you prove without doubt that you hacked the Hillary Clinton server. Can you prove this without any shadow of doubt? And I said, I cannot. I have these gigabyes of data which is hundreds of thousands of documents,' and the FBI could verify for themselves." Guccifer, who is married and has a child, was extradited to Romania last year and says he has been back in prison there since Oct. 11, but he follows some news on television in a room he shares with four other inmates. President Obama issued sanctions on Dec. 29 against Russian agencies and companies and took the unusual step of expelling 35 people -- many believed to be Russian intelligence operatives living in the U.S. As tensions between Russia and the U.S. escalated in December, defeated presidential candidate Clinton also proclaimed at a Democratic fundraiser that Vladimir Putin had a personal beef with me. Amel Smith, who has 30 years of government service and worked as counter-espionage investigator at the State Department during Clintons tenure, found the former presidential candidates statement odd. Too funny, I am sure they had a few steak meals together, Smith said. My guess is that the trace of the IP addresses led them to Russia. But this is not conclusive evidence that the hack came from Russia. I dont think they [Russia] really care who won the election, just meddling in the process. The media have a message for Donald Trump and the Republicans as they prepare to take over the federal machinery: Its put-up or shut-up time. That is literally the lead of a New York Times news story on the GOP controlling the White House and both houses of Congress for the first time since 2006. But that blunt line does capture a harsh reality of Beltway life, which is that its hard for even the majority party to get things done. The Democrats discovered this in 2009, and the Republicans face similar obstacles in 2017. The House GOP got off to an awful start by secretly agreeing to weaken the independent Office of Congressional Ethics, which investigates complaints against lawmakers of both parties. Talk about terrible optics. The caucus took this move over the objections of its top leaders, Paul Ryan and Kevin McCarthy, and quickly took flak from Donald Trump. With all that Congress has to work on, do they really have to make the weakening of the Independent Ethics Watchdog, as unfair as it may be, their number one act and priority, the president-elect tweeted. In the face of a media outcry, the House Republicans quickly rescinded their vote. This was a reminder that Trump ran against the Republican establishment, with little Hill support, and may be at odds with its members on some very fundamental issues. Congressional Republicans want to immediately repeal ObamaCare. Trumps position is that the entire program shouldnt be junked without an alternative system that would prevent millions from losing their insurance. So we could wind up with a repeal that doesnt take effect for a long time, maybe years. Ryan wants to revamp and partially privatize Medicare, but Trump has said repeatedlyincluding to methat there should be no changes to the programs benefits. Whats more, party unity aint what it used to be. As one GOP lawmaker told me, they are all independent contractors. From tax cuts to a big infrastructure program to dealing with Russia, the Republicans will have to resolve their internal divisions while also dealing with the Democrats. Chuck Schumers party may slow-walk some nominations as payback for the GOP not acting on Merrick Garland, and in reality it takes 60 Senate votes to pass much of anything. The truth is, its easier being the opposition party. As the Times piece points out, Republicans have had the luxury of being able to argue for positions that appealed to their conservative base but that they knew would not become law because Senate Democrats would block them or because the president would veto them. Now, if they can assemble the votes, their ideas will become law with all the attendant consequences. For all the potential roadblocks, Trump just won an extremely contentious election. Even with his lower-than-usual approval numbers, he will dominate the national discourse. So Republicans will be under tremendous pressure to deliver what the new president wantsand acutely aware that they will be blamed for any failures. Footnote: The big news in our business is Megyn Kelly's decision to leave Fox News for NBC. You can read my story here. President-Elect Donald Trumps nominee for Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, is severing ties with Exxon Mobil through a $180 million retirement package ahead of his Senate confirmation hearing. Tillerson was expected to step down at CEO of Exxon Mobil in March when he turned 65, the companys mandatory retirement age, but instead is leaving his post early to comply with federal conflict-of-interest rules. Exxon said in a regulatory filing Wednesday that Tillerson has agreed to give up approximately 2 million unvested shares, and in exchange, the company has agreed to make a cash payment equal to the value of those shares into a trust. Tillerson, who worked for Exxon for more than 40 years, is giving up about $7 million in compensation and benefits that he would have received if he had stayed until March. Tillerson has also committed to the State Department that, if confirmed, he would sell the more than 600,000 shares in ExxonMobil he currently owns, read a statement from ExxonMobil. A source from the Trump Transition Team told FoxNews.com that Tillersons resignation from the oil giant shows his commitment to public service. Tillerson developed an ethics plan that removed Exxon stock from his personal portfolio, though some of the financial details are contingent on his Senate confirmation, according to the source. GOP lawmakers, including Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., praised Tillerson's conduct ahead of what could be a gruelling confirmation process. Sen. Corker enjoyed a wide-ranging discussion with Rex Tillerson yesterday and is impressed with the way in which he has conducted himself thus far, a spokesperson for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee told FoxNews.com. It appears that Mr. Tillerson and Exxon reached a responsible agreement after consultation with federal ethics officials to ensure there are absolutely no conflicts of interest. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Ranking Member Sen. Ben Cardin, D- Md., said he spoke with Tillerson, but added that he would not make up his mind until after the confirmation hearing. Cardin said the meeting focused on Russia, but the two also discussed climate change. Cardin came away reassured that Tillerson believes in science. Trumps own business ties, as well as those of his adult children working in the administration, have raised questions about potential conflicts-of-interest. Tillerson isnt the only cabinet-pick facing similar questions. Goldman Sachs Chief Operating Officer and President Gary Cohn, named assistant to the president for economic policy and director of the National Economic Council, sold $210 million in company stock to avoid potential conflicts of interest, according to Bloomberg. Goldman Sachs had no comment regarding Cohns nomination. And just yesterday, the Senate Commerce Committee released a questionnaire for Wilbur Ross, Trump's pick for Secretary of Commerce, who reportedly is in contact with the Office of Government Ethics to ensure no conflict-of-interest violations when it comes to his personal financial ties. The Senate Commerce Committee chose not to comment on the status of Ross, but Committee Chairman Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., said on Tuesday that the committee hopes to hold a confirmation hearing for Trumps picks for Commerce and Transportation secretaries as early as next week. The Office of Government Ethics reviews financial incomes and assets of everyone that requires Senate confirmation, along with certain senior White House employees once theyre in place, which could take place soon after Trump is inaugurated on Jan. 20. WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange told Fox News' Sean Hannity in an exclusive interview that a teenager could have hacked into Hillary Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta's computer and retrieved damaging email messages that the website published during last year's election campaign. "We published several ... emails which show Podesta responding to a phishing email," Assange said during the first part of the interview, which aired on "Hannity" Tuesday night. "Podesta gave out that his password was the word password. His own staff said this email that youve received, this is totally legitimate. So, this is something ... a 14-year-old kid could have hacked Podesta that way." Assange also claimed that Clinton herself made "almost no attempt" to keep her private emails safe from potentially hostile states during her tenure as secretary of state. TRUMP RESPONDS TO SANCTIONS AGAINST RUSSIA, SAYS IT'S TIME TO 'MOVE ON' "Now, was she trying to keep them secure from Republicans? Probably," Assange said. "But in terms of [nation-] states, almost no attempt." Hannity interviewed Assange at the Ecuadorean Embassy in London. The Australia native has been holed up there for five years battling extradition to Sweden on sexual assault charges, which Assange denies. WikiLeaks published more than 50,000 emails detailing dubious practices at the Clinton Foundation, top journalists working closely with the Clinton campaign, key Clinton aides speaking derisively of Catholics and a top Democratic National Committee (DNC) official providing debate questions to Clinton in advance. Assange has repeatedly denied claims by the Obama administration that Russia was behind the cyberattacks that exposed the DNC and Podesta emails. Assange also has repeatedly insisted that WikiLeaks' source for the emails was not the Russian government or any "state party," and said the outgoing administration was attempting to "delegitimize" President-Elect Donald Trump by making those claims. In the first part of the interview, Assange criticized a Dec. 29 joint analysis of the cyberattacks by the FBI and Department of Homeland Security. After the report was released, President Barack Obama expelled 35 Russian diplomats and closed two Russian compounds. US GIVES DETAILED LOOK AT RUSSIA'S ALLEGED ELECTION HACKING "On the top [of the report], there is a disclaimer, saying there is no guarantee that any of this information is accurate," Assange told Hannity. "Theres nothing in that report that says that any information was given to us. Nothing." Assange also criticized the mainstream media for what he called the "ethical corruption" displayed in the Podesta emails. "The editor of the New York Times ... has come out and said that he would do the same thing as WikiLeaks, [that] if they had obtained that information, they would have published it," Assange said. "Now, unfortunately, I dont believe that is true." Assange added that he doubted that partisan sympathy explained the cozy relationship between Podesta and reporters covering the Clinton campaign. "Its more like, You rub my back, Ill rub yours. Ill give you information, youll come to my Ill invite you to my childs christening or my next big party." Assange said that the website would not have hesitated to publish embarrassing information about Trump if they had received it. "Theres no sources coming out through other journalists and saying, 'We gave WikiLeaks all this information about Donald Trump or Vladimir Putin and you know what? They didnt publish it.' No one has come out and said that," Assange said. "If they did, that would hurt our reputation for trust for our sources." The WikiLeaks founder also warned Democrats that criticizing the website for publishing the emails was a "stupid maneuver." "Its the same reason why they lost the election, which is instead of focusing on substance, they focused on other things [like] this attempt to say how outrageous it is that the American public received true information before an election," Assange said. "The public doesnt buy that. They want as much true information as possible." WikiLeaks didnt waste any time getting to work in the New Year. The anti-secrecy website on Tuesday issued a call for any information about those connected to the outgoing Obama administration destroying records and offered a huge cash payment as incentive. We are issuing a US$20,000 reward for information leading to the arrest or exposure of any Obama admin agent destroying significant records, the organization tweeted above an image of a Wanted sign. We are issuing a US$20,000 reward for information leading to the arrest or exposure of any Obama admin agent destroying significant records. pic.twitter.com/kRRP246uGo WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) January 4, 2017 The appeal for any evidence mirrored a previous plea from the website in August for information leading to the conviction of whoever killed Democratic National Committee staffer Seth Rich in July. The website promised $20,000 for the information. Rich, the victim of an apparent robbery, is thought by some to have been a whistle-blower. WikiLeaks head Julian Assange, though not admitting Rich leaked any material to the website, hasnt disputed the notion, either. ASSANGE: A KID COULD HAVE HACKED PODESTA EMAILS In a Monday tweet, WikiLeaks also promised to pump up its output in 2017 after rocking the 2016 presidential race by posting 50,000+ emails from Hillary Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta. The messages, published in batches throughout October, showed a cozy relationship with some journalists, pointed to discord and possible impropriety within the Clinton organization and indicated she had received several primary debate questions in advance. If you thought 2016 was a big WikiLeaks year 2017 will blow you away. Help @WikiLeaks prepare for the showdown: https://t.co/MsNZhrTzTL pic.twitter.com/wzhFiKjNGI WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) January 2, 2017 If you thought 2016 was a big WikiLeaks year 2017 will blow you away. Help @WikilLeaks prepare for the showdown: shop.wikileaks.org/donate, the site tweeted above a .gif from Clint Eastwood western The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. Though not their doing, WikiLeaks on Wednesday also tweeted a link to a State Department release of 371 new Clinton emails that were posted as the result of litigation. Many of the new emails deal with the drudgery of the early days of Clintons tenure as secretary of State. She often emails her daughter, Chelsea Clinton, who uses an alias that was exposed in the Podesta leak. I am in the most deadly dull dinner everthe G-8 dinner and hoping it ends at desert, Clinton wrote on Sept. 24, 2009. So many bizarre events converge at the UN but the Khadaffi speech heads the list. In another email to Chelsea, Clinton bemoans having to deal with North Koreas missile ambitions. Im off to Yale after spending the morning dealing w N Koreas missile and explosive tests, Clinton wrote on May 25, 2009. Wish I werent but sigh The end of that email was redacted by the State Department. Fragments of a carpet that had been buried at the bottom of the sea for nearly 400 years are now on display in the Netherlands. The carpet, which is made from silk and wool, is decorated with flowers and animals, including lions. Based on the patterns, colors and weaving techniques, art historians concluded that the fabric was likely manufactured in Lahore, in present-day Pakistan, during the second quarter of the 17th century, according to the Kaap Skil museum on Texel Island, which started exhibiting the rare textile this week. During the Dutch Golden Age, ships traveling to and from Amsterdam would stop around Texel Island in the Wadden Sea. Because it was such a heavily trafficked area, the waters around the island are now littered with ships that sank during rough storms. That's where a group of local divers recently found the Lahore carpet among other textiles in a shipwreck . Delicate fabrics typically don't survive for very long at the bottom of the sea, but the so-called Palmwood Wreck was covered in sand, resulting in unusually good preservation, the researchers said. "It'salmost like having the fragments of an original Rembrandt in front of you," textile researchers Ebeltje Hartkamp-Jonxis and Hillie Smit, who examined the carpet, said in an emailed statement from the museum. Earlier this year, the Kaap Skil museum started displaying a complete silk gown that was also recovered from the wreck . The dress had been preserved in a clothing box that was packed with many other items, including a cloak, stockings and bodices adorned with gold and silver thread. The sunken ship has also yielded crates that likely once contained incense or myrrh . Also within that shipwreck, divers have found a lice comb, Italian pottery, a beaded handbag and an intricately decorated "scent ball," which would have been worn around a person's neck to diffuse the smell of herbs or flowers. Leather covers of books (the pages had disintegrated) were salvaged from the wreck, too. They bear the coat of arms of the English King Charles I , suggesting that perhaps the cargo onboard the ship belonged to the royal Stuart family. The lavish wardrobe, which seems to have belonged to a "fairly hefty" woman, has been linked to Scottish lady-in-waiting Jean Kerr, Countess of Roxburghe, the confidante of the Queen Consort of England, Henrietta Maria, according to researchers working with the museum. The carpet fragments will be on display in an exhibition called "Diving into Details" until mid-February. Then, the textile pieces will be sent to the Archaeological Center of the Province Noord-Holland (North Holland) for further research, according to a statement from the museum. Original article on Live Science. How would you feel about a smart, Wi-Fi-connected speaker named after a Greek philosopher helping raise your child? Toymaker Mattel is planning Aristotle by Nabi, a smart baby monitor device that can also interact with your toddler or kid, or tween. Aristotle is designed to be something like an Amazon Alexa or a Google Home, but programmed for children. Put another way, the hub is an AI to help raise your child, as Fast Company described it. Mattel said that Aristotle could play a crying child a lullaby, and parents, meanwhile, could use the same speaker to order things through Amazons Alexa voice assistant. More diapers, perhaps? The device will also include LEDs and a camera, and is designed to evolve as a child grows up. So we spent a lot of time investing in how it would age, Robb Fujioka, Mattels chief products officer, told Fast Company. 6-YEAR-OLD ACCIDENTALLY ORDERS HIGH-END TREATS WITH AMAZON'S ALEXA Mattel said in a statement that the device will have different phases. For example, Aristotle kid mode would be a homework helper, and Aristotle tween could even feature foreign language tutorial. Toddlers could find that a green or red light lets them know if theyve answered a question correctly, Mattel said. Aristotle will make use of 256-bit encryption to keep information (such as the video stream from the baby monitor) private, and was built with COPPA [Children's Online Privacy Protection Act] compliance in mind, Mattel said. For its artificial intelligence, it will use Microsoft Cognitive Services, and Cortana Intelligence is on the way. AMAZON ECHO VS. GOOGLE HOME IN A VIRTUAL STANDOFF Our goal with the launch of Aristotle is to provide parents with a platform that simplifies parenting, while helping them nurture, teach, and protect their young ones, Jim Mitchell, vice president at Nabi, which is part of Mattel, said in the statement. More Internet-connected devices in homes a realm of tech known generally as the Internet of Things create new, sometimes humorous, issues at the intersection of humans and technology. Recently, a 6-year-old girl in Texas accidentally ordered cookies and a pricey dollhouse through an Amazon Echo Dot device. I tell my kids Alexa is a very good listener, Megan Neitzel, the childs mom, told FoxNews.com. As for Aristotle, the device will have a child mode, according to Mattel and when its in that setting, parents could restrict purchasing or could even require that their kid says please. Aristotle is scheduled to be released in June and will cost $299. Follow Rob Verger on Twitter: @robverger On Tuesday, German-based commercial aviation safety firm Jet Airliner Crash Data Evaluation Centre, (JACDEC) released its annual list of the worlds safest airline carriers. Sixty international airlines were rated and for the second year in a row, no legacy U.S. carriers cracked the top 10. Hong Kongs Cathay Pacific Airways, which often received top marks for service, bested the competition as JACDECs safest airline followed by Air New Zealand and Chinas Hainan Airlines rounding out the top three. BAGGAGE HANDLER TRAPPED IN PLANE'S CARGO HOLD ON DC-BOUND UNITED FLIGHT The annual report provides insight for travelers on the current safety level for the worlds biggest commercial airlines. In 2016, JACDEC recorded a total of 321 fatalities, 376 incidents, 219 serious incidents, and 37 hull losses among the carriers surveyed. The full rankings will not be released until Jan. 18 but the firm did provide a preview of the bottom three: Indonesias Garuda Airlines, Colombias Avianca and China Airlines in the last spot. Though airline tragedies make headlines, overall, JACDECs Global Safety Review reports that from a statistical perspective, 2016 continued a long term trend of fewer fatalities as well as fewer incidents of hull loss accidentswhen an aircraft is either destroyed or damaged beyond repair-- than previous decades. FOR THE LATEST TRAVEL FEATURES FOLLOW FOX LIFESTYLE ON FACEBOOK Last year, Jetblue Airways was ranked eleventh while Delta Air Lines came in at seventeen making them the only two U.S. carriers to crack the top 20. Worlds Safest Airlines 2017, according to JACDEC (based on airlines' 2016 record) 1. Cathay Pacific Airways 2. Air New Zealand 3. Hainan Airlines 4. Qatar Airways 5. K L M 6. EVA Air 7. Emirates 8. Etihad Airways 9. QANTAS 10. Japan Airlines 11. All Nippon Airways 12. Lufthansa A tourist who tried to have her picture taken with a crocodile in Thailand was injured when the reptile snapped at her when she got too close. On Sunday, Benetulier Lesuffleur, a 47-year-old French tourist, was visiting Thailands famous Khao Yai National Park in the western part of the Sankamphaeng Mountain Range. MOST DANGEROUS PLACES TO TAKE SELFIES According to Thanya Netithammakul, head of the National Park, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department, Lesuffleur approached the pond where the crocodile was located and attempted to take the photo but she tripped. The large reptile then snapped at her when she got too close and bit her leg. Photos of the scene showed camouflaged park rangers carrying the victim on a stretcher with her knee bandaged. Another photo showed a ranger pointing to a pool of blood while standing next to a sign warning visitors in both Thai and English of a Danger Crocodile No Swimming. Woman rushed to hospital after trying to take a selfie with a crocodile https://t.co/2PSEMqu0c5 The Independent (@Independent) January 2, 2017 She wanted to take selfie with the crocodile who was lying down near a stream, park official Kanchit Srinoppawan told Thai newspaper Matichon, according to The Independent. I guess that she wanted to see it for real. FOR THE LATEST TRAVEL FEATURES FOLLOW FOX LIFESTYLE ON FACEBOOK Lesuffleur was bitten by a Siamese crocodile, according to Conde Nast Traveler. The animal lives in Southeast Asia and usually resides in fresh water. Despite being an endangered species, theyre not known for being dangerous toward humans although theres no documentation of their interactions with humans seeking selfies. According to the Bangkok Post, multiple signs warned visitors about the crocodiles and tourists were told to keep to the nature trail. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Charles Manson, the 1960s cult leader who orchestrated a series of high profile murders, was taken to the hospital Tuesday for an undisclosed medical issue, the Los Angeles Times reported. One of the sources familiar with the situation told the newspaper Manson, 82, was seriously ill, but could not provide specific information. Vicky Waters, Press Secretary for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) told Fox News, "Federal and state medical privacy laws preclude CDCR from commenting on protected health information for any inmate in our custody." A separate spokeswoman from the agency, Terry Thornton, told the Los Angeles Times that Manson "is alive." TMZ reported that Manson was transported to a hospital in Bakersfield, Calif., about an hour from California State Prison in Corcoran, where he was being held. Sporting a carved swastika on his forehead, Manson was the long-haired, wild-eyed head of a California desert commune in the late 1960s. The Manson Family was largely made up of runaways and societal dropouts whom Manson controlled with a mix of his charismatic yet calculating personality and hallucinogenic drugs. Obsessed with Armageddon and what he saw as a coming race war, Manson masterminded a series of murders that he hoped would spur black vs. white violence. A failed musician, Manson believed several songs on The Beatles White Album notably Helter Skelter also predicted a racial clash. He ordered a small, devoted group of followers to carry out the murders, although he never took part in the actual acts. Theres no need to feel guilty, Manson said during an interview in the 1980s. I havent done anything Im ashamed of. While Manson may have ordered dozens of slayings, he was eventually convicted for two high-profile massacres. The first occurred at the Beverley Hills house of director Roman Polanski and claimed the lives of his wife, actress Sharon Tate, her unborn child and five others. Polanski was away at the time. One of the enduring images of the brutal slaying is the word pig scrawled in blood on a door of the house. The next night, another group of Manson devotees killed Leno and Rosemary LaBianca. Manson was convicted of first-degree murder in 1971 for the Tate/LaBianca killings and sentenced to death. But the California Supreme Courts 1972 decision to outlaw capital punishment automatically commuted Mansons sentence to life behind bars at Californias Corcoran State Prison. In interviews, hed frequently challenge the notion that he was guilty of the murders and never showed remorse. Remorse for what? Manson said. You people have done everything in the world to me. Doesnt that give me equal right? I can do anything I want to you people anytime I want because thats what youve done to me. Despite his infamous reputation as one of the 20th centurys most twisted mass murderers, Manson still managed to attract fans behind bars and nearly married a woman in her 20s in 2014. The woman, who called herself Star, applied for a marriage license with Manson, then 80, but a ceremony never took place. Tate's sister Debra Tate told The Associated Press on Tuesday night that, as a Catholic, she makes "no ill wishes" for the people who killed her sister, and will reserve her feelings until hearing Manson has died. "I would probably say a prayer for them and shed a tear and ask God to have mercy on their souls, but so far I haven't allowed myself to feel anything because it's unsubstantiated," Tate said. "I'm not allowing myself to feel anything until I know that it's true." Manson was rejected for parole 12 times and would not have been eligible to apply again until 2027. Click for more from The Los Angeles Times. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Jurors who found a Maui man guilty of murder in the death of his pregnant ex-girlfriend began deliberating Tuesday on whether the killing was especially heinous. They found Steven Capobianco guilty last week of murder and arson in the death of Carly "Charli" Scott, who was five months pregnant with Capobianco's child when she disappeared in 2014. The second phase of deliberations is for an allegation that Capobianco killed Scott in an "especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel manner." Capobianco faces life in prison for second-degree murder. The jury's second verdict will determine whether he can receive an enhanced sentence of life in prison without the possibility for parole. "Killing Charli Scott was not enough for this man," Deputy Maui Prosecuting Attorney Robert Rivera told jurors Tuesday, calling him a man without a conscience. Rivera held up Scott's black skirt showing multiple stab wounds in the abdomen area, saying that the stabs show that Capobianco made her suffer. Capobianco not only murdered Scott, but he made her suffer "unnecessary torture," Rivera said. All murders are arguably heinous, atrocious and cruel, said defense attorney Jon Apo, who suggested that Scott's death was quick with less suffering. Unnecessary torture, Apo said, would have been one stab wound to make her suffer a long death. The prosecution has a sympathetic jury, Apo said, noting one of the jurors is pregnant. The judge sustained Rivera's objection to mentioning the pregnant juror. The jury sat through about six months of testimony before beginning deliberations in the verdict phase on Dec. 1. Capobianco didn't testify during the first phase. He told the judge last week he also wouldn't testify during the second phase, The Maui News reported. Authorities say a man armed with a knife has been shot and wounded by police in Brooklyn. It happened in the city's Canarsie neighborhood just before 9:30 p.m. Tuesday while officers were responding to a report of an emotionally disturbed person. Police say the man was shot in the chest and has been hospitalized. His condition is unknown. A knife has been recovered at the scene. Additional details were not immediately available. No police officers were injured. President-elect Donald Trump's transition team asked the Department of Homeland Security about an aerial surveillance program along the southern border that was scaled back by the Obama administration, Reuters is reporting. The program, Operation Phalanx, deployed as many as 6,000 National Guard airmen to monitor for drug trafficking and illegal immigration during President George W. Bushs administration. The Trump team's inquiry was part of a wide-ranging request for documents and analysis looking into the viability of a border wall and barrier construction. According to Reuters, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection identified more than 400 miles along the U.S.-Mexico border where new fencing could be erected. About the same distance can be fenced off along the U.S.-Canada border, according to a document accessed exclusively by Reuters. During his presidential campaign, Trump emphasized repeatedly that securing the border would be his first immigration priority. Nearly 700 miles of fencing was put in place during President George W. Bushs second term and the beginning of President Barack Obamas first term -- but is not the type of solid wall that Trump has pledged to construct at Mexicos expense. The fence has miles-long gaps and gates built in to allow landowners access to their property on the south side of the fencing. Immigrants have been known to go over and around the fence. The AP contributed to this report. In his opening statement during the penalty phase of his trial Wednesday, Charleston church shooter Dylann Roof explained his reasons for acting as his own attorney. He said he wanted to prevent his lawyers from introducing mitigating evidence about his mental health and urged jurors to ignore anything the defense team may have said about this topic. There is nothing wrong with me psychologically, Roof said. NC MAN ACCUSED OF FIRING SHOTS AT DEPUTY Acting as his own attorney, the white supremacist spoke directly to the same jurors who, last month, convicted him in the 2015 massacre at Emanuel AME Church. That jury must now decide whether Roof should spend the rest of his life in prison for his crimes, or face execution. In the prosecutions opening statement, Assistant U.S. Attorney Nathan Williams argued for the latter, reminding jurors of the racist motive for the crimes and Roofs apparent lack of remorse. He argued that any of the murders alone would warrant the death penalty. Taken together, they justify the most significant penalty available to you, Williams said. KNIFE-WIELDING MAN SHOT TO DEATH BY NEW YORK POLICE Prosecutors have begun calling on victims relatives to testify about the human impact of Roofs crimes. Roof, on the other hand, plans to call no witnesses and present no evidence. However, he told the court he would offer a closing argument. Roofs decision to represent himself went against the advice of his own lawyers. But Philip Holloway, an Atlanta-based criminal defense attorney not associated with the Roof trial, said this trial may be a rare instance in which self-representation could benefit the defendant. Dylann Roof has little, if anything, to argue in his favor, Holloway told FoxNews.com. About the only thing he can do, and its sort of a Hail Mary, is to stand in front of the jury himself and make his opening statement and make the closing argument because they get to hear from him personally. And if he has any hope of swaying the jurors, its doing it that way without being subject to cross-examination. Judge Richard Gergel has imposed restrictions on the convicts physical movement within the courtroom. While speaking, Roof will not be allowed to approach witnesses or the jury. And while seated at the defendants table, Roof will remain in the chair furthest from the jury and relatives of the nine church shooting victims. One of those relatives, Malcolm Graham, said the hardest part of sitting in on the trial was watching video of his now-deceased sister, Cynthia Hurd, walking into the church the night of the shooting with a smile on her face, preparing for what she thought would be a routine bible study in a safe and sacred space. It was difficult watching that and knowing that she would not walk out the same way she walked in, Graham told FoxNews.com. Graham, who served for a decade in the North Carolina State Senate, said some crimes are so heinous that execution is the only proper penalty. My sister and eight others died simply because they were there and they were black, Graham said. That cannot stand in a civilized society and that has to be punished. Speaking about Roof, Graham added, Theres no room for him in a civilized society. I believe theres no room for him in Americas smallest jail. Fox News Chip Bell and Multimedia Reporter Terace Garnier contributed to this report. next Image 1 of 2 prev Image 2 of 2 The Latest on the federal sentencing of Dylann Roof in the deaths of nine people at a South Carolina church (all times local): 2:30 p.m. The widow of a pastor and state senator slain by Dylann Roof is describing for jurors the night the white man killed her husband and eight other black church members. Jennifer Pinckney testified Wednesday that she was in her husband's office with their daughter when she heard gunshots. She says she locked the door and shoved her daughter under a desk. She put her hand over her daughter's mouth and told her to be quiet. Pinckney was the first witness called to testify during the sentencing phase of Roof's trial. Jurors are deciding whether to send him to prison for life or to death. Roof is representing himself during the sentencing phase. He told jurors earlier that there is nothing wrong with psychologically. He didn't offer any remorse for the killings or explain his motivations. ___ 11:40 a.m. The widow of a pastor and state senator slain by Dylann Roof says her husband was a selfless student of faith and history who was drawn to serving both his congregation and the public. Jennifer Pinckney was the first witness prosecutors called Wednesday in Roof's sentencing trial. She also shed light on her husband's goofy personal side, saying he loved to sing, dance and watch children's shows with his two young daughters. Clementa Pinckney pastored Emanuel AME Church and was among the nine people killed there in June 2015. His widow says Pinckney was "a voice for the voiceless" and never stopped working to find solutions for his flock and constituents. Prosecutors have said they'll call several dozen witnesses to testify during Roof's sentencing. Jurors are considering if he'll be sentenced to death or life in prison. Roof, who is representing himself, has said he plans to put up no case. ___ 10:50 a.m. Convicted Charleston church shooter Dylann Roof did not ask jurors to spare his life or for the death penalty during his brief opening statement at his sentencing trial. The soft-spoken Roof told jurors Wednesday that there is nothing wrong with him psychologically and that his lawyers forced him to go through two competency hearings. He stood at a podium and slowly and calmly spoke to the jurors, glancing occasionally at notes in front of him. He told jurors there wasn't anything he was trying to keep secret from them and said he was better at embarrassing himself than anyone else. Roof's lawyers indicated he wanted to represent himself because he was worried they might present embarrassing evidence about him or his family. Prosecutors asked jurors to sentence Roof to death, saying the "horrific acts" of killing nine black church members in June 2015 deserved capital punishment. The prosecutors say Roof didn't show any remorse, and they read a portion from a journal found in Roof's jail cell six weeks after his arrest. In the journal, Roof said he had not wept for any of the victims and did not regret what he did. ___ 10:20 a.m. Federal prosecutors say convicted Charleston church shooter Dylann Roof should be sentenced to death because he killed nine black parishioners because of the color of their skin. Assistant U.S. Attorney Nathan Williams gave the government's opening statement Wednesday during Roof's sentencing, calling the killings "horrific acts." The same jurors who convicted Roof last month are now being asked to decide whether he should face life in prison or the death penalty. Williams said Roof has felt no remorse for the June 2015 killings at Emanuel AME Church and he intentionally picked vulnerable, trusting people to slaughter. Roof, who is white, is acting as his own attorney during this phase of the trial and he will give an opening statement later Wednesday. He says he doesn't plan to call any witnesses or present any evidence. ___ 10 a.m. Jurors have returned to court for the federal sentencing of convicted Charleston church shooter Dylann Roof. The same 12-member jury that last month found Roof guilty of 33 federal charges returned to court Wednesday to begin mulling if he should get the death penalty or life in prison. U.S. District Judge Richard Gergel began the hearing by reading instructions to the jury on what they'll need to consider in determining Roof's sentence. The 22-year-old Roof is representing himself but has said he plans to call no witnesses or introduce any evidence. His former legal team has said Roof fears embarrassing himself or his family. Prosecutors plan to call up to 38 people related to the nine people killed and three who survived the June 2015 slaughter during Bible study at Emanuel AME Church. ___ 9:30 a.m. Attorneys are discussing an order that governs how convicted Charleston church shooter Dylann Roof can move around the courtroom while he represents himself at his federal sentencing. U.S. District Judge Richard Gergel says it's important prosecutors and Roof "are on the same playing field" in terms of how the jury views their roles in the courtroom. The same 12-member jury that last month found Roof guilty of 33 federal charges returns to court Wednesday to begin mulling if he should get the death penalty or be sentenced to life in prison. The 22-year-old Roof is representing himself but has said he plans to call no witnesses or introduce any evidence. His former legal team has said Roof fears embarrassing himself or his family. Prosecutors plan to call up to 38 people related to the nine people killed and three who survived the June 2015 slaughter during Bible study at Emanuel AME Church. ___ 5:50 a.m. The same jury that last month unanimously found Dylann Roof guilty in the slayings of nine black parishioners at a South Carolina church is returning to court to begin contemplating his punishment. The sentencing phase of Roof's federal trial begins Wednesday in Charleston. He could face the death penalty or life in prison. The 22-year-old Roof is representing himself but has said he plans to call no witnesses or introduce any evidence. His former legal team has said Roof fears embarrassing himself or his family. Prosecutors plan to call up to 38 people related to the nine people killed and three who survived the June 2015 slaughter during Bible study at Emanuel AME Church. After a daylong hearing Monday, a judge again found Roof competent to represent himself and stand trial for sentencing. next Image 1 of 3 prev next Image 2 of 3 prev Image 3 of 3 Six Mexican veterinarians who say they were recruited to work as animal scientists at an Idaho dairy farm have filed a federal human trafficking lawsuit against the dairy's owners and the lawyer who arranged work visas. The lawsuit filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Boise claims the veterinarians were forced to work as general laborers for about a year. It says the veterinarians were promised they would oversee animal health and reproduction programs at Funk Dairy Inc. in Murtaugh, Idaho. They came to the U.S. on visas granted to professionals from Mexico and Canada. The defendants are Funk owner David Funk, manager Curtis Giles and attorney Jeremy Pittard. Pittard says he helped arranged the visas but declined comment on the working conditions. The dairy's phone went unanswered. The study looks at the negative effects on corporate efficiency before and after the 2011 revolution. New obstacles have emerged that have made the business climate less attractive to investors, including regulatory and political uncertainty, corruption and crime. As the report underlines, "The aim of the revolution was to generate economic and social opportunities that would open the way to economic growth and jobs. However, the country has become unstable from the political point of view. This transition period has a direct impact on efficiency in the private sector."Prior to the events of the Arab Spring, interventionist policies were the norm in Egypt, as they were in most Middle-Eastern and North African states. In the report, the FEMISE economists also analyse other countries in the region: Lebanon, Jordan, Morocco and Tunisia.Here again, regulatory and political uncertainty, corruption and criminality have worsened. The report concludes, "These results have important political implications. Measures aimed specifically at businesses should enable a reduction in the number of obstacles and, consequently, encourage Egyptian manufacturing companies to become more competitive."For more on this subject, please download the report available here At least 103 people were injured -- three seriously -- when a commuter train slammed into a safeguard at a Brooklyn station Wednesday morning, forcing part of its first car off the tracks, officials said. FOUR BODIES FOUND AFTER PLANE CRASH IN ARIZONA My #LIRR train crashed at #AtlanticTerminal in #Brooklyn. Crazy. Seems only a few people are lightly injured. pic.twitter.com/oXHvy2yxDL Aaron D. Neufeld (@Aaron_D_Neufeld) January 4, 2017 Most of the injuries were considered minor, FOX5 reported.The most serious was a possible broken leg, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said during a news conference. The Long Island Rail Road train derailed on Track 6 at the Atlantic Terminal around 8:15 a.m. The MTA said the six-car train carrying 430 passengers -- hit a bumping block at the end of the platform and the lead wheel assembly of the first car went off the tracks after impact. Pictures on social media showed a door at the station with smashed glass and fire and police rescue workers evacuating commuters from the train. BODIES OF 5-YEAR-OLD BOY AND HIS FATHER FOUND IN LAKE AFTER APPARENT BOAT ACCIDENT Well, this is one way to start the morning. My train crashed through Atlantic Terminal. Hope everyone else is ok @LIRR pic.twitter.com/q7IV6mJTEm Ry Karl (@ItsRyanKarl) January 4, 2017 MTA Chairman Thomas Prendergrast said when LIRR trains make their final approach into a station, it is up to the operator to slow them down. There's a signal system that controls it coming in at limited speeds, he said. But when you're getting to the end it's the locomotive engineer's responsibility. And the train's brakes have to work. All those things have to be looked at in the investigation. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the train came into the station at a fairly low rate of speed before it hit the block. Passengers told TV news crews on the scene that there was a loud bang and a jolt that sent some people flying. The first car of the train left the track, but no others were affected, FOX5 reported. Some people were carried away on stretchers. Others were sitting outside the train holding ice packs to their heads. Reports from the scene said some people were bleeding from cuts. The National Transportation Safety Board was sending a "go-team" to New York to investigate alongside the Federal Railroad Administration. Fox News' Kathleen Foster, Laura Ingle and The Associated Press contributed to this report. A fast-growing theologically conservative Presbyterian denomination will be holding its latest National Gathering later this month in South Carolina. The Evangelical Covenant Order of Presbyterians, a denomination formed in 2012 in response to the increasingly liberal positions of the Presbyterian Church (USA), will be holding its 2017 National Gathering Jan. 24-26. FRANKLIN GRAHAM, SAEED ABEDINI PUSH FOR RELEASE OF PASTOR IMPRISONED IN TURKEY First Presbyterian Church of Greenville, a congregation of about 3,500 members that joined ECO back in 2012, is the scheduled location for the major gathering. The Rev. Richard Gibbons, senior pastor of FPC Greenville, told The Christian Post that his church was chosen as the site for the gathering for multiple reasons. "A large central meeting area was required for the plenary sessions, as was multiple breakout rooms for smaller seminars and workshops," said Gibbons. "The other very practical question was the weather and South Carolina should be pleasant at the end of January. In addition to the above, First Presbyterian is located downtown with several major hotels within walking distance on Main Street." Gibbons also told CP that his congregation will be occupied with preparing the church for the National Gathering, as they expect approximately 1,100 pastors and elders to come. Click Here to Read the Full Story at ChristianPost.com A 14-year-old boy found shot in the head in a vehicle Monday night has died of his injuries, Fox 46 Charlotte reported. The death of Anthony Frazier, the son of a North Carolina police officer who succumbed to his injuries Tuesday afternoon at Carolinas Medical Center, is being investigated by the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department. Frazier's father is Kannapolis Police Officer Daniel Frazier, according to the Kannapolis Police Chief. The call for service came in around 10:18 p.m. January 2 in the 2200 block of Finchley. Child's body found in Colorado pond during hunt for missing 6-year-old boy Officers responded to an assault with a deadly weapon call in the 900 block of Eastway Drive. When officers arrived, they found Frazier with an apparent gunshot wound. After investigating officers determined Frazier was shot while in a vehicle in the 2200 block of Finchley Drive and drove to the 900 block of Eastway Drive for help. One neighbor who didn't want his name or face shown told FOX 46 Charlotte that police said they believe the shooting started as a robbery. 3 Florida school buses involved in crashes, no students injured "They just said, they thought it might have been a robbery when the people came home and then I guess they shot at him and they told me this morning that the little boy got shot in the head," Finchley Drive Neighbor said. Police describe the suspects as two black males in their early 20s to early 30's. One of the suspects was wearing a gray hoodie and had a thin build. The second suspect was wearing a dark colored hoodie and also had a thin build. One of them may have worn his hair in short twists. The suspects may also frequent the Shamrock Drive and Eastway Drive corridors. For more on this story, visit Fox46Charlotte.com. Michigan police said Wednesday they are aggressively pursuing leads in the case of a young woman who disappeared one month ago after leaving her job at an insurance company, noting they believe the 28-year-old is a victim of foul play. Danielle Stislicki was last seen around 5 p.m. on December 2, walking out of the Metlife insurance company building where she worked in Southfield, a northern suburb of Detroit. Investigators told FoxNews.com that Staslicki had planned to return to her apartment in Farmington -- some 10 miles away -- before meeting her best friend for dinner but never made it. Stislicki's 2015 Jeep Renegade was found by police the next day, parked in front of her apartment building in the Independence Green Apartment Complex with the doors locked and her purse and wallet inside. Police are searching for two pieces of evidence they said were missing from the vehicle: Stislicki's cellphone -- a Samsung Galaxy Core Prime in a rose-colored case -- and her keys, which were attached to a distinctive yellow and green key charm. It's not known whether Stislicki ever made it from her car into her home, or if another person parked her vehicle at the apartment complex, which investigators said has many units and is "well populated." Authorities described the young woman's disappearance as "out of character," and Stislicki's family has launched a social media campaign -- including a Facebook page -- to bring awareness to the case. Staslicki's mother, Ann, reportedly also works for MetLife but was not in the building on the day her daughter disappeared. A Go Fund Me page has also been created to raise reward money for Stislicki's return. As of Wednesday, the site has raised $29,700. Stislicki's employer, MetLife, and Independence Green Apartments also contributed $50,000 to the case. "Danielle is a wonderful human being who has many family and friends who love her dearly," a statement on the site reads. "We want Dani home and need everyone's help." A source close to the investigation confirmed Wednesday that a home in a neighboring town had been searched in connection with Stislicki but declined to say what, if anything, authorities uncovered. Stislicki was last seen wearing a sky blue Eddie Bauer jacket, jeans, a black zip-up shirt and burgundy boots. Anyone with information on Stislicki's disappearance is urged to contact the Farmington Hills Police Department at 248-871-2610. A 16-year-old suspected of stealing a vehicle has been injured after being shot by officers in Atlanta. Local news outlets report that Atlanta police say the shooting happened Tuesday night near Clayton County. Police spokesman Officer Lukasz Sajdak says the teen was one of two carjacking suspects whom police were chasing in southwest Atlanta before the shooting. Sajdak says the suspects crashed into a pole near Interstate 285. Authorities say officers chased the suspects as they ran from the scene before shooting the 16-year-old in the leg. Police have not yet said why officers shot the teen. WSB-TV reports that both suspects are in custody and charges are pending. Authorities say a 63-year-old man has been shot and killed after he came at police officers with a large knife in Brooklyn. The shooting happened at a house in the city's Canarsie neighborhood just before 9:30 p.m. Tuesday while officers were responding to a report of an emotionally disturbed person. Police say James Owens came from a back room, grabbed a 13-inch knife and began moving toward the officers. They say he was shot with a stun gun, but it had no effect. An officer then fired his weapon, striking Owens in the chest. Owens was taken to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead. No police officers were injured A knife has been recovered at the scene. An investigation is continuing. A federal judge agreed with prosecutors on Wednesday to drop charges against a man accused of threatening on Facebook to "exterminate" gay people. District Judge William Zloch dismissed the case against Craig Jungwirth, who had been indicted by a grand jury with interstate transmission of a threatening communication. He had faced a potential sentence of 10 to 16 months in prison. Prosecutors had requested on Tuesday that the charges be dropped, six weeks after announcing in court that the evidence against Jungwirth was "weak," according to a report in The Sun-Sentinel. An FBI affidavit said Jungwirth, 50, of Orlando, posted several threats on Facebook against LGBT people in Wilton Manors, Florida, which has a large gay population. In August 2016, the affidavit said, Jungwirth threatened to launch a Labor Day attack bigger than the Pulse gay nightclub shooting in Orlando that killed 49 people and wounded dozens last June. The case was based in part on a tipster's screenshot of the Facebook post. But at a Nov. 15 federal court hearing, prosecutor Marc Anton told a judge that the evidence against Jungwirth was "weak" and circumstantial because investigators had been unable to definitively link the threat to him, even though the affidavit said the FBI was able to show that multiple threats were posted from his mother's computer. U.S. Attorney spokeswoman Sarah Schall declined comment. Authorities recovered a body and a vehicle off a steep embankment along California's Central Coast in their search Tuesday for a missing Los Angeles couple. Authorities in San Luis Obispo County discovered one person's body and the remains of a dog about 15 feet from the vehicle off the side of Highway 1, according to the Los Angeles Times. Investigators were working Wednesday to determine whether the apparent wreck involves Olivia Hannah Gonzalez, 20, and Brian Fernandez, 21, who were reported missing when they failed to return Christmas Day from a holiday road trip to Big Sur in a tan sedan. The California Highway Patrol told the newspaper that dispatchers received a report about 3:30 p.m. Tuesday that a tan vehicle was found about 325 feet below the steep embankment of the highway near Ragged Point. Gonzalez and Fernandez told family members they were leaving Dec. 23 for a weekend camping trip to the Big Sur and would return home on Christmas Day, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. No one has seen or heard from them since, and family members are concerned for their well-being, police said. The two reportedly were seen with camping gear and Fernandez's two dogs, Scooby and Luno, before they left their North Hollywood home. It's not known whether the two ever made it to the Big Sur -- roughly 70 miles of coast and cliff line -- or traveled elsewhere. Poor weather in recent days hindered aerial searches for the couple. Gonzalez is 5-foot-6, weighs 120 pounds, and has blonde hair and brown eyes. Fernandez is described as 5-foot-8 and 160 pounds. He has black hair and brown eyes. Authorities said Fernandez was driving a 2002 four-door tan Honda Civic with California license plate number 5VUD295. Gonzalezs sister, Vanessa Guzman, told the Los Angeles Daily News that her husband got a text from Gonzalez at about 11:40 a.m. Dec. 23, saying the couple were about two hours away from the Big Sur on the states Central Coast. That was reportedly the last message the family received from Gonzalez. "Im terrified that my sisters not going to come back home," Guzman told the paper. Anyone with information regarding the couples whereabouts is asked to contact detectives at 213-996-1800. Anonymous tips can be made by calling the LA Regional Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (800-222-8477) or go directly to www.lacrimestoppers.org. FoxNews.com's Cristina Corbin contributed to this report. Walk inside Infinitely Fit, a new gym in San Diego, and you'll find L.J. Eastmead in her element. The retired Marine, who has a proclivity to write Winston Churchill quotes on the wall, bounces around during a recent class. She's fun but firm, pushing students to strive for their best with a disarming smile. "Fitness is a passion, but really teaching people to be healthy and living a healthy lifestyle is what really resonated with me and I wanted to pass that along to other people," Eastmead says. But creating her own business wasn't as easy as leading a workout for Eastmead. "I was on my own for a little while before I was introduced to the Rosie Network, and I will be forever grateful to my friend for introducing me to them," Eastmead says. VIDEO: TEENS SERVE AS PALLBEARERS FOR VETERAN WITH NO FAMILY The Rosie Network, based in San Diego, is a non-profit that gives veterans the tools they need to successfully start and grow a small business. The veterans receive free training in everything from accounting to human resources while being promoted by the program. "So we're teaching them to fish, and not just providing the fish. This is a life-long commitment that we're making to our transitioning veterans and our military spouses," Stephanie Brown, the founder and CEO of the Rosie Network, says. PURPLE HEART SPOTTED ON AIRPORT BAGGAGE CLAIM BELT FINDS ITS FAMILY According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, veterans are 45 percent more likely to start their own businesses than non-military citizens. California leads the nation with more than 250,000 veteran-owned businesses, many of which can be found in or near San Diego, home to the largest concentration of military personnel in the United States. "There is a real push in San Diego to support the military. They're one of the three legs of our economy," Phil Blair, who co-chairs the San Diego Economic Development Committee, says. That's why San Diego has become a hub for veteran start-ups. Fuse Integration, an incubator run by Sumner Lee, a former Navy pilot, sets veterans up with an office space and a chance to work with the defense industry. "I think that veterans provide a background in leadership, in dealing with adverse conditions and being creative under pressure that provides and excellent team capability and an excellent ability to get the job done," Lee says. Around the corner, Fab Lab, a nonprofit community space, connects veterans with engineers and scientists. "Everybody learns and benefits from each other and I think that's the most important aspect of this space," Allen McAfee, a veteran who served in Iraq and the Operation Manager at Fab Lab, says. "Something like this allows us to celebrate that military past but also really enforce that you're a apart of our community too and I think that's the biggest thing that cities can look at." For Eastmead, the transitional training she received not only helped her launch her business but her confidence in its future as well. "The Rosie Network is, not like having a staff so much as having a support system that just says "oh, you can't pick yourself up today? Well we've got you," Eastmead says. LA PAZ, Bolivia (AP) A Bolivian court has upheld a government decision to seize a ranch from a U.S. cattleman and his family on the grounds they treated workers as virtual slaves, an official announced Monday The National Agrarian Tribunal rejected a challenge by Ronald Larsen, a 65-year-old from Montana who has owned the 58-square-mile (15,000-hectare) ranch nearly four decades, deputy land minister Juan Manuel Pinto said at a news conference. Pinto said the Caraparicito ranch would revert to Guarani Indians, traditional inhabitants of Bolivia's southeastern region, known as the Chaco. He said the ranch and an adjacent 15-square-mile (3,790-hectare) spread owned by an unrelated family, the Chavezes, would be cleared by authorities and divided among 2,000 Guarani families. Pinto did not say when the court issued its decision, which is not subject to appeal. The Larsens could not immediately be reached for comment. They have vehemently denied treating their ranch hands all of them Guarani natives as indentured servants. Larsen moved to the region in 1969, began acquiring land and married a Bolivian. He told The Associated Press last year that he deeded Caraparicito in 2005 to his three sons, all Bolivian citizens. After leftist President Evo Morales took office in 2006, Larsen became a key target of a government land reform campaign law that deemed servitude grounds for confiscation. Human rights groups said last year that several thousand Guarani lived in conditions of "forced labor and servitude" in the region, earning as little as $40 a year. Leaders of the Guarani, Bolivia's third-largest indigenous group after the Aymara and Quecha, claimed in 2008 that 12 families on Larsen's ranch lived in servitude. Larsen denies that, insisting in interviews with the AP since the government first moved to seize his land in February 2009 that he has treated his workers well. For four decades, he said, he has fed and clothed workers who would otherwise live in squalor, educated their children and provided them with free health care. He claims he was singled out as a relatively wealthy white American in a racially divided nation by an Aymara Indian president who grew up dirt poor. Morales, the Larsens claim, was more interested in getting access to natural gas and petroleum deposits that likely underlie Caraparicito exploratory drilling began there last year than in restoring indigenous lands. Bolivia's government has also confiscated ranches totaling more than 60 square miles (15,500 hectares) from two powerful white opposition leaders in Bolivia's eastern lowlands, the stronghold of Morales' most bitter foes. The government said the seized land had been fraudulently obtained and met another main criterion for confiscation that it served no "social or economic purpose." ___ Associated Press Writer Frank Bajak in Bogota, Colombia, contributed to this report. 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 a dozen years, Romain Renelus has made his life in the Dominican Republic as a migrant laborer, working 12 hours a day to earn $235 monthly as caretaker at a condominium complex. A night job as a guard at another residential building provides $210 more each month to support his wife and two daughters back home. Haitian workers such as Renelus have long been a mainstay of Dominican agriculture, construction and other low-wage industries. Hundreds of thousands of migrants have crossed the border in search of jobs in a country that is still poor, but better off than their homeland. But new Dominican requirements for work permits worry the employers, the workers and their advocates, who say it will become harder and more expensive to hire Haitian laborers. An estimated 1 million Haitians live in the Dominican Republic, which has a population of about 10 million. As an independent worker, the 40-year-old Renelus said he would seek to renew his visa and passport, both currently expired, because of an expected increase in the scrutiny of migrants. But he doesn't think it will be easy: a new passport will cost $129 and a visa $200. Currently, no work permits exist, but migrant workers have to present an entry visa and proof of residency to legally work in the country. "It is very hard for us to settle such expenses," he said. "It's a lot of money." Some migrant workers worry that their Dominican employers will deduct the costs of all the new paperwork, estimated to reach $800, from their paychecks. The new law does not stipulate whether the employer or employee would pay for the documents needed to obtain a work permit, including a visa, passport, birth certificate, a medical certificate and criminal background check. Any Haitian seeking a birth certificate is forced to return to Haiti to obtain it. "This is going to be traumatic," said the Rev. Mario Serrano, a Roman Catholic priest who provides assistance to migrants and refugees and studies labor issues as the director of the nonprofit Bono Center. "No one is going to be able to comply with these rules." The requirements took effect June 1, but the government says the rules won't be enforced until month's end. Employers will then have to have a work permit for each non-Dominican employee. Human rights groups have long complained about Dominican immigration policies toward Haitians, calling on the country to revise deportation rules to ensure due process and avoid race-based discrimination. An extensive report on the issue by Human Rights Watch a decade ago described the historic tensions between the neighboring countries and the Dominican Republic's deportations of suspected "Haitian-looking" people with darker skin. Haitian Ambassador Fritz Cienas called on Dominican authorities last month to ensure the human rights of Haitian workers affected by the new work permit rules. Creole-speaking Haiti and the Spanish-speaking Dominican Republic share the island of Hispaniola and a troubled history. Haiti invaded and occupied the Dominican Republic for more than 20 years in the 19th century and Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo ordered the massacre of an estimated 20,000 Haitians in 1937 as he sought to remove them en masse from the country. After Haiti's 2010 earthquake, which the Haitian government says killed more than 300,000 people, the Dominican Republic halted deportations and the country became a staging ground for relief efforts. It was a rare break in tensions between the neighboring countries. The new labor law adds to indications that the humanitarian lull has ended and the Dominican Republic has resumed its pre-quake policies. Advocates for migrants say authorities are cracking down on suspicious documents and have refused to accept work visas issued in previous decades. The children of Haitian migrants in many cases have been unable to obtain residency papers, preventing them from holding jobs or attending school, leaving them essentially stateless. As part of the new regulations, schools have been directed not to accept foreign children without residency permits. Haitian workers, nevertheless, play an important role in the Dominican economy, with the migrants accounting for about 80 percent of all workers in Dominican rice fields and 60 percent of those in banana fields, according to the private Agrobusiness Board. Haitians also make up more than half of the country's construction workforce, with nearly 60 percent of them lacking documents, according to a Labor Department study released in February. Agrobusiness Board Vice President Osmar Benitez said two of the country's largest growers have applied to legalize hundreds of employees in the past six months but obtained documents so far for only 42. Migration Director Jose Ricardo Taveras said business owners will have one month to meet the new requirements, and he pledged that officials will not raid businesses to deport illegal migrants during that period. Taveras said the new rules are aimed at eliminating the "chaos generated by the current illegal status of the labor market that encourages foreign labor." Employers who do not comply will face between $1,500 and $7,900 in penalties, and they also will be required to ensure that all migrants return home once their contract expires. The government has not said how it plans to enforce the new rules, but officials have already denied requests from business groups to delay enforcement. Edwin Paraison, Haiti's former minister of Haitians living abroad, said the Dominican government is rushing to enforce new regulations without first establishing an agreement with Haiti to possibly expedite the process of issuing documents such as passports and birth certificates. He also criticized Dominican officials for not advertising the new regulations. "It's inconceivable that they are launching a migration law without a media campaign in Creole," he said. "This prevents many Haitian migrants who only speak that language from learning about the new migration regulations." Renelus said he was scrambling to get the necessary paperwork together, but it had been difficult. He said if he cannot meet the requirements, he'll just go home. The communist regime in North Korea has been expanding space for women in its notorious prison labor camps to accommodate the number of Koreans forcibly returned from China, where they had sought the economic means to survive. The atrocities that await inmates in the North Korean gulag include forced labor, savage beatings, starvation, episodic executions and other crimes against humanity, according to a new report by the Committee for Human Rights in North Korea (CHRNK), a Washington-based non-profit group. The most recent changes in North Koreas remote and extensive secret prison network is documented in The Hidden Gulag IV, an update of the Committees decade-long examination of the North Korean system, published on Friday. The report is buttressed by a separate analysis of satellite photographs and based on interviews with inmates who endured stays in the horrific system and subsequently escaped to South Korea after their release. The Kim regime steadfastly denies the existence of any and all of the camps. The Committee report is an attempt to document changes in North Koreas gruesome prison landscape since early last year, when a U.N. appointed commission issued its own report on North Korean widespread and savage repression of its own citizenry, and the U.N. Security Council for the first time debated whether to refer the Kim regimes human rights atrocities to the International Criminal Court as crimes against humanity. (The Security Council discussion is ongoing.) What we are trying to do is track changes in the prison camp system since then, David Hawk, author of the CHRNK report, told Fox News. The effort, however, is slow, difficult and almost always lagging behind events, as it can take two, three or four years for camp survivors to successfully escape to South Korea after enduring their horrifying experiences. The CHRNK report focuses specifically on changes at a labor camp in a mountainous region of North Koreas coastal North Hamgyong province, and at a notorious political prison in neighboring South Hamgyong that is often used for political purge victims from the capital of Pyongyang, and where one section, known as a re-revolutionizing zone, was recently demolisheda sign that its inmates have been relocated or otherwise disappeared. Among other things, the 1,000-women expansion of space at a formerly all-male labor camp likely means that other prisons for women are overflowing with the arrival of larger numbers of North Korean women forcibly repatriated from China, Hawk said. The women are imprisoned for the crime of leaving North Korea in the first place, Hawk said, and their return by Chinese authorities is itself considered by the Committee to be a contravention of international humanitarian law, as the women face certain punishment for something normally considered a human right in leaving North Korea in the first place. The prison expansion is also a sign of the ugly choices facing North Korean women in general. In the past they fled to China largely to escape outright starvation at home, Hawk said. Now some also leave for the less desperate reason of pursuing marginal economic opportunities. Once in China, they are often picked up randomly by police, and detained until a bus-load can be driven back to North Korea. Once back, they are interrogated, often brutally, Hawk said. If police decide they have committed no political offensewhich can include any contact with South Koreans, or with any Christian churchesthey are sentenced to anywhere between six months and three years of hard labor and placed in the labor camp system. That fact alone can be a life-saver, as the families of inmates in the normal labor camp system are actually informed of the existence and location of their loved ones, meaning that they can receive additional food supplies when possiblethough often it is not. More importantly, they can eventually be released to their families. In fact, the Committees report grimly notes, many prisoners are released before their sentences are complete, often because of severe malnutrition, so that the prison authorities do not have to dispose of so many dead bodies. Others might be released to celebrate such festivities as a Kim family member's birthday or the founding of the Korean Workers Partybut more likely, the report notes, to relieve rampant prison overcrowding. Among the rest, one survivor interviewed for the report relates, many died of malnutrition and related diseases. At the North Hamgyong camp, female prisoners ate starvation-level rations while cutting trees, hauling logs, tending farm animals and, bizarrely, filling orders from Pyongyang for wigs and false eyelashes, using hair that one prisoner thought came from China. When they had a production order, the wig-sewers would work non-stop day and night until the order was completed, the report notes. Only the most productive workers were allowed to rest between production orders. The rest were sent back, unrested, to heavier tasks. One former prisoner interviewed for the Committee report helped raise corn by creating fertilizer from human waste mixed with dirt. She ate soup made from corn stocks and beans, and left prison, near death, weighing about 60 lbs.less than half her arrival weight. On the other hand, the fact that the Kim regime has been reducing the size of its even more draconian political prisons is not necessarily better news, but possibly worseand in any case completely unknown. Detainees in North Korean political prisons are literally non-persons. Their arrest and detention is almost never discussed, and most never leave the prisons once they enterand even if they do, the fact is marked by silence. In the case of the South Hamyong prison, however, the section that was demolished in late 2014 was identified by survivors as a re-revolutionizing zone, meaning that inmates could eventually return-- if judged to have endured their beatings and hard labor stoically enough-- to North Korean society. Along with ordinary North Koreans who had run afoul of the regime, it was the most common catch-pool for bureaucrats, army officials and other regime loyalists who had been caught in the regimes murky internecine squabbles, rivalries and vendettas, and thus stood some chance of being recycled in the next twist of any factional power struggles. The Committees report offers a rare but highly limited insight into the prison sections population through the recollections of Jung Gwang-il, a North Korean who was sent to the camp in 2002-2003 on suspicion of spying for South Korea while exporting high-quality mushrooms. He was tortured, starved and beaten until he confessed, then released after 10 months. As it happened, Jung had a photographic memory, and the Committee report includes a list of 181 political prisoners who Jung itemized after his release. In a handful of cases, they are known to have returned to regime jobs. Some died of malnutrition. The majority are simply marked as unknown. As the Committees satellite analysis notes, however, the razing of buildings, or even of an entire section of the camp, does not necessarily mean that the camp has ceased to function as a detention facility. Overall, the analysis notes, up to 120,000 political prisoners detained in North Koreas hidden gulag continue to be subjected to induced malnutrition, forced labor, torture and extra-judicial killings. As a result, it adds, scores of thousands have died in the camps over the years. If anything, the analysis notes, the North Korean regime appears to be stepping up its efforts to conceal the heart of darkness of its oppressive system, its political prison camps, from international scrutiny made possible by satellite imagery analysis. CLICK HERE FOR THE REPORT AND ANALYSIS That sensitivity may be heightened by the fact that, as report author Hawk told Fox News, dictator Kim Jong-un, who took power in late 2011 after the death of his father, Kim Jong-il, has been purging the ranks of the Workers Party, government bureaucracy and armed forces at a greatly increased rate. His fathers top loyalists have been among the main victimsincluding Kims uncle by marriage, Jang Sung Taek. Despite small measures of economic reform, Hawk says, the regimes behavior is as bad as ever. Its still the same old system except more purges. A notorious senator in the Dominican Republic is leading the pack in an international campaign that seeks to highlight the most egregious corruption cases around the world. Senator Felix Bautista has received more than 3,640 votes as part of Transparency Internationals Unmask the Corrupt campaign beating out the bribery and kickback Petrobras controversy in Brazil and even the extensive investigation of FIFA. Money laundering, abuse of power, prevarication and illicit enrichment amounting to millions of dollars -- Bautista of the Dominican Republic has been accused of them all, the campaigns website says. Bautista began his political career in the 1990s in various government positions, ultimately rising to the head of the Office of Supervision Engineers of Public Works, a position he held until 2010. In a case that was referred to the countrys Supreme Court in October, Bautista allegedly established a network of more than 35 companies under his control that he used to gain access to public contracts awarded by the public works office he headed at the time. While the Dominican Republics Public Prosecutors investigation had extensive evidence including tax declarations, bank statements and more against Bautista and his associates, the case was dismissed in March due to lack of sufficient evidence. The judge on the Supreme Court who dismissed it was a member of the same political party as Bautista. An appeal in October was also dismissed and Bautista remains free. Unmask the Corrupt had more than 380 submissions from the public about corruption cases from around the world that have massively abused and severely harmed society. Fifteen where chosen. For far too long the corrupt have gotten away with their systematic abuses of power, terrible human rights violations and the general destruction of the daily lives of people, said Transparency International chair Joe Ugaz in a statement. This ability to act with impunity must stop. Once we have identified the worlds greatest symbols of grand corruption, we will pursue social and legal sanctions for their deeds against the people, especially the poorest. Along with Bautista, Petrobras and FIFA, other cases that stood out among the entries included the state of Delaware, the former president of Egypt Hosni Mubarak, and Ukraines ex-president Viktor Yanukovych. Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter & Instagram When Jacqueline Montero takes her seat in Congress next month, she will bring not only an unusual past but an unconventional agenda for change in this socially conservative Caribbean country. Montero was sexually abused as a child. She married at 16 to a man who beat her. And she worked as a prostitute for years to feed her children. Now, after a decade of activism for women's rights in the Dominican Republic, she hopes to put her life experience to work following her election to the Chamber of Deputies as part of an opposition coalition. "I know the hardship that forces someone to go out on the street because your family doesn't have food," Montero told The Associated Press in the Santo Domingo office of the non-governmental organization she runs to promote the rights of sex workers. The 46-year-old wants to focus on improving opportunities for women, a significant challenge in a country where about 35 percent of households are led by single mothers in poverty. "When someone doesn't even have anything to eat, they end up going with the first man that appears," she said. She plans to introduce legislation that would prohibit discrimination against specific groups considered vulnerable, including LGBT, sex workers, people with AIDS and the elderly. The walls of her office are adorned with diplomas and posters from international conferences dealing with sex work. Montero will represent part of the port city of Haina in the 190-seat lower house of Congress, where the ruling party of President Danilo Medina retained its control in May's voting. Activists say the significance of her election transcends her relatively minor legislative position because she will be a powerful voice for largely unrepresented people. "It's a victory for civil society," said Dario Garcia, executive director of a private organization that coordinates efforts against HIV and AIDS in the country. Others see her elevation as a sign of social progress. "She represents an idea, the idea of non-discrimination, of equal participation of men and women," said Santo Rosario, a coordinator with a group, known by its Spanish acronym COIN, which advocates for the rights of marginalized groups, including sex workers. Prostitution is not banned in the Dominican Republic although it isn't specifically legal either. By some estimates, there are 200,000 Dominicans selling sex in the country of 10 million or abroad. It is illegal to operate a brothel or sell the services of someone else, but enforcement is sporadic. Montero, repeating her oft-told life story, grew up poor in a foster family where she was sexually abused by a male relative. She says she began working as a prostitute in Santo Domingo while still a teen after her abusive husband left her alone with a young child she could not support. She hopes her biography, which is told in a collection of stories by Dominican sex workers, will help convince fellow members of Congress of the "terrible life" faced by many who work in prostitution. "If I had not been raped when I was young and if the adults had believed me I would not have been a sex worker," she said. She began to study nursing in 1998 after a client beat her severely when she didn't want to work without a condom and she got into a motorcycle crash that left her bedridden for eight months. She had worked as a prostitute for a decade before then. Montero became politically active through her visits to a clinic that specialized in providing services to sex workers and or people with HIV. That experience continues to feed her belief that prostitutes should receive the same benefits as anyone else in the Dominican Republic. "I want the workers to have social security, medical insurance and to be able to benefit from all government subsidy programs," she said. Today, Montero still lives in a poor district of Haina. She has three of her own children and has adopted 12 children of prostitutes who she says might otherwise have been aborted. She is a deeply religious person who refers to God frequently in her speech and earned a degree in theology from Universidad Cristiana in 2014. She was raised as a Seventh Day Adventist, later became a Mormon and now identifies simply as Christian. Her entry into politics started in 2010, when she became a member of Haina's city council. She had already become well known as an activist, sparring in the media with religious and political leaders. Montero knows she will encounter opposition when she gets to Congress, where lawmakers have been divided over social issues such as LGBT and women's rights and abortion, reflecting the influence of the Roman Catholic church. She says she's ready for it. "When it comes to discrimination, I've been battled-tested and I'm going into this prepared," she said with a smile. Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter & Instagram Ethiopia's state broadcaster says 10,000 prisoners have been pardoned in the restive Oromia region. It is not clear whether they were detained under the country's state of emergency. Broadcaster EBC reported Wednesday that those pardoned include people who are old, have chronic illnesses or have families and children. It says people sentenced for rape, human trafficking and corruption were not included. Oromia has seen violent anti-government protests that spread to other parts of Ethiopia and led to the state of emergency that was declared in October. Mualtu Gemechu with the opposition Oromo Federalist Congress says the pardons are welcome but estimates that 60,000 to 70,000 people have been detained in Oromia in recent months. He says prisons are full and some people are now being held at private residences. A breakdown in Afghanistans relationship with Pakistan has driven a flood of Afghans living there to return, severely straining their war-ravaged homelands resources just as it is experiencing an escalation of violence. Many of last years more than 600,000 returnees had lived in Pakistan for decades as refugees, both documented and undocumented, and have few local connections to assist in their resettlement. The pressure on aid organizationsalso dealing with more than half a million Afghans displaced internally by fighting in 2016has left many returnees facing the harsh winter without any financial assistance. This government hasnt even given me a glass of cold water, said Maghfourullah Khadem, part of a community of about 350 families trying to make a fresh start in tents on a barren plot in Barekab, a village on the northern edge of Kabul province. The influx of people to informal settlements outside major cities is causing living costs to soar while depressing the labor market. And the United Nations and other agencies are expecting similar numbers this year. The refugees are a humanitarian issue and should not be linked to politics, said Hafiz Ahmad Miakhel, an adviser at the Afghan Ministry of Refugees and Repatriations. But unfortunately sometimes our countrymen become the victims of political issues. Click for more from The Wall Street Journal. Local authorities in southern China say an attacker has stabbed 11 children at a kindergarten, and five of them are seriously injured. A statement from the Pingxiang city government's information office said the suspect "sneaked into" their school and stabbed 11 children. Five have serious injuries. The statement cited the Pingxiang public security bureau. The city government said police rushed to the scene and detained the suspect and rushed the children to the hospital. It said no child had life-threatening injuries. The statement didn't say what weapon was used. In recent years China has had several incidents of attackers entering schools and stabbing children, mostly carried out by people with vendettas against society. Evangelical preacher the Rev. Franklin Graham and Pastor Saeed Abedini, a former American hostage in Iran, are two of the prominent names who are rallying behind Pastor Andrew Brunson, a U.S. citizen held in a Turkish prison who was recently denied his appeal for freedom. TURKEY IDENTIFIES NIGHTCLUB ATTACK GUNMAN; 5 ISIS SUSPECTS DETAINED As the American Center for Law and Justice reported, Brunson has been held for over two months in Turkey, where he is facing the serious charge of being a member "of an armed terrorist organization." The law group has argued that the charge is "completely unfounded," however, and that Turkish authorities have not presented any evidence against him. CHRISTIAN STUDENT SUES GEORGIA COLLEGE FOR RESTRICTING RIGHT TO PREACH ON CAMPUS The ACLJ added that Brunson, whose appeal against his imprisonment was recently denied, and who has been denied attorney-client privileges, is being held for his Christian faith. Graham, who often speaks out against the persecution of Christians on his Facebook page, wrote on Saturday that he spoke with the pastor's wife, Norine, and promised to help raise awareness for his plight. "I ask that you join me in praying specifically for Pastor Andrew's protection and release," Graham said, in part. "The Bible says, 'Continue to remember those in prison as if you were together with them in prison, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering' (Hebrews 13:3)," he added. Abedini, who spent over three and a half years in Iranian prisons for his Christian faith before being freed in January 2016, made a similar plea for Brunson on his Facebook page. Click Here to Read the Full Story at ChristianPost.com Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte has revealed that his cousins may have joined terrorist groups linked to ISIS and has vowed to take action if he ever met them face-to-face. The president, famous for his blunt remarks and tough stance on drugs, made the comments in an interview on Wednesday with Philippine based citizen journalism website Rappler. SUSPECTED MUSLIM REBELS STORM PHILIPPINES JAIL, 158 INMATES ESCAPE Duterte said: To be frank, I have cousins on the other side, with MI and MN. Some, I heard, are with ISIS. He was making reference to local groups affiliated to the extremist organisation, such as the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and Moro National Liberation Front. RUSSIA AIMS TO BEEF UP MILITARY TIES WITH PHILIPPINES AS 2 SHIPS VISIT The president vowed to take action should he cross paths with those cousins, but fell short of specifying what their fate would be. While Duterte has not specified what action he would take, he has previously confessed to shooting suspected drug dealers, as well as throwing a murder and rape suspect out of a helicopter while he was mayor of Davao. If you are corrupt, I will fetch you using a helicopter to Manila and I will throw you out, he said in a televised speech in December. In a separate incident, more than 150 prisoners escaped Tuesday late night from a southern prison there, after gunmen suspected of having Islamist ties launched a gun attack. The prison break occurred at the North Cotabato District Jail near Kidapawan, off the island of Mindanao. The country has seen a spate of terrorist attacks in recent months. In December, at least 33 people were injured in two separate bomb attacks in Mindanao and Leyte, within less than an hour of each other. In September, a bomb attack in a night market in Davao claimed the lives of fourteen shoppers, injuring many more. Furthermore, several were injured recently in a bomb attack on Christmas Eve. Click for more from The Sun. Germany is taking on Facebook, threatening criminal action against the worlds biggest social media company if it doesnt stem the swelling tide of racist postings. Entries such as gas the Jews are examples of the repugnant postings that have appeared online, said Piotr Malachowski, spokesman for the German Ministry of Justice. Facebook doesnt take postings down unless they get complaints, or they dont remove it fast enough, Malachowski told FoxNews.com. What you are seeing on Facebook is not just racist comment, it is a violation of Germanys criminal code, he said. Facebook can be held criminally liable for users illegal hate speech. German law prohibits speech that denies the Holocaust, disparages minorities, or insults public figures. Malachowski said the government asked Facebook two years ago to do a better job of filtering hate postings. Germany is now demanding a meaningful response by early this year, or it will take legal action against the social media giant that has 1.8 billion users worldwide. Germany also is asking Google and Twitter to rein in objectionable posts. Facebook denies claims that it is not taking down expressions of hate quickly enough. It has hired a German technology company to monitor and delete content that is illegal in Germany and other European countries. Six hundred people, fluent in several languages, scan the site daily. Facebook claims inappropriate posts represent a small fraction of the millions of daily entries. A German government report issued in September finds that social media companies are struggling to take down illegal postings. According to this report, Facebook is taking down 46 percent of illegal content. YouTube takes down 10 percent, and Twitter just 1 percent. Social media postings that call for incitement and violence rose 353 percent in 2015, according to Deidre Berger, director of the American Jewish Committees office in Berlin. Much of the hate stems from anti-foreigner and anti-refugee sentiments, triggered by the influx of close to a million Muslims from the war-torn Middle East and Afghanistan, said Berger. Social media is also a vehicle for the dissemination of conspiracy theories that blame Jews for everything that is wrong in the world, said Berger, noting that the number of anti-Semitic hate crimes in Germany rose 201 percent in 2015. She said the government links the rise in anti-Semitic acts to anti-Semitic postings in social media. Journalist Ute Schaeffer observes that tweets and online posts can lead to violence, or impact election results. She said police now protect members of the Bundestag, or German parliament, who have condemned Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogans authoritarian rule. Erdogan has supporters among the large Turkish community in Germany, some of whom post threatening comments. Malte Lehming, editorial page editor at Der Tagesspiegel, Berlins largest newspaper, has a different perspective on Germanys proposed crackdown on social media hate speech. During a phone interview, he said there are already too many restrictions on free speech in Germany and that pressuring Facebook wont work. He questioned, for example, how Germany could stop a Canadian citizen who tweets something that violates German law, but not Canadian law. Do you judge the tweet by Canadian or German law? he asked, noting that there is no international law with standards that have universal application. Experts pointed out that the hate postings on social media do not represent the views of most Germans. Many Germans who oppose such bigotry do not bother to post their views. In all fairness, Facebook is not responsible for the hateful attitudes of some members of German society, said Anetta Kahane, chairperson of the Amadeu Antonio Foundation, a German NGO that fights racism. Facebook should not assume all the blame, Kahane says. At the same time, she feels Facebook could do a better job by following its own standards for acceptable content. They get rid of pornography, and they should get rid of racist content. The Fulani herdsmen terrorists reportedly killed over 800 Christians and moderate Muslims, as well as destroyed at least 16 churches, in the last few months of 2016 in Nigeria, representing a rising Islamic threat. Although Christians in Nigeria have been heavily targeted by the Boko Haram terror group since 2009, the nomadic Fulani herdsmen have also been growing more violent in their attacks, with the last three months of 2016 resulting in the deaths of hundreds of believers, according to a local bishop. TURNING IRAQ HISTORY TO RUBBLE, LEAVING THE MESS TO LOOTERS "Fifty-three villages burned down, 808 people murdered and 57 wounded, 1,422 houses and 16 churches destroyed," Bishop Joseph Bagobiri of the Diocese of Kafanchan told international Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need, recounting the violence Christians have faced since September. The bishop pointed out that the Fulani radicals target both Christians and moderate Muslims, and although the conflicts have partially been based on farming land disputes, the terrorists are now using "sophisticated weapons they didn't have before, such as AK-47s of unknown provenance." "In addition to the social and economic issues that have fueled conflict since ancient times, such as the distribution of the land and shortage of grazing, the dimension of the problem has changed," Bagobiri continued. "The Fulani are Muslim and the land they are attacking belongs mainly to ethnic groups that are Christian; now there is religious hatred driving the violence." Click Here to Read the Full Story at ChristianPost.com Israeli President Reuven Rivlin has told Jewish representatives that he strongly opposes contacts between his country's officials and European parties with a history of anti-Semitism. Rivlin says he will "never condone" meetings between representatives of Israel and "European parties of the far right that are tainted with a history of anti-Semitism, Holocaust denial ... or the promotion of racial hatred or intolerance." Vienna's Jewish community emailed a copy to The Associated Press on Wednesday. Dated Dec. 20, the letter is in response to one sent in November by World Jewish Congress Vice President Ariel Muzicant and Oskar Deutsch, the head of Vienna's Jewish community, complaining about contacts between Austria's Freedom Party and Israeli political figures. The party said Wednesday that it doesn't consider Rivlin's comments as applying to it. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday called for a pardon of the Israeli soldier convicted of manslaughter for shooting a knife-wielding Palestinian attacker in the head, in a case that has deeply divided the country. Sgt. Elor Azaria, an Israeli army medic who had been deployed to the West Bank at the age of 19, shot and killed the Palestinian attacker who lay wounded and motionless on the ground -- nearly 15 minutes after he tried to stab a soldier in Hebron. Azaria's supporters claimed the military made him into a scapegoat. The country's president, Reuven Rivlin, has authority to issue pardons but has said he would wait for the legal process to run its course before making a decision. ISRAEL DISPATCHES SPY CHIEF FOR SECRET MEETING WITH TRUMP "I urge the people of Israel to support The Israeli Defense Forces. The soldiers are our daughters and sons," Netanyahu wrote on Facebook. The three-judge panel ruled earlier Wednesday, "He opened fire in violation of orders, the terrorist did not pose any threat." In delivering her ruling, Col. Maya Heller systematically rejected all of Azaria's defense arguments. There is no question that the defendant shot from close range after aiming his gun at the terrorists head and there is no dispute that by doing so he endangered the lives of those around him, she wrote. ISRAELI MOSSAD LOOKING FOR A FEW GOOD WOMEN The judges added that Azaria was "aware" his actions would result in the loss of life, and it was his bullet that killed the wounded Palestinian. Despite Azaria's supporters claiming senior Israel Defense Forces leaders, politicians, the media or public opinion could influence the ruling, Heller emphasized that "the verdict is based solely on the evidence brought forth (in the trial)." Azarias parents, Charlie and Oshra, left their home in Ramla in the early morning and arrived at the court for the verdict, greeted by hundreds of people who had turned up to stand in solidarity with the IDF sergeant. As Azaria entered the courtroom, people nearby clapped their hands while calling out expressions of support: We love you and God loves you, they shouted. Azaria's defense team vowed to take the case to the military court of appeals. This could drag the trial out for at least four more months and even longer if another appeal is filed to the Supreme Court. Many Israeli lawmakers, both from the left and the right, called to pardon Azaria. Some claimed the legal process against him was "contaminated from the onset." According to Jewish Home party leader Naftali Bennett, "today a soldier was convicted like a criminal for killing a terrorist who tried to slaughter soldiers." Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman responded, "This is a severe verdict. I ask we all respect the court's ruling and show restraint. What is important despite the harsh verdict is that the defense establishments help the family and this soldier. I call on the public not to lambaste the IDF and the defense establishment. We must respect the ruling." During the verdict reading, which lasted two and a half hours, violent fights started outside of the court, and hundreds of right-wing demonstrators who supported Azaria blocked one of the main roads in Tel Aviv. Police arrested two people. The shooting, which took place in the morning hours of March 24, 2016, and the tense moments leading up to it, were captured on video by a Palestinian human rights activist. The video footage, distributed to news organizations, ensured that the incident, which came amid a wave of Palestinian stabbings, drew international attention. Azaria was indicted on April 18 by the military court. In the face of strong condemnation of Azarias actions by top military brass including IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot and then-defense minister Moshe Yaalon, far-right supporters and some politicians have accused the defense establishment of abandoning one of its own. Right-wing politicians and some celebrities rallied behind Azaria. His actions, they claimed, were justified by the barrage of Palestinian violence and the general atmosphere of alarm in Hebron, a city where hundreds of Israeli settlers, under heavy army protection, live among some 200,000 Palestinians. On the other side stood serving members of the military establishment. Many of them said Azaria, who made far-right, anti-Palestinian postings on Facebook before joining the military, acted in cold blood and outside protocol. The Associated Press contributed to this report. The family of an Iraqi female journalist kidnapped in Baghdad last week says she has been released. Nibras Shawqi al-Qaisi told The Associated Press on Wednesday that her sister, Afrah, was released the night before, without providing further details. Gunmen who said they were members of the security forces asked to search Afrah's house last Monday before abducting her. They also took gold, money, phones, laptops and her car. The veteran journalist, who is also an employee of the Culture Ministry, is a prominent critic of Iraq's endemic corruption. War-torn Iraq is considered one of the most dangerous countries for journalists, who have been frequently targeted by militant groups since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein. A Pakistani police official says a roadside bomb has struck a vehicle carrying police in the country's northwest, wounding four officers and 15 passers-by. Local police official Mohammad Nawaz says Wednesday's attack took place in the city of Dera Ismail Khan, a gateway to Pakistan's troubled tribal region bordering Afghanistan. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the bombing. Pakistan's army has carried out several operations against local and foreign militants in the country's tribal regions in recent years. The army says it has cleared over 90 percent of the region from insurgents, who once had a strong presence there. next Image 1 of 3 prev next Image 2 of 3 prev Image 3 of 3 Pope Francis has prayed for those who were killed in this week's Brazil prison riots, saying penitentiary conditions must be 'worthy of human persons." Francis invited faithful at his weekly Wednesday audience at the Vatican to pray for the 60 who died in gang fights in the Brazil Amazon region prisons and their families, as well as inmates and prison workers worldwide. He said he was "pained and concerned" about what happened in Brazil. He renewed his appeal so that prisons would be "places of re-education" and "not overcrowded but places for re-insertion" in society after sentences are served. Throughout his papacy, Francis has pressed for better prison conditions and the need for rehabilitation of inmates. He has also denounced life imprisonment as a virtual death sentence. On New Years Day, priests across Venezuela reportedly were instructed by Cardinal Jorge Urosa Savino, the archbishop of Caracas, to read a read a text during the homily encouraging parishioners to take a stand for democracy and not be intimidated by the socialist rule of Nicolas Maduro. Spanish newspaper ABC reported that the Vatican itself is encouraging the Catholic Churchs involvement in Venezuelas acute financial and humanitarian crisis. The text of the homily was sent by the Vatican, according to the paper. The Church took a more active role in Venezuelas politics in October, after the government blocked the oppositions call for a referendum to recall Maduro. In last Sundays homily, priests across the country referred to a "real dictatorship situation and urged Venezuelans "to put all their efforts into stopping the advance of the dictatorship and to eradicate it in a democratic way. The extreme shortage of food and medicines, the text read, is caused by an erroneous economic system, a socialist totalitarianism that gives government a total control of the economy." In Venezuela there are still 126 political prisoners, including Leopoldo Lopez, founder of Voluntad Popular, and the mayor of Caracas, Antonio Ledezma. According to the Venezuelan Penal Forum, the Maduro regime imprisoned 56 dissidents in 2016 and released only 40. Vatican-sponsored talks between the two sides stalled last month after the opposition said they would not attend any further meetings unless more concessions were made by the government. The shooting of two government officials during a meeting Wednesday comes amid a rise in gun-related crimes in China, which has maintained a stringent, decadeslong ban on owning firearms. A gunman burst into a government meeting in the inland city of Panzhihua and opened fire, state media reported. The shooting injured the citys mayor and Communist Party secretary. The assailant, identified as the head of the local land and resources bureau, fled and then killed himself, according to a city government statement. State media and the governments statement didnt explain the motives of the gunman, identified as Chen Zhongshu. Panzhihua officials couldnt be reached to comment. The shooting grabbed attention on state and social media. Many expressed surprise, noting that in China, one would have to be a privileged government official to get access to a firearm. Gun violence and the use of firearms to commit crimes are unusual in China, where rules effectively ban all private ownership and police exercise wide authority to question and detain suspects. Violent crimes tend to be committed with knives or explosives available for mining and road construction. Government statistics show the number of violations of controls on firearms and ammunition rising by more than 50% in one year, to 81,668 cases in 2015. The national police ministry said in August that overall gun-related crimes are continuing to rise, especially internet sales of guns, seriously affecting public safety and stability and the peoples sense of security. Click for more from The Wall Street Journal. Turkey says repeated cease-fire violations by the Syrian government are threatening to derail scheduled peace talks in Kazakhstan. Speaking to Turkey's state-run Anadolu news agency on Wednesday, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Iran needed to address the cease-fire violations in Syria by the government and its allies. Iran is a key ally of Syrian President Bashar Assad and a guarantor of a tenuous cease-fire agreement that came into force shortly before the new year. Turkey is a sponsor of the Syrian opposition. The cease-fire is supposed to prepare the way for talks in Astana, Kazakhstan, in late January between the government and the opposition. Those talks will be brokered by Russia, Iran, and Turkey. Cavusoglu says the Astana process "might fail if we cannot stop the escalating violations." A 50-year-old man has been arrested at London Heathrow airport on suspicion of a terrorism offense. British police say the man was taken into custody by counter-terrorism officers after arriving in Britain on a flight from Cairo on Wednesday. He was arrested on suspicion of possessing articles which contained information likely to be useful to a person planning an act of terrorism. A property in north London was being searched as part of the investigation. Police have said that the arrest was pre-planned and not related to the Islamic State group or the conflict in Syria. Mounting concern over the possibility of an extremist attack in Britain has led to increased airport security and increased checks of passengers on incoming flights from the Middle East. What are pitcher plants and why do plants that grow in bogs and eat bugs matter? It is a simple question, one that comes quickly to mind, but upon the answer hangs the very survival of this beautiful, if carnivorous, species. The front line in the battle to save the pitcher plant from extinction is not, as you might expect, in the remote rain forests of the Amazon or the far-off jungles of Africa, but rather down a highway in Caroline County. Here, on the side of the Fredericksburg Turnpike, is the Meadowview Biological Research Station. As official as that sounds, it is not the government at all that leads this fight, but a private, nonprofit organization. No one is doing this, said C. Michael Hammond, a member of Meadowviews board of directors, No university, no government agency. What Meadowview is doing is trying to save and restore pitcher plants to their historic range in both Virginia and Maryland. To accomplish this, the small but dedicated staff does everything from educating the public about Meadowviews work to collecting the seeds of pitcher plants threatened by development. A VERY IMPORTANT PLANT Why all the fuss for a plant many people have never seen, much less heard of? Its a keystone species in a bog ecosystem, Hammond said. That means its very important. Its a species that holds habitat together. Bogs where pitcher plants grow help to keep water clean. Hammond likened bogs to natures kidneys and said they can produce cleaner water than many cities. Healthy pitcher plants equal healthy water, added Richard J. Curzon, a resident horticulturist at Meadowview. They only grow in high pristine areas where water quality is good. Not only a research center as its names implies, Meadowview also grows pitcher plants at its nursery. Besides the two species that are native to Virginia, the center raises carnivorous plants from every continent except Antarctica. Among the rarest of these are an endangered tropical species from the island of Borneo in Southeast Asia, as well as the ever-popular Venus fly trap from North Carolina. FACING EXTINCTION Most of the worlds more than 100 kinds of pitcher plants are either threatened or face extinction, including all 11 species in the U.S. Not only is this due to habitat loss, but to pitcher plants extreme sensitivity to changes in its own environment. For pitcher plants to thrive, they need fire every few years to burn the underbrush that blocks sunlight and to clear the leaf litter that prevents their seeds from growing. In this one regard, Smokey Bear may have done his job a little too well by discouraging forest fires. Because it raises every kind of pitcher plant in the world, Meadowviews nursery attracts pitcher plant hobbyists and receives inquiries from as far away as Finland and Australia, according to Hammond. Plant sales alone account for a big part of its annual budget, bringing in $28,000 in 2015. While that money pays for much of Meadowviews work, it is not enough for the organization to meet all its goals. If Meadowview is to achieve its mission, it all starts with land, Hammond said. You cant restore something you dont have access to. In addition to a 273-acre preserve in Sussex County, Meadowview owns 18 acres at its research station. It wants to expand in Caroline, but with adjacent land running into several hundreds of thousands of dollars, according to Curzon, that remains an elusive goal. To ensure that as much money as possible goes to its mission, Meadowviews overhead expenses are kept low. You wont find a gleaming headquarters building here with marble floors and mahogany desks. Instead, its office occupies a cramped 100-year-old farmhouse equipped with both an old-fashioned wood-burning furnace, as well as modern solar panels for heat and hot water. The greenhouse and another structure, the highland growing chamber, are kept warm this way, too. SATISFYING WORK In addition, much of the work is done by volunteers. Even Meadowviews founder and president, Phil Sheridan, has never received a paycheck for his work in more than 20 years. New volunteers are always welcomed, to be sure. But fair warning: It is hard, dirty work (exciting, but not sexy, as Hammond calls it). Yet, the work seems to inspire passionate loyalty among those who do it. Sheridans interest in pitcher plants began 40 years ago when he was 15 and Curzons started at the age of 10. Hammond has volunteered at Meadowview since 2000, driving an hour and a half one way from his home in Manassas just to help. I love this work, and work for free, because of the satisfaction from doing this work is my reward, Hammond said. Sheridan and his staff keep a frenetic pace between the nursery, field work and conferences. Just this fall and next spring, plans call for planting 12,000 longleaf pine seedlings at the Sussex preserve. The longleaf pine, which once grew on more than 93 million acres from Virginia to Texas, has been reducedlike pitcher plantsto less than 5 percent of its historic range. Meadowview is trying to change that, too. Yet, with all the worlds problems, the question remains: Why should anyone care about pitcher plants? That question was put to Curzon recently at the end of another busy day as the late afternoon sun shone through a window of Meadowviews office. Its a drop in the bucket of a bigger problem, the worldwide conserving of nature, Curzon admitted. But its a symptom of a mind-set that everything has to explain itself. Pausing for a moment, he added, Theyre beautiful. People love beautiful plants. Visitors are welcomed to Meadowview by appointment. Call 804/633-4336 or e-mail at meadowview@pitcherplant.org to schedule a tour. The University of Mary Washington is poised to launch a search for another of its top administration positions. Leah Cox, special assistant to the president for diversity and inclusion, has accepted a position as vice president of inclusion and institutional equity at Towson University in Maryland. Her last day at UMW will be Jan. 19. Towson selected Cox after a nationwide search. UMW president Troy Paino called Coxs tenure at UMW invaluable to the institution in an email. While we congratulate Dr. Cox on this new opportunity, we regret the loss of an individual who has for 15 years provided leadership on many key programs and initiatives at Mary Washington, he continued. Cox also serves as the Title IX coordinator and ombudsman for the campus, and oversees the Student Transition Program, the Rappahannock Scholars Program and the James Farmer Scholars Program. Paino said the school will launch a search for Coxs successor as soon as possible, and is committed to keeping momentum going on diversity and inclusion initiatives. Charles J. Colgan, Virginias longest-serving state senator with 40 years in the maroon-and-buff chamber from which he urged expanded investments in education and transportation, died Tuesday after a brief illness. He was 90. The elfin Mr. Colgan, known for his patience and good cheer, was a Democrat who nonetheless worked closely with Republicans. Because of his social conservatism Mr. Colgan was a devout Catholic he broke with his party on abortion rights, voting to restrict the procedure. When Mr. Colgan arrived at the Virginia Senate for the first time in 1976, the county he represented, Prince William, was still heavily rural a far cry from the bustling, politically competitive outer suburb of Washington thats become a magnet for newcomers, among them non-English-speaking foreign immigrants whose numbers have roiled local politics. He retired a year ago this month. As the senior member of the Senate, Mr. Colgan was designated its president pro tempore, requiring he preside over the 40-member body in the absence of its usual presiding officer, the lieutenant governor. That ceremonial assignment was paired with one considerably more influential: the chairmanship of the budget-writing Senate Finance Committee and, later, the co-chairmanship with Republican Walter A. Stosch of Henrico. That arrangement initially reflected a 20-20 split in the Senate, but continued after Republicans won the majority. Mr. Colgan, who also served on the Senate Commerce and Labor Committee, giving him a big say in business issues, rarely hesitated to advocate new taxes, particularly to meet the transportation and education needs of fast-growing Northern Virginia. And well before Gov. Jim Gilmore would run for the states highest office in 1997 on a pledge to eliminate the hated car tax, Mr. Colgan urged the locally collected levy be junked, with cities and counties making up the revenue through higher sales taxes. Chuck was a champion in the Virginia Senate for the people of Prince William County and the entire commonwealth, said Gov. Terry McAuliffe, in announcing Mr. Colgans death in a written statement. His passionate and bipartisan approach to getting things done should serve as an example for all of us as we continue the work he and so many undertook and passed forward to us. On Sept. 25 Mr. Colgans 90th birthday a life-size bronze statue of him was unveiled at the Prince William Science and Technology Campus of George Mason University, the fast-growing school for which he was an enthusiastic advocate. Tributes to Mr. Colgan poured in from colleagues on both sides of the aisle. Chuck was a devoted public servant who spent his life dedicated to making the commonwealth a better place, said House Speaker William J. Howell, R-Stafford. He truly was a statesman who was always concerned about what was best for Virginia. He was a friend to many in the House. It is the end of an era. U.S. Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., a former governor, said in a statement: Chuck Colgan may have been my closest friend in Virginia politics. When I met him, he already was a legend in Prince William. Senate Majority Leader Thomas K. Norment Jr., R-James City, said, Senator Colgan counted legislators from both sides of aisle and in both chambers as his friends. His experience proved invaluable to enacting fiscally responsible budgets, negotiating effectively for his constituents and the commonwealth. Last week, Mr. Colgan entered hospice care in Aldie, in Loudoun County. An Army Air Corps veteran of World War II, the Frostburg, Md.,-born Mr. Colgan arrived in Prince William County in the post-war years, building a regional air service that became Colgan Airways and would sell in 1986. He and his son restarted the service in 1986 after its new parent had closed. In 2007, the company was sold to Pinnacle Airlines Corp. for $20 million. Mr. Colgan, a Prince William supervisor before his election to the Senate, came to the county with several other war veterans who would become personal friends and as he did politically prominent, though as Republicans. They included a future congressman, Stan Parris, and Mr. Colgans closest friend in the General Assembly, Del. Harry Parrish, who was chairman of the tax-writing House Finance Committee. Mr. Colgan and Parrish occasionally staged fundraising events together, allowing lobbyists and others to simultaneously donate to a Democrat and a Republican. Mr. Colgan survived by his wife of eight years, Carmen Alicia Bernal, and eight children from his first marriage of 52 years to Agnes Footen who died in 2001 showed little interest in the trappings of office and often addressed fellow senators, staff members, lobbyists, and reporters as buddy. In 2007, when he was 81, Mr. Colgan easily dispatched his opponent, in part, with a television commercial in which he led school-age children on a jog around Capitol Square and then Rocky-like triumphantly mounted the steps of the South Portico. In 2012, when the Senate was evenly divided, Mr. Colgan ended a bitter standoff over the state budget, siding with the 20 Republicans to assure passage of the spending plan. I didnt feel very good about not having a budget, he said after casting the deciding vote. He was just a genuinely good person to work with, Stosch recalled on Tuesday. Once the elections were over, we actually settled down and did the work of the people of the commonwealth. A federal judge on Tuesday said he will decide within a week whether to delay Ricky Javon Grays scheduled Jan. 18 execution over concerns about drugs the state intends to use if Gray dies by injection. Midazolam, a sedative, and potassium chloride, which stops the heart, are the first and third drugs used in Virginias three-drug procedure. The drugs were made by a compounding pharmacy and not by pharmaceutical manufacturers, which no longer provide drugs to states for executions. The state strongly disputes that the compounded drugstested by a state laboratory and made by a licensed Virginia pharmacy and pharmacistare anything less than effective and suitable for use in an execution. The alleged problems are wholly speculative, said Margaret Hoel OShea, with the Virginia attorney generals office. Under state law, Gray must choose execution by injection or electrocution by 15 days prior to the execution date. If he refuses to select a method, state law makes lethal injection the default method. The Virginia Department of Corrections did not immediately respond Tuesday when asked if Gray had made a choice. Grays lawyers also contend death in the states electric chair is cruel and unusual punishment. And they claim the use of compounded drugs have contributed to botched executions elsewhere and unnecessarily increase the risk of chemical torture. They are asking U.S. District Judge Henry Hudsonwho heard more than four hours of testimony and argument Tuesdayto delay the execution so they can better make their case. An expert testified for Gray Tuesday that execution by firing squad presents less risk of cruel and unusual punishment than Virginias proposed injection procedure. One argument appeared to leave Hudson perplexed Tuesday: a psychologist testified that Gray, who was sexually abused as a child, has nightmares about being paralyzed and raped. He would suffer severe psychological distress fearing or experiencing an execution in which he was paralyzed, but remained conscious and in extreme pain. You are aware he bound the two young children before he killed them, are you not? Hudson asked David Lisak, of New Mexico, who testified via video link. Lisak said he was. His binding of the children in this case before he killed themthat is not inconsistent? with that theory, asked the judge. No, responded Lisak. Hudson dd not appear persuaded. Gray was sentenced to die for the New Years Day 2006 slayings of sisters Ruby Harvey, 4, and Stella Harvey, 9. He also killed their parents, Bryan Harvey, 49, and Kathryn Harvey, 39, in their South Richmond home, which was set on fire. The murder weapons included a knife and hammer. Less than a week later, Gray and accomplice Ray Dandridge, 39, killed Ashley Baskerville, 21, who had been a lookout when Gray killed the Harveys; Baskervilles mother, Mary Tucker, 47; and stepfather Percyell Tucker, 55, in their Richmond home. Referring to the possibility of the nightmare/psychological terror argument, OShea told Hudson, If the court gives credence to that, then Gray should not be executed at all. OShea, in her closing argument, told the judge that what Gray did was a nightmare for the community, the Harvey family and the two little girls. She noted that when Gray was arrested he gave a full confession and told the police, I just want to die. Ten years later, the time is now, said OShea. Lisa Fried, one of Grays lawyers asked the judge not to call off the execution indefinitely, but to delay it so Grays concerns can be fully aired. In response to a question from Hudson, Fried conceded the constitution does not require a pain-free execution. But she said that while the public has an interest in seeing that sentences are carried out, everyone in the state has an interest in making sure executions are carried out constitutionally. An expert, pharmacist Larry D. Sasich, testified that the testing on the drugs performed by the state on the compounded drugsto identify them and ascertain their potencywas inadequate. They should also been tested for sterility, acidity and if to see if there are any particulates in the solutions which are injected into the inmate via and IV line. Asked by Fried how likely the use of a compounded drug would lead to pain and suffering, Sasich said, It is more likely compared to the use of an FDA-approved product. However, a state expert pharmacist, Daniel E. Buffington, said the compounding of such drugs by pharmacies is common in the industry. Its done routinely, he said. Buffington said he was not aware of any botched execution caused by midlazolam. The problems, he said he was aware of, were caused by the drugs administration. Dr. Jonathan I. Groner testified there was less risk of pain in an execution by firing squad, which would be almost instantaneous if done properly, than in one using midlazolam. Virginia has not used the firing squad, although Utah has twice since the death penalty was allowed to resume in 1976. A Department of Corrections official testified that no employees were trained to conduct a firing squad, there was no facility in which to do so and that the General Assembly would have to change the law to permit that form of execution. He conceded under cross examination, however, that prison employees are trained in the use of firearms. Hudson said he expected to have an opinion written by next Monday or Tuesday at the latest. In Rocky IV, Ivan Drago only has nine lines. But one of them stuck: "If he dies, he dies," which he delivers after beating Apollo Creed. (Spoiler alert: Creed dies.) Read moreFight the Power: Dont get numb to COVID-19 and dont let me get numb either Free Freightnet Membership List your company in the Freightnet directory. It's Free, it's Easy and your company can be displayed in front of potential freight buyers within 24 hours. President of the People's Republic of China Xi Jinping congratulated Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and Ukrainian people on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Beijing and Kyiv. "In 25 years after establishing diplomatic relations Chinese-Ukrainian relations stably develop. Cooperation between the two countries in trade, economic, investment, agricultural, scientific, cultural and other spheres have achieved substantial results. The contents of Chinese-Ukrainian strategic partnership are permanently expanding, which brings real benefits to the two countries and their people," Xi Jinping said in a greeting published by the press service of the Ukrainian president on Wednesday. "China pays large attention to the development of Chinese-Ukrainian relations. China is ready to use the best opportunity of the 25th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries based on mutual respect and mutual benefits to come to the further strengthening of the foundation for friendly cooperation between the two countries, promotion of bilateral relations and cooperation in all spheres to have even more achievements," he said. Ukrtransnafta to pump Urals oil from Odesa-Kremenchuk oil pipeline, transport it by rail to fill in second line of Druzhba pipeline Public joint-stock company Ukrtransnafta has made arrangements with public joint-stock company Ukrtatnafta (Kremenchuk oil refinery) on the transshipment of Urals crude oil pumped from the Odesa-Kremenchuk oil pipeline to railway tankers to transport it and pump it to the second line of the Druzhba oil pipeline, First Deputy Director General of Ukrtransnafta Andriy Pasichnyk has told Interfax-Ukraine. "On January 3 we signed a contract on transshipment of Urals oil from the Odesa-Kremenchuk section with Ukrtatnafta. Crude oil will be transported by rail to Brody and then oil will fill in the second line of the Druzhba oil pipeline [now it is filled with preservative agents]. We seek to remove Urals oil in January and start pumping Azeri Light crude oil to Kremenchuk oil refinery from February. Urals crude oil is replaced to Azeri Light in pursuant to the contracts signed with Ukrtatnafta to transport at least 1.3 million tonnes of Azeri Light crude oil to Kremenchuk oil refinery starting from 2017," he said. Pasichnyk said that the contract has guarantees: if transportation volumes fall, Kremenchuk oil refinery would compensate all expenses on the replacement of Urals oil to Azeri Light to Ukrtransnafta. The contract to transport at least 1.3 million tonnes of Azeri Light oil to Kremenchuk oil refinery was approved by Naftogaz Ukrainy in December. The Odesa-Kremenchuk oil pipeline was idle for around five years. Coal stocks in the warehouses of thermal power plants (TPP) of Ukraine from December 25, 2016 until January 2, 2017 increased by 3%, from 1.7 million tonnes to 1.751 million tonnes, Ukrenergo has reported. In particular, anthracite coal stocks grew by 1.6%, to 891,000 tonnes (including 128,000 tonnes at Luhansk TPP), while gas coal and long-flame coal stocks were up by 4.5%, to 860,000 tonnes (including 113,000 tonnes at Burshtyn TPP). Ukrenergo said energy consumption in the morning of January 3 was 20.002 GW, while 31 coal power units at the TPPs generated 5.487 GW. Nuclear power plants (NPPs) showed a capacity of 10.749 GW, hydroelectric power plants 1.293 GW, combined heat and power plants 2.265 MW and alternative energy units 208 MW. Exports from the Burshtyn TPP energy island on January 2 stood at 468 MW, to Poland at 111 MW. No exports to Belarus, Moldova and Russia were reported. The agreement comes about two months after Project Roomkey, which provided motel rooms for the homeless, ended. 11:15 a.m. Update: All lanes of traffic are now open on Highway 20 SANTIAM PASS Travel over Highway 20 over the Santiam Pass was limited to one lane Wednesday morning due to avalanches at Mile Post 79.8, about one mile west of the summit, according to the Oregon Department of Transportation. ODOT officials said the first avalanche occurred about 3:30 a.m. and the roadway was cleared about two hours later. But about 7:15 a.m., a second avalanche again covered Highway 20 in the same area. No injuries were reported. Several feet of new snow was reported in the area and snowfall was continuing. According to ODOTs Trip Check video cameras, there is a severe weather alert in place, including blowing snow and white out conditions in some places. The temperature is about 8 degrees. Other areas of the mid-valley area experiencing extremely icy driving conditions including on Interstate 5. Traffic was moving about 30 miles per hour about 8 a.m. and a few vehicles were noted in the ditches along the interstate in a stretch between the Halsey exit and Albany. The forecast calls for a high of 35 with a chilly overnight low of about 18 to 20 degrees. The National Weather Service has issued a winter weather advisory for the mid-valley including Corvallis, Lebanon, Albany, Eugene and Springfield. The advisory calls for another two inches of snow accumulation. Dec. 19, 1947 Dec. 30, 2016 Arlin LeRoy Webb passed away suddenly at his home in Albany on Friday afternoon, Dec. 30, 2016. He was born in York, Nebraska, on Dec 19, 1947, to parents Charles Everett Webb and Jewell Ileen Peterson Webb. He lived in Corvallis and attended and graduated from Corvallis High School in 1966. He moved to the Yamhill area around 1971, where he worked with longtime friends Juddi and Paul Everts at their newly formed company, Chehalem Fruit & Vegetable Co., serving the Yamhill County. Arlin moved to Illinois around 1979, where he worked for Illinois Bell Telephone and was able to return to the Northwest via a phone company transfer a year later. He was transferred to the Seattle area where he lived until 1993. Arlin worked for the phone company in Seattle and was able to transfer his job to Corvallis. After the offices he worked at closed, he enrolled in a truck driving course to renew his CDL. He found a job with Gordon Trucking in 2003 and continued with them until his retirement at the end of August 2016. He is survived by his wife of 34 years, Cathy; son Tyler Charles; and daughter Nicole Marie. He also leaves his sister, Shirley May Dixon; son Steven Charles; and other family and friends. A celebration of life is planned for March. For more info, please email cwebb10545@gmail.com, with Life Celebration in the title. Condolences may be posted online at www.fisherfuneralhome.com. Lifting sanctions may become possible only after Moscow complies with Minsk agreements Klimkin Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Pavlo Klimkin has said that it may become possible to talk about lifting of sanctions against Russia after its fulfillment of the Minsk agreements. In case Moscow fails to fulfill them, we should toughen them. "We need the sanctions to force Russia to fulfill the 'Minsk'. If it complies with 'Minsk', then we can start talking about sanctions lifting and about other things on the part of the European Union," Klimkin said at joint briefing with Kurz [OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Austrian Federal Minister for Europe, Integration and Foreign Affairs Sebastian Kurz] briefing in Mariupol on Wednesday. Ukrainian foreign minister noted that the idea of lifting the sanctions after fulfillment of the Minsk agreements is not a new one. "When 'Minsk' is fulfilled, then the sanctions are removed, when it is not fulfilled, then we must find the means, perhaps, of strengthening of sanctions, or other means of pressure to make Russia fulfill its obligations," Klimkin said. He added that those sanctions, which were imposed on Russia in connection with the occupation of Crimea, should not be removed. Former head of the Party of Regions faction in the Verkhovna Rada of the 7th convocation Oleksandr Yefremov and his lawyers have been presented an indictment in the case in which he is charged with encroachment on the territorial integrity and inviolability of Ukraine and a number of other crimes. Yefremov's defense lawyers Oleksandr Melnykov told Interfax-Ukraine the indictment was handed to the suspect and his two lawyers on Tuesday. Now, Yefremov's case can be transferred to court. As reported, Yefremov was arrested on suspicion of diminishing the territorial integrity of Ukraine on July 30 at the airport in Kyiv. He is suspected of assisting the self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic, as well as embezzling from Luhanskvuhillia coal mining enterprise. Yefremov is suspected of state treason, activities deliberately undertaken by a citizen of Ukraine to diminish the nation's sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence. He is accused of supporting a foreign organization to conduct disruptive activities against Ukraine (Part 1 of Article 111 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine). Kyiv's Pechersky district court on November 24 approved a request from Ukrainian prosecutors to extend the length of his pretrial confinement until January 22. Haus der Geschichte in Bonn : Lorry used in Berlin terror attack could come to museum Bonn The lorry used in the Berlin terror attack is a murder weapon but also a part of German contemporary history. So will it become part of the collection at Haus der Geschichte? Heres what the President of the foundation had to say. Teilen Teilen Weiterleiten Weiterleiten Tweeten Tweeten Weiterleiten Weiterleiten Drucken Is the lorry used in the attack on a Berlin Christmas market a museum piece or would that be tasteless and an accolade for the perpetrator? Hans Walter Hutter, President of the Haus der Geschichte Foundation in Bonn, gives his view in a DPA (German Press Agency) interview. Will the Haus der Geschichte try to obtain the lorry used in the Berlin terror attack? Hutter: It is still too early to be able to give a final answer on that. Investigation proceedings are still ongoing. And one also needs time to be able to make the right decision. The entire lorry is also too big. One would need to think more of a particular piece. In Bonn, for example, we have exhibited the door of a German armed forces vehicle that was shot at in Afghanistan. Many people will doubtless be unable to understand that one can even think of putting such a murder weapon in the museum. Doesnt it glorify the perpetrator? Hutter: This is a question we of course always ask ourselves: does this mean the perpetrators achieve exactly what they want, namely enduring public attention? It is therefore very important for us to not under any circumstances depict events only from the perpetrators viewpoint; that would be wrong. But when an issue is relevant to society, and that is the case here, then it is part of our history, whether we want it to be or not. And when we are tasked with preserving the pasts material heritage, this includes such issues, but specifically only in this context. And you always need a period of time to be able to evaluate the deed itself and its consequences. What terrorism related objects do you currently have in your collection? Hutter: In the permanent exhibition in Bonn we exhibit various objects of RAF terrorism. The Cologne nail bomb used by the neo-Nazi cell NSU represents current right-wing radicalism. And we have now also acquired parts of the Twin Towers in New York: some of the metal girders severely bent by the terror attack on September 11 and parts of the facade, which represent the sheer violence. But we also have a small ID card from one of the Deutsche Bank employees killed. It represents the human sorrow of this terrorist crime. We still have to discuss in what form the IS terrorism now present in Germany will be included in the collection. What sort of things could this include? Hutter: Several aspects need to thought about: the deed itself, the perpetrators and the instruments used, the victims, their relatives and the consequences for society. You need a whole bundle of meaningful objects, documents, photos, sound and film reports. Is there an exhibit in this context that left a lasting impression on you? Hutter: I recently saw the weapon used to shoot the heir to the Austrian throne, Franz Ferdinand, in Sarajevo in 1914 in the Heeresgeschichtliches Museum in Vienna. Having the original in front of my eyes made an impression, when you think this weapon contributed to the start of World War One. However, an exhibition establishes the context; otherwise it is just a weapon. 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. OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Federal Minister for Europe, Integration and Foreign Affairs of Austria Sebastian Kurz has said a full ceasefire should be the foundation for free and fair elections in certain areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions. The basis for the efficient work of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission must be a real ceasefire, which should also become the foundation for holding free and fair elections in Donbas, Kurz said at a joint briefing with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin in Mariupol on Wednesday. Kingston Announced a Mind-Boggling USB Flash Drive with 2TB of Storage at CES News oi -Chakri Kudikala Notably, Kingston was the first brand to launch flash drive with 1TB storage, back in 2013. Ahead of Ces 2017, Kingston, the American multinational company unveiled a new flash drive that offers you a storage of mammoth 2TB. Kingston is the first brand to launch a USB drive with an insane amount of storage. The Kingston DataTraveler Ultimate Generation Terabyte (GT) is the world's first highest capacity USB Flash drive, states the company in their press release. Also, the company released the complete specifications of the flash drive. SEE ALSO: Idea Expands its 4G Service to 1,579 Towns and Villages of Karnataka, Offers 10GB Data at Rs. 249 The new 2TB flash drive comes with a USB 3.1 Generation 1 technology, which, on paper offers data transfer speeds up to 5Gbps. With this insane storage space, you can store up to 70 hours of 4K video, 5 lakh MP3 files, 96 PC games (average-sized), and 256,000 24MP photos. Also, the company released a press release comparing on what and how much can you store on this new 2TB drive. To recall, back in 2013, Kingston released the world's first USB flash drive with an insane 1TB of storage and today, the company also announced the upgrade to the 1TB storage drive. So, the new Data Traveler Ultimate GT ships in two storage options- 1TB and 2TB. Both of them will go on sale from February. Soure Click Here for New Smartphones Best Online Deals Best Mobiles in India Facebook, To stay updated with latest technology news & gadget reviews, follow GizBot on Twitter YouTube and also subscribe to our notification. Allow Notifications Kuri Kuri is a mobile security camera that is packed with some smart-home control capabilities. It can be called a nanny robot as it can roam all through your home to check on your kids and pets when you are not at home. Kuri can become the perfect home robot as it can be your assistant, companion, eyes and ears, photographer, etc. In simple words, it could be the cutest addition to your family. PowerRay FishFinder Robot The PowerRay is a actually a robot fishing buddy designed for saltwater, freshwater and ice fishing. The robot can dive up tp 30 meters underwater and stay there for up to four hours and let you find and lure fish. It will give you the view with the help of the integrated 4K UHD camera via an app for Android and iOS mobile devices through Wi-Fi. You can control the robot and its camera via this app. Also Read: Qualcomm CES 2017 Launches Roundup: Snapdragon 835 Gets the Attraction Eywa E1 Avatar Controls based in China, a maker of smart home products, has come up with the Eywa E1 Smart Home Security Robot at the ongoing CES 2017. This robot is similar to Jibo. Eywa features an inbuilt Wi-Fi speaker and has a multifunction player to educate and entertain kids. However, the main goal of this robot is to secure your house. The robot also has temperature, light and humidity sensors and is packed with the connectivity features as well. UBTECH's Alpha 2 and Jimu These robots from UBTECH are named as the CES 2017 Innovation Awards Honorees. The Alpha 2 is the first such humanoid robot designed for practical household usage. The Jimu Robot is an interactive and STEM-friendly robotic building block that lets kids aged between 8 and 14 build their programs and share their creations. Olly Olly is a desktop robot created by a UK-based start-up. It develops a different personality for each user in a specific household. The robot can play music as well as control the internet-connected devices. Moreover, Olly can also offer advice. Also Read: CES 2017: Asus Announces ROG GT51CH Gaming PC With Windows 10 OS Hub Robot LG is said to launch a number of robots at the CES 2017. One that has everyone excited is the Hub Robot. It is likely to be a smart home gateway hub as well as personal assistant. The robots from the South Korean tech giant are said to have artificial intelligence, but the capabilities of the same are yet to be revealed. It is said to be an Amazon Echo competitor Snapdragon 835 Processor The Snapdragon 835 processor is the company's latest premium mobile platform with X16 LTE. This is the first mobile platform to be manufactured using the 10nm FinFET process node, paving way for breakthrough performance and power efficiency. The Snapdragon 835 processor has support for X16 LTE modem for Gigabit Class LTE connectivity, Bluetooth 5.0, 2x2 802.11 ac Wave 2 Wi-Fi and 802.11ad for multi-gigabit connectivity. The Kryo 280 CPU and Hexagon 682 DSP include support for Halide for image processing and TensorFlow for machine learning. The Snapdragon 835 consumes 25% lesser power than the previous iteration processors, providing longer battery life and slimmer designs. It supports Daydream, the Google platform for mobile VR and 25% increased 3D graphics rendering performance as well as support. It supports Haven security platform supporting eye, face and fingerprint biometrics. Collaboration on 5G New Radio Trials Qualcomm, Ericsson and AT&T announced their plans to conduct interoperability testing and trials based on the 5G New Radio specifications that are in the development by 3GPP and this will form the basis of the global standards. This is intended to help move the mobile ecosystem to faster deployment of 5G based on the standards compliant 5G NR infrastructure. The interoperability and testing are likely to be launched in the United States in the second half of this year. Also Read: 5G to Get the Spotlight at the Show UnitedHealthcare Motion Wellness Program Qualcomm along with UnitedHealthcare announced the expansion of the UnitedHealthcare Motion wellness program offering employees activity trackers sans any additional charge. Also, they can earn up to $1,460 per year on meeting their goals in terms of the number of steps they walk daily. Qualcomm Life will leverage the connected health ecosystem to provide secure data transfer between the devices and the Motion app and UnitedHealthcare. It will also enable BYOD model to let the integration of approved activity trackers, providing the users with a wide range of choices. Notably, Fitbit Charge 2 will be the latest activity tracker to be integrated with the BYOD model. TrueWireless Stereo Headset Reference Design The Qualcomm TrueWireless technology will meet the growing demand in the market for headsets with smaller form factor. This technology will eliminate the need for wires not only between the media source and the headset but also between the earbuds on either side. With this solution, Bluetooth hearables and headsets can be connected wirelessly to the audio source and is aimed at making low-cost wire-free headsets possible. ThingSpace-ready Modules Qualcomm is aiming to accelerate innovation in the field of Internet of Things with the ThingSpace-ready modules from Telit and Quectel. To facilitate the creation of the IoT solutions with the help of Verizon's ThingSpace platform on MDM9206 LTE modem, Verizon is coming up with a development kit. We can expect the modules and development kit to be made available early this year. Also Read: Lenovo's Launches at CES 2017: ThinkPad X1, Miix 720, and More Next Generation Infotainment for Volkswagen Vehicles Qualcomm has announced the integration of its chipsets in the next generation Volkswagen AG vehicles. The chipsets used include Snapdragon 820A processor for infotainment systems, Snapdragon X12 for connected car and X5 LTE modem for telematics systems. Qualcomm is aimed at delivering superior user experience and enhanced safety features for the automobiles. Volkswagen AG vehicles with the Snapdragon 820A processor will be made available in 2019 and the others will come earlier in 2018 itself. New IoT Connectivity and Expanded Wi-Fi SON Qualcomm announced the new IoT connectivity platform and expanded the Wi-Fi SON feature to deliver consistent, simple and seamless connected experiences to users. The new IoT connectivity platform is designed to ensure the simultaneous usage of CSRmesh connectivity, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and 802.15.4-based technologies across a network. It minimizes complexity and eases the fragmentation challenges for developers, manufacturers and consumers. The Wi-Fi SON suite of features bring support for both wireline-based and wired networks. It allows network installations dependent on PLC to leverage innovative features irrespective of the network medium, which defines the Wi-Fi implementations of SON. Also, it offers expanded support for multi-hop network topologies and supported architectures to include the MIPS-based systems. Active Noise Canceling Technology Qualcomm has announced the world's first Bluetooth Audio SoC with integrated active noise canceling technology to meet the demand for superior quality wireless sound. This new feature minimizes both complexity and cost of adding active noise canceling to the headphones by eradicating the necessity for the unique ANC chip and this helps the manufacturers deliver premium audio experiences in smaller form factor designs. AR Smartglass Qualcomm along with ODG, a leader and maker of mobile headworn computing and AR technologies and products, came up with the R-8 and R-9 smartglasses. These will be the first devices to use the Snapdragon 835 processor. The R-8 is the first consumer mobile AR/VR smartglasses aimed at the early adopters and R-9 is meant for a range of wide field of view experiences. Also Read: Announcements Made by Acer at the Mega Tech Show Snapdragon X16 LTE Modem for Connected Vehicles The chip maker announced a new variant of its connected vehicle reference platform, which makes use of the flagship Gigabit Class Qualcomm Snapdragon X16 LTE modem. It helps car makers deliver high-quality, high-speed and reliable connectivity needed for advanced telematics as well as connected vehicle services. It also includes a module reference design for the Snapdragon X16 LTE modem that will help automotive suppliers accelerate the development and enhance the time to commercialization. Galaxy S8 should make up for the losses caused by Note 7 recall With the Galaxy Note 7, Samsung did meet the expectations of users, but it faced the unexpected crisis that led to the withdrawal of the device from the market. Eventually, the reputation of the brand was impacted badly and the South Korean firm lost several billions due to the recalls. Apart from this loss, the company is forced to rebuild the trust with its upcoming launch. The Galaxy S8 need not be revolutionary, but it has to standout from the existing competition and render flawless performance in all the aspects for Samsung to make up for the losses it faced with the Note 7. But the Note 7 fiasco is not the only reason that forces Galaxy S8 to be a success. 2017 marks the the tenth anniversary of iPhone and Apple is expected to come up with a smartphone with major changes. Eventually, Samsung has to fight hard to come up with a better phone in the form of Galaxy S8 to give a tough competition to Apple. How can Samsung make Galaxy S8 a hit? As of now, we don't have any official confirmation on the features that the Galaxy S8 might come packed with except for a few rumors and speculations that are making rounds on the internet. Needless to say, we know that the Galaxy S8 will be a better device in comparison to the yesteryear flagship, Galaxy S7. Below, we have come up with our opinion on how Samsung could make the Galaxy S8 a hit. Take a look! Also Read: Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus Rumored to Feature S Pen Samsung shouldn't rush with the Galaxy S8 Initially, Samsung was rumored to introduce the Galaxy S8 at the MWC 2017 in late February or early March, a launch pattern that the company usually follows. But, Samsung delayed the launch by pushing it to April, as per the existing allegations. In a way, this delay is good for the company as Samsung shouldn't be rushing to launch the 2017 flagship. Of course, Samsung has a strong reputation among the consumers even after the Galaxy Note 7 fiasco, but it cannot face another failed device for now. Imagine Samsung rushing the Galaxy S8 as it did with the Note 7 and something goes wrong with the device. For instance, a function isn't working as it is intended to or the phone catches fire just as its bigger sibling that was recalled. Samsung has to spend time in making sure the Galaxy S8 is flawless, forget innovation. Samsung needs to prove that it is still a leader in the smartphone space and that it can be trusted with the Galaxy S8. The Galaxy Note 7 was a great device and it did impress everyone, but it failed due to the battery explosion incidents. If the latter didn't happen, the Galaxy Note 7 had the potential to be awarded the best phone of the year. This shouldn't be the case with the upcoming Galaxy S8. Also Read: Samsung Galaxy S8 to Come With Massive 8GB of RAM and UFS 2.1 Storage Samsung has to make sure it checks the components used, the hardware implemented on the Galaxy S8, and everything else that the partners and suppliers provide. Watch the Asus Zennovation Event at CES 2017 Live Tonight News oi -Abhinaya Prabhu Watch the live streaming of Asus Zennovation event. Asus, the Taiwanese manufacturer is no stranger to announce an array of devices at a single event. The company usually unveils smartphones, laptops, tablets, etc. at the tech shows. Not to mention that the company is hosting its Zennovation event tonight at 11:30 PST (1:00 AM IST) at CES 2017 happening in Las Vegas. At the event, it is expected that Asus will launch the ZenFone 3 Zoom smartphone, which was leaked lately revealing its specifications. The highlight of the smartphone is the dual-camera set-up at its back as in the iPhone 7 Plus. Also, it is confirmed that Asus ZenFone AR will be unveiled at the Zennovation event. The ZenFone AR is the first device, which is Google Daydream and Tango-ready. Interested in catching up the launches of Asus live? If so, you can watch the Zennovation event live from here. Best Mobiles in India Industrys First Tango and Daydream Ready Smartphone, Asus Zenfone AR Goes Official at the CES 2017 News oi -Chakri Kudikala The Asus Zenfone AR looks a lot like the Nokia 808 PureView smartphone from the rear. Asus is unstoppable at the moment. The company after unveiling the Zenfone 3 Zoom has announced the recently rumored smartphone, the Asus Zenfone AR and it is worth noticing that it is the industry's first smartphone to come with support for Google's Tango and Daydream platforms. Unlike other Asus phones released till date, the Asus Zenfone AR comes with a front-facing fingerprint sensor with two capacitive buttons flanked beside it. In terms of specifications, the Asus Zenfone AR features a massive 5.7-inch display with a resolution of 2560*1440 pixels. At the heart of the phone is the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 chipset. Notably, the Zenfone AR is the world's first smartphone to come with 8GB of RAM. And, there will be a 6GB RAM variant as well. Well, this is not the first Asus smartphone to run Snapdragon 821 chipset as the Zenfone 3 Deluxe was the world's first phone to feature the flagship chip, which later on became norm in other phones. In terms of camera, the Zenfone AR comes with a 23MP Sony IMX318 sensor that has support for unique augmented reality features. A five magnet thermal speaker system can be seen on the phone for better audio output. Details regarding the battery and operating system are still under wraps. The Asus Zenfone AR will start shipping in Q2 2017 and that being said, there are no details regarding the pricing as well. Best Mobiles in India Up to Seven Nokia Smartphones Will Be Released by the End of 2017 Suggests Leaked Presentation Slide News oi -Chakri Kudikala Nokia might release smartphones under every segment including the sub Rs. 5000 price bracket. Rumors are floating around the internet about the upcoming Nokia smartphones scheduled to release in 2017. Last week, it was reported that Nokia, under HMD Global will launch five smartphones by the end of this year. Today, a presentation slide leaked by a Malaysian distributor shows that Nokia will release six to seven smartphones by the end of this year. And, the smartphones will boot Android, which was confirmed earlier as well. SEE ALSO: Honor 6X First Impressions: Capable Camera and Good Overall Performance Also, the slide indicates that HMD Global will continue to launch attractive feature phone in 2017 as well to maintain the market share. And, there will be Android smartphones releasing now and then. Now, it clearly indicates that Nokia will launch a phone in every category including entry-level segment, mid-range, and flagship segment. Going by the leaks, a Nokia D1C will be the entry-level smartphone powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 chipset, coupled with 2GB/3GB of RAM. Recently, another Nokia smartphone popped online with much more premium design and that was named as Nokia P1, and it might be the flagship phone we are looking after. Having said that, HMD Global most probably will announce the Nokia phones at the MWC 2017, which is just eight weeks away from now. In the meantime, we are expecting that more leaks will surface online. Source Click Here for New Smartphones Best Online Deals Best Mobiles in India The Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) has sent a letter to the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry to coordinate a likely ban on French presidential candidate Marine Le Pen from the entry to the country due to her statements about Ukraine's territorial integrity. "We assess such a statement [by Marine Le Pen] as the one impairing Ukraine's interests and contradicting the international principles, which govern the territorial integrity of the countries. The SBU has sent a letter to the Foreign Ministry to coordinate its initiative to forbid Le Pen the entry [to the country]," head of the SBU chief's administration Oleksandr Tkachuk told Interfax-Ukraine on Wednesday. He said that such a coordinating procedure has been stipulated by the inter-agency documents. "We coordinate our initiative, if we see some grounds for banning the entry. The Foreign Ministry may support or not support this initiative. They voice their stance on this issue," Tkachuk said. As reported, French presidential candidate, French National Front leader Marine Le Pen said on Tuesday that the reunification of Crimea and Russia has been legal. "I absolutely do not think that the illegal annexation has taken place: a referendum was held, Crimean residents wished to reunite with Russia. I see no reasons to put into doubt this referendum," she said, on air of the BFMTV television channel on January 3. In this regard, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry expressed indignation with her statement in the evening on January 3. "Having made the statements, which completely repeat the Kremlin propaganda, the French politician demonstrates disrespect to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine and fully ignores the fundamental principles of international law. In this connection, we recall that such statements, as well as the actions in violation of the Ukrainian legislation, will certainly have some consequences, as this has already taken place in the case of individual French politicians, who were forbidden from the entry to Ukraine," the Foreign Ministry said in a commentary. The ministry expressed hope that the French public will give the principled assessment "to such an irresponsible rhetoric by a candidate for the top post in France." Trump Questions U.S. Intelligence Over Russia Hacking January 04, 2017 With his inauguration less than three weeks away, President-elect Donald Trump has made a fresh assault on the U.S. intelligence community. Trump said on Twitter that an intelligence briefing he was due to receive on alleged Russian interference in the 2016 election had been delayed until January 6, using quote marks around the word "intelligence." "Perhaps more time needed to build a case. Very strange!" he wrote on January 3. However, U.S. intelligence officials were quoted as saying there was no delay in the briefing schedule. U.S. intelligence agencies believe Russia directed hacks against the Democratic Party and the campaign of its presidential candidate, Hillary Clinton, releasing information through WikiLeaks and other outlets to help Trump win the election. In an interview aired on January 3, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange denied that he obtained thousands of leaked Democratic e-mails from the Russian government. "The source is not the Russian government. It is not state parties," he told U.S. network Fox News. Asked if he thought the leaks of Democratic Party e-mails led to Trump's victory in November, he said: "Who knows, it's impossible to tell." Based on reporting by AP and the BBC Source: http://www.rferl.org/a/trump-questions- u-s-intelligence-russian- hacking/28212915.html Copyright (c) 2017. 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 WikiLeaks Again Denies Getting U.S. Democratic E-Mail Leaks From Russia January 04, 2017 WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has once again denied that he obtained thousands of leaked U.S. Democratic emails from Russian sources in an interview with U.S. network Fox News aired on January 3. Assange, in an interview at the Ecuadoran embassy in London where he sought refuge in June 2012, shed no light on who provided WikiLeaks with the hacked documents from the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and from Clinton campaign chief John Podesta. WikiLeaks released the documents during the U.S. election campaign in what U.S. intelligence established was an effort by Moscow to tip the election in favor of Clinton's Republican rival, Donald Trump, who went on to win the vote. Assange insisted, however, that Russia was not the source of the hacked material. "The source is not the Russian government. It is not state parties," he said. Asked if he thought the leaks of the Podesta and DNC emails led to Trump's victory in November, he said: "Who knows, it's impossible to tell." Based on reporting by AFP and AP Source: http://www.rferl.org/a/wikileaks- assange-denise-democratic- e-mails-russia/28212644.html Copyright (c) 2017. 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 Coalition Targets ISIL Terrorists in Syria, Iraq From a Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve News Release SOUTHWEST ASIA, Jan. 3, 2017 U.S. and coalition military forces continued to attack Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant terrorists in Iraq and Syria yesterday, Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve officials reported today. Officials reported details of the latest strikes, noting that assessments of results are based on initial reports. Strikes in Syria Attack, bomber, fighter, remotely piloted aircraft and rocket artillery conducted 14 strikes in Syria: -- Near Abu Kamal, a strike destroyed three oil wellheads. -- Near Shadaddi, four strikes engaged two ISIL tactical units and destroyed an ISIL-held building, a fighting position, a weapons cache, a vehicle bomb and a vehicle bomb storage facility. -- Near Raqqah, five strikes engaged four ISIL tactical units and destroyed two fighting positions, a weapons cache and an ISIL-held building. -- Near Ayn Isa, a strike destroyed a vehicle bomb. -- Near Dayr Az Zawr, a strike destroyed four oil refinement tanks and an oil tanker truck. -- Near Manbij, two strikes engaged two ISIL tactical units and destroyed two fighting positions. Strikes in Iraq Attack, bomber, fighter and remotely piloted aircraft and rocket artillery conducted 10 strikes in Iraq, coordinated with and in support of Iraq's government: -- Near Beiji, a strike engaged an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed three tactical vehicles, an ISIL-held building and an armored front-end loader. -- Near Haditha, a strike destroyed an ISIL-held building, a heavy machine gun and a mortar system. -- Near Huwayjah, three strikes engaged an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed a weapons cache, a piece of engineering equipment and an improvised weapons factory. -- Near Qaim, a strike engaged an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed a checkpoint. 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 U.S. Department of Defense Press Operations News Transcript Presenter: Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook January 03, 2017 Department of Defense Press Briefing by Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook and Acting Under Secretary of Defense Peter Levine in the Pentagon Briefing Room PETER COOK: Good morning, everyone. Happy new year as well. Good to see everyone back as we begin this new year. And I hope you had a festive holiday chance to relax with your families. I will be prepared to answer your questions on a range of topics in just a moment. But I want to begin first of all with an important update on the situation regarding the California National Guard bonus issue. As you recall, Secretary Carter directed back in October to suspend all efforts to recoup money from members of the California National Guard, based on eligibility issues to receive bonus payments for their service several years ago. He also asked the department to come up with a streamlined centralized process to ensure the fair and equitable treatment of our service members and the rapid resolution of cases by January 1st. That task fell to Peter Levine, who is performing the duties of acting undersecretary for personnel and readiness, and his team. And they have met in fact the secretary's deadline and have developed a process to move forward. And I've asked Peter to come here to spell it out for everyone. And again, he will walk through it, be able to take your questions on that topic, and then I'll step back in and take your questions on other topics. So without any further ado, Peter Levine, welcome. ACTING UNDERSECRETARY OF DEFENSE PETER LEVINE: Thank you. So, I don't know whether anybody here is interested in good news stories, but the secretary did in his October 26th announcement direct the suspension of all efforts to collect erroneous bonuses from California National Guard soldiers. And he directed that by January 1st, we would establish a streamlined centralized process to ensure the fair and equitable treatment of our service members in the rapid resolution of cases. It being now after January 1st, Peter thought it would be good to provide you with an update, and the basic bottom line of the update is that we are on track to meet all of these objectives. The process is in place. We believe that we can complete all these cases well before the July 1st deadline established by the secretary. The bottom line is that we have about 17,500 California National Guard soldiers who are facing potential recoupment. We expect to initiate a detailed review by the Army Board for the Correction of Military Records for only -- for several hundred cases, less -- probably less than a thousand cases. The majority of those -- the vast majority of those 17,000 cases we will be able to screen out and forgive debts or forego debt collection without the need for more detailed review by the BCMR. So, in the course of the next month, we will be -- we will begin -- we'll be notifying people on a rolling basis, but we will begin notifying soldiers over the next -- over the next month that they -- that they are -- their cases have been dismissed, that they will not be -- there will not be any recoupment in their cases. I'd like to just frame the issue briefly because recoupment is a fact of life in the military. Recoupment sounds bad in this context because the specific cases that have been publicized are bad, but recoupment is a fact of life. The Army is recouping -- has -- has about 100,000 recoupment actions ongoing at any given time. Sometimes, the member makes a mistake, sometimes the -- the service does. The classic case of recoupment is somebody gets a military education that has a -- or military training or something that carries a service commitment with it, they don't fulfill the service commitment and we expect them to pay the money back. We don't give somebody a free education; we give them a free education in exchange for a service commitment and that's -- that's part of the bargain. The cases in California are different for several reasons. One is that the -- many of these service members fulfilled their obligation. The error was an error on the part of the government as to whether they were eligible. They may have been misled as to whether they were eligible. And then the final -- the final touch is that because California National Guard went back and looked at these cases several years removed from when the error was made, they were in many cases recouping from members who had fulfilled their service -- service commitment. So, they'd gotten a bonus in exchange for a service commitment then they fulfilled the service commitment, they served, they may even have been deployed, and then we came back and said, "By the way, you were ineligible, we're taking your money back." That's what makes those cases unfair, not the fact that it's recoupment. There's nothing wrong with recoupment in general. But in these cases, we had a number of cases that were really very problematic. But all recoupment cases are not alike and that's why we felt we had the obligation to go through and look at these cases individually so we could determine whether recoupment was in fact justified. So, since the secretary's October announcement, I've been working closely with the National Guard Bureau, the Army -- Army Audit Agency, the -- the Army Review Boards Agency and the Defense Finance and Accounting Service to set up a process so we can go through these cases. Basically what we're working is a two-step process; one where we screen the cases to determine whether we can essentially say we don't need further information, this -- we don't need to seek a -- we don't need to collect a debt in this case, and then the hard cases which will then be put before the Army Board for Correction of Military Records for individualized review where the individuals will have an opportunity to make their case. We begin with, as I said, about 17,500 cases. We put those cases into two categories. There are about 1,400 where the California National Guard already established a debt and referred them to DFAS for recoupment. The remaining 16,000 the California National Guard flagged for review and notified soldiers, in many cases, of the potential that they would be facing in debt collection, but didn't take further action. So those 16,000 essentially the Sword of Damocles is hanging over the soldiers, but debt collection hadn't been started. We have different legal processes we have to follow if debt collection has actually been started, if the debt has been established. So we review the 1,400 a little bit differently from the -- from the 16,000. The 1,400, the Army Audit Agency and the Army Review Board Agency have already gone through and reviewed those cases, and I would say we all owe them a thanks, because while we were all home over the holidays enjoying ourselves, they were here reviewing California National Guard cases. They've worked extremely hard on this. Out of the 1,400, the basic criteria we've been applying in looking at those is: Did this -- if the service member fulfilled their service commitment and there's no obvious reason to believe that they knew or should have known that there was an erroneous payment, then we don't need further review and we'll get rid of that case. We think we can get rid of about half of the cases on that basis. So half of the 1,400 we would expect to be notifying soldiers that they're being relieved of any debt. And if they've already paid back, then -- if they've already been subject to recoupment, that we'll reimburse their funds. The 16,000 cases, because debt hasn't been established, we have broader discretion. And so we're looking at a broader category of factors. So older debts, smaller debts, cases with people who are junior in rank who wouldn't necessarily be expected to know of eligibility, things like that, we're just -- we're not pursuing those cases at all. So of the 16,000 -- of the 16,000, we go through -- we're going through a screening process that will eliminate about 15,000 of the cases off the top. We'll then put those cases -- the remaining cases -- the remaining 1,000 or so cases, 1,500, 1,000 cases, through the same kind of screening process that we put the -- the cases in which a debt has been established, and to determine -- so that only those cases in which the soldier -- soldier didn't fulfill their commitment or there's reason to believe that -- that there was fraud or knowledge on the part of the soldier will go before a -- a BCMR. So, we expect to get rid of at least 15,000 of those 16,0000 cases, probably more than that, and to be notifying soldiers, again beginning in the next month, that they will not be subject to any debt collection. The bottom line is, as I said, we expect a few hundred cases, several hundred cases, but in all likelihood fewer than 1,000, to go before the Boards for Correction of Military Records. And in each of those cases, then, the soldier will have an opportunity to present their case and argue that even though there's enough to put it before a BCMR, there isn't enough to justify debt collection and the debt should be forgiven. So, we are well along in that process. We have established the process as the secretary directed. We think that we have -- we have the BCMR staffed up. They're prepared to hear the cases. They have sufficient staffing to hear all the cases that we'll be presenting to them and to do that by the July deadline established by the secretary. We think that the number of cases in which we'll be recouping will be a few hundred, as opposed to the many thousands of cases that are under -- under the Sword of Damocles, as I said, right now. And that most of the cases in which we'll be recouping will actually be cases in which the soldiers did not fulfill their commitment. There will be some cases in which we have fraud or evidence of fraud or knowledge or should've -- should've known. But most of the cases in which we'll be recouping, we will be recouping because the soldier didn't fulfill their commitment. There's been some interest in other states and whether other states are in the same position as California. We've reviewed audits that were done contemporaneously. We've reviewed -- there was a review conducted by the National Guard Bureau back in 2011. We've looked at all those, we've looked at the follow-up from those. And we've determined that -- that there was no other state in which there was the kind of -- of massive problem that there was in California, where there are as I said, 17,500 cases that were identified by the California National Guard for potential debt collection. We don't see more than a few dozen cases in any other state, where we've had recruitment from -- from this kind of thing. We believe that the National Guard Bureau and the Army have corrected the lack of internal controls that led to this problem in the first place. And we are very hopeful that we will not have any kind of similar problem going forward. So the bottom line is, we think we've met the secretary's goal of rapid, equitable treatment for our soldiers and that we have in place a process that will protect the taxpayers, but will also be fair to our soldiers in terms of collecting debts. So with that, if there are any questions? MR. COOK: We'll go to Bob Burns. Q: Did I understand you correctly that the number of cases that then will be heard by the Board for Correction of Military Records total would be -- MR. LEVINE: Several hundred. Q: Several hundred. And they would be finished by July, is that the plan? MR. LEVINE: That's the plan, yes, we have the BCMR staff so that they can finish that -- those 700 cases by July. MR. COOK: Other questions for Peter? Tony Q: I haven't followed this issue at all, but you think, you've made the point here that the lack of internal controls in California led to all this. What was -- and you -- you have a background in management, that -- what was some of the major issues with the internal control -- (CROSSTALK) MR. LEVINE: There was a lack of -- there was a lack of internal controls in the -- in the bonus system nationwide. There was an ability for a single person to sign off on the bonus and be the -- be the approval authority and the review authority. And there was -- there was not -- there were not automated checks built into this system -- into the system. So we've since automated it, we've required separate -- separate review cycles so that -- so that you don't have a one-person sign-off, but you have a separate review. So we think we've addressed the -- the obviously -- the obvious internal control problems that -- that led to this. Those internal control problems weren't unique to California, what was unique to California was that we had somebody who was convicted of fraud and we had -- we had -- there are two things that internal -- internal control leads to a vulnerability. Then, the question is did somebody exploit their vulnerability? What we had in California was the vulnerability was systematically exploited, that's why we had the problem there that we didn't have elsewhere. Q: By corrupt individuals? MR. LEVINE: Well, we had -- we had individuals who've been -- who have been convicted of fraud and have been disciplined, yes. Q: (inaudible) -- definition of corrupt individuals? MR. COOK: Okay, any other questions? Yes, Louie Q: Sir, how do you -- the NDAA language I think contains language that I think gave it across the board, forgiving -- MR. LEVINE: The NDAA language required us to -- to conduct a case-by-case review of all these cases. So we're already conducting that review, we believe that our review is consistent with the requirements of that language. But -- it does not say it's across the board forgiveness, it requires us to look at -- at individual cases. It does establish a standard which is -- which is very favorable to the soldiers. But we were planning to lean in favor of those soldiers when in doubt, in any case. Q: I think the NDAA also had language that for fixing the credit reports of individuals -- (CROSSTALK) MR. LEVINE: Yeah, so when we forgive a debt, one of the things that we do -- this is -- DFAS is our central debt collection agency and when they forgive a debt, they -- they are -- they would notify the credit agencies automatically. That's part of their process. So, that is something that -- that the bill requires us to do that we will do. I believe the bill also asks us to do -- to do -- to take steps, if we can, to adjust secondary effects, you know, somebody who lost their mortgage or something. There's very little -- there may be little that we can do in those cases. But we'll look at those and see if there's some -- if somebody comes to us and says that they -- that there was some secondary effect that -- that -- to their detriment. We'll look at it and see if there's something we could do. Q: And do you have any initial estimate on the cost of the reimbursements right now? MR. LEVINE: The -- the cost to taxpayer's going to be minimal. It'll be -- I think the total amount of recoupment in these cases was -- was -- was a few million dollars. I think on the -- maybe -- may be as much as $10 million. But -- but very little of that had been collected. So the -- the exposure to the -- to the taxpayer is pretty minimal out of a military personnel budget of tens of billions of dollars. All right, thank you very much. Have a great day. MR. COOK: Peter, thank you. Appreciate it. Now, before I take your questions on other topics, I did want to update a few things with regard to the counter-ISIL fight. And first of all, I wanted to extend and offer condolences on behalf of Secretary Carter and all of us here at the Department of Defense to the people of Turkey, and especially those affected by the cowardly attack in Istanbul on New Years Eve, as well as to the people of Baghdad effected by Monday's bomb attack there and the recent terror attacks we've seen in that city. We have known for time that as ISIL loses ground in Iraq and Syria that it will continue to try and carry out high-profile attacks on innocent civilians. Those attacks will not deflect us from our efforts. And those efforts continue to bear fruit. Iraqi officials report that two-thirds of east Mosul is now in government hands. And the resumption of offensive operations since December 29th has resulted in steady progress against ISIL in Mosul. The various access of advance into the city have begun to link their fronts which improves the ability of Iraqi forces to support one another and reduces ISIL's ability to cope with continuous pressure. The coalition continues to provide critical support to the efforts, especially from the air. Meanwhile in Syria, the Syrian Democratic Forces are also seeing significant results against ISIL in the drive towards Raqqah. Key ISIL-held terrain near Topka is now under increasing pressure. In all, they have captured more than 2,000 square kilometers of territory since their isolation operations began. And that pressure will continue to build as we accelerate efforts on all these fronts, preventing ISIL from terrorizing those suffering under its so-called caliphate in Iraq and Syria, and reducing its ability to spread terror outside of its so-called borders. And with that, happy to take your questions. Back to Bob. QUESTIONS: Peter, Kim Jong-un says that they're getting close to having a ballistics missile of intercontinental range. And my question is, what is this Defense Department's policy at the moment if North Korea were to test launch a missile of intercontinental range? Would the federal government attempt to shoot it down? MR. COOK: Well, first of all, Bob as you know, multiple U.N. Security Council resolutions explicitly prohibit North Korea's launches using ballistic missile technology or further development of a ballistic missile program. And we call on all states to use every channel -- available channel and means of influence to make clear to the -- to North Korea and its enablers that launches using ballistic missile technology or efforts to advance North Korea's ballistic missile capabilities are unacceptable. We further call on all states to take steps to show that there are consequences to the DPRK's unlawful conduct. And we call on the DPRK to refrain from provocative actions and to make the strategic choice to fulfill its international obligations and commitments and return to serious talks. And we reaffirm our iron clad commitments to defend our allies to utilizing the full spectrum of U.S. extended deterrence capabilities. Bob, these resolutions explicitly prohibit North Korea from engaging in ballistic missile tests and from developing this technology. And we would once again call on the North Koreans to refrain from provocative actions. And I'm not going to hypothesize on what could happen in the future, but we remain confident in our ballistic missile defense and in our defense of our allies and our defense of the homeland. Q: So you're saying there is no stated, explicit policy of contesting a test launch by shooting it down? MR. COOK: We remain confident in our ability to protect the homeland and I'm not going to get into hypotheticals. Q: Just to follow up on what Bob was asking. Have you seen any evidence that North Korea is preparing for an ICBM launch? MR. COOK: I'm not going to get into intelligence matters at this point. Once again, there are ample reasons why North Korea should not carry out something of a provocative nature. We've said that explicitly before and we'll say it again. There are U.N. resolutions. The international community has called on North Korea not to do these kinds of things, and I'm not going to get into intelligence matters. But obviously, they've talked about developing this capability and it's something we're watching very carefully. Q: Has the U.S. delivered this message to North Korea in the last 24 hours? MR. COOK: We have delivered that message consistently for weeks, months and years. And I'm doing so again today. Q: One of the sort of things the U.S. is doing is placing the missile system in South Korea. Does this latest announcement make it more sort of -- does the timeline need to be closer? Because I believe it's eight to 10 months right now. So is there an effort to re-look at moving THAAD -- (inaudible)? MR. COOK: We are working closely -- (inaudible) -- as you know, with the South Koreans to install and deploy that system as quickly and efficiently as possible. And we'll do everything we can working with the South Koreans to do that. We think it's an important part of our broader missile defense efforts in support of our ally and in support of the region as well. Q: Has the secretary spoken with his counterparts in Japan and South Korea after Kim Jong-un's latest -- (inaudible)? MR. COOK: I don't have any calls to read out for you. Jamie? Q: What is the state of U.S. ballistic missile defenses right now? Is the United States in a position to shoot down an incoming intercontinental ballistic missile if it's perceived as a threat to the U.S. homeland? Do we have interceptors and systems that are up and capable of carrying out that mission? What's the state of our missile defense system? MR. COOK: Well, you know, Jamie, that this is a system -- this is an effort that we've been very active on. Secretary Carter's been very active on for some time. And there are layers in terms of our ballistic missile defense. There are various aspects to it. And that comprehensive defensive system we feel very confident in. And there are aspects to it, again. We mentioned the THAAD system. Obviously, you're aware of our Aegis systems. You're aware of the TPY-2 radars we have in the region, and also our -- our ground-based system. And this is a system that we continue to work on; continue to develop, but we're confident in our ability to protect the homeland. Q: But does that ground-based system, the interceptors that are based in Alaska, does it have -- does it have the capability at this point of shooting down an incoming missile? MR. COOK: I'm not going to discuss our capabilities, but we're confident in our ability to protect the homeland. Tony? Q: I've asked you this before, but the last successful intercept test was in June of 2014. What is the schedule for the next ground-based intercept test? Those are the missiles that would knock down an ICBM, not THAAD or Aegis. You know that. What's -- what's the schedule going forward? MR. COOK: Tony, I'm not sure of the exact test schedule right in front of me. We can take that question, if you want. But again, this is part of our overall system and we feel confident in our ability to protect the homeland. I'll state that again. This is a system that we continue to work on; continue to develop. And this has been an area of significant focus for the department, certainly for Secretary Carter and his career here at the -- at the department and one we'll continue to work on. But this is a system that is in place right now and given all the aspects of our broader missile defense system -- our layered system, we feel confident in our ability to deter this threat and protect American citizens. Q: Even if you haven't had a test since June of 2014? Why are you so confident if you haven't had a test since then that it would work? I mean, it did -- it did work then. There was two failures prior to that, but what's the basis of the confidence? You know, in general? MR. COOK: Because we are not relying on any one thing to protect the United States. Q: (inaudible) -- protect the United States from Korea. MR. COOK: We have -- Tony, I'm just -- I'm not gonna get into details here about -- about our broader system, other than to say, that we have a layered defense and we are confident in our ability to protect American citizens. Barbara? Q: So, none of this is actually hypothetical on the part of North Korea because they're already publicly shown they're working on all of these components. Big picture, how seriously does the U.S. military take Kim Jong-un's statement that he will deploy an ICBM? How seriously do you take this? It's not hypothetical. MR. COOK: Well, again, Barbara, this is something they've been talking about for some time. We've talked at length about our willingness, our ability to deter this threat and, more significantly than we have to take it seriously, the fact that they're trying to develop this. And so that's what we're doing. And you've heard multiple testimony on that front for -- for senior leaders -- from senior leaders from this building for -- for years. Q: And you have talked a lot about deterrence, but also not hypothetical because it's well known, what is the capability of the United States military to engage in preemptive action? This has been contemplated before. The weapons that you have to do this are public knowledge weapons, but you're only talking deterrence. Would the United States take out a North Korean capability in a preemptive fashion or is the -- is the military strategy only deterrence? MR. COOK: Barbara, I'm not gonna talk about hypothetical situations, I'm not gonna talk about potential military action, I'm gonna talk about what we have in place, our commitment to our South Korean allies and our, again, vigilance on this issue against a provocative country that has shown disregard to the international community for its international obligations. And we're watching this very, very carefully. Q: And I'd like to come back to Tony's question very quickly. With a 50 percent success rate in your ground-based interceptors at Fort Greely in California at best, that's the last line of defense before something would hit the United States, so that is the most important. Why are you so confident with something like a 50 percent success rate and no test in the last two years? MR. COOK: I will repeat what I just said to -- to Tony. We have a ballistic missile defense, a missile defense umbrella that we're confident in for the region and to protect the United States homeland and we'll continue to be confident in it, given where we are today and the technology and the skill with which our forces are using the -- that technology. Lucas Q: Peter, these U.N. resolutions did not -- did not stop North Korea from testing two nuclear devices last year, nor did they stop North Korea from conducting dozens of short- and intermediate-range ballistic missile tests. Why should anything change now? MR. COOK: Lucas, this is -- once again, the international community is uniformly challenging North Korea to once again not carry out provocative actions. This is -- this is a country that has demonstrated an unwillingness to be part of the international community, and we're once again calling on all players, all countries to use what influence they have to get North Korea not to -- not to engage in these kind of provocative actions. And so again, this is -- this is something that the United States has spoken out forcefully on and other countries have as well. Q: Does Secretary Carter believe that strategic patience was successful when dealing with North Korea? MR. COOK: Listen, North Korea continues to be a threat to this country. You've heard Secretary Carter talk about that at length. It's one of the five challenges that we're dealing with on a daily basis and it's the reason we have more than 28,000 troops in South Korea right now ready to fight tonight. This is a country that's clearly shown a willingness to threaten the United States, threaten our allies in the region, and we're going to continue to do everything we need to to protect ourselves from that threat. Laurent Q: I would like to know how you qualify the -- the policy of the U.S. DOD, since it has become clear that North Korea is getting clearer and clearer to having a ballistic missile? Would you say, for instance, that you have increased planning or that there are more and more people working on scenarios on North Korea? MR. COOK: We are, Laurent, dealing with North Korea. This has been a recurring challenge for us and one we don't lose sight of every single day. And we're constantly adjusting to the threat North Korea poses, and whether it's, again, their development of an ICBM capability which is something they've talked about, that's obviously something -- they're trying to do it. They say they're trying to do it. So accordingly, we are adjusting accordingly to that threat. Q: So it's business as usual? MR. COOK: It's business as usual every day for the Department of Defense to be ready to respond to the challenges and threats facing the United States and North Korea is one of them. Yes, Ali. Q: Thank you. Do you agree with president-elect's view that China is not doing nothing on North Korea issue? MR. COOK: Listen, I'm not gonna comment on the president-elect's views on this. I can speak to what I said previously, that the United States feels that there are a number of countries -- calls on all countries to use the influence they have to encourage North Korea not to engage in provocative actions and to use whatever influence they have to get them to try and join the international community and -- and not threaten their neighbors in the region and beyond. And so, again, we encourage every country that has an ability to influence North Korea to do that. Q: (inaudible) -- in December six ask secretary of defense -- (inaudible) -- to take steps to declare India the major defense partner. This was (only announced by the White House when prime minister -- (inaudible). But what steps secretary intends to take now or -- or advise his successor to take steps to -- for this? MR. COOK: Well, you know the secretary was in India not long ago where the the next steps in that process took place with Minister Parrikar. And so the secretary's commitment to this is clear. We think the defense relationship with India is on an excellent path and will continue to be so in the next administration and beyond. Q: There are critiques of this legislative process -- (inaudible). They say this means nothing unless there are changing the export control laws of the U.S., which would help India acquire better defense and technology -- defensive inaudible-- technologies from the U.S., which is not happening, there's no such move. MR. COOK: Listen, our relationship with India, you've seen the commitment made by this department and this secretary of Defense and -- and this administration to improving our defense relationship with -- with India. And that's, obviously, there's several aspects to it. There are limits on what we can do in terms of technology -- the export of technology to India or any other country. And we'll continue to abide by -- by the law and to work with India in -- in places where we can, where it's appropriate for that kind of -- for specific technology to be exported. Again, not just to India but to -- to any country, but we're gonna follow the law. Yes, Jen Q: Hi, Peter. At the end of last year, a senior U.S. military official said that 50,000 ISIS fighters had been killed in the last few years by the U.S. military in Iraq and Syria. I'm trying to understand those numbers, since the -- the Pentagon and other intelligence agencies have always estimated that there were only 20,000 to 30,000 ISIS fighters when the fight started and even, in subsequent months. So where do you get this 50,000 figure and can you walk us through that number? MR. COOK: Yeah we've had that question a couple times and first of all, again, a senior Defense Department official provided you that number which was their prerogative to do. It's not a number that we talk about publicly because it's a -- it's not a good metric of success and it's not an easy number to -- to determine for all the reasons you would think about. This is a warzone, this is a conflict. Much of our efforts are being conducted from the air, we don't necessarily have the ability to assess everything on the ground in the way we might like. And so there have been a variety of estimates, I know the Iraqis have had some estimates, as well. And so I -- there isn't a good number for us to -- to share with you because we don't have great confidence in that number. Q: Okay, so you would dispute that number, perhaps? MR. COOK: I don't know if it's right or wrong. Yes? Q: (Off-mic.) has the U.S. coalition or U.S. aircraft supported Turkish operations in al-Bab? MR. COOK: My understanding that last week, there was a request. When some Turkish forces came under fire for -- for air support and there was -- there were flights conducted by the coalition at that time. But we continue to talk, constantly as you know, on a daily basis with our Turkish colleges about their operations in al-Bab and the serious fight. And the serious effort that the Turkish force is there and the -- and the Syrian forces that are being supported by the government of Turkey are engaged in and the important fight that they have against ISIL in that area. Q: You mentioned as a -- as -- you mentioned as a flight, rather than a some kind of strike. And we haven't seen any kind of strikes around al-Bab from the coalition data releases. So is it just some kind of a sortie that you conducted down there or does the -- does the aircraft conduct in airstrikes? MR. COOK: My understanding of that was there was not a strike specifically, but there were aircraft involved in that effort, a visible show of force if you will, by coalition aircraft. And we continue to talk with the government of Turkey about the appropriate level of support for the efforts there in al-Bab and that's an ongoing conversations, even happening today. Q: What's the point of talking when Turkey and the U.S. in depth -- MR. COOK: Because we are coordinating carefully our effort against ISIL. Our comprehensive effort against ISIL, we want to continue to apply pressure on ISIL on as many fronts as possible and we're trying to do that in the most efficient and effective way possible. We're trying to de-conflict issues in the area as well, as you know. And so we'll continue to have that conversation. And we see the very significant efforts that the Turkish military is engaging in in Syria, the sacrifice of Turkish forces in Syria; the significant sacrifices. And obviously, supportive of everything they're doing to try and take on ISIL. And the coalition is as well. Q: Yes, but the -- (inaudible) -- I'm not understanding is -- (inaudible). I don't understand -- (inaudible). When it was Jarabulus, it was others -- and other parts of Syria -- (inaudible). The coalition support was -- (inaudible). And the talks didn't really last any kind of months. But when it comes to al-Bab, there is a certain reservation by the United States down -- (inaudible) -- for this town, I believe. Or is it correct? Because we know talks have been continuing for -- for more weeks, and then Turkey -- Turks in the end just started to cooperate with Russians in the city against ISIS. So do you -- don't you think that it's a failure of the United States just to keep partners together down in the fight against ISIS in Syria? MR. COOK: No, I don't. We continue to talk every day with our Turkish ally about these issues. And we continue to coordinate very carefully with Turkey on these issues. And I'm not going to get into every private discussion that's happening there. But one of the reasons we're able to feel confident about what's going -- what's happening and what's going on -- (inaudible) -- is because of that level of coordination at all levels with the Turkish government, including military to military on the ground. And we'll continue to have those conversations. Q: What's the reaction to the Turkish and Russian cooperation in al-Bab? MR. COOK: I'm not aware of specific Turkish-Russian cooperation in al-Bab and I'll leave that to Turkey and Russia to speak to. Q: (inaudible) -- the coalition -- (inaudible) -- in support of Turkey in al-Bab -- (inaudible) -- al-Bab? MR. COOK: I don't know if it's the first time. I've just pointed the most -- this happened last week, as I understand it. Q: Is there a request -- or just over-flight? Or is there a request that you drop ordnance? MR. COOK: I don't know the exact details of it, but I know there was a request for support because of forces under fire. And we responded to that. Q: Are you now supporting Turkey in the al-Bab operation? Because I know previously you weren't. MR. COOK: As I said, we are working every day, including today, with all of our partners in Iraq and Syria with regard to the counter-ISIL effort. And that includes Turkey in Syria and their efforts -- their substantial efforts against ISIL. And we're going to do that in the most productive and efficient way possible. And we are going to expend every effort we can to make sure that we're doing this in the most effective way possible. Yes, Tony? Q: A transition question. Under the rules of the road, nominees to head the department have to work with the general counsel's offices of the respective departments, file their financial disclosure statements. Those statements once they're completed go to the White House and then to the Office of Government Ethics. What is the status of General Mattis's discussions with the Pentagon Standards of Conduct Office in crafting his standard form 71 -- his disclosure form? MR. COOK: Tony, I'm going to refer you to General Mattis and to the transition team for the Trump folks. That's a question for them to answer. Q: No, it's not. It's a question that -- he has to work with the Pentagon -- the general counsel's office. So it's a question for your operation. MR. COOK: Well, the submission comes from General Mattis and from the Trump folks. I think it most appropriate for them to respond to whether or not he's provided any information. I don't know if he has or not. Q: Can you check that? I mean, he comes here, the action is with the Pentagon. MR. COOK: Have you checked with them? Q: They get the form completed here and then it does to the Office of Government Ethics and on to the Senate. It's not the transition team that does it. MR. COOK: Okay. I'll -- we'll take the question, but again, I would just refer -- defer to General Mattis and I would encourage you to reach out to them to see if they might be willing to answer your question more easily than I can. Q: We tried. They said go to the Pentagon and try to ask them. MR. COOK: Okay. So we'll take your question. Okay. Q: Thank you. MR. COOK: Okay. Yes, over here? Q: Peter, I'm Andy (inaudible)with Military Times. MR. COOK: Andy, how are you? Q: Doing well, thank you. Over the weekend, we reported that a United States Marine was wounded in Iraq and I'm wondering if can provide any additional details about the incident surrounding that? MR. COOK: I can't, I'm sorry. Q: Is that because you don't have them or -- MR. COOK: I don't have the information. We, as you know, normally don't comment on -- on wounded service members and I wasn't aware even of your story. So it's -- obviously concerned about any service member who's -- who's injured, but I don't have specific details to read out to you, here. Q: Can you talk about what the Marines -- specifically Marine Raiders are doing in Iraq at this point? MR. COOK: I know that we have a number of forces in Iraq, as you know, range of forces, including special operations forces. And they're performing a range of things as part of the train, advise and assist mission and I'm not gonna get into the specific disposition of our -- particularly our special operations forces, but they're all doing significant work on behalf of the counter-ISIL coalition. And -- and thank them first of all for their service and their sacrifice for what they're doing. Carlo? Q: Peter, I just wanted to follow up on Kasim's question about al-Bab. So if this is in fact the first time coalition air support has been provided for the Turks in that area, what's changed? Because the operation's been going on for a while now and I know Colonel Dorrian and others from OIR have made the explicit point that we are -- that the coalition is not involved at all with the al-Bab operation. So I'm just kind of curious, where was the -- MR. COOK: I think it reflects -- reflects part of our ongoing conversation with -- with Turkey. And again, the coalition's focus on ISIL and trying to make sure that we're keeping as much pressure on ISIL as we can. And certainly, the Syrian forces that are there, the -- the opposition forces that are there and with the support of the Turkish military are -- are carrying out a significant effort against ISIL and we think that's a good thing. And -- but we're trying to coordinate support in the best way possible, and that's part of the give-and-take that' going on with Turkey right now. Q: Just to follow up, you said the discussions were even going on today about, you know, further cooperation -- MR. COOK: They're happening every day. We have people on the ground working these issues. Q: Understood. Are these conversations designed to just sort of maintain the status quo as far as the relationship between Turkish forces and OIR? Or is the -- or is this al-Bab sort of development kind of, you know, driving towards a more -- like an evolution of these talks leading to possibly joint -- joint operations -- MR. COOK: We've worked jointly, as you know, with Turkey in Syria. They're a member of the coalition, a critical member of the coalition, and we will continue to work closely with -- with Turkey. We're trying to deal with this situation in the most efficient way possible to keep multiple pressure on -- on ISIL and to do this in an efficient fashion. And again, I'm not gonna get into every single discussion we're having with our -- with our Turkish ally, but these are extensive conversations at the highest levels and also obviously even on the ground, military-to-military. Q: So is the goal, then, to get Turkey involved in the coalition -- MR. COOK: The goal is to defeat ISIL and it is a goal that we and Turkey share. In the -- in light of ISIL's claim to be responsible for the terror attack on New Year's Eve in Turkey, you can see all the more reason why Turkey has a significant interest in this, why we would like to do everything we can to help Turkey in that effort and the coalition would as well. This is about not only ejecting ISIL from Syria and Iraq, it's about protecting our homelands, and that includes Turkey and that includes the United States. Barbara? Q: I would like to follow up on the gentleman's question from the Military Times on wounded. You have consistently said from the podium that you do not discuss those wounded in action. But of course, that -- with all due respect, that's not exactly true for the administration. The White House, point number one, has publicly acknowledged when the president goes to the hospitals to visit recently wounded members. You have a website that posts wounded in action, that your own staff says is not regularly updated. So in the last couple of weeks before this secretary leaves office, I want to ask again if you wouldn't provide -- find a way to provide an accurate number of U.S. service members wounded in action in Syria and Iraq in the fight against ISIS. MR. COOK: We provide that update now. Q: Your own staff says that is not -- MR. COOK: We provide that update now. There are privacy issues, Barbara, and I'm going to -- our policy has been set and we're going to stick with our policy. We provide that number -- we update that number on a regular basis. Q: Well, I think that's probably not a very regular basis. So I am asking -- that's fine. I'm asking now for an updated number of the number of American service members wounded in Iraq and Syria. I would like an updated number reflecting the case that this gentleman is talking about; the most up-to-date information you have because you -- MR. COOK: I will check with our team, with OIR and CENTCOM and we will provide you the updated number. Q: (inaudible) -- you say you don't acknowledge the wounded, but then of course there's all these ways in which you do. MR. COOK: I'm not talking about a specific instance. There are privacy issues here. Q: I'm not violating anyone's privacy issue. I am asking you, you say you don't acknowledge the wounded. MR. COOK: We do acknowledge it, Barbara. We acknowledge it with an updated number that we provide and we will provide you that number. Q: (inaudible) -- have an absolutely up-to-date number if you wouldn't mind. The other thing I wanted to ask you, can you take the question about this Turkish -- the mission to protect the Turkish forces. You said that U.S. forces did respond. Can you please take the question: Did they in fact drop ordnance? MR. COOK: My understanding is -- from what I understand that they did not drop ordnance in this instance. It was a show of force in response to forces coming under fire. Q: And my last question is: Is it correct -- can you clarify -- is it correct, have U.S. forces now in -- at various points entered the city limits of Mosul? MR. COOK: I know this is a question you've had previously; other have as well. We're not going to talk about the disposition of U.S. forces in and around Mosul specifically for understandable reasons, Barbara, because we don't want to give the enemy any more ability to understand where our people might be. Q: You've said in the past that it's up to General Townsend to actually make that decision. MR. COOK: It is. As the forward line of troops moves, U.S. forces and coalition forces will adjust as well. But I'm not going to tell you where they are at this particular moment in time. Q: I'm not asking where they are at this particular time. I am asking whether or not there has been reason for them at any point to enter the city limits. MR. COOK: I'm not going to answer that question because I don't want to give our enemy any idea where those forces might be at any particular moment in time, whether it's today, yesterday or in the future. Q: And you said on North Korea that you were -- that the U.S. is adjusting -- that was your word -- to the ballistic missile threat. So I just want to close that loop. Is there anything you're willing to say about how you are adjusting to the recent ballistic missile threat by North Korea? MR. COOK: We continue to engage on a daily basis with our allies in the region. We are taking steps to bolster our defensive systems in the region. We discussed, for example, the deployment of the THAAD system to South Korea. We've taken steps to bolster our Aegis presence in the region. We have -- we mentioned before -- the radar systems that are now in place, and our efforts as well with the ground based system to update and advance those in addition. We have 28,500 troops in South Korea right now on -- prepared to respond to the North Korea threat. And we are constantly looking at the threat North Korea poses to the United States and to our allies in the region and are always prepared to respond accordingly. This is an assessment that happens, as you know, on a -- practically a daily basis. We have to be ready to respond to North Korea given its history, given its provocative actions in the past. And we are prepared to do so. Ryan Q: Given this provocative action by North Korea, as you put it, are you -- would you call on China to drop its opposition to the THAAD system? MR. COOK: There's -- we have said from here, and I -- I believe our South Korean allies have as well, that there's no reason for China to oppose that system. This is a defensive system. And there's no reason for anyone in the region to have concern about that. Other than, perhaps, North Korea because this is a system that is part of our broader umbrella -- our defensive umbrella. And we think an important step in bolstering the defense of our ally and, in fact, enhancing security in the -- the region overall. And so, again, we don't see any reason for any country to have a problem with that deployment, except perhaps North Korea. Q: And just on -- on the al-Bab thing, just generally, our there any U.S. forces embedded with Turkish units right now in Syria? MR. COOK: I'm not going to talk about our -- our forces right now in Syria. So -- yes? You've been patiently waiting in the middle. Sorry. Q: On South China Sea issues, do you have readouts on the USS Cowpens deploying to the South China Sea later this week? MR. COOK: I don't have anything for you on that. I can take that question. I'm not sure if the Navy had something to say on that specifically. Q: (Off-mic.) any other information that you can share with us? MR. COOK: I -- I don't have any up here, but I'll take that question if you like. Q: So, do you have any comments on the ongoing -- MR. COOK: And I would just say broadly, that we have a presence in the South China Sea and the Asia Pacific, significant presence at all times. And it would not be unusual for us to have an aircraft carrier or any other kind of ship in that part of the world. As you know we have -- have them deployed in many places in the -- in the Asia Pacific, including in the South China see and we will continue to do so. We've done so for decades. Yes? Q: Do you have any concern about the countermeasures from China about the deployment of THAAD in the few months later? MR. COOK: As I just mentioned, we -- the THAAD system is a defensive system that we've worked closely with the South Koreans to find a suitable location for it. We believe this is important to the defense of South Korea and to promote security in the region. It -- as we've explained publicly, that China's concerns with it, we feel, are misplaced given that this is a defensive system. So, we would, again, encourage China to -- to look at this system carefully and to see what we've been making clear for sometime that this is a defensive system and that there's no need for them to have concerns about this system. Q: So, you don't have any concern about the countermeasures from China, right? MR. COOK: We -- again, this is something that we'll -- we think this deployment is important for the safety and security of South Korea and for our alliance relationship. And we will continue to work closely with the South Koreans to address any issues with regard to THAAD. Q: Is there any discussion between U.S. and China during your transitional period -- I mean the cooperation in with the -- (inaudible)? MR. COOK: I will leave it to the transition folks to discuss any conversations they may be having with the Chinese. So -- yes, Joe Q: I wonder if you have more information, you could share it with us in regards to a coalition airstrike that took place today in Idlib Province. Local reports are saying that more than 25 leaders from Nusra Front were killed in the airstrike. MR. COOK: Joe, I don't have any more information for you on that -- on that airstrike. I'm not -- I'm hearing from you about this airstrike, so -- Q: Thank you. MR. COOK: Lucas, you left and came back. Hot off the teletype there? Q: That's right. I'm just going to read this. There's a second solo tweet from President-elect Donald Trump saying, quote, "There should be no further releases from Gitmo. These are extremely dangerous people and should not be allowed back onto the battlefield." I was wondering what your reaction is to that. MR. COOK: As we discussed previously here, we're going to carry out the appropriate policies as set forth by the commander in chief with regard to Guantanamo Bay and the secretary of defense and his -- carry on his responsibilities as secretary of defense, his unique responsibilities with regard to the review of people who have been previously determined to be eligible for release and he's going to continue to carry out his responsibilities as appropriate until he's finished as secretary of Defense. Q: Knowing the future commander in chief does not want some of these folks released -- MR. COOK: There is one commander in chief at a time and the secretary of Defense will continue to carry out his responsibilities as he sees appropriate. All right, Luis, and I'll come back to the front, then we'll be done. Q: So, based on the discussion we had earlier about North Korea and ICBM capability, North Korea's already conducted two long range satellite attempts that show their missile capability. What would show their ICBM capability? Can you explain to us what is the concern there? MR. COOK: I'm not going to get into discussing their potential capabilities in the future. We will -- they shouldn't be conducting ballistic missile testing of any kind given the resolutions in the United Nations. The international community has called on them not to do this and we are doing so again. We think their development of ballistic missile technology is destabilizing. It does not promote security and -- on the Korean peninsula and in the region and we think it's harmful. And we will make that point again and again and we will, in the meantime, be prepared to respond to North Korea and be prepared to bolster our allies in the region in their own desire to make sure that it is as safe and stable as possible in that part of the world. Q: Technologically speaking, just as a matter of definition, is there something different with regards to a, quote, "ICBM test" versus a long range satellite test? What is -- what is different about it? What makes it an ICBM test just as a matter of definition? MR. COOK: I'm not going to parse technical definitions here, Louie, for you. Again, this is -- whether it's those previous launches or any new tests that they conduct, it's in violation of U.N. resolutions and it would be provocative and counterproductive. And we, once again, call on them not to engage in that kind of activity. And we're not the only ones. There are plenty of other countries in the world telling them exactly the same thing. Q: This last week, you were up here -- President-elect Trump has tweeted twice about the F-35, the Pentagon's largest program. First he said costs were out of control and then he asked Boeing to come up with a competitor version of the F-18. General Bogdan, the -- the joint program office director a couple of weeks ago said the costs are not out of control. But what is the -- what is the DOD's current view of the program? We expect Bogdan to say costs aren't out of control, but what's the DOD's view? MR. COOK: This is a -- Tony, as you know, a critical program to the defense of the United States. This is a program that multiple services are counting on for the future. This is the first -- (inaudible) -- generation of fighter and we think it's a critically important program that has had its problems in the past. Secretary Carter has spoken to that in the past and has been one of those most responsible for getting it back and working -- running in the right direction. And so we're confident in the capabilities of the F-35, and again, as others have spoken to, this is an aircraft that -- that the services are counting on, not just the United States is counting on but other countries as well. Final question here unless -- (inaudible). Q: You mentioned in a statement previously that there will be an investigation on the USS underwater drone -- (inaudible). Do you have any update on that? MR. COOK: I don't have an update for you. My understanding is the analysis and assessment is ongoing, and so I don't have anything more beyond that. (CROSSTALK) MR. COOK: Yes? Q: Is there any further talking with the -- MR. COOK: You must have been on vacation. (Laughter.) (CROSSTALK) Q: Is there any further talking between the U.S. and Chinese navy on the issue? MR. COOK: I don't have anything to read out to you specifically on that topic. So -- Q: Just one final one on Gitmo. How many transfers can the American public expect before January 20th? MR. COOK: You can expect, Lucas, that -- again, the department will carry out its obligations under law, all the legal requirements involved, and we'll carry out those as the secretary of Defense deems appropriate between now and the end of his term. Q: Is it -- MR. COOK: I don't have a number for you. Q: -- sixteen, 18, 20? MR. COOK: I don't have any number for you. Those will happen. There's a protocol and procedure for each and every one of those that we will follow to the letter and -- and that is no different than how we've been operating since Secretary Carter first took this job. Okay. One more over here. Q: The NDAA authorizes a military pay raise of 2.1 percent, which is about a half a percentage point above what the Pentagon had asked for and it's -- I think it's bringing military pay increases in line with private sector for the first time in about five years. Would you say that this signals an end to the era of austerity as it relates to military compensation that we've seen? MR. COOK: Well, I've -- I'm not sure I'd characterize austerity as the word I'd use. But obviously, this is -- it's important for our service members to -- to be treated in an appropriate fashion and to be paid for their significant service to the country. This is a piece of legislation that the president signed and -- and we feel it's important for compensation -- for all service members to be compensated appropriately within the restraints of the budget situation that -- that we face as a country and as a government and we continue to face constraints going forward. But it's appropriate for our service members to get a pay raise, given their significant service to the country and their sacrifice for the country, and this is a pay raise that we're comfortable with. Q: Do you imagine that future raises -- MR. COOK: I'm not -- Q: -- will keep pace with the private sector? MR. COOK: I'm not gonna be able to -- I'm not gonna predict future pay raises. I'll leave that to the next administration to speak to. All right. Thanks, everybody. http://www.defense.gov/News/News-Transcripts/Transcript-View/Article/1040947/ NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Kyiv Pechersky District Court has granted the request of the Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine to choose arrest as a pre-trial preventive measure for fugitive Ukrainian businessman Serhiy Kurchenko, the PGO's press service reported. "On January 3, 2017, the investigating judge of Pechersky District Court of Kyiv issued a ruling to grant a repeated request by the Prosecutor General's Office to choose a preventive measures in the form of detention," the press service reported. The Prosecutor General's Office reiterates that they are holding a pre-trial investigation into Kurchenko on suspicion of establishing and managing a criminal organization and misappropriating property using state-run and private banking institutions, state-owned enterprises of the fuel and energy sector in a large scale. The activities of the criminal organization have inflicted losses to the state amounting to more than UAH 7 billion. As reported, the Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine suspects Kurchenko of committing grievous crimes as the head of a criminal group in 2010 and early 2014 in the area of business operations with liquefied gas. In particular, during this period Kurchenko headed an organized criminal group through which he arranged the illegal seizure of state-owned liquefied gas produced by PJSC Ukrgazvydobuvannia and PJSC Ukrnafta and worth UAH 2.2 mln. The liquefied gas was bought at specialized auctions at understated price, allegedly to provide for the needs of the public. Then, this liquefied gas was sold to Kurchenko-controlled business entities at market prices. As a result of these actions, the state suffered damage totaling more than UAH 2 billion. Kurchenko has been on the international wanted list since March 2014. His property and other assets totaling over UAH 2.8 billion have been arrested. The pretrial investigation is underway. VMA-542 heads home US Marine Corps News By Lance Cpl. Joseph Abrego | January 3, 2017 U.S. Marines with Marine Attack Squadron 542 completed their Aviation Training Relocation Program at Chitose Air Base and headed back to Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan, Dec. 22, 2016. The ATR is an effort between the U.S. and Japan governments to increase operational readiness between the U.S. Marine Corps and the Japan Air Self-Defense Force. It also improves interoperability and reduces noise concerns of aviation training on local communities by disseminating training locations throughout Japan. "It was a great experience," said U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Austin K. Weber, operations chief for VMA-542. "We really felt like we were working toward something with being in a different environment and getting the aircraft in and out constantly. There was a lot of cross training for the Marines and a lot of knowledge to be gained from the JASDF." While learning from the JASDF, the Marines were also able to show their capabilities and share their familiarity with the AV-8B Harriers and unit operations. "The Marines have a different structure than we do," said JASDF Staff Sgt. Tomonori Miura, maintenance controller with the 2nd Air Wing Maintenance Supply Group. "They have a different specialty, and they are very efficient with what they do. They have a different jet so I learned a lot about the Harrier and how the maintenance operations work." Miura said it was really easy to make conversation with the Marines. Everyone took time to get to know one another, which helped a lot with the cooperation throughout the ATR and ensured that nothing was overlooked. The bonds built during the ATR continued after operations were completed, allowing Marines to explore the culture with the JASDF personnel. "We established really good working relations, and it didn't just stop there," said Weber. "A lot of the JASDF personnel were inviting us out, showing us their city and even taking us to Sapporo. It was nice to be able to carry those relations we had past the work day and really get to know and build on our cohesion." Weber said they were able to interact with the Japanese and were able to see that even through the language barrier there were ways to communicate and build bonds. Working through everything with their Japanese allies, VMA-542 worked toward achieving the goals of the ATR and made life-long friends along the way. "This was a good opportunity to meet Marines," said Miura. "It was a great experience, and I've made memories that I'll remember for the rest of my life. I'm looking forward to the next chance I get to meet more Marines." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address MCAS-4 Marines train to employ expeditionary runway US Marine Corps News By Cpl. Aaron Henson | January 3, 2017 U.S. Marines with Marine Air Control Squadron 4 Detachment Bravo, Marine Air Traffic Control Mobile Team, conducted aircraft landing zone training at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan, Dec. 21, 2016. The training allows the Marine Air Traffic Control Mobile Team, or MMT, to gain experience, practice constructing an expeditionary airfield, and complete training and readiness requirements. "MMT usually consists of six to eight Marines set to operate in a 72-hour environment by themselves . . . without support," said U.S. Marine Corps Cpl. Chris Swogger, an air traffic control Marine with MACS-4 Detachment Bravo. "If we were in combat we would be able to establish an expeditionary runway. We go out and set up these runways, land and refuel aircraft, which allows us to further push into the country without having to take over airfields or build permanent structures." An MMT comprises of a base, pace, chase, reference, navigation aid and communication technician who establish a 60-foot wide and 3,000-foot long runway in remote locations during combat scenarios, medical evacuations or for humanitarian aid. "The base Marine establishes the front end of the runway and is the ones in control talking to the aircraft," said Swogger. "The pace Marine runs down the 3,000-foot landing zone and every 500 feet drops off a panel marking. The chase Marine follows the pace and sets up the left side of the runway. And the reference point Marine runs all the way down to the 3,000-foot marker and acts as the in-between for the base and pace, and allows the base to line up the runways with the reference point at the far end." The MMT Marines conduct this training every three to six months to refine the Marines' skills, keeping them ready for expeditionary operations while in a garrison environment. Marine Aerial Refueler Transport Squadron 152 assisted MACS-4 Detachment Bravo while also completing their training and readiness requirements. "MMT Marines are extremely important to our aircraft landing zone operations," said U.S. Marine Corps Capt. Jeffrey Simonson, a KC-130J pilot with VMGR-152. "They are able to set up the strip to resemble what would be seen in a real-world scenario. The runway we use in Okinawa does not provide realistic training. The landing strip here in Iwakuni is much smaller, providing challenging and realistic training for the squadron. Each pilot has to conduct this training a minimum of once a year." U.S. Marine Corps Staff Sgt. George Price, an MMT instructor with MACS-4 Detachment Bravo, assisted directing aircraft to the runway from the ground. MMT instructors are trained by Marine Aviation Weapons and Tactics Squadron 1 at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, Arizona, over a six-week period. "To be an instructor we have to go through MAWTS-1 and participate in a lot of the live-flying training with every type of aircraft the Marine Corps has," said 1st Lt. Jeremy Graves, air traffic control officer with MACS-4 Detachment Bravo. "We learn our pace counts, how to set up an airfield, controlling aircraft in an expeditionary environment, and we work with all of Weapons and Tactics Instructor Course. It is a big event and a lot of training goes into it." Graves said the Marines will be conducting aircraft landing zone training quarterly and did well for their first time conducting this training on the air station. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address USS Porter Departs Venice, Italy Navy News Service Story Number: NNS170103-10 Release Date: 1/3/2017 10:23:00 AM By Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Ford Williams, Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Europe and Africa/U.S. 6th Fleet Public Affairs VENICE, Italy (NNS) -- Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Porter (DDG 78) departed Venice, Italy, after a scheduled port visit Jan. 3, enhancing U.S.-Italy 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 commitment to NATO and the collective security of the European region. Quotes: "It was a tremendous visit to Venice, and I'd like to thank the local government, law enforcement, and merchants for their fantastic hospitality. Port visits such as this allow us to continue to strengthen our bonds with Italy as we work toward mutual goals throughout the region." - Cmdr. Andria Slough, Commanding Officer, USS Porter (DDG 78) "I enjoyed the food, sights, and hospitality during our port visit. I can't wait to come back and see some of my new favorite spots. It was a great opportunity to be here during the New Year celebration." - Fire Controlman 2nd Class Jess Rivera Hernandez Quick Facts: Porter's port visit strengthened the enduring partnership with Italy by providing Sailors an opportunity to experience the hospitality and culture of Venice. Strengthening alliances during the port visit to Venice demonstrates the shared commitment the U.S. has to promote safety and stability within the region, while seeking opportunities to enhance interoperability with NATO allies and partners. Porter is currently operating in the Mediterranean Sea, working with allies and regional partners to help develop and improve maritime forces, maintain regional security, and work towards mutual goals in order to advance security and stability in Europe. Porter, forward-deployed to Rota, Spain, is conducting naval operations in the U.S. 6th Fleet area of operations in support of U.S. national security interests in Europe. The ship deployed from Naval Station Rota Nov. 30. 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 USS Monterey Conducts Port Call in Palma de Mallorca Navy News Service Story Number: NNS170103-07 Release Date: 1/3/2017 8:27:00 AM By USS Monterey (CG 61) Public Affairs MEDITERRANEAN SEA (NNS) -- Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Monterey (CG 61) arrived in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, Dec. 31 for a scheduled port visit to enhance U.S.-Spain relationships as the two nations work together for a stable, secure, and prosperous Europe. Capt. Chris DeGregory, commanding officer of Monterey was very thankful for the opportunity for the crew to experience Palma de Mallorca. "This port visit provides the crew with an opportunity to meet with the people of Palma, and this is a great chance for the Sailors to experience the rich history and culture of Spain," said DeGregory. Monterey, deployed as part of the Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group, is supporting maritime security operations and theater security cooperation efforts in the U.S. 6th Fleet area of operations. U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Africa/U.S. 6th Fleet, headquartered in Naples, Italy, conducts the full spectrum of joint and naval operations, often in concert with joint, allied, 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 USS Porter Arrives in Venice, Italy Navy News Service Story Number: NNS170103-06 Release Date: 1/3/2017 8:25:00 AM By Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Ford Williams, Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Europe and Africa/U.S. 6th Fleet Public Affairs VENICE, Italy (NNS) -- Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Porter (DDG 78) arrived in Venice, Italy, for a scheduled port visit Dec. 30 to enhance U.S.-Italy 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 commitment to NATO and the collective security of the European region. Quote: "Visiting a city with a historic seafaring tradition such as Venice allows us to celebrate our enduring friendship as we share customs and traditions. Many Americans trace their heritage here, and this port provides a unique opportunity for the entire crew to experience the rich culture of Italy." - Cmdr. Andria Slough, Commanding Officer, USS Porter (DDG 78) "This is my first time in Venice. I'm excited to experience another world-renowned destination. I love Italy, so it should be a great experience." - Logistics Specialist 3rd Class Raru Steadmon Quick Facts: Porter is conducting a routine port visit to strengthen the enduring partnership with Italy by providing Sailors an opportunity to experience the hospitality and culture of Venice. Strengthening alliances during the port visit to Venice demonstrates the shared commitment we have to promote safety and stability within the region, while seeking opportunities to enhance interoperability with NATO allies and partners. Porter is currently operating in the Mediterranean Sea, working with allies and regional partners to help develop and improve our maritime forces, maintain regional security, and work towards mutual goals in order to advance security and stability in Europe. Porter, forward-deployed to Rota, Spain, is conducting naval operations in the U.S. 6th Fleet area of operations in support of U.S. national security interests in Europe. The ship deployed from Naval Station Rota Nov. 30. 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 USS Cole Arrives in Split, Croatia Navy News Service Story Number: NNS170103-05 Release Date: 1/3/2017 8:17:00 AM By Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Brianna K. Green SPLIT, Croatia (NNS) -- Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Cole (DDG 67) arrived in Split, Croatia, for a scheduled port visit to enhance U.S.-Croatian relations as the two nations work together for a stable, secure, and prosperous Europe. During their stay, Cole Commanding Officer Cmdr. David Wroe is scheduled to meet with Split's Mayor, Ivo Baldasar, while Sailors will have an opportunity to participate in several Morale, Welfare, and Recreation (MWR) tours. Quotes: "This port visit provides the opportunity for our Sailors to learn and explore a region rich with history and tradition. We look forward to strengthening our relationship with our European partners and continuing our commitment to promote regional, economic, energy and food security," Commanding Officer, USS Cole (DDG 67), Cmdr. David Wroe Quick Facts: Sailors will have a chance to visit local attractions in Split, Dubrovnik, hike the mountain Mosor, and tour parts of the "Game of Thrones" filming set in Split. Strengthening relationships during this port visit to Croatia demonstrates the shared commitment to an increase in peace and prosperity throughout the region. Cole, assigned to Commander, Task Force 65, is conducting a regularly-scheduled deployment in support of maritime security operations and theater security cooperation efforts in the U.S. 6th Fleet area of operation. 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 and security and stability in Europe and Africa. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Mayport Welcomes Milwaukee, Detroit Navy News Service Story Number: NNS170103-04 Release Date: 1/3/2017 7:51:00 AM From Commander, Littoral Combat Ship Squadron 2 Public Affairs MAYPORT, Fla. (NNS) -- U.S. government and senior U.S. Navy officials, along with several local distinguished visitors, held a ceremony Dec. 30 to officially welcome USS Milwaukee (LCS 5) and USS Detroit (LCS 7) to Naval Station Mayport. Local U.S. Congressmen Ander Crenshaw; Rear Adm. Sean Buck, commander, U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command; and Capt. Paul Young, commander, Littoral Combat Ship Squadron (LCSRON) 2 participated in the ceremony officially welcoming the ships to Mayport. The littoral combat ships' (LCS) homeport officially shifted from San Diego Dec. 22. NS Mayport will eventually become the home for all of the Navy's Freedom-variant LCSs with Milwaukee and Detroit leading the way for LCSRON 2, which was stood up just over two years ago. "The entire waterfront is excited to add Milwaukee and Detroit to the Mayport Basin, but none more so than Littoral Combat Ship Squadron 2," said Young, who leads the squadron. "This team is ready to commence LCS operations in earnest from the east coast." Milwaukee was commissioned Nov. 21, 2015, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Since arriving in Mayport Feb. 19, the ship's crew has successfully completed full-ship shock trials and is currently undergoing a planned maintenance availability at BAE Shipyard. Detroit was commissioned Oct. 22 in Detroit, Michigan. On Nov. 23, she arrived at Naval Station Mayport, where she has been conducting her combat systems ship qualification testing (CSSQT). Slated to following them over the course of the next year are USS Little Rock (LCS 9), USS Sioux City (LCS 11), and USS Wichita, LCS 13) -- all of which are yet to be commissioned. The design for these ships is a semi-planning steel monohull with an aluminum superstructure built in Marinette, Wisconsin, by Lockheed Martin. Milwaukee is the third and Detroit is the fourth LCS of the Freedom class. They follow USS Freedom (LCS 1), the class lead, and USS Fort Worth (LCS 3). The Navy has proposed Freedom and Fort Worth be reassigned to Mayport, as well, where they will take on most of the crew training. LCS vessels were designed to be high-speed, shallow draft multi-mission ships capable of operating independently or with a strike group. They are designed to defeat growing littoral threats and provide access and dominance in coastal waters. A fast, maneuverable, and networked surface-combatant, LCSs provide the required warfighting capabilities and operational flexibility to execute focused missions such as surface warfare, mine warfare, and anti-submarine warfare. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Carl Vinson Strike Group Set for Deployment to Western Pacific Navy News Service Story Number: NNS170103-17 Release Date: 1/3/2017 3:13:00 PM From U.S. 3rd Fleet Public Affairs SAN DIEGO (NNS) -- Ships and units from the Carl Vinson Strike Group (CVNSG) will depart San Diego for a regularly-scheduled deployment to the Western Pacific, Jan. 5 and Jan. 6. The Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70), Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 2, and embarked Destroyer Squadron (CDS) 1 will deploy with Ticonderoga class guided-missile cruiser USS Lake Champlain (CG 57) and Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers USS Michael Murphy (DDG 112) and USS Wayne E. Meyer (DDG 108). Homeported in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, Michael Murphy will join CVNSG later this month as the strike group makes its way to the Western Pacific. CVNSG will deploy with approximately 7,500 Sailors and will focus on maritime security operations and theater security cooperation efforts. The strike group assets will conduct bilateral exercises in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region to include anti-submarine warfare, maneuvering drills, gunnery exercises and visit, board, search and seizure subject matter expert exchanges. Carl Vinson will also embark the aviation squadrons of CVW-2 which include the "Black Knights" of Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 4, the "Blue Hawks" of Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron (HSM 78), the "Bounty Hunters" of Strike Fighter Squadrons (VFA) 2, the "Blue Blasters" of VFA-34, the "Krestrels" of VFA-137, the "Golden Dragons" of VFA-192, the "Black Eagles" of Carrier Airborne Early Warning Squadron (VAW) 113, the "Gauntlets" of Electronic Attack Squadron (VAQ) 136 and the "Providers" of Fleet Logistic Support Squadron (VRC) 30. U.S. 3rd Fleet leads naval forces in the Pacific and provides the realistic, relevant training necessary for an effective global Navy. Third Fleet constantly coordinates with U.S. 7th Fleet to plan and execute missions based on their complementary strengths to promote ongoing peace, security, and stability throughout the entire Pacific theater of operations. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Mozambique rebel leader extends ceasefire Iran Press TV Tue Jan 3, 2017 6:32PM Mozambique's Renamo opposition party has extended a ceasefire by two months to allow talks with President Filipe Nyusi's government, raising the prospects for future peace in the African country. Mozambican rebel leader Afonso Dhlakama, who lives in hiding in the Gorongosa mountains in central Mozambique, announced in a telephone press conference on Tuesday that Renamo forces would not attack government troops or positions. "There have been some minor incidents, but the seven-day truce went well, so I announce the extension of the truce for 60 days, until March 4," Dhlakama said, adding, "The truce is intended to build an atmosphere conducive to advancing talks in Maputo in peace and tranquility for both sides." Dhlakama announced a week-long truce after a telephone conversation with President Nyusi. The unexpected truce announcement came after tentative moves toward a peace process were suspended indefinitely last year. Reacting to developments, President Nyusi said on Monday that the ceasefire was "productive." Trust "is being created," the president said, adding that government forces did not launch attacks on Renamo, the armed insurgent group and also an elected opposition party. The renewal of the truce raised hopes for a nascent peace process. Dhlakama and Nyusi have not met face-to-face since February 2015. Distrust between the two has led to several ceasefires collapsing since Nyusi won the disputed 2014 election. Both sides have clashed sporadically since Renamo challenged the results of the 2014 election. The political situation in Mozambique has been tense for months with Dhlakama refusing to recognize the results of the vote, where the Frelimo party was declared the winner. The party has been in power since the country's independence from Portugal in 1975. Renamo and the Frelimo-led government had been engaged in a civil war for 16 years that was brought to an end in 1992. Almost one million people are estimated to have been killed in the confrontation. Renamo's armed wing has conducted a string of fatal assaults in central Mozambique in recent years as it seeks to increase its share of power. On October 19, 2016, the warring sides resumed a new round of peace talks despite the killing of an opposition negotiator on October 9. Future peace talks could be held between rivals under international mediation coordinated by the European Union. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address US military considers expanded use of cyber, space weapons against ISIL Iran Press TV Tue Jan 3, 2017 4:24PM US military chiefs are prepared to give incoming President Donald Trump the option to intensify the fight against the Daesh (ISIL) terrorist group, including the possibility of using secret cyber-warfare and space weapons, according to the US Air Force chief of staff. "We've heard him [Trump] loud and clear that he's going to be looking for options," General David Goldfein told USA TODAY on Tuesday. Goldfein said the recommendations may focus on allowing commanders more flexibility to deploy an array of weapons against the terrorists, who are waging a terror campaign beyond their bases in Syria and Iraq. "If we want to be more agile then the reality is we are going to have to push decision authority down to some lower levels in certain areas," Goldfein said during a trip to the Grand Forks Air Force Base in December. "The big question that we've got to wrestle with is the authorities to operate in cyber and space." Cyber and space capabilities are among the Pentagon's most closely held secrets, and their use now generally requires approval at the highest levels of the US Defense Department. In February, US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said the military was using cyber tools to disrupt Daesh's ability to operate and communicate over the virtual battlefield. During his campaign, Trump said if he was elected, he would give military commanders one month to come up with a plan for completely defeating Daesh. US President Barack Obama's strategy has centered on avoiding ground forces and using airstrikes in Iraq and Syria to combat Daesh. But the US-led coalition has been accused of targeting Syrian forces at times while its airstrikes have done little to stop Daesh. Daesh terrorists, who were among the militants initially trained by the CIA in Jordan in 2012 to destabilize the Syrian government, now control parts of Iraq and Syria. Analysts say it is unlikely Trump would approve the deployment of large numbers of US conventional ground forces in the Middle East or expand the bombings, despite his get-tough rhetoric during the presidential campaign. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address It may be possible to hold elections in Donbas two or three years after the liberation of the occupied territories, Ukrainian Deputy Minister for Temporarily Occupied Territories and Displaced Persons Heorhiy Tuka said has said in an interview aired by Espreso.TV. "I support the official position. At least two or three years should pass before any elections can be conducted [in the occupied territories of Donbas]," Ukrainian Deputy Minister for Temporarily Occupied Territories and Displaced Persons Heorhiy Tuka said. According to him, it will not be a tragedy if a military and civilian administration operates in the liberated territories of Donbas during these two or three years. Afghans protest against Daesh brutality against Shias Iran Press TV Tue Jan 3, 2017 3:15PM People in western Afghanistan have staged a massive protest against growing sectarian attacks on Shia Muslims by the Takfiri Daesh terrorists. About 2,000 demonstrators, holding pictures of Shia Muslims killed in recent terrorist attacks, marched on the governor's office in the city of Herat on Tuesday. The protesters chanted slogans such as "Death to the enemies of Afghanistan!" and "Death to Daesh!" Herat recently witnessed a surge in attacks on mosques belonging to Shia Muslims. A prayer leader was killed and five others wounded in one such attack on Sunday. Qurban Ali, a 40-year-old demonstrator, said Daesh terrorists were desperately attempting to fuel sectarian strife by mounting attacks on Shia religious sites. "Daesh attacks on our mosques are increasing every day. They want to create a rift between Shias and Sunnis," Ali said, adding, "This is a dangerous trend and we want the government to protect us." Jawad, another protester who was identified by one name, said, "We will not allow Daesh to make Afghanistan another Syria. The government must come up with a plan to protect Shias." Until a few months ago, Daesh was largely confined to the eastern Afghan province of Nangarhar, which borders Pakistan. The group has earned notoriety for brutality including beheadings across the volatile region. Afghan government officials recently warned that the group had expanded its foothold into some other provinces as well. Najeebullah Mani, the head of counter-terrorism at the Afghan Interior Ministry, told reporters in Herat this week that the group was steadily expanding into other provinces. "Our initial information shows Daesh is behind the recent attacks in Herat. They are expanding and are always looking for new geographical areas," Mani said, adding, "They are present in at least 11 (of Afghanistan's 34 provinces). Their main goal is to create sectarian divisions between Shias and Sunnis." Over the past months, Afghanistan has witnessed a surge in terror activities by Daesh. In October 2016, at least 14 Shia Muslims lost their lives in a powerful blast at a mosque in the northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif. The attack was carried out hours after gunmen targeted worshippers at a shrine in the capital, Kabul, and killed 18 people. In August, Daesh claimed responsibility for a bombing during a demonstration held by the Shia Hazara community in Kabul, where at least 85 people were killed. The rise of Daesh in Afghanistan has triggered concerns in a country that has already been torn apart by decades of Taliban-led militancy and the 2001 invasion of the United States and its allies. Daesh, mainly active in Syria and Iraq, has reportedly managed to take recruits from Taliban defectors in Afghanistan. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Israeli troops abduct 30 Palestinians, demolish homes in West Bank Iran Press TV Tue Jan 3, 2017 2:27PM Israeli forces have abducted at least 30 Palestinians, including several children, and demolished many homes during massive overnight raids in different parts of the occupied West Bank. In the early hours of Tuesday, dozens of Israeli soldiers invaded Balatah refugee camp, east of Nablus; Nablus city; Beit Fajjar town, south of Bethlehem; Aida refugee camp, north of Bethlehem; Silwad town, east of Ramallah; Qalqiliah and Ya'bad town near the West Bank and city of Jenin, the Palestinian Prisoners' Society (PPS) reported. The Israeli army announced in a statement that it had arrested 34 Palestinians in different parts of the West Bank. In recent months, Israeli forces have frequently raided the houses of Palestinians in the West Bank, detaining dozens of people, who are then transferred to Israeli prisons, where they are kept without any charges. According to the Palestinian prisoners' rights group Addameer, there are currently 7,000 Palestinians held at Israeli jails and detention facilities, seven lawmakers among them. Three Palestinian Legislative Council members are in "administrative detention." The so-called administrative detention is a sort of imprisonment without trial or charge that allows Israel to incarcerate Palestinians for periods of up to six months, which can be renewed an infinite number of times. Some prisoners have been held in administrative detention for up to eleven years. Home demolition Meanwhile, several Israeli army vehicles and bulldozers invaded the village of Khirbit Tana, east of the northern West Bank city of Nablus, and demolished several residential unites after forcing their residents out. The soldiers surrounded the entire community before invading it, said Ghassan Daghlas, a Palestinian Authority official in charge of Israeli settlements' file in the northern part of the West Bank. The village has been subject to frequent invasions and destruction, including the demolition of its only school, many residential units and barns. The occupied West Bank has seen an unprecedented rise in the demolition of Palestinian homes this year, with the number of buildings destroyed in the first half of 2016 already standing well beyond the total number of demolitions carried out in all of 2015. According to a United Nations report, Israel has made over 1,383 Palestinians homeless since January as a result of demolitions in the occupied territories, compared to 688 Palestinians internally displaced during the entire 2015. Israeli authorities rarely issue home-building permits for Palestinians, forcing many to build homes without granting the so-called permits. On the other hand, according to Americans for Peace Now, the number of Israeli settlements has grown dramatically over the past 20 years, with the construction of 11,000 new settler units authorized under Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Over half a million Israelis live in more than 230 illegal settlements built since the 1967 Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem al-Quds. All Israeli settlements are illegal under international law. Tel Aviv has defied calls to stop the expansion of settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Scores of Saudi soldiers killed in Yemeni missile attack Iran Press TV Tue Jan 3, 2017 10:59AM A large number of Saudi soldiers have been killed in a Yemeni missile attack against a military base in Saudi Arabia's southwestern border region of Asir. An unnamed Yemeni military source said military forces and their allies launched a ballistic missile at the al-Montazah base in Asir on Tuesday, leaving scores of Saudi troopers and their mercenaries dead and injured, Arabic-language al-Masirah television network reported. The source added that two Saudi armored vehicles were also destroyed in the attack. Shortly afterward, Yemeni soldiers and fighters from the Popular Committees fired several artillery rounds at the Mosallas al-Rakbah base in the Saudi Jizan region, located 967 kilometers southwest of the capital, Riyadh. A blaze swept through the military site as the projectiles struck. Separately, Yemeni soldiers and allied fighters launched a domestically-manufactured Zelzal-2 (Earthquake-2) missile at a gathering of Saudi-sponsored militiamen loyal to the former government in the al-Maslub district of Yemen's northern province of Jawf. Several pro-Saudi gunmen also lost their lives and sustained injuries when their military camp was targeted by Yemeni forces in the al-Hariqiyah area of the southwestern province of Ta'izz. Also on Tuesday, Saudi fighter jets bombarded a school in the As Safra district of Yemen's northwestern mountainous province of Sa'ada. There were no immediate reports of possible casualties and damage, though. A civilian was also killed and another two sustained injuries when Saudi warplanes struck residential buildings in the Majz district of the same Yemeni province. Earlier, Saudi jets had pounded an area in the Saqayn district of Sa'ada Province, leaving six people dead and another injured. Yemeni forces and fighters from allied Popular Committees have been staging recurrent retaliatory attacks against Saudi Arabia, which has been waging a war on the impoverished country since March 2015. The Saudi war on Yemen, which has killed at least 11,400 Yemenis, was launched in an unsuccessful attempt to reinstate a former government. The Saudi war has also taken a heavy toll on the country's facilities and infrastructure, destroying many hospitals, schools, and factories. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Hundreds Of Afghan Shi'a Protest Killings RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan January 03, 2017 Hundreds of Shi'ite Muslims have demonstrated in western Afghanistan against increasing attacks by radical Islamic groups. Chanting "Death to the enemies of Afghanistan!" and yelling slogans against Islamic State (IS) group militants, protesters marched to the governor's office in the city of Herat on January 3 carrying photos of Shi'ite friends and relatives killed in recent attacks. Herat, which borders predominantly Shi'ite Iran, recently witnessed a surge in attacks on Shi'ite mosques. A Muslim prayer leader was killed and five others were wounded in an attack on January 1. "This is a dangerous trend and we want the government to protect us," said one protester. IS militants were largely confined to the eastern province of Nangarhar, which borders Pakistan, one year ago, but the government said they have greatly expanded their presence since then. Najibullah Mani, head of the Interior Ministry's Counterterrorism Department, said in Herat on January 3 that IS militants are now active in "at least 11 [of Afghanistan's 34 provinces]." In July, IS militants targeted Kabul's Shi'ite community in a suicide bombing that killed more than 80 people and wounded 130. With reporting by AFP Source: http://www.rferl.org/a/afghanistan-shia-protest- killings/28211528.html Copyright (c) 2017. 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 New Moldova, Transdniester Leaders To Meet RFE/RL's Moldovan Service January 03, 2017 Moldovan President Igor Dodon has said he will meet with the de facto head of the breakaway Transdniester region on January 4. Dodon wrote on Facebook that he will hold a working meeting with Vadim Krasnoselsky, the leader of the self-styled Transdniester Republic, in the separatist-controlled city of Bendery. Dodon said the meeting was "necessary for intensifying talks on a Transdniester settlement," adding that the issue of the breakaway territory would be a main topic during January 17 talks in Moscow with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Krasnoselsky has said he favors independence for Transdniester and closer relations with Russia based on the results of an unrecognized poll taken in the region in 2006. Dodon, who was elected president on December 23, has pledged to resolve the Transdniester issue while in office. "We have a lot of issues that need to be addressed, and the situation where the talks have stalled for several years now is unacceptable," Dodon said. The breakaway territory has been self-ruling since 1992, when a brief war was fought between Moldova and Transdniester separatists. Bendery is technically in a buffer zone along the administrative line dividing Moldova proper from the Transdniester region but it is controlled by separatists. Krasnoselsky was voted Transdniester's leader in an election not recognized by Moldova or the international community. With reporting by TASS Source: http://www.rferl.org/a/moldova-transdniester -leaders-talks/28211389.html Copyright (c) 2017. 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 Coalition Strikes Continue Against ISIL Terrorists in Syria, Iraq From a Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve News Release SOUTHWEST ASIA, Jan. 4, 2017 U.S. and coalition military forces continued to attack Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant terrorists in Iraq and Syria yesterday, Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve officials reported today. Officials reported details of the latest strikes, noting that assessments of results are based on initial reports. Strikes in Syria Attack, bomber, fighter and remotely piloted aircraft conducted 21 strikes in Syria: -- Near Shadaddi, three strikes engaged two ISIL tactical units; destroyed a vehicle bomb, a vehicle bomb storage facility and a fighting position; and damaged a repeater box and communications tower. -- Near Ayn Isa, three strikes engaged two ISIL tactical units, destroyed a fighting position and disabled an ISIL armored vehicle. -- Near Dayr Az Zawr, seven strikes destroyed two excavators, one bulldozer, two oil wellheads, 13 oil construction vehicles, four cranes, a piece of engineering equipment and seven front-end loaders. -- Near Raqqah, seven strikes engaged five ISIL tactical units; destroyed a vehicle bomb, a vehicle bomb storage facility, a weapons cache and 11 fighting positions; and suppressed an ISIL tactical unit. -- Near Tanf, a strike destroyed an ISIL repeater box, two repeater antennas and two solar panels. Strikes in Iraq Attack, bomber, fighter and remotely piloted aircraft and rocket artillery conducted six strikes in Iraq, coordinated with and in support of Iraq's government: -- Near Beiji, a strike engaged an ISIL tactical unit. -- Near Huwayjah, two strikes engaged an ISIL tactical unit, destroyed a pickup truck and a vehicle bomb storage facility. -- Near Mosul, three strikes engaged two ISIL tactical units; destroyed two mortars, a tactical vehicle and two command and control nodes; damaged two supply routes, and suppressed nine mortar teams and an ISIL tactical unit. Task force officials define a strike as one or more kinetic events that occur in roughly the same geographic location to produce a single, sometimes cumulative, effect. Therefore, officials explained, a single aircraft delivering a single weapon against a lone ISIL vehicle is one strike, but so is multiple aircraft delivering dozens of weapons against buildings, vehicles and weapon systems in a compound, for example, having the cumulative effect of making those targets harder or impossible for ISIL to use. Accordingly, officials said, they do not report the number or type of aircraft employed in a strike, the number of munitions dropped in each strike, or the number of individual munition impact points against a target. Ground-based artillery fired in counterfire or in fire support to maneuver roles is not classified as a strike. Part of Operation Inherent Resolve The strikes were conducted as part of Operation Inherent Resolve, the operation to eliminate the ISIL terrorist group and the threat they pose to Iraq, Syria, and the wider international community. The destruction of ISIL targets in Syria and Iraq further limits the terrorist group's ability to project terror and conduct operations, officials said. Coalition nations that have conducted strikes in Iraq include the United States, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Jordan, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Coalition nations that have conducted strikes in Syria include the United States, Australia, Bahrain, Canada, France, Jordan, the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Gunmen kill two Moroccan peacekeepers in Central African Republic Iran Press TV Wed Jan 4, 2017 4:59PM Gunmen have killed two Moroccan peacekeepers with a UN mission in the southeast of the Central African Republic (CAR). MINUSCA, or the Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic, said in a statement on Wednesday that the peacekeepers were attacked while they were escorting fuel trucks on Tuesday afternoon about 60 kilometers west of the town of Obo. MINUSCA said two other peacekeepers were injured in the attack. The attackers "fled into the bush." Parfait Onanga-Anyanga, the head of MINUSCA, denounced the attack, saying, "No claim can justify individuals directing their grievances against peacekeepers whose presence on CAR soil is only aimed at helping the country emerge from the cycle of violence." In March 2013, the Central African Republic toppled into chaos when then President Francois Bozize was ousted by the mainly Seleka rebel alliance and was replaced by Michel Am-Nondokro Djotodia, the first Muslim to hold the presidency in the generally-Christian nation. The coup, however, caused a series of deadly retaliatory attacks between the Seleka rebels and the Christian militia known as anti-balaka, who reacted by engaging in large-scale attacks against the minority Muslims. Some 13,000 peacekeepers have been deployed to the country by the UN as part of MINUSCA. Civilians, however, say it does not do enough to protect them against scores of armed groups. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Russia to Sell 'Sophisticated' Arms To Manila After Foreign Policy U-Turn Sputnik News 22:31 04.01.2017(updated 23:49 04.01.2017) One day following the Russian Navy's arrival in the Philippines to run regional threat-assessment drills, Russian Ambassador Igor Khovaev expressed Moscow's enthusiasm to equip the island nation with high-tech military hardware. While Russia will operate "in full compliance with international law," Khovaev said that Russia is "ready to supply small arms and light weapons, some aeroplanes, helicopters, submarines, and many, many other weapons. Sophisticated weapons. Not the second-hand ones." Duterte has made good on his promise to weaken ties with Washington after welcoming Russian warships for unprecedented navy-to-navy maritime exercises between Moscow and Manila. Russian Rear Admiral Eduard Mikhailov indicated that the war games would focus on two scenarios most likely to destabilize the region's waters, maritime piracy and terrorism. Filipino President Rodrigo Duterte's pivot from ties with the US launched into overdrive in October 2016, when he said in a speech that US President Barack Obama to "go to hell" for treating the country "like a doormat." From the deck of the anti-submarine cruiser Admiral Tributs, Khovaev emphasized a stronger Moscow-Manila bond did not have to be at the expense of souring ties with Washington, suggesting that economic cooperation can bring mutual benefits to the parties involved, and diversifying one's foreign partners is simply smart economics. "It's not a choice between these partners and those ones. Diversification means preserving and keeping old traditional partners and getting new ones. So Russia is ready to become a new reliable partner and close friend of the Philippines," he said. The Ambassador also expressed that Russia does not intend to "interfere" with Manila's relations to its "traditional partners," a clear nod to Washington, which once held the Philippines as a territory before allowing Manila to engage in self-rule. But Washington has its own share of problems with the outspoken Filipino leader. US Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD), ranking member of the powerful Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, denied the sale of 26,000 automatic M4 assault rifles to the Philippines, as a punitive measure for the state-sanctioned killings of thousands of Filipinos, after they were accused of using illegal drugs. Duterte shot back: "look at these monkeys. The 26,000 firearms we wanted to buy, they don't want to sell," before saying he would look to Beijing and Moscow to expand Manila's arsenal. Since Duterte rose to power on June 30, 2016, conservative estimates suggest that over 2,300 people have been killed at the hands of Filipino police officers or vigilantes, in connection with Duterte's bid to eliminate narcotics use by simply killing all of those thought to be involved, whether proven or not. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Indonesia Suspends Military Cooperation With Australia Sputnik News 09:49 04.01.2017(updated 09:57 04.01.2017) Indonesia has suspended all military cooperation with Australia over unresolved technical matters, according to an Indonesian military spokesman. MOSCOW (Sputnik) The suspension is effective immediately as there are "ups and downs in every cooperation between two national forces," Maj. Gen. Wuryanto told Australia's ABC News channel. The specific reasons for the suspension were not given, while Indonesia's Kompas newspaper reported that the decision followed an incident at an Australian Special Air Service Regiment base in Perth. An instructor from the Indonesian Kopassus special forces group, engaged in joint training with Australian special forces, reportedly felt insulted by materials allegedly ridiculing the Indonesian military found at the base. The material was found to be of demeaning nature against the principles of Pancasila, the Indonesian state's founding philosophy. During an earlier incident, Indonesian special forces members were allegedly taught lessons during which the Indonesian military was also demeaned. The length of the suspension has not been specified. The move comes just a month before joint Indonesian-Australian joint navy drills. Australian military officials reportedly said it was uncertain whether the exercises will proceed in February. The Kopassus unit has been training at the base in Perth for several years. Bilateral military cooperation has been improving since the 2006 Lombok Treaty, after which both sides committed to defense and counterterrorism cooperation. Relations somewhat soured in 2013, when documents revealed by Edward Snowden indicated that Australia was tapping Indonesia's then-president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's phone conversations. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Kenya's Biometric Technology Could Delay Election Preps By Mohammed Yusuf January 04, 2017 Kenya's Electoral Commission says political wrangles and tension related to biometric voter technology may delay preparations for the country's upcoming elections. The opposition is threatening protests over a proposed amendment to Kenya's electoral law. Kenya's Senate legal committee is reviewing public comments about a controversial amendment to the electoral law the lower House passed late last month. The bill would allow manual voting and also allow the commission to manually submit election results in case biometric voter technology fails during the August election. Electoral commissioners said they requested the amendment because they do not want to lock out some voters who might not be identified by the biometric registration kits. Former Council of Governors chairman, Bomet County Governor Isaac Rutto told the Senate legal committee the manual system could be manipulated. "Out there Kenyans want just fairness. They are not interested in the tyranny of your numbers inside the houses. The real issue is the voters who do not turn up and ended up voting for them manually, identifying them manually," said Rutto. This is not the only Electoral Commission request that has been challenged. Voter registry A Kenyan court stopped the electoral body from awarding a bid to auditing firm KPMG to clean the voter register. The court also suspended $25 million tender for printing ballot papers given to a Dubai- based company, saying the bid was marred with irregularities. Electoral Commission deputy head Betty Nyabuto said political players are making preparations for the election difficult. "I think we are largely prepared for this election I really do not see any huge challenge. The huge challenge will basically be out there with the external players they need to give us that operational space for us as a commission to do our work," said Nyabuto. Political commentator Martin Andati warns any quick fixes to the electoral process may result in post-election violence. "If you are doing amendments haphazardly the way [we] are doing we are bound to have problems during the voting time ... so that will cause a problem and if we do not have [a] credible and accepted election then we are bound to have chaos," he said. Registration process The electoral body plans a mass voter registration from January 16 to February 14. The registration activities may be affected by opposition plans to start street protests if the Senate passes the electoral law amendments. The Senate is to meet Thursday to debate the amendments and vote on the recommendations from the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Ukrainian Armed Forces General Staff Chief Viktor Muzhenko has called a multi-faceted reform effort to modernize and professionalize the military troops by means of staffing officer positions is a priority of personnel police of the Armed Forces of Ukraine this year. "The main priority of the personnel policy of the Armed Forces of Ukraine should be the continuation of the professionalization process of the army at the expense of high-quality staffing of full-time officer positions," Muzhenko said during a meeting with the leadership of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the Defense Ministry website reported on Wednesday. He also pointed at the need to systematize the data on reserve officers who are able to perform military service. In particular, this applies to people who did not serve, but have a higher education and received a military rank of reserve officers. From 9,000 to 10,000 people receive these ranks every year. "This is a powerful resource that should be used effectively," the chief of the Armed Forces said. In addition, Muzhenko said that many Ukrainian officers are trained abroad. "Our task is to assign them to positions where they will yield the most benefit. The Armed Forces of Ukraine needs their experience. We have enough good performers, but this is not enough, because we lack true leaders. All personnel work should be focused on finding leaders and forming leadership skills," he said. Germany to overhaul security after Christmas attack Iran Press TV Tue Jan 3, 2017 11:44AM Germany's interior minister has outlined plans for reforms in the country's security apparatus following Christmas market attack. Thomas de Maiziere on Tuesday urged wider federal powers for domestic intelligence and the enforcement of refugee expulsions. "We don't have federal jurisdiction to deal with national catastrophes. The jurisdiction for the fight against international terrorism is fragmented," he wrote in a guest column for the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper. He also urged wider oversight for federal police as well as for the formation of a crisis management center. "The federal police's scope of action is restricted to railway stations, airports and border controls," he said, adding it was time to re-examine Germany's security set-up. Twelve people were killed and 48 others wounded in a terror attack at a Christmas market in Berlin on December 19, which saw a 40-ton truck running into a crowd. The Takfiri Daesh terrorist group, which is mainly active in militancy in Iraq and Syria, claimed responsibility for the attack. Reports that Tunisian suspect Anis Amri in the deadly attack was an asylum seeker who had slipped through the net of security services has laid the blame for the attack at the door of Chancellor Angela Merkel. Amri had been under surveillance by German authorities since March, but German police stopped watching him in September, thinking that he was a small-time drug dealer. De Maiziere called for the establishment of federal departure centers to hold asylum seekers in the weeks or days leading up to their deportation. He also urged wider powers to be given to federal police in order to boost security. "The current remit of the federal police is too limited," De Maiziere said. "We need a set of common rules and better coordination, for instance in checking dangerous individuals," he added. The minister also stressed that the federal government should take charge of domestic intelligence services. De Maiziere is a close ally of Chancellor Angela Merkel, who is running for a fourth term in a crucial national election in September. Last month, Merkel declared plans to hasten the expulsion of rejected asylum seekers as her government came under fire in the wake of the truck attack. Germany and other Western countries are blamed for supporting militants in the Middle East when their political agendas were served by such campaigns. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Rebuffing Trump, Obama Likely to Transfer More Guantanamo Prisoners By Ken Bredemeier January 03, 2017 The White House says U.S. President Barack Obama plans to transfer abroad more suspected terrorists held at the U.S. detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, before he leaves office January 20, rebuffing President-elect Donald Trump's call to end such releases. "There should be no further releases from Gitmo," Trump said Tuesday, using a nickname for Guantanamo in one of several comments on Twitter he made on a variety of issues. "These are extremely dangerous people and should not be allowed back onto the battlefield." Just hours later, however, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said, "I would expect, at this point, additional [prisoner] transfers" before Obama ends eight years as the U.S. chief executive and Trump is sworn in as the country's 45th president. When Obama took office in January 2009, he vowed to close the prison in southeastern Cuba, saying the detention facility did not reflect American values to the world because many of the prisoners there have been held for years without trial, and some had been tortured. Detainee population greatly reduced Guantanamo, a large area in Cuba that has been on long-term lease to the United States since before Fidel Castro's communist revolution, was designated a detention center by former President George W. Bush after the 2001 terrorist attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people in New York and Washington. The camp was intended to house prisoners captured by the U.S. and its allies in the fight against al-Qaida and other terror groups in the Middle East and Afghanistan. At its peak operation, 779 prisoners were held at Guantanamo; when Bush handed over control of the government to Obama the number had been reduced to about 500 detainees. Obama has subsequently sharply whittled down the number to 59 returning some detainees to their home countries for prosecution, sending others to third countries for resettlement and releasing others without trial. However, Obama's stated goal of closing the detention center outright has been been thwarted by a variety of political and legal obstacles. Transferring some or all of the remaining prisoners to secure facilities inside the United States to await trial was considered a possible way to facilitate the camp's closure, but many members of Congress have strongly opposed such tactics. Evidence flawed by torture Military prosecutors who would prosecute suspected terrorists detained on faraway battlefields have been stymied because evidence against them was obtained through the use of torture, including waterboarding to simulate drowning practices that Obama subsequently banned. About 20 of the remaining prisoners have been cleared for release, but finding other countries willing to accept them has proved difficult. About 30 percent of the onetime Guantanamo detainees have, as Trump suggested, either returned to Middle East battlefields to fight against the U.S. and its allies or are suspected of resuming terrorist activities. During his lengthy campaign for the U.S. presidency, Trump vowed to keep Guantanamo open, saying at one point that when he became the country's commander in chief, he would "load it up with some bad dudes, believe me. We're gonna load it up." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Trump: No more detainee releases from Guantanamo Bay prison Iran Press TV Wed Jan 4, 2017 1:26AM US President-elect Donald Trump has called for an end to the transfer of detainees from the notorious Guantanamo Bay prison. In a statement on Tuesday, Trump spoke against closing the Cuban-based military prison and said the US government should avoid releasing any more prisoners from the detention center in order to stop them from committing more crimes. "There should be no further releases from Gitmo," the president-elect said via Twitter, using the abbreviated name for the prison. "These are extremely dangerous people and should not be allowed back onto the battlefield." The warning comes as the administration of outgoing US President Barack Obama prepares to release another 19 detainees from the facility before the president leaves office. In December 2016, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said he expected additional transfers to be announced before Obama's farewell on January 20. The detainees will reportedly be bound for Italy, Oman, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. In his last security speech in the US state of Florida early last month, the outgoing president expressed disappointment over failure to close the notorious prison during his tenure, saying it was a disgrace and a waste of money. "We are wasting hundreds of millions of dollars to keep fewer than 60 people in a detention facility in Cuba," Obama said. "That's not strength And I will continue to do all that I can to remove this blot on our national honor." Obama had pledged during his 2008 presidential campaign to close the military prison, which is located on Cuba's southeastern coast, before he leaves office. However, he has been unable to fulfill his promise in the face of stiff opposition from the US Congress. The Obama administration has transferred most of the detainees to other countries, but there is a small number of detainees who the administration says it would like to keep at a US facility for national security reasons. A Senate report in December 2014 revealed that the CIA had used a wide array of sexual abuse and other forms of torture as part of its interrogation methods against the prisoners at Guantanamo. The so-called interrogation methods included placing detainees in stress positions, stripping them, holding them isolated for extended periods of time and exposing them to extreme heat and cold. About 780 men have passed through the facility since it was opened following the September 11, 2001 terror attacks to hold terrorism suspects. Washington says the prisoners are terror suspects, but has not pressed charges against most of them in any court. The US military has been criticized for force-feeding Guantanamo prisoners who have been engaged in hunger strikes for years to protest their confinement. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address China's lunar probe sets 'small goal': to retrieve moon dust samples in 2017 People's Daily Online (People's Daily Online) 16:49, January 03, 2017 In 2017, China's space industry will continue to move forward with a number of important projects, from lunar probes and the Beidou navigation system to experimental satellites. Cargo spacecraft Tianzhou-1 to deliver propellant to Tiangong-2 China's first cargo spacecraft Tianzhou-1 will be sent into the space in the first half of 2017, blasting off from Hainan province. It will dock with the Tiangong-2 space station to carry out experiments. According to Li Jian, vice director of Beijing Aerospace Control Center, Tianzhou-1 has two independently designed propellant tanks. It will deliver one tank of propellant to the space station; the propellant for its own use can also be transferred to the space station. The design of its orbit is different from those of previous spacecraft. "The Shenzhou spacecraft completes 31 laps to finish docking," Li explained. "The cargo spacecraft can fly more laps to save fuel, which is used to adjust its position. The more [fuel] it saves, the more it can supply to the space station." Li said a fast docking experiment would also be conducted. After docking with Tiangong-2, Tianzhou-1 will operate for about six months. Chang'e-5 lunar probe to retrieve moon dust samples China will launch the Chang'e-5 lunar probe around December 2017. The probe will land on the moon's surface and retrieve moon dust samples. According to Ye Peijian, an academician with the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Chang'e-5 is composed of four modules: a service module, a return vehicle, a lander and an ascent vehicle. After entering moon orbit, the lander and ascent vehicle will land on the moon. The sample-collecting device on the lander will take samples and place them aboard the ascent vehicle, which will take off from the moon's surface and dock with the service module and return vehicle. After transferring the samples to the service module, the ascent vehicle will separate from the service module and return vehicle. The service module and return vehicle will fly toward Earth and finally separate just thousands of kilometers away from the ground. The samples will be carried to Earth by the return vehicle. According to Hu Hao, chief designer of the third phase of China's lunar probe project, the Chang'e-5 weighs 8.2 tons. It will be launched by the Long March-5 rocket. The Beidou navigation system will begin to build a global network in the new year. At present, there are 22 Beidou navigation satellites in orbit. Of them, seven are new-generation satellites. "If we can launch 18 new Beidou satellites before 2018, a global constellation will be formed," said Ran Chengqi. China will also launch the Gaofen-5 remote sensing satellite and Chinasat-16 broadcasting and communication satellite among others in the new year. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Beijing Urges Washington to Realize 'Sensitivity' of Taiwan Issue Sputnik News 12:42 03.01.2017(updated 12:44 03.01.2017) Beijing called on Washington to uphold the "One China" policy and have no official contacts with Taiwan. BEIJING (Sputnik) China calls on the United States to understand the sensitivity of the Taiwan issue in the Washington-Beijing relations and stick to the "One China" policy, China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said Tuesday. "As we have already said, the Taiwan issue is very important and sensitive in the US-China relations. We call on the US side to realize the sensitivity of the Taiwan issue, stick to the 'One China' position, as well as to the three communiques, solve the Taiwan issue in a proper way and have no official contacts with Taiwan," Geng said at a briefing. Last week, US President-elect Donald Trump said that he did not exclude the possibility of a meeting with Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen, who will pay a working visit to the Latin American countries in January with a stop in the United States. On December 2, 2016, Trump became the first US president or president-elect to speak with a Taiwanese leader in an official capacity since 1979. On December 11, 2016, Trump said he would not be bound by the "One China" policy regarding relations with Taiwan. After Chinese Nationalist forces were defeated by Mao Zedong's Communists, the Nationalist government moved to Taiwan in 1949. Since then, Beijing has viewed the self-ruled, democratic island as a breakaway province. The United States, along with many other countries, does not recognize Taiwan as a sovereign nation and sticks officially to the "One China" position, but has kept informal relations with the island after severing diplomatic ties with it in 1979. The three joint communiques issued between 1972 and 1982 outline the framework for the diplomatic relations between China and the United States and reaffirm the latter's commitment to the united China. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address China's missile deployment in South China Sea completely reasonable: expert People's Daily Online By Sun Wenyu (People's Daily Online) 13:23, January 04, 2017 Chinese military expert Yin Zhuo told CCTV that China's military deployment in the South China Sea is completely reasonable, in light of the powerful naval force of the U.S. in the region. He made his remarks after American media outlet Fox News quoted the U.S. intelligence community, saying that China has sent hundreds of surface-to-air missiles from the mainland to the South China Sea. Fox News reported that China has deployed more than 500 missiles on South China Sea islands, including CSA-6B and HQ-9 missiles, as well as the anti-ballistic missile interceptor HQ-26. A U.S. official said these locations are "only temporary" and anticipated that the missiles would soon be deployed to the Nansha Islands and Yongxing Island. Some people believe China will form a comprehensive air defense system once it deploys CSA-6B, HQ-9 and HQ-26 in the South China Sea, increasing its power to cope with U.S. forces in the region. Yin noted that the speculation by Western media makes no sense at all, since the U.S. has maintained powerful forces in the region, including bombers and aircraft carriers. He said neither the U.S. nor surrounding countries are the targets of the missile, adding that they won't be launched unless China's sovereignty over these islands and reefs are violated. Yin said the U.S. is the one who truly threatens regional stability, though Western media has been spreading the theory of the so-called China threat. The situation in the South China Sea has been stable since the U.S. presidential election. However, some countries are still pushing issues, hoping the U.S. will maintain its Asia-Pacific Rebalance strategy. China will never give up its core interest in the South China Sea, stressed Yin. "We will never start a fight as long as others remain peaceful, but we'll fight back when violated," he added. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Trump: North Korea can never hit US with nuclear missile Iran Press TV Tue Jan 3, 2017 2:13AM US President-elect Donald Trump says North Korea will not be able to build a nuclear missile that can reach the United States. "North Korea just stated that it is in the final stages of developing a nuclear weapon capable of reaching parts of the US," Trump tweeted on Monday evening. "It won't happen!" The business mogul's comments came a day after North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un announced that Pyongyang is close to finalizing the development of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). Kim called on Washington to make a "resolute decision to withdraw its anachronistic hostile North Korea policy." He said that Pyongyang had "soared as a nuclear power," and that it is a "military power of the east that cannot be touched by even the strongest enemy." The United States has never accepted the country as a nuclear state andTrump has not clearly stated his policy on the country yet. This is not the first time Trump made such a promise. During his campaign, he took to Twitter to criticize US foreign policy and issue statements mostly about the most serious national security issues. Recently, he tweeted that the US should "greatly strengthen and expand" its nuclear capabilities. Trump has also accused China of military expansionism and currency manipulation through his tweeted messages. However, analysts believe that he will need Beijing to be able to deal with North Korea's mounting confrontation. On Monday, he also said that "China has been taking out massive amounts of money & wealth from the US in totally one-sided trade, but won't help with North Korea." There is still the question of how close Pyongyang is to realizing its full nuclear ambitions, as it has never successfully test-fired an ICBM. In 2016, the Asian recluse country carried out two nuclear tests and numerous missile launches. North Korea has faced international pressure to quit its arms development and nuclear program but has nevertheless reported steady growth in those areas in the past years. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address White House: Trump Should Collaborate With Russia, China on North Korea Issue Sputnik News 23:22 03.01.2017(updated 23:23 03.01.2017) The White House advised the incoming Trump administration to seek cooperation with countries like China and Russia in order to resolve the North Korea nuclear program issue. WASHINGTON (Sputnik) The administration of incoming US President-elect Donald Trump should seek openings to cooperate with Russia and China on effecting North Korea to renounce its nuclear ambitions, White House spokesperson Josh Earnest said in a briefing on Tuesday. "Our advice to next administration to look for opportunities to work effectively with countries like China and Russia, and our allies, South Korea and Japan, to apply pressure to North Korea," Earnest told reporters. Earnest suggested that Trump should also listen to the advice of US military commanders with regards to deployment of American troops in the Asia-Pacific region. On Sunday, North Korean leader Kim Jon Un claimed that Pyongyang was finalizing preparations for testing an intercontinental ballistic missile. On September 5, North Korea launched three ballistic missiles in the direction of the Sea of Japan. Several days later, Pyongyang conducted a successful test of a nuclear warhead, which is believed to be the fifth and largest blast since North Korea began pursuing nuclear and ballistic missile programs. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address US May Impose More Sanctions on North Korea for Missile Program - State Dept. Sputnik News 22:38 03.01.2017(updated 23:40 03.01.2017) Talking about North Korea's intention to test-launch an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), State Department spokesman John Kirby said that the United States may impose more sanctions on Pyongyang for its nuclear program. WASHINGTON (Sputnik) The United States has not ruled out imposing new punitive measures on North Korea for continuing its missile development program, John Kirby said in a briefing on Tuesday. "We haven't ruled out the possibility of additional sanctions," Kirby stated when asked about North Korea's vow to test-launch an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). Earlier on Tuesday, White House spokesperson Josh Earnest said the Obama administration advised the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump to work with Russia, China, South Korea and Japan to apply pressure on North Korea to stop its nuclear development activities. US Deputy Secretary Antony Blinken and South Korean Deputy National Security Advisor Cho Tae-yong will meet on Friday to discuss a response to North Korea's nuclear provocations, the US Department of State said in a press release on Tuesday. "[Blinken and Cho] will discuss the international community's response to North Korea's destabilizing violations of UN Security Council resolutions and review progress in holding North Korea accountable for its unlawful actions," the release stated. Earlier on Tuesday, the State Department said Blinken would host Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Shinsuke Sugiyama and South Korea First Vice Foreign Minister Lim Sung-nam in Washington, DC this week for trilateral consultations. On Sunday, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un claimed that Pyongyang was finalizing preparations to test an intercontinental ballistic missile. On September 5, North Korea launched three ballistic missiles in the direction of the Sea of Japan. Several days later, Pyongyang conducted a successful test of a nuclear warhead, which is believed to be the fifth and largest blast since North Korea began pursuing nuclear and ballistic missile programs. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address US Stays Confident in Missile Defense Shield Against North Korea Nuclear Threat Sputnik News 22:26 03.01.2017 The United States remains confident its anti-ballistic missile system can shoot down any North Korean missile even though its Ground-based Interceptors (GBIs) have not had a successful test since June 2014, US Department of Defense spokesman Peter Cook said in a briefing on Tuesday. WASHINGTON (Sputnik) Cook said to the daily Defense Department press briefing that Washington "remains confident in our missile defense." "We feel confident in our ability to protect the homeland We feel confident in our ability to deter this threat and protect American citizens." Cook acknowledged that the GBIs mainly deployed at Fort Greely in the US state of Alaska had not successfully intercepted any target intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) in any tests in more than two and a half years. However, Cook noted the US missile defense system was a multi-layered one. "There are layers in terms of our ballistic missile defense (BMD) That comprehensive defensive system we feel very confident in We are not relying on any one thing to protect the United States," he said. Cook noted that in addition to the GBIs deployed mainly in Alaska with a smaller number in California, the United States also had Aegis systems that use Standard Missile-3 interceptors on naval warships as well as the Theater High Altitude Air Defense (THAAD) missiles launched from aircraft. The GBI program has been plagued with problems over the past 12 years. Around 30 GBIs are currently deployed and the Obama administration has made plans to increase that force to 44 by the end of 2017. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Two Ukrainian serviceman have been injured in the Anti-Terrorist operation (ATO) zone in the east of the country over the past day, Spokesman for the Defense Ministry of Ukraine on ATO Issues Oleksandr Motuzianyk has said. "Over the past day as a result of the fighting, none of the Ukrainian military was killed, but two soldiers were wounded," he said at a briefing in Kyiv on Wednesday. Motuzianyk said that the enemy carried out seven provocations in the Luhansk sector of Popasna area using rocket-propelled grenades and machine guns. Each episode lasted about 15 minutes. In the Donetsk sector militants continue using heavy weapons in violation of the Minsk agreements, in particular, mortars are actively used on the Svitlodarsk bulge. Militants fired 35 mortar shells during the shelling of Anti-Terrorist operation (ATO) forces position near the village of Luhanske. The rest of the attacks occurred in the industrial zone of Avdiyivka and the vicinity of Horlivka. There were recorded 14 armed provocations, three of them - with the use of heavy weapons in the Donetsk sector just over a day. In the Mariupol sector the situation remains largely unchanged: two thirds of attacks falls on the coastal borders, in particular, on Shyrokyne and Vodiane. Fighters used armored vehicles. Enemy snipers worked there. Ukrainian ATO positions were fired by three mortar shells in Shyrokyne. In addition, the ceasefire regime was violated in Maryinka-Krasnohorivka, Pavlopil and Talakivka. A total of 18 cases of ceasefire violation were recorded in the Mariupol sector over the day, one of them - with the use of heavy weapons. Beijing Reiterates Its Commitment to Denuclearization of Korean Peninsula Sputnik News 13:48 03.01.2017(updated 15:46 03.01.2017) Beijing's policy on the North Korean nuclear threat was aimed at denuclearization and ensuring peace and stability on the Korean peninsula, China's Foreign Ministry spokesman said. BEIJING (Sputnik) Beijing's efforts on the denuclearization policy of North Korea are clear and recognized by the international community, China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said on Tuesday. "The efforts China takes for denuclearization on the Korean peninsula are clear for everybody," Geng said in response to US President-elect Donald Trump's statements on China's policy on North Korea. Earlier in the day, Trump slammed China, saying the country benefited from the economic cooperation with the United States but not willing to "help with North Korea." Trump added that he would not allow North Korean intercontinental ballistic missiles to reach the United States, following Sunday's statement of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un that his country was finalizing preparations for testing an intercontinental ballistic missile. Geng stressed that China's policy on the North Korean nuclear threat was aimed at denuclearization and ensuring peace and stability on the Korean peninsula and in the region. Beijing urged all the parties to refrain from actions that could lead to further escalation of the situation and focus on reaching a dialogue, Geng added. On September 5, Pyongyang launched three ballistic missiles in the direction of the Sea of Japan. Several days later it conducted a successful test of a nuclear warhead, which is believed to be the fifth and largest blast since Pyongyang began pursuing nuclear and ballistic missile programs. On October 14, North Korea carried out a failed test of the Musudan intermediate-range ballistic missile near the northwestern city of Kusong. The tests came in violation of UN Security Council resolutions. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Trump Warns North Korea on ICBM Test By Brian Padden January 03, 2017 U.S. President-elect Donald Trump refuted Kim Jong Un's implied message that his military may soon test an intercontinental ballistic Missile (ICBM) capable of reaching the U.S. mainland, that the North Korean leader made during his New Year's Day address. On Monday Trump sent out a Tweet saying, "It won't happen!" The president-elect also repeated on Twitter criticisms he made in the past against China for failing to stop its economically dependent ally in Pyongyang from developing its nuclear weapon and ballistic missile programs. South Korea praised Trump's tweets for exhibiting a "clear understanding about the graveness and urgency of North Korea's nuclear threat." "It can be read as a clear warning against Kim Jong Un's ICBM comments in his New Year's address hinting about the possibility of provocation," said South Korean Foreign Ministry Spokesman Cho June-hyuck. Mobile missiles However preventing North Korea from testing an ICBM is easier said than done. "If future President Trump (or) when he's president then President Trump blows up the space launch center at Sohae, unless all the missiles happen to be there, that really doesn't solve your problem," said Jeffrey Lewis, the director of the East Asia Nonproliferation Program at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in California. Until recently American defense analysts maintained that North Korea was only capable of reaching the U.S. mainland with a Taepodong-2 missile that has in the past been fired from a fixed site at the Sohae Satellite Launching Station. In 2016 and 2012 North Korea launched Taepodongs as rockets that Pyongyang claims were part of a peaceful space program to deliver Earth observation satellites into orbit. However, the North's space program has been widely denounced as a pretense to advance nuclear and ballistic missiles technologies that are banned by United Nations resolutions. But in the last year, in addition to conducting two increasingly powerful nuclear tests and numerous missile tests from road mobile and submarine launch platforms, North Korea tested a new more powerful engine for two mobile ICBMs, the KN08 and the KN14, that could increase their range enough to reach anywhere in the U.S. "When we looked at the nozzles on the back of the missiles, they look like a much more sophisticated engine," said Lewis. North Korea's long-range mobile missile launchers can be kept hidden underground or in shelters at different locations throughout the country, making them difficult for the U.S. military to target in advance of a test launch. Negotiation gambit It should be noted that the North Korean leader did not overtly threaten to test fire an ICBM during his address to the nation on the first day of the New Year. Instead Kim was recapping his country's nuclear advancements in the last year that included the testing of the ICBM engine. The next logical phase, analysts say, would be a test launch of this new capability. Kim also said his country will continue to build up its nuclear capabilities as long as the United States and its allies threaten the North's security and specifically objected to the American/South Korean joint military exercises conducted every year. Analyst Yang Moo-jin, with the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul says Kim New Year's message was an attempt to project strength in advance of possible negotiations with the Trump administration. "We can see North Korea's attitude to approach carefully, and it's strategic intention to control the response level according to the policy towards North Korea, which will be established by Trump administration," said Yang. However, North Korean defector and analyst Ahn Chan-il, with the World Institute for North Korean Studies, says if Kim wanted to pressure Trump to negotiate with the threat of an ICBM launch, his gambit may have failed. "It is worrisome that Kim Jong Un mentioned the ICBM that may accelerate or stimulate his opponents in the U.S.," said Ahn. During the presidential campaign Trump called North Korean leader Kim Jong Un a "maniac" but gave the young leader credit for ruthlessly seizing power. At the same time he emphasized that the U.S. must be tough in dealing with any provocations, saying, "This guy doesn't play games. And we can't play games with him." Youmi Kim and Kim Hwan-yong in Seoul contributed to this report. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Trump misguided, ignorant over NK nuke issue: experts People's Daily Online (Global Times) 09:11, January 04, 2017 US president-elect Donald Trump is misguided in lashing out at China in his latest Twitter tirade over the North Korean nuclear issue, which only shows up his ignorance about this issue, Chinese experts said. Trump on Tuesday posted two tweets in succession, which said "North Korea just stated that it is in the final stages of developing a nuclear weapon capable of reaching parts of the US. It won't happen!" and "China has been taking out massive amounts of money &wealth from the US in totally one-sided trade, but won't help with North Korea. Nice!" Trump was referring to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's New Year address which said the country would continue to strengthen its national defense, including nuclear capabilities, as long as the nuclear threat from the US exists. Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said China is firm on denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, and that China and the US should seek solutions to trade frictions on the basis of mutual respect. "Trade between China and the US is essentially mutually beneficial and a win-win for both, which has been proved by facts," Geng told a press conference on Tuesday. China has already done almost everything it can to promote a peaceful solution of the North Korean nuclear issue, Lu Chao, a research fellow from the Institute of China's Borderland History and Geography Studies at the Liaoning Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times. "We set up the platform for the Six-Party Talks, and recently, with China's assistance, the UN Security Council passed Resolution 2321, the harshest sanctions ever to target North Korea's nuclear program," Lu said. China started to act upon the resolution as soon as it passed, even though China will also suffer economic losses. "What else does Trump expect us to do?" he asked. Trump's tweets show he does not understand that China is also strongly against North Korea acquiring nuclear weapons, said Song Zhongping, a Hong Kong-based military expert who used to serve in the People's Liberation Army Second Artillery Corps (now called the Rocket Force). "If we recognize North Korea's status as a nuclear armed state, South Korea and Japan will also ask for nuclear capability. China absolutely opposes nuclear proliferation in Asia," Song said. "We do this [oppose North Korean nuclear tests] not only for the US but also for ourselves." In addition, Trump has mixed up China-US trade with the nuclear issue, Lu added. Mimicking Trump's tone, a Web user with the name laoyoutiao commented on news portal guancha.cn, "The US also borrowed massive amounts of money from us, but didn't help us with Taiwan." US responsibility It is the US, not China, that holds the key to solving North Korea's nuclear problem, Lu said. China agrees on using tough measures to warn North Korea; but the US should stop its massive joint military drills with South Korea that provoke the North, Lu said. The deployment of the US Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system not only provokes Pyongyang, but also undermines China and Russia's nuclear deterrence and further complicates the situation, he said. Despite Kim's announcement that North Korea has "entered the final stage of preparation for the test launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile," it doesn't mean North Korea has gained the needed technology to launch nuclear missiles as far as the US mainland, Song said. In order to reach US territory, North Korea would need to develop multistage rockets and technologies to allow warheads to re-enter the atmosphere, and miniaturize those warheads. Song said it has not acquired such technologies. "It is unwise for North Korea to launch provocative action first, as it will make it difficult for Trump to change from Obama's policy and start pragmatic negotiations with him," Lu added. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address India Announces New Fighter Jets to Be Produced Domestically Sputnik News 23:46 03.01.2017(updated 02:19 04.01.2017) Indian Defense Minister Manohar Parrikar said at a news conference Tuesday that New Delhi is inviting global bids for a foreign-designed single-engine fighter that would be assembled in India. According to Parrikar, a western partner for the fighter will be chosen based on pricing and terms for the transfer of the technology. He added that the Indian Air Force will receive another line of fighters to be produced under the Strategic Partnership model. Even though the Ministry of Defence's Aatre Committee mooted the SP model in April 2016, an MoD official said that a private company in India will be chosen to manufacture the fighters in India by the end of 2017. Global bids are set to be solicited in 2018, at which point a private company will be chosen as a production agency for the SP, kicking off an evaluation period to conduct trials and assess technical and financial bids. Officials say this process could take two years or longer, with the final deal slated to be signed in 2021. Sweden's Saab Group is expected to pitch its Gripen multirole fighter aircraft while multinational aerospace company Lockheed Martin is expected to offer the its Block 70 version of the venerable F-16 fighter jet. The Strategic Partnership concept called for selecting a few private sector companies to be designated as SPs. A senior IAF official told Defense News, "We will submit a new acceptance of necessity proposal for new single engine fighters to Ministry of Defense in the next four months, and will request to fast-pace this new program," adding that the "IAF will put up a demand for 200 new single engine fighters to be made in India, which will easily cost around $45 million apiece without weaponry." The strength of IAF's fleet is depleted, as they have about 34 operational fighter squadrons, making them short of the 45 that are expected to be required in the event of a fight against Pakistan and China. The force is also seeking to replace it's aging squadrons of 11 Russian MiG-21 and MiG-27 aircraft. Parrikar announced that there is a proposal to buy the Rafale fighter, after a deal with France was signed in September for 36 fighters worth nearly $9 billion. Parrikar, who signed the agreement with French counterpart Jean Yves Le Drian, said at the time that, "Rafale is a potent aircraft and will add to the capability of the IAF," according to the Hindu. The BBC quoted French President Francois Hollande commenting that the deal was "a mark of the recognition by a major military power of the operational performance, the technical quality and the competitiveness of the French aviation industry." Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address 37 top US scientists urge Trump to abide by Iran nuclear deal IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Tehran, Jan 3, IRNA -- Dozens of the US top scientists wrote to President-elect Donald Trump on Monday to urge him not to dismantle the Iran deal. "We urge you to preserve this critical US strategic asset," the US newspaper the New York Times quoted the letter as reading. The 37 signatories included Nobel laureates, veteran makers of nuclear arms, former White House science advisers and the chief executive of the world's largest general society of scientists. According to the American newspaper, the letter was organized by Richard L. Garwin, a physicist who helped design the world's first hydrogen bomb and has long advised Washington on nuclear weapons and arms control. During the presidential election campaign, Trump called the Iran accord "the worst deal ever negotiated." In a speech to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, a pro-Israel lobbying group, he declared that his "No. 1 priority is to dismantle the disastrous deal" and argued that Tehran had outmaneuvered Washington in winning concessions. The letter to Trump says its objective is to "provide our assessment" of the Iran deal since it was put in effect nearly a year ago. On Jan. 16, 2016, the International Atomic Energy Agency, the technical body in Vienna that oversees the accord with teams of inspectors it has sent to Iran, gave its approval, saying Tehran had curbed its nuclear program enough to begin receiving relief from longstanding sanctions. In Monday's letter, the scientists and nuclear experts noted that the accord takes no options off the table for Mr. Trump or any future president. Many of the 37 signatories were among the 29 who praised the accord in a letter to President Obama in August 2015, a month after the deal was signed. Less than three weeks before President-elect Donald Trump moves into the White House, Americans are skeptical he can handle some major presidential duties, a new Gallup poll reveals. Trump lags far behind Americans' confidence in Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton right before their presidential inaugurations. 'Trump prepares to take office with a majority of Americans viewing him unfavorably,' Gallup notes. 'Trump is also much less well-liked than any recent president-elect.' 44 percent believe Trump will be able to prevent major scandals in his administration, compared to an average of 76 percent who felt the same way about Obama, Bush and Clinton. 46 percent expressed confidence Trump could see the US through an international crisis, while 71 percent felt strongly that three other presidents could. 47 percent believe Trump would use military force wisely, compared to an average 76 percent who felt the same about Obama, Bush and Clinton. 53 percent expressed confidence that Trump could manage the executive branch effectively, while 81 percent felt the same about the three other presidents. 55 percent were confident Trump could effectively defend US interests abroad, compared to an average 70 percent for Obama, Bush and Clinton. 60 percent believe Trump would work effectively with Congress to get things done, while an average of 82 percent felt the same about the other three presidents. 9191**1424 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Top 37 US scientists ask Trump to abide by Iran nuclear deal Iran Press TV Tue Jan 3, 2017 7:35AM Thirty-seven top US scientists, including some of the world's leading experts in the fields of nuclear science and arms control, have written to President-elect Donald Trump, calling on him to abide by the nuclear agreement with Iran when he takes office on January 20. "We urge you to preserve this critical US strategic asset," reads the letter, which was sent to Trump on Monday, according to The New York Times. The signatories included Nobel laureates, original designers of nuclear weapons, former White House science advisers, and the chief executive of the world's largest general society of scientists. The body of the letter praises the technical features of the Iran accord, and asks Trump to abide by it. The scientists said in the letter that their objective was to "provide our assessment of the current status" of the deal which they argued provided a safeguard against Iran's possible future attempts to build a nuclear bomb. Iran and the P5+1 group the US, Britain, France, China, Russia and Germany reached the agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), in July 2015. The scientists underscored that Iran has remained fully committed to its obligations under the JCPOA, including the cessation of enrichment activities and the export of enriched uranium, and concluded that the country would now need "many months" instead of "just a few weeks" to enrich uranium to produce weapons. The letter stipulated that the JCPOA also "lowered the pressure felt by Iran's neighbors to develop their own nuclear weapons options." Iran has all along highlighted the peaceful nature of its nuclear program, saying it has never had any intention to use it for military purposes. Also, Iran says it is forbidden to use weapons of mass destruction from a religious standpoint, as highlighted on many occasions by the country's spiritual leaders. Under the deal, Tehran agreed to limit some aspects of its nuclear program in exchange for the removal of all nuclear-related sanctions. But during his campaign prior to the November 8 presidential election, Trump promised to annul the deal. He called the pact a "disaster" and "the worst deal ever negotiated." He also said that the agreement could lead to a "nuclear holocaust." In a speech to the main Israeli lobbying group in the US, AIPAC, Trump declared that his "No. 1 priority is to dismantle the disastrous deal" and argued that Iran had outmaneuvered the US in winning concessions. The three-page letter was organized by Richard L. Garwin, a physicist who helped design the world's first hydrogen bomb and has long advised US governments on arms control. Most of the 37 scientists who signed the letter are physicists, including Richard L. Garwin, IBM Fellow Emeritus; Robert J. Goldston, Princeton University; Siegfried S. Hecker, Stanford University; Martin Hellman, Stanford University; Rush D. Holt, American Association for the Advancement of Science; R. Scott Kemp, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; and Frank von Hippel, Princeton University. The United States, Israel, and some of their allies accuse Iran of pursuing military objectives in its nuclear program. Iran rejects the allegation, arguing that as a committed signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), it has the right to use nuclear technology for peaceful purposes. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Nouri al-Maliki: Iraq ready to stop post-Daesh seditions IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Tehran, Jan 3, IRNA -- Iraqi Vice President Nouri al-Maliki referred to developing ties with Iran and enforcing a strong front for foiling post-Daesh seditions as the aims of his trip to Tehran. Addressing a Tuesday meeting with the Head of the Strategic Research Center of Iran's Expediency Council Ali Akbar Velayati, al-Maliki said despite the gains so far, Iraq is not sure about seditions to come to an end in the future. 'We were invited to Iran by our Iranian brothers to meet with the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei and other senior officials in the present sensitive and crucial condition of the region and the world,' he added. 'Despite existing challenges and problems, the resistance front has always overcome the enemy front in political, military and other sectors,' he said. He referred to victories in Aleppo, saying that Iraq is ready to promote a strong front in post-Daesh era to stop imminent future seditions. The economic capital of Syria, has been cleansed and liberated on December 23 after four years of occupation by terrorists. The victory is an emphasis on power of the Syrian army and the allied forces to end battle with the terrorist groups, which serving as a prelude to a new phase to defeat terrorism in entire part of Syria. Al-Maliki who also the Secretary General of Iraq al-Dawa Party arrived in Tehran on Saturday to consult with Iranian senior officials. He was prime minister of Iraq 2006-2014. 9376**1424 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Iraqi PM urges global support to eliminate Daesh Iran Press TV Tue Jan 3, 2017 5:16PM The Iraqi prime minister has called for worldwide intelligence assistance to eliminate the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group that is wreaking havoc in the Middle Eastern country as well as elsewhere across the globe. "We need global intelligence cooperation to accelerate eliminating Daesh," Haider al-Abadi said on Tuesday. Many cities are facing insecurity and terror threats, Abadi warned, urging the international community to make efforts to restore security and bring an end to organized crimes, extremism and terrorism. Despite financial woes and austerity measure, Iraq has scored major victories against Daesh on the battlefield in the northern city of Mosul, he added. Iraqi army troops and allied fighters have been conducting a major offensive since last October to liberate Mosul that fell to Daesh in 2014. Abadi further noted that his country is not supporting terrorist outfits in Turkey and stressed that Baghdad would not allow militants to use Iraqi soil to wage terror attacks on neighboring states such as Turkey. He also announced that Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim will travel to Iraq this week in a bid to reinforce bilateral relations. Baghdad- Ankara ties damaged in December 2015, when Turkey deployed some 150 armed soldiers to the Bashiqa military camp on the outskirts of Mosul. The Iraqi government has repeatedly called for the Turkish troops' withdrawal, but Ankara has claimed that the deployment was part of a mission to fight Daesh. Elsewhere in his comments, the Iraqi head of state accused the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) of exceeding the permitted level in its export of oil to Turkey. He also called on the KRG to be transparent regarding its oil sales. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Violence killed nearly 7,000 Iraqi civilians in 2016: UN Iran Press TV Tue Jan 3, 2017 1:26PM The United Nations says at least 6,878 Iraqi civilians lost their lives last year due to violence perpetrated by Takfiri terrorists in the Arab country. The United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) said in a statement that 12,388 other civilians were injured in 2016. UNAMI noted that the numbers "have to be considered as the absolute minimum," citing its inability to verify civilian casualties in conflict areas as well as those who "died from secondary effects of violence after having fled their homes due to exposure to the elements, lack of water, food, medicines and health care." Furthermore, the data did not include casualties among civilians in Iraq's western Anbar Province for the months of May, July, August and December, it added. The figures further showed that only in December 2016, a total of 386 civilians were killed and 1,066 more wounded in Iraq, with the worst affected areas being Nineveh Province and the capital city of Baghdad in descending order. Violence had claimed the lives of at least 7,515 civilians in Iraq in 2015, according UNAMI figures. Over the past months, Iraq has been rocked by a wave of bomb attacks, mostly claimed by the Takfiri Daesh terrorist group. The militants have recently increased their acts of violence across the country in revenge for the blows they have been suffering at the hands of Iraqi forces, particularly in the northern city of Mosul. "This is, no doubt, an attempt by Daesh to divert attention from their losses in Mosul and, unfortunately, it is the innocent civilians who are paying the price," said Jan Kubis, the special representative of UN Secretary General in Iraq and UNAMI head. Daesh began its campaign of terror in northern and western Iraq in 2014. Iraqi army soldiers and allied fighters are leading operations to win back militant-held regions. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Israeli police question Netanyahu in graft probe Iran Press TV Tue Jan 3, 2017 7:2AM Israeli investigators have questioned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at his official residence in East Jerusalem al-Quds over allegations of corruption. A police vehicle with three officers was seen arriving at Netanyahu's residence on Monday evening. The investigators spent more than three hours quizzing him before leaving the residence at around 23:00 local time. The investigators later issued a statement, saying Netanyahu was "questioned under caution on suspicion that he accepted (improper) benefits," terminology that indicated Netanyahu was a criminal suspect in the case. Earlier in the day, screens had been mounted at the entrance to the property in central Jerusalem al-Quds to block view. Following the completion of the questioning, attorney general Avichai Mandelblit said that Netanyahu had been accused of ethics breaches. Mandelblit had said earlier that he authorized a full-fledged criminal investigation after his office gathered sufficient evidence. A string of probes and corruption allegations Reports emerged over the weekend that the World Jewish Congress' president and Netanyahu's long-time ally, Ronald Lauder, had given the Israeli prime minister and his son expensive gifts. Netanyahu is already under another investigation over suspicions that he accepted one million euros (about 1.1 million dollars) from accused French fraudster Arnaud Mimran for campaign funds during the 2009 Israeli elections. There are also calls for Netanyahu to be investigated for his role in a billion-dollar deal to purchase three submarines from German shipbuilder ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems GmbH. Netanyahu's personal lawyer and one of his closest confidants, David Shimron, reportedly represented the German company behind the submarine contract. The Israeli prime minister is separately also subjected to accusations that he and his wife, Sara, misappropriated public funds to pay for private expenses, ranging from laundry to ice cream. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address One Ukrainian serviceman has been injured as a result of attacks by illegal armed groups in Anti-Terrorist operation (ATO) zone in the Donetsk sector on Wednesday, the press centre of the ATO headquarters has said. Since the beginning of the day, as of 18:00 p.m. on January 4, militants have fired ATO positions 32 times, the ATO staff press centre said on its page. In particular, Troyitske of the Yasynuvatsky district and Zaitceve of the Bakhmut region in the Donetsk sector were fired by 120 mm and 82-mm mortars, while the village of Luhanske of the Bakhmut district, the village of Kruta Balka of Yasynuvatsky district and the town of Avdiyivka were shelled by rocket-propelled grenades and small arms. "In the Mariupol sector militants repeatedly fired Vodiane and Shyrokyne using mortars, rocket-propelled grenades and small arms were used to shell Hnutove, Shyrokyne, Talakivka and Pavlopil. The village of Shyrokyne was shelled by weapons of infantry combat vehicles. In the Luhansk sector the enemy fired 120-mm mortar shells at Novozvanivka, whereas Stanytsia of Luhanska was fired from rocket-propelled grenades," the statement says. South Korea's Park refuses to testify in impeachment hearing Iran Press TV Tue Jan 3, 2017 9:58AM South Korea's Constitutional Court has delayed the first hearing on the impeachment of President Park Geun-hye after she refused to appear and testify in the trial over a corruption scandal. The nine-justice court asked Park and her current and former aides to testify on January 5 after she refused to appear in court and delayed the start of oral arguments on Tuesday. In a hastily arranged press conference at Seoul's presidential Blue House, President Park rejected accusations of corruption. Her failure to appear in court sparked criticism from lawmakers, who serve as prosecutors in the trial. Lawmaker Kweon Seong Dong, the chief prosecutor in the trial, hit out at Park. "It's not good etiquette to the justices and also inappropriate for the president, as the defendant of the impeachment trial, to say this and that to the media outside of court," Kweon told reporters. Park's lawyer Lee Jung-hwan, however, said she will probably not testify in the case. The Constitutional Court noted that it cannot compel Park to appear in the trial. The tribunal can proceed without her if she declines for a second time to appear. South Korean lawmakers had voted by a large margin on December 9, 2016 to impeach Park over a major corruption scandal. The first female president of the East Asian country has been accused of involvement in an influence-peddling case. She allegedly colluded with long-time confidante Choi Soon-sil to pressure major corporations to contribute money to non-profit foundations that supported presidential initiatives. Park and Choi have denied any wrongdoing. If impeachment is confirmed, presidential elections will be held in 60 days. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Russian plans military drills with Philippines Iran Press TV Tue Jan 3, 2017 11:37AM The Russian Navy says it is planning to hold maritime drills with the Philippines to help the Southeast Asian country fight terrorism and piracy. The announcement on Tuesday came as two Russian ships - anti-submarine vessel Admiral Tributs and a sea tanker Boris Butoma - docked in Manila on a four-day goodwill visit. According to Rear Admiral Eduard Mikhailov, the deputy commander of the Russian Navy's Pacific fleet, an anti-submarine vessel, named Admiral Tributs and a sea tanker Boris Butoma arrived in the Philippine capital late on Tuesday for a four-day official navy-to-navy contact. "Our governments will maybe discuss in some period of time the possibilities of our maritime exercises," deputy commander of the Russian Navy's Pacific fleet Rear Admiral Eduard Mikhailov said on board Admiral Tributs. "We're very sure that in the future we'll get such exercises" with the Philippine side, perhaps "just the maneuvering or maybe use some combat systems and so on," he told a news conference. Mikhailov said that a wide range of equipment had been brought on both vessels to show Russia's anti-terror capabilities to the Philippine military. "The biggest problem now in the world is terrorism and piracy... we will show you what we can do and we will see what you can do and show us," he said. The joint drills come at a time of strained relations between the Philippines and the US. President Rodrigo Duterte was quoted as saying last month that Manila could live without US aid after Washington said it was halting assistance. "You can choose to cooperate with United State of America or to cooperate with Russia, but from our side we can help you in every way that you need," Mikhailov said on Tuesday. The visit is the third by the Russian Navy visit to the Southeastern Asian country but it is the first made under Duterte's administration. Manila is currently shifting its foreign policy from the US, its longtime ally, to China but Philippines' new ambassador to China Jose Sta. Romana said the shift did not mean severing ties with Washington. "We were one-sidedly imbalanced in favor of the US," he said, adding his country was not abandoning alliance with the US but was "basically trying to normalize our relations with China." The US, as the colonial ruler until 1946, currently serves as the South Asian country's main military ally but has also been highly critical of Duterte's severe crackdown on crime, specially drug trade, which has killed some 3,000 people over the past months. Philippines suffers from attacks from a number of terror groups on its territory, the most prominent of which is the ultra-violent Abu Sayyaf, which pledged alliance to the Daesh terrorist group in the summer of 2014. Those groups have been involved in many criminal activities, including rape and drug trafficking, in what they describe as their battle for an independent province in the Philippines. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Russian Warships Visit Philippines, Announce Surprise Joint Drills Sputnik News 22:14 03.01.2017(updated 01:39 04.01.2017) In a move few could have predicted to start off 2017, the Russian destroyer Admiral Tributs and sea tanker Boris Butomato have arrived in the Philippines to conduct military training exercises in an unprecedented navy-to-navy contact between the two nations. The warships arrived in the region on Tuesday as Russian Navy Rear Admiral Eduard Mikhailov proclaimed a joint mission between Manila and Moscow to target the region's two most pressing security concerns, maritime piracy and terrorism. "We're very sure," the commander of the Russian pacific fleet said, "in the future" Russia and the Philippines will "get such exercises, maybe just the maneuvering." Alternatively, "maybe just use some combat systems and so on," he noted, so as not to tip Russia's hand concerning its regional naval strategy. "We will show you what we can do, and we will see what you can do, and show us," he said, adding that the Russian Navy has carried out exercises with the Indonesian navy. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte signaled a drastic shift from long-standing ties with the US as Manila seeks to bolster relations with traditional US rivals China and Russia. Duterte instructed the nation's defense ministry to "reformat" drills with Washington, even though the Philippines was once a US territory and the two countries formally agreed to a Mutual Defense Treaty in 1951. Mikhailov indicated, however, that East Asian players, including China and "maybe" Malaysia could also coordinate with Russian-Philippine training exercises "in a few years." Maintaining the involvement of these regional partners is crucial for ensuring the stability of the South China Sea, where competing territorial claims continue to fuel geopolitical tensions. In a recent year-end interview, Duterte openly confessed that his cousins have pledged allegiance to Daesh in Mindanao, the southern-most island of the Philippines. "Let's be frank: I have cousins on the other side," he said. Later in the interview he claimed his loyalty to the Philippines outweighs that of his own blood. "I'm sorry but, you know, I am serving [the] Republic; I am not serving a relationship." Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Russia warships dock in Philippines, signal new era Iran Press TV Wed Jan 4, 2017 7:22AM Two Russian warships have docked at a port in the Philippines, potentially foreshadowing an era of enhanced military ties between Manila and Moscow as a gap widens between the Philippines and the United States. Russia's anti-submarine destroyer Admiral Tributs and sea tanker Boris Butoma docked at Manila's South Harbor on Tuesday for a week-long visit. During the stay, the military authorities of the two countries intend to discuss joint measures to combat terrorism and piracy in the region, RT reported on Wednesday. Moscow has also expressed willingness to conduct joint military drills in the region with Philippine forces in the future. "In the future, maybe we can have military exercises so we can help you and share with you our knowledge to deal or solve the problem with piracy and terrorism," said Rear Admiral Eduard Mikhailov, the Russian Navy's Pacific Fleet deputy commander, at a Tuesday press briefing. Mikhailov, who is leading the Russian naval delegation to Manila, said Russia can be instrumental in developing the Philippines' naval capabilities in the future. "The Russian Navy can help with different equipment, which we can demonstrate to you right here, or in the future in the sea during the military exercises, and also at exhibitions," he said. "From our side, we can help you in every way which you need." Shifting winds The Russian official hoped for regional military collaboration also involving China and Malaysia. "We really hope that in a few years, the military exercises, for example in your region, in the South China Sea, will [involve] for example, not only Russia and Philippines, but Russia, Philippines, China, and maybe Malaysia together." Ties between the Philippines and its long-term military partner and ally the US have deteriorated considerably in recent months. Under President Rodrigo Duterte, the Philippines has downgraded military ties with the US over American criticism of the president's trademark war on drugs. For its part, the US has been withholding aid to the Philippines financial and otherwise further angering a fiery Duterte. The Tuesday docking of the Russian warships was the third time overall that a naval group was visiting from Russia. It was the first time, however, that such a contingent was paying a visit during Duterte's term. In a state visit to China last October, the Philippine president said he planned to forge closer ties with Russia and China. New alliances in Asia, once full-blown, are most likely to mean less room for American maneuvering in the region, a staple of US foreign policy over the past decades. The US has been seeking to keep a foothold in the region by, among other things, inserting itself into regional disputes including a row in the South China Sea that involves the Philippines and China and conducting patrols away from American mainland. That prospect would be particularly significant for a US that attempted a "pivot" to Asia, where it stressed American strategic interests lay. In November last year, the Philippines' Defense Minister Delfin Lorenzana paid a state visit to Russia in a bid to explore prospects for bilateral military-technical cooperation. During that visit, both countries expressed willingness to finalize a joint agreement on defense cooperation. On Monday, the Philippines's incoming ambassador to China said his country planned to move away from its long-time ally, Washington, toward Beijing. Reacting to the news of the Russian navy's arrival in Manila, meanwhile, US State Department spokesman John Kirby claimed the "defense relationship between the United States and the Philippines remains very, very strong." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Russian Foreign Policy Experts Mull the Future of US Relations By Victor Vladimirov January 04, 2017 President-elect Donald Trump has expressed doubts about whether Moscow was involved in hacking computer systems connected to the U.S. Democratic Party. He also has called for improved relations with Russia, and even praised Russian President Vladimir Putin for choosing not to respond in kind to last week's expulsion of Russian diplomats from the U.S. At the same time, a leading member of Trump's own party is promising "new sanctions" against Russia, beyond those just imposed by the outgoing Obama administration in response to Russian hacking. Among those targeted by the latest sanctions are top officials of the GRU, the Russian military's intelligence agency, which has been blamed for the Democratic Party hacks. South Carolina Republican Senator Lindsey Graham told Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty that he and his colleagues will introduce sanctions targeting not only Russia's energy sector, banking sector, and intelligence agencies including the GRU and Federal Security Service (FSB), Russia's principal intelligence agency but also "Putin and his inner circle." Bilateral relationship Given the seemingly contradictory plans of the incoming American president and senior legislators from his own party, how do Russian foreign policy experts expect the bilateral relationship with the United States to develop with the departure of President Barack Obama and the arrival of Donald Trump? Political scientist Lilia Shevtsova told VOA's Russian service that while "mainstream" foreign policy experts in Russia are calling for expanding the channels of communication between the Russian and American establishments, there is no guarantee that will happen. She noted that Obama tried something similar in 2008 with then Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, but the effort ultimately failed. "It's a good idea, but hardly a recipe for normalization," she said. "Indeed, during the Obama-Medvedev 'reset,' a multi-level system of communication between the two sides was created. However, did it help the relationship avoid a crisis?" 'Multipolar world' Russian foreign policy experts, Shevtsova added, continue to adhere to the idea. It is inherited from Yevgeny Primakov, the veteran Soviet and Russian foreign minister who died in 2015, of a "multipolar world" that is supposed to emerge after the United States steps away from its position as global leader. "Well, America is crawling into its shell, and we are approaching a multipolar world," she said. "But there is every reason to believe it will be a Hobbesian world a struggle of all against all. And how comfortable will Russia be in this world, given its far from immense economic and military resources?" Valery Garbuzov, director of the Russian Academy of Sciences' Institute for U.S. and Canadian Studies, told VOA that many Russians are hopeful Donald Trump's presidency will lead to an improvement in bilateral relations. "I believe that the main task consists primarily in the promotion of economic and trade cooperation, which may lead to the necessity of lifting sanctions, and after that, everything else, including scientific and cultural contacts," he said. "If you think in terms of the four-year [U.S.] presidential term, then, of course, it would be nice if a broad agenda between the two countries were built during that time." Still, Garbuzov said he is not sure Trump will be able to overcome the deterioration in bilateral relations that took place over the last several years, or likely opposition to his initiatives, including a possible new U.S.-Russia "reset," from both Democrats and members of his own party. "After all, there is Congress; though it is dominated by Republicans, they love Trump 'through clenched teeth,'" he said. "To say nothing of the Democrats; it is clear that they are extremely unhappy, and many are even shocked by what happened" in the 2016 presidential election. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Syrian Rebels Freeze Peace Effort, Citing Regime's Truce Violations RFE/RL January 03, 2017 Syrian rebel groups have announced they are freezing discussions about joining peace talks sponsored by Russia because of "breaches" in a four-day-old cease-fire by the Syrian government. Government forces intensified attacks around Damascus and Aleppo on January 2 as they sought to secure the cities' water supplies. In a statement, the rebel groups said that any territorial advances by the army and Iran-backed militias would end the effort to restart peace talks as well as a fragile cease-fire brokered by Russia and Turkey that went into effect on December 30. "The regime and its allies have continued firing and committed many and large violations...threatening the lives of hundreds of thousands of people," said the statement signed by about a dozen mainly moderate rebel groups operating under the umbrella of the Free Syrian Army. Russia and Turkey, which back opposing sides in the war, have been working to organize peace talks in the Kazakh capital of Astana later this month in efforts endorsed over the weekend by the United Nations Security Council. But the cease-fire they brokered in an effort to pave the way for the peace talks, like previous Syrian cease-fires, has been shaky from the start, with repeated outbreaks of violence in some areas, even as it has largely held in others. The rebel groups questioned Russia's ability to force the Syrian government and its Iranian allies to abide by the terms of the cease-fire deal. The rebel statement said the main violations were in an area northwest of Damascus in the rebel-held Wadi Barada valley, which government forces and the Iran-backed Lebanese Hizballah group have been trying to recapture in part because a major spring there provides most of Damascus's water supplies. The Syrian government says rebels have targeted key water infrastructure, causing leaking fuel to poison water supplies and then cutting it off altogether. The United Nations says at least 4 million people in Damascus have been without water since December 22. With reporting by Reuters, dpa, and AFP Source: http://www.rferl.org/a/syrian-rebels- freeze-peace-effort-astana-citing-regime-truce- violations-damascus-aleppo/28210667.html Copyright (c) 2017. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Syrian Rebel Groups: No Talks Until Regime Stops Violating Cease-fire By Jamie Dettmer January 03, 2017 Syria's main rebel groups say they are suspending participation in preliminary Russia-brokered peace talks later this month in Kazakhstan's capital, Astana, in protest of frequent violations by the regime of a days-old truce. Along with a government-led assault on Wadi Barada, a rebel-held area near the Syrian capital, insurgents also are complaining about major airstrikes in the provinces of Hama and Idlib, and a regime push on the Eastern Ghouta suburb of Damascus. "As these violations are continuing, the rebel factions announce... the freezing of all discussion linked to the Astana negotiations," wrote 10 factions in a joint statement. The suspension amounts to a significant setback to a Moscow-led negotiation process that has sidelined the West as it includes two of the largest armed factions - the Free Syrian Army and the powerful Islamist alliance Jaish al-Fatah (Army of Conquest). "The regime and its allies have not stopped shooting and have launched major and frequent violations, notably in the regions of Wadi Barada and Eastern Ghouta. Any [advance] on the ground goes against the [cease-fire] agreement and if things don't return to how they were before, the accord will be considered null and void," the factions warned. Ongoing offensive Monitoring groups confirmed there has been no let-up in a two-week-long regime offensive on villages in the Barada valley, 15 kilometers from Damascus, where Syrian and Russian warplanes have mounted daily bombing raids, including the dropping of barrel bombs. Wadi Barada, which has been besieged by the regime since mid-2015, is the main source of drinking water for Damascus' 4 million inhabitants and supplies have been seriously disrupted in recent weeks with both sides blaming the other for the interruption. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitoring group that relies on a network of activists in Syria for its information, reported that about 1,000 civilians, mostly women and children, fled Wadi Barada in recent days. Much as with other besieged rebel-held areas, the regime has pursued a starve-or-surrender strategy, say analysts, hoping to pressure rebels into withdrawing. According to the Syrian Observatory, two civilians were killed Monday by snipers in a village in Wadi Barada. Fierce ground clashes have continued for days between regime forces with militiamen from the Lebanese Shi'ite movement Hezbollah in the vanguard and rebel fighters, including al-Qaida-linked rebels. The nationwide cease-fire organized by Russia and Turkey excludes the Islamic State terror group and Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, an al-Qaida faction formerly known as al-Nusra Front. A dozen civilian casualties have been documented elsewhere in Syria. Monitors say two civilians were killed on the third day of the cease-fire, which began on Friday, during a regime bombardment in Homs province and a sniper killed a civilian on the outskirts of Douma city. Two children from one family were killed in artillery shelling in the western countryside of Aleppo. Numerous breaches The Russian-Turkish-brokered truce is the third cease-fire in Syria in the past year. On Saturday, the United Nations Security Council approved the cease-fire deal. The Syrian Network for Human Rights recorded no fewer than 77 regime breaches in the first 72 hours. In a report, the group stated, "72 breaches were by the Syrian regime forces," mostly in Homs and the Damascus suburbs. "Five breaches were by Russian forces including four in Aleppo whereas the fifth breach was recorded in Hama," the group said in its report. The Syrian Network urged Moscow, as a primary sponsor of the agreement, to apply pressure on the Assad regime to "commit to the agreement's provisions, otherwise, the cease-fire will ultimately fail." It added, "Russian forces have to adhere to the agreement, and cease bombing civilians because any other breaches by the Russian forces, who should supposedly oversee the implementation of the agreement, will demolish the credibility of any future Russian sponsorship." Syrian military officials say they have not been violating the truce as they have been targeting jihadist groups excluded from the cease-fire agreement from the outset. Members of the High Negotiations Committee, a political opposition body that has been representing the rebels and anti-Assad activists at the now stalled U.N.-brokered Geneva peace process, say they have so far not received invitations to attend the Astana talks. Rebel leaders say they suspect Moscow wants to try to exclude the HNC and to talk only with the armed factions and "approved" opposition groups that are based in Damascus. Meanwhile, it emerged Tuesday that a 20-year-old Briton, a one-time chef from southern England, was killed on December 21 while fighting the Islamic State group just north of Raqqa. Ryan Lock, who had no previous military experience, joined the Kurdish militia, the People's Protection Units (YPG), last August, telling his family that he was going on vacation to Turkey. The YPG told his family he was killed along with four other YPG militiamen. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Obama Welcomes Turkish, Russian Effort To Revive Syrian Cease-Fire January 04, 2017 U.S. President Barack Obama welcomed Turkey's effort with Russia to revive a Syrian cease-fire and peace talks in a conversation with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The White House said on January 3 that Obama expressed condolences to Erdogan over a "horrific" terrorist attack on December 31 in an Istanbul nightclub claimed by the Islamic State (IS) extremist group as well as a December 17 attack on Turkish police in Kayseri that was blamed on an outlawed Kurdish group. The two leaders noted progress in their campaign against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria and agreed that "Turkey and the United States must continue to stand united in order to defeat terrorism," the White House said. The conversation came after recent accusations from Erdogan and his deputies that the United States has been arming "terrorists" in Syria in an apparent reference to U.S. aid given to Syrian Kurdish militias who have been battling IS. Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim on January 3 urged U.S. President-elect Donald Trump to put an end to "this shame" and questioned whether the U.S.-backed Kurdish forces were doing anything to defeat IS. "They are pretending to fight IS. Turkey is the only country that is leading a fight. The United States isn't doing anything," Yildirim said. Based on reporting by AP and Reuters Source: http://www.rferl.org/a/obama-erdogan-welcomes-turkey-russia-syria-cease-fire/28212635.html Copyright (c) 2017. 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 Taiwan has comprehensive anti-missile capability: official ROC Central News Agency 2017/01/03 20:47:46 Taipei, Jan. 3 (CNA) Taiwan's military has comprehensive anti-missile capability, the presidential office spokesman said on Tuesday, after an anti-government group publicly invited China to fire missiles at the Presidential Office. The group, which calls itself the "2017 Recall Tsai Ing-wen Alliance," has posted a Google map that marks the precise position of the Presidential Office on its Facebook page, urging China to target its missiles accordingly. Asked to comment on the matter, Presidential Office spokesman Alex Huang () said the military is more than capable of protecting the nation from missile threats. He also said that although the position of the Presidential Office is a matter of public record, it was unbelievable that anyone would stoop so low. (By Sophia Yeh and Y.F. Low) ENDITEM/AW NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Vietnam's deportation of Taiwanese suspects to China regrettable: MOFA ROC Central News Agency 2017/01/03 21:09:46 Taipei, Jan. 3 (CNA) Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said Tuesday it was regrettable that Vietnam had decided to send four Taiwanese fraud suspects to China instead of back to Taiwan. The four Taiwanese were arrested by Vietnamese police in the northeastern port city of Hai Phong in late December on suspicion of telecommunications fraud, according to the MOFA. When Taiwan's representative office in Vietnam was informed of the situation, it began negotiations with Vietnamese authorities to have the four suspects sent back to Taiwan for investigation, the ministry said. Beijing, however, demanded that the suspects be handed over to China on the grounds that all the alleged fraud victims were Chinese nationals, and it also sought to prevent Taiwanese officials from visiting the suspects, according to the MOFA. Yielding to strong pressure from Beijing, the Vietnamese authorities deported the four Taiwanese suspects to China on Jan. 1, which was a regrettable decision, the ministry said. (By Tang Pei-chun and Y.F. Low) ENDITEM/pc NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address (Global Times) 08:24, January 04, 2017 Consumers shop at an IKEA store in Shanghai on December 14, 2015. Photo: IC Experts said China will benefit from the timely revision of its foreign investment guidance catalogue, as the period for soliciting public opinions comes to a close on Friday. The Ministry of Commerce(MOFCOM) and the National Development and Reform Commission(NDRC) issued a draft seeking public input for the 7th revision to the foreign investment industry catalogue on December 7. The last revision to the catalogue was made in 2015. The industries restricted to foreign investors will be reduced from 93 to 62, according to a statement posted on the NDRC website. Major areas that will be opened up to foreign companies in the services sector include road transportation, credit surveys and ratings. In the manufacturing sector the expansion will include rolling stocks, automotive electronics, motorcycles and corn processing. China's continued efforts to open up to foreign investment are linked with the country's economic transformation, hurdles faced by the nation's manufacturing sector and the "Made in China 2025" strategy, according to a report by news portal cnr.cn on Friday. Zhang Jianping, an expert with the MOFCOM, was quoted as saying that foreign capital played an important role in China's economic transformation with more foreign companies venturing into the service sector and high-end manufacturing. Benefits to domestic firms Zhang Ning, a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said the opening up in high-end manufacturing and services will directly benefit those industries. "What we will see is, at first, domestic firms might be overshadowed, but then in a few years they will improve to compete with their foreign counterparts due to a spillover effect in which expertise is passed on from foreign companies to domestic companies via a talent flow," Zhang said, noting that attracting more foreign firms doesn't contradict the national "Made in China 2025" strategy, which calls for core technologies to be mastered by domestic industrial champions. On Tuesday, the Delegations of German Industry and Commerce in China said it generally welcomed the new structure of the draft, which distinguishes between encouraged sectors and the new "negative list." "However, we get the impression that there is no substantial opening up for foreign investors in the draft as expected. Most sectors are just rearranged under adjusted terms," the organization said in a statement on its website. Country tops FDI destinations Actual utilized foreign direct investment (FDI) from the US and the EU recorded year-on-year growth rates of 55.4 percent and 43.9 percent in the first 11 months of 2016, respectively, MOFCOM spokesman Shen Danyang told a press briefing on December 29. The services industry saw an actual utilized FDI year-on-year growth of 3.8 percent, Shen said. More technology-driven companies including German automaker BMW, global oil giant BP and Swedish furniture giant IKEA increased their investment in China in 2016, he said. China has attracted roughly $110 billion of FDI each year since 2010, and China has ranked No.1 in terms of actual utilizing FDI among developing countries for 24 consecutive years, Shen noted. Despite some issues, such as rising labor costs and a depreciating yuan, China is still perhaps the best investment destination among the world's developing nations due to its vast market, solid infrastructure and a comprehensive industrial value chain, Zhang noted. "India is comparable to China in terms of market size, but its infrastructure and industrial chain is no match to China. Similarly, while Southeast Asia and Latin America offer lower labor costs, they also lack infrastructure and an industrial chain," Zhang told the Global Times on Tuesday. Bai Ming, a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, said foreign investment into China is also transforming and moving toward high-end, higher-quality sectors. "A higher-quality foreign investment is what China looks for, given that its volume of FDI is basically stable. And services and high-end manufacturing are major traits of high-quality foreign investment," Bai told the Global Times Tuesday. The revision of the foreign investment catalogue is in line with China's industrial guidance policy, Bai said. Turkey says mulls extending post-coup emergency rule Iran Press TV Tue Jan 3, 2017 6:46PM Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim says the country's parliament is set to vote on extending the state of emergency declared following the failed July 15 military coup. Addressing parliamentarians from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) on Tuesday, Yildirim said the lawmakers will debate the three-month extension of the emergency rule this week. The upcoming vote would be the third extension of Turkey's state of emergency, which enables the government to bypass parliament in enacting new legislation and limiting human rights and freedoms. The state of emergency was imposed in Turkey a few days after the abortive putsch that began when a faction of the Turkish army declared that it had seized control of the country and the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was no more in charge. Tanks, helicopters and soldiers clashed with police and people on the streets of the cities of Ankara and Istanbul. Over 240 people were killed on all sides in the attempted coup d'etat that was blamed on the movement led by US-based opposition cleric, Fethullah Gulen. The Erdogan administration has launched a crackdown on those believed to have played a role in the failed coup, in a move that has sparked criticisms from human rights groups. Elsewhere in his remarks, the Turkish premier said that he expected the new US government to stop supplying arms to militants of the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG). The outgoing US administration of President Barack Obama was responsible for providing the militants with weapons, Yildirim said, urging Washington "not allow this strategic partnership [with Turkey] to be overshadowed by a terrorist organization." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Ominous Start To The New Year In Turkey David Patrikarakos January 03, 2017 2017 has begun in much the same way 2016 ended: with the world in an uproar over yet another act of bloodshed claimed by the extremist group Islamic State. In the early hours of January 1, 2017, a gunman opened fire on crowds ringing in the New Year at a trendy Istanbul nightclub, killing 39 and injuring 69 more. Like the IS-claimed Christmas market attack in Berlin that left 12 dead and scores injured in December, the massacre has reaffirmed the extremist group's international reach. For Turkey, which has vowed to carry on with its military campaign against IS in Syria, it is an ominous sign of a long year to come. The target, popular with celebrities and foreign tourists, appeared to be carefully chosen. A high-profile nightspot where people gather to drink alcohol and dance, it is a symbol of the country's secular culture, which has come under threat from the increasingly autocratic and Islamist rule of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Erdogan was quick to blame terror groups that were "trying to create chaos" and "demoralize our people and destabilize our country." Even before Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack, all evidence pointed to it being their work. It is unclear why IS waited more than 24 hours before taking credit, but as New York Times correspondent Rukmini Callimachi, an expert on jihadist groups, explained via a series of tweets, IS has been traditionally more reluctant to claim responsibility for mass atrocities than for targeted killings in Sunni-majority countries (likely for fear of alienating its supporters). Set against this, she continued, has been an upsurge in anti-Turkish IS rhetoric that has included calls for attacks against the country, including from the group's leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Both the timing and nature of the attack bore the hallmarks of a classic IS attack. Since Turkish forces crossed the border into Syria in August, Ankara has made itself a target for a variety of forces engaged in the country's vicious civil war. Turkish troops are now battling not only IS but also Kurdish factions allied with U.S.-backed rebels fighting the Syrian government. By entering the war directly, Turkey de facto aligned itself with Russia, with which it recently worked to broker a fragile cease-fire, even though the two countries back different sides. Following the failed coup in July, Erdogan met with Russian President Vladimir Putin before bringing his troops across Syria's border. The relationship between the two has been unusually pleasant since. Even after Moscow's ambassador to Ankara was assassinated in late December, Putin and Erdogan appeared to move closer together, not further apart, arguing that the violence was intended to undermine their efforts to work together to fight terrorism. Russia is also -- ostensibly -- fighting IS. In reality, however, Moscow is more concerned with fighting other Syrian opposition groups to keep President Bashar al-Assad in power and has come to be loathed by the rebels. Moreover, like Russia, self-interest lies behind Turkey's intervention: Its stated objective of overthrowing Assad is not the priority. Rather, Ankara is more concerned with defeating Kurdish groups allied to the rebels, which, with their separatist designs, it considers an existential threat to Turkish sovereignty. All of this has some analysts believing that Erdogan and Putin may have made some sort of bargain for Syria, likely resulting in the partitioning of the country, with some areas under Turkish influence or control and the rest in the hands of Assad. "With [Turkey's] recent alliance with Russia, it has effectively placed itself at odds with the Syrian opposition, as well as more extreme elements," explains Rashad Ali, a senior fellow at the London-based Institute for Strategic Dialogue, an organization dedicated to combating extremism. "The level of infiltration of [Al-Qaeda] and IS in Turkey, as well as its indigenous problems, already make managing the various security threats more and more complicated and difficult." This can only be tackled "with local intelligence and municipal-level cooperation with the state and global apparatus," Ali adds. "Whilst Turkey is generally commended for how it has dealt with the fallout of the [Assad government's] war against the Syrian people, its political stance of prioritizing the Kurdish question over its former stance of diplomatic and strategic support for the Syrian rebel factions means it has inadvertently placed itself on the opposite side of the Syrian people, not just the extremist factions." Ali also points out that -- as a moderate Islamist and increasingly authoritarian regime that is allying tactically with the West -- Turkey is seen by IS as being almost worse than the extremist group's sectarian enemy, the Shi'a. "IS may describe the Shi'a as rawafidh (those who reject) and majus (magicians), but the secularized sellout Islamists and the sellout Wahhabis are more culpable in their hypocrisy," Ali says. As ever, the apostate is despised more than the infidel. Shift To More Traditional Terrorism Critically, Turkey's entrance into the Syrian civil war also comes at a time when IS is suffering repeated losses on the ground. The so-called caliphate it once controlled -- and that was, at its peak in 2014, an area the size of Great Britain -- has shrunk drastically. The "victory" narrative that was once the foundation of IS propaganda has long receded. Turkish forces are now playing an integral role in the drive to push IS from Iraq's second city of Mosul. It was the city's capture in June 2014 that gave Baghdadi the confidence to declare the establishment of the caliphate that same month. As IS has suffered on the ground, it has been forced to switch its focus. Military defeats damage the group's "brand" and must be supplemented with successes elsewhere. These have consistently taken the form of terror attacks abroad, which allow the group to project power internationally and ensure it remains in global headlines. IS's November 2015 attack on the Bataclan theater in Paris and its surrounding areas, in which a combination of coordinated suicide bombings and shootings killed 130 people and injured almost 400 others, echoes the January 1 attack in Istanbul: A high-profile venue in which revelers drank and danced, activities considered haram (forbidden or proscribed by Islamic law), was targeted by gunmen who fired into the crowd. Outrage -- and its attendant publicity -- has brought IS directly into people's living rooms once more. "IS has decided to project its war elsewhere, away from the focus point from its loss of territory," Ali explains. "But also like all terrorism, it serves multiple purposes, including projecting power as well as diverting resources away and eyes and attention away from its losses. It has been preparing to return to its primary focus as a guerrilla-type and terrorist outfit, which we will see more of regionally and more attempts globally. A diffused IS means a diffused strategy of terrorism." In short, the bloodshed and killing is likely to continue for a long time to come -- with disastrous consequences for innocent civilians from the Middle East to the heart of Europe. The views expressed in this blog post do not necessarily reflect the views of RFE/RL. Source: http://www.rferl.org/a/islamic-state -turkey-ominous-start-to-2017- putin-erdogan/28211404.html Copyright (c) 2017. 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 Kyrgyzstan Says Passport Holder No Longer Suspect In Istanbul Nightclub Attack RFE/RL January 03, 2017 Kyrgyz officials say the man whose name and passport have been circulated in Turkish and Italian media, as well as widely on social media, as the possible perpetrator of the New Year's Day massacre at an Istanbul nightclub is not a suspect in the case. A spokesman for Kyrgyzstan's National Security Service told RFE/RL on January 3 that Iakhe Mashrapov is now in Kyrgyzstan and had been questioned by both the Kyrgyz and Turkish authorities. The spokesman, Rakhat Suleymanov, said that Mashrapov, a Kyrgyz businessman who lives in the town of Kara-Suu in Kyrgyzstan's southern Osh Province, flew to Bishkek from Istanbul on January 3 using his passport, which is genuine. Suleymanov said Mashrapov's flight from Istanbul was delayed one hour as Turkish police questioned him before clearing him to depart. Mashrapov told Kyrgyz Internet news agency Turmush later on January 3 that he had no idea how a picture of his passport was placed on social media. Turkish authorities are still searching for the gunman who burst into Istanbul's waterfront Reina nightclub with an automatic weapon and began shooting people celebrating New Year's early on January 1, killing at least 39 people and wounded 69 others. Turkish state news agency Anadolu said on January 3 that 14 people had so far been detained in connection with the investigation. The dead include the nationals of more than a dozen countries. Funerals were being held around the Middle East on January 3 for victims from Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, and Turkey. Victims also included citizens of Belgium, Canada, Germany, India, and Russia. The militant group Islamic State (IS) claimed responsibility for the massacre, calling the gunman a "hero soldier of the caliphate" and calling it an attack on an "apostate holiday" and revenge for Turkey's military involvement in Syria. Reuters quoted an unnamed security source as saying that "the assailant has experience in combat for sure... He could have been fighting in Syria for years." The same source reportedly said the perpetrator was likely to have been following instructions from Islamic State. The Kyrgyz passport photo posted on social media generated wide interest in part because it appeared to bear a resemblance to a selfie video of a man on Istanbul's central Taksim Square that was also posted on the Internet on January 3. Closed-captioned cameras also caught images of the gunman as he shot his way into the nightclub on the Bosphorus. IS and other militant groups frequently traffic in stolen passports, which they use for recruitment efforts and to allow their fighters to travel undetected. It was initially unclear how the conclusions about the Kyrgyz man shown in the passport might affect the investigation. Turkish government spokesman Numan Kurtulmus said on January 2 that officials were close to identifying the gunman and had fingerprints they believed belong to the attacker. Turkish media has widely reported that the nightclub attacker is thought to be from Central Asia. However, the news reports are based on information from unidentified Turkish officials, or members of Turkish security bodies, and have not been publicly confirmed. Turkish media outlet Hurriyet columnist Abdulkadir Selvi has reported that the attacker had been identified, with investigators focusing on the idea he was from Central Asia. CNN Turk has said the suspect was believed by Turkish investigators to be of Kyrgyz origin. And the Dogan news agency reported on January 3 that a woman suspected of being the suspect's wife had been detained in overnight police raids in the Anatolian city of Konya but gave no further details. The attacker shot dead a police officer and a civilian at the entrance to the exclusive nightclub, then opened fire with an automatic rifle inside, reloading his weapon half a dozen times and reportedly shooting the wounded as they lay on the ground. The Turkish news outlet Haberturk quoted a barman at the club as saying the gunman had thrown explosive devices several times during the shooting spree, apparently in order to disorientate people and give himself time to reload. Several witnesses who spoke to Reuters also said there had been small explosions during the attack. Turkey has suffered dozens of deadly terror attacks in the past 12 months, including on its international airport in Istanbul, with some blamed on IS and others said to be the work of Kurdish militants. With reporting by RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service, Reuters, AFP, AP, and dpa Source: http://www.rferl.org/a/turkey-kyrgyzstan- checking-identity-istanbul-nightclub- attack-suspect/28211165.html Copyright (c) 2017. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Turkey Identifies Istanbul Attacker, Erdogan Vows Not To Give In To 'Terrorists' RFE/RL January 04, 2017 Turkish authorities say they have identified the perpetrator of the New Year's Day massacre at an Istanbul nightclub, as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared that the country will not surrender to "terrorists." Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, speaking to the state-run Anadolu news agency on January 4, said the identity of the gunman had been established, without providing further details. The gunman burst into Istanbul's waterfront Reina nightclub with an automatic weapon and began shooting people celebrating New Year's early on January 1, killing at least 39 people and wounding 69 others. The dead included 27 foreigners, many from the Middle East. The extremist Islamic State (IS) group said a "soldier of the caliphate" had carried out the massacre, calling it an attack on an "apostate holiday" and revenge for Turkey's military involvement in Syria. The gunman, who fled after the attack, remains at large. "Efforts to capture him continue," Cavusoglu said, adding that the house the suspect lived in "has been searched" and that the attack had been "professionally" planned. Turkish media reported that the attacker rented a flat in the central city of Konya before moving to Istanbul to carry out the assault. Despite not revealing the name of the suspect, police released the images of the attacker earlier this week, including one taken by security cameras on the night of the massacre. A 28-year-old citizen of Kyrgyzstan whose name and passport have been circulated in Turkish and Italian media, as well as widely on social media, as the possible perpetrator was questioned by Turkish and Kyrgyz authorities in Bishkek but later released. Several Arrests Meanwhile, state news agency Anadolu reported that 20 suspected members of the IS group were detained in the western province of Izmir as part of the ongoing investigation. Reuters news agency quoted police as saying the suspects were thought to be of Central Asian and North African origin. They were also believed to have travelled to Izmir from Konya. Sixteen people had been detained earlier in the week in connection with the massacre, according to Anadolu. In his first public address to the nation since the attack, Erdogan claimed it was aimed at dividing Turkey, but said the country would not fall for the ploy. "The aim was clear: to create a fissure and polarize society," he said in Ankara. "Nobody's lifestyle is under systematic threat in Turkey," Erdogan also said. "We will never allow this." The president added that "to say Turkey has surrendered to terrorism is to take sides with the terrorists and terror organizations." Turkey has suffered dozens of deadly terror attacks in the past 12 months, including on its international airport in Istanbul, with some blamed on the IS group and others said to be the work of Kurdish militants. Late on January 3, Turkish lawmakers voted to extend by a further three months a state of emergency that was declared following a July 15 coup attempt. The state of emergency was declared to crack down on a network linked to U.S.-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, accused by Ankara of orchestrating the failed coup. Gulen denies any involvement. With reporting by Reuters, AFP, and AP Source: http://www.rferl.org/a/turkey- says-istanbul-nightclub-attacker- identified/28212721.html Copyright (c) 2017. 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 Ukrainian Envoy to US Hopes Trump Will Allow Lethal Arms Supplies to Kiev Sputnik News 23:35 03.01.2017 Ukrainian Ambassador to the United States Valeriy Chaly on Tuesday expressed hope that the administration of US President-elect Donald Trump would revise the US policy banning lethal arms supplies to Kiev. KIEV (Sputnik) At present, US military assistance to Kiev is limited to supplying uniforms and equipment, including counter-battery radars, drones and means of secure communication. "Defensive equipment is delivered to Ukraine and gives an opportunity to save lives of our troops as well as to record violations of the ceasefire regime [in Donbass region]," Chaly told the Ukrinform news outlet. He added that the policy of outgoing US President Barack Obama creates obstacles for Ukraine to receive lethal weapons from the United States. "Therefore, the changes in the White House give an opportunity to take a fresh look at the matter," the ambassador added. The Ukrainian government has been conducting a military operation in the country's eastern regions since April 2014. In February 2015, Kiev and the southeastern militia signed a peace deal in the Belarusian capital of Minsk. The agreement includes a ceasefire and means to monitor and verify it, and the withdrawal of weapons from the line of contact. However, despite the Minsk deal, the sides to the conflict have repeatedly blamed each other for ceasefire violations. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address French Far-Right Presidential Contender Says Crimean Annexation Legitimate January 04, 2017 France's far-right leader and presidential candidate Marine Le Pen said on January 3 that Russia's annexation of Ukraine's Crimea in 2014 was "not illegal." In an interview with French television channel BFM TV, the leader of the National Front party sided with the Kremlin in a dispute that has contributed to the worst East-West ties since the Cold War. "I absolutely disagree that it was an illegal annexation: a referendum was held and residents of Crimea chose to rejoin Russia," said Le Pen, who is running in the April 17 presidential election on a platform of forging stronger ties with Russia. Russian forces swept into the Black Sea peninsula in February 2014 and a month later organized a referendum in which more than 95 percent of Crimean voters backed joining Russia. "I see no grounds whatsoever to question this referendum," Le Pen said, adding that she views Crimea as a part of Russia. The United States and European Union branded the referendum as "farcical" and have insisted that Crimea's annexation from Ukraine was illegal. They cited the takeover as the principle reason for hitting Russia with tough sanctions that remain in place today. Based on reporting by The Independent and TASS Source: http://www.rferl.org/a/french-far-right- presidential-contender-le-pen-says-crimean- annexation-legitimate/28212401.html Copyright (c) 2017. 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. (Global Times) 09:35, January 04, 2017 Photo taken on Oct. 19, 2016 shows the screen at the Beijing Aerospace Control Center showing a simulated picture of an automated docking between the Shenzhou-11manned spacecraft and the orbiting space lab Tiangong-2. The Shenzhou-11 manned spacecraft successfully completed its automated docking with the orbiting Tiangong-2 space lab Wednesday morning, according to Beijing Aerospace Control Center. (Xinhua/Ju Zhenhua) China plans to conduct some 30 space launch missions in 2017, a record-breaking number in the country's space history, said China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation. Long March-5and Long March-7 rockets will be used to carry out most of the space missions this year, the China News Service reported. Long March-5 is China's largest carrier rocket. The successful test launch of the vehicle in November in South China's Hainan Province will pave the way for space station construction, analysts said. Wang Yu, general director of the Long March-5 program, said 2017 is a critical year for China's new generation of carrier rockets and the Long March-5 rockets will carry Chang'e-5 probe to the space. The probe will land on the moon, collect samples and return to Earth. On the other hand, Long March-7, the more powerful version of Long March-2, will send China's first cargo spacecraft Tianzhou-1 into the space in the first half of 2017, according to Wang Zhaoyao, director of China Manned Space Engineering Office. Tianzhou-1 is expected to dock with Tiangong-2 space lab and conduct experiments on propellant supplement. China conducted 22 launch missions in 2016 and 19 in 2015. The country successfully tested its Long March-7 rocket in June last year and has gradually shifted to new generation rockets that reduce the use of toxic rocket fuels. Last Month, China released a white paper on space activities, announcing plans to soft land Chang'e-5 on the moon by the end of 2017 and launch its first Mars probe by 2020. After Chang'e-5, China will launch the Chang'e-4 lunar probe around 2018 to achieve mankind's first soft landing on the far side of the moon and conduct in situ and roving detection and relay communications at Earth-moon L2 point. The white paper also says that in the next five years, China will provide space and aviation-related services to countries involved in the One Belt and One Road initiative, such as satellite communications, navigation and weather forecasting analysis. A Virginia lawmaker has filed a bill to force transgender people to use the bathroom corresponding to the sex on their birth certificate and require school principals to notify a student's parents if the student makes any attempt to be "treated as the opposite sex." Del. Robert G. Marshall, a Prince William County Republican and one of the General Assembly's most socially conservative members, filed a bill he's titled the "Physical Privacy Act" for the legislative session that begins next week. The bill mirrors North Carolina's controversial HB2 measure, which prompted business boycotts and outcry from LGBT groups. However, the Virginia version faces long odds and Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffe, who has tried to lure business prospects away from North Carolina over the HB2 fallout, said he will veto "any bill that restricts the rights of Virginians based on sexual orientation or gender identity." Marshall's bill, HB1612, would block transgender people from accessing restrooms corresponding to their gender identity in all government buildings, including schools and universities. The bill also would enable people who encounter a transgender person in the wrong bathroom to sue the government entity for failing to take "reasonable steps" to strictly separate bathrooms by birth sex. In an interview Wednesday, Marshall said the bill was meant to protect women from men pretending to be transgender in order to gain access to women's bathrooms for nefarious purposes. His goal, he said, was to preserve "safe space" for women throughout Virginia. "To let boys or guys without anything else just claim they're transgendered is to really put women in harm's way," said Marshall, who has drawn headlines in the past for his staunch opposition to gay marriage and abortion. LGBT rights advocates have vigorously opposed transgender bathroom bills as discriminatory and unnecessary. Gavin Grimm, a transgender teenager from Gloucester County who was barred from using the boys' bathroom, has filed a civil rights lawsuit against his school district that could lead to a U.S. Supreme Court ruling with nationwide impact. Danica Roem, a 32-year-old transgender woman from Manassas who announced this week that she's running for Marshall's seat as a Democrat, called Marshall's bill another example of his tendency to file hot-button legislation that goes nowhere. In her work as a journalist, Roem said she never heard Prince William residents talk about transgender bathroom issues as a top priority. "Why? Because we're not a threat," Roem said. "This is ridiculous." Marshall pointed to cases of "scurrilous activity" in bathrooms in other states, including a lawsuit against a school district in Minnesota sparked by a transgender girl "twerking and grinding" in a girls' locker room, but said he knew of no examples in Virginia. Marshall said he was spurred to act by the Prince William School Board's consideration of expanding its nondiscrimination to add protection for transgender students and staff. That decision was put off until later this year, but Marshall said the policy has drawn vocal opposition in his home county, not all of it of the "Bible-banging" variety. Marshall, who has also introduced a resolution for 2017 to declare pornography a threat to public health, said he'll introduce a separate gender-related billl to clearly define the terms male and female. He played down the controversy in North Carolina, saying the state retained its number ranking on Forbes Magazine's list of best states for business despite the furor. "I guess common sense is not so common anymore," Marshall said. Virginia Republicans have shown little appetite for transgender bathroom bills in the past, and pressing the issue could be particularly risky as the GOP tries to fight the state's blue trend and retake the governor's office this fall. A similar bill died last year in a Republican-controlled House of Delegates committee by a 8-13 vote, with some lawmakers pointing to the pending lawsuit as a reason to avoid setting a statewide policy. Marshall acknowledged that he'll likely face resistance from his own party. "That's because [House Speaker] Bill Howell doesn't want to deal with any of these issues. And that's the problem," Marshall said. "If the Republicans aren't willing to stand up, the voters may just take a walk in November." Howell spokesman Chris West declined to comment on the substance of Marshall's legislation, but dismissed Marshall's assertion about Howell as "Bob being Bob." "We have the committee process for a reason," West said. "This bill will be heard just like all of the other nearly 2,000 pieces of legislation that we deal with." In a call with reporters Wednesday afternoon, LGBT advocates said the bill would harm the economy as well as transgender people. "What we would like to see the leadership on both sides step up on day one and say this bill is dead on arrival," said James Parrish, executive director of Equality Virginia. In a statement, McAuliffe's office reiterated the governor's longstanding veto threat against bills he sees as discriminatory. "The governor is hopeful that Republicans in the General Assembly will drop these counterproductive bills and turn their focus toward building a stronger and more equal Virginia economy," said McAuliffe spokesman Brian Coy. Cathryn Oakley, who works on state and local LGBT issues for the Human Rights Campaign, said Marshall's parental notification requirement appears to be a national outlier. With many LGBT youth facing ostracization from their families for coming out, they may have good reason to be more open at school than at home. Marshall's bill stresses parents' rights to raise children as they see fit. In addition to bathroom issues arising, the bill would require principals to notify a student's parents within 24 hours if the child asks to be referred to by "a name or pronouns inconsistent with the child's sex." "I have no idea what the letters 'ze' mean," Marshall said. "Although I'm told this is what some transgender people want to be referred to." 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. Hard as it is to believe that a prison guard could identify an inmate by just looking at the back of his or her head, that's exactly the prison guards in Guangdong's Sihui Prison are capable of. For this accomplishment, the guards have been hailed as the "most powerful brains" in the province's prison system. Jie Haiye is one of the prison guards at Sihui Prison. He can use this method to identify up to 430 inmates. He said remembering each inmate's name and basic information is of fundamental importance to the prison's safety. It not only facilitates daily work but also helps the inmates feel respected so that they more willingly accept reform, according to Jie. Zhu Hainian, a doctor in charge of over 100 inmates with mental disorders, has taught himself to discern who is a real patient and who is only pretending to be. Zhu said almost half of prisoners were jailed for murder. Due to the coexistence of prisoners responsible for a wide variety of crimes, prison administration in Guangdong is becoming increasingly complicated, with penalties harder and harder to carry out. Medical parole cases are also on the rise. Guangdong has been working toward a more transparent prison system since the end of 2014. In 2016, there were no incidents involving escaped convicts, nor were there any major safety accidents. Guangdong prisons hold the largest number of criminals across the country. Stock Exchange Release Talvivaara Mining Company Plc 4 January 2017 NOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, IN OR INTO THE UNITED STATES, CANADA, AUSTRALIA, HONG KONG, SOUTH AFRICA OR JAPAN OR ANY OTHER JURISDICTION IN WHICH THE DISTRIBUTION OR RELEASE WOULD BE UNLAWFUL. Amendment to the final results of the directed share issue of Talvivaara Mining Company Plc On 3 January 2017, Talvivaara Mining Company Plc ("Talvivaara" or the "Company") announced that the creditors of the Company subscribed for 2,069,228,917 new shares in the Company in the directed share issue (the "Share Issue") and that the Board of Directors of Talvivaara had approved such subscriptions. However, following the passing of such resolution by the Board of Directors of Talvivaara, Talvivaara was informed that valid subscriptions for 12,424,093 additional new shares were made during the subscription period of the Share Issue that expired on 28 December 2016 at 4:00 p.m. (Finnish time) by holders of the bonds issued by the Company maturing in 2017. The Board of Directors has approved the subscriptions for these 12,424,093 additional new shares. The subscription price per new share is EUR 0.1144, which was paid in its entirety by setting off the restructuring debt receivable of the creditor from the Company against the subscription price of the new shares. The subscription price will be recorded in its entirety in the invested unrestricted equity fund of the Company. As a result of these additional subscriptions, the Company's debt is reduced further by a total of EUR 1,421,316.44. Taking into account the additional 12,424,093 new shares, the creditors of the Company subscribed for a total of 2,081,653,010 new shares in the Company in the Share Issue, the Company's debt is reduced by a total of EUR 238,141,136.72 and the total number of shares in the Company will increase to 4,189,807,162 shares. The additional 12,424,093 new shares issued in the Share Issue are expected to be (i) registered in the trade register maintained by the Finnish Patent and Registration Office on or about 5 January 2017; (ii) issued as book-entry securities in the book-entry system maintained by Euroclear Finland on or about 5 January 2017; and (iii) listed on the official list of the Helsinki Stock Exchange on or about 9 January 2017. The new shares carry the shareholders' rights after the registration in the trade register and the subscriber's book-entry account. Enquiries Talvivaara Mining Company Plc Tel +358 20 7129 800 Pekka Pera, Chief Executive Officer Pekka Erkinheimo, Deputy CEO DISCLAIMER This announcement is an advertisement and not a prospectus and creditors should not subscribe for any shares referred to in this announcement except on the basis of information in the applicable prospectus published by Talvivaara in connection with the Share Issue. The information contained herein is not for publication or distribution, directly or indirectly, in or into the United States, Canada, Australia, Hong Kong, South Africa or Japan. These written materials do not constitute an offer of securities for sale in the United States, nor may the securities be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an exemption from registration as provided in the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and the rules and regulations thereunder. There is no intention to register any portion of the offering in the United States or to conduct a public offering of securities in the United States. The information contained herein shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of the securities referred to herein in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration, exemption from registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction. Investors must neither accept any offer for, nor acquire, any securities to which this announcement refers, unless they do so on the basis of the information contained in the applicable prospectus published or distributed by Talvivaara. Talvivaara has not authorised any offer to the public of securities in any Member State of the European Economic Area other than Finland. With respect to each Member State of the European Economic Area other than Finland and which has implemented the Prospectus Directive (each, a "Relevant Member State"), no action has been undertaken or will be undertaken to make an offer to the public of securities requiring publication of a prospectus in any Relevant Member State. As a result, the securities may only be offered in Relevant Member States (a) to any legal entity which is a qualified investor as defined in the Prospectus Directive; or (b) in any other circumstances falling within Article 3(2) of the Prospectus Directive. For the purposes of this paragraph, the expression an "offer of securities to the public" means the communication in any form and by any means of sufficient information on the terms of the offer and the securities to be offered so as to enable an investor to decide to exercise, purchase or subscribe the securities, as the same may be varied in that Member State by any measure implementing the Prospectus Directive in that Member State and the expression "Prospectus Directive" means Directive 2003/71/EC (and amendments thereto, including the 2010 PD Amending Directive, to the extent implemented in the Relevant Member State), and includes any relevant implementing measure in the Relevant Member State and the expression "2010 PD Amending Directive" means Directive 2010/73/EU. This communication is directed only at (i) persons who are outside the United Kingdom or (ii) persons who have professional experience in matters relating to investments falling within Article 19(5) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005 (the "Order") and (iii) high net worth entities, and other persons to whom it may lawfully be communicated, falling within Article 49(2) of the Order (all such persons together being referred to as "relevant persons"). Any investment activity to which this communication relates will only be available to and will only be engaged with, relevant persons. Any person who is not a relevant person should not act or rely on this announcement or any of its contents. Amendment to final results of directed share issue of Talvivaara This announcement is distributed by Nasdaq Corporate Solutions on behalf of Nasdaq Corporate Solutions clients. The issuer of this announcement warrants that they are solely responsible for the content, accuracy and originality of the information contained therein. Source: Talvivaaran Kaivososakeyhtio Oyj via Globenewswire Surrey, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - January 4, 2017) - Desert Gold Ventures Inc. (TSXV: DAU) (FSE: QXR2) (OTC Pink: DAUGF) ("Desert Gold" and or "the Company") today announced a major step forward in the development of the Company's Byumba Gold project in Northern Rwanda. In Q1 of 2016, the Company applied for a commercial mining license at its Byumba gold deposit. Along with the mining license application, the Company submitted a Plan of Operation ("PLO") to the Rwandan Ministry of Natural Resources ("MINIRENA"). The Company is pleased to announce that MINIRENA, in co-operation with the State Department of Geology and Mines ("DNGM"), has accepted the Company's proposal and on December 13, 2016 issued Desert Gold a commercial gold mining license. Details of Mining License Application The new title under the exploitation license will be named Rutare The mining license is valid for a period of 10 years with an option to renew The Rutare permit covers a 375 hectare block (as shown in map below) and encompasses the entire gold prospect The Rutare permit is located a two hour drive from the capital Kigali accessible by paved highway Rutare Exploitation License Boundary Map Cannot view this image? Please visit http://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/4954/24356_a1483502801632_5.jpg Table 1 sets out the Company's mineral resource estimate prepared in accordance with National Instrument 43-101 ("NI 43-101") which shows ore tonnage of approximately 5.5 million tons at an average grade of 1.48 g/t of gold for a total resource of 265,000 oz Au using a cut off grade of 0.5 g/t Au. Summary of Mineral Resource Estimates Prepared in Accordance with NI 43-101 Cannot view this image? Please visit http://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/4954/24356_a1483502801695_24.jpg Notes to Mineral Resource Estimate: The effective date of the Byumba mineral resource estimate is January 11, 2010. Mineral resources that are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. Due to the uncertainty of measured, indicated or inferred mineral resources, these mineral resources may never be upgraded to proven and probable mineral reserves. The Company plans to release a Supplemental Plan of Operation ("SPLO") later this quarter that will outline the details of the development at Rutare. The decision to proceed into production is currently not based on a feasibility study of mineral reserves demonstrating economic and technical viability. Rather, the decision was based on the existing data from the 2010 inferred resource, the 2012 drilling campaign and a series of internal studies conducted by the Company's engineering and technical team. Over time the Company aims to demonstrate economic viability as defined under Companion Policy 43-101CP, 4.2(6) Production Decision. Desert Gold CEO Sonny Janda commented, "Our goal is to develop the first commercial gold mine in the country and to become a leading producer in the region. As such, we are working closely with the Rwandan government and local partners to finalize the development plan at Rutare. This plan will not only focus on the exploitation of the existing Byumba resource at Rutare but will also incorporate more drilling for expansion and growth of the area over time. Moreover, the Company is evaluating other mineral prospects in the region. We are working closely with our partners in Rwanda to identify the most prospective opportunities and incorporate them into our larger vision. The issuance of the gold mining license is a significant milestone for the company. I would like to thank the Rwandan government and its supporting departments for their active participation helping Desert Gold throughout the licensing process." Shaun Dyke, M.Sc. (Eng); P.Geo (#20044), a Qualified Person as defined in NI 43-101, has reviewed and approved the scientific and technical information contained in this release. ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD "Jared Scharf" ___________________________ Jared Scharf Director +1 (858) 247 8195 About Desert Gold Desert Gold Ventures Inc. is an advanced exploration and development company which holds mining assets in Mali and Rwanda. For further information please visit our website www.desertgold.ca or information available on www.SEDAR.com under the company's profile. This news release contains forward-looking statements respecting the Company's ability to successfully obtain an exploitation license for its Byumba permit. These forward-looking statements entail various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those reflected in these forward-looking statements. Such statements are based on current expectations, are subject to a number of uncertainties and risks, and actual results may differ materially from those contained in such statements, including the inability of the Company to successfully complete and obtain the necessary permits to develop its operations. These uncertainties and risks include, but are not limited to, the strength of the capital markets, permitting risk, the price of gold; operational, funding, and liquidity risks; the degree to which mineral resource estimates are reflective of actual mineral resources; and the degree to which factors which would make a mineral deposit commercially viable are present; the risks and hazards associated with mining operations. Risks and uncertainties about the Company's business are more fully discussed in the company's disclosure materials filed with the securities regulatory authorities in Canada and available at www.sedar.com and readers are urged to read these materials. The Company assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from such statements unless required by 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. This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy the securities described herein in the United States. The securities described herein have not been and will not be registered under the united states securities act of 1933, as amended, and may not be offered or sold in the united states or to the account or benefit of a U.S person absent an exemption from the registration requirements of such act. Chinese military expert Yin Zhuo told CCTV that China's military deployment in the South China Sea is completely reasonable, in light of the powerful naval force of the U.S. in the region. He made his remarks after American media outlet Fox News quoted the U.S. intelligence community, saying that China has sent hundreds of surface-to-air missiles from the mainland to the South China Sea. Fox News reported that China has deployed more than 500 missiles on South China Sea islands, including CSA-6B and HQ-9 missiles, as well as the anti-ballistic missile interceptor HQ-26. A U.S. official said these locations are only temporary and anticipated that the missiles would soon be deployed to the Nansha Islands and Yongxing Island. Some people believe China will form a comprehensive air defense system once it deploys CSA-6B, HQ-9 and HQ-26 in the South China Sea, increasing its power to cope with U.S. forces in the region. Yin noted that the speculation by Western media makes no sense at all, since the U.S. has maintained powerful forces in the region, including bombers and aircraft carriers. He said neither the U.S. nor surrounding countries are the targets of the missile, adding that they won't be launched unless China's sovereignty over these islands and reefs are violated. Yin said the U.S. is the one who truly threatens regional stability, though Western media has been spreading the theory of the so-called China threat. The situation in the South China Sea has been stable since the U.S. presidential election. However, some countries are still pushing issues, hoping the U.S. will maintain its Asia-Pacific Rebalance strategy. China will never give up its core interest in the South China Sea, stressed Yin. "We will never start a fight as long as others remain peaceful, but we'll fight back when violated," he added. Given November's election results, there is a lot of uncertainty about the future of education policy. Yet at least one thing remains clear: Under the new K-12 federal education law, the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), states are required to put in place new systems to identify low-performing schools for improvement by the 2017-18 school year.The U.S. Department of Education's accountability regulations extend this deadline by a year, but whether the regulations will pass muster under a new presidential administration remains to be seen. In the face of the unknown, state policymakers are drafting plans to meet the new law's requirements. Much of their attention is focused on which indicators of school quality or student success they will use to provide a more holistic measure of school performance than the test-based measures of the past. Under ESSA, these new indicators may measure factors such as student engagement, postsecondary readiness, and school climate and safety.To help states design more innovative systems, the Center for American Progress (CAP) explored newer, less commonly used indicators that have recently caught the attention of state policymakers. These include measures of social and emotional learning, school climate and culture, and resource equity, such as access to highly effective teachers, early learning opportunities and adequate school funding.The measures that CAP examined have strong relationships with positive student outcomes. However, No Child Left Behind (NCLB), ESSA's predecessor, provided a disincentive for states to innovate in how school success is measured. For example, as a result of NCLB's more punitive sanctions, state policymakers largely limited non-academic measures to graduation and attendance rates.With waivers from NCLB under the Obama administration, states began to expand their systems to provide a more comprehensive picture of school quality and student performance. Yet few states currently use any of the measures that CAP identifies. Only four states -- Illinois, Georgia, Nebraska and New Mexico -- use a measure of school climate and culture. Only five -- Connecticut, Hawaii, New Hampshire, New Jersey and Wisconsin -- use a measure of chronic absence, which can be a good proxy for how students feel about their school's climate. A handful of states use some measure of resource equity, such as student participation in the arts. No state uses a measure of social and emotional learning to classify schools.As states consider which indicators to include in their new school classification systems, CAP's report recommends that states prioritize use of valid, reliable indicators such as chronic absenteeism and measures of college and career readiness. At the same time, states should be cautious about using new indicators to classify schools. For example, policymakers need more research to determine if survey measures of social and emotional learning are valid, reliable and cannot be gamed to make a school look better. School climate and culture surveys have been validated by research, although the long-term effects of survey results in school classifications are not known. States should exert caution when considering these data to classify schools because surveys may be vulnerable to manipulation in high-stakes settings.Still, identifying which indicators to use to classify schools is only one part of states' challenge. Under ESSA, states have the opportunity to collect a broader array of information to support continuous improvement of all schools, not just those identified for support and intervention. CAP's new report argues that comprehensive accountability is a full system encompassing data collection and reporting; classification of school performance; tracking of how supports are directed and interventions are implemented; and assessment of resource allocation.As a result, states should identify indicators that may help to spot students at risk for dropping out of high school, such as school climate indicators, and measures of social and emotional learning to improve classroom teaching and learning. States should also pay attention to indicators that are under a district's control, since much of the data used to classify schools are not immediately actionable by individual schools. Measures of resource equity, for example, have a significant effect on student achievement, but decisions about resource allocation are often made at the district level.As states work under a deadline, they should keep a broader vision in mind. Accountability is not just school ratings, but rather an entire system designed to support school quality and student success. Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo on Tuesday proposed free state college tuition assistance to ease the burden of paying for higher education for hundreds of thousands of low- and middle-income students.Cuomo announced the Excelsior Scholarship college degree program, which would help cover the cost of SUNY and CUNY tuition, including at two-year community colleges, for students whose families earn up to $125,000 annually. Individuals also would qualify.The governor made the announcement before a cheering audience of high school students, labor leaders and elected officials at LaGuardia Community College.Cuomo said of college debt, "That is not fair, that is not right."He said it hobbles the futures of young people. "The debt is so high, it's like starting a race with an anchor tied to your leg."The Democratic governor was joined by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) at the announcement. The former presidential candidate made free public education a chief mission of his campaign.The scholarship would be a supplement to the Tuition Assistant Program, a state program, and federal aid.It requires state legislative approval."If New York State does it this year, mark my words, state after state will follow," said Sanders, who was received with a standing ovation.In the audience, several students who attend a nearby high school said free or affordable tuition would alleviate stress on their families. Many come from immigrant families."It's going to save us a lot of money," said Aruna Parkash, 17, of Jackson Heights, who hopes to attend Queens College to study education.She predicted the money she saved on undergraduate school could ease her path to graduate school.Cindy Meyo, 17, of Elmhurst, said the program could help her fulfill ambitions to live a better life than her parents had."Coming from the background I do, my parents aren't rich," she said. "It would mean a lot."Cuomo's proposal would have to be paid for in the state budget, which will require approval by the Legislature by April 1. But on Tuesday there was early support for the proposal that has existed in various forms in Albany for a couple of years."For so many New Yorkers, the snowballing cost of a higher education has meant drowning in student debt for over a decade; for countless more, it serves as an outright roadblock," said Assemb. James Skoufis (D-Hudson Valley). He notes he introduced a tuition free bill in 2014 and it was supported by 80 of 150 Assembly members."Our students and families cannot wait any longer," he said. "Now's the time for the governor and Legislature to come together and heed the call from our families to live up to SUNY's and CUNY's original promise: a truly affordable and high-quality experience."Senate Democratic leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins said a tuition-free bill would already be law in New York if it weren't for past opposition by the Senate's Republican majority."This is perfect example of why the Democrats that comprise a majority of the Senate should unite," said Stewart-Cousins (D-Yonkers), who leads the mainline minority Democratic conference which is at odds with the Independent Democratic Conference. "It is clear that initiatives like this would pass in a Democratic majority."The Senate's Republican majority had no immediate comment.State University of New York Chancellor Nancy Zimpher and SUNY board Chairman H. Carl McCall, each of whom are Cuomo allies, immediately supported the idea."This plan positions New York State as the first in the nation to not only provide free tuition for students from low- and- middle-income families pursuing two- and- four-year degrees, but to also go a step further, incentivizing full-time enrollment and college completion -- both of which are proven game changers in students success," McCall and Zimpher said a joint statement. "This is what college affordability is all about."The proposal follows more than five years of automatic tuition increases of $300 annually endorsed by Cuomo, Zimpher and McCall that they called a "rational tuition" plan that avoids long stretches of no tuition increases followed by a spike.Since 2010, tuition has risen about 30 percent to $6,470 per year for New York State residents attending four-year schools on average.The labor-backed CUNY Rising Alliance said the free-tuition program should be available to undocumented immigrants and should be accompanied by more state aid to the public university systems."CUNY and SUNY students need free tuition, but they also need smaller classes, improved course offerings, modern facilities, increased advisement and tutoring and the best faculty and staff," the group said in a statement. "Since 1975 CUNY's full time faculty has been diminished by 33 percent while its student body has increased by about 15 percent. This trend must be reversed, if students are to get the education they deserve." Montana State Senator Ed Buttrey is a no-nonsense businessman from Great Falls. Like a lot of Republicans, hes not a fan of the Affordable Care Act, nor its expansion of Medicaid, the health insurance for the poor and disabled.We didnt want to implement a plan that was another entitlement that just had a bunch of people signing up to get free or cheap or subsidized health care, Buttrey said. We wanted a plan that said, Were going to get you on. Were going to get you healthy. Were going to identify your barriers to employment or better employment, and then were going to move you off the plan.So Buttrey wrote a Medicaid expansion bill for Montana that linked the health coverage to a job training program. He wanted everyone getting benefits to have to meet with a labor specialist who would help them figure out how to get a job or to get a better paying job.The goal is to make them healthier, get them off social programs, get them off dependence on government, get them into higher wage jobs that have a future that possibly pay benefits. Thats a great benefit for the state, he said.But so far, federal officials said states cant make participation in a work program mandatory for Medicaid recipients. Montana, instead, had to make its job training component voluntary.Republican leaders across the country have long angled for more state control over Medicaid. The programs funding comes from both states and the federal government, with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services scrutinizing states use of the money. In Montana and many other states, the bulk of Medicaid funding comes from the federal government. HHS in a Trump administration may let states have more leeway in fact, Seema Verma, Trumps pick to run that division of HHS, advocated for more state control when she helped Indiana expand Medicaid. So the door could open to more Medicaid experiments like the one Buttrey has been pushing for.The feds rejection of mandatory job training meant Buttrey was barely able to win enough votes in Montanas Republican majority legislature to pass Medicaid expansion in 2015 last April. Hows it working?I think its a success story. I love this. Im the poster child, says Ruth McCafferty. She is a 53-year-old single mom from Kalispell, with three kids at home. She lost her job with a lending company last spring, and she had no idea there was a new job training program available when she signed up for Medicaid. She was just focused on finding a way to afford the drugs she needs to control her diabetes and asthma.One inhaler that I do is $647, she says, bringing her medication costs to about $1,000 a month. My plan was not to get them, only, like, a couple of them that were affordable, like $60, and the rest of them I was like, I guess Ill just be called Wheezy from now on!McCafferty instead got Medicaid, filled her prescriptions, and she got free online training to become a mortgage broker. The state even paid for her 400-mile roundtrip to Helena to take the certification exam. And now theyre paying part of her salary at a local business as part of an apprenticeship to make her easier to hire.Its awesome! she said.Of the 53,000 Montanans whove signed up for expanded Medicaid, only about 3,000 have signed up for help getting a job. Thats in part because the federal government wont allow states to use Medicaid money for it. To set it up here, Buttrey had to cobble together funding from other jobs programs and squeeze $1 million out of a reluctant state legislature.Giving states the flexibility to tie their Medicaid programs to work requirements is an idea thats likely to be popular with the new Congress and Trump administration. But health policy researcher Joan Alker, who runs the Center for Children and Families at Georgetown University, warns that it could backfire.I think its great and well worth doing to link people who might not be aware of existing job training programs or other kinds of work supports that can help them work. What I think is problematic is when this becomes a stick and not a support, she said.Alker said many people on Medicaid already have jobs, often low-paying ones that dont offer health insurance, and they have little time for new training. In Montana, about two-thirds of those on Medicaid are already working. She said if people fail to meet a work requirement and then lose health benefits as a result, theyll likely just get sicker and become less able to work. Girding for four years of potential battles with President-elect Donald J. Trump, Democratic leaders of the California Legislature announced Wednesday that they had hired Eric H. Holder Jr., who was attorney general under President Obama, to represent them in any legal fights against the new Republican White House.The decision by the Legislature to retain Mr. Holder, who is now a prominent Washington lawyer, is the latest sign of the ideological battle that may play out over the next four years between this predominantly Democratic state and Washington. Hillary Clinton, the Democratic candidate for president, defeated Mr. Trump by more than four million votes here.Having the former attorney general of the United States brings us a lot of firepower in order to prepare to safeguard the values of the people of California, Kevin de Leon, the Democratic leader of the Senate, said in an interview. This means we are very, very serious.Mr. de Leon said he expected California to challenge Washington and defend itself from policies instituted in Washington on issues including the environment, immigration and criminal justice. He said California Democrats decided to turn to Mr. Holder as they watched Mr. Trump assemble his cabinet and begin to set the tone for his presidency.It was very clear that it wasnt just campaign rhetoric, Mr. de Leon said of Mr. Trumps proposals over the past year. He was surrounding himself with people who are a very clear and present danger to the economic prosperity of California.The move by Mr. de Leon and his Democratic counterpart in the Assembly, Anthony Rendon, follows Gov. Jerry Browns appointment of Representative Xavier Becerra as attorney general last month, to succeed Kamala D. Harris, who was elected to the United States Senate.That appointment made Mr. Becerra one of the highest-ranking Latino officials in this state, and he is expected to be instrumental in battling with the Trump White House over any attempt to enforce stringent measures aimed at immigrants. Mr. Brown has made clear that he intends to challenge the administration on global warming and that his attorney general will be a key to that battle. A Delaware Superior Court judge upheld a ban on carrying firearms in state parks and forests for purposes other than hunting.The challenge to the rule was brought by multiple plaintiffs, including the Bridgeville Rifle and Pistol Club a 1,200 member organization in southern Delaware. In a civil complaint, they argued the administrative codes are "inconsistent with and pre-empted by" both state law and the state constitution.The rifle club noted its members often like to camp at Trap Pond State Park or rent a cottage at Seashore State Park during nearby shooting competitions yet they are unable to do so because of the ban. Plaintiffs also argued a need exists to carry firearms for protection.A deprivation of constitutional rights can constitute irreparable harm, the civil complaint stated.Superior Court Judge T. Henley Graves said in his Dec. 23 ruling the regulations do not run afoul of the Delaware Constitution, nor did they contradict state law passed by the General Assembly.As for plaintiffs concerns for self-defense, the Court observes the need to respond to a threat with a firearm is diminished when firearms are prohibited in the area, Graves said in the ruling. Description GIS 04 January, 2017: The National Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) Incubator Scheme will become operational this month. The elaboration of this Scheme was announced by the Minister of Finance and Economic Development, Mr Pravind Jugnauth, in the 2016/2017 Budget Speech. The objective of the Scheme is to assist young Mauritians to transform their innovative ideas into concrete business ventures and to become successful entrepreneurs. It will operate on a public-private partnership principle through accredited private business incubators. According to the Scheme, the private sector groups will initially invest in the infrastructure and facilities, manage the centre and provide mentoring, marketing and other support services to incubatees. Such support will be provided over a two-year cycle in three stages namely, Pre-incubation, Incubation and Acceleration. Government will provide financial support by co-sharing with the business incubators part of the cost of operation and of support services. A Steering Committee has been set up under the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development to work out the guidelines, to accredit business incubators under the Scheme and to approve the disbursement of Government contribution. Project applications from potential incubatees will be evaluated by a panel of independent experts. Offering a simple Web signal that could be customized to show individual transportation routes. Personalized alerting based on self-declared priorities, via a Web space that would let residents manage their communications from the city. An online "Find It, Fix It" area for snow removal, letting residents suggest on-the-fly snow clearing for areas that otherwise would not be plowed like residential streets. Attendees suggested this could be integrated into Nextdoor or other Internet groups. "Snowattle," a variation on the city's name: a crowd-sourced resource and volunteer board for temporal events like a snowfall. It would offer people a way to give and receive help such as snow removal. "Say someone has a medical condition or is disabled and unable to shovel their drive but needs to get out; the idea is that youd be able to connect them with volunteers, Faber said. Offering a single city app where residents can find all snow-related information. Working with local hardware stores or Amazon to create a wish list of items people might need during a snow emergency from water and batteries to flashlights and candles. Creating an online list of community centers, businesses and libraries that would double as weather help stations. Creating an app for snow events that would provide connections to community resources everything from open shelters to a listing of spontaneous snowball fights. It's just frozen rain, but when combined with surprise and geography, snow can be a big, white, wet blanket on Seattle.Thats why, to lighten their municipal load, officials hosted the Let It Snow Hackathon on Dec. 15 to brainstorm with Web designers, developers and residents on how to better use technology to communicate before, during and after winter weather events. The years first snow was expected the next day but an ongoing problem for the hilly city is that major snowfall doesnt happen often enough for residents to adapt.Jim Loter, Seattles director of digital engagement, is from Michigan, where heavy snow is a regular occurrence and residents are accustomed to living and working in a winter wonderland. Its a different story in Seattle, he said.If we get snowfall and it falls for the day and it warms up, everybodys OK and people arent too mad. But every few years it is a matter of a heavier than usual snowfall for a few days to use the cliche, the perfect storm, Loter said. I think the broader statement of the problem were trying to solve is, its a rare event but when it happens, it paralyzes the city.With winter on the way, Seattle Mayor Edward Murray suggested hosting the event and officials began planning shortly before Thanksgiving, according to Candace Faber , city civic technology advocate.Seattle already tracks snowplows and de-icers , like its peers in Cincinnati and elsewhere. But before the event officials made 22 different data streams available to creative types at techtalk.seattle.gov/2016/12/15/let-it-snow-new-open-datasets/ . These included the locations of traffic cameras and road temperature stations; a listing of streets that have been closed due to winter storm events; and links to listings of blocked streets, lanes, sidewalks and intersections that gets updated when snow sticks.Presented in a three-way partnership with Open Seattle , which runs events focused on building the civic technology community and addressing civic issues, and product design company Substantial, the hackathon wound up being less 24-hour coding session and more of an evening workshop, Faber said.Of the 46 people who RSVP'd, around 20 attended ,including the mayor and city department heads. They described their concerns with snowfall, created storyboards and shared an array of ideas.The result of having that all in the room, as well as people from the technology community and the community at large, was that we were able to get a more holistic picture of what people are concerned about in the event of an emergency, said Faber, who joined one of several teams discussing ideas.A report on the event is expected as soon as next week.Arguably the most surprising proposal: using drones to deliver road salt and resources by crowdsourcing locally owned drones to cut infrastructure costs.I will say that that is one of the more creative ideas, said Seattle Chief Technology Officer Michael Mattmiller Working in groups, attendees talked about how snow forces them to adjust responsibilities and transportation plans, and sometimes hurry to find resources to weather the storm. They may want to stop what they're doing to have fun in the snow, attendees said but it also forces them to shift work hours; find ice- and snow-free routes; and use TVs, cellphones and computers to identify dangerous spots and learn whether its safe to go to the store.Attendees' questions included how to find transportation information, learn whether routes had been plowed, and decide whether a trip could be made with reasonable delays.Ideas for dealing with the snow included:Other suggestions included:Loter said Seattle will review all ideas closely, then move forward."The city is committed to taking [on] the ones that sound the best, sound the most feasible," he said recently. "That could include issuing small contracts to informal groups of developers or small business people, small entrepreneurs." (TNS) - An analysis of hazardous materials shipped by train and truck through a three-county area, including Sangamon County, will begin through an expanded tracking program this spring.The study will include major railroads, as well as commercial-truck counts for hazardous materials at 20 locations in Sangamon, Menard and Christian counties, David Butt, director of the Office of Emergency Management for Sangamon County, said Tuesday.Nine federally designated hazardous materials -- ranging from explosives to radioactive materials -- will be tracked."We get some of everything," said Butt.Previously, only Sangamon County was tracked. Butt said the addition of Menard and Christian counties was made possible through a $40,000 grant for local emergency service programs from the Illinois Emergency Management Agency.Butt said the goal is to present a study contract at the February meeting of the Sangamon County Board and to begin tracking shipments in March. Proposals are due by Jan. 17.Reports will be filed every three months, with a final report on rail traffic due in March 2018 and on truck traffic in May 2018, according to the procurement guidelines.Truck counts will be conducted at 10 locations in Sangamon County, including Interstates 55 and 72, six in Taylorville and Pana in Christian County, and four in Athens and Petersburg in Menard County. Reports on hazardous materials carried by rail are provided by the railroads.The data, said Butt, is shared with local emergency service agencies."It's for planning purposes," said Butt. "It helps the fire departments be aware of what might be coming through their area, and it gives transportation planners a better idea of what is coming through."Illinois Emergency Management Agency spokeswoman Patti Thompson said in an email a little more than $2 million in three-year grants was awarded statewide. The grants, which are funded by the U.S. Department of Transportation, had been for one year. Thompson said the program also focused on multi-county programs.According to rail-safety reports at the Illinois Commerce Commission, there were 100 rail incidents involving hazardous materials in 2015, including 73 that involved a spill or release of hazardous materials to the air. Most involved petroleum spills. The nearest to Springfield involved derailment of a Union Pacific locomotive near Girard in January 2015, though no fuel was spilled.2017 The State Journal-Register, Springfield, Ill.Visit The State Journal-Register, Springfield, Ill. at www.sj-r.comDistributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. (TNS) - In early October residents of Lenoir County experienced one of the worst floods in the states history Hurricane Matthew.The Neuse River reached flood levels just days after Hurricane Matthew hit Eastern North Carolina and peaked Oct. 14 at 28.31 feet, passing the previous 27.71-foot record set by Hurricane Floyd on Sept. 23, 1999.Lenoir County Emergency Services Director Roger Dail said even though it has been two months, there are still a lot of people recovering from the damage Hurricane Matthew inflicted.Some disaster homes have been brought in from FEMA and they are still taking applications, Dail said.The City of Kinston and Lenoir County officials ordered a mandatory evacuation for residents and businesses along the Neuse River in the days leading up to the flood.Officials asked residents who live in flood zones to begin preparing their property and family members for flooding and evacuation.Although some residents were not affected by Floyd in 1999 officials ask all residents to be prepared.Lenoir County opened two shelters and had many donation centers around the county for displaced residents.During the flood many residents were land locked and could not get into town because floodwaters caused major highways in and out of town to close.You probably cant get to the other side of town without a boat or an airplane, Lenoir County Emergency Services Director Roger Dail said at he time of the flood.Residents on the south side of the Neuse River experienced, power outages, evacuations and road closures that have caused many to stay in their homes now that they cannot cross U.S. 70, N.C. 258 and N.C. 11.While it was a difficult time for many the flood brought people together.Volunteers at the First Baptist prepared meals for people who evacuated their homes. The Red Cross donated meals. Donation centers popped-up all over town to provide for those who lost everything and the Lenoir and Greene United Way is still helping those in need with their Unmet Needs Committee.While volunteers from churches, the Red Cross and the Baptist Men gathered to help those in need. The town itself was literally split in half because of damages and road closures.A field hospital opened up on the south side of town because residents had no way to get to UNC Lenoir Health Care hospital.People could have died, if they didnt have this facility, James Hood, Lenoir County community paramedic said.The hospital had a series of tents and trailers to help administer care to patients if needed. An ambulance bus, rescue teams, law enforcement and multiple ambulances were on standby in the church parking lot. At nearby Southwood Elementary School, a helicopter was available to transport critical patients as needed.Although the hospital was available four people did die in Lenoir County during the flooding.Once roads began to open back up, FEMA opened a disaster relief center at the old Nova building to provide those who needed assistance for damages, disaster unemployment and disaster food stamp.We still have a long road to go, Dail said. I can tell you that the recovery side is usually the hardest side. We want to get people back to some normalcy just as quickly as we can thats what we are committed to do but its going to take some time.Businesses are now starting to reopen after months of remodeling and renovation.The Bojangles on U.S. 70 is currently being rebuilt after the restaurant was torn down due to damage from the flood waters.While the flood waters have left Lenoir County, residents are still waiting for roads to be repaired and still working with FEMA for housingDuring flooding more than 30 roads were damaged with some still closed like N.C. 55 South.Lenoir County Commissioner J. Mac Daughety said three areas of the roadway were completely washed away leaving 80-foot holes in the ground where the road once passed through.For those who were affected Dail said if you have not already to contact FEMA as the deadline deadline for applications for disaster assistance is Monday, January 9. Those still in need of assistance can apply for FEMA aid by contacting 1-800-621-3362 or disasterassistance.gov.Michelle Taylor may be reached at 252-559-1073 and Michelle.Taylor@Kinston.com. You can follow her on Twitter at @MTaylorKFP.2017 The Free Press (Kinston, N.C.)Visit The Free Press (Kinston, N.C.) at www.kinston.comDistributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. (Xinhua) 13:27, January 04, 2017 South Korea's unification ministry in charge of inter-Korean affairs vowed Wednesday to maintain a policy of pressure and sanctions toward the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) in 2017. The ministry said in its annual plan report to Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn, who serves as acting president, its hard-line policy will be maintained to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula and cause a right change in the DPRK. It indicated the government's adherence to the stance on the DPRK's nuclear issue, marked by intensive nuclear tests by Pyongyang in the past decade under conservative South Korean presidents Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye. The two leaders stuck to the so-called strategic patience, offering a conditional dialogue with Pyongyang. During the decade-long deadlock, Pyongyang's nuclear and missile capabilities advanced at a faster speed. The DPRK detonated its second and third atomic devices in May 2009 and February 2013 respectively under the Lee Myung-bak administration. The fourth and fifth nuclear tests were carried out in January and September 2016 each under the impeached president. Pyongyang, the report forecast, will continue to pursue its ambition for a nuclear state position, while seeking to alter the current phase of anti-DPRK sanctions. Top DPRK leader Kim Jong Un said in his new year address that his country entered a final stage in preparations for the test-launch of an intercontinental ballistic rocket, boosting concerns about another provocation in the near future. In many parts of the United States, legislatures will be starting to hold committee meetings and the legislature will be coming into session. One of the challenges all emergency managers have is trying to get attention to their mission and the topic of emergency management. I think every discipline and advocacy group has this same challenge.Take look at this article, Legislating Cybersecurity: Breaches Grab Lawmakers Attention, which comes from Government Technology magazine With cybersecurity you have something that is in the news almost daily, yet there is still reluctance on the part of many legislators to engage on the topic from their position as elected officials. Some think of these cyberbreaches like people think about disasters: They always happen somewhere else. Isn't it terrible!Perhaps the article will provide you with some insights about how to communicate with legislators in the upcoming session in your state.Last, in the article there is a Pell Center report on the State of the States on the topic of cybersecurity referenced. It doesn't look at every state, but a selected few. Maybe your state is mentioned and what is being done about cybersecurity where you live and work. McLaren's former long-time team manager Jo Ramirez thinks "passion" is lacking in the Woking team of today. Ever present throughout the glorious Senna and Hakkinen eras, the 75-year-old Mexican told Spanish radio Cadena Cope that he remains well connected with McLaren figures now. "Unfortunately, McLaren is in a very delicate situation because there are a lot of politics," he said. Indeed, team supremo Ron Dennis lost a recent power struggle, and new executive Jost Capito has reportedly left the team despite having only joined some months ago. Ramirez claims: "Everyone is still working, but there's not the passion there was before because new people have come but most of them were Ron's people." But the Mexican said not all is lost for the famous British marque. "In January or February, we will see if the new management has been able to revive this great name, because for those who were there before it is a pity to see them destroying themselves," said Ramirez. He tips Honda to keep improving the engine, but also said the McLaren chassis needs to get better because it was "not perfect" in 2016. "They lack great people in design, but have understood what they need to do. 2017 should be the year in which they are good, and if Fernando (Alonso) will have left, he would have regretted it. "He has taken a few decisions at the wrong time and suffered, so let's see if he's now right this time. Hopefully," Ramirez added. (GMM) Two Chinese companies have signed a joint-venture agreement to build twin towers in Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia. Upon completion, the Cambodian project will be 108 meters taller than the current tallest twin towers, Petronas Twin Tower in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The consortium, established by Sino Great Wall International and Wuchang Shipbuilding Industry Group Co., Ltd., won the construction project with a bid of $2.7 billion. Construction was scheduled to begin at the end of 2016, and is expected to take five years. The project was backed by Cambodian-owned Thai Boon Roong Group and Macau-owned Sun Kian Ip Group. The high-end commercial complex will consist of a luxury hotel, apartments, high-end office space and a retail area. There will also be an exhibition hall, theater, restaurants and a basement parking garage. Changjiang Weekly noted that the tower is a landmark made in China project along the Belt and Road route. It is currently China's largest construction project in Cambodia. China's railways are forecast to handle 3.025 billion passenger trips in 2017, China Railway Corp said on Tuesday during its annual meeting in Beijing. That would put the railroads over 3 billion trips for the first time. In 2016, 2.77 billion trips were made on China's railways, including 1.44 billion trips by high-speed trains, which is more than 52 percent of the total, said Lu Dongfu, general manager of China Railway Corp, the nation's railway operator. The record for a single day was 14.43 million trips, during October's Golden Week holiday travel rush. In 2016, over 60 percent of tickets were sold online, and more than 40 percent were bought via mobile phones. This year, China will add 2,100 kilometers of track, 2,500 km of double-track rail lines and 4,000 km of electrified rail lines. By the end of 2016, the nation's rail system had reached a total length of 124,000 km, including 22,000 km of high-speed railway, which is 65 percent of the world's total of high-speed rails. Four major high-speed lines were opened in 2016: the Zhengzhou-Xuzhou Railway connecting Central and East China; the Chongqing-Wanzhou Railway, the first high-speed connection to the Three Gorges area; the Kunming-Guiyang Railway, completing the link from Shanghai to Kunming; and the Kunming-Baise Railway, completing Kunming's connection to Guangzhou. The newly completed Kunming-Shanghai connection, at 2,252 km, is the longest of China's east-west lines. China also continued to make technological improvements and innovative breakthroughs. "Last year, China's railway companies developed bullet trains with a speed of 350 kilometers an hour," Lu said, noting that China has the rights to the technology. The number of trains transporting goods between China and Europe also increased dramatically. In 2016, 1,702 trains transported goods between those markets, an increase of 109 percent from 2015. On Jan 1, a train with a full load of Chinese goods departed from Yiwu in Zhejiang province headed for London, a new terminus point for trains from China. The train will travel 18 days and more than 12,000 km to reach London's Barking station. It has been almost a year since the Iran nuclear deal was implemented, allowing international investors more access to the country. However, a number of Chinese companies already invested in Iran are warning would-be investors in Iran to maintain realistic expectations. On January 16 of last year, the International Atomic Energy Agency announced that Iran had done enough to curb its nuclear development for international sanctions to be lifted. The terms of the deal were originally agreed to in July of 2015 between Iran and six major world powers, including China. Since the sanctions have been lifted, a number of Chinese companies have moved to invest in Iran. However, Tang Yuezhen, head of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce in Iran, is warning Chinese investors to keep their expectations in check. "The Iranian market is not as promising as it may have been advertised. Its business environment, national governance and financial regulations are all based on a local set of rules. Even though many projects are open for bidding, the process is usually carried out by their own ways of doing things here. If a newcomer is not familiar with the rules, it can suffer quite a bit." The China Gezhouba Group, an international engineering company, is among the most successful Chinese firms operating in Iran, having already constructed two major hydropower stations there. Even given the company's notable achievements, Li Hongbo, a manager with Gezhouba Group, says Chinese investment in Iran is still subject to tremendous uncertainties. "New comers to the Iranian market must be aware of a very special nature of this environment, and that is it's subject to constant change. The government here does not have a comprehensive blueprint for development. Secondly, the rules governing foreign investment always seem to be changing. Finally, the local people, their ways of doing things and their moods are also ever changing. One can never say he's got a winning formula to conducting business here." Chinese auto manufacturer JAC Motors has also developed a visible presence in Iran. However, Xie Fang, a sales manager with the company, says they have begun to notice a growing level of protectionism in Iran, which he says is posing challenges to his company's operations. "There have been many changes since the nuclear deal was announced, as there is an increasing protectionist trend. When Chinese companies come to Iran, the first question they are asked is always whether their investment can form a joint venture with local firms. Additionally, there are growing barriers in technical specification and tariffs when it comes to the auto industry." The Chinese Chamber of Commerce in Iran is suggesting that an increasing number of investors from other countries are also going to create growing competition for Chinese firms. Mayor, Party head of Sichuan city shot by local official (Global Times) 15:32, January 04, 2017 The mayor and Party head of Panzhihua, Southwest China's Sichuan Province were allegedly shot and injured by a local official Wednesday morning, local media reported. Panzhihua Party head Zhang Yan and Mayor Li Jianqin were reportedly shot by Chen Zhongshu, the director of the city's land and resources bureau, at the Panzhihua Convention Center, Chuanbao Guancha, a news portal affiliated with the State-owned Sichuan Daily, reported. [File photo: Chen Zhongshu] The suspect reportedly killed himself after the attack. The victims' injuries were believed to be not life-threatening. The reason for the attack remains unknown. Zhang and Li were reportedly in the middle of a meeting when Chen broke into the room and started shooting. A series of commemorative coins for the Year of the Rooster were officially issued by the People's Bank of China on Jan. 4, 2017. Beijing residents eagerly lined up to exchange the coins, the Global Times reported. The Peoples Bank of China issued 500 million commemorative coins for the Year of the Rooster in 2017. Each coin has a diameter of 27 millimeters and features two shades of copper alloy. The front side of the coin, decorated with a circular flower pattern, reads: "The People's Bank of China," "ten yuan," and "2017." The other side features a rooster in the style of traditional Chinese paper-cutting, along with a decorative Chinese painting of a palace lantern and peonies. SkinnyPizza is nearing the opening of its first New England location in Greenwich, with the New York City-based franchisor promising flavor-packed, thin-crust pies that are lower in calories than many competitors. The restaurant will be located at 30 Greenwich Ave., listed on the National Register of Historic Places and having a long prior history as the home of HealthMart, whose founders in 1969 opened a store that would evolve into a lunch cafe focused on organic, vegan and gluten-free offerings. In 2015 after more than 45 years in business, HealthMarts owners elected to retire at the expiration of the stores lease. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate GREENWICH Mickey Sherman scrolled, absorbed, through his Facebook page. The attorneys news feed was swamped with outpourings of support, with hundreds of commenters extolling their congratulations. Strangers have been stopping him on the street, he said, clients and friends calling him. On Friday, the state Supreme Court ruled that Michael Skakel received a fair trial when he was convicted of murder in 2002. The ruling affirmed that Shermans defense of Skakel was constitutionally adequate, the opposite of what a lower court judge decided in 2013. I would be lying if I said I didnt feel vindicated, Sherman said. The court went point by point over the main areas of criticism and affirmed my judgment and my actions in each case. Sherman heard the news Friday by phone. I was shocked, he said. I thought they would respect the habeas courts decision and not want to tamper with it. Sherman said the new ruling is a game changer for him. The Greenwich High graduate had built a high-profile life before the Skakel case, appearing as one of the first talking head legal analysts on cable television. In his legal career, he is noted among other things for the successful use of post-traumatic-stress disorder as a defense in a homicide case. The judges 2013 ruling that he hadnt provided Skakel with a competent defense, which overturned Skakels murder conviction and allowed him to go free on bail, had been like a knife to his career, he said, costing him clients and damaging his professional reputation. Moreover, Sherman faced sharp criticism from the Skakel camp since the 2002 verdict, in particular from Skakels cousin Robert Kennedy Jr. In July, Kennedy published Framed: Why Michael Skakel Spent Over a Decade in Prison for a Murder He Didnt Commit, and devoted an entire chapter titled The Clown to lambasting Shermans defense. Kennedy called Shermans behavior during the Skakel case galling and said he careened through the trial like a drunk driver late for a guilty charge. He outlined 10 mistakes that he thought Sherman made in the trial, ranging from not preparing his witnesses to blowing his summation. The Supreme Courts 69-page split decision upheld Shermans representation, however. The ruling described his three-fold strategy of establishing an alibi, discrediting witnesses who claimed Skakel said he was involved with the murder and casting suspicion on another suspect. It need not have been the best decision, or even a good one; it need only fall within the wide range of reasonable decisions that a defense attorney ... might make, the judges wrote. Skakel had the burden to present evidence demonstrating that Shermans investigation was constitutionally inadequate. In the absence of this evidence, we must presume that Sherman performed competently. Sherman is hopeful that this defense of his defense will bring him new clients and restore his stained name. It may prompt other people who have doubts about my ability to come forward, he said Sherman was quick to say, however, that the ruling is not all good news. The reaffirmation of Shermans defense means that Skakel, his former client, could be heading back to jail. I dont want people to interpret this as a Mickey Sherman wins, Michael Skakel loses situation, said Sherman. The fact that the dark cloud has moved from over my head, doesnt mean that Michael Skakel should pay a greater penalty than he already has. Skakel has already spent 11 years behind bars for the 1975 killing of Martha Moxley. Both were 15 years old and neighbors in Belle Haven at the time of her death. Sherman said he still believes in Skakels innocence. I have every hope and prayer that at some point, somehow, Michael will get cut loose of this situation, he said. Meanwhile, the Moxley family has expressed support for the Supreme Court decision, which reinstates Skakels murder conviction. This is the way it should be, Dorothy Moxley, Marthas mother, whos in her mid-80s, said last week. I am very, very happy. It is sinking in, and I could not be more excited, more pleased. Sherman plans on continuing to work on cases of domestic violence, drunk driving, homicide and embezzlement in Greenwich, Stamford and the surrounding area. But with these clients his refound reputation might produce a mixed result, he suggested. Many people will feel that Im an excellent attorney and they will want to hire me, yet because of the high-profile nature of this, there will be many others who while believing that I am a good attorney, wont want to hire me because Im too high-profile now that my ability has been vouched for by the Connecticut Supreme Court, he said. Sherman is also in the process of writing his second book, which he has tentatively titled Guilty with an Explanation. It details his experience with the other side of the criminal justice system after pleading guilty in 2010 to two misdemeanors of willfully failing to pay $420,710 in federal income taxes. He is the author of How Can You Defend Those People? a memoir describing his career as a criminal defense lawyer published in 2008. Both books have been optioned for a television series in the coming years, according to Sherman. emunson@hearstmediact.com; @emiliemunson Zhao Chunhua, a 51-year-old woman who was sentenced to three years and six months in prison for possession of illegal firearms, signed a petition for appeal on Jan. 3. Xu Xin, Zhaos lawyer, said he would submit the petition to the No. 1 Intermediate Peoples Court of Tianjin that afternoon. Zhao was arrested on Oct. 12, when police came to patrol Zhao's recreational shooting booth in Tianjin. Police discovered nine gun-shaped items, along with accessories and plastic bullets. They judged six of the items to be real guns powered by compressed gas. On Dec. 27, 2016, the Hebei district court of Tianjin Municipality sentenced Zhao to three years and six months in prison. Xu holds that Zhao is innocent because the "guns" in her possession were intended as toys, and their power is 100 times less than that of a real gun. According to a 2010 document on firearms identification issued by the Ministry of Public Security, guns able to fire bullets with a kinetic force of over 1.8 joules per square centimeter are considered illegal firearms. But according to Xu, bullets with a kinetic force of 1.8 joules per square centimeter would cause no harm to a human being, even when shot at close range. The lawyer argued that this force is less powerful than even a slingshot. The criterion has also been questioned by some scholars, who argue that it is too low and unreasonable a standard. "Zhao Chunhua had no intention of committing a crime," Xu explained, adding that she was unaware the toy guns would be considered real under the law. In addition, Zhao simply operates the booth to make a living; the shooting game does not inflict actual harm on people or property. (Xinhua) 19:56, January 04, 2017 Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang (Source: Fmprc.gov.cn) A special envoy of the Chinese government on the Syrian issue will travel to Geneva, the European Union, Turkey and Russia in efforts to work on a political solution to the Syrian crisis. "The visit of Xie Xiaoyan is aimed at enhancing communication with the parties concerned, supporting global efforts in promoting peace and pushing forward a political solution at an early date," Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said at a press briefing Wednesday in Beijing. "China, as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, has been playing a positive and constructive role in resolving the Syrian crisis," Geng added. Recently, the Syrian government and major opposition groups reached a nationwide ceasefire deal and agreed to start peace talks, which brought new opportunity for a political solution to the Syrian issue, Geng said. The UN Security Council last Saturday unanimously adopted a resolution supporting the Syria cease-fire arrangement brokered by Russia and Turkey, as well as new peace talks among conflicting parties set to be held in Astana, capital of Kazakhstan. Xie, China's former ambassador to Iran and Ethiopia as well as representative to the African Union, was appointed the special envoy on the Syrian issue in March 2016, with the aim of better promoting dialogue, contributing Chinese wisdom and communicating with other parties to facilitate a solution. Dont expect a Trump cameo on Chopped. Photo: Richard Ellis/Getty Images; Donald Bowers/Getty Images As the latest reminder that Americas next president will almost certainly enter the Oval Office openly suing citizens he represents, a Trump Organization lawyer yesterday told a judge that settlement talks have reached an impasse with chef Geoffrey Zakarian, who incurred the president-elects wrath last August after scrapping plans to open an outpost of the National in Trumps new D.C. hotel following the moguls rapists comment about Mexicans. Zakarian and fellow exTrump International partner Jose Andres both argued the comment in question jeopardized their restaurants, and after months of negotiations, Zakarians lawyer told D.C. Superior Court judge Brian Holeman she also agrees theyve hit a wall. Trumps plans are therefore to carry on with the lawsuit, which will now kick off with a pretrial hearing in May. Trump originally demanded $10 million from both Zakarian and Jose Andres for their alleged breaches of contract, but the Washington Post notes the amount of damages has also grown, at least for Zakarian: In recent court filings, however, Trumps representatives raised the estimated loss to about $14 million. Last month, the judge in Andress case rejected Trumps claim that answering Andress lawyers questions somehow amounted to harassment. The president-elect is therefore set to be deposed for hours in New York next week, mere days before his own increasingly depressing-sounding inauguration. Ugly Baby is New Yorks No. 1 Thai restaurant and its not even in Queens. Photo: Liz Clayman In the beginning, there was Sripraphai, a Woodside mecca for those craving the aromatic, pungent, frequently torrid flavors of real Thai food. But over the years, the field has grown crowded; nowadays even Manhattanites trip over first-rate larb in their own backyards. Queens remains a vibrant hub, of course especially Elmhurst, where the diversity of regional styles and restaurant types provides a continuing culinary education. Here, the absolute best Thai restaurants in New York. The Absolute Best 1. Ugly Baby 407 Smith St., nr. 4th St.; Carroll Gardens; 347-689-3075 Photo: Liz Clayman At first you think that the entire dining room has a cold. But then you notice that the dazed expressions, pervasive eye-tearing, and rampant nose-blowing are accompanied by the telltale flush and trickle of perspiration that can only signify serious, wanton capsaicin consumption. Yes, heat freaks, Ugly Baby is Thai-spicy. Its also the domain of chef Sirichai Sreparplarn, who first won a following at Red Hooks short-lived Kao Soy and Chiang Mai. His single-page menu is a streamlined selection of dishes drawn from all over Thailand, some of which you probably havent encountered before: a first sweet, then hot mushroom-pineapple curry with fragrant lime leaves and thin planks of tofu; sea bream with a turmeric-and-garlic rub thats scraped off before the fish is deep-fried, fried separately, then reapplied like frosting on a cake; mini-muffin-like coconut-milk cakes embedded with black beans and taro, slicked with tamarind-chile sauce, and scattered with crushed peanuts. What makes Ugly Baby truly great is the extent to which everything feels like a pure manifestation of its chef-owners taste and personality, from the thoughtful wine list, comprising grapes and blends attuned to the cuisines complex flavor palette, to the steadfast refusal to compromise dishes by adjusting spice levels. If you cant stand the heat, this isnt the kitchen for you. Robin Raisfeld and Rob Patronite 2. Lamoon 81-40 Broadway, Elmhurst; 917-745-1168 Photo: Christian Rodriguez Lamoon specializes in the cuisine of Lanna, the kingdom of a million rice fields which once encompassed Thailands northern provinces, including chef Arada Moonrojs native Chiang Mai. And though rice certainly plays a big part here, the real star of the show is the noble pig. Kang hung ley, a rich curry with pork belly stewed for hours, is traditionally served at weddings and funerals. Dont be surprised if the first spoonful calls to mind Indian food; it contains masala, which Moonroj imports from Thailands Mae Hong Son province on the Burmese border. The words nose to tail dont appear anywhere on the menu, but they certainly inform the cooking philosophy: Sai aua sausage hums with chile and lime leaf, and sports crunchy white flecks of pigs ear. Creamy, smoky, spicy abb ong oor is pork brain seasoned with turmeric, chile, and lemongrass, then grilled in a banana leaf. As for the tail, you can find it in leng zabb, which features hunks of slow-cooked pork spine looming above a bright broth that balances the acidity of fresh lime juice with the funkiness of fish sauce and the herby spiciness of green birds eye chiles, minced garlic, and cilantro. Joe DiStefano 3. Sripraphai 64-13 39th Ave., Woodside; 718-899-9599 Photo: Melissa Hom Sripraphai has come a long way since its early days as the no-frills holy grail of New York Thai food. Expansions and renovations have brought a beautiful patio out back, replete with burbling fountain and leafy apple tree, and actual (if not Wallpaper*-worthy) decor. The takeout menu gives a phonetic spelling (see-pra-pie), and servers ask, unprompted, if youd like Thai spicy. Happily, these new and somewhat self-conscious developments have had no deleterious effects on the food, which is, indeed, Thai spicy, but also multilayered and nearly impossible to stop eating. Crispy fried catfish, fiery beef panang, and minced pork with chiles, peanuts, and lemon juice are as good as ever. The pad might be fancier, but not the pad Thai. R.R. & R.P. 4. Ayada 77-08 Woodside Ave., Elmhurst; 718-424-0844 Photo: Liz Clayman/Liz Clayman Like Sripraphai, Ayada has grown from humble origins first expanding into the space next door, and then spawning a Chelsea Market outpost slated to open this summer. The reasons for this success are clearly visible in the form of the raw-shrimp salad, redolent of lime and garlic; the panang duck curry, with its pinpoint calibration of sweet, sour, and spicy; the crisp, lacy catfish salad; and the mango sticky rice, a dissertation in ripeness. Factor in the super-friendly service, the cheerful decor, and maybe a tableside visit from chef Duangjai Kitty Thammasat, and you have one of the citys best Thai restaurants. R.R. & R.P. 5. Thailands Center Point 63-19 39th Ave., Woodside; 718-651-6888 Photo: Melissa Hom This cozy spot in Woodside is charmingly down-to-earth and homey, thanks to the chef and owner Annie Phinphattakul, who presides over both the dining room and the kitchen. The food, then, is even more impressive for its sharp perfection she may be smiling warmly but she is also cooking fiercely: a mix of traditional, mostly northern dishes and her own witty, playful concoctions. Sections of the menu are labeled Food to Die For and Something So Special and the dishes within them tend to earn these distinctions. The egg sandwich which turns out to be richly sauced, sticky chunks of stir-fried pork, scattered across one shatteringly crispy fried egg and topped with another, plus basil is the sort of thing you might think about wistfully until you get to eat it again. Hannah Goldfield 6. Kitchen 79 37-70 79th St., at Roosevelt Ave., Jackson Heights; 718-803-6227 If the food of Isan, Thailands largest and most northeastern region, has become well-represented in New York, we could use more from the south, where it tends to be very, very spicy, thrillingly and complexly so. Kitchen 79, on the border of Jackson Heights and Elmhurst and decorated a bit like a tidy, high-end nightclub (lots of black-and-white leather and glitzy light fixtures), is an excellent place to retrain your palate by familiarizing yourself with classics like gaeng tai pla a deeply fishy, insanely fiery (not for everyone, but catnip for some) mackerel-based curry bobbing with curls of shrimp, tender cubes of pumpkin, and half-globes of barely crunchy Thai eggplant. Pad ped moo pah, which features wild boar sauteed in spicy curry paste with bamboo, basil, and sprigs of young peppercorn, is an antidote to pork-belly fatigue its nearly as rich, but significantly meatier and bears a subtle gamy tang. H.G. 7. Khao Khang 76-20 Woodside Ave., Elmhurst; 718-806-1807 If only the word cafeteria more often described places like this one, where food is ordered by pointing to unlabeled sections of a steam table, a la rice-curry stalls and shops in Thailand. Combos feature two or three dishes plus rice. You never know what youre going to get but you can be sure it will be delicious, from super-spicy curries to stewed pork belly with tofu. H.G. 8. Uncle Boons 7 Spring St., nr. Elizabeth St.; 646-370-6650 Photo: Jenny Westerhoff Ann Redding and Matt Danzer, the married chefs behind Uncle Boons, want to transform the way the average American (or at least New York) diner thinks about Thai food, as not just an interesting, exotic ethnic option but in fact one of the great cuisines of the world, on par with French or Italian. Their restaurant is as buzzy and stylish as any other in Nolita, and though they hew carefully to tradition when it comes to each dish, they follow their whims in terms of the wide array of them, inspired by their travels all across the country, and place a premium on using the highest quality ingredients. When betel leaves are available, itd be nothing short of a mistake to skip them, wrapped around a heady mixture of fresh ginger, coconut, dried shrimp, and shrimp paste, plus peanuts and chiles. And youd be hard-pressed to find a better khao soy, the northern-style, coconut-based, whole-chicken-leg curry, made golden with fresh turmeric and featuring homemade egg noodles. H.G. 9. Khao Nom 42-06 77th St., Elmhurst; 929-208-0108 For an immersion course in the pandan-floral, coconut-creamy, tapioca-chewy, occasionally salty, and often translucent pleasures of the Thai-dessert pantheon, you could do no better than the display case of this quaint Elmhurst cafe. It used to be that the plan of action was to dine on incendiary steam-table curries around the corner at sister shop Khao Kang, then repair here for something sweet(ish). But the savory-snack menu has expanded to such a degree that thats no longer necessary especially if youre in the mood for a credible khao soy, or one of the over-rice dishes, including what passes for American fried rice in Thailand (it involves fried chicken, hot dogs, ketchup, and a sunnyside egg). For dessert: a coconut-ice-cream sundae, showered with peanuts, palm seeds, sweet-potato cubes, and a healthy splash of condensed milk. R.R. & R.P. 10. Chao Thai 85-03 Whitney Ave., Elmhurst; 718-424-4999 Another Queens pioneer, Chao Thai is toward the literal end of hole-in-the-wall when it comes to atmosphere, but the food has seriously held its own for years now, and the chef-owner, Ratchanee Sumpatboon, has made her mark by expanding all over the city (see Lan Larb Soho), scattering spicy specialties from her native Isan in her wake. H.G. 11. Pure Thai Cookhouse 766 Ninth Ave., nr. 51st St.; 212-581-0999 Among the many Thai restaurants in Hells Kitchen, Pure Thai stands out for its appealingly narrow, snaky dining room (you feel youve happened upon a secret cave) and pared-down menu, featuring one of the citys best som tum salads, each strand of pert green papaya glistening in a perfect sheath of lime juice and fish sauce. H.G. 12. Fish Cheeks 55 Bond St., nr. Bowery; 212-677-2223 The Thai chef-owners of this Noho restaurant, brothers Chat and Ohm Suansilphong, have carved out a very specific niche for themselves: a seafood restaurant with a Thai flavor profile, a lively bar scene, and the kind of loud, buzzy vibe that doesnt often coexist in Thai restaurants with serious kitchens. But the food is fresh and flavorful, and certain dishes the complexly spiced coconut-crab curry, the mouth-puckering zabb chicken wings have gained a cult following. And if youre hankering for a whole fish, you can order one grilled, fried, or best of all, steamed and served in a cilantro-lime broth in a fish-shaped pan under a blizzard of fresh herbs and red chiles. R.R. & R.P. 13. Som Tum Der 85 Ave. A, nr. 5th St.; 212-260-8570 Somtum Ders raison detre is the invigorating green-papaya salads known as som tum. There are eight made-to-order variations on the theme, the way there are, say, nine signature salads at Sweetgreen. Our favorite is the tum pla too + kao mun (with mackerel). But dont neglect the equally hot larbs, or the deep-fried chicken thighs marinated in a garlic, pepper, lemongrass, and red-curry paste that will knock your socks off. R.R. & R.P. 14. Wayla 100 Forsyth St., nr. Grand St.; 212-206-2500 Wayla, which opened about a minute ago, is too new to shove onto an assiduously researched list like this. But what the hell were going to do it anyway. Chef Tom Naumsuwans street-food-inspired cooking so far is that good: three fat pork sausages on sticks, a green-papaya salad as perky and invigorating as they come, tiny meatballs wrapped in noodles like rubber-band balls then deep-fried, and a Thai fried chicken worthy of the former tenant of this subterranean space, Birds & Bubbles. The restaurant is run by Erika Chou, who you may or may not remember from the late, great Yunnan Kitchen. Bonus points for Anthony Bakers cocktails, close quarters that manage to feel spacious and comfortable, and the fairly transporting backyard, where you can linger over your housemade coconut-ice-cream dessert beneath some palm fronds and, on a clear night, maybe even a star or two. R.R. & R.P. 15. Eim Khao Mun Kai 81-32 Broadway, nr. Britton Ave., Elmhurst; 718-424-7156 Khao mun kai, which means oiled-rice chicken (eim means full), is the popular Thai adaptation of a common Hainanese street food and the specialty of this Elmhurst storefront shop, by which we mean thats all theyve got. Its enough; in fact, its plenty. Whole chickens are boiled, jasmine rice is cooked in the stock, a zingy garlic-chile-ginger condiment is Vitamixed. That the plastic-plated result, along with a cup of broth and some slices of cucumbers, looks a bit like convalescent food belies how satisfying this oiled-rice chicken is. Its a bit removed from the Jewish pick-me-up chicken in the pot, but the remarkable soul-soothing effect is the same. R.R. & R.P. 16. Lan Larb Soho 227 Centre St., nr. Grand St.; 646-895-9264 Here is another unassuming nook overseen by the prolific Ratchanee Sumpatboon (See Chao Thai). Sumpatboon apparently wants to do for larb, the fiery minced-meat salad of northeastern Thailands Isan region, what David Chang has done for pork buns. (She also consulted on a Lan Larb in Murray Hill and ran the now-defunct Larb Ubol in Hells Kitchen.) The namesake dish comes in several guises (get the duck or the pork), and it does not disappoint. And though larb is most definitely the thing, Lan Larb is no one-hit wonder. The papaya salad is at once spicy hot and refreshingly cool. The grilled Isan-style sausage served with roasted peanuts and slivers of ginger is snappy, smoky, and mottled with fat. And the pla krapong rard prik, a deep-fried whole red snapper bathed in a sweet-tart chile sauce, is good to the last shred of crispy-skinned meat. R.R. & R.P. 17. Pata Cafe 56-14 Van Horn St., Elmhurst; 347-469-7142 Respect others please be quiet, reads a red sign, a nod to the fact that this sweet little spot is often packed with schoolchildren. Most order hot dogs and French fries, but some of the Filipino kids get pad Thai, says Suchasinee Nitmai, who handles the front of the house while her mother, Sunisa, whips up homestyle favorites including papaya salad with preserved crab and pickled fish and num tok beef dressed with red onion, mint, lime juice, and chiles. Roasted rice powder lends a pleasant nuttiness to the beefy salad. Specials include khanom jeen ya poo, rice noodles served with a sidecar of crab in a yellow curry that gets its color from hand-ground turmeric and its flavor from galangal, chile, and lemongrass. It comes with a platter of fresh herbs. Mix the whole lot together and dig into a real Thai after-school special. Joe DiStefano 18. LOOK by Plant Love House 622 Washington Ave., nr. Pacific St., Prospect Heights; 718-622-0026 The name of this Elmhurst transplant the Anglicization of the Thai word for children, because the food is meant to be the sort that Thai mothers prepare for their kids doubles as a serious mandate, urging residents of Prospect Heights to wake up and reconsider what they thought of as Thai food. Try finding pork-blood noodle soup or hor mok pla, a steamed-fish-curry custard, elsewhere in the neighborhood, let alone the borough. H.G. 19. Paet Rio 81-10 Broadway, Elmhurst; 917-832-6672 The chef-owner behind the popular, unusually tasty if unthrilling Wondee Siam restaurants in Hells Kitchen and the Upper West Side is freer in Queens, focusing on the kinds of dishes likely to appear only on her secret menu in Manhattan, like fermented rice noodles in tomato-and-pork sauce and shredded-catfish salad. H.G. *This post has been updated. Huawei unveiled plans to bring its Honor 6X smartphone to Europe and North America yesterday, as you may know. The handset was initially announced back in October. And now it's already up for pre-order in the US, with its release happening on January 10. You can pre-order it from Honor's own online store, or go with Best Buy or Amazon if you want. The price is $249.99 unlocked. Across the pond in Europe things are even better, with the Honor 6X actually being in stock at vMall, Huawei's official online store for the continent. You can choose between silver or gold color versions for now, as the gray one isn't yet available. The Honor 6X's normal price is 224 in the UK and 249 in the Eurozone (in both cases SIM-free and unlocked, of course), but today only you can grab one for 176.49 or 224.10, respectively. All you have to do (aside from ordering before midnight) is add one to your cart, then in your cart click the big blue button that says you can get an "xtraordinary price". This will automatically apply a discount code and you'll pay less than the recommended price at checkout. That's it. If the Honor 6X intrigues you and you want to learn more about it, don't miss our hands-on report with the device. Samsung to bring the Light performance mode to Galaxy S23 phones for better battery life Haiti - NOTICE : Delivery of certificates to elected, by the CEP Uder Antoine, the Executive Director of the Provisional Electoral Council (CEP), informs the elected of the complementary legislative elections (Deputies and Senators), one third of the Senate and of municipal, that it proceeds this Wednesday at the delivery of certificates. This activity will take place at the institution's headquarters, located in Petion-ville, Stephen Archer Street #72, Wednesday, January 4 according to the following schedule: - 9h00 a.m.- to 1h00 p.m. : Artibonite, Centre, West, Nippes, South and South East - 2h00 p.m. to 4h00 p.m.: Grand'Anse, North, North East and Nord West. Elected may be represented by a representative. Note : To avoid any delays in the delivery of the said certificates, the elected concerned must bring their National Identification Card (CIN) and their tax number. They must respect this programming according to their respective departments and constituencies. HL/ HaitiLibre Haiti - Elections : Congratulations from the U.S. Department of State Following the final results proclaiming Jovenel Moise, winner and newly elected President of the Republic of Haiti https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-19698-haiti-presidential-2016-final-results-jovenel-moise-58th-president.html , John Kirby, Assistant Secretary and U.S. Department of State Spokesperson, Bureau of Public Affairs Washington DC, made the following statement : "Todays publication in Haiti of the final presidential results represents a positive step for the full restoration of that nations democratic institutions. We congratulate President-elect Jovenel Moise on his first-round victory and look forward to working closely with him as we strengthen our longstanding partnership with Haiti. We urge all actors to accept the final results, refrain from violence, and work together to build a stable and prosperous Haiti. The United States reiterates its support for timely completion of the remaining elections in Haiti in a fair, transparent, and peaceful manner." See also : https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-19699-haiti-flash-address-to-the-nation-of-president-elect-jovenel-moise.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-19698-haiti-presidential-2016-final-results-jovenel-moise-58th-president.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-19690-haiti-flash-bcen-rendered-its-final-decision.html HL/ HaitiLibre Haiti - Politics : Portrait of Jovenel Moise, 58th President of Haiti Jovenel Moise, the 58th President of the Republic of Haiti which will be invested to the Supreme Magistrature of the Nation on February 7, 2017, was born on June 26, 1968 in Trou du Nord (Northeast Department) in a modest family (father farmer and mechanic, mother seamstress). In July 1974, he settled with his family in Port-au-Prince where he continued his primary education at the National School Don Durelin, then his secondary education at Lycee Toussaint Louverture first and then at theCultural Center of the College Canado Haitien. Later, he attended the Faculty of Educational Sciences of the University Quisqueya. Despite his future already mapped as educator, he changes direction to engage in entrepreneurship. In 1996, he left the capital and moved to Port-de-Paix, with the dream of developing the hinterland. With very little investment capital, he created his first business at Port-de-Paix, "JOMAR Auto Parts", still in operation today. The same year, his love of the land directs its efforts towards the establishment of an agricultural project. Jovenel sets up a plantation of 10 hectares of bananas in the Northwest Department. Shortly after then father, he became aware that access to clean water is a major issue in the hinterland and embarked on a new project. In 2001, strengthened by his experiences, he decided to find a solution to this problem. He starts in partnership with the company Culligan of Port-au-Prince and combine loans from financial institutions and individuals, with difficulty, he started a water plant for distribution of drinking water in the North-West and North-East. From his success in the business world and his desire to support community development, Jovenel became in 2004 a member of the Chamber of Commerce and the Northwest Industry (CCINO). In no time, he was elected president of the CCINO. His ability to build a group synergy allows him to become Secretary General of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Haiti (CHIC) where he played a significant role in integrating the regional Chambers of Commerce, to ensure their full and fair representation within the CCIH. Interested in regional electrification, he formed in 2008 with more partners, the Haitian Energy Company SA (COMPHENER SA), which aims to bring solar and wind energy to 10 communes of the Northwest department. In 2012, in Trou du Nord, he founded AGRITRANS SA, bringing the agricultural project NOURRIBIO to become the first Haitian Agricultural Zone Franche. With this project, Jovenel Moise has transformed a site dedicated to the abandonment of an integrated sustainable development project, a model for the development of agriculture in Haiti. Recall that the project NOURRIBIO has already enabled the emergence of more than a dozen agricultural projects that have created almost 3,000 direct jobs and 10,000 indirect jobs. This project is the most innovative in Haiti and the largest that the Caribbean has seen so far. In 2015, the President Michel Martelly, designates Jovenel Moise as presidential candidate of the political party he founded, the Haitian Tet Kale Party (PHTK). Wherever he goes, Jovenel Moise sold his vision of a bio-ecological agriculture as the engine of the Haitian economy, creates jobs and generates wealth for a population whose over 50% is rural. He proposes agriculture as the basis for economic recovery. His policy also includes elements that have been the workhorse of Martelly: education for all, access to health, energy reform, the rule of law, the creation of sustainable jobs, environmental protection, and development of Haiti come a tourist destination by adding eco-tourism and agro-tourism. See also : https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-19699-haiti-flash-address-to-the-nation-of-president-elect-jovenel-moise.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-19698-haiti-presidential-2016-final-results-jovenel-moise-58th-president.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-19690-haiti-flash-bcen-rendered-its-final-decision.html HL/ HaitiLibre Haiti - Elections : PHTK lawyers protest at CEP Following the publication on Thursday 29 December of the first set of final results https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-19655-haiti-flash-final-results-of-legislatives-elections-partial.html in which the Provisional Electoral Council (CEP) had specified for candidates in the Senate for the Department of Centre "The Council also informs that the candidate for the complementary Legislative (Senate) for the Department of Centre, Wilfrid Gelin, is the subject of an administrative investigation" the law firm Patrick Laurent et Associes, proceeding for the party PHTK and the candidate Wilfrid Gelin wrote to the CEP : Excerpts from the letter sent to the CEP : "[...] he was surprised to find that the name of candidate Wilfrid Gelin is not on the list of definitive results published by the CEP for the Senate of the department of Centre this, for CEP's investigation https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-19704-haiti-flash-final-results-of-the-senate-election-for-the-south.html A Citizen still less a Candidate elected by the sovereign (people) can not be the object of a secret investigation, anonymous, an investigation for which he is unaware of the ins and outs; The PHTK as well as the Candidate intend to protest and, as a matter of fact, protest in the most formal and categorical way that a protest can be made to the non-publication of the results of the department of Centre concerning the elected Senator Wilfrid Gelin; The PHTK wishes to draw to the attention of Honorable Members of the CEP that the Electoral Decree does not authorize the CEP to defer the publication of the result of the election of a candidate for investigation. The law firm requests you, Honorable Members of the CEP, to publish the result concerning the elected Senator of the department of Centre , Wilfrid Gelin. [...]" Recall that at the beginning of December 2016, the CEP at the publication of the preliminary results (subject to change due to possible challenges), had declared elected the candidate Wilfrid Gelin (PHTK) with 23.77% of votes https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-19427-haiti-flash-results-of-elections-1-3-senate-complementary-legislative.html HL/ SL/ HaitiLibre Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 4 Trend: Azerbaijans President Ilham Aliyev has congratulated Htin Kyaw, president of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar, on the occasion of Independence Day. On behalf of the people of Azerbaijan and on my own behalf, I extend my most sincere congratulations to you and the people of your country on the occasion of the national holiday of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar Independence Day, said President Aliyev in his congratulatory letter. I wish you robust health, success in your activities and the friendly people of Myanmar peace and prosperity, added the president. Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 4 By Elena Kosolapova Trend: The National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) has announced a list of over two dozen international energy companies which are qualified to bid for the countrys new oil and gas projects, said the companys message. The list includes European giant companies such as Total, Shell, Eni and Gazprom as well as Asian companies like CNPC, Inpex, KOGAS and Petronas. Most of the companies were involved in Irans oil industry projects before the US-tailored sanctions were imposed against the Islamic Republic in 2011. The list also includes some newcomers, such as Wintershall from Germany, Maersk from Finland, DNO from Norway and CEPSA from Spain. Iran plans to award new projects to the companies it has qualified through a new format of oil contracts. The new format is replacing buyback deals. Under a buyback deal, the host government agreed to pay the contractor an agreed price for all volumes of hydrocarbons the contractor produces. But from now on, the NIOC will set up joint ventures for crude oil and gas production with international companies which will be paid with a share of the output. Also, different stages of exploration, development and production will be offered to contractors as an integrated package, with the emphasis laid on enhanced and improved recovery. Follow the author on Twitter: @E_Kosolapova Harbors wharfage rates to rise 34.5% in 2017 by Michael Hansen, Hawaii Shippers Council, January 3, 2017 The Pacific Business News (PBN) published on January 3, 2017, a news article, State increasing wharfage fees at Honolulu Harbor by 17% in February, reporting that Governor Ige approved the proposed increase by signing off on the administrative measure on December 13, 2016, and the schedule for implementation of the three incremental increases. The first two wharfage increases of 17% and 15% on February 1st and October 1st respectively will result in a 34.5% increase in 2017 on a compound basis. Also newsworthy is that Pasha Hawaii Transport Line LLC confirmed to the PBN reporter Anna Hrushka that they would be relocating to the new Kapalama Container Terminal (KCT) when it is projected to be completed in 2021. Key excerpts: The Hawaii State Department of Transportation, Harbors Division is increasing wharfage tariff rates at Honolulu Harbor by 17 percent beginning on Feb. 1. The DOT said an additional 15 percent increase will take effect Oct. 1, with a third 15 percent increase to be implemented on July 1, 2018. Gov. David Ige approved the new wharfage rates on Dec. 12, which the DOT says will be used to finance the Harbors Modernization Plan. In addition to the three increases, the Hawaii DOT Harbors Division said incremental rate increases of 3 percent or the consumer price index rate, whichever is higher, will be implemented annually starting on July 1, 2019. The $850 million Harbors Modernization Plan, which was adopted by the Hawaii State Legislature nine years ago, includes plans for a $450 million Kapalama Container Terminal, which the Harbors Division says it will finance through the wharfage increases. Once completed, Pasha Hawaii and Hawaii Stevedores confirmed to PBN they will move their current operations at Sand Island to the new berthing and container handling facility at the former Kapalama Military Reservation. Michael Hansen, president of the Hawaii Shippers Council, told Pacific Business News that while the upgrades to Honolulu Harbors infrastructure are necessary, the rate increases will have an impact on consumers. The cost per unit item is not going to be great in terms of the wharfage increase, Hansen said. In aggregate, it will of course have an impact on the economy, taking a certain amount of money out of the economy. The charge is against the cargo born by who brings merchandise into Hawaii. Hansen said its ultimately the consumer who pays the price for the tariff increase, as companies could raise prices on the goods shipped into Hawaii. A representative of a local shipping company also told PBN that the additional costs will be passed on to the carriers customers, impacting consumers. Construction for the new Kapalama terminal is set to begin this spring and should be completed over four years. ---30--- Related: Harbors Division Fee Hike designed to boost $77M OHA Slush Fund? - Duty of care - WHS obligations - Workers' compensation/accident insurance - Anti-harassment/discrimination/bullying laws - Is the destination known to contain risks to health and safety? - Have you checked current travel warnings and advisories? - Have you taken steps to identify any safety risks at the location(s) the employee will be visiting? - Have you arranged an induction for the employee with the controller of the premises (eg local office management or the client)? - Have you provided the employee with information on local risks/dangers? - If risks do exist, have you considered alternatives (eg security measures, postponing travel or video-conferencing)? - Has your company appointed someone to monitor these issues? - Was the incident in the course of their employment (or, for example, did it occur 'after hours' or on a personal side trip unrelated to their work assignment)? - Does the company have a history of work-related incidents/accidents? - Was the risk foreseeable? - Did the employer take all reasonable steps to keep the employee safe? - Did the relevant managers and directors of the company exercise due diligence to prevent the risk? [1] Li Hoi Shuen vMan Ming Engineering Trading Co Ltd [2006] 1 HKC 349 Lifelong Learners Movie: Frida on Jan. 9 Audience: Adults (18+) Location: Watauga County Public Library Meeting Room High Country Lifelong Learners in association with the Watauga County Public Library invite you to join us for a movie viewing of Frida on January 9th from 2:00 pm 5:30 pm. Director Julie Taymors 2002 film, Frida, chronicles the life Frida Kahlo shared with Diego Rivera, as the couple took the art world by storm. From her complex relationship with her mentor and husband to her affair with Leon Trotsky, to her provocative entanglements with women, Frida Kahlo lived a bold and uncompromising life as a political, artistic, and sexual revolutionary. Stars: Salma Hayek, Alfred Molina, Geoffrey Rush This film has an MPAA rating of R and an approximate run-time of 123 minutes. For more information please email: [email protected] com , Attention: Deb Gooch. Meet Your Representatives at Lost Province Brewing Co. Jan. 10 Mountain Laurel Quilt Guild to Meet Jan. 5 The Mountain Laurel Quilt Guild will hold its monthly meeting on Thursday, January 5th, at 1:00 PM. We meet in the conference room on the second floor of the Senior Center on Poplar Grove Connector in Boone. Bring your favorite quilt gadget to demonstrate to the group. We are all looking for new and better ways to enjoy quilting. Dont forget your quilts for show-and-tell. Call Dolores at 295-6148 if you have any questions. Spring Registration Continues Through Jan. 5 at CCC&TI Upcoming Courses, Events Caldwell Community College and Technical Institute will continue registering new students for the Spring 2017 semester on both the Caldwell and Watauga Campuses through Dec. 22 and Jan. 3 through Jan. 4 after the holiday break. During the time the institution is closed for Christmas, students will be able to register online, but are urged to meet with an advisor before the college closes on Dec. 22 at 12 p.m. CCC&TIs Final Registration session will be offered from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Jan. 5. Spring classes begin on Monday, Jan. 9. A variety of financial aid options are available for students who qualify. For more information on how to apply or register for classes at CCC&TI, contact Student Services at 828-726-2200 on the Caldwell Campus and 297-3811 on the Watauga Campus. Mixology Class The Corporate and Continuing Education division at Caldwell Community College and Technical Institute will offer Mixology: The Study of Mixing Beverages from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Mondays and Wednesdays from Jan. 30 to March 13 in Room H-308 on the Caldwell Campus in Hudson. The class will cover making and mixing todays popular drinks, bar management, Alcohol Law Enforcement laws/procedures, customer service skills and increasing tips. The cost of the class is $126 and includes a certificate upon completing. Students must be at least 21 to register. For more information, or to sign up, call 726-2242. Conversational Spanish II The Corporate and Continuing Education division at Caldwell Community College and Technical Institute will offer Conversational Spanish II from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Mondays from Jan. 23 to April 10 on the Caldwell Campus in Hudson. Some prior knowledge of Spanish is required to enroll. The cost of the class is $71. For more information, or to register, call 726-2242. Industrial Maintenance Technology Starts Jan. 9 Caldwell Community College and Technical Institute will offer an Industrial Maintenance Technology class from Jan. 9 to April 6, with classes meeting Monday through Thursday. Students will receive training in basic welding, HVAC, basic DC/AC circuitry, industrial blueprint reading, hydraulics and pneumatics, mechanical operating systems, PLCs and safety training. The classes will be offered on the Caldwell Campus in Hudson. Tuition is $187, and grants are available to applicants who are unemployed or underemployed. For more information, call 726-2242. Massage Therapy Watauga Caldwell Community College and Technical Institutes Corporate and Continuing Education division will offer an evening Massage Therapy course for the Watauga Campus in Boone that will prepare students for the certification examination required for North Carolina licensure. The course, which includes a Human Resource Development component, will take place from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from Feb. 6 to Oct. 17. The cost of the course is $306. For more information, or to register, call 726-2242. Share this: Twitter Facebook LinkedIn Reddit Pocket Panasonic has unveiled the worlds first 4K HDR OLED TV with professional-grade video processing at the CES 2017 consumer electronics trade show in Las Vegas this week. The Viera EZ1000 (or EZ1002 in the UK) will be the companys second OLED television after its inaugural CZ950/ CZ952 which was released in late 2015. Unlike its curved predecessor, the Panasonic TX-65EZ1000 will use a flat WRGB OLED panel supplied by LG Display, though both displays will share the one singular screen size of 65 inches. Taking a leaf out of Sonys ZD9 launch playbook, Panasonic refused to disclose the exact peak luminance and colour gamut coverage on the EZ1000, merely stating that it will deliver around double the peak brightness of a conventional OLED and almost the full DCI colour space. If we were a betting person (hey were in Vegas after all), wed put money on a peak brightness between 800 and 1000 nits, and 98-99% DCI-P3 coverage. Update: According to a presentation slide at the launch event, the EZ1000s peak brightness will be around 800 nits (likely the peak luminance of all OLEDs using LG Displays 2017 WRGB OLED panel), with almost 100% DCI-P3 coverage. The new Master HDR OLED panel will be joined by an Absolute Black Filter that not only soaks up ambient light and reflections to reduce glare, but also eradicates the reddish blacks which can affect some OLED TVs in bright rooms. Weve been very impressed with the anti-reflective filter on the now-defunct Panasonic ZT plasma, and so cant wait to see how the version implemented on the TX65EZ1000 will perform. Another aspect which has consistently blown us away on Panasonic Vieras in recent years is their excellent colour accuracy, and the Japanese manufacturer is looking to step things up a notch on the EZ1000 via several avenues. First is a Studio Colour HCX2 video processor the most powerful from Panasonic on a consumer television yet which provides unrivalled Delta Zero accuracy through 3D LUT (look-up tables) similar to those used by Panasonics professional filmmaking and broadcast monitor arm. Furthermore, professional users can even upload their own 3D LUTs by SD card/ USB stick. And when you consider Panasonics continued finetuning collaboration with Hollywood colourist Mike Sowa, the companys own Hollywood Lab experience, and integrated DDC (direct display controls) for ISF calibration, its unlikely well see another OLED TV that can present the directors creative intent with more accuracy. THX and Ultra HD Premium certifications are being applied for. OLEDs self-emissive display characteristics lend itself to true blacks, but LG OLEDs to date have had a tendency to either render the shades just above black with more noise and blockiness, or crush shadow detail however slight. Panasonic aims to tackle this through its HCX2 processor, drawing upon its know-how and experience with plasma to compensate for the relatively large jump between OLEDs off (zero black) and on (above black) states for the clearest and cleanest reproduction of detail in dark scenes. The Panasonic EZ1002/ EZ1000 will support HDR10 PQ (perceptual quantisation) standard for Ultra HD Blu-ray playback, HLG (Hybrid Log-Gamma) for HDR broadcast, 4K HDR streaming from Netflix, Amazon and YouTube, but not Dolby Vision format since the company believes it knows its own panel and processing better than any other organisation. Like all other OLED TVs to be released in 2017, the TX-65EZ1002/ TX-65EZ1000 wont have 3D capability. To complement the class-leading picture quality, Panasonic has roped in sound engineers from acclaimed audio brand Technics to help develop a new Dynamic Blade Speaker for the EZ1000. Taking the form of a soundbar stand spanning the entire width of the screen (again), the Dynamic Blade Speaker is a deceptively slim audio system that houses 14 speaker units including 8 woofers, 4 squawkers and 2 tweeters, plus a quad passive radiator to enhance bass. Other features include a floating design, dark metallic finish, a newly developed My Home Screen 2.0 Smart TV system, a revamped Media Player app supporting 4K HDR10 and HLG content, Freeview Play for the British TX-65EZ1002B model, as well as IP>TV tech (to convert broadcasts into data streamable to other devices) on continental models. Control4 and Crestron certifications are pending. The 65in Panasonic EZ1000 will be available in Europe from end of May 2017, although theres currently no plan to release the 4K OLED TV in North America. The company hasnt decided on a launch price yet. Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Jan. 4 By Demir Azizov Trend: Excise rates on alcoholic beverages, alcohol and beer produced in Uzbekistan have increased since January 1, 2017. New excise rates were approved by the Uzbek presidents decree on "Forecast of the main macroeconomic indices and parameters of the state budget of Uzbekistan for 2017". The excise rates on ethyl alcohol increased by 25 percent from 5,020 sums up to 6,275 sums, cognac - by 27 percent up to 58,265 sums, vodka and other alcoholic beverages - by 25 percent up to 54,057 sums in 2017 compared to 2016. The excise rates on cigarettes with filter, without filter and cigars, produced in Uzbekistan have been set in the amount of 37,432 sums per 1,000 cigarettes in 2017 compared to 28,794 sums (30 percent growth) in 2016. Excise rates on imported alcoholic beverages, except beer, and tobacco will remain unchanged in 2017. Excise rates on imported wine will reach $6, vodka - $7, cognac - $14.5 and tobacco - $18.2 per 1,000 cigarettes. Excise rates on imported beer will reach $3 in 2017 compared to $1.43 in 2016. The official exchange rate on January 4 is 3239.62 UZS/USD. Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Jan. 4 By Demir Azizov Trend: Abdusalom Azizov has been appointed to the post of interior minister upon Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyevs decree, a representative of the countrys presidential administration told Trend January 4. Before the appointment, Azizov worked as the head of the interior department in the countrys Jizzakh region since 2010. Adham Ahmadbayev, who has served as the countrys interior minister since December 2013, was appointed state adviser to the president on work with law-enforcement agencies. A courier who veered across two lanes of traffic on a busy motorway in the middle of the afternoon narrowly missed hitting a fuel tanker. Gerard Keating (39), who has four previous convictions for motoring offences, was yesterday banned from driving for two years by Dublin District Court. He was also fined 250. Keating, of Bettystown Caravan Park, Bettystown, Co Meath, admitted dangerous driving on the M50 in Finglas on October 21, 2013. Gda Deirdre McInerney told the court that Keating was seen driving recklessly on the motorway, and narr- owly missed the tanker as he veered across two lanes of traffic to get to the outer lane. Two cars had to drive on to the hard shoulder to avoid hitting him. Defence solicitor Michael French asked Judge Bryan Smyth to consider reducing the charge to a less serious count of careless driving. The prosecution had consented, subject to the judge's decision. Lapse However, Judge Smyth refused after hearing the evidence, saying "that is dangerous driving as far as I am concerned." Mr French accepted that the account of what happened "doesn't make pleasant reading in any way, shape or form". Keating had 10 previous convictions, including four for motoring offences. The facts of the case were accepted, Mr French said, adding that "it was a temporary lapse in concentration on his part". He accepted the driving could have had serious consequences for the accused and other road users. Keating had worked as a courier and would be "seriously hamstrung" by a driving ban. He was currently out of work and in receipt of social welfare. Mr French asked the judge to bear this in mind when fining the accused. The conviction was endorsed on his driving licence. Judge Smyth said Keating could pay the fine by instalments if he wished and set recognisances in the event of an appeal. Keating did not address the court during the hearing. Two friends were accused of impersonating gardai after a video of them holding a man in a car for a bogus drugs search popped up on a serving officer's Facebook news feed, a court has heard. The garda sergeant investigated the video after he was alerted to it on his own page on the social media site. It is alleged that Dean Parkes (23) filmed the video from the passenger seat of the car while Corrie Grimes (20) was driving. Interrogated According to the prosecution, the pair had picked up a man in the north inner city, told him he was under arrest and "interrogated" him before dropping him off on a nearby street. Mr Parkes allegedly then uploaded the video to his Facebook public profile. The accused are both charged with falsely imprisoning Darren Osborne and making a statement or committing an act to suggest they were gardai. The offences are alleged to have happened at Sheriff Street on December 20, 2015. Mr Grimes, of Ferryman's Crossing, Dublin, and Mr Parkes, of Montpelier Park, Dublin, both deny the charges. Judge Bryan Smyth adjourned the case for continued hearing on a later date. Sgt John Egan told Dublin District Court that the video appeared on his own Facebook news feed. When he clicked on it, it came up on the account of a Dean Parkes. The video purported to show two men impersonating gardai, telling a man that he was being subjected to a drugs search and was being taken to Store Street Garda Station, Sgt Egan said. He downloaded it and gave a DVD to another garda to identify the people in the video. Recognised The homes of the accused were searched and Mr Parkes was arrested. Mr Grimes later presented himself at a garda station. In cross-examination, Sgt Egan accepted there could be another Dean Parkes. Mr Parkes' face was not visible in the video, but Sgt Egan said he recognised the voice. Mr Parkes' barrister said the video was not dated and there was no data to say who had created it. Gda Adrian Buckley said Mr Grimes was identified to him from the video by Gda Shona Moran. The court heard the men in the video had no uniforms on and there was no garda "paraphernalia" in the car. They told Mr Osborne they were taking him to Store Street Garda Station, Gda Buckley said. Mr Parkes had told gardai in an interview that he recorded the video and uploaded it. He said it was "between the three of them as a joke" and that he pretended to the man he was a garda "to f**k with him or something". He agreed in the interview that the aim was to "see how easy it was for gardai to get information" out of someone. "The fella knows we were messing," he said in the interview. Barristers for both accused objected to the video being admitted to the court in evidence. The judge said he would allow the video evidence in Mr Parkes' case as he was accepting that his memo of interview authenticated the video. However, he has not yet decided if the video can be used in the case against Mr Grimes. Only an hour into 2017, terror struck again. Islamic State's (IS) first target of the new year was Reina nightclub in Istanbul. A lone gunman opened fire on the 600 or so revellers, killing 39 men and women. The latest outrage followed the mass murder at a Berlin Christmas market by a truck driver aligned to the terror group. Despite its loss of territory in the Middle East, the attacks have sent out a chilling message that IS is still in business. These extremists have shown they can strike at will at any target they choose, using a network of suicide bombers and gunmen. It is almost impossible for law enforcement or state security agencies to defend against these attacks by so-called lone wolf operatives. Despite massive security operations, IS has demonstrated its ability to strike terror into the hearts of people in major cities across Europe. Terror Our Government has reassured us that this country has little to fear. I am not so sure. I have pointed out in this column on a number of occasions the reasons for my anxiety. I believe that our policy of allowing more than two million US military personnel to transfer through Shannon Airport to conduct warfare in Iraq and Afghanistan places this country in danger from IS. The recent disturbing case of Khalid Kelly, an Irishman from Crumlin killed while fighting for IS in Iraq, should be a wake-up call to the government. Two years ago, Assistant Garda Commissioner John O'Mahony said more than 40 individuals had gone from Ireland to fight in the Middle East since 2010, including some who joined IS. Any of these fanatics could become a lone assassin on their return. In light of the recent attacks, no western nation can be complacent. Eileen McCabe pictured in the stairwell of a car park in Dublin where she sleeps at night Eileen McCann pictured in the stairwell of a car park in Dublin where she sleeps at night A young mum sleeping inside a multi-storey car park near the Dail says she has not had anything to eat in more than two days, as she desperately tries to find a place to call home. Eileen McCann (28), from Dundrum, was in tears as she described the difficulties she faces on a daily basis. "I'm walking the streets alone and haven't eaten a thing in two days," she said. "I'm frozen all the time and spend my nights crying my eyes out inside a car park opposite Leinster House." Help "I don't drink or do drugs at all and I'm finding it so hard to get help. All I want is to find a home, anywhere, so I can take care of my four-year-old son. "He has been put into foster care and I'm only allowed to see him several times a week, which breaks my heart." Eileen became homeless, it also led to her losing her job at a South Dublin dry-cleaners. "I was having such a hard time that it greatly affected my work and I lost my job and everything else as a result. "I'm a qualified hairdresser, dry cleaner and telemarketer, but I just can't hold down a job without a home. "Every time I climb a ladder I just fall back down." The young mother added that she has gone down various avenues in search of a safe place to sleep. However, she claims that the homeless hostels offered to her were just too dangerous. She also says she faces abuse as many homeless people simply do not believe she is a victim of poverty. "I get a lot of abuse from people in the same situation as me," she said. "They say because of my southside accent I'm not really badly off and don't deserve help, which is just ridiculous." She has sought out help from politicians and Dublin City Council, she said, but found no suitable solutions. "I contacted a politician several months ago who said he will try and find me a place to live, but I haven't heard anything back," she told the Herald. She said Dublin City Council informed her it could be several years before they located suitable accommodation. Dangerous Dublin City Council had not responded to a request for comment last night. "They advised me to call the Central Placement Service's hotline, but I find wherever they try to set me up too dangerous to stay. "I've been also told that Apollo House is full up." Eileen says she feels she has no other option but to beg - which causes her much embarrassment and shame. "I'm now forced to beg on the streets. I find it so shameful and if any of my friends saw me with a cup in my hand I think I would just die of embarrassment." Bleak Once while she begging, Eileen was asked by a garda to move on. She said her circumstances are so bleak she wondered if she would be "better off in a cell" than sleeping on the streets. She worries about the impact her situation is having on her child. "It's just so hard knowing that I can't wake up with my son, put him to bed or feed him." Eileen added that she believes the Government is highlighting the homeless crisis, but is doing little to tackle it. "I know that the homeless crisis is a huge talking point in the Government now," she said. "But I feel like they're not really doing anything to help people like me." The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) has hit out at the HSE, saying a record number of 612 people waiting on trolleys in hospitals yesterday was "totally predictable". Across hospitals in Dublin yesterday, a total of 78 people were on trolleys awaiting treatment. St Vincent's Hospital was the worst hit with 19, followed by the Mater with 17 patients, and Tallaght Hospital with 16. Beaumount Hospital had a total of 13, Connolly Hospital seven and St James' Hospital six. Questions INMO general secretary Liam Doran told the Herald that questions must be asked as to what measures were taken over the past eight weeks to alleviate the situation. "The fact that 612 patients had no beds this week is truly shocking," he said. The HSE said: "An additional 55 acute beds are being provided in hospitals. "Beds have opened in Beaumont Hospital and in the Midlands Regional Hospital, Mullingar. In addition, 18 step-down beds are open in the Mercy University Hospital Cork." Tehran, Iran, January 4 By Mehdi Sepahvand - Trend: National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC) has said it will sue Turkmenistan regarding the gas deal between the two countries. Turkmenistan has halted supplying gas to Iran since Jan. 1. The company also said that the Turkmen Foreign Ministrys intervention in a legal case between the Iranian and Turkmen sides over the gas deal is a violation of agreements the two countries made 20 years ago when they signed the deal, NIGC public relations reported January 4. Turkmenistan's foreign ministry recently said that its ability to maintain its gas transportation infrastructure has been compromised by Iran's failure to continue paying off old debts since 2013. Over the past several years, the NIGC has paid for the incoming gas from Turkmenistan and has paid off a part of past debt, which has amounted to $4.5 billion, the company said. It added that the debts come from the years when Iran could not pay in cash due to imposed sanctions. Iran, nevertheless, tried to compensate by guaranteeing hundreds of millions of dollars in goods and services to Turkmenistan, the statement further said. Turkmenistan says it tried to resolve the debt issue with Iran the past year, but has not received any response. On December 31 Iranian sources said after much negotiations, the two sides had reached a deal to continue the 20-year deal for another five years. However, the following day Turkmenistan halted the gas flow, which keeps houses warm in a few northern Iranian provinces. A gas pipeline was built between Turkmenistan and Iran in 1997. Another route was completed in 2010, bringing Turkmenistan's annual gas export potential to Iran to 12 billion cubic meters. Turkmenistan has been exporting gas to Iran under a 1997 agreement. Deputy Managing Director of National Iranian Drilling Company (NIDC) Mehran Makvandi says drilling of Kish gas field has shown 76 percent progress, IRNA reported. Makvandi said drilling of 40 wells in South Azadegan has shown 91 percent progress and that of wells in Kish gas field 76 percent progress. He said drilling and development of joint oil and gas fields is among priorities of Iranian oil industry. Development of South Azadegan joint oil field, which is the biggest Iranian oil field, was entrusted to Chinese CNPC in the former government but was followed with sluggish pace. After long delay of the Chinese party, Ministry of Petroleum set a three-month deadline but development of the oil field was not changed. Hence, National Iranian Oil Company dismissed the Chinese contractor and entrusted the job with development of the field to Iranians. After dismissal of the Chinese, development of the joint oil fields was expedited and Iranian drilling rigs started drilling in various sections of the field. According to the NIOC, Makvandi provided details of such joint oil fields as Azadegan field and said 82 oil and gas wells are to be drilled and completed in the fields. Makvandi noted that 40 of the developmental and detailed wells are in South Azadegan oil field, 13 in South Yaran field, seven in Azar oil field, and 22 in phase 14 of South Pars gas field. The drilling project in Azadegan and South Yaran fields go on per a contract signed between the NIOC and the Petroleum Development and Engineering Company. He said drilling 30 wells are complete and 10 remaining ones will be completed by end of this year. Iranian Railway Company signed contract with Siemens of Germany and will provide some 3,000 wagons by the end of the current Iranian year, Babak Ahmadi Naqedi, senior official with Islamic Republic of Iran Railways said on Wednesday, IRNA reported. Ahmadi Naqedi said that the company decided to put out of service all the wagons built more than 55 years ago. He said that according to a new approval, the Islamic Republic of Iran railways has plans to put out of service the wagons with the age of 45 years this year. Noting that Tehran-Mashad trains will be electricity-powered and the plan is passing its final stages, he said that some 70 electricity-powered locomotives have been allocated to the project. He said that modernization of the railway is one of the four main priorities of the country. Tehran, Iran, January 4 By Mehdi Sepahvand - Trend: The Iranian government has sent a bill to the Parliament which asks for $1.5 billion from the National Development Fund to go as low-interest facilities into business development in rural areas, particularly near borders around the country. The announcement was made by First Vice President Eshaq Jahangiri as he visited an exhibition on economic capabilities of rural areas held in the capital city of Tehran, Trend correspondent reported from the event January 4. The exhibition is organized by the rural development department of the presidential office and has brought together hundreds of groups and businesses from rural areas around Iran. It kicked off on January 4 and will end January 7. The rural and nomad representatives are showcasing a variety of features, ranging from agricultural products and handicraft to music, costume, and cuisine. Development in rural and remote areas has found new significance in Iran as some neighboring countries are witnessing a growing number of young people in economically underdeveloped areas join drug gangs and terrorist groups. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei also recently ordered $500 million from the National Development Fund to go into developmental projects in the south-eastern border province of Sistan-Baluchestan. Drug bands and terrorist groups frequently venture into the Iranian territory from Pakistan which has borders with Iran alongside Sistan-Baluchestan Province. An A321 jet of Russia's major airline Aeroflot veered off the runway while landing late on Tuesday night at Khrabrovo airport in the Baltic exclave region of Kaliningrad, airport officials said, TASS reported. None of the 167 passengers and crew aboard received injuries and all of them were evacuated safely but the jet's nose landing gear broke down. Aeroflot's press service confirmed the information. "The airliner that was performing flight SU 1008 from Moscow to Kaliningrad veered off the runway after landing and its nose landing gear broke down in the process," it said. "All the customers were evacuated from the jet. There were no injuries." As the possible causes of the accident, the press service named poor adhesion of the wheels to the runway and a strong crosswind. After evacuation, airport medics did the customers checkup to establish if any of them had received injuries. Airport services removed the jet from the stop of accident. Preparations for the reopening of the airport in the morning were in full swing at the time this report went on wire. The airport schedule suggests the first flight is to take off from Khrabrovo at 05:00 hours EEST, or 03:00 hours UTC. 20:03 (GMT +4) More than a hundred people were reported injured after a Long Island Rail Road train derailed on Wednesday morning at the Atlantic Terminal in Brooklyn, New York, CNBC reported. The New York City Fire Department said the 103 injuries reported are non-life threatening, and victims are being transported to Brooklyn, Methodist and Kings County hospitals. 19:03 (GMT +4) The number of injured people in the train derailment in Brooklyn, New York has now been set to 76, the New York City Fire Department said in a Twitter message on Wednesday, Sputnik reported. "76 non-life-threatening injuries reported at scene of LIRR train derailment, Atlantic Terminal Brooklyn," the message stated. 18:44 (GMT +4) At least 37 people have suffered non-life-threatening injuries in a New York City commuter train derailment on Wednesday during peak morning commuting hours, city officials said, Reuters reported. 18:27 (GMT +4) A New York City commuter train derailed on Wednesday during peak morning commuting hours, injuring multiple people, officials said, Reuters reported. The Long Island Railroad train derailed at about 8:30 a.m. local time at Atlantic Terminal in the borough of Brooklyn, city officials said in an email notification. Multiple people have been injured in the incident, but the severity and number of injuries were not immediately known, New York police Detective Ahmed Nasser said. Fox 5 News reported at least 18 people were injured. Counter-terrorism officers have arrested a 50-year-old man at Heathrow airport as he got off a plane from the Egyptian capital, Cairo, The Guardian reported. The man was arrested under section 58 of the Terrorism Act 2000 on suspicion of possession of articles containing information of a kind likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism. As part of the investigation, officers are searching a residential address in north London, Scotland Yard said. The force added: The arrest was pre-planned and not in response to any immediate danger but as part of an ongoing investigation into allegations of terrorist activities overseas. This arrest is not related to Isis or Syria. By almost every measure for the incoming Trump administration, Ryan Zinke, the president-elect's pick to run the U.S. Department of Interior, has the perfect resume. He's a former commander in the Navy's Seal Team Six special-forces branch, which among other things took out Osama bin Laden. He's the lone congressman from Montana, where the Interior Department figures large because it owns significant swaths of land used for grazing and mining. And Zinke is all for developing and exploiting resources on public lands, earning him a lifetime score of just 3 out of 100 from the League of Conservation Voters. But for those who still embrace the goals of the Sagebrush Rebellion, a loose coalition of ranchers, miners, drillers, hunters, off-road enthusiasts, libertarians and anti-government die-hards, Zinke is a heretic. The reason is that he is an unshakable foe of selling federal lands or transferring them to the states. Repeatedly, Zinke has joined Democrats in opposing legislation that would require the department he has been named to head to shed its vast real-estate holdings. In July 2015, he voted for an amendment to block funding of "extra legal ways to transfer federal lands to private owners." Earlier in the year he voted against a Republican-sponsored budget resolution that would have set up a fund to do the same thing. As Zinke, 55, explained it at the time, he grew up hunting and fishing in Montana and sees the value in making sure that what's public stays public. This year he voted to block the sale of a couple of million acres of federal forest land for logging. Zinke has been so at odds with his party on this point that he resigned from the committee that drafted the Republican Party convention platform because, as usual, it included a passage about selling some of the 640 million acres owned by the federal government. As was reported when Trump nominated him, Zinke was personally vetted for the Interior post by Donald Trump Jr., an avid hunter and angler. And though you can't imagine the president-elect himself in a deer stand, on the campaign trail he said he would work to preserve access for hunters to public land. The confounding thing about the argument for transferring federal land to the states or selling it to private owners is that those who make it might have the most to lose. States such as Utah, Idaho and Nevada, where the federal government owns a majority of the land, often say they can do a better job of managing the real estate within their borders. In Utah, for example, legislation adopted in 2012 -- and ignored by the federal government -- demanding a massive land transfer said the state would benefit because "cumbersome federal rules, regulations, processes, and management policies often prevent development of these resources resulting in diminished revenue to the State and its citizens." Leaving aside the question of whether state employees are any more productive than federal employees, one implication is that the state would get a higher return for use of the land. That actually wouldn't be hard to do, although ranchers, miners, loggers and others might not like it very much. As a rule, the federal government charges users much less than market rates. The same is true for other uses of federal land: The prices the U.S. government charges are way below market rates. As such, this represents a considerable subsidy to the private sector, particularly in Western states. Just how big is hard to quantify, partly because federal land ownership is spread among several different agencies. One study estimated that letting cattle graze on federal land cost the U.S. government $261 million a year, while others have placed it as high as $1 billion. The timber industry and hard-rock mining have similar advantages. Miners pay a maximum of $5 an acre for extraction rights under a law adopted in 1872. Other studies have concluded that the states might rue the day they assumed ownership of federal lands because expenses would outweigh potential sources of revenue. Someone would have to pay for maintaining roads, dams and other infrastructure -- not to mention the hefty cost of fighting forest fires or remediating the environmental harm and pollution caused by mining, deforestation and erosion. If states wind up owning large chunks of what is now federal land, it isn't hard to imagine a time when legislatures see real-estate holdings as an easy asset to sell for closing a budget gap. Once the land is out of the public domain, it's gone for good. There is a lot that conservationists don't like about Zinke, who supports more extraction and exploitation of the natural resources on federal property. But at least he isn't on board with getting rid of the land that all Americans should consider part of their national birthright. US President Barack Obama extended his condolences to Turkey over recent terror attacks in the country, while reaffirming that the US will continue to cooperate with the country in the fight against terror, Daily Sabah reported. In a phone call with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Obama condemned the IS terror attack on a popular nightclub in Istanbul on New Year's Eve as well as the PKK terror attack in Kayseri on Dec 17. Conveying his condolences to the families of the victims killed in the attacks, the U.S. president wished a speedy recovery those injured and said that the U.S. will continue working alongside its NATO ally in the fight against terror. The two leaders also discussed latest advances made in Iraq and Syria in the fight against IS, and agreed that Turkey and the US should maintain close cooperation on the issue. One of the enduring mysteries of the fake-news epidemic is why it's happening now, when it's easier than ever for readers to fact-check stories with a few quick keystrokes. A Google search and a little common sense should be enough to cast doubt on stories that the Clintons are running a child sex ring from a pizza parlor, that Sharia law has been instituted in Florida or that CNN accidentally aired 30 minutes of pornography. And yet, fake news was rampant in 2016. No, busloads of paid protesters didn't descend on Texas in November, but more than 350,000 people shared 'news' that they did. Made-up stories outperformed the real stuff on Facebook, with dozens of dubious websites springing up to meet the demand. Pakistan's defense minister fell for fake news. So did America's next national security adviser. No wonder PolitiFact named fake news its "Lie of the Year." It's not that people are getting dumber, psychologists say. Humans have always had blind spots. But one in particular is causing trouble now: People are ignorant of their own ignorance. In order to realize you should look something up, you have to recognize that you don't already know the answer. Brown University psychology professor Steven Sloman has been investigating this tendency. In one 2013 study, he asked subjects how much they know about complex policies such as unilateral sanctions on Iran. Most people reported knowing a lot -- but when asked to explain how the policies worked, they couldn't. Shattering what Sloman calls "the knowledge illusion" leads people to downgrade their self-assessment -- but then their overconfidence returns. More recently, Sloman has been researching the way people overestimate their understanding of everything from glue to coffee-makers to toilets for his forthcoming book "The Knowledge Illusion: Why We Never Think Alone." Not everyone is equally self-deluded, of course. As a test, Sloman asks a simple math question: A bat costs $1 more than a ball, and together they cost $1.10. What does the ball cost? About 20 percent of people get this right, he said, and they are not as vulnerable to the knowledge illusion. (The ball 5 costs cents. If you were sure it cost 10 cents, you are among the majority of people, and you could stand to improve your reflective thinking skills.) But what about content knowledge -- knowing facts about the world? You might think that would arm people against fake news, but experiments show that's not necessarily the case. Education professor Joseph Kahne of the University of California Riverside gave young subjects, age 15 to 27, a short test for political literacy and then showed them a mix of fake and real news stories presented as Facebook posts. He found high scorers were no better than the rest at separating fake stories from evidence-based ones. What did matter was whether a news story bolstered the subjects' existing beliefs. "The judgments people make are heavily influenced by whether or not information aligns with a policy position they already hold," Kahne said. People who identify as liberals have no trouble pooh-poohing the rumor that Barack Obama was born in Kenya, for example, while those on the conservative end were more likely to believe it. Likewise, liberals were more likely than conservatives to swallow a false claim that 90 percent of rich Americans pay no taxes. The results are slated to be published in American Educational Research Journal. Kahne says the powerful influence of pre-existing political beliefs may explain why a little knowledge doesn't shield people from being fooled. The people who know more about politics, he said, are better equipped to understand the political implications of a story, and therefore quicker to know whether it reinforces or challenges their beliefs. You have to know a little about politics to know if a given story makes liberals or conservative look bad. And false stories are easier than ever to generate and spread. In decades past, Kahne said, people trusted established newspapers, magazines and TV news programs. But trust in the mainstream media has declined massively over the past 20 years, while a majority of Americans now get news from Facebook. Many younger people simply read what Facebook feeds them, Kahne said. They may not pay attention to whether a story came from a legitimate news site. What's more, they may not care if it's true. People are no longer just consumers of news but producers and circulators, he said. Few young people in 20th century went around photocopying newspaper stories and distributing them, but millions do this on Facebook today. Spreading accurate stories isn't necessarily rewarded with likes and shares. Kahne, like a number of other experts, doesn't think the answer lies in making Facebook's executives the arbiters of truth. Better, he says, to help readers and social media users think more critically. The question is: How? One factor that makes a difference is education. In the study, Kahne asked his subjects whether they had any sort of media literacy instruction in high school. Those who were least vulnerable to fake news were most likely to have remembered teachers explaining how to evaluate news stories for credibility. Some teachers also discussed what many of us take for granted: that the difference between truth and falsehood actually matters. As Kahne and his co-authors say in their paper: "The belief that accurate information will bolster democratic decision-making and enable societal improvement is deeply embedded in the enlightenment paradigm, pragmatist beliefs, deliberative ideals and other prominent conceptions of a strong, just, and productive democracy." But people aren't born knowing this. In fact, most may not know it -- though they probably think they do. Did you ever feel so let down after an election? Many North Carolina Democrats have been asking each other this question every day since they learned the results of the latest presidential election. Some old timers remember other times when they felt like they had been hit in the stomach by disappointing election results. There are still people around who remember the way they felt after the primary election in 1950 when the legendary progressive, former university and incumbent U.S. Senator Frank Graham lost his bid to keep his office. Others will tell you the empty feeling they felt when Jim Hunt lost the 1984 U.S. senate election to Jesse Helms. Then, there are folks who will say that the very worst they ever felt was in 1972 when Democrats lost the presidency, the governors mansion, and a U.S. Senate seat to the Republicans. They remember that Helms, who won that Senate Seat and kept it for 30 years, transformed North Carolina politics, and converted many Democrats to the other party. Many, however, may not remember that Helmss victory also interrupted the upward trajectory of one of North Carolinas most promising and most interesting political figures, someone whose intelligence and political skills, combined with his love of life and a compelling family background, might have made him a candidate for the presidency and made his hard-to-spell family name as familiar as Obama. Ironically that name has been made famous, not by the 1972 losing Senate candidate, but by his nephew, popular actor Zach Galifianakis. The nephew may be better known today, but his uncle Nick Galifianakiss life and political career is an important one for those who want to understand our states history and political background. A new book, Pick Nick: The Political Odyssey of Nick Galifianakis from Immigrant Son to Congressman, tells that story. Author John E. Semonche is a retired professor of constitutional history at UNC-Chapel Hill and a longtime friend of the books subject. Semonche says Galifianakiss importance in North Carolina politics goes far beyond his contest against Helms. The book follows Galifianakiss growing up years and early political successes. It shows how he overcame the disadvantages of his immigrant background and his strange sounding name. It was a time when North Carolinians were even more suspicious of those other people than they are today. Nevertheless Galifianakis was often able to turn such disadvantages into positives. For instance, instead of a single campaign button featuring his name, he used two, one with GALIFI and the other with ANAKIS. Today, those buttons are treasures for collectors of campaign memorabilia. Nick Galifianakis was born in Durham in 1928 to Greek immigrant parents. His father ran Durhams Lincoln Cafe. The family spoke Greek at home so that Nick had trouble adjusting to school. But, not for long. Successful at Durham High in academics, he was student body president. After undergraduate and law school at Duke and service as a Marine Corps officer, he began practicing law in Durham. In 1960, he won election to the North Carolina House of Representatives and served three terms. In the summer of 1965, when I was a state government intern, I watched from the balcony as a smiling Rep. Galifianakis distributed to fellow members his mothers Greek sugar pastries. On that day, especially, he was very popular with his colleagues. Galifianakis leveraged his popularity to win three elections to the U.S. House and to defeat incumbent and more conservative Sen. Everett Jordan in the 1972 Democratic primary. But for all his charm and political skills he could not withstand the 1972 Republican sweep and Helmss Hes One of Us campaign that cast Galifianakis as an outsider. If things had gone the other way, Zachs tagline might be nephew of former U.S. President Nick Galifianakis. D.G. Martin hosts North Carolina Bookwatch, which airs Sundays at noon and Thursdays at 5 p.m. on UNC-TV. Despite ongoing national scrutiny of police tactics, the number of fatal shootings by officers in 2016 remained virtually unchanged from last year when nearly 1,000 people were killed by police. Through Thursday, law enforcement officers fatally shot 957 people in 2016 - close to three each day - down slightly from 2015 when 991 people were shot to death by officers, according to an ongoing project by The Washington Post to track the number of fatal shootings by police. The Post, for two years in a row, has documented more than twice the number of fatal shootings recorded by the FBI annually on average. As was the case in 2015, a disproportionate number of those killed this year were black, and about a quarter involved someone who had a mental illness. In a notable shift from 2015, more of the fatal shootings this year were captured on video. Dozens of departments have vowed reforms since the killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., in August 2014 launched a national debate over police use of force. Many agencies have equipped officers withbody-worn cameras, with prominent police chiefs vowing to further curb fatal encounters. But experts say an impact on fatal shootings may take years. "Making these kinds of changes is very difficult on such a widespread scale," said Chuck Wexler, executive director of the Police Executive Research Forum, a Washington-based think tank pushing for national police reform. "But quite frankly, we're still on the front-end of the training that we're pushing out. It may be at least six months to a year until we start to really see those numbers come down." The Post began tracking fatal shootings by officers after the deaths of Brown and others during police encounters. The federal government does not comprehensively record how many people are killed by police annually and depends on voluntary reporting from police departments. The Post's database - which will continue in 2017 - largely relies on local news coverage, public records and social-media reports. In the second year of tracking, The Washington Post found: White males continued to be those most often killed, accounting for 46 percent of this year's deaths - about the same as in 2015. But when adjusted by population, black males were three times as likely to die as their white counterparts. The percentage of fatal shootings of unarmed people declined in 2016, from 9 percent in 2015 to 5 percent. Black males, however, continued to represent a disproportionate share of those: 34 percent of the unarmed people killed this year were black males, although they are 6 percent of the population. Of all those who were shot and killed, 84 percent were armed, most with a gun or knife. Four percent wielded imitation firearms. In 7 percent of the fatalities, it was unclear whether the person was armed. Mental illness remained a factor in many of the fatal shootings. As was the case last year, about 1 in 4 people fatally shot by police in 2016 were grappling with a mental health issue, according to The Post's analysis. The consistency from 2015 to 2016 is telling, experts said. "It shows that one year wasn't an anomaly," said Geoff Alpert, a criminology professor at the University of South Carolina. "It's a very robust number that is something we can trust in the future and a good measure to see when things do change." This year, The Post gathered additional information about officers involved in fatal shootings from media reports or news releases and filed more than 1,000 public-records requests from each police department involved in a fatal shooting. One-fourth of the departments queried by The Post have not responded to the requests. Many gave only partial information. Of those who responded, only a third of the departments provided the race of the officers involved in fatal shootings. The racial breakdown roughly matched the composition of local and state police departments nationwide, according to federal data. For the 811 officers about whom work information was disclosed or gathered, their average time on the job was nine years, and three-quarters of them were assigned to patrol. At least 60 officers who fatally shot someone this year had done so previously. --- In 2016, deadly shootings by police erupted out of a broad range of circumstances. In a suspected terrorist attack, 18-year-old college student Abdul Razak Ali Artan, believed to have been radicalized online and inspired by the Islamic State, drove a car into a crowd of teachers and students at Ohio State University in November and then wounded several people with a knife. A campus police officer was on the scene within minutes and fatally shot Artan. In January, an eviction in Penn Township, Pa., led to the death of 12-year-old Ciara Meyer, the youngest person killed by police gunfire this year. Police said her father, Donald Meyer, pointed a rifle at a constable who was serving him an eviction notice. When the officer fired at the father, the bullet passed through his arm and struck his daughter, according to a police affidavit. "Meyer's reckless conduct, knowing his daughter was standing behind him, triggered a chain of events that tragically led to the death of Ciara Meyer," Perry County District Attorney Andrew Bender said in announcing criminal homicide and other charges against Meyer in his daughter's death. Jerry Philpott, an attorney for Meyer, said his client has entered a not guilty plea. He declined further comment. While there was national controversy in 2015 over killings of unarmed individuals by police, fatal shootings of several armed individuals this year led to similar outrage. The cases included the shootings in the summer of three black men who each were in possession of a gun: Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge, Philando Castile in a suburb of St. Paul, Minn., and Keith Lamont Scott in Charlotte. At least a portion of each of those fatal encounters was captured on video. In the shootings of Sterling and Scott, the videos raised questions about whether either man was raising or pointing his gun at officers. Federal investigators continue to probe the Sterling shooting, while local prosecutors have declined to charge Officer Brentley Vinson, who is black, in Scott's death. "He acted lawfully. I am fully satisfied and entirely convinced that Mr. Vinson's use of deadly force was lawful," Mecklenburg County District Attorney Andrew Murray said in announcing his decision. The Castile case drew notoriety after his girlfriend live-streamed the fatal shooting's aftermath on Facebook. Castile, a 32-year-old school cafeteria employee, was legally carrying a gunwhen police approached him in a traffic stop, and he informed the officer of that during an exchange recorded by the patrol car's dashboard camera. The officer, Jeronimo Yanez, said he opened fire because he believed that Castile was reaching for the gun. But prosecutors have said the shooting was not justified and charged Yanez with manslaughter. Thomas Kelly, an attorney for Yanez, said that his client has not yet entered a plea and is awaiting trial. He declined further comment. That case is part of an overall increase in prosecutions of officers in fatal shootings in the two years since Ferguson. A review by The Post and Bowling Green State University professor Phil Stinson of officer prosecutions from 2005 to 2014 found that about five officers were charged annually in fatal shootings. There were 18 in 2015 and 13 this year, Stinson said. Experts attribute the increase to greater availability of video evidence and political pressure. Still, the prosecution of officers for the use of deadly force remains rare - charges are filed in about 1 percent of all fatal police-involved shootings. Stinson noted that almost 60 percent of the shootings for which officers have been charged in the past two years have included video evidence vital to the prosecution. "In the past, the police have always owned the narrative in police shooting cases because a dead man can't talk," Stinson said. "Now, the videos are providing an alternative narrative to the police version of events." The year was also a particularly deadly one for police: 62 officers were fatally shot by civilians, up from 39 in 2015, according to the Officer Down Memorial Page. In 2014, 48 officers were shot and killed; in 2013, the toll was 31. In July, five officers were fatally shot in Dallas by a sniper angered over recent police-involved shootings. "There seems to be a growing number of people in the United States who are willing to take aggressive action against police officers," said Jim Pasco, executive director of the national Fraternal Order of Police. "If you couple that with the number of guns in criminal hands, you've got a recipe for disaster." --- One of the biggest shifts from 2015 to 2016 was the number of deadly police encounters recorded on video. In 2015, 142 of the fatal shootings were recorded - by cellphone cameras, police dash cams, cameras worn by officers or other devices. That number rose this year to 231. Nationwide, police departments began equipping their officers with body-worn cameras in 2009, but their use escalated after the Ferguson protests of 2014. "The body-camera train was starting to move but then just absolutely took off after the summer of 2014," said Michael D. White, an Arizona State University professor who has researched the police implementation of body cameras. Up to half of the nation's 18,000 police departments have officers who wear cameras, he said. While an increasing number of fatal shootings have been recorded, in some cases the cameras capture nothing. In at least a dozen fatal shootings this year, cameras worn by the officers failed to record the fatal encounter, according to The Post's survey of police departments. In Baton Rouge, police said body cameras "fell off" the officers involved in the death of Alton Sterling as they responded to a call about a man with a gun outside of a convenience store. Bystander video captured the July 5 shooting, but police officials have said the body-cam video, which continued to record after the camera dismounted, did not capture images of the shooting. "If these incidents are not properly recorded, they are gone forever, and then there will forever be questions that cannot be answered that could have been," said Justin Bamberg, an attorney who is on the legal team that represents the families of Sterling and Keith Lamont Scott, who was fatally shot Sept. 20 by Charlotte police. Chicago police released body-camera videos from the July 28 shooting of Paul O'Neal, an 18-year-old black man who allegedly fled police in a stolen Jaguar. The moment of the shooting was not captured by the body camera of the officer who fired the fatal shot because it was not activated, police said. The department is investigating the shooting. Michael Oppenheimer, a Chicago attorney who is representing O'Neal's family, questioned why the shooting wasn't recorded. "And, what is the good of having a body camera if they're not going to be turned on to capture what they're supposed to capture?" he said. Policing experts said that in the rush to equip officers with cameras, departments have failed to implement the proper training, and best practices and policies to ensure that the cameras work as intended. In many cases, officers have little experience with body-worn cameras and forget to activate them, and departments lack clear policies about when they should be activated, said Kevin Angell, a former Florida police officer who consults police departments on developing body-camera polices. In the fatal shooting of 19-year-old Dalvin Hollins in Tempe, Ariz., police said that the body camera being worn by one officer was not activated until several minutes after the shooting. Police responded to a call about 9 a.m. July 27 that a young black man wearing sweatpants and carrying a book bag had robbed a Walgreens pharmacy. Security footage later released by police showed Hollins jumping the counter and demanding liquid narcotics while keeping one hand inside the bag. Police have said Hollins told the pharmacy workers that he had a gun. Hollins ran after being confronted by a Tempe police officer. A second officer joined the pursuit, first in his vehicle and then on foot, according to police. Police said the second officer fired when he saw Hollins reach for his waistband.A gun was not recovered from the scene, police said. Hollins's family disputed police accounts of what happened. "This officer ran up on my scared son, who is running for his life and scared to death," Frederick Franklin, Hollins's stepfather, told The Post in an interview. "He committed a crime, but he hadn't done anything that he should have died for." Franklin said Hollins had been struggling with mental illness, which the family believed to be bipolar disorder. "In every jurisdiction, their body-camera policies are so different," said the Rev. Jarrett Maupin, an Arizona activist who organized protests after Hollins's death. "And there are no real consequences I've yet to see for when these cameras aren't turned on or when they are arbitrarily turned off." --- Over the two years analyzed by The Post, one of the occurrences that most frequently led to a fatal shooting by police was a domestic disturbance call. Since January 2015, about 1 in 6 people were killed in cases that began like that. Police say that investigating a domestic disturbance is one of the most dangerous calls an officer can respond to. "It's one of the most volatile situations because it's emotional and can lead to injury and shootings," said Alpert, the South Carolina professor. "Sometimes you have no choice - you're taking a life to save a life." In Valdosta, Ga., 28-year-old Johnathan Lozano-Murillo was killed Sept. 28 after police were called to his home over a child custody dispute. When an officer arrived, Lozano-Murillo allegedly attacked his daughter's mother and then brandished a knife at the officer, who used a Taser on him and then fatally shot him, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. "One police officer killed my son without any opportunity to try and listen to him,"Servando Lozano said. In Lake Havasu City, Ariz., police were called in June by the father of Devin Christopher Scott after the 20-year-old broke into his father's home and retreated to a bedroom. Four officers responded. When police entered the room, Scott allegedly approached them with a knife before he was Tasered and then shot twice by an officer, according to news reports. "They were supposed to come and help me, not kill my son," said Gary Christian, Scott's father. A similar scene unfolded in Harrisburg, Pa., in August when officers were called to a residence where Earl Pinckney was arguing with his mother about diapers for his newborn daughter, according to police and the local prosecutor's office. Three hours before the call, Pinckney, 20, had posted a picture of himself and the 2-week-old on Facebook: "Being a dad is the only thing that makes me happy," he wrote. The call to police about Pinckney was not the family's first. In 2008, when Pinckney was 11, police were called by his mother, Kim Thomas, after he allegedly threatened to stab his siblings, according to the Dauphin County prosecutor's office. Since then, police had been contacted about Pinckney's behavior at least 12 times by his family, prosecutors said. Many times, Pinckney, who struggled with bipolar disorder and was on antidepressants, could be calmed down without incident, his mother said. But on Aug. 7, Pinckney's 9-year-old niece called 911: "My uncle is trying to hurt my grandma. Can you please come quick," according to the recording, released by the prosecutor's office. When a dispatcher called back, Pinckney's sister said he had a knife. By the time police arrived, things had calmed down, Thomas said, and the pair were standing in Pinckney's bedroom talking. That's when she said she saw a red beam from what appeared to be an officer's gun pointed at her son's chest. "I said, 'Please, don't shoot my son!' " Thomas said. One officer fired once. Pinckney fell to the ground, killed with a bullet through his heart, according to the autopsy. Dauphin County District Attorney Ed Marsico said the four responding officers reported that Pinckney had a knife or was holding his mother at knifepoint. Marsico declined to press charges. The officer's actions were "reasonable" and "necessary," Harrisburg Police Chief Thomas C. Carter said in an interview with The Post. Thomas disputes the officers' accounts. "He never had no knife up to me," she said. --- In 2016, advocates for police reform continued efforts to push for the nation's police departments to adopt practices to curb the number of fatal shootings by police. Earlier this month, 425 officers from 160 police agencies convened in New Orleans for the debut of training developed by the Police Executive Research Forum. The training is aimed at reducing the number of fatal shootings of people not armed with a gun - about 40 percent of this year's fatal police-involved shootings, according to The Post's analysis. "Those are situations that we think that we can impact," said Wexler, the group's executive director, who believes that with changes in training, police can reduce the shootings of unarmed people as well as those armed with knives or blunt objects. That could potentially save 300 to 400 lives a year, Wexler said. "It's difficult to expect a different outcome when an officer is faced with a firearm," he said. The training, which promotes de-escalation and encourages police to slow down encounters, has been tested in Baltimore, Houston and Prince William County, Va., Wexler said. Meanwhile, the FBI said it is moving forward with plans to better track fatal force after mounting public pressure prompted the bureau last year to announce that it would launch a database in 2017. President-elect Donald Trump has said previously that he does not think local departments should be forced to provide use-of-force data to the federal government. "The federal government should not be in the habit of demanding data from local or state law enforcement organizations," Trump said in a questionnaire he submitted in August to the International Association of Chiefs of Police. "Crime reporting should take place, but the management of local and state law enforcement should be left to those jurisdictions." Several officials who have worked with the Justice Department said the FBI will probably continue to collect data voluntarily but will not mandate reporting by local agencies. The FBI said it remains committed to working with local law enforcement to create a new use-of-force data-collection system, said Holly Morris, an FBI spokeswoman. "If we receive further guidance from the new administration, we will address it at that time," she said. HICKORY Hickory Public Schools Superintendent Robbie Adell got a chance to share his proposed consolidation plan between Southwest and Longview Elementary schools with the public during a special town hall meeting Tuesday. The reason for the change is to help improve reading scores. For Southwest, the states reading accountability grade for the previous school year was a D while Longviews was a C. These young people are not going to make itif they dont know how to read, Adell told the crowd at Longview on Tuesday. We cannot afford to keep moving kids from one grade level to the next without the proper reading skills. Were setting them up for failure. HPS is considering converting Southwest Elementary to a primary school serving only students in kindergarten through second grade from the two schools. Southwest would be changed to Southwest Primary with a literacy focus. Longview Elementary School would then serve only students in third through fifth grade, with a concentrated focus on leadership and STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics) program learning, according to the release. Adell sees this change as a way to improve the chances of success for students at both schools. I truly believe if we focus totally on literacy in every aspect, provide the teachers with the knowledge through professional development, we can make a difference in these kids lives, Adell said. Less than half of the kids coming out of third grade in these schools are reading on grade level. Third grade students receive extra attention in North Carolina because of the states Read to Achieve legislative initiative, a part of the Excellent Public Schools Act, according to ncpublicschools.org. Under this state law, third grade students who are not reading at grade level by the end of third grade will receive special help, including summer reading camp and other interventions to make sure that they can read well enough to be able to do fourth grade work. According to Hickory Public Schools Read to Achieve end-of-year (2015-16) results for first grade, the percentage of students in the school system overall demonstrating reading comprehension at grade level was 48.4 percent. The percentage of first grade students not demonstrating reading comprehension at grade level was 51.6 percent. In second grade, the number demonstrating reading comprehension at grade level was 59.8 percent while the percentage of those not demonstrating comprehension at grade level was 40.2 percent. Nathaniel Holmes, a parent of a Longview kindergartener and fifth-grader appreciated the boards and the district leaderships decision to try something different, but he wasnt sure about sending his daughter to Southwest. Obviously what theyve been doing is not getting the desired results, but I dont think this is the answer. I dont think the answer is splitting the kids up and putting all of them there, Holmes said after the meeting. Nothing they talked about here gave me confidence that location will be improved. They have not shown they can so I dont feel good about taking my daughter and putting her in first grade in a situation that is low performing. He liked some of the other changes that would come with the consolidation like a dual-language class at Southwest, but he just didnt see it being a good enough trade-off. Hickory Public Schools board member Sallie Johnson said she saw the change as a big concept. What we want is the students knowing how to read by third grade, she said. Its going to cause people to have to change a little bit. Nobody likes changebut we have a goal and that is we get these children reading in second grade so when they get to (Longview) its better and at middle school its better and at high school its better. Fellow board member Bryan Graham also appreciated the chance to hear from parents at the town hall meeting. I thought it was an excellent give and take with the crowdI thought the questions were probing. I thought they were well thought out, obviously with their kids in mind, Graham said. He likes the idea himself of turning Southwest Elementary into a literacy lab with the entire focus of the school is improving literacy. The idea of doing that is going to bring all the kids upso many studies show if youre not at grade level by third grade, youre never going to be, he said. Youre constantly going to be trying to catch up. Graham added the idea of switching schools was a key issue for many of the parents who attended the meeting, even pointing out one parent who brought up the issue of trying to get two kids to two different schools in the morning. I also talked to a parent who has an autistic child, who has gone through a number of teachers and would be moving the child from Southwest to Longview and was concerned about it, Graham said. There will be a second town hall meeting for parents to hear the plan and voice their concerns at Southwest on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. STATESVILLE The man accused of killing a Cool Springs woman over Christmas weekend faces a slew of new sexual assault charges. Gary Steven Love, 47, of Ohio, faces 10 felony counts of statutory sex offense with a child 15 or younger, as well as felony charges of indecent liberties with a child and sexual servitude of a child. He also was charged with felony first-degree kidnapping and misdemeanor assault on a female. The new charges were added Wednesday. Love is believed to be responsible for the death of Robin Denman, 46, who was found dead in her home on Cool Springs Road on Monday. Authorities have determined that blunt force trauma was the cause of Denmans death, Iredell County Sheriff Darren Campbell said. A teenage family member of Denmans said she was tied up in the home over the weekend and sexually assaulted multiple times. On Monday, she managed to text a friend for help, and Iredell County deputies were sent to the home. After arriving at the home, deputies apprehended Love and discovered the body. Love was charged with murder. Love and Denman were old acquaintances and she allowed him to stay on her couch for the last three months after he moved to North Carolina from Ohio, Campbell said. Love was given a $3 million secured bond on the new charges. He is being held without bond on the murder charge. His next scheduled court date is Jan. 24, court officials said. A 1990 Caldwell County double homicide case finally arrived in Superior Court in February, nearly seven years after investigators charged the defendant. Judge Nathaniel J. Poovey of Catawba County presided over the trial. William Bill Eugene Murphy was charged with the first-degree murders of Mark Randall and Jeanie Barlow Secreast. According to testimony, Murphy was good friends with the Secreasts. The first trial ended with a hung jury, and Poovey ruled it a mistrial. The case again went before Superior Court a few months later in October before Judge Hugh B. Lewis of Mecklenburg. During the second trial, the jury found Murphy not guilty. He was released from the Caldwell County Jail later that day. I love it the trees, the air, Murphy said after his release. There is someone out there who did what I was accused of. Hewitt sentenced to life in prison in triple homicide case In May, a Claremont man was sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole after a jury found him guilty in a March 2011 triple homicide. Judge Nathaniel J. Poovey of Catawba County presided over the trial. Everette Porshau Hewitt, 37, was found guilty of the first-degree murders of Connie Miller, Wade Sigmon and Susan Blevins, the attempted murder of Joseph Burke, first-degree burglary and assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill. The jury found Hewitt not guilty of robbery with a firearm. The trial lasted six weeks and began after Hewitt had been in jail for five years. The possibility of a mistrial emerged when information about one of the jurors emerged. However, Poovey found the new information did not meet the threshold of a mistrial. Suspect in Newton teacher slaying offered plea deal In November, the District Attorneys Office offered a plea deal to a man accused of the June 2014 murder of Newton teacher Maggie Daniels. Sharman Odom, 34, of Newton, faces one felony count of murder, one felony count of first-degree sexual assault and one felony count of first-degree kidnapping. The deal would drop the possibility of the death penalty, but sentence Odom to life in prison. Odom will make a decision about the deal Jan. 3. One of Odoms attorneys, Scott Gsell, said he believes Odom understands the offer presented. Trial delayed for man charged with child abuses A trial for a 2013 child death case scheduled for Oct. 31 was delayed to 2017 after defense attorney Victoria Jayne said she had a capital murder trial conflicting with the case. William Howard Lail III, 25, of Hickory, faces one felony count of murder, six felony counts of intentional child abuse resulting in serious physical injury, one misdemeanor count of failure to appear and one misdemeanor count of probation violation. Presiding Judge Hugh B. Lewis granted a continuance to October 2017, but added the trial could happen sooner if possible. Lail is held at the Catawba County Detention Center on a $652,000 secured bond. His case is non-capital. Man indicted on hundreds of felonies in bomb threats The Burke County magistrate charged a man Dec. 19 in a series of bomb threats made between May and July. Cody Matthew Startt, 27, is charged with 253 felony counts of false bomb reports and 253 felony counts of terrorism. The Hickory Police Department arrested Startt in West Virginia with assistance from the FBI and WV State Police. Startt had been on parole for a prior bomb threat conviction, and admitted to violating the terms of his parole. His trial is set for Feb. 13 in Burke County Superior Court. He is held at the Catawba County Detention Center under a $350,000 secured bond. Claremont man pleads guilty to deaths in car wreck A Claremont man pled guilty in December to the involuntary manslaughter of two 15-year-old Bunker Hill High students Oct. 3, 2014. The plea came before a trial was scheduled to begin in Catawba County Superior Court before Judge Mark Klass of Davidson County. Jacob Dalton Turner, 20, pled guilty to two felony counts of involuntary manslaughter and two misdemeanor counts of assault with a deadly weapon. Alec Calvin Sigmon, Justin Michael Turner (unrelated to Jacob Turner) were killed in the accident. Jessica Joy Sigmon and Chloe Allison Cordell were hospitalized with serious injuries. Jacob Turner will serve 36 months supervised probation, including 90 days in jail, and cannot drive for the next two years. Klass also required Jacob Turner to speak at a number of high school events on the dangers of reckless driving. Connelly Springs woman convicted of child abuse A Connelly Springs woman pled guilty to felony child abuse in November before a Burke County judge and was sentenced to prison. Brittany Nichole Hefner, 25, will serve a six to eight year sentence in the custody of the North Carolina Department of Adult Corrections. Investigators discovered injuries on a three-month-old infant while they were investigating the death of the childs twin brother. The twin brother died in Winston-Salem after being hospitalized with injuries allegedly inflicted by the childs father, Nicholas Brandon Clark. Injuries to the surviving infant were consistent with being shaken and Hefner admitted to shaking the child days prior. Clark faces charges of one felony count of murder and one felony count of intentional child abuse inflicting serious injury. His next court date is Jan. 9. Hickory man pleads guilty of sex offense with 11-year-old In May, a Hickory man pleaded guilty during Catawba County Superior Court to one felony count of first-degree sex offense with a child. John Wayne Travis, 49, was sentenced to 13 years in prison, followed by 30 years on the sex offender registry and 10 years of satellite monitoring. The incident occurred Sept. 27, 2011, when the victim was 11-years-old. Hickory Police and the Catawba County Childrens Advocacy and Protection Center investigated the case. Judge Daniel A. Kuehnert of Burke County presided. Hudson woman pleads guilty to murdering husband During a hearing in Caldwell County Superior Court in March, a Hudson woman pled guilty to the murder of her husband in April 2014. The victim, William Daniel Harris III, told investigators his wife had stabbed him in the chest several times in their apartment. He later died from his wounds. Donna Thomas Harris, 56, of Hudson, previously served six years in prison after pleading guilty to voluntary manslaughter in August 2004. She was released from prison in June 2010. She is now serving a sentence of 16 to 21 years in prison. Lenoir man pleads guilty to stabbing, sentenced to prison In March, a Lenoir man pleaded guilty before Judge William T. Pomeroy of Lincoln County to stabbing another man in June 2014. Pomeroy sentenced Bobby Dean Sparks, 63, to seven to nine years in prison. Lenoir Police officers responded to a domestic disturbance call at a residence on Bradford Street. They found Sammy William Sturgill, dead in front of the residence, with stab wounds to his chest, abdomen, face and neck. Sparks told police he killed the other man in self-defense, fearing for his life. 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/ Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 4 By Orkhan Quluzade Trend: Talks in Astana aimed at Syria settlement will be held Jan. 23, Turkeys Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said, Anadolu Agency reported. Cavusoglu has earlier said that experts from Russia will visit Turkey on Jan. 9-10 to discuss the preparations for talks on Syria. Meanwhile, the FM noted that if Syrian President Bashar al-Assads supporters do not stop violating the armistice agreement in Syria, the talks in Astana may not be held. He said that Hezbollah militants, religious groups and government forces of Syria are behind these violations. Earlier, Russias President Vladimir Putin had said that he agreed with the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to offer the conflicting parties in Syria to continue peace talks in Astana. During phone talks with Putin and Erdogan, Kazakhstans President Nursultan Nazarbayev supported this initiative and expressed readiness to provide a platform for such negotiations in Astana. Governments and people in authority often have an odd way of functioning. Instead of serving and guiding the people, they choose the easy and retrograde way of imposing their ideas on them. Some do it in the name of morality, while some do it in the name of religion or culture and tradition. The latest to join this band is the district administration of Kargil. The administration of Kargil wants all district officials to attend office in traditional attire (goncha/sulchak) on Mondays and Saturdays. Read | Twice a week, wear traditional dress to work: Kargil district administration Since when has it become the prerogative of the State to decide and in some cases dictate the sartorial choices of the people? This move smacks of the nanny State asserting itself. In Kargil, this has been done in the name of culture and tradition. The deputy commissioner of Kargil in a circular has said that the decision was taken considering the importance of the Ladakhi culture and tradition. It would suggest that the state is the custodian of these issues and not the people who should be free to dress the way they want to. There is a caveat though: For non-local officials it is not mandatory but it will be highly appreciable if they go traditional. The pressure such orders place on non-locals which lead to clear divides in workplaces and biases against the perceived other will be counterproductive. Read | Dress code in college: Girls in Bhopal say no end to school life That the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC) along with the district administration is taking several measures to revive the culture and traditional identity of Kargil is commendable. The problem, however, is that in its effort to promote culture, the administration is armtwisting both the local and non-local officers who do not see any merit in this circular. Hypothetically, even if this order is received positively by many people, why should it be made compulsory? What ones wears, and how he/she wears it, within permissible limits, is still the individuals right. Maybe its a sign of our times when there seems to be a general tilt towards enforcing a law rather than educating people and arriving at a consensus on the matter. Read | Uniform dress code in MP govt schools from next session It would be unfair to single out the Kargil administration on this. Such diktats are issued in many places in India and around the world. Many colleges across India, both private and government-run, have put in place dress codes on what students are allowed to wear. College authorities cite discipline as the reason behind such orders. From the next academic session, school teachers in Madhya Pradesh will have to wear aprons with name tags while on duty. In October, the Knesset, Israels parliament, had issued a diktat banning skirts that were too short. Last month, after protests by staffers, the order was suspended. Then there are the many dress codes that religious institutions prescribe for its followers. Read | Mumbai: St Xaviers College bans ripped jeans on campus, says it mocks the poor That the thoughts of our authorities are in sync with their global counterparts is nothing to be proud of. It is a pointer to societal conditioning and outlook that often many of these codes are directed more at women whose sartorial choices are often seen as against culture and a distraction for men. Probably the late American jurist Louis D Brandeis had a point when he said: If we desire respect for the law, we must first make the law respectable. @VijuCherian SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Various political parties welcomed on Wednesday the announcement of assembly elections in five states, with the BJP exuding confidence of victory due to the positive undercurrent post demonetisation and the Congress urging the Election Commission to ensure free and fair polls. State elections are fought largely on the state-level issues...(but) there is a positive undercurrent for BJP across the country which is what we have seen post-demonetisation. There is a strong undercurrent. Therefore, we expect to win all the states...our stakes are the lowest, but our gains are going to be highest, BJP national spokesperson GVL Narsimha Rao said. Read: Assembly polls 2017 will be a mini referendum on Modis demonetisation To drive his point, Rao cited the examples of the partys impressive show in the recently held by-elections and civic polls, particularly in Gujarat and Maharashtra. He said BJP is now going to be an important player in the poll-bound states of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Goa and Manipur. Stating that BJP did not enjoy a big strength in Manipur earlier, he said, his party has done really well in the by-elections there. Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala described the polls to the five states including Uttarakhand and Manipur, where his party will seek another term in row, as a yagna of democracy and urged the EC to ensure free, fair and independent polls. Read: Election panel to set up guidelines to implement SC order on religion, caste We also hope that the use of muscle power, abuse of government power and misuse of money power will be checked once and for all and it will be good for democracy, he said, while welcoming the poll schedule. Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, whose Aam Aadmi Party is fancying chances of clinching power in Punjab and Goa, claimed the situation in the two states, where the BJP is in power or sharing it, is bad and people want to bring in an honest government led by his party in the upcoming polls. Both in Punjab and Goa, the situation is bad. In Punjab, people want to throw the BJP coalition government and bring in an honest AAP government so that they get freed from drugs and corruption, he said. Sanjay Raut, an MP from NDA constituent Shiv Sena, said poll preparations of the saffron party are complete, particularly in northern states and BJP-ruled Goa. Read: Candidates have to account for all: Social media accounts to expenses Shiv Sena is holding an important meeting chaired by party president Uddhav Thackeray where such issues will be discussed. Our preparations are complete for the polls, he said. Naresh Agrawal, who was recently expelled by Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh in the midst of feud within the ruling party of Uttar Pradesh, insisted the EC to see the budget session announced by the central government be postponed to ensure that the voters do not get influenced. The Election Commission announced the schedule of the assembly elections to be held in five states on Wednesday. Five states, including the countrys most populous and political crucial Uttar Pradesh, will face the poll test. The other four states are Punjab, Manipur, Goa and Uttarakhand. The assembly elections are crucial for the ruling BJP as it will be the first time it will go to the polls after demonetisation. Below are the highlights: Commission is in favour reducing limit of anonymous donations to Rs 2000 only, also mulling on whether we can switch to digital payments: CEC EC examining representation of some political parties on presentation of Union Budget during poll process; will take a view soon: CEC The most important thing is that asking for votes in name of religion will be deemed to be a corrupt practice: CEC Any query on freezing of SP poll symbol is hypothetical right now. Let us first examine the documents: Nasim Zaidi, ECI Election Commission says it will decide on the Samajwadi Partys election symbol based on rules and precedent Counting of votes will be held on March 11 In Uttar Pradesh, polling will be held in seven phases- 11 Feb, 15 Feb, 19 Feb, 23 Feb, 27 Feb, 4 March and 8 March In Manipur, polling will be held in two phases - 4 March and 8 March In Uttarakhand, polling will be held on 15 Feb Punjab will go to polls on 4 February Goa will go to polls on 4 February Uttar Pradesh (Total Seats: 403) Phase Date of Polling Constituencies Phase I 11 February 2017 73 (15 districts) Phase II 15 February 2017 67 (11 districts) Phase III 19 February 2017 69 (12 districts) Phase IV 23 February 2017 53 (12 districts) Phase V 27 February 2017 52 (11 districts) Phase VI 4 March 2017 49 (7 districts) Phase VII 8 March 2017 40 (7 districts) Punjab (Total seats: 117) Phase Date of Polling Constituencies Single Phase 4 February 2017 117 Uttarakhand (Total seats: 70) Phase Date of Polling Constituencies Single Phase 15 February 2017 70 Manipur (Total seats: 60) Phase Date of Polling Constituencies Phase I 4 March 2017 38 Phase II 8 March 2017 22 Goa (Total seats: 40) Phase Date of Polling Constituencies Single Phase 4 February 40 All 5 states will go to polls at one go Commission will ensure level playing field for free and fair elections Commission has launched a large number of IT applications to facilitate voters, candidates, political parties Candidates have to register their social media accounts with the Election Commission Political parties will be required to file statements on candidates expenses within 30 dates of announcement of results There will be strict expenditure monitor mechanism to curb black money The limit of electoral expenses for individual candidates is Rs 28 Lakh for UP, Punjab and Uttarakhand; Rs 20 Lakh for Manipur and Goa EC has already started monitoring preventive action Adequate central police forces will, be deployed along with local police for CBMs Model Code of Conduct comes into effect in 5 states immediately Candidates will be required to affix photo on nomination papers In addition to filing of the affidavit, there is an additional affidavit where candidates will be required to file a no-demand certificate this certificate will come from agencies dealing with electricity, water. Postal ballots to be transferred electronically in some constituencies Ballot paper on EVMs will have photo of candidates Goa will be saturated with VVPAT. The no. of VVPAT constituencies will further increase EVMs will be used in all states Separate voting stations for women in places where they dont mingle with men: : Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi Height of voting compartment has been raised to 30 inch for secrecy Outside every polling station location, there will be a voter assistance booth Total of 1,85,000 polling stations will be covered under operations Colourful voter guide will be distributed along with photo voter slip to each family Over 16 crores voters are going to participate: Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi Electoral rolls to be published on following dates- Goa- 5 Jan, Manipur- 12 Jan, Punjab- 5 Jan, Uttarakhand- 10 Jan, UP- 12 Jan There are 690 legislative assemblies which will go to polls Term of legislative assemblies for 5 states expires on -Goa: 18 March, 2017; Manipur: 18 March, 2017; Punjab: 18 March, 2017; Uttarakhand: 26 March, 2017; UP: 27 May, 2017; The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sanghs (RSS) ambitious samajik samarasta (social harmony) campaign aimed at obliterating casteism is poised to be rolled out in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab, the two states with a sizeable Dalit population that go to polls soon along with three others. Having kept the anti-caste juggernaut rolling-- giving it a harder push just ahead of elections--the Sangh is now banking on icons from within its folds who advocated the virtues of equality within the Hindu communities as it readies its cadres for assembly elections in five states. While Uttar Pradesh has over 20% Dalit population according to the Census 2011, the percentage in Punjab is over 31%. Read | RSS adds theologian Ramanuja to list of anti-casteism heroes To woo these crucial votes, the Sangh is banking on the legacy of Dattopant Thengadi, the founder of Sangh arms Swadeshi Jagaran Manch, Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh and the Bharatiya Kisan Sangh and a BR Ambedkar associate and its third Sarsangachalak Balasaheb Deoras. It was after Deoras campaign against untouchability in 1973 that the Sangh took up programmes under Seva Bharati for addressing concerns of the so-called lower castes. Speeches and writings of both the ideologues centered round the theme of social harmony and eradicating caste biases will be released at the upcoming New Delhi World Book Fair, which kicks off Saturday. Unlike the previous editions of the fair, where publications by the Sangh and its affiliates were limited to a stall, this year it will have a larger presence. The book fair is organised by the National Book Trust, an autonomous organisation under the ministry of human resource development, and headed by Baldeo Sharma, a former editor of the Sangh mouthpiece the Panchajanya. Read | RSS asks BJP to address its core agendas including the Ram Mandir in UP poll campaign Both Deoras and Thengadi campaigned against caste biases and their contribution towards unifying Hindus is indisputable. The exercise to publicize their work and thoughts is in line with the Sanghs samajik samarasta, not linked to the elections, said a Sangh functionary. However, sources in UP indicated that the cadre has been asked to strike a balance between wooing the Dalits and the OBCs, taking care to ensure that the upper caste is not alienated. With the mood within the middle and upper middle class supporters of the Sangh not too upbeat post demonetisation, the BJPs ideological mentor has its task cut out. Similarly, in Punjab where the BJP in alliance with the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) faces anti incumbency, the cadre has been asked to redouble efforts to reach out to the voters. Caste equations play out differently in Punjab, but the larger issue is the same. As followers of Deoras and Thengadi, who was the election agent of Ambedkar, the cadres brief is to push for equality, another functionary said. The RSS was partly blamed for upsetting the Dalits in Bihar, after Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat suggested ahead of the assembly elections last year that there was a need to revise catse-based reservation. To eliminate any faux pas in UP and Punjab, RSS cadres will instead distribute literature based on Thengadis speech equality impossible without harmony and his other works with similarity to the ideology of Dr. Ambedkar. Read | RSS to use surgical strikes to swing votes in UP assembly polls SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 4 Trend: There is some progress in the political settlement in Syria, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said. The president made remarks at the 33rd meeting of the heads of local administrations in Turkey, Anadolu agency reported Jan. 4. The president drew attention to the joint efforts of Turkey and Russia to ensure sustainable ceasefire and political settlement in Syria. The Turkish president also drew attention to the negative trends in Syrias economy. "The country is going through a difficult period, the president said. The attacks on Turkeys economic sphere will not last forever either." The political potboiler in Uttar Pradesh is always full of action, emotional drama and dialogues comparable to any top Bollywood thriller. During election time, its much more intense. The answer about UPs importance lies in the electoral strength of the state that has 403 legislators and 80 parliamentarians and the Bharatiya Janata Partys (BJPs) one-fourth of Lok Sabha strength comes from UP. Uttar Pradesh will vote in seven phases starting February 11 with the final round of polling on March 8. The upcoming elections will decide who will rule UP but it will also be a precursor to the 2019 general elections. The thriller could well be titled CM Se PM Tak (From CM To PM). With the presidential polls also due in 2017, UPs strength will be at play again. Obviously, the stakes of the national parties are higher. While Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be aspiring for a second run, it will be a start of innings for his young opponent Rahul Gandhi. Other aspirants like Nitish Kumar, Mamata Banerjee and Mulayam Singh Yadav can aspire for the top post but they will need either the BJP or the Congress to fulfil their dreams. However, the political scene in the state has been dominated by the other two players since early 1990s the Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party. If at all the BJP came to power in the state, it was courtesy the BSP or by breaking small parties to cobble up a majority in the state assembly. Voters threw hung houses in the state for 14 years and that trend changed from 2007 when people decided to deliver a clear mandate. Experts believe that the communication network played an important role in this as voters are connected across the length and breadth of the state. After three clear verdicts of the 2007, 2012 and 2014 general elections, the spectre of a hung house looms large over the state once again. Here are the five reasons behind it: 1. There is no one issue binding the state. Demonetisation can play both ways for the BJP 2. Caste blocks are breaking, the loyalties are weakening 3. Muslims will do tactical voting in a constituency, not the state 4. Peoples aspirations are high and youth will play a vital role 5. Confusion over CM face both in SP and BJP Read| Assembly polls 2017: It will be a fight for every vote in battlefield UP THE STAKES Samajwadi Party The ruling party could have romped back to power had the family feud not played a spoiler. Chief minister Akhilesh Yadav is popular in the state but ironically unpopular amongst seniors in the party. The party has been battered by the power struggle between Akhilesh and his uncle Shivpal, who is supported by his father and party patriarch Mulayam, and the feud between the warring factions has refused to die down. The chief minister took control of the party on January 1 after ousting Mulayam at an emergency national convention and also sacked his uncle as the partys state unit chief. He also didnt want parliamentarian Amar Singh in the party. Both the factions, said sources, had submitted letters to the poll panel, staking claim to the party name and the election symbol a bicycle, the clearest indication yet that a reconciliation was unlikely in the Uttar Pradeshs ruling party. Earlier, Mulayams refusal to name Akhilesh as the partys chief ministerial face created overwhelming sympathy for Akhilesh but will it convert into votes. Mulayams politics is hard to understand. How will it affect its prospects? Muslims, an important vote bank of the SP, are closely watching the family power tussle. They would never sail a sinking ship. Though the SP remains their first choice, they have an option in the BSP. The Muslim community wants an alliance between the SP and Congress. Bahujan Samaj Party The BSP led by firebrand Mayawati was considered a strong claimant for the chief ministers post till it was hit by an exodus of senior leaders from the party. The BSP is not new to splits and can still sail through provided Mayawati is able to convince Muslims that the exodus has not impacted her partys health. Secondly, she is not the only claimant for anti-incumbency votes. The BJP is actively making inroads. How will it affect its prospects? The BSPs core vote of 21.5% Dalits is not intact. The rainbow coalition of Dalits, Muslims and Brahmins that had brought her to power in 2007 has also split up. Though the partys Brahmin face, SC Mishra, is extensively touring the state, her partys fate is in the hands of the Muslims. Bharatiya Janata Party The saffron party has been eyeing UP ever since its spectacular victory in 2014. Partys national president Amit Shah has launched a spate of public mobilisation programmes including the Parivartan Yatra. However, their trump card is Narendra Modi who remains a popular figure in the state. He has also been working on stitching alliances with various castes as well as smaller parties. The states tallest leader Rajnath Singh has appealed to the masses to end their 14-year-long vanvaas (exile). The partys latest gamble is demonetisation. How will it affect its prospects? Demonetisation is seen as a national movement against corruption and black money. However, at the same time, it has raised the hopes of the people of getting a share in the recovered black money. BJP leaders are also talking about it. In case the BJP delivered on its poll promise of sharing black money with the masses, they will sweep the polls. Otherwise, demonetisation can boomerang. The other hitch is that they too have no CM face. Congress Party The Congress has been making desperate and sincere efforts to revive the party in the state it ruled for about 40 years. Since 1990 it has been living with a tag of an also ran party in the elections. The party high command hired Prashant Kishore to do a miracle, a la Bihar in UP. But Bihar was a different story - the two major regional parties Janata Dal(United) and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) came together to form a grand alliance, whereas, in Uttar Pradesh, the SP and BSP are sworn enemies. Some efforts are on to forge an alliance between the Congress, SP, RLD, RJD and JD(U) that can actually reach the winning margin if not 300 seats as claimed by chief minister Akhilesh Yadav. However, the Congress will have to accept the smaller players role in the state. How will it affect its prospects? Congress will retain its fourth position till it finds a viable poll partner. Priyanka Gandhis campaign may add more spice to the polls but seats may still remain elusive as they dont have the cadre to convert her appeal into votes. Finding candidates may also be a gigantic task for the Congress. There are other smaller players who will be take away votes in the hundreds playing spoilers on seats heading for a close finish. Read| If Mulayam can leave son, why cant we leave him?: Akhilesh rises amid SP feud For full coverage on 2017 assembly elections, click here A 38-year-old man was arrested at Maihar town in Satna district for allegedly forcing his 22-year-old wife into prostitution for last two years. The womans ordeal came to light on Monday when her sister-in-law accompanied her to the Maihar police station for reporting the misdeeds of Dipak alias Happy Saini, police said. A case of assault, rape, criminal intimidation and detaining a woman with criminal intent was lodged against Saini. Police also slapped relevant sections of the Prevention of Immoral Trafficking Act against him. We arrested the accused on Tuesday and are now analysing the call details of mobile Sainis and his wifes mobile phones, Maihar police station in-charge Manish Tripathi. Prima facie, the police found that the woman was forced into prostitution barely a few months after their marriage in 2014. Saini was using the PWD quarters in Maihar to serve clients whenever his mother and sister were away, police said. The accused had threatened to kill his wife, if she dared to narrate her ordeal to her in-laws or outsiders, Tripathi said. The victim told the police that her husband took her to places outside Madhya Pradesh, including Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Gaya (Bihar), for prostitution. On the night of January 1, Saini had brought a client to the house. He thrashed his wife badly when she refused to succumb to his diktat, police said. Unable to bear the sustained cruelty of her husband, the woman narrated the entire saga to her sister-in-law on Monday morning. Investigations have revealed that the woman was Sainis second wife, police said, adding that his first wife had left him in 2013 for similar atrocities. Bajrang Dal tries to stop marriage Marriage of two Hindus in the court of Bhopal additional district magistrate (ADM) turned chaotic on Tuesday when Bajrang Dal activists barged in with an allegation that the groom, a Christian, have submitted a fake affidavit. Bajrang Dal leader Devendra Rawat told HT that the brides mother had alleged that the groom hails from a Christian family and his mothers name is Mary. Rawat added that the complainant had accused the groom of luring her daughter into marriage. We came to help her (the bride) mother and urge authorities to probe the matter properly before giving marriage certificate. But the groom showed his mark sheets and documents of his father before the ADM, stating that he is a Hindu. Following this, the ADM gave them the marriage certificate. He also asked the woman about her decision, to which she replied that she would have married him even if he was a Christian, said Rawat. Lawyer Milind Wankhede, who represented the couple, said both the bride and the groom are Hindu and that there is no provision in the Hindu Marriage Act that bars a Hindu from marrying a person from other religions. The grooms mothers name is Mili and not Mary. His father was a district forest officer and the family is Hindu kayastha. After we showed documents, the ADM gave the marriage certificate to the couple, he said. Wankhede said the couple also pleaded for protection in the court of ADM and accordingly instructions were given to the police to ensure their security. The MP cabinet on Tuesday approved the appointment of former jail warder Ramashankar Yadavs daughter Sonia Yadav as an assistant (Grade III) in the general administration department. Yadav was allegedly killed by eight suspected SIMI members in Bhopal Central Jail on October 30, when they were escaping the prison. The eight were later killed in a police encounter on the outskirts of Bhopal. The encounter had assumed political overtones, with the Opposition and leaders of the Muslim community demanding a CBI or judicial probe into the incident, while chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan justified the killings and termed Yadavs death an act of martyrdom. The chief minister had also extended financial help to the family for Sonias marriage. Meanwhile, Sonia had refused to accept any job in the jail department. Her refusal, and the political issue associated with the entire episode, resulted in the government treating her case as a special one and gave her the appointment letter on the day of her marriage for her appointment in general administration department. The demonetisation of the old 500 and 1000 banknotes also cropped up, with some members of the Yadav family claiming that they were unable to make proper arrangements for the marriage due to a cash crunch. The chief minister assured the family that he will look into their problems and that they would not have any difficulties due to the lack of cash. Madhya Pradesh ranks highest in terms of deaths due to industrial accidents and inhalation of toxic fumes, a recent report by the National Crime Records Bureau on accidental casualties and suicides in India has revealed. The report said 213 people died in industrial accidents through 2015, of which 55 the highest count occurred in Madhya Pradesh. It was followed by Gujarat with 31 deaths, Rajasthan with 28, Uttar Pradesh with 23, and Chhattisgarh with 17. Surprisingly, Madhya Pradesh had occupied the sixth position with just 12 cases in 2014. The state also topped the list of deaths due to inhalation of toxic gases, with at least 116 such cases being registered in 2015. It was followed by Tamil Nadu with 99 deaths, Gujarat with 51, Andhra Pradesh with 37, and Rajasthan with 23. The total number of such casualties across the country stood at 394. Madhya Pradesh had registered just 14 such cases in 2014, occupying the eighth position. This comes as a blow to the reputation of the state, which had witnessed the infamous Union Carbide gas leak in 1984. While the official death count of that disaster stood at 5,000, rights activists pegged it between 20,000 and 25,000 victims. Directorate of Industrial health and Safety (Madhya Pradesh) director PD Narya told HT that the department was doing its best to curtail industrial accidents in the state. We have just 20 officers to handle 51 districts of the state. Despite the staff shortage, we regularly visit industrial units to spread awareness on safety measures. Apart from this, we work in tandem with the Disaster Management Institute in Bhopal to find ways to curb industrial accidents, he said. Narya said a possible reason for the rise in industrial casualties might be the inclusion of cases under the Building Construction Enforcement (BCE) Act. The BCE Act is being implemented more stringently in the state now. Cases that occur under it are also considered industrial accidents, he added. DEATHS DUE TO INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENTS IN 2015 1. Madhya Pradesh - 55 2. Gujarat- 31 3. Rajasthan -28 4. Uttar Pradesh - 23 5. Chhattisgarh - 17 Total deaths in India - 213 DEATHS DUE TO INHALATION OF TOXIC GASES IN 2015 1. Madhya Pradesh - 116 2. Tamil Nadu - 99 3. Gujarat - 51 4. Andhra Pradesh - 37 5. Rajasthan - 23 Total deaths in India - 394 SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Read this news in brief form. Click here The demonetisation of the old 500 and 1000 banknotes have had an interesting side effect the prices of pulses have dropped by almost half in Bhopal over the past month, reaching a two-year low. Traders say the continuous increase in price of pulses resulted in farmers growing pulses in large quantities this year. After demonetisation, the demand dropped. The minimum support price for some pulses has been increased by the government, which give a boost to farmers. Farmers focused on growing the crop to make a good profit, while government also imported more pulses to boost the domestic supply, thus levelling the demand and supply, said Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) spokesperson Vivek Sahu. However, after taking actions to curb the soaring price of pulses, the Centre announced the demonetisation, and people have stopped purchasing non-essential items due to the prevailing cash crunch. Now, markets are selling food grains and pulses at a much lower rate but customers are not willing to purchase them, Sahu said. Due to the cash crunch and decrease in demand of pulses, hoarders and middlemen have not made any attempt to hoard pulses, which has resulted in the pulses being supplied to the market in an ample amount, said Akhil Bhartiya Vyapari Mandal general secretary Anupam Agrawal. However, the drop in the price will not affect the condition of farmers in the state, say agriculture experts. FALLING PRICES Moong Dal Rs 60-80 (Rs 130-150) Urad Dal Rs 55-70 (Rs 125) Chana Dal Rs 110-115 (Rs 130) (prices in brackets show old prices) Prime Minister Narendra Modis words of appreciation for bank employees in his televised speech on Saturday has brought little cheer to bank staff. State-owned lenders have called for concrete rewards for their staff, while bank unions have demanded immediate and appropriate compensation and payment of overtime dues to all employees. The National Organization of Bank Workers (NOBW), an affiliate of the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh, has also written to the Prime Minister asking him to look into the issue. According to the letter, many banks are yet to pay their staff the overtime dues. Most public and private sector bank officials have worked not worked extra hours but also on weekends and holidays to meet the surge in customer demand, after the government announced the demonetization exercise on November 8. While the Prime Minister praised the bank officials for their work, there was no concrete announcement made for their welfare..we have written to the PM urging him to look into the matter, Ashwani Rana, vice president, NOBW, told Hindustan Times. The public sector banks have about 8 lakh employees at present. The All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA) too has demanded that the bank managements ensure safety and protection of bank staff by maintaining law and order in all bank branches to prevent harassment of bank staff. The government and the Reserve Bank of India must take steps to normalize the situation at the earliest, the bank employees are under tremendous pressure with shortage of cash and withdrawal limits still continuing, CH Venkatachalam, general secretary, AIBEA said. Modi, in his speech, complimented the bank employees including the banking correspondents who primarily work in the rural areas but also said that the few officials who have indulged in misconduct in the last one month will not be spared. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON As the internecine strife in the Samajwadi Party played out last weekend, the BJPs Venkaiah Naidu quipped that the socialist parties unite in the morning, divide in the afternoon, operate in the evening, and separate at night. A veteran of the movement led by Jayaprakash Narayan in the mid-1970s, Naidu presumably knows whereof he speaks. But a closer look at the history of socialist parties shows that the ongoing convulsion is qualitatively different from those of the past. And these differences underscore the fundamental challenge confronting the Samajwadi Party. The Congress Socialist Party (CSP) formed in 1934 reflected the dissatisfaction of the younger Congress workers JP and Rammanohar Lohia among others with their partys conservatism on social and economic questions. The CSP sought to act as a pressure group within the Congress. But its decision to take in the Communists proved disastrous. As the latter tried to push the CSP in a more radical direction, the first schisms appeared in the party. Read | History repeating itself? Mulayam followed Lohia, Akhilesh his father After Independence, the socialists were forced to rethink their relationship with the Congress. And it remained a thorny issue over the following decades. In 1948, JP and others left the Congress and started the Socialist Party (SP). Three years later, another group of Congressmen led by JB Kripalani formed the Kisan Mazdoor Praja Party (KMPP). Both the SP and the KMPP were unhappy with the Congress conservative leadership, notwithstanding Jawaharlal Nehrus progressive outlook. But their poor showing in the first general elections led them to combine in 1952 to form the Praja Socialist Party (PSP). Within three years, Lohia left to form his own Socialist Party. The move was prompted by his substantive differences with the PSP leadership. Lohia found the PSP insufficiently militant in its opposition to the Congress. This came to the fore during partys lukewarm support for his efforts in 1954 to mobilise farmers in Uttar Pradesh against the hike in the price of canal water. Further, there were ideological disagreements over the relative importance of caste (emphasised by Lohia) and class in Indian politics. Despite periodic calls for socialist unity, these differences widened over the following decade. Read | Badal to Mulayam, Sidhu to Mayawati: People who matter in 2017 state elections Personalities aside, there were important issues in contention. The PSP opposed Lohias decision to work with the Jana Sangh in the by-elections of 1963 and his call for extending such an alliance to include the Swatantra Party and the Communists. Then there was Lohias insistence on doing away with English in both the central and state governments. Finally there was Lohias demand for reservations for the backward classes as well as the SCs and STs. Although the two parties merged in May 1964 to form the Samyukta Socialist Party (SSP), a section of old PSP leaders peeled away to retain their identity. Both the SSP and PSP managed to perform better in the 1967 election and joined the anti-Congress coalition Samyukta Vidhayak Dal governments. By this time another strand of socialist politics was crystallising. Charan Singhs decision to leave the Congress and form his own party marked the rise to prominence of a new form politics that underscored the gulf between the peasant and town-dwellers, rural and urban India. Although Charan Singh was a Jat, he sought to project a broad peasant identity that subsumed several lower and upper castes. Read | Uttar Pradesh elections: All you need to know about Indias political heartland The coming together of the Lohiaite and kisan politics could be seen in the career of the young, first-time MLA from Charan Singhs party who had come to political consciousness during Lohias canal rate agitation: Mulayam Singh Yadav. It was also evident in the merger in 1974 of a section of the SSP with Charan Singhs party to form the Bharatiya Lok Dal (BLD). More importantly, the BLD now embraced the Lohiaite demand for reservation for backward classes. The JP movement against Indira Gandhi once again brought together socialists of various hues and the Hindu nationalists. After the Emergency, they combined to form the Janata Party that dislodged Gandhi from power. This short-lived government awaits its historian, but popular accounts tend to harp on the socialists habitual squabbling without taking into account the serious issues that rent the party: The appointment of the second Backward Classes Commission led by BP Mandal; Charan Singhs push for reorienting economic policy towards rural India; and the links between Janata members from the Jana Sangh and RSS. Read | If Mulayam can leave son, why cant we leave him?: Akhilesh rises amid SP feud The Janata Dal of the 1980s also fissured on similar issues, especially the implementation of the Mandal Commission report and the Ramjanmabhoomi movement. The shadow of family politics also began to lengthen over the socialists especially with Charan Singh and his protege Devi Lal. The parties that came out of the wreckage of the Janata Dal in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar benefited enormously from the implementation of the Mandal Commissions report and the upper castes opposition to it. The consolidation of an OBC political identity was a remarkable achievement. But 25 years on, the Samajwadi Party is left with little more than caste politics dominated by the Yadavs and buttressed by money and muscle. Read | Party belongs to me, people by my side: SP chief Mulayam It is tempting to think that Akhilesh Yadavs platform of development is an attempt to pull back from this cul-de-sac. But the record of the past five years is not encouraging to put it mildly. The ongoing power struggle is a far cry from the substantive political and ideological tussles of the past. Their absence signals the challenges looming ahead of the Samajwadi Party, irrespective of who wins this round. Srinath Raghavan is senior fellow, Centre for Policy Research, New Delhi The views expressed are personal SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Dehradun: Uttarakhand Board of School Education preponed practical examinations of class 10 and class 12 by a month to avoid clash with the upcoming assembly election, an official said on Wednesday. Now, the practical examinations will be held from January 16-February 15 and nearly 1,000 teachers will be engaged for the same. Usually, the practical examinations are scheduled for mid-February. Over 40,000 teachers in primary, junior and high schools are employed with the school education department and nearly 60% of them will released for election duty. The hill state will hold election to the 70-member state assembly on February 15. We will be completing practical examinations before February 15 so that teachers could be free for election duty. We generally conduct practical in mid-February. But owing to election, we will wrap-up the procedure at the earliest, board secretary RD Sharma told HT. Students belonging to science and art streams will undergo practical examinations for subjects like chemistry, botany, zoology, physics, fashion designing, arts, Indian music and others. Written examinations of class 10 and class 12 students, however, should be completed by March 31 to comply with a Supreme Court order that results should be declared by June 5. Schedule for the written exams is not out yet as the election commission has asked the board to finalise dates in consultation with it. The official said the board wants to finish written exams of class 12 by the end of March as Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) is scheduled on April 2 (written) and April 8 and 9 (online). The official said 2.77 lakh class 10 and class 12 students would be appearing for board examinations in the state this year. Council for Indian School Certificate Examination and Central Board for Secondary Education will be holding written examinations from February-end to April first week. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The Union cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi cleared a proposal to transfer 37 hectare land in Dwarka, from DDA to the Union urban development (UD) ministry, for the second diplomatic enclave in the Capital. Delhi currently has one diplomatic enclave in Chanakyapuri but with hardly any land available in the area, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) had requested the UD ministry for more land allotment to diplomatic missions/ international organizations for building their chanceries/ embassies in Delhi. Embassies of over 65 countries are located in Chanakyapuri. DDA, which comes under the UD ministry, had zeroed in on this particular stretch of land located in Dwarkas Sector 24. A senior government official said that plots will be allotted to countries who have requested MEA for land. Preference will be given to countries that are running their embassies from rented building, the official added. Currently diplomatic enclave of some 39 countries runs from rented properties in the Capital. DDA had earmarked 34.87 hectare land in Sector 24, Dwarka for the project that was first conceived in 2007. This land will now be transferred to UD ministrys Land and Development Office. DDA has already developed the trunk infrastructure including road, electricity, water and sewerage network in the area, said a UD ministry official. Turkey's Minister for EU Affairs Omer Celik said Wednesday there was no possibility of changing the country's anti-terrorism laws as requested by the EU as it would "endanger both Turkeys and Europes security", Anadolu reported. Changing counter-terrorism legislation is a key condition of a visa-free travel agreement between the European Union and Turkey. "We reiterated [during the last Brussels visit] that we cannot meet EUs demand for an amendment to the anti-terror laws. However, there is not any problem in fulfilling the other criteria", he told a joint news conference with U.K. Minister for Europe Alan Duncan in Ankara. "To ask a country, which has been faced with many terrorist attacks to change its anti-terror law, is to put both the security of Turkey and Europe in jeopardy," Celik said, recalling last Sundays deadly attack on a night club in Istanbul which claimed the lives of 39 people on New Years Eve. The minister said that due to Turkeys geopolitical position, it was also a provider of Europes security. "If the parties desire an agreement, the solution could be found. But if it [solution] is not desired, the process will be blocked." Celik said that a meeting was planned soon in Turkey with EU officials including European Commission First Vice President Frans Timmermans. He also said the EU accepted Turkeys previous proposal to hold a bilateral summit and the EU officials were working on setting a date. "A summit between the TR-EU is needed. Let's not talk about behind each other back, lets talk to each other," he said. Celik also criticized the mixed response given across the EU over the terrorist attacks in Turkey. "Why is it that when Turkey is attacked by Daesh, the Turkish flag is put up on public buildings, but the same solidarity is not displayed when it is an attack by the PKK?," he asked. Turkey and the EU signed a deal in March 2016 aiming to discourage irregular migration through the Aegean Sea by taking stricter measures against human traffickers and improving conditions for nearly 3 million Syrian refugees in Turkey. The deal also allows for the acceleration of Turkeys EU membership bid and visa-free travel for Turkish nationals within the Schengen area, on the condition that Ankara meets 72 requirements set by the EU. While Turkey has fulfilled most of the criteria, differences between Brussels and Ankara on anti-terror legislation have forestalled the visa liberalization deal. The Delhi Development Authority is ready with its next housing plan under which it will build more than 16,000 homes, 33% of which will be for high-income groups. The project to build 16,584 flats in areas such as Vasant Kunj, Dwarka, Rohini, Preet Vihar, Phazulpur, Mandawali and Khichdipur had got all the clearances, sources said. The work will begin as soon as the plan is passed by senior DDA officials. On offer will be one -bedroom flats for economically weaker sections and the low-income group (LIG), two-bedroom houses for the middle-income group (MIG) and three-bedroom units for the higher income group (HIG). The cost of these houses is yet to be decided, a senior DDA official said. The new project comes close on the heels of the citys land developers getting the nod for 13,000 flats that are expected to go on the market in the coming months. While 90% of these flats are in the LIG category, the new scheme will have around 33% HIG flats, most of which will come up in Vasant Kunj in south Delhi, Dwarka in Southwest and Rohini in Northwest. Bulk of the 5,000 EWS houses and 5,000 LIG houses will come up in the east and Rohini zone while some are also planned for Dwarkas sectors 14 and 19. The DDA has not set any deadline for the project as it is in the planning stages but sources expect it to be completed in two to three years. Officials have been asked to prepare a detailed project report and initial estimates, sources said. DDAs new housing project EWS LIG MIG HIG Total in every zone East zone 2709 2040 4749 Vasant Kunj 250 613 164 1027 Narela 1310 3495 4805 Dwarka zone 399 425 563 1387 Rohini zone 1258 2013 1345 4616 Total 5926 4478 613 5567 16584 SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Upset over not being able to exchange old notes, a woman allegedly stripped in front of a crowd outside Reserve Bank of India (RBI) building in New Delhi on Wednesday afternoon. Police officials said the woman, a domestic help, came to the bank with a four-year-old child. She had been coming to the bank for the last two days, hoping to exchange R 4,000 old notes. But she allegedly stripped after the bank officials told her that the last date for exchanging old notes at bank counters was November 24, and so they cannot exchange her old notes now. Police said that the woman had no identity card. The old notes that she was carrying were damaged and chopped by rats. The incident was recorded by someone on mobile phone. Police said after the woman was told that they the bank was no longer accepting R 1,000 and R 500 old notes, she started shouting. The local police was called in to calm her down. In the video, two women constables are seen trying to take the woman inside a PCR van. But she is resisting, shouting and crying till the constables let her go. Later, before the public or police could stop her, she strips as a mark of protest. Bystanders were shocked as she stripped off her kurta. Her child was standing beside her. The woman stripped and demanded to meet RBI officials. She wanted to persuade them to exchange her old notes. She was covered up and taken to the bank officials. They informed her that her old notes cannot be exchanged anymore. Also, she had no identity card. The old notes she was carrying were soiled. It looked like rats had eaten them, said a senior police officer. The woman was let off. No case was registered, police said. Opposing the bail plea of controversial lawyer Rohit Tandon, the Enforcement Directorate on Wednesday told a Delhi court that he was one of the main conspirators in the illegal conversion of nearly Rs 60 crore demonetised currency. Tandon is in jail for alleged seizure of Rs 13.6 crore cash from his law firm as part of crackdown on black money. Tandons counsel sought bail for him submitting before the additional sessions judge R K Tripathi that his clients arrest was illegal and prima facie no offence under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) was made out. The court, however, listed the case for further conclusion arguments on January 7 while asking both the parties to give written submissions by then. Opposing the bail plea of Tandon, EDs counsel Vikas Garg submitted that the application was not maintainable as it was moved under section 439 (special powers of high court or sessions court regarding bail) of CrPC and not under the relevant section of PMLA. He also argued that several bank accounts were used for depositing demonetised currency on the instruction of Tandon who connived with arrested accused and Kotak Mahindra bank manager Ashish Kumar and others for the alleged conversion at a commission of 35%. Stacks of currency notes that was found at Rohit Tandon's Greater Kailash residence during a raid by Delhi Police crime branch. Cash worth Rs 13.65 cr, including at least Rs 2.61 cr in new Rs 2,000 currency notes were recovered. (PTI file photo) However, senior advocate Vikas Pahwa, appearing for Tandon, submitted that the accused has not cheated people as the governments November 8 notification on demonetisation, had allowed depositing of any amount of money in bank accounts. As per the notification on behalf of the ministry of finance no penal provision has been mentioned in case a person has large denomination of currency in old notes. The said notification does not attract any criminal charges for holding old notes in huge denominations, the counsel said. He further said that there was no allegation against the accused in the FIR and he has fully cooperated in the probe even before he was arrested. The ED counsel, however, referred to the recorded statement of Kumar and Tandons employee Dinesh Bhola in which they mentioned about having a meeting with Tandon and his firms CEO Kamal Jain after demonetisation to discuss how to convert demonetised currency into new ones. The court had on January 2 sent Tandon to 14 days judicial custody along with Kumar and businessman Paras Lodha. Seconds before allegedly committing suicide at west Delhis City Square Mall, 21-year-old Shubhangi had put a one-page alleged suicide note in the dustbin outside the washroom on the third floor from where she jumped off on Tuesday afternoon. Vijay Kumar, deputy commissioner of police (west), confirmed that the note was recovered later in the evening after they scanned CCTV camera footage of the mall and found that one of the cameras had captured her throwing a paper in the dustbin. We took out the paper from the dustbin. It was a suicide note which the woman had addressed to her family members, said the DCP. Through the note, a police officer said, the woman has expressed resentment towards her parents. The contents of the note hint that her parents were unhappy and upset because of her relationship with a man who was with her at the mall when she committed suicide. In the note, the woman has admitted that she made some mistakes but goes on to say that her parents should have forgiven her, the officer said. Read: 21-year-old jumps to death from west Delhi mall The police questioned Shubhangis friend who was with her at the mall. He told them that they were at the mall since 1 pm. In the video footage, the couple is initially seen talking to each other for almost two hours in the lawn outside the mall. Around 3.45 pm, the woman went inside the mall after telling him that she had to use the washroom. Her friend is seen waiting for her for almost twenty minutes. He then went inside and saw a crowd gathered in the courtyard of the mall. As the man went further, he was shocked to see Shubhangi lying in a pool of blood, the officer said. Eyewitnesses told Shubhangis friend that she had jumped off the third floor. A few people in the mall rushed her to a nearby private hospital, where she underwent treatment for an hour before she passed away. Police said Shubhangi received severe injuries in the head. Some shoppers told police the girl was spotted talking on phone and walking towards the washroom of the floor. Police said within minutes she jumped off. A resident of Tilak Nagars Harijan Basti, Shubhangi was pursuing graduation through distance education. Her father is a sanitation worker in Delhis civic department. An unruly passenger flew all the way from Dubai to New Delhi tied to his seat as the crew aboard an Indigo flight, 6E-024, had to take the drastic step for his fellow passengers safety soon after take-off on Tuesday evening. Sources said the man turned violent started shouting, pushed passengers and ran along the aisle when the plane took off from Dubai. After the flight landed at 10:40 pm in New Delhi on Tuesday, he was escorted out with the help of Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel, who guard the airport. He was handed over to police later. He was not following safety instructions, said a Delhi Police officer. The reason behind his behaviour was not clear, whether he was mentally disturbed, or was under the influence of narcotics or alcohol. A medical examination has been conducted, the police officer said. Action will be taken after we receive the medical report. We will contact his family to know his medical history. Sources said he had to be overpowered and tethered to his seat after all efforts to pacify him failed. A passenger can be restrained and isolated as part of the crews standard operating procedure if his behaviour poses a risk to fellow passengers and the aircraft. At IndiGo such unruly behaviour is not acceptable, said a spokesperson of Indigo, a private airline. In-flight bad conduct is happening more often these days and situations sometimes fly out of hand, despite the crews training to tackle such mid-air nuisance. A day before the IndiGo incident, an Air India airhostess filed a complaint against a flier from Muscat. Passengers are rude and sometimes turn violent over minor things. We ask our staff to keep calm but there are guidelines to tie down a passenger if the situation goes out of hand, an airline official said. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Teachers and employees of Kendriya Vidyalayas (KV) will have to sign a letter stating they will not apply political pressure for seeking transfers to postings of their choice. According to sources, a circular was issued last month to all the principals of KVs that strict disciplinary action will be taken against teachers found doing so. It is learnt that a number of teachers and employees had sent a representation to the Union human resources development (HRD) minister Prakash Javadekar and others to get their choice of posting. This bad practice is not only hampering the working of other offices of the MHRD but also bringing a bad name for the whole KVS family, states a letter by Santosh Kumar Mall, commissioner of the Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan (KVS). The content of this letter must be brought to the notice of every teacher and employee of your vidyalaya by handing over a copy of this letter and obtaining his/her signature as an acknowledgment, the letter added. KVS has said it will take strict action against endorsed requests. Officials said out of the 7,108 transfers last year, 6,000 were carried out according to the choice of teachers and employees. 549 teachers however, were sent to hard and very hard stations on administrative grounds. There are 1,128 KVs in the country with more than 55,000 teachers. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The forest department issued a notice against a Faridabad forest range officer for his alleged involvement in clearing four acres of land in the Aravallis in the last few days. The move comes on the back of a complaint by green activists about non-forest activities in the Aravallis. In an alleged attempt to grab land in the Aravalli areas, more than 100 trees were cleared from four acres of forest close to the Manav Rachna University along the Gurgaon-Faridabad road. Police have lodged an FIR in the matter. Commissioner of police, Faridabad, Hanif Qureshi said, An FIR had been registered against unknown persons and we are probing the matter. The area comes under sections 4&5 of the Punjab Land Preservation Act (PLPA),1900, where felling of trees is prohibited. Green activists said violators are trying to set up a liquor vend in the area, which come within 500 metres of the national highway, making it illegal. Jitender Bhadana of Save Aravalli, an NGO, said a makeshift structure has been set up to start a liquor vend. Even though the police, district administration and forest department are informed about the development, no action has been taken yet. The land belongs to a former minister and that is why the case is not being taken seriously by the forest department. The forest range officer is also involved in the incident, Bhadana said. The forest department said it will take action against the officer involved. We are aware of the development and have issued a notice to the vigilance department and to the district forest officer to take action against the officer, MD Sihna, conservator of forest, south Haryana, said. Land grab cases have become common in Gurgaon-Faridabad Aravallis region. The forest department has issued notices against 18 liquor vends operating along the Gurgaon-Faridabad road, last month. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON In a major crack down on alleged black money post demonetisation, CBI has so far registered 32 cases related to irregularities in currency conversion by Banks and postal department officials with total amount involved at over Rs 200 crore. Out of 32, three to four case are against Reserve Bank of India (RBI) officials, five against Post Office employees and the remaining cases are against those employed with different banks, said a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) official. They have been charged with illegally exchanging old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes into new currency after Prime Minister Narendra Modis demonetisation announcement on November 8. We have so far registered 32 cases of violation of demonetisation and detected about Rs 200 crore illegal transaction. During raids at the office and residential premises of the arrested accused persons, we have recovered Rs 15 crore, said the official. CBI said so far agency has been able to seize Rs 15 crore during its country wide searches in connection with alleged irregularities in the distribution and holding of new currency introduced post note ban move. Read| Note ban effect on vote bank: Why demonetisation is a key issue in 2017 assembly polls The historical Gandhi Maidan has turned into a mini Punjab with thousands of guests paying obeisance at the replica of Takht Harmandir Sahib daily. Pilgrims who have come from different parts of India and abroad, including the United States of America, Europe and China, are also utilising the rare opportunity to go on shopping spree, as local businessmen put their best foot forward to attract the Sikh community to Bihari culture and food fare. Stalls of khadi kurtis and dupattas, terracotta items, jute bags, jewelleries and khadi cotton bedsheets are attracting Punjabi visitors who are also appreciative of the products of Bihar. Stalls of Bihari cuisines are attracting both Bihari and Punjabi visitors alike. Food stalls of tilkut from Gaya , khaaja, kesar peda, launglata, chandrakala, lakhto, balushahi, anarsa and thekua are attracting good business too. The stall on jute jewellery from Arya Jute of Patna has already seen good footfall of customers from Punjab. The pieces are very creative. They are made of jute which is rarely seen in Punjab. I will buy four sets for my daughters, said Balwinder Kaur, who has come from Amritsar to attend the 350th Prakash Parv. Middle aged Manpreet Singh from Bhatinda was busy selecting khadi jackets in various colours. I have seen politicians wearing such bundi (sleeveless jackets). I always wanted to buy one for myself. Here the price is quite reasonable. I will buy one today, he said. The jackets cost Rs 1,200 each. Khadi suit pieces embellished with Madhubani paintings cost Rs 1,000 and Bhagalpuri silk dupattas priced at Rs 600 are also attracting women in large numbers. People love some of these products and most stalls have seen good business. Punjabis are loving the suit pieces we have and they are also cheaper than in other parts of the country, said stall owner, Smita. We are trying to impress the guests with our dishes and build a brand of our culture so that they keep visiting our state, said Roushan Singh, a stall owner. Praising the arrangements made by the Bihar government, Amanpreet Bhalla of Amritsar said, The city is very clean and the management of the whole event is very good. Contrary to bad publicity of the state, we are finding the scene here quite different. The Trinamool Congress is expected to launch pan-India protests on Wednesday against the arrest of its MP, Sudip Bandyopadhyay in the Rose Valley scam. Bandyopadhyay, who was arrested on Tuesday, said it was because of his partys good performance against the governments demonetisation. It is the reflection of a good performance in the Parliament (by TMC in opposing demonetisation), Bandyopadhyay told reporters while being taken to the airport in Kolkata. Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, on Wednesday, also accused Prime Minister Narendra Modis government of attacking those who opposed the note ban. This is vendetta politics of Modi ji. His msg is - Agar kisi ne notbandi ke khilaaf bola to chhodenge nahi. Really deplorable. https://t.co/yPhkzZXm1w Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) January 4, 2017 Bandyopadhyay was taken to Bhubaneshwar by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to produce him in court on Wednesday. Following his arrest, TMC workers went on a rampage in Kolkata, attacking the BJP office with stones and vandalising cars parked outside. Late on Tuesday, BJP leader Krishna Bhattacharyas house in Uttarpara was allegedly attacked by TMC workers. A case was registered. WB: BJP leader Krishna Bhattacharya's house in Uttarpara allegedly attacked by TMC workers, last night. Case registered (Last night visuals) pic.twitter.com/R3PQlzO23a ANI (@ANI_news) January 4, 2017 A CBI statement said the TMC leader was charged for cheating, criminal breach of trust and criminal conspiracy among others under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code, and various sections of Prize, Chits and Money Circulation (Banning) Act of 1978. Bandyopadhyay arrived at the CBI office in Kolkata after being summoned by the investigation agency. He was arrested after being interrogated for four hours. He will be questioned again in Bhubaneswar in the case which was lodged in the Odisha capital. Reacting to the news, West Bengal chief minister and Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee threatened to arrest BJP leaders in Bengal. I just cant believe Sudip Bandyopadhyay has been arrested. He is a senior leader of our party in the Parliament! she said on Tuesday. A member of Banerjees core team, 64-year-old Bandyopadhyay is the chief whip of the Trinamool Congress in the Lok Sabha. Elected to the house from Kolkata North constituency, he participates in debates on every issue of importance from GST to demonetisation both in Parliament and outside it. Another TMC MP Tapas Pal, arrested in the same case on December 30, is under CBI custody in Bhubaneswar. Attendees visit the stand of ZTE during the second day of the Mobile World Congress 2016. (Photo : Getty Images) ZTE, one of the top optical network product and solution provider worldwide, was chosen by CK Hutchison Holdings Limited and VimplelCom Limited to merge and manage their Italian mobile networks. This is a big loss to Ericsson as the company has business with both carriers before. Xiao Ming, the head of ZTE in Europe, said, "We want Italy to become ZTE's Europe Hub. ZTE also plans to create thousands of new jobs in Italy, increasing the skills of its technicians and expanding the number of staff involved in related industries." Advertisement ZTE won the $1 billion contract against Huawei, Ericsson and Nokia Oyj. This deal will give ZTE a boost on scaling-up in its European operations. 3 Italia and Wind Telecommunicazioni SpA, both owned by CK Hutchison and VimpleCom, respectively, received European Union approval in September for their merger, which will create the largest mobile-phone network in Italy. It is said that the second-largest market for Hutchison is Italy, led by billionaire Chairman Li Ka-Shing, behind UK. As Ericsson is not chosen, it is currently in a dire situation and could lay-off a quarter of its workforce in Italy. In October, Ericsson announced that it will slash 3,000 jobs after months of speculations regarding its poor financial results. This is to reduce manufacturing and operating costs. It is predicted that about 1,600 of these employees are expected to take the company's voluntary redundancy packages. In addition, it also announced that about 900 of their consultants are set to depart the company. All of these problems contributed to the departure of CEO Hans Vestberg. The contract loss puts further pressure to Borje Ekholm, the incoming CEO of the company. He will be stepping up from being one of the board-of-directors of the company for a decade. He is said to take over the CEO position in January with a task of reviving Ericsson's fortunes after one year. Congress appears to have kept its doors open for a pre-poll alliance in Uttar Pradesh, given the inclination of SPs newly elected president Akhilesh Yadav for such a tie-up to garner over 300 assembly seats. As of now, we are working on the recommendations of the screening committee for all the 403 seats in the state... what can happen in future will be known only later... but there is a lot of pressure on secular parties (for an alliance), AICC general secretary Ghulam Nabi Azad told media on the sidelines of the partys executive committee meeting in Lucknow. The 36-member central election committee will meet here from tomorrow (Thursday) for three days in which names of the candidates will be finalised, he said. The Congress leader, however, did not openly advocate alliance with any party for the coming polls. Talks of a possible alliance with Congress had hit the roadblock with SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav ruling out tie up with any party and favouring only merger of parties with SP. Leaders including UPCC president Raj Babbar, chief ministerial candidate Sheila Dikshit among others took part in the executive committee meeting which condemned demonetisation and attacked the central government for imposing hardships on the common people. Political dynasties, veterans and young leaders, uncles, sons and fathers: everyones future is at stake in the upcoming five-state assembly elections, dates of which were announced by the Election Commission today. Here is a look at all the contenders fighting it out for power: The Narendra Modi Factor Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his BJP have a lot at stake in UP, and not merely because he represents the Varanasi seat in Lok Sabha. His partys performance could depend on, among other factors, the tricky play out of the twin surgical strikes, one across the LoC and the other on black money. While the strike on terror camps across the border could yield patriotic dividends, the demonetisation drive could be a boon or boomerang badly. Not just that, the outcome of UP 2017 could also indicate which way the wind is blowing for the Modi government Uttar Pradesh Mulayam Singh Yadav: After the bitter feud that ripped Samajwadi Party and pitched father against son, the UP polls could prove to be Mulayam Singhs toughest bout -- and final -- bout in the political arena. The veteran Netaji goes into battle not only for Uttar Pradesh, but to win back his Samajwadi Party. Mulayam Singh Yadav Akhilesh Yadav: Challengers within the Yadav clan ensured that Akhileshwas ousted from his own party, but the Yadav scion staged an asseritve comeback, ousting his father as the chief of Samajawadi Party. Akhilesh Yadav may have broken out of his fathers shadow, but he has inherited a divided party, with rivals BSP and BJP snapping at his heels. Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav. (Gurinder Osan/HT PHOTO) Shivpal Yadav: Mulayams brother and the partys muscleman is blamed for the rift in the Yadav clan. Shivpal has now been sidelined, but feels he has not been given his due. Shivpal Yadav Mayawati: The BSP supremo has been hit by high-profile desertions, allegations from party rebels that tickets were being sold and an Enforcement Directorate statement questioning Rs 104 crores deposited into the partys account.Trying hard to keep allegations at bay and keeping her votebank together, Behenji is eyeing a return to power. Sheila Dikshit: The Congress chief ministerial face is virtually an outsider in UP. She had to abandon the inaugural campaign yatra in August midway due to ill-health. While Congress is eyeing an alliance with the Samajwadi Party, these elections could mark a turning point in the Delhis former chief minister. Shiela Dikshit Punjab Sukhbir Badal: Badal is the de facto CM calling the shots on candidate lists and the Akali Dals larger campaign, as the party president. Arvind Kejriwal has announced that he will pit his crowd-puller comedian and MP Bhagwant Mann against Sukhbir and the clash will be one to watch out for. Sukhbir Singh Badal Capt Amarinder Singh: Amarinder has often said it on record that it is his last election and he wants a win after two back-to-back defeats under his command. But will the Congress name him as the CM candidate before elections is the key question. Amarinder Singh Arvind Kejriwal: AAP is the underdog in Punjab polls and can play spoiler for the SAD-BJP and the Congress or even go down as the winner. Kejriwal is holding rallies and releasing manifestos for each section of voters. Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal Navjot Singh Sidhu: He is expected to be a wild card entry into the Congress close to the polls. His wife Dr Navjot Kaur has joined hands with the Congress, but Sidhu may play hardball a little longer. Navjot Singh Sidhu Sucha Singh Chottepur: The Aapna Punjab Party (APP) chief too is a man to watch out for. His anger is totally personal and directed towards Kejriwal for his unceremonious ouster as state chief. He may throw his weight behind old friend Amarinder or just play a spoiler for AAP. Sucha Singh Chotepur Uttarakhand Harish Rawat: Survived a political coup engineered by rebel Congress MLAs, as well as a sting video purportedly showing him offering money to legislators to save his government. Amid the churn, the state saw Presidents rule for a while. Harish Rawat Vijay Bahuguna: The former Congress CM is now in the BJP. He would be smarting from losing the top seat to Rawat in early 2014. Vijay Bahuguna Goa Manohar Parrikar: The BJP win in 2012 is credited more to Parrikar than the party. The defence minister and former chief minister of Goa will be a star campaigner and is expected to handhold the state BJP. Manohar Parrikar Sudin Dhavalikar and Dipak Dhavalikar: Goa Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar dropped the two MGP ministers from his cabinet on December 12. He justified this, saying it was done to prevent BJP cadre from getting demoralised by their outbursts in the poll-bound state. The ouster of the Dhavalikar brothers raises prospects of new equations in the state. Manipur Okram Ibobi Singh: Manipaurs current Chief Minister, who has been holding on to the position since 2002 and is seeking to return to power yet another time. Okram Ibobi Singh Irom Sharmila: The rights activist, who ended her 16-year hunger strike this year, has joined active politics by launching her own party. Sharmila will be taking Ibobi head on, contesting against him. Irom Sharmila In a veiled warning to TMC to mend its ways or face consequences, BJP general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya on Wednesday wondered whether TMC MPs and party supremo Mamata Banerjee would be able to go around the country and enter New Delhi if his party starts protesting against them. Furious over the attack on state BJP headquarters by TMC activists on Tuesday, following the arrest of TMC MP Sudip Bandopadhyay, Vijayvargiya lashed out at city police commissioner Rajeev Kumar for tuning a blind eye to the attack on BJP office. He urged the CBI to investigate the alleged role of Kumar in wiping out evidences against TMC leaders in the chit fund scam, during his tenure as the head of the state government-formed SIT. Refuting allegations that CBI arrests in chit fund scams were a political vendetta against TMC as it has been opposing demonetisation, Vijyavargiya warned TMC to mend its ways and stop attacking BJP offices and workers or else the party would also not sit silently. Read: TMC workers block roads across Bengal, showdown with BJP escalates We may not be as strong as TMC in Bengal. But in the entire country we are the strongest political force. I wonder if BJP workers in Delhi decide that TMC MPs would not be allowed to enter Delhi, would they be able to enter Delhi? The answer is no. If BJP workers decide to protest across the country, would Mamata Banerjee be able to roam the country freely? If TMC doesnt mend its ways, we will also not sit silently, Vijyavargiya, who is also BJP observer in-charge of West Bengal, told reprters. The BJPs thumping victory in the Chandigarh municipal election on December 20 led party chief Amit Shah to describe it as a stamp of approval for Narendra Modis demonetisation decision. He had reasons to make that claim. BJP won almost every poll countrywide, post the note ban. But Shah has taken a huge risk in describing election victories as endorsement of demonetisation. Any adverse outcome in the ensuing assembly elections in five states Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Goa and Manipur will deny him the liberty to delink the election result and demonetisation. Is Shahs bravado driven by ground reports about an overwhelming support for demonetisation, or a misplaced confidence that had earlier seen him claim that the BJP would get two-thirds majority in Delhi and Bihar? Demonetisation has dominated the national discourse for past two months, but can it really overshadow the feud in Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh? Or will it negate the anti-incumbency of 10 years faced by the Akali Dal-BJP government in Punjab? Will demonetisation upset the calculation of Harish Rawat in Uttarakhand who is counting on factionalism in BJP in Uttarakhand to pull off a victory? Can it prevent entry of a third player the AAP in Goa or help the BJP end the three term rule of the Congress in Manipur? State elections have their own flavour, mostly decided by local issues. But demonetisation which has touched every countryman will be common to all five elections. Local issues will dominate and demonetisation will be like background music, says Pramod Kumar, the Director of Chandigarh-based Institute for Development and Communication. The note recall has a moral dimension. Arvind Kejriwals opposition to the decision hurts his image. BJP leaders claim Modi has created a pro-poor image for himself by taking an anti-rich position. It should benefit us in election as we pass new milestones, winning over new social groups. This is a well thought move by Modi, a BJP general secretary told HT. The BJP and the Congress will be in a direct contest in Uttarakhand and Manipur. Goa and Punjab will have triangular contest between NDA, Congress and AAP, and Uttar Pradesh a four-cornered fight. Among parties who have stakes in these polls, the Congress, BSP and AAP have strongly opposed the note ban. They are counting on peoples anger against demonetisation. But both the BJP and its rivals may be overestimating the impact of demonetization. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON A day after CBI arrested TMCs Sudip Bandyopadhyay, his party colleague and West Bengal finance minister Amit Mitra on Wednesday walked out angrily from a pre-budget meeting saying there was financial emergency and political environment of fear in the country. Mitra, who was in full attendance at the two-day meeting of the GST council chaired by Union finance minister Arun Jaitley that ended on Wednesday, said the Union budget had become a meaningless exercise after Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his address to the nation on New Years eve, made announcements similar to a budget presentation. He said that before walking out, he made the Union finance minister, who had called the meeting, hear the expectations of states on his fourth budget to be presented on February 1 and also make him aware of the financial emergency imposed by demonetisation and the job losses it has led to. I wanted the finance minister to hear the reality on the ground, the financial emergency in the country, the political environment of fear all around, he told reporters after emerging from the meeting. Bandyopadhyay was arrested by the CBI in Kolkata on Tuesday in connection with the Rose Valley chit fund scam -- a move that promoted West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee to allege that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was using central agencies like the CBI, Enforcement Directorate and income tax department against his political rivals who were raising their voice against demonetisation. The Trinamool Congress, he said, is today demonstrating against the political emergency that seems to have happened at every nook and corner on every matter. Mitra also said currency demonetisation has led to closure of small industries and left hundreds jobless across the country, including the BJP-ruled States. While the leather industry in West Bengal has completely collapsed, closure of 12 lakh powerlooms in Maharashtra had led to workers returning to their native places in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Telangana. In case of Maharashtra, the red chilly industry has collapsed, falling by 30-40%; while in Nagpur, oranges industry has collapsed, he said. There is a financial emergency that is not being talked about. Even the data that honourable finance minister gave on his receiving taxes, none of the media got the facts as he gave it from April to end of November, not after November 8, he said. Mitra said he wanted Jaitley to hear the truth. I would like to say to you today with a very heavy heart that I have walked out of the meeting after making my presentation..., he said. The budget, he said, has become meaningless for the first time in the history of India. Budget has already been announced by the honourable prime minister. It doesnt happen anywhere else. Given this perspective, I had to protest it and I had to walk out in protest. Mitra asked who was responsible for the financial crisis caused by demonetisation and derailing of the economy? What goes into Budget has already been announced by the Prime Minister. What is the finance minister there for now?, he asked. The West Bengal finance minister said his submission at the pre-budget meeting primarily focused on demonetisation and what it is doing to the economy as a perspective of the budget. Budget needs a perspective. 1.26 lakh crore has been sacrificed according to CMIE, he said, adding diamond workers have returned home from Gujarat. In Maharashtra, there are 24 lakh powerlooms, 12 lakh of those powerlooms are closed and workers from there have gone back to their States. But nobody is bothered in the central government, he said. Leather industry in West Bengal has completely collapsed. Stating that 70% of Indias exports of gloves and handbags are from the state, he said small and medium enterprises and unorganised sectors are starving. You make a budget on the (basis of) reality on the ground. There is a financial emergency that is not being talked about, he said. He said Jaitley had talked of buoyancy in tax revenue for April-November period while defending demonetisation but he did not give numbers after November 8. I also told them that the tax collections in December in West Bengal last year (2015) was 11% higher..., it is a negative growth of 2% (December, 2016) since Bengal has lost 13% of potential taxes, he said, adding states were faced with 30-40% decline in their Budget revenues. He asked how could the States fund their social programmes, health, water, physical infrastructure, schools, colleges, roads. So financial crisis of derailing the economy. Who is responsible for that?, he asked. The Union Cabinet, at a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday, approved the signing of an MoU between India and Kenya on agriculture and associated areas, said an official release. The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between India and Kenya on bilateral cooperation in the field of agriculture and allied sectors, said a Cabinet release. A Joint Working Group would be constituted, with representatives from both countries, to develop programmes for execution of the MoU and will also monitor their implementation, the release said. The MoU would cover various activities in the field of agricultural research, animal husbandry and dairy, livestock and fisheries horticulture, natural resource management, soil and conservation, water management, irrigation farming systems development and associated fields. The MoU shall enter into force on the day of signing and shall remain valid for a period of five years and shall automatically be renewed for a subsequent period of five years unless either Party notifies the other in writing, six months before the expiry of the validity period of the intention to terminate it, the release added. In his farewell speech yesterday, retiring Chief Justice of India T.S Thakur reiterated the need for Indias courts to reduce their massive backlog of pending cases. Thakur, who assumed office in 2015 and made pending cases a top priority, leaves behind a greater number of pending cases for his successor, Jagdish Singh Khehar. The number of pending cases at the Supreme Court increased by 1,000 last year, according to the latest annual report of the Supreme Court. At lower courts, the situation is even worse. High courts saw their pending caseload jump by 60,000, while subordinate courts backlog soared by almost ten lakh cases. During his term last year, Thakur had stressed the need for courts to fill vacancies in order to reduce their backlog, claiming Indian courts need to add more than 70,000 judges to clear all pending cases. As of March 31, 2016, 20 percent of the judgeships were vacant at both the Supreme Court and district courts, according to the Supreme Courts quarterly newsletter. At the high courts, 40 percent of the bench was unfilled. Yet hiring judges may not by itself be enough to reduce the backlog. Instead, experts say, all of Indias courts from the Supreme Court down to the district court must become more efficient with their management of cases, even as they work to hire judges to fill vacancies on the bench. At the current level of efficiency, if you increase the number of judges significantly, you can make a dent in the problem within the next three-four years, said Alok Prasanna Kumar, Senior Resident Fellow at Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy in Delhi. Shortage of judges is not the source of the problem, Kumar added. This is about process management. One way to reduce the backlog is to change how judges spend their time, said Surya Prakash, program director at Daksh, a Bengaluru-based legal think tank. In Bengaluru, for example, judges spent 44 percent of their time dealing with administrative issues, while in Delhi, that figure was 52 percent, according to a study conducted by Daksh and Centre for Civil Society in Delhi. These figures have not been disputed by the judiciary, according to Prakash. A judge, Prakash said, should only look after the courts substantive responsibilities, which include hearing arguments and reading out judgements. Instead, at the moment, a judge is also required to perform clerical duties or attend to administrative matters outside the courtroom. The administrative tasks would be better left to people trained to accomplish them. They need to have experts embedded in the system, Kumar said. He said this expert can be an MBA or someone who understands how to manage processes. Khehar, the incoming CJI, can take stock of the situation under the National Court Management System (NCMS), which would be under his control. Established in 2012 by then-CJI S.H Kapadia, NCMS has laid down various guidelines for all courts in order to improve management of cases. For example, an NCMS report on case management recommends that a capital punishment or rape case should not take more than nine months in court. Yet no matter how he uses the NCMS, the CJIs power to reduce the national case backlog is limited because lower courts are not beholden to his orders. The chief justices of high court do not report to the Chief Justice of India, Prakash said. That is why this [case pendency] is a problem across the nation. India on Wednesday urged China to renew its decision to block designating Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) chief Mazood Azhar as a terrorist by the United Nations and said Beijing should understand the double standards of this self-defeating purpose. China, an all-weather ally of Pakistan, has been hamperping Indian efforts to bring Azhar, who heads the JeM India blamed for terrorist attacks on Pathankot airbase January last year in the UN sanctions list. The individuals and entities in the list face an asset freeze, travel bans and other measures that would cripple their efforts to carry out terrorist activities. We hope as a responsible and mature nation, China will understand double standards of this self-defeating purpose, minister of state for external affairs M J Akbar said. We expect China to hear the voice of the world, not just voice of India on terrorism, he said, recalling barring veto-wielding China, 14 out of 15 countries in the UN Sanctions Committee favoured action against Azhar. He also hoped China can be persuaded to see the evil of the menace. Akbar and his ministerial colleague V K Singh, flanked by foreign secretary S Jaishankar were addressing the mid-term press conference of the external affairs ministry. Replying to a volley of questions on talks with Pakistan, the ministers said terror and talks cannot go together, in reference to the reported cross-border terrorism sponsored by the neighbour. When asked why India is not closing down Pakistans diplomatic mission even after some ministers declared it a terror state, Akbar quoted former prime minister AB Vajpayee, we cannot choose our neighbour. We need to deal with them. We deal with them with our eyes open and not with our mind closed, Akbar said. He refused to comment on reports that the UAE government seized assets worth `15,000 crore belonging to gangster Dawood Ibrahim who lives in Pakistan. Answering another question, VK Singh dismissed Russia, China and Pakistan meeting to discuss Afghanistan. Mere meeting of countries without any result on the ground will not make any difference to the situation in Afghanistan, he said. Singh said the greater flow of foreign direct investment (FDI) to India is a sign of success of the countrys foreign policy. The RBI will remove restrictions on cash withdrawals after assessing market situation, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said today even as he ruled out interfering with the conditions barring anyone other than NRIs and Indians returning from abroad from depositing the junked notes in select central bank branches. RBI will decide by assessing market situation. Many a time, actions are taken in phases, so relaxations are also done in phases, he said when asked by when restrictions on cash withdrawals are expected to be removed. Currently, an account holder is allowed to withdraw Rs 24,000 per week from the counters and Rs 4,500 per day from ATM. The 50-day demonetisation exercise of depositing and exchanging of defunct Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes closed on December 30. To a question on people not being able to avail the facility due to some genuine reasons, the Finance Minister said this facility was available for everyone and he would not like to interfere with the criteria set by the RBI. Without committing to any easing of the restrictions for those who failed to avail the window, he said: People in large number have already exchanged. Only a few are left...we dont go by... Whatever reason, the RBI has fixed their own criteria. At least, I will respect that criteria. When told that the Prime Minister in his November 8 address to the nation had also said that people will have opportunity till March 31 to deposit old notes in select RBI branches, Jaitley said the Prime Minister had specifically said that RBI will fix terms and conditions. The word terms and conditions was part of Prime Ministers address, he said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his address to the nation, on November 8 had said, There may be some who for some reason, are not able to deposit their old 500 or 1,000 rupee notes by December 30, 2016. They can go to specified offices of the Reserve Bank of India up to March 31, 2017 and deposit the notes after submitting a declaration form. As per the terms and conditions of RBI, NRIs and Indians returning from abroad will have to physically show the junked 500 and 1,000 rupee notes to Customs officials at the airport and get a declaration form stamped before they can deposit the demonetised currency in RBI during the grace period. Indians who were abroad during November 9 to December 30 have been given a 3-month grace period till March 31 to deposit the junked notes, while for the NRIs, it is six months till June 30. While there is no limit on deposit of defunct notes by an Indian national who was abroad when the 50-day window was in operation, NRIs can deposit only Rs 25,000 as per FEMA law restrictions. DMKs treasurer MK Stalin was elevated as the partys working president on Wednesday, days after the ruling AIADMK party elected Sasikala Natarajan as the new chief after J Jayalalithaas death. Party supremo M Karunanidhi, who was recently hospitalised twice, will remain president, but his son Stalin will enjoy similar powers and be in complete charge. Stalin will also retain the post of the treasurer till further orders. The 93-year-old party patriarch was unable to attend the meeting having been advised rest but sent a message to the meeting that was read out. The move, which has been expected among the partys circles, was announced at a crucial general body meeting chaired by senior leader K Anbazhagan. Stalins name was proposed by Anbazhagan and seconded by an emotional S Duraimurugan. Thalapathy (Commander) MK Stalin DMK patriarch M Karunanidhis 63-year-old son is perhaps the longest serving political apprentice to his father Had to fight a major battle within the family to edge out his brother Alagiri for the number one position Began his political career when he was just 14, campaigning for DMK in 1967 elections Was a student leader and took part in youth wing activities and emerged as a leader in his own right. Served as the high-profile mayor of Chennai from 1996 to 2002 and the deputy chief minister in the DMK government headed by Karunanidhi from 2009 to 2011 Is DMKs treasurer and president of its youth wing Was arrested under MISA during Emergency and came into limelight Lost just two elections and won six times, the last five consecutively from different constituencies Stalin bowed and touched the feet of Anbazhagan as soon as the announcement was made at a crowded auditorium located at the DMK headquarters in Chennai. His sister Kanimozhi was among the audience. In a brief acceptance speech, Stalin said that the circumstances in which he was assuming charge as the working president in the absence of his father had decreased his satisfaction. Read | Stalins accession in DMK: Not a matter of if, but when It is a big responsibility and I accept the post at this juncture, Stalin said, adding that it reminded him of his fathers words that position is not about just getting a post but it is responsibility towards your position. In a message to the critics of DMK, who often take potshots for its dynastic politics, Stalin said that he has been active in electoral politics ever since he was a child and contested each and every position to rise up in the ranks. I did not get any post because of the family. I fought elections and won, Stalin said. The DMK constitution was amended to create the post of a working president, with same powers as that of the president. After the general council meeting, Stalin and other senior party leaders called on Karunanidhi at his residence. There was a growing clamour within the party for Stalins ascension, especially since Karunanidhis bouts of ill-health. As it stands, Stalin has already been taking the reins, placing trusted aides across districts. The DMK patriarch also declared his son as his political heir in a recent interview to a Tamil magazine as he had proven himself as a leader of the party. The change in guard also comes at a time AIADMK leaders have appealed to the interim general secretary Sasikala to take over as the chief minister of Tamil Nadu, a move Stalin had said was sycophancy. Political analyst Ramu Manivannam said Stalin has a big challenge cut out for him as there are important issues like drought, farmers suicides and the issue of governance. But Stalin would have it easier as he has already proven and established himself in the party as a leader of substance, he added. Read | Why Sasikala as Tamil Nadu CM could backfire on many fronts Venture Capitalists Invests More on the HR Sector Compared to Other Enterprise Service Fields Xing Liu, partner at Sequoia Capital, right, speaks as Anna Fang, partner and chief executive officer of ZhenFund, left, and David Chao, co-founder and general partner of DCM Ventures, listen during the Rise conference in Hong Kong, China, on Tuesday, May (Photo : Getty Images) According to the 2016 Enterprise Service Venture Captial report, Venture Capital investors favor to target the human resources sector in the field of enterprise service in 2016. Venture capitalists invested to a total of 436 investments on enterprise services, 72 of which are from the human resources sector. Advertisement The report was released by ITjuzi, a company that provides data on tech investments through its website. The company released it at a summit on Venture Capital investment in the enterprise service on Dec. 21. The report also indicated that the human resources sector rose 50 percent year-on-year to 3.6 billion yuan. It also stated that about 24 percent of new HR-related companies received Venture Capital investments in 2016. This is higher than the enterprise service field overall number of 16 percent. The demand for Software as a Service increases as more start-up companies emerge and focus on a flat organization structure This is a software distribution model in which a third-party provider hosts applications and makes it available to customers over the internet. Xin Xiaode, the founder of the job-hunting company Hunteron, said: "The human resources sector faces a large rigid demand, at both before-and after offer stages, that the service supply is not able to meet. This business is definitely profitable and we don't need to make money a priority." ITjuzi also unvieled its report regarding China's 100 Most Valuable Startups in the Enterprise Service Field in 2016 on Dec. 21. It indicates that 17 percent of the list are made up of human resources enterprises, two companies of which surpassed 5 billion yuan in value. As the human resources sector continues to grow and offers great opportunities, it also faces bigger and more complicated demand. To sustain the growing sector, more service providers will need to be available in the upcoming years. "The key lies on service continuity and efficiency", said Hu Jianglong, founder of the human resource outsourcing service company Microseer. The Election Commission will announce on Wednesday the schedule of the assembly elections to be held in five states. Five states, including the countrys most populous and political crucial Uttar Pradesh, will face the poll test. The other four states are Punjab, Manipur, Goa and Uttarakhand. The poll schedule comes amid the split of the ruling Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh where the BJP and the BSP are eyeing to gain from the internal tussle of Mulayam Singh Yadavs family. In Punjab, Arvind Kejriwals Aam Aadmi Party will be contesting for the first time, changing the face of the polls that has traditionally seen a straight contest between the BJP-Akali alliance and the Congress. With the announcement of the poll date, the model code of conduct will immediately come in place, restricting the state and the central government from announcing new schemes and sops. There has been speculation that the Election Commission might defer holding polls in Manipur, on account of the ongoing economic blockade imposed in the state by the United Naga Council. Sources in the country commission had earlier indicated that polls in all five states will be held simultaneously. Even though the center on Tuesday indicated that it is not considering imposition of Presidents Rule in the state, the Opposition parties, especially the Congress has hinted at the possibility. The Congress is against deferring polls in the state and has accused the BJP of trying to delay the electoral exercise. The assembly elections are crucial for the ruling BJP as it will be the first time it will go to the polls after demonetisation. Goa deputy chief minister Francis DSouza said on Wednesday there is a strong possibility of a Christian becoming the next CM of the coastal state. DSouza, one of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)s senior-most minority faces in the state, said that having a Christian chief minister is the wish of people, so the BJP as well as other political parties could accordingly nominate a chief ministerial candidate. I was asked if there can be a Christian chief minister for Goa in the future. I said it is possible. I did not say it will happen, but it may happen. It is the wish of the people, DSouza told a press conference in Panaji. It can be from any party... Its not that there is a ban on Christians becoming the chief minister, he said, adding that eventually it is up to the elected legislators to select their leader in the legislative assembly. DSouza was one of the contenders for the CMs post after defence minister Manohar Parrikar, then chief minister, was elevated to become a central minister in 2014. Eventually, DSouza was beaten in the race to the CMs post by legislator from Mandrem and former state BJP President Laxmikant Parsekar, but was appointed as the deputy chief minister months later. Christians account for nearly 26% of the states 1.5 million population. DSouza also said that the BJP-led coalition government in Goa has faced hurdles in fulfilling its 2012 poll promise of doing away with the offshore casinos in the state. But, he added, his party is still toying with the idea of closing down the casinos. On the issue of casinos, we have already spoken about our difficulties. Attempts are being made to relocate. But we are also in need of revenue. Hence, we have let casinos continue and when possible, we will shut those down, he said. There are five operational offshore casinos parked in the Mandovi river off Panaji and nine onshore casinos functioning from various five-star resorts located in the coastal fringes of the tourism-oriented state. In the Pandeypur locality of Varanasi, a group of young Muslim men -- a tailor, a few students, an electrician, a driver who has worked in Saudi Arabia and has returned home -- are watching a BJP MLA, as he campaigns in the vicinity. It is the perfect peg to ask about the emerging election mood. And the response is swift. Read: Party belongs to me, people by my side: SP chief Mulayam We are with Sapa (SP). Which SP, that of the father or the son? Akhilesh bhaiya, comes the unanimous refrain. Why? He has worked for vikas. He made a highway. He gave laptops, he gave pensions, he will give a phone if he wins, Inshaallah, says Mohammed Naseem. The men claim that for them, employment is the biggest issue and they have faith that UPs young CM will deliver on it. For 25 years, Mulayam Singh Yadav has been the pre-eminent leader of UPs Muslims - to the extent that many would refer to him as Maulana Mulayam. When asked if they would leave Mulayam after all that he claims to have done for Muslims, Waqar - one of the young students in the group - says, If Mulayam can leave his son for his brother, why cant we leave him? Read: Yadav family feud: Akhilesh meets Mulayam, but no sign of truce yet It is still a little early, and it is not clear how the SP rift will play out. UPs triangular polity, with BJP, SP and BSP with a smaller player, Congress thrown into the mix; its sheer size and population makes any generalisation difficult. Even a small swing in votes can make a difference between victory and defeat. But what is emerging clearly is that Akhilesh Yadav remains enormously popular for a leader who has been in office for five years. His act of rebellion against the old guard in SP has enhanced this popularity- among SPs core supporters of Yadavs and Muslims, as well as other castes - in the lanes of Varanasi, villages of Mirzapur and Jaunpur, and on the highways in Purvanchal. A senior Yadav government official says, Right down to the villages, among people who would immediately shout you down if you criticised Mulayam Singh even slightly, the mood is that the father has lost the plot; that he has been misled; that he is obsessed with power, and that Akhilesh is the future. A faculty member at the Banaras Hindu University mentions how in informal conversations at a faculty meeting, across age groups and castes, there was support for Akhilesh. What explains this? You must remember that for 25 years, UP has only seen Kalyan Singh, Mulayam Singh and Mayawati. All three practiced only identity politics. Akhilesh is the first leader who is at least seen to focus on the domain of governance, says the government official. There is also sympathy for him because of the perception that he was boxed in by his father, uncle and other relatives. And this has now turned out to be a boon, because it has helped Akhilesh ward off anti-incumbency. This is in sharp contrast to Mulayam, who by the end of his terms had become deeply unpopular. Admits a local BJP leader, We havent been able to create a hawa because the negative sentiment against Akhilesh is limited. There is no anger. Also read: Akhilesh Yadav begins work as Samajwadi Partys national president The sympathy extends to members of caste groups not traditionally loyal to SP. Abhishek Pandey is a hotel waiter in Varanasi, and originally belongs to Gorakhpur. He supports Akhilesh. Why? He is fighting a mafia led by his father. Pandey voted for BJP in the 2014 elections, and says, I am still a Modi supporter. But Modiji is fine in Delhi and Akhilesh bhaiya is best for Lucknow. Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will launch a 103 satellites on a single rocket in the first week of February, a major unprecedented feat. As India looks to grab a larger slice of the lucrative commercial space market, with 100 of the 103 satellites set for launch belonging to foreign nations, including the US and Germany. ISROs workhorse rocket PSLV-C37 will take the satellites into space from its Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh We are making a century by launching over 100 satellites at one go, S Somnath, director of the Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre of ISRO, told a plenary session on the second day of the ongoing Indian Science Congress here on Wednesday. The space agency had earlier planned a launch of 83 satellites in the last week of January, of which 80 were foreign ones. But with the addition of 20 more foreign satellites, the launch was delayed by a week and will now take place in first week of February, Somnath said. He, however, did not specify the number of countries that would launch its satellites in this mission, but said it includes nations like the US and Germany. These will be 100 micro-small satellites, which will be launched using a PSLV (Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle)- C37. The weight of the payload will be 1350 kg, of which 500-600 kg will be the satellites weight, Somnath added. The launch will be a major feat in countrys space history as no exercise on this scale has been attempted before. Last year, ISRO launched record 20 satellites at one go. The highest number of satellites launched in a single mission is 37, a record that Russia set in 2014. The US space agency Nasa launched 29. Prime Minister Narendra Modis pet South Asian satellite project, meanwhile, will take off in March. The South Asian satellite will be a part of GSAT-9, which will be launched in March this year, M Nageshwara Rao, associate director of ISRO said. The communication satellite was to be launched in December 2016, but was slightly delayed as some other satellites are to be launched before that. Sources said talks with Afghanistan to have the country on-board for the project is in its final stages. Envisaged as a gift to its neighbours, the project, earlier known as Saarc satellite, faced stiff resistance from Pakistan. The neighbouring country wanted it to be launched under the aegis of the South Asian regional forum. It later backed out of the project. Apart from India, the satellite will benefit Sri Lanka, Maldives, Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan. Justice Jagdish Singh Khehar will assume the office of Chief Justice of India (CJI) on Wednesday as the tenure of Justice TS Thakur ends. President Pranab Mukherjee cleared his appointment in December 19. 64- year-old Khehar, who will be sworn in by the President, will be the 44th Chief Justice of India and will hold the post of seven months. The Supreme Court on Tuesday once again dismissed a plea challenging the appointment of Justice Khehar as the next CJI, saying, it is in the public interest that the curtain should be brought down. The apex court had dismissed two similar pleas filed in the last two weeks. On December 30, the apex court had dismissed a plea filed by a group of lawyers, challenging the elevation of Justice Khehar as the next CJI, saying there was no question of him being considered ineligible for the post. The apex court had on December 23 termed a petition filed by the lawyers body as virtually infructuous that opposed the elevation of Justice Khehar, and observed that the President has already issued a notification in this regard. The outgoing chief justice Thakur addressed a gathering of lawyers, sitting and retired judges on Tuesday, his last working day in the top court. He said that in his retirement, he would be a spectator, observer and contributor to pay back what the institution has given to him. Thakur, who had a long battle with the Modi government on the appointment of judges, said: This country cant progress unless judiciary prepares itself to handle challenges it would face in cases relating to cyber laws and medico legal cases. Justice JS Khehar took over as the 44th Chief Justice of India on Wednesday morning. He succeeds Justice TS Thakur whose 13-month tenure ended on Tuesday. Justice JS Khehar was administered the oath by President Pranab Mukherjee. He is the first Sikh to become the CJI and will hold the post for seven months. Justice Khehars appointment was cleared by the President on December 19. His elevation as the CJI had come under challenge with three petitions before SC claiming he should not take over. All the three were dismissed, latest one being on Tuesday. The bench rejected the public interest petition saying curtain should be brought down on the controversy. Known in the legal circle as a no-nonsense judge, Justice Khehar has delivered several high-profile judgments since he became a Supreme Court judge. As a lawyer too he handled important assignments including defending Justice V Ramaswami, a Judge of the Supreme Court, who was accused of corruption as the chief justice of Punjab and Haryana high court. As a judge of the top court Justice Khehar was part of the bench that jailed Sahara chief Subrata Roy for flouting the order to refund money his company had collected from investors for two financial schemes declared illegal by SEBI. But Justice Khehar recused himself from hearing the case further without assigning any reason. He headed the bench that ordered status quo ante in Arunachal Pradesh, reviving the Congress government last year. The verdict was an embarrassing moment for the NDA government which had imposed Presidents Rule in the state. He even led the bench that quashed the controversial law that gave executive a say in the appointment of judges. According to the judgment the Centre and top courts collegium have to redraft the memorandum of procedure followed to nominate judges. This exercise remained incomplete with both the judiciary and executive refusing to blink. It would be a challenging task for Justice Khehar, who now heads the collegium to iron out the differences. The son of a Kenyan migrant, Justice Khehar is also a regular blood donor. As a judge of Punjab and Haryana High Court he never missed a blood-donation camp. And, while being in the SC he visits the blood bank in All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) every three months to donate blood. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON A suspected militant belonging to the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) has been arrested from north Kashmirs Kupwara district, police said on Wednesday. Acting on an intelligence input, a joint team of police and army arrested Ashiq Ahmed alias Abu Haider from Handwara area of the district, a police spokesman said here. A cache of arms and ammunition, including an AK-47 rifle, three magazines, a Chinese Pistol with a magazine, three hand grenades, a magazine pouch and a map, was seized from him. During interrogation, Ahmed said he was a close associate of Abu Bakar -- an LeT Commander who was killed in an encounter in Sopore township last month, the spokesman said. Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday lashed out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the arrest of a Trinamool Congress (TMC) parliamentarian by the CBI, deploring the action as vendetta politics. Kejriwal, a bitter critic of Modi, alleged that the arrest of Sudip Bandopadhyay had its roots in TMCs opposition to the invalidation of 1,000 and 500-rupee notes. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), led by Kejriwal, and Mamata Banerjee-headed TMC have been quite vocal against the November 8 move and the two leaders had also staged joint protests on the issue. This is vendetta politics of Modi ji. His msg is - Agar kisi ne notbandi ke khilaaf bola to chhodenge nahi. Really deplorable, the AAP leader tweeted. Bandopadhyay, TMCs leader in the Lok Sabha, was arrested by the CBI in connection with the Rose Valley chit fund scam on Tuesday. Despite the apparent popularity of the Beti Bacho Beti Padhao scheme in Haryana, figures collected from the police in Rohtak, Sonepat, Bhiwani and Jind districts reveal that there has been an overall increase in rape and murder cases. In 2015, Sonepat district reported 45 rape cases. However, with 62 cases in 2016 the district saw a 38% rise in rape cases. Similarly, in Bhiwani and Rohtak districts the increase was of 33% and 9% respectively. Jind district did not see an increase and the total number of registered rape cases was 31, both in 2015 and 2016. Overall, there was rise of 21% in the number of rape cases registered in these four districts between 2015 and 2016. A similar trend is also seen in the total number of murder cases in these districts. In 2015, there were 64 murders in Sonepat. By 2016, the figure rose to 87, thus registering an increase of 36%. In Bhiwani and Rohtak districts there were 51 and 60 murders in 2015. In 2016, it increased by 22% and 23% respectively. On the other hand, Jind district registered a decrease of 2% in the number of murder cases. The overall increase in the four district s was however 20%. There are gang-based rivalries and cross-border crimes in this region. Our focus in future will be to act against illegal fire-arm holders and proclaimed offenders. If we reduce their presence, we can reduce the overall crime scenario, said Ashwin Shenvi, superintendent of police (SP) Sonepat. The region was in news earlier in February during the Jat quota agitation that turned violent. Many people were killed in it and property worth crores was destroyed. In the past, this part of Haryana has also seen many cases of honour killings and shootouts between rival gangs. SP Jind Shashank Anand (who was earlier SP Rohtak) reasons that the youth in this crime belt is inclined to violence due to increase in unemployment, decreasing land holding and breakdown of family ties. He said, Our focus is to prevent youth from drugs and violence as preventive measure, and educate girls to report crime.We have been instructed to focus particularly on the youths to control crimes." Experts from the region say the government has been ignoring the increasing caste-divide and worsening law and order in the region and rather seems more interested in announcing populist schemes. Sociologist Jitender Prasad from the Central University of Haryana argues that the government needs to build a movement to impart positive education in academic institutions rather than introducing mere cosmetic schemes. He says these schemes are only good for sloganeering". DSP Pushpa Khatri, women police station Rohtak, says, Increase in crime also means that more women are coming forward to report. Crimes against women cannot be blamed only to poor law and order. They are also a product of generations of subjugation of women under the patriarchal set up of the society where women is considered subordinate to men. The vicious role that Khaps play can also not be ignored. Politicians and cops are products of the same society and thus dont find it wrong when people are murdered in the name of honour killing, says Prasad. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Assembly elections in five states in February and March could be a game-changer for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress, with the potential to re-define their identities and future. If Prime Minister Narendra Modis demonetisation gambit clicks, the BJP might aspire to emerge as the Congress of yore by adding a melange of castes and communities to its traditional Brahmin-Bania vote bank--except perhaps Muslims who remain wary of it. The ruling party is eager to see demonetisationa supposed vent for the angst of the poor against the rich--transcend castes and communities and change its image for good. The BJP had witnessed a massive expansion in its support base in 2014 Lok Sabha elections, but it was anti-incumbency against the UPA that imparted velocity to the Modi wave. The BJP struggled without it in subsequent elections in Delhi and Bihar. The coming assembly elections would determine whether the recall of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes would help the BJP gain currency beyond its traditional vote bank. If that happens, the grand old Congress, at 132, might be staring at an existential crisis with a huge dent in its standing as the principal challenger to the BJP. In the event of the Aam Admi Party (AAP) doing well in Punjab and Goa, it could emerge as a possible answer to the perceived quest of voters for an alternative political platform, even though the party has proved no different from others. It might also shake Congressmens belief that if India is a computer, the Congress is its default programme, as vice-president Rahul Gandhi enunciated at a party workshop in 2013. If the demonetisation decision were to boomerang on the BJP as its rivals hope in the forthcoming polls, the BJP would find itself in a precarious situation with its back on the wall in Gujarat- scheduled to go to polls in November-December 2017--and in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh a year later. An adverse outcome in this round of assembly elections would have a strong bearing on the functioning of the NDA government at the Centre. With more ammunition available for party snipers and dissidents within the Sangh Parivar and the opposition camp bolstered, Modi government might be left hobbling, especially in the context of politically contentious decisions. February-March assembly polls offer a big opportunity to the Congress to arrest the slide in its fortune. It would hope to encash anti-incumbency against the BJP-SAD combine in Punjab and the BJP in Goa to counter the BJPs derisive call for a Congress-mukt Bharat. The party might fancy its chances in Uttarakhand--where the opposition BJP is witnessing an internecine war among half-a-dozen chief ministerial contenders--and Manipur where it looks well-ensconced so far. If the Congress were to do well in the coming assembly polls, it would also set the stage for its fight back in 2019 general elections, starting with Gujarat later this year and Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarhall BJP-ruled towards the end of 2018. While the two major national parties are keeping their fingers crossed, some other players also have their future at stake in the coming polls. The AAPs performance in the coming polls would largely determine its national ambitions. It was a front-runner to replace the BJP-SAD regime in Punjab but has lost its momentum since. It is also making a valiant attempt to dislodge the BJP in Goa. If the AAP succeeds in these two states, it would pitchfork the four years old party as the presumptive challenger to the BJP at the national level as well. If the AAP flops, it might put paid to its national ambitions in immediate future. Whichever way the results go in Uttar Pradesh, the Samajwadi Party (SP) looks set for a churn. If chief minister Akhilesh Yadav decides to part ways with his father Mulayam Singh Yadav in this election, he would emerge as a leader in his own right, no matter which party he floats and which way the results go. Even if Mulayam relents and makes way for Akhilesh, the SP or its politics will not be the same any longer. Read| Uttar Pradesh elections: All you need to know about Indias political heartland For full coverage on assembly elections 2017, click here Here Are Two Big Reasons Why Ivory Trade Ban Is Good for China's Image Chinese customs destroy about 662 kilograms of illegal ivory and ivory products at Beijing Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation Center on May 29, 2015 in Beijing. (Photo : VCG) There is a silver lining in China's plan to shut down ivory production in the country amid mounting pressures from environmentalists to put an end to elephant poaching. According to the New York Times, there are two major things from which China can benefit once it starts its ivory trade ban this year. Advertisement First, it reinforces President Xi Jinping's fight against corrupt government officials, who have been reportedly using ivory as bribes. Second, the shutdown enables China to "burnish its image as a global guardian of the environment" amid uncertainties over the U.S.' capacity to address various environmental issues. Peter Knights, executive director of environment protection organization WildAid, said that China had finally come to realize that taking action on key environmental issues can legitimize its post as a global superpower. "With power comes responsibility," said Knights in an interview with the NYT. "They know it's not worth damaging China's international image to be involved in this business." Despite calls from various international groups to halt the production of ivory products, China had been adamant in its stance. Over the past decade, ivory trade has led to the killing of more than 10,000 elephants, most of which smuggled from Africa to help fund armed groups there. Environmentalists welcomed China's decision, calling it a huge win for elephants. "China's announcement is a game changer for elephant conservation," Carter Roberts, president of the World Wildlife Fund, said in a statement via The Washington Post. "The large-scale trade of ivory now faces its twilight years, and the future is brighter for wild elephants." The Chinese government said that it would begin halting ivory trade in March. By the end of the year, the country targets to phase out the operation entirely. "This is great news that will shut down the world's largest market for elephant ivory," Aili Kang, Asia director at the Wildlife Conservation Society told TWP. "Ivory traffickers have just lost one of their biggest markets." Vikram Singh Puar, the 27-year-old son of the deceased king of the former Dewas royals in Madhya Pradesh, surrendered on Wednesday after being on the run for more than a year for his suspected role in a murder. He has been accused of leading a fatal clash with 12 armed supporters over a land dispute in Raghogarh village, about 40km from Dewas. Puar and his gang allegedly tried to take away the wheat harvest of a farmer, Pratap Lodhi, on March 19, 2015. Lodhi and his family members resisted and, in the ensuing clash with firearms and lathis, the farmer was gravely wounded. He died on March 22. The young former royal was on the run since then and a special court granted him anticipatory bail for 15 days in June 2016 as his father, former BJP minister Tukojirao Puar, was in his death bed. His bail application was approved so that he could perform last rites of his father who died of brain haemorrhage on June 19. A day later, Puar was crowned King of Dewas at a private ceremony in the familys palace. Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, home minister Babulal Gaur and Congress leader Digvijaya Singh had attended the senior Puars funeral. The new king, however, escaped and remained in hiding until he surrendered before a judicial magistrate on Wednesday. Dewas police arrested Puar at a local hospital where he was admitted earlier in the day. The magistrate sent him to judicial custody till January 7. Superintendent of police Shashikant Shukla said Puars police remand was not sought because there was nothing to recover from him. But several questions remained unanswered: Where was the fugitive hiding? What was he doing? Who was he with? Who all helped him helped him during the period? A murder charge has been registered at Barotha police station in Dewas after the farmers death. But a court acquitted 12 of the 13 accused last December, making the case weak against Puar, legal experts said. Read | The curious case of hostile witnesses, acquittals and Dewas king on the run Face off with the government, differences in the Supreme Court collegium, vacancies in high courts and burgeoning backlog these are the challenges that await Justice JS Khehar who took over on Wednesday as the 44th Chief Justice of India. CJI Khehar has barely around eight-month to fix these problems. He retires on August 27. Ever since a bench headed by Justice Khehar declared unconstitutional the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) that was to replace the opaque collegium system of judges appointing judges in October 2015, the government and judiciary have been at loggerheads. As the government and judiciary indulged in a slugfest, vacancies in 24 high courts are at an all time high at 430. As on January 1,2017, HCs have 649 judges against a sanctioned strength of 1,079. Outgoing CJI TS Thakur blasted the government several times for inordinately delaying the appointments. But the NDA government has its own arguments. It says it has appointed 130 high court judges the maximum in a year, surpassing the UPAs record of appointing 121 HC judges in 2013. But the governments latest move to return for the second time names of 13 candidates for appointment as judges in the Allahabad HC is bound to further complicate the already restrained executive-judiciary relationship. As per existing norms, the government can the names return only once. The differences in the collegium and its failure to recommend names for seven vacant posts in the top court gave an opportunity to the government to question the manner in which the over two-decade-old judicial appointment system operates. Justice J Chelameswar has openly questioned opacity in collegiums functioning. Amid showdown between the government and judiciary, there is a silver lining in Justice Khehars elevation to the top post. It was he who headed the constitution bench which in December 2015 admitted shortcomings in the functioning of the collegium system and suggested changes, including those in the memorandum of procedure, to make it transparent. Justice Chelameswar who was a part of the bench is now part of the Supreme Court collegium. Now that Justice Khehar has taken over as the CJI, its expected that he would ensure implementation of his own judgment to end the stalemate. Successive governments have been complaining about judicial overreach, including judicial takeover of the appointment process. Unlike in the past when coalition governments plagued with corruption failed to assert, the current NDA government has been vocal about judicial overreach. The political class is not ready to digest the SC verdict on NJAC over which there was a political unanimity. A recent parliamentary standing committee report once again emphasized that judicial appointments are a shared responsibility. It called for restoring the original constitutional provision on judicial appointment that gave some say to the executive in the process. How things unfold in the next eight months and how much improvement is made in the executive-judiciary relationship would depend upon the way CJI Khehar puts his judicial statesmanship to use. Samajwadi Partys Maharashtra unit chief Abu Azmis remark on Tuesday on the recent alleged mass molestation of women in Bengaluru is just another statement in the long list of misogynist comments made by Indian politicians. When few women in half dress come out on streets at late night with their friends, such incidents do occur, Azmi said instead of demanding a probe into the media reports on the incident on New Years Eve. Ladies hailing from well-to-do families, be it from Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan or UP, they come out in decent attire and mostly with their family members, he added. Azmi also defended Karnataka home minister G Parameshwara who had stoked a controversy by blaming the youngsters western ways for the incidents and saying that such things do happen. Azmis comment against women is not his first. If rape happens with or without consent, it should be punished as prescribed in Islam. Any woman if, whether married or unmarried, goes along with a man, with or without her consent, should be hanged. Both should be hanged. It shouldnt be allowed even if a woman goes by consent, he said in April 2014. And this is also not the first time a SP leader has put his foot in his mouth. Although politicians cutting across party lines have courted troubles for their misogynistic remarks, heres a list of controversial statements by SP leaders. Mulayam Singh Yadav: In April 2014, he opposed capital punishment for rape, saying Ladke hain galti ho jati hai (Boys will be boys they commit mistakes). He was referring to the death sentence given to the Shakti Mill rapists in Mumbai. Yadav said if his party was elected to power, he would amend the law. Azam Khan: In April 2016, the senior Uttar Pradesh minister said the Bulandshahr highway gang-rape could be a political conspiracy to defame the Uttar Pradesh government. Akhilesh Yadav: The Uttar Pradesh chief minister is not the one to fall behind. In March 2014, after being questioned by reporters over the rise in violence against women in his state, Akhilesh shot back saying, Aapko toh khatra nahin hua? (Its not as if you faced any danger?). Naresh Agarwal: In November 2013, commenting on the Lakhimpur gang rape in Assam, Agarwal said the media was unnecessarily hyping the issue. Such things happen on a daily basis. I have read about them in Delhi as well. I understand why the media sometimes focuses on one rape but almost ignores other rapes. However, he was just trying to prove that his thoughts had not changed one bit in a year. On August 24, 2012, speaking about a Mumbai rape case, he had said, Women also need to pay attention to their clothing to avoid being raped and should not be influenced by the media. Ram Gopal Yadav: It seems like misogyny runs in their blood. Despite the outrage in the country surrounding the release of the juvenile rapist in the December, 2012 Delhi gang-rape and debates on changing the juvenile act, Mulayams brother in December, 2015 said: Law cannot be changed for one man. He also went on to say that the SP was opposed to the new bill (post-Nirbhaya laws.) It has been framed on the recommendations of some mentally-retarded people. Police detained at least six suspects on Wednesday, days after outrage erupted in the country over several women allegedly being groped and molested during New Years Eve celebrations in Bengaluru. City police first denied that any incident of sexual harassment had taken place during the late-night celebrations. But on Wednesday, police officer Hemant Nimbalkar said at least six men were detained after several video clips of women being attacked by groups of men went viral on social media. The incident highlights the persistent violence against women in India despite tougher laws against sexual assault imposed after the December 2012 death of a young woman who was gang-raped on a bus in New Delhi. One senior state government minister said the New Years incidents took place because the women were acting like Westerners, implying that their attire had provoked the attacks. Read: Such incidents do happen: Minister on reports of molestations in Bengaluru The police had earlier said that no one had come forward to file a complaint about the incidents. Since then, at least one woman has come forward to speak of how she was molested on Saturday night. Others have said that they saw women being molested or groped, and that revelers were making lewd remarks, even as the state government said that more than 1,500 police personnel had been deployed to control the crowds. The young woman who came forward, Chaitali Wasnick, told NDTV news channel that she was heading home at around 1.30am when two men approached her, making her suspicious. So I just moved aside, I let them pass, she said, adding that one man began to grope her. I did not have any idea that hed do that, so I went totally blank, Wasnick said, adding that no one came to her help her and that there were no police personnel around. As Bangalore newspapers published images of several women who allegedly had been groped or attacked, the states home minister, G Parameshwara, criticised young women for copying the Westerners, not only in their mindset, but even in their dressing. These kind of things do happen, he told reporters on Tuesday. The ripples of the ongoing economic blockade in Manipur were felt in the national capital on Wednesday, with rival Manipuri and Naga groups staging protests over the tense law-and-order situation in the state that will go to polls in March. While members of the Delhi Manipuri Society highlighted the humanitarian crisis due to the indefinite economic blockade imposed by the United Naga Council (UNC) since November 1, the Naga groups demanded imposition of Presidents Rule in the state. The UNC had imposed the blockade against the creation of seven new districts in the landlocked state by bifurcating the existing ones. It is a question of survival. The blockade is inhumane. People are facing extreme difficulties in terms of food, medicines, fuel. The essentials to lead a normal life are either absent or beyond the reach of the common man. Is the government scared of the UNC? Is there something called rule of law?, Delhi Manipuri Society vice-president Sangeeta asked. A large number of Manipuri youths took part in the day-long sit-in at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi, demanding an immediate end to the blockade. Meanwhile, members of the Joint Naga Civil Societies demonstrated outside Manipur Bhawan, alleging that Manipuri mobs backed by the state government had attacked Naga civilians after December 18. We demand Presidents Rule because the law-and-order situation in Manipur is bad. New districts have been carved out undemocratically and UNC leaders are in jail. Nagas are not safe under the Manipuri security forces, Lakpachui Siro, convener of the committee, said. Trinamool MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay was on Wednesday remanded in six days of CBI custody by a special court in the Rose Valley chit fund scam case. Following the court order, his party activists staged a demonstration before CBIs Odisha headquarters in Bhubaneswar. The TMC MPs lawyer Rajiv Majumdar and others were present in the chief judicial magistrates court when judge P K Mishra remanded Bandyopadhyay for six days against CBIs appeal for a 12-day remand. The CBI lawyer argued in the court that the agency should be given maximum time to interrogate the MP as he was not actively cooperating with the investigation. The MPs petition for bail was also rejected by the court even as his lawyer pleaded that his client was unwell. I am innocent. I have no involvement in the scam. I have placed my point of view before the court and will again appeal the court to consider my point of argument, Bandyopadhyay told reporters after appearing in the court. He was produced at the CBI-designated special court amid tight security after his medical examination at the Capital Hospital. Bandyopadhyay, also the TMC parliamentary party leader in the Lok Sabha, was the second party MP after Tapas Pal to be arrested by the CBI in a span of five days. Sudip Bandyopadhyay, so far the senior most Trinamool Congress leader arrested by CBI in the Rose Valley scam, is not only the face of the party in Lok Sabha but also one of the close confidants of chief minister Mamata Banerjee. His importance, more than anything else lies in the fact that he has the ears of the party leaders and belongs to her core team. A single comment is perhaps sufficient to prove his value in the party. I just cannot imagine that Sudipda has been arrested. He is a senior leader of the party in the Parliament, the CM said and then went on to emphasise that the entire party is with Bandyopadhyay and his family. The 64-year-old MP leads the party in the Lok Sabha while Derek O Brien leads it in the Rajya Sabha. However, in age and experience, Bandyopadhyay is far ahead of O Brien in the party. He is also crucial in executing the party chiefs command. He was the key man when Trinamool Congress undertook a series of agitations in the capital against corruption and demonetisation. A veteran politician from central Kolkata, he was elected from Kolkata North constituency. Bandyopadhyay was with Trinamool since its formation in 1998. When Mukul Roy, once the Man Friday of Mamata Banerjee and the number two in the party fell from grace, Bandyopadhyay became her most dependable man in Delhi along with Derek O Brien. His importance can also be gauged from the fact that Trinamool supporters started agitation in a few areas and attacked the BJP headquarters in Kolkata, while there was little reaction when Tapas Paul, also an MP, was arrested on December 30. Read | Mamata cries political vendetta after TMC MPs arrest, mob targets BJP office Bandyopadhyay and his wife, cine star-turned-politician Naina, are close to Mamata Banerjee. In 2004, Bandyopadhyay contested Kolkata North-West Lok Sabha constituency as an independent, which was the only occasion when relations turned sour. The Rose Valley scam is easily the largest in the state involving more than Rs 15,000 crore and dwarfs the Saradha scam of Rs 2,500 crore. Officers told HT that he allegedly availed of a number of benefits including foreign tours, vehicles and jobs for relatives. Incidentally, the arrests of Trinamool MLAs, ministers and MPs following the Saradha scam in 2013 created waves in the state and beyond. I have no comments to offer. The party will say whatever it has to, remarked the MPs wife Naina Bandyopadhyay, also an MLA. The thorns of the Rose Valley scam are beginning to hurt Bengals ruling party the Trinamool Congress. Far bigger than the Saradha scam of 2013, the Rose Valley ponzi scam may leave a deeper impact on Trinamool Congress. The arrest of the two MPs, especially that of Sudip Bandyopadhya, the partys key face in Delhi, comes at a time when Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee is aggressively trying to extend her footprints in the national capital and emerge as the face of an united opposition in the country. Mamata made no secret of her shock at Bandyopadhyays arrest. I could not imagine that Sudipda could be arrested. He is a senior leader of Trinamool Congress. Modi Babu is using CBI, ED to terrorise those who dare to criticise him. Chit funds mushroomed under CPI(M), she remarked in Midnapore soon after the arrest. Read | Rose Valley scam: BJP leaders house attacked, MP says his arrest due to note ban Lets take the numbers first. The Saradha group that sank in April 2013 raised about Rs 2,500 crore from 1.7 million depositors. But these numbers pale in front of Rose Valley group that mopped up in excess of Rs 15,000 crore. But numbers are only the tip of the iceberg. The real point is the backdrop of the developments Saradha and Rose Valley. In November and December 2014, when CBI arrested Rajya Sabha MPs Kunal Ghosh, Srinjoy Bose and Bengal minister Madan Mitra for their links with the Saradha scam, Mamata had no political stake at the national level. The situation is entirely different now. Apart from Tapas Paul and Sudip Bandyopadhyay, a number of other party leaders, mostly faces from the partys Lok Sabha team, are allegedly under the scanner. Additionally, the investigation agency is reportedly preparing to issue summons to more Trinamool leaders, mostly MPs. Read | Rose Valley ponzi scam: TMC leader Sudip Bandyopadhyay faces CBI grilling The twin arrests also come at a time when Mamata has already consolidated her position in Bengal. Her image is at its zenith following her moral victory in Singur that has catapulted her as a champion of farmers rights. She is also trying to project herself as a firm defender of Muslim rights by opposing the saffron camp on a number of issues such as eating beef. Recently, she went around the Hindi heartland trying to rally all the opposition parties against the Prime Minister on the issue of demonetisation. Mamatas strategy of supporting her leaders and MPs arrested in Saradha and Rose Valley chit funds will backfire. The recent arrests will have deep negative impact on the image of Mamata Banerjee as well as her party. Her strategy of supporting her leaders and MPs arrested in Saradha and Rose Valley chit funds will backfire. Instead of targeting Modi, she should have said law will take its own course, said Amal Kumar Mukhopadhyay, former principal of Presidency College and a teacher of political science. According to political experts the arrests may hurt Mamatas political ambitions. It may dent her credibility among other regional parties at a time when the Trinamool Congress is trying to rally them against the BJP. The Trinamool leaders desperation is also apparent from her challenge to the Centre to arrest her. Mamata Banerjee is unnerved and rattled. She should answer why only leaders of her party are found to be connected in all chit fund scams in Bengal, be it Saradha or Rose Valley. Mamata Banerjee should answer why the state police failed to probe themselves and instead tried to scuttle the investigation, said Sidharth Nath Singh, BJP national secretary. Read | Arrested Sudip Bandopadhyay is Mamatas confidant, Trinamool face in Delhi However, Trinamool leaders may draw comfort from the fact that there are no elections in the state till the summer of 2018 when the rural polls may be held. Neither Saradha, nor the Narada sting operation could make any impact on the vote bank of Trinamool Congress that won as many as 211 out of 294 seats in the Bengal assembly in the 2016 polls. In the meantime, Bengal appeared moving towards a free-for-all demonstration. While Mamata Banerjee announced nationwide protests, opposition parties too targeted the ruling party. The Left Front even went to the extent of harping on a tacit understanding between Modi and Mamata. It planned to hit the streets on Wednesday demanding arrest of senior leaders of the ruling party. Why is CBI only arresting low ranking leaders and not netting the big fish? Why are they not recovering the money cheated out of commoners, said CPI(M) in a statement that also announced a mammoth procession which will be taken out in Kolkata on Wednesday. Needless to say, the big fish they referred to was the chief minister herself. Read | Mamata scared of CBI probe, thats why she let loose TMC goons: BJP Trinamool Congress MPs on Wednesday took out a protest march towards the Prime Ministers residence, a day after Sudip Bandyopadhyay, TMCs leader in Lok Sabha, was arrested in an alleged corruption case. The parliamentarians from the West Bengal ruling party were taken into police custody before they could reach 7 Lok Kalyan Marg. We were marching peacefully towards the Prime Ministers residence, but the police detained us mid-way and manhandled few of our MPs, TMC leader Saugata Roy told reporters. He added that as many as 36 MPs from the party took part in this protest march and they will continue to raise their voices against injustice done by the Modi government. On Tuesday, the Trianmool Congress (TMC) leader in the Lok Sabha Sudip Bandyopadhyay was arrested by the CBI in connection with the alleged Rose Valley chit fund scam case. Read| Rose Valley scam: BJP leaders house attacked, MP says arrest due to note ban Bandyopadhyay is the second TMC MP to be arrested within a week in connection with the alleged scam. Last Friday, actor-turned-politician Tapas Pal was subjected to questioning for more than four hours and arrested subsequently. Agitated by Bandyopadhyays arrest, a furious Mamata Banerjee accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of using central agencies like the CBI, Enforcement Directorate and Income Tax department against his political rivals who were raising their voice against demonetisation. Following the arrest of their leader, alleged TMC workers descended on the BJP office in central Kolkata chanting anti-Narendra Modi slogans and hurling stones. It left several people injured and half-a-dozen cars parked outside damaged. Read|Mamata livid as TMC MP arrested in chit fund scam, BJPs Kolkata office targeted In a bid to encourage competition to improve sanitation standards, the government will kick start a survey, Swachh Survekshan from Wednesday to rank 500 cities across the country on cleanliness. The survey will be conducted by Quality Council of India. It will judge cities on the basis of data provided by Municipal bodies, data collected through direct observations and independent assessment and citizen feedbacks. The areas of evaluations include waste collection, sweeping and transportation, open defecation free and toilets, municipal solid waste-processing and disposal, information, education and behaviour change, and Capacity building - Swachh Bharat Mission e-learning portal. The citizens can give their feedback by either giving a missed call on 1969 to record their response or by filling up a feedback form on the Swachh Survekshan website. Swachh Survekshan 2016 had ranked 73 cities across the country. Around one lakh citizens participated and gave their feedback. 18th Annual Hollywood Film Awards - Arrivals (Photo : Getty Images) There are few Chinese actors who have succeeded in being noticed by Hollywood, such as Jackie Chan, Fan Bingbing and Donnie Yen. It seems 28-year-old Chinese actress Jing Tian would join them. Jing Tian is the female lead in The Great Wall by Zhang Yimou, currently showing in China. According to Asia Times, she would be seen next in March in Kong: Skull Island starring Tom Hiddleston, Samuel Jackson and Brie Larson. The film is a reboot of the King Kong franchise. Advertisement 2018 Film In 2018, Jing Tian would be seen in Pacific Rim: Uprising, a sequel to the 2013 film with the same title. He co-stars in the upcoming movie are John Boyega of Star Wars and Max Zhang. But the actress from Xian Province said she never planned to reach Hollywood. I never mapped out any kind of career path for myself. All I am looking for are different projects and different roles and it happens that several of my upcoming films are Hollywood movies. I am very grateful for the exposure, she said. One-Year Preparation Jing Tian explained that she accepted a role of Lin Mei, commander of the Crane Troop in The Great Wall, because she wanted to work with Zhang Yimou. As part of her preparation for the role, Jing Tian lived almost a year in the U.S. to learn English which she now speaks fluently and go through an extensive training in martial arts. Meanwhile, Matt Damon, Jing Tians co-star in The Great Wall downplayed criticism of his being given the major role in the Chinese movie as whitewashing. He pointed out that his role is that of an English mercenary so his role should not go to a Chinese actor. He blames it on critics basing their comment on a 30-second teaser trailer, Gulfnews reported. PATNA It was a sea of humanity rolling towards Gandhi Maidan as thousands joined the biggest-ever religious conglomeration Patna had ever witnessed. The intensity of the excitement of people during the 350th Parkash Parv of Guru Gobind Singh was there for all to see from dawn to dusk. It was no smooth sail for visitors though as they had to wade through the mass of humanity, surging every minute to get into the Gandhi Maidan, where the show was truly on. For a change, the truly chaotic local traffic was off roads, thanks to an administrative fiat, though lack of autos and buses made the walk a tad longer. Despite the trouble, thousands of people were seen in long queues at all entry points of the sprawling ground. I have been in queue for over an hour to get in, said Amit Kumar, a student of class 8 in a local school, who wants to see what is happening inside, along with his parents. Most of the visitors said that they wished to see the replica of Takht Harmandir Sahib and the grandeur of the Darbar Hall. Langar has been the other main attraction of the weeklong religious meet. I came here to partake of the langar. Its Gurujis parshad. If I am able to receive it, then it will be a great achievement. said teenager Sweta. Deputy director (tourism) Aditya Kumar said three langars were operating at Gandhi Maidan round-the-clock and pizzas are also being served at one of the langars from Tuesday. He said the Tent City at Gandhi Maidan had witnessed an unprecedented crowd as about 2 lakh people visited the venue. The volume of the crowd could be gauged from the fact that Jodi Ghar (shoe houses) installed near the entry gates inside ran out of tokens. I am waiting here for more than one hour to put my shoes in, said another student Raman Kumar, who came here from Ara. About the occupancy of the tent city, Aditya said more than 16,000 people arriving from different parts of the country were so far given accommodation in Gandhi Maidan tent city. Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Chandrima Bhattacharya on Wednesday filed a complaint against the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) over party MP Sudip Bandyopadhyays arrest in connection with the Rose Valley chit-fund scam. The complaint was lodged at the Anandapur police station here. Bandyopadhyays wife Nayna also registered a complaint earlier in the day, alleging that none of the family members were informed as to where Bandyopadhyay was being taken by the CBI. Bandyopadhyays lawyer Rajdeep Majumdar said the allegations levelled against the TMC MP were totally baseless. So, as far as Bandyopadhyay is concerned, there is no evidence. He will be produced in court after 12 (January). We will seek his bail. He has some health-related issues. So, we will produce medical documents, he added. Bandyopadhyay was arrested on Tuesday hours after he appeared before the CBI for interrogation in connection with this scam. The minister will be produced in Bhubaneshwar Court on Wednesday. A group of trekkers who were camping at a fort in Lonavala near Pune were allegedly roughed up, and male members were forced to strip by 10 to 12 men and women who claimed to be heritage buffs, on New Years eve, police said on Wednesday. The victims, who had came to celebrate New Year at Visapur Fort, had registered through a website for the camp at Lonavala, about 50km from Pune. The incident comes close on the heels of an alleged mass molestation of women on December 31 night in Bengaluru. According to a police complaint registered by a 36-year-old woman from Pune, 10 to 12 men and women, who claimed to be members of a fort lovers group, allegedly roughed them up with sticks and belts. She also alleged that the accused humiliated the male trekkers by forcing them to strip and abused the women. I along with my husband and other fellow couples had booked a camp, which was organised at Visapur Fort, through a website, said the complainant, a fitness trainer, who claimed she suffered a hand fracture in the incident. We reached the spot at around 1pm on December 31 and found that there were around 25 more couples, who too had come on New Years eve through the same organisers, the woman said in her complaint. At around 9.30pm, we were sitting around a camp fire when 10 to 12 persons came and accused us of littering the place, she said. One of the women came near me and snatched a glass of cold drink. She thrashed me with a stick and kicked me and accused us of littering the fort, she alleged. Later, the other accused forced male trekkers to strip and thrashed them with sticks and belts, and hurled abuses at the women, the victim said in her statement to police. She said the accused also roughed up the event organiser and warned all of them not to come back to the fort. The people who had attacked us even called our families and told them that we were indulging in obscene act by consuming liquor, the woman told PTI. The complainant said with the help of some villagers, they managed to leave the place and later reported the matter to police. We have registered a case of rioting against 10 to 12 people, including women, belonging to a fort lovers group and investigation is on, Sandip Yede-Patil, assistant police inspector, Lonavala rural police station, said. Six of the accused have been identified so far, he said. The accused have been booked under sections 143 (unlawful assembly), 147 (rioting), 148 (rioting armed with deadly weapon), 324 (voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means), 325 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt), 504 (criminal intimidation) and 354 (molestation) of the IPC, Patil said. He said the accused claimed that those present at the fort were consuming liquor, which is being verified. The police officer said they are probing whether the organiser had taken necessary permission from authorities to hold the camp at the fort. Meanwhile, the complainant claimed they were not consuming liquor as the organisers had told them not to carry alcohol and music systems to the venue. Bodies of film producer-realtor Abis Rizvi and fashion designer Khushi Shah, who were among 39 people killed in the Istanbul terror attack, arrived in Mumbai on Wednesday morning. The Turkish Airlines plane carrying the bodies landed at Mumbai airport shortly after 5am, Bharatiya Janata Party MP Kirit Somaiya, who received the bodies at the airport, said. While Rizvis body has been taken to his home in suburban Bandra, Khushis body was flown to Vadodara for cremation. Khushi and Rizvi were among the 15 foreigners who were killed when a gunman went on a rampage at the waterside Reina nightclub in Istanbul where revellers were celebrating the New Year. A day after BJP state headquarters in Kolkata was allegedly attacked by Trinamool Congress supporters, BJP national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya on Wednesday warned TMC to refrain from violence or be ready for consequences. If Trinamool tries to walk the path of violence, we will also not sit silently, the BJP leader said. Vijayvargiya said Trinamool supremo and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee and her MPs can be stopped from entering Delhi if an all-India party like the BJP decides to pay them back in the same coin. The TMC has a majority in Bengal but the BJP is present from Kashmir to Kanyakumari. If we also walk the path of violence, will Didi (Mamata Banerjee) be able to roam freely in the country? If the BJP decides to stop the Trinamool Congress MPs from entering Delhi, will they be able to get there? the BJP leader said. Trinamool Congress supporters threw stones at the Bharatiya Janata Party office in Central Kolkata after TMC MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation on Tuesday in the Rose Valley chit fund scam. The BJP leader accused city police commissioner Rajeev Kumar of not taking adequate steps against TMC activists involved in the attack and said the party will demand a CBI probe against the officer. The police commissioner did not take steps against thousands of agitators who attacked the BJP office. He is the same person who destroyed important documents related to the Saradha chit fund scam. We will ask for a CBI probe into his involvement, he added. Emotions ran high at three public hearings held across Indore on Tuesday, with complainants threatening to harm themselves unless the authorities took steps to resolve their problems at the earliest. In the first incident, a woman tried to immolate herself before municipal officials during a public hearing at the Indore Municipal Corporation headquarters because they didnt seem to care for her grievances. Officials said Shweta, a resident of Nandanagar, had come to the public hearing armed with a bottle of kerosene. However, corporation staffers managed to overpower the woman before she could pour the fuel over herself and attempt immolation. Shweta told mediapersons that she was at odds with her neighbour, who constructed an illegal wall outside her house. I brought the issue to the municipal officials notice on several occasions, but to no avail, she said. She was handed over to the police, who registered a case of attempted suicide. In the second instance, a 72-year-old army veteran sought permission from the district collector to kill himself if the administration was unable to solve his problem. Kaniya Lal made the request during the weekly public hearing held by the top government official. The Naib subedar, who hails from Sanawar district, said he had sold his 5.24-acre agricultural property in Jankhya tehsil of Sanwer district to Venkatesh Industrial Pvt. Ltd in November 2014. He and the company owner, Yogesh Jain, agreed upon a sum of Rs 2.96 crore for the land transaction. Yogeshs father Roshanlal Jain paid 50% of amount Rs 1.48 crore through cheque after registering the property in his name, and promised to pay the remaining sum by March 2016. However, 10 months on, the owner wants to pay only in demonetised Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes. The administration should either help me take back my property, or give me permission to commit suicide, said Lal, who has served in the Indian army for 24 years. Collector P Narhari said he was looking into the matter, and would resolve it in accordance with the law. In another instance, a woman rammed her head on the desk of the sub-divisional magistrate while urging him to help her recover property seized by her adopted son. Bhagwati Bai, a resident of Rajendra Nagar, said the youngster had turned her out and converted their residence into a cannabis-manufacturing unit. In the fourth instance, a man in his thirties threatened to immolate himself in front of Rajwada Palace if police failed to address his grievance. Sumit Verma, a resident of Nipaniya, presented himself before deputy inspector general Harinarayanachari Mishra during the weekly public grievance hearing and complained that certain anti-social elements were trying to encroach upon his property in Harikrushna Vihar Colony by using bogus registry documents. He said efforts over the last 11 months to recover his property had gone in vain, and suicide was now the only option before him. Verma claimed that he took matter to the district collector, where he was informed that his detractors registry was bogus. He then registered a complaint on the chief ministers helpline and even forwarded a letter to the prime minister offices, but to no avail. Now I can only hope that the DIG pressurises the police officers concerned into providing me succour. Otherwise, I will be left with no choice but to immolate myself on Republic Day, he said. Mishra said the matter has been forwarded to the police stations concerned for relevant action. During preliminary investigations, we found that a case has been registered against one of the three people who encroached upon Vermas property. He is absconding. We had asked Lasudiya police to arrest that man, he added. However, the DIG took exception to Verma making suicide threats before the police. Its not appropriate to pressurise any administrative officer in this manner. If anything like this happens in the future, I will take action against the person concerned, he said. Police have filed an FIR in the alleged Bengaluru mass molestation incident that happened when thousands of revellers had gathered around the junction of Brigade Road and MG Road to usher the New Year on Saturday. As promised we have found credible evidence, repeat credible evidence, in a case of wrongful confinement, molestation and attempt to rob (sic), Bengaluru Police commissioner Praveen Sood said in a series of tweets late on Tuesday. Read | Bengaluru mass molestation: #NotAllTwitterati impressed by #NotAllMen trend Social media was flooded with outrage over the incident, with the #Bengalurumolestation hashtag trending on Twitter. Even celebrities weighed in, with actor Aamir Khan saying he was hurt and saddened by the incident and called for swifter justice in such cases. Heres what we know so far in the case: 1. Police finally take action The police filed an FIR in the case two days after reports of the mass molestation surfaced. Meanwhile, much public anger was directed towards the police for alleged delay in filing cases. 2. Police outnumbered by revellers Even by their own admission, the police have agreed that they were severely outnumbered on the night. While around 1,500 police personnel were deployed near MG Road and Brigade Road, a police officer said on the condition of anonymity that around 50,000 people had come to the area to celebrate. 3. Return of the misogynist politicians Whether it was Karnataka home minister G Parmeshwara or Samajwadi Party leader Abu Azmi, politicians views on the incident kicked up a storm on social media and elsewhere. Parameshwara had sought to play down the incident saying such instances happen everywhere, while Azmi seemed to lay the blame on the victims. Read | SPs Abu Azmi blames women in half dress after Bengaluru molestation reports Congress legislator BK Hariprasad too waded in by suggesting that it was the infiltration of the Hindutva brigade that was behind such sexual assaults in Bengaluru. What we dont know: 1. Why has no victim lodged a complaint? While no one has come forth to register any complaint, many eyewitnesses have confirmed that mass hooliganism did take place. Read | Bengaluru molestation incident: Victims, eyewitnesses come forward; but no case yet One such eyewitness told a news channel that inebriated men went berserk on that day. There were police personnel but the mob was unrelenting. Many women were groped and attempts were made to strip women, the eyewitness said. 2. Time to sift through evidence Police have not given a time frame to finish scanning footage from all the CCTV cameras on the stretch of the road where the alleged incident happened. Police commissioner Sood said footage from 45 CCTV cameras has been looked into. There were reportedly 100 CCTV cameras in the area put up by the police and private establishments. 3. Timing of commissioners FIR tweets Deputy commissioner of police (central) Chandragupta said at around 7pm on Tuesday that police were still some time away from filing an FIR because only 12 policemen were looking through footage from the CCTV cameras. However, by 11pm Sood tweeted saying the police had credible evidence. 4. Nature of evidence received by police Sood told Hindustan Times that a citizen had come forward to help the police with evidence. However, it is not known if this was a footage captured from the CCTV camera of an establishment or any other evidence captured by an eyewitness to the event. The police commissioners tweet said credible evidence has been found in a case of wrongful confinement, molestation and attempt to rob. So, the question arises whether he is corroborating the reported mass molestation. Read | Bengaluru molestation: Politicians add hype, but where is the evidence? The countrys first transgender principal Manabi Bandopadhyay rejoined duty at Krishnagar Womens College service on Tuesday after her resignation letter was rejected by the education department. Manabi resigned from the post of principal on December 23 citing non-cooperation from teaching, non-teaching staff and students of her college. Recently, she met education minister Partha Chatterjee in Kalyani. She was asked to be meet officials of the higher education department at Bikash Bhawan in Salt Lake on Monday. The education department said 85% of the 12 charges levelled against me are baseless. They requested me to rejoin the college and resume work. I rejoined college as a principal, she said after resuming her duties on Tuesday. The media supported me. The nation backed me. I am happy that proper investigation was done, she added. However, her colleagues and students, who agitated against her, claimed they never wanted her to resign. But none offered any comment on her resuming duties. Soon after she joined the college in June last year, a bitter relationship developed between Bandyopadhyay and a section of the teachers. Both sides raised allegations of non cooperation against one another. A group of teachers alleged that the principal used to misbehave with them. In this battle, even classes were hampered. To look into the situation, a four-member team led by the joint director of public instructions, R P Bhattacharjee came to the college a few days ago. They held long discussions with the principal and other teachers. Bandyopadhyays resignation came at this juncture. I am passing through terrible mental agony and cant take it anymore, added the principal. Bandyopadhyay also alleged that as many as 17 posts were vacant in the college and she had to face opposition whenever they wanted to fill them up. Bandyopadhyay, whose earlier name was Somnath, underwent a series of surgeries in 2003 and 2004 before she turned into a full-fledged woman. In 1995, she published the countrys first transgender magazine, Ob-Manab (sub-human). Before joining Krishnagar Womens College as principal, she passed postgraduate in Bengali and joined the Vivekananda Centenary College in West Midnapore district as a lecturer in the late 1990s. She completed her PhD on transgenders in 2005. I faced the humiliation because I wanted to bring in discipline. Women principals in this college before me also had a tough time. However, gender is always an issue. I always highlighted myself as a transgender, she told HT in response to the question whether she was victimised because she was a transgender. The parents of an 18-month infant have appealed to chief minister Mamata Banerjee to close down a clinic in south Kolkata after holding a doctor and a nurse responsible for administering an injection that has allegedly reduced the lively baby to a vegetative state. Avighna Saha suffered a cardiac arrest after he was allegedly administered potassium chloride injection through intravenous fluid (IV) by a nurse at Park Clinic on September 29. The infants parents have urged chief minister Mamata Banerjee, who is also in charge of the health department, to shut down the private hospital as an exemplary punishment until a full investigation is done. Avighna was admitted to the clinic on September 28 with mild dehydration with symptoms of vomiting. According to medical experts, concentrated potassium chloride can be fatal if it is injected. Avighnas father, Monojit Saha, has lodged an FIR against the nursing home and Dr A K Paul and the nurse Poonam Debnath at Shakespeare Sarani police station on January 2. It is a case of medical negligence. My sons condition deteriorated after the nurse administered the potassium chloride injection. We have lodged an FIR against the clinic, Dr A K Paul and Poonam Debnath, Monojit told the media on Tuesday. Dr Paul was not available for comment when HT contacted him on his mobile phone on Tuesday afternoon. Initially, the authorities tried to suppress the incident when we drew the attention of the concerned doctor about negligence in treatment. The clinics management paid the bills for my sons treatment after we shifted Avighna to Apollo Gleneagles Hospital, said Monojit. Avighna is now undergoing treatment at Institute of Neuro Science under Dr Hrishikesh Kumar for the past two months. The hospital concocted a story that the child became hypoxic because of aspiration during feeding, said Monojit. Although he is still breathing, the playful and happy child has turned almost lifeless and is in a vegetative state due to medical negligence, said the father. People for Better Treatment (PBT), a non-government platform floated for the victims of medical negligence in the country, has also written to chief minister Mamata Banerjee, requesting her to take action against the erring doctors and nurses of the clinic. The parents have briefed us. Exemplary punishment should be given to the doctors and nurses of the clinic. We have also written to the chief minister requesting her intervention. The licence of the clinic should be cancelled, said Dr Kunal Saha chief of PBT. A Trinamool Chhatra Parishad (TMCP) activist was seriously injured after being stabbed by assailants, allegedly belonging to a rival student union faction, in Jalpaiguri district on Tuesday night. A senior police officer said the TMCP activist Shuvankar Mitra was attacked near his house by a group and stabbed multiple times. A bleeding Shuvankar was taken to Jalpaiguri Hospital and was now at CCU cabin, a hospital doctor said. Two persons were arrested in connection with the incident, the officer said adding police were yet to verify if the arrested youths belonged to the rival faction of local TMCP unit. Local people said two factions of the TMCP unit were at loggerhead over control of the local college. The reduced tariff for Australian exports to China under the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement covers the wine industry, among many others. (Photo : Getty Images) It is indeed a happy new year for Australian exporters as tariffs have been reduced under the Chinese-Australia Free Trade Agreement starting Jan. 1. The tariff decrease applies to a wide range of products from military weapons to plastic flowers. According to Australia's ABC News, fees for military weapons including rocket launchers, flamethrowers, grenade launchers, torpedo tubes and similar projectors have gone down from 7.8 percent to 5.2 percent. Advertisement Fake plastic flowers now have a tax of 8 percent, while it is 9.6 percent for silk flowers. Also included in the list are Arabian robes which are made out of cotton. Makers of these garments have to pay a 6.4 percent tax instead of 9.6 percent. For human hair exports, China collects a fee of 6 percent. This is 3 percent lower than the previous rate. From 12 percent, the tariff for beddings stuffed with animal hair has decreased to 8 percent. This also applies to the animal hair industry including pig, hog, boar, badger and weasel tail hair. The reduced tariff also encompasses the live animal, frozen meat and wine industries. The China-Australia Free Trade Agreement (ChAFTA) became effective on 20 Dec. 2015. Australia considers it as a historic foundation for its next phase of economic relationship with China which is its largest export market for goods and services. Australia sends to China nearly one-third of its total exports. "China, with its population of 1.4 billion people and rapidly rising middle class, presents enormous opportunities for Australian businesses well into the future", said Andrew Robb, Australia's Minister for Trade and Investment and signatory to ChAFTA, as reported on the website of the Australian Trade and Investment Commission. Two years of sustained efforts by the Mumbai police to keep the streets safe for pedestrians seems to have yielded results with instances of chain snatching cases in 2016 recording the lowest in the past five years. With a total of 445 cases reported across 93 police stations last year, the figure was less than half of what had been reported in 2014 (909), or a little more than one fifth of the cases registered in 2013 (2,090). Sources in the Mumbai police told HT that the success in the crackdown on chain snatching syndicates (or lone operatives) was achieved through a two-pronged strategy that involved a change in the SoP (Standard Operating Procedure) and application of tougher laws. The campaign against chain snatching was persuaded with the same vigour as the anti-drink driving campaign by the traffic police or the crime branchs drive against the underworld some years back, sources added. Joint commissioner of police, law and order, Deven Bharti said that chain snatching assumed centre stage of policing concerns in the last two years. Despite our best efforts, instances of chain snatching had refused to come down, as is seen in the figures of years preceding 2015. A chain or a mangalsutra is not just a property alone. A lot of sentimental value is attached to it, Bharti said while advancing reasons for the all-out crackdown. It also makes a feeling of insecurity in the streets. To address the problem, a calibrated strategy was put in place. To begin with, police stations were asked to dig out information about chain snatchers, active and dormant, in their respective areas and monitor their movement on a daily basis, a deputy commissioner of police (DCP) from the western suburbs said. Secondly, the city was mapped to identify areas affected by the problem and surveillance was intensified accordingly. Moreover, special teams were constituted in police stations to solve undetected chain snatching cases with the help of private CCTV footages (obtained from residential complexes or business establishments). However, the most important field strategy was conducting raids on hideouts across the citys limits in Thane and Navi Mumbai, sources said. After blocking the escape routes for chain snatchers in the streets, the police started applying stringent laws that denied them easy legal immunity. In cases where they were found operating as a syndicate, we started slapping the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA). In other instances, we started booking them under IPC Section 392 (robbery) instead of Section 379 (theft). While the latter is a minor offence (maximum 3 years of imprisonment upon conviction), the former is a serious offence in which the jail term can be extended to 14 years upon conviction, Bharti said adding, Obtaining bail under MCOCA and IPC Section 392 is also tough. Mumbai police spokesperson Ashok Dudhe claimed that the strategy showed results in the first year (2015) when the figure of chain snatchings fell to 909 from the previous years figure of 1409 cases. For instance, Dudhe said, Zone IV (comprising areas like Matunga, Kalachowkie, Sion, Wadala, Bhoiwada et al) which traditionally recorded higher instances of chain snatching, had just about 5-6 cases registered for several months against the traditional monthly figure of around 50-60 cases. The tempo was maintained in 2016. With prompt availability of private CCTV footages and increased presence of policemen on the street, the figure came down to an all-time low this year, he added. Meanwhile, a former assistance commissioner of police (ACP), who had played a key role in the crackdown against the underworld a decade ago, said that the application of MCOCA has spread fear in the minds of chain snatchers. Several of them are languishing behind the bar without bail, he said. However, he expressed doubts over the drastic fall in the number of cases. As far as I know, in 10-12 per cent cases police stations burked registration of offences in order to keep the figures down, the officer claimed while requesting anonymity. Also read: 26 years on, former mayor gets her stolen gold chain back SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The Mumbai airports muddle with kites, balloons and laser beams straying into flight paths seems far from getting over. Despite several discussions to curb the menace, a few some flights have reported fresh cases of safety scares. With Makar Sankranti about 10 days away, airport officials have again asked the Mumbai police to keep an eye on kite fliers near the airport premises. We have raised the matter time and again with the police. But it is not easy to keep a tab on such miscreants, said an airport official, adding that people should be more responsible and that a reminder would be sent to police ahead of the festival. On November 4, an aircraft with registration number VT-AJM reported laser light being flashed on its arrival path. The same night, a Jet Airways flight crew lodged an identical complaint. While laser beams could disturb a pilots view of the airstrip, kites and balloons straying on the runway could get sucked into aircraft engine and lead a safety scare, said air safety experts. The civil aviation ministry had urged the state government to ban kites flying near airports, the HT had reported last September. On September 3, civil aviation secretary RN Choubey wrote to state chief secretary Swadheen Kshatriya on the issue, seeking a ban on kite flying within a 2 km radius of the airport. During the periodic meeting taken by me for the review of operational issues in the civil aviation sector, airport operators have raised the issue of use of lantern kites or wish kites especially during festivals. It was pointed out by safety and security agencies that such activities pose danger to the safety of an aircraft during take off and landing, reads the note. Also read: Cops to keep kites away from Mumbai airport SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The Bombay high court has asked the city civic body to bring its departments together and come up with ways to make better, more lasting repairs of potholes across roads in Mumbai. The court even set a date for this meeting January 5 that is to be attended by senior officials from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), MMRDA, PWD, MSRDC and the Mumbai Port Trust, to ensure potholes do not reappear every monsoon season. A bench of justice Shantanu Kemkar and justice PD Naik observed in a recent order the primary reason for potholes resurfacing every monsoon, despite the BMCs claims of carried out extensive repair work, seemed to be that the civic body was using substandard material for repair work and was repeatedly spending huge amounts of money to benefit contractors. The bench said the meeting must be attended by officials not below the rank of Executive Engineer and that the corporation must file a compliance report and details of the decisions taken in the meeting by February 17, 2017. The bench also asked all stakeholders to let go of their attitude of passing the buck. Instead, ensure compliance of the courts various orders on the issue, it said. On the next date of hearing, the PWD has also been directed to submit a separate reply about the steps that can be taken to repair potholes and damages on the Western Express Highway and to fix a deadline for repair work there. The directions came while the bench was hearing a suo moto Public Interest Litigation on the poor condition of roads in Mumbai and the BMCs failure to prevent potholes every monsoon. During the last hearing on October 25, 2016, the BMC claimed all roads in the city would become pothole free by October 31 that year. The corporation, however, failed to keep its word. The bench then directed it to conduct the meeting and file the compliance report. For more than a year now, the high court has been following up with the BMC to ensure Mumbais roads are pothole-free. On the last hearing, the bench directed the BMC to not just rely on road repair material used by its contractors, but to procure good material and seek the help of experts from IIT, Central Road Research Institute and the Indian Road Congress. The bench also suggested the corporation consults the civic authorities of other states in the country that get heavy rain. The HC is likely to take up the matter for further hearing on February 27. Also read: After road scam, Mumbai civic body to monitor work in wards SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Taking serious note of glaring lapses in investigation and prosecution of a murder case, the Bombay high court recently directed the state government to enquire into the acts of omissions and commissions purportedly committed by two police officers, who investigated the case, and the assistant public prosecutor, who prosecuted the accused, a father-son duo from Chandrapur. The division bench of Justice BP Dharmadhikari and Justice AS Chandurkar directed that the inquiry be completed within six months and the report be placed before it by July 10, 2017. The entire investigation is defective and shows lapses going to the root of the matter, said the bench while reversing conviction of 24-year-old Mohan Pendam and his father Khushal. Highly unsatisfactory investigation with vital lapses makes it impossible to convict the accused, the bench cited as reason for making it impossible for it to uphold the trial court order convicting the father-son duo. According to the prosecution, the incident took place at Ashtabhuja in Chandrapur on March 8, 2013, when Mohan and Khushal, killed Ankush Suryavanshi, attempted to kill the wife Heena, and also injured their neighbour, Siddharth Suryavanshi. A year later, the trial court convicted both of them of murder, attempt to murder and voluntarily causing grievous hurt, and sentenced them to life imprisonment. The high court, however, found glaring lapses in the investigation as also in prosecution of the father-son duo, and acquitted them giving them the benefit of doubt. It noted that though the incident took place in a residential locality and many people had gathered, the prosecution could not find any independent witnesses to support its case. The bench further noted that the best available evidence, the earliest version of events, as seen by material witnesses was not produced before the trial court, police officer who recorded complaint and registered FIR did not enter the witness box. It also found that though bloodstained clothes of the accused were seized, the memo did neither mention from where and from whom the clothes had been seized. The judges also found the discovery of the weapons purportedly used by the accused equally faulty, thus leaving them with no option but to acquit the two. The bench concluded that both the investigating officers and the assistant public prosecutor prima facie appeared to be the erring officers responsible for failure of the prosecution case, and taking cue from the Supreme Court ruling of 2014, ordered inquiry against them. The case In 2014, in State of Gujarat v/s. Kishanbhai, the Supreme Court has held that every acquittal should be understood as a failure of the justice delivery system, in serving the cause of justice. Likewise, every acquittal should ordinarily lead to the inference, that an innocent person was wrongfully prosecuted. The Supreme Court directed the state government shall also identify the investigating and / or prosecuting officials responsible for the acquittal and if the acquittal is found to be the result of their blameworthy conduct, appropriate departmental action must be taken against the erring officials. Taking into consideration the seriousness of the matter, the official concerned may be withdrawn from investigative or prosecution responsibilities, permanently or temporarily, depending purely on his culpability, the Apex Court has said. Body of city developer Abis Rizvi, 49, who was killed in the Istanbul nightclub attack on New Years eve, was brought to the city on Wednesday morning by his father and former MP Dr Akhtar Hasan Rizvi. According to family sources, the funeral will take place on Wednesday afternoon at a kabristan in Mazgaon. Abis Rizvi was the CEO of Rizvi Builders and was among the two Indians killed when a gunman, reportedly dressed up as Santa Claus, opened fire in a nightclub at Istanbul killing at least 39 people. Rizvi was vacationing in Turkey and was at the nightclub with friends on the New Years eve. He is survived by his wife and son. Kalyan The long awaited Govindwadi bypass project will not complete anytime soon, as the land owners who are affected by the project alleged that the authorities have cheated them. They have now decided to approach the Bombay high court and bring a stay on the project. Once opened to public, the bypass will ease congestion at Shivaji Chowk in Kalyan (West) by diverting the traffic. The cowshed owners, with the help of local activist Sreenivas Ghanekar, have decided to fight a legal battle against the Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC) and the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC), authority supervising the bypass project. A legal notice was been served to the Maharashtra State Urban Development Department (MSURDD), KDMC, MSRDC and the vice-president and managing director of MSRDC. We have not received any compensation for our ancestral properties. The civic commissioner had assured to provide land at Wadeghar in Kalyan, but nothing has been done so far, said Iqbal Karte,68, owner of cowshed, adding, We are not against development, as we know it will benefit the common man. But here, we are cheated which is why we have decided to raise the issue. The Kartes alleged that the land at Wadeghar has private ownership, although it is reserved by the civic body. The civic body has neither acquired the land nor has its reservation to residential. Shed owners alleged that the bypass is be illegal because the sanctioned development plan states that the property of the cowshed owners wont be affected, while the corporation had changed the alignment of the road, thus affecting their properties. The family [Kartes] approached me saying that they were cheated. I studied their case and decided to help them with legal procedure to get their compensation. We have already started the legal proceedings to approach the court and stop the bypass project, said Ghanekar. He added that the corporation has failed to comply with the terms of settlement. The said land is not in the possession of KDMC. Also, the civic body has not mentioned clearly regarding the area of the land which will be given as a compensation to the family during the previous general body meet, added Ghanekar. Speaking to HT, a KDMC officer said, We have received the notice from the land owners and we are looking into it. We will fight legally for the project and make sure that it is completed. Project history The project had been facing hurdles since it was initiated in 2011. One of the major hurdles was a cow shed on the 1.6-km long stretch. The shed owners, reluctant to hand over their 3,80-metre property, had approached the court earlier. However, the project got a push in January 2015 after the municiapl commissioner managed to convince the owners and assured adequate compensation. Civic chief E Ravendiran had announced that he had convinced the land owners with a settlement of providing a land in compensation at Wadeghar. In January, the civic body razed the cowshed and started working on the remaining 200-metre stretch of the bypass. However, the cowshed owners alleged that the KDMC has failed to compensate them. Currently, one lane of the bypass is completed and a trial of vehicular flow is going on. The civic body had plans to complete the work for other lane by the end of December 2016 and open the bypass for public by this January. The civic body has missed several deadlines already in the past. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Following a demand by the Students Islamic Organisation (SIO), the state health and family welfare minister Girish Mahajan on Wednesday wrote to the Centre demanding that National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) 2017 also be conducted in Urdu. A recent statement released by the Union health ministry had mentioned that NEET 2017 will be conducted in eight languages, including English, Hindi, Gujarati, Marathi, Assamese, Bengali, Tamil and Telugu. NEET scores are used for admission to medical colleges across the country. 168 Urdu medium junior colleges run in Maharashtra, from where around 11,000 students appear for their class XII examinations. Considering the large number of students whose first language remains Urdu, we request the government to make appropriate changes to the present rules, read the letter addressed to Union health minister J P Nadda. An online petition filed by SIO aimed at garnering support for NEET to be conducted in Urdu has received over 2,400 supporters. The move to conduct NEET in more languages came after the Supreme Court, in its 2016 order, made it clear that any entrance test held at a national level should be conducted in regional languages as well, especially as most state-conducted entrance exams are conducted in more than one local language. While the statement mentioned only seven regional languages and English, SIO demanded that Urdu should also be included considering students from Maharashtra as well as other neighbouring states will need the advantage. Read NEET 2017 to be held in 8 languages including Gujarati, Assamese, Tamil Political blame game erupts over Kannada being excluded from NEET exam Centre seeks SCs nod to hold NEET in 6 regional languages SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar on Wednesday decided to file a defamation suit against anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare, who filed three petitions in the Bombay high court, alleging a Rs25,000-crore loss to the government caused by co-operative sugar factories. Hazare had named Sharad Pawar and his nephew Ajit Pawar, among others, in the alleged sugar factory scam and sough an inquiry by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) against the guilty. Talking to media in Thane, Pawar raised doubts over the state governments decision to spend a whooping Rs3,600 crores on the Shivaji memorial off the Mumbai coast. Refuting the allegations, Pawar said, Hazare has given me an opportunity to make my stand clear before everyone. I am at present consulting my lawyer and will file both criminal and defamation suits against him. I dont know from where he got the figure of Rs25,000 crore. Hazare, though a social worker, cannot defame anyone and everyone. The petitions alleged that the fraud had been committed in governance by first burdening sugar cooperative factories with debts and thereafter selling these sick units at a throwaway price, causing loss of Rs25,000 crore to the government, cooperative sector and people. Pawar clarified, In all the cases, tenders were floated as per the procedure several times. Moreover, the alleged scam took place when I was a minister at the Centre and not connected to decisions taken by the state goovernment. Pawar also said there was no need to spend Rs3,600 crore on the Shivaji memorial. We are not questioning the greatness of Shivaji, though there was no need to spend so much money on a third statue. He added it was his government who had approved the statue but could not compete it due to a lower budget. Gujarat pattern of budget announcement With the announcement of elections in five states, the question of violation of code of conduct guidelines by declaring Union Budget has cropped up. Pawar said, The Budget will anyways be over in four to five days from January 31 to first week of February. In our time, Budget discussions and approvals used to take a minimum of 22 days. I have heard it merely takes three to four days in Gujarat and I can see the same pattern replicated in the Budget. On Shiv Sena Seconding Uddhav Thackerays views against releasing Budget amidst elections, Pawar said a decision whether to join hands with the Shiv Sena on the issue will be taken after a discussion with his party members. Thackeray said the opposition should come along with the Sena to demand a cancellation of the budget as it may influence voters. Pawar said, Uddhavs statement reflects that our opposition is agreeing with our way of thinking. The Sena and BJP have come together only for power. On demonetisation Pawar claimed that although the Centre has performed the surgery, the after-care was botched up. Fifty days are over but there is no change in the situation. Farmers have stopped getting loans as the co-operative banks have suffered. The real estate is affected. The growth of various sectors is affected due to demonetisation which will also affect our GDP. Read Demonetisation failed to check black money, rural economy collapsed, says Pawar SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Days before the Mumbai civic polls are announced, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray launched a verbal attack on ally Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), joining the Oppositions chorus that the party is using the Union budget for electoral gains, and sent strong signals that a tie-up for the Mumbai polls may be unlikely. Addressing the Sena cadre at a party convention in Mumbai, Thackeray slammed the Centre for being keen on unveiling the budget in February just before the Assembly polls are held in five states. The Sena chief said his party will request President Pranab Mukherjee to prevent the government from announcing the budget before the elections. The Sena chief also hardened his criticism of the PMs demonetisation move, where old notes of Rs500 and Rs1,000 denomination were suddenly decommissioned, causing inconvenience to people at large. In one of his sharp attacks on the Modi government, Thackeray said India has witnessed the kind of tension it never witnessed since it got freedom. Are we going towards a China-like dictatorship, he remarked. Was the government napping when tycoons like Vijay Mallya and Lalit Modi ran away? Today, the state of the farmers is extremely poor. They dont have money to spend. The achche din are only in the small solace that people are still alive, Thackeray said, adding the Sena will always speak out about anything that is going wrong in the country. The Sena chief also indicated the alliance with the BJP for the Mumbai civic polls was difficult. We wont forge an alliance out of any helplessness, he said. Elections to the BMC are likely to be announced in a day or two, and will be conducted next month. Senior leaders of both parties admit that neither has initiated any formal talks, and there is little time left to hammer out a seat-sharing agreement and prepare candidates accordingly. Sena office bearers from Mumbai said the party has already readied a list of probable candidates for all 227 wards, preparing to contest the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) election alone, although it had given the BJP 63 seats to contest the last election in 2012. The way things are going, 99% any kind of alliance this time is unlikely. The chief minister may want to keep himself in the Sena chiefs good books, but the BJPs local leadership has strongly criticised, even protested against our party and even stated that the BMC will have the BJPs mayor next. Local Sainiks are disillusioned and prefer to not have any alliance, a Mumbai-based Sena office bearer said. While relations between the Sena and BJP have been choppy for a while, the alliance is souring by the day with the tussle having reached the state cabinet on Tuesday. Sena ministers walked out, sounding their opposition to two proposals brought to the tablethe Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train and a hawkers policyand expressing their displeasure with the sudden rejigging of guardian ministers. Thackeray lauded the ministers in his Wednesdays speech, saying, Whatever we dont agree with, we will speak out in front of whoever it may be. He said the party is not opposed to the bullet-train proposal and has always been pro-development, but the government should properly plan the project first. Thackeray also indirectly alleged the BJP forges alliances very opportunistically and flexes money power during elections. In a veiled reference to BJP Maharashtra chief Raosaheb Danves recent remark about voters welcoming lakshmi (money) a day before polls on the eve of municipal council elections in Maharashtra, Thackeray said, If you want to contest elections, fight cleanly. We dont have that much lakshmi and whatever we have is not for buying votes. Read more: What 2017 means for parties in Maharashtra SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Every Indian state election is important. It alters the power structure of the state, and the distribution of resources among different social groups. It also reflects the aspirations and the angst of the electorate. The Election Commission has just announced dates for a new set of polls. Manipur is one of the last Congress bastions. It is also the site of armed conflicts and ethnic tensions. The election will be an important test of whether the Congress tactical redrawing of district boundaries - cause of the current blockade - will yield political dividends or whether BJP continues its expansion into the Northeast. A BJP win will be remarkable, given its strongly nationalist image, for Manipur has long been home to a strong separatist stream. Read: Assembly elections 2017: UP, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Goa, Manipur vote count on March 11 In Uttarakhand, which witnessed both an environmental disaster and political instability, the task is for the Congress to explain its record. In Goa, the onus is on the BJP, its challenge compounded by Manohar Parikkars shift to Delhi and rebellion by a section of the RSS. Punjab is on the cusp of a political contest where the incumbent, Akali-BJP alliance, and leading Opposition, the Congress, are pitted not just against each other but a new entrant, AAP. Read: Uttar Pradesh elections: All you need to know about Indias political heartland If the latter wins, its national footprint will grow, and its hopes of replacing the Congress as the primary challenger to the BJP in north and west India will get a boost. Critics will no longer be able to dismiss Arvind Kejriwal as a Delhi phenomenon. Alternatively, if the Congress wins, it will largely be due to the charisma of Captain Amarinder Singh and serve as a reminder there is no alternative to strong regional leaders. But while all states are equal, some are more equal than others. Read: If Mulayam can leave son, why cant we leave him?: Akhilesh rises amid SP feud The political outcome in UP will affect the lives of 200 million people. Uttar Pradesh is also a microcosm of Indian diversity. It is home to every major political strand. It is the site of Indias major communal and caste fault-lines. It is also the state, which will inhibit Indias rise if it remains stuck with its current economic and human development indicators. And it is the state which often dictates politics in Delhi, by shaping the complexion of the Rajya Sabha, by its strength in the Lok Sabha (though it is important to note there is no obvious co-relation between assembly and Lok Sabha outcomes), and by being a key factor in the election of the president (due this year). Any triangular contest is difficult to read. But the political theatre in UP has rarely been as fluid. This is a result of the implosion in the Samajwadi Party and the emergence of Akhilesh Yadav; the likelihood of his alliance with Congress; the overwhelming energy being invested by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the state; the BSPs attempts to craft a Dalit-Muslim coalition; demonetisation; and regional variations. But the UP election, this time, has four distinctive features. One, the question of leadership is central to voter concerns. Local candidates matter, but the election is being constructed as an Akhilesh versus Modi versus Mayawati election. While it shows Modis continued popularity, it also speaks of the BJPs structural weakness - the absence of local leaders. If the BJP wins, it will once again be due to the PMs popularity; if Mayawati wins, it will be because of the nostalgia for her strong law and order; and if Akhilesh wins, it will be an endorsement of his focus on infrastructure and welfare, and rebellion against the old patronage networks. Two, both caste and going beyond caste is critical for each party. UP is in this paradoxical position where every party promises that its focus is on governance, yet every partys calculation is fundamentally driven by identity. But no one quite knows whats the right mix. A single caste group cannot win you elections; no caste group even votes homogeneously; the young think differently and are connected to a world outside; the urban-rural boundary is getting blurred. And so employing a new grammar is essential - Akhilesh promises smartphones, Mayawati says she will not build statues anymore, Modi says the state needs vikas. At the same time, caste is a key factor in candidate selection, in creating coalitions, in voter preferences. This election will tell us not only which factor is important, but also what is the right mix, and who has got it. Three, for UPs Muslims, this is the most high-stakes election since the post-Babri poll of 1993 because the state remains their only platform for political representation. Not a single Muslim won in the Lok Sabha in 2014 - and this has increased their alienation. Their focus will be in ensuring representatives make it to Lucknow, and that the BJP gets defeated. How the community votes, whether it fragments or consolidates to a substantial degree, will be a key determinant of the outcome. And finally, this election will be a mini referendum on Modis demonetisation. The BJPs own base is upset with the party, yet there are indications that the party may have been able to tap into the anger and discontent of the poor against the rising inequality. Every economic sector, every citizen remains affected, in varying degrees. If the BJP wins, it will provide a huge boost to Modis policy measure and will make him stronger at the centre to continue with his policies; if it loses, it will be interpreted as a rejection of demonetisation, and the Oppositions morale will shoot up. Elections provide a platform for social cleavages, ideological battles, political rivalries to be played out peacefully. The 2017 polls will once again show this strength of Indian democracy. @prashantktm SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON A woman views TV screens showing Chinese President Hu Jintao delivering a speech during the opening ceremony of the 17th CPC National Congress, at a department store on Oct. 15, 2007, in Nanjing. (Photo : Getty Images) China's state broadcaster on Saturday launched a multilingual, multi-platform media network that aims to expand its reach globally. Meant as a rebranding of China Central Television (CCTV) News, the China Global Television Network (CGTN) consists of six TV channels, three overseas branches, a video content provider, and a digital media division, according to the state-owned Xinhua News Agency. Advertisement In his congratulatory letter, Chinese President Xi Jinping said CGTN should serve as a platform to "tell China stories well" to the rest of the world. "The relationship between China and the rest of the world is undergoing historic changes. China needs to know more about the world and the world needs to know more about China," Xi said. The rebranding is seen by industry observers as Beijing shifting its broadcasting strategy from domestic Chinese television shows to greater international discourse, with some comparing it to Russia Today, an English-language news channel funded by the Russian government. "The successful experience of Russia Today shows that in the age of global information, in which discourse is imbalanced, such media can work wonders," Zhang Shengjun, an international politics professor at Beijing Normal University, told the Global Times on Monday. The CGTN will provide China's view on global affairs, including commentary from Chinese analysts and opinions from citizens, which could be shared to the rest of the world, he said. However, Zhang warned against the platform taking on a narrow-minded nationalistic approach and should report with a global view instead. "CGTN is a good start, and in the future we can have two or three such platforms competing with each other." In February last year, Xi called for innovation in concept, content, and methods and urged media groups to reach out to people and amplify their voices on the international stage as well as establish media groups with a strong global influence. The Election Commission on Wednesday alloted batsman as the symbol to Aapna Punjab Party (APP), the day February 4 was announced as the voting date for the state assembly polls. Party president Sucha Singh Chhotepur said, In true words, the party, going by its symbol, will hit boundaries, taking rivals by surprise. We as a party may be new but all the members are accomplished batsmen who have already carved a niche for themselves in various spheres. Now they are all set to prove their worth in the field of politics with ethical practices being their forte, added Chhotepur, a former state convener of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) who floated the APP after he was sacked over allegations of taking money for poll tickets. Food packets sold like hotcakes on day two of the Annapurna Akshaypatra, a project started by the Indian Red Cross Society, Chandigarh. Organisers had to arrange for more packets as hordes of people rushed to the food vans set up at five locations across the city. Each food packet costs only Rs 10 and targets labourers, industrial workers and the needy. The scheme especially aims at providing an affordable and nutritious diet to the economically weaker sections in the city. A visit to the locations revealed that there was a huge rush of workers to buy the food packets. The van set up at the grain market in Sector 26 went out within 20 minutes, selling 100 food packets. More packets were ordered as labourers started gathering in earnest to get the food. Not only labourers, but some students also came to get the food packets from the grain market van. In the evening when HT reached the Sector 26 location at around 6pm, labourers were spotted looking for the food van. They said the administration should clearly mention the exact spot where the van will be parked so that people dont have to go looking for it. The scheme, launched on Monday, left workers curious and they were eagerly waiting to purchase the food packets. The UT deputy commissioner Ajit Balaji Joshi said, keeping in view certain complaints, they put chappatis and vegetables in one box instead of selling them separately. Sources in the administration said preparations for cooking the food begins as early as 1pm followed by mechanised packaging. The scheme has also provided jobs to 50 people including women, who prepare and package the food. The machines set up inside the kitchen produce 2,000 chappatis in one hour. The administration purchased the machines for Rs 75 lakh. The Indian Red Cross Society has started the project in co-ordination with the health department, labour department, food and supplies department, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited, Indian Oil Corporation Limited, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited, Chandigarh Sewa Bharti, Panchkula Gaushala Trust and Chandigarh Market Committee. Minutes after the election code of conduct came into effect for the Punjab Polls, Congress leader Dr Navjot Kaur Sidhu confirmed that her husband and former BJP MP Navjot Singh Sidhu will contest the assembly polls from Amritsar East constituency. Confirming that Navjot Singh Sidhu will be joining the Congress party very soon, Dr Sidhu said that as soon as the ticket is announced, Sidhu will reach Amritsar. Dr Sidhu said Navjot Singh Sidhu is in regular touch with Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi and Punjab Congress chief Captain Amarinder Singh. Various rounds of meetings have taken place with the top brass of the Congress. They are preparing itinerary for Sidhu and whenever they say, Sidhu will join Congress. Dr Navjot Kaur Sidhu who had won the Amritsar East constituency on the BJP ticket in year 2012, vacated her seat for her husband. She categorically made it clear that Sidhu couple will not contest the Lok Sabha election. Talking about the delay in announcement , Dr Navjot Kaur Sidhu said, The party high command and senior leadership is going ahead very cautiously and want to weed out the threat of rebel factor at an early stage. So before announcing another list, party high command is talking to possible rebels and pacify them by showing surveys and other elements kept in mind by the party. Congress MLA from Amritsar West Dr Raj Kumar Verka said that Captain Amarinder Singh and Navjot Singh Sidhu will jointly strengthen the Congress party and ensure its victory in the 2017 polls. Sidhu a three-time MP from Amritsar was adjusted in the Rajya Sabha by the BJP after Arun Jaitley was given ticket in 2014 Lok Sabha elections. But unhappy with not getting a larger role in Punjab, Sidhu quit the party and resigned from Rajya Sabha. Already, the Amritsar East constituency is flooded with posters of the Sidhu couple. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON After the announcement by the election commission of India (ECI) for assembly polls in Punjab on February 4, and immediate imposition of model code of conduct coming into effect, the state election commission officials got into huddle to make a last minute check of the list of works and responsibilities they are suppose to carry out. By evening the flying squads which have already been formed to check flow of drugs, cash and contrabands into the poll bound state will get functional. As the checking of distribution of drugs by the political parties to the electorate to woo them is a major focus for the EC, instructions have been passed on to the three member teams comprising narcotics control bureau, state police and health department to nip the flow of drugs. EC have already rolled out instructions for the state government to post the inspector generals of police, deputy commissioners and senior superintendents of police as per their policy. EC had also made an alternate arrangement forming an independent panel of officers from the state to be posted at the respective positions incase the working or an officer posted earlier was not as desired. 500 companies of paramilitary forced have been requisitioned for peaceful polling in Punjab. Political parties particularly the ruling SAD-BJP combine have been asked to remove the pictures of all the political functionaries from the government websites and also asked the government not to give advertisements in the name of government now, especially after the imposition of the poll code. The office of chief electoral officer Punjab VK Singh have also opened up the system of receiving poll related complaints and have drawn out a plan to deal with these complaints. Two former soldiers are set to slug it out in the Patiala assembly segment as the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) has decided to bet on former army chief General JJ Singh (retd) against Punjab Congress chief Captain Amarinder Singh for the polls due within a couple of months. Amarinder hasnt lost an election from the Patiala (urban) seat since 2002. Gen JJ Singh stopped just short of expressly confirming the candidature: Lets wait for a day; I am ready for the battle and take up a challenge only to win. But an Akali leader privy to the decision told HT, The idea is to pose a tough challenge to Amarinder, so that he gets less time to move around the state for canvassing. General JJ Singh is a Sikh with an illustrious career behind him. The AAP has fielded a very weak candidate from Patiala. Our party president will announce the name in a day or two, but JJ Singh has already been sounded to shift base to Patiala. Gen Singh confirmed he has reached Patiala. Let me first make it clear that dont dub me as a paratrooper in Patiala. I have been brought up in the city and stayed here... am familiar with its every nook and cranny, he said, indicating that he is game. He said he is in Patiala for an assignment which I will accomplish in tune with my track record of no failures. He added, Its my payback time to Patiala, where I have stayed for years as a child after my family shifted here after Partition. The city has my nanke (maternal grandfathers family) as well as dadke (paternal grandfathers), and now I am here to give back to the city socially, politically and economically, said the General. Gen Singh, who was the first Sikh officer to become the army chief, has been provided security cover by the police in Patiala. At least 12 cops and vehicle have been put on the job on the orders of ADGP (security). JJ Singh fought the 1965 and 1971 wars, apart from being among the architects of defeating Pakistani intruders in Kargil. For six months, JJ Singh was cosying up with SAD president and deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal. He was seen at the inaugural function of the war memorial in Amritsar and also at other events concerning ex-servicemen. Amarinder, too, had served on the Indo-Pak border during the 1965 war. After finding former minister Surjit Singh Kohli not in the pink of his health, and Bhagwan Dass Juneja, who lost decisively in the bypoll to Preneet Kaur after Amarinder left the seat to become Amritsar MP, the SAD was looking for a formidable fresh face from Patiala. Sukhbir approached JJ Singh, who agreed to the proposal, said sources. SAD general secretary Prem Singh Chandumajra had said on Sunday that a famous personality would be pitted against Amarinder. As per the deal, say sources, the General has been promised a suitable adjustment irrespective of what the election result will be. On being asked if it will be befitting for him to contest assembly polls after holding offices such as those of army chief and governor, JJ Singh said, No job and work is small. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) will be used in 35 out of total 117 assembly constituencies in Punjab, which is slated to go to polls on February 4. Punjab chief electoral officer (CEO) VK Singh on Wednesday said that VVPATs will be used in keeping in mind sensitivity of the constituency. VVPAT is a method of providing feedback to voters. VVPAT is attached to the Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) to help electors verify that their vote has been cast correctly. VVPATs will be preferably used at district headquarters during the polls, he said. He added that an assistant commissioner of income tax will be stationed at each district. The officer will have power to carry search on the premises on complaint against any individual, he said. He said 100 observers will be deployed in the state on January 18. Also, 6,000 pockets in different polling stations have been identified as vulnerable, and adequate security arrangements will be made at there. The model code of conduct was enforced in the state after noon on Wednesday, immediately after the EC announced the election schedule for Punjab, he said. He said candidates contesting the polls will have to furnish an affidavit mentioning that he has no dues against his name in form of electricity bill, telephone bill or any other fees, including rent of the house. He said the expenses of booths set up near the polling stations will be borne by the candidate and not by his party. The maximum expenditure limit per candidate has been fixed at Rs 28 lakh. He said around 70,000 voters have been identified as disabled and special provisions will be made for them to exercise their franchise. An information technology (IT)-enabled complaint-monitoring system has been set up at the poll panels office. So far we have received around 500 complaints and majority of these have been resolved. Most of these complaints were regarding not getting the voter card, he said. He said a 24x7 toll-free number 1950 has been started to receive complaints. Besides, complaints can be made online on the Samadhan portal, he said. Electoral rolls will be published on Thursday, he said, adding, new voters can get registered by January 9. So far, 165 NRIs have been registered as voters and they will have to come to Punjab to exercise their franchise. At few constituencies electronic voting will be allowed for defence personnel, he said. Webcasting will be done on 4,000 polling stations. On a question about Aam Aadmi Party Delhi MLA Jarnail Singhs eligibility to contest polls from Punjab, he said, He will have to present a proof that he is a resident of the state. Nominations will be held from January 11 to 18, withdrawal by any candidate can be done by January 21 and polling will take place on February 4. The results will be declared on March 11. A high-stake election will be held in the state where the SAD-BJP will make attempt to remain in power for the third term whereas Congress and new entrant AAP will try to wrest power. Drones will keep a vigil, choppers will shower flowers and Wadali Brothers will perform at a three-day Prakashotsav to celebrate Guru Gobind Singhs 350th birth anniversary in Jamshedpur starting January 9. The state government on Tuesday finalised a plan and the East Singhbhum administration earmarked a budget of 1.30 crore for the celebration at Gopal Maidan. Chief minister Ragubar Das will inaugurate the state-level Prakashotsav celebration at 7.30 pm on January 9. About 50,000 devotees are likely to attend the event. The programme schedule was announced on Wednesday a day after the chief minister met a Sikh delegation led by nodal officer Sardar Jagjit Singh in Ranchi. Main pandal will be of 50,000 sq feet while langar will be held in a separate pandal measuring 30,000 sq feet. Arrangements are also being made of live telecast of the celebration, East Singhbhum deputy commissioner Amit Kumar told the media. Kumar said performance by 90 nationally acclaimed artists, including Wadali Brothers, Kanwar Grewal, Bhai Jagjit Singhs Kirtani jatthya and Nihang performance by Gurinder Singh, would be the events main attraction. The administration has formed 10 sub-committees for smoothly organising of the programme. Sub-divisional officer Suraj Kumar was instructed to ensure deployment of adequate number of judicial magistrates and security forces for maintaining law and order situation during the event. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Ranchi: She grew up in Jharkhands Lalgarh at a time when the entire area was a liberated zone of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoists). There were more rebels with arms on the streets than civilians. Policemen were either confined to the police station or were driven out of Lalgarhs boundary. The ruling Communist Party of India (Marxists) leaders were targeted and killed one after another. Political flags had disappeared from the poles and buildings. As a teenager, Sumi Hembrom alias Sonali Tuddu, got fascinated by the empowered women in camouflaged fatigues, brandishing sophisticated weapons and began hobnobbing with them before she inducted into the red brigade. Barely few years with the rebels, she came in contact with Supai Tuddu, who was the bodyguard of the slain politburo member and firebrand Maoist leader, Koteshwar Rao alias Kishenji, who spearheaded the Lalgarh liberation movement. It was love at first sight for the duo. The affair eventually culminated into marriage with the blessings of Kishenji, who freed Supai from his personal security and promoted him as a commander. The couple was soon shifted to the bordering Jharkhands East Singhbhum to spread the Maoist base. On February 13, 2010, the couple played an active role in the kidnapping of Dalbhumgarh block development officer Prashant Layek. Five days later, when newspapers released photographs of the abducted official in rebel custody, the couple was prominently visible holding him hostage carrying sophisticated guns. Early on Tuesday, when security forces gunned down Supai Tuddu in the Gudabanda jungles of East Singhbhum, his colleagues except his wife deserted him in his death. Security forces on the prowl rushed in nab Sonali but she showed no resistance and meekly surrendered, standing motionless besides her fatally wounded husband. She was an equally devoted rebel, well trained in jungle warfare. She is as big a catch as her husband, who could not be caught alive despite our best efforts, said rural SP Shailendra Burnwal. On Wednesday, police sent Sonali to judicial custody, but they will be seeking police remand for her in a day or two to get information about rebel movement and organization in the area. Sources said at least two senior police officials from West Bengal will be coming to question Sonali on the killings of number of CPM leaders by the rebels. Water management should be at the heart of all smart city planning. While there is a lot of emphasis on transportation and infrastructure development, water management remains limited to treatment of waste water, quality monitoring, and smart metering in the governments smart cities strategy. No clear plans have emerged on how smart cities are to be linked with their water catchments to ensure sustainable provision of water. More clarity is also needed on wastewater treatment, both domestic and industrial. Ganesh Pangare, regional director, Asia-Pacific, International Water Association, a London-headquartered non-profit organisation, says lakes, ponds and wetlands in urban areas are being reclaimed for building and development instead of being recognised as the critical natural infrastructure that cities depend upon. Better management of wastewater, so that it isnt discharged untreated into nature and ends up polluting water sources, would mean that we could reuse the treated water for industry, agriculture and even domestic use, he says Cues should be taken from countries like Singapore which reuse nearly all of their wastewater from domestic sewage to industrial waste. The treatment of wastewater is of such high quality that some of Singapores drinking water comes from completely treated wastewater. Copenhagen too has valuable lessons in its integration of wastewater treatment, including natural methods like the use of wetlands and leading-edge technology, to find solutions to its problems. Copenhagen does not release a drop of untreated wastewater into the sea. Cities need to connect better to water basins that supply their water, and work with stakeholders throughout the basin to ensure better water security. And it is not easy. This requires a shift in mindset and the way we approach urban planning and management. We need to think and act cross-sectorally and break down the silos between water, energy, agriculture and urban planning, says Pangare. Today many water sources are polluted and others are under serious strain. Inefficiencies and water losses in urban water utility systems mean no Indian city yet supplies water 24/7 to its citizens. An immediate priority of the government should be to ensure better management of water resources, both in the basin that supplies water to urban areas, and in urban areas. Monitoring ground water extraction is of utmost importance. Drought conditions in many parts of Indian have further strained ground water supplies. India does have the capability to address these challenges through its Swachh Bharat Abhiyan and the Smart Cities Mission. What is important, and sometimes lacking, he feels, is coordination between various departments and ministries for instance, urban development and water resources. Responsibilities also have to be fixed. Local authorities have the primary responsibility to deal with wastewater management. The wastewater in Indian cities dumped into the rivers, lakes or ocean without any treatment contaminates the available water resources for both human use and ecosystems. Treating wastewater to a high standard would provide an additional and vital source of a citys water supply, and this reuse of water is important to reducing use of traditional sources and for replenishing those sources in Indian cities. Wastewater also contains other valuable resources. We can recycle nutrients, metals, plastics and other useful materials from wastewater. Perhaps most relevant, water utilities can use wastewater to produce energy. This is something that it happening around the world, and in India it could provide an important source of energy for our growing cities, he says. Investments also need to be made in new technologies to upgrade existing resources. Financing is a major issue. Water tariffs have not changed in India for years, leaving local authorities without the necessary funds to invest in upgrading old and inadequate infrastructure. To increase coverage of water supply as towns and cities grow bigger requires smart solutions to overcome these challenges, Pangare adds. A case has been registered against Malayalam film actor Vijay Babu for allegedly assaulting a woman film producer in Kochi, police said on Tuesday. Producer Sandra Thomas has alleged that she was assaulted by Vijay at her office in Elamakkara on Monday. However, Vijay has said in a post on Facebook that the case filed against him is fake. Friends , a fake case is filed against me by my most trusted partner and her husband for the sake for taking over business property which I disputed. I shall prove it otherwise and will be fine. Thank you for the concerns. Shall update, he wrote. The actor is the co-founder of the film production company along with Sandra Thomas. Sandra is admitted in a private hospital in the city, police said. Follow @htshowbiz for more ott:10:ht-entertainment_listing-desktop One Piece - Sanji and Vinsmoke Family (Photo : Youtube/ One Piece) One Piece is steadily reaching the climax of the Totto Land arc. Sanji has finally uncovered the truth behind Pudding's sweet face and the deception of the Big Mom's pirates to kill the Vinsmoke Family and gain its clone soldiers. Indeed, it's a bitter pill for Sanji to swallow, but that may have finally snapped him out of his daydream. Advertisement Of course, who would disregard the return of Jinbe to the battlefield? The Fishman and former Shichibukai arrived in the nick of time to save Luffy and Nami from Opera, one of the children of Big Mom whom he has affiliation. Does this mean Jinbe decide to join the Strawhat Pirates for good? Potential Spoilers & Questions for Chapter 852: Is Jinbe ready to become member of Strawhat Pirates? Jinbe's attack on Opera as he knocked him down with 5 thousand-gawara Seiken!! could only mean he has already severed his affiliation with the Big Mom Pirates. Keep in mind that only his affiliation with Charlotte Linlin, one of the four Yonkos, was preventing him to joining Luffy's strawhat pirates. Does this mean Strawhat Pirates has its new crew? And what will be Big Mom's reaction when she finds out Jinbe's betrayal? Luffy's Resolve: You can never dispute Luffy's resolve when it comes to saving his cook and friend, Sanji. The captain of the Strawhat Pirates has come to Totto Land with one goal in his mind: retrieve Sanji. What will be Luffy's next move now that he has finally escaped with new ally in his back. Will he go straight to Pudding and obliterate her? Brook vs. Big Mom Dynamics: Brook going up against Big Mom is quite surprising since it basically pits the Soul King vs, the Soul Queen or should I say someone who can manipulate soul like Big Mom. It's the battle everyone wants to tune in every chapter. Big Mom truly has the advantage but you can never count out Brook's determination as he sets sight on the copy of the Road Poneglyph. Sanji's Move And of course, the million dollar question heading into the next chapter. What will Sanji do now that he learns Pudding's true colors. Very much aware the entire Vinsmoke Family will be murdered during their wedding, will Sanji still choose love over family? One Piece chapter 851 is scheduled for release on January 7, while chapter 852 slated on January 14, 2017 on Shonen Weekly Jump. For more One Piece manga and anime update, follow me at ShonenLord@Twitter Following months of silence, reality television star Kim Kardashian re-emerged on social media on Tuesday, posting a photograph of herself with rapper husband Kanye West and their two children. family A photo posted by Kim Kardashian West (@kimkardashian) on Jan 3, 2017 at 10:56am PST Kardashian, who has 49.3 million followers on Twitter and 89.6 million on Instagram, also posted a home video of her family that will likely put to rest rumors of a divorce. She and West, 39, are shown lovingly embracing in the two-and-a-half-minute clip that also features intimate moments with their two children -- North and Saint. The family picture posted on Twitter had a caption that simply read family. The 36-year-old Keeping Up With the Kardashians star, who also changed her profile picture on Twitter and Instagram Tuesday, had not been heard from on social media since October, when she was robbed at gunpoint in Paris. Her rap superstar husband, meanwhile, reportedly suffered a breakdown in November that landed him in hospital and forced the cancellation of his tour. Celebrity website TMZ said the couple had returned to Los Angeles from Oklahoma on Tuesday after visiting his mothers grave site. Follow @htshowbiz for more US President Barack Obama will make a short but politically charged trip from the White House to Capitol Hill Wednesday, calling allied lawmakers to arms in defense of his signature healthcare reforms. Obamas eight-year drive to extend medical coverage to tens of millions of Americans will come under sustained assault when President-elect Donald Trump takes office January 20 with Republican majorities in both house of Congress. In a preemptive strike, the outgoing president will meet Senate and House Democrats, principally (to) discuss how to counter the stated Republican objective of repealing the Affordable Care Act, said White House spokesman Josh Earnest. Obamas rare legislative pilgrimage coincides with a dueling visit to the Congress by Vice President-elect Mike Pence. Were focused on repealing and replacing Obamacare, Pence said Tuesday. We look forward to legislation that will give us the tools to roll back the avalanche of red tape and regulation that have been stifling American jobs. After a crushing election loss, Democrats may have limited options for stalling reforms without significant Republican defections. They also face criticism that Obamas reforms have led to rising insurance premiums and a string of technical problems. Repeal and then what? But while Republican opposition to Obamacare is clear, their prescription to fix it is not. House Speaker Paul Ryan has proposed a tax credit system as a possible replacement, but the costs to government and individuals remains vague. Some Republicans have suggested repealing Obamacare now and replacing it at later, perhaps after the next election. But the White House is betting that Americans voters will react with fury if Trump moves to strip millions of coverage with no viable alternative. They are hoping that public outcry could force Trump to confront some of the more ideologically driven reforms proposed by his own party. The president-elect is seen as highly sensitive about his public standing. He has been quick to tweet defensively about perceived slights or reminders that despite his electoral college victory in the November elections, his rival Hillary Clinton still won the popular vote by almost three million ballots. Trump comes to office with 48 percent of Americans polled by Gallup believing he is handling the transition effectively. That is far less than the 75 percent approval Obama enjoyed at the same point or George W. Bushs 65 percent. Republican legislators are eager to take charge after eight years spent fighting against Obamas policies. But some are wary that white working class Americans, who delivered them to office, may bear the brunt of any reforms. Gutting Obamacare could also have knock-on effects for funding healthcare for retirees, a group essential to the Republican Partys survival. In these two issues, Democrats see pressure points they hope to exploit in defense of Obamas plan. Its not surprising to me that there are some Republicans who are now a little queasy about the prospect of the impact that repealing Obamacare would have on their own supporters, said Earnest. We know there are people all across the country who benefit from this law, who are protected by this law, whose lives have been saved by this law. Obama is believed to have put this point directly to Trump when they talked soon after the election. Privately many Democrats admit their best hope now could be offering Trump some form of political victory, so long as the plan survives more or less intact. Britains ambassador to the European Union has confirmed what many in London and Brussels believed - that there is muddled thinking among those responsible for taking the country out of the bloc, and resigned his post weeks before crucial Brexit talks are to begin. Ivan Rogers, considered one of the top British experts on the EU, put 10 Downing Street on the backfoot after writing a resignation email to his staff in Brussels, asking colleagues to speak truth to power and to tell ministers unvarnished and uncomfortable views from Europe. Prime Minister Theresa Mays government is accused of not having a plan or clarity on Brexit, with sharp divisions among political parties. May has insisted she will try to get the best possible deal for Britain after triggering Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty to exit the EU by the end of March. Rogers, who was due to leave his post later this year, resigned to make way for his successor before Article 50 is triggered. His email to staff said the "government will only achieve the best for the country if it harnesses the best experience we have". Downing Street said it would not comment on the resignation email, though Rogers was "free to express his own opinions". But former Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith, who campaigned to leave the EU during last years referendum, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that when a civil servant "starts going public", ministers "can no longer trust that individual". Rogers told his staff: "I hope you will continue to challenge ill-founded arguments and muddled thinking and that you will never be afraid to speak the truth to those in power. I hope that you will support each other in those difficult moments where you have to deliver messages that are disagreeable to those who need to hear them." He said the government would only succeed if it "negotiates resolutely", adding, in a reference to the remaining 27 EU states: "Senior ministers, who will decide on our positions, issue by issue, also need from you detailed, unvarnished - even where this is uncomfortable - and nuanced understanding of the views, interests and incentives of the other 27." SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON China plans to conduct a record number of 30 space launch missions this year as part of its efforts to expand its ambitious space programme, authorities said on Wednesday. The record-breaking space launches will be launched by Long March-5 and Long March-7 rockets, China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation said. Long March-5 is Chinas largest carrier rocket. The successful test launch of the vehicle in November in South Chinas Hainan Province will pave the way for space station construction, state-run China News Service reported. China recently released an official white paper on its space missions stating that it will launch a lunar probe in 2018 to achieve worlds first soft landing on the far side of the moon and a mission to Mars in the same year. Wang Yu, general director of the Long March-5 programme, said 2017 is a critical year for Chinas new generation of carrier rockets and the Long March-5 rockets will carry Change-5 probe to the space. The probe will land on the moon, collect samples and return to Earth, it said. On the other hand, Long March-7, the more powerful version of Long March-2, will send Chinas first cargo spacecraft Tianzhou-1 into the space in the first half of 2017, according to Wang Zhaoyao, director of China Manned Space Engineering Office. Tianzhou-1 is expected to dock with Tiangong-2 space lab and conduct experiments on propellant supplement. China conducted 22 launch missions in 2016 and 19 in 2015. The country successfully tested its Long March-7 rocket in June last year and has gradually shifted to new generation rockets that reduce the use of toxic rocket fuels. In the next five years, China plans to provide space and aviation-related services to countries involved in the One Belt and One Road initiative, such as satellite communications, navigation and weather forecasting analysis. President-elect Donald Trump said Tuesday he will hold a press conference on January 11, during which he has previously indicated he would unveil plans to avoid any conflict of interest between the White House and his business dealings. Trump has not held a press conference since July, and his announcement gave just the latest date set for the much-delayed event previously due to take place December 15. He was elected in November. I will be having a general news conference on JANUARY ELEVENTH in N.Y.C. Thank you. Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 3, 2017 Precedent has seen American presidents-elect field numerous press conferences during the transition to power to discuss matters such as their choices to fill their cabinet and policy plans for the incoming administration. Instead Trump has relied largely on rallies, photo ops, select interviews and -- in unprecedented fashion -- on tweets. He has largely snubbed thus far the tradition that the presidential news conference has become. His methods of communicating news about the transition have been unorthodox for an incoming head of state. Last month, he unexpectedly announced to reporters camped in the lobby of his Manhattan Trump Tower skyscraper that Masayoshi Son -- the flamboyant head of Japanese telecoms giant SoftBank and a self-made billionaire -- had announced a $50 billion investment in the US that would create 50,000 jobs. Economic announcements of this magnitude are rare and generally take place through a news release or a carefully planned press conference, requiring the efforts of many public relations experts who carefully consider every word and gesture. Steven Mnuchin, tapped to become Secretary of Treasury, and Wilbur Ross, the commerce pick, announced on CNBC television that they had been appointed to their Cabinet positions by Trump. The official announcement was published several hours later. As for the nomination of his future Secretary of Defense, James Mattis, the president-elect announced the pick during a rally in Cincinnati, Ohio, the first stop of his thank you tour in the industrial states that gave him the presidency. A record five Indian-Americans have taken oath as members of the US Congress, scripting history for the minority ethnic community that comprises just one per cent of Americas population. 52-year-old Kamala Harris, whose mother was from India and father from Jamaica, was sworn in on Tuesday as the Senator from California by outgoing US vice president Joe Biden. She is the first Indian-American to have ever served in the Senate. She was accompanied by her husband Doug Emhoff, sister Maya Harris and other members of her immediate family during the swearing in ceremony. Harris, who before the swearing in held the position of California Attorney General, replaced Senator Barbara Boxer, who decided against seeking re-election. She is one of the seven new Senators to have taken office in the new Congress. Today I was sworn-in to the US Senate. I am humbled and honoured to serve you and the people of California. Lets get to work, Harris said immediately thereafter. After her elections, she has made it clear that her top priority would be to fight out the alleged divisive policies of the Republicans who are now in majority in both the House of Representative and the Senate. A few hours later, the focus of the community shifted to the House Chambers wherein as many as four Indian-Americans were sworn in as its members, including Congressman Ami Bera, who has been re-elected for the third consecutive term. In the process Bera, 51, equalled the record of Dalip Singh Saundh, who exactly 60-years ago became the first Indian-American to be elected as a member of the US Congress. Joining Bera was young and dynamic Ro Khanna (40) representing the Silicon Valley. He was sworn in on a bicentennial edition of the Constitution on loan from the rare books division of the Library of Congress. Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi, 42, who won the election from Illinois took the oath on Gita. He is only the second US lawmaker after Tulsi Gabbard from Hawaii to take the oath on a Gita. Gabbard, the first ever Hindu to be elected to the US Congress took the oath for third consecutive term. Having created a national niche for herself even before being sworn in, Pramila Jayapal (51) is the first Indian American woman in the US House of Representatives. Her 78-year-old mother, who especially came in from India, watched the proceedings from the gallery. The worlds oldest killer whale, a 100-year-old animal affectionately known as Granny, is missing and presumed dead, scientists say. Following Granny and other matriarch killer whales has shown their crucial role within the family group. They guide the pod as it forages, take care of other females young calves and even feed the larger males, researchers said. These post-reproductive female leaders help their families to survive, and the advantage they offer could show what drives a species to evolve to stop reproducing. It was inevitable that this day was going to come but it is very sad news and a further blow to this population, said Darren Croft from the University of Exeter in the UK, who leads this evolutionary biology research. In her later years she had been helping her family group to survive by sharing her knowledge of when and where to find food, said Croft. The orcas of an area known as the Salish Sea - close to Vancouver and Seattle - have been the subject of a four decades long study led by Ken Balcomb from the Center for Whale Research (CWR). He had first photographed Granny, official named J2, in 1976, BBC News reported. On the centres website, which first reported Grannys death, Balcomb wrote that he last saw her on October 12 last year as she swam north far ahead of the others. Perhaps other dedicated whale-watchers have seen her since then, but by years end she is officially missing from the Southern Resident Killer Whale population, and with regret we now consider her deceased, he said. More than 130 inmates have escaped in one of the largest jailbreaks in recent years after suspected Muslim rebels attacked a jail in the southern Philippines before dawn on Wednesday, officials said. Jail warden superintendent Peter Bongat said a guard was killed and an inmate was wounded in a gunbattle when dozens of gunmen stormed the North Cotabato District Jail in Kidapawan. The city is in Cotabato Province. Kidapawan police chief superintendent Leo Ajero said two prisoners of the 132 who escaped had been recaptured, and army troops and police were searching for the others. The jail held more than 1,500 inmates. Local village leader Alexander Austria said he and his men had captured one of the men. He said the exchanges of gunfire woke his village, which was several kilometers (miles) from the prison, and he immediately posted guards because of worries the attackers and escaped inmates could enter the village. We heard the gunfire and we sprang into action to guard our village, Austria said. We were afraid the escapees could try to enter our village to hide or take hostages. Windows Holographic VR Headset Microsoft announced at its Windows 10 event in late October that it had big plans for virtual reality (VR) products. The Development Edition of its HoloLens augmented reality (AR)/VR headset has been featured in many applications including one for the block-building game "Minecraft." Lenovo is using Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2017 to show off the first Windows 10 VR headset. Advertisement This update is in line with Microsoft's Windows 10 event. The tech giant revealed that original equipment manufacturers (OEM) would develop mid-range VR headsets to work with application program interfaces (API) in Windows 10. Microsoft also shared the price tag of the VR headsets would be about $300. That is appreciably higher than the $20 Google Cardboard but also fairly low since it provides room-scale VR. The price is much lower than the $799 HTC Vive and $599 Oculus Rift. Lenovo's new headset also weighs just 350 grams (12.3 ounces) compared to the HTC Vive's 555g (19.5 oz.). It will also be about 100g (3.5 oz.) lighter than Oculus Rift, according to Engadget. The Chinese tech company's VR headset has a design like Sony's PlayStation VR. That is because the lenses hang over the user's eyes rather than a strap holding them in place. Lenovo's VR headset with OLED panels uses 1440p x 1440p resolution. That is the standard for the Windows Holographic platform and is higher than Vive and Rift. The new VR gadget will also support inside-out, six degrees-of-freedom tracking. An external camera will therefore not be needed. The new headset will probably include HoloLens apps. They require the unit's two front cameras that end the need to set up light posts in the room for tracking, and might also allow for live video to stream to the two mini screens. Lenovo plans to price its VR headset in the range of $300 to $400. It hopes, however, the price will be closer to $300, according to Digital Trends. The Chinese company has not released a launch date yet for the VR headset although it will ship in 2017. This OEM VR headset could be the first Windows-powered headset to earn big sales in the VR market. Lenovo was founded in 1984. It manufactures several tech products including desktops, notebooks, tablets, and smartphones. Here's "Minecraft" for HoloLens: When US president-elect Donald Trump takes the oath of office on January 20 on Capitol Hill amidst all the attendant pomp and pageantry, his defeated Democratic rival Hillary Clinton will be in the audience with her husband, former president Bill Clinton. They are attending the inauguration as will be former president George W Bush, who, along with his father, former president George H W Bush, did not endorse Trump. But he had called to congratulate Trump after this victory. Former presidents are invited to attend by protocol with their spouses, but they dont have to. Hillary Clinton, as the defeated rival, also didnt have to attend Mitt Romney didnt at President Barack Obamas second inauguration in 2012. But Clintons attendance is likely to be seen as another symbol of a peaceful transition of power after a bitterly contentious race. Of the two other living former presidents Jimmy Carter will be attending but not George H W Bush, for health reasons. Iraqi forces pressed gains against Islamic State militants in eastern Mosul on Wednesday and have retaken two more districts, security sources said, with thousands more civilians fleeing the fighting. An elite interior ministry unit had entered the Mithaq district and were clearing it on Wednesday, the sources said, while counterterrorism forces retook an industrial zone on Tuesday. The militants are using the city terrain to their advantage, concealing car bombs in narrow alleys, posting snipers on tall buildings with civilians on lower floors, and making underground tunnels and surface-level passageways between buildings. We were very afraid, said one Mithaq resident. A Daesh (Islamic State) anti-aircraft weapon was positioned close to our house and was opening fire on helicopters. We could see a small number of Daesh fighters in the street carrying light and medium weapons. They were hit by planes. Most of those fleeing are from the eastern districts but residents of the besieged west, still fully under the militants control, are increasingly attempting to escape, scaling bridges bombed by the coalition and crossing the Tigris by boat. A displaced Iraqi woman, who fled the Islamic State stronghold of Mosul, carries her baby in the Mithaq district of eastern Mosul on Wednesday. (Reuters) Despite shortages of food and water, most Mosul residents had stayed in their homes rather than fleeing as many had expected before the offensive began in October. The UN refugee agency has said 125,568 people have been displaced from Mosul, a city of about 1.5 million, and more than 13,000 of those have fled in the five days since the US-led coalition renewed an offensive that had stalled for weeks. That represents an increase of nearly 50% in the number of people who fled every day from Mosul over the several weeks of relative calm that ended last weekend. Twelve weeks into Iraqs largest military campaign since the US-led invasion of 2003, security forces have retaken about a quarter of Mosul. Finally we have been freed, a second Mithaq resident told Reuters by phone. We feared fighting would be fierce, but it was easy compared with other areas. Daesh members fled without putting up strong resistance. Counterterrorism units pushed into eastern Mosul in October but regular army troops tasked with advancing from the north and south made slower progress and the operation stalled. After redeploying forces, Iraqi forces have been advancing on three fronts towards the Tigris river that bisects Mosul, in a second phase of the offensive. Victory in Mosul would probably spell the end for Islamic States self-styled caliphate but in recent days the militants have displayed the tactics to which they are likely to resort when they lose the city, with bomb attacks in Baghdad, and attacks on security forces in territory they have lost. Iraqi journalist Afrah al-Qaisi, known in her country for criticising the government in satirical articles for local media, has been released unharmed after being kidnapped by unidentified gunmen in Baghdad a week ago. The head of the Iraqi Journalistic Freedoms Observatory, Ziyad al-Ajili, said on Wednesday the kidnappers had returned the car, telephone, laptop and gold jewellery they took when they broke into her home and that she drove back overnight around midnight. A video aired by the Kurdish NRT channel showed emotional scenes after Qaisi, who used to work for the Saudi-owned pan-Arab newspaper Asharq al-Awsat, was reunited with her family and friends after returning home. I just want to say that Im fine and I was well treated, she said, sobbing and shaking. Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi telephoned Qaisi to check on her well-being after her release, his media office said. The kidnapping highlighted the dangers journalists face in Iraq, where 71 have been killed with impunity over the past decade, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). Many were victims of Sunni insurgents active in Iraq even before Islamic State militants overran around a third of the country more than two years ago. But other armed factions, including Shia militias, some backed by the government, have grown increasingly powerful through their participation in Baghdads fight against Islamic State. An Israeli soldier was convicted of manslaughter on Wednesday in the deadly shooting of a badly wounded Palestinian attacker, capping a nine-month saga that has deeply divided the country. The verdict, which marks an extremely rare case of an Israeli military court convicting a soldier for lethal action taken in the field, threatened to deepen the rift. Military commanders have condemned the soldiers conduct while much of the public, along with leading members of the nationalist ruling coalition, have rallied behind him. With Sgt. Elor Azarias sentencing believed to be weeks away, the country now faces a heated debate over whether he deserves clemency. Within minutes of the verdict, leading politicians were already calling for him to be pardoned. Under Israeli law, the countrys largely ceremonial president has the authority to issue a pardon. Azaria, an army medic, was caught on video in March fatally shooting a wounded Palestinian attacker who had stabbed a soldier in the West Bank city of Hebron. The Palestinian, Abdel Fattah al-Sharif, was lying on the ground and already unarmed when Azaria shot him in the head. In delivering the verdict, which lasted nearly three hours, Colonel Maya Heller, head of a three-judge panel, rejected Azarias defense in painstaking detail. She said there was no evidence to support his contradictory claims that the attacker was already dead or that he posed any threat at the time, telling him he couldnt have both sides of the stick. She called his testimony unreliable and said he needlessly shot the assailant. We found there was no room to accept his arguments, she said. His motive for shooting was that he felt the terrorist deserved to die. Azaria faces a maximum penalty of 20 years behind bars, though he is not expected to receive that much time. The military said he would be sentenced on January 15. The defense team said it would appeal. The 20-year-old Azaria entered the court smiling and appearing confident, and he was embraced by a few dozen relatives and friends. But as the verdict was delivered, he stared gloomily ahead, and tensions quickly boiled over in the cramped, crowded courtroom. Members of Azarias family clapped sarcastically as the decision was delivered, some screaming Our hero! A female relative was kicked out of the courtroom for screaming at the judges, and a second woman stormed out, shouting, Disgusting leftists. After the judges walked out, Azarias mother, Oshra, screamed, You should be ashamed of yourselves. Azaria tried to comfort her and calm her as she wailed. Another family member whipped his jacket at a female reporter, missing his target and instead hitting another relative. Hundreds of the soldiers supporters, many of them young religious men wearing skullcaps, gathered outside the military court in Tel Aviv ahead of the verdict. The crowd, holding large Israeli flags and banners, periodically scuffled with police. Some demonstrators chanted veiled death threats against the Israeli armys chief, Lt. Gen. Gadi Eizenkot, insinuating he would face the same fate of slain Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, assassinated 20 years ago by an ultranationalist Israeli. Gadi, Gadi, watch out. Rabin is looking for a friend, the demonstrators chanted. The crowd was quickly dispersed without any further violence. The shooting occurred at the height of what has become more than a yearlong wave of Israeli-Palestinian violence. Azarias defenders said he shot the assailant in self-defense and accused the army of abandoning a soldier on the battlefield, and hard-line politicians have said he should be either cleared or released with a light penalty. But his detractors, including senior military commanders, have said his actions violated the armys code of ethics and procedures. The uproar has put the army, the countrys most respected institution, in a delicate position. Military service is compulsory for Israels Jewish majority, and there is widespread sympathy for soldiers, since virtually every family has a member who is serving or has served in the past. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who initially defended the militarys handling of the case, later softened his position and called Azarias parents to console them. The dispute helped fuel the resignation of Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon, who sided with the military, earlier this year. His successor, Avigdor Lieberman, visited Azaria in court. Education Minister Naftali Bennett, leader of the pro-settler Jewish Home Party, has also sided with Azaria and led the chorus calling for his immediate pardon on Wednesday. Lieberman, who heads a hard-line nationalist party, said he disagreed with the difficult verdict but urged the public to respect the courts decision. He said the defense establishment would do everything it can to help Azaria and his family. We must keep the army outside every political argument ... and keep it in the widest consensus in Israeli society, he said. Miri Regev, a popular Cabinet minister from Netanyahus Likud Party and a former military spokeswoman, and Shelly Yacimovich, a leading opposition lawmaker, also called for him to be released. President Reuven Rivlins office said a pardon request would be weighed only following a conclusive judicial ruling. With Azaria still facing sentencing and an appeals process, that means the matter may not come before the president for some time. The statement gave no indication whether Rivlin would support a pardon, saying only that he would consider a request in accordance with standard practices and after recommendations from the relevant authorities. Israeli rights groups have accused the army of failing to prosecute soldiers who commit unnecessary violence against Palestinians, and trying a soldier for a crime as serious as manslaughter is virtually unheard of. According to the army, the only manslaughter conviction in recent years came in 2004 over the fatal shooting of a pro-Palestinian British activist. Gilad Grossman of Yesh Din, a rights group that monitors the Israeli military justice system, said the video of Azaria shooting the Palestinian gave the military no choice but to prosecute. Sharon Gal, a spokesman for the Azaria family, accused the court of siding with human rights groups over a soldier on a battlefield. It was like the court was detached from the fact that this was the area of an attack. I felt that the court picked up the knife from the ground and stabbed it in the back of all the soldiers, he said. Lt. Col. Nadav Weissman, a military prosecutor, said this was not a happy day. We would have preferred that this didnt happen. But the deed was done, and the offense was severe, he said. In Hebron, the slain Palestinian attackers father welcomed the decision. I feel good. It is fair. This is an achievement of the court that it condemned the soldier, said Yousri al-Sharif. Al-Sharif gathered with his family in his home to watch the verdict being read live on Israeli television. I was exhausted and tense, he said. I smoked two packs of cigarettes while watching the verdict. Thousands of people are starting to return to formerly rebel-held east Aleppo despite freezing weather and destruction beyond imagination, a top UN official told Reuters from the Syrian city. In the last couple of days around 2,200 families have returned to the Hanano housing district, said Sajjad Malik, country representative in Syria for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). People are coming out to east Aleppo to see their shops, their houses, to see if the building is standing and the house is not that looted ... to see, should they come back, he said in an interview. Boys walk past debris in Doudyan village in northern Aleppo Governorate. (Reuters Photo) Appalling conditions It is extremely, bitterly cold here, said Malik. The houses people are going back to have no windows or doors, no cooking facilities. Aid is vital to prevent more deaths. The UN is helping people to restart their lives in one room of their apartments to start with, he said, giving them mats, sleeping bags and plastic sheets to cover blown-out windows. Bread and water Hanano was one of the first Aleppo neighbourhoods to fall to rebels in 2012, and the first to be retaken by the Syrian government on its way to seizing back full control of the northern city last month - the biggest victory for President Bashar al-Assad in nearly six years of war. As government forces rapidly advanced after months of fierce Syrian and Russian air strikes, some residents stayed put, tens of thousands fled of their own accord and around 35,000 fighters and civilians were evacuated in late December in convoys organised by the Syrian government. A general view shows tents housing displaced people from Aleppo in al-Kamouneh camp, in Idlib province. (Reuters Photo) Reconstruction will take a long time, Malik said, but the immediate priority is to keep people warm and fed. UN-supported partners provide hot meals twice a day to 21,000 people, and 40,000 people get baked bread every day. Over 1.1 million people once again have access to clean water in bottles or through tankers and wells. Mobile clinics are up and running, and more than 10,000 children have received polio vaccinations. Thousands of children who have not been able to attend school need reintegrating into the education system through remedial classes to rebuild their confidence, Malik said. There was no register of births, deaths and marriages in the rebel-held sector, so the UN is working with the government to issue people with papers. I met a woman with five children and she was excited that she now has her kids registered as Syrians. She has ID cards and a family book, he said. Samah, 11, and her brother, Ibrahim, transport their salvaged belongings from their damaged house in Doudyan village in northern Aleppo Governorate, Syria. (Reuters Photo) Bombing has destroyed hospitals, schools, roads and houses, and damaged the two main water pumping stations. The experienced UN official said the level of destruction surpassed anything he had seen in conflict zones like Afghanistan and Somalia. Nothing would have prepared us to see the scale of destruction there, its beyond imagination. Read | Aleppos fall will change US and Russian roles in Syria A commission probing violence in Myanmars Rakhine State on Wednesday denied security forces had abused Rohingya -- days after a video emerged showing police beating civilians from the Muslim minority. Tens of thousands of Rohingya -- a group loathed by many among Myanmars Buddhist majority -- have fled a military operation in the northwestern state, launched after deadly attacks on police posts in October. Dozens have died in the crackdown, while escapees now in neighbouring Bangladesh have alleged rape, arson, murder and torture at the hands of security forces. Myanmars government, led by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, said the allegations were made up and has resisted mounting international pressure to act to protect the minority. On Wednesday, a commission set up to investigate the violence released its interim report dismissing claims that security forces had carried out abuses or has embarked on a campaign to force the Rohingya out. The size of the Bengali population, mosques and religious buildings in the unrest-hit area are proof that there were no cases of genocide and religious persecution, it said in a statement carried in state media. Myanmar refuses to recognise the Rohingya as one of the countrys ethnic minorities, instead describing them as Bengalis -- or illegal immigrants from neighbouring Bangladesh. The commission, headed by a former army general until recently blacklisted by Washington, also found insufficient evidence of rape and was still looking into claims of arson, illegal arrests and torture of the Rohingya. Legal action has been taken against 485 civilians, it said, without giving further details. The statement comes days after the government detained four police officers over a video shot by a fellow policeman that shows them beating and kicking Rohingya villagers, a rare admission of abuse. More than 120,000 have been trapped in squalid displacement camps since sectarian violence erupted in 2012, where they are denied citizenship, access to health care and education. Acknowledging that he is not a miracle-maker, the new UN chief Antonio Guterres has said that conflicts in the world are multiplying and interlinked and have triggered a new phenomenon of global terrorism. Speaking to his staff on his first day at the UN headquarters after taking over the world bodys reins from Ban Ki-moon, 67-year-old Guterres said his election as the UN chief has generated a lot of expectations but he cautioned that there are no miracles. I think we should have no illusions. We are facing very challenging times. On one hand, we see everywhere in the world conflicts that multiply, that are interlinked, that also have triggered this new phenomenon of global terrorism, conflicts in which international humanitarian law is not respected, situations in which we see massive human rights violations, even refugee law is no longer as respected as it was few years ago, he said. I am sure I am not a miracle-maker. And the only way for us to be able to achieve our goals is to really work together as a team, and to be able to deserve to serve the noble values enshrined in the Charter (of the United Nations), he said. The former Portuguese Prime Minister said nations are failing to recognise that there is a unifying factor in everything we do. And that factor is people. People is undivided. And when we look at the different areas of action in the UN, we need to integrate them, because people integrate them on the receiving end, he said. Guterres also stressed on the need to ensure that we are able to reform the UN development system as Member States have asked us, and we need to try to get rid of this straight jacket of bureaucracy that makes our lives so difficult in many of the things we do. This requires a lot of effort from ourselves, but this also requires a lot of discussion and dialogue and mutual understanding with Member States and we need to overcome many of the divides that still exist within the organisation. Guterres called for teamwork, saying it is not enough to the do the right thing, we need to earn the right to do the right thing. It is important for us to recognise our achievements (...) but we also need to recognise our shortcomings, to recognise our failures and where we are not able to deliver as we should, he said, outlining the multitude of challenges -- ranging from complex conflicts to global terrorism -- confronting the world. Guterres first day at UN Headquarters as Secretary General began with the laying of a wreath at the Memorial Wall. Shortly after taking office two days ago, he made an appeal for peace. Let us make 2017 a year in which we all -- citizens, governments, leaders -- strive to overcome our differences, Guterres said Sunday morning, urging people to share his New Years resolution: Let us resolve to put peace first. Chinese media and netizens on Wednesday hailed the death of Xinjiangs most wanted terrorist in US air strikes in Syria as a superb New Years gift, stressing the importance of global fight against terrorism while glossing over Chinas stonewalling of Indias bid to slap a UN ban on JeM leader Masood Azhar. Abu Omar al-Turkistani, head of Chinas Turkistan Islamic Party (TIP) -- a branch of the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) fighting for the separation of Xinjiang province -- was killed in a US drone strike in Syria on Sunday. The air strike in Sarmada in northwestern Syria reportedly claimed the lives of eight persons, an article in the state-run Global Times said on Wednesday. A large number of Uighur militants from Xinjiang have reportedly joined the Islamic State and are fighting along with it in Syria. While the Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang declined to react saying he is not aware of the details, the daily said many Chinese netizens gave their thumbs up and even called it a superb New Years gift. Amid applause for the move from the US, the event also indicates the internationalisation of terrorism and the significance of joint anti-terror efforts, the article said. ETIM, which is active in the Uighur Muslim-majority province of Xinjiang, has been listed as terrorist body by UN for its alleged involvement in a spate of violent attacks in China. The UN listed ETIM as a terrorist organisation in 2002. Yet over the past years, some Western nations have been refusing to cooperate with Beijing, and even accused China of violating freedom of religion when it comes to cracking down on ETIM, which shielded the emergence of the extremist group, the article said. Given geopolitical factors, interests and competition among major powers, international anti-terror collaborative actions have been far from effective. However, if every nation only cares about its own interests and short-term prospects while standing aloof from other countries terrorist threats, nobody can be immune from the expansion of terrorism in the end, it said, skirting any reference to China repeatedly blocking Indias efforts to get Azhar listed as a global terrorist by the UN. China justified its efforts to block Indias move, saying there was no consensus, amid assertions by New Delhi that Beijing was the only country in the 15-member committee to block the move to get Azhar listed as terrorist. As a result, India has to file a fresh application before the UN 1267 Committee this year along with details of charge sheet about Azhars involvement in Pathankot terror attack. Over 100 clerics were among 150 people arrested on Wednesday in Pakistans Punjab province for trying to hold a rally to celebrate the killing of liberal governor Salmaan Taseer in 2011 over the controversial blasphemy issue. Defying prohibitory orders, clerics gathered in Lahore to hold a rally on Main Boulevard in Gulberg area to celebrate Taseers sixth death anniversary, local media reported. Protesters belonging to religious parties like Sunni Tehreek, Tehreek-i-Khatme Nabuwat and Tehreek-i-Labbaik Ya Rasool (SAW) were among those who had planned to march from Kalma Chowk to Liberty Chowk in Lahore to eulogise Taseers killer and express support for blasphemy laws. Taseer was killed on January 4, 2011 in Islamabad by his bodyguard Mumtaz Qadri for allegedly criticising the blasphemy laws in the country -- a sensitive issue in the country. A police official said that the clerics had planned two separate rallies in Gulberg and the Mall Road areas of the city. The government banned the Gulberg protest while allowing the clerics to hold a rally on the Mall Road. Defying government decision, hundreds of supporters of the three religious groups gathered in Gulberg for a rally but police went into action, disrupting the protest and arresting around 150 of them, over 100 of whom were clerics, local media reported. Protesters also put up dozens of banners in Lahore and other cities, declaring Qadri as a hero. Senior police officials said no one had permission to hold a rally in Lahore. They added that the Punjab government had not allowed the demonstrators to hold any rally in Lahore and police would block routes and make arrests if necessary. Main area and arterial roads were blocked and police personnel were heavily deployed across the city. Due to the diversions, capital of Pakistans most populous province also witnessed severe traffic jams along certain routes. Qadri was apparently infuriated when the governor visited a Christian woman called Aasia Bibi, who was given death sentence for alleged blasphemy, and on the occasion he termed blasphemy regulations as black law. Qadri, who was arrested and convicted of murder, was hanged in Rawalpindis Adiala jail in 2016 and buried in Bhara Kau area of Islamabad where his supporters are constructing a shrine to honour him. Blasphemy laws were enacted by former military ruler Ziaul Haq in 1980s and clerics have refused to allow any reforms in the laws despite concerns about their misuse. Sales of Adolf Hitlers Mein Kampf have soared since a special edition of the Nazi leaders political treatise went on sale in Germany a year ago, the German publisher has said. The book outlines Hitlers ideology that formed the basis for Nazism and sets out his hatred of Jews, which led to the Holocaust. The new edition is the first reprint since World War Two, released last January after a 70-year copyright on the text expired at the end of 2015. It includes explanatory sections and some 3,500 annotations, and has sold 85,000 copies to the surprise of its publishers. These sales figures have taken us by storm, Andreas Wirsching, who heads up the publishers, the Institute for Contemporary History (IfZ) told German news agency dpa. No-one could really have expected them, he added. Hitler wrote Mein Kampf, which translates as My Struggle in English, between 1924 and 1926. It was banned by the Allies at the end of World War Two. Hitler wrote most of the first, highly autobiographical, volume while incarcerated in Landsberg prison after his failed Munich coup attempt in 1923. After his release, he wrote much of the second volume at his mountain retreat near Berchtesgaden. A bestseller after he became chancellor in 1933, Mein Kampf had by 1945 sold 12 million copies and been translated into 18 languages. China in Need of More Organs and Hospitals, Say Experts Despite the increasing number of Chinese people registering for organ donation, there remains a deficit in organs that can be used for transplants. (Photo : Getty Images) In a recent event held in Beijing, delegates of the 2016 China International Organ Donation Conference concluded that there are not enough organ donors in the country. A patient by the name of Liu Ning waited for a year for her liver transplant. She said, "Every day I was racing with time. I did not know whether death or a new liver would come to me first." Advertisement "Hope is a terrible thing as it makes you endure endless waiting. I was tired of asking doctors whether I could get a new liver and was ready to quit," she added. As of Monday, savelife.org.cn reported that about 110,000 Chinese citizens have registered themselves as organ donors. Savelife.org.cn is an organ donation registration platform under the National Health and Family Planning Commission (NHFPC). The Chinese government has banned the illegal trade of organs since 2011. Since then, the Communist Party has been encouraging registration of organ donors. Organ donation has been regarded as taboo by much traditional Chinese and does not agree with organ donations as respect to their ancestors. However, many young people, especially the younger generation, have become organ donors because of the growing awareness on the issue, according to Zhu Jiye, director of the Organ Transplantation Center of Peking University. Zhu said, "Organ donation needs wider dissemination as in most cases, it relies on coordinators, who find possible organ sources and persuade them and their families to donate." There is also the problem with the lack of storage facilities, according to Chen Jingyu, deputy head of Wuxi People's Hospital in East China's Jiangsu Province. He said that many donated organs ultimately go to waste due to poor storage. South Korea is committed to deploying an advanced US missile defense system this year despite opposition from China, a minister said Wednesday, even as opposition lawmakers headed to Beijing with a different message. Seoul and Washington agreed to deploy the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system in the South after a string of North Korean nuclear and missile tests -- prompting strong objections from China. THAAD deployment is part of our efforts to bolster defense against threats from North Korea, Defence Minister Han Min-Koo said in a report to the countrys acting president. This is not a subject for political considerations, he told Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-Ahn, who took over the executive powers of scandal-hit President Park Geun-Hye after she was impeached last month. But the opposition Democratic Party has said they will review the deployment if they win upcoming presidential elections, and a group of their lawmakers flew to Beijing to meet Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and other top officials. They are going to convey our belief to China that the THAAD issue should be left in the hands of the next president, the partys parliamentary floor leader Woo Sang-Ho said. Originally set for December 2017, the countrys presidential election may be brought forward if Parks impeachment is upheld by the Constitutional Court, which has up to six months to decide. The Democratic Partys presidential hopeful Moon Jae-In is currently the frontrunner in the race. Beijing argues THAAD will hurt its security interests and increase the risk of military conflict in the region, and has imposed what have been seen in South Korea as a string of sanctions in retaliation for the development. These include new restrictions on Korean K-pop stars and other celebrities appearing on Chinese TV programs or performing in the mainland. China also refused to approve chartered flights from South Korea for the Lunar New Year holiday, hitting the lucrative tourism industry. Washington maintains THAAD is no threat to Beijing. Theres no reason for China to oppose that system. This is a defensive system. And theres no reason for anyone in the region to have concern about that, other than, perhaps, North Korea, Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook said Tuesday. The proposed missile system has also sparked angry protests from both residents of the areas where it is set to be deployed. Residents of Damascus are scrambling for clean water after the government attacked rebels holding the citys main source in a nearby valley, leading to an accidental outage that has stretched on for nearly two weeks. The cut-off is a major challenge to the governments effort throughout the nearly 6-year-old civil war to keep the capital as insulated as possible from the effects of the conflict tearing apart much of the country. I have stopped cleaning the house, washing dishes or clothes. We no longer take showers, said Mona Maqssoud, a 50-year-old resident of Damascus. She said residents have relied on water tankers that come by occasionally and give 20 liters (5 gallons) of water to each house, but that hasnt been enough. We begged the drivers (to return) to our neighborhood, but they refused. The cut-off, since December 22, is the longest Damascus has seen, say residents, who are accustomed to intermittent outages. The opposition has long controlled Wadi Barada, the valley northwest of Damascus through which the river of the same name flows to the capital. The Barada River and its source, the Ain al-Fijeh spring, supply 70 percent of the water for Damascus and its environs. The government and the opposition had previously had an understanding to keep water services running. But that modus vivendi ended when forces of President Bashar Assad and his allies, the Lebanon Hezbollah guerrilla force, attacked the valley, home to some 100,000 people. The two sides blame each other for the cut-off. An activist-run media collective in the Barada Valley said government and Russian aircraft had bombed the Ain el-Fijeh water processing facility, puncturing its fuel depots and contaminating the water stream. The collective said the plants electrical control systems had been destroyed as well. Images showed the roof of the facility collapsed into its main water basin. An activist with the group, Abu Mohammed al-Bardawi, said it would take at least two months to get the facilities working again. Read | Syria truce begins, but clashes erupt near Damascus Damascus officials said they were forced to shut off the water after opposition forces poured gasoline into the river. The government denied attacking the water processing facility, saying it would not set out to harm its own population. Still, it would not be the first time it strikes its own facilities: government strikes hit pumping stations in the northern city of Aleppo in April, September, and November. The battle for resources has always been an undercurrent to the war. The government, in particular, has advertised its efforts to keep electricity and water flowing to areas under its control, while it blocks the U.N. and other relief agencies from supplying opposition zones. But rarely has that struggle been so starkly felt inside the capital. Damascus, the seat of Assads power, has been spared from the widespread destruction in other parts of the country, though rebels on the outskirts occasionally fire mortar rounds into the city. Hundreds of thousands of Syrians have flocked to the capital seeking its relative security, swelling its population to 4 million from 2 million, according to the UN. For its residents, the water cuts are a grueling reminder of the war beyond. If this goes on, I will rent a room at a hotel just to take a shower, said a 60-year-old woman carrying a pair of buckets back to her apartment on the sixth-floor of a walk-up building. Like many others in the capital, she was filling her basins from distribution points at a parks and mosques. The local press is reporting soaring prices for unregulated private water. Residents are making adjustments to cope. Some are now flushing their toilets with bottled water. Others are dining on disposable tableware as an alternative to doing the dishes. Ground wells around Damascus, even at maximum capacity, can only cover about a third of the minimum water demand of around 600,000 cubic meters a day, according to UNICEF spokeswoman Juliette Touma. The agency has rehabilitated some 200 wells around the capital since 2011, partially insuring the government against the effects of its own Barada Valley campaign. This year, UNICEF funded $50 million in water projects in Syria. The Barada Valley is surrounded by all sides by the Syrian army and Hezbollah forces, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the conflict. Pro-government forces have kept up their assault with airstrikes, artillery and infantry pushes, despite a Russia and Turkey-brokered cease-fire that went into effect Friday. The government and the Observatory say fighters loyal to al-Qaida are present in the valley, and the militant are not included in the cease-fire. Local residents say there are no al-Qaida fighters in the valley. Most of the food depots have now been struck and burned, said al-Bardawi. They are striking the schools we are using for shelters. In early December, pro-government media reported efforts by officials to reach a so-called reconciliation agreement with the towns and villages of Barada Valley, under which thousands of dissidents, military defectors and draft-dodgers would leave in exchange for the valley submitting to government control. The opposition and the U.N. have likened these sorts of agreements to forced displacement. Such deals were reached in other areas around the capital under the pressure of years of government bombardment and siege. Barada opposition fighters and councils have held out against any settlement. Activists say they believe that prompted the renewed government assault. Opposition forces have retaliated by choking a natural gas pipeline to Damascus to pressure the government to stop its offensive, compounding the woes of the resource starved capital. A group of rebels calling themselves the Coalition for the Joint Defense of Syria filmed themselves cutting the gas to the capital at an isolated station outside the capital Thursday. At least five suspected Islamic State group militants believed to be linked to the deadly Istanbul nightclub attack were detained by Police on Wednesday, Turkeys state-run news agency reported. Anadolu Agency said the operation was launched in the Aegean port city of Izmir and was on going. The gunman, who killed 39 people during New Years celebrations, has not been publicly named and is still at large. Read: Two Indians among Istanbul nightclub attack victims: Sushma Swaraj The IS group has claimed responsibility for the attack, which also wounded nearly 70 people. The private Dogan news agency said the police operation targeted three families who had arrived in Izmir about 20 days ago from Konya a city in central Turkey where the gunman is thought to have been based before carrying out the nightclub attack. It said 27 people, including women and children, were taken into custody. At least 14 people were previously detained in connection with the attack, including two foreigners stopped Tuesday at the international terminal of Istanbuls Ataturk Airport after police checked their cellphones and luggage, according to Anadolu. Turkeys parliament approved a government-backed motion to extend by another three months the state of emergency imposed in the wake of the July 15 failed coup against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The state of emergency -- which has seen tens of thousands lose their jobs or be arrested on suspicion of links to the putsch -- had already been prolonged once before and was due to expire on January 19. Ankara argues the state of emergency is needed to eradicate the influence in Turkish institutions of the US-based Islamic preacher Fethullah Gulen, who it blames for the failed coup. Gulen denies the charges. However, the state of emergency -- which is now set to last at least nine months -- has troubled the European Union which fears it has been used for a broad crackdown against Erdogan critics and not just suspected coup plotters. According to the latest figures published by the state-run Anadolu news agency, over 41,000 people have been arrested over suspected links to Gulen in the investigation. Over 103,000 people have been investigated as part of the probe, it added. The state of emergency gives the government special powers to fire state employees and close down associations, including media groups. It also extends the time that suspects can be held in jail without being charged. Erdogan had in November already hinted that the state of emergency would be extended, lashing out at the European Parliament which had backed freezing membership talks with Turkey over the emergency powers. Whats it to you? he said in comments directed at the European Parliament. Is the European Parliament in charge of this country or is the government in charge of this country? Know your place! he added, in an angry tirade. He noted that France had also put in place a state of emergency after it was hit by a string of Islamist attacks in 2015. Turkey warned on Wednesday that a new round of Syria peace talks was at risk, accusing Syrian President Bashar al-Assads government of violating a fragile truce it brokered with Russia last week. The nationwide ceasefire has brought quiet to large parts of Syria, but has been threatened by ongoing fighting in the Wadi Barada region near the capital Damascus. Government forces backed by Lebanons Hezbollah group are fighting to recapture the area, which is the main source of water to the capital. Supply has been cut since December 22, with the regime and rebels trading accusations over responsibility. Turkeys foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on Wednesday urged the regime and its backers to end their violations of the truce, warning they were jeopardising the planned talks in Kazakh capital Astana this month. If we do not stop the increasing violations, the Astana process could fail. After the ceasefire, we see violations, Cavusoglu told the state-run Anadolu news agency in an interview. When we look at who commits these violations, it is Hezbollah, in particular Shia groups and the regime, he added. He urged Russia and Iran, which both back Assad and are also helping prepare the Astana talks, to pressure Damascus and Hezbollah to stop the fighting. Despite the call, fighting continued on the ground in Wadi Barada on Wednesday, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor said. It reported ongoing clashes as well as government air strikes and artillery fire in the area, but had no immediate details on casualties. Turkish foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu speaks during a news conference (Reuters file photo) Talks to halt fighting Wadi Barada has been under government siege since 2015, but government forces upped pressure on the region several weeks ago as they tried to secure a reconciliation deal with rebels there. The regime has reached a series of such deals with opposition forces around Damascus in recent months, offering rebels safe passage to other parts of the country in return for surrender. The government accuses rebels in the area of deliberately targeting water infrastructure, causing leaking fuel to poison the supply to the capital, and then cutting the flow altogether. Rebels say the infrastructure was damaged in government strikes and deny responsibility for the damage that has left four million people without water since December 22. On Tuesday, the government brought reinforcements to the area, the Observatory said. But opposition officials and Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman also reported ongoing talks on a deal to end the fighting and repair the water infrastructure. Local officials want... Russian teams to enter to fix the infrastructure in exchange for a halt to the fighting, Abdel Rahman told AFP. But the regime wants control of the spring and the pumps to prevent any blackmail or threats in the future, he added. This is their condition for halting military operations. In this photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, Syrian president Bashar Assad, right, meets with Alaeddin Boroujaerdi, who leads the foreign policy and national security portfolios at Iran's top Shura Council, left, at the Syrian presidential palace, in Damascus, Syria, on Wednesday. (AP) Iranian official in Damascus The opposition accused Hezbollah of preventing Russian officials from entering Wadi Barada to assess the work needed and continue negotiations. A checkpoint belonging to the Hezbollah militia prevented the Russian officers from entering, Ahmed Ramadan of the National Coalition opposition body said in a message to journalists. The ceasefire and Astana talks are the latest bid to resolve nearly six years of conflict in Syria, which has been ravaged by violence since an uprising began in March 2011. More than 310,000 people have been killed and over half the country displaced in the violence, which has drawn in regional and international players. Regime ally Moscow began a military campaign in support of Assads government in September 2015, and Turkey launched its own fight against the Islamic State group and Kurdish fighters in northern Syria in August last year. Despite backing opposite sides in the conflict, Ankara and Moscow have worked closely to broker the ceasefire and plan the Astana talks, which Cavusoglu said could take place on January 23. Regime ally Iran is also involved in organising the talks, and top official Alaeddin Boroujerdi was in Damascus on Wednesday for talks with Assad. He praised the governments recapture of Aleppo city last month, and pledged that Iran would continue to back the government, Syria state media reported. A government official was suspected to have carried out a rare shooting rampage in China on Wednesday in which two officials were wounded when a gunman burst into a meeting and opened fire, the Xinhua news agency reported. The shooting happened at an exhibition centre in Panzhihua city in Sichuan province. The gunmen fired multiple shots at city leaders assembled there before fleeing, Xinhua reported. The shooter was suspected to be the chief of the citys Land and Resources Bureau, who was found dead after committing suicide on the second floor of the building, it said. Xinhua did not give any more details about the attack or a motive. Telephone calls to the city governments information office were not answered. The mayor and the head of the citys municipal committee were wounded but would survive, Xinhua said. Violent crime is rare in China, compared with many other countries, and gun ownership is strictly controlled, but there has been a series of knife attacks in recent years, including one in November when seven children were wounded. Violence claimed the lives of at least 6,878 civilian Iraqis last year, the United Nations said on Monday, as the Iraqi government struggles to maintain security nationwide and to dislodge Islamic State group militants from areas under their control. The U.N. Assistance Mission for Iraq, known as UNAMI, said its numbers have to be considered as the absolute minimum as it has not been able to verify casualties among civilians in conflict areas, and of those who lost their lives due to secondary effects of violence ... due to exposure to the elements, lack of water, food, medicines and health care. Read | Iraq: Before blast, suicide bomber attracted crowd by offering job; 36 killed UNAMI said in a statement that 12,388 other civilians were wounded in 2016. It added that last year figures didnt include casualties among civilians in Iraqs western Anbar province for the months of May, July, August and December. According to UNAMI figures, at least 7,515 civilians were killed in 2015. The monthly UN casualty report for December 2016 showed that a total of 386 civilians were killed and another 1,066 were wounded. The worst affected area was the northern province of Ninevah, where government forces are fighting to retake the IS-held city of Mosul, with 208 civilians killed and 511 injured. The capital, Baghdad, came next with 109 civilians killed and 523 injured. IS, known locally by the Arabic acronym Daesh, has claimed responsibility for a string of bombings in Baghdad that have killed more than 50 people in the last week alone. The deadliest IS attack was in July when a massive suicide bombing in a bustling market area in central Baghdad killed almost 300 people, the bloodiest single attack in the capital in 13 years of war. This is, no doubt, an attempt by Daesh to divert attention from their losses in Mosul and, unfortunately, it is the innocent civilians who are paying the price, Jan Kubis, the special representative of the U.N. Secretary-General for Iraq, said in the statement. The group was also behind Mondays suicide bombing in a commercial area in eastern Baghdad, which killed 41 people and wounding 64 others. Several other attacks, including one carried out by five suicide bombers against two police stations in the city of Samarra north of Baghdad, killed at least 27 people and wounded 89. Backed by the U.S.-led international coalition, Iraqi government troops and paramilitary forces launched the campaign in mid-October to dislodge IS from Mosul Iraqs second-largest city and the last major IS urban bastion in the country. Unlike other reports, last months report didnt include casualties among security forces. The U.N. came under criticism from the Iraqi military last month after reporting that nearly 2,000 members of the Iraqi forces had been killed in November. The Iraqi government has not publicized the casualty figures for government troops and paramilitary forces fighting in Mosul and elsewhere in northern Iraq. The United States has said it encourages India and Pakistan to resolve all their outstanding disputes bilaterally, including the one relating to the Indus Waters Treaty, and sees no role for itself as a mediator. Pakistans Dawn newspaper had reported on Monday that the US had offered to mediate the dispute in a phone call between US secretary of state John Kerry and the Pakistani finance minister Ishaq Dar in late December. I can confirm that he did speak on the 29th of December with Finance Minister Dar, state department spokesman John Kirby said in response to a question about the call from Kerry. Im not going to read that out in any great detail. He went on to say that the Indus Waters Treaty, signed in 1960 by the two countries, had served as a model for peaceful cooperation and, We encourage, as we have in the past, India and Pakistan to work together to resolve any differences. Asked if the US had offered to mediate, Kirby said India and Pakistan need to resolve it bilaterally, a position Washington takes on all attempts to drag it into problems between the two countries. Recent reports in Pakistan indicated Islamabad felt frustrated by the World Banks decision to pause two different processes initiated by India and Pakistan to resolve the dispute arising out of two power projects planned in the Indus river system by India. India had sought a neutral expert and Pakistan had asked for the chairman of the Court of Arbitration to resolve the dispute, which the World Bank--which brokered the treaty--felt created a risk of contradictory outcomes that could potentially endanger the treaty. We are announcing this pause to protect the Indus Waters Treaty and to help India and Pakistan consider alternative approaches to resolving conflicting interests under the Treaty and its application to two hydroelectric power plants, World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim had said in a statement in December. This is an opportunity for the two countries to begin to resolve the issue in an amicable manner and in line with the spirit of the treaty rather than pursuing concurrent processes that could make the treaty unworkable over time. I would hope the two countries will come to an agreement by the end of January. Islamabad, it appeared from Pakistani press reports, decided to seek Washingtons help instead. Though Kirby gave no details about Kerrys call with Dar, the US doesnt want to get involved in this dispute as he reiterated US position on all India-Pakistan disputes that it wants the two countries to resolve their differences bilaterally. The worlds oldest killer whale, a 100-year-old mammal affectionately known as Granny, is missing and presumed dead, scientists have said. Tracking Granny and other matriarch killer whales has shown the crucial role played by the mammal in the family group. They guide the pod as it forages, take care of other females young calves and even feed the larger males, researchers said. These post-reproductive female leaders help their families to survive, and the advantage they offer could show what drives a species to evolve to stop reproducing. It was inevitable that this day was going to come but it is very sad news and a further blow to this population, said Darren Croft from the University of Exeter in the UK, who leads this evolutionary biology research. In her later years she had been helping her family group to survive by sharing her knowledge of when and where to find food, said Croft. The orcas of an area known as the Salish Sea - close to Vancouver and Seattle - have been the subject of a four decades long study led by Ken Balcomb from the Center for Whale Research (CWR). He had first photographed Granny, official named J2, in 1976, BBC News reported. Granny was considered to be missing by the end of 2016. (Picture courtesy: CWR official website) On the centres website, which first reported Grannys death, Balcomb wrote that he last saw her on October 12 last year as she swam north far ahead of the others. Perhaps other dedicated whale-watchers have seen her since then, but by years end, she is officially missing from the Southern Resident Killer Whale population, and with regret we now consider her deceased, he said. Frederic Francis Gerard was a man of many rolesincluding one at the Little Bighorn. Fluent in French, English, Lakota, Arikara and Ojibwe, Gerard was a natural as an interpreter for the 1876 expedition, helping Lieutenant Colonel George A. Custer communicate with his company of Arikara soldier-scouts (see related story,P. 26). He was also an experienced fur-trader, an unlicensed frontier physician,a sometime journalist, a dabbler in gold before the intrusive Black Hills Expedition of 1874 and the head of three families, with four white children, three half-Arikara daughters, and one half-Blackfeet son. Frederic was born on November 14, 1829,to Francois Gerard, a French-Canadian,and Catherine Trotier, an American of French ancestry, and grew up speaking both French and English. His hometown was St. Louisonce part of the French colonial empire in North America that had extended from north of Quebec to south of New Orleans and west into the domain of the Plains Indians. Fascinated with medicine, he spent four years at St. Xaviers Academy, and at 19 he ventured north to Fort Clark, Dakota Territory, signing on as a clerk for the American Fur Co., which supplied the wannabe doctor with medical books and bottles of pills. Arikara medicine men initially viewed Gerard as a potential rival but later sought him out for second opinions. He earned the name Swift Buffalo by quickly learning the Arikara language and for his horsemanship in buffalo hunts.The Lakotas named him Strikes the Bear after he fought off a grizzly with a knife in 1855. He soon learned their language, too. Many Plains tribes spoke rudimentary Lakota, just as many Europeans outside France spoke rudimentary French. Given his courage and, perhaps more important, his linguistic skills, Gerard was put in charge of the American Fur trading post at Fort Berthold in 1857. There he took up with an Arikara woman named Helena Catherine and sired three daughtersJosephine in 1860, Carrie in 1862 and Virginia in 1864. He sent his daughters down the Missouri for a Catholic education, and Josie and Virginia ultimately became Benedictine nuns in a St. Joseph convent. In 1863 Fort Berthold trader Gerard welcomed a party of prospectors headed downriver from the Montana Territory goldfields. They proudly showed him their mackinaw boat fitted with a false bottom, beneath which theyd concealed an estimated $100,000 in gold dust. Gerard warned the men not to follow the river through Lakota country, but they did and were wiped out. Hearing of the massacre,Gerard sent an Arikara relative to recover the gold dust from the boatand received a coffee pot and several belts full of ore. Rumor soon had it the treasure came from the Black Hills. In 1869 American Fur sold Fort Berthold, and Gerard became an independent trader in Montana Territory, soon fathering a son, Frederic Francis Jr., with a Blackfeet woman named Catherine. Within a few years, however, a band of hostile Blackfeet ambushed his train and made off with the goods. Starting over, he staked a claim near Fort Abraham Lincoln, Dakota Territory, and supplied meat and vegetables to the Army postuntil the Northern Pacific Railroad discovered his claim lay on their land grant. Fortunately,he had earlier saved from Indian ambush a railroad survey party headed by Custers old West Point friend Tom Rosser. In gratitude the Northern Pacific gave Gerard 40 acres of land south of Mandan that he later sold for a tidy $5,000. The man of many languages hired on in July 1872 as post interpreter at Fort Lincoln, and as the Army planned its 1876campaign, Gerard secured a slot as interpreter for Custers Arikara scouts. He signed up on May 12, just five days before the Arikaras, singing their death songs,joined the 7th U.S. Cavalry on the fateful expedition into Montana Territory. Gerard was with Custer at the Crows Nest, overlooking the Little Bighorn, when sharpeyed scouts described the huge Lakota-Cheyenne village Custer couldnt see.He and the company of 40 Arikaras were assigned to bolster Major Marcus Renos three companies of troopers when Custer tried to surround the village. When the village exploded with angry warriors, Gerard and the Arikaras fell back into the timber with Renos men, and when Reno ordered the retreat over the Little Bighorn, Gerard was stuck in the cottonwoods with a dozen other soldiers and scouts. No fan of Reno, Gerard later told Lieutenant Edward S. Godfrey that only two or three of the boldest Lakotas had infiltrated the woods,and Reno probably would have lost fewer men had he stayed put. He later recalled that no one at the Reno Court of Inquiry in Chicago seemed interested in his opinion. During the retreat Gerard and Billy Jackson, a mixed-blood Blackfeet scout, had kept their horses and found cover with Lieutenant Charles De Rudio and Private Thomas ONeill, both unhorsed. When night fell the four fugitives tried to escape by fording the river. No one knew how deep the Little Bighorn was, and Gerard supposedly took out his expensive gold watch and offered an incantation and sacrifice: Oh, Powerful One, Day Maker!And you, people of the depths, this I sacrifice to you. Help us, I pray you, to cross safely! With that, he threw the watch into the river, and his horse waded out and never got wet above the knees. Considering Gerards Jesuit education, and that two of his daughters were nuns, its quite possible Billy Jackson made up this story.Regardless, when a party of Lakota warriors challenged them on the opposite bank, Gerard and Jackson rode off, leading them away from De Rudio and ONeill. All four ultimately made it to Reno Hill,where Gerard found 13 of the Arikara soldiers in the troopers ranks. The others,minus two dead, had just kept riding,though most rejoined the command on June 28. During the hours-long standoff Gerard, with his laymans knowledge of medicine, assisted Dr. Henry Porter. The remnants of the 7th Cavalry soon returned to Fort Lincoln, where Gerard remained post interpreter until July 1883. On November 15, 1877, at age 48, Gerard married Ella Scarborourgh Waddell,a young and respectable woman from Kansas City. He fathered four more childrenFrederic Curtis in 1878, Birdiein 1880, Charles in 1888 and Florence in1893. Carrie, his middle daughter with his first Arikara wife, lived with the family until adulthood. Fred Jr., son of the Blackfeet wife, remained a stranger. Once married to a white woman, Gerard opened a store, became active in local politics and operated a ferry across the Heart River. In 1890 he moved his third and final family to Minnesota, where he worked in advertising for the Pillsbury Baking Co. Gerard once dryly remarked he was probably helping to sell flour given to the reservation Indians who almost killed him at the Little Bighorn. He lived out the last months of his life in the care of Benedictine nuns at St. Cloud, including the two daughters from his first marriage. Fred Gerard died on January 30, 1913. Originally published in the June 2015 issue of Wild West. To subscribe, click here. Actors Wagner Moura and Pedro Pascal speak onstage during the 'Narcos' panel discussion at the Netflix portion of the 2015 Summer TCA Tour at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on July 28, 2015 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo : Photo by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images) It was just in September when the crime drama web television series, "Narcos," ended its second installment. With the third season expected to be out sometime this year, recent reports claim that "Sense8's" Miguel Angel Silvestre will be joining the series. According to MNA, it was confirmed that Silvestre is going to be part of the upcoming "Narcos" Season 3. Although the same publication noted that no revelation has been made yet regarding his role, Silvestre provided hints on his character. The actor said that he will be portraying an enigmatic person, and that his character has a dark past which involves a bad relationship or a painful love story. Advertisement The 34-year-old Spanish actor also revealed that his character will display an aura full of hate. Silvestre also added that he is going to do a Colombian accent for his role in "Narcos" Season 3. Meanwhile, the same report cited that "Narcos" Season 3 will focus on the Cali Cartel, which is the rival cartel of Pablo Escobar (Wagner Moura). It can be recalled that the recent season showed the death of the series' lead character, Pablo, from the hands of the Colombian authorities. Reports said before that the producer of the series already confirmed that they could not prevent Moura's exit. On the other hand, Guide noted the entry of several new characters in the anticipated "Narcos" Season 3. According to the publication, Andrea Londo will be joining the cast to portray the role of Maria, who is a young and strong beauty queen from Colombia. Aside from her, it is said that Nicholas Gonzales will be on board to play the role of DEA agent Lopez. Another addition to the crew is Michael Stahl-David, who is said to fill the role of Chris Feistl. There is still no official release date of "Narcos" Season 3, but reports suggests that it is expected to air sometime in 2017. Laws, California, was built in anticipation of a railroad the narrow-gauge Carson & Colorado to be exact. The Carson & Colorado Railroad Co., formed on May 10, 1880, envisioned its line running from Mound House, Nevada, on the Carson River, to the Colorado River. By the time the tracks arrived in Californias Owens Valley three years later, the budding settlementthen known simply as Station comprised a depot, an agents house, a section supervisors house, a water tank, a railway turntable and outhouses. Other structures soon followed, including homes, two general stores, a hotel, a boardinghouse, a blacksmiths shop, a dance hall, a barbershop, warehouses and (in 1887) a post office. The 300-mile C&C railroad never did reach the Colorado, but it provided a boost to Station and environs, shipping livestock and crops from local ranches and ore from district mines. In 1900 the C&C sold the line to the Southern Pacific Railroad, which changed the towns name to honor longtime Southern Pacific superintendent R.J. Laws. The town of Laws became the main shipping point for supplies to such Nevada gold boomtowns as Tonopah and Goldfield. Laws remained a close-knit, solid community for another half-century. Its decline in the 1950s was attributed to, among other things, the closure of local mines and the lower cost of shipping by truck vs. rail. By 1959 it was virtually a ghost town. The last train left the depot on April 30, 1960, and soon after Southern Pacific officials presented a gift deed to Inyo County and the city of Bishop for steam locomotive No. 9 together with other rolling stock and the Laws station building and surrounding installations for safekeeping in behalf of generations to come. With a groundswell of public support the Bishop Museum and Historical Society purchased additional land for an outdoor museum to preserve the areas railroad era. The society saved the few remaining buildings in the town of Laws and moved in other historic buildings from around the Owens Valley to recreate the village. Film crews working on the 1966 Western Nevada Smith, starring Steve McQueen, shot at various locations in the Owens Valley and Inyo National Forest, using Laws as a set and building additional structures. As the Laws Railroad Museum and Historic Site took shape, several old-timers visited to share their memoriesa retired engineer stood beside locomotive No. 9 and envisioned his hand on the throttle; an elderly couple remembered the day the man greeted his bride-to-be at the depot; an old sheep rancher described loading his woollies onto train cars; and a former cattle rancher recalled the sound of the train whistle blowing once his stock was all aboard. The main attraction at the site remains the trains. Parked on the tracks beside the original 1880s depot is the 1909 Baldwin 4-6-0 steam locomotive No. 9. Visitors are encouraged to climb into the cab and ring the bell. Trailing behind are several freight cars and an 1883 C&C caboose. Another intriguing railcar on display is the 1929 self-propelled Brill Co. car, donated by the Death Valley Railroad and fully restored in 2004. Summer visitors can hop aboard and ride the historic train. The village holds its own appeal. Near the depot are the original agents house, water tank and oil tank, as well as the working turntable. Stroll farther into town to find the post office, a general store and a saloon, to name just a few of the historic buildings. In all youll find more than 30 structures, including an icehouse from Bishop, an early gas station and its pumps, the 1909 North Inyo schoolhouse and Bishops first Catholic church. At the east end of town, nestled amid a grove of trees, are several small restored Victorian homes, which house exhibits of 19th-century clothing, appliances, musical instruments, childrens toys and other artifacts. The Laws Railroad Museum & Historic Site, off U.S. Highway 6 in Inyo County, 5 miles from U.S. 395, is open year-round. For more information call 760-873-5950 or visit www.lawsmuseum.com. Originally published in the June 2015 issue of Wild West. To subscribe, click here. The Hunkpapa Lakota warrior Left Hand is one of the quiet enigmas of Custers Last Stand a man who served as both a scout for Lieutenant Colonel George A. Custer and a warrior for Sitting Bull but died without explaining why he did what he did. Left Hand signed on as a U.S. Army Indian scout on December 9, 1875, and mustered out in early June 1876 while serving with Brig. Gen. Alfred Terrys column (including the 12 companies under Custers immediate command), then headed west into Sioux country. What happened between then and the battle is open to conjecture, but Left Hands fate is certain: In 1912 Arikara scout Young Hawk told interviewer Walter Mason Camp, When Left Hands time expired, he joined the Sioux, his own people, and after the Battle of the Little Bighorn River his horse was found in the village, and his dead body among those left in the village by the Sioux. Left Handalso known as Chat-ka (Lakota for left)was one of five Lakota scouts who had signed on with Custer in December 1875. These Lakotas were especially important to Custer, as neither the Arikara scouts he and brother Tom signed up near Fort Abraham Lincoln nor the Crow scouts he later secured from Colonel John Gibbon spoke Lakota. Arikara is a Caddoan language. The Crow language, while Siouan, is not mutually intelligible between a Crow and a Sioux. Left Hand was identified as a Hunkpapa, a people that came to be known as the Sitting Bull Sioux. The Hunkpapas (whose name means Head of the Circle) were the northernmost band of the Lakota tribe. They traditionally avoided any type of contact with whitesunlike the Oglalas, Brules and friendlier Sans Arcsalthough they had fought Custer during the 1873 Yellowstone Expedition. The Indians were made up of different bands of Sioux, principally Uncpapas [sic], the whole under command of Sitting Bull, who participated in the second days fight, Custer wrote to his wife. A large number of Indians who fought us were fresh from the reservations on the Missouri River. Many of the warriors engaged in the fight on both days were dressed in complete suits of the clothes issued at the agencies to the Indians. The arms with which they fought us (several of which were captured in the fight) were of the latest improved patterns of breechloading repeating rifles, and their supply of metallic cartridges seemed unlimited. The year after that inconclusive campaign Custer led an expedition through the Black Hills that the Hunkpapas and other Lakotas considered a violation of the 1868 Treaty of Fort Laramie. A year later the government told the Lakotas the United States wanted to buy the Black Hills, said to be full of gold from the grass roots down. Some of the Lakota chiefs offered to sell for $70 million; the government offered $6 million. Delegates from the Oglala Crazy Horse and the Hunkpapa Sitting Bull refused to sell at any price, some even threatening to kill any Lakota who touched the pen. Negotiations faltered, and it was around that time Left Hand signed on as a scout. Three possibilities suggest themselves: (1) He may have been an outcast from the Hunkpapas for some personal argument or moral failure, (2) he may have realized the old free-roaming days were doomed and sought to secure his own future, or (3) he may have been a spy sent by Sitting Bull to learn what the whites were up to. In any case Left Hand signed up with the Army just as it was about to order the Sioux to report to their assigned agencies or face condemnation as hostiles. Left Hand does not figure by name in the accounts of Custers other Lakota scouts on the approach march to the Little Bighorn. If, as Young Hawk remembered, Left Hand mustered out in June, he probably would have done so on June 9, 1876, after a six-month term of service. To confuse matters, Young Hawk, who knew Left Hand by sight, named only four Lakota scoutsBear Come Out, Red Bear, White Cloud and Buffalo Ancestorat the columns departure from Fort Lincoln on March 17. As Indians often went by multiple names, Left Hand actually may have been with the 7th Cavalry and scouts when they left Fort Lincoln. Young Hawk was certain, however, he left some weeks before the fight on the Little Bighorn. According to Young Hawk and other Arikaras, en route to the battle the Lakota scouts pointed to signs in abandoned Lakota camps indicating the enemy knew the troops were coming. But again there was no mention of Left Hand. A clue to what may have happened to Left Hand popped up in 1922, when Army officer and World War I veteran Colonel Alfred Burton Welch was interviewing Lakotas at Fort Yates, on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation in North Dakota. On August 17 he spoke to an educated elder named Emeron White. The Sioux people sing a song about a Ree [Arikara] scout who died with Custer, White told Welch. They call him Makpia Tatonka (Buffalo Cloud). He rode a swift horse, but it was wounded, and they got around him. The scout begged for his life and named the firstborn of the families of those Hunkpapas who were around him. This is sacred to the people, to name the firstborn, and they always let an enemy get away when they do that. But this time everyone was excited, and so they killed him there. I think maybe that it was Bloody Knife, his other name. They are all sorry for that thing now and sing this song in his honor: The horse came alone Where is his rider? Where is Buffalo Cloud? Here he lays. The man killed was clearly not the half-Arikara scout Bloody Knife, who was shot not surrounded by Hunkpapa enemies but so close to Major Marcus Reno that the bullet splattered the scouts brains and blood on Renos face. According to witnesses, the other two slain Arikara scouts, Bob-tailed Bull and Little Brave, were fighting when killed. No other Arikaras were reported killed. Whites anecdote raises two questions: What language did the surrounded Ree speak for the Lakotas to have understood him? And how did that man know the names of the Hunkpapas firstborn? Is it possible Left Hand was the one surrounded and killed by his own people as a suspected traitor? Or was he a self-appointed spy who tried to forewarn his people of Custers attack? The Hunkpapa Nation at Standing Rock lists Left Hand, under his Lakota name Chat-ka, as a combatant and casualty on the Indian side: Chat-ka. Hunkpapa Sioux. His body was found in abandoned tepee in the valley after the Little Bighorn battle. He was a scout at Fort Lincoln. Young Hawk, the Arikara scout, offers one more provocative description of Left Hands body at the Little Bighorn: He had on a white shirt. The shoulders were painted green, and on his forehead, painted in red, was the sign of a secret society. In the middle of the camp they found a drum, and on one side, lying on a blanket, was a row of dead Dakotas [sic] with their feet toward the drum. Left Hand was definitely an Army scout, definitely left the Army in June and definitely turned up among the honored Lakota dead after the battle. He may or may not have been the Ree who mysteriously spoke Lakota and knew the names of the Hunkpapa firstborn. He may simply have been accepted back into his warrior society and fought to the death alongside his brothers at the Little Bighorn. Barring new information, the story of Left Hand is another mystery of Custers Last Stand. Originally published in the June 2015 issue of Wild West. To subscribe, click here. Though referred to as scouts, even by Lt. Col. George A. Custer, these Indians enlisted as soldiersand some fought well at the Little Bighorn. On June 2526, 1876, Lakota Sioux and Northern Cheyenne warriors on the Little Bighorn River annihilated the five 7th U.S. Cavalry companies under the direct command of Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer and decimated seven other companies that barely survived to tell the tale of the Armys biggest defeat in the Western Indian wars. That much is familiar even to those otherwise unschooled in 19th-century battles. Far less known is the presenceand fate of a 13th company at that Montana Territory fight. Instead of white soldiers, this company comprised Arikara Indians, mortal enemies of the Lakotas, whom Custer had signed up as U.S. soldiers at the last moment. The Arikaras themselves had mixed feelings that spring when they learned about the Custer expedition of 1876. The Sioux were a formidable enemy, and previous wars and two smallpox epidemics had not been kind to the Arikaras. Many joined up for the money. Young Hawk, an Arikara who had soldiered for Custer before, chose to sit out this campaign. His father felt otherwise and stated, I will go, and my son too. Young Hawk obeyed, as Arikaras had great respect for their elders. Frederic F. Gerard, a fur trader who served as civilian interpreter for Custers Arikaras, took the 40 Arikara volunteers, including the dubious Young Hawk, to the Army encampment near their village by the Missouri River for the enlistment ceremony. Captain Tom Custer was on duty, and Gerard told the Indians to raise their hands for the oath of allegiance (for more on Gerard see Pioneers and Settlers, P. 18; also see the related story and photo of Younk Hawk in Indian Life, P. 24). George Custer then strode in and, through Gerard, told the Arikaras the expedition was imminent, and they were to remain at Fort Abraham Lincoln and not return to their village. The Arikaras were officially American soldiers, unlike the Crow scouts Custer hired later in the campaign. A July 28, 1866, congressional act, amended in 1873, had authorized the president to enlist and employ up to 1,000 Indians as U.S. soldiers, though department commanders were granted the discretion to release them from service. As soldiers the Arikaras received government uniforms and weapons and were subject to military orders. They earned $13 a month, the same as other enlisted men, though white and half-blood scouts often received higher wages. Even Custer himself referred to the Arikaras as scouts, perhaps to boost camaraderie among his Indian forces. Legally, however, they were soldiers and subject to whatever discipline he might impose in a fluid tactical situation. To understand the role of the Arikara soldiers is to better comprehend what happened at the Little Bighorn. The Arikaras were combatants but also somewhat detached observersand some became decidedly more detached as things grew worse for the 7th Cavalry. The Arikaraswho called themselves the Sahnish (original people) and were informally known as the Reeswere the largest of three farming tribes (along with the Mandans and Hidatsas) that since the 18th century had lived in proximity along the Missouri River. To endure the brutal northern Plains winters, they lived in earth lodges thickly insulated with logs, soil and sod. The women raised corn and beans during the growing season, while the men organized sporadic buffalo hunts, camping out in small tepees transported by dogs. Author and illustrator Thomas E. Mails estimated that by 1800 the farming tribes had atrophied to about 3,800 Arikaras, 3,600 Mandans and 2,500 Hidatsas, while the Lakotasfull-time buffalo hunters who cackled at the corn eatershad swollen to some 27,000 members. In 1823 fur trappers clashed with the Arikaras, sparking a brief war in which the tribe faced a force of 230 U.S. soldiers, 50 trappers and 750 Sioux (yes, allies of the whites at the time). The Arikaras escaped extinction mostly through U.S. clemency, and by allowing the tribe a measure of independence, the Americans won the Arikaras cautious loyalty. A decade later the smallpox epidemic of 1837 all but exterminated the neighboring Mandans and severely reduced the Arikaras and Hidatsas. At that low point, mostly out of desperation, they became U.S. allies against their principal enemy, the Sioux. John James Audubon visited the survivors in 1843 and described them as lanky and squalidperhaps because the smallpox had invalided so many Arikaras. Another white visitor in 1858 derided them as sullen, insolent and disease-ridden. By 1876 the Arikaras, badly outnumbered and targeted as white allies, had more reason than ever to side with soldiers trying to contain the powerful Sioux. The nominal commander of the new 13th company was Lieutenant Charles Varnum, a 26-year-old West Point graduate. Custer, however, understood enough about Indians, the Arikaras in particular, to know they would be leery of leadership by such a young man. Indeed, the Arikaras seem to have regarded their own chiefs as field commanders, seldom mentioning Varnum in their reminiscences. After the May 7 enlistment ceremony Custer met in his tent with two veteran Arikara warriors, Bob-tailed Bull and Soldier. The colonel, through interpreter Gerard, first expressed his appreciation: The man before me, Bob-tailed Bull, is a man of good heart, of good character. I am pleased to have him here. I am glad he has enlisted. It will be a hard expedition, but we will all share the same hardships. I am very well pleased to have him in my party, and I told it in Washington. We are to live and fight together, children of one father and one mother. The great-grandfather has a plan. The Sioux camps have united, and you and I must work together for the Great Father and help each other. The Great Father is well pleased that it took few words to coax Son-of-the-Star [the principal Arikara chief] to furnish me scouts for this work we have to do, and he is pleased, too, at his behavior in helping on the plan of the Great Father. I, for one, am willing to help in this all I can, and you must help too. It is this way, my brothers. If I should happen to lose any of the men Son-of-the-Star has furnished, their reward will not be forgotten by the government. Their relations will be saddened by their death, but there will be some comfort in the pay that the United States will provide. Bob-tailed Bull thanked Custer and shared his readiness to die in battle. It is a good thing you say, my brother, my children and other relatives will receive my pay and other rewards, he answered. I am glad you say this, for I see there is some gain even though I lose my life. Custer said further words were unnecessary and stated, Bob-tailed Bull is to be the leader, and Soldier second in command of the scouts. Scouts they may have been in Custers view, but the Arikaras comprised their own company, and on May 17, accompanied by four mercenary Sioux scouts assigned to them, the Arikaras formed up to leave Fort Abraham Lincoln. Theirs was the first company to parade on the fort grounds but the last to leave, marching at the rear of the column that first day. The Arikaras spoke their own tongue, a subset of the Caddoan language family, and used sign language to converse with their attached Sioux scouts and the six Crow scouts Custer plucked from Colonel John Gibbons Montana column on June 21. The Crow scout Curley claimed Custer paid Gibbon $600 to rent the Crows. Custers favorite Indian scout, Bloody Knife, who had a Hunkpapa Sioux father and Arikara mother, also conversed with the Arikaras in sign language. As the column headed up the Yellowstone River, Bloody Knife encouraged the Arikaras to stick with the command no matter what happened. There are numerous enemies in the country, he told them. If we attack their camp [and] are beaten, we must retreat in small groups. You scouts must not run away [or] go back to your homes. Around June 22 the Arikaras arrived at an abandoned Lakota camp, where they found the skeletal remains of a soldier. All about him were clubs and sticks, as though he had been beaten to death, Young Hawk recalled. Only the bones were left. Custer stood still for some time and looked down at the remains. The detachment also found a dead Sioux warrior on a scaffold. On Custers orders they dismantled the scaffold and stripped the corpse, finding a partially healed gunshot wound in the dead mans back. They threw the body in the river. On June 23 the Arikaras looked on as the steamboat Far West ferried cannon (referring to Gatling guns) back across the river, as Custer thought the gun carriages would only slow down the column; the Indians thought this was a mistake. Officers also detailed three Arikaras to carry mail back to Fort Lincoln. The other Arikaras received five mules to carry their supplies as the command, shifting to attack mode, moved out ahead of its supply train. Here Gerard told us he wanted us to sing our death songs, Young Hawk said. Custer then ordered two groups of scouts to go ahead, one on each side of the river. The next day, June 24, the Arikaras and scouts found an abandoned Lakota camp set up around a circular clearing for a sun dance. The Dakota [Sioux] scouts in Custers army said that this meant the enemy knew the Army was coming, Young Hawk recalled. In one of the sweat lodges was a long heap or ridge of sand. On this one Red Bear, Red Star and Soldier saw figures drawn, indicating by hoofprints Custers men on one side and the Dakota on the other. Between them dead men were drawn lying with their heads toward the Dakotas. The Arikara scouts understood this to mean that the Dakota medicine was too strong for them, and that they would be defeated by the Dakotas. Inside another sweat lodge Young Hawk found three stones, each painted red. This meant in Dakota sign language that the Great Spirit had given them victory, and that if the whites did not come, they would seek them, Young Hawk explained. They saw other signs, too, that shook their confidence. That may explain why later that day the Arikaras and their Crow scouts missed the obvious travois trail that ultimately led to the Little Bighorn. Varnum, their nominal commander, took the blame for the oversight and in 1909 shared his recollections with Walter Mason Camp, the dean of Little Bighorn interviewers: Custer told me that [Lieutenant Edward S.] Godfrey had reported that a trail of a part of the Indians had gone up a branch stream to our left about 10 miles back, and Custer was rather angry that I had let anything get away from me. Custer assigned Lieutenant Luther Hare to assist Varnum and his Arikaras, and with Hares help and Custers rebuke fresh on their minds, the Arikaras had no trouble finding the travois trail. They and their attached Crows followed it about 10 miles that afternoon before stopping to make camp. That night Custer summoned Red Star and five other Arikaras to his headquarters tent, around which the officers had clustered. Gerard gave them their instructions: Long Hair wants to tell you that tonight you shall go without sleep. You are to go on ahead. You are to try to locate the Sioux camp. You are to do your best to find this camp. Travel all night. When day comes, if you have not found the Sioux camp, keep on going until noon. If your search is useless by this time, you are to come back to camp. These Crow Indians [known to the Arikaras as Big Belly, Strikes Enemy, Comes Leading and Curly Head] will be your guides, for they know the country. White scout Charley Reynolds accompanied the Indians, as did Mitch Bouyer, a half-blood French-Sioux with a Crow wife who served as an interpreter. The party headed out and soon reached an overlook familiar to the Crows and later dubbed the Crows Nest. I saw two of the Crow scouts climbing up on the highest peak of the hill, Red Star recalled. I heard the Crows call like an owl, not loud but clear. Returning to the group, the Crows warned the Arikaras not to sing a traditional song that meant an enemy was in sight. Then all the scouts climbed up the peak to look for signs of the Dakotas, Red Star continued. Crooked Horn, an older Arikara warrior, told Red Star, Look sharp, my boy, you have better eyes than I. Red Star saw a dark object and light smoke rising from what he assumed was the Lakota village. Reynolds scanned the horizon with his field glasses, scrawled out a note and gave it to Crooked Horn. He in turn handed the note to Red Star and sent him and another Arikara back to the soldiers main camp, marked by rising smoke in the opposite direction. When Red Star reached Custers encampment, a fellow Arikara named Stabbed greeted him: My son, this is no small thing you have done. The Custer brothers, Bloody Knife and Gerard clustered around as George read Reynolds note. Custer then mounted up and headed for the overlook to see for himself. When the party reached the hill, Custer at first claimed he couldnt see the village. Reynolds then handed the colonel his field glasses, and a moment later Custer nodded. The Arikaras and Crows told Custer that while Red Star was relaying the message, they had seen six Sioux scouts, who seemed well aware of the soldiers presence. Custer brushed off the suggestion. These Sioux we have seen at the foot of the hill, two going one way and four the other, are good scouts, Big Belly, one of the Crow scouts, insisted. They have seen the smoke of our camp. I say again we have not been seen! Custer snapped back. That camp has not seen us. I am going ahead to carry out what I think. I want to wait until it is dark, and then we will march. We will place our army around the Sioux camp. That plan is bad, Big Belly replied bluntly. It should not be carried out. I have said what I propose to do, the colonel said curtly. I want to wait until it is dark and then go ahead with my plan. Custer then rode back down to rejoin his command. Circumstances soon forced him to reconsider. In his absence Sergeant William Curtis had turned back along the trail to recover a box of hardtack inadvertently left behind and had encountered several Sioux. After exchanging shots, the Sioux rode off. Ironically, the warriors Curtis saw wouldnt make it back to the Indian village until after the battle. But Custer decided to strike first. He instructed the Arikaras, through Gerard: Boys, I want you to take the horses away from the Sioux camp. Make up your minds to go straight to their camp and capture their horses. Boys, you are going to have a hard day. You must keep up your courage. You will get experience today. The company of Arikaras, by then at the head of the column, joined in the general charge toward the village and its horse herd. Encountering a lone burial tepee, they rode around it, slapping its sides with their quirts and slashing it open: Even a coup on a dead Lakota was worth something. Custer and Gerard soon caught up, and through Gerard the angry colonel said: I told you to dash on and stop for nothing. You have disobeyed me. Move to one side and let the soldiers pass you in the charge. If any man of you is not brave, I will take away his weapons and make a woman of him. Red Bear recalled what a fellow Arikara shouted back to Gerard: Tell him if he does the same to all his white soldiers who are not so brave as we are, it will take him a very long time indeed. The Arikaras laughed at the gibe and rushed into the brewing fight. Six or eight of them split off to rush the Sioux pony herd from two different directions. After cutting out a group of horses, they fired wildly on the Lakota village and then spent much of the day eluding angry Sioux warriors. About half of the Arikaras stuck with Bob-tailed Bull, their war chief, and Bloody Knife, who had accompanied Major Marcus Reno and three companies of white soldiers. Young Hawk was with the Arikara company, as were two Crow scouts, on the left flank of Renos companies as they advanced on the village. Bob-tailed Bull was nearest to the opposing Sioux when they moved to flank Renos left, defending their village in overwhelming numbers. All at once over the middle of the ridge came riding a dense swarm of Dakotas in one mass straight toward Bob-tailed Bull, Young Hawk recalled. At that moment a white soldier beside Young Hawk turned and shouted, John, you go! apparently advising the young Arikara to run for it. The attacking Sioux bore down on the Arikaras, and men started to flee back across the river. The Arikaras claimed the other soldiers were the first to run. In the midst of the melee Bloody Knife had taken a Sioux bullet to the head, and his brains and blood splattered Renos face, adding to the majors dismay over a very bad situation. As they crossed the river, several Arikaras got separated from the command and sought cover in a grove of trees. Among them was Young Hawk, who resolved to die fighting after his cousin Goose was severely wounded and lost his horse to Sioux bullets. After propping up Goose against a tree, Young Hawk helped Crow scout Half-Yellow-Face drag Strikes the Enemy, a wounded fellow Crow, into the shelter of the grove. The sight of the wounded men gave me queer feelings, Young Hawk remembered. I did not want to see them mutilated, so I decided to get killed myself at the edge of the timber. Before going out, I put my arms about my horses neck, saying, I love you. I then crawled out and stood up and saw all in front of me Sioux warriors kneeling ready to shoot. I fired at them and received a volley but was not hit. I was determined to try again and get killed. Just then he spotted Forked Horn, an experienced Arikara warrior, who was firing from behind a cluster of driftwood. Dont you do so again! Forked Horn scolded. It is no way to act. This is not the way to fight at all, to show yourself as a mark. Heeding the older mans advice, Young Hawk fought alongside Forked Horn from behind cover. The Sioux set fire to the grass, trying to smoke out the Arikaras, but it was too green. When a Sioux on a gray horse rode into plain sight, Young Hawk fired, missed, then reloaded and fired again, killing the enemy warrior and shouting in triumph. Some little time after this the Sioux came closer again, he recalled. I saw one Sioux coming right toward me, and I drew a fine bead on him and dropped him. Then I jumped up and gave the death call again. Young Hawk could hear Sioux women crying out, urging their warriors to kill the Arikaras, but the Sioux fire soon slackened, and their attackers rode off downstream. He and Half-Yellow-Face thought Custer must have struck the village from the other side, so they helped Goose and Strikes the Enemy up on their horses and prepared to leave. Spotting an American flag in the commands fallback position atop Reno Hill, they rode that way under Sioux fire while Young Hawk waved a white flag to avoid being shot by fellow soldiers. Just outside the skirmish line on Reno Hill a Sioux bullet dropped the horse Young Hawk loved, but the scouts made it into camp. Major Reno told them in sign language that Bob-tailed Bull was dead. Young Hawk, Goose and the 11 other Arikaras who did reach Reno Hill took position alongside their fellow soldiers, firing at their attackers from behind stacked supply boxes. According to Young Hawk, an officer detailed him, four other Arikaras and a white sergeant to ride out at dusk with a message to the President of the United States, in order that all might know what happened. But enemy fire kept them pinned down all night. The next morning, June 26, the firing resumed on all sides and persisted into the afternoon. Amid the din of battle around midday Young Hawk heard a Sioux singing a war song: Come on, white man, come on if you are brave, we are ready for you. All at once the firing stopped, and soon, just visible in the distance, the Sioux and Cheyennes gathered in the village to dismantle all of their tepees but fivethe burial tepees, as the soldiers later learned. The men atop Reno Hill then watched as the enemy warriors and their families set off toward the Bighorn Mountains. Late that afternoon the Arikaras saw what they first thought was a party of enemy hunters returning to the village. In fact the approaching party was Brig. Gen. Alfred Terrys force, which had arrived to relieve the trapped white and Indian soldiers on Reno Hill. The Battle of the Little Bighorn was over. The Arikaras spent the next day gathering troopers bodies for burial and foraging for food. Records show that of the 40- man company of Arikara soldiers, nine had remained at the Powder River camp or at Fort Lincoln. Of the 31 Arikaras in Custers command, 22 had followed Reno across the river to attack the massive Sioux and Cheyenne village. Only two were killed. Thirteen made it back across the river to join the defenders atop Reno Hill, while the others apparently just kept riding when things turned dire. Brought to battle as mercenaries to fight a common enemy, and motivated by the need to feed their families, some Arikaras fought very wellto the death in the case of Bob-tailed Bull and Little Brave, and with suicidal courage in the case of Young Hawk. An equal or larger number lit out the minute the battle turned sour. That the other half proved plausible soldiers was overlooked when the booty was distributed and glory and honors bestowed. By June 28 the Arikara company had reassembled at Fort Lincoln. The Army quietly paid off the survivors and mustered them out of the service. The Crows got to retain the site of the battlefield within the boundaries of their ample reservation. The Arikaras, though they boasted far more defenders on the firing line atop Reno Hill, resumed life among the Three Affiliated Tribes along the Missouri River, largely ignored by history until the 1940s. The 194753 construction of the Garrison Dam despite vocal opposition by tribal residents of the Fort Berthold Reservation forced the relocation of 1,700 tribal members and inundated virtually all of their farmland and several burial grounds. Though the Three Affiliated Tribes remain along the Missouri in North Dakota, many harbor bitter memories of this most recent battle. In the end the Garrison Dam project did the Arikaras far more harm than anything they suffered fighting their traditional enemies for Uncle Sam in 1876. John Koster is the author of Custer Survivor. Colonel W.A. Graham collected key Arikara narratives in The Custer Myth (1953). Also see the 1920 work The Arikara Narrative of Custers Campaign and the Battle of the Little Bighorn, edited by Orin G. Libby. Originally published in the June 2015 issue of Wild West. To subscribe, click here. Californias grape varieties and wine business might be older than most realize. The region was a part of New Spain in 1779 when Franciscan missionaries planted the first sustained vineyard at Mission San Diego de Alcala. French settler Jean-Louis Vignes was among the first to establish a non-mission vineyard and is credited with introducing a better strain of Vitis vinifera (cultivated European grapevines) to Mexican-governed California around 1833. Many winemakers still consider Vignes the father of the California wine industry. Among the 300,000 people who joined the California Gold Rush were many Forty-Niners who never realized their dream of a golden fortune and turned to agriculture. At the time most California winemakers were still using the Franciscans strain of Mission grapes, which, according to 19th-century historian Lyman L. Palmer, produced sour, unpalatable and dreggy stuff, yet it answered the purpose and was relished by those accustomed to its use from youth to old age. But newcomers from the States and Europe demanded better, and by the 1850s vineyards had sprouted up in Sonoma, Napa, Sutter, Lake, Yuba, Butte, Trinity and El Dorado counties. By the mid-1850s Sonoma had gained notice for its non-mission wine. On December 6, 1858, the Daily Alta California ran the headline Vine Culture in Sonoma and noted, The wine of Sonoma is different from that of the southern portion of the state, being lighter and more like the French wines. Early popular varieties, wrote historian Hubert Bancroft, were Zinfandel and Riesling from Central Europe. Notable winemakers included Agoston Haraszthy de Mokcsa and Charles Krug, founders of two of Californias oldest wineries still operating. Born into Hungarian nobility in 1812, Haraszthy moved to Wisconsin in the early 1840s, where he planted hops for beer and grapes for wine, before joining the exodus to California in 1849. He first settled in San Diego, where he started several business and agricultural concerns, including a vineyard. By 1852 the self-proclaimed count was buying land around San Francisco, determined to find a better place to plant his vines. In preparation he imported from Hungary six choice rooted vines and 160 cuttings. Also in the shipment were two small bundlesone was Muscat of Alexandria, the other Zinfandel. In 1856 Haraszthy purchased an 800-acre Sonoma ranch, renaming it Buena Vista. The following year he excavated tunnels in a nearby mountain for storing and aging wine, and Buena Vista produced 6,500 gallons of its first vintage. By 1860 he had planted more than 250 acres of vines. Quite the innovator, the count created the first gravity-flow wineryin which the grapes fall gently into the fermentation tanks to minimize bruisingand is credited with championing dry-farming techniques and the use of redwood barrels to age wine. In 1861 Haraszthy persuaded the state to sponsor him on a tour of Europe to study winemaking methods. He and son Arpad returned with cuttings representing more than 400 varieties of vines. This encouraged other California winemakers, like Charles Wetmore, to experiment with varieties. Haraszthy and Wetmore were among the first to plant mixed-field blends, with several varieties in one vineyard, to see which worked and which didnt. In 1863 Haraszthy, with the help of investors, established the Buena Vista Vinicultural Society, a corporation dedicated to expanding and modernizing winemaking. While Haraszthy had a successful first year, his costly ambitions exceeded the early demand for California wine. Shareholders forced him out of the society in 1867, and the next year he headed for Nicaragua to look into the sugar and rum trade. In early July 1869 the flamboyant count reportedly fell into an alligator-infested stream on his property. His body never turned up. Despite winning accolades for its wine in 1873 in London, Vienna, Australia, Chile, Japan and Paris, the Buena Vista Winery succumbed to financial pressures, and in 1878 the society auctioned off the estate. Arpad Haraszthy continued to make wine and in 1880 was appointed president of the California Board of State Viticultural Commissioners. In its 1888 annual report Haraszthy noted that the number of vineyards in the state had tripled since 1880, and that overall wine production in 1887 totaled 15 million gallons. But his fathers Buena Vista Winery laid dormant into the 1940s. In 2011 the French-based Boisset wine group purchased the winery [www.buenavistawinery.com], continuing the rich heritage Count Haraszthy began a century and a half ago. Within months of purchasing Buena Vista in 1856, Agoston Haraszthy sold another parcel of land in Sonoma to friend and apprentice Charles Krug, who started his own winery. Krug, who was born in Prussia in 1825 and fought for independence from Germany in 1848, had arrived in San Francisco in 1852 with little money but plenty of determination and a willingness to work hard. He maintained his Sonoma vineyard for two years before selling it, borrowing an apple press and moving to Napa to make wine for pioneer John Patchett. On December 19, 1890, the San Francisco Star published an excerpt of Krugs memoir. When I first visited Napa County, I found less than a dozen small vineyards of so-called Mission vines, he wrote. In October 1858 I made the first lot of wine ever made in Napa County, at the place of John Patchett, Napa City. As a cellar he used an old pioneer adobe house built on the banks of Napa Creek. I said, The first lot of wine ever made in Napa County. Allow me to correct this statement: They offered me in the fall of 1859, at each of the Bale and Yount ranchos, a tin cup full of elegant claret, which had been fermented in large cowhides, tied to and spread out with lassos between four trees and filled with grapes crushed by Indians. In 1861 Krug founded his own winery, centered on a 14-foot-high by 20-footdeep cellar a mile north of St. Helena, and introduced the cider press for winemaking (the first of which remains on display at the winery). By 1872 he was the fourth largest grower in Napa and had expanded his cellar to hold nearly 300,000 gallons of wine. His vineyards grew Rieslings, Muscatel, Burger, Chasselas, Malaga, Black Malvoisie, Flame Tokay, Rose de Peru and Zinfandel. In 1874 a fire destroyed the winery, but that summer Krug built a new cellar of stone, concrete and wood. By fall 1880 he had more than doubled his capacity to 700,000 gallons. By 1892, after widespread damage from phylloxera, an invasive insect, the St. Helena winery had been reduced to 75 acres, of which only 35 were bearing fruit. Krug wanted to keep going. He planned to replant up to 10 acres to Riparia, 30 acres to Lenoir and five acres to Mondeuse, Cabernet Sauvignon, Burger, Cabernet Franc and other grafts, but he died that November before seeing it through. After Krugs death, James Moffitt held the winery in proprietorship through Prohibition, when grapes were often shipped east. In 1943 he sold it to Cesare Mondavi, an Italian immigrant with a passion for wine he passed down to sons Robert and Peter. Today the Peter Mondavi family manages the historic Charles Krug Winery [www.charleskrug.com], and Californias viniculture still celebrates the spirit and tenacity of Krug in Napa and Haraszthy in Sonoma. Originally published in the June 2015 issue of Wild West. To subscribe, click here. Trade deals after Brexit could create almost 400,000 jobs, Change Britain claims. This is an organization that favours Brexit. If UK leaves the European Union (EU), it would be able to negotiate with China, US, India, Canada, South Korea and other countries and economic blocs. It would increase the exports in 23bn and would create 387,580 jobs. Change Britain wants a "hard Brexit" as a way to leave the customs union with the EU and be free to negotiate with other countries. This research is based on calculations made by the European Commission about the increase that exports and jobs would have in the EU as a whole if trade deals were struck with the main economies of the planet. The conclusion was that for every 1 billion euros generated through exports, about 16,700 jobs would be created. Economic freedom will create prosperity There are estimates about the number of jobs that would be created with the trade partners of UK if it leaves the EU customs union. Here we give you the countries and the number of jobs that would be created with each one: US (73,610 jobs), India (29,043 jobs), China (3,505 jobs), Korea (63,094 jobs), Japan (63,094 jobs), Canada (36,555 jobs), Mercosur (34,301 jobs) and Asean (84,376 jobs). A total of 387,580 jobs would be created if UK would have more economic freedom. China, US, India, Canada, South Korea and Mercosur have expressed their interest in trade deals with UK once that it leaves the EU. Britain is not allowed to make its own free trade agreements because it is a member of the EU's customs union. This is an obstacle for the trade development of UK but many important officials believe that it will change. Many people want to leave the EU because they see this as an obstacle to economic growth. The Foreign Secretary, Boris Johnson, has declared that UK will "probably" have to leave the EU customs union. @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. The Turkish government has identified the attacker at an Istanbul nightclub that left 39 people dead and 70 others wounded, according to its foreign minister. Five suspected members of ISIS terror group were already arrested in relation to the attack after it claimed responsibility for the New Year's Eve shooting. The gunman, however, remains at large. In an interview over Turkish TV Anadolu, foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Turkish authorities have already secured the records and fingerprints of the suspect. Although the investigators earlier released photos of the suspect, the Turkish officials did not name the gunman. "The identity of the person carrying out the attack in Ortakoy has been determined," he said. A separate report claimed that the suspect may have trained in Syria and an expert in guerilla warfare. It said that he entered Turkey from Syria and went to the central city of Konya in November. He is traveling with his wife and two children to avoid detection. As of this posting, police detained nearly 30 people as part of its manhunt operation against the suspect including two foreign nationals. Most of the fatalities of the attack were foreigners from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Israel, and Syria. @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt agree to seal the documents of their divorce and custody cases. But she remains relentless on her attack against him, saying her former husband was the bad guy. She remains adamant in blaming him for their marriage woes. After she moves for the sealing of the documents, Jolie said Pitt is the one to blame for the incident that resulted in the breakup of the former A-List couple. Earlier, Jolie went on to unseal the documents making it open for public. After the incident, an irked Pitt accused her of airing their dirty laundry in public. While she agreed with Pitt on keeping their business away from public eye this time, she said the damaging effect of the incident on their children could all be blamed to the actor. In a TMZ article, Jolie was quoted saying that Pitt tries to "deflect from [his] own role in the media storm which has engulfed the parties' children." She added that her former husband prefers to keep the entire case private, particularly given the detailed investigations by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Dept. of Children and Family Services into the allegation of abuse. But the FBI and DCFS earlier closed their investigation finding not enough evidence to indict Pitt. @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. What has Carrie Fisher's death done to the awareness of women's heart disease? Experts reveal possible telltale signs of heart disease Carrie Fisher at the Oscar Wilde awards last Feb. 19, 2015 in Santa Monica, California. (Photo : Getty Images/Alberto E. Rodriguez) Heart disease is one of the leading causes of death across all demographics. Just this past year, a lot of people have unfortunately passed away as a result of this condition. One of the most notable people who succumbed to their heart disease was the well-loved author, actress, and "Star Wars" star Carrie Fisher. Advertisement Fisher suffered a heart attack while she was on a flight going from London to Los Angeles. Medical personnel were able to rush her to the hospital, but she was unable to recover and passed away four days later. Fisher seemed relatively healthy prior to the mishap and was reportedly even able to finish all of her shoots for the next "Star Wars" film. To many, this raised the question of women's heart disease and of heart disease and general, as well as how people are susceptible to it without them even knowing it in the first place. "Heart disease is the No. 1 killer of women and is more deadly than all forms of cancer combined," Dr. Jennifer Mieres, professor of cardiology and population health at Hofstra Northwell School of Medicine, told USA Today in an interview. Research shows that the symptoms women experience prior to a cardiac arrest are deemed more atypical compared to the "textbook" symptoms that men experience prior to an episode. What's even scarier is that two-thirds of the women who experience heart disease showed no telltale signs of the condition. In fact, the occurrence of this condition is so terrifyingly common that it actually occurs once a minute, according to the American Heart Association. Luckily, there are now signs that have been pinpointed that could mean a certain percentage of the female population is at risk of having heart disease. Women are at a higher risk for cardiovascular problems if they experienced menopause before the age of 50. Certain inflammatory diseases such as lupus as well as rheumatoid arthritis can also help determine risk. Other risk factors are specific towards women such as pregnancy complications and preterm births, which is why it is very important to watch out for these things. Watch some of Carrie Fisher's best moments here: Visit expo > BMP Whole Blood Analyzer: GEM Premier ChemSTAT Gold Supplier Influenza A+B DUO Influenza Type A & B Test New Silver Supplier Diamond RealSeal Jerricans Plastic Jerricans New PLUS CRP Turbilatex C-Reactive Protein Test Accuray Incorporated (Sunnyvale, CA, USA) has signed an agreement with Hong Kong Sanatorium & Hospital [HKSH] (Happy Valley, Hong Kong) for the acquisition of three Radixact systems to provide clinicians and their patients access to advanced radiation therapy.Out of the three Radixact systems, two will replace the existing TomoTherapy systems, while one will be installed in a new bunker. As per the agreement, HKSH's existing CyberKnife M6 system will also be upgraded with the latest features for motion management and treatment efficiency. With this, HKSH will become the first hospital in Asia to have both the Radixact and CyberKnife M6 systems for treating patients.Following the agreement with Accuray, HKSH will now be able to treat the full range of cancer patients by using the Radixact system, considered to be the next-generation helical radiation therapy technology. Accurays Radixact systems will allow HKSH to deliver precise radiation treatments and adjust the therapy according to changes in tumor size, shape and location, as well as subtle changes in the location of organs and other healthy tissue."HKSH has a well-earned reputation for high-quality patient care based on advanced knowledge, expertise and technology. We are honored to expand Accuray's role in helping their team meet the needs of their rapidly growing patient population. HKSH will be the first hospital in Asia to have both the Radixact and CyberKnife M6 Systems available for patient treatments. This commitment shows confidence in our new Radixact System and in the Accuray team's ability to help the Hospital provide 'Quality in Service; Excellence in Care,'" said Josh Levine, President and CEO of Accuray."We are excited to build on the previous experience we have had with the TomoTherapy platform by moving to the next generation helical platform from Accuray. The TomoTherapy platform has enabled us to treat a wide range of cancer patients. The CyberKnife M6 and Radixact Systems, together, are complementary technologies that will enable us to offer each cancer patient the advanced radiation therapy best suited to precisely treating their disease while minimizing side effects," said Mr. Wyman Li, Administration Manager of HKSH."Hong Kong Sanatorium & Hospital has had great success in the treatment of cancer, the number one cause of death in Hong Kong. We are excited to build on our initial work with Accuray to offer state-of-the-art advanced radiation treatments to patients. The Radixact and CyberKnife M6 Systems' unique modalities and precision will enable us to meet growing demand for high quality treatment and will play a key role in the armamentarium of state-of-the art technologies that form the backbone of the Hospital's arsenal against cancer," he added. 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 Lee Min Ho attends a press conference for a commercial event on September 11, 2014 in Taipei, Taiwan. (Photo : Getty Images/Ashley Pon) Lee Min Ho's fantasy drama "Legend of the Blue Sea" continues to achieve impressive milestones. Recently, the SBS series nabbed the first place on a drama brand reputation index. "Legend of the Blue Sea" bested 19 other dramas in terms of brand reputation, according to data from the Korean Business Research Institute, as cited by Osen. Lee's mermaid fantasy series topped the leaderboard of the said index for the month of December 2016. Advertisement To come up with the list, the Korean Business Research Institute compiled various data of several South Korean dramas for the period of Oct. 16, 2016 until Dec. 17, 2016. The said data included a production's communication, community, brand and media exposure. Meanwhile, "Legend of the Blue Sea" rose to the top of the said drama brand reputation chart given the SBS series' active fan community. Several fanarts would typically circulate online following a release of an episode or to highlight a memorable scene. Short clips that capture some of the fantasy drama's adorable or suspenseful scenes, as released by SBS on its social networking services accounts, would also post impressive page views, as indicated in the same report. Recently, an SBS clip from "Legend of the Blue Sea" episode 13 reached a view count of more than 2 million. In other news, Lee took home several awards during the recently held 2016 SBS Awards Festival (SAF) Drama Awards. The South Korean actor nabbed a total of three honors including Best Couple Award with "Legend of the Blue Sea" co-star Jun Ji Hyun, according to Star News. Other drama couples who also received the same honor included "Romantic Doctor Kim" stars Seo Hyun Jin and Yoo Yeon Seok, as well as "Scarlet Heart Ryeo" co-stars Lee Joon Gi and IU. Apart from Best Couple Award, Lee was also recognized with a Top 10 Stars Award, as well as the Top Excellence Award for Genre and Fantasy Drama. Lee's "Heirs" co-star Park Shin Hye also received the same accolades for her portrayal of a rebel student turned top surgeon in the drama "Doctors." "Legend of the Blue Sea" airs every Wednesday and Thursday on SBS. Watch a clip from episode 13 below: With five hip-hop-related releases in the top 10, its an awesome week for the likes of The Weeknd and Bruno Mars, who swapped #2 and #3 spots since last week, along with J. Cole, Drake, and the members of Suicide Squad: The Album. The latter two made some huge jumps from last week, starting 2017 off on the right foot and each hopping 11 spots since last time. Last-minute 2016 releases from Yo Gotti (at #16) and Run The Jewels (at #35) round out a great week on the charts for rap music. 1) The Weeknd Starboy: Up from #3 last week is The Weeknd at #2. Starboy came out super strong, debuting at #1 with all 18 tracks in the Hot 100. Since then its barely cooled down, and this week it adds 93,716 TAEU and 33,033 sales to the fire. 2) Bruno Mars 24K Magic: Swapping spots with Abel is Bruno Mars, who lands at #3 this week. 24K Magic is riding high off the mega hit of the same name, which landed at #5 on the Hot 100 today. The album logs 80,510 TAEU and 54,845 sales to its name. 3) J. Cole 4 Your Eyez Only: Another super strong debut towards the end of 2016 was J. Coles 4 Your Eyez Only, which also copped the #1 spot with each single on the Hot 100 upon release. Spending his third week on the charts with this record, the North Carolina rapper/producer clocks 75,109 TAEU and 42,984 sales. 4) Drake VIEWS: Jumping up all the way from #19 to #8 is Drake with VIEWS. Could it be all the publicity that hes getting with Jennifer Lopez that is to thank for the boost? Either way, the album is back in the top 10, claiming 49,239 TAEU and 18,672 sales. 5) Various Artists Suicide Squad: The Album: Also making a huge jump, from #21 to #10, is the Suicide Squad Soundtrack, which continues to thrive off contributions from the likes of Rick Ross, Lil Wayne, Wiz Khalifa, and Eminem. This time around, the album does 41,802 TAEU and 20,302 sales. 6) Yo Gotti White Friday (CM9): Heres a new one: the new Yo Gotti project which features Kanye West, Kodak Black, Big Sean, DJ Khaled, and more. White Friday (CM9) was one of the final releases of 2016, coming out just a few days before Christmas. The last-minute technique worked out, as the album debuts at #16 with 33,945 TAEU and 22,731 sales. 7) Rae Sremmurd SremmLife 2: As the #MannequinChallenge hype dies down a little bit, SremmLife 2 drifts slowly out of the top 10 and into the #19 spot. This week, the duo claims 32,111 TAEU and 3,654 sales to add to the success of their sophomore album. 8) Post Malone Stoney: At #25 is Post Malone, whose debut full-length studio album Stoney continues to thrive despite a less-than-stellar critical response. This week, the album tallies 29,7200 TAEU and 5,826 sales. 9) Rihanna Anti: At #28 is Rihanna, with her eighth studio album ANTI. The album had a huge 2016, and continues to do well, with 26,378 TAEU and 6,002 sales this time around, thriving off of big singles like Work and Needed Me. 10) Various Artists The Hamilton Mixtape: Hamilton the Broadway play is a massive success, and The Hamilton Mixtape is following in its tracks, to some extent. The album, which has contributions from The Roots, Busta Rhymes, Usher, Wiz Khalifa, and more, debuted at #1 and finds itself this week at the #30 spot with 25,651 TAEU and 21,923 sales. While SremmLife 2 recedes on the charts, Black Beatles actually reclaimed the #1 spot, taking the place of The Weeknd and Daft Punks Starboy, which is now at #3. Bad and Boujee by Migos and Lil Uzi Vert is the real success story of the week, however, as it jumps from #13 to #2 following the hype of a viral video of the song being performed in Nigeria. It seems possible that the track will take the #1 spot next week if the hype continues! D.R.A.M. and Lil Yachtys Broccoli is back in the top 10, coming it at #10 from last weeks #15. The Weeknd and Daft Punks other collaborative hit I Feel It Coming actually slipped considerably, from #25 to #34. Big Sean has a new one titled Moves coming in at #71, Lil Yachty debuts with the KYLE collab iSpy, Kodak Blacks Flockin debuts at #95, Boogie Wit da Hoodie debuts at #96, and Nicki Minajs Black Barbies debuts at #97. Lots of seeds have been planted there towards the top, and itll be interesting to see how they grow over time. J. Cole Straight outta the Nawfside bando, the dab has spread across the world over the past couple of years, as it was performed by many superstar athletes, including Cam Newton, and even politicians, including presidential runner-up Hillary Clinton. One guy who somehow missed the viral dance trend (though its so much more than that to its originators) is a leading Republican, the current Speaker of the House Paul Ryan. Ryans first encounter with an attempted dab came yesterday when he was swearing in new Congressman Roger Marshall, a Republican from Kansas. Ryan was getting Marshalls family ready for a photo with him and a book, presumably the Constitution, when he noticed that one of Marshalls sons the boy holding the book was employing a peculiar pose. A clear, but nonetheless failed, attempt at a dab was underway, as the boy, whose name is Cal, had his left arm raised toward his face and had his nose leaning toward his elbow, as if he was about to sneeze. You alright? Ryan first asked, before saying, You wanna put your hand down? and then pushing the boys arm down himself. Im sorry, Im sorry, Cal giggled in response. Were you gonna sneeze, is that it? Ryan then asked, to which Cal responded affirmatively. Hes sneezin, confirmed Rep Marshall. Dont worry about it, Ryan told the dabbing prankster after the photos were taken. The Speaker must have been told later that he was the target of an attempted dab attack. Still dont get what dabbing is, he wrote in a tweet about a successful day of swearing in new members and meeting their families. As for Marshall, he was not pleased with his sons effort to pull a fast one on his new superior. In response to an article about his sons dab, he confirmed to Speaker Ryan that Cal has been grounded. Ah, the price of viral success. During his confinement, Cal would do well to learn that the dab is not, in fact, a sneeze, as the Migos famously reiterated on Plan B. Paul Ryan Reebok today launched the new Reebok CrossFit Nano 7 training shoe featuring NanoWeave technology which helps to achieve the most comfortable, most durable, and most breathable Nano ever. Additional features to the shoe include the Powerlaunch toebox, adding to a strong foundation for improved power, fit and stability. Reinforced heel clips offer stability and locked in feel for any movement in your workout. Sneakerheads might notice the colorful, gradient midsole of the CrossFit Nano 7 appears to be a reverse of the All-Star Kobe X. Reebok always strives to produce the best products for the CrossFit and the greater fitness community. We continually develop and provide the most versatile training franchise in the Nano. Our ultimate goal is empower the community to move the way they were born too. said Judson Vancor, Global Director of Product at Reebok. For the first time in the history of the Nano franchise, fitness fans will be able to get their hands on the latest Nano training shoe in January, ensuring they can take advantage of the sleek design and dynamic fit while competing in this 2017 Reebok CrossFit Games Open and ensuring all fitness enthusiasts can make every nanosecond count throughout 2017 when working out in this ultimate training shoe. The Reebok CrossFit Nano 7 will be available from the official CrossFit store at store.crossfit.com today, January 4th 2017, and on Reebok.com from January 5th 2017. Reebok Nano 7 He was one of the biggest pop icons of the 80s, but now Rick Astley is planning to brew up a different kind of storm with his own brand of beer! I enjoy a beer with friends and Im hoping to sell my own brand soon. Ive been working with the Mikkeller brewery in Copenhagen, which was founded ten years ago by a teacher who made his own beer at home, he said. Mikkeller beer is quite experimental and theyve been sending me various bottles to sample. Some are quite fruity one was a pear beer they make for a restaurant, but weve gone for a pilsner type lager. He added in an interview with the Mirror newspaper, All I need now is a name for it. Whats the odds on him using one of his own chart-topping singles from the '80s in the advertisement for his beer? If cast, Harrelson will star as the mentor to young Han Solo, played by Alden Ehrenreich. Woody Harrelson is in early talks to earn himself a role in the upcoming Star Wars spinoff about young Han Solo. If cast, Harrelson would play Han Solo's mentor, a kind of Obi-Wan-Kenobi for a new generation of Star Wars audiences. Much of the rest of the cast already set in stone, but Disney and Lucasfilm have been on a long search for a star to fill this role, with a list of possibilities that once included former Batman Christian Bale. The rest of the cast includes Donald Glover, also known as rapper Childish Gambino, as well as Emilia Clarke of Game of Thrones fame. The role of Han Solo will be a well-deserved leading part for young actor Alden Ehrenreich, who recently appeared in the Coen brothers' film Hail Caesar. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate WASHINGTON Rex Tillerson, President-elect Donald Trump's pick for Secretary of State, attempted to deflate concerns around his activities abroad as CEO of Exxon Mobil during a series of meetings with congressional leaders Wednesday Over a more than 35-year career at the Irving-based oil giant, Tillerson has established relationships with world leaders in Russia and the Middle East, at times criticizing U.S. foreign policy and questioning the rationale, including the decision to impose sanctions against Russia over its annexation of Crimea, a former province of Ukraine, and support for pro-Russian separatists fighting against the Ukraine government. Leaders from both parties are eager to hear whether Tillerson still holds those positions now that he is slated to become the nation's top diplomat, ahead of an expected confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee next week. Following a more than hour-long meeting with Tillerson Wednesday, Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., the ranking Democrat of the Foreign Relations committee, told reporters the two had a "very candid" discussion" that touched on subjects including Russia and climate change. "Obviously he did business with Russia and was able to get things done there," Cardin said. "That's going to get a great deal of attention during the confirmation process. Russia is not a friend of the United States." In a much anticipated meeting, Tillerson was also sat down Wednesday with Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. Along with Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., McCain has raised questions around Tillerson's relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin, whom McCain has described as a "thug." Asked Wednesday whether he could support Tillerson's nomination, McCain told reporters, "Sure. There's also a realistic scenario that pigs fly." An aide to McCain said later the McCain was joking and had not yet made a decision on how he would vote. Tillerson did not take questions as he moved around the Capital building in Washington Wednesday, escorted by security personnel provided by the U.S. Department of State. Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tennessee, once a contender for Secretary of State himself, has worked to convince Senate Democrats of Tillerson's credentials. "People understand he's a distinguished individual, he really is," Corker told Politico Tuesday. "If people can get comfortable with where he is, he could in fact have an overwhelming vote." While most observers see it as a long shot, even a small amount of Republican opposition could conceivably scuttle Tillerson's nomination. Republicans only have a 52 -48 advantage in the Senate. Were Democrats to unify against the nomination, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell would need near unanimity from Republicans to get Tillerson approved. Beyond Russia, Tillerson's decision five years ago to cut a deal for oil rights with the Kurdish regional government in Iraq defied U.S policy at the time and angered the Iraqi government in Baghdad. Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., a member of the Foreign Relations committee, who also met with Tillerson Wednesday, said he had not yet decided on whether to support Tillerson's nomination. Coons has critcized Trump's statements questioning reports from U.S. intelligence agencies that Russia attempted to undermine the presidential election through hacking the computer systems of the Democratic National Committee and other political committees. "We all have to recognize a secretary of state is principally charged with carrying out the vision and priorities and values of the administration," Coons said. "But one area where I was somewhat encouraged is (Tillerson's) clarity that he views part of his role as stepping up and speaking to those values, helping to shape policy." Another issue likely to play a prominent role in the confirmation hearings, for which no date has yet been set, is climate change. As CEO of Exxon, Tillerson led the company away from its long-standing skepticism of climate science and opposition to regulation designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Exxon came out in support of the 2015 Paris climate agreement and has called for a so-called carbon tax as a way to provide incentives to select cleaner burning fuels and lower carbon dioxide emissions. On Wednesday Cardin struck an optimistic note that Tillerson could work with Democrats on climate change. "He stressed to me his background in science and he is a believer in science," Cardin said. "We had a long conversation on what we need to do in countries where extreme poverty has denied many people access to energy." Questions around Tillerson's finances continue to circulate. Senate Democrats have asked Tillerson to turn over his last three years of tax returns. In a questionnaire submitted to the Senate committee, Tillerson indicated he would comply with the request, but as of Wednesday afternoon, staff had not received the returns, a senior aide on the committee said. Cardin and Corker remain at odds over the need to review the tax returns. Cardin will continue to push for the returns' release, the aide said. Tillerson is already moving ahead in trying to clear up concern around his considerable wealth. Exxon Mobil announced Tuesday Tillerson would sever ties with Exxon and cash out about $240 million in Exxon stock from his retirement package and other holdings, placing the proceeds in an independently managed trust to comply with conflict of interest regulations. On Wednesday afternoon, Tillerson also met with McConnell and was expected to meet with more members of Congress Thursday. WASHINGTON - President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday named as his chief trade negotiator a Washington lawyer who has long advocated protectionist policies, the latest sign that Trump intends to fulfill his campaign promise to get tough with China, Mexico and other trading partners. The choice of Robert Lighthizer to be the U.S. trade representative nearly completes Trump's selection of top economic advisers and underscores his focus on making things in America. That is causing unease among some Republicans who regard his views on trade as dangerously retrograde, even as they embrace the bulk of his economic agenda. Mainstream economists warn that protectionist policies like import taxes could impose higher prices on consumers and slow economic growth. But some Democrats are signaling a readiness to support Trump. Nine House Democrats held a news conference Tuesday with the AFL-CIO president, Richard Trumka, to urge renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement with Mexico and Canada. "We wanted him to know that we'll work with him on doing that," Trumka said. "I don't think he has enough Republican support to do it, and rewriting the rules of trade is a necessary first step in righting the economy for working people." Trump and his top advisers on trade, including Lighthizer, share a view that the United States in recent decades prioritized the ideal of free trade over its own self-interest. They argue that other countries are undermining America's industrial base by subsidizing their own export industries while impeding U.S. importers. They regard this unfair competition as a key reason for the lackluster growth of the economy. In picking Lighthizer, who has spent much of the last few decades representing U.S. steel producers in their frequent litigation of trade disputes, Trump is seeking to hire one of Washington's top trade lawyers to enforce international trade agreements more vigorously. He must be confirmed by the Senate. "He will do an amazing job helping turn around the failed trade policies which have robbed so many Americans of prosperity," Trump said in a statement. Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, which will hold hearings on Lighthizer's nomination, issued a cautiously supportive statement Tuesday. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Hundreds of thousands of New York students would be able to attend college for free under a proposal announced by Gov. Andrew Cuomo to make state universities tuition-free for residents earning $125,000 or less. The Democrat unveiled his plan Tuesday at LaGuardia Community College in Queens alongside Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont. Sanders, who pushed for free tuition at all U.S. public colleges during his presidential campaign, called Cuomo's proposal "revolutionary." Comparing student debt to "starting a race with an anchor tied to your leg," Cuomo said his Excelsior Scholarship program, if approved by lawmakers, would apply to full-time students who attend State University of New York or City University of New York colleges, including two-year community colleges. "It should be a wake-up call to this nation," Cuomo said, "to say if you really want to be competitive globally, we have to have the best-educated workforce, and that means we have to have college for every child, man or woman who wants to attend." Concerns about the nation's collective $1.3 trillion in student loan debt - more than credit card or auto loan debt - have prompted the federal government, states and some schools to offer debt forgiveness or relief programs. Tennessee and Oregon have enacted programs to cover residents' tuition costs at community colleges, and some cities have tuition-free programs for eligible students headed to certain colleges. Under Cuomo's more expansive plan, 940,000 New York households with college-aged children would be eligible. The program would be phased in over three years, beginning this fall, with those earning up to $100,000. About 80 percent of all New York households earn less than the $125,000 threshold. The program would cover tuition costs that remain once other state and federal aid is applied, at an estimated cost of about $163 million per year, Cuomo's office said. SUNY and CUNY annual tuition averages about $6,500 for a bachelor's degree and $4,350-$4,880 for an associate's degree. "If New York state does it this year, mark my words, state after state will follow," Sanders said. New York has the nation's largest public university system, with 440,000 students spread among 64 campuses. For a glimpse into how a proposed U.S. tax overhaul could cost you money, don't miss my colleague James Osborne's article on the potentially higher cost of imported goods. For the past 18 months I've warned that any effort to discourage imports would require American consumers to pay more for foreign-made products, ranging from umbrellas to mobile phones. I was initially worried that President-elect Donald Trump would impose a 40 percent tariff on Chinese made goods, which would mean 40 percent higher prices. Now Osborne tells us the price hike could be tucked inside an overhaul of the tax code. Houston's own U.S. Rep. Kevin Brady, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, is ready to end the taxation of profits that U.S. companies make overseas. Many corporations are leaving profits in overseas bank accounts because those countries don't tax them and the U.S. does. Harmonizing how all developed nations tax multinational corporations should be a major goal for any administration. Brady is trying to get the U.S. in line with Europe, which is a good first step. That means U.S. companies pay won't pay taxes on things they make in America and then sell overseas. That's good if you make oil field equipment in North Houston and export it through the ship channel. There is a flip side, though. Corporations that make goods in overseas factories, or import them from foreign companies, will no longer be allowed to deduct the cost of the imported goods from their profits. Losing that deduction will force importers like Phillips 66, Apple and Wal-Mart to charge much more for their products to maintain profit margins. Those companies, of course, think this is a really bad idea. After all, higher prices don't sit well with consumers who make fewer purchases. Brady remains sanguine, even as powerful conservatives like the Koch Brothers gear up to fight him. "I don't expect industry to change on a dime," Brady said. "These are big changes so I've invited business leaders to engage with me." So how much more are you willing to pay for gasoline and just about anything made in China to boost the profits of American manufacturers, and hopefully create American jobs? Economists tell us people won't notice a 5 percent price hike, but when it goes over 10 percent, the average consumer feels the pain. These are still early days, and it's impossible to calculate exactly how much an iPhone will cost if Apple loses the deduction on the cost of importing it from China. But I'm willing to bet a cup of coffee it will be more than 5 percent. Nothing in this world is free, and someone has to pay the high cost of cutting corporate taxes and employing more Americans. And that someone is us. Every January, the New Year rings in with the promise of fun new happenings in Houston's vibrant wine world, and 2017 will be no exception, the price of oil be hanged. While we wait for word from master sommelier David Keck regarding his next posting and also what longtime Brasserie 19 general manager/wine guy Shawn Virene has up his sleeve, I'm weighing in on a few things I'm certain are going down. Fact is, some of them already have. Oenophiles know by now that master sommelier Jack Mason has made a triumphant return to Pappas Bros. Steakhouse, and that former Keck sidekick Lindsay Thomas has joined him there, giving the two Pappas locations a true dream team of somms. And the Divino duo, chef/owner Patrick McCray and wine maven Thomas Moesse, are going gangbusters with their new Rice Village-area cave Vinology, which offers sipping, snacking and bottle browsing - featuring some 300 selections - with, of course, the take-away option. And the transition from Keck, the spiritual force behind Camerata wine bar on Westheimer, to new general manager/wine director Chris Poldoian has been seamless. Although Poldoian is "only" a "Level Two" sommelier and came from the Houston's mainstream wine program, he's ready to flap his wings, expand his horizons and keep pushing the same envelope that Keck routinely did to make Camerata a special destination for wine lovers seeking quirky, sometimes downright geeky offerings from boutique producers and off-the-beaten-path vineyards. Canary Islands, anyone? Houston couldn't be more fortunate to have a Camerata and Midtown's 13 Celsius - plus, now, Vinology - offering the kinds of innovative programs that put our city in a wine-hipness league with anybody. Talk to the well-traveled, Tufts-educated Poldoian about his plans and you may imagine a kid in the candy store. But one plan he doesn't have for the near term is to pursue advanced sommelier status, never mind trying to seize the master's brass ring. "In my situation, I think it's much more important for me to focus only on Camerata for at least the next year," Poldoian said. "This is such an exciting opportunity. I was given some latitude to expand what we were doing at Houston's and that only made me want to take even bigger steps. I'm learning something new every day." Camerata ain't broke, to be sure, so Poldoian isn't fixing it. The same also could be said of restaurateur Bill Floyd, who will soon be presiding over the long-awaited opening of the two Italian food-and-wine emporiums he's operating in partnership with Astros owner Jim Crane near Minute Maid Park. Houston wine-industry veteran Rick Jamail, whose specialty is Italian producers, is Floyd's sommelier. Potente will be high-end, Osso & Kristalla more casual. But they will share something important in common besides an outdoor patio: A wine list with the same splendiferously low markups we've enjoyed at Reef, the Floyd-Bryan Caswell seafood mecca in Midtown. Yes, even white-tablecloth Potente will sell wine at barely more than some high-end supermarkets do. Floyd's prices will be about 1.8 times his cost and, he insists, "That's across the board. It won't be scaled any." Which means a $10 wholesale bottle will sell for $18 ballpark (pun intended) at Osso & Kristalla and a $300 single-vineyard Gaja at Potente will cost $480, or thereabouts. Extreme examples, obviously, but that's the deal. The plan for the former is to have 50 wines at $50 or less and the latter to have 150 wines starting at about $50. But, if you're noshing off the menu from Osso & Kristalla on the patio and simply must have that Gaja, a server will happily go snare a bottle. Along these same lines, chef Ryan Hildebrand and his enthusiastic young somm, Rick Stiles, have conspired to significantly lower the tariffs on the eclectic list at Triniti on Shepherd. Examples? A half-bottle of Krug "Grande Cuvee" sells for $72, compared to $99 retail. The 2010 Mayacamas Cabernet Sauvignon for $110 ($85 retail, and I've seen on lists around town for $300). The Cos Pithos Rosso, a reference-standard Nero D'Avola from Sicily, for $42 ($25 retail). I'll also personally vouch for one of Stiles' go-to wines, the Tselepos "Amalia Brut" Moschofilero, a delicious Greek sparkler that sells for $12 for a glass and $42 for a bottle. This is the way of the modern world, and in Houston we have the Clark Cooper Concepts team (Ibiza, Brasserie 19, SaltAir and Coppa) to thank in leading the movement, which means Virene, who spent 15 years as part of their team, is certain to follow suit in his next incarnation. Just as Chris Shepherd and his sidekick somm, Matthew Pridgen, did when they opened Underbelly - and will do again with their second spot, One Fifth, opening up the street on Westheimer this month. All these guys will tell you that, years ago, Charles Clark and Grant Cooper inspired them to go low, which always translates into a New Year's high for Houston's wine-lovers. Salut, gentlemen. US Working to Strengthen Allied Asian Armies and Navies against China despite Duterte American and Filipino soldiers in joint training. (Photo : US Army) The United States will accelerate a 2016 plan to strengthen the land and naval forces of its allies in Asia facing-off against China despite the defection of the Philippines and its pro-communist president (Rodrigo Duterte) to China's side. American media said the Pentagon is vigorously forging ahead with its support to allies in the Pacific as they continue standing against a China, which remains undeterred by legal and world opinion condemning its claim to own most of the South China Sea. Advertisement The core for the effort supporting the navies of America's allies is the Southeast Asia Maritime Security Initiative (MSI) whose goal is "to drive cooperation on maritime security challenges and aggression in the South China Sea." The initiative introduced in 2015 was implemented in April 2016. Its members are the five member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam) plus Singapore, Brunei and Taiwan. More important, the initiative provides new funding to authorize a U.S. Department of Defense effort to train, equip, and provide other support to the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand. Secretary of Defense Ash Carter committed $425M over Fiscal Years 2016-2020 for MSI with an initial investment of $50M available in fiscal year 2016 toward this effort. There is also a substantial U.S. Army component to the MSI. Army participation involves more and more military-to-military activities with allies in the region; coordinating with other leaders and land armies and efforts to move or re-position weapon systems in the area. The ground element of the Pacific rebalance is important to ensure the stability in the region. The re-balance to the Pacific is both a military and economic initiative. Also, the Pentagon appointed a four-star general as Commander of U.S. Army Pacific (USARPAC), the United States Army's largest Service Component command. The current USARPAC commander is General Robert B. Brown. The command is headquartered at Fort Shafter, Hawaii with portions of the command-forward deployed and based throughout the Indo-Asia Pacific. The Army has some 18,500 men stationed in Korea; 2,400 in Japan; 2,000 in Guam; 480 in the Philippines; 22,300 in Hawaii and 13,500 in Alaska. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate The New Year's Eve bubbles have fizzed into golden memories. And all the Christmas cocktails, punch bowls and holiday-scented drinks have played themselves out as we step soberly into 2017. But that doesn't mean we've lost our interest in good spirits. Our liquor shelves are ready for a new year of acquisition. New high-end bottles and limited-edition introductions are ready to be snatched up by spirits aficionados. Here are some of the primo offerings itching to make their way onto your bar cart: Leona Tequila Ultra premium, ultra anejo tequilas are hardly new but the makers of DeLeon Tequila have outdone themselves with Leona, an anejo tequila blended from a small selection of hand-picked barrels and aged first in American Oak and then French Sauternes casks. Notes of fresh fruit and warm cinnamon with an elegant spice finish; $850. Compass BoxThree Year Old Deluxe Scotland's leading independent Scotch whisky maker has blended malt whiskeys of different (but considerable) ages with peaty malt whisky distilled on the Isle of Skye and 0.4 percent 3-year-old malt whisky. The result is a blend subject to UK and EU regulations that forbid marketing of the various ages in the blend except for the youngest one - hence the name of this elixir with a floral, exotic fruits nose and a honeyed vanilla taste; $300. CrownRoyal XR This limited-release "extra rare" whiskey is a lush blend that features notes of dried fruit, honey, brown sugar and a finishing touch of Canadian rye spice notes; $130. Whoop & Holler From the Orphan Barrel Whiskey Distilling Co. comes a 28-year aged American whiskey that was distilled at the George Dickel distillery in Tennessee. It's a robust affair with a nose of corn kernel, tobacco and citrus peel and flavors of spicy peppercorn, clove, dark chocolate and peanut shells; $175. Alta Belleza Casa Noble has launched its first luxury line of tequila with Alta Belleza, an extra anejo that was aged in barrels used for Robert Mondavi Winery's To Kalon Cabernet Sauvignon. (Love that Napa-Jalisco merger.) Only 563 bottles were producedfor the initial collection; $1,200. anCnoc Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky Knockdhu Distillery is one of the smallest distilleries in the Scottish Highlands, known for producing excellent single malts. This 18-year-old whisky rested in Spanish oak sherry casks and American oak bourbon barrels. It's full-bodied with notes of oranges, leather, dried fruits, candied lemon, vanilla and caramel; $130. Clase Azul Anejo The new vomFASS store in the Woodlands at Hughes Landing carries a wide selection of brandy, cognac, Armagnac, whisky, Calvados, absinthe and other spirits and liqueurs. It also stocks this tequila that is aged for 25 months in ex-Jim Beam bourbon barrels. With notes of cedar, citrus, vanilla and walnuts, the anejo is bottled in hand-painted Talavera ceramic bottles; $500. Craigellachie 17 The Speyside distillery's new single malt, matured in American oak casks, offers a nose of apple, melon, raisins, pears and oak. The taste has been described as a "caustic candy store": pineapple, licorice, custard, cinnamon, vanilla cream and spice; $145. Littlemill 25 Year Old One of Scotland's oldest distilleries is no longer. But master blenders dipped into remaining warehoused casks from 1989 and 1990 to create a whisky sought after by serious collectors. Initially matured in American and European oak, it was finished in first-fill Oloroso sherry casks; $3,000. Templeton Rye Special Reserve 10 Year Old To celebrate its 10th anniversary, Templeton Rye debuted a 10-year reserve (only 6,080 bottles, hand-numbered). This birthday whisky features a nose of vanilla, baking spice and green apple with flavors of spiced rye, toasted oak, white pepper, caramel and vanilla; $150. Laphroaig Cairdeas Madeira This iteration of Laphroaig's annual "Cairdeas" release is a sweet-leaning whisky aged in ex-bourbon barrels and then in Madeira-seasoned traditional casks. Look for a ripe orange nose with hints of licorice and spices, and mossy, peaty flavors tinged with spiced nuts, dates, orange, lemon and burnt butter; $75. Teeling 24 Year Old Single Malt Irish Whiskey One of Ireland's leading independent whiskey companies has released this limited-edition whiskey matured first in bourbon casks then in Sauternes wine casks. The dual maturation results in a depth of fruit flavors (berries, orchard fruit) married to gentle peat and wood smoke; $500. Lagavulin 25 Year Old Lagavulin, one of the world's most treasured single malt whiskies, recently celebrated its 200th anniversary with the launch of this limited-edition whisky. It's described as having voluptuous flavors of ginger, charred wood, spearmint, burnt orange peel and a play on sweet and salty; $1,200. Leona TequilaUltra premium, ultra anejo tequilas are hardly new but the makers of DeLeon Tequila have outdone themselves with Leona, an anejo tequila blended from a small selection of hand-picked barrels and aged first in American Oak and then French Sauternes casks. Notes of fresh fruit and warm cinnamon with an elegant spice finish; $850. Leona TequilaUltra premium, ultra anejo tequilas are hardly new but the makers of DeLeon Tequila have outdone themselves with Leona, an anejo tequila blended from a small selection of hand-picked barrels and aged first in American Oak and then French Sauternes casks. Notes of fresh fruit and warm cinnamon with an elegant spice finish; $850. Many of us will start out the New Year by making a list of resolutions changes we want to make to be happier such as eating better, volunteering more often, being a more attentive spouse, and so on. But as we know, we often fail. After a few failures we typically give up and go back to our old habits. Why is it so hard to stick to resolutions that require us to make effective or lasting changes? I would argue the problem isnt that we try and we fail; the problem is how we treat ourselves when we fail. I study self-compassion, and my research and that of others show that how we relate to personal failure with kindness or harsh self-judgment is incredibly important for building resilience. From early childhood, we are taught how we must succeed at all costs. What most of us arent taught is how to fail successfully so we can change and grow. One of the best ways to deal with failure is to have self-compassion. What exactly is self-compassion? I define self-compassion as having three main components: self-kindness, common humanity, and mindfulness. Self-kindness refers to the tendency to be caring, understanding, and supportive toward ourselves when we fail or make mistakes rather than being harshly critical or judgmental. Common humanity involves recognizing that all humans are imperfect, and connecting our own flawed condition to the shared human condition so we can have greater perspective on our shortcomings. Mindfulness involves being aware of the pain associated with failure in a clear and balanced manner so that we neither ignore nor obsess about our faults. The three together combine to create a self-compassionate frame of mind. A large body of research shows that self-compassion results in greater emotional wellbeing. One of the most consistent findings in this research is that greater self-compassion is linked to less depression, anxiety and stress. In addition to reducing such negative mind states, self-compassion appears to enhance positive mind states such as optimism, gratitude, and curiosity. By meeting ones suffering with the warm embrace of self-compassion, positive feelings such as happiness are generated at the same time that negative emotions are alleviated. Self-compassion has been found to be an important source of coping and resilience in the face of various life stressors such as divorce, chronic health conditions, or military combat. It also reduces body dissatisfaction and even leads to healthier eating behavior (relevant to many New Years resolutions!) Misgivings about self-compassion If self-compassion is so good for us, why arent we kinder to ourselves? Perhaps the biggest block to self-compassion is the belief that it will undermine our motivation. In parenting circles we no longer hold to the adage spare the rod spoil the child. When it comes to our own selves, however, many of us think that sparing the rod of harsh self-criticism will turn us into lazy, self-indulgent ne'er-do-wells. This theme constantly comes up in the workshops I teach. Of course, the dynamics that go into motivating our children and motivating ourselves are quite similar. Lets say your teenage son were to come home with a failing English grade. You have two ways to motivate him to try harder and do better next time. You could admonish him and tell him how stupid he is and that you are ashamed of him. The other is, knowing how upset he is, you could give him a hug and gently ask him how you could support him in doing better next time. This type of caring, encouraging response would help your son maintain his self-confidence and feel emotionally supported. The same goes for how we respond to ourselves when we fail. A growing body of research indicates that self-compassion is linked to greater motivation. Self-compassion has been associated with increased personal initiative the desire to reach ones full potential. Self-compassionate people are also more likely to adopt mastery goals, which focus on learning and mastering material to increase competence, and less likely to adopt performance goals, which are primarily concerned with succeeding to make a favorable impression on others. While self-compassionate people have performance standards that are as high as those who are harshly self-critical, they dont get as upset when they dont reach their goals. As a result, self-compassionate people have less performance anxiety and engage in fewer self-defeating behaviors such as procrastination. Not only are self-compassionate people less likely to fear failure, when they do fail theyre more likely to pick themselves up and try again. A series of experiments by psychologists Juliana Breines and Serena Chen from the University of California at Berkeley examined whether helping undergraduate students to be more self-compassionate would impact their motivation to change. In one study, participants were asked to recall a recent action they felt guilty about - cheating on an exam, lying to a romantic partner, saying something harmful, etc. something that still made them feel bad when they thought about it. Next, they were randomly assigned to one of three conditions. In the self-compassion condition, participants were instructed to write to themselves for three minutes from the perspective of a compassionate and understanding friend. The second condition had people write about all their positive qualities, and the third about a hobby they enjoyed. These two control conditions helped to differentiate self-compassion from positive self-talk and positive mood in general. The researchers found that participants who were helped to be self-compassionate about their recent transgressions reported being more motivated to apologize for the harm done and more committed to not repeating the behavior than those in the control conditions. Sustaining motivation through kindness Another study in this same series of experiments explored whether self-compassion would directly translate into greater efforts to learn after failure. Students were given a difficult vocabulary test they all did poorly on. One group of students were given an instruction to be self-compassionate about their failure. The instruction said, If you had difficulty with the test you just took, youre not alone. Its common for students to have difficulty with tests like this. If you feel bad about how you did, try not to be too hard on yourself. Another group was given a self-esteem boost, which said, If you had difficulty with the test you just took, try not to feel bad about yourself you must be intelligent if you got into Berkeley! A third group of participants were given no additional instructions. The students were next told that they would receive a second vocabulary test, and were given a list of words and definitions they could study for as long as they wanted before taking it. Study time was used as a measure of improvement motivation. The students who were told to be self-compassionate after failing the first test spent more time studying than those in the other two conditions. Study time was linked to how well participants actually performed on the test. These findings suggest that being kind to yourself when you fail or make mistakes gives you the emotional support needed to try your best, and to keep trying even when discouraged. Kindness is the engine that drives us to keep trying even after we fall flat on our face. So this New Year, when you make and inevitably break your resolutions, instead of beating yourself up and then giving up, try being kind to yourself. In the long run youll be more likely to succeed. Kristin Neff is an associate professor of educational psychology at the University of Texas at Austin. This article was originally published on The Conversation, where you can read the original article. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Tomball police on Wednesday have arrested a man accused of killing another man inside a Tomball Walmart. The department announced Michael Brandon Jemison's arrest on its Facebook page Wednesday night. Police found Jemison at about 6:45 p.m. at a house in Waller County. Jemison, who turns 30 on Friday, is charged with murder for allegedly attacking Justin Jones, 37, inside the Walmart at 27600 Tomball Parkway on Monday. Police say the two men knew each other prior to the killing. Jones, of Magnolia, died from severe head trauma at Memorial Hermann The Woodlands Hospital after the altercation with the suspect on Monday at 1 a.m., Sgt. Gary Hammond said on Tuesday. CAR SLAMS INTO BUS STOP: Seven people hospitalized after SW Houston crash Jones was inside the Walmart with a friend when he started talking with the suspect, police said in a release on Tuesday. Jemison then allegedly struck Jones, who fell to the floor unconscious. Investigators determined that Jemison and Jones had been engaged in an ongoing dispute "for some time." A photo of the suspect that shows him leaving the Walmart was released on Monday. Jemison has previously been convicted of marijuana possession, assaulting a family member, evading arrest and felony theft. Check back later for updates in this developing report. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate A gun-wielding patient, apparently tired of waiting in the emergency room, was shot by off-duty sheriff's deputies after he opened fire Tuesday morning inside a suburban Houston hospital, sending receptionists diving under their desks. Sheriff's deputies working security at North Cypress Medical Center confronted and shot the 21-year-old gunman, police said. Though struck multiple times, he is expected to survive. His name has not been released. Though hospital shootings are rare, Houston has experienced at least two others in the past two years. Someone opens fire in a U.S. hospital - most commonly in the emergency department - more often than once a month, according to the most recently available data. The shooting In the Cypress shooting, the alleged gunman arrived at the emergency room by car about 8 a.m. Tuesday and demanded an X-ray, according to a statement from the hospital, located at 21214 Northwest Freeway near Huffmeister. Police said the man did not have visible injuries but grew impatient waiting for care. A triage nurse evaluated him before he was examined by a nurse and ER physician in a private room, the hospital said. When they asked him to disrobe, he refused, left the room and started running. When he was stopped by a staff member in the ambulance bay, he allegedly pulled a black pistol from his waistband, fired at least one shot in the air and ran out of the building. A pair of Harris County sheriff's deputies was alerted by hospital staff. They spotted him about 50 feet away as he headed toward other hospital buildings and ordered him to drop his weapon, a sheriff's office spokesman said. The man turned around and allegedly pointed the gun at the deputies, who opened fire, striking him four or five times in the legs and torso. The man was rushed into surgery and is expected to survive, said the spokesman, Sgt. Cedrick Collier. No other injuries were reported. "We're very lucky," Collier said. Shootings at hospitals have grown more common, according to data recently published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. From 2000 through 2005, American hospitals saw an average of nine active-shooter incidents annually, compared to 16.7 incidents each year from 2006 through 2011 - more than one a month, leaving 235 dead or injured. But Dr. Eli Y. Adashi, a Brown University professor of medicine who wrote the article, cautioned against pouring money into metal detectors, armed guards and other security measures at U.S. hospitals. "It's not that simple to create a foolproof system, and it's certainly very expensive," he said. "It's a very small, tiny fraction of the total number of preventable deaths, which have been estimated at 100,000 per year in the conservative estimate." Incident was unusual Houston drew national attention in 2015 when off-duty Houston police officers working at St. Joseph Medical Center downtown shot and wounded a 26-year-old student being treated for possible bipolar disorder. More recently, at Ben Taub Hospital, an off-duty sheriff's deputy last October shot a Harris County Jail inmate who had taken a medical student hostage. The man died two weeks later. Monday's incident in Cypress was particularly unusual because police do not have a motive. The alleged gunman had been combative throughout his treatment, Collier said, yelling even after he was shot. He did not have a criminal history, and police could not speak to his mental state. Most hospital shooters have a specific target, according to Dr. Gabor Kelen, a Johns Hopkins University physician who has studied the phenomenon. Most are either seeking to commit suicide, euthanize an ailing relative or exact revenge on someone. However, Monday's incident was typical in its location. More shootings happened in the ER than anywhere else, Kelen found - about a third of the 154 hospital shootings from 2000 through 2011. Throughout the morning, homicide investigators and crime-scene technicians scoured the area, placing at least 20 markers to indicate shell casings and other evidence. The hospital complex largely had returned to normal by noon Tuesday as patients checked in to a neighboring outpatient clinic and, just a few feet from an apparent bullet hole in a window, employees ordered drinks at a coffee shop. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate The guns were still in boxes, stacked in locked truck trailers and ready for store shelves, when the team of thieves moved in during the night. Their target: 72 new pistols, rifles and shotguns in an Academy Sports & Outdoors warehouse parking lot, ripe to be hauled away by criminals who appeared to have inside information. It was one of the largest firearm heists in years in Texas, which leads the nation in thefts from licensed gun dealers such as Academy, according to federal officials. Today, however, nearly two years later, most of the weapons are still missing - likely pumped into the Houston region's thriving black market. Only seven of the stolen guns have been recovered, records show. "That is a lot of handguns to be floating around," said Matt Abowd, a special agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in Houston. "We are trying to get these guns off the street." Two men connected to the theft were convicted of aggravated assault and kidnapping of the security guard who watched over the Academy warehouse lot, and a third person pleaded guilty on a weapons charge. No one else has been publicly identified in connection with the case. "There were others involved," Abowd said. "I spoke with many witnesses, suspects. They all have nice stories, but putting them at the scene is different." Academy did not respond to repeated requests for comment, and the criminal investigation is closed pending any new leads on other people involved. But the search to recover the weapons is still underway, and authorities say new charges are likely as the guns show up, perhaps one by one. The case illustrates how quickly stolen guns can change hands and how difficult it can be to recover weapons, even when arrests are made. Getting past the guard Dillon Richardson was accustomed to being asked for directions by drivers as he sat in the guard box at the Academy warehouse parking lot on Mason Road, so he wasn't surprised when a man approached him that day on March 26, 2015. Instead of asking for help, however, the man pulled a gun, struck the security guard in the head and then stuffed him in the back seat of a car, where two other men were waiting. He could feel the steel of a gun on the back of his bleeding head. The men took his keys, wallet and phone, along with his pants, shirt, shoes and socks. None of the men wore masks, and he assumed they were going to kill him. The 22-year-old thought of his mother, his father, his sister and their last conversations; he thought of his body being found, and of his family getting the news that he'd been killed. He invented a story, told the men he had a daughter who needed him and that he'd do whatever they asked. The car slowed. He was told to keep his eyes closed, step out, and get face down on the ground. Richardson clenched his eyes tightly as he waited for the end. But instead of a gunshot, he heard silence. The car had pulled away without him even hearing it. He opened his eyes to find himself along an access road near the Katy Freeway and the Grand Parkway. Covered in blood, he ran barefoot along the roadway as he screamed and waved at passing motorists. Finally, realizing that no one would stop to pick him up, he dropped to his knees near a red light so a driver could see him from a distance. "Call the police," he said. Moving in for the guns While Richardson was being driven away from the warehouse parking lot, thieves moved in for the guns. The guns were stolen from containers in three truck trailers that were among dozens of trailers laden with merchandise to be delivered to Academy stores. Authorities say the crew apparently knew which trucks to hit, moving in through a hole cut in the yard's fence. There was no surveillance video of them grabbing the weapons, but the two men convicted in the case were captured by video surveillance prior to the crime at a nearby convenience store. William Eason, who authorities contend was the ringleader, was arrested four days after the heist and charged with aggravated robbery and kidnapping of Richardson. Curtis Duncan, who met Eason when they both were in the state's juvenile justice system, was arrested about a week later and also charged with aggravated robbery and kidnapping. Eason, 26, of Missouri City, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 15 years in prison. Duncan, 27, of Pasadena, quickly confessed, then recanted before pleading guilty to the charges. He was sentenced to 30 years in prison. Other people caught later with stolen guns or accused of helping sell them were charged with lesser offenses. The joint investigation was led by the Harris County Sheriff's Office and the ATF, in conjunction with the Pasadena Police Department and other local agencies. "This case was damn good detectives just being humans and talking to people," said Assistant District Attorney Christopher Handley, who prosecutes organized crime cases. "At the end of the day, there is nothing better than getting cooperation from people." Tracing the weapons The stolen guns trickled in for the first few months, as investigators worked their way through jails, homes, pawn shops, convenience stores, Facebook pages and an array of databases. A 9mm handgun turned up in La Porte two days after the robbery, in the hands of an ex-convict with 16 prior arrests for such charges as drug possession, fraud and theft. He told police he bought it for cash and drugs at a laundromat. A few months later, a state trooper in Wise County near Fort Worth found another weapon in a traffic stop. The man he pulled over said he worked at a department store and bought it from his boss. The next month, a gun still in the original box was sold to a southwest Houston pawn shop. Then, in August 2015, two of the stolen pistols were found in a Deer Park pawn shop, sold by a man who said he bought them through a neighbor's former employee. The last two guns recovered were in January 2016. One was taken from a man found sleeping in a pickup who said he bought it on Craigslist from a man in Acres Homes. Another was in the hands of a man who said he made a deal on Snapchat and bought it in the parking lot of a Pasadena grocery store. There are endless scenarios for where the missing guns from Academy could be today, said Robert Elder, a former ATF chief in Houston who retired earlier this year. "If you have burglary (or robbery) and don't have a good lead, you have to wait for the guns to start popping up," he said. "It is a low percentage unless law enforcement can get some tips and act on it fast." Stolen guns can be sold quickly and usually don't end up in the hands of law-abiding citizens, he said. "They are usually stolen by a criminal element to go to a criminal element," he said. "They can move these things fast and are going to make a profit." And although it's been nearly a year since the last stolen weapons were recovered, officials expect all the firearms will eventually be found. "It will take time," Abowd said, "but they will show up." 'Something is going to happen' Richardson is still trying to put the ordeal behind him, finding solace in listening to music and working with animals. When he started his shift that night in March, life was going well for him. He was a good fit for the job - he grew up nearby, was the son of a state trooper and hungry to work. He was in line for a promotion to supervisor that would have moved him from the guard house to inside a building. After the attack, however, he gave up working security and instead took a warehouse job, resigning from Academy about a year later. He's played that night through in his mind countless times. "I realize no matter what you do, something is going to happen. That is the way the world is," he said. "It is just how you deal with it. I'm still trying to figure out what I want to do. That passion, that drive to do something, is not there like it used to be." More guns on the streets In the meantime, another sizable cache of weapons has been stolen in the Houston area. In March last year, a crew of about a dozen people used a pickup and chain to yank the front doors off a Carter's Country Guns & Ammo store that was closed for the evening. Display cases at the southwest Houston store were smashed. The incident was recorded on surveillance footage that has drawn thousands of views on YouTube. Arrests were quickly made with the use of a confidential informant, and 32 of the 84 stolen guns were recovered within 48 hours, according to a court document filed by the ATF. At least two men have been charged federally in that case, Anthony Cannon and Tony Watkins, who are awaiting trial. And just like the guns ripped from the Academy trucks, it is unclear how many of those weapons still remain on the streets. AUSTIN - Texas health officials envisioned burying tens of thousands of fetuses in a mass grave when they wrote a rule requiring the cremation or burial of all embryonic and fetal remains, a high ranking state official said in federal court Tuesday. And they figured it would be inexpensive, testified Jennifer Sims, deputy commissioner of the Texas Department of State Health Services. In the latest fight over abortion in Texas, state officials have argued the change ensures the dignity of the fetus, and that it is a matter of public health. Under the new rule being challenged the state seeks to offer a fetus burial rights regardless of the wishes of the mother. "These regulations were clearly rushed out, for political reasons it appears," said Alex Lawrence, a lawyer for the national Center for Reproductive Rights, after arguing against the rules in U.S. District Court Tuesday. "It has no benefit to health and safety. It has no benefit to anything, to anyone. The timing of it, how was it was introduced, shows it's punitive in nature and that was the intent here." Four Texas health clinics sued the state last month to block what they consider an unconstitutional new regulation requiring the burial, cremation or incineration of fetal remains from abortions, miscarriages and ectopic pregnancies without the woman's consent. U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks issued a temporary restraining order against the new regulation, which was supposed to go into effect last month. He is expected to rule on the latest case by Friday. The regulations from DSHS pared down a nearly 30-year-old rule that treats the disposal of fetal remains the same as other human tissue. All medical waste, including fetal tissue, is currently incinerated, buried or discarded through grinding or a chlorine disinfection, followed by dumping down a sanitary sewer or into a sanitary landfill. When pressed in court, Sims said making the rules "more clear" enhances public health, but said she was not aware of any other health benefits. "We wanted to ensure our rules promoted human dignity" and aligned with the values of Texans, as exemplified by the philosophical makeup of the conservative state Legislature and Gov. Greg Abbott, Sims said. The department quietly aired the new rules four days after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against Texas in June, striking down provisions of the state's 2013 law that required abortion clinics to renovate their facilities to adhere to ambulatory surgical center standards and require their physicians obtain hospital admitting privileges. The court called the regulations unconstitutional and said future regulations must improve public health. Almost two dozen abortion clinics have since closed, leaving 19 remaining in Texas. Few of the closed providers willing or able to reopen. Days after the rule went public, Abbott championed the regulation in a fundraising letter, saying "I believe it is imperative to establish higher standards that reflect our respect for the sanctity of life," and adding "Will you contribute today as we turn the tides against the soulless abortion industry in Texas and unite in defense of life." In the first day of a two-day hearing of the fetal burial rules, abortion rights advocates Tuesday tried to prove that few women elect to bury or cremate the fetal remains and that the change could be expensive and offered no public health benefit. The state's attorneys pointed out that remains can be incinerated and buried in bulk for low costs in an attempt to negate arguments that the rule creates an unconstitutional barrier. Sims became deputy commissioner of the department in March and was in charge of reviewing and approving the rule change. She said the agency's research showed a year's worth of embryonic and fetal remains collectively would weigh about 130 pounds. If collected throughout the state, the tissue could be cremated collectively for $125 or buried for $300, assuming each abortion clinic and hospital pool their resources. She said at no point did the department reach out to hospitals, abortion clinics, funeral homes or crematoriums to ask their input. The calculation was part of a financial analysis done by the department, said Sims. The calculation factored in 236 facilities statewide that would be affected by the new rule but failed to include obstetrician's offices and forensic labs and pathology labs, which often handle fetal tissue to test for criminal cases or for diseases. Sims said she did not know how many facilities were missed in the calculation. Lawmakers plan to write the rule into law during this year's legislative session. It would stop the dumping of fetal remains in sanitary landfills, but there's nothing in it to stop someone from throwing the ashes into a junk yard if they have permission from the owner, said Lawrence, the abortion-rights lawyer. Sims said the department had not considered that. "So the regulations are for naught," said Judge Sparks. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate The mock village looked like a Hollywood set equipped with video cameras and an open roof. Actual police officers apprehended fictional bad guys as trainers and supervisors - not movie directors - observed from a catwalk. The films created in the Washington, D.C., police training facility provided critical information about tactical successes and errors before potentially deadly events in real life, such as the active shooters who terrorized the Houston area's Memorial neighborhood and West University Place municipality in 2016. After watching a demonstration, Houston Police Foundation chairman and billionaire Tilman Fertitta left convinced that a similar facility was needed for the nation's fourth-largest city. In short order, the Houston Police Foundation board committed to a $10 million capital campaign. A $2.5 million leading gift secured the building's name: Tilman Fertitta Family Tactical Village. "We need our patrol officers that are driving down the streets to be trained to be able to go in and take that active shooter out," said Charlene Floyd, the nonprofit's executive director. "The more they train and the more they practice, the more they're going to feel comfortable doing that." The foundation - which provides training and equipment for HPD in addition to the city budget - has raised nearly $5 million. Floyd said she hopes to secure the other half in the next six months. The two-level, 40,000-square-foot training center will be built on Aldine Westfield Road close to HPD's police academy in north Houston's Bush Intercontinental Airport area. Construction could begin in 2017 with the earliest opening in late 2018. "We have police officers who have never shot their weapon other than in training - which is a blessing - but we want to know that they have been trained and know what to do," Floyd said. "They'll be able to go in and do real-life scenarios - active shooters, domestic disputes, bank robberies." Scenario-based training The village will have a school, residences and businesses, including at least one doughnut shop, and a high-rise building with an atrium. Entrances will be large enough for cruisers, tanks and horses to fit inside. Foundation fundraising efforts point to President Barack Obama's task force on 21st century policing. The group's final report, published in May 2015, advocated for "training innovation" and "scenario-based training" as ways to improve the effectiveness of the nation's law enforcement officers. Patrol officers working their beats are often the first to respond to active shooters, hostage situations or terrorist attacks. "It's going to make our officers better prepared for the job that they do. Currently, the vast majority of our training is in a classroom environment," former HPD acting chief Martha Montalvo said in a promotional video. "The tactical village will bring us to the next level, which is scenario-based training." An unstable military veteran unleashed more than 200 rounds from a Memorial-area automotive shop in May, killing one person and injuring six in less than an hour. The chaos included a fired-upon gas pump set ablaze and bullets sent skyward toward a police helicopter. The ordeal ended when a SWAT sniper fatally shot Dionisio Garza III. Ambushes in July claimed the lives of five Dallas police officers and three more in Baton Rouge, La. In late September, Harris County experienced another mass shooting in West University Place, a tiny jurisdiction nestled between Houston, Bellaire and Southside Place. Officers from Houston, West University and Bellaire fired their weapons during the incident to subdue Nathan DeSai, who was randomly shooting at civilians and then officers in a neighborhood strip mall. He wounded nine people before police killed him. HPD Sgt. George Batcheler, who discharged his weapon during the West U. active shooter incident, said in the fundraising video that hands-on simulations help officers learn to make better decisions under less stress and think more clearly. No more pretending The tactical village is a special project in addition to the ongoing work of the Houston Police Foundation. In recent years, the nonprofit has provided heavy external vests to protect officers against high-powered rifle shots, vans for homeless outreach, dogs for canine units and a precision mapping system for police helicopters. In 2015, Fort Worth opened a $100 million combined headquarters for its police and fire departments that includes a tactical village. The training space with moveable walls includes a school and apartments as well as a bank, restaurant and convenience store. Speakers can pipe in sound effects such as screams or gunfire, and 15 cameras record the sessions. The facility can be filled with smoke in 15 minutes. "This makes the scenarios a little bit more challenging and forces the officer to push past this distraction and get to the threat. We have seen active shooters using fire as a weapon and we have to train for this," said Sgt. Eddie Trinidad, the mock village's unofficial "mayor" who is with the Fort Worth Police Department's reality-based training unit. "The officers want training that is realistic - training that will help them deal with dangerous situations as well as routine situations. The village allows for that." Over the last year, hundreds of Fort Worth police officers, firefighters and paramedics have participated in simulations. There are daily exercises for SWAT, canine and special response teams. "One of the main goals of training is to get as close to real as possible while maintaining safety. The village allows us to do that," Trinidad said. "In our old academy, we had to pretend that a classroom was a bank, an apartment, a store and so on. Now we don't have to pretend." Lee Se Young has been cleared of sexual assault charges after being accused of molesting male idols on "SNL Korea." (Photo : YouTube/Official ) The sexual assault case against Lee Se Young has finally come to an end. The comedian has been cleared of the sexual assault charges against her after inappropriately touching male idols on "SNL Korea." In November 2016, Lee sparked controversy after behind-the-scenes video footage of the comedian and other female members grabbing the genitals of B1A4, INFINITE, and Block B members surfaced online, as Koreaboo previously reported. The comedian came under fire for sexually molesting the idols and drew criticism over her indecent behavior. Advertisement Some fans even went to court and filed a sexual assault case against the "SNL Korea" host. However, on Jan. 4, Wednesday, the Seoul Mapo Police department confirmed via a statement obtained by All Kpop that Lee had been found innocent and the charges against her had been dropped as there was no evidence to support the sexual assault claims. In the statement, the police noted that the personal statements recorded from the male idols conflicted with the sexual assault allegations. "The members of B1A4, INFINITE, and Block B testified that Lee Se Young did not actually touch their private parts," the police said. Since the artists decided not to press charges, the police did not continue the investigation against the comedian. The dismissal of the case against Lee has led to outrage among netizens who thought it was unfair that the comedian would walk scot-free despite video evidence of her molesting the male idols. The netizens pointed it out that if a man had done the same, he would have been behind bars. They commented saying that the comedian should be punished even though the B1A4, INFINITE, and Block B refused to testify against her. Some even criticized the male idols for not speaking out about the incident and hiding facts from the police in order to avoid further drama and scandal. Watch video footage of Lee and other female staff members inappropriately touching B1A4, INFINITE and Block B members below: WASHINGTON - Almost every new president has hit Washington with a sense of swagger and talk of barnstorming the town in the first 100 days. Then they met the United States Senate. Now, it's President-elect Donald Trump's turn to acquaint himself with a place of strange rules and rituals, amazing ego and ambition, where friends become enemies in a matter of hours - and where many previous administrations have perished. As the 115th Congress prepares to be sworn into office Tuesday, talk of fundamentally transforming Washington has filled the air. The emerging policy agendas of Trump and House Speaker Paul D. Ryan, R-Wis., - whose on-again, off-again relationship dominated 2016 - seem to be meshing on key items such as overhauling the Affordable Care Act and revoking President Barack Obama's executive orders on business regulation. But the new president's early months in office are likely to rise or fall in Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's Senate, where a narrow Republican majority guarantees the confirmation of most nominees and an ability to set the agenda - but little else. The minority Democrats are afforded enough rights to turn confirmation hearings for Trump's Cabinet picks into a referendum on the president-elect's own policy views and qualifications to lead. By demanding scrutiny of nominees' personal finances, they can revive questions about Trump's own holdings. The Senate's 60-vote threshold for clearing a filibuster on most legislation means that Trump will have to reckon with Democrats often. Sen. Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., plans to drive home this point in his maiden speech as the new minority leader. "The Senate has a rich, bipartisan tradition of being a constitutional check on presidents of both parties," Schumer will say Tuesday, according to an advance copy of his planned remarks. "Many in this body have long observed that in America, we are a nation of laws, not men. That sacred constitutional duty of holding the president accountable to the law must continue." The last time one party controlled the Oval Office and all of Capitol Hill, Obama and Democrats pushed a mostly partisan agenda that Republicans resisted and then used against them in subsequent elections. McConnell, R-Ky., enjoyed a good relationship with Trump throughout the campaign. Unlike Ryan, he kept his doubts about Trump's campaign style mostly to himself, and he has forged an early bond with Vice President-elect Mike Pence. Yet, less than 24 hours after Trump's stunning presidential victory, McConnell tried to set expectations on his own terms. His early signals have been about bringing along Democrats rather than changing Senate rules in a unilateral power play. "We've been given a temporary lease on power, if you will. And I think we need to use it responsibly," McConnell told reporters Nov. 9. "I think what the American people are looking for is results. And to get results in the Senate, as all of you know, it requires some Democratic participation and cooperation." Democrats are only one piece of Trump's Senate problem. If past is prologue - and it almost always is in the Senate - Republicans will betray him at key moments and cause big headaches early in his presidency. Senators have their own egos and their own agendas, and many of them see a president every time they look in the mirror. This has already been on display in early statements from Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., in joining Schumer to call for aggressive investigations of Russian meddling in the 2016 elections. McCain is getting sworn in Tuesday to a seventh term after winning re-election in November by a wider margin in Arizona than Trump received over Hillary Clinton. That gives McCain - already a self-proclaimed maverick - extra political freedom because he wasn't swept into office on the new president's coattails. Sens. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., Rob Portman, R-Ohio, Ron Johnson, R-Wis., and Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, all won re-election by bigger margins than Trump did in winning their states. Rubio has already rattled the Trump transition by expressing doubt about Rex Tillerson, the ExxonMobil CEO with close ties to Russia who is Trump's pick for secretary of state. The transition responded with a concerted effort to court Rubio, knowing that just one Republican defection at the committee level could imperil the nomination. Such maneuvers are likely to be regularly necessary for Trump, who, as a novice politician, is not steeped in the quirks or pretensions of the Senate. His closest ally in the chamber has been Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., who is now his nominee for attorney general. Sessions is generally well-liked on both sides of the aisle but has always been considered an ideological outlier, more successful at blocking something than orchestrating its passage. Recent history is replete with examples of new presidents running into the gantlet of the Senate. In 1993, Bill Clinton's administration watched as several Cabinet picks withdrew in disgrace despite a large Democratic majority in the Senate. The rocky relationship hit an even lower point the following year in an open feud with Democrats over his bid to reshape health laws. In 2001 George W. Bush's administration watched his proposed tax cut shrink by hundreds of billions of dollars to meet demands of moderate Senate Republicans - and watched his own party lose the majority when then-Sen. Jim Jeffords of Vermont angrily switched caucuses and handed Democrats a 51-49 majority. In 2009 Obama, a former senator, seemed poised to dominate the body, taking from its ranks his vice president, Joe Biden, his secretary of state, Clinton, and interior secretary, Ken Salazar. But for him, too, things fell apart quickly. Nominees withdrew amid leaks from Democratic-controlled committees. The economic stimulus package shrank by hundreds of billions of dollars because moderate Senate Democrats fought big spending. And the Affordable Care Act's final negotiations all centered around meeting demands of moderates to clear a Senate filibuster. McConnell hopes to avoid such mistakes, but it's unclear whether conservative activists will appreciate his restraint at a time when Republicans control all the keys to power in Washington. "It's always a mistake to misread your mandate. And frequently new majorities think it's going to be forever," McConnell said a day after Trump's victory. "Nothing is forever in this country. We have an election every two years right on schedule. We have had since 1788. And so I don't think we should act as if we're going to be in the majority forever." Paul Kane covers Congress and politics for the Washington Post. Last month, a police truck burned on the side of the road in Zihuatanejo, Guerrero, with flames melting the interior and the four bodies, three of them murdered federal police officers, that lay inside. Yet, the brutality barely registered in the region's collective consciousness beyond a few cursory news stories. These were just four more deaths in a country that is once again living through a wave of violence. The last time that Mexico's murder numbers spiked so dramatically was more than six years ago, not long after former President Felipe Calderon began his well-known confrontation against the country's organized criminal groups, before falling through the start of the Enrique Pena Nieto presidency in late 2012. Yet the much welcomed drop in killings - which has defined Mexico's security situation over the past few years - has now bottomed out. And today's homicide numbers are creeping upward, across ever-larger swaths of the country. Some of the reasons behind this second spike in violence are the same as in previous years. First, the Mexican government still faces its perennial challenges of strengthening a weak rule of law, and tackling collusion among local authorities and criminal groups. Despite federal efforts to reform the judicial system, professionalize the police, and reduce corruption, impunity remains high, and trust in the authorities is still low. Second, the Mexican government has barely changed its security strategy over the decade-long offensive. President Pena Nieto entered into office with a rhetorical shift on security issues, but the current strategy continues to call for Calderon-era confrontation with criminal groups and prioritizes the targeting of kingpins. Law enforcement and security officials have been successful with Calderon killing or capturing 25 of his 37 most wanted narcos and Pena Nieto plucking off 105 of his top 122. Yet, each downed narco creates more than a photo-op. The relentless pounding of top leadership also breeds an underworld power vacuum, where rivalries, ambitions and greed all inflame intra-cartel backstabbing and leave splinter groups locked in bloody battles. These groups have adopted gruesome tactics and ventured into additional activities to beef up their revenue - such as extortion or kidnapping - often far more damaging to Mexican communities than standard drug trafficking. There are dozens of these groups, but the standout is the Cartel Jalisco New Generation (CJNG), which has steadily expanded its territorial reach since 2010. Its surge to power has placed it comfortably "among the most powerful drug trafficking organizations in Mexico," according to the U.S. Treasury, and it's also quickly becoming among the most murderous. There are also market forces at work in driving up the violence. The United States' prescription drug epidemic has pushed addicts who can't get pills into cheap heroin to fulfill their opioid cravings. Either sensing a market opportunity or strategically boosting the demand, Mexican cartels have capitalized on the health crisis, quite literally fighting one another to provide the heroin supply. However, one thing that looks dramatically different this time around is the promise of a U.S.-Mexico bilateral security partnership. In 2007, as Calderon began his push against criminal groups, Mexican officials worked with their American counterparts to form the Merida Initiative and formalize the binational working relationship on security issues. The Merida platform earmarked $2.5 billion in U.S. funds over eight years (of which $1.5 billion was released) to complement Mexico's $79 billion in security investments over the same period. Over time, the Merida Initiative's mandate evolved, but it always focused on supporting Mexico's efforts to implement a more professional and institutionalized security response. During this second wave of violence, the Merida Initiative stands on shaky policy ground. President-elect Donald Trump has largely adopted a go-it-alone approach for tackling regional crime and violence. When combined with Trump's "America First" motto and a distaste for foreign aid, the Merida Initiative and overall bilateral security cooperation is unlikely to look the same or even exist on a recognizable scale in the coming years. Slowing Mexico's bloodshed will continue to require a comprehensive security policy approach. It will also require international cooperation - whether in the form of the Merida Initiative or otherwise - as the market forces and criminal groups stretch well beyond Mexico's borders. Yet as Mexico's murder levels climb the response will need to be quick and multi-faceted, addressing and tamping down on the flames of violence that are once again burning across the country. Garza (@aogarza) is a former U.S. ambassador to Mexico. He is counsel in the Mexico City office of White & Case and chairman of the Texas Exes Alumni Association. Leutert (@Sleutert) is the Mexico Security Initiative Fellow at the University of Texas at Austin. As an existing print subscriber it is easy to get FREE access to all our online content. When you click get started below it will walk you through creating an online account to attach your print subscription number to. After your account is created it will ask you to either add a subscription for online access or click on the print subscriber button. Click the print subscriber button header and it will open a dropdown, now click on get started. The page will reload and you will be prompted to enter an account number and a zip code. IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO USE THE NUMBER OFF OF THE MOST RECENT ISSUE OR ANYTHING AFTER JANUARY 28, 2019 TO GAIN ACCESS! OLD ACCOUNT NUMBERS WILL NOT WORK The account number and zip code are easily available on your most recent issue of the High Plains Journal or Midwest Ag Journal in the address fields as is shown here. Sometimes the account number has extra zero's in front of it, just ignore those. Subscribing to our services is a three step process. First you have to create an account and then you have to pick if you want to subscribe to digital and or print. Some people only want to be a digital subscriber to get access online and others want to also receive the print edition. If you are already a print subscriber and want online access, it is free, you simply have to create an online account and then attach your print subscription account number to the online account you create. HQ-9 SAM. (Photo : PLA) China's deployment of an undetermined number of surface-to-air missiles (SAMs) in some of the islands it illegally occupies in the South China Sea is "completely reasonable, in light of the powerful naval force of the U.S. in the region." A story in the People's Daily, China's largest newspaper and owned by the Communist Party of China (CPC), said neither the U.S. nor surrounding countries are the targets of the SAMs. It noted the SAMs "won't be launched unless China's sovereignty over these islands and reefs are violated." Advertisement The story also said "the U.S. is the one who truly threatens regional stability, though Western media has been spreading the theory of the so-called China threat." On the other hand, it noted the situation in the South China Sea has been stable since the U.S. presidential election. Some countries (read Japan) still hope the U.S. will maintain its Asia-Pacific Rebalance strategy. "We will never start a fight as long as others remain peaceful, but we'll fight back when violated," said the story. The bottom line is China will never give up its core interest in the South China Sea, which is that it owns this piece of maritime real estate despite a court declaring China's claim illegal and unlawful. The event that triggered China's response it has the lawful right to defend the South China Sea it owns were news stories stating China had deployed "hundreds" of SAMs on the islands it occupies in the Spratlys Archipelago. Fox News made the patently untrue claim China deployed over 500 missiles in the Spratlys, an impossible number since there isn't any room on China's occupied islands to hold this many SAMs. These SAMS were said to include CSA-6B (a non-existent SAM) and the land-based HQ-9 SAM, as well as the HQ-26 only deployed on surface warships such as destroyers of the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN). Fox also said these SAMs will form a comprehensive air defense system once it deploys CSA-6B, HQ-9 and HQ-26 in the South China Sea. Images from American intelligence satellites, however, reveal two SAM systems stationed in Hainan. Intelligence officers said the SAM systems were recently moved to Hainan from the mainland, and are believed to be in Hainan only temporarily. They believe Hainan is likely a training site before the missiles are eventually deployed in early 2017 to China's man-made islands in the Spratlys and on Woody Island that houses a large military base and an airfield capable of taking any Chinese military aircraft, including fighters. From training to retention, performance management to compensation talks, this edition of Talent Management Excellence Essentials brings you the best and latest from the industry. Our cover page article Repetition + Reinforcement = Retention by Patricia Fripp talks about the importance of online training and why should companies invest in online training. Just like learning to tie shoelaces, being able to revisit those lessons through virtual online training can make all the difference in whether those skills are imbedded and become skills that have a powerful and enduring impact for your company. Do you agree? The heart of any business is its people, says Kim Peters in her article Good For People, Good For Growth, where she explains how a thriving workplace can pay dividends. If a company loves its people, it touches great heights. Not every office has the resources for a hefty bonus plan or off-site retreats. But thoughtful consideration of how team members experience the workplace can drive meaningful changes in communication practices, management interaction, professional development and camaraderie among colleagues. Demonstrating an ongoing interest in employee well-being and following through on the findings can drive employee engagement, retention and growth. We also have a short video for you that features our Excellence In Practice series. This month, we have one of HR.coms industry experts and Performance Management Ad... German police are defending their decision to racially profile hundreds of North African men on New Year's Eve. Last year, police in the city of Cologne were overwhelmed by hundreds of sexual assaults. The city's police chief was dismissed amid criticism of the force's handling of the incidents. Advertisement This year, police tweeted that hundreds of "Nafris" an abbreviation for North Africans had been detained. Police Chief Juergen Matthies said he regretted using the word "Nafris," adding it was an internal term that wasn't meant for public use. However, he did say he felt profiling was necessary. We had a clear idea of who we should be checking. It wasnt gray-haired old men or blond young women," he told broadcaster WDR. Advertisement "We had a clear idea of who we should be checking. " A question of proportionality and legitimacy arises when almost 1,000 people are being checked and some detained based on how they look like, Green Party leader Simone Peter told the Rheinische Post, as translated by Reuters. Some felt that police were not only racially profiling citizens, but using racial slurs. Comedian Jan Bohmermann tweeted: Whats the difference between Nafri and n****r?" according to The Telegraph. There's no law that explicitly bans racial profiling in Germany. With files from The Associated Press Follow The Huffington Post Canada on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Also on HuffPost If we could all have this woman's attitude about winter, it would seem a lot less miserable. Petawawa, Ont. experienced 36 straight hours of snow recently, leaving the town completely covered in white. Heather Lanteigne decided to demonstrate exactly how to take care of the massive rooftop overhang on her garage, shown in a "before" photo by her husband. Advertisement Unfortunately, it didn't go exactly as she had planned. But, she laughed it off anyway. Unfortunately, she might be in for a repeat. Environment Canada's forecast called for the town to get hit with another 20 centimetres of the white stuff on Wednesday. Follow The Huffington Post Canada on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Also on HuffPost Its only day four of 2017, but baby name predictions are already coming in strong. According to U.K.s Tatler magazine, parents should get ready for posh baby names to make a comeback. To inspire its readers and help this trend come to fruition, the high-end magazine compiled a list of 52 boy and girl names they consider the poshest names known to man. While Tatler claims these monikers are centuries old and the real deal, we have to admit, theyre pretty bizarre. Advertisement Among the most outstanding suggestions for boys are Uxorious, Hickman and Wigbert. As for girls, theres Alfreda, Debonaire and Koala (yes, you read that right). While these monikers are incredibly bold, the magazine is correct in saying that they date far back into history. Alfreda, for instance, is the feminine form of Alfred and dates back to the 9th century, according to Behind the Name. The name means elf counsel. Similarly, the name Wigbert can be traced back to the 5th century, according to Baby Names Pedia. The name is of Germanic origin and means bright or famous warrior. Other eyebrow-raising names from Tatler include Figgy, Hum and Yellow for girls, and Yak, Victory and Npeter (pronounced with a silent n) for boys. Advertisement While many of these choices seem peculiar, the magazine did come up with some unique picks that are both charming and elegant without being over the top. These include Estonia and Queenie for girls, and Aubyn and Gustav for boys. Visit Tatler magazine to see their full list of posh baby names for 2017. Also on HuffPost Lena Dunham is letting the world know she is proud of her body, cellulite included. For Glamour's all-female February 2017 issue, titled "Powered by Women," Dunham is joined by her fellow "Girls" cast members, Allison Williams, Zosia Mamet, and Jemima Kirke, on the Emma Summerton-shot cover, which sees all four actresses wearing threads and platforms from Marc Jacobs' spring 2017 collection. Advertisement Unlike the other girls? Dunham wears pink satin pants that show off her legs, cellulite and all. And she took to Instagram to thank Glamour magazine for not retouching her image one bit. "Throughout my teens I was told, in no uncertain terms, that I was fucking funny looking. Potbelly, rabbit teeth, knock knees- I could never seem to get it right and it haunted my every move," the 30-year-old writer penned. "I posed as the sassy confident one, secretly horrified and hurt by careless comments and hostility." "Let's get something straight: I didn't hate what I looked like- I hated the culture that was telling me to hate it." Advertisement She continued on in the lengthy Instagram post, "When my career started, some people celebrated my look but always through the lens of 'isn't she brave? Isn't it such a bold move to show THAT body on TV?' Then there were the legions of trolls who made high school teasing look like a damned joke with the violent threats they heaped on, the sickening insults that made me ache for teen girls like me who might be reading my comments. Well, today this body is on the cover of a magazine that millions of women will read, without photoshop, my thigh on full imperfect display." When they let you rock that Fenty gear with only a bra... Surreal sleepover @glamourmag A photo posted by Lena Dunham (@lenadunham) on Jan 3, 2017 at 8:04am PST Although Dunham has a history of being controversial, with many of her comments being both harmful and offensive, she is a body positive activist, which we applaud her for. "Whether you agree with my politics, like my show or connect to what I do, it doesn't matter- my body isn't fair game. No one's is, no matter their size, colour, gender identity, and there's a place for us all in popular culture to be recognized as beautiful. Haters are gonna have to get more intellectual and creative with their disses in 2017 because none of us are going to be scared into muumuus by faceless basement dwellers, or cruel blogs, or even our partners and friends." A photo posted by Lena Dunham (@lenadunham) on Jan 1, 2017 at 9:09pm PST Advertisement "Thank you to the women in Hollywood (and on Instagram!) leading the way, inspiring and normalizing the female form in EVERY form, and thank you to @glamourmag for letting my cellulite do the damn thing on news stands everywhere today." Every photo commissioned for the issue was created entirely and exclusively by women, including photographers, stylists and hair and makeup artists. GIRLS. Ultimate sleepover invitation. Photo @emmasummerton @girlshbo #girlshbo @glamourmag February issue A photo posted by jilliandavison (@jilliandavison) on Jan 3, 2017 at 1:18pm PST "Gender equality is on all our minds, and gender equality doesn't just happen at the CEO or president-of-America level," Glamour editor in chief Cindi Leive wrote in her editor's letter. "It starts at home, and as I looked at those numbers, it was pretty clear: Our home could use a shake up." Glamour's February issue hits newsstands on Jan. 10. Follow Huffington Post Canada Style on Pinterest, Facebook and Twitter! Also on HuffPost Lena Dunham's Best Style Moments See Gallery Conservative leadership contender Lisa Raitt says the negative, irresponsible politics of rival Kellie Leitch and likely candidate Kevin OLeary will doom Tory hopes of winning government in 2019. The veteran Ontario MP blasted both Leitch and OLeary at a press conference in Ottawa Wednesday. She also announced a new website StopKevinOLeary.com targeting the businessman who isnt officially in the race. Advertisement Raitt said both would-be successors to Stephen Harper threaten the partys path to victory in the next election by embracing elements of Donald Trumps campaign while ignoring others. She warned that her party was at risk of being "hijacked by the loudest voice in the room." OLeary, she said, is a TV entertainer with no filter. She called out his recent controversial remarks about there being nothing proud about being a warrior, musings about making unions illegal, and past remarks that the disparity between the worlds richest and poorest people was fantastic. Canadians will not elect someone who says these kinds of things, she said. Leitch 'pinning our problems on immigrants' Raitt accused Leitch of embracing the other half of Trump by pinning our problems on immigrants with her plan to screen for so-called anti-Canadian values. Leitchs leadership would destroy all in-roads Tories previously made with new Canadians, Raitt charged. Advertisement She said such bluster will ensure Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus Liberals get to govern for a generation. Kevin OLeary and Kellie Leitch are both taking lessons from what we saw in the U.S. election and embracing a style of negative, irresponsible populism, she continued. Unfortunately for them, we are not Americans and neither of them are president-elect Donald Trump. When a reporter pointed out that her words were reminiscent of what was said about Trump by both Republicans and Democrats during his unlikely rise to the White House, Raitt said Canadians are different and increasingly concerned about sensational antics coming north of the border. Major Campaign Announcement Posted by Lisa Raitt on Wednesday, 4 January 2017 What happened in the United States happened in the United States and were going to work with the president-elect. It doesnt mean its going to happen in Canada and you know what, Im going to give it a shot, she said. Im going to make sure Canadians know that I will stand up to this cheap talk. Advertisement Pragmatic and principled Conservatives know Canadian voters wont get behind OLeary or Leitch, she said. When asked why her website only targets OLeary who has hinted he wont get into the race officially until next month Raitt said those concerned about Leitchs brand of populism can also find a home on her team. If this is the path that is going to be chosen, we are going to be sitting in opposition for a very long time because I firmly believe that the general Canadian populace will not buy this, she said. 'Lisa Raitt drew a line in the sand today' O'Leary later told The Globe and Mail that Raitt's criticisms were "ridiculous" and "incorrect," but also said it was "fantastic" the leadership race was finally seeing some excitement. Leitch, meanwhile, released a statement on Facebook defending her call that "every immigrant, refugee and visitor to Canada" receive a face-to-face screening by federal officials. Advertisement "Lisa Raitt drew a line in the sand today and showed that she stands with the Liberals and media elites," Leitch said in the post. .@lraitt drew a line in the sand today and showed that she stands with the Liberals and media elites. https://t.co/qbwahSjIC7#cpcldr Kellie Leitch (@KellieLeitch) January 4, 2017 On Tuesday, Leitch appeared on the Fox Business Network in the U.S. In the segment, she promoted immigration screening, bashed the prime minister, and agreed with host David Asman that so-called "socialized medicine" wasn't the answer for Americans. Bernier not scared of O'Leary Rival Maxime Bernier took to Twitter Wednesday with a thinly veiled dig, saying that unlike other leadership contestants, he isnt scared of OLeary. Advertisement Unlike other leadership contestants, I welcome more competition, and I am not scared of @kevinolearytv Maxime Bernier (@MaximeBernier) January 4, 2017 Raitt also challenged Macleans writer Martin Patriquin for suggesting the anti-OLeary website made her look fearful of the businessman. She pointed out how other candidates, including Andrew Scheer, Erin OToole and Michael Chong, have also criticized him. .@MartinPatriquin so when Scheer, O'Toole and Chong criticize him they're "scared" too? Or I'm different for some reason? Lisa Raitt (@lraitt) January 4, 2017 Just a day earlier, Scheer called on the unilingual OLeary to get in the race ahead of a French-language debate in Quebec this month. If Kevin wants to run, its time to fish or cut bait, Scheer said. Tories will choose their new leader in May. The deadline to register as a candidate is Feb. 24. Also on HuffPost Conservative Leadership Candidates See Gallery Kids loved Lunchables. They were doing everything sideways, backwards and upside down. But they were also laughing and having fun while doing it, Drane said. "It was a sort of puzzle game. Like LEGOs." Inspired by the design of the American TV dinner, Oscar Mayer finally settled on a 4.5-ounce package. It hit grocery shelves packed in its trademark bright yellow box. In its first year, Oscar Mayer brought in US$218 million but because of high production costs, it would be years before it turned a profit. Months of research went into perfecting the branding of Lunchables to widen its appeal. "Salt Sugar Fat," the book by Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter Michael Moss, reveals how dozens of families in two states participated in the company's research. They were given pre-loaded shopping cards to track their purchases; special devices on their TVs showed Lunchables commercials that were not broadcast to other families in the neighbourhood. Moss writes: The testing, which went on for months, surpassed Oscar Mayer's highest hopes. Not only did the people in the experiment go for the trays after being exposed to the advertising, the familiarity of the contents, however plain they were, proved to a foundational theorem in processed foods, which Drane calls "the weirdness factor": if a new product is too unusual, shoppers get scared. "I used the term, '80 per cent familiar,'" Drane told me. "If you've got a new thing, it better be 80 per cent familiar, or you'll have people scratching their heads wondering what the hell it is." "80 per cent familiar." The quote hit me like a rock. Lunchables was advertised to be a sort of "badge" to promote individuality, Drane told me. It was a powerful marketing strategy that infused children's lunchtime with new "little special moments." "A badge makes you feel special. Like you've been recognized somehow. You've been cheered on. I think that fits. I think that's always been it," he said. Actually, the exact opposite was true for me, I told him. Lunchables was something I wanted because I didn't want to stand out. I wanted to conform. Drane laughed and repeated, "How interesting!" four times. "Marketing is all about making the not-all-that-important in our lives have more value." "Multiculturalism and sensitivity to all that" in his generation was different from the discussions around it today, he explained. "I think a good thing to happen in our society is that people see the world through the eyes of more than themselves. They're more sensitive to fitting in, and not fitting in, and feeling comfortable. "So when you said what you said, I don't think I heard it that way before, but it certainly made sense to me immediately." He continued: "Marketing is all about making the not-all-that-important in our lives have more value." So obvious, right? But as an eight-year-old, I was oblivious to the advertising forces raining down on me and shaping my perceptions. My obsession with Lunchables stemmed from the anxiety of not being able to fit in because of factors my family, background, economic circumstance beyond my control. And kids love to have control. To Drane, there was no mystique to his creation. His only pursuit was to create industry in the Madison community during the '80s and '90s. "I had the joy of creating lots and lots of good, paying jobs for that product," he said of Lunchables. But there are also forces bigger than Drane, bigger than Lunchables. Oscar Mayer is slated to shut down its Madison plant in March 2017, after nearly 100 years of operation. Almost 1,000 people will lose their jobs. Xiaomi Mi 6 (Photo : Twitter / AndroidHeadlines) Rumors have it that the Xiaomi Mi 6 will be the first Snapdragon 835 powered Chinese smartphone to release in the market. The upcoming flagships such as the Samsung Galaxy S8, LG G6 and HTC 11 are all pegged to come loaded with Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 SoC. In the recent past, there have been rumors that Asus will be unleashing a Snapdragon 835 chipset smartphone at CES (Consumer Electronics Show) 2017. Advertisement When it comes to Chinese brands, none of the major Chinese smartphone companies are expected to launch a SD 835 smartphone soon. However, an industry insider from China has revealed that the Xiaomi Mi 6 will be the first Chinese smartphone to come powered with SD 835 SoC, Gizmo China reported. Samsung is the manufacturing partner for Qualcomm's Snapdragon 835 SoC. Well-known Chinese leakster has said that the production of the next generation is slow and this has prompted many of the smartphone companies to push the release of their flagship phones to a later date. Samsung is rumored to have pushed the Galaxy S8 release date to April. However, the leakster has claimed that Xiaomi is facing no problem in receiving the stock of the SD 835. Hence, the Xiaomi Mi 5 is slated for an announcement at the MWC (Mobile World Congress) 2017 event. The rumor mill has not revealed many details on the specifications of Xiaomi Mi 6. Leaked photos of an unknown Xiaomi device that is dubbed as Mi 6 hints that the smartphone would be looking like a smaller edition of Xiaomi Mi Note 2. Even though leaked photos do not show dual-lens rear camera and dual-edge curved display, early Xiaomi Mi 6 rumors have hinted that these features would be arriving on the flagship. Xiaomi had launched the Mi Mix concept smartphone in December in black color. Since it has teased that it will be launching a product at CES 2017, speculations are rife that the Xiaomi Mi Mix will be unveiled to the world in white color. The Mi Mix is also rumored to be the first smartphone to come loaded with Android 7.0 Nougat enabled MIUI, GSM Arena reported. Here is a review of XIaomi Mi 5: The Canadian government continues to strike a friendly tone amid renewed threats by United States president-elect Donald Trump to invoke protectionist measures. Trump criticized General Motors on Tuesday for producing a model of a Chevrolet Cruze in Mexico, claiming the automaker sells the cars in the U.S., skipping paying import tariffs. Advertisement He threatened to make the automaker pay a big border tax if it continues to produce vehicles outside the country for sale in the states. General Motors is sending Mexican made model of Chevy Cruze to U.S. car dealers-tax free across border. Make in U.S.A.or pay big border tax! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 3, 2017 General Motors issued a statement after Trumps threat, saying all its Chevrolet Cruze sedans are made in Ohio. The model the president-elect refers to is its hatchback, which is produced for international markets. Only a small number of these models approximately 4,500 are sold in the U.S, according to CBNC. Advertisement During the election campaign, Trump repeatedly pledged to force Canada and Mexico to renegotiate or scrap the North American Free Trade Agreement as a means of protecting and creating U.S. jobs. A model for the world The threat stoked some concerns in Canada that U.S. protectionist measures will play an important role in helping Trump rehaul trade policy once he assumes office later this month. Major American carmakers, including Ford and General Motors, have assembly plants in Canada. The federal department of innovation, science and economic development declined to comment on the latest in Trumps trade rhetoric. Global Affairs repeated language previously used by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau after Trumps election win in November. Advertisement Citing $2.4 billion in trade the two countries do every day, spokeswoman Diana Khaddaj told The Huffington Post Canada the country has no closer friend, partner, and ally than the United States. Khaddaj added officials are looking forward to working very closely with the new Trump administration as well as U.S. Congress on matters related to trade and investment. The relationship between our two countries serves as a model for the world. Trudeaus olive branch Members of the 115th U.S. Congress sworn in Tuesday were also greeted with a video message from Trudeau and David MacNaughton, Canadas ambassador to Washington. The message was congenial, the pair stressing how intertwined the two countries economies are. MacNaughton said: We know that were better off when we tackle challenges together. Thats why Canada stands beside you ready to work with you to make all of our citizens lives better, safer, and more prosperous. Advertisement The prime minister stressed the continuation of an economic relationship that supports jobs in every Congressional district. We are the largest international customer for goods and services made in the USA, Trudeau said. When it comes to stellar star-gazing, the destination you choose is all-important. Being far away from the glow of city lights is fundamental but there can also be considerable divergence between each remote destination. Would you prefer a cozy setting, wrapped up warm on a snowy mountain, or to lie in the desert on a balmy night? Perhaps ocean side with the sounds of the waves crashing to accompany the view? We've scoured our recommendations to bring you the very best places to stargaze across the world. So, to reconnect with nature and see distant galaxies and constellations against the darkest of skies, head to one of the following destinations. M'hamid, Morocco Advertisement A starting point for visiting the Sahara Desert, M'Hamid is a small oasis town in Morocco in an area long-inhabited by ancient Berber tribes. Morocco's most extensive sand dunes, the Erg Chigaga, can be reached by (relatively uncomfortable but memorable) camel ride or by jeep. These dunes reach heights of around 60m and seeing them ripple in the wind while bathed in the amber glow of the Saharan sun is enough to move you to tears. There are several smaller dunes near M'Hamid too, which provide just as magical a setting for stargazing, all the more so when accompanied with live, traditional Berber music. Stay at Hotel Kasbah Azalay to make the most of your star seeking. Sesriem, Namibia Seeing as desert climates with next to no precipitation tend to be ideal for clear night sky gazing, Sesriem also features as one of the world's greatest stargazing spots. It's famous for its massive red sand dunes, its canyon and the twisted, black, dead trees that cover the surrounding plains (and as striking photo subject matter). But it's even more glorious to be here at night, especially at Desert Quiver Camp, enjoying the dazzling display of shooting stars and constellations. Lake Tekapo, New Zealand Advertisement To visit Lake Tekapo is to witness nature in all her finery; by day, the milky-blue lake, its purple floral shores and surrounding pine forests form a hypnotizing backdrop. And by night, as an International Dark Sky Reserve it has so little light pollution that stargazing is utterly magical. Pitch up a tent at the Lake Tekapo Lodge to stay a few days and take a tour of the nearby astronomical observatory atop Mount John, with the largest telescope in New Zealand. Cabo Polonio, Uruguay There are no roads leading to this Uruguayan hamlet. Just a tiny collection of shacks constructed on a sliver of sand stretching out into the Atlantic Ocean, this is genuine seclusion. Luckily, building in Cabo has been restricted in recent years to save it from turning into a typical South American resort. Stay nearby at Lo De Ro or join the resident hippies for a session of sleeping under the stars and you'll soon grow so attached it'll be near impossible to leave. Wadi Rum, Jordan The barren, desert wilderness of Wadi Rum is a life-affirming place. The horizon is dotted with craggy canyons and orange sand, and watching the stars from this lunar-like landscape feels somewhat surreal. Camping in isolated sites at Wadi Rum Night Luxury Camp and enjoying an incredibly vivid view of our Milky Way will stun you into awed silence. Advertisement Sao Domingos Mine, Portugal Though man-made, this deserted mine in Portugal is a phenomenal place to star gaze. Its interesting history dates back to the Roman era, and there's a museum, an English cemetery and many old mine buildings dotted around. This is a good choice for those looking for a quirky but stunning place to lie back and enjoy a celestial show, especially from the stunning setting at the Alentejo Star Hotel. It's easy to book a flight to Cancun, or wherever your go-to destination may be, to escape the cold every year. But not all of the world's best warm-weather destinations are lined by the turquoise Gulf of Mexico or Caribbean Sea. Sri Lanka, floating off the southeastern tip of India, and splashed by salt water on all sides, is a tropical destination that isn't on everyone's travel radar, but it should be. These four reasons to visit the country formerly known as Ceylon will inspire you to skip the Caribbean and venture to the Indian Ocean for your warm weather escape in 2017. You Won't Be Surrounded By Sunbathers Advertisement Photo credit: prise69 It can be fun to meet fellow travelers on getaways, but struggling to find an empty place on the sand makes popular tourist destinations much less fun. While tourist arrivals in Sri Lanka have been growing exponentially in recent years, just 1,798,380 tourists visited the country in 2015. The city of Cancun alone sees roughly 5 million visitors each year. Your journey around the world will be rewarded with long, untouched stretches of sand, aquamarine lagoons free of swimmers, and, not to worry, plenty of places to party on the sand when you're feeling social. You'll Fill Up On Fresh Eats Google images of Sri Lanka, and you'll probably find photos of fishermen perched atop skinny structures made of sticks. You'll wonder how they ever reel in a sea creature until you see the collections of fresh fish sold near the sand and streets every evening. Fresh fish brought in by the iconic Sri Lankan stick fishermen isn't the only organic and affordable food you'll enjoy. Pancake-like hoppers, colourful curries, jackfruit, stir-fried kottu, and rotis (flatbreads) stuffed with everything from potatoes to eggs, curried beef and fish, are just a few of the delectable snacks and dishes you'll find directly on the street. You'll Have Authentic Cultural Experiences Advertisement You may feel a bit like a local when sipping tequila in a hole-in-the-wall bar in coastal Mexico, but mildly authentic experiences in the most popular tourist destinations don't compare to the cultural heritage you'll find in Sri Lanka. Evidence of human settlements in Sri Lanka date back roughly 125,000 years, and the cultural diversity that has developed over hundreds of centuries is what makes Sri Lanka such a memorable travel destination. Taste the tea (Ceylon) that was made famous by the island nation in the 19th century, visit the Sacred City of Kandy, shop the Portuguese-settled town of Galle, and admire the UNESCO World-Heritage listed cave monastery at the Golden Temple of Dambulla. You'll Travel Like Never Before Forget about taxi rides from the airport and take the train through Tea Country or along the palm-tree-studded coast instead. Take bus rides free of tourist taxes, haggle over tuk tuk (or rickshaw) rides with friendly locals, or opt for an action-packed air taxi ride to Arugam Bay's world-class waves or the ancient rock fortress of Sigiriya. Wherever you travel throughout the 65,610-square-kilometre island, you're guaranteed to reach your destination in style. Canadian indigenous people have been described as "ghosts of history," spectres lingering in the background, haunting our legacy. This refers to the fact that indigenous people have been ignored to a great extent in Canadian history, yet Canadians are fully aware that indigenous people were here long before the arrival of the Europeans. Canadians are also generally aware that indigenous people were mistreated over time. Their lands and culture were stripped away through questionable means leaving generations traumatized. For many Canadians, ignorance is bliss -- it has been easier on the conscience to just ignore this unpleasant chapter in Canadian history and pretend that the displacement, oppression and trauma of indigenous people never happened. In the short run, ignoring this history may make it easier for Canadians to have pride in being Canadian. But, in the long run, ignoring this history rather than facing it head on, has costs. It weighs heavily on the Canadian psyche. Advertisement The eclipse of the indigenous people by the English and French settlers by the time of Confederation has left present day Canada floundering with its identity -- and even affects us on the world stage. Canada's attempt to be a leader on the world stage as a champion of human rights is often ridiculed by its enigmatic treatment of its indigenous population. If we ignore the problems, the trauma will continue to grow exponentially. If we address the problems, the healing will grow exponentially. In 2014, a United Nations report showed that, of the bottom 100 communities in Canada on the Community Well-being Index, 96 were indigenous communities. In 2015, the Conference Board of Canada ranked 117 health regions in Canada and found that indigenous communities were at the bottom, mostly affected by social problems affecting health. That's the effect of systematically undervaluing a whole group of people. That's trauma in real life. History also shows us how important indigenous people were to the founding of Canada. John Ralston Saul argues that Canadian identity extends beyond the French and English and actually rests on a triangular foundation which includes Canada's indigenous peoples. Early exploration and settlement by the French followed by the English would not have been possible without the assistance of indigenous people and whole indigenous nations. Advertisement Indigenous people taught the rest how to exist on this land we call Canada. Indigenous participation in the fur trade enabled the establishment of the first major economic activity in this country. Not only trauma, but solutions and new-found pride in the Canadian identity may be found in looking honestly and responding appropriately to the lessons of history. An Indigenous girl plays inside a teepee at a young bush camp taught by rangers which teaches survival skills in the northern Ontario First Nations reserve in Attawapiskat, Ont., on Wednesday, April 20, 2016. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette The social problems facing many indigenous people today because of intergenerational trauma are large, but the fact that the indigenous population is the youngest demographic group in Canada offers opportunity to support change in a large generation of young people that could cascade forward into the generations to come. If we ignore the problems, the trauma will continue to grow exponentially. If we address the problems, the healing will grow exponentially. Advertisement So what are the solutions? Many solutions come under the reconsideration of Treaties. Rather than keep our Treaties hidden under a cloak of shame, we should acknowledge and celebrate their existence with pride by focusing and emphasizing their original intent -- that of an agreement between peoples about the peaceful sharing of lands in exchange for security: security from hunger, security from disease, security from obsolescence. Recognizing the value of indigenous people, inherent in the recognition of the intent of Treaties as agreements between two peoples will reduce the societal push for assimilation. If you value someone, you don't see a need to assimilate that person. Indigenous people have always resisted being absorbed into the larger society through forced assimilation. Chief Sitting Bull once famously said, "If the Great Spirit had desired me to be a white man, He would have made me so in the first place." Indigenous people should not be written off derisively as a stone-age people without the wheel as opined by the Conrad Blacks of this country. In fact, Canada is criss-crossed by many rivers and lakes that were in summer traversed by light, efficient birch bark canoes by indigenous people and by voyageurs after arrival by Europeans. In winter, snowshoes and toboggans were the only modes of transport over the deep snow which blanketed our lands for a good part of the year. The wheel was useless during this period of history. Valuing indigenous people also means that we are compelled to help them. Only a handful of reserves, the lucky few adjacent to mainstream markets, have reached standards that are equivalent to the rest of Canadian society. Canada needs to pay attention to the Shamattawas and Attawapiskats of this country that are plagued by suicides, drugs and alcohol amongst other issues. Forced relocation is not an option; however, valuing people by enabling them to relocate if they want to, with government assistance, should be available. Indigenous people can assume their rightful place as valued citizens of Canada. Economic corridors linking these isolated communities to the nearest regional centre need to be negotiated -- because jobs are lifelines to human purpose. Any new resource developments in the area must include some ownership by the communities. Most importantly, Treaty rights need to be portable and no longer used to restrict and confine indigenous people within the boundaries of their designated reserves. Advertisement These are only starting points. But indigenous people need to be recognized in history as a people who at one time had independence, territory, communities, governance, trade, culture, traditions and spirituality. Rather than focusing on the shameful outcomes, recognizing and acting upon the original intentions of Treaties will go a long way toward restoring pride, respect and dignity to indigenous peoples. It will coincidentally address Canadians' divided conscience over the pride they can realistically hold in their identity as Canadians. These approaches would also help indigenous peoples assume their rightful place as one of the three valuable pillars in Canada's triangular foundation. Together we can bring indigenous people out of the shadows and they will cease to be "ghosts of history." Indigenous people can assume their rightful place as valued citizens of Canada. This piece was based on a keynote speech delivered by Len Flett at the Indigenous Healing and Trauma conference in Calgary, Alberta. Advertisement Follow HuffPost Canada Blogs on Facebook Also on HuffPost: LauriPatterson via Getty Images Chicken Parmesan Baked in Tomato Sauce with Spaghetti and Mozzarella Cheese- Photographed on a Hasselblad H3D11-39 megapixel Camera System By Rossana Gudani We all love spaghetti, but who would think it has a national celebration? Well, it does! January 4 is National Spaghetti Day. Spaghetti Day is more than just a clever marketing gimmick. For those of us who dig the twirly stuff, it's a day to reflect on the history, evolution and universal appeal of spaghetti and other lengthy pastas. We normally think of spaghetti as an Italian dish, and the name is definitely from that part of the world. Who doesn't love a traditional Italian restaurant, complete with a heaping plate of this semolina treat? As Disney's Lady and the Tramp reminds us, there are few dishes more romantic. Advertisement Courtesy of the Disney Food Blog (click here for the spaghetti and meatballs recipe!) But history reveals that long before spaghetti became a staple in Italian cuisine, families in central Asia were sitting down to similar noodle dishes. As early as the 5th century, nomadic Arabs likely brought the meal westward. The Italians revolutionized the dish, and invented a wide variety of pasta shapes. The word spaghetti literally means "little lines". And today, it is enjoyed worldwide as a dinner tradition! Noodles worldwide Just as Canadian families relish spaghetti for dinner on a cold night, families in China enjoy noodles as a comfort food. In that part of Asia, the earliest written record of noodles is from a book dated way back to the Han dynasty (206 BC - 220 AD). Advertisement A favorite meal in the Philippines is Pancit or "noodles". Click here for a recipe! Stock photo. Noodles for comfort When I think about noodles, there's an immediate feeling of comfort. Growing up, it was definitely a staple food in our household. I remember the good ol' days when my mom made Pancit -- a Filipino Chow Mein -- to celebrate birthdays. Filipinos prepare Pancit in many ways: sauteed, with broth, deep-fried or double-cooked, and then mixed with vegetables or meat such as chicken liver or pork bits. Noodles aren't just for special occasions, as anyone who has nursed a cold will know. The long, comforting strands can lift spirits and satisfy bellies in all kinds of circumstances. What better medication than a bowl of chicken noodle soup? Some Asian families even have a belief that noodles will give you long life! Noodles for life For the past few years, Canadians have helped bring the goodness of noodles to children in North Korea, where malnutrition is chronic. Through World Vision, we've been helping support two noodle factories in the country. Advertisement Three-year-old Pok enjoys her noodle soup at a nursery school in North Korea, thanks to support from Canadians through World Vision. World Vision Photo Last year alone, the noodle factories helped nourish 42,146 children in kindergartens and nursery schools. The pictures seem cute, but it's so much more than that. A steady food supply can improve children's health, preventing many long and short-term health problems. World Vision Photo Noodles tonight! Being a mom of three wonderful children who all have an appetite for practically anything, it is important that I choose meals that are easy to make and fill their hungry bellies. Spaghetti is definitely one of their favourite dishes. I love seeing them twirl the noodles with their forks and slurp the last strand. Sometimes they snack on just the noodles while watching TV. Slurp, slurp, burp! So tonight my friends, spaghetti is on the menu! Advertisement In Colombia, Brayan looks through the donation box of food that he and his mother just received from World Vision staff and happily finds what he likes the most: Spaghetti! Photo: World Vision Partners sabotage each other's attempts to cut down on drinking, with men worse than women, new research suggests. Drinkers struggle to reduce their alcohol intake due to their partner suggesting one more drink or encouraging them on nights out, a poll found. Among 2,000 couples where at least one drinks more than the recommended 14 units a week, 26% of women said they were concerned about the effects of alcohol on their partner's health, while the figure was 21% for men. Advertisement Women were more likely than men to say they would drink less if it was not for their partner loving booze (29% compared with 16%). A third (33%) of men also liked to suggest one more drink if their partner was thinking of stopping for the night, compared with 15% of women. Just 57% of all people said they would drink less to help their partner if they were trying to cut down. At present, around 40% of men and a fifth of women drink more than 14 units of alcohol a week, according to industry-funded charity Drinkaware, which carried out the research. Advertisement A third of those surveyed (33%) said alcohol being readily available in the home was an issue when it came to cutting down, while 40% of those whose partner wanted to drink less thought the attempt would fail because stress would drive them to drink. Rev Kate Bottley, from the TV programme Gogglebox, is supporting a new Drinkaware campaign. She said: "It's quite sad to see that stress can really undo those good intentions, but we are a nation who bottle up our feelings, it would be far healthier to talk through your bad day rather than turn to a glass of wine or a beer." Drinkaware's chief executive, Elaine Hindal, added: "We know that couples who are planning a health regime together fare better when they really support each other. IakovKalinin via Getty Images Could Parliament still block Brexit? The answer is undoubtedly Yes. On 3 November 2016 the High Court decided that Theresa May needs Parliament's consent before triggering Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty to leave the EU. The Sovereignty of Parliament The point is that the referendum was purely advisory. This cannot be disputed, because of that most fundamental principle of the UK Constitution, the Sovereignty of Parliament - which I stressed in my last two blogs and which was the basis of the exemplary decision of the High Court, but which was completely lost sight of by the Government as well as by 1,054 barristers in an open letter to David Cameron. Advertisement 1979 Referendums Could the referendum result have been made binding? Yes, very easily. The original referendums on Scottish and Welsh devolution in 1979 were binding. In both cases an Act of Parliament was passed in 1978, before the referendum was held, which actually set up devolved assemblies for Scotland and Wales. The 1979 Welsh referendum failed dismally, with only a 20.3% vote in favour of devolution, so the 1978 Act was repealed as it itself provided. The 1979 Scottish referendum also failed, but much more narrowly. There was a 51.6% majority in favour of devolution, but this was less than 40% of those entitled to vote, so, according to the provisions of the 1978 Act, the Act was repealed, and Scottish devolution had to wait until a fresh referendum was held in 1997. 2015 Act But making a referendum result binding can be done much more simply. A referendum can only be called by an Act of Parliament. The 2016 EU referendum was called by the EU Referendum Act 2015, which says absolutely nothing at all about what is to happen after the referendum. Could that Act have delegated to the Government the right to trigger Article 50 in the event of a "Leave" majority? Yes it could. But the crucial point is that it didn't. As a result, the EU referendum was purely advisory - meaning that it advised Parliament, giving Parliament the right to accept that advice (with or without conditions) or to reject it. If allowed to, Parliament will almost certainly accept the voters' Brexit verdict, but it will probably want to impose some conditions on the Government, which it is perfectly entitled to do. Alternatives What are the alternatives before the Supreme Court? They are: a.To affirm the High Court's ruling that Parliament's consent is needed to trigger Article 50. This is undoubtedly the best option from both a legal and a political point of view. Parliamentary consent must be given in the form of legislation. Advertisement b.To overturn the High Court decision and allow the Government to trigger Article 50 without Parliament's consent. Because of the Sovereignty of Parliament, this would be wrong. The Government's elaborate arguments in court about the power of the royal prerogative over treaties were largely irrelevant. c.To require parliamentary consent to triggering Article 50 subject to certain specific conditions. This would not be a good option for the court to select, as any conditions are a matter for Parliament. The court should confine itself to deciding whether parliamentary consent is needed to invoke Article 50 or not. d.To allow the Government to trigger Article 50 without parliamentary consent but subject to certain other conditions. This would also not be a good choice, as this would amount to the court's taking charge of the Brexit negotiations, which is a government function. The elephant in the room is the position of the devolved governments of Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales. The Scottish Government is particularly insistent that Scotland should not be dragged screaming out of the EU. But neither the Sewel Convention of 1998 nor the Declaration of Arbroath of 1320 has the force of law. 2017 should be a landmark year for housing policy in the UK: for the first time in decades, housebuilding is at the top of the domestic political agenda, with cross-party consensus on the need for building more homes. The Government set itself a target to build one million homes by 2020 - equivalent to 200,000 homes a year, significantly more than we have seen since the financial crisis of 2008. In the meantime, house prices have reached record highs; home ownership has reached record lows; and private rents are rising fast. As we approach the midway point of this parliament, there are concerns that uncertainty around Brexit will hamper efforts to address Britain's housing crisis. Here are three key things to look out for in 2017. 1.How many houses are completed It's good to start with the basics. If we are to address our housing shortage, we are going to need to build more homes. The Government's quarterly reports on housebuilding tell us how many homes have been started, and how many have been completed. Of the two, the latter is key because it tells us how many new homes are actually available for people to live in. The two numbers are not the same - for example, in the year to September, 147,880 homes were started, whereas 141,690 were actually completed. Advertisement It's likely that those targets will again be missed because of the economic uncertainty we have seen since the EU referendum. Typically, investment in bricks and mortar is the first thing to be hit by falling confidence. The financial crisis of 2008 had a substantial impact on the UK housing market, with a decline in house prices accompanied by reduced mortgage availability. Developers also found it harder to access the credit they need to fund new developments, and faced with lower than expected house prices, the numbers of homes completed slowed from a pre-crisis high of 220,000 to a low of 140,000. If uncertainty around Brexit persists into 2017, or if economic conditions worsen as the year progresses, developers will slow down their delivery because they will be less confident that they will find buyers for their homes. While developers currently hold land with planning permission for 460,000 new homes, and many will have started building them, there is no guarantee they will be completed any time soon. If that happens - if housing completions slow or stagnate - there is little chance that the Government's ambition for one million homes over this Parliament will be met. 2.How the Build to Rent sector fares One way that this might be alleviated is by the growing 'Build to Rent' sector. Instead of building homes speculatively for sale, which is how most of our homes are built, this growing part of the industry focuses on building homes for rent, typically to young professionals in our big cities. Building for rent is more resilient to market shocks than building for sale, because the demand for rental homes is more resilient - you don't need a mortgage to rent a home. Even in a recession, people need somewhere to live. So those building for rent can do so with more confidence that they will have customers to move in when they are finished. Advertisement This is one of the reasons that the Government has directed its focus on the Build to Rent sector as one way of increasing the level of housebuilding, through a 1 billion fund to support private investment, planning and construction. The potential is clear - it's an undeveloped sector in the UK, with 98% of the rental market made up of small-scale landlords. In 2017, we should see a move from aspiration to reality, with tens of thousands of rented homes expected to be built. 3.What the Government's vision means in practice Both the Secretary of State, Sajid Javid, and the Housing Minister, Gavin Barwell, have spoken of the need to build more homes, and to do so across all housing types. And the Prime Minister has outlined the need for the state to step in where the market is failing to deliver for those who are just about managing to get by. For many people, rising housing costs are now the biggest strain on their finances. We will see what this means in practice when the Government publishes its Housing White Paper, expected later this month. It will be interesting to see how much focus is given to addressing the predicted slowdown in the number of homes built for sale, and to supporting Build to Rent and other sources of supply in the private sector. Two smartphones are presented in contrasting positions to showcase their external features. (Photo : YouTube/ Technology Fogy) Nokia phones specs, price, and release date continues to excite the curiosity of consumers worldwide. With its highly anticipated line-up, including Nokia Edge, Nokia D1C and the Nokia 150, the company is hoping for a major comeback. After a major flop of its previous attempt to regain market dominance with its Windows OS smartphones, Nokia is now stepping up its latest offerings that are expected to arrive this year. For consumers interested only with basic features, call and text, the Nokia 150 would be a decent option. Advertisement According to the Finnish company, the said device is built to last and is expected to have a battery power similar to that of the Nokia 3310. Users may be able to appreciate a 22 hours talk time with Nokia 150 and 31 days standby, according to The Sun. Apart from the said retro feature, it is also expected that the classic games like Snake and Nitro Racing will also be incorporated in some of the upcoming Nokia phones. This approach somehow suggests that Nokia is trying to reinvent their approach towards the current smartphone industry while keeping some known effective formula for success. Moreover, other potential avenues through which Nokia is expected to dominate is the Android mobile industry. The former largest phone distributor hopes to regain global popularity and influence by introducing Android phones championed by the rumored Nokia Edge and D1C. Although the company has been quite strict with the release of details concerning its upcoming devices, leaks still managed to surface online. The budget variant of Nokia D1C has been speculated to feature a Snapdragon 600 series processor, 4GB RAM and 64GB, according to The Android Soul. On the other hand, another Android offering, Nokia Edge, will feature an expected Android 7.0 Nougat with 6GB RAM and would likely be bezel-less, as mentioned in a separate report. With a speculated powerful 23MP rear camera with Carl Zeis technology and octa-core processor, the said smartphone would be within $450-500 price point. As of the moment, in terms of a release period for the said Nokia phones, only the Nokia 150 has been reported for release in the Q1 of this year. Further specs info and release period of the upcoming Nokia Android phones remains to be elusive. Watch here below speculated feature of Nokia Edge: As captains of the fossil fuel industries and their lobbyists prepare to take over the White House - appointed by a President elected by a minority, claiming to represent the people on an anti-elite ticket yet possessing by far the highest cumulative wealth of any cabinet ever - they will face evidence breaking out all around them of a fast-moving global energy transition threatening to strand the fossil fuels they seek to boost. "World energy hits a turning point", a Bloomberg headline read on 16th December. "Solar power, for the first time, is becoming the cheapest form of new electricity," the article marvelled. Analysis of the average cost of new wind and solar in 58 emerging-market economies - including China, India, and Brazil - showed solar at $1.65 million per megawatt and wind at $1.66. Google leads the giant corporations eagerly going with this flow. The largest corporate buyer of renewable energy announced on 6th December that it expects to hit its target of 100% renewable power in, wait for it, 2017. Google is a huge consumer of power, and going solar means deep emissions cuts, especially when solar infrastructure is hooked up with all the digital efficiency-enhancement fandangoes that Silicon Valley giants are zeroing in on in the fast emerging era of artificial intelligence in an internet of things. Advertisement Google's emissions reductions will be meaningful even considering full product life cycles. Solar panels made today pay back the energy used to make them in little more than a year, a Belgian research team from the University of Louvain reported in December. "For every doubling of installed photovoltaic capacity", Atse Louwen and his colleagues write, "energy use decreases by 13 and 12% and greenhouse gas footprints by 17 and 24%, for poly- and monocrystalline based photovoltaic systems, respectively." This means that solar panels now return more energy than American oil: an average energy-return on energy-invested of around 14 (and rising) versus around 11 (and falling). This is excellent news not just for rich Californians but for the developing world, where "solar lanterns and rooftop photovoltaics are becoming the energy of choice", so Bloomberg reported. In India, "the millions not connected to the grid may never connect" now, dooming much coal to be stranded underground in the process. The cumulative market of new Indian households accessing small-scale energy is potentially 200 gigawatts, with only a tiny fraction currently served. In Myanmar the government needs no further persuasion: it announced plans to bring solar to all as soon as 2030. The technical advances in batteries and electric vehicles also became ever clearer in December. "Diesel faces global crash as electric cars shine", the Financial Times announced. According to a UBS report, this whole category of oil use will be gone from the global market within ten years. Advertisement The positives of EVs synergise with the negatives of air pollution to create a perfect storm for diesel. At the C40 cities summit, Paris, Mexico City, Madrid and Athens all vowed to ban diesel vehicles by 2025. In China, the worst air pollution this year put 24 cities on red alert, with schools shut and flights grounded. Half a billion people were affected by this "airpocalypse". In Chengdu, protestors took to the streets, putting smog masks on statues in the city centre. A heavy handed response by the police suggested that the government is super-sensitive to this issue. Which is not to say that the Chinese authorities aren't trying to abate the problem at source. I have summarised their rapid advances in renewables in earlier monthly reports. This month, a presentation in London by Zhang Gang, Counsellor of the State Council of China, revealed that China's efforts to use electricity more efficiently, cutting the need for coal, now involve 317 million smart meters in operation across 100% of urban areas and 70% of rural areas. These are hooked up in smart co-ordination, spanning all aspects of grids, at all scales, in a vast project involving 230 million users. Part of this co-ordination involves China's first expressway fast-charging EV network, stretching for 1,262 km between Beijing and Shanghai. No other country comes remotely close to this kind of smart-grid deployment. On 12th December, the International Energy Agency issued a report concluding that China's coal fired power plants "make no economic sense". Small wonder. India is on a similar rapid transition path. On 12th December the Central Electricity Authority announced that India does not need more coal-based capacity addition until 2022. The Authority now plans for non-hydro renewables to meet 43% of electricity as soon as 2027. Such an ambition would have been inconceivable until recently. On 20th, Bloomberg analysed the widening gap between projected and actual demand in the world's third largest emitter, and put their conclusion in an encouraging headline: "India's energy forecasts are falling short and climate could win." What are investors to make of all this? Well, it is rare for a report to hold the potential to change the world. But one published on 14th December did. The Recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) aim to give investors, lenders and insurers visibility of how climate-change risk will affect individual businesses, and a roadmap for reacting to it. The report presents the results of a year of deliberations by 32 representatives of companies with market capitalisation of $1.5 trillion and financial institutions responsible for assets of $20 trillion. Their intention is for the capital markets to behave consistently with the aims of the Paris Agreement on climate change, which is to say progressively retreat from fossil fuels, and increasingly favour clean-energy investments, not least renewables. Advertisement A reminder of the background. The target of the Paris Agreement, agreed by every independent nation on the planet in December 2015, is to keep global warming at less than 2C. If society is to do that, most reserves of fossil fuel will have to stay underground, unburnt. Since companies view all reserves as having financial value, this means a risk - should governments do what they promised to do in Paris, or some it - of what investors call "stranded assets": having money invested in a resource that you then can't realise. Investing any more money to add to this stock of potentially unburnable reserves creates what can be thought of as a "carbon bubble". The risk of stranded assets is growing with every decision made by fossil-fuel companies to invest in yet more unnecessary fossil fuel projects: new coal mines, new oil and gas fields, new fracking, new fossil fuel power plants, and so on and so on. The Bank of England awoke to this issue as a systemic risk in September 2015. After listening to arguments by Carbon Tracker, a financial think tank I chair, and other worried financial experts, they came to fear that fossil-fuel asset-stranding would risk wasting a lot of investment capital, and might even threaten global financial stability. The effort to stop this threat soon went international. The G20's Financial Stability Board set up a taskforce in December 2015 with a brief to specify the information investors need to be provided with in order for them to avoid stranded-asset risk. It is chaired by no less a figure than Michael Bloomberg. As soon as his Task Force's report came out out, more than 30 organisations - including Aviva, Axa, BHP Billiton, JPMorgan and Daimler - announced their support for its conclusions. Many more will surely follow, because the starting point in the TCFD's proposed roadmap is that companies should include climate-related financial disclosures in their public financial filings. Not to do so would be to ignore material risks to organisations, the Task Force professes. Advertisement Those disclosures should span the core elements of how organisations operate: governance, strategy, risk management and the setting of metrics and targets. Crucially, the TCFD advocates, companies should align business models with a 2C future. Remuneration of chief executives and boards should be linked to the extent to which their companies are hitting targets aimed at a sub-2C world. Even before the Paris Agreement was adopted last year climate risk was high on the agenda of the world's largest institutional investors and asset managers. Resolutions asking oil and gas companies to stress test their business models against a 2C-consistent climate outcome were generally opposed by boards, but received record-high support levels from shareholders. Now there will be no hiding place. The TCFD report provides a template for best practices and a road map for better disclosure. Neither fossil fuel companies nor asset managers investing in them will easily be able to ignore it. Some investors have not waited for the G20 Task Force's advice. By the time of the December 2015 Paris climate summit, investment funds with collective assets of $3.4 trillion had either divested from all or some fossil fuels, or announced their intention to. This movement has continued to grow in 2016. On 12th December the value of funds divested passed $5 trillion. 80% of the funds involved, spanning 688 institutions, are managed by commercial investment and pension funds. This shows that the campaign is now mainstream in the capital markets. Capital is fleeing fossil fuels just as the fossil fuel industries manoeuvre their capos into the White House for the first time. What damage can a Trump administration do to this analysis? According to a PWC report this month, the impact they can have on global greenhouse emissions will be "pretty small", if others hold course. With the trends I have chronicled each month in 2016, and the declaration by all governments in Marrakech in November that the Paris process is "irreversible", a holding of course seems a more than a reasonable assumption. Trying to derail Paris, and revive coal, Trump will have to somehow suppress the progressive American states. His problem is that 33 states and the District of Columbia have cut carbon emissions while expanding their economies since 2000, including some Republican states. How do you persuade officialdom in those states to revert to a failed economic model that seeks essentially to recouple economic growth and fossil fuel use? Fifteen of the states, led by California, New York, Virginia, Vermont and New Mexico, have already told Trump that if he tries to kill US climate plans, they will see him in court. Advertisement How has Big Energy coped on the transition frontier as 2016 came to a close? Two snapshots. The utility industry continues to be split into companies seeking to defend the fast shrinking status quo, and those now rushing to be part of the new world. One of the latter, Engie (formerly GdF Suez) announced that it sees the oil price falling to $10 as a result of current trends in energy markets, and the wave of clean-energy investments it and other major corporates are making. That would be interesting, should it transpire. For example, on 1st December BP gave the green light to a $9bn investment in a deepwater oilfield, rather appropriately named Mad Dog 2, due onstream (cue laughter, based on the industry's record of delivering major projects on time) in 2021. Good luck to them in recouping their investment if Engie's view of the world comes to pass. My conclusion, as the new year begins, is that the global energy transition is progressing faster than many people think, and is probably irreversible. Trump's prospects of resurrecting coal, and giving the oil and gas industry the expansionist dream ticket most of it wants, are very low. There is a caveat, of course: that he doesn't manage to blunder into a world war. All bets would be off then. Planned changes to the rules about faith schools haven't made huge headlines - in fact the announcement was slipped out under the cover of the more obviously controversial grammar school proposal. You may not even know that the UK Government is scrapping a rule that new faith centred free schools have to allow at least some people of other faiths in. Even if you do, it may not sound like a big deal. When you think "faith schools" you may think of a scattered few Muslim Schools or Jewish Schools - if these aren't religions you follow personally, you might not be too bothered about trying and send your child to one. But a full third of state-funded schools in the UK are faith schools - 68% of those Church of England and 30% Catholic. Whether you have school-age kids or not, whether you have a faith or not, there are two reasons this might matter to you. Advertisement Because fostering inclusion, diversity and empathy should be priorities, especially right now. Because children shouldn't be deprived of a quality education because of the personal beliefs of their parents. Isn't now a time when a united society matters more than ever? In a Brexit/Trump era tensions and fears are running high. Exactly when promoting inclusion, respecting diversity and fostering empathy should be national priorities, the UK Government is taking a dangerous swerve towards damaging segregation - supposedly to boost social mobility, but that has been strongly contested. If you've not quite had "enough of experts" yet, integration expert Professor Ted Cantle has written powerfully about why this is a big, damaging deal. Also, the Casey Review into "integration and opportunity in isolated and deprived communities" has this month specifically recommended "more integrated schools." Segregation is damaging for everyone. It's damaging for the minorities who could find themselves excluded from the best schools, but also for the kids with parents of the "right" faith. Wouldn't every child benefit from mixing with a variety of children from a variety of backgrounds? But maybe just as crucially, when we talk of selection based on faith, it has nothing to do with the 5 year old child whose education is at stake. Their future hangs on the personal beliefs of their parents. Should a child be punished for their parents' beliefs or non-belief? I happen to be an atheist, in a rural area, where all the surrounding primary schools are CofE. My daughter may well grow up to be religious, but she certainly doesn't know that at 5. At the moment existing faith schools have a wide variety of entry policies, but if the direction the government is moving in continues, where does that lead? Advertisement Would our daughter be denied attending not only a good school, but the local school, because of OUR religion, or lack thereof? A child automatically barred from a state-funded school based on her parent's personal choice? I have always assumed social care in the UK is geared towards protecting children from the actions and choices of their parents, and defending them against discrimination. Why would that be any different in their access to state-funded education? The last census showed the number of people in the UK with 'no religion' growing fast, but the best performing, sometimes only, local schools are often church schools. If they can select pupils entirely based on a religion you don't adhere to, what are your choices? To compromise quality, to travel or to lie? In an area with plenty of schools, you might simply chose a less well-performing school, in a rural area you could travel, and keep travelling, until you hit some distant appropriate school, or you could suck up the religion and just lie about your personal beliefs on the application form. And plenty of people already do. I would be amazed to hear of any middle-class parent who knew no-one in their peer group that feigned or exaggerated a religious belief to secure the best school place - dragging kids to church throughout their 4th year to prove commitment to a religion they, at best, don't outrightly reject. This already results in an unnatural skew towards those with the time, resources and determination to put in this kind of effort - a luxury many less advantaged families can't afford, and an option not easily available to people in every culture or ethnic group. Advertisement Is this the direction we want for British education? tbradford via Getty Images The holiday season is a time for enjoying good food - sometimes too much food - with friends and family. As we clear out our Christmas trees and look ahead to 2017, we should spare a thought for the farmer who reared the bird or grew our Brussel Sprouts. This year the Government will make big decisions that will determine the shape and cost of future Christmas dinners. A new report from the cross-party Environmental Audit Committee, which I chair, finds that EU has been good for British food, farming and the UK environment. Whatever Brexit eventually means, consumers do not want the Government to negotiate a deal that trades away vital food safety, animal welfare and environmental standards. Leaving the EU will be the largest administrative and constitutional task since World War Two. Theresa May wants to cut and paste 40 years' worth of EU law - including around 800 pieces of environmental legislation - into UK law. Government cuts mean Defra lost 900 staff in 2014-15, and Environment Secretary Andrea Leadsom hinted to us that her department is struggling to cope. She also told my Committee that up to one third of EU legislation that affects food, farming and environmental protection, could be difficult to roll forward into UK law. Advertisement That is why, today, in our report, we are calling on the Government to pass a new Environmental Protection Act before we leave the EU, so that our most treasured natural places and wildlife are protected for future generations. Brexit carries a triple risk for the UK's farmers and environment. They risk losing Common Agricultural Policy subsidies vital to their livelihoods; being exposed to increased competition and tariffs in new trade deals; and the erosion of the UK's world-leading environmental protections. The EU's Common Agricultural Policy is one of the most maligned EU policies, but subsidies are vital for the survival of many UK farms. CAP payments make up, on average, 50-60% of farm incomes. CAP supports rural towns and villages, environmentally friendly farming, and helps to keep UK produce on supermarket shelves. The government has guaranteed that basic farm subsidies will be paid until 2020. But in a 2007 blog post, before she was elected, Andrea Leadsom argued that farm subsidies should be abolished. When she gave evidence to my Committee she did not resile from her previous position and refused to guarantee that farm subsidies would continue in any shape after 2020. Those arguing for a "hard" Brexit say we'd be better off leaving the single market and trading with the rest of the world. But our inquiry found this wouldn't be easy for British farmers. If we leave the single market and fall back on WTO rules we might suddenly find tariffs and extra paperwork hitting our farmers and food producers. Almost all British lamb goes to the European Union, but farmers could face tariffs on those exports if we leave the single market. Coupled with the loss of EU subsidies, this could prove catastrophic for farm businesses. Advertisement The third risk is that, outside the EU, British farmers could face increased competition from countries like Brazil or India with lower food safety, animal welfare and environmental standards. This could lead to pressure for environmental protections to be watered down in the UK. Brexit Secretary David Davis has said the Government "will do anything necessary" to protect the City from Brexit. We heard concerns that food standards and environmental protections could be negotiated away in trade deals, in return for preferential market access for the UK's financial services sector. These issues were not debated in the heat of the referendum campaign. The evidence is clear: leaving the EU poses profound risks for the future of our countryside, environment, farmers and rural communities. A new Environmental Protection Act is essential to ensure the health and wellbeing of future generations, and to protect the UK's most precious places, plants and wildlife. At what point does it become passe to keep wishing every friend, relative and stranger we meet a Happy New Year? Now that we are back at work? When the Christmas Tree comes down? (on which note, which one exactly IS the 12th night?) Seriously - it's something I'd really like to know. Anyway. Happy or not, it is unmistakably a new year. I know this because I watched Jools Holland on TV, lit sparklers the one night of the year besides Guy Fawkes that it's appropriate, and recreated 'Fenton!!!!!' in Richmond Park the following day. Late in the day, natsch - I saw 2016 out (good riddance, quite frankly) with a small selection of my closest friends and a very large, irresponsibly champagne-fuelled buffet. Advertisement Introducing Coco to Rodney the Reindeer pre-walk (Picture: Blogger's Own) When I woke up on the first day of 2017, my Australian friend Jaimee (her heritage is of no relevance tbf) made me a brunch of oven chips and ketchup with a side of roast potatoes in bed and announced she was going Vegan for Jan. Veganuary. Apparently that's a thing. I am not joining her. I am, however, doing dry January-from-the-3rd. Because really I'd already drunk champagne at midnight on the 1st, and the 2nd seemed too soon. They're not exactly resolutions, more challenges, but the sentiment is similar. The trouble with resolutions and such like, though, is that they can be overly big-picture, and thus hard to achieve. So this year, I've set myself some more practical, realistic goals.. Procrastination is key.. (Photo: Blogger's Own) 1.Get organised - Organisation is not my strong point. It's a running joke in my family that I must be the only person to have passed out of Sandhurst and still manage to exist in boarderline chaos. If you're like me, you need a Hello Day planner. It organises literally everything for you, down to monitoring your daily water intake. I'm just getting started with it, but it seems fairly organisational-fool-proof. Advertisement 2.Stick to a routine - I'm sure I'm not alone in the lament that it's difficult to have routine when you're freelance. Because I am a little bit lazy, the call of my OnePiece is sometimes too great to ignore if there isn't something I really need to do. This year, I'm setting myself a wake-up time and a schedule. Next I just need to fight the snooze button.. 3.Prioritise happiness - Obvious to some, but it's been a slow dawning on me just how important happiness is. I've always been quick to write it off as an unneceary extra, but actually I found toward the end of the year that being in a positive headplace means that I am so, much more productive, pro-active and focused. Little dogs and Parajumpers coats make me happy. That counts, right?... (Photo: Blogger's Own) 4.Eat positively - When I was in Bali, the temptation was huge to break my gluten-free regime and binge on tasty treats. By day five it was getting me down that everyone else could eat things I couldn't, and frankly it was pretty much all I could think about. It was the elephant in the room of my head. Then I found a gluten-free place called Shelter Cafe. The menu was so varied and the dishes so beautifully colourful that I was no longer focused on the negative of having to be gluten-free, but on the positive of being exposed to such enjoyable food. 5.Listen body cues - I am pretty militant with my fitness, and have a tendency to take workouts too far, particularly when I'm stressed. Towards the end of last year, I started training at Duo Chelsea, and am learning about the different muscle groups and skilful ways of increasing performance rather than just punishing my body. I've even started stretching post-training. Acknowledging the need to work on something as subtle as flexibility is a huge step for me. Advertisement (Photo: Blogger's Own) Barcelona is an incredible city. From the hipster neighbourhoods and the graffiti walls of El Carmel to Gaudi's distinctive architecture and the beautiful beaches of Barceloneta, this cosmopolitan capital is bursting with things to see and do. Without a doubt, it's got something for everyone. And you won't have to go far to find your perfect place to eat, drink, shop or sightsee. It's rather impossible to have a bad time within the city. But some of the best advice you'll ever get is to travel a little further out. Because in the outskirts and surrounding region of Barcelona, you'll discover some incredible gems. Here are 5 places near Barcelona that will blow your mind... 1. Siurana This spectacular village is just over 2 hour's drive from the city and it's worth a visit for anyone who loves the great outdoors. It's a paradise for hikers, climbers and walkers alike and the views are like something out of a fairy tale. It's also a great place to visit for wine lovers, with many small family-run wineries in the area which have developed international recognition. With an incredible natural landscape and the most picturesque hill top panoramas, Siurana is not to be missed. Advertisement "Siurana, esglesia" by Miquel Colomer Planaguma is licensed under CC BY 2.0 2. Sitges If you've chosen Barcelona as your holiday destination for its great mix of city and beach, a day trip to the old fishing town of Sitges is perfect for you. Located further south along the coast from Barcelona, it's easy to get to and there's a choice of 17 beautiful beaches for sun seekers. There are also 3 gay beaches and a choice of mixed / nudist beaches as well as some more secluded spots for couples or families. "Sitges Seawall" by Valerie Hinojosa is licensed under CC BY 2.0 3. Tarragona Another 40 minutes from Sitges is the fantastic seaside city of Tarragona. Perfect for a daytrip or an alternative base to Barcelona, Tarragona is a destination that has it all. It boasts great weather and long hours or sunshine, glorious beaches that are never overcrowded with picturesque spots to sunbathe, countless historic monuments and UNESCO World Heritage Sites to check out, plus some of the best tapas bars in the Catalonia region. For food that will really blow your mind, don't miss the Tarragona dTapes Festival every April. Advertisement "Tarragona, Spain" by Juan Antonio F. Segal is licensed under CC BY 2.0 4. Figueres For Dali fans, it really doesn't get better than the small city of Figueres. The small but exciting capital of the comarca of Alt Emporda in the province of Girona, this charming destination has a number of unmissable attractions. The Salvador Dali Theatre-Museum is the most famous attraction; a place where art lovers will get to see some of the Spanish surrealist artist's finest works. Also not to be missed are Sant Ferran Castle, Museu del Joguet de Catalunya, Museu De L'Emporda, and the Iglesia de San Pedro. "Dali Theatre-Museum @ Figueres" by Momo is licensed under CC BY 2.0 5. Olot To get away from the hustle and bustle of Catalonia's cities and for views that will make you never want to leave, visit the stunning mountain town of Olot. Set in the foothills of the Pyrenees, visitors can enjoy a slow pace of life along with the town's rich history and culture. The architecture is truly elegant and nature lovers will fall in love with the lush green surroundings. Media have been buzzing over the New Year's holiday break with news that China has declared publicly that it's going out of the ivory business: closing down carving factories and domestic ivory markets. Reports even go so far as to suggest that the Chinese government will help retrain ivory carvers. Ivory may finally become a relic of a painful and destructive age of commodifying wildlife, and elephants may be spared widespread regional extinction if China can implement its 2017 ban on ivory within the year, as planned. Congratulations, and thank you to China. The Obama Administration deserves thanks, as well. It has been in discussions with the Chinese government for some time, pushing for equal measures to stop the trade in ivory. As two of the top consumers of wildlife generally and ivory specifically, action by the U.S. and China to demonstrably reduce domestic commercialization of elephant ivory could send a message to the world--most notably across Africa--that the ivory business is dead. If the ivory business is dead, then elephant poaching is no longer a lucrative enterprise. Elephants have a fighting chance. Better to kill the ivory trade than kill elephants to supply the ivory trade. I used to wonder aloud why Japan insisted on pushing so hard to legalize commercial whaling and to commercialize whale meat at meetings of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). There was little appetite globally for whale meat. The government was even thought to provide whale meat from scientific whaling endeavors free to schools to help children develop a taste for it. Advertisement What a great message it would send for Japan's diplomats to simply say, "We're done. We're no longer pushing to kill whales for their meat because we realize it's unnecessary and cruel." A massive public relations victory. But, they did not do this. They simply, quietly, stopped submitting proposals to trade in whale meat. China has clearly taken a different position. It has made this proclamation public and sent a message that it's time to stop elephant poaching. We have to hope that China remains true to this commitment. We have to hope that it enforces its new ivory prohibition. If it does, elephants have a fighting chance. But, we also must not be complacent about China's relationship with other wild animals. This declaration against ivory consumption says nothing of stopping the demand for rhino horn, which causes the poaching of rhinos in South Africa and elsewhere. It does not close the bear factories in the country where animals are kept in cages so small they cannot turn around, perpetually "milked" for their bile and killed for their gallbladders, which are used in traditional Chinese medicine and luxury cosmetic items. It does not close the tiger farms where animals are bred and languish only until they are slaughtered for their bones, organs, skins, and teeth, which seep into the domestic market. Advertisement I believe in credit where credit is due. In the past year, the U.S. and China have committed to doing much more to curtail their domestic ivory markets. Kudos to both for keeping their promises. The eyes of the world now watch closely to see if China delivers on its promise. Keep Wildlife in the Wild, We live in a time of Rupture. First, the sundering of the United States in an unconscionable act of hate, towards American ideals and the American people, on Election Day. Second, the Rupture within the American Jewish community, completing a division that had been growing for a decade but which has been finalized these past two weeks at the end of the Obama administration. I will discuss the latter today. Two weeks ago, the United Nations Security Council passed resolution 2334, with a vote of 14-0 and the United States abstaining. The abstention was a surprise to some, but not to others. The vote was followed the next week by Secretary Kerry's speech in favor of the two-state solution and with harsh words for the current Israeli government which has been blatantly acting against its promises to advance that solution. I spent over two weeks in Israel and Palestine in November, seeing for myself the facts on the ground, and reading about the continuing efforts of the Netanyahu government to promote and extend the Occupation. The debate over the evacuation of Amona, the bill to legalize all the previously built settlements, small as well as large, and the glee of the extreme right, both within and without the government, on the anticipation of the coming hawkish, Islamophobic government in the United States, all contributed to the sense that there will never be a Palestinian state. Advertisement When asked, Israelis, be they government officials, activists, academics, or the everyday citizen, had no vision for the future. Even some right-wing Knesset members spoke of despair at the creeping annexation, but the lack of creativity and the willingness to take the initiative were depressingly evident. The events of the past two weeks here have made it clear that this country's Jewish community is just as bereft of answers as the Israeli Jewish population, and the division is just as stark. These are the facts on the ground here. The large majority of Jewish Americans voted for Hillary Clinton and support the two-state solution. These are people who are not naive about the prospects for peace, but who understand that action must be taken, even if risky, to provide for Israel's security as well as remove the stain of a fifty-year occupation. 30% support what used to be the Republican party, and its long history of blindly supporting whatever right-wing coalition was governing Israel. It wasn't that long ago - one could argue as recently as a decade ago - that American Jews were united in a bipartisan fashion in support of Israel, regardless of the government. Netanyahu's resurrection by deposing Ehud Olmert, ending the last fruitful Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, and driving the coalition to the far right began just as the Obama administration did, and with it the racist opposition of the Republican party that continues to this day. But the responses to the UNSC resolution and the Kerry speech were very interesting and highlighted the root problem. There was the now usual split - right-wing organizations criticized the actions, the more extreme ones calling the vote anti-Semitic and worse, trashing the U. N. and personalizing the attacks against the President when the U.S. did nothing more than reiterate what every administration since 1967 has said. That's plain to see if you bother to read the Resolution and then Ambassador Powers' words along with Secretary Kerry's. Those organizations on the left, like J Street, praised the administration for making a clear statement to its long-time friend, with whom it recently concluded a $38 billion-dollar aid package. Basically, friends tell their friends the truth, even when it hurts. Especially when it hurts. Advertisement But many people I know, particularly those in the center, criticized the American abstention and statements as being one-sided, despite the resolution calling out Palestinian terrorism. True, it didn't specify Palestinian terrorism, but it was obvious that was its intent. Putting that nuance aside, it was the clearest and most balanced statement about the conflict and its potential resolution, and was right in line with the agreements nearly finalized over the past fifteen years. Yes, it was the Palestinians who balked at the last minute on signing those agreements, but it was Israel which has the power and the ability to act in a way that would induce the Palestinians to finally sign an agreement. One criticism from a respected friend in the Maryland civil rights movement was that the U.S. action would only serve to encourage the Palestinians to continue working through the U.N. and the International Criminal Court. True, but that assumes that Israel has any interest in negotiating a settlement, which is arguable at best. It also unfairly criticizes the Palestinians for using the United Nations when the Jews of the Yishuv did just that in 1947 to gain their statehood. If it was acceptable for Israel, why shouldn't it be for Palestine as well? That American Jews still feel threatened by a clear condemnation of Israeli policy and the fifty-year occupation is evidence to me that the fear-mongering of the Right in the U.S. has been effective. When one cannot handle criticism from a friend, as was the case with Netanyahu lashing out against those nations which voted for the Resolution by threatening economic ties and basically doing the BDS movement's job for it, you can infer that there is a great deal of either shame or guilt at work. As one who did not really begin to pay close attention to the conflict until a few years ago, I am sympathetic to the difficulty in dealing with a reality to which you've been willfully blind for half a century. Today an Israeli court announced its guilty verdict in the manslaughter case of Elor Azaria, the IDF medic who decided to shoot a Palestinian attacker in the back of the head while he lay prone and unmoving on the ground. A medic, mind you, which shows how far the deterioration of ethics has gone in Israeli society. This verdict highlights the rupture in Israeli society, analogous to that of the American Jewish community and the United States in general. The center is not holding anymore. It's a shame that after so long, when the Israelis who've administered the occupied territories and run counterintelligence for all those decades have all called for an end to the Occupation, there isn't any civil, mature discussion about the current policies and their consequences, both here and in Israel. Like our refusal to engage the global crisis of global warming, by the time we get around to surrendering to reality the price may already be too high for a rational resolution. By Jeremy Adam Smith It was a great year for the Greater Good Science Center's Education program. Hundreds of teachers attended our annual Summer Institute for Educators, and we reached hundreds of thousands more through workshops, talks, partnerships, and, of course, articles in Greater Good magazine. Here's our list of the twelve best, based on a composite ranking of pageviews and editors' picks. How to Help Diverse Students Find Common Ground, by Stephen Murphy-Shigematsu: What are the principles that promote a truly inclusive university? Here are eight. The Trouble with Trigger Warnings, by Mariah Flynn: Can educators warn students about troubling content without discouraging class participation? Here are some tips. Advertisement Four Ways Teachers Can Reduce Implicit Bias, by Jill Suttie: We're all subject to bias. Here are tips to help teachers treat all of their students with dignity and care. How to Bring SEL to Students with Disabilities, by David Lichtenstein: Social-emotional learning programs have not traditionally targeted students with psychiatric or developmental disabilities. Here's why they should. Why We Should Teach Empathy to Preschoolers, by Shuka Kalantari: One Berkeley preschool is baking empathy into its curriculum--and for good reason. How Teachers Can Help Students Who Fail in Class to Succeed at Life, by Mark Katz: There are people who got bad grades but grew up to be successful adults, says Mark Katz. What's their secret--and how can schools help? Advertisement Why Don't Students Take Social-Emotional Learning Home?, by Vicki Zakrzewski: New research suggests we need to take account of how diverse groups of students view and apply SEL skills. What if Schools Taught Kindness? by Laura Pinger and Lisa Flook: Lessons from creating a "kindness curriculum" for young students. How to Stop the Culture of Complaining at Schools, by Owen Griffith: Fourth-grade teacher Owen Griffith offers practical ways to turn schools and classrooms into no-complaint zones. Five Ways to Help Misbehaving Kids, by Stuart Shanker: Bad behavior is often a sign that children are stressed--and punishment isn't the best solution. By Kira M. Newman If your life were a movie, where would the plot be headed right now? You may not be immortalized in film anytime soon, but your life is still a story. According to psychologists, we all have an internalized narrative that explains how we became the person we are today and where we are headed tomorrow. Like any Hollywood blockbuster, this narrative has settings, scenes, a plot, characters, and themes. As we ponder resolutions for the coming year, New Year's can also be a time to reflect on our life story--and to figure out how everything fits together. Incorporating our goals into the larger narrative of our life can give us more energy to pursue them, and to become the person we want to be. The science of the life story Storytelling starts in childhood, as kids narrate events to their parents. Their stories--fragmented, short, and sometimes seemingly pointless--are more than just cute. They reflect a struggle to master this innately human form of communication; children's efforts also reveal just how cognitively demanding it is. Parents help this process along by asking questions about causes, effects, and emotions, implicitly teaching kids what makes a good story. Advertisement Adolescents improve by leaps and bounds in their storytelling ability, but they don't quite perfect the art. In fact, at least one study says our stories become more and more coherent through our 20's. The ability to integrate our stories around a common theme--more on that below--continues improving even into our 40's. Stories are the way we make sense of the world, and we're constantly narrating and revising in our heads, sometimes without even realizing it. Although our life story is based on actual events, it is also highly personal and subjective. The same life could be narrated many ways; we might hone in on our parents' divorce and how it colored everything that followed, or downplay the divorce and instead highlight an exemplary college career. "Creating any kind of a story is a construction. It's not just finding something that's out there," says Northwestern professor Dan McAdams, a pioneer in the field of narrative psychology. "Selves create stories, which in turn create selves." Not only do stories tell us who we are, but they can also become resources we draw upon in times of difficulty: Recalling stories of strength or resilience helps us confront new challenges, reminding us of how we solved problems in the past. Telling stories can connect us with others, creating intimacy and strengthening relationships. The best stories provide meaning and purpose by linking seemingly random events and experiences into a progressive journey. Advertisement Three common life themes Studying stories is not easy, since every person's life is so unique. In their quest to categorize and correlate, researchers have come up with different ways to analyze life stories, and one of those ways is by theme. A theme is a common motivational thread or pattern that runs through a life story. The three themes detailed below--communion, agency, and redemption--have all been linked to well-being. If you want to cultivate happiness in the coming year, organizing your goals and your life story around one of these themes could help the pieces fall into place. 1. Communion. Stories that emphasize connection, love, friendship, intimacy, caring, or belonging embody the theme of communion. For example, in a 2013 paper, one participant focused on her supportive relationships when recalling a particular memory: "I was warm, surrounded by friends and positive regard that night. I felt unconditionally loved." In a 2004 study, 125 undergrads filled out personality surveys and then wrote about ten scenes from their life story, including a morality scene and a decision scene. Researchers analyzed these scenes for different themes, including the theme of communion. The more this theme showed up in their writing, the more extraverted and agreeable the students tended to be--two traits that are associated with high happiness. 2. Agency. If some stories emphasize social connection, others emphasize achievement, self-mastery, empowerment, status, and influence. "I challenge myself to the limit academically, physically, and on my job. Since that time [of my divorce], I have accomplished virtually any goal I set for myself," a different participant wrote in that 2013 study. When describing their experience in therapy, people who tell stories with a stronger agency theme tend to have higher well-being. Advertisement The distinction between communion and agency doesn't simply boil down to a focus on relationships or work, though. Remember, stories are subjective, and so are themes. If I started a meetup group, I could choose to look at that as an entrepreneurial act of leadership or the pursuit of deeper connection. Each lens would have a different impact on my sense of self, and my life story. 3. Redemption. The theme of redemption, perhaps the most well-studied in narrative psychology, exists when something bad is mitigated or transformed by the good that follows. Stories of redemption are sad stories with a happy ending: We've grown or learned something, or simply recovered; perhaps we choose to see the whole experience as a form of loving sacrifice. In a 2001 paper, University of Missouri professor Laura King quotes the parent of a disabled child telling a story of redemption. The story concludes: I know my daughter is quite special. It's as if she's part of another race or from another planet. She's definitely wired differently. And I think those wires are hooked directly to God. She's the closest I've come to an angel on Earth. In another 2001 study, researchers interviewed 74 adults about their life story. During a two-hour conversation, participants described a variety of scenes from their lives, including a high point, a low point, a turning point, their earliest memory, and important scenes from childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. When their stories were analyzed, the results showed that participants who tended to tell more stories of redemption also reported higher life satisfaction. Redemptive stories were more strongly linked to life satisfaction than stories involving positive emotions, so it wasn't just redemption's happy ending that made people feel better. Advertisement "A [redemptive] story suggests hope and progress in life and may thus confer on the storyteller a general coping advantage," the researchers write. It may become a self-fulfilling prophecy, whether the positive interpretation was initially true or not: In a 2013 study, alcoholics who said their last drinking episode improved them in some way (making them stronger or more motivated) were more likely to be sober and in better health four months later. In middle age, people who tell redemptive stories also tend to display more altruism, or "generativity": acts such as volunteering, mentoring, civic activity, parenting, and teaching. More evidence is needed before researchers conclude that particular life stories cause people to become happier, but they suspect it's a kind of loop: Emphasizing certain life themes leads to happiness, but it's also the case that happier people are more likely to highlight certain themes, and to become even happier. How goals fit into your life story In reading about these themes, you might find yourself gravitating toward one of them. Perhaps you're prioritizing relationships at this point in your life, or you're struggling to overcome trauma. "The trick really is identifying the type of theme that will work for you and your life (there's no "one size fits all" solution here)," says UC Riverside professor Will Dunlop. Advertisement So how should your life theme inform your goals for the next year? The first thing to understand is that goals are part of the tapestry of the life story. "There can be no story without intention," wrote McAdams in 1992. "Further, there can be no intention without story." As a rule, then, life stories and goals tend to align. In a 2006 study, researchers asked undergrads to describe their goals and their life stories. They found that students with social goals (to meet people or make friends) were more likely to have social life stories--life stories emphasizing the themes of communion and altruism. Goals can even shape which memories we're more likely to recall. Achieving this kind of integration between goals and life stories will make us more motivated and energized to work toward our aims, says McAdams. "Goals are crying out or beckoning to be brought into the narrative," he says. "There's this ongoing story about life, and if a goal is worthy of being brought into that ongoing narrative, then it's arrived." When a goal gets integrated into our life story, "it raises the stakes," he adds. "It says, 'This is an important thing. My very identity is (to a certain extent) hinging on success.'" And the more a goal becomes part of our identity, self-determination theory suggests, the more it moves from being extrinsically motivated toward being intrinsically motivated. Advertisement Yet McAdams also points out that a goal may represent a departure from our previous trajectory in life, a kind of transition or turning point--and that can become part of our life story, too. The workaholic who vows to make it home in time for dinner may be shifting from a theme of agency to a theme of communion, for example. More fake news found every day on The Political Garbage Chute. NEW YORK, NEW YORK -- Just a matter of hours after he was rushed from a maximum security prison to a hospital, convicted serial killer Charles Manson was rushed from the hospital across the country to Trump Tower. "At approximately 3:36am local time," Dr. June Smithson told reporters, "we transferred Mr. Manson from a hospital bed to a helicopter, where he was taken to the airport and put in a private jet. From there, he was flown to Trump Tower." Dr. Smithson said that the decision to move Manson from the hospital to New York was made "way, way, way above [her] pay grade." Advertisement "We were just told to prep Mr. Manson for a cross-country flight," Smithson said, "and so that's what we did." The Donald Trump administration, which has been conducting much of its business related to Mr. Trump's transition into power as the president, released a statement acknowledging that Manson had been flown in to meet with them. While not a lot of details about the meeting were given in the statement, the Trump camp did say that Manson was the "kind of person who would fit in on Team Trump" in the statement, and it was implied that his presence was requested by one man in particular. "Steve Bannon had requested the chance to meet Mr. Manson," the statement read, "because he shares an affinity for German symbols of the 1930s and 1940's with Charles and he wanted to pick his brain about how Mr. Manson would handle certain issues facing America today." Later, reporters in the press pool caught Trump as he was leaving Trump Tower and managed to ask him a couple questions about Charles Manson's invitation for a visit. Advertisement "I want to be inclusive, okay? Very inclusive," Trump told the media, "because we've had eight years of a guy who, unless you did that whole uber-PC thing where you can't even say the N word half jokingly, or call fags faggots anymore, you weren't let in. So exclusionary, right? So divisive. It's like he was saying, 'If you don't accept that society has moved on and certain things aren't cool by and large anymore, then you're not welcome here.' Well, I'm welcoming to everyone, even if -- no, especially if -- those people may or may not have wanted to start a race war." Speaking in front of a local bookstore in his town, David Duke -- the former KKK Grand Wizard and congressman from Louisiana -- told the crowd and a handful of reporters there that inviting Manson to speak with him was a "stroke of Trump geniuus, no doubt about it." Duke said it gave him hope that he too would get an audience with Mr. Trump at some point in the next four years to "discuss what to do about all the uppity blacks, semi-blacks, and black lovers." "No," Trump told reporters when asked if Manson would be offered a job in his administration, "I don't think that would be right of us to give Chuck a job. We have a lot of other white supremacists' applications ahead of his, and I'd hate to be accused of playing favorites with my racist friends, know what I mean? Steve just wants to hire him as his own personal adviser." As he was being wheeled away on a hospital gurney, reporters managed to get a couple questions off to Manson, who answered as best as he could from the bed. Taeyang of BIGBANG performs on the stage during a concert at the K-Collection In Seoul on March 11, 2012 in Seoul, South Korea. (Photo : Getty Images/Chung Sung-Jun) Dispatch has been the number source for the latest dating news on South Korean celebrities. In the past years, the news outlet has been the first to break some of the biggest dating news. Every year on Jan. 1, Dispatch ushers in the new year with the fresh scoop on a new celebrity couple. However, breaking its tradition, Dispatch is reportedly not revealing any dating news this year. Advertisement Dispatch has never failed to deliver fresh dating news year after year, complete with photos of the couple and statement from sources close to the situation. It came as a surprise to its loyal patrons when the news outlet did not release anything for the new year. According to Koreaboo, readers of Dispatch inquired about the lack of news through its Facebook page. In response to the question, Dispatch wrote, "The country is in the middle of impeachment. The attention of Korea must be on President Park Geun Hye and Choi Soon Sil, their parties and the traitors of the country. Our country's politics need to be the center of focus more than ever." Dispatch explained that the current national issue and political scandal concerning President Park Geun Hye and Choi Soon Sil is the news outlet's primary focus at the moment. The news outlet added that they will release a new dating scoop once the time is right. Year after year, Dispatch has proven itself the leader of delivering celebrity dating news. The outlet has proven itself to be truly credible. Some of the celebrity couples revealed by Dispatch include Choiza and Sulli. The outlet was the first to release photos of the couple going on a date. Dispatch was also the first to break dating news about Sooyoung and Jung Kyung Ho, and YoonA and Lee Seung Gi. Hello Kpop reported that Dispatch was also the one who released exclusive photos of Taeyang and Min Hyo Rin going out on a date. The photo showed the couple walking while holding hands in the Hannam-dong neighborhood. The outlet also exposed the relationship of Kim Tae Hee and Rain, and Shin Min Ah and Kim Woo Bin. Never has a president-elect so roiled American foreign policy before even taking office. On a dizzying range of fronts--Russia, China, Europe, the Middle East-- Donald J. Trump has dissented from longstanding U.S. policy, challenged the outgoing president as he has managed America's international relations, and put in doubt the future of such cornerstones of peaceful international relations as the United Nations and the North Atlantic alliance. John F. Kennedy did not challenge (nor did he endorse) President Eisenhower's decision to break diplomatic relations with Cuba on the eve of his inauguration in January 1961, which would lock the United States into a half-century of fruitless conflict. Ronald Reagan was content to let President Carter work out whatever accord he could to end the Iranian hostage crisis without second-guessing him. Bill Clinton did not take issue with outgoing President George H.W. Bush's dispatch of U.S. forces to Somalia. (The one seeming counter-example--Richard Nixon's undermining of President Lyndon B. Johnson's breakthrough effort to launch negotiations halting the war he had escalated in Vietnam--was clandestine rather than public, and undertaken before the election, not as president-elect.) Advertisement Strikingly, the one foreign-policy arena where Mr. Trump's post-election moves are arousing bipartisan political resistance in Washington is Russia. Republicans reflexively suspicious of Moscow since cold war days can make common cause with Democrats inclined to blame Vladimir Putin for Hillary Clinton's election loss on the theory that publication of her campaign chairman's emails turned Great Lakes voters against her. Mr. Trump's breezy dismissal of the measures that U.S. intelligence agencies demanded, and President Obama imposed, in retaliation for Russian hackers' politically calibrated dissemination of the fruits of their espionage has not sat well with the security establishment in Washington. It risks strengthening the headwinds against confirmation of his idiosyncratic choice of Rex Tillerson for secretary of State. A new "reset" of U.S.-Russian relations, more durable than the improvement Barack Obama fostered early in his presidency with Russia's then-president Dmitri Medvedev, would of course be desirable. The stubborn question with Russia resets has always been, on what terms? Arguably, Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman could have maintained harmonious relations with Moscow if they had turned a blind eye to Stalin's imposition of communist regimes in eastern Europe, which they did not have the power to prevent; but American public opinion would not be so quiescent. Perhaps Mr. Trump would forge a cooperative relationship with Mr. Putin based on U.S. disengagement from promoting democracy in former Soviet states, from maneuvering its favorites into their governments, or from extending NATO ties to them. Maybe U.S. deference to Moscow's repugnant revival of discredited notions of "spheres of influence" would do the trick. Still, it is not just Washington interventionists but Europeans across the spectrum who would resist acquiescing in Mr. Putin's blatant ruptures of international law--such as the seizure of Crimea and creation of Russian enclaves in eastern Ukraine. Advertisement A close embrace of Mr. Putin will prove hard politically for Mr. Trump to sustain at home. Nor is it likely to translate into a successful U.S.-Russian international condominium. Russia is, after all, an economically and demographically declining power, and Mr. Putin is notably unable to rally support in international institutions for his agenda. His one occasional ally on the U.N. Security Council, China, is the real rising power--with which the U.S. president-elect chose gratuitously to pick an early fight. Mr. Trump's outreach to the Chinese republic on Taiwan, now governed by an independence-minded Taiwanese party, may stir nostalgia among some Republican elders, but has little political traction in Washington and scant resonance with the American public. On the other hand, it does upend four decades of U.S. policy, policy that arguably opened the door to a global economic surge and put an end to enmities that had drawn Americans into two major wars in Asia. Yet even as Mr. Trump has signaled indifference to China's political relevance, he seemed to expect it should compel its North Korean ally to knuckle under to international demands for an end to its nuclear weapons program. The incoming president will, however, resist pressure on a U.S. ally that Chinese diplomats sometimes cite as a mirror image of theirs. During this pre-inaugural period the president-elect has completed his metamorphosis from the one candidate in the Republican primaries who would "be a neutral guy" and "deal-maker" between Israelis and Palestinians--in fact, the candidate booed by Republican Jewish donors for not declaring Jerusalem the "undivided capital of Israel"-- into a full-throated advocate of Israeli expansion into occupied Arab territories. By the end of 2016 Mr. Trump would choose a militant advocate of the settlement enterprise as U.S. ambassador to Israel--in fact, his own personal lawyer whose expertise, without intended irony, is bankruptcy. In his most overt transition-period challenge to President Obama, the president-elect complied with an extraordinary request by Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu to call publicly on the president to veto a U.N. resolution reiterating Security Council (and U.S. government) calls across four decades for a halt to Israeli settlement construction. Bristling at yet another hostile intrusion into U.S. politics by the redoubtable Netanyahu, Mr. Obama ordered a U.S. abstention, and Security Council Resolution 2334 won unanimous adoption. Shoot the messenger. "As to the U.N.," the president-elect responded, "things will be different after Jan. 20th." Whatever Mr. Trump might have in mind, a trio of Southern Republican senators would make concrete. South Carolina's Lindsey Graham sees the Israeli settlements as the wedge issue that can "create a backlash in Congress against the United Nations" and revive the hoary practice of nonpayment of U.S. dues, which had dogged American diplomacy at the United Nations in the 1980s and '90s. Advertisement Of course, it was not "the U.N." but 14 states that voted for the resolution, and none of the 14 states--not Russia or China, not France or Britain, not Japan or Spain or any other of them--would feel any pain from U.S. nonpayment of U.N. assessments. If the point of the president-elect's congressional partisans is to alter these other countries' critical views of Mr. Netanyahu's Jewish settlements, it misses its target. "The U.N." may have to withdraw peacekeepers from areas of deadly conflict, but it is Senator Graham's departing governor Nikki Haley, Mr. Trump's designated U.N. ambassador, who may find herself holding the bag, isolated and discredited in both New York and Washington. Then again, perhaps that is the point. And does Team Trump wonder why he will enter the presidency with unprecedented lack of public confidence in his ability to handle international crises? NEW YORK, NY - DECEMBER 06: President-elect Donald Trump pauses to briefly speak to the media at Trump Tower on December 6, 2016 in New York City. Potential members of President-elect Donald Trump's cabinet have been meeting with him and his transition team of the last few weeks. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images) The billionaires and millionaires who white "working-class" people (we're told) voted overwhelmingly to put in charge of Washington have already signaled they intend to use the power of the federal government to wage class warfare against their constituents. The Republican assault on the social safety net will go far beyond repealing the Affordable Care Act and is already taking aim at Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. Representative Tom Price, the Georgia Republican who Trump nominated to be Secretary of Health and Human Services, has a long history in Congress trying to roll back these vital social insurance programs. In a recent speech, Price voiced his displeasure with the "small number of automatic spending programs like Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security, which are not subject to annual appropriations." He wants to turn these insurance programs that are funded by payroll taxes with workers and employers both contributing, into "welfare" programs that his department and the Republican Congress can systematically dismantle. Advertisement On the campaign trail, Trump assured voters he would defend Social Security knowing that calls for gutting it are extremely unpopular even in Trumpland. Millions of struggling working-class Americans depend on Social Security for a lifeline. And since more children are living with their grandparents privatizing it will be like stealing from the elderly, disabled, orphans and children all at the same time. Trump's promises contradict the draconian budgets that Price, who chaired the Budget Committee, and House Speaker Paul Ryan have put forward in recent years. There might be an area of disagreement between Trump, Price, and Ryan on Social Security. But as with everything else, we can't trust a word that comes out of any of their mouths The harmony among Trump and the 115th Congress comes in their quest to de-regulate every corporate special interest they can get away with including banks and credit card companies, food and drug companies, oil and gas companies, Internet Service Providers, and so on and on, leaving workers and consumers to fend for themselves. In an era when we've seen predatory behavior from corporations like Mylan (with its Epipen price gouging) and Wells Fargo (with its fraudulent accounts ripping off unwitting customers), and numerous other examples (including the massive Wall Street fraud that produced the meltdown of 2008), the Republicans' ideological commitment to vague notions of "deregulation" as a panacea for our economic woes is as stubborn as ever. Advertisement When the economy is in a downturn the Republicans say "times are bad we must cut taxes and deregulate"; when the economy is growing and unemployment is relatively low, they say "times are good we must cut taxes and deregulate." It's pure ideology. The last time around when the Republicans controlled the House, the Senate, and the presidency (2003-2007) they cut taxes while launching wars that cost a trillion dollars, doubled the national debt, gave away $400 billion to their big donors among pharmaceutical companies, and presided over the worst financial crisis and recession since the Great Depression. The longest serving Republican House Speaker in U.S. history (Dennis Hastert) was later convicted for illegal pay-outs to hide his pedophilia, and Majority Leader Tom DeLay and his friend Jack Abramoff redefined the meaning of "influence peddling" on K Street. Today, the 115th Congress is gearing up to enact the same misguided policies that failed the country so miserably under George W. Bush -- but this time on steroids. Overreach is baked into their ideology. They simply cannot contain their greed. And the Republicans' blind hatred of everything Obama and their zeal to undo everything he accomplished over the past eight years might lead them to discover at some point that the first black president they loathed so much put in place some smart policies that lowered the costs of health care, stabilized the federal budget, and kept us out wars. In 2016, the Republicans brought us a new reality. "Gaslighting" became institutionalized. Instead of having a public debate about the ideas of the candidates and realistically parsing their policy proposals we got bizarre denials of fact and Big Lies that boomeranged back into the discourse in ways that challenged reality itself. One thing we've learned from the Trump juggernaut is that lying works, and lying bigly works even better. Advertisement As with the run-up to the Iraq War in 2002 the corporate news media in 2016, cable news shows, the networks, and even major news outlets, proved totally unequipped to deal with the new order of things or defend the norms of democratic governance. The editor of the Wall Street Journal has even given up trying to fact check Trump's liars and gaslighters giving them an open platform for their propaganda; no Edward R. Murrows there. When Beltway reporters allow powerful people to come on their shows and lie to them with impunity, and then leave it to their viewers to sort out fact from fiction, we see how low American political "journalism" has sunk. Those in power labor tirelessly to deconstruct our political reality and corporate news media have been their greatest enablers. The same business model that motivated those Macedonian teens who flooded pro-Trump sites with false stories for click bait and eyeballs also animates Jeff Zucker at CNN, Leslie Moonves at CBS, and Rupert Murdoch at Fox. There is one area that might allow for a little pushback against the lies and gaslighting and that's the courts, law schools, and the legal system generally. Despite the inherent injustices between rich and poor in the justice system it still largely exists in the fact-based world. Lawyers can twist and misinterpret the law and the meaning of words but it's much harder to gaslight or to outright lie. In fact, there's even a crime called perjury to dissuade people from lying in court. A court even forced Trump to pay out $25 million to settle the fraud case involving his bogus for-profit eponymous "University." Trump's lawyers didn't try to gaslight their way out of his fraud case - they chose to settle. And Trump's usual tactic of smearing people who challenge him as he did with Judge Gonzalo Curiel failed to make the case disappear. For now, the legal system still functions in the world of facts largely because a lot of rich and powerful people and corporations need it to function that way. How else could Disney or ExxonMobil or Apple or JPMorgan Chase protect their bottom lines, their property and patent rights, their contracts and business dealings if the courts partook in the same kind of crazy-making and gaslighting PR departments and Trump surrogates engage in every day? Advertisement photo: Ed Juillard 1/1/2017 This New Year's Eve, 750 heavy wooden crosses were distributed to a gathering of Chicagoans commemorating the victims of gun violence killed in 2016. Rev. Michael Pfleger and the Faith Community of St. Sabina Parish had issued a call to carry crosses constructed by Greg Zanis. The crosses, uniform in size, presented the name and age and, in many cases, a facial photo of the person killed. Some who carried the crosses were relatives of the people killed. As the group assembled, several sobbed upon finding the crosses that bore the names and photos of their loved ones. Those carrying the heavy crosses along Chicago's "Magnificent Mile" of high end shops and restaurants knew that other arms than theirs were aching...aching with longing for loved ones who would never return. In 2016, more people were killed in Chicago by gun violence than in New York City and Los Angeles combined. The number killed represented a 58% increase over the number killed in 2015. "How could this happen?" - was the question asked on the front page of the Chicago Tribune. It was a year of social service program shutdowns driven by the Governor's office in Springfield. The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King's description of a triplet of giant evils, each insoluble in isolation from the others, helps us identify an answer to the Tribune's question. King spoke of the giant triplets of racism, extreme materialism and militarism. Training for, and the diversion of money to, wars overseas was a crisis inextricable from the race crisis at home, as were policies promoting radical wealth inequality. Representative Danny Davis, of Chicago, whose grandson was killed by gun violence in 2016, insists that "poverty was fueling the city's bloodshed, and that Chicago needed to make investments 'to revamp whole communities.'" Advertisement Poverty and racism clearly interact: Blacks and Latinos comprise 56% of the incarcerated population, yet only 30% of the U.S. population. A report documenting the rates of incarceration for whites, African Americans, and Hispanics in the Illinois state prison system notes that over half of this prison population is black. For every 100,000 people in the state, 1,533 black people are imprisoned as compared to 174 white people and 282 Hispanic people. The consequences of incarceration affect entire communities: former prisoners are restricted in terms of employment, their families are disrupted, housing becomes unstable, they become disenfranchised, and stigmas persist. We must also consider gun violence in relation to U.S. militarism. Gun violence in Chicago is condemned, as it should be, and yet a message to every one of the 9,000 Chicago Public School children participating in U.S. military junior ROTC programs is that killing is acceptable if you are following orders. Killing of civilians by the U.S. military is considered regrettable but acceptable "collateral damage". These killings eliminate "high value targets". The mere suspicion of harboring a targeted person in a home, restaurant, or mosque becomes an excuse for an airborne drone attack to execute whole families or communities. Ironically, this policy enacts an airborne version of a drive-by shooting. Soldiers who have seen combat are less likely to praise the virtues of military life. "The myth is that the military teaches discipline," say the Chicago area Veterans for Peace, in their 'education not militarization' campaign. "The reality is that the military teaches children to follow orders without question and to use the military solution to conflict resolution - that is, death and destruction." President Obama had tears in his eyes in January, 2016, calling for relief from record breaking shootings and killings in the U.S. Yet 2016 became a record breaking year for U.S. export of weapons to other countries. The U.S. is responsible for nearly 33% of worldwide weapon exports--by far the top arms exporter on the planet. Advertisement "Arms deals are a way of life in Washington," writes William Hartung. "From the president on down, significant parts of the government are intent on ensuring that American arms will flood the global market and companies like Lockheed and Boeing will live the good life. ...American officials regularly act as salespeople for the arms firms. And the Pentagon is their enabler... In its first six years, team Obama entered into agreements to sell more weaponry than any administration since World War II." Carrying a cross along Michigan Avenue yesterday, I thought of the terrible slaughter in World War I that killed 38 million people. Elites, weapon makers, and war profiteers drove millions of men into the trenches to fight and die in the war that was to end all wars. In 1914, mired in mud, war-weary and miserable, troops on both sides took matters into their own hands. For a brief, yet magnificent time, they enabled the "Christmas truce". One account relates how some German troops began singing one of their carols, and British and other troops then sang a carol from their side. As voices wafted across the no-man's land, troops began calling out to one another. "Time and again during the course of that day, the Eve of Christmas, there were wafted towards us from the trenches opposite the sounds of singing and merry-making, and occasionally the guttural tones of a German were to be heard shouting out lustily, 'A happy Christmas to you Englishmen!' Only too glad to show that the sentiments were reciprocated, back would go the response from a thick-set Clydesider, 'Same to you, Fritz, but dinna o'er eat yourself wi' they sausages!'" "The high command on both sides took a dim view of the activities and orders were issued to stop the fraternizing with varying results. In some areas, the truce ended Christmas Day in others the following day and in others it extended into January." Dr. King said, "Our only hope today lies in our ability to recapture the revolutionary spirit, and go out into a sometimes hostile world declaring eternal hostility to poverty, racism, and militarism." The soldiers in those trenches went out into their no-man's land and showed the world one way to end wars. They should never have had to. It was left to them to venture into the no-man's land, risking exposure to the others' fire and their generals' punishment for disobeying orders. Advertisement No matter what gang is issuing the orders to kill, whether a massive military power or a smaller group that has acquired weapons, we can all claim our right not to develop, store, sell or use weapons. We can claim our right not to kill and not to live with the memory of having killed. "Declaring eternal hostility" to the fear, greed and hate which are our real enemies seems to be our true hope. We can lay aside forever the futility of killing. We can be hopeful and determined that our resources and ingenuity are directed toward meeting human needs. Nacho's Story Last March when I visited the Vermont school where Nacho had been raised by an elementary teacher, I encountered one of the more startling moments of my partnership with this extraordinary guide dog. I was delivering an emotional convocation to students and staff, expressing gratitude for their hand in raising Nacho. As we'd done often for convocations, Nacho and I were apart with me at the podium in the middle of the gym and Nacho in the hallway waiting for the moment when he would be released to charge across the gym floor and into my arms. This time, though, instead of running to me when released, Nacho ran straight to the place where he had sat with his puppy raiser and class, then circled the entire gym to say hello to the people who had been part of his past. I, of course, had no idea what was happening until much later, but I knew Nacho wasn't coming to me even though I was calling him. I was positive I had destroyed our young partnership by bringing him back to his first human family whom he was choosing over me. Nacho did eventually charge up to the podium for a joyful, slobbery reunion. And, our partnership actually grew after that experience. His behavior that I had thought was dreadful--having split allegiances and sorting through what must have been ridiculously confusing canine memories of a once-familiar place--reminds me of something I forget too often. Advertisement Lesson Learned We are influenced by a past that adds to the innate qualities we have. Both parts of that equation are valid. The combination means each of us has gifts and aptitudes but also has the potential to be polished, refined, and expanded. That polishing, refinement, and expansion began before, continues now, and won't ever stop. Our journeys don't leave us. Each year, Lutheran World Relief's Early Warning Forecast singles out seven continuing or potential hot spots that may require humanitarian -- and in some cases diplomatic -- action in the next year. But as an organization that draws inspiration from faith, we always embrace and maintain hope. We can clearly see that significant progress is being made in reducing global suffering and poverty. For example, as measured by the Millennium Development Goals, the number of people living in extreme poverty and under-age-5 mortality has fallen by more than half. Continuing that work, the world community has adopted a set of Sustainable Development Goals that are truly aspirational, including reaching a statistical "zero" on extreme poverty, preventable child deaths and other targets. In that spirit, here are 3 signs of hope that we see in 2017. 1. Building Peace in Colombia What We're Seeing The advent of peace in Colombia will bring an end to five decades of armed conflict that has DISPLACED NEARLY 6 MILLION PEOPLE. After a first peace accord failed to win public approval at referendum, the government and the main rebel group reached a new agreement in November that preserves the promise of peace in Colombia. And with peace comes tremendous opportunity. With almost a third of Colombia's population living in rural areas of the country, Colombia must address its "new rural reality" as part of the post-peace process. The effort presents a chance to tackle some of the most important root causes of the conflict and offers the best way to attain a lasting peace. Advertisement What We're Doing LWR is committed to advancing the dignified, safe and sustainable rural return and relocation for Colombia's internally displaced people as the country emerges from five decades of civil conflict. LWR has worked in Colombia since the late 1990s, supporting cooperatives and rural populations, including Afro-Colombian and indigenous communities, to help increase their incomes and claim their rights under the Victims and Land Restitution Laws. LWR has been an active participant in the peace process at the highest levels, offering counsel and support. Our current focus builds on this work to promote innovative programs with the private sector, which link the promise of peace to family food security in former conflict areas. To achieve this, LWR works primarily with local NGOs, farming communities, Afro-Colombian community councils and indigenous governments to implement projects that strengthen the social fabric of communities weakened by violence, stimulate agricultural production (particularly in coffee and cocoa) for increased food security and higher incomes, and improve water systems. 2. The Promise of Information Communications Technology What We're Seeing Information communications technologies -- powerful, yet accessible tools such as mobile phones, laptop computers, the internet, radio and other technologies -- allow people to more easily connect with each other. These technologies are becoming increasingly accessible in the developing world, as noted in a recent Pew Research Center survey that characterized cell phone usage in sub-Saharan Africa as pervasive (two-thirds or more of those surveyed across the continent said they owned a cell phone). And these mobile and internet technologies aren't just being used for simple text messages, emails and calls, but also for an increasing array of activities and services such as banking, knowledge sharing and education. These instruments of ICT4D (Information Communications Technology for Development) are increasingly being used as powerful tools in development. They can be used to share important information, helping farmers to increase agricultural productivity, aiding in the protection of the environment and facilitating the collection of vital information in disaster situations. Advertisement What We're Doing LWR uses ICT4D extensively in projects around the world, such as conveying agricultural information to farmers in our Mobile Cocoa initiative in Nicaragua; using mobile banking with savings groups in Uganda; and collecting disaster data on tablets in the Philippines. The use of ICT4D enhances relief and development programs because it: Provides a cost-effective way to deliver agricultural extension services to farmers living in isolated communities; Offers a potent way to access financial and credit services, and manage money in a rural economy, where few banks exist; Allows producers a way to quickly and directly obtain accurate weather and market information, improving production and ensuring best commodity prices. 3. African Economic Growth: Good and Bad News What We're Seeing Currently, there are what could be called two Africas, growing at different rates. Between 2000 and 2010, the GDP in Africa grew by an annual average of 5.4 percent, making it one of the fastest growing regional economies in the world. But recent years have seen a slowdown, with average GDP growing by 3.3% between 2010 and 2015. And the International Monetary Fund recently downgraded its 2016 forecast for growth in sub-Saharan Africa to 1.4 percent. This is a classic good news/bad news scenario. The bad news: economic growth in some countries has declined sharply, due in large part to the steep drop in commodity prices. Countries with economies dependent on commodities like oil, including Nigeria and Angola, have seen their growth plummet. The good news: countries with more diverse portfolios are continuing to thrive. Ivory Coast was on track for a growth rate of 8 percent in 2016; East African nations were also humming along, with Ethiopia's projected growth at 8.1 percent, Tanzania at 7.2 percent, Kenya at 6 percent and Uganda at 5.1 percent. The cloud hanging over this positive economic trend is that growth within these countries has failed to be equal and inclusive, with some sectors benefiting as large swaths of society are left out. What We're Doing I'd like to be the executive producer for The Celebrity Apprentice. I've been told that it takes no investment of time or energy to fill that post, but I've nevertheless put some thought into this. When The Apprentice first came on the air, people told me I should watch the show because it had some actual business lessons about leadership and teamwork. Despite my normal aversion to reality TV, I gave it a try. Unfortunately, what I learned from Governor Schwarzenegger's predecessor was all about what not to do when leading a team. Here are three of Donald Trump's mistakes that you can easily avoid. 1. Don't Surround Yourself With Yes Men Reality television thrives on conflict. This is especially true of shows that have a competitive format. It's not enough for the competitors to want to beat each other; the judges have to snipe at each other, too. Advertisement Despite the fact that internal conflict could have helped the ratings, the original version of The Apprentice was oddly free of any tension between the judges in the boardroom. No matter whom the old host decided to fire, the assistant judges always agreed that he had made the right decision. Surrounding yourself with yes men doesn't make for great television. It also doesn't help with making good business decisions in the real world. Real leaders need to evaluate information from their subordinates. That sometimes requires listening to multiple points of view. It's a bad practice to write off people who disagree with you or to ignore facts that don't support your predetermined position. Perhaps employing relatives and suck ups was just something the old host did for the TV cameras. Hopefully in his real business he would surround himself with a team of experts that could offer him actual guidance and not merely endless reassurances that he was already making the best possible decisions. 2. Don't Overestimate The Opportunity This is especially important for anybody undertaking a new venture. Before diving into unfamiliar waters, it's a good idea to estimate the size of the opportunity. All you have to do is identify your industry, determine the annual sales, and then estimate your market share. The old host of The Apprentice would regularly botch two out of the three steps. Advertisement Before every task, the old host would tell the contestants about the industry they'd be working in and what that industry's annual revenue was. It would sound impressive, but it would also be completely irrelevant to the task at hand. For example, he began one episode by proclaiming the HUGE annual revenue for the restaurant industry... before assigning the teams the modestly-sized task of selling as much pizza as they could in one afternoon. It's easy to see how the old host failed to properly estimate the size of the opportunity. First, he didn't narrow the size of the market. Instead of the entire restaurant industry in America, he should have looked at just pizza sales in just a few blocks of New York City. (He also should have subtracted sales in the evening since the teams were only peddling to a lunch crowd. And he should have divided the whole thing by 365 instead of listing an annual income.) Second, he skipped over the important step of estimating what percentage of the market they could claim. Why did he mention the annual sales at all? You could argue that the old host was trying to make his show seem more important than it was by mentioning some large (and unrelated) numbers, but who would do that? Even a kid who offers to shovel the neighbors' driveways for ten dollars each would know better than to brag that he's part of the $70 billion landscaping industry. 3. Don't Underestimate Your Costs Revenue minus expenses equals profit. That's not a hard concept for viewers to grasp, but the old host of The Apprentice generally didn't take any of the operating costs into account during the show's boardroom segments. On one episode, a team earned about $4,000 during a task... but they had to take the flamboyant step of hiring a blimp to do it. The old host could have taken two approaches to measuring the performance of his teams: Talking about the revenue that his teams earned, which would make him sound successful. Talking about the profit, which would run the risk of revealing that his teams are losing money. By conveniently ignoring the fact that his teams had to pay for taxes and expenses, the old host consistently prioritized inflating his personal brand over keeping the actual business afloat. Social media platforms can be a waste of time or a source of income depending on how you make use of your online presence. You can choose to misuse the resources you use for browsing or use them to accumulate a lot of wealth. Apart from having a personal social media account where you can chat with friends, you also need an account for your business. The challenge with millennial is that they spend a lot of time on social activities instead of undertaking beneficial deals on social media. You could turn a huge proportion of your friends on social media into productive customers. You can also get a lot of referrals from your existing networks. Some people waste a lot of time on social media while others have used the same sites to become billionaires. It's paramount to spend some time chatting with friends on social issues in life. However, you need to spend most of your time on social media on meaningful business activities if you want to become a millionaire. Time Consuming It is a waste of time to log into social media sites if they are not your top interest. The challenge with the young generation is that they can't tell when they become addicts to social media networking. Social media should not become a stumbling block on your road to success. You should not behave like a bonded laborer while operating on social media. I have seen people who use social media as stepping stones to success. Defending yourself against any infantilizing effects of technology is critical. You can use most of your time on social media to generate significant leads that will grow you into a millionaire. Advertisement Identify Business Opportunities on Social Media There are always two ways of looking at a coin. The challenge with the current generation is that they only view social media platforms as a place of having fun. One thing you need to realize is that you can get a lot of business from the social media networks you create. Most of them are potential customers, or they can lead you to other clients. You can think of a business idea you can push on social media. You can still carry out some business activities on a part-time basis even if you are in full employment. Look at the nature of friends you have and think of a product or service you can sell to them. Create a business page and make sure that all of them are your followers. You may find yourself becoming a millionaire courtesy of social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram as long as you think outside the box. Use Social Media as a Learning Tool Several skills out there can develop you into a millionaire. Most of these skills are within friends whom you interact with on different social media pages. Apart from chatting on important social matters, make sure you also talk business. You can learn so much business skills from your followers. Some of them are professionals in your line of interest. Others have gone through the challenges you are encountering and have better solutions. Make sure you use your online time to learn some income generating techniques that will add to your investments. Limit your Time on Social Media if you have other things to do Don't spend a lot of time on social media at the expense of your work. You will agree with me that time is money. If your income generating activities are offline, limit the time you spend on Facebook and other social media platforms. You could spend such time to do a lot of work and generate more income for investment purposes. As a millennial, you should always attach value to the time you have. Advertisement Socialization is important, but you need to budget for the time you spend on social media if it doesn't bring any extra coin to your pocket. This approach calls for a lot of self-discipline because most of these sites are addictive. First, you have to understand that logging into social media requires internet connectivity. It implies that you need bundles to connect with friends. You can invest some of these resources into profit generating activities if you don't get any return from social media. Secondly, you could use part of the time you spend on social media to engage in meaningful activities. You need to look at social media from an investor's point of view. The truth of the matter is that social media platforms make a lot of profits from users. Take advantage and also make a kill from these connections. Social Media Grants you Access to the Global Market Gone are the days when the geographical location was a limitation in the trading industry. Currently, you can meet a customer and close a business deal within minutes courtesy of social media. Social media allows you to sell anything all over the world. You can use a small proportion of social media users to become the next billionaire. Social media exposes you to so many individuals and opportunities. The mistake that the young generation makes is that they don't take advantage of what these sites present to them. You can trade with someone from another continent by a click of the button. The advantage is that most social media followers are in the juvenile stage. The young generation can be full of millionaires if they seize the opportunities that social media presents. Take Advantage of Social Media Marketing Most social media sites like Facebook provide opportunities that allow you to boost the visibility of your promotional posts. You will pay a small fee to ensure that your content reaches the target market. The advantage with Facebook promotions is that they allow you to choose certain demographic features of your target market such as location, age, and profession just to name a few. Advertisement Budget for your Time and evaluate the Results Apart from budgeting on how you will spend your time on social media, you also need to assess the results. Evaluation is the only way you will be sure that you are having meaningful interactions. Ensure that you understand how much income comes as a result of social media and work towards increasing the proceeds. Conclusion Right now Pakistan is once again in the news related to its controversial anti-blasphemy law. Shaan Taseer, the son of late Salman Taseer is in hot water after posting a video message in which he condemned Pakistan's blasphemy laws and tried to show solidarity to its oppressed Christian minority. After seeing the message the religious community is calling for his arrest. Some have gone even further and have started to incite violence against him. Pakistan over the years has become so bizarre that now even criticism against a man-made law has assumed the status of blasphemy. Shaan Taseer is now facing similar risks which his father, the late Salman Taseer, had faced after criticizing the blasphemy laws. If these religious zealots are not controlled, I fear that he may end up sharing the same unfortunate fate of his father. Advertisement His father, Salman Taseer, a politician and Governor of Pakistan's most populous province Punjab, was an outspoken man and was murdered by Mumtaz Qadri, his own security guard, for speaking in favor of repealing Pakistan's controversial blasphemy laws, according to which a person found guilty of blasphemy can be sentenced to death. Salman Taseer had also asked for official pardon of an illiterate woman, Aasia Bibi, who had been sentenced to death by Pakistani courts after being found guilty of blasphemy. However, even this humane gesture was construed as blasphemy by the religious lobby and they started to agitate against him. The drop scene finally came when Qadri, his own guard, shot him and surrendered himself to police. Later, in embarrassing scenes which have been permanently ingrained in the memory, he was showered by rose petals. After Qadri's arrest he went to court where finally he lost his appeal. He was executed on 29th February 2016 and his funeral was attended by millions. But why did it happen? Why did Qadri shoot Taseer, and why was he subsequently showered with rose petals? Why was his funeral was attended by millions despite the fact that he cowardly murdered a person he was supposed to protect? Advertisement And why is Shaan Taseer, son of the late Salman Taseer being threatened so openly and the state is literally helpless to offer protection. In fact, the only thing it has done so far is to register a case of "hate speech" against him rather than against those who are threatening him! To some extent the murder of Salman Taseer happened due to the extreme reverence attached to religion and the Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him). Outright religious fanaticism is of course responsible and perhaps the only cure in the long run is desensitizing people from religion. I will not dispute this obvious reality. But this only partially explains the complex situation. Reverence alone does not lead men to commit murders. It is what the society explicitly or implicitly expects with respect to actual demonstration of reverence (particularly when the revered figures and symbols are perceived to be under attack) which often leads to adoption of a particular action. These expectations are not always spelled out clearly but nevertheless articulated through loaded slogans and narratives which project some real life individuals as heroes and villains. Extremely pervasive and loaded slogans in Pakistan like "Hurmat-e-Rasool per Jaan be qurban hai" (for the honor of the Prophet (PBUH) we are ready to sacrifice our lives) actually expect that the honor of the Prophet (PBUH) should be protected even if one has to give their life. Slogans such as these become extremely dangerous with respect to their potential impact. I am not saying that they affect every person in the same way, but it merely takes one individual to get affected in "that" way to do the unthinkable. Advertisement Moreover, such slogans and the related literature also lowers the threshold of the desired level of "reverence," as that line where so-called blasphemy starts, becomes blurred, and is eft for the individuals to simply decide what they consider as blasphemy. I think this is important because such acts are often committed for personal glorification which the society is willing to bestow on such individuals. Yes, Mr. Qadri courted possible death when he fired upon Taseer but he also looked towards widespread hero worship and "immortality' in the similar vein of Ilm-ud-Din ( a hero for some Muslims) who had killed had stabbed a Hindu in 1929 on publishing a supposedly blasphemous book which had contained derogatory remarks about Prophet (PBUH). He was tried in court and hanged but over time has achieved a legendary status. His act was subsequently glorified and his legacy has been immortalized in the following words of Iqbal, the national poet of Pakistan: "This uneducated young man has surpassed us, the educated ones". The narrative around Ilm-ud-Din is that he did the right thing and today he is highly respected. This, in my opinion, is a dangerous narrative as it is projecting the wrong kind of heroes. In a society where Ilm-ud-Din has been made into a legend and a "Shaheed", the murder of Salman Taseer is hardly a surprise. Mumtaz Qadri, in his head was going to heaven and on his way to attaining the same legendary status when he fired shots at Salman Taseer, despite the fact that the latter had only asked for a presidential pardon of an illiterate woman accused of blasphemy. And yet Mumtaz Qadri took the decision, a calculated one, and literally got away with it. And the subsequent showering of the rose petals demonstrate that he was not wrong in his calculations. No society is monolithic, as it is composed of numerous individuals and has so many cultures and sub cultures. It would be totally wrong for me to say that actions of Mumtaz Qadri were supported by all and he is a universal hero. I know that many hated his act. And many of those who did not support his act were devout Muslims. I personally talked to many and found that apparently a large number was utterly shocked by Mumtaz Qadri's act. Advertisement However, those many never came out to protest. Immediately after his act, it was the Islamists chiefly belonging to the Brailvi sect who thronged the streets. And they were celebrating and threatening that any review of the controversial blasphemy law would be met with severe resistance. The vigil which was organized by those protesting Taseer's murder barely attracted a few hundred and those who attended look so different from the rest of Pakistan. The size and the appearance of the crowd contrasted so much from the processions of the "other" side. There could be no greater disparity between the two groups. So-called moderates may be more, but it is the hardliners to whom the street and the weapons belong. And by the word "moderate" too is relative to hardliners only. If we start judging with respect to Western standards then an overwhelming majority is hardliner. We need to reexamine the narratives here about people like Ilm-ud-Din. Why do we try to narrate the story of men like Ilm-ud-Din in a consecrated manner? By such narrations, we may not be converting the entire population into fanatics but nevertheless a critical mass is getting "motivated," and all the hardliners need is that critical organized mass which is ready to even adopt violence. In the end, I would like to make a humble plea to all my Muslim brothers and sisters. Why is this night different from all other [awards] nights? New York Magazine film critic and emcee for this annual awards fete David Edelstein had some answers about honoring the storytelling but Mark Ruffalo, on hand to present the Best Screenplay award to Kenneth Lonergan for "Manchester By the Sea," put it succinctly: the speeches are fresh. This being the beginning of the long slog to Oscars, everyone can let loose. And "Manchester"'s lead, Casey Affleck did, reading one-liners from negative reviews, especially from the night's emcee. Edelstein, for his part, was ruffled and began to praise Affleck for just about everything, until that wore thin. But it was all in good fun. Had the awards been televised as the Globes and Oscars are, this would have been a different night indeed. Isabelle Huppert, on a roll starting with last month's Gothams, won Best Actress for her work in both "Elle" and "Things to Come," was gratified that the first such honor was bestowed upon Greta Garbo in 1935. Best Foreign Film went to "Toni Erdmann" and a man in creature suit--you have to see this comedy to get it-- appeared on stage to collect the prize along with director Maren Ade. Michelle Williams picked up an award for her work in "Manchester" and "Certain Women," and Mahershala Ali gave a dignified speech for Best Supporting Actor in "Moonlight." It seemed that the night was divided between " Manchester" and "Moonlight" but ultimately belonged to Damien Chazelle and "La La Land." We first met Chazelle when his "Whiplash" was honored by the NYFCC at this same venue, Tao Downtown. When we asked about his next project, he said, "A musical set in L.A.," and we thought, good luck with that. Now he closed the night explaining his inspiration: "In movies, emotion can override logic much the way dreams can. It is important in our time to value love, art and dreams, whether or not the dreams come true." Advertisement Eastman Johnson, A Ride for Liberty - The Fugitive Slaves On New Year's Eve, at 3:30am, I finished Colson Whitehead's gripping novel The Underground Railroad. I'd purchased the National Book Award winner and Oprah Book Club selection over the summer but had put it down early, not ready to go back to plantation life after watching the harrowing WGN series Underground. Underground showed slavery's horrors, but also honored the enslaved characters' will to love and protect, their mighty sacrifices made to survive. The characters transcended fiction, felt like stand-ins for our ancestors. That's why I stayed with the show. When I picked up Whitehead's novel again, I found horror in every direction, but the insight--and magic--went deeper with his book-length storytelling. In The Underground Railroad, we follow a young enslaved woman named Cora as she escaped from her Georgia plantation and made her way northbound, each state its own "state of possibility", American way stations for runaways that were different until they were not different at all. Cora's journey followed a cruel pattern: whenever she found a haven, she found the familiar horror behind the facade. In South Carolina, her first exit off "The Underground Railroad," she relished a structured new life where she could work as a domestic, live in a dormitory, and go to school. This new life felt utopian, given the tortures of Georgia; the white people seemed committed to "racial uplift" and creating communities where blacks and whites could co-exist in peace. Advertisement But the tilt begins. Cora's assigned a new job as a "type" in a natural history museum. Now, she is on perpetual display as an African woman rotating between scenes of an African village, a slaveship, and an American plantation. Then she goes to a doctor's appointment and must rebuff the doctor's offer of sterilization, and later her dorm proctor's requests that she talk-up sterilization with her peers. Soon she learns that the doctors who have deluged South Carolina's new hospitals are running syphilis experiments on local black men. Cora realizes that her crisis has not ended by escaping to South Carolina: "If they had been sensible and kept running, she and [fellow runaway] Caesar would be in the Free States. Why had they believed that two lowly slaves deserved the bounty of South Carolina. That a new life existed so close, just over the state line? It was still the south, and the devil had long nimble fingers. And then, after all the world had taught them, not to recognize chains when they were snapped to their wrists and ankles. The South Carolina chains were of new manufacture--the keys and tumblers marked by regional design--but accomplished the purpose of chains. They had not traveled very far at all." As Cora's story progressed, she travelled through South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, Indiana, and ultimately "The North." Each time I turned the page to find a new state's name, I ached that this would be the state where Cora found freedom. But Whitehead's states were both magical and real as he reconfigured American race history into new tableaus for his characters. Tableaus they hoped would secure them. Would not give them up. Only to find that no matter where they ran, America was one big breathing Funnyhouse for all Negros, keeping us in dungeons, or, in neat living rooms until the day the floor tilted and slid all occupants into the hell below. I shelved The Underground Railroad in the summer because of the traumatic terrain. I don't breeze past sadism, no matter how fluid the text. God moments, full of grace. Yes, those were there. But so many plot points were punches to the heart. I put the book down. I breathed. I had to decide to pick up the book again. Advertisement I did. And shortly after 100 pages, I glimpsed the genius in Whitehead's storytelling and knew I must finish fast. Stay up all night if necessary. I finished knowing I didn't want to be another person saying "hooray" and "good" and then on to the next read. Why? Because we need to talk about the content. There is nothing "past" about The Underground Railroad. Whitehead could have added several more iterations to his American funnyhouse. He could have kept that floor tilting us to hell via sharecropping, via drugs, via mass incarceration. I finished the novel wondering, with the coming Trump presidency, and his arousal and alignment with white-nationalist forces in America, Russia, and Europe, is there a tilting to come? Just when we were so comfortable - if not materially, at least in the belief that the worst was behind us - could a President Trump allow for such an erosion of democratic norms and laws that the facade we thought unshakeable reality reveals itself to be anything but? Even Oprah had taken a "deep breath" after Trump met with President Obama and tweeted #HopeLives. I live in New York City. Days after the election, I batted back grief and fear. I imagined us a newly declared open city, waiting for the occupation, an occupation we wouldn't know how to identify, not at first. Maybe Russian infiltration, given Putin's incredible sway over the President-Elect. Or maybe just American law enforcement empowered to try new schemes. To have this fear of waiting. The waiting in Amsterdam in World War II. Not unlike the waiting of the American slaveholder, or the sons of slaveholders, waiting for the raids. I never thought I'd be someone waiting for the barbarians. But these are the fever dreams I hold at bay. My hope is alive because there has never been an America like the one we know now. I live in a City filled with millions of people who voted against Trump, people who want fairness, who want our cosmopolitan way of life protected. This is not just a NYC thing: President Obama won the White House by solid margins in popular and electoral votes in 2008 and 2012. In public forums across the country we call out white supremacy in all its loud and latent forms. We call out men's attempts to control women and keep us less than. Advertisement I'd like to take comfort in demographics, but it's never just about numbers. As Cora poignantly noted about the enslaved and free Black population in America: "if we say it, we don't say it for anyone to hear...how big we are." Yes, we've always had massive numbers. But we've had those numbers within a system forever shape-shifting to keep us in line. I argue that more than numbers, consciousness matters. Consciousness with enough systemic due process to keep us all from being persecuted. The Trump ascendancy threatens a new tilting. But in 2017, too many of us live for what is promised in our founding documents and subsequent amendments. We've been fighting generations to manifest these promises. We are not going to let one asterisk presidency tilt the whole country into catastrophe. Pia Wurtzbach shows off her assets in Hawaii holiday (Photo : YouTube/DailyShowbiz) Pia Wurtzbach in Hawaii (Photo : YouTube/DailyShowbiz) Miss Universe 2015 Pia Wurtzbach took some time off from her duties and responsibilities as beauty queen to frolick the beach in Hawaii showing off her deep cleavage and perfectly-shaped ass. Pia went to Hawaii during the New Year holiday and gifted us with tantalizing photos. Pia was once wearing a pair of blue, skimpy bikini while enjoying the white sand and the pristine waters of Waimanalo. In another photo, Pia was sunbathing in her orange, printed bikini showing off her assets. Advertisement She spent the New Year's with her boyfriend Marlon Stockinger. Marlon is a race car driver and is the first Filipino to win a formula race in Europe. He rose to celebrity status and became well-known nationwide when he started dating Miss Universe 2015 Pia Wurtzbach. This is not the first time that the Miss Universe reigning beauty queen has attracted attention thanks to her boobs. During the pageant last year, many people have noticed her curves that could be a factor to her win. According to her latest Instagram post, Pia is flying back to New York for her last minute duties and responsibilities as the reigning Miss Universe. The beauty queen is also flying back to Manila for the upcoming Miss Universe 2016 beauty pageant. Meanwhile, Pia will most likely be the gracious host to the candidates and the organizers and she will show around the Philippines. The coronation of the Miss Universe 2016 is on January 30, 2017 at Mall Of Asia Arena in Pasay City. Mom smiling at newborn at hospital By Megan Scudellari BOSTON -- Two rows of plastic cocoons line the walls of the neonatal intensive care unit, sheltering babies so tiny, their little hands can't wrap around their parents' index fingers. Many have been treated with multiple medications in their short lives: antibiotics, anesthetics, narcotics, diuretics. And most of the drugs coursing through their fragile bodies have not been approved for use in newborns. Advertisement That's not just the case here at the Floating Hospital for Children at Tufts Medical Center. It's a global problem. Pharma companies are afraid to test drugs on babies because they're so vulnerable, and because the risk of liability is so high. Parents and doctors say they're wary of enlisting newborns as "guinea pigs" in clinical trials. The result: An estimated 90 percent of medications administered to newborns are not approved by the Food and Drug Administration for use in children so young. That means neonates -- premature and full-term infants less than 28 days old -- are routinely treated with drugs that are not adequately tested for safety, dosing, or effectiveness. Despite this gaping hole in medical knowledge, infants admitted to a neonatal intensive care unit may receive up to 60 medications in their first month of life, said Dr. Jonathan Davis, chief of newborn medicine here at Tufts Medical Center. Davis, a soft-spoken, baby-faced man with a smile for every child and parent, is a fierce advocate when it comes to changing all this. He's conducting several clinical trials with the newborns in his NICU. And he's helping other doctors around the world do the same. Advertisement In 2015, an FDA-funded nonprofit launched two global efforts to spur clinical trials in infants. Davis directs one of those initiatives, the International Neonatal Consortium, known as INC. In November, INC published its initial contribution to the field -- a guide to clinical trials in neonates, including information on trial design and data collection for investigators and study sponsors, and advice for drug regulators. "We've got to do something," said Davis, who has spent more than 35 years studying medications in infants and has published over 150 papers. Without drug data for newborns, he said, "we can't be certain which drugs, in which doses, to use when." Davis argues that the current system -- doctors making decisions based on little more than anecdotes and intuition -- essentially treats each sick newborn as an uncontrolled, unapproved study of one. The baby may or may not do well on the drug; either way, no data is collected and the result does not inform treatment of other infants around the world. Advertisement "Children are protected through research," said Dr. Raphael Rousseau, director of pediatric oncology drug development at Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche. It's technically more challenging to study drugs in neonates than older children, he acknowledged. But still, he said, "there is no real excuse not to do drug development in neonates." When mistakes are fatal Some of the babies in the Tufts NICU are swathed in blue light to treat jaundice; others are draped with colorful knit blankets made by local volunteers. Behind a curtain in alcove number 18, first-time mother Aubrey Baptista nurses 2-week-old Elijah. Elijah was born Oct. 28 with a heart defect requiring surgery. When doctors discovered his condition, Elijah was immediately put on an IV drip of a drug to help keep his heart valve open. During surgery, he received anesthesia and morphine. Post-surgery, doctors administered nitrous oxide, oxygen, and antibiotics. At least, those are the drugs Baptista remembers being told about. What she was not told, at any point, was that the FDA hadn't reviewed the safety or efficacy of those drugs, in those doses, for babies like Elijah. Doctors simply told her, "This is what we're doing." Advertisement "There wasn't much choice," she told STAT. Over the last 25 years, the FDA has approved only two drugs that significantly improved neonatal survival: surfactant and nitric oxide for respiratory conditions. Most neonatologists do not tell parents about the lack of medical evidence for the drugs they use, said neonatologist Dr. Matthew Laughon of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. They just prescribe. Because there is little alternative. "When you're sitting there at the bedside, and you're looking the parents in the eyes, and the baby is dying or really sick, to just stand there and say, 'We don't have anything to do because it hasn't been proven' --well, that's challenging," said Laughon. "If we never gave drugs because they were off-label, we wouldn't have any drugs." Physicians often make treatment decisions by scaling down from how medications are used in adults. "We take it right out of the vial of an adult drug, dilute it down, and give it to the babies," said Davis. In multiple cases, that technique has led to disaster. "There have been some big, big, big mistakes in neonatology through the years when it comes to drugs," said Laughon. Advertisement Those include the sudden deaths of preemies due to too-large doses of the antibiotic chloramphenicol in the 1950s; the fatal poisoning of infants from large amounts of benzyl alcohol, a preservative used to flush catheters, in the 1980s; and deaths from a preservative, propylene glycol, in a multivitamin given orally to premature infants in a dose intended for adults. Infants are not tiny adults and should not be given drugs as if they were, said Catherine Sherwin, division chief of pediatric clinical pharmacology at the University of Utah School of Medicine, who studies pharmacology in neonates. Newborns absorb, metabolize, and excrete drugs differently than adults. "Yet we haven't done the studies to know exactly what those differences are," Sherwin said. "We just know they're different." Lackluster laws and shoddy trials There have been two large legislative efforts to encourage pharmaceutical companies to increase the number of pediatric drug studies: the Best Pharmaceuticals for Children Act of 2002 and the Pediatric Research Equity Act of 2003. Both were made into permanent law in 2012 with the passage of the Food and Drug Administration Safety and Innovation Act. Overall, the incentives and requirements within that legislation -- carrots and sticks -- worked. As of Oct. 31, Advertisement 651 drugs in the US have new or revised labeling for pediatric patients. But the laws did not work for newborns. Just 24 of the 406 labeling changes made as a result of that legislation affected neonates -- and those were primarily on drugs that are used rarely, if at all, in NICUs in the United States, according to a 2015 analysis. Even worse, the few labels that were changed for neonates didn't add any beneficial new drugs to the NICU arsenal. "The most frequent drug labeling changes were [to state] that a drug was not effective or there was a safety concern," said Laughon, who coauthored the study. The most positive neonatal label changes have come from a National Institutes of Health initiative that put $25 million per year toward studying off-patent, older drugs in children -- but that program's funding runs out this year. Pharmaceutical companies and institutional review boards continue to shy away from studying infants because they are fragile, cannot spare many blood samples, and are vulnerable to permanent injuries -- injuries that, in the past, have been awarded large malpractice verdicts. It's also a small market, so pharmaceutical companies aren't likely to make money by getting drugs approved for neonate use, Rousseau said. And few drug makers have dedicated pediatric teams. Advertisement "Any study that I've ever done that could potentially be sponsored by Big Pharma, but is in neonates, sends them running," Sherwin said. "It's hard to do, and it's hard to get money to do it." The majority of studies that have been done in neonates in recent years "were not able to establish efficacy," wrote Dr. Susan McCune, deputy director of the Office of Translational Sciences at the FDA, who communicated with STAT via an emailed statement reviewed by the FDA's press office. It remains unclear whether that lack of success is due to the drugs themselves or trial design issues, she added. The latter is a major problem for the field. For example, many studies group all infants born two or more months before their due date into a single category, yet a 4-week-old infant born at 24 weeks gestation is not the same as a 1-day-old born at 28 weeks. Last year, Davis and colleagues analyzed 25 proposed neonatal trial designs submitted by pediatric clinical trial groups and individual researchers, and found that six had fatal flaws -- like requiring six EKGs on babies in the first day of life -- that made it unlikely the trials would ever be successfully completed. Davis hopes the new INC guidance will change that. At Tufts, he conducts about 10 neonatal trials at any one time. Among them: A clinical trial he's been running for the past three years to test whether morphine or methadone, the two most common medications used in infants suffering from neonatal abstinence syndrome, is more effective. Advertisement Despite widespread use of both medications, doctors simply don't know. As Davis walks through the NICU, talking to nurses about new arrivals, Aubrey Baptista cradles Elijah, still with an IV port buried in his tiny hand for another round of antibiotics. Would she have enrolled her newborn son in a clinical trial if asked? We published more than 200 stories on Ecosystem Marketplace last year, and most of them focused on forests or forest carbon, which is why this forest retrospective took a bit longer to piece together than the others. The year opened with the healthy tailwind of the Paris Climate Agreement and the role of forest carbon finance firmly embedded in it. We spent the bulk of the year examining the agreement's development before looking at Plan B after the election of Donald Trump. In "REDD+ In The Paris Climate Accord: A Summary", we offered a clear and simple summary of the role within the agreement for forest-carbon programs that save endangered rainforest and promote sustainable land management (REDD+). Advertisement We then turned to the markets component of the agreement as Germany, Japan, and New Zealand began shepherding the world's carbon markets towards compatibility with each other in a two-part series that began with "Building On Paris, Countries Assemble The Carbon Markets Of Tomorrow" and culminated with "The Road From Paris: Green Lights, Speed Bumps, And The Future Of Carbon Markets", which waded into the accounting challenges of building cross-border carbon markets. Our focus then shifted to the United States, where forests, farms, and fields, sponge up roughly 15% of the country's industrial greenhouse gas emissions. That carbon sink, however, could go up in smoke as forests age, urban areas expand, and the climate changes. We looked at how carbon finance, green bonds, and a dash of policy coordination could help ensure a robust sink for years to come in a piece called "Forests, Farms, And Fields Absorb 15% Of US Carbon Emissions, But Face Uncertain Future. Here's How To Save Them". Story Continues Below Turning to Indonesia, we examined that country's new forest-carbon accounting system in a piece called "Indonesia Aims For Top-Tier Carbon Accounting Across All Land Types By 2018, But Peat Proves Problematic", the title of which kind of says it all. Advertisement In April, the World Bank unveiled its new five-year forest plan, which aims to deliver support for sustainable management of forests by shifting away from isolated projects and towards programs more carefully incorporated into national strategies. We covered this in a piece called "With New Forest Strategy, World Bank Aims For Action Over Experimentation". Meanwhile, African countries - which have historically given conservation short shrift when offered hard cash for prized rosewood - began reacting to the impact this was having on forest-dependent communities. We covered their reaction in "West African Countries Come Together To Address Illegal Rosewood Trade". In Brazil, soybean buyers extended their ten-year moratorium on soy from farms that grow at the expense of forests, which we covered in "Soy Sector Extends Moratorium On Amazon Soy. Now, Can They Expand It?", before heading to Bonn, Germany, for mid-year climate talks. Those culminated in a piece called "Bonn Paves The Way For Integration, Implementation And Action In Marrakesh". Then we hopped the train to Cologne, where we released our annual State of the Voluntary Carbon Markets report, showing that voluntary carbon markets grew 10% in 2015. You can get the details in "Voluntary Carbon Markets Show Steady Growth As Paris Reframes Climate Action". After that, our attention turned to the various strategies that companies are using to drive down emissions in "Users Of Voluntary Offsets See More Sophisticated Carbon-Neutral Strategies In 2016". Advertisement Then we shifted to the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), which were released at the end of 2015 and officially link climate protection with poverty alleviation, biodiversity conservation, and the empowerment of women. In the carbon world, they're becoming a sort of de facto benchmark for the non-carbon "co-benefits" that so many have worked so hard to create. We explored that in "Emissions Reduced, Lives Saved: New Metrics For The New Normal", and then offered a super-simple introduction to the SDGs in "Why The UN Sustainable Development Goals Really Are A Very Big Deal" Then came Brexit - the first sign that something was out of kilter in the Western electorate - and we offered our take in "What Does Brexit Mean For Illegal Logging And The Global Timber Trade?" By then, Colombia's peace process appeared to be stampeding towards ratification - largely because it was built on the fair and equitable distribution of natural resources. We examined the role that sustainable agriculture can play in helping to building trust in war-torn areas, in a piece called "Climate, Conflict, And Commodities: The Calculus Of Peace On A Changing Planet". The peace agreement was put on hold after another surprising referendum, but signed by year-end. With Fall approaching, we turned our eyes to year-end talks in Marrakesh in a piece called "The Missing Link In Protecting Forests? The Private Sector", which set the stage for a potentially large story that broke in October, when 65 countries representing 83% of international aviation agreed to cap their greenhouse-gas emissions from international flights at 2020 levels from 2021 onward - in part by forcing airlines to offset emissions above that threshold, perhaps by funding programs that save forests and support sustainable agriculture around the world. We covered that in "Will New Aviation Deal Save Forests?". Then it was on to Marrakesh, which opened with the election of Donald Trump as president of the United States. Within hours of the election, we posted a piece that has since proven to be weeks ahead of the competition. Called "Can Individual US States, The Private Sector, And The International Community Fix The Climate Despite Trump Election?", it took stock of the paths forward in a climate world without federal US leadership. Advertisement If you're more inclined to listen than read, check out "Voices From Marrakesh", on the Bionic Planet Podcast, available on iTunes, TuneIn, Stitcher, and pretty much anywhere you access podcasts, as well as in three recent stories on Ecosystem Marketplace. Voices from Marrakesh You can access all editions of Bionic Planet through the links above, or you can also stream the most recent edition here: We also published a quick-and-dirty edition shortly after the election, including unedited interviews with former Canadian negotiator Peter Graham, Naomi Swickert of the Verified Carbon Standard, and Mike Korchinsky: Advertisement Voices from Marrakesh, in Order of Appearance I am not an expert in toxicology, climate science, ecology or hydrology, but in environmental policy, organizational management, policy formulation, program implementation and evaluation along with public opinion and American politics. I have worked in environmental policy and management since 1976 but my PhD is in political science. My earliest days in environmental policy taught me that effective environmental policy requires sound environmental science, and one of my jobs as an environmental policy and management analyst was to learn the basics of environmental science and engineering. I needed science to understand the nature of the policy problem, its cause and effect. I needed engineering to understand what could be done to address the problem. I needed to learn how to communicate with and learn from scientists, even though their field was not my field. The problems we were dealing with in the 1970s and 1980s were obvious and no one doubted they were real. People who depended on well water suddenly realized they needed to tap into filtered public water. Their well water was no longer safe to drink. They could see and taste the difference, and some homeowners had their water tested and found they were drinking toxics. In Buffalo in the 1970s most sewage was untreated and was dumped raw into Lake Erie, just as Manhattan's sewage flowed untreated into the Hudson. Multibillion dollar investments in sewage treatment plants ended the problem and we finally met federal treatment standards in the mid-1980s. In nearby Pittsburgh, people dusted the orange red dust off their windshields every morning to clean off the sulfur-based particulates that came from the steel mill smoke stacks. And at Love Canal in Niagara Falls, Lois Gibbs and her neighbors were trying to get the government to do something about the toxic ooze that was leaking into their homes and making them sick. There were no "deniers" at the Love Canal. No one doubted that Pittsburgh's air was dirty and that our waterways were a mess. Advertisement The steel mills are gone and Pittsburgh, like New York City, is being reinvented as a high tech city after many painful decades of job loss. Buffalo is still struggling, but hopefully will eventually recover from decades of decline. As bad as the economy is in Western New York, at least the area can offer a high quality of life. It provides a low cost of living, and a livable natural environment. The water in Western New York is filtered and the sewage is treated. The autos have pollution control devices and our air, land and water is safer today than it was forty years ago. But while we have moved forward, other parts of the world are learning the lessons we learned decades ago. In late December, a team of my Earth Institute colleagues was in Beijing and Tianjin, China and experienced an air pollution "red alert." Roads, factories and schools were closed while government officials anxiously waited for the "fog" to lift. Our team was unable to complete the tasks they had hoped to undertake while they were in China because they and the people they hoped to meet with could not freely travel. Pollution can get so bad that the government needs to shut down the economy to make the air breathable. The anti-environmental advocates heading to Washington should take a trip to China or India if they'd like to see what an unregulated environment looks like. We need jobs and a livable environment, and with adequate modern pollution control technology we can have both. The science of air and water pollution is not simple, but the solutions are available to purify air and water and they are cost effective. It does not mean they are free. A factory can pollute the air and water and produce whatever they are selling and not pay the costs of controlling the pollution they are creating. Those costs are paid by society in lost productivity, illness and health care treatment. American industry has been regulated for decades. Some manufacturing has fled the country for lower labor costs and less stringent environmental and health and safety rules. But many businesses have modernized, remained in the country, and are competitive globally. Some sources of pollution like power plants and motor vehicles must remain local, and they pollute far less than they used to. Here in New York City we have banned the most polluting forms of oil from our apartment furnaces and replaced them with cleaner oil or natural gas. New York City's air is better than it was forty years ago and we don't need to close down due to air pollution. Advertisement The science of air, water and toxic pollution seems to have been accepted, even if most people are scientifically illiterate. The more complex modern environmental sciences of ecosystems and climate change seem to be harder for people to accept. Part of the issue is that cause and effect can involve networks of relationships that may not be directly connected. The impact of a declining bee population on farm productivity may be quite real, but more difficult to see and smell than a stream with an orange tint that's caught fire. And climate change may be the most difficult environmental problem to fully understand. It is created everywhere and much of its impact is in the future and difficult to predict. Climate scientists can measure past temperatures quite precisely and they know that the past hundred years of global warming are without precedent and clearly human made. What they don't know is the impact this warming will have in the future and what to do about it. The issue of what policies should be used to mitigate and adapt to climate change is beyond the expertise of most climate scientists. While scientific and engineering expertise is needed to frame solutions, the choice of public investments and acceptable risks are issues of public policy, not science. They are policy, political, ethical and economic issues, not issues of science. These are tough issues requiring difficult trade-off choices. I live in a city with 60,000 homeless people, most of them children. Despite these homeless children, New York is spending about $20 billion on climate adaptation measures in response to Hurricane Sandy. Is the problem of climate resiliency more important than homeless children? Looking at the city's capital budget it is. That is a difficult choice. While climate science leads to the conclusion we should stop burning fossil fuels, immediately ending the use of fossil fuels is not on the political agenda, nor is raising the price of energy. Fossil fuels are too important to the economy to disrupt their use without a substitute and so the transition to renewable energy will need to be gradual. Climate change and adaptation are not the only problems our elected officials must address. Science can inform our approach to these issues, it can provide information about probable impacts and risks, but it cannot and should not be used to make public policy. While science has its limits, denying the science of global warming is absurd. But accepting the science of climate change does not require decision-makers to accept the policy prescriptions of climate scientists. Policymakers must learn and understand what the historical analysis of climate change tells us and they must learn to understand the probabilities and risks presented by climate models. In a modern world where economic life is increasingly based on technological change, decision-makers cannot afford the luxury of scientific illiteracy. Records of natural climate change in the past demonstrate how frequently and intensely the planet's climate changed before seven billion humans were around to affect it. But it is very clear that all of us and our fossil fuel powered machines have had a rapid and unprecedented impact on the planet's temperature. If you doubt it, come visit the Columbia's Earth Institute and our Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory. See the thousands of core samples of earth taken from beneath the ocean's floor, and listen to our faculty explain what those samples tell us. Go to the tree ring lab and see the record of climate change that can be seen with that evidence. There is much more evidence in our labs and in others around the world. Moreover, our scientists have taken these and other data and developed models of our climate's future. Is water a basic human right or something with an inherent economic value? The answer to this question has led to decades of conflict in Chile. In September, the private Chilean energy company Endesa announced it has given up its rights over water exploitation in five significant hydropower projects. But water rights activists met the news with caution. Their fight for water rights for the Chilean people, they know, is far from over. Advertisement If water scarcity troubles the capital, it's already and every day reality for Indigenous peoples in Chile. In the northern regions, the impact of mining and the lack of regulation of water markets have led to water scarcity and the contamination of watercourses in local communities. Author provided A water code rules by market economy Since the introduction of the 1981 Water Code in Chile, water resources have been governed by strict market rules, with the government powerless to intervene. The code enshrines free market water economics to facilitate resource use and secure property rights under competitive conditions. The code is unique in South America in that it allows the extraction of water supplies (both surface and ground) under market rules, without providing environmental safeguards, such as instream flows - the ability to keep water running in a river. Advertisement This has consequences for agriculture, the local environment, and Indigenous peoples' sense of identity. In practice, the code has failed to coordinate water use and resolve river basin conflicts, and has only increased private speculation, hoarding and the monopoly over water rights. In 2005, the Chilean government attempted to address many of the issues with a set of tangential reforms, one of which forces water users to pay an annual fee to the state for unused water, in an attempt to avoid speculation. But the policy does not protect the water rights of Indigenous communities. The Atacameno's struggle for river access The application of the 1981 Water Code has already affected the future of Indigenous communities in the north of Chile, such as the Atacameno, de Aymara and the Quechua. Advertisement The case of the Atacameno is particularly dramatic. Although this community had historically developed agricultural and cultural activities along the Loa River, after the application of the 1981 code, the community lost access to a large amount of water, as people were not made aware of the need to register their water rights officially. In fact, several communities were told to register their water rights only for agricultural purposes, under the threat that they would have to pay additional taxes. Molina/2011, Author provided Although these communities applied for recognition of their traditional water rights under the 1993 Indigenous law, the situation proved intractable. They have tried to register their ancestral water rights with the local government since the early 1990s, but authorities did not recognise their ancestral use of the territory. Consequently, large amounts of water in the Loa river were officially deemed to be "unused", and opened to reallocation to other sectors - something chiefly solicited by companies in the water-intensive mining sector. Now Indigenous communities have only secured a portion of their original provisions, which represents a significant loss in cultural and productive terms. In this context, they were allowed to irrigate only during the day and had to redirect water back into the river at night. Author provided Tensions rising The conflict over water has increased local divisions and left Indigenous communities more vulnerable. Advertisement In the case of the Chiu-Chiu area, it can be seen how changes in water management have caused tensions in local relationships and generated internal differences, affecting overall social cohesion and ancestral property claims. For example, the fact that different age groups have been treated differently in terms of benefits has caused intergenerational conflict. Members of Indigenous communities have responded to their straitened circumstances in creative ways. Artistic initiatives developed by younger generations have become a new way of claiming and demanding water justice, mixing ancestral claims over water and land with specific initiatives in housing and education. Although pressure from resource companies has redefined many local communities and created divisions between generations, when dealing with water issues, internal differences are secondary. Resistance against water inequality remains the top priority for the Indigenous people of Northern Chile. This is part of our ongoing series about water conflicts. Malvoisie vineyards in Lanzarote. Yummifruitbat/Wikipedia, CC BY-SA Current debates surrounding two European trade agreements - CETA and TAFTA - provide us with a perfect opportunity to examine the French concept of terroir, and issues regarding the protection of geographic labelling (Protected Designation of Origin, and Protected Geographical Indication) that relate to that concept. Geographical origin has always been used as a mark of quality in selling a wide array of agricultural products. Who hasn't heard of Champagne or Bordeaux wines, Prosciutto di Parma, Parmesan or Roquefort? In France, this practice has resulted in the development of specific geographical labelling, the Appellation d'origine controlee, which revolves around the concept of terroir. The reputation and prestige associated with a product's geographical origin has created the temptation for misleading labelling. Fighting against misuses has become a major financial and legal issue in many rural areas. Advertisement While the concept of terroir is universally understood in France, its international definition and relevance has been the subject of lively debate. The United States has contested it at the World Trade Organization. The system of Protected Designation of Origin and Protected Geographical Indication has now been successfully expanded throughout Europe. Does this mean that the fight for terroir recognition has been won? An ode to cultural diversity France's national institute of origin and quality (INAO) defines terroir as: a restricted geographical area, in which a community of people, over the course of their history, developed a shared knowledge and production methods, based on a set of interactions between the physical and biological environment, and human factors. The particular characteristics, or typicity, arising from these social and technical histories bestow their notoriety to products originating from this geographical area. To a large extent, the European Protection of Designated Origin is based on the French appellation. To be awarded this label, producers must prove: Advertisement the product's historical origin and reputation the strict delineation of territory and area of exclusivity for a given geographical designation the specific characteristics, or typicity, of the product; knowledge and know-how inherent in the traditions and local customs associated with the local community. In France, studies in anthropology, history, geography, economics, sociology, agronomy and animal science have helped define the link between a product and its terroir but failed to resolve differences of opinions as to its exact nature. Between tradition and innovation A product of the wine industry, the concept of terroir applied exclusively to wine for a long time. But terroir is a flexible concept that has progressively expanded to include other French products such as cheeses, cured meats and vegetable products. Sometimes considered inapplicable internationally, this concept emphasises the role of natural elements (landscape, soil, climate, genetic resources, and flora, among other things), and their interaction with human factors. Therefore, the definition of a locality and the legal protection given to geographical designations raise questions about the importance accorded to local knowledge, a product's reputation and history, and the natural environment. Some efforts have been made recently to encourage UNESCO to classify a number of terroirs as world heritage sites. However, such emphasis on history and cultural heritage does not translate into inertia or an end to innovation. Advertisement Maintaining a diverse range of social and technical systems is also useful in the fight against climate change, and the protection of natural resources (landscape, soil, biodiversity, and water, among other things). However, ever increasing industrialised production methods, the standardisation of of know-how, as well as the development of new production lines for origin-based products (using reverse engineering techniques), do raise the tricky question of how to reconcile tradition with innovation. Constant collaborative re-invention The US has mainly fought against and criticised the concept of terroir, while supporting private trademarking. But some American producers have shown growing interest in the idea over the last decade. This group, coordinated by the American Origin Products Association, indicates a real change in outlook. Labelling geographic origin can be understood as what Elinor Ostrom and Charlotte Hess define as "knowledge commons". It's based on both the shared prestige and reputation of a product with its customers and on the specific set of natural and cultural resources that come from local communities' and producer regions' shared knowledge and know-how. This attitude is substantiated by the growing number of countries in Africa, South America and Asia that are adopting legal measures similar to Europe's protected geographic indications. In these cases, however, the concept of terroir and what constitutes typicity is broader: products are labelled according to their geographic origin, with a lesser substantive reference to other criteria defining their terroir. Advertisement Even in France, the origin-based labeling system has been sometimes criticised for its supposed rigidity and failure to adapt quickly enough to the demands of international markets, although it has boosted the promotion of local products and helped strengthen regional identities. By creating another link, terroir products have helped reshape the relationship between urban and rural areas. By promoting traditional, typical and regional products with an origin-based label, terroir has become a valuable economic development tool for many EU rural regions. The international use of the concept of terroir also includes transforming and adapting it to different contexts and applications, such as "urban terroirs", and artisanal products, among other things. This usage should help reshape our vision of regions and their heritage. Translated from the French by Alice Heathwood for Fast for Word. This article was published originally on The Conversation France. By Dan Ouellette, ZEALnyc Senior Editor ZEALnyc, January 4, 2017 Each year as Winter Jazzfest expands, you can expect new twists in the mix. One of the most prominent this season is the one-night record imprint showcase of Germany-based ECM Records (Saturday, January 7), presenting nine vital artists who record for the label that is celebrating its 48th birthday this year--with the grand No. 50 just around the bend. The Jazzfest shows (listed below) will take place at The New School's Tishman Auditorium (63 Fifth Avenue). (Note: Last year's ECM showcase within the fest took place over two days.) What's remarkable about ECM is that in the midst of major labels crashing and burning their jazz divisions along with the rise of independent record labels taking a DIY approach, it's still standing tall, as recognized in jazz magazine polls and in this year's just announced NPR top jazz releases for 2016, as voted on by 137 international jazz journalists. In the top 10, three ECM recordings were heralded: Jack DeJohnette / Matt Garrison / Ravi Coltrane, In Movement (No. 3); Michael Formanek / Ensemble Kolossus, The Distance (No. 5); Vijay Iyer / Wadada Leo Smith, A Cosmic Rhythm With Each Stroke (No. 6). Not a shabby showing at all. During this ongoing sober upheaval in the jazz marketplace with disparaging questions abounding (what is jazz; how can we keep jazz alive; should jazz be watered down for mass consumption), there has been one constant of creative music commitment: ECM. Founded and piloted by producer Manfred Eicher, its credo is summed up quite succinctly in the label's Catalogue 2009-10: "ECM has maintained the most old-fashioned of business practices while staying in tune with what is newest and most alive in music." He added, "You can never go merely for the routine. It never should be routine. Otherwise, it will sound routine." Advertisement Espousing that "music is the art that speaks directly to the soul," Eicher said, "Music is my driving force. I'm longing to listen to music that I have not heard yet. Music has no location and no nationality. In the early days of ECM, we recorded mostly American artists...[Today] I go anywhere I have to go to find music that interests me." Launched in November 1969 with pianist Mal Waldron's Free At Last, ECM boasts more than 1700 titles in its "genre-resistant" catalog, with a steady flow of 30 to 40 new releases each year, featuring border-crossing jazz, improvisational music, transcultural collaborations and classical (specifically in the ECM New Series begun in 1984 to record the music of Arvo Part). With a track record of scoring million-selling hits such as Keith Jarrett's Kohn Concert and Jan Garbarek and the Hilliard Ensemble's Officium, ECM became the home for dozens of improvisers, including Jarrett, Chick Corea, Paul Bley, Paul Motian, Dave Holland, Pat Metheny and Charlie Haden--among many others. "We just started to grow organically," Eicher said. "I've always looked to America, especially New York. I [like] to listen to music and discover musicians and music that I had never heard before." With Eicher's aesthetic providing the guiding light of ECM, the label continues to forge ahead as the prime purveyor of the luminous fine art of jazz. In recent years, he's given recording opportunities for the creme de la creme of the new generation of jazz artists, including Vijay Iyer, Chris Potter, Mark Turner, Craig Taborn, David Virelles and Theo Bleckmann. "I'm happy to see" their growth as artists, Eicher said Advertisement In a conversation I had with Eicher on the occasion of the label's 40th anniversary, he talked about the bottom line of running a label that releases so many albums a year: "There's a lot still to do to fulfill the plan we have to record improvised music that is art, especially today with bringing together different cultures, which fits with the influences of our time. I continue to make records out of musical instinct and drive even though you can never foresee how many copies a record will sell. So, as far as reaching the bottom line, we have never reached a panic yet. We go on as long as we can. Even though it's more difficult to sell music today because there are fewer outlets (other than Amazon), I feel there's an enormous interest in music. There is a need to record music. I've been inspired this year by how much good music we have recorded. My instinct tells me to continue to do what I've been doing and do more." Nearly a decade later that has proven to be the creative m.o. of ECM. Of particular note this year at Winter Jazzfest's spotlight on ECM is the appearance of Cuba-born, Brooklyn-based pianist David Virelles in two settings. He's a remarkable talent who celebrates finesse on the piano married to the drums and percussion of his homeland. He's lyrical, off-kilter, mysterious, earthy, measured and spirited in his playing. Unlike fellow countrymen who bring their voices into the piano tradition, Virelles seems to belong to his own universe of influences dominated by the percussive heartbeat of Afro-Cuban tradition. His 2014 ECM debut, Mboko, was an ear-opener of sacred music that teemed with pockets of slow-pulse quiet and fractured chordal pounces, single-note meanderings and rushing tumbles. It was a critics favorite. Recently Virelles released the vinyl/digital EP, Antenna, a vital electro-acoustic fantasia of keyboard art steeped in Cuban rhythms, street poetry and synthesized textures. He said regarding the new project: "I wanted the music to have the sound and feel of traditional Afro-Cuban rhythms, but generated and deconstructed electronically, so that I could make new, very different music out of those elements." Virelles appears as a sideman in trumpeter Tomasz Stanko's NY Quartet (playing music from his 2013 album Wislawa as well as new music from an upcoming release) and stars in a duet set with saxophonist Ravi Coltrane that will result in an album recorded later in 2017. Advertisement Here's the ECM lineup for Saturday, January 7 of what promises to be an exciting evening of prime improvisational music at Jazzfest: 6:00 -- Tomasz Stanko NY Quartet (w/David Virelles, Thomas Morgan, Gerald Cleaver) 7:20 -- Jakob Bro/Thomas Morgan/Joey Baron (playing from the recent trio recording, Streams) 8:40 -- Ravi Coltrane/David Virelles duo 10:00 -- Bill Frisell/Thomas Morgan duo (playing music from their forthcoming release scheduled for June) 11:20 -- Nik Bartsch Mobile (playing pieces from its 2016 album Continuum) Cover: David Virelles; photo: Vincent Oshin _____________________________ Read more from ZEALnyc below: Naruto Shippuden (Photo : Youtube) Naruto Shippuden episode 488 will be the final part of the Sasuke Book of Sunrise arc that has focused on Sasuke's journey several years after the 4th Great Ninja war and subsequent battle with Naruto at Valley of End. During his journey to atone his sins, Sasuke has been tasked by the Sixth Hokage, Kakashi Hatake, to investigate on a series of attacks on villages, including the Village of the Dancing Leaf, with the use of exploding human as weapons. Advertisement Little did he know the mission would lead him to an uncharted territory, where he discovered the grim fate of a former exalted clan and the plot to destroy the current Shinobi system by a mysterious avenger. And after four episodes, that avenger turned out to be Chino, the true leader of the Dark Thunder Group and the last of the Chinoike Clan. Sasuke, a former avenger, found himself in a similar situation with Chino, who seeks to destroy the five major villages whom she considered the culprit behind the fall of his clan. It sets the stage for a much-anticipated dojutso battle between Sasuke's Sharingan and Chino's Ketsuryugan. Here are the four potential spoilers for Episode 488: 'The Last One' -The power of the Ketsuryugan will be explained in details. The first four chapters show how powerful Chinoike's clan dojutso is, with the ability to turn human into exploding weapons. In the next episode, Chino will further demonstrate other abilities of the Ketsuryugan such as manipulating iron existing in blood and then turning them into multi-headed dragons. -Chino will reveal the reason why he hates Sasuke and what he represents. Being the last member of the Chinoike clan, Chino believes he has the obligation to avenge what happened to his clan which was pushed to near extinction by the ninja world, and in particular by the Uchiha clan, which was hired as henchmen to combat Chinoike's Kekikei Genkai. -Sasuke's resolve. This will be the moment where Sasuke shows to everybody that he has no intention of reverting back to being an avenger. As a matter of fact, the last of the Uchiha clan will vow to protect the peace Chino and Nowaki have been longing for. In the Book of Sunrise novel, Chino and Nowaki became prisoners, but were eventually freed on condition of working for Kirigakure and Kumogakure. -It's uncertain if episode 488 will include the rare Sakura x Sasuke moment, but if it does, then it's fanbase is headed for some special moment. In the epilogue of the Sasuke: Book of Sunrise, Sasuke, after receiving a letter from Naruto, finally decided to return to Konoha following years of journey across the Shinobi world. Waiting at the gate was none other than Sakura, who gave him a warm welcome. Live Stream and TV Info: Naruto Shippuden episode 488 will be aired on January 5 at 6:30 a.m US EST on Tokyo TV. CrunchyRoll will provide streaming feed of the latest episode simultaneously with its Japan airing. For more Naruto Shippuden news and update, follow me at ShonenLord@Twitter Something went wrong, please try again later. Invalid email Something went wrong, please try again later. Sign up to the Hull Live newsletter for daily updates and breaking news A chilling film about a schoolgirl who was groomed online before being raped and murdered has been released to make parents aware of the dangers. The video, called Kayleigh's Love Story, shows how 15-year-old girl Kayleigh Haywood was bombarded with Facebook messages from a stranger over a period of two weeks. Kayleigh was eventually persuaded to spend the night at Luke Harlow's house in Ibstock, Leicestershire, before his neighbour, Stephen Beadman, dragged the teenager into nearby woodland, where he raped and murdered her. The five-minute film was made by Leicestershire Police to warn of the dangers of grooming and sexual exploitation. It was shown to 35,764 secondary school children across the country at 1,000 controlled screenings by a team of PCSOs last year. The screenings gave 35 children the courage to come forward and report possible cases of grooming to officers, police said. The force has now released the full video online in the hope that it will encourage more victims to seek help and support. The multiple award-winning film begins with Kayleigh receiving a flood of affectionate text messages on October 31, 2015, from Harlow, that continue for two weeks. It shows how Kayleigh was lured into Harlow's home before Beadman, 29, sexually assaulted the girl and dumped her body in a woods. On April 5 2016, Harlow, 28, pleaded guilty to grooming and two counts of sexual activity. He was found guilty of false imprisonment following a trial at Nottingham Crown Court on June 28, where he also admitting grooming two separate girls. Harlow was jailed for 12 years. On April 5, Beadman, 29, pleaded guilty to rape and murder. On June 7, he was also found guilty of false imprisonment and was given a life sentence in which he will serve a minimum of 35 years. The video ends by warning: "Stop and think. When you meet someone online, you don't always know who you are talking to." Leicestershire Police Deputy Chief Constable Roger Bannister said: "What happened to Kayleigh was horrific but we are pleased that some good is coming from the awful tragedy and that this film is raising far greater awareness of the dangers of online grooming and the signs that it may be happening. They are signs that we can all look out for and do something about - before it is too late. "We felt it was critical that we showed the film to local schoolchildren first, in structured screenings where our staff could discuss with children the issues raised by the film, before we made it more widely available." The film was made with the support of Kayleigh's parents, Stephanie and Martin. A signed version, an audio described version and versions of the film translated into five languages Polish, Hindi, Guajarati, Urdu and Punjabi will also available on the force's YouTube page. Kansas men's basketball wins exhibition game against Pittsburg State The Jayhawks may not have started this exhibition game well Thursday, but they were able to recover and come away with a win. Eastern Libya's dominant military figure has no plans to resume talks with his U.N.-backed rival in the west, according to comments in an interview that may further dent foreign hopes of an end to years of conflict in the divided country. Strongman Khalifa Haftar and Fayez Seraj, who heads the internationally recognised administration in Tripoli, were expected to meet in Algiers in coming days, a source close to the Algerian government said. They were to discuss the possibility of forming a government of national union, the source told Reuters. But Haftar said talks with Seraj begun 2-1/2 years ago had yielded no result and the existing state of war now required combat rather than politics. "Once the extremists are defeated we can go back to talking about democracy and elections. But not now," Haftar was quoted as telling Tuesday's edition of Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera. The outlook for Seraj's government, already uncertain as it struggles to fulfil Western hopes that it could bring stability to Libya, worsened on Monday when one of its deputy leaders announced his resignation, saying it had failed to tackle urgent problems. Haftar said his forces now controlled about 80 percent of the country, according to the newspaper. A deeply divisive figure portrayed by his rivals as a military strongman seeking national power, he has been waging a campaign against Islamists and other opponents in eastern Libya for more than two years. Haftar has close ties to Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, and said that on a recent trip to Moscow he had tried to reactivate contracts there that were interrupted in 2011, when an uprising toppled former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. An arms embargo imposed by the U.N. Security Council is stopping any weapons arriving in Libya, but Russian President Vladimir Putin is trying to lift it, Haftar said. He said his patrols were ensuring the rule of law was being upheld around the oil ports of Ras Lanuf, Brega and Es Sider. "If our army controlled our southern border, there would be fewer problems for everyone. And the same is true for the energy plants so dear to Italy. I would be very happy to discuss this with the managers of (oil major) Eni," Haftar said. Libyans "had no idea what democracy meant" when elections were held in 2012, drawing a line under 42 years of Gaddafi's rule, he said. "They were simply not ready." Search Keywords: Short link: Lloyds of London could be paying Disney $50 million in the wake of the sudden death of Hollywood legend Carrie Fisher.The acclaimed writer and actress best known as thefranchises indomitable Leia Organa died Dec. 27, four days after suffering a heart attack while on a flight.Disney, the company producing the newtrilogy, placed an insurance policy on Fisher before she signed a three-picture deal for the new movies, according to Business Insider. The policy was taken out in case Fisher couldnt fulfill her contract.Fisher starred in 2015s. She also completed filming for the forthcoming. But production onhasnt yet begun. That means Disney could receive a $50 million payment, according to Business Insider.The policy was underwritten by New Jersey-based managing general agent Exceptional Risk Advisors, according to The Insurance Insider. However, if the policy triggers the loss will be borne entirely by Lloyds.Its unclear if Disney had similar policies on Harrison Ford, who played Han Solo in The Force Awakens, or Mark Hamill, who plays Luke Skywalker in the films, according to Business Insider.Its also unclear how the franchise will deal with Fishers death in. Industrial Light and Magic used special effects to resurrect deceased actor Peter Cushing in Decembers Rogue One, but the company has said it doesnt plan to use that effect often. It's critical to help clients make the most of the plans they have The organizers unveiled the banner which will be leading the way during the march at a meeting on Tuesday night as they iron out the final details of the event. The march is the day after the 76th anniversary of the speech delivered by Franklin Delano Roosevelt. U.S. Sen. Edward Markey will be speaking. Attorney Tahirah Amatul-Wadud, a member of the Massachusetts Commission on the Status of Women also highlights the speaking portion. NAACP Berkshire Branch President Dennis Powell is known for delivering powerful speeches. PreviousNext 'Four Freedoms' March Set for Saturday in Pittsfield NAACP Berkshire Branch President Dennis Powell is both one of the organizers of the march and one of the speakers to talk at the rally. PITTSFIELD, Mass. It was an "unprecedented" time in 1941 when President Franklin Delano Roosevelt addressed the nation and called for a world "founded upon four essential human freedoms." It's been 76 years since then and the resolve of the Berkshires remains strong toward securing exactly that. On Saturday, hundreds will be marching down North Street to stand up for those four freedoms President Franklin D. Roosevelt cited: the freedom of speech and expression, the freedom of every person to worship God in his own way, freedom from want, and freedom from fear. "There was interest from several groups to bring the community together to stand up for their freedoms and rights," said Megan Whilden, one of the organizers. "And to really stand up against the resurgence of bigotry and prejudice." It was just about a month ago when the local branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the Berkshire Central Labor Council, and the Berkshire Brigades started talking about making such a public stand. The idea came up for a march and since then it has taken off. Now some 100 local organizations have pledged their support, including some 20 elected officials, and the group is expecting at least 500 people to join. The rally kicks off 12:30 on Saturday, starting at St. Joseph's Church on North Street. At 1, the crowd will march down North to First, waving flags and banners, and end at First Church of Christ on Park Square. Inside the church, a lineup of close to a dozen speakers will provide remarks including U.S. Sen. Edward Markey and James Roosevelt III, grandson of FDR. "We definitely wanted a wide range of speakers to represent our community," Whilden said. Beyond Markey and Roosevelt, speakers include attorney Tahirah Amatul-Wadud, a member of the state Commission on the Status of Women; Dennis Powell, president of the Berkshire NAACP branch; Elizabeth Recko-Morrison, the 2015 labor person of the year; Eleanore Velez of Berkshire Community College's Multicultural Center; Ethan Zukerman, director of Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Center for Civic Media; and spoken word poets from Miss Hall's School. The Rev. Sheila Sholes-Ross of First Baptist Church will be master of ceremonies. Whilden said the group is trying to limit speakers to three minutes to keep the program under 45 minutes. Concurrently, the three main organizations have formed a Four Freedoms Coalition. So far, all eyes of that new group have been focused on the march but they hope to move forward after it. The new "non-partisan" coalition hopes to serve a role in bringing together various organizations and individuals to "reaffirm our true American values as outlined in President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's landmark Four Freedoms speech." Following the march, some 30 "action tables" will be manned by various groups that are involved in projects helping to secure those freedoms. For example, if somebody wanted to help with the Berkshire Immigrant Center, he or she can find out exactly how. "We don't want to reinvent the wheel. We just want to provide the community a place to come together," Whilden said. What do they hope to accomplish with the march? A message that this community is against hate and bigotry in all of its forms. That this community is united in its efforts to secure those four freedoms for everybody. "We want it to be a big tent where everyone feels welcomed ... It shows everybody in the community that they are not alone," Whilden said, later adding, "we're trying to be as broad and inclusive as possible." The organizers have been working on the project over the holidays and returned Tuesday to find hundreds expressing support and interest. The 100 or so organizations range from private businesses to U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren and the mayors of both North Adams and Pittsfield, to religious organizations to cultural groups. The Brigades, the Berkshire organizing arm of the state Democratic Party, alerted its email list as did the North Adams Chamber of Commerce. Facebook invites were passed along to some 2,600 people. "It's really been heartwarming to see the positive response," Whilden said. Saturday may be a little cold for those marching, with temperatures predicted to be in the 20s, but the sun is supposed to be out and no rain is in the forecast. The School Committee received an update on efforts to deal with levels of lead and copper found in some water taps in the schools. North Adams School District Completing Repairs on Affected Water Taps NORTH ADAMS, Mass. The school district has nearly completed repairs and replacement to water fixtures that showed elevated levels of lead and copper. All but six water faucets remain to be replaced before a second round of testing takes place. The city tested some 353 water fountains, faucets and other water taps in September through a state grant through the Massachusetts Clean Water Trust. The results released in December showed 50 points were identified as exceeding the state levels, most of those being non-drinking water faucets. Superintendent Barbara Malkas told the School Committee on Tuesday that the district had followed the guidance and technical assistance provided by the state Department of Environmental Protection to mitigate the water issues. "We followed exactly the guidance that was provided," she said, noting the district's notification to faculty, students and the community on the results, and the immediate shut-off of affected drinking water taps. The DEP has since given the nod to the district's repair plan, Malkas said, "They have agreed to all of the elements. We're in the middle of completing that." Action levels for lead are .015 milligrams per liter of water and tests found a range from 0.16 to .24 (the two highest being in custodial/work sinks). The state level for copper is 1.3 milligrams per liter; the bulk of the copper issues were found at Colegrove Park Elementary School and all were just over the level with the exception of one classroom sink at 2.3. All of the contamination levels were caused by pipes and/or lead solder in the faucet fixtures. The city's water supply is clear. Malkas said the state guidance for Colegrove, Drury and Johnson schools were to flush the water for 30 seconds before using. "There is a real strong belief that that will be more than sufficient and when we do our next sampling that those numbers will come back under the recommended levels," she said, adding that the "very, very low, close to being below detectable" copper levels at the new Colegrove School were considered caused by new piping. Flushing, in that case, was also the recommendation of the state and the contractor. "At Brayton, two faucets that were used for the consumption of water have been replaced and all but six of the water faucets used for consumption have been replaced at Greylock," Malkas continued. "The only reason we haven't replaced the remaining six is because they're on back order. As soon as they come in, we will finish that work and notify the [DEP] and they will come in and do a second round of testing." Egypt's police arrested in the early hours of Wednesday a man suspected of killing a liquor shop owner in east Alexandria, Al-Ahram Arabic news website reported. According to Al-Ahram, Alexandria's police investigations team was able to identify the 48-year-old suspect only 24 hours after the gruesome murder of storeowner Youssef Lamei. The man was arrested while hiding in a building in the vicinity of Al-Montazah police station east of Alexandria. Investigators say they are trying to determine the reasons and motives behind the crime. The arrest came after police reviewed surveillance camera footage taken by neighbouring shops in Khaled Bin El-Waleed street, one of Alexandria's busiest commercial streets. Lamei died immediately after the attack at the scene of the crime. The storeowner, a Coptic Egyptian, ran the store for 40 years. A video of the attack that went viral shortly after the incident shows the suspect, a bearded man wearing a yellow coat, slash the storeowner's throat twice with a knife from behind while the victim was smoking a hookah in front of his store. It is not clear whether the attack was motivated by sectarianism. The victim's son, Tony Youssef Lamei, said in a phone interview with Mehwar TV on Tuesday he was proud of his father's job, adding that he and his brothers would continue running his business. "I'm proud of my dad's job, even if his occupation was one that is rejected by society," Tony said. Search Keywords: Short link: The spokesman responded to statements from Tunisia's president on the potential for a three-way summit between Egypt, Algeria and Tunisia to discuss political transition in Libya Egypt is committed to establishing peace in Libya, whether through trilateral talks with Tunisia and Algeria, or in direct dialogue with Libya, its neighbouring countries, the United Nations, the African Union or the Arab League, Egypts foreign affairs ministry spokesman Ahmed Abu Zeid told Ahram Online on Wednesday. Abu Zeid's comments come in response to statements by Tunisian President Beji Essebsi to Tunisian Leaders Magazine this week, saying that Algeria proposed an initiative to solve the Libyan crisis and that Egypt, Tunisia and Algeria will meet in a trilateral summit to discuss the country's situation. Abu Zeid said he had no details on the date of the proposed summit but that the three countries would meet soon in a general meeting with other neighbouring North African countries. Abu Zeid added that these countries, which also include Sudan, Chad and Niger, share long borders with Libya and thus have vested interests in the stability and security of Libya, as well as eradicating terrorism in Libya. The spokesman highlighted Egyptian efforts last year to create a Libyan national dialogue, in order to reach a consensus on how to end the current crisis. According to Abu Zeid, these efforts included hosting over 48 influential Libyan figures, under the supervision of Egypts army Chief of Staff Mahmoud Hegazy and the Egyptian Foreign Affairs Minister Sameh Shoukry. Egypt also hosted in 2016 Libyas House of Representative speaker Aguila Saleh, who met with Egypts President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi last week and conveyed his intention to call the parliament to consider the proposed changes in the Sikhrat agreement. The Sikhrat agreement, which was reached in Morocco in 2015, mandated the reaching of a peaceful transition of power in Libya and the establishment of a national unity government. There are currently five proposed amendments in the agreement, including a change in the makeup of the Libyan national dialogue committee to better balance the country's factions, a change in the duties of the army commander, and measures to maintain the independence of the armed forces and separate them from political conflicts. Abu Zeid added that in 2017, Egypt would continue its efforts to reach a consensus between all Libyan factions. Libya currently has two parliaments and two rival governments, which have effectively divided the country into east and west. The parliament and interim government in the eastern part of the country are refusing to endorse the UN-backed administration in Tripoli in the west, a prerequisite for the Tripoli camp to take sovereign control of the country. Search Keywords: Short link: Loris Naguib, a 60-year-old victim of the St. Peter and St. Paul Church bombing, died on Wednesday of her injuries Cairo's St. Peter and St. Paul Church declared on Wednesday that the death toll from the December bombing at the church has risen to 28 following the death of a 60-year-old woman injured in the blast. In a short statement on its official Facebook page, the Church announced that Loris Naguib passed away from her injuries at a Coptic hospital in Cairo Wednesday afternoon. A suicide bomber, identified as 22-year-old Egyptian national Mahmoud Shafiq Mohamed Mostafa, set off explosives in the womens section of the St. Peter and St. Paul church in Cairo in December, instantly killing 23 people, mostly women and children, and wounding over 40 others. The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility of the attack, whereas the Egyptian Ministry of Interior accused members of the banned Muslim Brotherhood organisation residing in Qatar of plotting the bombing. Search Keywords: Short link: The content you are trying to view is exclusive to our subscribers. To unlock this article: A Cairo prosecutor ordered on Wednesday evening the detention of 12 people for four days pending investigation for allegedly protesting against the approval of the Egyptian-Saudi Red Sea island deal by the Egyptian cabinet last week. The defendants are accused of illegal protesting, assaulting public officials, thuggery, illegal assembly, damaging public property and blocking traffic. The defendants were arrested on Monday after allegedly gathering at the Journalists Syndicate in Cairo to protest the cabinet's approval of the deal despite the lack of a court verdict on a lawsuit challenging the agreement. Egypts cabinet referred last Thursday the border demarcation agreement to parliament after approving the deal, which would place the Egyptian-controlled Red Sea islands of Tiran and Sanafir under Saudi Arabian sovereignty. Search Keywords: Short link: The young girls and boys of Inigan Elementary have been a constant source of inspiration for Brother Philippines For the students of Inigan Elementary School in Rodriguez, Rizal, education is worth crossing a river for. Every day, they make the perilous journey across the river to get to their poorly equipped classrooms to fulfill their dreams of a brighter future. The young girls and boys of Inigan Elementary have been a constant source of inspiration for Brother Philippines. The business and home tech solutions company has been at the side of the students and the school since 2012, donating school supplies and equipment to help promote meaningful instruction and interaction within the classroom. Fun and engaging lessons on creating a better, greener environment are also provided as part of Brothers global advocacy. Last December 8, 2016, Brother Philippines once again renewed its support for the Inigan community this December 2016 with a fresh supply of ICT tools and school necessities, as well as a Lakbay Aral trip to the Museo Pambata and Fort Santiago for a day of fun and learning with the companys employees. Brother Philippines commitment to Inigan Elementary School has resulted in various educational assistance activities since 2012 and annual educational tours The whole Brother Philippines team has been looking forward to this special activity for the diligent students and inspiring teachers from Inigan Elementary School, said Glenn Hocson, Brother Philippines President. Their collective passion for learning is truly admirable, and a force that inspires us to develop more products and programs that can help realize dreams in the future. Brother Philippines commitment to Inigan Elementary School has resulted in various educational assistance activities, since 2012, and annual educational tours. To date, Brother has helped hundreds of students by providing school supplies, a good number of teachers with ICT tools that can enable further research and learning, and the school with its very own generator set (the school has no formal energy subscription) and a public-address system that come in handy when staging school programs and activities. The grateful smiles of teachers and students are more than enough to keep us going, - Glenn Hocson The grateful smiles of teachers and students are more than enough to keep us going, added Glenn Hocson. These experiences that some of us take for granted mean the world to them. As long as we can help, well always be at the side of Inigan Elementary School. For more information on Brother Philippines corporate social responsibility programs, visit brother.com.ph or call (02)581-9888. Back to top Imperial Valley News Center Governor Brown Submits U.S. Congressman Xavier Becerra's Nomination for California Attorney General to State Legislature Sacramento, California - Following the resignation of California Attorney General Kamala D. Harris, Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. officially submitted U.S. Congressman Xavier Becerras (D-CA) nomination for California Attorney General to the State Legislature today. The nomination is subject to confirmation by the California State Assembly and Senate, which each have 90 days to act. Xavier has been an outstanding public servant in the State Legislature, the U.S. Congress and as a deputy attorney general, said Governor Brown when he named Rep. Becerra as his nominee last month. I'm confident he will be a champion for all Californians and help our state aggressively combat climate change. Rep. Becerra, 58, of Los Angeles, has served in the U.S. House of Representatives since 1992, most recently as the first Latino member of the Committee on Ways And Means, ranking member of the Ways and Means Subcommittee on Social Security and chairman of the House Democratic Caucus. The congressman is a member of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, which he chaired from 1997 to 1998, and the Executive Committee of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus. In 2010, Rep. Becerra served on the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform. Prior to his election to Congress, Rep. Becerra served in the California State Assembly as representative for the 59th Assembly District in Los Angeles County from 1990 to 1992. He served as a deputy attorney general in the California Department of Justice, Office of the Attorney General from 1987 to 1990. The congressman began his legal career in 1984, advocating for and representing individuals with mental illness. Rep. Becerra earned a Juris Doctor degree from Stanford Law School and a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics from Stanford University. Rep. Becerra is the son of working-class parents and was the first in his family to graduate from college with a four-year degree. His mother was born in Jalisco, Mexico and immigrated to the United States after marrying his father. Rep. Becerra is married to Dr. Carolina Reyes. They are the proud parents of three daughters: Clarisa, Olivia and Natalia. 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 }} There has been a glut of terrific true crime documentaries in recent times; masterful works like Making a Murderer, The Jinx and OJ: Made in America. These compelling narratives are every bit the equal of any scripted drama and it feels as though we are living in a genuine golden age for the form. In 2012, Bart Laytons The Imposter was released, an astonishing achievement that is every bit the equal of the aforementioned documentaries. This is a film in which ones jaw is on the floor throughout and, just when it seems things cannot get any more shocking, an astonishing third act revelation leaves the audience positively reeling. To say too much would be a mistake but the story begins in San Antonio, Texas in 1994 and concerns the disappearance of a 13-year-old boy named Nicholas Barclay. Three years after being reported missing, the Barclay family are astonished to learn their son is apparently alive and well in Spain. At this point, things get very strange indeed. The authorities bring Nicholas back to America and he is welcomed home by his relatives despite his insistence on wearing a cap, scarf and dark glasses and the fact that hes clearly much older than 16 and fails to resemble their son in a number of obvious ways ranging from eye colour to skin tone. The imposter of the title is Frederic Bourdin, a French confidence trickster who appeared to fool just about everyone bar Charlie Parker, a canny Texas private investigator straight out of the Coen brothers' Blood Simple. His obsession with Bourdins ears and the fact that they were the key to solving the case just goes to show that the truth is often stranger than fiction. But the real elephant in the room concerns the Barclay family and why they were so willing to accept this charlatan as their son. Is it possible that the trauma of losing a child is so great that they were blinded to something as obviously fraudulent as Bourdins scheme. Here is a documentary with the suspense and intensity of the best thrillers and a denouement any scriptwriter would be delighted to have concocted. For fans of true crime, file under essential viewing. 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 }} In Ryan Reynolds' first fully-fledged incarnation of the cheeky, spandex-wearing superhero Deadpool, his character is content and in love with girlfriend Vanessa [Morena Baccarin]. But that could change in future instalments, Reynolds suggests, and the pansexual Marvel character could be seen with a boyfriend at some point as well. "What love is to Deadpool may not be what love is to Batman or someone else," he told Variety in its cover story this week. "I think that could be played up more. He's an outsider in every way, shape and form... the only thing you have to consider going forward is: 'Are we being faithful to the canon that we nurtured and created?' "One of those things is that Deadpool is in love with Vanessa. Deadpool isn't in love with Vanessa just because she's a woman. He's in love with Vanessa because he loves her." LGBT+ relationships are still rarely depicted in top Hollywood films. A study conducted by researchers at the University of Southern California examined 700 films released between 2007 and 2014 and looked at LGBT people featured onscreen as well as those featured in film production. Out of a total of 4,610 characters in the top 100 films of 2014: 10 were gay men, four were lesbians, and five were bisexual. Recommended Why Rogue One is a watershed moment for gender pay equality in cinema Depictions of healthy romantic or sexual relationships were scarce; of 19 LGB characters, only two were portrayed as being in a public, stable, long-term partnership, while another two were shown dating. One of the reasons cited for Hollywood's apparent fear or reluctance to introduce more diverse characters to its screens is the risk of alienating audiences in countries where gay rights are less tolerated. Reynolds points out that this would not be a problem for Deadpool, at least, because the film is banned in China. "We were rated 'f**k you!' in China," he said. Deadpool 2 is set for release on 2 March 2018. 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 }} Game of Thrones is one of the biggest shows on TV right now. Millions of people from around the world follow the fantasy drama with ferocious intensity, the shows actors often becoming worldwide stars thanks to its popularity. Hoping to cash in on his new-found celebrity is Commander Jeor Mormont actor James Cosmo, who has recently entered the Big Brother house for series 19 of the Celebrity version. Cosmos previous TV work also includes Sons of Anarchy, Midsomer Murders, and Soldier Soldier, while hes also appeared in Braveheart, Trainspotting, and Troy. The 68-year-old said when entering the CBB house: I wouldn't say I'm scared about going into the house. One of the things that I'll miss is listening to Eminem. He continued: I'm in here for an experience, I hope I'm going to enjoy it and that's it. Game, set, match and nothing else. In memoriam: Every major character who died in Game of Thrones season 6 Show all 34 1 /34 In memoriam: Every major character who died in Game of Thrones season 6 In memoriam: Every major character who died in Game of Thrones season 6 Ramsay Bolton Fed to the hounds by his ex-wife In memoriam: Every major character who died in Game of Thrones season 6 Tommen Baratheon Jumped out of a window In memoriam: Every major character who died in Game of Thrones season 6 Rickon Stark Shot by Ramsay with an arrow In memoriam: Every major character who died in Game of Thrones season 6 Grand Maester Pycelle Stabbed by little birds In memoriam: Every major character who died in Game of Thrones season 6 Loras Tyrell Wildfire In memoriam: Every major character who died in Game of Thrones season 6 Alliser Thorne Hung In memoriam: Every major character who died in Game of Thrones season 6 Olly Hung #F*ckOlly In memoriam: Every major character who died in Game of Thrones season 6 Walder Frey Ticked off the list In memoriam: Every major character who died in Game of Thrones season 6 Shaggydog Head cut off In memoriam: Every major character who died in Game of Thrones season 6 Summer Ripped apart by White Walkers In memoriam: Every major character who died in Game of Thrones season 6 High Sparrow Wildfire In memoriam: Every major character who died in Game of Thrones season 6 The Blackfish Killed off-screen In memoriam: Every major character who died in Game of Thrones season 6 Hodor Hold the door In memoriam: Every major character who died in Game of Thrones season 6 Trystane Martell Stabbed through the face by those damned Sand Snakes In memoriam: Every major character who died in Game of Thrones season 6 Leaf Blown up saving Bran In memoriam: Every major character who died in Game of Thrones season 6 Walda Frey and her little boy Fed to the hounds In memoriam: Every major character who died in Game of Thrones season 6 Balon Greyjoy Thrown off a bridge by his brother In memoriam: Every major character who died in Game of Thrones season 6 Lady Crane Fell off a chair In memoriam: Every major character who died in Game of Thrones season 6 Mace Tyrell Wildfire In memoriam: Every major character who died in Game of Thrones season 6 The Waif Killed in the dark by Arya Stark In memoriam: Every major character who died in Game of Thrones season 6 Lothar Frey and Black Walder Rivers Fray pie In memoriam: Every major character who died in Game of Thrones season 6 Brother Lancel Lannister Stabbed once then blown up by Wildfire In memoriam: Every major character who died in Game of Thrones season 6 Lem Lemoncloak Hung by the Brotherhood Without Banners plus The Hound In memoriam: Every major character who died in Game of Thrones season 6 Brother Ray Hung by Leomoncloak and his gang In memoriam: Every major character who died in Game of Thrones season 6 Three-Eyed Raven Killed by the Nights King In memoriam: Every major character who died in Game of Thrones season 6 Margaery Tyrell Wildfire In memoriam: Every major character who died in Game of Thrones season 6 Khal Rhalko, Khal Brozho, Khal Qorro, Khal Forzho, Khal Moro Burnt by the Mother of Dragons In memoriam: Every major character who died in Game of Thrones season 6 Roose Bolton Stabbed in the chest by his own son In memoriam: Every major character who died in Game of Thrones season 6 Kevan Lannister Wildfire In memoriam: Every major character who died in Game of Thrones season 6 Smalljon Umber Beaten by Tormund In memoriam: Every major character who died in Game of Thrones season 6 Wun Weg Wun Dar Wun That Goddamn Ramsay again In memoriam: Every major character who died in Game of Thrones season 6 Osha Throat slit by Ramsay In memoriam: Every major character who died in Game of Thrones season 6 Doran Martell Stabbed in the hearth by Ellaria Sand In memoriam: Every major character who died in Game of Thrones season 6 Areo Hotah Stabbed in the spine by Tyene Sand Cosmo fans can next catch the actor reprising his role of Mr. Renton in Trainspotting 2 later this year. Meanwhile, other CBB contestants include Ray J (famous for making a sex tape with Kim Kardashian), American reality TV star Speidi, and Jasmine Waltz. 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 }} Everybody knows that humble, little Dobby the House Elf was the true hero of Harry Potter, right? Well, Warner Bros. Studio Tour London has finally given the character his full dues, by creating a one-of-a-kind experience at their massive Harry Potter exhibition at Leavesden Studios. First introduced in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Dobby has marked the very forefront of CGI character technology; intermixing multiple cinematic techniques to bring to life one of J.K. Rowling's most memorable creations. During filming, a lifelike model of Dobby was created so actors knew where to look when shooting scenes, with each detail being carefully hand-painted right down to the veins in his eyes; said model will now be moved to a more prominent location on the tour so visitors can see those details up close. In addition, visitors will be able to take part in the Studio Tour's first interactive motion capture experience; standing in front of the display, visitors will be able to control Dobby's movements in real-time, as they see the character in three different stages of the process - from an initial wire-frame to the fully-rendered Dobby seen in the finished film. JK Rowling's hidden Harry Potter sketches Show all 7 1 /7 JK Rowling's hidden Harry Potter sketches JK Rowling's hidden Harry Potter sketches Harry and the Dursleys, by J.K. Rowling JK Rowling's hidden Harry Potter sketches Quidditch, by JK Rowling JK Rowling's hidden Harry Potter sketches Peeves, by JK Rowling JK Rowling's hidden Harry Potter sketches Snape, by JK Rowling JK Rowling's hidden Harry Potter sketches Outside Privet Drive, by J.K. Rowling JK Rowling's hidden Harry Potter sketches MIrror of Erised, by J.K. Rowling JK Rowling's hidden Harry Potter sketches The Weasleys, by J.K. Rowling Dobby can also be spotted in the window of Harry's childhood home at Number Four, Privet Drive; which will reopened for the occasion to allow visitors a peek into the Dursley's living room where hundreds of Harry's Hogwarts letters can be seen flying out of the fireplace, recreating the iconic scene from Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. Directing Dobby will run at the Studio Tour from Saturday 4th February Friday 31st March 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 }} Frances far-right movement has been angered once more, this time because a film depicting rising nationalism in Europe features a character similar to Marine Le Pen. Titled Chez Nous (translation: Our Home), the film follows a nurse from Northern France who is asked to lead a far-right party, named the "Patriotic Bloc" party. According to Agence France-Presse (AFP), having a blond female lead the nationalist party has left few Le Penne advocates in any doubt the character is modelled on the National Front leader. Vice-president of the party, Florian Philippot, toldFrench media that the film was "scandalous" and "clearly anti-National Front. With Chez Nous release in February coming two months ahead of Frances elections, it has hit a particular nerve. "Having seen the trailer... it looks like a real turkey, Philippot continued. Gilles Pennelle, a far-right leader based in Western Brittany, also hit out at the film, saying it is a "disrespect for the French people and its freedom of expression. Director Lucas Belvaux was reportedly surprised by the reaction, saying outrage from the trailer causes cheap controversy that avoids debating the films actual message. Le Pen's legacy: bitter battle for future of the French far right Show all 3 1 /3 Le Pen's legacy: bitter battle for future of the French far right Le Pen's legacy: bitter battle for future of the French far right 506411.bin Le Pen's legacy: bitter battle for future of the French far right 506506.bin REUTERS Le Pen's legacy: bitter battle for future of the French far right 506507.bin "It's not so much an anti-FN film as a film about the populist message and how people relate to politics. It's voters that interest me, not political parties," he told the BFMTV channel. Recently, Le Pen made headlines after insisting Russian annexation of Crimea is totally legitimate. Sixteen Yemeni pro-government fighters were killed on Tuesday in separate clashes with Houthi rebels and Al-Qaeda fighters in the south of the war-torn country, military sources and officials said. Forces supporting Yemen's President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi, backed by a Saudi-led coalition, are fighting both the Huthi rebels who control parts of the country including the capital Sanaa and Islamist militants in the south. Al-Qaeda fighters on Tuesday ambushed an army unit on its way to conduct an operation against a Islamist militant position east of the coastal town of Shaqra in the southern province of Abyan, security sources said. Local officials said 11 soldiers and 15 Al-Qaeda fighters were killed in the attack. Al-Qaeda fighters seized two military vehicles and weapons, security sources said. Meanwhile, in the neighbouring province of Shabwa, five pro-Hadi fighters including an officer were killed along with nine Houthi rebels near the town of Baihan, loyalist military sources said. Baihan is held by the Shia Houthis and their allies, supporters of former president Ali Abdullah Saleh. Al-Qaeda and the rival Islamic State (IS) militants have taken advantage of chaos in Yemen to reinforce their presence in the Arabian Peninsula country. Yemen's war has killed more than 7,000 people since the Saudi-led coalition began its military intervention in March 2015, according to the United Nations. Search Keywords: Short link: 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 }} Members of the Star Wars cast are expected to keep details of the plot completely under wraps, but what about when their children spill the beans instead? Diego Luna has revealed that he found his eight-year-old son revealing secrets of the Rogue One story to a group of teenage girls on a family beach trip, which took place while he was filming on set. Admitting that he had told his children a few things about the film he was making, Luna spoke about the moment he realised he may come to regret that decision. "I start swimming and I just listen [to him saying]: 'Oh no, this film has no Jedis, just rebels.' And I go: 'Oh my god,'" he told Yahoo. Luna stars in the latest Star Wars prequel as Cassian Andor, a Rebel Alliance Captain and Intelligence officer who helps Jyn Erso [Felicity Jones] escape from Imperial captivity and brings her to the Rebels. The film has received praise for casting a diverse range of actors; with Felicity Jones in the starring role and Luna, who is Mexican, Chinese stars Jiang Wen and Donnie Wen, and British actor Riz Ahmed, who is of Pakistani heritage, making up the rest of the cast. The film was released in UK cinemas on 16 December and on 2 January was named the biggest film of 2016 at the UK box office with just hours to go. Disney had a total of four films in the top 10 best-performing: Finding Dory, Captain America: Civil War, and The Jungle Book also appeared. 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 }} The 30th year of Eurosonic Nooderslag Festival takes place in next week - the annual exchange and networking event for new music in Europe - and it's a chance to check out some of the artists you'll likely be hearing a lot more from later on in the year. Each year the festival, held in Groningen highlights talent from a different country and this year it's Portugal - whose local artists will perform on the same stages as the best new talent from Britain, Ireland and Scandanavia. The theme means a number of diverse, up and coming acts from the country featured that year are provided with a space to perform to figures from the music industry - similar to The Great Escape Festival held in Brighton. 21 Portuguese acts will perform at the January showcase: papercutz, Batida presents the Almost Perfect DJ, Best Youth, DJ Firmeza, DJ Ride, First Breath After Coma, Gisela Joao, Glockenwise, Holy Nothing, Marta Ren & the Groovelvets, Memoria de Peize, Moonshinersw, NEEV, Noiserv, Octa Push, Rodrigo Leao, Sam Alone and the Gravediggers, The Gift, The Happy Mess, Throes + The Shine and We Bless This Mess. Nuno Saraiva of WHY Portugal said: "With Eurosonic Noorderslag as a platform for European music, we are excited to present new Portuguese music. "There are so many great artists in present-day Portugal that it is no doubt a tough job for the Eurosonic team to pick which ones to invite, in order to offer the music business professionals and European audiences the very best talents from Portugal in this important year." Peter Smidt, Creative Director of Eurosonic Noorderslag told The Independent: "We always do careful research about music developments in Europe; last year we did a focus on the whole central eastern Europe to show what is happening in that part of Europe which was an eyeopener for a lot of people. "Eurosonic is the main platform for new European music and our aim is to provide press and professionals in the music sector as well as audiences an overview of the diverse an high quality of music that is made everywhere in Europe. "Currently we are impressed by the amount and the quality of new talents that is coming out of Portugal so we want to present and show that. We feel not everyone is aware that Portugal has not only a very large amount of great summer festivals but also a lot of great new talent to offer." Also among the line-up are rising British pop star Anne-Marie, Scottish electronic act Be Charlotte, Black Foxxes, Bonzai, Dan Owen, Declan McKenna, Era Istrefi, Lets Eat Grandma, Nils Bech, Seramic and Ward Thomas. Eurosonic Noorderslag 2017 takes place from 11 - 14 January 2017. 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 }} Farmers could go bust after Brexit as subsidies are slashed, tariffs are slapped on exports to Europe and the UK is flooded with cheap imports from countries with few, if any, animal welfare rules, MPs have warned. In a report, the Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) said the agricultural sector was facing significant risks because of the UKs departure from the European Union. And the natural world is also in danger, the MPs said, because EU rules designed to protect wildlife could become zombie legislation in the UK officially the law of the land but without any official body to enforce or update it. As the report was released, the National Farmers Unions Vice President Guy Smith urged the Government not to water down animal welfare, food safety and environmental protections even if we are forced to compete against agricultures in other parts of the world that clearly do not have such high standards as ours. However he added: Clearly we must not be put at a competitive disadvantage. And he issued a plea for what amounted to the softest of Brexits at least as far as agriculture is concerned. It is essential for the food and farming sector to maintain full, unfettered access to the single market while having continued access to a flexible, competent and reliable workforce, Mr Smith said. Farming summit Retaining tariff-free access is vital for UK farmers its where 75 per cent of our food exports go. The EAC's report said farmers were facing "a triple jeopardy" from Brexit. "First, leaving the Common Agricultural Policy will threaten the viability of some farms," it said. "Second, trade agreements which impose tariff or non-tariff barriers to UK farm exports similarly threaten farm and food business incomes. "Third, new trading relationships with states outside the European Union could lead to increased competition from countries with lower food standards, animal welfare standards and environmental protection. "This risks putting UK farmers at a competitive disadvantage and may make it more difficult to agree and implement a strong future UK environmental policy." EU farm subsidies currently make up to around 50 to 60 per cent of farmers income in the UK, with payouts from the Common Agricultural Policy totaling 3.5bn last year. But Mary Creagh, who chairs the EAC, noted that Andrea Leadsom, the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Secretary, had not guaranteed there would be any support, let alone this amount. It was concerning that the Environment Secretary gave my committee no reassurance that there would be subsidies for farmers after we leave the EU, she said. Brexit Concerns Show all 26 1 /26 Brexit Concerns Brexit Concerns Brexit will put British patients at 'back of the queue' for new drugs Brexit will put British patients at the back of the queue for vital new drugs, the Government has been warned forcing them to wait up to two years longer A medicines regulator has raised the alarm over a likely decision to pull out of the European Medicines Agency (EMA), as well as the EU itself. ealth Secretary Jeremy Hunt dropped the bombshell , when he said he expected the UK would quit the EMA because it is subject to rulings by the European Court of Justice. Getty Images Brexit Concerns London to lose status as 'gateway to Europe' for banks One of Germanys top banking regulators has warned that London could lose its status as gateway to Europe for the banking sector after Britain quits the European trading bloc. Andreas Dombret, who is an executive board member for the BundesbankGermanys central banktold a private meeting of German businesses and banks earlier this week in Frankfurt that even if banking rules were equivalent between the UK and the rest of the EU, that was still miles away from [Britain having] access to the single market, the BBC reports. Jason Hawkes Brexit Concerns Exodus The number of financial sector professionals in Britain and continental Europe looking for jobs in Ireland rocketed in the months after the UK voted to leave the European Union Shutterstock Brexit Concerns Brexit is making FTSE 100 executives richer Pay packages of many FTSE 100 chief executive officers are partly tied to how well share prices are doing rather than the CEOs performance -- and some stocks are soaring. ritish equities got a boost since the June vote because the likes of Rio Tinto, Smiths Group and WPP generate most sales abroad and earn a fortune when they convert these revenues back into the weakened pound. Sterlings fall also made UK stocks more affordable for overseas investors. Rex Brexit Concerns Theresa May: UK to leave single market Theresa May has said the UK "cannot possibly" remain within the European single market, as staying in it would mean "not leaving the EU at all". Getty Brexit Concerns Lead campaigner Gina Miller and her team outside the High Court Getty Brexit Concerns Raymond McCord holds up his newly issued Irish passport alongside his British passport outside the High Court in Belfast following a judges dismissal of the UK's first legal challenges to Brexit PA wire Brexit Concerns SDLP leader Colum Eastwood leaving the High Court in Belfast following a judges dismissal of the UK's first legal challenges to Brexit PA wire Brexit Concerns Migrants with luggage walk past a graffiti on a wall as they leave the 'Jungle' migrant camp, as part of a major three-day operation planned to clear the camp in Calais Getty Brexit Concerns Migrants leave messages on their tents in the Jungle migrant camp Getty Brexit Concerns The Adventist Development and Relief Agency (Adra) which distributes approximately 700 meals daily in the northern Paris camp states that it is noticing a spike in new migrant arrivals this week, potentially linked the the Calais 'jungle' camp closure - with around 1000 meals distributed today EPA Brexit Concerns Migrant workers pick apples at Stocks Farm in Suckley, Britain Reuters Brexit Concerns Many farmers across the country are voicing concerns that Brexit could be a dangerous step into the unknown for the farming industry Getty Brexit Concerns Bank of England governor Mark Carney who said the long-term outlook for the UK economy is positive, but growth was slowing in the wake of the Brexit vote PA Brexit Concerns The Dow Jones industrial average closed down over 600 points on the news with markets around the globe pluninging Getty Brexit Concerns Immigration officers deal with each member of the public seeking entry into the United Kingdom but on average, 10 a day are refused entry at this London airport and between 2008 and 2009, 33,100 people were detained at the airport for mainly passport irregularities Getty Brexit Concerns A number of global investment giants have threatened to move their European operations out of London if Brexit proves to have a negative impact on their businesses Getty Brexit Concerns Following the possibility of a Brexit the UK would be released from its renewable energy targets under the EU Renewable Energy Directive and from EU state aid restrictions, potentially giving the government more freedom both in the design and phasing out of renewable energy support regimes Getty Brexit Concerns A woman looking at a chart showing the drop in the pound (Sterling) against the US Dollar in London after Britain voted to leave the EU Getty Brexit Concerns Young protesters outside the Houses of Parliament in Westminster, to protest against the United Kingdom's decision to leave the EU following the referendum Getty Brexit Concerns Applications from Northern Ireland citizens for Irish Passports has soared to a record high after the UK Voted in favour of Leaving the EU Getty Brexit Concerns NFU Vice President Minette Batters with Secretary of State, Andrea Leadsome at the National Farmers Union (NFU) took machinery, produce, farmers and staff to Westminster to encourage Members of Parliament to back British farming, post Brexit Getty Brexit Concerns The latest reports released by the UK Cabinet Office warn that expats would lose a range of specific rights to live, to work and to access pensions, healthcare and public services. The same reports added that UK citizens abroad would not be able to assume that these rights will be guaranteed in the future Getty Brexit Concerns A British resident living in Spain asks questions during an informative Brexit talk by the "Brexpats in Spain" group, about Spanish legal issues to become Spanish citizens, at the town hall in Benalmadena, Spain Reuters Brexit Concerns The collapse of Great Britain appears to have been greatly exaggerated given the late summer crowds visiting city museums, hotels, and other important tourist attractions Getty Brexit Concerns The U.K. should maintain European Union regulations covering everything from working hours to chemicals until after the government sets out its plans for Brexit, said British manufacturers anxious to avoid a policy vacuum and safeguard access to their biggest export market Getty The EAC also warned there was a risk that legislation designed to protect the environment much of which was created in the last few decades on an EU-wide scale would no longer carry any teeth even after being transferred into UK law. The fear is that there will not be a government body tasked with enforcing the rules and coming up with proposed changes where necessary. The rules could also be changed by ministers with little scrutiny by parliament, the MPs warned. The report called for a new Environmental Protection Act to be passed during the negotiations over Brexit with the EU. Ms Creagh said: Changes from Brexit could put our countryside, farming and wildlife at risk. Protections for Britains wildlife and special places currently guaranteed under European law could end up as zombie legislation even with the Great Repeal Bill [which will transfer much EU law into UK law]." Trevor Hutchings, director of advocacy at WWF-UK, said the EACs report was a good reminder of the challenges ahead. Now more than ever, our natural environment is at risk, both at home and overseas, he said. But he added that Brexit has the potential to be a once in a generation opportunity to protect and enhance nature and build a healthy and prosperous future for all. As well as bringing over existing EU legislation into UK law during the negotiations, the Government must go further, and publish an ambitious and strong 25-Year Environment Plan so that we become a world leader in environmental protection, safeguarding nature for future generations, Mr Hutchings said. The Government plans to issue a formal response to the report at a later date. However a Government spokesperson said: The UK has a long history of wildlife and environmental protection and we are committed to safeguarding and improving these, securing the best deal for Britain as we leave the EU. 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 most futuristic car ever made has just been revealed an electric vehicle with the acceleration of a Formula 1 car and the ability to learn about its driver. But some have already voiced fears that the car might not ever actually be made. And it appeared to run into problem during its first outing, unable to complete a demonstration that served as the centrepiece of the big reveal. The Faraday FF91 was revealed at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week. As a highly-designed, self-driving and fast electric vehicle it looks to take on Tesla but is likely to cost significantly more than any of that company's cars. Gadget and tech news: In pictures Show all 25 1 /25 Gadget and tech news: In pictures Gadget and tech news: In pictures Gun-toting humanoid robot sent into space Russia has launched a humanoid robot into space on a rocket bound for the International Space Station (ISS). The robot Fedor will spend 10 days aboard the ISS practising skills such as using tools to fix issues onboard. Russia's deputy prime minister Dmitry Rogozin has previously shared videos of Fedor handling and shooting guns at a firing range with deadly accuracy. Dmitry Rogozin/Twitter Gadget and tech news: In pictures Google turns 21 Google celebrates its 21st birthday on September 27. The The search engine was founded in September 1998 by two PhD students, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, in their dormitories at Californias Stanford University. Page and Brin chose the name google as it recalled the mathematic term 'googol', meaning 10 raised to the power of 100 Google Gadget and tech news: In pictures Hexa drone lifts off Chief engineer of LIFT aircraft Balazs Kerulo demonstrates the company's "Hexa" personal drone craft in Lago Vista, Texas on June 3 2019 Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures Project Scarlett to succeed Xbox One Microsoft announced Project Scarlett, the successor to the Xbox One, at E3 2019. The company said that the new console will be 4 times as powerful as the Xbox One and is slated for a release date of Christmas 2020 Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures First new iPod in four years Apple has announced the new iPod Touch, the first new iPod in four years. The device will have the option of adding more storage, up to 256GB Apple Gadget and tech news: In pictures Folding phone may flop Samsung will cancel orders of its Galaxy Fold phone at the end of May if the phone is not then ready for sale. The $2000 folding phone has been found to break easily with review copies being recalled after backlash PA Gadget and tech news: In pictures Charging mat non-starter Apple has cancelled its AirPower wireless charging mat, which was slated as a way to charge numerous apple products at once AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures "Super league" India shoots down satellite India has claimed status as part of a "super league" of nations after shooting down a live satellite in a test of new missile technology EPA Gadget and tech news: In pictures 5G incoming 5G wireless internet is expected to launch in 2019, with the potential to reach speeds of 50mb/s Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Uber halts driverless testing after death Uber has halted testing of driverless vehicles after a woman was killed by one of their cars in Tempe, Arizona. March 19 2018 Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures A humanoid robot gestures during a demo at a stall in the Indian Machine Tools Expo, IMTEX/Tooltech 2017 held in Bangalore Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures A humanoid robot gestures during a demo at a stall in the Indian Machine Tools Expo, IMTEX/Tooltech 2017 held in Bangalore Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures The giant human-like robot bears a striking resemblance to the military robots starring in the movie 'Avatar' and is claimed as a world first by its creators from a South Korean robotic company Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Waseda University's saxophonist robot WAS-5, developed by professor Atsuo Takanishi Rex Gadget and tech news: In pictures Waseda University's saxophonist robot WAS-5, developed by professor Atsuo Takanishi and Kaptain Rock playing one string light saber guitar perform jam session Rex Gadget and tech news: In pictures A test line of a new energy suspension railway resembling the giant panda is seen in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A test line of a new energy suspension railway, resembling a giant panda, is seen in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A concept car by Trumpchi from GAC Group is shown at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China Rex Gadget and tech news: In pictures A Mirai fuel cell vehicle by Toyota is displayed at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A visitor tries a Nissan VR experience at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A man looks at an exhibit entitled 'Mimus' a giant industrial robot which has been reprogrammed to interact with humans during a photocall at the new Design Museum in South Kensington, London Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures A new Israeli Da-Vinci unmanned aerial vehicle manufactured by Elbit Systems is displayed during the 4th International conference on Home Land Security and Cyber in the Israeli coastal city of Tel Aviv Getty The company says that the FF91 will go into production in 2018. It has 1,050 horsepower and can go from 0-60 in 2.39 seconds putting it among the fastest cars ever seen and beating the speediest Tesla's 2.5 seconds. Aside from the car's speed, it will also have a "driverless valet" system. That will let it recognise people as they approach the car and have it unlock for them, and will allow it to adjust to the preferences of whoever is driving it. When the journey is over, the car will be able to park itself up. But the huge amount of technology, engineering and industry required to make such a car has led some people to doubt that it will ever actually be built. The company unveiled one of its cars at CES last year but was quickly criticised for being vague about its plans and not giving much detail on what it was actually developing for the future. The company in charge of building Faraday's $1 billion car factory stopped work in November last year. And it lost three of its top executives including its global CEO last month, according to reports at the time. The car was supposed to park itself on stage at CES but wouldn't move when the company's Chinese investor told it to do so. "As a new baby, she's very very timid," Nick Sampson, Faraday's vice president of engineering, explained but the car has already been written off by some people. Mr Sampson has said that the problem was caused by the car being indoors and that the company will "persist" despite the "naysayers and the skeptics". Faraday said only 300 models would be made available initially to those who pay a 4,000 deposit, with the first expected to be delivered in 2018. 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 has replaced Baroness Ford as the chairman of Grainger, breaking up the first all-female board of a FTSE company. The 30% Club, which is campaigning to achieve 30 per cent female representation in boardrooms, hailed a breakthrough when Grainger, the UKs largest listed residential landlord, became the first FTSE company to appoint women to its three most senior board positions in October 2015. Over a year ago Vanessa Simms became the group finance director, joining the chief executive Helen Gordon. Meanwhile, the residential landlords board was chaired by Baroness Ford. However, on Wednesday the company said that Baroness Ford will be retiring after serving a full nine years the last two in the role of non-executive chairman. She will be replaced next month by Mark Clare, the former executive of blue-chip housebuilder Barratt. (Statista (Statista) Helen Gordon, chief executive of Grainger said Ms Ford had been instrumental in identifying the need for a step change in the companys strategic direction. Efforts to appoint more women to the boards of Britains biggest companies have stalled, according to the Female FTSE Board Report. While blue-chip FTSE 100 companies met a voluntary target of 25 per cent in October 2015 up from 23.5 per cent in March 2015 the proportion has not increased since then. Forbes top 20 most powerful women in the world Show all 20 1 /20 Forbes top 20 most powerful women in the world Forbes top 20 most powerful women in the world Angela Merkel German Chancellor AFP/Getty Images Forbes top 20 most powerful women in the world Hillary Clinton U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Reuters Forbes top 20 most powerful women in the world Janet Yellen Federal Reserve Chair Getty Images Forbes top 20 most powerful women in the world Melinda Gates Co-founder of The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation AFP/Getty Images Forbes top 20 most powerful women in the world Mary Barra General Motors Co. Chairman and CEO Getty Images Forbes top 20 most powerful women in the world Christine Lagarde Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund Getty Images Forbes top 20 most powerful women in the world Sheryl Sandbert COO of Facebook Getty Images Forbes top 20 most powerful women in the world Susan Wojcicki CEO of YouTube Getty Images for GLAAD Forbes top 20 most powerful women in the world Meg Whitman Hewlett Packard Enterprise CEO Getty Images Forbes top 20 most powerful women in the world Ana Patricia Botin Santander Bank's president AFP/Getty Images Forbes top 20 most powerful women in the world Ginni Rometty IBM Chairman, President and CEO Getty Images Forbes top 20 most powerful women in the world Park Geun-Hye President of South Korea Getty Images Forbes top 20 most powerful women in the world Michelle Obama U.S. first lady Getty Images Forbes top 20 most powerful women in the world Indra Nooyi Chairperson and CEO of PepsiCo Getty Images Forbes top 20 most powerful women in the world Angela Ahrendts Apple senior vice president Getty Images Forbes top 20 most powerful women in the world Abigail Johnson President and CEO of Fidelity Investments and chairman of Fidelity International Forbes top 20 most powerful women in the world Tsai Ing-wen Taiwan President AFP/Getty Images Forbes top 20 most powerful women in the world Michelle Bachelet Chile President AFP/Getty Images Forbes top 20 most powerful women in the world Federica Mogherini High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy AFP/Getty Images Forbes top 20 most powerful women in the world Safra Catz Oracle president Getty Images A review, chaired by Sir Philip Hampton, the chairman of GlaxoSmithKline, said the UKs corporate governance code should be amended so that all FTSE 350 companies disclose their gender balance in their annual reports and accounts. Jessica Uhl will join ranks of women rising to the boardroom level and become one of the most senior women in the male-dominated oil and gas industry, as she takes over the role of Royal Dutch Shells chief financial officer in March this 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 }} Donald Trumps pick for US secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, will get a $180m (147m) cash payout from oil giant ExxonMobil, if he gets the job. Mr Tillerson, who stepped down as Exxons chief executive at the beginning of this year, was in line to collect 2 million shares, worth around $182m, over the next decade as part of his pay package but that sparked fears of a colossal conflict of interest. In his potential new role as Americas top diplomat, Mr Tillersons decisions could affect the value of those shares to the tune of tens of millions of dollars. In order to assuage concerns that the new secretary of state could be looking out for Exxon ahead of the American people, the company agreed late on Tuesday to pay around $179m in cash, instead of shares. Federal ethics watchdogs have requested the $3m (2.4m) reduction from Exxons current market value. The payout will be placed in an independent trust which will make periodic payments to Mr Tillerson and cannot invest in Exxon. Mr Tillerson has agreed not to work in oil and gas for 10 years, giving up $4.1m (3.3m) in cash bonuses and benefits such as medical and dental cover. If he breaks the rules of the trust, the money would be distributed to one or more charities involved in fighting poverty or disease in the developing world, Exxon said in a statement. 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 He has also committed to sell the approximately $55m (44.7m)-worth of Exxon stock he already owns. Mr Tillersons suitability for a senior government position has been questioned amid conflicts of interest and extensive business ties to Russia and Vladimir Putin. The two men worked together to secure energy and drilling deals while Russia was subject to US sanctions. Mr Tillerson later accepted an award from Moscow. In December, leaked documents revealed he was a director of Exxons US-Russian subsidiary, which is based in the Bahamas, a tax haven. This is seemingly at odds with Trumps commitment to crack down on offshoring. Darren Woods, a 25-year Exxon veteran who had served as the companys president, took over as Exxon chief executive at the start of the new year. Tillerson began his career at Exxon as a production engineer straight out of the University of Texas at Austin in 1975. He replaced longtime boss Lee Raymond in 2006 and led the company during one of the most turbulent periods in its history, which included the 2008 financial crisis and a collapse in oil prices since mid-2014 that has sharply diluted Exxons profits. 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 }} Swedens experiment with a six-hour work day may be doomed after a two-year experiment showed that the costs outweigh the benefits. The scheme saw 68 nurses at an old peoples home in Gothenburg have their eight-hour days cut in a bid to improve staff satisfaction, health and patient care. Preliminary results concluded that it achieved all of these aims, but the city had to employ an extra 17 staff, costing 12m kroner (1.4m), Bloomberg reported. EU court rules commuting should count as working hours City officials have decided not to make the scheme permanent because of fears costs could spiral out-of-control. It's associated with higher costs, absolutely, said Daniel Bernmar, a local left-wing politician who has been a leading advocate of the six-hour working day and is responsible for elderly care. It's far too expensive to carry out a general shortening of working hours within a reasonable time frame. Despite the setback, Bernmar is still supportive of the principle of decreased work hours. I personally believe in shorter working hours as a long-term solution, he said. The richer we become, the more we need to take advantage of that wealth in other ways than through a newer car or higher consumption. While the public sector may have shunned the idea, at least for now, Swedens vibrant tech start-up scene may still be open to it. Filimundus, an app developer based in the capital Stockholm, introduced the six-hour day last year. The eight-hour work day is not as effective as one would think, the companys chief executive Linus Feldt told Fast Company in October. 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. To stay focused on a specific work task for eight hours is a huge challenge. In order to cope, we mix in things and pauses to make the work day more endurable. At the same time, we are having it hard to manage our private life outside of work. Attempts to prove the effectiveness of reduced hours have been inconclusive so far. A handful of trials in the 1990s and 2000s were scrapped due to a lack of raw data. One success has come at Toyotas Swedish service centre where shifts were cut 13 years ago, sparking an immediate boost to productivity and increased profits. The company has kept the shorter shifts ever since. 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 group of young Chinese children were attacked by knife wielding man after he climbed over the wall of their kindergarten. A 41-year-old suspect has been caught, but his motives remain unclear, state media reported. None of the children sustained life threatening injuries during the attack in the south western city of Pingxiang in the province of Guangxi. Although violent crime is rare in China compared with many other countries, there have been a series of knife and axe attacks targeting children in recent years. Recommended This Chinese advert is a terrifying glimpse into the future A man stabbed 10 children outside the gates of a school in China before killing himself last February. Six boys and four girls were attacked outside Yang Fan Primary School in the city of Haikou, on the southern island province of Hainan. Between 2010 and 2012 there were a spate of attacks on schools and kindergartens. There was a national outcry and calls for greater security after a a man stabbed 29 school children and three teachers at a kindergarten in Taixing city in April 2010. Xu Yuyuan, 47, was sentenced to death for the attack. He told a court that his motive was to "vent his rage against society", the state run Xinhua news agency reported at the time. 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 }} As President-elect Donald Trump delivers his inaugural address, groups of activists plan to hand out joints to those listening - and light up. The group known as DCMJ intends to distribute thousands of joints of marijuana on Inauguration Day - for free - as part of a campaign to push for the federal legalisation of pot. The group plans to start handing out joints at 8am January 20 on the west side of Dupont Circle in the nations capital, part of the city where recreational marijuana is legal. Then, marchers will walk to the National Mall where the real protest will begin. The plan is to light up on the Mall at precisely four minutes and twenty seconds into Mr Trumps inaugural address, a time chosen to symbolise April 20 - or 4/20 on American calendars - which is dubbed National Weed Day, and is celebrated by many across the United States. DCMJ, a Washington.-based group which focuses on marijuana laws and equal rights for DC cannabis users, growers, and their families, is organising the event with the mission to build awareness on marijuana reform in the wake of the forthcoming Trump administration. The main thing is to show that cannabis reform is not a partisan issue, Nikolas Schiller, co-founder of DCMJ, told The Independent. Hollywood sign changed to Hollyweed' to promote cannabis legalisation This is not a protest against Trump at all. Its an awareness building activity. Were going to hand out joints. It doesnt matter what political affiliation you are. The organisers will meet with other participants near Dupont Circle for coffee and tea, followed by a walk to the National Mall. But with conflicting DC and federal laws concerning the possession and recreational use of marijuana, the group has to juggle the complications created by the presence of both federal and city laws. In February 2015, the District of Columbia, passed Initiative 71 which allowed legal possession of small amounts of marijuana with certain restrictions. Individuals aged 21 and older can possess two ounces or less of marijuana, and use it on private property. But since a significant amount of DC is federal land, the laws surrounding marijuana possession can get tricky. Initiative 71 does not affect federal law, therefore possessing any amount of marijuana on federal land is still illegal. The DCMJ has prepared for this. The organisers will gather on the west side of Dupont Circle (avoiding federal land) to distribute 4,200 joints of marijuana to participants. They also plan to take other precautions with plans to card individuals receiving a free joint to ensure they are 21 years old or older. Mr Schiller said each joint will have up to one gram of cannabis in order to stay in line with DCs guideline that an individual can transfer up to one ounce or less of marijuana to another person. The protest aspect will play out when the group plans to light up at the National Mall during Trumps inaugural speech. But Mr Schiller said the bigger point of the protest was to encourage Mr Trump to make his plans surrounding marijuana reform clear and for him to take action to push for marijuana legalisation on a federal level. Marijuana is listed as a DEA Schedule 1 drug, along with LSD. He said the DCMJ is particularly concerned about Mr Trumps pick for Attorney General, Alabama senator Jeff Sessions, who said: Marijuana is not the kind of thing that ought to be legalised. The DCMJ plans to attend Mr Sessions upcoming Senate confirmation hearing. 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 }} Mass murderer Charles Manson has been taken to hospital after falling seriously ill, according to reports. The 82-year-old is purportedly being treated at a medical centre in Bakersfield, which is just over an hour away from Californias Corcoran State Prison. One source told the Los Angeles Times the condition of the convicted criminal who founded a murderous quasi-commune that became known as the Manson Family was serious. Afton Elaine Burton talks about Charles Manson But corrections officials have declined to say whether Manson had been hospitalised, citing inmate security procedure, only confirming the criminal was still alive. Corcoran has medical facilities to treat inmates requiring urgent or emergency care as well as inpatient hospital stays, but prisoners are usually transported elsewhere if they need surgery. In general, inmates are sent to outside hospitals if they need surgical services, emergency care, or diagnostic services of an acute nature, said Joyce Hayhoe, a spokeswoman for the federal receiver who controls prison medical care. These services are not provided in state prison facilities. Manson headed a macabre cult that committed grisly murders in majority white neighbourhoods of Los Angeles in the hope of generating hatred towards African Americans and igniting a race war. He has been imprisoned since shortly after the 1969 killings, which included the murder of Sharon Tate, director Roman Polanskis wife, who was eight-and-a-half months pregnant at the time. Ms Tate an American actress and model was killed at her Beverly Hills home along with three of her friends who were staying with her. An 18-year-old man, Steven Parent, who was visiting the propertys caretaker, was also killed. Recommended Charles Manson family member sends corrections to Wikipedia The following night, Leno and Rosemary La Bianca, a supermarket executive and dress shop owner, were bound and stabbed to death. After being convicted for the murders of seven people, along with four of his Manson Family followers, Manson was sentenced to death. But he was spared execution after a US Supreme Court ruling temporarily banned the death penalty in 1972. Late on Tuesday night, three vans from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation were parked outside Bakersfields Mercy Hospital Downtown, where prisoners have been treated before. Ms Tate's sister Debra Tate told The Associated Press that, as a Catholic, she makes no ill wishes for the people who killed her sister, and will reserve her feelings until hearing Manson has died. I would probably say a prayer for them and shed a tear and ask God to have mercy on their souls, but so far I haven't allowed myself to feel anything because it's unsubstantiated, Ms Tate said. I'm not allowing myself to feel anything until I know that it's true. Sarah Ardalani of the Los Angeles County district attorney's office said in an email that the agency had no information on Manson. The office prosecuted Manson and has objected to his release. He was most recently up for parole in 2012 his 12th bid for freedom. Charles Manson's 10 most bizarre quotes Show all 10 1 /10 Charles Manson's 10 most bizarre quotes Charles Manson's 10 most bizarre quotes "I'm nobody. I'm a tramp, a bum, a hobo. I'm a boxcar and a jug of wine, and a straight razor if you get too close to me." - Interview, 1989 Getty Charles Manson's 10 most bizarre quotes "Maybe I should have killed four, five hundred people. Then I would have felt better. Then I would have felt like I really offered society something." - NBC interview with Heidi Schulman, 1987 Granger/REX Charles Manson's 10 most bizarre quotes "Do you feel blame? Are you mad? Uh, do you feel like wolf kabob Roth vantage? Gefrannis booj pooch boo jujube; bear-ramage. Jigiji geeji geeja geeble Google. Begep flagaggle vaggle veditch-waggle bagga?" - NBC interview with Heidi Schulman, 1987 Charles Manson's 10 most bizarre quotes "I've been 15 years in the nut ward, for trying to stop the trees from being cut down, from trying to rearrange the lifestyle of a bunch of people who don't want to change. But they're gonna change because a cold wind is blowing. You're gonna change or else there's going to be no life left on the planet Earth." - Interview with Penny Daniels in San Quentin Prison, California, 1989 Rex Charles Manson's 10 most bizarre quotes "We use the word God. God hooks all the other words up. I'm the pope. I'm ten times the pope. I'm sixty times the pope. But I'm the pope in the hills and in the mountains." - Interview by Penny Daniels, 1989 Rex Charles Manson's 10 most bizarre quotes Will of God.. whatever you wanna call it.. you call it Jesus, call it Mohammed, call it goobybob, call it nuclear mind, call it blow the world up, call it your heart. Whatever you wanna call it, it's still music to me. It's there. It's the will of life. - Interview with Geraldo Rivera (1981) Rex Charles Manson's 10 most bizarre quotes Believe me, if I started murdering people, there'd be none of you left. - Interview, Rolling Stone (1970) Getty Charles Manson's 10 most bizarre quotes You know, a long time ago being crazy meant something. Nowadays everybody's crazy. - Interview by Diane Sawyer (1994) AP Charles Manson's 10 most bizarre quotes If you are going to do something, do it well. And leave something witchy. - Interview by Diane Sawyer (1994) AP Charles Manson's 10 most bizarre quotes "I was so smart when I was a kid that I learnt that I was dumb fast." - Interview on the album 'All the Way Alive' (2003) Rex Manson, who did not personally commit the murders but ordered his followers to carry them out, is not eligible to apply for parole again until 2027. In 2014 Manson was granted permission to marry Afton Elaine Burton, yet the ceremony never happened. Ms Burton, now known as Star, who is 53 years younger than Manson, has been accused of wanting to marry the criminal in order to make money. In November, the state inspector general, which monitors the corrections system, characterised care at Corcoran as inadequate. An Israeli soldier who shot dead a wounded Palestinian in the occupied West Bank as he lay on the ground posing no apparent threat was convicted of manslaughter Wednesday after a trial that deeply divided the country. The soldier, Elor Azaria, had been on trial for manslaughter in a military court since May, with right-wing politicians defending him despite top army brass harshly condemning the killing. Sentencing is expected at a later date. He faces up to 20 years in prison. Judge Colonel Maya Heller spent more than two and a half hours reading out the decision, sharply criticising the arguments of Azaria's lawyers. On behalf of the three-judge panel, Heller said there was no reason for Azaria to open fire since the Palestinian was posing no threat. She called Azaria's testimony "evolving and evasive." Azaria's demeanour drastically changed as the judge read the verdict. Dressed in a green army uniform, he had entered the courtroom smiling, with family members and supporters applauding him while one man embraced him. But he and his family later looked shaken as the judge spoke, with his mother and father huddling together. Azaria was 19 at the time of the killing in March 2016. On Wednesday morning, dozens of protesters scuffled with police as they gathered outside Israel's military headquarters in Tel Aviv, where the verdict was announced. They held a sign that read: "People of Israel do not abandon a soldier in the battlefield". *This report was edited by Ahram Online Search Keywords: Short link: 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 }} Donald Trump has accused the Democratic National Committee of being careless over its online security, after Wikileaks founder Julian Assange said it could have been hacked by a 14-year-old. In an interview with Fox News that was broadcast on Tuesday night, Mr Assange said a teenager could have hacked into the computer of John Podesta, the chairman of Hillary Clintons election campaign, and the Democratic National Committee (DNC). We published severalemails which show Podesta responding to a phishing email, said Mr Assange. Podesta gave out that his password was the word password. His own staff said this email that youve received, this is totally legitimate. So, this is something ... a 14-year-old kid could have hacked Podesta that way. Some of the emails were leaked on the eve of the Democratic National Convention last July, and revealed that some DNC staff had conspired to undermine Ms Clintons rival, Bernie Sanders. The US intelligence community has reportedly concluded Russia was behind the hacking, and passed the information to Wikileaks. They believe Russias meddling was designed to benefit Mr Trump. Russia, and Mr Trump, have denied that Moscow was behind the hacking. Wikileaks has declined to say where the emails came from, but Mr Assange said they were not from any state party. Julian Assange questions Seth Rich death In a tweet on Wednesday morning, in which he initially spelled Mr Assanges name incorrectly, Mr Trump wrote: Julian Assange said a 14-year-old could have hacked Podesta why was DNC so careless? Also said Russians did not give him the info! The evening before, Mr Trump had claimed that intelligence officials due to brief the President-elect on various issues, including the findings of a probe into the alleged Russian hacking, had postponed the meeting. The Intelligence briefing on so-called Russian hacking was delayed until Friday, perhaps more time needed to build a case. Very strange! he said. The US intelligence community has hit back, telling various media outlets that no such meeting had been fixed. 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 50-year-old man is being held at Heathrow Airport in London on suspicion of a terror offence, police have said. The man was apprehended by counter-terrorism police as he got off a plane from Cairo, said the Metropolitan Police in a statement. He was arrested on suspicion of "possession of articles containing information of a kind likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism". Police are also searching a home in north London in connection to the arrest, which they said was not related to Isis or Syria. "The arrest was pre-planned and not in response to any immediate danger but as part of an ongoing investigation into allegations of terrorist activities overseas," said the statement. The man is being held under Section 58 of the Terrorism Act. 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 former soldier has been sentenced under the Terrorism Act after he attempted to travel to Syria to fight Isis. Robert Clarke came to the attention of police in July last year when it was believed that he was considering travelling to Syria, possibly to fight on behalf of Kurdish forces. The 23-year-old from Wales was about to board a flight to Jordan at Heathrow Airport when he was detained and questioned by detectives, heard Westminster Magistrates Court. He was handed a year-long community order for failing to give officers the pin number to his mobile phone when required to do so. The verdict came shortly after it emerged that 20-year-old chef Ryan Lock was killed in Syria on 21 December the third British man to die fighting Isis with the Kurds in the country. After his arrest, Islamist extremists made extremely nasty threats towards Mr Clarke, who previously served four years in the Army, the court heard. Ryan Lock was killed on 21 December, two months before he intended to return to the UK (Facebook) Defence lawyer Korina Claire said Mr Clarke believed his intentions had been good and he had planned to go to Syria to assist victims of war, including by donating medical supplies that were in his luggage along with military paraphernalia. She said he received some extremely nasty threats from Islamic extremists or those purporting to be Islamic extremists after he was charged. Ms Claire added that once her client was remanded in custody she was contacted by a member of staff in prison, who said he was concerned about Mr Clarke's safety there given that he had openly stated that he wished to fight against Isis. Recommended The British volunteers prepared to die fighting Isis in Syria On 9 September, Mr Clarke told police officers who had visited him on several occasions that he was booked on a flight in four days time. Prosecutor Louise Gray said he had been seen using an iPhone but refused to give officers his pin number after being detained. He gave various reasons including that he had forgotten it, that it required fingerprint recognition and giving a number, which did not work, she said. The court heard he still had not provided the correct number. In pictures: Isis' weapons factories Show all 11 1 /11 In pictures: Isis' weapons factories In pictures: Isis' weapons factories A mortar round fin manufactured by Isis in Gogjali, Mosul, November 2016 Conflict Armament Research In pictures: Isis' weapons factories Isis rocket components discovered in Gogjali, Mosul, Iraq in November 2016 Conflict Armament Research In pictures: Isis' weapons factories Isis mortars discovered near Karamlais, Iraq, in November 2016 CAR In pictures: Isis' weapons factories An Isis rocket launch frame in Qaraqosh, November 2016 Conflict Armament Research In pictures: Isis' weapons factories A memo from Isis' COSQC on quality control at a manufacturing facility in Gogjali, Mosul, November 2016 Conflict Armament Research In pictures: Isis' weapons factories Electrically-operated initiators manufactured by Isis in forces Gogjali, Mosul, November 2016 Conflict Armament Research In pictures: Isis' weapons factories Isis mortar tubes at a manufacturing facility in Karamlais, November 2016 Conflict Armament Research In pictures: Isis' weapons factories An Isis mortar production facility discovered in Gogjali, Mosul, in November 2016 Conflict Armament Research In pictures: Isis' weapons factories An Isis weapons manufacturing facilities near Mosul in November 2016 Conflict Armament Research In pictures: Isis' weapons factories Stocks of French-manufactured Sorbitol, Latvian potassium nitrate and Lebanese sugar at an Isis weapons factory in Iraq Conflict Armament Research In pictures: Isis' weapons factories A destroyed Isis weapons facility in Qaraqosh, Iraq, November 2016 Conflict Armament Research Mr Clarke will have to undertake 50 hours unpaid work as part of his sentence and is also banned from leaving the UK for the same period. At an earlier hearing Mr Clarke, from Carmarthenshire, admitted wilfully obstructing an examination under the Terrorism Act on 13 September. Sentencing him, District Judge John Zani said: We live in difficult and potentially dangerous times and whatever frustration you felt has to be relaxed when you are asked to supply necessary information by the police officers merely doing their job. Dean Evans, 22, a dairy farmer from Reading, Berkshire, died in the city of Manbij in July last year and former Royal Marine Konstandinos Erik Scurfield, 25, from Barnsley, South Yorkshire, died in the northern village of Tel Khuzela in March 2015. The Home Office has repeatedly warned that anyone travelling to fight in Iraq and Syria for whatever side can be prosecuted upon their return. Anyone who does travel to these areas, for whatever reason, is putting themselves in considerable danger, said a Home Office spokesperson. Those who travel abroad in order to participate in conflicts may be committing criminal or terrorism offences and could face prosecution when they return to the UK. There are many crimes committed abroad including murder which courts in the UK can prosecute. Additional reporting from Press Association Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The first British soldier to be killed in Iraq since 2009 may have died in an accidental shooting, just weeks after arriving in the country to help train local troops. The Ministry of Defence is investigating the death of L/Cpl Scott Hetherington and said it was not the result of enemy activity. Sources told the BBC he was killed in an accidental shooting, in what is believed to be a tragic accident near the start of his six-month deployment. The 22-year-old, nicknamed Snowball, had become a father in October and was due to return home to his partner and their baby girl in Middleton, Greater Manchester, later this year. L/Cpl Hetherington died on Monday following an incident at Camp Taji, north of Baghdad, where he serving with 2nd Battalion The Duke of Lancasters Regiment. Officers said he was a member of the Blenheim Company and a Vehicle Commander in the Force Protection Platoon. Maj-Gen Rupert Jones, Deputy Coalition Commander, said L/Cpl Hetherington died supporting Iraqi forces defeat Daesh and so protect the United Kingdom, without providing details of his mission. Around 150 soldiers from the battalion have been deployed to Iraq for six months as part of a 500-strong force training Iraqi government forces and Kurdish allies to fight Isis. Isis 'does not have the guts' to continue fight for Mosul, claims Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi L/Cpl Hetheringtons battalion was believed to be providing protection to other British troops training local security forces in infantry skills, weapons maintenance, medical, engineering and counter IED measures. As a member of the US-led coalition, the UK is also backing the ongoing advance on Isis stronghold of Mosul with air strikes. L/Cpl Hetheringtons commanding officer, Lt-Col Rob Singleton, paid tribute to a superb soldier and a first class leader. Utterly professional and talented, he was full of character, fun and his enthusiasm was infectious, he said. The Battalion has lost a huge talent and a real character. He will be missed." L/Cpl Lynch, from the young fathers platoon, described his friend as a top bloke. He added: You could always count on him to have a laugh, and he always had an answer for everything." 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 Mike Penning, the armed forces minister, said an investigation had been started into the circumstances of L/Cpl Hetheringtons death. Family and friends of the former Middleton Technology School student paid tribute to him on social media. On Facebook, his aunt, Nicola Hetherington, said the family were heartbroken. Recommended British man Ryan Lock killed fighting against Isis for Kurds James Postlethwaite posted: Shocked and saddened that Scott Hetherington has been taken from us all far too soon! Not a day would pass without him making you laugh or smile. Really was the light in a dark room. "So many funny memories, one of the most genuine and biggest personalities within the battalion, amazing friend, soldier and leader amongst many other things. Had such a massive effect on so many people's lives and careers! You will never be forgotten! My heart goes out to your friends and family. RIP." He signed off with the Duke of Lancaster's Regiment motto: Nec Aspera Terrent (Difficulties be Damned). News of L/Cpl Hetheringtons death came as Kurdish forces confirmed a British volunteer had been killed fighting Isis in Syria. Ryan Lock, a 20-year-old former chef from Chichester, was killed during an offensive in Raqqa province on 21 December. He left for Syria to fight Isis in August, telling his family he would return in six months, before joining the Kurdish Peoples Protection Units (YPG). Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The Queen has given an honour to a member of her staff as she continues to recover from a heavy cold. Queen Elizabeth missed church services on Christmas Day and New Years Day due to ill health, prompting growing concern about her health. A spokesperson for Buckingham Palace told The Independent the Queen had presented the honour to her member of staff in person and she was continuing to recuperate. She is continuing to recuperate and she is dealing with her regular red boxes of official papers, a spokesperson for the palace said. The court circular, who makes the official record of royal engagements, recorded that the monarch made Ray Wheaton, the Queen's Page of the Chambers, a Lieutenant of the Royal Victorian Order. Referred to as the LVO, the honour is in the Queen's personal gift and are given to those who have served her or the monarchy in a personal way. They are bestowed independently of 10 Downing Street. The Order was founded by Queen Victoria in April 1896 as a way of rewarding personal service to her. Queen Elizabeth II: Life in pictures Show all 62 1 /62 Queen Elizabeth II: Life in pictures Queen Elizabeth II: Life in pictures Queen Elizabeth II Queen Elizabeth II on a walk-about in Portsmouth during her Silver Jubilee tour of Great Britain, 1977 PA Queen Elizabeth II: Life in pictures Queen Elizabeth II The future Britain's Queen Elizabeth II (R) pictured with her younger sister Princess Margaret (L) in 1933 AFP/Getty Queen Elizabeth II: Life in pictures Queen Elizabeth II The 9-year-old Elizabeth attends an aristocratic wedding with her mother and younger sister. Later in that year with the death of her Grandfather and the Abdication of her Uncle Edward VIII she became first in line to the throne, 1936 Getty Queen Elizabeth II: Life in pictures Queen Elizabeth II The coronation of King George VI in 1937, Elizabeth aged 10 became the heir apparent to the throne Getty Queen Elizabeth II: Life in pictures Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth and her sister arrive at Waterloo station to say goodbye to their parents as they leave to tour Canada. Elizabeth was thought too young to escort her parents on the tour and was described as "tearful" as they departed. She and her parents made the first ever transatlantic telephone call during their time away, 1939 Getty Queen Elizabeth II: Life in pictures Queen Elizabeth II The 13-year-old Elizabeth and her sister Margret address children who have been evacuated from the cities on BBC's 'The Chilrens Hour' She said "We are trying to do all we can to help our gallant sailors, soldiers and airmen, and we are trying, too, to bear our share of the danger and sadness of war. We know, every one of us, that in the end all will be well", 1940 Getty Queen Elizabeth II: Life in pictures Queen Elizabeth II Just before the end of the war Elizabeth took part in training to become an ATS officer. She is pictured learning to change a tire, 1945 AFP/Getty Queen Elizabeth II: Life in pictures Queen Elizabeth II The official announcement of Princess Elizabeth and Phillip Mountbatten's engagement. The pairing was incredibly controversial as Prince Phillip had no financial standing and he was foreign born, the prince of Denmark and Greece (though he served Britain in the war and was given British Citizenship), 1947 Getty Queen Elizabeth II: Life in pictures Queen Elizabeth II Queen Elizabeth II (in coach) and her husband Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh are cheered by the crowd after their wedding ceremony, on 20 November 1947, on their road to Buckingham Palace, London Getty Queen Elizabeth II: Life in pictures Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth smiles at her first child, a month old Prince Charles. Charles was born on 14 November 1948 Corbis Queen Elizabeth II: Life in pictures Queen Elizabeth II The couples second child Princess Anne was born in 1950 Getty Queen Elizabeth II: Life in pictures Queen Elizabeth II Arriving back in England upon hearing the death of her father King George VI. The Kings health had been in decline for a number of years and Elizabeth had been filling in for him on an official visit to Australia by way of Kenya. As his heir Elizabeth became Queen aged 26 Getty Queen Elizabeth II: Life in pictures Queen Elizabeth II Queen Elizabeth's coronation took place on 2 June 1953. It was the first ever coronation to be aired live on television, being one of the most watched events in history with millions gathering around their TV sets to see the new monarch Queen Elizabeth II: Life in pictures Queen Elizabeth II Queen Elizabeth II standing next to her daughter Princess Anne, 1960 Getty Queen Elizabeth II: Life in pictures Queen Elizabeth II President Eisenhower (centre) with the British Royal family (L-R) Prince Philip, Princess Anne, HM Queen Elizabeth, Prince Charles and Captain John Eisenhower, at Balmoral Castle, Scotland, 1959 Getty Queen Elizabeth II: Life in pictures Queen Elizabeth II Queen Elizabeth II as she turns to smile and talk to an unidentified officer, during the Trooping of the Colour by the First Battalion of the Jamaica Regiment at Up-Park Camp, Kingston, Jamaica, 1966 Getty Queen Elizabeth II: Life in pictures Queen Elizabeth II Queen Elizabeth II walking cross country at the North of Scotland Gun Dog Association Open Stake Retreiver Trials in the grounds of Balmoral Castle in 1967 Getty Queen Elizabeth II: Life in pictures Queen Elizabeth II Queen Elizabeth II during her visit to the Chelsea Flower Show in London, a regular fixture in the royal calendar, 1971 PA Queen Elizabeth II: Life in pictures Queen Elizabeth II Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh during their traditional summer break at Balmoral Castle. The highland retreat is one of the Queen's favourite places, each year, she heads off to Scotland for the summer. "It is rather nice to hibernate for a bit when one leads such a moveable life," she once said, 1976 Getty Queen Elizabeth II: Life in pictures Queen Elizabeth II Queen Elizabeth II during a walkabout in Muscat while visiting Oman, 1979 PA Queen Elizabeth II: Life in pictures Queen Elizabeth II Queen Elizabeth II with some of her corgis walking the Cross Country course during the second day of the Windsor Horse Trials. The monarch is responsible for introducing a new breed of dog known as the "dorgi" when her corgi Tiny was mated with a dachshund "sausage dog" called Pipkin which belonged to Princess Margaret, 1980 PA Queen Elizabeth II: Life in pictures Queen Elizabeth II (L-R) the Queen Mother, Queen Elizabeth II, Prince William, Prince Harry and the Prince and Princess of Wales after the christening ceremony of Prince Harry, 1984 PA Queen Elizabeth II: Life in pictures Queen Elizabeth II Queen Elizabeth II taking the salute of the Household Guards regiments during the Trooping of the Colour ceremony in London, 1985 PA Queen Elizabeth II: Life in pictures Queen Elizabeth II Diana, Princess of Wales and Queen Elizabeth II as they smile to well-wishers outside Clarence House in London, 1987 AP Queen Elizabeth II: Life in pictures Queen Elizabeth II Queen Elizabeth II, with Chief Instructor, Small Arms Corp LT Col George Harvey, firing the last shot on a standard SA 80 rifle when she attended the centenary of the Army Rifle Association at Bisley, 1993 PA Queen Elizabeth II: Life in pictures Queen Elizabeth II South Africa's President Nelson Mandela greets Queen Elizabeth II as she steps from the royal yacht Britannia in Cape Town at the 1995's official start of the her first visit to the country since 1947 PA Queen Elizabeth II: Life in pictures Queen Elizabeth II Queen Elizabeth II smiles as she visits Bowring Park in St. John's, Newfoundland, on the third day of a 10-day official visit to Canada, 1997 Getty Queen Elizabeth II: Life in pictures Queen Elizabeth II Queen accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh make their way into St. George's Chapel at Windsor for the annual Garter ceremony, 1999 AFP/Getty Queen Elizabeth II: Life in pictures Queen Elizabeth II Queen Elizabeth II and Pope John Paul II as they meet at the Vatican, 2000 AP Queen Elizabeth II: Life in pictures Queen Elizabeth II Queen Elizabeth II and the Queen Mother leaving church by horse drawn carriage on the Sandringham Estate, Norfolk, 2000 PA Queen Elizabeth II: Life in pictures Queen Elizabeth II Queen Elizabeth rides her horse in the grounds of Windsor Castle, 2002 Queen Elizabeth II: Life in pictures Queen Elizabeth II Queen Elizabeth arrives for the world premiere of James Bond movie "Casino Royale" at the Odeon cinema in Leicester Square in London, 2006 Queen Elizabeth II: Life in pictures Queen Elizabeth II Queen Elizabeth boards a scheduled train at Kings Cross station in London, 2009 Queen Elizabeth II: Life in pictures Queen Elizabeth II Queen Elizabeth II planting a tree at Newmarket Animal Health Trust, during a royal visit which marked her 50th year as the charity's patron, 2009 Queen Elizabeth II: Life in pictures Queen Elizabeth II Queen Elizabeth II talking with Pope Benedict XVI during an audience in the Morning Drawing Room at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh during a four day visit by the Pope to the UK, 2010 Queen Elizabeth II: Life in pictures Queen Elizabeth II Queen Elizabeth II visiting the Sheikh Zayed Mosque in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, 2010 Queen Elizabeth II: Life in pictures Queen Elizabeth II Queen Elizabeth II receives flowers from the crowd during her visit to Federation Square in downtown Melbourne, 2011 Queen Elizabeth II: Life in pictures Queen Elizabeth II Queen Elizabeth watches a preview of her Christmas message wearing a pair of 3D glasses, studded with Swarovski crystals in the form of a "Q", at Buckingham Palace in central London, 2012 Queen Elizabeth II: Life in pictures Queen Elizabeth II Members of Britain's royal family (front L to R) Prince Philip, Queen Elizabeth and Prince Charles cheer as competitors participate in a sack race at the Braemar Gathering in Braemar, Scotland, 2012 Queen Elizabeth II: Life in pictures Queen Elizabeth II Britain's Prince Charles kisses the hand of his mother Queen Elizabeth at the end of her Diamond Jubilee concert in front of Buckingham Palace in London, 2012 Reuters Queen Elizabeth II: Life in pictures Queen Elizabeth II Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge laughs as Queen Elizabeth gestures during a visit to Vernon Park in Nottingham, 2012 Queen Elizabeth II: Life in pictures Queen Elizabeth II Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip attend a service for the Order of the British Empire at St Paul's Cathedral in London, 2012 Queen Elizabeth II: Life in pictures Queen Elizabeth II Queen Elizabeth II meets young people during an official visit to The Shard building in central London, 2013 Queen Elizabeth II: Life in pictures Queen Elizabeth II Actress Angelina Jolie is presented with the Insignia of an Honorary Dame Grand Cross of the Most Distinguished Order of St Michael and St George by Queen Elizabeth II in the 1844 Room at Buckingham Palace, London, 2014 Queen Elizabeth II: Life in pictures Queen Elizabeth II Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh visit the Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red evolving art installation at the Tower of London, 2014 Queen Elizabeth II: Life in pictures Queen Elizabeth II The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh at the State Opening of Parliament, 2015 AFP/Getty Queen Elizabeth II: Life in pictures Queen Elizabeth II (L-R) Britain's Princess Anne, Princess Royal, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, Prince Charles, Prince of Wales, Prince William, Duke of Cambridge holding his son Prince George of Cambridge, Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Harry (back), Prince Andrew, Duke of York (back), James, Viscount Severn (front), Princess Beatrice of York (back), Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh and Princess Eugenie of York (back) stand on the balcony of Buckingham Palace waiting to view the fly-past during the Queen's Birthday Parade, 'Trooping the Colour,' in London, 2015 Queen Elizabeth II: Life in pictures Queen Elizabeth II The Trooping of the Colour is an annual celebration marking the Queen's birthday, 2015 Getty Queen Elizabeth II: Life in pictures Queen Elizabeth II Britain's Queen Elizabeth II stands with Kate the Duchess of Cambridge whilst pushing Princess Charlotte in a pram as they leave after attending the Christening of Britain's Princess Charlotte at St. Mary Magdalene Church in Sandringham, 2015 AP Photo/Matt Dunham, Pool Queen Elizabeth II: Life in pictures Queen Elizabeth II Queen Elizabeth II arrives at the Broadway Theatre in Barking, 2015 Tim P. Whitby/Getty Images Queen Elizabeth II: Life in pictures Queen Elizabeth II Queen Elizabeth II greets wellwishers during a 'walkabout' on her 90th birthday in Windsor in 2016 AFP via Getty Images Queen Elizabeth II: Life in pictures Queen Elizabeth II Members of the Royal Family during trooping of the colour in 2017 AFP via Getty Images Queen Elizabeth II: Life in pictures Queen Elizabeth II The Queen waves at Prince Harry and Meghan after their wedding in 2018 POOL/AFP via Getty Images Queen Elizabeth II: Life in pictures Queen Elizabeth II Queen Elizabeth II and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex gesture during their visit to the Storyhouse in Chester, Cheshire in 2018 AFP via Getty Images Queen Elizabeth II: Life in pictures Queen Elizabeth II Prince Charles reacts as he sits with his mother Britain's Queen Elizabeth II during an event to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings, in Portsmouth in 2019 AFP via Getty Images Queen Elizabeth II: Life in pictures Queen Elizabeth II The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are joined by her mother, Doria Ragland, as they show their new son, Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor, to the Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh at Windsor Castle Chris Allerton/Sussex Royal/PA Queen Elizabeth II: Life in pictures Queen Elizabeth II Queen Elizabeth II reacts as she visits the Haig Housing Trust in Morden in 2019 POOL/AFP via Getty Images Queen Elizabeth II: Life in pictures Queen Elizabeth II Queen Elizabeth II takes her seat on the The Sovereign's Throne in the House of Lords next to Prince Charles, before reading the Queen's Speech during the State Opening of Parliament in 2019 POOL/AFP via Getty Images Queen Elizabeth II: Life in pictures Queen Elizabeth II Queen Elizabeth II looks at the coffin of Britain's Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh during his funeral service at St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle POOL/AFP via Getty Images Queen Elizabeth II: Life in pictures Queen Elizabeth II Queen Elizabeth II and Britain's Prince Charles, Prince of Wales pose alongside the tree which they planted to mark the start of the official planting season for the Queen's Green Canopy (QGC) at the Balmoral Cricket Pavilion, Balmoral Estate in Scotland POOL/AFP via Getty Images Queen Elizabeth II: Life in pictures Queen Elizabeth II Britain's Queen Elizabeth II cuts a cake to celebrate the start of the Platinum Jubilee during a reception in the Ballroom of Sandringham House, the Queen's Norfolk residence on February 5, 2022. - Queen Elizabeth II on Sunday will became the first British monarch to reign for seven decades, in a bittersweet landmark as she also marked the 70th anniversary of her father's death AFP/Getty Queen Elizabeth II: Life in pictures Queen Elizabeth II Queen Elizabeth II arrives in Westminster Abbey accompanied by Prince Andrew, Duke of York for the Service Of Thanksgiving For The Duke Of Edinburgh on March 29, 2022 in London Getty Earlier the 90-year-old sent a message of condolence to the President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, following the terror attack in an Istanbul nightclub which left 39 people dead and around 70 wounded. Prince Philip and I were saddened to learn of the terrible attack in Istanbul on New Year's Day, she said in a statement. Our thoughts are with the families of the victims and the wounded, and with the Turkish people at this time." The Queen and her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, became ill in the run-up to Christmas and were late travelling to Sandringham Estate in Norfolk where they traditionally spend the Christmas period. She then missed the Christmas day church service, which she has attended nearly every year for three decades, due to her ill health. The monarch did not attend a New Years Day church service. At the time Buckingham Palace said she did not yet feel ready to attend and was still recuperating. Queen Elizabeth II is the longest-reigning monarch but has announced she will step down as patron of a number of organisations and charities before her 91st birthday which is in April. 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 }} Andrea Leadsom, the Environment Secretary, has hinted that farmers could continue to hire EU migrants to carry out seasonal agricultural work after Brexit. In a speech at the Oxford Farming Conference, Ms Leadsom, a leading figure in the Leave campaign during the EU referendum, said she was aware how important the labour is to the agricultural industry. Despite the Government consistently insisting to introduce a tougher immigration system, she added: Ive heard this loud and clear around the country, whether in Herefordshire, Sussex, or Northamptonshire, and I want to pay tribute to the many workers from Europe who contribute so much to our farming industry and rural communities. Recommended Andrea Leadsom wants youth to take up fruit picking after Brexit Access to labour is very much an important part of our current discussions and were committed to working with you to make sure you have the right people with the right skills. Ms Leadsom has previously suggested that more young Britons could do some of the fruit picking and farm labouring jobs done by EU migrants. Speaking at the Conservative conference in October, she added: "We could get British people doing those jobs and that tempts me to stray into the whole issue of why wages aren't higher and so on. "My absolute hope is that with more apprenticeships, with more young people being encouraged to engage with countryside matters, that actually the concept of a career in food production is going to be much more appealing going forward." Elsewhere in her speech at the Oxford Farming Conference on Wednesday, Ms Leadsom added that EU rules that required farmers to grow three different crops each year should be abandoned after Brexit allowing 40,000 farmers to grow the crops they want. Rachael Maskell, Labours shadow environment secretary, said: "Despite some warm words from Andrea Leadsom today, her department's continued failure to outline a plan for Brexit is deeply disappointing. "Rural communities, and the farming and fishing industries that help sustain them, deserve better. "What's more, as the Environmental Audit Committee highlights, the Government's silence on whether important EU environmental protection laws will be maintained is also a matter of serious concern. "No matter where they live, people in this country deserve legal protections for their right to clean air and water, and I continue to urge the Government to guarantee that existing levels of protection will not be watered down." 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 }} Brexit is an opportunity to reshape the British farming industry to support small producers, instead of subsidising landowners, according to a new report from a sustainability focused think-tank. The report from the New Economics Foundation argues that a "new deal" for British farmers could save the taxpayer 1.1 billion, and radically alter UK food production. The EUs Common Agricultural Policy currently gives subsidies to farmers linked to the land they control, with wealthy landowners receiving large payouts ahead of small businesses. The report argues that these payments could be more equitably distributed between large and small scale producers, and prioritised to incentivise both in-demand products and environmental sustainability. Nick Dearden, the director of Global Justice Now, said: Some members of the government seem to think that we no longer need to grow food in this country and should instead rely on international trade. "They pay lip service to the importance of small and medium scale farming, but act as if we should just trade with poorer countries who can grow food cheaper than we can actually have a get big or get out attitude for farmers both here and in the global south. What experts have said about Brexit Show all 11 1 /11 What experts have said about Brexit What experts have said about Brexit Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond The Chancellor claims London can still be a world financial hub despite Brexit One of Britains great strengths is the ability to offer and aggregate all of the services the global financial services industry needs This has not changed as a result of the EU referendum and I will do everything I can to ensure the City of London retains its position as the worlds leading international financial centre. Reuters What experts have said about Brexit Yanis Varoufakis Greece's former finance minister compared the UK relations with the EU bloc with a well-known song by the Eagles: You can check out any time you like, as the Hotel California song says, but you can't really leave. The proof is Theresa May has not even dared to trigger Article 50. It's like Harrison Ford going into Indiana Jones' castle and the path behind him fragmenting. You can get in, but getting out is not at all clear Getty Images What experts have said about Brexit Michael OLeary Ryanair boss says UK will be screwed by EU in Brexit trade deals: I have no faith in the politicians in London going on about how the world will want to trade with us. The world will want to screw you that's what happens in trade talks, he said. They have no interest in giving the UK a deal on trade Getty What experts have said about Brexit Tim Martin JD Wetherspoon's chairman has said claims that the UK would see serious economic consequences from a Brexit vote were "lurid" and wrong: We were told it would be Armageddon from the OECD, from the IMF, David Cameron, the chancellor and President Obama who were predicting locusts in the fields and tidal waves in the North Sea" PA What experts have said about Brexit Mark Carney Governor of Bank of England is 'serene' about Bank of England's Brexit stance: I am absolutely serene about the judgments made both by the MPC and the FPC Reuters What experts have said about Brexit Christine Lagarde IMF chief urges quick Brexit to reduce economic uncertainty: We want to see clarity sooner rather than later because we think that a lack of clarity feeds uncertainty, which itself undermines investment appetites and decision making Getty Images What experts have said about Brexit Inga Beale Lloyds chief executive says Brexit is a major issue: "Clearly the UK's referendum on its EU membership is a major issue for us to deal with and we are now focusing our attention on having in place the plans that will ensure Lloyd's continues trading across Europe EPA What experts have said about Brexit Colm Kelleher President of US bank Morgan Stanley says City of London will suffer as result of the EU referendum: I do believe, and I said prior to the referendum, that the City of London will suffer as result of Brexit. The issue is how much What experts have said about Brexit Richard Branson Virgin founder believes we've lost a THIRD of our value because of Brexit and cancelled a deal worth 3,000 jobs: We're not any worse than anybody else, but I suspect we've lost a third of our value which is dreadful for people in the workplace.' He continued: "We were about to do a very big deal, we cancelled that deal, that would have involved 3,000 jobs, and thats happening all over the country" Getty Images What experts have said about Brexit Barack Obama US President believes Britain was wrong to vote to leave the EU: "It is absolutely true that I believed pre-Brexit vote and continue to believe post-Brexit vote that the world benefited enormously from the United Kingdom's participation in the EU. We are fully supportive of a process that is as little disruptive as possible so that people around the world can continue to benefit from economic growth" Getty Images What experts have said about Brexit Kristin Forbes American economist and an external member of the Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of England argues that the economy had been less stormy than many expected following the shock referendum result: For nowthe economy is experiencing some chop, but no tsunami. The adverse winds could quickly pick up and merit a stronger policy response. But recently they have shifted to a more favourable direction Getty "The new deal we set out today is quite different its a win for small farmers, a win for the environment and a win for the taxpayer. The only people who wont be happy are the massive landowners and speculators who will lose their free government money. Stephen Devlin, Senior Economist, New Economics Foundation said: Our farming and food system faces serious challenges; from climate change, to ever-lengthening supply chains and the concentration of land ownership in the hands of a small, wealthy elite. "Brexit has thrown all the pieces into the air, and it's up to us to shape how they fall." 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 }} British diplomats are secretly trying to negotiate the UK back into the European Union, a former Tory Cabinet minister has claimed. Officials tasked with negotiating the UK out of the EU may actually be attempting to keep Britain part of the 28-member bloc, former trade secretary Peter Lilley said. Commenting in the wake of Sir Ivan Rogers resignation as Britains ambassador to the EU, Mr Lilley insisted many diplomats, Eurocrats, are actually in the business of trying to negotiate a way back in, rather than committing to getting us out. Farage calls for more resignations after Sir Ivan Rogers quits Accusing Sir Ivan of sour grapes, the backbencher told BBC Radio Four's World at One: Why did he put out this long, 1,400-word letter, half of which reads like a sort of CV - this is my job, I'm a very clever person, anyone who is looking for someone to employ, I'm available. "And the other half looks like some degree of sour grapes, and possibly some genuine degree of misunderstanding between him and ministers, or concern about what ministers are doing. "It would be very unusual to have somebody leading the team who was not really committed to leaving. And one has a feeling that many diplomats, Eurocrats, are actually in the business of trying to negotiate a way back in, rather than committing to getting us out. And if Sir Ivan Rogers was in the former group it is good he has gone." Mr Lilley added that the outgoing ambassador's replacement should be willing to "walk away" from negotiations if Britain fails to secure the right deal. The former shadow chancellor said: "Quite possibly they'll be no trade agreement at all. And we should be prepared to walk away. And you have got to have someone tough enough to walk away. I am not sure that many people in the Foreign Office have got the attitude that they are prepared to walk away from negotiations without a deal. And unless we have someone there who has got that tough approach we won't get the best possible deal, and we won't get the quickest possible deal, which is what Britain needs." Yesterday's surprise move by Sir Ivan comes after he provoked controversy with a private warning to the Government that a post-Brexit trade deal could take a decade to finalise. Downing Street moved to play down the resignation, saying Sir Ivan was leaving his post "a few months early", but opposition figures said the turn of events was "alarming". A Government spokesman said: "Sir Ivan Rogers has resigned a few months early as UK Permanent Representative to the European Union. "Sir Ivan has taken this decision now to enable a successor to be appointed before the UK invokes Article 50 by the end of March. We are grateful for his work and commitment over the last three years." Sign up to our free Brexit and beyond email for the latest headlines on what Brexit is meaning for the UK Sign up to our Brexit email for the latest insight Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Brexit and beyond email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The shock departure of Britains EU envoy may be the start of a Michael Gove-style cull of the experts, a former top civil servant fears. Sir Nicholas Macpherson stepped up his criticism of the loss of Sir Ivan Rogers by drawing attention to Mr Goves notorious comment that the country is tiring of experts. The permanent secretary at the Treasury from 2008 to 2016, hinted at a widespread fear in the civil service that the Government is not prepared to listen to awkward advice on Brexit. I only hope Ivans departure is not about shooting the messenger and does not presage a Govean cull of the experts, he told the Financial Times. Lord Macpherson said it beggared belief the government had dispensed with the services of the three best EU-qualified negotiators that the civil service possessed, ahead of the crucial Brexit talks. Sir Jon Cunliffe, a former EU ambassador and Michael Ellam, a former Treasury EU specialist, have also left recently, making Sir Ivan's the third departure. It was Lord Macphersons second high-profile criticism, after he tweeted: Ivan Rogers huge loss. Can't understand wilful & total destruction of EU expertise. During the Brexit campaign, Mr Gove, the former education secretary, was fiercely criticised for saying: I think people in this country have had enough of experts. He later qualified his comment, insisting he had only been referring to economists whose forecasts had proved wildly inaccurate. However, Mr Goves words were seen by many to epitomise a shift to a post-truth approach, where well-informed experts challenging populist opinion are no longer welcome. Sir Martin Donnelly, the permanent secretary at the Department of International Trade and another veteran EU expert, is also stepping down this spring, removing another experienced Whitehall negotiator. 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 }} Labour has called for Tory cabinet minister David Davis to make a Commons statement following the "astonishing" resignation of Britains top diplomat in Brussels. Shadow brexit secretary Keir Starmer wrote to Mr Davis today demanding his appearance in front of MPs to explain the departure of Sir Ivan Rogers, who quit his job after attacking 'muddled thinking' on Brexit . It comes after Tory ex-foreign office minister Alistair Burt also demanded Theresa Mays government explain the resignation in the Commons. The Liberal Democrats also called for a statement to MPs. In Sir Keirs letter to the Brexit Secretary he said Sir Ivans departure would be a "significant loss for the UK", as he called for Mr Davis to take questions on the issue on Monday January 9. He added: "It is frankly astonishing that in his resignation letter to his colleagues, Sir Ivan says We do not yet know what the government will set as negotiating objectives for the UKs relationship with the EU after exit. "Time is running out. It is now vital that the Government demonstrates not only that it has a plan but also that it has a clear timetable for publication. As Labour has repeatedly made clear that timetable must allow for proper scrutiny of the plan by the House of Commons, the Devolved Administrations and relevant Select Committees." Lib Dem Leader Tim Farron said: "The Government must now urgently make a statement on what on earth it is going to do now Sir Ivan Rogers has resigned, and start answering on where it stands on key issues like Britains membership of the single market." In an article for ConservativeHome Mr Burt, a minister until last summer, said the manner of the senior diplomats departure "shouts a very public warning" about the way in which the Government is handling Brexit. Tunisian security forces have dismantled a 13-member "terrorist cell" that was funnelling young recruits to militant groups, authorities said Wednesday, as part of a growing crackdown on extremists. The suspects, aged between 22 and 43, were arrested on Tuesday in Hergla, a town north of the coastal resort city of Sousse, the interior ministry said in a statement. Members of the cell held "secret meetings in a mosque" and admitted to recruiting and sending 12 youths to fight with Islamist militant groups abroad, it said, linking it to the Okba Ibn Nafaa Battalion, a group connected to Al-Qaeda. It was the seventh announcement in less than a week of arrests of alleged "terrorists" in Tunisia, which has detained more than 70 people in a widening crackdown on Islamist militants since December 25. Authorities stepped up their efforts after Tunisian Anis Amri was identified as the primary suspect in last month's attack on a Berlin Christmas market that killed 12 people. Amri was shot dead by police in the Italian city of Milan four days after the attack, which was claimed by the Islamic State group. Since the 2011 uprising that toppled longtime dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, Tunisia has been battling an Islamist militant movement that has killed dozens of soldiers and police officers as well as civilians including 59 foreign tourists. Some 3,000 Tunisians have joined the ranks of militant groups fighting in neighbouring Libya, as well as in Syria and Iraq, according to officials. The United Nations puts the figure at 5,000. Tunisia's government said last week that it had jailed or closely monitored 800 militants who had returned from foreign battlefields. Concern has been growing for the threat posed by returning militants, with the national union for security forces last month urging the government to take "exceptional measures" against them. Search Keywords: Short link: Sign up to our free Brexit and beyond email for the latest headlines on what Brexit is meaning for the UK Sign up to our Brexit email for the latest insight Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Brexit and beyond email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A former member of the Government has claimed Foreign Office civil servants are in despair about Boris Johnsons approach to Brexit. Lord Wallace of Saltaire told The Independent that Whitehall officials have complained about Mr Johnson alienating other EU foreign ministers and failing to keep up with briefs. The Liberal Democrat peer said he had also been told that visitors going to see Brexit Secretary David Davis were warned not to say negative things about the UKs withdrawal from the EU. The comments from Lord Wallace, who served in the Government until the last election, come amid the fallout over the departure of the UKs ambassador to the EU Sir Ivan Rogers. In an article for The Independent, the Peer set out what he said is the insider view of civil servants about the Governments Brexit approach. He wrote: The Foreign Office is reported to be in despair over Boris Johnson: he is, apparently, not reading his briefs, not providing clear guidance for his officials, alienating other EU foreign ministers whose goodwill we will need to a successful negotiated exit, and failing to hammer out any framework for Britains future foreign policy towards Europe. Lord Wallace went on to say that while David Davis has a better reputation he had also been told that visitors seeing the minister were warned to only say positive things about Brexit. Will you be able to remain an EU citizen after Brexit? An aide to the Foreign Secretary immediately hit back at the claims today, saying that FCO officials will all tell you how energised they are by Boris Johnson. He added: Lord Wallace, whoever he is, is clearly talking to those who don't know or work closely with the Foreign Secretary. If you actually speak to those in a position of working with him you hear of a man who is dedicated to public service, works incredibly hard, reads his briefs, encourages all levels of the FCO team to participate on issues and is driving forward a Foreign Office that is empowered and engaged on the world stage. As Downing Street prepares to choose a successor to Sir Ivan to represent the UK at the EU, Lord Wallace dismissed eurosceptic claims that the outgoing diplomat is an FCO establishment europhile. Instead he said: Ministers need competent officials to negotiate a successful Brexit and they have just lost one of the most competent. 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 }} Theresa May has been warned she will further damage the Brexit process if she appoints a patsy as her new envoy to Brussels. Former top diplomats raised the alarm after right-wing newspapers were briefed that a wholehearted Brexit supporter will succeed Sir Ivan Rogers, who resigned yesterday. One said the Prime Minister must appoint a successor for what they know, not what they believe while a second went further, warning a patsy would bring disaster. 2016: The year of Brexit Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson is said to be among top ministers demanding a replacement who believes in Brexit after Downing Street lost confidence in the outgoing EU ambassador. Sir Ivan fell out with No.10 and was fiercely criticised by hardline Brexit-supporters after his memo, warning that a new EU trade deal could take up to a decade to achieve, was leaked last month. But Sir Simon Fraser, the former head of the diplomatic service, said: When you appoint ambassadors, you dont appoint them for what they believe you appoint them for what they know. Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme, he added: We have someone leading this negotiation who believes in Brexit and that is David Davis [the Brexit Secretary] - that is the role of the minister The role of the ambassador and the civil servants is to give clear, dispassionate and objective advice. And Jonathan Powell, Tony Blairs former chief of staff, said: If they want to have someone who is a patsy, who agrees with them, then what is the point of an independent civil service? If you are not prepared to have the argument, if you are not prepared to have someone who will tell you what the problems are, then you are going to end up in a disaster. And Im afraid that is what is going to happen with these negotiations if you really go for a patsy. But Iain Duncan Smith, the former Cabinet minister, laid bare Eurosceptic anger with Sir Ivan by claiming the Government could not trust him. He told the same programme that Sir Ivan probably leaked both his own resignation letter and last months warning that a post-Brexit trade deal could take a decade to deliver. Mr Duncan Smith said: It gets to a point when a civil servant starts to go public on stuff that you, as ministers, can no longer trust that individual. You must have absolute trust and cooperation and you cannot have this stuff coming out publicly. This is now the second time. It may actually prove that ministers may well be right to say that they werent prepared perhaps to trust him in quite the way they would have done with others. The clash came after a Government source told the Daily Telegraph that Ms May intends to appoint a new with the same attitude towards Brexit after Sir Ivan was branded a gloomy pessimist. The replacement is expected to be a senior civil servant, but it left open the possibility of the choice being a figure without any previous experience of Whitehall. Yesterday, the Government said Sir Ivan had merely retired a few months early, although his tenure was due to run until nearly the end of 2017. In fact, the Prime Minister has been left with the headache of appointing a new envoy, less than three months before the Brexit negotiations are due to get underway. 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 }} After Sir Ivan Rogerss unexpected resignation as the ambassador to the EU, Theresa May and her aides will be manoeuvring to find a replacement for the highly experienced and respected diplomat in Brussels, who knew what he was talking about. While it is likely the role will go to a civil servant with a deep understanding and knowledge of the Brussels machinery there have been calls from Brexiteers to award the job to someone who backed Britain leaving the EU at the referendum in 2016. But speaking on BBCs Radio 4 Today programme Sir Simon Fraser, the former head of the Foreign Office, said that the role of the ambassador and the civil servants is to give clear, dispassionate, objective advice. He added there will be many people keen on the role and experienced people in the Foreign Office, the Treasury and in the Cabinet Office, who are qualified to do it. I think what we need in Brussels is somebody who has experience, whos going to be a real professional negotiator, who will be sitting in a room with lots of other very experienced and knowledgeable negotiators, and who will be hold his or her own in that negotiation, he added. The Government, however, will have to appoint a new ambassador urgently, given the Prime Minister intends to serve the Article 50 notice the formal mechanism to begin the exit negotiations to EU leaders by the end of March. Sir Ivans resignation also comes after his deputy, Shan Morgan, announced late last year she would leave the post to be the Welsh governments permanent secretary. Here The Independent looks at some of the likely runners and riders to replace Sir Ivan as the next representative for the UK in Brussels: Tom Scholar Currently the permanent secretary at the Treasury one of the most respected roles in the civil service Mr Scholar also helped David Cameron, the former Prime Minister, during the negotiations with the EU last year as his principal adviser. George Osborne, the former Chancellor, has previously described the former aide to Gordon Brown as an outstanding civil servant, with experience of advising on some of the biggest challenges facing the country in recent years Oliver Robbins The 41-year-old is a well-respected civil servant and known as impartial operator with significant EU experience. He is currently permanent secretary at the Department for Exiting the European Union and has a responsibility to support the department in the negotiations. Before this he worked as a senior civil servant in the Home Office while Theresa May was in charge of the department. Caroline Wilson Ms Wilson was recently appointed as the Europe Director at the Foreign Office, which means her responsibility is to promote Britains interests in Europe. She has previously worked in Hong Kong and Macao. Peter Storr The Downing Street EU adviser was brought from the Home Office where he previously worked as the senior director for the international and immigration policy group. The Prime Minister and her closest aides have been known to respect those loyal to May during her time as Home Secretary creating speculation Mr Storr could be in the running. Sir Jon Cunliffe Sir Jon, who currently works at the Bank of England as deputy governor, has done the job before he is Sir Ivans predecessor as ambassador to the EU. The Government could also consider another ambassador or former ambassador for the role. Sir Kim Darroch He is the current US ambassador based in Washington and his diplomatic career spans three decades. He has primarily focused on national security issues and EU policy. More recently, Ms May was forced to express confidence in Sir Kim after calls from the President-elect Donald Trump to replace him with the former Ukip chief Nigel Farage. Moving him back to Brussels could also provide an opportunity for the Prime Minister to appoint a fresh face in Washington as she attempts to build a relationship with Mr Trump. Alex Ellis The respected diplomat has been brought back from ambassador to Brazil to become director general at the Department for Exiting the European Union. He has previously worked as an adviser to the president of the European Commission on energy, climate change, competition and development. He also spent three years working for Jose Manuel Barroso when he was President of the European Commission. Sign up to our free Brexit and beyond email for the latest headlines on what Brexit is meaning for the UK Sign up to our Brexit email for the latest insight Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Brexit and beyond email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The Government has named senior Foreign Office official Sir Tim Barrow as its new ambassador to the European Union. Sir Tim, previously the Whitehall department's Political Director, is on course to replace Sir Ivan Rogers after his shock resignation this week. The appointment is a win for Boris Johnson's department which has been pushing for a "Foreign Office lifer" with good diplomatic experience to take up the role. After it was officially confirmed, Sir Tim said: "I look forward to joining the strong leadership team at the Department for Exiting the EU and working with them and the talented staff at UKRep to ensure we get the right outcome for the United Kingdom as we leave the EU. Sir Tim first joined the FCO in 1986 and is the former ambassador to Russia. He has also held several roles relating to the European Union. The experience gained in his most recent post, where he manages the Government's foreign policy objectives across the globe, will be crucial to handling the highly-charged Brexit talks set to begin in two months when Theresa May triggers Article 50. Mr Johnson said Sir Tim had been "invaluable" since he arrived at the department, adding: "He is just the man to get the best deal for the UK and will lead UKRep with the same skill and leadership he has shown throughout his career. I wish him all the best. 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 The diplomat's extensive EU experience has seen him work as the First Secretary at UKRep, which represents the British Government in Brussels, and as the UK's representative to the Political and Security Committee of the European Union. A Downing Street spokesperson said: "A seasoned and tough negotiator, with extensive experience of securing UK objectives in Brussels, he will bring his trademark energy and creativity to this job - working alongside other senior officials and ministers to make a success of Brexit." Sir Ivan quit while delivering a veiled attack on Britain's Brexit negotiating strategy, urging his colleagues in Brussels to challenge "muddled thinking and...speak truth to power". Tory Brexit backers had welcomed the resignation of Sir Ivan and called for someone more in tune with the Government's thinking. Dominic Raab MP claimed Sir Ivan's "heart hasn't really been in Brexit" and his resignation would be "quietly, cautiously and respectfully welcomed at the top of government". But Sir Tim's appointment, and his long history at the Foreign Office, was unlikely to please Leavers who believe the Whitehall department to be institutionally pro-EU. He will take up his new post next week. Sir Tim Barrow has been appointed the UKs Permanent Representative to the European Union and will take up the role next week. Sign up to our free Brexit and beyond email for the latest headlines on what Brexit is meaning for the UK Sign up to our Brexit email for the latest insight Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Brexit and beyond email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The UK's ambassador to the European Union urged staff to "challenge ill-founded arguments and muddled thinking" over Brexit as he resigned. Sir Ivan Rogers unexpectedly stepped down with weeks to go before Theresa May was due to trigger the process of leaving the 28-nation bloc. Here is his shock resignation letter in full. 2016: The year of Brexit Sir Ivan Roger's message to civil servants in full Dear All, Happy New Year! I hope that you have all had/are still having, a great break, and that you will come back refreshed and ready for an exciting year ahead. I am writing to you all on the first day back to tell you that I am today resigning as Permanent Representative. As most of you will know, I started here in November 2013. My four-year tour is therefore due to end in October although in practice if we had been doing the Presidency my time here would have been extended by a few months. As we look ahead to the likely timetable for the next few years, and with the invocation of Article 50 coming up shortly, it is obvious that it will be best if the top team in situ at the time that Article 50 is invoked remains there till the end of the process and can also see through the negotiations for any new deal between the UK and the EU27. It would obviously make no sense for my role to change hands later this year. I have therefore decided to step down now, having done everything that I could in the last six months to contribute my experience, expertise and address book to get the new team at political and official level under way. This will permit a new appointee to be in place by the time Article 50 is invoked. Importantly, it will also enable that person to play a role in the appointment of Shan's replacement as DPR. [Shan Morgan his deputy] I know from experience - both my own hugely positive experience of working in partnership with Shan, and from seeing past, less happy, examples - how imperative it is that the PR and DPR operate as a team, if UKREP is to function as well as I believe it has done over the last few years. I want to put on record how grateful I am to Shan for the great working relationship we have had. She will be hugely missed in UKREP, and by many others here in Brussels, but she will be a tremendous asset to the Welsh government. From my soundings before Christmas, I am optimistic that there will be a very good field of candidates for the DPR role. But it is right that these two roles now get considered and filled alongside each other, and for my successor to play the leading role in making the DPR appointment. I shall therefore stand aside from the process at this point. Brexit Concerns Show all 26 1 /26 Brexit Concerns Brexit Concerns Brexit will put British patients at 'back of the queue' for new drugs Brexit will put British patients at the back of the queue for vital new drugs, the Government has been warned forcing them to wait up to two years longer A medicines regulator has raised the alarm over a likely decision to pull out of the European Medicines Agency (EMA), as well as the EU itself. ealth Secretary Jeremy Hunt dropped the bombshell , when he said he expected the UK would quit the EMA because it is subject to rulings by the European Court of Justice. Getty Images Brexit Concerns London to lose status as 'gateway to Europe' for banks One of Germanys top banking regulators has warned that London could lose its status as gateway to Europe for the banking sector after Britain quits the European trading bloc. Andreas Dombret, who is an executive board member for the BundesbankGermanys central banktold a private meeting of German businesses and banks earlier this week in Frankfurt that even if banking rules were equivalent between the UK and the rest of the EU, that was still miles away from [Britain having] access to the single market, the BBC reports. Jason Hawkes Brexit Concerns Exodus The number of financial sector professionals in Britain and continental Europe looking for jobs in Ireland rocketed in the months after the UK voted to leave the European Union Shutterstock Brexit Concerns Brexit is making FTSE 100 executives richer Pay packages of many FTSE 100 chief executive officers are partly tied to how well share prices are doing rather than the CEOs performance -- and some stocks are soaring. ritish equities got a boost since the June vote because the likes of Rio Tinto, Smiths Group and WPP generate most sales abroad and earn a fortune when they convert these revenues back into the weakened pound. Sterlings fall also made UK stocks more affordable for overseas investors. Rex Brexit Concerns Theresa May: UK to leave single market Theresa May has said the UK "cannot possibly" remain within the European single market, as staying in it would mean "not leaving the EU at all". Getty Brexit Concerns Lead campaigner Gina Miller and her team outside the High Court Getty Brexit Concerns Raymond McCord holds up his newly issued Irish passport alongside his British passport outside the High Court in Belfast following a judges dismissal of the UK's first legal challenges to Brexit PA wire Brexit Concerns SDLP leader Colum Eastwood leaving the High Court in Belfast following a judges dismissal of the UK's first legal challenges to Brexit PA wire Brexit Concerns Migrants with luggage walk past a graffiti on a wall as they leave the 'Jungle' migrant camp, as part of a major three-day operation planned to clear the camp in Calais Getty Brexit Concerns Migrants leave messages on their tents in the Jungle migrant camp Getty Brexit Concerns The Adventist Development and Relief Agency (Adra) which distributes approximately 700 meals daily in the northern Paris camp states that it is noticing a spike in new migrant arrivals this week, potentially linked the the Calais 'jungle' camp closure - with around 1000 meals distributed today EPA Brexit Concerns Migrant workers pick apples at Stocks Farm in Suckley, Britain Reuters Brexit Concerns Many farmers across the country are voicing concerns that Brexit could be a dangerous step into the unknown for the farming industry Getty Brexit Concerns Bank of England governor Mark Carney who said the long-term outlook for the UK economy is positive, but growth was slowing in the wake of the Brexit vote PA Brexit Concerns The Dow Jones industrial average closed down over 600 points on the news with markets around the globe pluninging Getty Brexit Concerns Immigration officers deal with each member of the public seeking entry into the United Kingdom but on average, 10 a day are refused entry at this London airport and between 2008 and 2009, 33,100 people were detained at the airport for mainly passport irregularities Getty Brexit Concerns A number of global investment giants have threatened to move their European operations out of London if Brexit proves to have a negative impact on their businesses Getty Brexit Concerns Following the possibility of a Brexit the UK would be released from its renewable energy targets under the EU Renewable Energy Directive and from EU state aid restrictions, potentially giving the government more freedom both in the design and phasing out of renewable energy support regimes Getty Brexit Concerns A woman looking at a chart showing the drop in the pound (Sterling) against the US Dollar in London after Britain voted to leave the EU Getty Brexit Concerns Young protesters outside the Houses of Parliament in Westminster, to protest against the United Kingdom's decision to leave the EU following the referendum Getty Brexit Concerns Applications from Northern Ireland citizens for Irish Passports has soared to a record high after the UK Voted in favour of Leaving the EU Getty Brexit Concerns NFU Vice President Minette Batters with Secretary of State, Andrea Leadsome at the National Farmers Union (NFU) took machinery, produce, farmers and staff to Westminster to encourage Members of Parliament to back British farming, post Brexit Getty Brexit Concerns The latest reports released by the UK Cabinet Office warn that expats would lose a range of specific rights to live, to work and to access pensions, healthcare and public services. The same reports added that UK citizens abroad would not be able to assume that these rights will be guaranteed in the future Getty Brexit Concerns A British resident living in Spain asks questions during an informative Brexit talk by the "Brexpats in Spain" group, about Spanish legal issues to become Spanish citizens, at the town hall in Benalmadena, Spain Reuters Brexit Concerns The collapse of Great Britain appears to have been greatly exaggerated given the late summer crowds visiting city museums, hotels, and other important tourist attractions Getty Brexit Concerns The U.K. should maintain European Union regulations covering everything from working hours to chemicals until after the government sets out its plans for Brexit, said British manufacturers anxious to avoid a policy vacuum and safeguard access to their biggest export market Getty I know that this news will add, temporarily, to the uncertainty that I know, from our many discussions in the autumn, you are all feeling about the role of UKREP in the coming months and years of negotiations over Brexit. I am sorry about that, but I hope that it will help produce earlier and greater clarity on the role that UKREP should play. My own view remains as it has always been. We do not yet know what the government will set as negotiating objectives for the UK's relationship with the EU after exit. There is much we will not know until later this year about the political shape of the EU itself, and who the political protagonists in any negotiation with the UK will be. But in any negotiation which addresses the new relationship, the technical expertise, the detailed knowledge of positions on the other side of the table - and the reasons for them, and the divisions amongst them - and the negotiating experience and savvy that the people in this building bring, make it essential for all parts of UKREP to be centrally involved in the negotiations if the UK is to achieve the best possible outcomes. Serious multilateral negotiating experience is in short supply in Whitehall, and that is not the case in the Commission or in the Council. The government will only achieve the best for the country if it harnesses the best experience we have - a large proportion of which is concentrated in UKREP - and negotiates resolutely. Senior ministers, who will decide on our positions, issue by issue, also need from you detailed, unvarnished - even where this is uncomfortable - and nuanced understanding of the views, interests and incentives of the other 27. The structure of the UK's negotiating team and the allocation of roles and responsibilities to support that team, needs rapid resolution. The working methods which enable the team in London and Brussels to function seamlessly need also to be strengthened. The great strength of the UK system - at least as it has been perceived by all others in the EU - has always been its unique combination of policy depth, expertise and coherence, message co-ordination and discipline, and the ability to negotiate with skill and determination. UKREP has always been key to all of that. We shall need it more than ever in the years ahead. As I have argued consistently at every level since June, many opportunities for the UK in the future will derive from the mere fact of having left and being free to take a different path. But others will depend entirely on the precise shape of deals we can negotiate in the years ahead. Contrary to the beliefs of some, free trade does not just happen when it is not thwarted by authorities: increasing market access to other markets and consumer choice in our own, depends on the deals, multilateral, plurilateral and bilateral that we strike, and the terms that we agree. I shall advise my successor to continue to make these points. Meanwhile, I would urge you all to stick with it, to keep on working at intensifying your links with opposite numbers in DEXEU [Department for Exiting the EU] and line ministries and to keep on contributing your expertise to the policy-making process as negotiating objectives get drawn up. The famed UKREP combination of immense creativity with realism ground in negotiating experience, is needed more than ever right now. On a personal level, leaving UKREP will be a tremendous wrench. I have had the great good fortune, and the immense privilege, in my civil service career, to have held some really interesting and challenging roles: to have served four successive UK prime ministers very closely; to have been EU, G20 and G8 Sherpa; to have chaired a G8 Presidency and to have taken part in some of the most fraught, and fascinating, EU negotiations of the last 25 years - in areas from tax, to the MFF to the renegotiation. Of all of these posts, I have enjoyed being the Permanent Representative more than any other I have ever held. That is, overwhelmingly, because of all of you and what you all make UKREP: a supremely professional place, with a fantastic co-operative culture, which brings together talented people whether locally employed or UK-based and uniquely brings together people from the home civil service with those from the Foreign Office. UKREP sets itself demanding standards, but people also take the time to support each other which also helps make it an amazingly fun and stimulating place to work. I am grateful for everything you have all done over the last few years to make this such a fantastic operation. For my part, I hope that in my day-to-day dealings with you I have demonstrated the values which I have always espoused as a public servant. I hope you will continue to challenge ill-founded arguments and muddled thinking and that you will never be afraid to speak the truth to those in power. I hope that you will support each other in those difficult moments where you have to deliver messages that are disagreeable to those who need to hear them. I hope that you will continue to be interested in the views of others, even where you disagree with them, and in understanding why others act and think in the way that they do. I hope that you will always provide the best advice and counsel you can to the politicians that our people have elected, and be proud of the essential role we play in the service of a great democracy. Ivan 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 }} Labour has suggested it would boost military spending if it wins power, to counter allegations it is soft on the issue. Nia Griffith, the Shadow Defence Secretary, said she would end the Governments smoke and mirrors approach, which exaggerated the scale of investment. The Conservatives have boasted of achieving the Nato-recommended target of spending two per cent of GDP on defence. But, according to independent House of Commons figures, this includes millions of pounds spent on war pensions and UN peacekeeping missions. Ms Griffith told the Daily Mirror: When Labour was in government we consistently spent well above the two per cent commitment. But, since 2010, the Tories have hammered the defence budget with major cuts. She added: The Government are very busy pretending they are doing things when in fact they have been very sneaky in what they have done - the fact theyre trying to say theyre spending two per cent on defence when actually a big chunk of that is on pensions. Pensions are very important but they in no way contribute to the defence capabilities we have. They are fiddling about with the figures. Its smoke and mirrors, an accounting trick, a sleight of hand. Ms Griffith said she was determined that Labour offers a really strong voice on defence issues which was backed by the vast majority of Labour party activists. She said: Sometimes we are portrayed in the media as being soft on defence. But if you actually look at people who are doing work in the party, getting elected on the ground, they are very committed to our defence. We need to make absolutely certain that people hear a really strong voice from Labour on defence. The apparent commitment comes after Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn abandoned his attempt to make scrapping Trident party policy. Ms Griffith said she had backtracked on her opposition to Trident renewal because the party had made a democratic decision which must be respected. Our policy is absolutely, firmly committed to renewing Trident, she added. Sign up to our free Brexit and beyond email for the latest headlines on what Brexit is meaning for the UK Sign up to our Brexit email for the latest insight Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Brexit and beyond email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Nigel Farage has attacked the appointment of a career diplomat as the UK's new ambassador to the EU. Former Russian ambassador Sir Tim Barrow is set to replace Sir Ivan Rogers after his shock resignation this week. Good to see that the government have replaced a knighted career diplomat with... a knighted career diplomat, tweeted the former Ukip leader. Politicians and other social media users were quick to offer their ripostes to Mr Farages remarks. Says the career politician, tweeted one journalist, while Philip Hunt, Labours deputy leader in the House of Lords, said: It is indeed good to see an expert appointed. In a scathing resignation message to staff, Sir Ivan attacked the Governments muddled thinking over Brexit and urged civil servants to challenge ill-founded arguments. The ambassador unexpectedly quit just months after he sparked controversy by warning the Government that a post-Brexit trade deal could take a decade to finalise, and even then may fail to get ratified by member states. Sir Ivan, who was expected to continue in his role until October, said he had done all he could to contribute his experience, expertise and contacts to the team responsible for invoking Article 50 and overseeing Brexit negotiations. Farage calls for more resignations after Sir Ivan Rogers quits Mr Farage said Sir Ivan should have stepped down the day after referendum and he hoped his resignation was the start of a real political revolution. I think we should get rid of many of our ambassadors around the world, he said on his LBC radio show on Tuesday night. The Brexit campaigner then repeated his calls for a political overhaul during an interview with Sky News in which he called Britains revolution incomplete because the same people are still in charge. Sir Tims appointment is a win for Boris Johnson's department which has been pushing for a Foreign Office lifer with good diplomatic experience to take up the role. After it was officially confirmed, Sir Tim said: I look forward to joining the strong leadership team at the Department for Exiting the EU and working with them and the talented staff at UKRep [UK Representation to the EU] to ensure we get the right outcome for the United Kingdom as we leave the EU. 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 Sir Tim first joined the FCO in 1986 and is the former ambassador to Russia. He has also held several roles relating to the European Union. Brexit Secretary David Davis said of his appointment: UKRep will have a crucial role to play in the negotiation over the UK's exit from the EU, and Sir Tim Barrow will add to the already extensive experience it brings. His knowledge of Brussels means he will be able to hit the ground running at a vital time, and steer UKRep throughout the negotiation period. Recommended Government to name top civil servant new EU Ambassador I am confident that with his help, the UK will be able to forge a new relationship with the EU that works to the mutual benefit of both sides. But Ukip said the role should have been given to a committed Brexiteer. This appointment is a disappointment because the last thing we need is another career diplomat wearing a Brussels jersey, said the partys Brexit spokesman Gerard Batten. The Foreign Office needs a complete and revolutionary shake-up for it must begin to reflect the stated desire of the British people to leave the EU. 2016: The year of Brexit Labours's Brexit spokesman Sir Keir Starmer said Sir Ivan's resignation was likely to be a significant loss for Britain and raised a number of serious questions about the Government's preparations for the talks, which Prime Minister Theresa May has said she will trigger under Article 50 of the EU treaties before the end of March. I welcome the appointment of Sir Tim Barrow as the UK's new Permanent Representative to the EU, he said. It is of course vital that there should be no vacuum in such an important role and that the new Permanent Representative should be someone with a strong and distinguished record of service as a diplomat. But a number of fundamental questions remain unanswered. In particular, Sir Ivan Rogers' confirmation that the Government lack a plan for Brexit and his statement that the UK does not have a proper and effective negotiating team in place. Additional reporting from Press Association 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 UKs ambassador to the European Union attacked the Governments muddled thinking over Brexit as he resigned, a leaked message to staff has revealed. In his shock resignation letter, Sir Ivan Rogers revealed civil servants still faced uncertainty over the Governments Brexit plans and urged his colleagues to challenge ill-founded arguments. Sir Ivan, who has been the UKs top ambassador to the EU for three years, resigned with weeks to go before Theresa May was due to trigger the process of leaving the 28-nation bloc. Farage calls for more resignations after Sir Ivan Rogers quits I hope you will continue to challenge ill-founded arguments and muddled thinking and that you will never be afraid to speak the truth to those in power, he wrote. I hope that you will support each other in those difficult moments where you have to deliver messages that are disagreeable to those who need to hear them. Sir Ivan unexpectedly quit just months after he sparked controversy by warning the Government that a post-Brexit trade deal could take a decade to finalise, and even then may fail to get ratified by member states. The ambassador, who was expected to continue in his role until October, said he had done all he could to contribute his experience, expertise and contacts to the team responsible for invoking Article 50 and overseeing Brexit negotiations. I know that this news will add, temporarily, to the uncertainty that I know, from our many discussions in the autumn, you are all feeling about the role of UKREP [the UK Representation to the EU] in the coming months and years of negotiations over Brexit, he wrote. I am sorry about that, but I hope that it will help produce earlier and greater clarity on the role that UKREP should play. Former Ukip leader and Brexit campaigner Nigel Farage said Sir Ivan should have stepped down the day after referendum and he hoped his resignation was the start of a real political revolution. I think we should get rid of many of our ambassadors around the world, he said on his LBC radio show. The former permanent secretary to the Treasury called Sir Ivans resignation a wilful and total destruction of expertise amid fears he has been hounded out by hostile pro-Brexiteers. Supreme Court Brexit Challenge Show all 13 1 /13 Supreme Court Brexit Challenge Supreme Court Brexit Challenge People wait to enter the public gallery outside the Supreme Court ahead of the challenge against a court ruling that Theresa May's government requires parliamentary approval to start the process of leaving the European Union, in Parliament Square, central London Reuters Supreme Court Brexit Challenge Gina Miller, co-founder of investment fund SCM Private arrives at the Supreme court in London on the first day of a four-day hearing Getty Supreme Court Brexit Challenge A man waves the EU flag in front of the Supreme Court Getty Supreme Court Brexit Challenge Satirical artist Kaya Mar poses with two of his paintings in front of the Supreme Court Getty Supreme Court Brexit Challenge Pro-Europe protestors dressed as Supreme Court Justices stand outside the Supreme Court ahead of the first day of a hearing into whether Parliament's consent is required before the Brexit process can begin. The eleven Supreme Court Justices will hear the government's appeal, following the High Court's recent decision that only Parliament can trigger Article 50 Getty Supreme Court Brexit Challenge The eleven Supreme Court Justices will hear the government's appeal, following the High Court's recent decision that only Parliament can trigger Article 50 Getty Supreme Court Brexit Challenge Businesswoman Gina Miller arrives at the Supreme Court ahead of the first day of a hearing into whether Parliament's consent is required before the Brexit process can begin Getty Supreme Court Brexit Challenge Attorney General Jeremy Wright arrives at the Supreme Court in London EPA Supreme Court Brexit Challenge Protesters outside the Supreme Court in London, where the Government is appealing against a ruling that the Prime Minister must seek MPs' approval to trigger the process of taking Britain out of the European Union PA wire Supreme Court Brexit Challenge A protesters wearing a judge's wigs and robes stands outside the Supreme Court ahead of the challenge against a court ruling that Theresa May's government requires parliamentary approval to start the process of leaving the European Union, in Parliament Square, central London Reuters Supreme Court Brexit Challenge A protester holds up a placard outside the Supreme Court ahead of the challenge against a court ruling that Theresa May's government requires parliamentary approval to start the process of leaving the European Union, in Parliament Square, central London Reuters Supreme Court Brexit Challenge Pro-Europe protestors dressed as Supreme Court Justices stand outside the Supreme Court Getty Supreme Court Brexit Challenge A man waiting to enter the public gallery waves a European Union flag outside the Supreme Court ahead of the challenge against a court ruling that Theresa May's government requires parliamentary approval to start the process of leaving the European Union, in Parliament Square, central London Reuters Nicholas Macpherson said the ambassador was the latest in a worrying line of experienced figures to walk away. Ivan Rogers huge loss. Cant understand wilful and total destruction of EU expertise, he wrote. Sir Ivan said unlike in Brussels, serious multilateral negotiating experience is in short supply in Whitehall. Recommended Theresa May appeals for unity ahead of triggering Article 50 The government will only achieve the best for the country if it harnesses the best experience we have a large proportion of which is concentrated in UKREP and negotiates resolutely. He also appeared to criticise views held by politicians, writing: Contrary to the beliefs of some, free trade does not just happen when it is not thwarted by authorities. Increasing market access to other markets and consumer choice in our own, depends on the deals, multilateral, plurilateral and bilateral that we strike, and the terms that we agree. 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 }} An Ex-Foreign Office Minister has demanded Theresa Mays government explain the resignation of Britains top diplomat in Brussels to the House of Commons. Alistair Burt said the decision of Sir Ivan Rogers to quit as the UKs ambassador to the EU "shouts a very public warning" about the Governments approach to Brexit. He also echoed comments made by the outgoing diplomat, who angered Brexiteers by suggesting a new EU deal could be a decade away, in saying that civil servants should be able to deliver uncomfortable news to ministers in certainty they will be listened to. Writing for ConservativeHome, he said: "A very senior UK patriot has chosen to leave his post, rather than continue down a path of which he fears for our country. This requires a Government statement and explanation next week and should induce further urgency into our preparations, and the base for our negotiations. "MPs will be right to urge that we appoint quickly an ambassador with the ability to understand fully what it is that the Government is looking for, and with the capacity to influence and shape such a positionbut also with the certainty of being listened to, however uncomfortable that may be." Mr Burt, minister until last summer, also said: "The manner of departure and the clarity of Rogerss concerns over speaking the unvarnished truth, challenging ill-founded arguments, and ensuring that there are in place those harnessing the best experience, shouts a very public warning about what is currently occurring on our nations behalf as we enter the most important negotiations of our peacetime life. "If such warnings from a public servant who has devoted his working life to his country are dismissed simply as coming from a Europhile, who deserves clearing out with the others or similar nonsense, then we will all be the losers." His article won the backing of another former minister Anna Soubry, who retweeted a link to the piece. 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 }} Sir Tim Barrow, a former envoy to Moscow with a career as a diplomat spanning three decades, has been confirmed by the Government as the new UK ambassador to the EU. The 52-year-olds appointment comes after Sir Ivan Rogerss unexpected resignation from the role, in which he urged fellow civil servants to provide impartial advice and stand up to ill-founded arguments and muddled thinking of politicians in a fiery letter. Sir Tim, a senior diplomat educated at the universities of Warwick and Oxford, has a wealth of experience and earlier in his career acted as first secretary at UKRep the UK embassy in Brussels meaning he will be more than familiar with the EU machinery. Downing Street described him as a seasoned and tough negotiator. 2016: The year of Brexit He joined the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) in 1986 and became the Whitehall departments political director after succeeding Simon Glass in March last year. The experience he has gained in that post, where he managed the Governments foreign policy objectives, will be crucial to handling the highly charged Brexit talks set to begin in two months when Theresa May serves the Article 50 notice to the EU. In a statement, he said: I am honoured to be appointed as the UKs Permanent Representative to the EU at this crucial time. I look forward to joining the strong leadership team at the Department for Exiting the EU and working with them and the talented staff at UKRep to ensure we get the right outcome for the United Kingdom as we leave the EU. But Sir Tim has held several roles in his 30-year career as a diplomat, including postings in Kiev and Brussels. His most influential, however, was his tenure as the UK ambassador to Moscow until 2015. 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 Speaking about his appointment to the role in 2011, the father of four said he was pleased to be returning to Russia. I have good memories of working in Moscow in the early nineties. I look forward to getting to know again this vast and dynamic country and to continuing the steady work of developing relations between our two countries. It was a role that won him a knighthood in the New Years Honours 2015 for services to British foreign policy and interests in Russia. In his new role as the UKs ambassador to the EU, his former boss Charles Crawford told LBC radio he will be fearless and that he was an excellent choice for the high-profile role as Britain negotiates its exit from the EU. His appointment viewed as a victory for the Foreign Office also signals a snub by the Prime Minister to those calling for a hardline Brexiteer to be appointed to the role. Nigel Farage, the former Ukip leader, responding to the announcement said: Good to see that the Government have replaced a knighted career diplomat with a knighted career diplomat. Recommended Government to name top civil servant new EU Ambassador However, among civil servants his appointment is likely to come as welcome news. Speaking on BBCs Radio 4 Today programme, Sir Simon Fraser, the former head of the Foreign Office, said there will be many people keen on the role and experienced people in the Foreign Office, the Treasury and in the Cabinet Office, who are qualified to do it. I think what we need in Brussels is somebody who has experience, whos going to be a real professional negotiator, who will be sitting in a room with lots of other very experienced and knowledgeable negotiators, and who will be able to hold his or her own in that negotiation, he said. Thousands of people are starting to return to formerly rebel-held east Aleppo despite freezing weather and destruction "beyond imagination", a top UN official told Reuters from the Syrian city. In the last couple of days around 2,200 families have returned to the Hanano housing district, said Sajjad Malik, country representative in Syria for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). "People are coming out to east Aleppo to see their shops, their houses, to see if the building is standing and the house is not that looted ... to see, should they come back," he said in an interview. But given the appalling conditions, the UN is not encouraging people to return. "It is extremely, bitterly cold here," said Malik. "The houses people are going back to have no windows or doors, no cooking facilities." Aid is vital to prevent more deaths. The UN is helping people to restart their lives in one room of their apartments to start with, he said, giving them mats, sleeping bags and plastic sheets to cover blown-out windows. BREAD AND WATER Hanano was one of the first Aleppo neighbourhoods to fall to rebels in 2012, and the first to be retaken by the Syrian government on its way to seizing back full control of the northern city last month - the biggest victory for President Bashar al-Assad in nearly six years of war. As government forces rapidly advanced, some residents stayed put, tens of thousands fled of their own accord and around 35,000 fighters and civilians were evacuated in late December in convoys organised by the Syrian government. After months of fierce Syrian and Russian air strikes, reconstruction will take a long time, Malik said, but the immediate priority is to keep people warm and fed. UN-supported partners provide hot meals twice a day to 21,000 people, and 40,000 people get baked bread every day. Over 1.1 million people once again have access to clean water in bottles or through tankers and wells. Mobile clinics are up and running, and more than 10,000 children have received polio vaccinations. Thousands of children who have not been able to attend school need reintegrating into the education system through remedial classes to rebuild their confidence, Malik said. There was no register of births, deaths and marriages in the rebel-held sector, so the UN is working with the government to issue people with papers. "I met a woman with five children and she was excited that she now has her kids registered as Syrians. She has ID cards and a family book," he said. Bombing has destroyed hospitals, schools, roads and houses, and damaged the two main water pumping stations. The experienced UN official said the level of destruction surpassed anything he had seen in conflict zones like Afghanistan and Somalia. "Nothing would have prepared us to see the scale of destruction there, it's beyond imagination." Search Keywords: Short link: 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 }} Tony Blair has injected over 9m to his new policy unit for centre-ground politics he set up in the wake of the political earthquakes of the Brexit vote and the American elections. The former Labour leader, who was Prime Minister between 1997 and 2007, established the Tony Blair Institute in December 2016 but made clear he would not be returning to frontline politics. He has since gifted 9.2m to the organisation. Recommended Jeremy Corbyn to miss vote on launching fresh Tony Blair Iraq War prob In a statement in December last year, Mr Blair said: This is not about my returning to the frontline of politics. I have made it abundantly clear that this is not possible. However, I care about my country and the world my children and grandchildren will grow up in; and want to play at least a small part in contributing to the debate about the future of both. He said the policy unit would provide thought leadership to politicians around the globe and oppose the new populism and its essentially close-minded approach to globalisation. The statement also made clear the organisation would not be a think-tank but a place "to build a new policy agenda for the centre ground together with the networks which link people up, and allow a reasonable and evidence based discussion of the future which avoids the plague of social media-led exchanges of abuse". "It is a platform for engagement to inform and support the practising politician. It is what I know I would want were I still in the frontline of politics." The statement added: Part of its focus will plainly be around the European debate; but this will not be its exclusive domain. It has to go far wider than that since in many ways the Europe debate is a lightning rod for the whole of politics. We're now planning to bring all of these four parts together in one new Not For Profit Institute. The business side has been shut down and the assets, running into many millions of pounds, gifted to the Institute. In the New Year, we plan to merge the activities of the different organisations into the Institute, with any charitable funds used exclusively for the purposes for which they were originally given. This will allow us to work more coherently across the board; use the obvious synergies between the different elements of the work; and to be far stronger on the global policy side than we have been up to now. The focus previously was mainly on programmes. These will remain but the organisation will also be far more about thought leadership. 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 }} Zambian women who are on their period are allowed to call their employers for "Mother's Day" and take time off work. The southern African nation has enshrined the practice into its Labour laws. Even if women are not going through their menstrual cycle, they can call in and take a day off if they are feeling too sick to work. Ministers have made it clear however, that the practice is only entitled for those who are ill. Recommended How period pains really affect women at work "If you absent yourself yet you are found in a disco house, then it will not be taken as Mother's Day," the country's labour minister, Joyce Nonde-Simukoko, told the BBC. "You shouldn't even leave town, be found doing your hair or shopping. You can be fired. For example, somebody was found farming after taking Mother's Day and she was fired." While some employers have objected to the law, saying it can be bad for productivity, they can face legal action if they deny a woman her "Mothers Day". Discussing periods is taboo in Zambia which is why it is referred to by that name. 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 Allowing women to take time off during their menstrual cycle is rare among African countries so Zambia is leading the way with the law, although similar legislation has been enacted in East Asia. Three Chinese provinces Shanxi, Hubei and Ningxia - now allow women to take leave for painful periods and employers can be punished if they do not allow the time off. Japan introduced a similar law in 1947 and Indonesia, South Korea and Taiwan all have similar legal provisions. Women in Indonesia rarely take these days off, even if they need to, because companies insist on examining women before they would be allowed to take leave, according to the Jakarta Globe. It is also believed that the leave is underused in the other countries for fear of alerting male colleagues to a menstrual cycle, potentially causing humiliation and drawing harassment. There is no provision for menstrual leave in the West. The idea was proposed in Russia in 2013, but failed to become law. 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 }} In the final days of Barack Obamas presidency, the fate of the Affordable Care Act hangs in uncertainty as Democrats and Republicans launch their battles to either preserve or obliterate the law. Both Mr Obama and Vice President-elect Mike Pence held meetings with their respective parties to strategise for the future of the ACA commonly referred to as Obamacare. The outgoing President urged Democrats in Congress to not rescue the GOP by voting for something worse than the healthcare reform law that is currently in place. Recommended World Health Organisation tells Donald Trump not to abandon Obamacare Republicans could deal a major blow to the Mr Obamas legacy with the dismantling of the ACA. A full repealment without replacement could result in the loss of health insurance for some 30 million people a large percentage of whom live in counties that favoured President-elect Donald Trump in the general election. Keep up the fight, Mr Obama said, according to Ohio Rep Tim Ryan. Tell the stories about the people who have benefited from it. The more you can get that message through, the better off were going to be. He also suggested Democrats turn the tables and refer to the GOPs potential new plan as Trumpcare to highlight the differences. After the closed-door meeting, Mr Obama said that he told fellow Democrats to Look out for the American people. The Vice President-elect assured GOP lawmakers that repealing the ACA would be one of Mr Trumps first order of business, as promised on the campaign trail. GOP leaders want to get Mr Trump legislation to sign by 20 February. Make no mistake about it, Mr Pence told reporter, Were going to keep our promise to the American people. Were going to repeal Obamacare and replace it with solutions that lower the cost of health insurance without growing the size of government. US House approves sweeping healthcare overhaul Show all 16 1 /16 US House approves sweeping healthcare overhaul US House approves sweeping healthcare overhaul 338741.bin GETTY IMAGES US House approves sweeping healthcare overhaul 338882.bin Getty Images US House approves sweeping healthcare overhaul 338883.bin Getty Images US House approves sweeping healthcare overhaul 338884.bin Getty Images US House approves sweeping healthcare overhaul 338885.bin Getty Images US House approves sweeping healthcare overhaul 338886.bin Getty Images US House approves sweeping healthcare overhaul 338888.bin Getty Images US House approves sweeping healthcare overhaul 338889.bin Getty Images US House approves sweeping healthcare overhaul 338890.bin Getty Images US House approves sweeping healthcare overhaul 338891.bin Getty Images US House approves sweeping healthcare overhaul 338892.bin Getty Images US House approves sweeping healthcare overhaul 338893.bin Getty Images US House approves sweeping healthcare overhaul 338887.bin Getty Images US House approves sweeping healthcare overhaul 338894.bin Getty Images US House approves sweeping healthcare overhaul 338895.bin Getty Images US House approves sweeping healthcare overhaul 338896.bin Getty Images He added that Americans voted decisively for a better future for health care in this country, and we are determined to give them that. The outlook for Obamacare became rather grim following Mr Trumps narrow Electoral College win against Hillary Clinton who won the popular vote by almost three million ballots. While Mr Trump will have virtually no obstacle in getting rid of the ACA in his first 100 days in office, he still faces the challenge of having no viable plan for a replacement from Republicans. Mr Pence said that the Trump transition team was already working with GOP legislators to take action after inauguration, but did not specify what such actions would look like. Shortly before Mr Pences meeting with Republicans, Mr Trump tweeted his own forecast for Mr Obamas monumental health care law. Massive increases of ObamaCare will take place this year and Dems are to blame for the mess, he wrote, without specific citations. It will fall of its own weight be careful!" 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 taken a new swipe at American intelligence agencies ahead of a meeting over Russias alleged interference in the US election. The President-elect appeared to suggest security services were manufacturing evidence of the Kremlin's involvement in cyber attacks in a tweet posted late on Tuesday evening. It said: The Intelligence briefing on so-called Russian hacking was delayed until Friday, perhaps more time needed to build a case. Very strange! Senior US intelligence officials immediately refuted the claim, telling networks including CNN and NBC that the briefing with the heads of the NSA, CIA, DNI and the FBI had always been scheduled for Friday and was not delayed. President Obama vows to take action against alleged Russian hacking of election The President-elects latest attack on his own security officials came amid tension over allegations the Russian government supported cyber attacks against American political sites and email accounts ahead of the November election. The hacking, which is believed to have benefited Mr Trump, resulted in Barack Obama expelling 35 Russian diplomats last week as part of a raft of new sanctions. All Americans should be alarmed by Russias actions, Mr Obama said, claiming the extent of data theft and cyber attacks uncovered could only have been directed by the highest levels of the Russian government. But Mr Trump has publicly undermined his predecessors assessment, taking to Twitter to hit out at the intelligence agencies he will soon lead. If Russia, or some other entity, was hacking, why did the White House wait so long to act? read one of several posts last month. Why did they only complain after Hillary lost? Mr Trump has repeatedly praised Vladimir Putin, calling the Russian Presidents decision not to expel any American diplomats in retaliation a great move. The pair have announced joint efforts to improve US-Russian relations that have been severely damaged by Russias support for Bashar al-Assad in Syria and annexation of Crimea in the ongoing Ukraine conflict. US Presidential election: key moments in pictures Show all 12 1 /12 US Presidential election: key moments in pictures US Presidential election: key moments in pictures The 2005 Access Hollywood video which showed Mr Trump bragging to Billy Bush Getty US Presidential election: key moments in pictures Hillary Clinton and her health concerns Getty US Presidential election: key moments in pictures Hillary Clinton and her health concerns Getty US Presidential election: key moments in pictures Mr Trump suggests gun-supporters could kill Hillary Clinton to prevent her from picking the supreme court justices Reuters US Presidential election: key moments in pictures Melania Trump plagiarises Michelle Obamas speech Getty US Presidential election: key moments in pictures Mr Trump said that judge Gonzalo Curiel would not be able to rule fairly, as he was of Mexican heritage United States Federal Court/AP US Presidential election: key moments in pictures Donald Trump anxious over securing black vote Reuters US Presidential election: key moments in pictures Hillary Clinton and concerns about securing black vote Getty US Presidential election: key moments in pictures Pope Francis Questions Donald Trump's Christianity Getty US Presidential election: key moments in pictures Donald Trump and his relentless remarks against Mexican people Getty US Presidential election: key moments in pictures Donald Trump and the sexual assault allegations Getty US Presidential election: key moments in pictures FBI director announced that there would be no charges for Hillary Clinton amid email scandal Getty US intelligence agencies believe that Moscow was behind the hacking of Democratic National Committee emails that were then passed to Wikileaks. Though the FBI and Department of Homeland Security issued a joint report on Russian malicious cyber activity with examples of malware code used by the Russians, it still has not released a broader report promised by the President. Mr Trump has repeatedly dismissed allegations from the CIA and other intelligence agencies that the Kremlin was behind the cyber attacks. The Russian government has denied any involvement in the hacking, with foreign minister Sergei Lavrov saying the US was putting groundless accusations on Russia to cover for its own policy failures. Mr Putins spokesman accused the outgoing US administration of harming Russian-American ties and dealing a blow on the foreign policy plans of the incoming administration of the President-elect after Mr Obama unloaded the new sancitons. Mr Trump will be given more information from the intelligence community about Russian interference in the coming days, Vice President-elect Mike Pence said. He added: The world will see that with our president-elect taking office that America will be standing tall in the world again, engaging the world again, and standing firmly for America's interests. Mr Trump has announced plans to hold his first news conference since winning the presidency on 11 January, just nine days before he is sworn into office at a ceremony attended by Bill and Hillary Clinton. 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 should have more "respect" for intelligence professionals, according to the vice president of the US Intelligence Committee. Senator Mark Warner made the claim after the President-elect suggested on Twitter that an intelligence briefing with him had been delayed because spy chiefs perhaps needed more timeto build a case on Russias alleged electoral hacking. Trump added that it was very strange that the group of highly senior intelligence officials pushed the meeting back until Friday. Taking to the social media site to respond, Mr Warner said he really wished "we saw more PEOTUS (President-elect of the United States) respect for our intelligence professionals." US government sources have also claimed that the meeting was always scheduled for Friday, adding that President Obama has not yet been fully briefed on the issue. A security official told the Washington Post that there may have been a scheduling disconnect between Mr Trump's transition team and the spy agencies. All the artists who have publically refused to play Trump's inauguration The official, who was not authorised to speak publicly, added that it was a complex process to organise a meeting with all the top US spy chiefs. CIA director John Brennan, FBI Director James Comey, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and National Security Agency Director Admiral Michael Rogers are believed to be attending the meeting. President Obama has also not yet been briefed on the full extent of Russian hacking, a US government source told CNN. They also denied the meeting had been delayed. The officials were responding to a tweet from Mr Trump in which he said: The Intelligence briefing on so-called Russian hacking was delayed until Friday, perhaps more time needed to build a case. Very strange! He did not provide any evidence to back up his claim. The President-elect seemed to be implying that the US intelligence community did not have proper evidence connecting Russia to interference in the US democratic process. Both the CIA and the FBI have stated otherwise. Trump's advisor suggests Obama's sanctions against Russia are to 'box in' the incoming President Mr Trump has previously criticised the spy agencies by citing the faulty intelligence which surrounded Iraqs supposed possession of weapons of mass destruction prior to the US in 2003. However, to publicly embarrass some of the most senior intelligence officials in the country and question their motives is unprecedented for a President-elect or incumbent president. The Independent contacted the US State Department but they had not commented by the time of publication. 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 black teenage girl is suing the white police officer who pinned her down during a Texas pool party in June 2015, after the incident was captured in a viral video. Dajerria Becton, 16, filed the lawsuit through her legal guardian, Shashona Becton, in December. Ms Becton is suing the police officer involved, Cpl Eric Casebolt, individually and in his capacity as an officer, the McKinney Police Department, and the City of McKinney, the court documents read. Mr Casebolt, who is white, can be seen slamming Ms Becton, a black bikini-clad teenage girl, to the ground in the seven-minute video posted to Youtube. The officer can then be seen pulling out his gun as two black teenage boys rushed to her side. Recommended What really happened when police broke up that Texas pool party Ms Becton seeks $5m in damages, according to a local NBC affiliate. The high-profile incident sparked a nationwide debate on the officers response, and helped fuel ongoing distrust between police officers and the black community as it concerns racial disparities in police brutality and excessive police force. The lawsuit states Ms Becton is suing for Officer Eric Casebolts individual use of excessive force, assault, unlawful detention resulting in the injuries to minor child, D.B. under the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution... McKinney: Viral video raises fresh questions about US police brutality For their part, city officials pushed back against claims made in the lawsuit. The City of McKinney denies the claims alleged against it and the McKinney Police Department, and as such, will vigorously defend the recently filed lawsuit, a representative for The City of McKinney told The Independent. McKinney prides itself in cultivating the highest standards of training and professionalism for our officers, and it strongly believes that its standards and training will withstand legal challenge. After the video depicting Mr Casebolts aggressive treatment of Ms Becton made its rounds, McKinney Chief Greg Conley responded to the video saying during a press conference that Mr Casebolt ... came into the call out of control, and as the video shows, was out of control during the incident. Mr Casebolt resigned from the department that month. Mr Casebolt and other McKinney officers were responding to reports of a disturbance at the private pool party. Ms Becton claimed in her complaint that she had been invited to the pool party, Dallas News reported. In June of last year, Grand Jury decided to not indict Mr Casebolt. 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 }} Two people have been arrested in Texas in connection with what police claimed was one of the worse cases of child sexual assault they had ever dealt with. Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar told reporters that officers had been called to a home in San Antonio after receiving reports that a one-year-old girl had been attacked by dogs. When they arrived at the scene, they discovered the child, but determined the injuries did not correspond to dog bites. I cant even begin to describe to you the level of depravity that went into this crime, Mr Salazar said, according to News 4 San Antonio. There are certain cases that we carry with us, that make us lose sleep at night. This is one of those cases. The child did suffer stab wounds to her upper body, but additionally to her private areas of her body. Animal Care Services found that the dogs at the home were not aggressive, the San Antonio Express-News reported, and medical staff saw that the girl was stabbed multiple times and brutally sexually assaulted, not bitten by dogs. The child was immediately taken to hospital and is now in a stable condition. The office said a couple had been arrested over the attack. The man has been identified as 23-year-old Isaac Andrew Cardenas. Mr Cardenas has been charged with aggravated sexual assault of a child. His bond has been set at $300,000. His girlfriend was identified as 22-year-old Crystal Herrera. Ms Herrera has been charged with injury to a child serious bodily injury by omission. It is not clear whether either of the individuals has had the opportunity enter a plea or if they have been assigned legal representation. 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 }} Police in the Indian city of Bangalore say they have credible evidence that numerous women were groped during New Year's Eve celebrations and they will use CCTV footage to pursue the alleged offenders. Urging victims to come forward Commissioner Praveen Sood said that there were 45 cameras on the two roads where the majority of the offences took place. As promised, we have found credible evidence, repeat credible evidence, in a case of wrongful confinement, molestation and attempt to rob, he wrote on Twitter. We have taken action by registering a FIR (First Incident Report). Investigation is in progress. Police is working though silently (sic)." His post seemed to signal a change attitude as Commissioner Sood initially suggested that journalists were concocting or exaggerating the story. He said: "The media is making it look like molestation was taking place by blurring the faces (of the crowd) but no such thing was happening." This was despite numerous pictures of distraught women rushing out of crowds and seeking help from police appearing on both local and social media shortly after the attacks in the city, which is the capital of Indias southern Karnataka state. Local newspaper, the Bangalore Mirror described it as a "brazen, mass molestation of women". There was further uproar when the state's home minister, G Parameshwara, told a TV channel that such incidents do happen but blamed women for dressing like westerners. Criticising the remarks, Indias National Commission for Women chief Lalitha Kumaramangalam called them "unacceptable and regrettable." "I want to ask this Minister, are Indian men so pathetic and weak that when they see a woman in Western clothes on a day of revelry, they get out of control, she said. Some of the victims have now spoken about their ordeals in the media. Manisha Gupta told the Bangalore Mirror that she was groped on the way to a train station despite her friends trying to protect her. "It was impossible to catch one person in that moving crowd," she said. "There were a number of girls there who were in a similar situation. I saw a few of them crying and running for help. It seemed futile. The police were vastly outnumbered - like 20-25 to 1. There was no cheer; women were either worried or scared. It really was mass molestation. I wish the police had managed the situation better." Another woman, who gave her name as Pooja, who told the BBC: People were pushing and shoving, touching, grabbing, groping and everything was happening on that street. It was not only to me. It was happening to other girls too. They were all scared. I felt helpless. Although I have hands and legs and I could abuse and slap them, I could not do anything. I didn't know who was touching me and groping me. 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 Burmese government commission has said the Rohingya Muslim ethnic group is not facing genocide in the country's remote Rakhine State, rejecting any evidence to the contrary as "propaganda". The official report, published on Wednesday in the state-funded Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper, denied "external allegations" of human rights violations, and cautioned readers against falling for "fabricated news and rumours". The actions of state forces in the region have been described as ethnic cleansing by senior UN officials, while journalists and aid organisations have documented mass rape, murders, and beatings. Satellite imagery has shown entire villages destroyed by Burmese soldiers. But according to the commission it is impossible that a genocide is underway in the region, which is currently entirely closed to reporters and foreign aid workers, because a "Bengali population" continues to reside there. The report cites the existence of mosques and religious edifices as proof the Muslim population is not facing persecution on the grounds of their religion. Violence has erupted sporadically in Rakhine state since 2012, with state forces implicated in either instigating or actively perpetuating attacks on the up to one million Muslim Rohingya who lived there. Members of the minority ethnic group are denied Burmese citizenship and have been described by the government as illegal immigrants, despite having lived in the country for generations. Since 2012, many Rohingya people have been confined to inadequate IDP camps, where they have become ill and malnourished and struggled to access healthcare. Many have fled abroad by boat, with thousands believed to have drowned at sea. The most recent spate of fighting began on 9 October last year, when several Buddhist Burmese border guards were attacked and killed. Since the incident, dozens of Rohingya villages have been burned to the ground, women have been raped and civilians murdered by the army. At least 10,000 Rohingya have fled across the Bangladeshi border to escape the violence. But the commission who were tasked by the president, operating under de facto head of state Aung San Suu Kyi, with uncovering the truth about terrorist attacks in the region failed entirely to address allegations that Burmese security forces had killed civilians. It said there was insufficient evidence of mass rape, and argued that police beatings were ordinary in many countries, so did not matter. Allegations of arson, torture, and arbitrary arrest are still being investigated, the report said. Human Rights Watch described the report as "very worrisome". "This commission is looking more and more like the Myanmar government whitewash mechanism that we feared it would be," said Asia Division Deputy Director Phil Robertson. "This commission report is all about giving the Myanmar government some wiggle room, to try and dispute established facts about burning of Rohingya house and communities and the swelling mountain of evidence about Tatmadaw and police abuses against the Rohingya," he added. "No doubt that this is the unofficial role of this committee, to raise doubts and counter-points to assertions by the UN, the Kofi Annan Commission, and of course, rights groups like Human Rights Watch and its sad that this is the tactics they are pursuing, rather than allowing a truly credible, internationally assisted investigation that would get both the facts and point to all the perpetrators of the rights abuses on all sides of this situation." Mr Robertson said that while no one should condone the attacks against government security officials, this is only part of the story of rights abuses happening in Rakhine state. "The problem is the commission is apparently treating it as the biggest part, and discounting or delaying the other half of the story, which is the disproportionate, rights abusing response by security forces against defenseless Rohingya villagers," he said. The commission also claimed in the report that they encountered no cases of malnutrition in the north of the impoverished state. In December, Amnesty International said tens of thousands of people are now at risk of starvation, after the blanket ban on aid. In pictures: Burma protests against Rohingya Muslims Show all 5 1 /5 In pictures: Burma protests against Rohingya Muslims In pictures: Burma protests against Rohingya Muslims Burma Buddhist nationalists demonstrate against the UN and the return of Rohingya Muslims in Yangon In pictures: Burma protests against Rohingya Muslims Burma Hard-line Buddhist monks lead a demonstration against Rohingya migrants who were resettled in Rakhine state after being found at sea while fleeing Burma following anti-Muslim violence EPA In pictures: Burma protests against Rohingya Muslims Burma Buddhist monks demonstrate against the UN and the return of Rohingya Muslims in Yangon In pictures: Burma protests against Rohingya Muslims Burma Buddhist nationalists demonstrate against the UN and the return of Rohingya Muslims In pictures: Burma protests against Rohingya Muslims Burma Radical Buddhist nationalists protest the international pressure on Myanmar to accept the repatriation of persecuted Rohingya boat refugees "Even before 9 October, malnutrition levels were critically high in the region where 150,000 people were dependent on food aid for their survival," the organisation said. The commission report was also refuted by journalists, who questioned claims they have been allowed to "freely go and cover the news as they wish". In reality, the north of the state is entirely closed to members of the press. Ms Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, has been widely condemned for her failure to speak up in defence of the Rohingya, and actions which appear to discriminate against the group. Soon after the NLD government won power in an election the Rohingya were not allowed to participate in, and in which the party fielded no Muslim candidates Ms Suu Kyi wrote to foreign ambassadors in the country asking them to stop using the term Rohingya. In recent weeks, the government has been accused of sharing fake news images of atrocities in other countries, or even in some cases in Hollywood films, and claiming these are being passed off as images of crimes against the Rohingya, in a bid to discredit real reporting. The government claim the "fake news" stories are damaging the country's reputation abroad, which is confusing many Burmese citizens who do not know what to believe. The Global New Light, state television channel MRTV, and even a government department have simultaneously showcased the images the origins of which are unclear and condemned them. Posts warning citizens about fake news have been shared thousands of times on Facebook by Burmese citizens, provoking angry nationalistic sentiment. In a particularly absurd move Ms Suu Kyi's office on Tuesday even sought to use a still from a Rambo movie, alleging it had been shared by Muslims who claimed it showed human rights violations in Rakhine State. 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 }} China has launched its first ever train service to travel all the way to Britain. The locomotive will cover 7,456 miles and pass through Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus, Poland, Germany, Belgium and France before reaching Barking, east London. Filled with 4m worth of goods, including socks, clothes, bags and suitcases, the freight train departed on 1 January, and will take 18 days to complete its journey, reports the Xinhua news agency. The UK is the eighth country to be added to the China-Europe line, and London the 12th European city. The development is part of President Xi Jinpings One Belt, One Road strategy to connect Asia with Europe and Africa on old Silk Road trading routes. According to the China Railway Corporation, the service will improve China-Britain trade ties and strengthen the rising superpowers links to western Europe. Chinas spending spree slowing economy Because of the differing railway tracks involved in the journey, a single train cannot travel the entire route, meaning the containers need to be reloaded at various points. The initiative came the same day that China Central Television, the countrys biggest and most important TV network, launched a new global platform. The state broadcaster aims to help rebrand China overseas, with Mr Xi urging the network to tell China's story well and showcase China's role as a builder of world peace. The US-led coalition said Wednesday it has doubled to about 450 the number of military advisors assisting Iraqi troops engaged in the fight to retake Mosul from Islamic State (IS) militants. "We have increased the number of advise and assist forces that are there with the ISF (Iraqi Security Forces) command elements to help advise them as they move forward and to synchronize operations," coalition spokesman Colonel John Dorrian said in a video conference from Baghdad. Search Keywords: Short link: 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 landmark ruling by Indias highest court has banned the use of religion and caste by politicians seeking votes. The judgement, which could radically alter the country's political landscape, comes just weeks ahead of assembly elections in five states. Polls have shown that faith and caste carry great influence at the polls. Religion has no role in electoral process, which is a secular activity, a bench of seven judges at The Supreme Court concluded in their ruling. They added that using religion or a hierarchical group to garner ballots was tantamount to electoral corruption. In a split decision, the court said the relationship between man and God was an individual choice and that the state should not interfere. No politician can seek vote in the name of caste, creed or religion, said Chief Justice TS Thakur said in the order, adding that election process must be a secular exercise. The panel was divided by four votes to three, with the dissenting judges saying the winning verdict was an overreach by the court. The justices who disagreed argued it should be left to parliament to decide. They said that discussion on caste, creed and religion is constitutionally protected within and outside elections and this cannot be restricted. Although India is officially secular, political parties have long sought to gather votes along lines of religion and social status. Prime Minister Narendra Modis ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has long sought to win votes on a Hindu nationalist platform. BJP politicians have been accused in the past of spouting Islamophobic statements in order to divide the electorate. 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 courts ruling came after years of petitions for changes to the countrys campaigning practices. The judgement has nonetheless received heavy criticism. Kancha Ilaiah, a political scientist based in Hyderabad, said the inclusion of caste in the judgement was unfortunate, since it would prevent the views of those in lower castes being implemented in policy. Indias caste system is among the world's oldest forms of surviving social stratification. The system which divides Hindus into rigid hierarchical groups based on their karma (work) and dharma (the Hindi word for religion, although it is generally taken to mean duty). Generally accepted to be more than 3,000 years old, it divides them into four main categories - Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and the Shudras. Many believe that these groups originated from Brahma, the Hindu God of creation. At the top of the hierarchy were the Brahmins who were mainly teachers and intellectuals and are believed to have come from Brahmas head. They were followed by the Kshatriyas, or the warriors and rulers, supposedly from his arms. The third rank went to the Vaishyas, or the traders, who were created from his thighs while at the bottom of the pile were the Shudras, who came from Brahmas feet and did all the menial jobs. The main castes were further divided into about 3,000 castes and 25,000 sub-castes, each based on their specific occupation. Outside of this Hindu caste system were the Achhoots - the Dalits or the untouchables. Mr Ilaiah, who belongs to the Dalit community, told Al Jazeera: The Supreme Court now says we cannot use the caste issue for our liberation, for our equality. If they say that, then how do we achieve our liberation? What about the right to speak about my oppression? It is as if the Supreme Court has said [our repression] cannot be used as an instrument to fight back, he added. But Ashok Malik, a fellow at Delhi-based think-tank The Observer Research Foundation told The Guardian the ruling would have little effect because it was too difficult to implement. Identity is intrinsic to human society and there is political mobilisation all over the world that takes place along these lines, he said. You cant ban identity [] A sweeping ban on the use of identity for political mobilisation is going to be unimplementable. 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 }} India is going to endorse a Universal Basic Income (UBI), according to a leading advocate of the system. The worlds largest democracy will release a report in January stating that UBI is basically the way forward, according to Professor Guy Standing, who has worked on universal income pilot projects in India. If implemented, India would join Finland in providing free money to citizens. However, Prof Standing, a founding member of the Basic Income Earth Network, didnt believe UBI would be introduced universally across India because of its radical nature. Elon Musk believes Universal Basic Income will follow more automation Under a universal income system, citizens would receive a set amount of money from the state, forfeiting other benefits. India, which has an estimated population of 1.3 billion people, has a growing economy but around 29.5 per cent of people live in poverty, according to a 2014 government report particularly in rural areas. Prof Standing told Business Insider the effects of the UBI trials had been remarkable positive on their communities, allowing people to have a sense of control over their money, reducing debt and empowering women. "As a consequence of this, Prof Standing said, The Indian government is coming out with a big report in January. As you can imagine that makes me very excited. It will basically say this is the way forward." While Prof Standing said the government report would say UBI was feasible he added: "I don't expect them to go the full way, because it's such a dramatic conversion. Indias Chief Economic Advisor, Arvind Subramanian, confirmed in October that the annual Economic Survey would discuss UBI. Mr Subramanian has been sympathetic towards the concept of a universal income, telling The Indian Express: The government spends a lot of money on schemes to help the poor It is not clear that the money actually reaches the poor. So the question is whether the UBI is a more effective way of reaching the poor that the current schemes that government employs. 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 concept of UBI received a boost recently when the government of Finland announced the introduction of a trial involving 2,000 unemployed people. The recipients will be given 560 (480) every month for two years unconditionally, even if they find work. In a statement, the Finnish government said: The primary goal of the basic income experiment is related to promoting employment. The experiment, including follow-up research, aims to find out whether basic income promotes employment." However, UBI projects in Finland and India - if it goes ahead - are likely to strongly vary in their scale and implementation due to the vast differences in social and economic context. 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 }} Chinese state media has said the US is just a shooting star in the ample sky of history, in an editorial warning Donald Trump not to boss China around on economic and security issues. The Global Times newspaper, which is backed by the ruling Communist Party, took the strong line on Wednesday, shortly after the President-elect announced the appointment of a second outspoken critic of China to his trade team. Robert Lighthizer, who has condemned the east Asian country for failing to abide by international trade agreements in the past, will be Americas next chief trade negotiator, the President-elect said on Tuesday. The 69-year-old has previously advocated for higher trade tariffs and called for tougher methods to change the system. His appointment is seen as part of Mr Trumps plan to up-end US trade policy. But according to China, the US has had its moment and the President-elect's actions may not matter much in the future. May the arrogant Americans realise that the United States of America is perhaps just a shooting star in the ample sky of history, the paper said, adding that Mr Trump appears to be "fixated" on trade, in a dismissive response to his latest appointment. Last month, the President-elect appointed Peter Navarro to lead a new presidential office for US trade and industrial policy. Mr Navarro has previously described Chinas government as a despicable, parasitic, brutal, brass-knuckled, crass, callous, amoral, ruthless and totally totalitarian imperialist power. Mr Lighthizer, a former Reagan-era trade official, who once travelled the world negotiating deals to curb steel imports, is not at outspoken as Mr Navarro, but has expressed a similar belief that China's economic policies are fundamentally flawed. 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 The trade lawyer once wrote: Going forward, US policymakers should take these problems more seriously, and should take a much more aggressive approach in dealing with China. Mr Trump said Mr Lighthizer would fight for good trade deals that put the American worker first. He added: He will do an amazing job helping turn around the failed trade policies which have robbed so many Americans of prosperit." With Mr Navarro and Mr Lighthizer in important roles, Mr Trumps trade team is predisposed to be extremely hostile to China. Louis Kuijs, the head of Asia economics at Oxford Economics and a former senior China economist at the World Bank, told the Guardian he expected Mr Trumps policies to treat the rival superpower particularly harshly. There is almost no guessing, economic policy under Trump will become more nationalistic and more interventionist," he said. "Its very clear their policies will be especially tough on China." 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 }} Theresa May has been warned that the European Union is more unified in its stance on Brexit than on any other issue in the blocs history. Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, the new holder of the EU presidency, made the statement after holding meetings with the leaders of the other member states. He said the EU 27 which excludes the UK were united in their approach to Brexit negotiations which will begin if the British Government sticks to its pledge to trigger Article 50 by the end of March. Speaking at a diplomatic conference in Slovenia, he said: I spoke and visited basically all other 26 (EU) member states and theres a ... convergence on the attitude towards Brexit. I have never seen such a convergence within the European family. Theresa May left standing on her own at Brussels EU summit His comments will come as a blow to Brexit negotiators in the UK who had hoped to secure a better deal with Brussels by relying on disunity among the remaining EU members. Mrs May delayed triggering Article 50 the legal mechanism for leaving the EU to allow her team to formalise its plans for an orderly departure. But the nine-month hiatus between the June 23 vote and March has also given EU leaders time to draw up their own plan. 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 Previous reports suggested the EU's remaining member states were split on whether to push for a hard or soft Brexit. Countries such as Poland, Estonia and Latvia are said to be focused on ensuring the rights of their citizens to work in the UK are protected. Others are expected to want to punish the UK with a tough deal to discourage other members from leaving the union. Mr Muscats comments came as Downing Street suffered another setback when Sir Ivan Rogers, Britains ambassador to the EU, suddenly resigned. The senior diplomat was expected to stay in his post until at least the end of the year but quit dramatically yesterday saying Mrs May's government has been hindered by "ill-founded arguments" and "muddled thinking". His departure leaves the UK without one of its most experienced EU negotiators. Asked about Sir Ivans resignation, Mr Muscat said: That's a totally national issue for them .... We stick to the point that there should be no negotiation without notification." He went on to talk about other pressing issues facing the EU, including tackling the migration crisis. We are keen and want to put forward proposals on the securing of maritime borders that is why we believe that a replication of any deal which is similar to the Turkish deal in the central Mediterranean is very important in the next few months before there is a larger crisis, he said. 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 }} In a love story which delivers some optimism in the bitterness of the refugee crisis, an Iraqi refugee and a Macedonian border guard have told of how they found love on the European migrant trail. Noora Arkavazi, 20, had fled Diyala, Iraq, with her family when she reached the muddy Macedonian border in March 2016. She had a high fever and needed medical attention, and was directed by border security to an English speaking officer - Bobi Dodevski. Recommended On board the largest refugee rescue ship in the Mediterranean And it was love at first sight. Mr Dodevski, 35, told the BBC: "I see many, many girls...but I see something special in Noora's eyes, and I say: 'This is it. I must have Noora here to be my wife!'" A female border guard colleague of Mr Dodevskis even noticed how smitten he was with the young refugee, telling him that she had stolen his brain while he was working. Ms Arkavazi was given care by the Red Cross and waited in the Tabanovce camp on the Serbian border with her family, who were trying to get to Germany. She began working with the Red Cross allowing Mr Dodevski to get to know her. The pair began spending more time in each others company. Refugee crisis - in pictures Show all 27 1 /27 Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugee crisis - in pictures A child looks through the fence at the Moria detention camp for migrants and refugees at the island of Lesbos on May 24, 2016. AFP/Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures Ahmad Zarour, 32, from Syria, reacts after his rescue by MOAS (Migrant Offshore Aid Station) while attempting to reach the Greek island of Agathonisi, Dodecanese, southeastern Agean Sea Refugee crisis - in pictures Syrian migrants holding life vests gather onto a pebble beach in the Yesil liman district of Canakkale, northwestern Turkey, after being stopped by Turkish police in their attempt to reach the Greek island of Lesbos on 29 January 2016. Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees flash the 'V for victory' sign during a demonstration as they block the Greek-Macedonian border Refugee crisis - in pictures Migrants have been braving sub zero temperatures as they cross the border from Macedonia into Serbia. Refugee crisis - in pictures A sinking boat is seen behind a Turkish gendarme off the coast of Canakkale's Bademli district on January 30, 2016. At least 33 migrants drowned on January 30 when their boat sank in the Aegean Sea while trying to cross from Turkey to Greece. Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures A general view of a shelter for migrants inside a hangar of the former Tempelhof airport in Berlin, Germany Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees protest behind a fence against restrictions limiting passage at the Greek-Macedonian border, near Gevgelija. Since last week, Macedonia has restricted passage to northern Europe to only Syrians, Iraqis and Afghans who are considered war refugees. All other nationalities are deemed economic migrants and told to turn back. Macedonia has finished building a fence on its frontier with Greece becoming the latest country in Europe to build a border barrier aimed at checking the flow of refugees Refugee crisis - in pictures A father and his child wait after being caught by Turkish gendarme on 27 January 2016 at Canakkale's Kucukkuyu district Refugee crisis - in pictures Migrants make hand signals as they arrive into the southern Spanish port of Malaga on 27 January, 2016 after an inflatable boat carrying 55 Africans, seven of them women and six chidren, was rescued by the Spanish coast guard off the Spanish coast. Refugee crisis - in pictures A refugee holds two children as dozens arrive on an overcrowded boat on the Greek island of Lesbos Refugee crisis - in pictures A child, covered by emergency blankets, reacts as she arrives, with other refugees and migrants, on the Greek island of Lesbos, At least five migrants including three children, died after four boats sank between Turkey and Greece, as rescue workers searched the sea for dozens more, the Greek coastguard said Refugee crisis - in pictures Migrants wait under outside the Moria registration camp on the Lesbos. Over 400,000 people have landed on Greek islands from neighbouring Turkey since the beginning of the year Refugee crisis - in pictures The bodies of Christian refugees are buried separately from Muslim refugees at the Agios Panteleimonas cemetery in Mytilene, Lesbos Refugee crisis - in pictures Macedonian police officers control a crowd of refugees as they prepare to enter a camp after crossing the Greek border into Macedonia near Gevgelija Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures A refugee tries to force the entry to a camp as Macedonian police officers control a crowd after crossing the Greek border into Macedonia near Gevgelija Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees are seen aboard a Turkish fishing boat as they arrive on the Greek island of Lesbos after crossing a part of the Aegean Sea from the Turkish coast to Lesbos Reuters Refugee crisis - in pictures An elderly woman sings a lullaby to baby on a beach after arriving with other refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos after crossing the Aegean sea from Turkey Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures A man collapses as refugees make land from an overloaded rubber dinghy after crossing the Aegean see from Turkey, at the island of Lesbos EPA Refugee crisis - in pictures A girl reacts as refugees arrive by boat on the Greek island of Lesbos after crossing the Aegean sea from Turkey Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees make a show of hands as they queue after crossing the Greek border into Macedonia near Gevgelija Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures People help a wheelchair user board a train with others, heading towards Serbia, at the transit camp for refugees near the southern Macedonian town of Gevgelija AP Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees board a train, after crossing the Greek-Macedonian border, near Gevgelija. Macedonia is a key transit country in the Balkans migration route into the EU, with thousands of asylum seekers - many of them from Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq and Somalia - entering the country every day Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures An aerial picture shows the "New Jungle" refugee camp where some 3,500 people live while they attempt to enter Britain, near the port of Calais, northern France Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures A Syrian girl reacts as she helped by a volunteer upon her arrival from Turkey on the Greek island of Lesbos, after having crossed the Aegean Sea EPA Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees arrive by boat on the Greek island of Lesbos after crossing the Aegean sea from Turkey Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures Beds ready for use for migrants and refugees are prepared at a processing center on January 27, 2016 in Passau, Germany. The flow of migrants arriving in Passau has dropped to between 500 and 1,000 per day, down significantly from last November, when in the same region up to 6,000 migrants were arriving daily. Ms Arkavazi liked the way Mr Dodevski played with the children of the migrants, AFP reported, in contrast to the stern attitudes of many of his colleagues. Macedonia took a hard-line against migrants during the crisis in 2016, and the country's security forces were known for their harsh handling of people trying to cross its borders. There were occasions when tear gas and other riot tactics were used against asylum seekers. But Ms Arkavazi received more favourable treatment from Mr Dodevski, including being treated to food. In April, the pair were in a restaurant when Mr Dodevski asked her to marry him something he had to repeat 10 times to clarify it wasnt a joke. Border tensions: Macedonian police fire tear gas at refugees It was an unexpected move: Mr Dodevski is an Orthodox Christian and Ms Arkavazi is a Kurdish Muslim. However, she relented and the couple were married in the northern town of Kumanovo in July. Now, Ms Arkavazi has found a safe home just not where she expected to. She is living with Mr Dodevski in his home in the town and with his three children from other marriages. And in a few months, they will be joined by another child: their own. 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 }} Vladimir Putin has invited the children of 35 US diplomats to visit the Kremlin in a provocative stunt aimed at embarrassing the outgoing US president. The move was designed to rile Barack Obamas administration after it chose to expel 35 Russian officials from the US amid claims the Kremlin interfered in the US election. It came just days after Mr Putin accused the US President of irresponsible diplomacy. Invitations were sent to Moscow-based diplomats at the US embassy before Christmas, with the children of the 35 diplomats given the chance to see the Russian Presidents festive tree. Trump's advisor suggests Obama's sanctions against Russia are to 'box in' the incoming President The action is Russias latest attempt to undermine Barack Obama before he leaves office on January 20. Russian diplomats at the UK embassy earlier tweeted that Mr Obama was a lame duck president. Mr Putin said: All the children of American diplomats accredited in Russia, I invite you to the New Year's and Christmas tree in the Kremlin. A US embassy spokesperson responded that diplomats appreciated the invite but did not comment on whether anyone had attended the event. Vladimir Putin and the people Show all 11 1 /11 Vladimir Putin and the people Vladimir Putin and the people 561608.bin Vladimir Putin and the people 561611.bin GETTY IMAGES Vladimir Putin and the people 561614.bin EPA Vladimir Putin and the people 561615.bin REUTERS Vladimir Putin and the people 561617.bin AP Vladimir Putin and the people 561618.bin GETTY IMAGES Vladimir Putin and the people 561620.bin PA Vladimir Putin and the people 561621.bin AP Vladimir Putin and the people 561622.bin GETTY IMAGES Vladimir Putin and the people 561624.bin GETTY IMAGES Vladimir Putin and the people 561625.bin EPA The move followed the expulsion last week of 35 Russian diplomats in retaliation for the hacking of email accounts linked to the Democratic Party. US security officials believe Kremlin-backed hackers accessed the servers to help Mr Trump win the presidency. The emails, taken from Hillary Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta, were then released by Wikileaks. In all 96 Russians were flown home after being given 72 hours to leave the country. Many of the Russian officials and their families arrived in Moscow early on Monday. Some had complained that the expulsion ruined families' celebrations of New Year's Eve, Russia's main gift-giving holiday. The expulsions were part of a package of sanctions ordered by President Barack Obama last Thursday in the final weeks of his administration. Russias foreign ministry advised Mr Putin to carry out reciprocal expulsions of 35 US officials. But Mr Putin said he would not stoop to the level of irresponsible diplomacy. We will not create problems for American diplomats, we will not expel anyone, he continued in a statement, adding that Russia reserved the right to retaliate. 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 tour guide has recorded an unusual sound in the north of Sweden that has been likened to the noise emitted by a fictional gun from the Star Wars films - but he believes it comes from the Northern Lights. Oliver Wright, a photographer and tour guide working for Lights Over Lapland, heard what he described as a rat-a-tat swooshing sound while out with a group of people on Christmas Day. I was standing beneath an intense display of auroras in Abisko, Sweden, when I heard something that sounded like Star Wars blasters, he told Spaceweather.com. Recommended Northern Lights captured across the UK in these stunning pictures The photographer said the sounds appeared to be coming from nearby powerlines, and that people around him heard the noise, too. He then rushed closer to the power lines and was able to record a sample using my iPhone. Mr Wright said the sound grew louder as he approached the power lines and fainter as he walked away. He had heard the sound three times before on previous trips, each time while close to a power line, but this was the first time he recorded the strange swooshing (listen below). The sound could have been created by electrophonic transduction, according to Spaceweather.com, which is created by the conversion of electromagnetic energy into mechanical motion. This could cause currents to flow through the nearby powerlines with enough force to make them shake and emit noise. At the time of the Christmas aurora outburst, magnetic fields around Abisko were seething with activity. Strong low-frequency currents can literally shake objects, launching acoustic vibrations into the air, astrophysicist Dr Tony Philips said, The Local reported. After Mr Wright uploaded his own sound recording from Christmas Day online, one person agreed with the photographers description that the swooshing was akin to the sound emitted from a Star Wars blaster gun, and claimed that they knew exactly how it was created. Its high tension electrical lines undulating in the wind and rocking against their pinions, user Douglas Bryendlson claimed. This is exactly how Star Wars sound designer Ben Burtt created those blaster sounds in the first place, he wrote, posting a video of someone re-creating the sound effect from the films by banging a rock against a large metal cable of a radio tower. Mr Wright is not the first person to have been curious about the sounds of the aurora borealis, however. For more than a century there have been reports of sounds such as a faint hissing or crackling associated with the Northern Lights that have largely been dismissed as hearsay, according to National Geographic. But Finnish researcher Unto Laine has studied the sounds for more than 10 years and believes the lights may well cause clapping sounds, and he has a theory as to why. In history there are thousands of relevant observations, but recordings also exist that consists of many different type of sounds described by observers around the world such as crackling, clapping, popping, booms and low frequency noise, Mr Laing said. He believes that the sounds are produced during intense displays of the aurora borealis and when there are cold, clear and calm weather conditions. Speaking to LiveScience Mr Laing claimed the sounds can be created when a layer of relatively warm air becomes blanketed over a layer of cold air near the Earths surface. Electrical charges then build up in the warm layer of air while opposite charges build in the cold layer, and when an intense aurora display appears over these layers it can create geomagnetic disturbances that cause the electricity to discharge and create sounds, he said. 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 attacker who killed 39 people in a shooting at an Istanbul nightclub on New Year's Eve has been identified, the Turkish foreign minister has said. Mevlut Cavusoglu did not name the suspect, who remains at large, in a televised interview with Turkish state-run news agency Anadolu on Wednesday. Investigators have previously released photos of the alleged gunman, and Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said on Monday that the authorities have records of his fingerprints. Turkish police conducted a series of raids in the Aegean port city of Izmir overnight on Tuesday, arresting five men thought to have links to terror group Isis, but did not catch the perpetrator of the seven-minute long massacre in Istanbul's Reina nightclub. The gunman is thought to have been living in Izmir with his wife and children for three weeks before going to Istanbul to carry out the shooting. It is believed he was previously based in Konya, in the centre of the country. At least twenty people have been detained in connection to the incident so far, including two people of foreign nationality who were arrested at Istanbul's Ataturk airport on Tuesday. Isis has claimed responsibility for the attack, which wounded 70 more people, several of whom are still in a critical condition. CCTV footage showed a man killing a police officer and security guard before entering the nightclub. After people dropped to the floor when the first shots were fired, he shot at those lying down before changing his clothes and leaving the scene. Most of those killed were foreigners from Middle Eastern countries, including Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Israel and Syria. 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 Special Forces have been deployed close to the border with Russia as part of a persistent presence of American troops in the Baltics. Dozens of special ops solders are being stationed along Europes eastern flank to reassure Nato allies Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. The move will also allow the US to monitor Russian manoeuvres amid fears of further destabilisation following its annexation of Crimea in 2014. General Raymond Thomas, head of the Pentagons Special Operations Command, said the Baltic states were desperate for America's help in deterring potential Russian aggression. NATO planes police the skies over Baltics He told The New York Times: Theyre scared to death of Russia. They are very open about that. Lithuanian defence ministry spokeswoman Asta Galdikaite confirmed the US had offered additional safety assurance measures to the Baltic countries following the deterioration of the security situation in the region. The troops will also help train local forces and add to intelligence gathering operations carried out by the CIA. Eastern European countries neighbouring Russia fear an incursion similar to that launched in 2014 in Crimea and eastern Ukraine, where fighting continues. The Lithuanian Presidents office released a statement saying the US was playing an active role to provide the most reliable security guarantees for the Baltic states and for the whole transatlantic community. Army Photographic Competition 2016 Show all 13 1 /13 Army Photographic Competition 2016 Army Photographic Competition 2016 Corporal Sean Neill, from Kilmarnock, kissing his daughter Madison in the streets of Glasgow after the 400 strong Homecoming Parade. The photo, by Mark Owens, has been named Winner of Best Online Image (voted by the public) in the Army Photographic Competition 2016 Mark Owens/Army HQ Scotland/PA Wire Army Photographic Competition 2016 This photograph shows Officer Cadets from Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (RMAS) on Exercise Dynamic Victory, Grafenwoehr & Hohenfels Training area, Bavaria Bombardier Murray Kerr RA/PA Wire Army Photographic Competition 2016 Great Men, by Bombardier Murray Kerr RA Bombardier Murray Kerr RA/PA Wire Army Photographic Competition 2016 The photograph shows the changing room buzzing 30 minutes before forming up Sergeant Rupert Frere RLC/PA Wire Army Photographic Competition 2016 Prepping for the Worst, by Cpl Timothy Jones Cpl Timothy Jones/PA Wire Army Photographic Competition 2016 Y Company, 1st Battalion The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, conducting jungle warfare training in Brunei, learning to live, survive and fight in the unique training environment Cpl Timothy Jones/PA Wire Army Photographic Competition 2016 Right Hook, by Bombardier Murray Kerr RA Bdr Murray Kenneth Kerr, Royal Artillery/PA Wire Army Photographic Competition 2016 Army Photographic Competition 2016 The Climb, by Capt Ben Norfield, RGR Capt Ben Norfield, RGR/PA Wire Army Photographic Competition 2016 This photograph shows the TIGERS Freefall Parachute Display Team from the 1st Battalion The Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment (1 PWRR) send a Birthday message to the Queen from 8,000 feet above Paderborn in Germany Dominic King AMC/PA Wire Army Photographic Competition 2016 Nightlife in Otterburn, by Cpl Timothy Jones Cpl Timothy Jones/PA Wire Army Photographic Competition 2016 The photograph shows Garrison Sergeant Major Andrew Stokes of the Coldstream Guards making inspections of the soldiers drill Sergeant Rupert Frere RLC/PA Wire Army Photographic Competition 2016 Y Company, 1st Battalion The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, conducting jungle warfare training in Brunei, learning to live, survive and fight in the unique training environment Cpl Timothy Jones/PA Wire However, Russia views the build-up of NATO troops in the Baltics as a provocation and has said the main barrier to warm relations with the West is Americas continued military presence there. US special operations forces will complement around 4,000 Nato troops posted to Poland, Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia in the coming months. The deployment the largest on Russias doorstep since the Cold War was criticised as truly aggressive by Moscow. Russia had every sovereign right to take necessary measures throughout the territory of the Russian Federation, a statement from the Kremlin added. Britain will send an 800-strong battalion to Estonia, supported by French and Danish troops, beginning in May. Elsewhere, Canada is sending 450 troops to Latvia and Germany is sending up to 600 soldiers to Lithuania. 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 }} Benjamin Netanyahu has called for the Israeli soldier convicted for shooting a wounded Palestinian man dead to be pardoned. The Israeli Prime Minister described Sgt Elor Azarias manslaughter verdict as a difficult and painful day for all of us first and foremost for Sgt Azaria and his family, IDF soldiers, many citizens and parents of soldiers, myself included". Without commenting the man Sgt Azaria killed or his family, Mr Netanyahu called on Israelis to act responsibly towards the Israel Defence Forces (IDF), saying the army was the basis for our survival. IDF soldiers are our sons and daughters and must remain above any controversy, he added. I support giving Sgt Azaria a pardon. Mr Netanyahus statement was released hours after the soldier was convicted of manslaughter, facing a maximum prison sentence of 20 years. The Israeli Prime Minister put himself at odds with military commanders who moved swiftly to condemn the killing of Abdel Fattah al-Sharif in March and called on all soldiers to obey its code of ethics. President Reuven Rivlin has authority to issue pardons but has said he will wait for the legal process to run its course before making a decision, with Sgt Azarias legal team already announcing an appeal. A porotest in support of Sgt Azaria (AFP/Getty Images) The case has reignited tensions across Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories, with thousands of Israelis protesting against the case and hundreds of Sgt Azarias supporters gathering outside the court on Wednesday. Among those demanding a pardon is Naftali Bennett, leader of the right-wing Jewish Home party. Today a soldier who killed a terrorist who deserved to die, who had tried to slaughter a soldier, was put in handcuffs and convicted like a criminal, he wrote on Facebook. Avigdor Lieberman, the Israeli defence minister, also said he disagreed with the difficult verdict and would do anything he could to assist Sgt Azaria and his family. We must keep the army outside every political argument...and keep it in the widest consensus in Israeli society, he added. Sharon Gal, a spokesperson for the Azaria family, accused the court of picking up the knife [used to attack an IDF soldier] from the ground and stabbed it in the back of all the soldiers. Video footage captured by a local resident showed the soldier shooting al-Sharif in the head at close range as he lay on the ground in Hebron following a stabbing attack on an Israeli soldier. He had already been shot alongside another man who died immediately at the scene, and was lying immobile on the ground in the divided West Bank city. Palestinian man shot by Israeli soldier as he lies on the ground Sgt Azaria said he believed Mr al-Sharif remained a threat but judges found that Sgt Azaria was aware that his actions in shooting the wounded Palestinian assailant would result in loss of life, and that the terrorist did not pose a threat. The IDF medic, now 20, did not act in accordance with army protocol, the three-judge panel found, and the claim that he felt threatened because al-Sharif may have been carrying explosives or still been able to reach for his knife was not justified. One cannot use this type of force, even if we're talking about an enemy's life, the Tel Aviv military court said in its verdict. Sgt Azaria remained emotionless as the chief judge read out the conviction, but his mother screamed you should be ashamed of yourselves as the panel left the bench. Yousri al-Sharif, the father of the man killed, said the verdict was fair following his sons death. It is an achievement of the court that it condemned the soldier, he said after relatives gathered at the family home in Hebron to watch the three-hour verdict live on Israeli television. Lt-Col Nadav Weissman, a military prosecutor, said, The judges decided that it was an unjustified shooting. This is not a happy day for us. We would have preferred that this didn't happen. But the deed was done, and the offence was severe. The IsraeliPalestinian conflict intensifies Show all 10 1 /10 The IsraeliPalestinian conflict intensifies The IsraeliPalestinian conflict intensifies Medics evacuate a wounded man from the scene of an attack in Jerusalem. A Palestinian rammed a vehicle into a bus stop then got out and started stabbing people before he was shot dead AP The IsraeliPalestinian conflict intensifies Israeli ZAKA emergency response members carry the body of an Israeli at the scene of a shooting attack in Jerusalem. A pair of Palestinian men boarded a bus in Jerusalem and began shooting and stabbing passengers, while another assailant rammed a car into a bus station before stabbing bystanders, in near-simultaneous attacks that escalated a month long wave of violence AP The IsraeliPalestinian conflict intensifies Getty Images The IsraeliPalestinian conflict intensifies Palestinians throw molotov cocktail during clashes with Israeli troops near Ramallah, West Bank. Recent days have seen a series of stabbing attacks in Israel and the West Bank that have wounded several Israelis AP The IsraeliPalestinian conflict intensifies Women cry during the funeral of Palestinian teenager Ahmad Sharaka, 13, who was shot dead by Israeli forces during clashes at a checkpoint near Ramallah, at the family house in the Palestinian West Bank refugee camp of Jalazoun, Ramallah AP The IsraeliPalestinian conflict intensifies A wounded Palestinian boy and his father hold hands at a hospital after their house was brought down by an Israeli air strike in Gaza Reuters The IsraeliPalestinian conflict intensifies Palestinians look on after a protester is shot by Israelis soldiers during clashes at the Howara checkpoint near the West Bank city of Nablus EPA The IsraeliPalestinian conflict intensifies A lawyer wearing his official robes kicks a tear gas canister back toward Israeli soldiers during a demonstration by scores of Palestinian lawyers called for by the Palestinian Bar Association in solidarity with protesters at the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem's Old City, near Ramallah, West Bank AP The IsraeliPalestinian conflict intensifies Undercover Israeli soldiers detain a Palestinian in Ramallah Reuters The IsraeliPalestinian conflict intensifies Palestinian youth burn tyres during clashes with Israeli soldiers close to the Jewish settlement of Bet El, in the West Bank city of Ramallah, after Israel barred Palestinians from Jerusalem's Old City as tensions mounted following attacks that killed two Israelis and wounded a child The prosecutor said the verdict was important, clear, decisive and speaks for itself. The case is the first conviction of an Israeli soldier for killing a Palestinian since the start of a new wave of violence in October 2015. Palestinian attackers have killed at least 36 Israelis and several foreign nationals in stabbings, shootings and car rammings, while more than 220 Palestinians have been shot dead by Israeli security forces. Authorities say the vast majority were carrying out or attempting attacks, while the UN and humanitarian groups have raised concern over excessive use of force. A report by Israeli human rights organisation Yesh Din found the IDF opened 186 criminal investigations into suspected offences against Palestinians in 2015, but just four of those investigations yielded charges. Of 76 Palestinians killed in clashes with soldiers in the West Bank in 2015, only 21 deaths resulted in investigations, the group said. The fact that in 55 incidents no criminal investigation was considered necessary raises doubts about the implementation of Israel's declared policy on investigating civilian fatalities, the report concluded. Turkey's prime minister will this week pay a critical visit to Iraq, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday, after tensions soared to unprecedented levels ahead of the operation to recapture Mosul. Ankara has been concerned over the role of Shiite pro-Tehran militia in the operation to take the majority Sunni second city of Iraq from Islamic State (IS) militants. "We are watching all actions aimed at starting a confessional conflict in Iraq," Erdogan said in a speech in Ankara. He said that Prime Minister Binali Yildirim and a delegation would be making a visit to Iraq starting on Friday. "We want to bring our relations to a better level after they ground to a halt in recent times." Ankara has been largely left on the sidelines in the Mosul operation and the tensions led to a bitter public spat between Erdogan and Iraqi Premier Haider al-Abadi. Erdogan last year told the Iraqi leader to "know your place" and even said "you are not at my level". Not to be outdone, Abadi hit back by mocking Erdogan's appearance on FaceTime to rouse supporters on the night of the failed July 15 coup. But on December 30, Erdogan spoke to Abadi by telephone for the first time since the row, Turkish media said. Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said earlier this week that a "new era" was starting in Turkey's relationship with Iraq's leaders. Ruled for nearly half a millennium by the Ottoman Empire, Mosul is considered by mainly Sunni Muslim Turkey to be part of its natural sphere of influence in the Middle East. Ankara has insisted Mosul must keep its Sunni Arab Muslim majority which it had before IS took over the city from woefully unprepared Iraqi troops in 2014. Before the emergence of IS in Iraq, Turkey had major ambitions for Mosul, opening a vast consulate but then finding its entire 49 strong staff was taken hostage by the Islamist militants in June 2014. The hostages were later freed in September 2015 amid murky circumstances and, symbolically, the consulate building was destroyed in a US-led coalition air strike in April 2016. Search Keywords: Short link: 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 first man to interrogate Saddam Hussein after his capture by US forces in 2003 has said it quickly became clear he had not developed weapons of mass destruction. Former CIA analyst John Nixon was tasked with questioning the Iraqi dictator after he was found hiding in a cave in December 2003. He said all the White House wanted to know was if there was any evidence that Hussein was developing weapons of mass destruction. But talking to Hussein, his advisers and subsequent research had led him to the conclusion that Iraq's nuclear weapons programme had ended years earlier. His team were regarded as failures after they came to that conclusion, he told the BBC, Mr Nixon added that he was not invited to debrief the then president George W Bush until 2008 - two years after Hussein's execution. In a scathing assessment of the former Commander in Chief, he said he was one of the few to shake both Mr Bush's hand and that of Hussein, but he would rather have spent more time with the latter. Mr Bush was isolated from reality and his advisors were yes men, he said. I used to think what we said at the CIA mattered and the president would listen, but it doesn't matter what we say, politics trumps intelligence, he added. Mr Nixon, who left the CIA in 2011, said he was ashamed of what happened in Iraq after Husseins fall. The most iconic images from the war in Iraq Show all 20 1 /20 The most iconic images from the war in Iraq The most iconic images from the war in Iraq U.S. Navy Hospital Corpsman HM1 Richard Barnett, assigned to the 1st Marine Division, holds an Iraqi child in central Iraq, March 29, 2003 Reuters The most iconic images from the war in Iraq An explosion rocks Baghdad during air strikes March 21, 2003 Reuters The most iconic images from the war in Iraq An Iraqi woman watches U.N. weapons inspectors leave Saddam airport in Baghdad March 18, 2003 Reuters The most iconic images from the war in Iraq An Iraqi girl holds her sister as she waits for her mother (R) to bring over food bought in Basra March 29, 2003 Reuters The most iconic images from the war in Iraq U.S. Marine Corp Assaultman Kirk Dalrymple watches as a statue of Iraq's President Saddam Hussein falls in central Baghdad's Firdaus Square, April 9, 2003 Reuters The most iconic images from the war in Iraq US Marines kick in a door while securing a building next to the main hospital in central Baghdad April 15, 2003 Reuters The most iconic images from the war in Iraq A soldier of U.S. Army's 4th Infantry Division (Task Force Ironhorse) searches through dense vegetation around the Diala river where Iraqi militants are hiding outside Baquba early November 13, 2003 Reuters The most iconic images from the war in Iraq An Iraqi detainee gestures toward U.S. soldiers through bars of his cell at Abu Ghraib prison outside Baghdad May 17, 2004 Reuters The most iconic images from the war in Iraq Mays, a young Iraqi Shi'ite girl, cries after a mortar shell which landed outside the family's home in a Najaf residential area injured her uncle August 18, 2004 Reuters The most iconic images from the war in Iraq U.S. Marines carry an injured colleague to a helicopter near the city of Falluja, November 10, 2004 Reuters The most iconic images from the war in Iraq An Iraqi man suspected of having explosives in his car is held after being arrested by the U.S army near Baquba, Iraq, October 15, 2005 Reuters The most iconic images from the war in Iraq A wounded Iraqi woman is helped after several bomb attacks in central Baghdad, July 27, 2006 Reuters The most iconic images from the war in Iraq A man runs down a street warning people to flee shortly after a twin car bomb attack at Shorja market in Baghdad, February 12, 2007 Reuters The most iconic images from the war in Iraq An Iraqi girl holds her hands up while U.S. and Iraqi soldiers search her family house in Baquba early June 30, 2007 Reuters The most iconic images from the war in Iraq An Iraqi woman tries to explain that she has nothing to do with illegal fuel as soldiers from the 2nd battalion, 32nd Field Artillery brigade patrol search for illegal fuel sellers in Baghdad August 6, 2007 Reuters The most iconic images from the war in Iraq U.S. President George W. Bush (L) walks in front of Humvees with Defense Secretary Robert Gates (C) and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice following remarks to the press after nightfall at Al-Asad airbase in Anbar Province September 3, 2007 Reuters The most iconic images from the war in Iraq U.S. soldiers blindfold an Iraqi man after arresting him during a night patrol at the Zafraniya neighborhood, southeast of Baghdad September 4, 2007 Reuters The most iconic images from the war in Iraq An Iraqi baby lies in a cradle while a woman argues with U.S. soldiers of 1/8 Bravo Company searching for weapons, explosives and information about militants in the area during a foot patrol in a neighbourhood of Mosul June 26, 2008 Reuters The most iconic images from the war in Iraq Policemen cry during a funeral of their colleague a day after a bomb attack in Baghdad's Jihad district November 3, 2010 Reuters The most iconic images from the war in Iraq Staff Sgt. Keith Fidler kisses his wife Cynthia, as their son Kolin looks on, during a homecoming ceremony in New York, April 8, 2011 for the New York Army National Guard's 442nd Military Police Company's return from Iraq Reuters He said the Bush Administration gave no thought to what would happen after the US led invasion of the country. Perhaps, in light of the subsequent rise of Isis, the region would have been better off if Hussein had remained in his post, he added. Mr Nixon's comments come after the Chilcot Report finally delivered its verdict on Tony Blairs decision to take Britain into the war alongside the US. Sir John Chilcot savaged the decision to go to war and said there was no imminent threat from Saddam Hussein in March 2003. He said: We have concluded that the UK chose to join the invasion of Iraq before the peaceful options for disarmament had been exhausted. Military action at that time was not a last resort. 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 Kurdish Womens Protection Units (YPJ) in Syria is both widening its operations to include Arab women who want to join the fight against Isis and stepping up its military assault on the extremists de facto capital of Raqqa in 2017, a spokesperson has said. As the women of the YPJ, we aim not only liberation from Isis but also a liberation of mentality and thoughts," the YPJs spokesperson Nesrin Abdullah announced. War is not only the liberation of land. We are also fighting for the liberation of women and men. If not, the patriarchal system will prevail once again, she said in an wide-ranging interview with the Amsterdam-based Kurdish news agency Firat. The mostly Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters began a US-backed operation to retake the northern Syrian city of Raqqa in November, timed to dovetail with the assault on Isis other remaining urban stronghold of Mosul in neighbouring Iraq. 2016 saw womens participation in the fight greatly expand, Ms Abdullah said, with the formation of several new military councils designed to encourage the participation of freed Arab and Yazidi women across both Syria and Iraq. In Manbij in particular, female residents were so inspired by the female YPJ soldiers who helped liberate them they have created their own all-female battalion to retake the neighbouring town of al-Bab. Two units have now completed training for battle inside the umbrella Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) coalition, Ms Abdullah said, and both a military training academy and college-style institution were being set up for 2017. Arab people were the predominant residents of the liberated areas. They were impressed when they saw that women participated in military affairs and played a leading role in clashes. This had important consequences. From Shaddadi to Manbij, many women have joined us, she said. Syrian women burn burkas to celebrate liberation from Isis The YPJ gained a lot of battlefield experience in 2016, Ms Abdullah added, which is being transformed into an academic consciousness. The training women receive covers many fields, including feminist history and philosophy. This is because the YPJ is not a brute fighting force but a force of social, cultural and moral consciousness. Women who realise themselves wage this struggle, the spokesperson said.. The results give women confidence, empowering them to make their own decisions and take an active, mobilised, intellectual role in the fight against Isis without relying on men, she added. In pictures: Fighting between Kurds and Isis intensifies in Kobani Show all 30 1 /30 In pictures: Fighting between Kurds and Isis intensifies in Kobani In pictures: Fighting between Kurds and Isis intensifies in Kobani Kobani An explosion rocks Syrian city of Kobani during a reported suicide car bomb attack by the militants of Isis group on a People's Protection Unit (YPG) position in the city center of Kobani, as seen from the outskirts of Suruc, on the Turkey-Syria border In pictures: Fighting between Kurds and Isis intensifies in Kobani Kobani An explosion rocks the Syrian city of Kobani during a reported suicide car bomb attack by Isis Getty In pictures: Fighting between Kurds and Isis intensifies in Kobani Kobani An explosion in the Syrian city of Kobani set off as fighting continues Getty Images In pictures: Fighting between Kurds and Isis intensifies in Kobani Kobani Heavy smoke rises following an air strike by the US-led coalition aircraft in Kobani Getty Images In pictures: Fighting between Kurds and Isis intensifies in Kobani Kobani An unidentified armed man takes position near a building in the Syrian town of Kobani, as seen from near the Mursitpinar border crossing on the Turkish-Syrian border in the southeastern town of Suruc in Sanliurfa province In pictures: Fighting between Kurds and Isis intensifies in Kobani Kobani Kurdish fighters walk to their positions in Kobani In pictures: Fighting between Kurds and Isis intensifies in Kobani Kobani Residents of Kobani walk in the streets of the besieged town, as seen from near the Mursitpinar border crossing on the Turkish-Syrian border in the southeastern town of Suruc in Sanliurfa province In pictures: Fighting between Kurds and Isis intensifies in Kobani Kobani People's Protection Unit (YPG) fighters walk in the Syrian town of Kobani, as seen from near the Mursitpinar border crossing on the Turkish-Syrian border in the southeastern town of Suruc in Sanliurfa province In pictures: Fighting between Kurds and Isis intensifies in Kobani Kobani People watch the Syrian town of Kobani from near the Mursitpinar border crossing, on the Turkish-Syrian border in the southeastern town of Suruc in Sanliurfa province In pictures: Fighting between Kurds and Isis intensifies in Kobani Kobani A Turkish soldier stands on a top of a tank as he watches the Syrian town of Kobani from near the Mursitpinar border crossing, on the Turkish-Syrian border in the southeastern town of Suruc in Sanliurfa province In pictures: Fighting between Kurds and Isis intensifies in Kobani Kobani Smoke rises from the Syrian town of Kobani, seen from near the Mursitpinar border crossing on the Turkish-Syrian border in the southeastern town of Suruc. Kurdish forces defending Kobani urged a U.S.-led coalition to escalate air strikes on Isis fighters who tightened their grip on the Syrian town at the border with Turkey. A group that monitors the Syrian civil war said the Kurdish forces faced inevitable defeat in Kobani if Turkey did not open its border to let through arms, something Ankara has appeared reluctant to do In pictures: Fighting between Kurds and Isis intensifies in Kobani Kobani Newly arrived People's Protection Unit (YPG) fighters walk in a line in the Syrian town of Kobani, seen from near the Mursitpinar border crossing on the Turkish-Syrian border In pictures: Fighting between Kurds and Isis intensifies in Kobani Kobani Heavy smoke rises from the Syrian town of Kobani, seen from near the Mursitpinar border crossing on the Turkish-Syrian border in the southeastern town of Suruc in Sanliurfa province In pictures: Fighting between Kurds and Isis intensifies in Kobani Kobani Kurdish women mourn at the grave of a relative, who was a Kurdish fighter killed in fighting with the militants of the Islamic State group in Kobani, and was buried at a cemetery in Suruc In pictures: Fighting between Kurds and Isis intensifies in Kobani Kobani Turkish army tanks mechanized units take position on top of a hill near Mursitpinar border crossing in the southeastern Turkish town of Suruc in Sanliurfa province In pictures: Fighting between Kurds and Isis intensifies in Kobani Kobani Smoke rises after an US-led air strike in the Syrian town of Kobani. The air strikes pushed Isis fighters back to the edges of the Syrian Kurdish border town of Kobani, which they had appeared set to seize after a three-week assault, local officials said In pictures: Fighting between Kurds and Isis intensifies in Kobani Kobani A huge plume of smoke rises after an airstrike in eastern Kobani, Syria, behind a hilltop where militants with the Islamic State group had raised their flag on Monday AP In pictures: Fighting between Kurds and Isis intensifies in Kobani Kobani Turkish Kurds watch as airstrikes hit Kobani AP In pictures: Fighting between Kurds and Isis intensifies in Kobani Kobani Smoke rises from the Syrian town of Kobani as Turkish army tanks take position on the Turkish side of the border Reuters In pictures: Fighting between Kurds and Isis intensifies in Kobani Kobani Military aircraft flies over the Turkey-Syria border as it nears targets in Kobani In pictures: Fighting between Kurds and Isis intensifies in Kobani Kobani Smoke rises after a US-led air strike in the Syrian town of Kobani Reuters In pictures: Fighting between Kurds and Isis intensifies in Kobani Kobani Turkish Kurds, on the Turkey-Syria border, watch over the border at the intensified fighting between Isis and Kurdish forces AP In pictures: Fighting between Kurds and Isis intensifies in Kobani Kobani Smoke rises during airstrikes on the Syrian town of Ain al-Arab, known as Kobani by the Kurds Getty In pictures: Fighting between Kurds and Isis intensifies in Kobani Kobani A huge plume of smoke rises after an airstrike outside west Kobani, Syria AP In pictures: Fighting between Kurds and Isis intensifies in Kobani Kobani A militant with the Isis group walks in the town of Kobani In pictures: Fighting between Kurds and Isis intensifies in Kobani Kobani Militants with the Isis group, bottom, along with a machine gun-fitted pick up truck, partially seen bottom right, hold positions in Kobani, during intensified fighting with Syrian Kurds In pictures: Fighting between Kurds and Isis intensifies in Kobani Kobani People watch smoke rising from the Syrian town of Ain al-Arab, known as Kobani by the Kurds, after an air strike Getty In pictures: Fighting between Kurds and Isis intensifies in Kobani Kobani Smoke rises from a strike at an area of a mosque that destroyed its minaret, in Kobani during heavy fighting between militants with the Isis group and Syrian Kurds In pictures: Fighting between Kurds and Isis intensifies in Kobani Kobani Militants with Isis hold positions in Kobani, Syria, during intensified fighting with Syrian Kurds AP In pictures: Fighting between Kurds and Isis intensifies in Kobani Kobani A partial view of Kobani with a mosque's minaret Kurdish fighters in Syria managed to fight off government troops at the beginning of the civil war, establishing their own relatively peaceful and democratic administration in Rojava despite the chaos that has engulfed much of the country since. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is thought to be be in a position to defeat remaining Sunni rebels now that the tide of the war has turned in his favour following the fall of Aleppo. While they have been kept out of all peace talks to date, Rojava officials remain hopeful that they will be allowed to continue govern themselves, despite opposition from neighbouring Turkey. 2017 will be the final year [of the war] both militarily and politically. Even if a solution is not reached, the conditions for a solution will be created. The YPJ will always support a democratic peaceful solution, Ms Abdullah said. Whether the war winds down or not, the YPJ aim to double or triple their existing forces regardless, she added: There is the possibility that contradictions and clashes deepen. We should enhance our strength." For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} An Israeli soldier who shot dead an immobilised Palestinian assailant as he lay on the ground has been convicted of manslaughter by a Tel Aviv military court in a landmark ruling. The 21-year-old attacker, Abdel Fattah al-Sharif, was shot and wounded after he and an accomplice stabbed and wounded an Israeli soldier in the incident in Hebron in March last year. As he lay on the ground, Sergeant Elor Azaria, who arrived on the scene 11 minutes later, shot him in the head. The killing was captured on video and widely shared by human rights activists. The controversial trial has dragged on for months, focusing on Sgt Azarias mental state at the time and the extent to which the judges found him to be acting out of self-defence or revenge. In the process, it has polarised Israeli society. There have been widespread protests and fund-raising concerts calling for the charges to be dropped in the last 10 months. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu even took the unusual step of calling the sergeants family after he was arrested to offer his sympathies. Hundreds of demonstrators gathered outside the court on Wednesday awaiting the trials verdict, with crowds calling on the Israel Defence Force (IDF) and government to defend the soldiers actions which kept Israel safe. But in a damning verdict which dismissed the defence case, Justice Maya Heller said that Sgt Azaria was aware that his actions in shooting the wounded Palestinian assailant would result in loss of life, and that the terrorist did not pose a threat. The IDF medic, now 20, did not act in accordance with army protocol, the three-judge panel found, and the claim that he felt threatened because al-Sharif may have been carrying explosives or still been able to reach for his knife was not justified. 'I saw Israeli bulldozer kill Rachel Corrie' Show all 3 1 /3 'I saw Israeli bulldozer kill Rachel Corrie' 'I saw Israeli bulldozer kill Rachel Corrie' 335079.bin AP 'I saw Israeli bulldozer kill Rachel Corrie' 335078.bin AP 'I saw Israeli bulldozer kill Rachel Corrie' 335077.bin AFP One cannot use this type of force, even if we're talking about an enemy's life, the court said in its verdict. Sgt Azaria remained emotionless as the chief judge read out the conviction, but his mother screamed you should be ashamed of yourselves as the panel left the bench. Manslaughter carries a prison sentence of up to 20 years under Israeli law. Sgt Azaria will be sentenced on a later date and can appeal both the conviction and sentence to the Military Appeals Court. Hundreds of protesters supportive of the soldiers case waiting outside the court appeared deflated by the decision, which makes Sgt Azaria the first member of the IDF to be convicted of the charge in 12 years. More than 150 Palestinians have been fatally shot on suspicion of carrying out terrorist attacks since October 2015, Human Rights Watch (HRW) noted. Todays conviction is a positive step toward reining in excessive use of force by Israeli soldiers against Palestinians, said Sari Bashi, the organisations Israel advocacy director. Before the verdict was handed down there were already calls to pardon the 20-year-old, including from high level politicians such as Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked and Education Minister Naftali Bennett. Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman described the decision as a tough verdict but called on those who did not like it to respect the ruling and keep the peace. 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 group of foreign construction workers who staged a protest about unpaid wages have been sentenced to 300 lashes and four months behind bars in Saudi Arabia. Video from the protest in April shows a row of buses belonging to their employer, Binladin Group, set ablaze by the angry men, who claimed had not been paid for six months. Authorities confirmed at the time that seven buses were set alight. In the courtroom in Mecca, some of the protesters were reportedly sentenced to four months in prison and 300 lashes for destroying public property and inciting unrest during the demonstration. Others were given a lesser sentence of 45 days detention. Workers employed by the Binladin Group and Saudi Oger were left waiting for their wages after a collapse in oil revenues left the kingdom unable to pay the private firms it had contracted to undertake major building projects. Binladin Group, which has constructed hundreds of landmark buildings in Saudi Arabia on government contracts, was founded more than 80 years ago by the father of deceased Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. The company said it had completed payment to 70,000 sacked employees at the end of 2016. Workers still with the company would get their back pay as the government settled its arrears, the company said. Tens of thousands of employees of Saudi Oger, which is led by Lebanons Prime Minister Saad Hariri, were also waiting for wages. One Oger worker said in December that he had received part of the money but was still owed five months of pay. 10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses Show all 10 1 /10 10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses 10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses In October 2014, three lawyers, Dr Abdulrahman al-Subaihi, Bander al-Nogaithan and Abdulrahman al-Rumaih , were sentenced to up to eight years in prison for using Twitter to criticize the Ministry of Justice. AFP/Getty Images 10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses In March 2015, Yemens Sunni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi was forced into exile after a Shia-led insurgency. A Saudi Arabia-led coalition has responded with air strikes in order to reinstate Mr Hadi. It has since been accused of committing war crimes in the country. Getty Images 10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses Women who supported the Women2Drive campaign, launched in 2011 to challenge the ban on women driving vehicles, faced harassment and intimidation by the authorities. The government warned that women drivers would face arrest. Getty Images 10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses Members of the Kingdoms Shia minority, most of whom live in the oil-rich Eastern Province, continue to face discrimination that limits their access to government services and employment. Activists have received death sentences or long prison terms for their alleged participation in protests in 2011 and 2012. Getty Images 10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses All public gatherings are prohibited under an order issued by the Interior Ministry in 2011. Those defy the ban face arrest, prosecution and imprisonment on charges such as inciting people against the authorities. Getty Images 10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses In March 2014, the Interior Ministry stated that authorities had deported over 370,000 foreign migrants and that 18,000 others were in detention. Thousands of workers were returned to Somalia and other states where they were at risk of human rights abuses, with large numbers also returned to Yemen, in order to open more jobs to Saudi Arabians. Many migrants reported that prior to their deportation they had been packed into overcrowded makeshift detention facilities where they received little food and water and were abused by guards. Getty Images 10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses The Saudi Arabian authorities continue to deny access to independent human rights organisations like Amnesty International, and they have been known to take punitive action, including through the courts, against activists and family members of victims who contact Amnesty. Getty Images 10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses Raif Badawi was sentenced to 1000 lashes and 10 years in prison for using his liberal blog to criticise Saudi Arabias clerics. He has already received 50 lashes, which have reportedly left him in poor health. Carsten Koall/Getty Images 10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses Dawood al-Marhoon was arrested aged 17 for participating in an anti-government protest. After refusing to spy on his fellow protestors, he was tortured and forced to sign a blank document that would later contain his confession. At Dawoods trial, the prosecution requested death by crucifixion while refusing him a lawyer. Getty Images 10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses Ali Mohammed al-Nimr was arrested in 2012 aged either 16 or 17 for participating in protests during the Arab spring. His sentence includes beheading and crucifixion. The international community has spoken out against the punishment and has called on Saudi Arabia to stop. He is the nephew of a prominent government dissident. Getty The government had earlier said that it would pay its arrears to private firms by the following month, Middle East Eye reported. But on 22 December, Finance Minister Mohammed Aljadaan, after releasing the 2017 budget, said money owed to the private sector would be paid within 60 days. The majority of foreign workers in Saudi Arabia come from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Many send the majority of their earnings to families in their home country, who rely on them to get by. 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 Israel Defence Forces (IDF) killed 32 children in the past year as a result of violence in the West Bank and Jerusalem, human rights group Defence for Children International (DCI) has said. A new report from the organisation found 2016 was the deadliest year on record in the last decade, with 32 Palestinian minors killed during raids and confrontations with the army. An upswing in violence in Jerusalem in particular since October 2015 - including stabbings and shootings - has killed 36 Israelis. More than 150 Palestinians have been fatally shot in cases where non-lethal force was not necessary in the same time period, Human Rights Watch (HRW) noted. Of the Palestinian dead, 19 people were aged 16 - 17, and 13 more were 13 - 15, DCI said. Israeli soldiers employ a shoot-to-kill policy... the fact they can do so with impunity and no consequences builds the foundation for such shootings to take place, Ayed Abu Eqtaish, Accountability Programme Director at DCI Palestine, told Al Jazeera. Israel: From independence to intifada Show all 7 1 /7 Israel: From independence to intifada Israel: From independence to intifada 26973.bin Israel: From independence to intifada 26974.bin Israel: From independence to intifada 26975.bin Israel: From independence to intifada 26976.bin Israel: From independence to intifada 26977.bin Israel: From independence to intifada 26985.bin Robert Capa/Magnum Israel: From independence to intifada 26986.bin Robert Capa/Magnum The IDF did not immediately respond to a request for comment. According to DCI, 28 Palestinian civilians under 18 were killed in 2015, 13 in 2014, and four in 2013. Only one manslaughter investigation into the death of an unarmed 17-year-old boy at a protest has been opened in the last three years. The trial is still in progress. 2016s high death toll has been due to the increased tensions in Jerusalem, the organisation said. 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 }} Benjamin Netanyahu is to be questioned under caution for a second time by police over allegations of corruption. The Israeli Prime Minister will reportedly be questioned on Friday morning by Israeli police, with no time limit on how long he can be interrogated for as the so-called graft inquiry continues. Mr Netanyahu, who has been Prime Minster since 2009, has strenuously denied what he calls baseless reports he received a string of "inappropriate" gifts from two businessmen. Netanyahu blames Palestinians for lack of peace in Israel He posted messages on Facebook and Twitter after being questioned for the first time on Monday, saying that long years of persecution against me and my family turned out yesterday to be nothing. Speaking at a meeting with his party, Likud, on Monday afternoon, Mr Netanyahu said: We've been paying attention to reports in the media, we are hearing the celebratory mood and the atmosphere in the television studios and the corridors of the opposition, and I would like to tell them, stop with the celebrations, don't rush, he said. Recommended Israel considers granting Netanyahu immunity from possible charges There won't be anything because there is nothing. But on Monday evening, Attorney-General Avichai Mandelblit issued a statement on the allegations, confirming the probe into Mr Netanyahus dealings has become a fully-fledged criminal investigation and that the Prime Minister has been accused of ethics breaches. Israel's Channel 2 television reported Mr Netanyahu accepted favours from businessmen in Israel and abroad, and is the central suspect in a second investigation that also involves family members. Haaretz said investigators are looking into allegations Mr Netanyahu accepted 850,000 from Arnaud Mimran, a French businessman currently serving eight years in prison for committing a huge carbon-tax fraud. During his trial, Mimran claimed to have donated the money to Mr Netanyahu during the 2009 Israeli election campaign - something the politician has consistently denied. 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 Channel 10 also reported Mr Netanyahu's oldest son, Yair, accepted free trips and other gifts from Australian billionaire James Packer. Israels Justice Ministry and police have declined to comment on the media reports, and details of the Graft inquiry remain murky. Previous inquiries stretching over Mr Netanyahus more than two decades in public life have examined his family trips and expenses without resulting in charges. Israeli Justice Minister Ayalet Shaked this week appeared to give her backing to a bill that would grant sitting premiers immunity from certain types of criminal prosecutions. The bill, proposed by politician David Amsalem from the ruling coalition Likud party, would amend the law to stop police from investigating a sitting prime minister for fraud, bribery and breach of trust, The Times of Israel website reported. 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 }} Instead of working up a thirst sightseeing, drink in both booze and views at bars that look out at the world's most amazing sites. We've rounded up drinking establishments that have some of the world's most incredible views, from iconic landmarks like Paris' Eiffel Tower and India's Taj Mahal to stunning cityscapes and dramatic scenery. Ozone, Hong Kong (The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company (The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company) Forget a buzz. You'll get full-on vertigo at Ozone, which, on the 118th floor of Hong Kong's Ritz Carlton and 1,608 feet above sea level, is the world's highest bar, featuring views of Kowloon and Central Hong Kong, and all the way to its suburbs. Coq d'Argent, London, UK The Coq d'Argent in London is like a rooftop country club, featuring a manicured lawn to drink on flanked by perfectly trimmed hedges. There are also views of some of London's top landmarks, like the Gherkin, the Bank of England, and St. Paul's Cathedral. Top of the Mark, San Francisco, California On the top of a hill on top of the InterContinental Mark Hopkins Hotel, Top of the Mark features sensational, 360-degree views of San Francisco in its entirety. You can see Alcatraz, the Golden Gate Bridge, even as far as Sausalito... and choose from over 100 martinis. Three Sixty, St. Louis, Missouri Perched right above Busch Stadium, Three Sixty in St. Louis, Missouri, allows you to catch a Cardinals game from above while drinking better beer, or just take in views of the Gateway Arch and Mississippi River. The Galaxy Bar and Restaurant, Athens, Greece The Galaxy Bar and Restaurant, atop the Hilton Athens, has legendary views of the Acropolis, Parthenon, Syntagma Square, and Kallimarmaro stadium the site of the first Olympic Games. Aer, Mumbai, India (Four Seasons Mumbai (Four Seasons Mumbai) The views at Aer, a Four Seasons hotel bar in Mumbai, India, stretch across the city and all the way to the Arabian Sea. O2 Lounge, Moscow, Russia The O2 Lounge at The Ritz-Carlton in Moscow looks straight down at the Red Square and the Kremlin, and, in the distance, the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. Skye Bar, Sao Paulo, Brazil Once you've peeled your eyes from the blood-red rooftop pool in the middle of Sao Paulo's Skye Bar, you can look out at Ibirapuera Park and pretty much all of Sao Paulo, Brazil. Sky Bar, Bangkok, Thailand Bangkok's Sky Bar will have you feeling drunk without a drop to drink, as it sits on the Lebua Hotel's 63rd floor 820 feet in the sky. The trippy LED-lit bar changes color every few minutes, has some of the most incredible views of the city, and was prominently featured in "The Hangover Part II." Blu Bar, Sydney, Australia (Shangri-La (Shangri-La) They dont call it a million dollar view for nothing: Sydneys Blu Bar on 36 has insane views, and prices to match (theres a $10,000 martini). On the 36th floor of the Shangri-La hotel, views encompass most of the city, but most notably the Sydney Harbour, with both the Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge at your feet. TOP Mountain Star, Hochgurgl, Austria TOP Mountain Star, perched at 9,800 feet in the Hochgurgl ski resort in the Austrian Alps, features views of 23 Alpine peaks, from the Otztal Alps to the Dolomites in Italy. The Roof, Los Angeles, California (The Roof on Wilshire (The Roof on Wilshire) Rooftop bars are a dime a dozen in sunny LA, but the Roof at the Hotel Wilshire is a favourite thanks to its killer views of the Hollywood Hills. Wythe Hotel, Brooklyn, New York Step outside of Manhattan and into Brooklyns the Ides at the Wythe Hotel to see unrivalled views of the entire island of Manhattan, from Harlem to FiDi. Hotel Saniya Palace, Agra, India What this budget hotel lacks in luxury it makes up for in views: The Hotel Saniya Palace in Agra, India, arguably features the world's best view of the Taj Mahal from its rooftop restaurant and bar. New York Bar, Tokyo, Japan On the 52nd floor of the swanky Park Hyatt hotel, Tokyo's New York Bar has floor-to-ceiling windows making way for jaw-dropping views of Tokyo, which stretches as far as the eye can see. And yes, you recognise it from "Lost in Translation." La Vue, Paris, France (Hyatt (Hyatt) La Vue in Paris shows the City of Light from its most dramatic side, with the Eiffel Tower looming not all too far away. On the 34th floor of the Hyatt Regency Paris Etoile, this lounge is one of the city's most romantic spots and that's saying something. Vertigo and Moon Bar, Bangkok, Thailand Bangkoks Vertigo and Moon Bar is aptly named, as the 360-degree views from its 61st floor roost atop the Banyan hotel, which encompass pretty much all of Bangkok, are dizzying. 360, Istanbul, Turkey (360 Istanbul (360 Istanbul) Floor-to-ceiling windows at the glass-enclosed 360 in Istanbul, Turkey, affords views of two continents, stretching from the Bosphorus all the way to St Antoine's, the Hagia Sophia and out to the Sea of Marmara. Al Sarab Rooftop Lounge, Dubai, UAE The Al Sarab Rooftop Lounge, located in the Bab Al Shams Desert Resort of Dubai, overlooks miles of the Arabian Desert and offers stunning views during sunsets. AirBar, Las Vegas, Nevada Theres no shortage of decadence in Sin City, but for the most self-indulgent views head to AirBar, on the 108th floor of the Stratosphere Tower. At 800 feet above The Strip it's the highest bar in Vegas, and features towering views of the entire city through giant windows. Vista Bar, Cape Town, South Africa Tabletop Mountain is one of South Africas most famous sites, and makes a stunning backdrop to Cape Towns Vista Bar, which features panoramic views of the majestic mountain through its floor-to-ceiling windows. Read more: Nine things you never knew about Disney parks, according to a man who played Goofy for 20 years 21 Easter eggs hidden within your Google search bar The 10 best countries for expats to work in Read the original article on Business Insider UK. 2016. Follow Business Insider UK on Twitter. 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 }} Voyages of Discovery, part of the All Leisure Group, cancelled the cruise aboard the Voyager to Borneo, Cambodia, Thailand and Singapore two days before the New Year. Its sister company, Swan Hellenic, did the same for a cruise due to depart on 3 January. Passengers were told the cancellations were for operational reasons. But now All Leisure has ceased trading and all future holiday bookings with the company are now cancelled. Around 400 passengers are abroad, but the Civil Aviation Authority says: The vast majority of these will be able to use the scheduled airline tickets included as part of their booking to return to the UK shortly. The CAA has made arrangements to bring the small number of remaining passengers back to the UK at no extra cost. According to Abta, the travel association, the firm has around 13,000 forward bookings. About one-third of those are for UK departures, and are financially protected by Abta. For cruises beginning abroad, passengers who paid with a credit card are being told to claim a refund from their card provider. Other customers who have Atol-protected bookings where the cruise was sold along with a flight will be able to claim from the CAA. A dedicated helpline, 0808 164 8810, has been set up. According to the most recently published figures, covering the year up to October 2015, the cruise division lost 146 for each passenger it carried. The fall in the value of the pound following the EU referendum added extra pressure. All Leisure Groups revenue is predominantly in sterling, but its costs are mainly in foreign currencies, particularly the US dollar and euro. The chairman, Roger Allard, told The Independent that a perfect storm of geo-political upsets and cost increases had led to the failure: The reality is that a lot of the places we historically operate like the Black Sea and North Africa are simply not feasible. Were trying to get as much money back as we can for the creditors and give people who are booked for the summer as much time as possible to organise alternatives. Around 1.9m British passengers cruised last year; the All Leisure collapse represents two-thirds of one per cent of the total market. A Canadian firm, G Adventures, bought two other brands owned by All Leisure Group, Travelsphere and Just You, just after Christmas. All Leisure Group also owned Hebridean Island Cruises, which has a single ship, Hebridean Princess converted from a Caledonian MacBrayne car ferry. But the firm was sold to a group of investors before Christmas. Click here to view the latest river and ocean cruise offers, with Independent Holidays Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the View from Westminster email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Already, with more than two weeks before his inauguration, Donald Trump is changing the way US business behaves. Ford has dropped its $1.6bn plan to build a plant in Mexico and instead is going to invest in Michigan instead. The company has denied that there is any deal with the new President, but the message is very clear. A President that shouts is going to be listened to. He does not need to unwind Nafta and put a tariff on US imports from Mexico to check the move for US firms to shift production south of the border and, he would argue, do Americans out of jobs. Now it may well be that the real challenge to jobs in the US comes less from lower-waged workers in Mexico and more to technological advance, but that is a separate point. The issue here is the ability of the president to use language, rather than formal powers, to achieve an objective. It is not new. Theodore Roosevelt, President from 1901 to 1909, coined the expression the bully pulpit to catch the ability of a president to urge a course of action though he had in mind the older meaning of the word bully as encouragement, rather than its current less pleasant usage. Trump takes credit for Sprint plan to add 5,000 jobs in U.S. It is an old concept but it may actually work even better now than it did then, because communication lines are now so short. Donald Trump seems to understand intuitively how a tough tweet will change peoples behaviour. Anyone running an American company does not want to be thought un-American. The stuff may be made in China, but US companies stress how their products are still conceived and designed in the US. There is a book of 450 photos of Apple products since 1998 called Designed by Apple in California, published a couple of months ago, pushing home this message. But the high-tech corporate aristocracy of America does not only have its products made abroad. It also keeps its spare cash abroad, an estimated $2,500bn of it. The tax incentive to do so is overwhelming: companies pay zero tax on profits made overseas provided the money is not brought back into the US. That will doubtless be changed and the President will use his bully pulpit to thump the legislation to do so through Congress. Quite what the terms of the deal will be are not clear. Maybe there will be some kind of amnesty, though that word is unfair in that US companies have not done anything wrong. But one way or another the money will come back. Teddy Roosevelt, as he was called a newspaper cartoon of him on a bear hunt was the origin of our teddy bear had several other resonant phrases, of which two are relevant to the President-elect. One is the Square Deal. He wrote it on a bit of White House headed paper: All I ask is a square deal for every man. Give him a fair chance. Do not let him wrong any one, and do not let him be wronged. 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 You see the language: not nuanced, not the product of a focus group, the stress on opportunity, the simplicity, and so on. But if this sounds a bit Trumpian, the substance was rather different from what we know of the next Presidents aims. There were three elements: conservation of the environment, protection of consumers, and control of corporations. Roosevelt has gone down as one of the greatest of US presidents. Insofar as The Donald would like to emulate him, he should look at the Square Deal. The other famous quotation was this: Speak softly and carry a big stick. Actually Teddy Roosevelt did not always speak softly by any means, but the idea that the US should be cautious in using its overwhelming military power has been at the very core of American foreign policy for the past century. Here again there is a message for the next President. The big point here is this. A US president has soft power as well as hard power. Words are a key element in soft power. An effective president is not simply one who can get things through Congress, though legislative change is often necessary. He still a he is one who can change behaviour without necessarily using legislation to do so. But people will only listen to the bully pulpit if the sermon from the pulpit sounds like a square deal. Things have to be fair, and at the moment they are not. 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 }} Dont try to tell me what you think I want to hear, Theresa May told civil servants. I want your advice, I want the options. Then politicians make the decisions. The Prime Ministers message, relayed in an interview with The Spectator in December, made perfect sense. As Home Secretary, her style was to weigh the evidence and then make her mind up. She did the same on entering Downing Street, postponing a decision on the Chinese-backed proposed nuclear plant at Hinkley Point, and then giving the go-ahead. Yet different rules seem to apply to the biggest challenge facing the Government. On Brexit, May shows every sign of listening only to what she wants to hear. It is the most plausible explanation for the abrupt and damaging resignation of Sir Ivan Rogers as Britains ambassador to the EU, just weeks before formal exit negotiations begin. I have met Rogers; it seemed to me that he rightly sees the civil services role as ensuring how the Government achieves its goals, not what the goals should be a decision for politicians. He certainly believes in the plain speaking May claims to want. The problem with Brexit is that it is incredibly complicated. There is no simple A to B answer to the how question. It appears that Rogers was marginalised by Downing Street for spelling out some of the difficulties ahead and where the 27 EU countries stand doing his job, in other words. Hardline Brexiteers are delighted to see the back of him. They claim, without any proof, that he leaked his own advice to May that negotiating a trade deal with the EU could take 10 years. I doubt very much that he did; its more likely that it was leaked to undermine his position. 2016: The year of Brexit May should resist the temptation to join the hardliners in suspecting the Whitehall machine of trying to block Brexit. Although the Brexiteers have won, many are paranoid that their enemies plot to snatch victory from them. This culture breeds a poisonous atmosphere in which some civil servants fear their motives are doubted and so dilute their advice to avoid being branded not one of us, as Margaret Thatcher dubbed her critics. There is a lot of self-censorship on Brexit going on, said one Whitehall insider. Rogers imposed no such constraints on himself; that was not his style. His resignation may prove the tip of an iceberg. The word in Whitehall is that some other officials will do their duty until Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty is triggered to kickstart the exit talks, and then seek a transfer or pastures new outside the civil service. The hardliners would say good riddance and welcome the appointment of officials who believe in Brexit. But this would mean a worrying politicisation of our neutral civil service. The system works when officials give unvarnished, independent advice, and then make the decisions of their political masters work, as the overwhelming majority do. The barbs directed at civil servants by the Brexiteers are all of a piece with Michael Goves ludicrous statement during the referendum that people have had enough of experts. He now admits it was manifestly nonsense to claim that expert engineers, doctors and physicists were wrong, but insists a sub-class of experts, particularly economists, pollsters, social scientists should reflect on their mistakes. 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 Goves original remark sums up the hubris of the Brexiteers, who seem prepared to cut off their nose to spite their face if it means listening to any expert with pro-EU instincts. They are in denial about there being two sides in any negotiation. It is also obvious that you need to know what those on the other side of the table want, the influences upon them and any divisions amongst them. Rogers was the best-placed person to know; talking about this does mean selling out, as the Brexiteers suggest. To prosper, the UK needs to exploit the many opportunities that Brexit will bring, but also win the best possible deal with the EU, especially on trade. That is precisely what Rogers argued in his resignation letter to his UK staff in Brussels, which showed his frustration at them being sidelined. Rogers confirmed that he does not know the Governments negotiating objectives. This is not a case of being out of the loop; May is yet to decide them. She now needs to do so quickly. The task would be eased by forgetting Goves mantra and not suspecting the motives of those offering candid advice. May will need all the expertise she can muster to find a way out of the Brexit maze. Around 100 armed men with links to Muslim rebels stormed a prison in the southern Philippines on Wednesday, killing a guard and freeing more than 150 prisoners, some of them Islamic militants, officials said. The Southeast Asian, majority Roman Catholic nation has for decades been plagued by insurgency by Muslim rebels in its southern islands. The gunmen opened fire at guards at the North Cotabato District Jail in Kidapawan, prison warden Peter Bongat said on radio. Of the jail's 1,511 inmates, 158 managed to escape, he said. Eight prisoners had since been caught, two had surrendered, while six were killed, according to the office of the president. Shirlyn Macasarte, acting governor of North Cotabato, said her office had been tipped off about the plan by the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) to free its members as early as the second quarter of last year. "They were involved in murders and at the same time I think they have experience in bomb making so we watched them closely," Macasarte told news channel ANC. The leader of the attackers, known by the alias Commander Derbie, had links with the BIFF, a splinter group of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), Macasarte said. Some members of the MILF and BIFF were said to be behind the killing of 44 police commandos in a secret mission two years ago to capture a Malaysian bomb maker with a $5 million bounty from the U.S. State Department on his head. In 2014, the government signed a peace deal with the MILF, the biggest Muslim rebel group, but clashes still occur with smaller groups. Search Keywords: Short link: The Irish Medical Organisation called on Health Minister Simon Harris and other health managers to stop blaming a surge in flu illness Overcrowding in the country's hospitals remains at record levels for a second day in a row. A headcount of patients on trolleys by the Irish Nurses' and Midwives' Organisation (INMO) found 602 people waiting for a proper bed in a cubicle on a ward. It is only the third time in more than 10 years that the figure has breached 600 with the crisis at its worst at University Hospital Limerick, where 66 patients had been admitted but no space could be found for them. In Tallaght Hospital in Dublin it was reported that nine people on trolleys should have been in isolation but were not. Among others suffering the worst overcrowding included Midland Regional Hospital, Tullamore, where 45 people were on trolleys, and South Tipperary General Hospital, where 41 people were in a similar position. Elsewhere, there were 30 people or more on trolleys in hospitals in Waterford, Galway, Kilkenny, Portlaoise, Mullingar and both the Mercy and University hospitals in Cork. The Irish Medical Organisation (IMO) called on Health Minister Simon Harris and other health managers to s top blaming a surge in flu illness and warned that a lack of beds, staff and investment in GP practices is at the root of the problem. Dr Peadar Gilligan, consultant in emergency medicine at Beaumont Hospital in Dublin, said: "Politicians often complicate what is a very simple explanation for our overcrowding crisis. "It's not because of seasonal issues or a spike in flu cases. "It's because politicians knowingly and deliberately took 1,600 beds out of our hospitals, introduced policies that were a direct cause of doctors emigrating and failed to invest in general practice." Dr Gilligan said it was a miracle the numbers on trolleys were not even higher. Mr Harris claimed that the scale of flu illness in the first week of January could not have been predicted and it was being compounded by outbreaks of respiratory illnesses. His assertions were dismissed by health professionals. Jim Gray, an A&E consultant in Tallaght and lecturer at Trinity College, said Ireland has 2.8 hospital beds for every 1,000 people, while the norm in other western and developed countries is 4.8 beds. He also warned before Christmas that the trolley watch numbers would drop significantly in the run-in to the holidays only to balloon again this week. Fergal Hickey, an A&E consultant at Sligo University Hospital, also warned about the low number of acute hospital beds in Ireland. According to the Health Service Executive (HSE) winter initiative plan, designed to deal with the surge in demand for beds, no more than 236 patients should be on trolleys on a single day. Sinn Fen leader Gerry Adams blamed mismanagement in the health service for the unprecedented overcrowding and hit out at Mr Harris's claims about flu levels. "Such a proposition is nonsense. It has been clear for months now that this winter was going to see the health service at crisis point," Mr Adams said. Alan Kelly, Labour's health spokesman, said all available beds must be opened immediately and spare capacity in private hospitals accessed. "It is naive of the minister to just blame the flu for a crisis we all saw coming, with no shortage of proposals put forward to alleviate the situation," Mr Kelly said. "The minister's so-called 'perfect storm' is an indictment of his failure to adequately plan, prepare and ensure appropriate resources are in place." Britain's ambassador to the European Union Ivan Rogers is pictured leaving the EU Summit in Brussels, Belgium, June 28, 2016. REUTERS/Francois Lenoir Brussels officials said the resignation of Sir Ivan Rogers meant the UK had lost a "professional" diplomat who had always "loyally defended" his Government. In an explosive resignation email, Sir Ivan hit out at the "ill-founded arguments and muddled thinking" of politicians and said civil servants still did not know the Government's plans for Brexit. Sir Ivan unexpectedly quit weeks after he sparked controversy by warning the Government that a post-Brexit trade deal could take a decade to finalise, and even then may fail to be ratified by member states. The European Commission said it regretted the loss of a "very knowledgeable" envoy and indicated that Sir Ivan had been a tough negotiator in wrangles with Brussels. Sir Simon Fraser, the former head of the Diplomatic Service, warned that Britain was losing one of its biggest experts on Europe months before "very complex" Brexit negotiations begin. But prominent pro-Brexit MP Iain Duncan Smith suggested civil servants are now having to "tear up the rulebook" for how they normally operate to deal with leaving the EU. Read More Commission spokeswoman Natasha Bertaud paid tribute to Sir Ivan in Brussels. She said: "We regret the loss of a very professional, very knowledgeable - while not always easy - interlocutor and diplomat who always loyally defended the interests of his Government." Asked if his resignation shortly before the tough Brexit talks begin would cause problems, she said: "This is not something that we are going to comment on at this stage. Negotiations have not yet started and we are still waiting for the triggering of Article 50 to commence those negotiations." Sir Simon told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "He is a highly intelligent, knowledgeable and experienced official and one of the greatest experts, if I can use the expert word, that we have on European matters in the British Civil Service." He went on: "I do think that his sort of in-depth knowledge and expertise is a loss as we go into what is going to be, as (Brexit Secretary) David Davis himself has said, a very complex set of negotiations." Sir Simon, who left his post in July 2015, rejected suggestions that Sir Ivan was not tough enough in negotiations, including David Cameron's attempt to reshape Britain's relationship with the EU before the referendum. The ex-diplomat insisted Sir Ivan "called a spade a spade" in his advice to ministers. In his resignation letter, Sir Ivan criticised politicians and urged his civil servants to continue to challenge ministers and "speak the truth to those in power". Sir Ivan wrote: "I hope that you will support each other in those difficult moments where you have to deliver messages that are disagreeable to those who need to hear them." It emerged in December, as Theresa May met European counterparts at a Brussels summit, that Sir Ivan had passed on warnings from other EU members that negotiations on a trade deal could take a decade. But former Tory leader Mr Duncan Smith suggested Sir Ivan's views were less relevant as EU member states will inevitably be feeding him their most hardline views before negotiations begin. He told Today: "They are now having to accept and understand that we are leaving and that means therefore sometimes the views and the opinions of what you keep feeding back from various member states isn't actually sometimes quite relevant." Read More Mr Duncan Smith also suggested Sir Ivan had undermined his position by "going public" too often. Jonathan Powell, Tony Blair's former chief of staff and an ex-diplomat, warned the Prime Minister against hiring a pro-Brexit successor to Sir Ivan. Appointing a "patsy" who does not explain plainly what the other side is thinking will doom the Brexit negotiations to failure as ministers will be operating in a "fantasy land" about what is achievable, he told Today. In the email from Sir Ivan, sent just before 1pm on Tuesday, he said he decided to step down early so his replacement can be in place when Article 50 is triggered by April and formal negotiations begin. But it comes amid reports of tension between the senior diplomat and ministers because of his pessimistic views on Brexit. Sir Ivan stressed the need for expert civil servants to play a central role in the negotiations and urged his staff to tell ministers the true opinions of the other 27 member states "even where this is uncomfortable". He added: "Serious multilateral negotiating experience is in short supply in Whitehall, and that is not the case in the (European) Commission or in the Council. "The Government will only achieve the best for the country if it harnesses the best experience we have - a large proportion of which is concentrated in UKREP - and negotiates resolutely. "Senior ministers, who will decide on our positions, issue by issue, also need from you detailed, unvarnished - even where this is uncomfortable - and nuanced understanding of the views, interests and incentives of the other 27." Sir Ivan also said the allocation of roles in the UK's negotiating team needs "rapid resolution" and hit out at assertions by some politicians that a free trade deal will be easy to negotiate. In comments seen as a veiled swipe at International Trade Secretary Liam Fox he said: "Contrary to the beliefs of some, free trade does not just happen when it is not thwarted by authorities: increasing market access to other markets and consumer choice in our own, depends on the deals, multilateral, plurilateral and bilateral that we strike, and the terms that we agree." The European Parliament's chief Brexit negotiator, Guy Verhofstadt, paid tribute to Sir Ivan, describing him as "a much-respected UK civil servant in Brussels who knew what he was talking about". UK Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit preparations were dealt another serious blow yesterday after the UK's ambassador to the EU abruptly quit. With just under three months to Downing Street's self-imposed deadline to trigger formal exit negotiations, Ivan Rogers - regarded as one of Britain's leading EU experts - reportedly told his staff he would be stepping down, but did not give any reasons. His departure was welcomed by the pro-exit camp, with Nigel Farage pushing for a "tough Brexiteer" to replace him. Such an appointment could be bad news for Ireland, given the need here for Britain to negotiate as soft an exit as possible. Mr Rogers had been appointed to Brussels under David Cameron in 2013, but stoked controversy with some in the anti-EU camp after he privately told ministers that a UK free trade deal post-Brexit could take a decade to thrash out. Britain's foreign and Commonwealth office said Mr Rogers had taken the decision now - earlier than his planned exit date in November - to allow a successor to be appointed before Article 50 is triggered in March, as planned. The chairman of the Leave.eu group, Arron Banks, branded Mr Rogers a pessimist and said it was time for someone who was "optimistic" about the future to take up the post. "If Mrs May were serious about leaving the EU, she would have removed him long before," said Gerard Batten, the United Kingdom Independence Party's Brexit spokesman. Charles Grant, head of the London-based Centre for European Reform, suggested that the departure would make the negotiations all the more difficult. "Ivan Rogers's resignation makes a good deal on Brexit less likely," he said via Twitter. Hilary Benn, chairman of parliament's Brexit committee, said a change in such a significant position was "not a good thing". "This is a time for continuity and experience, because this going to be a very complex, a very challenging, a very difficult negotiation," Mr Benn said. "It's an absolutely vital job - both conveying the British government's view to the other 27 members states, but also honestly reporting back what he was picking up about the attitude of the other 27 toward the forthcoming negotiations." Meanwhile, IDA chief executive Martin Shanahan said yesterday that the agency had received a "significant volume of specific queries" from across the world in the wake of the Brexit referendum. He said the queries were not exclusively from financial services, but also from technology and pharmaceutical companies. Leading Brexit campaigner Nigel Farage has said he believes Ireland may follow Britain and exit the European Union. Speaking on Wednesday, Mr Farage said there is a perception that Irish voters are major supporters of the EU but that he does not believe this is the case. He said if Britain is in a better place in two or three years - after Prime Minister Theresa May unlocks Article 50 - then momentum may grow in Ireland to take a similar step. If two or three years down the road and we are clearly better off...I think if we can do that then the pressure on Ireland, the public opinion in Ireland is going to move in our direction, Mr Farage told RTEs Sean ORourke. Read More There has been speculation that the former UKIP leader, who is a serving MEP, could become involved in a so-called Ire-exit in the future. Mr Farage said Irish voters twice voted 'no' in referenda on EU treaties. He also said he agreed with frustrations expressed by Irish politicians over the delay by London to spell out its Brexit strategy. I do agree with the Irish government. We do need the Brits to be clear about what they want, Mr Farage said. Bord Bia and the main players in the live export sector came together for their annual meeting in Tullamore today to review the past year and assess export opportunities in 2017, a year that will see the number of cattle on the market increase by approximately 100,000. Live cattle exports have fallen by approximately 18% this year, reaching 147,000. This follows a 55% decline in cattle movements to Northern Ireland, as well as fewer exports to the Netherlands (-38%) and Italy (-24%). More positively, exports to Turkey began in September, and these reached almost 20,000 for the year. Exports to Spain increased by 26%, totalling 36,700 head. The group received presentations from Bord Bia, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Animal Health Ireland and Mr. Billel Haddad, a Market Consultant in North Africa, who played a key role in the ministerial trade mission to North Africa in November 2016. Joe Burke, Bord Bias Livestock Sector Manager, provided a review of Irish live trade during 2016 and an outlook for respective markets. Live exports experienced a decline in 2016 to markets in Northern Ireland, the Netherlands and Italy. He confirmed that French exports were highly competitive last year, while the Netherlands remains challenging. While Spain is a key market for quality calves, EU demand has been impacted by cull cow supplies and so there is an increasing focus on international markets. The recent trade mission to Algeria has prompted interest from Algerian livestock buyers to explore possibilities of buying livestock from Ireland. Mr. Haddad, who is based in Spain, highlighted the main opportunities and threats of the Algerian livestock market. Recent communications with these potential importers indicate a desire by them to visit Ireland and establish direct contacts with the Irish livestock industry. Algeria imports an average of 40,000 animals per year, with France and Spain being the main two export partners. Jim OToole, Bord Bias Meat & Livestock Director, chaired the meeting and gave an update on the European beef market, while James Casey, Veterinary Inspector at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, provided an update on live animal transport and shipping. In addition, Michael Sheahan, Senior Superintending Veterinary Inspector, outlined export developments and certification and Pat Keena presented on the Department`s Animal Identification and Movement System. Finally, David Graham, Deputy CEO, Animal Health Ireland discussed the animal health issues affecting the intra-Community and international live export trade. A high-ranking city official in China burst into a government meeting Wednesday and shot the mayor and city party secretary before killing himself, state media reported. Suspect Chen Zhongshu, 54, was secretary of the land bureau in Panzhihua, a city of 1.2 million in the southwestern province of Sichuan, the official Xinhua news agency reported. The attack occurred during a meeting of the municipal party committee and high-level city government cadres at the Panzhihua convention and exhibition centre, it said. The gunman fired a series of shots, injuring city party chief Zhang Yan and mayor Li Jianqin before fleeing, Xinhua reported, without giving any details of motive or background to the incident. The two men were hospitalised, but their injuries were not life-threatening. The suspect killed himself after the attack and was found on the building's second floor, Xinhua said. Gun violence is rare in China, as private citizens are generally banned from owning firearms. Chinese media outlet Jiemian.com cited an unnamed city official saying Chen was known to have a stubborn personality and explosive temper. During a land bureau meeting, it said, he once seized a colleague's phone after it rang and threw it down, smashing it into pieces. Chen had complained in anger to friends that the party chief picked on him, Jiemian.com reported. Search Keywords: Short link: Over 10,000 farmers are still waiting on GLAS payments - six weeks after the October payment day, which the Department of Agriculture's commitment to. GLAS 2016 payments representing 85pc of the full year payment for 2016 have issued to over 19,225 GLAS 1 participants and over 8,135 GLAS 2 participants, according to the Department of Agriculture. It says further payments will continue on an ongoing basis as individual issues are resolved. However, according to the IFA, some 10,000 farmers are still waiting on payment. IFA Rural Development Chairman, Joe Brady said the pay-out of GLAS payments to farmers to date is sluggish, and called on the Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed to ensure that all 38,000 farmers are now paid the promised 85pc payment without any further delay. Brady said that while the commencement of GLAS 1 and 2 payments over the past week is welcome, it would appear from feedback IFA is getting on the ground that there are many who have yet to be paid. Excuses such as IT issues are wearing very thin and if problems persist in this area, the Minister must intervene, he said. The first two tranches of GLAS, proved to be a major success for the Department, with a total of 38,000 participants approved into the scheme to the first two tranches on the scheme and a further 14,000 applications to GLAS 3 a record number of entrants to any agri-environment scheme in a single year. Prior to Christmas the Minister for Agriculture, Michael Creed announced that his Department had commenced issuing GLAS payments to farmers some four weeks later than its commitment in the Farmers Charter of Rights to make payment of up to 75pc from the third week of October. GLAS 3 In relation to GLAS 3, the IFA Rural Development Chairman said all 14,000 farmers who applied must be accepted into the scheme, including the 830 Tier 3 farmers. This will bring the total in the scheme to around 52,000 farmers and well within the annual allocated amount of 250m promised in the 2014-2020 RDP. Scope exists to bring in additional farmers later this year. Brady said that GLAS 3 farmers must be notified of their acceptance into the scheme before the end of January. This will allow full year payment to be made later in 2017. ABP is to back a new lamb producer group in the UK which will offer sheep farmers guaranteed bonuses of up to 15p/kg (17c/kg). Group members will receive bonus payments for lambs sired by Alpha Ram sires and produced according to protocols designed to improve both the quality of lamb produced for the table and the profitability of individual members sheep enterprises. The Meatlinc Sheep Company and EasyRams, are to supply rams to ABPs Alpha Lamb Producer Group from this autumn. The creation of this new group confirms ABPs commitment to the long term profitability of UK sheep farming. Alpha Rams will only supply grass fed sires from high health status and fully recorded flocks. Ultrasound and CT scanning will be mandatory allowing their ram breeders to incorporate the benefits of recent research into carcase yields and meat eating quality into their breeding programmes. FEC analysis will be carried out in all ram breeders flocks, enabling them to produce rams with reduced worm burdens requiring less anthelmintic drenches. Steven Feehan, ABPs Head of UK Procurement, said ensuring that commercial sheep farmers have long term profitable and sustainable businesses that are able to withstand future challenges is in the interests of all in the lamb supply chain from ram breeder to processor. "By collaborating with some of the UKs most innovative ram breeders we will help bring about the necessary changes required in the sheep industry more quickly. Alpha Producer Group members will not only be receiving bonuses on their Alpha Ram sired lambs, but will also be given access to group meetings and consultancy advice that will concentrate on developing low cost production systems through improved grazing management, sheep genetics and animal health. Swedens experiment with a six-hour work day may be doomed after a two-year experiment showed that the costs outweigh the benefits. Sixty-eight nurses at an old peoples home in Gothenburg, saw their eight-hour days cut in a bid to improve staff satisfaction, health and patient care. Preliminary results of the pilot scheme concluded that it achieved all of these aims but the city had to employ an extra 17 staff, costing 12m kroner (1.6m), Bloomberg reported. City officials have decided not to make the scheme permanent because of fears costs could spiral out-of-control. It's associated with higher costs, absolutely, said Daniel Bernmar, a local left-wing politician who has been a leading advocate of the six-hour working day and is responsible for elderly care. It's far too expensive to carry out a general shortening of working hours within a reasonable time frame. Despite the setback, Bernmar is still supportive of the principle of decreased work hours. I personally believe in shorter working hours as a long-term solution, he said. The richer we become, the more we need to take advantage of that wealth in other ways than through a newer car or higher consumption." While the public sector may have shunned the idea, at least for now, Swedens vibrant tech start-up scene may still be open to it. Filimundus, an app developer based in the capital Stockholm, introduced the six-hour day last year. The eight-hour work day is not as effective as one would think," Linus Feldt, the companys chief executive told Fast Company in October. "To stay focused on a specific work task for eight hours is a huge challenge. In order to cope, we mix in things and pauses to make the work day more endurable. At the same time, we are having it hard to manage our private life outside of work." Attempts to prove the effectiveness of reduced hours have been inconclusive so far. A handful of trials in the 1990s and 2000s were scrapped due to a lack of raw data. One success has come at Toyotas Swedish service centre where shifts were cut thirteen years ago, sparking an immediate boost to productivity and increased profits. The company has kept the shorter shifts ever since. Soft drinks manufacturer Britvic has announced it will acquire Brazilian firm Bela Ischia Alimentos in a deal worth around 63m. The deal is the latest example of Britvic's ambition to expand its international operations in the area of concentrates and juices. It is the second acquisition the company has made in Brazil, following on from the 2015 purchase of Empresa Brasileira de Bebidas e Alimentos. Britvic is the second largest provider of soft drinks in the UK and the company has a large Irish presence at its plant in Kylemore in Dublin. Britvic Ireland employs approximately 500 people on the island of Ireland. The company's most recent revenues showed growth of 5.8pc, to 131m (154m). The latest figures reveal that the company has now posted six consecutive quarters of growth. "The proposed acquisition of Bela Ischia represents an exciting opportunity to build on our very strong first year in Brazil with further expansion of our presence in a large and growing soft drinks market. Bela Ischia operates in a category where Britvic has proven capability of generating growth," Britvic ceo Simon Litherland said. "We are confident that this complementary acquisition should create a fantastic platform to consolidate our strategic position in Brazil and generate additional shareholder value over the coming years," Mr Litherland said. The company combines its own leading brand portfolio including Fruit Shoot, Robinsons, Tango, J2O, Teisseire and MiWadi with PepsiCo brands such as Pepsi, 7UP and Mountain Dew Energy. Britvic's Irish arm produces Ballygowan water and MiWadi dilutables. Traders work on the floor at the opening of the day's trading at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in Manhattan. Photo: Reuters Shares in a number of listed Irish companies have the potential for significant upside during 2017, according to Davy Stockbrokers. In its inaugural conviction list, the firm selected the stocks it believed had the greatest potential this year from the 120 companies it covers. Betting group Paddy Power Betfair could see the biggest upside to its share price this year, with Davy reckoning it could rise as much as 30pc. Shares in insulation maker Kingspan had a potential 24pc upside in 2017, while at diversified group DCC, the potential upside was 26pc, according to Davy. The broker said its picks were based on rigorous bottom-up analysis. It selected stocks based on a company's ability to grow revenue regardless of the underlying environment, and also preferred firms that could convert profits to free cash flow. Capital discipline was also a necessary trait, and selected companies must have the ability to deploy capital to grow the business, improve returns or reward shareholders. Davy added that Ryanair shares had an 11pc potential upside, while at hotel group Dalata, shares could rise as much as 18pc. In financial stocks, Davy said the best sectoral bets were Bank of Ireland and Permanent Tsb. "The recovery of the Irish mortgage market remains the great prize for the Irish banking sector," the broker said. "The recent introduction of a Government help-to-buy scheme and the relaxation of macro-prudential rules for first-time buyers have hastened this eventuality. Ptsb remains the purest way to play this, while Bank of Ireland will also benefit from rising bond yields in reducing its pension deficit." Davy also pointed out that hotel group Dalata still had about 30m to spend on hotel acquisitions in Ireland. Dalata is Ireland's biggest hotel group and is benefiting from robust demand coupled with a shortage of bedrooms. Dublin currently has a shortfall of about 4,000 hotel bedrooms. "Until resolved, room rates will continue to increase, benefiting Dalata," the broker said. Davy also said that builder Cairn Homes was a top sectoral pick, with the company set to benefit from its ownership of a significant land bank and continuing government stimulus for the sector. Anglo-Irish exploration firm Tullow Oil was also a top sectoral pick for Davy, and would benefit from rising oil prices. Ryanair and LastMinute.com been rapped over the knuckles by the advertising watchdog for trying to entice customers into buying flights and holiday deals with misleading advertisements. Separate complaints against the two companies have been upheld by the Advertising Standards Authority, while the two adverts in question have been banned. A Ryanair television advert seen in October last year was found to be in breach of three broadcast advertising rules after on-screen text saying Fly from 19.99 was followed by larger text, which read Summer 2017 on sale now, despite the offer not applying to summer flights. The airline, whose controversial CEO Michael OLeary last year revealed ambitions to make air travel free in the next five to 10 years, argued that the Summer 2017 text was a subsidiary message that appeared separately at the end of the advert, adding that there was a small on-screen disclaimer throughout the commercial that the offer only applied to travel before the end of March. But the ASA ruled that the wording was ambiguous and said viewers were likely to understand the advert to mean that flights for summer 2017 were available from 19.99. Read More While we noted that the 19.99 offer was qualified by small text stating the start and end dates for the promotion, we considered that, given the conjunction of the offer with the claim Summer 2017 on sale now, the qualification was not sufficiently prominent to correct the overall impression that summer 2017 flights were included in the sale, the watchdog said in its assessment. A Ryanair spokesman said: "Ryanair disagrees with this ASA ruling, but has taken note of it in relation to future ads." It was similarly scathing of an online advert seen on website LastMinute.com in September, which promised deals of 569 Price per person Flight + hotel. The ASA received a complaint after a customer booked the package but was then told the advertised price was no longer available. She was then told she would have to pay an additional 70.77. Despite the websites claims that the offers were dynamic and their availability was subject to change at any time, the ASA found that the price statement was misleading. It said: Approximately an hour after making a booking request for the package at the quoted price, the complainant was informed that the price had increased and they would need to pay an additional sum of 70.77 in order to maintain the booking. Telegraph Media Group Limited [2022] The chief financial officer of Shannon Group, David McGarry, has left the semi-state company. He had been with the business for three years, having joined from waste management group Indaver. Mr McGarry is also a non-executive director of Bus Eireann, having been appointed to that role in 2015. He is chairman of the bus company's audit and risk committee. Mr McGarry is understood to have left his Shannon Group role before Christmas. A spokesperson for the company confirmed that he had stepped down "to pursue other career opportunities". She said that Mary Considine, Shannon Group's company secretary, had taken over the responsibility for the finance function within the group. Mr McGarry's departure comes just seven months after the company - whose activities include the operation of Shannon Airport and Shannon Heritage - appointed Matthew Thomas as chief executive. Ms Considine was the acting chief executive until Mr Thomas' appointment. Mr Thomas formally took on the role in June. He succeeded Neil Pakey, and joined from Canada's Vantage Airport Group, where he was chief commercial officer. Mr Pakey had also joined Shannon from Vantage. Mr McGarry's departure comes as Shannon Airport faces challenges and opportunities. Low-cost carrier Norwegian Air International (NAI) plans to launch flights between Cork and Boston this summer, in a move that could divert passenger traffic away from Shannon. But NAI has also indicated that it is interested in starting flights from Shannon to the United States. Shannon has also secured seasonal summer services from Lufthansa and SAS, but Ryanair is cutting some services from the airport this year. Shannon Airport handled 1.71 million passengers in 2015, compared to 1.64 million in 2014. The Shannon Group generated turnover of 65.6m in 2015 and a pre-exceptional operating profit of slightly under 8m that year. Shannon Airport's revenue was flat at 42.6m in 2015. It made a 2.2m pre-exceptional profit that year. In January last year, the NTMA raised 3bn through a syndicated sale of 10-year bond debt at a yield of 1.156pc. That was the third year in a row the agency ran a sale on January 7. Photo: Reuters The State is to issue a new 20-year syndicated bond deal in what looks set to be the first fundraising of the year by any European government. A deal could be done as soon as today, with 2bn to 3bn expected to be raised. The National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA) said it had mandated Barclays, Cantor Fitzgerald, Danske Bank, HSBC, JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley as "joint lead managers" of the bond sale. In traditional government bond auctions the debt is issued, or sold, to investors through primary dealers. In a syndicated bond the debt is underwritten by a group of banks, who then in effect sell on the risk to others investors. In January last year, the NTMA raised 3bn through a syndicated sale of 10-year bond debt at a yield of 1.156pc. That was the third year in a row the agency ran a sale on January 7. Yesterday, Irish 10-year government bonds, seen as the benchmark for investors, underperformed peers ahead of the expected new supply. But 10-year yields of 0.8pc remain well below the level seen at the same time last year, meaning it is cheaper for the State to borrow. The rate of unemployment was 7.2pc last month The unemployment rate in December dropped slightly by one percentage point month-on-month - but substantially lower than for the same period in 2015. According to the latest CSO figures, the rate of unemployment was 7.2pc last month, down from 7.3pc in November 2016 and a drop from 8.9pc in December 2015. The jobless rate has now fallen for seven months in a row and is down from a post-crisis high of 15.2pc at the beginning of 2012. Today's figures reflect the lowest unemployment rate since August 2008. The number of people unemployed, therefore, was 157,700 in December 2016, down from 160,500 in comparison with the previous month's figure and a decrease of 35,500 when compared to December 2015. Figures for December 2016 at a glance: Unemployment rate was 8.1pc for men (total 97,100), down from 8.4pc in November 2016 and down from 10.6pc in December 2015. Unemployment rate for women in December 2016 was 6.1pc (total 60,600), unchanged from November 2016 and down from 6.9pc in December 2015. Unemployment rate for people aged 15-24 years (youth unemployment rate) was 14.5pc in December 2016, a decrease from 15.4pc in November 2016. Ian Talbot, Chief Executive Chambers Ireland said: The ongoing reduction in the unemployment rate is positive news, coming as it does at a time of uncertainty for the Irish economy. However, the most encouraging aspect of the December figures is the drop in the rate of youth unemployment. High youth unemployment remains as a legacy of the recession and needs to be addressed. Increasing opportunities for young people starting out in the workplace is important not only for economic reasons but is essential for the future social cohesion of Ireland." Here are the main business stories from this morning's papers: Irish Independent *Total employment at international companies in Ireland now stands at just shy of 200,000 - the highest on record. But Martin Shanahan sounded a cautious note when showcasing the IDA's latest results. We need to avoid complacency, be alert to the uncertain international backdrop and whether we're competitive enough to face it, he suggested. *Manufacturing in Ireland rose to a 17-month high in December, according to the latest Investec PMI index. Based on a survey of managers, it measures output on an index scale of 50, where a number above 50 shows growth. *Head of multi-asset funds at Dublin-based Setanta Asset Management, David Ryan said the firm was a long-term investor, focusing on underlying value rather than risk being swayed by short-term surprises. The UK's decision to exit the European Union and Donald Trump's election shocked the world - but David Ryan shrugged and carried on as usual. *KPMG was paid fees and expenses of more than 770,000 for the administration of the five-star Lough Erne resort, new documents show. The resort was put into administration in 2011 following a Belfast High Court application by Bank of Scotland and was sold to a group of US investors headed by financier Michael Saliba in 2015. *A number of Irish companies will make announcements or demonstrate their technology at the world's biggest tech trade event, the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. The Irish presence at the event, which kicks off tomorrow, is being led by Dublin-based Cubic Telecom. *The growth of digital shopping across the EU continues unabated with an ever-increasing number of people now shopping online, according to a recent survey from Eurostat. Two thirds of internet users made an online purchase in 2016, according to the data. The Irish Times *The sudden resignation of Britain's most senior diplomat in Brussels has raised feared among Irish officials and politicians that a hard Brexit is becoming more likely. Mr Rogers resigned abruptly on Tuesday - just three months before the formal triggering of the exit mechanism by the British and the beginning of negotiations between the UK government and the EU on an exit agreement. *The States debt agency plans to raise up to 3bn by selling its first ever 20-year bond through a group of banks and securities firms. The National Treasury Management Agency said on Tuesday afternoon it had hired a syndicate of banks, comprising Barclays, Cantor Fitzgerald, Danske Bank, HSBC, JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley, to manage the bond sale. *One hundred and twenty first-time buyers applied for the Governments new Help-to-Buy scheme within the first few hours on Tuesday. The home purchase incentive offers homebuyers the chance to get up to 20,000 to put against their deposit on a new home. *The Tax Appeals Commission has ruled that two taxpayers cannot get refunds of tax overpayments dating back more than four years, even though the Revenue Commissioners have conceded that in both cases the taxpayers involved paid too much. In one case, too much tax was wrongly deducted from a social welfare pension for a period of 15 years, but repayments were only made in respect of four of these years. Irish Examiner *Sterling has jumped against the euro on evidence the UK currencys Brexit-driven slump had helped boost British factories, while Irish factories too appear to have weathered their Brexit troubles to post a strong rise in output last month. *UK-based companies considering EU relocation in light of last years Brexit decision are expected to start making formal decisions on their future movements by the summer. IDA Ireland chief executive Martin Shanahan yesterday said the agency has, since June 23, seen an intensification of inquiries being made about Ireland from firms considering a new EU home. *Cyber criminals are set to demand higher ransoms for breaching company data in 2017, while also exploiting the growing complacency in the general public regarding online security. That is the prediction of leading Irish information security company, Ward Solutions, which said that ransomware attacks and data breaches are set to grow this year, leading to serious repercussions for information security. *Ford Motor Co said it will cancel a planned $1.6bn factory in Mexico and invest $700m at a Michigan factory, after President-elect Donald Trump harshly criticised the Mexico investment plan. Ford chief executive Mark Fields yesterday that said the decision to cancel the new Mexico factory was the result of sagging demand for small cars in North America and not because Mr Trump was elected president. Italy vowed Wednesday to increase deportations of migrants whose asylum requests have been rejected, after a riot in a reception centre sparked by the death of a young woman. The country, which has been on the frontline of migrants arriving across the Mediterranean from North Africa, is pushing for an agreement with Niger and a renewed deal with Tunisia to facilitate returns. "We have saved many lives but we cannot accept rule-breaking. We need to speed up deportations," Foreign Minister Angelino Alfano, the country's former interior minister, said in an interview with La Stampa daily. He was "working to tie up agreements which will reduce arrivals and prevent departures" from the coast of North Africa, he said after a record 181,000 people were rescued from the Mediterranean and brought to safety in Italy in 2016. Asylum seekers set fires inside the reception facility near Venice earlier this week in a protest over living conditions and access to healthcare after a 25-year-old woman from the Ivory Coast died. The migrants cut the electricity and forced social workers to barricade themselves in their offices at the centre in Cona, where 1,500 people were housed in a space designed for 15 according to the local mayor. The nearby hamlet, which has just 190 residents, has seen the number of migrants lodged in flimsy tents balloon over the past year. Protesters had complained of a delay in calling an ambulance for the woman, who died in a bathroom of a blood clot. Some 100 people were transferred Wednesday from the Cona centre to Bologna, where they were destined for other facilities. They were met by a small group of Italian demonstrators holding banners reading: "Solidarity with those who revolt". Interior Minister Marco Minniti said at least one "Centre for Identification and Expulsion" (CIE) will be opened in every region of Italy in the coming weeks, where those who have had their asylum request rejected will be held before deportation. Returning migrants is a costly, time-consuming process that requires bilateral agreements with the countries of origin. Alfano said three countries were "key" to tackling the biggest migrant crisis since World War II: Libya, Niger and Tunisia. The EU believes just over half the migrants arriving in Italy travel first through Niger and last month it offered Niamey 610 million euros ($635 million) to curb transit towards Europe. Alfano said Italy was "close to sealing an agreement" with the West African country, while Minniti spent Tuesday in Tunisia for talks on "renewing" a repatriation agreement between Rome and Tunis. Italy's police chief Franco Gabrielli vowed at the weekend to deport more migrants who have no right to be in the country following the shooting in Milan of the suspected attacker behind the Berlin Christmas market tragedy. Tunisian Anis Amri had arrived in Italy by boat in 2011. He spent time in a detention centre and several prisons in Sicily for violent behaviour after Italy tried but failed to deport him back to Tunisia, and was finally ordered to leave the country in 2015. His return to Italy -- where he was shot dead -- after the Berlin attack raised fears he was attempting to contact jihadist plotters here. Search Keywords: Short link: Total employment at international companies in Ireland now stands at just shy of 200,000 - the highest on record. IDA-backed firms created just under 19,000 jobs here last year, according to end-of-year results from the agency. The number of net new jobs totalled 11,842, with job losses at multinationals here at their lowest since 1997, the IDA said. Multinational companies here now employ 199,877. More than half of the jobs created last year were outside of Dublin, although the regional successes differ considerably. The midlands recorded just 58 new IDA-backed jobs - a 1pc increase - to bring multinational employment in the region to 4,280. The border region, by contrast, enjoyed a 5pc increase, with an extra 559 jobs. Total IDA-backed employment there now stands at 10,868. The mid-west enjoyed the largest percentage increase in jobs last year, at 10pc, to 17,143. Other regions also saw an increase, including Dublin and mid-east, which saw a 6pc hike in the number of jobs to 95,054. The south-west had an increase of 5pc to 36,059. The west jumped 8pc to 22,070 jobs. Meanwhile, the south-east rose 4pc to 14,403, with the midlands up 1pc to 4,280. The agency also reiterated that it had experienced a "significant volume of specific queries" to IDA offices from across the world as a result of the Brexit vote. Martin Shanahan, IDA ceo, said the queries were not exclusively from financial services, but also from technology and pharmaceutical companies. He said a lot of the queries were progressing to site visits and that he expected companies to make decisions by June. But Mr Shanahan also warned that IDA-backed firms here which service the UK market - around 350 - could face difficulties in the event of a hard Brexit, signalling some may transfer operations, depending on their exposure to the British market. Read more: Around 100 of them are thought to be very heavily exposed to the UK. The IDA's annual results showed that a record number of investments were secured from international companies in the last year - 244 versus 213 in 2015. The majority came from the US at 176, followed by 49 from Europe and 19 from growth markets including India and Japan. The number of new-name investments went to 99 from 94 the previous year. Mr Shanahan warned against getting too excited about the record-breaking figures. "We absolutely cannot be complacent about this success - we have to keep an eye on our competitiveness, including costs," he said. Mr Shanahan said that regions which were less densely populated and which did not have significant urban centres would remain a challenge for the IDA. The IDA boss also said that it was too early to say what impact the election of Donald Trump will have. But amid bellicose campaign rhetoric from the billionaire that he would bring home US jobs, Mr Shanahan said he believed US companies would continue to have an international presence because of the required access to market. Meanwhile, the British Irish Chamber of Commerce yesterday announced a new service to help more Irish and UK businesses trade together. 'BIG: The British Irish Gateway for Trade' is an initiative that links members of business organisations. Manufacturing in Ireland rose to a 17-month high in December, according to the latest Investec PMI index. Based on a survey of managers, it measures output on an index scale of 50, where a number above 50 shows growth. The data points to resilience despite Britain's June vote to leave the EU. The Investec PMI rose to 55.7 last month, the highest level seen since the middle of 2015. Analysts believe the surge in manufacturing is a strong indication the worst of the pressure from the Brexit vote has now passed. The robust performance of the index owed largely to a spike in new orders, which rose at the fastest rate since last January. That was attributed to an improvement in the overall picture in the UK, which also dipped significantly in the wake of the Brexit vote. The improved growth in Irish manufacturing is mirrored across the Irish Sea. On Monday, data released in the UK revealed that British manufacturing now stands at its highest level since 2014. "The anecdotal evidence is that there has been an uptick in activity in the UK. That is significant for the domestic economy in Ireland, because 40-45pc of all Irish indigenous exports go to the UK," Philip O' Sullivan, chief economist at Investec, said. "There was initial reticence to place orders in the aftermath of the Brexit vote, and that seems to have subsided somewhat in the last quarter of 2016 and has given people more confidence to start placing orders," he said. Job expansion also grew in the sector for the third successive month. The number being created in December grew at the fastest rate for 19 months, confounding initial fears that the fallout from Brexit could lead to job losses due to retrenchment across the sector. A rise in the cost of raw materials saw input costs rise, however this was offset by a hike in the amount being charged for manufactured products. The manufacturing sector in Ireland has now been in expansionary territory for 43 months - an indication of the vital contribution made by the sector to Ireland's impressive economic performance. A steady growth in domestic demand has also boosted the sector. Read more: Martin Shanahan, CEO, IDA Ireland with Watson the Android who introduced the press conference Martin Shanahan sounded a cautious note when showcasing the IDA's latest results. We need to avoid complacency, be alert to the uncertain international backdrop and whether we're competitive enough to face it, he suggested. There's no doubting the agency's success. Yesterday's announcement was peppered with "record" achievements in terms of the number of investments secured in a single year and the total numbers now employed in multinationals here. The success, as the agency put it, was secured despite "unprecedented geopolitical changes" as well as tough competition from other jurisdictions for investment. Last year heralded the onset of those intense geopolitical changes, but it will be in 2017 and beyond when the effects are felt. The negative impact on the economy from Brexit has yet to be quantified, even though exporters and Border retailers have been feeling the currency squeeze. Whether Donald Trump's campaign trail rhetoric slamming globalisation and promising a more protectionist approach is translated into policy remains to be seen, but Mr Shanahan himself suggested US companies may hold off making investments until they know the direction of the new administration. He was keen to stress that despite the bombastic claims about bringing US jobs back home, American companies will continue to look for international locations to set up shop and access markets. That may be true, but with a wild card in the White House, who knows what could occur. Just yesterday, Ford cancelled a $1.6bn (1.53bn) plant planned for Mexico, opting to expand its operations in Michigan, in an apparent bow to pressure from Mr Trump. As Mr Shanahan himself suggested, the threats to Ireland are outside of our control. The achievements by the IDA over the last year are welcome. So is the caution. Colm Kelpie Analysis Over 150,000 visitors are expected at Las Vegas CES this week A NUMBER of Irish companies will make announcements or demonstrate their technology at the world's biggest tech trade event, the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. The Irish presence at the event, which kicks off tomorrow, is being led by Dublin-based Cubic Telecom. The company, run by Barry Napier, is showcasing its 4G LTE connectivity for cars. This facilitates always-on 'infotainment' and internet access in vehicles. It currently has deals in place with Audi and other car manufacturers. Cork-based Hax, which is owned by the SOSV investment fund founded by Irish-American technology investor Sean O'Sullivan, is also active at the show. The firm focuses on helping companies to manufacture products in the Chinese province of Shenzhen. Dublin-based Logograb, which focuses on logo-recognition technology, also has a stand at the event. CES is expected to see over 150,000 executives, buyers and media pass through its doors this week. Top themes this year include car automation, artificial intelligence, 5G and wireless audio. So-called '8K' televisions are also expected to be introduced at twice the resolution of current '4K' ultra high definition TV sets. Robotics is also set to be a big theme this year, with advances in artificial intelligence and voice technology systems driving greater functionality in droids and machines from vacuum cleaners to home healthcare robots. Smart home technology is one of the most invested technologies from large electronics companies at CES, with internet-connected kitchen appliances such as refrigerators, coffee-makers and washing machines on display. Smart home gadgets are considered to have higher profit margins than more established products such as televisions or mobile phones, as there is less established competition in the nascent sector. The once-prominent tech products of laptops and tablets have a much-reduced presence at CES, falling victim to the success of large smartphones. For the same reasons, Microsoft and Intel also have a reduced presence at the event. The main absence is Apple, which does not demonstrate its products at non-Apple events. However, most of its rivals are at CES, including Samsung, LG, Sony and dozens of Chinese manufacturers. While Sony may announce a new Xperia handset, smartphone companies save their biggest announcements for Mobile World Congress in February. Global bank regulators have stalled the introduction of a final decision on tougher new bank capital standards in what is seen as a victory for Europe, particularly French and German banks. The oversight board of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision said yesterday that it had postponed a meeting scheduled for January 8 to allow for more debate on standards that are meant to prevent banks from gaming capital rules. European Union policy-makers have campaigned against a major element of the reform package, a so-called capital floor, arguing that it would unfairly punish the bloc's banks and harm its economy. The capital floor has emerged as the main flashpoint in several years of talks on rules intended to clamp down on banks' use of their own complex models to assess the risk posed by mortgages, corporate loans and other assets. Big banks rely on the models to determine how much capital they need to fund their businesses. Regulators have grown increasingly sceptical of the accuracy of the estimates since the financial crisis. But, with the US already seen taking a tougher view on capital positions, it was EU banks, especially in Germany, that have lobbied against the tougher standard. Work on the post-crisis capital framework known as Basel III should conclude in the "near future", the oversight body said. The delay could open the door to more lobbying from the financial industry and EU officials to soften the restrictions. "Completing Basel III is an important step toward restoring confidence in banks' risk-weighted capital ratios, and we remain committed to that goal," European Central Bank President Mario Draghi, who heads the Basel Committee's oversight body, said. The Basel Committee brings together regulators including the ECB, the US Federal Reserve and Japan's Financial Services Agency to set global standards. Analysts at Morgan Stanley think French, German, Dutch and Nordic banks could be hit the hardest by any change because they have traditionally modelled minimal risks stemming from mortgages and corporate loans. (Bloomberg) The owner of a book shop looks through a copy of the book Hitler, Mein Kampf. A Critical Edition in Munich, Germany. Photo: Reuters/Michael Dalder 'Mein Kampf' has become a bestseller in Germany once again, 92 years after it was first published. A new, heavily annotated academic edition has sold more than 85,000 copies since it was published last year despite weighing in at almost 2,000 pages and costing 59. However, the sales are unlikely to be a sign of a resurgent German far-right or a rehabilitation of the racist text, but more to do with the fact that it is the first time 'Mein Kampf' has been published in German since 1945. The rambling screed, which contains Adolf Hitler's thoughts on everything from eugenics and race theory to syphilis and the movies, continues to attract a morbid fascination and remains a bestseller in several countries. But while it sold in translation around the world, publication of the original German text was blocked by German authorities for 70 years. So dangerous was the book considered to be that copies in the Bavarian state library were kept in a "poison cabinet" and readers had to be vetted before being access. 'Mein Kampf' was never officially banned in Germany but publication was prevented by the Bavarian government, which had the copyright. That copyright expired a year ago and the Institute for Contemporary History, an academic publisher, brought out an edition with extensive annotations criticising Hitler's racist ideology. Only 4,000 copies were originally printed, but the publisher has now had to order a sixth print run. Meanwhile, Germany's interior minister has called for radical reform of the police and intelligence services in the wake of last month's Berlin terror attack. Thomas de Maiziere called for the federal government to take over responsibility for deporting rejected asylum seekers from the country. He said a single national police force should take charge of counterterror operations and domestic intelligence be put under central government control. The federal structure was created in post-war Germany. Anis Amri, the Tunisian who killed 12 people when he drove a lorry into a crowded Berlin Christmas market was a rejected asylum-seeker. But he could not be deported because Tunisia was disputing his nationality and was allowed to stay in Germany and move freely through the country. Under Mr de Maiziere's proposals, new "federal exit centres" would be set up near airports to hold deportees until they could be expelled. Telegraph Media Group Limited [2022] Actress/director Sharon Horgan and talent Carrie Fisher speak on stage at Tribeca Tune In: Catastrophe at SVA Theatre 2 on April 19, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Robin Marchant/Getty Images for Tribeca Film Festival) Sharon Horgan has fondly remembered her Catastrophe co-star Carrie Fisher in an emotional written tribute. Writing in The Guardian, Horgan recalled the moments she shared with Fisher in the week leading up to her death. Fisher had been in London filming Catastrophe, which stars Horgan and Rob Delaney as a newly married couple raising two young children, just days before she passed away. In the sitcom, she played Delaney's particularly heinous (and absolutely hilarious) mother Mia Horgan recalled how the night before Fisher boarded her flight to Los Angeles, the two women enjoyed dinner with Salman Rushdie. The Drogheda writer and actress explained that she had tried to get out of the dinner, blaming a hangover and inferiority complex for her decision, but Fisher wasn't having any of it. Expand Close Carrie Fisher in Catastrophe with her beloved dog Gary / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Carrie Fisher in Catastrophe with her beloved dog Gary "She reminded me that she dragged her ass all the way out to Hackney to see me the week before and I should return the favour. So I did. Thank the dark lord, I did." It would be the last time that she saw her friend. Horgan described Fisher as a caring and down-to-earth friend who always made sure people in her company were looked after. She was interested in people. She asked questions. She listened to them. But Horgan reserved the most praise for Fisher's bravery in tackling a male dominated film industry and calling out its double standards and sexism. "My God, girls, we owe her a lot. Not many women of her generation called out the double standards of the film industry the way she did. And how it treats women of a certain age. "She knew that she had to keep mouthing off about it. And she did it with great wit. But it hurt her. Make no mistake about that. Expand Close Carrie Fisher and husband Paul Simon (AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Carrie Fisher and husband Paul Simon (AP) Horgan explained that Fisher, like most women, criticised her own looks but that it's "hard not to when the world is telling you that you're not allowed to age like a regular person". In her tribute, Horgan listed Fisher's traits and urged fans to remember her for the many great things she was. Video of the Day "I want everyone to remember her and all the great things she was. A wonderful writer, a fine actress, a great mother, a caring daughter, a loyal friend, a wit, a prolific present giver, a lunatic, a legend". Sarah Greene kicked back and enjoyed some down time in Dublin ahead of the US premiere of her new CBS drama, Ransom. The Cork actress was spotted enjoying a few fancy cocktails in the Woollen Mills on Ormond Quay and The Exchequer Bar with pals last week. Brunch with me fave @mssarahgreene A photo posted by | a d a m M A T T H E W S | (@adamphoeno) on Dec 30, 2016 at 6:50am PST She recently finished filming American crime drama Ransom on location in France and has now returned home to begin working on her next film project, Black 47. It's set during the Famine and will also star Matrix actor Hugo Weaving, Vikings star Moe Dun- ford, Stephen Rea, Jim Broadbent and Freddie Fox. Expand Close Risk-taker Sarah Greene embarked on the red carpet in a daring red jumpsuit at IFTA Awards 2016 at The Westbury Hotel & Mansion House, Dublin, Ireland / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Risk-taker Sarah Greene embarked on the red carpet in a daring red jumpsuit at IFTA Awards 2016 at The Westbury Hotel & Mansion House, Dublin, Ireland In CBS show Ransom, Sarah takes on the role of private investigator Maxine Carlson. The show was created by Frank Spotnitz, who previously worked on The X-Files. The first episode aired on New Year's Day, but it has been met with lukewarm reviews in the States. The New York Times described the storyline as "clickbait TV plotting", while The Hollywood Reporter said it was "not very memorable" and "mediocre". Expand Close (L-R) Actors Daisy Ridley, James Corden and Sarah Greene attend the Oscar Wilde Awards at Bad Robot on February 25, 2016 in Santa Monica, California. (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for US-Ireland Alliance) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp (L-R) Actors Daisy Ridley, James Corden and Sarah Greene attend the Oscar Wilde Awards at Bad Robot on February 25, 2016 in Santa Monica, California. (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for US-Ireland Alliance) However, viewers seemed more enthralled, and Sarah's performance was praised. She last appeared on Irish TV screens in period drama Penny Dreadful and 1916 show Rebellion. Me and my homegirl @nazneenc solving crime in style #ransom A photo posted by Mssarahgreene (@mssarahgreene) on Nov 21, 2016 at 10:31am PST In 2015 she picked up the Best Actress IFTA for her role in Deirdre O'Kane's drama, Noble. Sarah used to date Poldark star Aidan Turner, but they parted company in November 2015. The pair remain good friends, and Sarah has said she would like to work with him at some stage. Expand Close Sarah Greene and Aidan Turner / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Sarah Greene and Aidan Turner Turner was also in Dublin last week. The TV hunk was seen dining with friends at Musashi restaurant on Capel Street. Fourteen people were killed when a taxi swerved to avoid a cow and crashed into two large vehicles on what is known as Uganda's deadliest road, police said Wednesday. Eight people died on the spot including a journalist, while six others died later in hospital, regional traffic police chief, Scovia Birungi told AFP. Nine other other people had serious injuries, while the cow also died. The crash happened at Lwengo along the Masaka-Kampala highway on a stretch of road known locally as the most dangerous in Uganda. "The accident took place when a speeding omnibus taxi avoided hitting a cow that was crossing the road, (and) rammed into a bus and a truck," said Birungi. "The vehicles crashed into each other, subsequently killing and injuring people. "And the cow was not spared," he added. More than 200 people had already been killed on the 130km (80 mile) stretch of road from January to September 2016, another traffic police officer, Edith Nanteza had said last year. Search Keywords: Short link: Fianna Fail has ramped up the pressure on Gerry Adams over his continued refusal to hand over the name of a senior IRA figure who may hold the key to solving the murder of prison officer Brian Stack. The Sinn Fein president was warned he faces an "obligation" to provide any information to investigators that could assist the murder inquiry. But the Louth TD refused to be drawn on the growing controversy last night, instead opting to re-release a statement he gave to the Dail on the killing on December 7. In the statement, Mr Adams said he would co-operate with gardai in relation to the investigation - but repeated his view that people involved in the IRA should not be named. "Progress was only possible on the basis of confidentially and trust," Mr Adams said in his statement that was rehashed last night. "That is why no IRA people were named during any of these initiatives and why they should not be named today." The controversy surrounding the Stack case was reignited after the Irish Independent revealed that gardai have stepped up their investigation into the 1983 murder. Read more: Gardai to quiz Adams as the probe into IRA killing of Stack gathers steam Detectives attached to the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation (NBCI) have begun a fresh round of interviews in a bid to determine the identity of the IRA figure who attended a 2013 meeting with the victim's sons Austin and Oliver Stack at an undisclosed location. The brothers have been interviewed separately in recent weeks. The pair provided detectives with information aimed at building a profile of the IRA figure, who was a trusted associate of Mr Adams at the time. In a statement released yesterday, Austin Stack accused Mr Adams of continuing to compound his family's pain. "The Stack family note that on several occasions Deputy Adams has publicly called on anybody who has information regarding the murder of my father to go to An Garda Siochana," Mr Stack said. "His own reluctance to do just this seems to imply that he holds himself above the law and is willing to apply a different set of standards to himself than he would to any other citizen of this Republic." Mr Stack also said his family had received many messages of goodwill, including from former colleagues of his father. "Brian Stack was not a solider and neither was he fighting in a war. Brian Stack was a chief prison officer, his job was to protect society by ensuring some of the most dangerous criminals to come before Irish courts served their time fully. "This meant among other things stopping the flow of guns and explosives into Portlaoise Prison; Brian Stack was good at his job and was therefore targeted by the IRA for assassination." Last night, Mr Adams came under further pressure. Fianna Fail said it was not acceptable for anybody to withhold information that could assist a live murder investigation. Read more: Niall OConnor: The questions that refuse to go away as Adams must decide which way to turn "Every citizen faces such an obligation, whether you are a politician or not," Fianna Fail's justice spokesperson Jim O'Callaghan told the Irish Independent. It's understood the Stack case has been discussed in recent weeks at senior management level within An Garda Siochana, since Mr Adams sent an email to the Garda Commissioner with a list of four names who he said may have information in relation to the case. Two of the individuals - TDs Dessie Ellis and Martin Ferris - were named in the Dail under privilege. Both deny having any information relating to the case. Gardai are investigating the stabbing of a woman during an attempted mugging in Drumcondra, Dublin. Picture: Arthur Carron Gardai at the scene where a woman was atbbed during an attempted mugging in Drumcondra, Dublin. Picture:Arthur Carron 04/01/2017 Members of the Gardai at the scene of a stabbing which involved a 36-year-old woman who was walking home from work when she was approached by another woman who demanded her handbag on the Drumcondra Road Lower between Clonliffe Road and the Archbishop's House, Dublin. Photo: Gareth Chaney Collins 04/01/2017 Members of the Gardai at the scene of a stabbing which involved a 36-year-old woman who was walking home from work when she was approached by another woman who demanded her handbag on the Drumcondra Road Lower between Clonliffe Road and the Archbishop's House, Dublin. Photo: Gareth Chaney Collins 04/01/2017 Members of the Gardai at the scene of a stabbing which involved a 36-year-old woman who was walking home from work when she was approached by another woman who demanded her handbag on the Drumcondra Road Lower between Clonliffe Road and the Archbishop's House, Dublin. Photo: Gareth Chaney Collins 04/01/2017 Members of the Gardai at the scene of a stabbing which involved a 36-year-old woman who was walking home from work when she was approached by another woman who demanded her handbag on the Drumcondra Road Lower between Clonliffe Road and the Archbishop's House, Dublin. Photo: Gareth Chaney Collins 04/01/2017 Members of the Gardai at the scene of a stabbing which involved a 36-year-old woman who was walking home from work when she was approached by another woman who demanded her handbag on the Drumcondra Road Lower between Clonliffe Road and the Archbishop's House, Dublin. Photo: Gareth Chaney Collins 04/01/2017 Members of the Gardai at the scene of a stabbing which involved a 36-year-old woman who was walking home from work when she was approached by another woman who demanded her handbag on the Drumcondra Road Lower between Clonliffe Road and the Archbishop's House, Dublin. Photo: Gareth Chaney Collins A garda on routine patrol came across a woman who was knifed in the throat during an attempted mugging in Dublin yesterday evening. Gardai have today launched a fresh appeal for witnesses to the horror knife attack which took place outside the Archbishop's House. Last night Independent.ie revealed how the 36-year-old woman was confronted as she walked along Lower Drumcondra Road shortly after 5pm. Read More The female attacker demanded that the victim hand over her handbag, before stabbing her in the neck. It has now emerged that a garda on routine patrol came across the injured woman. The officer raised the alarm and the victim was taken to the nearby Mater Hospital. It has also emerged that the victim was stabbed multiple times in the incident. Her injuries were not, however, believed to be life-threatening. Now gardai have issued a fresh appeal for witnesses. In a statement they said tey were particularly "appealing to anybody who was in the vicinity of Drumcondra Road Lower between Clonliffe Rd and the Archbishop's House between 5pm and 5.30pm." Witnesses are asked to contact the incident room at Mountjoy Garda Station on 01-666 8600, the Garda Confidential Line 1 800 666 111 or any Garda Station. Expand Close Gardai sealed off the scene of the mugging in Drumcondra. / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Gardai sealed off the scene of the mugging in Drumcondra. Last night, Archbishop Martin described the incident as "tragic". "It's very sad to realise that someone just walking home from work would be attacked like that. I sincerely hope the woman will be OK. It's a tragic event," he said. Noel Rock, Fine Gael TD for Dublin North West, called for a heightened Garda presence in the area. "This is a dreadful, unprovoked attack in a normally peaceful part of the city," said Mr Rock. "It's simply not good enough that someone can't walk down one of the main pedestrian routes in our city in the early evening for fear of this kind of incident. "Gardai need to improve their presence in Drumcondra, and the city council must improve the lighting here as soon as possible. It's pitch black in parts." An innocent family are living in fear after three of their cars were burned out by the Mr Big crime gang over a playground fight. Reports have claimed that the attacks were launched by the Dublin drug trafficker after his son became embroiled in a row with another child. Both children are under the age of 10. The Irish Daily Mail is reporting that the family have had three cars torched in recent weeks. The family have been left terrified by the incidents and are now considering taking their son out of the school that the children attend. They are also considering moving house altogether. Mr Big, from Dublin's northside, is considered one of Ireland's largest drug dealers and has a history of violence. He is suspected of ordering the murder of Real IRA leader Alan Ryan in September 2012 and is also suspected of playing a part in the murder of Ryan's brother Vincent last February. His gang have carried out a number of other attacks on the Ryan family and burned out a number of vehicles belonging to members who are not involved in republican activity. A source told the Irish Daily Mail: "Gardai have always known what this man is capable of. He has ordered at least two murders in the capital and has a reputation for ruthlessness, including countless stabbings and beatings. But this issue between his son and another young boy has brought things to a new level. "Essentially, it is a minor row between two little boys in a playground. Literally a scuffle. Nothing serious, no bullying or anything considered more than a very minor playground row. "But Mr Big's reaction to this is to literally step in and become the bully figure in his own child's row. His reaction has been to target the other boy's family by so far burning out three cars linked to the family." The family have been offered security advice by gardai. Mr Big, who is aged in his 30s, has links to both sides in the Kinahan\Hutch feud. However, his gang has not been active in the feud. Previously his gang launched an arson attack on a gym in Coolock after deciding the gym was a threat to its own fitness centre. Selection boxes have been replaced by Easter Eggs in some Irish supermarkets, three months before Easter. The festive period is now well and truly over as shops start preparing for Easter which falls this year on April 16. People took to social media to express the madness. One Twitter user wrote: "We've waved goodbye to Christmas and there are already Easter eggs in the shops." In JC Savages in Swords, the staff have made a tradition of selling Easter eggs in mid-December. On Facebook they wrote: You know its Christmas in Dublin When JCs get the Easter Eggs in!! Continuing our long running Christmas tradition. Ideal for Kris Kringles or novelty pressies (OR JUST GREAT BIG CHOCOHOLICS LIKE ME!) A Tesco spokesperson said: We stock a small range of Easter eggs from early January to cater for customers who prefer to stock up early or to buy them over a period of time to help spread the cost. The full Easter Egg range will arrive in all stores at a later date. Lord of the Dance Michael Flatley is to honour his parents last wishes by having them buried together in their native Ireland. It was a love affair that would last for 60 years. They would conquer the world together, he said. The dancers mother, Elizabeth Eilish Flatley (81), died on December 28 in Chicago in the US. His father, Michael James Flatley (88), died in March 2015 and was buried in Carlow. Mrs Flatleys family were by her side as she passed away and the dancer simply said: Her heart just gave out. Her US funeral arrangements were staged on Saturday in Orland Park, Chicago. However, Mrs Flatley insisted she wanted to be buried in Ireland alongside her husband. Read More He was interred in picturesque Glynn-St Mullins on the Carlow-Wexford border two years ago. Now, the dancer has confirmed that his mother will be buried following Requiem Mass in the same church from which his father was buried. The Requiem Mass is expected to be staged next Tuesday. The dancer described his father as his hero and said his entire family were also blessed with a mother who was devoted to her family and immersed in Irish culture. We were blessed that my mother and my grandmother (Hannah Ryan) both carried on the tradition and gave us the opportunity to do something that is uniquely Irish, he said. She was a truly remarkable woman. My father and mother were totally devoted to each other. They were blessed with a fabulous relationship 60 years married. They worked side by side to build the family plumbing business. They never took weekends off. They never took holidays. We didnt have a nanny or a housekeeper growing up. My mother did it all. Im so proud of them and we are blessed to have had them as parents. It is such a very, very sad time for us. His mother hailed from Carlow while his father was from Sligo. They both moved to the US for work in the 1940s and met at an Irish dance in Detroit. The couple married in 1956. They later relocated their family to Chicago and worked to build up a successful plumbing business. However, the couple insisted that their five children be raised with an appreciation of Irish art and culture with their son, Michael, being introduced to Irish dancing by his mother and grandmother. He went on to become the first American to win the World Irish Dancing Championship and performed regularly with The Chieftains. Mr Flatley achieved fame with first Riverdance and then Lord of the Dance, Feet of Flames and Celtic Tiger. He purchased Castlehyde House in north Cork for 3m and the subsequent 27m refurbishment of the mansion was in part inspired by his parents and their deep love of Ireland. Both his parents were regular visitors to the River Blackwater property, attending every Christmas party and major celebration staged there. His mother admitted one of her most memorable evenings at Castlehyde was hosting Hollywood legend, Maureen OHara, whom she had been in awe of in the 1940s and 50s. However, his mother remained a woman of simple tastes with The Chicago Sun Times pointing out that, despite her sons fame, her favourite meal remained tuna sandwich and a glass of chocolate milk. Mrs Flatley is survived by her sons, Michael and Patrick, daughters, Liza, Thoma and Annie as well as sons in law, daughters in law and grandchildren. Hospitals warned patients to stay away from emergency departments unless absolutely necessary, as the country faced a flu epidemic and overcrowding hits crisis levels. Medical staff said they were at breaking point, with a record 612 patients on trolleys, and the rate of flu doubling within the past week alone. The HSE confirmed that one person has died as a result of flu - the predominant AH3 flu strain is affecting mostly older people. The pressure on hospital services has been exacerbated by a severe respiratory virus sweeping across the country, as well as the norovirus, or the winter vomiting bug. A HSE spokesperson said that many hospitals were reporting a "significant surge" in demand as the number of cases of winter-related illnesses continued to rise. "While the HSE expects this spike in demand for ED care to continue in the coming weeks, the situation will continue to be carefully monitored," a HSE spokesperson said. Some hospitals asked patients to stay away from emergency rooms unless strictly necessary and to seek treatment from their GP initially. Expand Close Click to view full size graphic / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Click to view full size graphic Read more: Health crisis as 612 patients now on trolleys nationwide, 'exceptional' increase in GP visits A spokesperson for Tallaght Hospital said: "The hospital's full capacity protocol is in place, and the public is asked to attend their GP in the first instance, where appropriate." Beaumont Hospital added: "Like many other hospitals across the country, Beaumont is requesting that patients with cold and flu symptoms who may be considering coming to the ED to first contact their GP." Predictable Health Minister Simon Harris admitted that hospitals faced a "challenging time ahead", but denied that there was a national emergency and said there had been a sharp spike in cases of flu over New Year. But the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) claimed the situation was "totally predictable". INMO general secretary Liam Doran said: "2016 saw the highest levels of overcrowding since our records began over 12 years ago. We have to think about 180 beds closed because of staff shortages and generally about the lack of community care services." Read more: Health Minister denies trolley crisis a 'national emergency' A record-breaking 612 patients are waiting on trolleys in hospitals around the country. Further chaos looms in hospitals as nurses will start industrial action within weeks. It will ultimately mean nurses will insist on bed closures if there is not enough staff to cater to them. But Mr Doran said questions must be asked as to what measures were taken over the past eight weeks to alleviate the trolley situation. "612 patients, admitted for care, for whom there is no bed, is a truly shocking figure," he said. The HSE said that 21 respiratory infection and influenza outbreaks were reported this season in healthcare settings. "There has been a significant increase in the numbers of persons aged 75 years and older presenting for treatment and care," a spokesperson said. "These patients are typically twice as likely to be admitted to hospital, and in turn, are likely to have a length of stay that is twice that of the general population. "Due to the rise in winter-related illnesses, hospitals are also reporting bed closures due to necessary infection control measures and staff illness." The HSE, which uses a different counting method to the INMO, said its figures identified 489 people waiting on trolleys - 300 over nine hours. Simon Harris speaks to the press at the Department of Health yesterday. Photo: Colin ORiordan Health Minister Simon Harris has urged older people to stay in their nursing homes if they are suffering from flu-like symptoms as he faces the worst trolley crisis on record. Mr Harris said he would work with nursing homes to ensure they had the supports they needed to treat people with the flu and keep them out of overcrowded hospitals. Mr Harris said older people were especially susceptible to the current strain of flu, which resulted in 612 people languishing on trolleys in hospital wards yesterday. There has been an almost 20pc rise in the number of patients aged over 75 going to hospitals in recent days with flu-like symptoms compared with the same period last year. Mr Harris said "frail elderly" people would be better served staying in nursing homes when they show flu symptoms as they will have private rooms and bathrooms. "Perhaps they could be better cared for there with access to community supports, with access to doctors and nurses rather than being brought into an emergency department or a hospital where they may pick up further infections," he said. Mr Harris's comments were among a number of initiatives he outlined aimed at tackling the overcrowding crisis. Read more: Health Minister denies trolley crisis a 'national emergency' He also committed to opening hospital diagnostic services until 8pm each day and said the HSE would review the length of stay of patients who were admitted during the Christmas break. In addition, he called for GPs to be given direct access to consultants to stop overcrowding in emergency departments. Despite the record trolley figures, Mr Harris refused to call the crisis a national emergency. "We can all come out with a soundbite or a buzz word to try to address the issue of the day but what is happening here is much more important," he said. "Rather than having headlines about national emergencies or whatever else, the headline and message I would like to get out is the absolute importance of the vaccination and the absolute importance for all us as citizens doing everything we possibly can to minimise the spread of the flu." The minister said he was open to expanding the vaccination programme to allow more people avail of the flu jab for free. He also committed to carrying out a review of bed capacity in hospitals. Mr Harris held a crisis meeting with HSE director general Tony O'Brien yesterday and will be seeking a progress report on the trolley crisis tomorrow. "It is my job to set policy and fund that policy. It is the job of managers and the HSE that everything possible that can be done is being done. I have conveyed that message to them today. "We need a redoubling of efforts by the HSE and of managers in every hospital site," he said. "It is interesting to see some hospitals doing very well in very difficult circumstances. I put that down to operational grip, to managers doing what they are paid to do and I want to see that practice expanded to other hospitals." Influential British art critic and prize-winning author John Berger, a self-declared revolutionary who controversially backed the far-left Black Panthers, has died aged 90, his son told AFP Tuesday. Berger was best known for his art criticism essay "Ways Of Seeing", written to accompany a BBC television series, which is credited with changing the way people viewed art. He also won the 1972 Booker Prize for Fiction for his experimental novel "G.", set in pre-World War I Europe. Berger died on Monday in the Paris suburb of Antony, his son Jacob said. "He died peacefully at home, surrounded by his family," he said. He had lived in France since the 1970s. Berger was born in London in 1926. After serving in the British army, he enrolled in the Chelsea School of Art, becoming a painter. He then taught drawing from 1948 to 1955, becoming a noted art critic from 1952 onwards, according to his French publishers, Les Editions de l'Olivier. He wrote about artists including Pablo Picasso, Titian, Paul Cezanne and Gustave Courbet. "Ways of Seeing", a highly influential criticism of Western cultural aesthetics, originally aired in 1972 as a four-part BBC television series and was subsequently published as a book. "Art and the wider world seemed to make more sense after watching Berger on the BBC, with his piercing blue eyes, steady delivery and groovy seventies shirt, eloquently explain perspective or the idealisation of the nude," wrote Mark Brown, arts correspondent for Britain's Guardian newspaper. But besides art criticism, Berger also wrote novels, plays and poetry. "G." won the Booker Prize, one of the most prestigious awards in English-language literature. A Marxist humanist who called himself a revolutionary, he donated half of his 5,000 prize money to the UK branch of the Black Panthers, the far-left black nationalist organisation. "There is not a single book of his that is not impregnated with politics," Jacob Berger said. "He was a friend of Subcomandante Marcos (former leader of Mexico's Zapatista rebels), a friend of the Palestinian people... who had an extremely strong political position without being a dogmatic communist." Berger moved to France to escape the "extremely anti-communist" Britain, his son said. In France, "there was a balance which tended much more towards support of, if not the Soviet Union, then of Marxist and communist ideals". Tributes came from the worlds of art, literature and politics. "With John Berger's passing we have lost one of the great storytellers of our times," said publishers Penguin Books. Jeremy Corbyn, the veteran leftist leader of Britain's main opposition Labour Party, said: "John Berger changed the way we see the world and each other. "He was an advocate for socialism -- and a more kind and generous life for all." For more arts and culture news and updates, follow Ahram Online Arts and Culture on Twitter at @AhramOnlineArts and on Facebook at Ahram Online: Arts & Culture Search Keywords: Short link: A medical consultant has warned that the trolley crisis is "only going to worsen", as it is revealed that at least 602 patients remain on trolleys nationwide today. Dr Fergal Hickey of Sligo General Hospital said the influenza season has yet to reach its peak and disregarded the Health Ministers comments that the trolley crisis was unpredictable. On Tuesday the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation recorded 612 people on trolleys around the country -- the highest number on record. Today, the updated number of patients on trolleys is at least 602, as St Vincent's were not in a position to provide a ward figure to the INMO. University Hospital Limerick is the worst-hit, with 66 patients on trolleys at the moment. Midland Regional Hospitals in Tullamore, Portlaoise and Mullinagar have 45, 34 and 32 patients on trolleys, respectively. In the wider area of Dublin, Tallaght Hospital and the Mater are the worst-hit with 23 patients on trolleys each. Speaking to RTE Radio Ones Morning Ireland programme, Dr Hickey said the current situation is a crisis for the individual patient. It certainly is a crisis for the individual patient, even if its not a political crisis, he said. I dont accept unpredictability as a reason [for the number of patients on trolleys], perhaps things happened earlier than planned this year but that is not an excuse. There were 612 patients on trolleys yesterday. The minister is being disingenuous. The influenza, at a normal background level, is 18 cases per 100,000 people. At the moment, we have 46.7 cases. And this is nowhere near what its likely to get to, which is 80. Read More To suggest that [influenza season] is someway unpredictable or unprecedented is nonsense, he continued. Thats the nature of an influenza season, the cases increase exponentially over weeks, reach peak and then tail off in a similar fashion. This information is known. The only issue is it occurred two or three weeks earlier than expected. Dr Hickey said the fundamental problem was the lack of beds to submit patients into hospital. Its interesting that both Britain and Ireland have the greatest trolley crisis in Europe and were outliers when it comes to acute beds. The lack of capacity means were going to run into this problem. Unless we solve the capacity problem, were never going to get out of this mess. What the minister talks about is moving deck chairs around the Titanic. We need to deal with the fundamental problem which is the lack of capacity. A lot of the discussion is around peripheral issues. Bed cuts The Irish Medical Organisation also said the crisis of overcrowding will continue until the cuts to bed numbers in public hospitals are reversed. They also said Ireland needs to become an attractive location for Irish-trained doctors to want to work in. "Politicians often complicate what is a very simple explanation for our overcrowding crisis," Dr Peadar Gilligan, Consultant in Emergency Medicine at Beaumont Hospital and Chairman of the IMO Consultant Committee, said. "Its not because of seasonal issues or a spike in flu cases. "Its because politicians knowingly and deliberately took 1,600 beds out of our hospitals, introduced policies that were a direct cause of doctors emigrating and failed to invest in General Practice. "All this at a time when our population was rising and there are more elderly people than ever before in need of healthcare. It doesnt get simpler than this; weve reduced the size of the container but were still trying to get more and more into it every day. It just wont work. Overhaul Meanwhile, another leading doctor said an overhaul of the A and E model in Ireland is needed if overcrowding in hospitals is to be tackled effectively. A and E's around the country have become "one stop shops" which is adding pressure to a system where there is a lack of capacity Chris Luke, an A and E consultant based in Cork University Hospital warned. "I really do think that we have to have a very urgent debate about the demand. I don't think, unfortunately, that the model we have of the emergency department function in these islands is working anymore," he told Newstalk Breakfast. "In a sense it's become kind of a one stop shop... the majority of patients in Emergency Departments are now are not in for [what we would call emergency treatment]. "It's become the main portal of entry into the health service for the elderly, who are declining slowly, in nursing homes for example you can predict their heart or lung function is declining and admission to hospital could be better planned," he said. Others are sent to A and E because there is a delay in getting further scans or treatment done he added. "Unfortunately the emergency department has become kind of an emergency department store," Dr Luke said. Read More The doctor also warned that in the coming years there will be a shortage of GPs which will also have an impact on the health system. "Look at number of GPs about to retire in the net five years that's coming down the track too. You have this huge cohort of GPs in their late fifties who are destined to retire in the next three to five years. Not just GPs but you have a lot of consultants in A and E who will go in the next five years. "Instead of doubling the number of consultants in the emergency department you are going to see a shrinkage in the next two-five years. "These problems have been here a long time and they are fundamentally about capacity but also about the model we have of the emergency department," he said. Contagious patients requiring isolation were instead isolated in cubicles with just curtains as Tallaght Emergency Department dealt with yet another day of overcrowding today. Dr Jim Grey, who likened the effects of the trolley crisis on patients as akin to torture, said nine patients had presented to Tallaght Hospital today needing for various reasons, including the winter vomiting bug. Weve got people being isolated with curtains... thats a great concern for patients and staff and it really shouldnt be happening in a first world They have no dignity, no privacy, there is a complete lack of confidentiality. They are being subjected to constant noise and light, its a form of sensory torture, he said. I had a patient who was in an emergency department for three days recently. You cant sleep in an emergency department. Its a disgrace. Its an ongoing national scandal, he said. Its been an emergency thats been going on for many, many years. ts all very predictable." Dr Grey dismissed the idea that the flu is behind the overcrowding in hospitals. In the last three years alone the first Tuesday of every January weve had a massive trolley problem, he said. Spin The admission rate from influenza is small its not causing the trolley problem. Trolley patients are admitted patients for whom there are no beds. There is a bit of spin there in relation to the flu being a part of the trolley crisis, its not, he said. Dr Grey said that increasing capacity and staffing levels are among the solutions to the ongoing overcrowding problem which has become a year-long crisis. Independent.ie visited the A and E department in the busy Dublin hospital today and observed a number of people in trolleys. At least four people on trolleys in one area in A and E, near a busy nurses station. One woman was on a trolley right beside the nurses station, raising concerns about patient confidentiality. Another woman was served a lunch including sandwich on her trolley. All waiting areas were very busy, with the main waiting room in A and E filling up by mid-afternoon. A patient who had just been discharged said he had been on a ward with a woman who had been on a trolley in the corridor, protected only by a curtain. The woman had been there since Saturday he claimed. Patients in the A and E department reported varying waiting times. One patient had been seen by one doctor in less than an hour. Another woman waiting with a family member was told it would be between six and eight hours. Thats good, usually its a lot longer, she said. She also raised concerns about waiting in A and E with people who may be contagious without realising it for so long. A local councillor has called for immediate action after "at least 16 ambulances" were spotted waiting outside University Hospital Limerick (UHL) yesterday morning. According to eye-witnesses, the ambulances couldn't unload patients as there were no beds available inside the A&E department at the regional hospital. Eyewitness Julie Byrnes sent the video of the ambulances into Independent.ie after witnessing the chaos. I was going to visit a friend and I couldnt believe the number of ambulances outside the hospital. There were more than sixteen waiting at the A&E department, Julie told Independent.ie. I came back after an hour and a half and there were at least 10 ambulances outside. Ive never seen it as bad. Local FF Cllr Jerry ODea said the hospital cant continue like this. Ambulances couldnt unload patients because all the trolleys were used in the A&E department. That meant the ambulances parked outside couldnt get away to other people in need either so there was chaos. It was horrendous for patients in need, said Cllr ODea. Its a regular problem and the local frustration is ongoing. The HSE closed the A&E department in Ennis and Nenagh and St Johns A&E is only open during the day. Everyone is going to the UHL and its chaos. Cllr ODea said that UHL needs more beds now. We need to invest more money in UHL or re-open the other A&E departments. He told Independent.ie that the situation yesterday morning was potentially very dangerous. Whether people were critical or not there was potential for health and safety issues, car collisions and the conditions of the patients could have become more serious with time. We cant go on like this at UHL. We need more beds now. On Tuesday the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation recorded 612 people on trolleys around the country -- the highest number on record. Read More Today, the updated number of patients on trolleys is at least 602, as St Vincent's were not in a position to provide a ward figure to the INMO. University Hospital Limerick is the worst-hit, with 66 patients on trolleys at the moment. Meanwhile, the HSE Director for emergency management Damien McCallion said the numbers are "unacceptable". Its very challenging and for any patient thats waiting on a trolley thats the core focus that we need to have over the coming weeks. We would see this as our top priority for the moment and thats reflected in some of the actions that we have taken and will continue to take," he told RTE Radio One's News at One. "The numbers are clearly unacceptable and we have to face up to that. "We would see this as a crisis. There just isnt enough bed capacity." He said the flu is a factor in the current problem and advised people to get the flu vaccine. "We have to decide what kind of health system we want and how to plan for it. "There is a reality that we face an ageing population and we have to decide where we are going to invest our limited resources" Crisis 'to worsen' A medical consultant has warned that the trolley crisis is "only going to worsen". Dr Fergal Hickey of Sligo General Hospital said the influenza season has yet to reach its peak and disregarded the Health Ministers comments that the trolley crisis was unpredictable. Speaking to RTE Radio Ones Morning Ireland programme, Dr Hickey said the current situation is a crisis for the individual patient. It certainly is a crisis for the individual patient, even if its not a political crisis, he said. I dont accept unpredictability as a reason [for the number of patients on trolleys], perhaps things happened earlier than planned this year but that is not an excuse. There were 612 patients on trolleys yesterday. The minister is being disingenuous. The influenza, at a normal background level, is 18 cases per 100,000 people. At the moment, we have 46.7 cases. And this is nowhere near what its likely to get to, which is 80. Read More To suggest that [influenza season] is someway unpredictable or unprecedented is nonsense, he continued. Thats the nature of an influenza season, the cases increase exponentially over weeks, reach peak and then tail off in a similar fashion. This information is known. The only issue is it occurred two or three weeks earlier than expected. Dr Hickey said the fundamental problem was the lack of beds to submit patients into hospital. Its interesting that both Britain and Ireland have the greatest trolley crisis in Europe and were outliers when it comes to acute beds. The lack of capacity means were going to run into this problem. Unless we solve the capacity problem, were never going to get out of this mess. What the minister talks about is moving deck chairs around the Titanic. We need to deal with the fundamental problem which is the lack of capacity. A lot of the discussion is around peripheral issues. Bed cuts The Irish Medical Organisation also said the crisis of overcrowding will continue until the cuts to bed numbers in public hospitals are reversed. They also said Ireland needs to become an attractive location for Irish-trained doctors to want to work in. "Politicians often complicate what is a very simple explanation for our overcrowding crisis," Dr Peadar Gilligan, Consultant in Emergency Medicine at Beaumont Hospital and Chairman of the IMO Consultant Committee, said. "Its not because of seasonal issues or a spike in flu cases. "Its because politicians knowingly and deliberately took 1,600 beds out of our hospitals, introduced policies that were a direct cause of doctors emigrating and failed to invest in General Practice. "All this at a time when our population was rising and there are more elderly people than ever before in need of healthcare. It doesnt get simpler than this; weve reduced the size of the container but were still trying to get more and more into it every day. It just wont work. Overhaul Meanwhile, another leading doctor said an overhaul of the A and E model in Ireland is needed if overcrowding in hospitals is to be tackled effectively. A and E's around the country have become "one stop shops" which is adding pressure to a system where there is a lack of capacity Chris Luke, an A and E consultant based in Cork University Hospital warned. "I really do think that we have to have a very urgent debate about the demand. I don't think, unfortunately, that the model we have of the emergency department function in these islands is working anymore," he told Newstalk Breakfast. "In a sense it's become kind of a one stop shop... the majority of patients in Emergency Departments are now are not in for [what we would call emergency treatment]. "It's become the main portal of entry into the health service for the elderly, who are declining slowly, in nursing homes for example you can predict their heart or lung function is declining and admission to hospital could be better planned," he said. Others are sent to A and E because there is a delay in getting further scans or treatment done he added. "Unfortunately the emergency department has become kind of an emergency department store," Dr Luke said. Read More The doctor also warned that in the coming years there will be a shortage of GPs which will also have an impact on the health system. "Look at number of GPs about to retire in the net five years that's coming down the track too. You have this huge cohort of GPs in their late fifties who are destined to retire in the next three to five years. Not just GPs but you have a lot of consultants in A and E who will go in the next five years. "Instead of doubling the number of consultants in the emergency department you are going to see a shrinkage in the next two-five years. "These problems have been here a long time and they are fundamentally about capacity but also about the model we have of the emergency department," he said. Irish people gave over 150 million to overseas aid in 2016, according to new figures released by Irish Aid. Over 125 million people were in need of humanitarian aid in 2016 across the world. Irish people donated the most to the Syrian crisis with over 25m raised for the cause. Africa Ireland donated a large sum of money to nine African causes this year with South Sudan the most popular cause with over 11m donated by Irish people. Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) received some 4m while the Central African Republic (CAR) received over 6m. Expand Close Infographic on Irish aid provided in 2016 / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Infographic on Irish aid provided in 2016 Irish people donated over 3m to Nigeria and almost 6m to Somalia. Middle East Countries in the middle east also received Irish funding with 3m for Iraq and 4m for Yemen. Funding The funding includes costs associated with deployment of 37 rapid responders and 357 tonnes of emergency relief stocks to these and other crises throughout 2016 under Irelands Rapid Response Initiative. Additional core funding of 27m was also provided to key humanitarian partners and to the UN Central Emergency Response Fund in 2016. The Department of Agriculture also provided 6m of funding as part of a 20m contribution to the World Food Programme in 2016. Plans for a massive wind turbine at a gaeltacht business park is facing opposition from the Irish Aviation Authority over claims it could compromise safety on a flight path.. Plans for a massive wind turbine at a gaeltacht business park is facing opposition from the Irish Aviation Authority over claims it could compromise safety on a flight path. The body is now one of more than 140 objections received to a planning permission application submitted to Donegal County Council. Galway-based Lir Energy Ltd wants to erect the 1.5MW turbine in Gaoth Dobhair Business Park in west Donegal. If completed it would stand 123 metres above the skyline, taller than The Spire in Dublins OConnell Street and more than half the height of the Cliffs of Moher. The turbine would have blades with a diameter of 77m. Campaigners against the plan in the area say the objection from the IAA is the most significant to date. In its submission to the council, seen by the Irish Independent, the IAA says the turbine could interfere with flights in and out of Donegal airport in Carrickfin 9km away. The airport operates daily flights to Dublin and Glasgow as well as a number of commercial flights. The IAA said the airport believed visual manoeuvring minimum on the aeronautical charts would be compromised by a wind turbine. The objection went on: The proposed development is located on the route for Visual Flight Rules traffic from the north east and also on the left base turn for Runway 21 and would, therefore, impact negatively on the safety operations at Donegal Airport. After consultation with Donegal Airport, the IAA is objecting to the proposed development. The objection has been welcomed by a group in the gaeltacht group campaigning against the development. We are hopeful planners will decide before the end of January and we hope they will turn down the application, said a spokesman for Stad an Tuirbin Gaoithe group. A young boy who survived a terrifying house fire on St Stephen's Day has received a skin graft. Nine-year-old Rhys Mullan was left with third-degree burns after the blaze which gutted his father's home in Magilligan, Co Derry. His father Stephen Mullan, his partner Miriam Ramsey and children Ben (12), Leah (10) and Rhys escaped through the roof of their house on the Seacoast Road. Family friends Stephen McLean and his wife Louise set up a Facebook page titled "Help Rhys Recover" which includes a number of updates each day, including that Rhys has undergone a number of surgeries in recent days and faces a long and painful road to recovery. Expand Close The scene on the Seacoast Road in Magilligan in Co.Derry where a house fire broke out on Boxing Day. The family of five including three children escaped with one of the sons receiving third degree burns / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The scene on the Seacoast Road in Magilligan in Co.Derry where a house fire broke out on Boxing Day. The family of five including three children escaped with one of the sons receiving third degree burns This is part of an effort by neighbours, family and friends to rally around the family. Mr McLean, a local businessman and amateur photographer, is also running an auction with prints he has made of UK and Irish photographers' work. His wife Louise said the auction had seen an 'overwhelming response'. "Already he has more than 40 photos ready for the auction which we're hoping to hold this month," she said. "Stephen thought it was something different from the other fundraisers and is very grateful to all the photographers who have offered their work." She added: "It's a very Northern Ireland thing, but it's the kind of place where families have known each other for two or three generations and I think that especially when there's a child involved people just want to help. "The family have been through an ordeal and will just want things to get back to normal as soon as possible." Family friend Kelly Canning and her cousin Roisin Anderson from Limavady are organising a raffle. Kelly said she hoped their efforts would help the family replace some of their belongings. She said: "Local businesses in Magilligan have been very generous and a lot of other people have got involved in helping with it too. "It's a very close-knit community, everybody rallied round when they heard what happened - every door we have knocked on people have been very supportive. "The family were very lucky they weren't killed and have lost everything - even Stephen's clothes have been destroyed and the children have lost all the things they were given for Christmas." Players at St Aidan's GAC are also holding a car wash this Saturday to raise money for the family and someone in the village has also anonymously replaced Rhys' burned iPad. Speaking on behalf of Rhys' mother, Annette Friel, a family friend said she would like to thank everyone who has supported the family in any way. She said: "Annette has stayed at the Royal Victoria Hospital with Rhys since he was admitted, only coming home twice to see her other children. She is more than grateful for everything that has been done for the family. No words can describe just how much they appreciate the support from people, some who don't even know them personally." The fire broke out just after 4pm on St Stephen's Day. Mr Mullan said a spark from the hearth fire caught his youngest son Rhys' clothing. He has spoken of how he rushed to put it out immediately, but the fire spread too quickly to control, adding that "within minutes the whole house was completely covered in smoke". The Co Derry man paid tribute to his son Ben for his quick thinking after he suggested his family seek safety on the roof and helped put out the flames on his younger brother. Iwona Gontarczyk (30), originally from Warsaw, Poland, who the victim of an attempted abduction on her way to work on Christmas eve. Picture:Arthur Carron A young woman has spoken of her terror following an early morning abduction attempt, which took place while she walked to work through a city suburb. Iwona Gontarczyk (30) was attacked on Ranelagh Road, in the upmarket south Dublin suburb of Ranelagh, at around 7am on Christmas Eve. Ms Gontarczyk was making her way to Brown Thomas, on Grafton Street, to begin her shift, when a car with two men in it began coasting past her. They shouted at me do you have any change? In that situation, you usually just freeze, she told the Herald. Im usually a very open person but they looked dangerous. One of them looked like he had been hit in the face a lot of times. The other one was younger. But he also looked dangerous, she added. She said they both looked like they may have been under the influence of drugs. Ms Gontarczyk, whose story first appeared on Liveline on RTE Radio One, ignored the men but they continued to follow her, stopped the car and then got out and tried to grab her by the shoulder. The area of the attack was not far from the junction with Mountpleasant Square. Expand Close Iwona Gontarczyk (30), originally from Warsaw, Poland, who the victim of an attempted abduction on her way to work on Christmas eve. Picture:Arthur Carron / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Iwona Gontarczyk (30), originally from Warsaw, Poland, who the victim of an attempted abduction on her way to work on Christmas eve. Picture:Arthur Carron She ran and although they followed her for a short time she managed to get away. When she arrived into work, her team leader noticed that she was shaken. CRYING They were really kind. They saw I was shaking and I had been crying. They saw there was something wrong, she said. Her manager tried to call her boyfriend but he was asleep with his phone on silent, so he took her home in a taxi. I wanted to forget about the situation. I thought Im alive, everything is OK, she said. However she has remained badly shaken by the experience. When I analyse the situation I think what if? What would have happened if I didnt run, she said. Ms Gontarczyk, who is originally from Warsaw, in Poland but has been living here since February, said the men did not appear to be trying to steal her bag and was worried that their intentions where more sinister. The experience has changed her outlook on life. I dont like walking in the dark. I dont feel safe, she said. Never have I been in a situation like this. My life changed from this day. Im a different person, Im not open any more. Her boyfriend Kevin Whitty, who lives with Ms Gontarczyk, said they have now agreed if she finishes work late he will give her a lift home. SUSPICIOUS Mr Whitty said he was very familiar with the Ranelagh neighbourhood, having lived there for the last three years. He said he had not heard of any other attacks or abduction attempts on the night but he had noticed suspicious people. Mr Whitty said they did not report the incident to gardai at first because Ms Gontarczyk did not get a good look at her attackers but they now intend to make an official report to ensure gardai and local people are aware of what happened. First Minister Arlene Foster speaks to Belfast Telegraph in relation to the RHI Scheme at Stormont Castle The RHI scheme will not cost the Northern Ireland taxpayer a penny, First Minister Arlene Foster has vowed. In an interview with the Belfast Telegraph, Mrs Foster said detailed work has been carried out over the Christmas period to devise ways of cutting the cost of the scheme, which currently has a projected overspend of 490m (576m) over the next 20 years. She said: "A lot has been made about the potential overspend. I want to make sure that doesn't happen. We plan to bring that potential cost down to zero. There will be no overspend." Economy Minister Simon Hamilton will bring a paper to the Executive in the next few days setting out interim measures to end any abuse of the scheme and to cap the costs in the longer term. In a wide-ranging discussion the First Minister said: She will not be standing aside to allow an inquiry into RHI to take place; Revealed that the head of the Civil Service, in consultation with the Attorney General, has drawn up terms of reference for an independent inquiry into the RHI debacle. These have been sent to Sinn Fein but no response has yet been forthcoming; The permanent secretary of the Department of the Economy has written to all those participating in the scheme asking for consent to name them publicly. They have to respond by January 10. She also spoke about the personal affect that the row over RHI has had on her and her family, and of the support that she has received from the public and her party. The First Minister admitted that the latest Stormont crisis has affected the public perception of politicians in the devolved administration. She said: "I am trying to keep my head and draw up a plan to deal with RHI while everyone else is whirling around in total hysteria. That does not speak well of the political classes if that is how we deal with a crisis". She had strong words for her political opponents. Sinn Fein, she said, had gone into meltdown prior to her decision to address the Assembly on December 19. "On Wednesday, December 14 we had agreed a way forward and I would agree to a time-based independent inquiry, but by that Friday, Sinn Fein had gone into meltdown. "It was like the row over welfare reform where they agreed to a course of action and then resiled from it. "Now they want me to stand aside before any inquiry. "There was never a chance for me to stand aside because I have nothing to hide". She added: "I want an inquiry to go ahead and I want to get cost controls in place. I have been working with the Minister for the Economy to get a plan in place to deal with the projected overspend. That is what people want us to deal with at the minute". The First Minister accused the other parties of using the RHI crisis to further their own political aims. "For Sinn Fein this is all about more than RHI. 2016 was a very good year for us in the DUP. We made good ministerial appointments and are in a good position as regards unionism. I believe Sinn Fein is not in a good position. They seem to be in inner turmoil. The Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness is not well and there seems to be some jockeying for position internally. "They think this is an opportunity to weaken unionism, but speaking to ordinary unionists across the province they tell me we are the party that speaks for them." She also believes that the criticism levelled at her and her party by Ulster Unionist leader Mike Nesbitt (below) is not going down well in the country. "They see him leading the challenge against the leader of unionism but if you know anything about unionists outside of Belfast you would know that doesn't go down well. He doesn't understand that". While her tone is much more subdued than that displayed on television or in the Assembly before Christmas, her message remains steadfast. "I have been through a lot in my life and I am not about to be a weak unionist leader when something like this comes about... I am certainly not". Mrs Foster denies she was taking a risk going on television immediately after former Economy Minister Jonathan Bell made his claims about the RHI scheme on the Stephen Nolan show without knowing what those claims were. "I have absolutely nothing to hide. I had no difficulty going on to speak to Stephen Nolan without knowing what information he had because I had done nothing wrong. What I didn't want to happen was Jonathan Bell going on and giving his side without me putting the facts before the public". She added: "The Public Accounts Committee had been looking at the scheme for some time before the BBC Spotlight programme on it. "After so-called revelations on that programme people became engaged in shock and awe revelations which often misrepresented the facts." She said the RHI crisis has been based on distortion, lies and spin and is particularly critical of the role of social media in heightening tensions. "It has become something of a feeding frenzy." She defended her letter to banks here urging them to support people wanting to buy into the scheme. "There was an underspend on the scheme at that time and people were approaching the banks for finance to purchase boilers. The banks were cautious. A number of businesses asked me to write to the banks and explain to them how the scheme would work. "Even then we were working on the assumption that there would be a return of 12.5pc on investments and I got officials to draw up a letter which I then signed. We were not aware of the flaws in the scheme at that time." First Minister's statement in full on her plans to deal with RHI scheme Over the Christmas holidays I have been working on a plan to reduce the costs of the RHI scheme to the Northern Ireland Executive's budget. Detailed work by the Department of the Economy has gone into analysing the costs as well as the legal and administrative issues involved in amending the scheme. "The RHI had initially been devised on the basis that it would be funded from Westminster, but due to the errors inherent in the RHI as developed for Northern Ireland there is a danger that the Executive would have to cover around 490m over the next 20 years. And we also need to avoid risking the 660m over 20 years that should be available from the UK Government for this purpose. "However, the proposals I have been working on are designed to eliminate any future cost to the Northern Ireland budget while allowing the scheme to function as initially envisaged. "Further detailed work is required on the long term solution to this issue, but in the next few days the Economy Minister Simon Hamilton plans to bring an urgent paper to the Executive setting out an interim measure to end the incentive to abuse the scheme. "If agreed, these could involve recalling the Assembly next week to seek approval for action to put this into effect, so that the immediate problem of excessive payments is stopped while we prepare a proper long term permanent solution. "We will consult on the proposals to ensure the permanent arrangements involve no further call on the Northern Ireland budget." Foster on personal cost ... "Things have been said that should not have been said. I am human. I am not a robot. There has been a lot of talk in the Assembly about mental health issues and the need to deal with them. Not very many have been thinking about my mental health in recent weeks, but I am a strong person and I am very encouraged by the support I have received from across the unionist people and some nationalists. "People need to go out and talk to ordinary people. A lot of them are confused and want clarity. That is what I want, too. "I worry about the impact on my 83-year-old mother, Georgina. She and my late father were very proud of what I have achieved. However, my mother realises that these sort of attacks on me can happen. "Northern Ireland politics are quite misogynistic and some of the commentary on this issue has been quite misogynistic. No political leader will go through life without someone attacking them, but this criticism has been quite vicious. "Comments on social media have been horrific. People say things on social media, anonymously, that they would never say to your face. "I worry about the impact on my children. I have a 16-year-old daughter who is quite across social media. I tell my children to look away from comments about me or to ignore them, but that is difficult to do. I signed up for politics, but my family did not." on her supporters ... On her desk at Stormont Castle the First Minister has a transparent folder full of cards and letters sent in by supporters. She has also received, she says, many emails and messages of support sent through party colleagues. "That is something positive I can take out of all this. My party is fully behind me and that is very encouraging." One message from a blind RAF veteran simply underlined key lines in Kipling's poem If: If you can keep your head when all about you Are losing theirs and blaming it on you, If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,.... If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools, Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken, And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools "That was a lovely thing to receive," she adds. "It is great when people take the time to send you a letter or a card. That takes effort instead of just sending an email." One person she did not receive a card from is former minister Jonathan Bell. She reveals that she has not spoken to him since he went public with his allegations and does not intend to. "He is subject to disciplinary measures within the party at the moment". She adds: "I would like to know when he started working with the BBC. Was it before the Spotlight programme. It was all very cloak and dagger". Foster on the parties ... Sinn Fein: "Declan Kearney of Sinn Fein is going on about this crisis reaching a tipping point. No one has died, no one has been killed. "This is part of an organisation that tried to kill my father (John Kelly, a police officer, was shot in an IRA attack in 1979 but survived) and blew me up when I was 17 (she was on a school bus which was targeted by the IRA because the driver was in the UDR). They believe I am going to roll over by stepping aside. I don't think so. "Given the respective backgrounds of myself and Martin McGuinness, we have a purely professional working relationship. In the past year since the Fresh Start Agreement we have managed to work through a number of the issues. Everything is now being thrown to the wind when a difficulty presented itself instead of us working through it. Ulster Unionists: "They wanted me removed from office before any investigation took place. That is ludicrous. They thought it was a chance to weaken me and weaken my party by taking out the leader and therefore benefit themselves. "If there was an election then only 90 members would be returned to the new Assembly. Maybe that is why Mike Nesbitt is now saying that an election would solve nothing. We might lose members in an election but other parties would also lose members. All opponents: "I will not be distracted by political opponents whoever they are. People gave me a mandate to lead and that is what I intend to do." The Cairo Steps Ensemble and the German Quadro Nuevo Ensemble will give concerts in Cairo, Alexandria and Damanhour Jan. 11, 13, and 14 respectively Egypt's Cairo Steps Ensemble will be joined by German Quadro Nuevo ensemble in three concerts to be performed in Cairo, Alexandria and Damanhour the second week of January. The Cairo Steps Ensemble is an international jazz and world music ensemble consisting of Egyptian and German musicians. The ensemble was founded in 2002 by Egyptian Oud player Basem Darwisch and German pianist Matthias Frey, as a collaborative project between the two. Their music combines traditional Egyptian and oriental music with jazz improvisation, incorporating other musical styles from around the world, including spiritual music from the sufi tradition. The Quadro Nuevo ensemble is a world music and jazz quartet founded in 1996. The band has released eight albums since its formation and received numerous awards, including thirteen German Jazz Awards and five European Impala awards. Their albums have also frequently topped the German World Music Charts. Programme: 11 January, 8pm Main Hall, Cairo Opera House 13 January, 8pm Alexandria Opera House 14 January, 8pm Damanhour Theatre For more arts and culture news and updates, follow Ahram Online Arts and Culture on Twitter at @AhramOnlineArts and on Facebook at Ahram Online: Arts & Culture Search Keywords: Short link: Housing Minister Simon Coveney has defended his plan to tackle the housing crisis - insisting "we're ahead of schedule". And he vowed that despite a view that he was "crazy" to promise an end to homeless families being housed in hotels, he is "going to make that happen". Almost six months after the launch of his 'Rebuilding Ireland' action plan, Mr Coveney said there would be about 14,000 homes completed in 2016. This is still far short of the 25,000 that the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) estimated has to be built every year to meet demand. "We're ahead of schedule in terms of the Rebuilding Ireland plan," Mr Coveney said, adding that he expected as many as 19,000 housing units to be built in 2017. Mr Coveney said the Government exceeded its target of 4,200 social housing solutions last year by almost 1,000 through acquisitions, bringing voids units back into use, long-term lease arrangements, and new construction. "There's a real acceleration happening here in terms of delivery," he said, pledging that there would be more than 21,000 social housing solutions provided in 2017. He also pointed to measurements of activity in the building sector including an increase in construction commencements and figures that show planning permissions in Dublin increased by 57pc in the third quarter of 2016 and were up 45pc nationally. He said that Government funding for housing this year would come to 1.2bn, up from 800m. The latest figures showed that almost 7,000 people were homeless, but Mr Coveney insisted the problem was "solvable". He said this should include providing for medical needs as well as housing - particularly for rough sleepers - and he also vowed to end the practice of housing homeless families in hotels. He said some people said he was "crazy" to promise a solution to the use of hotels and B&Bs for emergency accommodation for families by the middle of 2017, but he added: "I am going to make that happen." Mr Coveney said that he thought Ireland was now "a more socially divided place than I can ever remember", saying this wasn't unusual among European countries that had gone through recession and austerity. He said he believed housing was a way of "healing" social division and that the creation of mixed-tenure communities that included private, social and affordable housing was the "most ambitious thing" in his action plan. Arlene Foster insists the troubled green energy scheme tipped to cost Stormont some 500m will not cost the Northern taxpayer a penny. In an interview with the 'Belfast Telegraph' the North's First Minister said detailed work had been carried out over Christmas to devise ways of cutting the cost of the Renewable Heating Incentive (RHI) scheme. It currently has a projected overspend of 490m (577m) over the next 20 years. "A lot has been made about the potential overspend. I want to make sure that doesn't happen," she said. "We plan to bring that potential cost down to zero. There will be no overspend." It came as the UK government rejected a call to instigate a public inquiry into the scheme. It made clear the RHI controversy was a devolved issue for Belfast to deal with. The escalating political row has edged the power-sharing institutions towards implosion. The RHI was supposed to offer a proportion of the business cost to run eco-friendly boilers, but the subsidy tariffs were set too high, so it ended up paying out significantly more than the price of fuel. Responding to Sinn Fein calls for her to stand aside, Ms Foster said: "I want an inquiry to go ahead and I want to get cost controls in place." Members of Home Sweet Home and the Irish Housing Network march from Apollo House to the Department of Finance. Photo: Damien Eagers Apollo House campaigners said they have no plans to vacate the building next week, even as dozens of residents were granted much sought-after emergency accommodation. A total of 37 residents in Apollo House have moved to six-month beds, according to Dublin City Council. A further four will be moved today. Expand Close Mairead Hughes and granddaughter Alex Collins Hughes (6) support the protest. Photo: Damien Eagers / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Mairead Hughes and granddaughter Alex Collins Hughes (6) support the protest. Photo: Damien Eagers The Nama-controlled building was taken over by activists frustrated with the homelessness crisis. Rosi Leonard, from the Home Sweet Home campaign group, said: "Six-month beds are like gold dust in this country. A lot of those people taking those beds are people who did not know where they were going to be sleeping night by night." But she said there were no plans to vacate the building on January 11 if other residents did not get suitable accommodation. Read more: Apollo House residents lead petition urging minister to house homeless in state-controlled properties "We've got a three-page waiting list of people trying to get in here. We won't be able to leave this building if everyone is not sorted out - there's no way we can," she said. Expand Close Carrie Hennessy and Niamh McDonald of the Irish Housing Network hold up a petition calling for action. Photo: Damien Eagers / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Carrie Hennessy and Niamh McDonald of the Irish Housing Network hold up a petition calling for action. Photo: Damien Eagers Ms Leonard was speaking as a march from Apollo House - involving about 300 activists, homeless people and their supporters - went to the Department of Finance to hand in a petition. The petition had just under 4,000 signatures and called for the Finance Minister to "use his powers under the Nama Act to use those properties for social good".Niamh McDonald, a volunteer who handed over the petition, said: "Right now, this country is in an accommodation emergency and the Government is sitting on a bank of houses. "It is time for this Government to put the most vulnerable in our society first, before profit," she said. "The Government is forcing us into hostels, where the people next to you are using drugs and smoking," resident Mitzalo Reyes said. "They should keep this place open until the Government builds the social housing that they've failed to build time and time again." The Peter McVerry Trust had made an offer of accommodation to 40 residents of Apollo House before Christmas. A spokesperson for the Department of Finance said: "Nama has already been active in this space and have offered almost 7,000 units to local authorities for use as social housing." Gardai sealed off the scene of the mugging in Drumcondra. A woman was rushed to hospital after she was stabbed in the neck during an attempted mugging in Dublin. It is understood that the 36-year-old victim was approached by a woman near the home of Dublin Archbishop Diarmuid Martin in Drumcondra at around 6.15pm yesterday. The attacker demanded that the victim hand over her handbag, before stabbing her in the neck. Emergency services were called and the victim was taken to the nearby Mater Hospital. Her injuries were not believed to be life-threatening. Last night, Archbishop Martin described the incident as "tragic". "It's very sad to realise that someone just walking home from work would be attacked like that. I sincerely hope the woman will be OK. It's a tragic event," he said. Noel Rock, Fine Gael TD for Dublin North West, called for a heightened Garda presence in the area. "This is a dreadful, unprovoked attack in a normally peaceful part of the city," said Mr Rock. "It's simply not good enough that someone can't walk down one of the main pedestrian routes in our city in the early evening for fear of this kind of incident. "Gardai need to improve their presence in Drumcondra, and the city council must improve the lighting here as soon as possible. It's pitch black in parts." The incident happened while commuters were travelling home from the city yesterday evening. Gardai carried out a forensic examination at the scene last night. Locals said while the neighbourhood was usually quiet, there had been a series of robberies and some assaults in recent years. Wallet "A few years ago a man was coming home and getting some food in a restaurant across the street. "Someone saw him take out his wallet and followed him. "He was stabbed in the back, it was a close one, but he survived," one man, who did not want to be named, told the Irish Independent. A number of houses on the block have CCTV cameras and it's understood gardai will try to obtain any evidence that might hint at the attacker's identity on the footage. A woman who was the first child born in Iceland in 1980 gave birth to the first baby of 2017 in a surreal incidence of perfect timing. Katrin Gujonsdottir (36) hit headlines in January 1980 when she was the first baby to be born in Iceland that year and said it was surreal that she welcomed the first baby of 2017 on New Year's Day. According Icelandic news organisation Visir, the new mum gave birth in South Iceland health clinic in Selfoss. We joked about it that he may be the first baby of the year but never believed it would happen. It would be too surreal, she said. Katrin, who has two other children, said she was thrilled to share her birthday with her son. A late, late flurry of new-car registrations nudged Toyota to the top of the best-seller league for 2016, latest figures show. In the dwindling days of December, the Japanese brand overtook long-time leader Hyundai whose Tucson was far and away the biggest-selling model last year. Official statistics from the Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI) show how Toyota racked up registrations of 15,530 for the year. Hyundai came in second with 15,442, the figures show, with Volkswagen registering 15,411 despite a difficult year in the wake of the emissions scandal. Ford came fourth and Nissan were fifth. The late-year rush to register meant numbers for December were up 45pc (499) compared with the corresponding month in 2015 (344). According to Michael Rochford of Motorcheck.ie, Toyota emerged as top seller on the last two days of 2016 "with pre-registrations of the new Toyota C-HR reaching 160 for December". Overall, new-car registrations for the year came to 146,672, up 17.5pc on 2015 (124,804). That is the biggest number registered since 2008 but there is caution across the industry about whether it will be reached this year as uncertainty deepens over Brexit. Most experts are predicting 146,000 or so, especially as used imports are expected to climb. SIMI's director general, Alan Nolan, says the industry "is anticipating a continuation of the strong performance seen during 2016 and is projecting similar registration numbers to last year". Light Commercial Vehicles (LCV) were up 18.3pc (28,180) and are regarded as the best indicator of activity within the economy. The number of used UK imports surged in 2016 to 72,182 (from 47,798) according to the SIMI figures. Many in the industry expect the total to increase again this year. Mr Nolan said nearly 50pc of imports were between three and five-years-old, with 40pc more than six-years-old. And, according to Mr Rochford: "There is evidence to suggest that a lot of people who may have been waiting to purchase a new car in 2017 took advantage of the drop in sterling and opted to import a nearly-new vehicle at the end of 2016 instead." He advised intending buyers to be extra vigilant and to make sure they check the vehicle has not been clocked, written-off or still under finance. The visit came one month after the Egyptian Museum was opened to the public in the evenings twice a week Egyptian parliament speaker Ali Abdel-Al and members of parliament's Culture, Antiquities and Media Committee toured the halls of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo's Tahrir Square Tuesday evening. Guided by Minister of Antiquities Khaled El-Enany, Abdel-Al and the committee members visited several sections of the museum including the treasure halls and the Tutankhamun collection. The visit came one month after the Egyptian Museum was opened to the public in the evenings twice a week. Search Keywords: Short link: Is that the sound of ghostly laughter I hear emanating from the once-famous or infamous licensed premises in Harry Street, Dublin, known as McDaid's, as the ghosts of Myles na gCopaleen's world (Brian O'Nolan, Patrick Kavanagh, John Jordan and Anthony Cronin) consider the euphemistic terminology now being used to describe their activities in that literary (or anti-literary) establishment, to wit, "socialising"? One newspaper report on the death of poet Cronin last week described him as "the last of the bohemians". But some other bohemians from the McDaid's era remain, including a group of somewhat younger writers who drank in the company of the aforementioned authors in McDaid's and elsewhere in the 1960s, myself included. Instead of the label, "the last of the bohemians" being most appropriate for Anthony Cronin, may I suggest that the title he gave to his biography of Samuel Beckett, 'The Last Modernist', is more fitting. Hugh McFadden Harold's Cross, Dublin 6W Only certainty is tough times ahead 2017 will certainly bring, as the Government keeps assuring us, rent certainty: very many poor souls in rental accommodation can now be quite certain that, due to the measures being introduced by those in power, they will no longer be able to pay their rent. They will face the scandalous prospect of homelessness in the midst of alleged recovery and restoration in this sadly mismanaged little country. James N O'Sullivan Killarney, Co Kerry Time never right to drop anthem Mickey Harte says the GAA could drop the Irish anthem and the tricolour from games "when time is right". There is about as much chance of the GAA dropping the anthem and the tricolour as there is of Mickey standing down as manager of Tyrone. It looks like the time will never be right in either case. Seamus McLoughlin Keshcarrigan, Co Leitrim Fighting the scourge of terrorism The recent cowardly terrorist attack on a nightclub in Istanbul, Turkey, targeted civilians for no reason other than the fact they were celebrating the new year. The vast majority of Arabs and Muslims stand united in condemning this scourge of international terrorism. It is a regional and global responsibility to combat this twisted ideology. As his majesty King Abdullah II of Jordan puts it: "We are waging this war to protect our faith, our values and our human principles. Our war will be ferocious and reckless for their sake and will hit terrorists in their own ground." Dr Munjed Farid al Qutob London, UK The sober meaning of 'merry' In Mary Kenny's article on festive boozing (Irish Independent, December 26), she says that "the cup that cheers" comes from a long Christian tradition and she associates that sentiment with the word "merry". She quotes the old English carol 'God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen'. But when that carol was composed, "merry" had a somewhat religious connotation, rather than endorsing "the cup that cheers". On the eve of his execution, St Thomas More wrote to his daughter, Margaret, of his hope "that we shall merrily meet in heaven". And 'Merry in God' is the title of the biography of Fr Willie Doyle, SJ, killed while volunteering with Irish soldiers in World War I. Nowadays, to be "merry" can indicate being slightly tipsy, but in times past, "Merry Christmas" meant a happy one, of course, and certainly a sober one! Patrick Fleming Glasnevin, Dublin 9 Thatcher's view of Irish leaders It is interesting to read that recently released state papers for 1986 purport to give an insight into Margaret Thatcher's relationship with Charles Haughey and Garret FitzGerald. They seem to imply that she disliked Mr Haughey and was happy doing business with Dr FitzGerald. Her autobiography, 'The Downing Street Years', published in 1993, paints a very different picture. Her opinion of Mr Haughey was: "I found him easy to get on with, less talkative and more realistic than Garret FitzGerald. Charles Haughey was tough, able and politically astute with few illusions and, I am sure, not much affection for the British." On the other hand, she thought that although Dr FitzGerald prided himself on being a cosmopolitan intellectual, "he was a man of as many words as Charles Haughey was few. He was also, beneath the skin of sophistication, even more sensitive to imagined snubs and more inclined to exaggerate the importance of essentially trivial issues than Mr Haughey". One of her memories of Dr FitzGerald when discussing agricultural issues at an EU meeting was that "we never seemed to get by without a tear-jerking homily on the predicament of Ireland from the Irish Prime Minister, Dr Garret FitzGerald, who pleaded that his country should be exempt from the disciplines on agricultural spending". She said that she had met Mr Haughey in the margins of the European Council and he had urged her to find some face-saving device that would allow the hunger strikers in Long Kesh to end their fast, though he fully accepted that political status was out of the question. Mrs Thatcher stated that she came to the view that Dr FitzGerald's government did not speak with a single voice. He told her that unless the minority in Northern Ireland could be turned against the IRA that Sinn Fein would get the upper hand and, with the help of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, would drag down the Republic. This, in her view, was a point being exaggerated to the level of absurdity. Hugh Duffy Cleggan, Co Galway The wrong Gabor John Fitzgerald's letter (Irish Independent, January 3) fondly remembers Zsa Zsa Gabor in US sitcom 'Green Acres'. It's just as well her sister Eva has also departed this life, as she would be not be too impressed to have Zsa Zsa credited with her own most famous role. Margaret Hogan Thurles, Co Tipperary Actress January Jones attends the 20th Century Fox party during Comic-Con International 2015 at Andaz Hotel on July 10, 2015 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images) Now: Actress January Jones attends the 67th Emmy Awards at Microsoft Theater on September 20, 2015 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for TNT LA) Actress January Jones attends the 'Concert For Our Oceans' hosted by Seth MacFarlane benefitting Oceana at The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on September 28, 2015 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images) Actress January Jones attends the Sixth-Annual Veuve Clicquot Polo Classic at Will Rogers State Historic Park on October 17, 2015 in Pacific Palisades, California. (Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images for Veuve Clicquot) Actress January Jones attends the AMC celebration of the "Mad Men" season 7 premiere at ArcLight Cinemas on April 2, 2014 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images) Actress January Jones attends the Fallout 4 video game launch event in downtown Los Angeles on November 5, 2015 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Mike Windle/Getty Images for Bethesda) Actress January Jones attends the 16th Annual AFI Awards at Four Seasons Hotel Los Angeles at Beverly Hills on January 8, 2016 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images for AFI) Actress January Jones attends the 4th Annual Crab Cake LA fundraiser event presented by Cadillac and Agavero to benefit Chrysalis on July 31, 2016 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Mike Windle/Getty Images for Crab Cake LA ) Actress January Jones attends the 5th Annual NFL Honors at Bill Graham Civic Auditorium on February 6, 2016 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Tim Mosenfelder/Getty Images) Actress January Jones attends the AMC celebration of the final 7 episodes of "Mad Men" with the Black & Red Ball at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion on March 25, 2015 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images) January Jones has opened up about raising her son as a single parent in a rare, candid interview. The Mad Men star (38) welcomed her son Xander in 2011 and for personal reasons, never revealed the identity of his father and is raising him as a single mother. While she has spoken about her private life selectively over the years, previously saying she "knew I would be raising my son alone" and was "excited" when she discovered she was pregnant, she has opened up about raising him alone. The famously private actress said that her son has plenty of "bro time" with the male figures in his life. Expand Close January Jones attends the FOX Summer TCA Press Tour on August 8, 2016 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp January Jones attends the FOX Summer TCA Press Tour on August 8, 2016 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images) "Xander has a lot of bro time with the neighbour dads and my dad, who is super young. It's good to have strong women around a man to teach him to respect women. He doesn't have a male person saying 'don't cry' or 'you throw like a girl,'" she told Red magazine. "All those s**tty things that dads accidentally do." The Golden Globe nominee said she would have to meet the right person in order to "make room" for him in her fulfilling family life. "I just don't feel I need a partner," she explained. Expand Close January Jones as Betty Draper in AMC's Mad Men / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp January Jones as Betty Draper in AMC's Mad Men "Do I want one? Maybe. But I don't feel unhappy or lonely. "It would have to be someone so amazing that I would want to make room. Someone who would contribute to my happiness and not take away from it." Video of the Day "After I had Xander, I went on a couple of dates and I was like, 'I'd rather be at home sleeping, watching TV or hanging out with my kid.' People want to set me up all the time and I'm like, 'No way.' If I meet someone and we go out, fine, but I'm not going to go look. "The moment I see someone who I think is cute, I Google him and, oh, he's 25, and I'm thinking, 'What is my problem?!' I want a manly man in flannel, with a beard and an axe. But then there's always something wrong. Like he's a Republican." Expand Close Actress January Jones attends the 5th Annual NFL Honors at Bill Graham Civic Auditorium on February 6, 2016 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Tim Mosenfelder/Getty Images) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Actress January Jones attends the 5th Annual NFL Honors at Bill Graham Civic Auditorium on February 6, 2016 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Tim Mosenfelder/Getty Images) As for her son, she recalled her labour experience in which she wanted only "female energy" in the room and would love to have another child. "My younger sisters and my mom and my doula were in the room; my brother-in-law and my dad were next door. I only wanted women with me. Female energy," she said. "It was a 30-hour process but it was awesome. I'd love to do it again." Sherlock Holmes returned to our screens this week (BBC) Sherlock producer and actor Mark Gatiss has made a poetic response to critics who have attacked the show's latest series for being too much like James Bond. The star, 50, wrote a five-verse piece, complete with rhyme, explaining how Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's famous detective had always been a skilled fighter. Referring to some of the most famous Sherlock stories, Gatiss challenged his critics: "In hurling Moriarty over the torrent, did Sherlock find violence strange and abhorrent? "In shooting down pygmies and Hounds from hell, Did Sherlock on Victorian niceties dwell?" His composition followed an article in The Guardian, which claimed that the show's New Year's Day episode, which saw Benedict Cumberbatch's famous character embroiled in fist fights and his friend John Watson's wife turn out to be an assassin, was too physically violent. The article, by Ralph Jones, described Sherlock as "perversely morphing" into the typical 007-style action movie detective, rather than the science-focused "nerd" of Sir Arthur's stories. Addressing his critic, Gatiss wrote: "Here is a critic who says with low blow, Sherlock's no brain-box but become double-O. "Says the Baker St boy is no man of action - whilst ignoring the stories that could have put him in traction." Hitting back at the idea that the modern Sherlock Holmes of his and Steven Moffat's creation has become more akin to the suave, gun-toting Bond, he concluded: " There's no need to invoke in yarns that still thrill, Her Majesty's Secret Servant with licence to kill. "From Rathbone through Brett to Cumberbatch dandy, w ith his fists Mr Holmes has always been handy." Video of the Day Read the full poem below: "Here is a critic who says with low blow Sherlock's no brain-box but become double-O. Says the Baker St boy is no man of action - whilst ignoring the stories that could have put him in traction. The Solitary Cyclist sees boxing on show, The Gloria Scott and The Sign of the Fo' The Empty House too sees a mention, in time, of Mathews, who knocked out poor Sherlock's canine. As for arts martial, there's surely a clue in the misspelled wrestle Doyle called baritsu. In hurling Moriarty over the torrent did Sherlock find violence strange and abhorrent? In shooting down pygmies and Hounds from hell Did Sherlock on Victorian niceties dwell? When Gruner's men got him was Holmes quite compliant Or did he give good account for The Illustrious Client? There's no need to invoke in yarns that still thrill, Her Majesty's Secret Servant with licence to kill From Rathbone through Brett to Cumberbatch dandy With his fists Mr Holmes has always been handy." - Mark Gatiss. A newlywed couple are determined to change the proposal game in Ireland. It's no secret that weddings are big business, but Jason and Niamh Weldon (both 30) are keen to make the experience as special as possible from the very start. The pair, who wed last August, have launched a new engagement planner service after Jason said he had "ideas beyond my reach" when it came to popping the question to his girlfriend of eight years. On Valentine's Day 2015, Jason got down on bended knee at Jamie's Italian in Dundrum and while he was thrilled to have organised a photographer to capture the surprise (pictured above), he said he was overwhelmed by all that was required for the proposal to show how much he meant to him. "You have all these plans for hot air balloons or a horse and carriage but you simply dont have the time for it," he told independent.ie "It was important for me to show the love of my life how much she means to me, so I wanted to have it all organised and for it to be a surprise to her. Expand Close Niamh and Jason Weldon of YourEngagementPlanner.ie / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Niamh and Jason Weldon of YourEngagementPlanner.ie "I managed to do this but I also found that we lead a busy life and we spend most of our free time together. So making calls and sending e-mails were all difficult when trying to organise so much." They set up YourEngagementPlanner.ie as a passion project as both still work full-time in their respective careers - Jason in commercial finance and Niamh owns a home bakery. Prices for the planning vary from client to client based on "heir individual needs and budgets", but said there are the "bog standard" packages available with the option of enhancing experiences that will require more time and money. Examples of more elaborate proposals would include the aforementioned hot-air balloons or catering for ex-pats coming from America looking to source an idyllic proposal. Video of the Day The service is fully dependent on the perons budget and the plans they want, he said. One example of a simple proposal suggested by the couple is on the HaPenny Bridge after a "romantic night out when the stars out in a stunning location". Howth Head would also be suitable with a "stroll and some ice-cream before proposing at the end of the pier." The service will be full available around the country. CP, from South Africa, moved to Dublin with family when he was 12 years old. Just a few years later, he met Dubliner Amy when their separate youth groups happened to be staying at the same B&B on a trip away. Soon after the pair had their first date along Bray seafront, and it wasn't long before they fell for each other. In December 2014, Amy arrived at the Gibson Hotel, Dublin, thinking that CP had booked them a double room as a Christmas surprise - but instead she arrived at the executive suite, where she was greeted with prosecco, chocolates and rose petals. CP's perfect proposal was answered with a yes! The couple opted for a church ceremony in Rathmichael Parish Church in South Dublin and afterwards held their reception at Tankardstown House, Meath. Expand Close Amy and CP's wedding day. Picture: Couple Photography, visit Couple.ie / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Amy and CP's wedding day. Picture: Couple Photography, visit Couple.ie "Besides its obvious beauty and breathtaking rooms, Tankardstown House just ticked all the boxes. I knew that it would capture the magic of a winter wedding, with real fires and candles everywhere," says Amy, who found her dream dress at Embrace Bridal, Wexford. Amy and CP added several personal touches on the day, including bringing their own chairs for the ceremony - which had been embroidered by Amy's great-grandmother. Amy also tied a small locket to her bouquet which contained a picture of her grandmother and great uncle, with whom she was very close. After their big day, Amy and CP stayed at Fota Island Resort, Cork for three nights, and the pair have a big honeymoon planned for summer 2017. n Words by Dee Finnerty. Photography by Couple Photography, visit couple.ie Expand Close Amy and CP's wedding day. Picture: Couple Photography, visit Couple.ie / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Amy and CP's wedding day. Picture: Couple Photography, visit Couple.ie If you would like your wedding featured here, email weddings@independent.ie LG has unveiled a new smart fridge that users can control with their voice thanks to the integration of Amazon's Alexa personal assistant. The technology normally found within the Amazon Echo speaker hub has been added to the Korean tech giant's new InstaView fridge, which also comes with a 29-inch full HD touchscreen display on the door and built in camera for scanning and checking the food being stored. Users can ask Alexa to add items to their shopping list, check the weather and set cooking timers via the fridge, which will also send notifications and images to an owner's smartphone for food shopping planning. LG's home appliances boss Song Dae-Hyun said: "By working with Amazon, we are able to broaden our smart refrigerator's capabilities and further provide our customers with a pleasurable cooking and dining experience. "Our Smart InstaView Door-in-Door refrigerator will allow users to enjoy their kitchen experience like never before." The smart fridge also has LG's WebOS software built in - normally saved for their TVs - that enables users to use the touchscreen to leave virtual notes, lists and memos for other family members. As part of their press conference ahead of the CES technology show in Las Vegas, LG also revealed a series of new robots they plan to bring to homes and public spaces. The firm's Hub Robot also uses Amazon's Alexa voice controls and connects to other smart appliances around the house, enabling it to set the heating and control the oven and music speakers among other tasks. The Hub can move and swivel in place while showing an array of emotions on its built-in display. An Airport Guide Robot that can scan a passengers plane ticket and give them airport information and directions to their gate was also demoed on stage. LG also used their event to introduce their new flagship TVs, the Signature OLED W, which is only 2.57mm thick and must be mounted to the wall with magnetic brackets. LG says the result is the impression the TV is either levitating or is built into the wall like a window, which it said partly inspired the "W" name. A second-hand bookshop owner who has sparked more than 20 complaints about his rudeness has admitted he was wrong to call a customer a "pain in the arse". Steve Bloom, who runs Bloomindales high in the Yorkshire Dales, has been criticised for asking visitors for a 50p entry fee, with the chairman of Hawes Parish Council branding him "the bookseller from hell". Mr Bloom, describing himself as "not really a people person", said the council had given the issue more importance than it deserved. The 63-year-old admitted he should not have called a customer, who went on to complain about his welcome to the council, "a pain in the arse". At his home near Settle, North Yorkshire, he said: "I regretted it as soon as I said it. "He arrived just as I was closing, but I allowed him to go in and browse around. But he ignored me completely when I asked for my 50p, which didn't help things at all." He explained his policy of asking customers for 50p was a way of finding out whether they were serious or not, and that he did not actually take the money. He said: "There are times when I've wondered whether it's the right thing to do, but I stand by it." Parish councillors in Hawes have discussed the shop five times since 2013, and chairman John Blackie said the "dreadfully rude and offensive" bookseller was a discredit to the market town. Mr Blackie said he has received more than 20 complaints from visitors in the past four years about the shop and Mr Bloom's 50p entry fee for browsers. Mr Blackie, 68, said: "I'm afraid we have the bookseller from hell. "He seems to have a strategy unlike anybody else's. "He charges 50p, people object and he is very rude to them. Yet he feels that improves his business." He added: "The trouble is, he is doing a disservice to the other traders, to the reputation of the town which is very much a friendly town. We welcome people to come a visit us." Mr Blackie said Mr Bloom seemed to enjoy the notoriety, and did not seem bothered by criticism online. One comment on the Yell website said other shoppers "recoiled in embarrassment" when the reviewer was asked to leave while browsing postcards, having refused to pay 50p. Another gave only one star out of five, and said that he and his wife received a very rude reception and they were asked to pay the entry fee, returnable on purchase of a book. The bookshop is based in Hawes Market House, a charity - and although complaints have been passed on to the building's trustees, there has been no change Mr Blackie said. The parish council chairman said he will visit Mr Bloom again and urge him to be polite. "He can see the great difficulties, the upset that he causes in the local community," Mr Blackie said. "He might be better off trying a charm offensive. If you charm them more and offend them less, you might have a business even better than it is now, and we can all live happily ever after." Mr Blackie will urge the Market House Trustees to put pressure on Mr Bloom to mend his ways, or warn him he could be thrown out. Israeli soldier Sgt Elor Azaria before the verdict inside the military court in Tel Aviv (Heidi Levine, Pool via AP) Israeli soldier Sgt Elor Azaria before the verdict inside the military court in Tel Aviv (Heidi Levine, Pool via AP) Israel's prime minister has called for a pardon for a soldier convicted of manslaughter in the shooting death of a badly wounded Palestinian attacker. With his comment, Benjamin Netanyahu has plunged into a raging political debate that has divided the country, putting himself at odds with the military. The prime minister made the remarks just hours after Sergeant Elor Azaria was convicted on Wednesday. He faces a maximum sentence of 20 years. Azaria's defence team has already said it will appeal. On his Facebook page, Mr Netanyahu wrote: "I support giving Elor Azaria a pardon." He also urged the public to support the army and its commanders. The country's president, Reuven Rivlin, has authority to issue pardons but has said he will wait for the legal process to run its course before making a decision. AP Charles Manson pictured in October 2014, following reports that he had been taken to a California hospital (California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation/AP) Mass murderer Charles Manson has been taken from his California prison cell to a hospital, according to several news reports. A prison official would only confirm that the 82-year-old was alive and gave no other information. Manson was convicted of orchestrating the 1969 murders of pregnant actress Sharon Tate and six others. The cult leader attracted disaffected young people who lived in a commune, followed his orders and were ultimately turned into killers. Both TMZ and the Los Angeles Times reported on Tuesday that Manson had been taken to hospital. TMZ said he had been taken to a medical centre in Bakersfield, about 60 miles south of Corcoran State Prison where Manson was being held. Two vans from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) were parked early on Wednesday outside Bakersfield's Mercy Hospital Downtown, where state prisoners have been treated before. Some news media have gathered across the street from the hospital. But CDCR spokeswoman Terry Thornton said only that Manson was alive and still assigned to the prison in Corcoran. She declined to say whether he was at the hospital in Bakersfield, citing safety privacy laws prohibiting her from discussing an inmate's medical situation. Tate's sister Debra Tate told the Associated Press on Tuesday night that, as a Catholic, she makes "no ill wishes" for the people who killed her sister, and will reserve her feelings until hearing Manson has died. "I would probably say a prayer for them and shed a tear and ask God to have mercy on their souls, but so far I haven't allowed myself to feel anything because it's unsubstantiated," Ms Tate said. "I'm not allowing myself to feel anything until I know that it's true." Manson and three female followers, Susan Atkins, Patricia Krenwinkel and Leslie Van Houten, were convicted of murder and sentenced to death for killings at two gruesome scenes in the summer of 1969. Another defendant, Charles "Tex" Watson, was convicted later. All were spared execution when a US Supreme Court ruling temporarily banned the death penalty in 1972. Sarah Ardalani, of the Los Angeles County district attorney's office, said in an email that the agency had no information on Manson. The office prosecuted Manson and has objected to his release. He was most recently up for parole in 2012 - his 12th bid for freedom. The California State Prison, Corcoran, has medical facilities to treat inmates requiring urgent or emergency care as well as in-patient hospital stays. "In general, inmates are sent to outside hospitals if they need surgical services, emergency care, or diagnostic services of an acute nature," said Joyce Hayhoe, a spokeswoman for the federal receiver who controls prison medical care. "These services are not provided in state prison facilities." In November, the state inspector general, which monitors the corrections system, characterised care at Corcoran as "inadequate". AP It isnt every day the General Federation of the Chambers of Commerce together with the biggest Investors Association in Egypt representing most of the Egyptian private sector publish an appeal to the president complaining about the policies adopted by the government and the central bank, as they did last week. The call for help is illustrative both of economic mismanagement and the lack mechanisms and channels to resolve differences and manage competing interests society. The origin of the latest problem is the upheaval in the currency market over the last year. Companies importing equipment, raw materials, or other products borrowed from banks in foreign currency to meet their needs, but couldnt make loan payments in the same currency, either because it was not available in the official market or because buying it outside of it became a crime carrying the risk of prison. So banks demanded coverage of the debt in Egyptian pounds, as a guarantee for future payment. When the pound value collapsed, these companies debt suddenly doubled, leading them to realise significant losses at years end. And where this could have been an ordinary commercial dispute of the type seen around the world when currency prices change markedly, it became a full-blown crisis in the last few weeks due to the fact that it involves dozens of companies, that the delay in unifying the price of the pound exacerbated matters, that these companies and their workforce are now in jeopardy, and that the tax revenue the state was expecting this year may be significantly lower given the steep decline in corporate profits. This is not the first crisis resulting from recent economic decisions, and I dont think it will be last. But the problem is not actually about the decision to float the pound, which I still believe was a sound, necessary step, though late in coming. The heart of the problem is that the state acted as if simply floating the pound, raising energy and fuel prices and customs fees, and introducing the VAT are its economic policy, when in fact it was necessary to follow up on these decisions with programs and policies to increase investment and employment, bring back tourism, encourage exports, and protect the poor from the price increases in necessary goods and services that inevitably follow such decisions. Instead, having seemed serious in recent weeks about correcting the economic course and working as a team, the government now looks to have stumbled, taking reluctant, contradictory steps without articulating a clear vision of what it hopes to accomplish. This was demonstrated in its failure to anticipate and then to swiftly deal with a sugar crisis, then a fertilizer crisis, then a pharmaceutical crisis, then the imported poultry crisis, in the ongoing shortage of foreign currency despite the float, out-of-control price hikes, the public recriminations between various ministries and public agencies, and most recently the public appeal directed at the president. In each of these crises, the state didnt seem prepared or even cognizant of the predictable outcomes it shouldve been ready for. Part of the problem is that the state thinks that because people havent reacted to its economic decisions by revolting or demonstrating in the streets, then such economic policy is a success. In fact, there is a crisis and the anger at economic mismanagement is spreading across all social classes. And if investors associations have the resources to express their anger in paid ads, it doesnt mean other segments of the population happily accept this out-of-control situation. They just lack the means to voice their demands and problems. This brings me to the issue of demands and interests. Its not unusual to have competing, mutually incompatible interests in societyin fact, thats the norm. Workers interests are not employers interests; the demands of importers will certainly run up against those of producers and manufacturers; pensioners have different concerns than youth looking for jobs, and major global firms have a different perspective than artisans and small craftsmen. Countries dont make economic strides by assuming some imaginary, idealised social consensus. They advance and grow when theyre able to manage competing class and social interests in a balanced, democratic waywhen local councils, parliament, the media, NGOs, labor unions, and business associations are strong, independent, and truly representative of their members interests, and when channels are open for continuous, collective, social bargaining. But with a weak parliament, the absence of elected local councils, state control of the media, unions, and civil society, the pillory of everyone who opposes government policies, and dialogue limited to those with influence with the powers that be, people will have no choice but to petition the president or look for other channels of protest. *The writer holds a PhD in financial law from the London School of Economics. He is former deputy prime minister, former chairman of the Egyptian Financial Supervisory Authority and former chairman of the General Authority for Investment. A version of this article was published in Arabic in El-Shorouq newspaper on Monday, 2 January. Search Keywords: Short link: A bleak film which tells the story of how teenager Kayleigh Haywood was groomed online by a stranger and then brutally raped and murdered has been released by police. The film, called Kayleigh's Love Story, charts the last fortnight of her life and warns parents and children of the dangers of online grooming. Kayleigh, 15, was killed by Stephen Beadman in November 2015 after being bombarded with messages on Facebook and other social media sites for around two weeks by his 28-year-old neighbour Luke Harlow. Over a fortnight, they exchanged 2,643 messages. Harlow groomed Kayleigh, along with two other girls he had also been speaking to, but it was Kayleigh who finally agreed to his requests to spend the night at his house. The five-minute short was made with the support of Kayleigh's parents and has already been shown at schools in Leicestershire and Rutland. Expand Close Kayleigh Haywood was murdered in 2015 (Leicestershire Police/PA) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Kayleigh Haywood was murdered in 2015 (Leicestershire Police/PA) Leicestershire Police said 35 children found the courage to come forward and report possible cases of grooming to officers after seeing the film. The award-winning film, which begins with a warning that it would have a 15 certificate if shown in a cinema, starts by showing how Kayleigh began receiving messages from Harlow. As the pair exchange messages, the film cuts between scenes of Kayleigh at home with her family and Harlow smoking a cigarette in his flat. It also shows examples of messages Harlow sent the teenage girl as he groomed her. Expand Close Kayleigh Haywood / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Kayleigh Haywood "Mum and dad wouldn't understand, they don't know that he's different," the actress playing Kayleigh says. The film shows Kayleigh meeting Harlow at his house on Friday 13 November, where she spent the next day. In the early hours of Sunday 15 November, having been held against her will by Harlow and his next door neighbour Stephen Beadman, Kayleigh was raped and murdered by Beadman. The video ends by warning: "Stop and think. When you meet someone online, you don't always know who you are talking to." Expand Close Flowers and tributes left outside Sence Valley Forest Park in Ibstock, Leicestershire where police found a body during the search for Kayleigh Haywood. Joe Giddens/PA Wire / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Flowers and tributes left outside Sence Valley Forest Park in Ibstock, Leicestershire where police found a body during the search for Kayleigh Haywood. Joe Giddens/PA Wire The film was shot in various locations across Leicestershire and Nottingham by Affixxius Films. Miles Latham, managing partner of Affixxius Films, told The Independent: "It is one of the most intricate projects we have ever taken on. The production of a film this graphically accurate, while the case was still going on, is unheard of. "Very few police forces would have the courage to get the family's permission. There were obvious difficulties having to work with Kayleigh's mum and dad, which was incredibly difficult. "They were obviously broken, hollow people. But to give them enormous credit, they were one hundred per cent behind the project from the beginning. They endorsed the film wholeheartedly." He said the video agency wanted to capture the character of Kayleigh in the film. "We wanted her to walk like Kayleigh, to move like Kayleigh, to interact with her family like Kayleigh did." Expand Close Police make their way across a field in Ibstock, Leicestershire, near to where a body has been found during the search for missing Kayleigh Haywood. Joe Giddens/PA Wire / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Police make their way across a field in Ibstock, Leicestershire, near to where a body has been found during the search for missing Kayleigh Haywood. Joe Giddens/PA Wire Leicestershire Police gave them access to all of the digital messages exchanged between Kayleigh and Harlow, allowing them to build their script. "It's like reading something out of a horror film," Mr Latham said. He said he hoped the film would "reinforce a message which is as old as time: Don't talk to strangers. "The only way we can stop other incidences like Kayleigh's happening is if young adults have a moment of realisation and are able to realise that things could develop." Leicestershire's Deputy Chief Constable Roger Bannister said: "What happened to Kayleigh was horrific but we are pleased that some good is coming from the awful tragedy and that this film is raising far greater awareness of the dangers of online grooming and the signs that it may be happening." Last July, Beadman, then 29, was sentenced to life imprisonment for the rape, false imprisonment and murder of the teenager, while Harlow was given a 12-year jail term for false imprisonment and grooming. Parents have complained on social media after Alison Colwell turned away pupils who failed to obey the uniform policy at Ebbsfleet Academy in Kent, which includes a rule banning skirts that sit more than 5cm above the knee. Photo: Gareth Fuller/PA Wire A head teacher has defended enforcing her school's uniform policy by sending home "teenage girls who flash large amounts of thigh". Parents have complained on social media after Alison Colwell turned away pupils who failed to obey the uniform policy at Ebbsfleet Academy in Kent, which includes a rule banning skirts that sit more than 5cm above the knee. Ms Colwell said about 20 pupils were sent home on the first day of term on Tuesday. She said: "We have a clear uniform policy that we enforce. Our rules are no stricter than most schools, it's just that we are consistent in enforcing them. "Parents were warned about this last term and students who chose to break the rule yesterday were given the choice to borrow a school second-hand skirt. "The tiny minority of parents who choose to defy us, and our rules, are a minority - it's a curious parent who thinks it is acceptable for teenage girls to flash large amounts of thigh, or worse. "The overwhelming majority of our parents are fantastic and support what we are doing and the tremendous achievements of the academy since opening three years ago." Ms Colwell said, following an Ofsted inspection last term, the school was rated good and was praised for "strong leadership" which "has led to higher academic standards, better behaviour and increased attendance". One parent wrote on Facebook that her 15-year-old daughter had been turned away for wearing a skirt that she had worn previously to the school. She said "about 200 other girls" had been refused entry. She said: "They're letting their pupils down by turning them away, they're shutting the gates in their faces for silly reasons. "I'm very angry - school is a place where these kids should be able to feel safe, they just want to go to school." Ms Colwell has received criticism from some parents over her policy of enforcing school uniform rules since she took over at the school in 2012. She took charge of the newly opened Ebbsfleet Academy, which replaced the under-performing Swan Valley Community School. Terry Joseph, whose 14-year-old daughter Nicole was one of those turned away, said he was concerned that pupils were left out of school without supervision. The 55-year-old HGV driver, from Greenhithe, said: "They put out quite a few girls and boys out of the school without their parents' knowledge, there were children walking the streets of Kent, perhaps some without anywhere to go. "My biggest concern was for the safety of the children as the school has a duty of care." He continued: "I do not have a problem with them enforcing it but they need to give parents enough time, nobody was made aware at the end of term. The first time I knew about it was when my daughter came back on Tuesday. "My personal feeling is they aren't too short but they have different ideas." An 18-year-old student who died after attending an event at popular London nightclub Fabric smuggled drugs into the venue in his boxers before buying more inside, an inquest has heard. Jack Crossley, from Worcester Park, Surrey, died on the morning of August 6 after becoming unwell at the club, in Farringdon, central London. He had brought MDMA into the venue with two friends but later purchased more after being approached by a stranger, Poplar Coroner's Court in east London was told. Mr Crossley, a trainee electrician, received medical attention after trying to leave the venue - propped up by two friends - at around 5.30am. His temperature was recorded as high as 42.2C as he received treatment and his heart rate was measured at 190 beats per minute, paramedic Caroline Smith, who was working at the venue, said in a statement. A heart rate of 60 to 90 beats per minute is expected in a healthy individual, she added. Mr Crossley was taken to the Royal London Hospital where he died at 8.58am after suffering a cardiac arrest. Senior Coroner Mary Hassell said the death was caused by MDMA toxicity. She added: "I make a determination that the death was drug-related." Mr Crossley arrived at the club with friends Joe Ryan and Josh Green between 11pm and 11.30pm on Friday August 5. He had visited Fabric twice before and had taken drugs on both occasions, the inquest heard. One visit was in June on the same night that 18-year-old Ryan Browne was taken to hospital after taking ecstasy at the club. He later died. Mr Green said staff had carried out a "brief search" of the trio but they managed to smuggle in three-quarters of a gram of MDMA, which they had bought ahead of the event, in their boxers. He added that staff had "squeezed" his ankles, he assumed to search for weapons. Mr Ryan said: "I do not remember it being at the ankles. I remember it being a pat. "I actually said to one of them 'Do you want me to empty my pockets?' and he said no. It was a bit weird." The group took the drugs while inside but Mr Crossley and Mr Ryan later had more, which they bought from someone in the club. Mr Ryan said Mr Crossley had not appeared unwell - apart from looking "red in the face" when he was in the smoking area. Staff were alerted to Mr Crossley's condition when the group left the club. In the medical area, Ms Smith said he was "pale and sweating profusely", his "teeth were chattering" and he lashed out at staff as he experienced "confusion and paranoia". As she gave her verdict, Ms Hassell said: "A youngster like Jack, who has taken MDMA twice before, has gone to a club and has done what it seemed like other people are doing and it's no more than that. "It's no more than doing what so many youngsters will do and they won't have any consequences." Mr Crossley's inquest comes days before Fabric's reopening event this weekend. The nightclub had its licence revoked in September and was forced to close after Islington Council found it had a "culture of drug use" which staff were "incapable of controlling". But the venue reached an agreement with the Metropolitan Police and the council in November over new licence conditions such as a raised entry age and tougher security measures. Giving evidence at the inquest, Luke Laws, general manager at Fabric, said the club had made changes to its security processes and updated its CCTV ahead of the relaunch. He urged further education on drugs to prevent any more tragedies and stressed that the problem was wider than one club. "I cannot express how horrific it is to witness that sort of thing," he said. "We run a disco ultimately. It's there for enjoyment and it's there to have fun." Frances Cappuccini, 30, who died after giving birth by emergency Caesarean section, as the jury has been selected in a landmark case in which a doctor and a trust are charged in connection with her death. Photo: Family handout/PA Wire A mother-of-two who died just hours after having a caesarian told her husband: "I love you - if anything happens just make sure you look after the boys", an inquest heard. Primary schoolteacher Frances Cappuccini, 30, died just eight hours after the birth of her second son Giacomo - having lost several litres of blood. An inquest on Tuesday resumed into her death after it was halted in 2014. It heard how the mother, from Offham, Kent, was absolutely "terrified" about having her second child after experiencing a traumatic birth with first son Luca - then aged four. Her husband Tom Cappuccini said she entered Tunbridge Wells Hospital at Pembury, Kent, on October 8, 2012 "certain" she wanted an elective caesarian procedure following advice from a consultant obstetrician at nearby Maidstone Hospital. But on arrival Mr Cappuccini said midwives had "almost a smirk across their face almost laughing" when he told them she needed a caesarian and had been advised against having an epidural by their doctor. Giving evidence at the hearing in Gravesend, Kent, on Tuesday, her husband said: "Frankie was terrified. She had been terrified for months in the run up to giving birth because of the previous experience and what happened. "She was very certain she wanted me to make sure she had C-section on arrival." Expand Close Consultant anaesthetist Errol Cornish. Photo: Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Consultant anaesthetist Errol Cornish. Photo: Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire The couple had booked an elected caesarian for the following Monday - just two days later - but had arrived at 8.30pm after she went into labour. He said midwives and doctors at the hospital advised them "not to make a decision based on pain and fear" and told them there was no reason she could not give birth naturally. Following their advice, she endured 12 hours of grueling labour before being rushed for a caesarian at 8.30am the following morning - where surgeons made the fatal error of leaving a large piece of placenta in the uterine cavity. Asked if he felt free to make the choice about the birth, Mr Cappuccini added: "I put my trust and Frankie"s trust in the people that were there. They disregarded previous medical advice and we were made to feel small and insignificant. "In hindsight I wish I had never agreed." The mother was feeding her newborn son for the first time when she felt blood "flowing between her legs" and midwives found a pool of blood under her sheet. When bleeding did not stop she was rushed back to theatre for surgery to investigate and stem the bleed. Following the surgery Mr Cappuccini was told a piece of placenta which was described as "raggedy" was found in her uterine cavity. But she was rushed to an Intensive Care Unit when she failed to come around from the general anaesthetic. Appearing emotional in court, Mr Cappuccini said: "I was told that I could see her when she was stable in the ICU but I never got the chance. "At 4pm a group of doctors came to see me and said her blood pressure had dropped and her heart had stopped. They had tried to revive her but they were unable to do so." Neil Sheldon, a lawyer representing the family, told coroner Roger Hatch the fact Mrs Cappuccini underwent 12 hours of gruelling labour rather than be sent for an immediate elective caesarian was of "paramount concern" to her family. He said: "As you will be immensely aware this inquest represents the only chance for Mrs Cappuccini's family to have investigated the circumstances surrounding her death and to have answers to the questions they still have as to why she died. "There was an early admission of liability by the trust and there has been no civil trial and the criminal trial collapsed - for which the family watched as frustrated and to some extent bemused spectators. "They have waited four and half years for long this opportunity with no little restraint and great patience." He claimed if a caesarian had been undertaken at the earlier opportunity her death may have been avoided - something the NHS trust denies. He added: "If the c section had been undertaken in an elected basis promptly on arrival at hospital l, possibly by a different surgeon, then that basic error may not have been made." Representing the Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust, Mike Atkins said the risk of placenta being left behind remained the same regardless of when the surgery took place. "The risk was no greater in the morning of the 9th than the evening of the 8th because when that surgery was performed the surgeon had the same good view of the stomach open. In fact the same staff were in duty." Making an emotional tribute to his wife, Tom Cappuccini said: "She was one of the greatest people I am ever likely to meet in my life." "She was very bubbly, kind, caring and loving person. She had lots of friends and lots of time for her friends. "She was a great mother, a fantastic wife and she loved looking after Luca. "As a teacher her education background enabled her to give him a good start to his young life." The inquest was originally halted in 2014 when it became apparent that criminal charges could be brought following the tragedy. Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust made legal history by becoming the first NHS trust to face corporate manslaughter charges. But the case was dismissed by a judge at the Inner London Crown Court in February 2016. Dr Errol Cornish, the consultant anaesthetist who treated Mrs Cappuccini, was also told he had no case to answer with regards to gross negligence manslaughter charges against him. Another doctor, Nadeem Azeez, also had charges against him dropped. The inquest, which is due to last 10 days, continues. Telegraph Media Group Limited [2022] France has started measures to suspend sales of a Vitamin D supplement marketed as Uvesterol D after the death of a baby who had been given a dose of it, a French medical safety watchdog said on Wednesday. The agency said in a statement that investigations had found that there was a "probable link" between the infant's death and the way in which it was administered to the child. Health Minister Marisol Touraine said that oral syringe through which it is administered appeared to be at fault and that the supplement itself was not dangerous. Uvesterol D is developed by the Crinex laboratory and is used against Vitamin D deficiencies in children up to five years old. Officials at Crinex could not be immediately reached for comment. The company told French media on Tuesday, before the ban was announced, that tens of millions of children had been given the supplement since 1990 without any deaths resulting. The European Medicines Agency said that the supplement is not marketed in any other EU country but that it was monitoring the situation. McDonald's has opened a franchise just steps away from the gleaming white marble dome of St. Peter's Basilica, giving indigestion to some cardinals and local business owners. There was no fanfare for the Dec. 30 opening of the U.S. fast food giant's new venue behind a subdued exterior on the picturesque Borgo Pio, just outside the spiritual home of the world's 1.2 billion Roman Catholics. When the plan emerged last year, one of its most strident critics was Cardinal Elio Sgreccia, who said McDonald's fare was far removed from Roman gastronomic traditions and not the healthiest of foods. "The mega sandwich shop on Borgo Pio is a disgrace," Sgreccia told La Repubblica newspaper at the time. "It would be better to use those spaces to help the needy of the area, spaces for hospitality, shelter and help for those who suffer, as the Holy Father teaches," Sgreccia said. Despite the holy outrage in some quarters, two nuns were spotted on Tuesday lunchtime going inside the fast food joint. In a statement, McDonald's emphasised that the new restaurant was in a popular tourist area outside the Vatican, although the building itself is Holy See property. "As is the case whenever McDonald's operates near historic sites anywhere in Italy, this restaurant has been fully adapted with respect to the historical environment," the company said. Some local business owners had written to Pope Francis to ask him to keep the chain out, for fear it would upset the artistic, culture and social identity of the neighbourhood. In the letter, consumer group Codacons and a committee set up to protect Borgo Pio said the area, full of restaurants and shops selling religious articles, was already "saturated" and bringing in more tourists could be a security risk. But some people who frequent the area welcomed the new arrival, including Raffaella Scarano, an Italian woman who works nearby. "Anything that is good for the economy of our country is fine by me," she said. Cities across Italy have been turning up the heat on fast food restaurants. McDonald's filed a $20 million lawsuit against Florence after the mayor of the Renaissance city turned down an application to open one of its restaurants there. France has banned smacking, despite the vast majority of French parents being in favour of giving occasional corporal punishment to their children. The move leaves only four countries in Europe where smacking remains a legal way of disciplining children, including Britain. Anyone in France who breaks the new law will not face criminal sanction, making it a largely symbolic change, but child protection groups said the ban was essential. They said that decades of research suggested smacking was a counterproductive practice. Smacking children, often known in French as "la fessee", has long been a divisive issue in a country where 70pc of adults were against a total ban and 85pc said they smack their children, according to a recent poll. Until now, corporal punishment was forbidden in schools, but the "right to correct inside the family" was still tolerated as long as it was "light and to educational ends". But, after years of heated debate, a ban on smacking will be added to the civil code under a law discreetly passed just three days before Christmas. Laurence Rossignol, the French family minister, called it an "indispensable tool in preventing child mistreatment". But Jean-Christophe Lagarde, a French centrist MP, has described the new law as "a ridiculous attempt to micromanage family life". The bill was passed after the independent Council of Europe, the EU's leading human rights organisation, last year urged France to impose a clear ban after a British charity complained. Telegraph Media Group Limited [2022] The former leaders, many white-haired and in their eighties, sing Oh God Our Help In Ages Past Former Nigerian rulers have banded together to sing a hymn for peace in the troubled nation, with some acknowledging they had a role in creating the "mess". Their video wish for 2017 has received scornful comments from many on social media. The former leaders, many white-haired and in their eighties, sing Oh God Our Help In Ages Past in sometimes shaky tenor and bass. They include former military rulers Olusegun Obasanjo and Yakubu Gowon, former interim leader Ernest Shonekan and current vice president Yemi Osinbajo. One Twitter user called the VIP choir a "rogues' gallery", while others accused them of being responsible for the woes of a resource-rich country impoverished by endemic corruption. In comments made after singing the hymn, some of the former leaders acknowledged responsibility. "In spite of the mess we made of the country, he (God) manages always to rescue us," said Alex Ekwueme, vice president from 1979 until the first of many military coups in 1983. Ebitu Ukiwe, vice president under a dictatorship in 1984-1985, said: "I am grateful to almighty God for accepting us despite the mess we have made of ourselves and the country." Africa's largest economy and the continent's second-biggest oil producer is currently in a recession caused by a looted treasury, low oil prices and massive shortages of foreign currency. Nigeria is also beset by deadly violence including Boko Haram's Islamic uprising in the north east, attacks by oil militants in the south, demands by separatists for an independent Biafra in the south east and clashes between mainly Muslim herders and Christian farmers. AP Rebel fighters dig a trench on the forth day of the truce, on al-Rayhan village front near the rebel held besieged city of Douma, in the eastern Damascus suburb of Ghouta, Syria. Photo: Reuters A rebel fighter carries his weapon up a staircase on the forth day of the truce, on al-Rayhan village front near the rebel held besieged city of Douma, in the eastern Damascus suburb of Ghouta. Photo: Reuters Rebel fighters carry their weapons down a staircase on the forth day of the truce, on al-Rayhan village front near the rebel held besieged city of Douma, in the eastern Damascus suburb of Ghouta. Photo: Reuters A rebel fighter stands near weapons on the forth day of the truce, on al-Rayhan village front near the rebel held besieged city of Douma, in the eastern Damascus suburb of Ghouta. Photo: Reuters Rebel fighters walk inside a trench on the forth day of the truce, on al-Rayhan village front near the rebel held besieged city of Douma, in the eastern Damascus suburb of Ghouta. Photo: Reuters Residents of Damascus are scrambling for clean water after the Syrian government attacked rebels holding the city's main source in a nearby valley, leading to an accidental outage that has stretched on for nearly two weeks. The cut-off is a major challenge to the government's effort throughout the nearly six-year-old civil war to keep the capital as insulated as possible from the effects of the conflict tearing apart much of the country. "I have stopped cleaning the house, washing dishes or clothes. We no longer take showers," said Mona Maqssoud, a 50-year-old resident of Damascus. She said residents have relied on water tankers that come by occasionally and give 20 litres of water to each house, but that hasn't been enough. "We begged the drivers (to return) to our neighbourhood, but they refused." The cut-off, since December 22, is the longest Damascus has seen, say residents, who are accustomed to intermittent outages. The opposition has long controlled Wadi Barada, the valley north-west of Damascus through which the river of the same name flows to the capital. The Barada River and its source, the Ain al-Fijeh spring, supply 70pc of the water for Damascus. The government and the opposition had previously had an understanding to keep water services running. But that modus vivendi ended when forces of President Bashar al-Assad and his allies, the Lebanon Hezbollah guerrilla force, attacked the valley, home to some 100,000 people. The two sides blame each other for the cut-off. An activist-run media collective in the Barada Valley said government and Russian aircraft had bombed the Ain el-Fijeh water processing facility, puncturing its fuel depots and contaminating the water stream. The collective said the plant's electrical control systems had been destroyed as well. Images showed the roof of the facility collapsed into its main water basin. An activist with the group, Abu Mohammed al-Bardawi, said it would take at least two months to get the facilities working again. Flowers and a Turkish flag are placed near the entrance of Reina nightclub, which was attacked by a gunman, in Istanbul, Turkey January 2, 2017. REUTERS/Yagiz Karahan Flowers and pictures of the victims are placed near the entrance of Reina nightclub, which was attacked by a gunman, in Istanbul, Turkey January 2, 2017. REUTERS/Yagiz Karahan A woman reacts outside the Reina nightclub by the Bosphorus, which was attacked by a gunman, in Istanbul, Turkey, January 2, 2017. REUTERS/Yagiz Karahan Turkish police conduct a security check near the Reina nightclub by the Bosphorus, which was attacked by a gunman, in Istanbul, Turkey, January 2, 2017. REUTERS/Yagiz Karahan Turkish police stand guard outside the Reina nightclub by the Bosphorus, which was attacked by a gunman, in Istanbul, Turkey, January 2, 2017. REUTERS/Yagiz Karahan A Turkish policeman stands guard near the Reina nightclub by the Bosphorus, which was attacked by a gunman, in Istanbul, Turkey, January 2, 2017. REUTERS/Yagiz Karahan Relatives react at the funeral of Busra Kose, a victim of an attack by a gunman at Reina nightclub, in Istanbul, Turkey, January 2, 2017. REUTERS/Osman Orsal Relatives of Fatih Cakmak, a security guard and a victim of an attack by a gunman at Reina nightclub, react during his funeral in Istanbul, Turkey, January 2, 2017. REUTERS/Umit Bektas People walk outside the Reina nightclub by the Bosphorus, which was attacked by a gunman, in Istanbul, Turkey, January 2, 2017. REUTERS/Yagiz Karahan Relatives react at the funeral of Busra Kose, a victim of an attack by a gunman at Reina nightclub, in Istanbul, Turkey, January 2, 2017. REUTERS/Osman Orsal A police officer looks at photographs of the victims after the attack at a nightclub in Istanbul (AP) A man believed to be the gunman who killed dozens at an Istanbul nightclub films himself as he wanders near Istanbul's Taksim square (DHA-Depo Photos via AP) THE suspected gunman who massacred 39 people in an Istanbul nightclub reportedly brought his wife and children with him to Turkey in order to deflect attention as he prepared his assault. Three days after the shooting at the Reina club in the early hours of New Years Day, Turkish authorities were still hunting for the suspected killer and have yet to publicly identify him, despite having reportedly arrested his wife. Sixteen people have been arrested so far in connection with the attack, including two foreigners who were detained at Istanbuls airport, but the prime suspect himself remains on the loose. The woman identified as his wife was taken into custody in the city of Konya, along with two children. The Haberturk newspaper said the man had brought his family with him to avoid suspicion from Turkeys security services. Young men travelling on their own face closer scrutiny than those with wives or children. The woman told police that she did not know her husband was a member of Isil, which claimed credit for the massacre, according to Hurriyet, another Turkish newspaper. She apparently only learned of the attack after seeing news reports on television. Turkish authorities believe the attacker had combat training and may have spent several years fighting with Isil in Syria, before leaving to carry out the attack in Istanbul. He is absolutely a killer and he probably shot at humans before, said Abdullah Agar, a counter-terrorism expert. The attacker is a determined, faithful, practical, cold-blooded expert and knows how to get results... he probably fired bullets in real clash zones. Media reports said the suspect and his family flew from Kyrgyzstan to Istanbul on November 20 and then drove to Ankara, the Turkish capital, eventually arriving in Konya on November 22. They reportedly found a studio flat and paid three months of rent upfront. The man told an estate agent that he was hoping to find a job in Konya, according to Hurriyet. He spent a month in Konya, a city of 1.2 million, before heading to Istanbul a few days before the attack. Turkish police have either been unable to identify the suspect or decided against releasing his name to the public, prompting speculation in the press and on the streets. Yesterday afternoon, a passport photograph emerged online belonging to a 28-year-old man from Kyrgyzstan who resembled the main suspect. However, the man in the passport photograph, Iakhe Mashrapov, soon stepped forward to say that he had nothing to do with the attack and was in Kyrgyzstan when it happened. He said he had travelled to Istanbul the day after for work and had been stopped by Turkish authorities, but was released soon after when they realised he had no connection to the hunted man. He was questioned by authorities in Kyrgyzstan yesterday and released. Two unnamed men, identified only as foreign citizens, were arrested at Istanbuls Ataturk Airport yesterday. Their bags and mobile phones were searched and they were taken to a police station in the city for questioning. Turkish media showed a selfie video of the suspect as he circled Istanbuls most famous square. The camera never leaves the mans unsmiling face as he walks through Taksim Square. Telegraph Media Group Limited [2022] Convicted murderer Charles Manson is shown in this handout image released March 18, 2009 from Corcoran State Prison in California. REUTERS/Courtesy of Corcoran State This Oct. 8, 2014 file photo provided by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation shows serial killer Charles Manson. (California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation via AP, File) Cult leader Charles Manson is still alive after being taken to hospital from his prison cell in California, a state corrections official has confirmed. Both TMZ and the Los Angeles Times reported on Tuesday that the 82-year-old mass murderer had been taken ill. TMZ said Manson had been transported to a medical centre in Bakersfield, about 60 miles (97km) south of Corcoran State Prison where he was being held. Late on Tuesday night, three vans from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation were parked outside Bakersfield's Mercy Hospital Downtown, where state prisoners have been treated before. But CDCR spokeswoman Terry Thornton said only that Manson is still alive and still assigned to the prison in Corcoran. She declined to say whether he was at the hospital in Bakersfield, citing safety privacy laws prohibit her from discussing an inmate's medical situation. Manson was convicted of orchestrating the 1969 murders of pregnant actress Sharon Tate and six others. Miss Tate's sister, Debra Tate, told The Associated Press on Tuesday night that, as a Catholic, she makes "no ill wishes" for the people who killed her sister, and will reserve her feelings until hearing Manson has died. "I would probably say a prayer for them and shed a tear and ask God to have mercy on their souls, but so far I haven't allowed myself to feel anything because it's unsubstantiated," she said. "I'm not allowing myself to feel anything until I know that it's true." Manson was convicted of leading a cult in which disaffected young people living in a commune followed his orders and were ultimately turned into killers. Manson and three female followers, Susan Atkins, Patricia Krenwinkel and Leslie Van Houten, were convicted of murder and sentenced to death for killings at two gruesome scenes in the summer of 1969. Another defendant, Charles "Tex" Watson, was convicted later. All were spared execution when a US Supreme Court ruling temporarily banned the death penalty in 1972. Sarah Ardalani, of the Los Angeles County district attorney's office, said in an email that the agency had no information on Manson. The office prosecuted Manson and has objected to his release. He was most recently up for parole in 2012 - his 12th bid for freedom. The California State Prison in Corcoran has medical facilities to treat inmates requiring urgent or emergency care as well as in-patient hospital stays. "In general, inmates are sent to outside hospitals if they need surgical services, emergency care, or diagnostic services of an acute nature," said Joyce Hayhoe, a spokeswoman for the federal receiver who controls prison medical care. "These services are not provided in state prison facilities." In November, the state inspector general, which monitors the corrections system, branded care at Corcoran as "inadequate". Donald Trump yesterday derailed an attempt by his party to weaken an independent ethics watchdog on the first day of the new term of Congress, prompting a last-minute reversal from Republicans. Republicans voted behind closed doors on Monday to strip the Office of Congressional Ethics of its independence and much of its authority, despite the objections of Paul Ryan, the Republican speaker of the House, and protestations from senior Democrats. The change was due to be passed yesterday after the swearing-in of the new Republican Congress as part of a broader rules package. But just hours earlier, Mr Trump took to Twitter, without warning, to share his disapproval. "With all that Congress has to work out, do they really have to make the weakening of the independent ethics watchdog, as unfair as it may be, their number one act and priority?" he wrote. "Focus on tax reform, health care and so many other things of far greater importance." Less than two hours later, Republicans huddled in an emergency conference to determine how to proceed. They eventually decided to leave the ethics board intact. Mr Trump rallied supporters during his campaign with a pledge to "drain the swamp" in Washington and came under pressure after the initial vote on the watchdog, which could have shielded Congress from investigation. It had initially appeared that he would accept the move and Kellyanne Conway, his senior adviser, even attempted to defend it yesterday morning, noting that many members felt the office was overzealous and unfair and that "there are many ways for constituents to make their voices heard". The unexpected intervention seemed to strengthen Mr Trump's hand by showing his influence in Congress, while embarrassing his own party, to the delight of Democrats. Read more: Some Republicans said angry calls from constituents, rather than pressure from leadership or Mr Trump, caused them to change their minds about the ethics overhaul. Republicans had planned to focus on efforts to roll back President Barack Obama's signature health reforms during the opening day of the 115th Congress. It is a high-risk process, as some 20 million Americans now have health coverage under the law, certain aspects of which have proved highly popular. Mrs Conway said no one would lose coverage under Mr Trump's plan, which she admitted has yet to be fully formulated. Meanwhile, Ford Motor Company is cancelling plans to build a $1.6bn (1.5bn) factory in Mexico, and will invest at least some of the savings in new electric and autonomous vehicles to be built in the US. The San Luis Potosi, Mexico, plant, which was announced last spring, was the subject of months of contention between the company and Mr Trump. Ford had planned to move production of its Ford Focus small car to the plant from Michigan. Ford CEO Mark Fields said the company decided in recent weeks not to build the plant because of declining demand for small cars in the US. It will still move production of the Focus to Mexico, but that will go to an existing plant in Hermosillo. The Michigan plant that currently makes the Focus will get new products next year. Fields said Ford would invest $700m in the Flat Rock plant to make hybrid, electric and autonomous vehicles. It will also hire around 700 workers. In announcing the Michigan expansion, Fields noted Mr Trump's promise to make the US more competitive by lowering taxes and easing regulations. Mr Trump also launched a social media attack on General Motors, threatening to slap a tax on the US car giant for importing compact cars from Mexico. In a tweet, Mr Trump said the owner of Chevrolet, Cadillac and Vauxhall would have to stomach a "big border tax" if it failed to make cars in the United States. GM makes the vast majority of compact Chevrolet Cruzes at a factory in Lordstown, Ohio, but imports hatchback versions of the Cruze from a plant in Ramos Arizpe, Mexico. Mr Trump said on his route to office that he would impose punitive tariffs of 45pc on goods from China and 35pc on goods from Mexico as part of a package of economic measures designed to boost US manufacturing industries. Writing on Twitter, Mr Trump said: "General Motors is sending Mexican made model of Chevy Cruze to US car dealers - tax free across border. Make in USA or pay big border tax!"( Daily Telegraph London) A young boy with special needs has formed a heartwarming bond with a deaf dog. Six-year-old Connor Guillet was born with a genetic disorder and is non-verbal. His mother Brandi from New Jersey said her son has been "blessed" by the arrival of foster dog Ellie, who is deaf. "I adopted my son at birth knowing he had a genetic disorder. He is now six and non verbal but uses sign for communication," Brandi wrote on Facebook. "We are fostering a beautiful deafie boxer girl (soon to be adopted!). She is amazing with my son. She is the most gentle, loving girl ever. The most beautiful part of this adoption is my son and his dog can actually talk to each other. "I highly encourage adoption of deaf dogs. She is such a perfect addition to our family. We have been blessed with Ellie." The post along with a picture of Ellie cuddling Connor has gone viral, with Connor even making it onto the Ellen DeGeneres site. A man with a Turkish flag walks past a police officer during a memorial outside the Reina club following the New Year's Day attack in Istanbul (AP/Emrah Gurel) Turkey has identified the gunman in the Istanbul nightclub massacre, the foreign minister said as the president vowed that the country will not surrender to terrorists or become divided. The gunman, who killed 39 people during New Year's celebrations at the Reina club, is still at large. But foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said authorities had identified the man, without providing details. "The identity of the person who carried out the attack on the Reina nightclub has been established," Mr Cavusoglu told Anadolu in a live televised interview. Turkish police, meanwhile, detained at least five suspected Islamic State (IS) militants believed to be linked to the attack, the state-run news agency reported. The operation was launched in the Aegean port city of Izmir and was ongoing, the Anadolu Agency said. IS has claimed responsibility for the attack, which also wounded nearly 70 people. Of those killed 27 were foreigners, many from the Middle East. IS said a "soldier of the caliphate" had carried out the mass shooting to avenge Turkish military operations against IS in northern Syria. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that the attack aims to set Turks against each other and deepen fault lines, but the country will not fall for this game. Mr Erdogan made the comments in a live speech from Ankara, the first time he has publicly addressed the nation since the attack. Responding to accusations in the past that Turkey had given support to IS, Mr Erdogan said that "to present the country which is leading the greatest struggle against Daesh as one supporting terrorism is what the terror organisation wants". Mr Erdogan said that "in Turkey, no-one's way of life is under any threat. Those who claim this have to prove it. It is my duty to protect everyone's rights". He also said that "to say Turkey has surrendered to terrorism is to take sides with the terrorists and terror organisations". Police in Istanbul have set up checkpoints and are checking vehicles across the city as security levels remained high. Police were stopping cars and Istanbul's ubiquitous yellow taxis, with passengers and drivers holding up their identifications while officers inspected inside the vehicles. Istanbul has been on high alert since the attack, with the gunman still at large. The private Dogan news agency said that Wednesday's police operation targeted three families who had arrived in Izmir about 20 days ago from Konya - a city in central Turkey where the gunman is thought to have been based before carrying out the nightclub attack. It said 27 people, including women and children, were taken into custody. At least 14 people were previously detained in connection with the attack, including two foreigners stopped on Tuesday at the international terminal of Istanbul's Ataturk Airport after police checked their mobile phones and luggage, according to Anadolu. Turkish media reports claimed on Tuesday that the gunman's wife was in custody and had told police she did not know her husband was linked to IS. An eerie selfie video emerged of the alleged gunman on Tuesday, showing him silently touring Istanbul's most famous square. The camera never leaves the man's unsmiling face as he walks through Taksim Square during the 44-second clip that was broadcast on state-run Anadolu television and other Turkish media. Funerals were held in Jordan, Lebanon, Israel and Turkey for the dead and on Wednesday, a Turkish Airlines jet carrying the bodies of two Indian citizens killed in the shooting landed in Mumbai. The bodies were received by a governing party politician and the victims' relatives and friends. Bollywood film producer Abis Rizvi's body was taken to his home in suburban Bandra for burial later. The 49-year-old wrote, produced and directed a Bollywood movie, Roar: The Tigers Of Sunderbans, in 2014 aimed at spreading awareness about tigers. The other Indian victim of the Istanbul attack was Khushi Shah, a 39-year-old fashion designer from Vadodara, a city in the western Indian state of Gujarat. Ms Shah's body was flown to her home town for cremation later, the Press Trust of India news agency reported. Late on Tuesday, Turkey's parliament voted to extend by a further three months a state of emergency that was declared in the aftermath of the failed July 15 coup. Turkey imposed the state of emergency to crack down on a network linked to US-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, accused of orchestrating the coup attempt. Gulen denies any involvement. AP An asylum-seeker hides his face as he sits in the dock of a court in Berlin (Maurizio Gambarini/dpa via AP) A Syrian asylum-seeker has gone on trial in Germany accused of being a member of Islamic State (IS) and scouting out Berlin landmarks for a possible attack. The hearing began two weeks after an attack on a Christmas market in the German capital, in which 12 people were killed and dozens more were injured. IS said one of its members, a 24-year-old Tunisian who was shot dead days later by Italian police, carried out that attack. Prosecutors do not believe that Shaas al-Mohammad, the 20-year-old defendant now on trial, was involved in the Christmas market attack, but cited it as one reason for allowing the public to observe the trial. Judges rejected a defence motion to exclude the public due to the defendant's young age. Federal prosecutor Gerwin Moldenhauer told the court that al-Mohammad joined IS in Syria in 2013 and underwent military training. He then allegedly performed armed guard duty during the siege of the eastern Syrian city of Deir el-Zour and its airport in 2013 and 2014, and also helped transport supplies for the group. Prosecutors alleged that he remained in the service of IS after coming to Germany as an asylum-seeker in summer 2015. Phone records, WhatsApp messages and other evidence showed that al-Mohammad sent his IS contact details about tourist groups visiting Berlin's Brandenburg Gate, Alexanderplatz and the Reichstag parliament building in apparent preparation for an attack, they said. Prosecutors also said that al-Mohammad recruited at least one new member, offered himself as a contact for extremists planning attacks in Germany, and even offered to carry out an attack himself or return to Syria to fight for IS. He is charged with membership in a foreign terrorist organisation and violating weapons laws. Al-Mohammad, seated behind a pane of reinforced glass, confirmed his name, address, date and place of birth to the judge but declined to state his last occupation. The defendant, who has been in jail since his arrest on March 22, told the court through a translator that he would not make statements or answer questions during cross-examination. His lawyer told the court that al-Mohammad was not a member of IS but of a different group, called Jund ar-Rahman, who had no motivation to carry out attacks in Germany. Tarig Elobied said WhatsApp chats - in which his client allegedly went by the name "He who yearns for paradise" - showed he had not sworn allegiance to IS. After the hearing, Mr Elobied said his client's trial had already been influenced by the Christmas market attack, citing the court's dismissal of his motion to exclude the public. "We as Berliners are affected by this and of course the judges, who work in Berlin, are affected too," Mr Elobied said. The trial is scheduled to continue until April. Court spokeswoman Lisa Jani said the possible sentence al-Mohammad could face depended on whether he is convicted under juvenile or adult law. The former entails a maximum sentence of five years, while the second could result in a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. AP Donald Trump tweeted that North Korea would not develop nuclear weapons capable of reaching the United States (AP/Matt Rourke) US president-elect Donald Trump has moved to fill senior posts in his administration even as new questions emerged about his priorities at home and abroad. With his inauguration less than three weeks away, Mr Trump has appointed a former Reagan government official who has condemned Republicans' commitment to free trade as US trade representative. The incoming president indicated that Robert Lighthizer, who is expected to take a hard line against China, would represent the US "as we fight for good trade deals that put the American worker first". The new administration's specific plans for crafting new trade deals, spokesman Sean Spicer said, "will come in time". While several hundred high-level White House posts remain unfilled, just a handful of outstanding Cabinet-level vacancies remain, specifically in the departments of Agriculture and Veterans Affairs, as well as a director of national intelligence. Mr Trump's private meetings included one with Leo MacKay, a senior executive at a military contractor who previously served in the Department of Veterans Affairs under former president George W Bush. "The president-elect is up on the issues," said Mr MacKay, a senior vice president at Lockheed Martin Corp, citing "first-class health care" for veterans as one of his priorities. While tending to his cabinet, the president-elect and his senior advisers also worked to craft a domestic and international agenda while huddled behind closed doors in his Manhattan skyscraper. Mr Trump has offered few details on his specific plans for governing in the months leading up to his stunning victory. He signalled that he would not give his blessing to all of the Republicans' priorities on Capitol Hill, however, and openly questioned the timing of the House Republicans' push to gut an independent ethics board just as the new Congress gathers in Washington. "Do they really have to make the weakening of the Independent Ethics Watchdog, as unfair as it may be, their number one act and priority"? Mr Trump tweeted. House Republicans later dropped the push. The clash underscored Mr Trump's ability to influence the party's priorities on Capitol Hill. Once Mr Trump is inaugurated on January 20, the Republican Party will control the House, Senate and White House for the first time in nearly a decade. US vice president-elect Mike Pence and Mr Trump's pick for secretary of state, ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson, are planning separate visits with representatives on Wednesday. Ahead of those meetings, Mr Pence issued a direct challenge to Washington Republicans: "The president-elect has a very clear message to Capitol Hill. And that is, it's time to get to work. "And it's time to keep our word to the American people." Mr Pence said the administration's initial focus would be "repealing and replacing Obamacare" along with legislation to cut government regulation on businesses. Mr Trump's team has yet to say whether millions of Americans covered under the health care law would lose health care insurance altogether once it is repealed. At the same time, Mr Trump faced questions about his foreign policy, having issued a sharp statement about North Korea and China on Twitter the night before. The president-elect charged that China "won't help with North Korea", a country working to develop an intercontinental ballistic missile. "It won't happen!" Mr Trump tweeted. Senior aide Kellyanne Conway said Mr Trump was putting North Korea "on notice", but he was "not making policy at the moment". She declared that as president, Mr Trump "will stand between (North Korea) and missile capabilities". The aggressive stance prompted a warning from Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang, who said China's efforts and commitment to the dismantling of North Korea's nuclear programme are "consistent and clear". "We hope all sides can refrain from speaking or doing anything that can aggravate the situation and work in concert to pull the issue back to dialogue and negotiation," Mr Geng said. Relatives react at the funeral of Busra Kose, a victim of an attack by a gunman at Reina nightclub, in Istanbul, Turkey, January 2, 2017. REUTERS/Osman Orsal Turkey has established the identity of the gunman who killed 39 people in an Istanbul nightclub on New Year's Day, its foreign minister said on Wednesday, as police detained suspected Islamic State members of Central Asian and North African origin. In an interview with the state-run Anadolu news agency, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu gave no further details about the gunman, whom Turkish officials have not named. The attacker shot his way into the exclusive Reina nightclub on Sunday, then opened fire with an automatic rifle, reloading his weapon half a dozen times and shooting the wounded as they lay on the ground. Turks as well as visitors from several Arab nations, India and Canada were among the dead. Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it was revenge for Turkish military involvement in Syria. Turkish media reports have said the attacker is believed to be an ethnic Uighur, possibly from Kyrgyzstan. He appeared to have been well-versed in guerrilla warfare and may have trained in Syria, according to one security source. Police in the Aegean coastal city of Izmir said they had detained 20 suspected Islamic State militants thought to be of Central Asian and North African origin in raids on three addresses. Fake passports, cell phones, and equipment including night vision goggles and a GPS device were seized. Police did not say whether the detentions were directly linked to the Istanbul nightclub attack. But local media reports have said the gunman is thought to have entered Turkey from Syria and spent time in Konya, traveling with his wife and two children so as not to attract attention. At least 36 people have been detained since the attack, according to Turkish media reports. Anadolu said on Tuesday that 14 people had been detained in Istanbul, while NTV reported that two foreign nationals had been held at Istanbul's main airport. Expand Close Relatives of Fatih Cakmak, a security guard and a victim of an attack by a gunman at Reina nightclub, react during his funeral in Istanbul, Turkey, January 2, 2017. REUTERS/Umit Bektas / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Relatives of Fatih Cakmak, a security guard and a victim of an attack by a gunman at Reina nightclub, react during his funeral in Istanbul, Turkey, January 2, 2017. REUTERS/Umit Bektas Read More Among those held in Istanbul were seven Uighurs detained at a restaurant in the working-class neighborhood of Zeytinburnu, where the gunman was thought to have gone by taxi after the attack and asked to borrow money to pay the driver, according to the Haberturk newspaper. It said raids had been carried out on 50 addresses in the district, where many Uzbeks, Kyrgyz, Kazakhs and Uighurs live. "NOBODY'S LIFESTYLE UNDER THREAT" The shooting in Istanbul's Ortakoy neighborhood, an upscale district on the Bosphorus shore, came after a year in which NATO member Turkey was shaken by a series of attacks by radical Islamist and Kurdish militants and by a failed coup. Expand Close Flowers and pictures of the victims are placed near the entrance of Reina nightclub, which was attacked by a gunman, in Istanbul, Turkey January 2, 2017. REUTERS/Yagiz Karahan / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Flowers and pictures of the victims are placed near the entrance of Reina nightclub, which was attacked by a gunman, in Istanbul, Turkey January 2, 2017. REUTERS/Yagiz Karahan Read More Parliament voted overnight to extend emergency rule, first imposed after the attempted putsch, by another three months, enabling the government to enact new laws and limit or suspend rights and freedoms when deemed necessary. President Tayyip Erdogan said the attack, which targeted a club popular with local celebrities and moneyed foreigners, was being exploited to try to divide the largely Sunni Muslim nation and that the state never meddled in how people lived. "There is no point trying to blame the Ortakoy attack on differences in lifestyles," he said in a speech to local administrators at the presidential palace in Ankara. "Nobody's lifestyle is under systematic threat in Turkey. We will never allow this," he said in comments broadcast live. It was his first public speech since the shooting. Turkey's Religious Affairs Directorate, which condemned the attack in its immediate aftermath, had issued a statement in December saying celebrating the New Year did not fit with Muslim values, triggering criticism from some parts of Turkish society. Such calls have made many secular Turks suspicious of the Islamist background of Erdogan and the ruling AK Party, seeing them as bent on eroding the secular principles of the modern republic founded in 1923 by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk after the fall of the Ottoman empire. Erdogan rejects such suggestions. CONCORD- When Samuel Jijon-Bacilio got on stage to speak at a recent education event, he asked the audience if they had ever done anything that made them feel alive. He said that is how he feels every time he works in a kitchen. This A.L. Brown student that won SkillsUSA competitions in the culinary arts category, was a speaker during an Education Summit held by the Cabarrus Regional Chamber of Commerce. The summit, entitled Teaching Tomorrows Workforce Today, was held at ACN and brought business leaders together with educators from Kannapolis City Schools, Cabarrus County Schools and Rowan-Cabarrus Community College. Jijon-Bacilio provided samples of his food and served as the student spotlight for the summit. He talked about why he loves SkillsUSA, which is a partnership of students, teachers and industry working together to ensure America has a skilled workforce. I was so excited to join and little did I know it would take me so far, he said. I was third in the state as a freshman and then I came in first and I became vice president. Then I attended a national leadership and skills conference. He also talked about how SkillsUSA is a student-driven organization and described how it is governed, adding that the organization teaches high school students valuable skills needed on the job. He also added that internships are a big help as well. I dont know what would have happened to me without the culinary program. How do I learn to work in a kitchen? By working in a kitchen, Jijon-Bacilio said. He concluded with a quote from American Chef Thomas Keller, saying A recipe has no soul. You, as the cook, must bring soul to the recipe. What you learn in CTE (career and technical education) classes are like recipes. The student is the cook and the internship is the class, he said. With more experience you can add soul to your dish. Another part of the summit was a Career and Technical Educators Panel with Rusty Parker, CTE director for Cabarrus County Schools; Daryle Adams, CTE director for Kannapolis City Schools and Dr. Van Madray of Rowan-Cabarrus. The three discussed how career skills and soft skills are implemented into curriculum to ensure that students are ready for jobs after graduation. DPI (Department of Public Instruction) is starting to develop a soft skills curriculum for us to use, so the state has seen a need for that, Parker said. The state is taking that direction and some is already imbedded in the curriculum. They also continued the discussion about apprenticeships and internships and how those can work as partnerships with industries. Van Madray said those are also great opportunities for students to learn about what kind of careers they might want to pursue. Unless they get to explore they dont know, he said. The local employer spotlight for the summit was on Wayne Brothers, Inc., civil/infrastructure and concrete contractors. Milton Chicas, training director for the company, spoke about the value of student internships from the perspective of the employer. Chicas gave the audience several examples of current employees that began as interns and worked their way up. Our job is to supply the apprenticeship, internship or externship. Who gains something out of that internship? The student and the employer, Chicas said. Our society has changed. Our kids have different expectations of the world and life. Theres an opportunity for us. Maybe you can influence them through your work. Chicas compared an internship to the construction of a large building. He said as people drive by the location where the building is being constructed, it gets better and better. He said thats what internships do for learning. We hire an intern full-time and they come and learn with hands-on training. That hammer turns into an opportunity to truly understand what theyve learned as a college graduate, he said. They work side-by-side with the construction worker. That construction worker realized the student is just like us, and the student learns respect for them. Throughout the internship, Chicas said the student usually becomes the cream of the crop because he or she understands the business and then they are great candidates for the job. Go out there with the young guys or gals and share there is an opportunity in internships, Chicas concluded. Lets be the ones who start changing the image of the industry. It is a win-win, it really is. An Introduction to Doing Business in India 2020 will provide readers with an overview of the fundamentals of i... Prevent Unauthorized Transactions in your demat / trading account Update your Mobile Number/ email Id with your stock broker / Depository Participant. Receive information of your transactions directly from Exchanges on your mobile / email at the end of day and alerts on your registered mobile for all debits and other important transactions in your demat account directly from NSDL/ CDSL on the same day." - Issued in the interest of investors. KYC is one time exercise while dealing in securities markets - once KYC is done through a SEBI registered intermediary (broker, DP, Mutual Fund etc.), you need not undergo the same process again when you approach another intermediary. No need to issue cheques by investors while subscribing to IPO. Just write the bank account number and sign in the application form to authorise your bank to make payment in case of allotment. No worries for refund as the money remains in investor's account." www.indiainfoline.com is part of the IIFL Group, a leading financial services player and a diversified NBFC. The site provides comprehensive and real time information on Indian corporates, sectors, financial markets and economy. On the site we feature industry and political leaders, entrepreneurs, and trend setters. The research, personal finance and market tutorial sections are widely followed by students, academia, corporates and investors among others. Editors Note: Following the release of this resolution over the weekend, a group of NAACP members staged a protest in Sessions Mobile, AL office. Our objective is certainly to stop his nomination, Bernard Simelton, president of the Alabama State Conference of the NAACP, told the Daily News from Sessions office. But our objective is also to get out the word to people in power to stop it, he said. NAACP President and CEO Cornell William Brooks issued the following statement opposing the nomination of Senator Jeff Sessions as potential Attorney General: America yet stands at the beginning of presidential administration but also in the middle of a Twitter age civil rights movement based on old divisions. Senator Jefferson Beauregard Sessions is among the worst possible nominees to serve as Attorney General amidst some of the worst times for civil rights in recent memory. Following a divisive presidential campaign, hate crimes rising, police videos sickening the stomach while quickening the conscience, protesters marching in the streets and politicians mouthing the myth of voter fraud while denying the reality of voter suppression, Senator Sessions is precisely the wrong man to lead the Justice Department. The NAACP, as the nations oldest and largest civil rights organization, opposes the nomination of Senator Sessions to become U.S. Attorney General for the following reasons: a record on voting rights that is unreliable at best and hostile at worse; a failing record on other civil rights; a record of racially offensive remarks and behavior; and dismal record on criminal justice reform issues. Voting Rights: Senator Sessions supported the re-authorization of the 1965 Voting Rights Act in 2006, but called the bill a piece of intrusive legislation just months earlier. Sessions has consistently voted in favor of strict voter ID laws that place extra burdens on the poor and residents of color, and drive voter suppression across the country. When the Supreme Court struck down federal protections in 2012 that prevented thousands of discriminatory state laws from taking effect since 1965, Sessions declared it was a good thing for the South. As a prosecutor in 1985, Sessions maliciously prosecuted a former aide to Martin Luther King for helping senior citizens file absentee ballots in Alabama. Rather than enforcing voting rights protections, Senator Sessions has instead made a career of seeking to dismantle them. When Shelby County v. Holder gutted the protections of the VRA, Senator Sessions cheered. For decades, he has pursued the rare and mystical unicorn of voter fraud, while turning a blind eye to the ever-growing issue of voter suppression. While Senator Sessions historical record on civil rights remains one of dismay, it is his unrepentant stance against the vote that remains our issue. The threat of voter suppression is not a historical but current challenge. At least 10 times in the past 10 months, the NAACP defended voting rights against coordinated campaigns by legislators targeting African-American voters in Texas, North Carolina, Wisconsin, and many other states. While the NAACP could gain the assistance of the Justice Department in fighting back against voter suppression, a Sessions-led DOJ would likely lead to the exact opposite. During the height of the Civil Rights Movement, then-Attorney General Nicholas Katzenbachs commitment to democracy allowed him to help write the VRA. Today, our nation stands on the verge of selecting an AG who has never shown the slightest commitment to enforcing the protections Katzenbach and others wrote into law. How can our communities who have born the both historical and current brunt of the attacks on the right to vote, sit idly by while an enemy to the vote is now given the responsibility of enforcing this right? The simple answer is that we cant. Other Civil Rights: Since 1997, Senator Sessions has received an F every year on the NAACPs federal legislative civil rights report cards. Hes voted against our policy positions nearly 90 percent of the time. Senator Sessions has repeatedly supported lawsuits and attempts to overturn desegregation while shamelessly voting against federal Hate Crime legislation four times from 2000 to 2009. Notwithstanding, he has also repeatedly voted against the Violence Against Women Act that expanded protection for victims of domestic violence and repeatedly stood on the wrong side of immigration and LGBT issues. Racial Insensitivity: During his failed 1986 federal judgeship hearing, four DOJ attorneys and colleagues of Senator Sessions testified that he made several racist statements. J. Gerald Hebert testified that Sessions had referred to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) as un-American and Communist inspired because they forced civil rights down the throats of people. Additional accusations of racist behavior were attributed to Senator Sessions by Thomas Figures, an African American Assistant U.S. Attorney, who testified that Sessions said he thought the Ku Klux Klan was OK until I found out they smoked pot. Sessions later said that the comment was not serious, but did apologize for it. Mr. Figures also testified that on one occasion, Senator Session railed against civil rights cases, threw a file on the table and called him the derogatory racist term boy, and later advised Figures to watch what he said to white people. Criminal Justice Reform: In a time of expanding protests against the scourge of police brutality, Senator Sessions stands on opposite ground. He has repeated stood against the consent decree, a main tool of the DOJ to reel in racist and unaccountable police departments. In a report by the Alabama Policy Institute, Senator Sessions called consent decrees: One of the most dangerous, and rarely discussed, exercises of raw power is the issuance of expansive court decrees. Consent decrees have a profound effect on our legal system as they constitute an end run around the democratic process. While under the administration of President Barack Obama, the DOJs Civil Rights Division made investigating police departments charged with racism and police brutality a key focus by intervening in high-profile cases in Ferguson, Missouri and Baltimore, Maryland to impose consent decrees and reforms to correct misbehavior and the violation of citizens civil rights. Senator Sessions would become the Attorney General under a president who supports nationalizing the racist and disproven stop and frisk, strategy. Both Sessions and the incoming president are supporters of the DOD 1033 program which allows police departments access to surplus military equipment including tanks, armored vehicles, grenade launchers and more. He also opposes the removal of mandatory minimum sentences and blocked efforts to reduce nonviolent drug sentencing despite wide bi-partisan support for doing so. If not enough, Senator Sessions has repeatedly voted against safe, sane, and sensible measures to stem the tide of gun violence. Given that these are issues our nation the attorney general is sworn to protect and enforce his nomination represents an ongoing and dangerous threat to our civic birthrights particularly, and the right to vote. We call upon the Senate to reject Sessions and for President-elect Donald J. Trump to replace Sessions with a nominee with a record of inclusion and commitment to protecting the civil rights of the American majority. The NAACP does not believe that an election where the incoming president lost the popular vote by nearly 3 million votes represents a mandate to overhaul the America of the Majority. The vote remains the most important resource in making democracy real for all people. As we have since 1909, the NAACP will continue to stand against Senator Sessions and any attempts to unravel the progress earned through the blood, sweat and tears of our people to enjoy the same rights under law as all Americans. Bengaluru's mass molestation on the new year's eve proved that women aren't safe anywhere and geographical location has nothing to do with women safety. BCCL Despite the police presence, the blatant molestations and sexual abuse of women have left the entire country in a state of shock. Reacting to the incident, Salman Khan's father and Bollywood scriptwriter Salim Khan took to Twitter to express his displeasure and anguish on the incident. Twitter He didn't just express his opinion, he even tagged PM Modi in the tweets and urged him to look into it immediately. Honble PM Narendrabhai, you have time and again mentioned that Indias youth will drive the country forward. Salim Khan (@luvsalimkhan) January 3, 2017 Its a shame what the youth have done in Bngluru.Such acts are happning rptdly all ovr.We were also young once bt nvr have such things happnd Salim Khan (@luvsalimkhan) January 3, 2017 Narendrabhai the power of the youth is double edged it can go either way. You need to address it immediately @narendramodi @PMOIndia Salim Khan (@luvsalimkhan) January 3, 2017 Aamir Khan too expressed his anger during one the recent media events. A media report quoted the actor saying, Twitter The Bengaluru incident is saddening. We are hurt and ashamed that such a thing happened in our nation. We and every state government have to take the right steps and this should be a continuous process. There is no single solution to this problem." For Aamir, having stricter rules and faster dispensation of justice to the victims is the best way to curb such incidents. He added, Law and order will become very strict and so will judiciary. In America, when such an incident happens within two or three months the culprit gets punished and the case is closed. When this will happen here, change will happen. In todays times, those who molest women think that nothing will happen to them. When examples are set before them that of culprits getting punished and being thrown behind bars, that is when the situation will change and criminals will feel scared. It is important to do that. Through my films and other things, I strive to increase sensitivity among women on such issues." 1. SRK Teases Fans With A Glimpse Of Raees' Song 'O Zalima', Recites Its Lyrics In His Own Voice After back to back posters and 'Laila Main Laila' song, SRK took to his social media accounts to tease his fans with a glimpse of another song and he attached the lyrics in the video and even recited the lines in his own voice. 2. Swami Om Threatens The Makers Of Violence & Shutting Down Bigg Boss If They Don't Make Him Win! Colors A report claims that Swami Om started shouting and screaming and he started threatening that if the makers fail to announce him as the winner, he would resort to extreme violence. 3. Aamir Khan Aims To Make Maharashtra Drought Free In The Next Five Years During a recent media interaction, Aamir said, It is our dream to make Maharashtra drought-free in five years. And it is our good fortune that Maharashtra got a Chief Minister who has pledged to solve the water crisis. His political will is really strong." 4. Farhan Akhtar Gives The Perfect Response To Abu Azmi's Remarks On Bengaluru Mass Molestation MARD Farhan took to Twitter and he wrote, "Women should not dress like westerners b'coz men dressed like westerners are molesters, says the man in the shirt.#oxy(deprived)morons" 5. Salim Khan-Aamir Khan Condemn The Shameful Bengaluru Incident, Call For Strengthening Of Laws Salim Khan didn't just express his opinion, he even tagged PM Modi in the tweets and urged him to look into it immediately. For Aamir, having stricter rules and faster dispensation of justice to the victims is the best way to curb such incidents. He added, Law and order will become very strict and so will judiciary. In America, when such an incident happens within two or three months the culprit gets punished and the case is closed. When this will happen here, change will happen. In todays times, those who molest women think that nothing will happen to them. When examples are set before them that of culprits getting punished and being thrown behind bars, that is when the situation will change and criminals will feel scared. It is important to do that. Through my films and other things, I strive to increase sensitivity among women on such issues." As expected from reports last week, Googles CEO Sundar Pichai flagged off two key programs -- Digital Unlocked and My Business Websites -- to push offline businesses to transition their businesses online smoothly and efficiently. Both Google initiatives are exclusively tailored for Indian businesses. Google released 90 video tutorials specifically made for Indian business audiences to help them migrate online, as part of their Digital Unlocked program. Theyre available at: https://g.co/digitalunlocked Google has also collaborated with Hyderabad-based Indian School of Business and FICCI (a body that promotes businesses in India) to build a comprehensive online, offline and mobile skills development and online marketing program for businesses to learn the online tricks of their trade. Over the next three years, Google will also conduct around 5,000 workshops across 40 Indian cities to help promote the Digital Unlocked program for Indian businesses. Based on a KPMG report, Google claims that 68% of Indias 5.1 crore small and medium businesses are still offline An app called Primer has also been launched which will help anyone be part of Googles Digital Unlocked program through Android smartphones or iPhones. The app is available in English and Hindi, with support coming soon for Marathi, Tamil and Telugu, and it will help teach online marketing tricks to offline businesses. Google CEO Sundar Pichai further said that the My Business Website initiative -- which will help offline businesses create mobile optimised websites and apps for free -- will be launched later this year. The templatised, easy-to-launch My Business Website initiative will be available in English, Hindi, Bengali, Telugu, Marathi, Tamil, Urdu, Gujarati, Kannada, and Malayalam languages for Googles My Business users. Flying thousands of miles, around 350 Sikhs, majority of them from Birmingham in the United Kingdom (UK), have assembled in Patna to celebrate the 350th birth anniversary of Guru Gobind Singh Ji. These Sikhs are also serving pilgrims selflessly here. BCCL The Sikhs, many of whom were born and brought up in the UK, are enjoying a lifetime experience by serving food to devotees at langars and spreading Guru Gobind Singh's message of love. Around 60 women, young and old, are working as 'sewadaars' at Kangan Ghat langar round the clock. Several of them were spotted sitting nearby ovens and cooking rotis without reflection of any discomfort on their faces. BCCL These British Sikhs are still linked to their roots. All these people clad in complete white dresses are making their presence felt at Patna City. Harvey Singh Doal (43), born and brought up in Birmingham, said they are 'sewadaars' of Baba Mahindra Singh of Guru Nanak Nishkam Sevak Jattha of Birmingham which runs free schools and serves food to the needy. "This is an amazing experience. This celebration is outstanding. The langar is functional round the clock. If someone gets tired, we have a separate team of people which performs massage to relax body aches which arises after working continuously. Once the ache subsidises, we all resume work," said Doal, a businessman from Birmingham. BCCL Jagjeet Singh (45), a working professional, while stuffing paneer samosas at the massive kitchen of their langar, said he had applied for leave in April 2016 to make himself available for the occasion. "This is a lifetime opportunity for us and we are trying to serve more and more people," said Jagjeet. Helping Jagjeet were Dalvindrajeet Singh, Harjinder Singh and Kulvinder Kaur, also from Birmingham. Kulvider, a housewife, said, "I can't describe the feeling. I will never forget this event." BCCL Agamjot Singh (27), an engineer, said he had shifted to Birmingham from Punjab with parents when he was only six years old. "I have never been to such a massive event earlier and would remember this occasion for a very long time," he said while sweeping the floor after a batch of people finished langar. Tegmant Singh (21) echoed Agamjot's tone. It seems like Bengaluru has gone to the dogs. As the city ushered in the new year with mass molestation of its women on Sunday, another woman's modesty was outraged by two beasts who prowled the streets in the dead of night. A CCTV footage has emerged that shows two scooterists groping and molesting a woman just a few hours into the new year. The horror that took place at 2:30 am on Sunday was captured on the security camera installed at a house near the Kammanahalli 5th Main Road in east Bengaluru. The woman was grabbed by one of the two men just moments after she alighted from an autorickshaw - some 50 metres from her house. #Correction #CaughtonCam: Two scooter-borne men molest a girl in Kammanahalli area in Bengaluru (Source: Unverified) pic.twitter.com/fAKPfMkoOz ANI (@ANI_news) January 4, 2017 The incident comes as a chilling proof of what Bengaluru witnessed on the first night of 2017. Even as the state Home Minister G Parameshwara dismissed it as something "that happens", this video just goes to prove how badly he needs a reality check. The woman visited the house with her friends on Monday, where the CCTV was installed, to request the owner to allow her to view the CCTV footage. She said, "I don't know the people who attacked and molested me. It was bad. I realised that my wallet was missing after the incident. I guess they robbed me too." Bangalore Mirror She also added that she didn't wish to report the incident to the police as the government's apathy towards its own women was more than apparent. The resident of the house said, "I did not want to remain silent after seeing what happened on our street. I came to know about the incident when the woman came to my house with her friends on Monday, saying that she wanted to view the CCTV footage as she was groped by two youths nearby. What I saw in the video left me disturbed. If residential areas, too, are unsafe for women, where are they supposed to go?" Yes, where should the women go? Where is that safe place, free of men who can't keep their bestiality in control? New Army Chief General Bipin Rawat has warned Pakistan that it should stop aiding and abetting cross-border infiltration and terrorism, saying that his 1.3-million strong force has the requisite will, intelligence and capability to destroy terror wherever it emanates. BCCL Pointing to the "surgical strikes" conducted by the Army on terror launch pads in PoK on September 29, Rawat told TOI on Tuesday: "The operation's unequivocal message was we have the capability, we are aware of the terror infrastructure that lies across the border and intelligence is forthcoming." "If the need arises... we can strike effectively. The surgical strikes achieved good success. The aim and intention was fully achieved. We are not a war mongering nation but there are certain thresholds that shouldn't be crossed. Our response will vary". BCCL Though there has been some de-escalation along the line of control (LoC) after massive retaliatory fire assaults by the Indian Army and Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa taking over the reins of the Pakistan army from Gen Raheel Sharif, there are still about 20 terror-training camps running at full capacity in PoK and Pakistan. Apart from the different options available to take the battle to the terrorists and their handlers, the Army chief was also quite sanguine about the Indian armed forces being capable of handling a two front contingency in the backdrop of the collusive threat from Pakistan and China. Gen Rawat, who took over as the 27th Army chief from Gen Dalbir Singh Suhag on December 31, said, "The two-front is a real scenario. Much has changed from before in terms of our capabilities...The Army, Navy and IAF are now jointly very much prepared for such an eventuality." Reuters Apart from the development of the Agni-V and Agni-IV nuclear-capable ballistic missiles, the forces have taken a series of steps to slowly but surely transform the "dissuasion" posture against China into "deterrence", which in turn is now being upgraded to "credible deterrence". The Army is also raising the new 17 Mountain Strike Corps, which with 90,274 soldiers will have two high-altitude infantry divisions. ALSO READ: 10 Things You Need To Know About Lt. Gen. Bipin Rawat, Who Takes Over As Army Chief BCCL While India wants cooperation, not confrontation with China, the new corps will ensure "quick-reaction ground offensive capabilities" on the "northern borders" for the first time. "The raisings for the new corps are underway, while weapons and equipment are also being acquired. The infrastructure is also coming up. There is full support from the government. All adversaries respect strength, which comes from having the capability to strike across the border," said Gen Rawat. The Army chief did, however, acknowledge the excruciating slow progress of infrastructure development in construction of 73 all-weather roads along the line of actual control with China as well as the 14 "strategic" railway lines on the two fronts. While the rail lines only exist on paper, only 22 of the 73 roads have been completed over a decade after they were first identified. "But there is a renewed impetus now. The government has reorganized the BRO, including shifting it to the defence ministry from the ministry of road transport.Technology is also being increasingly used. Tunneling is also being examined for not only road connectivity , but also command and control centers and storage," he said. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will launch a record 103 satellites in one go using its workhorse PSLV-C37 in the first week of February, while Prime Minister Narendra Modi's pet South Asian satellite project will take off in March. BCCL/representational image As many as 100 of the satellites set for launch in February belong to foreign nations, including the US and Germany. "We are making a century by launching over 100 satellites at one go," said S Somnath, Director of the Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre of the Isro. Also Read: ISRO To End A Successful Year By Launching Remote Sensing Satellite On December 7 The space agency had earlier planned a launch of 83 satellites in the last week of January, of which 80 were foreign ones. But with the addition of 20 more foreign satellites, the launch was delayed by a week and will now take place in first week of February, Somnath said. He, however, did not specify the number of countries that would launch its satellites in this mission, but said it includes nations like the US and Germany. ISRO "These will be 100 micro-small satellites, which will be launched using a PSLV (Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle)- C37. The weight of the payload will be 1350 kgs, of which 500-600 kgs will be the satellite's weight," Somnath added. The launch will be a major feat in country's space history as no exercise on this scale has been attempted before. Also Read: ISRO Successfully Launches RESOURCESAT-2A On The PSLV-C36 Rocket This Morning Last year, Isro launched 22 satellites at a go and this launch will have almost five times the number of crafts. The South Asian satellite will be a part of GSAT-9, which will be launched in March this year, said M Nageshwara Rao, associate director of Isro. AFP/representational image The communication satellite was to be launched in December 2016, but was slightly delayed as some other satellites are to be launched before that. Sources said talks with Afghanistan to have the country on-board for the project is in its final stages. Also Read: ISRO Just Launched A Remote Sensing Satellite On Board PSLV-C36 And Here's Why It's Important Envisaged as a gift to its neighbours, the project, earlier known as SAARC satellite, faced stiff resistance from Pakistan. The neighbouring country wanted it to be launched under the aegis of the South Asian regional forum. It later backed out of the project. Apart from India, the satellite will benefit Sri Lanka, Maldives, Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will launch a record 103 satellites in one go using its workhorse PSLV-C37 in the first week of February, while Prime Minister Narendra Modi's pet South Asian satellite project will take off in March. As many as 100 of the satellites set for launch in February belong to foreign nations, including the US and Germany. "We are making a century by launching over 100 satellites at one go," said S Somnath, Director of the Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre of the Isro. 1. 350 British Sikhs Fly To India To Offer 'Sewa' For 350th Birth Anniversary Of Guru Gobind Singh BCCL Flying thousands of miles, around 350 Sikhs, majority of them from Birmingham in the United Kingdom (UK), have assembled in Patna to celebrate the 350th birth anniversary of Guru Gobind Singh Ji. These Sikhs are also serving pilgrims selflessly here. The Sikhs, many of whom were born and brought up in the UK, are enjoying a lifetime experience by serving food to devotees at langars and spreading Guru Gobind Singh's message of love. Read more here 2. 88 Million Cows And Buffaloes Across India Will Get Their Own Version Of Aadhaar ID! BCCL/representational image Have your milkman's cattle got their 12-digit unique identification numbers yet? No, they won't have to queue up to get an Aadhaar card. The concept is similar, though, and the exercise unparalleled in its sheer scale. Nearly one lakh technicians have started to fan out across the country since New Year's Day, armed with 50,000 tablets and a single mission to affix a tag with a 12-digit unique identification number inside an ear of each of the staggering 88 million cows and buffaloes within this year. Read more here 3. India Is All Set To Become The World's Third Biggest iPhone Producer AFP/representational image With the upcoming Bengaluru assembly plant of Apple, India will become only the third country to do the final assembly of iPhones - an indication of how important the country has become for the world's most-valued company. Apart from one assembly facility in Brazil, all of Apple's assembly units for its bestselling product are in China. Apple uses a global and fairly complex supply chain. The parts for the iPhone, iPad, iPod and Mac are manufactured, mostly by third parties, across 28 countries. It has 766 suppliers, of which 346 are based in China, 126 in Japan, and 69 in the US. There is one in India -in Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu. That's a unit of Flextronics. But it's not clear what the unit makes. Read more here 4. Now Kerala Man Claims Fading Of Printing In Rs 500 Note! The new currency notes, it appears, cannot stay away from controversy. After reports of faulty Rs 500 notes being circulated, now it is reported that the ink on a new currency note got washed-off after it accidentally came into contact with water. According to a report in a leading Malayalam daily, a Rs 500 was damaged after water fell on it. As per the report, the incident happened on Tuesday in Kerala's Palakkad district. Read more here Pak Refugees In J&K Will Now To Get Identity Certificates So That They Can Get Govt Jobs IndiaToday With the state government of Jammu and Kashmir deciding to issue identity certificate to Pakistan refugees which would help them get job in central government, a new political turmoil has surfaced in the state with National Conference accusing the government of sabotaging the rights of the orginal residents of the state especially Jammu. Dogras are said to be the original residents of Jammu. BJP which is in power in alliance with PDP is adamant to give Pakistani refugees these identity certificate as it won't affect rights of the original people. Read more here According to a Request to Information filed by activist Commodore (Retd) Lokesh Batra, the Prime Minister's Office owes crores in foreign air flight expenses to Air India, India's official flier. agencies The RTI found that Air India spent Rs 117 crore in 2015-2016 on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's foreign travels, to 22 countries, including Russia, France, Germany, Korea, Mongolia, China, the UAE, Ireland, the UK, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Turkey among others till December 2015 last year. Among PM Modi's most expensive trip last year was in April 2015 when he visited France, Canada and Germany which cost the exchequer Rs 31 crore. While his trip to China, Mongolia and Korea cost Rs 15 crore, Air India raised a similar bill for the PM's Central Asia visit. This included countries like Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Russia, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyz Republic and Tajikistan. Another report says that Modi and his ministerial team spent Rs. 567 crore on foreign trips in 2015-2016 "This is the tax payers' money that you are hoarding. There is no practical reason for the delay, and the matter concerns larger public interest," he said, Catch News reported. The RTI addressed 1. Details of expenses incurred on air travel by Air India in respect of foreign visits of the incumbent Prime Minister and former Prime Ministers 2. Process/procedure/steps involved in chartering flights for PM's foreign visits 3. Filing 'flight returns' and raising bills/invoices and clearing bills on completion of the visit, copy of bills, etc. Last year, the PMO had told Batra that the record pertaining to flights of the PM contain information which has security issues and hence it is exempted from disclosure under section 8(1)(g) of the RTI Act. Also read: It's All Work And Little Sleep Aboard Modi's Air India One, No Alcohol Or Groupies Around! National Conference politician, Shauqat Hussain Ganai, while debating in the Legislative Councillor on Tuesday declared slain Hizbul Mujahidden commander Burhan Wani a martyr which triggered protest from ruling BJP and PDP. During the debate, the MLC Ganai, said that Wani was a martyr and had given up his life the cause of Jammu and Kashmir. FB His remarks about Wani, however, drew heavy flak from PDP and BJP members, Firdos Tak, the PDP member said that such words shouldnt be spoken on floor of the house. But despite protest, Ganai stood by his words and added, "Kashmir is political problem and youth have taken to guns." BJP MLC Surinder Ambardar also asked Ganai not to resort to such remarks on the floor of House. Burhan, commander of Hizbul Mujahideen terror outfit, was killed in an encounter with the security forces in a village of Anantnag district in Kashmir on July 8 last year. Later, speaking to reporters outside the Council, Ganai once again repeated his statement and said, "Burhan Wani is a martyr. AFP Ganai claimed till the time the alliance of BJP and PDP came to power, Wani had no FIR. "I don t know how you can brand him as a terrorist. Jammu and Kashmir is an issue and if he has raised this issue and given sacrifice of his life, he is a martyr. It is my personal opinion, not that of the party," the NC MLC was quoted in DNA. He went on to add, "Whatever the special rights we had in Jammu and Kashmir, central government always tried to bulldoze them and amend them. We had a Prime Minister and 'Sadr-e- Riyasat' (president) in Jammu and Kashmir and it was changed into the post of Chief Minister and Governor. "Government of India slowly and steadily eroded the special position of Jammu and Kashmir. If some people fight for restoration of that special status and he loses his life in the fight, what can be he called, he is a martyr?" AFP Reacting to NC MLC's remarks, Leader of the House and Education Minister Naeem Akhtar said, "It has become a fashion to say that those killed in Kashmir are our children. They are not our children. They (some politicians) do politics on them and nothing else. We did nothing to save them. They are further pushing them into it. They should be asked what they saying." Taking a dig at such people, Akhtar said, "we feel good to call our neighbour's son a martyr but God forbid, if our own children are involved, our sentiments are different. My (separatists') own son is well settled in a foreign country and my daughter is working somewhere else." Slamming the remarks, Ambardar said, "it is very unfortunate. NC is a very responsible party and their legislator talks of a separatist language". AFP The BJP MLC recalled that Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, during his address to the UN General Assembly in September last, had also described Burhan as a "Kashmiri leader". "It was established in the entire world that Burhan Wani was a terrorist and a Pak agent. Now NC, being out of power, is glorifying him with this term," Ambardar said. "Whenever the NC is out of power, it rakes up such issues. It is unfortunate that the honourable member of NC speaks at the behest of separatists on the floor of the House," he said Fueling the world's longest train ride, China sent its first freight train from Bejing to London earlier this week. The journey commenced at Yiwu West Railway Station in Zhejiang province on Sunday and is headed for the British capital, according to Xinhua, China's state-run news agency. (Also read: In A Historic Move, China To Ban Ivory Trade In A Bid To Tackle Elephant Poaching) China Railway Express makes small item freight delivery from Yiwu to #London https://t.co/frVRDn7FaQ pic.twitter.com/fn348bD8LW People's Daily,China (@PDChina) January 3, 2017 This is the first direct rail link between China and Great Britain. The route of the service will traverse from Beijing, across Asia and Europe, before terminating in London. The 8000-mile journey will take two and a half weeks to complete. The train is carrying household goods, bags, suitcases and garments, among other items, and will pass through Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus, Poland, Germany, Belgium and France before it gets to London. The train, which is part of Chinese President Xi Jinping's vision for "One Belt, One Road", is seen as the new silk road by many, considering that it will fuel the exchange of goods. nepalforeignaffairs It's done in a bid to enhance China's economic ties with Europe, Asia and the Middle East. The previous silk road, which commenced in 200 BC, was majorly used by Chinese silk caravans, who carried wears to Europe and Africa. The trail provided enormous wealth and prestige to today's Chinese empire. (Also read: Beipanjiang Bridge, The World's Highest Bridge In Remote China Is Now Open To Traffic) The new route unlocks a new option for shippers. Currently, the choice is two-fold. One, take an ocean-bound route, which, although cheap, can be slow. Two, use an air carrier that is considerably faster, but much more expensive. The Istanbul terror attack claimed several souls who had come together to welcome the new year in a nightclub. Among them was Rita Chami who had eerily predicted her own death in a Facebook post. Facebook Chami and her fiance, Elias Wardini - both 26-year-olds and students at the American University of Science and Technology in Lebanon - were in Istanbul to celebrate New Year's together. However, a night of revelry turned into nightmare for both when terrorists opened fire and gunned them down. Chami died in Wardini's arms who too became a victim of the horrific attack. Instagram Chami had taken to Facebook to announce her New Year Eve's plans in a chilling post that read: "Hopefully we will have fun (in Turkey), worst case scenario is that I will die in a blast and follow my mum." Facebook According to sources, while Chami was shot twice, Wardini was shot three times and both died in each other's arms. Chami had lost her mother to cancer four years ago. She is now with her mother, taken too soon from this world. What could have been a year of possibilities for two lovers was snatched away by the clutches of terror. May they rest in peace. People living in the Syrian capital of Damascus are facing a shortage of clean drinking water for 10 days running now. And foreign-backed militants are being blamed for it. Reuters The armed groups have been accused of contaminating the citys water reservoirs. The Syrian government reportedly is looking for ways to restore water to the city. In the nearly six-year-long civil, the government has tried very hard to keep the capital has insulated as possible but water shortages have posed as a challenge to maintain that status quo. Representational image/Reuters Massive water shortage started around December 22, 2016 and is the longest one residents have faced and they have experienced periodical water shortages. The opposition has long controlled Wadi Barada, the valley northwest of Damascus through which its namesake river flows into Damascus. The Barada River and its source, the Ain al-Fijeh spring, supply 70 per cent of the water for Damascus and its neighbouring areas. The 26-year-old Colombian, who is currently a member of the Greens on loan from Cagliari Calcio until the end of 2016-17 season, seems willing to leave Greek Super League and continue his career in Asia with a lucrative annual salary, while Bologna Good News: Washington Frozen Out of Syria Peace Plan By Ron Paul January 03, 2017 " Information Clearing House " - As the US mainstream media obsessed last week about Russia's supposed hacking of the US elections and President Obamas final round of Russia sanctions in response, something very important was taking place under the media radar. As a result of a meeting between foreign ministers of Russia, Iran, and Turkey last month, a ceasefire in Syria has been worked out and is being implemented. So far it appears to be holding, and after nearly six years of horrible warfare the people of Syria are finally facing the possibility of rebuilding their lives. What is so important about this particular ceasefire? It was planned, agreed to, and implemented without the participation of the United States Government. In fact it was frustration with Washingtons refusal to separate its moderates from terrorist groups and its continued insistence on regime change for the Syrian government that led the three countries to pursue a solution on their own for Syria. They also included the Syrian government and much of the opposition in the agreement, which the US government has been unwilling to do. We have been told all along by the neocons and humanitarian interventionists that the United States must take a central role in every world crisis or nothing will ever be solved. We are the indispensable nation, they say, and without our involvement the world will collapse. Our credibility is on the line, they claim, and if we dont step up no one will. All this is untrue, as we have seen last week. The fact is, it is often US involvement in solving these crises that actually perpetuates them. Consider the 60-plus year state of war between North and South Korea. Has US intervention done anything to solve the problem? How about our decades of meddling in the Israel-Palestine dispute? Are we any closer to peace between the Israelis and Palestinians despite the billions we have spent bribing and interfering? Non-intervention in the affairs of others does not damage US credibility overseas. It is US meddling, bombing, droning, and regime-changing that damages our credibility overseas. US obstruction in Syria kept the war going. As the Syrians and Russians were liberating east Aleppo from its four year siege by al-Qaeda, the Obama Administration was demanding a ceasefire. As Syrians began to move back into their homes in east Aleppo, the State Department continued to tell us that the Russians and Syrian government were slaughtering civilians for the fun of it. So why all the media attention on unproven accusations of Russian hacking and President Obamas predictable, yet meaningless response? The mainstream media does the bidding of Washingtons interventionists and they are desperate to divert attention from what may prove to be the beginning of the end of Syrias long nightmare. They dont want Americans to know that the rest of the world can solve its own problems without the US global policemen in the center of the action. When it is finally understood that we dont need to be involved for crises to be solved overseas, the neocons will lose. Lets hope that happens soon! Copyright 2017 by RonPaul Institute. The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect Information Clearing House editorial policy. The Real Face of Washington (and America) Thank You, Donald Trump By Tom Engelhardt January 03, 2017 " Information Clearing House " - " Tom Dispatch" - Know thyself . It was what came to mind in the wake of Donald Trumps victory and my own puzzling reaction to it. And while that familiar phrase just popped into my head, I had no idea it was so ancient, or Greek, or for that matter a Delphic maxim inscribed in the forecourt of the Temple of Apollo according to the Greek writer Pausanias (whom I'd never heard of until I read his name in Wikipedia). Think of that as my own triple helix of ignorance extending back to... well, my birth in a very different America 72 years ago. Anyway, the simple point is that I didnt know myself half as well as I imagined. And I can thank Donald Trump for reminding me of that essential truth. Of course, we can never know whats really going on inside the heads of all those other people out there on this curious planet of ours, but ourselves as strangers? I guess if I were inscribing something in the forecourt of my own Delphic temple right now, it might be: Who knows me? (Not me.) Consider this my little introduction to a mystery I stumbled upon in the early morning hours of our recent election night that hasn't left my mind since. I simply couldnt accept that Donald Trump had won. Not him. Not in this country. Not possible. Not in a million years. Mind you, during the campaign I had written about Trump repeatedly, always leaving open the possibility that, in the disturbed (and disturbing) America of 2016, he could indeed beat Hillary Clinton. That was a conclusion I lost when, in the final few weeks of the campaign, like so many others, I got hooked on the polls and the pundits who went with them. (Doh!) In the wake of the election, however, it wasnt shock based on pollsters errors that got to me. It was something else that only slowly dawned on me. Somewhere deep inside, I simply didnt believe that, of all countries on this planet, the United States could elect a narcissistic, celeb billionaire who was also, in the style of Italys Silvio Berlusconi, a right-wing populist and incipient autocrat. Plenty of irony lurked in that conviction, which outlasted the election and so reality itself. In these years, Ive written critically of the way just about every American politician but Donald Trump has felt obligated to insist that this is an exceptional or indispensable nation, the greatest country on the planet, not to speak of in history. (And throw in as well the claim of recent presidents and so many others that the U.S. military represents the greatest fighting force in that history.) President Obama, Marco Rubio, Jeb Bush, John McCain -- it didnt matter. Every one of them was a dutiful or enthusiastic American exceptionalist. As for Trumps opponent, Hillary Clinton, she hit the trifecta plus one in a speech she gave to the American Legions national convention during the campaign. In it, she referred to the United States as the greatest country on Earth, an exceptional nation, and the indispensable nation that, of course, possessed the greatest military ever. (My friends, we are so lucky to be Americans. It is an extraordinary blessing.) Only Trump, with his "make America great again," slogan seemed to admit to something else, something like American decline. Post-election, here was the shock for me: it turned out that I, too, was an American exceptionalist. I deeply believed that our country was simply too special for The Donald, and so his victory sent me on an unexpected journey back into the world of my childhood and youth, back into the 1950s and early 1960s when (despite the Soviet Union) the U.S. really did stand alone on the planet in so many ways. Of course, in those years, no one had to say such things. All those greatests, exceptionals, and indispensables were then dispensable and the recent political tic of insisting on them so publicly undoubtedly reflects a defensiveness thats a sign of something slipping. Obviously, in those bedrock years of American power and strength and wealth and drive and dynamism (and McCarthyism, and segregation, and racism, and smog, and...), the very years that Donald Trump now yearns to bring back, I took in that feeling of American specialness in ways too deep to grasp. Which was why, decades later, when I least expected it, I couldnt shake the feeling that it couldnt happen here. In actuality, the rise to power of Trumpian figures -- Rodrigo Duterte in the Philippines, Viktor Orban in Hungary, Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Turkey, Vladimir Putin in Russia -- has been a dime-a-dozen event elsewhere and now looks to be a global trend. Its just that I associated such rises with unexceptional, largely tinpot countries or ones truly down on their luck. So its taken me a few hard weeks to come to grips with my own exceptionalist soul and face just how Donald Trump could -- indeed did -- happen here. It Can Happen Here So how did it happen here? Lets face it: Donald Trump was no freak of nature. He only arrived on the scene and took the Electoral College (if not the popular vote) because our American world had been prepared for him in so many ways. As I see it, at least five major shifts in American life and politics helped lay the groundwork for the rise of Trumpism: * The Coming of a 1% Economy and the 1% Politics That Goes With It: A singular reality of this century has been the way inequality became embedded in American life, and how so much money was swept ever upwards into the coffers of 1% profiteers. Meanwhile, a yawning gap grew between the basic salaries of CEOs and those of ordinary workers. In these years, as Im hardly the first to point out, the country entered a new gilded age. In other words, it was already a Mar-a-Lago moment before The Donald threw his hair into the ring. Without the arrival of casino capitalism on a massive scale (at which The Donald himself proved something of a bust), Trumpism would have been inconceivable. And if, in its Citizens United decision of 2010, the Supreme Court hadnt thrown open the political doors quite so welcomingly to that 1% crew, how likely was it that a billionaire celebrity would have run for president or become a favorite among the white working class? Looked at a certain way, Donald Trump deserves credit for stamping the true face of twenty-first-century American plutocracy on Washington by selecting mainly billionaires and multimillionaires to head the various departments and agencies of his future government. After all, doesnt it seem reasonable that a 1% economy, a 1% society, and a 1% politics should produce a 1% government? Think of what Trump has so visibly done as American democracys version of truth in advertising. And of course, if billionaires hadnt multiplied like rabbits in this era, he wouldnt have had the necessary pool of plutocrats to choose from. Something similar might be said of his choice of so many retired generals and other figures with significant military backgrounds (ranging from West Point graduates to a former Navy SEAL) for key civilian positions in his government. Think of that, too, as a truth-in-advertising moment leading directly to the second shift in American society. * The Coming of Permanent War and an Ever More Militarized State and Society: Can there be any question that, in the 15-plus years since 9/11, what was originally called the "Global War on Terror" has become a permanent war across the Greater Middle East and Africa (with collateral damage from Europe to the Philippines)? In those years, staggering sums of money -- beyond what any other country or even collection of countries could imagine spending -- has poured into the U.S. military and the arms industry that undergirds it and monopolizes the global trade in weaponry. In the process, Washington became a war capital and the president, as Michelle Obama indicated recently when talking about Trumps victory with Oprah Winfrey, became, above all, the commander in chief. (It is important for the health of this nation, she told Winfrey, that we support the commander in chief.) The presidents role in wartime had, of course, always been as commander in chief, but now thats the position many of us vote for (and even newspapers endorse), and since war is so permanently embedded in the American way of life, Donald Trump is guaranteed to remain that for his full term. And the role has expanded strikingly in these years, as the White House gained the power to make war in just about any fashion it chose without significant reference to Congress. The president now has his own air force of drone assassins to dispatch more or less anywhere on the planet to take out more or less anyone. At the same time, cocooned inside the U.S. military, an elite, secretive second military, the Special Operations forces, has been expanding its personnel, budget, and operations endlessly and its most secretive element, the Joint Special Operations Command, might even be thought of as the presidents private army. Meanwhile, the weaponry and advanced technology with which this country has been fighting its never-ending (and remarkably unsuccessful) conflicts abroad -- from Predator drones to the Stingray that mimics a cell phone tower and so gets nearby phones to connect to it -- began migrating home, as Americas borders and police forces were militarized. The police have been supplied with weaponry and other equipment directly off the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan, while veterans from those wars have joined the growing set of SWAT teams, the domestic version of special-ops teams, that are now a must-have for police departments nationwide. Its no coincidence that Trump and his generals are eager to pump up a supposedly depleted U.S. military with yet more funds or, given the history of these years, that he appointed so many retired generals from our losing wars to key civilian positions atop that military and the national security state. As with his billionaires, in a decisive fashion, Trump is stamping the real face of twenty-first-century America on Washington. * The Rise of the National Security State: In these years, a similar process has been underway in relation to the national security state. Vast sums of money have flowed into the countrys 17 intelligence outfits (and their secret black budgets), into the Department of Homeland Security, and the like. (Before 9/11, Americans might have associated that word homeland with Nazi Germany or the Soviet Union, but never with this country.) In these years, new agencies were launched and elaborate headquarters and other complexes built for parts of that state within a state to the tune of billions of dollars. At the same time, it was privatized, its doors thrown open to the contract employees of a parade of warrior corporations. And, of course, the National Security Agency created a global surveillance apparatus so all-encompassing that it left the fantasies of the totalitarian regimes of the twentieth century in the dust. As the national security state rose in Washington amid an enveloping shroud of secrecy (and the fierce hounding or prosecution of any whistleblower), it became the de facto fourth branch of government. Under the circumstances, dont think of it as a happenstance that the 2016 election might have been settled 11 days early thanks to FBI Director James Comeys intervention in the race, which represented a historical first for the national security state. Argue as you will over how crucial Comeys interference was to the final vote tallies, it certainly caught the mood of the new era that had been birthed in Washington long before Donald Trumps victory. Nor should you consider it a happenstance that possibly the closest military figure to the new commander in chief is his national security adviser, retired Lieutenant General Michael Flynn, who ran the Defense Intelligence Agency until forced out by the Obama administration. No matter the arguments Trump may have with the CIA or other agencies, they will be crucial to his rule (once brought to heel by his appointees). Those billionaires, generals, and national security chieftains had already been deeply embedded in our American world before Trump made his run. They will now be part and parcel of his world going forward. The fourth shift in the landscape is ongoing, not yet fully institutionalized, and harder to pin down. * The Coming of the One-Party State: Thanks to the political developments of these years, and a man with obvious autocratic tendencies entering the Oval Office, its possible to begin to imagine an American version of a one-party state emerging from the shell of our former democratic system. After all, the Republicans already control the House of Representatives (in more or less perpetuity, thanks to gerrymandering), the Senate, the White House, and assumedly in the years to come the Supreme Court. They also control a record 33 out of 50 governorships, have tied a record by taking 68 out of the 98 state legislative chambers, and have broken another by gaining control of 33 out of 50 full legislatures. In addition, as the North Carolina legislature has recently shown, the urge among state Republicans to give themselves new, extra-democratic, extra-legal powers (as well as a longer term Republican drive to restrict the ballot in various ways, claiming nonexistent voter fraud) should be considered a sign of the direction in which we could be headed in a future embattled Trumpist country. In addition, for years the Democratic Party saw its various traditional bases of support weaken, wither, or in the recent election simply opt for a candidate competing for the partys nomination who wasnt even a Democrat. Until the recent election loss, however, it was at least a large, functioning political bureaucracy. Today, no one knows quite what it is. Its clear, however, that one of Americas two dominant political parties is in a state of disarray and remarkable weakness. Meanwhile, the other, the Republican Party, assumedly the future base for that Trumpian one-party state, is in its own disheveled condition, a party of apparatchiks and ideologues in Washington and embattled factions in the provinces. In many ways, the incipient collapse of the two-party system in a flood of 1% money cleared the path for Trumps victory. Unlike the previous three shifts in American life, however, this one is hardly in place yet. Instead, the sense of party chaos and weakness so crucial to the rise of Donald Trump still holds, and the same sense of chaos might be said to apply to the fifth shift I want to mention. * The Coming of the New Media Moment: Among the things that prepared the way for Trump, who could leave out the crumbling of the classic newspaper/TV world of news? In these years, it lost much of its traditional advertising base, was bypassed by social media, and the TV part of it found itself in an endless hunt for eyeballs to glue, normally via 24/7 news events, eternally blown out of proportion but easy to cover in a nonstop way by shrinking news staffs. As an alternative, there was the search for anything or anyone (preferably of the celebrity variety) that the public couldnt help staring at, including a celebrity-turned-politician-turned-provocateur with the worlds canniest sense of what the media so desperately needed: him. It may have seemed that Trump inaugurated our new media moment by becoming the first meister-elect of tweet and the shout-out master of that universe, but in reality he merely grasped the nature of our new, chaotic media moment and ran with it. Unexceptional Billionaires and Dispensable Generals Lets add a final point to the other five: Donald Trump will inherit a country that has been hollowed out by the new realities that made him a success and allowed him to sweep to what, to many experts, looked like an improbable victory. He will inherit a country that is ever less special, a nation that, as Trump himself has pointed out, has an increasingly third-worldish transportation system (not a single mile of high-speed rail and airports that have seen better days), an infrastructure that has been drastically debased, and an everyday economy that offers lesser jobs to ever more of his countrymen. It will be an America whose destructive power only grows but whose ability to translate that into anything approaching victory eternally recedes. With its unexceptional billionaires, its dispensable generals, its less than great national security officials, its dreary politicians, and its media moguls in search of the passing buck, its likely to be a combustible country in ways that will seem increasingly familiar to so many elsewhere on this planet, and increasingly strange to the young Tom Engelhardt who still lives inside me. Its this America that will tumble into the debatably small but none-too-gentle hands of Donald Trump on January 20th. Tom Engelhardt is a co-founder of the American Empire Project and the author of The United States of Fear as well as a history of the Cold War, The End of Victory Culture. He is a fellow of the Nation Institute and runs TomDispatch.com. His latest book is Shadow Government: Surveillance, Secret Wars, and a Global Security State in a Single-Superpower World. 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 2017 Tom Engelhardt Crosses Marking Chicago Death Toll By Kathy Kelly January 03, 2017 " Information Clearing House " - Rev. Michael Pfleger and the Faith Community of St. Sabina Parish had issued a call to carry crosses constructed by Greg Zanis. The crosses, uniform in size, presented the name and age and, in many cases, a facial photo of the person killed. Some who carried the crosses were relatives of the people killed. As the group assembled, several sobbed upon finding the crosses that bore the names and photos of their loved ones. Those carrying the heavy crosses along Chicagos Magnificent Mile of high-end shops and restaurants knew that other arms than theirs were aching aching with longing for loved ones who would never return. In 2016, more people were killed in Chicago by gun violence than in New York City and Los Angeles combined. The number killed represented a 58 percent increase over the number killed in 2015. How could this happen? was the question asked on the front page of the Chicago Tribune. It was a year of social service program shutdowns driven by the Governors office in Springfield. The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther Kings description of a triplet of giant evils, each insoluble in isolation from the others, helps us identify an answer to the Tribunes question. King spoke of the giant triplets of racism, extreme materialism and militarism. Training for, and the diversion of money to, wars overseas was a crisis inextricable from the race crisis at home, as were policies promoting radical wealth inequality. Representative Danny Davis , of Chicago, whose grandson was killed by gun violence in 2016, insists that poverty was fueling the citys bloodshed, and that Chicago needed to make investments to revamp whole communities. Poverty and racism clearly interact: Blacks and Latinos comprise 56 percent of the incarcerated population , yet only 30 percent of the U.S. population. A report documenting the rates of incarceration for whites, African-Americans, and Hispanics in the Illinois state prison system notes that over half of this prison population is black. For every 100,000 people in the state, 1,533 black people are imprisoned as compared to 174 white people and 282 Hispanic people. The consequences of incarceration affect entire communities: former prisoners are restricted in terms of employment, their families are disrupted, housing becomes unstable, they become disenfranchised, and stigmas persist. Global Slaughters We must also consider gun violence in relation to U.S. militarism. Gun violence in Chicago is condemned, as it should be, and yet a message to every one of the 9,000 Chicago Public School children participating in U.S. military junior ROTC programs is that killing is acceptable if you are following orders. Killing of civilians by the U.S. military is considered regrettable but acceptable collateral damage. These killings eliminate high value targets. The mere suspicion of harboring a targeted person in a home, restaurant, or mosque becomes an excuse for an airborne drone attack to execute whole families or communities. Ironically, this policy enacts an airborne version of a drive-by shooting. Soldiers who have seen combat are less likely to praise the virtues of military life. The myth is that the military teaches discipline, say the Chicago area Veterans for Peace , in their education not militarization campaign. The reality is that the military teaches children to follow orders without question and to use the military solution to conflict resolution that is, death and destruction. President Obama had tears in his eyes in January 2016, calling for relief from record-breaking shootings and killings in the U.S. Yet 2016 became a record-breaking year for U.S. export of weapons to other countries. The U.S. is responsible for nearly 33 percent of worldwide weapon exports by far the top arms exporter on the planet. Arms deals are a way of life in Washington, writes William Hartung . From the president on down, significant parts of the government are intent on ensuring that American arms will flood the global market and companies like Lockheed and Boeing will live the good life. American officials regularly act as salespeople for the arms firms. And the Pentagon is their enabler. In its first six years, team Obama entered into agreements to sell more weaponry than any administration since World War II. Carrying a cross along Michigan Avenue, I thought of the terrible slaughter in World War I that killed 38 million people . Elites, weapon-makers, and war profiteers drove millions of men into the trenches to fight and die in the war that was to end all wars. Christmas Truce In 1914, mired in mud, war-weary and miserable, troops on both sides took matters into their own hands. For a brief, yet magnificent time, they enabled the Christmas truce. One account relates how some German troops began singing one of their carols, and British and other troops then sang a carol from their side. As voices wafted across the no-mans land, troops began calling out to one another. Time and again during the course of that day , the Eve of Christmas, there were wafted towards us from the trenches opposite the sounds of singing and merry-making, and occasionally the guttural tones of a German were to be heard shouting out lustily, A happy Christmas to you Englishmen! Only too glad to show that the sentiments were reciprocated, back would go the response from a thick-set Clydesider, Same to you, Fritz, but dinna oer eat yourself wi they sausages! The high command on both sides took a dim view of the activities and orders were issued to stop the fraternizing with varying results. In some areas, the truce ended Christmas Day in others the following day and in others it extended into January. Dr. King said, Our only hope today lies in our ability to recapture the revolutionary spirit, and go out into a sometimes hostile world declaring eternal hostility to poverty, racism, and militarism. The soldiers in those trenches went out into their no-mans land and showed the world one way to end wars. They should never have had to. It was left to them to venture into the no-mans land, risking exposure to the others fire and their generals punishment for disobeying orders. No matter what gang is issuing the orders to kill, whether a massive military power or a smaller group that has acquired weapons, we can all claim our right not to develop, store, sell or use weapons. We can claim our right not to kill and not to live with the memory of having killed. Declaring eternal hostility to the fear, greed and hate which are our real enemies seems to be our true hope. We can lay aside forever the futility of killing. We can be hopeful and determined that our resources and ingenuity are directed toward meeting human needs. Kathy Kelly ( kathy@vcnv.org ) co-coordinates Voices for Creative Nonviolence ( www.vcnv.org ) The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect Information Clearing House editorial policy. U.S./UK Paid "White Helmets" Help Blocking Water To 5 Million Thirsty Syrians By Moon Of Alabama January 03, 2017 " Information Clearing House " - " Moon Of Alabama " - The blockade of water from Wadi Barada to 5 million people in Damascus is taking an interesting turn. The U.S. and UK financed White Helmet organization seems to be directly involved in it. This increases the suspicion that the illegal blockade of water to civilians in Damascus is part of a organized campaign under U.S. command. The campaign is designed to block utilities to government held areas as revenge for the liberation of east Aleppo. As we described it yesterday: After the eastern part of the city of Aleppo was liberated by Syrian government forces, the local rebels and inhabitants in the Barada river valley were willing to reconcile with the Syrian government. But the al-Qaeda Takfiris disagreed and took over. The area is since under full al-Qaeda control and thereby outside of the recent ceasefire agreement. On December 22 the water supply to Damascus was suddenly contaminated with diesel fuel and no longer consumable. A day later Syrian government forces started an operation to regain the area and to reconstitute the water supplies. Photos and a video on social media (since inaccessible but I saw them when they appeared) showed the water treatment facility rigged with explosives. On Dec 27th the facility was blown up and partly destroyed. The Syrian government is ready to send repair teams to rehabilitate the water flow to the millions of civilians in Damascus. But access to the site is denied and the Syrian army is now trying to push al-Qaeda and its allies away from it. Curiously some "civil" groups today offered access under several (not agreeable) conditions: Hassan Ridha @sayed_ridha - 2:10 AM - 3 Jan 2017 Wadi Barada statement: we will let teams to fix water spring if SAA-Hezb stop attack, siege lift & monitor ceasefire by intl observers [attachment] EHSANI2 @EHSANI22 - 6:43 AM - 3 Jan 2017 Offer by opposition to trade access to water source for #Damascus with halting of military operations by army [attachment] Here is the attachment to both tweets. Note who signed it: bigger Check the logos of the undersigning organizations You will probably recognize the middle one in the second row. Here it is magnified. And here is the original of that logo taken directly from the website of the Syrian Civil Defense organization aka The White Helmets: The organizations who make an offer to lift the water blockade of Damascus obviously think they have the power to do so. They then must also be held responsible for keeping the blockade up. They must also have intimate relations with the al-Qaeda fighters who currently occupy the damaged water facilities. The U.S. and UK government created and paid White Helmets are "impartially", "neutrally" and "for all Syrians" blocking the water supply to 5 million Syrians in Damascus. U.S. military and CIA officers run the "operations rooms" in Jordan and Turkey that direct the insurgency. This increases suspicion that the blockade is part of an organized response by the enemies of Syria to the recent liberation of east-Aleppo. As noted yesterday: This shut down is part of a wider, seemingly coordinated strategy to deprive all government held areas of utility supplies. Two days ago the Islamic State shut down a major water intake for Aleppo from the Euphrates. High voltage electricity masts of lines feeding Damascus have been destroyed and repair teams, unlike before, denied access. Gas supplies to parts of Damascus are also cut. Even after 14 days of water crisis in Damascus the "western" media are not reporting about the al-Qaeda blockade of water for 5 million Syrians. We can be sure that not a word will be written by them about this illegal hostages taking of millions of civilians in Damascus by their favorite propaganda organization White Helmets. The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect Information Clearing House editorial policy. Syria rebels freeze negotiations, saying truce violated: Sources told Al Jazeera the groups were freezing their participation in negotiations being prepared by Russia due to a government-led assault on Wadi Barada, a rebel-held area near Damascus that is key to the capital's water supply. God Hates Mexicans By Charles Pierson January 03, 2017 " Information Clearing House " - " Counterpunch " - People will believe anything if it flatters their vanity. Think of the idea that Americans are Gods favorites and that the Almighty directs history for Americas benefit, even when that harms non-Americans, particularly non-Whites. From the belief that divine providence guides Americas destiny came two more bad ideas. American exceptionalism and Manifest Destiny were heroic-sounding euphemisms used to justify the trampling of Native Americans and Mexicans in the course of the US Empires mad dash across the continent. Divine providence was such a transparently self-serving and chauvinist notion that we can be thankful that it has vanished from American thinking. Except that it hasnt. Michael Medved, nationally syndicated conservative radio host, makes the case for heavenly intervention on behalf of the United States in his new book, The American Miracle: Divine Providence in the Rise of the Republic. Medved argues that the rise of the US cannot be explained naturalistically; there must have been a divine guiding hand. The American Miracle opens with the extraordinary coincidence of Thomas Jefferson and John Adams both dying fifty years to the day from the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Such a wildly improbable conjunction of events, writes Medved, could not have been mere coincidence. In another early chapter, Medved describes how unusual weather conditions saved the Continental army following the disastrous Battle of Long Island. A fierce storm on the night of August 29/30, 1776 kept British troop ships from reaching vulnerable American positions. A dense fog, unprecedented during the Summer months, rose up towards morning and continued past daybreak, concealing the Americans and allowing them to make a strategic retreat from Long Island across the East River to Manhattan. Incredibly, not one American life was lost during the retreat. The Almighty also brought about the freeing of the slaves. President Lincoln had determined not to issue an Emancipation Proclamation until there was a major Union victory; otherwise, Emancipation would be seen as an act of Northern desperation. The Union victory at Antietam on 17 September 1862 gave Lincoln what he wanted. That victory, Medved writes, came about through a literal miracle. Confederate battle plans wrapped around three cigars were found by Union soldiers in a campground which Confederate troops had vacated the day before. Possession of the Confederate plans ensured Union victory. Five days later, on September 22, 1862, Lincoln issued his preliminary Emancipation Proclamation. Medved finds in such wildly improbable occurrences a pattern for which the influence of some higher power remains the most rational explanation. Baloney. Strange concatenations of unlikely circumstances happen everywhere, not just to Americans. People in every nation can point to evidence that God loves them best. Were George Washingtons many escapes from death testament to divine protection, as Medved insists? Fidel Castro survived dozens of assassination attempts by the CIA and lived to be 90. Washington only lived to be 67. Did God love Castro 34% more than George Washington? Washington and Fidel may just have been lucky. Still, if you want to believe that God kept Jefferson and Adams alive long enough so that they could expire on the fiftieth anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, be my guest. That belief is harmless. And if you believe as does Medved that the attempt on the life of President Andrew Jackson failed because God kept the powder in the assassins gun from igniting, that belief is harmless too (although even the reviewer for the conservative Commentary magazine questioned why God would want to save the life of this slaughterer of thousands of Native Americans). What should disturb us, however, is occasions when, to hear Medved tell it, Gods intervention on behalf of America harms non-Americans, particularly non-Whites. On such occasions, ruling elites use divine providence to justify American imperialism and racism. Consider Medveds chapter on the Mexican War. The Mexican War divided the US public between extremists who wanted to seize all of Mexico and moderates who just wanted half. Moderation won out. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, signed by the US and Mexico on February 2, 1848, formally ended the war and ceded California and large chunks of what would become New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, and Colorado to the United States for $15 million. Unknown to both Mexico and the Administration of President James K. Polk, gold had been discovered nine days earlier on January 24 at Sutters Mill, California. The deal would not have gone through had Mexico known what it was losing. Medved says that the timing of the discovery was no accident. Medved quotes a French prospector who said at the time: It had been so ordered by Providence, that the gold might not be discovered until California should be in the hands of the Americans. What the hell had the Mexicans done to piss God off? The US had been the aggressor in what Mexicans aptly call la intervencion norteamericana. The Mexican War was a blatant land grab which the US cloaked in the half-baked notion of Manifest Destiny. In asking for a Declaration of War, President Polk told Congress that Mexico had invaded US territory. Polk knew that was false. Americans were the invaders. Washington sent troops into Mexico pursuant to a bogus claim that the border of Texas (which had become a US state in 1845) extended as far south as the Rio Grande (p. 241). Medved unquestioningly accepts Polks bogus claim as sincere. The US House of Representatives did not. In November 1848, the House voted to censure President Polk for starting an unnecessary war. As for Manifest Destiny, Medved is fine with it. Medved told a caller to his December 2 show that he was glad the US acquired California. California, he said, had been going to waste under the Mexicans. The Mexicans, and the Spanish before them, had done nothing to develop California. Or to populate it. Medved tells us that in 1848, a mere 7,500 people of European ancestry (because Whites are the people who matter) lived in California.[1] California must have seemed to Americans like a land without people for a people without (enough) land. Today, the phrase Manifest Destiny has gone out of fashion, replaced by the secular doctrines of humanitarian intervention and the right to protect (with its hip abbreviation R2P). Dont be fooled. These are simply this seasons imperialist styles. The US still goes where it pleases and takes what it wants. U-S-A! U-S-A! Why then does God shed his grace on America rather than let loose the thunderbolts we deserve? It is not because Americans are better than other people, Medved assures us. Medved explains that God blesses the US not as reward for distinctively righteous behavior but as an exercise of his inscrutable will (p. 21). Ill say its inscrutable. In the case of the Mexican War, Gods will was downright perverse if we believe that God gave victory to the nation that started the war. Medved insists that Gods grant of His favor imposes obligations on America towards the rest of the world. Tell that to the Pentagon and State Department. Medved is aware of the lefts criticism of US foreign policy, but rejects it. Medved points out that Americas military interventions in Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, etc. (it is a lengthy etc.) added no territory to the US. Yes, but what Medved does not consider is that it is less hassle for an imperial power to rule indirectly from outside than directly from inside. Medved also declares that US military interventions have largely not benefited the US, but are carried out at great expense. To US taxpayers, certainly, but the military-industrial complex does just fine. I told a priest in my antiwar group about Medveds book. He replied by telling me about eisegesis. Dont confuse that with exegesis. In exegesis, believers approach a biblical text with an open mind with the purpose of determining the texts meaning. Eisegesis, on the other hand, is imposing your own meaning on Scripture. My friend said that it sounded like that is what Medved was doing. Medved sees himself in The American Miracle as telling historys greatest success story. It has not been a success story for non-Whites. It still isnt. The US robbed Mexicans of half of their country in the 1840s. Medveds subtext, whether he intends this or not, is that God hates Mexicans. Why else would He hand half of Mexicoincluding Californias goldto the American aggressors? It seems like many Americans hate Mexicans, too. We have just been through a Presidential election where 62,979,636 voters cast their ballots for a candidate who promises mass deportations. Thats 46.1% of all votes cast. (To his credit, Michael Medved rejects Donald Trumps plans for mass deportations.) God must hate Native Americans, too. Western expansion drove Native Americans from their homes, and to this day, Whites continue to displace Native Americans. Running an oil pipeline through a mostly White city like Bismarck, ND is unthinkable. But Whites dont have a problem with the Dakota Access Pipeline fouling Native American water and destroying Native sacred grounds at Standing Rock. (Medved has referred to the water protectors on air as morons.) My purpose has not been to attack religion. My purpose has been to attack the misuse of religion in the service of imperialism. It is a misuse of religion to suggest that God blesses one people by bringing calamity down on another. It is a misuse of religion to suggest that God favors the strong over the weak, Americans over non-Americans, Whites over non-Whites. I prefer to think that God blesses the downtrodden, the victims of injustice, not the conqueror. I do not know how many Americans share Medveds views. Lets hope it is not many. That would be a blessing. Charles Pierson is a lawyer and a member of the Pittsburgh Anti-Drone Warfare Coalition. E-mail him at Chapierson@yahoo.com. Notes. [1] The Oxford Research Encyclopedia of American History remarks that The American takeover of California caused an indigenous population decline that was sharper than in any other time or place in U.S. history. In 1848 the California Indian population was probably about 150,000. By 1860, it was only 30,000. See Jeffrey Ostler, Genocide and American Indian History, in Oxford Research Encyclopedia of American History (Mar. 2015). The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect Information Clearing House editorial policy. Where's The Evidence The Election Was Hacked? Video Tucker Carlson schools Philadelphia Inquirer Editor for believing what he's been told by the Obama Administration without doing any investigations. Posted January 03, 2016 This is the Reason We Don't Dwell on Turkish Deaths in the West If a democratically-elected dictator wants to act as a conduit in a neighbours civil war, what does he expect but massacres in his own major cities? By Robert Fisk January 03, 2017 " Information Clearing House " - " Independent " - Turkey is alone. First, well take a look at the racist reasons for this. If 39 men and women had been slaughtered in Paris or Brussels or Berlin on New Years Eve, the headlines would ripple on for three or four days. Two or three days if the victims had been western European. But of course, this being Turkey, which is a Muslim country whose people are not always as white as those from Christendom the headlines drifted off far more quickly. Not our lot, we Westerners said. Thus few readers of this article will know that, proportionately, Arabs were among the largest number of casualties of this mass murder: from tiny Lebanon alone, three dead and four wounded, both Muslims and Christians. We are quite unaware of the outrage in Lebanon at the domestic television coverage of the massacre victims morbid, sensational, deeply intrusive interviews with collapsing family members, so gruesome that even the Lebanese prime minister had to plead with journalists to leave relatives alone. Then there are the military reasons. Hasnt Turkey been playing fast and loose in the Syrian war? Hasnt it allowed weapons and money to be funnelled across its border to Isis and Jabhat al-Nusra (aka al-Qaeda, the murderers of 9/11 and the heroes of eastern Aleppo) and to various US and British-backed moderates, who can kill without apparently being jihadis? Hasnt Turkey gone back to war with its own Kurds and the Syrian Kurds, too? Hasnt the Turkish army the largest in Nato, although for some reason we dont mention this these days been a bit disloyal recently? For last Julys attempted coup despite all the claptrap about Gulenists was essentially a military plot to overthrow President Recep Tayip Erdogan. If a democratically-elected dictator (of which there are a growing number around the world) wants to act as a conduit in a neighbours civil war as Pakistan did in Afghanistan, channelling weapons, funds and fighters to combat the Russians with American and Saudi help and encouragement what does it expect but massacres in its own major cities? Touch Afghanistan, and the Pakistanis found the Taliban marching on Islamabad. Touch Syria, and the fireworks explode in your back yard. Then there are the political reasons. The Turks used to want to join the EU; theyre not so keen now, and who can blame them? So their present policy is to take the EUs massive bribes (courtesy of Angela Merkel) for closing the seas to Muslim refugees trying to reach Europe and demand the promised visa-free trips to Europe for its 79 million citizens, while at the same time making up with Russia, Iran, China and any other non-Arab nations that might be friends. Oddly for a man who is nostalgic for the old Turkish empire hence, I suppose, his newly-gilded palace in Istanbul Erdogan has turned anti-Ottoman in his foreign policy, virtually ignoring the Arabs whom he courted after the 2011 revolutions in favour of larger powers. Erdogan, who demanded that Trumps name be taken off his towers in Istanbul after the then presidential candidate called for restrictions on Muslim immigrants, now thinks he may get a critic-free ride from the new guy in the White House. I wouldnt be so sure. And thats part of the problem. For Erdogan is now so fickle in his alliances, shooting down a Russian jet and then cosying up to Russias president, loving Assad at the start of the Syrian revolution and hating him later, flirting with Europe and then jeering at the EU, that no-one in their right mind would want to get too close to the Caliph himself. Anyone who can bomb Kurds while claiming to bomb Isis, who can demand that no power dare interfere in his countrys domestic affairs while positioning Turkish troops in both Syria and Iraq (where Turkeys involvement outside Mosul is enraging the Baghdad government) is clearly walking a very dangerous path. So whats next? More massacres? Of course. From Isis, Kurds, Marxists, you name it. More attempted coups? Now theres the more important political and military question. More than 7,000 Turkish soldiers, including 164 generals, had been detained by last October. Not, surely, just to punish them. Any sane army knows that when you throw that many soldiers into the clink, its not to hand them over to the judiciary, many of whose members have anyway been savaged by detentions. No, the mass arrests among Natos largest army is to prevent the military staging a more successful coup attempt in which the Caliph himself would end up in prison. Or worse. The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect Information Clearing House editorial policy. German factory orders down, underlining recession fears AP - 21 minutes ago Official figures show that German factory orders were down 4% in September compared with the previous month, underlining expectations that Europes biggest economy is heading into recession $SPX : 3,719.89 (-1.06%) $DOWI : 32,001.25 (-0.46%) $IUXX : 10,690.60 (-1.98%) Raw Sugar (SB) Testing 38.2% Fib Retrace of Apr-Sep Consolidation Tradable Patterns - Fri Nov 4, 12:49AM CDT Raw Sugar (SB) formed a second straight daily Hammer yesterday, and appears poised to test downchannel resistance (on the weekly chart) by next week sometime. Yesterdays close just shy of the 38.2%... SBH23 : 18.47s (unch) SGG : 57.90 (-0.15%) RFD-TV Interview: Grain and Livestock Markets Blue Line Futures - Thu Nov 3, 6:38PM CDT What's on the radar for grain and livestock markets to round out the week? Cotton Bounce Continued through Thursday Barchart - Thu Nov 3, 4:48PM CDT Front month cotton futures ended with another triple digit bounce on the day. December closed at the allotted 4c limit, while the other nearbys were 138 to 353 point gains. Census data reported 703,536... CTZ22 : 83.45 (+0.54%) CTH23 : 81.82 (-0.43%) CTK23 : 81.66 (-0.41%) Red Thursday for Wheat Market Barchart - Thu Nov 3, 4:48PM CDT The nearby wheat market ended with mixed but mostly lower. SRW prices gave back 3 to 5 1/2 cents on the day. December stayed at a net 11 1/4 cent gain wk/wk so far. KC wheat held firmer with December up... ZWZ22 : 845-6 (+0.62%) ZWH23 : 865-0 (+0.61%) ZWPAES.CM : 7.7263 (-0.65%) KEZ22 : 949-2 (+0.85%) KEPAWS.CM : 8.9929 (+0.14%) MWZ22 : 953-2 (+1.09%) Hog Market Fades on Thursday Barchart - Thu Nov 3, 4:48PM CDT Lean hog futures held onto minimal gains in the December contract on Thursday, while the other nearby contracts dropped by 2 to 20 cents. The USDA National Average Base Hog Price was $3.36 weaker in the... HEZ22 : 83.375s (+0.09%) HEJ23 : 92.550s (-0.11%) KMZ22 : 94.000s (+0.16%) Weak Thursday for Cattle Market Barchart - Thu Nov 3, 4:48PM CDT Front month fat cattle futures ended the session mixed with a 55 cent gain in Dec and a 5 cent gain in the August 23 contract. The other nearby futures fell by 2 to 20 cents on a mixed / mostly weaker... LEZ22 : 151.950s (+0.36%) LEG23 : 154.875s (-0.02%) LEJ23 : 158.300s (-0.13%) GFX22 : 178.000s (-0.52%) GFF23 : 179.425s (-0.32%) Corn Faded on Thursday Barchart - Thu Nov 3, 4:48PM CDT Thursday action in the corn market left futures 2 3/4 to 8 1/4 cents lower. For December contracts that was the lowest close since 10/19. IHS Markit expects the national U.S. corn yield at 172.9 bpa,... ZCZ22 : 681-4 (+0.33%) ZCPAUS.CM : 6.7556 (-1.15%) ZCH23 : 687-0 (+0.33%) ZCK23 : 687-0 (+0.33%) Commissioners in Collier County, Fla., have placed a year-long ban on self-storage and several other land uses along a 7-mile stretch of U.S. Highway 41, near the Naples, Fla., city limit. The development moratorium also includes car washes, gas stations and pawn shops, while the county works on a plan to lure hotels, restaurants and retail to the area, according to the source. The ban includes land along U.S. 41 from Palm Street to Price Street, just west of Collier Boulevard. Much of the frontage along the highway has been acquired by self-storage companies and gas stations, according to commissioner Donna Fiala, who said the area looks like a slum. Nobody is going to travel to East Naples to eat or shop at a self-storage unit, Fiala said during the meeting. We desperately need a hotel because theres no place for people to stay in that corridor. We would love to have some restaurants and some shopping areas. We just need more places we can go. Part of the problem is zoning along the corridor allows for more than 180 uses but has never addressed the growth of residences in the vicinity, according to the source. Theres almost no limitations on what they can put up, so its becoming this whole canyon of self-storage places, Fiala said. Its this useless corridor, and it doesnt help to build a well-functioning community around it. People who live there should be able to stay there to buy clothes or shoes or something to eat. They have to travel for everything. Kathy Curatolo, executive officer of the Collier Building Industry Association, argued commissioners were sending the wrong message to developers and suggested the county consult with builders about possibilities for the area. "We certainly understand that there are concerns about gas stations and self-storage among our public," Curatolo said. "But the way to diversify is not by implementing a moratorium. It's by communication between the public and private sectors to create a balanced approach." During the ban, the county will examine new restrictions on self-storage and other uses, which could include distance requirements between businesses of the same type. Proposed changes will be written during the next year before being presented to the commission for approval, the source reported. Update 5/16/17 While the SSAA continues to work with Hong Kong officials on viable solutions for self-storage operators to meet fire and safety demands, commercial real estate services firm CBRE Hong Kong has also offered its opinion on how the two sides could reach a compromise. Among the most problematic regulations for self-storage operators to meet are the demand for increased corridor space between units and a larger ratio between windows and total floor area, according to an editorial written by Kelvin Leung, senior director of building consultancy services at CBRE Hong Kong, and published today by the South China Morning Post. CBRE believes the amount of available storage space will likely shrink by more than the 30 percent operators claim has been lost from tightening regulations due to the high cost of changing configurations and the likelihood of much higher rental rates. Our team at CBRE believes that there are viable solutions that can satisfy the operator and governments requirements, Leung wrote. For example, container doors could be converted into sliding doors so that the corridor space will not be compromised while both doors are open. From our understanding, the [FSD] has increased the corridor dimension from 1 meter to 2.4 meters to create more space for firemen to move between containers in case of an emergency. A sliding door ensures that the firemens safety is taken into account without infringing on the self-storage space. Leung also called on the government to withdraw or alter its stipulation on the ratio between windows and floor area. The ratio is a regulatory requirement applicable to office and residential buildings for the sake of airflow and hygiene, he wrote. CBRE does not believe that this ratio is necessary or suitable for the purposes of a warehouse. Since the foot traffic of warehouses is much lower than that of an office or residential building, we suggest the government reconsider this overarching requirement and judge each storage company on a case-by-case basis. In a letter also published today by the South China Morning Post, La Tona reiterated the SSAAs stance to work with government officials to find common ground. [The SSAA] shares the same concerns as the public; we are especially concerned about the safety of these facilities, La Tona wrote. We understand licensing and higher standard regulations are a consideration, and welcome working with the government to formulate proactive strategies. Last month, the Buildings Department, FSD and Security Bureau submitted another proposal designed to improve the fire safety in older industrial buildings, according to La Tona. We welcome the proposals and believe it is important for the government and relevant stakeholders to work collaboratively on this, he wrote. At stake, according to La Tona and CBRE, is having enough storage space to meet consumer demand. Given the citys very limited space, self-storage plays an increasingly important role in Hong Kong peoples lives, La Tona said. The growth of small residences, particularly nano flats with usable space of less than 160 square feet, is among the drivers that necessitate adequate self-storage space in the market, according to Lueng. These new guidelines have created murky waters for self-storage business owners and landlords, he wrote. While safety is a priority, CBRE urges the government and operators to find a middle ground so that the market demand is not ignored. We are happy the government is willing to continue discussing and coming to a balanced understanding of all the issues in order to reach a consensus on storage layout requirements, La Tona wrote. Safety is the number one priority, and the industry is open and willing to work closely with the regulators to find a way to best adapt to these new and higher-standard rules, within an achievable time frame. 2/28/17 The SSAA believes it has found a workable compromise to help self-storage operators meet fire and safety demands being imposed by Hong Kong officials. To meet the governments distance and maximum-space requirements, the association will propose allowing operators to install fireproof boards to enclose clusters of units, according to a source. The SSAA came up with the solution after hiring a fire engineer from consulting group Arup and a team of surveyors. Fire-safety principles were very difficult for the sustainability [of] the industry, so it was important to match safety and sustainability in order to meet all stakeholder needs to find a win-win solution, La Tona told the source. If the SSAAs proposal is approved by the FSD, operators will need their modifications approved on a case-by-case basis. Though complying with modifications will be expensive, the costs are acceptable and sustainable, according to Kevin Chan, chairman of the Store Friendly Self Storage Group. RedBox Storage estimated its costs would be up to HK$20 million and take more than a year to complete, according to the source. Oliver Leung Wing-hong, chief operating officer for RedBox, said he was hopeful the government would consider subsidizing the cost. Government assistance is also supported by the Hong Kong Mini-Storages Association, which has demanded officials consider interest-free loans to self-storage businesses that cant afford to make the improvements. The association told a source it estimates about 100 operators have gone out of business already and believes more than half of facilities wont be able to meet requirements. "[The government] should not go too far and should consider the feasibility of the regulations," said Peter Hung Kai-kei, chairman of the Hong Kong group. The Hong Kong association represents about 70 percent of the local industry, a source reported. It has also hired fire engineers to seek suitable counterproposals. 1/18/17 The Self Storage Association Asia (SSAA), whose members represent about two-thirds of the industrys gross floor area in the region, indicated its working with the Hong Kong Buildings and Fire Services Departments (FSD) on crafting safety standards that meet guidelines and are realistic for storage operators. Some of the standards that resulted in hundreds of citations being issued last month are impractical, Luigi La Tona, executive director of the SSAA, said yesterday during a press conference. We are proactively working with the government in order to find safe and sustainable solutions, La Tona said. Among the requirements the association has been working with members to meet include the elimination of aisle dead-ends, improved fire exits, lighting and signage, according to a source. One of the sticking points is the requirement for a 2.4-meter gap between storage zones, which La Tona said the industry could absolutely not meet. The gap requirement would drastically and negatively impact the industry because of its need for floor space, he said. The SSAA estimates up to 50 self-storage facilitiesabout one-tenth of the marketcould close as a result of the strict safety standards, a source reported. An alternative to the gap requirement proposed by the FSD during a meeting with the SSAA on Dec. 30 would create sealed, 50-square-meter storage islands designed to stop the rapid spread of fire. Their ultimate goal is to stop the spread of fire for at least 30 minutes, La Tona told the press. They have said this outright. They have been willing to accept alternative solutions to meet their goal. SSAA has retained a fire engineer from consulting firm Arup to help it propose possible alternative measures designed to keep a fire contained for at least 30 minutes. It plans to submit two proposals each to the Buildings Department and FSD, a source reported. The FSD has been very clear that they will accept alternative solutions, and the industry wants to stay in communication and in collaboration with the FSD, La Tona said. While the FSD is willing to consider alternative proposals, commercial considerations could not override public safety, officials told a source. The FSD considers the 2.4-meter zone gap and a one-meter requirement between storage units and the ceiling to be feasible and necessary. The SSAA maintains the 2.4-meter requirement falls under general warehouse regulations and was unheard of by self-storage operators before last years fires, La Tona said. The SSAA is hopeful it can reach a compromise with the FSD and announce a new set of approved standards by the end of March. Launched in 2014, SSAA supports members' interests to help grow the self-storage industry in Asia. 1/3/17 Government officials have cited hundreds of Hong Kong self-storage operators for building, lease and safety violations following investigation of facilities in the wake of two devastating fires that killed two firefighters last summer. As of Dec. 23, the Buildings Department had issued 571 orders to 259 storage businesses demanding they fix safety problems. In many instances, fire escapes were found to be too few or too long, with storage units taking up too much space within facilities, according to Michael Pang Yuk-lung, chief building surveyor. In addition, the Fire Services Department (FSD) has issued 1,267 fire-hazard abatement notices to 257 self-storage operators, of which only 50 have been satisfied, according to Terence Tsang Wing-hung, acting assistant director of fire safety. Violations of the fire ordinance include inadequate locking devices on escape doors, insufficient coverage of the hose-reel system, insufficient exit and directional signage, and obstructed or too few windows. The FSD indicated it has inspected 756 of 885 identified self-storage facilities, a source reported. Of 871 self-storage businesses inspected by the Lands Department, 213 were suspected of violating their leases, according to Patrick Leung Yun-hing, principal land executive. The Lands Department has issued 13 improvement notices and 221 written warnings. It has also initiated 13 prosecutions related to occupational-safety violations endangering employees, Thomas Chan, chief occupational safety officer, told a source. Business owners were given 28 days to bring their facilities into compliance. Further legal action could be taken if regulations arent met, Pang Yuk-lung said. Officials from an unidentified trade association indicated self-storage operators had made strides in promoting safety awareness but felt powerless from new FSD requirements and feared the industry could be forced out of business, a source reported. Elite Stor Capital Partners LLC, an equity investor focused on the self-storage industry, has hired Rob Consalvo as president and chief technology officer. In his role, Consalvo plans to build Elites management platform, which includes implementing an automated revenue-management system, advanced digital marketing, inquiry and conversion tracking, and other automated accountability systems, according to a company press release. Bringing Consalvo on board not only adds the [information technology] expertise our company has been searching for, but the skills to drive operational efficiency as we scale and strive to further enhance the customer experience and continue to drive outsized returns to our investors, said Benjamin Macfarland, CEO and co-founder. Consalvo was formerly the chief operating officer for iStorage, where he managed 70 self-storage locations across 12 states. The iStorage portfolio and property-management platform were acquired last year by National Storage Affiliates Trust, a Maryland real estate investment trust specializing in self-storage. Elite is a real estate investment company focused on the acquisition of self-storage properties as well as direct-equity investments with developers and operators. Operating under the Storage Rentals of America brand, the company doubled its footprint in 2016 to nearly 3 million square feet of storage space, the release stated. As some face grave danger (see: Dallas Police & Fire), a few government systems are clawing their way back to long-term solvency. For many of Americas underfunded public defined benefit systems, theres no painless path forward only pain now or pain later. And despite a few standout examples of the pain later camp, a growing number of plans have toughed out reforms aimed at long-term survival. But some states have gone farther, creating dedicated funding sources or rainy-day funds, which have been picking up steam this year. Since the 200809 financial crisis, officials at U.S. state and municipal pension funds as well as lawmakers have had to work harder to provide the retirement benefits promised to teachers, firefighters, police, and other public service workers. Were seeing more and more communities take steps to protect public pensions, and its a trend that has largely fallen under the radar, says Bailey Childers, executive director of the National Public Pension Coalition. Most public pension funds have increased employee and employer contributions to help counteract the hit of U.S. equity markets 40 percent drawdown during the crisis. Among those steps: establishing dedicated funding sources, such as revenues from gambling or so-called sin taxes (on cigarettes and alcohol, for example). The Kansas legislature kicked things off in 2012, when it approved legislation allowing gaming revenues from state-owned casinos to be directed to the Kansas Public Employees Retirement System, along with proceeds from any sale of state surplus real estate. The following year, Montana legislators approved a bill dedicating a portion of the coal extraction tax to the states unfunded pension liabilities. In 2013 the state of Oklahoma created the Oklahoma Pension Stabilization Fund, to be used when any of the state pension systems funding ratios fall below 90 percent. A dedicated portion of sin taxes and lottery proceeds will fund this asset pool. And in April, to pay for cost-of-living adjustments and shore up overall funding status, Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin (a vice chair of president-elect Donald Trumps transition team) signed legislation to protect contributions beyond one-fiscal-year horizons. In Louisiana, voters have approved the Revenue Stabilization Trust Fund, which will be funded by recurring mineral and tax revenues. Hawaiian taxpayers approved a constitutional amendment to include unfunded pension liabilities in the existing list of possible recipients of general fund surplus money. Weve seen a lot of improvement in the past few years, says Keith Brainard, research director of the National Association of State Retirement Administrators, pointing to the $150 billion increase in total public pension assets from September 2015 to September 2016. Last year state and local government systems paid out $250 billion to 10 million retirees and other beneficiaries. Along with creating new sources of pension funding, states have been engaged in other activities to secure promised retirement benefits for their employees. To ensure that plan members receive their retirement benefits, state and municipal pensions most recently have had to push back against efforts to close their defined benefit funds and move both new and existing participants into defined contribution plans, says Childers. For all of Oklahomas proactive pension protection, a 2016 bill sought to eliminate health insurance for teachers and the required funding of the Oklahoma Teachers Retirement System, among numerous other changes. The measure was defeated, as was a similar one in Indiana that would have allowed members of the state Teachers Retirement Fund, who contribute to the pension fund, to opt out of the system in favor of a 401(k) fund. Another means to bolster public pension benefits is for smaller municipalities to join the larger state system. This also allows for portability of benefits should a member move to a job in another part of the state. In Wisconsin last year, the state legislature approved a bill to allow the nine cities excluded from the Wisconsin Retirement System to enter the fold. Its not unusual for a statewide retirement system to allow new employer members, says Brainard. The Texas Municipal Retirement System, he notes, covers 830 employers and takes new ones every year. An ASX-listed company said that in order to ensure timely adoption and compliance and to prevent anti-competitive, delaying tactics in Australia's banking and insurance sectors, a system for securely sharing customer data between institutions should be mandated.In response to a recent Productivity Commission report, insurance comparison website iSelect said the launch of open data application programming interfaces (API) could help consumers get a fairer deal,) reported."Over our 16 years of operations, we have encountered numerous occasions where businesses have used high levels of industry jargon, excessive complexity in product development and marketing around frustrating access to data which, under the nebulous guise of customer 'retention,' we believe is tantamount to anti-competitive behaviour, Scott Wilson, iSelect CEO, said in the company's submission."iSelect recommends that the new data framework incorporates the mandating of an open API system for banks and other organisations to securely share their consumer data, and be subject to strict customer consent parameters."Wilson expressed concern that in the banks' and insurers' desire to retain consumers, the companies might delay settlement or only offer a discount once a customer decides to move to another bank, the report said."The bit that is anti-competitive is if you intentionally frustrate a customer and, for us, we see the apathy of consumers who get overwhelmed by the process," Wilson said. "We have a fundamental belief that consumers should have access to their own information and make an informed choice."A study by the Queensland University of Technology found that Aussies waste $11.6 billion annually by staying with their incumbent provider instead of shopping around,said.iSelect's submission was made in response to a report released by the Productivity Commission at the end of last year. The report indicated that implementing technology-based laws to regulate customer data sharing across industries might not be the best solution,reported."The great difficulty with specifying a technology [such as APIs] to be used for a purpose of exchange in a regulatory fashion is that you get stranded laws which refer to a specific technology and risks hampering innovation in the future, said Peter Harris, Productivity Commission chairman.In November, the parliamentary inquiry into the banks called for aggressive timelines for the creation of an open-access regime for customer data, in the hope of boosting competition and make pricing more transparent.Harris said that while he supported the parliamentary inquiry findings, he hoped that rather than legislating based on current technology options which could quickly become outdated broader legislation that enshrined standards and principles of openness would be adopted."Surprising though it may be to many, individuals have no rights to ownership of the data that is collected about them, Harris said. Data is increasingly an asset, and when you create an asset you should have the ability to use it, or not, at your choice."We are proposing the creation of a comprehensive right to data control for consumers that would give people the right to access their data, and direct that it be sent to another party, such as a new doctor, insurance company or bank, he said. Plus an expanded right for people to opt out of data-collecting activities. And existing privacy laws would all remain in place."George Lucas, chief executive of fintech Acorns Australia, did not agree that mandating for an open API system would solve the problem."The issue is about legalising the existing ePayment code as recommended in the Financial System Inquiry and privacy rules so it is clear to the banks that they don't own the data, that customers can consent to who access their data held by banks, that banks can't block this access if the client has given consent, who is liable if there is a breach," he said. "Basically the banks want to control on what terms and what data can be shared."In its draft report, the commission stressed that the "private sector is likely to be best placed to determine sector-specific standards for its data sharing between firms."This recommendation is supported by the National Australia Bank (NAB) in its submission, which said that statutory requirements for data sharing would be expensive and hamper innovation,reported."In principle, NAB agrees with sharing customers' data with other institutions, providing the appropriate security arrangements are in place and that institutions which received this data accord the same high premium to data protection as NAB does," NAB said. "NAB urges caution against the adoption of statutory mandatory requirements for data sharing due to the impact on innovation already occurring, the cost of mandating and ensuring appropriate security concerns."On the other hand, Wilson said that iSelect recommended that Australia follow Britain's lead and require banks and other organisations securely share data with third parties from 2018, the report said."By opening their history, financial services customers will be able to shop to find a product which better suits their needs," he said. "This is especially important in the home loans area, where the major banks still control more than a 70 per cent market share."The financial services sector needs a shake-up in competition levels and empowering consumers with better information and educating them on their choices would improve Australia's productivity and economy, while cutting costs, Wilson added.The inquiry report is expected to be released to the government in March. AXON Underwriting Services LLC, a program administrator and service provider based in Somerville, N.J., has hired David McMillan as an underwriting manager. He joins the firm in order to further develop its growing portfolio of environmental insurance products in the areas of pollution legal liability, contractors pollution liability and contractors pollution professional. His responsibilities include managing underwriting activities for business produced under AXONs multiple program administration agreements and overall compliance of the MGU. McMillan holds more than 18 years of environmental underwriting and consulting experience, having held positions at Markel Corporation, James River Insurance Company and Joyce Engineering. Spending the last seven years at Markel Corporation, he managed the southeast region and was instrumental in product and underwriter development while increasing overall profitability of the environmental book. Our new product innovations and increase in demand led us to look for an additional team member who fits our spirit of innovation and exceptional service, and were privileged to have found someone of Davids caliber, said Doug Gahagan, executive vice president at AXON, in a company press release. Davids extensive environmental experience and industry knowledge has already made him a key addition to the AXON family. Were confident he will play a key role in providing and implementing high quality solutions for our select brokerage partners. Source: AXON Underwriting Services LLC Topics Underwriting Pollution New Jersey A judge has ruled that a Portsmouth, N.H., auto dealership incurred damages caused by a city sewer line running through the property. The Portsmouth Herald reports Rockingham County Judge William Delker says Toyota dealer James Boyle wasnt informed when he bought the property in 2003 that a municipal sewer line was installed in a berm across the rear of the property. Delker says the city promised to repair the sewer line but hasnt done so. He says part of the property has become flooded due to years of failed maintenance. The Portsmouth City Council previously voted to take 4.6 acres of Boyles land to maintain the sewer line and allocate $348,000 to compensate him. Boyle and his lawyer have called the amount inadequate. Information from: Portsmouth Herald Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Auto New Hampshire With cyber attacks at an all-time high, PSA Insurance & Financial Services (PSA), a Baltimore, Md., headquartered independent firm specializing in risk management, personal insurance and employee benefits, has added an experienced expert to its risk solutions team. PSA has expanded its cyber risk management expertise by establishing a dedicated specialty practice to be led by cybersecurity expert Mike Volk. In this role, Volk will oversee the specialty practice, which focuses on cyber education and mitigation. The establishment of a dedicated cyber insurance specialty practice and addition of cyber specialist Volk is in direct response to the increasing number of cyber attacks happening around the world, said Craig English, senior vice president of PSAs Property & Casualty practice, in a company press release. This move follows changes seen taking place within the insurance industry, such as new ISO regulations that mean cyber-related risks are no longer covered under general liability, personal injury policies and property policies. In his new role, Volk is responsible for helping PSA clients develop dynamic risk strategies to bolster cyber resiliency and protect against organizational cyber risk. He will work to bring a unique view of cyber risk to PSAs clients by drawing from his background as an instructional specialist in cyber and technology training and as a cybersecurity navigator for the Baltimore City Mayors Office of Employment Development. While Volk is new to the firm, PSA is not new to cyber risk. In fact, PSA team members have been actively working with clients to advise their enterprises and the business community for more than five years and are active with industry organizations, such as the Cybersecurity Association of Maryland Inc. (CAMI). Ponemon Institutes Cost of Cyber Breach Study found the average cost per piece of lost or stolen data is $221.00 for an organization in the U.S., making data breaches a high-cost risk for American businesses, according to the release. The release added that small businesses are at even greater risk, according to Symantec, because they comprise the majority of phishing attacks and as many as 60 percent go out of business within six months of a breach due to reputational damage and high recovery costs. Additionally, a study from Washington, D.C.-based WalletHub ranked Maryland as one of the states with the most identity theft complaints per capita, the release said. As the threat landscape becomes increasingly complicated and the techniques used by malicious actors evolve, PSA is working to take a holistic and strategic approach to mitigate cyber risks, Volk said in the release. Its impossible to attain true cybersecurity, he explained. Thats why a dynamic risk management strategy and cyber resilience are essential. PSAs proprietary cyber risk management process focuses on assessing cyber exposures, reviewing clients insurance policies to identify possible gaps in coverage, examining strategies used for controlling, responding and recovering from incidents and identifying goals that align with client objectives. Ive found the best cyber risk management and insurance approaches involve partnering with clients in a consultative role, Volk said in the release. The goal is to help clients simplify security by focusing on the mission of the organization, how cyber threats can impact operations and providing guidance, support and education to make informed decisions about how to manage cyber risk and purchase proper coverage. Source: PSA Topics Cyber Training Development Maryland Risk Management Swiss Re Corporate Solutions has appointed Falk Schmaler as head of Middle East and North Africa (MENA). In his new role, Schmaler will be based in Dubai and responsible for driving the companys business strategy and market presence in the MENA region. His latest position was senior underwriter in the wholesale energy team in London, a global role in which he served clients and brokers throughout the MENA region. We are excited to have Falk take on this leadership role. said Tony Buckle, CEO of Europe, Middle East and Africa, Swiss Re Corporate Solutions. With his extensive knowledge of the risk landscape in the MENA region and a proven track record in serving our clients and brokers, we are confident that we will continue the momentum we have built in delivering our commercial insurance capabilities to the region. Schmaler, a German national, has over 18 years of experience in the insurance industry. He joined Swiss Re in 2009 and held several positions in property and energy underwriting in Zurich and London. He graduated from the University of Applied Science in Cologne, Germany with a diploma in Business Administration and a post graduate degree in Manufacturing Technology. He is also a fellow of the Chartered Insurance Institute. Source: Swiss Re Corporate Solutions Topics Swiss Re Insurers paid out around $50 billion for natural disaster claims last year, almost double 2015s payout of $27 billion, reinsurer Munich Re said in its annual natural catastrophe review on Wednesday. Earthquakes in Japan and devastating floods in China only 2 percent of whose losses were insured were the most expensive natural catastrophes of 2016. But the year saw the second-fewest fatalities from natural disasters in 30 years. Some $125 billion of losses were uninsured. It was the costliest 12 months for natural catastrophe damage after three years of relatively low losses, and above the 10-year average of $45.1 billion. Losses in a single year are obviously random and cannot be seen as a trend, said board member Torsten Jeworrek. The high percentage of uninsured losses, especially in emerging markets and developing countries, remains a concern. Reinsurers act as a financial backstop to insurance companies, paying a chunk of the big claims for storms or earthquakes in exchange for part of the premium. Lower claims payouts boost insurance industry profit but have a downside for reinsurers, whose insurance company clients often then demand lower prices for reinsurers backing. Two earthquakes on the southern Japanese island of Kyushu in April caused overall losses of $31 billion, while floods in China in June and July caused losses of $20 billion. There are now many indications that certain events such as persistent weather systems or storms bringing torrential rain and hail are more likely to occur in certain regions as a result of climate change, said Peter Hoeppe, head of Munich Res Geo Risks Research Unit. North America was hit by more natural disasters than in any year since 1980, with overall losses totalling $10.2 billion and Hurricane Matthew the most serious event. Its greatest impact was in Haiti, where it killed around 550 people. The climate phenomenon known as El Nino had in 2015 helped reduce the development of hurricanes in the North Atlantic, which traditionally cause some of the heaviest claims for the insurance industry. Globally, 8,700 people were killed by natural disasters in 2016, far fewer than the 25,400 fatalities in 2015 and the 10-year average of 60,600. The review gave no claims figures for Munich Re itself. The reinsurer is due to report 2015 results on Feb. 7. (Reporting by Georgina Prodhan and Maria Sheahan; editing by Harro ten Wolde and Alexandra Hudson) Topics Carriers Catastrophe Claims Reinsurance North Dakotas new insurance commissioner, Jon Godfread, who was sworn in on Jan. 3, 2017, appointed Jeff Ubben as deputy insurance commissioner and Marcy Ost as executive assistant as part of his first official day in office. Godfread succeeds Adam Hamm, who decided not to seek re-election this year. Godfread comes to the North Dakota Department of Insurance from the Greater North Dakota Chamber, where he served as vice president of government affairs representing statewide business interests to the legislature, executive branch officials, and to companies looking to operate in North Dakota. Ubben and Ost were both previously serving in the insurance department. Ubben has served as general counsel for the insurance department for the past four years and will continue in that role in addition to his duties as deputy until a replacement is hired. He is a North Dakota native and earned his law degree from the University of North Dakota in 2006. Prior to becoming general counsel at the insurance department he served as an assistant states attorney for Burleigh County for several years where he successfully prosecuted multiple large insurance fraud cases. Ost has served the insurance department as executive assistant including fulfilling public information duties since 2014. A native of Dickinson, she graduated from Dickinson State University and prior to joining the insurance department, Ost worked in the North Dakota Legislative Council. Source: North Dakota Department of Insurance Johnson & Johnson won a ruling cutting almost in half a $1.04 billion jury award to patients who accused the company of hiding defects in its Pinnacle artificial hips that had to be surgically removed. A judge on Tuesday left undisturbed a jurys finding that officials of J&J and its DePuy unit failed to properly warn doctors and patients about the artificial hips flaws, but found the panels punitive-damage awards to six patients were excessive and should be reduced, according to court filings. Constitutional considerations limit the amount a plaintiff may recover in punitive damages, U.S. District Judge Ed Kinkeade in Dallas said in the ruling. The cut wipes out about $500 million in punishment damages against J&J and DePuy over the companys mishandling of the hip implants, said Mark Lanier, a lawyer for the patients who sued. J&J still faces almost 9,000 lawsuits accusing the company of illegally marketing the flawed metal-on-metal hips. J&J stopped selling the devices in 2013 after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration toughened artificial-hip regulations. Now that judgment has been entered in these cases, the company can move forward in seeking appellate review of the legal errors with the trial, John Beisner, a lawyer for J&J and DePuy, said in an e-mailed statement. J&J won the first Pinnacle hip case to go to trial in October 2014 after a jury rejected a Montana womans claims that the devices were defective and gave her metal poisoning. In March 2016, a Dallas jury ordered J&J to pay $502 million to a group of five patients who accused the company of hiding defects in the hips. A judge cut that verdict in July to about $150 million. The December verdict against J&J and DePuy was the third-largest overall jury award of 2016 while the punitive award in the case was the largest against a company last year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The U.S. Supreme Court has said such bad-conduct awards must be proportional to compensatory damage verdicts that underlie them and has limited punitive verdicts to 10 times a plaintiffs actual damages. In his ruling, Kinkeade reduced the jurys punitive awards to about nine times the actual damages suffered by the six hip plaintiffs, Lanier said. The plaintiffs are appealing the reductions, he added. The lead case is Andrews v. DePuy Orthopaedics Inc., 15-cv-03484, U.S. District Court, Northern District of Texas (Dallas) Copyright 2022 Bloomberg. Topics USA Legislation Duck Creek Technologies, a Boston-based provider of core system cloud services and software to the global property/casualty insurance industry, said it has acquired Yodil, an insurance data management software firm based in Charlotte, North Carolina. Details of the transaction were not disclosed. Yodils platform offers enterprise data management software with business intelligence, data warehousing, data quality, and data governance features for property/casualty, workers compensation and specialty lines of insurance. According to the announcement, Yodils software and the Duck Creek Insights data and analytics platform will position carriers to harness all of their data, analyze their operations, and optimize market opportunities. This combination will also provide Duck Creek customers with a full suite of structured insurance data stores, from core system to warehouse to data mart. Analyst Reaction Jeff Goldberg, vice president and analyst with technology research firm Novarica, sees this deal as in keeping with the trend toward consolidation in the P/C insurance technology core systems space and a direct response to insurer preferences for suite providers as opposed to best-of-breed. Writing in the Novarica blog, Goldberg said insurers are showing a strong inclination towards vendors that can provide additional components at a later date. Goldberg also said the deal is likely also a response to Guidewires multiple acquisitions, which have included ICSC, a smaller carrier vendor; First Best, a commercial lines software firm. Last March, Guidewire acquired EagleEye Analytics, a provider of SaaS-based predictive analytics products. Its safe to say that BI and data warehousing can now be considered a core part of the insurance suite just like any other business process focused system, Novaricas Goldberg writes. Sources: Duck Creek Technologies, Novarica Topics Mergers & Acquisitions Property Casualty Velocity Risk Underwriters has expanded its Florida home insurance products and is now writing coastal homeowners policies statewide. Velocity offers an A.M. Best A rated coastal homeowners program through Texas-based State National Insurance Company. Velocity had been writing home insurance through Citizens depopulation beginning in 2016, and during that time, had also started writing home policies in Texas and Connecticut. Velocity plans on continued expansion to coastal states around the country in 2017 and beyond. Velocity currently insures coastal home owners in the states of Connecticut, Florida and Texas, and writes commercial lines products in all 50 states. Velocity writes through independent agents and is currently contracting new partners in Florida. Topics Florida Texas Underwriting Homeowners Authorities are searching for the cause of a fire that tore through a row of houses on Wheeling Island, W. Va. Wheeling Fire Department spokesman Philip Stahl tells media outlets no one was injured in the fire that was reported at 12:09 a.m. Monday when a resident heard a smoke alarm going off. As many as 50 firefighters battled the fire for more than three hours. Stahl says six houses were damaged or destroyed. Many of the houses along the street were vacant. Two families were displaced and many surrounding homes were evacuated. Stahl says its the citys largest fire since 2011. The cause of the fire is under investigation. Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Homeowners Virginia Police records show business owners in Savannah, Ga., reported a significant increase in burglaries during 2016. Crime reports by Savannah-Chatham County police show 347 commercial burglaries were reported between last Jan. 1 and Dec. 24. Thats up 41 percent from the same period in 2015. WTOC-TV reports Whit Campbell, the owner of Hawg Scooters, says crooks broke into his business three times within an eight month period. He says installing surveillance and security equipment cost him $1,200. Savannah police havent singled out any one reason for the spike in commercial burglaries. But Marvin Williams, a crime prevention officer in the department, says thieves are more likely to target businesses they perceive as vulnerable. He urged shop owners to form a buddy system and help each other keep watch. Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Trends Law Enforcement Georgia Heffernan Insurance Brokers has named Paul Matlock assistant vice president in its commercial lines department of the Petaluma, Calif. office. Matlock has more than 10 years of sales experience in technology and finance. He was most recently with Coding Pixel as president of business development. He began his career at Wells Fargo holding various roles in business banking. Matlock also consulted for companies, focusing on enhancing sales productivity with new technology and streamlined operations. Walnut Creek, Calif., Heffernan has offices in San Francisco, Petaluma, Menlo Park, Los Angeles and Orange County, as well as in Portland, Ore. and St. Louis, Mo. Topics California They are among 10 individuals within firm who have been promoted. Sophie Donnithorne-Tait Donnithorne-Tait advises on all aspects of UK corporate tax at Akin Gumps London office. She concentrates on financial restructurings, group reorganisations, structured finance arrangements and VAT. She has particular experience in the tax implications of restructuring UK oil and gas companies and works closely with her counterparts in the firms US offices and frequently advises US funds on the tax-efficient structuring of their investments into Europe. Olivier De Moor De Moor is based in the New York office and is also a member of the firm's tax practice. He focuses on the US federal tax and tax treaty aspects of corporate and financial transactions involving hedge and private equity funds, the structuring and restructuring of investments in the US, and cross-border mergers and acquisitions. In addition, he regularly advises on the US and international tax aspects of foreign investments by US investors, advises on a broad range of US withholding issues and has extensive experience handling Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) issues. Alexander Specht Specht focuses his work on the US federal tax aspects of domestic and cross-border financial transactions, mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures and partnerships. He regularly advises private equity and hedge funds on matters related to the structuring of investments and operations within and outside of the US. LIstat ha rivisto al rialzo la crescita del primo trimestre del 2017, con il Pil che balza allo 0,4% sui precedenti tre mesi e all1,2% su base annua. Le prime indicazioni dellIstituto, diffuse a meta maggio, davano il Prodotto interno lordo a +0,2% a livello congiunturale e a +0,8% in termini tendenziali. La revisione, a sorpresa, e dovuta, spiegano dallIstat, allintegrazione nei dati della buona performance dei servizi. LIstat rileva che il primo trimestre del 2017 ha avuto due giornate lavorative in piu sia rispetto al trimestre precedente, sia rispetto al primo trimestre del 2016. La variazione acquisita per il 2017 e pari a 0,9%. Rispetto al trimestre precedente, i principali aggregati della domanda nazionale hanno registrato una crescita dello 0,5% dei consumi finali nazionali e un calo dello 0,8% gli investimenti fissi lordi. Le importazioni sono aumentate dell1,6% e le esportazioni dello 0,7%. La domanda nazionale al netto delle scorte ha contribuito per 0,3 punti percentuali alla crescita del pil (0,3 i consumi delle famiglie e delle Istituzioni Sociali Private (Isp), 0,1 la spesa della pubblica amministrazione (Pa) e -0,1 gli investimenti fissi lordi). Anche la variazione delle scorte ha contribuito positivamente alla variazione del Pil (0,4 punti percentuali), mentre lapporto della domanda estera netta e stato negativo per 0,2 punti percentuali. Si registrano andamenti congiunturali positivi per il valore aggiunto di agricoltura (+4,2%) e servizi (+0,6%), mentre quello dellindustria risulta negativo (-0,3%). #Istat Riviste al rialzo le stime per il 2017. LItalia cresce piu del previsto e limpegno continua ha commentato su Twitter il premier Paolo Gentiloni. Per Matteo Renzi i dati di ieri e di oggi dellIstat dimostrano che con la flessibilita ottenuta nei Mille Giorni e con le riforme fatte, leconomia riprende fiato. Sulla sua pagina Fb il segretario del Pd parla di risultati figli degli anni di lavoro serio e rigoroso che abbiamo alle spalle. Con la revisione delle stime sul Pil lItalia recupera anche a livello europeo. Il +0,4% congiunturale e il +1,2% tendenziale non vedono piu lItalia isolata, fanalino di coda. LIstat infatti, diffondendo i conti trimestrali, riporta anche i dati relativi agli altri Paesi. Svetta la Germania (+0,6% e +2,9% su anno), ma la Francia fa come noi a livello congiunturale (+0,4%) e peggio su base annua (+1,0%). Restiamo pero sotto la media dellEurozona (+0,5% e +1,7% annuo). Learn how much you need to retire comfortably, and how to prepare for the "unexpected." Plan for everything from living expenses, to healthcare, to planning that trip you've always wanted to take. Letter from The Editor Our relationship with money has changed. The pandemic accelerated a lot of those changes, but many of the forces were already set in motion over a decade ago. Investing apps and platforms, zero-commission trading, a historic bull market for stocks coming out of the Great Financial Crisis followed by record-breaking inflation, the emergence of cryptocurrencies, and the evolution of financial planning are just some of the forces that have reshaped the way we think, use, plan, save, and invest our money. Our notions about retirement have changed, as well. Younger generations are less likely to work at the same company their entire careers, collect a pension, and ease their way out of the workforce at the age of 65. We are living longer, and we need to be able to afford the lives we want to live when we stop working. For most people, retirement is not their end of work, but the end of being able to depend on a regular paycheck with benefits and a 401(k) match, if we were lucky enough to get one. While over half of working adults in the U.S. are invested in the stock market, the average 401(k) balance for baby boomers and Generation X is only around $161,000 according to Fidelity. With the cost of living rising higher every year, and questions about the staying power of Social Security, the numbers just don't add up for most people nearing retirement. There is no magic bullet solution to these problems. There are, however, some fundamental practices and approaches that younger adults and those approaching retirement, can focus on: Financial awareness: Do you really know what it costs to be you? Investing appropriately for your age: Are you too risky, or not risky enough, or well-balanced? Balanced portfolio: Is the 60/40 portfolio still the answer, given the shake-out in the stock market? Saving and budgeting in a world of rising prices: Inflation is not a bug in the systemit's a feature that we need to accept and incorporate into our personal budgets. Planning and caring for yourself or family members: The cost of care keeps rising, but few are prepared for those bills when they come due. Estate planning: If you can and want to pass along your savings to charity or the next generation, are your affairs in order? Investopedia's special issue on retirement is our first foray into magazine publishing. We are honored to have been a go-to resource for millions of readers for the past 23 years, but we, like you, realize that the game has changed in retirement planning and investing. Therefore, we have dedicated those pages to laying out those changes and offering solutions that can help you change with the times. Pick up your copy at your nearest retailer or buy now online. We hope you enjoy the issue and learn from it. The first step in financial awareness is to educate yourself, so let those pages help you get on the right path. While the fears of the looming trade war between two of the worlds leading economies, the U.S. and China, have been making headlines for quite some time, U.S. tech giants have largely stayed out of the fight. Many tech industry leaders have expressed disappointment over Trumps policies on environment and immigration, but they have abstained from making comments on tariff policy. In fact, Silicon Valley has supported the administration on the issues of intellectual property theft and local trade barriers like those erected by China for its local technology companies. However, the technology sectorwhich is known to work in a borderless manner owing to significant portion of its onlinehas started to feel the heat of trade conflict. (See also: A Primer on Investing in the Tech Industry.) Tariff Impact on American Technology Sector As the Trump administration is considering imposing tariffs on the import of networking equipment from China, major tech giants operating from the U.S. with online offerings, like cloud computing solutions, are set to get hit. Such companies include Alphabet Inc.s Google (GOOGL), Facebook Inc. (FB) and Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN). Such giant organizations are either operating their business online, offering online solutions or both. Additionally, there are many technology hardware companies, like chipmaker Intel Inc. (INTC) that may come under the tariff purview owing to their current mode of operations. For instance, many such hardware companies send their manufactured products to China for the necessary configuration, testing and packaging. Though being U.S.-made products, they may face the tariffs when shipped back to the U.S. from China. As per the earlier announced proposals by the Trump administration, modems and routers are included in the list of Chinese goods that may face a 10% trade penalty after Aug. 30. Such hardware is necessary for the sustained operations of the technology industry, as they need it to support their mammoth networks processing troves of data for their products and services. Dean Garfield, president and CEO of The Information Technology Industry Council that represents tech behemoths like Google and Microsoft, said in a statement, Trade is critical to economic growth and supports millions of jobs from Silicon Valley to the savannahs of the heartland. Yet the administration continues to impose more tariffs without a clear objective or end in sight, threatening American jobs, stifling economic investment, and increasing the prices of everyday goods. He urged President Trump to delay this unnecessary escalation before more consumers and workers are harmed. Ripple Effect of Trade Tariffs The effects of trade war are not limited to the increased costs for the American companies. The fateful development has the potential to upset the well-established businesses, the supplier network and the entire supply chains. If many businesses in Chinabig or smallare unable to weather the impact of a trade war over an extended period of time, many may be forced to shut down, leaving a smaller number of suppliers. That could lead to higher prices, delays in shipments and quality-control issues, and it could impact a whole ecosystem that is currently functioning smoothly. While the bigger U.S. tech organizations have deep pockets to absorb the incremental costs, the other smaller players may find it challenging to bear the brunt. US-China Technology Trade By the Numbers The numbers tell the story of the potential impact. CNN Money quotes figures by Panjiva, a S&P Global Market Intelligence-owned global trade research company, that show the Asian powerhouse accounted for nearly 50% of the $23 billion of IT network equipment that America imported during the 12-month period through April 2018. American semiconductor manufacturers are also facing 25% duties on their $3 billion worth of products in the semiconductors space. The bulk of these are manufactured by the U.S. companies but pass through the Chinese workflow and supply chains, which brings them under the purview of the tariffs. Proposed in June, these tariffs were deemed counterproductive by the Semiconductor Industry Association, which represents big firms like Intel, Texas Instruments Inc. (TXN) and Qualcomm Inc. (QCOM). CNN Money further adds that in the backdrop of the development, rating agency Fitch has put TI and Intel on the list of those vulnerable to tariffs because they move product parts around the world. Initiating the work locally in the U.S. will need time, effort, cost and necessary training for the local staff. (See also: How Chip Stocks May Get Killed By a Trade War?) The Bottom Line Either the importing American companies may need to look for alternative, non-Chinese suppliers or pay the increased cost for the necessary imports from a possibly dwindling number of suppliers. On the Chinese side, while a few suppliers may explore the options to relocate to Malaysia or Vietnam, the process will be difficult or expensive and may be available only to the larger players. Over the next many months, uncertainty may rule in the technology business, putting a strain on profits. (See also: 6 Big Techs Stocks May Get Slammed in a Trade War.) Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have come a long way since the first U.S. fund, Standard & Poor's Depositary Receipts, better known as spiders (SPDRs), was launched back in 1993. This first ETF tracks the S&P 500 and its popularity with investors led to the introduction of ETFs based on other benchmark U.S. equity indexes, such as the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq 100. From their early beginnings as equity-index trackers, ETFs have grown to encompass a huge array of investment choices, but they aren't all equal in quality. In fact, the flip side to the phenomenal growth in ETFs is that it increases the risk that some of them will be liquidated, primarily due to a lack of investor interest. And that makes it all the more important to choose wisely. Key Takeaways As an investor, buying ETFs can be a smart and low-cost strategy to build an optimal portfolio. But, with so many ETFs out there, it can feel overwhelming to select just those that fit your strategy and goals. Luckily, there are several tools out there to help you narrow down the right ETFs and to find the lowest cost, most efficient one for each asset class or index you want to own. 2:19 Click Play to Learn More About ETFs Narrowing a Wide Selection of ETFs The choices in the ETFs space include traditional index ETFs based on U.S. and international equity indexes and subindexes, and others that track benchmark indices in bonds, commodities, and futures. There are ETFs based on investing style (value, growth, or a combination of both) and that focus on market capitalization. You will also find leveraged ETFs that provide multiples in returns (or losses) based on the underlying index's movements, as well as inverse ETFs that rise when the market falls and vice-versa. There are currently more than 2,000 ETFs listed on U.S. exchanges with combined assets exceeding $5.8 trillion. As an investor, the first thing you need to do is narrow down this enormous universe of ETFs and focus on just those that will suit your portfolio and long-term investment strategy. There are many ways to do this, but you can start with an asset screener that will filter out anything you don't wantlike those riskier leveraged or inverse ETFs, perhaps. Even after you've settled on the types of ETFs you want and the general asset classes or indexes that you want to track, you still have some work to do. Competition Among Similar ETFs The ETF market has become intensely competitive. This has generally been positive for investors, as it has driven the fees associated with ETFs down toward zero, making them extremely low-cost and efficient securities. But that can also leave investors confused. If you want an ETF that tracks the S&P 500 index, you can go for the original SPDR (SPY). But there is also a Vanguard S&P 500 ETF, a Schwab S&P 500 ETF, and an iShares S&P 500 ETF. In fact, there are at least a dozen S&P 500 ETFs listed on major U.S. stock exchanges. In a bid to differentiate themselves, some ETF issuers have developed products that are either very specific in focus or are based on an investment trend that may be short lived. An example is the Loncar Cancer Immunotherapy ETF (CNCR). This esoteric ETF tracks the Loncar Cancer Immunotherapy Index and invests in 30 stocks that focus on the research and development of drugs and technology to fight cancer using immunotherapy. As for ETFs that are based on hot investment trends, examples include the recently launched Robotics & Artificial Intelligence ETF (BOTZ) or the Drone Economy Strategy ETF (IFLY). There's even one called the Obesity ETF (SLIM) that invests in companies in the business of fighting obesity and related diseases. Picking the Right ETF Given the bewildering number of ETF choices that investors now have to contend with, it's important to consider the following factors: Level of Assets : To be considered a viable investment choice, an ETF should have a minimum level of assets, a common threshold being at least $10 million. An ETF with assets below this threshold is likely to have a limited degree of investor interest. As with a stock, limited investor interest translates into poor liquidity and wide spreads. : To be considered a viable investment choice, an ETF should have a minimum level of assets, a common threshold being at least $10 million. An ETF with assets below this threshold is likely to have a limited degree of investor interest. As with a stock, limited investor interest translates into poor liquidity and wide spreads. Trading Activity : An investor needs to check if the ETF that is being considered trades in sufficient volume on a daily basis. Trading volume in the most popular ETFs runs into millions of shares daily. Some ETFs barely trade at all. Trading volume is an excellent indicator of liquidity, regardless of the asset class. Generally speaking, the higher the trading volume for an ETF, the more liquid it is likely to be and the tighter the bid-ask spread. These are especially important considerations when it is time to exit the ETF. : An investor needs to check if the ETF that is being considered trades in sufficient volume on a daily basis. Trading volume in the most popular ETFs runs into millions of shares daily. Some ETFs barely trade at all. Trading volume is an excellent indicator of liquidity, regardless of the asset class. Generally speaking, the higher the trading volume for an ETF, the more liquid it is likely to be and the tighter the bid-ask spread. These are especially important considerations when it is time to exit the ETF. Underlying Index or Asset : Consider the underlying index or asset class on which the ETF is based. From the point of view of diversification, it may be preferable to invest in an ETF that is based on a broad, widely followed index rather than an obscure index that has a narrow industry or geographic focus. : Consider the underlying index or asset class on which the ETF is based. From the point of view of diversification, it may be preferable to invest in an ETF that is based on a broad, widely followed index rather than an obscure index that has a narrow industry or geographic focus. Tracking Error : While most ETFs track their underlying indexes closely, some do not track them as closely as they should. All else being equal, an ETF with minimal tracking error is preferable to one with a greater degree of error. : While most ETFs track their underlying indexes closely, some do not track them as closely as they should. All else being equal, an ETF with minimal tracking error is preferable to one with a greater degree of error. Market Position: The first ETF issuer for a particular sector has a decent probability of garnering the lion's share of assets before others jump on the bandwagon. It is prudent to avoid ETFs that are mere imitations of an original idea, because they may not differentiate themselves from their rivals and attract investors' assets. In Case of ETF Liquidations The closing, or liquidation, of an ETF is usually an orderly process. The ETF issuer will notify investors, generally three to four weeks in advance, about the date when the ETF will stop trading. That said, an investor with a position in an ETF that is being liquidated still has to decide on the best course of action in order to protect the investment. Essentially, the investor has to make one of the following choices: Sell the ETF shares before the "stop trading" date : This is a proactive approach that may be suitable when the investor believes that there is a significant risk of a substantial near-term decline in the fund's price. In such cases, the investor may be willing to overlook the wide bid-ask spreads that are likely to be prevalent for the ETF, due to its limited liquidity. : This is a proactive approach that may be suitable when the investor believes that there is a significant risk of a substantial near-term decline in the fund's price. In such cases, the investor may be willing to overlook the wide bid-ask spreads that are likely to be prevalent for the ETF, due to its limited liquidity. Hold on to the ETF shares until liquidation: This alternative may be suitable if the ETF is invested in a sector that is not volatile and the downside risk is minimal. The investor may have to wait a couple of weeks for the issuer to complete the process of selling the securities held within the ETF and distributing the net proceeds after expenses. Holding on for the liquidated value eliminates the issue of the bid-ask spread. In any case, the investor will have to contend with the tax issue. If the ETF was held in a taxable account, the investor will owe taxes on any capital gains. The Bottom Line When selecting an ETF, investors should consider factors such as its level of assets, trading volume and underlying index. In the event that an ETF is to be liquidated, an investor has to decide whether to sell the ETF shares before it stops trading or wait until the liquidation process is completed, with due consideration given to the tax aspects of the ETF sale. Investopedia does not provide tax, investment, or financial services and advice. The information is presented without consideration of the investment objectives, risk tolerance, or financial circumstances of any specific investor and might not be suitable for all investors. Past performance is not indicative of future performance. Investing involves risk, including the possible loss of principal. The daughter of President Park Geun-hye's crony Choi Soon-sil appeared in a Danish court on Monday to deny she knew anything about her mother's shenanigans. Korean ambassador to Denmark and other Korean officials were present in the court in the northern Danish city of Aalborg as Chung Yoo-ra answered questions about her role in the massive corruption scandal that has brought down Park. Chung responded in halting English through an interpreter. Chung Yoo-ra gets out of a car after her court hearing in Aalborg, Denmark on Monday. /AP-Yonhap She admitted that Samsung bought her a pure-bred horse but claimed she is merely an equestrian who was completely oblivious to any influence-peddling that may have prompted the conglomerate's generosity. "Mom did everything. I don't know anything," she told the court. She said her son, who was with her when she was arrested, is 19 months old. "The father left when the baby was 11 months old and has not been in touch," she added. Asked if there is anyone to care for the child, Chung said, "There's nobody." "I am only worried about my baby. If [Korean] police allow me to be with my baby, I am willing to return any time," she added. Chung was given two 10-minute breaks during the hearing, during which she responded to questions from Korean reporters despite being told by court officials that she did not have to. When reporters asked her about her underhand admission to the prestigious Ewha Womans University and good grades for classes she did not attend, she said, "I asked mom to withdraw my name from the school, but that request was not granted." "I came to Germany right after I had my baby so I had no idea who my professor was or other information," she added. "I thought I would automatically be kicked out of school because of my poor attendance record." She claimed she met Ewha professors in 2016 and does not know how she achieved the passing grades. Chung Yoo-ra answers questions from Korean reporters during a break from a court hearing in Aalborg, Denmark on Monday. On allegations that she was the beneficiary of around W8 billion from Samsung through a paper company she and her mother owned in Germany, Chung said, "I simply signed a paper with post-its [concealing important sections] so I wasn't aware of the contents (US$1=W1,206)." She also denied any knowledge of why Samsung bought her the horse, which cost more than W1 billion, saying a former executive of the Korean Equestrian Federation, Park Won-oh, told her she would be one of six dressage athletes sponsored by the conglomerate. "I accepted it when Samsung abruptly said it was taking back the horse and car" when the scandal erupted last autumn. Chung also denied stashing away a huge slush fund in overseas accounts and claimed she paid all her taxes both in Korea and in Germany. Asked if her mother told her anything about the president's whereabouts during the so-called "missing seven hours" when the ferry Sewol sank in April 2014, Chung said she had no knowledge of such matters. "The last time I saw President Park was when my father worked with her and I was in elementary school," she said. Her father, Choi's ex-husband Chung Yoon-hoi, was a top aide to Park when she started in politics in 1998. When the judge decided to extend her detention until Jan. 30, Chung sighed deeply. She immediately appealed, but the court swiftly turned down the appeal and said it is willing to let her go before the expiry of the detention period if she wants to go to Korea. Meanwhile, the Foreign Ministry on Tuesday ordered Chung to turn in her passport in a bid to pressure her to return home and face investigators. If she fails to turn it in by Jan. 9 it will be automatically canceled, which would make her an illegal alien in Denmark. Read this article in Korean Toyota was the top-selling manufacturer of 2016, according to new figures released today. The Society of the Irish Motor Industry says over 146,000 new cars were sold last year, the highest in eight years. Update 4pm: Health experts have warned that the hospital overcrowding crisis will continue unless there's a massive redesign of Ireland's health system. DCU health professor Anthony Staines says the system needs to be redesigned so that hospitals are a patient's last resort: "Simon Harris has a really tough job, but my experience with the people involved is that they are all working very hard, they are all working very focused to improve things. "But they need an over all plan, somebody needs to say this is where the health service is going." Update 2pm: Health minister Simon Harris says he has begun a review of bed capacity at every hospital, in an attempt to solve the problem. But consultants and experts are warning that overcrowding will continue unless the health system is totally redesigned. Christine O'Malley is Consultant Geriatrician at Nenagh Hospital in Tipperary and a former President of the Irish Medical Organisation. She says the situation isn't surprising: If right now there was double the money in the health service the Irish health service by policy would not open beds because they don't believe hospital beds are required. So I at the moment don't think it is a money issue, I think it is a failure of analysis, failure of policy, failure of understanding. Update10.40am: The INMO has said there are 602 people waiting on trolleys in the country's hospitals this morning. This follows yesterday record figure of 612. Update 9am: The Minister for Health has said the flu vaccine may be made mandatory for health workers. Simon Harris said he was disappointed at the uptake levels in the sector, and said fewer than 20% of nurses have got the jab. The HSE has cited a surge in winter illnesses like the flu for the current surge in demand for services at the country's hospitals. "There's an onus on all of us working in the health service and going in and out of hospitals, to get it. Not only does it keep us well; it also limits the chances of us carrying it and impacting on patients," he said. "If the uptake is so low, it's something we will have to look at in the future." Health chiefs have blamed flu, winter vomiting bugs and chest infections for a new record overcrowding crisis in the country's hospitals, with the INMO saying 612 patients were waiting on trolleys in emergency units yesterday. HSE bosses disputed the nurses' head count, claiming that its records showed 487 patients waiting for a bed at 8am on Tuesday morning. The HSE said the problem is being compounded by 21 outbreaks of respiratory infections and flu this season in hospitals, nursing homes and residential centres. It also said there has been a significant increase in the number of over 75s seeking hospital care. They are twice as likely to be admitted and commonly stay twice as long. Earlier: The Health Minister Simon Harris is to meet the HSE tomorrow to discuss the new record level of people on trolleys at hospitals around the country. The daily count hit 612 yesterday. Earlier this week, the HSE warned that influenza and respiratory illness levels have doubled over the past two weeks and are likely to increase further in the coming weeks. Meanwhile, the medical director of Cork and Kerrys out-of-hours GP service, SouthDoc, Gerry Stack, said there was a 40% rise in patient contacts this Christmas compared to last and a 53% rise comparing this new year period and last. Meanwhile, nationally, the INMO said there has been a significant deterioration in emergency department overcrowding in November and December. In total, there was a record 93,621 admitted patients on trolleys last year, said INMO secretary general Liam Doran. The INMO says overcrowded emergency departments mean conditions are "chaotic, cruel and extremely difficult" for nurses and patients. Officials are expecting the numbers of people on trolleys to be the same, if not worse, today after yesterday's record high of 612. Extended service hours and giving GPs direct access to consultants are among the options being available in a bid to reduce the number of patients on trolleys. The Minister said the surge is a result of a highly contagious flu which has particularly targeted older people. He is encouraging anyone who has not had the flu vaccine to consider getting it straight away, regardless of their age. "It's about ensuring we minimise the spread of the flu," he said Meanwhile, the body representing nursing homes said they have a key role to play in solving the trolley crisis. Tadhg Daly from Nursing Homes Ireland is welcoming a pledge from Minister Harris to look into working with them on the issue, "We welcome the fact the Minister acknowledges, however late it is, the role of Nursing Homes Ireland and our members. "We're happy to engage with Minister Harris, his Department and the HSE to alleviate the crisis that's in our hospitals at the moment and alleviate the suffering of families and older people." 1,427,166 people visited the Cliffs of Moher in Co Clare during 2016. Visitor numbers were up an impressive 14% on 2015 with a huge increase in people visiting during the low season such as December. There was a 52% increase in visits to the magestic cliffs during December 2016 compared to 2015. The Director of the Cliffs of Moher Visitor Experience Katherine Webster said the figures reflect the huge popularity of the Cliffs of Moher and how the attraction is now a primary reason for many people choosing to visit Ireland. However Mrs Webster also said that the popularity of the cliffs led to challenges for the management of the tourist centre. Dealing with this number of visitors is not without its challenges and the Cliffs of Moher Visitor Experience faced capacity issues during peak times throughout the season, explained Ms. Webster. She continued, The majority of people look to visit between 11.00 a.m. and 4.00 p.m. and consequently, our facilities have at times struggled to cope with the numbers during the peak season. "We introduced off-peak pricing for pre-booked groups who come outside of these times in 2014 but it takes time for tour operators to be able to change their itineraries. This was one of the reasons we saw higher growth from this segment as our extended opening hours in the summer allowed above average increases outside of the peak. Turkey has warned that repeated ceasefire violations by Syria's government are threatening peace talks scheduled for later this month. Foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said the talks in Kazakhstan were scheduled for January 23, to be preceded by preparatory meetings between Turkish and Russian "experts" in Turkey. The Syrian government and allied militias have pressed on with an offensive to take the Barada Valley outside Damascus from rebels despite a ceasefire agreement signed shortly before the new year. The government says the region was never included in the agreement. Rebels have retaliated with shelling and raids on government-held areas in other parts of the country. The rebels also accuse the government of carrying out air raids in the rebel-held province of Idlib, where hundreds of thousands of civilians have sought refuge. Mr Cavusoglu called on Iran, a key ally of Syrian president Bashar Assad and one of the guarantors of the agreement, to address the violations by pro-government forces. Turkey supports the Syrian opposition. The ceasefire was supposed to prepare the way for the talks in the Kazakh capital Astana, in what would be the first substantial diplomatic movement towards ending the conflict in nearly a year. Russia, Turkey and Iran had agreed to broker those talks. Russia is also a key ally of Assad. Mr Cavusoglu warned the Astana process "might fail if we cannot stop the escalating violations", in remarks made to Turkey's state-run Anadolu news agency. The foreign minister also said he had received assurances from Russia that the Kurdish Syrian PYD party would not be invited to Astana. Turkey considers the party and its armed wing an extension of its own outlawed Kurdish insurgency and classifies it as a terror organisation. The PYD controls most of the Syrian-Turkish frontier. Its armed wing enjoys the backing of the US military and is the most effective ground force battling Islamic State in Syria. - AP Cult leader and murderer Charles Manson has been taken to a California hospital, according to reports. A state prison official said that the 82-year-old is still alive, but refused to give any details, citing rules designed to protect his privacy. TMZ reported on Tuesday that Manson was taken to a hospital in Bakersfield, about 60 miles south of the prison where he has been incarcerated. California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation spokeswoman Terry Thornton declined to say whether the leader of the notorious Manson family is in hospital. She said Manson, 82, is still assigned to the prison in Corcoran, but she declined to say whether he is there, citing safety and security protocols. Privacy laws prohibit her from discussing an inmate's medical situation, Ms Thornton said. Manson was convicted of orchestrating the 1969 murders of pregnant actress Sharon Tate and six others. Sarah Ardalani of the Los Angeles County district attorney's office said the agency had no information on Manson. The office prosecuted Manson and has objected to his release. He was most recently up for parole in 2012 - his 12th bid for freedom. The California State Prison, Corcoran, has medical facilities to treat inmates requiring urgent or emergency care as well as in-patient hospital stays. "In general, inmates are sent to outside hospitals if they need surgical services, emergency care, or diagnostic services of an acute nature," said Joyce Hayhoe, a spokeswoman for the federal receiver who controls prison medical care. "These services are not provided in state prison facilities." In November, the state inspector general, which monitors the corrections system, described care at Corcoran as "inadequate". Manson was convicted of leading a cult in which disaffected young people living in a commune followed his orders and were ultimately turned into killers. Manson and three female followers, Susan Atkins, Patricia Krenwinkle and Leslie Van Houten, were convicted of murder and sentenced to death for killings at two gruesome scenes in the summer of 1969. Another defendant, Charles "Tex" Watson, was convicted later. All were spared execution when a US Supreme Court ruling temporarily banned the death penalty in 1972. - AP An Israeli military court has convicted a soldier of manslaughter over the fatal shooting of an incapacitated Palestinian attacker. The verdict caps a nine-month saga that has deeply divided the country. Defence officials have criticised Sergeant Elor Azaria's conduct, while large segments of the Israeli public, along with members of the nationalist ruling coalition, have rallied behind him. In delivering her verdict, Colonel Maya Heller systematically rejected all of Azaria's defence arguments, saying "the fact that the man on the ground was a terrorist does not justify a disproportionate response". The court threw out a relative of Azaria, while a second relative stormed out after his conviction. A young woman called the verdict a disgrace and screamed "the Israeli military is over" before she was thrown out of the courtroom. Another woman screamed "disgusting leftists" and stormed out. Azaria sat emotionless as the verdict was delivered. He is expected to be sentenced in several weeks. - AP IDA Ireland chief executive Martin Shanahan yesterday said the agency has, since June 23, seen an intensification of inquiries being made about Ireland from firms considering a new EU home. He added Ireland is amongst a small number of locations being seriously sized up by companies. Mr. Shanahan said he expects companies to start making real relocation decisions by the second quarter of 2017. It is not likely companies will await the outcome of the negotiations between Britain and the EU [before deciding to act]. The political and commercial timeframes are totally incompatible, he said. While he said an increase in the level of due diligence being carried out has been evident, Mr Shanahan declined to state a figure for the number of actual site visits which have been undertaken here by prospective re-locators in recent months. However, he said Irelands membership of the EU has become an even more important factor since the Brexit vote last summer. [It] gives us all important access to the European market, but it also gives us access to a European labour pool which allows talented people to come and work in Ireland. "Given it is access to talent that will dictate which jurisdictions win investment, access to the European labour market is a big positive for Ireland. Far-right candidate, Marine Le Pen, renewed her attacks on the European model of immigration, budget controls, and currency union. National Front leader Le Pen, who pollsters expect to reach the second round of voting, stuck closely to her partys traditional themes in an hour-long radio interview. Socialist contenders including former prime minister Manuel Valls and former education minister Vincent Peillon held press conferences setting out their policy programmes, while the Republican frontrunner Francois Fillon also set out his stall. The French want less Europe and more France, Ms Le Pen said, promising a referendum on Frances relations with the EU within six months of taking office if elected. With the two-round election scheduled for April 23 and May 7, the candidates have about four months to make their cases to voters worried about terrorism, immigration and a lacklustre economy. Mr Fillon, who ran the government for five years under former president Nicolas Sarkozy, has shown a consistent lead in the polls since winning the Republicans nomination in November. He would win between 26% and 29% of the votes in the first round and Ms Le Pen would get between 24% and 25%, an Ipsos Sopra Steria poll showed. Former industry minister Arnaud Montebourg who, like Mr Valls and Mr Peillon, is running in the Socialist Partys primary later this month also attacked the European consensus on economic policy, blaming spending cuts, rather than worker protection, for Frances unemployment problem. The Socialist primary will be the next major development in the campaign, with seven candidates competing over two rounds on January 22 and 29. Five years in power helped make the current Socialist president, Francois Hollande, the least popular head of state in half a century and the first not to seek a second mandate. Now the Socialists have a battle just to stay in the race. Bloomberg Independent counsel Park Young-soo on Tuesday declined demands by Chung Yoo-ra to be investigated without detention if he wants her to return to Korea. Chung, the daughter of President Park Geun-hye's longtime crony Choi Soon-sil, has been arrested in Denmark and is suspected of being a major beneficiary of the extortion racket her mother ran with Park's connivance. Lee Kyu-chul, a spokesman for the independent counsel, said a Danish court has already ruled in favor of detaining Chung and that she will be brought back to Korea as soon as possible. Chung told the court in the northern Danish city of Aalborg that she would return to Korea voluntarily if she can stay with her 19-month-old son instead of a remand prison. "Chung has already been placed on the Interpol most-wanted list and an arrest warrant will be sought immediately she is extradited," Lee said. "If the warrant is granted, she can be held for 48 hours, so we will be able to make a decision on indicting her then." Lee said the Danish court would have no reason to block Chung's extradition as her passport will be canceled in a week's time unless she turns it in. There are fears that Chung will fight extradition, but Lee said chances are that she will return to Korea before the end of this month. A source at the independent counsel's office said, "If Chung opposes the court's decision, she may end up being detained longer." That is the prediction of leading Irish information security company, Ward Solutions, which said that ransomware attacks and data breaches are set to grow this year, leading to serious repercussions for information security. Ward Solutions said it expected breach fatigue would set in among the general public. CEO Pat Larkin said: The general public is increasingly growing tired of being told their personal data may or may not have leaked into the wrong hands. "This fatigue offers huge opportunities for cyber criminals as consumers drop their guard. It also places an increased responsibility on organisations to secure and protect all of the customer and third-party data that they collect and handle. Mr Larkin said the growing threat of global cyber- terrorism was a threat to world peace. He said 2017 could see state-sponsored cyber-terrorism escalate to a point that prompts a military response. 2017 could be the year that sees a country respond to a cyber attack with a show of military force, resulting in the first bullets or missiles flying in response to cyber-terrorism. "We would hope that governments and security agencies engage in co-ordinated preventative measures so this particular prediction isnt actually realised, he said. He said Ireland needed to be more prepared to the growing threat of cyber attacks, saying that it was imperative that critical infrastructures and assets were protected from these growing threats. Mr Larkin called on Irish companies to take heed of the impending General Data Protection Regulation legislation, due to come into force in May 2018. The legislation is an EU regulation aimed at securing the personal data of individuals. Non-compliant companies face fines of 4% of worldwide turnover. He said: Many Irish organisations have grossly underestimated the workload required to become compliant. When they finally realise the scale of the challenge they will be forced to seek assistance from a limited pool of knowledgeable external resources. Yesterday, a warrant was issued for the arrest of the attacker. Curtis Keniry, aged 20, of Gateway House, 34 Leitrim St, Cork, was convicted in his absence yesterday at Cork District Court on a charge of assaulting John Lynch. He failed to show up for the case against him and Judge Marie Keane issued a warrant, wanting him before the court for sentencing. The State has proved its case, Judge Keane said. This was a vicious unprovoked attack on an innocent man walking on Patrick St at 9.30pmm on a Sunday. For no reason whatsoever, Mr Keniry began to engage in provocative behaviour culminating in a vicious assault. I am satisfied it would have been a very frightening incident for Mr Lynch. Eyewitness Jim Faulkner said he was standing on the corner of St Patricks St and Grand Parade that night when he heard a man shouting at another: Get away from me, leave me alone. He beats him around the head, he [the injured party] drops to the ground, Mr Faulkner told Inspector Finbarr OSullivan. I heard a crack. I felt the vibration of his head hitting the ground come up through my shoes. The gentleman doing the assaulting never saw the guard coming. He just kept laying into the guy. CCTV evidence shown in court yesterday showed Mr Lynch walking backwards to avoid another man walking directly at him. Mr Lynch initially tried to fend off blows before turning to run. The victim said that when the incident continued out of sight of the CCTV camera, he was knocked to the ground. He testified that he did not know the attacker, had never seen him before the incident, and had not see him since. The INMO predicts this current flu outbreak will cause even more chaos at emergency departments. Earlier this week, the HSE warned that influenza and respiratory illness levels have doubled over the past two weeks and are likely to increase further in the coming weeks. There were 33 on trolleys at Cork University Hospital yesterday, 26 at the Mercy University Hospital in Cork, 42 at the Midland Regional in Portlaoise, and 41 at St Lukes Kilkenny. Meanwhile, the medical director of Cork and Kerrys out-of-hours GP service, SouthDoc, Gary Stack, said there was a 40% rise in patient contacts this Christmas compared to last and a 53% rise comparing this new year period and last. He said there is a crisis in general practice, with up to 18 GP vacancies in Cork and Kerry alone. Dr Stack said some patients are forced to wait up to 24 hours to see a GP because of a lack of doctors. Meanwhile, nationally, the INMO said there has been a significant deterioration in emergency department overcrowding in November and December. In total, there was a record 93,621 admitted patients on trolleys last year, said INMO secretary general Liam Doran. The stark reality is that, in 2007, after it was declared a national emergency, the number of patients on trolleys was recorded as 50,402, said Mr Doran. However, in 2016 this has increased by 86% to 93,621. This confirms that successive governments approach to the public health service have failed to address this problem and it must now become a top priority for a government- wide response in 2017. What steps have been taken to implement the recommendations, of an expert group report last August, which called for additional nursing posts to be created and filled, to look after all admitted patients in emergency departments and extra patients on wards? Fianna Fails health spokesman Billy Kelleher said the HSE seems to think it is acceptable to have 300 to 400 people on trolleys and warned regional hospitals are amongst the worst affected by overcrowding. The winter initiative has failed, and [Health] Minister [Simon] Harris must review what his department and the HSE are doing... The minister needs to bring forward proposals that increase capacity in hospital wards. Across the country, there are community hospitals with fully functioning wards that could be used to treat non-acute patients, thereby freeing up acute beds in our major hospitals. Ann Marie Horan, pharmacist and member of the executive committee of the Irish Pharmacy Union, warned people to get the flu vaccination, especially those in at-risk groups. While it can often be difficult to tell the difference between the common cold and flu, flu is a much more severe illness than a cold, she said. Flu symptoms, particularly fever and muscle aches, tend to come on suddenly, whereas a cold usually starts gradually with symptoms of a sore throat and a blocked or runny nose. The Irish Examiner has learned that following talks between Health Minister Simon Harris and Waterford Fine Gael TD John Deasy who was central to the uncovering of the scandal the Government recognises a major gap exists in the law and must be closed. It is understood that Mr Harris agrees with Mr Deasy and the whistleblowers who cared for Grace that vulnerable adults are at risk. Mr Deasy has sought legislation to protect adults in a similar way to children. Speaking to the Irish Examiner, Mr Deasy said: I passionately believe we need to move on this so the political will is there. We need now just to sort the when. Mr Harris has discussed the matter with Attorney General Maire Whelan who has asked the Law Reform Commission to immediately begin examining what shape new legislation should take. This is a complex area and it is not simply a matter of copying the law for children, said Mr Harris. Adults are open to many forms of abuse, financial abuse, elder abuse or whatever. So its now a case of making sure we can proceed as quickly as possible. Mr Deasy said: I welcome the progress here. If what happened to some of these people in the Waterford foster home had happened to a dog, there would be a greater chance of securing a conviction, given that Ireland, in some circumstances, affords greater protections to animals than to adults with disabilities. Mr Deasy said he went to Mr Harris on this issue as he felt he would have been wasting his time trying to get anything done with super junior minister Finian McGrath, who is technically the line minister responsible for this area Barrys work, set in the wars of 1850s America, has been hailed by judges as a miracle of a book. His fourth book, The Secret Scripture, won the Costa Book of the Year in 2008. Non-fiction writer Francis Spufford has won the First Novel Award for his debut work of fiction, Golden Hill. Spuffords historical novel, set in New York in the winter of 1746, was called captivating and dazzlingly original. Debut non-fiction writer Keggie Carew has won the Costa Biography Award for Dadland, her attempt to learn about her fathers past as he slips into dementia; while Alice Oswald has been named winner of the Costa Poetry Award for Falling Awake, a collection of poems written to be read aloud. Brian Conaghan has taken the Costa Childrens Book Award for The Bombs That Brought Us Together. The five winning authors, chosen from 596 entries, each receive 5,000 (about 5,870) and will now compete for the 2016 Costa Book of the Year. The winner will be announced at a ceremony hosted by broadcaster Penny Smith in London on January 31. The winning book will be chosen by a panel of judges chaired by Professor Kate Williams and comprising authors and category judges Nicci Gerrard, Charlotte Heathcote, Matthew Dennison, Kate Kellaway and Cressida Cowell, joined by Graham Norton, Sian Williams, and Robert Bathurst. Dominic Paul, Costa managing director, said: Were very proud and excited to be announcing this years Costa Award Winners, a collection of terrific books. Five wonderful reads and something here for all readers tastes just what the Costa Book Awards are all about. The winner of the Costa Short Story Award voted for by the general public will also be announced at the awards ceremony. The 2015 Costa Book of the Year was The Lie Tree by Francis Hardinge. The Employment Appeals Tribunal (EAT) ordered the Irish arm of the British retailer to pay Alan McNally 18,000. The tribunal found that an unexplained delay of seven months in dealing with an appeal against his dismissal was unacceptable. Mr McNally suffered a heart attack during this period. It was alleged that Mr McNally had an interest in buying a VTech toy and set it aside in a security office to be purchased at a later date. A security officer who gave evidence to the tribunal had noticed the toy had been removed from the office a few days later and checked CCTV footage, which showed Mr McNally taking the item without paying. Mr McNally told the tribunal he had brought the toy home to check its suitability for his child, and for safekeeping as items that had previously been left in the office for subsequent purchase had been removed. He said he had always intended to pay for the toy and made no effort to conceal it either when he was bringing it home, or when he brought it back to the store a few days later. A store investigation was commenced that led to his dismissal on 22 April, 2014. Mr McNally wrote three times to request an appeal of the decision to dismiss him, but he received no response. His legal representative wrote to Tesco on June 6, 2014, but a response to this letter was issued directly to Mr McNally, as they refused to engage with his solicitor. At this point, Mr McNally suffered a heart attack and was not capable of engaging directly with Tesco, the tribunal heard. The EAT found Mr McNallys actions had been against company policy, and noted a central part of his role as security manager was to police this policy. It noted that he accepted what he had done was wrong. The EAT found that the decision to dismiss Mr McNally was a reasonable one, in the circumstances, but said it was satisfied there was significant procedural unfairness in the manner of Mr McNallys dismissal. The EAT said compensation for the total loss arising from the dismissal would have amounted to approximately 65,000, but it was necessary to consider the extent to which the financial loss was attributable to Mr McNallys own conduct. In the light of this, it was satisfied that compensation in the amount of 18,000 was just and equitable. However, he refused to define record numbers attending at hospitals as a national emergency. Mr Harris was speaking at his department yesterday after the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) said 612 patients were admitted for care on trolleys in hospitals around the country. Mr Harris said that winter was normally a challenging time for the hospital sector but he said the challenges being faced are not just the challenges of a normal winter. The Health Minister rejected claims by the INMO that the situation was entirely predictable. Health minister Simon Harris addressing media on pressure on accident and emergency depts #iestaff pic.twitter.com/6sggNuvZ6K Daniel McConnell (@McConnellDaniel) January 3, 2017 It is interesting that everybody says something is predictable after it has happened, said Mr Harris. Perhaps next time they will tell us in advance. Mr Harris said he will now begin a bed-capacity review, although he said that while there are calls for extra beds it is important there is extra staff. My department will commence a bed-capacity review of the beds in our acute hospitals and across our health service and I want it done in time for the mid-term review, said Mr Harris. But to have beds you have to have staff. He said he will meet the HSE tomorrow for a further update on the situation and called on the HSE to redouble its efforts to ensure enough is being done to relieve the crisis. Hyundai Merchant Marine will join hands with local rivals to take on the Asian market amid the drastic slump in the shipping industry here. Hyundai said on Tuesday the company will form a consortium in March with Sinokor Merchant Marine and Heung-A Shipping, both of which specialize in shipments in the Asian region. Sinokor and Heung-A own 42 and 35 container ships, most of them small vessels of 2,500 TEU. Hyundai operates 66 medium to large container ships. Sinokor and Heung-A will carry freight to Busan from China, Japan and Southeast Asia, while Hyundai will transport it to long-haul destinations like Europe and the U.S. That will result in 102 Asian shipping lines for Hyundai, up from the current 20. Hyundai hopes the consortium will give it a competitive edge against Chinese and Japanese rivals in the region. Residents of Apollo House, an empty office block in Dublin city centre occupied and refitted as a shelter by the Home Sweet Home campaign before Christmas, led the petition. The building was once used by the civil service and is now controlled by receivers after property loans were taken over by the states Nama. Irish Housing Network activist Tommy Gavin said: The Minister for Finance is failing in his duty to the people of Ireland by not exercising his powers under the Nama act to direct Nama to make proper and adequate housing stock immediately available to local authorities around Ireland. The housing crisis is bigger than Apollo House. Home Sweet Home secured more than 4,000 signatures of support for the petition. There were more than 1,200 families homeless in the last week of November, according to official figures, including 6,985 people staying in emergency accommodation during December, with 2,549 of them children. The open letter to Mr Noonan calls on the Government to identify properties, loans, land and other assets which are controlled by Nama and could be used to house homeless people. It said Mr Noonan should intervene directly and order Nama to prioritise its social mandate, including the delivery of social, public or affordable housing within a set time. The campaigners also said that Apollo House or an alternative vacant property should be made available immediately for sheltered accommodation for homeless people for at least six months. A resident of Apollo House, whose name was given as Mitzalo, said: The Government is forcing us into hostels where the people next to you are using drugs and smoking. We have great facilities at Apollo thanks to the generosity of Irish people. We have our own rooms. We have everything we need. They should keep this place open until the Government builds social housing that theyve failed to build time and time again. The occupation has won support from musicians Hozier and Glen Hansard, filmmaker Jim Sheridan, and actress Saoirse Ronan among many others. The campaigners are facing eviction next week after the High Court gave them until January 11 to leave the building, which has been empty since 2015. Home Sweet Home said Apollo House has provided shelter to 40 people and helped another 205 people access shelter over the Christmas period. It said Nama-controlled buildings should not be used as honey pots for private development, but as public housing and high-quality accommodation to end the homelessness crisis. Due to the vagaries of Irish weather, we had nicer days in November and December than we had in the summer. Ive had reason to remember one horrible day a long-planned day to cycle the Great Western Greenway, in Mayo. Setting out from Westport, the morning didnt look promising; by lunchtime, the rain was lashing and your hapless cyclist was already soaked to the skin. Eventually, after almost making it to Mulranny, about 13km from the final stop at Achill, we had to turn back: not so much because of rain, but a driving head wind blowing in from Atlantic was almost impossible to pedal against. It was also a day when we couldnt see any of the much-vaunted scenery because of low cloud. The greenway itself is mainly on a disused rail line, but there is more of it on the public road than we expected. Signage could be improved, especially by putting up warnings to cyclists to slow down coming to acute bends at the bottom of slopes on the greenway, which can be tricky to negotiate at speed. The plan is to return on a, hopefully, better day in 2017, due in no small part to the service provided by Travis Zeray, of Clew Bay Bike Hire. The Canadian just cant do enough for visitors and his local knowledge is superb, down to where the best black pudding can be got in Mayo. Another standout memory from 2016 is a trip to Garinish Island, Glengarrif, on a glorious day, in August. The ornamental garden of tropical plants was also being visited by hundreds of other people, while white-tailed sea eagles roosting in the area were also attracting attention. Still in West Cork, great to see the evergreen Matt Murphy, an environmentalist before the term was coined, has lost none of his passion or crusading spirit. Hes the editor of Sherkin Comment and the latest issue contains an interview with professor emeritus Brian McKenzie Bary, first professor of oceanography at University College Galway. The professor, now 97, did lots of useful research over a long, distinguished career. On a sad note finally, Eileen Cronin, an old friend and a woman known to countless hillwalkers in The MacGillycuddys Reeks for decades, died before Christmas after a short illness. Most people climbing Carrantuohill pass by Eileens home, near Beaufort (widely known as Cronins Yard), and she had a cheery salute for one and all. In the 60s and 70s Cronins Yard, was base camp for the Kerry Mountain Rescue Team. A most hospitable woman, Eileen would make pots of tea, served with her delicious apple pie, for rescuers, gardai, media people and anyone who dropped by. Eileen will be missed greatly. May she rest gently. City breaks offer all of the ingredients needed for a memorable New Years celebration. From the buzz of a city centre, to the smell of just-exploded fireworks, there is something viscerally exciting about spending the end of one year and the start of another in the urban playground of a city. With that in mind, we have come up with nine amazing European cities to visit this New Year, all of which boast direct flights from Cork. Weve found the best parties and located the ideal spots to stay all thats needed is to book your ticket. So, get planning for next year now. Amsterdam Achingly cool, Amsterdam is the best place in Europe to let down your shackles and party like its well 2017. Amsterdam is the best place in Europe to let down your shackles Accommodation in this city is not cheap and, while a wealth of Airbnb options may seem the most budget- friendly, there is a new wave of modern budget hotels popping up around the city. Our favourite is CitizenM; a futuristic hotel boasting extremely large beds, soundproofed rooms, and an interior that looks like an IKEA catalogue on steroids. It has a canteen-style restaurant for quick re-fuelling between New Years parties, of which there are serious amounts citywide. Do not miss: Osterdok, the citys official celebration, where superstar DJs prevail as fireworks shoot across the sky. Celebrations start at 9.30pm at the edge of the Scheepvaartmuseum. Be sure to pack a jumper, as Amsterdam nights are extremely cold this time of year. www.citizenm.com Cardiff The undeniable party city of Wales, Cardiff has long hosted elaborate New Years celebrations that attract crowds from far and wide. We suggest starting in the afternoon with a visit to the New Theatre, where none other than David Hasslehoff is starring in pantomime. Follow on to the Chapter Arts Centre, which is hosting a David Bowie New Years, replete with Bowie-inspired cocktails and fancy dress. Stay at The Big Sleep, which may sound suspect, but is in fact an old British Gas building, which converted offices into hotel rooms. It is decorated in Scandi-chic, has few bells and whistles, but is a stones throw from the main shopping thoroughfare and, crucially for New Years, operates a 24-hour bar. www.thebigsleephotel.com Edinburgh Ah, Hogmanay. There is nothing that rivals the world-famous festival that rocks Edinburgh through to New Year. From a candle-lit concert of classical music in the hallowed surrounds of St Giles Cathedral to a rip-roaring belter of a concert, headlined by Paulo Nutini, to a ceilidh in the Old Town, this is New Years on a citywide level. Edinburgh has Hogmanay Theyve even taken kids into account, with a Sprogmanay festival for nippers. Book into Stay Central, a brilliantly imaginative budget hotel located just off the Royal Mile. Bedrooms are urban in the extreme (exposed walls and metal and rough wood) complemented by the necessary iPhone docks and flat screen televisions of todays traveller. They even gift each check in with a bottle of wine, which is a lovely touch. www.staycentral.co.uk Geneva Pack your snow gear, darling, youre skiing into the New Year. The beauty of Geneva airport is that it is less than an hour away from some of the best ski resorts in Europe. Head towards Chamonix, which is an hours drive from Geneva airport and an ideal spot for a weekend getaway. Check into Vallorcine Mont Blanc Residence & Spa; super fancy apartments with daily room service, an on-site spa with hammam and its very own ice rink. We recommend booking a table at Le Privilege to see how the other half lives for a night, before dancing the night away at Clubhouse. The crowd here are fancy, so be sure to pack your (ski- appropriate) gladrags. www.chamonix-vacances.com Liverpool These days, Liverpool is one of northern Englands biggest party cities, making it an ideal destination for your end of year celebrations. If we were going, we would book a ticket to District House, an uber-fancy bar/cocktail/club/restaurant that seems as though it would house many a reality television star. The night at District House includes dinner, dancing to samba, lots of cocktails and a DJ set by the Son of 8 and Drew Moreland, who we are assured are two of the citys hottest tickets. We would stay at Novotel, which, as well as having a city-centre location and a pool, has an extremely decent room rate. www.novotel.com London There are so many things going on in London on New Years Eve, it can be quite the daunting task trying to figure out what to do. First things first; if you want to watch the fireworks near the display, you will have to get a ticket and you will have to pay. To get a ticket, log onto www.london.gov.uk and sign up. If money is no object, splash out on a ticket to the New Year Gala at The Ritz this year. Their world-famous restaurant The Palm Court will transform into a beacon of revelry, departing from its usual incarnation, to stage a glamorous 1920s-themed black-tie event. Delight in a delectable four-course dinner created by executive chef, John Williams, MBE, and toast the New Year with a glass of Dom Perignon Champagne. With entertainment from vintage swing bands, bagpipes, and a 14-piece military marching band, tickets cost a mere 795 per person, and 300 per child. www.theritzlondon.com Malaga New Years Eve is a big deal all over Spain, and Malaga is no exception. Traditionally, locals eat a family meal together before taking to the streets for a night of dancing and music. Malagas main square will come alive with an orchestra and the city hall distributes 2,000 bags of grapes, which revellers eat for luck in the New Year. We recommend eating some amazing tapas in Gorki or Bodega Bar El Pimpi, before working your way down to the public celebrations. Stay in Alcazaba Premium Hostel, a high-end budget hostel with accommodation ranging from dorms to doubles, all with private bathrooms and some with their own balcony. It has a fantastic roof-top terrace with view across the city, and a delicious restaurant on site. alcazabapremiumhostel.com Munich Get ready party people. Munich has its own name for New Years Eve, so seriously do they take it. On Silvesterabend, the whole city goes into full-on celebration mode. Restaurants offer lavish five- and six-course menus and bars and clubs host huge elaborate parties. Marienplatz is the citys central square and is the perfect place to head to on the night, because it is right in the middle of the major bar and restaurant district. Munich: On Silvesterabend, the whole city goes into full-on celebration mode The city will throw an elaborate firework display, but the real fun will be found in the wee hours in the citys many nightclubs where parties will go on until the early morning. There is lots of choice when it comes to accommodation in Munich, but Motel One a hugely popular chain in Germany offers six different hotels across the city, all for 69 per night. The rooms are no frills and dont include breakfast, but there is no denying its good value. Paris If you are lucky enough to be in Paris on the cusp of the New Year, then you better make the most of it. The city of light offers something for everyone, whether it is a shared glass of vintage champagne overlooking the Seine or a massive rave in a disused warehouse. Paris Somewhere in between, the city offers a huge amount of New Years tourist packages; from a dinner and music at the famous Le Mere Catherine Montmartre, that promises to keep you singing until dawn, to a ticket to the world-renowned Moulin Rouge, this is a night to taste all that Paris has to offer. To sleep, jadore Hotel Le Relais Montmartre, whose rooms are pretty and clean and frou frou and morning coffee can be taken in the courtyard during the warmer months. The hotel is like an old pension and is located just a few minutes from the Sacre-Coeur, but feels almost village-ish in atmosphere. WITTENBERG is not a major tourist attraction, but it is where modernity began. Five hundred years ago, on October 31, Martin Luther posted his 95 theses on the door of the parish church, still extant. He shattered the notion of universal or objective truth. I was placed at the centre of the cosmos. Though dependent on princely power, the change in thought he unleashed ultimately undermined all hierarchy. As over-enthusiastic peasants discovered on their way to the slaughter in the Peasants Revolt, he was no Jacobin. But there could have been no French Revolution without him. Lutheranism today is everywhere and nowhere. Nowhere, in that the state-sponsored churches he inspired are withered. Everywhere, in that the individualism he enabled is the last objective reality. Luther said we could all be our own priest. Now we are our own gods. Wittenberg then was a town of hardly 2,000 people, in outlying Brandenburg, far from places of influence. Visiting with two friends, the remoteness and relative insignificance are still apparent. The Augustinian Friary which was his home as a priest- professor, the parish church, and the electors castle all remain. Many German towns are unrecognisable since the Second World War, but Luthers is intact. The friary, afterwards his family home and home to those who thronged to study with him, can be visited. The latrines where the man with a scatological obsession and acute constipation relieved himself are extant. Social media is decried for its crudity and brevity. The 16th century broadsheet, a pamphlet with a picture, was Luthers equivalent. The image were accompanied by few words in a largely illiterate society. But enough could read aloud to amplifying the message. Artists such as Lucas Cranach collaborated with Luther. To understand the effect, think Banksy crossed with Raphael. The Fall of Constantinople 64 years before and the emergence of humanism, partially fuelled by an exodus westward of Greek learning, recovered original texts in classical and biblical scholarship. If clerics dominated the scriptoria, lay men worked the printing presses. The rebirth of classical architecture reflected rationality, not divinity. Luthers reformation, founded on the written word, was an academic religion. The preacher was professor and prophet. The famous parish church at Wittenberg, cleansed of saints, boasts portraits of Luther and fellow reformers. It is a modern church, in that its chief function is as a lecture theatre. The sacramental world was over, and the break with apostolic tradition was complete. Arguably the greatest ornament of Lutheranism, after his own bible, was the music of Bach and that was still in the future. The Reformation was the platform for the preacher-man, untethered by boundaries except his own. Almost instantly, and to his vehement horror, Luthers reformation split into multiple conflicting creeds. The unmediated understanding of God he demanded for himself did not extend to others who rejected fundamentals he had newly arrived at. Nietzsche remarked how Luther, like St Paul, was a genius of hatred. The mature Luther, angered by the failure of Jewish people to see the authenticity of his scriptural exegesis penned the virulently anti-Semitic On the Jews and Their Lies. It was a tract of 65,000 words and damned a people full of the devils feces. Like his bible, his anti-semitism was also culturally foundational. Ultimately, it became the open pit that consumed an entire culture. A hundred years later, Rene Descartes brought Luthers formula of only scripture, only grace, only faith to their logical fruition, while still professing God, albeit on his own terms. Descartes shifted faith from what is true to what I can be certain of. His dictum, I think therefore I am, replaced God with man, as the guarantor of truth. God could be found by logical processes, but it was mans reason, not, as Luther advocated, divine revelation in scripture, and certainly not authority divinely vested in the pope or Church. Descartes thought he could guard against scepticism. But the I Luther had circumscribed with scripture was now utterly unbound. The mindset we call modern, born at Wittenberg, was now untrammelled by higher authority. The effect of reformation in Ireland was at the same time limited and fundamental. Limited in the extent to which it gained adherents, but fundamental in how directly and indirectly it influenced Irish thought, including Irish Catholicism. Augustine, St Pauls greatest early disciple, fostered a dour understanding of the human person. Having enjoyed a misspent youth, he knew the difficulty of conforming the flesh with the will. Luther was Augustinian in his sense of sin. Calvin went further, believing in the total depravity of humanity and limited atonement, meaning that Christ died only for some, not for all. Lutheranism and Catholicism differ fundamentally from Calvinism on the impact of Christs death, but their common Augustinian heritage, re-emphasised by the influential Flemish Catholic bishop Jansen, injected into Irish Catholic thought at the foundation of Maynooth, a sin-centered Catholicism. Institutionally and politically opposed to Presbyterianism and a Presbyterian- tinted Church of Ireland, in its theology it balefully mirrored Luthers view that everything we can do is sin. If Irish Protestantism nurtured great minds such as Archbishop James Ussher in the 17th century and Jonathan Swift, Edmund Burke, and Henry Grattan in the 18th, after the Act of Union it remained largely reactive and sometimes reactionary. Issac Butt and Charles Stewart Parnell were exceptions. Ironically, it was British non-conformism as much as the prudery of peasant proprietor Irish Catholicism that brought down the latter. Modernity, sparked in Wittenberg, did not finally catch fire in Ireland until the 1960s. In 2017, Ireland marks the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, with only a limited intervening experience of the modernity it began. In James Joyces Ulysses... Stephen jerked his thumb towards the window, saying: That is God. Hooray! Ay! Whrrwhee! What? Mr Deasy asked. A shout in the street, Stephen answered, shrugging his shoulders. Historically, Stephens common-place sense of an echo of the divine, was an end of an era. After Auschwitz, the divine valediction of a shout on the street would metaphorically no longer be possible. The European public space, long dominated by God, would be enclosed. The concentration camps were an open pit of what Luther might have called the feces of a culture become putrid. The ultimate tragedy of modernity, which we live through, now unfolds. Freed 500 years ago to believe in anything; now there is nothing left to believe in. Everyone preaches something, but no one believes anything. The only correct response to religion now allowed is to shrug your shoulders. Burma YCDC, Street Vendors Locked in a Lawsuit Street vendors in Rangoon. / Pyay Kyaw / The Irrawaddy RANGOON Rangoons municipality officers and street vendors are looking to sue one another after a scuffle between them broke out Tuesday morning, a police officer with the Lamadaw Township police station confirmed. Some trishaw drivers and street vendors did not take kindly to municipal officers clearing them from the street while they were selling goods by the roadside and on the corner of Anawrahta Road and 8th Street in Lanmadaw Township. A video clip showing the scuffle has since gone viral. It depicts street vendors swearing at municipal officers and what appears to be a trishaw driver trying to hit someone with a bottle while police attempt to control the situation and calm participants down. In early December, Rangoon municipality, also known as the YCDC (Yangon City Development Committee), relocated thousands of street vendors to a newly designated night market on Strand Road in order to regulate unmanageable traffic congestion on eleven major downtown streets: Anawrahta, Bogyoke, Mahabandoola, Pansodan, Merchant, Shwedagon Pagoda, Sule Pagoda, Latha, Lanmadaw, Phone Gyi, and Strand. As a result, selling goods along these 11 major roads has been prohibited since Dec. 1. The video footage does not show how municipal officers handled the goods sold by street vendors, though Rangoon municipality has said before that it would throw away any goods sold on those particular roads as they would garbage. YCDC officials have filed a lawsuit against seven peoplethree trishaw drivers and four street vendors. And a street vendor has also filed a lawsuit against a YCDC staff member for allegedly touching her breast. The seven people, however, have been released on bail. Some municipal staff and street vendors sustained small cuts and bruises during the altercation, said a police officer with the Lanmadaw police station. [YCDC] has filed a lawsuit under charges of causing small injuries, disturbing duty [of government officials], and swearing. And one of the street vendors has filed a lawsuit against a junior clerk of the YCDC for insulting her modesty, the officer told The Irrawaddy. Guest Column The Most Impossible Job on this Earth A Buddhist man looks at a portrait of U Thant, the third Secretary-General of the UN, during celebrations for the anniversary of his birth in 2014. / Soe Zeya Tun / Reuters On January 1 the former prime minister of Portugal Antonio Guterres took the helm as the ninth secretary-general of the United Nations. While the world focuses on US president-elect Donald Trump and his tweets, there is far less attention on the position once described as the most impossible job on this earth. That judgement was reportedly made by the first UN secretary-general Trygve Lie of Norway as he exited a job that had been assailed by relentless difficulties, including from the Soviet Union on the left to Americas Joseph McCarthy on the right. Lie is said to have made the oft-repeated statement to his successor, Dag Hammarskjold of Sweden, who assumed the role of secretary-general in April 1953, five months after Lie announced his resignation. Lies successors have taken a different public tone on the position. Kofi Annan stated at the end of his two terms that the role of UN chief could also be the most fulfilling job in the world. The eighth secretary-general Ban Ki-moon stated in an interview a few days before his second term ended that he had considered it his duty to make this impossible job a possible mission. The 10-year tenure of Ban Ki-moon followed a tradition in the UN in which the leader serves no more than two terms, though there is nothing to require as such in the organizations charter. Burmas U Thant, who was the UNs third secretary-general, wasin a very slight way something of an exception. U Thant was acting secretary-general from Nov. 3, 1961, to Nov. 30, 1962, and he was then secretary-general until Dec. 31 1971a total of 10 years and seven weeks. After a turbulent decade that included the Cuban missile crisis, civil war in the then Congo as well as crises in the Middle East and the Vietnam War, U Thant was more than ready to be without the burden of the position. About a year before his second term ended U Thant announced that under no circumstances would he serve for a third time. When asked during a news conference in September 1971 whether he would stay in office for a few months beyond his term, should the United Nations not find a successor, U Thant gave an unequivocal no. By mid-December, when a successor had yet to be found toward, U Thant felt terribly sick, he later wrote in his memoir. Fortunately for U Thant, 10 days before his second term was to end, Kurt Waldheim of Austria was designated the United Nations fourth secretary-general. In his farewell speech to the UN General Assembly on Dec. 27, 1971, U Thant said that he felt a sense of great relief bordering on liberation in laying down the burdens of office. The New York Times titled an editorial two days later The Liberation of U Thant, stating that the wise counsel of this dedicated man of peace would still be needed after his retirement. U Thant and the fifth UN secretary-general, Perus Javier Perez de Cuellar, were the only office holders asked by UN members to serve a third term. Both declined. Kurt Waldheim was the only secretary-general to seek a third term, but Chinas veto forced him to withdraw his candidacy. When U Thants term ended, he received a standing ovation from the UN General Assembly, as all secretaries-general have done since then. It is a testament to the self-effacing nature of U Thant and de Cuellar that they did not feel it necessary to mention their standing ovations in their memoirs. The less self-effacing Waldheim and Boutros Boutros-Ghali (the sixth and only secretary-general to be denied a second term in office because the United States vetoed his candidacy in 1996) deemed it necessary to mention these accolades in their publications about their terms in the office. After his liberation U Thant wrote that he closed his eyes and meditated. He prayed for the success of his replacement Mr. Waldheim. And he prayed for the success of the United Nations, just as all with an interest in world affairs may do now as Antonio Gutteres begins his challenging work. Astronauts that lives in space to discover the various aspects of the universe that contains stars, sun, moon, planets and further. The life they live is what we all know as fancy and marvel what it will be similar to live on other worlds such as Mars. One of the most predicted projects is NASA's Mars work and space and science devotees eagerly wait for data from the red planet. But have you ever thought how hard it is to live on Mars? Making a living space for the astronauts has been one of the major challenges faced by NASA astronomers. After years of attempts, NASA has concluded with a novel housing idea that would defend the astronauts from harsh climate. The space-age home will have a structure similar to that of an igloo. Yes, it will be made of ice and has formally been named as Mars Ice Home. The Mars Ice Home will be pumped-up, will look like igloos roofed with ice. The astronauts will be able to live securely, will be thriving from extreme temperatures and high-energy energies and work in it. "After a day devoted to identifying needs, goals, and limits we rapidly evaluated many crazy, out of the box concepts and finally touched on the current Ice Home design, which offers a sound engineering solution," said senior system engineer Kevin Vipavetz, from NASA's Langley Research Centre in Virginia, reported. "It combines properties haul out from Mars, and for the reason that water in the Ice Home could hypothetically be transformed to rocket fuel for the Mars Ascent Vehicle, the assembly itself doubles as a storage reservoir that can be fill up for the next crew." Cosmic rays can pierce the Martian atmosphere and they are so damaging that they can damage cells, levitation the risk of a slew of health fears such as cancer and acute radiation illness. Therefore, the Ice Home concept is thoroughly remarkable. The Ice Is Rich In Hydrogen, It Acts As A protective Barrier Against Harmful Rays. "The elements that the Ice Home impression it must endure many years of use in the harsh Martian atmosphere, counting ultraviolet radiation, charged-particle radiation, perhaps some atomic oxygen, perchlorates, along with dust storms - although not as brutal as in the movie The Martian," explains researcher Sheila Ann Thibeault, also from the Langley Research Centre. "After months nomadic in space, reaching at Mars and your new home is ready for you to move in, it will be a good to start your day," explains team member Kevin Kempton. Oxygen allows the chemical reactions that animals use to get liveliness from stored carbohydrates -- from food. So, it may be no accident that animals seemed and evolved during the "Cambrian blast," which accorded with a spike in atmospheric oxygen approximately 500 million years ago. The Cambrian Explosion Creates Current Animal Species Existing Today In green plants, photosynthesis splits carbon dioxide into molecular oxygen (which is released to the atmosphere), and carbon (which is stored in carbohydrates). But photosynthesis had already been around for at least 2.5 billion years as it nourished the Earth. So, what is the kick-start for the sudden spike in oxygen during the Cambrian? The February issue of Earth and Planetary Science Letters relates the rise in oxygen to a rapid upsurge in the burial of residue containing large quantities of carbon-rich organic matter. The key, says study co-author Shanan Peters, a professor of geoscience at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, is to identify that deposit storage blocks the oxidation of carbon. Without burial, this oxidation response causes dead plant substantial on Earth's crust to burn. That causes the carbon it holds to bond with oxygen to form carbon dioxide. And for oxygen to nourish in our atmosphere, plant matter must be thriving from oxidation. And that's exactly what occurs when organic things - like raw material of coal, oil, and natural gas -- is buried through geologic progressions. Peters and his post-doctoral fellow Jon Husson mined a unique data set called Macrostrat, a collection of geologic data on North America whose building Peters has masterminded for 10 years. The graphs of oxygen in the atmosphere and residue burial, based on the data of sedimentary rock, indicate a connection between oxygen and sediment. Both graphs show a smaller peak at 2.3 billion years ago, and a larger one more or less 500 million years ago. "It's a correlated to each other, but our argument is that there are mechanistic influences between geology and the past of atmospheric oxygen," Husson says. "When you store sediment, it holds organic matter that was shaped by photosynthesis, which transformed carbon dioxide into biomass and released oxygen into the air. Burial eliminates the carbon from Earth's surface, preventing it from bonding molecular oxygen dragged from the atmosphere." Some of the rushes in sediment burial that Husson and Peters recognized accorded with the formation of vast fields of fossil fuels that are mined today, this includes oil-rich Permian Basin in Texas and the Pennsylvania coal fields of Appalachia. "Burying the deposits that became fossil fuels was the main to advanced animal life on Earth," Peters says, noting that multicellular life is mainly a creation of the Cambrian. These days, burning billions of tons of kept carbon in fossil fuels is eliminating large amounts of oxygen from the atmosphere, reversing the design that drove the rise in oxygen. And so, the oxygen level in the atmosphere falls as the absorption of carbon dioxide rises. The information about North America in Macrostrat echoes the work of thousands of geoscientists over more than an era. The present study only concerns North America, since complete databases concerning the other 80 percent of Earth's mainland surface do not yet exist. Continual burial of carbon is required to keep the atmosphere build up with oxygen. Many lanes on Earth's surface, Husson notes, like corrosion of iron -- rust -- consume free oxygen. "The secret to partaking oxygen in the atmosphere is to eliminate a tiny portion of the present biomass and confiscate it in sedimentary deposits. That's what materialized when fossil fuels were placed." Everybody is craving for information or updates regarding the upcoming Samsung Galaxy Note 8. With its release date allegedly moving on the latter date of 2017, consumers are greatly hoping that they would be able to get a glimpse of what the Note 8 could offer to them. Because of this, Samsung gave out a great sneak peek of what the device would actually look like. Samsung Fires Backs: Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Features Excellent And Sophisticated Specifications Sources told that Samsung has been very critical to releasing their upcoming devices mainly because of what had happened in their Galaxy Note 7, where multiple reports drag them to controversies because of the battery issues. But it seems like the company is ready to rise again from its failure as it introduces the Samsung Galaxy Note 8. With its highest hopes of regaining their customers back, Samsung introduces its AI that would be included in their upcoming smartphones. News revealed that just like any other AI it would be helping its user achieve tasks in a more convenient and easier way. However, the AI seems to be a little bit of the top than Siri and Amazon's Alexa as it would provide an integration not just in the smartphone itself but also in devices like appliances, smart watches and tech-related gadgets. It is also speculated that the Samsung Galaxy Note 8's AI is able to build its own program and cope up with the questions of the users in a faster way. Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Impresses Consumers As It Features High-Quality Specifications On the other hand, Samsung Galaxy Note 8 seems to be proving its top of the line quality as it includes specifications that could never be observed in the smartphones currently released to date. The Note 8 features a 6GB of RAM storage capacity, an iris scanner, 30-megapixel camera, Stylus Pen Support with Speakers and Snapdragon 830. A leak reported from sources said that a new feature of Samsung's upcoming Galaxy S8 - like desktop experience, would let users use windowed apps on a big screen using a keyboard and mouse, as we heard it first from Microsoft. The company will also turn its upcoming much-awaited Surface phone into a PC, as well all know the 'Continuum'. Microsoft amazed everyone with Continuum for phones last year, a feature of Windows 10 that allows phones turn into a PC. Continuum makes use of Qualcomm chipsets and also Windows 10's new universal apps to scale from a phone screen up into a monitor, including features that would really make it feel like a full-blown PC. Moreover, it might look like a PC, you can't currently run apps like Chrome or Photoshop, and it's dependent on developers making universal apps. Microsoft is making Continuum a lot more powerful next year, thanks to desktop apps. Samsung would not be the first Android company to mimic this feature, with Motorola introducing OneCompute in June 2016. The Galaxy S8 is said to add new features including a major one that it reportedly seems to have borrowed from Apple which is ditching the headphone jack and having wireless ear pods as an alternative accessory. The device is also expected to give the physical home button a miss. Well, Samsung is really trying to mirror major features from it's biggest Rival, Apple, and Microsoft. Rumored Samsung S8 Specs And Features Samsung Galaxy S8 is expected to come in two sizes, a 5-inch (Galaxy s8) and 6-inch (Galaxy S8 Plus) said to powered by 835 Qualcomm's Snapdragon Chip. To sport a 4k design. S8 will be equipped with a whopping 8 GB RAM, 30 MP for the rear and 9 MP for the front camera. Under the hood is a massive 4200 mAh battery life. For the storage, 64 and 128 GB internal memory with an expandable with dual micro SD cards. Samsung Galaxy s8 will run the Android Nougat 7.0. Rumored Microsoft Surface Phone Specs And Features The Microsoft Surface Phone is set to powered by Qualcomm's brand-new Snapdragon 835 chipset. According to rumors, Surface phone will come equipped with 6GB of RAM. To sport a 20-megapixel rear and 8 mp for the front with a Carl Zeiss lens and a dual camera. A device as powerful as your full desktop or PC. Lesotho, a high-altitude, landlocked kingdom encircled by South Africa wherein an estimated 23% of the population is HIV positive, has been the target of The Vodafone Foundation. The said organization has recently announced a mobile-based HIV program, where many of whom live in extreme poverty in remote rural communities separated by mountainous terrain with minimal infrastructure. The foundation's program has been reportedly combining Vodafone's M-Pesa mobile money service with mobile health clinics traveling around the region and a smartphone app that has been specifically designed for healthcare professionals that reportedly enables the tracking of patients in remote areas to be much easier and accessible. It was found that M-Pesa mobile money service by Vodafone is what health experts across sub-Saharan Africa have been using all these times. The Solution For HIV Depletion Found In Mobile Technology? According to reports revealed by The Guardian, the said foundation has been found to work hand-in-hand with the Lesotho Ministry of Health. Authorities from the said health program had also explained that a patient's information are simultaneously recorded on a central database so that future treatment and care can be planned, recorded and accessed in the field by healthcare workers using an app produced by the company's charitable arm, the Vodafone Foundation, and Vodacom Lesotho. Furthermore, as per Biz Community, the Vodafone Foundation has specifically designed the program for pregnant women, mothers and young children who are among the most vulnerable groups in Lesotho society, since they have the lesser capability in spending many hours of walking to the nearest HIV clinic. Ultimately, it was found that the said health care programme will be fully funded by the Lesotho government from mid-2017. Accordingly, health experts has revealed that this is to be expected to be fully implemented by a full roll-out across the other Lesotho districts, transforming the life prospects for vulnerable people in hundreds of remote villages across the country. In one of his statements, Vodafone Foundation director Andrew Dunnett has also described HIV as an immense healthcare crisis for the people of Lesotho, thus, making the said programme beneficial and significant for the people. Qualcomm has announced on Tuesday, Jan. 3, at CES in Las Vegas new details about its upcoming Snapdragon 835 processor. Qualcomm's Successes In 2016 According to Forbes, after facing a challenging 2015, Qualcomm had an exceptional 2016. The high-tech manufacturing company stood up to some pushy investors who tried to split it, managed a major corporate restructuring plan and finally started to have contracts with most Chinese phone manufacturers. Qualcomm also managed to get back into the Samsung Galaxy game with its Snapdragon 820 processor, announced the industry's first 5G modem and shipped the first 1 Gbps LTE-A modem. All of these successes happened in 2016 and now the company is announcing at CES in Las Vegas details of the Snapdragon 835. Snapdragon 835 Achieves Balance Like its predecessor processor, Qualcomm's Snapdragon 835 is all about balance. The 835 balances objectives such as connectivity, image capture, immersive experiences, battery life, machine learning, and security. All these objectives align nicely with what's possible with existing smartphone technology and with what consumers want today while opening at the same time towards the computing experiences of tomorrow. Qualcomm designed the Snapdragon 835 as a single chip that has many different subsystems on it, including a digital signal processor (DSP), wireless modem, CPU, GPU, image signal processor (ISP), Wi-Fi, security and audio processors. The company developed their own software architecture in order to effectively manage all of these different components. These various components are used to the best of their ability in order to maximize performance, power and user experience. The Symphony Manager allows the Snapdragon 835 to find the right balance in order to deliver the best power and performance for any workload. According to Videocardz, the Snapdragon 835 is also Qualcomm's first 10nm SoC. In fact, this is the first 10nm SoC to be announced by any manufacturing company. For this reason, this mobile processor should be able to perform things that have been impossible before. The latest Qualcomm flagship, the Snapdragon 835, will most likely be used in most high-performance Android smartphones coming out on the market this year. One of the advantages of Qualcomm is the fact that the company teamed up with Samsung to produce this processor. It is well-known to the industry experts that the South Korean tech giant Samsung has been making giant leaps in terms of more efficient and smaller processors. Mixed Reality, Augmented Reality & Virtual Reality With the upcoming Snapdragon 835 mobile processor, Qualcomm is focusing on immersive experiences. Augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), and the mixed reality (MR) that is a blend of the two have finally captured the attention of educators, enterprises, and consumers. Qualcomm's vision of VR includes natural user interfaces that anticipate user inputs and spatial audio, not only high visual quality. The company's forward-looking vision framework is going to be pursued by adding new elements in the near future. User immersive experiences require an orchestration and tight integration of sub-components along with the raw performance of the components in order to deliver the best experience using the lowest power subsystems and lowest latency. Given their lead in heterogeneous computing, Qualcomm is a company in a unique position to achieve these objectives. The public is in for a big showdown between two of the biggest tech companies currently in the market. But while most have an eye out for the Galaxy S8 and the iPhone 8 - which should be good because of retribution and a ten year anniversary, respectively - Samsung and Apple are about to release other notable items. The Galaxy Tab S3 and the iPad Air 3 are going to be two of 2017's biggest releases. TechRadar notes that Samsung has already confirmed that it will unveil the Galaxy Tab S3 in September this year. However, the specific date and corresponding release to the market is still unknown. In the case of the current Galaxy Tab S2, the tablet was announced July 2015 and released September 2015. So its successor might arrive just before the end of the year. There is not much else confirmed other than a vague announcement date. Nevertheless, the publication points out that a leaked photo of the Galaxy Tab S3 indicates relatively the same design. That is a 4:3 ration, a home button on the front of the screen and a plastic back. The photos were only of one size, but the unit is expected to come in an 8 inch and 9.7-inch variants. The other rumored specs of the Galaxy Tab S3 are pretty exciting in themselves. The tablet will apparently come with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 653 processor and a 4000 mAh battery. Furthermore, the device will run on 3GB of RAM and 32GB of storage. Front and rear cameras are expected to hit at least 2 megapixels and 8 megapixels respectively. The lowest end of the Galaxy Tab S2 is available for about US$399 for the 8-inch variant and about US$499 for the 9.7-inch variant. The Galaxy Tab S3 has no pricing at this point, but at least the same price range is expected. It might even be slightly more expensive, but the jump - should there be one - is not expected to be overwhelming. Meanwhile, Apple is reportedly working on the third generation of the iPad Air. The Cupertino giant has yet to officially announce the same, but the current generation was released in October 2014. As such, various reports suggest that the next helping of the lineup will be released within the year. According to IBTimes AU, the iPad Air 3 will arrive in March 2017 in a thinner and lighter body than the current generation. The sleeker design will apparently make it more comfortable to hold and additional color options will be provided as well. But more than the physical and aesthetic changes, Apple is expected to make some necessary alterations to the features as well. The publication goes on to say that the iPad Air 3 might sport some of the features of the iPhone 7 Plus, particularly the dual lens camera. Other than this, an HD 4K display and 3D Touch technology are also possibilities. In addition, 16GB and 32GB storage memory will be provided. Price is expected to reach about US$610. However, should Apple release the same, it might be the last one in the Air lineup. The Samsung Galaxy S8 is going to be a BIG impact for the Korean-based tech giant. Launching flagship devices are always a big deal, in the idea that this is where a majority of a company's overall sales and profits come from for the subsequent 12 months. Samsung needs to bounce back But more than that thought, following the Galaxy Note 7 fiasco of last year, Samsung needs the Galaxy S8 to be perfect and a huge success in order to make up for the big hold it put in its finances. Currently, the S8 is still under development, yet rumors and speculations are already at an all-time high. S8 to feature dual-camera sensor Recently, sources inside China have claimed that the Galaxy S8 will be featuring a dual-camera sensor. This would mean that the handset is keeping in trend with the likes of the LG G5 and Huawei P9, as well as rumors about the iPhone 7 Plus/Pro. According to the details, the rumored dual-camera sensor will be engineered by Samsung Motors, implying that the firm will be producing its own imaging tech this time around. Further rumors about dual-camera sensor As time goes by, more and more sources are adding towards the Galaxy S8 rumor mill, further reiterating that the new handset will be featuring a dual-camera sensor. The unknown informant claims that the sensor array will feature both a Samsung 12MP sensor and a Sony 13MP sensor. On the other end, the front-facing camera is said to be an 8MP sensor. The source also leaks about a potential Galaxy Note 7-style iris scanner. S8 to feature no headphone Jack It has also been claimed that Samsung will be following Apple's path of ditching the 3.5mm headphone jack in order to switch towards wireless and free up some internal space for other components like a bigger battery. At the same time, the Galaxy S8 will be adopting the USB Type-C port as well Earthquakes occur daily in many parts of the world. Most of them are small earthquakes that cannot be detected by people. There are some though that occur in batches. For those following the California earthquake, 250 small tremors that recently happened intrigue scientists. A number of small earthquakes occurred over the California-Mexico border. This happened on New Year's Eve. This has left residents in the area worried, though scientists are said to be intrigued about the tremors. The earthquakes occurred near the end of the Brawley Seismic Zone. The area is said to be a tectonically active place. The area also connects the San Andreas Fault with the Imperial Fault. The largest quake measured at around magnitude 3.9 and has hit Brawley directly. Seismologist Egill Hauksson has been monitoring the series of quakes since there could be a chance to have a magnitude 5 quake occurring. However that possibility has lessened by Sunday night. The Brawley Seismic Zone is constantly monitored as it could trigger a seismic event on the San Andreas Fault, according to Fox News. The San Andreas Fault is one of the most monitored faults as various parts of the fault have not seen movement in many years. Movement in the fault could have great consequences for many communities especially in Southern California. Brawley has been hit by a magnitude 7.1 earthquake in 1940. The Imperial Fault has also seen movement, causing at least two earthquakes fairly recently. A magnitude 6.5 earthquake came from it in 1979, as Newsmax reports. Many residents in California are highly alert to earthquakes, especially large earthquakes. Scientists have been warning of a large earthquake that can possibly strike since the San Andreas Fault has not moved in many years. The potential for a large earthquake happening becomes even more likely as long as the fault does not see movement in each year that passes. Many have been following on the California earthquake. 250 small tremors intrigue scientists as well as cause some concern on residents. Conspiracy theorists say that Nibiru might likely cause havoc this 2017. Maine Governor Paul LePage has signed a measure for marijuana legalization after a ballot initiative approval by voters. With the signature, Maine has become the ninth state to legalize recreational marijuana use. According to the law, adults of ages 21 above will be permitted to use the said drug in the privacy of their own homes or other places that are not public. People in Maine will be allowed to have as much as 2.5 ounces or 70.9 grams of marijuana. However, people will not be able to purchase marijuana not until state officials and lawmakers set up regulatory legislation and establish laws for retail sales. Gov. LePage called on the legislature to put a moratorium on the sale of marijuana until lawmakers could thresh out details of funding to set up the regulatory framework on the sale of marijuana according to a report by the Portland Press Herald. The Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry is tasked to regulate the commercial sales of the drug. David Boyer, Maine's political director for Marijuana Policiy Project and spokesperson for the Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol questions the moratorium as according the new law, legislative leaders have nine months to develop the regulatory framework. A poll set up by Gallup in October showed that 60 percent of Americans support marijuana legalization for recreational use. An even more number of Americans support the drugs medical application. President-elect Donald Trump, who will be taking office in January 20, has sent mixed signal about the legalization of the drug. During his campaign, Trump, a Republican stated that it was best left to the states to decide on the legalization of marijuana. With the new law, Maine has become the second state in the northeast to legalize the recreational use of marijuana. The drug remains illegal under federal law according to a report by Reuters. Science fiction has, at times, anticipated what would become reality later on. One of those that have been so far in the realm of science fiction is tractor beams. Now, creating a tractor beam makes science fiction into reality. The tractor beam has been in a number of sci-fi films. "Star Wars" and "Star Trek" have featured tractor beams in some way. Building one might soon be a reality, and it won't be too expensive as well. A team from the University of Bristol has developed a tractor beam. The tractor beam that has been developed can pull objects towards it. Unlike the tractor beam in sci-fi films though, the tractor beam that has been developed uses sound waves. Asier Marzo has been one of the members of the team that has developed the tractor beam. In order to build the tractor beam, all that is needed is 3D printed parts along with Arduino components. Overall the parts needed aren't as expensive for such a project. The team has also created a video that would guide those who might want to make the tractor beam. Sound waves have long been known to levitate and move objects, according to the Daily Mail. However, this would be the first time that sound waves are used to pull objects. Objects and even insects can be pulled by the tractor beam. Dr. Marzo has said that it is easy to push objects away, but pulling them would be much harder. He also said that the tractor beam can levitate small plastics. The tractor beam can be useful in pulling objects towards the source. Three different designs have been made by the team, as CNet reports. The tractor beam so far can only levitate and pull small objects. The team would be working on a model that can overcome this limitation. Science fiction has inspired many inventions. Now it has inspired a new one, as creating a tractor beam makes science fiction into reality. NASA has also confirmed a comet sighting for 2017. A few days ago the virtual world was rocked by a naughty Alexa which spurned out NSFW words in front of a toddler. Today, popular toymaker Mattel unveiled its own digital assistant - for children. Hopefully, history does not repeat itself. A video posted by a dad who was filming his young son as he talked to an Amazon Echo Dot, particularly with Alexa. The young boy asked Alexa to play "Digger, Digger" which the AI did not readily recognize. His mother chimed in and told him to ask Alexa to play 'Wheels on the Bus" instead. Alexa had other things in mind. What was supposed to be an innocent fun-filled moment with the Amazon device turned into a censored tirade from the AI which hopefully did not scar the boy for life, while many found the incident hilarious, it does open the eyes to the many possibilities, both positive and negative, that may happen with an AI like Alexa. This brings us to the question, "What is Skynet?" Kidding aside, one can never tell how a digital assistant may respond when the user is unintelligible, like in the toddler's case, or is up to no good, like the person who trolled Microsoft's Tay chatbot. When Tay was released, someone or some people with nothing better to do taught Tay to swear and say other not-so-nice words. There are also a lot of videos floating on the net that shows users shouting and subjecting the AI to verbal abuse. If Alexa can pick up words related to porn and share the data it gathered, then other AIs may have this ability. And that is a scary thought. Now consider that Mattel is planning on releasing Aristotle, the toy manufacturer's $300 smart speaker which is targeted at children. The WiFi Bluetooth speaker is a clone of the Amazon Echo. It looks the same and acts the same. The Verge notes that Aristotle has two "personalities". In real-life, this is seen as a problematic medical condition. But in the AI industry, it seems to be a good thing. One of the AI personalities is a female descendant of Greek philosopher extraordinaire Aristotle. Its abilities include telling stories and playing games such as "guess the animal sound" with children. It can also play lullabies and other children's songs which are great when a baby wakes up and starts to cry or when a toddler starts craving for attention. So far, so good. The other personality is, err...Alexa. As with the Amazon Echo and Echo Dot, anyone can talk to Alexa through the Aristotle smart speaker. Adults can do the same things with Aristotle as they can with the Echo. This may also mean that there is a possibility that Aristotle may misinterpret what is being asked of her and start saying words like, "Porno ringtone, hot chick, and an amateur girl calling sexy, ...". In Amazon's defense, the company said it quickly fixed the issue and promised to be tougher this time around. It released a statement which read: "This issue has been fixed, and we are working to build additional restrictions to prevent this from happening in the future. We have also contacted the customer to apologize." Aristotle will be officially unveiled at the CES 2017 and is expected to be released in June. Samsung is bent on starting the new year right with a few new announcements that are geared towards a smarter and safer home. The tech company will soon be releasing new members to its smart home family in the form of refrigerators and monitoring systems. These announcements come after it revealed a new four-in-one washer/dryer which is set to make people forget about the flying washer lid controversy of last year. Family Hub 2.0 Refrigerator Aside from the recent unveiling of the latest Samsung Galaxy A series phones, the Korean tech giant has just launched not one but six new smart refrigerators. Not content on the success its four 2016 models, Samsung says it has six more smart fridges to cater to different needs for the different household. The new models include French Door models with three or four doors while more Four-door Flex models have been added to the current line-up. The smart appliance still has the View Inside cameras which will help the user see what is inside the fridge. This takes out the annoying part of crouching and scrambling to find something in the fridge. This feature also lessens the need to open and close the fridge which is a surefire way to use up more power in old refrigerators. The Family Hub 2.0 also still has the shopping list feature and support for the apps such as AllRecipes, Grocery by MasterCard, Spotify, and GrubHub. The latest smart fridge from Samsung has a new interface where members of the household can create their own avatar or profile which can be seen on the fridge's 21.5-inch LED touchscreen. This new feature allows members of the family to post photos, notes and schedules on the fridge's door. This time, however, there is no need for fridge magnets. WiseNet SmartCam Samsung is also announcing the new WiseNet-SmartCam A1 Home Security System at the CES 2017. The system comes with two cameras, one for indoors and another for outdoor use. The indoor 1080p HD camera can move around at a 130-degree angle on its own but when attached to the panning base, its field of view increases to 350 degrees. The base also allows the camera to track movements within the security zones designated by the owner. The outdoor camera will have a 720p resolution and will be powered by a battery. BabyView Baby Monitor Monitoring a baby can be fun what with the unexpected things a baby does while no one is looking. With three new BabyView (SEW-3053W, SEW-3055W and SEW-3057W) baby monitors, Samsung intends to take taking care of a baby to a different new level. The monitoring systems come with a 720 HD camera and a touchscreen each. The SEW-3055W takes a notch higher with a Bluetooth watch which vibrates when the system picks up a sound in the baby room. The SEW-2057W adds an environmental sensor the three previous devices. The environmental sensor, as the name implies, takes the condition inside the room in consideration. It can tell how hot or cold the room is so the parents would know if they need to adjust the thermostat and keep the baby comfortable. It can also assess the room's humidity and air quality. There's a race to put more computing power in self-driving cars, and it's shaping up to be eerily similar to an earlier battle between Intel and AMD to crank up PC horsepower. Intel at CES announced the powerful Go computer with up to 28 Xeon chips so self-driving cars can cruise the streets safely. Beyond Xeon, Go will also be available with either next-generation Atom chips or 5G connectivity. The first 40 self-driving BMW cars based on the Go will hit the streets in tests this year. Autonomous cars need a lot of computational power under the hood to avoid accidents and make smart driving decisions. That horsepower comes from computers like the Go, which is configured to be faster than gaming PCs and many servers. Go will compete with Nvidia's Drive PX 2, a water-cooled supercomputer for autonomous cars announced by Nvidia last year. The Drive PX 2 has 12 CPU cores and two Pascal-based GPU cores but no 5G connectivity. The car chip race between Intel and Nvidia resembles the competition between AMD and Intel in the late 1990s and early 2000s PC heyday to crank up the clock frequency of processors. The chip makers ultimately gave up the battle to focus on power efficiency to increase battery life in laptops. Intel believes it has an advantage over its rivals with 5G connectivity, allowing cars to communicate with servers in the cloud to analyze images. The connectivity is an important tool for cars to identify objects on streets. Both the Go and the Drive PX 2 have the same target: to train computers to be smarter. The computers help cars detect pedestrians, recognize lanes, and stop at signals. Computers make decisions based on algorithms and data collected from cameras and sensors like lidar and radar. Intel and Nvidia are also in a race to put self-driving cars on streets. Intel is working with Mobileye and BMW on self-driving cars, and Nvidia's hardware is being used in Tesla vehicles with self-driving features. The biggest benefit to self-driving cars is in safety, but there are other functional and economic benefits, said Kathy Winter, vice president and general manager of the automated driving division at Intel. Self-driving vehicles could help people make better use of their time. Self-driving cars could bring economic benefits to logistics related to transportation and delivery of products, Winter said. Uber is already testing self-driving taxis in the U.S., and other technology companies are dabbling in self-driving cars. Companies are working together to establish standards for autonomous vehicles to communicate on traffic and weather conditions. The Go computers are part of development kits that come with software tools. The kits join a stable of Intel computers that include NUC mini desktops, Compute Sticks, and development boards for smart devices, robots, and drones. Intel's Go hardware with Xeon is supplemented by two FPGAs (field programmable gate arrays), which can be reprogrammed to do multiple tasks. The FPGAs are to Intel's Go what the GPUs are to Nvidia's Drive PX 2 -- fast chips that will help cars make key decisions instantly. The version of Go with next-generation Atom chips has only one FPGA. The Go computer with 5G will be demonstrated at the upcoming Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Intel announced its first 5G modem at CES this week. The closure of a major online marketplace for paid distributed denial-of-service attacks appears to have done little to slow down the illegal activity. In late October, HackForums.net shut down its "Server Stress Testing" section, amid concerns that hackers were peddling DDoS-for-hire services through the site for as little as US$10 a month. According to security experts, the section was the largest open marketplace for paid DDoS attacks -- a notorious hacking technique that can disrupt access to internet services or websites. But since the section's closure, the attacks remain rampant. In November, for instance, the number of DDoS attacks saw a slight dip from the month before, said Internet backbone provider Level 3 Communications. But starting in December, the number of DDoS attacks it observed almost doubled. Richard Clayton, director of the Cambridge Cybercrime Centre in the U.K., said his sensor network hasn't detected any drop in DDoS attacks. "There's no real difference in volume from a few months back," he said in an email. The hackers behind these DDoS-for-hire services are probably still attracting clients through Google, either with online advertisements or search engine optimization, said Allison Nixon, a director at security firm Flashpoint. In addition, plenty more paid DDoS attack tools are available for sale on underground forums. "Theres always been more than one outlet for them," Nixon said. "So I dont think theres going to be any immediate change." HackForums.net Hack Forums has removed its Server Stress Testing section. Although DDoS attacks are illegal, many hackers peddle their services by describing them as "booters" or "stressors," claiming theyre designed to test a website's resiliency. These services often appear professionally made, include customer support, but they can also flood a target with an overwhelming amount of traffic, forcing it offline. For hackers, threatening to take down a victims website can be lucrative. "We've seen these services used for criminal extortion operations," said Nixon, who's been researching the illegal trade since 2012. Building a DDoS-for-service can also be easy. Often times, the hackers will simply rent six to 12 servers, and use them to push out internet traffic to whatever target, she said. "It really doesnt take a lot of know-how," Nixon said. "One thing we've noticed is that a lot of underage people will get themselves involved." In December, for example, law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and Europe, arrested 34 suspects involved in DDoS-for-hire services, some of whom were 20 years old or younger. In September, Israeli authorities also arrested two alleged operators of vDOS, a so-called booter service that managed to rake in more than $618,000 and attract tens of thousands of customers. Both suspects were reportedly 18 years old. Nixon said she's hopeful more law enforcement agencies will crack down on this illegal business. The problem has become especially serious, following the emergence of Mirai, a malware thats designed to launch massive DDoS attacks. Several internet disruptions, including a large-scale attack in the U.S. back in October, have been blamed on the malware. Making the matters worse is that the Mirai source code is openly available on the internet. "We may not see a decrease in DDoS attacks, but a lot more law enforcement seems to be paying attention to this," Nixon said. Forrester predicts that more than 500,000 internet of things (IoT) devices will suffer a compromise in 2017, dwarfing Heartbleed. Drop the mic enough said. With the sheer velocity of how the distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks spread through common household items such as DVR players, makes this sector scary from a security standpoint. Today, firms are developing IoT firmware with open source components in a rush to market. Unfortunately, many are delivering these IoT solutions without good plans for updates, leaving them open to not only vulnerabilities but vulnerabilities security teams cannot remediate quickly, write Forrester analysts. The analyst firm adds that when smart thermostats alone exceed over 1 million devices, its not hard to imagine a vulnerability that easily exceeds the scale of Heartbleed. Security as an afterthought for IoT devices is not an option, especially when you cant patch IoT firmware because the vendor didnt plan for over-the-air patching. Alex Vaystikh, co-founder/CTO of advanced threat detection software provider SecBI, says small-to-midsize businesses and enterprises alike will suffer breaches originating from an insecure IoT device connected to the network. The access point will be a security camera, climate control, an old network printer, or even a remote-controlled lightbulb. This was demonstrated in September in a major DDoS attack on the web site of security expert Brian Krebs. A hacker found a vulnerability in a brand of IoT camera and caused millions of them to simultaneously make HTTP requests from Krebs site. It successfully crashed the site, but DDoS attacks are not a great way to make money. However, imagine an IoT camera within a corporate network being hacked. If that network also contains the companys database center, theres no way to stop the hacker from making a lateral move from the compromised camera to the database, Vaystikh said. This should scare organizations into questioning the popular BYOD mentality. We are already seeing a lot of CCTVs being hacked within organizations. Florin Lazurca, senior technical manager at Citrix, believes that consumers will be a target of opportunity in 2017. Innovative criminal enterprises will devise ways to monetize on potentially billions of internet-facing devices that many times do not meet stringent security controls. Want to browse the internet? Pay the ransom. Want to use your baby monitor? Pay the ransom. Want to watch your smart TV? Pay the ransom, Lazurca says. Want to browse the internet? Pay the ransom. Want to use your baby monitor? Pay the ransom. Want to watch your smart TV? Pay the ransom. Florin Lazurca, senior technical manager at Citrix Mike Kelly, CTO of Blue Medora, agrees, stating that, the inability to quickly update something, such as your home thermostat, is where we will see the risk. Its not about malware getting on the devices, the focus will need to be on the ability to remediate the issue. Like we saw with Windows, there will be a slew of vulnerabilities, but unlike with a computer, patching wont be as easy with IoT devices, he says. More connected devices will create more data, which has to be securely shared, stored, managed and analyzed. As a result, databases will become more complex and the management burden will increase. Those organizations that can most effectively monitor their database layer to optimize peak performance and resolve bottlenecks will be in a better position to exploit the opportunities the IoT will bring, he says. Lucas Moody, CISO at Palo Alto Networks, says security has to be baked into the IoT devices not be an afterthought. The bloom of IoT devices has security practitioners in the hot seat, with industry analysts suggesting a possible surge up to 20 billion devices by 2020. Given the recent upward trend in both frequency and intensity of DDoS attacks of late, 2017 will introduce an entirely new challenge that security teams will need to contend with; how do we secure devices, many of which are by design dumb and, for that matter, cheap?, he says. Large corporations are still challenged with finding security talent to manage security in the traditional sense, leaving IoT startups to fend for themselves in a digital economy. Moody asks, can they keep up? For the interconnected future of cars, televisions and refrigerators, maybe, but maintaining the security of smaller and seemingly less critical items such as toasters, thermostats, and pet feeders, it seems unlikely. Security has to be baked into these technologies from the conception and design stages all throughout development and roll-out. Security practitioners will need to do more than just scramble to develop strategies to address this pivotal trend, he says. Corey Nachreiner, CTO at WatchGuard Technologies, predicts that IoT devices will become the de facto target for botnet zombies. With the shear volume of internet-connected devices growing every year, IoT represents a huge attack surface for hackers. More disturbingly, many IoT manufacturers do not create devices with security in mind, and therefore release devices full of potential vulnerabilities. Many of their products have vulnerabilities that were common a decade ago, providing easy pickings for cyber criminals. Many IoT devices coming on the market have proprietary operating systems, and offer very little compute and storage resources. Hackers would have to learn new skills to reverse engineer these devices, and they dont provide much in terms of resources or data for the attacker to steal or monetize. On the other hand, another class of IoT products are devices running embedded Linux. These devices look very familiar to hackers. They already have tools and malware designed to target them, so pwning them is as familiar as hacking any Linux computer. On top of that, the manufacturers releasing these devices seem to follow circa 2000 software development and security practices. Many IoT devices expose network services with default passwords that are simple for attackers to abuse, Nachreiner says. He cited the leaking of the source code for the Mirai IoT botnet. This botnet included a scanner that automatically searched the internet to find unsecured, Linux-based IoT devices, and take them over using default credentials. With this leaked code, criminals were able to build huge botnets consisting of hundreds of thousands of IoT devices. They used these IoT botnets to launch gigantic DDoS attacks that generated up to 1Tbps of traffic; the largest ever recorded. In 2017, criminals will expand beyond DDoS attacks and leverage these botnets for click-jacking and spam campaigns to monetize IoT attacks in the same way they monetized traditional computer botnets. Expect to see IoT botnets explode next year, he says. Mike Davis, CTO at CounterTack, believes IoT will continue to be a part of the threat conversation in the coming year, but fundamentally there will be a massive change in the risks associated with the devices it wont be about security, it will be about patching. Hold your IoT security hypberbole Stan Black, CSO at Citrix, says we need to dispel security myths around emerging technology like IoT, machine learning and artificial intelligence. Many people are afraid to adopt these emerging technologies for fear that they may be their security downfall, but as with any technology, the same security 1-2-3s apply. Change the admin username and password, allow and enable devices on separate networks (separate from the networks used to pass sensitive data), create management and access policies, and above all, make sure that employees are educated about how, when and where to use these kinds of technologies, he says. Adoption of emerging tech like IoT can actually have more security benefits than challenges, if implemented correctly, Black says. The same goes for machine learning. The security wave of the future includes these technologies, so its best for businesses to learn about them early, learn about the benefits and reap the rewards of clouds, devices and networks that can learn from, and adapt to, changing behaviors to make for a stronger security posture. The wave of the future will be computers that can grant or deny access based on fingerprinted keyboards that can sense the normal amount of pressure your fingers normally apply. Taking advantages of benefits like these will help companies move to a new security infrastructure and mindset, he predicts. The mobile devices we depend on every day are loaded with sensors, heat, touch, water, impact, light, motion, location, acceleration, proximity, etc. These technologies have numerous applications including sensing motion and location to ensure people are safe when they travel, Black adds. These devices are rarely protected or maintained with the same vigor as corporate IT systems, making them generally more vulnerable to being compromised and drafted into a zombie army. This situation is nothing new, but in the next year we can expect to see personal networks of things reside in homes with gigabit internet connections like those offered by Google and AT&T and so make home networks far more interesting, especially if vulnerabilities in popular home devices can be exploited mechanically (e.g., how the Mirai botnet was built). Consumers will need to protect their personal networks from this new version of Mirai botnets, creating demand for services that safeguard them. More importantly, vendors will need to adopt better standards for protection of devices. If the Mirai botnet is any indication, the lack of security in device design is still quite profound, Black says. Speaking of standards Steven Sarnecki, vice president of federal and public sector at OSIsoft, pointed to the National Institutes of Standards and Technologys (NIST) National Cyber Center of Excellence for a glimpse of what is to come. NIST is currently piloting a project to assess how energy companies can better utilize connected devices to integrate and increase security with hopes of sharing those best practices and insights across the energy sector. As more companies wake up to the reality of IoT security threats, these solutions will become more commonplace, enabling enterprises to markedly increase their security footprint with only minimal incremental cost, he says. Sarnecki adds that in 2017 he would expect a large portion of IoT users, especially within the enterprise and industrial spaces, to begin to seriously consider the internet of threats aspect posed by IoT to their networks. Energy companies, water utilities, and many other critical infrastructure sectors rely on connected devices to support their missions. Jeannie Warner, security manager at WhiteHat Security, agrees that new guidelines will emerge from organizations such as NIST requiring that application security vendors partner with device manufacturers and testing labs to deliver secure IoT systems. The internet of things is growing daily, with smart devices and controlling applications at the core of every business from healthcare to smart cars and smart buildings. Its essential to protect smart anything from attackers attempting to exploit their vulnerabilities, she says. In the same way manufacturing safety testing via the American National Standards Institute controls new releases in devices, she believes NIST SP 800 or a similar body will form guidelines for a comprehensive security assurance through the integration of dynamic application scanning technology and rigorous device controls testing. Commonalities in all IoT systems include controls for tracking and sensing interfaces, combined with web- or mobile-enabled control applications that combine to expand the borders of the security ecosystem, she says. New guidelines will (ideally) force more application security vendors to partner with device control testing labs to support manufacturing earlier in the development process, helping the innovative organizations to manage risk by identifying vulnerabilities early in development, continue to monitor challenges during testing, and help release more secure products. Big data The enterprise has paid attention to IoT for some time, though 2017 will be the year we move past the wow phase and into the how do we do we securely and effectively bring IoT to the enterprise, how do we handle the high speed data ingest, and how do we optimize analytics and decisions based on IOT data, says Redis Labs Vice President of Product Marketing Leena Joshi. Mark Bregman, Chief Technology Officer at NetApp, believes 2017 will be about capitalizing on the value of data. The explosion of data in todays digital economy has introduced new data types, privacy and security concerns, the need for scale and a shift from using data to run the business to recognizing that data is the business. Off-line data analytics and threat hunting become endless money pits, says Gunter Ollmann of Vectra Networks. Were told, and we observe, that each year our corporate data doubles. That power-of-two exponential growth, after merely four years of storing, mining, and analyzing logs for threats, means a 16-fold increase in overall costs with an accompanying scaled delay in uncovering past threats. Despite Israels 5th election in four years, it remains a beacon of democracy and freedom The Israeli elections are fast approaching. On November 1, Israelis go back to the polls for the fifth round of elections in less than four... What is a Jew? Israeli museum attempts an answer JERUSALEMI was on a short visit to Israel and spent time with a friend with whom I have been engaged in a 30-year argument. Elli... The year 2016 has been sort of kind to Scarlett Johansson, who played the role of Black Widow in the worldwide movie franchise "Avengers." The actor has received several movie projects that made her earn more money than any other Hollywood actors. Although Black Widow played second fiddle to Captain America and Iron Man in the movie "Avengers," Johansson managed to kick the asses of Chris Evans and Robert Downey Jr. when it comes to the top-grossing actors list for 2016. Johansson's movies sold $1.2 billion worldwide, Forbes reported. Johansson also managed to take the top spot from Jennifer Lawrence, who played Mystique in the movie X-Men. Lawrence has been the top-grossing actor for two years in a row. The "X-Men" actor had an essay about not receiving equal fee as her male co-stars, while Johansson reportedly got the almost the same level of fees as Evans and Chris Hemsworth, who played Thor, Jobs & Hire previously reported. The $1.2 billion worth of tickets that Johansson sold worldwide was thanks to her role in "Captain America: Civil War" and "Hail, Caesar!" The figure is a bit too close to the Evans' and Downey's $1.15 billion each, but it managed to get Johansson into the first place of the list. It seems, however, that Johansson will not be able to achieve the same feat in 2017. Johansson has only two movies due out in 2017, and one of them has already received several negative feedback online. Casting Johansson as the main character in the much-beloved anime hit "Ghost in the Shell" got some backlash from the Asian community. Many are saying that a Japanese actress should have been chosen instead of Johansson. The bad press surrounding her casting in "Ghost in the Shell: could have a negative impact on the gross of the movie once it's out, so Johansson might not hold on the top-grossing actor title this year. In a surprise news, one of the biggest stars of Fox News Channel is leaving the network this week to host a couple of shows on NBC News. Words have it that this move would make Megyn Kelly the highest-paid female news anchor. Megyn Kelly will exit "The Kelly File" on Fox News this Friday. The program that airs at 9PM every weekday is the second-most watch program among all cable news, according to Deadline, bringing in some 2.7 million viewers. Reports say that Kelly already earns about $15 million a year with Fox. Given that, speculations abound as to how much NBC News would be paying her. The details of Megyn Kelly's contract with NBC News are kept confidential, so there are no confirmed details as to how much she would be earning after her transfer. But according to Forbes, Fox was willing to pay her up to $20 million, which apparently was not a successful offer to keep Kelly. NBC had previously admitted that they can't match Fox's offer to Megyn Kelly, but she being "an exceptional journalist and news anchor, who has had an extraordinary career," as NBC put said, the network might have come up with something really close. While NBC's salary offer for Megyn Kelly is lower than Fox's, the former is said to provide the host a better working condition. But that would perhaps depend on how Kelly would be able to balance her time now that she would be hosting a daytime news and talk show, a Sunday night news, and other special programming such as political coverage and big-ticket events. Estimates suggest that Megyn Kelly might be receiving around $18 million to $18.5 million pay from NBC. That is still lower than Matt Lauer's $25 million ("Today") and Bill O'Reilly's $18.5 million "The O'Reilly Factor"). The current highest-paid female news anchor is Robin Roberts ("Good Morning America"), who earns $18 million a year. Megyn Kelly currently has a net worth of $15 million, with a base salary of $270,000 in an annual package of $9 million, according to Notjustrich.com. Email Links to our top local news stories of the day, Monday through Saturday. Local home prices remained on a slow but steady incline during November, according to a report released Tuesday by CoreLogic, a national real-estate research company,. However, CoreLogic officials cautioned that higher mortgage rates are likely to soften demand and limit further growth in home prices. Prices in the Winston-Salem metropolitan statistical area were up 2.4 percent year over year for the second consecutive month, but they were unchanged month over month from October. The Winston-Salem metropolitan statistical area comprises Davidson, Davie, Forsyth, Stokes and Yadkin counties. CoreLogic, based in Irvine, Calif., does not disclose a median price. It no longer provides a home-sale price breakdown that excludes distressed and foreclosed houses. The Winston-Salem MSA again had the lowest year-over-year increase of North Carolinas five largest metropolitan areas. Home prices in the Greensboro-High Point MSA rose 4.1 percent year over year and by 0.5 percent from October. Prices in the Charlotte-Gastonia-Concord MSA rose 6 percent year over year and 0.4 percent from October. Prices in the Durham-Chapel Hill MSA were up 5.3 percent year over year, but down 0.4 percent from October. Prices in the Raleigh-Cary MSA increased 6.3 percent year over year and by 0.5 percent from October. For North Carolina overall, home prices were up 5.2 percent year over year. Last summers very low mortgage rates sparked demand, and with for-sale inventories low, the result has been a pickup in home-price growth, said Frank Nothaft, CoreLogics chief economist.With mortgage rates higher today and expected to rise even further in 2017, our national home price index is expected to slow to 4.7 percent year over year by November. Home prices in 27 states, including North Carolina, have risen above their pre-crisis peak levels, said Anand Nallathambi, the president and chief executive of CoreLogic.The (national) home price index remains 4 percent below its April 2006 peak, but should surpass that peak by the end of 2017. The top four executives at Insteel Industries Inc. received sharp salary and incentive pay increases during fiscal 2016, according to a regulatory filing Tuesday. The Mount Airy company, as is its pattern, is the first corporation to report annual executive-compensation figures among those based or having major operations in the Triad and Northwest North Carolina. H.O. Woltz III, Insteels president and chief executive, was paid $588,462 in salary, up 12.1 percent. His nonequity incentive-plan compensation was $823,846, up 46.4 percent. Woltz received stock and option awards valued at $599,999 on the date they were awarded. He received $71,800 in all other compensation: $53,340 in dividends or the equivalent paid on restricted stock units; $15,533 in 401(k) matching payment; and $2,727 in value for a death benefit program provided to executive officers. The total compensation package for Woltz was listed at $2.42 million in the companys summary compensation table, up from $1.9 million in 2015. The company said the executives met standards aimed at aligning their compensation with shareholder interests related to the companys return on capital. For fiscal 2016, which ended Oct. 1, Insteel had net income of $37.2 million, up 71.5 percent. Sales were down 6.4 percent to $447.5 million, while cost of sales dropped 14.3 percent to $333.4 million. Michael Gazmarian, the chief financial officer and treasurer, received $320,385 in salary, up 8.6 percent, and $384,462 in nonequity incentive-plan compensation, up 41.8 percent. Richard Wagner, the general manager for Insteel Wire Products, received $296,923 in salary, up 6 percent, and $356,308 in nonequity incentive-plan compensation, up 38.5 percent. James Petelle, the vice president of administration and secretary, was paid $205,231, up 8 percent, and received $246,277 in nonequity incentive-plan compensation, up 41.1 percent. The holidays are over, but a classic line from Its a Wonderful Life, uttered by Jimmy Stewarts George Bailey as he presents a housewarming gift of wine, will forever ring true: And wine, that joy and prosperity may reign forever. There are many vineyards and vintners to celebrate in our areas burgeoning fun and lucrative wine industry. But in so doing, we shouldnt lose sight of those who play crucial supporting roles in this story. One of the most important of those was R. Bruce Heye of Lewisville, who was just 74 when he died Dec. 14. The area has a fine share of the wine industry, including RayLen Vineyards going strong and Westbend Vineyards springing back under new ownership. Heye promoted the area industry from Lewisville. They called him a wine educator, but that term seems stodgy for this bear of a man as bombastic with his opinions as he was witty and charming in holding his own with the best of wine aficionados and in enlightening those naive in the ways of the grape. Michael Hastings captured his story well in last weeks Journal West. With the support of his longtime partner, Judi Wallace, Heye, as Hastings reported touched thousands of people through his wine articles, wine-appreciation classes, and countless wine tastings and dinners. It all went back to the 1960s, when he was with the U.S. Army in Germany. A New Jersey native, he came to Winston-Salem in 1981 to work for Wachovia. Upon retiring from the bank, he did consulting work but eventually quit to spend more of his time sharing his knowledge of wine, Hastings reported. Heye wrote about wine, taught classes at Wine Merchants Gourmet, and Salem College (which included wine dinners and tours of tours of Yadkin Valley wineries) and appeared on local radio and television programs. In 2014, the North Carolina Winegrowers Association gave him its Member of Distinction Award, the only time it was given to someone who was not a winegrower or winemaker, Hastings wrote. He never stopped learning. Wallace said she thinks that the sheer breadth of the wine world was part of the appeal for Heye. The two traveled together to many of the great wine-growing regions of the world, including Californias Napa Valley and Sonoma County; Frances Burgundy, Champagne, Alsace and Rhone; and Piedmonts Italy, Hastings reported. Heye knew his stuff, but he was no snob. In many ways, Heye stood out in a crowd. He was 6 feet, 6 inches tall, a big guy with a big voice, who loved to hold court at wine tastings. More often than not, he would be wearing his signature red polo shirt which conveniently hid red-wine stains, Hastings reported. Back to George Baileys quote from Its a Wonderful Life as he presents that housewarming gift to the Martini family: And wine, that joy and prosperity may reign forever. Enter the Martini castle. Bruce Heye helped build the castle of the local wine industry. Well done, sir. The N.C. Court of Appeals has blocked an order issued by a Forsyth Superior Court judge that directed the N.C. Department of Transportation to start making payments to property owners in the path of the Winston-Salem Northern Beltway. The appeals court has issued a temporary stay of an order made by Judge John O. Craig on Oct. 3. Craigs order would have set in motion a procedure for the DOT to begin paying landowners after the N.C. Supreme Court ruled in their favor in June 2016 in an inverse condemnation case. The stay will remain in place while the state files an appeal of Craigs order with the N.C. Court of Appeals. The 34-mile beltway will include a western loop that will begin at U.S. 158 (more commonly known as South Stratford Road at that point), skirting just east of Clemmons and Lewisville, and crossing Yadkinville and Reynolda roads not far from Reagan High School on its way to U.S. 52. The states current 10-year transportation plan doesnt include any construction money for most of the sections in the western loop. The appellate courts stay is the latest twist in a series of court rulings over several years regarding the fate of properties that are in the path of the Northern Beltway but havent yet been bought by the state. When the state Supreme Court ruled in favor of landowners in June, landowners and their attorney, Matthew Bryant, cheered and predicted that the property owners long wait for the state to buy their properties would soon be over. The Supreme Court decision stated that the DOT had caused a fundamental taking of property rights from the landowners. The state now appears ready to argue that the court didnt intend to rule on the propriety of judgment as a matter of law for those landowners, according to a motion the state filed with the state appeals court on Nov. 28. Bryant said the state is now making absurd arguments to delay the inevitable payments it owes to landowners. All we are trying to do is hold the state to what they should have done years ago, he said. State officials declined comment, but pointed to the states Nov. 28 motion in which, in part, it claims the state would have to make unauthorized expenditures of public funds if Craigs order was allowed to stand. Craigs order would force the state to make monetary deposits relating to the lands in question, which the property owners would then be allowed to withdraw at will. After Craig issued his order in Forsyth Superior Court, the state filed a motion on Nov. 2 to block any further action pending its appeal to a higher court. Craig denied the states motion on Nov. 14. State attorneys then asked the appeals court to issue the temporary stay, which it did on Nov. 29. The state said Craigs Oct. 3 order improperly shifted the burden of proof from the landowners to the state in deciding whether landowners had suffered losses, and called egregious the portion of Craigs ruling that allows property owners to withdraw state-deposited money before the court has ruled on the amount of compensation owed. State attorneys argued that the landowners could immediately withdraw any money deposited, even if it turned out later that the state didnt owe the money. To say that the property owners are upset over their latest setback would be an understatement: How many years does it take to beat somebody down? asked landowner Ben Harris, who said he owns five houses in the McGregor Park subdivision that he built in the 1990s and still cant sell because theyre in the path of the beltway. The DOT is thumbing their noses at the people of Winston-Salem. Paula Smith, a landowner, said shes not surprised that the state is blocking payment. Of course they did, she said. Ive begun to not have any reaction because you dont know what is going to happen next with the state. The lawsuits over the states failure to buy beltway properties date back to 2011, when landowners represented by Bryant filed suit in Forsyth Superior Court charging that the DOT effectively took their properties when it included them in the designated route of the Northern Beltway in 1997 and 2008. The beltway designation limited the ability of landowners to subdivide or develop their properties. The property owners claimed that amounted to what is called inverse condemnation: The DOT had taken the properties without paying for them, the landowners alleged. Bryant represents about 70 people who own property in the western loop. In 2013, Craig ruled against hearing the inverse condemnation claims. The state Court of Appeals reversed that decision and the state appealed. The state Supreme Court affirmed that ruling in June and sent the cases back to Craig. In his Oct. 3 ruling, Craig ordered the DOT to begin the process of recording land descriptions and making compensation payments plus interest to the court for ultimate distribution to the landowners. Craigs order stopped short of forcing the state to acquire the properties outright. The order left open the possibility that the state could ask its property appraisers to set values and payments based on how much value the property had lost by being in the beltway corridor.. At the same time, Craig wrote that because the properties would be graded and covered with asphalt, it might make more sense for the DOT to simply buy the properties outright. The full purchase of the properties plus interest is what all the landowners who sued the state have demanded. Homeowner Elaine Eurey said that ever since the Supreme Court ruling she and her husband have been looking for a new place to live thinking the state would soon buy her house. We are anxious to move, she said. We find this news terribly distressing. At the end of summer, it looked like the light at the end of the tunnel was not a train. I will continue to wait until the state will pay me my just due. Gov. Roy Cooper is not taking long to move forward on a key campaign pledge of expanding Medicaid coverage by nearly 500,000 North Carolinians. Cooper said Wednesday during an economic forum in Durham that he will pursue expansion even though Republicans have super-majority control in both chambers and there is a state law prohibiting the executive branch from making such an attempt. Medicaid expansion was a hot-button issue throughout Pat McCrorys term as governor. Currently, Medicaid covers about 1.9 million North Carolinians, and is a $14 billion a year program. Cooper plans to file an amendment by Friday that asks the federal government to amend the N.C. Medicaid reform waiver request submitted in June. Cooper said he believes the law prohibiting the expansion of Medicaid in the state, approved in 2013, infringes on core executive functions of the governors role for negotiating the waiver request with the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services. McCrory said he was pursuing federal waiver exceptions for what he called a North Carolina plan, and not a Washington plan that could have featured expansion. North Carolina is one of 19 states that have chosen not to expand their Medicaid program though the federal Affordable Care Act. The act provides resources for states to extend coverage to all non-elderly adults with incomes below 133 percent of the federal poverty level, currently $32,253 a year for a family of four and $18,000 for an individual. A study released in 2016 by Harvard University found that as many as 1,145 people in North Carolina may die every year because Medicaid has not been expanded and they have no access to screenings and preventive care. Cooper said expansion could result in the net gain of up to 40,000 jobs statewide, mostly in the health care sector. A December 2014 study sponsored by the Cone Health Foundation and the Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust determined that the Triad and Northwest North Carolina could have 93,471 more people insured and 8,962 jobs created by 2020 if state leaders choose to expand the states Medicaid program. A 2014 Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Urban Institute study, a philanthropy that advocates for public health, found that North Carolina could lose as much as $51 billion in federal Medicaid payments over the next 10 years if its program is not expanded. Gov. Cooper believes expanding Medicaid will help grow jobs and our economy, said his spokeswoman, Noelle Talley. We fully expect input and cooperation from the legislature in this process and intend to comply with our states laws and the constitution. GOP objects Republican legislative leaders have said consistently since 2013 that expansion is a nonstarter for them, primarily because they dont trust the federal government to keep its pledge to pay more than 90 percent of the administrative costs. Expansion states must pick up 5 percent of the administrative costs in 2017 and 10 percent for 2020 and beyond. North Carolinas expansion prohibition prevents the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services and the N.C. Department of Insurance from making any attempt to expand the program through the ACA. Still, McCrory had said he would consider expansion once the states Medicaid program was fixed. State health officials reported a third consecutive Medicaid surplus in fiscal 2015-16, based primarily on less demand for services than projected and lower prescription drug costs. Some of the 2015-16 surplus was factored into the 2016-17 state budget. N.C. Senate leader Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, said he considers Coopers proposal as his intention to violate his oath of office with a brazenly illegal attempt to force a massive, budget-busting Obamacare expansion on North Carolina taxpayers. According to Berger, Cooper is three strikes and out on his attempt to break state law: he does not have the authority to unilaterally expand Obamacare; his administration cannot take steps to increase Medicaid eligibility; and our constitution does not allow him to spend billions of state tax dollars we dont have to expand Obamacare without legislative approval. On Thursday, Berger and House Speaker Tim Moore, R-Cleveland, sent a letter to CMS expressing its opposition to Cooper's amendment request and citing the state law for its reasoning in requesting rejection. "We are disappointed by this news, as such action is clearly prohibited under state law," the lawmakers said. "We encourage CMS to decline the governor's illegal request for expansion." In the letter, the legislative leaders cited a potential $600 million annual state funding commitment to Medicaid expansion. Cooper said he will ask hospitals in North Carolina to step up and pay assessments to come up with as much as a 5 percent state match for expansion for 2017 through 2019. The expansion fight may be part of Coopers strategy to take his 2017 agenda straight to a statewide audience. Cooper also mentioned his continued pursuit to fully repeal House Bill 2, better known as the bathroom bill. I think he figures it suits him politically to fight for expansion of Medicaid and feels that he can make the General Assembly look bad with the public, said David Meyer, senior partner with Keystone Planning Group of Durham. Mitch Kokai, a policy analyst with the John Locke Foundation, a conservative-leaning research group, said Medicaid expansion has zero chance of support among legislative leaders. It remains to be seen whether the new governor will be able to get away with this move, Kokai said. But it certainly bodes ill for future relations with the General Assembly. Zagros Madjd-Sadjadi, an economics professor at Winston-Salem State University, said Cooper intends to attempt a vast progressive agenda that will allow him to paint the legislature as obstructionist I do not know if this will work well for him given how legislative redistricting favors conservatives in this state. It could also backfire on him, Madjd-Sadjadi said. Mark Hall, a law professor at Wake Forest University and a nationally renowned health-care expert, issued a report in January 2016 that examined the pros and cons of expanding Medicaid in North Carolina. Hall came down on the side of the viability of expansion despite potential risks. We should know more in a month, but Congress could get rid of exchanges but keep Medicaid expansion in some form or rework each piece in different ways, Hall said. The latter is more likely, he said. If Congress gives states more flexibility in how to structure Medicaid, then expansion could well be politically feasible in North Carolina. State Rep. Donny Lambeth, R-Forsyth, said that we need to understand the new federal options we will have in N.C. under the Trump administration, and then look at what makes the most sense. Hospital request North Carolina hospitals would receive $11 billion in funding over the next 10 years if Medicaid was expanded, said a report from left-leaning N.C. Policy Watch. Thats money that could literally help many rural hospitals stay open and operating. The N.C. Medical Society and N.C. Hospital Association signaled their support for Coopers proposal. Hospitals and health systems strongly support expanded insurance coverage, inclusive of Medicaid expansion, to provide essential health coverage for North Carolinians, the hospital association said. Given the complexity of the issue and the process, we believe coverage expansion can only happen through a bipartisan, collaborative effort, it said. We are prepared to work with the governor, the General Assembly and our members of Congress to achieve this goal. U.S. Magistrate Judge L. Patrick Auld has recommended that an amended federal lawsuit filed by a Clemmons whistle-blower against North Carolina Baptist Hospital and Carolinas Healthcare Systems of Charlotte be dismissed with prejudice, meaning it cannot be refiled. Auld also recommended to a U.S. District Court judge the granting of both hospital systems motion to dismiss the case filed by Joseph Vincoli. All parties are now able to file objections, if any. The federal judge assigned to the case will make the ultimate decision on whether to dismiss the lawsuit. Vincoli initially filed a lawsuit in June 2009 in the Middle District of N.C. against Baptist and Carolinas Healthcare Systems of Charlotte. Vincoli worked at Baptist as its managed-care director from July 2006 until his job was terminated in October 2007. Vincoli claims that Baptist and Carolinas fraudulently obtained tens of millions of dollars from Medicare and Medicaid through an arrangement that artificially inflated their expenses. Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center and Carolinas co-own MedCost, a for-profit company that administers health plans and contracts with hospitals and doctors offices to provide medical services. In his second amended complaint, filed Feb. 4, 2016, Vincoli claims that the systems failed to disclose on their Medicare cost reports more than a billion dollars in related-party transactions and falsely claimed more than a billion dollars in fictitious costs for employee health-care benefits that were not actually out-of-pocket costs. In September, the U.S. Justice Department said it would not join the lawsuit on behalf of the Medicare program. The department closed its case against Carolinas in January 2016. Baptist said in its dismissal request filed April 8 that Vincolis complaint does not include a shred of factual detail or particularity about NCBHs alleged knowledge of any supposed wrongdoing, including that cost reports were not part of his job responsibilities. Baptist claims that Vincoli cannot plausibly allege that he had first-hand knowledge of purported fraudulent acts. Carolinas argued in its motion for dismissal, also filed April 8, that Vincoli was never its employee, and stated, Without such (or any) specific facts about CHS, Vincoli simply cannot state a plausible claim that (CHS) knowingly submitted false claims. Retaliation allegations In his complaint, Vincoli also accuses the hospitals of retaliating against him by going to the McCrory administration to get him fired from his administrative role with the Department of Public Safety. Vincolis job in the department was shifted from nonexempt to exempt in 2013. He worked for more than three years in an administrative role with the state corrections department, attaining career status with excellent employee review upon saving the department and state $45 million per year by making changes in how the state paid hospitals and physicians for health care services rendered to inmates, he has said. Vincoli has said he was terminated on Dec. 9, 2013, in part because he attempted to continue his role as a health-care whistleblower. State employees had gained, through a previous Vincoli legal challenge and subsequent legislative action, more whistleblower powers as it affected the State Health Plan. Vincoli has said he was told when he was fired that a change in agency staff is appropriate at this time. He said he discovered that his position has been kept, rather than being eliminated through a reduction in workforce. Since August 2014, he has been pursuing a hearing before the N.C. Office of Administrative Hearing to ask state administrative officials about the circumstances of his firing. Vincolis efforts were opposed by the N.C. Attorney Generals Office, which is led by Gov.-elect Roy Cooper. The N.C. Court of Appeals ruled on Nov. 1, 2016, that Vincoli has a statutory right to a state hearing. Vincoli said his hearing will take place in late April, conducted by an administrative law judge. Vincoli filed a complaint in May 2015 against state Rep. Donny Lambeth, R-Forsyth, alleging that Lambeth betrayed his trust by forwarding his emails to two health care groups. The complaint involves emails that Vincoli sent to Lambeth related to his claim that Carolinas should be prohibited from co-owning MedCost, which manages its health insurance accounts. The state Ethics Commission dismissed the complaint against Lambeth, saying there was insufficient evidence to constitute a violation. In his memorandum opinion and recommendation, Auld said that the statue of limitations bars Vincolis retaliation claim as to the 2011 lawsuit. The Second Amended complaint sufficiently alleges who possess personal knowledge of the alleged fraud, Auld stated. However, the Second Amended complaint and Vincolis proposed amendments fail to plausibly allege the requisite scienter for an FCA claim. Auld also stated that this amended complaint failed to plausibly allege that Baptist caused the state of North Carolina to take adverse employment actions against Vincoli. The proposed amendments likewise fail to plausibly allege such retaliation, Auld said. The amended complaint against Baptist and Carolinas also asserts that hospital employees were affected financially by the arrangement because it allowed the hospitals to overcharge workers for their health care. In 2009, Baptists employees sued the hospital, alleging that its choice of MedCost was not serving the best interests of employees. N.C. Baptist agreed in 2011 to pay about $5.4 million to settle the lawsuit even though it denied any wrongdoing. In response to the recent recommendation by Auld, Wake Forest Baptist stated that it is pleased with the U.S. Magistrates recommendation to dismiss the complaint filed by Mr. Vincoli on behalf of the United States. The recommendation confirms our position and belief all along that North Carolina Baptist Hospital did not violate the False Claims Act. Paul Lawrence, Vincolis lawyer, said, We have no comment other than to say we think Magistrate Judge Auld got several things wrong and will be objecting to his report and recommendation. Carolinas said, We dont have anything to add to the story. U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-5th, voted against a move by some House Republicans to weaken an independent congressional ethics board, a proposal that on Tuesday came under fire from President-elect Donald Trump and got yanked from going to a floor vote. A majority of the House Republican Conference voted Monday to clip the powers of the Office of Congressional Ethics, the independent body created in 2008 to investigate allegations of misconduct by lawmakers after several bribery and corruption scandals sent members to prison, The Associated Press reported. The proposed ethics change, which was met by an outcry from Democrats, government watchdog groups and Trump, was part of a rules package on which the full House was scheduled to vote Tuesday but never did. Undermining the independence of the Houses Office of Congressional Ethics would create a serious risk to members of Congress, who rely on OCE for fair, nonpartisan investigations, and to the American people, who expect their representatives to meet their legal and ethical obligations, Norman Eisen and Richard Painter of the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington said in a press release. Eisen was the top ethics lawyer for President Barack Obama, and Painter was the top ethics lawyer for President George W. Bush. With all that Congress has to work on, do they really have to make the weakening of the Independent Ethics Watchdog, as unfair as it ... may be, their number one act and priority. Focus on tax reform, healthcare and so many other things of far greater importance! Trump wrote on Twitter. And he used the hashtag DTS shorthand for drain the swamp. Under the proposal pushed by U.S. Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va. the Office of Congressional Ethics would have fallen under the control of the House Ethics Committee, putting lawmakers in a position of watching over one another rather than having an independent panel do it. The change would have required that any matter that may involve a violation of criminal law must be referred to the Committee on Ethics for potential referral to law enforcement agencies after an affirmative vote by the members, according to Goodlattes office. The overall vote of the House Republican Conference was made public: 119-74. But there is no public record of how individual Republican members voted, said John Dinan, a political science professor at Wake Forest University. These party conference votes are simply votes that a party holds internally on whether to move forward with a measure and dont carry any legal weight. Foxx was among the 74 GOP House members who opposed the proposal, according to her spokeswoman, Sheridan Watson. While Congresswoman Foxx agrees the Office of Congressional Ethics is in need of reform, she believes that changes should be made in a bipartisan manner, Watson said. The 5th District includes some or all of several counties in Northwest North Carolina: Alexander, Alleghany, Ashe, Avery, Forsyth, Stokes, Surry, Watauga, Wilkes and Yadkin counties as well as two precincts in Catawba County. The process of putting the House proposal into effect would have gone like this: Primarily, the full House would have to vote on rules under which the chamber will operate, according to Dinan. This is usually the first order of business in a new Congress, for the House to vote on a resolution containing the rules under which the House will operate for the next session. And presumably any changes in the way that the ethics committee and ethics office operates would be included in this House resolution, which requires approval by a majority vote in the entire House, in what would be a public vote, Dinan said. There is no need for approval by the U.S. Senate or the president. That is, the House is not passing a law, which would require Senate concurrence and presidential approval, he said. Reddit Email 0 Shares By Tom Engelhardt | ( Tomdispatch.com ) | Know thyself. It was what came to mind in the wake of Donald Trumps victory and my own puzzling reaction to it. And while that familiar phrase just popped into my head, I had no idea it was so ancient, or Greek, or for that matter a Delphic maxim inscribed in the forecourt of the Temple of Apollo according to the Greek writer Pausanias (whom Id never heard of until I read his name in Wikipedia). Think of that as my own triple helix of ignorance extending back to well, my birth in a very different America 72 years ago. Anyway, the simple point is that I didnt know myself half as well as I imagined. And I can thank Donald Trump for reminding me of that essential truth. Of course, we can never know whats really going on inside the heads of all those other people out there on this curious planet of ours, but ourselves as strangers? I guess if I were inscribing something in the forecourt of my own Delphic temple right now, it might be: Who knows me? (Not me.) Consider this my little introduction to a mystery I stumbled upon in the early morning hours of our recent election night that hasnt left my mind since. I simply couldnt accept that Donald Trump had won. Not him. Not in this country. Not possible. Not in a million years. Mind you, during the campaign I had written about Trump repeatedly, always leaving open the possibility that, in the disturbed (and disturbing) America of 2016, he could indeed beat Hillary Clinton. That was a conclusion I lost when, in the final few weeks of the campaign, like so many others, I got hooked on the polls and the pundits who went with them. (Doh!) In the wake of the election, however, it wasnt shock based on pollsters errors that got to me. It was something else that only slowly dawned on me. Somewhere deep inside, I simply didnt believe that, of all countries on this planet, the United States could elect a narcissistic, celeb billionaire who was also, in the style of Italys Silvio Berlusconi, a right-wing populist and incipient autocrat. Plenty of irony lurked in that conviction, which outlasted the election and so reality itself. In these years, Ive written critically of the way just about every American politician but Donald Trump has felt obligated to insist that this is an exceptional or indispensable nation, the greatest country on the planet, not to speak of in history. (And throw in as well the claim of recent presidents and so many others that the U.S. military represents the greatest fighting force in that history.) President Obama, Marco Rubio, Jeb Bush, John McCain it didnt matter. Every one of them was a dutiful or enthusiastic American exceptionalist. As for Trumps opponent, Hillary Clinton, she hit the trifecta plus one in a speech she gave to the American Legions national convention during the campaign. In it, she referred to the United States as the greatest country on Earth, an exceptional nation, and the indispensable nation that, of course, possessed the greatest military ever. (My friends, we are so lucky to be Americans. It is an extraordinary blessing.) Only Trump, with his make America great again, slogan seemed to admit to something else, something like American decline. Post-election, here was the shock for me: it turned out that I, too, was an American exceptionalist. I deeply believed that our country was simply too special for The Donald, and so his victory sent me on an unexpected journey back into the world of my childhood and youth, back into the 1950s and early 1960s when (despite the Soviet Union) the U.S. really did stand alone on the planet in so many ways. Of course, in those years, no one had to say such things. All those greatests, exceptionals, and indispensables were then dispensable and the recent political tic of insisting on them so publicly undoubtedly reflects a defensiveness thats a sign of something slipping. Obviously, in those bedrock years of American power and strength and wealth and drive and dynamism (and McCarthyism, and segregation, and racism, and smog, and), the very years that Donald Trump now yearns to bring back, I took in that feeling of American specialness in ways too deep to grasp. Which was why, decades later, when I least expected it, I couldnt shake the feeling that it couldnt happen here. In actuality, the rise to power of Trumpian figures Rodrigo Duterte in the Philippines, Viktor Orban in Hungary, Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Turkey, Vladimir Putin in Russia has been a dime-a-dozen event elsewhere and now looks to be a global trend. Its just that I associated such rises with unexceptional, largely tinpot countries or ones truly down on their luck. So its taken me a few hard weeks to come to grips with my own exceptionalist soul and face just how Donald Trump could indeed did happen here. It Can Happen Here So how did it happen here? Lets face it: Donald Trump was no freak of nature. He only arrived on the scene and took the Electoral College (if not the popular vote) because our American world had been prepared for him in so many ways. As I see it, at least five major shifts in American life and politics helped lay the groundwork for the rise of Trumpism: * The Coming of a 1% Economy and the 1% Politics That Goes With It: A singular reality of this century has been the way inequality became embedded in American life, and how so much money was swept ever upwards into the coffers of 1% profiteers. Meanwhile, a yawning gap grew between the basic salaries of CEOs and those of ordinary workers. In these years, as Im hardly the first to point out, the country entered a new gilded age. In other words, it was already a Mar-a-Lago moment before The Donald threw his hair into the ring. Without the arrival of casino capitalism on a massive scale (at which The Donald himself proved something of a bust), Trumpism would have been inconceivable. And if, in its Citizens United decision of 2010, the Supreme Court hadnt thrown open the political doors quite so welcomingly to that 1% crew, how likely was it that a billionaire celebrity would have run for president or become a favorite among the white working class? Looked at a certain way, Donald Trump deserves credit for stamping the true face of twenty-first-century American plutocracy on Washington by selecting mainly billionaires and multimillionaires to head the various departments and agencies of his future government. After all, doesnt it seem reasonable that a 1% economy, a 1% society, and a 1% politics should produce a 1% government? Think of what Trump has so visibly done as American democracys version of truth in advertising. And of course, if billionaires hadnt multiplied like rabbits in this era, he wouldnt have had the necessary pool of plutocrats to choose from. Something similar might be said of his choice of so many retired generals and other figures with significant military backgrounds (ranging from West Point graduates to a former Navy SEAL) for key civilian positions in his government. Think of that, too, as a truth-in-advertising moment leading directly to the second shift in American society. * The Coming of Permanent War and an Ever More Militarized State and Society: Can there be any question that, in the 15-plus years since 9/11, what was originally called the Global War on Terror has become a permanent war across the Greater Middle East and Africa (with collateral damage from Europe to the Philippines)? In those years, staggering sums of money beyond what any other country or even collection of countries could imagine spending has poured into the U.S. military and the arms industry that undergirds it and monopolizes the global trade in weaponry. In the process, Washington became a war capital and the president, as Michelle Obama indicated recently when talking about Trumps victory with Oprah Winfrey, became, above all, the commander in chief. (It is important for the health of this nation, she told Winfrey, that we support the commander in chief.) The presidents role in wartime had, of course, always been as commander in chief, but now thats the position many of us vote for (and even newspapers endorse), and since war is so permanently embedded in the American way of life, Donald Trump is guaranteed to remain that for his full term. And the role has expanded strikingly in these years, as the White House gained the power to make war in just about any fashion it chose without significant reference to Congress. The president now has his own air force of drone assassins to dispatch more or less anywhere on the planet to take out more or less anyone. At the same time, cocooned inside the U.S. military, an elite, secretive second military, the Special Operations forces, has been expanding its personnel, budget, and operations endlessly and its most secretive element, the Joint Special Operations Command, might even be thought of as the presidents private army. Meanwhile, the weaponry and advanced technology with which this country has been fighting its never-ending (and remarkably unsuccessful) conflicts abroad from Predator drones to the Stingray that mimics a cell phone tower and so gets nearby phones to connect to it began migrating home, as Americas borders and police forces were militarized. The police have been supplied with weaponry and other equipment directly off the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan, while veterans from those wars have joined the growing set of SWAT teams, the domestic version of special-ops teams, that are now a must-have for police departments nationwide. Its no coincidence that Trump and his generals are eager to pump up a supposedly depleted U.S. military with yet more funds or, given the history of these years, that he appointed so many retired generals from our losing wars to key civilian positions atop that military and the national security state. As with his billionaires, in a decisive fashion, Trump is stamping the real face of twenty-first-century America on Washington. * The Rise of the National Security State: In these years, a similar process has been underway in relation to the national security state. Vast sums of money have flowed into the countrys 17 intelligence outfits (and their secret black budgets), into the Department of Homeland Security, and the like. (Before 9/11, Americans might have associated that word homeland with Nazi Germany or the Soviet Union, but never with this country.) In these years, new agencies were launched and elaborate headquarters and other complexes built for parts of that state within a state to the tune of billions of dollars. At the same time, it was privatized, its doors thrown open to the contract employees of a parade of warrior corporations. And, of course, the National Security Agency created a global surveillance apparatus so all-encompassing that it left the fantasies of the totalitarian regimes of the twentieth century in the dust. As the national security state rose in Washington amid an enveloping shroud of secrecy (and the fierce hounding or prosecution of any whistleblower), it became the de facto fourth branch of government. Under the circumstances, dont think of it as a happenstance that the 2016 election might have been settled 11 days early thanks to FBI Director James Comeys intervention in the race, which represented a historical first for the national security state. Argue as you will over how crucial Comeys interference was to the final vote tallies, it certainly caught the mood of the new era that had been birthed in Washington long before Donald Trumps victory. Nor should you consider it a happenstance that possibly the closest military figure to the new commander in chief is his national security adviser, retired Lieutenant General Michael Flynn, who ran the Defense Intelligence Agency until forced out by the Obama administration. No matter the arguments Trump may have with the CIA or other agencies, they will be crucial to his rule (once brought to heel by his appointees). Those billionaires, generals, and national security chieftains had already been deeply embedded in our American world before Trump made his run. They will now be part and parcel of his world going forward. The fourth shift in the landscape is ongoing, not yet fully institutionalized, and harder to pin down. * The Coming of the One-Party State: Thanks to the political developments of these years, and a man with obvious autocratic tendencies entering the Oval Office, its possible to begin to imagine an American version of a one-party state emerging from the shell of our former democratic system. After all, the Republicans already control the House of Representatives (in more or less perpetuity, thanks to gerrymandering), the Senate, the White House, and assumedly in the years to come the Supreme Court. They also control a record 33 out of 50 governorships, have tied a record by taking 68 out of the 98 state legislative chambers, and have broken another by gaining control of 33 out of 50 full legislatures. In addition, as the North Carolina legislature has recently shown, the urge among state Republicans to give themselves new, extra-democratic, extra-legal powers (as well as a longer term Republican drive to restrict the ballot in various ways, claiming nonexistent voter fraud) should be considered a sign of the direction in which we could be headed in a future embattled Trumpist country. In addition, for years the Democratic Party saw its various traditional bases of support weaken, wither, or in the recent election simply opt for a candidate competing for the partys nomination who wasnt even a Democrat. Until the recent election loss, however, it was at least a large, functioning political bureaucracy. Today, no one knows quite what it is. Its clear, however, that one of Americas two dominant political parties is in a state of disarray and remarkable weakness. Meanwhile, the other, the Republican Party, assumedly the future base for that Trumpian one-party state, is in its own disheveled condition, a party of apparatchiks and ideologues in Washington and embattled factions in the provinces. In many ways, the incipient collapse of the two-party system in a flood of 1% money cleared the path for Trumps victory. Unlike the previous three shifts in American life, however, this one is hardly in place yet. Instead, the sense of party chaos and weakness so crucial to the rise of Donald Trump still holds, and the same sense of chaos might be said to apply to the fifth shift I want to mention. * The Coming of the New Media Moment: Among the things that prepared the way for Trump, who could leave out the crumbling of the classic newspaper/TV world of news? In these years, it lost much of its traditional advertising base, was bypassed by social media, and the TV part of it found itself in an endless hunt for eyeballs to glue, normally via 24/7 news events, eternally blown out of proportion but easy to cover in a nonstop way by shrinking news staffs. As an alternative, there was the search for anything or anyone (preferably of the celebrity variety) that the public couldnt help staring at, including a celebrity-turned-politician-turned-provocateur with the worlds canniest sense of what the media so desperately needed: him. It may have seemed that Trump inaugurated our new media moment by becoming the first meister-elect of tweet and the shout-out master of that universe, but in reality he merely grasped the nature of our new, chaotic media moment and ran with it. Unexceptional Billionaires and Dispensable Generals Lets add a final point to the other five: Donald Trump will inherit a country that has been hollowed out by the new realities that made him a success and allowed him to sweep to what, to many experts, looked like an improbable victory. He will inherit a country that is ever less special, a nation that, as Trump himself has pointed out, has an increasingly third-worldish transportation system (not a single mile of high-speed rail and airports that have seen better days), an infrastructure that has been drastically debased, and an everyday economy that offers lesser jobs to ever more of his countrymen. It will be an America whose destructive power only grows but whose ability to translate that into anything approaching victory eternally recedes. With its unexceptional billionaires, its dispensable generals, its less than great national security officials, its dreary politicians, and its media moguls in search of the passing buck, its likely to be a combustible country in ways that will seem increasingly familiar to so many elsewhere on this planet, and increasingly strange to the young Tom Engelhardt who still lives inside me. Its this America that will tumble into the debatably small but none-too-gentle hands of Donald Trump on January 20th. Tom Engelhardt is a co-founder of the American Empire Project and the author of The United States of Fear as well as a history of the Cold War, The End of Victory Culture. He is a fellow of the Nation Institute and runs TomDispatch.com. His latest book is Shadow Government: Surveillance, Secret Wars, and a Global Security State in a Single-Superpower World. Follow TomDispatch on Twitter and join us on Facebook. Check out the newest Dispatch Book, John Feffers dystopian novel Splinterlands, as well as Nick Turses Next Time Theyll Come to Count the Dead, and Tom Engelhardts latest book, Shadow Government: Surveillance, Secret Wars, and a Global Security State in a Single-Superpower World. Copyright 2017 Tom Engelhardt Via Tomdispatch.com Reddit Email 0 Shares By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | One of the thirty-nine victims of the Daesh (ISIL, ISIS) shooting at the Reina nightclub in Istanbul, Layan Nasser, 19, was buried on Tuesday in her home town, Tira, in central Israel. Roughly a fifth of Israeli citizens are of Palestinian heritage, the majority of them Muslims. Daesh carried out the attack to undermine Turkeys tourism industry and discourage foreign direct investment, two engines of the countrys economic growth over the past twenty years. The act was revenge on Turkey for intervening against Daesh in northern Syria during the past year. Yusuf Munayyer pointed out that Nasser was identified as Israeli in international press headlines, as a victim, and suspects that she would have been instead called an Arab had she been instead involved in an act of resistance. His point is that Palestinian-Israelis are seen as sympathetic when attacked by fundamentalists, but when Israeli Secretary of Defense Avigdor Lieberman threatens to ethnically cleanse them, few in the West protest. When Palestinian citizens of Israel are victims of attacks they are "Israeli" when they are perpetrators they are "Arab" pic.twitter.com/5TMzRo0yKv (((YousefMunayyer))) (@YousefMunayyer) January 1, 2017 Thousands of Palestinian-Israelis attended the ceremony, in what both the Israeli and Arab press saw as a rebuke to the Muslim fundamentalists who blamed the victim by criticizing Layan for attending a New Years eve celebration (a Christian festivity, in a night club wearing make up and in an place where drinks were being served). Layan Nasser had just become a dental assistant rather than rushing to get married, as her mother had wanted. Even her trip to Turkey was a sign of her independence of mind. Her father advised against it, given the deteriorating security situation in that country. The UAEs The National quoted her cousin Hadil Haj-Yihya as saying, She is just an innocent kid. She doesnt know about politics and terrorism. She loved fashion and make-up. She just wanted to live life. She was just a child . . . Now her mother is crying, saying Im giving her to the grave, not to her husband. Al-Masdar said that the huge crowds attended the funeral to mourn Layan and to protest religious repression. Among those attending were prominent Palestinian-Israelis, and a disproportionate number of women, who were protesting those voices that criticized Layans trip and that of her girlfriends to Istanbul by themselves to celebrate the new year. One of those who spoke was the mayor of Tira, Mamun `Abd al-Hayy, who referred to the criticisms launched at her by religious groups. He said, We do not accept the besmirching of the reputation of Layan and her friends. We strongly support a plurality of opinions and we reject religious repression. He continued, We are proud of Layan and her friends, and of the young generation and their consciousness, and of their decisive stand against illiteracy and close-mindedness. . . Our youth will decide what is good for themselves, and what is not, and no one has the right to impose anything on them. He added, We are the true Islam, and there is no place for those who adopt a counterfeit jihad.' The United Arab List political coalition posted on Facebook a statement that also criticized those who slammed Layan and her friends. the coalition denounces the intellectual influence of Daesh [ISIL, ISIS], and calls for combating both this way of thinking and the practices associated with it, through intellectual work and practical action. It called on the masses and civil society to encourage dialogue and mutual understanding and open-mindedness, instead of repression and the imposition of opinions blackballing. It urged the that the utmost effort be expended to fight this way of thinking and this phenomenon, which threatens the life of the Arab peoples in their entierty, and threatens their identity and their existence and their just struggles. The list then called for a big turnout at Layans funeral and condemned the criminal and sanguinary operation that took her life. Daesh/ ISIL is a threat to many societies, but Westerners often forget that it is above all a threat to Muslims. Something like 90% of all its victims have been Muslims (especially Shiites but also Sunnis). It has a theory of revolutionary action its leaders call tawahhush, acting like wild beasts and making a spectacle of death. These techniques have brought it into disrepute even among other terrorists! As the Palestinian-Israelis pointed out, it is losing friends for Arab causes because it allows them all, including the just ones, to be tagged as barbarous or terroristic. Long after it is rolled up as a territorial state, Daesh will go on poisoning minds, and the United Arab List is correct that an intellectual battle needs to be waged against it. The instinct of the United States has been to undermine secularism in the Middle East because it has been associated with socialism. And, leftist regimes have unwittingly fostered a fundamentalist opposition by associating secular thought with torture in prison. The Middle East can only get past this decades-long crisis by becoming more democratic and more secular. The regimes elites often want only one or the other, for their own selfish reasons, and so are prolonging the agony. And Western elites have to stop destabilizing the place for the sake of black gold. Israeli emergency personnel and security forces work at the scene of what Israeli police said was a stabbing attack by two Palestinians on two Israelis in the West Bank Jewish settlement of Beit Horon near Jerusalem on January 25, 2016. Its not just about potentially rogue soldiers, but also about senior Israeli officials who publicly tell security forces to unlawfully shoot to kill, said Sari Bashi, Israel advocacy director at Human Rights Watch. Whatever the results of trials of individual soldiers, the Israeli government should issue clear directives to use force only in accordance with international law. Elor Azaria, a 20-year-old Israeli soldier, is on trial for the March 24, 2016, fatal shooting of 21-year-old Abd al-Fatah al-Sharif. Al-Sharif stabbed and wounded an Israeli soldier in the West Bank city of Hebron. At issue in the trial is Azarias shooting of Sharif after he had been shot and injured by Israeli security officials. There have been more than 150 instances since October 2015 in which security forces fatally shot Palestinian adults and children suspected of trying to stab, run over, or shoot Israelis in Israel and the West Bank. During that time, Palestinian assailants have killed 33 Israelis, including passersby and security officials, in Israel and the West Bank. Human Rights Watch has repeatedly condemned Palestinian attacks against Israeli civilians. International human rights law limits the intentional lethal use of firearms shooting to kill to circumstances in which it is strictly necessary to protect life, and in which no other, less extreme, option is viable. The Israeli open fire regulations do not note this limitation but do limit shooting at a persons torso or head to situations in which it is necessary to prevent an imminent threat of death or serious bodily injury. However, the calls by officials and the apparent conduct of some soldiers and police deviate from both international standards and the Israeli rules of engagement. With some notable exceptions, senior Israeli officials, including those who command security officers, have in some cases called for excessive use of force and in other cases failed to condemn such calls by others. In one example, following a stabbing attack that injured two Israeli passersby in West Jerusalem on October 10, 2015, police fatally shot the 16-year-old Palestinian suspect. Jerusalem Police District Commander Moshe Edri told reporters that those who carry out attacks should be killed: The police are doing their job and arriving quickly. Within less than a minute and a half, the attacker had already been killed. Everyone who stabs Jews or harms innocent people should be killed. Whatever justification may or may not have existed for shooting the child, Edris final statement appears to be a call to kill all persons who use violence, even after they no longer pose a threat. In October 2015, a radio interviewer asked Israeli Police Minister Gilad Erdan if he agreed with a statement by a lawmaker from an opposition party that if a terrorist has a knife or screwdriver in his hand, you should shoot to kill him without thinking twice. Erdan said yes: Definitely. The question of course depends on the circumstances. There are clear instructions to the Israeli police. As soon as a police officer feels danger to himself or any other citizen, he needs to shoot according to the regulations. Its clear. We dont want to endanger any citizen or police officer. And also, every attacker who sets out to inflict harm should know that he will likely not survive the attack. In contrast, the army Chief of Staff Maj. Gen. Gadi Eisenkot gave a clear admonition to follow the Israeli militarys rules of engagement, telling a group of students on February 17, 2016, that the IDF [Israel Defense Forces] cannot speak in slogans such as, if someone comes to kill you, arise to kill him first. A soldier can only unlock the safety catch if there is a threat to him or his fellow soldiers I dont want a soldier to empty a magazine on a girl holding scissors. The next day, two 14-year-old Palestinians were arrested after allegedly fatally stabbing an Israeli soldier and injuring a passerby in a supermarket in the West Bank. Transportation Minister and cabinet member, Yisrael Katz, of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus Likud party, referred to the incident on Facebook, saying that: The attackers were caught and remained alive. I hope that the statements of the chief of staff, whom I appreciate and commend, against the automatic shooting of minors, were not misunderstood, causing hesitation and endangering lives. Because sometimes the message is greater than the words. The restrictions and codes are clear, but we cannot let attackers remain alive, risking the lives of Jews. In the wake of the publication of a video of the al-Sharif killing, Israeli officials, including Netanyahu, then-Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon, and Eisenkot affirmed the need to obey the Israeli militarys rules of engagement, which limit the use of force to situations in which there is a threat of death or serious bodily injury and, in some circumstances, to stop fleeing suspects. Yaalon, however, was soon replaced by the current defense minister, Avigdor Lieberman, who in October 2015, when he was an opposition member of the Knesset, the Israeli Parliament, wrote on his Facebook page that the government should adopt a policy that no attacker, male or female, should make it out of any attack alive. Given the prevalence and prominence of statements encouraging security forces to shoot to kill even when not strictly necessary to protect life, and persistent and credible allegations of excessive use of force, Netanyahu and senior security officials should issue strong public and private admonitions to intentionally use lethal force only when strictly necessary to protect life. The authorities should regulate the use of force by soldiers and police and conduct credible investigations of all cases in which suspicions of excessive use of force, including extrajudicial killings, arise. The authorities should also change the rules of engagement to limit intentionally lethal use of force to situations in which it is strictly necessary to protect life, in accordance with international standards. Now is the perfect moment for the top officials of the country to repudiate the shoot-to-kill rhetoric and clearly outline the limitations on soldiers and police opening fire to kill, Bashi said. The Use of Lethal Force Statements by senior Israeli officials, including those at the top of the chain of command, encourage violation of both the international standards regarding the use of force as well as the rules of engagement that Israel issues to its soldiers and police officers. In some cases, officials directly responsible for the conduct of law enforcement officers have publicly encouraged them to kill rather than to arrest suspected attackers when feasible. In other cases, senior political and religious officials who are employed and paid by the government have encouraged the killing of suspected Palestinian attackers, and other senior officials have failed to repudiate those statements. In many of the more than 150 cases since October 2015, in which Israeli security forces fatally shot Palestinians who allegedly attacked or tried to attack Israelis with knives, guns, or motor vehicles, video footage and/or witness accounts raise serious questions about the necessity of the use of lethal force. Amnesty International, the Palestinian human rights group Al Haq and a coalition of nine Israeli human rights groups have called on Israeli officials to rein in excessive use of force. Citing video footage, forensic evidence, and eyewitness accounts in many of the more than 150 cases in which security officials lethally shot suspected attackers, the groups have said that security forces appear to have killed Palestinians after they no longer posed a threat, killed Palestinians who did not appear to be carrying out an attack at all, or used lethal force to subdue attackers when non-lethal force would have sufficed. While the Israeli authorities conduct criminal investigations into every fatal shooting of Palestinians by security forces in the West Bank, Azaria is the only security officer to face trial for the shooting death of a Palestinian in the past year. In October 2015, the Association for Civil Rights in Israel wrote to Israels attorney general, expressing concern about official endorsements of a shoot-to-kill policy and demanding investigations into two alleged cases of excessive use of force. In a response letter, the Attorney Generals Office affirmed the need to follow the rules of engagement and said that the attorney general had reminded police and government officials to do so. Shooting after the threat of harm to life or limb has already been thwarted would violate the provisions of the law, the letter said. Rabbis, Lawmakers Yet official endorsement of a shoot-to-kill policy continues. Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef, who holds the state-funded, statutory position of Israels Chief Sephardic Rabbi, said in a March 12, 2016 sermon, partly in response to Eisenkots admonition to limit the use of lethal force, that the Bible authorizes a shoot-to-kill policy: Whoever comes to kill you, rise up and kill him first. let them afterward take you to the High Court of Justice or bring some military chief of staff who will say something else As soon as an attacker knows that if he comes with a knife, he wont return alive, it will deter them. Thats why its a religious commandment to kill him. The Sephardic Chief Rabbi does not command police or soldiers, but he heads the Supreme Rabbinical Tribunal and is tasked with advising on the interpretation of religious law. He is chosen by a committee composed of public officials and more junior state-appointed rabbis and is the state-appointed authority on religious law for the roughly half of Jewish Israelis of Arab or Eastern descent. Netanyahu did not publicly repudiate Yosefs statement. Such statements are also coming from politicians inside Netanyahus government. For example, Bezalel Smotrich of the Jewish Home Party, part of Netanyahus coalition, said in a February 2016 speech in the Knesset that: An attacker who sets out to kill a Jew because hes a Jew, whatever his age, does not make it out alive. Period. Smotrich has repeated that statement multiple times since then on social media. Another lawmaker, Naavah Boker, from Netanyahus Likud party, said in an interview on April 21, 2016 that: A terrorist should simply be killed, also quoting the Biblical passage that whoever comes to kill you, rise up and kill him first. In July, Eisenkot reaffirmed his support for the incoming Chief Military Rabbi, Eyal Karim, after records came to light showing that, in 2003, Karim told religious followers that suicide attackers who have been injured, should be killed. Eisenkot distanced himself from that statement and others considered contrary to the militarys policy but confirmed that he would still give Karim the armys top religious post. In August, female lawmakers from the left-wing Meretz party petitioned Israels Supreme Court to block the appointment, citing Karims statements against integrating women in the army and negative comments he made about the LGBT community and non-Jewish soldiers. The petition was withdrawn after Karim articulated more moderate positions consistent with IDF policy on the above-mentioned issues. He did not address or repudiate his statements about killing attackers who have been injured. On December 2, 2016, he was sworn in as the Chief Military Rabbi. Public Opinion, Support According to Israels Central Bureau of Statistics, about half of Jewish Israelis define themselves as religious or traditional, not including ultra-Orthodox Jews, who usually do not serve in the army. Conscription for non-ultra-Orthodox Jewish men is universal. Most soldiers are in their teens or early 20s, and after a few months of basic training, they can be sent to serve in the occupied West Bank. The US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit [official website] ruled [opinion, PDF] Tuesday that a Minnesota program that keeps sex offenders confined to secure facilities after they complete their prison sentences is constitutional and necessary to protect citizens from dangerous predators. The plaintiffs in the lawsuit, more than 700 offenders, argue that the program is essentially a life sentence and that it is almost impossible to progress to a level deemed necessary for release. Only six offenders are currently released from the program after more than 20 years of its enactment. The court stated: The class plaintiffs have failed to demonstrate that any of the identified actions of the state defendants or arguable shortcomings in the Minnesota Sex Offenders Program were egregious, malicious, or sadistic as is necessary to meet the conscience-shocking standard. The plaintiffs plan to appeal to the US Supreme Court. In June a judge for the US District Court for the District of Minnesota [official website] ruled [opinion, PDF] that Minnesotas sex offender program and civil commitment statutes were unconstitutional. In other countries, controversial laws pertaining to the preventative detention of prisoners deemed a threat to public safety have also come under fire. In May rights groups called for reform [JURIST report] of a Kashmir law they allege is being used to detain people despite the absence of sufficient evidence for a trial. Last year the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit [official website] ruled [opinion, PDF] unanimously that a federal law allowing for the indefinite detention of mentally ill sex offenders [JURIST report] was constitutional. [JURIST] Hong Kongs former chief executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen pleaded not guilty Tuesday to charges of misconduct and accepting advantages following corrupt dealings during his term. Before leaving office in 2012, Tsang reportedly negotiated [SCMP report] with a major shareholder of Digital Broadcasting Corporation (DBC) [official website, in Chinese] to approve license applications. In exchange, Tsang was granted free remodeling of his rental penthouse in Shenzhen. Tsang also recommended his interior designer for an honor without disclosing the nature of their relationship. At trial, Tsang pleaded not guilty [Reuters report] to all three corruption charges, each of which had a maximum sentence of seven years imprisonment. This matter has made Tsang the highest ranking official to face a criminal trial in Hong Kongs history. Hong Kong has recently been faced with political conflict and civil unrest. In November a Hong Kong Court ruled against [JURIST report] two elected, pro-independence politicians, preventing them from taking local office. In October three officials were barred as a result of a political protest [NYT report] launched during their inaugural oaths. The November decision deemed the oaths unfulfilled when two of the legislators pledged their allegiance to the Hong Kong Nation as opposed to the Peoples Republic of China. The politicians were found to have willfully omitted their duty to take the oath when requested to do so and has their positions automatically invalidated as a result. Protests [AP report] took place in Hong Kong Sunday with an estimated 5,000 people marching in support of pro-democracy politicians. [JURIST] An Israeli soldier who killed a wounded Palestinian in the West Bank city of Hebron in March was been found guilty of manslaughter Wednesday. The three-judge military panel in Tel Aviv ruled against Sgt Elor Azaria. Chief judge Col Maya Heller gave a lengthy verdict reading in which the court ruled that accounts [Guardian report] of the incident that he had given were unreliable and problematic. The panel rejected the defenses arguments. We found there was no room to accept his arguments, the Chief judge said. His motive for shooting was that he felt the terrorist deserved to die. Israeli politicians have called for Azaria to be pardone,d and this case has caused division among the Israeli population [WP report]. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been at the forefront of recent international news and reports. Human Rights Watch claimed [JURIST report] recently that some senior Israeli politicians are calling for Israeli soldiers and police to kill Palestinians whom they suspect of harming Israelis, even if the suspects are not currently dangerous. A spokesman for British Prime Minister Theresa May condemned remarks [JURIST report] made by US Secretary of State John Kerry on the current Israeli government. In a speech given in December, Kerry criticized the building of Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, stating that such actions jeopardize prospects of peace in the Middle East. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in December summoned the ambassadors of the 14 UN Security Council members [JURIST report] who supported a resolution condemning Israels settlement in Palestine to rebuke them for the vote. Following the passage of this resolution, Netanyahu also ordered the countrys foreign ministers to reevaluate Israels ties to the UN within the month. [JURIST] President Barrack Obamas [official website] nomination of Judge Merrick Garland [BBC profile] to the US Supreme Court expired on Tuesday following the formal adjournment of the 114th Congress [materials]. The refusal to grant Garland a proper hearing has been regarded [WSJ report] as an injustice against the Obama administration. Republicans, however, have praised Congress inaction, stating that the Supreme Courts available seat should be addressed by the recently elected president and Senate members. With the Republicans holding a 52-48 advantage in the Senate, it is expected that President-elect Donald Trumps [official website] Supreme Court nomination will be supported. Garland will return to his judicial position in the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit and will resume hearing cases on January 18. Obama nominated [JURIST report] Garland, Chief Judge of the DC Circuit, to replace the late Justice Antonin Scalia on the US Supreme Court in March. Garland was appointed to the DC Circuit in 1997 by Bill Clinton and became Chief Judge in February 2013. Republican senators had pledged to block any nomination by Obama, arguing that since it was an election year, the American people had a say [SCOTUSblog op-ed] in the process by voting in the then-upcoming presidential election. In November a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit [JURIST report] attempting to force Congress to vote on the confirmation of Garlands nomination. Prior to the election, Samford University law professor William Ross wrote [JURIST op-ed] about the importance of potential Supreme Court nominations during election years. Mexico laments cancellation of Ford investment From:Xinhua | 2017-01-04 09:46 MEXICO CITY, Jan. 3 (Xinhua) -- The Mexican government lamented Tuesday the decision by American carmaker Ford to cancel its plan to build a plant in the state of San Luis Potosi, worth 1.6 billion U.S. dollars. The carmaker had said it would reimburse "any expenses made by the state government to facilitate this investment," the Ministry of Economy said in a statement. Ford announced the cancellation of its investment in San Luis Potosi, which would have generated 2,800 jobs. It has decided instead to expand its plant and hire 700 new people in Flat Rock, Michigan, in the United States. The Mexican government also said the growth of Ford in Mexico and the jobs it had created in the country "had contributed to maintaining manufacturing jobs in the United States, which otherwise would have disappeared due to Asian competition." "The government reiterates its commitment to make Mexico a more competitive country for national and foreign investment," read the statement. Ford's reversal came on the same day when U.S. President-elect Donald Trump threatened on Twitter to slap taxes on General Motors (GM) for allegedly importing the Chevrolet Cruze into the United States from Mexico free of taxes. GM responded by saying most of its Cruze cars are made in Ohio and only a small number of the cars of the hatchback version are imported from Mexico. Violators of smog rules punished From:Xinhua | 2017-01-03 13:48 China's top environment watchdog disclosed violations of smog-easing measures yesterday as heavy air pollution in the north is set to persist. The Ministry of Environmental Protection punished more than 500 enterprises and construction sites for breaching haze response plans, and 10,000 vehicles were caught breaching regulations. The move came as 72 cities in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and Shaanxi Province have issued or maintained yellow or more severe smog alerts. China has a four-tier warning system for severe weather, with red being the most serious, followed by orange, yellow and blue. When a high alert is in force, heavy polluting vehicles and trucks carrying construction waste are banned from roads and some manufacturing firms have to cut production. Inspectors sent by the ministry identified several metallurgy, agricultural chemicals and steel plants in the region that failed to follow the alert-triggered bans. The government of heavy-industry Tangshan City in Hebei Province has been warned for failing to strictly abide by a truck ban on its roads. Meanwhile, an unlicensed quarry in the city was found to have continued operation even after one of its officials had been detained, the ministry said, citing it as an example of foot-dragging over rectification orders. The ministry urges local governments to take prompt remedial action and severely punish wrongdoings. As of last night, Chinas national meteorological center renewed orange smog alerts for large swathes of the northern region. The continuing heavy smog in large parts of China is disrupting schools and causing holiday travel problems. The smog is predicted to dissipate from Sunday with the arrival of a cold front. Yesterday was the last day of the three-day New Year holiday in the country, but authorities in Zhengzhou, capital of central Chinas Henan Province, ordered students of primary and high schools as well as kindergartens to take today off as the city is on red alert for smog. According to an urgent notice issued by the citys educational bureau, primary and high schools may use weekends or holidays to make up the missing classes. In neighboring Shandong Province, the provincial weather station yesterday issued orange alerts for fog and smog that has led to visibility of less than 200 meters in 11 cities in the province. Around 50 flights were affected in the provincial capital Jinan as of 10am. Nearly 300 toll gates along 30 expressways have been closed, according to the provincial transport department. Heavy fog was also seen in Chengdu, capital of southwest Chinas Sichuan Province, stranding more than 8,000 passengers at its airport. A runway at Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport was closed for four hours, leaving over 80 flights delayed and seven canceled. . Beijing Capital International Airport said flights there were returning to normal. Smog on Sunday caused hundreds of flights to be canceled and highways to shut. Weather forecasts yesterday showed the smog would return to Beijing and nearby Tianjin City from today. It was expected to persist until Thursday in Hebei, the heavily industrialized province that surrounds the capital, and Henan and Shandong provinces as the region battles freezing temperatures. Authorities have been issuing smog alerts across the north since mid-December, prompting orders for hundreds of factories to scale back production or close outright and for restrictions on motorists to cut emissions. A pollution index that measures the average concentration of small breathable particles, known as PM2.5, dropped to just over 100 micrograms per cubic metre in Beijing early yesterday from over 500 late on Sunday. The safe recommended level of PM2.5 is 10 micrograms per cubic metre, according to the World Health Organization. Yesterday, the Beijing government maintained its orange alert for heavy pollution and a ban on heavy-duty construction trucks from using the roads. It is all too easy for populists to pin their domestic failures on the EU, but the only solution to Europes crises is deeper integration and more Europe. Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte has warned that Europe will fall over the edge unless the European Union scales back its ambitions and mainstream politicians start listening to the demands of voters flocking to populist parties. In an attempt to diagnose the populist surge that has dominated European politics in 2016, Rutte stated that Europe cannot push its project by demanding more Europe. He was referring to those wishing to shift powers from member states to Brussels. We are losing the population in the process, he added. It is disappointing that so many Europeans have chosen to turn to so called populist parties, on either side of the political spectrum. And yet, it is not in the least surprising. It is disappointing that so many Europeans have chosen to turn to so called populist parties, on either side of the political spectrum. And yet, it is not in the least surprising. For decades, popular opinion has been ignored, both by national elites and governments and by the EU itself. Only recently have the European institutions really opened up and reached out to the public, in an effort to make themselves more approachable and better understood. On the other hand, national governments have often scapegoated the EU for their own mistakes, while happily claiming its successes as their own. There has rarely been any considerable effort to engage the public with a pan-European civil society movement. National governments have often scapegoated the EU for their own mistakes, while happily claiming its successes as their own. In addition, each national government, in a desperate effort to promote their own countrys interests or rather those of their financial backers have adopted disastrous financial and social policies that have brought Europe into economic decline. Not only have citizens been inadequately informed, even when they have been given the option to vote in referendums, their opinion has largely been rejected until they vote again for the planned outcome. (With the exception of Brexit, perhaps.) That has inevitably fed a growing distrust and suspicion among the European electorate, mainly regarding the EUs undeniable democratic deficit. The sinking flagship The exposure of the euros weakness by the economic crisis dealt another blow to the confidence of Europeans in the continents most ambitious project. Europe set up a single currency without a common taxation system or political integration. It was certainly not a functioning monetary union. The result was the near collapse of the euro, which forced voters to make massive and painful sacrifices to stabilise the continents banks and save the currency. Yet, it is becoming obvious that despite all the measures that have been adopted, the problem has not been decisively solved. Because ultimately, in order for the euro to survive, it needs further political integration. Scaremongering and sewing confusion As if the economic crisis and the austerity measures that followed were not enough, the prolonged war in Syria and instability in other parts of Europes neighbourhood have caused a sizeable refugee and migrant influx to the continent. That has further challenged the European publics openness and tolerance. Populist groups and figures have taken advantage of the situation and promoted scaremongering and further confusion, in order to gain more power and influence to satisfy their ambitions. In some EU countries, they are thriving, even threatening the established parties. And while it is great to see the governing elites finally being punished for their corruption, bad choices and disastrous policies, the alternative is also horrifying. It is sad to see that we are running out of options in Europe, to really transform our continent. The establishment parties have lost the trust of the voters, yet their challengers offer few solutions of their own. Apart, of course, from populist, knee-jerk reactions like abolishing the euro, withdrawing from the EU and restricting immigration and the free movement of people. Citizens need to understand that migration, the euro as an idea or the EU with its single market and the free movement of people, are not the real problems. If there were properly established and managed, their impact on our everyday lives would be a more positive one, both subjectively and objectively. The electorate has not rejected outright the idea of more Europe. Rather, it lost its faith in it. And the electorate has not rejected outright the idea of more Europe. Rather, it lost its faith in it. Yet that is primarily the fault of the national establishment politicians. They have purposely disconnected communication between the EU and its citizens, with the predictable result that discontent surrounding the EU is on the rise. More Europe, that is more transparency, democracy and less inter-governmentalism, is the solution to the EUs current predicament. But sadly, the European elites do not want to lose power by handing it over to a fully functioning European democracy. So we go round in circles while the whole European project, and the continent itself, teeters on the brink of collapse. It is disappointing that so many Europeans choose to abandon what has been achieved over the past decades, to retrace the steps, while believing that the benefits can be maintained. The transition back to national currencies may not be as smooth as we would like it to be. Are Europeans ready to pay the price of further economic depression that the dissolution of the eurozone could bring? Replacing the business tax with value-added tax (VAT), which helped reduce tax burdens on enterprises and industries, has brought many positive effects to Chinas macro economy, according to Fan Yong, a professor at the School of Finance and Tax at Central University of Finance and Economics. Under the reform, VAT covered all services and products, further cutting redundant taxation and reducing the tax burden on enterprises. The reform has boosted industries to be more specialized and professional, and improved productivity standards nationwide. It helped optimize the industrial structure by including modern services, finance and productive services in the reform. Tax cuts in these industries promoted the industrial structure to shift focus to the tertiary industry. And as tax consumption of other industries on the service industry decreased with the implementation of VAT, more funds could be invested in the service sector, thus helping to optimize the industrial structure. In addition, by investing more in tech consultation, research and branding, the product quality and competitiveness of enterprises will be further improved, and the inner growth engines and potential of the Chinese economy could be spurred. As more service sectors have been involved in the tax collection, an improved tax rebate system for service industries would be established, and with the proportion of service sector being expanded in foreign trade, Chinas foreign trade structure could also be improved. Kuanzhai Ancient Street, a traditional cultural hot spot located in downtown Chengdu, Sichuan province, is taking on a new look after Premier Li Keqiangs visit in April 2016. Premier Li visited the Jianshan Bookstore in the alley, and bought a book and two postcards, which have become the best-selling items in the bookstore. Liao Yun, founder of the bookstore, praised the Premier for his care of local culture and encouragement for increasing innovation. I remember that Premier Li said the black-and-white postcard represents the past, while the colorful one represents the future. He also encouraged us to focus more on cultural innovation and creativity. Premier Li Keqiang visits Kuanzhai Ancient Street in Chengdu, Sichuan province, on April 25, 2016. Over the past six months, her bookstores have launched literature and art collection of Chengdu, and a series of cultural products featuring famous local historic collections along with Chengdu Museum. The courtyard, where the bookstore is located, is one of the 45 core yards in the Kuanzhai Ancient Street. The alley has become the name card of Chengdu, with more than 150 entered enterprises, including more than 30 cultural innovative ones. Every year, more than 3,000 jobs were created here, and the consumption reached 300 million yuan. Last year, the alley attracted 17 million tourists. Not far from Jianshan Bookstore is a cafe named Lonely Dings Coffee, which also became well-known after Premier Lis visit. Ding Zhi, the owner of the coffee shop, originally came to Chengdu to join the rescue work during the Wenchuan earthquake in 2008. Later, he settled down here and opened the coffee shop. And according to Ding, he met the Premier three times, once in his shop in April last year and twice at the rescue scene during Lushan and Ludian earthquakes, in 2013 and 2014 respectively. The owner recalled that during the third time they met, Premier Li suggested the coffee producers should introduce domestic brand coffee to the world, such as Yunnan Arabic coffee beans. In this regard, Ding said his coffee shop will open a chain store in Japan, using Yunnan Arabic coffee beans by this March. And he also introduced his public welfare project, opening libraries in rural areas, to the Premier. Premier Li has spoken highly of the project and asked him to keep building such libraries. Premier Li Keqiang visits Kuanzhai Ancient Street in Chengdu, Sichuan province, on April 25, 2016. Over half year, four such libraries have been built with the total number reaching 28, said Ding. Ding added, after Premier Lis visit, business in the coffee shop has skyrocketed with monthly revenue reaching 400,000 yuan, doubling previous years. Premiers visit to the alley shows his concern for the individual economy and the implementation of replacing business tax with value-added tax. The Premier also further explained the specific policy to some private business owners and was informed the policy has relieved the tax burden for private business owners, especially in the food and drink industry. Our tax rate has now lowered from 5 percent to 3 percent, saving 30,000 yuan. And I am also inspired by Premiers speech on combining culture and business industry needs, innovation and new ideas, said Wang Hong, a restaurant owner who plans to integrate traditional culture elements into her daily business. The alley can be narrow but not the idea of benefiting the people, said Premier Li, during his visit to the alley. To a lot of commentators, Canada looks like a sanctuary for progressive thinking on immigration, an exception to the nativist wave sweeping the United States and Europe. A recent cover of the Economist put a maple leaf crown on the Statue of Liberty and proclaimed Canada an example to the world. Famously, on election day, the Canadian immigration website crashed because of the number of Americans reportedly considering a move to their northern neighbor as Donald Trump won the presidency. Year after year, polls show that Canadians are, by far, more open and more optimistic about immigration than the citizens in any other Western country. But such optimism is perhaps easier to achieve in Canada than in other nations: For historical and geopolitical reasons, Canada does not have to cope with the same immigration challenges as the United States and Europe. To start, Canada has pursued a much more selective immigration policy than the United States or any western European country. It accepts far more immigrants legally than most Western nations, but under a policy designed primarily to dovetail with the economic interests of the nation. Since the 1960s, the country has sought to reduce instances of racial bias in its immigration policy, and it now prioritizes professional competence in a younger generation of migrants, regardless of ethnicity. In 1967, it was the first country to move to points-based admission, which other countries have adopted and refined since then: Applicants are rated according to their skills and adaptability relative to the Canadian workforce. In consequence, Canada accepts far fewer immigrants on the basis of family ties than in the U.S., for example, and the proportion of skilled immigrants is much higher. Further, the country sets a higher education standard for immigrants than the U.S. The points system and geography also have a noticeable effect on where Canadas immigrants come from. Official data show that the leading countries among foreign-born residents in Canada are the United Kingdom, China and India. In the U.S., 28 percent are Mexicans and 24 percent are from other Latin American countries. In Europe, foreign-born residents originate mainly from the Muslim world (in the Netherlands, for instance, Turkey, Suriname and Morocco; in France Algeria and Morocco). Canada therefore does not have to deal (at least not on the same scale) with the complex problems associated with integrating newcomers from a rural and conservative Muslim background into a highly secular environment. Not that Canada hasnt welcomed Muslims. Between November 2015 and November 2016, it resettled more than 35,000 Syrian refugees; most European countries have been much more reluctant to extend permanent status to these immigrants. But again, Canada can and does exert a great deal of control over the process. Refugees accepted in Canada have been selected by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Theyve had health and criminal background screenings; their identities have been permanently registered using biometric security methods such as iris scanning. Canada accepts only whole families, single women or children. Single men, considered a possible security threat, are turned away. Canada succeeds because of its specific geopolitical situation, and because it has one of the strictest immigration systems in the Western world. Paul May is a lecturer in political science in the department of government at Harvard University. The importance of voting cannot be understated On Tuesday, Nov. 8, voters will head to the polls to choose who will serve as governor, lieutenant governor, state comptroller, attorney general, state Assembly... Spindle Items ..CRASH DETECTION The much-touted crash detection feature of the new iPhone 14 automatically dials 911 if it calculates that the vehicle has been in... Out of the Past 25 Years AgoNov. 5, 1997 The Kenmore-Town of Tonawanda Board of Education began the planning stages of hiring a new superintendent Monday. Dr. Donald Ogilvie... Community engagement through ThoughtExchange The Sweet Home Central School District is in the early stages of building and implementing a new strategic plan designed to ensure relevancy in our... 201 Shares Share Current reports from the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) suggest that the United States is second on the list of countries with the highest per capita consumption of opiates. Data from 2014 quotes U.S. use of opiates at 700 mg per capita per year. The only country that has a higher per capita use is Canada at 967 mg per capita both in ME (morphine equivalents). This suggests that in 2014 the amount of prescription opiates consumed in this country was equivalent to providing seventy 10 mg morphine tablets to every American including babies and children. Opiates are a class of painkillers closely related to heroin and believed to have a similar risk of addiction as heroin. The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) estimated that about one out every four individuals who use heroin develop addiction. Considering this statistic, physicians will need to exercise more caution when prescribing opioids to their patients. Many in the medical field have blamed the current state of opiate use in the U.S. on the Joint Commissions inclusion of pain as a fifth vital sign in 2001 and the resulting enforcement of its treatment as a quality measure. The validity of this claim is not the focus of this message though. I would like to talk about how this situation has however changed the population dynamics of opiate abuse in this country and some potential solutions. As a physician, I have treated a significant number of patients with opiate abuse and dependence. My initial medical experience was in mostly big urban centers, and most of the patients that I treated with opioid-related problems were usually city and suburban dwellers mostly African American. I recently moved to a different practice and served in a semi-rural setting on the Eastern Shore of Maryland and was very surprised at how common opiate abuse and addiction was in my patient population. While most urban opiate addicts may have started out using street drugs rural opiate users mostly started using either by getting a prescription opiate from a doctor or from a family member or friend who had received their prescription through perfectly legal means as a prescription from a licensed medical professional. This situation was confirmed in a study published in JAMA Internal Medicine in 2014 which revealed that 70.6 percent of individuals taking prescription opiates for non-medical reasons procured these from a friend or relative. While my city patients are well aware of the fact that most physicians consider opiates high risk for addiction, this fact may totally elude my rural patients. I believe what has made rural Americans more at risk for opiate abuse and dependence is the fact that most people believe strongly that a drug prescribed by a medical provider could not be harmful. I had a few experiences with individuals who were clearly addicted to opiates but would constantly state they were not addicts since they received opiates only from licensed prescribers. I quickly caught on the need to monitor the prescription drug monitoring program when a friendly pharmacist gave me a call informing me that one of my patients had recently filled a prescription for an opiate from another doctor within two weeks of when I had written his script. This was my wake-up call, and I have since used this resource when I can. The Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PDMP) has saved me from many long, unpleasant conversations with patients that I suspect narcotic shopping because I can just look up prescription data and tell patients who prescribed their medications and how many tablets they received. One reason for the opioid epidemic in rural America, at least from my experience, is the state of our mental health system in the U.S. Mental health services are significantly inadequate for low-income Americans, and this is even worse in rural areas. While there are difficulties in accessing mental health in rural America, unfortunately, some of the barriers are extrinsic of the health system. I still struggle to convince some of my patients that I do not feel competent enough to manage their mental health needs and they need to see a psychiatrist. I usually get an incredulous response: What! Are you not a doctor? My other doctor managed all my problems I have never had to see a psychiatrist. At this point, I just start explaining that yes, the other doctor most probably may have had more experience with that and felt more comfortable doing that. More often than not, though, my review of charts suggests that most providers just gave up after multiple attempts to transfer complicated patients to mental health specialist failed. With so much metal health issues not appropriately addressed, I am not surprised at the apparent need for mood altering drugs. I hate difficult conversations, and they sap my energy and usually take a lot of time, and most primary care providers including myself may not always have the time this requires. Unfortunately, until providers and health care system managers make efforts to make room for these difficult conversations most providers will reach for the prescription pad and continue to flood our communities with mood altering medications. I welcome the efforts being made by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC ) at addressing this problem by coming out with clear guidelines. Unfortunately while useful this is just a drop in the bucket; I believe all Americans must work together to try to address why Americans as a community are in so much pain that we have to consume 80 percent of all the prescription narcotics in the world. The solution does not only lie with the health system; this is a community problem. Leonard A. Sowah is an internal medicine physician. Image credit: Shutterstock.com A brave little Kilkenny girl continues to defy the medical odds and is currently undergoing an assessment in Dallas in the United States in the hope that she will one day be able to realise her dream to walk indepedently. Katie Lonergan (7) is in first class in the local national school in Owning and is thriving. The bubbly youngster was diagnosed as having celebral palsy when she was 18 months old. She was born in 2009 15 weeks early in 2009 and is a surviving twin. Her twin Conor passed away and Katie spent the first 19 weeks of her life in hospital. During this time she underwent heart surgery and was ventilated for seven weeks. She was diagnosed as profoundly deaf on discharge and was also subseqently diagnosed with dystonia. Her parents Aisling and John have been resolute to obtain the best medical treatment and intervention for their young daughter and their labour of love has paid off. A fund, Katie's Wish to Walk was set up (it has recently closed) and 120,000 was raised. These monies enabled the family to travel to America in 2013 and Katie under SDR (Selective Dorsal Rhizotomy) treatment. Katie responded extremely well to the treatment and undergoes physio on a regular basis. She is able to walk using a frame but she is determined to walk unaided. On St Stephen's Day Katie, her parents and her five-year-old brother Jamie travelled to Dallas to meet with Dr Jan Brunstrom. Their hope is that Dr Jan may be the link that will enable Katie to walk. The neurologist herself has dystonia and celebral palsy and is leading the way when it comes to treating such conditions. "Over the past three and a half years we have realised that dystonia is definitely present in Katie. Her balance is poor and this is down to the involuntary movements due to the dystonia," her Mum said. "She has never met a neurologist before so we are hoping that Dr Jan will be able to help us. As parents, we want to make sure that we have not left any stone unturned. She has such strength and determination but her legs won't work properly for her. "She is flying it in school and she is academically brilliant. Katie was told that she would never walk or talk and now she talks for Ireland. Four years ago we set up Katie's Wish to Walk and now the fund is finished and we want to thank them from the bottom of our hearts. Without their fundraising none of this would have been possible. It is unbelievable to think what her prognosis was and all the progress she has made," she added. There are 30 patients on trolleys and wards at St Lukes General Hospital in Kilkenny today (Wednesday), according to figures from the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO). Yesterday, the figure was as high as 41. Its in stark comparison to the last day figures were recorded before Christmas (December 23), when the total figure for trolleys and wards was three. The hospital is currently implementing visitor restrictions, due to a high incidence of admissions of people suffering from influenza. It has become as consistent a hallmark of the new year as any, and this year is no different. January brings with it a considerable spike in the number of people on trolleys and wards. This time last year (January 4), there were 31 patients on wards and trolleys here in Kilkenny. The year before that, the figure peaked at 39 people on January 5. St Lukes yesterday appealed to members of the public to only visit the hospital if it is absolutely necessary, and not to visit if they have had flu-like symptoms in the previous four days. People with flu-like symptoms are advised to telephone or visit their GPs, in the first instance, rather than presenting at the hospitals Emergency Department or AMAU. The Kilkenny People is teaming up with The Wedding Journal Show to give away ten pairs of tickets to the Dublin show in the Citywest Convention Centre on January 14 and 15. With over 300 of Irelands top wedding suppliers and businesses under one roof, this really is a wedding show not to be missed. Couples will have the chance to Win a 35,000 Wedding at the show; a life-changing prize for anyone. This is the Wedding Journals BIGGEST EVER wedding giveaway to date and the lucky winners will go on a once-in-a-lifetime luxury honeymoon to Dubai, with business class flights from Emirates, following their wedding in the exclusive Markree Castle. Visitors to the show can enter this incredible competition for free, with the winner being revealed during the exciting live final on the main stage on Sunday. Couples can celebrate their upcoming big day in style in the luxurious VIP Lounge where VIPs will be treated to a glass of bubby and a fabulous free Benefit goody bag. The renowned International Bridal Catwalk will run three times daily featuring the very latest wedding dresses, bridesmaids gowns, occasion wear and grooms wear from world-renowned designers and manufactures. Collections are modelled by a team of professional dancers who really know how to put on a show. Wedding Journal Show visitors will also have the opportunity to talk to wedding industry experts about every aspect of their wedding day, from venues and stationery, to cakes and cars, that all-important honeymoon and a lot more besides. At the Alternative Wedding Village couples will be introduced to some of Irelands most creative and quirky wedding suppliers, and the Honeymoon & Destination Wedding Pavilion provides the perfect platform to plan that dream honeymoon or wedding abroad. Opening times: Saturday 14th and Sunday 15th September 12pm-6pm. For your chance to win a pair, answer the following question: In what venue will The Wedding Journal Show take place in Dublin this January 2017? Answers by email to mary.cody@kilkennypeople.ie HANOI, Jan 4 (Reuters) - Here's a snapshot of Vietnamese dong exchange rates in the official market and indicative SJC gold prices in Hanoi at 0138 GMT. Jan 4 Jan 3 USD/VND mid-point 22,162 22,158 USD/VND interbank 22,745/22,750 22,700/22,780 SJC gold (mln dong/tael) 36.20/36.52 36.05/36.47 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, Jan 4 (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 0410 GMT. Jan 4 Jan 3 USD/VND mid-point 22,162 22,158 USD/VND interbank 22,670/22,760 22,700/22,780 USD/VND unofficial 23,060/23,100 23,070/23,100 SJC gold (mln dong/tael) 36.15/36.47 36.05/36.47 Interbank offered rates Overnight 4.1-4.9 3.0-5.0 1 week 4.5-5.1 4.0-5.1 1 month 5.0-5.5 5.0-5.5 3 months 5.1-5.4 5.2-5.5 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) By Davide Barbuscia and Tom Arnold DUBAI, Jan 4 (Reuters) - Bahrain-based Gulf International Bank (GIB) has chosen six banks to arrange an upcoming U.S. dollar-denominated bond sale, sources familiar with the situation told Reuters on Wednesday. The bond will be a benchmark transaction, which traditionally means upwards of $500 million, and could be launched as early as the end of January, said the sources. Citigroup, HSBC, JP Morgan, Mizuho, National Bank of Abu Dhabi and Standard Chartered are the lead banks, said the sources, with one of them adding that JP Morgan and National Bank of Abu Dhabi are coordinating the transaction. GIB was not immediately available for comment. GIB is likely to be one of the first banks in the Gulf Cooperation Council to issue international bonds in 2017, leading the way for a number of regional lenders tapping debt markets to offset the impact of lower oil prices on their liquidity and to comply with international regulatory standards on capital adequacy ratios. The Bahraini lender issued a request for proposals for the bond in November last year, as reported by Reuters. GIB has a $500 million outstanding five-year Eurobond maturing in December 2017. Barclays, GIB Capital, JP Morgan, National Bank of Abu Dhabi, Societe Generale and Standard Chartered were the lead arrangers of the 2012 bond sale. GIB is 97.22 percent-owned by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund. It is rated Baa1 by Moody's and A- by Fitch. (Editing by Elaine Hardcastle) JOHANNESBURG, Jan 4 (Reuters) - South Africa's state-owned power producer Eskom will meet with Exxaro Resources after the coal producer approved a transaction that will see its black ownership drop to 30 percent from over 50 percent, the utility said on Wednesday. The diversified miner said in November it planned to replace its existing ownership structure through a share buyback process that would dilute its black ownership. The ownership issue is important because Eskom's policy requires new contracts with suppliers that have more than a 50 percent black shareholding. Eskom spokesperson Khulu Phasiwe said old contracts such as Exxaro's would not be affected but it was seeking a meeting with the company about the issue. "We are suggesting that we should have a meeting very soon," he said. A spokesman for Exxaro declined to comment beyond saying the company anticipated a meeting with Eskom shortly. Shares in Exxaro were 3.6 percent lower in late Johannesburg trade. Government and mining companies have often been at odds over the issue of "black economic empowerment", known locally as BEE, which was established to redress the imbalances of white apartheid rule. The Chamber of Mines, which represents several mining companies, expressed concern over a revised draft of the mining charter, which seeks to establish a new regulatory agency and impose social development targets on the industry based on revenues. (Reporting by Tanisha Heiberg; Editing by Ed Stoddard and Mark Potter) ISTANBUL, Jan 4 (Reuters) - Here are news, reports and events that may affect Turkish financial markets on Wednesday. The lira was at 3.5840 at 0516 GMT, firming from 3.5925 at the close on Tuesday. The yield on the benchmark 10-year bond was at 11.37 percent in spot trade on Tuesday and was at 11.30 percent in Wednesday-dated trade. The main share index fell 1.46 percent on Tuesday to close at 76,618.2 points. EMERGENCY RULE Turkey's parliament voted on Tuesday in favour of extending emergency rule by a further three months, effective from January 19, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported. OBAMA CALL President Barack Obama spoke by telephone on Tuesday with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan to offer his condolences for those killed and wounded in an attack on an Istanbul nightclub on Dec. 31 for which the Islamic State has claimed responsibility, the White House said. ERDOGAN President Tayyip Erdogan will make the latest in a series of speeches to neighbourhood officials (1000 GMT). YILDIRIM Prime Minister Binali Yildirim will meet a delegation from the Confederation of Turkish Tradesmen and Craftsmen (1030 GMT). He will also meet British Foreign Office Minister Alan Duncan (1300 GMT). U.S.-LED COALITION IN SYRIA The U.S.-led coalition carried out flights in support of Turkish forces near the Islamic State-controlled Syrian town of al-Bab last week but did not carry out air strikes, Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said on Tuesday. For other related news, double click on: Turkish politics Turkish equities Turkish money Turkish debt Turkish hot stocks Forex news All emerging market news All Turkish news For real-time quotes, double click on: Istanbul National-100 stock index , interbank lira trading , lira bond trading (Reporting by Daren Butler) (Adds details about case, background on investigation) By Nate Raymond NEW YORK, Jan 4 (Reuters) - A former Barclays Plc trader pleaded guilty on Wednesday to U.S. charges arising from a global investigation into the manipulation of foreign-exchange prices at major banks, the U.S. Department of Justice said. Jason Katz, a former Barclays trader who later worked at BNP Paribas SA , pleaded guilty in Manhattan federal court to participating in a price-fixing conspiracy, becoming the first person to admit criminal wrongdoing in the probe. Katz's plea came after Barclays and three other banks last year pleaded guilty to conspiring to manipulate currency prices. Barclays agreed to pay $2.4 billion to resolve various related U.S. and UK probes. Prosecutors said that from January 2007 until July 2013, Katz, while working at three different financial firms, conspired with others to suppress competition by fixing prices in Central and Eastern European, Middle Eastern and African currencies. "These conspirators engaged in blatant collusion and succeeded in manipulating exchange rates for multiple currencies to their advantage," Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brent Snyder said in a statement. A lawyer for Katz did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In addition to pleading guilty, Katz also entered a consent agreement announced by the Federal Reserve Board that would ban him from the banking industry and require him to cooperate with its own investigation. According to his LinkedIn profile, Katz joined Barclays Capital in August 2010 from Standard Bank, before moving to BNP Paribas in September 2011 as its director of emerging markets foreign exchange trading. He left two years later to join Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd in September 2013, his LinkedIn profile said. Barclays and the three other banks are scheduled to be sentenced on Thursday by a federal judge in Connecticut. Barclays declined comment on Wednesday. The case is U.S. v. Katz, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 17-cr-003. (Reporting by Nate Raymond in New York; Editing by Dan Grebler and Andrew Hay) (Adds roadshow details, background, quotes) By Robert Hogg Jan 4 (IFR) - The State of Israel is planning to bring its first euro deal in around two years, having mandated banks for a trade that could emerge as early as next Wednesday. The issuer has appointed Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Barclays and Citigroup to organise investor meetings in the UK and Europe starting January 9, according to a lead. The sovereign will visit Germany and France next Monday, followed by the Netherlands and London on Tuesday, with a 10-year benchmark expected to follow. Israel could also consider a longer-dated tranche, subject to demand. "They do these exercises as benchmarking and credit marking as opposed to strictly funding," said a lead banker. "If there is a good level of interest beyond 10-years, they might look at it." The sovereign last came to international markets in 2014 with a 1.5bn January 2024 transaction, and is returning in order to keep its curve liquid, the lead said. That deal was bid at a Z-spread of 58bp, according to the lead. "From a trading perspective, Israel is relatively attractive compared to the rates market," the lead said. "But it will of course garner interest from emerging markets investors. It's one of the most stable sovereigns from an economic perspective, with a credible track record of growth, and it has benefited greatly from the tech boom." Israel is rated A1 by Moody's, A+ by S&P and A+ by Fitch. (Reporting by Robert Hogg, Editing by Helene Durand, Julian Baker) * Fuels distribution unit to restructure ahead of IPO * Six banks to advise on Sinopec Marketing revamp-IFR * Listing could raise $12 bln, depending on markets (Adds banks' comments, details on Sinopec Marketing) HONG KONG, Jan 4 (Reuters) - China Petroleum and Chemical Corp (Sinopec) has mandated six banks to advise it on a restructuring of its fuels distribution unit ahead of a planned initial public offering in Hong Kong, IFR reported on Wednesday, citing people close to the deal. Sinopec tapped China International Capital Corp Ltd (CICC) , China Merchants Securities Co Ltd , CITIC Securities Co Ltd , Citigroup , Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley for the financial advisory role, added IFR, a Thomson Reuters publication. The company had invited 14 banks to pitch for the role, people close to the deal previously told Reuters. The advisers will help the unit, Sinopec Marketing Co Ltd, transition from a limited liability company, which has less than 50 shareholders, into a corporation that can have a multitude of investors and a board of directors, among other things, one person said. The IPO could raise about $12 billion, a separate person said, though the value is subject to market conditions at the time of the listing. China Merchants Securities, CICC, Citigroup and Goldman declined to comment, while Sinopec, CITIC Securities and Morgan Stanley did not reply to a Reuters request for comment on the advisory role and restructuring of Sinopec Marketing. Sinopec Marketing was valued at about $58 billion when it sold a 30 percent stake to a group of 25 investors for $17.5 billion in 2014 in what was hailed at the time as the country's biggest privatisation since President Xi Jinping came to power. The company operates fuel stations and more than 23,000 convenience stores around the country. (Reporting by Fiona Lau of IFR; Additional reporting by Elzio Barreto and Julie Zhu; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman and Stephen Coates) ANM: De vineri temperaturile incep sa scada / Care vor fi maximele la sfarsitul lunii noiembrie si cat de mari sunt sansele sa avem zapada la iarna (Adds quotes, analysts) By Ingrid Melander PARIS, Jan 4 (Reuters) - French far-right party leader Marine Le Pen said on Wednesday that France should leave the euro but the shift to a new national currency could be accompanied by a framework similar to the pre-euro era of the ECU. Speaking to Reuters after a New Year news conference, the National Front leader, who is a candidate in the presidential election in spring, said France's national debt would be denominated in the new national currency under her administration. Le Pen is alone among top presidential candidates in favouring leaving the euro, which France adopted in 1999 after ditching the franc along with other European countries who abandoned their national currencies. But she has offered little detail about how the departure could happen until now. With just a few months left to the first round of the election in late April, mentioning the framework of the ECU could be a move by Le Pen to reassure voters worried over a euro exit. Elderly people are particularly concerned over the impact on their pensions of any big currency reform. "The ECU existed alongside a national currency," Le Pen said. "A national currency co-existing with a common currency would not have any consequences for French daily life," she added. "A 'monetary snake' is something that appears reasonable," she said - a reference to the 'snake in the tunnel' system introduced in the 1970s to limit fluctuations between European currencies. The ECU was a basket of European currencies used as a unit of account by members of the bloc in the two decades leading up to the introduction of the single currency in 1999. It existed in parallel with the European Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM) which attempted to narrow fluctuations between the currencies of member states. Le Pen reiterated her party's stance that leaving the euro would be a major step to recovering sovereignty, something she said she would seek to achieve in negotiations with other EU countries. She said that economic difficulties in other euro zone countries led her to believe she could find allies in such talks. She reaffirmed she would put the result of these talks to a referendum. Opinion polls have consistently shown Le Pen making it to the second round of the presidential election, to be held in May, but losing that run-off to a mainstream candidate, likely to be conservative Francois Fillon. Surveys also show that despite strong misgivings about the EU and the euro, the French want to remain members of both groups. "All this (Le Pen's comments) probably reflects a reluctance to openly advocate a full retreat from the monetary union," said Bank of America Merrill Lynch chief European economist Gilles Moec. "NOT IN YOUR WALLET"? Nicolas Bay, a senior National Front official, said the party had stated the euro did not work and now it was engaged in a "second phase" of explaining how a new system could function. Le Pen's deputy Florian Philippot said some degree of monetary cooperation with other European countries did not represent a change in the leader's view that France should leave the euro. "A currency following the ECU model is not a currency you have in your wallet or your bank account. It's an accounting currency between countries," he said. "It could be a model, maybe even a transitory one," he added. National Front economist Jean-Richard Sulzer said the new system the party advocated would have fixed exchange rates but allow "rare" adjustments. "Rates should be fixed but adjustable," he said. "The exchange rate would not float every morning like before the ECU because it created huge instability for our exporters." He however said the French could, under such a system, have two credit cards, one in francs and one in ECU. "It's not that complicated, is it?," he said. Bank of New York Mellon currency strategist Neil Mellor said Le Pen's comments on swapping the euro for an ECU system raised many questions. "There are a whole host of practical problems with this, but I suspect that her statement isn't designed to be overly bothered with the nitty gritty - it's designed to make a statement," he said. "This is an issue for France but if Le Pen were to win, then it's an issue for the concept of the euro zone as a whole," said Patrick O'Donnell, investment manager, Aberdeen Asset Management. "I think the markets would vote with their feet first of all and spreads would widen significantly." (Additional reporting by Jemima Kelly, Dhara Ranasinghe, Jamie McGeever and Marc Jones; Writing by Michel Rose; Editing by Richard Balmforth) Shenandoah, IA (51601) Today Cloudy with periods of rain. Thunder possible. High 43F. Winds N at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 100%.. Tonight Evening rain followed by a mix of rain and snow late. Low 31F. Winds N at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of precip 100%. Snow accumulations less than one inch. By Lee Hyo-sik Kia Motors' plant in Monterey, Mexico / Yonhap Concerns are growing over Kia Motors' Mexico plant as U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has threatened to slap a "border tax" on vehicles imported to the United States from the country, according to analysts Wednesday. Citing Trump's move to make produced-in-Mexico cars more expensive for American consumers, they say Korea's second-largest automaker will have to rethink its business strategy in North America. Last September, Kia opened a plant in Monterey, Mexico, capable of producing 300,000 vehicles a year. It manufactures the K3 compact sedan and other popular models, most of which are shipped to and sold in the world's largest automobile market. "The incoming Trump administration will certainly increase tariffs on imported vehicles and take other steps to force automakers, both American and non-American, to produce cars inside the United States," said an industry analyst, who declined to be named. "What has happened to Ford and GM clearly shows what will happen to other carmakers operating plants in Mexico." On Tuesday (local time), Ford Motor canceled a plan to open a plant for assembling its Focus sedans in the Mexican state of San Luis Potosi. Instead, the company has decided to add 700 jobs to its plant in Michigan at the cost of $700 million to produce more electric and automated vehicles. Ford's latest change of heart came at a time when Trump is intensifying pressure on American companies not to shift production to Mexico or elsewhere, and instead to operate plants in the United States. The billionaire-turned-politician is also pressing General Motors to stop importing compact cars to the United States from Mexico, threatening to slap a border tax on the largest American carmaker. "Kia's Mexico plant is facing an increasingly uncertain outlook. The automaker built the facility to produce vehicles at cheaper costs, mainly for the U.S. market," the analyst said. "But if Trump revises the North American Free Trade Agreement or hikes taxes on imported cars, the Korean carmaker will be in a difficult position. It would be less economically feasible for Kia to manufacture cars in Mexico." Kia cannot expand its U.S. plant in Georgia overnight, he said, adding that it would take years of planning and require hundreds of millions of dollars of investment if it constructs a second U.S. plant. "I think when Trump occupies the White House, things will be much more difficult for Kia and other carmakers running plants in Mexico." Kia officials say the automaker hasn't made any changes in the way it does business in North America. "We are closely monitoring the situation in the United States. But we haven't taken any action in response to changes in U.S. politics," one company official said. "We will stick to our initial plan as far as our Mexico plant is concerned." By Park Jae-hyuk Restaurants specializing in fried foods have suffered from the recent price hike of soybean oil, which was caused by the short supply of soybeans in South America, hit by severe flooding last summer, industry observers said Wednesday. Soybean oil sellers in Korea, such as CJ CheilJedang, Lotte Foods and Ottogi, have decided to raise the price of soybean oil by 7 to 9 percent. Daesang and other manufacturers are considering raising their prices, depending on market conditions. Soybean oil has been imported from the United States, Argentina and Brazil. However, a disastrous flood that hit Argentina last summer decreased the production of soybeans there and increased global prices. Although Korean sellers have begun to import more soybean oil from the U.S. this year, the supply has yet to become stable, as the refinement procedure takes a certain amount of time. Argentine soybean oil this year is also of inferior quality, yielding 10 percent less edible oil than before. Suppliers and retailers said the price hike seems to affect restaurants only, because most households use canola or other premium oils for cooking. They said small restaurants, most of which make their foods with canned soybean oil for businesses, will suffer the most. Larger franchise restaurants, such as Genesis BBQ and BHC, said they remain undamaged, as they have used olive, canola or sunflower oil to cook. Some analysts said suppliers specializing in business-to-business deals may profit from the price hike, but such firms denied the claim, saying soybean oil accounts for only a small amount for their total sales. Manufacturers said fluctuations in the foreign exchange rate have also influenced the prices of their products. They expected the prices will stabilize by the end of this month, after soybean oil from the U.S. hits the market here. By Lee Hyo-sik Korean shipbuilders have fallen behind their Japanese rivals in their order backlog for the first time in 17 years. Korea's backlog of orders totaled 19.91 million compensated gross tonnage (CGT) as of last December, lower than Japan's 20.64 million CGT, according to data from Clarkson Research, a global information provider on the shipbuilding industry, Wednesday. A year earlier, the Korean shipbuilding industry had 31.08 million CGT, compared to Japan's 25.55 million CGT. This is the first time in 17 years that domestic shipbuilders have fewer ships to build than their Japanese counterparts. Since 1999, Korean shipbuilders have had larger construction volume than their Japanese competitors. But with local firms struggling to win new orders in 2016, their backlog orders have declined at a faster rate than those of Japanese shipbuilders. "This shocking overturn shows how dire the situation has become for Korean shipbuilders over the past few years," said an official at one of Korea's three largest shipbuilders. "For the past two decades, Korea ruled the global shipbuilding industry. But now it is behind China and Japan in orders secured. Local shipbuilders must double their efforts to win new contracts in 2017." Hit hard by falling orders, local shipbuilders have laid-off thousands of workers over the past two years. In 2016 alone, Hyundai Heavy Industries downsized its workforce by 1,700, followed by Samsung Heavy Industries' 1,500 and Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering's 1,300. Thousands more employees are expected to be laid off this year if things do not improve for the struggling industry. Amid the ongoing massive layoffs, some employees, with expertise in ship design, engineering and core areas of business, are reportedly being recruited by Japanese and Chinese shipbuilders, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. The ministry, which appears to be concerned about the country's advanced shipbuilding knowhow going abroad, has been tracking people with core skills since last November to learn of their whereabouts. "I heard some of the laid-off employees found jobs in China and in Japan. But I wouldn't worry too much about it," the official said. "Chinese and Japanese shipbuilders, who have also been hit hard by the prolonged industry slump, have laid-off thousands of workers, as well. They won't be able to hire large numbers of engineers and other skilled workers from Korea." By Yoon Ja-young With the country's population expected to start decreasing in a decade and the economy losing vitality, cities are facing a pessimistic future. It is estimated there will be 3 million empty houses around the country in 2050, with one in four houses empty in some small cities in South Jeolla Province and Gangwon Province. The Korea Research Institute for Human Settlements (KRIHS) noted in a report that a compact city will be an answer to avoid ghost towns. In a report titled "Images of Future Cities and Korea's Choice," the institute cited the aging of society and decreasing population as a serious threat for Korea's cities. Korea's population, which has been continuously increasing after the Korean War, is facing a huge transition. According to Statistics Korea, the population is expected to peak at 52.2 million in 2030, and then to continuously fall to reach 44 million in 2060. The working age population has already started to decline, after peaking at 37 million last year. The country will see the figure drop by over 10 million by 2050. "A low birthrate and aging population are becoming serious problems, lessening the vitality of the community," it noted, pointing out that senior citizens aged 65 or older will be 40 percent of the population in 2060. "Since senior citizens with low mobility tend to choose places close to healthcare, culture and commercial facilities for their residences, concentrating urban functions will be more necessary than ever," the report said. It pointed out that rural areas and small cities in provinces are likely to be uninhabited if the government fails to take measures. Data from the land ministry, for instance, estimates that 53 percent of areas where people currently reside will see a population decline by 2040. "Most of the small cities in provinces are included in this category. They will have difficulty in maintaining their urban function due to the lack of demand." Currently, most of these small cities, however, are making their development plans based on estimations that the population will increase. Many of these cities are in fact experiencing "shrinkage sprawl," in which developed areas of the city expand despite the decreasing population. This only incurs increasing costs and fiscal burden on the local government. While the increasing number of empty houses and schools is already rising as a headache for some local governments, the institute advises that a compact city can be the answer. This means they should concentrate their urban functions in regional hubs. While smartly shrinking suburbs, the essential urban services such as healthcare, welfare and education as well as residential functions should be concentrated in downtown or transportation hubs. Local governments are also advised to ponder over ways to make use of land or houses that are left empty due to the falling population or else they may trigger crime, not to mention a drop in real estate value. The institute advises turning them into "green infrastructure," building parks or farms. Temporarily using them as pop-up cafes, shopping malls, galleries, and concert halls, for instance, can also help the city to attract visitors and revitalize itself. By Nam Hyun-woo New Woori Bank outside directors said Wednesday the bank's new CEO will be appointed from within the bank. "The board decided to exclude candidates from outside the bank," said Ro Sung-tae, the chair of the newly organized Woori Bank board, during a press conference at the bank's headquarters in central Seoul. "In order to seek stability in the bank after its privatization, former or current executives from the bank or other Woori affiliates who are familiar with internal matters would be the right candidates." After the bank was freed from the government's control by selling off its 27.9 percent stake to seven major shareholders, five outside directors were recommended by the new shareholders and appointed on Dec. 30. Hanwha Life Insurance recommended Hanwha Life Economic Research Institute's former chief Ro. Park Sang-yong, former Public Fund Oversight Committee chairman, was recommended by Kiwoom Securities. Former Shinhan Financial Group President Shin Sang-hoon was recommended by Korea Investment & Securities. Chang Dong-woo, IMM Investment president, was recommended by IMM Private Equity. And Tong Yang Life Insurance recommended ICBC's former Middle East head Tian Zhiping. The new outside directors will comprise an eight-person board, along with two from within the bank and one non-executive director proposed by the Korea Deposit Insurance Corp. (KDIC), which previously held a controlling stake in Woori and still has 20 percent. "In recent years, the profitability of Woori Bank has significantly improved and it is hard to say the bank is in crisis. Thus, we did not recognize any necessity to recruit a new CEO from outside the bank," Ro said. According to him, the board members will look into the candidates' visions for improving the bank's corporate value, managerial achievements and other leadership-related aspects. The application window will close at noon on Jan. 10, and the new CEO will be approved at a general shareholders' meeting scheduled for March 24. "Though the shareholders' meeting is scheduled for March, we will do our utmost to confirm the candidate as soon as possible in order to contain unnecessary discord and seek stability in management," Ro said. To the question about selling the KDIC's remaining shares in the bank, Park said he believes the government arm will either opt to sell its stake to multiple oligopolistic shareholders or in a block sale. "Should discussions and studies begin this year and the price of Woori Bank stocks rises sufficiently, I believe it will be appropriate for the KDIC to sell half of its remaining stake in the bank by autumn," Park said. Since some of the new major shareholders are strategic investors who are rivals in the same sector, such as Hanwha Life and Tong Yang Life, concerns have been raised that such an ownership structure may hamper Woori's successful "collaboration" with other financial firms. To these questions, Ro said "it is possible" but he and other outside directors are there to come to a consensus for the progress of Woori Bank. Park also said, "We are not the executives or employees of the shareholders. This means that we are independent from them. Though we will try to reflect the shareholders' will. If their will goes against the progress of the bank, we will not follow that." During the conference, the directors dropped a hint about Woori's transformation as a financial holding company. "After we nominate the new CEO, we will discuss the plan and perhaps come up with some conclusions within the year," said Park. The bank commemorated its 118th anniversary at its headquarters on Wednesday. An official of the Cultural Heritage Administraion (CHA) holds a "mokgan," or ancient wooden tablet, during a press conference at the National Palace Museum of Korea in downtown Seoul, Wednesday. The tablet is one of the 23 mokgans excavated from Seongsan Fortress in Haman, South Gyeongsang Province, from 2014 to 2016. / Yonhap By Kwon Mee-yoo Wooden tablets excavated from Seongsan Fortress in Haman County, South Gyeongsang Province, revealed the strong centralization of power of Silla Kingdom (57 BC935 AD). The wooden tablets, known as "mokgan" in Korean, had regional governance and tax systems of Silla inscribed on them, the Cultural Heritage Administration (CHA) announced Wednesday, summarizing the results of the 17th examination of excavated relics from the fortress carried out from 2014 to 2016. Kim Sam-ki, director of the Gaya National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage in charge of the excavation, said the institute discovered 23 tablets in the excavation, which add ups to a total of 350 unearthed from the fortress. The highlight of the 17th dig was a four-sided wooden tablet made from pine dated around the 6th century. The 34.4-centimeter-long, 1.8-centimeter-wide tablet bears 56 letters. It is in the format of a report from a village official to a central bureaucrat, bearing a written apology. It says a government official was supposed to work for 60 days, but he worked for only 30 days. Legal terms on the wooden tablet are evidence of the constitutionalism of Silla established during the reign of King Beopheung from 514 to 540 and the regions' governance by the central government. "No detailed records of Silla laws exist and some scholars insist that the laws were not effective. This wooden tablet proves Silla was a law-abiding country and had a written culture," said Yoon Seon-tae, a professor at Dongguk University. The Gaya Institute also will publish a book on the wooden tablets found in the fortress to encourage further research on them. U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon By Lee Han-soo, Park Si-soo Outgoing U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has declared his bid for the South Korean presidency, saying he is ready to "sacrifice myself" for the country. He made the remark during a meeting with Korean correspondents in New York on Tuesday (local time). His term as the world's top diplomat expires on Dec. 31. "If what I have seen, learned and felt as U.N. Secretary-General would help develop South Korea, I am willing to sacrifice myself to achieve this goal," Ban told Korean correspondents at the U.N. "The public is enraged and frustrated by the lack of good politics. I have gotten personal requests about how to improve society that has exposed accumulated problems. I am in deep agony thinking about how to do my part." He acknowledged the need for a political alliance in Korea, saying politics is not something he can do by himself. By Rachel Lee Outgoing U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, a leading presidential hopeful, allegedly received bribes worth $230,000 (280 million won) from Park Yeon-cha, an entrepreneur who was at the center of a bribery scandal involving former President Roh Moo-hyun and his aides, according to media reports. Citing sources close to the businessman, the weekly magazine Sisa Journal reported Saturday that Park, former CEO of Busan-based shoemaker Taekwang, gave a bag with $200,000 in cash to Ban in 2005 when Ban was serving as South Korea's foreign minister. The money was handed over to Ban when he hosted a welcoming dinner for visiting Vietnamese foreign minister Nguyen Dy Nien at his residence in Hannam-dong, Seoul, according to the magazine. The magazine also reported that Park asked a restaurant owner in New York to give $30,000 to Ban in early 2007 after Ban became the U.N. secretary-general. Citing a source close to Park, the report said the money was given to Ban directly. The report also claimed that prosecutors covered up Park's bribery case involving Ban in 2009 even though they were aware of it through testimony from Park in March 2009 that he gave money to Ban during their investigation into the Park's lobby scandal. By Kim Hyo-jin The voting age is likely to be lowered to 18 for the 2017 presidential election. The New Conservative Party for Reform (NCPR), created by lawmakers who left the Saenuri Party, said Wednesday that it will seek to lower the voting age from 19 to 18 and apply it to the next election. With all three opposition parties supporting an increase in the number of eligible voters, there is a high possibility that the Election Law could be revised during an extraordinary session of the National Assembly in January. If revised, those who are 18, currently high school students, will be able to vote in the presidential election, which could take place earlier than scheduled. "We agreed to lower the voting age to 18," Rep. Choung Byoung-gug, the head of the preparatory committee for the establishment of the NCPR said after a meeting of the group. "We will strive to pass a revision as soon as possible and apply it possibly from the presidential election." The NCPR, which will be officially inaugurated Jan. 24, now has 30 incumbent lawmakers. With 165 opposition lawmakers and six independent lawmakers, the National Assembly can meet the requirement of 200 seats needed to pass a revision bill without the participation of the ruling Saenuri Party. The Saenuri Party now has 99 lawmakers while the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) has become the largest party with 121 seats. The minor opposition People's Party has 38 seats and the Justice Party, six. The opposition parties made lowering the voting age their official position in the 20th National Assembly. Hailing the NCPR coming onboard, Rep. Woo Sang-ho, the DPK's floor leader said, "Lowering the voting age is an issue to be pushed through in this Assembly, not one to be considered depending on whether it is advantageous to each party." The People's Party earlier announced the adjustment of the voting age as one of their four major reform policies. Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo, a former party leader and a potential presidential candidate, has publicly supported a civic groups' campaign to lower the voting age to 18. If the voting age is lowered, the number of eligible voters will increase by 600,000 1.5 percent of the electorate, considering it was 42.1 million at the end of last year, according to the National Election Commission. South Korea is the only country that limits the voting age to 19, while the remaining 32 OECD nations allow voting from the age of 18 with the exception of Poland where it is 20, lawmakers said. The voting age in Korea was set at the age of 21 in 1948 and lowered to 20 in 1960 with the onset of the liberal government. It was later adjusted to 19 in 2005, the first change in 45 years. Chung Yoo-ra By Jung Min-ho A Danish high court has rejected Chung Yoo-ra's appeal to overturn a district court decision to detain her. According to the Danish prosecution, the Western High Court decided Tuesday (local time) that the daughter of Choi Soon-sil, the central figure in a massive influence-peddling scandal in Korea, must remain in custody until Jan. 30. It is unclear whether she will take the case to the Supreme Court for a final decision. Chung and four other Koreans, including her baby born in 2015, were apprehended at a house in Aalborg, Sunday, on charges of staying in the country illegally. Investigators believe she may return to Korea voluntarily. But if she fights the extradition process in Danish courts, she may not return in time for Feb. 28, the deadline for an independent counsel team's investigation. The team led by special prosecutor Park Young-soo sent an extradition request as well as legal documents about her alleged crimes to the Danish prosecution through the Ministry of Justice. The ministry is expected to send the documents to Denmark within this week. Mohammad Ahsan, deputy director at Denmark's Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, said in a statement he believes the decision over her extradition will be made within a few weeks. But it depends on "when we receive the necessary documents from South Korea," he added. Chung is suspected of receiving special favors from Ewha Womans University in admissions and grading owing to the influence of her mother, who allegedly exploited her ties with President Park Geun-hye to benefit herself and her cronies. Investigators are looking into who was behind the favors. So far, Lyou Chul-gyun, an Ewha professor known by his penname Lee In-hwa, has been arrested. More professors will soon be questioned. Among them is his colleague Kim Kyung-sook. During questioning, Lyou said it was Kim who introduced Chung and Choi to him in 2015, and asked him three times to give Chung high grades she did not earn. Speaking to Korean reporters in Denmark earlier this week, Chung said she also wondered about her higher-than-expected grades in 2015 because she did not attend classes that year after giving birth. She claimed to have no idea how it happened, but blamed any special treatment given to her on her mother. However, according to the education ministry's audit office, which inspected the university in October and November, Chung may know exactly how it happened. During the inspection, auditors found that Chung and Choi met at least six Ewha professors personally, including Kim and former university president Choi Kyung-hee, during the 2015 spring semester. According to the audit office, Kim, who was the dean of the College of Physical Education at that time, even gave "specific advice about how to receive good grades" to Chung with two other professors at her office. The counsel team will summon Namkung Gon, former chief admissions officer at Ewha, today to question him over the allegations. He had earlier said that Kim mentioned Chung before the admissions process, hinting at favors for her. During a Supreme Council meeting of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), Rep. Kim Young-joo criticized Chung's comments, urging the foreign and justice ministries to bring her back as soon as possible. "She shows no signs of repentance," the lawmaker said. "After enjoying all these unjust benefits, she is now selling out her mother to avoid any blame." By Jun Ji-hye South Korea will set up a special unit this year tasked with removing the North Korean leadership including its leader Kim Jong-un in the case of a war, the Ministry of National Defense said Wednesday. The ministry advanced the plan by two years as part of efforts to better counter Pyongyang's evolving nuclear and missile threats. During a New Year policy briefing to the acting president, Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn, Defense Minister Han Min-koo said, "We are planning to set up a special infiltration brigade with the goal of removing or at least paralyzing North Korea's command structure in the event of a war." He said the original schedule was to set up such a unit by 2019. The unit will be established to infiltrate into Pyongyang to remove its wartime leadership that has the authority for ordering the use of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) including nukes and missiles, he said. The ministry stressed that the North is obsessed with advancing its nuclear and missile capabilities by increasing its stockpiles of weapons-grade plutonium and highly enriched uranium despite pressure and sanctions from the international community. Han said the ministry has recently updated information on the amount of the materials the North may be holding, indicating that the stockpile has actually increased. But he refused to reveal a definite figure. The ministry has so far estimated that the repressive state has 40 kilograms of weapons-grade plutonium. Han warned that the North could make a "strategic or tactical provocation" in the coming months while not giving up its nuclear and missile programs. In his New Year message, Sunday, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un also made it clear his country has no plan to abandon its nuclear and missile ambitions. Kim claimed Pyongyang was in the final stages of preparations for a test launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) capable of carrying a nuclear warhead. The North's KN-08 road-mobile ICBM with a range of more than 10,000 kilometers is capable, in theory, of hitting targets on the U.S. mainland. Speculation is growing that the isolated state may push ahead with major provocations this month on and around the young leader's birthday, Jan. 8, and the inauguration of Donald Trump as the new U.S. president, Jan. 20. Regarding the planned deployment of the U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system, Han said the installation will go ahead as planned, downplaying calls from opposition parties to reconsider the plan. "THAAD deployment is to better deter North Korea threats. It cannot be the subject of political debate," Han said. "The battery will be deployed as planned." Seoul and Washington announced a decision last year to deploy the THAAD battery here this year, but the opposition bloc has been demanding the plan be reviewed after President Park Geun-hye, who strongly pushed for the deployment despite controversy, was impeached by the National Assembly, Dec. 9. Mindful of THAAD dissenters' claim that the deployment will hurt South Korea's relations with China, Han said, "We will seek out various communication channels with China and consistently explain our position." On the upcoming inauguration of the new U.S. government, Han said the ministry will enhance high-level personnel exchanges to stably manage key pending issues between the two countries, including defense cost-sharing and the transfer of U.S. wartime operational control (OPCON) of South Korean forces to Seoul. By Kang Seung-woo The government's low-key approach on sharing the cost of stationing the U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) here is coming under scrutiny as the new U.S. government is likely to demand more money. Korea and the United States hold negotiations on cost-sharing for the upkeep of 28,000 American troops every five years under the Special Measures Agreement (SMA). Seoul pays about half the cost 944.1 billion won ($782 million) and 932 billion won in 2016 and 2015, respectively. The last SMA was made in 2014 and the next negotiations for 2019 through 2023 are likely to begin later this year, according to the foreign ministry. However, Seongnam Mayor Lee Jae-myung, a liberal presidential hopeful, claimed Tuesday that South Korea is actually paying more than Japan and Germany, both of which have a U.S. forces presence. According to him, Germany and Japan pay 18 percent and 50 percent of the total costs, respectively, while South Korea share stands at 77 percent. His calculation includes indirect costs such as providing land for bases and firing ranges for free along with an exemption from taxation and benefits such as cheaper electricity and telephone charges things not included in the SMA negotiations. In addition, civic groups also insist that the SMA should include the nation's support such as providing police to guard bases and troops under the Korean Augmentation to the United State Army (KATUSA) program. His claim came as U.S. President-elect Donald Trump is highly expected to demand full payment of the stationing costs after taking office Jan. 20 as he frequently hinted at on the campaign trail. In response to Lee's argument, Foreign Ministry spokesman Cho June-hyuck said Wednesday that it is not appropriate to simply compare each country's spending for the U.S. military presence as there are different conditions. Diplomatic analysts said Seoul should seek to provide the U.S. military with funds on a case-by-case basis rather than paying a lump sum in an effort to enhance transparency on where taxpayers' money is used."Like Japan (and Germany), the defense-cost sharing contributions need to be determined on a case-by-case basis," said Choi Jong-kun, a professor of political science at Yonsei University. "The method will improve transparency in defense funding use that comes from the taxpayer." In October 2013, the government was under fire for being idle in its monitoring of funding after Rep. Park Joo-sun found that the U.S. military was sitting on more than 1 trillion won of unspent defense funds provided by Seoul. According to Choi, the government tried to adopt the case-by-case method in the last SMA negotiations, but the U.S. side rejected it. The foreign ministry declined to comment on the issue. "We are well aware of the two methods' advantages and disadvantages. Keeping them in mind, we are bracing for the upcoming SMA negotiations," said a foreign ministry official without further elaborating. Kim Yeoul-Soo, an international politics professor at Sungshin Women's University, also said, "The government is required to include the indirect support such as real estate and taxes, and public utility charges reductions in the upcoming negotiations." However, it will not be easy to persuade Washington to consider the indirect support, according to Park Won-gon, an international relations professor at Handong Global University. "When it comes to defense costs, the U.S. Congress wants the South Korean government to pay more, as well as Trump," he said. "So, to keep its burden at the current level, Seoul needs to demand something like revising the ROK-U.S. missile agreement to extend the South's ballistic missile range, or building a nuclear-powered submarine, in return for the cost-sharing." Saenuri Party Rep. Suh Chung-won, a loyalist of President Park Geun-hye, speaks to reporters at the National Assembly, Wednesday. He urged In Myung-jin, the party's reformist interim leader, to leave the party immediately. / Yonhap Park loyalist urges interim leader to leave immediately By Kim Hyo-jin, Choi Ha-young Rep. Suh Chung-won, the de-facto leader of a Saenuri Party faction that supports President Park Geun-hye, called on the party's interim leader In Myung-jin to leave the party immediately, Wednesday. Suh's demand represents a deepening struggle between Park loyalists and In, who has called for their departure from the party repeatedly, saying their existence is hampering reform. "It is In, not us, who should leave the party right away," said Suh. "Did he come to the party to reform or ruin it?" he asked. Suh labeled In a "tyrant" and a "left-wing extremist," saying he was purging the party just like North Korean leader Kim Jong-un purges his country. This is a response to In's speech that likened the pro-Park faction to a "tumor." In, Tuesday, targeted Reps. Suh and Choi Kyung-hwan. Suh added that In and some party officials are forcing lawmakers to quit the party and demanding that others not go to pro-Park rallies. Previously, Suh sent a letter to fellow lawmakers, saying that he will not leave the party through an "undemocratic" way. The ruling party recruited In, a former Christian activist, to overcome the party's crisis that it has faced since the influence-peddling scandal erupted involving impeached President. Jeju governor quits Jeju Governor Won Hee-ryong announced Wednesday that he will leave the Saenuri Party and join the group that broke away to create the New Conservative Party for Reform. "I will quit the Saenuri Party and take a path to form a new political force," Won said during a press conference at the National Assembly. "I apologize to the public because I failed to prevent the Park administration's bungled state management while being pulled back by factional politics centering on a single person, the President." His move came as anti-Park lawmakers who quit the Saenuri Party en masse last month are preparing to officially inaugurate the new conservative party, Jan. 24. The New Conservative Party for Reform has 30 lawmakers so far and is expanding its influence with more Saenuri Party members joining. Won became the second governor to leave the party, following Nam Kyung-pil of Gyeonggi Province. His resignation reduces the number of Saenuri Party-affiliated local governments to just six out of 17. Later in the day, Rep. Jeong Kab-yoon, a five-term lawmaker loyal to President Park, said he will leave the Saenuri Party, too, taking responsibility for the presidential scandal that led to the impeachment of Park. The breakaway of Jeong, one of the key pro-Park members, raised speculation that more pro-Park members could follow suit, according to party officials. In has ratcheted up his offensive against Park loyalists, saying they need to give up party membership as a way to take responsibility of the botched state administration and Park's impeachment. Former party Chairman Rep. Lee Jung-hyun, a staunch ally to Park, became the first to resign amid increasing pressure by In. With the aggravating feud between the new chief and mainstream pro-Park lawmakers, the New Conservative Party for Reform is expecting additional 10 or so Saenuri lawmakers to join them. "I decided to leave the party as I worried the Saenuri Party could even dissolve amid falling popularity and accelerated internal division unless someone takes action," Jeong told reporters. Police station chiefs and inspectors are participating in an inauguration of metropolitan police force and drug enforcement group to encounter growing crimes that became more extensive and global at the National Police Agency in Seoul in October 2004. / Korea Times file By Ko Dong-hwan Facebook post of Incheon Seobu Police Station's new conduct codes for officers / Courtesy of Facebook Who would have thought that America's hippie culture of the 1960s would cause a "conflict of interests" in Korea's Incheon police force a half-century later? The clash revolves around a notice issued by Incheon Seobu Police Station chief Cho Eun-soo to officers on Jan. 1. It included conduct codes on grooming and uniforms "to realize the reliable, devotional police force image," and quickly spread on Facebook. It aroused massive criticism from officers on SNS, saying Cho's "passe" order reminds of the government's zero-tolerance hair regulation in the early 1970s. The notice highlighted officers' hairdos, particularly perms, and their downgraded reliability because of not dressing properly on duty. The notice required officers to "maintain a neat hairstyle, not leaving hair on the side and back bushy" and to "keep their uniforms ironed and shoes clean." It also ordered substation chiefs to "keep an eye on the officers' cleanness on hairstyles and mustaches." Enraged Incheon police officers left more than 100 comments on Facebook, including: "Will skinhead pass the bar? Who decides the standards of being neat?"; "If the one in charge of making the standards does not like a certain style, does that style suddenly become unallowable?"; and "Whether it's a perm, raised up or groomed mustache, why cannot they just let it go once they don't look disgusting?" Most said the notice harked back to the government's hairdo regulation in 1970-71. Koreans in the late 1960s and early 1970s began to enjoy the influx of U.S. hippie culture, taking up acoustic guitar playing, drinking beer and wearing blue jeans. But with the slogan of "sweeping off debauchery fads," police under the regime of dictator president Park Chung-hee the late father of incumbent President Park Geun-hye cracked down on men whose hair covered their ears and looked "anti-social" with longer back hair than women. Some were sentenced to a year or less in prison or fined 5,000 won ($4) or more. A police officer shaves a citizen's hair for growing improperly long. / Korea Times file A Seoul Shimmun report from Oct. 1, 1971, said police nabbed 1,164 citizens on one day and shaved their heads on the spot. Meanwhile, some officers endorsed Cho's notice, saying the new order is only natural to follow as a police officer. Their voices are supported by laws that mandate police "must retain prestige at all times with kempt grooming and uniform." One netizen said: "It is one's attitude problem when he or she misunderstands the guideline to stay looking neat as a violation of human rights." Another said: "There is no need to mention violating human rights in public workers being required to look neat in accordance with their class and status." In 2007, a court ruled in favor of a police officer who wanted to reverse his superiors' decision to give him three months' detention for growing a mustache. The court dismissed the superiors' reason for punishing the officer for "looking improper as a public worker," adding there was no evidence the mustache made the officer look "delinquent." Lee Song-mi, right, a second grader at Dangjin Information High School, serves a client, who is her classmate, while playing the role of a banker during Shinhan Bank's financial education program at its education center in Gwanghwamun, central Seoul, Dec. 15. / Korea Times photo by Chung Hyun-chae Lack of education produces financial illiterates in real life By Chung Hyun-chae The need for financial education for children have been consistently raised by people with experience of having difficulties investing in stocks, buying insurance and even opening a bank account after years of studying economics at schools. Currently high school students studying liberal arts choose two among nine social studies subjects, including economics, East Asian history and Korean geography, to take the College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT), the state-administered university entrance exam. According to data from the Korea Institute for Curriculum and Evaluation, only 2.26 percent of students chose economics for the CSAT in 2015. "Feeling daunted, most students hesitate to study economics," said a teacher at a Daegu-based high school. What's worse is that even those who opt for economics can hardly learn about finance related to real life because this only accounts for around 14 percent of the textbook. Experts say such an education system has produced a lot of financially illiterate people. Lack of financial education is not a concern for Koreans alone. In January 2015, a tweet by Naina K, a 17-year old German girl, caused a nationwide debate about what students learn at schools and how relevant it is to their lives. She wrote on Twitter, "I am almost 18 and have no idea about taxes, rent or insurance. But I can analyze a poem in four languages." Following the controversy over her comment, the German government decided to introduce the subject of finance related to real life at 110 high schools starting from last November. Outside lecturers Oh Heung-seon In Korea, schools have been seeking outside help for financial education. Among the experts is Oh Heung-seon, a former director of the Korea Financial Education Association and adjunct professor of the Division of Finance and Accounting at Cyber Hankuk University of Foreign Studies. "I introduce diverse careers in finance or accounting such as fund manager and analyst to middle school students during my class," Oh said. He provides classes tailored to needs of students at each grade level. For example, he teaches elementary school students how to write a pocket money entry book while advising high school students, who are able to start a part-time job, on how to cope with a situation such as failing to get paid. "I felt that financial education helped students foster personality," Oh said, citing his experience of delivering a lecture at a juvenile prison in Gimcheon, North Gyeongsang Province. "After taking my class, a 15-year-old boy told me that he wanted to take a school qualification examination and obtain a welding license to make money,"Oh said. "He came to have a great dream for his life." Banks Banks are at the forefront of financial education especially for the banking system. Shinhan Bank launched a financial education program in 2012 to help students learn basic knowledge and tips on how to become financially smart. For this, the bank established an education center in Gwanghwamun, central Seoul. "Schools and individual students can apply for our program which is so popular that applications are closed at the moment," Shin Yun-jin, deputy general manager of the corporate social responsibility department at the bank, said. Since last year when all middle schools adopted a free learning semester, in which middle school first graders spend one semester without tests to explore future career paths, schools actively seek such programs to provide finance education to students. In Shinhan's program, students are able to play the role of both clients and bankers at the center which has exactly the same setting as a real bank. "It is interesting to open a bank account as a bank client and issue a card as a banker," said Lee Song-mi, 17, a second grader at Dangjin Information High School in Dangjin, South Chungcheong Province. "As I have dreamed of entering banking after graduating from high school, this experience will undoubtedly help me in seeking jobs." For those who cannot come to the bank's center in Seoul, Shinhan also sends bankers to schools to teach students. All branches of Shinhan throughout the nation have relationships with about 580 schools as of last year. In the case of schools located in remote areas, the bank also sends traveling branches called Van Birds which the bank created last year. The van is equipped with a small-scale bank branch setting so that students are able to experience banker and client roles as well. "We focus on making classes interesting so that students can get interested in finance because finance is not so imminent an issue for them," Shin said. "We make sure that we do not encourage students to become a banker but we explain what bankers, which we believe is the basics of career education." Government effort According to the guidelines for the national curriculum which was revised in 2015 and will be implemented beginning this year, high school students will learn basic social studies and science in their first year. "Recognizing the importance of financial education, we expanded the finance part in social studies," Gil Hyun-joo, an educational researcher at the Ministry of Education, said. In an effort to quell rising concerns over a lack of expertise in finance among social studies teachers, the ministry conducted training programs for 2,400 teachers from September through December last year. "We will provide training programs for more than 5,000 teachers this year as well," Gil said. By Doug Bandow U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump criticized the defense dole for South Korea, one of Washington, D.C.'s, most sacred sacred cows. However, as his swearing in nears, he is being strongly pressed to abandon his contrarian views. During the campaign Trump accurately diagnosed the problem of nominal allies becoming costly dependents. He declared: "We are better off frankly if South Korea is going to start protecting itself." Moreover, "We get practically nothing compared to the cost of this." He's right: it doesn't benefit America to pay for the defense of nations able to defend themselves. Alas, Trump fell short when discussing the solution. He argued: "They have to protect themselves or they have to pay us." The U.S. shouldn't hire out its military like a mercenary force. Rather, Washington should turn over defense responsibilities to one of the world's wealthier nations. However, after being elected Trump appeared to be going on his own apology tour, calling South Korean President Park Geun-hye to promise that America would be "steadfast and strong" with the Republic of Korea. Policy advisers Alexander Gray and Peter Navarro wrote that "Trump will simply pragmatically, and respectfully discuss with Tokyo and Seoul additional ways for those governments to support a presence all involved agree is vital." If true, then the president-elect will be effectively declaring preemptive surrender. South Koreans interpreted the forgoing to mean that the good times will continue: no need to bother their own people by matching North Korea's military efforts. Indeed, Seoul plans to do whatever is necessary to save its defense subsidies. American forces arrived in the Korean peninsula after Japan's surrender in August 1945. The U.S. still has nearly 29,000 troops stationed in the South which act as a tripwire to ensure American involvement in any new war. In its early years the South remained an economic and political wreck, vulnerable to renewed attack by Pyongyang. However, the world has changed dramatically. In the 1960s South Korea took off economically, soon passing the collectivist North. Democracy arrived in the ROK in 1989, when the South's last military junta passed into history. Neither of Pyongyang's traditional allies would back the DPRK in another aggressive war today. The South possesses roughly twice the population and 40 times the GDP of North Korea. But the ROK's military is smaller than that of the North, since the South has no reason to invest more on territorial defense when the world's greatest military power is prepared to intervene on its behalf. Washington turned defense into welfare. Trump's campaign remarks caused much complaining in Seoul, worried that it might have to contribute more in "host nation support." However, the greater cost to the U.S. is that for raising, equipping, and maintaining military units made necessary by additional force commitments. There's no persuasive reason for the U.S. to continue protecting populous and prosperous allies. With the end of the Cold War, the Korean peninsula lacks any significant security relevance to America. A second Korean War would be horrid, of course, but would not threaten the U.S. in any way. Loss of a mid-size trading partner cannot justify a willingness to go to war. Some American policymakers see the ROK as necessary to contain China, but South Koreans are unwilling to play that role. Finally, U.S. defense guarantees may discourage some potential conflicts. However, America's role encourages allies to behave irresponsibly and ensures U.S. involvement in any conflict even if not in America's interest. Anyway, East Asia doesn't appear to teeter on the edge of chaos. And better to have friends and allies do more, rather than rely on America's willingness to come in. Would an American departure cause South Korea and Japan to go nuclear? Washington could maintain its nuclear umbrella while withdrawing its conventional forces. But there is something worse than the possibility of friendly democratic states building nuclear arsenals. That is getting in the middle of a nuclear exchange over stakes of minimal importance to the U.S. In short, South Korea should defend itself. America's goal should be responsible internationalism rather than either isolation or intervention. President Park said that President-elect Trump promised to work with Seoul "to protect against the instability in North Korea." The best way to do that would be to push the ROK to take the steps necessary to deter and if necessary defeat a North Korean attack. Doug Bandow is a senior fellow at the Cato Institute and a former special assistant to President Ronald Reagan. He is the author of "Tripwire: Korea and U.S. Foreign Policy in a Changed World" and co-author of "The Korean Conundrum: America's Troubled Relations with North and South Korea." The U.S. is fully capable of defending against North Korean missiles, the White House said Tuesday, after the communist nation said it's in the final stage of preparations to test-fire an intercontinental ballistic missile. "For years, the United States has, at the direction of the commander in chief, President Obama, has increased the defenses that are deployed in the Pacific region to protect the American people from this threat," White House press secretary Josh Earnest said at a regular briefing. "I can confirm once again that the United States military does believe it has the capacity to protect the American people from the threat that's emanating from North Korea," he said. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un made the remark about test-firing an ICBM in his New Year's address on Sunday. It was widely seen as a thinly vehiled threat that Pyongyang is close to developing a nuclear-tipped missile capable of striking the continental U.S. The threat sparked security concerns in the U.S., even leading U.S. President-elect Donald Trump to send a tweet: "North Korea just stated that it is in the final stages of developing a nuclear weapon capable of reaching parts of the U.S. It won't happen!" It was unclear what Trump's message means exactly, whether it represents his assessment of the North's weapons capabilities based on intelligence, or if it means he's going to do something to prevent the communist nation from acquiring those capabilities. Still, it showed Trump recognizes the issue as a priority. The North's threat also dominated Tuesday's briefing at the Pentagon, with reporters even asking if the U.S. is willing to shoot it down if the North test-launches an ICBM, and whether the U.S. is willing to take out a North Korean capability in a preemptive fashion. Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook stressed the U.S. is capable of defending itself. "I'm not going to hypothesize on what could happen in the future," Cook said in response to a question if the U.S. is willing to shoot down a North Korean missile. "But we remain confident in our ballistic missile defense and in our defense of our allies and our defense of the homeland." The U.S. Pacific Fleet has a number of ships equipped with the Aegis ballistic missile defense system that has undergone successful testing. Cook also said the U.S. is working hard to deploy the THAAD missile defense system to South Korea "as quickly and efficiently as possible." "We'll do everything we can working with the South Koreans to do that. We think it's an important part of our broader missile defense efforts in support of our ally and in support of the region as well," he said. He also rejected China's opposition to the deployment. "There's no reason for China to oppose that system. This is a defensive system. And there's no reason for anyone in the region to have concern about that, other than, perhaps, North Korea," he said. (Yonhap) By Shin Chul-ho Last February, I retired as a school teacher and entered Korea National Open University to study Japanology. My scattered knowledge of Japan's politics, economy, society, culture and history began to come together and producing new, dense branches of knowledge. Naturally, Japan came to me more clearly than before. I was very happy when I was rewarded with a scholarship thanks to studying hard. I have also been making remarkable progress in Japanese. While in the vortex of my desire to know everything about Japan, I came upon a column in the Donga Ilbo, a Korean daily, dated Oct. 7. In the article, titled "the Nobel prizes for science, Japan: Korea 22: 0?" the author analyzes how Japan has won so many Nobel prizes in science but offered many incorrect pieces of information throughout, which I did not find acceptable. "The Japanese people emphasize that the Japanese invasion of Korea in 1592 was a war of technology that deserves to be called the China War.' The Japanese invaders took Korean potters like Lee Sampyung, who was from the low class, back to Japan and subjugated the world market in China in the 17th century by fully supporting the market. The huge sum of money made at the time became the seed capital for the Meiji Restoration. Since then, Korea has never surpassed Japan in terms of the economy." I asked a professor who specializes in Japanese cultural history regarding the validity of the author's opinion, and here is the answer I received: "It is true that the Japanese army planned to kidnap Korean potters before the invasion. It is untrue, however, that Lee Sampyung was from the low class, and (this misinformation) comes from the ignorance that Japan dominated the Chinese market in the 17th century." China cornered the world china market from ancient times. Only during a short period of confusion when Ming was taken over by Qing that Japan was able to export china to Europe because Dutch East lndia Company temporarily shifted the china production center from China to Japan. When it comes to china, China comes first as its name suggests. For the first time in my life, I learned that Japan made the seed money for the Meiji Restoration by selling china. This is also due to ignorance and irresponsible assertion. It was not until Japanese china was exhibited in an international exposition in the latter half of the 19th century that china became popular in Europe. "Since then, Korea never surpassed Japan in terms of the economy." This statement is shockingly wrong too. Korea never got to lead in terms of economic power even way before the Meiji Restoration but far long before. Because it was closer to China, Korea adopted elements from advanced Chinese civilization earlier than Japan and delivered many of these elements of Chinese culture and institutions to Japan during the formative period of its kingdom. Even so, we cannot say the Korean Peninsula was more advanced than the Japanese islands in agricultural productivity. However, the stages of industrial development among East Asian countries prior to the Industrial Revolution in England are not that meaningful. More to the point, Japan began its industrial revolution earlier than Korea, and the latter was left behind, having the agony of being colonized by the former. This historical lesson has an important meaning even today. When an entity, whether it be a business or a nation, miss a golden opportunity to undertake reform, it is overtaken by competitors. The fact that Japan has remained stationary for the past 20 years shows it well. Based on unbearable ignorance, an editorial writer of one of Korea's leading newspapers discusses how this nation can win Noble prizes. But only when these sort of half-trained people disappear from the stage will Korea win Nobel prizes in the nearer future. The writer is a retired elementary school teacher. Write to heemy123@hanmail.net. U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has dismissed the possibility that North Korea could develop a nuclear missile capable of hitting American territory. In a tweet Monday, Trump said, "North Korea just stated that it is in the final stages of developing a nuclear weapon capable of reaching parts of the U.S. It won't happen!" Trump's remarks are seen as a reaction to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's New Year message that his country was close to testing an intercontinental ballistic missile. How Trump will deal with the secretive state is drawing keen attention, especially given that the president-elect's first request for a special classified intelligence briefing was reportedly for one on North Korea and its nuclear weapons program. Still, it's unclear whether Trump will act to stop Pyongyang's weapons program or question the North's weapons development capabilities. This may be natural, considering that Trump has yet to make a North Korea policy in the run-up to his inauguration. On Monday, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said in an op-ed story that the objection to the deployment of an advanced U.S. missile defense system in South Korea is one of the ministry's key policies for 2017. This is a clear indication that Beijing will intimidate Seoul further over the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) issue. It's quite regrettable that South Korea might have to choose between the United States, its traditional ally, and China, its largest trading partner, at a time when conditions for diplomacy are getting tougher. Recent developments have increased the chance that North Korea could be among Trump's top foreign policy agendas. One can take note of his criticism of China, the North's closest ally, for not doing enough to discourage its nuclear weapons program. This might reflect Trump's wish to resolve the nuclear quagmire by applying stronger pressure on Beijing. But given the poor track record so far, it's questionable if China could do more to influence its unruly neighbor. The deepening conflict between the two superpowers is making the nuclear issue more complicated, which requires our diplomats to be more creative and proactive. But the snowballing political crisis now engulfing President Park Geun-hye is only touching people's nerves. It's time to join forces to tackle the looming diplomatic debacle. Kevin Koh, CEO of DDB Korea, an advertising agency, poses in front of the words that embody his company's and his belief in what makes for success in the business. / Courtesy of DDB Korea DDB Korea chief stresses 'win-win' mindset for clients, company By Kim Ji-soo On New Year's first Monday, workers at ad agency DDB Korea were already busy attending to business. The casually dressed mostly 30-somethings walked hurriedly about as if already under a deadline. It is here in this office that Kevin Koh, 50, sits as CEO, catering to such global companies as IKEA, LEGO, and Henkel, as well as Korean companies. Asked what message he delivered to his employees at this year's commencement meeting, Koh said he asked his employees to work efficiently. "This year, it will be about working efficiently," Koh said. "Or simply put, don't hold meetings that do not add value, and don't attend a meeting if you have no value to add." He also asked employees to prioritize the company over their respective divisions, and to respect colleagues in this industry, where services are the products themselves, and therefore it is natural for people to be emotional or sensitive. DDB Korea has won Campaign Asia's Agency of the Year Award for four straight years from 2012 to 2015. Last year, its chief, Koh, won Advertising CEO of the Year for Japan/Korea for the first time among agencies in Korea. On the honor of winning Campaign Asia's recognition as best advertising chief in the Japan/Korea region, he said with a sheepish smile, "It's not bad to win." Koh won for creating a work environment that encourages inspiration and equality in the workforce. Foremost, employee satisfaction at DDB Korea was the highest in the Asia-Pacific region, and second among DDB subsidiaries worldwide. This task is a tall order for a leader of any organization, but it is especially meaningful in the Korean ad industry, which is considered "closed" because of the prevalence of in-house agencies and because English is not the predominant language spoken. DDB Korea itself is part of DDB Worldwide Communications Group, which has more than 200 offices in some 90 countries. The ad giant made a name for itself in the 1950s and 1960s with its Volkswagen "Think Small" series. Asked how he achieved the equality and inspiration against the backdrop of the Korean culture of hierarchy, where rank and seniority prevail, Koh replied: "I think a sense of equality brings about inspiration." He said he emphasizes speaking out fairly and equally at meetings but at the same time paying "respect" to rank and seniority, in line with the "hoesik" practice of dining out with colleagues after work. "Creating such an environment where there is respect among members in our company is important," Koh said. The cultural environment is important because he wants satisfied employees first, which will lead to satisfied clients and business growth, he said. The company's systems, such as its performance appraisal system where an employee is cross-evaluated by colleagues and immediate supervisors, enable efficiency and equality to coexist in the company. The company also has a so-called "Avengers" team comprised of lower-level employees who tackle such issues as improving company morale. Based on such values, the company was able to create a drama-like ad for IKEA, which centers on the fact that Korean children have a hard life, but they could have the greatest playground for families at home with IKEA furnishing. DDB Korea also works with NH Nonghyup and the 24-hour news cable channel YTN in informing three times a day the national prices of agricultural produce, which works as a standard guideline on the produce previously sold at random prices in stores throughout the nation. Most of all, Koh said he stresses "business creativity" to his employees, meaning the ads are not just about creativity, but also about business. Ads are a tool that allows a client to heighten brand awareness or product sales. "I highly value business creativity, with an emphasis on business," he said. He said, for example, while creative advertising may be inspiring, it also has to have a tangible effect on the product of their client, who hopes to reach more consumers with its product. He added that the reason DDB does business is to allow for its clients to grow. Advertising, like any industry in this day and age, is not exempt from change. Koh said he wasn't particularly perturbed by the changes brought about by the so-called fourth industrial revolution. "There is always change, and I tell my people, do not subject your idea to a new technology. Work to produce the big idea, and then the technology will be reconfigured," he said. The fast advent of digital technology today means consumers have more channels through which to view ads. Asked to cite his priority as an organizational leader, Koh said "consistency." "You want the facts to be reported to the CEO, even on a bad day," he said. "To that end, I don't read business management books so much anymore. Now, these books contain stellar practices that I would be tempted to try out. But if I were to try out some business model or practice only for several months before doing away with it, it would not be fair to the employees or to our clients." The consistency also ensures employees that the shared vision and policies will continue. As for DDB Korea, he said he would like to retain its characteristics of being both local and global; about 5 percent of its accounts are from the worldwide group and the rest of its accounts are developed locally. Koh is also "bicultural." After graduating from Yonsei University in Seoul in 1988, he migrated to the United States and then to Canada. He returned to Korea in 2000. As for his business goals this year, Koh said he hopes for DDB Korea to make it among the top 15 advertising companies in Korea and to increase its client retention from 7.5 years to up to 8.5 years. Asked if he was a pessimistic or an optimistic leader, he replied: "I do not think I am either. I like to take things as they are. When we fail to get an account, I like to think of it as a blessing in disguise. I don't think I am a pessimist or an optimist. That question is hard to answer. I guess I am here to make decisions, to herald the company in times of uncertainty." By Lee Min-hyung Samsung Group is moving to improve product quality this year, in a bid to recover its brand image following the Galaxy Note 7 fiasco, and the firm's link to the political scandal surrounding President Park Geun-hye and her confidant Choi Soon-sil. Management of the nation's largest conglomerate held this year's first weekly meeting Wednesday. Presidents and high-ranking executives of key affiliates highlighted the need to overcome the ongoing crisis and market uncertainty here and abroad by realigning management capacity to make more quality products. In particular, Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Kwon Oh-hyun reaffirmed that the company would push for reform so as not to repeat anything like last year's Galaxy Note 7 production termination. "For this year, we are going to do what I said in my New Year's address," he told reporters without elaboration. The remark came after the Samsung executive delivered his New Year's address to employees, Monday. He said the company would focus on winning back customer trust and making sweeping changes to product quality. Some of Samsung Electronics' top management including consumer electronics division head Yoon Boo-keun and visual display unit chief Kim Hyun-seok did not attend the meeting due to the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in the United States. The world's largest trade show begins Thursday (local time) in Las Vegas. As the tech fair is considered the most influential venue to sign business-to-business (B2B) contracts with global clients, other Samsung presidents such as Samsung Electro-Mechanics President Lee Yoon-tae and Samsung Electronics' memory business head Jun Young-hyun said they would be going to Las Vegas tonight for meetings with clients and to seek new business opportunities. The executives, however, declined to comment on the ongoing political turmoil in which the company and other Seoul-based conglomerates are suspected of providing illicit funding for Choi and her family. With the scandal drawing a growing public backlash, Samsung had to delay its planned year-end executive reshuffle and other corporate activities. For the regular weekly meeting, Samsung invited Rutgers University professor Kim Won-yong, who spoke on platform business strategy and disruptive innovations. He urged Samsung to embrace the ongoing shift from a traditional manufacturing business to the platform industry. The court held that employees who have not exercised the option to join the Employees Pension Scheme must be given a further chance of 6 months to do so. GOT7 has captured the heart of many fans and they have showed that they are loved worldwide by winning MAMA 2016 as the Worldwide Favorite Artist. But the spotlight doesn't go with GOT7 only. The ahgase, GOT7 fandom, also fall in love with GOT7's parents, especially Mark's. The most popular parents for GOT7 is Mark's father, Raymond Tuan. He is often called Papa Tuan by ahgase. He has got a lot of attention from ahgase by getting so much increase for followers in instagram and twitter. According to report from koreaboo, here are 7 reasons Mark's father gets a lot of attention: 1. He is true fan of GOT7 by buying their merchandise He doesn't only buying, but he actually collects the merchandise. It is not only from Korea, but from Thailand and Japan too. He often shows picture of his collection on his post. 2. He always tries to find their pictures when he travels When he has a vacation with his wife, he always posts a picture with the picture of GOT7. For example, when he was in Thailand, he tried looking for their picture and took picture with them. With the post, he said, "we just try to fund you guys", What a sweet fans! 3. He is friendly to ahgase Whenever ahgase sees Papa Tuan and they want to take a picture, he welcomes them easily and greeted so warmly. Not only he is friendly to ahgase, he also often makes a joke to their tweet. According to report from officiallykmusic, he often replies to their tweet. For example, when fans tweet "What is Papa Tuan's ideal girl?" He tweeted "you". What a funny and flirty way to answer! 4. He supports GOT7 Ehen GOT7 has fan meeting or concert in USA, especially in LA, he will welcome them and ask them to come over to his house. He once made special birthday party to Bambam. Papa Tuan really prepared the party with the help of other family members. 5. He knows GOT7 very well It is proven that he knows some many of the jokes GOT7 has. He knows the jokes that are usually said to each of the members, meaning that he often sees their video or reality show a lot. 6. He shares the post of fans accounts He easily shares the post of GOT7 fans to his post as he has many ahgase followers for his instagram and twitter. When there is something serious or fun, he often posts it and makes ahgase give comments immediately. 7. He post picture of Mark a lot He seems to less care of Mark's image by posting many picture of his son when he was a kid. Some are embarrassing and some are cute. He also has no doubt to post the picture of Mark when he was wearing girl outfit. But it doesn't matter as he does it for a joke and make funny caption. Fans really like his posts a lot. They like to see more of Mark. Gov. Asa Hutchinson says he doesn't want the Legislature to hold off on taking up his $50 million tax cut plan. He says it would send the wrong message to the state and delay his push to cut income taxes across the board. The Republican governor on Wednesday defended his proposal to cut income taxes for hundreds of thousands of low-income residents. Hutchinson calls it the most conservative approach and something the state can afford. House Speaker Jeremy Gillam earlier floated the possibility that lawmakers may not enact any tax cuts during the upcoming session and instead wait until a special session or 2019. Hutchinson's plan faces opposition from some Republicans who want deeper tax cuts that take effect sooner. Senate Majority Leader Jim Hendren said he thinks there is strong support for Hutchinson's tax cut plan along with a proposal to exempt military veterans' retirement benefits from the income tax. Hutchinson was elected in 2014 on a vow to cut income taxes across the board. Lawmakers in 2015 approved a $103 million tax cut that the governor championed. The top Republican in Arkansas' Senate says he expects lawmakers to begin modifying the state's hybrid Medicaid expansion even before the future of the federal health law that enabled the expanded insurance program is settled in Washington. Senate Majority Leader Jim Hendren told reporters on Wednesday he expects the Legislature to pursue more restrictions to the program, which uses federal funds to purchase private insurance for low-income residents. Lawmakers convene for the session next week. Hendren predicted a special session would be needed to address longer-term changes if Congress follows through on Republicans' vow to repeal the health law. House Speaker Jeremy Gillam urged lawmakers to have patience as the health law's future is debated in Washington. Gov. Asa Hutchinson says he thinks the battle over reauthorizing funding for the state's hybrid Medicaid expansion is in the past and the focus needs to be on seeking flexibility from the federal government for new restrictions for the program. Hutchinson said he believed the funding fight over the program, dubbed Arkansas Works, is behind lawmakers. He says the state needs to seek flexibility to impose a stricter work requirement and other changes to the program. The program uses federal funds to purchase private insurance for thousands of low-income residents. The program last year faced a heated debate over its future in the Legislature, with some Republicans calling it an embrace of the federal health care law that Republicans vow to repeal. The state leaders spoke at an Arkansas Associated Press Managing Editors forum. Top legislative leaders say they're not actively trying to discourage Arkansas lawmakers from filing bills on controversial social issues such as abortion or guns. They want their colleagues, however, to consider the purpose of such proposals. Arkansas House Speaker Jeremy Gillam and Senate Majority Leader Jim Hendren said they don't know if they would support legislation similar to a law in North Carolina that requires people to use bathrooms consistent with the gender on their birth certificates. The North Carolina law faces widespread criticism from opponents who call it discriminatory and prompted boycotts of the state. Hendren said the last-minute negotiations in 2015 over an Arkansas religious objections measure that became law provides a guide on how to find compromise on divisive issues. The two spoke at a forum held by the Arkansas Associated Press Managing Editors. Three police officers fired at a man with a gun early Sunday after the man walked onto National Avenue and pointed a gun at the officers, who were about 10 feet from him. Springfield Police Chief Paul Williams on Tuesday afternoon revealed the exact number of officers who fired. James E. Lewis, 44, of Springfield died at a hospital after being shot about 3:30 a.m. Sunday. His family says Lewis had a mental illness and may have called 9-1-1 as a way to try to get help. At his news conference, Williams said officers found Lewis riding a bicycle around Silver Springs Park, on the west side of National south of Division Street, after Lewis called 9-1-1, said he had a gun and threatened his wife, and gave his location. Williams says investigators now have learned from Lewis' family that Lewis wasn't married. His family said in an interview on Monday that Lewis had a girlfriend. Officers tried to get Lewis to speak to them but he wouldn't, Williams said. Instead he kept riding his bike. At one point, he fired one or two shots but officers didn't shoot him because they didn't believe Lewis' shots were aimed at them. Officers also fired bean bags at him, and tried to use an electric stun gun to subdue him, but both efforts failed. By the time Lewis got out of the park onto National Avenue near Lynn Street, about eight officers were in the area and three of them were about 10 feet away from Lewis. The officers repeatedly tried to get Lewis to drop the gun so they could take him into custody and sort out what was going on, Williams said. The chief said Lewis then drew his gun again and pointed it at officers. That's when the three closest officers fired at him. After he fell, they immediately gave first aid and called for an emergency medical crew, Williams said. The chief said, besides protecting themselves, another goal of the officers on the scene was to keep Lewis from getting to a nearby neighborhood. Williams said that could have endangered people living in that area. The chief said the three officers who fired their weapons are on administrative leave, which is routine after a lethal use of force. Two simultaneous investigations are ongoing. Results of one investigation will be sent to the Greene County prosecuting attorney for a determination of possible criminal charges. The other is an Internal Affairs investigation that likely will never be revealed to the public. It will examine whether officers followed all the department's rules, regulations and mandated procedures. Unless someone is fired, Williams refuses to tell the public when officers are disciplined for not following department policies. The investigations will include interviews with witnesses and the other officers who were on the scene. A New Mexico convenience store owner appears to promote his business by making threats of political violence. The Mayhill Convenience Store has had signs up for more than a year that include phrases like Bullets Not Ballots and Kill Obama with the word care written in smaller letters under it. Although the signs have been around for some time, local station KOB drew new attention to the store on Friday. Outside the business, a sign reading Obama & other Muslims not welcome here greets customers. A former worker at the store, Marlon McWilliams, told the station that people who have called out the owner for his racist signs have been banned from the establishment. If you go in there and you offend him, you cant go in there no more, McWilliams said. He turns lots of people away. The Council on American-Islamic Relations released a statement condemning the store. While everyone has the First Amendment right to free speech even offensive speech we urge the stores owner to remove the sign in the interest of common decency and of our nations unity at a time of increasing divisions, CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper said in a statement. The owner of the store could not be reached for comment when huffingtonpost.com tried to reach him and the stores listed phone number is no longer in service. Follow Us on Facebook @LadunLiadi; Instagram @LadunLiadi; Twitter @LadunLiadi; Youtube @LadunLiadiTV for updates The Chief of Army Staff, Lt-Gen Tukur Buratai, on Tuesday said Nigeria would deploy 800 soldiers to the United Nations Mission (UNAMID) in Dafur. Buratai made the disclosure at the Nigerian Army Peace Keeping Centre during the graduation of 755 soldiers and 45 officers that participated in the pre-deployment training in Jaji, Kaduna State. The army chief, who was represented by the General Officer Commanding (GOC), 1 Division, Maj.-Gen. Adeniyi Oyebade, said Nigeria would continue to deploy quality peacekeepers as part of its contribution to global peace and security. He tasked the personnel to discharge their duties in consonance with the UNAMID mandate at all times. Buratai said the rule of engagement in the UNAMID gives them the opportunity to exhibit utmost professionalism in the discharge of their responsibility. I caution you to avoid any ugly incident that could tarnish the professional image of the Nigerian Army in particular and Nigeria in general, he said. Follow Us on Facebook @LadunLiadi; Instagram @LadunLiadi; Twitter @LadunLiadi; Youtube @LadunLiadiTV for updates BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT: If youve never had your hair done in Italy and chances are you havent you can come close to that experience at Valente Hair & Co. on Girard Avenue, which next month celebrates its first full year in business. Its 26-year-old owner is San Diego-raised Laura Valente, a graduate of Paul Mitchell beauty school and, more notable still, a veteran of three years learning and crafting her hairdressing talents in Italy. While in Naples where her father was stationed at a military base, Valente seized the opportunity to meet and assist some of Italys most famous hairdressers. Not only did Valente learn the techniques of these stylists, but she recognized what kind of a salon shed like to have herself when she returned to the United States. Valente Hair & Co. (named, Valente says, in honor of her fathers architectural firm, Valente & Co.) is modeled after the salons in Italy she most admired. Thats how I came up with the very European, luxurious-yet-modern feel, she explained. Even the salons location, across the street from Mary, Star of the Sea Catholic Church, attracted her because of all the cathedrals in her midst when in Italy. But Valente is quick to acknowledge that outside appearance isnt everything. You can have the most beautiful looking salon, she said, yet without the talent of the artistic hairdressers who work there, you dont have people who can create these beautiful hairstyles and colors and make women leave feeling Omigosh! Sometimes customers leave crying. Tears of joy, of course. When people cry, I know that everything I have put into the salon is paying off, Valente said. Valente employs 12 hairdressers, all of whom perform a full spectrum of beauty services. She prefers to call her employees artists. I like people who are really passionate and hungry and who want to go beyond being just a hairdresser. They want more. They want to convert themselves from a hairdresser to a well-known artist. Valente Hair & Co.'s clientele is primarily, but not exclusively, women from La Jolla, and its not all female, either. In fact, Valente says one of her goals in 2017 is to promote and entice more male customers to the salon. Its plum location and rich Italian heritage aside, Valentes salon may not necessarily be out of your budget. I believe in luxury for everybody, Valente said with confidence. I want to have a salon where people can come in and experience that at a reasonable, competitive price. While most of her time is occupied these days running the business, Valente still takes clients herself. I specialize in coloring and hair extension when shes not in administration mode, she said. Ive found a happy medium. You shouldnt be surprised, either, that the boss is 26. Valente recalls her adolescence like this: I was always 13 going on 30, she said. Valente Hair & Co. is at 7722 Girard Ave., Suite 100, La Jolla. (858) 230-7574. valentehair.com Business Spotlight features commercial enterprises that support La Jolla Light. Some commercial property owners in La Jolla, led by Lincoln Foster, have filed a lawsuit against the City of San Diego in an attempt to undo a newly approved taxing authority designed to spruce up local streets and sidewalks. The lawsuit filed in San Diego Superior Court claims that the City has fallen short in providing general maintenance of La Jollas coastal business district, forcing taxpayers to take matters into their own hands. In November 2016, 56 percent of voters approved creation of the La Jolla Maintenance Assessment District (MAD), a legal mechanism that allows residents to tax themselves and fund additional maintenance in their area through outsourced vendors. Single-family homeowners will pay $87 a year, and the cost to owners of apartments and commercial property will vary by square footage. Former City Attorney Michael J. Aguirre, who is representing the dissident group of property owners, said the MAD violates California law because its collecting funds for several services taxpayers already pay the City to deliver. If the City is providing the base level of maintenance, then taxpayers can legally create a district to go above and beyond that, Aguirre said. What you cant do is re-tax people for the same service theyre already supposed to be getting. According to the San Diego Charter, the City has an obligation and responsibility to provide various services to its residents, including regular maintenance of capital assets such as land, buildings, equipment and infrastructure. The new assessment is expected to raise about $500,000 a year for trash collection, litter pickup, power-washing sidewalks and landscape maintenance. According to a preliminary engineering report on the MADs proposal, services will include shrub and ground cover maintenance, watering of plants and weed control, all of which make parks, sidewalks and streets cleaner and more attractive to visitors. That is absurd, Aguirre said. The City of San Diego already has an obligation to take care of its own parks. Those are all things the City should already be doing. City spokesperson Katie Keach declined to comment on the pending litigation. District 1 City Council member Barbara Bry, who was elected Nov. 8 to represent La Jolla and other parts of northwestern San Diego, also declined to comment. Bry previously spoke in favor of the special tax and called the MAD a necessary change that would make the area cleaner, safer and more attractive. The Village of La Jolla is a treasure enjoyed by all San Diegans and people from all over the world, and the formation of the Maintenance Assessment District will ensure we keep it the special place we all want it to be, Bry told The San Diego Union-Tribune in November. Enhance La Jolla, a non-profit organization, was the driving force behind the MAD. Voters also chose Enhance La Jolla to manage the district, with City oversight of its administration. Phyllis Pfeiffer, an Enhance La Jolla board member, said the organization has the funds to start improving the neighborhood but was restricted by City regulations and codes. For example, the City collects garbage in public areas twice a week, Monday through Friday, Pfeiffer said, but bins near popular tourist destinations were already overflowing by the end of a weekend. This trash would then spread throughout surrounding parks and streets. The La Jolla Community Foundation offered to pay for trash pickup on the weekends. We were told we couldnt touch the City trash cans because its a liability, said Pfeiffer, who is president and general manager of the La Jolla Light and a founding member of the La Jolla Community Foundation. Other improvements include planting more trees and flowers, adding more benches and uniform flower pots across City parks. Those trees and flowers are going to die if we dont have anyone to water and maintain them, she said. Pfeiffer said waiting for the City to provide similar services would be like Waiting for Godot, a play by Samuel Beckett, in which two characters wait for the arrival of someone named Godot who never arrives. We had to ask, Are we going to wait for the City to get around to it, or are we just going to do it ourselves? she said. Everybody wants more from the City, but the City is strapped for cash right now. Most cities are. Lincoln Foster, a commercial property owner in La Jolla, said he was against the MAD right away and is one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit with the City. Foster said hes in favor of capital improvements in La Jolla, but feels the MAD will enable the City to divert more funds away from the already-dwindling maintenance services. It basically takes the City off the hook, he said. Its just not fair and its not the right thing to do. Dont come to me and ask me to pay a second time when youve already spent the money on something else. According to the lawsuit, the something else is the Citys growing pension obligations. The City is contributing $261 million for pension costs this year, a figure that is expected to grow to $311 million next year. According to the lawsuit, the City has a financial incentive to push through a Maintenance Assessment District. Rather than fund all necessary maintenance, the City has continually underfunded its maintenance services in favor of establishing as many Maintenance Assessment Districts across as many areas of the City as possible, the complaint said. There are currently more than 60 maintenance districts in San Diego. For the La Jolla district, commercial properties will cover 85 percent of the $502,400 bill, with condominiums and single-family homes contributing the remaining 15 percent. Its boundaries are the Pacific Ocean, La Jolla Boulevard, Pearl Street, Girard Avenue and Torrey Pines Road. ON THE WEB: Find more information about the Maintenance Assessment District (MAD) for the Village of La Jolla at enhancelajolla.org Institute on UC San Diego campus to hold open house Jan. 7, 2017 Are you over the age of 50 and still interested in learning something new? If so, there is a place for you nearby. Its called The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at UC San Diego, and is a membership program for adults who want to be part of a learning community with peers. Its located in the Wenger Building of UC Extension Division complex on the UC San Diego campus. At Osher you can take classes (without the stress of homework, papers or tests) from top professors in the arts, humanities, math and law, in an atmosphere conducive to interaction and making new acquaintances. Osher came into being at UCSD in 2003, but it dates back more than 42 years to 1974, when it was founded as The Institute for Continuing Learning by Bernard Osher, who funded its development. Today Osher has some 800 members. Of course, not all 800 come to every class! Those who are currently participating in classes, which run on the quarter system, with a summer session, come to school for lectures at 10 a.m. and/or 2 p.m., with a lunch break at noon. Students may stay around until 5 p.m. to participate in music, theater or poetry groups. Osher is almost completely run by a team of like-minded volunteers. The only paid staff member is Amy Patterson, who serves as the program manager. Patterson says her chief aim is to develop a rich sense of community with abundant social opportunities for members. All the live lectures at Osher, which are given by professors from such diverse institutions such as UCSD, Loyola Marymount, University of San Diego and UC Riverside, are recorded. If you miss one, you can watch it on your computer from the comfort of home. Mark Evans heads up the volunteer committee that selects the Law and Society courses for Osher. Lately, he has been organizing lectures on workings of the U.S. Supreme Court. Evans is a retired lawyer who worked in Washington, D.C., for many years. He spent most of his time in private practice, but also served four years working for the Department of Justice and three years for the Interstate Commerce Commission. He now lives in La Jolla Village, just down the hill from Osher. The professors who come to Osher to speak really like it here because of the high interest level of students and their thoughtful questions. Pat Fleming is another volunteer at Osher. Before retiring and joining Osher, she worked for 26 years as a marketing consultant for SDG&E; and before that, she spent seven years working at the Harvard Business School. Fleming said she learned about Osher from a friend in her condo complex."The $250 a year fee to take classes is a great bargain (that not many people know about), because you can take as many classes as you want for the whole year! she said. And you can participate in all the special events, such as field trips and theater groups, whenever you like! Carol Roberts is also an Osher volunteer who is chair of the Activities Committee. She says shes been very impressed by the people shes met in her classes at Osher. Just about everybody is interesting and very well educated. Its also a treat for me that when I get home my husband asks me what I learned in school today; and my children gather round and encourage me to do my homework! Valerie Chereskin is the new marketing director. She is freshly retired and still has the buzz of her powerful work ethic. For relaxation, she said she likes to play the flute, which she brings to practice with the Osher musical ensemble. The president of volunteers at Osher is Jim Wyrtzen, a former psychologist who came out to San Diego from New York for the great weather, after he retired. Wyrtzen has headed the Volunteer Committee for three years. He comes to Osher everyday from his home in Carlsbad for his favorite classes in music, history and law. He said he attends both the morning and afternoon lectures and ends up staying until 5 p.m. to fulfill his volunteer duties. Yep, its almost like a full time job, he joked. Wyrtzen says Osher students come from as far away Temecula and Chula Vista to attend classes, usually about three times a week. Everything takes place right here. So there is a sense of community and everybody gets to know everybody else. All you really need to join up is a readiness to learn something new! Osher Open House At 10 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 7, 2017, those interested can preview and sign up for Winter Quarter classes, which begin Jan. 9 through March 17, 2017. The event will be held on the UC San Diego Campus Extension Complex at 9600 North Torrey Pines Road, Building D. RSVP to olli@ucsd.edu Phone: (858) 534-3409 On the Web: olli.ucsd.edu Program highlights include the Master Classes of Professor Brian Keating with instruction on the Big Bang and possible parallel universes, aka multiverses, and Professor Sam Rickless on the 14th Amendment, which promises due process and equal protection under the law. In addition to the Master Classes, there are Premier Classes, such as those by Allan Kleinman on how new cures and therapies are developed in medicine, and an art class comparing the techniques of Matisse and Picasso. A handful of La Jollans attended the San Diego County Regional Airport Authoritys Airport Noise Advisory Committee (ANAC) meeting Dec. 21, 2016 to speak out against recent changes in flight patterns that have brought planes and their noise closer to their homes. In mid-2016, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) proposed changes to flight paths nationwide to reduce fuel costs and improve the flow of plane traffic. In San Diego, that has meant planes flying closer to the coast. Soon after, concerned residents from Bird Rock to La Jolla Shores noticed (and wrote to La Jolla Light about) the increase in plane noise and the resulting frustration that they were not notified of the flight plan changes and how these changes might affect them. Although the airplane curfew is 11 p.m., many residents stated theyve heard airplanes well past that time. At the meeting, several voiced their frustrations to the 25-member ANAC board. La Jolla Shores resident Karen Marshall said, I cannot tell you how angry I am that these changes have been made. I lived in Point Loma for 20 years and I knew when I bought my house in Point Loma that there would be airplanes, so how dare the FAA come in and make these changes without letting anyone know. Im devastated and I have not been able to sleep. Added La Jolla resident Leonard Gross, There has been a dramatic change in the character of noise in our area. Our quiet neighborhoods, with the occasional sound of jets, helicopters and general aviation sounds, has been transformed into an aircraft thoroughfare. He reported that during a 90-minute period around noon one day, he was able to see and hear a different aircraft every two minutes. That is a stark contrast to what was in effect before, Gross said. It is a huge change and since that change, our quality of life has degraded. Last night, around 11 p.m., there was a 20-minute period with jets every four minutes. Gross also inquired why residents were not notified of the proposed flight path changes, and suggested comparing recent data to historical data in terms of distances from land, altitude and slant range distances from homes to these aircraft. Lets see how much closer, lower and faster they are going, he said. Beatriz Pardo, a Bird Rock resident who said she noticed the noise change in October, questioned whether residents would have to sue to get something done. You have moved San Diego Airport into our neighborhoods from 6 in the morning until 12:12 at night, when I am trying to sleep, she said. It feels like we are under assault. Its not just commercial aircraft that we hear, but also helicopters and little airplanes. The skies have opened up. Can we please go back to (the flight path) that was working before? Thats what we want. Or do we have to resort to lawsuits? Residents of other areas of San Diego, empathetic to La Jollas concerns, spoke in solidarity. Saying he understood that the flight path changes were prompted by fuel cost savings, Gary Wonacott of the Mission Beach Town Council suggested quantifying the data of quality-of-life impacts to residents to see how it compares to the cost savings associated with a change. Lila Schmidt opined, Now that La Jolla is mad, maybe that will help, because we have been screaming about it, and we havent gotten anywhere. Every meeting, we get told well look into it and I want to hear we fixed it. To look into it, ANAC uses data collected from an online complaint form and a system known as WebTrak (found at webtrak5.bksv.com/san) to guide its decision-making. However, program manager Sjohnna Knack said incomplete complaints or template complaints (one document copied-and-pasted repeatedly with minor changes), are not productive to the cause. Instead, she offered advice on how to file a complete complaint that ANAC can record and include in future statistics. Noise complaint format When it comes to filing a complaint, the more detailed information one can give, the better. I acknowledge its a lot of work for the public to do, but those are the types of things that make it easier for us to have a conversation with the FAA or the operators, she said. Whats really difficult is were getting copy-and-paste messages and the only change on each is the time. That is 70-80 percent of what we get. I want to get the most accurate information possible, which would allow us to take action and make things better. The most important complaint details, she continued, are the time of the noise (most critical), whether it is a departure or arrival, if the person can see the plane and identify a color, whether the plane uses a propeller or is a jet, and a valid address. Alternatively, she said, If you use WebTrak, you could look up active flights, see the plane that was concerning you, and click on that to find all the information you need. Information found on WebTrak includes Flight ID numbers, aircraft types, origin, destination and altitude. At the conclusion of the public comments, facilitator Heidi Gantwek thanked all the speakers for their time, energy and comments. It really does help and it is important to us, she said. The Airport Noise Advisory Committee meets quarterly at the San Diego Airport Administration Building, 3225 N. Harbor Drive. The next meeting has not been announced. Find more information at san.org/airport-authority/meetings-agendas PRESS RELEASE Istanbul Attack Points Once Again to the British-Trained Jihadis Jan. 3, 2017 (EIRNS)The deadly News Years attack at an Istanbul night club points to the bloody hand of British intelligence. Unlike many of the previous attacks, this one was not carried out by the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). The Turkish media, including Hurriyet, claim that the attacker in the Istanbul night club shooting is from Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, or even from among the Uyghur terrorists in China operating under the banner of the Islamic State, a.k.a. Daesh. Yeni Safak reports that an analysis of the attack method used at the nightclub was similar in nature to the June 28, 2016 terrorist attack at Ataturk Airport. It has been predicted that the gunman responsible for the New Years Eve attack was from the same Daesh terrorist cell. This is significant, because, at the time, the BBC reported that the June 28 attackers were from the Russian North Caucasus region, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan, and that they were possibly Chechen. CNN ran a similar report; Turkey itself had identified two of those attackers as Russian nationals Rakim Bulgarov and Vadim Osmanov, while not identifying the third. Lyndon LaRouche commented at the time of that June attack that the Chechen connection points to a hard-core British intelligence-controlled network. In fact, all of Central Asia, that is to say, former Soviet Union republics and the Russian Caucasus, as well as the Uyghurs in Xinjiang, China, are British-controlled. Today, LaRouche again advised, to look to the hand of the British-Chechen networks for those who perpetrated the New Years atrocity. Kyrgyzstans Ministry of Foreign Affairs has announced that it is investigating the possibility that the gunman was Kyrgyz. "Our consulate in Istanbul has been instructed to investigate the news stories claiming the gunman was Kyrgyz," said the Ministrys spokesperson Aiymkan Kulukeyeva. PRESS RELEASE Chinas Foreign Minister Wang Yi To Visit Five African Nations Beginning on Jan. 7 Jan. 3, 2017 (EIRNS)Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi will visit five African countriesMadagascar, Zambia, Tanzania, Republic of Congo, and NigeriaJan. 7-12, with the aim of speeding up the implantation of the consensus reached between Chinese President Xi Jinping and the leaders of the five countries at a summit in 2015, said a spokesman of Chinas Foreign Ministry today. CGTN (formerly CCTV) quoted Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang telling the reporters in Beijing, "The year 2017 will be a year when the China-Africa cooperation will advance and be upgraded in an all-round manner. The main purpose of Foreign Minister Wang Yis Africa visit is to speed [it] up, in the face of the new changes in the international political and economic situation and new challenges facing the African countries." "Relations with developing countries, including in Africa, are the bedrock of Chinese diplomacy," Geng said. "Chinese foreign ministers have visited Africa during their first foreign trips each year over the past two decades. The practice has become a much treasured diplomatic tradition for China," Xinhua quoted Geng as saying. At the 2015 summit, China announced 10 major plans for China-Africa cooperation over three years, backed with a $60 billion package. As of July 2016, China and Africa had signed 245 various cooperation agreements worth a total of $50 billion. "A batch of early successes related to the summit were achieved in 2016, including the opening of the Addis Ababa-Djibouti railway and progress on the Mombasa-Nairobi line, as well as development of industrial parks and special economic zones." Geng said. PRESS RELEASE Fusion Research Advances in Russia Jan. 3, 2017 (EIRNS)Fusion scientists at the famed Budker Institute of Nuclear Physics in Siberia report that they are completing the first stage of work on an innovative fusion experiment, called a Gas Dynamic Trap. It is a mirror fusion machine, which is an open vessel, like an unwrapped tokamak. They report that they have achieved a plasma temperature "on a scale of ten million degrees." Their aim is to increase the steady heating of the plasma by three- or four-fold, through the use of a microwave heating system, which, the scientists told Sputnik News, is at the Kurchatov research center in Moscow. The Budker Institute is seeking financing for their experimental device from the Russian Science Foundation, to support the next two years of the program. The Deputy Director of the Institute, Aleksander Ivanov, told RIA Novosti that the recent results confirm "a very important milestone for our work. Now we can seriously begin to consider options for the establishment of fusion systems based on open traps." Fusion Power Associates (FPA) has produced a summary of the major achievements in magnetic fusion research over the past year, which highlights experimental results obtained on the Chinese and South Korean tokamaksEAST and KSTAR, respectively. EAST reached a new milestone in its own operations, achieving a greater than 60-second-long plasma pulse, and KSTAR set a world record of 70 seconds of high-performance operationeach machine under unique conditions. FPA founder Steve Dean particularly recognized the hard work and dedication the scientists expended to reach these results, and, in the Chinese case, the importance of international collaboration. Less than 24 hours after Milo Yiannopoulos upcoming book was announced, pre-orders for the controversial young conservatives Dangerous propelled it to the top of Amazons bestseller list, knocking the recently deceased Carrie Fishers Princess Diarist down to No. 2. I think he has a much wider fan base than people realize, said Tom Flannery, Yiannopoulos literary agent at AGI Vigliano. Reached by phone in Malibu, Flannery declined to confirm the deals dollar amount, but the Hollywood Reporter, which broke the news, reported that Yiannopoulos received $250,000 for the book. Yiannopoulos, who is tech editor at Brietbart, is a provocateur whose language dovetails with the alt-right, although he disputes that classification. He has said America has a Muslim problem, called Black Lives Matter activists extremists, and suggested that women should stop going online so I, Donald Trump and the rest of the alpha males will continue to dominate the Internet without feminist whining. Advertisement He found his greatest mainstream fame when he was banned from Twitter following the harassment of Ghostbusters star Leslie Jones, who was deluged with sexist and racist tweets sparked in part by Yiannopoulos. Twitter didnt specify the reason for the ban but noted that it had previously warned Yiannopoulos for violating its terms of service. The fact that someone with extreme views considered offensive by many people got such a significant book advance shows how the publishing world reflects, and plays to, many of the divides in our culture. Few left-leaning readers realize that within mainstream publishing, conservative books are a booming business. Conservative books sell at least as well as quote unquote liberal books. Jim Milliot, Publishers Weekly Threshold Editions, which will be publishing Dangerous in March, is a 10-year-old imprint dedicated to publishing conservative voices. Its peers include Sentinel, Crown Forum, and Broadside Books. Together, they publish a mix of polemics, memoir, reportage and even fiction. Flannery approached these imprints specifically with Yiannopoulos book. We didnt go as wide as we normally would just because we understand the controversy Milo was going to bring to the table, he says. They all knew who Milo was all the conservative imprints were interested in talking to him. Another thing they have in common is that theyre all imprints of one of the five major publishers: Threshold is part of Simon & Schuster; Sentinel and Crown Forum are part of Penguin Random House; Broadside is an imprint of HarperCollins. They typically do business in New York just like their fellows. Broadside founder Adam Bellow, a son of Nobel Prize-winning novelist Saul Bellow, described himself to the New York Times as a conservative in a liberal industry. Conservative books sell at least as well as quote unquote liberal books, says Jim Milliot, editorial director of the trade journal Publishers Weekly. To make a space for conservative authors within the industry, major publishers created these imprints with targeted editorial direction. It was a deliberate move by the publishers to say, Were going to sell these conservative books in this imprint, Milliot says. But, he notes, most people dont buy a book by imprint. That proved to be the case when there was blowback over Yiannopoulos book deal. As quickly as his fans ordered his book from Amazon and showed their support for him on social media, his critics decried it. And in so doing, many overlooked Threshold Editions, his conservative imprint, and instead targeted parent company Simon & Schuster. Comedian Sarah Silverman, who has 9.5 million Twitter followers, tweeted, The guy has freedom of speech but to fund him & give him a platform tells me a LOT about @simonschuster YUCK AND BOO AND GROSS. Mark Harris, author of the Hollywood history Five Came Back, an L.A. Times Book Prize finalist, tweeted, Someone was going to give this a pile of money. But @simonschuster, it didnt have to be you. Members of the publishing industry, including writers and booksellers, circulated contact information for decisionmakers at Simon & Schuster privately and via Facebook for those wanting to speak out against the publication of Dangerous. The Chicago Review of Books, an independent online outlet, announced that it would not review any Simon & Schuster books in 2017. Instead, that space about 15 reviews will be reserved for small and independent presses, says editor Adam Morgan. The right to free speech is different from the right to a $250,000 megaphone. Adam Morgan, Chicago Review of Books From a purely financial standpoint, Simon & Schuster was smart to capitalize on an extremely popular figure, Morgan told The Times by email. But from an ethical standpoint, I dont know how Simon & Schuster editors will sleep at night knowing they normalized hate speech for profit. This is an essential tension with the outcry over Yiannopoulos deal. Publishing has long made it a practice to stand up for free speech, going to court to battle for books that were banned or deemed obscene, including James Joyces Ulysses, Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller and Allen Ginsbergs Howl. Should Yiannopoulos right to free expression be defended equally? Or does what he write in Dangerous cross the line from controversial statements into hate speech? Threshold Editions declined to provide a preview of the book, although this is a common practice, so its impossible to say. Simon & Schuster is standing by the book and asked protesters to withhold judgement. In a statement to the Associated Press, the publisher noted, We have always published books by a wide range of authors with greatly varying, and frequently controversial opinions. Thats not entirely the case. In 1990, Simon & Schuster responded to media protests three months before the publication of Bret Easton Ellis American Psycho by dropping the book. (The novel was later published by Vintage.) Those who have objected to Yiannopoulos deal pointed to the size of his advance. The right to free speech is different from the right to a $250,000 megaphone, notes Morgan of the Chicago Review. It is a sizable amount for an unproven author. By contrast, writer Sloane Crosley got just $25,000 for her first book, the essay collection I Was Told Thered Be Cake, which became a bestseller. For Threshold to make its money back to turn a profit on the deal the publisher would have to sell 50,000 to 100,000 books, insiders estimate. Thats a lot of books, about as many sales as have been clocked by the new oral history of The Daily Show and of Pulitzer Prize-winner Michael Chabons 2016 novel Moonglow. Flannery is confident the book will connect with readers. I think that Milo really holds a mirror up to whats happening in America, he says. On Twitter, Buzzfeed culture editor Saeed Jones speculated that the Yiannopoulos deal may actually be reflecting biases within publishing itself: The publishing industry as of this year is 79% white. Being racist is quite profitable. Its possible that both are true. And whether publishing is or isnt in the business of defending free speech, it is in the business of selling books. As Milliot says of Yiannopoulos, They wouldnt have signed him if they didnt want to sell him. Here are two books that differ dramatically stylistically, yet are unforgettably linked by images of the dying human body. In Jane Meads book-length poem, World of Made and Unmade the failing body is that of a beautiful and practical mother. In Daniel Borzutzkys The Performance of Becoming Human, the central obsession turns on how authoritarian nation-bodies absorb and destroy powerless bodies. To the extent that these books are performative, we can read each one as enacting a fierce argument with death. Advertisement In her fifth book (a dreamlike, distractedly connected poem on the end of her mothers life), Mead performs a sustained feat of imagination. We are given details of a harrowing present, as the patients selfhood dissipates, yet still renavigates the past and peers into an unforgiving future. Mead focuses almost exclusively on the ongoingness of dying: a diminishing life witnessed by a reluctant yet attentive daughter-survivor. Her depiction of a growing tumor or a confused gauging of morphine dosages that could mean death make the reader want to look away at times. But in disjunctive yet fluidly linked moments, the landscape of the family vineyard, with its flourishing acres, emerges as a background distinct from the stark drama of loss. Harvest bounty is shadowed by fleeting memories in dropped stitches of distraction: Passing back to the house/from my mothers cabin/in the full moon light:/ her wheelchair tracks in the gravel/make a wide turn and disappear/into the shadow of the palm tree,/ as narrow-gauge tracks disappear/into the deep mineshafts/ of the Sierra Nevada Mead balances herself as narrator on a tightrope of thought running from her mind to her mothers elusive consciousness. This aerial movement is choreographed against a vast horizon that is split occasionally into memorys borders, adding other contexts to individual death. Mother and daughter cleave together as two minds in fraught alliance, just as two countries, (represented by the rancher landowners and the migrant workers who tend their vines) also cleave as the great momentum of grape harvest moves forward: From my mothers cabin I hear them /Viva los Estado Unidos/This year I havent picked figs/or taken them sun-warm to the barn/or left them in the big tin bowl/where the flags of the US and Mexico/hang high in the rafters, left them/with the little sign, Viva Mexico/This year / I havent balanced on the wagon/picking bad fruit from the two bins/or walked behind the pickers with my bucket,/or watched the bins being strapped/on the trucks, cinched down/my white hands/fruit-sticky at my sides./This year/I have disappeared. Yet it is the mother who is disappearing, inevitably a figure of mystery (Im deaf and Im blind and Im not/ answering any more questions) no longer the whole self a skilled artist, a bold traveler but still her personality surfaces in sudden intimacy, clarity and beguiling humor like a childs. (An album photo of the mother pedaling an old-fashioned tricycle with a smaller sibling hanging on, dated Oct. 22, 1929, appears, coda-like, at the poems end.) The dying mother, who made a family, is being unmade herself. Mead recalls moving among the specimen jars of her ichthyologist fathers laboratory as a child: In my fathers lab/jars and jars/the egg/the embryo, the adult male,/the adult female../All that perfection./World of made and unmade. When Borzutzkys The Performance of Becoming Human was awarded the 2016 National Book award, the books selection elicited some negative response. Criticism centered on his language: diction described as flat and repetitive; imagery deemed unrelentingly repellent; an authorial tone rejected as the unpoetic rantings of an ideologue. It is undeniably true that while Meads poems reveal a compassionate aesthetic imagination, Borzutzky (in describing shocking atrocities) offers little obvious compassion and mocks those seeking to impose emotional sensitivity on his words: The creative consultants waiting to turn this misery into poetry. That charge (creative consultants) is a bitterly acute one, wherein destroyed cultures, tortured citizens and the brutalized other form the backdrop for exquisite poetic pain (or what used to be called the poetry of witness.) This indictment goes beyond our helpless removal from nightmare headlines: over-development, torture, corporate greed, wars, attacks on immigrants, women, minorities in fact, mocking those who write movingly about this suffering. Poetry, in defense, might conversely deny the raw undigested ranting of this litany as ineffective on strictly aesthetic grounds. But to grasp Borzutzkys project, the reader must confront the realpolitik that informs his style. Perhaps he is not a bad writer (his intelligence and learning are formidable); rather, he appears to be writing as a bad writer on purpose. Implicit in his dystopic perspective is an indictment of poetic simile. Think of Neruda, (with his other-worldly lyrical gifts) reacting to state-sanctioned violence in Chile: The blood of children ran in the streets like the blood of children. It is important to remember that Borzutzky is not Chilean, but Chilean American, having lived his entire life in the U.S. Thus he has formed a uniquely hybrid sensibility an American writer who is profoundly loyal to his Chilean heritage, who has distinguished himself as a translator of Chilean writers, but is a Yank. He straddles a long Whitmanesque American line, but the line originates with an Orwellian Whitman then to Neruda, then from Neruda to Mistral to Parra to Raul Zurita (whom Borzutzky has translated and passionately admires.) They say: Poet your favorite poet from now on is my boot/The poet-boot kicks one of my teeth and I feel it fall into my mouth/And when day inevitably breaks I watch the morning ritual:/They take away the sky and the streets/They take away the sewers and the beaches and the river and the trees and/the birds and the cats and the raccoons and the garbage/ my rotten carcass sinking into the privatized waters of dawn Borzutzkys approach is politically grotesque meaning if one understands politics and bureaucratic policy as twisted, then only grotesque language and imagery can create a literary response. Borzutzky seeks to instill words, employing language as bureaucrats use power. If you hear music in the unlovely hypnotics of his lines, you may be learning to listen differently, as he said in a 2011 interview: Id like to think that art can keep that individual body from becoming invisible. Carol Muske-Dukes is a professor of English and creative writing at the USC and a former poet laureate of California. Her ninth poetry collection, Blue Rose, will be published in 2018 by Penguin. World of Made and Unmade By Jane Mead Alice James Books: 100 pp., $16.67 paper The Performance of Becoming Human By Daniel Borzutzky Brooklyn Arts Press: 98 pp., $17.10 Congressional Republicans, evidently hoping that by repeating an untruth theyll convince American voters, and perhaps themselves, that its a truth, on Wednesday said the Affordable Care Act has failed. The undistilled version of this view came from House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), who emerged Wednesday from a meeting with Vice President-elect Mike Pence to assert: This law has failed. Americans are struggling. The law is failing while we speak. Things are only getting worse under Obamacare. The healthcare system has been ruined dismantled under Obamacare. Every one of those statements is demonstrably untrue. How do we know this? We know because every measure of healthcare spending, access and cost has improved since the passage and implementation of the Affordable Care Act. Timothy McBride of Washington University in St. Louis has done the heavy lifting of pulling together the relevant charts and graphs, and posting them online in a series of 12 tweets compiled on Storify. Weve culled some of the most important, and present them here. Advertisement We should add, first, that Ryan also pledged, once the GOP repeals the law, to make sure that there is a stable transition to a truly patient-centered system. We want every American to have access to quality, affordable health coverage This is nothing but fatuous gobbledygook. The GOP has had six years to come up with an alternative plan, and never has done so. Its current strategy is to repeal the Affordable Care Act now, and then cook up a replacement sometime in the next two, three, even four years. (They cant even agree on a time frame.) What exactly is a patient-centered system, anyway? Here are the charts, courtesy of professor McBride. First, the overall uninsured rate has come sharply down since the advent of Obamacare: The decline in uninsured rates was especially pronounced among lower-income Americans, according to the Council of Economic Advisors and other sources: Although Republicans claim that even if the Affordable Care Act brought down the uninsured rate, its enrollees had trouble seeing a doctor, that isnt true. Numerous studies debunk claims that doctors shun Affordable Care Act enrollees. This sample by the Council of Economic Advisors shows that the decline in the uninsured rate is closely associated with a reduction in people who were prevented from seeking and finding medical care because of its cost: Hospitals are major beneficiaries of the Affordable Care Act, as the Department of Health and Human Services and the Council of Economic Advisors report. Hospitals uncompensated care costs fell sharply in Medicaid expansion states, as patients treated as indigent in the past are now covered by Medicaid. Their uncompensated care costs fell from an average 4% of operating costs before the Affordable Care Act to less than 2% afterward, a decline worth tens of billions of dollars nationwide. Overall national health spending has come down even faster than was predicted, as a share of gross domestic product: The average growth in per-enrollee spending by private health plans in key categories has slowed materially since the passage of the Affordable Care Act in 2010, from annual growth averaging 5% in 2000-2010, to 1.5% in 2010-2015. Spending growth on hospital services, physician services and prescription drugs all slowed. Medicare, which has instituted numerous cost-control initiatives under the Affordable Care Act, has seen an overall decline in spending per enrollee. Finally, even though employer-based insurance hasnt yet been directly affected by the Affordable Care Act, there seems to be a spillover effect from the overall reduction in healthcare spending growth. Premiums rose by an average 5.6% a year in the 10 years prior to passage of the Affordable Care Act, but only 3.1% since, according to Kaiser Family Foundations annual survey of employer health benefits. Republicans have promised to give Americans a health insurance system better than the Affordable Care Acts and at lower cost. This is almost surely a chimera; no plan that the GOP has considered would expand coverage beyond the Affordable Care Act. To the extent that the plans would reduce costs, they would do so by relieving the federal government of responsibility for paying for coverage and placing it even more heavily on the shoulders of individuals and families. Thats not lowering costs; its just shifting them to those least able to pay. The fact that the GOP will have to face is that bringing healthcare to more Americans costs money. Taking it away from millions of Americans will cost money, too. No one claimed, either before the passage of the Affordable Care Act or afterward, that it was perfect or that it would solve Americas healthcare crisis in one swipe. What became evident in the three years since the individual insurance exchanges opened for business (on Jan. 1, 2014) is that the subsidies for premiums needed to be increased and improved. Because theyre inadequate, especially as households cross the threshold of 400% of the federal poverty line at which subsidies are eliminated at about $97,200 for a family of four middle-class families in the individual insurance market feel overburdened. They blame Obamacare for this injustice. The real culprits are Republicans who have refused to consider any approach to the Affordable Care Act except repeal. Now the GOP is it on healthcare, and its discovering that crafting a solution from scratch may be almost impossible. What became evident during the most recent open-enrollment period for Obamacare exchanges is that Obamacare is more popular than ever, as Kevin Drum of Mother Jones observes. Enrollment grew to 12 million, up by about 1 million from 2015, even in the face of higher premiums. In any case, more than 85% of all enrollees are entitled to subsidies, which limits and in some cases cancels out the higher prices. Yet the GOP pledges to overturn all that. The question the party never has found an answer to is: If this is what a failure looks like, how would it define a success? Keep up to date with Michael Hiltzik. Follow @hiltzikm on Twitter, see his Facebook page, or email michael.hiltzik@latimes.com. Return to Michael Hiltziks blog. MORE FROM HILTZIK Its not just politics: 2016 was an epidemic year for fake news in science, too Will President Trump run roughshod over business expectations in 2017? How repealing Obamacare could bring disaster to people with pre-existing medical conditions President-elect Donald Trump intends to nominate Wall Street attorney Jay Clayton to head the Securities and Exchange Commission, transition spokesman Sean Spicer said Wednesday. Clayton, a partner with New York-based global law firm Sullivan & Cromwell, would succeed Mary Jo White, who announced in November that she would step down at the end of the Obama administration. Jay Clayton is a highly talented expert on many aspects of financial and regulatory law, and he will ensure our financial institutions can thrive and create jobs while playing by the rules at the same time, Trump said in a written statement. Advertisement We need to undo many regulations which have stifled investment in American businesses, and restore oversight of the financial industry in a way that does not harm American workers, he said. Trump reportedly had been considering Los Angeles lawyer Debra Wong Yang, a former federal prosecutor, to head the SEC. Instead, he opted for Clayton, who joins other key Trump nominees with strong Wall Street ties, including Treasury secretary pick Steve Mnuchin and Commerce secretary choice Wilbur Ross. Claytons work has included representing Ally Financial and two other unnamed large financial firms in connection with settlements of federal cases related to toxic mortgages or foreclosure problems, according to the firms website. The SEC is the federal governments top watchdog for Wall Street and has expanded regulatory powers under the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial reform law that Trump has promised to dismantle. Jay Clayton is just the latest addition to the growing pool of Wall Street insiders that make up the Trump administration, said Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles), the top Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee. As head of the SEC, Clayton will have the power to carry his pro-Wall Street agenda to the agency that is entrusted with regulating Wall Street. Clayton thanked Trump for the opportunity to head the agency. His nomination is subject to confirmation by the Senate. If confirmed, we are going to work together with key stakeholders in the financial system to make sure we provide investors and our companies with the confidence to invest together in America, he said. We will carefully monitor our financial sector, as we set policy that encourages American companies to do what they do best: create jobs. Claytons work has included mergers and acquisitions, as well as regulatory and enforcement proceedings. Among his clients listed on his law firms website are Goldman Sachs, Bear Stearns, and British Airways. Clayton also worked on the 2014 initial public offering of Chinas Alibaba Holding Group, which was the largest IPO in U.S. history. Dennis Kelleher, president of Better Markets, a group that advocates for stricter financial regulation, said Clayton needs to favor Main Street over Wall Street as SEC chairman. While Mr. Clayton may be an excellent lawyer representing Goldman Sachs and Wall Streets too-big-to-fail banks, Americas families need to know that he will represent them as zealously and as effectively, Kelleher said. He must lead without fear or favor and he must not bring the failed mind-set that whats good for Wall Street is good for America, which the 2008 financial crash proved catastrophically wrong. White, who was a former federal prosecutor, also worked for a top New York law firm before becoming SEC chair in 2013. Her clients included some leading financial industry firms and figures, including JPMorgan Chase & Co., former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. director Rajat Gupta and former Bank of America Corp. chief Ken Lewis. Some liberals sharply criticized White for being too deferential to business interests. In October, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) publicly called on President Obama to replace her, in part because she had not enacted rules to force companies to disclose their spending on political activities. The first SEC chair under Obama, Mary Schapiro, also did not make friends among liberals during her tenure. They wanted her to be tougher in the wake of the financial crisis. Schapiro had been chief executive of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, or Finra, a nongovernmental, self-regulatory body for the securities industry. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), the top Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee, was among those who had criticized White. He wasnt optimistic that Clayton would be an improvement. Its hard to see how an attorney whos spent his career helping Wall Street beat the rap will keep President-elect Trumps promise to stop big banks and hedge funds from getting away with murder, Brown said. jim.puzzanghera@latimes.com Twitter: @JimPuzzanghera ALSO: Trump taps Robert Lighthizer to be U.S. trade representative Trumps victory could spell the end of the FCCs net neutrality regulations Trump hammered the Federal Reserve as a candidate. As president, he could quickly reshape it UPDATES: 1 p.m.: This article was updated with comments from Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles) and Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) as well as with additional background on SEC Chair Mary Jo White. 9:20 a.m.: This article was updated with information about Jay Claytons clients, including financial firms involved in toxic mortgage cases, and with comments from Dennis Kelleher of Better Markets. This article was originally published at 8:50 a.m. AEG Lives ties to anti-LGBT groups nothing more than fake news, says Philip Anschutz Coachella in 2016. (Katie Falkenberg / Los Angeles Times) Following news this week that the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival had booked Radiohead, Kendrick Lamar and Beyonce to lead its 2017 lineup, the owner of the company that oversees the festivals organizers has come under fire for his political interests. According to a widely picked-up report in Uproxx, Philip F. Anschutz, the owner of AEG, whose AEG Live division is the worlds second largest presenter of live music, sports and entertainment after Live Nation, has donated to a number of anti-LGBTQ groups such as Alliance Defending Freedom, National Christian Foundation and Family Research Council. A number of these organizations have been listed as extremist groups by the Southern Poverty Law Center. Because AEG Live oversees Coachella promoter Goldenvoice, people have taken to social media to question if anyone should drop hundreds of dollars for the destination festival out of fear that their money would fund anti-gay groups. General admission passes to Coachella sold out in an hour on Wednesday. In a statement to The Times on Thursday, Anschutz said he was unaware of the anti-LGBTQ work done by any of the organizations he had supported and that he had ceased all contributions after learning. Recent claims published in the media that I am anti-LGBTQ are nothing more than fake news it is all garbage. I unequivocally support the rights of all people without regard to sexual orientation, the statement read. We are fortunate to employ a wealth of diverse individuals throughout our family of companies, all of whom are important to us the only criteria on which they are judged is the quality of their job performance; we do not tolerate discrimination in any form. Anschutz is one of the richest people in America, amassing fortunes in oil, railroads, telecom and real estate on top of his entertainment endeavors (he came in at No. 42 on Forbes U.S. billionaires list last year) and the conservative dealings of his foundation were reported by the Washington Post over the summer in a piece that labeled him as one of the enemies of equality. His foundation was said to have donated $110,000 to Alliance Defending Freedom, a group that advocates for your right to freely live out your faith; $50,000 to National Christian Foundation, an organization that funds groups that have worked to fight LGBT rights; and $30,000 to Family Research Council, which is labeled as an extremist group by the SPLC. The contributions were made between 2010 and 2013. Anschutz said he and his foundation contribute to numerous organizations that pursue a wide range of causes. Neither I nor the Foundation fund any organization with the purpose or expectation that it would finance anti-LGBTQ initiatives, the statement continued, and when it has come to my attention or the attention of The Anschutz Foundation that certain organizations either the Foundation or I have funded have been supporting such causes, we have immediately ceased all contributions to such groups. Jim Jarmusch does his writing in a notebook, creating page after page of text of varying sizes in different colors of ink, some ideas circled, others crossed out. He has two small notebooks placed neatly on a table in front of him during a recent interview. His cellphone is in a jacket thrown over a chair a few yards away. If many people would likely have those objects in the opposite positions, wanting their cellphone within more immediate reach, Jarmuschs new film Paterson in part grapples with that tension between the connected anxieties of modern life and more lasting feelings of observant calm. It is about a poet who is also a bus driver and it is also an exploration of the idea that no person need only be defined as one thing. The film isnt motivated by a sanitized nostalgia for the past but, rather, a melancholy for things left behind along the way. I dont want to say what the meaning of anything is, Jarmusch said. But I will just say that people put too much importance on how modern things are, the advance of things, like technology. And I love technology, but all these things are tools. And what is very sad to me is when people abandon previously beautiful things because they dont happen to be new. Advertisement In the film, set in the town of Paterson, N.J., a man named Paterson (played by Adam Driver) drives a city bus, transforming the regimented drift of his job into an opportunity for observations he can fold back into his poetry. Where his life is dedicated to working his way through his daily routines, his wife, Laura (Golshifteh Farahani), has more exuberant creative impulses, an explosion of ideas in which one day she might pursue being a baker, the next a musician or printmaker. The films cast also includes Barry Shabaka Henley as a local bartender; William Jackson Harper as a lovelorn actor; and a brief appearance by Japanese actor Masatoshi Nagase, who appeared in Jarmuschs 1989 film Mystery Train. Paterson, now playing in Los Angeles, has garnered Jarmusch some of the best reviews in a career that has made him a towering figure in American independent filmmaking for more than 30 years. Writing for The Times, Justin Chang called it wonderfully serene and beguiling, while in the New York Times, Manohla Dargis hailed the films visual precision and emotional restraint. Adam Driver and Golshifteh Farahani star in Paterson. Driver recently received the actor prize from the Los Angeles Film Critics Assn. for his performance. (Full disclosure: I am a member of that group.) When Paterson premiered in the main competition at last years Cannes Film Festival, Jarmusch was also at the festival with his documentary on musicians Iggy Pop and the Stooges, Gimme Danger, which was released last fall. Jarmusch first visited the city of Paterson some 25 years ago on a day trip from New York City. He can now extol the citys unusually vibrant history, how it was originally developed by Alexander Hamilton, was a home to the silk and textile trade and was an early hotbed of unionism. Or how writer William Carlos Williams who published an epic, multi-volume poem titled Paterson was a pediatrician who may have delivered the infant Allen Ginsberg. Jarmusch often likes to describe himself as a self-proclaimed dilettante, someone who purposefully dabbles in many different pursuits. (His musical group Squrl contributed the ambient score.) So it shouldnt be a surprise to learn that when Jarmusch, 63, first moved to New York in the 1970s it was to study literature at Columbia University. There he would fall under the sway of the group known as the New York School, as his teachers included poets Kenneth Koch and David Shapiro, and he would also encounter the work of Ron Padgett and others. (Patersons poems in the film are actually by Padgett, who wrote three new poems for the film.) The New York School are my godfathers because they dont take things too seriously, said Jarmusch. Their poems are playful yet beautiful, they love playing with forms, they dont believe in shouting things from the mountaintop; every poem is like almost a letter to one other person. If that sounds like an apt description of Jarmuschs films, and the gentle evocations of Paterson in particular, Jarmusch can only say he should hope so. I would be so thrilled if years and years from now when Im gone, people would say, Well, yeah, that guys films were kind of like the cinematic extension of the New York School of poets. I would be very proud. Since bursting to attention with his role on the HBO show Girls, for which he has received three Emmy nominations, Driver has worked with an impressive list of filmmakers that now includes Martin Scorsese, Clint Eastwood, the Coen brothers, Steven Soderbergh and Noah Baumbach. His public profile has also risen tremendously with his appearances as villain Kylo Ren in J.J. Abrams Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Rian Johnsons upcoming Star Wars: Episode VIII. My only game plan, or my only hope, is that I continue to work with really good directors, said Driver, 33. Ive been very lucky. Regardless of what the scale of it is, it doesnt matter where it is or what it is necessarily. Talking about how he enjoys being part of a collaborative process, Driver interrupts his own answer at one point to circle back and add, That sounds like actor propaganda doesnt it? Im boring myself with that answer. What is very sad to me is when people abandon previously beautiful things because they dont happen to be new. Jim Jarmusch That may explain partly why Driver took to the part of the bus driver/poet of Paterson in Paterson. The role gave him a chance to just listen. Its my favorite thing to do in movies, he said. I often think things are way overwritten and want to cut lines more than add them, because listening is a powerful thing to watch someone do. Also, Im surrounded by really great actors, like Golshifteh and Barry Shabaka, who plays the bartender, or William Jackson Harper; to get to sit and listen to those people all day long is great. I would have done that way longer than our scheduled shoot. Writing in the New Yorker, critic Richard Brody recently noted of Paterson that its world-building comes off as a credo, a belatedly laid and lifeworn cornerstone of Jarmuschs work, a quietly ecstatic vision of workaday perseverance and inspiration. Perhaps predictably, and inadvertently confirming the notion, Jarmusch brushed aside any idea that the films dedication to the steady, persistent work of artistic pursuits was a personal manifesto or that this film was in some way more personal than his others. I dont understand that at all, Jarmusch said. When I made Broken Flowers, people said, This is your most personal film. Then I made Only Lovers Left Alive and people said, Obviously your most personal film. Then I make this and they say This is your most personal film. Like, wait a minute, you keep saying that but I have no idea how to answer that. Theyre all personal, and not auto-biographical to me, Jarmusch said. And yet they are in some way, but not. I dont know. SIGN UP for the free Indie Focus movies newsletter Mark.Olsen@latimes.com Follow on Twitter: @IndieFocus Hey, were fighting bears here: Iggy Pop and Jim Jarmusch celebrate the Stooges with their new documentary Gimme Danger With 20th Century Women, Mike Mills a portrait of people, a time and a place Debbie Reynolds lived a bold life on screen and off The Jenners are making their mark on the beauty space and quickly stealing the Kardashians spotlight in the sector. Not to be outdone by daughter Kylie Jenner, who on Monday night teased an image of her new Royal Beach eye shadow palette to her 82.5 million Instagram followers, Caitlyn Jenner is gearing up to release a makeup collection of her own, MAC Caitlyn Jenner. The eight-piece makeup line will hit MAC counters and maccosmetics.com on Thursday with the dedicated hashtag #MACCaitlynJenner. This is the second time Caitlyn Jenner has partnered with MAC Cosmetics. Last year she collaborated with MAC Viva Glam on the lipstick shade Finally Free, where $1.3 million in proceeds went toward the MAC AIDS Fund Transgender Initiative. This time, though, Jenner teamed with the The Estee Lauder Cos. Inc.-owned brand to do something a little more commercial. Advertisement The 15 stockkeeping unit range is comprised of two lipsticks, $17 each; two lip pencils, $17.50 each; three shades of Cremesheen Glass, $21 each; three eye shadows, $16 each; eyeliner, $17; a set of false lashes, $17; Mineralize Skinfinish, $33; a blush duo palette, $29, and an additional lipstick shade to be sold exclusively online at maccosmetics.com for $17. A MAC spokeswoman said Jenner would not be doing interviews at this time. A source close to the company called MAC Caitlyn Jenner a classic MAC collaboration. Its a diversity play and [is in line with] the long-standing brand position of All Ages, All Races and All Sexes, the source continued. Its part of conversation. There will be people who love and people who wont love it. It will definitely be a little controversial. In October, MAC launched its MAC Selena collection, which sold out online in five hours. The range was restocked at the end of the December. In November, Mariah Carey for MAC debuted and sold out within 24 hours, and as of right now, there are no plans to restock it. The launch of the Caitlyn Jenner line comes as MAC is battling headwinds in its core U.S. market due to lower foot traffic in midtier department stores and fewer shoppers in major cities where the makeup brand has freestanding stores, such as New York and Florida. In November, Estee Lauder chief executive officer Fabrizio Freda said to turn around the brand, the group would focus on product innovation, better services, new collections and a stepped-up social media presence and the Jenner collection clearly ticks at least two of those boxes with her 8.3 million Instagram followers. Launch Gallery: Caitlyn Jenner and Mac Team Up for Makeup Collaboration ALSO Shes baaaaack: Kim Kardashian West returns to social media Gigi Hadid, Kendall Jenner help Jacquie Aiche roll out a new pot-themed collection Estee Lauder eyes younger customers with $1.45-billion purchase of Too Faced With Inauguration Day less than three weeks away, Melania Trump has made a point of keeping a low profile but the first-lady-to-bes choice of a Dolce & Gabbana dress for New Years Eve in Palm Beach at Mar-a-Lago has kicked off an online firestorm. After Melania a longtime client of the Italian brand wore a black Dolce & Gabbana cocktail dress with bows on each shoulder, Stefano Gabbana thanked her via Instagram with #madeinitaly and called her a DG Woman. Gabbanas post had generated more than 13,000 likes and 1,129 comments as of Tuesday afternoon. Among other things, the designer called her a beautiful woman, and chided her critics as ignorant. In response to one Instagrammers comment No! Whether shes beautiful or not, would you be proud to dress Eva Braun? So wrong, an apparent reference to Adolf Hitlers companion and wife for 40 hours. Gabbana responded with Who is Eva Brown? Sorry. perhaps mistakenly translating Braun from German to mean Brown. Advertisement A spokeswomen for Dolce & Gabbana declined to comment Tuesday and a spokeswoman for Melania did not respond immediately to a request for comment. Thus far, such enthusiastic endorsements of Melanias sartorial selections have been scarce among designers. That could all drastically change once the First Family is officially installed (regardless of when they are ensconced together at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue). With former New York Fashion Week and Costume Institute Gala frontwoman Stephanie Winston Wolkoff playing an instrumental role in orchestrating the inaugural festivities, the January 20 celebration is expected to be very different than in years past. At the first presidential debate this fall, Trump showed her former model status, wearing a black ruched off-the-shoulder Dolce & Gabbana dress from the fall runway. As was the case with most of her election season wardrobe choices, Trump bought the dress herself at the companys New York boutique. Known not to be a nationalist when it comes to fashion, the future first lady favors an assortment of both American and European labels. Some of her other designer choices were bought online, including the $3,669 virgin wool coat with embossed buttons that Olivier Rousteing designed for Balmain that she bought via Net-a-porter for Election Day. In November, Sophie Theallet asked other American designers to follow her lead and not dress or associate with Melania Trump. While the proposed boycott may not have transpired into the call to action that Theallet imagined, some big-name designers such as Tom Ford and Marc Jacobs have said they will not dress the First Lady. Others, like Tommy Hilfiger, Diane von Furstenberg, Thom Browne and Carolina Herrera, have been more receptive to the prospect. Launch Gallery: Melania Trumps Campaign Style ALSO Melania Trumps election night style: clueless or calculated? The defining looks of Michelle Obamas White House years Beyonce, pussy bows and a Paris jewelry heist: 2016s top fashion moments All credit scores are not created equal. Thats the upshot of federal enforcement actions levied Tuesday against credit bureaus Equifax and TransUnion. The bureaus will pay penalties of $23.1 million as part of a settlement with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which said the firms misled consumers into paying for credit scores that might be dramatically different from the scores used by lenders. Mortgage lenders, credit card companies and others generally use the ubiquitous FICO score, calculated by San Jose firm Fair Isaac Corp. But the CFPB alleged that TransUnion and Equifax sold customers their own in-house scores and improperly implied that those were the scores lenders check. Advertisement The CFPB also said the companies used the promise of free or cheap credit scores to hook consumers into costly monthly credit-monitoring subscriptions. The two companies will pay $5.5 million in fines plus $17.6 million in restitution to consumers to settle with the CFPB. Credit scores are central to a consumers financial life, and people deserve honest and accurate information about them, CFPB Director Richard Cordray said in a statement. TransUnion and Equifax deceived customers about the usefulness of the credit scores they marketed. The CFPB targeted Atlanta-based Equifax for practices from 2011 to 2014, and Chicagos TransUnion for practices from 2011 until Tuesdays enforcement action. The bureau did not take action against the nations other major credit bureau, Experian of Costa Mesa. TransUnion spokesman David Blumberg said the company agreed to settle with the CFPB but nevertheless believes that our consumer marketing has been clear and has complied with the law and other government guidance. Equifax spokeswoman Ines Gutzmer said the company agreed to change some of its practices after the CFPB began its investigation about three years ago and that, despite the settlement, the company does not believe it has violated any laws. As part of the settlements, neither firm acknowledged any wrongdoing. At issue is the difference between the credit scores calculated by the credit bureaus using their own in-house methods and the scores calculated using formulas developed by Fair Isaac Corp. FICO scores are calculated by Fair Isaac using financial information compiled by the credit bureaus. The credit bureaus have to pay Fair Isaac to run FICO scores. But the bureaus also have their own credit-scoring models that they can use without paying. That means, when companies sell credit scores to consumers, they have an incentive to sell their own, in-house scores, said Chi Chi Wu, an attorney at the National Consumer Law Center who focuses on consumer-credit issues. Credit bureaus developed these scores because they want to keep the money they get from selling scores, Wu said. If they do FICO, they have to pay FICO. The credit bureaus in-house scores also called educational scores are often fairly close to FICO scores, according to a 2012 CFPB report that compared different scores for the same consumers. But the report suggested that the scores can be different enough to warrant caution. For instance, the report found that thousands of consumers with FICO scores of 680 to 740 representing good but not perfect credit had educational scores that made them look significantly better or worse. In all, the bureau found that educational and FICO scores put consumers into different credit categories about 20% of the time. Weve been complaining about credit monitoring for years if not decades. Chi Wu, attorney at the National Consumer Law Center The CFPB noted in its report that big differences between these two types of scores might push consumers to apply for loans they ultimately arent likely to be approved for, or perhaps to not apply at all thinking their credit is worse than it really is. In 2014, an Illinois man sued TransUnion over just this issue, saying he paid for a credit score that ended up being about 100 points higher than the score used by an auto dealership where he hoped to buy a car. Attorneys in that ongoing case argued that TransUnion did not make clear that its in-house score was different than the score likely to be used by lenders. The CFPB made a similar case in its actions Tuesday. For instance, the bureau said Equifax ran an advertisement for its in-house score that said, Banks and lenders will most likely check your credit make sure you see what they see. The two bureaus included some disclaimers on their websites, noting that lenders might use a different credit score, but the CFPB said those were not prominent enough. The CFPB also tagged the credit bureaus for offering free or discounted credit scores and reports through teaser offers for credit-monitoring services. The bureau said both bureaus offered such deals, luring consumers to sign up for free trials that would later automatically convert into paid credit report subscriptions that cost more than $16 a month. SIGN UP for the free California Inc. business newsletter Wu of the National Consumer Law Center said theres little need for consumers to sign up for those subscriptions because consumers are entitled to three free credit reports annually one from each of the major bureaus though they are not entitled to free credit scores. Weve been complaining about credit monitoring for years if not decades, she said. People end up with these subscriptions, and they have a hard time cancelling them. james.koren@latimes.com Follow me: @jrkoren MORE BUSINESS NEWS Trump wants Wall Street lawyer Jay Clayton to head SEC Hidden Figures is likely to draw crowds as Rogue One stays on top of the box office Stocks start 2017 with solid gains; healthcare companies jump Stocks rise as automakers and retailers trade higher The new Congress opened with a stumble Tuesday after the Republican majoritys plan for gutting an independent ethics office drew a firestorm of criticism including tweets of displeasure from President-elect Donald Trump that forced lawmakers to reverse course in a sign of battles to come. The messy debut of what was supposed to be a celebratory start on Capitol Hill foreshadowed roadblocks ahead as House Speaker Paul D. Ryan tries to lead his often willful GOP majority while maneuvering unexpected outbursts from the partys new leader in the White House. Trumps early-morning tweet storm against surprise GOP plans for a watered-down ethics watchdog showcased a president-elect who has no qualms about publicly opposing and embarrassing members of his own party, even lawmakers he will rely on to implement much of his agenda. Advertisement And the instant course correction by the House to suit Trumps preference showed he may not pay much of a political price for intervening. He may even draw praise. Mr. Trump has shown a penchant for being effective with Twitter, said Rep. Mo Brooks, an Alabama Republican. I am glad Donald Trump intervened because a change of this magnitude needs to be done more publicly and with more lead time. Despite the dramatic turn of events, Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell sounded upbeat Tuesday as they opened the 115th Congress, welcoming new lawmakers who arrived with families and friends to be sworn in to office and snap official photos. The unforced error did not appear to harm Ryans reelection as speaker, nor did his fraught on-again, off-again relationship with Trump. House Republicans overwhelmingly chose the Wisconsin Republican for another term, avoiding the tumult of past leadership elections, including in 2015 when he took over after former House Speaker John A. Boehners abrupt retirement. Just one Republican dissented on Tuesday. Theres no sense of foreboding today, Ryan said after taking the gavel. Theres only a sense of potential. The speaker reminded his colleagues of their vast responsibilities now that Republicans control the House, Senate and soon the White House. Its the kind of thing that most of us only dream about. I know because I used to dream about it, a lot, he said. The people have given us unified government. And it wasnt because they were feeling generous. Its because they wanted results. How could we live with ourselves if we let them down? Republicans have unfurled an ambitious conservative agenda, including repealing the Affordable Care Act, lowering tax rates, boosting economic growth and tightening immigration rules. Many are in sync with Trumps campaign promises. But despite their unified front, Republicans have yet to produce the kind of detailed first-100-days plan that often comes with a new session of Congress or a new president. We know that the coming days are going to require hard work, McConnell said. But if we work together, well be able to continue a record of achievement. Senate Republicans quickly introduced legislation to begin the painstaking process for repealing Obamacare, with mostly symbolic votes likely to begin next week. The thorny details will not come until later, and because parts of the bill are popular even with Republicans, full repeal may never pass. Democrats vowed to fight Trump on some issues including efforts to deport immigrants here illegally but said they will work with him when they can. As Tuesday showed, Democrats may be able to find daylight between the White House and Republicans in Congress. Many Democrats were officially aghast at the last-minute Republican push to weaken the ethnics panel. But Democrats also see possible coalitions with Trump on his calls to rebuild roads and bridges and to expand child care. Those issues have drawn a cool reception from conservatives on the Hill, but Trumps team has signaled he wants to pursue them. Were Democrats. Were not going to just oppose things to oppose them, Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), told CNN after he was sworn in as the Senate minority leader. The only way were going to work with [Trump] is if he moves completely in our direction and abandons his Republican colleagues. Thats not going to happen very often. The ethics controversy was not the way Republican leaders had planned to showcase the new Congress when they convened GOP lawmakers for a private meeting late Monday night. But the proposal from Rep. Robert W. Goodlatte (R-Va.), the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, to rein in the Office of Congressional Ethics struck a nerve with rank-and-file lawmakers. Many have chafed at the watchdog panel, which was set up in 2008 after high-profile corruption scandals sent several members to prison. Under Goodlattes plan, the independent office would be put under jurisdiction of the House Ethics Committee, which is made up of lawmakers, and barred from investigating anonymous tips or releasing any details of its work to the public. Ryan and House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield) warned lawmakers that opening day was not the time to make such controversial changes. They argued the proposal would carry more weight if it had bipartisan support from Democrats. The leaders advice was ignored. Late Monday, House Republicans voted to tuck the proposal into a broader rules package set for a vote on Tuesday afternoon. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, McCarthy told reporters Tuesday morning as he struggled to explain the changes amid an onslaught of questions. Then Trump tweeted his point of view. With all that Congress has to work on, do they really have to make the weakening of the Independent Ethics Watchdog, as unfair as it........may be, their number one act and priority. Focus on tax reform, healthcare and so many other things of far greater importance! He closed with #DTS a reference to one of his campaign slogans, Drain the swamp. Office telephone lines on Capitol Hill were already ringing by that time, and social media accounts filled with howls of protest. Republicans said they had little choice but to back down. Ryan convened a quick meeting behind closed doors in the Capitol basement, where GOP lawmakers were told the provision might tank the broader rules package that was set for a vote in several hours a potentially embarrassing setback on opening day. They agreed to shelve the issue for now. The feeling was, it was the right thing to do, but the wrong time to do it, said Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.). It was better to delay it. Caroline from Sierra Madre wrote to me about the five-year-long funeral that followed her fathers stroke, saying he retired a member of the middle class and died impoverished after all the family funds were spent on care. Art from Studio City wrote about his 96-year-old father, who has dementia and whose bank account is evaporating at a fast pace because of the cost of caregivers, food, medicine and daily expenses. Dick from Long Beach told me hes 84, his wife is 82, and theyre hung up on the financing of our old age. Advertisement They were among a small army of readers who responded to my Nov. 20 column about my 87-year-old moms failing health and the tough choices families are forced to make. Many thanks, by the way, for all the well wishes. To update the situation, my mother who did not look long for this world has improved physically and mentally since her release from the hospital. The San Francisco Bay Area doctors and nurses who cared for her seemed to be good at what they do individually, but they didnt do a great job of communicating with one another or our family. None of them told us in the hospital that dementia can be temporarily worsened by infections. We were left with the impression that delirium was my mothers new state. Shes still got a few major health problems, but she became much less disoriented once she was home, and a gerontologist told us thats not uncommon after an infection is treated. Dolores Westfall, 79, who lived in an RV for seven years while following work around the country, listens to the estimate on needed repairs for her RV, which she could not afford. Her story was chronicled in a Times report headlined Too poor to retire and too young to die. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times ) Its ever more clear to me that getting old, or helping someone who is aging, can be a full-time job. In our family, that job is done primarily by my sister, who just marked the 10th anniversary of ovarian cancer by checking into the hospital again for her fourth brain surgery. But remarkably, despite eight years of metastatic brain tumors, shes still full of fight. A nurse named Julia who recently lost her mother emailed me with a line thats making more and more sense to me lately: Getting old isnt for sissies. And heres the thing: Boomers are crowding the retirement turnstiles just as safety nets may get a haircut from a Republican Congress fixated on an Obamacare repeal that could whack Medicare and Medicaid. And although President-elect Trump has defended entitlements, a key advisor once called for privatizing Social Security. California has been a national leader in supporting in-home care and expanding medical insurance to wider populations, but federal funding cuts could jeopardize those advances. Everything is a wild card right now, said UCLA professor Steven Wallace, chair of the schools Department of Community Health Sciences. Wallace co-authored a report published last year on what he refers to as Californias hidden poor, approximately 655,000 older adults who are above the federal poverty level and ineligible for some government programs, but not wealthy enough to live comfortably in a region with such high housing costs. I know those people. Ive met many of them and written about some of them. Doris Tillman comes to mind. Shes the South Los Angeles retiree who went nine months without running water after losing a job and falling behind on a Los Angeles Department of Water and Power bill she disputed. Im going to write a book about how to survive in L.A. without water, the 71-year-old Tillman told me at the time. She learned to get by on 50 gallons a week of water she purchased, lugging heavy five-gallon jugs into and out of her car and into her home. Another story comes to mind the one on 79-year-old Dolores Westfall last January by John Glionna and photographer Francine Orr. The headline was Too poor to retire and too young to die, and the story chronicled the travels of Westfall, who left her California home and lived in an RV she called Big Foot. For seven years, she roamed the country, moving from one temporary job to another. She endures what for many aging Americans is an unforgiving economy, said the story. Nearly one-third of U.S. heads of households ages 55 and older have no pension or retirement savings and a median annual income of about $19,000. Westfall died just before Christmas. Orr and I have been talking for several months about teaming up on a series of stories about the hard choices Californians make in middle age and later on, and it was she who directed me to the UCLA research by Wallace and his cohort, D. Imelda Padilla-Frausto. The research found that people of color were harder hit, that the hidden poor had more health problems than the general population but less access to care, and that those people were more likely to suffer from depression. Women are particularly hard hit, Wallace said, partly because they often survive their husbands but lose their pensions. The expenses dont drop as much as the income does, so youve got older women particularly in their 80s who may have the family home paid off, but the roof is leaking and the water heater goes out, and they dont have the money to fix them, said Wallace. So theyre downsized into apartments, where theyre struggling to pay the monthly rent. If youre in that kind of situation, or know someone who is, shoot me an email. Orr and I are gearing up to chase stories around the state, to keep an eye on policy decisions in Washington and Sacramento, and to take a close look at programs and policies that can help people in need. By the way, in my November column, I referred readers to the SCAN Foundation but gave an incomplete website address. Go to www.thescanfoundation.org, click on Aging Well, and youll find piles of good planning advice. And thanks again to all of you who sent kind thoughts and words of support for my mom. steve.lopez@latimes.com Get more of Steve Lopezs work and follow him on Twitter @LATstevelopez ALSO Pentagon says it will waive bonus repayments for vast majority of California National Guard soldiers Charles Manson seriously ill, moved to hospital, sources say YouTube daredevil breaks feet jumping off Laguna Beach hotel, asks for money For the second time since her double-murder conviction, former San Diego socialite Elizabeth Betty Broderick will appear Wednesday before a parole board after spending decades in prison. Broderick, who is now 69, was convicted of second-degree murder for the 1989 shooting deaths of her ex-husband, medical malpractice lawyer Daniel Broderick, 44, and his wife, Linda Kolkena Broderick, 28. It was a sensational case that drew national attention. The events were turned into a made-for-television movie. Advertisement Broderick was sentenced in 1991 to 32 years to life and now is housed at the California Institution for Women in Chino. Her first parole hearing was in January 2010, when a two-person panel found her unsuitable for release. One commissioner from the Board of Prison Terms said Broderick showed no significant progress in evolving from where she was emotionally at the time of the killings. The victims were shot the morning of Nov. 5, 1989, as they slept in their home near Balboa Park in San Diego. According to the district attorneys office, Broderick used a key that she had taken from her daughter weeks earlier and sneaked up the stairs as the couple slept. She fired five shots from a revolver, three of which hit the victims as they tried to dive for cover. Daniel Broderick attempted to reach for the telephone to call for help. He was shot in his back and fell off the bed. Betty Broderick then pulled the phone from the wall and left it in the hallway, out of reach. She left the home and was arrested later that day. Although she never denied committing the shootings, Broderick contended at two trials the first ended in a mistrial that she was driven to do it after enduring a bitter divorce in which she claimed she was emotionally and psychologically abused. Prosecutors argued that Broderick was an angry and violent stalker who sought revenge against her ex-husband and the younger woman he had left her to marry. She left numerous obscene messages on Daniel Brodericks answering machine, prosecutors said, and once drove her vehicle through the front door of the couples home. The San Diego County district attorneys office has said it will oppose Betty Brodericks request for release. Deputy Dist. Atty. Richard Sachs is expected to argue at the Wednesday hearing that Broderick remains a danger to society. The board could find that she is suitable for parole and set a parole date, or deny parole for three, five, seven, 10 or 15 more years. dana.littlefield@sduniontribune.com Twitter: @danalittlefield Littlefield writes for the San Diego Union-Tribune Anti-gay graffiti and extensive vandalism at a Van Nuys home prompted a hate crime investigation Tuesday night by Los Angeles police officers. The vandalism was reported about 6 p.m. at a home in the 7400 block of Vista Del Monte Avenue, according to Officer Mike Lopez, a spokesman for the Los Angeles Police Department. Sgt. Carl Taylor said someone broke into the home, sprayed anti-gay graffiti, kicked in walls and destroyed water pipes. Advertisement Its pretty extensive damage, said Taylor, who confirmed that detectives were treating the burglary and ransacking as a suspected hate crime. When officers arrived at the property, the homes door was open. Police made sure no one was inside and noticed the large amount of property damage. Its unclear who lives at the property. No one was injured during the ransacking and there was no description of a suspect or suspects, Lopez said. The suspected hate crime comes after a period in which Los Angeles County has seen an increase in such targeted violence. According to a report issued in September by the countys Commission on Human Relations, the number of hate crimes in the county rose sharply in 2015, the most recent year for which data is available. A total of 483 hate crimes were reported, a 24% increase from 2014. Of those, 120 hate crimes were motivated by sexual orientation an 11% increase from the previous year. Officials said the overall spike came after a roughly seven-year period that saw a downward trend for reported hate crimes. Still, experts have cautioned that the statistics on hate crimes against LGBT people may not be accurate because of concerns about reporting incidents to authorities and exposing ones sexual identity. matt.hamilton@latimes.com Twitter: @MattHjourno. MORE LOCAL NEWS 1 body, dead dog and car possibly linked to missing L.A. couple found off cliff on Highway 1 Tijuana councilmans bail is set at $300,000 in money-laundering case California Coastal Commission should tighten management and billing practices, state review finds The California Supreme Court appeared skeptical Wednesday that Newport Beach officials had reviewed the proposed Banning Ranch development adequately before approving it. During a hearing, the justices considered whether the city had obeyed environmental law when it approved the large commercial and housing development in 2012. The California Coastal Commission rejected a scaled-down version of that plan in September, but the developer can present another proposal later this year. Advertisement If the state Supreme Court decides the city failed to follow legal requirements in approving the project, Newport Beach would have to reconsider the plan all over again if it were to go forward. The justices did not state how they were leaning, but their questions indicated that they found the citys environmental review wanting. Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye noted that she could not understand the citys maps in the environmental impact report that showed the locations of sensitive habitat. She asked whether local governments were required to provide information in a way that the public can decipher. The chief justice also suggested that Newport Beach had been penny-wise but pound-foolish in approving the project before fully analyzing the potential environmental impact. Among the questions the court must answer is whether Newport Beach adequately consulted the Coastal Commission in doing its environmental review. The law requires cities to work with the panel but does not specify exactly what must be done. The justices appeared concerned about how to fashion a ruling that would give adequate guidance to all cities. The question we are facing is how to write a rule that shows what work with means going forward, Justice Mariano-Florentino Cuellar said. Attorney Whitman F. Manley, representing Newport Beach, told the court that records showed the city had at least one meeting with Coastal Commission staff members and that both sides also consulted at the development site. It may be work with a lowercase w, but it is work, Manley said. He argued that the city had fully complied with the law but knew at the time that the Coastal Commission had the final word in designating environmentally sensitive habitat on the property. Some of the justices suggested the city may have shirked its duties by deciding the commission could work out the details later. How do you draw the line where it is appropriate for a city to say, We are going to punt to somebody else, and where that is not appropriate? Cuellar asked. The Banning Ranch Conservancy, a group that wants to buy the property for open space, challenged Newport Beachs approval of the project. An appeals court in Orange County sided with the city, and the conservancy appealed the decision to the California Supreme Court. The city originally approved a plan to build 1,375 homes, a 75-room hotel and a commercial zone on about 95 acres of the 401-acre coastal property. The developer then asked the Coastal Commission for a permit to build a smaller project including 895 homes, the hotel, a 20-bed hostel and 45,100 square feet of retail space on 62 acres. After the commission rejected that proposal, the developer sued the agency and asked for compensation of at least $490 million. Most of the property has been used for oil drilling for decades. The developer has argued that the public will benefit from the project because the vast majority of the land will be preserved as open space. The court has 90 days to decide the case. maura.dolan@latimes.com Twitter: @mauradolan The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power has infuriated customers with its billing screw-ups, long telephone wait times and unfettered spending. After winning the Los Angeles mayors race in 2013, Eric Garcetti vowed to overhaul the agency, promising more oversight and better service at the nations largest government-run utility. For the record: A previous version of this article stated that Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcettis proposed bill of rights for Department of Water and Power customers needed approval by the City Council before taking effect Feb. 1. The DWP Board of Commissioners will vote on the plan, but no City Council approval is needed. On that front, hes relied on performance yardsticks to track DWP progress and brought in new hires. He also backed an unsuccessful ballot measure last fall that would have overhauled the utility. Advertisement On Tuesday, Garcetti took a different approach in his DWP reform campaign. He reached back more than 200 years and evoked the Founding Fathers by unveiling a DWP customer bill of rights. The mayors bill of rights plan, which comes two months before he faces reelection, offers ratepayer guarantees, such as a $25 rebate in some billing error cases. But the proposal includes practices already in place at the agency, drawing criticism from DWP watchdogs. The bill of rights also doesnt ensure ratepayers any legal protections, according to the documents fine print. As news cameras zoomed in on an oversized bill of rights poster -- a prop modeled after a yellowed 18th century scroll at Tuesdays news conference, Garcetti said the document would ensure the highest level of service. Today were taking one of our most important steps, Garcetti said. The dozens of proposals are scheduled to go into effect Feb. 1, the mayor said. The DWP Board of Commissioners will vote on the plan, but approval by the Los Angeles City Council is not required. Some of Garcettis proposals already exist. For instance, the proposal states defective meters will be replaced within 90 days of first being reported or discovered by the DWP. DWP spokeswoman Michelle Figueroa said that defective water meters, on average, are currently being replaced within 60 days of being discovered or reported. Defective electric meters are replaced with 90 days, she said. Garcettis proposal states wait times for callers to the DWP wont exceed three minutes, on average. However, wait times have been under three minutes for the last 16 months at the department, Garcetti said. In a statement, Garcetti spokesman Carl Marziali said, The bill of rights is intended to formalize reforms and policies for future ratepayers. Some, like the reduction in call wait times, started before the bill. The mayors emphasis on customer improvement comes as opponents in the March 7 mayoral election are likely to focus on his record with the DWP. Already, Mitchell Schwartz, one challenger, has released his own plan for reforming the utility. The consumer group J.D. Power & Associates ranked the utility last among large Western power providers in its 2016 annual customer satisfaction survey. Another J.D. Power survey on water providers released last year ranked the DWP near the bottom. Separately, the DWP owes its customers at least $66.7 million in refunds and credits after faulty software led to widespread overbilling. Under Garcettis proposal, questions sent to the DWP via email would receive a response within 24 hours, or one business day. Recent response times have been 48 hours, Figueroa said. Interested in the stories shaping California? Sign up for the free Essential California newsletter Other proposed policies state that bills that exceed three times the average historic use for the same billing period will automatically be reviewed. Customers with a bill that is three times their average historic billing period use because of an inaccurate meter reading will receive a $25 bill credit. Additionally, the bill will be corrected. Customers would have to apply to receive the credits, according to Garcettis proposal. Steve Erie, professor emeritus of political science UC San Diego, said there are a lot of gray areas and questioned whether the plan would change public perceptions of the DWP. I dont think $25 service credits are really going to mollify angry customers, Erie said. dakota.smith@latimes.com Twitter: @dakotacdsmith ALSO State water officials are optimistic despite gloomy California snowpack survey Charles Manson seriously ill, moved to hospital, sources say 1 body, dead dog and car possibly linked to missing L.A. couple found off cliff on Highway 1 Days after a Pomona artist told reporters that he altered the Hollywood sign to read HOLLYWeeD, Los Angeles police detectives say they plan to submit their case to the Los Angeles County district attorney for possible prosecution. LAPD Officer Liliana Preciado said Wednesday that investigators were talking to a person in connection with the trespassing case, but declined to name the person. Preciado said detectives would not arrest the prankster on suspicion of trespassing, but would instead present their findings to the district attorneys office. Prosecutors will then decide whether or not to file charges, she said. Artist Zach Fernandez, who calls himself Jesus Hands, told Vice that he and his creative partner/former wife, Sarah Fern, were responsible for the prank. Dressed in camouflage, Fernandez used a rope to swing around the letters, he said, and used clamps to clip sheets of fabric and photographs to them. The entire act took about two hours, he told Vice. Advertisement Fern told the online magazine that they mapped it out together and double checked measurements and everything. We did it on a budget and were very resourceful about it, she told Vice. Police said surveillance footage showed a man dressed in black, tactical-style gear scaling the signs ladders and hanging tarps over the Os to change them to Es at 3 a.m. Sunday. One of the tarps was decorated with a peace sign, and another with a heart. Following the prank, the Hollywood Sign Trust, the agency that maintains and secures the site, said it planned to boost security. The couple said the prank was an homage to Daniel Finegood, a Cal State Northridge student who pulled off the same act on New Years Day in 1976. Finegood scaled Mt. Lee with $50 worth of curtains and changed the sign to coincide with the first day that California classified possession of up to one ounce of marijuana as a misdemeanor, rather than a felony. The couple said they also drew inspiration from the divisive election, saying they hoped the piece brought conversation and positivity. Fern and Fernandez said they aware they could face consequences for revealing their identifies. But Fern told Vice, Were OK with that. veronica.rocha@latimes.com For breaking news in California, follow @VeronicaRochaLA on Twitter. ALSO 3 dead, 1 arrested in shooting during family dispute at Fontana apartment complex LAPD investigate anti-gay vandalism as hate crime at Van Nuys home 1 body, dead dog and car possibly linked to missing L.A. couple found off cliff on Highway 1 A high-ranking Chicago police official who was asked to lead reform efforts in one of the nations largest police departments has been tapped to lead Oaklands troubled police force less than a year after the agency was caught up in a wide-ranging sexual abuse scandal. Anne Kirkpatrick, a former police chief in Spokane, Wash., who was also a finalist to be named Chicagos top cop last year, was introduced as Oaklands police chief during a Wednesday afternoon news conference. Oakland has been without a permanent chief for more than six months, after Chief Sean Whent resigned amid allegations that more than a dozen of his officers had sexual relations with a self-described sex worker. The woman has claimed that some of the encounters occurred while she was underage, and some officers have been accused of tipping her off about upcoming prostitution raids in exchange for sex. Advertisement Several Oakland police officers were fired as a result of the scandal, and a few face criminal charges. Whent resigned in June, and the city released a statement citing his departure as a personal choice. Several city officials, however, told the Los Angeles Times that Whents ouster was connected to the scandal. Two other interim chiefs were appointed and dismissed in the span of a week last year, and the department was ultimately placed under the control of Oaklands civilian city administrator while Mayor Libby Schaaf led a search for a permanent chief. Kirkpatrick hinted that she has wanted to move to Oakland for some time, though she did not explain why. Asked why she would leave one department beset by challenges for the chance to lead another entrenched in controversy, the veteran police leader said she welcomed the challenge. I dont consider it a mess, said Kirkpatrick, who has been a police officer for more than 30 years. I consider it an opportunity. In Chicago, Kirkpatrick was leading the departments newly created Bureau of Professional Standards, part of a wider reform effort that followed national outrage over the 2014 shooting death of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald. Video of the incident showed Officer Jason Van Dyke shooting the teen 16 times. Van Dyke now faces murder charges. The firestorm that followed the release of the video led to the firing of former Chicago Police Supt. Garry McCarthy, and Kirkpatrick was one of three finalists to succeed him. In Oakland, Kirkpatrick faces the task of cleaning up a culture that Schaaf once likened to a frat house. The department has been subject to federal monitoring since 2003, but city officials were close to regaining local control of the agency until the sex abuse scandal gained national attention last summer. In an interview with a Bay Area television station, 19-year-old Jasmine Abuslin claimed she had sex with dozens of officers across multiple East Bay law enforcement agencies. Four Oakland police officers have been criminally charged in the scandal, including Giovanni LoVerde, who prosecutors claim had a sexual encounter with Abuslin while she was a minor. Three other officers face charges such as failing to report the abuse and illegally accessing law enforcement databases as a favor to Abuslin. The Times does not normally name victims of sexual assault, but Abuslin has identified herself in a number of interviews and during a news conference with her attorney last year. Kirkpatrick dismissed the idea that she would face unique challenges as a female leader trying to heal an agency dogged by sexual misconduct allegations against male officers, saying the skills that make her an effective police executive are not gender-specific. I am a leader, who is cloaked as a woman, and Im grateful for being a woman, she said. John Burris, the civil rights attorney who negotiated the settlement that placed the department under federal oversight in 2003, said he was glad Schaaf chose someone disconnected from Oaklands political power structures to lead what he believes will be a lengthy and complex reform effort. While Kirkpatricks resume is impressive, Burris said the problems faced by Oakland police could prove difficult for even the most qualified candidate. I really thought it was good to have an outsider, to have fresh eyes looking at the problems that exist here. Someone who is not beholden to any vested interests in the department. So in that sense, its a positive appointment, he said. But it certainly remains to be seen whether or not she can tackle, in a positive way, some of the contentious issues that exist within the city. Sweeney is a reporter for the Chicago Tribune. james.queally@latimes.com Follow @JamesQueallyLAT on Twitter for crime and police news in California. UPDATES: 2 p.m.: This article was updated with additional comments from Kirkpatricks news conference. This article was originally published at 12:45 p.m. A real estate agent was charged with arson and murder Wednesday in connection with the slayings of two women and a house fire in Westminster on New Years Day, according to court records. Christopher Ken Ireland, 37, faces two counts of murder and one count of arson, according to an Orange County Superior Court criminal complaint. He is also charged with one count of aggravated mayhem for intentionally and unlawfully [causing] permanent disability, disfigurement, and deprivation of a limb, organ and body member of one of the victims, according to the complaint. Westminster police have released few details about killings, which they said occurred sometime Sunday. Advertisement Firefighters were called at about 5:30 a.m. to put out a fire at a home in the 5000 block of Northwestern Way in Westminster, police said. But the homeowner, Yolanda Holtrey, and her friend, Michelle Luke, were nowhere to be found. Police said the fire was suspicious, so an arson investigator and detectives were asked to look into the case to determine what happened. The next day, police found Holtrey and Lukes bodies in a field off Bonita Canyon Drive and Ford Road in Newport Beach, according to the Orange County Sheriff-Coroners Division. Investigators found neighborhood surveillance video that led them to Ireland, KNBC-TV reported. He was arrested after he and his wife showed up at Holtreys home offering to help, the television news station reported. The couple had gone to a party at Holtreys home on New Years Eve. His wife, Samantha Ireland, told KNBC-TV that they went home after the party and she didnt recall him leaving. She said she thinks her husband was sleep walking. Ireland is a real estate agent who worked at Realty ONE Group and was going to help Holtrey sell her home, she told the news station. I dont know any realtors that would kill their clients, Samantha Ireland told KNBC-TV. Thats stupid -- why would he do that? A relative of Holtrey told KTLA-TV that Irelands wife worked with Holtrey at a department store, the relative said. Although Irelands wife knew Holtrey, the defendant hadnt met the victims before that evening, the relative told television news station. veronica.rocha@latimes.com For breaking news in California, follow @VeronicaRochaLA on Twitter. The University of California unveiled a proposal Wednesday for the first tuition increase in six years, saying booming enrollment growth and reduced state support have left campuses scrambling to pay for more faculty, course offerings, classrooms and financial aid. Under the proposal, tuition would grow to $11,502 for the 2017-18 school year a 2.5% increase, or $282. The student services fee would increase to $1,128, a $54 increase. But financial aid would cover the increases for two-thirds of the universitys California resident students, who number about 175,500, said UC spokeswoman Dianne Klein. For the record: A previous version of this article misspelled the first name of Audrey Dow, of the Campaign for College Opportunity, as Audrew. Nonresident undergraduates would face a total increase of $1,668. They would pay the same increases in base tuition and student fees but also a 5% hike in their supplemental tuition, which would rise $1,332 from $26,682 currently to $28,014 next year. Advertisement Were at the point where if we dont do this, if we dont invest, the quality of education is going to suffer, Klein said. We want these students to have the same or better experience than students who came before them. The proposed increases will be presented to the UC Board of Regents this month. They have been opposed by many students, and protests briefly shut down the last regents meeting in November. Students have said that even with financial aid covering their tuition, they face hardships paying for food and rent in the high-cost areas where most campuses are located, such as Berkeley, Westwood, San Diego and Santa Barbara. Ralph Washington Jr., the UC Student Assn. president, said many students want a rollback of the current tuition and fees, which have more than doubled since 2006 and are at their highest level in history. He said students understand the university systems financial crunch but want a greater voice in how money is spent. Klein said all of the increased revenue which would total $88 million would be used to benefit students. Many would receive more financial aid because one-third of money raised by any tuition increase goes directly into student awards, and assistance from the state-funded Cal Grant and Middle Class Scholarship programs also increases automatically. A California resident student with an annual family income of $120,000, Klein said, would receive an estimated additional $700 in financial aid more than twice the amount needed to cover the proposed $336 hike. But many Californians support making at least some public colleges tuition-free as New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo proposed this week. Cuomo announced a plan to make city and state colleges and universities free for students with family incomes of $125,000 or less. A statewide survey last month by the Public Policy Institute of California found that nearly three-quarters of respondents spanning all political parties, race, ethnicities, incomes and education levels backed making community colleges tuition-free. An even greater share 82% supported more scholarships and grants for students. Higher taxes for higher education were supported by 68% of Democrats, 20% of Republicans and 42% of independents, according to the survey. Assemblyman Jose Medina (D-Riverside), chairman of the Assemblys higher education committee, said there were no plans yet to follow New Yorks lead. But he said he would fight for more funding and was moderately optimistic about solutions other than tuition hikes. Assemblyman Kevin McCarty (D-Sacramento) plans to hold a hearing in February on how to expand financial aid for needy college students to cover not only tuition but housing and other needs. Even now, however, California provides some of the most generous financial aid in the nation. UC covers tuition for all students with family incomes of $80,000 and less. Of the 2.1 million California Community College students, 45% receive tuition waivers from the Board of Governors, while 61% of Cal State University undergraduates pay no tuition. A scholarship program to assist middle-class families earning up to $156,000 annually will be fully phased in by the 2017-18 school year. With the UC increases, campuses would be able to hire more faculty to lower class sizes, which have swelled in recent years following the largest boost in enrollment of California students since World War II. The student-faculty ratio at UC San Diego, for instance, grew to 27 to 1 over the last eight years well above the historical ratio of 18 to 1. A tuition increase would help fund more tenure-track faculty throughout UC, including 27 more at UC San Diego, 34 more at UC Davis and more than 40 more at UC Irvine, Klein said. She added that the tuition and fee increases also would help pay for more counselors, tutors, mental-health counselors, graduate-student fellowships and improvements to classroom spaces. Washington argued, however, that not all students necessarily would benefit from the added services. If the new faculty hired were not sufficiently diverse, for instance, they would not improve the campus climate for marginalized students. He said he personally wanted to see more money spent on such needs as staff for sexual misconduct cases and support for hungry students. Juniper Cordova-Goff, a third-year UC Berkeley student, said UC should lower executive pay rather than stick students with higher tuition. She said she receives enough financial aid to cover tuition and fees but that even with a full-time job, she still scrambles to cover the cost of housing, books and food because she sends money to her parents, who are homeless. But Audrey Dow of the Campaign for College Opportunity a nonprofit that advocates expanding college access called the tuition proposal reasonable given rising costs and the long tuition freeze and said, UC has made a good commitment to cover the increase for low-income families. UC officials say that modest and predictable tuition increases could help families better plan their college expenses and give the university greater financial stability. The state slashed nearly one-third of its support to UC after the 2008 recession prompting the university to impose double-digit tuition increases but has steadily restored the funding in the last six years in exchange for a tuition freeze and some academic and administrative reforms. Gov. Jerry Brown is among the elected officials who have said a modest increase next year would be reasonable after the six-year tuition freeze. The proposal is sure to draw scrutiny from the regents. At the last meeting in November, Regent Eddie Island said UC should consider providing more aid to students to cover the full cost of attendance, and Regent Norman J. Pattiz said he had presided over many tuition hikes during his long years on the board but that using financial aid to justify another one doesnt fly anymore. Pattiz said Tuesday he remains undecided about his support. He said he wants answers to key questions first, such as what the alternatives to a tuition hike might be. teresa.watanabe@latimes.com Twitter: @teresawatanabe ALSO Most computer science majors in the U.S. are men. Not so at Harvey Mudd These are the classes you get when you give college students control UC freshman applications shatter records, with gains among all racial groups UPDATES: 4:25 p.m.: This article has been updated with additional comments from students and advocates. This article was originally published at 12:10 p.m. Bail was set at $300,000 Tuesday for a Tijuana City Council member who is facing money-laundering charges in San Diego. Superior Court Judge David J. Danielsen rejected the prosecutions $5-million bail request for Luis Torres Santillan, which described him as a flight risk. The councilmans attorney argued that Torres had never been arrested before, held U.S. and Mexican citizenship and was married to a teacher working in Chula Vista. Advertisement According to Anthony Colombo, his client is the 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. The councilman had been in office for 16 days when he was arrested at the border Dec. 16. Charged with 10 counts of money laundering, he has pleaded not guilty and currently is on leave from the council. The case is one of three resulting from an investigation led by the Drug Enforcement Administrations narcotics task force, in collaboration with other agencies. Torres is one of 12 defendants named in a complaint filed by the state of California. According to court documents, proceeds from illegal activity were being smuggled from Mexico into the United States, deposited into banks and then wired back to Mexico. The next hearing in the case is scheduled for Feb. 9. local@sduniontribune.com The Joe and Murray Show, the high-stakes, long-running rivalry between an Arizona sheriff and federal judge, has chosen a federal appeals court as its new backdrop for an eighth year that has turned ugly and increasingly personal. Since 2009, Arizonans have watched the drama play out between Joe Arpaio, 84, and U.S. District Court Judge G. Murray Snow, 57. Among the shows highlights: unintentional comedy and spying allegations, remorseful confessions and digital-age intrigue, and dont forget the investigations into investigators followed by investigations into the investigators investigating the original investigation. There was even a rerun. Through it all, the two main players have maintained stoic public faces while letting accusations and counterpunches fly among mountains of legal briefs and judicial orders. The most recent came last week, when Arpaio asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit to remove Snow from his case. Advertisement During more than 20 years as sheriff of Maricopa County, Arpaio was used to defeating those who challenged him. As recently as 2012, the U.S. Justice Department cleared Arpaio of wrongdoing in a four-year abuse-of-power investigation. But in Snow, Arpaio may have met his match. After reviewing Arpaios treatment of Latino drivers in massive stings targeting immigrants in the country illegally, Snow deemed Arpaios application of justice as unfair, partial and inequitable, and found the sheriff broke the law in failing to carry out a 2011 court order to refrain from bias against minorities. Thus, the Joe and Murray Show really got going. The two men are more similar than different. Snow and Arpaio are both conservative Arizonans with a long history of federal service, Arpaio in the Drug Enforcement Administration and Snow on the bench. Their differences come down to their jobs, personalities and the nature of the public spotlight: Arpaio is used to it, even thrives in it, and pulled Snow, a devout Mormon, into its glare. In Phoenix, Arpaio is a longtime power player, Snow a relative unknown. Arpaio is used to turning to the court of public opinion, until he came to Snows federal court, where cameras arent allowed. Arpaio learned years ago that by pulling federal court proceedings into the public square and personifying the governments investigation into him, he can divert public attention from the allegations against him and raise significant sums of money for his legal defense and reelection campaigns. He prevailed against another federal judge in 2009. At Arpaios urging, a Mexican American judge was disqualified because her twin sister was a prominent leader of a national Latino advocacy organization. Arpaio used the experience as further proof to his supporters that there was a grand federal conspiracy at work against him, a theme he continued while facing off against Murray last year. Dear Patriot, Arpaio began a 2015 fundraising letter. In the daily exercise of doing my job I am often targeted by groups that file legal actions against me for a variety of reasons. I do not have the personal wealth or the wherewithal to keep up with the costly demands of paying for attorneys to defend me. But he hasnt been as successful with Snow, though not for lack of trying. In May 2015, Arpaio asked for Snow to be taken off the case. His reasoning: The judge is personally involved in the case because Arpaios former lawyer authorized a secret investigation of Snows wife. Snow declined to remove himself. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals then denied Arpaios request to remove Snow. Petitioners have not demonstrated that this case warrants the intervention of this court by means of the extraordinary remedy of mandamus, a three-judge panel wrote in an order denying Arpaios motion. If 9th Circuit justices thought that was the last Snow-family-related appeal they would receive from Arpaio, they havent been watching the Joe and Murray Show closely. In August, Arpaio made his case against Snow in a fundraising letter, breaking from his usual practice of warning against a general conspiracy against him and taking the unusual step of identifying the judge as the problem. The judge made this decision just 10 days before my primary election! Arpaio wrote in late August, before winning the Republican county primary. Im now going to have to fight tooth and nail against this court action. Thats why I need your help, right away. Barack Obama, his Justice Department and their far-left allies like the ACLU would love nothing better than to see me convicted of a crime. In a court filing this week, Arpaio chose another Snow family member: his brother-in-law. Arpaio argues that Snow learned that his brother-in-law was an equity partner in the law firm representing plaintiffs against Arpaio in 2010, but did not recuse himself, though Snow did notify the parties in the lawsuit in 2012. By then, Judge Snow had awarded [the law firm] nearly $100,000 in attorneys fees at a time when only he knew that his relative might share in those fees, according to Arpaios filing. The main issue with the appeal? Arpaio had waived his right to contest the conflict of interest after Snow revealed the connection, something his attorneys say Arpaio did to avoid delaying resolution of a case that had already significantly impaired their financial and reputational well-being. Now, Arpaios attorneys want the waiver deemed null and void, and want Snows connection to his brother-in-law back before the appellate court. In addition to Snows connection to his brother-in-laws firm, Arpaio also alleges that Snow had improper contact with the federal monitor overseeing the Maricopa County Sheriffs Office. Arpaio lost his seventh bid for sheriff in November, and his successor is Paul Penzone. Arpaios court costs, billed to the county, amount to more than $48 million. But those costs came in a civil trial, and Snow in August referred Arpaio to the U.S. attorney for Arizona, which charged Arpaio with criminal contempt, accusing him of violating Snows orders to stop profiling Latino drivers. In criminal court, Arpaio will have to bear his own legal fees, a matter he has pledged to contest. His trial is scheduled to begin April 4. The Joe and Murray Show rolls on. nigel.duara@latimes.com Twitter: @nigelduara ALSO Convicted South Carolina killer Dylann Roof to jurors: Nothing wrong we me psychologically A Washington town rallies around Officer Mick, and the badly wounded cop rallies as well Obama bucks up Democrats as they prepare Obamacare fight The Pentagon said Tuesday it would waive repayment for more than 15,000 California National Guard soldiers and veterans who received enlistment bonuses over the last decade but that 1,000 or so other service members would not have their debts waived. Peter Levine, the Pentagons top personnel official, told reporters that the Defense Department would begin notifying soldiers this month that their debts were being waived and that all of the notifications would be completed before July 1. We think that the number of cases in which well be recouping will be a few hundred, as opposed to the many thousands of cases that are under the sword of Damocles right now, Levine said. Advertisement Levines figures were higher than those the California Guard had provided in recent months, and suggest the problem was larger than previously recognized. California Guard officials had said they had audited 14,000 soldiers bonuses and that about 9,800 were facing repayment demands. The announcement follows President Obamas signing of a defense authorization bill into law on Dec. 23. The bill contained language that required the Pentagon to conduct a case-by-case review of the California Guard bonuses and to wave repayment unless a soldier took the money fraudulently or did not fulfill his or her enlistment contract. The Times reported in October that the California Guard was using tax liens and other aggressive tactics to force about 9,700 soldiers and veterans to repay enlistment bonuses and other financial incentives awarded during the height of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Though some of the bonuses were awarded improperly, The Times found that many of the repayment demands resulted from the California Guard losing soldiers records or other administrative errors. Many of the soldiers who received the demands had served in combat, and some returned with severe injuries. Many soldiers were told to repay bonuses of $15,000 or more, years after they had completed their military service. Student loan repayments, which were given to some soldiers with educational loans, sometimes totaled as much as $50,000. In the most detailed accounting of the fiasco yet, Levine said that a Pentagon review had found a total of 17,500 bonuses were paid to California Guard soldiers from 2004 to 2010. Of those, he said, 1,400 soldiers had been ordered to begin repaying a bonus or student loan incentive, while another 16,000 had been notified that they could face debt collection. About half the 1,400 who have been repaying their bonuses are likely to have the debts waived and their money returned, Levine said. About 1,000 or fewer of the remaining 16,000 will have to repay, he added. In most cases, repayments will be from soldiers who decided not to fulfill their six-year enlistment terms or other terms of their contract, he said. Most of the cases in which well be recouping, we will be recouping because the soldier didnt fulfill their commitment, Levine said. There will be some cases in which we have fraud or evidence of fraud or knowledge or should have known. The cases will be reviewed by the Army Board for the Correction of Military Records. National Guard soldiers in other states who have been ordered to repay bonuses are not eligible for the debt forgiveness that Congress approved for California. Audits by the National Guard of Indiana, Missouri, Kentucky and Pennsylvania starting in 2011 looked at small samples of records and found that hundreds of soldiers received improper bonuses in two of the states. Internal checks in Texas found thousands of improper payments. The Pentagon has not done a full-scale nationwide audit of National Guard bonus payments. But officials say reforms have been put in place to make it much harder for soldiers to receive bonuses for which they are not entitled. Pentagon officials have said California was distinct in scale and because a handful of soldiers fraudulently took bonuses. Explaining the decision to limit forgiveness to California soldiers, Levine said, Weve determined that there was no other state in which there was the kind of massive problem that there was in California. He said fiscal controls on bonuses were lax in other states as well, some of which also had just one person responsible for approving bonuses. Those internal control problems werent unique to California, he said. What we had in California was the vulnerability was systematically exploited. Thats why we had the problem there that we didnt have elsewhere. Most of the improper bonuses in California were processed by Army Master Sgt. Toni Jaffe, the California Guards incentive manager, who pleaded guilty in 2011 to filing false claims of $15.2 million and was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison. Jaffe was the sole official in the California Guard responsible for processing bonuses. She told The Times in an interview last month that she was overworked and under pressure to approve bonuses to meet recruiting goals. david.cloud@latimes.com Twitter: @davidcloudLAT ALSO: Thousands of California soldiers forced to repay enlistment bonuses a decade after going to war Defense secretary orders Pentagon to stop seeking repayment of California National Guard bonuses Congress proposals would let California National Guard soldiers keep millions in bonuses The white supremacist found guilty last month of gunning down nine black members of a South Carolina Bible study class plans to represent himself Wednesday in court proceedings to determine whether he will receive the death penalty. In an unusual move, 22-year-old high school dropout Dylann Roof has chosen to dismiss his experienced capital defense attorney. If the 12-member jury votes unanimously in favor of the death penalty, Roof could become the first person in American history sentenced to death in a federal hate-crimes trial. He faces death by lethal injection or life in prison. Advertisement On Dec. 15, a federal jury in Charleston found Roof guilty of 33 counts in the June 2015 massacre at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, including committing a hate crime against black victims, obstructing the exercise of religion and using a firearm to commit murder. The Department of Justice is seeking the death penalty on the basis of Roofs significant premeditation, apparent lack of remorse and stated animosity toward African Americans. On Monday, Judge Richard Gergel ruled Roof competent to represent himself during sentencing. The decision, announced after a daylong hearing that was closed to the public, represented yet another blow for Roofs court-appointed attorneys, who have failed to convince their client that his best chance of avoiding execution is a mental health defense. When sentencing starts Wednesday, federal attorneys will begin to call more than 30 witnesses in an attempt to persuade jurors that Roof should be sentenced to death. Roof, meanwhile, plans on calling no witnesses and presenting no evidence. I expect it to be a charade of a capital sentencing, said Christopher Adams, a Charleston defense attorney who specializes in federal cases and is not involved in this one. Here you have a guy who clearly is mentally ill, and he is not going to present any mental health evidence. So the jurors are going to be asked to make the toughest decision imaginable under law without any real information. During the trial, jurors watched Roof confess in a taped interview with FBI investigators, heard from two survivors who identified him as the shooter and saw closed-circuit television footage of him exiting the scene of the crime with a gun in his hand. Even his attorney admitted Roof committed the massacre. If anybody ever has been a candidate for the death penalty, Dylann Roof would be a candidate, said Joseph Darby, a presiding elder of the Beaufort District of the A.M.E. Church and the first vice president of the Charleston branch of the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People. If he is not executed, it would be hard to make the case for anyone else to be executed in America. Family members who testify during the sentencing phase of the trial are not allowed to tell the jury what penalty they would like Roof to receive. Two days after the massacre, some relatives of those who died expressed forgiveness at Roofs bond hearing, calling for God to have mercy on him. President Obama and Republican Gov. Nikki Haley praised what they called family members grace. From the beginning, Roof has balked against the idea of being defended on the basis of any mentally illness. I am morally opposed to psychology, he scrawled in a journal that investigators found in his car after the massacre. It is a Jewish invention, and does nothing but invent diseases and tell people they have problems when they dont. I will not be calling mental health experts or presenting mental health evidence, he wrote to Judge Gergel a day after a jury found him guilty. If Roof is sentenced to death, the dispute about his choice to represent himself and his withholding of information about his mental health will probably lead to multiple appeals, legal experts said. Before the trial began, a rift emerged between Roof and his lawyers over the question of his mental health. Roofs attorneys raised questions about his mental state, asking the judge to declare their client incompetent to stand trial. Capital defendants often choose to represent themselves in order to prevent presentation of mitigating evidence at the penalty phase of their trials that they cannot bear to have revealed, they noted in a court motion. After ordering a psychiatric competency assessment of Roof, Gergel found him capable of standing trial, stating he had an extremely high IQ and was able to understand legal proceedings. But some legal experts pointed to a difference between mental ability and judgment. You can have an understanding of the legal process, but that does not mean you are any less mentally ill or emotionally disturbed, said Robert Dunham, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center. To the extent that your extreme mental illness or emotional disturbance affects your perception of the evidence, and affects your perceptions of issues like motive, you may be incapable of making rational trial decisions. During the guilt portion of the trial, Roofs attorney, David Bruck, tried repeatedly to raise the issue of mental illness, drawing attention to his clients abnormal and delusional behavior: his seeming inability, a day after the crime, to judge how many people he had killed; his unwillingness to make small talk with investigators; his admission to FBI agents that he didnt have a best friend. Roof, he emphasized, was a loner who took hundreds of photos of his cat, and appeared to have no close connection with any human being. After the jury found Roof guilty and he reiterated his decision to represent himself in the sentencing phase, his attorneys asked the judge for a second hearing, again raising the question of Roofs competence. A court-appointed forensic psychiatrist examined Roof last weekend. After interviewing the psychiatrist and a number of other witnesses, Gergel again ruled that Roof was competent to represent himself. While Roof has said he will not introduce witnesses, he is likely to deliver opening and closing statements during his sentencing phase. Gergel issued firm ground rules Monday, specifying that Roof must sit at the third seat from the center aisle, address jurors from a lectern facing the jury box, and not attempt to approach the jury, the witness stand, or the bench. Even if Roof, who faces a separate death penalty trial in state court later this month, is sentenced to death, he is unlikely to be executed anytime soon partly because death penalty cases involve years of appeals, but also because South Carolina is one of many states that faces challenges in acquiring drugs for lethal injection. Jarvie is a special correspondent. ALSO: Thousands of California soldiers forced to repay enlistment bonuses a decade after going to war Defense secretary orders Pentagon to stop seeking repayment of California National Guard bonuses Congress proposals would let California National Guard soldiers keep millions in bonuses They are falsehoods President-elect Donald Trump has repeated over and over again: Inner-city crime is reaching record levels. The murder rate in the United States, its the worst, the highest its been in 45 years. You wont hear this from the media: We have the highest murder rate in this country in 45 years. Advertisement You wont hear it from the media because it isnt true. But thats also not the whole story. Though mostly far below their record levels in the 1980s and 1990s, homicides have jumped dramatically in some U.S. cities over the last two years, breaking from Americas decades-long decline in violent crime as Trump prepares to take control of federal law enforcement agencies. And as often is the case with crime statistics, experts cant pinpoint what causes numbers to rise or fall. Although the FBI wont release 2016s national homicide totals for a while, in some cities the numbers are hard to ignore, representing hundreds more lost lives, broken families and mourning neighborhoods. Chicago saw at least 762 victims, its most since 1996. Killings there soared more than 50% compared with 2015. Memphis, Tenn., saw a record 228 deaths. Las Vegas had its highest homicide total in at least 20 years, and so did San Antonio. Crime scene tape is tied to a pole in Chicago across from the Labor of Love church, where a Christmas day shooting left Jamil Farley dead on Dec. 27, 2016. (Scott Olson / Getty Images ) Other metro areas seemed to settle into an ugly new normal. Baltimore just had its second-deadliest year ever per capita, after 2015, when fatal and nonfatal shootings soared by more than 75%. Baltimores 2016 death toll was 318 victims, a dip from at least 344 a year earlier. Milwaukees 142 homicides nearly kept pace with its bloodshed of 2015, the citys deadliest year since 1993. (In 2015, Milwaukees homicides jumped nearly 69%.) The situation was similarly unchanged in 2016 for St. Louis, whose 2015 was its deadliest in 20 years. Yet if you keep looking around, the picture gets more complicated. Homicides also rose in Los Angeles in 2016, but by a much smaller amount: 5%. The city is still far less deadly than it was even a decade ago. Homicides in Washington, D.C., dropped by 17% compared with 2015. New York City saw a small decline of homicides in 2016 and almost beat its record low. Homicides in Baton Rouge, La., and its surrounding parish plummeted 22%. It doesnt lend for easy explanations for experts. Tevin Green, center, shakes hands with New York Police Department recruiter Officer Omisanya during a job fair on Nov. 15, 2016, in Brooklyn. (Mark Lennihan / Associated Press ) Can we explain either the general direction, or more importantly, the pattern of change? said Franklin Zimring, a professor of law at UC Berkeley who has studied crime rates. The answer is: not really. History has shown that crime rates can behave unpredictably and that presidents, while making crime a top campaign issue, have had limited success in decreasing homicides. Sixty years ago, in 1957, Americas homicide rate was 4.0 killings for every 100,000 people, the lowest point of the 1950s. It hasnt been that low since. Homicides began to seriously jump in the U.S. in the late 1960s, a time when deep social upheaval roiled the nation. For the first time, polls showed Americans believed crime was the nations No. 1 problem. Seeking to capitalize on those fears, Republican presidential candidate Richard Nixon ran on a law and order campaign platform in 1968, partly to court white voters in the South. During his first term in the Oval Office, Nixon declared a war on drugs, citing abuse and calling narcotics a major contributor to crime. But it didnt work. Homicides kept increasing through the rest of Nixons time in office and the rest of the 1970s. By the 1980s, America was almost twice as deadly on average as the 1950s. President Reagan called for a tougher approach after taking office. Many of you have written to me how afraid you are to walk the streets alone at night, Reagan said in a 1982 radio address. We must make America safe again, especially for women and elderly who face so many moments of fear. Death sentences soared during the 1980s, and so did prison populations, often with the help of state legislatures, where politicians embraced mandatory-minimum prison sentences that brought tougher punishments for drug-related offenses and violent crimes. There was a moment in the early 1980s when homicides began to drop. It dropped so much in between 80 and 85 that we were having conferences called Crime is down Why? What happens next? Zimring said. What happened next is it went back up. Depending on which way you count, Americas worst-ever year for homicides in the modern era was either 1980 when the homicide rate hit its peak at 10.2 killings for every 100,000 people, with 23,040 homicides or in 1991 when a record 24,703 people were killed. The homicide rate for 1991 was 9.8 deaths per 100,000 people, according to FBI statistics. But then the unexpected happened: Carnage began to subside in the 1990s, slowly but surely, and continued to drop for the next two decades. New York City police officers greet a man as they patrol Brooklyns Bushwick neighborhood on Dec. 31, 1996, during a period when the citys violent crime rate was dropping dramatically. (Adam Nadel / Associated Press ) The trend puzzled experts. Some suggested it had to do with tough prison sentences and larger, more skilled police departments. Some suggested it was the result of more abortion. Some suggested it was video games keeping kids busy and off the streets. Some credited lower lead poisoning rates, which led to less developmental damage in children. Mass incarceration also didnt offer an easy explanation. In the last half of the 1980s, which had the largest increase in imprisonment in American history, crime went up, Zimring said. There arent any easy answers that fit the data. By 2014, homicides had dropped to levels not seen since the early 1960s: 4.5 killings for every 100,000 people, or 13,280 deaths, according to the FBI. By then, much of the mainstream debate about violence had focused on preventing mass shootings, which represented a small but politically charged portion of the nations homicides. A surging liberal justice reform movement found an ally in the Obama administration. Then homicides began to jump in some cities in 2015, leading to a new generation of theories, speculating that the causes could be due to surging heroin use, more inmates being released from prison, and the Ferguson effect, which claims that criticism and protests of police over a few highly controversial cases had led to less aggressive policing overall. On Nov. 25, 2014, police officers watch protesters as smoke fills the streets in Ferguson, Mo. (Charlie Riedel / Associated Press ) On Monday, Trump addressed his concerns about Chicago, tweeting incorrectly that Chicagos murder rate was record setting. (Chicagos highest death toll was in 1974, and its deadliest year per capita was in 1994.) He also appeared to offer his assistance to Mayor Rahm Emanuel. If Mayor cant do it he must ask for Federal help! Trump tweeted. Zimring had his doubts that, whatever Trumps agenda, the president could make a clear impact on the homicide rate. We cant just give it another dose of what worked last week, because we dont know what worked last week, Zimring said. He added of presidents trying to bring down crime: If Nixon didnt, if Lyndon [Johnson] didnt, if Jimmy Carter didnt and Ronald Reagan didnt, then why should Mr. Trump? Email: matt.pearce@latimes.com Follow me on Twitter: @mattdpearce ALSO Nuclear experts to Trump: More than tweets are needed to stop North Korea Republicans finally have the power to repeal Obamacare, but theyre still not sure how Congress opens with an ambitious Republican agenda for the Trump era Federal jurors at the biggest gang trial in recent Chicago history Wednesday convicted the core leadership of the Hobos, who prosecutors billed as an all-star team of the type of ruthless gangs police largely blame for an alarming spike in homicides in 2016. The nations third largest city logged 762 homicides last year, the highest tally in 20 years and more in 2016 than the two largest New York and Los Angeles combined. More than 50 people were shot and 11 killed over the long Christmas weekend alone as some gangs sought out and shot rivals gathering at holiday parties, police said. Accused Hobos boss Gregory Bowlegs Chester, alleged hit man Paris Poe and four others were found guilty of a racketeering conspiracy. Prosecutors alleged the conspiracy included the murder of at least nine people, from gang rivals to government witnesses. Prosecutors say the Hobos cultivated a reputation for brutality, once even torturing robbery victims with a hot clothing iron, to extend their power on the citys South Side. Advertisement After three months of testimony, 12 panelists deliberated for six days, with notes sent to the judge hinting at some discord inside. The most serious charge in a 10-count indictment was racketeering conspiracy, a charge designed as a legal tool to go after all forms of organized crime. Nine standalone counts included drug and gun charges. So feared are the Hobos that some witnesses were visibly nervous testifying with its alleged leaders looking on. One refused outright to speak against the gang, telling the judge, I choose not to testify for the sake of me and my family. He was held in contempt and given a 60-day sentence. Their alleged crimes included the fatal shooting of government witness Keith Daniels in 2013, in front of his screaming step-children, to stop Daniels from testifying, and the robbery at gunpoint of then-NBA player Bobby Simmons relieving him of a $200,000 diamond-and-gold chain outside a nightclub. There are more than 150,000 street-gang members in Chicago, though many arent active, according to the nongovernmental Chicago Crime Commission. The Hobos trial was considered so significant because so many purported gang leaders were on trial simultaneously, and also because of how prosecutors portrayed the Hobos as uniquely brazen and vicious. U.S. attorneys in Chicago have said for years that dismantling gangs was a key to reducing violence. They used racketeering laws to convict other gang bosses, including Latin Kings leader Augustin Zambrano in 2011. Racketeering laws enable prosecutors go after individuals, not necessarily for specific crimes, but for their leadership of groups that displayed patterns of illicit activity over years. Experts said an underlying cause of gang violence was the demolition of public housing starting in the 1990s that dispersed gang members into rival-gang neighborhoods. Others pointed to an unintended consequence of prosecuting gang leaders: Breaking up a gangs command structure leads to inter-gang rivalry and, therefore, to even more violence. Others say causes of violence are more varied, pointing to poverty and growing availability of high-caliber guns. And even when gang members are involved, the genesis of a deadly conflict is sometimes insults or perceived slights rather than territorial disputes, gang expert John Hagedorn has argued. The Hobos had fewer members than the Latin Kings, Vice Lords and other gangs. But they were well-organized, well-armed and quick to kill. Hits were often carried out in daylight, including one five-car drive-by shooting that killed two Black Disciple rivals outside a funeral home; hours later, the Hobos celebrated the killings at a luxury hotel off Michigan Avenue, prosecutors said. Poe killed Daniels, a gang associate-turned-informant, days after Chesters arrest and after Daniels testified to a grand jury in the racketeering case, prosecutors said. He stood over and shot Daniels more than a dozen times at close range as the mans 4-year-old stepdaughter and 6-year-old stepson looked on. In a courtroom video, the boy recalled shots through the windows before his stepfather stumbled from the family car, saying, I was covering my ears because the gunshots were too loud. Prosecutor Derek Owens told jurors the murder sent this message: You dont snitch on the Hobos. The onus was on prosecutors to prove, not only that the six men committed crimes, but that they coordinated their crimes. Chester, 39, was the only defendant to testify, insisting the Hobos gang didnt even exist despite his full-arm tattoo emblazoned with the words: Hobo: The Earth is Our Turf. And he said the supposed Hobos horns gang sign he flashed in photographs was merely a universal sign of celebration. Chester, born with a rare bone disease that has badly deformed his legs, scoffed when asked if someone who struggled to even walk could head a gang. A crippled gang leader? he answered. No, sir. Prosecutor Timothy Storino told jurors Chester led not with his legs but with his head, calling him smart as hell. Chester relied on others, sometimes children, to do the dirty work, prosecutors said. Chester said he grew up poor in the now-demolished Robert Taylor projects where only the strong survived and faced ridicule because of his rickets, a bone deformity caused by nutritional deficiencies. He described himself a hustler who dealt heroin, then smartly invested in record labels and clubs. He said the other five charged had nothing to do with his crimes and he had nothing to do with theirs. Defense lawyer Beau Brindley told jurors authorities manipulated evidence against Chester, likening the investigation to an archer who shoots an arrow and then draws a target around wherever it lands. ALSO Convicted South Carolina killer Dylann Roof to jurors: Nothing wrong we me psychologically A Washington town rallies around Officer Mick, and the badly wounded cop rallies as well Obama bucks up Democrats as they prepare Obamacare fight Neil Gorsuch could fall somewhere between his hero, Justice Scalia, and former boss, centrist Justice Kennedy By David Savage Judge Neil M. Gorsuch was resting midway down a Colorado ski slope last year when his cellphone rang with the news that Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia had died. I immediately lost what breath I had left, Gorsuch recalled in an April speech, and I am not embarrassed to admit that I couldnt see the rest of the way down the mountain for the tears. Now, as President Trumps pick to replace Scalia on the high court, Gorsuch is seen by many on the right as a fitting replacement for the iconic jurist that Gorsuch considered a lion of the law. Like Scalia, Gorsuch, 49, who serves on the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver, is a well-respected conservative who believes judges should decide cases based on the law as it was understood when passed, not on how they think it should be. Hes a clear, impassioned writer, albeit without Scalias flare for biting sarcasm. But Gorsuch also evokes the qualities of Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, for whom Gorsuch worked as a law clerk. (If confirmed, Gorsuch would join three justices who previously clerked on the high court, but he would be the first ever to serve alongside the justice he or she worked for.) Like Kennedy, 80, Gorsuch is a Westerner with a polite, congenial manner who at times has won praise from liberals. He may be more conservative than Kennedy when it comes to expanding individual rights, but he seems to lack Scalias fervor for overturning liberal precedents from decades past. Which way Gorsuch skews could be pivotal for the future of the court. Conservatives clearly hope hell be more like Scalia than Kennedy, a centrist swing vote who has often joined liberals on issues such as gay marriage and abortion. Some conservatives have even expressed hope that Gorsuchs personal history with Kennedy might enable him to draw the Reagan-appointee back toward the right. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Trump chooses Neil Gorsuch, a conservative seen as likely to be confirmed, for Supreme Court By Michael A. Memoli President Trump nominated federal Judge Neil M. Gorsuch on Tuesday to the Supreme Court to fill the seat of the late Antonin Scalia, choosing from his short list an appeals court judge from Denver seen as most likely to win Senate confirmation. Because Scalia was a stalwart conservative, Trumps choice is not likely to change the balance of the court. But it does set the stage for a bruising partisan fight over a man who could help determine law on gun rights, immigration, police use of force and transgender rights. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Trump administration is radicalizing Democratic voters, creating a challenge for the party, Rep. Adam Schiff says By Sarah D. Wire (Mark Wilson / Getty Images) As protests spread over policy announcements from the Trump administration, Democrats must work to encourage participation in politics, but face a danger of the party becoming too radicalized, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Burbank) said Tuesday. The radical nature of this government is radicalizing Democrats, and thats going to pose a real challenge to the Democratic Party, which is to draw on the energy and the activism and the passion that is out there, but not let it turn us into what we despised about the tea party, Schiff said. During a meeting with reporters and editors in the Los Angeles Times Washington bureau, Schiff also discussed his role as the highest-ranking Democrat on the House Select Intelligence Committee under a Trump administration and how Democrats will manage in the minority. Ever since the election, party leaders have been debating: Did we lose because we were too far to the left and we had too small a tent, or did we lose because we are too mainstream and didnt energize the base? Schiff asked. We are obviously having that debate, but theres a whole new element, which is the reaction to the Trump administration that makes this different in kind, certainly different in intensity, than I think weve ever seen after an election, he said. The more radical the administration is, the more radicalized our base becomes, which just feeds the Breitbart crowd, and who knows where that ends. Democratic leaders have to channel public reaction to Trumps actions into progress, rather than deadlock, Schiff said. Reaction to Democrats seen as working with the Trump administration has been strong. Monday night, for example, protesters marched on Sen. Dianne Feinsteins home and office voicing fears she would back Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions for attorney general. The senator from California announced Tuesday that she would oppose Sessions. Several groups calling themselves indivisible have popped up in cities across the country as focal points for efforts to organize. We have two of the most capable strategists as the head of our House and Senate Democrats, Schiff added, referring to House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi of San Francisco and Senate Democratic leader Sen. Charles E. Schumer of New York. If anybody can grapple with this, they can, but its going to be a challenging and moving target day to day. I just hope that we can channel that energy in a way where we can provide a check on this administration because Ive never been more worried about the countrys future than I am right now, he said. Schiff said part of his role as the ranking Democrat on the House Select Intelligence Committee will be pushing back when the Trump administration puts out inaccurate information about the intelligence community and its findings. Trump has repeatedly dismissed or sought to minimize the intelligence communitys findings that Russia sought to intervene in the 2016 election to benefit him. Schiff said hes concerned about what else the administration might be willing to dismiss. I think that will be kind of a new frontier, he said. How do we contradict a president making representations about what the intelligence community has to say when the information is classified? Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Trump administration signals that some temporary bans on entry into the U.S. could become permanent By Brian Bennett Trumps orders put a greater emphasis on deporting those convicted of crimes and those in the country illegally who were charged with crimes not yet adjudicated The Trump administration doubled down Tuesday on its commitment to transforming the nations border law enforcement, signaling that some of the temporary bans on travelers from seven predominantly Muslim countries are likely to be made permanent and elevating a deportations official to run the top immigration enforcement agency. Administration officials, led by newly sworn-in Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly, moved to allay the havoc that marked the roll-out of the ban and another on refugees. They briefed reporters and planned to head to Capitol Hill later today in an apparent effort to smooth relations after reports that lawmakers and other stakeholders were left out of the crafting of the executive order on toughened vetting at border entry points. In a news conference, Kelly and other top Homeland Security officials conceded some problems, including poor communication. But they insisted that all court orders were followed over the weekend, rebutted reports that some legal residents were denied access to attorneys at airports and said they everyone detained by border agents was treated with dignity and respect. The vast majority of the 1.7 billion Muslims that live on this planet, the vast majority of them have, all other things being equal, have access to the United States, Kelly told reporters. And a relatively small number right now are being held up for a period of time until we can take a look at what their procedures are, he said, seeming to acknowledge that mostly Muslims have been affected by the ban. The moves signaled that the White House remained committed to remaking border law enforcement even in the face of widespread confusion and condemnation of President Trumps order. Kelly said for the first time that the some of the restrictions that caused confusion and sparked protests over the weekend could be extended well into the future. Some of those countries that are currently on the list may not be taken off the list anytime soon, he said. Trump also named a longtime deportation officer, Thomas D. Homan, as acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homan, who will oversee the execution of Trumps immigration enforcement order, was most recently in charge of the agencys 5,000 deportation officers, a force Trump said he would triple to 15,000. Trumps orders put a greater emphasis on deporting not only those convicted of crimes, but also people in the country illegally who were charged with crimes not yet adjudicated, those who receive an improper welfare benefit and even those who have not been charged but are believed to have committed acts that constitute a chargeable criminal offense. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print White House tries to ban the word ban, hours after president uses it himself By Noah Bierman This is not a ban, spokesman Sean Spicer told reporters in a fiery news briefing. (Alex Wong / Getty Images) President Trump used the word ban in a tweet as recently as Monday to describe his new executive order suspending travel from seven Muslim-majority countries and halting the refugee program for several months. But facing backlash from many directions, the White House adamantly insisted Tuesday that the word is verboten. This is not a ban, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer told reporters in a fiery news briefing. When we use words like travel ban, he said later, that misrepresents what it is. Its seven countries previously identified by the Obama administration, where, frankly, we dont get the information that we need for people coming into this country. In fact, people from the seven banned countries Iraq, Iran, Syria, Yemen, Sudan, Somalia, Libya cannot enter the United States under the order. Spicer appeared to be making a renewed effort to distinguish the order from the all-out ban on Muslims entering the country that Trump proposed during the campaign. Many around the world see the newest policy as an outgrowth of that proposal. Trump himself conceded a religious connection when he said in an interview on Friday that he wanted to make it easier for Syrian Christians to enter the country. And former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani told Fox News that the order sprang from a group he formed at Trumps request to create a legal framework that would accomplish the campaign goal of a Muslim ban. But amid confusion and worldwide criticism in recent days, the Trump administration has tried to temper some of the more incendiary rhetoric around the proposal. Even the words extreme vetting, a favorite Trump slogan, were called into question by Spicer on Tuesday. Calling for tougher vetting [of] individual travelers from seven nations is not extreme, he said. It is reasonable and necessary to protect our country. But changing the ban branding around the program at this point will be difficult. Heres Trumps tweet from Monday: If the ban were announced with a one week notice, the "bad" would rush into our country during that week. A lot of bad "dudes" out there! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 30, 2017 And Spicer himself used the term ban as recently as Sunday: Sean Spiceer today: This is not a Muslim ban. It is not a travel ban. Sean Spicer in White House press release, Jan. 29: pic.twitter.com/axTM1m66nM Dominic Holden (@dominicholden) January 31, 2017 Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Senate confirms Elaine Chao as secretary of Transportation By Associated Press Elaine Chao testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington at her confirmation hearing before the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee on Jan. 11, 2017. (Zach Gibson / AP) The Senate has confirmed Elaine Chao to serve as Transportation secretary in the Trump administration. The vote was 93 to 6 on Tuesday. Chao is an experienced Washington hand. She was Labor secretary under President George W. Bush and is the wife of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. Chao would be a lead actor in pursuing Trumps promise to invest $1 trillion to improve highways, rail service and other infrastructure projects. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Speaker Paul Ryan defends Trumps immigrant and refugee ban, as Congress grumbles about being left out By Lisa Mascaro "What is happening is something we support... we need to make sure that the vetting standards are up to snuff," Paul Ryan says of travel ban pic.twitter.com/iX6YkOLkLl CBS News (@CBSNews) January 31, 2017 House Speaker Paul D. Ryan on Tuesday stood by President Trumps temporary ban on refugees and citizens from seven Muslim-majority nations and indicated that he was confident the administration could fix the confusing rollout without action from Congress. What is happening is something we support, said Ryan, whose office was the target of a sit-in by protesters opposed to Trumps order. We need to pause and we need to make sure that the vetting standards are up to snuff so we can guarantee the safety and security of our country. Congress was blindsided by Trumps executive action -- Ryan learned about it as the public did when the White House announced it Friday afternoon. Many GOP lawmakers have raised concerns. During a private meeting in the Capitol basement Tuesday, Republican lawmakers were counseled on how to handle protesters and office sit-ins happening across the country. Its regrettable that there was some confusion on the rollout of this, Ryan said. No one wanted to see people with green cards or special immigrant visas, like translators, get caught up in all of this. Ryan also said he was concerned the ban could be used as propaganda by terrorist groups. The rhetoric surrounding this could be used as a recruiting tool, and I think thats dangerous, he said. Still, Republicans leaders as well as rank-and-file GOP lawmakers largely agreed with the presidents move to halt refugee admissions for 120 days, and to temporarily ban citizens from seven predominantly Muslim countries, unless they are Christians or other religious minorities. The president was well within his right to issue an executive order, said Rep. Pete Sessions (R-Texas), chairman of the House Rules Committee. Do I feel let out? I feel like everybody was left out, he said. I wish they communicated it. I wish they had gotten more information to people. I wish they had measured three times and sawed once. Lawmakers have shown little appetite for Congress to get involved, and suggested the chaos that erupted at airports over the weekend was just part of a learning curve at the White House. I support the thrust of the executive order, said Rep. Pete King (R-N.Y.), who nevertheless said the administration should have been better prepared and will need to get your act together. Last year, Ryan had strongly condemned Trumps campaign-trail call for a Muslim ban. In recent days, Ryan, like other congressional leaders, was forced to dial up the administration with his questions and concerns about the order, conferring Monday with Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly. I am very pleased and confident that he is, on a going-forward basis, going to make sure that things are done correctly, Ryan said. Pressed on whether Congress would have a role, Ryan did not indicate any immediate legislative action. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Democrats boycott Senate committee votes on Price, Mnuchin By Jim Puzzanghera Senate Democrats speak with reporters after boycotting Finance Committee confirmation votes. (JIM WATSON / AFP/Getty Images) Senate Democrats on Tuesday boycotted a committee vote on two of President Trumps top Cabinet nominees -- Tom Price to lead Health and Human Services and Steve Mnuchin to be Treasury secretary. Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) blasted the Democratic move as he sat in a hearing room with only Republicans on the dais. They ought to be embarrassed. Its the most pathetic treatment Ive seen in my 40 years in the United States Senate, Hatch said. I think they should stop posturing and acting like idiots, he said. At least one Democrat needs to be present for the committee to vote on the nominations, Hatch said. He recessed the hearing until further notice, saying he hoped a vote could take place later Tuesday. But asked mid-afternoon if he thought the committee would be able to meet Tuesday, Hatch said it doesnt look like it. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), the committees top Democrat, said Price and Mnuchin have misled the public and held back important information about their backgrounds. Until questions are answered, Democrats believe the committee should not move forward with either nomination, Wyden said. This is about getting answers to questions, plain and simple, he said. Ethics laws are not optional, and nominees do not have a right to treat disclosure like a shell game. Today @SenateFinance Democrats refused to move forward with nominations of Mnuchin & Price. Ron Wyden (@RonWyden) January 31, 2017 The litany of ethics revelations regarding @RepTomPrice are strong evidence that he cannot be allowed to have control of #Medicare. Ron Wyden (@RonWyden) January 31, 2017 Mr. Mnuchin continued to fail to come clean on shady foreclosure practices that hurt Americans. Ron Wyden (@RonWyden) January 31, 2017 Liberal groups cheered the boycott while Senate Republican leaders decried it as Democratic obstructionism. They are manufacturing issues on a daily basis to drag this process out, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kent.) said of the confirmations of Trumps nominees. I dont see how they can explain to the American people how it is appropriate to prevent the administration from getting up and getting started, he said. Democrats have said Mnuchin, a wealthy Wall Street executive, misled the committee in his response to a written question about foreclosures at Pasadenas OneWest Bank while he ran it from 2009-15. Democrats pointed to a report Sunday by the Columbus Dispatch that Mnuchin denied that OneWest engaged in so-called robo-signing of mortgage documents. The paper said its analysis of nearly four dozen foreclosure cases in Ohios Franklin County in 2010 showed that the bank frequently used robo-signers. The Columbus Dispatch cited a foreclosure involving a mortgage signed by Erica Johnson-Seck, a OneWest vice president who said in a deposition in a 2009 Florida case that she signed an average of 750 documents a week. Barney Keller, a spokesman for Mnuchin, said Monday that several courts had dismissed cases involving allegations of robo-signing by Johnson-Seck. The media is picking on a hardworking bank employee whose reputation has been maligned but whose work has been upheld by numerous courts all around the country in the face of scurrilous and false allegations, Keller said. Democrats also have problems with Price, a six-term congressman and former orthopedic surgeon who has distinguished himself in conservative circles for his staunch opposition to the Affordable Care Act and his plans to slash federal healthcare spending. His nomination has become among Trumps most controversial, in part because of his hostility to government safety net programs, including Medicaid and Medicare. Democrats have also been increasingly critical of Prices extensive trading in healthcare stocks while he has been in Congress, and in some cases while he has pushed legislation that would benefit his portfolio. Price has denied any wrongdoing. Also drawing criticism is Prices purchase of discounted shares in an Australian biotech firm, Innate Immunotherapeutics, which he was offered through a private deal not available to general shareholders. Price also denied that this was improper, and Senate Republicans have rallied to his side, saying he did not violate any ethics rules. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) said he and the other Democrats on the committee want Mnuchin and Price to explain their lies either in person before the committee or in new written answers. I want them to disclose this information that they seem not to want to disclose, Brown said. 12:10 p.m.: This post was updated with additional comments from Hatch as well as from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Sen. Sherrod Brown. 8:00 a.m.: This post has been updated with additional information and background. 8:07 a.m.: This post has been updated with additional information. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print White House aides who wrote Trumps travel ban see it as just the start By Brian Bennett (Pablo Martinez Monsivais / Associated Press) Even as confusion, internal dissent and widespread condemnation greeted President Trumps travel ban and crackdown on refugees this weekend, senior White House aides say they are only getting started. Trump and his aides justified Fridays executive order, which blocked travel from seven majority-Muslim countries for 90 days and halted refugees from around the world for 120, on security grounds an issue that they say they take seriously. But their ultimate goal is far broader. Trumps top advisors on immigration, including chief strategist Steve Bannon and senior advisor Stephen Miller, see themselves as launching a radical experiment to fundamentally transform how the U.S. decides who is allowed into the country and to block a generation of people who, in their view, wont assimilate into American society. That project may live or die in the next three months, as the Trump administration reviews whether and how to expand the visa ban and alter vetting procedures. White House aides are considering new, onerous security checks that could effectively limit travel into the U.S. by people from majority-Muslim countries to a trickle. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Why corporations cant risk keeping silent about Trumps immigration ban By David Pierson Starbucks Chief Executive Howard Schultz said the Seattle coffee company is developing plans to hire 10,000 refugees over the next five years. (Richard Drew / Associated Press) Corporate America generally prefers to stay quiet about partisan politics. Pick one side of a hot-button issue, the thinking goes, and youll risk losing customers on the other side. But like so many norms before it, President Trump has turned this one on its head. A growing number of companies are deciding its a bigger risk to their investors and bottom line to stay quiet than it is to protest Trumps ban on refugees and travel from seven Muslim-majority nations, betting vocal opposition to the executive order scores them a moral and fiscal victory. While it was possible for companies to take a wait-and-see approach leading up to Trumps inauguration, many firms can no longer ignore the White Houses policy given the effect the order is already having on employees either stranded or fearful of traveling. Only a week ago it seemed foolish to speak out against a president who has admonished individual companies on social media such as Carrier, Boeing and General Motors. Now the pendulum has swung the other way. Companies, mostly in technology but increasingly in other sectors, have decided that its not enough just to speak out against the immigration order. They believe that they must also take headline-grabbing action. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Op-Ed: Trump is taking the Bannon Way, and it will end in disaster By Jonah Goldberg Bannon has said hes a Leninist' but hes really more of a Trotskyist because he fancies himself the leader of an international populist-nationalist right wing movement, exporting anti-'globalist' revolution. In that role, his status as an enabler of Trumps instinct to shoot or tweet from the hip seems especially ominous. The Bannon way might work on the campaign trail, but it doesnt translate into good governance. Its possible and one must hope that Trump can learn this fact on the job. But what if he doesnt? He could put the country in serious peril. Jonah Goldberg Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Trump will leave LGBTQ protections in place By Associated Press (Evan Vucci / Associated Press) The White House says President Trump will leave intact a 2014 executive order that protects federal workers from anti-LGBTQ discrimination. In a statement released early Tuesday, the White House said Trump is determined to protect the rights of all Americans, including the LGBTQ community and that he continues to be respectful and supportive of LGBTQ rights, just as he was throughout the election. The Trump administration has vowed to roll back much of President Obamas work from the last eight years and had been scrutinizing the 2014 order. The directive protects people from LGBTQ discrimination while working for federal contractors. The recent statement says the protections will remain intact at the direction of Trump. Here is the text of Obamas executive order, signed on July 21, 2014: By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including 40 U.S.C. 121, and in order to provide for a uniform policy for the Federal Government to prohibit discrimination and take further steps to promote economy and efficiency in Federal Government procurement by prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, it is hereby ordered as follows: Section 1. Amending Executive Order 11478 . The first sentence of section 1 of Executive Order 11478 of August 8, 1969, as amended, is revised by substituting sexual orientation, gender identity for sexual orientation. Sec. 2. Amending Executive Order 11246 . Executive Order 11246 of September 24, 1965, as amended, is hereby further amended as follows: (a) The first sentence of numbered paragraph (1) of section 202 is revised by substituting sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or national origin for sex, or national origin. (b) The second sentence of numbered paragraph (1) of section 202 is revised by substituting sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or national origin for sex or national origin. (c) Numbered paragraph (2) of section 202 is revised by substituting sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or national origin for sex or national origin. (d) Paragraph (d) of section 203 is revised by substituting sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or national origin for sex or national origin. Sec. 3. Regulations . Within 90 days of the date of this order, the Secretary of Labor shall prepare regulations to implement the requirements of section 2 of this order. Sec. 4. General Provisions . (a) Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect: (i) the authority granted by law to an agency or the head thereof; or (ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals. (b) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person. Sec. 5. Effective Date . This order shall become effective immediately, and section 2 of this order shall apply to contracts entered into on or after the effective date of the rules promulgated by the Department of Labor under section 3 of this order. Update 6:45 a.m.: This article was updated with the text of the 2014 executive order. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Trump fires Justice Departments top official after she refuses to defend his refugee ban By David Lauter Sally Yates. (J. David Ake / Associated Press) President Trump fired acting Atty. Gen. Sally Yates on Monday, just hours after she announced that the department would not defend his controversial executive order banning refugees and travelers from certain countries. Yates has betrayed the Department of Justice by refusing to enforce a legal order designed to protect the citizens of the United States, the White House said in a statement. It is time to get serious about protecting our country. The move came after Yates sent a letter to Justice Department lawyers saying that she questioned the lawfulness of Trumps executive order. My responsibility is to ensure that the position of the Department of Justice is not only legally defensible, but is informed by our best view of what the law is after consideration of all the facts, Yates wrote. At present, I am not convinced that the defense of the executive order is consistent with these responsibilities, nor am I convinced that the executive order is lawful, she wrote. Consequently, for as long as I am the acting attorney general, the Department of Justice will not present arguments in defense of the executive order unless and until I become convinced that it is appropriate to do so. Yates was a holdover from the Obama administration. But because Trumps nominee for attorney general, Sen. Jeff Sessions, has not been confirmed and no other senior Justice Department officials have been appointed, firing her was expected to cause significant problems within the department. Among other issues, Yates is the only person in the department currently authorized to sign warrants for wiretapping in foreign espionage cases involving the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. Trump replaced Yates with Dana J. Boente, a three-decade veteran of the Justice Department who was appointed in 2015 by former President Obama as U.S. attorney for the eastern district of Virginia. 6:37 p.m.: The story was updated with Trumps decision to fire Yates. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print U.S. service member killed in Yemen identified as Navy SEAL from Illinois By Jeanette Steele The Pentagon on Sunday confirmed the death of a U.S. servicemember in a raid in Yemen targeting al-Qaeda, marking the first American combat death under the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump. A Navy SEAL from the Virginia-based elite unit known as SEAL Team 6 was killed Sunday during an unusual nighttime raid that put U.S. troops on the ground against Al Qaeda leaders in the middle of war-torn Yemen. The fallen sailor was identified Monday as Chief Special Warfare Operator William Ryan Owens, 36, of Peoria, Ill.. Three other Americans were wounded in the raid and an MV-22 Osprey had to be destroyed after the aircraft suffered a hard landing and couldnt fly. Another U.S. service member was injured in that crash. The raid marked the first known counter-terrorism operation and first confirmed combat fatality under President Trump. Steele writes for the San Diego Union-Tribune. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Protests against Trumps ban on certain immigrants continue across the country By Ann M. Simmons Protesters rally at Los Angeles International Airport on Jan. 29, demonstrating against the immigration ban imposed by President Trump. (Justin Sullivan / Getty Images) After a weekend of turmoil at many of the nations airports following President Trumps executive order to suspend the U.S. refugee program and temporarily prohibit entry to citizens of seven predominantly Muslim nations, federal officials said all people being detained on arrival to the U.S. had been released. But that hasnt put a stop to demands to lift the travel ban. Protests continued to be held and organized throughout the country incluidng in New York, New Orleans, Colorado and Connecticut. According to Ground Game, an online platform for organizing, at least a dozen demonstrations were planned for this week in what the group described as a fight against Islamophobia and Fascism. Calls to rally, demonstrate and protest swept social media platforms, including Twitter and Facebook. In Louisville, Ky., a rally was planned for Monday evening at the Muhammad Ali Center, in what organizers said would be a gathering for American values and to voice support for our nation and our city, which was founded and is strengthened by immigrants. In Hattiesburg, Miss., there was call to join a peaceful vigil in solidarity with refugees, immigrants, and Muslims on the University of Southern Mississippi campus on Monday evening. Declaring that Jersey City stands with our Muslim and immigrant community, organizers in that New Jersey city called on people to come to a pedestrian mall on Monday to stand in solidarity and peace as we show our strength in diversity as one of the most diverse cities in the nation. Other demonstrations were planned for later in the week in cities nationwide, including Tuesday in Tuscon, where organizers encouraged people to stand in solidarity with Senator (John) McCains strong public statement opposing the executive order banning refugees and Legal Permanent Residents from Muslim countries! Similar actions were planned on Tuesday at the South Carolina State House in Columbia and at the Worchester City Hall and Common in Massachusetts, while organizers in San Francisco, under the banner #NoBanNoWallSF, urged residents to join the resistance against Donald Trumps racist and exclusionary Executive Orders on Saturday. We will not allow our country to be divided by hate and religious persecution, read a statement from #NoBanNoWallSF posted on Facebook. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Obama carefully weighs in on refugee ban, says he is heartened by public response By Michael A. Memoli (Jim Watson / AFP/Getty Images) Former President Obama has offered his first public comment on the conduct of his successor, saying through a spokesman that he is heartened by public demonstrations against the Trump administrations controversial move to temporarily ban refugees and block all admissions from seven countries. President Obama is heartened by the level of engagement taking place in communities around the country, Kevin Lewis, a spokesperson for the former president, said in a statement emailed to reporters Monday. In his final official speech as President, he spoke about the important role of citizen and how all Americans have a responsibility to be the guardians of our democracy--not just during an election but every day. Citizens exercising their constitutional right to assemble, organize and have their voices heard by their elected officials is exactly what we expect to see when American values are at stake. Lewis also said in the statement that Obama fundamentally disagrees with the notion of discriminating against individuals because of their faith or religion. Trump aides deny that his executive order, released Friday, involves religious discrimination. The order temporarily blocked travel to the U.S. by residents of seven predominantly Muslim nations, but left many of the Islamic worlds largest population centers unaffected, they note. The order also included an exception for believers of minority religions in those countries, a provision that Trump explicitly said would help Christians. Obamas statement is notable less for its content than for the fact that it was issued at all. It reflected the delicate balance he feels he must strike between showing a degree of deference to the new president and speaking out on issues he sees as critically important. The statement tiptoed around the content of the order, focusing more on the former presidents interest in citizen engagement. Obama said before leaving office that he expected to choose carefully when to comment on the actions of his successor and would focus less on normal functioning of politics and more on certain issues or certain moments where I think our core values may be at stake, as he put it in his final news conference. Mondays statement did point, though, to comments Obama made at a news conference in November 2015, when he called the idea of a religious test for immigration policy shameful and not American. We dont have religious tests to our compassion, he said at the time. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement GOP-led Congress worries about its role in the Trump era By Lisa Mascaro Its what congressional Republicans had long dreamed about: a majority in both chambers to advance conservative policies and a president from the same party to sign them into law. But the Trump White House isnt turning out exactly the way they envisioned. The GOP establishment is experiencing whiplash after a week of President Trump bulldozing through the norms of policy and protocol dashing off executive orders without warning, escalating a diplomatic crisis with the countrys closest southern neighbor, triggering global confusion with a new refugee policy and generally hijacking party leaders agenda and replacing it with his own. Rather than the hoped-for collaborative new relationship between the White House and Congress, GOP officials complain that Trump is brushing aside their advice, failing to fully engage on drafting tough legislative packages like tax reform and Obamacare, and bypassing Congress by relying on executive actions, something they frequently complained about under President Obama. At the same time, Trumps unilateral moves continue to blindside Republicans and direct the national focus toward topics many in the party would rather avoid, whether thats how to pay for building the border wall with Mexico, warming ties with Russia, investigating false claims about voter fraud or, most recently, implementing sweeping new policies on refugees and visas. In the name of party unity, many Republicans so far have refrained from publicly attacking the new president. But for some, the new refugee policy crossed the line, signaling the first major rift in their already fraught partnership. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Washington state sues Trump over immigration order By Mark Z. Barabak President Trump signed an executive order Friday that suspends all immigration for citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries for 90 days. (Evan Vucci / Associated Press) Opening a new legal front, lawyers for the state of Washington filed suit Monday seeking to block President Trumps executive order temporarily banning foreign refugees from entering the United States. No one is above the law, not even the president, Atty. Gen. Bob Ferguson said in announcing the federal lawsuit. And in the courtroom, it is not the loudest voice that prevails. Its the Constitution. Over the weekend, a federal judge in Brooklyn issued an order curtailing portions of Trumps executive order, issued Friday, which temporary halts migration from seven predominantly Muslim countries for at least 90 days and also closed the nation to refugees for at least the next four months. Other challenges are pending. The lawsuit filed in federal court in Seattle was the first taken by a state attorney general, and its provenance was no surprise. Washington state and others along the West Coast voted overwhelmingly for Democrat Hillary Clinton in November and have emerged as a hotbed of anti-Trump sentiment. We will not yield, said Democratic Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, who joined Ferguson at a Seattle news conference. We will not be leveraged. We will not be threatened. We will not be intimidated. We will not be bullied by this. Trumps order, which has sparked demonstrations across the country, brought an outpouring of objection from Insleys Democratic colleagues around the country. President Trumps recent executive orders that divide and discriminate do not reflect the values enshrined in the U.S. Constitution or the principles we stand for as Oregonians, said Gov. Kate Brown. A single executive order does not define who we are as a country, said Connecticut Gov. Daniel P. Malloy. We are a nation of immigrants and must continue to fight for the tired, the poor, and the huddled masses yearning to breath free. In Massachusetts, another state that voted overwhelmingly for Clinton, Republican Gov. Charlie Baker joined the chorus of Democratic criticism, saying the travel ban would undermine the international relations forged by the states business, academic and healthcare communities. The confusion for families is real. The unexpected disruption for law-abiding people is real, Baker said. Thankfully, the federal courts will have an opportunity to straighten this out and it is my hope they do so, and do so quickly. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print How a top conservative radio host took on Trump, lost his audience and faith, but gained a new perspective By Mark Z. Barabak Charlie Sykes, right, interviews Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) before Wisconsins 2016 primary (Morry Gash/Associated Press) For nearly 25 years, Charlie Sykes was one of the most powerful and influential voices in Wisconsin. He cheer-led policies that turned this historically progressive state into a model of conservative governance. He made and destroyed political careers, using his perch on Milwaukee talk radio to help vault figures such as House Speaker Paul Ryan and Gov. Scott Walker to national prominence. But for the moment Sykes was speechless. He sank into the brown leather banquette of a suburban steakhouse. He stammered. He sighed. When youve devoted your whole life to certain beliefs and you think now they have been undermined and that you might have been deluded about things, he began. So. So. Um... In 2016 Sykes emerged as one of Donald Trumps most prominent critics, a stance that outraged listeners, strained longstanding friendships and left him questioning much of what he once held true. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Pentagon compiling a list of Iraqis who aided the U.S. military and wants them shielded from Trumps travel ban By W.J. Hennigan The Pentagon is compiling a list of Iraqi citizens who have worked with the U.S. military and is recommending that they be exempt from President Trumps temporary ban on entry to the U.S. by people from Iraq and six other predominantly Muslim countries, according to the U.S. military. The move could potentially shield tens of thousands of Iraqi interpreters, advisors, and others who have assisted the American military from the presidents controversial executive action that blocked visitors from Iraq, Iran, Syria, Sudan, Somalia, Libya and Yemen. Capt. Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman, told reporters Monday that the list will include names of individuals who have demonstrated their commitment to helping the United States. Even people that are doing seemingly benign things in support of us whether as a linguist, a driver, anything else they often do that at great personal risk, he said. So people who take these risks are really making a tangible signal of support to the United States, and thats something that will, and should be, recognized. The list would not require any changes to the presidents order, but rather serve as guidance to the Department of Homeland Security and the White House in implementing the new policy. White House spokesman Sean Spicer later pushed back against blanket exemptions. We recognize that people have served this country, we should make sure that in those cases theyre helped out, he said. But that doesnt mean that we just give them a pass. Trump, who signed the order at the Pentagon on Friday, did not consult Defense Secretary James N. Mattis or Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr., the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, on the temporary suspensions of entry to visitors from the seven nations, according to U.S. officials. The executive action put the U.S. military in a difficult position because it works closely with the Iraqi government on a range of issues, including the fight against Islamic State, which necessitates travel between the two countries. For instance, Iraqi military pilots train to fly F-16 fighter jets at Luke Air Force Base in Arizona. Its not clear those pilots, who are active in the fight against Islamic State, could arrive in the U.S. for the training. 1:10 p.m.: This post was updated with White House response. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Trump signs order on rulemaking: For every regulation added, agencies have to cut 2 others By Noah Bierman (Evan Vucci / Associated Press) President Trump signed an executive order Monday designed to fulfill his campaign pledge reduce red tape for businesses. The two-page order requires that when a federal agency proposes new regulations, it shall identify at least two existing regulations to be repealed. We want to make the life easier for small businesses and big business, Trump said Monday from the Roosevelt Room of the White House, where he met with nine representatives of the small-business sector. Trump said he hoped to see up to 75% of federal regulations eliminated during his presidency. Regulation has been horrible for big business, but its been worse for small business, Trump said. He also reiterated his promise to gut the Dodd-Frank Act, the financial regulatory overhaul that was passed after the financial crisis. Dodd-Frank is a disaster, he said. Were going to be doing a big number on Dodd-Frank. Consumer advocates who backed the law say that eliminating it would help Wall Street and other players in the financial sector at the expense of consumers. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print U.S. diplomats to protest Trumps travel ban order By Tracy Wilkinson Protesters of President Trumps immigration order block traffic at LAX. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) A number of U.S. diplomats are condemning President Trumps ban on some Muslim immigrants and visitors, saying the abrupt order does not make the U.S. safer and will only stoke anti-American fervor overseas. The complaint, being made through the State Departments so-called dissent channel, echoes criticism coming from human rights attorneys, legal experts and lawmakers from both political parties, as well as world leaders. It is significant because it represents the viewpoint of the men and women who must carry out Trumps unconventional and often provocative foreign policy. A policy which closes our doors to over 200-million legitimate travelers in the hopes of preventing a small number of travelers who intend to harm Americans ... will not achieve its aim of making our country safer, said a draft version of the memo that was circulating Monday and was reviewed by the Los Angeles Times. It was first reported by ABC News. Moreover, such a policy runs counter to core American values of non-discrimination, fair play and extending a warm welcome to foreign visitors and immigrants. The White House was quickly dismissive of the dissent and seemed to suggest the diplomats should quit if they disagree with a policy. Trump spokesman Sean Spicer said the diplomats raising of opposition does call into question whether or not they should continue to work in the State Department. It was not clear how many officials would sign the memo. Dissent channel memos are in theory not made public. The mechanism is designed to allow diplomats to offer an alternative policy without fear of retaliation. Acting State Department spokesman Mark Toner confirmed the existence of the memo but declined to comment on its contents. The dissent channel is a longstanding official vehicle for State Department employees to convey alternative views and perspectives on policy issues, he said. "... It allows State employees to express divergent policy views candidly and privately to senior leadership. The agency is still waiting for a boss. Trumps pick for secretary of State, former Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson, is expected to be confirmed by the Senate this week. The last time a dissent-channel memo was reported publicly was last year, when about 50 diplomats protested Obama administration policy in Syria, which they described as inaction. 12:20 p.m.: This story was updated with White House comment. 8:40 a.m.: This story was updated with comment from a State Department spokesman. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Trump to announce his Supreme Court choice Tuesday -- in prime time By Michael A. Memoli (Susan Walsh / Associated Press) President Trump will announce his first Supreme Court nomination in prime time on Tuesday, he tweeted this morning. I have made my decision on who I will nominate for The United States Supreme Court. It will be announced live on Tuesday at 8:00 P.M. (W.H.) Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 30, 2017 The announcement was moved up two days amid the continued fallout from the executive action Trump signed temporarily banning refugee admissions from some countries. Trump had tweeted last week that he would announce his high-court decision Thursday. In an interview with the Christian Broadcasting Network on Friday, Trump said his administration was doing some final vetting of his choice to replace the late Antonin Scalia, and that the pick would be from among the list of 20 names he issued during the election campaign. I think the person I pick will be big, big, he said. I think people are going to love it. I think evangelicals, Christians will love my pick. And will be represented very fairly. Times Supreme Court reporter David Savage profiled each of the leading contenders: Judge Thomas Hardiman of the U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals, Judge Neil M. Gorsuch of the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, and Judge William H. Pryor Jr. from the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. The move could prompt a major clash with Senate Democrats, who have warned the president against a choice outside what they consider the mainstream. Some are threatening to block any choice in retaliation for Senate Republicans refusal to even hold hearings on President Obamas choice to replace Scalia, Merrick Garland. Democrats 2013 change to Senate rules that allowed most nominations to advance with a simple majority vote exempted Supreme Court nominations, meaning that Democrats could potentially filibuster the choice. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) appeared to rule out any further rule change in an interview last week, though Trump urged him to consider doing so. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print As Hollywood gathered at the SAG Awards, some entertainers joined LAX protest Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Advertisement This New York doctor went to visit family in Sudan, and now hes stuck By Molly Hennessy-Fiske Dr. Kamal Fadlalla (Dr. Kamal Fadlalla / For The Times) Dr. Kamal Fadlalla, a hospital resident who has been working in New York for the last 20 months, was stuck in Sudan on Sunday, having gone there to see his family earlier this month. He had left Jan. 13, was due to return Feb. 4 but tried to return on Friday after hearing about President Trumps executive order on immigration, which suspended entry for people from seven countries, including Sudan. He made it past passport control, all the way to the gate at the airport in Khartoum, the Sudanese capital. One hour before departure they called my name, he said, and summoned him to the ticket counter, along with other New York-bound Sudanese passengers. When I got to the counter, they said there was a notice from Customs and Border Protection that ... they had to offload us from the flight. I was shocked. Fadlalla, 33, hoped for a reprieve as other passengers gathered, all stuck. One family, they came back from Dubai, she was a mother of three or four kids. She was waiting overnight at the Dubai airport. There were also two passengers turned back from New York, he said. It was a very tough night on me, He stayed for several hours, then returned to his mothers home in Madani, two hours south. Fadlalla is a second-year resident in internal medicine at Interfaith Medical Center in Brooklyn. He is hoping to specialize in hematology and oncology. The Committee for Interns and Residents found an attorney to represent him, he said, but he had not received any news about how a New York federal judges ruling late Saturday, which halted the deportations of people who had arrived in the U.S. with valid visas, could affect him. I dont know what Im going to do. My vacation is going to end and I have to join the hospital next week. Its going to be tough on me, Fadlalla said. I dont know for how long Im going to stay here. I dont know what Im going to do. My visa is valid for three months. Im really stuck. I have my house there, my utilities, my work, my patients, my colleagues. It was my life for the past 20 months. And Im stuck here. Fadlalla is from northern Sudan, and describes himself as a moderate Muslim. He said the executive order wont make the U.S. safer by barring valid visa holders like him because, Ive been through the whole process of visa interviews. He had planned to take board exams next year, and if he misses them, his schooling will be delayed. He had wanted to stay and work in New York, too. All my life is there. Now Im stuck here. I dont know what to do, he said. Its going to really affect my life, my patients, my colleagues and their work schedule. He said the executive order has shocked others in Sudan, too. Theyre talking about human rights. Everybody knows the United States is about freedom, he said. Everybody knows America is a free country, a country of chances for everybody. Still, people have hope in those protesting at airports all over the United States and attorneys who have volunteered to help immigrants and refugees, he said. He said the order is especially worrying for aspiring Sudanese medical residents who have been preparing to match with a hospital in March to study in the United States. A lot of my colleagues who are preparing for exams are really, really worried about this, Fadlalla said. Im really worried about the future of these young people. They study a lot and spend a lot of money, a lot of effort to enter the United States. Im concerned about my future and my colleagues future. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Californias congressional Republicans hold their fire on Trumps refugee order By Sarah D. Wire Only a few of the states 14 Republican representatives have publicly commented on an executive order signed by President Trump on Friday that barred refugees and green card holders from seven countries from entering the country. Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Tulare) released a statement Sunday night saying that some tweaks are needed, but that his background as chairman of the House Select Intelligence Committee leads him to support the executive order. In light of attempts by jihadist groups to infiltrate fighters into refugee flows to the West, along with Europes tragic experience coping with this problem, the Trump administrations executive order on refugees is a common-sense security measure to prevent terror attacks on the homeland, Nunes said. While accommodations should be made for green card holders and those whove assisted the U.S. armed forces, this is a useful temporary measure on seven nations of concern until we can verify who is entering the United States. Rep. Ed Royce (R-Fullerton) told the Washington Post that the executive order is the right call to keep America safe, but he hopes the cases of people traveling on visas who were prevented from reentering the country are resolved quickly. Rep. Jeff Denham (R-Turlock) said Sunday on Twitter that the rollout has created confusion, and that executive orders arent the way to fix the countrys long-term problems. View Twitter post View Twitter post Several of Californias 38 Democratic congressional representatives and the states two senators were out in force over the weekend demanding the release of refugees and green card holders as well as an end to the executive order. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) announced she would file two pieces of legislation in response. One would immediately rescind the presidents order. The second would limit executive authority under the Immigration and Nationality Act to prevent a president from unilaterally banning groups of immigrants. Its clear that the president gave little consideration to the chaos and heartbreak that would result from this order, she said in a statement. Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) joined protesters outside the White House on Sunday afternoon. We will fight against racism. We will fight against anti-Muslim rhetoric. We will fight against those who will marginalize who we are. pic.twitter.com/R54f3MDhvo Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) January 29, 2017 In Los Angeles, Reps. Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles) and Ted Lieu (D-Torrance) joined protesters at Los Angeles International Airport. On Saturday, Reps. Judy Chu (D-Monterey Park), Nanette Barragan (D-San Pedro) and Lou Correa (D-Santa Ana) joined the initial protests at the airport, and worked to get some of those being held released. Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Dublin) accompanied protesters at San Francisco International Airport on Sunday. Congresswoman @MaxineWaters is here at LAX protest leading the crowd in the chant "no ban, no wall, you build it up we'll tear it down" pic.twitter.com/iNEmkVVkmW Javier Panzar (@jpanzar) January 29, 2017 Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Legal moves come too late for Iranian man who arrived at LAX after Trumps order By Matt Hamilton Ali Vayeghan arrived at 7:15 p.m. Friday from Tehran. He was going to stay with relatives, then go to Indiana, to join his wife, who arrived in the U.S. four months ahead of him, and his son. But he never emerged from customs. His niece said he was put on a plane to Dubai, United Arab Emirates, at 3:15 p.m. Saturday. The ACLU was trying to prevent his deportation but arrived with paperwork 45 minutes too late. The family spoke to him by phone after he landed in Dubai, where he was waiting to be put on a flight to Tehran. Hes literally crying in the airport in Dubai, Ali Vayeghans niece, Marjan Vayghan, said. On Sunday afternoon, a federal judge in Los Angeles ordered authorities to transport Vayeghan back to the U.S. and admit him under the terms of his visa, which is set to expire Feb. 14. U.S. District Judge Dolly M. Gee said in her order that Vayeghan had demonstrated a strong likelihood of success in establishing that removal violates the Establishment Clause, the Immigration and Nationality Act, and his rights to Equal Protection guaranteed by the United States Constitution. But by the time the order came down, Vayeghan was on a plane bound for Tehran. Federal judge in LA has issued order allowing Iranian man deported from LAX yesterday to be admitted to US pic.twitter.com/yPth0xEQpv Matt Hamilton (@MattHjourno) January 29, 2017 Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print The political climate is a hot topic at the Screen Actors Guild awards The Actor statue watches over the red carpet at the Shrine Auditorium. (Matt Sayles / Invision / Associated Press) Stars on the red carpet and at the winners podium tonight in Los Angeles are not keeping their mouths shut on current affairs. The 23rd Screen Actors Guild awards are being held at the Shrine Auditorium. Heres what they have had to say so far: I want you all to know that I am the daughter of an immigrant. My father fled religious persecution in Nazi-occupied France, and Im an American patriot, and I love this country, and because I love this country, I am horrified by its blemishes and this immigrant ban is a blemish and it is un-American. Julia Louis-Dreyfus, accepting her award for her role in Veep We need to vote. Had we all voted, we wouldnt be here. You dont like it, you dont have nothing to say if you didnt vote. Get a clipboard, get organized and get in it. Dont sit back on the sidelines. Get in it. This is a fight for the country right now. Its worth fighting for. Courtney B. Vance, nominated for his performance in The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story For the first time ever in my lifetime, Ive been concerned about where its going to go. It doesnt seem to be that its going to go in a very positive direction. Claire Foy, nominated for her role as Queen Elizabeth in the Netflix series The Crown Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Green card holders will not be blocked by Trumps order, Homeland Security says By David Lauter (Francine Orr/Los Angeles Times) The Trump administration backed away from one of the most controversial parts of its new executive order on immigration Sunday evening, saying that permanent U.S. residents in most cases will not be affected by the new rules. Since the president issued the order Friday, confusion has been rampant over the effects on permanent residents, noncitizens who hold so-called green cards that allow them to live and work legally in the U.S. Many were stopped and detained at airports for many hours on Friday and Saturday and, in some cases, reported that they had been threatened with being returned to their home countries. An undetermined number of other green card holders were stopped from boarding U.S.-bound planes. Late Sunday, however, the secretary of Homeland Security, retired Gen. John Kelly, issued a statement changing the policy. Statement By Secretary John Kelly On The Entry Of Lawful Permanent Residents Into The United States https://t.co/Es1qivoR3J pic.twitter.com/hffMK2MOQC Homeland Security (@DHSgov) January 29, 2017 I hereby deem the entry of lawful permanent residents to be in the national interest, Kelly wrote. Green card holders from one of the seven countries covered by the 90-day ban will still need to request a waiver to gain reentry to the U.S. if they have traveled abroad. But unless officials have significant derogatory information about a green card holder that indicates a serious threat to public safety and welfare, lawful permanent resident status will be a dispositive factor in deciding the case, Kellys statement said. A White House official, briefing reporters about the change in policy, said that about 170 people have applied for a waiver to the ban so far, and all 170 have received a waiver and have been allowed to enter the U.S. The seven countries affected by the ban are Iran, Iraq, Syria, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Uber fights immigration order -- and #DeleteUber hashtag -- with $3-million legal fund for drivers By Tracey Lien Hours after Lyfts co-founders announced a $1-million donation to the American Civil Liberties Union to defend the Constitution, Uber Chief Executive Travis Kalanick pulled out his pocket book as well. Kalanick promised in a Facebook post that the company would create a $3-million legal defense fund to help drivers affected by the Trump administrations move to restrict immigrants and refugees from seven Muslim-majority countries. The fund will help drivers with immigration and translation services. Kalanick also said the San Francisco ride-hailing company will provide 24/7 legal support to drivers stuck outside the country and compensate them for lost earnings. Drivers eligible for assistance were directed to contact the company via an online form. Although the announcement was greeted with some support on Facebook and Twitter, many saw it as too little too late. The company had come under fire a day earlier for advertising on Twitter that it was operating at New Yorks Kennedy International Airport during a taxi strike protesting the executive order. That gaffe, coupled with Kalanicks involvement in a panel advising President Trump on economic issues, helped spawn the Twitter hashtag #DeleteUber, which encouraged customers to delete the app from their phones in protest. You are 20 hours too late, one person wrote in response to Kalanicks Facebook post. Still deleted my account today, wrote another. Though Kalanick issued a statement on Saturday opposing the executive order, it didnt stop thousands of Twitter users from adopting the trending the #DeleteUber hashtag to decry Ubers actions. They accused the company of attempting to profit from the strike and prioritizing business interests over a moral imperative. Celebrities also jumped on the bandwagon, with actor and activist George Takei on Sunday tweeting to his 2.9 million followers: Lyft donates $1mil to ACLU while Uber doubles down on its support for Trump. #DeleteUber. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print 75-year-old grandmother from Iran tells the story of her detention at LAX By Alene Tchekmedyian Siavosh Naji-Talakar of Phoenix hugs his grandmother Marzieh Moosavizadeh after she was released from detention at LAX early Sunday morning. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times) Marzieh Moosavizadeh and her grandson follow a routine when she visits almost every year from Iran. The 75-year-old, who travels in a wheelchair and speaks little English, struggles to find direct flights to Phoenix, where he and his family live. So they meet in Los Angeles and he escorts her on the last leg of her trip. This time was different. Moosavizadeh landed at Los Angeles International Airport a day after President Trump signed an executive order banning citizens from seven predominantly Muslim countries, including Iran, from entering the United States. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement GOP senators call executive order a self-inflicted wound. Trump calls them wrong and weak By Matt Ballinger McCain and Graham in 2013. (Evan Vucci / Associated Press) U.S. Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and John McCain of Arizona released a statement Sunday saying that confusion at U.S. airports shows that President Trumps executive order on immigration was not properly vetted. Such a hasty process risks harmful results, the Republicans statement read. We should not stop green-card holders from returning to the country they call home. We should not stop those who have served as interpreters for our military and diplomats from seeking refuge in the country they risked their lives to help. And we should not turn our backs on those refugees who have been shown through extensive vetting to pose no demonstrable threat to our nation. It went on: Ultimately, we fear this executive order will become a self-inflicted wound in the fight against terrorism. The president responded on Twitter: The joint statement of former presidential candidates John McCain & Lindsey Graham is wrong - they are sadly weak on immigration. The two... Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 29, 2017 ...Senators should focus their energies on ISIS, illegal immigration and border security instead of always looking to start World War III. Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 29, 2017 Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print At least 600 people wait to greet Syrians arriving in Phoenix By Nigel Duara Elijah Chavez and Brandi Hernandez protest in Phoenix (Nigel Duara/Los Angeles Times) A Phoenix-bound British Airways flight was scheduled to arrive from London at Sunday evening carrying several Syrians. A protest of about 600 people was waiting at a Phoenix international airport terminal for the flight to arrive. The outcome when these people arrive is uncertain at best, said Tanveer Shah, an Arizona attorney in private practice who volunteers with the ACLU. Shah said Syrians on board the flight would, in the best case, walk off the plane without a problem. But given the outcomes in other cities on Saturday and Sunday, Shah said it was incumbent on civil liberties attorneys to be there when the plane arrives. We have staff attorneys here ... who are prepared to file emergency pleadings, Shah said. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print When Muslims got blocked at American airports, U.S. veterans rushed to help By Matt Pearce (G. Morty Ortega / Getty Images) Jeffrey Buchalter was reflooring his foyer in Chesapeake Beach, Md., and listening to MSNBC over the weekend when he heard the news: An Iraqi who had worked with American forces as an interpreter had been stopped from entering the U.S. under a new executive order on immigration from President Trump. The story stopped him cold. Buchalter, an Army veteran who works as a law-enforcement instructor at the Department of Homeland Security, had served multiple tours of duty as a military policeman in Iraq, service that cost him dearly. He was decorated for injuries sustained from gunfire and improvised explosive devices. Exams revealed hed suffered herniated discs, traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder, and he spent 2 years at Walter Reed Army Medical Center trying to get right. But he was still alive, and now the married father of two children. And he believes thats thanks in part to the work of Iraqi interpreters who acted as guides during his work in their country. So he told his younger daughter and son they were going to take a trip: a two-hour drive to Dulles International Airport outside Washington, D.C., where, for the first time in his life, Buchalter would join a protest. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Demonstrators against Trumps immigration limits and a few who like them surge through LAX By Javier Panzar The crowd at LAX is getting bigger and bigger. pic.twitter.com/dJ281TETXj Javier Panzar (@jpanzar) January 29, 2017 Thousands of people filled the international terminal at Los Angeles International Airport on Sunday afternoon to call for the release of an unknown number of people being detained by immigration authorities. Filling the arrivals section of the terminal and spilling into the street outside, the throng chanted, Let them in, and Love, not hate, makes America great. Jacob Kemper, a 35-year-old Army veteran who fought two tours in Iraq, said he was infuriated to think soldiers he fought alongside might be denied entry to the country. I really dont care about religion, but I really hate oppression, he said, holding a sign that read, I Fought Next To Muslims. Shay Soltani, a network engineer, fled the Iranian revolution 40 years ago and still has family members in Iran. She doesnt know if she will be able to see them again. As she and hundreds of others marched through the airport, she said she was horrified by Trumps order. I am so hurt by this, she said. He is against freedom of speech and the constitution and everything I believe in as an American. Meanwhile, about a dozen counter-protesters popped up on the other side of the street, holding signs that said X-treme vetting and Keep Refugees Out. They said they were tired of immigrants entering the U.S. illegally, which they said jeopardizes the safety of American citizens. Chanell Temple, 63, of Los Angeles said she was sick of watching immigrants here illegally steal benefits and services from American citizens, specifically veterans and homeless people who need aid. I worked out here for 40 years and they are coming here and taking everything away, said Temple, a former bookkeeper who said she lost her job and healthcare after she was fired for an inability to speak Spanish. Raul Rodriguez Jr., coordinator of a group called America First Latinos, said he was concerned about what he considers a surge in crimes committed against Americans by those who are in the country illegally. They are lawbreakers. They have violated federal law and they need to be deported, he said. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Silicon Valley execs speak out against immigration ban By Tracey Lien Technology executives are speaking out against President Trumps executive order on immigration, highlighting how the ban hurts their businesses. Leaders of companies that include Google, Microsoft, Apple, Facebook, Uber, Lyft, Airbnb, Dropbox and Twitter denounced it over the weekend. Apple would not exist without immigration, let alone thrive and innovate the way we do, said Apple chief executive Tim Cook in a memo to employees. In my conversations with officials here in Washington this week, Ive made it clear that Apple believes deeply in the importance of immigration both to our company and to our nations future. General Electric Co. chief executive Jeff Immelt said Sunday that businesses with global operations must balance working with the new administration while also supporting their workers and partners. We have many employees from the named countries and we do business all over the region, Immelt said in a statement. These employees and customers are critical to our success and they are our friends and partners. We stand with them and will work with the U.S. administration to strive to find the balance between the need for security and the movement of law abiding people. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print LAX protest grows as families wait Meg Heatherly, 27, of Los Angeles holds a Shame sign during a protest at the Tom Bradley International Terminal. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement L.A. city attorney barred from seeing detainees at LAX By James Queally Los Angeles City Atty. Mike Feuer said he was repeatedly denied access to federal detainees or an attorney who could discuss the situation with him at Los Angeles International Airport on Saturday night and Sunday morning. Federal officials have declined to discuss the LAX detentions or respond to Feuers criticisms. While he was at the airport, Feuer said he was approached by a woman who claimed her father, suffering from Parkinsons disease, was among the detainees. It is those kind of real stories that are at stake because of this outrageous action by the feds. It is time not only for officials in my position, but all Americans, should find this a breathtaking violation of rights. Mike Feuer Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Democratic attorneys general from 15 states condemn Trump immigration order By Ann M. Simmons California Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times) More than a dozen Democratic attorneys general from states across the country have condemned the Trump administrations executive order suspending acceptance of refugees and have vowed to oppose it to ensure that as few people as possible suffer from the chaotic situation that it has created. In a communique Sunday, the group said: As the chief legal officers for over 130 million Americans and foreign residents of our states, we condemn President Trumps unconstitutional, un-American and unlawful Executive Order and will work together to ensure the federal government obeys the Constitution, respects our history as a nation of immigrants, and does not unlawfully target anyone because of their national origin or faith. The executive order places an indefinite ban on refugees from Syria and prohibits citizens from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen from entering as refugees for four months. It also places a suspension on admissions of other citizens of those countries. The legal officials represent 15 states. They include California Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra and his contemporaries in Washington, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Virginia, as well as the District of Columbia. Religious liberty has been, and always will be, a bedrock principle of our country, and no president can change that truth, the attorneys general said in the statement. They praised the decision of multiple federal courts to order a stay on some aspects of the order. We are confident that the Executive Order will ultimately be struck down by the courts, the statement said. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print 13 people who had been detained at LAX have been released, source says By James Queally Protesters at LAX on Sunday. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) Thirteen people who were detained Saturday night at Los Angeles International Airports Terminal 2 were eventually released, a law enforcement source told The Times. Each of them held green cards, which grant permanent residency in the U.S. The source, who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the situation at the airport, could not provide detention figures for the Tom Bradley International Terminal, which has been the center of protest activity. Thats where protesters were gathering Sunday. Nurse Jamie Shoemaker, 51, of Los Angeles held an American flag in one hand and carried a sign that read, Muslims are welcome here, racists and fascists are not. She called Trumps order un-American. This is not the country I want, she said. This is not the country I grew up in. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Democrats in Congress drafting legislation to repeal Trumps refugee ban, pressuring GOP for support By Lisa Mascaro Sen. Chuck Schumer becomes emotional speaking against Pres. Trump's immigration order, calling it "mean-spirited and un-American." pic.twitter.com/NkhUdpaNyV ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) January 29, 2017 Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer and Democrats will introduce legislation as soon as Monday to stop President Trumps actions temporarily banning refugees and arrivals from certain Muslim countries. House Democrats are taking similar legislative action, and lawmakers from both chambers will rally Monday evening at the Supreme Court to protest Trumps orders. This executive order was mean-spirited and un-American, said Schumer, the New York Democrat, choking up as he stood with immigrants and refugees at a press conference Sunday. It must be reversed immediately. Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said House Democrats are exploring legal options, including an amicus brief in support of the ACLU lawsuit against the actions. The chances of passing a bill through the Republican-controlled Congress are slim, as most GOP leaders and lawmakers have not objected to Trumps ban. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Sunday that while he was personally opposed to a religious test on admissions, it was best left to the courts to resolve the issue. Its hopefully going to be decided in the courts as to whether or not this has gone too far, McConnell said on ABCs This Week. House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) expressed his support Friday for Trumps action. A handful of Republicans, though, are uneasy with Trumps orders, and have spoken against them. Schumer noted that just few more Republicans would be needed to reach the 60-vote threshold for advancing Senate legislation. Maybe we can pass something in Congress, Schumer said. Its up to Republicans. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Emotional reunion at JFK airport after release of elderly Sudanese man from immigration detention By Barbara Demick Tears and hugs at JFK's international arrivals as a detainee is released, reuniting father with son. More families wait, cheering. pic.twitter.com/WrVpoocWjY Jack Smith IV (@JackSmithIV) January 29, 2017 For those immigrants temporarily detained under a new Trump administration executive order at New Yorks John F. Kennedy International Airport, attorneys have put a priority on getting some of the older detainees released to their families. One small victory for the lawyers was the case of Yassin Abdelrhman, a 76-year-old green card holder from Sudan who had been detained after a trip home to visit family. He was released about noon on Sunday after being detained for 30 hours. Soon, he was reunited with his sons. He is a strong individual, but he has some health challenges, said U.S. Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), who had been working on their case. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Iranian director Asghar Farhadi will not attend Oscars Iranian filmmaker Asghar Farhadi after winning an Oscar in 2012. ((Allen J. Schaben/ Los Angeles Times) ) In a statement to the New York Times today, Oscar-winning Iranian filmmaker Asghar Farhadi said he no longer planned to attend this years ceremony. Farhadis film The Salesman is nominated in the foreign language film category. Farhadi had initially hoped to attend despite the prohibition on visitors from Iran. But he said he had decided the possibility of this presence is being accompanied by ifs and buts which are in no way acceptable to me even if exceptions were to be made for my trip. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print How an Iranian Fulbright scholar got into the U.S.: We found a lawyer who found a lawyer who found a lawyer By Barbara Demick Iranian students in front of a makeshift law office in JFKs Terminal 4. (Barbara Demick / Los Angeles Times) Perhaps nothing encapsulates the chaos emanating from President Trumps executive order better than what happened with Ukrainian Airlines Flight 232. The regularly scheduled flight to Kiev had to turn around on the tarmac at John F. Kennedy Airport early Sunday after a federal judge issued a stay of a deportation order of dozens of foreigners, including a 32-year-old Iranian linguist who is a doctoral candidate and former Fulbright scholar. With just minutes to spare, Vahideh Rasekhi -- helped by volunteer lawyers and her smart phone managed to prevent the flight from taking off. She had arrived Saturday afternoon, but was blocked from entering the United States by the executive order barring arrivals of citizens of Iran, Iraq, Syria, Sudan, Somalia and Libya. Around midnight, she was put on the Ukrainian Air flight to return to Tehran, via Kiev. We found a lawyer who found a lawyer who found a lawyer, said Mehdi Namazi, 29, a friend who has been waiting for her at the airport. The lawyers were showing officials a copy of the order issued a few hours earlier by U.S. District Court Judge Ann Donnelly in Brooklyn. It was all very confusing. They were arguing as the plane was taxiing, Namazi said. According to one lawyer, Melissa Trent, Rasekhi herself was walking up and down the aisles arguing for the plane not to take off. She knew that if the plane left she would never get back to the United States again, Trent said. Rasekhi spent most of Sunday in detention with other Iranians, but was released into the United States at around 3 p.m.. A dozen Iranian friends had been waiting inside the airports Terminal 4 amid a clutter of discarded coffee cups and half-eaten donuts in front of a diner that had been turned into a makeshift law office. Another Iranian student was waiting for her parents, who were taken into detention after arriving on another flight I havent seen them in 3-1/2 years. They dont speak English. But Im hopeful, said the student, who gave her name as Sahar. The students were both furious at the way their country had been targeted by Trumps order and touched by the outpouring of support from the volunteer lawyers. We see two different Americas here. There is this order banning us, and than there are all these people here who came to the airport. If it werent for these volunteers, she would have been deported, said Namazi. Im very depressed. We feel betrayed by this country that we invested so much energy and hope into. We are all graduate students, professors, PhDs, engineers. To say this is for national security, it doesnt add up, said Tahmineh Tabrizian, 33, another friend of Rasekhis. She said her own parents had planned to come to the United States and had spent $14,000 on tickets and visas and would now have to cancel their trip. Rasekhi, who has lived in the United States for a decade, was a Fulbright scholar at UC Santa Barbara and received a masters degree at Fresno State University, according to a resume supplied by one of her friends. She had been studying for a PhD at Stony Brook University on Long Island. She had gone to Tehran over the Christmas break to visit her parents and was on her way back to resume her studies when she was detained. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Protests begin again at LAX on Sunday morning By Genaro Molina Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Protesters in Tel Aviv compare Trump immigration order to Israeli refugee policies By Joshua Mitnick Demonstrators in Tel Aviv protest U.S. President Trumps new immigration order. (Joshua Mitnick / Los Angeles Times) Holding signs reading Refugees Welcome and chanting No Ban, No Wall, Sanctuary for All, several dozen demonstrators gathered outside the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv on Sunday to join protests in the U.S. against President Trumps new immigration policy. Mia Zur Szpiro, a 36-year-old filmmaker, said she felt compelled to demonstrate because her parents survived the Holocaust. We are a country of immigrants, and to me it was astounding that this [order] was passed on Holocaust Memorial Day, she said. Its wrong to stereotype, and its wrong to send people who are in need back into the face of danger and the risk of death. Elliot Vaisbrub Glassenberg, a protest organizer and migrant rights activist, compared the new U.S. policy to Israeli policies toward tens of thousands of Eritrean and Sudanese migrants who crossed into the country illegally from Egypts Sinai desert. The policies that Trump has enacted are no worse than the policies that [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu has enacted for years here such as not allowing any non-Jews to be given refugee status in Israel, except for a select few. Togod Omar, a native of Sudan who was at the protest, said he applied for political asylum in Israel three years ago, and is still waiting. He said Sudanese friends hoping to be resettled in the U.S. were upset by the new executive order. Trump doesnt understand whats going on in Sudan, Omar said. You cant punish the Sudanese people for what the Islamic government is doing. You cant banish someone because of their religion. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print President Trump hits majority disapproval in record time, Gallup finds By David Lauter Days until achieving MAJORITY disapproval from @Gallup Reagan: 727 Bush I: 1336 Clinton: 573 Bush II: 1205 Obama: 936 Trump: 8. days. pic.twitter.com/kv2fy0Qsbp Will Jordan (@williamjordann) January 29, 2017 President Trumps actions during his first week in office have appeared to be aimed at the voters who already supported him, not at reaching out to the rest, and thats taken a rapid toll on his support, which was already historically low. Gallup, which has measured job approval for presidents for decades, shows Trumps approval so far at 45%, with 48% disapproving. Thats an average of several days polling. The daily trend lines are not kind to the new administration. As of Saturday, 51% of Americans disapproved of Trumps performance. Thats a record for the speed of getting to majority disapproval. By comparison, President George W. Bush hit majority disapproval six months into his second term, in June 2005, and remained in negative territory for the rest of his tenure. President Obama did not hit 51% disapproval until August of 2011, during the crisis over the federal debt ceiling that summer. His approval rebounded later that year, but he had a second period of majority disapproval during late 2013 and much of 2014. He ended his term with widespread approval and 37% of Americans disapproving. Trump Job Approval: Approve 45% (-1); Disapprove 48% (+3). Get the full trend https://t.co/BjTUhf0NAM. GallupNews (@GallupNews) January 27, 2017 Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Hundreds of travelers were caught in limbo over rushed visa ban By Brian Bennett (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times) Hundreds of travelers were blocked from entering the U.S. or prevented from boarding flights in the hours after President Trump signed his order banning arrivals from seven predominantly Muslim countries, according to the Department of Homeland Security. In the order, Trump temporarily suspended refugee admissions and banned travelers from Iran, Iraq, Syria, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. Scores of people from those countries were aboard airplanes flying toward the U.S. when Trump signed his executive order on Friday afternoon, setting off waves of confusion among border officials and the traveling public. Upon landing at U.S. airports, 109 people from the listed countries were detained by immigration officials and prevented from entering the U.S., officials said. The department had approved 81 waivers to the new travel ban by Saturday afternoon, the official said, but at least some of the people detained on arrival were sent back to their countries of origin. Court orders issued Saturday evening required U.S. border officials to stop returning people who had already arrived with valid visas. It is unclear how many people were deported before the orders were issued. It is also unclear if the Trump administration has fully complied with those orders. In addition to the people who arrived in the U.S. and were detained, as of 3 p.m. on Saturday, an additional 173 travelers from the listed countries had been stopped from boarding flights to the U.S., a Homeland Security official said in a statement. The department did not make an official available to describe the actions and the agencys response. As many as 3,250 travelers may have been inconvenienced by the new visa restrictions, officials for the department said in a statement Sunday. Yesterday, less than 1% of the more than 325,000 international air travelers who arrive every day were inconvenienced while enhanced security measures were implemented, the statement read. The department will comply with court orders, the statement said. But no evidence was given to confirm this. Lawyers seeking to meet with detainees at Dulles International Airport outside of Washington and at San Francisco have said that they were blocked by officials on Sunday. The Department of Homeland Security will comply with judicial orders, faithfully enforce our immigration laws, and implement President Trumps executive orders to ensure that those entering the United States do not pose a threat to our country or the American people, according to the departments statement. All of the visa holders and travelers from the listed countries blocked from entering the U.S. since Friday already had gone through multiple steps of security screening that checked their biographical information and travel history against U.S. terrorism databases. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print White House seems to back down on part of new vetting policy By Christi Parsons The White House on Sunday appeared to back down on a key part of President Trumps tough new immigration order, signaling that travelers trying to enter the country from seven banned countries will be allowed in if they hold green cards. White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus said that these legal permanent residents are exempt from the travel ban moving forward, even though over the weekend other administration officials said the rule did apply to them. The apparent reversal came amid a national controversy over the new Trump order that temporarily halts the entry of all refugees to the U.S. and any traveler from seven majority Muslim countries: Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. Federal judges across the country have blocked parts of the presidents executive actions since they came down on Friday, mostly preventing the deportation of some travelers who ran into the first wave of implementation over the weekend. The back-and-forth over the green-card holders reflected a generalized confusion about the new order, which also bars Syrian refugees from entering the United States indefinitely. Lawyers for some of the affected immigrants said border agents seemed uncertain about the new rules and were disagreeing with one another about which travelers were affected and which were not. Further complicating the picture was a statement from the Department of Homeland Security asserting that its agents would enforce all of Trumps orders while also complying with judicial orders. As some of the orders block deportation, that left individual officers to try to figure out which priorities to honor. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Op-Ed: Trumps cruel, illegal refugee executive order By Erwin Chemerinsky Protesters demonstrate at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City on Saturday. (Stephanie Keith / Getty Images) Barring individuals fleeing persecution from entering the United States is simply inhumane. Adding irony to injury, Trumps executive order was issued on Holocaust Remembrance Day, which should have been an occasion to atone for turning away refugees during the 1930ssome of whom then died in concentration camps. For example, in 1939, the United States turned away the St. Louis, a boat filled with refugees, many of them German Jews. According to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, 254 passengers from the St. Louis died in the Holocaust. Erwin Chemerinsky Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Lyft pledges to donate $1 million to ACLU following Trumps immigration order By Tracey Lien (Richard Vogel / Associated Press) Tech executives had been mostly quiet for the first week of Donald Trumps presidency but that changed after his controversial executive order restricting refugees and immigrants from seven Muslim-majority countries. Executive after executive spent Saturday tweeting and posting messages to Facebook decrying the administrations actions. Lyft co-founders John Zimmer and Logan Green went a step further: On Sunday, they announced they would donate $1 million to the American Civil Liberties Union over the next four years. Banning people of a particular faith or creed, race or identity, sexuality or ethnicity, from entering the U.S. is antithetical to both Lyft and our nations core values, the co-founders wrote in an email to Lyft customers. We stand firmly against the actions, and will no Good morning. Its Wednesday, Jan. 4, and heres whats going on around California: TOP STORIES Drought buster? So what would it take to bust the California drought? A lot more of the kind of storms that have dumped large amounts of rain and snow across Northern California the last few months. State officials say theyve seen major improvements especially as key reservoirs rise back to normal levels but stress that a lot more rain is still needed. Los Angeles Times Advertisement Trump trials Xavier Becerras confirmation hearings to become California attorney general will take a decidedly Donald Trump flavor. Lawmakers asked for Becerras positions on immigration, including cooperation with federal immigration authorities and his view of sanctuary cities, civil rights, environmental protection, police accountability and consumer protection. It underscores how Trump is emerging as Public Enemy No. 1 in Democrat-controlled Sacramento. Los Angeles Times Music and lights Inside the new push to renovate one of Los Angeles strangest landmarks. Los Angeles Times L.A. STORIES Gay landmark: The Factory, a groundbreaking gay nightclub in West Hollywood and a key part of the gay rights movement, is threatened with demolition. Now, there is a push to preserve it. Curbed Los Angeles Shipping container mall: In the Bixby Knolls section of Long Beach, theyre rethinking the shopping center with a food court made out of shipping containers. Press-Telegram Calendar craze: In the Chinese American shopping districts of the San Gabriel Valley, this is calendar season. And some customers cant get enough. With the calendar, we can honor tradition, celebrate culture and give something meaningful, useful and practical. San Gabriel Valley Tribune POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT Harris milestone: Before friends and family in a packed chamber, Kamala Harris was sworn in as Californias newest U.S. senator Tuesday morning. She became the first black woman the Golden State has sent to the Senate and the first Indian American to ever serve in the body. Los Angeles Times Brace yourself: Tolls on Bay Area bridges could rise to $8. Mercury News Family leave: This week, a groundbreaking family leave law takes effect in San Francisco. Most parents living in the city will now receive six weeks of fully paid leave. SFGate Fake news: Did California Democrats legalize child prostitution? No, but the claim is the latest fake news battle. Sacramento Bee Homeless woes: Sacramentos new mayor is facing a familiar problem for cities in California: homelessness. New York Times CRIME AND COURTS Killer ill: Charles Manson is seriously ill and was taken to a hospital, but the exact nature of his condition is unknown. Los Angeles Times Solutions sought: A big surge in homicides in San Bernardino has city leaders struggling to figure out some solutions. San Bernardino Sun Mall ban: Hoping to reduce the number of brawls and violence, some shopping malls have a radical idea: banning teenagers. Civil liberties groups are crying foul, and a mall in Sacramento might become a test case. Mercury News Double killings: A man was arrested Monday in connection with the deaths of a woman and her friend after a house fire in Westminster led authorities to their bodies, which were found miles away in Newport Beach. Los Angeles Times CALIFORNIA CULTURE Jack in the Box taco mystery: Some call it vile and gross, an insult to Mexican food. But the people love it. A look at how the Jack in the Box taco has become such a huge fast-food hit. Wall Street Journal Arts District dead? Valet parking, $6 coffee, four-star restaurants and luxury high-rises: Is L.A.s once-gritty Arts District dying before our eyes? LA Weekly Dogged concern: The dog of a homeless man finds a new home and breaks some hearts in Fresno. Fresno Bee Beyond orcas: Making good on SeaWorlds promise to add more thrill-oriented rides, the San Diego theme park will build its tallest and fastest roller coaster. Is it enough after years of Blackfish backlash? Los Angeles Times Museum brawl: The latest rivalry between Los Angeles and San Francisco is over George Lucas and a lot of Star Wars booty. Associated Press CALIFORNIA ALMANAC Los Angeles area: Cloudy with highs topping out at 60. San Diego: Partly cloudy with highs in the low 60s. San Francisco area and Sacramento: Rainy with highs in the low 50s. AND FINALLY Todays California memory comes from Tom Kruse: I had arrived in California from Chicago in 1960 and my brother had given me a job in his warehouse. I didnt bring my lunch one day and asked a co-worker where I might get something inexpensive. He told me about a Mexican deli a block away and told me to ask for a burrito. I thought it was a joke, but I asked the counterman if he had anything called a burrito. He gave me the once over and smiled and asked what kind I wanted. I didnt know. He said he would fix me up. It was probably the best thing I had ever eaten. If you have a memory or story about the Golden State, share it with us. Send us an email to let us know what you love or fondly remember about our state. (Please keep your story to 100 words.) Please let us know what we can do to make this newsletter more useful to you. Send comments, complaints and ideas to Shelby Grad. Sales of plant-based milk alternatives have been skyrocketing in recent years. Of course, no marketer in her right mind would try to sell anything with such a clunky, unappetizing name. Instead, they are sold as cashew milk, almond milk, hazelnut milk and a handful of other milks from unlikely sources with names that evoke creamy wonderfulness. It drives producers of what you might call traditional milk that is, the people who sell the old-fashioned, nutritious white liquid that comes from cows a little nuts that the purveyors of nondairy drinks are calling their product milk and directly competing with the real thing in refrigerated cases across America. It was one thing when there was just soy milk. But now that there are all manner of milk products concocted from the oddest things cashews, hemp, even quinoa, for heavens sake the dairy industry has had enough. Last month, on its behalf, a bipartisan group of 32 members of Congress from agricultural states sent a letter to the Food and Drug Administration asking for a crackdown on the proliferation of faux lait. This is no frothy matter to milk producers who have seen decades of decline in milk consumption. These hard-working Americans have experienced deep cuts in income as milk prices have plunged 40 percent since 2014, the members of Congress wrote in their letter. The authors include two California congressmen from the states agricultural heartland, Rep. David Valadao (R-Hanford) and Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Tulare). Advertisement Americans waning interest in drinking milk may be attributable, in part, to a better understanding of its provenance and production. Federal regulations (21 CFR 131.110, to be exact) define milk as the lacteal secretion, practically free from colostrum, obtained by the complete milking of one or more healthy cows. And that means, according to the letter from the members of Congress, that it is illegal for milk imitators to profit from using milks good name. But perhaps it is federal regulations that are out of touch with consumer trends. Though it is true that milk alternatives are generally less nutritious than the real thing, which is packed full of protein, calcium, and vitamins A and D, theres no evidence that consumers have been tricked into buying a less nutritious plant-based alternative or that theyre unaware of the difference. Most people are smart enough to understand that quinoa milk isnt cows milk flavored with quinoa (because, who would buy that?) just as as they can tell the difference between goats milk and Milk of Magnesia. Indeed, Americans waning interest in drinking milk may be attributable, in part, to a better understanding of its provenance and production. These days, there are vegans eager to enjoy a bowl of cereal or ice cream without cows milk, often because theyre concerned about the treatment of the animals. There are parents concerned about the use of growth hormones in cows. There are people who, for whatever reason, dont like the taste of cows milk and are pleased to have alternatives available. So far, the FDA hasnt responded to the letter. Even if the new leadership of the FDA were inclined to expend resources protecting the milk brand for the dairy lobby and were to force imitators to change their labels, its uncertain whether that would have any effect on consumption habits. Nor is it clear if a crackdown would stop the word milk from being used in labeling. In 2011, the FDA sent a letter to CytoSport Inc. in Northern California warning it to stop mislabeling its popular Muscle Milk brand nutritional shakes because they dont contain milk. (Happily, it doesnt contain muscles, either.) Yet, Muscle Milk is still readily available for purchase in major retail stores. Perhaps thats because the word milk like its close dairy relations butter and cream is a relatively generic term that cant be easily controlled through trademarks and copyrights. Its unfortunate that the dairy industry is blaming milk imitators rather than a change in consumers tastes for its woes. This is the industry, after all, that came up with one of the more memorable advertising campaigns in recent history: Got Milk? In the end, consumers arent really dumb at all. Most of us know by now that theres no cream in Cream of Wheat, no butter in cocoa butter and no grapes in Grapenuts. Or nuts, for that matter. And we know what milk is, too. Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook About once a week, I pick up a half gallon of soy milk from the market. I do this of my own free will, fully cognizant of what Im buying. But 32 members of the House of Representatives worry that consumers like me are confused by the word milk on the label; they think were laboring under the false impression that the carton contains dairy from a cow. Since the 1930s, milk has been legally defined as the lacteal secretions of a bovine mammal. It is therefore technically illegal to use the term milk on something other than cows milk, even with a clear modifier, and now lawmakers are asking the Food and Drug Administration to crack down on products that could steal cows thunder. Their stated intention is to protect consumers from deception. While this latest push to enforce labeling laws has been directed at popular plant-based alternatives such as almond, soy and rice milk, it could also have an effect on other animal products including sheep and goat milk, since theyre not secretions from a bovine mammal either. No word yet on what these products are supposed to call themselves. Goat juice doesnt exactly caress the ears. Advertisement The FDA, to its credit, has not expended much energy playing nanny state on this issue, apparently recognizing that a definition from the 1930s shouldnt haunt us in 2017, and that theres no epidemic of confusion at supermarkets. Whats this almond milk thing? Must be from a cow that ate almonds, is not a common line of thought. It is technically illegal to use the term milk on something other than cows milk, even with a clear modifier. Dictionaries, moreover, take a wide view of what milk means; the second definition in Merriam-Webster is a liquid resembling milk in appearance which should certainly cover plant-based alternatives. And the rare person who truly isnt clear on what shes buying could always refer to a nutrition label. (In the 1930s, nutrition labels werent yet mandatory, but of course they are today.) Theres something else going on here. Whatever lawmakers may say, theyre trying to protect the dairy industry, not consumers. Dairy is struggling. The latest data from the USDA show that Americans are drinking nearly 40% less dairy milk than they were a few decades ago. (In 1970, the average American was drinking about 12 ounces of milk per day. Now its closer to 7 ounces.) This fall, the USDA stepped in to buy $20 million worth of cheese to reduce a glut caused by lack of demand. The dairy industrys response to this socialist price support? Not enough! In the meantime, the dairy-alternatives industry is thriving, expanding sales by 250% over the past five years. Plant-based options such as almond, soy and rice milk make up 9% of the milk market, and new ingredients and brands are rapidly being developed to meet demand. Consumers are not buying plant-based milk because they have been tricked into believing they actually came from a cow. Some are interested in exploring new flavors or finding healthy alternatives to cows milk; others have concerns about the environmental impact of conventional milk production or object to the treatment of dairy cows. Its not the first time Big Food has stepped in to squelch competition. In late 2014, Unilever filed a civil suit against the San Francisco startup Hampton Creek, claiming that the company shouldnt be allowed to call its plant-based mayonnaise Just Mayo since it doesnt contain eggs, which are required for mayonnaise under the same Depression-era regulations. In the end, Unilever dropped its suit and Hampton Creek was able to keep its Just Mayo brand, in part because there is no standard for mayo. The milk push may come to nothing as well. The FDA has not yet replied to the eager lawmakers, and Washington is in a fairly anti-regulatory mood at the moment. But the fact that such an absurd rule remains on the books creates market uncertainty for producers of dairy alternatives. Thats why my organization, the Good Food Institute, filed a Freedom of Information lawsuit earlier this year seeking all relevant enforcement records as a first step toward filing a petition calling for permanent regulatory change. Current 1st Amendment jurisprudence makes clear that if the government is going to restrict corporate speech, it must be in furtherance of a legitimate government purpose, and helping one industry over another does not qualify. Restricting the milk label would, then, not only be condescending to consumers, but also potentially unconstitutional. Soy milk and almond milk are accurate labels. If we want to call things what they are, we can start by calling this latest legislative effort by its true name: industry-funded market interference. Emily Byrd is the San Francisco-based communications manager of the Good Food Institute, a nonprofit that promotes alternatives to animal agriculture. Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion or Facebook MORE FROM OPINION The smart home has ears, and it cant keep a secret Got milk? Dairy farmers rage against imitators but consumers know what they want Did a Trump tweet save the Office of Congressional Ethics? Not really In our increasingly technological world, why do humans so love the supernatural? Dick Cheney, back when he was vice president, insisted all the TVs in his hotel suite be tuned to Fox News before he arrived. Its not just conservative politicians who like to stay ideologically insulated, though. So do campus liberals. Consider what happened two years ago at Rutgers University when Condoleezza Rice was invited to be commencement speaker. The faculty senate objected and students protested vehemently enough that the former secretary of State backed out. In the wake of the 2016 election, theres been a lot of talk about how Americans are stuck in partisan bubbles, especially on Facebook and Twitter. Anecdotes like the ones above remind us that bubbles dont happen accidentally or passively. Instead, many politically minded people are in a state of motivated ignorance: They neither know nor want to know what the opposition has to say. Advertisement As social psychologists, we wondered whether liberals and conservatives were equally resistant to learning about one anothers views. Some psychology studies, for instance, have suggested that conservatives are more prone to the confirmation bias meaning they selectively consume information, like biased news, that aligns with their preexisting opinions. But we werent so sure that liberals were any more open-minded. A functioning democracy requires that citizens make informed choices which voters cant do if their information sources are ideologically monochromatic. So we created some experiments to check. In one, we offered a chance to win $10 to participants who opposed letting gay couples marry. There was a catch: To qualify for the prize drawing, they had to read eight arguments for legalizing same-sex marriage. As an alternative, they could read eight anti-same-sex marriage statements but any potential prize money would be reduced to $7. Greed and curiosity were teamed up against motivated ignorance. Motivated ignorance won. Most conservatives (61%) chose to stay in their bubble and forgo the extra cash. And when we gave liberals the same dilemma? Slightly more, 64%, chose to stay in their bubble. The general trend held regardless of the issue or how we probed their interest. We asked about legalizing marijuana, climate change, gun control, or abortion. We even asked about elections (including Donald Trump versus Hillary Clinton). The result was the same: Neither side much wanted to hear from the other. Why were they so dug in? It wasnt that they already knew the opposing arguments. Participants on both sides admitted to being largely unaware of the other sides views, and this was confirmed by how poorly they did on a quiz before diving into the rest of the experiment. Rather, participants said that hearing from the other side felt lousy; they reported it was about as unpleasant as taking out the trash or standing in line for 20 minutes. Participants pointed to social ramifications, too. In a separate study, people we surveyed said they anticipated getting angry if they were to listen to the other side, and suspected that it might damage their relationship with the person spouting off. This might explain why holiday dinners are both cherished (the meal part) and dreaded (the conversation part). Socially speaking, the safe bet is to stay in your bubble. Although our research found that both liberals and conservatives are averse to learning about the other side, it is fair to ask whether both sides ideas are equally worth hearing. To be civically informed, one should consider a spectrum of reasonable views; fake news, baseless claims and lies are not necessarily in bounds. Trump and his surrogates notoriously played fast and loose with facts and propagated baseless claims. So perhaps opponents of Trump have reasonable grounds to ignore what he has to say. Still, plugging ones ears can prove costly. For example, during the election, mainstream media outlets spotlighted Trumps most unhinged moments and largely ignored his dominant message economic populism. Focusing on coverage of Trumps gaffes made it too easy for the anti-Trump camp to dismiss his supporters as deplorables. Those who feel politically embattled arent likely to unilaterally abandon motivated ignorance. But they should and for their own sake. If their political opponents feel understood, they might be more receptive to hearing what others have to say. Listening to the other side could at least help prepare an arsenal of counterarguments. Talking past each other is deeply unhealthy for our entire political system. A functioning democracy requires that citizens make informed choices which voters cant do if their information sources are ideologically monochromatic. Motivated ignorance replaces the marketplace of ideas with two isolated, noncompeting monopolies. Its a scary situation if, in this deeply partisan moment in U.S. history, the one thing both sides have in common is a lack of curiosity about what the other thinks. Jeremy Frimer is an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Winnipeg. Linda J. Skitka is a psychology professor and Matt Motyl is an assistant psychology professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinionand Facebook MORE FROM OPINION Obamas enduring legacy: The concept of universal coverage In our increasingly technological world, why do humans so love the supernatural? Do Americans hate each other too much to find common ground? My sister, actress Sharon Tate, was murdered on Aug. 9, 1969. Sharon was eight months pregnant. Patricia Krenwinkel and other followers of Charles Manson broke into her home and killed everyone there in a horribly brutal manner. The next night, the Manson family again chose another home at random and murdered its occupants, Leno and Rosemary LaBianca. In a two-night killing spree Krenwinkel was personally responsible for butchering three individuals. She mutilated one of her victims with a fork and carved the word war into his stomach. She wrote words all over the LaBianca house with blood. She admits she wasnt on drugs. She claims she wanted to ignite a race war Helter Skelter that she would ride out, living in a hole in the middle of the earth. During her trial, Krenwinkel laughed about the murders and her victims. From my perspective, she has never shown real remorse. She claims she finally woke up and broke away from Manson when she heard he had bet her, as his property, in a prison card game with another inmate. Advertisement It would seem ... that some parole board commissioners may be trying to empty our prisons of offenders over the age of 60, regardless of the danger to society. On the last Thursday of 2016, I attended the 14th parole hearing for Krenwinkel, the longest-serving female inmate in Californias prison system. She was condemned to death in 1971, but after the state Supreme Court ruled the death penalty unconstitutional in 1972, her sentence was changed to life in prison. In the hearing room the commissioners on the Board of Parole Hearings set the tone: Victims families are allowed to speak, but the hearings are really all about the inmate and her history in prison not the crime, not those who were murdered. For this hearing, I submitted 98,000 signatures on a petition gathered in just 13 days in the beginning of December opposing Krenwinkels release. More than 10,000 people didnt merely sign the petition, they wrote letters telling the state of California to keep Krenwinkel in prison. During the hearing, Deputy Commissioner Nga Lam suggested Krenwinkel had possibly been suffering from something like battered spouse syndrome at the time of the murders. Experts studying every aspect of Krenwinkels case and all the Manson murders, including court and parole transcripts, have concluded that only one female in the group was being assaulted by Manson, and it was not Patricia Krenwinkel. Krenwinkel has had 13 previous parole hearings over four decades to claim Manson beat her, and only now has this come up as an excusable reason for brutally murdering seven strangers and an unborn child. This suggestion resulted in the postponement of a parole decision pending an investigation of facts. I couldnt believe it when Lam asked if Krenwinkel qualified as a battered woman. Nor could the other family members in the hearing room. This was the same type of leading question that had been posed at another Manson family parole hearing in 2016 Leslie Van Houtens, in April. In that hearing, the suggestion had to do with brainwashing as a mitigating factor. Afterward, the Parole Board recommended a parole date for Van Houten, although Gov. Jerry Brown rejected that recommendation and the state Supreme Court refused to review his decision. Van Houten, appropriately, remains in prison. It would seem, though, that some parole board commissioners may be trying to empty our prisons of offenders over the age of 60, regardless of the danger to society. In Krenwinkels case, postponing a parole decision based on the spurious need for further investigation is a colossal waste of tax dollars. It is a travesty of justice. Look up the word sociopath. You will see there is no cure for this affliction. There is no medication, no programming that can relieve it. Patricia Krenwinkel has been diagnosed as a sociopath more than once. In the controlled environment of prison, she has done well. But she is still a dangerous woman. Krenwinkel and all the members of the Manson family should never be granted parole. Debra Tate is a volunteer victims advocate. She has represented the Tate family at every Manson family parole hearing since 1998. www.noparoleformansonfamily.com Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook MORE FROM OPINION The smart home has ears, and it cant keep a secret Liberals and conservatives have one thing in common: Zero interest in opposing views Obamas enduring legacy: The concept of universal coverage Leaving for Las Vegas: Californias minimum wage law leaves businesses no choice Logic, science and common sense have blazed the trail to humankinds triumphs. But oh, how we love to wander off that bright path toward the campfire shadows, to hear legends of things that go bump in the night. The mysterious and the implausible from bizarre tales that gained traction in the 2016 presidential campaign, to macabre old legends of the supernatural are irresistible. Each month, more than 2.5 million people tune into Aaron Mahnkes podcast Lore. He drills far into the factual origins of unsettling tales of vampires, lost adventurers, premature burials, spiritual powers, spectral sightings, dream coincidences and witchery. This year, Lore is being adapted into an Amazon TV anthology series, bringing the visual to the aural. Mahnke muses about how humans always believe that a good scare is a good idea. CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO THIS INTERVIEW ON THE PATT MORRISON ASKS PODCAST How did you get interested in this subject? Advertisement For me scary stories go back to grade school, probably about fifth grade. I remember having a writing teacher and probably in early October, she assigned us a short story we had to hand-write. So I wrote a scary story because thats what I was interested, in and that love has stayed with me ever since. I have an undergrad degree in psychology. That kind of colors how I look at things. I think, what are peoples motivations, how do people make decisions and process the experiences they go through? What have been your influences since then? I love the works of Stephen King, Neil Gaiman. I think that both of them get kind of lumped into, that Stephen King is a horror writer and Neil Gaiman writes for the fantasy world. I think they bring a lot of humanity to the table. Theyre full of stories of human who are put into extraordinary circumstances and have to find their way out of them. By the end of The Shining I dont really care whether Jack Torrance gives in, whether he fights back, is killed, or wakes up and its all been just a dream, right? I just want to know whats on the next page. Of your podcasts, do you have one or two that are favorites? Theres an episode called Half-Hanged, about a woman named Mary Webster, and her story feels very modern, in the sense that this was the late 1600s, she was in colonial western Massachusetts. But she was a woman who spoke her mind, she wasnt very religious, and all of these qualities didnt fit in with what people expected women to do in in the late 1600s. Because of that, she wasnt very well liked. And back then, if you didnt like somebody, it was very easy to label someone a witch and let hysteria take over from there. She was acquitted of accusations of being a witch in Boston, and about a year later, a town elder became sick and they couldnt figure out what was wrong with him. So they decided it was because Mary had cursed him, and some of the local men walked to her house, dragged her outside of her door and then hanged her in the tree. What I love about the story is that they cut her down and they walked away, and the next morning she got up and walked away from it. She had somehow survived in what feels like the biggest middle finger you could think of to a town that didnt like you. She had family and that family eventually moved to Canada, and [author] Margaret Atwood is [supposedly] a descendant of Mary Webster. She wrote a poem called Half-Hanged Mary. There are 12 stanzas about the 12 final hours of her life or what should have been the 12 final hours and it ends with this line that says, I wasnt a witch before but now I am one. If you thought I had magic before, I just walked away from the hangmans noose. Theres something modern about it, about how in our own ways we still drag the others of our society out and string them up in a tree in a figurative way. We havent matured, we havent gotten better in those 300 years. We still do it. Marys story gives you hope because she managed to survive that and escape that in a way. Theres power in that. I have chills. Thats my job! In the last year, with this election, have you see anything that puts you in mind of the behavior you see repeating itself in your work? We certainly havent seen the best of humanity in the last year, thats probably a safe thing to say. Weve become almost like people have been given permission to fall back on deep prejudices and knee-jerk reactions. I think that some people look for permission to do that, and thats why weve seen more of it in the last year than we have in a very long time. And to think what-ifs about the future, that we could be taking steps backward its pretty frightening. And I tell stories like that for a living! Tell me a bit about your novels. For my novels, I like to dig into New England folklore, the mythology, the superstitions, the things that are unique to this part of the country. Thats originally what I was trying to do when I created Lore. It was just sort of a happy accident that came out of that. Was there one that made you think, theres a podcast in all of this? I had read that if you want to grow the readership of your book, its good to be connected to [readers] over email, that you can build an email list where you reach out periodically and say, Hey, I have a new book you should go buy it. I thought, well, nobody just gives their email address they need an incentive to do that. I created this nonfiction document that I would give them as a PDF. It was going to be like five favorite New England folk tales with a historical yet spooky bent to them. I wrote four of the five, I looked at the word count and I panicked, because theyd gotten so big that I personally wouldnt have the time to sit down and read it, especially in PDF. And I had that literal moment of dragging the files to the trashcan on my desktop and I just hovered there for a second. And I thought, you know, I dont read a lot of books because I do audio books thats how I take in my content, is through audio. So my plan was to record these five essays as sort of a home-brew audio book and give that away. I had no idea that it would work as a podcast until I let a friend listen to the very first one. He said, You should put this out as a podcast. And I gave it some brief thought and then just jumped in with both feet. Lore won an award for history podcast, which is interesting considering some of the stories you do. Do you consider yourself a historian? Im an armchair historian. But I do like to find stories that have a lot of provenance or that there are written records very close to the events that happened. Obviously when you get into the realm of ghost stories, people can record their sightings or whatnot but that doesnt necessarily make it true. I try to avoid things that all they have to prove their existence is a Reddit post or a meme that hangs around the internet for a while. I probably wont touch on things like Slenderman, but the story of an Irish woman being burned alive by her husband because he thinks shes a changeling replaced by the elves thats a real event that really happened, and thats compelling. Youve been doing this long enough you must have a sense of why we like to scare ourselves virtually. In some ways I think its because its nice to know that someone elses life is worse off than ours. That may be the root of why people rubberneck on the highway when you drive by an accident. Part of that I think has to do with the fact that were just glad it wasnt us. At the same time, I do think scary stories help us feel like were alive. That heart racing, that adrenaline rush it reminds us that everything is working. Theres enough scary stuff in the world right now. These are moments of escapism, however much rooted in true facts I try to find the stories that are. Has it changed your views of the nature of humanity or human history? Its a lot easier to look at strangers and wonder, knowing the potential that people have toward the weird, the violent, the tragic, for what they believe are very good reasons. Obviously to some degree Im studying the ghost stories and true crime and weird unknown creatures, but at the same time, Im studying people, and why in the world we share those stories. Its tough sometimes to be on an airplane and you just look around and wonder right? And you, do you subscribe more or less to the Hamlet quote that there are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in your philosophy? I do know that were really good at looking for reasons, just as humans. We want to explain why something happens. Early on, it was, Why in the world does that yellow thing come up from the horizon and then sail through the sky and disappear? And we made stories that explain that. Eventually science explains a lot of things, but there are still a lot of stories that science hasnt touched on, or that science never could touch on, and it does make you wonder. I think mystery adds texture to life, so to try to explain everything away with rationality would probably create a life that has a lot less flavor in it. The podcast is really basic. Theres some music and you tell a story. Theres no reenactment. Was that a deliberate decision on your part to keep it as something like sitting around a campfire telling stories? If youve ever been to New England, theres a lot of old homes. My house isnt the oldest in the area, but my office is angular, with horsehair plaster and hardwood floors and sharp-edged furniture. So my first recordings were really echo-y and tinny, and the music was in a lot of ways like what an Instagram filter does to a bad photo makes it look a little bit better. The music took a little bit of the tin and a little bit of the echo out of my voice and made the recording palatable. Looking back, it makes sense that its part of the mood, its part of the environment. How do you see that transitioning to the visual? Its certainly going to be a new sort of television show. And with Lore, I think we plan to take some risks. Were blending high-quality dramatic retelling of these true historical stories with unique documentary elements that bring context to the story. And woven through all of that will be narration, in a lot of the same way the podcast has, tying it all together, moving people like a tour guide from station to station. Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion or Facebook To the editor: The article on El Montes six-figure pensions illustrates the inevitable disaster of public employee collective bargaining. Employees cannot be expected to bargain fairly with other employees regarding compensation. (Californias pension crisis: When city retirement pays better than the job, Dec. 30) Democratic processes inevitably subsidize concentrated special interests at the expense of the public interest. Employees have become the most powerful of all the special interests. Unions get collective bargaining and compulsory membership. Dues are taken from employees and passed to the union. The unions donate resources to control the politicians. Two cardinal rules govern politics: First, concentrate the benefits to the few (employees) while spreading the burdens among the many (taxpayers), and second, distribute the benefits immediately while postponing the disastrous costs. Advertisement This is further evidence that our form of government must be considered a failed experiment. Gary Colboth, Long Beach The writer is a professor emeritus of public administration at Cal State Dominguez Hills. .. To the editor: Public pensions are based on three criteria: annual pay, years on the job and a multiplier between 2% and 3% that is decided by each of the hundreds of public agencies in California. The very small minority of California civil servants who receive a six-figure pension are CEO-type managers who had high salaries, worked in the public sector 30 years or more and worked for cities whose elected council members voted for greater benefits during boom times in the late 1990s. Much more common are civil servants like me with pensions below $20,000. Mine is a result of 16 years of work for the state, a modest salary and a multiplier of 2%. Am I glad to have a pension? Of course. Am I frustrated by repeated newspaper articles that focus only on the six-figure pensioners, causing my family and friends to think that I too am living on Easy Street? Of course. Diane Scholfield, Vista, Calif. Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook In the 2018 governors race, Gavin Newsom leads the pack in fundraising Gavin Newsom, the first major candidate to jump into CA's 2018 governor's race, narrowly lead the pack in 2016 fundraising w/ $4.27 million Phil Willon (@philwillon) February 1, 2017 Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Schwarzenegger: Were going through some difficult moments ... but I guarantee we will work our way out of this By Seema Mehta (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) Former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said Tuesday that the United States had faced trying times and political crises before, and has always persevered. Yes, were going through some difficult moments right now, as we have in the past, but I guarantee we will work our way out of this, Schwarzenegger said, speaking at an electoral reform event at the University of Southern California. He recalled immigrating to the United States and seeing the violent protests at the Democratic National Convention in 1968, Watergate and the economic troubles during President Jimmy Carters tenure. One thing you can count on in America is even though it falls every so often as we all do it dusts itself off, gets up and gets going again, Schwarzenegger said. That is why its the number one country in the world. Although Schwarzenegger did not mention President Donald Trump by name during his remarks, the comments appeared to be a reference to the turbulence since Trump took office less than two weeks ago. Tensions between Schwarzenegger, who replaced Trump as the host of Celebrity Apprentice, and the new president and fellow Republican have been escalating. On Monday, Schwarzenegger called the implementation of Trumps temporary ban on immigration from several Muslim-majority countries crazy. The previous week, Schwarzenegger slammed Trumps pick to lead the Environmental Protection Agency, Oklahoma Atty. Gen. Scott Pruitt, as a hypocrite. Earlier in January, Trump mocked Schwarzenegger for the first ratings of Celebrity Apprentice after the former governor took over as the host. During the presidential campaign, Schwarzenegger repeatedly made clear his disdain for Trump, pointedly casting his ballot in the California primary for Ohio Gov. John Kasich after he had dropped out. On Tuesday, Schwarzenegger was headlining an event about redistricting reform at his namesake institute at USC. He did not respond to reporters questions after the event. While governor, Schwarzenegger championed electoral reform, including an ultimately successful effort to take the redrawing of congressional and legislative districts away from politicians and give them instead to an independent commission. Both political parties have long tried to use gerrymandering to create districts that favor their politicians. But David Daley, author of The True Story Behind the Secret Plan to Steal Americas Democracy, argued that Republicans were able to make unprecedented changes in the 2010 redistricting that will have long-lasting effects on this nations politics because of a confluence of factors, including unprecedented technology such as mapping software, and a flood of anonymous money due to the Citizens United ruling. In 2010, gerrymandering enters its steroid era, Daley said. The end result, he said, was that while the nation remained relatively closely divided between the two parties, the GOP was able to exponentially expand its hold of statehouses, governors mansions and congressional seats. Speakers urged Californians to take the lessons they had learned through the states redistricting reform and try to help voters apply them in other states, through the initiative, or legislative or legal systems. We are the model for the rest of the nation and that is why we in California have to do everything we can to pull together all the things that happen successfully in California and nationwide, Schwarzenegger said. Because the rest of the states are waiting for us. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Top Democratic donor Tom Steyer is planning a larger role opposing President Trump By Chris Megerian On Sunday, Tom Steyer was holding a cardboard sign saying not on my watch at San Franciscos airport, one of thousands protesting President Trumps order preventing visitors from several predominantly Muslim countries. I went out there to participate, but also to listen, he said. Like other liberal leaders, hes been hunting for the right approach to counter Trump. Now the deep-pocketed Democratic donor is launching a new effort that could expand the scope of NextGen Climate, the San Francisco-based organization he created and funded. Although Steyer expects to stay active on environmental issues the onetime hedge fund manager is best known for advocating stronger steps to fight climate change and support clean energy hes looking to play a more expansive role in opposing Trump. The number of issues that have to be addressed are broader, he said in an interview, pointing to Trumps statements on issues such as voting that he considers to be a broader attack on fundamental American rights. In a video posted on Tuesday night, Steyer says, I promise to do everything in my power to stand up to Trump and asks for the publics thoughts on what next steps should be taken. Steyer spent $74 million in the 2014 midterm election, and then millions more last year to support Hillary Clinton and other Democrats. Although results have been mixed Republicans gained ground in both years Steyer said the experiences have positioned NextGen to educate and mobilize voters across the country. There are very few people who are set up organizationally to do what were trying to do, he said. Steyer has already played a role in opposing Trumps nominees, running advertisements criticizing his choice for secretary of State, former Exxon Mobil Chief Executive Rex Tillerson. Besides simply fighting Trump, Steyer also hopes to project an alternative view of the country one that comes with a dose of California sunshine. America can pursue a much more optimistic, a much more prosperous, a much more equitable and a much healthier future, he said. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Former aide is preparing to run for Rep. Grace Napolitanos seat if she retires By Javier Panzar Rep. Grace Napolitano (D-Norwalk), who turned 80 last year, has not made plans to retire. But one San Gabriel Valley politician is raising funds to run in case Napolitano does decide to bow out after 10 terms in Congress. Mary Ann Lutz, the former mayor of Monrovia and a former aide to Napolitano, reported having $101,000 in the bank to run for Napolitanos 32nd Congressional District seat, according to a new filing with the Federal Election Commission. But Lutz says she will run only if Napolitano retires. I have enormous respect for my former boss, Congresswoman Grace Napolitano, and would never run against her for any office, Lutz said in a statement. In the event that the 32nd Congressional District seat eventually opens up, I plan to run, and run aggressively. Napolitano suffered a minor stroke last February that affected her ability to write and slightly slowed her walk. She continued her reelection campaign and beat state Assemblyman Roger Hernandez (D-West Covina), who effectively ended his campaign in August after a judge granted his ex-wifes request for a domestic violence restraining order against him. During an interview with The Times a day before the November election, Napolitano said the health of her 90-year-old husband would be a key factor in her decision on whether to run for an 11th term in 2018. I would love to stay but it depends, she said. I will be ready to hang it up when I am ready. Lutz was elected in 2003 to the City Council in Monrovia, a city of 36,000 in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains, and was elected mayor in 2009. She lost her reelection bid in 2015 and went on to work for Napolitano as an advisor on water issues. Lutz raised $26,000 and loaned her campaign committee an additional $75,000. Napolitano has $144,692 in the bank if she wants to run again. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print State Senate committee votes in favor of funding legal aid for immigrants in California facing deportation By Jazmine Ulloa (John Moore / Getty Images) A state legislative bill seeking to expand legal services for immigrants in the U.S. illegally moved out of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday on a 5-2 vote. The bill, introduced by state Sen. Ben Hueso (D-San Diego), would create a legal defense program funded with state money that would provide lawyers for immigrants caught in deportation or removal proceedings. It comes roughly three years after the Unaccompanied Undocumented Minors program began providing state-funded legal services for young refugees fleeing gang violence in Central America. Hueso said the measure faced new urgency given President Trumps executive orders last week on immigration. This is a bill protecting Californians, protecting their families, but also protecting Californias economic prominence, Hueso said. I hope we can all stand united on this and say, Yes, we stand by our immigrant community in California. Members of the committee raised concerns about whether it whittled away at defense services available for detainees convicted of certain crimes and over how the state would be able to afford it amid a looming deficit and budget cuts from the federal government. It is well-meaning, but it is a whole different agency that we are setting up in an expedited way, Sen. Bob Wieckowski (D-Fremont) said. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement California assemblyman wants state to make cleaner purchases By Chris Megerian (Alexis Cuarezma / For The Times) A California lawmaker wants state officials to consider greenhouse gas emissions when making new purchases, a proposal that would add a new wrinkle to the bidding process for government contracts. Assemblyman Rob Bonta (D-Oakland) said the legislation (AB 262) would harness the states enormous buying power to support clean manufacturing. The measure, which includes state agencies and university systems, would affect the purchase of materials such as asphalt, cement, steel and glass for projects such as hospitals, dormitories and roads. Companies bidding on state contracts would be required to report greenhouse gas emissions generated by the manufacturing and transportation of supplies. Officials would then factor that information into their decision. Given Californias goal of slashing emissions, Bonta said he hopes that the legislation puts the states money where its values are. He doesnt expect the requirement to report more information would be a significant burden on companies seeking contracts. This will just be one more piece of information that will need to be added, he said. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print First of several immigrant protection bills clears state Senate Public Safety Committee By Jazmine Ulloa (Justin Sullivan / Getty Images) As national debate and protests have taken place over President Donald Trumps executive actions on immigration and refugees, the state Senate Public Safety Committee on Tuesday passed the first of several bills aimed at protecting immigrants in California. Senate Bill 54, introduced by Senate President pro Tem Kevin de Leon (D-Los Angeles), would prohibit state and local law enforcement agencies from using resources to investigate, detain, report or arrest persons for the purposes of immigration enforcement. The proposal, dubbed the California Values Act, also aims to protect immigrants personal data, requiring state agencies to review their confidentiality policies and to ensure that they are only collecting information necessary to their departments. It moved out of committee with a 5-2 vote. Long line of advocates, lawyers in support SB 54, prohibiting law enforcement agencies from using resources for immigrants enforcement. pic.twitter.com/G0IV9ihRjE Jazmine Ulloa (@jazmineulloa) January 31, 2017 The bill seeks to strengthen immigrant protections threatened under Trumps executive actions. In orders signed last week, the president pledged to cut federal dollars from so-called sanctuary cities, which have policies limiting the cooperation between local law enforcement and federal immigration authorities. At a committee hearing Tuesday, De Leon said the proposal builds on the California Trust Act, which Gov. Jerry Brown signed in October 2013. The state law prevents law enforcement agencies from detaining immigrants longer than necessary for minor crimes so that federal immigration authorities can take them into custody. A long line of immigrant advocates, lawyers and lobbyists rose in support of the bill, saying it would continue to help law enforcement officials build trust within immigrant communities and allow more victims and witnesses to report crime. Democratic members in the committee urged their Republican colleagues to vote for the legislation and move away from Trumps rhetoric, which they said stereotyped immigrants as criminals. They pointed to low crime rates in immigrant communities and stressed that many police chiefs do not want to enforce immigration laws. Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley), chair of the committee, said people across California were under economic stress that could be manipulated into fear. All of us want hardened criminals prosecuted under the law, she said. All of us. But what we are watching now is a pitting of people against each other, a targeting of immigrants. Opponents were not swayed. They said the bills language was too broad and could prevent communication among police agencies at different levels of government, allowing dangerous criminals to escape prosecution. Im concerned that you are basically making the state of California a de facto sanctuary state, Sen. Jeff Stone (R-Murrieta) told De Leon. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement California lawmakers seek stricter enforcement, more transparency at state toxics control agency By Melanie Mason Jose Gomez, at his home on South Hicks Avenue in East Los Angeles, is among thousands whose yards have been tested for contamination from the former Exide plant. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times) Assembly Democrats unveiled a package of five bills Tuesday aimed at reforming the state agency tasked with regulating toxic substances. The Department of Toxic Substances Control has been roundly criticized for its flat-footed response in regulating and cleaning up pollution from the now-closed Exide battery recycling plant in Vernon. A Los Angeles Times review in 2015 found the department knew for years that the plant was violating environmental regulations but was slow to act on it. Too many communities, including communities I represent, have been harmed by toxic emissions that were released into their neighborhoods emissions that could and should have been stopped, Speaker Anthony Rendon (D-Paramount) said in a statement. The goal of this legislative package is a more transparent, accountable, and responsive Department of Toxic Substances Control and safer and healthier communities throughout California. The proposed legislation includes: AB 245 by Assemblyman Jimmy Gomez (D-Los Angeles), which would require hazardous waste facilities to comply with higher financial assurance requirements to make sure there are adequate funds for contamination cleanup. AB 249 (Gomez), which would increase maximum penalties the department can assess to match what the federal government can assess in similar situations. AB 248 by Assemblywoman Eloise Gomez Reyes (D-San Bernardino), which would require hazardous waste facilities to submit permit renewals two years prior to the current permits expiration to avoid lapses. AB 246 by Assemblyman Miguel Santiago (D-Los Angeles), which would promote the use of fence line monitoring by facilities to better detect leaks. AB 247 by Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia (D-Bell Gardens), which would create a statewide task force focused on reducing lead poisoning in the state. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Sen. Dianne Feinstein says she will vote no on Jeff Sessions nomination for U.S. attorney general By Sarah D. Wire California Sen. Dianne Feinstein announced this morning that she will vote no on the nomination of Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions for U.S. attorney general. The statement comes after protestors visited Feinsteins home and office out of concern that she may vote in favor of the nomination. Protesters marched on her home and California offices last night. #CASen https://t.co/U0HhsJxwTB Sarah D. Wire (@sarahdwire) January 31, 2017 JUST NOW: On Sessions attorney general nomination: I must vote no. pic.twitter.com/lfQnX5Khug Sen Dianne Feinstein (@SenFeinstein) January 31, 2017 It is very difficult to reconcile for me the independence and objectivity necessary for the position of attorney general with the partisanship this nominee has demonstrated, Feinstein said Tuesday. We are being asked to determine whether this nominees record demonstrates that he will have the objectivity to enforce the law for all Americans and be an independent attorney general and not an arm of the White House. Feinstein is the ranking Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, which votes today on the confirmation of Sessions to be President Trumps attorney general. Feinstein pointed to former acting U.S. Atty. Gen. Sally Yates as an example of what she is looking for. Yates was fired Monday, just hours after she announced that the Justice Department would not defend Trumps controversial executive order banning refugees and travelers from certain countries. Yesterday, early in the evening, we clearly saw what a truly independent attorney general doesI have no confidence that Senator Sessions will do that, Feinstein said. Instead, he has been the fiercest, most dedicated, and most loyal promoter in Congress of the Trump agenda, and has played a critical role as the clearinghouse for policy and philosophy to undergird the implementation of that agenda. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Where do Californias members of Congress stand on President Trumps refugee order? By Sarah D. Wire Noor Hindi, left, and Shah Najjar, middle, join the protest at the Tom Bradley International Terminal at Los Angeles International Airport on Monday. (Al Seib/Los Angeles Times) President Trumps executive order Friday, which blocked U.S. entry to refugees and nationals of seven Muslim-majority nations, brought thousands of Americans to the nations airports in protest over the weekend. Several Democrats from Californias 54-member congressional delegation joined constituents at airports, and lobbied customs and Border Patrol officials to release the detained visa holders. Many of the states 14 Republican representatives were initially silent on the executive order. Several have since voiced their support, while others were critical of the orders rollout. Heres a look at what each member of the California congressional delegation has said about the executive order: Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print California state Senate passes resolution condemning President Trumps refugee ban By Jazmine Ulloa Protesters are held back by airport police on Sunday at LAX. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) After nearly two hours of debate, the state Senate on Monday passed a resolution that condemned President Trumps executive order banning immigrants and refugees from seven predominantly Muslim countries, calling it discriminatory overreach. Democrats introduced the resolution after the presidents order Friday spurred a weekend of protests and chaos at airports across the country. The resolution denounces Trumps actions and urges the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to comply with federal court orders permitting detainees to have timely access to counsel. It cleared the Senate floor with a 26-11 vote largely along party lines, reflecting the national rift over Trumps immigration order. Two Republican members abstained. On the Senate floor, Democrats called the executive order an affront on religious freedom that panders to fear and foments discrimination, and said it would not further public safety. Reaching to members across the aisle, they said the resolution was not about partisanship or opposing Trump, but about protecting American institutions. In a fiery speech, state Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson (D-Santa Barbara) said the order is unconstitutional and violates fundamental rights. You see this is how we end up with fascism and totalitarianism, she said. Sen. Holly Mitchell (D-Los Angeles) said she did not want four more years of executive orders crafted in the cover of darkness. But Republican members said that President Obama had taken similar actions and that they had a duty to their constituents, who were worried about national security and a vetting process they said did not stop terrorists from entering the nations borders. Obama has rejected comparisons of his policy to Trumps. We do not welcome those who have come here to harm us, Sen. Jim Nielsen (R-Gerber) said, urging a no vote. We cannot ignore contemporary reality. Our enemies do not reside beyond our shores. They are within. The resolution states that 134 million people are temporarily barred from entering or reentering the United States, including nationals with dual citizenship. Hundreds of thousands with visas are also blocked, it says. The resolution also denounces the manner in which the executive order was executed, saying it was not fully vetted by the departments tasked with protecting the nations national security interests. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print State attorneys general met in Florida to strategize on how to counter Trump, Becerra says By Patrick McGreevy California Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra. ((Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times) ) A joint statement by 15 attorneys general over the weekend condemning President Trumps refugee order grew out of a meeting in Florida between California Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra and some of his concerned counterparts, Becerra said Monday. Becerra gathered Thursday in Fort Lauderdale with other attorneys general, including Washington Atty. Gen. Bob Ferguson, to strategize about responding to the Trump administration on various issues. The meeting took place at the annual winter conference of the Democratic Attorneys General Assn. Several of the AGs have been in communication, Becerra said in an interview with The Times. We made it very clear in our joint statement that we are going to do everything we can to make sure that the unlawful, unconstitutional executive orders by the Trump administration dont see the light of day. Officials who signed the joint statement included legal representatives from Washington, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Vermont and Virginia. On Monday, Ferguson announced he was suing Trump over the executive order that suspended refugee entries for 120 days and barred entry to the U.S. for 90 days for those traveling from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. Becerra said that he had been in contact with Ferguson and that the option to pursue legal action is under consideration for California. Thats one of many avenues of how we are looking to approach this, Becerra said. As a result of the Florida meeting, Becerra said, the top lawyers from the 15 states are collaborating on how to address various Trump directives. Everyone is doing a little bit of something, he said. Everyones trying to figure out how best to address this. Florida Atty. Gen. Pam Bondi, a Republican, did not attend the meeting, Becerra said. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement California warily watches President Trump while pushing forward on climate change By Chris Megerian (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) Its been a decade since California set its first target for slashing greenhouse gas emissions, one of several policies that has made the state an international leader in the fight against global warming. So while President Trump suggests hes going to roll back the countrys environmental regulations, state leaders insist they wont be knocked off track here. This is when you do your best work, said John Laird, secretary of the California Natural Resources Agency. We cant worry about pulling back just to sink with everyone else who isnt moving at all. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Rep. Duncan Hunter urges Trump to make an executive order exemption for Iraqis who aided U.S. military By Sarah D. Wire Reps. Duncan Hunter (R-Alpine) and Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) are asking President Trump to approve waivers to his executive order for Iraqis who helped the American military. Hunter and Kinzinger, who both served in Iraq and Afghanistan, said in the letter to Trump that they supported a request from Defense Secretary James N. Mattis that visa reviews for some Iraqis be fast-tracked. For the safety of these courageous individuals and their families, and in the interest of our national security, its critical that we make this exception and do so swiftly, the congressmen said in a statement. The executive order Trump signed Friday bars all refugee entries for 120 days, blocks Syrian refugees indefinitely and bars for 90 days the entry of citizens from Iraq, Iran, Syria, Yemen, Sudan, Libya and Somalia. Some of the earliest stories of people caught up in the ban included military interpreters from Iraq who had visas. We respectfully ask that you take this action to ensure these individuals are not put in any further danger. Doing so would send a strong signal to those who show such immense courage to advance U.S. security interests at a risk to their own safety, as well as the many veterans and warfighters whove relied on the service of these individuals for their own protection and to accomplish their objectives, their letter states. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Democrats in the California Legislature move to condemn President Trumps immigration orders Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Assembly Republican leader Chad Mayes voices his misgivings about refugee order By Patrick McGreevy Assembly Minority Leader Chad Mayes (R-Yucca Valley) speaks in the Capitol on Jan. 11. (Rich Pedroncelli / AP) Assembly Republican Leader Chad Mayes of Yucca Valley on Monday joined a number of GOP politicians who are voicing misgivings about President Trumps order temporarily barring refugees from some majority-Muslim countries from entering the country. Religious liberty is a core value of our nation. My ancestors immigrated to America to flee religious persecution, Mayes said in a statement. While bolstering our national security is important, when forced to decide between security and liberty, I will always side with liberty. He is concerned about them [the orders], said Matt Mahon, a spokesman for the assemblyman. Trumps directives suspended refugee entries for 120 days and barred entry to the U.S. for 90 days for those traveling from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Rep. Zoe Lofgren and other ranking Democrats demand emergency meeting on refugee ban By Sarah D. Wire After two days of protests across the country over President Trumps order Friday banning refugees from seven countries, Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-San Jose) and the ranking Democrats of three committees that oversee immigration issues are demanding a meeting with President Trumps new Homeland Security secretary, John F. Kelly. The move by Trump prevented green card and visa holders from reentering the country, and led to the detention of more than a hundred people landing at U.S. airports with valid entry documents. Late Saturday, a federal judge in New York issued a temporary stay against the deportation of anyone who had arrived with a valid visa. The letter demanding the meeting, signed by Lofgren, Judiciary Committee ranking member John Conyers (D-Mich.), Homeland Security Committee ranking member Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) and Foreign Affairs Committee ranking member Elliot Engel (D-N.Y.), calls for it be scheduled by the close of business Wednesday. The Democrats also ask for more information about how the order is being implemented, whether the stays placed by federal judges over the weekend are being followed and whether green card holders are affected. Only two days after the order was signed it is clear that it has already led to panic and disorder, not to mention protests, the letter states. This is apparently due in part to the lack of internal administration review prior to its issuance as well as a lack of clarity and guidance provided thereafter. Lofgren, a former immigration attorney and the ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committees Immigration Subcommittee, also plans to file legislation today to rescind the executive order. Getting such legislation through the House could be difficult with Speaker Paul Ryan supporting the executive order. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) is proposing similar legislation in the Senate. House and Senate Democrats plan to hold a rally against the order outside the Supreme Court Monday evening. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement As California Democrats blast Trumps refugee order, Republicans in the congressional delegation hold their fire By Sarah D. Wire Only a few of the states 14 Republican representatives have publicly commented on an executive order signed by President Trump on Friday that barred refugees and green card holders from seven countries from entering the U.S. Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Tulare) released a statement Sunday night saying some tweaks are needed, but his background as chairman of the House Select Intelligence Committee leads him to support the executive order. In light of attempts by jihadist groups to infiltrate fighters into refugee flows to the West, along with Europes tragic experience coping with this problem, the Trump administrations executive order on refugees is a common-sense security measure to prevent terror attacks on the homeland. While accommodations should be made for green card holders and those whove assisted the U.S. armed forces, this is a useful temporary measure on seven nations of concern until we can verify who is entering the United States, he said. Rep. Ed Royce (R-Fullerton) told the Washington Post that pausing the intake of refugees from terror hotspots is the right call to keep America safe, but he hopes the cases of people traveling on visas who were prevented from reentering the country are resolved quickly. Rep. Jeff Denham (R-Turlock) said on Twitter on Sunday that the rollout has created confusion, and that executive orders arent the way to fix the countrys long-term problems. View Twitter post View Twitter post Several of Californias 38 Democratic congressional representatives and the states two senators were out in force over the weekend demanding the release of refugees and green card holders, and an end to the executive order. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) announced two pieces of legislation shell file in response. One would immediately rescind the presidents order. The second would limit executive authority under the Immigration and Nationality Act to prevent a president from unilaterally banning groups of immigrants. Its clear that the president gave little consideration to the chaos and heartbreak that would result from this order, she said in a statement. Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) joined protesters outside the White House Sunday afternoon. We will fight against racism. We will fight against anti-Muslim rhetoric. We will fight against those who will marginalize who we are. pic.twitter.com/R54f3MDhvo Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) January 29, 2017 In Los Angeles, Reps. Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles) and Ted Lieu (D-Torrance) joined protesters at Los Angeles International Airport. On Saturday, Reps. Judy Chu (D-Monterey Park), Nanette Barragan (D-San Pedro) and Lou Correa (D-Santa Ana) joined the initial protests at the airport, and worked to get some of those being held released. Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Dublin) accompanied protesters at San Francisco International Airport Sunday. Congresswoman @MaxineWaters is here at LAX protest leading the crowd in the chant "no ban, no wall, you build it up we'll tear it down" pic.twitter.com/iNEmkVVkmW Javier Panzar (@jpanzar) January 29, 2017 2:31 p.m. Jan. 30: This post was updated to clarify Rep. Ed Royces statement about the executive order. It was originally published Jan. 29. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print State Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra condemns Trumps refugee order and explores challenge By Patrick McGreevy Assyrian Christians, who fled unrest in Syria and Iraq, attend Mass at St. Georges Assyrian Church in Jdeideh, Lebanon. Trumps directive provides an exception for religious minorities. ( (AFP/Getty Images)) California state Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra on Saturday condemned an executive order by President Donald Trump barring people from some Muslim-majority countries from entering the U.S. and said he is consulting with legal advisors over a way to challenge the directive. Trump has suspended all refugee entries for 120 days and barred entry to the U.S. for 90 days for those traveling from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. Justice in America doesnt live or die on the stroke of one mans pen regardless of how high his office, Becerra said in a statement late Saturday, less than a week after taking office. The Trump Administrations anti-religion, anti-refugee executive order is in so many ways unjust and anti-American He said the order discriminates against people based on their faith and denies entry to those with fears of death and persecution. I have conferred with my team, and we are reaching out to others as well, to find every avenue possible to defend our family members and those who live permanently in our communities who may be barred from re-entry into America, Becerra said. The Trump executive order should not stand and must be confronted as a constitutional overreach, he added. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement California Politics Podcast: Reactions to President Trumps first week By John Myers Even before the weekend controversy and protests, Californias top elected officials spent much of the last week reacting to the first moves by President Donald Trump. On this weeks California Politics Podcast, we take a closer look at the sharp words offered by Gov. Jerry Brown in his State of the State speech when it comes to the new politics of Washington. We also focus much of this weeks discussion around three big topics that caught the attention of a number of California lawmakers: immigration moves by Trump; the rough week that was for the nations environmental protection enforcers; and rekindled but unproven allegations of widespread voter fraud. Im joined by Marisa Lagos of KQED News and Anthony York of the Grizzly Bear Project. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Gov. Jerry Brown will undergo new round of treatment for prostate cancer, but wont miss any work By John Myers Gov. Jerry Brown, who first was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2012, will begin a new round of treatment for the disease, his office reported on Saturday. Brown, 78, will maintain his duties as governor during the treatment, according to his staff. No additional details were provided about how long the treatment will take, or what prompted its timing. Fortunately this is not extensive disease, can be readily treated with a short course of radiotherapy, and there are not expected to be any significant side effects, said Dr. Eric Small, a UC San Francisco oncologist, in an emailed statement provided to reporters. The prognosis for Gov. Brown is excellent. Brown initially learned he had prostate cancer in late 2012 and underwent similar treatment for several weeks. The governor has also been treated for basal cell carcinoma a type of skin cancer twice in the past nine years, with reconstructive surgery on the right side of his nose in 2011. With almost two years remaining on his final term in office, Brown is already the oldest governor in California history. He often made a point of pointing out his physical fitness in his return to the job in 2011, including a 2012 challenge to New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie of a 3-mile race, a push-up contest and a chin-up contest. Though hes been treated in San Francisco, the governor and First Lady Anne Gust Brown now live full-time in the historic governors mansion in Sacramento after moving out of Oakland last year. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra takes a jab at the Trump administration when asked about the battles to come Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Proposed law would make penalties for using fake immigration papers the same as those for using fake drivers license By Jazmine Ulloa A proposed California law seeks to ensure that a person who uses false documents to conceal their citizenship status faces the same punishment as a person who uses a fake drivers license. The legislation by Assemblyman Raul Bocanegra (D-Pacoima) would amend the penal code to make both crimes wobblers, meaning prosecutors would have the discretion to charge suspects in such cases with either felony offenses or lower-level misdemeanors. Under the proposal, the repercussions for defendants would be the same: If convicted of a misdemeanor, offenders would have to serve up to one year in county jail, while a felony conviction would mean up to 16 months in county jail, or two or three years in prison. A spokesman for Bocangera said the measure was introduced as a proactive response to President Trumps hard-line stance on immigration and would reverse part of Proposition 187, a controversial ballot measure to deny public services, such as education and healthcare, to immigrants in the country illegally. The proposition, approved by voters in 1994, requires any person who uses false immigration records to face felony charges. Bocangeras bill amending those provisions would need a two-thirds vote in the Assembly and the state Senate to pass. Today, if an underage college student uses a fake ID to purchase a six-pack of beer, he or she can be charged with a misdemeanor, Bocanegra said in a statement. However, if an immigrant is caught using that same fake ID, he or she is automatically charged with a felony and is subject to five years in prison. This is fundamentally unfair. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Fearing catastrophe, Californias Gov. Jerry Brown wants the worlds leaders to stop goofing off By Chris Megerian Gov. Jerry Brown pointedly criticized world leaders for goofing off instead of addressing looming problems with climate change and nuclear weapons during a radio interview on Friday. Theyre really averting their gaze, he said. And that is dangerous, very dangerous. Brown has become increasingly outspoken about issues he describes as existential threats to humanity, and the election of Donald Trump has only made him more concerned. During the interview, he spoke in sweeping terms about the need to support scientific research in the face of political denial. Darkness cannot totally extinguish the light, Brown said while criticizing Republicans for refusing to accept the scientific consensus around climate change and the need for dramatic changes to confront global warming. @JerryBrownGov in our studio (in fact, in my chair!) as he chats w/ Ira Flatow on @scifri pic.twitter.com/kIyGBFQW9X Beth Ruyak (@CapRadioRuyak) January 27, 2017 At another point, Brown mused that humans have accumulated vast power without a corresponding increase in wisdom. That creates a gap between the power to destroy and the wisdom to control those destructive forces. Brown reiterated his plan to push forward Californias policies on climate change even if Trump follows through on the federal governments plans. Were going to do everything we can to stay on track, he said. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Some California lawmakers say its time to expand how the state defines violent crime By Jazmine Ulloa As California undergoes the largest overhaul of prison parole in a generation, some lawmakers and law enforcement officials say its time to revisit how the state legally defines a violent crime. Gov. Jerry Browns Proposition 57, which voters overwhelmingly approved in November, continues a statewide effort to increase rehabilitation services and decrease the prison population. Among its provisions, the initiative gives the state parole board greater latitude to consider the early release of prisoners who have served their primary sentences, and whose crimes are not designated as violent under the California penal code. But since the early days of the ballot measure campaign, debate has brewed over just who the law will benefit, with prosecutors saying that short and porous list excludes certain rape crimes and other dangerous offenses. This legislative session, the discussion moves to the Capitol. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Fearing deletion, Tom Steyer copies Environmental Protection Agency website on climate change By Chris Megerian (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) With President Trump in the White House, information about climate change has been disappearing from government websites. Some fear the same thing could happen with the Environmental Protection Agency. Now the advocacy organization run by environmentalist and political donor Tom Steyer is taking steps to preserve the information. We will not allow Trump and the oil corporations to push us towards an Orwellian world full of official lies and misinformation. Tom Steyer (@TomSteyer) January 27, 2017 NextGen Climate copied the website and made it available at SaveOurEPA.com. As Americans, we will not allow Donald Trump to erase the truth or rewrite history, Steyer said in a statement. This information belongs to the people, and the public has a right to know the truth. Trump has taken other steps that have alarmed environmentalists. For example, he greenlighted two oil pipelines that had been stopped by former President Obama. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print For California, a return to center stage in the 2020 presidential contest By Mark Z. Barabak (Jose Luis Magana / Associated Press) Kamala Harris hadnt even arrived in Washington to take up her job as Californias spanking-new U.S. senator when the chatter began: Kamala for president! Never mind her disavowals Seriously? or the fact that the first balloting of the 2020 race is, at a minimum, 1,000-plus days away. The soul-sapping election of Donald Trump has Democrats desperately looking far, far down the road. Usually the candidates start sending signals, said Jim Demers, a longtime party strategist in New Hampshire, the state that traditionally holds the first presidential primary. This time Im hearing activists begging for the race to begin. With a wide-open contest (read: not a Clinton or Obama in sight), the list of would-be contenders, real and imagined, is lengthy, even by the prodigious standards of this early stage. Whats different in 2020 is that California huge in population, mighty in economic power, desperate to matter in presidential politics figures to be at the center of speculation in a way it hasnt for a generation. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Theres a major fight on the way over Trumps plans for sanctuary cities By Liam Dillon Immigrant workers marching in Los Angeles in 2014. (Glenn Koenig / Los Angeles Times) Cities in California are gearing up for a legal fight against President Trumps plans to take away federal dollars from so-called sanctuary cities. These cities typically are defined as those that dont cooperate with federal immigration officials for deportation purposes, and the new president wants to strip them of funding unless they start doing so. But the language in Trumps executive order on the issue is vague, and San Francisco officials believe their city is already exempt from the mandate. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Fighting Trumps border wall on environmental grounds probably wont win in court By Liam Dillon A pair of fences separates Mexico, left, and the U.S. south of San Diego. (Bill Wechter / AFP) California political leaders are seeking all sorts of strategies to fight President Trumps plans to build a wall along the border with Mexico. One strategy thats likely to fail is a lawsuit based on state and federal environmental laws, legal experts said. Congress already has given the federal government broad authority to waive environmental laws to build a border fence and the courts have upheld that power. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Calexit organizers can now start collecting signatures to get California secession on the ballot By Christine Mai-Duc Supporters of the campaign for California to secede from the United States can now begin collecting the hundreds of thousands of signatures they need to get a proposed Calexit initiative on the ballot. California Secretary of State Alex Padilla cleared the proposed initiative to begin collecting signatures on Thursday. If the measure gets on the ballot and gains approval by a majority of voters, it would repeal clauses in the California Constitution stating that the state is an inseparable part of the United States and that the U.S. Constitution is the supreme law of the land, according to the title and summary prepared by the state attorney generals office. The measure would place another question on the ballot in 2019, asking whether California should become a separate country. If at least half of registered voters participate in that vote, with at least 55% of those voting to approve, the results would be treated as Californias declaration of independence. The current measures fiscal effect is dependent on various factors, writes the states nonpartisan legislative analyst, and if it succeeds would result in major, but unknown budgetary impacts. The proposals backers, known as Yes California, have argued that the state is culturally out of step with the rest of the U.S. and that California pays more money to the federal government than it receives in spending. The election of President Trump has only strengthened their argument, they say. California loses [by] being a part of America culturally and financially, said Marcus Ruiz Evans, one of the groups founders. It could be a nation all its own, everybody knows that. The only question is if they want to break off. Its unclear how the group will collect the required 585,407 valid signatures from registered voters over the next 180 days to qualify for the ballot. A campaign committee, Yes California Independence Committee, has raised no funds so far, according to records from the secretary of state. But Evans says that his group has more than 7,000 volunteers (significantly down from a 13,000 estimate in December) ready to gather signatures and that voters can expect to see signature gatherers on the streets in the next couple of days. Yes California says that even if the proposed initiative does land on the ballot and voters approve it, such an unprecedented move to secede would need to receive approval of at least a majority of the states in the union, among other legal hurdles. Evans says hes not fazed. America already hates California, and America votes on emotions, he said. I think wed have the votes today if we held it. UPDATE 7:01 p.m.: This post has been updated to clarify that the proposed initiative would place a future vote on Californias secession on the ballot in 2019. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Rep. Ted Lieu is trolling Donald Trump, and he hopes youre watching By Sarah D. Wire Rep. Ted Lieu is now placing an asterisk next to President Trumps name in news releases. Its the Torrance Democrats way of drawing attention to his concerns about the new administration, he said. Sometimes the best way to respond to crazy is with satire, Lieu said. Never before have I had this feeling where our leader is potentially unhinged and has a problem with the truth, and that is highly disturbing for the leader of the free world. So Ive decided Im just going to point that out as much as I can. The asterisk leads readers to the bottom of the email, where a postscript says: ***In addition to losing the popular vote, Trump as of January 20, 2017 is in violation of the Emoluments Clause set forth in Article I, Section 9 of the U.S. Constitution due to massive conflicts of interests and his refusal to put his global business holdings in blind trusts. Trump also benefitted from Vladimir Putin ordering a multifaceted and brazen Russian influence and cyber hacking campaign with the goals of undermining faith in the U.S. democratic process, denigrating Secretary Clintons electability, and helping Trumps election chances. Trump and his press secretary also routinely make stuff up. The sophomore congressman said he initially planned to give Trump the benefit of the doubt, hoping his rhetoric was a campaign tactic and that he would pivot to uniting the country following the election. Then Lieu listened to the presidents inaugural speech. I was hoping he would govern different than how he campaigned, he said. I came to the conclusion that it would be worse for America to normalize him. Lieu followed the addition to his news releases with a Cloud of Illegitimacy Clock that counts the time since Trumps swearing-in, which is how long Lieu says Trump has been in violation of the Constitution by not divesting from his businesses or putting them in a blind trust. The Constitution bans government officials from receiving gifts or payments from foreign governments. Next he posted a series of tweets mocking White House spokesman Sean Spicer for giving incorrect figures on how many people attended the inauguration, and top Trump aide Kellyanne Conway for using the term alternative facts. Was charged $2.99 for coffee listed at $2.59. That's why I have trust issues. Oh, and the fact that @seanspicer at #WhiteHouse makes shit up Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) January 23, 2017 Ive decided that the administration using alternative facts is more profane than anything that I could say, he said. When the administration lies, they just need to be called out on that. If they are going to lie about stupid little things, like crowd size, imagine what theyre going to say when they roll out their healthcare plan, whenever that might be. Lieu has needled Trump in responses to several executive orders this week, including by saying he would bet a nice bottle of California wine that the Administration will be unable to find a credible witness to testify under oath to the allegation that 3-5 million people illegally cast votes in 2016, and by mentioning the inauguration crowd while talking about Trumps proposed border wall. Lieu said hes absolutely hoping Trump will respond. I think satire is an effective way to highlight issues, and I want the American people to see who this president really is, because in 22 months they get to vote again on every member of Congress, and that will be a referendum on Donald Trump, Lieu said. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print California Democrats propose adding third, nonbinary gender option for drivers licenses and other official documents By Melanie Mason View Twitter post California drivers licenses and birth certificates could have a third option for gender in addition to male or female under legislation unveiled Thursday by Democratic lawmakers. The bill by state Sens. Toni Atkins (D-San Diego) and Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) would establish a new nonbinary gender marker for official state documents. Lawmakers framed the measure as an expansion of rights for transgender, intersex and other people who do not identify as male or female. It will keep California at the forefront of LGBTQ civil rights, Atkins said at a Capitol news conference. The bill, SB 179, also would streamline the process for people to change their gender on such documents. It would remove the requirement that an individual obtain a sworn statement from a physician certifying medical treatment for gender transition. It also would create a process for people younger than 18 to apply for a change of gender on their birth certificate. Jo Michael, of Equality California, a gay rights advocacy group, said the bill had personal resonance. Michael identifies as transgender and nonbinary. For the first time, Californians like me could have accurate gender markers that truly reflect who we are, Michael said. Wiener said the proposal places California in stark relief to other states in the country, including North Carolina, where a high-profile law regulating transgender peoples use of public bathrooms roiled the state. As the LGBT community but especially the trans community is under assault in this country, California needs to go in the opposite direction and embrace the trans community and support the trans community and modernize these laws, he said. The legislation does not specify what the alternate gender marker would be, but other countries that have implemented such a policy, such as Australia and New Zealand, have used the letter X alongside M for male and F for female, according to Sasha Buchert of the Transgender Law Center. Atkins, who is a lesbian and a member of the California Legislative LGBT Caucus, said this proposal marks an evolution for her in better understanding the concerns of the transgender and intersex community. She authored a law in 2014 that ensures death certificates reflect a persons gender identity, an experience she said made her more aware of the bureaucratic hurdles that transgender people often face. This years bill, she said, is moving us forward into a new world, where acceptance is ... letting people be who they tell you they are. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Former U.S. Atty. Gen. Eric Holder will visit Sacramento to meet with Democratic legislators next month By Melanie Mason (Carolyn Kaster / Associated Press) California lawmakers will have a chance to meet the Legislatures new outside counsel on Feb. 7, when former U.S. Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr. travels to the state to address Senate and Assembly Democrats. Holder, leading a team of attorneys from the firm Covington & Burling, has been hired by Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de Leon (D-Los Angeles) and Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon (D-Paramount) to serve as outside counsel as the state prepares a legal strategy to deal with the administration of President Trump. But Senate and Assembly staff officials said his invitation to meet with lawmakers was extended prior to the contract, which begins in February, and that Holder is making the trip on his own personal time. His travel and accommodations expenses will not be paid with state funds, and his appearances will not be part of his billable hours, they said. Holder will address Senate Democrats at their annual policy retreat, and will speak to the Assembly Democratic caucus. His visit comes soon after state Democratic leaders this week denounced Trumps executive orders on immigration and pledged to take his administration to court should other legislative means of resistance fail. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement A guide to the guessing game that is the 2018 California governors race By Phil Willon While the race to succeed Gov. Jerry Brown already has attracted a small cadre of well-known Democrats, the behind-the-scenes strategizing, cajoling and guessing games surrounding a handful of other potential contenders could create havoc in whats expected to be Californias biggest political showdown since 2010. Among those watching closely are the candidates already definitely in the running, including Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and state Treasurer John Chiang. Delaine Eastin, who spent eight years as Californias top education official, announced she was running in November and officially launched her campaign and fundraising operation on Thursday. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print This is not a monarchy: California Senate leader Kevin de Leon bashes Trumps immigration orders By Jazmine Ulloa (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) California Senate leader Kevin de Leon took another shot at President Trump and his executive orders on immigration Wednesday night, calling his threat to withhold federal dollars from so-called sanctuary cities political blackmail and political vengeance. In an interview on the MSNBC show The Last Word with Lawrence ODonnell, De Leon said California was working with former U.S. Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr. to study all of its legal options to oppose the directives. Under the 10th Amendment, the state Senate leader said, the federal government cannot commandeer and force local municipalities and police agencies from carrying out their work. The appearance came hours after Trump signed orders to temporarily halt the U.S. refugee program, cut funding for cities that offer immigrants protections and order federal officials to construct a U.S.-Mexico border wall. California will not become a cog in the Trump deportation machine, De Leon said. This is not a monarchy, and I know he fancies himself as a king, but this is a republic. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print President Trumps voter fraud allegation is a lie, says Californias top elections officer By John Myers Secretary of State Alex Padilla. (Damian Dovarganes/Associated Press) With President Donald Trump rehashing last years accusation of widespread voter fraud in California and elsewhere, the states top elections official is also restating his take: Its not true. When the president says millions of illegal ballots are cast, thats simply not the case, said Secretary of State Alex Padilla in an interview on CNN Wednesday. Its a lie. As was the case when Trump made the accusation in November, theres no evidence of such a broad attempt to sway the outcome in California. The president lost the Golden State to Democrat Hillary Clinton by almost 4.3 million votes. Trumps announcement on Wednesday of a major investigation into voter fraud reignited the issue, even though there was also Republican skepticism in the wake of the new round of accusations. Is it a question of millions of people? Thats a pretty steep hill to climb, said Assemblyman Matthew Harper (R-Huntington Beach), the vice chairman of the Assemblys elections committee. Youd have to have a very strong coordinated effort across California to pull that off. Harper said he believes the better discussion is whether new, independent audit capabilities need to be in place to examine election results. Others, though, were sharply critical of the presidents motives. Allegations of widespread voter fraud are not just alternative facts, they are a calculated and sinister attempt at voter suppression that takes a page from this nations bleak history of segregation, said Laphonza Butler, president of the state council of the Service Employees International Union. In the CNN interview, Padilla said he worried the president was sowing doubt in an effort to legitimize efforts such as a purging of voter rolls. I hope that its not a sign of things to come, he said. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Intelligence committee led by Californians investigating Russian influence in 2016 election By Sarah D. Wire The House Select Intelligence Committee is examining allegations that the Russian government tried to influence the 2016 election, Republican Chairman Rep. Devin Nunes and ranking Democrat Rep. Adam Schiff said in a statement Wednesday. The two Californians said the committee is looking at Russian cyber activity and other active measures directed against the U.S. It also will examine links between Russia and people working for political campaigns as well as the federal response to Russia, including leaks of classified assessments from the intelligence community. The statement does not specifically mention President Trump, the assessment of the U.S. intelligence community that Russia attempted to intervene in the presidential election to ensure he would win or news that Trumps national security advisor was in frequent contact with the Russian ambassador as President Obama was considering sanctions against Russia. This issue is not about party, but about country. The Committee will continue to follow the facts wherever they may lead, the statement said. The Senate Intelligence Committee, on which Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) serves, also is investigating Russian interference in the election, and the U.S. response. Two Republican senators have joined a number of House and Senate Democrats, including House Select Intelligence Committee member Eric Swalwell (D-Dublin) in pushing for a nonpartisan independent commission to examine the issue. Nunes, who served on Trumps transition committee, has previously said he doesnt think an independent commission is necessary. The statement also asked the new, Trump-appointed heads of intelligence agencies to bring documents requested by the committee directly to committee members. It will not be adequate to review these documents, expected to be in the thousands of pages, at the agencies. They should be delivered to the House Intelligence Committee to provide members adequate time to examine their content, it states. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print No stamp, no problem: Lawmaker says postage-paid ballots should be available to all Californians By John Myers (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times) California voters would no longer have to scrounge around in search of a stamp to mail in their ballot under new legislation introduced this week at the state Capitol. We want to make sure voters dont have any barriers, said Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher (D-San Diego), the bills author. Ballot envelopes sent by elections officials would be marked as prepaid postage and the postage costs would be paid for by individual counties. A key question will be the cost for mailing in as many as 10 million ballots statewide. Not all ballots will weigh the same, given the numerous city and county measures that also are considered in regularly scheduled elections. The initial language of Assembly Bill 216 doesnt offer specifics on reimbursing counties, though Gonzalez Fletcher said she expects the proposals ultimate cost could be under $2 million, if the law also makes clear that voters can still place a stamp on their ballot. Regardless, postage fees are likely to be deemed a mandated cost that state government must cover. Gonzalez Fletcher said the advent of email and online bill-paying services have meant that fewer voters have stamps readily available, with busy working Californians scrambling just to find the time to exercise their right to vote. It starts to feel like a very small poll tax, she said. The proposal is another example of the steady evolution of elections conducted less by the ballot box than the mailbox in California, as more than half of all registered voters now permanently receive absentee ballots. A number of the states most populous counties are expected to soon embrace a sweeping new law shifting elections away from neighborhood polling places and toward a substantial number of votes being cast by mail. This is welcome legislation, said Kim Alexander, president of the nonpartisan California Voter Foundation. Requiring voters to pay for ballot postage sends a message that the government is putting up obstacles to make it more difficult to vote. In many cases, ballots placed in the mail without proper postage are already being delivered by the U.S. Postal Service. Some counties in California have offered prepaid postage in the past, but the vast majority have not. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement California improves grades from anti-smoking group with barrage of anti-tobacco laws By Patrick McGreevy California led other states in adopting a flurry of new laws restricting tobacco products last year, resulting in a big improvement in the states grades from the American Lung Assn. In a report released Wednesday, the health group boosted the states grade for the level of tobacco taxes from an F last year to a B, in recognition that California voters in November approved a $2-per-pack increase in the cigarette tax. The Legislature last year also adopted a half-dozen new laws, including an increase in the minimum age for smoking from 18 to 21 and an expansion of a smoking ban in public places, including restaurants and theaters, to also include use of electronic cigarettes. The states grade for smoke-free air policies rose from a B to an A, while California received a B for restricting tobacco to young people. The group gave the state an incomplete for funding of tobacco prevention programs because officials have not yet started collecting money from the tobacco tax increase in Proposition 56. In 2016, Californians fought back against Big Tobaccos grip on our state, said David Pogue, chairman of the American Lung Assn. in Californias governing board. Tobacco-related illnesses remain the single most preventable cause of disease and death in California, and were proud to reaffirm ourselves as a national leader in the effort to reduce smoking rates and exposure to secondhand smoke and to protect our children from a lifetime of addiction. The group cited the lack of significant new tobacco laws passed in Los Angeles for its decision to leave the citys C grade unchanged. El Monte and West Hollywood passed some new tobacco policies and raised their grades. Santa Ana earned a C, but was at top of the list in Orange County, where almost all the other cities received Fs, officials said. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Sen. Kamala Harris pushes Trumps budget director pick on timely disaster relief By Sarah D. Wire Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) pushed President Trumps budget chief pick Tuesday on whether hed advise the new Republican leader to offer timely disaster relief, especially to states like California that face earthquakes, fires, floods and other natural disasters. Can you assure me that when natural disasters hit various parts of the country like California, that you will be willing to put the immediate interests of people in need as the first priority for you, or will you insist that the budget cuts be made before agreeing to provide critical assistance to those victims? Harris asked Rep. Mick Mulvaney during a confirmation hearing Tuesday. The South Carolina Republican asked for spending cuts to offset billions in relief funding after Hurricane Sandy hit the East Coast. There is a proper federal role in dealing with natural disaster relief, Mulvaney said in response to Harris questioning. Sandy is a tremendous example of something so large, its simply too large for one state or local government to deal with, it is an appropriate function of the federal government. Harris pushed a second time, So can you assure me that if a natural disaster hits other states, like California for example, that you will not hold up relief for the state, waiting to determine whether there are going to be budget cuts or cuts in order to provide that relief? Or are you going to sit back and crunch the numbers while people are waiting for help? Mulvaney replied, No, I see my role in that particular circumstance as advising the president. Mr. President, heres what weve done it in the past, heres how it worked out, heres how I think we should proceed in this circumstance and heres why. And then whatever the president says to do, I will enforce. Harris is still weighing how to vote on Mulvaneys confirmation, her staff said. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Trump is a hot topic in Californias race for governor, but not in a good way By Phil Willon Donald Trump at the California Republican Party convention in Burlingame in April. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times) One of the most talked about politicians in Californias 2018 governors campaign isnt even running. Rarely does a day go by when Republican President Donald Trump isnt used as a political pinata by one of the top Democrats in the race. Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom took some jabs Tuesday when he addressed the California Legislature before Gov. Jerry Browns annual State of the State speech. Newsom mocked the Trump administration for its reliance on alternative facts a phrase used by a Trump senior advisor when defending inflated inauguration crowd figures and took a subtle shot at the presidents comment about American carnage in the nations cities. The insecurity of this man is near incomprehensible. These lies damage our democracy & country's reputation-Shameful https://t.co/ib7i6DqfH8 Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) January 24, 2017 On Monday, state Treasurer John Chiang criticized Trump for doubting the scientific evidence of climate change. President Trump may believe global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing noncompetitive, Chiang said. We Californians stand with the scientific community and the 195 nations that have declared climate change is an urgent and potentially irreversible threat to human societies and the planet. When Antonio Villaraigosa announced his bid for governor right after the general election, the former Los Angeles mayor was sure to include a dig at Trump. Im running because I think the answer to the divisiveness we see in the country right now is unity, and the answer to fear is hope, he said. Last May, Villaraigosa compared Trump to segregationist George Wallace. Californias former superintendent of public instruction, Delaine Eastin, last week ripped Trump for nominating Betsy DeVos for Education secretary. Eastin said DeVos, a charter school advocate and Republican fundraiser from Michigan, was a threat to public education in the country. In speeches, in fundraising emails, in tweets and Facebook posts, the Democrats have liberally excoriated Trump while largely avoiding lobbing any criticism at one another. Its a safe and easy tactic that appeals to a sizeable majority of voters in left-leaning California. In the November election, Trump was trounced by Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton in California losing to her by more than 4.2 million votes. San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer, a Republican being urged to run by fellow party members, has also rebuked Trump in the past. In May, Faulconer said he rejected Trumps divisive rhetoric about women and immigrants. Faulconer was absent at Trumps inauguration and skipped a Trump campaign rally in San Diego last spring. For any Republican to have a legitimate shot in the governors race, or any statewide election, the more distance they put between themselves and Trump the better, said GOP political consultant Rob Stutzman. Its important that youre not on the record gushing about Trump, Stutzman said. 3:30 p.m.: This story was updated to correct the title of Delaine Eastin. She is a former state superintendent of public instruction. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Californias House members vote along party lines on permanently banning federal funds for abortion By Sarah D. Wire Californias House delegation split along party lines Tuesday on a bill to permanently prohibit the use of certain federal funds for abortions. President Trump promised the anti-abortion community during the campaign that he would make the funding ban commonly called the Hyde Amendment permanent. It passed the House 238-183 and goes next to the Senate. The 52 members who represent California in the House split along party lines, with 36 Democrats against for it, and 14 Republicans voting for it. Reps. Ted Lieu (D-Torrance) and Jim Costa (D-Lieu) did not vote. Their staffs each said the member would have joined Democrats in voting against the measure. If passed by the Senate, it would permanently prohibit federal funding from being used to cover abortion costs except in cases of rape, incest or if the mothers life is in danger. It effects government employees health plans, Medicaid and health insurance plans offered under the Affordable Care Act. The amendment has been added to the annual appropriations bill for the past 40 years and the bill approved by the House Tuesday would make it permanent. During debate on the House floor Rep. Judy Chu (D-Monterey Park) called the bill a womens health catastrophe that will keep poor women on Medicaid or the Affordable Care Act from having access to insurance. In effect it makes abortion only an option for the wealthy, she said. Previous versions of the bill twice passed the House but were not considered by the Senate while President Obama was in office. 11:09 a.m. Jan. 25: An earlier version of this article reported that Democrats voted for the bill and Republicans voted against the bill. It was the opposite. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print California lawmakers to weigh whether younger children should be allowed to testify in custody cases By Jazmine Ulloa California lawmakers will weigh whether family courts should allow children as young as 10 to testify before judges regarding parent custody or visitation rights. A bill filed by state Sen. Connie Leyva (D-Chino) would lower the current threshold from age 14 to enable more children to express their wishes in court, some of whom she said could find themselves in life-threatening situations. The legislation was co-sponsored by the California Protective Parents Assn. and the Center for Judicial Excellence. Neither current law nor the bill would require children to testify in family cases unless they choose to. In a statement, Levya called the proposal an important child safety measure. As a family court makes critical life decisions for children, it makes sense for them to be granted a greater voice in court proceedings since they can contribute essential information before final decisions are made, she said. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Support for California secession is up, one poll says By Phil Willon Students from several high schools rally at City Hall in downtown Los Angeles on Nov. 14 after walking out of class to protest the election of Donald Trump. (Reed Saxon / Associated Press) Californians support for a breakaway California republic has increased, one poll has found. One-third of state residents support peacefully seceding from the United States, up from 20% since Californians were last asked the same question in 2014, according to a new Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll. The polls margin of error for the California answers was plus or minus 5 percentage points. Still, half of Californians opposed the idea of succession, though Democrats were more inclined to support it than Republicans. The survey found that 60% of Republicans gave the idea of peacefully seceding a thumbs down compared with 48% of Democrats and 50% of independents. Nationally, 22% of those polled supported having their state break away from the U.S., according to the survey. A Calexit campaign already is underway to make California an independent nation. The effort faces extremely long odds. The poll surveyed 14,000 adults nationwide, and 500 in California, from Dec. 6 to Jan. 19. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Gov. Jerry Brown defiantly tells lawmakers California is not turning back in face of Trump and GOP proposals By John Myers Gov. Jerry Brown used his State of the State speech on Tuesday to promise a forceful defense of Californias efforts on climate change, healthcare and assistance to those in the country illegally against new proposals by President Donald Trump and national Republican leadership. California is not turning back, Brown said to applause. Not now, not ever. The governors remarks, delivered in front of lawmakers and state elected officials in the Assembly chambers, came just four days after President Trumps forceful inaugural address that signaled a dramatic new course for the federal government. While he never mentioned the president by name during the 16-minute speech, Brown said there are disturbing signs as to whats on the horizon. We have seen the bald assertion of alternative facts, whatever those are, he said, a reference to top Trump advisor Kellyanne Conways weekend comments on NBCs Meet the Press. We have heard the blatant attacks on science. Familiar signposts of our democracy truth, civility, working together have been obscured or swept aside. The annual event in the chamber of the state Assembly was unusual from the outset. Just minutes before beginning his speech, Brown gave the oath of office to Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra, the former Los Angeles congressman confirmed to the post on Monday afternoon by the state Senate. Legislators have had a decidedly unusual start to their new two-year session. After a raucous opening day in December that laid bare wounds from the presidential race, lawmakers were presented two weeks ago with Browns projection of a $1.6-billion budget deficit looming on the states fiscal horizon. But the sea change in national politics has been a persistent buzz in the state Capitol, and Brown promised a strong defense of Californias unique view on major policy issues. The governor made a special mention of the issue of illegal immigration, offering perhaps his strongest words to date. Let me be clear, the governor said, his voice rising. We will defend everybody every man, woman and child who has come here for a better life and has contributed to the well-being of our state. Even with those critiques, the governor veered from his prepared remarks to praise Trumps call for a new focus on infrastructure projects. I say, Amen to that, man! he said. And Brown urged members of the Legislature to reject the bitter partisan divisions of this moment in the nations history. Democrats are in the majority, but Republicans represent real Californians, too, he said to bipartisan applause. We have generally been civil to one another and avoided the rancor of Washington. I urge you to go even further and look for new ways to work beyond party and act as Californians first. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Xavier Becerra takes oath of office, is first Latino to become California attorney general By Patrick McGreevy Xavier Becerra ((Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press) ) Minutes after resigning his seat in Congress on Tuesday, Xavier Becerra took the oath of office as Californias new attorney general, and he immediately made plans for a sit-down with sheriffs from throughout the state to talk about law enforcement issues. Becerra, 58, was given the oath of office at the Capitol by Gov. Jerry Brown, who predicted earlier that Xavier will be a champion for all Californians. The ceremony was held before Brown was scheduled to deliver his annual State of the State address, and a day after Becerra received final confirmation by the state Senate. I will do my utmost to uphold your faith in me to serve as our great states next chief law enforcement officer and legal advocate, Becerra said in a letter to Brown on Tuesday, letting him know he had resigned from Congress. And while I leave Congress with mixed emotions, I am ready to begin my work as Attorney General. Californias hard-working families are counting on us, and we wont let them down, Becerra said. Becerra was accompanied at the ceremony by his wife, physician Carolina Reyes, two of his three daughters, and his parents, both immigrants from Mexico. Brown appointed Becerra to fill a vacancy after former Atty. Gen.l Kamala Harris won election to a seat in the U.S. Senate. Becerra has pledged to challenge any attempts by the new administration of President Trump to roll back state policies on immigration, civil rights and the environment. Brown noted his appointees background during his speech. Like so many others, he is the son of immigrants who saw California as a place where, through grit and determination, they could realize their dreams, Brown said. And they are not alone, millions of Californians have come here from Mexico and a hundred other countries, making our state what it is today: vibrant, even turbulent, and a beacon of hope to the rest of the world. The first Latino to become state attorney general in California spent the last two weeks meeting with dozens of legislators as he went through confirmation hearings in both houses. Governor Brown and state legislators have already shared valuable ideas on our path forward, Becerra said in a statement after his confirmation. And next week I hope to sit down with sheriffs from across our state to begin our work together keeping our families safe and enforcing our laws fairly. The first focus on local law enforcement was welcomed by Kern County Sheriff Donny Youngblood, president of the California State Sheriffs Assn. He wants to start with law enforcement in the San Joaquin Valley, and I think thats a really positive step, Youngblood said. Im impressed with his credentials. Im impressed with his background, and I think hes going to be a good attorney general. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Watch: Gov. Jerry Brown delivers his State of the State address Gov. Jerry Brown will deliver his State of the State address at 10 a.m. PST. Watch live here: Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Xavier Becerras resignation from Congress took effect at 9:15 a.m.; he calls serving a distinct honor Xavier Becerra has submitted letter of resignation from Congress ahead of swearing in for California attorney general today Patrick McGreevy (@mcgreevy99) January 24, 2017 Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Californias senators split on CIA director confirmation By Sarah D. Wire Californias senators split Monday night on the confirmation of Rep. Mike Pompeo (R-Kan.), President Trumps pick to lead the CIA. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), who serves on the Senate Select Intelligence Committee and backed Pompeo, said in a statement that Pompeo gave straightforward answers to her questions, and that House colleagues called him smart, hardworking and devoted to protecting our country. Congressman Pompeo has committed to following the law regarding torture, promised to provide objective analysis of Irans compliance with the nuclear agreement and insisted that he would continue to keep the Senate Intelligence Committee fully informed of CIA activities, Feinstein said. Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) said in a statement that she appreciated that Pompeo was responsive, engaging, and has made a number of positive commitments during the confirmation process, but said she couldnt vote for him after looking at his entire record on issues such as torture, surveillance, and the collection and use of metadata. Pompeo was confirmed 66 to 32 Monday evening. Thirteen Democrats joined Feinstein in voting for him. While House members dont get to vote for confirmation, the leaders of the House Select Intelligence Committee, Chairman Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Tulare) and ranking Democrat Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Burbank) joined Feinstein in congratulating Pompeo for his confirmation. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Sen. Kamala Harris moves into some familiar digs on Capitol Hill By Sarah D. Wire (Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times) Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) and her staff can begin moving today into her official Senate office, the same space she interned in as a college student. Few offices can hold a staff as large as the ones allocated to the California members and as expected, Harris was assigned an office in the Hart Senate Office Building, the same space occupied by former Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.). Harris can start moving in this morning, her staff said. Back home, Harris plans to have state offices in Fresno, Los Angeles, Sacramento, San Diego and San Francisco, her staff said. It is a bit of a change from Boxer, who had additional offices in Oakland and Riverside, but did not have an office in San Francisco. The space in Washington should feel familiar. It was occupied by Sen. Alan Cranston (D-Calif.) when Harris interned for him as a mailroom clerk for a summer when she was a Howard University student in the 1980s. Two floors up in the same building is Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.). Except for states where staff size is a consideration, Senate offices are assigned based on seniority and sitting senators have months to decide if they want to move offices. That means some new senators could spend months working out of temporary space. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Assembly speaker taps former Obama spokesman for communications strategy By Melanie Mason Bill Burton (Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times) With Californias face-off against Washington, D.C., getting widespread attention, Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon has turned to a veteran of national politics to help shape his public image: White House veteran Bill Burton. Burton, who once worked as deputy press secretary in the Obama administration, was hired this month by Rendon, a Democrat from Paramount, for communications strategy. Now a managing partner in the Los Angeles office for SKDKnickerbocker, a prominent liberal public affairs firm, Burton said he relished being involved in California politics, which he said sets a model for liberals nationwide. With President Trump and congressional Republicans controlling the national agenda, Speaker Rendon and his incredible staff are at the center of some of the most important progressive fights in the country and we couldnt be more excited to be helping any way we can, he said. Burton said his services, paid for out of Rendons campaign account, are meant to offer a more intentional approach to how hes been dealing with media a recognition, he said, of Rendons and Californias elevated role in national politics. Rendon is not the only legislative Democrat to be represented by SKDKnickerbocker. Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia of Bell Gardens also is a client. The firm also worked with Democratic Reps. Grace Napolitano and Linda Sanchez in their reelection bids, as well as freshman Rep. Nanette Barragan in her heated congressional race against fellow Democrat, former state Sen. Isadore Hall. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement State Senate votes for final confirmation of Xavier Becerra as state attorney general By Patrick McGreevy Gov. Jerry Brown, left, appointed Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-Los Angeles) as state attorney general. ( (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press)) The state Senate on Monday voted 26-9 in favor of final confirmation of Rep. Xavier Becerra as Californias attorney general, putting on watch a veteran politician who has promised to block efforts by President Trump to roll back state policies on immigration, civil rights and the environment. Becerra, a Los Angeles Democrat and 12-term congressman, is set to take the oath of office on Tuesday before Gov. Jerry Browns State of the State address. As Attorney General, Xavier will be a champion for all Californians, Brown said in a statement after the party-line vote. Brown appointed Becerra as the states first Latino attorney general to fill the vacancy left when former state Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris was elected to the U.S. Senate. Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de Leon said Becerra will be an effective counter force to Trump, who has threatened mass deportations and the repeal of some environmental laws. Many of us know him personally and can attest to his character, to his integrity and to his qualifications, De Leon said of Becerra. He will be a strong partner for our state to help us work with the federal government when we can and to resist when we must. State Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson (D-Santa Barbara) said Becerra understands the challenges ahead. He will indeed vigorously defend the values of our state by taking the fight to the federal government when necessary, said Jackson, who chairs the state Senate Judiciary Committee. Becerra, 58, said during two weeks of confirmation hearings that he would also fight any attempt to weaken environmental protections or adopt stop-and-frisk police policies that allow officers to search anyone on the street. All Republican senators voted against Becerra or withheld their vote. I think when you are the top cop you have to enforce the law to the fullest extent, said state Sen. Joel Anderson (R-San Diego) before he voted against Becerra. Opponents cited Becerras support for sanctuary cities that refuse to have their officers help enforce immigration laws. San Francisco prohibits local authorities from holding immigrants for immigration officials if they have no violent felonies on their records and do not currently face charges. Trump has threatened to withhold federal funds from sanctuary cities. Sen. John Moorlach (R-Costa Mesa) also opposed Becerra, saying he is worried that the antagonistic tone being set by Democratic lawmakers with Becerra could put at risk the $86 billion the state and its cities gets annually from the federal government. I dont want to jeopardize those funds, Moorlach said. Becerra said he was humbled by the vote and ready to get working.He plans to meet soon with county sheriffs to discuss local law enforcement issues. As I embark on this new journey, my compass will be the experiences of hard-working families like the one I grew up in, Becerra said. As the son of immigrants, I know how important it is to protect the rights and dreams of every aspiring American. I will make sure no headwinds from outside our state can knock us down. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Attorney general nominee Becerra questioned on guns, death penalty and pot during confirmation hearings By Patrick McGreevy Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-Los Angeles), shown at a gun violence event in June, was selected by Gov. Jerry Brown to be Californias next attorney general. ((Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) ) In two weeks of confirmation hearings, state attorney general nominee Xavier Becerra has been asked for his position on many issues, including new gun control laws, the states death penalty policy and the recent voter approval of an initiative that legalized recreational marijuana use. The 12-term congressman is up for a possible final confirmation vote Monday in the state Senate. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print California attorney general nominee Xavier Becerra is warned against suing Trump early and often By Patrick McGreevy Rep. Xavier Becerra (Rich Pedroncelli / AP) With Xavier Becerra facing a final confirmation vote Monday for state attorney general, two former high-level officials in the office are warning against drowning President Trump in lawsuits. The pressure to sue Trump early and often is a trap, according to Michael Troncos, former chief counsel in the California attorney generals office, and Debbie Mesloh, a former senior advisor to the California attorney general, writing in an op-ed piece published by the Los Angeles Times. In this right-wing political moment, a major legal case on our climate change laws or our policies benefiting (young immigrant) Dreamers may well lead to a Trump White House victory, establishing precedents that far outlast this presidency, the two write. In fact, the cases Becerra chooses not to bring may be among his most important achievements. Courts cant rule on whats not before them. Troncos and Mesloh said California will be up against a U.S. Supreme Court remade in Trumps image, and that [a]sking a federal court to overturn federal immigration policies could be a fools errand. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print California cities would have to make it easier to build houses under new legislation By Liam Dillon California cities that are falling behind on housing production goals set by the state would be forced to remove some of their development restrictions under legislation from a Bay Area state senator. State Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) released new details in his bill, SB 35, Monday morning that would require cities to approve new housing in areas already zoned for high-density development provided developers set aside some units for low-income residents. The bills provisions would only apply in cities where growth isnt keeping pace with housing production targets developed by the state every eight years that are designed to ensure California has enough homes for its growing population to live affordably. Right now, thats not happening. The states median home price of $485,800 is more than 2 1/2 times the national average, with the states poorest residents the hardest hit. And in the most recent eight-year housing cycle ending in 2014, production was less than half of the state target. Wiener, a former San Francisco supervisor, said Californias affordability crisis requires the state to involve its Formally nominated by the governor on Tuesday to become state attorney general, Rep. Xavier Becerra will face a Jan. 10 confirmation hearing before assuming a key role in Californias expected battle against the administration of President-elect Donald Trump. And in a glimpse of the road ahead, the Los Angeles Democrat has been asked by lawmakers how he will counter Trumps positions on issues including immigration and the environment. The congressman is expected to be confirmed by the Democrat-controlled Legislature which has 90 days to do so but some lawmakers want Becerra to stake out positions early to put Trump on notice that some of his proposals will face a fight from Californias next lead attorney and top law enforcement official. Donald Trump has made multiple statements that directly contradict California law and policy, wrote Democratic Assemblymen Reggie Jones-Sawyer of Los Angeles and Mark Stone of Scotts Valley in a letter to Becerra. Jones-Sawyer and Stone are the co-chairs of the Assembly Special Committee on the Office of the Attorney General, which will consider the confirmation. Advertisement The pair asked Becerra to submit written comments on five critical issues confronting California today and over the next two years remaining in the attorney generals term. Becerra, 58, was asked to respond with his positions on immigration, including cooperation with federal immigration authorities and his view of sanctuary cities, civil rights, environmental protection, police accountability and consumer protection. In the next four years, Californians and our laws will encounter substantial challenges from the next President and his administration, the two lawmakers letter said. Our next Attorney General will have great responsibility for protecting Californians and our values, and defending our laws. Becerra has said he is prepared to protect Californias progressive policies on immigration, the Affordable Care Act, energy and criminal justice against any change in federal policy under Trump. Updates from Sacramento If you want to take on a forward-leaning state that is prepared to defend its rights and interests, then come at us, Becerra said last month. Trump campaigned on a pledge to crack down on illegal immigration and has threatened to withhold federal funds from cities, including Los Angeles and San Francisco, that declare themselves sanctuary cities for those in the country illegally. The committee leaders asked Becerra to outline what he would do on the issues of religious and press freedoms, including Trumps proposal for a registry for Muslim immigrants. The panel is also asking Becerra to outline his positions on Californias climate change policies, which could be undermined by Trump. During the campaign, Trump often questioned how much man-made pollution affects climate change, threatened to cancel international agreements to address the problem and said he would reduce environmental protection regulations that hurt U.S. businesses. Becerra was formally nominated Tuesday to become state attorney general by Gov. Jerry Brown on the same day that Kamala Harris resigned from the position to take office as a U.S. senator following her election victory. Becerra has served in Congress since 1992 and was most recently the first Latino member of the Committee on Ways and Means, as well as chairman of the House Democratic Caucus. He previously served in the state Assembly from 1990 to 1992. Xavier has been an outstanding public servant in the state Legislature, the U.S. Congress and as a deputy attorney general, Brown said when he announced last month that Becerra would be his nominee. Im confident he will be a champion for all Californians and help our state aggressively combat climate change. Harris named Kathleen Kate Alice Kenealy chief deputy attorney general to lead the state Department of Justice as acting attorney general until Becerra is confirmed. patrick.mcgreevy@latimes.com @mcgreevy99 ALSO After beating back rival for House leadership post, Nancy Pelosi says Democrats are ready for Trump Trump seems ready to fight the world on climate change. But hes likely to meet resistance Updates from Sacramento Over the last 10 years, influenza has claimed on average just short of 33,000 lives a year in the United States. Motor vehicle accidents take just over 35,000 lives each year. Cancers of the urinary system kill just over 32,000. Gun violence claims an average of about 33,000 lives a year. All but one of the above causes of death have a large and active community of medical or public health researchers exploring ways to reduce or prevent fatalities. Fueled largely by federal funds, these researchers publish articles and attend conferences to share their findings. Most years, the collective effect of that research may be to shave death numbers at the margins. But every once in a while, federally funded research leads to breakthroughs, and fatality statistics in some corner of medicine or public health plummet. Advertisement Gun violence is the exception. New research finds that, given the number of U.S. fatalities linked to firearms, public health research on them is very underpowered. Given its role in U.S. deaths, research aimed at curbing gun violence could be expected to command about $1.4 billion yearly in federal funding, the authors of a new study reckoned. In fact, from 2004 to 2015, the federal government spent an average of $22 million annually to support research on gun violence. Thats a meager 1.6% of the amount the study authors expected to be spent. Not surprising, that deficit translates directly into fewer articles published on the subject. In a research letter published Tuesday in JAMA, Dr. David E. Stark, a researcher at New Yorks Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and Nigam H. Shah of Stanford University estimated that, given its importance as a cause of death, there should have been about 38,897 scholarly articles published on the subject of gun violence. When they scoured Medline, the federal governments comprehensive digital catalog of biomedical and public health publications, they found only 1,738 such articles. Gun violence killed about as many individuals as sepsis, the authors wrote. But while sepsis a complication of infection that can be fatal has a designated World Sepsis Day and has been the subject of high-level federal meetings, gun violence research bumps along on a shoestring. Funding for gun violence research was about 0.7% of that for sepsis and publication volume about 4%, Stark and Shah wrote. In relation to mortality rates, gun violence research was the least-researched cause of death and the second-least funded cause of death after falls. That mismatch did not occur by happenstance. In a 1996 funding bill, gun rights advocates and their allies on Capitol Hill forbade the use of any money appropriated for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to advocate or promote gun control. Over the ensuing years, that ban was extended to other agencies, including the National Institutes of Health. The prohibition did not explicitly ban research on guns and public health. But what agency head was going to risk a run-in with lawmakers over research that might underscore the wisdom of a change in the design, sale or use of guns? The ban cast a pall over the research community, Stark and Shah wrote. The Obama administration has increased research funds for gun violence and backed a wide range of initiatives aimed at making firearms safer. But the future of those efforts is uncertain at best under President-elect Donald Trump, who has expressed skepticism about measures that would extend limits on access to firearms. melissa.healy@latimes.com Follow me on Twitter @LATMelissaHealy and like Los Angeles Times Science & Health on Facebook. MORE IN SCIENCE Seven science stories we cant wait to follow in 2017 Obesity and sedentary behavior: Which is chicken, which is egg? Cheetahs are experiencing alarming declines and should be listed as endangered, scientists say The Burbank Noon Lions Club honored three students for winning the local level of the Lions Clubs International - Annual International Peace Poster Contest. The theme was A Celebration of Peace. Winners each receiving $25 were Amadis Madrid, representing the Boys & Girls Club of Burbank and Greater East Valley; Jamie Perez Fernandez, Luther Burbank Middle School; and Gracia Rojas of Muir Middle School. Students were selected by personnel from each school. Lions Clubs International established the Peace Poster contest more than 27 years ago to promote the awareness of world peace internationally among youth. This is the 21st year the Burbank Noon Lions club has sponsored the project in Burbank. Winners of this competition have the opportunity to proceed to the next level. After all judging around the world, there will be 23 Merit winners (receiving $500) and one top winner, receiving $5,000 and a special award trip. Elks give gift of knowledge to Providencia Elementary The Burbank Elks Lodge recently made its 12th annual stop at Providencia Elementary School, delivering paperback dictionaries to three third-grade classes. Exalted Ruler John Coyle was joined by fellow Elks members Charlene Peale, who is dictionary chair and chair of the board of trustees, as well as Greg Peale and Ramona Higgins. Each year, all the third-graders at Providencia receive dictionaries. This year, 1,031 dictionaries were given, Charlene Peale said. Jennifer Culbertson, Providencias principal, introduced Coyle to the students. He told them the dictionaries will help them with not only their spelling, but many other subjects of reference, too. There is a place at the beginning of the book where students can write their names, and their teachers names have been placed on a label on the same page. It has the symbols for sign language, a list of planets, history of each country, the state capitals and when each became a state and the longest word in the English language that took up half a page. Other highlights in the book are the U.S. presidents and their biographies, the U.S. Constitution and the evolution of the American flags design. The students oohed and awed as Coyle told them each highlight. Joining in the morning presentation was Burbank Unified Supt. Matt Hill and Peter Knapik, the districts director of elementary education . The Elks and Providencia already share a partnership in that for the past 15 years the fraternal organization has welcomed the nearby school to hold its fifth-grade promotion ceremony at the lodge, Culbertson said. On behalf of Providencias third-graders and, of course, on behalf of all the third-graders in our district, thank you so much for your generosity, Culbertson told the Elks. The fact that they will have [the dictionaries] for years to come is so special. As the arts are a major part of the schools curriculum, Culbertson added, the school has been recognized as a 2016 Exemplary Arts Program School. The designation is from the California Department of Education as part of its Gold Ribbon Awards. So, to thank the Elks members for their donation, each class sang a song and had drawn colorful props to help illustrate the lyrics. They also presented the Elks with handmade thank-you notes. I want to thank all of you for entertaining us with some beautiful music and all your artwork, Coyle said. You are very talented, though obviously the school teaches much more than singing and art. Im looking at penmanship here that for a third-grader is really unbelievable. Some adults cannot write this clear. Carol Lopez, parent of student Cesar Lopez, attended the ceremony and said she thinks the dictionary-donation program is great because it keeps him off the Internet. He can use it without asking me to go online, so its safer than using the computer, she said. -- JOYCE RUDOLPH can be reached at rudolphjoyce10@gmail.com. Echoes of Success was this years theme of the 2017 Rose Parade, in which entrants had to embody the importance of people coming together and helping others. However, the sentiment rang truer for some of the participants than others. It is the first time since 2009 that the Burbank Tournament of Roses Assn. failed to receive an award for its float, which was titled Home Tweet Home this year. A slew of technical difficulties and being unable to finish decorating the float before judging cost the Media City a shot at a trophy. We didnt have [one of the cupolas] completely shingled, said Jon Reeves, construction chair for the Burbank float association, referring to one of the steeple-like structures on the entry. And we didnt have all of the trim around the base of the house ... Theres lots of blame to go around. We just ran out of time, and it was not ready. The City of Burbank float Home Tweet Home in the 128th Rose Parade on Monday, January 2, 2017. The parade theme Echoes of Success presented 96 entries with 42 floats, 22 bands, and 19 equestrian. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer) As Burbanks float made its way down Orange Grove and Colorado boulevards, a group of shingles nearly fell off the roof and two of the three baby birds atop a smaller birdhouse were moving up and down, but the third bird malfunctioned. Despite the hiccups that Burbank volunteers experienced this year, Reeves said the float still turned out great, and he was thankful for all of those who helped put it together. It was not all bad news for self-built float entrants, though. The La Canada Flintridge Tournament of Roses Assn. walked away with the Bob Hope Humor Trophy for its float titled Backyard Rocketeer. The float depicted a boy and his dog flying in a home-built rocket ship made out of items from his backyard. The logos for Jet Propulsion Laboratory and NASA graced the side and tail fin of the space vessel. We went to NASA and JPL and asked them if we could use their logos, said Chuck Terhune, president of the La Canada organization. They said it was OK and to get ready for takeoff. We were delighted. Terhune said more than 400 volunteers helped put together and decorate this years float. He said he believes that they would not have won without the support of La Canada residents. The spirit of the Rose Parade is about the communities, Terhune said. They like seeing the local community support. Also, the overall event had local ties this year as La Canada resident Brad Ratliff served as president of the Pasadena Tournament of Roses Assn., which produces the parade. Though Glendale did not have an entry in this years parade, the American Armenian Rose Float Assn. won the Past Presidents Trophy for its float titled Field of Dreams! On the float were the figures of three children who represented the American-Armenian experience in science, literature and music riding a stallion, said Stepan Partamian, founder of the American-Armenian association. Because the organization has entered the Rose Parade only three times, Partamian said he was excited to hear the news about its win. Its all thanks to the volunteers effort and the community at large that helped us, he said. Its a sentimental reward. Were so happy to receive it because we presented something nice. -- Anthony Clark Carpio, anthonyclark.carpio@latimes.com Twitter: @acocarpio Laguna Beach police said they are investigating whether the man who was arrested in October for allegedly trespassing by leaping off of buildings in Laguna and Newport Beach has performed a similar stunt. Police say a man jumped off a ledge and into the pool shortly after 8:15 p.m. Dec. 28 at the Pacific Edge Hotel, at 647 S. Coast Hwy., Laguna police Sgt. Tim Kleiser said. Were highly confident its him, based on the footage we have from the location, Kleiser said, referring to Laguna Niguel resident Anthony Booth Armer, who was arrested last year in connection with a series of videos showing dives from buildings and cliffs. A YouTube post shows the man landing on the edge of the pool, falling into the water and then climbing out. He crawls toward a nearby gate. Another person is seen opening the gate for him. Kleiser said the person who opened the gate was a friend of the jumper, who along with a hotel employee helped the man to a car, Kleiser said. Employees reported the incident to hotel management, police said. The YouTube post also contains video footage from a camera apparently attached to the man as he jumps into the pool, and photos that reveal the mans bloodied heel as he lies in a bed with both feet wrapped in bandages. Police are continuing to examine the video, Kleiser said in a follow-up email. Hotel management had not immediately returned a call seeking comment Tuesday. In October, the Orange County district attorneys office charged Armer with two misdemeanor counts of unauthorized entry into a dwelling and one misdemeanor count of trespassing with intent to interfere with business, the Daily Pilot reported. Charges are related to one incident in Newport and two in Laguna. Armers arraignment is scheduled for Feb. 3, according to the Orange County Superior Court website. He posted $500 bail. He is accused of climbing over a wall last Sept. 29 to get into the employee-only areas of Laguna Beachs Surf & Sand Resort before jumping from the fifth floor of the hotel into the pool. Hotel employees reported that incident to Laguna Beach police. Vincent Tucci, Armers attorney as listed on the Orange County Superior Court website, had not immediately returned an email Tuesday seeking comment on the charges. bryce.alderton@latimes.com Twitter: @AldertonBryce A Huntington Beach man has been charged with murder in the deaths of two of his wifes co-workers, whose bodies were found Monday in Newport Beach. Christopher Ireland, 37, a real estate agent, was charged with two counts of first-degree murder, one felony count of arson in connection with a fire at the Westminster home of one of the women and one felony count of aggravated mayhem in connection with the permanent disability, disfigurement and deprivation of a limb, organ and body member of one of the victims. Ireland was expected to be arraigned Wednesday in an Orange County Central Jail courtroom in Santa Ana, but the arraignment was postponed to Jan. 20. He is being held without bail. Firefighters were called to a house fire in the 5000 block of Northwestern Way in Westminster at about 5:30 a.m. Sunday. Firefighters extinguished the blaze and called arson investigators and Westminster police detectives to the scene because of suspicious circumstances surrounding the fire, according to police. The homeowner, Yolanda Holtrey, 59, was nowhere to be found. By Monday morning, detectives had information that led them to the bodies of Holtrey and her friend Michelle Luke, 49, of Huntington Beach in a field off Bonita Canyon Drive and Ford Road in Newport Beach. Friends said both women worked with Irelands wife, Samantha, at the Huntington Beach location of Stein Mart, a department store. Evidence at Holtreys house led police to Ireland, who was arrested Monday, authorities said. Police have not released how the women died and said a motive for the crime is under investigation. Samantha Ireland told KNBC-TV/4 this week that she and her husband attended a New Years Eve party at Holtreys house. When they arrived home around 1:30 a.m. Sunday, she and her husband went to sleep, she said. I dont remember him leaving the house in the middle of the night; he doesnt remember anything, she told the station, adding that her husband may have been sleepwalking. Samantha Ireland said her husband had planned to help Holtrey sell her home. A fundraising page to help Holtreys family restore her damaged home and pay other expenses has been set up at Gofundme.com. As of Wednesday afternoon, it had raised $3,285 toward a $15,000 goal. Police asked that anyone with information about the case call Westminster police Det. Jim Wilson at (714) 898-3315 or Orange County Crime Stoppers at (855) TIP-OCCS (847-6227). -- Nuran Alteir is a contributor to Times Community News. Twitter: @whatnuransaid About 60 Newport-Mesa Unified School District staff members, teachers, students, parents and other guests attended Early College High Schools 10th-anniversary celebration last month at the Costa Mesa campus. Early College offers a college preparatory program designed to help students fulfill University of California admission requirements. District board President Karen Yelsey acknowledged the schools achievements, such as a Gold Ribbon Award, while Supt. Fred Navarro recognized Early Colleges first principal, Kathy Slauson, who was in attendance. Coastline Community College President Lori Adrian presented Early Colleges current principal, David Martinez, with a plaque of appreciation. Police chief to discuss crime during Wake Up Newport breakfast Newport Beach Police Chief Jon Lewis will discuss new initiatives in the Police Department, crime trends and the implications of legalized recreational marijuana use in California during a Wake Up Newport breakfast Thursday. Wake Up Newport, presented by the Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce, begins at 7:15 a.m. at the Newport Beach Public Library, 1000 Avocado Ave. Corona del Mar to host sailing convention for women The Long Beach-based Southern California Yachting Assn. will present the 28th annual Womens Sailing Convention on Feb. 4 at the Bahia Corinthian Yacht Club in Corona del Mar. The daylong convention, sponsored by the Virginia-based Boat Owners Assn. of the United States, will offer a series of women-only workshops about sailing for beginners and experts. The convention gives women an opportunity to meet other women sailors, discuss options for more racing, cruising and day sailing, find out about existing womens sailing organizations in their area as well as instructional programs available, convention director Gail Hine said in a statement. The $215 convention fee includes workshops, breakfast, lunch, dinner and souvenirs. Attendance is limited to about 225 people. For reservation forms, email gail@scya.org or call (951) 677-8121. Bookings can be completed through womenssailingconvention.com. Environmental Nature Center gets $50,000 for improvements Newport Beach residents Frank and Joanne Randall donated $50,000 to the Environmental Nature Center last month to help restore the Newport facilitys stream, pond and two teaching stations for environmental learning. The donation also is intended to help develop a new butterfly habitat observation deck and a desert tortoise enclosure. It was time to make some major repairs to our stream and pond, which have been flowing at the center since 1972, the facilitys executive director, Bo Glover, said in a statement. Our restored stream and pond will no longer leak. ... The desert tortoise enclosure will give us the opportunity to add another teaching animal to our repertoire, and the restored teaching stations will be significantly more conducive to learning in nature. New UCI administrative and business official to start next month UC Irvines new vice chancellor for administrative and business services, Ron Cortez, will begin work Feb. 13. He will replace Wendell Brase, who served in that post for 25 years. Cortez currently is vice president of administration and finance and chief financial officer at San Francisco State University. He previously was associate vice chancellor for administrative services at UC Santa Barbara, where he oversaw departments including information technology, accounting and human resources. UCIs administrative and business services work on building and infrastructure efficiency and accounting, human resources, risk management and transportation services. Pacific Symphony gets second $1.2-million grant For the second time, the James Irvine Foundation has awarded the Pacific Symphony a $1.2-million grant to help strengthen its commitment to Orange Countys Chinese American communities through arts engagement. Three years ago, the symphony which performs at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa was one of three organizations statewide to receive the maximum award from the foundation. The new grant, as with the first, is payable over 36 months. Both grants are part of the foundations New California Arts Fund. A Huntington Beach man is being held at Orange County Jail without bail after being arrested Monday in connection with the deaths of two of his wifes co-workers after a house fire in Westminster that is suspected to be arson. Christopher Ireland, 37, was taken into custody on suspicion of murder after the bodies of the two women were found miles away in Newport Beach. The case began to unfold about 5:30 a.m. Sunday, when the Orange County Fire Authority was called to a fire at a house in the 5000 block of Northwestern Way in Westminster. Firefighters extinguished the blaze and called arson investigators and Westminster police detectives to the scene because of suspicious circumstances surrounding the fire, according to police. When authorities arrived, the homeowner, 59-year-old Yolanda Holtrey, and her friend, a 49-year-old woman from Huntington Beach, were nowhere to be found. The Orange County coroners office identified the second woman Wednesday as Michelle Luke. Friends said she worked with Holtrey and Irelands wife, Samantha, at the Huntington Beach location of Stein Mart, a department store. By Monday morning, detectives had information that led them to the womens bodies, which were found in a field off Bonita Canyon Drive and Ford Road in Newport Beach. They apparently were killed at the home and then were moved, police said. Authorities have not said how the women died. The motive for the crime is still under investigation, said Westminster police Cmdr. Cameron Knauerhaze. We do not believe any other suspects are outstanding. Irelands wife told KNBC-TV/4 that she and her husband attended a New Years Eve party at Holtreys house. When they arrived home around 1:30 a.m. Sunday, she and her husband went to sleep, she said. I dont remember him leaving the house in the middle of the night; he doesnt remember anything, Samantha Ireland told the station, adding that her husband may have been sleepwalking. Christopher Ireland is a licensed real estate agent who works for Realty One Group Inc. in Rancho Cucamonga. He first received his license in August, according to the California Bureau of Real Estate. Samantha Ireland told Channel 4 that her husband had planned to help Holtrey sell her home. Police asked that anyone with information about the case call Westminster police Det. Jim Wilson at (714) 898-3315 or Orange County Crime Stoppers at (855) TIP-OCCS (847-6227). hannah.fry@latimes.com Twitter: @HannahFryTCN Removing debris from Upper Newport Bay could be aided by a proposal thats been floating around City Hall for several months a trash-collecting barge. At first glance, the so-called water wheel looks like a cross between a steamboat and a conch shell. From its proposed stationary position where the San Diego Creek feeds into the Back Bay near the Jamboree Road bridge, the vessel would funnel incoming creek debris into an onboard bin that would be emptied periodically. The vessel could be powered by a mix of solar and hydraulic energy, said Bob Stein, an engineer with the city of Newport Beach, which is leading the effort. The projects cost is estimated at $750,000 to $1 million, including ongoing maintenance costs. City officials are looking to have it funded under Measure M, a countywide sales tax intended for transportation programs. Stein said the water wheel is intended as an interim solution possibly through 2029, if its installed in 2019 to collect trash before it flows into Newport Harbor or the Pacific Ocean. An ideal and permanent solution, he said, would be building a trash collection facility farther up San Diego Creek, possibly near Main Street in Irvine. Newport officials point to the success of a water wheel installed in Baltimores Inner Harbor in 2014. The barge has been nicknamed Mr. Trash Wheel it has two googly eyes attached and has enough of a following that its minute-by-minute progress can be viewed online. It also has a Twitter account. Between its May 2014 debut and October 2016, Mr. Trash Wheel collected 1 million pounds of cigarettes, trash and other debris, the Baltimore Sun reported. A second water wheel, named Professor Trash Wheel, was installed in Baltimore in December, the Sun reported. Billy Dutton, an organizer with Newports Help Your Harbor program, said the water wheel would be a valuable tool in protecting the Back Bay. He noted that Help Your Harbor participants have collected 18,291 pounds of trash and debris since February 2014, but thats a small percentage of whats floating out there. The group realizes what theyre doing is just scratching the surface of all the trash thats coming in, Dutton said. Not everyone is excited about a water wheel in the Back Bay. In October, Newport Bay Conservancy board President Peter Bryant wrote to a city official and then-Mayor Diane Dixon that his group could not support it. We feel it would be inappropriate to carry out this kind of construction in the reserve, which is also a state marine conservation area, Bryant wrote. And we also feel that it would be an unsightly piece of machinery that would be very unpopular with local residents. The water wheel is still in a conceptual stage, Stein said. An environmental study will determine its potential effects on the Back Bay. The project also would require review by the county, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and other agencies. We want to study those impacts and make sure were not doing anything that would not be beneficial to the preserve, Stein said. bradley.zint@latimes.com Twitter: @BradleyZint Thousands of invasive plants will be replaced over the next five years in a move to restore a portion of Harriett M. Wieder Regional Park, which forms an important trail link between Huntington Beach Central Park and Bolsa Chica State Beach. Wieder park, opened in 2004, occupies 106 acres of land in Huntington Beach. It was named after Harriett Wieder, who was elected in 1978 as the first female member of the Orange County Board of Supervisors, representing the district that includes her home city. The three-term supervisor died in 2010 at age 89. The Bolsa Chica Conservancy, the local environmental group heading the project, plans to restore 9.5 acres of the park that have been overwhelmed by invasive vegetation, David Pryor, the groups senior environmental scientist, said in a news release. Grace Adams, the executive director of the conservancy, said the park is ripe for overgrowth because the only developed area is a small playground that sits on about an acre. The conservancy hopes to bolster species diversity and the number of native, drought-resistant plants in the area by removing the invasive vegetation, which has overtaken 99% of the parcel, Pryor said. As an example, he noted plans to help the recovery of the southern Tarplant, a rare plant with bright yellow flowers. Adams said the modified habitats will help attract species like the California gnatcatcher and the burrowing owl, birds that are not currently nesting in the park but have been seen along Californias coasts in environments similar to Wieders. The project will be funded through renewed Measure Ms Environmental Mitigation Program. The half-cent sales tax measure known as M2, passed by voters in 2006, was intended to continue Measure Ms funding of transportation projects in the county but with the added environmental component. The OCTA authorized the project in 2012, but the conservancy has had to work with the county to finalize the plans, including completing an addendum to an environmental impact report done when the park was originally proposed in 1992, Adams said. Pryor said it will take until about 2021 before the project, which will include installing a water line, is completed. Adams said the group is aiming to begin the massive overhaul of invasive vegetation at the end of January or the beginning of February. Residents will still be able to walk through the unrestricted trails, but some areas may be temporarily closed off if there is safety concern regarding equipment in use, Pryor said. benjamin.brazil@latimes.com Twitter: @benbrazilpilot A Glendale woman suffering from Alzheimers disease is safely back with her family after being reported missing Tuesday. Liza Galstyan, 77, was found at around 12:40 p.m. Wednesday in Pasadena by local police. She had been reported missing after not coming back from a walk in the 600 block of South Adams Street, according to Glendale Police spokesman Sgt. Robert William. While her family said its not unusual for Galstyan to go on long walks, this time was different. Join the conversation on Facebook >> Obviously, yesterday she was gone for too long. Thats why the family reported her missing, he said. Pasadena police subsequently transported her back home. Other than being tired and confused, William said Galstyan was physically fine when she returned. He said Galstyan suffers from an advanced level of Alzheimers and has no recollection of what happened. -- Andy Nguyen, andy.nguyen@latimes.com Twitter: @Andy_Truc Two of the first babies born in Glendale on New Years Day both arrived a little earlier than expected, and another was born as planned for two area men. At Glendale Adventist Medical Center, Dulce Garcia gave birth to her daughter, Victoria, at 12:13 a.m. on Sunday. Victoria wasnt expected to arrive until Jan. 10, but the Alhambra resident said that all changed abruptly. My water broke, she said. And my mom said, You have to go to the hospital. Join the conversation on Facebook >> Victoria was born weighing 6 pounds, 6 ounces, and now joins 4-year-old brother, Santiago, in the family with father, Angel Rivera. Highland Park resident Cynthia Henao gave birth to her daughter, Aubree, at 4:46 a.m. Sunday at Dignity Health Glendale Memorial Hospital. Weighing 6 pounds, 12 ounces, Aubree also arrived a little early. I really wasnt ready for her to come already, her mom said. She said she was at home and started experiencing considerable pain, so she decided to head to the hospital. I thought, I have to make sure everything is OK, she said. When she got to the hospital, she was already dilated 4 centimeters. The process had started, said Henao. She and Aubrees father, Miguel Salgado, also have a 2-year-old daughter named Kayla. Los Angeles residents Felipe Osorno and Ian Holloway were a little less surprised at the arrival at 1:03 p.m. on New Years Day of their second daughter, Lucia her delivery by cesarean section at USC Verdugo Hills Hospital was actually scheduled ahead of time, Osorno said on Tuesday. We thought it would be nice if she could be the first baby, so we planned for that day, said the new father, just minutes home from the hospital. The first (of January) is a pretty special day to be born. Holloway and Osorno arrived at USC Verdugo Hills Hospital earlier that day and were in the delivery room with the babys birth mother. Together, they cut the umbilical cord and later introduced baby Lucia to her 2-year-old sister Sofia, whom the pair, married in 2013, had also adopted at birth. Once home, it was time for the new arrival to meet family dogs Sherry and Rocco. They sniffed her when we got home and one of them went for a lick, so were good, Osorno said. Now that the holidays are over, Los Angeles International Airport can get back to normal, but what does that mean for a facility deep in the midst of a $14-billion modernization project? It means that the new year brings new roadway obstacles and changes that could cause you or your passengers to miss a flight. LAX, recovering from an estimated 4.3 million holiday travelers between mid-December and Tuesday, will resume work on construction projects Wednesday. Heres what you can expect if you are traveling to the airport this month. Advertisement 1. Terminal 1 Upgrading the terminal that houses Southwest Airlines means that part of the upper level (departures) road lanes are closed through March, a news release says. Further, the entire lane closes between 10 p.m. and 4 a.m. weeknights too. This may cause a big backup because its the first terminal as you enter LAX. The fix: Use the lower level (arrivals) to drop off passengers who can then take an escalator or elevator up to the ticket counters and gates. The pedestrian bridge connecting Parking Structure 1 with the terminal is closed too; there are signs to direct you how to get to the terminal. 2. Parking Structure 3 Expect lane closures most weekdays from 4 a.m. to 1 p.m. on the lower level (arrivals) adjacent to the parking structure for landscaping. You dont have to avoid this area at all times, but know that it could occasionally get backed up. 3. Shuttle changes In an effort to ease traffic, LAX plans to assign shuttles and buses to single levels. It will limit hotel shuttles to lower level roads only, and private parking shuttles as well as Lot C buses to upper level roads. This is scheduled to start Jan. 23. 4. Upcoming terminal changes An automated screening lane is coming to security checkpoints at Terminal 4. And Terminals 7-8, which house United Airlines, now feature five automated security lanes aimed at getting passengers through checkpoints quicker. Heads up for American Airlines travelers: The carrier will relocate some gates at Terminal 6 (which recently rolled out a snazzy makeover with a Sunset Boulevard theme) to Terminal 5 at the end of January. What would really cut traffic inside the airports central terminal would be a train that would take passengers to and from car-rental kiosks, public transit, etc. Its coming but not until 2023, at the earliest. To stay on top of traffic, follow LAX on Twitter (@flyLAXAirport) and Facebook. ALSO A look at the L.A.-themed makeover at LAXs Terminal 6 For 2017, a daily California bucket list will take you to the hidden, the hilarious, the history of the Golden State Will 2017 will be the year of magical travel? With low airfares, a boffo new concept in hotels and bargains, signs point to yes She set off to visit all 59 national parks, from Maine to Pago Pago mary.forgione@latimes.com @maryforgione Despite the efforts of the last three American presidents, North Korea has continued advancing as a nuclear state. Can Donald Trump rein in the rogue state any better? In a televised New Years Day address to his nation, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un announced his resolve to develop a missile capable of reaching the U.S. mainland. We will continue to build up our self-defense capability, the pivot of which is the nuclear forces, and the capability for preemptive strike, he said. Advertisement President-elect Trump responded the next day on Twitter: North Korea just stated that it is in the final stages of developing a nuclear weapon capable of reaching parts of the U.S. It wont happen! His confidence drew skepticism from many North Korea security analysts, who noted that the issue has long confounded the international community and that Trump hasnt detailed a strategy for dealing with the North. Its just a statement of resolve without any indication of how hes going to prevent it, said John Delury, an associate professor of Chinese studies at Seouls Yonsei University. And, of course, its all about the how. The United States and its allies have tried a variety of tools to prevent North Korea, one of the worlds most isolated countries, from developing and deploying nuclear weapons. But diplomatic negotiations stalled in 2008, and a series of economic sanctions and aid have at times slowed, but not stopped, North Koreas nuclear ambitions. In the 1990s, then-President Clinton helped win agreement to close a North Korean nuclear facility in exchange for aid a deal that ultimately fell apart. His successor, George W. Bush, sought a change in government in Pyongyang. The Obama administration has demanded that Pyongyang denuclearize while also trying to get other countries in the region to oppose the countrys efforts. The strategies havent worked. Most security experts now believe North Korea is, in fact, an established nuclear state perhaps possessing more than a dozen devices. A key question now, analysts such as Delury say, is whether the nation has the tools to deploy the weapons globally. North Korea has numerous missiles, some of them mobile and outfitted with reengineered Russian technology. Americas allies in the region, such as Japan and South Korea, whose capital is 120 miles from Pyongyang, are already on edge about short- and intermediate-range capabilities. Long-range missiles remain a major goal, and in his New Years speech, Kim said the North Korean military was close to testing an intercontinental ballistic missile. Since he took power in late 2011, Kim has supervised tests for dozens of missiles, including some that, in theory, could be launched from submarines. His country has also tested at least three nuclear devices, drawing ire from much of the international community, including Pyongyangs longtime ally China. Given the Norths advances in missile development, Trumps administration now faces fewer options than previous presidents. Some include convincing North Korea that its nuclear program threatens the Pyongyang governments survival. Theres also the possibility of a negotiated agreement involving regional countries and perhaps more economic and political pressure from China and Russia. Chun Yung-woo, a former South Korean national security advisor who has participated in talks with North Korea, sees in Trumps confident tweets a leader who finally might make headway with Kim. In dealing with unconventional leaders like Kim Jong Un, I think a leader like Trump, another unconventional leader, could help. Chun Yung-woo, former South Korean national security advisor I see the advent of Trump as an opportunity, said Chun, now a senior advisor at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies in Seoul. In dealing with unconventional leaders like Kim Jong Un, I think a leader like Trump, another unconventional leader, could help. I dont think a conventional approach works better. Others are more skeptical. Duyeon Kim, a Seoul-based researcher at Georgetown Universitys Institute of the Study of Diplomacy, questioned, for example, Trumps decision to weigh in on Twitter. Trump punctuated his recent tweet with It wont happen! Does that mean Trump does not believe North Korea can achieve the missile capacity, she asked, or that he will find a way to stop it? She said the president-elects public resolve could be an opportunity for diplomacy or a disaster. I seriously hope Trump does not mean he will stop the North with force, she said. Trump needs a real North Korea policy and strategy, and Twitter is not the forum through which to create one. Melissa Hanham, a senior research associate at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies in California, said North Koreas desire for long-range missiles would be difficult for any president today to stop. I dont think theres any way that hes come up with a silver-bullet solution that he said in his tweet, said Hanham, who closely examines North Koreas propaganda photos to gather clues about its military capabilities. This is actually a very complex quagmire with all sorts of variables that he cant stop with sheer force of will. In his speech, Kim also left a narrow opening for a diplomatic solution, subtly suggesting that the nation might halt its work if the United States and South Korea stop their regular war exercises on the Norths doorstep. Delury, the Yonsei professor, took to Twitter to discuss the diplomatic opening in Kims remarks. He also noted that Trump had been relatively restrained in his tweets not personally insulting Kim, for example. The North Koreans, in turn, havent attacked Trump. They have left themselves room to at least explore what a preliminary deal might look like, he said. Stiles is a special correspondent. ALSO Finally, a museum will document the horrors of partition that many Indians and Pakistanis want to forget Turkish opposition leaders lash out at government officials over safety issues after nightclub attack Nazi imagery from Taiwan stems from ignorance, not hate, analysts say Myanmars western state of Rakhine, where the majority of the countrys Rohingya Muslims live, has seen a wave of violence in recent months. Armed men attacked three border guard outposts on Oct. 9, killing nine police officers. A crackdown by security forces followed that reportedly included killings, rapes and widespread destruction of Muslim villages. The countrys estimated 1 million Rohingya are not considered citizens and are referred to pejoratively by the government as Bengalis. Human rights organizations say the government has disproportionately used violence and committed human rights abuses against the minority group. The government says it is conducting a campaign of counterinsurgency. Now complicating matters is a finding by the International Crisis Group that a militant Rohingya organization with ties to individuals in Saudi Arabia and Pakistan was behind the recent border guard attacks and represents the face of a new armed insurgency by Muslims in Rakhine state. Advertisement The emergence of this well-organized, apparently well-funded group is a game changer in the Myanmar governments efforts to address the complex challenges in Rakhine state, said the report by the International Crisis Group, a conflict research organization based in Brussels. The violence directed by Muslims against government forces in the October attacks and subsequent clashes was unprecedented, the report said. It showed a previously unseen capacity for planning and coordination and also represented a dramatic twist in the story of the Rohingya in Myanmar. The armed group, which calls itself Harakah al-Yaqin (Faith Movement in Arabic) but is also known to government officials as Aqa Mul Mujahidin (Communities of Fighters), does not appear to be motivated by a jihadist terrorist agenda, according to the report. It appears to be focused instead on ending persecution of the Rohingya and securing greater rights for them within Myanmar. However, the report warned that the Rohingya could become further radicalized or have their cause taken up by extremist groups to serve their own agendas if the Rohingya continue to be mistreated by the government. Analysts from the International Crisis Group interviewed six members of Harakah al-Yaqin and several others with connections to it, as well as Rohingya refugees and members of the diaspora. They also analyzed the groups communications. They found that the group is led by a committee of about 20 Rohingya emigres headquartered in Mecca, and commanded on the ground in Myanmar by about 20 more Rohingya from Saudi Arabia who have international training in modern guerrilla tactics. They also found that the group sought and obtained fatwas, or religious rulings, from Islamic clerics in Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, among others, and appears to have received funds from private donors in Saudi Arabia and the Middle East. More than 100,000 Rohingya Muslims live in camps for the displaced in Myanmar, where they have little access to humanitarian aid, and few opportunities to speak with journalists or human rights organizations. Hundreds of thousands more live just over the border as refugees in Bangladesh, as well as in Malaysia and Indonesia. Despite their history of persecution, the Rohingya have not engaged in armed conflict against the government, unlike many of the other ethnic minorities in Myanmar, experts say. Of all the ethnic groups in Burma, the Rohingya are one of the ones that have been least likely to take up arms, said Simon Billenness, executive director of the International Campaign for the Rohingya. Myanmar is also known as Burma, the name preferred by pro-democracy activists who contest the legitimacy of the military junta that changed the name in 1989. When three Rohingya men were convicted of the rape and murder of a Buddhist woman in 2012, a series of violent clashes between Buddhists and Muslims exploded in Rakhine, prompting a brutal crackdown by government security forces on the Rohingya. Human Rights Watch called the crackdown ethnic cleansing. The violence eventually subsided, but in 2015 the Rohingya were forbidden to vote in general elections and lost a major escape route out of the country with the shutting down of migration pathways to Malaysia. This is new territory for everybody looking at this. Brad Adams, Asia director for Human Rights Watch All of these factors combined to spur the creation of Harakah al-Yaqin and cement its resolve to launch an insurgency, the International Crisis Group said in its report. Ata Ullah, one of the groups leaders on the ground, is believed to have attended a six-month Taliban training course in Pakistan shortly after the 2012 violence. Active recruitment and training of local leaders and villagers in Myanmar took place in 2013 and 2014, the report said. Villagers were organized into cells to make it more difficult for the government to infiltrate the organization. Training, which took more than two years, was led by Rohingya veterans and Pakistanis or Afghans with recent fighting experience and included weapons use and guerrilla tactics, with a focus on IEDs and other explosives. Planning and communication were done mostly over encrypted chat apps, including WhatsApp and Viber. Observers said it was only a matter of time before at least some Rohingya took up violence. When you are killing them and burning down their houses and dont recognize their citizenship and persecute them based on their religion, its no surprise, said Brad Adams, Asia director for Human Rights Watch. The Burmese army, by meting out this collective punishment on Rohingya communities, risks radicalizing the Rohingya in a way that weve not seen before, Billenness said. The responsibility for that lies with the Burmese army. Adams said the report provided the clearest picture yet of what happened in the October and November attacks, but it was only a starting point for research. This is new territory for everybody looking at this, said Adams. It was clear the attacks had been organized and planned, probably from outside the local community, but more investigation was needed of the composition and scale of the armed insurgent group, he said. Both Billenness and Adams feared the violence would legitimize further crackdowns by Myanmars security force. In two recent reports, Human Rights Watch compiled witness accounts of the government crackdown following the October attacks, and cited satellite imagery that shows the burning of at least 1,500 buildings in Maungdaw township, where the clashes occurred. The government had previously accused the Rohingya of burning down their own homes, but the Human Rights Watch evidence, Adams said, clearly refutes that. See the most-read stories in World News this hour The U.N. estimates that 30,000 people, most of them Rohingya, have been newly displaced internally and largely cut off from humanitarian aid as a result of the conflict; a further 50,000 are estimated to have fled to Bangladesh. Any army use of the International Crisis Group report to rationalize additional harsh measures would be counterproductive, its authors wrote. Continued misuse of military force, the report warned, could create conditions for radicalizing sections of the Rohingya population that jihadist groups might exploit for their own agendas. nina.agrawal@latimes.com Twitter: @AgrawalNina MORE WORLD NEWS Nuclear experts to Trump: More than tweets are needed to stop North Korea Finally, a museum will document the horrors of partition that many Indians and Pakistanis want to forget Protest, get arrested, get released, then start again: One womans fight against Turkeys crackdown on dissent An Israeli military tribunal has convicted a medic of manslaughter in the fatal shooting of a hobbled Palestinian assailant in March a verdict that spurred public protests and a call from the prime minister for a pardon. Abdel Fattah Sharif, who had carried out a stabbing attack on a soldier in the West Bank city of Hebron, had been shot and wounded by Israeli soldiers and incapacitated on the ground when Sgt. Elor Azaria fatally shot him in the head. Azaria testified that he feared Sharif was wearing an explosives belt or would grab a nearby knife and start attacking bystanders. Advertisement But the three-judge panel rejected that account and unanimously ruled Wednesday that the 20-year-old soldier had violated the militarys open-fire regulations. We found that there was no place to accept his arguments, the chief judge, Col. Maya Heller, said during a verdict reading that lasted more than two hours at the Israel Defense Forces headquarters in central Tel Aviv. His motive for shooting was that he felt the terrorist deserved to die. Azaria, who was also found guilty of behavior not befitting a soldier, could face a 20-year jail term if the manslaughter conviction is upheld. His attorneys said they planned to appeal. At the same time, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other politicians called for a pardon. This is a difficult and painful day for all of us, first and foremost for Elor and his family, for IDF soldiers, for many citizens, and for parents of our soldiers myself included,' Netanyahu wrote on his Facebook page. Also writing on Facebook, Education Minister Naftali Bennett said: Today a soldier who killed a death-deserving terrorist who tried to butcher a soldier was put in handcuffs and treated like the worst of criminals. A pardon can be issued only by the president, Reuven Rivlin. His office released a statement saying that any request would be considered in accordance with standard practices. The case has captivated the country since the Israeli human rights group BTselem released a video that showed Azaria cocking his gun, walking up to Sharif and shooting him in the head. An Israeli military tribunal has convicted a medic of manslaughter in the fatal shooting of a hobbled Palestinian assailant last March a verdict that spurred public protests and a call from the prime minister for a pardon. The military is one of the countrys most trusted institutions, but its decision to prosecute Azaria a rare case of a soldier being disciplined for a killing committed during operations was met with widespread disdain. A September poll by the Israel Democracy Institute and Tel Aviv University found that 65% of Israeli Jews supported Azarias actions and believe that he acted in self-defense. From 2015 until the middle of last year, the country was roiled by a spate of deadly knife attacks. As the verdict was being read, hundreds of Azaria supporters from the far-right staged a demonstration, chanting, Death to terrorists and Hes a hero. Today Elor, tomorrow, your son, read protest signs. Demonstrators said that the judges had unfairly sided with the military. The verdict is outrageous, said David Kadosh, an unemployed waiter. The open-fire rules are absurd. This is a war. The protesters werent the only ones unhappy with the trial. The case had attracted widespread attention abroad and calls for intervention from the international community. The Palestinian Authoritys Foreign Ministry called the trial a farce meant to mollify the critics and avoid an international prosecution. In Hebron, an uncle of Sharif said that his family rejected the court decision and that the International Criminal Court should take up the case. The court did nothing but condemn, said Fathi Sharif, a family spokesman. We want him to be punished. The military chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Gadi Eisenkot, has been the leading proponent within the military for a court-martial. While politicians have argued that any attacker should be killed rather than arrested, Eisenkot has held that lethal force should be used only in a life-threatening situation. An 18-year-old man who enlists in the IDF is not everyones son, he said on the eve of the verdict, as if to prepare for the fallout. At first, Eisenkot had support from key members of the government, including Netanyahu. But that changed as public opinion coalesced around Azaria. Last year, Netanyahu replaced the defense minister, Moshe Yaalon, who had angered the public by supporting prosecution, with Avigdor Lieberman, who slammed it. After the verdict was announced, Lieberman told reporters that it should be respected even though he didnt like it. Human Rights Watch, which said that 150 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli security forces since October 2015, said the conviction was a positive step in reining in excessive force. However, the problem is not just one rogue soldier but also senior Israeli officials who publicly tell security forces to unlawfully shoot to kill, the organization said in a statement. See the most-read stories in World News this hour Mitnick is a special correspondent. MORE WORLD NEWS After years of government persecution, some members of Myanmars Rohingya minority are taking up arms Nuclear experts to Trump: More than tweets are needed to stop North Korea Turkish opposition leaders lash out at government officials over safety issues after nightclub attack UPDATES: 12:35 p.m.: This article was updated with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu calling for Azaria to be pardoned and other reaction. This article was originally published at 6:25 a.m. Turkey has identified the suspected gunman in the Istanbul nightclub massacre, the foreign minister said Wednesday as the president vowed that the country wont surrender to terrorists or become divided. The gunman, who killed 39 people during New Years celebrations at the Reina club, is still at large. But Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said authorities had identified the man, without providing details. The identity of the person who carried out the attack on the Reina nightclub has been established, Cavusoglu told Anadolu in a live televised interview. Advertisement Turkish police, meanwhile, detained 20 suspected Islamic State militants, including 11 women, believed to be linked to the attack, the state-run news agency reported. The operation was thought to have been launched in the Aegean port city of Izmir. Anadolu said the suspects were from the largely Muslim Russian republic of Dagestan, from Chinas Muslim Uighur minority and from Syria. It said they may have lived with the nightclub attacker. Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the attack, which wounded nearly 70 people. Of those killed 27 were foreigners, many from the Middle East. Islamic State said a soldier of the caliphate had carried out the mass shooting to avenge Turkish military operations against Islamic State in northern Syria. The private Dogan news agency said Wednesdays police operation targeted three families who had arrived in Izmir about 20 days ago from Konya a city in central Turkey where the gunman is thought to have been based before carrying out the nightclub attack. It said 27 people, including women and children, were taken into custody. At least 16 people were previously detained in connection with the attack, including two foreigners stopped Tuesday at the international terminal of Istanbuls Ataturk Airport after police checked their cellphones and luggage, according to Anadolu. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that the attack aimed to set Turks against each other and deepen fault lines, but that the country would not fall for this game. Erdogan made the comments in a live speech from Ankara, the first time he has publicly addressed the nation since the attack. Responding to accusations in the past that Turkey had given support to Islamic State, Erdogan said that to present the country which is leading the greatest struggle against Daesh as one that is supporting terrorism is what the terror organization wants. He used an Arabic acronym for the group. Erdogan said that to say Turkey has surrendered to terrorism is to take sides with the terrorists and terror organizations. Erdogan also said that in Turkey, no ones way of life is under any threat. Those who claim this have to prove it. It is my duty to protect everyones rights. It was in response to a campaign before the attack by some government supporters who warned against New Years celebrations they depicted as a Western or Christian tradition, as well as some social media postings that seemed to support the attack. The campaign and social media postings caused uproar amid secular Turks who said their lifestyles were being threatened. The government has said authorities were taking measures on social media accounts that allegedly support terrorism and foster divisiveness in society. Police in Istanbul have set up checkpoints and are checking vehicles across the city as security levels remained high. Police were stopping cars and Istanbuls ubiquitous yellow taxis, with passengers and drivers holding up their identifications while officers inspected inside the vehicles. Istanbul has been on high alert since the attack, with the gunman still at large. The Hurriyet newspaper said the suspected gunman had previously entered Turkey twice, in 2014 and in 2015. He is believed to have slipped illegally into Syria, where he fought and received training in the use of guns and bombs. The pro-government Sabah newspaper said the suspect had been in contact with someone believed to be a chief Islamic State operative in Istanbul as well as his aide a Tajik man who reportedly was among those detained. According to Sabah, the suspect was born in 1988 and is believed to be a Kyrgyz national. It said he speaks Russian, Uzbek, Arabic and Turkish. Haber Turk newspaper reported meanwhile that after the attack, the suspect walked some 400 yards and then took a taxi but was forced to get off because he didnt have any money on him. He later took another taxi and woke up some Uighurs working at a restaurant in Istanbuls Zeytinburnu district to get some money and pay the driver. The newspaper said seven Uighurs either working or sheltering at the restaurant have since been taken into custody. The newspaper interviewed the owner of the restaurant, Semsettin Dursun, a Uighur who said he didnt know the suspect. He also condemned the attack on Turkey which had opened its arms to those who escaped China. Turkeys European Union affairs minister Omer Celik said the attack was carried out in an extremely professional way and that the assailant appeared to have received training in the Middle East. He said the attacker was using methods that avoid all modern intelligence techniques of tracking, including acting alone, not contacting anyone and not using technology. Turkish media reports claimed Tuesday that the suspects wife was in custody and had told police she didnt know her husband was linked to Islamic State. An eerie selfie video emerged of the alleged gunman on Tuesday, showing him silently touring Istanbuls most famous square. Funerals were held in Jordan, Lebanon, Israel and Turkey for the dead and on Wednesday, a Turkish Airlines jet carrying the bodies of two Indian citizens killed in the shooting landed in Mumbai. The bodies were received by a governing party lawmaker, and the victims relatives and friends. Bollywood film producer-realtor Abis Rizvis body was taken to his home in suburban Bandra for burial later Wednesday. The 49-year-old Rizvi wrote, produced and directed a Bollywood movie Roar: The Tigers of Sunderbans, in 2014 aimed at spreading awareness about tigers. The other Indian victim of the Istanbul attack was Khushi Shah, a 39-year-old fashion designer from Vadodara, a city in the western Indian state of Gujarat. Shahs body was flown to her hometown for cremation later Wednesday, the Press Trust of India news agency reported. Brazilian authorities were frantically searching for 126 violent convicts Wednesday, days after they escaped from a maximum-security prison in the northern city of Manaus during a riot in which 56 inmates were killed. The 17 hours of violence broke out Sunday between two gangs competing for control of the cocaine trade through the Amazon. It turned into a massacre on a scale seldom seen. Many of the dead were decapitated or cut into quarters by fellow inmates and thrown over prison walls. The Family of the North gang, which operates from prisons in Manaus, was responsible for most of the deaths, using machetes to slaughter rivals from the Sao Paulo-based First Capital Command gang, according to Sergio Fontes, the top security official in Amazonas state, where the Anisio Jobim prison complex is located. Advertisement Investigators said they discovered a network of tunnels under the prison floors that they believe was employed during the massacre and suggested that the killings were premeditated. In the days before the uprising, prison guards had come to believe that drug trafficking groups were smuggling in firearms, some of which were collected by police after the violence subsided. Authorities have released little information about the hunt for inmates who escaped, other than to say that 184 had escaped and that 58 had been caught. The state Secretariat of Public Safety published photos of 90 escapees. Most of the inmates at the prison had been convicted of murder, rape or violent gang activity. Remains were still being identified, suggesting that it is still unclear who escaped and who died. At the morgue in Manaus, families were lined up in the scorching sun waiting for the bodies of their relatives to be released. Suspects in the killings were being moved to high-security federal prisons while they await prosecution. Fearing more violence elsewhere, state authorities transferred 223 inmates from other prisons to an abandoned jail in Manaus to protect them from gang violence. Other states are now on high alert for signs of brewing violence or planned escapes. Riots in Brazils prisons are common, but the massacre in Manaus is among the bloodiest in decades. In 1992, police seeking to end gang violence at Sao Paulos Carandiru prison stormed the facility, leaving 111 inmates dead. An appeals court recently drew scorn from human rights groups for voiding the conviction of 73 officers who had participated. More riots occurred at various prisons across the country in 2002, 2010, 2011, 2014 and 2016, often attributed to overcrowding. The First Capital Command gang was protesting poor prison conditions when it took to the streets of Sao Paulo in 2006 and killed 40 police officers and penitentiary employees. An estimated 656,000 people are incarcerated in Brazils state prisons, which were designed for fewer than 400,000. The government has repeatedly promised to ease crowding but not managed to do so. With roughly 3,000 people sent to prison every month, the inmate population has increased by more than 160% since 2000. Before Sundays riot, the Manaus prison housed more than three times its capacity. Camila Nunes Dias, a sociology professor who specializes in prison violence, organized crime and public safety, said she was not surprised by the violence there. The conditions are terrible, degrading, inhumane and favor the growth of violence and the organization of crime, she said. Brazilian prisons are often managed by prisoners, which controls costs but leaves open the risk of conflict as various factions struggle for control, she said. Building more prisons without making other changes would not quell the violence, she said. The authorities want to give the impression that all this was a surprise and that they did not know that it could happen, she said. In fact, these tragedies are more than advertised and the conditions for them to happen are there, always present. The countrys justice minister, Alexandre Moraes, told reporters Wednesday that Amazonas state authorities knew of the possibility of a riot and prison break sometime between Christmas and New Year and had reinforced security at the Manaus complex. They had not relayed those concerns to the federal government, he said. President Michel Temer announced that he would meet Thursday with the attorney general and ministers of justice, defense, institutional security and transparency to discuss the penal system crisis. At the Vatican, Pope Francis prayed for the victims in his Wednesday Mass, saying he was pained and concerned and calling for prisons to be places of reeducation and places for reinsertion into society when sentences are completed. Langlois is a special correspondent. A disastrous run for equities has taken its toll on overall investment banking fees so far this year. Bankers are holding out for a pick up in the final quarter market conditions permitting Brazil's state-run oil company is expected to fall $2bn short of its goal to sell $15.1bn of assets by the end of the year All material is subject to strictly enforced copyright terms & conditions and cannot be repurposed or reproduced. 19882022 Latin American Financial Publications Inc. Find Out Why Dentists Advice To Cut Out The Cake Culture: People Beware If You Cannot Say No To Sweet At Work staff@latinoshealth.com By Surav Thakrar Jan 04, 2017 12:18 AM EST People should stop the office cake culture as it is a daily health hazard and everyone should stop it. Staff brings birthday treats for the celebration which is not good for health and they should find another alternative for it, experts have advised. Since some years, it has become a custom to offer birthday cake or sweet gifts to colleagues. Many staff brings their holiday leftover chocolates, biscuits and treats and shares with others. As written in Telegraph, National Obesity Forum says that 'A smile is better than a cake.' Faculty of Dental Surgery at the Royal College of Surgeons (RCS) has warned that in large offices, cakes and sweet have become a daily occurrence because of a large number of people and probability of having an event every day. This growing trend is contributing to the poor oral health and the obesity epidemic because of the daily sweet consume. There are many ways to celebrate special occasions, birthdays, holiday gifts or reward from the manager. These sweet treats might mean well but they are responsible for the obesity epidemic and poor oral health. This custom should be changed and people need to be aware of the hazard. There are many ways to celebrate than sweet. Everyone need a workplace or an office where staff members are aware of this risk and encourage healthy eating so that they stay away from sweet temptations. It is found that cake is mostly undeniable and everyone takes a piece of it whenever offered. As written in Mail Online, People should make combating cake culture in their workplace one of them New Year's resolutions for a healthier 2017. Studies say that nearly two-thirds of adults in Britain are overweight or obese and nearly 64K over 118s were admitted to hospital in 2016 because of tooth decay. Still, people spent about 200 million on cakes, biscuits, chocolates and sweets in the fortnight running up to Christmas. This sweet market is growing year by year and people doesn't seem to be aware of it. Tam Fry, from the National Obesity Forum, said that such food is neither a treat nor a reward. If someone wants to give the fellow workers anything then the best option is a smile, hug or both. Employees of big companies' shares cake almost daily. The faculty of dentists suggests that worker should consider buying low sugar alternatives and share the small amount. They advised that biscuits and cakes should be shared at lunch time, not any other time in the day. Employers should also choose low sugar alternatives like dry fruits and fruits and remove biscuits and cookies. Removing high sugar products in meeting and fewer items in canteen will help employees. Top dentists suggest that by cutting out the cake culture at work, employees will be encouraged to eat products with less sugar. These sweet treats at work increase the risk of obesity and teeth problem. Subscribe to the latinos health newsletter! India Offers Global Climate Solution With Two Groundbreaking Energy Projects Ever heard of baking soda being made out of carbon dioxide? Or solar panels lighting 150000 households? Two plants in Tamil Nadu, India are giving the world serious climate saving goals. Converting Carbon into useful chemical and Going Solar is the Indian way of fighting climate worries. The first plant situated in Tuticorin Tamil Nadu has been capturing CO2 from its own coal-powered boiler. According to the Guardian the firm will be gathering up to 60,000 tonnes of CO2 which will be used in manufacturing soda ash aka baking powder, manufacturing glass, sweetners, detergent and paper products. The firm's managing director, Ramachandran Gopalan is very positive about the whole prospect as he proudly claims the plant releases zero emissions. The idea behind this unique usage of carbon had first struck two young minds from Indian Institute of Technology in Kharagpur. Having found no financial contributors in India, they approached the UK government where the idea was appreciated and the two yIndians were offered grants and special entrepreneurship status. The firm known as Carbonclean has its Headquarters in London's Paddington district. It is being helped by another carbon researching organization from Bristol named Carbon8 which buys carbon to make aggregates. Some other researchers are also contributing in the process by working on making plastics and fuels from the waste CO2. In another related news, according to BBC News a massive solar firm providing power to 15000 homes is in operation just a few kilometers away from the Tuticorin carbon plant. The Kamuthi solar plant has been getting government subsidies for delivering solar power to 60 million homes by 2020 whereas looking to derive 40% of its energy from renewables by 2030. This plant iunder the supervision of Indian firm Adani is looking to create the largest coal mine in Australia which can provide power to almost 100 million energy starved people of India. As per their view, it is impossible to produce energy solely from renewables to cater a country as populated as India. China, EU and many ountries pledged their support to bring down emission levels to a minimum at the recently held Marrakech climate conference where interestingly India didn't made any tall claims. Despite underplaying their role as a climate concerned and responsible nation, the recent innovation puts India as one of the global leaders to tackle the universal issue of climate control. Subscribe to the latinos health newsletter! When one hears of ghosts, the first impression would be frightening. But that is not the case with the royalties living in the Drottningholm Palace in Sweden. Queen Silvia might have said that the ghosts roaming in the palace are quite friendly. Queen Silvia of Sweden stated that the palace where she lives in is haunted by ghosts. This is according to a documentary that will premiere on the nationwide television on Thursday. "There's a lot of history here. There are also little friends... the ghosts. They're all very friendly, but you sometimes feel like you aren't alone. Come and feel it for yourself, go around here when it is dark and the like. It's very exciting," Queen Silvia told a new SVT documentary about the building as reported by The Local Sweden. According to Queen Silvia living in old buildings for many eras evidently, strengthen up any person. She claims she is not a bit frightened of 'other' dwellers who already passed away whom she personally been in the presence of. Aside from the Queen, another Swedish royal like King Carl XVI Gustaf's sister, Princess Christina is certain that there are ghosts roaming the palace. She said in the program that there are indeed ghosts in all old houses and it would be odd if they will not have their presence felt through sounds and shapes. The princess added that in old houses there are surely stories of ghosts. Yahoo News reported that Drottningholm Palace is considered as one of UNESCO's world heritage building. It was built during the 1600s on Lovon Island in Stockholm. It became the permanent home of King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia. The 73-year-old Queen hails from a German businessman and a Brazilian woman. The king and queen got married 40 years ago making her the state's longest-serving queen. Amateur ghost hunters who have the guts to meet the 'friendly' ghosts can visit the palace. Drottningholm Palace is accessible to the public the whole year round. However, the southern wing will be restricted since it is solitary for the royals. Colombia passes on Wednesday accepted an amnesty regulation to defend hundreds of demobilizing Marxist guerrilla fighters from prosecution for minor crimes devoted in the course of the united states' 52-12 months conflict. The The amnesty also applies to contributors of u. S . A .'s army. It's far the first in a series of laws tied to the deal that will be sped via congress in hopes of reassuring rebels who are beginning to transport to big demobilization zones. A few 7,000 FARC warring parties are expected to lay down their palms over the subsequent six months.Rebels discovered responsible of great crimes like massacres, sexual violence or kidnapping will no longer fall under the amnesty and could as an alternative serve opportunity sentences along with land mine removal, to be determined with the aid of a unique courtroom. In a joint declaration on Wednesday, the FARC and the government stated they could set up how many rebels are not eligible for the amnesty through Jan. 30 at the present day. Different legal guidelines tied to the peace deal encompass rural reform, repayment to sufferers, removal of land mines and a United Countries-monitored cease-fireplace. The FARC will convert right into a political celebration below the accord. Rebels determined guilty of significant crimes along with massacres, sexual violence or kidnapping will no longer fall beneath the amnesty and could rather serve alternative sentences such as land mine removal, to be determined through a unique courtroom. After more than 50 years of struggle, Colombia's authorities and the left-wing guerrillas of the Modern Defense force of Colombia, Farc, have declared a definitive bilateral ceasefire and end to all hostilities. The talk of amnesty highlights one of the peace deal's early demanding situations: the need for congress to skip law imposing the accord and putting in place unique peace tribunals. The institution, capping four years of negotiations, a referendum rejection, closing-minute compromises and signing ceremonies Colombia's authorities has formally ratified a revised peace settlement with the FARC leftist rebellion. Leicester Citys Under-19s are set to embark on an exciting trip to Germany this week to participate in the prestigious Mercedes Benz Junior Cup in Stuttgart. - Leicester City U19s will this week travel to Germany to compete in the Mercedes-Benz Junior Cup - Trevor Peake's men will come up against Schalke, Rosenborg and RB Leipzig on the opening day - Matches will consist of two nine-minute halves and six-a-side teams at the Glaspalast Sindelfingen - Peake says the young Foxes are determined to do the Club proud against their illustrious opponents Leicester City Under-19s are preparing to embark on an exciting trip to Germany this week to participate in the prestigious Mercedes-Benz Junior Cup in Stuttgart. Under the guidance of Trevor Peake, the young Foxes will represent the Club in a gruelling two-day competition (6-7 January) which will see them line-up against the likes of FC Schalke, RB Leipzig, VfB Stuttgart, Rapid Wien and the South Korea Under-19s. Across the tournaments seven-year history, won by European giants Manchester United and Paris Saint-Germain in recent seasons, 99 teams from 39 countries have been represented in Stuttgart with the holders Rapid Wien hoping to overcome City this time around and retain their crown. With Leicester set to face Schalke on the opening day at the state-of-the-art Glaspalast Sindelfingen Arena on Friday 6 January, Peakes men will then line-up against Rosenborg later in the afternoon before an intriguing clash with RB Leipzig all on the first day of action. Peake, speaking before the squad fly out to Germany on Thursday afternoon, said: Were expecting the standard to be very high. Weve managed to look at some clips from years gone by and some of the quality weve seen has been very impressive. Itll be a real test for us but we are confident we can make an impact on the competition. There are so many different variables with trips like these and playing against opposition from across the continent. The City Academy manager also stressed the importance of learning lessons from the competitions unique set-up with recovery times and game management set to be pivotal if the Foxes are to be successful later this week. He added: Its the first time weve been invited to a tournament with this kind of format but it is similar to the Hong Kong Sevens in some respects. By the looks of the intensity of the matches, this will be a great test. We will need to be a lot cleverer about the way we approach the matches and we will have to look at recovery times between them because its so fast and furious. The Mercedes-Benz Junior Cup is just the latest international competition which the Club has been invited to this season and Peake, whose players have already benefitted from experience in the UEFA Youth League and a trip to Doha last year, acknowledged Leicester City's growing stature. For us, at Under-18s level, we do owe a big thank you to the First-Team for winning the Premier League last season, Peake continued. Weve been able to enjoy a host of wonderful opportunities both at home and abroad on the back of that success. We have to try and make the most of these opportunities and learn as much as we can from them. Competition information - U19 indoor football tournament - Participants: 8 x U19 teams (4 x national / 4 x international). - Group A: Schalke 04, RB Leipzig, Rosenborg Trondheim, Leicester City. - Group B: TSG 1899 Hoffenheim, VfB Stuttgart, Rapid Wien, U19 South Korea. Day one schedule* Preliminary round fixtures: 14.32 - Schalke vs Leicester City 14.55 - Leicester City vs Rosenborg 16.04 - Leicester City vs RB Leipzig 18.00 Intermediate round fixtures begin * Local time (GMT +1 hour) Make sure to keep informed of all the action from Germany on LCFC.com and LCFC TV over the coming days with reports, reaction and interviews set to follow. Faraday Future unveils FF91 with 1,050hp, 378-mile range Jan 4, 2017, 1:25am ET FF91 production is scheduled to kick off in 2018. California-based, Chinese-funded startup Faraday Future has traveled to the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Nevada, to introduce its very first production car. Named FF91, the close-to-production prototype takes the form of an aerodynamic crossover with a cutting-edge design characterized by smooth, simple lines and LED light bars on both ends. A lidar sensor located right below the windshield and two additional sensors neatly integrated into the roof hint at the FF91's autonomous capabilities. The FF91 rides on Faraday's modular Variable Platform Architecture (VPA) technology. The prototype displayed at the CES show is equipped with a multi-motor drivetrain that generates no less than 1,050 horsepower. That's enough to send the crossover from zero to 60 mph in 2.39 seconds, a figure that makes it one of the fastest cars on the planet. Electricity is provided by a 130-kWh lithium-ion battery pack located under the passenger compartment. It gives the FF91 a total driving range of 378 miles in ideal conditions. An on-board quick charger replenishes the battery pack in less than an hour. The pack was developed jointly by Faraday Future and LG Chem, and it's billed as the world's densest automotive battery. The FF91 is a high-end luxury car, so the cabin was developed around the rear passengers. The NASA-inspired rear seats offer industry-leading reclining angles, and the occupants can tap the windows to automatically dim them when additional privacy is required. The infotainment system was developed jointly with China's LeEco. Faraday Future's first car is brimming with futuristic features like a camera built into the B-pillar on the driver's side. The camera uses facial recognition technology to unlock the car and open the door when the user approaches the door, eliminating the need for a key. It also offers best-in-class high-speed internet, even when it's traveling at freeway speeds. Buyers who want to be among the first to take delivery of the FF91 can visit Faraday Future's website and place a refundable $5,000 deposit. In March, the first 300 reservation holders will be given the chance to upgrade to a launch model named Alliance Edition. Pricing information hasn't been revealed yet. However, an earlier report claims the model will retail between $150,000 and $200,000 when production begins in 2018. Of course, whether or not Faraday Future can keep its promises largely depends on its financial situation. Jan 4, 2017, 11:33am ET Ford, Toyota join forces to create single standard for in-vehicle apps Ford, Toyota and several other companies are pushing for a single, in-vehicle app solution. Ford and Toyota have announced the establishment of a new organization that will work toward a new open source standard for the development of smartphone applications for vehicles. Known as the SmartDeviceLink Consortium, the non-profit group also includes automotive partners Mazda, PSA, Fuji Heavy Industries and Suzuki. Elektrobit, Luxoft, and Xevo have joined on as the first supplier members; Harman, Panasonic, Pioneer and QNX have all signed letters of intent to join the group. The consortium is seeking to develop a single standard for smartphone-to-vehicle application design. Such a system would allow developers to create a single version of an app rather than several different versions for varying infotainment systems, which would lower both costs and development times. "Encouraging innovation is at the center of Ford's decision to create SmartDeviceLink, and this consortium is a major step toward that goal, said Doug VanDagens, global director, Ford Connected Vehicle and Services, and a board member of the consortium. "Consumers will win with new, innovative app experiences from increased collaboration and developer engagement. Shigeki Tomoyama, president of Toyota's Connected Company said, "Connectivity between smartphones and the vehicle interface is one of the most important connected services. Using SmartDeviceLink, we can provide this service to our customers in a safe and secure manner. We are excited to collaborate with many auto manufacturers and suppliers who share our view. The SmartDeviceLink technology is based on Ford's AppLink software, which was introduced in 2013. Last year Toyota announced that it would adopt Ford's open source app software; the first Toyota vehicles with SmartDeviceLink technology are expected to launch in 2018. Something went wrong, please try again later. Invalid email Something went wrong, please try again later. Subscribe today to get the latest headlines straight to your inbox with our free email updates Holiday firm All Leisure Group has collapsed - leaving hundreds of holidaymakers stranded at their destinations. The operator, which is based in Market Harborough and operates cruise lines Swan Hellenic and Voyages of Discovery, called off its New Year cruises at short notice. The Civil Aviation Authority is now helping to repatriate the 400 people who are currently abroad with the Atol-protected company. All holidaymakers will receive refunds. Andy Cohen, head of Atol at the CAA, said: "We understand this will be concerning news for anyone who has booked to travel with the company. "However, the Atol scheme exists for exactly this kind of situation and we are making immediate arrangements so all Atol-protected customers can claim full refunds as quickly as possible." All Leisure Group also owns Page and Moy Travel Group Holidays, which trades as Just You and Travelsphere, which also ceased trading. However, in a deal brokered by administrators at Grant Thornton, the Page and Moy business has been sold to G Adventures (UK) Ltd and bookings with Just You and Travelsphere will go ahead. The sale means around 200 jobs will be saved at the firm's Harborough headquarters. Twenty to 30 staff are thought to have been made redundant. Roger Allard, chairman of All Leisure Group, told trade paper Travel Weekly he is "very sorry" his business ceased trading, adding he had done everything he could to minimise the inconvenience for customers, creditors, agents and staff. "I am personally very sad and I apologise to everyone affected, but you can't keep putting more and more money into a bottomless hole when it's not working and you can't control things that are thwarting your efforts," he said. Mr Allard said a "perfect storm" of geopolitical events had made it impossible to carry on, leaving All Leisure "between a rock and a hard place". Swan Hellenic and Voyages of Discovery specialised in cruises for more mature guests to cultural and iconic destinations like the eastern Mediterranean, North Africa and the Black Sea. Mr Allard said: "Over the last few years, since the Arab Spring, it has been increasingly difficult to operate to these areas, either because of Foreign Office advice or a dampening of demand from consumers to travel to certain areas where we specialised." Grant Thornton, joint administrator at Eddie Williams, said: "Whilst I am extremely pleased to have concluded a sale of the Page and Moy business which safeguards the holidays and bookings for over 13,500 tours passengers and preserves 200 jobs, I am very disappointed that we have no alternative other than to close the remaining ALH operations. "The sale to G Adventures was particularly complicated and required extensive interaction with numerous worldwide parties and the licencing authorities during December and over the Christmas period. "However, the cruise operations have been significantly loss making over a number of years and the ongoing cost of funding these operations by the tours operations has created significant cash issues for the entire group." Grant Thornton is seeking buyers for several assets, including All Leisure Group's freehold headquarters in Market Harborough, Voyages of Discovery's Voyager cruise ship and other assets including brand names and databases. Mr Allard, who purchased All Leisure Group's Hebridean Princess cruise ship last year remains chairman of Hebridean Island Cruises Ltd. "I have various other interests in leisure businesses both in and outside of travel. I have been looking to step back for a while but ideally not in this way. I am personally extremely sad that this has happened," he said. Atol has set up a dedicated helpline, 0808 164 8810, for anyone concerned about their bookings. The ABTA customer helpline for All Leisure Holidays is 020 3758 8742. The helpline for employees of ALH should contact ERA Solutions on 01827 383 531. Two rural enterprise schemes for Laois have received 100k in grants between them, to boost jobs in the food and IT business sectors. Laois County Council won the funding from the REDZ (Rural Economic Development Zones) initiative, for a Fab Lab in Portarlington Enterprise Centre, and for a ten month Business of Food programme of workshops, mentoring sessions and events to be held around the county. The projects are designed to help Laois people in the food industry to improve their business. In Portarlington, a manufacturing unit beside the centre's communal office and reception area, will be converted into a training / hot-desking area, and will also be equipped with a Fab Lab (fabrication laboratory). The proposal is to re-orientate the focus of the centre to effectively meet the needs of the emerging digital economy, deputy CEO Kieran Kehoe said at the December council meeting. It is an excellent co-development, with Carlow ITs games development programme. The next step is 3D printing, he explained. The Business of Food program will be open to people thinking of starting a food business, as well as established food businesses who wish to improve the efficiency and profitability of their business. Last year the small Laois town of Rathdowney was chosen as the pilot of the REDZ scheme, and the 50k grant created half a dozen jobs there. Further back-up is promised for Rathdowney's fledgling businesses. Cllr John Joe Fennelly had asked for continued support, at the December council meeting. It created five or six jobs, its been fantastic, but is there a follow-up for towns who have been successful, to help them move on, he asked. Director of Services Kieran Kehoe agreed to follow up on the scheme. We may continue networking in the year ahead, for Rathdowney in particular, he said. He also congratulated the five Laois towns who competed in the Bank of Ireland National Enterprise Competition, praising the winner, Portarlington, and merit award winners Mountrath and Rathdowney. Nationwide, 5.3 million will be spent on REDZ initiatives, to stimulate economic development in rural towns and their hinterlands. This is all about empowering local communities to provide residents with opportunities, said Minister for Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, Heather Humphreys, announcing the scheme. The keys have been given to 15 people on Laois County councils housing list for new homes in Fruithill Manor in Graiguecullen, formerly one of Ireland's worst ghost estates. The council is to ask the developer to lease out 20 more homes in Fruithill, beside Carlow town, for Laois tenants on the waiting list. Director of Services over housing Gerry Murphy said he will be the first if the developer offers more houses . If these houses become available, and they may not, as the developer intends to privately let them, well be the first to ask for 20 more, he said. Cllr Ben Brennan wanted the council to buy the homes instead of leasing them. By all reports these are top class houses. We need them locally, we have families to fill them, we lost enough to Carlow, he said at the December council meeting. The tenants have moved in, its a great project, said Cllr Padraig Fleming, also asking about getting more houses down the road. I hope Carlow is told where to go, make sure youre on top of your game, he said. Cathaoirleach Cllr Tom Mulhall said that all six councillors in the Portarlington Graiguecullen municipal district were disappointed at the small allocation of 15 homes. We all agree and support you. We are going for the 20 for Laois, he said. In the first wave of houses leased to local authorities, Carlow County Council was given 45 homes in Fruithill, which is inside the Laois border in Graiguecullen. Fruithill was planned as one of the biggest estates in Laois. It was to have nearly 570 houses and 15 apartment blocks, in a 400 million development begun in 2007. Work was suspended in 2008 and the estate entrance was padlocked shut for the next six years. It was put up for sale for 1.25m in 2014. Irish acoustic folk rock band Hermitage Green will help kick off 2017 in style when they play the Dunamaise Arts Centre this Saturday, January 7. Formed in 2010 as a result of a spontaneous jam session between friends, 2016 was Hermitage Greens biggest year yet and there is no sign of the momentous growth for this band slowing. After signing to Sony Records Ireland, their debut studio album Save Your Soul was released in March to huge chart success. It is an album that captures their confidence and talent as superb musicians, their ability as a combined creative writing force and their varied musical backgrounds. Save your Soul showcases stadium-worthy expansive and riotous songs, while also delivering heartfelt and poetic ballads. Hermitage Green have built a dedicated legion of fans across the globe thanks to their captivating and unforgettable live set. Their unique arrangement of instruments include bodhran, djembe and dobro. Coupled with rhythmic guitar lines and banjo rolls all sitting on top of a dual percussive backbone and wrapped in powerful four part harmonies, Hermitage Green offers a truly original sound that captivates and intrigues every audience member. The show Hermitage Green have created is a fascinating one, and it is sure to hold anyones attention for its length. Following the success of Save Your Soul and a string of powerful performances Hermitage Green ended the summer of 2016 by playing the main stage at The Electric Picnic. On November 4 they played their biggest headline gig to date, taking to the stage of a sold out Olympia Theatre in Dublin. To end the year on a high note they embarked on a nationwide tour of dates where they travelled the length and breadth of the country. This a show not to be missed and once you experience one of their passionate, high energy live performances it will only leave you wanting more. Hermitage Green take to the stage of the Dunamaise Arts Centre at 8pm this Saturday. One not to miss. The annual Colleges Career Speed Dating event in Kildare Town Community School, which took place on Wednesday, December 22 last, has been hailed as a huge success again this year. A total of 27 past pupils returned to the school to share their college experiences with the present leaving Cert students. The event was organised by guidance counsellor Elizabeth Urell as part of College Awareness Month at the school. Past students shared their college experiences with the 6th year students, telling them about travel, accommodation costs, the transition to third level, their specific subjects and the ups and downs of daily life. Information that is not available in the prospectus is extremely helpful for students to hear especially from the perspective of some one from their community who has just started college, explained Elizabeth. A total of 12 colleges were represented on the day including UCC, DCU, TCD, NUIG, UL, IT Carlow, IT Tallaght, DIT and GMIT. According to Elizabeth, the idea of the event is a little like speed dating, in that if a pupil likes what he or she hears about a college then it could be a match and something to aspire to in Leaving Cert year. The teachers took photographs for the Wall Of Fame, and each (returning ) student was given a Lily O Briens Christmas Cracker as a thank you for participating in the event and sharing their experiences, she added. The event was followed by a cup of tea or coffee for all the participants. It is never too early to start reading to your child even do it from birth. That is the message behind Kildare towns library latest initiative which was launched recently. There was a great turn out of tiny tots at the launch and Kildare mascot Rua was there on Friday, December 16 last dressed up in his new festive gear. Local Cllr Suzanne Doyle welcomed everybody to the library and handed out goodie bags to all the participants. There has been a great take up of this initiative, she said. Remember books are full of places to go and people to meet. Emer McGinn from the Childrens Books Ireland then welcomed everybody including lots of babies and their parents to the launch and spoke about the importance of reading. It is never too early to start reading,she said. Simply having books in the home sends an important message. Reading to your preschool child develops early literacy skills and helps them prepare for learning to read once they reach primary school. Participants also heard that early literacy skills helps a child to develop listening skills and increases their attention span. It helps them to develop an interest in books and to see reading as a fun activity. It gives them an opportunity to explore their ideas and feelings and improves their social skills and their understanding of the world, she added. It helps foster their creativity and curiosity and it is a special time for you to cosy, cuddle up and have fun reading together. Paul Brady from Cill Dara Housing Association who are also involved in the scheme said that this is a pilot project. We hope to make it an annual event and it could be something that other libraries across Kildare could look at. There was a great up take here today and over all a great interest in the project. The book pack pilot is for babies from 0-1.5 years. It has kindly been made up by the county library and it is aimed on the parents and guardians to read to the children, where it is proven to have a positive cognitive development on the child even at this early age. Participants were reminded that it is free to join the library and it is best to let children choose their own books which they like best from the library. Children learn that reading can be fun and reading together could be a real treat instead of sweets. Parents and guardians were advised to be a reading role model and to have plently of books in the home and read them regularly. Pick a time when you are not stressed to find a comfortable spot and read together. A Kildare business woman experienced her first robbery in seven years in business when a man armed with a knife and stocking over his head robbed her premises in Main Street, Celbridge, around 5.00 pm on Tuesday evening. Gardai said a lone male entered the Freedom Travel shop with what was described as a knife. He ordered the two staff including owner, Ciara Mooney, into the back office and asked that they open a safe. He took items from the safe including an unknown amount of cash. The man then left. It is not known in what direction he went, whether on foot or otherwise. Ciara Mooney, who has owned Freedom Travel for seven years, had just returned from Austria and had went straight from the Dublin Airport to the office to relieve another member of staff. She and one other member of staff were present but no customers were present. She told the Leader that the man had a Dublin accident and was wearing a peaked cap, like a coalmans but black in colour. He had black tights over his head. The man seemed agitated and may have been on drugs, said Ciara, who has another branch at the Tesco Monread Shopping Centre in Naas. He told them: I dont want to hurt you girls, show me the the tills. He demanded that the safe be opened. She said he could not understand how little money there was. Unfortunately there was more than usual but normally there is hardly any because most business is done by cards now, she said. He then demanded wallets and the business cards were taken but quickly cancelled. She said however that no customers would suffer because of the raid. Ciara worked for Toolin Travel before setting up in business on her own. Regarding the role of drugs in such crime, she said that they need to tackle the problem from the ground up. In Portugal they made drugs legal and crime has gone down, I have read. Relieved at lack of injury to either herself or her staff member, she was glad there was two of them in the office at the time. Ciara was generous in spirit. There is good in everyone but when you mix drugs in, the nicest people can turn into demons. Gardai said no arrests have been made in relation to the incident. Last month, Liberal Democrat peer Kate Parminter allowed us to publish her Burntwood Lecture to the Institution of Environmental Sciences in which she talked about the challenges Brexit poses to the environment. Now the Institution has kindly said that we can publish some of their photographs of the event. During her lecture, Kate talked about incorporating legislation into UK law, establishing systems for compliance and enforcement, joining EU frameworks and improving on EU policy. She concluded: It should be clear that achieving this aim this vision of a government and society and economy fully committed to environmental goals will require an immense amount of persuasion. There will be many voices in favour of the first vision I set out of a deregulated cheap-labour economy which devalues nature and despoils the environment though of course they wouldnt describe it that way and they need countering with argument and facts and passion. In many ways the environmental movement in the UK by which I include all of us who care about the natural environment has had it relatively easy in recent years. The EU framework has been, mostly, a good one, and much of the argument and lobbying has taken place at a fairly technocratic level and mostly in Brussels, far away from public view. It was too easy, during the referendum, for the Leave campaign to paint all regulations emanating from Brussels as absurdly bureaucratic, or costly, or somehow un-British. At the same time the Remain campaign almost entirely failed to paint a positive picture of the EU, despite the fact that a substantial majority of people agree with the principle that countries need to cooperate in tackling environmental problems. We wont be able to rely, after Brexit, on the EU winning our battles for us. We will have to fight for every piece of environmental legislation, and demonstrate why it matters, not just for middle-class liberals like myself and, probably, most of you but for ordinary men and women, for the 52 per cent as well as the 48 per cent. We need to show how an ambitious climate policy is good for jobs and growth and prosperity across the country, through new renewable energy industries and electric car plants and home insulation, through stewardship of the land, through the revival of areas devastated by the end of traditional industries where there are no jobs and no hope. We need to show why protecting nature is good for peoples health and the economy. We need to show why cutting waste and sharing resources makes peoples lives better. I and my colleagues in Parliament will try to do all that. But we need your help. Scientists & practitioners like yourselves will have a crucial role to play, alongside businesses and campaigning NGOs and community groups and individual citizens. We need to take environmental arguments out of the technocratic closet and make them popular. We need to make sure that the government any government cant ignore the public desire for a better environment and a better life. And we need to win these arguments, for our childrens and our countrys future. In an article for the Telegraph (which the sub-editors did not headline in a particularly helpful way), Liberal Democrat MP for Orkney and Shetland Alistair Carmichael called on Labour moderates to work with others who share the aim of securing the UKs place in the single market and who want to see a successful economy which gives more money to invest in public services. First of all, he states that the party really is over for Labour: First, as this summers leadership election made clear, they do not even have a Neil Kinnock, let alone a Tony Blair. The Corbyn grip on Labour is stronger than ever, and so the party will continue to look inwards not outwards to voters. Secondly, Labour then could look to Scotland and the North for both raw numbers and talent. No longer. So as they view their prospects for 2017, Labour MPs face some unpalatable but necessary decisions. The Fabian estimate of Labour reduced to 150 seats may turn out to be optimistic. Its leader is more interested in ideological purity than winning elections, and, challenged by identity politics in its heartlands, Labour is as far from power as it was under Michael Foot. This time, however, there is no way back. Our first past the post electoral system long supported by Labour now threatens to consume them. Labour, he says, is a road block to progress. He calls on those in the Labour Party who dont agree with its current direction to work with us: Will Labour moderates seize the moment? Liberal Democrats, Greens, the Womens Equality Party and others who wanted a progressive modern Britain without attaching themselves to any individual party took the first tentative steps in the Richmond Park by-election and to some effect. Now we need moderate mainstream Labour politicians to do their part, by breaking away completely or working with us informally. Will they work with Liberal Democrats to maintain the most vital aspects of our relationship with Europe, notably our membership of the single market? Will they recognise that we need a successful economy to give our underfunded schools and hospitals the investment they need? And will they abandon the class-based, divisive politics of yesterday to represent all of Britain? You can read the whole article here. * Newshound: bringing you the best Lib Dem commentary in print, on air or online. The Scottish Government consults on all sorts of important things. At the moment, its consulting on expanding early learning and childcare in Scotland and on the best way to empower teachers. What could possibly be more important than that? How predictable. I dont expect the SNP to give up on their quest for independence, but do they really have to give it the top billing? The SNP take comfort from a poll which shows support for independence still pretty much where it was at the referendum but ignore that more than 50% of those asked really dont want to do it all over again. In the aftermath of the EU Referendum, it seemed like Nicola Sturgeon was building a pretty big tent to try to find a way forward for Scotland. Sadly, though, it seems that the SNP are unable to find a road that doesnt lead to independence whereas the Lib Dems are focused on keeping Scotland in the UK and the UK in the EU. If the SNP were to work with us, then we might well have the parliamentary numbers to ensure a key part of that a referendum on the Brexit deal. Willie Rennie called on them to do just that today: With all the problems the SNP Government faces it stills finds the time to drone on about independence. This Bill breaks the promise that the last referendum would be once in a lifetime. It also shows that the SNP are only using the European Union as a device to advance their independence obsession. If they were genuinely interested in the EU they would back the Lib Dems efforts for a Brexit Deal Referendum to keep the UK in the EU. The Liberal Democrats are the only party that is for Scotland in the UK and the UK in the EU. Will the SNP agree to Willies call? Perhaps they are reluctant because they fear the precedent it would set. In the unlikely event of Scotland voting for independence, a referendum on the exit deal from the UK would be expected if one took place on Brexit. And, of course, if there was a referendum on the Brexit deal and it ended up with the UK staying in the EU, their arguments for independence would be substantially diminished. Governments have to govern for the whole country, not just narrow party interests. Weve had enough of that from the Tories who put party before country all the time. These two parties seem to be using the same playbook so much of the time. The Tories have built on what the SNP did during the independence referendum. Alex Salmond then portrayed anyone who disagreed with independence as being against Scotland. Now senior Tories vilify anyone who criticises their general disarray on Brexit. The last thing Scotland needs is to have the SNP and Tories polarising the entire country. As Labour are pretty much finished, its down to the Liberal Democrats to lead the pro-EU, pro UK, progressive cause. There is nobody else who can do it. There is a big space in Scottish politics for us and we must do all we can to build support. The big test will come in May when every council seat in Scotland is up for election under STV. The Tories will be making a concerted effort to move forward, too. Recent council by-elections has seen their support growing, unlike in England where we are taking council seats off them all over the place. The Scottish Tories are well-funded and they are going for it. The Scottish Liberal Democrats have to counter that Tory advance and take seats off the SNP. Campaigning has been underway for a while in our key areas. In four months, we will know how successful we have been. * Caron Lindsay is Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and blogs at Caron's Musings THE FOUNDING president of the University of Limerick, Dr Edward Walsh, has described Chuck Feeney, the Irish-American philanthropist and former secret billionaire who has now signed his final cheque, as "the most remarkable man I have ever met." New Jersey born Feeney, 85, who was behind the concept of duty-free shopping in the 1960s, has given more than 1.5 billion to projects across Ireland via Atlantic Philanthropies (AP) over the past three decades. The last payment from AP has now been signed off, after Feeney pioneered the concept of 'giving while living', fulfilling his "life-long ambition" to give away his fortune of some 7.6 billion. UL has received more than any other Irish third-level institution - in excess of 170m - with Dr Walsh describing his first introduction to him in the late 1980s as "a wonderful stroke of good fortune". "It's probably understating it to say that he is the most remarkable man I ever met - living modestly and yet encouraging others in a variety of ways," he told the Limerick Leader. His first introduction to him came during the Troubles, and it formed the beginning of a long friendship, during a time when Dr Walsh led the fledging university from 1989, formerly the NIHE Limerick, for 28 years. "At the height of the IRA atrocities, after the Enniskillen bombing, Chuck Feeney came to Ireland. He was horrified at what he had heard, and saw education as the means of creating a better future for Ireland. "We had formed the Irish-American Partnership and received an anonymous gift. At the time, it seemed enormous - it was for 50,000 - and we were wondering who it was from. I met him, invited him down to Limerick. "He was a rather nondescript character, but when he came into my office it was clear that he had done an enormous amount of research and was amazingly well-informed about the issues in Ireland at the time, and the difficulties the IRA were creating. "He then arranged for me to visit Cornell University with him; one of the great Ivy League universities in the United States, and it was agreed that the president of Cornell would visit Limerick to sign a co-operation agreement, between NIHE Limerick and Cornell, just months before the NIHE was even established as a university [in 1989]. It soon become quite clear that we were interacting with a man with enormous and unusual abilities." A strict confidentiality clause applied for many years as he began donating millions of pounds to UL, with the first major construction on campus being the University Concert Hall, which Dr Walsh said left many in other institutions "dumb-founded" as to how UL had acquired such funds. "For many years, UL was the only university in Ireland to receive funding. He was hidden away in the Concert Hall building when it opened, and no one knew him or recognised him, so we had lots of fun together behind the scenes, in trying to keep his name from the local and national media. "Other people simply couldn't believe how we were in a position to develop a world class concert hall and the first on campus in the country, and that student residences were rising out of the ground, and laboratories were being built, especially in such lean and hungry years. Over time, the greater the jealousy grew - particularly in Cork and Galway," he said, with a laugh. Over the years, he said that Chuck has become a close family friend, along with his wife Helga, and they have often travelled to his home in Newport, county Tipperary. He recalled him coming in his front door and producing from underneath his raincoat a cheesecake he had bought in New York before he flew over. "Everyone knows that Chuck Feeney has given enormously and hugely financially, but he also has helped individuals and organisations in ways that are outside the realm of finance. It's great that he has lived to see the fruits of his efforts globally. We are all hugely fortunate to be associated with this wonderful man," he told the Leader. Even from its inception, on June 1, 1989, when the University of Limerick bill was brought through the Seanad, Feeney championed the UL cause, flying in crates of champagne from the United States that morning for a major celebration in Castletroy. Among the most recent projects to come to fruition, supported by AP, is the science-led Bernal Institute, with AP contributing more than 26 million towards the design of a new building, capital work and the recruitment of academic chairs. Chuck Feeney will long be remembered as one of the greatest philanthropists of our lifetime, said David Cronin, chief executive of the UL Foundation. The total figure gifted by AP to University of Limerick Foundation exceeds 170m and has been transformational to our campus, the city, our region, our country, our students and future generations, said Mr Cronin. UL president Don Barry said that Feeney helped UL to set greater goals than we could imagine for ourselves and to drive us on with the belief that anything is possible. Through his philanthropy the university has had the means to thrive and grow at a rapid rate," he said, with the UL campus growing exponentially in physical size during Chuck's involvement with UL. His deep commitment to the advancement and success of UL has led to the development of a young, energetic and enterprising university with a proud record of innovation in education, and excellence in research and scholarship, said president Barry, who is due to step down this May when his ten-year term comes to a close. He said that his generosity led to the development of iconic projects such as the Living Bridge, the Glucksman Library and the Graduate Entry Medical School, to name just a few. Through his phenomenal vision the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance, established in 1994, has been developed into a world-renowned academy and a global centre of academic and performance excellence, enhancing ULs role as a major centre of artistic and cultural creativity, he concluded. In 2012, UL joined with the eight other universities on the island of Ireland to honour philanthropist Feeney, with an honorary doctorate of laws the first time such an honour has been conferred jointly by all the universities. He also provided funding towards the 2m residence for the universitys presidents residence on campus, which was a source of controversy at the time and dubbed lavish and extravagant. Milford Care Centre in Castletroy, which provides palliative care, and the Limerick-based support agency for all migrants in the Mid-West, Doras Luimni, have also been recipients from the former so-called secret billionaire. Milford Care Centre received some 5.4m from Atlantic Philanthropies over a three-year period. Mary Immaculate College received 407,000 from Atlantic Philanthropies in 2001 for a project to address disruptive pupil behaviour in primary schools in disadvantaged areas. In its 35-year lifetime, AP has invested 7.6 billion in philanthropy, much of it to construct university and hospital buildings and medical research facilities around the world, especially in the US, Ireland, Vietnam, Australia and South Africa. At a ceremony in New York last month, Chuck and his foundation approved a final grant of $7 million (6.7 million), to his university, Cornell, in upstate New York, which was the recipient of his first donation in 1982. A CALL has been made on Limerick City and County Council to install closed circuit cameras in parts of Galvone. It comes after the southside area came bottom of the influential Irish Business Against Litter (Ibal) anti-litter league, which was released on Tuesday. The area, which includes an industrial estate, Kennedy Park, Janesboro and OMalley Park, was ranked 40th out of 40 towns, cities and areas surveyed across Ireland. The judges said the area had suffered from long term abuse and neglect from an environmental point of view, criticising the condition of the Galvone Industrial Estate and OMalley Park. Now, local activist Sarah-Lee Kiely, Janesboro, has called on the local authority to take action. And she also said representatives of Ibal which appoints An Taisce to carry out the survey are disingenuous to criticise the area on national radio, rather than work with the council to solve the issue. They have targeted Galvone again. I think they are clever in what they do. Butto use that area to say Limerick or Galvone is not clean is unjustified. When are people going to be going there on business? To use it in a tourist framework isnt fair. They are dragging down the name of the area, she said. Sarah, who ran in the local elections for Fine Gael in 2014, said the survey gives a false impression of Galvone. Although she admitted there are some issues in the area. The council needs to put cameras where the blackspots are. That would be the immediate need. I know in other parts of our area, they were having hassle with illegal dumping. But they put cameras up, and it stopped and it stopped quickly, she said, The fact of the matter is, in this area, we do not have a public representative. There is no-one with a voice in our area, so how are we going to get these things sorted out? Limerick City as a whole slipped 13 places in the twice-yearly league, while Kildare was named the tidiest town in Ireland yesterday lunchtime. A COMMUNTY is in mourning after an up-and-coming rugby player was found dead in bed at his home in Raheen in Limerick. Ogie Barrett, 17, who played rugby for Old Crescents under-18s, and was in fifth year at Crescent College Comprehensive, was found in the early hours of New Years Day by his devastated mother Ita. The youngster has been described as great fun with a fantastic sense of humour by Helen ODonnell, who chairs the board of management at the school. Meanwhile, Old Crescent, where he lined out, has said a veil of sadness hangs over the club. Although the cause of death has yet to be determined, it is believed Ogie whose family live on Church Road, Raheen may have lost his life to Sudden Adult Death Syndrome. He died 'suddenly and peacefully at home'. It is the second tragedy to have befallen the family after his father Ray died suddenly almost three years ago. Ogie will be laid to rest after Requiem Mass in Raheen Church at 12 noon today, while his school will remain closed. Ms ODonnell said: The school family is devastated by this. Its just so shocking and so very very sad. We are shocked and saddened by such a sudden death at a young age. Its something the school community has not had to deal with in a long number of years. Many of Ogies schoolmates learnt of the devastating news while on a ski-trip in Italy and school principal Karin Fleming is returning to be present at the funeral, which will be led by chaplain Fr Jim Maher. The school community also came together on Bank Holiday Monday to say prayers for the teenager. He was a very quiet boy, a very good boy. He never caused his mother an ounce of trouble, or the school for that matter. He was very highly regarded, great fun, and had a fantastic sense of humour. He was a witty boy, and will be sadly missed, Ms ODonnell added. Ogie is survived by mum Ita, brothers Joe and Paul, aunts Nora, Jacinta, Kay and Jill; Paul's fiancee Aoife and Joe's girlfriend Kayleigh, cousins and friends. THE number of patients being treated on trolleys at University Hospital Limerick has hit record heights once again, with the figure standing at 66 this Wednesday. UHL broke the national record for overcrowding on November 8, 2016, when there were also 66 patients treated on A&E trolleys and on additional trolleys or beds in wards in the Dooradoyle facility. According to figures released by the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation this Wednesday, there are again 66 patients being treated on trolleys at UHL. The hospital was frequently the worst hospital in the country for overcrowding in 2016, with more than 8,000 patients stuck on trolleys for treatment. This was close to 2,000 people more than the second busiest hospital at Beaumont. The previous record-holder of the most overcrowded A&E was Our Lady of Lourdes, Drogheda, with 58 patients in October 2011. In a statement issued to the media on Tuesday, a spokesperson for UL Hospitals Group said that it was "exceptionally busy" festive period and noted that the ED in UHL was one of the busiest in the country with over 60,000 attendances annually. "Traditionally, average attendances at the ED have been approximately 150 over a 24-hour period from Mon Fri and 120 per 24 hours at weekends. On three consecutive weekdays last week (27th, 28th and 29th Dec), the daily attendance figures ranged between 180 and 211 patients and this pattern has continued into this week, this can unfortunately cause delays to ambulances arriving at UHL. This evening (Tuesday) there are 17 adults waiting in ED for a hospital bed." WILLIE ODea has paid tribute to former Mayor of Limerick Tony Bromell as a man of great intellectual ability following his passing. Mr Bromell, from Thomondgate and who lived on the Ennis Road, was a former Senator and councillor in Limerick for 17 years. He was mayor from 1982-3 and was 84 years of age when he died this Tuesday night. He was integrally involved in the establishment of the University of Limerick and was the last surviving member of the executive committee formed to lobby for the institution, receiving a Limerick Person of the Month award in 2012 for the groups endeavour. Mr Bromell was also involved in the setting up of the college that would later become LIT and was registrar in Mary Immaculate College for almost thirty years, seeing the student population grow from 200 in 1967 to 1,700 in 1998, when he retired. Mayor of Limerick Kieran OHanlon said he was a great servant of Limerick. His passion and commitment to education in Limerick in particular is unsurpassed, said the Mayor. Deputy ODea said: When I was first nominated to run back in June 1981 he canvassed very successfully for me in old stomping ground around Thomondgate. He was a native of the area and helped me get an exceptionally good vote there as he knew everyone. He was a man of great intellectual ability in national affairs and of course in the history of Limerick. When he was mayor you were very proud that he was representing Limerick, whether it was talking to tourists or investors thinking of setting up here. He was a faithful servant of the party (Fianna Fail) for all his life. The only area where we differed over the years was on the subject of Charles J. Haughey, he was a very big supporter, I took a different view, but we could agree to differ on the matter," he added. Deputy O'Dea said that many people would not have realised the contribution he made at national level, particularly his advice to former Education Minister and now fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin, when he was in office. Micheal often consulted Tony on different policies on national level and made a big contribution not only to Limerick but to the country, he explained. The Fianna Fail leader said in a statement that he was "deeply saddened" to hear of Mr Bromell's passing. "His contribution to public life and in particular to the area of higher education was felt at every level. His commitment to Limerick City, its public life and its promotion was well known, and he was respected across the political spectrum. "As Minister for Education, I trusted his wise counsel and the 30 years he spent as Registrar of Mary Immaculate College ensured that his opinions were based on real life experience. "I want to extend my condolences, and the condolences of the Fianna Fail organisation, to Tonys children, extended family, and the wider community in Limerick," added Deputy Martin. Tony was the beloved husband of the late Aine (ni Thuathaigh) and loving father of Una, Declan, Fionnuala and Eamonn. Deeply regretted by his family, sister Anne (Beacom), sons-in-law Con and Ultan, daughter-in-law Mairead, grandchildren Eanna, Conor, Aine, Eva, Ailbhe and Oisin, relatives and friends. Reposing at Griffins Funeral Home on Friday from 5.30pm. Removal at 7.30pm to Our Lady of the Rosary Church. Funeral on Saturday after 11 am Mass to Mount Saint Oliver Cemetery. Something went wrong, please try again later. Invalid email Something went wrong, please try again later. Sign up to our free email alerts for the top daily stories sent straight to your e-mail The Flying Scotsman is steaming through Lincolnshire today and will seen in Lincoln, the Sleaford area and the south of the county. However, the timings of when the famous loco will be making her appearances have been changed from those advertised. The train is now due to reach Lincoln at 11.55am on Saturday, June 24, pulling the Scarborough Flyer from Yorkshire to London King's Cross. It is expected to pass non-stop through Metheringham at 12.11pm and then Ruskington, before taking the avoiding line east of Sleaford at about 12.24pm. The service will then travel through Helpringham, Donington, Spalding to rejoin the East Coast Mainline at Peterborough, arriving in London at 3.21pm. On November 30, 1934, the Flying Scotsman took part in running speed tests between Leeds and King's Cross, during which it reached 100mph. It was the first time that speed had been recorded in the UK. May 3, 2021, 1 AM A 1946 souvenir sheet of one stamp issued by the Second Corps of exiled Polish officers and soldiers in World War II, and printed in the wrong color, sold for $690 at the Raritan Stamps auction in early December. A 20-kopeck Russian telegraph stamp of 1866, one of only 14 known and the only one with a plate flaw that caused some missing shading, realized $28,750 at the Raritan Stamps auction held in Dayton, N.J., in early December. Russian-area cinderellas offered by Raritan Stamps at a sale in early December included an album page with a set of 1890s playing-card and tobacco license stamps. It sold for $747.50. By Matthew Healey, New York Correspondent Raritan Stamps held an auction Dec. 9-10 in Dayton, N.J. The sale featured a substantial number of lots from a collection of Russian-area cinderellas, which are stamps and labels produced for anything but postage: revenues, fees, propaganda or other purposes. One of the more eye-catching lots was an album page containing a splendid set of Russian bicolored playing-card and tobacco license stamps from the 1890s. All but one were overprinted Specimen. Fresh and charming, the lot sold for $747.50, including the 15 percent buyers premium levied by Raritan on all lots. A very scarce 20k Russian telegraph stamp of 1866, with an octagonal design featuring the words Telegraph/20 kopecks 20 in Cyrillic letters around a coat of arms, showed a small flaw on its printing plate that resulted in a bit of missing shading in the top right corner. Connect with Linns Stamp News: Sign up for our newsletter Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter Just 14 examples of this stamp survive, and the one with the flaw is probably unique, according to the firm. With full original gum, hinged, it sold for $28,750. Like postage stamps, which prepaid letters, telegraph stamps paid the sending of telegrams, which was a government monopoly in many countries. The Raritan sale also included items from the Jay Carrigan collection of stamps and postal history from World War II displaced-persons and prisoner-of-war camps. During the war, tens of thousands of exiled Polish officers and soldiers formed a force known as the Second Corps, which fought extensively in Italy and was highly regarded by the other Allies. Numbering over 100,000 men at its peak, the corps issued a number of stamps and souvenir sheets, although their purpose seems to have been primarily philatelic rather than postal. Not listed in the Scott Standard Postage Stamp Catalogue, the issues can be found in Italian catalogs such as Sassone under the heading Corpo Polacco. Variously inscribed Poczta Polowa 2 Korpusu (Field Post of the Second Corps) or Poczta Osiedli Polskich w Italii (Post of Polish Settlements in Italy), the stamps commemorate the corps battles and iconography. The souvenir sheets generally show a hefty charity surcharge. One of the souvenir sheets appears to have been printed in a wrong color: rose red. The 3-lira+247-lira sheet of one, with a stamp showing a pair of soldiers superimposed on a map of prewar Poland (Sassone BL3A), was issued in 1946. Mint and never hinged, it sold for $690. Another lot, a collection of 82 Polish Corps stamps, seven souvenir sheets and three covers, presumably philatelic, including a number of proofs and unlisted varieties, went for $2,530. Jenny Invert last seen in 1918 to be auctioned Jan 3, 2017, 12 PM Out of circulation for 99 years, the Position 79 Inverted Jenny airmail error has resurfaced and will be auctioned Feb. 15 by Leslie Hindman Auctioneers in Chicago. By Michael Baadke A treasured error stamp that seemingly vanished after its discovery 99 years ago is making a dramatic reappearance. Leslie Hindman Auctioneers reports that it will offer the Position 79 1918 24 Inverted Jenny airmail stamp during a public auction taking place Feb. 15 at the firms galleries in Chicago. The stamp has been authenticated by the Philatelic Foundation, according to a Jan. 3 press release, and is hinged, according auction gallery president and CEO Leslie Hindman. The stamp is part of a collection that has been in the same family for generations, Hindman told Linns Stamp News. The family has asked to remain anonymous, she added. The stamp is listed with a presale estimate of $200,000 to $300,000. It is part of a larger collection that includes a number of other important rarities that will be offered during the Feb. 15 auction; among them, a block of four U.S. 1901 4 Pan American Inverts (Scott 296a) described as "unknown," and a single 2 invert stamp from the same Pan-American set (295a). The collection was preserved as a family heirloom, Hindman said, and the current owners are not collectors. Catalogs for the upcoming sale are available for $10 at the gallery or $15 by mail. The print catalog can be ordered by telephoning 312-280-1212. The Inverted Jenny (United States Scott C3a) is the most famous U.S. stamp error, a 24 airmail stamp printed in carmine and blue with the central image of the Jenny biplane incorrectly printed upside down. One sheet of 100 error stamps was purchased at a Washington, D.C., post office in 1918 by collector William T. Robey; he sold his prize soon after to Eugene Klein, a well-known Philadelphia stamp dealer. Klein subsequently sold the intact sheet of 100 stamps to the millionaire collector Col. E.H.R. Green, who had Klein break up the sheet into singles and blocks. Green kept some of the stamps and sold others, and efforts have been made to track the history of each stamp from the sheet ever since the story began nearly a century ago. Two stamps from the sheet of 100 seemingly have no history: Position 49 and Position 79. Both are listed with the simple phrase No record in the 1986 book Jenny! by George Amick, one of the most authoritative studies of the history of the prominent stamp error. A website devoted to the Inverted Jenny was launched last year by Robert A. Siegel Auction Galleries in New York City. The Jenny site pictures 98 of the 100 error stamps, with blank spaces at positions 49 and 79. Hindman told Linn's that the consigning family does not have historical information about how their Jenny Invert stamp was acquired. Philatelic Foundation curator Lewis Kaufman and executive director Larry Lyons led the process of expertizing the Jenny Invert that will be auctioned. Based on its extensive electronic and photographic records of this rarity, the PF was able to certify that the Jenny Invert was genuine and came from position 79 in the sheet of 100, one of only two positions which have not been seen in the marketplace since the stamp was issued almost 100 years ago. Just nine months ago, the Philatelic Foundation authenticated another long-lost Jenny Invert, the Position 76 stamp that had been stolen in 1955 when it was part of the McCoy block of four. The block was purloined from an American Philatelic Society exhibit in Norfolk, Va., and turned up in Northern Ireland where it was found among items presumably purchased in a flea market setting years ago. The stamp was returned to the rightful owner, the American Philatelic Research Library, by the finder, Keelin ONeill, during a public event at World Stamp Show-New York 2016. The Foundation notes that it has issued certificates of authenticity for 85 of the 100 stamps from the original Jenny Invert error sheet. The Philatelic Foundation is a not-for-profit education institution chartered in 1945. Its many activities include expertization and authentication of stamps and covers. For more information about the foundations activities, contact the Philatelic Foundation, 341 W. 38th Street, 5th Floor, New York, NY 10018; or visit online. ___________________________ This story was updated Jan. 4, 2017. 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. A secret history Avro Canada VZ-9AV Avrocar at the National Museum of the United States Air Force. (Image credit: U.S. Air Force) Government and military secrets can range from terrifying to amusing to downright absurd, but most are nothing short of intriguing. From a secret U.S. Air Force project to build a supersonic flying saucer to a now-famous World War II-era research program that produced the first atomic bombs to a plan to train domesticated cats to spy on the Soviet Union, here are 22 declassified military and CIA secrets. Project 1794 Declassified designs show the U.S. Air Force's attempts to build a flying saucer capable of both hovering and going supersonic. (Image credit: National Archives) In late 2012, the U.S. Air Force declassified a trove of documents, including records of a secret program to build a flying saucer-type aircraft designed to shoot down Soviet bombers. The ambitious program, called Project 1794, was initiated in the 1950s, and a team of engineers was tasked with building a disc-shape vehicle capable of traveling at supersonic speeds at high altitudes. The declassified documents reveal plans for the plane to reach a top speed of Mach 4 (four times the speed of sound), and reach an altitude of 100,000 feet (30,480 meters). The project's estimated cost was more than $3 million, which in today's dollars would be more than $26 million. Project 1794 was canceled in December 1961 after tests suggested the flying saucer design was aerodynamically unstable and would likely be uncontrollable at high speeds (let alone supersonic speeds). Project Iceworm In the 1960s, the U.S. Army launched a secret program to build mobile nuclear missile launch sites under the Greenland ice sheet. The operation was codenamed "Project Iceworm," but operated under a cover research project called "Camp Century." (Image credit: Frank J. Leskovitz In the 1960s, the U.S. Army embarked on a secret mission to build a series of mobile nuclear missile launch sites under the Greenland ice sheet. The objective was to house medium-range missiles close enough to strike targets within the Soviet Union. The program was codenamed Project Iceworm, but to test its feasibility, the Army launched a cover research project called "Camp Century" in 1960. Under this guise, engineers built a network of underground buildings and tunnels, including living quarters, a kitchen, a recreation hall, infirmary, laboratories, supply rooms, a communications center and a nuclear power plant. The base, which was kept secret from the Danish government, operated for seven years. The program was canceled in 1966 after shifting ice created unstable conditions. Today, the crushed remains of Project Iceworm are buried beneath Arctic snow. Project MK-ULTRA During the Cold War, the CIA initiated Project MK-ULTRA, a secret and illegal human research program to investigate potential mind-control systems. The program's operators examined the effects of hypnosis, biological agents and drugs, such as LSD and barbiturates, on human subjects. Some historians suggest the program was designed to develop a mind-control system that could be used to "program" the brains of potential assassins. [The 10 Craziest Military Experiments] In 1973, then-CIA director Richard Helms ordered that all documents from Project MK-ULTRA be destroyed, but a formal investigation into the program was launched several years later. The project became the basis for several movies, such as "The Manchurian Candidate" and "The Men Who Stare at Goats." Area 51 An aerial view of Area 51 and Groom Lake in Nevada. (Image credit: Public domain) Almost no other site has garnered as much attention from conspiracy theorists and UFO-enthusiasts as Area 51, a remote desert tract near Groom Lake in Nevada, roughly 83 miles (134 kilometers) northwest of Las Vegas. The intense secrecy surrounding the base sparked peoples' imaginations, and Area 51 was commonly linked to paranormal activities, including pervasive theories that suggested Area 51 hid aliens and UFOs. In July 2013, declassified documents from the CIA acknowledged the existence of Area 51 for the first time, and confirmed that the top-secret site was used to test a variety of spy planes, including the well-known U-2 reconnaissance aircraft. While Area 51, which operates as a detachment of Edwards Air Force Base in neighboring California, has never been declared a covert base, the research and activities conducted there were some of the nation's most closely guarded secrets. Project Grudge Illustration of a flying saucer. (opens in new tab) | Shutterstock (opens in new tab) ) (Image credit: Fer Gregory While Area 51 was not a top-secret base designed to study extraterrestrials, the U.S. Air Force did study the existence of UFOs. Project Grudge was a short-lived program launched in 1949 to study unidentified flying objects. The mission followed an earlier program, known as Project Sign, which published a report in early 1949 stating that while some UFOs seemed to be actual aircraft, there was not enough data to determine their origins. [Top 10 States for UFO Sightings] Critics of Project Grudge said the program solely set out to debunk UFO reports, and very little actual research was conducted. In his book on the topic, Edward J. Ruppelt, Air Force Captain and director of Project Grudge, wrote: "[I]t doesn't take a great deal of study of the old UFO files to see that standard intelligence procedures were not being followed by Project Grudge. Everything was being evaluated on the premise that UFOs couldn't exist. No matter what you see or hear, don't believe it." Operation Paperclip Dr. Wernher von Braun (center) describes the Saturn Launch System to President John F. Kennedy (right, pointing). NASA Deputy Administrator Robert Seamans stands to the left of von Braun. (Image credit: NASA) In September 1946, President Harry Truman authorized a program called Operation Paperclip, which aimed to lure scientists from Nazi Germany to the United States following World War II. Officials at the Office of Strategic Services (the predecessor to the CIA) recruited German scientists to America to aid the country's postwar efforts, which would also ensure that valuable scientific knowledge would not end up in the hands of the Soviet Union or the divided East and West Germany. Operation Paperclip's most famous recruit was rocket scientist Wernher von Braun, who would go on to mastermind NASA's Apollo moon missions. Operation Northwoods Fidel Castro arrives MATS Terminal, Washington, D.C. (Image credit: Warren K. Leffler, Library of Congress) The tense relationship between the United States and Cuba during the Cold War led the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to hatch a slew of bizarre schemes aimed at taking down the Castro regime. While the goal of most of these covert operations (such as Operation Mongoose) was to assassinate Fidel Castro himself, other plans aimed to incite an all-out war between the U.S. and Cuba, experts have said. In 1998, the National Security Archive (NSA) a non-governmental organization that publishes information made available through the Freedom of Information Act posted declassified documents related to Operation Northwoods. The scheme, dreamed up in 1962 by the Joint Chiefs of Staff (uniformed members of the U.S. Department of Defense who advise the president and others), involved committing acts of violence against U.S. and Cuban civilians and then blaming those acts on the Cuban government, according to the NSA documents. These acts, which included faked terrorist attacks in U.S. cities, the hijacking of planes and the sinking of boats full of Cuban emigres en route to the U.S., would then be used to justify a war with Cuba, according to the documents. The Kennedy administration recognized the folly of Operation Northwoods and rejected it, according to news reports. Manhattan Project The only color photograph available for the Trinity blast, taken by Los Alamos scientist and amateur photographer Jack Aeby from near Base Camp. As Aeby later said, "It was there so I shot it." (Image credit: Jack Aeby) One of the most well-known secret research programs is the Manhattan Project, which eventually produced the world's first atomic bombs. The project began in 1939, and was cloaked in secrecy as physicists investigated the potential power of atomic weapons. From 1942 to 1946, Major General Leslie Groves of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers led the Manhattan Project. The first nuclear bomb was detonated at 5:30 a.m. on July 16, 1945, during the so-called Trinity test at the Alamogordo Air Base, 120 miles (193 km) south of Albuquerque, N.M. The explosion created a mushroom cloud that stretched 40,000 feet (12,200 m), and the bomb's explosive power was equivalent to more than 15,000 tons of TNT. A month after the Trinity test, two atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan in the waning stages of World War II. To date, the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki remain the only uses of nuclear weapons in war. Operation Gladio Arrival ceremony for Giulio Andreotti, President of the Council of Ministers of the Italian Republic, April 17, 1973. (Image credit: National Archives and Records Administration) During the Cold War, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, or NATO, developed a classified plan for keeping Europe "safe" in the event of a Soviet invasion. The plan, known as Operation Gladio, called for the formation of secret armies or "stay-behind" organizations in many NATO countries, including Italy, Belgium and France, according to declassified documents. The mission of the secret armies was simple: Prepare for a potential communist takeover and lead an armed resistance should such a takeover occur. In some countries, "preparing" for Soviet invasion included espionage and the hoarding of ammunitions. And these clandestine armies weren't just kept secret from the Soviet Union. High-ranking government officials in countries where the military forces operated were sometimes not aware of the armies' existence. Italian Prime Minister at the time, the late Giulio Andreotti divulged information about Italy's secret Cold War army (known as Gladio) in 1990, becoming the first leader of a NATO country to publicly acknowledge one of these forces. Declassified documents related to NATO's stay-behind armies are accessible via The Black Vault, a website that makes declassified documents available to the public. My Lai Massacre Unidentified Vietnamese women and children before being killed in the My Lai Massacre. (Image credit: Public Domain) In March 1968, American soldiers murdered hundreds of unarmed civilians in the South Vietnamese hamlet of My Lai, according to accounts of the massacre that describe harrowing killings of at least 300 women, children and elderly people. Army officials managed to cover up the massacre for a year before an investigative journalist with the Associated Press (AP) brought the atrocity to the attention of the American people in November 1969. In light of news reports, an official inquiry was made into the events at My Lai and was concluded in March 1970. The inquiry resulted in criminal charges against 14 U.S. Army officers, all but one of whom were acquitted for their crimes. Declassified documents associated with the inquiry are available from the Library of Congress. In the wake of the My Lai massacre, the Pentagon established a task force known as the Vietnam War Crimes Working Group, which investigated incidents similar to the killings at My Lai. That group compiled more than 9,000 pages of documents detailing crimes by U.S. troops during the Vietnam War, many of which were declassified during the 1990s. These and other declassified documents regarding Vietnam War crimes can be accessed through the National Archives. President-elect Donald Trump joins a rally protesting the Iran nuclear deal on the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol on Sept. 9, 2015, in Washington, D.C. Nobel laureates and other top scientists are imploring Donald Trump to keep the Iran nuclear deal intact when he becomes president. In an open letter, 36 scientists including one who helped design the first hydrogen bomb asked the president-elect to preserve the deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). "The JCPOA does not take any options off the table for you or any future president," the scientists wrote. "Indeed it makes it much easier for you to know if and when Iran heads for a bomb. It provides both time and legitimacy for an effective response." [The 10 Greatest Explosions Ever] The Iran deal The nuclear deal was announced in 2015. According to the deal, the United States and five other major nations would lift some sanctions against Iran if the country began dismantling its nuclear-weapons program. According to the White House, by Jan. 16, 2016, Iran had shipped 25,000 pounds of enriched uranium out of the country, dismantled two-thirds of the centrifuges used to enrich uranium, disabled its heavy water reactor and allowed unprecedented international monitoring. The goal was to increase the time it would take Iran to make a nuclear bomb from a few months to at least a year. In their open letter, the scientists touted the agreement as a success. "The JCPOA has dramatically reduced the risk that Iran could suddenly produce significant quantities of nuclear-weapon materials," they wrote. Critics of the Iran deal argue that it would at best delay Iran, not prevent it from acquiring nuclear capabilities. Trump's campaign rhetoric was even more pointed. In September 2016, for example, he said at a town hall in Virginia Beach that the deal was "the highest level of incompetence." Scientist signatories The organizer and first signatory on the letter is Richard Garwin, a physicist who designed the first hydrogen bomb built in 1952. Garwin is now an IBM Fellow Emeritus. The letter was also signed by physicist Robert Goldston of Princeton University, who has worked on a process to verify nuclear disarmament (opens in new tab) without requiring knowledge of classified information. Another signatory, nuclear scientist Siegfried Hecker of the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, once directed the weapons lab at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico and has devoted his research to nuclear security. The signers include Nobel laureates, winners of the most prestigious prize in the sciences. Signer Philip W. Anderson won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1977 for his work on "the electronic structure of magnetic and disordered systems." Other signers: Leon Cooper won the physics prize in 1972 for developing a theory of superconductivity; Jerome Friedman, a particle physicist, won the prize in 1990 for work that informed the quark model of particle physics; and Sheldon Lee Glashow was a 1979 winner for work on the interactions between elementary particles. Other Nobel laureates on the signatory list were David Gross, who was awarded the physics prize in 2004, and Burton Richter, who won in 1976. Other notable names on the signatory list include Freeman Dyson, a physicist famous for the concept of the "Dyson sphere," or an artificial biosphere around a star built by intelligent extraterrestrials; Philip Coyle, the former associate director for National Security and International Affairs in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy; and Allison Macfarlane, a former commissioner of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Original article on Live Science. Digging up the past Built for the pharaoh Khufu about 4,500 years ago, the Great Pyramid at Giza is considered a wonder of the ancient world. (Image credit: Nina Aldin Thune, CC Attribution 2.5 Generic) Archaeologists will continue to dig up the past in 2017. But what can we expect them to uncover? Four out of the five predictionsthat Live Science made at the end of 2015 about major discoveries in 2016 came true. Read on to see whose bones and which major artifacts are most likely to be revealed in the year ahead. Iraq heritage emerges from ashes Neanderthal remains were found, along with a plinth of sediment, in Shanidar Cave in Iraq. (Image credit: Photo courtesy of Graeme Barker ) An Iraqi-Kurdish army is in the process of retaking Mosul, the last major city held in Iraq by the Islamic State group (also known as ISIS, ISIL or Daesh). In addition to killing and displacing hundreds of thousands of people, the terrorists embarked on a campaign of looting and destruction of archaeological sites. However, although the destruction was terrible, it did not annihilate everything. When a Kurdish force retook Khorsabad, a former capital of the ancient Assyrians, they found numerous fragments of inscriptions and statues that had been brought to an archaeological center for repair and conservation. Similarly, archaeologists and historians will study, and at least partially repair, fragments of inscriptions and art that survived at Nimrud. Additionally, with the war over, archaeological teams likely will be able to return to more areas of Iraq and begin the process of conserving and excavating sites. Although the artifacts that ISIS looted to fund their war effort are now scattered all over the world, in time, they could gradually be discovered and returned to museums in Iraq and Syria where archaeologists and historians can conserve, study and display them properly. A court case is currently underway in which the United States government is seeking permission from a federal court to seize several artifacts which an ISIS leader was selling. Great Pyramid chambers? (Image credit: Simulation by K. Morishima (Nagoya University) and Benoit Marini for ScanPyramids, results by K. Morishima (Nagoya University) for ScanPyramids) In October 2016, researchers with the ScanPyramids project announcedthat they had found two voids inside the Great Pyramid, a 4,500-year-old pyramid built for the pharaoh Khufu that was hailed as a "wonder of the world." The news was greeted with excitement; however, a scientific team overseeing the project cautioned that the voids in the team's data also could have appeared because the pyramid's interior was constructed of stones of various sizes. The ScanPyramids project was extended by one year. That will allow time to produce more data that could answer the question of whether these voids are real and, if so, how large they are and whether they might contain anything. Even if the voids do not exist, the data may provide clues as to how the Great Pyramid was constructed. Dead Sea Scrolls The rare papyrus from the time of the First Temple, or the seventh century B.C. (Image credit: Shai Halevi, courtesy of the Israel Antiquities Authority.) The Israel Antiquities Authority thinks more ancient scrolls remain to be found in the Judean Desert and that looters have already found some of them. The authority has announced a series of surveys, excavations and law-enforcement operations to find them this year. The Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered in 1946 or 1947 by Bedouins in caves near the site of Qumran. Between 1947 and 1956, thousands of scroll fragments making up about 900 manuscripts were uncovered by archaeologists and Bedouins who sold the scrolls. Smaller batches of scrolls have been found at other sites in the Judean Desert since that time. There are indications, however, that more undiscovered scrolls remain to be found in the Judean Desert. In October, Live Science reported on 25 new Dead Sea Scroll fragments that had been described in two books. They were purchased on the antiquities market, and scholars think that although some are forgeries, others might be from caves that looters discovered. Since 2002, about 70 fragments of Dead Sea Scrolls have appeared on the antiquities market, and that number is growing. Also in October, an anti-looting unit intercepted a 2,600-year-old papyrus fragment that was about to be sold (although there is a debate over whether it is authentic). Abydos discoveries A cemetery containing at least 15 burials was found beside the remains of the ancient city at Abydos. One of the tombs (shown here) holds the remains of at least one person in a fetal position. The grave would have been covered with a building (remains shown in the image) in ancient times. (Image credit: Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities) Two big discoveries from Abydos in Egypt were announced in 2016. In October, a team led by Josef Wegner, a curator at the Penn Museum at the University of Pennsylvania, announced the discovery of a 3,800-year-old tableau that shows more than 120 ancient Egyptian boats. The tableau was found in a structure located near the tomb of pharaoh Senwosret III. Just a few weeks later, an Egyptian team announced the discovery of a 5,000-year-old city at Abydos. The city has a necropolis (cemetery) next to it that contains 15 graves. Archaeologists will resume excavations this year, and more new discoveries are likely to be made as a sizable amount of the site is unexcavated, the researchers noted. Biblical artifacts revealed Museum of the Bible is expected to open in Washington, D.C., in the fall of 2017. (Image credit: Museum of the Bible screenshot) In the fall of 2017, a 430,000-square-foot (40,000 square meters) museum called the Museum of the Bible will open just three blocks south of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. The museum will house the "Green Collection," made up of about 40,000 artifacts donated by Steve Green, president of the Hobby Lobby chain of arts and crafts stores. The artifacts have some connection to the Bible and include about a dozen Dead Sea Scrolls that were published recently. Green purchased his first artifact in 2009 and grew his collection rapidly. Much of his collection has never been studied by scholars. There are rumors that the collection includes a fragment of the Gospel of Mark that some scholars believe dates to the first century A.D., a date that would make it the oldest copy of a Christian Gospel known to exist. The Museum of the Bible has not confirmed or denied that this text is part of the Green Collection. When this museum, with its vast collection, is open to the public in 2017, much will be revealed. Also, as scholars analyze the collection, many new discoveries will be made, they predict. Some of the artifacts will turn out to be modern-day forgeries, experts told Live Science. White House Science and Technology Advisor John Holdren (second from left) stops by the Mars Science Laboratory Mission Support Area on Aug. 5, 2012, at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. This article was originally published at The Conversation. The publication contributed the article to Live Science's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. One of the president's most important responsibilities is fostering science, technology and innovation in the U.S. economy. The relationship between science and policy runs in two directions: Scientific knowledge can inform policy decisions, and conversely, policies affect the course of science, technology and innovation. Historically, government spending on science has been good for the economy. Innovation is estimated to drive approximately 85 percent of economic growth. Not only does it provide a means for creative destruction within the economy, it also results in reduced costs for products and services that consumers demand. The United States prides itself as the most innovative country in the world, but how did it get that way? Many famously disruptive technologies were invented in the United States the internet, shale gas fracking and solar photovoltaics are three examples and subsequently led to the growth of major American industries and associated jobs. Such inventions are the fruits of investments and effort made both by the private sector and the U.S. government (usually at different points in time). President-elect Trump has made clear he intends to boost the economy's growth rate and supporting science and technology should be a vital part of his plan. So how does an American president settle on research priorities for the country? And once he has a science and innovation agenda, how does he move it forward to eventually seed new industries that have the potential to generate jobs and improve the country's competitiveness? Where does the president get scientific advice? Every president since World War II has maintained a personal science advisor in the White House to inform key decisions about domestic and foreign policy, although some presidents proved more attentive than others. The very first science advisor, Vannevar Bush, demonstrated his value during World War II as head of the U.S. Office of Scientific Research and Development (OSRD). OSRD's mission was to marshal and coordinate civilian and military scientists to develop and deploy new technology in wartime. OSRD helped to establish the Manhattan Project and was the origin of the military-industrial complex. (Perhaps unsurprisingly, Bush later founded the Raytheon Corporation.) Bush also pushed for the creation of the National Science Foundation. Congress established the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) in 1976 to provide the president and others with scientific and technological expertise related to domestic and international affairs. It's part of the Executive Office of the President, and its director (and associate directors) must be confirmed by the Senate. Although the director does not have cabinet rank (as does, for example, the chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors), OSTP works alongside the other offices in the White House, including the Domestic Policy Council, the Council on Environmental Quality and the National Security Council. The 1976 act also authorized OSTP to lead interagency efforts to develop and implement sound science and technology policies and budgets. Typically, the director of OSTP also has a separate appointment as special assistant to the president in order to serve as his private science advisor. Many people in Washington seek the president's ear, ranging from cabinet secretaries, senators and congressional representatives to lobbyists. But the president usually relies most heavily on his own personal staff within the Executive Office of the President. The Office of Science and Technology Policy thus is enormously influential in clarifying and implementing the president's science, technology and innovation priorities. Budget is a big part of it Once a president determines his science and innovation priorities, his main tool to influence the country's research agenda is the federal budget. His priorities may spring from concern about U.S. competitiveness in certain industries or sectors, or from a sense of opportunity about where new science or innovation could contribute to the public interest or national good. Of course, the president's budget request must be approved by Congress in order for the spending priorities to be fulfilled. Innovation research is an uncertain and risky investment, which is why the government has traditionally shouldered the burden for pre- or noncommercial science and technology research and why universities do most of this type of research. Federal funding for basic research is a crucial long-term investment in the nation's future, and has traditionally garnered bipartisan support since businesses tend to focus on already proven technologies that are close to commercialization. The Department of Defense manages the largest portion of the federal R&D budget (US$78 billion in the FY17 budget) compared with all other nondefense R&D combined, at $68 billion. The National Institutes of Health comes in second at 0.77 percent with $30.9 billion. The Department of Energy and NASA have far fewer resources, with R&D funds of about $14 billion and only $12 billion, respectively. These research dollars go to our world-renowned national laboratories, to the private sector and to support the research of professors and graduate students in American universities. Some of these investments will directly bear fruit for the economy, and others will do so indirectly through spillovers. The skills of the U.S. workforce are created in part through investments in STEM education and through their work experience over time. Those doing the research accumulate knowledge and expertise that can contribute to improved understanding and problem-solving. These people can then take their skills to commercial companies which create economic value, or they continue to innovate in nonprofit research institutes or universities to address problems in the public interest, such as how to reduce air pollution or improve lifesaving treatments for diseases ignored by private firms. Of course, high-risk research sometimes yields high-value rewards, especially when the government partners with the private sector. The internet was originally invented by researchers associated with the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, shale gas fracking from both Defense and DOE investments at Los Alamos National Lab and research on the human genome from NIH. Private firms like Microsoft and Google, Mitchell Energy and Pfizer capitalized upon taxpayer investments in science and technology to develop these industries. Case study: Obama's OSTP President Obama's science advisor, John P. Holdren, has provided advice on advanced manufacturing, national security, STEM education, space policy, climate change, energy policy, cybersecurity and more. So during the Obama administration, the Office of Science and Technology Policy indeed worked with agencies to clarify science and technology priorities consistent with the president's wishes, but it accomplished much more than that. The OSTP worked to make more than 180,000 federal datasets and collections available to students, entrepreneurs and the public. It produced the first-ever U.S. innovation strategy, launched the Precision Medicine Initiative (providing more than $200 million to accelerate a new era of personalized medicine), embarked on a Cancer Moonshot initiative and launched the BRAIN initiative that resulted in a doubling of research funding for Alzheimer's research at NIH between 2012 and 2017. Initiatives like these are a hopeful down payment on results that usually bear fruit years later. Through the efforts of the SunShot and wind R&D programs at DOE and private firms, for example, the United States now generates more than three times as much electricity from wind and four times as much from solar as it did in 2008. That's because the cost for renewables has come down rapidly solar costs 1/150th what it did in the 1970s. One example of a problem that we understand much better than we did 30 years ago as a result of governmental scientific investments is global climate change. Due to sustained federal investments in Earth observations, geophysical research and global circulation modeling, we now know how much the world has warmed, how rapidly mountain glaciers and Arctic ice are retreating, how much and where precipitation is changing, how much soil moisture is reducing and what it would take to avoid significant global climate disruption. Long-term, depoliticized investments in this kind of measurement science are crucial to understanding global change and the fate of the planet. Science opportunities for President Trump Although President-elect Trump seems to find little value in facts, he clearly wishes to reinvigorate the U.S. economy. He cannot do so without improving access to high-quality STEM education and accelerating U.S. investments in science, technology and innovation. Scientific advice could also provide President-elect Trump with some good ideas for revitalizing manufacturing in the United States, which he's pledged to do. Indeed, the current President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) produced an excellent report on accelerating U.S. advanced manufacturing in 2014. President Trump can use science and innovation to achieve his goal to restore American greatness, whether it is through launching a new moonshot-type initiative or creating advanced manufacturing jobs. With history as a guide, appointing a respected science advisor and director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy will help him accomplish his goals. Kelly Sims Gallagher, Professor of Energy and Environmental Policy and Director of Center for International Environment and Resource Policy at The Fletcher School, Tufts University This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article. A killer whale thought to be over 100 years old and known affectionately as "Granny" has not been sighted in several months and is thought to be deceased. The orca was described as "officially missing" from the local population and likely dead, as she had not been seen since Oct. 12, 2016 in a memorial post shared online Dec. 31, 2016, by marine biologist Ken Balcomb, a principal investigator at the Center for Whale Research (CWR) in Washington. Granny was identified as "J2" decades ago by CWR scientists who studied her pod of so-called Southern Resident killer whales in Puget Sound, a Pacific Ocean inlet off the coast of Washington. Balcomb first observed J2 in 1976, and continued to observe her over the next 40 years, describing her in his memorial as "the energizer bunny" who just kept going and going, despite her remarkably advanced age. [Orca Gallery: See Gorgeous Photos of Killer Whales] Female killer whales are much longer-lived than their male counterparts, with a life span that can exceed males' by decades. Male orcas have an average life span of about 30 years, but can live as long as 50 years. However, a female orca's typical life span is around 50 years, and they can live to be at least 100, according to a species description by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). But it is highly unusual for scientists to have the opportunity to observe a single orca in the wild over many decades as it ages. Granny had a distinctive nick in her dorsal fin that helped scientists to recognize her quickly and track her over time. In fact, she and her pod were instrumental in establishing that orcas had unique patterns and fin features that could be used by researchers to identify them, Balcomb explained. "A closed-saddle female" In 1976, she was described as "a closed-saddle female that has a small nick halfway down on the trailing edge with a finger-size tag of tissue protruding upward from the bottom of the nick," by marine biologist Michael Bigg, who pioneered individual whale identification through observation, Balcomb recalled. Her age was approximated to be at least 45 years old and possibly 76 years old in 1987. By those estimates, her age in 2016 would have been at least 74 years old and perhaps as much as 105 years old. Either way, she was the oldest known Southern Resident killer whale the only known resident population of killer whales in the United States, inhabiting waters near British Columbia and Washington. Granny was one of dozens of orcas divided among three pods nicknamed "J," "K" and "L" Dawn Noren, a research fishery biologist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Northwest Fisheries Science Center in Seattle, told Live Science in 2016. As of Dec. 31, 2016, an estimated 78 Southern Resident killer whales remain in total, with Granny's "J" pod holding 24, Balcomb wrote in the memorial. And while it's possible that Granny may turn up again, after a months-long absence, it isn't very likely, Balcomb said. "Perhaps other dedicated whale-watchers have seen her since then, but by year's end she is officially missing from the SRKW [Southern Resident killer whale] population, and with regret we now consider her deceased," he added. Original article on Live Science. From left: Journalist Hoang Huong, Prof. Dang Hung Vo and Lawyer Nguyen Ngoc Lan VietNamNet: Through matters such as "policies made in heaven", "policies made in air conditioned rooms" or "those with flat chests are banned from driving motorcycles," some have raised the question whether we are going far away from the law-making philosophy of seeking a contract to keep social order and stability? Ms. Nguyen Ngoc Lan: In society, relationships change every day, every hour and we run after them, leading to making "patchy" policies. The policy makers all aim for social stability and harmonious development but because the rapid development of social relations, the lifespan of policies is not long. We are always in the vortex of "making a plough in the middle of the way". VietNamNet: There is an important question: how to have practical policies? Mr. Hoang Ngoc Giao: "No flour, no paste". If you sit in air-conditioned rooms to draft law according to their experience of subjective thinking and information you have, then it's not social practice. We should also consider whether the collection of information has practically supported the formulation and analysis of policy. Literally it is not. We have still insisted that consultation and information processing accounts for 50% of the quality of draft laws; the remaining 50% is due to the selection of priority values of different policies. Furthermore, the funding for lawmaking is very limited, with only a few hundred million VND for making a bill. Citing that they have no specific budget for lawmaking, state officials paid by the state are responsible to make laws. I think this policy is inappropriate. We must consider law making as socio-economic development projects. Once you make a good law, you can save hundreds of trillions in VND for society. We should not think that lawmaking is just work on paper. A poor law causes losses in terms of costs and social time worth hundreds of trillions of VND. We must have a separate budget for this task. VietNamNet: People have recently talked about interest groups. Do you know about it, Mr. Dang Hung Vo? browser not support iframe. Prof. Dang Hung Vo: There is always a matter associated with the law: the law can benefit one group and harm other groups. We can never require law makers to build perfect policies and not prefer any group. So we cannot believe that there is no personal interest in making policy. There is always so-called self-interest in the mind of lawmakers; sometimes it is their family members like father, mother, wife, son or his village, even his district, his province. That is real life. Therefore, to build law, we need various opinions from different subjects to ensure objectivity and fairness. Objectivity is not standing on anyone's interests, and fairness is creating gains and losses that all groups can accept. Besides the National Assembly, we need to collect the opinions of social organizations and population groups. VietNamNet: This is the question from a reader of VietNamNet Mr. Pham Huu Dung: I see that the first thing that many policy makers think of is the interest group. For this reason, the Social Insurance Law was amended upon its issuance when it had not become effective yet. How should we do to prevent this situation to happen again in the future? " Mr. Hoang Ngoc Giao: As I said from the beginning, the policy must be drafted based on analyzing information from a variety of subjects in society. There is a phenomenon that many laws facilitate state agencies rather than creating conditions for people to exercise their rights. Mr. Hoang Ngoc Giao There are two types of legal documents: one is through the National Assembly (called laws, ordinances or resolutions of the National Assembly) and legal documents called bylaw documents. The issuance of these kinds of legal documents is different in form, but they both have common legal values. I also agree that in the current institution of National Assembly deputies, it is very difficult for them to assume the representative role of the voters. For example, you are a young woman, or you belong to youth, but you're a resident in the mountains and a teacher too, so you belong to the intellectual structure. So, for example, when a bill has beneficial effects on womenbut it is unfavorable for the education sector, or the mountainous region, how will you vote? In this case, structural contradiction appears in the representation of this NA deputy. Secondly, just a short period of time before National Assembly sessions, NA deputies receive draft bills, which are hundreds of pages each. NA deputies do not have enough time to study these bills. As for meeting voters to get information? NA deputies have to wait for the arrangement of the local Fatherland Front. At all meeting with voters, NA deputies see the same voters so can these people represent all groups of related voters? In recent years I saw the NA committees try to make field surveys and accept proposals of social organizations to organize workshops and seminars to collect comments on draft bills. In my opinion it is a very good direction! VietNamNet: This is a question from reader Pham Truong Son It seems that the media has 'holes' in writing about policies, for example, the strike of workers on the Labor Code in HCM City. The media did not write about this law during the draft period. Not until the law was issued did workers know that this law had already affected them. How can the press be a bridge for the people and social organizations to contribute to policy? Mr. Dang Hung Vo: I think that's the story in the Press Law. Our Press Law has been revised several times. From the question of VietNamNet reader, I think that if it is the law, we must strictly implement the law. Nothing can stand in front of and above the law. If the law says that this issue is not secret, that means the press can talk about it. VietNamNet: Do you think that legal issues are too complicated to write about so journalists do not write about them or are there other reasons? Mr. Dang Hung Vo: I think journalists are intelligent so it is not true that they dont understand the law. There are only things that we think they are sensitive to write about. For example, a district official only said "this should not be reported in newspapers". Then journalists did not. Mr. Hoang Ngoc Giao: Throughout the lawmaking process, we are proposing regulations on the role of the media. This is not only good for the people but for the State. We need to recognize the role of communication in the lawmaking process. Timely reporting about draft policies and laws that are related to the people, through which people can make suggestions to these drafts, is good because in the process of making bills the people already know about the policies so when the laws and policies are approved, they understand them. Like making a movie, while it is being shot, a PR campaign is already launched so why doesn't the Government or the authority apply the role of the press in marketing the law? We have proposed to add this to the Law on Issuance of Legal Documents for better policy making and better law enforcement in the future. To be continued... VietNamNet A Tennessee man is charged with child abuse after he reportedly admitted to hitting and choking his daughter when he found out she was posting nude photos to Snapchat. Hamilton County deputies arrested Christian Amason, 45, on Sunday after his daughter reported the abuse to the police, according to WTVC. 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! #PM-trapped miners PM urges utmost efforts to rescue 2 trapped miners Prime Minister Han Duck-soo on Friday called for utmost efforts to rescue two miners trapped underground for 10 days. They have been isolated in a vertical shaft about 190 mete... #Hahoe Village Fire hits thatched house in Hahoe folk village A fire broke out Friday at a thatched house in Hahoe Village, a UNESCO world cultural heritage site, in the southeastern city of Andong. No casualties were reported. The fire s... Note: This article was first published by The Daily Beast. More than 15 years into Americas war in Afghanistan, the Russian government is openly advocating on behalf of the Taliban. Last week, Moscow hosted Chinese and Pakistani emissaries to discuss the war. Tellingly, no Afghan officials were invited. However, the trio of nations urged the world to be flexible in dealing with the Taliban, which remains the Afghan governments most dangerous foe. Russia even argued that the Taliban is a necessary bulwark in the war against the so-called Islamic State. For its part, the American military sees Moscows embrace of the Taliban as yet another move intended to undermine NATO, which fights the Taliban, al Qaeda, and the Islamic State every day. After Moscows conference, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova spoke with reporters and noted that the three countries expressed particular concern about the rising activity in the country of extremist groups, including the Afghan branch of IS [the Islamic State, or ISIS]. According to Reuters, Zakharova added that China, Pakistan, and Russia agreed upon a flexible approach to remove certain [Taliban] figures from [United Nations] sanctions lists as part of efforts to foster a peaceful dialogue between Kabul and the Taliban movement. The Taliban, which refers to itself as the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, quickly praised the Moscow tripartite in a statement posted online on Dec. 29. It is joyous to see that the regional countries have also understood that the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan is a political and military force, Muhammad Sohail Shaheen, a spokesman for the groups political office, said in the statement. The proposal forwarded in the Moscow tripartite of delisting members of the Islamic Emirate is a positive step forward in bringing peace and security to Afghanistan. Of course, the Taliban isnt interested in peace and security. The jihadist group wants to win the Afghan war and it is using negotiations with regional and international powers to improve its standing. The Taliban has long manipulated peace negotiations with the U.S. and Western powers as a pretext for undoing international sanctions that limit the ability of its senior figures to travel abroad for lucrative fundraising and other purposes, even while offering no serious gestures toward peace. The Obama administration has repeatedly tried, and failed, to open the door to peace. In May 2014, the U.S. transferred five senior Taliban figures from Guantanamo to Qatar. Ostensibly, the Taliban Five were traded for Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, an American who reportedly deserted his fellow soldiers and was then held by the Taliban and its jihadist allies. But the Obama administration also hoped that the exchange would be a so-called confidence-building measure and lead to more substantive negotiations. The Talibans leaders never agreed to any such discussions. They simply wanted their comrades, at least two of whom are suspected of committing war crimes, freed from Guantanamo. Regardless, Russia is now enabling the Talibans disingenuous diplomacy by pretending that ISIS is the more worrisome threat. Its a game the Russians have been playing for more than a year. In December 2015, Zamir Kabulov, who serves as Vladimir Putins special representative for Afghanistan, went so far as to claim that the Taliban interest objectively coincides with ours when it comes to fighting ISIS head Abu Bakr al Baghdadis loyalists. Kabulov even conceded that Russia and the Taliban have channels for exchanging information, according to The Washington Post. The American commanders leading the fight in Afghanistan dont buy Russias argumentat all. During a press briefing on Dec. 2, General John W. Nicholson Jr., the commander of NATOs Resolute Support and U.S. Forces in Afghanistan, discussed the malign influence of external actors and particularly Pakistan, Russia, and Iran. Gen. Nicholson said the U.S. and its allies are concerned about the external enablement of the insurgent or terrorist groups inside Afghanistan, in particular where they enjoy sanctuary or support from outside governments. Russia, in particular, has overtly lent legitimacy to the Taliban. According to Nicholson, the Russian narrative is that the Taliban are the ones fighting the Islamic State, not the Afghan government. While the Taliban does fight its jihadist rivals in the Islamic State, this is plainly false. The Afghan government and the U.S. counterterrorism effort are the ones achieving the greatest effect against Islamic State, Nicholson said. He went on to list the U.S.-led coalitions accomplishments over the past year: 500 ISIS fighters (comprising an estimated 25 to 30 percent of the groups overall force structure) were killed or wounded, the organizations top 12 leaders (including its emir, Hafiz Saeed Khan) were killed, and the groups sanctuary has been reduced from nine Afghan districts to just three. So, this public legitimacy that Russia lends to the Taliban is not based on fact, but it is used as a way to essentially undermine the Afghan government and the NATO effort and bolster the belligerents, Nicholson concluded. While Nicholson was careful not read too much into Russias motivation for backing the Taliban, he noted certainly theres a competition with NATO. Theres no doubt that ISISs operations in Afghanistan grew significantly in the wake of Baghdadis caliphate declaration in 2014. However, as Nicholson correctly pointed out, Baghdadis men are not adding to the territory they control at the moment. Their turf is shrinking. The same cannot be said for the Taliban, which remains the most significant threat to Afghanistans future. At any given time, the Taliban threatens several provincial capitals. The Taliban also controls dozens of Afghan districts and contests many more. Simply put, the Taliban is a far greater menace inside Afghanistan than Baghdadis men. Regardless, the Russians continue to press their case. Their argument hinges on the idea that ISIS is a global force to be reckoned with, while the Taliban is just a local nuisance. Kabulov, Putins special envoy to Afghanistan, made this very same claim in a newly-published interview with Anadolu Agency. Kabulov contends that the bulk, main leadership, current leadership, and the majority of Taliban are now a local force as a result of all these historical lessons they got in Afghanistan. They gave up the global jihadism idea, Kabulov adds. They are upset and regret that they followed Osama bin Laden. Someone should tell the Talibans media department this. In early December, the Taliban released a major documentary video, Bond of Nation with the Mujahideen. The video included clips of the Talibans most senior leaders rejecting peace talks and vowing to wage jihad until the end. It also openly advertised the Talibans undying alliance with al Qaeda. At one point, an image of Osama bin Laden next to Taliban founder Mullah Omar is displayed on screen. (A screen shot of this clip can be seen above.) Photos of other al Qaeda and Taliban figures are mixed together in the same shot. An audio message from Sheikh Khalid Batarfi, an al Qaeda veteran stationed in Yemen, is also played during the video. Batarfi praised the Taliban for protecting bin Laden even after the Sept. 11, 2001 hijackings. Groups of Afghan Mujahideen have emerged from the land of Afghans that will destroy the biggest idol and head of kufr of our time, America, Batarfi threatened. A narrator added that the mujahideen in Afghanistan are the hope of Muslims for reviving back the honor of the Muslim Ummah [worldwide community of Muslims]! The Afghan jihadists are a hope for taking back the Islamic lands! and a hope for not repeating defeats and tragedies of the last century! The Talibans message is, therefore, unmistakable: The war in Afghanistan is part of the global jihadist conflict. All of this, and more, is in one of the Talibans most important media productions of 2016. There is no hint that the Taliban regrets allying with al Qaeda, or has given up the global jihadism idea, as Kabulov claims. The exact opposite is true. There is much more to the Taliban-al Qaeda nexus. In August 2015, al Qaeda honcho Ayman al Zawahiri swore allegiance to Mullah Mansour, who was named as Mullah Omars successor as the Talibans emir. Mansour publicly accepted Zawahiris fealty and Zawahiris oath was prominently featured on the Talibans website. After Mansour was killed earlier this year, Zawahiri pledged his allegiance to Mansours replacement, Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada. Zawahiri and other al Qaeda leaders regularly call upon Muslims to support the Taliban and reject the Islamic States Afghan branch. In his interview with Anadolu Agency, Kabulov concedes that not all of the Taliban has given up the global jihadist ideas. He admits that within the Taliban you can find very influential groups like the Haqqani network whose ideology is more radical, closer to Daesh [or ISIS]. Kabulov is right that the Haqqanis are committed jihadi ideologues, but he misses the obvious contradiction in his arguments. Siraj Haqqani, who leads the Haqqani network, is also one of the Talibans top two deputy leaders. He is the Talibans military warlord. Not only is Siraj Haqqani a radical ideologue, as Kabulov mentions in passing, he is also one of al Qaedas most committed allies. Documents recovered in Osama bin Ladens compound show that al Qaedas men closely cooperate with Siraj Haqqani on the Afghan battlefields. Kabulov claims that the Islamic State operates much more smartly than al Qaeda and has learned from all the mistakes of al Qaeda. He says Baghdadis enterprise has brought more advanced and sophisticated people to design, plan, and [execute] policy. Once again, the exact opposite is true. Al Qaeda has long known the pitfalls of the Islamic States in-your-face strategy, and has smartly decided to hide the extent of its influence and operations. Zawahiri and his lieutenants have also used the Islamic States over-the-top brutality to market themselves as a more reasonable jihadi alternative. And both the Taliban and al Qaeda are attempting to build more popular support for their cause as much of the world remains focused on the so-called caliphates horror show. Al Qaedas plan has worked so well that the Russians would have us believe that the Taliban, al Qaedas longtime ally, should be viewed as a prospective partner. Kabulov says that Russia is waiting to see how the new president, [Donald] Trump, describe[s] his Afghan policy before determining what course should be pursued next. Heres one thing the Trump administration should do right away: Make it clear that the Taliban and al Qaeda remain our enemies in Afghanistan. Thomas Joscelyn is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the Senior Editor for FDD's Long War Journal. Are you a dedicated reader of FDD's Long War Journal? Has our research benefitted you or your team over the years? Support our independent reporting and analysis today by considering a one-time or monthly donation. Thanks for reading! You can make a tax-deductible donation here. 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 Lets say you have a doctors appointment. You get in your car or on the bus or subway and head over, looking at your watch to keep time. Now youre there. Almost. You can see the building, but you cant get inside. Hostile people with signs are crowding your path. You force your way past the congestion and rattle the doors; theyre locked. Through a web of legislation, members of your state and federal government have caused the clinic where your doctor practices to close, restricting your ability to access the healthcare you need. Its like being in a terrible, frustrating dream. Except, for many women visiting Planned Parenthood facilities, its reality. These roadblocks dont mean all is lost. Women doctors, volunteers, people just like you are doing their part every single day to keep the doors of Planned Parenthood clinics open, despite potential defunding. This is the second day that Ive gotten through without crying, Alyssa Miller, director of public affairs for Planned Parenthood Hudson Peconic, told me over the phone. She is one of many women involved with Planned Parenthood who I spoke to following news of the presidential election about what it could mean for the nonprofit healthcare organization. This kind of conversation opener was common in the various interviews I conducted for this piece. Moods were somber, the future uncertain, yet a sense of optimism pervaded. One thing was clear: of the employees and volunteers I interviewed, all testified that being a part of this organization whether filing papers, passing out condoms, escorting patients or providing medical services offered a sense of purpose. None of the women were stymied, none were hopeless. 2.5 million men and women in the United States visit Planned Parenthood affiliate health centers each year. Abortions make up 3% of the services offered. The remaining percentage includes birth control, STI/STD testing and treatment, breast and cervical cancer screenings and prevention, pregnancy testing, HIV testing and counseling, HPV vaccines, prenatal services, family practice services, adoption referrals to other agencies and hormone therapy for transgender patients. Backed by a GOP-led congress, President-elect Donald Trump wants to cut off Planned Parenthoods federal funding. The final decision could come shortly after his inauguration, and would eliminate over forty percent on the nonprofits total budget. [D]enying Planned Parenthood roughly $400 million in Medicaid funds would take effect immediately, reports the Chicago Tribune. Planned Parenthood receives more than $500 million in federal funding a year, 75 percent of that from Medicaid reimbursement for health care services provided to poor and low-income patients. To put that number into perspective, the federal government spent $845 billion on Social Security in 2014. According to Planned Parenthoods 2014 to 2015 report, 24 percent of the organizations funding came from non-government health services revenue, 27 percent came from private contributions and bequests and 6 percent was listed under other. Government funding with federal dollars comprising the biggest portion of this part of the organizations budget are absolutely critical to Planned Parenthoods total operation, wrote Janell Ross in a 2015 Washington Post article. Adrienne Verrilli, Associate Vice President for Communications, Planned Parenthood NYC, is one of the many women I spoke with about Planned Parenthoods current predicament. She stressed that the threat to defund Planned Parenthood isnt a left/right issue, its a health care issue. Many times she assured me, the public is behind us. One in five women will visit Planned Parenthood in their lifetime, she said. The vast majority of the American people support this organization. They want to ensure that we continue to be a Medicaid provider. This includes Trump voters. So long as abortions take place under Planned Parenthoods roof, though, pro-life supporters will take issue with the organizations federal funding regardless of the fact that taxpayer money does not pay for abortion services. According to Politicos October 2016 report, The 2016 Election: Clinton Versus Trump Voters on American Health Care, a majority (58%) of voters [ed note: meaning both Clinton and Trump supporters] favor continued federal funding of Planned Parenthood. Politico also reported that a majority of voters (58%) oppose allowing Medicaid funding to be used for abortion services. (To be clear, the Hyde Amendment currently forbids the use of federal funds for abortions except in cases of life endangerment, rape or incest. It has guided public funding for abortions under the joint federal-state Medicaid programs for low-income women.) At the end of December 2016, Texas Governor Greg Abbott formally announced his intent to remove Planned Parenthood from the states Medicaid program. The plan has been in the works for over a year; it could be enacted within the month. Ken Lambrecht, Planned Parenthood of Greater Texass president and CEO, released a statement on the matter. Texans deserve to decide where to receive their healthcare, he said, and for more than 80 years they have counted on Planned Parenthood of Greater Texas for that care. In the days ahead we will take every step necessary to ensure Medicaid patients can continue to count on Planned Parenthood for quality, accessible healthcare. In the meantime, our doors remain open for everyone, regardless of their income or insurance status, no matter what. His forward-marching attitude echoed that of the two New York-based and one Tennessee-based Planned Parenthood operations I spoke with in regards to what Trumps election could mean for them. We lost Title X funding a few years ago, said Dr. Sarah Wallett, Director of Medicine at Planned Parenthood Greater Memphis Region. We made some adjustments and focused on different strategies. We worked on increasing the commercial insurance patients coming in the doors. We figured it out, and we stayed open. All of us are so committed to this work. There is only room for hope. We will continue to figure it out. Adrienne Verrilli was confident in PPNYCs ability to withstand adversity, too. There has been an outpouring of support from volunteers and donations post-election, she said. Weve been overwhelmed by how many people want to help us during what is going to be a very trying time, but were in it for the long haul. Our doors are going to stay open no matter what. Alyssa Miller, the aforementioned Director of Public Affairs for Planned Parenthood in Hudson Peconic (who previously held the same job at Planned Parenthood in South Carolina), spoke about the supporters and volunteers who help the nonprofits doors stay open, and of those who physically walk Planned Parenthood patients to and from the front door, past protesters. Ive seen a real commitment to our clinic escort programs, said Alyssa. Clinic escorts are dedicated to the patients who seek our services in areas where theres a tangible, pervasive threat to their access to reproductive health. There is a next-level sense of Im here for you, no matter what. Truly. After the flood in Columbia, South Carolina, people were calling the office to ask when they could come back out to help. She spoke of how the escorts are there for both patients and employees. Sometimes its the clinicians who need to hear, Im with you. They have to walk through protesters shouting things at them, too. Especially in places where people are not comfortable telling their families what they do, I cant stress enough how much good it does someone who is used to protesters to then see someone who says, Thank you. Miller said that its never the escorts job or goal to impress anything upon any of the patients. We are there to listen if they want to talk and not impose our experiences on anyone in any way. Its about recognizing everyones experiences are different and valid. A. Molloy*, a Planned Parenthood volunteer in Philadelphia, said that the clinic escort program taught her empathy. The protesters make it so hard for these women. Patients have to walk through a crowd of mostly grown-ass men handing them some bullsh*t pamphlet. Its sickening. The program also taught her to never assume anything about other peoples situations. All different kinds of people come here for all different reasons, she said. Grace*, a New-York-based writer, has participated in a variety of Planned Parenthood volunteer levels, from office administrative tasks (lots of filing) to escorting. She was a clinic escort during protests against Planned Parenthood in Columbia, Missouri. Thats the most charged and fraught [way to volunteer] because you feel the passion against you. It can feel like a powder keg when people are yelling at you. She also stressed the sense of community she felt, and the benefits of taking part in such an organization. Volunteering is effective protesting, she said. Escorting can be challenging, said Kristi Mahoney, a volunteer at Planned Parenthood in Boston, Massachusetts. I have a lot of opinions, but I cant rile up the protesters. Youre there to make patients who are walking in and out feel as comfortable as possible. College students who pass our clinic say the things to protesters that I wish I could say. They high five the escort volunteers. They remind you that not everyone is there to protest women and their decisions. Sarah Cyr-Mutty, also a volunteer of Planned Parenthood in Boston, told me that when she first started clinic escorting, there was a buffer zone that prohibited protesters from getting within 35 feet of building. In 2014, the Supreme Court struck it down, ruling that the law infringed upon the First Amendment rights of anti-abortion activists. Legislation in Massachusetts worked quickly to get a new bill that gives police the right to disperse people if theyre blocking door access, she said. Cyr-Mutty stands by the First Amendment, but it felt like the right to access health care was being shadowed by the right to yell opinions in other peoples face. Part of accessing health care is about how easily youre able to physically get in the door. That often gets overlooked. I literally work for the man in a terrible industry, a Planned Parenthood NYC volunteer named Jamie told me. So many people get to make a difference through their work. This allows me to help make a difference with what Im able to give. Its also a great way to learn about health, reproductive justice and other topical issues. Thats my favorite part: Ive learned so much, which you then spread to the community. She said something interesting, too, something that Id been thinking about in terms of the volunteer/patient dynamic. Everyone who spoke about escorting or volunteering at Planned Parenthood in general, really was careful to point out that they were not there to save anyone, just as much as they werent there to judge. Jamie, who is part of the organizations sex-education program in addition to escorting, stated it so clearly: This idea that Planned Parenthood exists for a woman in need is a wrong way to think about it. Planned Parenthoods goal is for every woman, every person of every gender, to have a healthy relationship with their sexuality and access to healthcare. Dr. Gillian Dean, the Physician Director of Clinical Research at Planned Parenthood of New York City, elaborated on Jamies point. Planned Parenthood takes care of all women, not just women who need a safety net. Women of diverse backgrounds and ages and insurance coverage plans and income and education levels turn to Planned Parenthood to receive personal, compassionate, evidence-based sexual reproductive health care. Like many of the women I spoke to, Dr. Dean is concerned for what the political future could hold in terms of patient access to healthcare the implications of legislative assault on abortion access that dont just affect Planned Parenthood, but other health centers. Shes worried about low-income womens access to reproductive services. My primary concern is that women get the care they need, she said. Dr. Dean has always been open about her involvement with Planned Parenthood, but after the shooting at Planned Parenthood in Colorado, she decided to be more vocal. One way to deal with fear and danger is to say, I do this work. I am proud of what I do. Abortions are a normal part of healthcare, and this is the way that I am taking care of my patients. And not to leave it to a few brave soldiers, but to get more and more of us who provide abortions to say Im proud of it. Normalizing comprehensive reproductive health care is part of Dr. Sarah Walletts mission as well. She noted that abortion is not the only reproductive service stigmatized. Wallett and Aimee Lewis, the Vice President of External Affairs at Planned Parenthood Greater Memphis Region, told me of their affiliates program Free Condoms Memphis, which distributes 500 thousand condoms a year. Lewis said that since its inception in 2013, the program has had a real success normalizing sex-positive condom usage within the once-resistant, conservative city. We need to not be afraid to talk about these kinds of issues, she said. There was a moment in my first conversation with Adrienne Verrilli that felt like the terrible drop following a sugar rush. Id spoken to so many women over the course of researching this piece who inspired me to take real action, to get angry, to do something, (to write this), that for days I was running on fire. Then I let myself ask, But what if What if Planned Parenthood actually loses federal funding? What if those patients who rely on Medicaid can no longer access the health care they need? What if abortion is made illegal? Weve been here 100 years and were not going anywhere, she said to me. Weve fought many a battle, including the ones just to get ourselves open in 1916. Does that mean we might look a little different in the next few years? Maybe. No matter what, we will be moving ahead to make sure people are getting the care they need, when and where they need it. Theres a resounding force in the community and overwhelming support by the American people. We have the strength to push forward, and the will. Were not rolling over. *** Here are 7 things you can do to get involved with Planned Parenthood. Illustrations by Charlotte Trounce; follow her on Instagram @charlottetrounce. Planned Parenthood Photo and Graphs Courtesy of Planned Parenthood. *A single asterisk indicates where names have been abbreviated or changed Heres the Real Oil Price Russia Needs to Break Even BY JACOB SHAPIRO : We published our 2017 forecast earlier this week. One of our predictions is that Russia is in for a difficult year economically. This is because Russias economy depends significantly on oil. The price of oil in 2016 has averaged roughly $43 a barrel. Thats a far cry from two years ago, when it was more than double. According to Russias Federal Customs Service, oil-export revenue accounts for 26 percent of total revenue from Russian exports. For an economy with exports making up almost 30 percent of GDP, thats fairly significant. Russia has seen this problem manifest in its ballooning 2016 budget deficit. The budget deficit was $25 billion in 2015, or 2.6 percent of total GDP, according to Russias Finance Ministry. But Russias finance minister said last September that 2016 budget deficit projections had been revised upward. It could reach 3.7 percent of Russias GDP by years end. This is why Russia has been dipping into reserve funds. Theyve also slashed social services and pension benefits. Doing the Math A great deal of ink has been spilled over the rise in oil prices since the OPEC agreed to production cuts on November 30. Lets leave aside that oil has not actually surged upwards. (The price for Brent crude at closing on December 14 was only 11 percent higher than November 28.) Instead of speculating on market gyrations, it is more interesting to figure out the exact oil price that would be geopolitically significant from Russias point of view. Russias finance minister said last January that Russia could balance its budget if oil reached $82 a barrel. But we have a doctrinal distrust of politicians statements. So, we wanted to see if we could discover a similar figureor a more accurate oneon our own. Russia reports oil-export revenue in both metric tons and dollars. According to Russias Federal Customs Service, from January to October 2016, Russia exported $59.6 billion worth of oil. Thats about 213 million metric tons of crude. Converting metric tons to barrels for crude is not simple. Each type differs in density. The generally accepted conversion for metric tons to barrels is 7.33 (according to BPs Statistical Review of World Energy). By analyzing Russias export statistics this way, it is possible to make two observations. One is that in the first 10 months of 2016, Russia produced almost 5 percent more oil than in all of 2015. That means, it needed to sell more this year than last. The other is that we can roughly estimate Russia thus far this year has exported approximately 5.13 million barrels of oil per day. Breaking Even From here we have to make a bit of a leap. Russian statistics show it exported $76.7 billion of oil in 2015, when the average price was $41.85. With data from the first 10 months of 2016, we have to do a little guesswork. But lets assume that in November and December of this year, Russia will have exported the average value it exported in the first 10 months of the year. (In reality, it probably will be a little more.) That means total Russian oil exports in 2016 would be approximately $71.52 billion. We also must factor in recent comments by Russias energy minister that indicate Russia has, at least verbally, agreed to coordinate its oil production with OPECs cuts. Russian would reduce production by 300,000 barrels per day (bpd) in 2017. If we assume that is removed from Russias average production next year, we conclude Russia will export roughly 4.8 million bpd next year. As stated above, Russia expects to run a budget deficit of $48.1 billion in 2016. If Russian oil exports are valued at $71.52 billion in 2016, that means Russia would have to export $48.1 billion more oil in order to break even just on its budget deficit. That comes to approximately $68 a barrel, assuming daily production of 4.8 million barrels. That is a little lower than Russias finance minister suggested earlier in the year. But its not overly surprising. The State Duma in Russia recently approved next years budget, and parts of itsuch as certain types of defense spendingare not publicly reported. The finance minister may know of other costs that must be factored in that we dont. Or he may simply have wanted to lower expectations. Too Much Supply This means that Russia needs oil prices to increase by about 30 percent from the current position. Thats just to break even on the budget. Even that much of a rise would not solve Russias economic problems. It would only mean that Russia would be able to continue current levels of spending without having to dip into various reserve funds. That spending already includes cuts to various social services. Russias Finance Ministry has already indicated it expects one of those funds to be spent covering the budget deficit in 2017. Russia expects the budget deficit to slightly decrease to 3 percent of GDP. A significant increase in oil prices in 2017 at this point seems unlikely. The market is oversupplied. Growth projections for major economies in the world are stagnant at best. And the higher the price increases, the more likely the US will increase production. OPEC and other oil exporters participating in production cuts may be able to make a dent in oversupply. (Thats assuming they break historical precedent and dont cheat on quotas). But they wont be able to solve the problem entirely, nor prevent other countries from increasing production. Getting caught up in market swings can be addictive. Since we care about such things because of what they mean geopolitically, we discipline ourselves as much as possible. The above logic shows why oil prices would have to be maintained over at least $68 a barrel for a sustained period before we start getting too excited. Grab This Free Report to See What Lies Ahead in 2017 Now, for a limited time, you can download this free report from Mauldin Economics detailing the rocky roads that lie ahead for three globally important countries in 2017and how the economic fallout from their coming crises could affect you. Top 3 Economic Surprises for 2017 is required reading for investors and concerned citizens alike. Get your free copy now. John Mauldin Archive 2005-2019 http://www.MarketOracle.co.uk - The Market Oracle is a FREE Daily Financial Markets Analysis & Forecasting online publication. MARTINSVILLE-An investigation is underway after one person was killed Saturday night on Rivermont Heights Road. The Virginia State Police have classified the incident as a fatal hit-and-run. The incident happened at 11:59 p.m. Saturday in the 1600 block of Rivermont Heights Road, according to an email from Corinne N. Geller, public relations director for Virginia State Police. Linda L. Shrader, 54, of Martinsville, was in the roadway outside her residence when she was struck by a white 2008 Nissan Versa, heading southbound. She was taken to Memorial Hospital in Martinsville, where she died early Sunday morning. During the course of the investigation, Virginia State Police Trooper K.E. Pegram located the damaged Nissan later Sunday morning. No charges have been filed yet in the case, as the crash remains under investigation. State police ask anyone with information about the crash or the vehicle to call the Martinsville Area 42 Office at 276-632-3060 or area42@vsp.virginia.gov. Merck Foundation (www.Merck-Foundation.com), the philanthropic arm of Merck KGaA Germany conducted their Annual Kenya Alumni Summit in Nairobi to discuss their programs with their partners and beneficiaries to transform patient care landscape in Kenya through building healthcare capacity, raising awareness about sensitive social and health issues; and to meet the Merck Foundation Alumni and Media Winners. This Annual Summit was co-chaired by Prof. Dr. Frank Stangenberg Haverkamp, Chairman of both Executive Board of E.Merck KG & Merck Foundation Board of Trustees and Senator, Dr. Rasha Kelej, CEO of Merck Foundation. Prof. Dr. Frank Stangenberg-Haverkamp during his Keynote address said, At Merck Foundation, our goal is improving overall health and well-being by building healthcare capacity, by providing access to quality and equitable healthcare solutions in the African continent and beyond. We at Merck Foundation are committed to transform the patient care landscape not only in Kenya, but also across the entire African continent. Therefore, to fulfil this commitment 1300 scholarships have been provided to young doctors from 45 countries in 32 critical and underserved specialties. Senator, Dr. Rasha Kelej, CEO of Merck Foundation emphasized, Firstly, I am very happy to meet the Merck Foundation Alumni and Media Awards Winners in person for the first time after the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic. I am very proud of the work we are doing to transform public healthcare in Kenya. We have provided 118 scholarships in Kenya in critical specialties such as Oncology, Embryology, Diabetes, Preventative Cardiovascular Medicine, Endocrinology, Sexual and Reproductive Medicine, Gastroenterology, Respiratory Medicine, Acute Medicine, Biotechnology of Human Assisted Reproduction and Embryology, Critical Care, Psychiatry, Internal Medicine, Urology and many more. We will continue to scale up these numbers in order to create a stronger platform of skilled medical professionals and strengthen the public healthcare system in Kenya and rest of Africa. Merck Foundation conducted their Alumni Summit to meet the doctors who have completed or are undergoing the scholarships provided by Merck Foundation. Partager et informez vous aussi...... 0 shares Share Tweet LinkedIn Articles similaires A teenage boy shot and killed in Charlotte previously lived in Burke County and folks have set up a GoFundMe page to help the family. Anthony Frazier, 14, was shot around 10:20 p.m. Monday at a house on Finchley Drive, near Eastway Drive. Investigators said the teenager and his aunt were pulling into the home on Finchley Drive, near Eastway Drive around 10:20 p.m., when they spotted two young men hiding in the bushes. Sources told Channel 9 the two men ran, then one turned around and fired several shots, hitting the teenager while he was sitting in the backseat of the car, the Concord/Kannapolis Independent Tribune reported. After the shooting, the aunt drove to 7-Eleven on Eastway to get help, according to the story in the Independent Tribune. Police are looking for two black males in their teens to early 20s. Anthony died on Tuesday. He is the son of Burke County natives and Kannapolis Police Officer Daniel Fraizer and his wife, Brandi. The Kannapolis Police Department is heartbroken over the loss of one of our family members, especially as this young person, Anthony Frazier, was just beginning his teenage years, Kannapolis Police Chief Woody Chavis said in a statement. Every member, of our extended family, plays an important role in our everyday lives and are critical to ensuring we are successful in carrying out our professional duties. Our families are the backbone of our department and without them we could not survive. Chaivs went on to say, May God place his protective and loving arms around Officer Daniel Fraizers family during this time of sorrow. A special thank you to the public for all the prayers, moral support, and acts of grace which you have shown us. Daniel and Brandi Fraizer are graduates of Freedom High School in Morganton. Anthony attended Oak Hill Elementary School through the fifth grade, said Cheryl Shuffler, public information officer for Burke County Public Schools. A GoFundMe page has been set up for the family at http://bit.ly/2iPYSh7. The page says, on behalf of the Freedom High School class of 2002, a GoFundMe campaign has been set up to help his parents. As you all know, now is the time to come together as a community and show support for Daniel, Brandi and their entire family, the page says. The funding goal is $20,000. As of 2 p.m. Wednesday, it had raised $2,725. Sharon McBrayer is a staff writer and can be reached at smcbrayer@morganton.com or at 828-432-8946. Artists often develop new creative techniques late in life, often at the same time as they begin suffering from dementia. Some scientists suspect that it is the dementia itself that fosters ways of expression that havent been tried by the artists before. At the University of Liverpool a team of researchers wanted to examine this connection further by performing fractal analysis of paintings of famous artists. Specifically, they were looking for evidence of cognitive decline within the brush strokes of art works completed before and after the onset of artists dementia. The team analyzed the fractal dimension of paintings and compared earlier works of a number of artists with their later pieces. Roughly speaking, fractal dimensions represent different patterns of complexity as one looks at artworks at different scales. Typically artists maintain about the same fractal dimensions between their works, an indication of their individual styles. What the Liverpool researchers discovered is that the four artists studied who had known cases of dementia ( Dali and Morrisseau with Alzheimers, and Brooks and De Kooning with Parkinsons) had a marked change in the fractal dimensions of their works as their conditions set in. Three others (Chagall, Picasso, and Monet) who lived to old age seemingly without suffering from dementia maintained the fractal dimensions within their works. Study in journal Neuropsychology: What paint can tell us: A fractal analysis of neurological changes in seven artists More from University of Liverpool by Karlene Lukovitz @KLmarketdaily, January 4, 2017 While digital media startups are hardly rare, its probably safe to say that few executives have co-founded, incubated and been instrumental in driving the growth of as many visible ventures as Josh Engroff has in 16 years. Engroff selected as one of MediaPost's 2016 Online All Stars, in the media category currently balances two extremely demanding roles. On the one hand, he serves as managing partner of KBS+ Ventures, the corporate venture capital arm of advertising agency KBS and its holding company, MDC Partners. On the other, he serves as digital media officer at The Media Kitchen, the media planning and buying arm of KBS, with clients including Vanguard, Victoria Secrets Pink, Vail Resorts, Stanley Black & Decker, Seventh Generation and Noosa Yoghurt. In his three years at KBS+ an early-stage investor in martech, ad tech and SaaS startups that talks to 500 startups a year Engroff has led 13 deals in 10 companies, including Entrypoint VR, msg.ai, PlaceIQ, Indicative, AdsNative, Dextro and Mezzobit. Those deals ran the gamut of hot, emerging martech areas: AI and personalization, VR distribution, video analysis and computer vision, and mobile messaging, to name a few. Its like having a front-row seat to the future, says Engroff who is relishing the chance to be a venture capitalist himself, having pitched innumerable VCs during his earlier career. His path began in the late 1990s, working for friends at e-commerce startup Dash.com. The venture raised a huge amount of money quickly, which led me to believe for a short while that being an entrepreneur was easy, he shares. But the company, hit hard by the crash of April 2000, folded about a year later. Engroff left with important friendships, including ones with Jeremy Levine (a VC legend now at Bessemer Venture Partners), Rob Goldman (head of ad products at Facebook), and Jeff Brooks (president of Huge New York). He also left with a deep love of the Internet, a knowledge of programming and core programs like Flash and Photoshop, the insight that raising too much money could be as disastrous for a startup as raising too little, and an understanding that being an entrepreneur is actually grueling but a perfect fit for his personality. There is nothing romantic or glamorous about being an entrepreneur, he says. In my experience, great ideas are a dime a dozen. The hard thing is execution. Its messy, unsexy and gritty. In fact, the one quality nearly all successful entrepreneurs have in common is grit: the determination and perseverance to keep moving forward despite physical, psychological, or financial pain. Engroff warns would-be entrepreneurs that 90% of startups fail, and the 10% that survive take six to eight years, on average, to pay off with a sale or exit. But relentless curiosity, along with a drive to create, keep the pain in context. Creativity is about bringing something new into the world, he says. Creating a new company is a full-on commitment to an original endeavor that carries a risk of total failure. Since Dash.com, he has co-founded three other startups. Two digital music company Jango and design consultancy Marching Ant are going concerns. Another, mobile programmatic DSP EveryScreen Media, was acquired in 2013 by Media6Degrees, since rebranded as Dstillery. He also led that companys mobile platform business unit for a time, driving 700%+ YOY revenue growth through product and business development, marketing, analytics and operational honing. Engroff also spent a few years leading product and business development for Billboards mobile apps and online properties. (He won a National Magazine Award for best Web design for Billboard.com.) Later, under new owner Prometheus Global Media, he added digital oversight for The Hollywood Reporter and Adweek. Engroff says his current dual roles at KBS+ and The Media Kitchen complement one another. Ive had the privilege of working with amazing people at some truly cool brands. Maintaining connections with clients keeps me tuned into marketers real challenges, he says. This helps me vet whether the startups were talking to are actually solving real problems. Under his digital media leadership, The Media Kitchen won MediaPost's Mobile Agency of the Year in both 2015 and 2016, and Programmatic Agency of the Year in 2014. He and his team contribute a winning media edge to numerous successful campaigns each year. In 2016, examples included a Noosa tool on Spotify that is inspiring thousands of consumers to generate custom playlists, and a campaign for the Justice tween fashion brand that generated 96% of its sales revenue and conversions from Instagram and Facebook. In addition, Engroff plays a critical thought leadership role at the agency which, under president Barry Lowenthal, this year focused on emerging issues and areas, including VRs distribution problem, local programmatic TV, the Snapchat API, the bot problem, AI, and mobiles transformation of marketing, among others. His influence is also very much felt In the broader industry. Hes a prolific, insightful writer for MediaPost and other business media, and hosts the annual Digital Media Venture Capital Conference, which attracts the biggest names in VC and Silicon Valley. MediaPost's 2016 Online All Stars, celebrating nine outstanding achievers in online media, advertising and marketing, will be celebrated at an awards presentation on Jan. 19, in New York City. , Tuesday, January 3, 2017 7:08 AM French workers are no longer required to check their work email after work. The new right to disconnect law has gone into effect, protecting workers from being over worked by keeping in touch with their companies at all times. The law applies to businesses with more than 50 employees. Read the whole story at by Tanya Gazdik , January 4, 2017 Quaker is launching an ad campaign that celebrates its 140th anniversary, playing up its history and heritage in making oats. The campaign, themed We are the good we make, includes two TV spots created by PepsiCos in-house creative team, The Creators League. Heritage shows the connection between Quakers history and its future, reminding people that at its core, the company consists of millers who are dedicated to making quality oats. Creations is more food-forward and showcases the power of the oat, and how a little bit of creativity and a personal touch can transform its blank canvas into a meal. advertisement advertisement The spots broke January 2 and will air across broadcast and cable networks including ABC, NBC, E!, TBS, HGTV, Food Network and Bravo. The campaign is similar to the brands previous campaign, which ran for more than a year, in that they both focus on how there is a window of opportunity in the mornings to help positively influence the rest of the day, and Quaker wants to play a role in helping families make the most of that time. Off You Go used creative storytelling to emotionally illustrate this idea, while We are the good we make taps into Quakers history as leaders in breakfast and how oats are a blank canvas that can deliver a creative, delicious and nourishing start to the day, says Paige Corbett, Quaker marketing director. In a time when many people are finding comfort in getting back to basics, the We are the good we make campaign is meant to remind people that Quaker has been there from the beginning, since 1877, says Corbett tells Marketing Daily. The creative treatment was anchored in characteristics that are intrinsic to Quakers core -- authenticity, warmth and familiarity, says Kristin Patrick, senior vice president, Creators League. From the approachable casting to the uplifting, yet gritty music to the thoughtful way we feature the oats, the spots are meant to truly reflect the tagline in a meaningful way that pays homage to Quakers rich heritage and bright future, says Patrick. by Jess Nelson , January 3, 2017 Eight out of ten B2B marketing executives predict artificial intelligence (AI) will revolutionize marketing by 2020, according to a December report by Demandbase -- but is it the key to unlocking a future without email spam? Demandbase, an account-based marketing (ABM) platform, partnered with Wakefield Research to poll 500 B2B marketers from the manager level to c-level executives, at companies with at least 250 employees, about AI-driven marketing. The results of the study suggest that marketers are eager to embrace artificial intelligence, yet only 10% of respondents are currently using AI and only 26% of marketers are confident that they understand how artificial intelligence can be applied to marketing. Education and integration concerns are the largest hurdles obstructing marketers with regard to artificial intelligence. Integrating AI into an existing marketing stack was the top-ranking challenge expressed by marketers when they considered incorporating AI into their marketing campaigns, with 60% of marketers selecting it as their top concern. Training employees followed in second place with 54% of respondents, while 46% of marketers said that interpreting the results of AI could be difficult. advertisement advertisement One integral component of integrating artificial intelligence into a marketing technology stack is data quality. Darian Shirazi, CEO and co-founder at Radius, calls data quality foundational and a prerequisite to delivering AI predictions. Many companies have not addressed how they will ensure that the data their AI models are built on is high quality, says Shirazi. Data quality is key to pulling accurate insights and actions and in 2017, we will see more companies focus on solving the challenge of maintaining accurate, valuable data, so that AI technology lives up to its promise of driving change and improvement for businesses. Although many marketers are still unsure how to incorporate AI into their marketing programs, that concern has not dimmed their hopes for the benefits that AI could bring. The top three benefits listed by B2B marketing executives in Demandbases study included garnering better insights into accounts, more detailed analysis of campaigns and expediting daily tasks. Aman Naimat, SVP of technology at Demandbase, says the value of artificial intelligence in marketing lies in delivering more personalized conversations to customers and prospects by understanding their pain points, goals and ambitions. This type of personalized communication eliminates the worthless spam that often plagues marketing today, says Naimat, referring to email marketing fatigue. Each of a companys 10 million Web site visitors can expect to have a unique conversation with a brand based on their specific needs, says Naimat. From dynamic ad copy, to 1-to-1 emails and customized Web site experiences, AI will make hyper-personalization at scale possible. Chris Golec, founder and CEO at Demandbase, also expressed how artificial intelligence could eliminate spam mail by automatically scanning out the bad leads and creating custom, personalized communication instead. by Sara Guaglione , January 4, 2017 Former CEO of Robb Report Stephen Colvin has been tapped to lead Bloomberg Medias global events business, Bloomberg Live. Colvin left Robb Report in August. The CEO position at the luxury title has been vacant since then, with the management team running the business, Brian Hermelin, managing partner of Robb Report parent company Rockbridge Growth Equity, told Publishers Daily. In his new role at Bloomberg, Colvin will be responsible for expanding live event opportunities at the two-year-old division of the company. He will also identify and expand new monetization strategies for Bloomberg Live. "Arguably one of the oldest forms of media, live events is one of the fastest-growing segments of the media industry and are critical to executing a successful, modern multiplatform media strategy, stated Bloomberg Media CEO Justin B. Smith. Events, Colvin added, generate not only great insights and solutions, but also create opportunities for marketers to align their brands alongside meaningful conversations between global leaders, influencers and newsmakers, both at the event and on all the other Bloomberg media platforms. advertisement advertisement Smith told Politicos Morning Media that sponsorships from live events were up around 30% last year, compared to 2015. We expect revenue to grow even more as we define our global events strategy under Stephen, he said. Smith and Colvin previously worked together at The Week, over a decade ago. Colvin has served as president of The Daily Beast and CEO of The Newsweek Daily Beast Company. He also helped launch Dennis Publishing's U.S. division. Publishers Daily reported yesterday that the 40-year-old Robb Report is now co-owned by Penske Media Corporation and Rockbridge Growth Equity. The joint venture will focus on expanding the brand's digital reach, print subscription and distribution, event business and product suite. by Wendy Davis , Staff Writer @wendyndavis, January 4, 2017 Broadband carriers are urging the Federal Communications Commission to reconsider its stringent new privacy rules, which require carriers to obtain consumers' opt-in consent before drawing on their Web-surfing data for ad targeting. In a petition filed Monday, the trade group US Telecom Association argues that carriers shouldn't be subject to tougher rules than other Web companies -- like search engines and social networking services. The rules, which took effect this week, prohibit Internet service providers from drawing on information about subscribers' Web activity and app usage for ad targeting, without their opt-in consent. 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" aren't 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.) advertisement advertisement The US Telecom Association argues that the rules rest on the "false" premise that carriers "are nearly omniscient and have greater visibility into consumer data" than other Web companies. "Given the recent rise of encryption and multiple ISP connections per user, any given ISP has rapidly declining visibility into the details of consumers Internet usage and, in some respects, less visibility than leading social media platforms, search engines, and data brokers," US Telecom asserts in its 25-page petition. That argument isn't new. The carriers have claimed for many months that they have no unique insight into consumers' Web activity. Last February, privacy expert and former White House official Peter Swire authored a paper -- partially funded by the industry group Broadband for America -- concluding that the growing use of encryption, combined with consumers' increasing reliance on smartphones and tablets, deprives broadband carriers of comprehensive information about their subscribers' Web use. But others, including the consultancy Upturn, disagree with Swire's assessment. "Today, ISPs can see a significant amount of their subscribers' Internet activity, and have the ability to infer substantial amounts of sensitive information from it," that group wrote in a report funded by the Media Democracy Fund. "ISPs and the vendors that serve them have clear opportunities to develop methods of inferring important information even from encrypted data flows." Broadband carriers aren't the only ones opposed to the new rules. Late last year, Google foe Oracle argued that the privacy requirements will benefit the search company 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." The major ad industry groups also petitioned the FCC to reconsider the rules. Those groups make several arguments, including that the new rules are unconstitutional because they violate broadband providers' free speech rights. "The creation, analysis, and transfer of consumer data for marketing purposes constitutes speech," the groups say in a petition filed Tuesday. "The prohibition against the use of ... all web viewing history and app usage information, without opt-in consent, unlawfully restrains and unreasonably burdens the ability of [broadband] providers to engage in broad ranges of protected speech," the ad groups argue. The FCC hasn't indicated how it will act on the new petitions for reconsideration. But the rules faced an uncertain future even before the trade groups asked the agency to revisit the regulations, given that the two Republicans on the FCC said last month that they aim to repeal the net neutrality and privacy rules. by Steve McClellan @mp_mcclellan, January 4, 2017 Havas New York has just expanded its C-suite with the appointment of Jon Dupuis as the agencys first chief performance marketing officer. As part of the senior leadership team, Dupuis has also been named a managing director at the agency. He joins Havas from Publicis Groupes DigitasLBi, where he served as EVP, marketing, leading the agencys American Express business in North America, across brand, acquisition and loyalty. Dupuis is tasked with scaling and optimizing the agencys expanding performance marketing offering for clients within the New York group. The shops within that group include Havas Creative, Havas Media and digital and customer experience agency Helia. The group also includes Cognitive -- which was launched formally earlier this year in partnership with IBM to leverage IBMs Watson technology to assist in creating artificial intelligence and other applications to help with development of tailored marketing campaigns for clients. advertisement advertisement Dupuis will report to Laura Maness, CEO Havas New York, who said he is a hybrid marketer with a deep understanding of creative, digital, data and media, and a proven track record for leading marketers through transformative growth and organizational change. His strengths are a great match for Havas, as we continue to break new ground in creativity using the tools of modern marketing. During his seven years at DigitasLBi, Dupuis is credited with helping to develop some of American Express most notable digital-led platforms, including Small Business Saturday, Unstaged and Passion Project. Dupuis also started a DigitasLBi relationship with Under Armour, helping the agency add Performance Media AOR duties under his leadership. Earlier, Dupuis was co-founder of creative independent NYCA, an agency he helped grow from two people to a shop of 65 employees across 12 global accounts. by Wendy Davis @wendyndavis, January 4, 2017 In a blow to Comcast, a Washington state judge refused to dismiss Attorney General Robert Ferguson's lawsuit accusing the company of bilking customers. The ruling, issued late last month, means that Ferguson can proceed with claims that the country's largest Internet and cable provider duped around 500,000 Washington residents into purchasing near-worthless "service protection" plans. Comcast's plan -- which cost $4.99 monthly -- was supposed to cover the cost of all repairs, including fixes to "inside wiring," Ferguson's lawsuit alleged. Instead, the service plans cover only "a narrow scope of repairs," and specifically excludes most of the wiring inside people's homes, according to the lawsuit. Ferguson alleges that Comcast misrepresented the scope of the plan protections on its Web site, as well as in emails and online chats with customers. The company allegedly collected $73 million in fees for the plan from Washington residents since 2011. advertisement advertisement From January of that year through mid-June 2016, Comcast's site allegedly promised people that the service protection plan would provide a host of benefits, including "unlimited covered service calls with no contracts," "hassle-free replacement and repair of defective customer inside wiring," and "confidence that if there is a problem with any XFINITY service, Comcast will take care of it without charging a service fee." The plan's online terms and conditions state that it covers "all inside-wiring related service calls," but the last paragraph contains a disclaimer stating: "The plan does not cover the repair of wire concealed within a wall (i.e. wire that is wall fished)," according to the lawsuit. Comcast had argued that the case should be dismissed at a preliminary stage. The company made several arguments, including that its service protection plans enabled customers to save "millions of dollars in avoided service call costs." A company spokesperson added on Wednesday that the lawsuit "fails to demonstrate violations of the Washington Consumer Protection Act, and in fact acknowledges that our customers have saved millions of dollars in avoided service charges with our Service Protection Plan." by Barry Janoff , January 4, 2017 Has actor/comedian Kevin Hart been missing in action? According to Nike, he has been gone since October, when he got an Apple Watch Nike+ and took off for parts unknown to fulfill his destiny as The Man Who Kept Running. The new multi-media campaign with Hart is a follow-up to Nikes Time is Precious effort last month, which raised the question, Are We Running? or watching TV, taking selfies or fixating on celebrities. The Man Who Kept Running transforms Hart from a Hollywood star to a bearded desert nomad, much like Tom Hanks Forest Gump when he was obsessed with running. In the intro ad, Hart puts on his multi-function Apple Watch Nike+ and proclaims, Running just became a lot easier. advertisement advertisement According to the spot, The next day he vanished. Months, later, a film crew found him in the desert, 700 miles from home. In documentary-type style, we then follow Harts progress from film star to a guy who lives off the land and converses with the animals, relying on his Apple Watch Nike+ to survive. Ive been living out here for months, but my spirit has been out here forever," Hart says. "Running used to be hard for me, but then things changed when I woke up and started to hear this little voice in my head, asking me the same question, Are we running today? I started to answer that question: YES!! Using his multi-functional Apple Watch Nike+, Hart fends off numerous obstacles including heat, lack of directions and loneliness to keep running. On Day 75 he talks about survival methods. Looking at his watch, he finds the best time to run. Its 120 degrees now, he says, but at 4:30 it will be 119. Thats when I strike. Day 86 sees Hart using his watch to communicate with another runner. My guy Mo just put in four miles, he says, looking at his watch and seeing a message from his friend, accompanied by a fist-bump emoji. I see you, Mo. You know what I say back to you: Fist bump. Fist bump. On Day 95, the Siri-voiced watch sends him in the right direction, If you listen close enough, you can hear the rocks speaking, he says, mishearing the source of the voice. These rocks are full of wisdom. I got my rocks full of wisdom, and my Apple Watch Nike+ full of GPS wisdom. I also have my wisdom teeth. On Day 98, he reveals his motivation to run. To find Kevin Hart, I had to leave Kevin Hart. Its not a competition with others. Its a competition with me. On Day 99 he sits on a rock and talks about his New Years resolutions: Working on my beard, to motivate and inspire others, run every day, to have bigger calf muscles. His watch then chimes in, reminding him to get up and run. Lead agency is Wieden + Kennedy, Portland, Ore. Apparently, Hart enjoys journeys away from Hollywood. He appeared in The Road Trip spot, driving an RV with David Beckham for H&M this past September. The Apple Watch Nike+ is a companion piece to the Apple Watch Series 2 with added features such as the Nike+ Run Club app. Barry Janoff is executive editor of NYSportsJournalism.com. 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. 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." A new active pharmaceutical ingredient may help against severe forms of testicular cancer, which only respond inadequately to other therapies. In mice, the substance kills degenerated cells and allows testicular tumors to shrink. Researchers at the University of Bonn were able to demonstrate this in a recent study. However, first clinical trials are still pending. The work has now been published in the Journal of Cellular and Molecular Medicine. Testicular cancer is the most common malignant tumor disease in men between 20 and 40 years of age. It can usually be treated well. In some cases, however, the cancer hardly responds or does not respond at all to treatment. A substance that was originally destined to be an innovative contraceptive is offering new hope in these cases. An experimental drug with the cryptic name JQ1 blocks sperm maturation and was discussed to be a male contraceptive. Instead, it may be suitable for cancer therapy. JQ1 belongs to a new class of drugs with far-reaching abilities: its members fundamentally influence which genes in the cell are active and which are not. The hereditary material DNA is similar to an extremely long strip of Morse code, on which the assembly instructions for the cellular molecules are found. To fit into the cell nuclei, this strip of Morse code is wrapped around small protein balls at regular intervals - the histones. Histones and DNA together resemble a string of pearls. However, the histones do not only play a structural role. They also feature chemical tags - called methyl or acetyl groups. These tags signal to the synthesis machinery in the cell whether the strip of Morse code should be read at this point or not. "JQ1 inhibits those proteins that read these histone marks and thus changes the gene activity in the cell," explains Prof. Hubert Schorle from the Institute for Pathology at the University of Bonn. The cancer cells react very sensitive to these changes: they activate a suicide program, called apoptosis. "In a testicular cancer mouse model, the tumors began to shrink after administering JQ1," explains the lead author of the study, Sina Jostes. "In contrast, healthy skin cells seem to tolerate JQ1 very well." Especially effective in combination Besides JQ1, other drugs that alter the marks of the histones are also known. One of these is romidepsin. The laboratory in Bonn was recently able to show that romidepsin is also very effective at fighting testicular cancer cells. Unlike JQ1, romidepsin is already approved for the treatment of patients with certain types of cancer. "In our study, we treated mice with both JQ1 and romidepsin," explains Dr. Daniel Nettersheim, who helped in planning and performing the studies. "This way, we achieved a similar effect alike JQ1 or romidepsin treatment alone, but we could reduce the quantities of both substances. Such a combination therapy to treat testicular tumors may be much better tolerated. Chemotherapy-resistant patients could also benefit from this." However, clinical studies are now needed to move the treatment towards the clinics. Besides scientists from the University of Bonn, the studies also involved researchers from the University of St. Gallen (Switzerland) and Harvard Medical School (USA). Looking at before-and-after photos, plastic surgeons and nurses can't tell whether breast augmentation surgery was done using conventional round implants or newer anatomically shaped implants, reports a study in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, the official medical journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS). At least in the specific group of patients studied, the results of breast augmentation using round versus shaped implants are indistinguishable, according to the new research, led by Dr. Carlos Rubi of The IMED Hospital Department of Plastic Surgery, Valencia, Spain. The results suggest that routine use of increasingly popular "teardrop-shaped" implants is not justified. No Visible Difference in Results between Implant Types in Before-and-After Photos In the study, 30 plastic surgeons and plastic surgery nurses reviewed preoperative and postoperative photos of 30 women who had undergone breast augmentation with round or anatomically shaped implants-15 patients in each group. The two groups were otherwise similar: all procedures were done using silicone implants, placed under the muscle (subpectoral), with an average implant size of about 300 cc. For each set of photos, the surgeons and nurses judged whether the procedure was done using round or shaped implants. The goal was to determine if the aesthetic results of round versus shaped implants could be differentiated from each other. For all observations, there was about a 50-50 chance that the surgeons and nurses could correctly identify the type of implant used. There was a lack of agreement not only between different raters, but also for individual raters comparing the same images several weeks later. Plastic surgeons performed slightly better than nurses in identifying the type of implant-possibly because they could deduce which type would likely be recommended, based on the "before" photos. Introduced recently, teardrop-shaped implants have become increasingly popular for breast augmentation surgery. "A widespread idea is that the anatomically shaped implants give more natural results than the round implants," Dr. Rubi and coauthors write. But the new study shows that even plastic surgeons and plastic surgery nurses cannot tell the difference between the final outcomes of breast augmentation with round versus shaped implants, in a group of patients with otherwise similar characteristics. The results add to a previous study that showed similar outcomes with the two implant types used for breast reconstruction. The inability to tell the difference between implant types for breast augmentation questions the preference for shaped implants - especially since they cost more and carry a risk of complications related to implant rotation, compared to round implants. "The systematic use of anatomically shaped implants is not justified," Dr. Rubi comments. "Natural results are achieved with both types of implants." Article: Comparing Round and Anatomically Shaped Implants in Augmentation Mammaplasty: The Experts' Ability to Differentiate the Type of Implant, Rubi, Carlos G. M.D.; Lozano, Jose Angel M.D., Ph.D.; Perez-Espadero, Alberto M.D.; Leache, M. Elena M.D., Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, doi: 10.1097/PRS.0000000000002896, published January 2017. Patient satisfaction has become an important quality measure in the US healthcare system. But some plastic surgeons question the value of subjective patient satisfaction ratings - suggesting that they might even lead to lower-quality care in some situations, according to a special topic article in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, the official medical journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS). "Increasingly used as a measure of physician performance, patient satisfaction data can be flawed and not broadly applicable," comments ASPS Member Surgeon Terence Myckatyn, MD, of Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis. "While patient satisfaction is important, we think that better rating tools are needed to measure it." Dr. Myckatyn's coauthors were Justin Brent Cohen, MD, and Keith Brandt, MD. Plastic Surgeons Question Value of Subjective Patient Satisfaction Ratings Dr. Myckatyn and colleagues share some concerns about the trend toward using patient satisfaction ratings as a measure of physician performance. The focus on patient satisfaction is driven by the fact that the United States spends more than any other nation on healthcare, but lags behind in outcomes. Patient satisfaction is now among the quality of care indicators used in "pay for performance" programs tying financial reimbursement under Medicare and the Affordable Care Act. But using patient satisfaction ratings in this way is having some unintended consequences, the authors believe. For example, some hospitals are upgrading their physical facilities and adding luxury amenities, in an attempt to improve patient satisfaction scores. "One could argue that these costly expenses have more to do with the perception of healthcare quality rather than actual outcomes," Dr. Myckatyn and colleagues write. There are even anecdotal reports of doctors altering their medical judgment to improve patient satisfaction and minimize negative reviews - for example, prescribing antibiotics or strong pain medications to keep patients happy and move them quickly through the system. "Behavior motivated by patient satisfaction becomes especially dangerous when ratings are directly tied to compensation," according to the authors. Meanwhile, it's unclear whether satisfaction and other measures of patient experience are correlated with traditional measures of health care safety and quality. Dr. Myckatyn and coauthors write: "The truth is that there is little high-level evidence to support that patient satisfaction surveys will provide Americans with improved medical outcomes, but there are plenty of contradictory data." Some studies even suggest that higher-intensity healthcare is associated with increased patient satisfaction but also with increased mortality, with no impact on objective quality measures. While other studies have linked higher satisfaction to better outcomes, interpretation of these studies is limited by the fact that patient satisfaction is "inherently subjective and labile." As a specialty, plastic surgery doesn't have a strong body of research on patient satisfaction and its relationship to outcomes. Yet especially for aesthetic surgery, plastic surgeons have always been attuned to the importance of patient feedback. While they don't discard the notion of assessing patient satisfaction, Dr. Myckatyn and colleagues make the point that the rubrics currently used to rate patient satisfaction "do not consistently predict improved outcomes and satisfaction." They conclude: "What is needed are reliable tools that will take into account what constitutes superior quality in a more systematic, meaningful, and validated way." Article: The Importance of Patient Satisfaction: A Blessing, a Curse, or Simply Irrelevant? Cohen, Justin B. M.D., M.S.; Myckatyn, Terence M. M.D.; Brandt, Keith M.D., Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, doi: 10.1097/PRS.0000000000002848, published January 2017. A large global medical imaging equipment manufacturer is to begin production of Computed Tomography (CT) scanners in Russian in early 2017, pending receipt of final approvals from the Russian authorities.The company concluded contracts for licensing and sub-contracting the production of medical equipment (CT scanners) with one of the largest X-Ray equipment manufacturers in Russia.Toshiba Medical Systems Corporation (TMSC; Otawara-shi, Tochigi-ken, Japan) signed the contracts with ZAO Roentgenprom (Moscow, Russia) under the Russian government's program to reform the entire Russian healthcare system to 2020. The government intends to implement advanced healthcare technologies, and to improve and expand the healthcare infrastructure including advanced diagnostic imaging systems. The Russian government is giving preference to medical equipment produced locally. ZOA Roentgenprom produces a wide range of medical X-Ray equipment including digital mammography Computed Radiography (CR) systems, digital fluorography systems, mobile X-Ray rooms, and related software.In September 2015, Toshiba Medical Systems Corporation established the Russia-Japan Cardiac Imaging Training Center in Moscow, Russia, together with Medical Excellence JAPAN, as part of Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry program to encourage international expansion of Japanese medical services. The training center is intended to provide diagnostic medical imaging training and contribute to improving life expectancy, and the quality of life in Russia. On the New Years Eve, women were molested on the busiest streets of Bangalore by a bunch of monsters under the supervision of 1500 policemen who were deployed to ensure the safety of people. BCCL It resulted in a stampede with girls being groped, molested and pawed at. BCCL It was just another stark reminder that India is far, far away from being a safe place for women. We lost the battle for women's safety that wed been fighting for decades right there. BCCL Now, a video of a girl getting molested that night has surfaced and while its very, very disturbing, its important to be shown to everybody in this country. Because being ignorant is not an option anymore. Because its time India gets a much needed reminder about how normal sexual assault has become. She was walking home at 2.40 am when the incident happened. Watch her struggle as the two men molest and assault her, throw her on the ground and drive off. Because thats how much of a daily occurrence this has become. Watch this and feel ashamed of being a part of this country. Rooster-themed stamps to celebrate the Year of the Rooster are displayed at a post office in Weifang, Shandong province, on Tuesday. [Photo by Zhang Chi/China Daily] China Post Group Co will release a new set of rooster-themed stamps to celebrate the Year of the Rooster based on the Chinese zodiac. The set, which goes on sale on Thursday at designated post offices, includes two stamps and has a face value of 2.4 yuan ($0.34). People can also buy them through the company's official app as well as on its online shop on WeChat, according to an announcement by the company. One stamp features a running rooster, while the other displays a hen with two chickens. Han Meilin, designer of the stamp set, said many artists enjoy painting roosters because of their colorful feathers, adding that the animal is the most popular topic of folk paintings in China, according to a report by China News Service. Han said Chinese have a special affinity for roosters because their silhouette resembles the shape of China on a map. "The stamps symbolize family harmony," he added. Han, 80, who is well known for his paintings and sculptures, said he is passionate about the world, children and animals, despite the fact that he is getting older. It is the third time that he has accepted the invitation to design Lunar New Year stamps. A sheet of 32 stamps with a face value of 38.4 yuan costs about 150 yuan on the company's website, while a private business on Taobao, a popular shopping website in China, is selling the stamp sets for 25 yuan. The newspaper quoted a senior stamp collector as saying that the value of the rooster stamp set is less than the monkey stamp set issued the previous year. The rooster is the 10th Chinese zodiac in a 12-year cycle, with the previous Year of the Rooster being in 2005. The coming Year of the Rooster starts on Jan 28, 2017, which is Chinese Lunar New Year Day, and ends on Feb 15, 2018. The rooster is said to be the epitome of fidelity and punctuality, as it was used to awaken people for centuries before alarm clocks were invented. Chinese scholar Dong Qiang is selected as a tenured correspondent in the general section of the Academy of Moral and Political Sciences in Paris. [Photo provided to China Daily] Meeting celebrated writer Milan Kundera and becoming one of his students in Paris in the 1990s was a turning point for Dong Qiang, who may have otherwise stayed in France and become a "China expert" there. Dong returned home and is a professor of French language and literature at Peking University. He has translated dozens of important works between the two languages and has remained dedicated to promoting exchanges between the two countries, particularly in the sphere of culture. In recognition of his achievements, he was elected as a tenured correspondent in the general section of the Academy of Moral and Political Sciences, one of the five academies of the prestigious French Institute. The 49-year-old is the first Chinese person to have been selected for the post since the academy's establishment in 1795. Britain's Prince Charles has been one of the foreign associates there since 1992. "The tenure is lifelong. I'm taking the vacancy passed from French historian Jean-Louis Cremieux-Brilhac with great honor because he was the one who fought with General Charles de Gaulle and directed Free French radio broadcasts during World War II," Dong tells China Daily at his office in Peking University. He has just returned from the French Institute's annual meeting in mid-November, where he was officially introduced as the new correspondent. "I was welcomed by the honor guard with their swords up," Dong says. This, to him, rivaled the memorable hours he spent with Kunderaauthor of The Unbearable Lightness of Beingat Paris' School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences in the early 1990s. "Kundera led me into a small room where several students already were. He hung an 'in recording' sign on the door and closed it, then started his lecture on music and novels," Dong recalls of his first lesson. BAD AXE Newborn Megan Joy Manchester has three older sisters, but has already found a way to stand out in her own little way. In the early afternoon of Monday, Jan. 2, Megan became the first baby born in Huron County in 2017. At 2:54 p.m., at Huron Medical Center in Bad Axe, parents Don and Laura Manchester welcomed their fourth bundle of joy into the world. She weighed 7 pounds, 5 ounces and was 20.5 inches in length. With the birth, the family took home the annual First Baby Contest that the Huron Daily Tribune runs in conjunction with the hospital, where various prizes donated by area businesses are awarded to the winner. While Megans due date was Jan. 8, her mother had other ideas on how the birth might go. I had thoughts of a December baby, said Laura, with a laugh. Our first one was two weeks early, so I kept thinking any day for the past week. Megan was welcomed home Tuesday by sisters Stacia, 9 years old, Breanna, 6, and Ava, 3. Stacia was born in November, Breanna October and Ava in June, so none of them were really able to make a run at Huron Countys first baby. But mom said the big sisters were excited at the possibility of their newest sibling getting the honor. However, after Jan. 1 rolled by, the family thought the chance had passed. I didnt think I would have a chance since it wasnt the first, it was the second, Laura said. So it was exciting to find out. Previously from the Detroit area, the Manchesters moved to Pigeon six years ago after Don took a job teaching math in the Elkton-Pigeon-Bay Port school district. Laura teaches piano lessons from the couples home, although with the new addition to the family, she will not be accepting any new students for a while. 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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. Ltd., Stolvis Holdings II S.A.R.L., Subsidiaries, Technopack Industria Comercio Consultoria e Representacoes Ltda., Teknek China Limited, Teknek Japan Limited, Teksaleco Ltd., The Miller Group Ltd, Thirode Grandes Cuisines Poligny, Tien Tai Electrode Co. Ltd., Tien Tai Electrode Kunshan Co. Ltd., Unichemicals Industria e Comercio Ltda., VR-Leasing Sarita GmbH & Co. Immobilien KG, VS European Holdco BV, Valeron Strength Films B.V., Veneta Decalcogomme S.r.l., Versachem Chile S.A., Vesta, Vesta Global Limited, Vesta Guangzhou Catering Equipment Co. Ltd, Viltronics Soltec, Vitronics Soltec B.V., Wachs Canada Ltd., Wachs Subsea LLC, Weigh-Tronix Canada ULC, Weigh-Tronix UK Limited, Wilsonart International Holdings LLC, Wynn Oil South Africa Pty Ltd., Wynn's Automotive France, Wynn's Belgium BVBA, Wynn's Italia Srl, Wynn's Mekuba India Pvt Ltd, and Zip-Pak International B.V.. Read More Camp Lejeune Town Halls Aim to Help Those Exposed to Toxic Water. Heres How You Can Go. Retired Marine Master Sgt. Jerry Ensminger made it his mission to tell the world that if they lived or served on Camp Lejeune... The Marine Corps' crisis response task force for Africa was called upon to evacuate an injured special operations troop from Libya in a quiet mission never previously made public, the commander of the task force said. The crisis response force, which includes some 800 Marines, including a reinforced infantry company, is capable of executing tactical recovery of aircraft and personnel (TRAP) missions, as well as embassy evacuation and reinforcement, and other quick-response efforts on the African continent. During a six-month rotational deployment last year, which wrapped up as U.S. forces began conducting airstrikes on Islamic State targets in Sirte, Libya, at the behest of the country's government, the task force received a call to conduct the rescue, said Col. Martin Wetterauer, commander of the 8th Marine Regiment. The U.S. has acknowledged that a small number of special operations troops have been on the ground in Libya to assist Libyan forces in defeating ISIS militants. "It was a no-notice," Wetterauer said of the mission during a December post-deployment briefing near Washington, D.C. The response element, stationed in Moron, Spain, was on its normal "N-plus-6" alert, Wetterauer said, meaning the Marines would be able to respond to a crisis within six hours. They received their mission between 1 a.m. and 2 a.m., he said. "We got the call that one of our [special operations forces] partners had been injured down on the continent; basically, he ended up with something in his eye," Wetterauer said. "So we went through the planning cycle. We initially didn't know if it was going to be an Osprey/C-130 mix, or a C-130 CASEVAC." Ultimately, he said, the unit learned from the special operations team on the ground that they would be able to move the injured operator to Misrata, in the northwest corner of the country. Based on that decision, he said, the task force opted to leave the MV-22 Ospreys in Moron and execute the rescue with a single C-130 Hercules aircraft. "We did a C-130 flight directly from Moron into Misrata, tail-to-tail, picked the injured soldier up and then flew him to Landstuhl," Wetterauer said, naming a large Army medical facility in Germany. "And we saved his eye in the process." The entire operation took 16 hours, he said. The task force team that conducted the rescue spent one night in Landstuhl to rest up enough to make the return flight, then flew back to Moron to await more missions. In addition to the rescue of an operator, Wetterauer said the task force was "tightly integrated" with U.S. special operations during its deployment, collaborating with training as well as sharing capabilities including TRAP and quick response. In the coming year, he said, he expects that close collaboration to continue. "Until Libya becomes a stable environment or SOF is not the only guys working there, I would say this is going to be a lot of what we're doing," he said. -- Hope Hodge Seck can be reached at hope.seck@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at@HopeSeck. Joseph V. Micallef is a best-selling military history and world affairs author, and keynote speaker. Follow him on Twitter @JosephVMicallef With the future of the Assad regime now well in hand, the Kremlin has turned its attention to another former Soviet client in the Middle East Libya. The "Libyan Political Agreement" negotiated under UN supervision and announced on December 17, 2015, was supposed to herald the formation of a unity government for Libya and begin the process of stabilizing a country that has been torn apart by four years of civil war. It did neither. Instead, the two rival governments, the Tobruk-based House of Representatives (HR) and the Tripoli headquartered General National Congress (GNC), have continued their rivalry. Both sides continue to function as the government of Libya; conduct separate foreign policies and, in many cases, field rival ambassadorial appointments. In the meantime, the Government of National Accord (GNA), which was to have replaced the two rival governments, has failed to establish its authority. Its territorial control is largely limited to a former naval base outside the city of Tripoli and it is continuing to steadily lose what little authority it had. The GNC originally endorsed the GNA, although in recent months it has turned against it. The HR never accepted the GNA even though its formal approval was a precondition of the original agreement. Part of the impetus for the UN brokered agreement was the success of Islamic State (IS) in establishing a foothold in Libya. The Libyan branch of IS was officially formed on November 13, 2014. There were three separate branches of IS in Libya, corresponding to the three historic divisions of the country when it was under Ottoman rule: Cyrenaica in the east, Fezzan in the south and Tripolitania in the west. The group's genesis was in the Battar Brigade, a militant group of Libyans that were fighting against the Assad regime in Syria during 2012. In early 2014, about 300 veterans of the Battar Brigade returned to Libya and organized the Islamic Youth Shura Council (IYSC). Bolstered by recruits from other jihadist organizations, the IYSC took control of the Libyan city of Derna. Starting in early 2015, IS gradually expanded its territory to also take control of the city of Sirte. This was the largest city controlled by Islamic State outside of its Iraqi-Syrian domain. At one point, it even appeared that if IS was defeated in Syria and Iraq, Sirte might become the organization's new capital. The Islamic State in Libya steadily lost ground over the course of 2015. A rival jihadist organization, the Shura Council of Mujahideen in Derna, succeeded in expelling IS fighters from the city. Further east, Libyan National Army (LNA) forces loyal to Khalifa Hiftar, with assistance from French Special Forces, succeeded in expelling IS militants from the city of Benghazi. IS, however, continued to retain control of Sirte. On August 1, 2016, in response to a request for assistance by Fayez al-Sarraj, the Prime Minister of the Libyan Government of National Accord, the U.S. launched Operation Odyssey Lightening to help government-aligned forces push IS out of Sirte. AFRICOM, which was charged with the mission, conducted "495 precision airstrikes against Vehicle Borne Improvised Explosive Devices, heavy guns, tanks, command and control centers and fighting positions." It's estimated that there are between 200 and 1,000 IS militants still operating in Libya, either in cells in Libya's major cities or dispersed in the country's desert south. While the immediate threat of an Islamic State takeover of Libya is, for now, contained, Libya is no closer to a resolution of its civil war than it was a year ago. In the east, the Libyan National Army (LNA), under the control of Field Marshal Khalifa Hiftar, has emerged as the region's principal power broker. The LNA supports the Tobruk-based House of Representatives and operates under its authority. Hiftar is supported by Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates and, increasingly, by Russia. The U.S. has repeatedly urged Hiftar to accept the authority of the GNA. He has refused to do so. The Field Marshall is an enigmatic and controversial figure in Libya. A former general in Muammar Gaddafi's military, he took part in the coup that brought the Libyan strongman to power in 1969, only to break with the Libyan leader in the late 80s. He has longstanding ties with Russia, having received training there in the 1970s, but paradoxically also with the CIA. Hiftar came to the U.S. in 1990, along with 300 of his former soldiers, under a CIA sponsored U.S. refugee program. He lived in Virginia for almost 20 years and in the process also became a U.S. citizen. Hiftar's Libyan National Army has succeeded in gaining control of most of eastern Libya and the main operating oil fields there. In September, the LNA took control of four critical oil export terminals in the Gulf of Sirte, Ras Lanuf, As Sidra, Zueitina and Marsa el Brega, as well as the El Sharara and El Feel oil fields, two of Libya's largest, giving him control of almost all of Libya's onshore petroleum production. On December 20, the Libyan National Oil Company announced that it had reopened oil pipelines from its western oil fields capable of delivering 270,000 barrels a day of crude oil, a 50 per cent increase over its current production. Proceeds from oil sales have been deposited into the Libyan Central Bank and are theoretically under the control of the GNA. Arrayed against Hiftar and his Libyan National Army is a broad assortment of rival militias ranging in orientation from jihadist to so called moderates, although what that latter term actually means in Libya is anybody's guess. The most prominent group is the Misratan militia. Based in the Libyan city of Misrata, the group at one point numbered more than 230 different organizations fielding around 40,000 fighters. It's unclear what its current strength and membership is. It was members of the Misratan militia that led the effort to oust Islamic State from Sirte. The Misratan militia supports the Tripoli based General National Congress and has been a stalwart opponent of both Hiftar and his Libyan National Army. Moderate groups within the Misratan Militia originally supported the GNA, but of late have become more ambivalent in their support. The LNA and the Misratan Militias have repeatedly clashed over the last four years. The Islamist groups that make up a significant portion of the Misratan Militia's strength oppose Hiftar's secularist and anti-jihadist policies, especially his belief that all Islamists are de facto jihadists, and have opposed any role for Hiftar in a national unity government. The third major militia grouping is the Zintan Brigades based in the city of Zintan southwest of Tripoli. The Zintan Brigades are technically allayed with Hiftar's LNA and are considered "moderates" within the Libyan political constellation and have been fierce opponents of Islamist groups operating in Libya, particularly those aligned with the Misratan militias. The Zintan brigades have, however, maintained a truce with the Misratan militias and cooperated with them in the campaign to oust the Islamic State from Sirte. In addition to the LNA, Misratan Militias and Zintan Brigades, there are a range of other armed groups also operating in the country. In the deep desert, there are Tebu militias that control most of the region south of Sabha. In the southwest, there are Tuareg militias that control several oil fields in the area. Both groups have been supportive of the GNA, but neither can do much to aid the unity government. In addition, there are is a range of jihadist organizations that operate independently, although at times they have collaborated with various groups in the Misratan militias. These groups include Ansar al-Sharia and al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). At the moment, none of the major armed groups have sufficient strength to overcome the others. While the LNA and the Zintan Brigades collectively control a significant part of Libya, it's not clear that the Zintan Brigades would support the LNA if renewed fighting broke out between the Libyan National Army and the Misratan Militias. With the Government of National Accord widely seen as being on its last legs and a new round of negotiations to create a new unity government imminent, all three of the main groups have a vested interest in cooperating in the organization, and subsequent division of power, in a new government. In recent months, the Kremlin has been ratcheting up its support of Khalifa Hiftar; describing him, as quoted in a Bloomberg report, as "a leading political and military figure" and as someone who is "doing a lot to fight Islamic State terrorists and help the government restore control of oil production." At the same time, Russia has criticized the UN organized unity government as ineffective and urged UN envoy Martin Kobler to find a prominent role for Hiftar in Libya's government. Hiftar has been to Moscow twice in the past six months for high level meetings with the Russian Defense and Foreign Ministers. Russia has been providing military advice and training as well as "military experts" to the Libyan National Army, but insists that it has observed the UN mandated arms embargo to supply arms to anyone other than for the UN sponsored Government of National Accord. During the Gaddafi regime, Libya was a major purchaser of Soviet and Russian arms. It's estimated that the Libyan Revolution that overthrew Gaddafi cost Russia some four billion dollars in contracted arms deals. In addition, during the 1970s and 1980s, the Soviet Union operated military bases in Libya, including access to the Okba Ben Nafi airfield (now Methega Airport), the former Wheelus air base operated by the United States in the 1950s and 60s. It's possible that Russia is again looking for access to military bases in Libya, as well as restoring its influence with a former Soviet client. Libya is not Syria and Hiftar is not another Assad. Nonetheless, there are important and unmistakable parallels between the two countries. Both nations have been torn apart by a ruthless civil war, a war that has created spaces for jihadist organizations in general and Islamic State, in particular, to thrive. Both wars have created waves of refugees that are sweeping into Europe and creating domestic and political disruptions there. Both wars have destabilized their surrounding regions, drawn in jihadists from neighboring countries and facilitated the proliferations of arms to local militant groups. Both countries were former Soviet clients and, in both cases, Russia has aligned itself with military strongmen, while the U.S. and its allies have sought to identify moderate political forces around which it could build broader coalitions. In Libya's case, unlike in Syria, the U.S. played a prominent role in overthrowing Gaddafi and in setting off the chain of events that would plunge Libya into civil war and political chaos. Hiftar is by no means assured to emerge as Libya's strongman. His control of eastern Libya and its oil fields, the support of the Libyan National Army as well as Russia's backing makes him a strong contender; especially given the fragmentation and disunity of his potential opposition. Nonetheless, it's unlikely that his opponents will willingly concede to his control of Libya and such a gambit will likely precipitate continued fighting and bloodshed. In the meantime, Moscow spins its webs and bides its time. -- If you would like to submit your own commentary, please send your article to opinions@military.com for consideration. Turkish officials made a veiled threat Tuesday to ground U.S. warplanes at Incirlik Air Base over the U.S. denial of air support for the Turkish military inside Syria. The officials questioned the value of having the U.S. fly missions out of Incirlik in southeastern Turkey against ISIS targets in Syria and Iraq while Turkish forces are struggling to take the ISIS-held Syrian town of al-Bab. "This is leading to serious disappointment in Turkish public opinion," Turkish Defense Minister Fikri Isik said, adding that "this is leading to questions over Incirlik," Turkey's Anadolu news agency reported. To avoid repercussions that could affect Incirlik operations, Isik called on the U.S. to "start to provide the aerial support and other support that the [Turkish military] needs" to take al-Bab, which would also drive a wedge between Syrian Kurdish militias supported by the U.S. in actions against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. U.S. Air Force Col. John Dorrian said Wednesday than any actions by Turkey to shut down or limit U.S. air operations out of Incirlik would be disastrous for the U.S. anti-ISIS campaign now focused in Syria on the drive by a mixed Syrian Kurdish and Arab force against Raqqa, the self-proclaimed ISIS capital. "It's absolutely invaluable," Dorrian, a spokesman for Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve, said of Incirlik. "Really, the entire world has been made safer by the operations that have been conducted there." Turkey briefly closed its airspace to U.S. operations out of Incirlik last July and cut off power to the base during the failed military coup against the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan when suspicions ran high among Turkish officials that the U.S. may have supported rebels within the military. Turkish pilots supporting the coup attempt took off from Incirlik and bombed Ankara, including the parliament building. As the coup attempt failed, a high-ranking Turkish officer walked across the Incirlik airfield and tried to turn himself into the U.S. military to seek asylum. His request was rejected, and he was arrested by Turkish authorities. On Wednesday, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said, "The U.S. is a very important ally for us. We have cooperation in every field, but there is the reality of a confidence crisis in the relationship at the moment" over Incirlik and the al-Bab offensive, which Turkey has named Operation Euphrates Shield. He said, "Our people ask, 'Why are they [the U.S. and coalition warplanes] using the Incirlik air base' " if they won't back up Turkish forces against ISIS and the Kurdish militias considered terrorists by Turkey? "What purpose are you serving if you do not provide aerial support against Daesh [an Arabic acronym for ISIS] in the most sensitive operation for us?" U.S. officials have acknowledged withholding airstrikes from the al-Bab offensive while maintaining overall support for Turkey's anti-ISIS efforts inside Syria, aimed at sealing off border areas. Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook said Tuesday that U.S. aircraft flew near al-Bab on Monday but did not conduct any strikes. In a briefing from Baghdad to the Pentagon on Wednesday, Dorrian suggested that weather and poor intelligence on the disposition of friendly forces may have been a factors in the decision not to attack. "The cardinal rule of air support is to do no harm," Dorrian said, adding that the aircrews may not have had "good fidelity" on enemy positions. The result was "a show of force that was conducted at the request of Turkish forces operating on the ground," he said. There were ongoing discussions at higher levels "to increase the support and operations" by the U.S. military to back Turkish forces, but "I can't get ahead of those discussions," Dorrian said. "I don't have the details to offer you about what the way forward will be in al-Bab. But I do know there has been some good discussion on that, and Turkey is aware of that discussion," he said. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began construction in 1951 of what was to become Incirlik Air Base, and U.S. and Turkish air forces signed an agreement in 1954 for joint use of the base. Incirlik long served as a deterrent to the then-Soviet Union and as a staging base for U.S. operations in the Mideast. The U.S. Air Force will neither confirm nor deny that nuclear weapons are stored at the base. About 5,000 U.S. service members, mostly Air Force, are based at Incirlik; they are currently confined to the base because of unrest in the region. The U.S. last year withdrew military families from Turkey, and the State Department has also sent home non-essential personnel. The tensions over al-Bab and Incirlik have only added to the downward spiral of relations between the U.S. and NATO ally Turkey, marked by Erdogan's new alliance with Russian President Vladimir Putin to bring about a ceasefire and peace talks to end Syria's nearly six-year-old civil war. The U.S. was not invited to a Moscow meeting last month of the foreign ministers of Russia, Turkey and Iran that led to Putin's announcement last week of the ceasefire and possible peace talks later this month in Astana, Kazakhstan, with rebel groups. However, continued attacks and barrel bombing by the Syrian air force led rebel groups to suspend their agreement to further negotiations. Turkey has also been angered by what it sees as U.S. foot-dragging on its extradition request for exiled Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, now living in Pennsylvania. Erdogan has blamed Gulen for fomenting the July coup attempt. In addition, Erdogan has bridled at U.S. support for the Syrian Kurdish militia known as the YPG, or People's Protection Units. The YPG has proven to be the most effective fighting force against ISIS in Syria, but Erdogan considers it an arm of the Kurdish PKK, or Kurdistan Workers Party, which has been branded a terrorist group by the U.S. and Turkey. A senior U.S. military official, speaking on background last month, said that the Turks "hate that we support" the YPG. Erdogan and other Turkish officials have charged that the U.S. is supplying weapons to the YPG. The U.S., while acknowledging support for the YPG, has denied giving them recent supplies of weapons. -- Richard Sisk can be reached at Richard.Sisk@Military.com. Colson Whitehead Colson Whitehead is making an appearance at 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 12 at the Lydia Mendelssohn Theatre, 911 N. University Ave. to talk about his new book, The Underground Railroad. (Madeline Whitehead) ANN ARBOR, MI - Author Colson Whitehead is returning to Ann Arbor to talk about his new book, "The Underground Railroad," as part of the University of Michigan's bicentennial celebration. Whitehead has been to Ann Arbor on book tours a handful of times in the last few years, and is making an appearance at 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 12, at the Lydia Mendelssohn Theatre, 911 N. University Ave. "It's been awhile, but I used to go to Borders," Whitehead said. "It's a great book town, a lot of nice folks come out." The event will include Whitehead reading aloud from parts of the book, as well as opportunities to meet Whitehead and have him sign copies of his work. It is free and open to the public. Literati Bookstore will have copies of "The Underground Railroad" available for purchase at the event. The book idea came to him about 16 years ago, and was published in August 2016. Whitehead received the National Book Award for fiction for the 320-page novel, and it has since been included in Oprah's Book Club and reviewed by numerous publications including the New York Times and NPR. Ahead of the book reading Jan. 12, he spoke to the Ann Arbor News about his latest work. Can you explain The Underground Railroad in your own words? "A slave girl named Cora running away from a plantation in Georgia around 1850, making her way north and going through a series of allegorical adventures. I was doing research before I started writing the book. It's hard to contemplate putting my characters through so much misery. It was a big moment to get past, realizing the depths of the brutality I had to depict." When did you start working on this book, and what was your writing process like? "I started working on it in earnest two years ago, and it took me about a year to write and research. Lucky for me, I'm a bit of a home body. Most of the big slave narratives and testimonials are all digitized and in the public domain. I do a lot of downloading and I don't leave the house." How does this piece compare to other literature you have written? "Some books are research heavy, some don't require research at all. My book 'Zone 1' is set in post-apocalyptic New York, a book of fantasy. This book ('The Underground Railroad') and 'John Henry Days,' both deal with history in different ways. It depends on what kind of book you are writing." What inspired you to write from a female perspective? Was there a particular person you researched who inspired Cora? "You pick the right tool for the job. I think a female slave presents one specific way of existing in bondage different from a male peer. I thought was worthy of exploring. It was time to mix it up, I've had a few male protagonists." "Harriet Jacobs wrote about the complexity of being a female slave. I read that in college and I wanted to pay tribute to her experience." Was there anything shocking you discovered while doing research for The Underground Railroad? "Nothing I was surprised to learn. Once you hit puberty, you're supposed to produce babies. More babies mean more hands to pick cotton, more cotton to make money. You're enmeshed in the machine of slavery in a different way." Any possibility of The Underground Railroad being adapted for a television series or film? "Right now, it's being brought to TV networks by Barry Jenkins (writer and director of the 2016 film 'Moonlight.') If he found a place to bankroll it, he sees it as a TV mini-series. I would have some involvement. It would be nice to see what he does with it." How has your work as a journalist shaped your work as an author? "Being a freelance writer gave me the confidence to start writing fiction. I was getting paid and supporting myself by being a critic. That gave me the confidence to work on my own stuff. Working with editors, a piece a week, by collaborating with other people to be a better writer. Learning how to sit down for five hours and having that discipline when working on books when no one is watching was really important." Anything you can share about Michigan's part in the Underground Railroad you learned while researching for the book? "Michigan was required to enforce the capture and return of fugitive slaves. When you're running from the South and going North, it's a gateway to getting out of the country. After the fugitive slave law went into effect in middle part of the 19th century, you could no longer stay in America as a fugitive slave. You kept running to Canada. Michigan was part of the equation of where you'd find a safe harbor. With the fugitive slave laws, even if you'd been free for decades, you could be recaptured by your owner. You're still in a racist country. How free is free, in the end?" Strong December sales that rivaled pre-Recession years at Ford and GM are fueling some expectations that 2016 US auto sales will top the previous year's record. Sales growth at GM reached 10 percent, according to company data released today, with fleet sales reaching the best levels since 2007. Retail sales, meanwhile, reached 249,983 units in December, marking a 3 percent growth rate from the previous year and the best retail performance for the company since 2005. Ford's year-over-year sales went up 0.3 percent in December, marking a 12-year high. Its retail sales reached 183,454 units for a 5 percent gain and its best retail month in more than a decade. "December marked Ford's best retail performance since 2004, with average transaction prices increasing $1,600 for the month - $1,000 more than the industry average," said Mark LaNeve, Ford vice president of U.S. Marketing, Sales and Service, in a news release. Those gains by the top two biggest US brands by market share are prompting some analysts to say that they're anticipating a new US vehicle sales record in 2016, a year after a record was set at nearly 17.5 million units. The success of Ford and GM contrast with FCA US sales data for December, which showed a 10-percent year-over-year decline to 192,519 units. Chrysler brands were down 32 percent, while FIAT brands were down 54 percent. Meanwhile, Toyota- the third largest-selling brand in the US - posted 2 percent gains in December. Analysts and economists have been watching changes in US auto sales. "Key economic indicators, especially consumer confidence, continue to reflect optimism about the U.S. economy and strong customer demand continues to drive a very healthy U.S. auto industry," said Mustafa Mohatarem, GM's chief economist, in a news release. "We believe the U.S. auto industry remains well-positioned for sales to continue at or near record levels in 2017." Others, however, warn that peak production won't last in the cyclical industry. Already, used car prices are poised to fall for several years as leased vehicles hit the secondary market. "(Production is) going to start to come down," said Edmunds.com analyst Tim Fleming in mid-December. Fleming noted that he and other experts are watching some key indicators in US car production and sales following 2016 sales trends. Among them is the shift by buyers to SUVs from cars, as evidenced by the record-setting unit sales at Ford for the Escape and Edge in 2016. Ford sold 772,667 SUVs in 2016, "marking its best annual performance since record 2001 sales," according to the automaker. At GM, Buick's U.S. retail sales grew by nearly 5 percent in 2016, led by the brand's crossovers, the Encore and Envision, the company said. Sales include leasing, which Fleming said was topping 30 percent nationally for all units. While an optimal proportion of traditional sales to leases isn't determined, Fleming said he's wondering if the number is sustainable. "We're wondering what is the limit of what is healthy and sustainable," he said. "In our opinion, we might be past that point." Automakers already have moved to cut production, which some of that resulting in job losses in Michigan. One example is GM's Hamtramck assembly plant, which is cutting its second shift in 2017. The trims in production also should help curtail incentives, which Fleming noted increased by late 2016. Another indicator is the mix between retail and fleet sales. The December sales reports released Jan. 4 a strong showing for GM's fleet sales, including a 10 percent increase in vehicles sold for daily rentals. At Ford, the company reported a 9 percent increase in commercial van sales in 2016. Retail sales drive higher prices, which is one reason FCA is existing that market segment. Its fleet sales dropped 34 percent in December, but fleet vehicles still accounted for 19 percent of sales. GRAND RAPIDS, MI - Driving vintage cars in January from Boston to Detroit through Indianapolis, Grand Rapids and Traverse City may seem wrong to some preservation-minded car aficionados. But that's not how William Hall sees it. He drove a cherry red 1957 Chevrolet Nomad from Indianapolis into downtown Grand Rapids on Tuesday, Jan. 3. "Driving these cars may put them at risk, but confining them dooms them," said Hall, one of three volunteers who drove the Chevrolet and a red 1966 Mustang into town. "Drive Home II - The Heritage Run" is sponsored by America's Car Museum of Tacoma, Wash. Volunteers drove the cars from Washington to the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) in Detroit last year. The cars are being driven to this year's auto show from Boston - a 12-day, 2,150-mile road trip. Absent from the convoy was a 1961 Chrysler 300G that left Indianapolis with them Tuesday morning. A broken rear axle outside of Indianapolis forced them to seek repairs while the other cars continued on to Grand Rapids. The convoy includes a 1917 Simplex Model 5 that was once owned by oil baron John D. Rockefeller. The Simplex is being trailered to its appearances. On Wednesday, from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m., the convoy will be featured at a "Cars and Coffee Classic Car Show" at 47 Commerce Ave. SW. The event, which also will feature local collector cars, is being by hosted by Lambert, Edwards and Associates. Weather permitting, the convoy will leave Grand Rapids for Traverse City in the afternoon, where they will visit the headquarters of The Hagerty Group, a company that provides insurance for collector cars. While the collector cars are valuable, Hall said they not "concours" level restorations that are meant to be babied. Instead, they are reconditioned cars that recall how simple transportation once was before computerized fuel injected engines, anti-lock brakes and air bags became standard features. "There's a lot more connectivity to the road," said Hall of the big cars, which still have their manual steering and brakes but roll on radial tires. The 1957 Chevrolet was hopped up with a newer V-8 engine and four-speed transmission with a floor shifter. With a stiff clutch and throaty roar, the big car tended to rock and lurch as it rolled through the city. Rock Jenkins, a Seattle-based executive with State Farm Insurance and volunteer driver, said any mechanical problems along the way have been addressed by knowledgeable car buffs they've met during their journey. For example, a windshield wiper blade that fell off the Chevy will be replaced by a collector on Wednesday before they head north to Traverse City, Jenkins said. ANN ARBOR, MI - As a social worker at Ann Arbor Public Schools, Jonathan Stern says he sees the school community experiencing some "grief fatigue" following the loss of five students in just two months this past fall. Stern says some students and staff are finding they don't have the emotional stamina to grieve over and over. "So you'll hear students ... saying, 'I know I'm supposed to be sad. I know this is really awful, but I just don't want to go through this again,'" said Stern, who works at Pioneer High School. "I think that kind of does settle in, and it does for all of us, staff as well." Stern and Community High School counselor John Boshoven - as well as other members of the AAPS crisis teams - have spent recent months showing students that everyone grieves in their own way. They created places at school where students could feel comfortable expressing whatever emotions they felt in the aftermath of their peers' deaths. "It's a lot of work for kids to suffer something that they maybe have never experienced before," Boshoven said. "Many of them have never lost a grandparent, much less a friend, a colleague, somebody that sits in their class with them or went to middle school with them or whatever the situation is." Stern and Boshoven - who have worked in Ann Arbor Public Schools for 23 years and 28 years, respectively - can't remember another time so many student deaths came in such rapid succession. Huron High School student Laura Burns died at the age of 15 on Sept. 27, 2016. Seven days later, Pioneer High School student Jordan Klee, 18, was shot to death in Ann Arbor. Three weeks after Klee's death, Community High School junior Qi-Xuan "Justin" Tang, 16, was struck by a car while crossing Fuller Road the morning of Oct. 25 and died of his injuries. Two weeks later, Huron High School sophomore Benjamin Pierce, 15, died after accidentally falling from the seventh floor of a parking garage in downtown Ann Arbor. On Nov. 28, Community High School sophomore John Kuhnke, 16, died after an accidental overdose. The student deaths followed the loss of Skyline High School teacher Chris Peterson, 42, who drowned while kayaking with his family on July 3. "These deaths compound one another. ... Every loss reminds them of the last loss that they haven't really gotten over or gotten past or gotten through," Boshoven said. Rather than focus on "getting over" a person's death, Stern says the crisis teams try to shift the goal to returning to a regular routine. School administrators, social workers, counselors and psychologists that make up the crisis teams are available in the deceased student's school for at least a day after the death is announced. The team offers stress management strategies rather than grief counseling, Stern said. "It's really designed to play into sort of the natural resilience that kids have," he said. "They want to be listened to, they want to express themselves, but they want to know that their world is still on balance. They're looking to return to the familiar structures and the familiar routines. ... I think what they want to know is that that's OK. "There's sort of this sense that if I become OK and if I'm doing well, then I'm somehow dishonoring this person that I've lost," Stern continued. "I think part of that comes from this philosophy of getting over, getting past something. I don't think that's the goal. I think the goal is to return to functionality in some way - with the instrumental task of school, but it's also about being emotionally functional." Offering emotional support to grieving students and staff over long periods of time is difficult for the caretakers on the crisis team, Boshoven and Stern agreed. Members of the crisis team may have known the deceased student personally, Boshoven added, so they're processing their own emotions in addition to helping others cope. "I've been at this a very long time and I've learned to compartmentalize. But it's not an easy thing," Stern said. "Self-care is extremely important because the stakes are very high, the issues are very real and difficult and complex. So if you're not taking care of yourself, then you're not going to be able to do that." There is no substantial difference in how teenagers grieve compared to adults, Stern said, but those unfamiliar with grief will have a different experience. Boshoven says that puts a "spotlight" on teachers and other adults as children look for models of how to react in a situation they may be experiencing first-hand for the first time. "It's a matter of kids knowing that the most important adults in their life are available to them and ready to talk," Stern said. "Parents cover one domain of a kid's life, and we cover another domain. It's up to all of us to sort of look for the signs that this student has not been able to, like I said, return to their normal functioning and they are still struggling hard." Ann Arbor Schools has a student population of about 17,000. Classes resume for the winter on Jan. 9. Members of the Ann Arbor Public Schools community have come together to take care of each other especially this fall, said Superintendent Jeanice Swift during her report to the board of education on Dec. 7. "One loss of life has a terrible impact on our schools and our community. And to have this happen again and again between Sept. 27 and then again just last week (Nov. 28) has been a tremendous toll on our students, on our staff and on our Ann Arbor community," Swift said. "Our hearts are broken as a community, and we are grieving these losses and that will not go away anytime soon." In addition to the crisis teams' services, each high school has its own variations of peer support groups, outside agencies partner with AAPS to provide more mental health services and a series of parent forums on grief and loss is coming up, Swift said. She thanked staff for their continuing work following up with vulnerable students who are still struggling. In November, Swift assembled a "superintendent's student advisory group" of 25 high school students tasked with planning an event to communicate hope and give students a chance to heal together. The group is coordinating an assembly that will bring together all 5,000 AAPS high school students to hear from guest speakers, pay tribute to the deceased through art and find a way to celebrate hope. Darius Hall, a junior at Skyline High School, said the student advisory group thought of the event in terms of a band-aid versus stitches. They aren't interested in simply covering up a problem, and instead the students want to address the negativity - even if it's painful - so they can heal properly. "(We want to) ensure that, you know, even though our problems may not be solved, this was a positive thing," Hall told the school board on Nov. 16. "It will continue to impact people as time passes. ... We want to make sure this isn't just an event that you attended, another assembly that has come and gone throughout our Ann Arbor Public Schools careers. It's something that we're going to remember for the rest of our lives." A date for the assembly has not yet been set as organizers work to find a venue large enough to accommodate all the students. "This has been a sort of extraordinary time, and I think we want all of Ann Arbor to know that we're all in this together and that we recognize that," said Stern, who is helping the student advisory group plan the assembly. "I think it's important for the district to sort of make a statement through this event that we know that there's been too much suffering this fall, and we want you to know that we know, and we're standing with you." ANN ARBOR, MI - Along with the new year, the city of Ann Arbor ushered in a new legal minimum age of 21 to purchase tobacco products. Area businesses are now tasked with adjusting accordingly. One store manager said he has already had to turn away a couple of people under age 21 attempting to buy cigarettes over the last few days, and he expects there will be more in the days to follow. Bassam Beydoun, manager of the BP gas station and mini mart at 300 N. Main St., said he altered some of the signs inside his convenience store on Tuesday, Jan. 3, to reflect the new legal minimum age to purchase tobacco products in the city. "You're in a college area and there's a lot of kids," Beydoun said. "Even in high school, they're 18, and when they turn 18, they like to buy cigarettes. Even if they don't smoke, they buy it for somebody else." Beydoun believes some minors will attempt to buy only because they aren't aware that the new law, which went into effect Jan. 1, is in place. He says the city did not make him or his business aware of the change. "They didn't even let us know, we knew from the paper," Beydoun said. "Ann Arbor schools are still out and those kids don't know what's going on. They're going to try to come and buy." Retailers can be assessed up to $500 for selling to underage individuals, allowing for discretionary actions, including education and warnings. "It's not worth it," Beydoun said. "We'll try not to sell (to minors)." As of Sunday, Ann Arbor is the first city in Michigan to ban the sale of tobacco products to individuals under 21 years of age, joining a national movement that has touched more than 200 cities across the country so far. Washtenaw County Public Health officials say increasing the minimum age of legal access to tobacco products from 18 to 21 was a move validated by statistics. Health officials cited the example of Needham, Mass., the first city in the country to pass a Tobacco 21 policy in 2005, which then saw the prevalence of youth smoking cut in half in five years' time. Dr. Jessie Kimbrough Marshall, medical director at WCPH, said the move will benefit Ann Arbor area youth. "This new law will save lives," Marshall said. "Tobacco kills more Michigan residents than AIDS, drug overdoses, alcohol, automobile accidents, suicides and homicides combined." National data shows that 95 percent of adult smokers begin smoking before their 21st birthday, according to WCPH, and over 10,000 Michigan children become new regular smokers each year, with a third of that group going on to die from the addiction. Additionally, health officials say those under 21 have still-developing brains, which can make them more susceptible to nicotine addiction and to smoking longer. According to the city, tobacco use among youth in Ann Arbor is a public health concern, as shown by the 9.2 percent of Washtenaw County high school students that report they have smoked a cigarette. Backed by data from the Institute of Medicine, city officials believe raising the minimum legal age of access to tobacco products is likely to delay initiation and reduce prevalence across all ages, with the largest proportionate reduction emerging among adolescents aged 15 to 17. The city is hopeful that the implementation of the law in Ann Arbor will spur neighboring jurisdictions and the state to adopt the policy as well. KPK.AnnArborSnow.15 Snow accumulates on Monday, December 12, 2016 at Nichols Arboretum in Ann Arbor. Katy Kildee | MLive.com (Katy Kildee) ANN ARBOR, MI -- Hold on to your hat if you're going outside today in Washtenaw County. The National Weather Service issued a hazardous weather warning for parts of southeast Michigan, including Washtenaw County for Wednesday, Jan. 4, with anticipated wind gusts as high as 45 miles per hour. As cold air funnels into the state this afternoon, the forecast calls for winds to pick up throughout the day with gusts up to 45 MPH possible in some areas. Along with the strong winds, some snow showers are possible with temperatures topping out at 24 degrees. Expect the temperature to drop this afternoon and by the evening, a low of 13 degrees is anticipated with a wind chill of -2 degrees. Thursday calls for similar temperatures with a 30 percent chance of precipitation. Screen Shot 2017-01-04 at 10.17.55 AM.png (NWS Detroit ) Strong winds paired with bouts of snow could create for some hectic travel before noon Wednesday, Jan. 4 in southeast Michigan. The National Weather Service reports that while the threat of snow squalls may vanish in the afternoon, gusty westerly winds could reach levels as high as 45 mph. The weather service issued a special weather statement to Detroit, Warren, Ann Arbor, Pontiac, Howell, Port Huron, Lapeer, Flint and Owosso. NWS reports that snow squalls will persist throughout Wednesday, as visibility could be reduced to less than a quarter-mile at times. "The combination of Heavy Snow and strong winds will result in localized white out conditions. Reduced visibilities along with snow covered and slippery roads will cause variable traffic rates throughout the area," the weather statement reads. "Motorists are urged to use caution and account for the variable driving conditions by slowing down and allowing extra space between vehicles." Wednesday's forecast calls for temperatures in the mid-20s, a steady wind around 25 mph and a chance of snow showers throughout the day. Overnight, wind chill values could sink below zero as temperatures dip into the teens with persistent wind gusts coming in at around 35 mph. An early look at Thursday's forecast calls for cloudy skies, temperatures in the low 20s, and wind chills near zero at around 11 to 13 mph. Snow showers or precipitation do not appear in the extended forecast until Tuesday, Jan. 10 as of now. 19660405-standard.jpg Volunteers unload water behind First Trinity Missionary Baptist Church in this 2016 Flint Journal file photo. (Flint Journal file photo) FLINT, MI -- The state has dropped plans for an invitation-only "town hall" meeting to discuss the condition of the Flint water system after officials were questioned about restrictions on who could attend. A spokeswoman for Flint Mayor Karen Weaver said Tuesday, Jan. 3, that "organizers of the town hall ... agreed to make the event open to the public" at the mayor's urging after city and state officials were asked about the program by MLive-The Flint Journal. Information sent to one individual initially invited to the Jan. 11 town hall said attendance would be restricted and that tickets were non-transferable. A live stream of the event was and is still planned so that everyone has access to information presented, Tiffany Brown, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Environmental Quality, said in an email to MLive. Kristin Moore, a spokeswoman for Weaver, initially referred questions about the town hall to the DEQ, a co-sponsor of the event, but Moore said later that the mayor had pushed to open up who could attend the program. "She feels everyone who wants to be part of the discussion should be since this water crisis has impacted everyone in the city of Flint," Moore's email said. Brown said no one would have been turned away from the meeting until the Northbank Center at the University of Michigan-Flint was at its capacity of just over 300 people. "It was important that we had a reasonable size location that was also conducive to a productive exchange of information," she said. Coming one day after a "Flint data summit" hosted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in Chicago, the town hall meeting has the potential to be a key development in the Flint water crisis. A promotional flier says the meeting will "provide an update on the status of the Flint water system, explain the latest testing data and discuss steps moving forward." A panel discussion is scheduled to follow the update from representatives of the EPA, Wayne State University, Virginia Tech university professor Marc Edwards, the city of Flint and the state. The EPA data summit was organized for scientists, including Edwards, to compare the latest data from Flint. It is not open to the public or the media, according to the agency. Brown said the state took on the role of co-sponsoring the town hall because of the potential for important information to come from the EPA summit in Chicago. The Flint Cares Community Coalition is also listed as an event sponsor and Weaver is listed as host. Information about the live streaming for the town hall is not available yet, according to Brown, who said the program may also be broadcast live on a local television station. The Northbank Center is located at 432 N. Saginaw St. and the town hall is scheduled for 6-9 p.m. Jan. 11. The meetings come as experts from the state and Virginia Tech claim recent testing shows a decrease of lead in the city's water. Tom Dempsey, left, and Jim Saalfeld take part in the Kent County Board of Commissioners meeting inside the Kent County Administration Building in Grand Rapids on Jan. 3, 2017. Cory Morse | MLive.com A returning chairman The first act of the new class of Kent County commissioners this year was to reappoint Commissioner Jim Saalfeld as the body's chairman. After accepting the nomination, his first public address of the year looked back at the major accomplishments of 2016 and forward to the work to be done in 2017. We got a lot done last year, Saalfeld said. Don't Edit An emergency communications operator takes a 911 call at the Kent County Dispatch Center in 2010. File | MLive.com 911 surcharge The newly-reappointed chairman listed four key accomplishments of the county government in 2016 during the Board of Commissioners' Tuesday, Jan. 3, organizational meeting. The first of those was the success of a recent ballot issue. The 70-cent surcharge on telephone and internet connections, approved by voters in November, will help the county fund a multimillion-dollar update to its public safety dispatch system. Don't Edit Kent County commissioners take part in the Kent County Board of Commissioners meeting inside the Kent County Administration Building in Grand Rapids on Jan. 3, 2017. Cory Morse | MLive.com County credit rating Another major achievement in 2016, Saalfeld said, was that the county maintained its AAA credit rating for the 18th consecutive year. Which means so much to not only this county, but to our entire community, he said. Including the city of Grand Rapids, which took advantage of that credit rating when they were working their flood project. Don't Edit Gerald R. Ford International Airport in Grand Rapids as seen from a helicopter Friday, May 16, 2014. Cory Morse | MLive.com Creating an airport authority Saalfeld also pointed out 2016 saw the transformation of Kent Countys Gerald R. Ford International Airport from a division of county government to a separate airport authority. The long-discussed transition was made possible after legislation permitting the change was enacted in 2015. Don't Edit Switch, a Nevada company that specializes in operating large-scale data centers, plans to convert the former Steelcase pyramid into SUPERNAP Michigan, a data center that will result in a $5 billion investment and 1,000 new jobs over the next 10 year -- provided Michigan adopts a series of bills designed to provide them with tax breaks. Courtesy | Switch Bringing Switch to West Michigan One of the biggest single chances to the countys business landscape was the decision by data center giant Switch to locate its new SUPERNAP Michigan Data Center inside the empty Steelcase pyramid in Gaines Township. Bringing them into the community was a big deal, Saalfeld said. Don't Edit Don't Edit Kent County Commissioner Board Chair Jim Saalfeld takes part in the Kent County Board of Commissioners meeting inside the Kent County Administration Building in Grand Rapids on Jan. 3, 2017. Cory Morse | MLive.com Four priorities for 2017 The returning board chairman also acknowledged there is plenty to keep county leaders busy in 2017. This year, we have our hands full as well, Saalfeld said. During his brief remarks Tuesday, the chairman listed the following four major issues facing commissioners in 2017. Don't Edit Kent County Administrator Daryl Delabbio plans to retire in July 2017. County Commissioner Chairman Jim Saalfeld, left, says leaders will take their time seeking a successor. Matt Vande Bunte | MLive.com County administrator search First on the to-do list for county officials will be finding someone to replace veteran County Administrator Daryl Delabbio. Probably the biggest thing we have on our plate is the appointment of the new administrator/controller, he said. Delabbio will retire in June after more than two decades of service. The search process to identify his replacement overseen by a special subcommittee appointed by commissioners is already underway. Don't Edit Kent County in 2005 bought the building at 82 Ionia Ave. NW. It currently houses offices for the county's Friend of the Court program, the county prosecutor and the Circuit Court Probation Department. Matt Vande Bunte | MLive.com Space needs Saalfeld also pointed to the countys ongoing space needs as an area of concern in 2017. The county plans to market its building at 82 Ionia in 2017, which could result in a need to build new or lease space elsewhere for the offices currently housed in the building. Delabbio has recommended the county set aside $920,000 from a $2.1 million windfall to help fund future county space needs, but that suggestion has yet to be discussed by county commissioners. Don't Edit Kent County commissioners (from left) Herold J. Voorhees, Dan Koorndyk, Stan Ponstein and Tom Antor take part in the Kent County Board of Commissioners meeting inside the Kent County Administration Building in Grand Rapids on Jan. 3, 2017. Cory Morse | MLive.com Task force issues The returning board chairman also pointed to the five special subcommittees and task forces set up for 2017 and, in particular, those tasked with addressing issues tied to the countys Friend of the Court program, lead exposure in the county and the county land bank. County commissioners also approved creation of the countys standing rules committee and the administrator/controller recruitment subcommittee when approving the creation of the five groups on Tuesday, Jan. 3. Don't Edit Courtesy | Kent County Yet another budget The final 2017 priority outlined by Saalfeld is one of the Board of Commissioners' most important responsibilities the development and approval of the county's annual financial plan. We continue to be proud of the fact that we pass balanced budgets and do not run deficits at the end of the year, and Im sure that we will continue to do that this year, he said. With limited revenue sources and ever-present needs, Saalfeld admitted there will be budgetary challenges ahead. But he expressed confidence in the his fellow commissioners and their ability to lead Kent County in 2017. Im very honored to have your confidence, and at any time, if you have questions Im always available, he said. Just give me a call; Im happy to talk to you. Don't Edit KENTWOOD, MI -- A new plan from Kent County officials is aimed at addressing concerns of explosive methane gas seeping from the long-closed Kentwood Landfill. Officials first detected methane outside the perimeter of the facility, located at 4900 Walma Drive SE, in August 2016. The county issued notices to 150 properties in the surrounding area. Since that time, the Kent County Department of Public Works has offered free methane testing to those homeowners, and started work on a plan to recapture the escaping gas. "To date, eight residents have requested methane testing in their homes," Kent County DPW Director Dar Baas said. "All eight were negative for methane." The City of Kentwood municipal complex closest to the landfill is also tested regularly, Baas said, and testers have yet to detect any traces of methane inside those buildings. Residents nearby expressed concern about the dangerous gas seeping into their homes and their water supply during a public meeting held on Aug. 31. County DPW officials consulted with environmental health experts at the Kent County Health Department, who reported methane is non-toxic and dissipates quickly when exposed to air. But the gas is flammable, specifically when it is trapped in closed-in spaces. County officials are working with engineering firm Golder Associates to finalize the designs for an expansion of the landfill's current methane collection system. Those plans call for doubling the current system, which means nine additional gas wells and a second flare will be installed to collect and burn off the methane gas. Engineers are currently determining the best placement of additional gas wells, and officials expect to issue a request for proposals soon. Construction of the new wells is expected to begin before the end of March. Homeowners and renters who live within 1,500 feet of the landfill's western boundary are still able to request free testing through third-party firm Fishbeck, Thompson, Carr and Huber by calling the Kent County DPW at 616-632-7920. "Because conditions can change as residents close their windows this time of year, we are offering return visits to the homes that have been tested," Baas said. "Homeowners or renters within 1,500 feet of the landfill's western boundary are still able to request quick, on-site testing for methane at no cost to the homeowner." Though potential methane exposure to homes in the area around the old landfill is a new concern, the issue in general is nothing new. Methane was identified outside the landfill perimeter in 2009, when the new library building was being planned for at 4950 Breton Road SE. Related: Membrane beneath new library will keep out gases from landfill The Kentwood City Commission spent $45,000 on a polymer membrane designed to bar methane and radon gas from entering the building. The 72-acre landfill, which closed in 1976, is one of 88 Superfund sites in Michigan monitored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the state Department of Environmental Quality. GRAND RAPIDS, MI - Grand Rapids Public Schools two new school board members were sworn in Tuesday, Jan. 3, along with two reelected incumbents during the school board meeting. Kristian Grant, 29, owner of 12 Oakes, a downtown co-work space for entrepreneurs and program manager for the United Way's Schools of Hope reading program, and retired Kenowa Hills English teacher Katherine Downes Lewis, 73, emerged as the top two vote getters in a field of nine candidates. Grant has a daughter who attends school in the district and Lewis has two grandchildren enrolled. Four, four-year seats were up for grabs on the nine-member board on Nov. 8. Raynard Ross, won a second term, and Jen Schottke, appointed in March to fill the expiring term of David LaGrand, gets her first full term. Board members Nathaniel Moody and Dr. Monica Randles chose not seek second terms. The board elected new officers during its organizational meeting. Longtime board member Wendy Falb is now president, Ross continues as vice president, Schottke is now board secretary, and former president Tony Baker is treasurer. In other business: The school board approved shared use and service agreements with the Blandford Nature Center for its use by students. The provisions are generally the same as in previous years but the district now pays $32,500 annually to the center, up from $25,000, due to Blandford's rising costs, according to the district's Chief Financial Officer Larry Oberst. There was a prelude to an upcoming board work session discussion on student reinstatement and the role of board members in that process. Board member Jose Flores continued his objections Tuesday to returning students, who assault an employee or another student, back to the same school because of the severity of the infraction. But board members Maureen Slade, John Matias and Tony Baker, who have sat on the reinstatement panel for students seeking to return after a year or more absence from the district, said it is a rigorous process return. They said school staff does weigh in and some students are sent to others schools. Raynard Ross said it would be helpful to learn more about the process and discuss the potential impact on school climate. KENTWOOD, MI - With her face covered by a scarf, the woman accused of threatening to blow up a mosque told a judge she was a devout Muslim - mistreated by the mosque, the jail, even her family. Kari Moss, in disjointed statement in court, claimed to be a Shiite Muslim, and said the mosque is Sunni. "They want to kill us in Iraq," Moss said Wednesday, Jan. 4. "They think we are kafir (non-Muslim). That's why they wouldn't give me the charity I asked for." Kentwood District Judge William Kelly ordered Moss, 33, held on a $500,000 bond. Moss is charged with making a false threat of terrorism. Kari Moss Her mother, Charlotte Steigenga, said after the hearing that it should be obvious to everyone that her daughter needs mental-health treatment. "She is severely mentally ill," Steigenga said. She said that a mental-health worker recently believed her daughter was on the "brink of psychosis" and should be hospitalized. But Moss thought she was OK after going to an emergency room and being sent home with sedatives, Steigenga said. "She thinks she's fine because she's been cleared," she said. "She said, 'I told you, I am OK.' ... She's very ill. She's not making any sense." The mother said she was grateful Kentwood Police arrested her daughter without incident, despite reports that she had a handgun outside At-Tawheed Islamic Center, at 3357 E. Paris Ave. SE, on Monday, Jan. 2. Moss "did threaten to blow up the At-Tawheed Islamic," Kentwood Police Officer Darrin Cline wrote in a probable-cause affidavit. "Moss threatened that she had a gun and that if her demands were not met that she would blow up the mosque," the officer wrote. Kentwood Police called in a state police bomb squad but found no explosives. Police did not find a gun, either. The mosque was closed at the time but a small group of people inside heard Moss pulling at the door and answered, police said. A mosque representative told the judge that Moss clearly appeared troubled. After the hearing, he and her mother embraced. He told her there was no ill will between them. Steigenga said her daughter has suffered mental illness many years but is very intelligent. She speaks French and graduated from a university in France, she said. Her daughter grew up Christian, and became Muslim while spending six years in France. Her mother said she uses the religion as a "crutch." "She's not a devout Muslim at all," she said. She hoped her daughter would get mental-health treatment. She expected her daughter's competency to be an issue. "What she needs now is to be in the hospital," she said. "She needs a judge's order to get and receive the right medication." She said she was relieved that her daughter is in jail. It's safer for her, she said. Steigenga, a registered nurse at Pine Rest Christian Mental Health Services, said other families suffer with mental illness, too. It is not an easy subject to talk about for most, she said. She had feared her daughter in recent weeks but said she "can be a very productive member of society" if she is properly treated. In court, Moss rambled while talking to the judge. When he asked if she understood she would be back in court soon for a probable-cause hearing, she said: "What is that? It's OK. I'm a philosophy major. I'm not a law student like you." Then, she complained about her "inhumane" treatment in jail. She said she wanted to be around other women but was in solitary confinement. She said she was fed pork for every meal. The judge, showing patience, said he did not run the jail. "There are a lot of inhumane things going on here, just so you know," she said. "I'd like to press charges against the jail." When told that her family had hired an attorney, she responded: "I'm a 33-year-old adult, without a guardian. Why is my family involved?" She also vowed to spend the rest of her life in jail because her religion did not allow her to make interests payments for bond costs. "And, I'm innocent," she said. Betsy DeVos President-elect Donald Trump calls out to the media as he and Betsy DeVos pose for photographs at Trump National Golf Club Bedminster clubhouse in Bedminster, N.J., Saturday, Nov. 19, 2016. (Carolyn Kaster | AP Photo) U.S. Education Secretary nominee Betsy DeVos is set to go before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Jan. 11 for a hearing to determine whether she'll ascend to the post. The hearing will take place 10 a.m. Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2017 at 430 Dirksen Senate Office Building in Washington, D.C., according to the committee's website. DeVos was announced as President-elect Donald Trump's pick for the position Nov. 23 - in a statement, Trump called DeVos a "brilliant and passionate education advocate" who will help reform the U.S. education system. Republicans widely applauded the decision, while Democrats and public school advocates have criticized the choice because of DeVos' views on issues such as school choice, vouchers and Detroit Public Schools reform. DeVos, whose husband Dick unsuccessfully ran for governor in 2006, is an advocate -- both in Michigan and nationally -- for school choice and charter schools. She serves on the board of the Michigan-based Great Lakes Education Project and is chair of the Washington D.C.-based American Federation for Children. On the campaign trail, Trump pushed for greater school choice, including a proposal to pump $20 billion into expanding options for low-income students. During Trump's Dec. 9 appearance in Grand Rapids, DeVos promised to "put kids first every single day" if she wins U.S. Senate confirmation to the post. "This means expanding choices and options to give every single child the opportunity for quality education regardless of their ZIP code or family circumstances," she said. "The answer isn't bigger control. The answer is local control, it's listening to parents and it's giving more choices." whitmer In this file photo, then-Sen. Democratic Leader Gretchen Whitmer speaks at a special town hall meeting at Burton Elementary about the impact of Gov. Snyder's budget on Michigan families. Listening at right is Carol Hennesy, Senita Lenear, Tom Czerwinski and Brandon Dillon.(T.J. Hamilton | The Grand Rapids Press) (T.J. Hamilton) Democrat Gretchen Whitmer is officially in the hunt for Michigan's 2018 gubernatorial election. In a statement posted on Medium and sent out to potential supporters, the East Lansing resident and former Senate Minority Leader said she was entering the race for governor to fight for greater opportunities for Michigan residents. She said she remembered when Michigan was in a position to face and beat its challenges, but argued current leaders have "been content to manage our decline." "Together we can build the Michigan we believe in, because we still have what we need most - the strength, the talent, the vision and the grit of the incredible people of this state," she said. Democrat Gretchen Whitmer expected to file in 2018 governor's race Tuesday Michigan Republican Party Chair Ronna Romney McDaniel was critical of the timing of Whitmer's announcement, since it was shortly after the end of her temporary position as Ingham County Prosecutor. She likened a potential Whitmer gubernatorial term as "a disastrous return to the unsuccessful policies of the Granholm era." "Michigan is looking forward to a brighter future and Gretchen Whitmer would be a flashback to the failed past," Romney McDaniel said. Whitmer filed a statement of organization with the Secretary of State for the position of governor Tuesday afternoon, which allows her to begin fundraising for the election. In 2013, Whitmer took her name out of the 2014 race against Gov. Rick Snyder's bid for his second term, citing her desire to spend time with her daughters, who were 9 and 10 years old at the time. After being term limited out of the Legislature in 2014, Whitmer returned to work in private practice at the Dickinson Wright law firm in September 2015 and was later unanimously selected to replace Stuart Dunnings III as interim Ingham County Prosecutor until Jan. 1, 2017. Another possible contender for the Democratic gubernatorial ticket in 2018 is U.S. Rep. Dan Kildee, D-Flint Township, who was recently reelected to a third term in his Congressional seat. In a May interview with MLive, Kildee said he was saving his decision until after the Nov. 8 election cycle and was working to determine whether or not running "is the best way for me to advance the things I care about." Kildee spokesperson Mitch Rivard said in a statement Tuesday afternoon that the Congressman is currently focused on representing his constituents and will be making a decision in the coming months. "Congressman Kildee appreciates the encouragement he is getting from across the state to run for Governor," Rivard said. On the Republican side, the top names being circulated include state Attorney General Bill Schuette and Lt. Gov. Brian Calley, although neither have officially filed for the race yet. In a statement, a spokesperson for Schuette said the attorney general would focus on Flint, supporting human trafficking victims and prosecuting criminals tied to rape evidence kits for the time being. A judge ordered former Michigan lawmaker Todd Courser to undergo an examination to determine if he is competent to stand trial on a charge of perjury, according to court documents. A Wednesday, Jan. 4, order signed by Ingham County Circuit Court Judge William E. Collette states Courser shall undergo an examination related to the issue of competency to stand trial at the Center for Forensic Psychiatry in Saline. Courser's attorney, Matthew DePerno, said the judge issued the order during a hearing in which DePerno was asking the AG's office to give him evidence in the case. DePerno said he received 323 pages from the AG's office during the hearing, but claims there is more evidence the AG's office did not give him. Michigan Attorney General Spokeswoman Andrea Bitely declined to comment, other than to say that the AG's office did not request the order for a competency examination. DePerno said he did not request the competency hearing either. A message left for a clerk at Collette's office did not immediately return a message left seeking comment. Courser currently faces a single count of perjury in Ingham County Circuit Court. He originally faced four charges in Ingham County Court -- three misconduct and one perjury. He now faces only the perjury charge in Ingham County. One misconduct charge was refiled in Lapeer County, while the others were dismissed. The AG's office announced in February 2016 the charges against Courser and former lawmaker Cindy Gamrat, who was charged with two counts of misconduct in office. The charges against Gamrat were later dismissed Ingham County court. The AG's office filed the charges in the aftermath of an affair Courser and Gamrat had while serving as legislators in the Michigan House of Representatives. Michigan's schools earned a C-minus in a new report by Education Week that examined academic performance, school spending and how well students are put on a path to success. The annual report, known as Quality Counts, shows Michigan ranked 34th in the nation and below the national average of a C. Michigan ranked 35th in the nation in last year's report. Massachusetts was the top performing state in the U.S., earning a B. It was followed by New Jersey, Vermont and New Hampshire. Nevada came in as the lowest performing state. It and two other states - Mississippi and New Mexico - earned a D grade. Michigan performed worst in the academic achievement category, earning a D. The category encompassed factors such as high school graduation rates, reading and math performance, results on advanced placement exams, and poverty-based achievement gaps. The state earned a C in the categories measuring school finance and how well the state's schools put students on a path to success. Here's a look at the grade assigned to each state: Adam Stevens sentencing J. Scott Park | MLive.comAdam Stevens was sentenced by Circuit Judge John McBain on Thursday morning to 25 to 50 years on the second degree murder conviction in the death of his son, Kian. (J. Scott Park) JACKSON, MI - With a murder trial on the horizon, the Jackson County Medical Examiner's Office has been ordered to accommodate a defense attorney's request to examine a sample of a deceased child's eyeball. Circuit Court Judge Thomas Wilson on Jan. 3 granted a request from Adam Stevens' attorney that the Medical Examiner's Office to allow an expert to visit the office and examine a sample of his Stevens' son's eyeball, which was preserved from his autopsy from almost seven years ago. Stevens, who is accused of killing his 3-month-old son Kian Stevens in 2010, is preparing to go to trial for a second time after his original conviction was tossed out by the Michigan Supreme Court. Stevens' defense attorney argued that their medical expert can determine Kian's cause of death by analyzing the child's eyeball. At a previous motion hearing, the defense alleged Kian Stevens was not properly intubated on his way to the hospital which could have contributed to his death. Stevens' attorneys contend Kian was without oxygen for 32 minutes while he was being transported to the hospital, according to court records. Wilson asked prosecutors why there was an issue with the Medical Examiner's Office not being able to accommodate the defense's expert to which prosecutors answered "they are not set up to do that." A jury first convicted Stevens in 2012 of second-degree murder and second-degree child abuse, but the Michigan Supreme Court granted him a new trial last year because Circuit Judge John McBain "pierced the veil of judicial impartiality" and deprived Stevens of a fair trial. The high court ordered a new judge to oversee the latest proceedings. Stevens is accused of causing the injuries that killed his son, who died Aug. 19, 2010 of what two doctors said was abusive head trauma. After midnight the same day, Kian's mother Crystal Anderson found Stevens holding the boy upside down in the living room. He flipped the baby "back around" without supporting his head and gave him to Anderson. Kian was then gasping for air and limp, she testified in 2012. Stevens contended during the first trial that he tripped or lost his balance while holding Kian and the baby fell, hitting his head. The boy went to Allegiance Health and then to the University of Michigan Health System's C.S. Mott Children's Hospital, where he died at 5:17 p.m. the same day. Stevens is scheduled to return to court for another evidence hearing Feb. 10 in Wilson's courtroom. The Michigan State Police Jackson post provided the following log of activities for Tuesday, Jan. 3 with troopers investigating 17 incidents and calls for service. Operating While Intoxicated: Jackson County, Parma Township: Troopers initiated a traffic stop on a vehicle for lane and speed violations. Upon contact with the driver, a 59-year-old female from Oak Forest, Illinois, it was learned that she was operating while intoxicated. She was arrested for the offense and lodged at the Jackson County Jail. Flee and Elude Suspect Arrested: Hillsdale County, Jefferson Township: Troopers have been attempting to locate a subject wanted for fleeing and eluding. The subject had fled from Troopers and had a warrant for his arrest. The subject was also wanted out of Fulton County Sheriff's Office for a similar offense. The subject was located and arrested and has been lodged at the Hillsdale County Jail. Additional activities: Troopers are investigating a criminal sexual conduct report in the city of Jackson. Troopers are investigating a larceny of a handgun in Parma Township, Jackson County. Troopers were dispatched to two separate traffic accidents in Hillsdale County. Troopers are investigating a credit card fraud complaint in the village of Allen, Hillsdale County. SOMERSET TWP., MI -- It would be hard to find a young firefighter in Jackson or Hillsdale County who wasn't trained by Fred A. Newton Sr. He impacted hundreds of careers throughout his 20-plus years of public safety. And on Tuesday afternoon, Jan. 3, the men and women he trained gathered to send him off to his final call. A traditional procession took place on U.S. 127 and U.S. 12 between his visitation at Brown-Van Hemert Funeral Home, 122 N. Steer St., and Somerset Beach Campground, 9822 Brooklawn Court. "He really took time with his students," said Sam Eder, a Spring Arbor firefighter who was taught by Newton Sr. at the Jackson County Fire Academy. "It was fun. He brought a lot of knowledge to the table." Somerset Fire Capt. Newton Sr., 66, had just finished a night shift on Tuesday, Dec. 27. He went out to his car in the station's parking lot, sat down and started it up, then suffered a heart attack. Somerset Fire Chief Scott Friess arrived at the station about 8:15 a.m. that morning and noticed the captain, who appeared to be sleeping in his car. The firefighters at the station checked on him and realized that wasn't the case. He was pronounced dead after being rushed to the hospital. "He was a great guy," Spring Arbor Firefighter and Paramedic Mark Jamieson said. "I always liked him because he was approachable, he always had something to say." The Spring Arbor Fire Department and Addison Fire Department raised a 20-by-30-foot U.S. flag 60 feet in the air over U.S. 12 during the procession. They were stationed outside of the Somerset Township Fire Department, 12715 Chicago Road. Newton Sr. was well-known among the Spring Arbor firefighters, having coordinated the Jackson County Fire Academy out of their station. "Fred was the kind of guy that at first you just weren't sure, but I figured him out," Spring Arbor Fire Chief Tim McEldowney said. "He was all business and he did a great job for Jackson County." Before five years with Somerset Township, Newton Sr. spent 18 years with the Liberty Township Fire Department. He also worked for Ford Motor Company in Livonia for 31 years, retiring in 2003, where he was U.A.W. Assistant Fire Chief for the Livonia Transmission Plant. Newton Sr. was able to work with his son at Somerset, Fred A. Newton Jr., who currently teaches firefighter students at Lake Superior State University. He was born in 1950 in Pineville, Kentucky. He then moved to Michigan and attended Dearborn High School. After serving in the Vietnam War in the late 1960's, he married Mary Ann Prebes, who survives him along with two kids, five grandchildren, his mother, nieces, nephews and cousins. KALAMAZOO, MI -- Abigail Kopf, the Battle Creek teenager who survived the February 2016 mass shooting in Kalamazoo, is struggling in her recovery and faces "intense" surgery soon, her family reported on its Facebook page today. The girl was 14 years old when she was shot in the head the night of Feb. 20 by a gunman who killed the four adults who were with her at the Cracker Barrel Restaurant in Texas Township. Abbie was one of eight people shot and two who survived the gunman's rampage in and around Kalamazoo that night. Although by spring she had regained her ability to walk and talk, Abbie's first health setback came when infection set in around a plate put into her head to replace a portion of her skull that had been shattered. In June, Abbie was briefly hospitalized for treatment of an infection and the removal of a plate.. She was released from the hospital, but she was required to wear a helmet again for three months and was being treated at home with antibiotics. In July, she was again briefly hospitalized for treatment of the infection. She did not return to school in the fall, and has been tutored at home. The Jan. 4 post on Abbie Kopf's Recovery Facebook page said Abbie "is not doing very well. "She has hypotension, which means her blood pressure is very low," the statement read. "Abbie is also experiencing speech issues and memory loss. We are also waiting for Abigail to get her new replacement plate put in sometime this month. The surgery will be a lot more intense than the last one." Doctors will have to do a skin graft from her thigh and rotate her scalp to help cover the section where the bullet exited, because it did so much damage. The post has generated hundreds of prayers and encouraging comments. An online fundraising campaign has generated more than $64,000 to help with her family's expenses. Bishop Paul Bradley The Rev. Paul Bradley, bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Kalamazoo, during a Mass at the Cathedral Church of St. Augustine. (MLive file) KALAMAZOO, MI-- Modeling peaceful family life, performing daily acts of mercy, and helping those who feel vulnerable and alienated -- especially immigrants-- were suggestions from the Catholic Diocese of Kalamazoo Bishop Paul Bradley's call to make 2017 a year of peace. Southwest Michigan experienced unprecedented violence in 2016, including 20 homicides in Kalamazoo County alone. In his New Year's Letter to the Faithful for 2017 Bradley detailed his hope for a more peace-filled year in Southwest Michigan, echoing the World Day of Peace message from Pope Francis. "If we truly want to be faithful followers and joyful witnesses to Jesus, the Prince of Peace," writes Bishop Bradley, "that means that we should make every effort to remove violence from our homes. Let us commit ourselves in this way to being true followers of Jesus, which means refusing to entertain or engage in violent acts of any sort within our family relationships, as well as those other relationships in our lives." Bradley reaffirmed the Church's commitment to support and protect immigrants and refugees. "Let us be mindful of those in our circle of friends and family who may feel alienated, unwelcome, or frightened," he wrote, "especially our immigrant sisters and brothers." Bradley called upon Catholics to "love our neighbor as we love ourselves" and to practice works of mercy every day. The Catholic Diocese of Kalamazoo encompasses 5,337 square miles of nine counties in southwest Michigan--Allegan, Barry, Van Buren, Kalamazoo, Calhoun, Berrien, Cass, St. Joseph and Branch. It includes 59 parishes as well as 23 Catholic schools. Pope Francis' World Day of Peace message for 2017 can be found here. cass county chase.JPG The driver fled into a corn field; a passenger was detained, too. (Courtesy Google Maps) CASSOPOLIS, MI--A Cass County Sheriff's Office tracking dog and its handler caught a man as he fled on foot across a corn field early Wednesday morning to end a pursuit that began in Elkhart County, Indiana. At approximately 2:20 a.m. Jan. 4, deputies were called to assist Elkhart County Sheriff's Department with a pursuit that had begun in Elkhart and continued into Cass County, according to a news release from the Cass County Sheriff's Office. Deputies located the vehicle near Calvin Center Road and Williamsville Street and the pursuit was then led by Cass County deputies. Authorities said it ended near the intersection of Birch Road and Teasdale Lake, where the suspect vehicle continued to drive into a corn field and the driver then fled on foot. Cass County's dog Faust apprehended the fleeing driver, who was taken into custody. A 29-year-old South Bend man, a passenger in the vehicle, was detained at the scene and released with no charges at this time. The driver then lodged at the Cass County Jail on preliminary charges of Fleeing and Eluding and operating without a driver's license. Names are being withheld at this time pending arraignment. Cass County Sheriff's Deputies were assisted by Elkhart County Sheriff's Department and Bristol Police Department. CASS COUNTY, MI - A 16-year-old Lansing teen died early Wednesday morning when a tree limb fell onto the truck in which he was riding on M-40 in Cass County's Newberg Township. The driver of the pickup truck was injured and rushed to the emergency room at Three Rivers Area Hospital. His condition was not reported. The Jan. 4 incident occurred at about 6:35 a.m. on M-40, south of Harvey Street, in Cass County's Newberg Township, according to Sheriff Richard Behnke. Nicholas Hewitt, 16, was a passenger in a pickup truck that was being driven north on M-40 by Michael Rinehart, 52, according to the sheriff. "Investigation showed that a pickup being driven by Michael Rinehart (52 years of Lansing) was northbound on M-40 highway when the vehicle was struck by a falling tree," the sheriff reported. "The tree seriously damaged the cab of the truck and fatally struck passenger Nicholas Hewitt (16 years of Lansing). The pickup then left the roadway and struck a number of trees." Hewitt was pronounced dead at the scene. Rinehart was transported to the hospital for treatment of his injuries. Behnke did not say if the two were related or where they may have been headed when the mishap occurred. He stated that both were wearing seatbelts and alcohol is not suspected as a caused of the crash. Deputies were assisted at the scene by members of the Newberg Fire Department, Newberg Ambulance and the Michigan Department of Transportation. MDOT closed M-40 between McKinley and Harvey streets at the M-60 interchange as rescue teams worked to extricate the injured men from the truck and clear the crash. The incident remains under investigation. Defense Attorney Shirley Burgoyne MUSKEGON, MI - Convicted gang felon Maurtice Deshawn Poole-Knight is looking for a new lawyer to represent him in a murder trial, after a health issue stopped his previous lawyer from continuing his defense. Poole-Knight, 20, is charged with open murder in the gang-related 2014 shooting death of DaQuaries Love, 17. In 2015, a Muskegon County jury found Poole-Knight guilty of committing a "gang-related felony" but was deadlocked on the underlying felony of open murder. The judge then declared a mistrial on the murder charge. Poole-Knight's former defense attorney, Shirley Burgoyne, had appealed to the Michigan Court of Appeals, Michigan Supreme Court and even U.S. Supreme Court all to prevent Poole-Knight from being retried for murder. All appeals were unsuccessful, with the U.S. Supreme Court in Oct. 2016 essentially declining to review the case. But now, Burgoyne won't be able to represent Poole Knight for a different reason. Judge Timothy G. Hicks said in Muskegon County's 14th Circuit Court Wednesday, Jan. 4 that Burgoyne wouldn't be able to represent Poole-Knight any farther because of her health. "I don't know what Ms. Burgoyne last told you, but she does care about your case and she worked very hard," Hicks said. Poole-Knight, is currently serving a sentence of a minimum 7 years 11 months at the state prison in Ionia for his earlier felony conviction. But Poole-Knight said in a court video conference Wednesday that he's working to hire a new lawyer through his mother. Hicks gave Poole-Knight a few weeks to hire a new lawyer. If none are hired, a defense attorney would be appointed through the Muskegon County Public Defender's office. No date has been set for the trial. In addition to her dogged appeals, Burgoyne has been marked for her verbal sparring with Judge Hicks in the courtroom, once calling his comments from the bench "extremely obnoxious" and a "terrible insult." LUDINGTON, MI - A little less BBQ. A little more smokehouse. That's the goal at Q Smokehouse downtown Ludington. In big cities, smokehouse joints have lines out the door at 11 a.m. because experienced patrons know they can only make so much of their mouth-water smoked meats - they take time after all, said Dave Diephouse, owner of Q Smokehouse. The Ludington restaurant is similar to those places, he said. "A lot of people aren't aware of the process," Diephouse said. The Texas-style brisket sits in the smoker for 14 hours, the Memphis-style ribs for six to eight hours and the chicken for four hours. Before making it to the smoker, the chicken is brined for 24-36 hours and then refrigerated for 12-24 hours. It's seasoned with a secret concoction. That being said, customers can understand that it's not to just make more. The smokehouse serves its meat dry, and provides a variety of sauces for patrons to choose from. Q opened during September 2015, and had a good first tourist season during summer 2016 - running out of meat from time to time, Diephouse said. "It's a great homemade meal - everything is made from scratch," he said. Customers order at the counter, and can carry out or choose a seat inside, which expedites service, Diephouse said. While Diephouse and his staff (21 during summer) never asked for tips, he said people wanted to give them. The tips are now collected into a monthly donation for local charities. More than $17,000 has been donated so far. "You have to support the community that supports you," Diephouse said. "If you can't do that, there's no point in owning a business." Q is open 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Wednesday-Sunday during winter. TWEET ME DISCLAIMER *COMMENTS, LINKS, AND CUT AND PASTE ARTICLES, ARE NOT ALL ENDORSED BY THE PUBLISHER. THIS BLOG claims no credit for any images posted on this site unless otherwise noted. Images on this blog are copyright to its respectful owners. If there is an image appearing on this blog that belongs to you and do not wish for it appear on this site, please E-mail with a link to said image and it will be promptly removed. MORE DISCLAIMERS This is a commercial free blog. Money is nice, but being able to speak my mind is better. "Real talk: Daniel Rubin has a great little piece up wherein he chats with The Field Negro, the Philly-based blogger who sharply ponders all things black on a daily basis. (Seriously, if youve never checked in with TFN, you should: Its author, Wayne Bennett, is a fantastic read who can cut through bullshit like a hot knife through butter, which is a far grosser analogy than I wanted to make, but there you have it.)" ~Philebrity~ "One of the most precocious and hilarious Black political minds on the net. Ive been a long-time fan!" ~Asad Malik~ "..While most of what he writes is tongue-in-cheek, his space is a safe house for candid discussions about race, especially in the comments section, where people of all colors meet." ~~Daniel Rubin, "The Philadelphia Inquirer"~~ "To white people, Bennett's musings are like kitchen-table talk from a kitchen they may otherwise never set foot in. To African Americans, he is part of a growing army of black Internet amateurs who have taken up the work once reserved for ministers and professional activists: the work of setting a black agenda, shaping black opinion and calling attention to the state of the nation's racial affairs." ~~Richard Fausset, "L.A. Times"~~~ ~Erik Hare, "The Twin Cities Daily Planet"~ "That's why I love the blog " Field Negro " so much. Field, as he's known to his fans, has the sense of reality that it takes to call out the ( CowPuckey ) of blame beating by those who are in positions of power and their lackeys. Because of his handle and his unabashed way of writing about racial issues, Field is often cited as a "Black blogger." What he is, however, is a first-class detector of blame deflection and an excellent student of history. If you want to write about the past and future of repression there's really no other perspective to take - which is why everyone should read Field."~Erik Hare, "The Twin Cities Daily Planet"~ 411 On The Field field negro Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States Raised in the house, but field certified. Jamaica is the land of my birth, but I consider myself a citizen of the world. I currently practice law in the city of "brotherly love". View my complete profile "Half a century after Little Rock, the Montgomery bus boycott and the tumultuous dawn of the modern civil rights era, the new face of the movement is Facebook, MySpace and some 150 black blogs united in an Internet alliance they call the AfroSpear. Older, familiar leaders such as Rev. Jesse Jackson, Rev. Al Sharpton and NAACP Chairman Julian Bond, are under challenge by a younger generation of bloggers known by such provocative screen names as Field Negro, thefreeslave and African American Political Pundit. And many of the newest struggles are being waged online." ~Howard Witt-The Chicago Tribune~ "I had no idea, for example, of the extent of the African-American blogging world out there and its collective powers of dissemination.But now, after reading thousands of anguished, thoughtful comments posted on these blogs reflecting on issues of persistent racial discrimination in the nation's schools and courtrooms, what's clear to me is that there's a new, "virtual" civil rights movement out there on the Internet that can reach more people in a few hours than all the protest marches, sit-ins and boycotts of the 1950s and 60s put together." ~Chicago Tribune Reporter, Howard Witt~ IF YOU ARE BRAVE ENOUGH TO FLAUNT IT. Come visit my store on CafePress! you are here: business Kohinoor Foods expects imports from Iran to start soon Speaking to CNBC-TV18, Gurnam Arora, Joint MD of Kohinoor Foods said that exports from Iran had stopped since last three months. However, he expects Iran to start importing from India in January. business Bull's Eye: Buy Godrej Industries, Sintex, Bata, Tata Chem, BEL Kunal Saraogi of Equityrush is of the view that one may buy Sintex Industries with a target of Rs 84. January 04, 2017 The Enemy Du Jour Is Always Hacking Three pieces in the same leading newspaper show how little changes with "hacking" stories when the powers-that-are decide that some country is now the "enemy." 1. By NYT staff reporter Erich Lichtblau: Increase in Electronic Attacks Leads to Warning on Hackers and U.S. Safety Intelligence officials are concerned that a recent rise in electronic attacks against government and military computer networks in the United States may be the work of pro-[country] hackers and could signal a "potential crisis" in national security, according to a classified F.B.I. assessment. The assessment, prepared last week by the National Infrastructure Protection Center at the Federal Bureau of Investigation, warned intelligence officials that the attacks, which have been relatively limited, are likely to grow more widespread and "more dangerous" as tension over a possible war against [country] grows. American intelligence analysts say they have long been concerned by the notion that Al Qaeda could use computers to wage terror -- disrupting water treatment plants or nuclear facilities, for instance. Experts say the link between [country] and computer hacking may have been underestimated and poses a growing threat to United States security. "[Country] is certainly among the places in the world that we think a cyberattack might well be launched from," Representative Robert E. Andrews of New Jersey, a Democrat on the House Armed Service Committee who has been active on cyberwarfare issues, said in an interview. Mr. Andrews noted that computer attacks were difficult to trace and could be damaging, which he said met 's goals. "A cyberattack really fits [country]'s [leader] paradigm for attacking us," he said. 2. By NYT staff reporter Nicole Perlroth: Cyberespionage Attacks Tied to Hackers in [country] SAN FRANCISCO An elaborate, three-year cyberespionage campaign against United States military contractors, members of Congress, diplomats, lobbyists and Washington-based journalists has been linked to hackers in [country]. The campaign compromised the computers of some 2,000 victims and went unnoticed since 2011, according to a report to be released Thursday by iSight Partners, a computer security firm in Dallas. American intelligence officials have long said [country]'s hackers are a serious threat, [..] ... [L]ast year, American officials said [country] hackers were behind a wave of attacks on several American oil, gas and electricity companies,that officials described as probes looking for ways to disrupt critical processing systems. 3. By NYT staff reporter Erich Lichtblau: Computer Systems Used by Clinton Campaign Are Said to Be Hacked, Apparently by [country] WASHINGTON Computer systems used by Hillary Clintons presidential campaign were hacked in an attack that appears to have come from [country]s intelligence services, a federal law enforcement official said on Friday. The apparent breach, coming after the disclosure last month that the Democratic National Committees computer system had been compromised, escalates an international episode in which Clinton campaign officials have suggested that [country] might be trying to sway the outcome of the election. ... Clinton campaign officials have suggested that [leader] of [country] could be trying to tilt the election to Mr. Trump, who has expressed admiration for the [country]'s leader. But the campaign officials acknowledge that they have no evidence. The Trump campaign has dismissed the accusations about [country] as a deliberate distraction. The first piece was published on January 17 2003, the country is Iraq and the leader is Saddam Hussein. The second piece was published on May 29 2014, the country is Iran. The third piece was published on July 29 2016, the country is Russia and the leader is Vladimir Putin. Posted by b on January 4, 2017 at 19:46 UTC | Permalink Comments next page next page The adversarial relationship between one in-town charter school and the local school district reared its head recently as the two sides again took swipes at one another over a proposal for a new school site. Voices College-bound Language Academy, which has been operating out of a short-term lease agreement on the grounds of Advent Lutheran Church on Murphy Avenue, was supposed to go before the city council last month for consideration of establishing a permanent school on Juan Hernandez Drive. That item was removed from the citys Dec. 14 agenda at the request of the charter operators, but not before a back-and-forth in letter form between the two feuding entities. It has never been clear why the district would go out of its way to interfere with a school which welcomes the very population which the district has struggled so mightily to serve, wrote Voices Chief Operating Officer Frances Teso in her Dec. 14 submission to the city council. Furthermore, Teso stated Voices is seeking to minimize its impact on the district by locating private facilities rather than district facilities under Prop. 39. Morgan Hill Unified Superintendent Steve Betando claimed the charter leaders violated an agreement they had with them and took exception to their proposal to purchase a 3-acre portion of land located at Juan Hernandez Avenue, and owned by The Health Trust, to locate a public charter school that would eventually serve 505 students The charter school never advised the district, or fulfilled its legal duty to meet and confer with the district, over the districts concerns or objections to its proposed purchase of the portion of the Health Trust Land, wrote Betando in his Dec. 12 letter addressed to Mayor Steve Tate and the city council. He requested the council table the item for 30-45 days. In her rebuttal letter to the city council, Teso claimed that Betando misinterpreted the agreement in place and that they are under no obligation to meet with district officials at this early stage in the land acquisition process. Your letter falsely claims that Voices had violated the settlement agreement by not meeting and conferring with the district regarding a potential private site, Teso wrote. Voices has not currently sought a (Conditional Use Permit) from the city regarding the relevant site, and as such has no obligation to meet and confer with the district regarding this site at the current time. Voices has been working with city staff to locate several facilities options, according to Teso. However, they still plan to seek an early determination on the Tennant/Juan Hernandez site from the city council in February. We are working with all stakeholders to come to the best decision for our students and families, and that will work with city plans and values, Teso added. Voices and MHUSD settled a facilities dispute in May 2016. That agreement kept the charter school operating out of its current location off Murphy Avenue with the installation of two portable classrooms to meet its growing enrollment needs. Each school year, the charter adds a grade level until eighth grade. MHUSD also made a $125,000 lump-sum payment to the charter, which agreed to drop its complaint and waive all rights to facilities for three years through the 2017-18 school year. Because the proposed site is adjacent to the districts Barrett Elementary School, the district believes that the potential traffic impact of the proposed project must be studied and considered, Betando continued in his letter. At the very least, the charter school breached its legal obligation to meet and confer with the district The two sides had been battling over facilities since Voices won its appeal with Santa Clara Countys Office of Education to open a Morgan Hill school in fall 2015 and filed an initial Prop 39 request with MHUSD. Under Prop 39, a local district must offer fair and equitable facilities to an incoming charter school as long as space is available and does not disrupt any of their existing programs. We will remain optimistic about our future discussions, however, even as the district appears eager to commence litigation even though Voices has yet confirmed the basic feasibility of the property as an alternative site, Teso continued. This is the first public spat since the agreement was finalized last year. A pair of parents of Voices students brought the conflict to light at the Dec. 13 school board meeting, one day before the city council meeting. Im here to express my disappointment and sadness for the continual actions taken by the district to keep us from having a facility, said Tanya Martinez, a Morgan Hill resident. The relationship between Voices and the district thus far has been a bit contentious and we as parents are feeling picked on and a little bit harassed by the district and by at least one superintendent in particular. Martinez said district staff misled families living near Barrett Elementary School on the impact it would have as far as traffic congestion if Voices was allowed to build a new school in the same neighborhood. The letter mentions that there is going to be a lot of traffic issues because of the possible proximity of the schools. But we would like you to know that our current school is down the street from Nordstrom and there arent any issues so far, added Martinez, who also asked for the district to work with rather than against Voices. Its real important to have your support. However, Voices has never garnered support from the MHUSD board, which denied its petition prior to the county board giving overriding approval. The district then denied Voices initial Prop 39 request, which was later pulled by the charter leaders who refiled their facilities request only to settle on a temporary private location. While Voices understands and appreciates the districts concerns, Voices and the property owner must make a preliminary determination of feasibility before such an application can be prepared, Teso wrote. This leaves ample time for representatives of our school to meet with members of your (MHUSD) staff as contemplated in the agreement. A local officer recently was honored for saving a woman from a burning vehicle. Officer Mason Eastwood with the Drexel Police Department recently was presented the NCADA Hometown Hero award by former N.C. Gov. Pat McCrory and the North Carolina Automobile Dealers Association (NCADA) at a ceremony in Cary, N.C. held Dec. 13. Eastwood was celebrated for pulling a woman from her burning vehicle Oct. 6, 2015. Eastwood came upon the vehicle and, after approaching, he was told by the driver, Melinda Corday, that she could not walk on her own. Eastwood and a Rutherford College man, Matt Jensen, took action to assist. Eastwood and Jensen tried to pick her up but ended up pulling her to safety as flames engulfed the front of the vehicle, Drexel Police Chief Craig Treadway said in a previous article. If not for Officer Eastwood and Mr. Jensen, the outcome could have been tragic. John Greene of John Greene Chrysler Dodge Jeep in Morganton nominated Eastwood for his actions of pulling the Drexel woman from a burning vehicle. The NCADA Hometown Heroes program honors local First Responders in North Carolina who make sacrifices to protect the public. The NCDA Hometown Heroes program is designed to recognize those North Carolina Hometown Heroes who work to make our communities safe, Meghan Killela of NCADA, said in a press release. Local franchised car dealers have been working with their fire, police, EMT and sheriffs departments to honor those who serve their local communities. Eastwood received the award from McCrory and Greene with his wife Kaylin by his side. To all the First Responders, I just want to say 'thank you,' said McCrory. This is the best of North Carolina. Eastwood spoke with The News Herald Monday about being awarded as an NCADA Hometown Hero. I was very honored to get the award and I am glad to bring some positive light to law enforcement during a time where sometimes the most negative aspects are highlighted. Eastwood said. I just did my job and hope that any other officer in the same situation would do the same thing. Staff writer Christy Traylor and can be reached at ctraylor@morganton.com or at 828-432-8941. New Ratings Barbara Claus This income-oriented strategy aims to achieve high payouts monthly; therefore, the portfolio is split evenly among high-yield bonds, convertible bonds, and equities with covered calls. Compared with its category peers in the USD Moderate Allocation Morningstar Category, historic risk figures are generally higher because of the funds high allocation into risk assets. The process is designed to offer a higher yield than its income-oriented peers, and payouts result mainly from short-term capital gains. This, coupled with the poor transparency into the fund's underlying components, leads to a Morningstar Analyst Rating of Neutral. BGF World Bond Bronze Carlos Lucar Scott Thiel, BlackRocks deputy CIO for fundamental fixed income, has managed this fund since January 2012. He also leads the firms nine-person global bond team that employs a disciplined duration-controlled, relative value approach here which aims to outperform the Barclays Global Aggregate Index USD-hedged by 100 basis points annualised over a market cycle. The strategy has a wide opportunity set that consists mainly of government and investment-grade corporate bonds, but it can also take small active currency bets occasionally. In our view, the backing of BlackRocks deep resources is an advantage here. Moreover, we believe Thiels relevant experience and long tenure at the firm, which he joined in 2002, further enhances his ability to exploit the depth of resources at BlackRock and underpin our conviction in the fund. BNY Mellon Emerging Market Debt Local Currency Neutral Shannon Kirwin The funds two lead managers, Javier Mucio and Federico Garcia Zamora, have officially been at the helm for just 10 months, following the departure of former lead manager Alexander Kozhemiakin in February 2016. However, both have been involved with the fund for longer than that; Murcio joined as a comanager in 2007 and Zamora in 2013. Their tenure at the strategy has coincided with a period of underperformance, driven by unfortunately-timed duration and emerging-market currency underweights. Since taking over lead responsibility for the fund, the managers have tweaked the investment process to improve communication and idea-sharing within the team. So far, those changes havent perceptibly improved performance, but its too early to draw definitive conclusions. Fidelity China RMB Bond Neutral Don Yew Hong Kong-based Bryan Collins has managed this fund since its inception on 7 December 2011. While Collins had no prior experience managing RMB bond portfolios, we take some comfort from his familiarity with Chinese issuers through managing Fidelity Asian High Yield, which has a Morningstar Analyst Rating of Bronze. He is supported by an eight-member Asian credit research team that is still expanding its onshore Chinese credit capabilities. Although the investment process focuses on bottom-up credit selection and is broadly similar to that used at Fidelity Asian High Yield, we note that a key difference is the greater role of duration and yield-curve positioning as a source of active return for this fund. Hence, we need more time to see how Collins executes the investment process. First State Asia Focus Gold Germaine Share Although this fund was only launched on August 24 2015, topnotch portfolio manager Martin Lau has run the strategy via the Gold-rated First State Asian Equity Plus since 2003. He has 21 years of investment experience and has proved to be an expert investor not only on this strategy but also on several Greater China mandates. He is supported by an adept and stable team of 17 that is one of our favourite teams in the region. Lau and his team steadily apply a disciplined and robust, quality-focused investment process, which has proved to be successful over multiple market cycles. Along with competitive fees, we believe this offering encompasses many best-of-breed traits. Nomura Funds Japan Strategic Value Neutral Don Yew This fund has been managed by the highly-experienced portfolio manager Kentaro Takayanagi since its inception in January 2010. He has dedicated most of his 25-year investment career to managing Japanese equities and demonstrates deep knowledge of the Japanese equity market. He has managed the strategy at a Japanese-domiciled vehicle since July 2000, where he has delivered solid returns. He receives solid support from an experienced six-member team of portfolio managers dedicated to this strategy, as well as one of the biggest buy-side Japanese equity research teams in the category. However, with assets under management of USD 5.2Bn as of June 2016, this strategy is one of the biggest in the category. Given its flexibility to invest in small-caps, we are cautious on the team's ability to manage liquidity risk at such an elevated asset level. Upgrades Germaine Share Veteran managers Robin Parbrook and King Fuei Lee have led this closed-end fund since March 2013. They have a longer track record at the strategys SICAV vehicle, Schroder ISF Asian Total Return, which they have comanaged since its inception in November 2007. They have spent their respective 26- and 17-year investment careers exclusively with Schroders, and we hold them both in high regard. They use a rigorous, quality-growth-focused stock selection process with a hedging overlay to mitigate market risks. They have used the process to good effect: the fund has comfortably outperformed the MSCI AC Asia Pacific ex Japan Index since April 2013, while offering unparalleled downside resilience. The longer and equally impressive track record on the SICAV vehicle further strengthens our conviction. Overall, we believe the fund possesses several best-of-breed traits. Stewart Investors Indian Subcontinent Silver Mark Laidlaw Increased conviction in the team and process behind Stewart Investors Indian Subcontinent have resulted in a rating upgrade. The portfolio management duo of Sashi Reddy and David Reddy have worked together on the strategy since 2009 and their insights are amongst the sharpest in the peer group. They also get strong support from the strong team at Stewart Investors. The process here has proven its worth over time. It is a discerning bottom-up approach with a key focus on sustainability which is seen through three lenses sustainable goods and services that have a positive impact on society, responsible finance, and required infrastructure. The track record is excellent, particularly during times of market duress. There are multiple strengths on show here. Downgrades Aberdeen Asia Pacific and Japan Equity Bronze Aberdeen Asia Pacific Equity Bronze Aberdeen Global Asia Pacific Equity Bronze Mark Laidlaw Our conviction in the Aberdeen Asia Pacific team has wavered, whilst peer competition has been getting stronger, resulting in an overall drop in our conviction levels. Both the Asian equities and the Japan equities teams have seen some turnover within the ranks over the last few years. That said, Flavia Cheong still leads a quality outfit, which is well resourced and flat structured, with many of the team having spent their whole investment career at the firm. Nonetheless, we feel they are no longer seen as one of the elite groups in this space. The investment process is tried and tested quality and valuation the major keys. Aberdeen is a patient investor who is willing to back quality businesses that are well managed. A potential criticism is that the team hasnt always been critical enough when looking at the continued merits of some long-term holdings where the investment thesis has started to deteriorate. We are encouraged by the measures put in place by the team to help potentially alleviate this issue. Significant outflows, which are down from peak levels, has lessened previous capacity concerns. Whilst we retain conviction in the funds, we do feel there are more compelling choices available. David Holder Whilst we are reassured to see the return of Charles Montanaro as the driving force in the day-to-day management of this fund, we are concerned that shareholders have had a series of short-tenured managers here recently. This has been unsettling for investors and has led to small but discernible changes to both the investment approach and portfolio implementation. We feel it prudent to reduce the rating on the fund pending a period of ongoing stability. Mount Pleasant, SC (29464) Today Sun and clouds mixed. Slight chance of a rain shower. High near 75F. Winds NNE at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Some clouds. Low 68F. Winds ESE at 5 to 10 mph. This is the most competitive US housing market Competition among homebuyers is the strongest in Seattle with Boston not far behind. A report from Redfin shows that two neighborhoods in Seattle top the rankings of the most competitive markets in the US Factoria and University District with Bostons Washington Sq., and Prospect Hill in 3rd and 4th place respectively. San Franciscos Inner Richmond neighborhood completes the top 5. The list is ranked by median days on market, the average sale-to-list price ratio and home price growth. In Factoria, Seattle for example, homes went under contract in an average 7 days, sold for 5 per cent above asking price and prices were up 26 per cent year-over-year. Home prices continued higher towards 2016 close Home prices were up again in November according to the latest data from CoreLogic. There was a 7.1 per cent rise in prices nationwide, including distressed sales, compared to a year earlier and were up 1.1 per cent from October. The increase was supported by the low cost of borrowing but that is changing which slows the forecast for 2017. Last summers very low mortgage rates sparked demand, and with for-sale inventories low, the result has been a pickup in home-price growth, said Dr. Frank Nothaft, chief economist for CoreLogic. With mortgage rates higher today and expected to rise even further in 2017, our national Home Price Index is expected to slow to 4.7 per cent year over year by November 2017. Home prices in 27 states are now at pre-crisis levels, CoreLogic says. Mortgage insurer UGC sold by AIG Leading private mortgage insurer United Guaranty (UGC) has been sold to Bermuda-based Arch Capital Group Ltd by AIG. The North Carolina insurer had $186.4 billion of first-lien primary mortgage insurance in force as of September 30, 2016 and the sale was announced by AIG in August as part of its plan to become a leaner insurance business. We believe UGC and the outstanding professionals who work there have gained a strong partner in Arch to continue to grow and facilitate home ownership for consumers and provide valuable and necessary protection to mortgage lenders, commented AIGs president and CEO Peter D. Hancock. President-elect Donald Trump said today that he would nominate attorney Jay Clayton to head the Securities and Exchange Commission. Clayton is a partner with the New York law firm Sullivan & Cromwell, according to a New York Times report. As chair of the SEC, he will be responsible for encouraging investment in American companies and providing strong oversight of Wall Street and related industries, Trumps communications office said in a statement. We will carefully monitor our financial sector, as we set policy that encourages American companies to do what they do best: create jobs, Clayton said in his own statement. Clayton is the latest Trump appointment with strong ties to Wall Street, according to the Times. He represented Goldman Sachs, Ally, Bear Stearns and other Wall Street giants during the financial crisis, according to a HousingWire report. Clayton also helped take Alibaba Group public in the largest IPO in history and advised Barclays Capital when it acquired Lehman Brothers after that firm collapsed in 2008, according to the Times. Holbox is a small, tick-shaped island off the northern tip of the Yucatan peninsula. It is still fairly unspoilt: no cars, no skyscrapers, no chain hotels. The accommodation available suits all budgets from high-end ( Las Nubes ) to mid-range ( Casa Maya ) to hostels. The place is so small, you can cover it in a day, then explore in detail at your own speed. If, like me, you come from a busy city, itll take a few days to slow down to local pace. Wi-fi is patchy the wind changes and its gone so take books or a Kindle. Sip margaritas while swinging in the breeze on a hammock or a bar swing. When it comes to the food, you can also go high or go low. From posh cheffy restaurants and fine dining to humble eating houses and street stalls, the cooks use local ingredients and Mayan Indian culinary know-how. The Mayan Indians are my kind of people: small, round, and with a large appetite for food. I spent eight days there; the last four were cooler and more windy, which I enjoyed. (Menopausal.) This is the ultimate place to zone out and properly relax. I just hope that big business plans to develop Holbox dont happen. It mustnt change. 1. Eat. Restaurants and street stalls Las Panchas is not only cheap, but also the best authentically local restaurant on Holbox. No fusion to be found here. El Sabor de las Nubes (below) at Hotel Las Nubes at the far end of the beach is a little more expensive but has high-end Mexican and European cooking and excellent cocktails. You can also feed the raccoons, which is fun and slightly scary. Casa Maya hotel bar (below), open only during the day when I was there, served fantastic fare. Chilaquiles verde, aka nachos for breakfast, became the new normal. (Make them at home with my chilaquiles recipe.) Viva Zapata is a cool place for a beer and something to eat. The bar has swings. But the margaritas can be overly sweet, apparently due to tourists tastes. I like em sour. Market and food shops. There is a small fresh market every morning, a tortilleria and other food shops. Fishermen will happily sell their catch to you. On Sundays, it is traditional to eat cochinita pibil, which is pig marinated in achiote and sour orange and cooked Mayan-style slowly over a wood fire, or traditionally in a fire pit covered with banana leaves. It takes a long time to cook so its a once-a-week treat, accompanied by red pickled onions and yellow habanero sauce. There are two main stalls to buy it in Holbox. Local residents Juan and Alexandra spend all Saturday night making it in their back yard (below). Cooks from Cancun travel to Holbox on Sundays, setting up a stall in a side alley in a street near the market (further below). Street food El Changarrito Street Stall, just back from the beach. Incredibly fresh fish. You will also see wandering carts or school kids selling a plastic bowl of food their mum has made. Do try it: the cooking is excellent and it costs pennies. Tamales, below, tend to be made in banana leaves rather than corn husks. At night, street stalls are set up in the main square, where you can get a drink and a snack. Drink I liked a bar on the beach, just before Hotel Las Nubes, part of the hotel Villas Flamingas. The hammocks were actually in the water. The Hot Corner is a nightspot for drinks, where dancing can spill over into the street. Rumour has it you can buy some weed nearby if you ask around. 2. Eat the freshest, bestest ceviche in the world. I highly recommend a fishing boat trip with these super cool, tanned wiry guys in their 60s, who help you land a fish and make it into ceviche. I caught a small one and carefully undid the hook from its cheek, throwing it back. We made it on the boat with lime, red onion, fresh coriander, a little habanero and salt. I stood beside the boat in cataract blue water, my legs being nibbled by gaping catfish, while I gobble two consecutive bowls. This is the best ceviche Ive had in my life. Im dismayed when they pour the tiger milk into the water, yelping: I wanted to drink that! But the catfish go crazy for it, leaping out of the water, their flat wide mouths gaping, whiskers quivering. They obviously dont mind a bit of habanero chilli. 3. Go on boat trips. You can visit adjacent islands on boat trips; thrillingly, along the way, dolphins black backs arching, followed us. Go to the Isla de Pajaros (Island of the Birds) to see the pink flamingos and pelicans. On Isla Passion, there is a good fish barbecue, where you can eat lunch after taking a dip in the cenote, a fresh water pool. You will also see mangroves, amphibian trees with roots that grow above still water, and small crocodiles. 4. See the wildlife. Holbox has seasons for wildlife, but the birds and fish are always there to see. Part of the island is a protected wildlife area, Yum Balam. Flamingos: Although Id just missed the big season, which must be a spectacular blur of fluo pink, I still got to see a few. April October. Although Id just missed the big season, which must be a spectacular blur of fluo pink, I still got to see a few. April October. Whale sharks: I didnt see this, but Holbox has one of the largest populations of whale sharks, which feed on plankton and are therefore harmless. Go early in the morning before they disappear into deeper waters in the afternoon. June mid-September. I didnt see this, but Holbox has one of the largest populations of whale sharks, which feed on plankton and are therefore harmless. Go early in the morning before they disappear into deeper waters in the afternoon. June mid-September. Catfish: They can be seen and felt (nibbling at your legs) in the shallows. They can be seen and felt (nibbling at your legs) in the shallows. Snorkelling: Not the best, being in the gulf of Mexico rather than the Caribbean. The water is iridescent green and slightly cloudy rather than clear and turquoise. But its possible to take a boat out to some areas for a nice snorkel. Not the best, being in the gulf of Mexico rather than the Caribbean. The water is iridescent green and slightly cloudy rather than clear and turquoise. But its possible to take a boat out to some areas for a nice snorkel. Phytoplankton: This is a rare effect that can be seen in Holbox. Go to the northern tip of the island, where a boat takes you out to snorkel at night. The effect of bioluminescence is sparkling starry water with glowing plankton. Sadly I only found out about this on the last day. Next time. 5. Walk around town. Virtually every property has a hand-painted colourful mural; the town is a street-level art gallery with works the size of buildings. Decorative and often political, murals have a long history in Mexico. You could say the popularity of todays street art stems from the Mexican muralism art movement of the 1920s see the works of Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlos husband. 6. Go to the beach. Learn to kite surf on windy days. Read a trashy novel. Drink cocktails. Walk along the shore at sunset or sun rise. The beach and the sea are a constantly evolving production you wont get bored. There are hammocks everywhere, little beach bars, and sun beds the size of four-posters. The water, being shallow for quite a distance, is suitable for young children. Some sections of the beach have seaweed; they used to clear it but realised this affected the ecology of the island. Before and after storms, the seaweed may be worse. 8. Ride a bike. You can either hire a bike or borrow one from your hotel. The entire length of the island can be covered in a day, culminating in watching the sunset from the northern end. Cycle along the road adjacent to the beach, where the sand is compacted, rather than the interior road, which can be flooded. 9. Get a massage. Most of the hotels have masseuses. Book one for the day you arrive to help ease the jet lag. 10. Sleep. I was lucky enough to stay at the Hotel Las Nubes (around 250 a night but negotiable in low-season or for longer stays) in a room with a balcony overlooking the sea. I love to sleep to the sound of waves, the only cure for my menopausal insomnia. The hotel has a spa and several pools, plus charming touches, such as being sent a little dessert every night; their patisseries and breads are a particular speciality. Casa Maya, where I also stayed, has a few rooms on the beach side. These are around 90 a night, but again you can negotiate in the off-seasons (January-April; October-November). Other options are cheaper hotels off the beach in town (its noisier though), hostels, campsites (watch out for sandflies) and Airbnb. I booked an Airbnb location, which wasnt really as advertised and became flooded when it rained. I cancelled after seeing it and had no problem getting my money back. New members inducted into Institute of ... Sonora, CA The selling of marijuana for recreational use is now expressly forbidden in Tuolumne County, but plans to work on new local rules will proceed. Tuolumne County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to specifically ban the sale of marijuana for recreational use in Tuolumne County. The ordinance was open for public discussion but did not have any representatives speaking in favor of it. Three spoke out against the ordinance citing some patients medical need to purchase it, and three spoke neutrally about the ordinance but in favor of laws regulating and permitting the sale of marijuana in Tuolumne County. Supervisor District 5, Karl Rodefer, stated We still have a constitutional issue between the State and the Feds and I think its time that we take this up at the Federal level. The audience of about 15 clapped in approval of the idea. Rodefer continued, Its a real conflict for us up here that have sworn to uphold and defend two constitutions when those two constitutions are in conflict. District 2 Supervisor Randy Hanvelt and other board members agreed with Supervisor Rodefer. Supervisor Hanvelt said he would see Paul Smith, a Senior Legislative Advocate from Rural County Representatives of California (RCRC) in the next few weeks, and would talk to him about the issue. The RCRC represents the interests of 35 rural counties, including Tuolumne, at state and federal levels. Current Federal law regulates marijuana as a Schedule I drug identified as having no medical use. Schedule I drugs include heroin, LSD and peyote. Methamphetamine, or meth, is a Schedule II drug, there are five regulation levels in total. Each of the Supervisors thanked the public for their patience, several public comments noted the years the issue of regulating the sale of marijuana has been before the board with no change. Supervisor Distric 3 Evan Royce said We put this off because of the election so we are going to get on this and you are going to start seeing some action. The approved ordinance banning all sales was recommended for approval by the Tuolumne County Planning Commission last month by a 4-2 vote. The ban will remain in place while a marijuana working group, created by the board, can review the various aspects of Proposition 64 and potentially come back with a revised ordinance. Supervisor Royce and newly elected board chair and District 1 Supervisor Sherri Brennan will be leading the marijuana working group. Proposition 64, passed in November, legalizes marijuana for recreational use in California and allows residents to grow up to six plants. Surveillance Image Of Alleged Vehicle Thief View Photos Angels Camp, CA The Angels Camp Police Department is seeking information about a man that allegedly stole a car from the parking lot of Rite Aid. The PD reports that an unknown man entered the business and went back to the employee locker room. He reportedly cut off the lock to one of the lockers and stole a pair of keys. According to the Police Department, the man used the remote to find the vehicle in the parking lot and unlocked the door. The suspect was in and out of the store in a matter of minutes, and is reportedly unknown to the employees. You can see a surveillance photo of the man in the image box. The vehicle is a 2007 white Toyota Yaris with a California license plate of 7CDV572. Anyone with information about the suspect or vehicle is asked to call the Angels Camp Police Department at 209-754-6500 or 209-736-2567. No one would blame historians for remembering 2016 as a year of great discord, but to do so would overlook the unity Americans voiced around the issue of legalized marijuana. In an unprecedented wave, voters across political persuasions in states spread throughout the country came together and emphatically endorsed the production, distribution, and regulation of cannabis. As of November 2016, access to medical marijuana was legal in 28 states (with eight of those states also including a legal recreational marijuana program). Even though more than half the US population now lives with state-legal marijuana, and the momentum is clearly on the side of those seeking to end prohibition, the conflicts arising from the federal governments continuing classification of marijuana as a Schedule 1 drug will keep the large banks and financial services companies on the sidelines. Instead, it is the credit unions and community banks that will make compliant cannabis banking possible in 2017. Major Banks and Financial Services Will Clean House 2017 will be the year of the audit. Rather than actively - or even passively - participating in the cannabis industry, the large banks and financial services companies will use the greater business transparency that comes when states create their legal markets to discover (and close) unapproved cannabis business accounts. For those operating in anything but full transparency, this means loss of services, disruption to business operations, and additional costs, hassles, and risks associated with cash. The Year of the Credit Union and Community Bank in Cannabis In contrast to this increased scrutiny from the major institutions, Credit Unions and Community Banks will fill the banking gap in 2017 in each of the newly legalized recreational markets and several of the new medical markets through compliant and transparent cannabis banking programs. Banks Require Legitimacy Financial institutions operating compliant banking programs for the cannabis industry will begin requiring their clients to utilize financial services strictly approved for the cannabis industry. The era of hidden merchant accounts, operating through intermediaries, or doing business under any other name than your business DBA (Doing Business As) name will come to an end as these institutions and their federal regulators push for complete transparency and legitimacy. Story continues The federal government stays out of cannabis The federal government will continue its non-interventionist approach to the cannabis industry in states with strong regulatory and enforcement programs. While this means that conflict between federal law and state laws will persist, it also means that the new administration will be focused on its many other priorities and the state markets will be allowed to grow and even thrive. My advice to cannabis businesses is to seek out partners and vendors openly participating in the industry. Do not just take a salespersons word for it. Take the time to understand why their service is approved for your business. If they do not allow you to do business in your own DBA name, until you can prove otherwise, lead with the assumption that the nature of your business is being hidden from someone with the authority to close your account down once they find out. With legalization comes the opportunity for legitimacy and as the cannabis industry matures, 2017 is going to be a turning point where more cannabis businesses then ever will have access to transparent and compliant banking services. But with that legalization comes a greater responsibility for cannabis businesses to ensure they are operating their businesses above reproach. If they do not, the required transparency in the industry will eventually catch up to them. With new markets coming online and greater access to banking and financial services, 2017 is going to be a great year for legal cannabis. Happy growing. Dustin Eide is the CEO of CanPay, the first legitimate debit payment solution for the cannabis industry See more from Benzinga 2017 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. The new Congress is now in place. It is swearing-in day in the nation's Capitol. Four new lawmakers from Central Florida and the Tampa area took the Oath of Office in a cold and rainy Tuesday in Washington D.C. U.S. Congress oath of office today Central Florida, Tampa area sent four new representatives D.C. DIGEST: Latest news | Find Your Congressman | Monthly Calendar All of the new representatives from the I-4 corridor are Democrats. They are now part of the 115th Congress. Representative Stephanie Murphy now represents Florida's 7th Congressional District, which includes Winter Park and Seminole County. In an upset, she replaced long-time Orlando lawmaker, John Mica. "I'm so excited to be here," said Murphy. "It's a real honor. We campaigned on change, security and equality, so the change piece is coming to D.C." Representative Darren Soto from Florida's 9th District spent the last decade in Tallahassee being outnumbered by Republicans. He now faces that same challenge in the U.S. House. "We need to fight to maintain access to high quality health care and education nd of course the environment is always deep in my hear," said Soto, whose district covers south Orlando and Osceola County. Friends and family from Florida drove up by bus to watch former Orlando Police Chief Val Demings take the oath of office. "It's very humbling they would come so far, leave Florida and see me sworn-in as a member of Congress, "said Demings, whose 10th District covers west Orange County. Also going the Washington ranks today is former Florida Governor Charlie Crist. Representative Crist says he is ready to work with his old party, the GOP and the new Republican president. "Whatever it is that we can do to help American worker get back to work and help the middle class and our country, we need to do it together and do it in a spirit of cooperation," said Crist, who represents part of Pinellas County. Also representing part of Central Florida is Rep. Neal Dunn, a new Republican for House District 2. His district includes the western part of Marion County, but he is from Panama City. The new representatives from Florida held meet and greets inside their new congressional offices after the swearing-in ceremony. Since the House of Representatives is elected every two years, all congressmen took the oath of office Tuesday. But most of them were re-elected. Meet your new Congressmen Rep. Val Demings: Democrat, District 10 Former Orlando police chief and wife of Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings. Started as a social worker before becoming a police officer in the 1980s. Won the open seat for District 10, which was a newly-formed district including parts of former Rep. Corrine Brown's district and Rep. Dan Webster's district. Rep. Neal Dunn: Republican, District 2 Doctor and retired U.S. Army. Founded Panama City Urology Center, Bay Regional Cancer Center and the Advanced Urology Institute. Lives in Panama City. Won the seat vacated by Rep. Gwen Graham, who chose not to seek re-election because the district was redrawn to become solid Republican. Rep. Stephanie Murphy: Democrat, District 7 Executive at Sungate Capital, former national security specialist for the U.S. Secretary of the Defense, working on issues ranging from counterterrorism to foreign military relations. Lives in Winter Park. Defeated longtime incumbent Rep. John Mica. Rep. Darren Soto: Democrat, District 9 Lawyer and environmentalist who served in the Florida House and Senate for south Orange County and Osceola County. Won Congressional seat vacated by Democrat Rep. Alan Grayson. Rep. Charlie Crist: Democrat, District 13 Lifelong Pinellas County resident, lawyer, former Florida attorney general, former Florida governor, former Republican. Defeated former Rep. David Jolly, a Republican. Rubio returns to Washington Senator Marco Rubio also was sworn in Tuesday in Washington. The Republican junior senator from Florida took the oath as administered by Vice President Joe Biden who is president of the Senate. Rubio was originally not going to run for re-election. He ran unsuccessfully for the Republican nomination for president, and then decided to run for the Senate, up-ending the race for the Republican nomination there. Rubio went on to defeat Rep. Patrick Murphy in November. Rubio will serve on the following committees in the U.S. Senate: Committee on Appropriations Special Committee on Aging Committee on Foreign Relations Select Committee on Intelligence Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship Florida's senior senator, Sen. Bill Nelson, did not have to take a new oath since he did not have to run for re-election. His term is up in 2018. Groveland City Council members voted 3-2 Tuesday night to table a vote declaring where Mayor George Rosario should forfeit office. Groveland mayoral candidate pushing to oust Mayor George Rosario Rosario had 2 felony convictions from Pennsylvania; opponent says it disqualifies him Rosario says he never lost his civil rights because he never went to prison The vote stems from the revelation that Rosario was found guilty of two felonies in another state. Attorney Derek Schroth found out that he had criminal convictions from Pennsylvania in 1987 -- one for possession of cocaine and another felony for trying to sell cocaine to an undercover officer. Schroth represents Glen Wilson, who ran against Rosario for mayor in November. He says they started looking into Rosario after he says Rosario lied about having certain medals from the military. Schroth said the convictions disqualify Rosario from seeking public office. According to Florida law, anyone running for a municipal office must be able to vote in Florida. And Florida law states a resident is disqualified from voting or holding office if they have been convicted of a felony "in this or any other state" until restoration of civil rights. Rosario says this is all political and claims he never lost his civil rights, so he can hold office. Speaking outside his house Tuesday afternoon, Rosario said he was placed on probation, but never incarcerated and doesn't have to apply for clemency. In Pennsylvania, felons on probation keep their voting rights, and felons who go to prison get their voting rights restored when they complete their sentence. "I made a mistake when I was young. I'm not that person anymore," Rosario said. "I never lost my rights and it's up to them to prove that I don't have any rights to hold public office." Rosario says he will not step down and will take it to court if council votes to remove him. Despite tearful testimony from the mother of Roger Trindade, two of three teens charged in the Winter Park student's beating death have been granted home detention. Roger Trindade, 15, was beaten and found unconscious in October After autopsy, 3 teens were charged in his death 2 of 3 teens were released to go home after hearing Wednesday RELATED: Winter Park High teen dies 2 days after beating 2 boys charged in Roger Trindade's death to remain in custody They have to understand you cant do this. Its wrong, said Adriana Trindade, the mother of the victim. These boys they have to serve as an example, to society. The teens charged in the case went before a judge Wednesday morning for their alleged role in the death of Trindade, who died at a hospital two days after being beaten in Winter Park. Trindade's mom said she is disappointed and thinks the teens need to serve as an example to society. "The worst thing is, I'm going to pay more than these boys and these parents for sure. Because I'm going to remember my son every day," Adriana Trindade said. Laura Thome Koch, Roger's sister, told the court that holding the boys would send a message that bullying shouldn't be tolerated. Roger "doesn't deserve this," Koch said. "... There have to be consequences for what they did." Two 15-year-olds are charged with manslaughter, and a 14-year-old is charged with tampering with a witness. Each came before Judge Gail Adams on Wednesday, often with a parent or grandparent giving testimony on their behalf. Then, Trindade's mother and sister expressed why the charged teens need to remain in custody. But Adams ordered a motion for continuance, so the attorneys have time to prepare. The two 15-year-olds got home detention, and the 14-year-old who faces the lesser charge was ordered back to court at 8:30 a.m. Thursday for a status plea. We hope that they pay as they can. As they stay in jail as most they can, said Koch. My mom wakes up every day, and cries every day, and its going to be like this for the rest of her life. The three boys were arraigned as juveniles just before Christmas, after an autopsy was performed on Trindade. A state attorney said a 15-year-old punched Trindade and then spit on him after Trindade smirked at him on a Saturday night in October. Trindade, who moved from Brazil in 2015, was beaten, punched and kicked, a police report stated. He was found unconscious not far from Park Avenue and taken to a hospital. Trindade died there two days later after he was taken off life support. The two 15-year-old defendants are expected back in court on the morning of Feb. 24. Members of the NAACP in Alabama were arrested after staging a sit-in, protesting Donald Trump's pick for U.S. attorney general. NAACP wants U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions to withdraw his name due to alleged past racist remarks Sessions has denied making racial remarks Sit-in ends in six arrests Several people refused to leave Alabama's U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions' office. He was nominated by the President-elect in November. The NAACP's President Cornell W. Brooks showed his view from Sessions' office for hours on Tuesday via social media, even broadcasting the protest live. Brooks said they were occupying the office until Sessions withdraws as the attorney general nominee or until they were arrested, which is ultimately how the sit-in ended. Sessions has been a controversial figure in the past. The Republican was accused by former employees of making racist remarks in 1986, something Sessions denies. Still, these NAACP members remained in Sessions' office until they were removed by police, resulting in six arrests. They face charges of criminal trespass in the second-degree, according to Mobile police. Brooks tweeted a picture of all the mug shots from the arrested members, many people replying thanking them and calling them heroes. Sessions' spokeswoman tweeted a statement: After experiencing unseasonably warm weather for most of December, Old Man Winter has made a return visit to the region. The National Weather Service said the first of a series of cold fronts moved through the Texas Panhandle-South Plains on Tuesday morning. Another push of cold air will arrive on Thursday, and lows on Friday morning should be in the teens for most of the region. A slight chance of snow showers are possible across the southern Texas Panhandle and portions of the South Plains late Thursday and Friday. Light snow accumulations will be possible late Thursday night into Friday as a passing storm system couples with cold air that will move in early on Thursday, the NWS reported in a hazardous weather outlook at 2:35 p.m. Tuesday. Currently it appears a dusting to an inch of snow will be possible over parts of the South Plains region, with the southern Texas Panhandle most favored. The same storm system is expected to bring significant snow accumulations and strong winds to Northern New Mexico. Preceding the storm, a strong back-door cold front will bring subfreezing temperatures to the eastern New Mexico plains with low temperatures dropping to the single digits and teens as early as Wednesday night. More cold air will spill into northern and eastern New Mexico from the north early Friday. Some of the coldest temperatures should occur across the northeast plains where readings will probably remain below freezing from Wednesday night until Saturday afternoon. Theres a potential for 1 to 2 feet of snow accumulations in the northern mountains Thursday and Friday, and around a half-foot in surrounding lower elevation locations. Elsewhere across northern New Mexico and the eastern plains, a few inches of snow or more will be possible. Wind gusts of around 50 mph along the eastern slopes will cause periods of drifting snow and very low visibility. For the Texas Panhandle-South Plains, snowfall amounts are expected to be light with most areas likely to receive an inch or less. The Plainview-area forecast calls for a low of 16 Wednesday night, high Thursday near 28, and low Thursday night around 12 with a 20 percent chance of snow and sleet. On Friday, snow chances remain 20 percent with a high near 35. Friday night will be clear and cold with a low around 14. Saturdays high will be near 38 with low Saturday night around 19. Sunday will be sunny with a high near 48 and a low around 31. Monday will be sunny with a high near 62. SOUTHINGTON There are more questions than answers about a loud noise that was heard in parts of Southington, Cheshire, Meriden and Wolcott on Monday morning. After receiving a flood of calls, fire and police crews searched the south end of Southington but couldnt find damage or an apparent cause. Experts and government officials contacted Tuesday also couldnt come up with a reason for the noise. Here are some of the theories: 1. Sonic boom from an aircraft. The Federal Aviation Administration refused to disclose whether or not supersonic aircraft were in the area Monday morning, deferring comment to the military. Maj. Andrew Schrag, a spokesman for Air Combat Command, said the closest base with supersonic aircraft is 500 miles away. Based off of our analysis, theres no way it could have been an (Air Force) jet, he said Tuesday. It couldnt have been us. Its possible that another branch of the military, such as the Navy or National Guard, was flying a jet in the area, Schrag said. A representative with the North American Aerospace Defense Command also said the group had no missions in the area at the time the noise was reported. 2. Low-level seismic activity. The noise and vibrations felt by area residents likely were not from a shallow earthquake, according James Dewey, a research seismologist with the U.S. Geological Survey. Based on the spread of reports, he estimated that the vibrations were felt in an area of 25 square miles. Earthquakes felt for that distance are generally a strength of 2 magnitude or greater, but a station about 20 miles away detected nothing at that time on Monday. Dewey said there are very shallow earthquakes, but at a low strength they wouldnt produce the boom heard by residents. While the nearby station can detect seismic activity of as low as 1.5 magnitude, Dewey said hed also check with a United Nations nuclear testing monitoring site which measures infrasound. While the agency is looking for clandestine nuclear tests around the world, the data can be useful in discovering seismic activity. We lean towards the idea that it doesnt represent a seismic incident, Dewey said. An earthquake that would be large enough to produce a sound over a substantial area, even if it was very shallow, would be in the two range. Scientists have speculated that shallow earthquakes not recorded by equipment were the cause of unexplained loud noises in the Northeastern part of the country and along the East Coast, often referred to as Seneca guns, according to a post on the U.S. Geological Surveys website. Loud booms have been heard on the shores of Lake Cayuga and Lake Seneca in New York. Similar unexplained noises have occurred along the coasts of Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina, as well as coastal India. More unusual seismic activity that can cause noise is cryoseism, also known as a frost quake. If the ground freezes to a sufficient depth, plate movement can cause cracks and noises. Dewey said its more common farther north and he ruled it out due to the lack of sustained cold weather in the area recently. 3. Meteorite. A meteorite can cause a boom, but according to Bill Cook with NASAs Meteoroid Environment Office, area residents wouldnt have been able to miss seeing a fireball caused by the meteoroids entry into the atmosphere. Those things generally garner a great deal of attention, he said. If its large enough to create a boom, it would have been visible even in daylight. They probably should have seen something in the sky. Most meteoroids dont cause a crater, so the lack of an impact area doesnt necessarily rule out that cause for the boom. But Cook had no records of any such event on Monday. 4. Industrial noise or explosion. Police Sgt. Jeffrey Dobratz said no smoke was observed as crews traveled around town and even drove to high points in the south end. Dispatchers were swamped with calls from residents Monday and even into Tuesday but there was little police or firefighters could do. Nothing at all, no smoke, no reports of any property damage, Dobratz said. We really couldnt send anybody because we didnt have an address, just an area of town. Most of the companies in the area were closed Monday as well, according to Dobratz. jbuchanan@recordjournal.com 203-317-2230 Twitter: @JBuchananRJ Cuts announced Thursday, Dec. 29 by Connecticuts budget office eliminate $50 million of state aid to municipalities, including $20 million in education funding. The cuts will reduce the state money sent to Durham and Middlefield, which make up Regional School District 13, by more than $71,000, according to a chart from the Office of Policy and Management. The state funding to support local education is referred to as Education Cost Sharing (ECS) grants. The ECS funds go to municipalities and not directly to the schools and the cuts are different for Durham and Middlefield. Durhams reduction is $45,582, while Middlefields is $25,836. Durham First Selectman Laura Francis said she did not know the formula used to determine the cuts. Combined, Durham and Middlefield are still scheduled to receive $6,066,036, so the $71,000-plus cut represents 1.2 percent of 2017s ECS grant for RSD13. That 2017 figure began $48,689 lower than RSD13s 2016 ECS grant, as the state had already been wrestling with the budget. In those earlier efforts, the idea of cutting ECS grants had been pitched. In April, Governor Malloy presented a plan to close a remaining $350 million budget gap through a combination of spending cuts, including cuts to education, hospitals, and tourism, and elimination of state employee positions. The figures for education cuts were not specified until midway through the fiscal year. I wish they would have cut it then, not mid-year, but well deal with it, said Francis, who will meet with Middlefield First Selectman Ed Bailey and Superintendent of School Kathryn Veronesi to discuss the change. Connecticut Senate Republican President Pro Tempore Len Fasano also criticized the timing of the spending cuts. In a statement, Fasano said, The administration has known since August that they would need to hold back these funds from municipalities. But they chose to wait until now to let towns know how much they would lose, after half the fiscal year has already gone by, making these cuts more difficult for towns to absorb. The cuts were designed to have the least impact on cities and towns with struggling schools. For example, school aid cuts to Hartford were capped at $250,000, which represents a 0.1 percent reduction. The state permitted the cuts to be larger, either as a dollar figure or a percentage of what is received from the state, among wealthier towns such as Darien and Greenwich, which lost 48 and 90 percent of their grants, respectively. In a letter to legislative leaders and school superintendents, Benjamin Barnes, Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management, wrote of a circuit breaker for 48 distressed municipalities, which limits the reduction to a maximum of $250,000 or 2 percent of all statutory formula aid. Barnes continued, These reductions will be made in a needs-directed manner, whereby the ECS grant is reduced between 25 percent and 90 percent for the 25 wealthiest communities, and the 68 poorest communities in the state will lose only 1 percent or less of their ECS grant. The funds will be withheld from payments scheduled in January and April of 2017. When announced in April 2016, the governors office included a chart, noting that the mil rate for the towns losing the largest state aid were below the state average. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate One day after signing free-agent outfielder Rajai Davis to a one-year, $6 million contract, As general manager David Forst acknowledged that he might not be done. The As are talking to free-agent power-hitter Mark Trumbo, The Chronicle confirmed. Oakland, with a vacancy at designated hitter and apparently willing to spend money, previously made a bid for Edwin Encarnacion, who signed with Cleveland. The As made Encarnacion a two-year offer, but he wanted three years and ultimately landed such a deal with the Indians (for $65 million). Length of contract also could become an issue in Oaklands pursuit of Trumbo, who turns 31 this month. He led the major leagues last season with 47 home runs. Trumbo, playing for Baltimore, struck out 170 times while hitting .256 with 108 RBIs. Were looking all over, Forst said on a conference call Wednesday. We could probably use a right-handed bat, as these rumors and reports make clear. Were certainly looking at right-handed hitters, but we have a handful of spots we can put guys in. Now that weve filled center field, were open to adding guys in any number of spots. We will continue to explore the market. Forst indicated that Davis, 36, will play center field for the As and probably will hit near the top of the order. He played 80 games in center and 66 in left field last season for Cleveland. His speed makes him a logical fit in center for Oakland, especially given the vast frontier of outfield grass at the Coliseum. Rajai has always played well in center field, Forst said. Hes played more in the corners the last two years, but anytime hes been in center, his defense has remained excellent. Thats a big part of the attraction, the way he runs. He still has his legs. Davis, speaking on a separate conference call, seemed to savor the chance to stay in center. You get a little more room to roam and take away hits, he said. Davis hit a career-high 12 home runs last season for the Indians plus his memorable, game-tying homer in Game 7 of the World Series and stole 43 bases in 49 attempts. He downplayed concerns about rejoining an As team that struggled mightily the past two seasons. He pointed to Oaklands good young pitching, and suggested his familiarity with the Bay Area he played in 63 games for the Giants in 2007 and 08, then spent most of three seasons (2008-10) with the As was a factor in his decision. Davis subsequently bounced around the American League, with stops in Toronto, Detroit and Cleveland. This is the place where I really established myself as a big-leaguer, he said of Oakland, and really gained confidence that I am a big-leaguer. Im excited to be back. Briefly: Forst said infielder Jed Lowrie (foot injury), pitcher Chris Bassitt (elbow surgery) and catcher Josh Phegley (knee injury) are making good progress in their recoveries. The As named Don Schulze as Double-A Midlands pitching coach this season. Chronicle staff writer Susan Slusser contributed to this report. Ron Kroichick is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: rkroichick@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ronkroichick This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate The Obama administration called Wednesday for an expedited review of Gov. Jerry Browns $15.7 billion delta tunnels project, a show of support for the long-disputed plan to shore up Californias water supplies. An order issued by Interior Secretary Sally Jewell directs federal officials to complete their preliminary environmental assessment of the water project this month, potentially removing a major barrier before President Obama leaves office Jan. 20. While final federal review of the project wont come until April, when Donald Trump is president and the governments priorities will undoubtedly have changed, state officials believe the stepped-up proceedings by the Obama administration will give the delta plan a sense of inevitability. Putting a public timeline on when the federal government will make its final decision builds on the momentum we have, said Erin Mellon, spokeswoman for the California Natural Resources Agency, which is spearheading the tunnels effort. Anyone who comes in is going to have to look at the ... 10 years of work that has been done on the project. Were pretty confident that the work we put in will be convincing that this is the solution to Californias water supply reliability and ecosystem health. The project, officially known as California WaterFix, calls for the construction of two 35-mile tunnels to carry water beneath the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta from Northern California to the drier south. Because pumping water through the delta has historically caused problems for fish and wildlife, prompting state and federal orders to halt flows, the tunnels offer a better means of delivery, advocates say. Critics, however, fear the project could reduce the amount of water pouring into the delta and harm water quality there. The delta, a sprawling estuary at the intersection of the states largest rivers, the San Joaquin and Sacramento, serves as a hub for water deliveries to two-thirds of California residents. It also provides habitat for 500 species of wildlife, including migrating salmon. A state-required environmental review of the tunnels project was completed last month, but before work can begin, the federal Bureau of Reclamation and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service must ensure the plan doesnt violate the Endangered Species Act. Jewells order Wednesday calls for an initial draft opinion on the matter to be issued by the end of the month, a final draft opinion by March and a final opinion by April. Federal officials said the timely action seeks to support California as it wrestles with the effects of drought and climate change. This secretarial order is a practical and broad-based strategy to help protect Californias water lifeline for present and future generations, Deputy Interior Secretary Michael Connor said in a statement. Brown welcomed the order, saying in a statement that a state-federal partnership is whats necessary to improve water reliability for residents and farmers. Restore the Delta, a group that has long fought the tunnels proposal, said the governor seemed desperate in his bid to win federal backing for the project before the incoming Republican administration takes over. Trump has not weighed in on the plan, but has broadly endorsed efforts to deliver more water to growers. The Silicon Valley Leadership Group, an association of Bay Area businesses that supports the tunnels, said Wednesday that it had hoped Obama would give final approval before leaving office. But the group said it was optimistic that Jewells order will push the project forward. Let me put it this way, said Vice President Mike Mielke. Better late than never. Kurtis Alexander is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: kalexander@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @kurtisalexander This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Ending some seven months without a police chief, Oakland has chosen an outsider from Chicago to take the departments top post, according to a source with knowledge of the selection process. Anne Kirkpatrick, who most recently led reform efforts within the Chicago Police Department, will relocate from Chicago to serve as Oaklands police chief, becoming the troubled departments first-ever female chief. The appointment by Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf of Kirkpatrick, the former police chief in Spokane, Wash., ends months of speculation about who would be selected to the East Bay citys top police post. A spokeswoman for Schaaf and another with the Oakland Police Department did not immediately return requests for comment. Councilman Dan Kalb said he couldnt confirm the selection of Kirkpatrick, adding that the mayors office planned to brief council members Wednesday morning on the process. Independent of this person possibly being the mayors choice, just in general, I could say Ive heard good things about her as a law enforcement leader, Kalb said. Kirkpatrick, a licensed attorney, has spent almost 30 years in law enforcement, including stints around Washington, according to her LinkedIn profile. In Chicago, she took charge of a department designated by Mayor Rahm Emanuel to work to reform the force, and she was one of three finalists to replace an ousted Chicago police superintendent in 2015, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. Schaaf recently named Venus D. Johnson, who advised outgoing Attorney General Kamala Harris, as Oaklands director of public safety a position designed to oversee law enforcement in the absence of a standing police chief, The mayor announced her national search for a new chief in August following a revolving door of internal scandals that escalated to the point of Schaaf saying civilian control of the department was temporarily needed to eradicate the macho culture she said continued to pervade its ranks. In November, Oakland voters overwhelmingly approved a new citizen-led police commission that would have the power to mete out discipline to officers and even fire the chief if five of its seven members voted for dismissal. The last acting Oakland police chief, Paul Figueroa, in June became the third head of the department to leave the top post in nine days, leading a frustrated Schaaf to declare at a news conference that she was here to run a police department, not a frat house. Schaaf revealed that an internal investigation was under way inside the department, this one examining racist text messages and emails swapped among officers. At the time, the police department was already engulfed by a sex scandal involving a female teenager prostitute that led to criminal charges for seven current and former police officers. Several of the charges were dropped, with prosecutors citing a lack of evidence. The woman, whose attorneys have asked she be referred to as Jasmine, was a minor at the time of the alleged sex offenses. She told The Chronicle she had sex with 29 officers from several police agencies, including more than a dozen from Oakland, when she was 16 and 17 years old. Though it wasnt specified at the time, the resignation in June 2016 of Chief Sean Whent who had taken charge after acting chief Howard Johnson resigned in 2013 was later found to be linked to the sex scandal. Michael Bodley and Andrew Ross are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: mbodley@sfchronicle.com, matierandross@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @michael_bodley, @matierandross A Union City woman has agreed to a $130,000 settlement of a lawsuit in which she accused police of throwing her to the pavement facedown and setting a dog on her after she she saw them using a stun gun on her husband. Police said the woman, Heidi Velarde, had been the aggressor, biting and kicking an officer who was trying to restrain her. The settlement, reached last week in federal court in San Francisco and subject to approval by the City Council in the Alameda County community, carries no admission of wrongdoing. The incident occurred late one night in September 2009. Police stopped a car that was driving without lights and said they had struggled to arrest the driver, one of Velardes sons, in front of the familys home. Velardes husband, Arthur, came out on the front porch and started shouting, and police said an officer had to use a Taser electronic stun gun to restrain him. The husband later pleaded guilty to resisting arrest. Heidi Velarde, then 56, said in her lawsuit that she came outside and told the officer to be careful because her husband was elderly. She said the officer, James Martin, ran up to her, threw her facedown on the driveway and sat on her. She said Martin then told a second officer, Brian Baumgartner, that she was resisting, and Baumgartner deployed his dog, who bit her on both legs. Martin was sitting on her back while Baumgartners dog clamped onto her legs, Panos Lagos, a lawyer for Velarde, said Tuesday. He said that Velarde, a former postal worker and teachers aide, weighed less than 100 pounds and that it was hard to understand why these two officers could not handcuff and control this lady who was admittedly on the ground. She was taken to a hospital with wounds that required 47 stitches and took months to heal, her lawyers said. She was also jailed for three days on suspicion of assault and resisting arrest, but prosecutors decided not to file charges. Police described the events much differently. They said Heidi Velarde had first grabbed the officer who was trying to arrest her son, then fought with Martin, biting, kicking and scratching, as he tried to subdue her. Martin couldnt secure her hands and was screaming for help from Baumgartner, said Dale Allen, a lawyer for the officers. He said Velarde had also punched the dog that was biting her. A jury in Velardes damage suit against the two officers deadlocked in December 2015. The settlement avoided a retrial that had been scheduled for Tuesday. Justice was served, Lagos said. This should never have happened. Allen said the city had settled to avoid the costs of a second trial. 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 3 1 of 3 Show More Show Less 2 of 3 Show More Show Less 3 of 3 The Weitzman Group and its Cencor Realty Services affiliate now go by the name Weitzman. The new Weitzman brand and logo have been changed at the Houston and other Texas offices and will start showing up on 1,800 leasing and management signs across the state. The Dallas-based company celebrated its 25th anniversary last year. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Convicted mass murderer Charles Manson was still alive Tuesday evening following earlier reports of his hospitalization, according to the states corrections department. The Los Angeles Times reported that Manson was taken from the Central Valley prison where hes been incarcerated to a hospital for an unknown medical issue, citing two anonymous sources. Hes alive, said Krissi Khokhobashvili, a spokeswoman for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Thats all we can confirm. Citing prison regulations prohibiting disclosing information about the location of inmates and federal privacy laws, Khokhobashvili declined to confirm the reports. She did say that Manson was still assigned to Corcoran State Prison, which is in Kings County, about halfway between Fresno and Bakersfield. Inmates may be removed from California prisons for outside treatment for a multitude of reasons, Khokhobashvili said. Manson, 82, has been incarcerated since his 1969 arrest and later conviction for carrying out with his followers, the so-called Manson family, a series of seven murders he believed would incite a race war around Los Angeles. That included the slaying of pregnant actress Sharon Tate. Manson has notched more than 100 rules violations on his record, including possession of a cell phone and a weapon, as well as assault and threatening California correctional staff, while in prison, Khokhobashvili said. Just last week, a state parole board delayed a decision on the release of Patricia Krenwinkel, an accomplice of Manson who is the longest-serving female inmate in California. Manson himself, who has shown no remorse for his role in the killings, has been denied parole 12 times. 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 Matt Goodwin compares Latin@ Rising, the new anthology of science fiction from San Antonios Wings Press, to an eclectic literary mix tape or playlist in which there is an ebb and flow as you move through the loud and the brash, the quiet and the thoughtful. The latter might be Carmen Maria Machados Difficult at Parties, a first-person, present-tense story told as if through a camera lens about a woman struggling to return to some semblance of normal life after a sexual assault. As tension builds, she discovers she has developed a disturbing new psychic power. On the other hand, Giannina Braschis Death of a Businessman is the cacophonous opening to a novel titled The United States of Banana, which is the authors response to 9/11: I saw the wife of the businessman enter the shop of Stanley, the cobbler, with a pink ticket in her hand. The wife had come to claim the shoes of the businessman. After all, they had found the feet, and she wanted to bury the feet with the shoes. Goodwin, an assistant professor of English at the University of Puerto Rico in Cayey, began thinking about the book while earning his doctorate in comparative literature in 2013 from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. Science-fiction is not really on the radar of most Latino Studies programs, he said in a recent interview at the King William home of Wings Press publisher Bryce Milligan. I started looking around, and realized there was no anthology, no book like this. But there are a lot of Latino writers writing science-fiction and fantasy. Latino writers tend to get pigeonholed as Latino writers; they are seen as coming from sort of a primitive place, he continued. But the reality is that young Latino writers grew up with Tolkien and Star Wars, too. More Information Latino Rising: An Anthology of Latin@ Science Fiction & Fantasy Edited by Matthew David Goodwin Wings Press, $16.95 See More Collapse As Ohio State University professor Frederick Luis Aldama a rock star in the field of Latino pop culture, notably comics and sci-fi puts it in an introduction to Latin@ Rising: I have a confession to make. Science fiction in comic books, TV and film got me into world literature Of course, with the veneer of seriousness that envelopes the academy and that generally considers sci-fi lowbrow, it takes some huevos to admit that this was instrumental in my coming of age as a professor. Funded primarily by a $10,000 Kickstarter campaign, the 246-page Latin@ Rising features 24 stories and poems (yes, sci-fi poetry!) by 20 authors. They range from such well known writers such as Ana Castillo and Junot Diaz, who won the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for his novel The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, to talented newcomers such as California writer Alejandra Sanchez (The Drain, a disturbing story about a strange addition to a morning shower ritual) and Brooklyn writer Richie Narvaez (Room for Rent, about a space alien in search of a safe place in the city to give birth). I think its incredible how rapidly Latino science-fiction writers have developed, said Milligan. If you would have tried to put together this book 15 years ago, you may have been able to identify three or four writers. Now, there are more than enough for an entire anthology. Goodwin acknowledges that magical realism haunts any discussion of Latino literature, but that only one or two stories in Latin@ Rising might fall within the bounds of that wonderfully rich genre. But magical realism see classics such as Gabriel Garcia Marquezs One Hundred Years of Solitude can be double-edged, Goodwin said, in that it forms a boundary around Latino literature for the general reading public. It has been common among readers to unthinkingly categorize a story written by a Latin@ as magical realist when there is just a hint of something strange or even when the story is flat-out science fiction or fantasy, Goodwin writes in Latin@ Risings foreword. At its worst, this imposed magical realism is a way to relegate U.S. Latinos and Latinas to the realm of the irrational, the mythological, effectively cutting off the ability to engage science and technology. Immigration is a subject dear to Goodwins heart, and many stories in Latino Rising are politically themed, dealing with issues of English/Spanish code switching, colonialism, conflict between Anglo and Latino groups, and homeland, migration and dislocation. One of my main concerns and one that directs my creative endeavors is undocumented immigrants, said Goodwin. Science-fiction, he argues, is a natural fit: Often, writers invent two worlds that only come into contact when one group migrates to the other. I like things that are being born, he said. I appreciate the intellectual underpinnings of the whole idea of immigration in a sci-fi or technological setting. Its just a very natrual fit, and I think it is an imporant genre for Latino writers. Plus, its just good literature. As Aldama notes, the authors of Latin@ Rising throw us into the middle of hot-zone apocalyptic plagues, shape-shifting robots, intergalactic skinwalkers, preColumbian holobooks, cyberpunkistas, hybrid inverterbrate/human mestizos ... Latina cyborgs born of recycled parts and cybernetically wired patron saints. As a Latino on an intellectual journey, he concludes, Science fiction is me. sbennett@express-news.net You probably know what kind of experience to expect from Hidden Figures, so the task of this review is more or less to tell you that youre right. And thats mostly good news. The film is old-fashioned in a good way, classical and well-acted, and the fact that it has no surprises keeps it from being disappointing even as it keeps it from being great. It tells the story of three black women who worked at NASA in the very early days of the 1960s, back when the Soviets were outpacing us in the race for the moon. It takes place, not in Houston, but in NASAs Northern Virginia headquarters, which is important, as this was the South before civil rights. In a very early scene, the three women, stuck on the side of the road with car trouble, are approached by a white highway patrolman. The dynamic is positively weird the women have to practically do everything but kiss his ring and it would be nice to be able to say that, more than 50 years later, that kind of tension is foreign to our modern understanding. All three of these real-life women all made contributions to American space exploration, but Katherine Johnson (Taraji P. Henson) is at the center of the film. A math prodigy from childhood, she was one of a team of people assigned to double-check NASAs mathematical calculations. Gradually, she began to stand out from the pack and assume greater importance, though at the time no one expected genius in the form of a woman, or a black person, or most especially a black woman, so nothing was easy for her. More Information Hidden Figures *** Quick take: NASA heroes come out of the shadows See More Collapse Dorothy Vaughan (Octavia Spencer) was the leader of a computing team, back when the word computers referred to people who did computations. Eventually, she would become an expect in computers as we now know them. And Mary Jackson (Janelle Monae) became an aerospace engineer. Because its based on fact, Hidden Figures is not as immediately satisfying as a fictional version of this story might have been. For one thing, the women remain as hidden figures. Though they achieve professional respect and security in their positions, people dont fall over themselves to tell them how right and wonderful they are, and the movie doesnt overestimate their impact. Hidden Figures is quietly, cumulatively, calmly gratifying. Theodore Melfi (St. Vincent), who directed and co-wrote the film, based on the book by Margot Lee Shetterly, does a nice job of organizing and telling a complicated story, involving three women and their personal and professional lives. Where the movie lets us down is in the matter of tone. It feels light at times, too light and so we get a scene of the three women dancing around the house, which is obligatory in all Hollywood movies dealing with female friendship. More problematic is the recurring scene of Katherine having to run to the bathroom. Apparently, in the division in which Katherine worked, there were no colored bathrooms, and so she had to walk (or run) a half mile every time she needed to relieve herself. But the movie underscores these scenes with music suggesting that this situation is comic or at least farcical, when its neither. Henson, Spencer and Monae all excel, conveying the intensity and worthiness of these womens ambitions even as they deal (almost in a matter-of-fact way) with obstacles that are maddening. Through them we see the shadows of thousands and millions of others in our history, whose gifts dried up unused and unrecognized. The waste is painful to contemplate, and so its right that movies to celebrate where they can. Kevin Costner is nicely cast as Al Harrison, Katherines boss, who is mostly too busy to differentiate the very smart people on his staff from the flat-out geniuses. Costner is a useful actor to have in period films, because he can slip into that mid-century vibe like nobody else. Its more than just short hair and a white shirt, but rather a whole way of being, an attitude, the life history. In a way, hes the most authentically 1962 thing in the movie. Speaking of 1962, the late John Glenn missed seeing Hidden Figures by a few days, and thats too bad, especially since they got a 28-year-old actor (Glen Powell) with a full head of hair to play Glenn back when he was a bald 40-year-old. And thats the beauty of film in a sentence. If nature wont give you a full head of hair, Hollywood can at least correct the oversight. Running time: 127 minutes MPAA rating: PG (profanity) This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate The contracts have been signed, and the deal is done: Albany Medical Center and Saratoga Hospital are affiliates. Under the new arrangement, first announced in October 2015, the health systems will not merge, but collaborate on joint projects and eventually negotiate with insurance companies as a single entity, giving them more clout to demand higher fees. The alliance was approved by a state advisory panel in October 2016. Each institution will retain its own governing boards, executives, medical staffs and other employees, according to the health systems. The alliance is similar to one finalized a year ago between Albany Med and Hudson-based Columbia Memorial Health. Initially, their focus will be on looking where gaps in services need to be filled or expanded, executives from both institutions said on Wednesday. "It's first intended to look at the services that are being provided, over a 110-mile geography," Steven Frisch, senior executive vice president at Albany Med, said of the alignment of the three health systems. "And that's going to be over years." Saratoga Hospital Chief Executive Angelo Calbone pointed to an interventional cardiology collaboration between the two institutions that is already underway as an example of how Saratoga Hospital could benefit from the new affiliation. Saratoga Hospital officials knew there was a need to provide catheter-based procedures like angioplasty in their community. But getting such a unit started required an investment of resources that Saratoga Hospital did not have on its own. They were able to do it with Albany Med's specialists overseeing the operation, Calbone said. The collaboration also helped Saratoga Hospital recruit medical talent that may have hesitated to come to a small community hospital, Calbone said. As the affiliation brings Saratoga Hospital expertise and resources, it allows Albany Med to extend its geographic reach. Current health reforms reward institutions for improving health through the entire community, something that requires a significant base of patients over a large geographic area. Frisch said that the three health systems would not immediately seek to negotiate contracts together, but that eventually they would. Among the questions that must be answered first, he said, is what value to place on services at such different institutions. Albany Med is a large academic medical center, while Saratoga and Columbia Memorial health systems are anchored by community hospitals. "What we've got to figure out is, what are the appropriate price points across the delivery system," Frisch said. A recent study from the New York State Health Foundation showed market power, sometimes created by consolidations and affiliations, can increase hospital prices. Frisch said that's always a concern, but is not the point of bringing the institutions together. "We're not intending to re-contract the market," he said. "This is not intended to be sort of a hostile movement." chughes@timesunion.com 518-454-5417 @hughesclaire This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Despite an online petition drive, social media complaints and the start of a new year, the popular bar carts at Grand Central Terminal remain closed with no reprieve in sight. The 18 commissary carts were closed last month after a Metro-North spot audit found irregularities and the railroad opened a theft investigation, including a full-scale audit. Aaron Donovan, a Metro-North spokesman, offered no time frame Tuesday for when the investigation might conclude and the bar carts reopen. All 18 commissary carts and two commissary counters at Grand Central Terminal have been taken out of service because of an ongoing investigation initiated by Metro-North, Donovan said. They will remain closed while the investigation continues. The closure is not sitting well with commuters, many of whom view the bar carts a necessary and long-standing tradition. An online petition drive and protest on the website ipeititons.com described the carts as a vital part of the New York commuter experience. As of Tuesday, 219 people had signed the petition and 75 offered comments demanding the return of the carts as the investigation unfolds. Tom Lochtefeld, of Stamford, wrote bring back the bar carts in Grand Central Terminal, while Scott Nemeth, of the Bronx, simply noted I need a drink. Sam Fanelli added, I commute on the New Canaan line and would love to have this return. The surprise closing has been called a crime against the hard working adults who depend on your trains to get to and from the city, the petition stated. Its reported that your riders can live with the lack of wifi and seats, but not the lack of beer. The undersigned do not believe that you should halt operations at Grand Central during the investigation or ever. Donovan said the investigation and closure of the carts, which are staffed by Metro-North workers, was prompted by a vendor complaint. An inspector from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority is working with Metro-North to complete the investigation, he said. So far, the ongoing investigation has resulted in three people being removed from service. Donovan noted there are still dozens of other places where Metro-North customers can buy alcohol in and around Grand Central. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate BRIDGEPORT So far, the new Geraldine Claytor Magnet Academy gets two thumbs up from Serenity Davis, 5. There are big new crayons, new toys, new cubbies, and the same teacher all to her liking. Mid-morning into her first day in her brand new school, Serenity and her classmates were hard at work learning about weather. Except for two columns of red, black and gold balloons framing the entryway, and the occasional classroom visitor, it was business as usual. One of those visitors, Bee Thompson, said her late mother, Prophetess Gerry Claytor, would have loved it. She would have been so happy, Thompson said, stopping in at the school which welcomed students, most dressed in beige, navy and white, for the first time on Wednesday. She would have said My babies are dressed nice and looking nice, professional like they are ready to learn, agreed Claytor Principal Steve Douglas, as he walked the shiny hallways. That was key for her. Four years in the making, Claytor opened to some 370 students in pre-kindergarten through eighth grade. All live in the West Side neighborhood many are from the nearby P.T. Barnum housing complex but have been attending other schools across town while their former school, Longfellow, was torn down and rebuilt. Claytor was a longtime aide and volunteer to the Longfellow community who was active in the schools reconstruction when she died in 2015. The board moved immediately to rename the new school after her. We wanted it as much as possible to be a regular school day, Douglas said of the soft, midyear opening, which was aided by much of the central office staff to make sure things went smoothly. Even Douglas admitted the building felt different with kids finally filing down the hallway in straight lines. School expectation are posted on classroom walls for all to see. And in many classes there was a review of those rules. A formal ribbon-cutting at the $50 million school is planned for the spring. That affords time enough to start filling two empty display cabinets in the foyer. Next year, empty seats in the new school, which has a capacity of close to 600, will be distributed on a lottery basis. I like everything about it, said Kirice Powell, 6, a first-grader, unable to pinpoint just one thing. Jenny Booker, a kindergarten teacher, had less difficulty pointing out the differences. Its gorgeous, Booker said. Her room has a smart board which she said would be used daily, a restroom which will cut down on trips outside the classroom and a playground right outside her classroom door. At Columbus Annex, all she had access to was blacktop. Being together with the rest of the staff will also be huge, Booker said. Cristina Moore, the schools assistant principal, is familiar with most of Claytors youngest students, who were housed at Columbus Annex. On this morning, part of Moores time was spent consoling one first-grader who was close to tears in the hallway outside her classroom. For her, the change was a bit overwhelming. She will be OK; Shes got this, Moore told Douglas. She is going to be fine. She came on a field trip to see the new building. Its just a different building. She is going to be all right. BALLSTON SPA The former manager of a McDonald's restaurant in Malta was sentenced to jail for grand larceny. Shawn J. Morrison, 53, of Mechanicville was sentenced Tuesday to 90 days in jail and 5 years of probation, the Saratoga County District Attorney's Office said. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate GREENWICH Amy Siebert probably knows more about the inner workings of Greenwichs streets, sewer lines, bridges, ponds, parks and trash cans than anyone else in town. Really nothing goes on around Greenwich that doesnt go through, in some way, shape or form, the public works area, said Don Conway, who introduced Siebert to a packed crowd Wednesday at the Retired Mens Association of Greenwich weekly lecture. As Commissioner of Public Works, Siebert oversees a department that is responsible for 265 miles of paved roads, 185 miles of sewer lines, 75 bridges, more than 10,000 storm structures, 11,000 signs, 130 trash receptacles, dealing with 7,000 permits a year and even winding the large clock on Greenwich Avenue. These are the things we take for granted in our town and we dont pay any attention to unless the signs are on the ground or things arent working for us, Siebert said. Thats what we take care of. For 45 minutes, Siebert gave an update on several completed and ongoing projects ranging from the long-delayed dredging of Binney Pond to the newly finished Cos Cob Park on the site of the old Cos Cob Power Plant. The Greenwich Fire Department administration moved into the new Central Fire Station in December and the firefighters and equipment are expected to move in as early as February, she said. The old Byram municipal pool has been removed and it should be ready for its projected opening at the start of the 2018 beach season, she said. Were getting things geared up for a lot of construction, Siebert said. The weather has been pretty favorable for us this fall to get everything set. But much of her time was spent talking about Binney Pond, a sore point for some Old Greenwich residents who live near the waterway and have asked it be cleaned up for years. A lot of people have asked, Why havent you done all this yet? Siebert said. Siebert did not discuss potential contamination of the material in the pond and how that would affect dredging. Community members have expressed concern over polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) found in the sediment, according to tests done in the past few years. The dredged silt could not be sent to a normal landfill if it is toxic. Instead, Siebert concentrated on the project itself. The town initially wanted to find out where the sediment that fills the pond was coming from and fix that problem before dredging the pond, she said. But the Army Corps of Engineers, which needs to sign off on the project before it begins, wanted the dredging plan to include fixing future silt problems, she said. A study showed that the majority of the sediment comes from the western side of the watershed, despite initial concerns it was coming from Stamford, she said. Siebert said the project now includes installing sediment basins at the northern end of the pond. A project start date has not been fixed. The Army Corps of Engineers is still reviewing the project plans and getting public input. The DPW is asking for $3.5 million in the 2017-18 municipal budget to go along with $880,000 budgeted in 2015-16 for dredging and construction. The cost would include ongoing water bank stabilization and material removal, Siebert said. kborsuk@scni.com On this date in ... 1917: Coal dealers and merchants of Albany voiced their opinion that the coal shortage situation, while serious, was not the "menace" others had been calling it, or of sufficient magnitude to cause the suspension of factory operations. They pointed out that coal was being shipped into Albany daily in loads of between three to 30 train cars, but that applied almost exclusively to domestic coal but not steam coal, which was extremely scarce. 1967: The Saratoga Performing Arts Center was to receive half of a $60,000 grant by the Rockefeller Foundation to establish an East Coast branch of the American Federation of Musicians Congress of Strings program. The University of Southern California in Los Angeles would receive an equal grant to establish a West Coast program. Sixty students would be housed at each center, with the eight-week program scheduled to begin June 25 at SPAC. 1992: Along with food and clothing, Americans were sending their prayers to Russia. The Family Rosary Inc., a national organization headquartered in Guilderland, had collected 300,000 rosaries to send to the former Soviet Union. The barrage of rosary beads, held in prayers to the Virgin Mary, resulted from an article in The Evangelist and several other Catholic publications around the country last fall. Patrick Peyton, a priest and founder of the crusade, asked readers to send in their rosaries, which would then be shipped to Russia. Want to read more about the Capital Region's past? See http://blog.timesunion.com/history/. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate HARTFORD No place would seem more ripe for tension than the Connecticut Senate, where Democrats and Republicans are dead-locked for the first time since 1893. But the chambers top leader avoided handshakes with colleagues on both sides of the political aisle for altogether different reasons Wednesday during the opening of the legislative session. Against the advice of his doctors, Senate President Pro Tempore Martin Looney, D-New Haven, returned to the divided chamber for the first time since undergoing a kidney transplant December 20. Looneys GOP counterpart and longtime friend, Len Fasano, credited the progressive stalwart with brokering a power-sharing accord from his hospital bed just 24 hours after his surgery. Without it, he said, the Senate, was on a path toward a bitter stalemate. I asked him if he was on any drugs, and he said, Oh yeah, plenty, Fasano said on the Senate floor. Many people questioned whether or not we would have a functioning state Senate. Whether that detente can be sustained over the course of the five-month session one in which lawmakers will grapple with a $1.4 billion budget deficit, cuts to municipal aid, pension reform and a push for the legalization of recreational marijuana is no guarantee. We will not allow the bigotry, cruelty and reckless character assassination that has turned national politics into a cesspool to undermine our public discourse here in Connecticut, Looney said during his return. Republicans picked up three seats in the November election in the Senate, including in the 17th District, where newcomer George Logan, of Ansonia, knocked off 24-year-incumbent Joseph Crisco Jr., of Woodbridge. Looney, 68, stood with the help of a cane during his remarks to the 36-member chamber, which began the session down one Republican and one Democrat. Evening the score Sens. Rob Kane, R-Watertown, and Eric Coleman, D-Bloomfield, each submitted their resignations Wednesday morning, with the expectation that Kane will be appointed to a $180,000-per-year state auditor post and Coleman will get a judgeship. There will be a special election to fill both seats, with each vacancy raising the stakes that much higher in the split chamber. With bipartisan power comes bipartisan responsibility and accountability, Fasano said. A large bottle of hand sanitizer sat conspicuously on the desk of Looney, who was helped back to his chair by fellow Democrat Ted Kennedy Jr., of Branford, son of the late lion of the U.S. Senate Edward M. Kennedy. Looney was sworn-in as Senate president pro tempore by Brian Fischer, a state Superior Court judge who donated a kidney to Looney. I couldnt imagine this chamber today not having Senator Looney here with us, said Lt. Gov. Nancy Wyman, who serves as the Senate president. He is a stalwart of this body and the Legislature. Wyman is poised to wield tremendous influence over the knotted Senate as the tie-breaking vote by state law. Both parties will get to pick committee co-chairmen under the power-sharing agreement hatched between Looney and Fasano. The congenial lieutenant governor said she hopes that she wont have to use her tie-breaker vote that often. Id like us to start this term focused on unity, not division, Wyman said. neil.vigdor@scni.com; 203-625-4436; http://twitter.com/gettinviggy This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate STAMFORD Avery Carmichael almost dropped her bag when she found out she couldnt renew her license at the AAA office on High Ridge Road on Tuesday. Seriously, starting today? the 22-year-old asked incredulously when she discovered Fairfield County AAA offices would no longer offer DMV services. I have to make a big drive back to college in North Carolina so this has me a little stressed out. Carmichael, a Greenwich resident, was one of at least 20 would-be license renewers who were turned away at the Stamford AAA office Tuesday, an employee said. The arrangement between AAA and the Department of Motor Vehicles which expired on Dec. 31 after talks on a new pact broke down was both a benefit for members and a safety valve for a government service that has struggled to reduce wait times. Now theyre having to absorb members of the public who were using the AAA club branches for minor tweaks like address changes and renewals. The loss of Stamfords AAA for license renewal poses a dilemma for residents of the greater area, who will now have to either plan ahead at Stamfords appointment-only Henry Street DMV or travel to the Norwalk DMV and wait in line. I guess Ill try to get up to Norwalk today, Carmichael said. My license expired yesterday, so this has to get done now. I guess more than anything Im mad I put this off for so long, but its hard when youre away at school. More Information See More Collapse DMV offices reopened Tuesday after being closed for several days for the New Years holiday, with extra staff assigned to the Norwalk and Bridgeport offices, spokesman William Seymour said. But it is hard to judge what impact the end of the contract with the AAA franchise serving Fairfield and New Haven counties will have on wait times, the DMV spokesman said. Spokeswoman Fran Mayko said Tuesday that signs have been posted on AAAs front doors telling people DMV service is no longer available. I feel sorry for the people on the front line who have to explain what happened, she said. Darien resident Kathryn Ledwith was making her third trip to the AAA in Stamford when she was turned away. I was given two faulty licenses here they dont scan or swipe, said Ledwith, who recently turned 21 and was issued a new license to remove her underage status. I just came back from school and now I guess Ill have to go to the DMV. Mayko said the Fairfield and New Haven county AAA offices handled about 160,000 transactions for the state DMV each year, about half of them for customers who were not members. The AAA franchise had sought to offer DMV services only to its members, as the $5 service fee charged to non-members did not cover our cost and we couldnt handle the influx of people, the AAA Northeast spokeswoman said. Commissioner Michael Bzdyra said DMVs contract with the AAA franchise was ending because the departments responsibility is first and foremost to the general public. We need to maintain service levels while controlling costs. As such, we cannot subsidize a private organizations provision of DMV services if that organization is not willing to find ways to serve the general public. AAA officials said in a statement after the decision was announced that "AAA Northeast remains committed to working with state officials to extend the DMV program in AAA offices into 2017 and well beyond. AAA has shouldered labor and other costs related to the program, which approached $1 million annually, since its inception in 2001. We remain willing to reimburse the state for an equitable portion of the additional expenses necessary to make the program work, though to date, those additional expenses have been somewhat of a moving target." Competition remains fierce among area law enforcement agencies for new recruits, with a dozen departments or more working to fill open positions. "In the four years that I've been in this office, I don't think we've ever been fully staffed," Galveston County Sheriff Henry Trochesset said. Recruiters from his department are working to fill eight peace officer positions. One of the ongoing challenges is officer retention, he said. "Once we get an officer trained, they often pass through and are hired to go to other areas in the county or take higher-paying jobs with other agencies," Trochesset said. The approximate salary for an entry level peace officer is $38,600 at the Galveston County Sheriff's Office. Trochesset said his department wasn't able to offer signing incentives, such as the police department which offers a $6,000 incentive for certified officers who pass the probationary period. "We haven't tried to put an incentive program in place because we're focused on bringing our salary range to be more competitive with these other departments," Trochesset said. Harris County Deputy cadets also are needed at the Harris County Sheriff's Office. Recruiters there are offering an entry level salary of $44,862 and certified peace officers graduate to an annual salary of $49,339, according to the HCSD recruiting documents posted online. Both county agencies are competing against three local police departments offering potential recruits significantly higher salaries. League City The City of League City offers one of the most attractive salary packages. Entry level cadets are paid $42,671 annually and the salary range quickly increases to $51,774,94 after six months and $57,480 after nine months. A certified peace officer will earn $61,345.02 after one year with the department. The League City Police Department has 12 open positions and will host a police officer candidate orientation for interested candidates at 9 a.m. Jan. 7 at Clear Springs High School, 501 Palomino Lane. "The purpose of the orientation is to walk interested candidates through the hiring process which includes the written examination, physical assessment test, background investigation, oral interview, medical, polygraph, and psychological screenings," Kelly Williamson LCPD Media Relations and Public Information Officer said via email. "This orientation will help ensure the hiring process runs as smooth and successful as possible. For the first time, we are offering those applicants that are interested an opportunity to run through the PT test. "This opportunity will show applicants the areas they may need to improve on prior to the actual examination. The Physical Assessment test will begin promptly following the conclusion of the orientation." The League City Police Department also offers new officer candidates with at least three years of experience a $5,000 signing bonus. Pearland The City of Pearland also hopes to fill three to four available positions and recruiters strive to attract candidates that possess different skill sets, diverse backgrounds and life experiences, police spokesman Jason Wells said. "We strive to have a highly trained and educated police force and officer education incentives for all our officers," Wells said. Officers who attain an associate's degree earn an extra 58 cents an hour. A four-year degree brings an extra 87 cents an hour to an officer's annual salary and an advanced degree is worth another $1.15 an hour. Officers can also earn bonuses for attaining higher-level peace officer certifications. "We also offer a $5,000 signing bonus for certified peace officers who meet certain criteria," Wells said. An entry-level certified police officer earns $52,320 at the City of Pearland. After five years, the midpoint salary is currently listed as $60,653. New recruits who choose to work for the Pearland Police Department typically enroll in a law enforcement certification program at Alvin Community College. PASADENA The Pasadena Police Department, however, runs its own police cadet academy and is hoping to hire 20 new cadets to go through their 26-week program. Though it doesn't offer a signing bonus, the starting salary for new cadets is one of the most generous at $55,680 annually. Other cities Smaller agencies such as the Dickinson, La Porte and the Deer Park Police departments are also hiring new officers. "We get plenty of applications, but the recruiting process just takes time," Deer Park Police recruiting officer Sam Jammas said. "For us, it's preferable if the candidate is already certified but if they're not we can send them to police academy at Houston Community College or College of the Mainland." Officer candidates must have a college degree to work for the City of Deer Park where new cadets have a starting salary of $46,446,40. Tim Cook Apple will invest $1 billion into the SoftBank Vision Fund, a spokesperson told Business Insider. The fund will be the world's largest technology venture fund if it hits its $100 billion goal. "Apple is planning to invest $1 billion in SoftBank's Vision Fund. We've worked closely with SoftBank for many years and we believe their new fund will speed the development of technologies which may be strategically important to Apple," Apple spokesperson Josh Rosenstock told Business Insider. Apple is joining investors such as Saudi Arabia's government fund, which is expected to plow $45 billion into the $100 billion fund. SoftBank has said it will contribute $25 billion. Softbank confirmed that Apple intends to invest in the fund, and other investors include Foxconn, Oracle cofounder Larry Ellison, and Qualcomm. The Wall Street Journal first reported Apple's announcement. Japanese tech conglomerate SoftBank, which owns wireless carrier Sprint among other holdings, is expected to use the fund to invest in technologies like artificial intelligence. In December, president-elect Donald Trump claimed credit for a promise by Softbank CEO Masayoshi Son to invest $50 billion in US companies, bringing 50,000 jobs to the country. Son later revealed that the investment would come from the Vision Fund. Apple is unusual among tech giants in that it doesn't run its own venture capital wing. It has invested in companies in the past, though, and Apple has done business with Softbank for years. Most recently, Apple invested $1 billion in Didi Chuxing, the Uber of China. Before that, Apple mostly invested in complementary companies like ARM, which designs the chips used in the iPhone, although it divested its stake years before ARM was sold to Softbank for over $30 billion in 2016. More From Business Insider Dear Toni: This year, I got into the "donut hole" in September. It has financially devastated and I almost stopped taking my prescriptions. I can afford my monthly $80 co pays but on my statement, it says the actual prescription drugs cost is $950.00 per month. How can I stay out of the "donut hole" or not get in it so fast for 2017? Thanks, in advance Diane from West U. Hello Diane: Your prescription drug problem is typical for the average person on Medicare whose true prescription drug cost is over $300 per month. Many believe that their monthly co pays are what takes them to the "donut hole." But (they) are absolutely dumbfounded when they learn that the real cost of their prescription drugs is $950 each month like yours are. For 2017, the Medicare Part D plans have changed and the cost of prescription drugs has increased. Want to know why? The "donut hole" will begin once the true cost of all prescription drugs whether generics or brand name reach a total of $3,700 and then the fun begins. You must pay the next $4,950 to get out of the "donut hole." You will pay 40 percent for a brand name drug and the brand name drug manufacturer will pay 50 percent of that covered brand name drug. Now, the remaining 10 percent will be paid by the prescription drug plan which you have enrolled in. For generic drugs, the cost is 51 percent co pay while in the "donut hole." When we perform Medicare consultation with Part D planning in the Toni Says office during this Medicare Open enrollment season, it has come to our attention via the Medicare.gov prescription drug planning site that the cost of brand name drugs has increased since 2016. We have noticed that many brand name prescription drugs have changed from the tier 3 preferred brand name status with a simple co pay to a tier 4 non-preferred brand name drug with a 30-50 percent of the drug co pay. Example: Benicar which was in 2016 $30 preferred brand name drug is now a 30-50 percent co-pay of the true cost of Benicar $179.08 with a co pay of $89.54 or a 50 percent co pay. Many Part D plans for 2017 are not covering Benicar and other brand name drugs. Always verify with the specific prescription drug plan that you want to enroll what tier your specific prescription drug is. Talk to your doctor about changing brand name to generics. Get samples of prescriptions whether brand name or generic from your doctor. Seeks prescription drug discount programs for brand name or generic drugs such as goodrx.com, H-E-B, Walmart, Sam's and Costco's discount generic program. Be very aware of how the Medicare Part D plan which you have enrolled in works and what the prescription drug plan tiers are: Tier 1: Preferred generic (lowest cost and co pays) Tier 2: Regular generic (average cost and higher generic co pay) Tier 3: Preferred brand name: (lower brand name cost and average co pay such as $30, $40, $80, etc.) Tier 4: Non-preferred brand name: 30 to 50 percent co pay of the brand name cost example: 50 percent of $300 brand name drug which is $150 co pay. Tier 5: Specialty drugs 33 percent co pay: $1,000 prescription drug will have a co pay of $333. Visit Tonisays.com to receive your copy of the 2017 Medicare costs and to sign up for the latest Toni Says newsletter. Toni King, author of the new Medicare Survival Guide offers a "Thank You, Houston" $5 discount available for Houston Chronicle/HCN readers at http://tonisays.com/reader-special Medicare consultations are available at the Toni Says office or email questions to info@tonisays.com or call 832/519-TONI (8664). This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate A frustrated Montgomery County Judge Craig Doyal responded Tuesday to allegations on social media that he violated his amended suspension order by swearing in 418th state District Court Judge Tracy Gilbert on New Year's Day. The Woodlands-based attorney Eric Yollick took to Facebook Monday alleging Doyal "defied and violated" the order, issued in August by the State Commission on Judicial Conduct, by participating in the ceremony. "...Doyal performed a 'judicial function' when he administered the oath of office to 418th District Judge Tracy Gilbert," Yollick stated in a post on his Facebook page. "Chapter 602 of the Texas Government Code lists who may administer oaths in the State of Texas. Although notaries public, peace officers under very limited conditions, and certain others may administer oaths, the power of a County Judge to administer an oath derives from his presiding over the Constitutional County Court, which is a court of record. Craig Doyal administering an oath of office arises from his 'judicial functions' from which the Commission has suspended him. "Doyal violated the terms of the State Judicial Conduct Commission's suspension by administering the oath, which is a 'judicial function.'" However, according to the commission, the swearing-in event was ceremonial and did not violate his suspension order that prohibits him from performing any judicial function associated with the office of county judge. The order allows him to perform his non-adjudicated, administrative (and ceremonial) duties. The original suspension order was issued June 28 following Doyal's June 24 indictment on a charge he conspired to circumvent the Texas Open Meeting Act regarding negotiations surrounding the $280 million road bond approved by voters in November 2015. Also indicted on the same charge were Precinct 2 Commissioner Charlie Riley, Precinct 4 Commissioner Jim Clark and political consultant Marc Davenport. An indictment is a formal charge, not a conviction or indicator of guilt. On July 26, Doyal along with high-profile Houston defense attorney Rusty Hardin appealed the suspension. The SCJC issued an amended suspension order Aug. 2 allowing Doyal to return to work with pay but still prohibited him from any judicial function. While some county judges in the state of Texas serve in both an administrative and judicial role, that has not been the case in Montgomery County and Doyal is not involved in the adjudication of any cases. A March 27 trial date has been set. "These allegations are from a person that has repeatedly made false claims in attempt to undermine our commissioners court," Doyal said. "While they continue to try and tear down this great county, I will continue my work to help this county prepare for growth that is coming by enacting sound policies and making wise decisions." According to Doyal, he contacted the County Attorney's Office in mid-December requesting guidance regarding his participation in the swearing-in ceremonies Sunday. A total of 19 newly elected or re-elected officials were sworn in to office Sunday at the Lone Star Convention Center in Conroe. Gilbert was the only official Doyal swore in. In a memo to Doyal dated Jan. 3, Assistant County Attorney B.D. Griffin outlined the events regarding Doyal's participation in the swearing-in ceremony, noting he contacted the commission for guidance on the issue. The memo stated that Seana Willing, executive director of the SCJC, responded to Griffin's request and stated it is her opinion that Doyal's action to swear in Gilbert is administrative and not judicial. Griffin stated that while Willing's response is "not an 'official' pronouncement of the Commission, I feel it reasonable to rely upon the opinion of the Executive Director of the Commission that issued the order of the suspension." "In my opinion," Griffin stated. "The ceremonial administration of an oath of office is 'non-adjudicatory" and would have no reasonable effect on the public's confidence in the judiciary. It also appears that the Executive Director of the Commission clearly sees the issue in the same light." Willing confirmed she did send the County Attorney's Office a response noting in her opinion that the swearing-in "would not be a violation of the order that is in place." She added that if someone files a complaint with her office, the commission would review it, but it does not have legal authority to say whether the swearing-in is a judicial function. A person, Willing said, does not have to be a judge to administer oath. "This was purely a ceremonial function," said Doyal, adding that Gilbert already had taken his oath prior the ceremony. In fact, before taking the stage and stating the oath, each elected official signs documents with a notary public as the official record of the swearing-in. "I didn't sign anything," Doyal said. Nathan Jensen, director of court administration, issued a statement Tuesday regarding Gilbert's swearing-in. "On January 1, 2017, prior to the public, ceremonial oath administered by County Judge Craig Doyal, 418th District Court Judge Tracy A. Gilbert took his official Oath of Office before Kim Roe, a notary public for the State of Texas," the release stated. "All District and County Court at Law judges in Montgomery County regularly take their official Oath(s) of Office before a notary public in advance of the ceremonial oaths that are administered publicly." According to the Local Government Code Chapter 602, an oath can be administered by various people including a county judge, a judge or retired judge, a county treasurer and justice of the peace. Willing said her office has not received any complaints regarding Doyal and the commission was not reviewing the situation. Doyal, along with Clark, Riley and Davenport were investigated during a six-month grand jury proceeding regarding whether certain members of Commissioners Court violated TOMA during negotiations in August 2015 with members of The Woodlands-based Texas Patriots PAC that led to the $280 million November road bond referendum, which voters passed. An open records request by The Courier showed Davenport communicated with certain members of the court regarding the bond, specific projects and dollar amounts. A grand jury handed up the indictments June 24 Gilbert did not return calls before press time. Info Box: Sec. 602.002. OATH MADE IN TEXAS. An oath made in this state may be administered and a certificate of the fact given by: (1) a judge, retired judge, or clerk of a municipal court; (2) a judge, retired judge, senior judge, clerk, or commissioner of a court of record; (3) a justice of the peace or a clerk of a justice court; (4) an associate judge, magistrate, master, referee, or criminal law hearing officer; (5) a notary public; (6) a member of a board or commission created by a law of this state, in a matter pertaining to a duty of the board or commission; (7) a person employed by the Texas Ethics Commission who has a duty related to a report required by Title 15, Election Code, in a matter pertaining to that duty; (8) a county tax assessor-collector or an employee of the county tax assessor-collector if the oath relates to a document that is required or authorized to be filed in the office of the county tax assessor-collector; (9) the secretary of state or a former secretary of state; (10) an employee of a personal bond office, or an employee of a county, who is employed to obtain information required to be obtained under oath if the oath is required or authorized by Article 17.04 or by Article 26.04(n) or (o), Code of Criminal Procedure; (11) the lieutenant governor or a former lieutenant governor; (12) the speaker of the house of representatives or a former speaker of the house of representatives; (13) the governor or a former governor; (14) a legislator or retired legislator; (15) the attorney general or a former attorney general; (16) the secretary or clerk of a municipality in a matter pertaining to the official business of the municipality; (17) a peace officer described by Article 2.12, Code of Criminal Procedure, if: (A) the oath is administered when the officer is engaged in the performance of the officer's duties; and (B) the administration of the oath relates to the officer's duties; or (18) a county treasurer. NORWALK In an effort to connect local artists with commercial galleries and showcase the arts in Fairfield County, the Cultural Alliance of Fairfield County will make Norwalk its next stop on the second annual Progressive Gallery Tour. Jennifer Bangser, director of marketing and public relations for the cultural alliance, said the event, now in its second year, was so successful in its first rendition that more galleries and artists have signed up to be involved. We have over 200 (artist) members that are part of the cultural alliance so it helps them get into the gallery space and get to know the owners, Bangser said. It gives a chance for that kind of meet and greet. As an artist, part of marketing is that you want to be in the galleries, so its a very informal way to get that acquaintance. Its just a big open house environment for all parties involved. Three of Norwalk's commercial galleries will open their doors Jan. 18 to the cultural alliance and art supporters. The event is free and open to the public. The evening will begin at 6 p.m. at Artists Market at 163 Main St., where owner Jeff Price will talk about the gallery and an exhibition of photographs of political activists from the Watergate era. We have a new exhibit on politics and protest photography from the early 1970s, and Ill be talking about that, our collection of book plates and our collection of M.C. Escher, so it should be interesting, Price said. ... We will also be giving a tour of our frame shop so theyll see how the inner mechanics work. More Information For further details about the tour and how to participate, or for information about how to become a member of the Cultural Alliance of Fairfield County as an artist, cultural nonprofit or creative business, contact David Green, director of programs and membership at David@CulturalAllianceFC.org. See More Collapse Participants will reconvene at the LOVE ART Gallery at 132 Washington St. in SoNo. Owner and artist Cabell Molina will speak about the gallery at 7:15 p.m. The tour will move next door to Galeria Isadora where owner Isadora Gacel will speak at 7:45 p.m. Molina opened the LOVE ART Gallery in March, and said she hopes the event will help introduce more people to the gallery. The gallery doubles as a work space where people can watch artists, including Molina, in the creative process. Most of my artists are local and the point of my gallery is to showcase really talented local artists, Molina said. Im also trying to build a community with this gallery because theres so many local artists. I feel like theres a lot of talent in the area and I would love to connect local artists. My gallery is also different because I mainly have pop art and street art, and I want to try to open peoples minds to that kind of work. The Annual Progressive Gallery Tour was launched by the cultural alliance in 2016 to bring artists, cultural nonprofits and creative business members together to celebrate the variety commercial art galleries across Fairfield County. The tour visits one town each month. The 2017 tour began in September at the C. Parker Gallery and Isabella Garucho Fine Art Gallery in Greenwich. In November, the tour moved on to the Fernando Luis Alvarez Gallery in downtown Stamford. In December, CAFC was able to join the New Canaan Holiday Stroll with three commercial gallery members: Handwright Gallery & Framing, Heather Gaudio Fine Art, and the Sorelle Gallery. In February the tour will visit Westport at the Amy Simon Fine Art Gallery and the Nylen Gallery. This is really highlighting the commercial gallery aspect of Fairfield county because thats really important to the local economy, Bangser said. It shows us how important the arts are to the economy, and gets people out and engaged with the art. Price said he hopes the tour will bring first-time visitors to the galleries. I think once people come into a gallery like ours or others on the tour they will come back, Price said. The biggest stumbling block is getting people in the first time. Each gallery is a very special place and this gives the public a chance to discover that. KKrasselt@scni.com; 203-354-1021; @kaitlynkrasselt BRIDGEPORT Each holiday season, the Connecticut Post partners with local charities to highlight the needs of our neighbors. This season, readers have been particularly generous in response to those needs. CT Post readers continue to amaze in the way that they are helping their neighbors, David Kennedy, chief operation officer of United Way of Coastal Fairfield County, said in an email. As of Tuesday, 125 readers and an employee group representing 100 people had donated $28,719, according to Kennedy. Thats an increase compared to the same time last year in the number who donated (90 readers and an employee group) and the amount ($20,466). Its not to late to participate in this community response. The final 10 profiles are listed below. With this final installment of stories and with the hoped-for kindness of readers continuing one last week, we have a chance to help every neighbor we highlighted have 100 percent of their ask met, Kennedy said. What an exceptional way to start the new year. On behalf of those (neighbors), Thank you very muchand Happy New Year to all who have donated to the Giving Fund. The people in the stories below have taken proactive steps to improve their situation by working with LifeBridge Community Services, and their stories have been complied by a caseworker. The names are changed, but the need is real. Overhead costs, including credit card fees, are covered by Hearst Connecticut Media, United Way, and LifeBridge. Print readers can use the newspaper coupon or go to http://www.ctpost.com/ givingfund and click on Donate to The Giving Fund. 160. Han works in Bridgeport and lives in Ansonia with his wife and a 1-year-old daughter. Han has a vehicle thats too unsafe to drive, and he cant afford the repairs. In the meantime, hes been using public transportation to get himself and his family around. A gift of $500 would help Han fix the car, and have a reliable way to get himself to work the familys only income and to his daughters doctors appointments. 161. Marjorie is a single mother of three children ages 9, 7 and 4. She lost her job in September and the family has been getting by on $275 a week in temporary unemployment benefits. To pay off rent owed to her landlord, she cleans the apartment complex. However, Marjorie is behind on her electric bill. All of her utilities run on electricity. A gift of $350 would pay what she owes and leave a small credit balance while she looks for work. 162. Sherry, 27, of Bridgeport, is a single mother of a 10-month-old girl. Shes had trouble finding work after being laid off last year. Thats despite being a hard worker with job and volunteer history, as well as going back to school to beef up her resume. Sherry is frugal and has stretched family support as best she can. However, a recent winter utility bill was shockingly high. A gift of $400 would help Sherry and her baby keep the utilities on. 163. Tabitha is a single mother to her 1-year-old baby girl. She was recently laid off and has yet to find a job that would suit her and her daughters child-care needs. She does not receive any other assistance besides unemployment and does not have a very substantive support system. Tabitha is actively seeking work, but making ends meet with unemployment has been very difficult. A gift of $500 would assist Tabitha in catching up on her utilities and purchasing groceries and other essential household items for her and her daughter. 164. Melrose is a single mother of five young children living in Bridgeport. She is under-employed after her job cut her hours to 15 per week. While church food banks and the LifeBridge Community Closet have supported her with some basic needs, its not enough. She has multiple disconnection notices. A gift of $500 would help Melrose and her children prevent the light and heat from going out in their house. 165. Lenny is a single father who works hard to support his household. Two tires on his car needed to be replaced, but he couldnt afford even one. So he slapped a spare tire on one side, and paid for the other one with the money for his electricity bill hoping for a miracle. Now its due. A gift of $400 would help Lenny replace the tire, pay the bill, and also buy groceries for his household. 166. Audrey, of Bridgeport, is a student the LifeBridge Youth Department. She wants to help her mother, the only breadwinner in the household with four kids, who works a part-time job and whose check is quickly swallowed up by rent, food, utilities, and car payments. A gift of $500 would help Audreys mother pay overdue utilities at home and buy groceries, as well as put Audrey at ease so she can focus on her studies. 167. Mackenzie is a single working mother of three children, living paycheck to paycheck. She does not qualify state assistance. Recent car problems caused her to fall behind on rent. A gift of $500 would start to get her back on track and start 2017 year off on the right foot. 168. RaeAnn is a single mother of three young children. Despite working more than 40 hours per week as a certified nursing assistant, her income does not support her family. Her former partner and the father of her third child used to work, but had lost jobs, failed to provide child care and struggled with substance abuse issues that ultimately led to separation. Now RaeAnn and her children are solely relying on her salary. A gift of $500 would help her provide clothing and food for the family. 169. Libby, of Bridgeport, is a single mother of an autistic 12-year-old boy. Libby has a history of being abused in a very dangerous relationship. She struggles daily to provide the life she would love for her and her son. Libby does not have citizenship and struggles to secure a steady income. She is a very humble, respectful woman and is thankful for any opportunity or blessing. A gift of $375 would help Libby provide some items for herself and her son. WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange claimed in a new interview that he is completely confident that the Russian government was not the source of the hacked emails that his organization released leading up to the U.S. presidential election. He also shrugged off the question of whether the politically damaging emails affected the outcome of the race. The publisher of classified and private information released embarrassing emails from Hillary Clintons campaign chairman, John Podesta, and the Democratic National Committee (DNC). Inside the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, Fox News political pundit Sean Hannity asked Assange to address the allegation that WikiLeaks was a tool employed by Moscow to interfere with the U.S. election. Can you say to the American people, unequivocally, that you did not get this information about the DNC, John Podestas emails, can you tell the American people 1,000 percent that you did not get it from Russia or anybody associated with Russia? Hannity inquired. We can say, we have said repeatedly that over the last two months, that our source is not the Russian government and it is not a state party, Assange responded. Democrats have argued that the WikiLeaks email dumps were conducted as part of an orchestrated plot to tilt the election in favor of Donald Trump, who frequently showers praise on Russia and its leaders. Despite Assanges claims, the U.S. intelligence community has said it is certain that Russia was behind the cyberattacks that led to the WikiLeaks disclosures. Experts have also linked Guccifer 2, the hacker who claims to have leaked the DNC emails, to the Kremlin. WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange speaks from the balcony of the Ecuadorian Embassy, where he continues to seek asylum, in London, England. (Photo: Carl Court/Getty Images) On Dec. 29, President Obama announced a slew of retaliatory measures against the Russian government for its alleged interference. This included the eviction of 35 suspected Russian intelligence operatives and sanctions against nine different Russian individuals and institutions, including two of the GRU and FSB Russian intelligence services. Story continues Assange said he believes the Obama administration is trying to delegitimize Trump before his predecessor enters the White House. They are trying to say that President-elect Trump is not a legitimate president, he said. According to Democrats, the leak of thousands of Podestas emails were particularly damaging to Hillary Clintons campaign. An earlier hack this summer led to the resignation of DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz and renewed distrust of the Democratic establishment among supporters of Bernie Sanders primary campaign. When asked if the emails WikiLeaks published changed the outcome of the election, Assange said, Who knows? He also argued that if they had, the responsibility lies not with WikiLeaks but the people who penned the emails in the first place. Who knows, its impossible to tell. But if it did, the accusation is that the true statements of Hillary Clinton and her campaign manager, John Podesta, and the DNC head Debbie Wasserman Schultz, their true statements is what changed the election, he said. The full interview is scheduled to air Tuesday night on Fox News. What looks like a unique case of self-improvement revenge, a Houston mother dropped 103 pounds after her cheating husband called her fat behind her back. Betsy Ayala originally weighed 262 pounds, but after learning about her husbands affair, she hit the gym six times a week. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Hamshire-Fannett ISD educators jumped at the sound of rapid gunfire as they watched footage of the 1999 Columbine High School massacre on a 10-foot screen. As the last seconds of the video played, the group of around 250 sat motionless, their faces frozen in expressions of horror. "I got emotional," Hamshire-Fannett Assistant Superintendent John Burris said. "It's difficult to see someone get shot. It's not something you see every day." After showing the video, James Riley, a SWAT officer with the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office, taught the district's employees three steps to follow in the event of a similar shooting event on campus: run, hide and fight. "Your first move should be to visualize an escape, but if that's not a possibility, seeking cover is the next best option," said Riley. Riley said he recommends elementary school teachers gather students into a hiding spot, since controlling a group of 6-year-olds is more difficult than it would be with a group of high school students. When hiding, he said teachers should lock doors, turn off lights, silence cell phones and barricade classroom doors with large pieces of furniture. "If you can't run or hide, defending yourself should be your last resort," Riley said. If an attacker were to make it past the barricades, the best places to attack are the throat and eyes, he said. The average arrival time for an officer responding to an active shooting is 3 minutes, Riley said. Once law enforcement officials make their way onto the campus, Riley said listening to their orders is crucial. "Keep your hands up, and if you happen to come in contact with the shooter's gun, don't have it near you," Riley said. An officer's job is to find the gunman, and if the wrong person has the weapon it can lead to confusion. "Our most important goal is that you get home safely at the end of the day," Riley said. Valerie Gill, a special education teacher at the intermediate school, was one of the teachers to take part in the voluntary training session on Tuesday. "It made me more aware of the way I could change my daily routines at school, in the event that something were to happen - and to react quicker," Gill said. She said watching the footage from Columbine, a mass shooting by two Colorado high school students who killed 12 of their peers and a teacher, reminded her of the reality of mass shootings. As employees sat inside the cafeteria, deputies fired blank rounds from an M4 .233 semiautomatic rifle, a 12 gauge shotgun and a handgun - first outside of the school, and then at the end of the hallway. Deputies wanted the educators to know what each gun type sounded like and from different ranges. Some teachers covered their faces with sweaters as the guns were fired. Burris said each campus goes through an active shooter training seminar at the beginning of each school year. He said this is the first time in his 14 years with the district that the training was facilitated by the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office. Campuses have lockdown drills two to three times a year, he said. "Once you feel something, I think you learn a little bit more," Burris said. "It shows the importance of these training sessions and why we go through them." SFlores@BeaumontEnterprise.com Twitter.com/_saraeflores This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate If approved for a nearly $100,000 grant, the Orange County Sheriff's Department could become the latest local law enforcement agency to obtain body-worn cameras using state dollars. The Orange County Commissioners Court voted unanimously on Tuesday to apply for a grant program offered by the Governor's Criminal Justice Division. The total cost of the 57 body-worn cameras and supplemental equipment would be $95,000, said Orange County Sheriff's Capt. Dennis Marlow. If approved, the grant from the state would cover 80 percent of the cost, which includes software and digital storage. The sheriff's office would be responsible for the remaining 20 percent, or $19,000, which would be covered using federal drug forfeiture money, Morrow said. The cameras would benefit Orange County residents but would be especially helpful to deputies, Morrow said. "What we've found out is (cameras) save our rear ends more often than not," he said. The sheriff's department recently purchased new dashboard cameras. Police body cameras have played a role in several high profile cases in the past year, including the fatal shooting of five Dallas police officers in July. Critics, however, have argued against some Texas police department's body camera policies, which do not require officers to keep their cameras on at all times. In August, protesters in Houston complained after Mayor Sylvester Turner released police video from the July shooting of 38-year-old Alva Braziel. The 18 minutes of footage began with video from store surveillance equipment across the street, but the body camera footage only started after Braziel had been shot. As part of the state grant application, law enforcement agencies are required to outline their body-worn camera policy. Morrow said the Orange County Sheriff's Department would require officers to keep their cameras on any time they're interacting with the public, the same policy the department has for its dashboard cameras. The Jefferson County Sheriff's Department and the Beaumont Police Department both applied and received funding through the program during the application process this past summer. The Jefferson County Sheriff's Department received $43,000 to buy 70 cameras for patrol deputies, said Deputy Marcus McLellan. The department is shopping for cameras and has not yet set a date for the program's launch, he said. The Beaumont Police Department received $192,500 for 140 cameras, said BPD Assistant Chief Jim Clay. The department has ordered the first seven cameras for a pilot program, but they are on back order, said Clay. Morrow said it's a "long shot" that the Orange County Sheriff's Department will receive any money from the state program. He said the state handed out most of the funding for the program during the last round of applications, which were available this past summer, and competition will be fierce for the program's remaining dollars. "If we don't make it this round, persistence is the key," Morrow said. Houston Chronicle reporter Andrew Kragie contributed to this article. NKrebs@BeaumontEnterprise.com Twitter.com/Natalie_Krebs A pickup driver was injured when another motorist slammed into him late Tuesday night along Interstate 45 in northwest Houston. The two-vehicle crash happened about 11:30 p.m. on the southbound North Freeway near Shepherd, said Sgt. James Roque of the Houston Police Department. Two Midland Police Department officers who were involved in a shooting in October are returning to their regular duties following a no bill ruling by a Midland County grand jury. After hearing evidence from a Texas Rangers investigation, the grand jury for the 142nd District Court ruled on Wednesday that Officers Aaron Renz and Aaron Trevino were found to have not committed criminal wrongdoing in a shooting that occurred on Oct. 10, according to a press release from the city. Kheyanev Littledog, 19, was fatally shot by the officers when he refused to comply with orders and reached for a handgun in his waistband. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate A year ago, David Molak was a 16-year-old Alamo Heights High School sophomore and the latest victim of alleged cyberbullying. The story of Molak's suicide spread past the Bexar County line and served as a cautionary tale to millions across the country. The harassment investigation into Molak's death did not result in criminal charges from the district attorney's office due to "insufficient evidence," but State Sen. Jose Menendez, D-San Antonio, announced plans to file a bill establishing David's Law in the weeks following. READ MORE: No charges will be filed in the suicide of Molak, attorney says The bill would make electronically harassing or bullying anyone under age 18 via text and social media a misdemeanor. Now a year from Molak's death and weeks away from the start of the legislative session, Menendez nad State Rep. Ina Minjarez, D-San Antonio, are preparing to discuss David's Law. Menendez told mySA.com he believes the bill has support from "both sides of the aisle." "Children should not be a partisan issue and protecting them should not be a partisan issue," he added. Both senators recognized the somber anniversary as a time to reflect on his passing and issued a call to action for support from the public to combat the nationwide "crisis." "Passing David's Law is one of the most important issues facing this legislature when it gavels in on January 10th," Menendez said in a statement Wednesday. "The legislature needs to hear from Texas families on this critical issue." RELATED: Alamo Heights student was a victim of bullying before committing suicide, family says He asked the public to contact local state senators and representatives in support of David's Law. "(The public) doesn't think their voice matters, but it does," Menendez said. "This isn't just a San Antonio problem, it's a statewide problem." Minjarez added to Menendez' sentiments, saying her "thoughts and prayers" are with the Molaks and any family who has suffered a similar loss. "David's Law is the bill I will be prioritizing this legislative session," she said in a statement. In addition to making cyberbullying a misdemeanor, David's Law would require school districts to include cyber bullying in their school district policies and notify parents whose children are victims or alleged aggressors. The bill also provides for civil liability, allowing parents of victims to sue bullies' families, which Menendez said would allow subpoeana power to discover who's doing the bullying RELATED: S.A. student film sheds new light on David Molak's life, death School districts would be required to develop a system to anonymously report bullying and would be given more latitude to place students in a disciplinary alternative education program or expel them for encouraging suicide or other serious bullying. Alamo Heights Independent School District Spokeswoman Patti Pawlik-Perales told mySA.com a task force was implemented in response to Molak's death. It consists of 16 community members who "devoted countless hours" to research issues affecting the "social and emotional wellness" of its student body. "The district began implementing recommendations by the Task Force to address the social and emotional, digital citizenship and character education issues facing our children and community, including the issues related to adolescent suicide and the five forms of mistreatment," Pawlik-Perales said. Staff writer Peggy Fikac contributed to this report. mmendoza@mysa.com Twitter: @MaddySkye This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate The San Antonio Zoo welcomed an adorable litter of otter pups recently. Zoo spokesman Mason Rodriguez told mySA.com the pup trio was born Nov. 17, 2016 to mother Ague and father Charlie. Ague and Charlie are the zoo's only otters and are both 8 years old. They will both help the zoo raise the pups, Rodriguez said. RELATED: S.A. zoo to expand jaguar habitat with a 'one-of-a-kind' overhead catwalk "Mom (Ague) spends a lot of time eating so she can provide nutrition for the pups as they nurse," the zoo said in a statement. "The father (Charlie) is a great protector and he likes to build a new cozy bed every day out of the hay and bedding that we give them so that the mom and pups have a comfortable, safe place to stay." The zoo's animal care staff is keeping a "close eye" on the newborns, tracking their growth and taking their weights daily. They are currently nursing from Ague but will eventually be eating fish (their favorite food,) balanced chow and sometimes shrimp and clams as enrichment. RELATED: S.A. zoo's million-dollar exhibit upgrade allows visitors to play tug-of-war with lions It's unclear when the pups will be ready for the public to see, but Rodriguez said they will grow a thicker fur coat and their noses and nostrils will open over the coming weeks. The zoo said this litter is Ague and Charlie's third. mmendoza@mysa.com Twitter: @MaddySkye This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate SAN ANTONIO - Reyes Torres, 31, was watching her son play with the other kids in the complex as they often do in the evening when two gunshots rang out. "I grabbed my son and ran inside my apartment before coming back to check out what happened," she said. San Antonio Police Department Chief William McManus said one man, in his 30s, was fatally shot in the chest while running to his apartment at about 6:30 p.m. at the Hilltop Oaks Apartments, 6130 Ingram Road. RELATED: Father charged with choking daughter over nude Snapchat photos The man and a woman were standing in the parking lot when another couple drove up in a pickup truck and began arguing with them. "We know what the argument was about," McManus said. "It appears to have been possibly drug-related." Then the two standing in the lot began running toward the apartment building as shots were fired, McManus said. The man made it to an open doorway before collapsing inside the apartment, he said. He had been shot in the upper torso, investigators said. EMS arrived and pronounced the man dead at the scene, police said. RELATED: Elderly 'hoarder's' home catches fire on Northeast Side The chief said the shooter was also a man in his 30s who drove away after the shooting. "I'm pretty confident we'll have that individual in custody before long," McManus said. The scene at the complex was one of the more extreme incidents residents said they have seen recently, as drug-related fights further in the complex had died down. Marie Segovia, 34, said she just moved in three months ago and that it's been quiet. "Usually there's no cops here because we have security here late at night," She said. "Everybody keeps to themselves, it's just kids running around." jbeltran@express-news.net Twitter: @JBfromSA SAN ANTONIO A 17-year-old man was shot in the face by an unknown suspect Tuesday night on the North Side near Winston Churchill High School, according to police. Emergency personnel responded shortly after 10:10 p.m. Tuesday to a Baptist Healthcare Clinic for a man who suffered a gunshot wound to the face. SAN ANTONIO The lower level of Interstate 10 near Cincinnati Avenue reopened Wednesday afternoon after an hours-long closure caused when an 18-wheeler struck a large traffic sign, according to the Texas Department of Transportation. TxDOT traffic cameras show at 2:30 p.m. that traffic appears to be moving in and out of the lower levels of I-10 following this morning's crash. President Barack Obama, his days in office waning, blacklisted 15 Russian individuals and companies for their dealings in Crimea and Ukraine recently. And last week, the president expelled 35 Russian officials and imposed sanctions on that countrys intelligence services in response to Russian interference in the U.S. election. Meanwhile, the incoming Trump team seems to want to ease sanctions on Russia, denies that it meddled in the U.S. election, and is poised to have confirmed as secretary of state an oil executive with extensive business dealings with Russia and its president, Vladimir Putin. If anything, the pressure on Russia should increase, not decrease. The interference in the U.S. election alone with high confidence, the intelligence community says it occurred spoke to the need for responses ranging from more sanctions to cyber mischief of our own. But the blacklisting by the Obama administration was purely about Ukraine and Crimea. These targeted sanctions, said John E. Smith, the acting director of the Treasurys office of foreign assets control, 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. Meanwhile, President-elect Donald Trumps choice of Rex W. Tillerson, chief executive for Exxon Mobil, for secretary of state points to some disturbing questions that must be raised during Senate confirmation hearings. Tillerson negotiated a $500 billion joint venture with Russia in 2011 to drill for oil on the Arctic shelf and the Black Sea, and another deal in Siberia to develop shale drilling. These were properly put on hold after Russian intervention in Crimea and Ukraine triggered U.S. sanctions. Among the questions the Senate must ask: Does Tillerson propose that these sanctions be softened or lifted? He has in the past been a critic of Russia, and then its partner. Has he divested himself of his Exxon holdings to avoid conflicts of interest in his dealings with Russia as secretary of state? Putin awarded an Order of Friendship on Tillerson shortly after the Arctic deal. Will this relationship with Putin sway U.S. dealings with Russia? We await details on Tillerson and also on what a congressional inquiry determines about Russias role in the U.S. presidential election. But these are separate from the sanctions necessary to continue to punish Russia for its annexation of Crimea and sowing war in Ukraine. And this isnt even considering Russias role in the brutalization of Aleppo and the war crimes there. The sanctions must remain in a Trump administration unless Russia substantively relents. WESPORT A 47-year-old Westport man and actor whose screen credits include Boardwalk Empire has been arrested after police said they found 50 digital images of child pornography during search of his home. Paul Jude Letersky, of Riverside Avenue, was charged with child pornography in the first degree, enticing a minor and risk of injury. Lt. David Farrell said the Westport Police Department was alerted to an inappropriate sexting relationship between Letersky and a juvenile from Colorado. At around 5 a.m. Wednesday, the Westport Police Detective Bureau executed a search warrant on Leterskys home, Farrell said. Over 50 digital images of child pornography were discovered during the search, he said. Based on this evidence, Letersky was arrested on scene for child pornography, first degree. Farrell said an arrest warrant was also served on Letersky charging him with enticing a minor and risk of Injury, stemming from the original complaint. Letersky was held held on $500,000 bond and is scheduled to appear in Stamford Court on Jan. 13. This incident is still under investigation by the Westport Police Detective Youth Division, led by Sergeant Sereniti Dobson, Farrell said. Assisting with the investigation is the Southwest Connecticut Technical Investigation Unit, comprised of officers from Weston, New Canaan, Norwalk, Greenwich and Connecticut State Police. According to the website IMDB, Letersky played a number of uncredited, recurring roles including an iron salesman, a postal supervisor and a state police officer from 2010 to 2013 on the HBO series Boardwalk Empire. More recently, he appeared in another uncredited role as a KGB agent in 2014 and 2015 episodes of the FX series, The Americans, the website said. SACRAMENTO California legislative leaders upped the ante on their vows to fight attempts by the incoming Trump administration to weaken the states climate change, immigration or other policies, announcing Wednesday that their houses hired former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to help. State Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de Leon, D-Los Angeles, and Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon, D-Paramount (Los Angeles County), said Holder and his team from the firm Covington & Burling will serve as outside legal counsel for the Legislature under a three-month, $75,000 contract. Its very important to prepare California in the event there needs to be a legal fight to protect the policies that have made California the fifth-largest economy in the world, de Leon said in an interview Wednesday. The move comes after Gov. Jerry Brown nominated Democratic Rep. Xavier Becerra to fill the attorney general seat vacated by Kamala Harris, who was sworn into the U.S. Senate on Tuesday. The Legislature is holding nomination hearings next week for Becerras appointment, which lawmakers are expected to approve. Californias attorney general typically serves as the states top attorney, but Rendon and de Leon said they began talking in November about bringing on additional legal help after Donald Trump was elected president. They said Holder and his firm ensure they have the best and brightest defense in order to resist any attempts to roll back the progress California has made. The renowned firm has represented states and corporations in fights against the federal government. The Assembly and state Senate will split the firms $25,000 monthly fee, which covers 40 attorney hours, to retain Holder and his team. The three-month contract is scheduled to begin Feb. 1. Rendon said Holder and the firm will work directly with him and de Leon. The contract calls for Holder, former Los Angeles Rep. Howard Berman, former federal prosecutor Daniel Shallman and others at the firm to advise the Legislature on a wide range of topics where the state could clash with the Trump administration, including immigration, health care, civil rights and climate change policies. The Legislature made the announcement on the first day of the new legislative session. Democrats have a supermajority in both houses of the Legislature, meaning they have a two-thirds voting bloc that could be used to pass taxes or put initiatives on the ballot without a single Republican vote. The move to hire Holder comes after de Leon and Rendon used their swearing-in ceremonies last month to say they will fight Trump and his Cabinet picks on any effort to increase deportations of immigrants in the country without documentation. I am honored that the legislature chose Covington to serve as its legal advisor as it considers how to respond to potential changes in federal law that could impact Californias residents and policy priorities, Holder said in a statement. I am confident that our expertise across a wide array of federal legal and regulatory issues will be a great resource to the legislature. A spokesman at the firm declined to comment further. Holder was a partner at Covington from 2001 to 2009 before becoming attorney general in the Obama administration. He resigned as attorney general in 2015 and returned to the firms Washington office. State Republicans called the move a political stunt and questioned why outside counsel is needed given the attorney generals office serves as the states legal team and the Legislature has an office of its own legislative lawyers. Democrats should focus on solving these real-world problems instead of wasting tax-payer money to score political points before the president-elect even takes office, said Assembly Republican Leader Chad Mayes, R-Yucca Valley (San Bernardino County), in a statement. The states incoming attorney general has spent decades in Washington working on federal policies. Its not clear why legislative Democrats needed to hire a D.C. insider to litigate the exact same issues. What a waste, added state Sen. Patricia Bates, R-Laguna Niguel (Orange County). Rendon said the attorney general is tasked with providing legal advice to the state, not lawmakers, and that legislative counsel is a nonpartisan office that cant advise Democrats on strategy. The rhetoric coming out of the future administration, the rhetoric throughout the campaign we dont think this is overreaction at all, Rendon told reporters Wednesday. Melody Gutierrez is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: mgutierrez@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @MelodyGutierrez Hines Global REIT has bought 8.8 acres of property at The Rim, including the sites of Hopdoddy Burger Bar and Macys Backstage, completing its three-year process of becoming the dominant landowner at the shopping center. The Houston-based real estate investment trust bought the land in late December from entities connected to Thomas Enterprises Inc., the Georgia firm that developed The Rim about a decade ago, property records show. The purchase includes 136,000 square feet of existing retail space and another 100,000 square feet that is either under construction or has been leased to chains such as Lupe Tortilla and Glorias Latin Cuisine, Hines spokesman Mark Clegg said. carrie fisher Disney could get financial compensation for the death of Carrie Fisher. The company behind "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" and all new movies in the franchise put in place an insurance policy on Fisher before she signed a three-picture deal to reprise her role as Princess Leia from the original trilogy in the event that she could not fulfill her contract, according to The Insurance Insider. Because Fisher died on December 27 after suffering a heart attack on a flight four days earlier Disney could receive $50 million, according to The Insurance Insider. Fisher starred in "The Force Awakens" and she will also be in the next "Star Wars" film, "Episode VIII," which has completed filming. However, production on "Episode IX" hasn't started yet. There's no word on if Disney has similar policies for "Star Wars" actors Mark Hamill and Harrison Ford. It is also unclear how the franchise will address Leia in "Episode IX." In the first standalone "Star Wars" movie, "Rogue One," digital effects brought Peter Cushing, who died in 1994, back to the screen to reprise his role as Grand Moff Tarkin from the original 1977 "Star Wars" movie. But Industrial Light and Magic, which created the computer-generated Tarkin and a younger version of Fisher as Leia in the movie has said it doesn't plan to do that sort of effect often. "We're not planning on doing this digital re-creation extensively from now on," John Knoll, chief creative officer of ILM and visual effects supervisor on "Rogue One," told The New York Times. "It just made sense for this particular movie." "Star Wars: Episode VIII" opens in theaters in December 2017. Fisher's representatives and Disney did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider. NOW WATCH: Watch the mysterious trailer for the new Transformers movie that could change everything you know about Optimus Prime More From Business Insider Obiang's seized cars. Teodorin Obiang Nguema, son of Equatorial Guineas president, is set to be tried in France for money laundering and corruption. Obiang, who is also the countrys vice-president, is accused of looting state funds and spending lavishly acquiring luxury cars and mansions across Europe. While the trial proceedings will be held in France, other European countries have clamped down on Obiangs questionable spending. Last November, 11 of Obiangs luxury cars, including a $2.8 million Koenigegg One, and a $2 million Bugatti Veyron, were seized in Switzerland while Dutch authorities seized Ebony Shine, a $120 million 76-meter (250 ft) luxury yacht, said to belong to Obiang. The US has also cracked down Obiangs assets. As part of a settlement, Obiang forfeited more than $30 million worth of assets, including a Malibu mansion and other luxury cars, purchased with corruption proceeds. For his part, Obiang is expected to plead not guilty as his lawyers says he earned the money legally in his country. His attorneys have also tried to delay the trial claiming they have not had enough time to prepare. Should the trial go ahead as scheduled, Obiang is not expected to attend or serve a sentence if convicted. However, a conviction of the vice-president will reinforce the notion in Equatorial Guinea that the countrys ruling family are plundering state resources for personal gain. Obiangs father is Africas longest serving president, in power for 37 years. Despite being oil-rich with one of Africas highest rates of GDP per capita, 2013 estimates pegged the countrys poverty rate at 60%. Equatorial Guineas wealth earnings and poverty rate paradox means the country has the worlds largest gap between per capita wealth and human development score. Sign up for the Quartz Africa Weekly Brief the most important and interesting news from across the continent, in your inbox. Story continues Sign up for the Quartz Daily Brief, our free daily newsletter with the worlds most important and interesting news. More stories from Quartz: By Matthew Cunningham-Cook, who has written for the International Business Times, The New Republic, Jacobin, Aljazeera, and The Nation and has been a labor activist It was a grim Christmas in the Houthi-supporting Yemeni countryside, where the peasants backing a right to national self-determination are subjected to an old form of population control: starvation. The Yemenis have the misfortune of sitting at a key strategic chokepoint in global production: the Bab el-Mandeb at the southern base of the Red Sea, passing 13% of global oil production annually through its waters. The Bab el-Mandeb is just 25 miles across, making it difficult to navigateand easy for a small group of pirates to disrupt. Management by Instability Directly west of Yemen sit Eritrea, Djibouti, and then Ethiopiathree countries that are active targets of US intervention. Djibouti features Africas only permanent US military base, Camp Lemonnier, which hosts over 1000 highly trained special forces. Eritreas fiercely independent government is an ongoing target of the State Department and liberal NGOs. Ethiopias sociopathic leadershipcomposed of the henchmen of the now-deceased brutal despot Meles Zenawimakes Ethiopia the largest recipient of US aid in sub-Saharan Africa. Bordering Ethiopia and south of Yemen lies Somalia, the site of arguably the most sustained campaign of American-European-Saudi intervention anywhere in the world. Persistent overt and covert meddling in Somali affairs has made it without a functioning national government for over a quarter-century. Directly north of Yemen sits Saudi Arabiato paraphrase Porfirio Diaz, poor Yemen, so far from Godand so close to the Saudis. The region surrounding the Bab el-Mandebthe Horn of Africais a hot spot at the center of global production, and a site of ongoing neoimperialist assault. Exemplifying the ongoing, multiple and converging crises that humanity faces, what happens there is of deep import to us all. The facts on the ground are this: Nearly four years of upheaval culminated in a nationalist revolutionary militia, the Houthis, seizing the capital in 2015, demanding recognition as Yemens civil government. The Houthis have a primary demand: an end to US and Saudi imperialism in the Middle East. They have denounced the Saudi government, and particularly the Saudis family ties to al-Qaeda and Salafism-Wahhabism more broadly. Riyadh and the Gulf States have not responded kindly to such broadsides, beginning a horrifying bombing and blockade campaign in March 2015, with the crucial logistical support of the US and the UK. The US has sold over $115 billion worth of arms to Saudi Arabia since 2009; the UK has sold over $4 billion worth of arms to Saudi Arabia since the war began. Over three million people have been displaced by the bombs, with 600 hospitals and health centers destroyed. Seven million people are on the brink of starvation, and as of December 15 all further wheat imports have been halted in a country dependent on imports for 90% of its food, due to the chicanery of the puppets at Yemens new central bank (the old central bank was shut down by the government-in-exile in September and moved from Sanaa to Aden in the Southmuch more on this below). It appears the Saudis have a plan for complete extermination. Their murderous campaign is being led by King Salmans son, 31-year old defense minister and second deputy crown prince Mohamed bin Salman al Saud, who among other things happens to be buddies with both President Obama and the patron of leading ISIS/Al-Qaeda theocrat Mohamed AlArefe. While mass starvation deepens, the bombing continues apace, with the Saudis dropping cluster bombs on Hajja governorate on December 26, according to Al-Manar. (Cluster bombs are a particularly nasty product of the military-industrial complex, with collateral damage a built-in feature.) This fall also notably featured the Saudi bombing of a funeral, with 140 civilians dead. Amidst a foreground cast of Arabs, the war has brought from his blood-splattered cave the likes of the brother of Secretary of Education-designate Betsy DeVos, Erik Prince of Blackwater fame, who trained 450 mostly-Colombian mercenaries (paid a reported $1000 per week) to fight on behalf of the Emirates presidential guard, led by Australian citizen Mike Hindmarsh. Its a cruel war with no beneficiaries outside the leaching fingers of the Saudi royal family and the boardrooms of Lockheed, Boeing, General Dynamics, and Raytheonbut those actors combined are far too powerful in todays world to be stopped by a ragtag band of poverty-stricken Yemenis like the Houthis. None of this humanitarian catastrophe would be possible without the craven role played by the media in London and New York, which has vastly underreported the scale of Saudi atrocities (which include, at this juncture, the bombing of no less than six Doctors Without Borders clinics and hospitals), the pressing and desperate nature of the pending mass starvation, and, most importantly, the cynical and criminal role played by the arms manufacturers, making a literal killing yet again off of death and destruction. Mainstream human rights organizations, while recognizing the scale of the problem, resort to both-sides critiques that fail to recognize that both the famine and the ongoing bombing-related destruction are products of Saudi aggression: it is the Saudis that are exclusively bombing, and the Saudi bombing of Yemens agricultural infrastructurecombined with the Saudi naval blockadeprecipitated the mass starvation now. Also vastly underreported is the crucial role of the shutdown of Yemens Central Bank in Sanaa and the firing of the neutral central bank governor, Mohammed Awad bin Hammam, a brave man who during the course of the war has prevented complete famine from emerging. Until now. Mass Starvation by Finance Mohammed Awad bin Hammam had served under Ali Abdullah Saleh, the US-backed dictator who ruled from 1979 until 2011 (and is now aligned with the Houthis), and under Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi, the Saudi puppet with no army or coherent base of supporters to speak of. (Hadi has had to depend on Emirati-paid mercenaries and Saudi air power for his armed forces in the civil war.) When Hadi resigned in January 2015 as the Houthis approached, bin Hammam stayed. The governor is widely respected, even earning praise from the usually taciturn IMF. Of chief complaint to the Saudis is that bin Hammam had continued to pay the salaries of civil servants and soldiers who may be Houthis. That bin Hammam was also continuing to pay the salaries of civil servants aligned with Hadi has been shunt from view. What is indisputable is that bin Hammam is a neutral actor attempting to make the best of a bad situation. The central bank in Sanaa was the only institution capable of paying salaries across the country and preventing the rise of famine. In September, Hadi sacked bin Hammam and ordered that the central bank be moved to Aden, where his puppet government resides. Bin Hammam had begged that Hadi hire a Big 4 audit firm to review the practices of the Central Bankin particular, any wavering on neutralitybefore attempting to move the bank to Aden. Hadi and the Saudis demurred. The Aden bank is incapable of getting food into Yemen, which has resulted in the end of wheat shipmentsa disaster of Biblical proportions, inflicted on Yemens most vulnerable civilians, in particular 2.2 million children. Despite the desperate pleas of bin Hammam, the IMF, Wall Street and the Treasury Department appear to have recognized the Aden bank as the sole monetary authority in the nation, making the Saudi-Hadi gambit 100% successful so far. More ordinary concerns, like the starvation of 7 million people, have not risen to the level of concern for Masters of the Universe. John Kerry has emphasized a defunct peace process which include the preconditions of the Houthis leaving Sanaa and giving up all of their heavy weaponry (lambs to the slaughter, etc. etc.) while letting the fact that a child dies every ten minutes in Yemen due to this vile blockade go unmentioned. Were the IMF or the Treasury Department to declare the Sanaa bank a legitimate monetary authority, it is likely that food shipments could begin immediately. The Aden bank has nowhere near the level of technical expertise (nearly all of the civil servants appear to have remained in Sanaa) needed to be able to bring food innor is it clear that the leaders of the Aden bank would like to. The Saudi military has suffered setback after setback on the battlefield, and mass starvation is the response by Riyadh to this string of defeatsstarve em out. On December 16 Reuters published an astounding article detailing the distressing circumstances behind the cancellation of wheat shipments. One of the largest food importers, the Fahem Group, sent a letter to both the Sanaa and Aden banks saying that they could not process their transactions in United States dollars. Further detail was not provided, but the two banks were advised that this was a serious problem that needed to be addressed. The December import cancellation is not the first time that Yemens ability to import food had been financially (rather than directly via Saudi naval blockade) hampered. In July, the bin Hammam-led Central Bank of Yemen was cut off from access to $260 million in foreign currencystored in Yemen rather than abroadbecause international financial institutions were refusing to cooperate with it. This means that the currency must travel by plane to be deposited in a foreign financial institutionat great expense to an impoverished nation. It is unclearbut highly, highly unlikelythat the bank has been able to deposit these funds successfully in the succeeding months. At this point, it is apparent that the Treasury Department and the IMF are actively working to undermine theagain, neutralSanaa bank. The problem is that the private financial sector does not have faith in the creditworthiness of Yemeni institutions, a faith that could be easily grantedand in fact, is the oft-ignored mission ofthe IMF. Given the US extensive support for the war thus far, Treasury involvement in propping up the Aden bank at the expense of the Sana bank is guaranteed. The bait and switch reveals itself: as Obama finally cancels some arms exports to Saudi Arabiaan acknowledgement of the barbaric nature of this warthe US financial apparatus and the IMF agree with the sacking of the neutral central bank governor and replacing him with a puppet determined to starve the nations people until Saudi victory. (Its worth noting that the US has both formal and informal veto power over IMF decision-making). Convicted criminal Christine Lagarde apparently is too busy destroying what remains of the Greek welfare state to focus on stopping a food-based genocide. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew, meanwhile, appears to be too fraught with the dilemma of aubergine or burgundy drapes for his new, much-grander-than-before office at Citigroup to be able to help any starving Yemeni babies. The December Reuters article also contained this little gem:The Houthis try to play this card of the starvation of people to gain more international media attention Brigadier General Ahmed al-Asseri, spokesman for the Saudis. Wheres the Opposition? So far weve concluded that the Saudi-led war, naval blockade, and IMF/Treasury-assisted financial blockade in Yemen is 1) destructive and depraved; wretched, and 2) that these vile attacks on the Yemeni people could not have happened without the active support of the United State government, the country most of you, dear readers, live in. So who is standing up to say Enough! of this deadly aggression, and Stop! to the genocide of a people? Certainly not leading intellectual huckster and UN Ambassador Samantha Power, who has now stamped her name on the term genocide in more ways than one, in part by helping to stamp out a Dutch effort to have the UN investigate the war. Then we have an ostensibly progressive movement debasing itself with absurd claims of Russian hacking rather than focus on the real issue: who gets to live or die on planet Earth today. That said, there are some names worth noting in the small opposition that has begun to form against the war on the Yemeni people. The first casualty of war is truth, so well start with the rare voices in the media. Ben Nortons dispatches, formerly of Salon, have consistently drawn the contrasts necessary to explain this conflict succinctly: namely, that this is a war of Saudi aggression. Iona Craig of the Intercept has provided the most desperately needed on the ground reporting on the brutal and punitive nature of the war. Reuters coverage of the central banking crisis has been invaluable (linked profusely throughout this article.) Andrew Cockburn of Harpers published in September the only long-form overview of this catastrophic war I can find, an article which in part inspired this one. And the BBCs documentary on starvation in Yemen has been an incitement to action. The Real News Network and their Yemen source, Bilal Zaneb Ahmed, have also been doing vital work on the roots of the conflict, as has Democracy Now! In politics, Congressman Ted Lieu (D-CA) has played a yeomans role in attempting to whip opposition to the Saudi aggression in Congresresulting in a near victory of an amendment to ban transfers of cluster munitions in June 2016. Lieu was helped in this effort by John Conyers (D-MI), Keith Ellison (D-MN), Jim McGovern (D-MA), Hank Johnson (D-GA), Raul Grijalva (D-AZ), and Barbara Lee (D-CA). Likewise, the bipartisan coalition of Senators Rand Paul, (R-KY), Chris Murphy, (D-CT), Mike Lee (R-UT), and Al Franken (D-MN) successfully raised the issue in the Senate in September, but further action has not been taken. A key question is if this opposition will be raised in Senate confirmation hearings for James Mattis for Secretary of Defense. Mattis was an advocate for aggressive US intervention against Iranian humanitarian support for Yemenis while head of Middle East-based CENTCOM from 2010-2013. Such opposition could also be raised during confirmation hearings for Rex Tillerson as Secretary of State. Tillerson has deep experience in Yemen, once working as head of Exxon Yemen. In the UK, Jeremy Corbyns leadership of the Labour Party has been a vocal site of resistance to the British role in the conflictproving that socialists tend to provide the most able critiques of imperial wars. In the streets in the US Medea Benjamins Code Pink has been the most strident voice of opposition to the War in Yemen.In the UK, that role has been filled by the Stop the War Coalition. A ramping up of No!s desperately must happen, however. In the media, in Congress, and in the streets. And at this crucial juncture, the No.1 priority should move from stopping arms shipments to restoring the functionality of the neutral Sanaa Central Bank of Yemen and restoring Muhammad Awad bin Hammam to his position as Governor of the bank. The Saudis have shifted their focus from the battlefieldwhich invites unfortunate headlinesto the shadowy levers of global finance. The potential casualtiesat 7 million, including 2.2 million childrenwill be far higher, lest we stop them. Further actions and dispatches will be forthcoming in the coming weeks. If interested in getting involved, please contact me at m.cunninghamcook@gmail.com. By Cevat Giray Aksoy, Research Economist, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development: Christopher S. Carpenter Professor of Economics, Professor of Law, Professor of Education, Professor of Medicine, Health, and Society, and Professor of Health Policy, Vanderbilt University; and Jefferson Frank, Professor of Economics, University of London. Originally published at VoxEU Since the mid 1990s, many researchers have investigated labour market discrimination based on sexual orientation (e.g. Badgett 1995, Black et al. 2003, Arabsheibani et al. 2004, Plug and Berkhout 2004). These studies frequently find large earnings differences. Partnered gay men earn significantly less than partnered heterosexual men, and partnered lesbian women earn significantly more than partnered heterosexual women. When individual level self-reports of sexual orientation are available, the earnings differences are generally smaller. The previous studies have struggled with a trade-off between representativeness and sample size. Couples-based datasets such as population censuses in Canada, the US, and the UK provide large samples of same-sex couples, but do not identify the sexual identity of non-partnered individuals. In contrast, datasets with individual-level information on sexual orientation or sexual behaviour have been much smaller. The few studies with individual-level information on sexual orientation and reasonably large samples of sexual minorities have been limited to single states (e.g. Carpenter 2005), limited to young adults (Plug and Berkhout 2004), or lacked information on labour market earnings (Carpenter 2008a). As a result, we do not know whether differences in estimated earnings effects of a minority sexual orientation in studies have been due to differences in the samples, populations, or outcomes. It has also been difficult to disentangle the causes of sexual orientation-based differences in labour market outcomes (is it specialisation or discrimination?). A Nationally Representative Dataset In a recent paper, we overcome these problems by using confidential versions of the 2012-2014 UK Integrated Household Surveys (IHS), linked to high-quality labour market earnings data from the countrys Annual Population Survey (Aksoy et al. 2016). To our knowledge, it is the first country-wide dataset combining partnership status, self-identified sexual orientation, and high-quality data on labour market earnings. We use to it identify large samples of sexual minority individuals more than 2,500 self-identified lesbians, gay men, and bisexuals (LGB) through their responses to a direct question about sexual orientation. We also identify those in same-sex partnerships. This means we can directly test for how measurement of sexual orientation (individual level self-reports versus same-sex partnerships) is related to earnings differences between sexual minorities and heterosexuals, and comment more directly on possible explanations for differences in earnings. Partnership Status Matters: Full-time Employment We discover that it is important to have data on both partnered and non-partnered sexual minorities. Our full-time employment models indicate that gay (bisexual) men are 4.5 (11.9) percentage points less likely to be working full time than similar heterosexual men. This difference for gay men is driven by the partnered sample. Partnered gay men are 6.1 percentage points less likely to be working full time than similar partnered heterosexual men. In contrast, the difference for bisexual men is driven primarily in the non-partnered sample. Non-partnered bisexual men are 11.7 percentage points less likely to be working full time than similar non-partnered heterosexual men. Lesbians are 8.2 percentage points more likely to be working full time than similar heterosexual women, while bisexual women are 5.4 percentage points less likely to be working full time. As with gay males, the lesbian difference in full-time employment (although of opposite sign) is predominantly driven by the partnered sample. Partnered lesbians are 15.4 percentage points more likely to be working full time than similar partnered heterosexual women. Partnership Status Matters: Earnings After controlling for observable determinants of earnings such as education, location, and family structure, we find a positive and statistically significant difference in earnings for partnered lesbians compared to partnered heterosexual women, but no earnings differential for non-partnered lesbians compared with similar non-partnered heterosexual women. We find a negative and marginally significant earnings penalty for partnered gay men compared to partnered heterosexual men, but no earnings differential for non-partnered gay men compared with similar non-partnered heterosexual men. Taking partnered and non-partnered individuals together, we find that the earnings difference associated with a gay sexual orientation for men is near zero, while the associated population-based earnings difference among women associated with a lesbian orientation is a premium of about 5.5%, and is statistically significant. Specialisation or Discrimination? Our results are consistent with specialisation. Heterosexual partnerships typically involve gendered specialisation. The man is more engaged in market activities than the woman, particularly given that many couples have children. Even if the degree of household specialisation were the same in heterosexual and gay male households, gendered heterosexual specialisation means that the average partnered heterosexual man would be more focused on market activities than the average partnered gay man. The same argument implies the average partnered lesbian would be more focused on market activities than the average partnered heterosexual woman. These differences would not accrue to non-partnered individuals. Our data support these specialisation-based predictions. Our finding that the lesbian premium among partnered individuals accrued approximately equally to lesbians who are household heads and lesbians who are not household heads also supports the idea that there is less specialisation in a lesbian household. There is some limited evidence for discrimination as an explanatory factor. Our results show that older gay men and partnered gay men earn less than comparable heterosexual men. It is likely that, as men get older, not being in a heterosexual marriage becomes more of a signal of sexual minority status (Carpenter 2007, Frank 2007). It may also be easier to see that partnered gay men are gay, compared to their counterparts who do not have partners. For example, they may have photos of a same-sex partner or list their same-sex partner as a beneficiary. If there is discrimination against gay men, more observable individuals may bear a greater penalty. The gay male penalty occurs only outside London, where there is likely to be a stronger taste for discrimination. Finally, the bisexual male penalty occurs only in the private sector, and not the public sector where there is greater protection against discrimination. Our unique samples of partnered and non-partnered sexual minorities, and high-quality data on earnings, provide evidence to support a role for specialisation in explaining sexual orientation-based differences in labour market earnings, with less evidence for selectivity, and limited and mixed support for discrimination. See original post for references Chance meeting leads to creation of antibiotic spider silk (Nanowerk News) A chance meeting between a spider expert and a chemist has led to the development of antibiotic synthetic spider silk. After five years' work an interdisciplinary team of scientists at The University of Nottingham has developed a technique to produce chemically functionalised spider silk that can be tailored to applications used in drug delivery, regenerative medicine and wound healing. Spider silk and spider are shown. (Image: The University of Nottingham) The Nottingham research team has shown for the first time how 'click-chemistry' can be used to attach molecules, such as antibiotics or fluorescent dyes, to artificially produced spider silk synthesised by E.coli bacteria. The research, funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) is published today in the online journal Advanced Materials ("Antibiotic Spider Silk: Site-Specific Functionalization of Recombinant Spider Silk Using Click Chemistry"). The chosen molecules can be 'clicked' into place in soluble silk protein before it has been turned into fibres, or after the fibres have been formed. This means that the process can be easily controlled and more than one type of molecule can be used to 'decorate' individual silk strands. Nottingham breakthrough In a laboratory in the Centre of Biomolecular Sciences, Professor Neil Thomas from the School of Chemistry in collaboration with Dr Sara Goodacre from the School of Life Sciences, has led a team of BBSRC DTP-funded PhD students starting with David Harvey who was then joined by Victor Tudorica, Leah Ashley and Tom Coekin. They have developed and diversified this new approach to functionalising 'recombinant' -- artificial -- spider silk with a wide range of small molecules. They have shown that when these 'silk' fibres are 'decorated' with the antibiotic levofloxacin it is slowly released from the silk, retaining its anti-bacterial activity for at least five days. Neil Thomas, a Professor of Medicinal and Biological Chemistry, said: "Our technique allows the rapid generation of biocompatible, mono or multi-functionalised silk structures for use in a wide range of applications. These will be particularly useful in the fields of tissue engineering and biomedicine." Remarkable qualities of spider silk Spider silk is strong, biocompatible and biodegradable. It is a protein-based material that does not appear to cause a strong immune, allergic or inflammatory reaction. With the recent development of recombinant spider silk, the race has been on to find ways of harnessing its remarkable qualities. The Nottingham research team has shown that their technique can be used to create a biodegradable mesh which can do two jobs at once. It can replace the extra cellular matrix that our own cells generate, to accelerate growth of the new tissue. It can also be used for the slow release of antibiotics. Professor Thomas said: "There is the possibility of using the silk in advanced dressings for the treatment of slow-healing wounds such as diabetic ulcers. Using our technique infection could be prevented over weeks or months by the controlled release of antibiotics. At the same time tissue regeneration is accelerated by silk fibres functioning as a temporary scaffold before being biodegraded." The medicinal properties of spider silk recognised for centuries. The medicinal properties of spider silk have been recognised for centuries but not clearly understood. The Greeks and Romans treated wounded soldiers with spider webs to stop bleeding. It is said that soldiers would use a combination of honey and vinegar to clean deep wounds and then cover the whole thing with balled-up spider webs. There is even a mention in Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream: "I shall desire you of more acquaintance, good master cobweb," the character 'Bottom' said. "If I cut my finger, I shall make bold of you." 'I think we could make that!' The idea came together at a discipline bridging university 'sandpit' meeting five years ago. Dr Goodacre says her chance meeting at that event with Professor Thomas proved to be one of the most productive afternoons of her career. Dr Goodacre, who heads up the SpiderLab in the School of Life Sciences, said: "I got up at that meeting and showed the audience a picture of some spider silk. I said 'I want to understand how this silk works, and then make some.' "At the end of the session Neil came up to me and said 'I think my group could make that.' He also suggested that there might be more interesting 'tweaks' one could make so that the silk could be 'decorated' with different, useful, compounds either permanently or which could be released over time due to a change in the acidity of the environment." The approach required the production of the silk proteins in a bacterium where an amino acid not normally found in proteins was included. This amino acid contained an azide group which is widely used in 'click' reactions that only occur at that position in the protein. It was an approach that no-one had used before with spider silk -- but the big question was -- would it work? Dr Goodacre said: "It was the start of a fascinating adventure that saw a postdoc undertake a very preliminary study to construct the synthetic silks. He was a former SpiderLab PhD student who had previously worked with our tarantulas. Thanks to his ground work we showed we could produce the silk proteins in bacteria. We were then joined by David Harvey, a new PhD student, who not only made the silk fibres, incorporating the unusual amino acid, but also decorated it and demonstrated its antibiotic activity. He has since extended those first ideas far beyond what we had thought might be possible." David Harvey's work is described in this paper but Professor Thomas and Dr Goodacre say this is just the start. There are other joint SpiderLab/Thomas lab students working on uses for this technology in the hope of developing it further. David Harvey, the lead author on this their first paper, has just been awarded his PhD and is now a postdoctoral researcher on a BBSRC follow-on grant so is still at the heart of the research. His current work is focused on driving the functionalised spider silk technology towards commercial application in wound healing and tissue regeneration. Where will we be in 5 years' time? 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. A Tipperary nurse has returned from a two week volunteering placement in Uganda where she played a key role in helping to improve health services for people in one small town in the African country. And Anne Hayes from Clonoulty says she would recommend the experience to anyone Anne, a public health nurse based in the County Clinic in Clonmel, travelled to Uganda with an Irish charity called Nurture Africa, which has a targeted focus on healthcare, education, child protection and economic empowerment. She says it does amazing work in Nansana, a town 6 km from the capital city of Uganda, Kampala. A health centre has been built, which provides free care and medication to children under 5, from very poor families in the local area. It also provides free counselling and HIV drug treatment to families. It runs an ante natal clinic for pregnant mothers infected with HIV, and provides free medication and free food for these mothers. Working with University College Dublin VSO, a new physiotherapy department has just opened in June this year and now treats children with cerebral palsy, and they have made amazing progress in a very short period of time. Anne says Nurture Africa also offer small loans to local individuals and groups, in building and developing small business, such as fruit and vegetable stalls, in order to sustain their families, and send their children to school. She says - "Nurture Africa' are very closely involved with local schools, and we as a group of volunteers were fortunate to visit and carry out library reading, and health education workshops with these children. "The charity is supported by Deloitte' and 'Friends First and this summer an Information Technology centre has been built by Irish volunteers, and computer training and classes have just commenced for children from local schools. "I was privileged and humbled to be part of the incredible work during my two week placement - working in the clinic, carrying out HIV testing, visiting homes of people infected with HIV, and visiting local schools, and local small businesses. "The most amazing thing is that everyone in Uganda is smiling, and so grateful for our help and involvement with 'Nurture'. "For anyone who might be interested in a volunteering placement in Africa, I can wholeheartedly testify to the incredible lifesaving work of Nurture Africa". Anne is pictured with groups of familes and children in the town of Nansana while one shot (below) shows the difficult conditions that people live in. The Senate Banking Committee will have six fresh faces in the new Congress as Republicans grapple with a slimmer majority. The panel roster was finalized Tuesday as Republicans announced committee assignments that included Sens. David Perdue, R-Ga., Thom Tillis, R-N.C., and John Kennedy, R-La. Perdue and Tillis were elected in 2015 and Kennedy won in a runoff election in 2016 to fill the Senate seat vacated by Sen. David Vitter, a banking panel member in the previous Congress. Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., is also off the committee and Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., lost his 2016 re-election bid. In a statement, Perdue said he will carry the GOP torch to reduce regulations on financial institutions. "We need to dismantle the regulatory regime of Dodd-Frank, encourage entrepreneurial innovation, and unleash economic growth to get Americans working again," Perdue said. Democrats, meanwhile, benefit from an additional seat on the panel. They now have 11 seats, compared with Republicans' 12, reflecting the closer division between political parties in the full chamber. Overall, Democrats had three additional members as two left the committee. Joining the ranks are Sens. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., and Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev. Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., will no longer be on the banking committee, instead focusing on his responsibilities as the Senate Democratic leader. Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., is also getting off the panel. Progressives praised the Democratic assignments. "Adding Schatz, Van Hollen, and Cortez Masto is a pretty clear win for folks who pushed Schumer in October to not stack Senate Banking with even more conservative Democrats," said Kurt Walters, campaign director at Rootstrikers. But Washington observers said the dynamic at the committee will likely be similar to that of the previous Congress, with policymaking likely up to Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, who is chairing the committee, and Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, the panel's top Democrat. "Obviously it helps to have a bigger margin rather than a smaller margin, but for most purposes it doesn't really change much," said Mark Calabria, a former Senate Banking Committee staffer and director of financial regulations studies at the Cato Institute. "The mix on the Dem side really hasn't shifted things much, in terms of progressive-moderate," Calabria said. Likewise, Brian Gardner, a policy analyst at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, said: "I don't see a big ideological shift among RepublicansThe newer members will probably to some extent defer to the chairman and to the new administration." However, there are high hopes for a better working relationship between Brown and Crapo. The committee may also be more active under Crapo. "You have a big stylistic change with Crapo at the top replacing Shelby as chairman," Gardner said. Of note is that Nevada will now have both its senators on the panel while New York the financial center of the U.S. will have none. Still, in his role as Senate Democratic leader, Schumer will carry significant weight, observers said. "I suspect Schumer will be kind of a shadow member," Gardner said. "He may not be there to vote, but he is going to have a lot of behind-the-scenes say in what the Democrats' angle is to the committee. He is going to be active; he is just not going to be formally part of the committee." But the Nevada senators could prove to be active in any debate over housing finance reform. Nevada "was ground zero for the mortgage crisis," Gardner said. "They will be looking at mortgage issues obviously, but in a crisis mode it is more what the system should look like going forward." Cortez Masto played an important role in the $25 billion national mortgage settlement as Nevada attorney general and later was able to settle a separate lawsuit with Bank of America, accusing the bank of breaking the terms of the original settlement. Sometimes campaign contributions can also provide some insight into a lawmaker's policy positions. Tillis counts the fund company Elliot Management as his top campaign donor, and the $1.6 billion-asset Live Oak Bank, which is based in his home state of North Carolina and is a large Small Business Administration lender, is his fifth-largest donor. (Natural News) The British governments mass surveillance powers have been severely undermined by The European Unions top court. The new ruling could constrain police and spy agency investigations. The judgement was handed down last month, in Luxembourg, where the European Court of Justice declared that general and indiscriminate data retention regarding peoples communications and whereabouts is inconsistent with privacy rights. The court stated that bulk storage of private data is highly invasive and exceeds the limits of necessity, therefore it cant be justified within a democratic society. The ruling is a victory for civil liberties advocates, but a major blow against mass surveillance. Retention of our digital histories is a very intrusive form of surveillance which needs safeguarding. The 15 judges on the European courts panel acknowledged that modern investigative techniques were necessary to fight against organized crime and terrorism efforts, but couldnt justify general and indiscriminate retention of all traffic and location data. It is still acceptable, however, for governments to perform targeted data retention. This pertains to cases involving serious crimes, but access to that data must be overseen by a judicial authority or independent administrative authority. Those who were targeted by surveillance will be notified upon completion of the investigation. In December, 2014, two British members of parliament originated the case by challenging the legality of the UK governments Data Retention, where telecommunications companies were forced to store their customers communication records for one year. The law was replaced with the Investigatory Powers Act, which was approved by British parliament. Since the UK recently voted to leave the European Union, Wednesdays significant ruling will likely be a headache for British government officials. The ruling will be forwarded to the UKs Court of Appeal, so judges can determine how it will be applied in context with the national law. This might force the government to make changes to controversial sections of the Investigatory Powers Act, which gives police and spy agencies an abundance of access to civilian data. This will mark the UK governments first serious post-Brexit test to their commitment for protecting human rights and the rule of law. The people of the UK have voted to leave the EU, but not to give up their rights and freedoms. The government must now make significant changes to the Investigatory Powers Act in order to comply with the peoples personal privacy rights. In a statement from the British governments Home Office, a spokesperson said that We are disappointed with the judgment from the European court of justice and will be considering its potential implications. The government will be putting forward robust arguments to the court of appeal about the strength of our existing regime for communications data retention and access. The UKs appeal of the decision is likely be dragged out for a long time. If the appeal can outlast the completion of the Brexit process, the ruling will no longer matter. This should raise questions concerning politicians who are granting the government powers to inappropriately spy on citizens. Sources: TheIntercept.com TechDirt.com (Natural News) The U.S. establishment is not content simply to have domination over the media narratives on critical foreign policy issues, such as Syria, Ukraine and Russia. It wants total domination. Thus we now have the Countering Foreign Propaganda and Disinformation Act that President Obama signed into law on Dec. 23 as part of the National Defense Authorization Act for 2017, setting aside $160 million to combat any propaganda that challenges Official Washingtons version of reality. (Article by Tyler Durden, republished from zerohedge.com) The new law mandates the U.S. Secretary of State to collaborate with the Secretary of Defense, Director of National Intelligence and other federal agencies to create a Global Engagement Center to lead, synchronize, and coordinate efforts of the Federal Government to recognize, understand, expose, and counter foreign state and non-state propaganda and disinformation efforts aimed at undermining United States national security interests. The law directs the Center to be formed in 180 days and to share expertise among agencies and to coordinate with allied nations. The legislation was initiated in March 2016, as the demonization of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russia was already underway and was enacted amid the allegations of Russian hacking around the U.S. presidential election and the mainstream medias furor over supposedly fake news. Defeated Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton voiced strong support for the bill: Its imperative that leaders in both the private sector and the public sector step up to protect our democracy, and innocent lives. The new law is remarkable for a number of reasons, not the least because it merges a new McCarthyism about purported dissemination of Russian propaganda on the Internet with a new Orwellianism by creating a kind of Ministry of Truth or Global Engagement Center to protect the American people from foreign propaganda and disinformation. As part of the effort to detect and defeat these unwanted narratives, the law authorizes the Center to: Facilitate the use of a wide range of technologies and techniques by sharing expertise among Federal departments and agencies, seeking expertise from external sources, and implementing best practices. (This section is an apparent reference to proposals that Google, Facebook and other technology companies find ways to block or brand certain Internet sites as purveyors of Russian propaganda or fake news.) Justifying this new bureaucracy, the bills sponsors argued that the existing agencies for strategic communications and public diplomacy were not enough, that the information threat required a whole-of-government approach leveraging all elements of national power. The law also is rife with irony since the U.S. government and related agencies are among the worlds biggest purveyors of propaganda and disinformation or what you might call evidence-free claims, such as the recent accusations of Russia hacking into Democratic emails to influence the U.S. election. Despite these accusations leaked by the Obama administration and embraced as true by the mainstream U.S. news media there is little or no public evidence to support the charges. There is also a contradictory analysis by veteran U.S. intelligence professionals as well as statements by Wikileaks founder Julian Assange and an associate, former British Ambassador Craig Murray, that the Russians were not the source of the leaks. Yet, the mainstream U.S. media has virtually ignored this counter-evidence, appearing eager to collaborate with the new Global Engagement Center even before it is officially formed. Of course, there is a long history of U.S. disinformation and propaganda. Former CIA agents Philip Agee and John Stockwell documented how it was done decades ago, secretly planting black propaganda and covertly funding media outlets to influence events around the world, with much of the fake news blowing back into the American media. In more recent decades, the U.S. government has adopted an Internet-era version of that formula with an emphasis on having the State Department or the U.S.-funded National Endowment for Democracy supply, train and pay activists and citizen journalists to create and distribute propaganda and false stories via social media and via contacts with the mainstream media. The U.S. governments strategy also seeks to undermine and discredit journalists who challenge this orthodoxy. The new legislation escalates this information war by tossing another $160 million into the pot. Propaganda and Disinformation on Syria Syria is a good case study in the modern application of information warfare. In her memoir Hard Choices, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton wrote that the U.S. provided support for (Syrian) civilian opposition groups, including satellite-linked computers, telephones, cameras, and training for more than a thousand activists, students and independent journalists. Indeed, a huge amount of money has gone to activists and civil society groups in Syria and other countries that have been targeted for regime change. A lot of the money also goes to parent organizations that are based in the United States and Europe, so these efforts do not only support on-the-ground efforts to undermine the targeted countries, but perhaps even more importantly, the money influences and manipulates public opinion in the West. In North America, representatives from the Syrian Local Coordination Committees (LCC) were frequent guests on popular media programs such as DemocracyNow. The message was clear: there is a revolution in Syria against a brutal regime personified in Bashar al-Assad. It was not mentioned that the Local Coordination Committees have been primarily funded by the West, specifically the Office for Syrian Opposition Support, which was founded by the U.S. State Department and the U.K. Foreign and Commonwealth Office. More recently, news and analysis about Syria has been conveyed through the filter of the White Helmets, also known as Syrian Civil Defense. In the Western news media, the White Helmets are described as neutral, non-partisan, civilian volunteers courageously carrying out rescue work in the war zone. In fact, the group is none of the above. It was initiated by the U.S. and U.K. using a British military contractor and Brooklyn-based marketing company. While they may have performed some genuine rescue operations, the White Helmets are primarily a media organization with a political goal: to promote NATO intervention in Syria. (The manipulation of public opinion using the White Helmets and promoted by the New York Times and Avaaz petition for a No Fly Zone in Syria is documented here.) The White Helmets hoax continues to be widely believed and receives uncritical promotion though it has increasingly been exposed at alternative media outlets as the creation of a shady PR firm. During critical times in the conflict in Aleppo, White Helmet individuals have been used as the source for important news stories despite a track record of deception. Recent Propaganda: Blatant Lies? As the armed groups in east Aleppo recently lost ground and then collapsed, Western governments and allied media went into a frenzy of accusations against Syria and Russia based on reports from sources connected with the armed opposition. CNN host Wolf Blitzer described Aleppo as falling in a slaughter of these women and children while CNN host Jake Tapper referred to genocide by another name. The Daily Beast published the claims of the Aleppo Siege Media Center under the title Doomsday is held in Aleppo and amid accusations that the Syrian army was executing civilians, burning them alive and 20 women committed suicide in order not to be raped. These sensational claims were widely broadcast without verification. However, this news on CNN and throughout Western media came from highly biased sources and many of the claims lacking anything approaching independent corroboration could be accurately described as propaganda and disinformation. Ironically, some of the supposedly Russian propaganda sites, such as RT, have provided first-hand on-the-ground reporting from the war zones with verifiable information that contradicts the Western narrative and thus has received almost no attention in the U.S. news media. For instance, some of these non-Western outlets have shown videos of popular celebrations over the liberation of Aleppo. There has been further corroboration of these realities from peace activists, such as Jan Oberg of Transnational Foundation for Peace and Future Research who published a photo essay of his eyewitness observations in Aleppo including the happiness of civilians from east Aleppo reaching the government-controlled areas of west Aleppo, finally freed from areas that had been controlled by Al Qaedas Syrian affiliate and its jihadist allies in Ahrar al-Sham. Dr. Nabil Antaki, a medical doctor from Aleppo, described the liberation of Aleppo in an interview titled Aleppo is Celebrating, Free from Terrorists, the Western Media Misinformed. The first Christmas celebrations in Aleppo in four years are shown here, replete with marching band members in Santa Claus outfits. Journalist Vanessa Beeley has published testimonies of civilians from east Aleppo. The happiness of civilians at their liberation is clear. Whether or not you wish to accept these depictions of the reality in Aleppo, at a minimum, they reflect another side of the story that you have been denied while being persistently force-fed the version favored by the U.S. State Department. The goal of the new Global Engagement Center to counter foreign propaganda is to ensure that you never get to hear this alternative narrative to the Western propaganda line. Even much earlier, contrary to the Western mythology of rebel liberated zones, there was strong evidence that the armed groups were never popular in Aleppo. American journalist James Foley described the situation in 2012 like this: Aleppo, a city of about 3 million people, was once the financial heart of Syria. As it continues to deteriorate, many civilians here are losing patience with the increasingly violent and unrecognizable opposition one that is hampered by infighting and a lack of structure, and deeply infiltrated by both foreign fighters and terrorist groups. The rebels in Aleppo are predominantly from the countryside, further alienating them from the urban crowd that once lived here peacefully, in relative economic comfort and with little interference from the authoritarian government of President Bashar al-Assad. On Nov. 22, 2012, Foley was kidnapped in northwestern Syria and held by Islamic State terrorists before his beheading in August 2014. The Overall Narrative on Syria Analysis of the Syrian conflict boils down to two competing narratives. One narrative is that the conflict is a fight for freedom and democracy against a brutal regime, a storyline promoted in the West and the Gulf states, which have been fueling the conflict from the start. This narrative is also favored by some self-styled anti-imperialists who want a Syrian revolution. The other narrative is that the conflict is essentially a war of aggression against a sovereign state, with the aggressors including NATO countries, Gulf monarchies, Israel and Jordan. Domination of the Western media by these powerful interests is so thorough that one almost never gets access to this second narrative, which is essentially banned from not only the mainstream but also much of the liberal and progressive media. For example, listeners and viewers of the generally progressive TV and radio program DemocracyNow have rarely if ever heard the second narrative described in any detail. Instead, the program frequently broadcasts the statements of Hillary Clinton, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power and others associated with the U.S. position. Rarely do you hear the viewpoint of the Syrian Ambassador to the United Nations, the Syrian Foreign Minister or analysts inside Syria and around the world who have written about and follow events there closely. DemocracyNow also has done repeated interviews with proponents of the Syrian revolution while ignoring analysts who call the conflict a war of aggression sponsored by the West and the Gulf monarchies. This blackout of the second narrative continues despite the fact that many prominent international figures see it as such. For example, the former Foreign Minister of Nicaragua and former President of the UN General Assembly, Father Miguel DEscoto, has said, What the U.S. government is doing in Syria is tantamount to a war of aggression, which, according to the Nuremberg Tribunal, is the worst possible crime a State can commit against another State. In many areas of politics, DemocracyNow is excellent and challenges mainstream media. However in this area, coverage of the Syrian conflict, the broadcast is biased, one-sided and echoes the news and analysis of mainstream Western corporate media, showing the extent of control over foreign policy news that already exists in the United States and Europe. Suppressing and Censoring Challenges Despite the widespread censorship of alternative analyses on Syria and other foreign hotspots that already exists in the West, the U.S. governments new Global Engagement Center will seek to ensure that the censorship is even more complete with its goal to counter foreign state and non-state propaganda and disinformation. We can expect even more aggressive and better-financed assaults on the few voices daring to challenge the Wests group thinks smear campaigns that are already quite extensive. In an article titled Controlling the Narrative on Syria, Louis Allday describes the criticisms and attacks on journalists Rania Khalek and Max Blumenthal for straying from the approved Western narrative on Syria. Some of the bullying and abuse has come from precisely those people, such as Robin Yassin-Kassab, who have been frequent guests in liberal Western media. Reporters who have returned from Syria with accounts that challenge the propaganda themes that have permeated the Western media also have come under attack. For instance, Canadian journalist Eva Bartlett recently returned to North America after being in Syria and Aleppo, conveying a very different image and critical of the Wests biased media coverage. Bartlett appeared at a United Nations press conference and then did numerous interviews across the country during a speaking tour. During the course of her talks and presentation, Bartlett criticized the White Helmets and questioned whether it was true that Al Quds Hospital in opposition-held East Aleppo was attacked and destroyed as claimed. Bartletts recounting of this information made her a target of Snopes, which has been a mostly useful website exposing urban legends and false rumors but has come under criticism itself for some internal challenges and has been inconsistent in its investigations. In one report entitled White Helmet Hearsay, Snopes writer Bethania Palmer says claims the White Helmets are linked to terrorists is unproven, but she overlooks numerous videos, photos, and other reports showing White Helmet members celebrating a Nusra/Al Qaeda battle victory, picking up the bodies of civilians executed by a Nusra executioner, and having a member who alternatively appears as a rebel/terrorist fighter with a weapon and later wearing a White Helmet uniform. The fact check barely scrapes the surface of public evidence. The same writer did another shallow investigation titled victim blaming regarding Bartletts critique of White Helmet videos and what happened at the Al Quds Hospital in Aleppo. Bartlett suggests that some White Helmet videos may be fabricated and may feature the same child at different times, i.e., photographs that appear to show the same girl being rescued by White Helmet workers at different places and times. While it is uncertain whether this is the same girl, the similarity is clear. The Snopes writer goes on to criticize Bartlett for her comments about the reported bombing of Al Quds Hospital in east Aleppo in April 2016. A statement at the website of Doctors Without Borders says the building was destroyed and reduced to rubble, but this was clearly false since photos show the building with unclear damage. Five months later, the September 2016 report by Doctors Without Borders says the top two floors of the building were destroyed and the ground floor Emergency Room damaged yet they re-opened in two weeks. The many inconsistencies and contradictions in the statements of Doctors Without Borders resulted in an open letter to them. In their last report, Doctors Without Borders (known by its French initials, MSF) acknowledges that MSF staff did not directly witness the attack and has not visited Al Quds Hospital since 2014. Bartlett referenced satellite images taken before and after the reported attack on the hospital. The images do not show severe damage and it is unclear whether or not there is any damage to the roof, the basis for Bartletts statement. In the past week, independent journalists have visited the scene of Al Quds Hospital and report that that the top floors of the building are still there and damage is unclear. The Snopes investigation criticizing Bartlett was superficial and ignored the broader issues of accuracy and integrity in the Western medias depiction of the Syrian conflict. Instead the article appeared to be an effort to discredit the eyewitness observations and analysis of a journalist who dared challenge the mainstream narrative. U.S. propaganda and disinformation on Syria has been extremely effective in misleading much of the American population. Thus, most Americans are unaware how many billions of taxpayer dollars have been spent on yet another regime change project. The propaganda campaign having learned from the successful demonizations of Iraqs Saddam Hussein, Libyas Muammar Gaddafi and other targeted leaders has been so masterful regarding Syria that many liberal and progressive news outlets were pulled in. It has been left to RT and some Internet outlets to challenge the U.S. government and the mainstream media. But the U.S. governments near total control of the message doesnt appear to be enough. Apparently even a few voices of dissent are a few voices too many. The enactment of HR5181, Countering Foreign Propaganda and Disinformation, suggests that the ruling powers seek to escalate suppression of news and analyses that run counter to the official narrative. Backed by a new infusion of $160 million, the plan is to further squelch skeptical voices with operation for countering and refuting what the U.S. government deems to be propaganda and disinformation. As part of the $160 million package, funds can be used to hire or reward civil society groups, media content providers, nongovernmental organizations, federally funded research and development centers, private companies, or academic institutions. Among the tasks that these private entities can be hired to perform is to identify and investigate both print and online sources of news that are deemed to be distributing disinformation, misinformation, and propaganda directed at the United States and its allies and partners. In other words, we are about to see an escalation of the information war. Read more at: zerohedge.com Northwest China's 'Energy Golden Triangle' is being targeted as part of a national strategy to concentrate large-scale energy industries in the region. Given its scarce rainfall and vegetation, it is ecologically fragile and susceptible to atmospheric pollution a point that seems to have been overlooked in the scramble for long-term energy security. A team at Lanzhou University has observed signs of water and soil contamination, and damage to the sparse local ecosystem by toxic substances from energy and chemical industries in the area (unpublished results). Sulfur dioxide pollution is increasing there and elsewhere in northwest China (Y. Shen et al. Environ. Sci. Technol. Lett. 3, 275279; 2016), whereas it has declined across the rest of China in the past decade. Towards the end of The Theory of Everything, the 2014 film about Stephen Hawking, scenes depict the reception of his popular science classic, A Brief History of Time (1988). The camera zooms in on a large display of the book in a shop window; fans crowd the physicist-author, hoping that he will autograph their copies. Future events are outlined in the film's closing titles: the first relates not to the ongoing impact of Hawking's scientific achievements or the challenges of living with motor neuron disease, but to the sales of the book, which by 2013 stood at more than 10 million. Stephen Hawking and colleagues at the University of Cambridge in the 1980s, before the publication of A Brief History of Time. Credit: Ian Berry/Magnum Photos Sales of popular-science books very rarely reach the million mark, and are usually much lower. So this is an astounding achievement for a science book aimed at the non-scientist, and especially for one that grapples with the some of the biggest questions in physics the Big Bang, black holes, a 'theory of everything' and the nature of time. As Hawking entertainingly related in a 2013 essay in The Wall Street Journal, he rewrote A Brief History repeatedly at the behest of his editor, Peter Guzzardi at Bantam, to make it more understandable to a lay readership. He later regretted, however, not further clarifying tough concepts such as imaginary time. As a publishing phenomenon, A Brief History of Time is not, as is sometimes claimed, unprecedented. There were nineteenth-century science blockbusters such as mathematician Mary Somerville's 1834 On the Connexion of the Physical Sciences (see R. Holmes Nature 514, 432433; 2014). And in 1930, physicist James Jeans' The Mysterious Universe achieved a comparable reception to Hawking's book (in Britain, at least); the jacket of the 1937 Pelican edition promotes it as the famous book which upset tradition by making Science a bestseller. Nor was Hawking writing in a vacuum. The 1970s and 1980s had seen a series of big-selling popular-physics books, from Fritjof Capra's 1975 The Tao of Physics to Steven Weinberg's 1977 The First Three Minutes, Carl Sagan's Cosmos (1980) and James Gleick's Chaos (1987). The sales of A Brief History, however, put even these best-sellers in the shade. Hawking's book changed perceptions of the market for popular science. Keen to repeat his success, US and UK publishers in the late 1980s and early 1990s invested heavily in the genre. They quickly promoted existing titles (Penguin, for example, reissued physicist Paul Davies's backlist with rebranded covers); signed on new ones, in some cases with inflated advances; and opened popular-science lists. Bookshops placed slick displays of popular-science titles in prominent positions, and publishing-industry magazines started talking about a 1990s 'popular-science book boom'. Titles by newcomers to the field such as Steven Pinker and Jared Diamond sold well, as did new releases by established popularizers such as Stephen Jay Gould and Richard Dawkins. With exact figures difficult to access, it is unclear to what degree a boom empirically existed, but the genre's profile had undeniably risen. Hard act to follow Attempts to capitalize on the 'Hawking phenomenon' went hand in hand with speculations about the factors that led to it. Hawking was highly regarded in the physics community, and had been a minor celebrity to the general public even before his watershed book, appearing (for example) in Nigel Calder's UK television series The Key to the Universe in the late 1970s. The disparity between the physical limitations of his disability and the cosmic scale of his ideas was part of his charisma. Few other popular-physics books of the period feature, as A Brief History does, a photograph of the author on the front. Hawking's book contributed to his becoming one of the world's biggest science celebrities. Credit: Joel Ryan/Invision/AP As Hawking himself noted, the book's title was also important. Guzzardi convinced him to revise his original suggestion, 'From the Big Bang to Black Holes: A Short History of Time'. 'Brief' is much better than 'short' in this context because it suggests duration a human-scale interval that produces an ironic, and striking, juxtaposition with the abstract concept of time. Framing time as a historical phenomenon has a similar effect. And in the text itself, rhetorical gestures towards fundamental philosophical and theological issues to uncover a theory of everything, writes Hawking, would be to know the mind of God beckon a broad readership. But although these ingredients were readily identified, Hawking's recipe could not be repeated, even in his own subsequent books. Although the ingredients were readily identified, Hawking's recipe could not be repeated. Most commentators agreed on what was not relevant to sales: A Brief History's readability. Despite the rewrites, it has a certain notoriety as the book everyone bought and no one read. There is now even a light-hearted 'Hawking index' designed to measure just how much a particular best-seller is read: A Brief History scores low (as, more surprisingly, does the 2011 Fifty Shades of Grey). Evidently, the act of buying Hawking's book (or E. L. James's, for that matter) says something about the consumer's identity; reading it is secondary. Lone genius Other runaway popular-science best-sellers did follow. Dava Sobel's 1995 Longitude, Simon Singh's 1997 Fermat's Last Theorem and Brian Greene's The Elegant Universe (1999) all appeared towards the end of the last millennium. It is difficult, however, to identify any commonality with Hawking's success, except perhaps an emphasis on the figure of the scientist, broadly speaking. Sobel's text concentrates on a lone genius, the clockmaker John Harrison. Singh's features one mathematician in its title and cover image, and focuses closely on another in its narrative. The Elegant Universe's popular success was spurred on by its adaptation as a US television series featuring the charismatic Greene. A few years into the new millennium, however, commentators were agreeing that the 'boom' had subsided. The large sales of Bill Bryson's 2003 A Short History of Nearly Everything, with its Hawkingesque title, seemed as much a product of the travel writer's established following as of its topic. Standout 'serious' non-fiction best-sellers now tended to come from the social sciences, with Malcolm Gladwell's 2000 The Tipping Point and the 2005 Freakonomics by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner achieving worldwide success. A Brief History did, however, leave another important legacy to popular science: a new sense of the cultural capital of scientific ideas. From the 1990s onwards, space in broadsheets that had been devoted to literary texts opened up to scientific ones. Popularizers began to speak regularly at cultural festivals. Science book prizes were inaugurated, funded and maintained. The lives of scientists and mathematicians became suitable subjects for mainstream films, such as Ron Howard's 2001 A Beautiful Mind (about mathematician John Nash); The Imitation Game, the 2014 biopic of computing pioneer Alan Turing; and, indeed, The Theory of Everything. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory is staring at the Sun 24/7 in order to aid scientists in monitoring the activities of the center of the Solar System. But timekeeping in space is a lot more difficult compared to Earth as every millisecond is crucial. Recently, the official clock in the world added a leap second. This was done before midnight Coordinated Universal Time (6:59:59 p.m. EST). In line with that, the SDO's master clock followed suit including other NASA missions. This maneuver is not just a simple clock adjustment; this is actually done to keep the clock movements around the world in sync with the rotation of the Earth. The rotation slows down over a certain period of time thus the need to add a leap second every now and then. How drastic are the changes? Based on NASA's report, the Earth during the dinosaur era used to take only 23 hours for one full rotation. In science, every millisecond counts, so the accuracy of clocks around the globe is vital. It is also crucial in the observation of satellites, according to a report. "SDO moves about 1.9 miles every second," Dean Pesnell, the project scientist for SDO at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland said in a press release. "So does every other object in orbit near SDO. We all have to use the same time to make sure our collision avoidance programs are accurate. So we all add a leap second to the end of 2016, delaying 2017 by one second," Pesnell added. In order to produce precise observations, the master clock of the SDO should be in sync with the Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). The time is embedded in every image taken by the SDO, which is again vital in studying the movements of the Sun. The SDO has a clock that's been ticking since the mission started, adjustments are consistently being made to incorporate the leap seconds added to the Coordinated Universal Time to sync the movement. By Bernie Woodall and David Shepardson FLAT ROCK, Mich./WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Ford Motor Co said Tuesday it will cancel a planned $1.6 billion factory in Mexico and invest $700 million at a Michigan factory, after President-elect Donald Trump had harshly criticized the Mexico investment plan. The second largest U.S. automaker said it would build new electric, hybrid and autonomous vehicles at the Flat Rock, Michigan plant and add 700 jobs. Ford Chief Executive Mark Fields said the decision to cancel the new Mexico factory was the result of sagging demand for small cars in North America and not because Trump was elected president. He told Fox Business that the automaker would have made the same decision even if Trump had not been elected. "There was no quid pro quo because there was no negotiation" with Trump over the decision to cancel the plant, Fields said. Fields told reporters the decision related to the need to "fully utilize capacity at existing facilities" amid declining sales of small and medium sized cars such as the Focus and Fusion. Fields also endorsed "pro growth" tax and regulatory policies advocated by Trump and the Republican-led Congress. "This is a vote of confidence for President-Elect Trump and some of the policies he may be pursuing," Fields said. Trump repeatedly said during the election campaign that if elected he would not allow Ford to open the new plant in Mexico, which he called an "absolute disgrace" and would slap hefty tariffs taxes on imported Ford vehicles. Ford executive chairman Bill Ford Jr. told reporters he spoke with Trump to notify him of the decision. The company said the decision was influenced by Trump's policy goals such as lowering taxes and regulations but that there were no negotiations over the decision announced on Tuesday. By contrast, Trump's team held talks with United Technologies Corp in November before the company agreed to keep about 800 jobs at its Carrier air conditioning unit in Indiana out of 2,100 set to go to Mexico. Trump has also held high profile meetings with the chief executives of Boeing and Lockheed Martin to talk about the cost of military contracts. Also on Tuesday, Trump threatened to impose a "big border tax" on General Motors Co for making some of its Chevrolet Cruze cars in Mexico. The New York businessman, who has vowed to bring back American jobs that have been outsourced overseas and be tough on illegal immigration from Mexico, takes office on Jan. 20. Fields said Ford will build a battery electric SUV with a 300-mile driving range at the Michigan plant by 2020 -- taking on companies like Tesla Motors Inc , Volkswagen AG and GM -- and will launch production there by 2021 of a fully autonomous vehicle without a steering wheel or a brake pedal for use in ride services fleets. Ford also plans new hybrid versions of its F-150 pickup truck, Mustang and police vehicles by 2020 as the auto industry faces rising fuel efficiency mandates. Ford will add 700 jobs at the Flat Rock plant, Fields said, to cheers from union workers gathered at the factory for the announcement. TRUMP PREDICTION Ford in April announced it would invest $1.6 billion in the new plant in San Luis Potosi, Mexico to build small cars. The company said it will shift production from Michigan of its Focus to an existing plant in Hermosillo, Mexico. When Trump announced his campaign in June, 2015, he said Ford would cancel its planned Mexico investments. "Theyll say,Mr. President weve decided to move the plant back to the United States were not going to build it in Mexico. Thats it. They have no choice," Trump said. Trump tweeted a link on Tuesday to a story about the decision. Ford shares rose 3.3 percent to $12.54, up $0.41 a share, while the Mexican peso fell on Tuesday to touch its weakest level in seven weeks. Ford said it will add two new unnamed products at its Michigan Assembly Plant in Wayne, Michigan, where the Focus is manufactured today. (Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Alistair Bell) A new review of the latest published research about the psychology, behavior and emotions of chicken revealed that the world's most abundant domesticated animal is as clueless or bird-brained as people previously believed them to be. The review, published in the journal Animal Cognition, showed that chickens have the ability to present distinct personalities, outmaneuver one another, determine specific order of things and reason by deduction. "They are perceived as lacking most of the psychological characteristics we recognize in other intelligent animals and are typically thought of as possessing a low level of intelligence compared with other animals," said Lori Marino, senior scientist for The Someone Project, a joint venture of Farm Sanctuary and the Kimmela Center in the USA and lead author of the review, in a press release. "The very idea of chicken psychology is strange to most people." For the study, Marino conducted a comprehensive review of scientific literatures to summarize the cognitive, emotional, personality and social characteristics of domesticated chickens. Utilizing the Web of Science Core Collection, Google Search and Science Daily, Marino conducted a thorough search of the topic across different publications and peer-review journals. Marino found that some research showed that chickens have some sense of numbers and ordinality. Newly-hatched domestic chicken can discriminate between quantities. At five-day old chicks could perform simple arithmetic in the form of addition and subtraction. Other studies showed that chickens have some level of self-awareness. Chickens can manage to present self-control when it comes to holding out for a better reward. Additionally, chickens can self-assess their position in the pecking order. Chickens communicate to other of their kind through a large repertoire of different visual displays and at least 24 distinct vocalizations. They use their calls, visual displays or whistles to sound an alarm during danger and warn others. Furthermore, Marino found that chickens could also feel positive and negative emotions. These emotions may include fear, anticipation and anxiety. Chickens can choose to act based on the emotions they feel. Studies also showed that chickens possess simple form of empathy and some levels of personal maternity trait. Welcome to prison. Rahsaan Thomas greets me with a firm handshake and a big grin inside the Catholic chapel at San Quentin. It's job fair day at the prison in December, and things are busier than usual. Thirty seven inmates, including Thomas, are interviewing with 33 potential employers from around the Bay Area. They are hopeful. In the bright scenario that they make it out of prison, they could get hired by the owners of yoga studios, dog grooming boutiques, Home of Chicken and Waffles and City College of San Francisco. Even after years of being incarcerated, these hardened men know that these first impressions could pave the way for their reimmersion into society. Thomas, who is serving a 55-year-to-life sentence, asks me questions about the days biggest news stories. Most of them are related to the recent U.S. presidential elections. I start to answer him, while trying to take in the strikingly beautiful San Francisco Bay ironically outside the walls of one of the countrys most notorious prisons and Californias only death row and gas chamber. (Scott Peterson is currently its most infamous inmate). Thomas shows me his latest story in the inmate run newspaper, San Quentin News an interview with Golden Gate Warriors star Draymond Green, who spent time at the prison recently, playing dominos with prisoners in the yard. The subject shifts to election night, and eventually Donald Trump. For inmates at San Quentin, like most people who supported Hillary Clinton, Trump winning the presidency was a wake-up call. Suprisingly enough, even though an overwhelming majority of inmates voted for Clinton in a mock election set up by the prison newspaper, quite a few of those very same people are willing to give Trump a chance. But it comes with reservations. They want Trump to "Make America Great Again." But for everyone, not just one particular class. Their way of dealing with this bizarre moment in the history of American politics is honest, poignant, real and at times, funny.[[406654505, C]] "I voted for Michelle Obama," Thomas, says with a laugh, obviously referring to the prison's mock election. "I am very disappointed she wasn't running. I liked Obama's presidency. I don't think he was perfect, but he did a lot of things right." For Thomas, Trump winning the presidency was heartbreaking. "As an incarcerated American, for a long time, we haven't had enough good Supreme Court decisions," he said. "And the next president gets to decide who becomes the ninth Supreme Court judge, and I don't think Trump is going to pick anyone that's going to change the status quo." Thomas wants to know if I have any qualms as an immigrant living in the United States under a President Trump. Will you get deported? he asks me. I assure him that I was going to be OK. And then ask him what he thinks about Trump. I kinda saw it coming but when I saw Trump was actually leading, that it was the reality, I was like, 'Oh man, what could this mean for America, is there going to be civil war? What does it mean that America voted Trump, do we no longer care about each other?' Despite his misgivings, Thomas thinks there might be some upside to Trump. "Trump is going to make us rich," he said with a pause. "Before he gets us killed. Theres someone else at San Quentin who thinks that Trump will stimulate the American economy. Curtis Wall Street Carroll, also known as the Oracle of San Quentin, is a murderer turned stock picker who hangs out with the late actor Robin Williams son, Zak Williams, to teach fellow inmates a class on finance. Invest in energy, he tells me. I ask him about Trump. I voted for Hillary Clinton in the mock elections, but I think Trump is a better businessman, he said. I think the policies that he has in place, if hes able to get those through the Senate and the House, I think its going to stimulate the economy, its going to put people back to work, I think its going to create a bubble, thatll eventually burst, and itll have its effect down the line. For the short term, Carroll said, Trumps plans will create jobs by taking on debt, starting construction projects, lowering taxes, and using subsidies to hire people. This will rally the stock markets and lift the U.S. GDP. Economically, he is going to do for the country what has not been done in modern history, he said. Over the next four hours, more than a dozen inmates share their hopes and fears about our current president-elect, who hasn't really been that vocal about criminal justice reform. Trump wants to bring back the death penalty, and in his words: "Bring it back strong." But inmates at San Quentin don't really know what to expect when it comes to Trump and prison reform. Some prisoners aren't moved by Trump's billionaire and reality star status. "He needs to quit, he needs to resign," said Eddie Herena, who is serving 55-years-to-life in prison for stabbing a man to death three time. "He's not a politician, he should go back to doing what he does best, which is entertain people." As the battleground states fell, and it became obvious that Trump was going to win on Nov. 8, the cell blocks became quiet, said Juan Moreno Haines, senior editor of SQ News, who organized the mock elections. It was a completely different scenario from when Barack Obama won the presidency in 2008. That year, inmates cheered and banged on their cell doors to celebrate. Moreno was convicted in 1996 for robbing a bank and subsequently sentenced to 55 years-to-life. He has been in prison for 21 years, and is waiting for his second parole hearing in May of 2020. San Quentins walls are filled with stories. Theres Antwan Williams, co-producer of San Quentin's first ever podcast, "Ear Hustle," set to air in May. Williams wants to keep an open mind about Trump: "The man has some hangups. What does a Trump presidency hold for the black and the poor community? Who knows? The man deserves a shot. At the end of the night, I walk up to SQ News editor-in-chief Richard Richardson and asked him what he thought of Trump. Theres nothing wrong with Trump," he said smiling. Before I leave, Thomas makes me promise that I'll send him a postcard to let him know I'm OK, come Jan. 21. I promise him I will. [[409406805, C]] A San Francisco woman whose special needs son vanished from their home Monday was ever so grateful to a stranger across the bay in Oakland who found the boy on a BART platform in Oakland hours later. Tina Berhane's 6-year-old son Nathan took off from their home near Hayes Valley around 4:30 p.m. Monday. "In two mintues, he disappeared with his scooter," she said. San Francisco police said they were concerned because he was so young and because of autism had a limited ability to communicate. "We put out teletype; it goes to surrounding agencies," SF police said. Dozens of SFPD officers circulated his picture as they searched for the boy. Hours later, across the bay in Oakland, a BART passenger anonymously called police about a boy alone on the 19th street platform on a scooter. Officer Chris Evola responded. "If I had to, I was gonna take him home," Evola said. "I was gonna find his parents, didn't care how long it took." Evola asked Nathan to write down his address. "He just kept writing down numbers, and I kept dialing," Evola said. It's a gift from God one number worked." It's a moment Evola and Berhane won't soon forget. The boy's mother said he probably got on a bus and then on BART to oakland by himself. It's a route he takes to therapy once a week. "All the different stops and all the people. The worst could have happened," she said. "Thank you for saving my son. Thank you, I'm so happy." Former Spokane, Washington, Police Chief Anne Kirkpatrick has been picked as the new top cop in Oakland, sources told NBC Bay Area late Tuesday night. Kirkpatrick will become the first woman police chief in the city's history. Her most recent position was leading an organizational development within the Chicago Police Department, the sources said. Mayor Libby Schaaf is expected to make a formal announcement about the hiring Wednesday morning, the sources said. Kirkpatrick comes to a department mired in turmoil, including a sexual misconduct scandal involving a teen, a racist text scandal among officers and excessive force accusations. Kirkpatrick was a runner-up for the Oakland chief's job back when Jean Quan was mayor, sources said. She was once second in command at the King County Sheriff's Department in Washington state, was a semifinalist for Seattle police chief and a finalist for Chicago's top cop position. Anne Kirkpatrick became Oaklands fourth top cop in seven months on Wednesday, inheriting a beleaguered police department that has been embroiled in a sex-abuse scandal involving a teenage girl that cost the three former police chiefs their jobs. In all, the Oakland Police Department has had six police chiefs since 2011: Paul Figueroa, Ben Fairow, Sean Whent, Anthony Toribio, Howard Jordan and Anthony Batts. Kirkpatrick, who introduced herself on Wednesday to Oakland with some feisty Southern charm, is the first woman to lead the city's police department. "Y'all have been nothing but absolutely welcoming to me," the Memphis, Tennessee, native said with a laugh, teasing Californians as the ones with the strange accent. "I'm so excited to be here in Oakland." Kirkpatrick admitted that she was not looking for a job when Schaaf offered her the position, but acknowledged that now there is work to be done. "I am so proud to be an Oakland police officer, but I also know I need to earn the right to be their chief," she said. "And I'm going to do everything I can to earn that and to earn your respect as an outsider coming into Oakland." Interestingly, Kirkpatrick applied to run Oaklands police department under former Mayor Jean Quan, a source told the East Bay Times. However, she was passed over for Whent, who was appointed interim chief in May 2013, and was the first chief to resign in the wake of the sex scandal with Jasmine aka Celeste Guap who said she had relations with about 30 officers across the region. According to public records, Whent was being paid $235,000 when he left. Kirkpatrick, who plans to live and work in Oakland and is slated to start her new job on Feb. 27, will earn a base salary of $270,000, pending City Council approval, according to city officials. Mayor Libby Schaaf, who launched her search for a police chief in August, said Kirkpatrick is "the reform-minded leader that Oakland has been searching for." She added that Kirkpatrick is "unafraid to hold officers accountable to the highest standards of conduct." In the past, Schaaf expressed disgust with some of the behavior within the Oakland Police Department, adding she was not hired to oversee a "frat house." Kirkpatrick touted her "courage" to hold officers accountable, but said that practice begins with herself. The new chief also said to Oakland's officers, "I have the courage to stand by you and I will. And you have a community that wants to love you and I'm going to do everything I can to earn that for you." Kirkpatrick said her goal in the new role is not reform a buzzword surrounding police departments nationwide. Instead, she has her eye on transformation. "Thats the change of thinking. Thats the cultural change," she stressed. Oakland Police Department In a brief statement, Oakland Police Officers' Association president Sgt. Barry Donelan said: "We are glad that the uncertainty surrounding the position of Oakland Chief of Police is finally settled." He added that his officers look forward to working "collaboratively" with Kirkpatrick. Despite the lack of a permanent chief since the summer, Schaaf thanked officers who "continued to serve the community during these trying times," delivering a 2016 that was the city's safest year since 2005. With 34 years of law enforcement experience, Kirkpatrick has for some time had an eye on being the police chief of a big city. She has applied for the position in Chicago, Phoenix, Seattle and San Francisco, the East Bay Express reported. She was the police chief of Spokane, Washington, from 2006 to 2012, where she struggled with the aftershocks of a fatal police beating and hog-tying of a janitor. The incident prompted outcry and a demand for police reforms and accountability. However, Kirkpatrick's attempt at holding officers responsible for their actions did not sit well with the department's rank-and-file, according to the Chicago Tribune. In fact, a detective sued her and the city of Spokane for defamation and wrongful termination after he was fired for allegedly threatening his wife. Not only was Jay Mehring awarded over $700,000 by a jury, but he was also reinstated to the force. After Kirkpatrick's departure, a Justice Department review reprimanded the Spokane Police Department for a "lack of transparency, accountability, and community outreach efforts," which, they said, "increased the distance between the police and its community." Kirkpatrick has also served as chief deputy of the King County Sheriff's Office in Washington state, where she supervised a staff of more than 1,000 from November 2012 to June 2014. Most recently, she spent six months as the Chief of Bureau of Organizational Development for the Chicago Police Department. Kirkpatricks LinkedIn profile indicates she has been a licensed attorney in Washington state for 23 years, after graduating from the Seattle University School of Law. She also graduated from the FBI National Academy, the FBI National Executive Institute as well as the FBI's Law Enforcement Executive Development School. Stakeholders in town said they want to keep an open mind about the new chief. Civil rights attorney John Burris, who is a vocal Oakland police critic, said Wednesday that he hopes Kirkpatrick develops an appreciation for the different interest groups in the community. He said its not enough to just be concerned with officers. Meanwhile, Black Lives Matter organizer and Anti Police-Terror Project founder Cat Brooks was critical of Schaaf's decision to hire a chief without waiting for input from the newly minted police commission that Oakland voters approved in November. Schaaf did not directly address the police commission question. But she did say that "community input" served as the "cornerstone" of the recruitment process. She heard from more than 300 Oakland residents over a dozen meetings and over 600 more shared their thoughts in an online survey. All participants were "very clear" about their vision for their hometown's chief cop, she said. "Oaklanders wanted a leader with integrity, able to change culture," she said. "Someone who would deliver on fair and just policing, prevent violence and increase accountability, and, of course, most importantly, build community trust." As for her part, Kirkpatrick acknowledged that the Oakland Police Department, like officers all over the country, are in the midst of a "very hard time." "I will promise you leadership," she said. "We'll get there." The Oakland City Council is scheduled to receive a proposal from Schaaf sometime this month. At that time, members are are expected to vote on Kirkpatricks contract and salary, city officials said. NBC Bay Area's Lisa Fernandez and Bob Redell contributed to this report. Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf is surrounding herself and her city Cabinet with feminine power. On Tuesday, Schaaf announced a new director of public safety, the same day sources leaked that a new police chief has been hired. Both choices are women. That now means Oakland's top leadership positions mayor, city administrator, police chief, fire chief, city attorney and public safety director are all held by women. Both assistant city administrators are also women. And both spokeswomen for the police department and the mayor's office are also female. In addition, Alameda County's district attorney and coroner, whose offices are in and jurisdictions include Oakland, are also female. To compare in the Bay Area, San Francisco has had a female police chief, fire chief and sheriff, but not with a female mayor at the helm, and not all at the same time. "I have high hopes that this appointment will change how the citizens of Oakland will feel about the police, their tactics and politics," said Candice Elder, founder of the East Oakland Collective and the executive coordinator for the Women's Funding Network in San Francisco. Cat Brooks, an activist and Black Lives Matter organizer, said shes upset Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf hired a new police chief without waiting for the newly elected police commission to be involved. Bob Redell reports. Not all Oakland residents, and women, for that matter, are so optimistic. In an interview Wednesday, Black Lives Matter organizer and Anti Police-Terror Project founder Cat Brooks was critical of Schaaf's decision to hire a new chief without waiting for the newly elected police commission that Oakland voters approved in November. The commission, to be led by citizens and which hasn't started meeting yet, has the power to mete out discipline to officers and even fire the chief. Brooks also wasn't so sure that having women in power would help everyone in the city. "So far, we have not had a fair and just society. There's been an onslaught against the black and the poor. There's no difference than if a man was in power," Brooks said. It should be noted that most of the women in Oakland's government leadership roles are not people of color. In Oakland, 55 percent of the population is either African American or Latino; slightly more than 30 percent are white. Still, the roles of Oakland's newest hires come at a time when Schaaf has been trying to clean house following a national police sex abuse scandal. She vowed this summer: I am here to run a police department, not a frat house. Schaaf hired Anne Kirkpatrick, former police chief of Spokane, Washington as Oaklands new top cop. She will be the first woman in that position in city history. She described Kirkpatrick as a "reform leader" who will hold police officers accountable. She didn't directly take on the question of why she didn't wait for the police commission, but she did say "community input" was key in hiring Kirkpatrick. Shaaf said that 300 residents attended a dozen or so meetings, and 600 more residents gave their input online into what they wanted in a new police chief. Kirkpatrick has most recently worked for the Chicago Police Department, hired in June to oversee reforms resulting from the fatal police shooting of Laquan McDonald. Previously, she was among the finalists for police chief of Chicago, the East Bay Times reported. She also had been a runner-up in 2013 when Jean Quan was mayor, a source told the newspaper, but was beaten out by Sean Whent. According to her resume, Kirkpatrick has worked for the FBIs Law Enforcement Executive Development Association and has been chief of police in Spokane, Federal Way, Washington, and Ellensburg, Washington. Her highest degree is a Juris Doctorate in law from the Seattle University Law School. Also on Tuesday, Schaaf said she was proud to announce that Venus D. Johnson will be the new director of public safety who will lead the coordinated effort to break cycles of violence in Oakland through effective crime prevention coupled with smart and principled policing. Johnson is a former Alameda County prosecutor with a history of fighting for the rights of crime victims and a track record for implementing innovative efforts to reduce recidivism and address the root causes of crime and violence, Schaaf said. Before this, Johnson served as a senior legal and policy adviser to former California Attorney General Kamala D. Harris. Johnson served on the California Commission on Access to Justice, which is tasked with developing solutions to improve access to civil justice for low and moderate income Californians. Johnson earned her bachelors degree in Political Science from Loyola Marymount University, and her law degree from the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law. One of Johnson's Facebook cover photos? A sweatshirt that reads: "The future is female." Venus has been one of Oaklands finest champions in the legal and public safety community, Schaaf said in a statement. She brings significant experience with law enforcement at the local and state level, as well having as deep roots in communities across Oakland. Oakland has been without a chief for seven months. A succession of chiefs either resigned or were forced out this summer following a sex abuse scandal involving officers and a teenage sex worker now known as Jasmine. The Oakland department has also been tainted by officers accused of sending racists texts to each other. It was in June that Schaaf called the current department toxic and macho. She also promised that she wouldnt stand for it anymore." The San Francisco arts community and city leaders are intent on prevent another disaster like the one that killed 36 people at the Ghost Ship warehouse in Oakland last month. To that end, artists, fire officials and building department employees gathered Tuesday at the Brava Theater to discuss ways to improve fire safety. The workshop, which was expected to attract roughly 100 people, was hosted at the Mission District theater because artists who live and work in warehouses are now afraid of being raided by fire marshals or evicted by their landlords. I got as many fire extinguishers as they have. I got power cords that have circuit breakers, housing activist Spike Kahn said, while rolling a shopping cart out of Discount Builders Supply. She said she planned to hand out her purchases at Tuesdays meeting. Kahn, who organized the workshop, described it as a completely free event for artists to learn how to make their spaces safer. She is not a newcomer to the cause. Kahn has financed the renovation of 20 artist studios inside a 6,000-square-foot warehouse next to a condo development in the Mission District. As a result of a lot of political pressure, the developer was forced to provide this art space as a community benefit in order to get his luxury condos, Kahn said. The studio space in question has all the bells and whistles missing from the Ghost Ship warehouse, which officials found lacked smoke alarms and sprinklers, and was not permitted for use as a residence only a warehouse. Kahn said shes been leaning on officials to create more live-work spaces for artists across the Bay Area. A lot of artists can only afford to live in warehouses like the one that burned down in East Oakland on Dec. 2, she said, because it isn't feasible for them to shell out the Bay Area's astronomical rents. But now they feel trapped between fire officials who would kick them out and landlords who would do the same. The problem is, as soon as the Ghost Ship fire happened last month, landlords were using that to start evictions, Kahn explained. She said Tuesdays meeting is aimed at preventing that from happening by getting fire safety information to the people living in warehouses, without tipping off city fire marshals and alarming landlords. We are not going to say where we have our studios, we're just going there to get information, Kahn said. The search continues for a man who went missing after fleeing from police in Brighton, Vermont last week. Quincy OGorman, 23, was last seen Dec. 31 around 11:43 p.m. in the area of Island Pond Village. Police said OGorman was driving with three passengers when he was pulled over for failing to stop at a stop sign and erratic operation. All four fled from police after the stop and were soon detained by police. He is described as 510, approximately 200 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes. Vermont State Police Scuba team, Brighton Police Department and Vermont Fish and Wildlife are currently searching for the OGorman. The Scuba team was called in to search the brook and swamp area surrounding the Island Pond Village. Another ground search has been scheduled for Wednesday. Anyone who may have any information involving Mr. OGorman is asked to contact the Derby State Police Barracks at 802-334-8881. A court drama is unfolding in Chicago which has the potential to become a reality show-style divorce involving what was once one of Chicagos most powerful power-couples. On the heels of periods when they both served time in Federal prison, former congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. and his wife Sandi, a former Chicago alderman, are suing each other in dueling divorce battles---she in Washington D.C., he here in Chicago. During a brief hearing at the Daley Center in Chicago Wednesday, Jacksons attorney Brendan Hammer pressed his clients contention that the case belongs in Chicago. And in doing so, he dropped hints about potential bombshell allegations against the one-time 7th ward alderman. Personal jurisdiction over Ms. Jackson is appropriate, in light of acts committed by her in the state of Illinois, Hammer said. The actsoccurred during his convalescence, investigation, and incarceration. Indeed, in a recent court filing---Jacksons attorneys stopped just short of spelling out that accusation. On or about March 21, 2015, Jackson states in that motion, I discovered evidence that Sandra had engaged in numerous acts in Illinois and/or with Illinois residents, that led to the irretrievable breakdown of our marriage. Jackson was hospitalized for exhaustion in the summer of 2012. He acknowledged treatment for a bipoloar condition that August, resigned from Congress in November, and admitted converting campaign funds to personal use the following February. In August of 2013, Jackson was sentenced to 30 months in prison. Hammer did not elaborate on what Sandi Jacksons purported acts might have entailed. However, the court file shows Jackson has subpoenaed his wifes cell phone records, with specific requests for phone calls and text messages since 2011. Sandi Jackson has filed motions to have the Cook County divorce case dismissed, contending that she and the couples children have lived exclusively in Washington D.C. since 2013. Through his attorney, the former congressman disagreed. Mr. Jackson has been, and is a resident of Illinois, Hammer said. He resides here in the parties home on the south side, he voted here in the last election, he has a drivers license here, he is a resident of Illinois and hes living here. The pair pleaded guilty to a list of felonies in 2013 and subsequently served staggered jail sentences. Jackson Jr. pleaded guilty to charges he illegally spent campaign funds on a variety of expensive items, like a $4,600 fedora owned by Michael Jackson and a $1,200 reversible mink parka. Sandi Jackson pleaded guilty to a tax fraud charge that stemmed from the same case. Sandi Jackson claimed in court filings last week that she is currently out of work, selling her belongings and borrowing from friends to make ends meet, while her husband has a monthly income of at least $10,250 a month. Jackson said her husband is living in a house without a mortgage while their other mortgage is in arrears. She also claimed Jackson Jr. has failed to contribute to the mortgage or any household expenses since September, something the former Congressmans lawyer refuted. Sen. Tammy Duckworth was sworn in by Vice President Joe Biden Tuesday as the 115th Congress convened in Washington, D.C. Duckworth, who beat out incumbent Republican Mark Kirk in a contentious race last November, was joined Tuesday by her daughter, mother and husband. "I was proud to be sworn in today to represent the great state of Illinois in the United States Senate," Duckworth said in a statement. "I am eager to get to work -- with members on both sides of the aisle -- to help Illinois families with common-sense policies that grow manufacturing jobs, invest in communities that have been ignored for too long, rebuild our crumbling insfrastructure, and help make college more affordable for all Americans." "I will also continue my life's mission of supporting, protecting and keeping the promises we've made to our Veterans and ensuring we fully stand behind the troops we send into danger overseas," she added. Sen. Dick Durbin welcomed Duckworth to the Senate Tuesday, reflecting on her rise to prominence. After losing both legs co-piloting a helicopter over Iraq in 2004, Duckworth worked in the Illinois and U.S. departments of Veterans Affairs before being elected to Congress in 2012. It was my honor to accompany Senator Duckworth to her swearing-in ceremony as a U.S. Senator, Durbin said in a statement. Having first met Senator Duckworth while she was recovering from her combat injuries at Walter Reed, to watching her be sworn-in as an Assistant Secretary for the Department of Veterans Affairs and then as the U.S. Representative of Illinois 8th District, today was a very proud moment. I look forward to working with her as a partner, friend, and now colleague in the Senate to advance the priorities of the people of Illinois, he added. Democrats Duckworth and Durbin will serve as Illinois representation in the GOP-controlled Senate. Republicans retained control of both chambers of Congress in the November election. Recently-elected Democratic Reps. Brad Schneider and Raja Krishnamoorthi were also sworn in Tuesday. Krishnamoorthi replaces Duckworth as the representative for Illinois 8th congressional district. Police are investigating why a 10-month-old baby stopped breathing twice after being exposed to the opioid fentanyl in Methuen, Massachusetts. There was drug paraphenalia found in the baby's mother's car, according to police. Methuen police said they were called to a Treetop Way residence at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday for a report of a baby who was not breathing. Upon arrival, emergency personnel immediately began treating the child before transporting her to Lawrence General Hospital, where she stopped breathing twice and had to be revived by hospital staff. The child was later flown to Tufts Medical Center in Boston via MedFlight helicopter and has since been released from the hospital. Hospital tests indicated that the baby had fentanyl in her system. The type of drug and amount ingested has not been released. The baby lives with her mother and grandparents in Methuen, according to Michael Quinn, an attorney and family friend. There are a lot of questions and they have no answers, Quinn said. Quinn says the mother found the baby unresponsive Saturday after a nap and the grandfather started CPR. The babys mother has struggled with drugs, but has been clean for several months, according to Quinn. She has no idea how this happened, even before she delivered the baby she was in a program and she has been drug free ever since and that hasnt changed, she has had negative drug tests the whole time, there hasnt been anything, Quinn said. They are still cooperating with police and whoever wants to talk about it and whatever the investigation shows, theyd like answers as well. "It's disconcerting," Methuen Police Lt. Michael Pappalardo said. "It's heartbreaking, to say the least. It's a 10-month-old baby. It's very difficult to deal with a young child that has become a victim." "The opioid epidemic knows no boundaries," added Methuen Mayor Stephen Zanni. "We must continue to be vigilant in ensuring that children do not have access to harmful substances and to do everything we can to fight the disease of addiction." Fentanyl is a powerful synthetic opioid medication that is similar to morphine but 50 to 100 times more potent. It is often mixed with or substituted for heroin. Methuen Police Chief Joseph Solomon said his department's focus now is to determine where the drug came from and how it wound up in the baby's system. No arrests have been made, but police said charges are still possible. The Department of Children and Families is investigating in collaboration with Methuen Police, Massachusetts State Police and the Essex County District Attorney's Office. The baby is now in the custody of an aunt. A DCF hearing is scheduled to be held on Tuesday. A Chicago police officer was relieved of his police powers on Tuesday after fatally shooting an unarmed man on Chicago's Northwest Side while off-duty on Monday morning, according to police. The shooting happened around 9:30 a.m. Monday in the 2500 block of North Lowell in the city's Hermosa neighborhood, police said. "As part of the ongoing investigation of the fatal shooting on the 2500 block of North Lowell, this afternoon Superintendent Eddie Johnson has relieved the officer involved in the incident of his police powers," CPD spokesperson Anthony Guglielmi said in a statement. "The Chicago Police Department continues our fact based investigation of the incident, in parallel with the Independent Police Review Authority," Guglielmi added. The officer had "a verbal altercation with a subject that was known to him," Supt. Eddie Johnson said during a news conference Monday. "The verbal altercation resulted in the officer discharging his weapon," Johnson added, "striking the subject several times, and the subject is now deceased." The officer had been visiting an acquaintance in the area at the time of the shooting, according to police, who said that the man was not armed. "The person who was shot did not have a weapon, that much we know," Guglielmi said Monday. "The officer's weapon is the only weapon involved." The victim, who was later identified as 38-year-old Jose Nieves, was taken to Illinois Masonic Medical Center where he was pronounced dead, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner's office. He died of multiple gunshot wounds, authorities said, and his death was ruled a homicide. Angelica Nieves said her brother was moving furniture from storage and putting it into his apartment when the shooting occurred. His family last saw him on Christmas, she said. "I never thought I would see him in that way," she said. Johnson said the officer and the man knew each other from a confrontation a few weeks ago. "There was already animosity towards my brother," said Nieves' sister Angelica Nieves. "My brother has called 911 prior because [the officer has] come out with a gun up to my brother." "I have a lot more questions than I do answers at this time," Johnson said Monday, "so I came out because I wanted to make sure the investigation was done properly. The chief of detectives is here to manage our part of the investigation. We have a parallel investigation going on right now with IPRA." An investigation remains ongoing with both the Chicago Police Department and the Independent Police Review Authority. [[409340735, C]] A clerk wrestled a gun away from two men who tried to rob his Austin neighborhood store and then shot them Tuesday afternoon on the West Side, according to Chicago Police. The botched robbery happened about 4:45 p.m. inside the small business in the 5800 block of West Chicago, police said. One of the alleged robbers, 34, was shot in the torso and taken to Loyola University Medical Center. The other, 35, was shot in the upper leg and taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, police said. They were listed in critical condition. A sheriffs deputy in suburban DuPage County fatally shot a 17-year-old boy while responding to a "violent" domestic battery call in unincorporated Villa Park on Monday, according to police. Around midnight, the first responding deputy arrived at a home near Standish Lane and Ardmore Avenue and was "involved in an altercation" with the suspect, the DuPage County Sheriffs Office said in a statement. The officer opened fire, according to police, striking the 17-year-old boy. He was taken to Elmhurst Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, officials said. The boy's cause of death was multiple gunshot wounds and his death was ruled a homicide, according to a statement from the DuPage County Coroner's office. The identity of the 17-year-old was not released, but he lived in unincorporated York Township, the coroner's office said. Police also withheld the identity of the deputy who shot him, pending the investigation. Illinois State Police are investigating the incident, according to police, and the DuPage County states attorneys office has been notified, police said. A northern Illinois man who spent 25 years in prison for a rape has been cleared of the charge by a Lake County judge. William Carini was convicted in 1992 and sentenced to 26 years in prison in the sexual assault of a woman who was attacked after she fell asleep in her car on the shoulder of the Tri-State Tollway near Gurnee. Lake County State's Attorney Michael Nerheim announced in December forensic testing revealed none of the physical evidence collected in the rape case matched Carini. On Tuesday, Nerheim appeared before Judge Daniel Shanes to argue the evidence testing results are, at a minimum, grounds for granting Carini a new trial. However, Nerheim said he does not intend to retry Carini on the sexual assault charge. Nerheim says Illinois State Police are expected to reopen the case. Tenants in a suburban office building where a lawyer was found strangled to death say police showed them surveillance images of a mysterious person in the building the day the mans body was discovered, the Chicago Tribune reports. Multiple tenants in the Northbrook building told the newspaper police showed them a photo of what appeared to be a man wearing a trench coat and a hat. According to one tenant, the man definitely knew what he was doing and managed to keep his face from being captured on security cameras throughout the building. On Wednesday afternoon, police released the images to the public, showing a man in a tan trench coat, with a black hat and possibly a surgical mask covering his face. The man is also seen walking with a cane. Jigar Patel, 36, was found dead in his office around 7:30 p.m. on Dec. 7 in the 13400 block of Shermer Road, authorities said. An autopsy determined he died from strangulation and his death was ruled a homicide, the Cook County medical examiners office said. Tenants told the Tribune they believed Patel was expecting to meet with a new client that afternoon, and others who would normally be in the building during that time happened to be out of the office the afternoon he died. Ralph Cram, of Envoy Leasing Partners, told the publication the guy picked the perfect time to come in. Northbrook Police and the North Regional Major Crimes Task Force are investigating the homicide. Anyone with information on the homicide should call Northbrook police at (847) 564-2060. Chicago rapper/songwriter Che "Rhymefest" Smith said Monday that he supports President-elect Donald Trumps call for federal aid to fight violent crime in Chicago as long as it results in additional resources for certain neighborhoods. In his tweet, Trump bemoaned the citys violence, asserting that Mayor Rahm Emanuel should "ask for federal help" if local authorities cant handle the crisis. If the president-elect is talking about federal intervention in terms of resources, then we welcome that, Smith said in an interview with CNN. Illinois is number one for African-American unemployment. When we look at violence, especially in Chicago, you can circle on a map the small areas where violence in happening. If we can circle small areas, that means we can take what works in Chicago, by and large, and apply that to these areas that have been divested from, Smith added. In an August interview with CNN, the rapper invited Trump to Chicago as a response to the president-elects divisive rhetoric about the city. Chicago is in a fragile state, Smith said at the time. However, its not what Donald Trump is saying it is." Smith, who lost to indicted Ald. Willie Cochran in a 2011 runoff election, said Monday that its not the presidents job to stop violence in Chicago, referencing President Barack Obama. He claimed that responsibility falls to the Chicago City Council and Mayor Rahm Emanuel. Emanuels office responded to Trumps tweet Monday, signaling a working relationship between the mayor and the president-elect. Emanuel met with Trump last month in New York City, delivering a letter from mayors across the country calling for protections for young immigrants. "As the president-elect knows from his conversation with the mayor, we agree the federal government has a strong role to play in public safety by funding summer jobs and prevention programming for at-risk youth, by holding the criminals who break our gun laws accountable for their crimes, by passing meaningful gun laws, and by building on the partnerships our police have with federal law enforcement," Emanuel spokesman Adam Collins said in a statement. We are heartened he is taking this issue seriously and look forward to working with the new administration on these important efforts, Collins added. During Mondays interview, Smith went on to criticize Emanuel for not releasing $420 million from the Department of Housing and Urban Development for affordable housing in Chicago. This thing thats happening in Chicago didnt just happen out of a vacuum, it has a history, Smith said. The affordable housing, the projects, if you want to call them that, were torn down, you know, decades ago in Chicago, and the people who lived in those places were just pushed around to various areas of the city with vouchers and were never given an opportunity to get on their feet, Smith said. I wouldnt necessarily blame President Barack Obama because thats not within his jurisdiction, but I would ask Mayor Rahm Emanuel why hasnt these communities of major violence been invested in at the level that the money has been coming in, he added. Emanuel's office claimed Smith was referencing dated numbers Tuesday. According to the mayor's office, the Chicago Housing Authority had $154 million in reserve funds at the start of last year. "We actually have been aggressively spending on the reserves for development," Emanuel spokesperson Kiera Ellis told Ward Room. "We've added over 8,000 new units in the last two years." Watch the full interview in the video clips below. It has been nearly two months since video showing a womans tirade at a Chicago Michaels store went viral, but now the woman at the center of the footage that quickly took over the Internet, broke her silence. This wasnt about race, this was not about political views, this was about very poor customer service and being told to leave without warning, Jennifer Boyle said in an exclusive interview with NBC 5 that aired Tuesday. In the weeks that have followed the videos release, the 29-year-old Lakeview resident said she has been attacked on social media and called racist and unhinged for her comments. How did the situation escalate to the point we saw on video? The video, seen more than 4.5 million times, shows Boyle yelling repeatedly at a black employee at a Lakeview store and telling one employee to shut your face. Boyle says an employee discriminated against her and mumbled that she must have voted for Donald Trump, but the employee is heard in the video denying that assertion. And I voted for Trump, so there, she said in the footage. What? You want to kick me out because of that? And look who won. Look who won. Why not leave? Why not get out of the situation? Now, at the start of 2017, Boyle said she regrets not leaving the store and ending the situation before her viral tirade. Looking at it now, I think that would have been the right thing to do, she said. I really believe that it was fight or flight kicked in and I felt that I needed to defend myself. If you had to do it over again, you would have handled it differently? Boyle maintains that she was discriminated against, and confirmed that the incident started over a reusable bag. Witnesses have argued the employees did nothing to provoke this verbal attack and in fact treated all customers with professionalism and courtesy. "I wish I would have just been above, cooler heads prevail, been above reproach and would have just left and called corporate like I did do on Friday," she said. A few days later another video surfaced, at Peet's coffee. Do you think you have an issue with dealing with your anger? The Michaels video wasnt the first footage of Boyle in a heated diatribe to be posted online. A similar video showed her in a verbal altercation at a Peets Coffee in the citys Boystown neighborhood months earlier. Oh my God youre a floor manager and you call people a b----, youre a b----, she is seen shouting. I was treated like crap, Bobby. But Boyle claims this isn't a pattern. "I do not believe that I have an issue dealing with my anger," she said. "I believe that again, taking the high road and walking away from situations in that matter. What people dont know is what was said to me at Peets." This wasn't the end of this. What's happened since then? Boyle called the backlash from the video very scary and very difficult. Her home address, cell phone number and email address were all published online, leading to what she described as lewd calls, vulgar emails and death threats. Theres not one bone in my body thats racist or homophobic, she said. And thats the bottom line. Are you sorry about anything you said in the videos? But still, Boyle refuses to apologize for what happened that November day and stands by what she said. I believe that I stood up for myself, she said. Again, everybody is a work in progress. Were all human and I really believe that being above reproach is the way to be from now on. What was your reaction to the Michael's employee receiving more than $30K via a GoFundMe page? Soon after the video was posted, a GoFundMe campaign aimed at helping the employee who became the target of Boyles tirade raised more than $32,000, well above its goal of $400. In a letter to those that donated to the campaign, the store manager identified only as Holli wrote "you have all single handedly changed my life." "I've tried to be kind, I've tried to be fair, I've tried to share regardless if I was able to," the letter read. "I want others to smile when I smile back at them. Knowing deeply we all have a higher purpose." Michaels said in a statement it does not tolerate discrimination or racism of any kind against our team members or customers. We regret that our customers and team members were affected by this unfortunate incident and are grateful for the leadership of our store team in working to resolve it without further escalation, the statement read. The company also tweeted later, We appreciate the outpouring of support for our Chicago-based team member. Will there be another Jennifer Boyle video? "No. Other than what men have posted about me on YouTube and the disgusting, derogatory, crude videos that people have created about me, no there won't be." An Israeli soldier was convicted of manslaughter on Wednesday in the deadly shooting of an incapacitated Palestinian attacker, capping a nine-month saga that has deeply divided the country. The verdict, which marks an extremely rare instance of an Israeli military court siding against a soldier over lethal action taken in the field, threatened to deepen the rift. Military commanders have condemned the soldier's conduct, while much of the public, along with leading members of the nationalist ruling coalition, have rallied behind him. Sgt. Elor Azaria, an army medic, was caught on a cellphone video fatally shooting a wounded Palestinian attacker who had stabbed a soldier in the West Bank city of Hebron in March. The Palestinian was lying motionless on the ground when Azaria shot him in the head. In a verdict that stretched nearly three hours, Col. Maya Heller, head of the three-judge panel, painstakingly rejected all of Azaria's defense arguments. She said there was no evidence to support his claim that the attacker was already dead or that the man posed any threat at the time. She said that Azaria was an "unreliable" witness and had "needlessly" shot the assailant. She also said his defense witnesses were problematic. "We found there was no room to accept his arguments," she said. "His motive for shooting was that he felt the terrorist deserved to die." The defense team said it would appeal the verdict. The sentencing is expected in the coming weeks. The 20-year-old Azaria entered the court smiling and appearing confident, joined by a contingent of relatives. A young man wore a T-shirt that said "the nation is with you." But as the verdict was delivered, Azaria stared gloomily ahead, and tensions quickly boiled over in the cramped, crowded courtroom. Members of Azaria's family clapped as the decision was delivered, screaming "Our hero!" A female relative was kicked out of the courtroom for screaming at the judges and calling the decision a disgrace. A second woman stormed out, shouting, "Disgusting leftists." After the judges walked out, Azaria's mother, Oshra, screamed, "You should be ashamed of yourselves." Azaria tried to comfort her and calm her down as she wailed. Another family member turned toward the media and whipped his jacket at a female reporter. He missed the reporter and instead hit another relative. Israeli lawmaker Oren Hazan approached Azaria and gave him a hug before police ordered him to stop. Hundreds of the soldier's supporters, many of them young religious men wearing skullcaps, gathered outside the military court in Tel Aviv ahead of the verdict. The crowd, holding large Israeli flags and banners that said "the nation neglected a soldier on the battlefield" periodically scuffled with police. After the verdict, however, there were no further clashes. The shooting occurred at the height of what has become more than a yearlong wave of violence between Israelis and Palestinians. Azaria's defenders said he shot the assailant in an act of self-defense, and hard-line politicians have said he should be either cleared or released with a light penalty. But his detractors, including senior military commanders, have said his actions violated the army's code of ethics and procedures. The uproar has put the army in a delicate position. Military service is compulsory for Israel's Jewish majority, and there is widespread sympathy for soldiers, since virtually every family has a member who is serving or has served in the past. The dispute helped fuel the resignation of Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon, who sided with the military, earlier this year. His successor, Avigdor Lieberman, visited Azaria in court. Education Minister Naftali Bennett, leader of the pro-settler Jewish Home Party, has also sided with Azaria. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who initially defended the military, later softened his position and called Azaria's parents to console them. After the verdict, Lieberman, who heads a hard-line nationalist party, said he disagreed with the "difficult" verdict, but he urged the public to respect the court's decision. He said the defense establishment would do "everything it can" to help Azaria and his family. "We must keep the army outside every political argument...and keep it in the widest consensus in Israeli society," he said. Israeli human rights groups have accused the army of failing to prosecute soldiers who commit unnecessary violence against Palestinians, and trying a soldier for a crime as serious as manslaughter is virtually unheard of. The rights group Yesh Din said it was just the second manslaughter case of a soldier since the second Palestinian uprising erupted in 2000. The first case involved the death of a British activist. Sharon Gal, a spokesman for the Azaria family, accused the court of siding with human rights groups over a soldier on a battlefield. "It was like the court was detached from the fact that this was the area of an attack. I felt that the court picked up the knife from the ground and stabbed it in the back of all the soldiers," he said. Lt. Col. Nadav Weissman, a military prosecutor, said this was "not a happy day." "We would have preferred that this didn't happen. But the deed was done, and the offense was severe," he said. State legislators returned to the capitol Wednesday morning to begin another session. They plan to address a $1.3 billion deficit at the state level and might be called on to help several cities facing budget shortfalls, including Hartford. But not every town is facing large deficits. Bloomfield, which borders Hartford, is booming. The town has seen record growth in building permit fees. Over the last fiscal year, July 2015-June 2016, the town projected it would take in about $800,000 in permit fees. Instead, it collected a whopping $2.5 million. This fiscal year, town leaders again projected about $800,000 in building permit fees and it has already surpassed that by $100,000 in the first six months. A big contributor this year is an apartment building, with 215 luxury units, under construction behind Bloomfield Town Hall. When I started they had one building official. Now they have three. Two of them are working 10 hours a piece overtime every week, said Jose Giner, the director of planning and economic development for Bloomfield. Giner credits the towns success to his predecessor and the town council, for laying the groundwork for zoning and economic development. He said what sets Bloomfield apart is that town leaders recognize there is a lot of competition to attract business, not just between municipalities in Connecticut, but between states. Giner said that when town leaders see a good opportunity, they go for it. Do an analysis. If you think its good, then find a way to get it done. A lot of times you have boards and commissions in other towns that obstruct a lot of things, Giner said. The next project town council members will be contemplating is a Trader Joes warehouse, near the Amazon Fulfillment Center off Day Hill Road. On Wednesday night, a subcommittee plans to discuss a tax abatement package of 50-percent for four years. If approved, it would go to the town council for a vote on January 9. Many residents of Bloomfield are supportive of all the growth. As long as they do it the right way, yea its a good thing for the people, jobs, the town. Anything to bring more people into the area, Paige Pichette said. I think bringing in business is good for the town. We have schools to support, Jerry Guerrero, Jr. said. Comptroller Kevin Lembo says unless Republicans have a better idea for how to ease pension payments through 2045, then they need to get out of the way of the deal negotiated by the Malloy administration last month. If not this, then what?" Lembo asked during an interview Tuesday. "Someone else needs to come up with a better idea and I havent seen one yet, so if youve got a leadership role, you have the reins of authority, you have to put your ideas on the table. The deal to which Lembo is referring was struck by Gov. Malloy's administration and SEBAC, the coalition of state unions that negotiates benefits. The agreement stretches payments passed the expected "fiscal cliff" date of 2032, out to 2046. That extension reduces annual pension payments made by the state, and it avoids what is projected to be a $6 billion payment in 2032 which could amount to more than 30 percent of the state's total operating budget. Theres a deal on the table" Lembo said. "Its not the deal that any of us would write in a vacuum but it gets the job done and it really preserves budgets well into the future and in doing so preserves important services that the State of Connecticut needs to provide. Republicans have called for a new policy that would mandate votes on all union contracts by the General Assembly. The agreement struck by the Malloy administration will go into effect automatically unless lawmakers vote "No" on the deal within thirty days. Rep. Themis Klarides, the House Minority Leader said of a possible vote, I dont know of anything else thats more important, so well see what comes up. Sen. Len Fasano, the incoming Republican president pro tempore, said if the vote was held tomorrow, then he would vote against it because of higher interest payments over a longer period of time. However, Fasano did say, "I still want to see more information before any vote is taken." Fasano would support having the deal taken up for debate during the thirty day window. Rep. Joe Aresimowicz, the expected next Speaker of the House, anticipated that the deal would pass the House without issue. Lembo said the state can't leave a deal like this one hanging in the balance when so much of the budget is uncertain. "These are big numbers in a $20 billion budget so something needs to be done," Lembo said. The Kmart in Cromwell is one of 150 Kmart or Sears locations that will be closing this spring, according to company officials. Sears Holdings announced Wednesday that it would be closing 78 Kmart stores and 26 Sears stores in the spring. The company had previously announced closures at 30 other Kmart locations and 16 Sears stores. Liquidation sales will begin Friday, Jan. 6. The Cromwell location, located at 45 Shunpike Road, will close in mid-March. Sears said the move was part of a strategic plan to close unprofitable stores as it evaluates store space and productivity. Many of these stores have struggled with their financial performance for years and we have kept them open to maintain local jobs and in the hopes that they would turn around, the company said in a statement. But in order to meet our objective of returning to profitability, we have to make tough decisions and will continue to do so, which will give our better performing stores a chance at success. Company officials did not release how many employees would be affected by the Cromwell closure. All employees will be eligible for severance and can apply for open positions at other Sears or Kmart locations. The Sears store in Enfield is also slated for closure. Following is Gov. Dannel Malloy's full 2017 state of the state address, as it was prepared: Mr. President, Mr. Speaker, Lt. Governor Wyman, and my fellow state officials, ladies and gentlemen of the General Assembly, honored members of the judiciary, members of the clergy, and all the citizens of our great state: thank you for the honor of inviting me once again into the people's House. Let me offer my sincere congratulations to those of you taking on new and important leadership roles, as well as those who have been reelected into leadership positions. I also want to congratulate the new members sworn in earlier today. I look forward to working with all of you. Let me note, since we were here last together, we have lost some dear friends, including Mary Fritz and Betty Boukus, both of whom served in this house. Our hearts are heavy as we continue to mourn their passing. As always, let us thank Connecticut's brave men and women serving our nation around the globe. Thank you, as well, to my dear friend and the best Lt. Governor in the country, Nancy Wyman. And finally thank you to my wife Cathy and our three sons for their love and support. This past September, the Connecticut General Assembly met in a special session. You met to take historic action in support of our states economy and our incredible workforce. The legislation you voted to support and that I signed into law protected 8,000 jobs at Sikorsky Aircraft. Equally importantly, it shored up thousands more jobs up and down Sikorskys supply chain, and across every corner of our great state. It nearly doubled their spending with local suppliers to almost $700 million per year over the next decade and beyond. Thank you for that work. In recent years weve secured similar investments from United Technologies and Electric Boat. Taken together, these agreements cement our leadership in advanced manufacturing around the globe. A decade ago, if any of us had told our constituents that in 2017 not only would Electric Boat would be ramping-up their production rather than winding it down, not only would Pratt and Whitney be planning to put thousands more people to work, but that Sikorsky would be committed to Connecticut for another generation to come well, they wouldnt have believed us. They would have told us that we were overly optimistic at best, and naive at worst. And yet, here we are today. Working together, we have turned what many once considered impossible, into a reality. Together weve protected Connecticuts aerospace and defense industries for a generation and likely beyond. More importantly, weve given these employers, and the tens of thousands of employees who work for them, something that is vital in todays world: Weve given them predictability. We know that predictability creates confidence. And we know that confidence creates growth. When we give people reason to believe that their job is here to stay, were giving them the confidence to purchase a home, to buy a new family car, or to start a college fund. In other words, were giving them confidence to take part in our state economy. And its equally true for their employers. Predictability allows businesses to expand, to make new hires, to put down new roots right here in Connecticut. This is what companies and their workers are looking for. They deserve it, and its on us to provide it. Thats what I want to talk to you about today about what weve done in recent years to make our budget more predictable, and our economy more sustainable. And about how we can continue that important work this legislative session. Im going to discuss three key areas that I believe we should focus on this year in order to balance our current budget, and also continue our progress towards long-term prosperity. The good news is that, for each of these three areas, positive change has already begun. To start, we need to continue making state government leaner and more cost-effective. The responsible way to do that is by setting priorities, and allocating our resources where they are needed most. Because the truth is, we simply cant afford to continue doing everything weve done in the past. In recent years, commissioners and state employees have been hard at work finding creative ways to continue providing essential services while also saving money. These cuts were not painless. Important work had to be phased out so that other vital services could continue. But the results are plain to see. Last year we cut nearly $850 million to bring our current fiscal year in balance. In so doing, we spent less in the General Fund than we had in the previous year for the first time since 2002. Weve reduced the number of state agencies by 28 percent since 2011 shrinking from 81 agencies down to 58. During that same time period, we reduced the size of our executive branch workforce by nine and a half percent. We now employ 5,000 fewer full-time employees than we did in 2008. And dont let anyone tell you that these reductions are only in front-line employees. Weve reduced the number of state management positions by 28 percent. While we had to go through the unfortunate, but necessary, process of layoffs last year, the vast majority of these reductions have come through attrition. Were also spending less on overtime. With your strong partnership and encouragement, overtime costs dropped 14.5 percent last year, saving the state $37 million. All told, excluding higher education, the executive branch workforce is at the smallest it has been since Ronald Reagan was president. And now, in this biennium, we need to continue that work, ensuring we reduce spending responsibly and with great care. Commissioners will need to once again work with their staff and with you, our legislative partners to find additional savings. Like families across Connecticut, just because we responsibly managed our budget in recent years doesnt mean we can take this year off. We must continue to live within our means, spending only as much revenue as we have, and no more. In September, my administration asked agencies to begin thinking about what additional cuts would mean. Having further explored these options, many of their recommendations will be included in the budget I present to you next month. Cuts in specific areas, or outright eliminations, should not be taken to mean that certain work is not valued. It simply means that we can no longer afford to do it all, and that our spending must be focused on the very core, essential services for our residents. And to be clear, saving money isnt just about cutting line-items, or reducing headcount. Agencies will continue to modernize systems, reduce waste, and increase productivity in order to cut costs as much as possible before impacting services, or the valuable employees who provide them. Together, we can continue to make state government more efficient, more sustainable, and more reflective of our economic reality. The second area Id like to talk about are the obligations we have to Connecticuts state workers, educators, and retirees. Connecticuts state pension systems were created 80 years ago, but not a single dime was deposited into the account during the first 30 years of its existence. It was a pay-as-you-go system. Over many decades, legacy costs, insufficient contributions, lower-than-assumed returns, and early retirement packages left us with a significant unfunded liability in the states employee and teacher retirement systems. The stark reality is that, after 80 years, the state has set aside only one-third of the money necessary to responsibly fund its obligations. Let me put it in context. Of the $1.65 billion that we will pay next year into the state retirement systems, 78 percent of that or nearly $1.3 billion is what were paying to make-up for what past administrations and past legislatures failed to do. Simply put, our generation is paying for Connecticuts past mistakes. Is it frustrating to do that? Of course. Is it necessary? Absolutely. It's also the right thing to do. Our state retirees dedicated their lives and careers to public service. We need to pay them the pensions they were promised. Lets also acknowledge and thank todays state workers for their efforts in support of Connecticut residents and businesses. In 2011, we worked at the bargaining table to help put Connecticut on a more sustainable fiscal path. Together we changed benefits, reduced longevity pay-outs, restructured state pensions, raised the retirement age, and required all employees to pay for a portion of their post-employment benefits. We saved the state $1.6 billion on our unfunded liability in the immediate two years following that agreement and a total of $21.5 billion over the following 20 years. Had we not realized that level of savings, our current $1.5 billion projected deficit would be much, much worse. Since making this agreement in 2011, the state has honored its commitment to fully fund the pension obligations each and every year finally doing together what should have been done for the prior 80 years. Building upon these years of work, my administration recently came to a crucial agreement with our state employees and our retirement commission, an agreement which will make our pension payments more affordable, and yes, more predictable. Independent analysts are taking note. Moodys Investors Services, a national credit rating agency, deemed this to be a credit positive step for our state. And the plans actuaries say these changes will enhance the stability of our pension system. I urge you to support these important reforms. Today, despite all this hard work and real progress, its clear we have more work to do to make our short and long-term labor obligations more affordable. Fixed costs continue to increase every year, hampering our ability to maintain vital public services. Pension obligations for both state employees and teachers are on track to cost the state an additional $360 million in the next fiscal year compared to this current year. Clearly, the fiscal challenges we face during the next biennium are very real. In the weeks ahead, my administration will continue working with labor leaders to find solutions for bringing employee costs in line with our economic reality. These talks have been frank and direct so far, and Im appreciative that state workers are taking part in them. Its very hard, but we must reach an agreement on how to make our pensions and benefits more affordable, as we face these fiscal challenges together. We must recognize that a responsible and balanced solution to our budget problem is one that includes state employee concessions. These changes can and should be reached respectfully, and at the bargaining table. Our state must honor its legal obligation to our public servants and state retirees, while at the same time keeping our promises to Connecticut taxpayers. Here's another promise: We will not remake the poor decisions of the past. We will not saddle future generations with fiscal cliffs and unpayable fixed costs. Responsible changes must be made and they must be made this year. As our past record demonstrates, when we come together, hold realistic expectations, and seek common ground, we can deliver results. The third and final area Id like to focus on with you today is how we go about distributing aid to our towns and cities primarily how we fund public education. The state provides a total of $5.1 billion in municipal assistance. Thats more than one fifth of our overall budget this year, making it our biggest single expense not state employee pensions, not Medicaid, not debt service, not salary and benefits of our employees; town aid accounts for the largest portion of our state budget. It simply would not be fair for us to talk about continued state agency reductions, or talk about the need for labor concessions, without talking about new ways to provide town aid. Of the $5.1 billion distributed to municipalities, 81 percent of that or $4.1 billion is educational funding. That doesn't include school construction financing, which accounts for approximately one quarter of Connecticuts bonded debt. Now that Ive put what we spend into context, let me say this of course Connecticut should be spending lots of money on local education. We all believe that investments in education are a down payment on our states future. Our budget must reflect those values. The question is, in a time of scarce state resources, are we spending this money in the best way possible? Are we ensuring that all students, regardless of the life circumstances into which they are born, regardless of what town or city they live in can receive a quality public education? I dont believe we are meeting that standard. And I will point out that a recent court decision says that, as well. Its why I have long-advocated that we direct our support to those municipalities that are struggling the most so that we can level the playing field for our students and our taxpayers. While we have made progress on this front in recent years I still believe we have not gone far enough. Connecticut needs a new way to calculate educational aid one that guarantees equal access to a quality education regardless of zip code. Our state constitution guarantees it, and our moral compass demands it. We need a formula that appropriately measures a given communitys burden. A formula that recognizes specific challenges faced by local property taxpayers. And a formula that takes into account the impact those challenges have on the education provided to our children. The budget that I will present to you next month will outline a more equitable system for providing town aid. It will be based on the local property tax burden, student need, and current enrollment. The system will be designed to be more fair, transparent, accountable, and adaptable meaning that it will provide flexibility to fit the needs of a given community. The result will be a fairer distribution of our states limited funds. And if we are successful in this effort, there will be an important ancillary benefit we can help ensure that no Connecticut city or town will need to explore the avoidable path of bankruptcy. To be clear, that kind of help shouldnt come without strings attached. If the state is going to play a more active role in helping less-affluent communities in helping higher-taxed communities part of that role will be holding local political leadership and stakeholders to substantially higher standards and greater accountability than theyve been held to in the past. We should do it so that increased aid doesn't simply mean more spending on local government. Those are the steps I believe we need to take on town aid funding. The budget I propose next month will lay out a detailed path for getting there. Now, based on prior experience, I can assume that the proposal I put before you will not be exactly what arrives on my desk a few months later. I understand that. That's how it works. And Im ready to partner with you. But understand this we need real change. Change that leads to a better, more equitable system for town aid. For the sake of our collective future, there is no reason to wait. So lets get to work. I began today by talking about our recent historic partnership with Sikorsky. But of course, its not just about the aerospace industry. Regardless of region, employment, or income, people in every industry and at every income level are counting on us to get it right. A family in Farmington where both parents work in the insurance industry deserves the reassurance of a more stable business climate one that keeps their jobs here in Connecticut. A math teacher in Norwalk should have the peace of mind that her pension and benefits will be intact when she retires after decades of hard work. A New London High School graduate, following in his fathers footsteps building submarines here in Connecticut, is owed a stable job with livable wages enough to buy a home and raise a family. If you dont think we can do it for these people, and for all people in our state, if you dont think we can help our constituents and make their lives and their careers more positive and more predictable, I ask that you look no further than the progress we've made in recent years to see exactly what is possible when Connecticut works together. Years of good economic development are helping to grow jobs. In fact, since the end of the Great Recession, we have recovered 85,000 jobs. Through the Small Business Express program, more than 1,600 companies have retained 18,000 good jobs and are now creating even more. The Manufacturing Assistance Act has helped 150 companies since 2011, retaining 34,500 jobs and growing 8,500 more jobs. All told, unemployment is now at 4.7 percent its lowest level since 2007. In 2012, we worked across party lines and passed comprehensive education reforms. Today, thanks to great teachers and principals, our students are some of the best readers in the country. And after years of decline, our graduation rates have risen for five years in a row and are now at their highest point in Connecticuts history. Weve made monumental advancements for our most vulnerable children in Connecticut, as well. Many people have doubted that we would finally be in a position to resolve the 25-year-old Juan F. case, which has kept DCF under federal oversight. For too long, this has been an embarrassment for our state, and an unacceptable situation for our children. But today, the end of that federal oversight is within reach. We are finally ready for Connecticut state government to reclaim its responsibility for Connecticut kids. Please join me in support of this progress. We are also improving our transportation system as we speak, thanks to the investments we've made together. The on-time and on-budget completion of the Q Bridge project means that, on a daily basis, 140,000 motorists are getting to where they need to go with greater ease. And with CTfastrak, more people are riding Connecticut transit buses to work. Exceeding all initial projections, average ridership on CTfastrak is as high as 19,000 people per weekday. And finally on the criminal justice front, Connecticut is leading the nation, and is now safer than it has been in fifty years. Our prison population has dropped significantly, and high-risk, violent offenders are serving more of their sentence than ever before. Recidivism has declined substantially. This progress has allowed us to save taxpayers $70 million in the current fiscal year. All of this work all of it is making Connecticut a better, more desirable place to work and live. I need to do one other thing. I would be remiss if I didnt take a moment to stress the importance of predictability and stability in the wake of Novembers presidential election. I have no desire to rehash or re-analyze the results we all get plenty of that from cable news. But I do want to offer two brief thoughts on what we can learn from November, and how it might impact our work here at home this session. First, it is now more clear than ever that too many Americans feel disconnected from their government. They feel the system isnt working for them that they arent able to take part in the American Dream. While we might disagree on the role of government in that effort, on whether it should be more active or less, I offer to you that a greater degree of predictability in government in all government, at all levels will help reengage and reinvigorate our democracy. Second, regardless of your party or who you voted for, most of us can agree that this presidential transition has been nothing if not unpredictable. It has left some people and some communities feeling anxious and uncertain. But let me remind you of this our state has a long legacy of acceptance, compassion, and fairness. Regardless of whether your family settled in Connecticut 300 years ago or three days ago, you are welcome here. As the people of Connecticut navigate a changing national landscape, we will continue to ensure that every state resident is treated with dignity and respect. That will not change. Not now. Not ever. This year, here in Connecticut, we must focus on these historic strengths as we also work to make our budget and our economy more vibrant. We must continue our progress together. Im asking for your partnership. Im asking that we approach this session and this budget in a spirit of authentic, bipartisan collaboration. Next month, I am going to come back to you with more details on the topics I laid out today: about how government should continue to become smaller and more effective; about how we can continue working with our partners in labor to create a sustainable benefit system that we can afford not just now, but into the years ahead; and about why we should find a fairer way to fund public education, so that we can ensure dollars are going to where they are needed most. All of it will be geared toward building a more predictable budget and a more sustainable Connecticut economy. We are in this together, and together we shall prevail. Thank you. God bless you, and may God bless the great State of Connecticut. The Westport man accused of sexting with a child from Colorado has been arrested and charged with child pornography, as well as enticing a minor and other charges. Police said they were alerted to an inappropriate sexting relationship between 47-year-old Paul Jude Letersky, of Westport, and a Colorado child and searched his Riverside Avenue home around 5 a.m. on Wednesday, where they found more than 50 digital images of child pornography. Officers arrested Letersky at the scene on a first-degree child pornography charge and served a warrant charging him with enticing a minor and risk of injury connected to the original complaint. He is being held on $500,000 cash bond and is scheduled to appear in Stamford Court on Jan. 13. Its not clear from the online docket if he has an attorney. If Letersky is able to post bond, there will be several conditions attached to his release, according to police. He will have to wear a GPS monitoring device, he must stay 1,500 feet from any school or daycare, cannot have any contact with the alleged victim and cannot possess an internet device. The Westport Police Detective Youth Division and the Southwest Connecticut Technical Investigation Unit, which includes officers from Weston, New Canaan, Norwalk, Greenwich and Connecticut State Police are investigating. A judge has dismissed the murder charges against former pro wrestler Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka, deeming him mentally incompetent to stand trial in the 1983 death of his girlfriend. The ex-wrestler was charged in September 2015 in the death of 23-year-old Nancy Argentino, whose body was found in their Whitehall Township hotel room in 1983. Authorities reopened the investigation after The Morning Call newspaper raised questions about the case in 2013. Prosecutors alleged she was beaten, while Snuka has maintained that she died from a fall. The defense argued Snuka, 73, couldn't stand trial because he suffers from dementia, partly due to the head trauma he suffered over a long career in the ring. The prosecution argued Snuka's brain showed normal signs of aging and suggested he was faking symptoms. "Hearing the news today that it's finally over," Snuka's attorney Robert Kirwan told NBC10 Tuesday. "Case is closed. It's done. Charges are dismissed. That sense of relief is overwhelming." Kirwan said his client was in hospice care in Florida and had six months to live. "I'd like for him to leave this world with a clean record and everybody knowing he's an innocent person," Kirwan said. NBC10 reached out to the Lehigh County District Attorney's Office for comment on the judge's dismissal. "We are considering our options and will decide at the appropriate time what action we'll take," a spokeswoman wrote. Argentino's sisters Louise Argentino and Lorraine Salome also reacted to the decision and said they were disappointed but not surprised by the ruling. "It's really been a travesty of justice from the beginning," said Louise Argentino. "Thirty years ago my sister had bruises all over her. He had told all the authorities that he pushed her and they had a fight. And they just let him walk away." [[238427591, C]] The Dallas Cowboys have reportedly taken a flier on once-highly regarded guard Jonathan Cooper. The Dallas Morning News' Jon Machota reported that the Cowboys agreed to terms with the free agent Cooper Wednesday. Cowboys have agreed to terms with guard Jonathan Cooper but need to make corresponding roster move. He was the 7th pick in the 2013 draft Jon Machota (@jonmachota) January 4, 2017 The signing is a low-risk move for the Cowboys that could pay dividends if Cooper returns to the form that made him a first-team All-America selection in college. Cooper was widely considered the top interior offensive lineman available in the 2013 draft. The North Carolina product was picked seventh overall by the Arizona Cardinals. Cooper was part of the trade package that helped Arizona acquire edge defender Chandler Jones from the New England Patriots in March. The Patriots released Cooper in October. The Cleveland Browns claimed Cooper two days after his release from New England. Cleveland released him in December. Everyone wants to be seated at the cool kids table--and when you're at the Golden Globe Awards, every table is cool. While we know who's a proud member of the nominee pool for this year's upcoming ceremony and who will be doling out golden statues at the podium, there are still a few elements of the Golden Globes that will remain a mystery until the big night--the winners, the fashion and the seating chart. It's only until the camera pans to the audience during the live broadcast Sunday evening that fans will get to see which lucky stars got to wine and dine together over the course of the highly anticipated ceremony. While attendees are typically seated with their co-stars, in a dream world, there are a few pairings we hope assemble in the name of television magic. 2017 Golden Globes: Meet the Presenters A "Blue Valentine" Redux While Ryan Gosling has reunited once again with fellow Golden Globe nominee Emma Stone for their musical rendezvous, "La La Land," there's another leading lady included in his silver screen history also up for an award on Sunday: Michelle Williams. The "Manchester By The Sea" nominee and Gosling were both honored with acting nods in 2010 for their emotional turn in "Blue Valentine." For nostalgia's sake, it's only right that these two get seated at the same table once again. The Ladies of "The Help" Similarly, this year marks the Golden Globe return of "The Help" ladies--Jessica Chastain, Stone, Octavia Spencer and Viola Davis. Four years later, they're all in the running to win a statue for their highly acclaimed respective projects. Now, imagine that table packed with star power. Let's just hope Minny's famous chocolate pie is not on the menu. E! Live 360: Experience the Red Carpet Like Never Before Matchmaker: Golden Globes Edition While there's plenty of romance sprinkled throughout this season of award-worthy films, there is also a history of flirtation behind the scenes for two of the ceremony's high-profile attendees. Fellow nominees Stone and Andrew Garfield dated for four years before splitting in 2015. While they may not officially be back together, they have been toying with fans' emotions while doing recent press. When asked by The Hollywood Reporter which actress he would bring with him on a desert island, Garfield responded, "Emma Stone. I love Emma." Can this awards season bring these former lovebirds back together? Seats next to each other wouldn't hurt. Justin Timberlake and the "Stranger Things" Kids The Grammy winner landed his second Best Original Song nod for the summer's smash hit, "Can't Stop the Feeling" from Trolls. Imagine if the triple threat could jam out with television's coolest child stars, the 'Stranger Things" kids--Millie Bobby Brown, Gaten Matarazzo and Caleb McLaughlin. After all, they already proved their musical chops with a cool rendition of "Uptown Funk" during the pre-show at the Emmy Awards. Throw "This Is Us" nominee Mandy Moore and Nicole Kidman's expected date, husband Keith Urban, into the mix and they might just have to pause the show for a full-on singalong. After all, there's nothing like an award show commercial break to rehearse the next big hit. A "Sex and the City" Flashback The last time Sarah Jessica Parker was nominated for a Golden Globe for television work, she was starring as the iconic Carrie Bradshaw on HBO's "Sex and the City." Life has come full circle for the actress, who is once again being recognized for her work on HBO with a nomination for Best Actress in "Divorce." Coincidentally, her former SATC co-star and "Snowden" actor Timothy Olyphant is slated to present that evening. The only thing better than this dream table pairing would be if Parker also wore tulle. Macy's says it is eliminating more than 10,000 jobs and plans to move forward with 68 store closures after a disappointing holiday shopping season. The department store chain also lowered its full-year earnings forecast. The retailer said Wednesday that sales at its established stores fell 2.1 percent in November and December compared to the same period last year. Macy's Inc. pointed to changing consumer behavior and said its performance reflects the challenges that are facing much of the retail industry. Two of the 68 stores to close are in North Texas, one at Dallas' Southwest Center Mall and another at Collin Creek Mall in Plano. Another six will close elsewhere in the state at the following locations: Parkdale, Beaumont; Sunland Park, El Paso; Greenspoint, Houston; West Oaks Mall, Houston; Pasadena Town Square, Pasadena; Broadway Square, Tyler, according to CNBC.com. The company said the 68 store closures are part of the 100 closings it announced in August. Of the 68, three were closed by the middle of 2016, 63 will close in the spring and two will be closed by the middle of 2017. Some may be offered positions at nearby stores but Macy's estimates that 3,900 employees will be affected by the closures. Macy's also said it plans to restructure parts of its business and sell some properties. This will lead to the reduction of 6,200 jobs. The moves are estimated to save $550 million annually. Overall, Macy's said, the job reductions represent about 7 percent of its workforce. The company, which owns the Macy's and Bloomingdale's brands, has been struggling with declining traffic in its stores, where the bulk of its business is still conducted. It said it is closing stores that are "unproductive or are no longer robust shopping destinations" as well as selling those with highly valued real estate. It plans to invest some of its savings in growing its digital business. Macy's said it now expects to earn between $2.95 and $3.10 per share on an adjusted basis for its 2016 fiscal year, versus its prior forecast of $3.15 to $3.40 per share. The company is scheduled to report full results in February. Shares in Macy's fell nearly 10 percent to $32.30 in after-hours trading. After hospitals used more blood than anticipated last week, an area blood center is asking people to donate. Carter BloodCare, who supplies blood for hospitals in 56 counties, said their inventory is critically low. The center has asked people who can give blood to donate on Tuesday or Wednesday. As a general rule, blood centers see fewer blood donations around the holidays. Holiday gatherings, seasonal illnesses and severe weather can lead to fewer people donating, according to the Red Cross. On top of that, hospitals in the Dallas-Fort Worth area used significantly more blood than normal last week, a spokesperson for Carter BloodCare said. The reason for the spike is unclear, the spokesperson said. Click here for a list of donation centers. Four people were shot in an Allen neighborhood late Tuesday night following an argument between two groups on Facebook, according to police. The shooting happened at about 11:45 p.m. along the 500 block of Hawthorne Drive. "I just couldn't believe it. At first I thought it was fireworks," said James Ramsey, who lives a few houses down from where the shooting took place. "I heard eight to 12 shots." Allen police spokesman Sgt. Jon Felty said a group of nine people from the Dallas area drove to the neighborhood where they confronted a group of seven people at a home, apparently upset over something that had been posted online. "The argument moved out into the street," he said. "It appeared everything was going to end peacefully and then somebody drew a weapon and shots were fired." The four victims were taken to two area hospitals with injuries that were not life threatening. "I can't imagine what would be so important that it would end like this," said Felty. "It is a tragedy. We're just trying to work our way through the investigation and see what the disagreement was, what the gist of it was." Felty said officers arrested 20-year-old Devonte M. Wade in connection with the shooting. Wade has been charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Police said eight other people were also detained for questioning. The Gunn family lives two doors down. Two bullet holes now riddle the Bernard Gunn's pickup truck. Another bullet tore through the window of their next-door neighbor's Suburban SUV. Bernard, Jr. and Misty Gunn raced over to their parents' home when they heard what happened. "You know, words aren't going to kill you, but bullets will," Bernard Gunn, Jr. said. "Bring a neighborhood to such violence is just wrong. It is wrong." "I'm very grateful it didn't go through the window," Misty added. "These are my loved ones here." Watch Homa Bash broadcast her live report on Facebook Live: NBC 5's Todd Davis contributed to this report. Police said they arrested a man in connection with the fatal shooting of a 21-year-old man at a Dallas hotel last month. Dallas police said they arrested Cicero Leonard Louisjean Tuesday at the Budget Suites in the 9500 block of Forest Lane in connection with the fatal shooting of 21-year-old Stephen Egana. Egana was shot at the Regency Hotel on the 11300 block of LBJ Freeway Dec. 11, 2016. Egana was transported to a hospital where he died from his injuries shortly after the shooting. Following an interview with detectives Tuesday, Louisjean was jailed and is being held on $250,000 bond. Fort Worth's housing agency is set to approve a sweeping redevelopment plan that will likely mean tearing down its largest public housing project and relocating its residents to new homes across the city. Built in 1940, Butler Place has been home for generations of Fort Worth's poorest families. About 900 people live there in 66 brick buildings located on 42 acres of prime real estate just east of downtown. Fort Worth Housing Solutions, formerly known as the Fort Worth Housing Authority, asked developers for ideas. Nine of them drew up plans. The city is scheduled to approve one in March. "There's so many different ways this site can be redeveloped and there's so much potential for this site," said Housing Solutions president Naomi Byrne. She acknowledged the details haven't been worked out yet. "Everything is up in the air," she said. "Everything is up for discussion. Our bottom line is we want the best deal for us, the city of Fort Worth and our residents." The best deal for the city may mean moving the residents. Across the country, the trend has been to get rid of projects like Butler, with big clusters of poor residents, and pay them to live in other places. If Fort Worth closes Butler, it will be the biggest city in Texas to get out of the public housing business entirely. "It's an OK place to live, if you have no other place else to live," said Butler resident Bambie Trotty, a retired telephone company worker. She is wary of the city's plans. "That's basically what it is, the rich people kicking out the poor people and the poor people have no place to go," she said. Byrne promised that even if the agency doesn't operate any large projects anymore, it'll still help people pay their rent and find a place to call home. She also didn't rule out the possibility some people may be able to stay on the property and live among more affluent residents in the future development. Fort Worth also is closing its second-largest public housing project, Caville Place, located in East Fort Worth in the Stop Six neighborhood. Dallas homicide detectives are starting 2017 with a heavy workload. Between 2015 and 2016, the city's murder rate increased 28 percent with the majority of the cases having taken place south of Interstate 30 in South Central Dallas. More than half of those homicides remain unsolved. In 2016 the clearance rate which indicates arrests, not convictions was 49 percent. At the Dallas Police Department, there are 19 homicide detectives that are trying to piece together details that could lead to an arrest in these cases, but the department is spread thin. A mass exodus of officers in 2016 has led to a shortage close to 300 officers. We expect more to leave in the next few months, said Deputy Chief Albert Martinez of the departments Southside Division. Martinez has been with the department for 23 years and said officers are asked to do more with less. Right now, its not a question of trying to more efficient. We have to be," Martinez said. "We are at a critical point in our department in our history when we need to do things smoother sharper better. Do more with less work smarter not harder. The department is asking for anyone in the community, who may have details about these unsolved murders, to step forward. You never know when that break comes to help solve the case," Martinez said. "Sometimes it's a phone call. Sometimes its a witness that steps forward." Meanwhile, at the center of each unsolved murder case is a family that lives in a constant state of uncertainty. This is a scenario where time does not heal all wounds. The mental and emotional trauma of losing a loved one to violent crime is heightened when the case goes unsolved. We live with that loss, too, and our detectives are working hard to piece together evidence that can lead to arrests, Martinez said. Officers are reaching out to pastors in South Dallas to plan community meetings. The goal would be to engage residents and build trust. Recommendations from the Dallas Mayors Commission on Homelessness moved forward at City Hall Tuesday, despite concerns about some of the details. What Ive discovered is, its not just an issue of us working with other entities. Its an issue of us working inside these walls at City Hall. So, that is certainly concerning to me, said Council Member Tiffinni Young. The Dallas City Council Housing Committee sent the list of proposals on for review by the full City Council in the future. Speaking from his wheelchair, Austin Street Shelter resident James Dunn pleaded with city leaders for action on the proposals. We need in Dallas to have a heart, realize that some people who never thought they would wind up homeless are going to wind up homeless, he said. The Mayors Commission spent months holding hearings and studying homeless issues after tent camps that sprang up all around Dallas in 2016 demonstrated the growing problem. When the city closed big camps, Shelia Crawford, President of the Ideal Neighborhood Association, said homeless people wound up in her South Dallas area, bringing trash and drug paraphernalia with them. Theyre coming to our communities, which are putting our lives and our children in danger, Crawford said. The commission report first issued months ago showed about 3,900 people were counted homeless in a 2016 census. It estimated 10,000 people experience homelessness in Dallas at some time during the year. The Dallas Independent School District reported 3,700 homeless children. My challenge to the Council and everybody sitting here is, lets not remain focused on minor differences in wording, said Dallas County Criminal Justice Department Director Ron Stretcher. Lets stay focused at the work at hand and thats to solve this crisis. And it is a crisis for us. Its in the jail, its in the hospitals and its on the streets. The recommendations include an ongoing panel be formed to see that the first groups plan becomes reality. Im very much in favor of a commission that would report to the Housing Committee. I like the structure of a 15 member board, with each council member appointing someone, the mayor appointing the chair, said Council Member Scott Griggs. Other key recommendations are better outreach to locate homeless people and provide services, coordinated community-wide data entry of cases between different agencies, more shelter capacity and permanent supportive housing. Non-profit agency CitySquare has just opened a 50 cottage campus for permanent supportive housing near Interstate 45 and Interstate 30. The cottages took longer than expected to complete and cost approximately $140,000 per unit, but the money includes providing expensive services that many homeless people need. The homeless population in Dallas has substantial needs. Theyre an aging population. Were dealing with a lot of mental illness, substance abuse issues, a number of barriers that would make it hard for them to go straight to work. They need supportive services to get them on their feet, said CitySquare Chief Operating Officer John Siburt. And really as simple as it sounds, the cure for homelessness is a house. And so when folks get housing first, that in and of itself is a stabilizer. The Mayors Commission suggested about 2,000 additional units of permanent supportive housing, but money to pay for it has not been earmarked. Some could be existing rental apartments. Dallas landlords refusing to accept government vouchers for homeless housing is another problem identified in the report. The city of Houston has made great strides in the fight against homelessness. The state of Utah has virtually eliminated it. But across the board, the success comes when you go with housing first, Siburt said. Some money for homeless housing could be included in a 2017 bond referendum. Dallas city council members discuss a possible bond borrowing plan Wednesday. A San Antonio-area man is jailed on a first-degree sexual assault charge after a female toddler he reported had been mauled by a dog was determined by investigators to have been sexually assaulted and stabbed. Isaac Andrew Cardenas is in the Bexar County Jail accused of attacking the child, who police said is not yet 2 years old. Bond for the 23-year-old man is set at $300,000. His attorney didn't return a telephone message. A 22-year-old woman described in a Bexar County Sheriff's Office statement Tuesday as a relative of the child has been charged with injury to a child by omission resulting in serious injury. Her name isn't found in online jail records. The child is listed in stable condition at University Hospital after the incident reported Saturday morning. Cleanup is planned Wednesday morning for Manchester Square, an area increasingly dotted with homeless encampments as it transitions from residential neighborhood to its envisioned role in modernizing access to Los Angeles International Airport. During the past decade, scores of apartment buildings and single family homes have been purchased and razed by Los Angeles World Airports as it seeks to acquire all of the lots inside a roughly quarter of a square mile of Westchester between LAX and the 405 Freeway. Manchester Square is bounded by Century Boulevard to the south, Arbor Vitae Street to the north, La Cienga Boulevard to the east, and Aviation Boulevard to the west. The increasingly empty streets became a destination for homeless with vehicles for auto camping, and in the past two years, tent camps have increased on the sidewalks. Many of those still occupying the remaining residences have complained to city officials of trash pileup and other problems they blame on the encampments. "Now we can't even take walks. They have the whole sidewalk blocked," said resident Dennis Morgan. "Basically, they have taken over," his wife Jena Morgan said. They expressed doubt the cleanup would have much lasting impact. To the homeless, it is another inconvenience to be endured. "If I didn't love camping, I don't know that I'd be able to tolerate this," said Joe Sigler, who has been living in a tent since summer. Under rules that have emerged from a series of court decisions on homeless camping, campers are allowed to set up on public sidewalks after 9 p.m., and are supposed to pack up at 6 a.m., though the tents generally remain where pitched in Manchester Square. "I live this way because I can't live any other way," said Dana Tritch, who has a tent near Sigler's. "Nobody's giving us a break." From 2015 to 2016, the homeless population in LA county increased 5.7 percent to 46,874, according to the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority. In the past three months, the city and service organizations increased outreach efforts to find shelter for the Manchester square homeless, said Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti. It's not known how many have been placed, but several of the homeless said they are still waiting after being contacted. Others, including Trich and Sigler, said they do not want to give up their pet dogs if placement requires that. Tuesday afternoon, two Airport Police officers assigned to Manchester Square delivered the news to one homeless woman that her housing expense voucher had been authorized. But she remained pessimistic suitable housing would be found. Though the Los Angeles municipal code does not permit car camping on residential streets, it is often not enforced, unless there are specific parking restrictions. Some, but not all of Manchester Square streets have signs posted that read no parking between 2 and 6 a.m. Westside city councilman Mike Bonin has pushed for amending the code to permit car camping in commercial and industrial areas. Bonin has also called for creating "safe parking" for homeless to car camp in areas such as church parking lots. Mayor Garcetti sees that as a possible temporary measure, but not a long term solution. Last November, Los Angeles voters approved Measure HHH, authorizing the city to issue bonds to raise up to $1.2 billion to build homeless housing. Garcetti said congestion at LAX over the holidays was another indicator of the need to proceed with the airports Landside Access Modernization Program, dubbed "LAMP." The plan foresees using Manchester Square as the location for a consolidated rent-a-car facility, "Conrac" for short. The mayor expects ground-breaking for Conrac to begin by the middle of next year. Those in the remaining houses and apartments in Manchester Square realize they likely will have to move in the next few months. With the changes in her neighborhood in recent years, airline employee Rosie Pecina has mixed feelings. "You want to get away," Pecina said. "But you want to stay because it's convenient and affordable." Half a century ago, at the dawn of the jet age, LAX was confronted with increasing complaints about noise from residents in an ocean view community of Playa del Rey on the sand dunes beneath the airport's take-off pattern. The city dealt with it by buying up the properties in short order, and fencing off the area as a permanent no-man's land. The houses are gone, but the grid of empty streets can still be seen from Vista del mar. If you loaded up your 1960 Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz convertible, the baby blue one with the sky-high fins, and you applied some extra Brylcreem to your pompadour and made sure the AM dial on your radio worked just fine, it would still take you over a day to drive from Palm Springs to Memphis, Tennessee. Surely it would be an important drive, if you treasure the legend of The King and all of the major music, and influences, he left the world to enjoy. But you can save the 1700+ miles, at least for the time being, and mark the 82nd anniversary of the birth of Elvis Presley at the famous desert-snazzy Honeymoon Hideway. The acclaimed abode, which is where Elvis and Priscilla Presley spent the days following their 1967 wedding, will once again honor the legend's birthday with more music, memories, and tours than you can fit into a tour bus, proverbially. The date? It's all going down, with hip shakes and thankyouverymuch-ing, on the eve of Mr. Presley's Jan. 8 birthday. So you'll need to be at the lauded Ladera Circle locale on Saturday, Jan. 7 to catch performances by a pair of tribute artists (George Thomas'll be homaging Elvis while James King will step in for Frank Sinatra) and a trio of midday "Tours of the Kings House." Other happenings, like an appearance by Dick Grob (who worked for The King), as well as The Palm Desert Strummers, fill out the daytime schedule. You'll want to secure a ticket before gassing up the convertible, so do that, blithely, as you hum "Love Me Tender" or another croony hit. Of course, if you're a through-and-through King fan, making the highway-epic drive to Graceland, with, perhaps, an emotional stop in Tupelo, Mississippi, is a commendable dream to have. (Tupelo, of course, was the birthplace of the icon.) And Elvis was very much a dream-maker. His songs were lush with fantasy and hope, as was his life, outlook, homes, cars, and fabulous glittering jumpsuits. It is good to have a dream, in short, and that The King's birthday arrives just days after the new year is a buoyant reminder of this notion. Need to find that hope-filled thread again? Put on a few songs, sway the hips, and pursue a Presley-themed party now. The regime of former president Yahya Jammeh (C) is accused by human rights defenders of systematically torturing political opponents and journalists, extrajudicial executions, arbitrary detentions and enforced disappearances (AFP Photo/MARCO LONGARI) (AFP/File) Banjul (Gambia) (AFP) - The head of Gambia's electoral commission has fled to neighbouring Senegal fearing a plot against him, a month after declaring President Yahya Jammeh lost elections following 22 years in power, one of his relatives said. Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) chairman Alieu Momar Njie "fled to Senegal after he got information that the Gambian authorities were plotting against him and his team" one of his relatives told AFP late Tuesday. "Some of his team members have also left for Senegal," the relative said, speaking on condition of anonymity. The relative did not elaborate on how Njie fled or say who had gone with him. There was no immediate comment from Senegalese authorities. Njie had declared opposition candidate Adama Barrow the winner of December 1 presidential elections and pleaded with all parties to respect the result. Jammeh's party later lodged a legal complaint against the electoral commission and the country has since been in political deadlock. The 51-year-old Jammeh, who took power in a bloodless coup in 1994, has said he will await a Supreme Court ruling in the case, delayed until January 10, before ceding power. Jammeh's refusal to step down, despite initially conceding defeat in the election, has stoked international concerns about the future of the tiny west African country. Both the United Nations and African leaders have called for him to step down. Meanwhile, a security source said that a group of people arrested for selling or wearing T-shirts bearing the slogan #GambiaHasDecided had been released. One of those briefly detained, who declined to be identified, said armed men had entered a shop selling merchandise featuring Barrow's image and seized T-shirts, caps and badges. They said they were taken to Gambian National Intelligence Agency headquarters where they were cautioned before being released. Cyber-security analysts are probing a Vermont utilitys laptop, following the discovery of malware on the device. Burlington Electric said federal authorities issued an alert to utilities around the country about possibly suspicious internet activity. The alert led to the discovery of a concerning piece of code that didnt belong on one of its employees laptops. Were still looking into the laptop, said cybersecurity analyst Jon Rajewski, who consulted for Burlington Electric on the situation. Theres a team of people from federal agencies working on this as well. In their alert, the feds linked the type of code discovered in Vermont to Russian hackers. Friday, The Washington Post incorrectly reported that Russian hackers penetrated the U.S. electric grid through that code, infecting a Vermont computer. The paper later amended its reporting to say the discovery indicated there are technological risks to the nations power system. By Monday night, the newspaper issued an update citing experts and officials close to the investigation that some evidence showed the incident was not linked to any hacking effort by the Russian government. The utility called the initial newspaper report deeply flawed and said the code may have had little or no direct impact at all on Burlington or on the power grid as a whole. Theres been no indication of compromise of either our electric grid systems or our customer information said Neale Lunderville, the general manager of Burlington Electric. Lunderville told necn the laptop wasnt connected to the grid systems, and noted the code has been found elsewhere in the country. Were constantly scanning for threats, 24-7-365, Lunderville said. All utilities, including Burlington Electric, take cyber-security very, very seriously. The scare and its initial link to Russia, which the Obama administration has fingered in the hacking of Democratic political institutions ahead of November's election, sparked several fiery political responses. Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin said, Vermonters and all Americans should be both alarmed and outraged that one of the world's leading thugs, Vladimir Putin, has been attempting to hack our electric grid, which we rely upon to support our quality-of-life, economy, health, and safety. This episode should highlight the urgent need for our federal government to vigorously pursue and put an end to this sort of Russian meddling, Shumlins statement continued. necn reached out to Shumlin's office Tuesday in light of Washington Post's further reporting. Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vermont, also weighed in. This is beyond hackers having electronic joy rides this is now about trying to access utilities to potentially manipulate the grid and shut it down in the middle of winter, Leahy wrote. That is a direct threat to Vermont and we do not take it lightly. Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vermont, said in a statement, This attack shows how rampant Russian hacking is. It's systemic, relentless, predatory. They will hack everywhere, even Vermont, in pursuit of opportunities to disrupt our country. While federal agencies have linked the code they told utilities to watch for to Russian hackers, Rajewski, the cybersecurity analyst, said a full forensic exam of the malwares origins and the motive behind it will be complicated. Often, viruses can get onto computers through bogus emails that trick users into opening a malicious file, he said. You have to spend a lot of time looking at the evidence and trying to determine what happened, Rajewski said. All that takes some time and effort. While the probe into the utilitys laptop continues, Rajewski said the case underscores the need for homeowners, businesses and other organizations to keep up-to-date on cybersecurity, to protect against possible breaches. Computers hold a lot of valuable information. Its important to keep it safe and secure, Rajewski said. Its really important to keep your phone and computer up-to-date so you can try to stop or slow down these attackers from breaching your security. Florida Power & Light is looking to recoup nearly $320 million from customers to cover costs associated with Hurricane Matthew and to replenish a storm reserve. Documents filed with the state Public Service Commission by FPL are requesting to start collecting the money in March, the News Service of Florida reported. The company says 1.2 million customers had service interrupted and it replaced more than 250 miles of wire, more than 900 transformers and some 400 poles after Matthew swept past the state in October. Many of the outages were reported in central and north Florida, including Brevard, Volusia, Flagler and St. Johns counties. According to the filing, the company estimates it spent $316.8 million in restoration costs. The Public Service Commission has the authority to review the request and determine how much would be passed on to customers. The collections would last a year and customers who use 1,000 kilowatt hours of electricity a month, for example, would see their monthly bills increase by $3.36, the documents said. A hit-and-run victim is pleading for help to find the driver who barreled into him and left him in the middle of a Wynwood street with some serious injuries. Alex Giraldo says he was riding his motorcycle during Bike Night last month when out of nowhere he was run down by a car. "I have a fractured tibia right underneath my knee that they had to put a plate in and also my, both of my feet are fractured," Giraldo said in an exclusive interview with NBC 6 on Tuesday. "He didn't even stop at all to see if I was fine or anything. It was just like bam. He hit me and that's it. He took off." According to the City of Miami Police Department, Giraldo was sideswiped by a car and the driver is missing in action. The collision happened around 10:30 p.m. on Dec. 15 on Northwest 29th Street near North Miami Avenue. "I was driving right in front of the O Cinema and out of nowhere a car hit me. I didn't even see him coming," Giraldo said. The 48-year-old said he was in the hospital for a week and said it will be more than six months before he fully recovers. While he's grateful it wasn't worse, he claims the accident has affected his livelihood since he can't drive his beloved motorcycle or his limousine for his business. Giraldo said he wants to use his story to raise awareness about what he calls a hit and run epidemic in South Florida. "This is something that has to stop because I've seen people being killed and people are getting away with murder and it doesn't have to be someone getting killed," he said. "Look, I'm pretty much maimed for life or whatever. Hopefully I make a full recovery but there has to be something done. This is something that is happening way too frequently and people are just taking advantage and leaving." Police haven't released a description of the vehicle but Giraldo said his riding buddies saw the car flee. "They told me it was a Nissan Sentra, four doors, and he got damage in the front," he said. Police are continuing their search for the driver. Anyone with information is asked to call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-TIPS. An Orlando man is accused of forcing an exchange student to have sex with him multiple times while she was living with him. Joshua Perez, 28, is facing charges of sexual battery and exposure of sexual organs. Investigators say the incidents happened at the Valencia Forest Apartments, where the victim lived with Perez and his girlfriend. An arrest report says Perez, who was the victim's host dad, forced the Vietnamese exchange student into sexual encounters about 13 times over the past three months. Arrest documents also show that a second exchange student living with Perez told investigators the suspect exposed himself to her as she cooked him food. Information on Perez's attorney wasn't immediately available. Miami-Dade Police are searching for a man wanted for questioning in a deadly police-involved shooting last week. Detectives released a flyer Tuesday with a photo of Devin Lamar Smith. Officials want to talk to the 25-year-old about his involvement in Friday's police-involved shooting that unfolded on West Indigo Street in West Perrine. Miami-Dade Police said officers were forced to shoot 21-year-old Jamar Rollins during an attempted traffic stop. Smith was the passenger and fled the scene on foot. Detectives say Rollins, who was behind the wheel, pulled out a gun on two officers before he was shot and killed. However, one witness said Rollins had his hands up. "This was an assasination. My nephew was gunned down and killed by an officer," said Rollins' aunt, Karen Harris. A community meeting was held Tuesday evening at Sweet Home Missionary Baptist Church. County Commissioner Dennis C. Moss along with pastors and Miami-Dade Police Director Juan Perez discussed the investigation with frustrated residents. Harris spoke directly to Perez during Tuesday's meeting. "Why was he allowed to be in our community, targeting these young men in the first place?" Harris asked. Harris along with many in the crowd were visibly frustrated about the deadly shooting. "The officer that could not catch the young man that did run away from the vehicle, resorted to shooting my nephew who was standing still and surrendered. That is unacceptable to me," Harris said. Director Perez told the crowd that the officer involved had been assigned to district because of the possibility of a revenge shooting. Both officers, Andrew Garcia and Jesus Soto, involved in the shooting have nine years of experience. They were placed on administrative paid leave as the Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigates the shooting. A clothing store employee is outraged after she was sucker-punched by a male shopper at the Southland Mall in Cutler Bay. The woman, who does not want to be identified, said she was attacked by the shopper for no apparent reason. Surveillance video from New Year's Day shows a man and woman entering Moda Xpress just before 2 p.m. At one point, the man walks into the cash register area. The victim told him he's not allowed to walk in that area and that's when the shopper punches her in the face. The victim then tends to her battered face. She was not seriously hurt. The suspect got away. The woman says she is bothered and nervous knowing that he is still out there and could return and do the same thing to someone else. The store employee is also outraged at Miami-Dade Police for what she calls a delayed response to the attack. A police officer responded to the scene to write an incident report, but the officer refused to review the surveillance video. Miami-Dade Police spokesman Daniel Ferrin told NBC 6 the officer followed protocol. Department rule says the assigned detective of the case investigates surveillance videos and other evidence, not responding officers. The male suspect remains on the run. Students at Florida Gulf Coast University in Fort Myers are on edge after a woman was attacked by two men on campus. The incident happened on New year's Day around 9:30 p.m. in one of the housing parking lots. The victim said she was sexually battered by one man while another man stood as the lookout. Students say the news of the attack is unnerving especially since FGCU has few reported sexual assaults. Only one reported last year. A woman said an older man assaulted in the common area of a dorm. The university offers resources through Title IX and other programs to sexual assault victims. University police are searching for the unidentified suspects. President-elect Donald Trump appeared to side with controversial WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange over U.S. intelligence officials Wednesday, citing the activist's assertion that Russia did not provide his organization with the hacked Democratic emails that roiled the 2016 election. Trump's latest challenges to the intelligence community - which has assessed that Russia interfered in the election on the Republican's behalf - comes as the government rushes to finish a highly anticipated report on the hacking. The president-elect is expected to be briefed on the report Friday by CIA Director John Brennan, FBI Director James Comey and Director of National Intelligence James Clapper. Clapper is also testifying on Capitol Hill Thursday. But he could be limited in what he can say about the report's conclusions given that Trump - and perhaps President Barack Obama, who ordered the report - will not have been briefed by the time he steps before lawmakers. The gulf between the intelligence community's assessment and the public information available to support that assessment has given Trump an opening to question whether Russia was behind hacking of the Democratic National Committee and John Podesta, a top aide to campaign rival Hillary Clinton. Trump's resistance has put him at odds with Obama and lawmakers in both parties, raising questions about why an incoming American president appears to believe Russia's denials over the intelligence agencies he will soon oversee. Trump's posture has appeared to stem in part from concerns that the allegations of Russian election interference delegitimized his victory. But Trump aides have argued Trump's position isn't personal, but based on what he sees as incomplete or inconclusive information. Spokesman Sean Spicer said Wednesday that Trump has received "raw data" on the hacking during daily intelligence briefings. But he said the president-elect was "more skeptical of the conclusions that are drawn." Vice President-elect Mike Pence, who met with lawmakers on Capitol Hill Wednesday, said Trump was expressing "his very sincere and healthy American skepticism" about intelligence conclusions. "Given some of the intelligence failures of recent years the president-elect's made it clear to the American people that he's skeptical of conclusions from the bureaucracy and I think the American people hear him loud and clear," Pence said. The nature of the presidency gives the commander in chief discretion to decide how to respond to intelligence assessments. But any skepticism about the agencies' conclusions usually plays out privately in the Situation Room and Oval Office, not on Twitter - Trump's main forum for challenging the intelligence community and others. On Wednesday morning, Trump tweeted about a Fox News interview in which Assange denied Russia provided WikiLeaks with Podesta's emails. WikiLeaks released thousands of Podesta's files throughout the final weeks of the presidential election. "Julian Assange said 'a 14 year old could have hacked Podesta' - why was DNC so careless? Also said Russians did not give him the info!" Trump wrote. It was remarkable for the incoming president to give credibility to Assange, whose organization has been under criminal investigation for its role in classified information leaks. Assange has said his source for the hacked emails WikiLeaks published during the campaign was not a government, but his assertion has left open the possibility they came from a third party. On Tuesday night, Trump cast more doubt on U.S. intelligence agencies by saying his briefing on the hacking report has been delayed. "Perhaps more time needed to build a case," he wrote. Trump's tweets caused confusion among intelligence officials, who said there was no delay in the briefing schedule. The fresh clash came as Trump took further steps to fill his Cabinet and key White House positions, with his attention shifting toward the challenges of governing. He announced that he wants Wall Street lawyer Jay Clayton to be chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, saying in a statement that his pick is "a highly talented expert on many aspects of financial and regulatory law." Trump has repeatedly said he wants to undo many regulations that he says have "stifled investment" in Americans' businesses. Clayton, in a statement, said he'll "carefully monitor" the financial sector and set policies that encourages companies to create jobs. Clayton is the latest Trump pick with deep ties to Wall Street - having represented Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Barclays Capital Inc. On Capitol Hill, meanwhile, Pence told Republicans that Trump has signaled that "it's time to get to work" and plans to have a shorter-than-usual 90-minute Inaugural parade on Jan. 20 and then go straight to the Oval Office to begin signing executive orders repealing some of President Obama's actions. Pence did not specify the topics of the potential executive orders. Trump also promised to hold his first formal news conference since his Nov. 8 election victory next week in New York. He has already waited longer than any other president-elect in the modern era to hold his first exchange with journalists. Most have held such events within days of their elections. Transition officials said Wednesday that Trump would address his business during a wide-ranging press conference but it was not clear if he would fully outline how he plans to avoid potential conflicts of interest involving the Trump Organization after taking office. A 34-year-old man was kidnapped by a group of people, at least one of them armed, in the Bronx Tuesday, authorities say. Witnesses told police the group of men forced Russell Lowe into a 2014 black Toyota Sienna with New York license plates on Wilkinson Avenue in Pelham Bay shortly after 2 p.m. and drove south on Westchester Avenue. The men who took him are believed to be in their 20s or 30s. Police say Lowe has been abducted in the past, but he was let go. Investigators are looking into whether the kidnapping may be drug- or gambling-related. Lowe, who lives in the Bronx, is about 5 feet 9 inches tall and 170 pounds with black hair and brown eyes. Anyone who has seen him is asked to call police. What to Know New York state officials have offered blood tests to all Newburgh residents after a cancer-causing chemical was found in their tap water PFOS, the chemical found in the water, has been linked to cancer, thyroid problems and other serious health issues PFOS can be found in firefighting foam, which is used at Newburgh's military air base State leaders in New York are calling for drastic action to keep drinking water safe in response to what they call a water quality crisis," especially in Newburgh and surrounding cities. We can no longer cook with it, we can no longer make our coffee with it, and we cannot drink it -- and the kids, we were told not to brush our teeth with it, too, New Windsor resident Tina Coughlin told NBC 4 New York. Coughlin said the state tested her well water back in August, and that's when they discovered that it was contaminated with Perfluorinated Compounds, or PFOS. I dont want to see my kids get sick, said Coughlin. Amid jugs of bottled water provided by New York state, Coughlin and her family are at the epicenter of a water crisis that has engulfed the towns of Newburgh and New Windsor, as well as the certain areas of Beaver Dam Lake. A multi-state agency response was launched after the EPA and a Department of Environmental Conservation investigation revealed that Lake Washington, the city of Newburghs reservoir, was contaminated with PFOS. It is a chemical that was used in firefighting foam, and the source of the contamination was linked to a retention pond at Stewart Air Force Base. The health effects that have been identified as potentially concerning for PFOS including liver conditions, immune and thyroid concerns, low birth weight are the main ones, Brad Hutton, state deputy commissioner of public health, told NBC 4. In May 2016, the city of Newburghs water supply was switched to Browns Pond. In June, it was switched to the Catskills Aqueduct to provide the city of 27,000 residents with clean drinking water. The state is footing the bill and advanced a payment of $2.4 million to the city of Newburgh in September 2016. For residents with private wells, several options have been made available from the state. Some residents, like the Coughlins, have been provided with bottled water as their clean source of water. Other residents that are close to public water supply hookup have been hooked up to public water. Those who arent have the option to opt into a Point of Entry Treatment System -- or a POET -- that would purify their well water. Despite the response from the state, many people like the Coughlins are still fearful. "This has been in the drinking water supply for years we may have exposed a whole generation to this contaminant," said Dan Shapley, the water quality program director with Riverkeeper. This chemical is, unfortunately, like a perfect contaminant. It's soluble in water and its very toxic. You can have very small levels, so just under four pounds of this stuff in that whole reservoir is enough to contaminate it beyond EOA safe drinking water guidelines, Shapley said. Riverkeeper has served as an advocate for the impacted communities. Shapley said the organization is fighting for primarily three things. The first is a robust health response to make sure that theres a long-term medical monitoring program. That starts with free blood testing, "which were happy to see the department of health Is now doing here in Newburgh," he said. "Were also concerned about robust cleanup of the contamination, and thats a point that were still very concerned on because the Air National Guard base has not filtered the water thats coming off of their base, the pollution is still flowing off of their base," said Shapley. "And third, were interested in protecting the drinking water supply in the long term and that really means protecting the streams that feed into the reservoir." As a part of the health response, the Department of Health has launched an unprecedented effort to test the blood of every resident. Over 3,000 residents have signed up to date, and the state has tested over 400 of those that have opted into having their blood tested for PFCs. Hutton said PFOS typically takes between 5 to 7 years to have a half-life and sort of dissipate in the levels of a persons blood. "I think it is helpful to try and understand what the levels are that were experienced here in the Newburgh residence, so that we can monitor for health effects over time and provide information to clinicians and patients," said Hutton. The program is a comprehensive bio-monitoring program launched by the NYSDOH in partnership with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevent and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. The program will serve as a national model for understanding the effects of PFOS exposure. There arent many labs nationally that can perform a test to find this in water, let alone blood. Our Wadsworth Center in the New York State Health Department is one of the premier public laboratories in the nation. Its because of Wadsworths capabilities that we even have the ability to offer for bio-monitoring to a community like Newburgh, Hutton said of the state funding program. NBC 4 has learned from city officials that testing has been easier said than done. Theres a lot of distrust in the community when the federal government or any type of government tries to come in and take information from your body. Certainly, a community of color, weve had lots of experiences where that has taken a negative connotation, Newburgh City Councilwoman Karen Mejia said, explaining the fears that resonate with many residents. In New Windsor, Tina Coughlin still has her concerns. We were advised that it slowly absorbs into the skin so it shouldnt be a concern, she explained, Im concerned the water may not absorb quickly through their skin, but it may get through their cuts and any other scrapes the kids have. For Coughlin, information cant come soon enough: Its frustrating because nobody has an answer. Nobody has any information, anything new. So its very frustrating. You kind of feel like they are putting you on the back burner because theres nothing new. In a statement Tuesday, the DEC said, "New York State is taking aggressive actions to identify and confront emerging water contaminants, hold polluters accountable, and create a national model for the protection of drinking water. This session, we look forward to working with the Legislature to increase the State's investment in water infrastructure and source water protection." The Air National Guard said in its own statement, "The Air Force is committed to protecting human health and ensuring safe drinking water for our Airmen and impacted communities. We are systematically sampling groundwater and soil where Aqueous Film Forming Foam was released. Where our activities contaminated drinking water above the Environmental Protection Agency health advisory we will take action, and have taken actions across the Air Force to transition to a more environmentally responsible AFFF alternative." The Department of Health said it is offering testing throughout the month of January. The dates are as follows: January 5th January 6th January 8th January 10th January 13th January 15th January 18th January 20th January 23rd January 26th January 29th Anyone interested in having their blood tested should call the Water Quality Hotline at 800-801-8092. A father and his 6-year-old son avoided injury when their vehicle slammed into a utility pole in New Jersey, and live electrical wires fell onto the sedan Tuesday morning. It's not clear what caused the father to lose control of the car when he crashed into the pole in Linden. Trapped below the live wires, he called his wife, and she called 911 -- and they instructed him and his son to stay in the car, no matter what. "What happens is if you were to step out of your car and touch the ground with an energized car, you now become the point of contact to the ground for the electricity to follow the path, and you'll be electrocuted," said Linden Fire Dept. Chief William Hasko. It's a crucial point to remember in a car accident involving live wires, even if victims are injured or anxious to get out, officials say: it's best to stay in the car. "You always have to assume the wires are energized," Hasko said. While firefighters were on the scene Tuesday, a transformer exploded and caught fire near the car. Still, the father and son were told not to get out until the power company turned off the power. They had to sit tight for 45 minutes. "Luckily he stayed calm, and he was talking to his wife and first responders," said Linden Police Lt. Christopher Guenther. "He listened to what they told him and stayed put." Hasko said they were "very proud of the 6 year old -- he did an excellent job." A 26-year-old woman in Fanwood, New Jersey, made the choice last July that cost her life: she got out of her car after wires fell on it during a storm and was killed. The dad and son in Linden got out and were fine, police said. PSE&G crews worked into the night Tuesday to clear the accident scene and fixing the utility pole. A Blainesville's beaked whale washed up dead on a New Jersey beach, only the second time in a generation the extremely rare specimen has been seen on the region's shores. The Marine Mammal Stranding Center reported Wednesday that the 15-foot male weighed roughly 800 pounds when it was found at Island Beach State Park. It was already decomposing when found, so it was not clear when the animal actually died. The last time this particular type of whale washed up in the state was 1989. Part of that animal is in the center's museum in Brigantine. According to the conservation charity WDC, the whale is known for a beak that resembles a dolphin's, and prefers deeper, tropical waters. What to Know Two men -- one armed with a knife, one with a gun -- were killed by police in separate incidents just hours apart, the NYPD said President Obama and Vice President-elect Mike Pence head to Capitol Hill for separate strategy sessions dealing with the Affordable Care Act Sentencing begins for Charleston church shooter Dylann Roof, who is representing himself as he faces the death penalty 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. 2 Deadly Police-Involved Shootings in NYC Two men were shot and killed by police in Brooklyn in a matter of hours, the NYPD said. Police shot and killed a man in Prospect Heights on Wednesday morning, about six hours after another man was shot and killed by an officer in Canarsie. In the latter shooting, police said a 63-year-old man was wielding a knife and coming at officers before he was shot and killed around 9:30 p.m. Hours later, around 3:40 a.m. Wednesday, an unidentified man holding a .38 caliber revolver was shot and killed by two officers, according to police. An investigation into both shootings is ongoing. No one else was reported injured. Obama Travels to Capitol Hill President Barack Obama is traveling to the Capitol to give congressional Democrats advice on how to combat the Republican drive to dismantle his health care overhaul. Vice President-elect Mike Pence is meeting with GOP lawmakers to discuss the best way to send Obama's cherished law to its graveyard and replace it. The separate strategy sessions were coming on the second day of the new, GOP-led Congress. In 16 days, Republican Donald Trump replaces Obama at the White House. Obama's chief White House photographer released his favorite 2016 photos. Democrats to Fight Trump Nominees Suggesting that turnabout is fair play, the Senate's new top Democrat said Tuesday night "it's hard for me to imagine" Democratic senators' supporting a Supreme Court nomination submitted by President-elect Donald Trump. In a measured but blunt interview on MSNBC's "The Rachel Maddow Show," Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York took on Trump over a number of issues, calling him a "fake" populist. But it was the vacancy on the Supreme Court created by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia in February that led to Schumer's strongest challenge to the president-elect. Fox News Star Moves to NBC Megyn Kelly, the Fox News star who's had a contentious relationship with President-elect Donald Trump, said Tuesday that she's leaving the network for NBC News, where she will host a daytime talk show and a weekend newsmagazine, as well as contribute to breaking news coverage. NBC News made the announcement Tuesday, ending months of speculation over whether she would re-up with Fox, where she has flourished while suffering bruised feelings in recent months, or start a new chapter in her career. Her contract with Fox expires this summer. Her last show on Fox will be Friday night. Speculation About Mansons Health A California prison official says cult killer Charles Manson is alive following reports that he was hospitalized. TMZ reported Tuesday that Manson, 82, was taken to a hospital in Bakersfield, about 60 miles south of the California prison where he has been incarcerated. California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation spokeswoman Terry Thornton declined to say whether the leader of the notorious Manson family has been hospitalized. Sentencing for Charleston Shooter The same jury that last month unanimously found Dylann Roof guilty in the slayings of nine black parishioners at a South Carolina church is returning to court to begin contemplating his punishment. The sentencing phase of Roof's federal trial begins Wednesday in Charleston. He could face the death penalty or life in prison. Roof is representing himself but has said he plans to call no witnesses or introduce any evidence. His former legal team has said Roof fears embarrassing himself or his family. Turkey IDs Nightclub Attack Suspect Turkish authorities on Wednesday said they determined the identity of the gunman in the Istanbul nightclub attack and that they have detained five suspected ISIS militants believed to be linked to the event, the state-run news agency reported. The police operation to detain the IS suspects was launched in the Aegean port city of Izmir and was ongoing, Anadolu Agency said. The gunman, who killed 39 people during New Year's celebrations, hasn't been publicly named and is still at large. Girl Scouts Unveil New Cookie Girl Scouts cookies fans can look forward to a new flavor that honors an old campfire classic: the s'more. In honor of the 100th anniversary of the Girl Scout Cookies, the company has added two s'mores-inspired treats. The ABC Bakers S'mores layers a creme icing and a chocolate coating over a graham cracker wafer. The Little Brownie Bakers version is a "crunchy graham sandwich with creamy chocolate and marshmallow-y filling." The city is set to pay up after trashing and crushing the personal belongings of three homeless New Yorkers as they looked on helplessly. Just over a year after the three men had their medications and birth certificates thrown into a trash truck and crushed by police and sanitation workers, they will be compensated, the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) said. Floyd Parks, Timmy Hall and Jesus Morales were sleeping near the entrance of a school building in East Harlem on a rainy Friday in October 2015 when the incident happened, NYCLU said. It was about 5 a.m. when they were woken by police with flashlights and sanitation workers in hazmat suits. The men were told to move along, so they started to gather their belongings. But before they could do so, the officers and sanitation workers grabbed their things and chucked them in the trash truck, where they were crushed. The incident was captured on surveillance camera, which NYCLU obtained through a Freedom of Information request. It shows Parks, who has been homeless since 2013, pleading with the sanitation workers to let him get his belongings. His blood pressure medicine, inhaler, birth certificate, ID card, social security card, a list of contacts and shelters and his clothing were all thrown in to the garbage truck, NYCLU said. I'm grateful that the city is paying me back for the things the cops stole from me because I'm homeless, I need new shoes and a warm jacket, and my disability benefits aren't enough, Parks said. With this settlement, we got our foot in the door. People will know how we've been treated and that the cops should stop kicking around and abusing homeless people." Morales lost his birth certificate, social security card, clothing and personal hygiene products, while Hall lost his birth certificate and social security card, and various items of clothing. NYCLU said the men would be compensated for the exact amounts they had asked for in their notices of claim to the city: $800 for Hall, $500 for Parks and $215 for Morales. Homeless people deserve to be treated with dignity like all New Yorkers, and the city acknowledged that it had no right to treat their few possessions like garbage, NYCLU executive director Donna Lieberman said. New York City did not immediately respond to a request for comment. What to Know A Long Island Rail Road train derailed at track 6 at Brooklyn's Atlantic Terminal at the height of Wednesday's morning rush 103 people were hurt, though fire officials said their injuries were considered minor; some were taken to hospitals for evaluation The cause of the derailment is under investigation; photos showed the train tipped at an angle and the platform filling with smoke UPDATE: LIRR Train Was Going More Than Twice the Speed Limit at Time of Crash; Engineer Doesn't Recall Crash: NTSB A Long Island Rail Road train derailed at Atlantic Terminal in Brooklyn at the height of Wednesday's morning rush, injuring more than 100 people and riddling the track area with shattered glass and debris. Officials say 103 people were hurt when the six-car train from Far Rockaway struck the bumping block at the terminal's track 6 around 8:30 a.m. The train went up and over the block; the impact knocked the wheels of the first car and one other axle off the rails, MTA Chairman Tom Prendergast said at the scene. [NY] LIRR Train Derails at Atlantic Terminal in Brooklyn "Obviously the train is supposed to stop short of the bumping block," Prendergast, who days ago announced his intent to retire in the upcoming weeks, said. "It did not do that." The train was likely coming in at a fairly low rate of speed -- the posted speed limit on approach to the terminal is 5 mph, according to officials -- at the time of the crash, Gov. Cuomo said. Many riders were standing, prepared to get off, at the time of the derailment. Several passengers complained of neck and back injuries after the accident. Some people were carried away on stretchers; others were sitting outside the train holding ice packs to their heads. Cuomo said it appears the worst injury is a possible broken leg. A victim of the Brooklyn train derailment who was in the first carriage describes people with broken bones and teeth falling out in the moments after the train crashed. "This is a relatively minor accident," Cuomo said. "Luckily ... all things considered, this was a relatively minor accident." Mayor de Blasio was at an NYPD crime statistics briefing and did not appear at the crash site. About three hours after the crash, his office tweeted, "Our thoughts are w/ all aboard this mornings LIRR derailment." An LIRR train derailed at Atlantic Terminal in Brooklyn at the height of Wednesdays morning rush, injuring more than 100 people and scattering debris on the platform. The National Transportation Safety Board says it will take several days of investigation before it can determine what caused a commuter train derailment in New York City. An NTSB spokesman says the train's event recorders have been recovered. He says the train's engineer has undergone drug testing. Results of those tests aren't known yet. Pictures on social media showed the train tipped slightly at an angle. The platform also appeared to be smoky as emergency personnel flooded the scene. Ever been on a train waiting for it to leave and realized the train across the platform just derailed and crashed into the station? #LIRR Danielle Kraese (@daniellekraese) January 4, 2017 The conductor on my train said, doors are closing, if you want to get off the train do so now. Quite a decision to make before coffee #LIRR Danielle Kraese (@daniellekraese) January 4, 2017 Silent ride after that. I had to change at Jamaica, but no one came around to clip my ticket. It felt very "Ride at your own risk." #LIRR Danielle Kraese (@daniellekraese) January 4, 2017 NTSB is sending a go-team to NYC today to begin an investigation into this morning's accident there involving the Long Island Railroad. NTSB_Newsroom (@NTSB_Newsroom) January 4, 2017 FDNY Deputy Assistant Chief Daniel Donoghue said first responders faced a difficult task, with about 430 people packed on the derailed train. When we got here a lot of people had fallen because the train actually went through the final bumper and went through a small room in the area at the end of the track," Donoghue said. "A rail actually pierced the bottom of the train, it was fortunate we didnt have more severe injuries." FDNY Deputy Assistant Chief Daniel Donoghue says emergency services faced a difficult task. There were many people to help on the train packed with about 600 700 people, and not a lot of first responders on the scene. Aerial NYPD photos showed traffic at a virtual standstill outside the terminal all morning amid a massive emergency presence; buses that normally use the area were detoured. But at 11:36 a.m., LIRR tweeted that service was on or close to schedule in and out of Atlantic Terminal. An LIRR train derailed at Atlantic Terminal in Brooklyn at the height of Wednesdays morning rush, injuring more than 100 people and scattering debris on the platform. Passengers described the train pulling into the station, followed by a crash and a loud boom, after which the train's doors opened. "We just heard this loud boom, and people were thrown," recounted passenger Aaron Neufeld. "You're shocked, nobody knows what's going on," he said, adding that he saw a woman wailing on the floor as she bled from her face. Lisa Jackson said, "Next thing I know, I hit my head and my back and I can't remember anything else." My #LIRR train crashed at #AtlanticTerminal in #Brooklyn. Crazy. Seems only a few people are lightly injured. pic.twitter.com/oXHvy2yxDL Aaron D. Neufeld (@Aaron_D_Neufeld) January 4, 2017 NBC 4 New Yorks Andrew Siff breaks down the technical details of the train derailment in Brooklyn this morning that injured more than 100 people. The derailment comes about four months after an NJ Transit train crashed into the Hoboken Terminal in New Jersey, killing a woman on the platform and injuring about 100 other people. Cuomo said of the LIRR derailment Wednesday, "This is minor compared to what happened in Hoboken, but the same question: why did the engineer not stop the train?" A preliminary federal report on the Hoboken crash said the five-car train accelerated from 8 to 21 mph more than twice the speed limit as it approached the end of the track Sept. 29, before the emergency brake was engaged in the final second. Engineer Thomas Gallagher, who later was found to be suffering from sleep apnea, told investigators he had no memory of the train speeding up. That investigation is ongoing. Last year, the LIRR saw four derailments, according to the Federal Railroad Administration. In 2015, there were nine LIRR derailments, and there were three derailments in 2013 and 2014. What to Know A Brooklyn attorney has made history by becoming the first Hasidic Jewish woman to become a judge There are reports that Rachel Freier is the first Hasidic woman to hold public office in the U.S. Freier hails from Borough Park, where she campaigned hard despite skepticism from more conservative members of the community A New York real estate attorney is the first female Hasidic judge in the state and perhaps the nation. There are even reports that Rachel Freier is the first Hasidic Jewish woman to hold public office in the U.S. The mother of six worked hard to earn the titles of trailblazer and your honor she spent 10 years in college and law school, despite skepticism from friends. They looked at me and said, 10 years, you're going to be 40 then, she said. And guess what happened, 10 years later we all turned 40 and I was a lawyer. In her own community of Borough Park, Freier had to convince religious conservatives to vote for her. As a woman, the culture precluded her from putting her picture on campaign posters. I cannot campaign in the men's synagogue, which my opposition thought would work to my detriment, she said. Despite the skeptics, Freiers husband and three sons helped her campaign. She was elected to the Fifth Judicial District in Brooklyn after winning a three-way Democratic primary and the general election in November. She started work as a civil court judge on Tuesday. Freier, 51, said she wants to blend both worlds the Hasidic world, with its customs, its beauty, its tradition, and the professional world in which she has become a true pioneer. I prefer the term trailblazer, because a trailblazer is someone who is setting the path for Hasidic women, she said. Do it your way. At a swearing-in ceremony in December, Freier both vowed to uphold the Constitution and pledged to illuminate the Hasidic world for her new colleagues. "This is a dream," she told the gathering. "It's the American dream." There's no official tally of American judges' religions, but experts aren't aware of any Hasidic woman before Freier winning a judicial post. It is extremely rare even in Israel for Hasidic or other ultra-Orthodox women to hold any elected position. Her election is "a step for the ultra-Orthodox community at large," showing it's open to women making progress on the political ladder, said Yossi Gestetner, a longtime Hasidic political activist and public relations consultant who co-managed Freier's campaign. Hasids and other ultra-Orthodox groups together make up only 6 percent of America's estimated 5.3 million adult Jews, according to a 2013 Pew Research Center study. Dating to 18th-century Eastern Europe, Hasidism combines stringent adherence to Jewish law and a joyful belief in mysticism. Followers often speak Yiddish, wear traditional dress including beards and sidelocks for men and wigs for married women, and separate men and women in contexts ranging from buses to classrooms. "The very idea that an ultra-Orthodox woman could be a judge" is notable, said Samuel Heilman, a City University of New York sociology professor who studies Orthodox Judaism. Under the strictest interpretations of Jewish law, women can't be judges or largely even witnesses in the rabbinical courts that weigh various disputes in Orthodox communities. Freier, nicknamed Ruchie, started working as a legal secretary after high school. College wasn't customary for Hasidic women, though it has since become more common. But when her husband, David, got a college degree, she aspired to one of her own. After graduating from a women-only, Orthodox Jewish-friendly program at private Touro College, she went on to Brooklyn Law School, finishing in 2005. Some other Hasidic Jews questioned what she was doing. But they came to realize "I was completely devoted to our religion and our tradition, and this was something I wanted to do regardless," she says. "I didn't want to ever be considered someone who was turning away from my community," but rather to work within its structure, she said. That has sometimes required finding creative ways to resolve issues. An appeal for help from boys who had chafed in Orthodox Jewish schools, for example, led Freier to found a program that helps young men get general-equivalency diplomas. Then Freier was enlisted to represent Orthodox Jewish women who wanted to join an all-male volunteer ambulance corps, aiming to aid fellow women during childbirth or gynecological emergencies. After ambulance corps leaders rebuffed the idea, which a well-known Orthodox Jewish blog called a "new radical feminist agenda," Freier helped the women launch their own volunteer service and joined it herself. She was still taking her turn on call this past week. If there's a message she hopes her election sends, it's "don't give up." "And don't let go of your standards." Police shot and killed a man in Prospect Heights on Wednesday morning, about six hours after another man was shot and killed by an officer in Brooklyn, the NYPD said. The man, identified as 18-year-old Joshua Martino, of Brooklyn, had been firing shots into a lounge moments before police pursued and then confronted him around 3:40 a.m., NYPD Chief Terrence Monahan said at a press briefing. Two officers shot Martino twice in the torso after he turned towards them with a .38 caliber revolver in his hand, Monahan said. The man never fired and no officers were injured. Martino was taken to the hospital in cardiac arrest and pronounced dead sometime before 4:30 a.m. Police said the .38 caliber revolver was recovered at the scene. Neighbor Sheryl Akin said Martino was a twin, and that she bonded with him over that. She said she's shocked that he's dead and wants to know more about what happened. "I heard the news and I was devastated, I cried," said Sheryl Akin. "I have a twin sister, and those are nice boys, twin boys. A loss of life is just terrible." "The last memory of the boy I have, he came upstairs with his twin to give us condolences, to hold us down, because we just lost our older sister," she said. "That says something about him." No one answered the door at Martino's home when NBC 4 New York knocked Wednesday. Neighbors said he lived there with his mother, twin brother and two younger siblings. Atlantic Avenue was shut down from Washington to Franklin streets as police investigated before dawn. It reopened late Wednesday afternoon. In a separate incident, an NYPD officer shot and killed a 63-year-old man holding a knife in Canarsie Tuesday night. A couple picked up an unusual hitchhiker during a New Year's Day road trip in the Southern California desert. Marie Kubin was trying to snap a photo of a rainbow Monday during a drive from Julian to Borrego Springs in San Diego County. As they drove slowly on the side of the road to capture the colorful sight on the horizon, something else swooped into view -- a falcon landed on the car's windshield. The bird remained perched on a wiper blade for about 20 minutes, having a look around at the desert landscape and his traveling companions. The couple waited on the side of the road with their new feathered friend, who eventually flew away. Many on social media noticed the falcon had anklets, used with jesses to tether birds, around its legs. The loops suggest it might belong to a falconer and likely is used to being around humans. The mystery was solved when the bird's owner, who identified the falcon as Pancho, stepped forward to say Pancho was just fine and back on his arm. Cisco Clibourne, the bird's owner who says they have an incredible bond, didn't think anything of Pancho's 20-minute disappearance -- until he got a call from his buddy. "Im on my way home and I get a text from a buddy of mine -- us falconers are really close," Clibourne said. His friend asked if he lost his bird after seeing a video that showed a falcon who looked just like Pancho riding on a hood. Clibourne said there was no way it was Pancho -- he was right there with him. Then he went online. "Im floored when I see the video," he said. "My mouth is wide open. I go, 'Oh my god, that is my bird.'" Clibourne said when Pancho went missing for 20 minutes, he figured he was out having fun. He swung his lure, a line with a piece of meat to bring Pancho back, and back he came -- flying back 100 mph. He had no idea Pancho, a 9-year-old peregrine falcon he's had since the bird was a baby, was out hitchhiking across the highway. "I would have never in my wildest dreams thought this would have happened," he said. A 7-year-old girl and a woman were killed when two cars collided head-on in Allentown Tuesday night, police said. The child, Yartezi Ramos, of Kissimmee, Florida, died shortly before midnight at Lehigh Valley Hospital, about an hour after the 10:30 p.m. crash at the intersection of Fourth and Susquehanna streets, according to a preliminary autopsy report. One of the drivers, Christine Rivera, 47, died about 1:30 a.m. Wednesday at a nearby hospital, a preliminary autopsy report said. Neither reports indicated exact cause of death. Police did not say how many people were in the cars or in which cars the victims were. Allentown Police Chief Keith Morris said the investigation is still ongoing at the scene. A dozen young Philadelphians are among some of the most crucial change-makers and innovators in the nation, joining the likes of Olympian Simone Biles and reality TV star Kylie Jenner on the Forbes 2017 30 under 30 Class that was announced Tuesday morning. Forbes received more than 15,000 nominations for the 600 available spots, 30 honorees for 20 distinct categories ranging from art & style to manufacturing & industry and food & drink to venture capital. One of the locals to make the cut, Christopher Gray has become a familiar name in the city's ballooning tech industry. The founder of scholarship curation app, Scholly, the Drexel University alum had a breakout year in 2015 following an appearance on ABC's Shark Tank, where the potential investors battled over his startup. Gray appeared on the Forbes 30 under 30 list last year too, along with two others from our area, the team behind Sweet Bites, in the social entrepreneurs category. To view the full gallery, click here. For more business news, visit Philadelphia Business Journal. An Atlantic City man who allegedly used stones to fatally beat another man and then left his body in a trash can has made his initial court appearance. Thomas Green didn't enter a plea during Wednesday's hearing in Mays Landing. He faces murder and weapons charges in the death of 52-year-old city resident Ricky Ward, whose body was found Saturday morning. Atlantic County prosecutors say the 64-year-old Green hit Ward in the head "multiple times'' with the stones. But they haven't disclosed a motive for the attack. There was confusion at the hearing over Green's legal representation. Green indicated that he couldn't afford a lawyer and would need a public defender, then later said he could hire an attorney. Green faces a life sentence if convicted on the murder charge. Two trolleys crashed on Lancaster Avenue in West Philadelphia on Wednesday, leaving 46 people with minor injuries, officials on the scene said. "It's like a bomb set off," one passenger told NBC10. "It just like really hit us so hard that it just like knocked everybody on the floor and everything." Both Route 10 trolleys were heading west in the Powelton Village section about 1 p.m. near 38th Street when one of the trolleys rear-ended another. "All of a sudden the trolley just rammed in from the back man," said Jarrod McCain, one of the passengers. "It must've been going 40 miles an hour man. It shook everybody up. Terrible way to start the New Year." SEPTA said none of the injuries were life-threatening. A fire department battalion chief on the scene said four of the 46 passengers and operators who were injured were taken to a nearby hospital. "Luckily I wasn't hurt too badly," said Kathleen Kelley, another passenger. "I just want to get my knee checked out. But there was a girl in the front that was sitting right behind the driver. Her face hit the thing in front of her." Scene @ 38th and Lancaster, where witnesses on @SEPTA trolley say they smashed into the back of another trolley w/o warning @NBCPhiladelphia pic.twitter.com/CmlKlapNtm Rosemary Connors (@RosemaryConnors) January 4, 2017 It remains unclear why the trolleys were running so close to each other. The vehicles usually run on a schedule about 10 minutes apart, according to a SEPTA spokeswoman. SEPTA's Route 10 was diverted around the accident scene but remains in service. Rte 10: Service is delayed westbound at 38th Street & Lancaster Avenue due to an accident. SEPTA (@SEPTA) January 4, 2017 Vice President Joe Biden is developing a partnership with the University of Delaware that will focus on economic and domestic policy, a Biden aide said Wednesday, rounding out the vice president's plans for after he leaves the White House. In addition to working with the Delaware school, Biden's alma mater, he also plans an affiliation with the University of Pennsylvania. The Ivy League school in the state of his birth will house Biden's activities on foreign policy and global engagement initiatives, said the aide, who requested anonymity because the partnership hasn't yet been publicly announced. The two partnerships shed new light on how Biden will spend his time as a private citizen after more than four decades in public office. First elected to the Senate in 1972, Biden served there until becoming the vice president in 2009. Over the years, Biden has focused intensely on foreign policy, becoming the Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman, and on domestic issues including violence against women and middle-class economic issues. All are expected to remain part of Biden's work after the Obama administration. He also plans to continue with his more recent "cancer moonshot'' effort to accelerate developments toward a cure. The initiative was launched after his son, former Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden, died from brain cancer in 2015. With backing from President Barack Obama, it has focused on trying to streamline efforts of the many cancer research institutions and increase sharing of data about specific tumors that can be used to develop targeted treatments. Biden was driven to establish a relationship with the University of Delaware because of his fondness for his alma mater and desire to stay connected to the state he represented in the Senate, the aide said. The vice president graduated in 1965 from the school, which has its main campus in Newark and campuses in other Delaware communities. He was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, a two-hour drive from Philadelphia, where the University of Pennsylvania is located. The vice president appeared to reference the project at Penn on Tuesday when he was heard on a hot mic discussing his plans while swearing in new senators at the Capitol. He's expected to release more details about the work he'll perform at both universities after his term as vice president ends on Jan. 20. Biden, who considered running for president in 2016, has said recently he could consider running again in 2020. One-time San Diego socialite and convicted killer Elizabeth "Betty" Broderick will ask for parole for the second time since her double murder conviction in the shooting deaths of her ex-husband and his bride. Broderick, 69, will petition the board at the California Institution for Women in Corona Wednesday after spending decades in prison for the crimes. Broderick was convicted in 1991 of second-degree murder and sentenced to 32 years to life in prison for shooting and killing ex-husband Daniel Broderick, 44, and Linda Kolkena Broderick, 28. At the time, she used a key she took from her daughter prior to the crime and sneaked onto the stairs and up to their bedroom, using a five-shot revolver to shoot into the bed where they slept. Though the victims dived for cover, three fatal shots hit them, according to the DA. The remaining two narrowly missed. When her ex-husband attempted to reach for the telephone to call for help, Broderick walked to the bed, grabbed the phone, pulled it from the wall and dumped it in the hallway, out of reach, according to the DA's office. The socialite has maintained she was driven to kill by a bitter divorce and custody battle. Her story gained national attention and became the subject of a book and two TV movies. On Wednesday, the San Diego County District Attorney's office plans to oppose Broderick's potential release. "Elizabeth Broderick remains an unreasonable risk of danger to society," DA Bonnie Dumanis said in a statement. "She still has not developed appropriate insight or remorse for these gruesome murders, which she committed with a callous disregard for human suffering." At her first parole hearing in Jan. 2010, the board decided that then-62-year-old Broderick was unrepentant, had no insight into what she had done and would be a danger to society if she were released. She was denied parole. She has not shown any remorse over the years and really, its all about her and not about the victims and the families, District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis said at the time. Deputy District Attorney Richard Sachs will appear on behalf of the State of California at the Wednesday hearing to argue she remains a risk to society. The Board has two options Thursday: they will either find her suitable for parole and set a date or will deny parole and set a next possible parole suitability hearing for three, five, seven, 10 or 15 years in the future. Deadly DUI crashes in the city of San Diego are up slightly from 2015, according to new statistics from San Diego Police Department (SDPD) officials. According to local law enforcement agencies, there were a total of eleven deadly DUI crashes on city streets and highways between January 1 and Dec. 28, 2016. Sixteen people died in those crashes, one more than in 2015 in as many crashes, officials said. One of the most devastating suspected DUI crashes this year happened at Chicano Park in October when a U.S. Navy sailor's truck flew off a Coronado Bridge ramp and onto a crowd below, killing four people. Married couple Cruz Elias and AnnaMarie Contreras, Andre Christopher Banks and his girlfriend Francine Denise Jimenez were killed in the crash. Richard Sepolio, 24, has since pleaded not guilty to multiple charges related to the fatal crash, including four counts of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, driving under the influence causing injury or death, and four different great bodily injury allegations. The entire San Diego County - which includes statistics from the San Diego County Sheriffs Department (SDSO), among other agencies - will release their 2016 statistics after Jan. 1, 2017. NBC 7 has reported on several deadly crashes on county roads, including a DUI crash on State Route 67 that claimed the life of a young man. At the sentencing for the man convicted in the crash, the victim's mother said she hopes others will learn from the tragedy and avoid drinking and driving. "This is a horrific crime and it's affecting us as individuals, our family has been devastated," Tami Riley said. It's a sadness that Monica Zech understands deeply: more than two decades ago, her father was stuck and killed by a drunk driver. She says it is a pain that never goes away. "My family was robbed of somebody so precious to the family, the patriarch, and suddenly he's ripped away and my mom now has been living with me over those 24 years because of devastated her to this day," Zech said. Zech now educates others about the dangers of drinking and driving. She says while her father died nearly 25 years ago, the loss never goes away. "He was just starting to enjoy life and retirement and the grand kids, who were very young at the time," she said. One thing adding to her pain is knowing that the crash could have been preventable. "As long as we still have that statistic where one person is affected or killed, but it's too many and we need to stop it," Zech said. California Highway Patrol officials remind drivers to always plan ahead before they go out drinking: there are too many alternatives now to make excuses. San Diego law enforcement agencies said they continue to operate DUI checkpoints across the county on a consistent basis in an effort to get intoxicated drivers off the road and prevent DUI-related crashes and deaths. The penalties for a DUI can range from $8,000 to $15,000, including attorney fees. One of San Diegos top attorneys is suing former City Attorney Jan Goldsmith. Marlea DellAnno said her former employer retaliated against her and abused his power when he asked her to break the law and she refused. I spent 20 years of my life building that reputation. I had a spotless record. In one fell swoop Jan Goldsmith took that all away from me, she told NBC 7 Tuesday. DellAnno said she was San Diegos Assistant City Attorney in charge of the Criminal Division when Goldsmith asked her to remove negative performance evaluations from certain employees files. I could not do that. Within a couple weeks I was demoted. He responded by humiliating me in the most public way possible, she said. I was put in a dingy office on the fifth floor with a big sign on the door that said Do Not Enter, she said. In November 2015, Goldsmith opened an investigation into DellAnno and an attorney she oversaw. The investigation, he said, was about dozens of mishandled cases. Several of them were domestic violence cases that were not filed in time. My suspicion was that she was just overwhelmed and doing too much work and did not enter the cases into the system, DellAnno said. DellAnno said Goldsmith used the case as a reason to demote and eventually terminate her for disobeying him. I found out I had been fired a week before Thanksgiving, she recalled. I think Jan lost sight and it became about Jan and Jans interest and Jans image, she said. NBC 7 reached out to the City Attorneys Office and was told they are reviewing the lawsuit. The downtown homeless population is the highest its been in the past five years, and many are calling it a problem that's out of control. Now, some are taking action. They've asked San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer to protect the homeless population and suspend arrests, ticketing and stay-away orders. Many in the homeless population told NBC 7 this is only hindering their efforts of getting off the streets. Dozens marched to Mayor Faulconer's office Tuesday with a petition, asking for change. "We're calling upon the mayor this first day of business in 2017 to suspend this practice and to focus all of the city's efforts on sheltering people safely until permanent housing can be found for them," said Martha Sullivan of Women Occupy San Diego. The group said arresting, ticketing and implementing stay-away orders for the homeless population is not working. Besides being cruel and inhumane, it's also totally ineffective," Sullivan added. John Brady has been living on the streets for a little over a year and has been ticketed for leaving his belongings on the sidewalk. Brady told NBC7 he has no way of paying his fine. "I think the impression is that if you're homeless and you go to the police that you immediately get a home and shelter, they give you a tent and a sleeping bag; whatever you need to survive. That doesn't exist," he said. Mayor Faulconer's office has responded to the group's request. "We are very appreciative of the community's passion in support of the unsheltered. This is a growing concern that we share and City staff are working diligently every day to ensure services and beds are made available to homeless individuals. Mayor Faulconer has made addressing homelessness a top priority and plans to discuss solutions at next week's State of the City address." The group started the online petition through Change.org and received 1,100 signatures in just a couple of months. The latest homeless numbers were released at the end of 2016 by the Downtown San Diego Partnership. They show the average population size of homeless people living in downtown San Diego has nearly doubled in the past four years. DUBLIN (Reuters) - Ireland's Finance Ministry said on Wednesday it expected its budget deficit to be around 0.9 percent in 2016, in line with the last official forecast in October but weaker than Finance Minister Michael Noonan suggested in comments last month. "Budget 2017 forecast a General Government Deficit for 2016 of 0.9 percent of GDP. The exchequer figures for end-2016, released today, support that forecast," the ministry said in a statement. The 2015 deficit was 1.9 percent. Noonan last month told journalists that the deficit could fall as low as 0.7 or 0.8 percent if tax receipts were strong enough, but December's tax returns published earlier on Wednesday were weaker than forecast. (Reporting by Conor Humphries; Editing by Alison Williams) A girl was struck by a vehicle early Wednesday near two schools in the Bay Terraces/Paradise Hills area of San Diego, her grandfather told NBC 7. The victim, identified by police as a juvenile, was rushed to Rady Children's Hospital. San Diego Fire-Rescue crews helped the victim after she was struck just after 8 a.m. near Paradise Valley and Briarwood roads. The location is less than a mile north of Bell Middle School and less than a mile south of Boone Elementary School. Raul Belgra was walking his granddaughter and another child to school. He said the group was in the crosswalk and had almost reached the middle of the road when the incident happened. "They were in front of me," Belgra said. I see the car. Belgra said he grabbed one child's backpack to keep the child from being hit by the car. He soon realized his granddaughter had been hit. "The car stopped then we say to the driver, 'What happened, what happened' but my granddaughter was under the car," he said. Other drivers stopped to help, he said. They lift the car and pull my granddaughter from under the car, he said. Jerry Guevara had just dropped off his child at school when he saw the rescue. She was actually under the front axle, said Jerry Guevara. They lifted the car and pulled her out. Guevara said he watched as the paramedics from a nearby fire station jumped in to treat the girl. "My heart was pounding," he said. "I was like, 'Please be alive, please be alive.'" The injuries to the pedestrian were unknown, officials told NBC 7. Belgra said his granddaughter talked a little bit after the collision and he's not sure of her injuries. The driver of the vehicle stopped and was being questioned by police near the crash scene. He told NBC 7 he was going southbound on Briarwood, making a left turn onto Paradise Valley Road and didnt see the child. Both schools are in the San Diego Unified School District which reopened Tuesday after the winter break. No other information was immediately available. Check back for updates on this breaking news story. A 7-day old infant girl was transported from Mexico to Rady Childrens Hospital Tuesday night to receive treatment not available in her home country. A San Diego Fire-Rescue (SDFD) crew and a Rady ambulance helped escort the Mexican ambulance from the border to the hospital. The baby girl is in critical condition and was transported in a life-sustaining incubator, according to SDFD Captain Joe Amador. The San Diego County medical system policy forbids its ambulances from transporting incubators, so the Mexican ambulance had to be cleared to bring the baby onto U.S. soil with assistance from SDFD. It is unclear what medical condition the infant is being treated for. Chris Van Hollen was sworn in as Maryland's new U.S. senator Tuesday. The Democrat told News4 he is already preparing to grill President-elect Donald Trump's cabinet nominees. "I have great trouble with some of his nominees, but I'm going to listen to their testimonies," he said. Vice President Joe Biden, who conducted the official swearing in, thanked Van Hollen for his help playing Republican Sen. Paul Ryan during Biden's preparation for the 2012 vice presidential debate. Van Hollen, who served seven terms in the House, won the seat that opened with the departure of Barbara Mikulski, who retired after serving 30 years in the Senate. Maryland also had two new House members sworn in Tuesday: Democrats Anthony Brown and Jamie Raskin. Brown is a former lieutenant governor during then-Gov. Martin O'Malley's administration from 2007 to 2015 who ran for governor two years ago but lost to Republican Gov. Larry Hogan. He represents Maryland's 4th Congressional District. Raskin is a former state senator from Montgomery County. Raskin represents Maryland's 8th Congressional District. Charles J. Colgan, a Democrat who represented Prince William County who was the longest-serving member of the Virginia Senate, has died, his daughter said. Mary C. Finnigan told The Washington Post that her father died Tuesday at a hospice center in Aldie. He was 90. Colgan was the founder of Colgan Air, a regional commuter airline based in Manassas. He was first elected to the Virginia senate in 1975. He retired in January 2016 after having served in Prince William County, a swing county that supports Republicans and Democrats. Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe said in a statement that Colgan's bipartisan approach should serve as an example to all in the Virginia Senate. What to Know Leonard Peltier was convicted of killing two FBI agents in 1975 and received two life sentences. His supporters advocate for his clemency, accusing prosecutors of coercing witness statements and withholding evidence. AU removed the statue of Peltier installed in December after a request from the FBI Agents Association. American University removed a controversial statue from its campus in northwest Washington, D.C., Tuesday afternoon. The 9-foot-tall mostly wooden statue depicts Native American activist Leonard Peltier, who was convicted of murdering FBI agents Jack Coler and Ron Williams in South Dakota in 1975. In prison for 41 years now, he's appealed his case more than a dozen times, including twice to the U.S. Supreme Court, but his conviction has always been upheld. FBI Agents Association President Thomas O'Connor, who called for the statue to be removed, saw it as a slap in the face. First amendment, the idea that someone can put a piece of artwork up there, completely agree with it, 100 percent, he said. It's just the idea that these types of things -- there are victims, there are families of the victims. He knows some of those victims himself, and Tuesday he honored Williams and Coler. This really is not the year to come out and say that we think someone who ambushed two FBI agents should be given a statue as a piece of artwork, he said. American University said the statue wasn't meant to make a statement, and the university's Katzen Arts Center simply displayed it as it would any other piece of art. The university released a statement saying, in part, "The nature and location of the piece called into question our ability to honor our responsibilities to ensure the security of the art and the safety of our community. We fully agree with First Amendment rights to free speech, to showing this piece of artwork, we just don't think it should be in a public space, OConnor said. Peltiers supporters accuse prosecutors of coercing witness statements and withholding evidence favorable to Peltier. They want President Barack Obama to pardon him. Agents Coler and Williams took on fire when they attempted to pull over a vehicle as they searched for a suspect, the Times reported. Peltier has admitted firing on the agents but maintains someone else fired the close-range, execution-style shots that killed them. Colers gun was found in a vehicle Peltier was traveling in after he was pulled over by a state trooper in Oregon months after the agents were killed, the Times reported. He was sentenced to two life sentences. The firm hired to find the next superintendent of Fairfax County Public Schools will hold 10 community forums this month. Superintendent Karen Garza announced her resignation from her post just after the school year began. Garza wrote she was leaving by Dec. 16 for a position as president and CEO of Battelle for Kids, a nonprofit education organization based out of Columbus, Ohio. The blog post was published on Monday, Sept. 19. Garza was the first female superintendent of Fairfax County Public Schools, the 10th largest in the nation. Hazard, Young, Attea & Associates (HYA), the firm hired to find Garza's replacement, will hold 10 forums across the county in January. The meetings will be held in the following locations: Jan. 9, 1 p.m., Gatehouse Administration Center, room 1600, 8115 Gatehouse Road, Falls Church, VA 22042. Jan. 9, 7 p.m., South County High School, 8501 Silverbrook Road, Lorton, VA 22079. Jan. 10, 12:30 p.m., Virginia Hills Center Library, 6520 Diana Lane, Alexandria, VA 22310. Jan. 11, noon, Providence District Office and Community Center, multipurpose room 2, 3001 Vaden Drive, Fairfax, VA 22031. Jan. 11, 7 p.m., Mount Vernon High School Little Theater, 8515 Old Mount Vernon Road, Alexandria, VA 22309. Jan. 17, 11 a.m., Herndon Council Chambers, 765 Lynn Street, Herndon, VA 20170. Jan. 17, 1 p.m., Burke Centre Library, 5935 Freds Oak Road, Burke, VA 22015. Jan. 17, 7 p.m., Stuart High School Little Theater, 3301 Peace Valley Lane, Falls Church, VA 22044. Jan. 17, 7 p.m., Chantilly High School Lecture Hall, 4201 Stringfellow Road, Chantilly, VA 20151. Jan. 18, 7 p.m., Langley High School Auditorium, 6520 Georgetown Pike, McLean, VA 22101. Residents can also submit their opinions on www.fcps.edu on Jan. 9. The day before Donald Trump becomes the next U.S. president, he will speak at a concert at the Lincoln Memorial. Seventeen days before Trump takes office, the Presidential Inaugural Committee (PIC) shared new details on inauguration week with News4. Trump will give his first major speech of the week at the "Make America Great Again! Welcome Celebration," spokesman Alex Stroman said. Trump will honor some inaugural traditions, such as staying at Blair House, having coffee with the sitting president and attending a service at St. John's Church on Inauguration Day morning. Other aspects of the festivities will be different. "You're going to see a shorter parade this year, probably about an hour and a half or so," Stroman said. "That's probably a testament to this president's willingness and eagerness to get to work for the American people." Obama attended nine inaugural balls the night of his first inauguration; Trump is set to attend only three. Organizers say all inaugural events will be open to the public in some manner. "That's probably one of the greatest things about the inauguration -- the ceremony, the parade and the concert all have aspects that are open to the public. Because, again, this is about the celebration of the American people," Stroman said. Plans are still underway for the "Make America Great Again! Welcome Celebration." Stroman said it will be a two-part event. "We'll have a pre-concert that will feature American voices, or the voices of the American people, then we'll have a welcome celebration where the president-elect and vice president-elect will speak," he said. Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to head to D.C. to celebrate Trump's inauguration. Thousands more are expected to protest. The National Park Service said in an update Tuesday that 25 groups have requested permits to protest on federal land. All but one of those permits -- to the Act Now to Stop War & End Racism (ANSWER) Coalition -- has not been issued yet because the inaugural committee has not said which locations they do not need to use, a Park Service representative said. Stroman said the inaugural committee supports peaceful protest. "People have the right to protest, thankfully, in our country. As long as it's done peacefully and done to follow all laws and regulations, we welcome it," he said. The Park Service representative said the agency will find space to accommodate all protest groups. Like protesters, street vendors also are waiting on the inaugural committee to release space for them to use. Officials say the clock in the Washington Monument's automated lighting system is likely out of sync after the monument went dark. The spotlights that illuminate the monument went out about 7 p.m. Tuesday, but the National Park Service said in a statement that they were on again when electricians arrived Wednesday morning. Officials say they expect the lights to be on Wednesday evening as usual. The monument has been closed to visitors since August because of ongoing problems with its elevator, which carries visitors to an observation deck near the top of the 555-foot tall monument. It usually draws 600,000 visitors a year. In December, officials announced a $2 million to $3 million project to modernize the elevator. The monument is expected to reopen to visitors in 2019. A male victim was shot near a high school in Manassas, Virginia, Wednesday afternoon. Stonewall Jackson High School, Ellis Elementary School and New Directions were placed in "secure the building" mode as a precaution. Entry to the schools was restricted, but all students and staff are safe. The victim was shot in the abdomen in the woods next to Stonewall Jackson in the 8800 block of Rixlew Lane. The area has been secured, police said. Prince William County Police are searching for the shooter. Police said there's an indication the shooter and the victim knew each other and there's no threat to the public. The victim, who called 911 himself, was flown to Inova Fairfax Hospital. Another male victim was taken to the hospital for a minor injury not related to a gunshot, police said. Police did not release the victims' ages. Hardening battle lines for the brawl to come, President Barack Obama urged congressional Democrats to "look out for the American people" in defending his legacy health care overhaul, while Vice President-elect Mike Pence stood firm Wednesday in telling Republicans that dismantling "Obamacare" is No. 1 on Donald Trump's list. "We're going to be in the promise-keeping business," Pence declared at two separate Capitol news conferences. Just 16 days before Trump takes over the Oval Office, he said repealing and replacing Obama's law will be the president-elect's "first order of business." "The American people voted decisively for a better future for health care in this country, and we are determined to give them that," Pence said. Outnumbered in the new Congress, Democrats didn't sound confident in stopping the Republicans cold but signaled they wouldn't make the GOP's job any easier. New Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said that if the Republicans do scuttle the health care law, they will have to come up with a replacement plan before Democrats consider whether to help them revamp the system. That adds pressure on Republicans, who for years have battled among themselves over what a new law would look like, including how to finance its programs and whether to keep Obama's expansion of Medicaid for more lower-income people. "They're repealing, we're not. It's their obligation to come up with a replacement," Schumer said, a sentiment he said he believed Democrats shared unanimously. Obama and Pence held dueling strategy sessions with lawmakers at the Capitol as the new Republican-led Congress commenced its drive to dissolve the health care statute. The 2010 overhaul, which has extended coverage to 20 million people and reshaped the nation's $3 trillion-a-year health care system, has long stood as one of Obama's proudest triumphs and the ascendant GOP's top target for extinction. "Despite the negativity you have a big chunk of the country that wants this thing to succeed," Obama told Democrats, according to an aide who attended Wednesday's session. The two sides traded insults through the day. "Don't let the Schumer clowns out of this web," Trump wrote on Twitter. Said Schumer: "The Republican plan to cut health care wouldn't make America great again, it would make America sick again." Previewing an attack line sure to be heard again in this year's debate, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said the GOP is aiming to also scuttle Medicaid and Medicare, going after programs that are "very personal in the lives of the American people." Even with White House and congressional control, annulling "Obamacare" and replacing it looms as a daunting task for the GOP. Leaders hope to have legislation voiding much of the law on Trump's desk by late next month, Republicans said. But after six years of failing to unite behind an alternative, GOP leaders are discussing postponing when repeal would take effect for 18 months or longer, allowing more time to craft replacement legislation. Underscoring the law's widespread constituency, the Obama administration said at least 8.8 million people signed up through Dec. 31 for coverage in 2017. Even so, outside experts doubt the administration will meet its nationwide target of 13.8 million signups. Millions more have coverage under the statute's Medicaid expansion. Trump has provided few details about how he would redesign the law, but has said he wants to retain popular provisions like ensuring coverage for people with pre-existing medical problems. Republicans will also need to figure out how to protect health coverage for millions of Americans during a transition period and how to avoid market-place bedlam as nervous insurance companies stop selling policies or boost rates. Seemingly acknowledging that danger, Trump tweeted warnings to GOP lawmakers. "Massive increases of ObamaCare will take place this year and Dems are to blame for the mess," he wrote. "It will fall of its own weight be careful!" Republicans said Pence told them in their private meeting to argue that Democrats broke the health care system and Republicans will fix it. Trump's team is already working with GOP congressional leaders on plans to undo Obama's law with both legislation and executive action that the president and federal agencies would be able to take, Pence said. Lawmakers said that according to Pence, Trump would sign some orders the day he takes office. Pence did not specify what those actions would be. But House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., told reporters they would involve "transition relief." In the Democrats' meeting, Obama accepted some blame for not sufficiently promoting it. "The president said, I guess we all could have done a better job of messaging to the American people," said Rep. Joe Crowley, D-N.Y. Obama made his remark about looking out for the American people as he left the meeting. Meanwhile, the Senate voted 51-48 Wednesday to begin debating a budget that, once approved, will prevent Democrats from using a filibuster to block future Republican legislation to void the health care law. Republicans control the Senate by 52-48, but it takes 60 votes to end a filibuster, a procedural roadblock that can kill legislation. The Senate is expected to complete the budget by next week, with House approval to follow. Two people were hospitalized Wednesday afternoon, including one student, after a school bus crashed into a van in Westford, Massachusetts. The crash happened at the intersection of Pine and Abbott streets shortly after students were released from Nashoba Valley Regional Schools at 2:30 p.m. School officials said 22 students were on the bus. One was taken to Lowell General Hospital for an unknown injury. The adult passenger in the van was taken to Emerson Hospital in Concord where their condition was unknown. Police said the van driver will be issued a citation for a stop sign violation. The trial for a former executive at a Massachusetts compounding pharmacy blamed for national meningitis outbreak that killed more than 60 people in 2012 started on Wednesday. Barry Cadden, who is charged with 25 counts of murder and other offenses under federal racketeering laws, was the co-founder and head pharmacist of the New England Compounding Center in Framingham. Prosecutors say the tainted injections sold by the center were the result of poor sanitary standards. More than 750 people in 20 states fell ill, and 64 died. Attorney Kristen Johnson has represented all of clients in a civil case, but now she says they're eager for their criminal one to begin. Sixty-four deaths, 750 grievous injuries, no amount of money can really bring people back or make whole those who have suffered this," said Johnson. Former pharmacy supervisor Glenn Chin is facing the same charges as Cadden, but his trial has been put off until this one is over. "The trials were severed between this defendant and another one that is considered to be equally as culpable," legal editor Randy Chapman said. "The thought is the defenses are going to be antagonistic, meaning that they are likely to point the finger at each other and say that's the person who's responsible for what occurred here." Cadden has pleaded not guilty to the charges. His trial in U.S. District Court in Boston is expected to last a couple of months. Jury selection is expected to get underway Friday. Doctors across New England are dealing with patients who have put off their lingering cold, until now. The waiting room at Convenient MD in Windham, New Hampshire, was busy all day long on Tuesday. In fact, workers say its been busy since Christmas and there are two extra providers trying to treat patients as efficiently as possible. Richard Paquin of Atkinson, New Hampshire, was there on Tuesday after finally giving in and calling out sick for work. I dont like to be out of work, it backs up, Paquin said. Turns out, Paquin had a pretty bad upper respiratory infection. Dr. Emily Nields says she is treating most adults for the same sort of thing Paquin is dealing with, but the kids are a bit different. Lots of strep throat, pink eye, viral stuff, bronchitis, Nields said. She says its always busy this time of year. Theres been a 20 percent uptick in patients just since Christmas. Everyone is a little run down, having seen their families for the holidays, and germs spreading, she said. Nields hasnt seen many people with the flu yet. But cases are on the rise down at Brigham and Womens Hospital in Boston. Were beginning to see uptick in cases of flu, said Dr. Daniel Kuritzkes. Typically, flu peaks late February, early March and this year we appear to be on track with the epidemic. Paquin admitted to the nurse that hes been feeling lousy for a while now. But Dr. Nields says its less about time and more about temperature. When you have a fever, its a good time to stay home, rest, get some fluids and feel better, she said. Both doctors NBC Boston spoke with said theres still plenty of time to get a flu shot. Flu shots are free at all nine Convenient MD locations across New Hampshire. A Vermont doctor accused of diverting or falsely prescribing more than 1,200 oxycodone pills for her own use has pleaded guilty. The Brattleboro Reformer reports 49-year-old Melanie Canon, of Weston, pleaded guilty in a plea deal on Tuesday to prescription-fraud and narcotics possession. Canon admits she acquired or tried to obtain narcotics through misrepresentation in November 2015 and January 2016. Her attorney says Canon used a prescription pad from a clinic where Canon previously worked to get oxycodone pills. Oxycodone is a strong opioid pain reliever. Canon will serve four years of probation. She doesn't currently have a license to practice medicine in the state. Canon says she used poor judgment and is longer using drugs. She says she plans to reapply for her medical license in New York. Investigators have released the cause of a massive New Year's Day fire that killed three people and destroyed an entire apartment building in Massachusetts. The State Fire Marshal says the blaze at 106 North East Street in Holyoke was traced back to a wall outlet in the living room of a third floor apartment. Three people living on the fourth and fifth floors, Jorge Munoz, Trevor R. Wadleigh and Maria Cartagena, died in the fire. Holyoke Fire Chief John Pond says it doesn't appear the building had a working fire alarm. "In this fire, there was a substantial delay from the discovery of the fire to the first 9-1-1 call, which allowed the fire to progress significantly," Chief Pond said in a statement. It's unclear if there will be criminal charges filed in connection with this fire. Officials have set up a fund to help the dozens of people left homeless by the fire. House Democrats have unanimously re-elected Robert DeLeo to another two-year term as speaker. The Winthrop Democrat, who has held the powerful post since January 2009, was unopposed at a House caucus on Wednesday prior to the opening of the new legislative session on Beacon Hill. If DeLeo serves out his term he would become the longest serving speaker in Massachusetts history. He engineered a change in House rules that allows him to serve more than eight years as speaker, a limit that he originally helped to put in place. The state Senate on Wednesday is expected to re-elect Amherst Democrat Stan Rosenberg to a second term as president. The 160 members of the House and 40 Senate members will be sworn-in for new terms by Republican Gov. Charlie Baker. A judge has set bail at $500,000 for a New Hampshire man charged with stabbing two people and setting fire to a church and two other buildings. Twenty-seven-year-old Anthony Boisvert, of Lebanon, started yelling during his arraignment Tuesday in Lebanon District Court as the judge tried to set his bail. "Maybe I could cut them up and eat them on a frying pan," Boisvert was heard saying about his family members, while appearing in court. Boisvert was arrested Monday in connection with starting three fires, including one at the First Baptist Church in Lebanon on Dec. 28. The 3-alarm fire started in the rear of the church on School Street and destroyed much of the building, according to fire officials. One firefighter was taken to the hospital for a minor injury after slipping on ice. A second fire was located at 68 Mascoma St. on Dec. 29. Following an investigation, police identified Boisvert as a person of interest after the fires were deemed suspicious. On Sunday night, police received a 911 call regarding a stabbing that occurred at the Boulders Condominium complex at 20 Wolf Rd. The two victims, a 52-year-old man and a 66-year-old woman, suffered serious stab injuries and said Boisvert was their attacker who they said fled after stabbing them. Boisvert was taken into custody a short time later. Both stabbing victims are expected to survive. Boisvert was arraigned on two counts of first-degree assault and three counts of arson. He appeared without a lawyer during his arraignment and filed paperwork seeking an attorney. Authorities said charges could be upgraded to attempted murder. Police are searching for the men who robbed a man in a motorized wheel chair in Lowell, Massachusetts, on Tuesday. Authorities said the incident happened in a parking lot of Summer Street when the 51-year-old victim was stopped by two men, believed to be in their mid-20s. The victim told police one man ask him for 'a light,' and when he said he didn't have one, the other man took out a gun and pressed it against his chest. Police said the other man went through the victim's pockets and robbed him of his money. The two suspects then fled toward South Common pool. The victim, who has not been identified, went to the nearby Tedeschi's to call police. One suspect is described as 5 feet 6 inches with a thin build. He was wearing a gray sweatshirt with orange on it and had neon orange shoe laces. The victim said he was the one with the gun. The second suspect is described as 5 feet 9 inches with a thin build. No other description was available. The victim was not hurt in the incident. Anyone with information is asked to contact Lowell Police. A man was hospitalized on Tuesday evening after being struck by a hit-and-run driver in Attleboro, Massachusetts, police said. Officers responded to the crash at the intersection of North Main and Peck streets at 5:36 p.m. where the victim was in the road. The man, who has not been identified, was transported to Rhode Island Hospital with life-threatening injuries. Police said they are searching for the driver of the vehicle. File picture of Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, the leader of the self-styled Libyan National Army, who has met with UAE leaders for talks on military cooperation (AFP Photo/Abdullah DOMA) Rome (AFP) - Russia will seek to end an arms embargo against Libya and could supply weapons to Khalifa Haftar, whose forces support a rival administration to the UN-backed unity government, the military strongman said Tuesday. Asked whether he was promised arms during a recent visit to Russia, Haftar said Moscow had told him weapons "can arrive only once the (UN) embargo ends". But he was assured that "Putin will undertake to revoke it," he said in the interview with Italy's Corriere della Sera. The Government of National Accord (GNA), based in Tripoli, is recognised by the international community. But Haftar, the controversial head of the so-called Libyan National Army, supports a parallel authority, based in eastern Libya near the border with Egypt, that controls much of the country's oil production. The bitter divisions in the country are matched by those among the powers pushing for democracy in the conflict-torn country. Western supporters of the GNA have prioritised the fight against Islamic State jihadists and controlling migration flows from Libya towards Europe. But another group including Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Russia see Haftar's forces as the nucleus of a future military, and are suspicious of the Islamist clout in Tripoli. - Dialogue possible, but not yet - US Secretary of State John Kerry said last month there had been a "significant shift" in efforts to bring the field marshal to the table. Haftar said he was open to dialogue with GNA head Fayez Serraj in principle, but it was impossible to talk politics just now. "We are at war, security issues take precedence. It's not an opportune time for politics. We need to fight to save the country from Islamic extremists," he said. "I began talks with Serraj two and half years ago. Without any concrete results. Once the extremists have been beaten we can start talking about democracy and elections again. But not now," he added. Story continues Haftar denied media reports of an upcoming meeting with Serraj, saying the last time they had spoken directly was in January 2016. But he admitted: "I have nothing personally against Serraj. He is not the problem, it's those around him. "If he really wants to fight to make peace in the country, he should take up arms and join our ranks. He is always welcome." Libya has been mired in chaos since the fall of former dictator Moamer Kadhafi in 2011, with a constellation of militias vying for control of the country. Haftar complained of countries providing support to the GNA but not the rival Tobruk-based House of Representatives (HOR), saying "we expect help from everyone to fight Isis (IS). "We would be happy to cooperate with Great Britain, France or Germany. Italy too," he said. Jeffrey Miller is just 16 years old, but he already has thousands of followers on Twitter and millions of followers on Vine. He just released his first EP called "Rise," which features the catchy pop tune "Live for the Night." Yet, despite his growing fame, this Norfolk native is still in high school. Hes a sophomore at King Philip High School in Wrentham. His mom Cindy told NBC Boston she hopes hell be able to stay in school as long as possible. Its all part of her plan for keeping him grounded. Cindy said "Education is important. Hes s student. He has to maintain good grades, and he has chores at home," she said. When asked if he was the most popular guy at school, Jeffrey told us "No, I wouldnt say that." "I would love to continue and finish out senior year here at KP, but if this grows and I have to be online, or home schooledthat would be awesome too," he said. Jeffrey already has a jam packed tour schedule, and a sea of devoted fans. It seems like hes certainly a star on the rise. For more information about Jeffrey Miller, go to his official website. Police are looking for two suspects who may have been involved in a shooting in Central Falls, Rhode Island early Tuesday morning. Robert Rego, 28, of Providence, and Samantha Brayall, 21, of Central Falls, are both wanted on felony assault with a dangerous weapon and conspiracy charges, according to WJAR. Police responded to the intersection of High and Hunt Streets after hearing gunshots and the sound of glass breaking. The victim has been identified and was treated at Miriam Hospital in Providence for a leg injury. If you're injured, the first place you may think to go is the emergency room. But more and people are turning to urgent care facilities. "If people need care and they don't have a lot of time or they're feeling uncomfortable, urgent care gives them an option," said Shaun Ginter, CEO of CareWell Urgent. One of those people is Ann Joyce. "I've been sick going on three weeks now," Joyce told NBC Boston's Jason Frazer. "You don't want to go to an ER. You'll be there for 10, 12, 20 hours. It's too busy." According to the Urgent Care Association of America, visits cost an average of $150, while the average emergency room visit is more than $1,300. Advocates also say patients also don't have to wait so long to see a doctor. "Average urgent care visits are between 45 minutes and an hour," said Ginter. As critics warn, however, all urgent care facilities aren't equal. "There's the disparity of urgent care facilities. There's a really big difference between a Minute Clinic at CVS, which is great for sore throats and flu shots, versus what we do at Beth Israel, which is an advanced urgent care staffed by emergency physicians where we have CTS, Ultrasounds and X-Rays," said Dr. Barbara Masser of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. Some critics also have concerns about continuity of care and ensuring primary care doctors know exactly what patients were treated for. "Urgent care is an episodic visit," said Masser. "We see you, we diagnosis your problem and we discharge you. Within the greater system of care, many patients need follow-ups." Carewell says at its facilities, though, things are different. "We focus on making sure that the medical records of a patient flow back to their primary physician or a specialist they might need," Ginter told NBC Boston. Experts say if you're facing a life-threating injury, go to the ER. But if you have a bump, a bruise or even the flu, urgent care may be right choice for you. Ideas forum TED ended its year by picking its top 10 TED Talks for the year, and we'll start 2017 off by selecting a handful of techie ones we figure might be of particular interest to Network World readers. These talks, published during 2016, touch on subjects ranging from AI to the Blockchain to Linux (as discussed by Linus Torvalds himself). One nice thing about the TED YouTube channel is that videos are now captioned, so yes, you can digest these videos even when you're not in a position to actually listen to them... MORE: 9 tantalizingly techie TED Talks The mind behind Linux This isn't quite a typical TED Talk, but rather a more traditional interview, as TED curator Chris Anderson discusses open source with Linux kernel pioneer Linus Torvalds. Among other things we learn that Torvalds really likes to work alone, maybe with the exception of his cat hanging out on his lap. Can we build AI without losing control over it? Neuroscientist and philosopher Sam Harris describes how "The gains we make in artificial intelligence could ultimately destroy us." An uplifting message for sure. How the blockchain will radically transform the economy Researcher/educator Bettina Warburg says blockchain technology is fairly new, but is also "a continuation of a very human story." Here she explains how this complex technology could simplify the economy in many ways. Is your phone under surveillance? In the wake of the big Apple-FBI encryption tussle at the end of 2015/early 2016, privacy expert Christopher Soghoian dives into the big security difference between iPhones and Android phones -- and addresses what he calls "the digital security divide" between those who can afford iPhones and those who cannot. A glimpse of the future through an augmented reality headset Meta Founder/CEO Meron Gribetz, whose company makes augmented reality products, shows off ways to use machines that exploit neuroscience to work in a more natural way than current computers and gadgets (and let you do cool things with holograms). "The future of computers is not locked inside one of these screens. It's right here, inside of us," Gribetz says. Your company's data could help end world hunger Mallory Soldner says private sector companies' data could be useful in solving big problems such as the refugee crisis and world hunger, and must join forces with academic and government institutions to do so. By the way, if you have any interest in experience one of the big annual TED conferences this year, they take place in April in Vancouver and in August in Tanzania. Central processing units (CPUs) from vendors such as Intel and to a lesser extent AMD have been staples in the data center for decades. Both companies have done an outstanding job making CPUs faster and containing more cores so businesses can run computationally intensive processes on them. However, digital technologies such as deep learning, artificial intelligence (AI), virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR) and the Internet of Things (IoT) are driving the need for a new model of computing beyond the capabilities of CPUs. + Also on Network World: Nvidia GPU-powered autonomous car teaches itself to see and steer + Data centers are entering the era of graphics processing units (GPUs) as the brains of digital applications. NVIDIA pioneered the market in the late 1990s with its G80 processor that provided co-processing capabilities for graphics-heavy applications such as gaming. Some vendors, such as Intel, have integrated graphics controllers on the CPU, and these work great for applications such as Microsoft Office, Solitaire and Minesweeper. However, any game that was even moderately graphics-intensive required a separate GPU to deliver a high-quality experience. A good way to think of the difference between the two is that the high end of the integrated Intel GPU isnt even equivalent to the low end of an NVIDIA GPU. Now, as customers have started adopting VR for an immersive gaming experience, the GPU is flexing its muscle and distancing itself from the CPU and integrated GPUs. GPUs not just for gaming Today, GPUs arent just for gaming. The NVIDIA general purpose GPUs are designed for a wide variety of data-intensive workloads as opposed to just graphics. These processing units really shine when massive amounts of data-crunching power is needed for workloads such as autonomous cars, high performance computing (HPC) workloads, scientific analysis and search that require real-time machine learning. Why are GPUs so good at handling these compared with CPUs? CPUs have 2, 4, 8 or even 16 large cores, where as GPUs have literally thousands of smaller processors. Its true that a single CPU core will blow the doors off of an individual GPU-based one, but think of the GPU as grid computing on a chip where all the processors run in parallel optimizing them for tasks with large amounts of data. This is one reason why Teslas autonomous car initiative is being powered by NVDIA and not Intel or even Mobileye, a company whose entire focus was aimed at self-driving cars. + What do you think? Share your comments about shifting to GPUs on our Facebook page + Its important to understand that Im not saying GPUs will kill off CPUs. You need both in a computer because each is optimized for different purposes. CPUs are needed to boot the computer and are ideal for long, single-threaded, complex tasks such as Excel and Oracle. ARM processors are perfect when low power is a requirement, such as connected thermostats and home automation. However, workloads like that are run in hyper-scale data centers and/or require massive amounts of data to be searched and then decisions made quickly are much better served by GPUs. Below are just a few of the top machine learning-based applications that are GPU-powered: Manufacturing robots Healthcare analysis Autonomous cars Search Facial recognition Star Treks Universal Translator, also know as real-time translation Speech to text Airflow analysis Some of you might think your business doesnt need this kind of processing capabilities, but that is flat out incorrect. The fact is machine learning will soon power almost everything and be ubiquitous. We wont book a reservation at a restaurant, drive somewhere or travel without some kind of machine learning interface helping us. The reality is machines can write software and make decisions faster and better than people, as todays workloads need superhuman capabilities. GPUs can do this at a rate once possible only in the video games the technology has supported for so long. At the 2016 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff was quoted as saying, Speed is the new currency of business. If you believe that, then the way computing is done must changeand GPUs are the change agent. Resistance is futile. Hungerford antiques dealer teams up with Queen Mother's former chauffeur A HUNGERFORD antiques dealer plans to help the Queen Mothers former chauffeur raise thousands for Help for Heroes with an international Royal memorabilia sale. James Podger, who runs Great Grooms Antiques Centre, met Arthur Barty when the latter visited his Charnham Street showrooms several years ago. The pair subsequently became friends. Mr Barty (pictured, left with Mr Podger), formerly a member of iconic Royal Highland Regiment the Black Watch, was chauffeur to the late Queen Mother for 27 years. In May, 2003, Mr Barty became the verger of the Royal Chapel of all Saints in Windsor Great Park. Now retired, he has chosen to donate for sale his collection of photographs and 24 Christmas cards sent to him by the Queen Mother between 1977 and 2001. All are personally signed and include colour images of the Queen Mother, her corgis, the royal family and scenes from royal life. All proceeds will go to the Help for Heroes charity for wounded ex-servicemen and women a cause close to Mr Bartys heart. Mr Podger said: Arthur came into Great Grooms one day and we began talking. He is obviously very discreet about his Royal service but is a lovely man and a fascinating character. Recently I was pleased to invite him on a [Hungerford] Rotary Club trip to the Jaguar headquarters where he was delighted to be driven in Her Majestys favoured Jaguar VI2 1973 car. Now Mr Podger has offered to promote and sell the Christmas cards and photographs via his new global online sales portal, Best In Antiques, and hopes to help Mr Barty raise more than 4,000 for Help for Heroes. To see a sample of the memorabilia collection visit www.bestinantiques.com/blog YouGov poll a week ahead of end of Government consultation over future of UK's free press JUST four per cent of people think a press regulator should be funded by donations from wealthy individuals and trusts, the Impress model, compared with 49 per cent who believe it should be funded by the newspaper industry itself, as the Independent Press Standards Organisation is, a new YouGov poll has found. In his report into the culture, ethics and practices of the press published in November 2012, Lord Justice Leveson said that a regulator for the press should be funded by its members, and IPSO which is funded entirely by member publishers was subsequently established to regulate the press. A new YouGov poll published today has found that the public agree that a press regulator should be funded by the industry (49 per cent) while just four per cent believe that a regulator should be funded by a wealthy individual or trust. Impress, the state-recognised regulator for the press which not a single significant publisher has signed up to, is funded by Max Mosley. Lynne Anderson, News Media Association deputy chief executive, said: This survey demonstrates conclusively that a regulatory regime led by Impress which is completely reliant upon funding from one wealthy individual, Max Mosley cannot command the confidence of the public. IPSO is funded in its entirety by its member national, regional and local newspaper publishers which is the funding model the public want and expect from an industry which is committed to robust self-regulation. It is also abundantly clear from the poll that there is absolutely no public appetite for further activity from the Government in this area such as the reopening of the Leveson Inquiry when there are other much more pressing priorities at hand. The YouGov poll also found that the public overwhelmingly believe the Government should be focussing its attention and resources on areas other than press regulation which came at the very bottom of a list of 16 issues the Government should focus on over the next few years. The poll found that just one per cent of respondents thought press regulation should be among the top four priorities, after airport expansion (two per cent). Top four priorities were Brexit (53 per cent), health (48 per cent), immigration and asylum (45 per cent) and the economy (44 per cent). Commissioned by the NMA, the poll also found that more than two-thirds (68 per cent) of people believe that news on social media platforms like Facebook which are currently unregulated - should be subject at least to the same level of regulation as newspapers or even tighter regulation. Britains press is subject to numerous criminal and civil laws covering news gathering and reporting. The vast majority of newspapers and magazines have also signed up voluntarily to a system of tough, independent self-regulation under IPSO. The YouGov poll comes a week before the end of a Government consultation exercise into the possible triggering of Section 40 of the Crime and Courts Act 2013, which would mean newspapers which refuse to accept state press regulation would be ordered to pay both sides costs in court actions for libel and privacy even when we win. The so-called costs sanctions are designed as an incentive to make newspaper publishers join Impress, the regulator recognised by the Government-appointed Press Recognition Panel under the Royal Charter. Publishers that are members of Impress would be exempt from the costs sanctions if they made use of its arbitration scheme. But even this could cost more than 6,000 plus unspecified damages for every complaint. For independent publishers like the Newbury Weekly News these are unaffordable penalties. It is rare for the Newbury Weekly News to incur any legal fees during the course of a year. We employ journalists who are trained in media law and we set the highest standards of accuracy and fairness. When we do make a mistake we are quick to correct it and apologise. This poorly thought-out law could be the final nail in the coffin for the local press. If you value a free press and the vital role newspapers like the Newbury Weekly News play in our democracy then please do take part in the online consultation being run by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport into Section 40 of the Crime and Courts Act 2013. Please support the NWNs position that Section 40 will not incentivise publishers to join the state regulator and that Parliament should repeal Section 40 in full. You can find the consultation, which closes on January 10, 2017, at www.research.net/r/9WH5LV3 By PTI BENGALURU: A team of doctors at a private hospital here today claimed to have successfully treated a 2-month-old Iraqi baby suffering from a rare birth defect called Bladder Exstrophy and Episadias. "Baby Ameer Hayder Thaey was born with his urinary bladder exposed outside of his body due to the incomplete formation of the tissues and bones in the pelvic region. The bladder, muscles and bones had defects which needed to be corrected," Urology and Transplant Surgeon at Fortis Hospital, Mohan Keshavamurthy said in a statement here. He said, "The procedure for treatment involved following a meticulously planned sealing of the entire bladder and penile area." The surgery for episadias, which is a malformation of the penis causing the urethra to be formed on the upper part of the penis, was done by reconstructing the penis by Cantwell Ransley procedure, Keshavamurthy said. Ameer suffered from Bladder Exstrophy with episadias abnormality, where the skin over the lower abdominal wall is not formed properly, he said, adding the complex procedure involved a multi-speciality team of doctors which took 10 hours to treat the rare condition. Ameer's grandfather, said, "When Ameer was born, we noticed that he was passing urine through his belly. We wanted to seek treatment immediately. However, we could not get proper medical care." "Once we get to know about the expertise of Fortis Hospitals in treating such babies, we immediately came down to the city for treatment," he added. BENGALURU: A team of doctors at a private hospital here today claimed to have successfully treated a 2-month-old Iraqi baby suffering from a rare birth defect called Bladder Exstrophy and Episadias. "Baby Ameer Hayder Thaey was born with his urinary bladder exposed outside of his body due to the incomplete formation of the tissues and bones in the pelvic region. The bladder, muscles and bones had defects which needed to be corrected," Urology and Transplant Surgeon at Fortis Hospital, Mohan Keshavamurthy said in a statement here. He said, "The procedure for treatment involved following a meticulously planned sealing of the entire bladder and penile area." The surgery for episadias, which is a malformation of the penis causing the urethra to be formed on the upper part of the penis, was done by reconstructing the penis by Cantwell Ransley procedure, Keshavamurthy said. Ameer suffered from Bladder Exstrophy with episadias abnormality, where the skin over the lower abdominal wall is not formed properly, he said, adding the complex procedure involved a multi-speciality team of doctors which took 10 hours to treat the rare condition. Ameer's grandfather, said, "When Ameer was born, we noticed that he was passing urine through his belly. We wanted to seek treatment immediately. However, we could not get proper medical care." "Once we get to know about the expertise of Fortis Hospitals in treating such babies, we immediately came down to the city for treatment," he added. By PTI NEW DELHI: Leader Brinda Karat today attacked Karnataka minister G Parameshwara over his objectionable remarks after women were molested en masse in Bengaluru, saying he has no right to continue in office after the "reprehensible" statement. "With his utterly reprehensible statement, the Home Minister of Karnataka has forfeited the right to hold office," the CPI(M) Politburo member said. Parameshwara had blamed the "western ways" of youngsters for the Bengaluru molestation incident. The remarks were widely condemned. Questioning the law and order situation in the state, Karat said the mass molestation took place in the presence of police, yet there was not a single arrest. "The CCTV footage of the incident shows the license the molesters enjoy as they are certain they will get away with their sexual crimes instead of getting punished," she said. "At the same time, the CCTV footage is a mirror to where India is today when citizens are so uncaring or afraid that they do not intervene to stop a crime against a young woman taking place before their eyes and instead many blame women for the crimes against them," she said. The former Parliamentarian urged citizens to speak out against such incidents or else the number of such cases would only increase. The incidents of molestation occurred on Saturday night in and around the junction of Brigade Road and M G Road, where thousands had gathered to herald the New Year. Eyewitness accounts said women were molested and groped and lewd remarks were also passed by miscreants late night on December 31 in the posh area, even as it was claimed that 1,500 police personnel had been deployed to control the crowds. Speaking to a TV news channel on the issue, Parameshwara had said, "Unfortunately, what is happening is, as I said, days like new year, Brigade Road, Commercial Street, M G Road, large number of youngsters gather. Youngsters who are almost like westerners, they try to copy the westerners not only in the mindset, but even the dressing." NEW DELHI: Leader Brinda Karat today attacked Karnataka minister G Parameshwara over his objectionable remarks after women were molested en masse in Bengaluru, saying he has no right to continue in office after the "reprehensible" statement. "With his utterly reprehensible statement, the Home Minister of Karnataka has forfeited the right to hold office," the CPI(M) Politburo member said. Parameshwara had blamed the "western ways" of youngsters for the Bengaluru molestation incident. The remarks were widely condemned. Questioning the law and order situation in the state, Karat said the mass molestation took place in the presence of police, yet there was not a single arrest. "The CCTV footage of the incident shows the license the molesters enjoy as they are certain they will get away with their sexual crimes instead of getting punished," she said. "At the same time, the CCTV footage is a mirror to where India is today when citizens are so uncaring or afraid that they do not intervene to stop a crime against a young woman taking place before their eyes and instead many blame women for the crimes against them," she said. The former Parliamentarian urged citizens to speak out against such incidents or else the number of such cases would only increase. The incidents of molestation occurred on Saturday night in and around the junction of Brigade Road and M G Road, where thousands had gathered to herald the New Year. Eyewitness accounts said women were molested and groped and lewd remarks were also passed by miscreants late night on December 31 in the posh area, even as it was claimed that 1,500 police personnel had been deployed to control the crowds. Speaking to a TV news channel on the issue, Parameshwara had said, "Unfortunately, what is happening is, as I said, days like new year, Brigade Road, Commercial Street, M G Road, large number of youngsters gather. Youngsters who are almost like westerners, they try to copy the westerners not only in the mindset, but even the dressing." By Express News Service BENGALURU: Three days after women were allegedly molested during New Year celebrations on M G Road and Brigade Road junction, the city police registered a first information report in this case on Tuesday. Speaking to Express, City Police Commissioner Praveen Sood said, We had been quietly working on this over the past three days. At this point of time, I cant reveal any information. As promised we have found credible evidence in a case of wrongful confinement, molestation and attempt to rob. We have registered an FIR. Investigation is in progress. We have taken up a suo motu case. Praveen Sood tweeted about the filing of the FIR on Tuesday around 11 pm. We have taken action by registering a FIR. Investigation is in progress. Police is working.... though silently. Praveen Sood IPS (@CPBlr) January 3, 2017 As promised we have found credible evidence repeat credible evidence in a case of wrongful confinement, molestation and attempt to rob. Praveen Sood IPS (@CPBlr) January 3, 2017 Enquiry is already underway by an officer of DCP rank. Praveen Sood IPS (@CPBlr) January 3, 2017 Enquiry conducted by a DCP rank officer has gone through feed from 45 cameras at MG road. Unedited video available with police. Praveen Sood IPS (@CPBlr) January 3, 2017 The commissioner had earlier tweeted, Inquiry conducted by a DCP rank officer has gone through feed from 45 cameras at MG road. Unedited video available with police. Additional Commissioner of Police (West) Malini Krishnamurthy said, I have asked the DCP to get more footage to go ahead with our investigations. The police have also asked people who witnessed the incidents to provide information, footage or photographs. Deputy Commissioner of Police (Command Centre) Nagendra Kumar, who also heads the Social Media Wing, said, We have not received any complaint on Facebook, Twitter or over police helpline over this issue. We are appealing to people to pass on information in this regard to make the case stronger. A police source said, After the incident came to light, a team headed by a DCP rank official investigated the matter. The police obtained CCTV video footage from cameras installed by police and those installed by shops or commercial outlets. Some Bengalureans who participated in the New Year revelry, however, claimed that nothing unusual had happened on MG Road and Brigade Road junction on the intervening night of Saturday and Sunday. I and seven friends had gone to Brigade Road for the celebration. Neither I nor the three other girls in our group faced any problem. We didnt see any such incident, says Ekta Gurung from Shanthi Nagar. Daney Abraham, an engineer from RT Nagar, and his friends, including girls, did not face any trouble. We didnt have any problems nor did we witness any such thing, said Abraham. Zain Sharif, a student of Christ University, said, I spent New Years eve around MG Road and I didnt find anything unusual.There was a big crowd and all of us were in a party mood. A police officer who went through the CCTV footage said, All we have seen in the CCTV footage is women being taken either by their friends or relatives or escorted by police in presence of their relatives. Other women are seen celebrating without any problem. BENGALURU: Three days after women were allegedly molested during New Year celebrations on M G Road and Brigade Road junction, the city police registered a first information report in this case on Tuesday. Speaking to Express, City Police Commissioner Praveen Sood said, We had been quietly working on this over the past three days. At this point of time, I cant reveal any information. As promised we have found credible evidence in a case of wrongful confinement, molestation and attempt to rob. We have registered an FIR. Investigation is in progress. We have taken up a suo motu case. Praveen Sood tweeted about the filing of the FIR on Tuesday around 11 pm. We have taken action by registering a FIR. Investigation is in progress. Police is working.... though silently. Praveen Sood IPS (@CPBlr) January 3, 2017 As promised we have found credible evidence repeat credible evidence in a case of wrongful confinement, molestation and attempt to rob. Praveen Sood IPS (@CPBlr) January 3, 2017 Enquiry is already underway by an officer of DCP rank. Praveen Sood IPS (@CPBlr) January 3, 2017 Enquiry conducted by a DCP rank officer has gone through feed from 45 cameras at MG road. Unedited video available with police. Praveen Sood IPS (@CPBlr) January 3, 2017 The commissioner had earlier tweeted, Inquiry conducted by a DCP rank officer has gone through feed from 45 cameras at MG road. Unedited video available with police. Additional Commissioner of Police (West) Malini Krishnamurthy said, I have asked the DCP to get more footage to go ahead with our investigations. The police have also asked people who witnessed the incidents to provide information, footage or photographs. Deputy Commissioner of Police (Command Centre) Nagendra Kumar, who also heads the Social Media Wing, said, We have not received any complaint on Facebook, Twitter or over police helpline over this issue. We are appealing to people to pass on information in this regard to make the case stronger. A police source said, After the incident came to light, a team headed by a DCP rank official investigated the matter. The police obtained CCTV video footage from cameras installed by police and those installed by shops or commercial outlets. Some Bengalureans who participated in the New Year revelry, however, claimed that nothing unusual had happened on MG Road and Brigade Road junction on the intervening night of Saturday and Sunday. I and seven friends had gone to Brigade Road for the celebration. Neither I nor the three other girls in our group faced any problem. We didnt see any such incident, says Ekta Gurung from Shanthi Nagar. Daney Abraham, an engineer from RT Nagar, and his friends, including girls, did not face any trouble. We didnt have any problems nor did we witness any such thing, said Abraham. Zain Sharif, a student of Christ University, said, I spent New Years eve around MG Road and I didnt find anything unusual.There was a big crowd and all of us were in a party mood. A police officer who went through the CCTV footage said, All we have seen in the CCTV footage is women being taken either by their friends or relatives or escorted by police in presence of their relatives. Other women are seen celebrating without any problem. Dhinesh Kallungal By Express News Service KOCHI: Call it a New Year gift from the European Union. Much to the delight of all parties involved, the EU has lifted the ban imposed on the export of taro, bitter gourd, snake gourd and eggplant from the country. Now, the CIAL authorities, in particular, can afford a full-hearted chuckle. The Kochi airport is the second largest exporter of vegetables and fruits from India after Mumbai airport. Prakash Rao, assistant director, plant quarantine section (export/import), Union Agriculture Ministry, said the ban on four vegetables from the country was lifted this month. He said the farmers and cargo exporters were now allowed to export vegetables and fruits to the EU. The four vegetables and mango were banned by the EU in May 2014 for a period of 20 months following the detection of fruit flies in some consignments. The ban on mango was lifted in January 2015. The export of these four vegetables can be carried out only by complying with the guidelines issued by the 28-member EU bloc. There will be strict monitoring and in-house certification is required for the export of perishable goods, he said. An EU delegation had recently inspected farms and pack houses in India. The Union Ministry has also made pack-house certification by the Agriculture and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (Apeda) mandatory. Gopalakrishnan Nair, the proprietor of Geekey International Exports Imports and Trade, Mumbai, said the ban had its own effect on farmers/exporters and dented the goodwill towards Indian products in the EU. But he said the overall impact was minimal because the annual export of these four vegetables accounts for less than 5 percent of Indias total farm exports to the EU - approximately $1.9 million. Experts, however, said the EU accounts for more than 50 per cent of the total exports of fruits and vegetables from the country. The UK, followed by the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium are some of the major destinations of Indian exporters in the EU. According to CIAL officials, their cargo section has exported 55,132 tonnes of various vegetables and fruits to different destinations - mainly to West Asia - in the 2015- 16 fiscal even after the EU ban. The CIAL has also exported 63,095 tonnes of cargo to various destinations in 2015-16 and netted a revenue of Rs 19.34 crore. They said the vegetables and fruits accounted nearly 80 percent of the total cargo exports. KOCHI: Call it a New Year gift from the European Union. Much to the delight of all parties involved, the EU has lifted the ban imposed on the export of taro, bitter gourd, snake gourd and eggplant from the country. Now, the CIAL authorities, in particular, can afford a full-hearted chuckle. The Kochi airport is the second largest exporter of vegetables and fruits from India after Mumbai airport. Prakash Rao, assistant director, plant quarantine section (export/import), Union Agriculture Ministry, said the ban on four vegetables from the country was lifted this month. He said the farmers and cargo exporters were now allowed to export vegetables and fruits to the EU. The four vegetables and mango were banned by the EU in May 2014 for a period of 20 months following the detection of fruit flies in some consignments. The ban on mango was lifted in January 2015. The export of these four vegetables can be carried out only by complying with the guidelines issued by the 28-member EU bloc. There will be strict monitoring and in-house certification is required for the export of perishable goods, he said. An EU delegation had recently inspected farms and pack houses in India. The Union Ministry has also made pack-house certification by the Agriculture and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (Apeda) mandatory. Gopalakrishnan Nair, the proprietor of Geekey International Exports Imports and Trade, Mumbai, said the ban had its own effect on farmers/exporters and dented the goodwill towards Indian products in the EU. But he said the overall impact was minimal because the annual export of these four vegetables accounts for less than 5 percent of Indias total farm exports to the EU - approximately $1.9 million. Experts, however, said the EU accounts for more than 50 per cent of the total exports of fruits and vegetables from the country. The UK, followed by the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium are some of the major destinations of Indian exporters in the EU. According to CIAL officials, their cargo section has exported 55,132 tonnes of various vegetables and fruits to different destinations - mainly to West Asia - in the 2015- 16 fiscal even after the EU ban. The CIAL has also exported 63,095 tonnes of cargo to various destinations in 2015-16 and netted a revenue of Rs 19.34 crore. They said the vegetables and fruits accounted nearly 80 percent of the total cargo exports. By Express News Service KOCHI: A day after film producer Sandra Thomas filed a complaint that actor and business partner Vijay Babu had assaulted her, the actor, whom the police say is at large, put up a Facebook post with counter-allegations. Police at Elamakkara station, where the complaint was lodged, said they have not recorded the statement of Vijay Babu as he is still at large. Vijay Babu, meanwhile, posted on Facebook allegations that Sandra Thomas --whom he had considered his most trusted partner-- had filed a 'fake case' against him to usurp his share of property in the business. "Friends, a fake case is filed against me by my most trusted partner and her husband for the sake of taking over business property which I disputed. I shall prove it otherwise and will be fine. Thank you for the concerns. Shall update, he wrote on his Facebook wall, on Tuesday. Meanwhile, Sandra Thomas is recuperating at a city hospital. Police said a probe is underway. Vijay Babu is the co-founder of the film production company, Friday Film House, along with Sandra Thomas. Friday Film House, which has produced popular films like 'Philips and the Monkey Pen', 'Adi Kapyare Kootamani', Peruchazhi and 'Aadu Oru Bheekarajeeviyanu'. Based on the complaint lodged by Sandra, the Elamakkara police registered a case under sections 294 (b) sings, recites or utters any obscene song, ballad or words, in or near any public place, 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt), 364 (kidnapping or abducting in order to murder) and 506 (1) (punishment for criminal intimidation) of IPC. According to the police, the incident occurred at the office of the film production company, Friday Film House, on Pottakuzhi Road on Tuesday noon. Police officers said the alleged differences between them on business-related matters led to the assaulting his business partner. KOCHI: A day after film producer Sandra Thomas filed a complaint that actor and business partner Vijay Babu had assaulted her, the actor, whom the police say is at large, put up a Facebook post with counter-allegations. Police at Elamakkara station, where the complaint was lodged, said they have not recorded the statement of Vijay Babu as he is still at large. Vijay Babu, meanwhile, posted on Facebook allegations that Sandra Thomas --whom he had considered his most trusted partner-- had filed a 'fake case' against him to usurp his share of property in the business. "Friends, a fake case is filed against me by my most trusted partner and her husband for the sake of taking over business property which I disputed. I shall prove it otherwise and will be fine. Thank you for the concerns. Shall update, he wrote on his Facebook wall, on Tuesday. Meanwhile, Sandra Thomas is recuperating at a city hospital. Police said a probe is underway. Vijay Babu is the co-founder of the film production company, Friday Film House, along with Sandra Thomas. Friday Film House, which has produced popular films like 'Philips and the Monkey Pen', 'Adi Kapyare Kootamani', Peruchazhi and 'Aadu Oru Bheekarajeeviyanu'. Based on the complaint lodged by Sandra, the Elamakkara police registered a case under sections 294 (b) sings, recites or utters any obscene song, ballad or words, in or near any public place, 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt), 364 (kidnapping or abducting in order to murder) and 506 (1) (punishment for criminal intimidation) of IPC. According to the police, the incident occurred at the office of the film production company, Friday Film House, on Pottakuzhi Road on Tuesday noon. Police officers said the alleged differences between them on business-related matters led to the assaulting his business partner. Vikram Sharma By Express News Service AZAMGARH: Azamgarh is a town in eastern Uttar Pradesh that struggles to live down the terror taint. The origins of underworld gangster Abu Salem and the 2008 Batla House encounter in Delhi -- in which young men from Azamgarh were killed -- were both unwelcome associations as far as the elders of the town are concerned. Now the town is back in the news once again. This time around it is for Azamgarh native Asadullah Akhtar's conviction for his alleged role in the Dilsukhnagar blasts in Hyderabad in 2013. The death sentence awarded to the son of popular doctor Javed Akhtar has once again stirred up a debate about whether the town is indeed a nursery for terrorism. After the Batla House encounter put Azamgarh on the terror map of India, community elders floated an organization called the National Ulema Council and roped in Dr Akhtar to contest the Lok Sabha polls in an initiative to rid the town of the taint. The Ulema Councils founder president Maulana Aamir Rashadi Madni says successive governments have labelled youth from the district as terrorists only to keep the Muslim community under check. The terror tag is working to the disadvantage of the youth of the area, locals say. In fact, people from Azamgarh have left to other cities to escape this taint. There have been instances when some youths faced difficulties in getting jobs when they said they belong to Azamgarh,'' says a local Muslim leader, speaking on the condition of anonymity. Its a dusty town of many madarassas and mosques, some of them of historical significance. The greater district around the town has a population of 4.6 million, about 20 per cent Muslim. Locals say that some localities like Saraimeer and Sanjarpur have become no-go areas to outsiders. Maulana Aamir Rashadi Madni Across Azamgarh, be it within the city or in the dingy lanes of Sanjarpur, Saraimeer, Jalandhari or Bilariyagunj, several madarassas have come up over the last few years. According to government estimates, till 2009 there used to be 180 madarassas in the district. Now there are 820. Asked to comment on the increasing number of madarassas, Ulema Council president Maulana Madni says its a mistake to think that terrorism is taught in madarassas. The government says people should study and become educated. When English medium schools are opened, everyone is fine with it. But do we become terrorists if we learn Arabic in madarassas? Yet, Azamgarh appears regularly on Indias anti-terror list of infamy. Sanjarpur was the native place of Atif and Sajid, the two men who were killed in the Batla House encounter. Before the Delhi blasts, the Gujarat police had arrested the alleged mastermind of the Ahmedabad serial blasts, Abu Bashar, a resident of Beenapara village in Saraimeer area of the district. Nine of the 12 terrorists wanted by Delhi's Special Cell are from Azamgarh. AZAMGARH: Azamgarh is a town in eastern Uttar Pradesh that struggles to live down the terror taint. The origins of underworld gangster Abu Salem and the 2008 Batla House encounter in Delhi -- in which young men from Azamgarh were killed -- were both unwelcome associations as far as the elders of the town are concerned. Now the town is back in the news once again. This time around it is for Azamgarh native Asadullah Akhtar's conviction for his alleged role in the Dilsukhnagar blasts in Hyderabad in 2013. The death sentence awarded to the son of popular doctor Javed Akhtar has once again stirred up a debate about whether the town is indeed a nursery for terrorism. After the Batla House encounter put Azamgarh on the terror map of India, community elders floated an organization called the National Ulema Council and roped in Dr Akhtar to contest the Lok Sabha polls in an initiative to rid the town of the taint. The Ulema Councils founder president Maulana Aamir Rashadi Madni says successive governments have labelled youth from the district as terrorists only to keep the Muslim community under check. The terror tag is working to the disadvantage of the youth of the area, locals say. In fact, people from Azamgarh have left to other cities to escape this taint. There have been instances when some youths faced difficulties in getting jobs when they said they belong to Azamgarh,'' says a local Muslim leader, speaking on the condition of anonymity. Its a dusty town of many madarassas and mosques, some of them of historical significance. The greater district around the town has a population of 4.6 million, about 20 per cent Muslim. Locals say that some localities like Saraimeer and Sanjarpur have become no-go areas to outsiders. Maulana Aamir Rashadi MadniAcross Azamgarh, be it within the city or in the dingy lanes of Sanjarpur, Saraimeer, Jalandhari or Bilariyagunj, several madarassas have come up over the last few years. According to government estimates, till 2009 there used to be 180 madarassas in the district. Now there are 820. Asked to comment on the increasing number of madarassas, Ulema Council president Maulana Madni says its a mistake to think that terrorism is taught in madarassas. The government says people should study and become educated. When English medium schools are opened, everyone is fine with it. But do we become terrorists if we learn Arabic in madarassas? Yet, Azamgarh appears regularly on Indias anti-terror list of infamy. Sanjarpur was the native place of Atif and Sajid, the two men who were killed in the Batla House encounter. Before the Delhi blasts, the Gujarat police had arrested the alleged mastermind of the Ahmedabad serial blasts, Abu Bashar, a resident of Beenapara village in Saraimeer area of the district. Nine of the 12 terrorists wanted by Delhi's Special Cell are from Azamgarh. By PTI SAMASTIPUR (BIHAR): Unidentified gunmen on Tuesday shot dead a journalist at Salkhani village in the district, police said. Around 5-6 unidentified men opened fire at journalist Braj Kumar Singh, killing him on the spot, said Samastipur SP Nawal Kishore Prasad Singh. Singh was associated with a prominent Hindi daily and also ran a brick kiln where he was shot dead by the gunmen. Though the reason behind the killing is yet to be ascertained, an old enmity is suspected to be the cause. Salkhani village falls under Bibhutipur police station, about 40 kms from the Samastipur district headquarters. Earlier, Dharmendra Singh, a journalist of a prominent vernacular daily, was shot dead in Rohtas district on November, 2016 apparently over his articles on illegal stone chips units. Hindi daily Hindustan's Siwan bureau chief Rajdeo Ranjan was shot dead in Siwan district in May, 2016 SAMASTIPUR (BIHAR): Unidentified gunmen on Tuesday shot dead a journalist at Salkhani village in the district, police said. Around 5-6 unidentified men opened fire at journalist Braj Kumar Singh, killing him on the spot, said Samastipur SP Nawal Kishore Prasad Singh. Singh was associated with a prominent Hindi daily and also ran a brick kiln where he was shot dead by the gunmen. Though the reason behind the killing is yet to be ascertained, an old enmity is suspected to be the cause. Salkhani village falls under Bibhutipur police station, about 40 kms from the Samastipur district headquarters. Earlier, Dharmendra Singh, a journalist of a prominent vernacular daily, was shot dead in Rohtas district on November, 2016 apparently over his articles on illegal stone chips units. Hindi daily Hindustan's Siwan bureau chief Rajdeo Ranjan was shot dead in Siwan district in May, 2016 By PTI NEW DELHI: The Cabinet today cleared the appointment of academician David R Syiemlieh as interim chairman of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC). He will take over the charge from Alka Sirohi, a former IAS officer of the Madhya Pradesh cadre. The decision was taken at a meeting of the Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "Syiemlieh has been appointed as interim chairman of the UPSC," government sources said. He has been a member of the UPSC since June 2012. A post graduate in history from the North Eastern Hill University, Shillong, he held various academic positions in the same varsity, including head of the history department and that of the pro-vice chancellor. Syiemlieh, is also a former vice chancellor of Rajiv Gandhi University in Arunachal Pradesh. He has also authored several books on the history of North East region. NEW DELHI: The Cabinet today cleared the appointment of academician David R Syiemlieh as interim chairman of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC). He will take over the charge from Alka Sirohi, a former IAS officer of the Madhya Pradesh cadre. The decision was taken at a meeting of the Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "Syiemlieh has been appointed as interim chairman of the UPSC," government sources said. He has been a member of the UPSC since June 2012. A post graduate in history from the North Eastern Hill University, Shillong, he held various academic positions in the same varsity, including head of the history department and that of the pro-vice chancellor. Syiemlieh, is also a former vice chancellor of Rajiv Gandhi University in Arunachal Pradesh. He has also authored several books on the history of North East region. By Express News Service NEW DELHI: The election commission on Wednesday sounded the poll bugle for the assembly elections to be held in five states including Utter Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa, Punjab and Manipur in which over 16 crore voters will exercise their democratic rights. With a view to ensure peaceful polls and to provide proper security arrangement in the crucial poll battle in Utter Pradesh, the EC has decided to hold elections in seven phases starting from February 11 and concluding on March 8. Officials said that the schedule for the state polls was prepared after consulting all stakeholders. It was discussed that Goa and Punjab elections will be held on the same day on February 4. Manipur will go to the polls in Phase I on March 4 and Phase II on March 8. The results of the elections for all states will be announced on March 11. Chief Election Commissioner Naseem Zaidi said it will closely monitor the day-to-day situation. "Owing to cash crunch, possibilities are that some other kind of favours, gifts may be distributed. We will keep an eye on these things," he said. The CEC said that expenses above Rs 20000 have to be out of bank accounts to be set up and it has to be through cheques. There will be elaborate expenditure monitoring device, he added. The limit for expenses for candidates is Rs 28 lakh for UP, Punjab, Uttarakhand and Rs 20 lakh for Manipur and Goa, Zaidi said. On the ongoing tussle between both the factions in Samajwadi party in UP, the CEC said that the poll panel has received documents from both the sides. The commission will consider the earlier precedence to decide on this issue. On the new date of the general budget scheduled for February 1, the CEC said that the poll panel is examining whether budget can be presented now as model code of conduct is in force. "The Commission has received representation sent by some political parties. This representation is with regards to presentation of the budget. The Commission is examining this representation and in due course of time will take a call on this," he said. Zaidi said that the poll panel will completely abide by the Supreme Court verdict in the 'Hindutva' case, banning seeking of votes in the name of religion, caste and creed. Electoral roll of Goa will be published on January 5, Manipur on January 12, Punjab January 5, Uttarakhand on January 10 and Uttar Pradesh on January 12, Zaidi said adding that the EC has imposed Model Code of Conduct in the states due for elections with immediate effect. The EC has also for the first time made it mandatory for every candidate contesting these polls to file another affidavit in the form of a "No demand certificate" declaring any pending electricity, water, telephone bills and rent for government accommodation in their possession in last ten years. The CEC said candidates will also make a declaration while filing their nominations on their being a citizen of India and having not held citizenship of any other country. Election Commission will distribute photo voters slip to all voters. " A (multi-coloured) voter guide will be distributed to all families. This will have details of polling stations, date and time of polling, ID documents that can be used, etc. At least 1.85 Lakh polling stations will be covered under these polls. This has increased by 15 percent. For secrecy, height of the voting compartment has been raised to 30 inches," Zaidi said. Meanwhile, amidst the protest of opposition parties on the move to present Union Budget on February 1, BJP rubbished their claims saying it is a constitutional exercise that should not be linked to election cycle. A senior party leader also did not rule out announcement of sops for different segments of society in the budget, saying Union budgets have been presented in the past during elections and it cannot be any different this year. "Union Budget's timing and announcements cannot be subject to schedule of various elections. It has never been like this," he said. NEW DELHI: The election commission on Wednesday sounded the poll bugle for the assembly elections to be held in five states including Utter Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa, Punjab and Manipur in which over 16 crore voters will exercise their democratic rights. With a view to ensure peaceful polls and to provide proper security arrangement in the crucial poll battle in Utter Pradesh, the EC has decided to hold elections in seven phases starting from February 11 and concluding on March 8. Officials said that the schedule for the state polls was prepared after consulting all stakeholders. It was discussed that Goa and Punjab elections will be held on the same day on February 4. Manipur will go to the polls in Phase I on March 4 and Phase II on March 8. The results of the elections for all states will be announced on March 11. Chief Election Commissioner Naseem Zaidi said it will closely monitor the day-to-day situation. "Owing to cash crunch, possibilities are that some other kind of favours, gifts may be distributed. We will keep an eye on these things," he said. The CEC said that expenses above Rs 20000 have to be out of bank accounts to be set up and it has to be through cheques. There will be elaborate expenditure monitoring device, he added. The limit for expenses for candidates is Rs 28 lakh for UP, Punjab, Uttarakhand and Rs 20 lakh for Manipur and Goa, Zaidi said. On the ongoing tussle between both the factions in Samajwadi party in UP, the CEC said that the poll panel has received documents from both the sides. The commission will consider the earlier precedence to decide on this issue. On the new date of the general budget scheduled for February 1, the CEC said that the poll panel is examining whether budget can be presented now as model code of conduct is in force. "The Commission has received representation sent by some political parties. This representation is with regards to presentation of the budget. The Commission is examining this representation and in due course of time will take a call on this," he said. Zaidi said that the poll panel will completely abide by the Supreme Court verdict in the 'Hindutva' case, banning seeking of votes in the name of religion, caste and creed. Electoral roll of Goa will be published on January 5, Manipur on January 12, Punjab January 5, Uttarakhand on January 10 and Uttar Pradesh on January 12, Zaidi said adding that the EC has imposed Model Code of Conduct in the states due for elections with immediate effect. The EC has also for the first time made it mandatory for every candidate contesting these polls to file another affidavit in the form of a "No demand certificate" declaring any pending electricity, water, telephone bills and rent for government accommodation in their possession in last ten years. The CEC said candidates will also make a declaration while filing their nominations on their being a citizen of India and having not held citizenship of any other country. Election Commission will distribute photo voters slip to all voters. " A (multi-coloured) voter guide will be distributed to all families. This will have details of polling stations, date and time of polling, ID documents that can be used, etc. At least 1.85 Lakh polling stations will be covered under these polls. This has increased by 15 percent. For secrecy, height of the voting compartment has been raised to 30 inches," Zaidi said. Meanwhile, amidst the protest of opposition parties on the move to present Union Budget on February 1, BJP rubbished their claims saying it is a constitutional exercise that should not be linked to election cycle. A senior party leader also did not rule out announcement of sops for different segments of society in the budget, saying Union budgets have been presented in the past during elections and it cannot be any different this year. "Union Budget's timing and announcements cannot be subject to schedule of various elections. It has never been like this," he said. Harpreet Bajwa By Express News Service CHANDIGARH: Former army chief General JJ Singh (Retd) is in all likelihood to be pitched against Punjab Congress chief and Patiala Royal Captain Amarinder Singh from Patiala (Urban) Assembly constituency by ruling Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), as the polls are set to take place on February 4 in Punjab. However, an official announcement in this regard is yet to be made by SAD. The news gains more significance recalling that Capt Amarinder Singh has not lost an election from the Patiala (urban) constituency since 2002. Presently his wife and former union minister Preneet Kaur is the sitting MLA from the constituency. The first Sikh chief of army staff, Gen JJ Singh (Retd) had reached Patiala a few days back and has been campaigning for SAD in Patiala since then. He was invited by deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal at the inaugural function of the war memorial in Amritsar and also at Heritage Street inauguration besides other events concerning ex-servicemen. Singh has reportedly been in touch with Sukhbir and other leaders for nearly a year now. Gen JJ Singh told Express, After serving as army chief and then governor, I wanted to serve the real people and that is why I jumped into politics. When asked that he might be termed a Para-trooper in the polls, he said, I had lived in Patiala for five years as my father was posted in the army from 1947 to 1952. I was in the city and studied here. Both my paternal and maternal family lived here. I am ready to take on the challenge and I will win. The candidates who fought elections against Capt Amarinder Singh, earlier, were weak. My track record has no failures, he said. In the next list of the party, I expect to see my name, he said. Its my payback time to Patiala and Punjab. I want to give back to the people all the love and affection and the spirit of compassion that I have received from them, Singh said. Singh has been provided a security cover of around 12 armed men along with a security vehicle by the Punjab police in Patiala. Singh had fought the 1965 and 1971 wars, and is said to have donned a pivotal role in the war against Pakistani intruders in Kargil. CHANDIGARH: Former army chief General JJ Singh (Retd) is in all likelihood to be pitched against Punjab Congress chief and Patiala Royal Captain Amarinder Singh from Patiala (Urban) Assembly constituency by ruling Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), as the polls are set to take place on February 4 in Punjab. However, an official announcement in this regard is yet to be made by SAD. The news gains more significance recalling that Capt Amarinder Singh has not lost an election from the Patiala (urban) constituency since 2002. Presently his wife and former union minister Preneet Kaur is the sitting MLA from the constituency. The first Sikh chief of army staff, Gen JJ Singh (Retd) had reached Patiala a few days back and has been campaigning for SAD in Patiala since then. He was invited by deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal at the inaugural function of the war memorial in Amritsar and also at Heritage Street inauguration besides other events concerning ex-servicemen. Singh has reportedly been in touch with Sukhbir and other leaders for nearly a year now. Gen JJ Singh told Express, After serving as army chief and then governor, I wanted to serve the real people and that is why I jumped into politics. When asked that he might be termed a Para-trooper in the polls, he said, I had lived in Patiala for five years as my father was posted in the army from 1947 to 1952. I was in the city and studied here. Both my paternal and maternal family lived here. I am ready to take on the challenge and I will win. The candidates who fought elections against Capt Amarinder Singh, earlier, were weak. My track record has no failures, he said. In the next list of the party, I expect to see my name, he said. Its my payback time to Patiala and Punjab. I want to give back to the people all the love and affection and the spirit of compassion that I have received from them, Singh said. Singh has been provided a security cover of around 12 armed men along with a security vehicle by the Punjab police in Patiala. Singh had fought the 1965 and 1971 wars, and is said to have donned a pivotal role in the war against Pakistani intruders in Kargil. By PTI MUMBAI: Bodies of film producer-realtor Abis Rizvi and fashion designer Khushi Shah, who were among 39 people killed in the Istanbul terror attack, arrived here early today. "The Turkish Airlines plane carrying the bodies landed at Mumbai airport shortly after 5 AM," BJP MP Kirit Somaiya, who received the bodies at the airport, told PTI. While Rizvi's body has been taken to his home in suburban Bandra, Khushi's body was flown to Vadodara for cremation later today, he said. Rizvi's burial will also take place today. The flight carrying the bodies left Istanbul last night. Khushi and Rizvi were among the 15 foreigners who were killed when a gunman went on a rampage at the waterside Reina nightclub in Istanbul where revellers were celebrating the New Year. MUMBAI: Bodies of film producer-realtor Abis Rizvi and fashion designer Khushi Shah, who were among 39 people killed in the Istanbul terror attack, arrived here early today. "The Turkish Airlines plane carrying the bodies landed at Mumbai airport shortly after 5 AM," BJP MP Kirit Somaiya, who received the bodies at the airport, told PTI. While Rizvi's body has been taken to his home in suburban Bandra, Khushi's body was flown to Vadodara for cremation later today, he said. Rizvi's burial will also take place today. The flight carrying the bodies left Istanbul last night. Khushi and Rizvi were among the 15 foreigners who were killed when a gunman went on a rampage at the waterside Reina nightclub in Istanbul where revellers were celebrating the New Year. By PTI HANDWARA: A suspected militant belonging to the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) has been arrested from north Kashmir's Kupwara district, police said today. Acting on an intelligence input, a joint team of police and army arrested Ashiq Ahmed alias Abu Haider from Handwara area of the district, a police spokesman said here. A cache of arms and ammunition, including an AK-47 rifle, three magazines, a Chinese Pistol with a magazine, three hand grenades, a magazine pouch and a map, was seized from him. During interrogation, Ahmed said he was a close associate of Abu Bakar - an LeT Commander who was killed in an encounter in Sopore township last month, the spokesman said. HANDWARA: A suspected militant belonging to the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) has been arrested from north Kashmir's Kupwara district, police said today. Acting on an intelligence input, a joint team of police and army arrested Ashiq Ahmed alias Abu Haider from Handwara area of the district, a police spokesman said here. A cache of arms and ammunition, including an AK-47 rifle, three magazines, a Chinese Pistol with a magazine, three hand grenades, a magazine pouch and a map, was seized from him. During interrogation, Ahmed said he was a close associate of Abu Bakar - an LeT Commander who was killed in an encounter in Sopore township last month, the spokesman said. Fayaz Wani By Express News Service At least 62 rifles, six pistols and 182 magazines were looted by militants and unruly mobs from security personnel in Kashmir last year. According to the figures released by J&Ks Home department, which is headed by State Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti, 16 incidents of weapon snatching/looting took place in the Valley between January 1 and December 31, 2006. Of the 16 weapon snatching/looting incidents, 13 incidents took place in four south Kashmir districts of Kulgam, Anantnag, Pulwama and Shopian while two incidents took place in central Kashmirs Budgam district and a single incident took place in Srinagar, it states. The first weapon snatching incident in 2016 took place on May 8 at Adijan in Damhal Hanjipora in South Kashmirs Kulgam district when militants snatched 2 Insas rifles and 2 SLR rifles from policemen guarding minority Kashmiri Pandit community in the area. The last weapon snatching incident of the year took place on October 17 in Dooru area of South Kashmirs Anantnag district when militants snatched 3 SLR rifles, 9 magazines, 480 rounds, 1 Insas Rifle, 5 magazines, 200 rounds, 1 carbine, 2 carbine magazine and 60 rounds of carbine from policemen guarding Lower Power Transmitter Station in the Deviash village. In 11 of the 16 weapon snatching incidents, militants were directly involved while in five other cases, the weapons were snatched by the unruly mobs. According to official figures, 62 rifles were snatched from security personnel during the 16-weapon snatching incidents. Of the 62 weapons snatched, 19 were AK-rifles, 22 were SLRs, 18 were Insas rifles, a carbine, .303 rifle and Pika gun. Besides six pistols and a Tasar gun were also snatched from the security personnel or police stations, revealed the statistics. The data further reveals that 12 AK magazines, 34 magazines of SLRS, 131 magazines of Insas and four carbine magazines were also snatched from the security personnel by the militants and unruly crowds last year. The biggest weapons loot took place at Damhal Hanjipora in South Kashmirs Kulgam district on July 9, a day after killing of 21-year-old Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani in an encounter with security forces. The unruly crowd forcibly entered into Police Station building at Damhal Hanjipora and looted large cache of arms and ammunition and set the police station on fire. Five Insas rifles, 11 AK-47 rifles, 7 SLR rifles, 1 Taser gun, 6 pistols, 1 Pika gun, 3 UBGL throwers, 10 LMG magazines, 117 Insas magazines, 2484 Insas rounds, 299 AK rounds, 4 AK magazines, 1863 SLR rounds, 1 Carbine magazine, 268 rounds of carbine ammunition, 5 pistol magazines, 133 pistol rounds and 189 Pika rounds, the official statistics revealed. It stated that one Insas rifle, 3 AK rifles, 2 Insas magazines, 55 AK rounds, 74 SLR rounds and 4 Pika rounds have been recovered The militants also attacked residences of two PDP leaders PDP Rajya Sabha MP Nazir Ahmad Laway at Chawalgam in Kulgam district on August 31 and PDP leader Sheikh Javed Ahmad at Boni Dialgam in Anantnag district on September 18. At both the places, the militants snatched four rifles each from the policemen. At least 62 rifles, six pistols and 182 magazines were looted by militants and unruly mobs from security personnel in Kashmir last year. According to the figures released by J&Ks Home department, which is headed by State Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti, 16 incidents of weapon snatching/looting took place in the Valley between January 1 and December 31, 2006. Of the 16 weapon snatching/looting incidents, 13 incidents took place in four south Kashmir districts of Kulgam, Anantnag, Pulwama and Shopian while two incidents took place in central Kashmirs Budgam district and a single incident took place in Srinagar, it states. The first weapon snatching incident in 2016 took place on May 8 at Adijan in Damhal Hanjipora in South Kashmirs Kulgam district when militants snatched 2 Insas rifles and 2 SLR rifles from policemen guarding minority Kashmiri Pandit community in the area. The last weapon snatching incident of the year took place on October 17 in Dooru area of South Kashmirs Anantnag district when militants snatched 3 SLR rifles, 9 magazines, 480 rounds, 1 Insas Rifle, 5 magazines, 200 rounds, 1 carbine, 2 carbine magazine and 60 rounds of carbine from policemen guarding Lower Power Transmitter Station in the Deviash village. In 11 of the 16 weapon snatching incidents, militants were directly involved while in five other cases, the weapons were snatched by the unruly mobs. According to official figures, 62 rifles were snatched from security personnel during the 16-weapon snatching incidents. Of the 62 weapons snatched, 19 were AK-rifles, 22 were SLRs, 18 were Insas rifles, a carbine, .303 rifle and Pika gun. Besides six pistols and a Tasar gun were also snatched from the security personnel or police stations, revealed the statistics. The data further reveals that 12 AK magazines, 34 magazines of SLRS, 131 magazines of Insas and four carbine magazines were also snatched from the security personnel by the militants and unruly crowds last year. The biggest weapons loot took place at Damhal Hanjipora in South Kashmirs Kulgam district on July 9, a day after killing of 21-year-old Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani in an encounter with security forces. The unruly crowd forcibly entered into Police Station building at Damhal Hanjipora and looted large cache of arms and ammunition and set the police station on fire. Five Insas rifles, 11 AK-47 rifles, 7 SLR rifles, 1 Taser gun, 6 pistols, 1 Pika gun, 3 UBGL throwers, 10 LMG magazines, 117 Insas magazines, 2484 Insas rounds, 299 AK rounds, 4 AK magazines, 1863 SLR rounds, 1 Carbine magazine, 268 rounds of carbine ammunition, 5 pistol magazines, 133 pistol rounds and 189 Pika rounds, the official statistics revealed. It stated that one Insas rifle, 3 AK rifles, 2 Insas magazines, 55 AK rounds, 74 SLR rounds and 4 Pika rounds have been recovered The militants also attacked residences of two PDP leaders PDP Rajya Sabha MP Nazir Ahmad Laway at Chawalgam in Kulgam district on August 31 and PDP leader Sheikh Javed Ahmad at Boni Dialgam in Anantnag district on September 18. At both the places, the militants snatched four rifles each from the policemen. MADISON, WI--(Marketwired - January 04, 2017) - Sonic Foundry, Inc. (SOFO), the trusted global leader for video creation and management solutions, today announced a new partnership with the California State University System (CSU) to offer a robust lecture capture solution to its 23 campuses. The CSU system signed a Master Enabling Agreement naming Mediasite one of two preferred lecture capture solutions for CSU's 474,600 students and 49,000 faculty and staff. This is the newest addition to the existing suite of Mediasite solutions currently available to the campuses. In April, Sonic Foundry was named CSU's preferred video content management solution, making Mediasite the only video solution to offer CSU both lecture capture capabilities and video content management. Having one automated and scalable system for creating, publishing, searching and managing all academic video gives CSU students and faculty a campus YouTube-esque environment where they can share knowledge and personalize learning. "The success of our students is positively impacted with a seamless and easy-to-use lecture capturing solution that allows us to capture and share the educational content from inside our lecture halls," said Jean-Pierre Bayard, CSU director of system-wide learning technologies and program services. "After reviewing dozens of other solutions, we chose Sonic Foundry's Mediasite based on a range of quality, affordable and scalable tools for our academic video needs." Automated Mediasite lecture capture will allow CSU faculty and staff to take their courses to the next level, increasing engagement and student achievement without changing the way they teach. In addition, with the ability to incorporate multiple sources of lecture materials -- from slideshows to smart boards as well as links to secondary sources -- all content is captured, perfectly synchronized and immediately published for student viewing live and on-demand. Currently, nine of the 23 system universities use Mediasite to record and manage lectures, trainings and special events from anywhere - classrooms, campus lawns or in the field. This flexibility, coupled with the My Mediasite application, allows faculty, staff and students to create, edit, manage and share academic video from their desktops or mobile devices. Among the current CSU campuses using Mediasite to enhance student learning are California State San Marcos, California State Fullerton School of Nursing and San Diego State University. Story continues "As the largest public university system in the United States, CSU is supporting the success of its students with empowering video-learning technologies," said Gary Weis, CEO, Sonic Foundry. "According to a recent Wainhouse Research study, the ability to capture lectures and provide students access to those lectures is a key success factor in increased retention and graduation. Such technology ensures the rich repository of educational content and materials has a secure, central and highly-functional home -- while streamlining the most time-consuming steps of traditional video capture -- for the benefit of faculty and staff alike." About the California State University The California State University is the largest system of senior higher education in the country, with 23 campuses, 49,000 faculty and staff and 474,600 students. Half of the CSU's students transfer from California Community Colleges. Created in 1960, the mission of the CSU is to provide high-quality, affordable education to meet the ever changing needs of California. With its commitment to quality, opportunity, and student success, the CSU is renowned for superb teaching, innovative research and for producing job-ready graduates. Each year, the CSU awards more than 105,000 degrees. One in every 20 Americans holding a college degree is a graduate of the CSU and our alumni are 3 million strong. Connect with and learn more about the CSU at the CSU Media Center. About Sonic Foundry, Inc. Sonic Foundry (SOFO) is the trusted global leader for video capture, management and streaming solutions. Trusted by educational institutions, corporations and government entities, Mediasite Video Platform quickly and cost-effectively automates the capture, management, delivery and search of live and on-demand streaming videos and rich media. Mediasite transforms communications, training, education and events for more than 4,300 customers in over 65 countries. Leading analyst research firms Aragon, Forrester, Wainhouse and Frost & Sullivan recognize Sonic Foundry as a leader in enterprise video, webcasting and lecture capture. 2016 Sonic Foundry, Inc. Product and service names mentioned herein are the trademarks of Sonic Foundry, Inc. or their respective owners. Prasanta Mazumdar By Express News Service GUWAHATI: The SS Khaplang faction of National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN-K) has opposed the India-Myanmar border fencing work asserting that it is against the wishes of the Nagas. The ongoing Indo-Naga-Myanmar international border fencing, being undertaken jointly by Indian and Myanmar armies in the heart of Naga settlement Pangsha village is totally against the wishes of the Nagas and the Nagas have not been consulted or their consent was acquired at any stage, the NSCN-K said in a statement. The outfit alleged that the physical barrier was being instituted to accentuate the 1953 Nehru-U Nu arbitrary partition of Naga country and to keep the Nagas divided and marginalized permanently. The Nagas have a sizeable population in Myanmar. The NSCN-K, which unilaterally abrogated its ceasefire with the Centre in 2015, said when the rest of the world was making progress by breaking down every physical and ideological barriers, India and Myanmar was resorting to another despotic imposition of a physical wall between same families that live side by side since time immemorial. Solidifying the imaginary borderline that runs in the middle of one's hearth and tearing apart the same family into two countries clearly demonstrates the blatant disregard to the sentiments of subjected people and defies the very ideals of humanity, international peace and security the two great democracies underhandedly are trying to promote in the global arena, the statement said. It added: The relentless Indo-Myanmar policies and conspiracies to illegally divide and suppress the Nagas only prove anti-thesis and is resulting in the resurgence of even the dormant spirited Nagas to challenge the threat emanating from this deliberate and heinous programme of physical partitioning. The passions and patriotic fervor of the Nagas across the border are running high and may spill over any moment. It is not a mere obligation but a bounden duty of every Naga citizen to rise to the occasion and assert the rights which are inherent. The NSCN-K said it would explore every means and ways to thwart further forcible division of our motherland, homes, and families in the hands of the colonizing forces. GUWAHATI: The SS Khaplang faction of National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN-K) has opposed the India-Myanmar border fencing work asserting that it is against the wishes of the Nagas. The ongoing Indo-Naga-Myanmar international border fencing, being undertaken jointly by Indian and Myanmar armies in the heart of Naga settlement Pangsha village is totally against the wishes of the Nagas and the Nagas have not been consulted or their consent was acquired at any stage, the NSCN-K said in a statement. The outfit alleged that the physical barrier was being instituted to accentuate the 1953 Nehru-U Nu arbitrary partition of Naga country and to keep the Nagas divided and marginalized permanently. The Nagas have a sizeable population in Myanmar. The NSCN-K, which unilaterally abrogated its ceasefire with the Centre in 2015, said when the rest of the world was making progress by breaking down every physical and ideological barriers, India and Myanmar was resorting to another despotic imposition of a physical wall between same families that live side by side since time immemorial. Solidifying the imaginary borderline that runs in the middle of one's hearth and tearing apart the same family into two countries clearly demonstrates the blatant disregard to the sentiments of subjected people and defies the very ideals of humanity, international peace and security the two great democracies underhandedly are trying to promote in the global arena, the statement said. It added: The relentless Indo-Myanmar policies and conspiracies to illegally divide and suppress the Nagas only prove anti-thesis and is resulting in the resurgence of even the dormant spirited Nagas to challenge the threat emanating from this deliberate and heinous programme of physical partitioning. The passions and patriotic fervor of the Nagas across the border are running high and may spill over any moment. It is not a mere obligation but a bounden duty of every Naga citizen to rise to the occasion and assert the rights which are inherent. The NSCN-K said it would explore every means and ways to thwart further forcible division of our motherland, homes, and families in the hands of the colonizing forces. By PTI KANPUR: Three persons were today arrested with counterfeit Rs 2,000 notes having a face value of Rs 7.64 lakh from Pukharian area in Kanpur Dehat district, police said. After a tip-off, the police raided the house of Samrendra Sachan and seized fake notes in huge numbers along with a high quality printer and a scanner. Paswan was arrested on the spot, SP Prabhakar Chowdhary said. The remaining two accused, Prasoon Sachan and Ashish Gupta, were arrested after Samrendra gave their location during an interrogation, he said, adding fake notes with face-value Rs 7.64 was recovered from them. "The accused said that they have circulated fake Rs 500 and Rs 2,000 notes having face value Rs 80 lakh in Kanpur and its surrounding areas. They used to exchange people's demonetised notes with fake ones," the SP claimed. Even though the seized notes look similar to the real ones, the paper is thinner and the RBI mark is missing on the notes, he said. The accused were all graduates and one of them was an M.Sc graduate in Computer, Chowdhary said, adding the police has lodged a manhunt to nab other members of the gang. A case has been lodged under relevant sections of the IPC and the matter is being probed, the SP said. KANPUR: Three persons were today arrested with counterfeit Rs 2,000 notes having a face value of Rs 7.64 lakh from Pukharian area in Kanpur Dehat district, police said. After a tip-off, the police raided the house of Samrendra Sachan and seized fake notes in huge numbers along with a high quality printer and a scanner. Paswan was arrested on the spot, SP Prabhakar Chowdhary said. The remaining two accused, Prasoon Sachan and Ashish Gupta, were arrested after Samrendra gave their location during an interrogation, he said, adding fake notes with face-value Rs 7.64 was recovered from them. "The accused said that they have circulated fake Rs 500 and Rs 2,000 notes having face value Rs 80 lakh in Kanpur and its surrounding areas. They used to exchange people's demonetised notes with fake ones," the SP claimed. Even though the seized notes look similar to the real ones, the paper is thinner and the RBI mark is missing on the notes, he said. The accused were all graduates and one of them was an M.Sc graduate in Computer, Chowdhary said, adding the police has lodged a manhunt to nab other members of the gang. A case has been lodged under relevant sections of the IPC and the matter is being probed, the SP said. Namita bajpai By Express News Service LUCKNOW: A referendum on Prime Minister Narendra Modis demonetisation, a verdict on Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadavs governance in the past five years, a reaction to the Yadav pariwars internal squabble, and a semifinal to the big battle of 2019 the Uttar Pradesh elections could be all of these and many other factors rolled into one. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav honours renowned poet Gopal Das Neeraj in Lucknow on Wednesday | PTI As far as the four main parties are concerned, the BSP appears to be the most prepared of the lot. It has already announced 403 candidates, has its chief ministerial face leading from the front and its big rallies and small sabhas are underway for quite some time. The ruling SP, on the other hand, is a divided house and the BJP is yet to announce its chief ministerial candidate, though both Modi and party chief Amit Shah have launched their blitzkrieg across the state. For the Congress, all hopes are on a much talked-about alliance with the ruling party. The implications of the recent Supreme Court order banning political players from seeking votes in the name of religion, caste, creed or language would be visible as the electorate stands sharply divided along religious and caste lines. The fate of the SP seems to be hanging in the balance with the daily twists and turns in the intense clash of egos among the Yadavs. All Opposition parties are keeping a close eye on the developments in the SP to reap maximum benefits from the situation. The BJP is yet to announce its candidates. We will announce the list of our candidates in phases, said party spokesperson Dr Chandramohan. We will fight and win on the issues of good governance and development. This time the lotus will bloom on over 300 seats, said BJP state chief Keshav Kumar Maurya. The Karaina exodus, Muzzafarnagar riots, Bulandshahr rape case and the overall poor law and order situation in the state will be some other issues besides development that the party will focus on in these polls, Chandramohan said.Asked about the partys chief ministerial face, said a senior party functionary, There is no dearth of leaders in the BJP. When the time comes, we will present the CM candidate. BJP leaders also feel that the note ban will up the partys chances in the state. And the BSP is operating at a different level. We have been working silently. Our party candidates are final. The names have been announced at the district level and the candidates are already working in their constituencies, said a party leader. LUCKNOW: A referendum on Prime Minister Narendra Modis demonetisation, a verdict on Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadavs governance in the past five years, a reaction to the Yadav pariwars internal squabble, and a semifinal to the big battle of 2019 the Uttar Pradesh elections could be all of these and many other factors rolled into one. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav honours renowned poet Gopal Das Neeraj in Lucknow on Wednesday | PTIAs far as the four main parties are concerned, the BSP appears to be the most prepared of the lot. It has already announced 403 candidates, has its chief ministerial face leading from the front and its big rallies and small sabhas are underway for quite some time. The ruling SP, on the other hand, is a divided house and the BJP is yet to announce its chief ministerial candidate, though both Modi and party chief Amit Shah have launched their blitzkrieg across the state. For the Congress, all hopes are on a much talked-about alliance with the ruling party. The implications of the recent Supreme Court order banning political players from seeking votes in the name of religion, caste, creed or language would be visible as the electorate stands sharply divided along religious and caste lines. The fate of the SP seems to be hanging in the balance with the daily twists and turns in the intense clash of egos among the Yadavs. All Opposition parties are keeping a close eye on the developments in the SP to reap maximum benefits from the situation. The BJP is yet to announce its candidates. We will announce the list of our candidates in phases, said party spokesperson Dr Chandramohan. We will fight and win on the issues of good governance and development. This time the lotus will bloom on over 300 seats, said BJP state chief Keshav Kumar Maurya. The Karaina exodus, Muzzafarnagar riots, Bulandshahr rape case and the overall poor law and order situation in the state will be some other issues besides development that the party will focus on in these polls, Chandramohan said.Asked about the partys chief ministerial face, said a senior party functionary, There is no dearth of leaders in the BJP. When the time comes, we will present the CM candidate. BJP leaders also feel that the note ban will up the partys chances in the state. And the BSP is operating at a different level. We have been working silently. Our party candidates are final. The names have been announced at the district level and the candidates are already working in their constituencies, said a party leader. Express News Service NEW DELHI: Amid allegations of corruption, the Army commander who was ignored for the post of Army chief met Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on Wednesday. Interestingly, Lt. General Praveen Bakshi did not meet Army Chief Bipin Rawat. Normally, every Army Commander makes a courtesy call to the Chief, whenever he is in Delhi. Bakshi had assured full support to Army chief and continued to serve, putting speculations of his resignation to an end. But, he has gone on a month-long-leave till end of this month. Wednesdays meeting was the second between Bakshi and Parrikar. Sources said that Parrikars office had received complaints of misappropriation of funds allocated to the Eastern Army Commander. Bakshi, had mentioned that he wanted to come clean from the allegations by investigating the issue. NEW DELHI: Amid allegations of corruption, the Army commander who was ignored for the post of Army chief met Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on Wednesday. Interestingly, Lt. General Praveen Bakshi did not meet Army Chief Bipin Rawat. Normally, every Army Commander makes a courtesy call to the Chief, whenever he is in Delhi. Bakshi had assured full support to Army chief and continued to serve, putting speculations of his resignation to an end. But, he has gone on a month-long-leave till end of this month. Wednesdays meeting was the second between Bakshi and Parrikar. Sources said that Parrikars office had received complaints of misappropriation of funds allocated to the Eastern Army Commander. Bakshi, had mentioned that he wanted to come clean from the allegations by investigating the issue. Prasanta Mazumdar By Express News Service GUWAHATI: Come January 7, Manipurs apex social organisation of the Nagas, United Naga Council (UNC), will take a decision on whether to continue its economic blockade or lift it. UNC will meet the leaders of all frontal organisations of the Nagas of Manipur on January 7. They will express their views and accordingly, a consensus decision will be taken on the ongoing economic blockade, UNC general secretary Milan Shimray told Express on Wednesday. He said a consensus decision would also be taken on the banning of the construction of trans-Asian railways and other national projects in the Naga areas of Manipur. The blockade was enforced since November 1 on two National Highwaysthe lifelines of Manipurin protest against the decision of the States Congress government to create seven more districts, particularly Sadar Hills, without consulting the Nagas. In the wake of these developments, the State government had recently started providing security to bring the stranded goods-laden vehicles from Nagaland and Assam. Meanwhile, the Election Commission on Wednesday announced the schedule for the two-phase Manipur polls. Shimray said, It is an electoral decision but ours is a political issue on our ancestral land. We are concerned about our ancestral land. Asked if the UNC will make any appeal to the Nagas to boycott Congress in the polls, he said, We have not yet discussed banning Congress in the Naga areas. Three anti-tribal bills were introduced in August and subsequently, four Naga Peoples Front (NPF) MLAs had resigned in protest but eight other Naga MLAs (all of Congress) did not comply with the resolution of the Nagas (who had resolved to oppose the bills). On August 31 last year, three bills Protection of Manipur Peoples Bill 2015, Manipur Land Revenue and Land Reforms (seventh amendment) Bill 2015, and Manipur Shops and Establishment (second amendment) Bill 2015 were introduced in the Assembly. The Nagas viewed the bills as anti-Naga and anti-tribals and registered their protests. Shimray said the Nagas expected their aspirations, sentiments and opinions to be expressed through the elected Naga representatives. But are they doing that? Let them answer, he added. Congress didnt fulfill our aspirations. These MLAs supported the stand of the State government on the creation of the seven districts or else they would have resigned, he added. Twenty of Manipurs 60 Assembly seats lie in tribal areas. The rest are in Imphal Valley where pre-dominantly Meiteis (Manipuris) are in a large majority. GUWAHATI: Come January 7, Manipurs apex social organisation of the Nagas, United Naga Council (UNC), will take a decision on whether to continue its economic blockade or lift it. UNC will meet the leaders of all frontal organisations of the Nagas of Manipur on January 7. They will express their views and accordingly, a consensus decision will be taken on the ongoing economic blockade, UNC general secretary Milan Shimray told Express on Wednesday. He said a consensus decision would also be taken on the banning of the construction of trans-Asian railways and other national projects in the Naga areas of Manipur. The blockade was enforced since November 1 on two National Highwaysthe lifelines of Manipurin protest against the decision of the States Congress government to create seven more districts, particularly Sadar Hills, without consulting the Nagas. In the wake of these developments, the State government had recently started providing security to bring the stranded goods-laden vehicles from Nagaland and Assam. Meanwhile, the Election Commission on Wednesday announced the schedule for the two-phase Manipur polls. Shimray said, It is an electoral decision but ours is a political issue on our ancestral land. We are concerned about our ancestral land. Asked if the UNC will make any appeal to the Nagas to boycott Congress in the polls, he said, We have not yet discussed banning Congress in the Naga areas. Three anti-tribal bills were introduced in August and subsequently, four Naga Peoples Front (NPF) MLAs had resigned in protest but eight other Naga MLAs (all of Congress) did not comply with the resolution of the Nagas (who had resolved to oppose the bills). On August 31 last year, three bills Protection of Manipur Peoples Bill 2015, Manipur Land Revenue and Land Reforms (seventh amendment) Bill 2015, and Manipur Shops and Establishment (second amendment) Bill 2015 were introduced in the Assembly. The Nagas viewed the bills as anti-Naga and anti-tribals and registered their protests. Shimray said the Nagas expected their aspirations, sentiments and opinions to be expressed through the elected Naga representatives. But are they doing that? Let them answer, he added. Congress didnt fulfill our aspirations. These MLAs supported the stand of the State government on the creation of the seven districts or else they would have resigned, he added. Twenty of Manipurs 60 Assembly seats lie in tribal areas. The rest are in Imphal Valley where pre-dominantly Meiteis (Manipuris) are in a large majority. Prakash Nanda By Predictably, the Karnataka governments proposed plan to provide Kannadigas 100 per cent reservation mainly in blue-collar jobs in private companies except infotech and biotech sectorsin the state has evoked adverse reactions from many quarters. The move is said to go against the national policy of one country, one market and one set of laws. However, this is not the first time India is witnessing the socalled sons of the soil controversy. There have been provocative remarks by Maratha champion Raj Thackeray against North Indian, particularly Bihari and Uttar Pradeshi migrants in Mumbai. Usually, the phrase sons of the soil is considered divisive because it implies separation from the national mainstream. But such an assessment will be simplistic. Contrary to traditional notions, some dimensions of the phenomenon of sons of the soil are healthy and if sympathetically viewed and addressed, they promote the cause of national integration. Only when these dimensions are overlooked contemptuously, the phenomenon takes a nasty turn. States like Bihar, Odisha and Chhattisgarh, over many years now, have been exporting manpower to many parts of the country. Bihari labourers comprise nearly 30 per cent of Delhis slum dwellers. They are an important component of Punjabs agricultural success. In Tamil Nadu factories and Gujarat industrial establishments, Biharis and Odias constitute the bulk of the labour force. There are no protests against them in these states. In contrast, there is massive antipathy against Biharis from locals in states such as Assam and Maharashtra. Why? Examples from a few foreign countries will help us find an answer. When Sri Lanka got independence in 1947, the two largest ethnic groups were the Sinhalese, with 74 per cent of the population; and the Tamils, with 19 per cent. Seeds for division were sown when the Lankan government created the Gal Oya Development Board for providing landless peasants with fertile areas in the Eastern Province. Initially, most migrants were Tamils and Muslims. But then, came a group of Kandyan Sinhalese villagers from the Central Province, and then mostly Sinhalese from other provinces. They received better land. This inflow activated a demographic threat among the Tamils leading to the formation of protest groups and self-protection militias. The dangerous LTTE was also born. Similarly, during the partition of India, 95 per cent of the population of Pakistans Sindh province was Sindhi. But by 1951, 50 per cent of the urban population of Sindh was Mohajirs (who came from India) whose mother tongue was Urdu. It reached 80 per cent in Karachi and 66 per cent in Hyderabad. The government entered the equation as early as July 1948 when Karachi was turned into a separate federal area under the Centres jurisdiction. This meant a considerable financial loss for Sindh. As a result, the urban-rural divide widened, with Karachi receiving investment almost exclusively and rural Sindh being ignored. Worse, Punjabis were further brought to Sindh as landholders. Sindhis began to see themselves as sons of the soil, demographically challenged by Mohajirs and Punjabis. Now, Pakistani analysts believe Sindh may follow the example of what today is Bangladesh. Similar examples are the Chakmas in the Chittagong Hills of Bangladesh, the Moros in the Philippines, Uighurs in Xinjiang, China, and Achenese in Indonesia. The point is, causes of national integration are not strengthened by promoting migrants to prosper amidst the locals poverty and backwardness. If in the name of national integration, a Punjabi sets up a factory in Telengana and fills up all posts of sweepers and clerks with people from outside the state, then it promotes national disintegration. In other words, the sons of the soil slogan can only be confronted successfully by dealing with the sources of migration than with its consequences. If Biharis face no problem in Punjab and Odias evoke no hostility in Gujarat, it is mainly because there is a perennial shortage of manual labour, as more and more people are graduating to better paying jobs in these states. But in a state like Assam, Biharis are targeted because jobs are shrinking fast, a problem compounded by the influx of alleged illegal migration from Bangladesh. Similarly, there have been instances of resentment against Biharis trying for subordinate posts in the government and education sector in other states which have substantial number of educated but unemployed people. A few years ago, the Congress government in Rajashan decided not to recognise Bihar degrees as Biharis were flooding their subordinate posts. So, if Biharis, or people from Uttar Pradesh, are disturbed in Mumbai, then the real reason goes beyond the aggressiveness of Shiv Sainiks who, all told, did send a first-generation Bihari- migrant like Sanjay Nirupam (or a first generation Bengali-migrant like Pritish Nandy) to the Parliament not long ago. It is sad that the overall economy of Maharashtra, once among Indias richest states, is not doing well. It will be worth analysing the migration pattern of poor rural Maharashtrians to Mumbai in search of jobs that Biharis are doing. And it is not just a coincidence that farmers in Maharashtra are committing suicide on a large scale. Thus, Karnatakas latest move is a clear sign that the states rural economy, as is the case in the rest of the country, is not doing well, leading to increasing migration of unskilled labour to cities. The problem needs a long-term solution at the national level; there is no point in blaming the Karnataka government for its incompetence. Prakash Nanda Distinguished Fellow, Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies, New Delhi Email: prakasnanda@gmail.com Predictably, the Karnataka governments proposed plan to provide Kannadigas 100 per cent reservation mainly in blue-collar jobs in private companies except infotech and biotech sectorsin the state has evoked adverse reactions from many quarters. The move is said to go against the national policy of one country, one market and one set of laws. However, this is not the first time India is witnessing the socalled sons of the soil controversy. There have been provocative remarks by Maratha champion Raj Thackeray against North Indian, particularly Bihari and Uttar Pradeshi migrants in Mumbai. Usually, the phrase sons of the soil is considered divisive because it implies separation from the national mainstream. But such an assessment will be simplistic. Contrary to traditional notions, some dimensions of the phenomenon of sons of the soil are healthy and if sympathetically viewed and addressed, they promote the cause of national integration. Only when these dimensions are overlooked contemptuously, the phenomenon takes a nasty turn. States like Bihar, Odisha and Chhattisgarh, over many years now, have been exporting manpower to many parts of the country. Bihari labourers comprise nearly 30 per cent of Delhis slum dwellers. They are an important component of Punjabs agricultural success. In Tamil Nadu factories and Gujarat industrial establishments, Biharis and Odias constitute the bulk of the labour force. There are no protests against them in these states. In contrast, there is massive antipathy against Biharis from locals in states such as Assam and Maharashtra. Why? Examples from a few foreign countries will help us find an answer. When Sri Lanka got independence in 1947, the two largest ethnic groups were the Sinhalese, with 74 per cent of the population; and the Tamils, with 19 per cent. Seeds for division were sown when the Lankan government created the Gal Oya Development Board for providing landless peasants with fertile areas in the Eastern Province. Initially, most migrants were Tamils and Muslims. But then, came a group of Kandyan Sinhalese villagers from the Central Province, and then mostly Sinhalese from other provinces. They received better land. This inflow activated a demographic threat among the Tamils leading to the formation of protest groups and self-protection militias. The dangerous LTTE was also born. Similarly, during the partition of India, 95 per cent of the population of Pakistans Sindh province was Sindhi. But by 1951, 50 per cent of the urban population of Sindh was Mohajirs (who came from India) whose mother tongue was Urdu. It reached 80 per cent in Karachi and 66 per cent in Hyderabad. The government entered the equation as early as July 1948 when Karachi was turned into a separate federal area under the Centres jurisdiction. This meant a considerable financial loss for Sindh. As a result, the urban-rural divide widened, with Karachi receiving investment almost exclusively and rural Sindh being ignored. Worse, Punjabis were further brought to Sindh as landholders. Sindhis began to see themselves as sons of the soil, demographically challenged by Mohajirs and Punjabis. Now, Pakistani analysts believe Sindh may follow the example of what today is Bangladesh. Similar examples are the Chakmas in the Chittagong Hills of Bangladesh, the Moros in the Philippines, Uighurs in Xinjiang, China, and Achenese in Indonesia. The point is, causes of national integration are not strengthened by promoting migrants to prosper amidst the locals poverty and backwardness. If in the name of national integration, a Punjabi sets up a factory in Telengana and fills up all posts of sweepers and clerks with people from outside the state, then it promotes national disintegration. In other words, the sons of the soil slogan can only be confronted successfully by dealing with the sources of migration than with its consequences. If Biharis face no problem in Punjab and Odias evoke no hostility in Gujarat, it is mainly because there is a perennial shortage of manual labour, as more and more people are graduating to better paying jobs in these states. But in a state like Assam, Biharis are targeted because jobs are shrinking fast, a problem compounded by the influx of alleged illegal migration from Bangladesh. Similarly, there have been instances of resentment against Biharis trying for subordinate posts in the government and education sector in other states which have substantial number of educated but unemployed people. A few years ago, the Congress government in Rajashan decided not to recognise Bihar degrees as Biharis were flooding their subordinate posts. So, if Biharis, or people from Uttar Pradesh, are disturbed in Mumbai, then the real reason goes beyond the aggressiveness of Shiv Sainiks who, all told, did send a first-generation Bihari- migrant like Sanjay Nirupam (or a first generation Bengali-migrant like Pritish Nandy) to the Parliament not long ago. It is sad that the overall economy of Maharashtra, once among Indias richest states, is not doing well. It will be worth analysing the migration pattern of poor rural Maharashtrians to Mumbai in search of jobs that Biharis are doing. And it is not just a coincidence that farmers in Maharashtra are committing suicide on a large scale. Thus, Karnatakas latest move is a clear sign that the states rural economy, as is the case in the rest of the country, is not doing well, leading to increasing migration of unskilled labour to cities. The problem needs a long-term solution at the national level; there is no point in blaming the Karnataka government for its incompetence. Prakash Nanda Distinguished Fellow, Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies, New Delhi Email: prakasnanda@gmail.com The government has embarked on an ambitious programme to give a 12-digit unique identification number to 88 million cows and buffaloes in the country. According to a report, one lakh trained technicians have been sent to every nook and cranny to affix a tag inside an ear of each such animal. The polyurethane tag is tamperproof, cannot be opened by a wrench and is designed to last for years. It weighs just eight grams and causes no trouble to the animal. Once the tag is in place, the owner will be given an animal health card giving all its details as also the owners. The government claims that it will help in better breeding, increasing milk production and doubling the owners income by 2022. No other country, including Switzerland and Australia, which have vast cattle wealth, has such an animal identification system. The UID programme for animals was not discussed much in the public domain; so, few have a clear idea of the benefits that would accrue to the nation. That so many people are employed in it is a pointer to the enormous cost involved. Also, it is not known how the UID will help in improving the quantity and quality of the milk yield. At best it will help in having a databank on Indias cattle wealth. Eventually, it will involve the setting up of a department with adequate staff to update the databank by removing those which die and including those which are born. The critics may see it as an attempt to keep track of illegal slaughter of the animals, because with the information the government would have, it would be easy to identify those who push their cows and buffaloes into slaughterhouses or transport them to states like Kerala and West Bengal where cow slaughter is not yet banned and a country like Bangladesh where they are in demand. The question arises: Why should animals have an UID when not every citizen has been given an Aadhar card? The government has embarked on an ambitious programme to give a 12-digit unique identification number to 88 million cows and buffaloes in the country. According to a report, one lakh trained technicians have been sent to every nook and cranny to affix a tag inside an ear of each such animal. The polyurethane tag is tamperproof, cannot be opened by a wrench and is designed to last for years. It weighs just eight grams and causes no trouble to the animal. Once the tag is in place, the owner will be given an animal health card giving all its details as also the owners. The government claims that it will help in better breeding, increasing milk production and doubling the owners income by 2022. No other country, including Switzerland and Australia, which have vast cattle wealth, has such an animal identification system. The UID programme for animals was not discussed much in the public domain; so, few have a clear idea of the benefits that would accrue to the nation. That so many people are employed in it is a pointer to the enormous cost involved. Also, it is not known how the UID will help in improving the quantity and quality of the milk yield. At best it will help in having a databank on Indias cattle wealth. Eventually, it will involve the setting up of a department with adequate staff to update the databank by removing those which die and including those which are born. The critics may see it as an attempt to keep track of illegal slaughter of the animals, because with the information the government would have, it would be easy to identify those who push their cows and buffaloes into slaughterhouses or transport them to states like Kerala and West Bengal where cow slaughter is not yet banned and a country like Bangladesh where they are in demand. The question arises: Why should animals have an UID when not every citizen has been given an Aadhar card? By Express News Service VIJAYAWADA: A major fire mishap occurred at Sentini Hospital in Vijayawada on Tuesday. Smoke billowed out of the Central Processing Unit of a computer in the MRI Scanning Room on the first floor of the building reportedly due to short circuit. Thankfully, there is no casualty. Fire service official shows the room from where smoke emanated, at Sentini Hospital in Vijayawada on Tuesday There was a tense atmosphere as smoke spread all over the hospital and as many as 51 patients had to be evacuated to nearby Ayush and Ramesh hospitals. There were about 170 persons inside the hospital at the time of the incident. The fire detection equipment sounded alarm immediately. The smoke spread quickly through all air conditioners and resulted in the burning of the ceiling. On being alerted, three fire tenders reached the spot and broke the glass panes of the hospital to provide ventilation. The fire service officials said there was only one fire exit, due to which evacuation became difficult. According to Assistant Commissioner of Police N Satyanandam, hospital officials have responded fast. He said investigation showed that there was no negligence on the part of the hospital administration. He said further investigation is still on, based on which decision would be taken as to whether a case should be registered or not against the hospital authorities. According to fire services department Director General K Satyanarayana, hospital has necessary clearances and permissions from Fire department. Accordingly, alarm went off immediately saving lives, he said. Health minister Kamineni Srinivas instructed district officials to submit a report on the accident. However, Sentini Hospital chairman Seshagiri Rao refused to respond and stayed away from the media. VIJAYAWADA: A major fire mishap occurred at Sentini Hospital in Vijayawada on Tuesday. Smoke billowed out of the Central Processing Unit of a computer in the MRI Scanning Room on the first floor of the building reportedly due to short circuit. Thankfully, there is no casualty. Fire service official shows the room from where smoke emanated, at Sentini Hospital in Vijayawada on Tuesday There was a tense atmosphere as smoke spread all over the hospital and as many as 51 patients had to be evacuated to nearby Ayush and Ramesh hospitals. There were about 170 persons inside the hospital at the time of the incident. The fire detection equipment sounded alarm immediately. The smoke spread quickly through all air conditioners and resulted in the burning of the ceiling. On being alerted, three fire tenders reached the spot and broke the glass panes of the hospital to provide ventilation. The fire service officials said there was only one fire exit, due to which evacuation became difficult. According to Assistant Commissioner of Police N Satyanandam, hospital officials have responded fast. He said investigation showed that there was no negligence on the part of the hospital administration. He said further investigation is still on, based on which decision would be taken as to whether a case should be registered or not against the hospital authorities. According to fire services department Director General K Satyanarayana, hospital has necessary clearances and permissions from Fire department. Accordingly, alarm went off immediately saving lives, he said. Health minister Kamineni Srinivas instructed district officials to submit a report on the accident. However, Sentini Hospital chairman Seshagiri Rao refused to respond and stayed away from the media. By Express News Service KARWAR : BJP MP from Uttara Kannada Anant Kumar Hegde was caught on camera thrashing doctors at a private hospital in Sirsi on Monday night. According to sources, Hegde along with his followers rushed to TSS Hospital in Sirsi on Monday night accusing the doctors of being negligent in treating his mother. Hegde enquired about the same with the doctors and allegedly assaulted Dr Madhukeshwar, Dr Balachandra Bhat and staffer Rahul. CCTV grab of MP Anant Kumar Hegde hitting a doctor at a Sirsi hospital on Monday The MPs mother had sustained fractures after a fall in her house recently. On Monday, she was taken to TSS Hospital, but the doctors are said have refused to treat her. Later, she was taken to a hospital in Mangaluru, the source added. The alleged assault was captured on CCTV cameras in the hospital. However, no complaint was filed with the police as Hegde is said to have apologised to the doctors later. As the video clip went viral on social media on Tuesday, Congress workers staged a protest against the MP. Later, members of the Indian Medical Association joined the chorus and submitted a memorandum to the Sirsi assistant commissioner requesting him to ensure that such incidents do not recur. Hegde said: No one will tolerate if mothers treatment is neglected by the hospital. My mother was taken to Mangaluru as she had not got proper treatment here. I agree that I did a mistake. But the hospital also neglected in ensuring treatment to the patient and I hope that it will mend its ways in the coming days. KARWAR : BJP MP from Uttara Kannada Anant Kumar Hegde was caught on camera thrashing doctors at a private hospital in Sirsi on Monday night. According to sources, Hegde along with his followers rushed to TSS Hospital in Sirsi on Monday night accusing the doctors of being negligent in treating his mother. Hegde enquired about the same with the doctors and allegedly assaulted Dr Madhukeshwar, Dr Balachandra Bhat and staffer Rahul. CCTV grab of MP Anant Kumar Hegde hitting a doctor at a Sirsi hospital on Monday The MPs mother had sustained fractures after a fall in her house recently. On Monday, she was taken to TSS Hospital, but the doctors are said have refused to treat her. Later, she was taken to a hospital in Mangaluru, the source added. The alleged assault was captured on CCTV cameras in the hospital. However, no complaint was filed with the police as Hegde is said to have apologised to the doctors later. As the video clip went viral on social media on Tuesday, Congress workers staged a protest against the MP. Later, members of the Indian Medical Association joined the chorus and submitted a memorandum to the Sirsi assistant commissioner requesting him to ensure that such incidents do not recur. Hegde said: No one will tolerate if mothers treatment is neglected by the hospital. My mother was taken to Mangaluru as she had not got proper treatment here. I agree that I did a mistake. But the hospital also neglected in ensuring treatment to the patient and I hope that it will mend its ways in the coming days. K Shiva Kumar By Express News Service MYSURU: The Cauvery issue threatens to boil over again with the Supreme Court on Wednesday ordering Karnataka to continue release of 2000 cusecs of water per day to Tamil Nadu and the state government stating that it cannot. The SC order has caused concern in a drought year in the state, with reservoir levels fast dipping and farmers threatening another agitation over the issue which was in lull for over two months. The state government has expressed inability to release water. Water Resources Minister M B Patil said on Wednesday, "The reservoirs have no water and the state will not be in a position to release further water." The Kabini and Krishnarajasagar reservoirs are left with just 13 tmc ft of water to meet the drinking water needs of Bengaluru, Mysuru and other towns till April-end. The water is also required for wildlife, particularly of over 5,000 elephants in Nagarhole, Bandipur and Wayanad regions. The Kabini reservoir level is currently 2260.30 ft as against 2265.8 ft ( max 2284 ft) last year. Outflow is 500 cusecs while inflow is only 15 cusecs. The KRS level is 79.44 ft as against 105.79 ft ( max 124.8 ft) compared to previous year. Patil added that Karnataka has filed a petition pleading for modification of the order and that it has stopped the release of water to farmers for the standing crops in order to meet drinking water needs. The Supreme Court on Wednesday also fixed day-to-day hearing on the appeals filed by states against the 2007 award of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal (CWDT) on sharing of water from February 7. Farmer organisations have already opposed the court order, saying despite their demand no water is being released for standing crops and that they have lost rabi crops. G Made Gowda, president of the Cauvery Raitha Hitharakshana Samithi and former MP, said no water should be released from the reservoirs. "We will launch an agitation against the government if they fall in line and release water. We will not hesitate to guard crest gates and take over reservoirs as drinking water should be priority of any government in summer," he added. Cauvery Neeravari Nigam Ltd Managing Director Shivashankar said water is available to meet drinking water needs only till April end. Dams run dry Kabini Max 2284 ft Current 2260 ft Last yr 2265 .8 ft KRS Max 124.8 ft Level 79.44 ft Last yr 105.79 ft MYSURU: The Cauvery issue threatens to boil over again with the Supreme Court on Wednesday ordering Karnataka to continue release of 2000 cusecs of water per day to Tamil Nadu and the state government stating that it cannot. The SC order has caused concern in a drought year in the state, with reservoir levels fast dipping and farmers threatening another agitation over the issue which was in lull for over two months. The state government has expressed inability to release water. Water Resources Minister M B Patil said on Wednesday, "The reservoirs have no water and the state will not be in a position to release further water." The Kabini and Krishnarajasagar reservoirs are left with just 13 tmc ft of water to meet the drinking water needs of Bengaluru, Mysuru and other towns till April-end. The water is also required for wildlife, particularly of over 5,000 elephants in Nagarhole, Bandipur and Wayanad regions. The Kabini reservoir level is currently 2260.30 ft as against 2265.8 ft ( max 2284 ft) last year. Outflow is 500 cusecs while inflow is only 15 cusecs. The KRS level is 79.44 ft as against 105.79 ft ( max 124.8 ft) compared to previous year. Patil added that Karnataka has filed a petition pleading for modification of the order and that it has stopped the release of water to farmers for the standing crops in order to meet drinking water needs. The Supreme Court on Wednesday also fixed day-to-day hearing on the appeals filed by states against the 2007 award of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal (CWDT) on sharing of water from February 7. Farmer organisations have already opposed the court order, saying despite their demand no water is being released for standing crops and that they have lost rabi crops. G Made Gowda, president of the Cauvery Raitha Hitharakshana Samithi and former MP, said no water should be released from the reservoirs. "We will launch an agitation against the government if they fall in line and release water. We will not hesitate to guard crest gates and take over reservoirs as drinking water should be priority of any government in summer," he added. Cauvery Neeravari Nigam Ltd Managing Director Shivashankar said water is available to meet drinking water needs only till April end.Dams run dryKabini Max 2284 ft Current 2260 ft Last yr 2265 .8 ftKRS Max 124.8 ft Level 79.44 ft Last yr 105.79 ft By Express News Service KASARGOD: District police chief Thomson Jose has banned public assemblies and processions in the district from Wednesday to Friday. The preventive orders have been imposed against the backdrop of violence perpetrated allegedly by CPM and BJP activists in Cheruvathur and Kasargod town on Monday and Tuesday. The restrictions have been imposed under Section 78 and 79 of Kerala Police Act for the preservation of peace and public safety. The situation would be reviewed after three days, he said. Under the sections, the restrictions could be imposed up to 15 days. The BJP's hartal on Tuesday had turned violent in Kasargod town and neighbouring areas. Hartal supporters threw stones at cars, shops, banks, and clashes broke out when police intervened. The BJP had called the shutdown to protest against the attack on its march 'for political freedom' allegedly by CPM workers in Cheruvathur on Monday. The CPM had planned to conduct a protest meet and procession in the town against BJP's violence in Kasargod town on Wednesday evening. The party cancelled it in the wake of the restrictions. KASARGOD: District police chief Thomson Jose has banned public assemblies and processions in the district from Wednesday to Friday. The preventive orders have been imposed against the backdrop of violence perpetrated allegedly by CPM and BJP activists in Cheruvathur and Kasargod town on Monday and Tuesday. The restrictions have been imposed under Section 78 and 79 of Kerala Police Act for the preservation of peace and public safety. The situation would be reviewed after three days, he said. Under the sections, the restrictions could be imposed up to 15 days. The BJP's hartal on Tuesday had turned violent in Kasargod town and neighbouring areas. Hartal supporters threw stones at cars, shops, banks, and clashes broke out when police intervened. The BJP had called the shutdown to protest against the attack on its march 'for political freedom' allegedly by CPM workers in Cheruvathur on Monday. The CPM had planned to conduct a protest meet and procession in the town against BJP's violence in Kasargod town on Wednesday evening. The party cancelled it in the wake of the restrictions. Sam Paul A By Express News Service KOCHI: A disclaimer in his blog reads I am not an economist. I am a civil engineer by profession. The 47-year-old engineer, who works with the Kerala governments special cell on the Mullaperiyar Dam water dispute had written and commented extensively on the threat posed by the Mullaperiyar dam to lakhs of people living in the Central Kerala, but of late he is becoming a credible voice on a matter even economists are finding it difficult to decipher. James Wilson, a virtuoso on water resources management and interstate water disputes, hailing from Kollam in Kerala has emerged as an expert voice on the aftermath of the governments demonetisation drive. While people were groping in the dark to interpret the governments move in the days following November 8, his blog Decipher the Demonetisation, and his Twitter handle @jamewils have been feeding information to the public, largely revealing the drawbacks of the demonetisation drive. His posts had even forced the Reserve Bank of India to delete a statement issued by its deputy governor, R Gandhi, on the volume of new notes. After the government decided to withdraw the higher value notes, I got two Rs 2000 notes in exchange of Rs 500 and Rs 1000. Later, I find it very difficult to get change for the new purple-pink currency notes. I went on to study the impact of the government decision and find serious drawbacks, he says. His first tweet on demonetisation appeared on the night Prime Minister announced his decision to withdraw Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes. Five weeks later he launched his new blog on December 17. The post titled 500 NOTE Pivot note of the currency in circulation discussed about the number of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 in circulation and the time needed to replace the demonetised notes with new notes, supporting his argument with tables, graphs and pie charts. He also rubbished the government version that it was planning demonetisation at least for 6 months in advance, by raising a question why did RBI push lakhs of crores of demonetised currency into the system in the preceding months before demonetisation? Just to demonetise it later? On December 21, he published another hard-hitting piece A monumental disaster in the offing that analysed the capacity of printing presses and the possibility of outsourcing the work to foreign countries. So far his blog has been viewed by more than 71,000 people. James says that he collects data from the websites of the Reserve Bank of India and the National Payment Corporation of India, along with referring to the journals before tweeting and writing his ideas in the blog. He says that the government decision to demonetise the higher value currency notes and restricting the exchange of notes to five RBI centres after December 31, 2016 has only given people troubles. There may be several people living in the interiors of the country who are yet to know about the demonetisation. Governments decision has only given pain and distress to the citizens, he added. While most of the people are supporting his views, a few seems to be skeptic. "Your analysis is based on the assumption that the whole 24023 million pieces were in circulation before the demonetisation. Can it be true? A lot of people were hoarding money and definitely there were a few millions in the currency chests and in the banks. We have to take into consideration of this too when attempt an analysis like this," reads one of the comments on his blog. KOCHI: A disclaimer in his blog reads I am not an economist. I am a civil engineer by profession. The 47-year-old engineer, who works with the Kerala governments special cell on the Mullaperiyar Dam water dispute had written and commented extensively on the threat posed by the Mullaperiyar dam to lakhs of people living in the Central Kerala, but of late he is becoming a credible voice on a matter even economists are finding it difficult to decipher. James Wilson, a virtuoso on water resources management and interstate water disputes, hailing from Kollam in Kerala has emerged as an expert voice on the aftermath of the governments demonetisation drive. While people were groping in the dark to interpret the governments move in the days following November 8, his blog Decipher the Demonetisation, and his Twitter handle @jamewils have been feeding information to the public, largely revealing the drawbacks of the demonetisation drive. His posts had even forced the Reserve Bank of India to delete a statement issued by its deputy governor, R Gandhi, on the volume of new notes. After the government decided to withdraw the higher value notes, I got two Rs 2000 notes in exchange of Rs 500 and Rs 1000. Later, I find it very difficult to get change for the new purple-pink currency notes. I went on to study the impact of the government decision and find serious drawbacks, he says. His first tweet on demonetisation appeared on the night Prime Minister announced his decision to withdraw Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes. Five weeks later he launched his new blog on December 17. The post titled 500 NOTE Pivot note of the currency in circulation discussed about the number of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 in circulation and the time needed to replace the demonetised notes with new notes, supporting his argument with tables, graphs and pie charts. He also rubbished the government version that it was planning demonetisation at least for 6 months in advance, by raising a question why did RBI push lakhs of crores of demonetised currency into the system in the preceding months before demonetisation? Just to demonetise it later? On December 21, he published another hard-hitting piece A monumental disaster in the offing that analysed the capacity of printing presses and the possibility of outsourcing the work to foreign countries. So far his blog has been viewed by more than 71,000 people. James says that he collects data from the websites of the Reserve Bank of India and the National Payment Corporation of India, along with referring to the journals before tweeting and writing his ideas in the blog. He says that the government decision to demonetise the higher value currency notes and restricting the exchange of notes to five RBI centres after December 31, 2016 has only given people troubles. There may be several people living in the interiors of the country who are yet to know about the demonetisation. Governments decision has only given pain and distress to the citizens, he added. While most of the people are supporting his views, a few seems to be skeptic. "Your analysis is based on the assumption that the whole 24023 million pieces were in circulation before the demonetisation. Can it be true? A lot of people were hoarding money and definitely there were a few millions in the currency chests and in the banks. We have to take into consideration of this too when attempt an analysis like this," reads one of the comments on his blog. By Express News Service CHENNAI: Parched and cracked fields, withered crops and dying farmers there are only 10 days left for the upcoming Pongal festival, but there is precious little to harvest, much less to celebrate for thousands of farmers and farmhands in Tamil Nadu. The irony is unmistakable, as the severe drought is coming right after the unprecedented floods of the last monsoon during which the State received enough water to meet its needs for two-three years. Acknowledging the gravity of the situation prevailing in the State due to monsoon failure, the effects of which have been accentuated by the meagre share it received from Cauvery water, the State government has directed collectors to submit the status of the standing crops in all districts except Chennai. This assessment is necessary under the new guidelines of the Centre, which mandates a direct status check on the standing crops to be examined in 10 percent of villages. To monitor this process, committees comprising ministers and senior IAS officers would be immediately constituted and would tour the districts till January 9 and submit their report to the State government on January 10. Based on this, a declaration about the impact of drought would be notified, said Chief Minister O Panneerselvam on Tuesday. This was decided in two back-to-back meetings he chaired at the Secretariat during the day. I assure the farmers that the relief assistance for the crop loss would be given immediately after the high-level committee submits its report. Apart from this, the farmers who had insured their crops would get claims from insurance companies, Panneerselvam added in a statement. The announcement came at a time when farmers associations, backed by opposition parties, have been laying siege to collectorates seeking to declare their districts as drought-hit. The All Farmers Associations Coordination Committee had announced a road roko on Thursday, which, however, was deferred after the Chief Minister assured them of all efforts during a meeting with its leaders at the Secretariat on Tuesday. This has been a particularly tough year for the farmers in the State, with both monsoon and the Cauvery water sharing agreement failing to deliver when it mattered. The north-east monsoon was abject: at 62 percent deficit, this is the worst year in over a century. All that Tamil Nadu received this year was 168 mm rains, second only to 163.5 mm recorded way back in 1876. As many as 21 of the 32 districts have received less than 40 per cent rains. What made this hurt the farmers is the failure to realise Tamil Nadus share from the Cauvery. In this season between June and December, the State received only 66.60 tmc ft only about a third of what was awarded by the Cauvery Tribunal. The distress in agrarian belts has led to an alarming number of farmer deaths. In Nagapattinam alone, there have been 39 deaths so far. However, only two of them are suicides while the rest were mostly heart attacks, due yet another thankless season. But, desensitised by cycles of agrarian distress, a death or a few dozen does not perhaps matter if it is not a suicide. CHENNAI: Parched and cracked fields, withered crops and dying farmers there are only 10 days left for the upcoming Pongal festival, but there is precious little to harvest, much less to celebrate for thousands of farmers and farmhands in Tamil Nadu. The irony is unmistakable, as the severe drought is coming right after the unprecedented floods of the last monsoon during which the State received enough water to meet its needs for two-three years. Acknowledging the gravity of the situation prevailing in the State due to monsoon failure, the effects of which have been accentuated by the meagre share it received from Cauvery water, the State government has directed collectors to submit the status of the standing crops in all districts except Chennai. This assessment is necessary under the new guidelines of the Centre, which mandates a direct status check on the standing crops to be examined in 10 percent of villages. To monitor this process, committees comprising ministers and senior IAS officers would be immediately constituted and would tour the districts till January 9 and submit their report to the State government on January 10. Based on this, a declaration about the impact of drought would be notified, said Chief Minister O Panneerselvam on Tuesday. This was decided in two back-to-back meetings he chaired at the Secretariat during the day. I assure the farmers that the relief assistance for the crop loss would be given immediately after the high-level committee submits its report. Apart from this, the farmers who had insured their crops would get claims from insurance companies, Panneerselvam added in a statement. The announcement came at a time when farmers associations, backed by opposition parties, have been laying siege to collectorates seeking to declare their districts as drought-hit. The All Farmers Associations Coordination Committee had announced a road roko on Thursday, which, however, was deferred after the Chief Minister assured them of all efforts during a meeting with its leaders at the Secretariat on Tuesday. This has been a particularly tough year for the farmers in the State, with both monsoon and the Cauvery water sharing agreement failing to deliver when it mattered. The north-east monsoon was abject: at 62 percent deficit, this is the worst year in over a century. All that Tamil Nadu received this year was 168 mm rains, second only to 163.5 mm recorded way back in 1876. As many as 21 of the 32 districts have received less than 40 per cent rains. What made this hurt the farmers is the failure to realise Tamil Nadus share from the Cauvery. In this season between June and December, the State received only 66.60 tmc ft only about a third of what was awarded by the Cauvery Tribunal. The distress in agrarian belts has led to an alarming number of farmer deaths. In Nagapattinam alone, there have been 39 deaths so far. However, only two of them are suicides while the rest were mostly heart attacks, due yet another thankless season. But, desensitised by cycles of agrarian distress, a death or a few dozen does not perhaps matter if it is not a suicide. By Express News Service CHENNAI: It was a desperate plea for mercy to the Qatar government by families of three migrant workers, two facing death and the other life imprisonment for a murder. Their release and deportation has been sought on humanitarian grounds. Chelladurai Perumal, Alagappa Subramaniam and Sivakumar Arasan were convicted for the murder of an old Qatari lady while trying to burgle her house in Salata Jadeed area our years ago. Families of Sivakaumar and Chelladuai Perumal, had approached the state government to appeal for clemency. Sivakumars mother, Dhankodi and father Arjunan, recalling the conversations they had with their son, said he had no link in the murder. According to them, he was at the wrong time at the wrong spot. He cried. He doesnt have any link in the murder. He was taken as an eyewitness. We are bed-ridden. My health has deteriorated and my whole family is dependent on my son. Someone has committed such a heinous crime and my son is suffering, said Dhankodi. Sivakumar, also sentenced to death by the trial court, had got a reprieve from the Court of Appeals, which commuted his sentence to life imprisonment. It has further reduced his lifer to 15 years in jail. Rajammal, wife of Chelladurai Perumal, said his health was deteriorating. He is undergoing dialysis. We want him to be released on humanitarian grounds, she said while breaking down. Valarmathi, state coordinator of National Domestic Workers Movement, playing a key role in helping Tamil migrant workers held in prison abroad, said Tamil Nadu government has sent in a mercy plea to Qatar government. She said now it was up to the Centre to intervene in the case. CHENNAI: It was a desperate plea for mercy to the Qatar government by families of three migrant workers, two facing death and the other life imprisonment for a murder. Their release and deportation has been sought on humanitarian grounds. Chelladurai Perumal, Alagappa Subramaniam and Sivakumar Arasan were convicted for the murder of an old Qatari lady while trying to burgle her house in Salata Jadeed area our years ago. Families of Sivakaumar and Chelladuai Perumal, had approached the state government to appeal for clemency. Sivakumars mother, Dhankodi and father Arjunan, recalling the conversations they had with their son, said he had no link in the murder. According to them, he was at the wrong time at the wrong spot. He cried. He doesnt have any link in the murder. He was taken as an eyewitness. We are bed-ridden. My health has deteriorated and my whole family is dependent on my son. Someone has committed such a heinous crime and my son is suffering, said Dhankodi. Sivakumar, also sentenced to death by the trial court, had got a reprieve from the Court of Appeals, which commuted his sentence to life imprisonment. It has further reduced his lifer to 15 years in jail. Rajammal, wife of Chelladurai Perumal, said his health was deteriorating. He is undergoing dialysis. We want him to be released on humanitarian grounds, she said while breaking down. Valarmathi, state coordinator of National Domestic Workers Movement, playing a key role in helping Tamil migrant workers held in prison abroad, said Tamil Nadu government has sent in a mercy plea to Qatar government. She said now it was up to the Centre to intervene in the case. By Express News Service HYDERABAD: As many as 180 minors, including girls, were rescued from 11 brick kilns in and around Choutuppal on the city outskirts on Tuesday. The Rachakonda police, continuing with last years Operation Smile, raided brick kilns and rescued the children working in the brick kilns. Among the rescued children, 150 were aged between seven and 13 years, and 30 were aged between 13 to 18. On credible information, the Choutuppal police along with labour department officials, raided brick kilns located at Peddakondur village on Tuesday afternoon. Except 10 children, all the others were working along with their parents, who have migrated from Odisha. The 10 children were living with their relatives, who also work at the kilns and reside in huts located nearby, said Choutuppal ACP Snehita. Police teams were collecting information from the rescued children about the middlemen, who employed them at the brick kilns, she said. Meanwhile, the bricks kiln owners claimed that they shared the information about the children of the workers with the officials of the education department, but they did not take appropriate measures to send them to school. As the children belonged to Odisha and know only Odia, the government could not arrange separate school in the village. Cases have been booked against the owners of brick kilns. HYDERABAD: As many as 180 minors, including girls, were rescued from 11 brick kilns in and around Choutuppal on the city outskirts on Tuesday. The Rachakonda police, continuing with last years Operation Smile, raided brick kilns and rescued the children working in the brick kilns. Among the rescued children, 150 were aged between seven and 13 years, and 30 were aged between 13 to 18. On credible information, the Choutuppal police along with labour department officials, raided brick kilns located at Peddakondur village on Tuesday afternoon. Except 10 children, all the others were working along with their parents, who have migrated from Odisha. The 10 children were living with their relatives, who also work at the kilns and reside in huts located nearby, said Choutuppal ACP Snehita. Police teams were collecting information from the rescued children about the middlemen, who employed them at the brick kilns, she said. Meanwhile, the bricks kiln owners claimed that they shared the information about the children of the workers with the officials of the education department, but they did not take appropriate measures to send them to school. As the children belonged to Odisha and know only Odia, the government could not arrange separate school in the village. Cases have been booked against the owners of brick kilns. Rajitha Sanaka By Express News Service Karimnagar town patterns itself after Hyderabad: You have stand-alone Louis Phillipe stores, Chaineese fast food centres, Bawarchi biryani franchises and needless honking in the streets. I stopped an auto and asked to be taken to the bus station for the journey to Warangal. It was 10 am and the driver Ravi said it would take less than five minutes. Speeding down a near-empty main street, I wondered if it was past rush hour but Ravi said this is what things have come to since three new districts -- Sircilla, Jagtial and Peddapalli were carved out of Karimnagar. Ravi didnt sound like he liked it. You used to be stuck in traffic jams until 12 noon on a working day. After Karimnagar was divided, people have moved and our business has fallen by 40 per cent. The decision may be good for the new districts, but it has been a blow to Karimnagar. He has a wife and child to support. He didnt expect much from the new year. What can you say? You saw how unpredictable 2016 was. Who expected the Delhi government to ban big notes? Who thought the new districts would affect Karimnagar. Anything can happen, he said. I mulled over the irony of Karimnagar, the epicentre of the Telangana agitation, suffering the wages of division as I got onto the express bus to Warangal. It was a short hop of 80 km but the sun was warmer than it had been in Adilabad. The road was part of NH 163 connecting to the Vajpayee Golden Quad and Warangal was quickly reached, another town mimicking Hyderabad with a flash mob distracting the bus driver from the green signal and the hoardings inviting youngsters to a DJ party. Before catching the train to Khammam, I thought I would dart into a book store to get a book worms perspective. I found a store in the station and bought three magazines and a novel a bit ambitious for a two-hour-journey. The man in the store didnt seem happy either. I asked G Ravi how sales have been and he said, Not much. People buy newspapers and magazines. We get a 10 per cent commission. If there is a sale of Rs 1,000, I get Rs 100. Thats hardly anything. Alarmingly, he added that he was thinking of quitting and taking up work as a security guard. Auto Driver Ravi in Karimnagar Warangal too has suffered from being sundered into several districts. Once the Uttar Pradesh of Telangana, it has been cut down to size. People dont come to Warangal too often now. They go to the new district HQs. The rush has come down. And the note ban has brought business down by 50 per cent, said Ravi. I will shift to something else now, he told me. He looked bleak but he cheered up when I invited him to join me in a selfie. People should learn about our misery, he said as I thanked him and left. As I walked onto the platform, the announcement was being made for the Hyderabad-Howrah 18646 Up East Coast Express. I asked the ticket collector where my seat would be. He asked to see my ticket and wrote 50 on the back. Please take seat 51 in this compartment, he said. I got on and opened a magazine to read when I realised he had come for me. He asked me to pay Rs 50 and I gave him the money. Now what was that, 5o, 51 and all that? I gazed out the window to unplucked cotton fields until another man, clad in a white shirt and trousers, asked me if my seat was reserved. I showed him the ticket. Is pe Khammam jaate aap? (You want to go to Khammam on this ticket), he said and then examined the ticket. He returned it and walked away. I asked the man seated beside me what had just happened. He looked at my ticket and explained, You wont find place in the general compartment. But with this ticket you can travel in the AC compartment also. Depends on how much the collector wants to charge, he told me. Wait a minute, who gets the money? It goes into his pocket, obviously. It is common here, the man said. In Khammam, I was to wait for a contact to pick me up and so sat down with three greasy, chote samose when a 60-year-old daily wage worker came and sat by my side. She was ordering her husband to sleep on the cleaner side of the platform. We came for his checkup, Mareed Kausalya said, indicating to her husband. He was diagnosed with fever. There are hospitals in my village, but they dont treat us well, she said. The ticket to her village costs Rs 10. With no rains in the district this year, her employers havent paid her. We pluck cotton and red chillies and earn Rs 100 a day. We didnt get much work this year. And they havent paid us saying banks are not giving enough cash, she said. She didnt know about the note ban. I asked her if she had a bank account. Why would I have a bank account? she replied. Karimnagar town patterns itself after Hyderabad: You have stand-alone Louis Phillipe stores, Chaineese fast food centres, Bawarchi biryani franchises and needless honking in the streets. I stopped an auto and asked to be taken to the bus station for the journey to Warangal. It was 10 am and the driver Ravi said it would take less than five minutes. Speeding down a near-empty main street, I wondered if it was past rush hour but Ravi said this is what things have come to since three new districts -- Sircilla, Jagtial and Peddapalli were carved out of Karimnagar. Ravi didnt sound like he liked it. You used to be stuck in traffic jams until 12 noon on a working day. After Karimnagar was divided, people have moved and our business has fallen by 40 per cent. The decision may be good for the new districts, but it has been a blow to Karimnagar. He has a wife and child to support. He didnt expect much from the new year. What can you say? You saw how unpredictable 2016 was. Who expected the Delhi government to ban big notes? Who thought the new districts would affect Karimnagar. Anything can happen, he said. I mulled over the irony of Karimnagar, the epicentre of the Telangana agitation, suffering the wages of division as I got onto the express bus to Warangal. It was a short hop of 80 km but the sun was warmer than it had been in Adilabad. The road was part of NH 163 connecting to the Vajpayee Golden Quad and Warangal was quickly reached, another town mimicking Hyderabad with a flash mob distracting the bus driver from the green signal and the hoardings inviting youngsters to a DJ party. Before catching the train to Khammam, I thought I would dart into a book store to get a book worms perspective. I found a store in the station and bought three magazines and a novel a bit ambitious for a two-hour-journey. The man in the store didnt seem happy either. I asked G Ravi how sales have been and he said, Not much. People buy newspapers and magazines. We get a 10 per cent commission. If there is a sale of Rs 1,000, I get Rs 100. Thats hardly anything. Alarmingly, he added that he was thinking of quitting and taking up work as a security guard. Auto Driver Ravi in Karimnagar Warangal too has suffered from being sundered into several districts. Once the Uttar Pradesh of Telangana, it has been cut down to size. People dont come to Warangal too often now. They go to the new district HQs. The rush has come down. And the note ban has brought business down by 50 per cent, said Ravi. I will shift to something else now, he told me. He looked bleak but he cheered up when I invited him to join me in a selfie. People should learn about our misery, he said as I thanked him and left. As I walked onto the platform, the announcement was being made for the Hyderabad-Howrah 18646 Up East Coast Express. I asked the ticket collector where my seat would be. He asked to see my ticket and wrote 50 on the back. Please take seat 51 in this compartment, he said. I got on and opened a magazine to read when I realised he had come for me. He asked me to pay Rs 50 and I gave him the money. Now what was that, 5o, 51 and all that? I gazed out the window to unplucked cotton fields until another man, clad in a white shirt and trousers, asked me if my seat was reserved. I showed him the ticket. Is pe Khammam jaate aap? (You want to go to Khammam on this ticket), he said and then examined the ticket. He returned it and walked away. I asked the man seated beside me what had just happened. He looked at my ticket and explained, You wont find place in the general compartment. But with this ticket you can travel in the AC compartment also. Depends on how much the collector wants to charge, he told me. Wait a minute, who gets the money? It goes into his pocket, obviously. It is common here, the man said. In Khammam, I was to wait for a contact to pick me up and so sat down with three greasy, chote samose when a 60-year-old daily wage worker came and sat by my side. She was ordering her husband to sleep on the cleaner side of the platform. We came for his checkup, Mareed Kausalya said, indicating to her husband. He was diagnosed with fever. There are hospitals in my village, but they dont treat us well, she said. The ticket to her village costs Rs 10. With no rains in the district this year, her employers havent paid her. We pluck cotton and red chillies and earn Rs 100 a day. We didnt get much work this year. And they havent paid us saying banks are not giving enough cash, she said. She didnt know about the note ban. I asked her if she had a bank account. Why would I have a bank account? she replied. Rajitha Sanaka By Express News Service The TSRTC bus to Nirmal filled up slowly but we made speed as Sunday morning traffic was sparse, and we were on the outskirts of Hyderabad in 15 minutes. The conductor seemed relaxed as he sold me my ticket and signaled to the driver to turn on the radio. The man behind me grunted as the radio crackled to life with a message. Mana PM manasulo maata vinandi (hear the PM speak from his heart). Tune into Mann ki Baat in Telugu today! said the voice full of exclamation marks. And my phone beeped. It was a WhatsApp message from VK-MyGovt: Ee roju 11 gantalaku radio lo Mann ki Baat. Aa ventane Telugu lo vinavachu. Mobile phone lo vinataniki 1922 ki missed call ivvandi (Mann ki Baat at11 am. Hear it in Telugu. Give a missed call to 1922.) No exclamation marks but the same importuning urgency. This was going to be a journey from one end of Telangana to another. But the state has the shape of a nautilus on the map in time-honoured Telugu movie tradition, TRS poets think its like a pearl adorning the navel of India and a passage from extremity to extremity is not going to take long. This journey from the capital in the heart of the state to the northern district of Adilabad is all of 300 km. Yet, I took three catnaps before I talked to the lady next to me. She said she was returning from Basavatarakam after a check-up. Basavatarakam is a cancer hospital in Banjara Hills in Hyderabad, named after the wife of the late N T Rama Rao. My co-passenger had had a tumour removed last year, and happily, there was no sign that it was growing again. I got off at Nirmal and had a half an hour before my onward hop to Adilabad. I went walkabout around the terminus and stopped at a shop that reminded me of one close to my office in Begumpet. Yes, Maydum, what you want? asked the shop-keeper and I gaped at him. I only wanted one Little Hearts and I was going to give him a Rs 100 note. He sensed my demonetised embarrassment and smiled. You dont have two rupees? I found a five rupee coin in my purse. He gave me the Little Hearts and three toffees. Change problems, Maydum. So toffees. It will be sweet like you, he said. I laughed and walked away. Munching on the Little Hearts, I walked by a group of truckers lounging by their vehicles. Despite myself, I smiled at them and a thought flashed in my mind as I did so: what if they get me wrong? Bolo, Maydum, said one of the truckers, a middle-aged man. Whats happening? Hows work, I asked. What can I say, Maydum? We have no work, so we are sitting here and cracking jokes, said the trucker. But for demonetisation, these truckers might have been rumbling up NH 44 rather than trading jokes at this layby. Our lives have become miserable after the government banned Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes, he said although he didnt in the least look miserable, because of the jokes perhaps. His name was Mohammed and he has been driving for 25 years, eventually growing to own a truck. He transports cotton out of the markets of Adilabad. Since the time this Prime Minister came, theres been nothing for us Muslims, he said. Now with demonetisation, theres no money. Cotton buyers pay by cheque and we get diesel tokens. But what do we feed ourselves with? Another man in the huddle, Mohammed Pasha, said he had had to cancel his daughters engagement. Ive been driving for 18 years. I was hoping to be done with one responsibility this year. Now I have to wait for another year. I have no hopes. Nirmal has become a new district, so maybe things will change a bit. But Im unsure, he said. It was only 4.30 pm but it got chilly in the bus as we left the hills north of Nirmal. The conductor told me to shut my window, not because I might catch a cold but there were monkeys about in the green countryside. I spotted unplucked fields of cotton. The passenger next to me, too shy to furnish his name or be photographed, said things were better than in the last two years, which were affected by drought. The rains in fact ruined the crops this year, he said. After I got off at Adilabad, I managed to inveigle myself into a scolding a farmer was receiving from his sister-in-law. Lingannas bus to Nirmal was due and bhabhi was using the time to admonish him for his laid-back attitude. Making myself welcome, I asked him if the last crop had gone well. She replied for him. Most of it was damaged by the rain. But we could have saved something. If only he was responsible. Linganna just smiled until the bus rescued him and I headed off to buy a snack from a bandi. I was disappointed by Adapu Ashoks bajji bandi. The bajjis were cold and hard and open and, who knows, rotting? He took the demonetisation plea. Thats how it has been in the past two months. We reopened only yesterday after 15 days idle, he said. Before leaving hungry, I asked him what he does with the unsold bajjis. In the morning, I pack them and give them to bus drivers going to Mancherial and Nirmal. He explained himself just as I began to sympathise with the drivers. They feed the monkeys. Ashok had said he had no money for rent and had to feed a family of eight. But he seemed happy to be feeding the monkeys. The TSRTC bus to Nirmal filled up slowly but we made speed as Sunday morning traffic was sparse, and we were on the outskirts of Hyderabad in 15 minutes. The conductor seemed relaxed as he sold me my ticket and signaled to the driver to turn on the radio. The man behind me grunted as the radio crackled to life with a message. Mana PM manasulo maata vinandi (hear the PM speak from his heart). Tune into Mann ki Baat in Telugu today! said the voice full of exclamation marks. And my phone beeped. It was a WhatsApp message from VK-MyGovt: Ee roju 11 gantalaku radio lo Mann ki Baat. Aa ventane Telugu lo vinavachu. Mobile phone lo vinataniki 1922 ki missed call ivvandi (Mann ki Baat at11 am. Hear it in Telugu. Give a missed call to 1922.) No exclamation marks but the same importuning urgency. This was going to be a journey from one end of Telangana to another. But the state has the shape of a nautilus on the map in time-honoured Telugu movie tradition, TRS poets think its like a pearl adorning the navel of India and a passage from extremity to extremity is not going to take long. This journey from the capital in the heart of the state to the northern district of Adilabad is all of 300 km. Yet, I took three catnaps before I talked to the lady next to me. She said she was returning from Basavatarakam after a check-up. Basavatarakam is a cancer hospital in Banjara Hills in Hyderabad, named after the wife of the late N T Rama Rao. My co-passenger had had a tumour removed last year, and happily, there was no sign that it was growing again. I got off at Nirmal and had a half an hour before my onward hop to Adilabad. I went walkabout around the terminus and stopped at a shop that reminded me of one close to my office in Begumpet. Yes, Maydum, what you want? asked the shop-keeper and I gaped at him. I only wanted one Little Hearts and I was going to give him a Rs 100 note. He sensed my demonetised embarrassment and smiled. You dont have two rupees? I found a five rupee coin in my purse. He gave me the Little Hearts and three toffees. Change problems, Maydum. So toffees. It will be sweet like you, he said. I laughed and walked away. Munching on the Little Hearts, I walked by a group of truckers lounging by their vehicles. Despite myself, I smiled at them and a thought flashed in my mind as I did so: what if they get me wrong? Bolo, Maydum, said one of the truckers, a middle-aged man. Whats happening? Hows work, I asked. What can I say, Maydum? We have no work, so we are sitting here and cracking jokes, said the trucker. But for demonetisation, these truckers might have been rumbling up NH 44 rather than trading jokes at this layby. Our lives have become miserable after the government banned Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes, he said although he didnt in the least look miserable, because of the jokes perhaps. His name was Mohammed and he has been driving for 25 years, eventually growing to own a truck. He transports cotton out of the markets of Adilabad. Since the time this Prime Minister came, theres been nothing for us Muslims, he said. Now with demonetisation, theres no money. Cotton buyers pay by cheque and we get diesel tokens. But what do we feed ourselves with? Another man in the huddle, Mohammed Pasha, said he had had to cancel his daughters engagement. Ive been driving for 18 years. I was hoping to be done with one responsibility this year. Now I have to wait for another year. I have no hopes. Nirmal has become a new district, so maybe things will change a bit. But Im unsure, he said. It was only 4.30 pm but it got chilly in the bus as we left the hills north of Nirmal. The conductor told me to shut my window, not because I might catch a cold but there were monkeys about in the green countryside. I spotted unplucked fields of cotton. The passenger next to me, too shy to furnish his name or be photographed, said things were better than in the last two years, which were affected by drought. The rains in fact ruined the crops this year, he said. After I got off at Adilabad, I managed to inveigle myself into a scolding a farmer was receiving from his sister-in-law. Lingannas bus to Nirmal was due and bhabhi was using the time to admonish him for his laid-back attitude. Making myself welcome, I asked him if the last crop had gone well. She replied for him. Most of it was damaged by the rain. But we could have saved something. If only he was responsible. Linganna just smiled until the bus rescued him and I headed off to buy a snack from a bandi. I was disappointed by Adapu Ashoks bajji bandi. The bajjis were cold and hard and open and, who knows, rotting? He took the demonetisation plea. Thats how it has been in the past two months. We reopened only yesterday after 15 days idle, he said. Before leaving hungry, I asked him what he does with the unsold bajjis. In the morning, I pack them and give them to bus drivers going to Mancherial and Nirmal. He explained himself just as I began to sympathise with the drivers. They feed the monkeys. Ashok had said he had no money for rent and had to feed a family of eight. But he seemed happy to be feeding the monkeys. By Associated Press ISTANBUL: The White House says President Barack Obama has offered his condolences to Turkey's leader over a pair of deadly attacks, including at a nightclub on New Year's Eve. Obama and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan also agreed during their telephone conversation Tuesday that their countries must "stand united" to defeat terrorism. The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for the Dec. 31 shooting at Istanbul's Reina nightclub that killed 39 revelers. Obama also expressed sorrow over a Dec. 17 attack on off-duty Turkish soldiers in the central province of Kayseri that killed 13 troops. A wing of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party has said it was responsible. The White House said Obama also welcomed Turkey's efforts to help implement a nationwide cease-fire in Syria as well as the resumption of political talks between the Syrian government and the opposition. ___ 6:50 p.m. Lebanon is bidding farewell to three victims of the New Years' Eve attack in an Istanbul nightclub. Hundreds attended emotional funerals held Tuesday for two of the victims, Haykal Mousallem and Elias Wardini. A third victim, Rita Shami, will be laid to rest Thursday. The bodies of the three arrived Monday night in Beirut, wrapped in red, white and green Lebanese flags. On Tuesday, relatives and friends of Wardini, a 26-year-old fitness instructor who was engaged to be married, set off fireworks as his white coffin arrived at a church in the district of Ashrafieh. Prime Minister Saad Hariri announced one hour of national mourning for the victims. Four Lebanese were also wounded in the Istanbul attack. ___ 5:45 p.m. Hundreds of people have attended the funeral of a Jordanian businessman who was among the 39 people killed in the shooting at Istanbul's Reina nightclub. The funeral for 44-year-old Nauras Assaf, a Christian, was held Tuesday in the town of Fuheis in central Jordan. Assaf's wife was wounded in the attack and is recovering in a hospital in Turkey. Jordan's ambassador to Turkey, Amjad al-Adayleh, was among those attending the funeral. Al-Adayleh says, "This attack is condemned by all religions, not only by Islam and Christianity." ___ 4:40 p.m. Turkey's interior minister says authorities have thwarted a total of 339 possible attacks in 2016, most of them by Kurdish militants. Suleyman Soylu told parliament Tuesday that the foiled attacks include 313 planned attempts by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, and 22 by the Islamic State group. The minister said authorities seized 247 explosive devices, 23 car bombs and detained 23 would-be suicide bombers last year. Speaking a day after the IS claimed responsibility for the deadly attack at a popular Istanbul nightclub, Soylu said some 80 of the attacks were thwarted in the past three months. More than 3,506 IS suspects were detained in 2016, including 1,531 foreign nationals, the minister said. Soylu said authorities had stepped up security on public transportation such as trams and buses as well as airports and at train and bus terminals. ___ 4 p.m. Thousands of people have attended the funeral of an Arab Israeli teen who was killed in the Istanbul nightclub attack. Layan Nasser, 18, was among those killed in the attack. Mourners wept and wailed as they marched behind her wooden coffin through the streets of the Israeli city of Tira Tuesday. Tira Mayor Mamoun Abd El Hai said the city had declared a day of mourning in memory of Nasser, meaning banks and municipal offices were closed. "She had dreams to work, to progress, to study, to raise a family, but unfortunately the terror put an end to her dreams," Abd El Hai said. Nasser, a dental assistant, traveled to Istanbul to celebrate the New Year with three friends. ___ 3:30 p.m. Turkey's state-run news agency says police have detained two foreign nationals at Istanbul's main airport on suspicion of links to the deadly nightclub attack. Anadolu Agency said the two were taken into custody on Tuesday at the international flights terminal at Ataturk Airport. No information on their nationalities was available. It said police checked the pair's cellphones and luggage before they were taken away to Istanbul's main police headquarters. Meanwhile the private Dogan news agency said airports and border crossings were put on high alert and that anyone resembling the wanted gunman was being stopped and questioned by police. ___ 2:40 p.m. Turkey's Hurriyet newspaper says a woman identified by Turkish media as the wife of the Istanbul nightclub massacre suspect has told police she did not know her husband was a member of the Islamic State group. IS has claimed responsibility for the New Year's Eve attack that killed 39 people at the Reina nightclub. Police are still searching for the gunman. The woman was detained in the central town of Konya as part of the investigation. Neither she nor her husband has been identified by name. Hurriyet said on its online edition Tuesday that the woman said she learned about the attack on television and told police she didn't know her husband harbored "sympathies toward" the Islamic State group. Media reports say the gunman flew to Istanbul from Kyrgyzstan with his wife and children on Nov. 20. From there they drove to the Turkish capital, Ankara, by before arriving in Konya on Nov. 22. The family rented a studio in Konya, paying three months of rent upfront. The gunman told the estate agent he had arrived in Konya in search of work, according to the report. Hurriyet said the gunman returned to Istanbul Dec. 29. ___ 1:50 p.m. Turkey's state-run news agency says six more people have been detained in connection with the deadly Istanbul nightclub attack, raising the number of suspects held to 14. Anadolu Agency said Tuesday all 14 were being questioned at Istanbul's main police headquarters. It did not provide details on the suspects or say where they were taken into custody. Anadolu said police were receiving numerous reports of sightings or tips from citizens, following the release of photos and videos of the alleged gunman, who has not been publicly identified. ___ 12:50 p.m. Turkey's prime minister has slammed the Obama administration for backing Syrian Kurdish forces which Turkey considers to be terrorists, and urged President-elect Donald Trump to put an end to "this shame." Binali Yildirim said that Turkey's military had killed more than 1,200 Islamic State militants since the start of its military incursion into northern Syria in August, insisting that Turkey was the country leading the most effective fight against the extremist group. Yildirim was addressing members of the ruling party in parliament a day after IS claimed responsibility for the Istanbul nightclub attack, which killed 39 New Year's revelers. Yildirim said: "They are pretending to fight Daesh. Turkey is the only country that is leading a fight. The United States isn't doing anything." ___ 12:10 p.m. Turkish tourism industry professionals have marched to the nightclub where 39 New Year's revelers were killed, in a show of solidarity and to protest a spate of attacks that has crippled the sector. About 200 people, including restaurateurs, hotel owners and gastronomy students, took part in the protest, marching behind a large banner that read: "We won't be daunted! For our tomorrows." Turkey's crucial tourism industry has suffered enormously after a series of recent attacks in the country. The nightclub assailant, armed with a long-barreled weapon, killed a policeman and a civilian early Sunday outside the Reina club before entering and firing at some of the estimated 600 people inside. The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for the nightclub attack. ___ 11:45 a.m. Turkish media are quoting security experts as saying that the man who killed 39 and wounded nearly 70 people in a New Year's nightclub attack in Istanbul before fleeing the scene is a highly professional assassin. The English-language Daily News quoted anti-terror expert Abdullah Agar as saying the way the attacker operated shows that "he is absolutely a killer and he probably shot at humans before." Agar is quoted as saying that "the attacker is determined, faithful, practical, coldblooded expert and knows how to get results ... he probably fired bullets in real clash zones." The nightclub assailant, armed with a long-barreled weapon, killed a policeman and a civilian early Sunday outside the Reina club before entering and firing at some of the estimated 600 people inside. ___ 10:50 a.m. The United Arab Emirates has warned its citizens not to travel to Turkey following the attack on an Istanbul nightclub that killed 39 people. The UAE's Foreign Ministry has issued a terse statement in Arabic to "postpone plans to travel to Turkey until further notice." While no Emirati was killed in the attack, one Kuwaiti and seven Saudis were killed in the New Year's assault. The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for the attack at the Reina nightclub. ___ 10:40 a.m. Turkish media have run a "selfie video" of a man they say is the gunman who killed 39 people at an Istanbul nightclub. The video broadcast on Turkish television Tuesday shows the alleged gunman filming himself at Taksim square. It wasn't immediately clear if it was filmed before or after the New Year's massacre at the Reina nightclub. The Islamic State group claimed the attack. The gunman, who is still at large, hasn't been identified. Several media reports said the man was believed to be from a Central Asian nation. Haber Turk newspaper said the man is thought to be a member of China's Muslim Uighur minority. It said he arrived in the Turkish city of Konya with his wife and two children. His family was detained, it said. ISTANBUL: The White House says President Barack Obama has offered his condolences to Turkey's leader over a pair of deadly attacks, including at a nightclub on New Year's Eve. Obama and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan also agreed during their telephone conversation Tuesday that their countries must "stand united" to defeat terrorism. The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for the Dec. 31 shooting at Istanbul's Reina nightclub that killed 39 revelers. Obama also expressed sorrow over a Dec. 17 attack on off-duty Turkish soldiers in the central province of Kayseri that killed 13 troops. A wing of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party has said it was responsible. The White House said Obama also welcomed Turkey's efforts to help implement a nationwide cease-fire in Syria as well as the resumption of political talks between the Syrian government and the opposition. ___ 6:50 p.m. Lebanon is bidding farewell to three victims of the New Years' Eve attack in an Istanbul nightclub. Hundreds attended emotional funerals held Tuesday for two of the victims, Haykal Mousallem and Elias Wardini. A third victim, Rita Shami, will be laid to rest Thursday. The bodies of the three arrived Monday night in Beirut, wrapped in red, white and green Lebanese flags. On Tuesday, relatives and friends of Wardini, a 26-year-old fitness instructor who was engaged to be married, set off fireworks as his white coffin arrived at a church in the district of Ashrafieh. Prime Minister Saad Hariri announced one hour of national mourning for the victims. Four Lebanese were also wounded in the Istanbul attack. ___ 5:45 p.m. Hundreds of people have attended the funeral of a Jordanian businessman who was among the 39 people killed in the shooting at Istanbul's Reina nightclub. The funeral for 44-year-old Nauras Assaf, a Christian, was held Tuesday in the town of Fuheis in central Jordan. Assaf's wife was wounded in the attack and is recovering in a hospital in Turkey. Jordan's ambassador to Turkey, Amjad al-Adayleh, was among those attending the funeral. Al-Adayleh says, "This attack is condemned by all religions, not only by Islam and Christianity." ___ 4:40 p.m. Turkey's interior minister says authorities have thwarted a total of 339 possible attacks in 2016, most of them by Kurdish militants. Suleyman Soylu told parliament Tuesday that the foiled attacks include 313 planned attempts by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, and 22 by the Islamic State group. The minister said authorities seized 247 explosive devices, 23 car bombs and detained 23 would-be suicide bombers last year. Speaking a day after the IS claimed responsibility for the deadly attack at a popular Istanbul nightclub, Soylu said some 80 of the attacks were thwarted in the past three months. More than 3,506 IS suspects were detained in 2016, including 1,531 foreign nationals, the minister said. Soylu said authorities had stepped up security on public transportation such as trams and buses as well as airports and at train and bus terminals. ___ 4 p.m. Thousands of people have attended the funeral of an Arab Israeli teen who was killed in the Istanbul nightclub attack. Layan Nasser, 18, was among those killed in the attack. Mourners wept and wailed as they marched behind her wooden coffin through the streets of the Israeli city of Tira Tuesday. Tira Mayor Mamoun Abd El Hai said the city had declared a day of mourning in memory of Nasser, meaning banks and municipal offices were closed. "She had dreams to work, to progress, to study, to raise a family, but unfortunately the terror put an end to her dreams," Abd El Hai said. Nasser, a dental assistant, traveled to Istanbul to celebrate the New Year with three friends. ___ 3:30 p.m. Turkey's state-run news agency says police have detained two foreign nationals at Istanbul's main airport on suspicion of links to the deadly nightclub attack. Anadolu Agency said the two were taken into custody on Tuesday at the international flights terminal at Ataturk Airport. No information on their nationalities was available. It said police checked the pair's cellphones and luggage before they were taken away to Istanbul's main police headquarters. Meanwhile the private Dogan news agency said airports and border crossings were put on high alert and that anyone resembling the wanted gunman was being stopped and questioned by police. ___ 2:40 p.m. Turkey's Hurriyet newspaper says a woman identified by Turkish media as the wife of the Istanbul nightclub massacre suspect has told police she did not know her husband was a member of the Islamic State group. IS has claimed responsibility for the New Year's Eve attack that killed 39 people at the Reina nightclub. Police are still searching for the gunman. The woman was detained in the central town of Konya as part of the investigation. Neither she nor her husband has been identified by name. Hurriyet said on its online edition Tuesday that the woman said she learned about the attack on television and told police she didn't know her husband harbored "sympathies toward" the Islamic State group. Media reports say the gunman flew to Istanbul from Kyrgyzstan with his wife and children on Nov. 20. From there they drove to the Turkish capital, Ankara, by before arriving in Konya on Nov. 22. The family rented a studio in Konya, paying three months of rent upfront. The gunman told the estate agent he had arrived in Konya in search of work, according to the report. Hurriyet said the gunman returned to Istanbul Dec. 29. ___ 1:50 p.m. Turkey's state-run news agency says six more people have been detained in connection with the deadly Istanbul nightclub attack, raising the number of suspects held to 14. Anadolu Agency said Tuesday all 14 were being questioned at Istanbul's main police headquarters. It did not provide details on the suspects or say where they were taken into custody. Anadolu said police were receiving numerous reports of sightings or tips from citizens, following the release of photos and videos of the alleged gunman, who has not been publicly identified. ___ 12:50 p.m. Turkey's prime minister has slammed the Obama administration for backing Syrian Kurdish forces which Turkey considers to be terrorists, and urged President-elect Donald Trump to put an end to "this shame." Binali Yildirim said that Turkey's military had killed more than 1,200 Islamic State militants since the start of its military incursion into northern Syria in August, insisting that Turkey was the country leading the most effective fight against the extremist group. Yildirim was addressing members of the ruling party in parliament a day after IS claimed responsibility for the Istanbul nightclub attack, which killed 39 New Year's revelers. Yildirim said: "They are pretending to fight Daesh. Turkey is the only country that is leading a fight. The United States isn't doing anything." ___ 12:10 p.m. Turkish tourism industry professionals have marched to the nightclub where 39 New Year's revelers were killed, in a show of solidarity and to protest a spate of attacks that has crippled the sector. About 200 people, including restaurateurs, hotel owners and gastronomy students, took part in the protest, marching behind a large banner that read: "We won't be daunted! For our tomorrows." Turkey's crucial tourism industry has suffered enormously after a series of recent attacks in the country. The nightclub assailant, armed with a long-barreled weapon, killed a policeman and a civilian early Sunday outside the Reina club before entering and firing at some of the estimated 600 people inside. The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for the nightclub attack. ___ 11:45 a.m. Turkish media are quoting security experts as saying that the man who killed 39 and wounded nearly 70 people in a New Year's nightclub attack in Istanbul before fleeing the scene is a highly professional assassin. The English-language Daily News quoted anti-terror expert Abdullah Agar as saying the way the attacker operated shows that "he is absolutely a killer and he probably shot at humans before." Agar is quoted as saying that "the attacker is determined, faithful, practical, coldblooded expert and knows how to get results ... he probably fired bullets in real clash zones." The nightclub assailant, armed with a long-barreled weapon, killed a policeman and a civilian early Sunday outside the Reina club before entering and firing at some of the estimated 600 people inside. ___ 10:50 a.m. The United Arab Emirates has warned its citizens not to travel to Turkey following the attack on an Istanbul nightclub that killed 39 people. The UAE's Foreign Ministry has issued a terse statement in Arabic to "postpone plans to travel to Turkey until further notice." While no Emirati was killed in the attack, one Kuwaiti and seven Saudis were killed in the New Year's assault. The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for the attack at the Reina nightclub. ___ 10:40 a.m. Turkish media have run a "selfie video" of a man they say is the gunman who killed 39 people at an Istanbul nightclub. The video broadcast on Turkish television Tuesday shows the alleged gunman filming himself at Taksim square. It wasn't immediately clear if it was filmed before or after the New Year's massacre at the Reina nightclub. The Islamic State group claimed the attack. The gunman, who is still at large, hasn't been identified. Several media reports said the man was believed to be from a Central Asian nation. Haber Turk newspaper said the man is thought to be a member of China's Muslim Uighur minority. It said he arrived in the Turkish city of Konya with his wife and two children. His family was detained, it said. By Associated Press RABAT: Morocco has become the latest Muslim-majority country to authorise Islamic banks, amid growing market demand for Sharia-compliant banking. The Moroccan central bank announced this week it has approved five such banks, fulfilling a long-standing promise of the Islamist party leading a coalition government since 2011. Among them are leading national banks Attijariwafa, linked to the royal family, state-owned Banque Centrale Populaire and private BMCE Bank of Africa. All three hold increasing assets around French-speaking Africa. The others are CIH Bank and Credit Agricole du Maroc. Four of the five will be partnerships between Moroccan banks and Islamic financial institutions in the Gulf, according to a statement from the central bank. The approval of Islamic banks was long awaited by the market and the political scene. Morocco had been reticent about Islamic finance, seeing it as politically sensitive, but now sees it as a growth prospect. The Islamist PJD party had made the opening of Islamic banks one of its campaign promises in 2011, when it won parliamentary elections. The regulatory framework was updated in 2015 with a law authorising independent Islamic institutions labelled "participative banks." A board was created within Morocco's Supreme Council of Islamic Scholars to rule on the conformity of financial products to Sharia, or Islamic law. Sharia forbids interest, which is key to most banks' operations. The central bank also allowed the subsidiaries of three leading French banks to sell Islamic products in Morocco: Societe Generale, BNP Paribas and Credit Agricole. RABAT: Morocco has become the latest Muslim-majority country to authorise Islamic banks, amid growing market demand for Sharia-compliant banking. The Moroccan central bank announced this week it has approved five such banks, fulfilling a long-standing promise of the Islamist party leading a coalition government since 2011. Among them are leading national banks Attijariwafa, linked to the royal family, state-owned Banque Centrale Populaire and private BMCE Bank of Africa. All three hold increasing assets around French-speaking Africa. The others are CIH Bank and Credit Agricole du Maroc. Four of the five will be partnerships between Moroccan banks and Islamic financial institutions in the Gulf, according to a statement from the central bank. The approval of Islamic banks was long awaited by the market and the political scene. Morocco had been reticent about Islamic finance, seeing it as politically sensitive, but now sees it as a growth prospect. The Islamist PJD party had made the opening of Islamic banks one of its campaign promises in 2011, when it won parliamentary elections. The regulatory framework was updated in 2015 with a law authorising independent Islamic institutions labelled "participative banks." A board was created within Morocco's Supreme Council of Islamic Scholars to rule on the conformity of financial products to Sharia, or Islamic law. Sharia forbids interest, which is key to most banks' operations. The central bank also allowed the subsidiaries of three leading French banks to sell Islamic products in Morocco: Societe Generale, BNP Paribas and Credit Agricole. PK Balachandran By Express News Service COLOMBO: Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena has cancelled Wednesdays visit to Jaffna. A spokesman of the President told Express that unscheduled meetings in Colombo led to the cancellation. But he will be visiting Jaffna on January 25 or any other suitable date before that," the spokesman added. In Jaffna he was to have inaugurated an island-wide mobile app facility to get in touch with the President and track the progress of requests through ministries and departments in the Center. He was also to release about 600 acres of private land presently held by the military. The President may have been held back by the developing political situation in South Sri Lanka with a resurgent former President Mahinda Rajapaksa vowing to overthrow the Sirisena-Wickemesinghe coalition government in 2017. The Joint Opposition group and the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) led by Rajapaksa are gearing up for frenetic political activity to bring about a regime change this year. With a Sirisena group member Priyankara Jayaratne resigning from his post of State Minister, and another State Minister Palaitha Range Bandara wondering if there is any point in being a minister without work, the media has been speculating about more resignations from the United National Party (UNP)-Sri Lanka Freedom Party Sirisena (SLFP-Sirisena ) coalition and crossovers to the Joint Opposition led by Rajapaksa. With President Sirisena overturning many decisions of UNP ministers, UNP backbenchers in parliament got worried about the Presidents own commitment to the sustenance of the coalition government and the prospects of the government parties in the local bodies and Provincial Council elections in 2017. Thirty UNPs met the President last Friday in regard to this and the President assured them that he is committed to the coalition. Later he publicly stated that he would not tolerate any party member or coalition partner having links with Rajapaksa. However, several issues in the coalition remain unresolved. The latest is the disagreement over the deal the UNP-led government had entered into with a Chinese state owned company to manage the Hambantota port. Disapproving the deal to give the Chinese company 80 percent of the stake in the port for 99 years, the President recently appointed his own representative in the negotiating committee. Given this, there is speculation that he will not attend the January 7 signing ceremony, if it is held at all. Unrest in North Meanwhile, dissatisfaction and unrest are brewing in North Sri Lanka over the slow pace of post-war reconciliation mechanisms. Briefing Express on the emerging situation, Northern Provincial Council (NPC) member M.K.Shivajilingam said that the President has not kept his promise to return private lands taken by the military during the war and after. He has released only bits here and there. According to Northern Chief Minister C.V.Wigneswaran, only 5.2 percent of the land has been returned. Government has rejected the demand for an international judicial mechanism to go into war crimes charges by the military. But it has not set up even a domestic judicial mechanism. The Office of Missing Persons exists only on paper. All major parties of the majority Sinhalese community have rejected the Tamils call for a federal constitution and the merger of the Northern and Eastern Provinces. Meanwhile, further centralization is taking place with the Governor of the Northern Province Reginold Cooray setting up an office in his official premises to channel peoples complaints to the President. He could have set up this facility in the Jaffna Secretariat or the Northern Provincial Council. When there is an elected government, why not allow it to be the channel of communication with the President? The Governors action comes in the wake of Tamils demands that the Governor be figure made a figurehead under the elected Chief Minister, Shivajilingam said. COLOMBO: Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena has cancelled Wednesdays visit to Jaffna. A spokesman of the President told Express that unscheduled meetings in Colombo led to the cancellation. But he will be visiting Jaffna on January 25 or any other suitable date before that," the spokesman added. In Jaffna he was to have inaugurated an island-wide mobile app facility to get in touch with the President and track the progress of requests through ministries and departments in the Center. He was also to release about 600 acres of private land presently held by the military. The President may have been held back by the developing political situation in South Sri Lanka with a resurgent former President Mahinda Rajapaksa vowing to overthrow the Sirisena-Wickemesinghe coalition government in 2017. The Joint Opposition group and the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) led by Rajapaksa are gearing up for frenetic political activity to bring about a regime change this year. With a Sirisena group member Priyankara Jayaratne resigning from his post of State Minister, and another State Minister Palaitha Range Bandara wondering if there is any point in being a minister without work, the media has been speculating about more resignations from the United National Party (UNP)-Sri Lanka Freedom Party Sirisena (SLFP-Sirisena ) coalition and crossovers to the Joint Opposition led by Rajapaksa. With President Sirisena overturning many decisions of UNP ministers, UNP backbenchers in parliament got worried about the Presidents own commitment to the sustenance of the coalition government and the prospects of the government parties in the local bodies and Provincial Council elections in 2017. Thirty UNPs met the President last Friday in regard to this and the President assured them that he is committed to the coalition. Later he publicly stated that he would not tolerate any party member or coalition partner having links with Rajapaksa. However, several issues in the coalition remain unresolved. The latest is the disagreement over the deal the UNP-led government had entered into with a Chinese state owned company to manage the Hambantota port. Disapproving the deal to give the Chinese company 80 percent of the stake in the port for 99 years, the President recently appointed his own representative in the negotiating committee. Given this, there is speculation that he will not attend the January 7 signing ceremony, if it is held at all. Unrest in North Meanwhile, dissatisfaction and unrest are brewing in North Sri Lanka over the slow pace of post-war reconciliation mechanisms. Briefing Express on the emerging situation, Northern Provincial Council (NPC) member M.K.Shivajilingam said that the President has not kept his promise to return private lands taken by the military during the war and after. He has released only bits here and there. According to Northern Chief Minister C.V.Wigneswaran, only 5.2 percent of the land has been returned. Government has rejected the demand for an international judicial mechanism to go into war crimes charges by the military. But it has not set up even a domestic judicial mechanism. The Office of Missing Persons exists only on paper. All major parties of the majority Sinhalese community have rejected the Tamils call for a federal constitution and the merger of the Northern and Eastern Provinces. Meanwhile, further centralization is taking place with the Governor of the Northern Province Reginold Cooray setting up an office in his official premises to channel peoples complaints to the President. He could have set up this facility in the Jaffna Secretariat or the Northern Provincial Council. When there is an elected government, why not allow it to be the channel of communication with the President? The Governors action comes in the wake of Tamils demands that the Governor be figure made a figurehead under the elected Chief Minister, Shivajilingam said. Express News Service COLOMBO: Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said here on Wednesday, that the Palaly airport in the northern district of Jaffna, will be developed as a regional airport, to serve not only Sri Lanka, but also South India. India has been pressing for the development of Palaly as an international airport to improve communication links between Tamil-speaking North Sri Lanka with India, especially Tamil Nadu. There had been an air service between Palaly and Madras and Tiruchi, before the ethnic conflict turned the airport into a military base. Addressing the media on the coalition governments development agenda at the end of the second year in office, Prime Minister Wickremesinghe said that efforts to develop the Kankesanthurai harbor in Jaffna district to further develop communication links with South India will be discussed when the new Indian High Commissioner (Taranjit Singh Sandhu) assumes office. On the current controversy surrounding the joint Indo-Lankan use of the 100 giant oil tanks in Trincomalee, he said that talks are on with the stakeholders concerned. The Lanka India Oil Corporation has been resisting efforts by the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation to develop some tanks unilaterally, bypassing the existing government to government agreement signed in 2002. Wickremesinghe said that Trincomalee port and its hinterland will be developed with Indian, Singaporean and Japanese investments. On the controversial grant of 80 percent stake to a Chinese government-owned company in the Hambantota harbor, the Prime Minister said there is nothing wrong in giving it that way, because a huge loan taken from the Chinese has been converted into a stake or investment. He said that his government believes in developing the country through FDIs and not loans in contrast to the policy of the predecessor Rajapaksa government. On the grant of 99 year lease on 15,000 acres of land near Hambantota port for the development of an economic zone, the Prime Minister said that it is better than giving land on a freehold basis to the Chinese as the Rajapaksa government did in the case of the Colombo Port. His government had to reverse the earlier governments decision. On the finalisation of the deal with China on Hambantota port, Wickremesinghe said that eight or nine agreements are still to be negotiated but he made it clear that there will be no change in the grant of 80 percent stake and 99 year lease on land for the economic zone. However, he evaded the question whether any agreement will be signed on January 7. The Prime Minister said that Sri Lanka will march on the path of development through trade and investment agreements like the Economic and Technical Cooperation Agreement (ETCA) with India, and Free Trade Agreements (FTAs)with China, Singapore and Japan. He will not be deterred by politically motivated criticism he added. ETCA and other FTAs will be signed this year, he said. The government plans to make Sri Lanka a logistics, IT and electronics hub, and hopes to secure US$ 2 or 3 billion in FDIs this year. On the controversy over the Electorates Delimitation Committee report he said that some political issues need to be resolved which he hopes to do when he meets the political parties in parliament on January 9. He said that a consensus is needed on this issue. On charges of political instability in his government, Wickremesinghe said that all governments face such problems whether they are single party or multi-party governments. If there are two big political parties in coalition, jockeying for positions is only to be expected, he said. COLOMBO: Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said here on Wednesday, that the Palaly airport in the northern district of Jaffna, will be developed as a regional airport, to serve not only Sri Lanka, but also South India. India has been pressing for the development of Palaly as an international airport to improve communication links between Tamil-speaking North Sri Lanka with India, especially Tamil Nadu. There had been an air service between Palaly and Madras and Tiruchi, before the ethnic conflict turned the airport into a military base. Addressing the media on the coalition governments development agenda at the end of the second year in office, Prime Minister Wickremesinghe said that efforts to develop the Kankesanthurai harbor in Jaffna district to further develop communication links with South India will be discussed when the new Indian High Commissioner (Taranjit Singh Sandhu) assumes office. On the current controversy surrounding the joint Indo-Lankan use of the 100 giant oil tanks in Trincomalee, he said that talks are on with the stakeholders concerned. The Lanka India Oil Corporation has been resisting efforts by the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation to develop some tanks unilaterally, bypassing the existing government to government agreement signed in 2002. Wickremesinghe said that Trincomalee port and its hinterland will be developed with Indian, Singaporean and Japanese investments. On the controversial grant of 80 percent stake to a Chinese government-owned company in the Hambantota harbor, the Prime Minister said there is nothing wrong in giving it that way, because a huge loan taken from the Chinese has been converted into a stake or investment. He said that his government believes in developing the country through FDIs and not loans in contrast to the policy of the predecessor Rajapaksa government. On the grant of 99 year lease on 15,000 acres of land near Hambantota port for the development of an economic zone, the Prime Minister said that it is better than giving land on a freehold basis to the Chinese as the Rajapaksa government did in the case of the Colombo Port. His government had to reverse the earlier governments decision. On the finalisation of the deal with China on Hambantota port, Wickremesinghe said that eight or nine agreements are still to be negotiated but he made it clear that there will be no change in the grant of 80 percent stake and 99 year lease on land for the economic zone. However, he evaded the question whether any agreement will be signed on January 7. The Prime Minister said that Sri Lanka will march on the path of development through trade and investment agreements like the Economic and Technical Cooperation Agreement (ETCA) with India, and Free Trade Agreements (FTAs)with China, Singapore and Japan. He will not be deterred by politically motivated criticism he added. ETCA and other FTAs will be signed this year, he said. The government plans to make Sri Lanka a logistics, IT and electronics hub, and hopes to secure US$ 2 or 3 billion in FDIs this year. On the controversy over the Electorates Delimitation Committee report he said that some political issues need to be resolved which he hopes to do when he meets the political parties in parliament on January 9. He said that a consensus is needed on this issue. On charges of political instability in his government, Wickremesinghe said that all governments face such problems whether they are single party or multi-party governments. If there are two big political parties in coalition, jockeying for positions is only to be expected, he said. By IANS ISTANBUL: Police arrested 27 suspected members of the Islamic State terrorist organisation in the Turkish province of Izmir on Wednesday for their alleged links to the New Year attack on Istanbul's Reina nightclub. According to local newspaper Hurriyet, the detainees include several children and belong to three families from Central Asia. They allegedly lived with the attacker in central Turkey and had fled their homes after the attack. The anti-terrorist unit carried out a raid on four houses in Izmir, and according to security services, the operation is still ongoing, reports Efe. Also arrested were 16 people in Istanbul and Konya in central Turkey between January 1 and 3 for their alleged involvement in the attack, which killed 39 and wounded 65. The attacker, whom the Turkish Foreign Ministry identified earlier but did not disclosed his name, is still on the run. Among the arrested is the wife of the attacker, who told the police that she did not know her husband belonged to IS. According to investigations, the head of the terrorist group's cell that carried out the attack was in Konya, used the alias Yusuf Hoca and organised the attacker's journey from Konya to Istanbul. The Islamic State claimed on Monday responsibility for the nightclub attack. The attack took place at the exclusive Reina nightclub, where over 600 persons were celebrating the New Year's Eve. ISTANBUL: Police arrested 27 suspected members of the Islamic State terrorist organisation in the Turkish province of Izmir on Wednesday for their alleged links to the New Year attack on Istanbul's Reina nightclub. According to local newspaper Hurriyet, the detainees include several children and belong to three families from Central Asia. They allegedly lived with the attacker in central Turkey and had fled their homes after the attack. The anti-terrorist unit carried out a raid on four houses in Izmir, and according to security services, the operation is still ongoing, reports Efe. Also arrested were 16 people in Istanbul and Konya in central Turkey between January 1 and 3 for their alleged involvement in the attack, which killed 39 and wounded 65. The attacker, whom the Turkish Foreign Ministry identified earlier but did not disclosed his name, is still on the run. Among the arrested is the wife of the attacker, who told the police that she did not know her husband belonged to IS. According to investigations, the head of the terrorist group's cell that carried out the attack was in Konya, used the alias Yusuf Hoca and organised the attacker's journey from Konya to Istanbul. The Islamic State claimed on Monday responsibility for the nightclub attack. The attack took place at the exclusive Reina nightclub, where over 600 persons were celebrating the New Year's Eve. By AFP ISTANBUL: Turkey's prime minister will this week pay a critical visit to Iraq, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday, after tensions soared to unprecedented levels ahead of the operation to recapture Mosul. Ankara has been concerned over the role of Shiite pro-Tehran militia in the operation to take the majority Sunni second city of Iraq from Islamic State (IS) jihadists. "We are watching all actions aimed at starting a confessional conflict in Iraq," Erdogan said in a speech in Ankara. He said that Prime Minister Binali Yildirim and a delegation would be making a visit to Iraq starting on Friday. "We want to bring our relations to a better level after they ground to a halt in recent times." Ankara has been largely left on the sidelines in the Mosul operation and the tensions led to a bitter public spat between Erdogan and Iraqi Premier Haider al-Abadi. Erdogan last year told the Iraqi leader to "know your place" and even said "you are not at my level". Not to be outdone, Abadi hit back by mocking Erdogan's appearance on FaceTime to rouse supporters on the night of the failed July 15 coup. But on December 30, Erdogan spoke to Abadi by telephone for the first time since the row, Turkish media said. Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said earlier this week that a "new era" was starting in Turkey's relationship with Iraq's leaders. Ruled for nearly half a millennium by the Ottoman Empire, Mosul is considered by mainly Sunni Muslim Turkey to be part of its natural sphere of influence in the Middle East. Ankara has insisted Mosul must keep its Sunni Arab Muslim majority which it had before IS took over the city from woefully unprepared Iraqi troops in 2014. Before the emergence of IS in Iraq, Turkey had major ambitions for Mosul, opening a vast consulate but then finding its entire 49 strong staff was taken hostage by the jihadists in June 2014. The hostages were later freed in September 2015 amid murky circumstances and, symbolically, the consulate building was destroyed in a US-led coalition air strike in April 2016. ISTANBUL: Turkey's prime minister will this week pay a critical visit to Iraq, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday, after tensions soared to unprecedented levels ahead of the operation to recapture Mosul. Ankara has been concerned over the role of Shiite pro-Tehran militia in the operation to take the majority Sunni second city of Iraq from Islamic State (IS) jihadists. "We are watching all actions aimed at starting a confessional conflict in Iraq," Erdogan said in a speech in Ankara. He said that Prime Minister Binali Yildirim and a delegation would be making a visit to Iraq starting on Friday. "We want to bring our relations to a better level after they ground to a halt in recent times." Ankara has been largely left on the sidelines in the Mosul operation and the tensions led to a bitter public spat between Erdogan and Iraqi Premier Haider al-Abadi. Erdogan last year told the Iraqi leader to "know your place" and even said "you are not at my level". Not to be outdone, Abadi hit back by mocking Erdogan's appearance on FaceTime to rouse supporters on the night of the failed July 15 coup. But on December 30, Erdogan spoke to Abadi by telephone for the first time since the row, Turkish media said. Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said earlier this week that a "new era" was starting in Turkey's relationship with Iraq's leaders. Ruled for nearly half a millennium by the Ottoman Empire, Mosul is considered by mainly Sunni Muslim Turkey to be part of its natural sphere of influence in the Middle East. Ankara has insisted Mosul must keep its Sunni Arab Muslim majority which it had before IS took over the city from woefully unprepared Iraqi troops in 2014. Before the emergence of IS in Iraq, Turkey had major ambitions for Mosul, opening a vast consulate but then finding its entire 49 strong staff was taken hostage by the jihadists in June 2014. The hostages were later freed in September 2015 amid murky circumstances and, symbolically, the consulate building was destroyed in a US-led coalition air strike in April 2016. Getty Images. Living on minimum wage is possible in these 13 U.S. cities, according to a GOBankingRates study but don't expect to have too much cash leftover. Nineteen states are raising their minimum wage in 2017and that means a renewal of the debate on whether or not a higher minimum wage actually benefits or harms workers. It's a debate that takes me back to my childhood. In some ways, we felt rich when my mom earned the minimum wage working the breakfast shift at McDonald's. My brother and I could eat pancakes any time we wanted, and the manager always gave us the newest Happy Meal toys. I also had my birthday party at Mickey D's, which in my understanding of the world at the time was a luxury normally reserved for the super-wealthy. As far as I knew, Michael Jordan's kids probably had their birthday parties at McDonald's. Peggy McKissen's kids did notat least until she donned the brown uniform of a 1980s McDonald's employee. So, life on the minimum wage had its moments, but for the most part, it was a hard way to live. I remember my mom talking about the way her hair smelled like French fries, and how difficult or even cruel customers could be. I also remember how McDonald's wasn't her only jobshe also delivered newspapers in the afternoon. My mom didn't support our family on two jobs people typically associate with teenagers because she was lazy, or because she hadn't figured out how to find her bootstraps and pull herself up by them. My dad actually made decent money as a well-driller when my brother and I were born, but he lost his job after a back injury he suffered lifting a pipe. In a town hit hard by the early Reagan-era farm recession, there were few options for my mom, who until that point had done one job: she raised my brother and me. So, as a 30-year-old woman with two kids and a husband who couldn't work, she got a job on the morning shift at McDonald's, serving Egg McMuffins to the same people she had gone to high school with. She wasn't the picture often painted of the minimum wage earner. She wasn't a teenager. And she didn't lack ambition. In fact, she was doing something our society says it admires: going to work, and doing whatever she could to support a family that needed her. Story continues My mom died a few years ago, but I think of herof a grown woman never able to completely scrub the smell of French fries out of her hairevery time I read an argument against raising the minimum wage that basically comes down to two points: 1. All minimum wage earners are teenagers, or 2. Most minimum wage earners are teenagers, but the ones who aren't are suffering from their own lack of ambition, skill, or both. I know that's not true based on the databut I also know that's not true because my family lived it. At the same time, my personal position on the minimum wage is more complex. As a business owner, I pay three employees. Not all of them make $15 an hour, and if I were required to pay all of my employees $15 per hour, I would have to seriously consider whether I could continue to afford them. A year agobefore my company experienced growthI simply would have had to let those employees go. That's not because my wife and I are living like Saudi Arabian sheiks, and are reluctant to share the wealth. I pay my employees as much as I can possibly pay them for the value they deliver and would love to pay them more, but I simply can't. Like my family's experience making ends meet on the minimum wage, I can show you data that says an increase in the minimum wage can result in fewer jobs at small businesses like mine. But I also know that story because I live it every day. Many minimum wage earners are adults doing whatever they can to feed themselves and their families. Minimum wage increases do have an impact on jobs at small businesses like mine. Both of these statements are true, and do not cancel each other out. Yet, they get shouted at each other by both sides of the minimum wage debate as if they do cancel each other out. Raising the national minimum wage will require both sides of the debate to do something almost impossible to do in our current political environment: recognize there are valid points on both sides, and work to find a solution somewhere in the middle. My mom was just doing her best to take care of her family when she was earning the minimum wage. I'm just doing the best I can to take care of my family and am concerned a $15 minimum wage might impact my ability to do that. If we start the debate from a place that acknowledges one truth doesn't cancel another truth out, maybe we can actually get something done. Commentary by Dustin McKissen, the founder and CEO of McKissen + Company, a strategy, marketing, and public relations firm based in St. Charles, Missouri. He was named one of LinkedIn's "Top Voices" in 2015 and 2016, and is currently pursuing a PhD in Organizational and Industrial Psychology. Follow him on Twitter @DMcKissen. For more insight from CNBC contributors, follow @CNBCOpinion on Twitter. More From CNBC Spare Change: Finally! Election TV ads soon will be done Truth is, I suspect these spots are effective. For instance, Allan Fung is portrayed as a regular Joe from Cranston. Champaign, IL (61820) Today Cloudy and becoming windy. High near 75F. Winds S at 20 to 30 mph. Higher wind gusts possible.. Tonight Windy. Thunderstorms becoming likely later at night. Low around 60F. Winds SSE at 25 to 35 mph. Chance of rain 80%. Higher wind gusts possible. The University of Illinois at Chicago College of Nursing has received a $3.25 million federal grant to continue its research to identify risk and protective factors related to drinking and drinking-related problems among sexual-minority -- lesbian or bisexual -- women. The five-year study, led by Tonda Hughes, professor of health systems science and associate dean for global health, will examine how stressful experiences in a person's life -- childhood sexual abuse, adult sexual assault or discrimination based on race/ethnicity or sexual orientation -- are related to psychological suffering and hazardous drinking in adult sexual-minority women. Now in its 17th year, Hughes' study is the longest-running project of its kind, and one of the only longitudinal studies focusing on sexual-minority women's drinking and health. Sexual-orientation-related health disparities are now well recognized, and some of the largest inequalities have been documented between the drinking behavior of sexual-minority and heterosexual women, Hughes said. The new study will evaluate the impact on sexual-minority women's drinking and health following the Supreme Court's landmark Obergefell decision legalizing same-sex marriage. It will also take advantage of a unique longitudinal data set, tracking the drinking patterns of the same women over a 20-year period, to examine their long-term drinking trajectories and health. Hughes said findings from the study will add significantly to the current sparse knowledge about individual, interpersonal and societal factors that contribute to elevated rates of physical and mental health problems -- including hazardous drinking and its complications -- in sexual-minority women. "This will generate information that can guide the development of prevention, treatment and policy to reduce health disparities in sexual minorities, and potentially other minority groups as well," Hughes said. "We anticipate that the supportive policy change garnered from the historic Supreme Court decision that was passed in June 2015 will have beneficial effects for all sexual-minority women, and those who choose to marry will demonstrate many of the health benefits of marriage observed among women in the general population." Hughes' earlier research showed that sexual-minority women interviewed after Illinois passed its Marriage Fairness Act in 2014 reported better mental health and lower levels of hazardous drinking than those interviewed before the bill was passed. Benefits were seen for all women in the study, but African American and Latina sexual-minority women, as well as those without college degrees, appeared to benefit most -- suggesting that women who are more marginalized may see the most benefit from supportive policies. Source: University of Illinois at Chicago The practice of pathology is entering a period of broad adoption of digital workflows, as near real-time access to digital slides offers opportunities to greatly improve clinical outcomes and accelerate research. Image credit: Huron Digital Pathology. As Liron Pantanowitz, Professor of Pathology and Biomedical Informatics at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center recently described, digital pathology offers benefits with respect to image analysis, education, telepathology, centralized services, archiving, workflow efficiency, subspecialty practice, and computational pathology. However, Pantanowitz also cautions that digital workflows must be executed properly, and this starts with the successful digitization of glass slides by means of whole slide scanning. Get this part right, and it will positively benefit the rest of the pathology workflow. Lets look at the seven most prominent pitfalls encountered in whole slide scanning and the potential solutions for overcoming them. Pitfall #1: Those pesky barcodes Most slide scanners expect standard 1 x 3 slides to have a single barcode placed at the top of the slide, and are therefore designed to read that barcode in that specific position. But sometimes, multiple barcodes are placed on top of each other, making the slides too thick to fit into the slide handling mechanism. Or, there may be multiple barcodes in multiple locations of the slide. Both these scenarios can result in the need for time consuming manual intervention. Solution: Find a more accommodating slide holder and image-based barcode capture. Look for a slide scanner that can handle a variance in slide thickness in case there is a need to place a barcode on top of another. The slide holders on Huron Digital Pathologys TissueScope LE scanner, for example, can handle thicker slides. Furthermore, the scanner employs image-based barcode capture, so the barcode or barcodes can be read anywhere on the slide. Pitfall #2: Trying to scan damaged slides Through the slide preparation process, slides can become broken or chipped. They can still be scanned, but special care must be taken. The slides may have to be scanned separately, which disrupts the automation expected from digital pathology. Pitfall #3: Scanners that eat slides In many scanners, the slide handling mechanism can actually break the glass slide as it moves through the scanner during image acquisition. This not only destroys the slide, but requires scanner maintenance to remove the broken slide and glass. This is clearly a handling hazard for laboratory personnel. Solution to Pitfalls #2 and #3: Look for a slide holder that does no harm. Choose a scanner that can accommodate imperfect slides without impacting throughput, one that ensures the integrity of the slide. The TissueScope LE120 slide holder has a unique clamping system that can accept slides that are broken or have chips. And because its tray-based, the scanner doesnt actually touch the slides, keeping the precious specimens and fragile glass safe. Huron Digital Pathology Innovative Slide Holder Play Figure 1. The Huron Digital Pathology slide holder keeps slides safe. Pitfall #4: The care required in slide preparation Most slide scanners are automatic, generally designed to accommodate pristinely prepared slides with little variability. In reality, this is often not the case. Therefore, extra care needs to be taken by lab staff to reduce the variability in preparation, because this will affect the success of image acquisition, and re-scans are costly to the efficiency of the workflow. For example, take Canadas largest microscopy facility, the Advanced Optical Microscope Facility (AOMF) in Toronto. General Manager, James Jonkman and his staff actively instruct those responsible for preparing slides to the facility to adhere to these strict procedures to ensure optimal results: Slides are dry and not sticky Slides are clean with no finger prints, oil etc. on them Labels are not sticky or overhanging the slides Coverslips are not overhanging the slides No globs of mounting media are on the slides No marker annotations such as arrows or circling tissues are on the slides Solution: Find the right slide holder, and take advantage of scan preview. A bit of extra mounting media shouldnt ruin your day, so look for a scanner that can handle difficult slides without impacting throughput. Also, if available, take advantage of the scanners preview function to ensure that the scans are set up to be properly acquired. Make sure your scanner allows for full control of the region of interest, focus area, and other factors to ensure a successful scan. Figure 2. Hurons interface gives users more power to tackle difficult slides. Image credit: Huron Digital Pathology. Pitfall #5: Managing scanner down-time As demonstrated by pitfall #4, scan preview and set-up is a critical step for ensuring all slides are properly imaged. However, this step can be time consuming, costing 10-20% of scanner throughput each day. Instead of acquiring images, your expensive investment (the medium to high throughput slide scanner) sits idle. Further, the power of these cameras is routinely wasted when spent taking low-resolution preview images. So how can digital pathology workflows increase throughput without sacrificing image quality? Solution: Improve scanner throughput by offloading scan preview and setup. If a workflow can separate preview acquisition from final image acquisition, the imaging system will be put to best use, maximizing throughput. Huron Digital Pathologys TissueSnap, which works along-side the TissueScope LE120, is designed to do just that. A few words about Hurons TissueSnap Preview Station Figure 3. The TissueSnap connects to an LE slide scanner to maximize throughput. Image credit: Huron Digital Pathology. While the TissueScope LE120 is scanning, the TissueSnap can capture preview images of slides yet to be scanned. The preview images are sent instantly to the main scanners user interface. As the scanner continues to acquire high-resolution images, the next batch of slides can be previewed and setup simultaneously without interruption. As well as separating image set-up from high throughput scanning, TissueSnap has a compact size and networkability that mean it can be placed almost anywhere in the laboratory. Various TissueSnap preview stations placed in different locations can feed a single high throughput scanner, thereby improving workflow. Pitfall #6: Navigating proprietary file formats Once image acquisition is complete, the digital slide may move through a series of other phases: image viewing, image management, image sharing, and image analysis. As the digital slide travels through this cycle, it may interact with different software systems, which may have varying degrees of integration with image acquisition. For example, the image analysis software may prefer file formats different from that of the viewing software. The risk here is of additional investment in software development, extra expense on proprietary image viewers, or at worst, incompatibility. Solution: Open up. Look for scanners that output in a non-proprietary file format. TissueScope LE, for example, creates a BigTIFF that can be read by just about every image management and image analysis software, making it fast and simple to integrate. That gives you a lot of freedom to easily mix and match hardware and software components, and reduce cost. Figure 4. The TissueScope LE120 with 1 x 3, 2 x 3, and 5 x 7 slide holders. Image credit: Huron Digital Pathology. Pitfall #7: Slides that are too big While most slides are standard size (roughly 1 x 3), there are instances particularly in the research area where tissue can be much larger. This is particularly true with whole mount brain, breast, and prostate tissue. So, what do you do about these larger slides? Solution: Be flexible. Choose a scanning solution that can accommodate multiple slide sizes. Hurons TissueScope, for example, can accommodate both standard and double-wide slides, and any size slide up to 6 x 8. About Huron Digital Pathology Based in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, Huron Digital Pathology has a 20 year history designing sophisticated imaging instrumentation. Our end-to-end digital whole slide imaging solutions for digital pathology incorporate our award-winning TissueScope digital slide scanners; TissueView image viewing, sharing and management platform; and our workflow-enhancing accessories, which include our innovative TissueSnap preview scanning station. Sponsored Content Policy: News-Medical.net publishes articles and related content that may be derived from sources where we have existing commercial relationships, provided such content adds value to the core editorial ethos of News-Medical.Net which is to educate and inform site visitors interested in medical research, science, medical devices and treatments. German consumer rights champion myRight filed the first legal test case against Volkswagen in Germany on Tuesday, raising pressure on the carmaker to compensate customers in Europe over the emissions scandal. Europe's largest automaker has pledged billions to compensate U.S. owners of Volkswagen (VW) diesel-powered cars, but has so far rejected any compensation for the 8.5 million affected vehicles in Europe where different legal rules weaken the chances of affected customers winning a pay out. Instead, VW is in the process of removing the illicit software that cheated emissions tests and insists the technical fixes will inflict no loss of value on car owners in Europe. It hopes to have completed repairs to all affected vehicles by the end of the year. MyRight, which has gathered more than 100,000 VW owners through its web site, has accused VW of breaching European Union law by selling cars with software that was banned under EU rules, according to the 93-page legal document seen by Reuters. Rather than seeking compensation for a decline in value, the lawsuit aims to force VW to repurchase the vehicles at the original price, myRight founder Jan-Eike Andresen said. MyRight has mandated US law firm Hausfeld to pursue the claims. Hausfeld represents aggrieved VW owners and shareholders on both sides of the Atlantic. The purpose of the proceedings by myRight is to act as a model - resolving generic or common issues for other related cases. However, unlike in a US class action, it does not have the legal effect of resolving all individual claims. Wolfsburg-based Volkswagen, has said the software fitted into the engine at the centre of the scandal, codenamed EA 189, does not violate European law and declined comment on the myRight suit. "We have taken note that myRight has announced the submission of diesel lawsuits for Jan. 3. The lawsuits have not yet been made available to us which is why we cannot comment on the contents at the moment," the carmaker said. New European research suggests a lack of vitamin D could have yet another effect on health, increasing the risk of chronic headaches in men. Carried out by researchers from the University of Eastern Finland, the team looked at 2601 men aged between 42 and 60 years who were taking part in the Kuopio Ischaemic Heart Disease Risk Factor Study (KIHD). The men were tested for levels of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH) D), a marker for vitamin D status, with 68% of the men showing a serum vitamin D level of below 50 nmol/l, generally considered the threshold for vitamin D deficiency. The men were also asked to report on the frequency with which they experienced headaches. After dividing the participants into four groups based on their serum vitamin D levels, the team found that the group with the lowest levels of serum vitamin D had over a twofold risk (116%) of chronic headaches in comparison to the group with the highest levels. Chronic headaches were also reported more frequently by men who were examined outside the summer months of June through September, a time when average serum vitamin D levels may be lower due to a lack of UVB radiation from the sun. The new study adds to the growing body of evidence that a lack of vitamin D can have an adverse effect on health and increase the risk of various chronic diseases, with recent research also showing an association between a lack of vitamin D and conditions such as cognitive decline, multiple sclerosis, IBS and bladder cancer, with a lack of vitamin D while pregnant also associated with autism, ADHD and asthma in children. Low vitamin D levels have also been found previously to be linked with an increased risk of headaches, although in smaller studies. The results now suggest that in Finland and other countries far from the Equator, extra care should be taken outside of the summer months to ensure vitamin D levels are topped up with food such as oily fish, beef or calf liver, eggs and cod liver oil, or from vitamin D supplements. The results can be found online published in Scientific Reports. : Almost all the high-value bank notes that ceased to be legal tender post the demonetisation announcement on November 8 have returned to the banks dealing a blow to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's surprise move to unearth black money in circulation, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday.About 97 percent of the Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 in circulation until November 8 have been deposited back, the report said quoting "people with knowledge of the matter"."Banks have received Rs 14.97 trillion ($220 billion) as of December 30, the deadline for handing in the old bank notes, the people said, asking not to be identified citing rules for speaking with the media. The government had initially estimated about 5 trillion rupees of the 15.4 trillion rupees rendered worthless by the sudden move on November 9 to remain undeclared as it may have escaped the tax net illegally," Bloomberg said.According to the report, banks have disbursed about 8 trillion rupees in new currency bills. The figures of bank notes deposited are provisional and may change.Although the deadline for depositing the scrapped notes in bank accounts expired on December 31, the Reserve Bank of India is yet to release any final figure on the value of notes already returned. December 31 proved to be a night off horrors for women who stepped out looking for a night of merriment. MG Road, Brigade Road and Church Street - the glitzy heart of India's tech capital transformed into a melee where drunken revellers shouted lewd remarks, harassed and even molested women on the streets. All this, even as state government claimed that 1500 policemen were deployed in the area.A day later, a shocking CCTV video has surfaced , showing a woman being followed, groped and beaten to the ground by perpetrators. This time, the location was't a party destination along a high street, but a quiet residential neighborhood. What ails Bengaluru? News18 is looking to give Bangaloreans a voice.If you have been a victim or a witness of the night's horrors, tell us about it in the form below.If you wish to remain anonymous, you can leave the personal information fields blank. Mumbai: The Union government has informed the Bombay High Court that it has issued guidelines to all the states to block matrimonial websites encouraging dowry. "Such guidelines have been issued to all the states, including Maharashtra, and it is for the state governments to act on them," it said recently in an affidavit on a PIL filed by advocate Priscila Samuel on the dowry menace. Advocate General Rohit Deo and Government Pleader Abhay Patki, appearing for the state government, assured the court that steps would be taken to implement such guidelines. Patki submitted that the state would file an affidavit within two weeks, detailing the steps taken regarding the formation of the grievance redressal mechanism and district-level advisory boards as also the time-frame within which these would be set up. Deo told the court that the proposal of appointing dowry prohibition officers was under the consideration of the state Women and Child Welfare Department. Thereafter, it will be approved by the General Administration and Finance departments and then, it will be placed before the Cabinet for approval. Patki submitted that the state will put on affidavit details of steps taken till date and the time required for appointing dowry prohibition officers. On his request, the court granted two weeks to the state to file an affidavit in this regard. A bench headed by Justices Shantanu Kemkar and Prakash Naik posted the matter to January 10 for the next hearing. The PIL claimed that though the Dowry Prohibition Act was enacted in 1961, the state had done "little" to control the dowry menace. It urged the court to inquire into the "mushrooming of illegal businesses" of marriage brokers and marriage service providers. It also contended that advertisements on matrimonial websites seeking dowry were directly violating the provisions of the Dowry Prohibition Act and sought orders to the state government to regulate the functioning of such websites. For more than 50 days now, Poonam Pardesi has not been able to go to a bank to withdraw money. It's not the long lines, the interminable waiting or the fear of harassment by bank officials that has deterred her. Neither did she magically have a stash of the new notes stacked away at home that came to her rescue. For Poonam it was not a question of convenience neither one of practicality. She is 100 percent visually impaired, a disability that didn't stop her from getting the finest education, from living in and navigating a city like Delhi all by herself or from working fulltime. But what the disability didn't do, demonetisation managed to pull off in a mere two months time- make her feel debilitated and completely reliant on others. Since November 8, when the Prime Minister took the entire nation by surprise with his demonetisation announcement, Poonam has had to rely on the kindness of friends and colleagues- individuals who go in lieu of her to withdraw money from her bank account. She says that most banks don't have counters to help the visually impaired or for that matter, any customer with any disability. That means she needs an escort, something that banks also aren't allowing. Poonam says, "When someone goes to withdraw money on my behalf, because of the rush at banks, they can't get all the cash I need. I am always reliant on someone else's schedule and availability. Did the government even think about people like us?" Many ATMs also don't have a voice feature which means Poonam can't navigate the process of withdrawing cash without help this despite an RBI circular that mandates that all Automatic Teller Machines must be accessible for all people. The alienation doesn't end there. Poonam describes the frustration that comes with using the new notes. The two security features that the 2000 and 500 rupee notes have are easy to miss. Poonam says the raised rectangle and circle on the currency along with the angular lines will eventually fade once the notes become well used. This makes size the only discernible feature for the visually impaired. What Poonam does then is to keep the notes in different compartments in her wallet, depending on their size. "But sometimes the 20 rupee note feels just like the 500 rupee note. The new currency is simply not accessible for us," she adds. PM Narendra Modi's 'Digital India' push did not come handy for her there. Unfortunately, like they say, the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Applications like Paytm dont have a voiceover feature, which means Poonam is automatically excluded from this digital platform. Similarly not all websites are disability friendly, which means more dependence on others. "The other day, I wanted to buy groceries from the local kirana store. The shopkeeper had Paytm on his phone but didnt know how to use it. I couldn't even explain to him what he needed to do because of my disability. With no cash on me, I was ready to leave the shop without purchasing anything but then I decided to call a colleague who helped," Poonam says adding her purchases are now limited to a known grocer near her home. This isn't the first time though that the banking system has let Poonam down. In 2013, when she walked into an SBI bank branch to open her first bank account, she was made to wait for an hour following which bank officials told her that she couldn't open an account. "They asked me, how will you ever operate an account?" she recounts. After asking her for an undertaking and pushing her to give her thumb impression (Poonam refused, reminding them shes literate and can sign), she managed to open an account. Not just that, in another instance, bank officials refused to give her a cheque book or even an ATM card by saying, "what if something goes wrong?" Even now, she says when she goes to the bank with an escort, the bank employees talk to the person accompanying her- assuming that with blindness, hearing loss and lack of comprehension skills are also a given. Poonam overcame these challenges- she pushed and she prevailed. But demonetisation has turned the clock backwards, alienating her and pushing her out of the system once again. ReneSola Ltd SOL has signed a framework agreement with an affiliate of Beijing Enterprises Clean Energy Group (Beijing Enterprises Clean Energy) Limited for developing rooftop solar projects of 335 megawatts in China. Details of the Agreement The projects will be based in the Hebei, Shandong, Fujian, Shanxi and Jiangsu Provinces of China. As per the deal, ReneSola will be responsible for engineering, procurement and construction of the projects, while Beijing Enterprises Clean Energy will provide financing during construction. The projects are expected to be completed by Jun 30, 2017 and ReneSola will sell them to Beijing Enterprises Clean Energy upon completion. This agreement is in line with ReneSolas positive outlook for rooftop solar distributed generation projects in China. Moreover, it is a strategic fit for ReneSolas long-term strategy of shifting business toward project development and LED distribution. Price Movement Shares of ReneSola lost 64% in the last one year, underperforming the Zacks categorized Solar industrys loss of 59.6%. The primary reason for this underperformance could be the U.S. Department of Commerces imposition of anti-dumping duties and anti-subsidy rates on the import of Chinese solar panels, which has adversely impacted ReneSolas revenues since all of the companys production facilities are located in China. Solar Industry Outlook Throughout last year, the solar industry has grappled with challenges like declining solar panel prices, weaker power plant contracting activity and increasing regulatory stringency. The industry-wide downturn was owing to a looming glut of solar panels. As solar players continued to step up production in an effort to seize a higher market share, panel supply outweighed demand significantly. Strong project build-up in the U.S. in anticipation of the Dec 2016 expiration of the solar investment tax credit (which was eventually extended) also played a major role in curbing activity in this space as developers now have more time to build their projects. Story continues This had a material impact on solar companies such as First Solar, Inc. FSLR,Canadian Solar Inc. CSIQ and JA Solar Holdings Co., Ltd. JASO. Further, the unexpected victory of Donald Trump in the Presidential election does not bode well for the renewable energy space. The President-elect has not only vowed to revive the coal industry but has even called climate change a Chinese Hoax. Zacks Rank ReneSola carries a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. Zacks' Top 10 Stocks for 2017 In addition to the stocks discussed above, would you like to know about our 10 finest buy-and-hold tickers for the entirety of 2017? Who wouldn't? As of early December, the 2016 Top 10 produced 5 double-digit winners including oil and natural gas giant Pioneer Natural Resources which racked up a stellar +50% gain. The new list is painstakingly hand-picked from 4,400 companies covered by the Zacks Rank. Be among the very first to see it>> 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 JA SOLAR HOLDGS (JASO): Free Stock Analysis Report FIRST SOLAR INC (FSLR): Free Stock Analysis Report RENESOLA LT-ADR (SOL): Free Stock Analysis Report CANADIAN SOLAR (CSIQ): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. I want to remove the CPI (M) from power in West Bengal and to do that, I will not hesitate to join hands even with the devil, she had said in a steely voice that had silenced everyone present in the room. In politics, no one can predict the future. For the present, BJP is our main enemy and Didi is playing a central role in uniting the entire Opposition against Modi. Just wait and watch, is how a senior minister in her Cabinet explained the unfolding political drama. In the din created by consecutive arrests of two Trinamool Congress MPs by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and a furious Mamata Banerjees demand for the arrest of Narendra Modi, many have forgotten that Mamata was one of the very few political leaders in India, who had congratulated Modi after his victory in Gujarat assembly elections following the communal riots.This correspondent, then almost a cub reporter and his senses still not immune to the darker aspects of political ambitions, had asked Mamata why she had chosen to send Modi a bunch of roses when almost the entire political class was condemning him for the Gujarat riots.But that was more than two decades ago. She has now ascended the throne in Bengal and has reduced the CPI (M) to the footnotes of history, as her senior leaders say. To do it, she joined hands with the devil, not once but repeatedly.Both the BJP and the Congress are devils she has said many times in her close circles and she has never dithered to embrace them and then dump them again and again in her journey to power.Now that her power is secured in West Bengal, Mamata is eager to play a central role in national politics.Will she join hands with the Congress? Well, she already has.Will she dump the Congress and make friends with the BJP in future?In her journey to power, Mamata made her first big and somewhat risky step forward by quitting the Congress, splitting the party in West Bengal and forming the Trinamool Congress in 1998. This might not have happened had PV Narasimha Rao agreed to make her the Congress chief in Bengal, which she was demanding for at least two years.Always on good terms with both Atal Bihari Vajpayee and LK Advani, Mamata joined the BJP-led NDA and became the first woman Railways minister. When the Opposition criticised that she was acting more like a Railways Minister of West Bengal, she simply ignored them and introduced new trains and projects for her state. Her target was the 2001 assembly polls.During those days, the BJP was nothing more than a fringe organisation in the state. So, as soon as the Tehelka scam erupted, she dumped the BJP, joined hands with the Congress again and fought the assembly polls. It turned out to be one of her worst performances.So Mamata lost no time in warming up to the BJP leaders again particularly Advani and some other senior leaders, who are now in the Modi cabinet. In 2004, she went back to NDA and became the coal and mines minister.But her close associates some inside Trinamool and others, interestingly, from some strongly anti-CPI(M) fringe Left organisations were trying to convince her for quite some time, that unless she distanced herself from the BJP, the nearly 28 per cent minority votes in Bengal would not come to her kitty and she would never come even close to power. She realised this the hard way.In 2005 she lost the prestigious Kolkata Municipal Corporation election and in 2006 she got only 35 of the 294 seats in the assembly polls.At this point, Mamata decided to change course and took full advantage of the changing political situation in the state.During her anti-land acquisition movement", first in Singur and then in Nandigram, her party sent a clear message that only the land belonging to the Muslim community was being acquired by the Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee government. Mamata and not the Left was the new messiah of the minorities. The huge success of the two struggles finally made her the chief minister of West Bengal.In the first five years in power, the Trinamools primary objective was to reduce both the Left and the Congress to political non-entities. Having successfully done that she is now eyeing Delhi.Demonetisation and the consequent coming together of the Opposition present her with a unique opportunity.Arrest of her two MPs Tapas Paul and Sudip Bandyopadhyay has created a public perception that she is being targeted by the BJP because she is the most vociferous voice against demonetisation, Trinamool leaders say insisting that this will only catapult her to the centre stage of national politics.The arrests have come as a boon in disguise, a senior Trinamool leader said, chuckling, over phone late on Tuesday night.(The writer is a senior journalist based in Kolkata) Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Manipur and Goa will pick new assemblies between February 4 and March 8 in the biggest popularity test since the Lok Sabha polls of 2014. Uttar Pradesh, the country's most populous state, will go to the polls in seven phases: February 11 (73 seats), 15 (67 seats), 19 (69 seats), 23 (53 seats) and 27 (52 seats) and March 4 (49 seats) and 8 (40 seats).The results from all the states will be known on March 11, Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi said on Wednesday while unveiling a slew of new election-related rules. For the first time, there will be separate polling stations for women and photographs of the candidates will be displayed on the electronic voting machines.The results from all the states will be known on March 11, Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi said on Wednesday while unveiling a slew of new election-related rules. While the BJP rules Goa, it is a junior ally to the Shiromani Akali Dal-led government in Punjab. The Congress governs Uttarakhand and Manipur.The AAP, the country's youngest political outfit and which rules Delhi, will contest for the first time in Punjab and Goa. For the first time, there will be separate polling stations for women and photographs of the candidates will be displayed on the electronic voting machines. The maximum limit for expenses for each candidates in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Uttarakhand is Rs 28 lakh, while that in Goa and Manipur is Rs 20 lakh,. Washington: Creating history for a minority ethnic community that comprises just one per cent of the US population, five Indian Americans took oath as members of the Congress. 52-year-old Kamala Harris whose mother was from India and father from Jamaica of African heritage, was sworn in yesterday as the Senator from California by the outgoing US Vice President Joe Biden. She is the first Indian American to have ever served in the Senate. She was accompanied by her husband Doug Emhoff, sister Maya Harris and other members of her immediate family members during the swearing in ceremony. Harris, who before the swearing in held the position of California Attorney General replaced Senator Barbara Boxer, who decided against seeking re-election. She is one of the seven new Senators to have taken office in the new Congress. "Today I was sworn-in to the US Senate. I am humbled and honoured to serve you and the people of California. Let's get to work," Harris said immediately thereafter. After her elections, she has made it clear that her top priority would be to fight out the alleged divisive policies of the Republicans who are now in majority in both the House of Representative and the Senate. A few hours later, the focus of the community shifted to the House Chambers wherein as many as four Indian Americans were sworn in as its members, including Congressman Ami Bera, who has been re-elected for the third consecutive term. In the process he equalled the record of Dalip Singh Saundh, who exactly 60-years ago became the first Indian American to be elected as a member of the US Congress. Joining Bera were young and dynamic Ro Khanna (40) representing the Silicon Valley. He was sworn in on a bicentennial edition of the Constitution on loan from the rare books division of the Library of Congress. Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi, 42, who won the election from Illinois took the oath on Gita. He is only the second US lawmaker after Tulsi Gabbard from Hawaii to take the oath on a Gita. Gabbard, the first ever Hindu to be elected to the US Congress took the oath for third consecutive term. Once upon a time Indian women were kept secure in joint families, till one day it was decided that women could work and augment the family income, provided they dressed traditionally, in accordance with the state they lived in, and came home straight from work.Education and earning power were reluctantly conferred on women, so they could make both ends meet if, say, husband was maimed, dead or elopes with another woman.But this went to their head! Soon women were gathering day and sometimes night to just say hello to each other.The moral police had not a minute to themselves; canoodling couples had to be crowbarred out of nooks and crannies. Women needed to be herded, stalked and acid-attacked to constantly remind them of how hazardous it was to be out and about.To this end, molesters and gropers have dedicated their lives, not to mention both of their hands, to the cause of personally teaching women a lesson: walk on the streets, hang out in public spaces, drink in pubs, pass through dark stretches without lamps, wear what you want but at your own risk.In case women in one city think sexual violence the problem of another city, cities quickly set them right.Keeping women unsafe is a fulltime job, any Indian city knows that.But with a little bit of help from the local police, yawning politicians and multiplying male mobs, rape stats are evenly maintained across the country.The former says, but no FIR filed, and the latter is too hung over to speak after a night of such male bonding. Teaching women a lesson is a tiring activity. And really they would retire from this altogether if it wasnt for the clothes women choose to wear, tch-tch. When men cant keep their hands to themselves it is always the womans fault.What happened in Bengaluru on New Years Eve couldve happened anywhere, but what happens elsewhere in India had seldom happened in Bengaluru before such blatant disregard for the safety of its women.Very few cities in India are considered female-friendly in the first place. With the exception of Mumbai and Puducherry, no other place is a preferred destination for solo women who like to stay out late. Only men have the right to be nocturnal hereabouts.In Bengaluru on New Years Eve reportedly 1,500 policemen patrolled the MG Road-Brigade Road area, the main social and commercial artery of the city.But a band of merry men, who leered at and got handsy with the opposite sex, obviously knew police blindness was a sure thing.Home Minister G Parameshwaras sociological analysis They (the victims) tried to copy the Westerner, not only in their mind-set but even in their dressing.So some disturbance, some girls are harassed, these kind of things do happen puts the blame squarely and ungrammatically on women.Once a woman feels unsafe, she feels unsafe forever. She is never going to regain that trust in the world she lives in. For the revellers it was just another night out with the boys, for the victims it was the city as it really is.(The author is a Bengaluru-based writer) Bengaluru: Prominent citizens of Bengaluru reacted in horror and despair on Wednesday after CCTV footage came to light of a women being groped and assaulted by two bike-borne men on New Year's Eve. Prominent activist Ranjana said, "There is no action, there has been no punishment in these cases. It's very unfortunate that on one hand we keep blaming the migrants but this is something else." "These people must be punished and must feel ashamed of these activities. This sends a message of what kinds of brats parents are raising. No action has been taken in Bangalore," she added. Former Infosys CFO Mohandas Pai, another prominent Bengalurean, put the onus on the city police to take stricter preventive measures to stop such incidents from taking place. "Police should have stricter action. There should be a show of force at places where people gather.There was a lack of enforcement at that point of time. The police should have caught the miscreants immediately and taken them behind bars. If they would've made a few arrests, the situation could've been different," he said. Brinda Adige, another prominent activist, said, I am ashamed, outraged and angry that these men continue molesting and abusing women with with impunity. Blame squarely lies with politicians who make obnoxious shameful statements that it is because of clothes, western thinking. This is what encourages men to continue because they know no one will fault or punish them." Actress and politician Nagma said these incidents are unfortunate. "Unfortunate what is happening. All this is happening across the nation whether its in Haryana or Karnataka, and we have seen recently how people have molested and even killed girls. We must not be selective about one state. This also happens in haryana and we see leaders in all parties making obnoxious statements. We are still living in a regressive society," she said. Sheopur (Madhya Pradesh): Farmer receives Rs 2000 notes from SBI Bank without Mahatma Gandhi's image pic.twitter.com/To8yiFIFxq ANI (@ANI_news) January 5, 2017 Two elderly farmers in Madhya Pradeshs Sheopur district got a shock after being handed Rs 2000 notes without the customary picture of Mahatma Gandhi on Wednesday at State Bank of India (SBI).The farmers, who thought the currency was fake, heaved a sigh of relief when the bank officials told them that the notes were genuine but were not printed properly.Laxman Meena, from village Bichhugawdi, had withdrawn Rs 6,000 from the SBI branch. Laxman had never seen the new Rs 2,000 note so did not react when he was handed three Rs 2,000 notes by the cashier.But when Laxman reached home, his son saw the notes and informed him that they were fake notes as the currency did not have Mahatma Gandhis picture on them.Alarmed, he hurriedly reached the bank and narrated the matter to the bank officers.Initially the bank staff tried to hush-up the matter but soon another farmer, Gurmeet Singh from Kadukhera village, reached the bank with two Rs 2,000 notes with the same issue.The bank officers quietly accepted the notes but did not offer new notes.Shrawanlal Meena, Manager of the branch, said that the notes were not fake. "The space meant for picture was blank. We have accepted the notes," he said. Gen Dalbir Singh hands over the command to 27th #COAS Gen Bipin Rawat in an impressive ceremony at South Block today. pic.twitter.com/1aOve6PuuF ADG PI - INDIAN ARMY (@adgpi) December 31, 2016 My 1st priority is to boost Indian Army's moral and make every jawan believe that they empower our force: Army chief Gen Bipin Rawat to ANI pic.twitter.com/3mpi45NF1s ANI (@ANI_news) January 3, 2017 Gen Bipin Rawat #COAS on taking over being presented a ceremonial Guard of Honour at the Lawns of South Block pic.twitter.com/bERzy7S9QA ADG PI - INDIAN ARMY (@adgpi) January 1, 2017 : India will give a calibrated "hard" response to terror activities that will compel Pakistan to completely rethink its strategy on supporting insurgency and terrorism here, says new Army Chief Gen Bipin Rawat.Gen Rawat, who as the Vice Chief was actively involved in the surgical strikes on terror camps across the LoC, also feels while it has to be ensured that "pain" is felt by the terrorists and their supporters, the response need not be in the same manner always.He brushes aside Pakistan's threat of use of tactical nuclear weapons, saying such statements will not deter India when it comes to defending our borders."While we do agree that we have to retaliate and ensure that the pain is felt by the terrorists and their supporters, the response need not be the same every time," the army chief said in an interview in New Delhi.Gen Rawat, who took over as the 27th chief on December 31, said, said "We will calibrate the response in a manner it hits them hard and compels them to think in the long run whether they need to completely rethink their strategy on supporting insurgency and terrorism in our state". He was asked about Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar's statement that enemy needs to feel the pain too.Gen Rawat also said that not every incident needs to be seen from the same perspective as there are "large number" of terrorists operating in the valley who are always attempting to carry out some sort of violence against the security forces and citizens.Asked about Pakistan's threat of using tactical nukes, the army chief said nuclear weapons are weapons of deterrence. "And if Pakistan is reviewing their strategy on use of nuclear weapon, it is something that they have decided to strategise," he said adding that Pakistan's statements doe snot find favour either with India or with the international community.Gen Rawat said one will have to wait and see what call Pakistan takes finally.He said that the government, which decides the nuclear policy, may not be deterred by the threat in case India is forced to get into a confrontation with Pakistan along the borders.Responding to a question on whether India needs to revisit the "no first use policy", Gen Rawat said all policies are subject to review."Any policy that is made is subject to analysis and review. If a review is necessitated and it is felt that this review is necessary, we will go along with the government," he said.He said India is a democracy and nuclear policy is not decided at his level but by the government."There are various guidelines that have been formulated and it will be issued. But if a review has to be taken, directions will come from the hierarchy," he said.He also spoke extensively on modernisation of the army and said "time has come to imbibe new technology and adapt them to weapon system and equipment that we wish to bring and induct into the armed forces".Admitting that while not everything can be made in India, he said the army is also looking at collaborating with some of the international firms manufacturing weapons and finally looking at Transfer of Technology which will give a boost to domestic industry. The first week of 2017 has started and with it comes a brand new list of film everybody all over the world is waiting for. From sci-fi action to Disney's live-action Hollywood has an entire platter set for the year, making every Friday a big day. From big studios to big director and big franchise, 2017 is going to be a year of comeback for many. While Johnny Depp will be seen donning the captain's cap in Pirates of the Caribbean, Donny Boyle will once again bring the addict gang together in T2: Trainspotting. As we walk into the first week of this New Year, let's take a look at films one should look forward to in 2017. The Superhero Universe 2016 marked the beginning of a Superhero decade, with new characters entering the cinematic Universe of Marvel and DC. While Marvel introduced Deadpool, Spiderman, Black Panther and Doctor Strange, DC went ahead with Batman, Wonder Woman and Flash. While Avengers still have things to figure out, it's nice how they laid foundations for the 'supposed' new gang. 2017 will see the life of 19-year-old, Peter Parker after he becomes a part of Avenger's war in Spiderman: Homecoming. And now has Iron Man mentoring him. Thor, who has been missing for quite some time will return to Asgard along with Hulk and Doctor Strange in Thor: Ragnarok Star-Lord returns to save the galaxy along with little Groot and gang in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. With infinity stones scattered all around and Avengers: Infinity War at the horizon, the fight is about to get intense and entertaining. In the X-Men front, Hugh Jackman is all set to say his farewell to Wolverine in Logan. Hugh's last appearance as the immortal X-Men appears to be interesting and will tread the past of Wolverine and his making. DC is geared up to make up for a disappointing year with Wonder Woman. Gal Gadot is all set to bring her much-appreciated role of Wonder Woman in a solo film. She will again be seen alongside Ben Affleck in Justice League, which will introduce other DC Superheroes as well. Flash, Aquaman, Mera, Cyborg Dc is going heavy with its heroes this time. Dunkirk Ace filmmaker Christopher Nolan is back with a new film. A World War II drama, Dunkirk, is a story based on a true incident. Set in the 1940s, the film is the story of the massive evacuation of nearly 400,000 British and French soldiers that took place during the war. The allied soldiers were stranded at the beach with Germans surrounding and bombing them at regular intervals. Nolans much-anticipated film is a star-studded film with actors like Tom Hardy, Mark Rylance, Aneurin Barnard. One directions Harry Styles makes his debut in the film. Blade Runner 2049 1982 classic noir film by Denis Villeneuve is returning to the big screen. The sequel will have Harrison Ford reprise his role as Rick Deckard, with Ryan Gosling, Ana de Armas, Sylvia Hoeks, Robin Wright, Mackenzie Davis, Carla Juri, Lennie James, Dave Bautista and Jared Leto in supporting roles. The events occur 30 years after the events of the first film. A new blade runner, LAPD Officer K (Ryan Gosling), unearths a long-buried secret that has the potential to plunge what's left of society into chaos. K's discovery leads him on a quest to find Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford), a former LAPD blade runner who has been missing for 30 years. Beauty and The Beast The highly-anticipated romantic-fantasy movie, Beauty and The Beast will live up your childhood dream once again in 2017. Starring Emma Watson and Dan Stevens as the odd Disney couple directed by Bill Condon. With Emma Watson adding her touch to the ever popular Belle and Dan Stevens bringing Beast to life, the film has been generating interest for all the good reasons. It is just one of the many upcoming live-action films adapted from Disneys large catalogue of animated feature hits. Pirates of The Caribbean Johnny Depp and Orlando Bloom will continue to reprise their roles of Captain Jack Sparrow and Will Turner respectively. Though, this time along the two lead actors will not have much to do in the sequel. And the major focus will be on Henry Turner and the main villain, Captain Salazar. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales is expected to release on May 26, 2017. We hope that the fifth instalment of the film will be the best out of the four prior instalments. Star Wars: Episode VIII The epic space opera film franchise will get its eight chapter this year. The film which was revived in 2015 with entirely new plotline and few familiar faces (like Han Solo, Princess Leia and ofcourse Luke Skywalker) will resume the story exactly from where it was left at The Force Awakens, with Rey having tracked Luke Skywalker to a remote planet. Episode VIII is also Carrie Fisher's final film role after her death following a heart attack. Fate OF Furious Fast & Furious 8 is an upcoming action film directed by F. Gary Gray and written by Chris Morgan. It is the eighth instalment in The Fast and the Furious franchise. The film will star Vin Diesel, Dwayne Johnson, Jason Statham, Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson, Chris Bridges, Nathalie Emmanuel, Kurt Russell, Charlize Theron and Helen Mirren. It will see Vin go rogue in order to save his friends and family. The film is scheduled to be released on April 14, 2017. Kong: Skull Island The famous monster classic King Kong is getting a reboot this year. The story will see anothyer spine chilling experience of humans with the giant Kong. It stars an ensemble cast consisting of Tom Hiddleston, Samuel L. Jackson, John Goodman, Brie Larson, Jing Tian, Toby Kebbell, John Ortiz, Corey Hawkins, Jason Mitchell, Shea Whigham, Thomas Mann, Terry Notary, and John C. Reilly. Also, it's also a crossover film of King Kong and Godzilla. Do we need to say more? The Circle The Circle is a science-fiction thriller film directed and written by James Ponsoldt, based on the 2013 novel of the same name by Dave Eggers. The story revolves around a woman who lands a job at a powerful tech company called the Circle, where she becomes involved with a mysterious man and the way The Circle has been controlling lives of people through technology. The film stars the likes of Emma Watson, Tom Hanks, John Boyega and Karen Gillan. Expect a performance- rich and intriguing experience with this one. T2: Trainspotting Renton, Begbie, Sick Boy and Spud are set for a reunion as Danny Boyle's classic Trainspotting is back with its sequel. The events in T2: Trainspotting happens 20 years after the first film. Ewan McGregor will return as Renton with original cast members Robert Carlyle as Francis Begbie, Jonny Lee Miller as Sick Boy and Ewen Bremner as Spud, joining him. Novelist Welsh will also return in his role of Mikey Forrester. This Danny Boyle directorial classic is all set to get a modern twist. Lion Lion is an Australian-American British Drama film which is all set to release in India on 24th February 2017.The film had its world premiere at Toronto International Film Festival. The film has Nicole Kidman, Dev Patel, Rooney Mara and it also features Priyanka Bose, Deepti Naval, Nawazuddin Siddique and Tannishtha Chatterjee and it has been shot in Kolkata as well as in Australia. The film revolves around A five-year-old Indian boy who gets lost on the streets of Calcutta, thousands of kilometers from home. He survives many challenges before being adopted by a couple in Australia; 25 years later, he sets out to find his lost family. Lion has already won various awards and it has also got 4 nominations at the Golden Globe Awards. Alien Alien: Covenant is an upcoming American science fiction horror film directed by Ridley Scott and written by John Logan. It is the sequel to the 2012 film Prometheus and the second installment in the Alien prequel series. Bound for a remote planet on the far side of the galaxy, the crew of the colony ship Covenant find what they believe to be an uncharted paradise. What the crew discover is a dark, dangerous world, inhabited by the "synthetic" David (Michael Fassbender), the sole survivor of the doomed Prometheus expedition, and monstrous creatures that are hunting them. The film is scheduled to be released on May 19, 2017. Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday reinstated four district presidents of the party who were sacked by his uncle and party leader Shivpal Yadav. "As per the directions of Akhilesh Yadav, party President Naresh Uttam Patel reinstated Ram Iqbal Yadav (Deoria), Ram Abadh Yadav (Kushinagar), Hawaldar Yadav (Azamgarh) and Ashish Yadav (Mirzapur) and directed them to ensure strengthening of the party", an official release issued by Akhilesh faction said. The presidents in these districts were removed by Shivpal Yadav, who is state president of another faction of SP supported by Mulayam Singh Yadav. After restoring them to their position, these office bearers were asked to work in favour of the party and ensure victory of party candidates. Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on January 1 removed Shivpal Yadav as SPs Uttar Pradesh unit chief and appointed MLC Naresh Uttam in his place, soon after being anointed its president at a disputed national convention. Soon after Uttams appointment, Akhilesh supporters took control of the party office and removed Shivpals nameplate outside his room, despite a heavy deployment of police personnel outside the office this morning. Hopes of truce after days of crisis in the warring Samajwadi Party remained grim on Tuesday despite a last minute effort to broker peace between the factions led by Mulayam Singh Yadav and his son Akhilesh amid a battle over the party's symbol, the cycle. On his return from New Delhi, a day after he claimed his right over the party before the Election Commission, SP chief Mulayam Singh was closeted with his son at his residence for more than three hours. Party veterans had hoped that the two sides would shake hands, two days after the son dethroned his father as the President of the ruling party in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh. But they stuck to their guns, a party source said in Lucknow. In middle of the meeting, Mulayam Singh called his younger brother Shivpal Singh Yadav and the meeting concluded without making much headway, the source said. The source said conditions for the "peace deal" deliberated upon by the first family were the return of Mulayam Singh as the party chief but with a new nomenclature - founder President. Akhilesh Yadav would, however, hold sway over the decision making process of ticket distribution for the assembly polls due this year. It was also proposed that Shivpal Yadav, one of the nagging problems between the father and son, would be given a "larger role" nationally. Akhilesh Yadav reportedly stuck to his non-negotiable demands. Mulayam Singh was not ready for the "package" and soon it became evident that hopes of peace had dashed. Earlier, state Urban Development Minister Azam Khan went to Delhi to meet Mulayam Singh but was snubbed as the Yadav chiefian left for Lucknow in a chartered plane. Ram Gopal Yadav, who has stood firmly behind the Chief Minister and is considered the mentor of the Akhilesh camp, also made it clear that chances of rapprochement were very dim. The Congress on Wednesday remained unrelenting in its attack on the Narendra Modi government over its plans to present the Union Budget on February 1, three days prior to the start of voting in assembly elections in five states.The principal Opposition party said the budget is traditionally presented on February 28 since Independence but the Modi government wants to present it during the time of elections.Congress spokesperson Ajoy Kumar said it is a convention that when an assembly election is scheduled, the Centre presents a vote-on-account and presents a full-fledged budget later.He recalled that the BJP had raised objections in 2012 on the same count and the then UPA government had only presented a vote-on-account."Fearing defeat and leaving aside the good traditions of Parliament, Prime Minister Modi wants to present the budget in the poll atmosphere. The public knows it all and Prime Minister will not be successful in his plans," he said.The Congress leader accused Modi of presenting a "mini-budget" two days ahead of the poll schedule announcement and making some lofty announcements in a bid to lure voters.Another spokesperson Shaktisinh Gohil said the Congress and 15 other parties have also written to the President on the "ill-timed decision" of the Modi government to advance the date for budget presentation."Like the drowning man in the ocean, Prime Minister Modi made announcements three days before the election dates came out. As a result of his misgovernance, Modi will not receive the support of the people in these elections," he said.The Congress, Left, Samajwadi Party and some others have already represented to the Election Commission not to allow the Centre to present the budget during poll process.Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi has said the poll panel is examining the representation of opposition parties and will take a call on it soon.On Wednesday, BJP ally and Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray, too, appealed to President Pranab Mukherjee not to allow presentation of Budget before the scheduled elections in five states, saying the Union government might use it to lure voters."By making attractive announcements in budget, government can grab votes indirectly," Thackeray said, addressing a statewide gathering of Sena workers here.The Sena president asked his party MPs to meet the President and request him to postpone the budget beyond polls.Reacting to the demand, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said presenting the budget is a "constitutional requirement".Without naming anyone, Jaitley said: "This is the same party that protests against demonetisation; why are they bothered with the budget."Jaitley said an interim budget was presented even before the 2014 Lok Sabha polls and earlier too budgets had been presented ahead of elections.Another senior BJP leader said presentation of the budget should not be linked to election cycle. "Union budget's timing and announcements cannot be subject to schedule of various elections. It has never been like this," PTI quoted the BJP leader as saying.(With agency inputs) WASHINGTON (AP) The new GOP era in Washington got off to a messy start Tuesday as House Republicans, under pressure from President-elect Donald Trump, abruptly dropped plans to gut an independent congressional ethics board. The dizzying about-face came as lawmakers convened for the first day of the 115th Congress, an occasion normally reserved for pomp and ceremony under the Capitol Dome. Instead, House Republicans found themselves under attack not only from Democrats but from their new president, over their secretive move Monday to neuter the independent Office of Congressional Ethics and place it under lawmakers' control. GOP leaders scrambled to contain the damage, and within hours of Trump registering his criticism on Twitter, they called an emergency meeting where House Republicans voted without opposition to undo the change. The episode, coming even before the new Congress was convened and lawmakers were sworn in, was a powerful illustration of the sway Trump may hold over his party in a Washington that will be fully under Republican control for the first time in a decade. GOP lawmakers who've felt unfairly targeted by the ethics office had defied their own leaders with their initial vote to neuter the body, but once Trump weighed in they backpedaled immediately. "With all that Congress has to work on, do they really have to make the weakening of the Independent Ethics Watchdog, as unfair as it may be, their number one act and priority," Trump had asked over Twitter Tuesday morning, in an objection that appeared focused more on timing than on substance. Trump, who will take office in a little over two weeks, said the focus should be on tax reform and health care, and he included the hash-tag #DTS, for "Drain the Swamp," his oft-repeated campaign promise to bring change to Washington. Democrats and even many Republicans were quick to point out that the lawmakers' plans for their ethics watchdog flew in the face of that notion. The measure was part of a GOP-written rules package that looked like it could fail after Trump registered his objections amid a public outcry from good government activists. The stripped-down package was approved late Tuesday by the House, 234-193. Story continues "We were elected on a promise to drain the swamp, and starting the session by relaxing ethics rules is a very bad start," said GOP Rep. Tom McClintock of California. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy mentioned Trump's opposition in the emergency meeting, and some lawmakers said it had a powerful effect. "I do believe when President-elect Trump tweeted out...members got calls," said Rep. Lou Barletta, R-Pa. Trump spoke by phone with House Speaker Paul Ryan on Tuesday after the ethics change was dropped. The Office of Congressional Ethics was created in 2008 after several bribery and corruption cases in the House, but lawmakers of both parties have groused about the way it operates. Lawmakers were especially incensed by an investigation of members of Congress from both parties who went on a 2013 trip to Azerbaijan paid for by that country's government. Lawmakers said after the investigation was made public in 2015 that they had no idea the trip was paid for by the government, and the House Ethics Committee ultimately cleared them. Once the ethics controversy was dispensed with, Congress returned to the ceremonial business. As set out in the Constitution, both chambers gaveled in at noon, and as storm clouds threatened outside, the halls of the Capitol filled with lawmakers' children, friends and spouses on hand to witness the procedures. The day had a festive feel of the first day back at school, as new arrivals roamed the halls with old hands, exchanging greetings and taking in the day. In the Senate, seven new members joined those who won re-election, taking the oath of office administered by Vice President Joe Biden. The Senate will be controlled 52-48 by the GOP and includes two new Republicans and five new Democrats. They include Illinois' Tammy Duckworth, a double-amputee Iraq war vet, who walked to the dais and stood for the oath. Biden remains president of the Senate until Trump becomes president Jan. 20; then Vice President-elect Mike Pence will take over. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York set battle lines, saying Democrats will hold Trump to his promises to create jobs, raise incomes and protect Americans but will "fight him tooth and nail when he appeals to the baser instincts that diminish America and its greatness." Issues confronting America are complex, he said, and "we cannot tweet them away." In the House, lawmakers easily re-elected Ryan, of Wisconsin, as their speaker. The House will number 241 Republicans and 194 Democrats; among the members are 52 freshmen. Behind the ceremony was a sense of anticipation, as Republicans prepare an ambitious agenda, beginning with dismantling President Barack Obama's health care law. The GOP directed Senate committees to produce repeal legislation by Jan. 27 while debate begins this week. But there was uncertainty, too, as Republicans confront an untested new president who has opposed fundamental elements of GOP orthodoxy and may exercise his influence in unpredictable ways, as illustrated with the ethics kerfuffle. "The people have given us unified government, and it wasn't because they were feeling generous, it's because they wanted results," Ryan said. "How could we live with ourselves if we let them down?" ___= Associated Press writers Matthew Daly, Mary Clare Jalonick, Richard Lardner, Andrew Taylor, Alan Fram and Kenneth Thomas contributed to this report. Chandigarh: It's going to be a quick run-up to the most tightly fought elections in Punjab ever. Exactly a month from now, Punjab goes to the polls for 117 assembly seats in a single-phase election. It will be an agonising wait for the results though. Along with Goa, Punjab will have to wait for a month and seven days after polling for the results to be declared on March 11. A fluid situation for now with no party having a clear advantage, for the first time Punjab would have three major political groupings slugging it out. The SAD-BJP combine will face strong anti-incumbency after 10 years in power and this will be despite Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader and Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal sparing no opportunity to highlight a lengthy list of developmental activities carried out in the state. He will have to fight allegations of corruption, nepotism and a lingering allegation of not handling the drug abuse problem in Punjab efficiently. Congress, on the other hand, is making a desperate all out bid to claw its way back to political relevance in Punjab. In a state where being in power can make all the difference to ensuring that financial and administrative muscle continues to be strengthened, 10 years of not calling the shots has weakened an already faction-ridden Congress. The staid old party that relied on an alternating political party cycle in the state, took things for granted during the last elections in 2012, banking on an automatic victory. The SAD-BJP, also well aware of the cycle, spared no efforts in ensuring they beat it. And they did. Despite Congress on the whole garnering a higher vote share than the Akalis, a seat by seat plan executed by the Akalis, coupled with the BJPs vote share, ensured it being back in the saddle for another five years. Not wanting to take any chances this time round, Captain Amarinder Singh is defying his stereotyped image of a laid-back maharaja and actually spending a great deal of time crisscrossing Punjab to put his stamp of approval on several campaigns, addressing grievances highlighted by his advisory organisations, including Prashant Kishors IPAC. The Aam Aadmi Party, many observers say has crossed its peak in the state. Its campaign and outreach started early in 2016. A few months into it, factions and rifts were out there for everyone to see, shattering the image of a tightly knit party with a common cause. This is a charge that is denied by party leaders, including Sanjay Singh, who says there is no question of the party going downhill. Unlike the Congress and the SAD-BJP combine, where the chief ministerial candidates are obvious, if not declared, AAP has almost laid to rest any possibility of declaring the Chief Ministerial candidate for Punjab before the polls, saying the CM face would be decided later from among the party MLAs. Capt Amarinder Singh says it is Arvind Kejriwal who is eyeing the post of CM in Punjab but does not want to run the risk of giving up his Delhi office for the sake of running an unsure race in Punjab. Punjab is gearing up for a flurry of activity in the less than one month of campaign time available to the contenders. Navjot Sidhu will soon make his entry into the Congress camp, ready to unleash his one-liners as also former army chief General JJ Singh indicating a possibility of his contesting on an Akali ticket against Capt Amarinder Singh in Patiala. It will be a General versus Captain faceoff if that happens. Sukhbir Badal has already been promising fresh faces to try and stave off anti-incumbency to the extent he can. Will Punjab see a hung Assembly in this tightly fought contest or will there be a clear winner? The complex dynamics of Punjab coupled with a triangular fight are too fluid for that clarity to emerge for now. A day after Trinamool Congress Lok Sabha MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay was arrested by CBI for his alleged involvement in Rs 60,000 Cr (approx) Rose Valley group chit fund scam, TMC workers protesting outside PM Narendra Modis residence were detained. Earlier, TMC workers took to the streets in various parts of West Bengal to protest the arrest of their Lok Sabha MP and staged demonstration in front of union minister Babul Supriyos house demanding his arrest. Bandyopadhyays wife had registered a complaint in Bidhan Nagar, West Bengal against the CBI alleging that she was not informed of his arrest. ALSO READ: Sudip Bandyopadhyay Arrested in Rose Valley Scam, TMC Workers Attack BJP Office Reacting to Bandyopadhyays arrest, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee termed it as a result of political vindictive attitude of Narendra Modi and Amit Shah. As it happened. Read all the Latest News , Breaking News , watch Top Videos and Live TV here. Bhubaneswar: Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay was on Wednesday remanded in six days of CBI custody by a special court in the Rose Valley chit fund scam case. Following the court order, his party activists staged a demonstration before CBI's Odisha headquarters in the city. The TMC MP's lawyer Rajiv Majumdar and others were present in the Chief Judicial Magistrate's court when judge P K Mishra remanded Bandyopadhyay for six days against CBI's appeal for a 12-day remand. The CBI lawyer argued in the court that the agency should be given maximum time to interrogate the MP as he was not actively cooperating with the investigation. The MP's petition for bail was also rejected by the court even as his lawyer pleaded that his client was unwell. "I am innocent. I have no involvement in the scam. I have placed my point of view before the court and will again appeal the court to consider my point of argument," Bandyopadhyay told reporters after appearing in the court. He was produced at the CBI-designated special court amid tight security after his medical examination at the Capital Hospital. Bandyopadhyay, also the TMC Parliamentary Party leader in the Lok Sabha, was the second party MP after Tapas Pal to be arrested by the CBI in a span of five days. Both Pal and Bandyopadhyay were arrested on charges of having links with the Rose Valley Group that allegedly duped investors of Rs 17,000 crore in different states including Odisha and West Bengal. The CBI in its charge sheet against the Ponzi company in January last year mentioned that investors from Odisha alone had deposited Rs 450 crore with the Rose Valley Group. While Tapas Pal was a director of Rose Valley Group in 2010, Bandyopadhyay has been accused of having strong links with the Group's chairman Goutam Kundu, now in jail, CBI sources said. Sources also said the CBI was planning to interrogate both Bandyopadhyay and Pal together as they have been arrested on the charge of their involvement with the scam. TMC activists, many from West Bengal, along with TMC Odisha state president Arya Kumar Gyanendra, staged a demonstration before the investigating agency's office while both Bandyopadhyay and Pal were inside the CBI office. "CBI has arrested Sudip Bandyopadhyay and Tapas Pal on political consideration. We will certainly oppose the action. The state unit of the TMC is planning a massive protest rally in Bhubaneswar on January 10," Gyanendra told PTI. A two-member delegation of the TMC also met senior CBI officials here and lodged protest against the arrest of Bandyopadhyay and Pal. All other factors remaining constant, it is important at times for a party in multi-phased polls to do well in the first couple of phases," said the BJP functionary. Polling in the 2009 general elections, which again followed an east to west pattern did not yield favorable results to the BJP. And once the polling is on, it is very difficult to reverse the momentum midway. Or the wind direction, it is in the air - 'hawa' - as they call it in UP. One may not see it, one can only smell it. Whats in a phase? Probably there is something, if elections in a large province with diverse demography are held in multiple phases over a period of time.The sequence of electioneering from first to the last phase may influence electoral outcome, one way or the other under given circumstances.A BJP functionary closely associated with 2014 general election management was keeping his fingers crossed till the announcement of poll dates.He heaved a sigh of relief when the Commission called for a seven phase polls in UP, with western districts polling in the first leg.The electioneering travelled from West to East culminating in the Poorvanchal region with two high stake battles in Varanasi (Narendra Modi) and Azamgarh (Mulayam Singh Yadav).Western UP, post the riots, was our strong-hold. A good performance here helped us build a momentum with each passing phase to outclass our opponents in areas where we have been traditionally weak, he said.By that same argument, the announcement of poll dates for the 2017 UP assembly elections would have brought some cheer to the BJP.As even this time the elections will begin from Ghaziabad bordering Delhi and end in far-east Chandauli.Now contrast this with 2012 state assembly polls. Once again UP had multi-cornered fight and multi-phased polls. But the electioneering that year started from the east and moved west in a clockwise direction - the areas where regional parties have traditionally done well.With SP seemingly doing well, and with momentum on his side, Mulayam Singh Yadav picked up seats in western districts where he has no or little base vote and romped home in the Ruhelkhand regions which polled last.Miffed with Mulayam Singh for joining hands with Kalyan Singh for a brief while, Muslims in pockets voted for the Congress in the first phase.Maharajgunj near Gorakhpur, for instance, was won by the party after many years. The trend continued till the very last with Congress picking up almost two dozen seats from the state.Likewise, the first couple of phases in the upcoming polls could also be crucial in determining the trend of minority votes in parts which poll later.BSP this time around has put all its money on Dalit-Muslim combination. Take for example Bijnor district abutting Uttarakhand in Western UP.Out of the eight seats, two are reserved; and for the remaining six BSP has fielded muslim candidates. SP is not far behind nominating five candidates from the minority community.As the elections travel from west to east, Muslims voting pattern in the first couple of phases in places like Bijnor, Saharanpur and Rohilkhand may set the trend.BJP generally prefers the westerly. Easterly suits the Samajwadi Party. As for BSP whose support base is spread even, the party performance is generally impervious to prevailing weather conditions. Unlike what has been perceived, indigenous digital payments app BHIM, launched by prime minister Narendra Modi, is not free . The BHIM (Bharat Interface for Money) app is available for free on the Google Play Store, but users have reported that Rs 1.50 gets deducted from their mobile account balance.Read more: Samsung Galaxy A Series (2017) Launched; All You Want to Know It has been learnt that people trying to download the BHIM app get a notification code via SMS after which the amount (Rs1.50) gets deducted from their account balance instantly.It is pertinent to note that the app is already a hit and has been downloaded by over three million people.Read more: Samsung Announces New Campaign for Customer Service While launching the BHIM app PM Modi had said that it would be the biggest wonder in the coming times. In a bid to further push adoption of e-payments in the country, PM Narendra Modi had on December 30 launched the BHIM app, which will enable fast and secure cashless transactions using mobile phones.Read more: LeEco Le2 64 GB Model Launched, To be Available Exclusively on Snapdeal Named after the architect of the Indian Constitution, Babasaheb Bhim Rao Ambedkar, the Bharat Interface for Money (BHIM) is a simplified payment platform designed to make Unified Payment Interface (UPI) and USSD payment modes simpler and usable across feature phones and smartphones.Developed by National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI), BHIM is supported by host of banks, including State Bank of India, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, HDFC Bank, Bank of India, Canara Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank,Oriental Bank of Commerce and Punjab National Bank, among others.The app, which can be downloaded from Google Play Store, is currently available in Hindi and English, and support for more languages is expected soon.BHIM is interoperable with other Unified Payment Interface (UPI) applications and bank accounts. Samsung India on Tuesday launched a nationwide television and digital campaign named "Wherever You Are, We'll Take Care of You", showcasing its initiative to take customer service to the doorsteps of users.Read more: Newly Launched BHIM App is Not Free; Here is Why "Our new initiative of expanding to rural India, right up to the taluka level, helps us in taking care of our valued customers, wherever they are," said Ranjivjit Singh, Chief Marketing Officer, Samsung India, in a statement.Read more: Samsung Galaxy A Series (2017) Launched; All You Want to Know With this, Samsung's reach will extend to customers in over 6,000 talukas - or sub-districts -- across 29 states and seven Union Territories.The campaign film "#SamsungCares", which has gone viral, showcases the journey of a young Samsung engineer on his way to provide the services in a remote village in India.Read more: LeEco Le2 64 GB Model Launched, To be Available Exclusively on Snapdeal In October 2016, Samsung launched 535 service vans, to ensure timely service to customers in the remotest corners across the country. Colombo: A court in Sri Lanka has asked the army to submit by January 30 the list of people who had surrendered to it during the final phases of the war with the LTTE in 2009 as it heard a case related to individuals who allegedly disappeared after surrendering. The Mullaithivu district judge M S M Samsudeen yesterday asked the army to submit the list by January 30, KS Ratnavel, an attorney said. The magisterial order came as a Habeas Corpus case washeard in respect of those LTTE members who had allegedly disappeared after surrendering. The military at the previous hearing had said they were in possession of a list of those who had surrendered. However, Ratnavel had argued the list contains the names of those who had been sent to the government rehabilitation and not those who had allegedly disappeared. The government said it had successfully rehabilitated over 8,000 of the LTTE cadres who had surrendered. According to the UN figures, up to 40,000 Tamil civilians were killed by security forces during the Mahinda Rajapaksa's regime that brought an end to the nearly three decades-long war with the defeat of the LTTE. A 6th Judicial Circuit Court judge found dead in his Prince George County office on New Year's Day committed suicide, the state medical examiner's office has ruled. Judge Nathan Curtis Lee, 60, died of an "intraoral gunshot wound," which means he suffered a gunshot wound in his mouth, the medical examiner's office said this morning. Police, fire and EMS were called to the Prince George Courthouse for reports of an unresponsive male at 9:46 p.m. Sunday, Prince George County police said. Lee was found dead in his office. Police immediately noted in a statement released Monday that foul play was not suspected in the judge's death. Prince George authorities have not released any further details about the circumstances of Lee's death. Lee, who lived in Hopewell, was appointed as a circuit court judge in 2012. He practiced law in Virginia for more than 30 years. Lee was one of two judges appointed by the General Assembly to serve the 6th Judicial Circuit, which includes Hopewell and the counties of Prince George, Brunswick, Greensville, Surry and Sussex counties. Lee and 6th Judicial Circuit Judge W. Allan Sharrett sat in all six localities. On Sunday, January 1, 2017, while surrounded by family, friends and Pups, Dana departed us in Monroe, Va. at her home fondly known as Murph Mt. She fearlessly fought cancer, a glioblastoma brain tumor, for 14 months. Dana is survived by her husband, Mike Murphey and daughter, Cecelia Marie Murphey. She is also survived by sister, Joanie Robertson and husband, Kevin of Chesterfield County Va.;sister/cousin, Patti Lanier and husband, Mario Paul of Williamsburg Va. She is survived by many loving relatives including cousin, Barbara Chomycia and husband, Nick of Fredrick, Md.; and "Aunt Doris" Lanier of Richmond Va. Shewas preceded in death by her parents, Nancyand James Guarino. Among the many special people in Dana's life are neighbor and longtime friends, LaDonna Shedor, and Dorothy Morcom of Amherst County. Dana was a graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University with a Masters in Special Education. For the past 16 years she has taught at Hutcherson Early Learning Center in Lynchburg City Schools with the last several years as lead teacher. She was previously an adjunct professor with Lynchburg College where she was coordinator for the Virginia Dept. of Education's Southwest/Central Technical Assistance Center (T-TAC) and helped develop the Learning Curriculum for the regions area of Early Learning centers. She worked directly with families and educators to provide the necessary tools to help with the children's advancement. Dana was an avid supporter of her daughters' Girls Scouts, Blue Ridge Caballeros 4H Club, and the Bedford Hunt Pony Club, she held several different officer positons throughout the years. Visitation will begin at 10:30 a.m. on Sunday, January 8, 2017, at Whitten Monelison Chapel, Madison Heights, Va. www.dignitymemorial.com/whitten-monelison-chapel with services to follow at same location at 12 p.m. A reception will be held immediately following at Amelon United Methodist Church, Madison Heights, Va. In lieu of flowers, please send donations to Centra Health, Cancer Patient Support Fund @ www.Centrafoundation.com or to "Dana's Angels Fund" to help needy children and families at Hutcherson Early Learning Center @ www.Lynchburgcommunitytrust.org. Trust will be set up by January 6, 2017. Dana's love and compassion for all living things was felt by all who had the good fortune to know her. She will be greatly missed. We honor and love you "Babes", you will forever be in our hearts. Whitten Monelison Chapel is serving the family. If Israel were a nation in human form, like Uncle Sam or Marianne, the feminine symbol of France, long bloody knives would be protruding from both back and breast. The man with blood on his hands would be President Obama, who departed from decades of American policy under several presidents both Republican and Democrat and refused to veto a United Nations Security Council resolution rebuking Israel for land settlements, which the Jewish state hopes to use in a land swap to secure a lasting peace. The presidents action, or rather lack of action, is nothing less than treachery. The man presents himself as a great friend of Israel, but his long knives cut deep in a malevolent farewell gesture of contempt for the only democracy in the Middle East. Coming from the United States, Israels most reliable friend for so long, this was the unkindest cut of all. The reaction across America has been swift and angry from left and right, liberal and conservative, Democrat and Republican. Liberal Democratic law professor Alan Dershowitz recalls in disbelief that soon after Obamas first inauguration, the president called him into the Oval Office to seek his support, promising that he would always have Israels back. Dershowitz didnt get the presidents real meaning at the time, he told Fox & Friends, which was that he would have their back so he could stab them in the back. Obamas fading administration tries to wrap itself in sheeps clothing, blaming the absence of any meaningful peace process, as well as ... the face of accelerated settlement activity. But the text of the resolution goes far beyond the settlements. The resolution would make the Western Wall (or the Wailing Wall, as it is commonly known), part of Israels holiest site, illegally occupied under international law. Roads that act as pathways for both Israeli and Arab students to study at the Hebrew University and offer Israeli and Arab patients access to Hadassah Hospital would suddenly be rendered illegally occupied, too. Israel opened its doors to Palestinians in answer to the Palestinians closing theirs to Israelis. For two decades before the Wailing Wall was liberated in the Six-Day War, Jews were denied access to the ancient stones once stained by their ancestors prayers and tears. John Bolton, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, agrees that Barack Obama stabbed Israel in the front by endorsing the Palestinian narrative and reducing possibilities for land for peace. But all is not lost. President-elect Donald Trump now has ample opportunities to pivot away from his predecessors perfidy. Bolton joins a chorus of politicians who suggest cutting U.S. assessed contributions to the United Nations, which amount to about $3 billion annually. Alan Dershowitz and John Bolton visualize brutal stabbings in both the front and the back of Israel. Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina describes the Obama treachery as abandoning the only democracy in the Middle East who shares our values. House Speaker Paul Ryan calls the betrayal absolutely shameful and promises the clear focus of a unified Republican governing party to forge a new strong alliance with Israel. If the Obama administration anticipated Republican fury, it seems surprised by the angry roars from the Democrats. Sen. Charles Schumer of New York, who will be the new leader of Senate Democrats, calls the failure to veto the resolution frustrating, disappointing and confounding. Former Sen. George Mitchell, a Democrat who acted as special envoy to the Arab-Israeli peace process in the Obama administration, tells MSNBC News that the betrayal hurts the peace prospects for both Israel and the Palestinians. One Democrat, in the sharpest cut of all, says Obama is worse than Jimmy Carter. Anger becomes farce as critics suggest what to do with the valuable piece of real estate now occupied by the United Nations in the Turtle Bay neighborhood of New York City. One critic says the iconic building overlooking the East River could become another Trump hotel with great views of the skyscraper canyons. If diplomats would pay their parking and traffic tickets, that might sop up some of the red ink in the national budget. Fun is fun, but change at the United Nations, which began with such idealism as a harbinger of world peace, offers little hope now for anything but more cynicism and more vitriol. As the President-elect might tweet, its so sad. Mixing absurdity with tragedy, Secretary of State John Kerry offered his grandiose rhetoric in a long speech that was heavily slanted against Israel. He obsessed over settlements and barely touched upon the root of the conflict: the Palestinian opposition to a Jewish state in any boundaries, as Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu observed. Leadership from this presidents administration is, as usual, too little, too late and headed in the wrong direction. Fields is a columnist for The Washington Times. Email her at suzannefields2000@gmail.com. Goodlatte's hypocritical ethics I find it appalling that our representative in the House of Representatives, Bob Goodlatte, attempted to usher in the 115th Congress by eviscerating the Office of Congressional Ethics particularly after his Oct. 28 letter praising the FBIs decision to re-open its investigation into Hillary Clintons email server. Evidently Rep. Goodlatte is betting that the good people of Virginia are incapable of recognizing a hyper-partisan double-standard when they see one. Fortunately, cooler heads have prevailed, and Goodlattes proposal was dropped. I hope he learns a valuable lesson. It would be awful if he were to pull any muscles while attempting to twist himself into pretzels. I further hope members of the press will ask him how he could be so righteous in demanding an investigation into Clintons email server while simultaneously seeking to remove congressional oversight. Whats good for the goose is good for the gander. MATTHEW DECAPUA Lynchburg Duped again by Goodlatte In 1992, when Bob Goodlatte first ran for Congress, he pledged to limit his time in Congress to six terms. In the 2016 midterm election, he ran for and was re-elected for his 14th term. So much for his pledge. And, if you believe that the voter could have held him to his promise by electing someone else, let me quickly add that Goodlattes integrity and honesty are not the voters responsibility. It rests squarely on his shoulders, and he should have lived up to his pledge. If and when Goodlatte says he is ready to work in an honest and constructive manner, be wary. Be very, very wary. His honesty and integrity are questionable. He obviously has a penchant for dishonesty. CAROLYN F. BOSIGER Forest Peake for Virginia Senate On Jan. 10, a special election will be held to fill the Virginia Senate seat vacated by Tom Garrett in the 22nd District. Is this an important election? Yes, for several reasons. Any local or state election can be as important if not more so than a presidential one because it is at that level we have a more representative vote; many times those at the local/state level move upward to federal positions, and in this particular case it is important to maintain the Republican majority since a tie vote on most if not all legislative issues would give the deciding vote to the current lieutenant governor, a Democrat with very liberal/progressive tendencies. Mark Peake, the Republican candidate is a very soft-spoken individual who is also a staunch supporter of the rule of law who strongly adheres to our Constitutional rights to freedom of speech, religion and the right to bear arms. He believes that cumbersome regulations and excessive taxes over burden businesses and thwart the ability for businesses, old and new, to flourish and create needed jobs; he condemns the taking of property rights and restricting the rights of property owners. In other words, he believes in the freedoms that some are eager to take away from us. A successful attorney, married some 20-plus years to his wife, Lila and father of five, a set of quadruplets and a single child, he knows full well the value of life and the value that education can and should be. He believes that where public education is the best choice for a child, control should be returned to the local school system and away from centralized control and particularly away from Washington. He is a strong, sincere conservative who believes that government should be more transparent. He will be an excellent addition to our legislature. Please, do not let Jan. 10 slip by without voting. It only takes a few minutes and you are done! Mark your calendars now and be there! GRACE BEAUREGARD Lynchburg Policemen secure the area in front of Berlin's Supreme Court where the trial against alleged Islamic State jihadist, Shaas Al Mohammad, was beginning on January 4, 2017 (AFP Photo/Tobias SCHWARZ ) Berlin (AFP) - An alleged Islamic State jihadist accused of scoping out potential targets for an attack in Berlin, including the Brandenburg Gate and Reichstag building, went on trial in Germany on Wednesday. It was the country's first trial of a suspected IS militant deployed to Germany from Syria during the chaotic 2015 refugee influx -- in contrast to "lone wolf" attacks or plots by extremists who were radicalised elsewhere. The defendant, 20-year-old Syrian national Shaas al-Mohammad, allegedly fought with the Islamist militia in his war-torn homeland for two years before arriving in Germany as a refugee in August 2015. Dressed in a blue pullover and a black cap, Mohammad kept his eyes on his interpreter and remained silent as his lawyers tried in vain to convince the judge to hold the hearings behind closed doors due to his young age. Two police trucks were parked outside the entrance, with officers armed with machine guns guarding the proceedings. Mohammad was standing trial at a special state security court in Berlin on charges of membership of a foreign terrorist organisation, which carries up to 10 years in jail, and military weapons law violations. The trial comes just over two weeks after an IS extremist from Tunisia allegedly ploughed a truck through a Berlin Christmas market in an attack that killed 12 people. - 'Attack targets' - Prosecutors claim the defendant joined the jihadist group as a teenager in mid-2013, taking part in combat operations, handling an AK-47 assault rifle and supplying food to fighters. He arrived in Germany near the peak of a mass influx of people fleeing Syria, Iraq and other crisis-torn countries that brought almost 900,000 asylum seekers to Europe's biggest economy in 2015. He allegedly stayed in "close contact" with IS and repeatedly visited the German capital until February 2016 to scout out landmark targets and busy tourist sites for an attack. Among the suspected targets was the area around the glass-domed Reichstag parliament building, the nearby Brandenburg Gate monument and the busy shopping square Alexanderplatz. Story continues He then allegedly "passed the information about the potential attack targets onto his contacts at the IS", said the court in a statement. "In addition, he arranged to send at least one person to Syria as a fighter and offered his services as a contact person for potential attackers in Germany," it added. But Mohammad only admitted to selling supplies to IS members, and denied having any contact with anyone of consequence in the jihadist group. The young Syrian was arrested on March 22 last year and has been in pre-trial detention ever since. The court has set 25 hearings until April. - Truck rampage - Germany has been shocked by a spate of IS-claimed attacks, and some foiled plots which a growing rightwing populist movement has blamed on the open-door refugee policy of Chancellor Angela Merkel. In some cases last year, the jihadists were home-grown, while others were migrants and refugees. More attacks are feared when some of the 400-odd German jihadists still in Syria and Iraq return home. In June last year, police arrested three Syrian men over an alleged plan to use guns and suicide vests in an IS attack in Duesseldorf. In July, a 17-year-old Afghan refugee wounded five people in an axe rampage on a train before police shot him dead. Days later a 27-year-old Syrian blew himself up outside a music festival, wounding 15 people. In October, police say they prevented an attack on a Berlin airport by a Syrian refugee, 22-year-old Jaber al-Bakr. Bakr evaded a police raid but was caught by Syrian compatriots soon after and handed over to police. Two days later, he was found hanged in his cell. December saw the worst IS-claimed attack when Tunisian suspect Anis Amri, 24, allegedly drove a hijacked truck into a packed Berlin Christmas market. The attack claimed 12 lives. Amri was shot dead four days later in Italy after firing first at police there. Germany's domestic security service estimates that the number of radical Islamists in Germany rose above 9,000 last year, from some 3,800 in 2011. About 550 of them are considered dangerous and capable of a violent attack. Vision, Falcon, Black Widow, and 7 more Marvel characters you might not know date back to the '30s and '40s Marvel's Golden Age of the '30s and '40s had a much bigger influence on the modern Marvel Universe than you may realize GamesRadar+ is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Heres why you can trust us. Status of marijuana in 2016 THE MEDICINAL and psychoactive effects that we associate with marijuana are caused by unique chemical structures called cannabinoids found in the plant. To date, there have been 86 cannabinoids identified in nature and others have been synthesised chemically. The major psychoactive ingredient in marijuana is commonly referred to as THC. Other cannabinoids, in addition to THC, also have medicinal or psychoactive constituents. One of the major concerns with the use of matijuana is the possible effects it has on the developing brain of young people under the age of 25 years. This is a concern expressed by some Canadians which will be decriminalising marijuana in 2017. On December 10, 2013, Uruguay became the first country in the world to completely legalise marijuana. The law provides for the growth,sale, and price of the herb to be controlled by the government. However, to date the system has not been fully implemented. In Colorado the retail sale of marijuana was legalised on January 1, 2014; in Washington State the retail sale was legalised on July 8, 2014 ;in Washington DC it was legalised on February 26, 2015, and in Oregon on October 1, 2015. Marijuana is now legalised in nine states: Colorado, Washington, Oregon, Alaska, California, Maine, Massachusetts, Nevada and Washington DC. Thirteen states have decriminalised marijuana: Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Rhode Island, and Vermont. Thirty states have legalised medical marijuana: Alaska, Arizona, Arksansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois,Louisian, Maryland, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington and Washington, DC. In the US, the price of marijuana varies with the quality, the THC content, and its classification as premium grade, mid-grade or low-grade. The price also depends on the supply and demand for the product in various states. In January 2016 the average wholesale price in Denver was $1,800 a pound but by June 2016 it had declined to $750 a pound because of an over supply. It is not unusual for a premium grade to be sold for $2,200 to $2,500 a pound. In the dispensaries as the pot shops are called the average retail selling price is $15 to $20 for 1/8 ounce .Two joints sell for $14. The wholesale price of medical marijuana which attracts a sales tax of 2.9 percent has remained relatively stable at $1,600 to $1,800 a pound. There are 110,000 to 115,000 medical marijuana cardholders in Colorado. In 2015, the value of recreational and medical marijuana sold in the US was estimated at $5.4 billion an increase of $4.6 billion over sales for 2014. Sales for 2016 are estimated to be $6.7 billion. In Colorado sales for 2015 were valued at $996 million and the estimate for 2016 is $1.3 billion. The first $40 million in tax revenue collected is allocated to school projects. In Washington State the first two years of marijuana sales, from July 2014 to July 2016, exceeded $1 billion which brought in $250 million in excise taxes for the state. I must mention that despite these high volume of sales in legal marijuana, because of the lower price, there continues to be an illegal or black market trade. A study done in the US nearly ten years ago, before marijuana legalisation was even on the table, found that considering the average annual upkeep per prisoner was $31,286, decriminalising illicit drugs by taking away criminal prosecution for simple possession and use would significantly reduce the prison population and save taxpayers around $20 billion a year. I am of the opinion that our prison population will be significantly reduced should the possession of small quantities of marijuana be decriminalised. How many young persons in Trinidad and Tobago have had their future destroyed for being in possession of a small quantity of marijuana, while the big fish remain free? SHOW SOME BLASTED RESPECT! This from Oilfield Workers Trade Union (OWTU) president general Ancel Roget as he yesterday defended the unions decision to tender notice to state-owned oil company Petrotrin of a strike by its workers over stalled salary negotiations. Roget yesterday sought to defend the OWTU against criticism from the business sector, government and large sections of society for threatening a strike that could cripple the countrys largest income earner amid an economic downturn. Roget insists that Petrotrin can pay its workers an enhanced salary. The intended three-month strike is expected to begin next Monday __ the start of the new school term. But even as Roget called for Government to treat oil workers with some blasted respect, he later led OWTU officials in a meeting with Petrotrin officials at the Ministry of Labour office in San Fernando in a last minute effort at coming to some kind of agreement to prevent the strike action. Up to press time, the five-hour meeting was still in progress and OWTU members who earlier in the day had gathered in a fiery and upbeat mood and included a rhythm section, sat morosely outside the Labour Ministry office as the Sun began to set. Earlier, at a press conference, Roget displayed a copy of the strike notice addressed to Petrotrin President Fitzroy Harewood. He said the letter that if the last ditch meeting did not bear fruit, he would serve the letter at Petrotrins administration offices in Pointe-a-Pierre today at 7 am. He appealed to the court of public opinion as he sought to justify the strike saying mismanagement and inefficiency at Petrotrin is costing the company over $552 million per annum. This is based on Petrotrins own information and record. These inefficiencies include equipment reliability, operational inefficiency, overtime, flaring and quality giveaways, Roget said adding, this is more than what workers are demanding for the entire three-year period. The workers are also not asking for what other workers got, but rather ten percent which is below the 14 percent threshold for the same collective period. Petrotrin, believe it or not, has the ability to pay this wage increase, he insisted, citing several poor decisions including a failed World Gas To Liquids (WGTL) project, which cost the company over $1 billion and payment for a production facility at South West Soldado, which never materialized. He also cited a long delay of the Ultra-Low Sulphur Diesel which was supposed to be delivered in 2015, but was first delayed to 2017 and now 2020. This strike will put a microscope to show the extremely bad performance by management. The country has only heard doom and gloom from the (Petrotrin) President. He has not stated to the country, to the government or to the workers how he intends to turn around Petrotrin, Roget said. Another important point has to do with Petrotrins bottom line which is the purchase of gas. Petrotrin purchases 61 million standard cubic feet of gas from NGC. However, instead of using its own gas produced in the fields and maximizing the gas purchased from NGC, the Company has engaged in burning off the gas both at the Refinery and in the producing fields, Roget continued, adding, proper utilization of the gas would mean that Petrotrin can purchase less gas from the NGC Grid, having the effect that NGC will have more gas to sell to industries in Pt Lisas which badly need the gas. A 50 percent reduction in this process of burning off the gas can save $3 million per month or $36 million per year, he said. Roget also slammed the companys lack of storage capacity saying this had been reduced by less than 65 percent within the last three years. To date eight tanks have been taken out of service for repairs, however none have returned to service and the significance of this point is that when there are ships in harbour that cannot off load crude because those tanks are limited, Petrotrin has to pay millions of dollars in demurrage, when the product is not off loaded on time. He noted there was a critical need to increase indigenous crude oil as Petrotrin purchases about 155,000 barrels per day of a mixture of local and foreign crude to refine; with local crude accounting for 45,000 barrels. Therefore, if Petrotrin produced more local crude then you would import less and the profit margin will be much more. This has nothing to do with workers wages. The union has developed a quick win plan to increase local production to make the company profitable, he said. He said overtime had cost the company approximately $8.7 million in September and that figure had reached $10.4 million in October. Though not yet in, figures for November and December are expected to be astronomical, far exceeding September and October figures. This exorbitant overtime cost is the result of manpower shortages and bad planning. In critical areas of the company they have not filled vacancies, so we have operators who are working for very long hours __ double shift continuously for over four years, in difficult conditions and there is no succession planning and non-filling of vacancies. With proper management and with the right decisions the company can save millions of dollars per year by cutting overtime cost, Roget said. Denial of a fair adjustment and wages will not save Petrotrin, Roget said. Giving workers zero, zero, zero for 2011-2014 and zero, zero, zero for 2014-2017, or zeroes until eternity __ he added __ will not save Petrotrin. What will save Petrotrin is a radical change at the top that can significantly cut down on the inefficiencies and increase local crude production. Govt in retreat Rowley began by saying that while the past year was one for Ministers to settle into their portfolios, 2017 is now their first year for delivery. We are in our second year as a Government and we have determined as any serious Government would that this year, the second year - after the first year of getting the feel of things, getting to know people, putting Perm Secs in place, getting Ministers to learn their jobs - this (second year) is the first real year of delivery. He said the Retreats focus is on the effecting the Governments development programme which needs more effort to implement than routine recurrent expenditure. Where you are going to be creating new work, creating new entities, taking new people in, establishing new service areas for population, that is the development programme. This latter needs more drive, a bit more oomph, a bit more involvement, Rowley said. It involves procurement to management to funding to utilisation, he added. Rowley said 2017 requires some corrective decisions as several national programmes are off-track. I dont have to tell you all that - Im sure you know that. Some of the Governments national programmes have lost their way - either deliberately, incidentally, corruptly or just by being outdated, he said. So theres a requirement for this Government to look at whatever is so designated and do some course-correction. Most times that course-correction is not without pain and inconvenience, but whatever you would have done ought to leave us in a better place. So there are some Government policy-changes to be made. Most of them will be made in 2017. Rowley then urged Ministers and Permanent Secretaries to work well together, show teamwork and look after each other. If the Minister and the Permanent Secretary are not getting along, are not seeing eye to eye and cant stand one another, the Ministry will not function properly. Theres no way the PS could operate on his or her own and the Minister (is) operating on his or her own. They have to be in lockstep. He said a PS is the Ministers guide and is invaluable to their Ministrys success. We are all guided by the Exchequer Act and the human resource regulations. You (PSs) are the Ministers guide and in some cases the Ministers mouthpiece. Permanent Secretaries are required to look after their Ministers, as Ministers are required to look after their Permanent Secretaries. An accompanying OPM statement said Rowley declared that Ministries must not falter in their delivery of service to the citizenry, despite the countrys economic circumstances. He also spoke of the accountability of State Enterprises, said the statement. The retreat continues today. ZURICH, Jan 4 (Reuters) - Switzerland's Office of the Attorney General (OAG) said on Wednesday it has opened criminal proceedings in connection to the truck attack at a Berlin Christmas market in December which killed 12 people. The proceedings are based on suspected support of a criminal organisation and a violation of Switzerland's ban on Islamic State and al Qaeda, the OAG said in an emailed statement. They are against "unknown", which implies authorities do not yet know precisely who or how many people could be involved. The investigation is in close cooperation with Switzerland's Federal Office of Police and will also be co-ordinated with foreign authorities, the OAG said. (Reporting by Joshua Franklin; Editing by Dominic Evans) THA nomination papers filed Candidates of the four political parties gearing to contest the elections: the Peoples National Movement (PNM), the Progressive Democratic Patriots (PDP), the Movement for Transformation (MFT) and the Tobago Forwards, turned out at the various offices of the Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC) to submit their nomination papers. The PNM, PDP and Tobago Forwards will each contest all 12 electoral districts, while the MFT, led by former parliamentarian and government minister, Eudine Job-Davis, will contest three of the districts. All 39 candidates filed the necessary documents and paid their $2000 deposit making them the legitimate bidders in the election ring. While six candidates for the East districts filed their papers at the Rockley Vale office, the other candidates for the West filed theirs at the Main Street office. Three of the four political parties turned up with much fanfare as scores of supporters dressed in party colours, waving banners, flags and other paraphernalia accompanied by large music trucks. All the candidates indicated that the process went fairly smoothly as this followed a dry run session which was held one week ago. Speaking with reporters, Political Leader of the PNM Tobago Council, Kelvin Charles, accompanied by his wife Kathryn and sons Kelvon and Kelson said that the nomination process made way for a series of campaign meetings. We have been on the ground and generally the responses have been very favourable, so we are quite confident that we would retain control of the Tobago House of Assembly, he said. Charles noted that the islands affairs was well handled under the current PNM-led THA over the last four years. Political Leader of the PDP, Watson Duke, said Tobago has had enough of the PNM after 16 years and is now ready to get rid of them. We are fully confident of victory in at least seven seats, Duke said. We are still working on five more seats to make the 12 because we need to balance the curse the PNM has placed upon Tobago over the last 16 years, he said. A confident Duke said one of the safe seats for the PDP is the Roxborough/ Delaford electoral district. There is no chance of Watson Duke not being successful at the polls and when I say at the polls, the seat Roxborough/ Delaford is already taken that is a marked seat and it is marked Watson Duke seat on that and nobody can take that away from me. On the other hand, Political Leader of the Tobago Forwards, Christlyn Moore, said that the work has started. Though her idea of unity among the parties opposing the PNM failed, Moore said she respects the wishes of the leaders. We are on the ground and we are very excited, Moore said. In the early days, we held extensive talks with Ashworth Jack and, in the more recent part, we have had conversations with Watson Duke whose position is adamant that he is a standalone entity and we respect that. The MFTs Political Leader, Eudine Job-Davis, is vowing to provide Tobago with the best form of Governance possible. Integrity in public life seems to be a thing of the past and we are hoping that we can bring that back into politics. Further, we are also looking at the Tobago House of Assembly and the Chief Secretary, Job-Davis said. There is a present Chief Secretary sitting there for like 16 years and we think that this should not happen at all. Therefore, our political party has borrowed from the American system where we are going to limit anybody who ascends to the office to two terms. Couva woman missing She was last seen at her residence at about 7.30 pm last week Thursday. Lalla is described as being of East Indian descent, 5 feet, 3 inches tall with black shoulder length hair and a tattoo of the letter N with stars, behind her right ear. Anyone with information on the whereabouts of Lall is asked to call 800-TIPS or contact the police at 555, 999, 911 or any police station. Blind retired worker in six-year wait for gratuity Up until now the Association has not given me a dime, Baptiste told Newsday yesterday from the Port-of-Spain-based office of the TTBWA where he threatened to stay until he is given some assurance about his dues. I talking to (Executive Officer) Mr Kenneth Surratt regularly about my money. He said that the ministry has to send over the money. He is telling me that I will get my money and I aint get no money, he said. He told me that he has not heard from the ministry. I asked him to call the ministry. I am not leaving the office until I get something positive from him. It is up to them if they lock me up in here, he said. Frustrated at the long wait, Baptiste said, Nobody knows what is going through my mind now. He said he has a teenage daughter in school whose welfare he has to look after. All his savings, he said, are depleted. Contacted on Baptistes plight, Surratt said that the TTBWA has been representing Baptistes cause to the Ministry of Social Development and Family Affairs. Baptiste was not the only former employee who is seeking gratuity, he said. There are about three others. The Association, he said, receives a subvention from Government and was not into income generation. Surratt said that the TTBWA has calculated Baptistes gratuity and last August submitted the request for the payment to the ministry but has had no response since. We could only pay when we get the approval and the money from the ministry to make the payout, he said. Nevertheless, he said, that he gave Baptiste a cheque yesterday representing back pay for the last period that he worked under the collective bargaining arrangement that the TTBWA has entered into. NGO calls on AG to deal with issue of illegal fireworks Marshall said he had written to the Attorney General on March 28, 2016, and November 28, 2016, appealing to him to address the issue which brought so much fear and discomfort to animals, the elderly, infirmed and infants. He said the members of Animals 360 firmly believe the current legislation is not sufficient. We acknowledge and commend the actions of the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service on the night of December 31 , 2016, to quell the disturbances of a lawless society. This behaviour however, is now ingrained in our culture, rampant and difficult to police. It is incumbent upon the Government to act to pass legislation that facilitates safe, responsible and compassionate use of fireworks that can be enforced. In order to hold accountable those that do not comply with the law a means of identifying those that are in compliance as opposed to those that are not is required, Marshall stated. He said that while the duration of the explosions on Old Years Night was not as bad as previous years, the intensity of the explosions were louder and more explosive. Marshall said police response varied in different areas. He said while in some areas the response was very good (polite and professional) , in other areas the police were indifferent while some did not answer their telephones. He said the extent of the lawlessness was impossible to police with missiles being launched incessantly, with the boom factor seeming more prevalent than the visual factor. This in itself is evidence of a disturbing trend amongst our population. We are not aware of any arrests, he said. Marshall proposed that there be a review of the legislation relevant to fireworks built around three pillars. These included that end users of fireworks must be licensed to discharge fireworks, and fireworks should only be imported by licensed importers or sold to individuals, corporations and other entities that have a licence to discharge fireworks. Also, the days, times, events and locations permissible for the discharge of fireworks should be legislated. Get the news faster. Tap to install our app. Access Newser even faster. Click here to install our app on your desktop. X (Newser) While 7,000 police officers kept a watchful eye on revelers ringing in the new year in Times Square, three men pulled off a major jewelry heist just blocks away, WGO reports. According to USA Today, police say three men entered a Manhattan building around 10pm New Year's Eve. At midnightpossibly using noise from New Year's celebrations as coverthey allegedly broke into the offices of a jewelry wholesaler and made off with $6 million in jewelry from two safes. Police believe the burglary was an inside job, as the suspects didn't need to force their way into the safes; they were already open, the New York Daily News reports. Police released videotaken just before the men destroyed the surveillance camerason Monday. The suspects are still on the loose. Police say the suspects stole rings, bracelets, and necklaces from jewelry designer Gregg Ruth. Rings on his website sell for up to $62,000. (Read more jewelry theft stories.) (Newser) There's a reason Q-tips come with a warning to never use them in your earsand it's about time we heeded the advice, says the American Academy of Otolaryngology. The academy's new guidelines for dealing with earwax, the first in almost a decade, stress that the wax is as beneficial as nose mucus or eyelashes and should be left alone as much as possible. While it might seem icky, earwax traps dirt, dust, and other stuff that might get into our ears; the wax is slowly pushed outward by new skin growth and jaw movement and washed away with normal bathing, reports Reuters and CNN. That means there's no reason to get rid of earwax with cotton swabs, your finger, or any other tool. Doing so is actually a really bad idea. You might "push the wax in further, and there also is the potential for damage to the ear drum," says Dr. Seth Schwartz, who helped draft the new guidelines. You might also scratch the ear canal, which "can lead to pain and infection," he says. "Wiping away any excess wax when it comes to the outside of the ear is enough to keep it clean." Doctors say you should seek medical help if your ear feels full, painful, itchy, or if you're experiencing hearing loss, drainage, ringing in the ears, or bleeding, rather than using a cotton swab to poke around. In fact, they say you shouldn't put anything smaller than your elbow in your earincluding ear candles, which are supposed to remove wax with heat, though there's no evidence they really work, per Quartz. (It turns out your earwax says a lot about you.) (Newser) Despite currently serving nine life sentences, the infamous Charles Manson left prison Tuesday, TMZ reports. Sources say Manson was taken from Corcoran State Prison in California to a hospital an hour away in Bakersfield for treatment. According to the Los Angeles Times, it's unclear what's wrong with Manson, but a source "familiar with the situation" says the 82-year-old is "seriously ill." The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation isn't commenting due to privacy laws, Reuters reports. A spokesperson for the department did however confirm that Manson "is alive." Manson entered prison in 1971 after being convicted of having his followers, mostly young women, kill seven people in 1969 in an attempt to start a race war. Manson has been denied parole a dozen times. His next parole hearing isn't scheduled until 2027, when he'd be 92 years old. (Read more Charles Manson stories.) (Newser) Cornell William Brooks, national president of the NAACP, was among six people arrested Tuesday evening after an all-day sit-in at the Alabama offices of Sen. Jeff Sessions, Donald Trump's nominee for attorney general. Around two dozen civil rights activists occupied the Republican's Mobile offices at around 11am, denouncing Sessions' record on voting rights and calling him to withdraw his name from consideration for AG, the New York Times reports. Brooks and the other five, including Bernard Simelton, NAACP's Alabama director, prayed in front of police and agreed to be arrested. "We are about to be arrested," Brooks said as police moved in around 6:30pm. "We are doing this as an act of civil disobedience standing in the tradition of Rosa Parks and members of the NAACP community." Sessions has long been dogged by accusations of racism and was rejected for a federal judgeship in 1986. In a live-stream of the protest, Simelton said everybody had been polite and hospitable, with Sessions even ordering lunch for protesters. "As a matter of conscience and conviction, we can neither be mute nor mumble our opposition to Sen. Jefferson Beauregard Sessions becoming attorney general of the United States," Brooks said in an earlier statement, per AL.com. "Sen. Sessions has callously ignored the reality of voter suppression but zealously prosecuted innocent civil rights leaders on trumped-up charges of voter fraud. As an opponent of the vote, he can't be trusted to be the chief law enforcement officer for voting rights." All six were charged with trespassing, according to Mobile County Jail records. (Read more Jeff Sessions stories.) (Newser) The home of the Swedish royal family is apparently spook central. But Queen Silvia says not to worry, the "small friends ghosts" that haunt the 17th-century halls of Drottningholm Palace mean no harm and don't scare her, reports the AFP. "Theyre all very friendly but you sometimes feel that you're not completely alone," the 73-year-old queen says in a new documentary by the country's public TV network SVT. Located on Lovon Island off Stockholm, Drottingholm is the principal home of Queen Silvia, Sweden's longest-serving queen, and King Carl XVI Gustaf, her husband of 40 years. Its UNESCO World Heritage listing describes it as "the finest example of an 18th-century north European royal residence inspired by the Palace of Versailles." While the queen doesn't get into specifics about individual spirits, Time cites a 2010 Swedish article that references a "gray man" and a "white lady" said to roam there. As for backup, the king's sister, Princess Christina, agrees the castle is indeed a phantom favorite. "There is much energy in this house. It would be strange if it didnt take the form of guises," she tells the filmmakers. The Local reports that those who want to seek out the paranormal interlopers can indeed do so: Only the southern wing is off-limits to the public. (This "haunted" photo went viral in April.) (Newser) Some 100 law professors in support of Sen. Jeff Sessions' nomination for attorney general appear to be in the minority. More than 1,200 law professors have sent a letter to Congress in an attempt to convince the Senate Judiciary Committee to reject the nomination, noting Sessions "will not fairly enforce our nation's laws and promote justice and equality," per the Washington Post. The letter mentions his support for a border wall, attempt to prosecute black civil rights activists for voter fraud in 1985, and "repeated opposition to legislative efforts to promote the rights of women and members of the LGBTQ community" but focuses on the Senate's rejection of his nomination to a federal judgeship in 1986 after Sessions allegedly said the KKK was "okay until I found out they smoked pot," per USA Today. A rep for Sessions says such claims are "tired, recycled, hyperbolic" and "have been thoroughly rebuked and discredited." A former chairman of the US Commission on Civil Rights adds Sessions is "a man of great character and integrity with a commitment to fairness and equal justice under the law." But "nothing in Senator Sessions' public life since 1986 has convinced us that he is a different man than the 39-year-old attorney who was deemed too racially insensitive to be a federal district court judge," states the letter, signed by professors from 176 law schools in 49 states. In a separate letter, former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrickwho represented the activists in the 1985 casesuggests Sessions' "regard for facts is secondary to political objectives," per Boston.com. (NAACP's president was just arrested at Sessions' office.) (Newser) Teresa Shook didn't even know how to create an event on Facebook when she first came up with the idea for a protest marchwhich makes it more astounding that that demonstration, now the Women's March on Washington, will likely be the largest protest in the capital during Donald Trump's inauguration week, with more than 165,000 signed on and a permit requesting accommodations for 200,000, the Washington Post reports. The march, which will take place the day after Inauguration Day near the Capitol, won't focus on Trump per se, but liberal issues that appear to contrast Trump's agenda. "The rhetoric of the past election cycle has insulted, demonized, and threatened many of uswomen, immigrants of all statuses, those with diverse religious faiths, particularly Muslim, people who identify as LGBTQIA, Native and Indigenous people, Black and Brown people, people with disabilities, the economically impoverished and survivors of sexual assault," organizers say, per NJ.com. Shook, a 60-something retired lawyer in Hawaii who started out with just 40 RSVPs, is amazed at the protest's evolution. Issues from the get-go included racial tensions (there was criticism that Shook and her original volunteers were all white) and no available starting point. The event was eventually handed over to activists with more experience in logistics. "I didn't really think it would've ever gone viral," says Shook, who will attend. "I don't even know how to go viral." A University of California-Santa Barbara poli sci professor, however, says it makes sense that a woman, not an organization, was the impetus behind the event, which is expected to see Gloria Steinem and Amy Schumer, among other big names, in attendance. "Each organization has its own image that draws some people and pushes others back away," she notes. (Read more inauguration stories.) (Newser) President Obama is weeks away from returning to civilian life, but he's going to party like it's 2009 one last time with a White House bash on Friday, sources tell the Washington Post. In contrast to the Donald Trump transition team's reported struggle to attract A-listers, the party will be a star-studded affair, with likely guests including Stevie Wonder, Beyonce, Jay Z, and Usher, as well as Samuel L. Jackson, George Lucas, and Oprah Winfrey, the sources say. The White House announced earlier this week that Obama will deliver his farewell address next Tuesday in Chicago. (On Sunday, Obama defended his legacy on Twitter.) (Newser) More than 150 prisoners escaped in a brazen jailbreak in the southern Philippines after a shoot-out between suspected Islamist rebels and guards, Al Jazeera reports. Six inmates and one guard were killed in the firefight on the island of Mindanao, reports the BBC. More than 100 armed men stormed the North Cotabato District Jail near Kidapawan city around 1am on Wednesday. During the two-hour firefight, some 158 inmates (out of 1,500) managed to flee. Some prisoners leaped over a wall after stacking their beds against it, per the BBC. Others scaled a ladder, per Al Jazeera. Eight have been recaptured. There was no claim of responsibility but rebels from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front were suspected. The MILF is the largest of the Muslim separatist groups fighting for increased autonomy in the majority Catholic southern islands. Jailbreaks, kidnappings, and other violence have marked the four-decade insurgency that has left 120,000 dead, per the BBC. President Rodrigo Duterte, whose summary executions of criminals has drawn international outrage, has pursued peace talks with the rebels. (Read more Philippines stories.) LONDON, Jan 4 (Reuters) - Below are the key excerpts from the resignation letter of Britain's ambassador to the European Union, Ivan Rogers, less than three months before London triggers complex talks on Britain's exit from the bloc. The text of the letter was published by the BBC. Dear All, I am writing to you all on the first day back to tell you that I am today resigning as Permanent Representative. ... As we look ahead to the likely timetable for the next few years, and with the invocation of Article 50 coming up shortly, it is obvious that it will be best if the top team in situ at the time that Article 50 is invoked remains there till the end of the process and can also see through the negotiations for any new deal between the UK and the EU27. It would obviously make no sense for my role to change hands later this year. I have therefore decided to step down now, having done everything that I could in the last six months to contribute my experience, expertise and address book to get the new team at political and official level under way. This will permit a new appointee to be in place by the time Article 50 is invoked. ... I know that this news will add, temporarily, to the uncertainty that I know, from our many discussions in the autumn, you are all feeling about the role of UKREP (the UK Representation to the EU) in the coming months and years of negotiations over "Brexit". I am sorry about that, but I hope that it will help produce earlier and greater clarity on the role that UKREP should play. My own view remains as it has always been. We do not yet know what the government will set as negotiating objectives for the UK's relationship with the EU after exit. There is much we will not know until later this year about the political shape of the EU itself, and who the political protagonists in any negotiation with the UK will be. But in any negotiation which addresses the new relationship, the technical expertise, the detailed knowledge of positions on the other side of the table - and the reasons for them, and the divisions amongst them - and the negotiating experience and savvy that the people in this building bring, make it essential for all parts of UKREP to be centrally involved in the negotiations if the UK is to achieve the best possible outcomes. Story continues Serious multilateral negotiating experience is in short supply in Whitehall, and that is not the case in the (European) Commission or in the Council. The government will only achieve the best for the country if it harnesses the best experience we have - a large proportion of which is concentrated in UKREP - and negotiates resolutely. Senior ministers, who will decide on our positions, issue by issue, also need from you detailed, unvarnished - even where this is uncomfortable - and nuanced understanding of the views, interests and incentives of the other 27. The structure of the UK's negotiating team and the allocation of roles and responsibilities to support that team, needs rapid resolution. The working methods which enable the team in London and Brussels to function seamlessly need also to be strengthened. The great strength of the UK system - at least as it has been perceived by all others in the EU - has always been its unique combination of policy depth, expertise and coherence, message co-ordination and discipline, and the ability to negotiate with skill and determination. UKREP has always been key to all of that. We shall need it more than ever in the years ahead. As I have argued consistently at every level since June, many opportunities for the UK in the future will derive from the mere fact of having left and being free to take a different path. But others will depend entirely on the precise shape of deals we can negotiate in the years ahead. Contrary to the beliefs of some, free trade does not just happen when it is not thwarted by authorities: increasing market access to other markets and consumer choice in our own, depends on the deals, multilateral, plurilateral and bilateral that we strike, and the terms that we agree. I shall advise my successor to continue to make these points. Meanwhile, I would urge you all to stick with it, to keep on working at intensifying your links with opposite numbers in DEXEU (the Department for Exiting the EU) and line ministries and to keep on contributing your expertise to the policy-making process as negotiating objectives get drawn up. The famed UKREP combination of immense creativity with realism ground in negotiating experience, is needed more than ever right now. ... I hope you will continue to challenge ill-founded arguments and muddled thinking and that you will never be afraid to speak the truth to those in power. I hope that you will support each other in those difficult moments where you have to deliver messages that are disagreeable to those who need to hear them. I hope that you will continue to be interested in the views of others, even where you disagree with them, and in understanding why others act and think in the way that they do. I hope that you will always provide the best advice and counsel you can to the politicians that our people have elected, and be proud of the essential role we play in the service of a great democracy. Ivan (Reporting by Estelle Shirbon; editing by Guy Faulconbridge) (Newser) An Israeli soldier was convicted of manslaughter on Wednesday in the deadly shooting of an incapacitated Palestinian attacker, capping a nine-month saga that has deeply divided the country, reports the AP. The verdict, which marks an extremely rare instance of an Israeli military court siding against a soldier over lethal action taken in the field, threatened to deepen the rift. Military commanders have condemned the soldier's conduct, while much of the public, along with leading members of the nationalist ruling coalition, have rallied behind him. Sgt. Elor Azaria, an army medic, was caught on a cellphone video fatally shooting a wounded Palestinian attacker who had stabbed a soldier in the West Bank city of Hebron in March. The Palestinian was lying motionless on the ground when Azaria, 20, shot him in the head. In a verdict that stretched nearly three hours, the head of the three-judge panel painstakingly rejected all of Azaria's defense arguments. She said there was no evidence to support his claim that the attacker was already dead or that the man posed any threat at the time, concluding Azaria "needlessly" shot the man because "he felt the terrorist deserved to die." Tensions quickly boiled over in the cramped, crowded courtroom as the verdict was read. Members of Azaria's family clapped, screaming "Our hero!" A female relative was kicked out of the courtroom for screaming at the judges and calling the decision a disgrace. A second woman stormed out, shouting, "Disgusting leftists." The defense team said it would appeal the verdict. The sentencing is expected in the coming weeks. (Read more Israel stories.) (Newser) California is gearing up to fight Donald Trump's administrationand President Obama's former attorney general will lead the charge. Democratic leaders of the California Legislature announced Wednesday that they've hired Eric Holder, now a partner at law firm Covington & Burling, to head a team of lawyers that will offer counsel in response to potential conflicts between the state and federal government over the next four years, including those relating to climate change, civil rights, the environment, and immigration, reports the Los Angeles Times. Trump is "surrounding himself with people who are a very clear and present danger to the economic prosperity of California," Senate leader Kevin de Leon tells the New York Times. "This means we are very, very serious." It's an unorthodox move as the state attorney generalRep. Xavier Becerra is expected to take over the post after Kamala Harris' move to the US Senatewould normally take on such a role. But de Leon and Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon sought a stronger front "to protect Californians" soon after Trump was elected. "While we dont yet know the harmful proposals the next administration will put forward, thanks to Donald Trump's campaign, cabinet appointments and Twitter feed, we do have an idea of what we will be dealing with," says Rendon. De Leon adds financial details have not been set, but "the cost will be very minimal compared to the billions of dollars at stake if California doesn't adequately make its case" and will come from the legislature's operating budget. (Read more California stories.) (Newser) A North Carolina cop is on paid leave after video surfaced on social media showing him roughly throwing a female student to the floor, reports the News & Observer. Officer Ruben De Los Santos, a school resource officer for Rolesville High School, was responding to an early morning fight between two female students in the cafeteria Tuesday. The nine-second clip shows De Los Santos (identified by the police department, per the Washington Post) lifting up a girl in a pink shirt to about shoulder's height as a crowd of students watches, then slamming her to the ground, where she remains unmoving for a second or two until he drags her up by the arm and makes her walk away with him. The Rolesville PD says it's asked the state Bureau of Investigation to investigate and pledges to "work diligently to review any and all pertinent information so that we provide an accurate account of the events." The school's principal said in a statement that she was "deeply concerned" about what she witnessed. The student who filmed the video posted it on Twitter and said, "THIS. IS. NOT OKAY.," including a hashtag with the school's name. The ACLU of North Carolina also weighed in, tweeting, "Disturbing use of force at #rolesvillehigh that should never be used against kids in schools." The mother of the student, identified by WLOS as 15-year-old Jasmine Darwin, says Jasmine, an honors student, has a concussion and won't be returning to the school. Jasmine, who says she was trying to defend her sister in the original fight, tells WRAL, "I was in shock." Meanwhile, Dajerria Becton, the teen taken to the ground by a Texas cop in 2015 during a pool party, has filed a $5 million suit against now ex-cop Eric Casebolt, the city of McKinney, and the police department, per the Dallas Morning News. (Read more police officer stories.) (Newser) The American intelligence community had concluded Russia is to blame for cyberattacks during the US election, including those targeting Hillary Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta. WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange disagrees. And in a move one Republican political consultant sees as "mocking American men and women who put their lives on the line for us," Donald Trump is siding with the latter, reports the New York Times. In a tweet Wednesday, Trump repeated claims Assange made on Fox News on Tuesday, reports USA Today: "Julian Assange said 'a 14 year old could have hacked Podesta' - why was DNC so careless? Also said Russians did not give him the info!" The tweet didn't go over well, including with members of his own party. "Let's stare this reality square in the face: PEOTUS is pro-Putin and believes Julian Assange over the @CIA. On Jan. 20 we will be less safe," tweeted former Pentagon and CIA spokesman George Little in response, per CNN. "I have a lot more faith in our intelligence officers than I do in people like Julian Assange," added Republican Sen. Tom Cotton, per Politico. House Speaker Paul Ryan didn't address Trump's tweet, but did call Assange "a sycophant for Russia" and suggested Trump would become "better informed" once Friday's intelligence briefing about Russian hacking occurred. Trump on Tuesday night tweeted the meeting was "delayed" to Friday, suggesting the reason was "more time needed to build a case." Intelligence officials, however, say the meeting was always planned for Friday. (Read more Donald Trump stories.) The Daily News-Miner encourages residents to make themselves heard through the Opinion pages. Readers' letters and columns also appear online at newsminer.com. Contact the editor with questions at letters@newsminer.com or call 459-7574. New Delhi: Delhi Environment minister Imran Hussain has told that his department will now be responsible to send weekly status reports of the important projects and work done under the pursuance of Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodias instruction. The reports will be submitted by Environment secretary weekly to the minister and to the Lieutenant Governor, Chief Minister, Deputy Chief Minister and chief secretary, told a senior government official. The orders have been given by Manish Sisodia to all the heads of departments to submit a weekly status report concerning all the important projects and proposals to the ministers concerned as well as Lt Governor and Chief Minister. The reports that will be submitted to the Environment minister will be reviews of air pollution control measures, implementation of various orders of National Green Tribunal regarding ban on burning waste material and dry leaves, plastic waste material, among others, informed the official. The existing ambient air quality of city was reviewed by Hussain in a meeting with the senior officials of the department and the Delhi Pollution Control Committee, added the officer. New Delhi: Bigg Boss 10 has entered the 12th week and the show and the reality show is witnessing high octane drama inside the house with Om Swami being the perfect trouble maker.A The day began with the contestants waking up to the tunes of 'Dhadak Dhadak'. Housemates were suppose to continue with the 'Maalgaadi' task today as well in order to hike the prize money. But the since the beginning of the show, one could sense the agitation prevailing inside the house Manu Punjabi expressed his displeasure over Om Swami's negative opinions about him. Om Swami feels that Manu is lost in his own vanity. In fact, he also stated that all the housemates unnecessarily pick fights with him. #OmSwami shares that all the housemates unnecessarily pick fights with him! Do you think so too? Or is it vice-versa? #BB10 a Bigg Boss (@BiggBoss) January 4, 2017 A This irked Manveer and Manu, who got into an argument with Swami. Soon Om Swami came up with his crazy self and wrote a sorry note and sticks it to his dress. However, despite all the apology tantrums, he continued with his annoying tactics and enters the cage before the 'Maalgaadi' task for resumed. Om even injured himself after he tried snatching Nitibha Kaul's umbrella during the task after which Manu retaliated. A All the housemates seemed quite irked with Om Swami's behavior, and the latter was finally called inside the confession room. While Bigg Boss warned him not to interfere in the task, he broke down there. Manveer, Nitibha and Manu were seen continuing the task. A However, jailers Rohan Mehra and Mona Lisa decided to release Manveer from the cage after the next bell rang followed by Manu being released at the next bell. Nitibha was last one playing the 'Maalgaadi' task in the cage and Manveer came up to give her some company. Soon after the completion of the task BB announced the winning prize as Rs 43,33,333 leaving the housemates happy. Bigg Boss announces the total prize money as Rs. 43,33,333 after the successful completion of the Maalgaadi Task! #BB10 a Bigg Boss (@BiggBoss) January 4, 2017 A However, Om comes across an embarrassing situation after it is revealed the he was worth only Rs 444 in the 'Maalgaadi' task. Housemates make fun of #OmSwami after they get to know that he was worth only Rs. 444 in the task! #BB10 a Bigg Boss (@BiggBoss) January 4, 2017 A While it is time for the house to have a new captain, there is a competition going on between Bani J and Om for the captaincy. Amidst this discussion, the contestants are given their next task which happens to be a selfie task.. In this Om was given the role of a director and Manveer was the assistant director. The contestants are asked to click selfie in a team, however, Om insists on being a part of every selfie and ends up getting into an argument with Manveer. #ManveerGurjar & #OmSwami get into a fight after Om Swami says that he will be a part of every selfie! #BB10 pic.twitter.com/6Hr7xC9Kk2 a Bigg Boss (@BiggBoss) January 4, 2017 A Manveer decides to do the task with Bani, Rohan & Manu, but looks like Om wasn't happy about it and photobombs their selfie. As usual, Om gives the other housemates a tough time even in this task, as a result of which the contestants lose their temper and locks Swami in the jail. Breaking from #BB10 house: Housemates lose their temper and lock #OmSwami in the jail! a Bigg Boss (@BiggBoss) January 4, 2017 A While Om and Bani will be seen competing for the captaincy, Swami makes an attempt to convince Manu and Manveer to vote him as their new captain. A Considering the way housemates have been irked by Om Swami's behavior, it will be interesting to see if he is able to beat Bani J and become the new captain of Bigg Boss house. New Delhi: Deepika Padukone is all set to begin the promotions of her first Hollywood movie 'xXx: Return of Xander Cage' and the diva will be accompanied by her co-star Vin Diesel. The 'Bajirao Mastani' had recently revealed that the Hollywood star will be coming to India to promote the movie. But looks like Vin's India visit won't be just about the 'xXx' promotions as DP is planning something big for her co-star. According to the media reports, Deepika is planning to host a big bash with the Hollywood star. DP's party will be attended by the big shots from the industry. On the other hand, reports are rife that Diesel will be having a filmi welcome with band-baaja wating to receive him when he touches down in Mumbai. While Deepika is quite excited about her Hollywood venture, Vin too can't stop gushing about the B-town diva and has often praised the lady for her dedication. Interestingly, 'xXx: Return of Xander Cage' happens to be the third installment of the blockbuster franchise. Helmed by D. J. Caruso, the movie also stars Donnie Yen, Tony Jaa, Samuel L. Jackson, Nina Dobrev, Ruby Rose etc. 'xXx: Return of Xander Cage' is slated to release in India on January 14. For all the Latest Entertainment News, Bollywood News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Assembly elections in the politically-crucial Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur will be held between February 4 and March 8 in what will be the first major test for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's gamble on demonetisation. While polling will be spread over seven phases in Uttar Pradesh, it will be a one-day affair in Uttarakhand, Punjab and Goa, and a two-day exercise in Manipur. Counting of votes will be taken up together in all the states on March 11, the Election Commission announced on Wednesday setting in process the mega political exercise in the new year. Announcing the schedule, Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi said the Commission will keep a watch on the use of black money, which is expected to come down due to demonetisation. Steps will be taken up to ensure that other illegal inducements are not used to influence voters, he said. In Uttar Pradesh, which has a 403-member House, polls will be held on February 11 (73 constituencies), February 15 (67 constituencies), February 19 (69), February 23 (53), February 27 (52), March 3 (49) and March 8 (40). Full Coverage: Uttar Pradesh Elections 2017 Unlike last elections, Manipur, which recently witnessed violence raising questions whether elections would be possible now, will have a two-day polling on March 4 (38 constituencies) and March 8 (22 seats). Here, the Congress seeks to retain power. Polling will be held in Punjab and Goa together on February 4 and in Uttarakhand it will be held on February 15. The whole electoral process will begin with the issue of notification for polls in Punjab and Goa on January 11. The family feud and the split in ruling Samajwadi Party have injected a new dimension in the politics in Uttar Pradesh where BJP hopes to capture power after 14 years on the back of a sweep in Lok Sabha elections in 2014. BSP and Congress, the other main challengers, hope to make it a quadrangular fight but for some alliances being made. Punjab, which a 117-member assembly, promises to be an essentially three-way fight between the ruling SAD-BJP combine, Congress and the new entrant AAP. Full Coverage: Punjab Assembly Elections 2017 After sensational political developments in Uttarakhand in 2016, where Congress was temporarily dislodged from power due to defections, the party and BJP are set for a virtual direct fight on 70 seats. In Goa, where BJP seeks to retain most of the 40 assembly seats to remain in power, AAP is being seen as a new player which plans to topple the applecart of national parties Congress and BJP. Over 16 crore people will participate in these polls for 690 constituencies in five states, for which the Commission has set up 1.85 lakh polling stations, up 15 per cent from the number during the 2012 polls. Full Coverage: Goa Assembly Elections 2017 "The Model Code of Conduct will come into immediate effect and will apply on political parties and state governments concerned, besides the Central government in terms of announcements in these states," Zaidi said. The CEC said candidates will have to open a bank account for all election expenditures and expenses above Rs 20,000 will be made through cheques from the new accounts. He added that donations above Rs 20,000 will also be accepted through cheques. The maximum limit for expenses for each candidates in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Uttarakhand is Rs 28 lakh, while that in Goa and Manipur is Rs 20 lakh, he said. Responding to a question on poll funding, the CEC said the Commission has already asked the government to cut down to Rs 2,000 the present Rs 20,000 limit on anonymous donations to parties. He said as part of reforms, the candidates will have to submit a 'No-Demand Certificate' from agencies providing amenities and government accommodation. The certificate will come from agencies dealing with electricity, water, telephone and also the rent certificate of the government accommodation which these candidates may have occupied in past 10 years. Defence personnel posted away from their homes constituencies can cast vote through one-way electronic transmission of ballot in the polls. But the facility may not be available in all the constituencies this time and could be extended in a select seats. The Commission had first experimented the initiative in a Puducherry bypoll recently. Asked about suggestions that the Commission 'waited' for Prime Minister Modi's Lucknow rally before announcing the poll schedule, Zaidi said the poll panel "has its own mind." "It does not make its schedule according to the request of political parties," he said. The Commission will issue photo voter slips to voters ahead of polls and will, for the first time, also distribute a colourful booklet that will guide the voters on date and time of polls and location of polling stations, besides Dos and Don'ts for them. As it happened: EC announces dates of polling in 5 states To encourage more participation of women in election management process, the EC will also have some all-woman polling stations this time around, besides making all polling stations friendly for differently-able persons. The tenure of Punjab, Goa and Manipur assemblies are ending on March 18, while that of Uttarakhand's on March 26 and Uttar Pradesh Assembly on May 27. Of the total 690 constituencies going to polls in these five states, 133 are reserved for Scheduled Castes and 23 for Scheduled Tribe. To ensure full secrecy of a voter and that facial expressions don't indicate their choice of candidate, the EC had decided to increase the height of the shield that covers the EVM to 30 inches. Full Coverage: Assembly Elections 2017 Important poll dates in Videos For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: In his first reaction after being arrested, Trinamool Congress leader Sudip Bandopadhyay has said it was a reflection of his party's good performance in Parliament against demonetisation. "It is the reflection of a good performance in the Parliament (by TMC in opposing demonetisation)," Bandopadhyay told reporters while being whisked away to the Kolkata airport. Bandopadhyay, who was arrested on Tuesday by the CBI in connection with the Rose Valley scam, was taken to the airport on way to Bhubaneswar for his production in a court there. Before that, a routine medical check-up was conducted on the TMC leader. A CBI statement said he has been charged under IPC sections 420 (cheating), 408 (criminal breach of trust), 120b (criminal conspiracy) and 34 (common intention) and various sections of Prize, Chits and Money Circulation (Banning) Act of 1978. Read | Rose Valley scam: Sudip Bandyopadhyays arrest sparks fresh tussle between BJP, TMC Bandopadhyay arrived at the CBI office in the state capital after being summoned by the investigation agency. He was arrested after four hours of questioning. He would be interrogated afresh by CBI in Bhubaneswar in the case which was lodged in the Odisha capital. Another TMC MP Tapas Pal, arrested in the same case on December 30, is under CBI custody in Bhubaneswar. The arrest has sparked a fresh tussle between the TMC and the BJP that resulted in a violent attack by the ruling party on BJPs state headquarters that left several people injured. BJP national secretary Rahul Sinha claimed 15 party workers were injured in the attack. As the protest continued, a CRPF contingent was rushed to secure BJP office and ensure safety of its workers. We appealed to the Union home ministry to send in the CRPF to ensure our safety and security. A contingent of CRPF was sent to BJP office to ensure our safety, Sinha told PTI. Stung by Bandyopadhyays arrest, a furious Mamata Banerjee accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of using central agencies like the CBI, Enforcement Directorate and Income Tax department against his political rivals who were raising their voice against demonetisation. Mamata alleged that Bandyopadhyay was arrested under pressure from the PMO and wondered why should Narendra Modi and Amit Shah not be arrested? (With inputs from PTI) For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Itanagar: The Arunachal Pradesh unit of Congress on Wednesday hit out at the Narendra Modi government accusing it of having a backyard policy of promoting 50 corporate families to channelise their black money and befooling the poor. AICC secretary and in-charge of partys state unit K Jayakumar described Prime Minister Modi as anti-people during a party meeting held here. Modi was elected on his aid campaign of Acche Din for Aam Aadmi, but his backyard policy of promoting 50 families of the country among the corporate sector have rather prompted to channelise their black money earned in various sectors as overseas investment and real estate business befooling the poor people, Jayakumar said. The state unit of Congress has formulated strategies for its anti-demonetisation campaign against the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre, a party release said. Rajya Sabha MP Ranee Narah, who is also the AICC coordinator for Arunachal, suggested constituting a state-level campaign committee with former minister Tako Dabi as its chairman for a pan-India campaign. He additionally asked the state unit to coordinate with AICC for nation-wide protest against demonetisation and anti-people policies of the Modi government, it said. Congress state unit president Padi Richo has directed all its members to remain united while fighting against demonetisation as per the programme set by AICC, the statement said. Former Chief Minister Nabam Tuki questioned Modi for failing in all his commitments before he was elected. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Government on Wednesday approved signing and ratifying an agreement between India and Uruguay regarding co-operation and mutual assistance on Customs matters. The decision was taken at a meeting of the Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on Wednesday. The agreement will provide legal framework to sharing of information and intelligence between Customs authorities of the two countries and help in proper application of laws, prevention and investigation of Customs offences and the facilitation of legitimate trade. The draft text of the proposed Agreement has been finalised with the concurrence of the two Customs administrations. "The agreement will help in the availability of relevant information for prevention and investigation of Customs offences. It is also expected to facilitate trade and ensure efficient clearance of goods traded between the countries," an official statement said. The draft agreement will consider Indian Customs' concerns and requirements, particularly in exchange of information on the correctness of the Customs value declared, authenticity of certificates of origin of goods and the description of the goods traded between the two countries.Uruguay is a key trading partner of India among members of MERCOSUR, a trading bloc in Latin America. India signed a preferential trade agreement (PTA) with MERCOSUR that came into effect from June 1, 2009. Trade between India and Uruguay has been expanding gradually. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Mumbai : Bodies of film producer-realtor Abis Rizvi and fashion designer Khushi Shah, who were among 39 people killed in the Istanbul terror attack, arrived in Mumbai early on Wednesday. The Turkish Airlines plane carrying the bodies landed at Mumbai airport shortly after 5 AM, BJP MP Kirit Somaiya, who received the bodies at the airport, told. While Rizvis body has been taken to his home in suburban Bandra, Khushis body was flown to Vadodara for cremation later on Wednesday, he said. Rizvis burial will also take place on Wednesday. The flight carrying the bodies had left Istanbul on Tuesday night. Khushi and Rizvi were among the 15 foreigners who were killed when a gunman went on a rampage at the waterside Reina nightclub in Istanbul where revellers were celebrating the New Year. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Srinagar: A suspected militant belonging to the lashkar-e-taiba(LeT) has been arrested from north Kashmir's Kupwara district, police said on Wednesday. Acting on an intelligence input, a joint team of police and army arrested Ashiq Ahmed alias Abu Haider from Handwara area of the district, a police spokesman said in Srinagar. Huge cache of arms and ammunition, including an AK-47 rifle, three magazines, a Chinese Pistol with a magazine, three hand grenades, a magazine pouch and a map, was seized from him. During interrogation, Ahmed said he was a close associate of Abu Bakar an LeT Commander who was killed in an encounter in Sopore township last month, the spokesman said. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Chennai: DMK elects party treasurer MK Stalin as its working president in general council meeting in Chennai on Wednesday, while M Karunanidhi will remain on the post of party president. The meeting was chaired by senior leader K Anbazhagan while the 93-year-old party president was not present as he has been on bed-rest after he was discharged from hospital recently. The decision was taken days after the ruling party AIADMK party elected Sasikala as its new chief post J Jayalalithaa's death. The announcement was made at a crucial general body meeting chaired by senior leader K Anbazhagan.During the council meet many other decision has been taken, few are: # 16 resolutions passed in DMK General Council meet including against demonetisation, urging Centre to mitigate the hardships faced by people. # DMK general council meeting condoles Jayalalithaa's death; Urges Sri Lanka to immediately release arrested Tamil fishermen with their boat. # Chennai: DMK leader MK Stalin elected as the party's working president in the general council meeting. # DMK General council meeting passes resolution urging the Central Govt to take action to lift ban on Jallikattu. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence has seized nearly 2,500 kilogram of marijuana from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh in two separate raids. In Patna, DRI officials got tip off that marijuana had been loaded in a truck at the Nagaland-Assam border. On Tuesday night, DRI officials seized 1817 kg of cannabis from a truck coming from Assam and arrested three persons. In the second raid, DRI officials seized a consignment of 690 kgs of cannabis from Gorakhpur on Wednesday. The truck was coming from Northeast. Three persons were arrested by the officials. Further investigation is going on into the matter. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate on Wednesday opposed the bail plea of controversial lawyer Rohit Tandon, who is in jail for alleged seizure of Rs 13.6 crore cash from his law firm as part of an anti-black money probe, telling a court here that he was one of the main conspirators in the illegal conversion of nearly Rs 60 crore demonetised currency. Seeking bail for Tandon, his counsel submitted before Additional Sessions Judge R K Tripathi that his clients arrest was illegal and prima facie no offence under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) was made out. The court, however, listed the case for further arguments on January 7 while asking both the parties to give written submissions by then. Part arguments heard. (The matter) be listed for conclusion of arguments of both the parties on January 7. Summary of arguments in bullet points be furnished, the judge said. Opposing the bail plea of Tandon, EDs counsel Vikas Garg submitted that the application was not maintainable as it was moved under section 439 (special powers of high court or sessions court regarding bail) of CrPC and not under the relevant section of PMLA. He also argued that several bank accounts were used for depositing demonetised currency on the instruction of Tandon who connived with arrested accused and Kotak Mahindra bank manager Ashish Kumar and others for the alleged conversion at a commission of 35 per cent. However, senior advocate Vikas Pahwa, appearing for Tandon, submitted that the accused has not cheated people as the governments November 8 notification on demonetisation, had allowed depositing of any amount of money in bank accounts. As per the notification on behalf of the Ministry of Finance no penal provision has been mentioned in case a person has large denomination of currency in old notes. The said notification does not attract any criminal charges for holding old notes in huge denominations, the counsel said. He further said that there was no allegation against the accused in the FIR and he has fully cooperated in the probe even before he was arrested. The ED counsel, however, referred to the recorded statement of Kumar and Tandons employee Dinesh Bhola in which they mentioned about having a meeting with Tandon and his firms CEO Kamal Jain after demonetisation to discuss how to convert demonetised currency into new ones. The court had on January 2 sent Tandon to 14 days judicial custody along with Kumar and businessman Paras Lodha. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Trinamool Congress (TMC) workers allegedly attacked a house of BJP leader Krishna Bhattacharya's in Uttarpara, West Bengal on Tuesday night. A case has been registered by the Kolkata Police in this connection. However, no casualties have been reported. The TMC workers have been protesting against the arrest of its two MPs Sudip Bandyopadhyay and Tapas Pal. READ MORE: BJP-Trinamool tussle: My arrest reflects TMC's good performance in Parl, says Sudip Bandopadhyay Trinamool Congress leader Sudip Bandopadhyay was arrested on Tuesday for his alleged involvement in the scam. Bandopadhyay was taken to the airport on way to Bhubaneswar for his production in a court there. Trinamool Congress leaders will also protest in Delhi at 2.302pm on Wednesday outside Parliament office against financial emergency and political vendetta. WB: BJP leader Krishna Bhattacharya's house in Uttarpara allegedly attacked by TMC workers, last night. Case registered (Last night visuals) pic.twitter.com/R3PQlzO23a ANI (@ANI_news) January 4, 2017 For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: The Election Commission on Tuesday announced the poll schedule for five states at a press conference in Delhi. The terms of the legislative assembly of Goa, Manipur and Punjab are due to expire on March 18 while that of Uttarakhand expires on March 26. The legislative term of Uttar Pradesh ends on May 27. The EC had held a meeting with chief electoral officers of these poll-bound states on Tuesday to fine-tune the arrangements. Read | Assembly elections 2017: EC announces 7-phase polling in Uttar Pradesh, vote counting on March 11 Here is the full poll schedule for five states: Polling: Feb 4 - March 8 Result date: March 11 1. Uttar Pradesh (403): Seven phases Phase - 1 (73 seats, 15 districts) Date of Notification: Jan 17 Last date of nomination: Jan 24 Last date of scrutiny: Jan 25 Last date of withdrawal of candidates: Jan 27 Election Date: Feb 11 Phase - 2 (67 seats, 11 districts) Date of Notification: Jan 20 Last date of nomination: Jan 27 Last date of scrutiny: Jan 28 Last date of withdrawal of candidates: Jan 30 Election Date: Feb 15 Phase - 3 (69 seats, 12 districts) Date of Notification: Jan 24 Last date of nomination: Jan 31 Last date of scrutiny: Feb 2 Last date of withdrawal of candidates: Feb 4 Election Date: Feb 19 Phase - 4 (53 seats, 12 districts) Date of Notification: Jan 30 Last date of nomination: Feb 6 Last date of scrutiny: Feb 7 Last date of withdrawal of candidates: Feb 9 Election Date: Feb 23 Phase - 5 (52 seats, 11 districts) Date of Notification: Feb 2 Last date of nomination: Feb 9 Last date of scrutiny: Feb 11 Last date of withdrawal of candidates: Feb 13 Election Date: Feb 27 Phase - 6 (49 seats, 7 districts) Date of Notification: Feb 8 Last date of nomination: Feb 15 Last date of scrutiny: Feb 16 Last date of withdrawal of candidates: Feb 18 Election Date: March 4 Phase - 7 (40 seats, 7 districts) Date of Notification: Feb 11 Last date of nomination: Feb 18 Last date of scrutiny: Feb 20 Last date of withdrawal of candidates: Feb 22 Election Date: March 8 2. Uttarakhand (70) Date of Notification: Jan 20 Last date of nomination: Jan 27 Last date of scrutiny: Jan 28 Last date of withdrawal of candidates: Jan 30 Election Date: Feb 15 3. Goa (40) Date of Notification: Jan 11 Last date of nomination: Jan 17 Last date of scrutiny: Jan 19 Last date of withdrawal of candidates: Jan 21 Election Date: Feb 4 4. Punjab (117) Date of Notification: Jan 11 Last date of nomination: Jan 18 Last date of scrutiny: Jan 19 Last date of withdrawal of candidates: Jan 21 Election Date: Feb 4 5. Manipur (60): Two phase elections Phase - 1 (38) Date of Notification: Feb 8 Last date of nomination: Feb 15 Last date of scrutiny: Feb 16 Last date of withdrawal of candidates: Feb 18 Election Date: March 4 Phase - 2 (22) Date of Notification: Feb 11 Last date of nomination: Feb 18 Last date of scrutiny: Feb 20 Last date of withdrawal of candidates: Feb 22 Election Date: March 8 # Vote counting for all the state to be conducted on March 11: EC # UP Polls: Phase 1 Feb 11, Phase 2 Feb 15, Phase 3 Feb 19, Phase 4 Feb 23, Phase 5 Feb 27, Phase 6 March 4, Phase 7 March 8 # UP assembly polls: Date of poll for 1st Phase: Feb 11; Phase 2: Feb 15th: ECI # Seven-phase polling to be held in Uttar Pradesh # Two-phase polling to be held in Manipur: EC # Polling in Punjab and Goa to be held on February 4: EC # Separate set of instructions to monitor TV channels owned by political parties/candidates: CEC # There will be strict expenditure monitor mechanism to curb black money: CEC # Sound pollution is a concern, no use of loudspeakers after 10pm. Police and electoral officers will ensure clampdown on it: CEC Nasim Zaidi # The limit for expenses for candidates is Rs 28 lakh for UP, Punjab, Uttarakhand and Rs 20 lakh for Manipur and Goa: EC # 1.85 lakh polling stations to be in operation for assembly elections to the five states: CEC Nasim Zaidi # Candidate will be required to affix photo on nomination papers, he will be required to mention that he is citizen of India: EC # Model code of conduct comes into immediate effect # There will be complete accountability of photo voter slips, colourful voter guides will be distributed to each family: EC # Electoral roll of Goa will be published on Jan 5, Manipur on Jan 12, Punjab Jan 5, Uttarakhand on Jan 10 and UP on Jan 12: CEC Nasim Zaidi # Total 690 assembly constituencies to go for polls in five states: EC # 16 crore voters to exercise their franchise in five states: EC Here is a brief profile of the poll-bound states: Uttar Pradesh Ruling party- Samajwadi Party Chief minister- Akhilesh Yadav Main opposition party- BSP Total seats- 403 Term ends on- 27 May, 2017 Manipur Ruling Party- Indian National Congress Chief minister- Okram Ibobi Singh Total seats- 60 Term ends on- 18 March, 2017 Punjab Ruling party- SAD-BJP coalition Chief minister- Prakash Singh Badal Main opposition party- Congress Total seats- 117 Term ends on- 18 March, 2017 Uttarakhand Ruling party- Indian National Congress Chief minister- Harish Rawat Main opposition party- BJP Total seats- 70 Term ends on- 26 March, 2017 Goa Ruling Party- BJP Chief minister- Laxmikant Parsekar Main opposition party- Congress Total seats- 40 Term ends on- 18 March, 2017 (With inputs from agencies) The Election Commission will announce the poll schedule for five states on Tuesday at a press conference in Delhi. The terms of the legislative assembly of Goa, Manipur and Punjab are due to expire on March 18 while that of Uttarakhand expires on March 26. The legislative term of Uttar Pradesh ends on May 27. The EC had held a meeting with chief electoral officers of these poll-bound on Tuesday to fine-tune the arrangements. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: NASA has planned to launch a USD 188 million science mission in 2020 that will help astronomers to explore the hidden details of the most extreme and exotic astronomical objects such as stellar and supermassive black holes, neutron stars and pulsars. Objects such as black holes can heat surrounding gases to more than a million degrees. The high-energy X-ray radiation from this gas can be polarised - vibrating in a particular direction, NASA said. The Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) mission will fly three space telescopes with cameras capable of measuring the polarisation of these cosmic X-rays, allowing scientists to answer fundamental questions about these turbulent and extreme environments where gravitational, electric and magnetic fields are at their limits, it said. "We cannot directly image what is going on near objects like black holes and neutron stars, but studying the polarisation of X-rays emitted from their surrounding environments reveals the physics of these enigmatic objects," said Paul Hertz, astrophysics division director for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA. "NASA has a great history of launching observatories in the Astrophysics Explorers Programme with new and unique observational capabilities. IXPE will open a new window on the universe for astronomers to peer through. Today, we can only guess what we will find," said Hertz. Also, Scientists claimed to have developed a novel detection method which will discover around 10 black holes in a year. It means the number currently known within two years will be doubled with this method. Also, the scientists will also be able to unlock the history of black holes in a little more than a decade. The method established by the Researchers from the University of Waterloo in Canada has implications for the field of gravitational wave astronomy and the way in which we search for black holes and other dark objects in space. Within the next ten years, there will be sufficient accumulated data on enough black holes that researchers can statistically analyse their properties as a population, said Avery Broderick, the professor at the University of Waterloo. This information will allow us to study stellar mass black holes at various stages that often extend billions of years, said Broderick. For all the Latest Science News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. London: One of Britains largest Indian community organisation held protest in Londons iconic Piccadilly Circus, highlighting the plight of some of the first generation migrant Indian women in the UK who are abused and exploited by their spouses and let down by the system. Members of Indian Ladies in UK (ILUK), a 14,000-strong womens group made up of first generation female migrants from India, braved the December cold and became homeless for one night, sleeping rough on the frigid streets of London on December 23. They wanted to shed light on the plight of scores of women who have been left physically, mentally and emotionally abused and destitute by their spouses. Among the protesters was a woman from Gujarat whose British-Indian husband took her to India in mid-2016 only to abandon her and kidnap her children and take them to his parents home in Madagascar. The woman who was identified as C was left stranded in Delhi without money or her travel documents. She soon made contact with ILUK which helped organise a passport and an airline ticket back to Britain where she is currently pursuing legal action against her husband and his family. ILUK and its members have also organised accommodation and counselling for her as well as representing her in court. Another woman from Hyderabad, returned to London in October after a visit to India to find that she had been locked out of her home by her IT executive husband who claimed that he had obtained a divorce through the triple talaq system of Islamic divorce. She was left homeless before she made contact with ILUK who organised help for her. Many of the victims often have little knowledge about how to find help in what is, for many, a largely alien country and are often turned away by police and local councils with the excuse that they have no recourse to public funds, a reference to their residency status in the UK. Poonam Joshi, founder of ILUK, said, These are young women who come here with great hopes and dreams and are left in the lurch by the very people who they trust the most their partners. I firmly believe that we as a community need to come together to help, support and empower these women so they can become better integrated into their new homes. This protest is a way of highlighting the work that we do and appeal to both the Indian and British governments to do more to protect these young women. Founded in August 2015, the ILUK group was created with the intention of providing a social media platform for first generation migrant women from India to connect, network interact with each other and to empower them. For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Panaji: Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa is set to visit his relatives in a 200-year-old ancestral house in Margao town during his India visit. The Portuguese PM will also undertake a trip to Goa on January 11-12 as part of his visit. "Christmas has just concluded, so right now I have to clean up the house. I will spruce up the house a bit. We will prepare meal for him. But it would be a private affair. During his India visit, he needs private time with his family where he can talk to us and rest a bit," said Anna Kaarina Costa, the first cousin of the Prime Minister, who currently lives at the Costa house located on Abade Faria Road of Margao. For 55-year-old Costa from Portugal, which ruled the state till 1961, this would be his second visit to the house, the first being when he was a teen and had come with his parents. Anna, who is a hospitality industry professional, would be cooking for her cousin, whom she describes as a very low profile person. " I really dont know what his favourite food is but he is quite a foodie himself," she says remembering the time when she met him in April 2016 in Lisbon, soon after he was elected as the Prime Minister of Portugal. "He is just coming here for a quick visit. He will come here for quick meal. There is no much time to take him around," she said. He is the only cousin I have. For me to meet him, I still have to think that he is the Prime Minister, for me first he is my cousin. I could have thought of having a big bash here but I feel he should get some private time, some rest and spend some time with us, she said. At Costa House, Anna lives with her mother, husband and a daughter. "I had requests from people asking do you think he can visit us. But I told them, I cant say. Security has already asked us where he will be having food?" she said. Speaking about her Portugal trip, Anna described how the Prime Minister drove his own car to join the family in a restaurant for a meal. When asked whether she had invited him to Goa, Anna said I didnt invite him but we mentioned that Goans were waiting for him to visit and he said that he was planning a visit to Goa. He did not know which month. He said it will all depend on the government and invitations coming from here. "When we went to Portugal, we stayed with his brother. But we met him one evening at a restaurant close to his brothers place. He stays little outskirts of Lisbon. Second time we met him for my daughters birthday at his brothers house in Portugal, that time also he came driving his own car and there was not a security." For Costas Goa visit, the security from Lisbon had arrived with officials from Portuguese Consulate in Goa to see the House. They spent some 10-15 minutes and went away," she said. For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Istanbul: Turkey has identified the gunman in the Istanbul nightclub massacre that killed 39 people, including two Indians, the foreign minister said on Wednesday as the president vowed that the country wont surrender to terrorists or become divided. The gunman, who killed 39 people during New Years celebrations at the Reina club, is still at large. But Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said authorities had identified the man, without providing details. The identity of the person who carried out the attack on the Reina nightclub has been established, Cavusoglu told Anadolu in a live televised interview. ALSO READ: (Istanbul attack: Mortal remains of Abis Rizvi, Khushi Shah reach India from Turkey) Turkish police, meanwhile, detained at least five suspected Islamic State group militants believed to be linked to the attack, the state-run news agency reported. The operation was launched in the Aegean port city of Izmir and was ongoing, Anadolu Agency said. IS has claimed responsibility for the attack, which also wounded nearly 70 people. Of those killed 27 were foreigners, many from the Middle East. Islamic State said a soldier of the caliphate had carried out the mass shooting to avenge Turkish military operations against IS in northern Syria. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that the attack aims to set Turks against each other and deepen fault lines, but the country wont fall for this game. Erdogan made the comments in a live speech from Ankara, the first time he has publicly addressed the nation since the attack. Responding to accusations in the past that Turkey had given support to the Islamic State group, Erdogan said that to present the country which is leading the greatest struggle against Daesh as one supporting terrorism is what the terror organization wants. Erdogan said that in Turkey, no ones way of life is under any threat. Those who claim this have to prove it. It is my duty to protect everyones rights. He also said that to say Turkey has surrendered to terrorism is to take sides with the terrorists and terror organisations. Police in Istanbul have set up checkpoints and are checking vehicles across the city as security levels remained high. Police were stopping cars and Istanbuls ubiquitous yellow taxis, with passengers and drivers holding up their identifications while officers inspected inside the vehicles. Istanbul has been on high alert since the attack, with the gunman still at large. The private Dogan news agency said that todays police operation targeted three families who had arrived in Izmir about 20 days ago from Konya a city in central Turkey where the gunman is thought to have been based before carrying out the nightclub attack. It said 27 people, including women and children, were taken into custody. At least 14 people were previously detained in connection with the attack, including two foreigners stopped yesterday at the international terminal of Istanbuls Ataturk Airport after police checked their cellphones and luggage, according to Anadolu. Funerals were held in Jordan, Lebanon, Israel and Turkey for the dead and today, a Turkish Airlines jet carrying the bodies of two Indian citizens killed in the shooting landed in Mumbai. For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Donald Trump could have picked a better car to bash. The incoming president lashed General Motors (GM) on Twitter recently for making its Chevrolet Cruze subcompact in Mexico. Whoops. The Cruze sedanwhich accounts for 97.6% of all US Cruze salesis actually built in Lordstown, Ohio. The slow-selling Cruze hatchback is built in Mexico, but annual sales of just 4,400 units are virtually negligible. General Motors is sending Mexican made model of Chevy Cruze to U.S. car dealers-tax free across border. Make in U.S.A.or pay big border tax! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 3, 2017 Trump went after GM just as cross-town rival Ford announced it was canceling plans to build a $1.6 billion factory in Mexico, as Trump has been urging the company to do since campaigning last year. Ford will still move production of its Focus subcompact from Michigan to Mexico, by ramping up production at another plant instead of building a new one. But it will also invest a fresh $700 million in Michigan, helping create 700 new jobs. Trump tweeted his approval. The Ford news overshadowed Trumps blunder regarding the Chevy Cruze, but Trumps confusion on that is understandable. Automobiles are complex products that typically include components from all over the world. And most automakers sell their cars in dozens of countries, which means they have to base production decisions on a multitude of factors including consumer tastes, labor and material costs, exchange rates, transportation efficiency and where a given model is likely to sell the most. Hatchbacks arent popular in the United States, for example, but European drivers love them, which is part of the reason GM builds the Cruze hatch in Mexicoit can export from there to Europe with no tariffs, while the same car shipped from the United States would face a 10% levy. Trumps crusade to protect American manufacturing jobs has nonetheless put GM and Ford (F) in the crosshairs, and other automakers might be next. Trump targeted Ford during last years campaign because of news the company was opening a new factory in Mexico, to build the Focus subcompact. On another matter, Trump took credit for persuading Fords Lincoln division to keep producing its MKC crossover at a plant in Kentucky instead of moving it to Mexico, although Ford had merely been planning to adjust production, not move work permanently out of the country. Story continues The most American cars Trump has now extended his campaign against the automakers to GM, though he could just as easily have targeted Fiat Chrysler, Honda, Toyota or Volkswagen. Virtually every global automaker assembles cars in Mexico, as this map from the Center for Automotive Research shows: Source: Center for Automotive Research While GM has three factories in Mexico, Trump may not be aware that it also builds some of the most American cars on US roads. In an annual made in America index calculated by American Universitys Kogod School of Business, 9 of the 10 vehicles with the most American content are GM models, including the Buick Enclave, Chevy Corvette and Chevy Equinox. The Ford F-150 pickup is the only non-GM vehicle in the top 10. The Kogod rankings are meant to capture the value that accrues to the US economy from all aspects of automotive production, including not just manufacturing but also things like research and development and where the automakers profits are likely to be spent. A few other American models would have been better targets for Trump than the Cruze, which is tied for 24th place in the Kogod rankings. The Ford Fusion ranks 39th on the Kogod scale; the Dodge Journey 43rd, the Jeep Renegade 49th, the Cadillac SRX is 53rd, and the Chevy Trax 59th. Its tricky, though. The Fusion, for instance, is assembled in Mexico with a transmission built in the United States. The Journey is also assembled in Mexico, with major components from America, Mexico and Italy, depending on which variant you get. Foreign automakers assemble some cars in the United States, but theyve been flocking to Mexico as well. The majority of Volkswagens sold here are imported from Mexico, along with the Honda Fit, the Nissan Sentra and some Mazda 3s. Toyota is building a Mexican factory that will produce the Corolla. In general, automakers build the smallest vehicles with the lowest profit margins in low-cost countries such as Mexico, because labor costs are a larger portion of overall expenses on such models. An interesting question is whether Trump will go after foreign automakers that ship cars to America from low-cost countries, or limit his attacks to domestic automakers. GM and Ford are easy targets in a few ways, since theyve both reduced their American manufacturing workforce over time as theyve spread out globally and embraced automation. GM became unpopular when it declared bankruptcy in 2009 and required a federal bailout to survive. Chrysler did the same thing and ended up married to Italian automaker Fiat as part of its own bailout. Since Trump hasnt yet targeted Chrysler, it could be next. But the three automakers are still among the biggest employers in the United States. GM and Ford each employ more than 50,000 unionized blue-collar workers here, and the tally at Fiat Chrysler is nearly 40,000. Those are generally the type of decent-paying jobs, not requiring a college degree, Trump says he wants more of. GM CEO Mary Barra is one of the business leaders Trump has enlisted for an elite advisory council, so she can press the automakers case with him directly. Or, she could just tweet him. Rick Newman is the author of four books, including Rebounders: How Winners Pivot from Setback to Success. Follow him on Twitter: @rickjnewman. Julian Assange WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange told Fox News in an interview set to air Tuesday that hacked emails from the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton's campaign chairman did not come from a Russian state source. Fox News host Sean Hannity asked Assange whether he could "tell the American people 1,000%" that WikiLeaks did not get the hacked material that it published from Russia. "Yes. We can say, we have said, repeatedly that over the last two months that our source is not the Russian government and it is not a state party," Assange said. Assange's reliability on this matter is questionable. Former United Nations ambassador John Bolton, for instance, told Fox News on Tuesday that he wouldn't trust Assange. Assange also accused the Obama administration of trying to undermine the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump. "They're trying to delegitimize the Trump administration as it goes into the White House," Assange said. "They are trying to say that President-elect Trump is not a legitimate president." The Obama administration has strongly condemned the hacks and increased sanctions on Russia. US intelligence agencies have blamed Russia for leaking emails from DNC officials and Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta in the weeks and months leading up to the election. US officials have said Russia was attempting to sway the election in Trump's favor. "Did it (WikiLeaks) change the outcome of the election? Who knows, it's impossible to tell," Assange told Fox. "But if it did, the accusation is that the true statements of Hillary Clinton and her campaign manager, John Podesta, and the DNC head Debbie Wasserman Schultz, their true statements is what changed the election." Emails showed DNC officials seeming to favor Clinton over her Democratic primary challenger Sen. Bernie Sanders. The Podesta emails contained excerpts of Clinton's controversial speeches to the financial firm Goldman Sachs and also showed campaign officials speaking candidly about the election. Story continues Trump has refused to pin blame on Russia for the hacks, and last week he said he had information others didn't on who was responsible. "I also know things that other people don't know, and so they cannot be sure of the situation," he told reporters. Asked what he knew that others did not, Trump replied: "You'll find out Tuesday or Wednesday." It's unclear whether Trump was referring to the interview with Assange. NOW WATCH: Trump answers reporters' questions in his longest news conference since winning the election More From Business Insider FINEST KIND CLINIC AND FISHMARKET.... Discussing medicine, culture, and the joys of cooking Pansit. WashPost is richly rewarded for false news about Russia threat while public is deceived In the past six weeks, the Washington Post published two blockbuster stories about the Russian threat that went viral: one on how Russia is behind a massive explosion of fake news, the other on how it invaded the U.S. electric grid. Both articles were fundamentally false. Each now bears a humiliating editors note grudgingly acknowledging that the core claims of the story were fiction: The first note was posted a full two weeks later to the top of the original article; the other was buried the following day at the bottom. (Article by Glenn Greenwald, republished from TheIntercept.com) The second story on the electric grid turned out to be far worse than I realized when I wrote about it on Saturday, when it became clear that there was no penetration of the U.S. electricity grid as the Post had claimed. In addition to the editors note, the Russia-hacked-our-electric-grid story now has a full-scale retraction in the form of a separate article admitting that the incident is not linked to any Russian government effort to target or hack the utility and there may not even have been malware at all on this laptop. But while these debacles are embarrassing for the paper, they are also richly rewarding. Thats because journalists including those at the Post aggressively hype and promote the original, sensationalistic false stories, ensuring that they go viral, generating massive traffic for the Post (the papers executive editor, Marty Baron, recently boasted about how profitable the paper has become). After spreading the falsehoods far and wide, raising fear levels and manipulating U.S. political discourse in the process (both Russia stories were widely hyped on cable news), journalists who spread the false claims subsequently note the retraction or corrections only in the most muted way possible, and often not at all. As a result, only a tiny fraction of people who were exposed to the original false story end up learning of the retractions. Baron himself, editorial leader of the Post, is a perfect case study in this irresponsible tactic. It was Baron who went to Twitter on the evening of November 24 to announce the Posts expose of the enormous reach of Russias fake news operation, based on what he heralded as the findings of independent researchers. Barons tweet went all over the place; to date, it has been re-tweeted more than 3,000 times, including by many journalists with their own large followings: Russian propaganda effort helped spread fake news during election, say independent researchers https://t.co/3ETVXWw16Q Marty Baron (@PostBaron) 25 de noviembre de 2016 But after that story faced a barrage of intense criticism from Adrian Chen in the New Yorker (propaganda about Russia propaganda), Matt Taibbi in Rolling Stone (shameful, disgusting), my own article, and many others including legal threats from the sites smeared as Russian propaganda outlets by the Posts independent researchers the Post finally added its lengthy editors note distancing itself from the anonymous group that provided the key claims of its story (The Post does not itself vouch for the validity of PropOrNots findings and since publication of the Posts story, PropOrNot has removed some sites from its list). What did Baron tell his followers about this editors note that gutted the key claims of the story he hyped? Nothing. Not a word. To date, he has been publicly silent about these revisions. Having spread the original claims to tens of thousands of people, if not more, he took no steps to ensure that any of them heard about the major walk back on the articles most significant, inflammatory claims. He did, however, ironically find the time to promote a different Post story about how terrible and damaging Fake News is: Pizzagate shows how fake news hurts real people https://t.co/cOh7RZ4RqK Marty Baron (@PostBaron) 26 de noviembre de 2016 Whether the Posts false stories here can be distinguished from what is commonly called Fake News is, at this point, a semantic dispute, particularly since Fake News has no cogent definition. Defenders of Fake News as a distinct category typically emphasize intent in order to differentiate it from bad journalism. Thats really just a way of defining Fake News so as to make it definitionally impossible for mainstream media outlets like the Post ever to be guilty of it (much the way terrorism is defined to ensure that the U.S. government and its allies cannot, by definition, ever commit it). But what was the Posts motive in publishing two false stories about Russia that, very predictably, generated massive attention, traffic, and political impact? Was it ideological and political namely, devotion to the D.C. agenda of elevating Russia into a grave threat to U.S. security? Was it to please its audience knowing that its readers, in the wake of Trumps victory, want to be fed stories about Russian treachery? Was it access and source servitude proving it will serve as a loyal and uncritical repository for any propaganda intelligence officials want disseminated? Was it profit to generate revenue through sensationalistic click-bait headlines with a reckless disregard to whether its stories are true? In an institution as large as the Post, with numerous reporters and editors participating in these stories, its impossible to identify any one motive as definitive. Whatever the motives, the effects of these false stories are exactly the same as those of whatever one regards as Fake News. The false claims travel all over the internet, deceiving huge numbers into believing them. The propagators of the falsehoods receive ample profit from their false, viral news. And there is no accountability of the kind that would disincentivize a repeat of the behavior. (That the Post ultimately corrects its false story does not distinguish it from classic Fake News sites, which also sometimes do the same.) And while its true that all media outlets make mistakes, and that even the most careful journalism sometimes errs, those facts do not remotely mitigate the Posts behavior here. In these cases, they did not make good faith mistakes after engaging in careful journalism. With both stories, they were reckless (at best) from the start, and the glaring deficiencies in the reporting were immediately self-evident (which is why both stories were widely attacked upon publication). As this excellent timeline by Kalev Leetaru documents, the Post did not even bother to contact the utility companies in question the most elementary step of journalistic responsibility until after the story was published. Intelligence officials insisting on anonymity so as to ensure no accountability whispered to them that this happened, and despite how significant the consequences would be, they rushed to print it with no verification at all. This is not a case of good journalism producing inaccurate reporting; it is the case of a media outlet publishing a story that it knew would produce massive benefits and consequences without the slightest due diligence or care. The most ironic aspect of all this is that it is mainstream journalists the very people who have become obsessed with the crusade against Fake News who play the key role in enabling and fueling this dissemination of false stories. They do so not only by uncritically spreading them, but also by taking little or no steps to notify the public of their falsity. The Posts epic debacle this weekend regarding its electric grid fiction vividly illustrates this dynamic. As I noted on Saturday, many journalists reacted to this story the same way they do every story about Russia: They instantly click and re-tweet and share the story without the slightest critical scrutiny. That these claims are constantly based on the whispers of anonymous officials and accompanied by no evidence whatsoever gives those journalists no pause at all; any official claim that Russia and Putin are behind some global evil is instantly treated as Truth. Thats a significant reason papers like the Post are incentivized to recklessly publish stories of this kind. They know they will be praised and rewarded no matter the accuracy or reliability because their Cause the agenda is the right one. On Friday night, immediately after the Posts story was published, one of the most dramatic pronouncements came from the New York Timess editorial writer Brent Staples, who said this: Now that this story has collapsed and been fully retracted, what has Staples done to note that this tweet was false? Just like Baron, absolutely nothing. Actually, thats not quite accurate, as he did do something: At some point after Friday night, he quietly deleted his tweet without comment. He has not uttered a word about the fact that the story he promoted has collapsed, and that what he told his 16,000-plus followers along with the countless number of people who re-tweeted the dramatic claim of this prominent journalist turned out to be totally false in every respect. Even more instructive is the case of MSNBCs Kyle Griffin, a prolific and skilled social media user who has seen his following explode this year with a constant stream of anti-Trump content. On Friday night, when the Post story was published, Griffin hyped it with a series of tweets designed to make the story seem as menacing and consequential as possible. That included hysterical statements from Vermont officials who believed the Posts false claim that in retrospect are unbelievably embarrassing. VT Gov. Peter Shumlin on Russian hacking attempt: One of the worlds leading thugs, Putin, has been attempting to hack our electric grid. pic.twitter.com/liJbVLdT5A Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) 31 de diciembre de 2016 That tweet from Griffin convincing people that Putin was endangering the health and safety of Vermonters was re-tweeted more than 1,000 times. His other similar tweets such as this one featuring Vermont Sen. Patrick Leahys warning that Putin was trying to shut down [the grid] in the middle of winter were also widely spread. But the next day, the crux of the story collapsed the Posts editors note acknowledged that there is no indication that Russian hackers had penetrated the electricity grid and Griffin said nothing. Indeed, he said nothing further on any of this until yesterday four days after his series of widely shared tweets in which he simply re-tweeted a Post reporter noting an update that the story was false without providing any comment himself: In contrast to Griffins original inflammatory tweets about the Russian menace, which were widely and enthusiastically spread, this after-the-fact correction has a paltry 289 re-tweets. Thus, a small fraction of those who were exposed to Griffins sensationalistic hyping of this story ended up learning that all of it was false. I genuinely do not mean to single out these individual journalists for scorn. They are just illustrative of a very common dynamic: Any story that bolsters the prevailing D.C. orthodoxy on the Russia Threat, no matter how dubious, is spread far and wide. And then, as has happened so often, when the story turns out to be false or misleading, little or nothing is done to correct the deceitful effects. And, most amazingly of all, these are the same people constantly decrying the threat posed by Fake News. A very common dynamic is driving all of this: media groupthink, greatly exacerbated (as I described on Saturday) by the incentive scheme of Twitter. As the grand media failure of 2002 demonstrated, American journalists are highly susceptible to fueling and leading the parade in demonizing a new Foreign Enemy rather than exerting restraint and skepticism in evaluating the true nature of that threat. It is no coincidence that many of the most embarrassing journalistic debacles of this year involve the Russia Threat, and they all involve this same dynamic. Perhaps the worst one was the facially ridiculous, pre-election Slate story which multiple outlets (including The Intercept) had been offered but passed on alleging that Trump had created a secret server to communicate with a Russian bank; that story was so widely shared that even the Clinton campaign ended up hyping it a tweet that, by itself, was re-tweeted almost 12,000 times. Computer scientists have apparently uncovered a covert server linking the Trump Organization to a Russian-based bank. pic.twitter.com/8f8n9xMzUU Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) 1 de noviembre de 2016 But only a small percentage of those who heard of it ended up hearing of the major walk back and debunking from other outlets. The same is true of The Guardian story from last week on WikiLeaks and Putin that ended up going viral, only to have its retraction barely noticed because most of the journalists who spread the story did not bother to note it. Beyond the journalistic tendency to echo anonymous officials on whatever Scary Foreign Threat they are hyping at the moment, there is an independent incentive scheme sustaining all of this. That Russia is a Grave Menace attacking the U.S. has for obvious reasons become a critical narrative for Democrats and other Trump opponents who dominate elite media circles on social media and elsewhere. They reward and herald anyone who bolsters that narrative, while viciously attacking anyone who questions it. Indeed, in my 10-plus years of writing about politics on an endless number of polarizing issues including the Snowden reporting nothing remotely compares to the smear campaign that has been launched as a result of the work Ive done questioning and challenging claims about Russian hacking and the threat posed by that country generally. This is being engineered not by random, fringe accounts, but by the most prominent Democratic pundits with the largest media followings. Ive been transformed, overnight, into an early adherent of alt-right ideology, an avid fan of Breitbart, an enthusiastic Trump supporter, and needless to say a Kremlin operative. Thats literally the explicit script theyre now using, often with outright fabrications of what I say (see here for one particularly glaring example). They, of course, know all of this is false. A primary focus of the last 10 years of my journalism has been a defense of the civil liberties of Muslims. I wrote an entire book on the racism and inequality inherent in the U.S. justice system. My legal career involved numerous representations of victims of racial discrimination. I was one of the first journalists to condemn the misleadingly neutral approach to reporting on Trump and to call for more explicit condemnations of his extremism and lies. I was one of the few to defend Jorge Ramos from widespread media attacks when he challenged Trumps immigration extremism. Along with many others, I tried to warn Democrats that nominating a candidate as unpopular as Hillary Clinton risked a Trump victory. And as someone who is very publicly in a same-sex, inter-racial marriage with someone just elected to public office as a socialist I make for a very unlikely alt-right leader, to put that mildly. The malice of this campaign is exceeded only by its blatant stupidity. Even having to dignify it with a defense is depressing, though once it becomes this widespread, one has little choice. But this is the climate Democrats have successfully cultivated where anyone dissenting or even expressing skepticism about their deeply self-serving Russia narrative is the target of coordinated and potent smears; where, as The Nations James Carden documented yesterday, skepticism is literally equated with treason. And the converse is equally true: Those who disseminate claims and stories that bolster this narrative no matter how divorced from reason and evidence they are receive an array of benefits and rewards. That the story ends up being completely discredited matters little. The damage is done, and the benefits received. Fake News in the narrow sense of that term is certainly something worth worrying about. But whatever one wants to call this type of behavior from the Post, it is a much greater menace given how far the reach is of the institutions that engage in it. Read more at: theintercept.com Submit a correction >> WASHINGTON A smaller and cheaper plan for the proposed Agriscience STEM Academy at Shepaug Valley High School was reviewed by the Region 12 Board of Education at a special meeting Tuesday before it goes to a public forum next week. Superintendent of Schools Patricia Cosentino said district officials and representatives from the state Department of Administrative Services have done many, many revisions to the plan. The biggest changes were bringing the cost below $30 million, which was done at the states request, and reducing the square footage. Were still fine-tuning this, Cosentino said. Estimates for the new plan are now $29.9 million, compared to the original $36.5 million. The footprint was reduced from 73,500 square feet to 56,305 square feet. This includes using more of the existing school. The changes have raised questions about whether a referendum is needed. Last month, Bridgewater First Selectman Curtis Read wrote to the Region 12 Board of Education, requesting one. Among the differences he cited were reduced enrollment projections and smaller building plans. While the school board hasnt made a decision on the referendum, the districts bond counsel, Douglas Gillette, said a new vote wasnt needed, based of the project language voters approved in 2015. He said the board is satisfied as long as the project maintains its agriscience scope and doesnt exceed the $39.5 million voters approved. You are retaining the program set out in the bond resolution, Gillette said. Enrollment was a key point of the discussion, with projections ranging from 122 to 163 students. Based on the policies and commitments from towns so far, some school officials believe the enrollment would be closer to 139 or 142 students. Were making a real solid attempt at science here, said school board member Valerie Andersen. These are not actual numbers; these are excellent guesses. The Agriscience Academy has been touted as a way to attract students from other districts and help offset Region 12s declining enrollment, because it would train students for agriculture professions and also focus on science, technology, engineering and math. The program would have students from nearby towns, but residents from the Region 12 towns - Washington, Bridgewater and Roxbury have questioned whether enrollment projections are too high. On Dec. 29, Ben Barnes, secretary of the states Office of Policy and Management, sent a letter to the members of the state School Construction Committee expressing concerns about the project, including those raised by residents of the three Region 12 towns. The citizens asked that I recommend removal of this project from the priority list, Barnes wrote. I am reluctant to do so, but I urge you to review this project carefully, including how the agriscience needs are currently met, before acting on it. At Tuesdays meeting, school board members reviewed different scenarios for enrollment, including those depending on whether Bethel decides to take part in the program or Danbury decides to change its cap from 15 students. Some members said a good marketing campaign, proximity to other schools, a new program and facilities could also attract more students. Despite population decreases in towns that feed into existing agriculture programs, the actual enrollment in these programs is up, said Kim Gallo, the current principal at Shepaug and former administrator at Nonnewaug High School, where there is a similar program. Gallo said there are more students who are interested, but unable to participate because of limited space. Board member Anthony Amato cautioned the board to be honest with the public about what different enrollment numbers mean. He said 141 would cover the agriculture program, but not the cost of the labs. Lets be cautiously optimistic, but realistic, Amato said. A public presentation on the plan is scheduled for 6 p.m. next Tuesday at Shepaug Valley High School. Plans call for an opportunity for questions and answers following the presentation. The board expected to vote on Jan. 23 to decide whether to proceed with the project. kkoerting@newstimes.com Given the deaths, accidents, near misses, derailments and so on that have plagued Metro-North over the last few years, a federal report that the commuter line is stagnant in its progress on implementation of an automatic train safety system is discouraging news indeed. The Federal Railroad Administration says Metro-North is in a group of East Coast passenger lines that have remained relatively stagnant in progress on installation of Positive Train Control, the GPS-like technology that allows for the automatic takeover of a train that is running dangerously, whether through human or mechanical failure. PTC is designed, for instance, to slow a train that is heading at unsafe speed into a curve or is heading dangerously into an area where workers are on the track. In 2008, Congress ordered implementation of PTC following the collision in Southern California of a freight train and a commuter train that killed 25. Congress initially set a deadline at the end of 2015 but relented after protests from the railroad lobby that it was an unrealistic deadline, given the technologically complex challenge of installing the towers, relays and locomotive monitors that are the eyes, ears and heart of the system. PTC is eventually to be operating on all 60,000 miles of freight and passenger lines in the United States. U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., has been relentless in his pressure on officials to speed up the PTC implementation process. Just last month, after the presidential election was settled, Blumenthal once again called on Sarah E. Feinberg, the Obama-appointed administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration to keep pushing ahead in the weeks remaining before the presidential transition. And now it is she, in the agencys most recent quarterly progress report, who is putting the heat of the public spotlight on Metro-North. In order to achieve full PTC implementation, everyone has to do their part railroads must make implementation a priority, and Congress must make funding for commuter railroads a priority, Feinberg said. Over the last few years, the need for such safeguards has been demonstrated in sharp relief. Could the technology have prevented the high-speed Metro-North derailment in Spuyten Duyvil in the Bronx in 2013 that killed four? PTC advocates say yes. Could it have prevented the 2015 high-speed Amtrak derailment in Philadelphia that killed eight? Again they say yes. Blumenthal has also called for the expansion of PTC use into terminals, following the September crash in Hoboken, N.J. terminal that killed one person. The train hit the wall at 21 mph, the type of human or mechanical error that PTC is designed to short-circuit. Metro-North officials have disputed the FRA assertions, claiming, for instance, that 11 locomotives or self-propelled cars have been equipped with PTC. The FRA report says none of the lines 531 locomotives are fully equipped. This work has to get done before another life rider or worker is lost. Over 130 inmates escape after armed men raid prison in the Philippines Philippines,Crime/Disaster/Accident, Wed, 04 Jan 2017 IANS Cotabato City (The Philippines), Jan 4 (IANS) Armed men believed connected to a Muslim rebel group stormed a jail facility in North Cotabato in the Philippines early on Wednesday and freed at least 132 inmates, officials said. Supt. Peter Bungat, warden of Amas of Kidapawan District jail, told radio station that gunmen led by a certain Commander Derbie opened fire at his men guarding the facility around 1.00 a.m. local time, leaving one of his men dead and another wounded, Xinhua news agency reported. Bungat confirmed that 132 out of their 1,511 inmates managed to escape. "It's well planned. Escapees used blanket as their getaway. There's ongoing clearing operation. We have manhunt operation," he said. Bungat said Commander Derbie belongs to the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. "We have no idea right now if there were any high profiles in the 132 inmates that escaped. We are still accounting our prisoners," he said. --IANS lok/ Cabinet approves signing of MoU on agriculture with Portugal Delhi,National,Politics,Diplomacy,Business/Economy, Wed, 04 Jan 2017 IANS New Delhi, Jan 4 (IANS) The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the signing of an MoU between India and Portugal on agriculture and associated areas, official sources said. "A meeting of the Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, gave approval to the signing of an agreement on cooperation in agriculture and allied sectors between India and Portugal," said the Cabinet release. A Joint Working Group having representatives from both countries will be set up to develop guidelines and programmes for the execution of the MoU as well as priorities for future cooperation, and also monitor implementation, the release said. "The agreement shall enter into force on the date of its signing and shall remain in force for five years. It shall be automatically extended for another five years unless either party gives a written notice through diplomatic channels to the other party about its intention to terminate the agreement at least six months before its expiration," the release added. Portugal Prime Minister Antonio Costa will pay a state visit to India from January 6-12. The two leaders will hold official talks on January 7 in New Delhi. --IANS rs/tsb/bg Lebanese PM and UAE envoy discuss bilateral ties Togo,Politics,Diplomacy, Wed, 04 Jan 2017 IANS Abu Dhabi, Jan 4 (IANS/WAM) Lebanon Prime Minister Saad Al-Hariri and UAE envoy Hamad Saeed Sultan Al Shamsi discussed bilateral relations and issues of mutual interest between the two countries here, the media reported on Wednesday. The UAE ambassador congratulated Al Hariri after his government won a parliamentary vote of confidence, wishing him and his country stability and prosperity, WAM news agency reported. The ambassador also offered his condolences on the loss of Lebanese nationals who were killed in the Istanbul terrorist attack on January 1, stressing the UAE's stand against terrorism, and wishing the injured a speedy recovery. The Prime Minister sent his greetings to the UAE leadership, and hailed the strong and historical relations between the two countries. --IANS/WAM sm/bg 12 children injured in kindergarten knife attack in China China,Crime/Disaster/Accident, Wed, 04 Jan 2017 IANS Beijing, Jan 4 (IANS) Twelve children were injured in a knife attack by a man at a kindergarten in south China's Guangxi Zhuang region on Wednesday, local police said. The man, 41, was identified by his surname as Tan. He slashed the children with a kitchen knife after entering the Xiaocongzai kindergarten in Youyi Township, according to Xinhua. Police said the suspect entered the kindergarten on the excuse that he needed to pick up his child. The injured children have been hospitalised, with three of them in serious condition. The suspect confessed that he committed the crime because he held a grudge against someone in his village. --IANS ahm/bg US signals it won't mediate between India, Pakistan United States,Indo-Pak/Pakistan,Diplomacy,Business/Economy, Wed, 04 Jan 2017 IANS Washington, Jan 4 (IANS) The US has signalled that it will not be drawn into the role of a mediator between India and Pakistan, saying both countries should work together to resolve their differences. Asked during the daily briefing on Tuesday if Secretary of State John Kerry had offered to mediate between the two neighbours on the Indus Waters Treaty dispute, State Department Spokesperson John Kirby replied bluntly: "As I said, we encourage India and Pakistan to work together bilaterally to resolve their differences." Kirby confirmed that Kerry spoke with Pakistan Finance Minister Mohammed Ishaq Dar last Thursday but would not give details of their conversation. A Pakistan Finance Ministry statement on Friday gave Islamabad' version of their talk. Asked if Kerry had discussed the Indus dispute with Indian officials and at what level, Kirby said: "We're in regular communication with the Indian and Pakistani governments on a wide range of issues. I just don't have any more details for you." "The Indus Waters Treaty has served, I think as you know, as a model for peaceful cooperation between India and Pakistan for now 50 years," he said. "We encourage, as we have in the past, India and Pakistan to work together to resolve any differences." According to Pakistan Finance Ministry, Kerry made the call to Dar. Seeming to invite that Kerry had asked for Washington's intervention, according to the ministry, "Dar indicated that US support on the principles and legal position of Pakistan will be greatly appreciated". According to the ministry statement, Dar also told Kerry that the "Indus Waters Treaty is an international commitment and it is the responsibility of the World Bank to make sure that India honours this." The statement said Kerry told Dar "that the President World Bank (Jim Yong Kim) had recently informed him about Pakistan's complaint against India on the subject of the treaty". --IANS al/py/vm George Hathaway provides a detailed analysis of the EMDrive and the recent peer reviewed research paper that measured some thrust and tried to eliminate sources of error. Measurement of Impulsive Thrust from a Closed Radio Frequency Cavity in Vacuum is the paper. Electrical engineer George Hathaway runs Hathaway Consulting Services, which has worked with inventors and investors since 1979 via an experimental physics laboratory near Toronto, Canada. Hathaways concentration is on novel propulsion and energy technologies. White, March and the other NASA funded researchers made considerable effort to reduce the possibility of measurement artifact. However it appears that there are some fundamental problems with the interpretation of the measurement data produced by their thrust balance. This document will analyse the measurement procedure and comment on the interpretation. In addition to mechanical and related considerations, the authors methods of analysis of sensor data to derive thrusts rests on untenable grounds. Not only is there an assumption of the presence of only a true impulse signal as well as a thermal signal, there is an assumption that the observed signal can be broken down into just these 2 components and amplitudes can be calculated based on an idealized superposition assumption. Therefore, until more control tests are performed allowing a more accurate method for estimation of thrusts, no faith can be placed in the thrust magnitudes reported in the paper. Hathaway calls for continued testing of EmDrive concepts and increased rigor in experimental procedures. China is testing an EMDrive on its space station 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 a private commercial partners on the upcoming mission. It costs about $27000 a pound to send cargo to the international space station. Launching an experiment into low earth orbit (and not sending it to the space station) would be cheaper. A 100 pound EMDrive experiment at the space station would cost about $2.7 million to transport. There were also indications that former Edo State Governor Adams Oshiomhole is being considered to succeed APC National Chairman Chief Joh... There were also indications that former Edo State Governor Adams Oshiomhole is being considered to succeed APC National Chairman Chief John Odigie-Oyegun if the chairman accepts an ambassadorial posting for which he is being considered by the Presidency.Although Oyeguns tenure is due to end in 2018, some power brokers in the Presidency are pushing for a choice ambassadorial appointment for him in appreciation of his role in defeating the PDP in 2015.Oshiomhole is said to be favoured by some APC governors for the post in view of his antecedent as a labour leader.But some APC leaders want Oyegun to serve his full term in office instead of being compensated.Another source added: From the look of things, Oyegun may get an ambassadorial posting which will make him to technically vacate office. They said Oyegun deserves a befitting appointment for leading an opposition party to defeat a ruling party.Some forces in the Presidency are looking forward to Oshiomhole as a respectable figure who can fit into the big shoes of Oyegun.Those who support Oyegun see ambassadorial appointment for a politician as a sort of exile which is not good. They are reading a plot into the offer in order to ease out the APC National Chairman.Also yesterday, President Muhammadu Buhari met with Oshiomhole at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.Oshiomholes visit was his first to the seat of government since leaving office in November.Asked by State House correspondents to state his mission to the Villa, the former governor simply said he was there to exchange pleasantries with President Buhari in the spirit of the time.During his state visit to Edo State in the twilight of Oshiomholes administration, President Buhari described Oshiomholes performance as excellent, adding that he would be useful at the federal level. The Nigerian Army has barred soldiers on duty from uploading photos or videos. The Nigerian Army has barred soldiers on duty from uploading photos or videos.According to reports, Adeniyi Oyebade, a lieutenant-general and general officer commanding (GOC) 1 Division Mechanized Army, Kaduna, gave the directive on Tuesday.Oyebade said, ''It is prohibited to upload any picture with your uniforms while in operation, he was quoted as saying.Specifically, I want to warn you on the use of social media. While you are on operation, you may want to take photo shots of some good moment but you should be very careful while doing that.Avoid any picture or video that has to do with your colleague or operation. You are barred not to upload such information. It is prohibited to upload any picture with your uniforms while in operation because it will become a pragmatic problem for the Nigerian Army. Ghanaian prophet, and founder of the Glorious Word Ministry International, Isaac Owusu Bempah, has revealed that Nigeria's President, ... Ghanaian prophet, and founder of the Glorious Word Ministry International, Isaac Owusu Bempah, has revealed that Nigeria's President, Muhammadu Buhari will die in 2017. Ghanaweb reports that the prophet released the prophecy on December 31, 2016 during the crossover service. See his full list of prophecies below: Death of a former president Death of a former first lady Coup d'etat in Ghana Death of Nigeria's president Terrorist attack in Ghana Death of several young men and women Important personalities in parliament will die Many people will be kidnapped Innocent blood will be shed in a particular political party Increase in occult practices Americans will go for war More Muslim/Christian clashes this year A great king will die Another plane crash in Ghana Fire outbreaks in important offices in Ghana More celebrities(Actors,musicians and media practitioners) in Ghana to die NDC to stay in opposition for 16 years In a post published on The New Yorker, acclaimed Nigerian writer writes on race, identity, politics, misogyny, the media and our moral duty after the election of Donald Trump as the President of America.Read below."America has always been aspirational to me, Even when I chafed at its hypocrisies, it somehow always seemed sure, a nation that knew what it was doing, refreshingly free of that anything-can-happen existential uncertainty so familiar to developing nations. But no longer. The election of Donald Trump has flattened the poetry in Americas founding philosophy: the country born from an idea of freedom is to be governed by an unstable, stubbornly uninformed, authoritarian demagogue. And in response to this there are people living in visceral fear, people anxiously trying to discern policy from bluster, and people kowtowing as though to a new king. Things that were recently pushed to the corners of Americas political spaceovert racism, glaring misogyny, anti-intellectualismare once again creeping to the center.Now is the time to resist the slightest extension in the boundaries of what is right and just. Now is the time to speak up and to wear as a badge of honor the opprobrium of bigots. Now is the time to confront the weak core at the heart of Americas addiction to optimism; it allows too little room for resilience, and too much for fragility. Hazy visions of healing and not becoming the hate we hate sound dangerously like appeasement. The responsibility to forge unity belongs not to the denigrated but to the denigrators. The premise for empathy has to be equal humanity; it is an injustice to demand that the maligned identify with those who question their humanity.America loves winners, but victory does not absolve. Victory, especially a slender one decided by a few thousand votes in a handful of states, does not guarantee respect. Nobody automatically deserves deference on ascending to the leadership of any country. American journalists know this only too well when reporting on foreign leaderstheir default mode with Africans, for instance, is nearly always barely concealed disdain. President Obama endured disrespect from all quarters. By far the most egregious insult directed toward him, the racist movement tamely termed birtherism, was championed by Trump.Yet, a day after the election, I heard a journalist on the radio speak of the vitriol between Obama and Trump. No, the vitriol was Trumps. Now is the time to burn false equivalencies forever. Pretending that both sides of an issue are equal when they are not is not balanced journalism; it is a fairy taleand, unlike most fairy tales, a disingenuous one.Now is the time to refuse the blurring of memory. Each mention of gridlock under Obama must be wrought in truth: that gridlock was a deliberate and systematic refusal of the Republican Congress to work with him. Now is the time to call things what they actually are, because language can illuminate truth as much as it can obfuscate it. Now is the time to forge new words. Alt-right is benign. White-supremacist right is more accurate.Now is the time to talk about what we are actually talking about. Climate contrarian obfuscates. Climate-change denier does not. And because climate change is scientific fact, not opinion, this matters.Now is the time to discard that carefulness that too closely resembles a lack of conviction. The election is not a simple racism story, because no racism story is ever a simple racism story, in which grinning evil people wearing white burn crosses in yards. A racism story is complicated, but it is still a racism story, and it is worth parsing. Now is not the time to tiptoe around historical references. Recalling Nazism is not extreme; it is the astute response of those who know that history gives both context and warning.Now is the time to recalibrate the default assumptions of American political discourse. Identity politics is not the sole preserve of minority voters. This election is a reminder that identity politics in America is a white invention: it was the basis of segregation. The denial of civil rights to black Americans had at its core the idea that a black American should not be allowed to vote because that black American was not white. The endless questioning, before the election of Obama, about Americas readiness for a black President was a reaction to white identity politics. Yet identity politics has come to be associated with minorities, and often with a patronizing undercurrent, as though to refer to nonwhite people motivated by an irrational herd instinct. White Americans have practiced identity politics since the inception of America, but it is now laid bare, impossible to evade.Now is the time for the media, on the left and right, to educate and inform. To be nimble and alert, clear-eyed and skeptical, active rather than reactive. To make clear choices about what truly matters.Now is the time to put the idea of the liberal bubble to rest. The reality of American tribalism is that different groups all live in bubbles. Now is the time to acknowledge the ways in which Democrats have condescended to the white working classand to acknowledge that Trump condescends to it by selling it fantasies. Now is the time to remember that there are working-class Americans who are not white and who have suffered the same deprivations and are equally worthy of news profiles. Now is the time to remember that women does not equal white women. Women must mean all women.Now is the time to elevate the art of questioning. Is the only valid resentment in America that of white males? If we are to be sympathetic to the idea that economic anxieties lead to questionable decisions, does this apply to all groups? Who exactly are the elite?Now is the time to frame the questions differently. If everything remained the same, and Hillary Clinton were a man, would she still engender an overheated, outsized hostility? Would a woman who behaved exactly like Trump be elected? Now is the time to stop suggesting that sexism was absent in the election because white women did not overwhelmingly vote for Clinton. Misogyny is not the sole preserve of men.The case for women is not that they are inherently better or more moral. It is that they are half of humanity and should have the same opportunitiesand be judged according to the same standardsas the other half. Clinton was expected to be perfect, according to contradictory standards, in an election that became a referendum on her likability.Now is the time to ask why America is far behind many other countries (see: Rwanda) in its representation of women in politics. Now is the time to explore mainstream attitudes toward womens ambition, to ponder to what extent the ordinary political calculations that all politicians make translate as moral failures when we see them in women. Clintons careful calibration was read as deviousness. But would a male politician who is carefully calibratedMitt Romney, for examplemerely read as carefully calibrated?Now is the time to be precise about the meanings of words. Trump sayingNow is the time to remember that, in a wave of dark populism sweeping the West, there are alternative forms. Bernie Sanderss message did not scapegoat the vulnerable. Obama rode a populist wave before his first election, one marked by a remarkable inclusiveness. Now is the time to counter lies with facts, repeatedly and unflaggingly, while also proclaiming the greater truths: of our equal humanity, of decency, of compassion. Every precious ideal must be reiterated, every obvious argument made, because an ugly idea left unchallenged begins to turn the color of normal. It does not have to be like this." 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. 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. Factory jobs have been disappearing, and the new jobs the economy has been creating don't pay nearly as much, according to a recent Indiana Business Research Center study. The study tracked automotive and steel manufacturing workers in Indiana from 2003 and 2014, and found only 33 percent were still working in those same industries in Indiana 12 years later. About 23 percent of those first tracked in 2003 moved to another manufacturing industry, while 44 percent no longer have an Indiana payroll record because they moved out of state for work, retired, died or gave up looking for work altogether. Indiana Business Research Center Director of Economic Analysis Timothy Slaper recently published the findings of the study on industrial change and worker transitions in Indiana University's Indiana Business Review. The study tracked 174,865 Hoosier workers in transportation equipment manufacturing and primary metal manufacturing over the span of 12 years. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that period has been extremely rocky for employment in the manufacturing sector, which has shed 5 million jobs nationally because of automation and outsourcing since 2000. About 45,000 of the workers, or 25 percent of the group, got unemployment benefits during 2009, the height of the Great Recession. About 43 percent of the factory workers filed for unemployment then or at some other point at least once over the 12-year period. About 57,845 workers, or a third of the original group, signed up for one of the Indiana Department of Workforce Development's job assistance programs. About 57 percent of those workers were able to find another factory job somewhere. "With high wages, it isnt difficult to see why workers returned to these industries, which have recovered a significant share of the jobs lost during the Great Recession," Slaper wrote. The study however found that 16 percent of the workers in the overall study group were no longer working in manufacturing at all by 2014. Most commonly, they moved to lower-paying administrative, retail and health care positions. Those tracked had worked in positions that paid $60,000 to $68,000 a year, and when they transitioned to other fields their new jobs only paid $25,000 to $37,000 a year, according to the study. Twista is returning to perform in Northwest Indiana for the first time since he was arrested on a marijuana charge in Portage while traveling to Big Shots in South Haven last March. The Porter County Prosecutor's Office has since dropped the misdemeanor drug charges against Twista and two others headed to the show, in a case that garnered national attention. The Chicago rapper, best known for the Billboard Hot 100 #1 single "Slow Jamz" that featured Kanye West and Jaime Foxx, will headline the Region Rap Show at 7 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 28 at the Hammond Civic Center, 5825 S. Sohl Ave. in Hammond. Twista, who the Guinness Book of World Records once named the fastest rapper in the world, leads a lineup that includes DJ K-Ceasar the Crowd Pleaser, Liptak, Chino Marks, Xavier Taylor and Outfitt Music CEO Al Koleon, who will perform new material from "Grinding Season" as well as old classics. Kolean, also known as Kush World Koley, has lived in Calumet City and Hammond, releasing the song "Welcome to Indiana" in 2001. The East Coast-style gangsta rapper, who served more than five years in prison, has opened for artists like Young Buck, Nelly and 2 Chainz and released albums like "Gangster Poetry" and "G.E.D. (Grind Every Day Get Every Dolla)." Twista has reached the top of the Billboard 200 chart and most recently released the album "Dark Horse" on Capitol Records in 2014. Doors open at 6 p.m., and the concert is expected to last until midnight. Tickets cost $12, and the show is all ages. For tickets, visit universe.com/gohammond or call (219) 853-6378. When it comes to popular winter drinks, there's nothing like a cup of sweet, piping hot chocolate. Hot chocolate comes in many flavors and fans of the decadent drink often add a variety of embellishments to the beverage. There are various styles and flavors of hot chocolate, depending on what form and style of chocolate is used. Restaurants, bakeries and other eateries often place hot chocolate on their menus during the winter months. The delicious drink can be found everywhere from chain restaurants to chef-owned eateries and cafes. At Gayety's Chocolates and Ice Cream, customers will find a signature hot chocolate on the menu. "We've had hot chocolate since Day 1," said Jim Flessor, owner of Gayety's. Flessor said they use their own chocolate for the creation. Gayety's has had a long history in the Chicago area. The ice cream/chocolate business opened in 1920 in the city's South Chicago neighborhood. "Hot chocolate is completely addictive," said Flessor. Gayety's hot chocolate is available in a 10-ounce cup and can be enjoyed at the shop or to go. Assorted Mexican restaurants in the area feature the Mexican style of hot chocolate, which has a different consistency and flavor from the usual style of hot chocolate. It's usually made with real Mexican chocolate. According to ixtapacantina.com, "Mexican Chocolate has a distinctive, rich flavor that can be used in regular dishes or baking. It can come in a round and flat disk, scented with cinnamon. Mexican Chocolate can also come in bars, powders or syrups. Its rich taste is profound in beverages such as hot chocolate. Mexican Chocolates sweetness comes from its savory ingredients and cream finish." Celebrated pastry chef, Alain Roby, who was awarded Pastry Chef of the Year in 2013 by the Chicago Culinary ,has long created award-winning recipes with chocolate. Roby, who is the owner of the All Chocolate Kitchen in Geneva, Illinois, has come up with a special Grand Cru Hot Chocolate at his eatery. The Grand Cru is served in an 8-ounce cup with fresh whipped cream on top. At IHOP locations and Starbucks locations around the country, diners will find various flavored hot chocolates. IHOP currently has a French Toast-flavored creation while Starbucks features concoctions such as Snickerdoodle, Peppermint, and Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate, among others. For hot chocolate fans who'd like to make their own creation, try this recipe. Hot Chocolate with Salted Whipped Mascarpone For Salted Whipped Mascarpone: 3/4 cup (6 ounces) Wisconsin mascarpone cheese, at room temperature 1 cup cold heavy cream 2 tablespoons honey 1 teaspoon vanilla Flaky sea salt For Hot Chocolate: 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder 2 tablespoons sugar 1/2-1 tablespoon instant coffee, to taste Pinch of kosher salt 1 1/2 cups milk 3/4 cup heavy cream 2-4 ounces dark chocolate, chopped 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or seeds from 1 vanilla bean DIRECTIONS: For whipped mascarpone: 1. Add mascarpone and heavy cream to a mixing bowl. With electric mixer, beat on high speed until soft peaks form. Beat in honey, vanilla and salt until just combined. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve. For hot chocolate: 1. In small bowl, mix together cocoa powder, sugar, instant coffee and salt. Heat large saucepan over medium heat. Add milk and heavy cream. Bring to simmer, stirring every few minutes. Sprinkle dry chocolate mixture over hot milk, turning heat down to low. Whisk continuously until smooth (do not let it boil), then whisk in chopped chocolate and vanilla extract. 2. Pour hot chocolate into mugs and top with whipped mascarpone. From Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board Looking for a place to enjoy a cup of hot chocolate? Try these spots. Gayety's Chocolates and Ice Cream, 3306 Ridge Road, Lansing, Illinois, (800) 491-0755 or 36 U.S. 41, Schererville, (219) 515-2027 All Chocolate Kitchen, 33 S. Third Street, Geneva, Illinois (630) 232-2395 El Taco Real, 935 Hoffman St., Hammond, (219) 932-8333 Casa Blanca, 4616 Indianapolis Boulevard, East Chicago, (219) 397-4151 IHOP, various locations, ihop.com Starbucks, various locations, starbucks.com SCHERERVILLE An Illinois man accused of using stolen debit cards to withdraw money from a Chase Bank ATM in Schererville could soon face additional charges after reportedly giving police a fake name upon his arrest. The suspect, Ashton Montgomery, 25, of Markham who had two debit cards not in his name on his person when he was taken into custody, police state allegedly told police his name was Timothy Pflugradt. The real Pflugradt, 25, of Lansing, said Tuesday a friend told him his name appeared in a Times news article about the suspect. Pflugradt went Dec. 12 to the Schererville Police Department to tell detectives the suspect used his name. I have a unique name. I dont want someone to Google my name and the story pop up, Pflugradt told The Times on Tuesday. Pflugradt said he was not surprised. His identity was stolen earlier in the year and believes this may be connected, he said. Schererville police Detective Jeff Cook said more charges will soon be filed against Montgomery. He also faces charges of fraud, identity deception, counterfeiting and resisting law enforcement in connection with the Dec. 7 incident, court records show. Police were dispatched about 8:20 a.m. Dec. 7 to Chase Bank, 1801 Kennedy Ave., in reference to suspicious suspects in a black Chevy Impala. Upon officers' arrival, they found Montgomery attempting to withdraw money from an ATM inside the bank and being repeatedly denied. When the officer asked Montgomery to stop, Montgomery allegedly fled on foot. In addition to the two debit cards, police also found in his possession four checks and one ATM receipt detailing a denied transaction totaling $1,500, according to police. Cook said officers will typically run fingerprints if theres any question about a persons identity. It didnt happen in this case, and Cook said he is glad Pflugradt came to the department when he did. Thank God he saw his name in the paper, Cook said. He came in and we took his fingerprints, taking him out of the equation. Two others were arrested that day at Chase Bank. Dajon Thompson, 23, of Dolton, faces charges of marijuana possession and handgun possession without a permit. Armani Moore, 19, of Dolton, has been charged with handgun possession with a permit. VALPARAISO A Portage man's history of failing to comply with law enforcement caught up with him Wednesday when he was sentenced to a year behind bars for pointing a loaded gun at the face of a local police officer. "That conduct is simply not tolerable," Porter Circuit Court Judge Mary Harper said before sentencing Steven Hale, 33. A jury found Hale guilty in November on felony counts of intimidation, criminal recklessness, pointing a firearm and a misdemeanor count of disorderly conduct. Hale was found not guilty on an additional felony count of resisting law enforcement. Hale apologized Wednesday after Portage police Officer Dan Martinez told the court that had Hale put pressure on his trigger finger, he could be dead. "I feel he needs to pay for what he could have done," Martinez said. Martinez had responded to Hale's house Feb. 28, 2015, in response to a noise complaint, according to the trial. When he arrived at the house in the 2300 block of County Line Road, he said he heard loud music and saw Hale inside. Martinez knocked on the door, which eventually opened, and he found himself staring down the barrel of a black and chrome semi-automatic 9-mm Smith & Wesson handgun. Defense attorney Larry Rogers said Hale had an ongoing conflict with a neighbor and had sent a text earlier that night to another man defending a friend. Hale walked to the door with the gun at his side out of concern that one of these two men was knocking. While the adult probation department recommended 3 1/2 years of probation after meeting with Hale, Porter County Deputy Prosecutor Ashley Fifield asked for three years in prison followed by period of probation. She cited Hale's earlier conviction of drunken driving and resisting law enforcement, his heavy use of alcohol, and a history of dropping out of high school and fleeing his military service. Rogers agreed with the recommendation for probation, saying Hale was legally at home drinking and legally had a gun. Hale works full and part-time jobs and owns a home. Rogers said he had guns pointed at him and was shot at when he worked as a police officer. "You get over it," he said. "It's part of the job. This is not the crime of the century." Harper settled on a one-year prison sentence to be followed four years of probation and alcohol treatment, saying Hale has a disdain for law enforcement as is evident by his adult and juvenile records. She also said he lacks respect for others, as was exhibited by his playing loud music and testifying during the trial he did not care about the impact on neighbors. "Defendant is going to do what he's going to do, his way," Harper said. Shortly before being cuffed and taken away, Hale said he has no intention of appealing. PORTAGE Police here are seeking the public's help in locating Teresa M. Chillemi, 37. She is described as being 5-foot, 2-inches tall, weighing 120 pounds with short brown hair and blue eyes. She was driving a maroon 1995 Mercury Sable. Chillemi was last seen by her 16-year-old daughter Dec. 10 when she left for work at the Cracker Barrel in Merrillville. Chillemi did not return home, according to a press release from Chief Troy Williams. On Dec. 12, 13 and 14, Chillemi engaged in private Facebook chats with her daughter, but her whereabouts were not discussed or disclosed. On Dec. 20, she was stopped in her vehicle by Lake County sheriff's police for a traffic violation, and a passenger in her vehicle was arrested on a warrant out of Porter County. On Dec. 21, her brother received a call from her phone, but could only hear people talking about Teresa. He did not hear her voice. On Friday and Saturday, Portage police were contacted to do a welfare check on her last known residence, 6728 Dale, Apt. 3C. Police learned she had been evicted and had not been around for more than two weeks. On Tuesday, her mother, Mary Black, filed a missing persons report, initiating an investigation. Williams said Chillemi was fired Dec. 15 for not showing up for work. Anyone with any information regarding Teresa Chillemi or her whereabouts, can contact Detective Janis Crafton at (219) 764-5706. Gary City Councilwoman Mary M. Brown is suing to keep her second job as a Gary Sanitary District employee. State officials are seeking to stop Brown, D-3rd, from being paid by the sanitary district, where she has been an employee since 1995, in addition to her salary as a City Council member. Brown has served on the City Council for the past 16 years and won re-election in 2015. The state's database of employee compensation lists Brown as receiving a total of $99,706 in compensation in 2015. Other Gary City Council members receive about $29,000 a year. Gary attorney Clorius Lay, who represents Brown, said Attorney General Greg Zoeller and Paul Joyce, director of the Indiana State Board of Accounts, claim Brown is in violation of a 2012 state ethics law that forbids local government employees from holding public offices that give them financial and policy-making authority. Todd Caldwell, a director at the State Board of Accounts, declined to comment on the suit. A spokesman for the attorney general didn't comment, either. City Council Attorney Rinzer Williams III stated earlier in a letter to the State Board of Accounts that Brown's two jobs do not violate the ethical conflicts law because the city of Gary and the Gary Sanitary District are two separate government units. He said the sanitary district is independent of City Hall because it is the federal government that has been in charge of its operations under a decades-old consent decree designed to stop city sewage and other toxic discharges into the Grand Calumet River, a tributary of Lake Michigan. At Tuesday's City Council meeting, Councilwoman Rebecca Wyatt, D-1st, and some others raised concern that Williams responded to the finding without letting other council members know. Williams said he had to sign a confidentiality agreement in regard to the audit discussion. He emphasized that he was not representing Brown personally, but only in regard to the finding against her as a council member. He said he was asked by the State Board of Accounts to write a position on the finding. Brown was upset that Wyatt brought the matter up on the council floor. "What I need you to do is mind your business in the first district. I will handle mine in the third," she told Wyatt, who replied she meant no disrespect to Brown. Lay is suing the attorney general and Indiana State Board of Accounts on grounds they previously approved of Brown keeping her sanitary district job. "Brown felt she was eligible to do both jobs, but had a concern and asked for an opinion. In March (2016), the opinion from the attorney general was 'yes,' she could. "Then in June, the same individuals sent another letter saying she couldn't do it. Now she has conflicting letters from the same source," Lay said. Lay is asking Lake Superior Court Judge John M. Sedia to block the state from moving against Brown and resolve the issue in her favor. The judge has set a status hearing in the case for June 1. The same law forced four other municipal officials to leave office last summer so they could retain their more lucrative jobs as employees. Susan Pelfrey gave up her seat on the New Chicago City Council to remain the town's water department manager. Michael Opinker resigned as a Hammond councilman to remain a Hammond city firefighter. Juda Parks resigned as an East Chicago councilman to remain a city police officer, and Matthew D. Claussen left the Hobart council and remained a city police officer. They, too, had sued in state and federal court, but in both cases, the judges upheld the law. Lay said Brown won't be resigning from the Gary City Council if she loses her battle. Times reporter Ed Bierschenk contributed to this report. INDIANAPOLIS House Democratic Leader Scott Pelath, D-Michigan City, wants Hoosiers to take a more active role in deciding state policies. He filed a constitutional amendment Wednesday to establish a binding citizen initiative and referendum process for proposing and enacting new laws or constitutional amendments, and enabling Hoosiers to reject statutes approved by the General Assembly. "As people trust their institutions less than they have in the past, we must give a new breath of life to citizen participation in government," Pelath said. The measure, House Joint Resolution 1, permits a citizen-initiated law or constitutional amendment to go on the ballot for enactment, or a referendum be held on an existing law, if supporters gather petition signatures equal to 2 percent of the total votes cast in the most recent election for secretary of state. That would be 26,700 signatures based on voter participation in the 2014 secretary of state contest. If a majority of voters support the initiative or referendum at the next election, the proposal would take effect five days after the results are certified. Pelath said he's long been skeptical of direct democracy, but believes that Indiana, under Republican single-party rule, is failing to address critical policy issues. "The future of our institutions and our self-limiting barriers to difficult reforms now demand that citizens be empowered to initiate and enact changes to our laws," Pelath said. "We will not always like the outcome, but at least our citizens will know it was not the decision of a ... 20-year chairman of some Senate committee." Pelath's proposed constitutional change must be approved by both the House and Senate this year or next year, and again in 2019 or 2020, to be submitted for ratification by Indiana voters at the 2020 election. MICHIANA SHORES A recently released audit alleges bookkeeping and other financial reporting errors at the town from 2011 to 2014. According to the Indiana State Board of Accounts, two former town clerk-treasurers should be charged a total of more than $11,000 for shortfalls in cash balances along with penalties, interest and fees. The audit, released Dec. 29, states Patrick Margraf should be held accountable for $1,713. in penalties, interest and fees. Margraf served from January 2012 to December 2013. Margraf did not return a call for comment. The audit also calls for the collection of $9,961 from Steven Millick, who served from January 2008 to December 2011. Millick died July 20. According to the audit, Millick was not preparing bank reconciliations and ledgers were not maintained. Additionally, penalties, interest and fees were paid to the Internal Revenue Service, the Indiana Department of Revenue, the LaPorte County Sheriffs Department and a collection agency for late payment and reporting of withholding taxes. About $7,800 of penalties and fees were reported during Millicks tenure. Margraf racked up $1,713 in fees and penalties during his tenure, the audit states. The audit also outlines a series of other record keeping and procedural errors. From 2011 to 2013, receipts were not written for every collection of money by the town. Of those collected, 90 percent were for water surcharges and refuse collection. Receipts were not issued for county tax distributions, interest income, cell tower collections and state distributions. Payroll earnings records were not available for examination. Auditors found gas, electric and telephone services, along with wages for Street Department employees, were paid from the local road and street fund, which, according to state law, cannot be used for utility or wage payment. The audit also found errors in the billing of water customers and for garbage collection. A 1992 ordinance set a rate of $75 per user per year, but the clerk-treasurer's office billed users $95 per year in 2011, 2012 and 2013. A 1981 ordinance set a garbage collection fee of $100 per year. Auditors found in 2014 the town billed water customers $100 for the year and $95 for garbage collection. The errors meant water customers were overcharged $25 for the year, and refuse customers were undercharged $5 for the year. In 2013 and 2014, tax dollars collected by LaPorte County were disbursed into the towns general fund and rainy day fund, not to various individual funds specified by the county auditor. The audit has been forwarded to the state attorney generals office for review. INDIANAPOLIS The 2017 Indiana General Assembly is open for business. The Republican-controlled Senate convened Tuesday to read into the record more than 100 of the expected 1,100 proposed new state laws that senators and representatives will discuss, debate, reject and approve over the next four months. Lawmakers have only until next week to finish privately tinkering with their proposals before they must be filed at the Statehouse and subjected to public scrutiny. The earliest measures run the gamut from requiring a DNA sample be taken from every person arrested for a felony (Senate Bill 104), to prohibiting drivers from holding an animal while operating a vehicle (Senate Bill 32) and cleaning up Indiana's court-overturned statute prohibiting gay marriage (Senate Bill 68), among others. What is likely to be among the most contentious proposals is set to be filed Wednesday by state Rep. Ed Soliday, R-Valparaiso, when the Republican-controlled House holds its first meeting of the year. Soliday's road funding plan, House Bill 1002, is expected to call for an increase in the state's 18 cents per gallon gasoline tax, along with other revenue-raising provisions, to ensure Indiana adequately can maintain and develop its transportation infrastructure over the next two decades. House Bill 1001, the two-year state budget that takes effect July 1, also will originate in the House and direct some $30 billion in state spending to schools, roads, health care, prisons and nearly everything else state government does. State Sen. Brandt Hershman, R-Buck Creek, chairman of the Senate Tax and Fiscal Policy Committee, said he anticipates the budget and road funding will dominate Statehouse debates and be more complicated than prior years, in part because no one is quite sure what to expect from the new federal administration. "If the long-term is positive, which many of us feel it will be, there can still be short-term volatility from change," said Hershman, whose district includes part of Jasper County. The nine Senate Democrats in the 50-member chamber are urging the Republican supermajority to govern in a way that leads Indiana forward into the future, instead of stubbornly clinging to the past. To that end, Democrats will propose measures establishing statewide civil rights protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Hoosiers, criminal penalty enhancements for bias-motivated crimes, easing the process to register and vote, redistricting reforms, improved funding for state agencies and a $10.62 per hour minimum wage. State Sen. Karen Tallian, D-Ogden Dunes, also believes Republicans should halt the corporate income tax rate reductions scheduled to take effect each year through 2021 before they ask Hoosiers to pay higher gasoline taxes. "This failed tax policy has painted them into a box and now we cut taxes over here, and we don't have any money to fix our roads," Tallian said. "The whole thing doesn't make sense." Republican Gov.-elect Eric Holcomb has his own legislative agenda that he'll announce Thursday and expand on in his Jan. 17 State of the State address to the Legislature. CROWN POINT A Republican state senator will introduce a bill this legislative session that would restrict municipalities from enacting ban the box ordinances, which prohibit employers from asking potential hires about their criminal history on employment applications. Proponents of such ordinances, which include the National Employment Law Project (NELP) and the NAACP, argue the prohibition helps ex-convicts rebuild their lives after incarceration, and reduces the recidivism rate in communities. But the Indiana Chamber of Commerce contends the ordinances place an undue burden on businesses, which should make the final decision on whom to hire. State Sen. Eddie D. Melton, D-Merrillville, said in a statement Friday he would oppose any legislation that prohibits ban-the-box ordinances, and suggested the Legislature should instead promote fair hiring practices across the state. Ban-the-box ordinances, sometimes called fair chance laws, have been implemented in 24 states and 150 cities and counties nationwide, including Marion County, which adopted an ordinance in February 2014 making it unlawful for the municipality or its vendors to inquire about a person's criminal convictions on employment applications or during the first interview. The ban-the-box campaign was started in 2003 by All of Us or None, an Oakland, California-based organization that advocates on behalf of formerly and currently incarcerated people. State Sen. Phil Boots, R-Crawfordsville, said Thursday he will introduce legislation this session prohibiting such ordinances, though he said the bill in its current form would not apply retroactively to Marion County. Boots, who is chair of the Senate Pensions and Labor Committee, said the bill is intended to create uniformity in the hiring process across the state. Local municipalities are passing stricter laws than the state or federal government provides, Boots said. We are trying to make it standard across Indiana so that employers know where they stand. Boots said he became aware of the issue through the Indiana Chamber of Commerce, which took a position against ban-the-box measures for the first time this November. Mike Ripley, the chamber's vice president of health care and employment law policy, said the chamber's position was adopted after a discussion this summer by its executive committee. We recognize that hiring individuals with prior criminal records is good for society as a whole, but that decision should be the decision of the employer, as long as no other state or federal laws are being violated, Ripley said. Ripley said the chamber has not heard complaints from members about Marion County's ordinance, but the proposed state law would serve as a preventative measure. Melton said in a statement local municipalities know better than the state Legislature what is best for its residents. Lake County has the highest unemployment rate of any county in Indiana and this type of policy would prevent many people with conviction records from securing jobs, Melton said. Once they find a job, most are exceptionally hard workers, determined to keep their employment. All applicants deserve the chance to be judged based on their qualifications, not their past convictions. Indiana NAACP President Barbara Bolling-Williams, a resident of Gary, said ban-the-box policies are intended to provide a second chance to qualified applicants with a criminal record. We are not saying that you never ask about their criminal history, or complete a background check, Bolling-Williams said. What we are saying is that they need to get past their initial application. Boots said he has not yet obtained co-sponsors for his bill. The new legislative session began Tuesday. Region greatness isn't always exemplified by people who do their best works here. Rather, we should celebrate the solid examples set for us by people of vision who have strong Region roots or associations, regardless of whether their groundbreaking accomplishments occurred in Northwest Indiana or elsewhere. That's why The Times has expanded parameters for the Region's annual induction into the Business & Industry Hall of Fame to include business leaders who made their mark outside, as well as within, the borders of Lake, Porter and LaPorte counties. The change is based on the principle that Northwest Indiana should glean just as much pride and equally important lessons from homegrown leaders who've impacted business landscapes outside of our geography. To date, more than 40 people have been named to the local business hall of fame since its 2008 inauguration. Celebrating recipients who left the Region to make substantial business contributions follows a model already incorporated by another program that celebrates Northwest Indiana greatness. The South Shore Wall of Legends, an overall hall of fame for people with Northwest Indiana ties, celebrates the world-changing accomplishments of more than just people who spent their lives here. For example, Wall of Legends inductee, world-renowned author and Civil War Gen. Lew Wallace didn't reside in the Region. But he had strong recreational ties to the Kankakee River that runs through Northwest Indiana. He was a hero of the Civil War, helping to raise thousands of troops for the Union cause, leading men in pivotal battles in the fight against slavery and preservation of our nation. Wallace also went on to write "Ben-Hur," a biblical best seller that eventually became a 1959 blockbuster movie that won 11 Oscars, including Best Picture. Wallace's ties to the Kankakee River and our Region were worth noting in his induction into our regional Wall of Legends. The same can and should be said for business and industry heroes who perform transformative works at home or abroad. As a new year begins with new parameters for the Business & Industry Hall of Fame, we look forward to the celebration of new meritorious names. NEW YORK - Wednesday morning's crash in Brooklyn is hardly a first for the New York City metro area's commuter rail lines. Over the last three years, there have been four crashes or derailments involving Metro-North, Long Island Railroad or New Jersey Transit Trains. The one most similar to Wednesday's happened back in September. One person was killed when a New Jersey Transit train traveling at a high rate of speed plowed into the platform at Hoboken Terminal. The incident injured more than a hundred people and caused extensive damage to the station. The train's engineer had undiagnosed sleep apnea. The NTSB has not said whether that was a factor, but investigators in their preliminary report said the train was traveling at twice the posted speed limit. About two weeks later, in October, a Long Island Railroad train derailed near New Hyde Park after it sideswiped a work train traveling in the same direction. The incident injured more than 30 passengers. A little more than three years ago, in December of 2013, a speeding Metro-North train derailed after it whipped around a curve in the Bronx. The incdient killed four people. Investigators determined that the engineer, who suffered from sleep apnea, was asleep at the controls. And back in February of 2015, six people died when a Metro-North train collided with an SUV on the tracks in Westchester. The impact dislodged the electrified third rail, which in turn pierced one of the cars and caused an explosion that tore apart a passenger compartment. All of these incidents obviously raise concerns among investigators, but none more so than when a train overshoots a stop at a train terminal. Most of these incidents, investigators have said, could have been prevented if an automatic train stopping technology known as positive train control had been installed. SAN FRANCISCO The virtual currency Bitcoin has been swept up in yet another speculative frenzy, pushing its price toward the peak it last reached in late 2013. The price of Bitcoin has been buoyed by increased interest from places like Venezuela, where the local currency has lost much of its value, and India, where the government recently removed the largest cash notes from circulation. More broadly, a tilt toward isolationism that has emerged in American and European politics highlighted by Donald J. Trumps election victory has given a new sheen to a currency that can move between countries with little oversight. The more there is an expectation for new barriers to be erected, the more there is an expectation that Bitcoin will be valuable for moving money across borders, said Gil Luria, the director of research at Wedbush Securities. Mr. Massad has been chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission since June 2014. Earlier, he had been a senior Treasury Department official under President Obama and had overseen the Troubled Asset Relief Program, the bank bailout. Before entering government service, he was a partner at the law firm Cravath, Swaine & Moore. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission indicated on Tuesday that Mr. Massad would stay as a commissioner for a few weeks after resigning as chairman to close his office. His term was scheduled to end in April. He succeeded Gary Gensler, a former Goldman Sachs executive who galvanized the once-sleepy agency in the wake of the financial crisis, turning it into an industry watchdog. Mr. Massad has continued to enact many of the changes started under Mr. Gensler, overseeing the completion of Dodd-Frank Act rules governing the swaps markets, which were at the heart of the financial crisis, and coordinating oversight with international regulators. I came to the C.F.T.C. with a number of priorities, and I am proud we have made significant progress in every area, Mr. Massad said in a statement on Tuesday. We have largely finished implementing the regulatory framework for swaps, and have concentrated on the areas posing the greatest risk to the financial system. But the agency did not complete at least one closely watched rule governing the trading of commodities. It proposed what was known as the position limits rule last month for the third time since 2011. The commissioners did not wish to adopt a rule that the C.F.T.C. would choose not to implement or defend in the future, the agency said Tuesday in the news release. The New York City police commissioner, James P. ONeill, has noted the departments efforts to push shootings below 1,000 for the first time since at least the early 1990s, when the police began keeping similar records. Mr. ONeill and Mayor Bill de Blasio were expected to discuss those efforts at a news conference in Brooklyn on Wednesday. Scores of gang takedowns this year, resulting in about 900 arrests, took violent people off the streets and made it more costly to engage in gang-related crimes, police officials said. Precision policing targets those people who are responsible for the violence, which in a significant amount of cases are gangs, said Stephen P. Davis, the departments chief spokesman. By going after the gang members, arresting them, we recognize the resultant reduction in violence. Violent crime has been more persistent in some communities, especially outside Manhattan. But the Police Department, in continuing to drive down crime even as it has pulled back from heavy low-level enforcement and aggressive tactics like stop-and-frisk, has shown the value of focusing resources on stopping serious crime, said David M. Kennedy, a professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice. New York City, in many ways, convinced the rest of the country that things like zero tolerance were the way to make communities safe, he said. And now its showing the country that you absolutely do not need to do that, you should not do it, and there are much, much better and less damaging ways to work with communities to produce public safety. Governors do not normally if ever have private visits with prisoners. But one evening in September, Judith Clark, the former radical who drove a getaway car in the 1981 Brinks armored car robbery that left three people dead, was summoned from a college program at the Bedford Hills womens prison. She did not know who she would be seeing until she was brought into a room used for high school classes. About 10 minutes later, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo arrived. As they sat down, he wanted to know first about her crime and her motivation. Were you on drugs? Mr. Cuomo asked. No, Ms. Clark replied. I was on politics. Ms. Clark, now 67, had already served 35 years of a minimum 75-year term. She was not eligible to seek parole until 2056. Her only hope of getting out during her lifetime was a grant of clemency from the governor, a power Mr. Cuomo had almost never exercised in nearly six years in office. The governor announced Friday that he was reducing Ms. Clarks minimum sentence to 35 years, meaning not that she will be released, but that she will be eligible for parole in the first quarter of 2017. It is great news for elephants that China has declared a halt to commercial ivory trade by the end of 2017. Chinas huge appetite for ivory the combination of an ancient tradition of ivory carving and a swelling middle class ready to pay for it was by far the driving force behind soaring demand for elephant tusks and, tragically, a dangerous escalation in the slaughter of African elephants. But before the celebrations begin, several cautionary notes are in order. First, Chinas decision was not entirely altruistic. As Javier Hernandez, a Times reporter, wrote from Beijing, there were also political benefits for President Xi Jinping. The ban strengthens his campaign against corruption, in which ivory is a currency; it improves his standing in Africa, where China has major interests; and it enhances his image as an environmentally responsible leader. Theres nothing wrong with any of that; on the contrary, it demonstrates that Chinas leadership recognizes the responsibilities that come with Chinas global power and influence. The more important question is how strictly China will enforce the ban. In principle, the closing of the Chinese market, which has accounted for 50 to 70 percent of illegal ivory, will go a long way toward extinguishing the traffic in ivory. But Beijing has often been lax in following up on worthy decisions, and any illicit trade as lucrative as ivory could easily sneak through any cracks. Another danger is that, once China vacates the market, Asian countries such as Vietnam, Myanmar or the Philippines could try to move in. Trafficking in elephant tusks has survived decades of bans and campaigns. Global ivory trade was banned in 1989 under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (Cites), and African nations have made considerable efforts to combat poaching. But the ban had many loopholes, and so long as there was a market where ivory was fetching $2,100 per kilogram ($952 per pound), the poachers and smugglers had ample incentive and resources to bribe officials and kill rangers. Even before the new Congress was sworn in on Tuesday, House Republicans made it clear that they had no real intention of draining the Washington swamp. They voted in secret on Monday to gut the one quasi-independent office that investigates House ethics. President-elect Donald Trump, who ran on a promise to drain the swamp, didnt demand that they stop he merely asked them to wait awhile. And that they did. Representative Bob Goodlatte of Virginia emerged as an architect of the G.O.P. miasmic agenda with his attack on the Office of Congressional Ethics. A rules change would have prevented the office, known as the O.C.E., from investigating potentially criminal allegations, allowed lawmakers on the House Ethics Committee to shut down any O.C.E. investigation and, for good measure, gagged the offices staff members in their dealings with the news media. When the public learned about this plan, outraged constituents deluged House members with phone calls. Mr. Trumps response was something altogether different. He didnt condemn these Republicans for defying and undermining his drain-the-swamp pledge. He asked them to address more urgent business first, like destroying health care reform and passing tax cuts for the rich. Indeed, while he was tweeting on Tuesday morning, Kellyanne Conway, the incoming counselor to the president, had already been on television supporting Mr. Goodlatte and his gang, saying House Republicans had a mandate to curb overzealousness over ethics. For Paul Ryan, the attack on the ethics office was certainly a milestone: He hadnt even been re-elected House speaker when he was rolled by his caucus. Afterward, his statement suggested he was more worried about how bad this fracas looks for him than about his members effort to undermine congressional accountability. The claim by Mr. Ryan and Mr. Goodlatte (who, hilariously, leads the House Judiciary Committee) that gutting the office would improve due process for accused lawmakers is a marvel of Orwellian newspeak. So is Mr. Goodlattes insistence that dismantling the O.C.E. builds upon and strengthens it. HOUSTON When a conservative newspaper in a conservative town in northwestern Oklahoma endorsed Hillary Clinton for president in October, the backlash was swift, sizable and local: 162 canceled subscriptions from Republicans and independents. The backlash to the backlash has been just as swift and sizable but far from local: slightly more than 200 new subscriptions and donations, a majority of which appear to come from out-of-state Democrats. The subscription battle that has broken out in Enid, Okla., a city of 52,000 whose biggest claim to fame is having one of the largest grain storage capacities in the world, caught The Enid News & Eagle by surprise. The daily newspaper, which has a circulation of 10,000 and has a history of endorsing Republicans, lost nearly 2 percent of its subscribers and 11 advertisers after its editorial board backed Mrs. Clinton and called Donald J. Trump unfit to be president in an editorial on Oct. 9. After an article in The New York Times described the lingering controversy in Enid over the endorsement, supporters of Mrs. Clinton from around the country called the paper, buying digital subscriptions to EnidNews.com and urging others to do so on Facebook and Twitter. It was a bittersweet day for Robert J. Dold, who gamely led the ceremonial final House session of the outgoing Congress on Tuesday. It was his own closing act, as well: Mr. Dold, who was a Republican congressman from Illinois, lost his seat in November to Representative Brad Schneider, a Democrat who also defeated him in 2012. The halls were bustling with energy as the new Congress streamed in, pressing past Mr. Dold into the cramped chamber as he waited for the elevator, carrying an umbrella against the mornings drenching rain. Were sorry were not going to be able to weigh in more on that because, frankly, I think thats going to be really important, Mr. Dold said, looking toward the chamber door. WASHINGTON The Republican-controlled Congress opened the turbulent Trump era in Washington on Tuesday, as the new Senate moved instantly to begin the repeal of President Obamas signature health care law while the House descended into chaos in an ill-fated attempt to gut an independent congressional ethics office. On a day usually reserved for pomp, constitutionally mandated procedure and small children parading around in fancy dresses, Congress instead pitched itself into partisan battles. Speaker Paul D. Ryan easily won re-election, but not before the embarrassment of having his members defy him by voting to eliminate the ethics office, only to then abandon that effort after a flood of criticism from constituents and Twitter messages from President-elect Donald J. Trump that criticized House Republican priorities. It was a rocky start to a period in which Republicans had promised an end to Washington gridlock if they controlled both Congress and the White House. There was intraparty conflict and a sense that Mr. Trump, who ran against the Republican establishment, would continue to be openly critical of his own party at times. He posted it as senior national security officials including the F.B.I. director, James B. Comey, and the director of national intelligence, James R. Clapper Jr. were completing plans to travel to New York on Friday to brief him about their findings. It was not clear whether a meeting to discuss the hacking had been scheduled for Tuesday or, if so, why it did not occur. But Mr. Trumps insinuation was that intelligence officials were intentionally withholding information from him. For weeks, he has dismissed their findings and strongly criticized the intelligence agencies, saying they cannot be trusted because they were convinced, incorrectly, that there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq before the United States 2003 invasion. The decision by Mr. Comey and Mr. Clapper to brief Mr. Trump in person appears to be an effort to show him how seriously they take their conclusions that the Russian government was behind the hacking of Democratic officials before the election. Last month, President Obama ordered the intelligence agencies and national security officials to provide him with a full report on Russias meddling. The White House has not said when the report will be completed, but Sean Spicer, a spokesman for Mr. Trump, told reporters on Tuesday that Mr. Trump had requested the same briefing Mr. Obama receives once the report is done. Mr. Spicer said he expected that to happen this week. The security of the state must be able to be controlled by the state, Mr. de Maiziere argued. Despite the countrys growing preoccupation with Islamic terrorism, the suggestions from Mr. de Maiziere met immediate resistance in a country left deeply wary of centralized power by its traumatizing history with totalitarian government, both fascist and communist. Yet Mr. de Maizieres call presented the latest challenge to the consensus and structures, including NATO and the European Union, developed to ensure security and stable and prosperous democracies across Europe after World War II. Those systems are now groaning under the weight of globalization and international terrorism, as well as the right-wing populist and nationalist movements that have arisen in Europe and the United States in reaction to them. But whether Germans are ready to take such a step is far from clear, even as they grow more anxious about security threats, especially after the attack on a Christmas market in Berlin last month that killed 12. The episode continues to reverberate: On Tuesday, federal prosecutors said they had searched the homes of two people suspected of possibly having been in contact with the attacker in the days before the rampage. The notion of revamping the organization of the government, which was deliberately decentralized by the allied powers that defeated Germany during World War II specifically to prevent another Hitler from rising, has come up repeatedly since Germanys reunification in 1990. Just as many times, it has been rejected. An imprisoned political activist in Iran who began a hunger strike more than two months ago to protest the incarceration of his wife halted the fast on Tuesday when the judicial authorities released her at least temporarily, rights groups and Iranian news media reported. The showdown between the authorities and the activist, Arash Sadeghi, who was sentenced in 2015 to at least 15 years for acts deemed seditious, including spreading propaganda, appeared to be a rare instance of compromise by a government not known for leniency. The release of Mr. Sadeghis wife, Golrokh Ebrahimi-Iraee, came a day after an equally rare demonstration on the couples behalf by protesters in front of Tehrans Evin Prison, where both have been held. Videos of the demonstration were spread on Twitter. The demonstration followed a campaign on social media to support the couple, which became a trending topic internationally despite the heavy restrictions on the use of Twitter and Facebook in Iran. LONDON Ruth Mackenzie, the British director of the Holland Festival, has been chosen as the next artistic director of the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris, succeeding Jean-Luc Choplin, who has held that position since 2004. The decision, which must be ratified at a Jan. 11 meeting of the theaters administrative board, was announced on Tuesday by the Paris mayors office. Later, the mayor, Anne Hidalgo, tweeted that Ms. Mackenzie had been chosen for her experience and her ambitious and innovative artistic project. Ms. Mackenzie, 59, will not just be the rare Briton to head a French national institution, but the first woman to run the Chatelet since the theater opened in 1862. She will have a partner in the French arts administrator, Thomas Lauriot dit Prevost, who was Mr. Choplins No. 2 from 2006 to 2013, and who will hold the title of general director. We applied as a team, Ms. Mackenzie said. These are big jobs, and its very nice when there are two of you to work things out. Mr. Lauriot dit Prevost was also fantastically French, Ms. Mackenzie added, which makes up a little for me being British. These writers not to mention Pushkin and Tolstoy are the reasons Siberia occupies the place in the popular imagination it does to this day, as a metaphor for suffering and deprivation, where the forsaken are cast out and left to suffer a civil execution, removed from society itself. The very name Siberia is enough to terrorize a Russian, as an early-19th-century explorer put it. Beer, however, has done more with his own House of the Dead than merely reprise the accounts of great writers before him. A senior lecturer at the University of London, he has mined an impressive trove of resources, including state archives in St. Petersburg, Moscow and two Siberian cities that became hubs for the expanding penal system, Tobolsk and Irkutsk. From these rich lodes emerges a history with the sort of granular details theres an entire chapter, for example, devoted to the knout, the lash and other tools of corporal punishment that make the terror of the very name Siberia so vividly, so luridly clear. As Chekhov wrote, describing one thrashing: The area where he has been beaten is dark-blue-crimson from bruises and is bleeding. His teeth are chattering, his face is yellow and wet, his eyes are wandering. When he is given medicinal drops, he bites the glass compulsively. Chekhov went on to note that the man had been whipped for the crime of murder; he faced yet another round for trying to escape from Sakhalin, the island off Russias Pacific coast where the penal camps reached their dystopian worst. In Beers account, the escalating brutality that was needed to control the penal system deeply infected the society it was meant to protect, a legacy that one could argue lingers in Russia today under President Vladimir V. Putin. Worse, the system of exile and penal labor that was constructed ultimately failed its original purpose. Instead of protecting imperial Russia, it incubated the revolution that would topple it. The House of the Dead opens with a Gogolian story about a church bell from Uglich, one of the ancient towns dotted along the Volga River. In 1591, residents rang the bell in alarm after the heir of Ivan the Terrible, then 9, was found with his throat slit. American intelligence officials brief Congress on their investigation of Russian hacking involving the presidential election today, ahead of a briefing for President-elect Donald J. Trump on Friday. Mr. Trump continued to raise questions about the intelligence on his preferred platform, Twitter, making common cause with Julian Assange. China, a frequent target of Mr. Trumps posts, criticized him in state news media, saying, An obsession with Twitter foreign policy is undesirable. Above, Mr. Trump making a post in 2015. Mr. Trump said he planned to nominate Jay Clayton, a Wall Street lawyer who helped take Alibaba public, to lead the Securities and Exchange Commission. Apple, complying with what it said was a request from Chinese authorities, removed news apps created by The New York Times from its app store in China late last month. The move limits access to one of the few remaining channels for readers in mainland China to read The Times without resorting to special software. The government began blocking The Timess websites in 2012, after a series of articles on the wealth amassed by the family of Wen Jiabao, who was then prime minister, but it had struggled in recent months to prevent readers from using the Chinese-language app. Apple removed both the English-language and Chinese-language apps from the app store in China on Dec. 23. Apps from other international publications, including The Financial Times and The Wall Street Journal, were still available in the app store. For some time now the New York Times app has not been permitted to display content to most users in China and we have been informed that the app is in violation of local regulations, Fred Sainz, an Apple spokesman, said of the Times apps. As a result, the app must be taken down off the China App Store. When this situation changes, the App Store will once again offer the New York Times app for download in China. Lover.ly is one of numerous start-ups using technology to try to make planning easier for the remaining 82 percent who do it themselves. These companies are moving beyond the traditional listing, inspiration and content services, which often have an overwhelming number of vendors, to offer personalized suggestions. And as texting and online chat become so integral to communication, those formats have been harnessed for wedding planning. But persuading wedding service professionals to adopt new platforms and technology can be challenging. Many are hesitant to invest the time and resources, and the industry remains stubbornly offline. About 12 percent of transactions are done online, Ms. Khalil said. Its one of few industries yet to be fully digitized, she said. Still, Ms. Khalil has been able to build a database of 65,000 vendors, who are linked via a relationship map to venues. One of the companys virtual wedding planners assembles a list of vendors based on a couples criteria, and the couples receive it within 48 hours of purchasing a service. Couples are charged from $10 to $399, and vendors $10 per client lead. The website serves to drive traffic to the companys app, a platform for interacting with the virtual wedding planners. Testing showed that brides prefer texting over phone calls or email. It has attracted users such as Heather Marie and Aniekan Udo, who live in New York and are planning a small wedding in Tuscany, in Italy, in June. Ms. Marie, a tech entrepreneur, was attracted by the efficiency and convenience of planning by app. The amount of time it takes to research the different vendors would be every single weekend of my life until the wedding and its overwhelming, said Ms. Marie, who initially did her own comparisons against Lover.lys results and was impressed by the apps suggestions. I kind of wasted my time, she said. Conde Nast Publications might be sitting on a gold mine: its archive of some eight million photographs and illustrations from Vanity Fair, The New Yorker, Vogue, Architectural Digest and other magazines. Now, given the tenuous state of the media industry, the company has plans to exploit it. The archive is housed on the 15th floor of a building not far from Conde Nasts headquarters at One World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan. Photographs and magazines, some going back more than 100 years, are stored in plastic slips and stacked in folders or tucked away in cabinets. Down the hall from the main room is a cold-storage locker, where original slides and transparencies are cataloged out of harms way. Here you will find the first cover of Vogue, from Dec. 17, 1892, a sketch of a debutante clad in a ball gown and floating on what appears to be a cloud pillow. And here is a photograph of Coco Chanel lounging on a sofa, taken by the Vogue photographer Horst P. Horst, who died in 1999. Binders stand on metal shelves, packed with transparencies from long-ago runway shows in New York and Paris, a chronicle of shifting necklines, hems and bejeweled bodices. This is the history of fashion, said Ivan Shaw, 48, the former executive photo director of Vogue, who was named Conde Nasts photography director for the archive in June. Sales Put your best foot forward for bargain-hunting at the New Years sales in a pair of multi-heart TOMS x James Goldcrown slippers ($59) from a new collaboration between the buy-one-give-one shoe brand and the artist behind New Yorks much-Instagrammed Love Wall murals. At 264 Elizabeth Street. Image TOMS x James Goldcrown slippers. In preparation for its biannual seasonal changeover, Dover Street Market is offering discounts of up to 70 percent on fall merchandise including a Christopher Kane sequin wool raglan coat ($793, originally $2,645) and a Craig Green silk workwear jacket ($274.50, originally $915). At 160 Lexington Avenue. Fivestory is adding an additional 15 percent discount to items already marked down up to 60 percent, like a Balmain lace skirt ($397.80, originally $1,170) and a Tome tailored cropped jacket ($576.30, originally $1,695). At 18 East 69th Street. LONDON A new year brings a new name for the latest season of the biannual British mens wear spectacle formerly known as London Collections: Men. The four-day event, in its fifth year, shall henceforth be known as London Fashion Week Mens. The rebranding isnt exactly surprising after a stormy year. The upheaval began when major British player Burberry abandoned its prime position in the local mens wear festivities in favor of see-now, buy-now runway shows that will take place during womens fashion week. The turmoil intensified with the Brexit referendum, which will put some distance between the tailors of Savile Row and their fashion friends in Paris and Milan. Despite all that, Caroline Rush, the chief executive of the British Fashion Council, said the rationale for the events name change was a sign of its success. When we first launched the Londons mens wear shows, the schedule lasted just three days, Ms. Rush said. We could hardly call it a week. She has a point. Furthermore, she said, now that consumers, rather than editors or buyers, have come to dictate how and why many brands invest in runway shows, it makes sense for the event to have a name that trips more easily off the tongue. In a large newsroom, the collaboration between a reporter and a photographer often depends on the whims of their respective assigning editors, who calculate strengths, weaknesses, and, most of all, availability. Whos up to cover that fire? Whos up to shoot it? The resulting slapdash teamwork between writer and photographer can end as quickly as it began; they may work together the next day, or never again. But for many years now, I have been fortunate to work with exceptional New York Times photographers for extended periods of time while writing a national column called This Land. Lately, I have been collaborating with Todd Heisler, a stunningly gifted photographer and a great companion. Before Todd, I traveled for several years beside the recently retired Nicole Bengiveno, whose profound empathy comes through in her cameras every click, and who deserves some formal commendation for having put up with a certain hack me for so long. Even before the beginning of World War II in September 1939, Nazi Germanys open aggression toward both neighboring countries and people within its borders had sparked a refugee crisis. The German annexation of Austria and the Sudetenland in 1938 increased the number of people affected by Nazi restrictions, while at the same time those restrictions intensified to the point that Jews, political dissidents and others were effectively removed from German public life and denied rights, employment and education. Germanys aggressive steps to expand its borders touched off both an international political crisis, as world leaders scrambled to avoid war, and a humanitarian refugee crisis, as hundreds of thousands of vulnerable people, mostly Jews, sought safety from the Nazis in countries outside the grip of the Third Reich. Despite an isolationist mood, a suspicions of refugees, and official policies that often discouraged involvement, some Americans felt a sense of responsibility toward European refugees and found ways to act on their behalf. The Unitarian Church a liberal religion with roots in Christianity had links to Czechoslovakia and wanted to offer assistance to refugees streaming into the country. Though Germany had annexed Czechoslovakias Sudetenland region, the rest of the country and its capital remained still free and independent. In January 1939, Unitarian leadership sought volunteers to lead an aid mission in Prague. Seventeen couples had turned down the risky post, but Martha and Waitstill Sharp decided to accept. Just weeks later, after arranging for neighbors to look after their children, ages 8 and 3, they sailed for Europe. In Prague, the Sharps spent seven months providing food, shelter and medical care to refugees. Just weeks after they arrived, German troops occupied the whole of Czechoslovakia. The Sharps quickly saw the necessity for rescue as well as relief efforts, and mastered the intricacies of emigration procedures, helping refugees find jobs and sponsors abroad and often accompanying them on dangerous border crossings. They were watched by the Gestapo and had to do much of their work in secret. The Sharps went home to Wellesley only when they heard rumors of their imminent arrest. But just a few months later they returned to Europe, this time for another rescue and relief mission in war-torn France. There, Martha led a childrens emigration project that allowed 27 children from dissident or Jewish families to escape to the United States. For their work in Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia and France, the Sharps have been recognized as Righteous Among the Nations at Yad Vashem the highest recognition accorded by the state of Israel to non-Jews who risked their lives to save Jews during World War II. They are two of only five Americans to be so honored. In the aftermath of World War II, the newly formed United Nations moved to set up international bodies and laws to define the status and rights of refugees for the first time. The U.N. High Commission for Refugees was established in 1951 and given a three-year mandate to resolve postwar refugee problems. Sixty-five years later, it still exists, and there are more refugees around the world today than at any time since the end of World War II. Without warning, Tyrell Williamss mood shifts from gleeful to morose. Consumed by his action figures one moment, Tyrell, 4, will abruptly set them down, start sobbing and complain to his mother how much he needs his father. Obviously I want to cry with him, but I dont, his mother, Myasia Williams, 23, said. I stay strong and I just speak to him. I say, Daddys away and he loves you. He misses you very much. She will not explain to him that his father, who is also named Tyrell Williams, is in prison. That conversation must be between father and son, reserved for a future date. Mr. Williams is serving time for attempted murder and is set to be released in 2041. Mrs. Williams said his crime has not changed her love for him, though it has caused her to lose relationships with other people in her life who question why she is loyal to a man behind bars. They dont understand the depth of the love she has for him, she said. The source of the friction was Mr. Cuomos handling of the proposed special session. The governor, perhaps overconfident that legislators would cancel holiday plans to secure their first raise since 1999, tried to tie the session to a few choice items of his own: an ethics overhaul, measures related to bias crimes and homelessness, and a plan to deliver app-based ride-hailing services like Uber and Lyft to upstate New York. (He had previously given up trying to extract more comprehensive ethics changes, among them instituting term limits and remaking the Legislature as a full-time institution.) But as Mr. Cuomo begins positioning himself as a national leader of the left, it is his fellow Democrats who are most resentful of his maneuvering. In the telling of liberal activists, who hope New York will become a left-leaning bulwark against Mr. Trump, Mr. Cuomo has made only a watered-down effort at establishing a solid Democratic majority in the State Senate. After the 2016 elections, the number of elected Democrats edged past the number of elected Republicans in the chamber. But because of a breakaway faction calling themselves the Independent Democratic Conference and an even more independent Democrat, Senator Simcha Felder of Brooklyn, who has resolutely attached himself to the Republicans ever since being elected as a Democrat the chamber has been controlled for several years by a coalition of Republicans and independent Democrats. Neither Mr. Felder nor the independent Democrats budged after the November elections, drawing more accusations of Trump-enabling from liberals across New York. (In fact, the number of independent Democrats grew, and the group confirmed on Monday that it would remain happily coupled with the Republicans.) Still, as vinegary as the talk has been so far, it is not hard to imagine the governor and Legislature getting over their differences in a few weeks as a matter of practicality. The governors tuition proposal is likely to find fans among a wide cross section of legislators, many of whose districts host community or four-year state colleges, and the issue of college affordability is politically potent. Once you get past all the venom and the vitriol and the bruised feelings, theres a mutual self-interest in eventually finding agreement, said Bruce N. Gyory, an Albany-based political consultant. But it wont be done with hearts and flowers, that I can assure you. By the time he took office in 2014, a federal lawsuit had led to a sharp decline in stop-and-frisk practices. But crime instead of rising, as some critics warned has continued to fall. Crime is now a central talking point for Mr. de Blasio as he runs for re-election, and it is often the first subject mentioned by the mayor, his aides and his campaign staff when providing a summary of his first term. The decline in shootings and murders in 2016 contrasted most notably with Chicago, the nations third-largest city after New York and Los Angeles. Chicago ended the year with 762 murders, the most in two decades, and more than 3,500 shootings. While other large cities, such as Baltimore and Los Angeles, have had fluctuations in violence in recent years, New York crime rates have largely declined. The Brooklyn setting for the news conference was a departure from the usual police precinct or headquarters to discuss crime statistics, but it underscored the changes in the city, as well as the challenges that remain. Brooklyn, the citys most populous borough, with 2.6 million residents, saw the second-highest reduction in shootings after the Bronx, where overall crime barely budged. However, the 75th Precinct in East New York in Brooklyn led the city with 23 murders, followed by four precincts, in Brooklyn and the Bronx, that had 14 murders apiece. In a charismatic speech, Eric L. Adams, the Brooklyn borough president, praised the anti-violence groups that have for years gone into some of the grittiest neighborhoods in the city, like Mr. Adamss native Brownsville, to conduct outreach at candlelight vigils, on street corners, in hospitals and in public housing. But while crime in those communities has improved, gentrification in places like Crown Heights has made it difficult for longtime residents to stay to reap the benefits. As they did all last year, officials on Wednesday credited the decline in shootings to the Police Departments focus on the gangs and crews that it says are driving much of the violence. After restructuring its investigative units, the department carried out 107 targeted arrests that rounded up more than 1,000 suspected gang members, drug traffickers and their associates. Many of the suspects were indicted before they were arrested, and they are receiving longer sentences when convicted, Commissioner ONeill said. Were picking them off one by one, or in many cases, dozens by dozens, said Commissioner ONeill, who succeeded William J. Bratton in the fall. Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo of New York said on Wednesday that with a complete overhaul of La Guardia Airport underway, he wants to rebuild New York Citys other airport, John F. Kennedy International. Mr. Cuomo outlined a plan to spend more than $10 billion modernizing Kennedys terminals and improving the highway and transit systems connected to the airport. He did not provide a timetable for the plan or say specifically where all of the money would come from. The next step is to tackle J.F.K., because La Guardia isnt enough, Mr. Cuomo said, speaking at a meeting of the Association for a Better New York, a business group, in Manhattan. We need to build a new airport at J.F.K. and go through the same process as we did with La Guardia. In promoting big infrastructure projects, including the Second Avenue subway, which opened Sunday, Mr. Cuomo is building his legacy in New York, and perhaps raising his national profile. No longer. In 2013, the clinic hired oncology nurses to take patient calls and gave them protocols: For example, a chemo patient with a fever gets a same-day appointment and certain tests. Baird said the program prevented 500 visits to the E.R. in 2016. We were able to achieve Medicares triple aim: higher quality of care, lower cost and increased patient satisfaction, he said. Cancer causes suffering. Cancer patients take strong, toxic medicines. They need same-day appointments. But neither Medicare nor private insurers reimburse a practice for solving problems over the phone. The Affordable Care Act allowed Dayton to make the switch. Since 2010, the A.C.A.s Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation has run, financed or partnered with states to do demonstration projects with 61,000 providers, testing dozens of different ideas. This allows people to try new things, measure the results, and then scale up what works. People all over the country are showing that better, less expensive care is possible. This is a vehicle for experimentation, said Barbara McAneny, chief executive of the New Mexico Cancer Center. We need as many doctors thinking about what they can do better for their patients as they possibly can. Republicans in Congress have objected to what they consider the Innovation Centers overreach. There have been some concerns about how wide and how mandatory the pilot programs will be, said Mark McClellan, who ran the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services under President George W. Bush and is now a professor at Duke. But like the shift away from fee for service, experimentation itself has bipartisan support. The concerns are not about the concept of piloting and expanding new approaches for payment, he said. More than a third of Medicare payments to providers now depend on value instead of volume. This has already helped to hold down costs. And value-based payments will get a huge increase from a law kicking in this year that moves Medicare payments of physicians away from fee for service. The law passed with overwhelming bipartisan support and it cant work without the Innovation Centers projects. To the Editor: Re Barack Obama and Me (Op-Ed, Jan. 2): I was pleased to read J. D. Vances comments regarding President Obama. Indeed, Barack Obama is an admirable man, and it speaks volumes that he could serve as an ethical compass for Mr. Vance, a conservative. I found it astounding, therefore, to read about the sigh of relief he will breathe with the new administration. In his book Hillbilly Elegy, Mr. Vance wrote with gratitude of the government programs that helped support him and his grandmother throughout his childhood and college career. Over 400,000 people in his home state of Kentucky now have health insurance through Medicaid, thanks to the Affordable Care Act. Many of these programs are slated to be slashed, privatized or eliminated by the new administration. What exactly are his ideological preferences that may force millions into poverty and ill health? How will the Republican agenda help the next impoverished boy or girl from Kentucky achieve his or her dream? To admire the messenger while ignoring the message is missing the example that President Obama set. MARY KEMEN RIO DE JANEIRO Brazils first days of 2017 were baptized by 17 hours of violence. Members of a drug ring called Familia do Norte (Family of the North) massacred members of the rival Primeiro Comando da Capital (First Command of the Capital), or P.C.C., one of the countrys largest gangs. The bloodletting occurred inside a privately administered prison in the northern city of Manaus. At least 56 people were slaughtered, and some 180 gang members escaped, 140 of whom are still at large. The state police were reluctant to intervene in the fight, fearing they might make the situation even worse. The warning signs were written on the prisons graffiti-lined walls. The penitentiary in Manaus has experienced bloody riots before. In the days leading up to the weekend massacre, prison guards suspected that firearms were being smuggled into cellblocks housing drug trafficking groups. A collection of revolvers was turned over to the police when the riot came to end. Investigators unearthed a network of tunnels under the prisons bloodstained floors, suggesting the attack was premeditated. Familia do Norte was sending a message: The P.C.C. is not welcome in the northern Brazilian state of Amazonas. A local judge was called in to negotiate the release of hostages, and hes now facing death threats. As shocking as the prison riot is, it is not unprecedented. The most lethal episode of prison violence in Brazil occurred in 1992 when 111 inmates were killed during a riot in the Carandiru prison in Sao Paulo. Other outbreaks occurred in Rondonia in 2002, Maranhao in 2010, Pernambuco in 2011, Rio de Janeiro in 2014 and Roraima last year. Prison violence has been registered in at least 24 of Brazils 26 states over the past decade. As the Obama administration makes a final push to reduce the number of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, President-elect Donald Trump is vowing to halt transfers, saying that those remaining are extremely dangerous people and should not be allowed back onto the battlefield. Mr. Trumps latest Guantanamo remark, delivered in a tweet on Tuesday, is consistent with his misguided campaign vow to keep the offshore prison open and load it up with some bad dudes. He seems oblivious to the risks and costs that keeping the prison open, and perhaps expanding it, would entail. This makes it imperative that the Obama administration spare no effort in its remaining days to release the roughly 18 detainees who are cleared for transfer to a handful of countries that have agreed to take them. That would leave about 40 detainees, down from the 780 men who have been held at the prison, which was created after the Sept. 11 attacks. Among the detainees who would remain, three were convicted in the military commission system and seven have charges pending before that commission. Twenty-six are deemed too dangerous to release, but the government has no plans to prosecute them; officials have concluded that prosecuting them would be nearly impossible because they have been held for years without trial and several were tortured while in custody. That assessment needs to be revisited. Holding these prisoners at Guantanamo forever is untenable for a nation that claims to adhere to the rule of law, and can only fuel the enmity of extremist groups around the world toward the United States. He could begin by announcing, as promised, that he had decided to begin the process of moving the embassy to western Jerusalem. But he would need to make a parallel announcement that he would establish an embassy to the state of Palestine in East Jerusalem when a final status agreement is reached. That would not quell the furor over moving the embassy. Indeed, it would likely increase it. So, Mr. Trump would also need to declare that he was willing to suspend the embassy move while the Israelis and Palestinians negotiate Jerusalems status. He could then invite President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi of Egypt and King Abdullah of Jordan two Arab leaders keen to curry favor with the new president to join him in convening a summit meeting with the Israeli and Palestinian leaders. They could then establish a three-month timetable to conclude the direct negotiations. During that period, Israel would need to freeze housing construction and demolition in East Jerusalem. To give the Trump administration leverage on both the Israelis and the Palestinians, the president could declare that if either side were unwilling to negotiate in good faith, it would forfeit American recognition of its capital in Jerusalem. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Mr. Abbas would then have an explanation for their outraged publics: They were accepting Mr. Trumps invitation to save Jerusalem, rather than to surrender it. If the two sides failed to reach agreement, the United States, Egypt and Jordan could resort to a United Nations Security Council resolution, not to condemn any party, but rather to set out the parameters of a rational solution on Jerusalem: Israel would be asked to accept a Palestinian capital in the Arab parts of East Jerusalem, and in return, the Palestinians, and all other members of the international community, would be asked to recognize Israels capital in all of Jewish Jerusalem. The resolution would also need to call for a special regime to be established in the Old City to protect the status quo for the religious sites. The United States could then set up two embassies in the undivided city, one on the west side for Israel and the other on the east side for Palestine. If the status of Jerusalem were resolved, it would open the way to negotiation on other final-status issues, like the borders of a Palestinian state. Arab countries would also be more likely to help with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict if they saw that the issue they care about most Jerusalem was resolved. CAMBRIDGE, Mass. As we look back on 2016, and perhaps fret about 2017, we can take some solace in the remarkable things we know and continue to learn about the universe. In addition to a better understanding of the 5 percent of matter that has been well studied and understood, scientists are unlocking mysteries about the rest 25 percent of it dark matter, and the remaining 70 percent dark energy. Dark matter interacts gravitationally the way that ordinary matter does clumping into galaxies and galaxy clusters, for example but we call it dark because it doesnt interact, in any perceptible way, with light. So 85 percent of the matter in the universe is not familiar matter. It is not made up of atoms and doesnt carry an electric charge. Observations in the 1980s presented convincing evidence of dark matter, opening a vast field of scientific work. Of all the great advances in physics during the 20th century, surely this one should rank near the top, making it well deserving of the worlds pre-eminent award in the field, the Nobel Prize. Yet to this date none has been awarded, and may never be, because the scientist most often attributed with establishing its existence, Vera Rubin, died on Christmas Day. Even physicists who are now legendary frequently work in obscurity until the Nobel elevates them to global stardom. So many people might not be aware of Dr. Rubin or her work, despite its pathbreaking significance. Had she won the prize, she would have been widely celebrated for her achievements and likely served as an inspiration for aspiring scientists everywhere. The smart home outfitted with internet-connected accessories controlling home appliances was once a gimmicky niche. Older smart-home systems were difficult to set up, requiring separate hubs and clunky apps for controlling lights and locks. But the category is rapidly maturing now that giants like Amazon, Apple and Google offer Alexa, Siri and Assistant, their artificially intelligent virtual assistants, able to control smart-home accessories. For consumers, voice assistants have broken down the complexity of interacting with smart-home devices, said Ben Bajarin, an analyst for Creative Strategies, which was among the first market research firms in Silicon Valley. (Its easy for anyone to say Alexa, turn on the lights.) And for companies that sell home accessories like locks and thermostats, it has never been easier to make a convenient smart-home product because the companies can now team up with the tech giants. Now theres an ecosystem to plug into and build support around, and I think thats going to help a lot, Mr. Bajarin said. At CES, consumers can expect a wave of smart-home accessories to be announced with voice-assistant compatibility. Apple customers should be on the lookout for a horde of lighting systems, locks and smart thermostats compatible with HomeKit, Apples smart-home framework for devices working with Siri and the iPhone. Amazon Echo owners should also expect a broader range of internet-connected cameras, door locks and thermostats that can be controlled through Alexa. A smaller number of devices are expected to be announced for Googles smart speaker Home because it was just released in November. What that means is that in the next year or two, shopping for a smart-home accessory will be as simple as looking up a type of product and finding one that matches up with your Apple, Google or Amazon device. Thats a lot simpler than with older accessories, which required you to install extra hubs and download additional apps to work with your smartphone. When you go to Amazon.com or the Home Depot or Lowes to buy a connected dead bolt from us, what you can expect from us is we want to make sure that lock is going to work with whatever platform you choose, said Rob Martens, a futurist at the lock company Schlage. Come and enjoy Read more [...] There is the art of travel, and then there is traveling for art. In 2017, art lovers can expect splashy new museums in both well-known and surprising locales, noteworthy exhibits timed to milestone birthdays and an under-the-radar art fair that is not to be missed. In a project 10 years in the making, the Louvre, one of the worlds largest museums, has collaborated on the Louvre Abu Dhabi (opening sometime this year) on Saadiyat Island along Abu Dhabis coast. Is the architecture more enticing or the art inside? The Pritzker Architecture Prize recipient Jean Nouvel designed the striking web-patterned, white-domed building, but the abundant collection, spanning ancient civilization through contemporary times, promises to deliver as much visual appeal. Another much-anticipated opening will be the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (September) in Cape Town in an early-20th-century grain silo on the Victoria & Albert Waterfront. Named after the philanthropist and conservationist Jochen Zeitz, this first major contemporary art museum on the continent will house his collection of African art. Late in the year, the Remai Modern will make its debut in Saskatoon, the largest city in the Canadian province Saskatchewan. Clad in a mesh copper screen, the four-level building will house more than 8,000 pieces of international contemporary art. Although there are works from well-known Canadians like the visual artist Althea Thauberger, the main attraction may be the Picasso gallery where there will be more than 400 of his linocuts and nearly two dozen of his ceramic pieces. Where should your appetite take you in 2017? The temptations to travel abound, from festivals honoring crowd-pleasing foods to those that celebrate downright quirky ones, not to mention events where its possible to savor the creations of several famous chefs in a single day. At the St. Barth Gourmet Festival (Nov. 2 to 5), for example, now in its fourth year, eight Michelin-star chefs from France will descend on the Caribbean island and dazzle with multicourse dinners by night and cooking demonstrations by day. The lineup is still to be determined, but the roll call of past chefs, such as the three-Michelin-starred Arnaud Donckele of La Vague dOr in St.-Tropez, hints at the talent in store. There also promises to be pizazz at the 25th annual Melbourne Food and Wine Festival (March 31 to April 9), an array of more than 200 events in Melbourne, Australia, coinciding this year with the Worlds Best 50 Restaurants 2017 gathering (April 1 to 7), being held in the city for the first time. The two events are collaborating with the MasterClass series (April 1 to 2), in which eight chefs whose restaurants have appeared on the prestigious Best Restaurants list, such as Gaston Acurio of La Mar in Lima, Peru, will cook for a hungry crowd and teach a trick or two about replicating their dishes at home. Wine can please the palate as much as food, and the Marlborough Wine & Food Festival (Feb. 11) in New Zealand, held in a picturesque vineyard in the wine-producing region of Marlborough, started in 1985 and claims to be the countrys longest running wine festival. Here, festivalgoers can taste the regions wines in free-flowing sessions, take in wine tutorials led by renowned winemakers and sample local cuisine. A judge in Arkansas has resigned and agreed to never again serve on the bench after he was accused of arranging bond conditions or the release of female defendants in exchange for sexual favors, according to official documents. The judge, Timothy Parker, who has denied the allegations, resigned on Saturday through a letter to the Arkansas governor, Asa Hutchinson. In the letter, he said he understood that by stepping down he would no longer be eligible to serve as a judge in any capacity in Arkansas. The state Judicial Discipline and Disability Commission announced Mr. Parkers resignation and his removal from Carroll County District Court in a news release on Tuesday. The announcement, which included a copy of his resignation letter and the commissions letter to him outlining the allegations, was obtained by email on Wednesday from the commissions executive director, David J. Sachar. The commission, which investigates judges who are accused of misconduct or for disabilities that prevent them from doing their jobs, said Mr. Parker continued to deny the allegations, but that he resigned as part of a negotiated resolution to avoid being formally charged with judicial conduct violations. The statement said he was concerned about the impact litigation would have on his family, and that his term was about to expire anyway. LOS ANGELES Girding for four years of potential battles with President-elect Donald J. Trump, Democratic leaders of the California Legislature announced Wednesday that they had hired Eric H. Holder Jr., who was attorney general under President Obama, to represent them in any legal fights against the new Republican White House. The decision by the Legislature to retain Mr. Holder, who is now a prominent Washington lawyer, is the latest sign of the ideological battle that may play out over the next four years between this predominantly Democratic state and Washington. Hillary Clinton, the Democratic candidate for president, defeated Mr. Trump by more than four million votes here. Having the former attorney general of the United States brings us a lot of firepower in order to prepare to safeguard the values of the people of California, Kevin de Leon, the Democratic leader of the Senate, said in an interview. This means we are very, very serious. Mr. de Leon said he expected California to challenge Washington and defend itself from policies instituted in Washington on issues including the environment, immigration and criminal justice. He said California Democrats decided to turn to Mr. Holder as they watched Mr. Trump assemble his cabinet and begin to set the tone for his presidency. CHARLESTON, S.C. Seeming to abdicate one of his last chances to save his own life, the convicted killer Dylann S. Roof stood on Wednesday before the jurors who will decide his fate and offered no apology, no explanation and no remorse for massacring nine black churchgoers during a Bible study session in June 2015. Instead, in a strikingly brief opening statement in the sentencing phase of his federal death penalty trial, Mr. Roof repeatedly assured the jury that he was not mentally ill undercutting one of the few mitigating factors that could work in his favor and left it at that. Other than the fact that I trust people that I shouldnt and the fact that Im probably better at constantly embarrassing myself than anyone whos ever existed, theres nothing wrong with me psychologically, Mr. Roof, who is representing himself, told the jury, which found him guilty last month of the killings at Charlestons Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church. Three minutes after walking to the lectern, Mr. Roof returned to the defense table, exhaling deeply. For a brief moment on Tuesday, Cal Marshall was the most famous teenager in politics. Cal, 17, is the son of Roger Marshall, who that day had been sworn into Congress as the Republican representative from the First District of Kansas. Their family was standing for a photo with House Speaker Paul D. Ryan the sort of photo that hangs on the halls of Congress and is sent out for Christmas cards come fund-raising time when Cal, being a teenager, sensed an opportunity. Standing between his father and Mr. Ryan, who had each placed a hand on the Bible Cal was holding and had begun to adopt their most solemn, official photograph faces, Cal smiled a guilty smile. And then Cal dabbed. What is dabbing? Mr. Ryan said he didnt know, so its entirely possible you dont either. (But seriously, hes been busy running Congress for the last year. Whats your excuse?) In September 2015, the Atlanta rap group Migos released a mixtape that included the song Look at My Dab, which brought the move into the world. N.F.L. players, especially Cam Newton, started using it in end-zone celebrations. Teenagers on Vine found it especially fun. By January, Hillary Clinton was doing it on Ellen. WASHINGTON Ivanka Trump, who is weighing a prominent role in her fathers administration, is planning to move with her family to a mansion in the exclusive Kalorama section of Washington, two people familiar with the decision said Wednesday. The house was previously owned by a Latvian-born financier with extensive investments in Russia and ties to a Russian opposition leader. Ms. Trump and her husband, Jared Kushner, a close adviser to President-elect Donald J. Trump who is expected to be an influential voice in the administration, have chosen a six-bedroom, 6,870-square-foot house just around the corner from President Obamas new home. The newly renovated house, with its sleekly modern decor, sold for $5.5 million in December, the people said, insisting on anonymity because the transaction was private. The home was previously owned by Dan K. Rapoport and his wife, Irina, according to property records filed with the District of Columbia. Neither responded to emailed requests for comment. WASHINGTON Republicans hope to repeal major parts of the Affordable Care Act using an expedited procedure known as budget reconciliation. The process is sometimes called arcane, but it has been used often in the past 35 years to write some of the nations most important laws. Reconciliation is probably the most potent budget enforcement tool available to Congress for a large portion of the budget, the Congressional Research Service, a nonpartisan arm of Congress, has said. Here is a primer. Q. What is the budget reconciliation process? A. It is a way for Congress to speed action on legislation that changes taxes or spending, especially spending for entitlement programs like Medicare and Medicaid. Although conceived primarily as a way to reduce federal budget deficits, it has also been used to cut taxes and to create programs that increase spending changes that can raise deficits. In the Senate, a reconciliation bill can ordinarily be passed with a simple majority. For other bills, a 60-vote majority is often needed to limit debate and move to a final vote. WASHINGTON Tom Perriello, the former congressman from Virginia, is making a surprise entry into his states governors race, disrupting Democrats well-laid plans in what promises to be the most-watched election in the country this year. Mr. Perriello on Wednesday telephoned Lt. Gov. Ralph S. Northam, who had been widely presumed to be the partys nominee, to tell him he was entering the race, according to three Democrats directly familiar with the conversation. Mr. Perriello, a State Department official who is close to President Obama, is expected to announce his intention on Thursday to compete in the June 13 Democratic primary. He did not respond to a voice mail and text message. Mr. Northam could not be reached, either. By entering the race to succeed Gov. Terry McAuliffe, a Democrat who is limited to a single term, Mr. Perriello will hinder Mr. McAuliffes effort to avert a contentious primary. Leading Democrats have sought to clear the field for Mr. Northam, hoping to give him a head start in fund-raising and organization, while at least three Republicans vie for the nomination. PARIS Since 2011, when investigators first impounded luxury cars held by the family of Equatorial Guineas president, anticorruption groups hoped that France would deal a mortal blow to the injustice they believe has enriched the countrys elites while many of its citizens languish in poverty. On Wednesday, a judge decided they would have to wait a bit longer. Three days into the closely watched trial of the presidents son, Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue, on embezzlement and money-laundering charges, the presiding judge, Benedicte de Perthuis, agreed to give the defense more time to prepare. The judge rescheduled the trial for June 19. Mr. Obiang, known by the nickname Teodorin, is the son of President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, who took power in a 1979 coup and is the longest-serving head of a government in Africa. A former Spanish colony, oil-rich Equatorial Guinea has experienced a boom that started around 2004, but the gains have been far from evenly distributed; half the country lives in poverty. There is a grand narrative in the United States that Mexico was the great winner of Nafta, said Fernando Turner Davila, the secretary of the economy and labor in the industrial state of Nuevo Leon. Meanwhile, here in Mexico, they only see the benefits, which are glorified. They never see the downsides, much less talk about them. Mr. Turner cited the loss of nearly two million jobs in the agricultural industry because of the treaty, which benefited highly subsidized industries in the United States like corn to the detriment of Mexican farmers. And while the federal government lauds the increase in manufacturing exports, Mexico still relies on a tremendous number of imports from the United States. The Mexican government has not established policies to protect Mexican businesses, said Mr. Turner, himself a businessman, with factories in a half-dozen countries. That said, even critics like Mr. Turner do not want to see Nafta gutted. It is an imperfect deal, one that has failed to deliver on its promise, he said. But to terminate the treaty would be a disaster, he said, hurting both Mexico and the United States and creating even more job losses. It would also not happen easily, critics contend. After two decades, the two economies are tightly braided together. Goods manufactured by companies operating in both countries whether speakers, cars or airplanes cross the border multiple times during production, a shared manufacturing process that, if destroyed, would mean shared job losses. A lot of people are taking solace in the reality that its very difficult for the U.S. to impose tariffs on Mexico without damaging the U.S. economy as well, said Christopher Wilson, a scholar at the Woodrow Wilson Institute. You need something to replace Nafta. Otherwise youre going to leave a lot of American workers out in the cold. The agreement has certainly brought positive changes to Mexico, economists note. Since it went into effect at the beginning of 1994, billions of dollars in investment has been pouring into Mexico every year. BEIJING A city official in southwest China unleashed a barrage of gunfire on the citys mayor and Communist Party secretary during a meeting on Wednesday, injuring them before fleeing and killing himself, the official news media reported. Privately owned guns are rare in China, because of a virtual ban on civilian use, and grisly attacks on officials by colleagues are also uncommon. So rumors of the shooting in Panzhihua, an industrial city in Sichuan Province, rippled quickly across the Chinese internet even before the local authorities confirmed the news. Panzhihua was built as part of Maos plans to relocate factories deep inland, where they would be protected from a feared war. But the violence in this isolated site was nonetheless an embarrassing breach of the efforts by Chinas president, Xi Jinping, to remake officialdom into a clean, impeccably disciplined bureaucracy. Details were sparse, and there were no clues to the gunmans motives. But the brief initial report in the state media sketched a scene of the head of the Panzhihua Land and Resources Bureau, Chen Zhongshu, bursting into a meeting at an exhibition center and opening fire on officials there. Xinhua, the state news agency, has more or less asked Mr. Trump to shut up. An obsession with Twitter foreign policy is undesirable, read the headline of a Xinhua commentary on Tuesday about Mr. Trumps posts. Everyone recognizes the common sense that foreign policy isnt childs play, and even less is it like doing business deals, said the article, published after Mr. Trumps latest barbed comments on China. Twitter shouldnt become an instrument of foreign policy, the article said. Earlier that day, a spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs rejected Mr. Trumps accusation that Beijing had coddled North Korea. But the article acknowledged that it was probably too late to detach Mr. Trump from Twitter. Mr. Trumps designated press secretary, Sean Spicer, has indicated that Mr. Trump will keep using the terse, punchy format after he settles in the White House. Issuing tweets has become a habit for Mr. Trump, Xinhua noted. Mr. Trump, it said, appeared to assume that issuing hard-line comments and taking up sensitive issues may perhaps add to his chips for negotiating with other countries. BANGKOK The thick white walls of the little fort are smudged and streaked with mold, doing little to keep out the racket and heavy fumes of passing traffic. Secluded behind them, for the moment at least, is a tiny village incongruous here among the temples and palaces with elaborate wood buildings that date back more than a century. Here at Fort Mahakan in Bangkoks historic core, a deadline for eviction is approaching at the end of next month in a 24-year battle for the fort between the city and the stubborn villagers. It comes in the context of a seemingly endless battle for the citys past as canals have been paved over, historic teak houses demolished and entire neighborhoods done away with as a new Bangkok of tall buildings and highways takes their place. JAKARTA, Indonesia Indonesia said on Wednesday that it had suspended military cooperation with Australia, a close partner in the fight against terrorism, after material deemed offensive to Indonesians was found on an Australian military base. Officials would not describe the material, but reports in the Indonesian news media said a laminated paper found at an Australian special forces base had insulted Pancasila, a state ideology that mandates belief in monotheism and unity among Indonesias 250 million people. Indonesia is the worlds most populous Muslim nation, and blasphemy is illegal there. The suspension will remain in effect until the technical matters are corrected, said Maj. Gen. Wuryanto, a spokesman for Indonesias military, who like many Indonesians goes by one name. There is no time limit. The Australian side has responded very well, and they claim to understand. Indonesia and Australia have developed close military and economic ties, with Jakarta receiving hundreds of millions of dollars in development aid annually from Australia. The two nations have cooperated on fighting terrorism ever since bombings on the Indonesian resort island of Bali in 2002 killed 202 people, including 88 Australians. The two countries are also seen by the United States as a bulwark against Chinese naval expansion in the region. MANILA A manhunt was underway Wednesday for more than 150 inmates who escaped from a jail in the southern Philippines after it came under attack by gunmen overnight. One guard was killed and another wounded in the assault on a jail in Kidapawan City on the violence-plagued southern island of Mindanao, according to Peter Bungat, the warden. The gunmen were thought to be from a bandit group that had broken away from a Muslim rebel organization, Mr. Bungat told a radio station on Mindanao, which is home to a decades-old insurgency. Five of the 158 inmates who escaped from the facility, the North Cotabato District Jail, were later killed in a shootout with pursuing officers, Senior Inspector Xavier Solda, a spokesman for the Philippine Bureau of Jail Management and Penology, told a radio station in Manila. A village official was also killed when he was mistaken for one of the escaped inmates, the police said. Mr. Bungat said the attack began early Wednesday, when the jails power supply was cut. Armed men then approached from behind the compound and began firing. It was well planned, Mr. Bungat said. ISTANBUL Turkish officials accused the United States of abetting a failed coup last summer. When the Russian ambassador to Turkey was assassinated last month, the Turkish press said the United States was behind the attack. And once again, after a gunman walked into an Istanbul nightclub early on New Years Day and killed dozens, the pro-government news media pointed a finger at the United States. America Chief Suspect, one headline blared after the attack. On Twitter, a Turkish lawmaker, referring to the name of the nightclub, wrote: Whoever the triggerman is, Reina attack is an act of CIA. Period. Turkey has been confronted with a cascade of crises that seem to have only accelerated as the Syrian civil war has spilled across the border. But the events have not pushed Turkey closer to its NATO allies. Conversely, they have drifted further apart as the nation lashes out at Washington and moves closer to Moscow, working with the Russian president, Vladimir V. Putin, to secure a cease-fire in Syria. BUCHAREST, Romania The Romanian Parliament approved a new left-leaning coalition government on Wednesday, ending weeks of uncertainty about who would lead a country that has been a staunch member of the European Union and NATO. Sorin Grindeanu, 43, a former minister of communications and a compromise candidate, was named prime minister. He beat his Social Democratic Partys first choice, Sevil Shhaideh, a member of the countrys Tatar minority who would have become the countrys first female and first Muslim prime minister. The Social Democrats came to power in a national election on Dec. 11 on the promise of increasing government spending for health care, salaries and pensions. On Wednesday, Mr. Grindeanu said his government would raise the minimum wage and improve access to free prescription drugs. He also promised to create better-paying jobs so that Romanians would not seek work abroad. The president, Klaus Iohannis, swore in the new cabinet and urged its members to strengthen the countrys judiciary and shore up its foreign relations. Jens Laerke, a spokesman for the United Nations humanitarian office in Geneva, said by email Tuesday that the deliberate targeting of the water infrastructure had caused the shut-off. But we are not in a position to say by whom, he said. The area has been the scene of much fighting, so we have not been able to access it. Now, 5.5 million people in Damascus and the vicinity lack water, which has raised the risk of waterborne disease, especially among children, he said. Fighting near the Barada Valley has continued despite the cease-fire. Antigovernment activists say that government forces, and fighters from Lebanons Hezbollah organization, have continued to attack the area in an apparent attempt to take it over. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which tracks the conflict from Britain through a network of contacts in Syria, said the government launched 15 airstrikes on the area Monday amid clashes between rebels and pro-government forces. 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. Turkeys foreign minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, accused the Syrian government and its allies on Wednesday of violating the cease-fire, saying that the new violence could derail peace talks meant to be held in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan, on Jan. 23. Rebel groups have threatened to boycott the talks if government attacks do not stop. Few Damascus residents expect much from the talks or have time to think about them. While generally safe from the violence that had reduced other parts of the country to rubble, they were struggling through a cold winter of high prices and scarce commodities before the water crisis, making things worse. The Syrian government has sought to ease the crisis by trucking water from wells around the city, and the United Nations has rehabilitated 120 wells to cover about one-third of the citys daily needs, Mr. Laerke, the spokesman, said. Its not easy to speak with one voice in 24 languages. When what is now the European Union first took root in the 1950s, it included just six nations, and in three of them many people spoke French. It could sidestep national jealousies without trouble by designating most of the member nations main languages as official languages. But that set a precedent, and as the union has grown much larger, so has the official language roster not to mention the bill for translation and interpretation, which now runs to about 1 billion euros, or more than $1 billion, a year. Defenders of the policy say it preserves diversity and promotes language learning. They contend that it is not to blame for the blocs repeated failure to speak as one over issues like migration, the economy and Russia. Still, the polyglottery can be a bit of a strain, especially when it comes to tongues like Irish, which only a few Irish citizens use frequently outside the education system. Though Irish has been an official language of the union for a decade, member nations keep postponing the deadline for providing full Irish translation and interpretation services. A baby book is a time machine, a portal into the past that can bring parents great joy in later years. Its also something many parents put off indefinitely or never complete because it can feel like one more thing to worry about when your new infant is crying or being adorable or needing to be fed. Enter Instagram, the simplest baby book ever made. You can upload hundreds of pictures and videos daily without having to haul out the baby book, a pen, scissors, etc. This is how Instagram star Laura Izumikawa began her journey to Instafame. She wanted to share photos of her baby daughter, Joey, with her relatives, but wanted to make it more entertaining for herself and for them. I didnt want to send them the same boring pictures of her sleeping. Since she sleeps all of the time, I thought it would be cute to add props and costumes to the photos. I was amazed at how well she slept! It was like, How far can I go with this without her waking up? Izumikawa started by dressing Joey up as Sia, complete with a blond wig covering her eyes, as a mermaid with two shells delicately placed on her chest and a long red wig. She dressed Joey as a piece of sushi, a sushi chef, Run-D.M.C., the Statue of Liberty, Jon Snow from Game of Thrones, and a Laker girl. When she costumed Joey as Eleven from the Netflix series Stranger Things, complete with a frozen waffle in her hand, her following really took off. Brand endorsements and mountains of fan mail have now become the norm in the Izumikawa household. Her current number of followers is more than 500,000, and her photos have been shared by people such as Britney Spears, who shared the RUN DMC-clad baby Joey on her own Instagram. Izumikawa has also heard from fans whose lives have been deeply affected by her Instagram. A woman from the Philippines whose mother passed away a few weeks earlier told me that when shed visit her in the hospital, theyd watch videos of Joey. She extended her thanks to me for making her moms last few weeks happy, Izumikawa says. What will Joey think of her digital baby book when she gets older? Izumikawa already has an answer: We want to tell Joey that she was loved by so many fans. Well show her the fan mail and how many people were truly touched by her. Its like she has so many aunts and uncles, so I feel shell be happy. With her sights set on a future baby clothing line and a relentless (and never-ending) photo shoot schedule, Izumikawas life is definitely hectic. But Instagram doesnt rule her life. She remains creative and down-to-earth, and makes it clear that her priorities will always be Joey; her husband, Allen; and her dog, Moseby. After all, Its not about the brands or the followers. Its a way to connect with the world, Izumikawa says. OC Family had the chance to talk to Izumikawa in late November. Q. How were you able to monetize your profile? A. When we went viral, which feels so weird to say, I had a bunch of agencies contact me. People wanted to represent us. It literally happened overnight. After we processed all of this, we ended up going with an agency that allowed us to live a normal life. They take care of all the promoting, and I get to be at home doing my thing with Joey. Instagram also makes promoting easy. I use hashtags, I tag people, and people like Britney Spears repost my photos (laughs). Q. Is it expensive to create so many costumes? A. In all honesty, it costs me next to nothing to put costumes together. We just use whatever we have at home or borrow items from friends. Every once in awhile Ill buy something I dont have, but thats pretty rare. My agency also provides me with items from brands they want me to feature. Because of our following, many brands send us gifts. Q. How long does it take to do a shoot? A. Anywhere from 20 to 45 minutes from start to finish. I start with playing with her for about five minutes, and then shell start yawning or rubbing her eyes. I just turn on the white noise machine I have, shell fall asleep, and Ill do the arm drop test on her to see if shes really passed out. If she doesnt flinch, I go to work. It takes me roughly 10 minutes to dress her, and I take the remainder of the time to shoot. Q. How do you get inspired? A. The inspiration comes spur the moment. Im always thinking about pop culture, and I keep a list on my phone of ideas that I think will be cute. It also depends on what I find around the house. My agency is also really helpful about giving me inspiration too. I do one to three shoots per week, so it helps to have their input. Q. Do you get any negative comments or feedback? A. There was some backlash in the beginning from people who arent parents. It was really interesting. Theyd say, Youre abusing your child, and How could you do this to her? I feel like people and parents take things way too seriously. Its like their kids live in a bubble; theres too much restriction. We also live in a mom-shaming culture. I hate that. Ive traveled a lot and have seen how other cultures embrace parents and support one another. I dont feel like we do that in America; were so judgmental over things we dont even know about. I got a big taste of that with this project. We should enjoy parenting, have fun with our kids, and not lose our sense of humor. Sometimes thats the only thing that keeps us sane. Q. How has your life changed since becoming Instafamous? A. Its been a huge change. Everything from being recognized on the street to getting to work with brands Ive always dreamed of. Ive always wanted to start a baby clothing line, and now thats a big possibility. Q. What was one of the funniest moments during your shoots? A. (Laughs) A funny moment happened recently during the Nacho Libre shoot. My husband had the day off, so it was the first shoot he was part of. I didnt know what would happen when I put the fake mustache on Joey. But she scrunched up her face in this really cute way (but never woke up), and we busted up laughing. Q. Whats your background? A. I actually wanted to be a journalist, but I discovered photography while in law school. I was in law school because I wanted to do international law in Africa for a while too. After I discovered photography, I was able to go on a mission trip to Rwanda in 2007. That trip changed everything for me. I found my passion in photojournalism. Then I started shooting weddings, but I hit a point as an artist where I needed something more. I didnt think itd be something like this, though! Q. Tell me something surprising about yourself A. I used to play the guitar. Im Christian, so Id play a lot of worship music that wed sing at church. I havent done that in so long though. Ive always wanted to be a filmmaker too. I have so many unfinished screenplays that no one really knows about. One day, I hope I can make a film. Q. Do you have any other projects in the works? A. My priority is Joey, and I want to spend as much time as I can with her. In the near future, Id like to start other projects, especially that baby clothing line I mentioned. Q. Any plans to stop? A. As long as Joey is fine with all of this, Ill keep it going. But the minute she shows discomfort, Ill stop. Also, her fans inspire me to keep this all going. I feel like there are phases an artist goes through. For me, this was one thing I can do on Instagram, but I do want to continue to document Joey growing up. Especially because so many people feel like they know her and they want pictures of her. Its also a great way to update her baby book. Ill continue pushing the limits. Im just playing it by ear. An Orange County daredevil famous on YouTube for jumping off buildings and landmarks was placed under investigation by police after reportedly jumping from a Laguna Beach hotel last week and injuring himself. Anthony Booth Armer, 28, of Laguna Niguel was hospitalized after injuring his feet when a stunt went awry at the Pacific Edge Hotel on South Coast Highway. In a YouTube video posted on New Years Day, Armer known as 8Booth is seen jumping off of a rooftop and striking a concrete pool edge with his feet before tumbling into the water. The two-and-a-half minute video with more than 1 million views also shows photos of the injuries Armer sustained in the late-night incident. He posted another video Tuesday of hospital technicians pulling bandages from his feet. The Laguna Beach Police Department was notified of the incident after a hotel manager called Thursday, Sgt. Tim Kleiser said. The manager saw on surveillance footage from the previous night that someone was trespassing on hotel property around 8:20 p.m., Kleiser said. Employees apparently came across Armer. There were two employees that told the manager about it, Kleiser said. One of the employees assisted a female friend of (Armer) and helped him get into a car and they drove off. Kleiser said the employees offered to call an ambulance for Armer but the pair refused. Armer started a GoFundMe page Monday asking people to help him raise $10,000 for his medical expenses. He had raised more than $1,200. I am still in the hospital, Armer wrote on the page. Just seeking a little support to keep doing what Im doing or else Ill be working the rest of my life to pay this off. Asking a small favor from you. A donation of any kind would be phenomenal. Armer was arrested in October for two misdemeanor counts related to other jumps, according to the Orange County District Attorneys Office. Some of his other jumps are seen below: The California Attorney Generals Office will take on the prosecutors role in the penalty phase of the trial of admitted mass murderer Scott Dekraai, a move that clears the way for the case to resume. The attorney general said Tuesday that it will no longer pursue its appeal of a 2015 ruling in which an Orange County judge forced the state to take on the Dekraai case because he believed local prosecutors could not be trusted to provide a fair trial. The ruling came after the judge heard misleading testimony from sheriffs deputies about the countys use of jailhouse informants. Paul Wilson, whose wife, Christy, was one of the eight people shot by Dekraai in 2011 at a hair salon in Seal Beach, said he is very happy to have Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas off the case and to see potential movement toward a resolution. It will be great to get this thing moving forward and a healing process can begin. Related: Seal Beach shootings 5 years later: Dekraai still in limbo as case rocks legal system Wilson said he and relatives of the other victims Victoria Buzzo, David Caouette, Randy Lee Fannin, Michele Fast, Michelle Fournier, Lucia Kondas and Laura Webb will meet with attorney generals officials within weeks to develop a plan. Assistant Public Defender Scott Sanders, representing Dekraai, also welcomed the news. We are certainly glad that after significant consideration the attorney general reached this decision and were looking forward to learning more about what the agency envisions for the case, Sanders said via email. Susan Kang Schroeder, chief of staff at the Orange County District Attorneys Office, did not respond to an email seeking comment Tuesday. In March 2015, Superior Court Judge Thomas Goethals heard testimony from Orange County deputies in which they denied or failed to disclose information about a network of jailhouse informants. When evidence emerged showing such a network existed, and that the deputies were running it, Goethals determined that local prosecutors should no longer be responsible for the Dekraai prosecution and that the state attorney general should step in. The state appealed that ruling. But in November a state appellate court panel backed Goethals, citing what the justices described as systemic misconduct by prosecutors in Orange County. Tuesday was the deadline to appeal that ruling, but a spokesman for the Attorney Generals Office said the state would not push the appeal forward. Though Tuesday also saw the appointment of interim Attorney General Kate Kenealy, its likely that Dekraais prosecution will be overseen by Gov. Jerry Browns nominee for attorney general, Xavier Becerra, who is expected to be confirmed by the Legislature by early April. The case is expected to resume Jan. 20 for a hearing on what to do with secret logs kept on jail informants by deputies. Hearings to determine Dekraais penalty life in prison or death are likely to be set after questions about the secret logs are resolved. The removal of local prosecutors from the Dekraai case, the deadliest mass shooting in county history, is among the most serious actions to come from Orange Countys snitch scandal. Last month, the U.S. Department of Justice announced it would conduct a civil rights investigation into the county District Attorneys Office and the Sheriffs Department. Also, over the past two years at least a half-dozen cases involving people convicted of murder or attempted murder have been changed with some people convicted of crimes going free because judges believed prosecutors misused informants or withheld information or both. Contact the writer: tsaavedra@scng.com SANTA ANA A Huntington Beach real estate agent was charged Wednesday with murder, arson and aggravated mayhem in connection with the deaths of two women whose bodies were found in brush near a Newport Beach shopping center. Christopher Ken Ireland, 37, is suspected in the deaths of Yolanda Holtrey, 59, of Westminster, and her friend, Michelle Luke, 49, of Huntington Beach. On New Years Day, firefighters responded to a suspicious blaze in Holtreys home in the 5000 block of Northwestern Way in Westminster. The two bodies were later found near the Newport Hills Shopping Center. Police have accused Ireland of killing the women, dumping their bodies and setting the fire to destroy evidence. The cause of death has not yet been determined, prosecutors said. Authorities have not released details on a possible motive. Police said Ireland, a licensed real estate agent working for Realty One Group in Rancho Cucamonga, was acquainted with both women and possibly attended a New Years Eve party at Holtreys home. The Orange County District Attorneys Office charged Ireland with two counts of first-degree murder and one felony count of arson. He also was charged with one felony count of aggravated mayhem for intentionally causing permanent disability, disfigurement, and deprivation of a limb, organ, and body member of one of the victims. A prosecutor declined to elaborate. Ireland remained in custody Wednesday at the Orange County Jail. Contact the writer: kpuente@ocregister.com A former Boy Scouts of America camp counselor from Fullerton was arrested Sunday, Jan. 1, on suspicion of sexually assaulting a 16-year-old boy in 2015 at a camp in Cedar Glen. Sean Justin Lee, 23, was booked into jail on suspicion of sodomizing an unconscious person and oral copulation of a minor, according to a San Bernardino County Sheriffs Department statement. Lee was released from jail Sunday evening after posting $100,000 bail. The victim and his parents reported the alleged assault to deputies in October 2015, the statement said. The case was transferred to the Sheriffs Specialized Investigations Division Crimes Against Children Detail. Detectives determined that the incident occurred in June 2015, when Lee worked as a camp counselor at the Cedar Glen camp. Detectives conducted a lengthy investigation and numerous interviews of persons who attended or worked at the camp during that time frame, the news release said. Deputies obtained a warrant for Lees arrest Dec. 30. Lee surrendered to deputies two days later. Anyone with further information helpful to the investigation may call Detective MJ Higgins or Sgt. Dana Foster with the Crimes Against Children Detail at 909-387-3615. SACRAMENTO Vowing to protect Californias values and constitutional guarantees, Democratic leaders in the state Legislature selected former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to serve as outside counsel to advise their legal strategy against the incoming Trump administration. Holder will help legislators resist any attempts to roll back progress on issues like climate change, health care, civil rights and immigration, California Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de Leon, D-Los Angeles, and Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon, D-Paramount, announced Wednesday. With the upcoming change in administrations, we expect that there will be extraordinary challenges for California in the uncertain times ahead, their joint statement said. We have an obligation to defend the people who elected us and the policies and diversity that make California an example of what truly makes a nation great. The arrangement, first reported by the Los Angeles Times, will give Holder a broad portfolio including addressing potential conflicts between the state and the federal government. Hell lead a team of attorneys from the firm Covington & Burling. I am honored that the legislature chose Covington to serve as its legal adviser as it considers how to respond to potential changes in federal law that could impact Californias residents and policy priorities, Holder said in a statement. Holder served as the nations top lawyer from 2009 through 2015, focusing on civil rights and criminal justice reform. Population of Britain is set to overtake France within 13 years: Impact of high immigration will make the UK the most populous European country by 2050 By Steve Doughty, Social Affairs Correspondent for the Daily Mail 4 January 2017Britain's population is set to overtake that of France within 13 years because of the impact of high immigration, EU estimates have said.Numbers of people living here will top French levels in 2030 and will keep rising to make Britain the most populous country in Europe by 2050, they predicted.The key reason why the British population is going up so quickly compared to that of neighbouring countries is immigration, according to the projections from Eurostat.Without high rates of immigration, they said, numbers in Britain would remain lower than those in France for half a century and longer.But by 2050 the UK's population is predicted to be 77.1million, ahead of 74.7million in Germany and 74.2million in France.The estimates from the Luxembourg-based EU statistics arm confirm international expectations that Britain, already the most crowded major European country except for the Netherlands, will continue to grow quickly in numbers, largely because of immigration.The projections, however, do not take into account the political impact of Brexit, which would allow the UK the right to control immigration by EU citizens.The most recent British immigration figures showed that numbers of EU citizens coming into the country now almost match the level of immigration from the rest of the world.Eurostat future population estimates are dated from the beginning of January each year unlike the different estimates made by Britains Office for National Statistics, which are calculated from the end of June and the latest were released yesterday.They put numbers in Britain at the beginning of 2015 at 64,643,370. This compared to a population of 66,175,754 in France (including its overseas departments) and 80,709,056 in Germany.At the beginning of 2030, the projections said, numbers in the UK will have gone up to 70,469,762, just ahead of the French population of 70,396,105.Germany, despite continuing high levels of immigration, will have an ageing and falling population for the foreseeable future, the EU agency said.Numbers in Germany will fall below those in Britain in the late 2040s, the figures suggest, and reach 74,721,315 in 2050, against the UK total of 77,177,523.At that point the UK will have the highest population of any European country.The central reason for Britains increasing numbers is immigration, the projections said.Without immigration or emigration, Eurostats projections said, the British population in 2050 would be just 67,251,838, more than two million below numbers in France if they too were unaffected by migration.With no impact of immigration on numbers, the population of Britain would actually fall by 2080, the Eurostat estimates said.The official count of Britains population by the ONS put the UK total at 65.1 million at the end of June 2015.According to the EU projections, if there was no immigration or emigration, the effects of ageing and lower birth rates would mean number would begin to fall from 2050 and there would be 64,710,496 people in the UK at the beginning of 2080.The scale of the increase in future numbers and the Eurostat interpretation which says that the great bulk of rising population in Britain is a result of migration underline the extent of the concerns that fuelled the Brexit referendum vote last year.Critics of immigration fear growing pressure on housing, transport, education, power and water, and health services, especially in southern England which attracts the majority of arriving immigrants.Britain already has the greatest population density the official measure of crowding of any of the major countries of Europe.Only the Netherlands and tiny Malta have more people crammed into each square kilometre of land in the UK, and in southern England, where there are 465 people to every square kilometre, density is on track to overtake that in the Netherlands.Eurostat said: Population projections are what-if scenarios that aim to provide information about the likely future size and structure of the population.Eurostats population projections are one of several possible population change scenarios based on specific assumptions for fertility, mortality and migration.The EU estimates are based on varying assessments of the future size of the central measure of the impact of immigration, net migration. Net migration into the UK, which takes into account both immigration and emigration, is expected by Eurostat to peak at just under 210,000 a year in 2014.However net migration in Britain was measured by the ONS at 335,000 in the year to June 2016.Britains population was higher than that of France in the 1960s, but European prosperity and British stagnation in the 1970s led to a reversal.During the decade emigration from Britain was higher than immigration, and numbers in France overtook the British population in the first half of the 1980s. The future of Banning Ranch a 401-acre parcel near the coast in Newport Beach that includes both coastal sage scrub and working oil wells is again in flux. The California Supreme Court will hear oral arguments today on whether the city of Newport Beach followed the law five years ago when it approved a housing development on Banning Ranch. The hearing, in San Francisco, comes three months after the California Coastal Commission denied a development plan to build 895 homes, a boutique hotel and shopping on the biggest undeveloped private stretch of coastal property in Southern California. The courts ruling could delay an effort to revive that development, or some modified version of it, whose fate is playing out in a separate court case. A decision could be issued by early April. If a majority of the seven justices agree with the plaintiff, the Banning Ranch Conservancy, which opposes development on the property, the ruling might have far-reaching effects on cities throughout California and on projects that have nothing to do with coastal development. A key question before the justices is whether Newport Beachs City Council violated the law by approving a development on the property even after a majority of residents had voted against the idea. I think thats why the Supreme Court has fast-tracked this case, said Steve Ray, the executive director of the Banning Ranch Conservancy. That (decision) is critically important for the entire state. In 2006, Newport Beach residents voted to amend the citys general plan, specifically calling for preservation of Banning Ranch as open space. Six years later, the City Council unanimously voted to approve a 1,375-home development with a shopping area and luxury hotel on the land. At the time, Newport Beach City Councilman Mike Henn said that the land, will actually get redeveloped and made usable as opposed to the open space alternative. One question for the court is how much flexibility city officials should have when interpreting their citys general plan. Although Ray sees the courts decision as potentially having far-reaching implications for cities statewide, a representative for Newport Beach said the decision likely will apply only when cities are forced to interact with other agencies. It has the potential to impact other jurisdictions, but a lot will have to do with how (that citys) rules are written, said Arron Harp, the city attorney for Newport Beach. Meanwhile, the developer hoping to build on the parcel, Newport Banning Ranch, could submit a new plan to the California Coastal Commission as early as March but only if it can get city approval first. If the state Supreme Court sides with the conservation group on all matters, development on Banning Ranch could move back six to eight more years, said Ray, of the conservancy. Its also possible the state Supreme Court will uphold a lower courts decision that gave city leaders more discretion in interpreting their own laws. If that happens, plans to develop the land could be revived more quickly. Ray said such a ruling would go against what Newport Beach voters specifically said they wanted 11 years ago. If that appellate court ruling stands, any city or school board or county government in the state could say, Well, were going to ignore our own general plan We know better than our own local people. The developer declined to comment on the specifics of the case. In November, Newport Banning Ranch sued the California Coastal Commission over its decision to reject the development plan. In court filings, the developer said the decision was tantamount to a land grab, adding that a scaled-down version of the development isnt economically feasible. Newport Banning Ranch is seeking $490 million in damages in that case. Contact the writer: lawilliams@scng.com Jewel Plummer Cobb, the third president of Cal State Fullerton, died on New Years Day, the university announced Tuesday. She was 92. Cobb served as the universitys president from October 1981 to August 1990 and was remembered for her work expanding the campus. Recognized as one of the first African American women to lead a major university west of the Mississippi, she was known nationwide for her research accomplishments and her advocacy for equal access to education and professional opportunities for women and minorities. Cobb, who had Alzheimers disease, had been living in Maplewood, N.J. She is survived by her son, Roy Jonathan Cobb; granddaughter, Jordan; and daughter-in-law Suzzanne Douglas. During her tenure at CSUF, Cobb obtained more than $41.8 million to establish schools for communications and the Engineering & Computer Science buildings and the Ruby Gerontology Center. It was under her leadership that a satellite campus in Mission Viejo opened in 1989 (it later moved to Irvine) to spread the schools reach in south Orange County. After leaving Cal State Fullerton, Cobb served as trustee professor at Cal State Los Angeles, where she directed the ACCESS Center established to increase the number of economically disadvantaged students pursuing careers in math, science and engineering. Education was Cobbs passion. As a biologist, she spent much of her education in the sciences. Cobbs research focused on skin cancer and in particular the ability of melanin to protect skin from damage. She examined how hormones, ultraviolet light and chemotherapeutic drugs could cause changes in cell division. While at Cal State Fullerton, Cobb worked for others to also conduct research in the sciences by establishing an endowment fund to promote science education among minorities and women. The quality of the classroom is our overriding concern, Cobb said during her final convocation address as Cal State Fullerton president in September 1989, according to a CSUF statement. She also helped forge the first relationships with educational institutions abroad. She also obtained state funding to build the first student dormitories on campus that bear her name today. The fact that students of all ethnicities are residents was a source of pride to Cobb, who had lived in segregated dorms when she first entered college, the campuss statement read. The granddaughter of a freed slave, Cobb grew up in Chicago, the daughter of a schoolteacher and doctor. She became interested in biology in high school. Despite attending segregated and underfunded schools she excelled and enrolled at the University of Michigan and later transferred to Talladega College in Alabama, where she earned her degree in biology. She earned a masters degree in cell biology at New York University. While still in graduate school in 1949, she was named independent investigator for the Marine Biological Laboratory at Woods Hole, Mass., and later earned prestigious fellowships at cancer centers while at the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. At Connecticut College, Cobb was dean of arts and sciences and professor of zoology from 1969 to 1976. That year, she became dean of Douglass College at Rutgers University, where she was also a professor of biological sciences. She was such a role model for women, so accomplished and a joy to work for, recalled Norma Morris, emeritus staff assistant to the president at CSUF. She loved students and did so much for them, especially underrepresented students. Services are pending. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Jewel Plummer Cobb Scholarship Endowment online or by mail payable to the Cal State Fullerton Philanthropic Foundation, Account #92010. Mail to 2600 Nutwood Ave., Suite 850, Fullerton, CA 92831. Two traditional restaurants got facelifts just in time for the New Year. First up is Marie Callenders, which has remodeled its Buena Park location. The 41-year-old restaurant added an exposed brick wall, earthy decor, a new salad bar and updated full bar. Marie Callenders is also adding a Pair & Share menu option where two guests can pick an appetizer to share, two entrees and two slices of pie for $25 or $30. There is so much community history and nostalgia at this location, said Marie Callenders Regional Manager Bill Talley in a statement. The Buena Park community has been so great to us for over four decades and this redesign is our way of thanking the community for being a part of our Marie Callenders family. When asked if other locations will be getting similar remodels, a company representative declined to comment. Address: 5960 Orangethorpe Ave. Another old-school restaurant undergoing a remodel is Rubys Diner in Laguna Hills. The chains Laguna Hills Mall location is now next to Macys. Its remodel includes a new patio and updated interior. We aim to serve the guest as best we can, which lead to the decision to relocate within the Laguna Hills Mall, expand the patio and upgrade the interior, commented Rubys Diner CEO and Founder, Doug Cavanaugh, said in a statement. Guest convenience is key, and our positioning in a high traffic location will only add to diners experience. Rubys will open a new location at the Outlets at San Clemente in January, the chains 33rd location. The Outlets recently added a Slapfish as well. -Hannah Madans New businesses for Laguna Woods The Willow Tree Center at El Toro Road and Moulton Parkway in Laguna Woods is getting some new tenants. The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf held a soft opening of its new store at the center Friday. The drive-through location, run by store manager Patrick Goddard and District Manager Kelly Tye, is gearing up for a grand opening week of Jan. 23, when it will offer daily promotions and hold a ribbon cutting ceremony, said Ashley Keehne, marketing manager for the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf. The Laguna Woods City Council Wednesday approved a conditional use permit for the sale of alcohol for off-site consumption at Aldi, a discount grocery store looking to move into the center at 24270 El Toro Road. At this point, we are working with the community on the possibility of opening a store in Laguna Woods, said Aldi spokesman Jae Siercks, adding that no opening date has been set and there are no other details he could release. Dollar Tree also wants to open a 12,000-square-foot store at the center in September, said Chelle Davis, spokesperson for Dollar Tree. -Marie Ekberg Padilla MORE FOOD NEWS Coffee bar in the works: The owners of Social Costa Mesa are converting an old smoke shop next door to a fast-casual coffee house serving coffee-infused cocktails. The operators of Social, including co-founder Andrew Dorsey, have teamed up with cold brew coffee company ThunderKing Brewing of Costa Mesa. ThunderKing Coffee Bar will be a one of a kind concept integrating cold brew coffee with non-alcohol and alcoholic beverages, said Dorseys wife Raquel, who acts as a marketing representative for both concepts. Well be using house made cordials like what we use in our craft cocktails at Social to make some seriously delicious coffee based drinks, she said. We will also be serving a breakfast menu daily with breakfast sandwiches. Itll be an elevated fast-casual menu made by Socials creative chefs. ThunderKing owner Dean Tompkins, who founded the wholesale business last year, said the cafe will open in spring 2017. Though he specializes in cold brew coffee, Tompkins said the cafe also plans to sell hot espresso drinks. The cafe also plans to sell cold brew coffee, teas and kombucha on nitrogen tap. -Nancy Luna Taco Bell: The Irvine-based company announced plans to expand to Spain. Taco Bell is working with franchisee Casual Brands Group of Madrid to build 45 restaurants in Spain, creating 900 jobs. By 2020 Spain will have more than 70 Taco Bell locations. Brusters Ice Cream: The East Coast ice cream chain opened its third Southern California scoop shop this month, its second in Orange County. The Pittsburgh-based premium ice cream chain (think: 12 percent butterfat) makes fresh batches and waffle cones in every shop. Unlike other ice cream parlors, Brusters is a walk-up concept, where orders are taken from windows. The first one opened in Cypress in 2015, followed by a location in Cerritos. New locations are planned next year in Anaheim and Stockton. Huntington Beach address: 7451 Warner Ave. Round Table closures: A local franchisee of six Round Table Pizza restaurants closed all of his locations in Orange County this month. Restaurants in Irvine, Costa Mesa, Foothill Ranch, Rancho Santa Margarita, Newport Beach and Lake Forest shutdown because the franchisee ran into financial troubles. Ted Storey senior vice president of business development for the chain, said the company is hoping to reopen them. The closed restaurants are all owned by the same franchisee and were closed as a result of financial issues solely related to this franchisee, Storey said in a statement. We are currently working with the landlords of these locations to get them reopened as soon as is possible. Anaheim city leaders are trying a new approach to tackling drug addiction waiting for chronic drug users to walk through the police station doors themselves. While that seems a counterintuitive approach, it isnt as crazy as it sounds and could prove to be an important step to changing the way we look at drug addiction and treatment in the county. Part of Mayor Tom Taits citywide kindness initiate, Drug Free Anaheim is a policy in which those struggling with drug addiction can seek help at police stations and from officers in the field, and be put in contact with a nonprofit organization for treatment options, rather than be placed in handcuffs. Drug Free Anaheim provides a path to sobriety and [an] alternative to criminal prosecution, Police Chief Raul Quezada told the Council, according the Register. The report noted that the city is currently working on finalizing the contract with Social Model Recovery Systems, which would start at one year at $83,800, with three optional one-year extensions. Problematically, however, the money would come from the citys narcotics asset forfeiture funds. But while we remain as skeptical as ever of the dubious nature of asset forfeiture funds and attempts at legitimizing them by backing more agreeable programs and would prefer to see other funding sources explored, that shouldnt distract from the message that Drug Free Anaheim sends. Rather than viewing drug addiction solely as a criminal justice issue, it offers hope that we can reclaim lives from drug dependence by treating addiction as just one of the many harmful living patterns that were led into by our fears and desires. The solution is not more government crackdowns, but rather treating adults like adults when it comes to what they choose to put in their own bodies and seek help. Nations like Portugal have shown that another way is possible. The decriminalization of personal use, coupled with expanded drug treatment, has been an effective means of combating drug abuse in that country. Its an approach worth considering, as 45 years and $1 trillion after Richard Nixon declared the war on drugs, it is clear our policies have failed. Anaheims new policy is a step closer to success. WASHINGTON The Office of Congressional Ethics won a reprieve Tuesday, after House Republicans reversed course and dropped plans to gut the independent panel following a public outcry and criticism from President-elect Donald Trump. At least six lawmakers remain under investigation following complaints initially reviewed by the OCE, including Washington state Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, the fourth highest-ranking House Republican. Other ongoing investigations target Republican Reps. Mark Meadows of North Carolina, Roger Williams of Texas and Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma, as well as Democratic Reps. Bobby Rush and Luis Gutierrez, both of Illinois. Created in 2008, the ethics office is a nonpartisan entity that reviews allegations of misconduct against House members, officers and staff, and makes recommendation to the House Ethics Committee. In most cases, the OCE report and findings must be publicly released. The ethics office said Tuesday it has conducted 172 preliminary reviews and referred 68 cases to the House ethics panel for further action since it began operations in 2009. Thirty-nine cases were dismissed after a full review and dozens more were dropped early in the process. The ethics office is governed by an eight-person board of directors that includes several former members of Congress. No current lawmaker is allowed on the board. Former Rep. Judy Biggert, R-Ill., serves as the panels acting chair. Some highlights of OCE investigations: Azberbaijan investigation. The panel spent months investigating a 2013 trip to Azerbaijan by a bipartisan group of lawmakers and staff that was paid for by that countrys government. Congressional rules generally bar foreign governments from paying for travel by members of Congress or otherwise trying to influence U.S. policy. Ten lawmakers and 32 staffers attended a May 2013 conference in the capital city of Baku, near the Caspian Sea. Lawmakers said after the investigation was made public in 2015 that they had no idea the trip was paid for by Azerbaijans government. The House Ethics Committee ultimately cleared the lawmakers, saying most had obtained prior approval for the trip from the ethics panel in good faith and did not know that two groups that claimed to sponsor the trip had apparently lied about the true source of their funding. Former Rep. Alan Grayson, D-Fla. The ethics office reported last April that Grayson likely violated federal law and broke House rules in a number of business and legal activities and in managing his congressional office. The allegations against Grayson, who lost a bid for the Senate last year, centered on a hedge fund he started when he was outside Congress and legal work done by others for which Grayson may have been paid while he was in office. Grayson also faced allegations that he used his official congressional staff for purposes unrelated to his congressional work. He denied wrongdoing, calling the allegations against him politically motivated and frivolous. The House ethics panel extended its investigation last year, but the matter was not concluded before Grayson left office on Tuesday. Former Rep. Nathan Deal, R-Ga. The ethics office found in 2010 that there was substantial reason to believe that Deal, now Georgia governor, violated House ethics rules. The inquiry involved Deals ownership of a lucrative automobile salvage business; he attended meetings between the company and state officials who were considering revamping an inspection program. Deal said he attended the meetings in his capacity as a public servant. The OCE found numerous potential ethics violations, but Deal resigned before any action was taken by the House. Deal was elected governor in 2010 and re-elected in 2014. Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif. The ethics office said Waters likely violated House ethics rules when she contacted the Treasury Department in 2008 to set up a meeting on behalf of top executives from a bank her husband owns stock in. The House ethics panel cleared Waters in 2012 after an investigation that dragged on for more than three years and devolved into partisan squabbles and allegations of racism. Waters is African-American. Former Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev. The ethics office said Berkley may have violated House rules by advocating for a kidney transplant program that faced possible loss of Medicare approval. Berkleys husband, a doctor, directed medical services for the hospital that ran the kidney program. Berkley lost a 2012 Senate bid as the ethics allegations swirled. The House Ethics Committee later said she had violated House rules. The crowd roared and flashes popped as limousines pulled up to deposit the likes of Tom Hanks and Nicole Kidman at the top of the red carpet Monday night. While the scene is a common occurrence for Hollywood premieres, this red carpet was more than 100 miles from Tinseltown, trading the Chinese Theatre for the Palm Springs Convention Center for the 28th annual Palm Springs International Film Festival Awards Gala. The gala has become one of the most reliable barometers of Hollywoods awards season, coming less than a week before the Golden Globes and often giving a glimpse of who will be nominated for Oscar gold. And its become a magnet for the most feted stars of the moment: This years honorees included Kidman, Natalie Portman, Octavia Spencer, Mahershala Ali, Amy Adams and Ryan Gosling. Started by then-Mayor Sonny Bono in 1990, the Palm Springs International Film Festival has grown in size tremendously. In the last four years, in the year in which they were honored, 38 of the galas 42 nominees were nominated for an Academy Award, festival Chairman Harold Matzner told the crowd inside the gala. One of the stars on track for that honor is Annette Bening, who was given the Career Achievement Award on Monday night. Bening, who attended with husband Warren Beatty, is nominated for a Golden Globe for her portrayal of middle-age mother Dorothea in the dramedy 20th Century Women. She was very unpredictable and thats what I loved about her, her contradictions, that she was full of paradox, Bening said on the red carpet. Kidman was given the International Star Award for her work in Lion. To represent the Australian community with a story like this, thats so global, its an honor, she said on the red carpet. Palm Springs Film Festival Videos var _ndnq = _ndnq || []; _ndnq.push([embed]); Like Kidman, many of the stars are repeat visitors and honorees, including Hanks, Adams, Portman, Spencer and Andrew Garfield. But theyre not the only ones who keep coming back. In whats become an annual tradition, Steven Markin and Steve Cutler of Cathedral City arrived early for their chance to get close to the stars. Their mission: to get glossy photos autographed. To prepare, they had photos of the celebs alphabetized by first name in an expanding file folder. Over the eight years they have been coming to the festival, they have snagged 52 signed photos. They arrived at 7:30 a.m. Sunday, not even the first in line, but brought along friends and plenty of junk food. They were hoping for autographs from Hanks and Kidman and a second from Spencer, whom they netted the last time she attended. Their goal is five autographs per year, but snagged seven each in 2015 and 2016. They were among the throngs who braved the chilly evening to get a glimpse of the celebrities. We were here a couple of years ago and we really enjoyed ourselves, said Karen Friesen. Friesen and Mike Pallick, of Winnipeg, Canada, had so much fun seeing Reese Witherspoon and Robert Duvall the last time they were in Palm Springs for the film festival, they showed up at noon Monday to attend for the second time. The celeb Friesen most wanted to see: Gosling. She wasnt the only one. There were hundreds of fans chanting the La La Land leading mans name. And Friesen got an up-close and personal encounter when Gosling went to the crowd Monday night. Like Friesen, the festival has also won over celebrities, including Jane Lynch, who presented Gosling and the La La Land team with the Vanguard Award. var _ndnq = _ndnq || []; _ndnq.push([embed]); I love Palm Springs. Ive never been to this festival before, was thrilled, Lynch said. It was a perfect storm of Will you give the award to La La Land and we can drive you in a Mercedes and will you stay in this beautiful hotel? And I said yes. The festival will screen 190 movies from 72 countries and runs through Jan. 16 at various locations around Palm Springs. IF YOU GO What: 190 films from 72 countries When: Through Jan. 16 Where: Locations throughout Palm Springs including the Annenberg Theater, Camelot Theatres, Palm Canyon Theatre, Palm Springs High School and Regal Cinemas as well as Mary Pickford Theater in Cathedral City. Admission: Individual passes are $13 for most films. Special events are more. Information: 800-898-7256, psfilmfest.org Contact the writer: vfranko@scng.com or @vanessafranko on Twitter Brian Forde, it seems, is always a few steps ahead of everyone else including the leader of the free world. When President Barack Obama leaves the White House on Jan. 20, he will be following Forde out the door by a few months. Early in Obamas second term, the Tustin native joined the administration as a senior adviser in emerging technologies. Tustin resident Jim Forde, left, said he enjoyed chatting with fellow Hawaii native President Barack Obama in pidgin English when he and his wife Rosemary visited the White House, where their son Brian Forde served as a senior adviser. Brian Forde poses with his science project as a fifth grader at Nelson Elementary in Tustin. He would grow up to serve as a senior adviser in technology at the White House. Forde, senior adviser in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy during Obama's second term, gives first dog Bo a pat. Brian Forde snuggles with the Obamas' dogs Bo and Sunny at the White House. Brian served as senior adviser for data innovation during Obama's second term. Tustin native Brian Forde served as senior adviser in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy during President Barack Obama's second term. He now teaches and consults at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. President Barack Obama and White House senior adviser Brian Forde, who grew up in Tustin, held a discussion in the Oval Office. President Barack Obama stands with Tustin native Brian Forde, then a White House senior adviser, in the Oval Office. Forde turned an internship at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. into a full-time job for more than three years as a senior adviser in emerging technologies. Yes, Forde frequently interacted with the president, scratched the ears of first dogs Bo and Sunny and even proposed to his girlfriend in the hallowed halls of the White House. But dont expect much in the way of specific anecdotes. Forde said he is more comfortable speaking in general terms about his former boss. Its when the cameras are not on him that you see the genuineness of his compassion not only for people hurting in televised national tragedies but also for his employees in private moments, Forde said. He recalled witnessing Obama comfort a colleague who had recently lost his mother: The president said, My mom passed away when I was at a similar age, and I understand how hard it is. It was so heartfelt. After more than three years in Washington, Forde took a job with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to explore broader uses of digital currencies such as bitcoin. Fordes resume would surprise no one who knew him as a kid. At age 8, the freckle-faced boy-wonder was building computers and reading business journals. Instead of buying a computer, my dad bought the parts and helped me make my own, he said. It demystified computers for me. His father, Jim Forde, likes to joke, We only had one child because Brian was like having 10 children. As a sophomore at Tustin High, Forde launched a website consulting business. He was always on the cutting edge of things, said Linda Levine, his history and government teacher at Tustin High. Brian is extremely clever, creative and charismatic. I knew he would go far, but to the White House? Thats incredibly fabulous. During his four years at the high school, Forde excelled in the Model United Nations program, which Levine oversaw. MUN kick-started my passion for understanding international issues, Forde said. It was a passion he soon would put into action. After graduating from UCLA, Forde volunteered for the Peace Corps and was assigned to Nicaragua. There, he discovered a need: Many residents had family members living in other countries, yet international telephone calls were prohibitively expensive. I wanted to solve this problem, Forde said. Everything I do combines emerging technologies with social issues. Forde partnered with a friend to co-found a phone company, Llamadas, that offers a much lower rate using internet technology. He ended up staying in Nicaragua for five years after leaving the Peace Corps to run the still-thriving company. Forde left Central America to earn an MBA at the London School of Business. I wanted a graduate degree so I could get a job at the State Department or somewhere, he said. I never imagined I would end up at the White House. I didnt have any connections and I wasnt involved in politics. Then an internship at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. turned into a full-time job. One of Fordes tasks was to identify ways to activate mobile technology during national disasters. For instance, in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, his team used Twitter to identify which gas stations had fuel. Forde was impressed by the lack of politics heard in meetings and discussions. I think people would be surprised to know both sides of the table strive to represent all Americans, he said. His parents, visiting from Tustin two years ago, were treated to a chat with Obama in the Oval Office. I love him, said Jim Forde, a longtime Republican who never voted for Obama. He is very funny and friendly. He puts everyone at ease. The two share a commonality, both claiming the Aloha State as their birthplace. We talked pidgin English with each other, said the elder Forde, who is from a multigenerational Hawaiian family. My wife was horrified that I would speak to the president so casually. Jim Forde admitted that some friends never warmed to the idea of his son working for a Democrat. But my attitude is that it is a fantastic experience for any young person to be a part of history, no matter the party. His son believes Americans would not feel so polarized if they could see the daily routine of making the country run. My honest wish is that everyone had the opportunity to work in the White House for three months to dispel the myth that government is an inanimate object that just gets in the way, he said. They would have new admiration for the millions of public servants who work hard for the betterment of others. Contact the writer: sgoulding@scng.com WESTMINSTER A makeshift memorial of candles and family photos lined the front yard of a Westminster home that police believe was intentionally set ablaze early New Years Day to destroy evidence in a double slaying. The smell of smoke still lingered in the air Tuesday as mourners paid their respects to Yolanda Holtrey, 59, the owner of the home in the 5000 block of Northwestern Way, who was killed along with her friend, 49-year-old Michelle Luke of Huntington Beach. The bodies of Holtrey and Luke were found Monday in brush near the Newport Hills Shopping Center off San Miguel Drive in Newport Beach, Westminster police Cmdr. Cameron Knauerhaze said. Christopher Ken Ireland, 37, of Huntington Beach was arrested on suspicion of murder in the deaths of the women. He was being held Tuesday night in the Orange County Jail without bail. Ireland has no prior criminal record in Orange County, according to court records. Ireland is a licensed real estate agent working for Realty One Group, Inc. in Rancho Cucamonga with no disciplinary actions on his record, according to California real estate records. Ireland was first licensed as an agent in August. Knauerhaze declined to disclose how Holtrey and Luke died, or a motive for their deaths. Ireland was acquainted with both women, he said. Police believe Ireland and several others attended a New Years Eve event at Holtreys home. Early Sunday, someone killed Holtrey and Luke, set a fire inside the house and then dumped the womens bodies in Newport Beach. The killer didnt make a great effort to conceal either body, Knauerhaze said. Ireland returned to Holtreys home as police investigated the arson. After questioning, Ireland was arrested, Knauerhaze said. No one answered the door Tuesday at Irelands apartment in Huntington Beach. The door was adorned with a white holiday wreath, and a boys bicycle was padlocked to a railing outside the apartment. Holtrey and Luke worked together at Stein Mart, a mens and womens department store with a location in Huntington Beach. The suspects wife, Samantha Ireland, told NBC4 that the couple attended a New Years Eve party at Holtreys house and had a good time. There were no fights, arguments, she told the station, and the couple went home, Samantha Ireland said. I dont remember him leaving the house, she told the station. He doesnt remember anything. Samantha Ireland worked with the women at Stein Mart, according to broadcast reports. The deaths of Holtrey and Luke have hit co-workers hard, said Linda Tasseff, a spokeswoman for Stein Mart. We are saddened by the news of the deaths of two of our associates, she said. City News Service contributed to this report. Contact the writer: 714-796-7767 sschwebke@scng.com Twitter: @thechalkoutline BAGHDAD Violence claimed the lives of at least 6,878 civilian Iraqis last year, the United Nations said on Monday, as the Iraqi government struggles to maintain security nationwide and to dislodge Islamic State militants from areas under their control. The U.N. Assistance Mission for Iraq, known as UNAMI, said its numbers have to be considered as the absolute minimum as it has not been able to verify casualties among civilians in conflict areas, and of those who lost their lives due to secondary effects of violence due to exposure to the elements, lack of water, food, medicines and health care. UNAMI said in a statement that 12,388 other civilians were wounded in 2016. It added that last year figures didnt include casualties among civilians in Iraqs western Anbar province for the months of May, July, August and December. According to UNAMI figures, at least 7,515 civilians were killed in 2015. The monthly U.N. casualty report for December 2016 showed that a total of 386 civilians were killed and another 1,066 were wounded. The worst affected area was the northern province of Ninevah, where government forces are fighting to retake the Islamic State-held city of Mosul, with 208 civilians killed and 511 injured. The capital, Baghdad, came next with 109 civilians killed and 523 injured. Islamic State, known locally by the Arabic acronym Daesh, has claimed responsibility for a string of bombings in Baghdad that have killed more than 50 people in the last week alone. The deadliest Islamic State attack was in July when a massive suicide bombing in a bustling market area in central Baghdad killed almost 300 people, the bloodiest single attack in the capital in 13 years of war. This is, no doubt, an attempt by Daesh to divert attention from their losses in Mosul and, unfortunately, it is the innocent civilians who are paying the price, Jan Kubis, the special representative of the U.N. Secretary-General for Iraq, said in the statement. The group was also behind Mondays suicide bombing in a commercial area in eastern Baghdad, which killed 41 people and wounding 64 others. Several other attacks, including one carried out by five suicide bombers against two police stations in the city of Samarra north of Baghdad, killed at least 27 people and wounded 89. Backed by the U.S.-led international coalition, Iraqi government troops and paramilitary forces launched the campaign in mid-October to dislodge Islamic State from Mosul Iraqs second-largest city and the last major Islamic State urban bastion in the country. Unlike other reports, last months report didnt include casualties among security forces. The U.N. came under criticism from the Iraqi military last month after reporting that nearly 2,000 members of the Iraqi forces had been killed in November. The Iraqi government has not publicized the casualty figures for government troops and paramilitary forces fighting in Mosul and elsewhere in northern Iraq. As the legalization of the recreational use of marijuana in California and seven other states (plus the District of Columbia) attests, Americans, and those in many other countries, are realizing that the prohibition on drugs has been just as big a failure as was the prohibition on alcohol nearly a century ago. It has been an ineffective means of preventing what some consider to be a vice, and, more importantly, criminalization has robbed people of their liberty (including the freedom to make mistakes), separated families, destroyed career and income prospects and led to increased violence in dangerous black markets all at tremendous cost to taxpayers. With this change in thinking in mind, perhaps it is time to push the envelope a little further. For if prohibition/criminalization is counterproductive and antithetical to liberty for the supposed vices of alcohol and drug use, then it is also undesirable for other alleged vices, such as prostitution. There has been a growing movement in recent years, backed by a number of human rights groups, such as Amnesty International, the World Health Organization, Human Rights Watch and the U.N. Global Commission on HIV and the Law, to decriminalize the practice. The Erotic Service Providers Legal Education Research Project, which represents sex workers, is challenging the anti-prostitution law here in California. The case is currently on appeal before the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. And an online petition at ThePetitionSite.com calling for Gov. Jerry Brown to meet with sex workers to discuss decriminalization has garnered nearly 30,000 signatures. Legalizing prostitution would bring it out of the shadows, improving the health and welfare of sex workers and clients alike. Criminalizing it only ensures that it must take place in seedy motel rooms and unsafe back alleys or clients vehicles, and precludes both parties from seeking legal protection or recourse in the event of rape, theft or other crimes. Many sex workers have even been victimized by rogue police officers. The difference can be seen in an example from New Zealand, which legalized prostitution in 2003. We used to wave the police down for help, and theyd keep driving, but now they take sex workers complaints seriously, Annah Pickering, who does outreach for the New Zealand Prostitutes Collective, told the New York Times Magazine last year. One client negotiated with a street worker; she did the act, and he refused to pay. She waved a cop down, and he told the client he had to pay and took him to the ATM to get the money. At the heart of the matter is whether one has the right to control his or her own body. Whether consenting adults trade sex for cash; or charm, good looks and drinks at the bar; or love, kindness and security, is immaterial. So long as one is old enough to responsibly enter into such contracts, and arrangements are entered into voluntarily without force or coercion, or the threat thereof, the state has no right to interfere. Some may object that such activity should be banned because it is immoral. But these are two distinct questions. Just because some even a majority may find something distasteful or immoral, it does not mean that there ought to be a law preventing it. Vices are not crimes, political philosopher, abolitionist and entrepreneur Lysander Spooner maintains in his essay of the same name. Vices are those acts by which a man harms himself or his property. Crimes are those acts by which one man harms the person or property of another, Spooner contends. Vices are simply the errors which a man makes in his search after his own happiness. Unlike crimes, they imply no malice toward others, and no interference with their persons or property. In vices, the very essence of crime that is, the design to injure the person or property of another is wanting, he adds. Just as we must rigorously defend unpopular or offensive speech if the freedom of speech is to mean anything for popular speech needs no protection if we are to take seriously our professed devotion to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for all, then we must protect the right to engage in behavior that many may consider base or even immoral, so long as it does not infringe upon the rights of others. Adam Summers is a columnist for the Southern California News Group. Revealed: How our 'trailblazing' food and drinks industry is defying Brexit doom-mongers and challenging national stereotypes around the world by selling cheese to France, chocolate to Switzerland and even wine to Italy FOOD AND DRINK EXPORTS IN NUMBERS 42,000 Tonnes of British pork sold to China every year 356m The sales of British cheese overseas 50m The value of British cheese exported to France in a year 140 The number of countries buying British chocolate 158m The value of gin exports to the US 27 The number of countries we export English sparkling wine to around the world - a new record 41% The rise in exports of whiskey to India in the first half of last year alone By Matt Dathan, Political Correspondent For Mailonline 4 January 2017Britain's booming food and drink industry is defying Brexit doom-mongers and challenging national stereotypes around the world by selling cheese to France, chocolate to Switzerland and even wine to Italy, official figures reveal.Britain's spirits are drank in nearly every corner of the world, with exports of gin to the US worth 158million and sales of whisky rocketing by up to 40 per cent.Britain sells 42,000 tonnes of pork to China every year, 400million worth of smoked salmon around the globe and nearly 300million of beef, government trade figures show.Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Secretary Andrea Leadsom hailed Britain's 'trailblazing' exporters and told MailOnline that the popularity of our food and drink products in every corner of the world was proof Britain can thrive outside the EU.She and other Brexit supporters say Britain will enjoy even further export growth when Britain officially cuts ties with Brussels and can strike new bilateral trade deals with non-European nations.One of Britain's strongest food exports is cheese worth a staggering 356million in 2016 after a rise of 50 per cent over the last five years.Surprisingly, one in every seven pounds-worth of British cheese is sold to France the world's cheese capital. Nearly 40million of cheese exports goes to the US.Britain is also busting national stereotypes in Switzerland, where it sells 5million worth of chocolate a year.British chocolate is munched in a total of 140 countries and exports rose by two thirds in the last six years.English sparkling wine is now shipped to a record 27 countries around the world, including major wine producing countries like France, Italy and South Africa.It is also breaking into new markets in the Caribbean and Japan.Other types of alcohol exported abroad include English cider sold to Russia, 158million of gin a year to the US, while exports of whisky to India in the first half of 2016 rose by 41 per cent compared to the previous year.British langoustine are being enjoyed overseas, with exports to Mediterranean countries like Spain worth 80million a year.Britain's famous Nairn's biscuits are extremely popular in the US, Canada and South Africa, while Tiptree jam exports have seen a significant boost in demand from China and the Middle East.China is also a mass market for British pork, worth an estimated 420million last year up an impressive 73 per cent on the previous year.Other major markets for British pork include the US and Australia.UK beef exports have been given a boost by demand for premium cuts in Hong Kong and Singapore.And the value of smoked salmon sales overseas rose by 11 per cent this year and are worth nearly 400million a year.Americans are the biggest fans of the luxury food, with the US buying 121million in the first seven months of 2016 but we also exported nearly 40million to China and 6million to Vietnam in the same period.Praising British food and drink exporters, Environment Secretary Mrs Leadsom said: 'Our food and drink industry is a global success story and it is fantastic to think our high-quality meat, award-winning cheese and traditional smoked salmon are enjoyed around the world.'It is our reputation for safety, welfare and traceability that attracts international customers and in the year ahead I hope our trailblazing exporters help our newer businesses reach these markets and generate millions for our growing economy.'The Government's Great British Food campaign has recently published a new strategy to target nine key emerging markets, including Australia and the United Arab Emirates, which it has pinpointed as having the biggest growth potential.Ministers are aiming to boost British exports by 2.9billion across these markets over the next five years. c.2017 New York Times News Service Choe Sang-Hun contributed reporting. Faced with a threat from North Korea that it might soon test an intercontinental ballistic missile, President-elect Donald Trump took to Twitter on Monday night to declare bluntly, It wont happen! Trump made his post on Twitter, where he often tests out his first thoughts on developing issues in the United States and abroad, a day after North Koreas young leader, Kim Jong Un, declared that the final stage in preparations was underway for a test of such a missile. Kim offered no time frame. North Korea has routinely tested short- and medium-range missiles, with some successes and many failures, but it has so far stopped short of testing a long-range missile, which could reach Guam or the West Coast of the United States. North Korea just stated that it is in the final stages of developing a nuclear weapon capable of reaching parts of the U.S., Trump wrote, somewhat misstating Kims warning. Pyongyang has already tested nuclear weapons underground; the latest threat concerned what Kim called a test launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile. But Kim also boasted last year that the North had conducted the first H-bomb test, and experts say there is no evidence for that claim. After his first Twitter message, Trump added: China has been taking out massive amounts of money & wealth from the U.S. in totally one-sided trade, but wont help with North Korea. Nice! That appeared to reflect briefings Trump has received about how Chinese leaders fear instability and collapse in the North more than the status quo. Trump takes office in less than three weeks, and a test by North Korea, if it demonstrated that the missile could in fact reach U.S. shores, would present one of the first big national security tests for his administration. There was no immediate comment from either North or South Korea on Trumps latest remarks. North Korea conducted a nuclear test in the first months of the Obama administration, turning many White House officials against the country and against the concept of negotiating with it. Early in the presidential campaign, Trump said he was willing to sit down with Kim and perhaps have a hamburger with him. But negotiating with the North would be anathema to many Republicans, and even Obama, who was willing to talk with the leaders of Cuba and Myanmar, refused to enter negotiations with the North unless it acknowledged that the endpoint of the talks would be a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula. In his New Years Day speech, Kim said he would continue his countrys efforts to build a nuclear-strike capability unless the United States abandoned its hostile policy toward the North. Some analysts have predicted that North Korea will conduct a weapons test in the coming months, taking advantage of leadership changes in both the United States and South Korea. How Trump would respond to such a provocation is a matter of great concern for South Koreans, who are also struggling with uncertainty in their domestic politics. South Koreas parliament voted Dec. 9 to impeach President Park Geun-hye over a corruption scandal. If the nations Constitutional Court decides to formally remove her from office, the country will have a new election within months. Officers in Placentia will soon have new police service rifles to replace their decades-old firearms. The City Council recently approved the purchase of replacement rifles, ballistic-safety equipment and associated training. The department can spend up to $190,000. We are replacing our existing rifles, most of which are around 20 years old and some are from the Vietnam War era, Capt. Eric Point said. Due to their advanced age and use, the rifles are nearing the end of their service lives and need to be replaced. The existing rifles were obtained through a Department of Defense program, which outfitted local agencies with surplus military equipment. The 50 Sig-Saucer MCX 5.56 rifles are expected to be ordered from Adamson Industries within the next couple of weeks. It will take up to nine months for the rifles to be built and delivered to the Police Department. Every sworn officer will be issued a rifle so that all first responders are better equipped to handle a violent incident, Point said. The department has 49 officers. Eight less-than-lethal launcher kits and safety gear will also be purchased, according to a staff report. The officers will be issued vests with protective metal plates to wear over their uniforms and bulletproof vests for responding to active shooter situations. The old rifles obtained through the DOD program will be returned to the federal government. The remaining rifles will either be traded in to the vendor or destroyed. Contact the writer: 714-796-7868 or desalazar@scng.com German prosecutors have added six counts of murder and war crimes to the charges against an imprisoned Islamic State member from Germany who attracted global attention after claiming disillusionment and disgust with the terrorist group. The new accusations, announced by the prosecutors Tuesday, were brought three months after a video surfaced suggesting that the recruit, Harry Sarfo, 28, had taken part in a Syrian mass killing. But in previous interviews, he told the authorities and reporters that he had never killed anyone. Sarfo, a German of Ghanaian descent, was convicted last year in a Hamburg court of membership in a terrorist organization after his arrest upon returning to Germany in July 2015 from Syria, where he traveled three months earlier to join the Islamic State. Described by German judicial officials as a model prisoner who had avidly cooperated in providing information about the Islamic State, Sarfo was given a reduced prison term of three years and was allowed to provide interviews to news organizations, including The New York Times. Sarfo detailed in those interviews how he claimed to have been recruited, as well as what he described as his harsh training, loss of allegiance and his own escape. Sarfo also spoke about what he described as the Islamic States ambitions for more attacks on civilian targets in Western nations like the November 2015 killings in Paris, which relied on collaborators based in Europe. His accounts generally correlated with interrogation records and briefings from other captured Islamic State recruits. But Sarfos credibility was undercut in October when The Washington Post published what it described as a leaked video clip from Syrias ancient city of Palmyra that showed Sarfo appearing to participate in prisoner killings. In his interviews, Sarfo said he had only witnessed them. In the middle of June 2015, members of the Islamic State publicly shot six prisoners in the market square in the Syrian city Palmyra, the German prosecutors said in a statement. The suspect, armed with a gun, led one of the prisoners personally to the place of execution and prevented the others from fleeing. The new accusations against Sarfo came against a backdrop of increased fear in Europe of attacks orchestrated or inspired by the Islamic State, despite its loss of territory in Syria and Iraq. Germany is still dealing with the aftermath of a deadly Dec. 19 truck rampage through a Berlin market, for which the Islamic State has claimed responsibility. Officials have linked the attack to a Tunisian ex-convict who was killed days later in a shootout with the police in Italy. In a report released a month ago, the European Police Office of the European Union, known as Europol, said the Islamic State had already adopted new tactics to assault the West, including carefully prepared attacks alongside those that seem to be carried out spontaneously. California hopes to take the lead in giving the cannabis industry access to banking services in 2017, with a new working group focused on finding a solution to conflicts between state and federal laws that force marijuana businesses to operate largely in cash. The Golden State has a year to come up with a plan. Thats when Californias first recreational marijuana shops are expected to open under voter-approved Proposition 64, which legalized marijuana for adults 21 and over. We need quick action and practical solutions, State Treasurer John Chiang, who formed the Cannabis Banking Working Group, said on a call with reporters in December. California is willing to assume a leadership role nationally to effectively achieve this goal. Federal law still classifies cannabis as a Schedule I narcotic on par with heroin. That means major banks and credit card companies wont do business with growers and dispensaries out of fear theyll be penalized for money laundering. That changed little even after U.S. Deputy Attorney General James Cole in 2013 issued his now-famous Cole memo, which gave banks guidance on how to service marijuana businesses without breaking any federal laws. Some local banks and credit unions have been quietly taking on marijuana businesses as customers. A 2015 report from American Banker showed 266 of the nations nearly 6,200 financial institutions had accounts with marijuana-related businesses. But once recreational pot shops can open after Jan. 1, Californias cannabis industry is expected to start raking in $7 billion in profits and paying $1 billion in state taxes each year. A lot of businesses will be hauling around a lot of cash with no place to deposit their money, putting them at risk of robbery, Chiang said. That also makes the industry ripe for money laundering, he noted. Chiang brushed aside the idea of creating a state bank specifically to service cannabis customers. Its an approach proposed by the Board of Equalization to combat the industrys poor record of paying state taxes, and one thats been tried and shut down by federal regulators in other legalized states. The state of Colorado sought to create its own cannabis credit union in November 2014. But the Federal Reserve rejected the states applications to create a master account that would have allowed banks to do business with the credit union. And a U.S. District Court judge dismissed Colorados challenge to that decision, stating he was compelled to do so because marijuana remains illegal under federal law. Efforts to remove marijuana from the Schedule I drug list have also repeatedly failed, most recently under the Obama administration. So have efforts to pass legislation that would remove criminal penalties for banks that service businesses that are operating in accordance with state law. Those avenues seem even less promising now that Republicans, who have traditionally been less supportive of marijuana legalization, control both the executive and legislative branches. And President-elect Donald Trumps choice of Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions for attorney general hasnt boosted optimism for a federal solution, given the Republicans staunch opposition to marijuana in the past. Chiang reached out to both Trump and Californias congressional delegation asking for clarification and support in finding banking solutions for the industry. But no federal representatives attended the first meeting of Chiangs working group, which was held Dec. 19 in Sacramento. The 16-member working group, along with about 100 attendees, including cannabis industry and banking stakeholders, gathered in the state Capitol not so much to discuss solutions, but to lay out the challenges ahead. Defining the problem is our first objective, Chiang said. As we continue to hold meetings around the state and compile information, I think we will continue to gain ever more clarity on precisely what should be done and how. The working group is set to hold four more meetings throughout the state to discuss banking issues. Given that 45 states now permit some form of legal marijuana use, Chiang and other members of his banking group said theyre optimistic theyll be able to make progress over the coming year in easing the conflict between state and federal law. The cannabis industry is the largest shadow economy in California, group member and Board of Equalization Chairwoman Fiona Ma said in a statement. Allowing them banking access would facilitate compliance and bring millions of dollars into our economy. Staff writer Will Houston contributed to this report. Contact the writer: 714-796-7963 or bstaggs@ocregister.comTwitter: @JournoBrooke The Pacific Symphony has been named a recipient of a $1.2 million grant from the James Irvine Foundation on Tuesday for the second time in three years. Both grants awarded to the Symphony are a part of the Irvine Foundations New California Arts Fund, which supports arts nonprofits to build organizations and expand engagement of the arts in diverse Southern California communities. As one of the largest grants the Symphony has received, the money will be used to further the Symphonys initiatives to develop programs in participatory arts engagement and strengthen partnerships with organizations within Orange Countys Chinese American community. During the course of the first grant period, the symphony has focused on establishing ties with local organizations that serve and produce events in Chinese-American community and encouraging its members to be involved with the symphony as volunteers, donors and board members. The symphony is offering free or low-cost community concerts throughout the multi-year initiative, as well as forging relationships with organizations such as the South Coast Chinese Cultural Association and Irvine Chinese School to create programs and events for Chinese American families. Among the programs supported by the first grant was Strings for Generations, a partnership between the symphony and the Irvine Chinese School in which parents and children perform together in an orchestra. Pacific Symphony is honored and privileged to receive ongoing funds form the James Irvine Foundation, said Luisa Cariaga, the symphonys director of institutional giving. Their investment in our organization is the highest compliment a non-profit can receive from a funding institution, and the symphony is grateful and appreciative to accept such an influential endorsement, Specific initiatives for the new grant also include identifying 20-25 Chinese community members to join the new support group Jade Society, recruit additional board members and increase ticket buyers by working with the Chinese Communities Leadership Council . By recruiting and training diverse volunteer corps of approximately 100 ambassadors, the Symphony hopes to also reach new and diverse Orange County communities. Since 1990, the Pacific Symphony has been a recipient of numerous grants from the James Irvine Foundation, which has provided more than $1.5 billion in grants to over 3,600 California nonprofit organizations since it was established in 1937. The new grant will be payable over the course of 36 months, as was the first grant received in 2013. Contact the writer: jmoe@ocregister.com BEIRUT A Syrian cease-fire backed by Russia and Turkey is crumbling five days after it began, with government forces pushing offensives around Damascus and rebels threatening to suspend participation in further talks. The truce was to have been followed by a meeting between government representatives and mainstream rebel factions in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan. But while fighting has largely ebbed in Syrias north, where Turkey wields influence over most rebel groups, troops loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad have continued strategic offensives in the Damascus suburbs. In a statement published Monday, 10 rebel factions said they were suspending talks regarding the Astana conference or the cease-fire until it is fully implemented. The groups cited major and frequent violations in the rebel-held areas of Wadi Barada and Eastern Ghouta outside the Syrian capital. Government advances there are aimed at consolidating control of the Damascus suburbs, weeks after the army pushed rebels from the northern city of Aleppo. In Wadi Barada, a river valley, an estimated 100,000 people have lived under siege since July, when Syrian and Lebanese Hezbollah troops cut access routes to a spring that provides 70 percent of Damascus residents with fresh water. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a monitoring group, said pro-government forces escalated attacks there Tuesday, using barrel bombs and deploying troops near the areas most important water source, the Ain al-Fijeh spring. Speaking from the valley, Ahmed Hassan, a local resident, said his town was on the brink of disaster. He declined to identify the town for security reasons. Our water is running out, as is the medicine and the food, he said. Fuel supplies are dwindling, he added, forcing families to huddle around fires as temperatures dip toward freezing. Fighting also continues in the Damascus suburb of Eastern Ghouta. After their victory in Aleppo, recapturing the enclave would give the army and its Russian and Iran-backed allies virtually secure control over Syrias two largest cities in less than a month, freeing up manpower for a final assault on what remains of the armed uprising in the northwest. Although Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan hailed Syrias latest truce as a historic opportunity, experts and diplomats said its terms created pitfalls from the start. Most notably, the Syrian army said terrorist organizations would be excluded, implying that Jabhat Fatah al-Sham, an al-Qaida affiliate and an influential component of Syrias armed opposition, would continue to be targeted. And on Monday, it was. The Syrian Observatory said airstrikes by unidentified aircraft hit a building used by the group, killing at least 25 people and wounding dozens more. But Western officials said privately that they feared the groups exclusion from the cease-fire would be used as an excuse for pro-government forces to pursue strategic objectives elsewhere, as in Damascus this week. The deals shaky progress also underscored the fact that no single player can now fully deliver the government or the rebel side. While Russia has burnished its reputation as a mediator during talks with Turkey, it now appears unable to bring the Syrian government in line with the cease-fire. Turkey has also struggled to bring the most important rebel factions on board. While two of the highest-profile Islamist groups, Ahrar al-Sham and Nour al-Din al-Zinki, have agreed to uphold the cease-fire, they have not signed any agreement to attend peace talks. The U.N. Security Council offered tepid support for the Turkish and Russian initiative on Saturday, unanimously endorsing a resolution that encouraged a new cease-fire but stopping short of endorsing the official text put forward by Ankara and Moscow. SANTA ANA The decision over whether to remove the Orange County District Attorneys Office from another high-profile murder case is in the hands of an Orange County Superior Court judge after a public defender charged that local prosecutors cant help provide her client a fair trial. Judge Thomas Goethals heard closing arguments Tuesday following several weeks of testimony centering on whether prosecutors intentionally withheld evidence in the trial of Cole Wilkins, facing a charge of murder in the 2006 death of Los Angeles County Sheriffs Deputy David Piquette. A deputy public defender representing Wilkins has accused California Highway Patrol investigators and deputy district attorneys of initially hiding evidence that an original police report concluding that the deputy was at fault for the fatal traffic accident was changed to say the deputy wasnt at fault bolstering the case against Wilkins. If the court does not recuse the District Attorneys Office, who among the (prosecutors can) stand up and make sure that Mr. Wilkins gets a fair trial? Deputy Public Defender Sara Ross asked Goethals in her closing arguments. Their reaction is to say, You are lying, we did nothing wrong and you yourself are making up accusations and are reckless. According to court records, during the predawn hours of July 7, 2006, Wilkins stole a stove and other appliances from a construction site in Riverside County. As he was driving on the 91 in Anaheim, the unsecured, boxed-up stove fell from Wilkins truck. Several vehicles avoided the stove. Piquette, driving his department-issued Crown Victoria, swerved around the appliance and hit a big-rig, which crushed and killed him. The decision to charge Wilkins with either manslaughter or murder hinged partially on the CHPs findings of the accident. During recent testimony, a retired CHP sergeant said his officers initially concluded that the deceased deputy was at fault, a conclusion the sergeant admitted changing. Deputy District Attorney Howard Gundy agreed that the information about the changes to the initial police report shouldnt have been buried by the CHP. But Gundy said it was absurd to argue that prosecutors had ordered the CHP to change its findings. Judge Goethals said he believed that something inappropriate happened, but the question remained whether it was an error or misconduct. I think it is pretty clear that the reports were changed, but I dont think there is any evidence the D.A. knew about it, Deputy Attorney General Ryan Peeck told the judge. The state Attorney Generals Office would be in line to prosecute if Orange County prosecutors are removed. Prosecutor Larry Yellin initially charged Wilkins, and prosecutor Mike Murray took Wilkins to trial. Both men are now Orange County Superior Court judges. Goethals told the attorneys he plans to return with a ruling Jan. 13. In 2015, Goethals removed local prosecutors from the penalty phase for admitted mass murderer Scott Dekraai. The state Attorney Generals Office took over that case. News of Firms: 1905 New Media Acquires Arco + Assocs. Fri., Dec. 17, 2021 1905 New Media acquires Arco + Associates, which specializes in content creation, marketing strategy and public relations... The Darnell Works Agency principal Roger Darnell is publishing his second book, The Communications Consultants Master Plan, on Dec. 21... Bacchus, which has offices in London and New York opens outpost in Dubai. Agricultural News Jackson County Farmer Mike Schulz Officially Elected as Pro Tempore of the Oklahoma Senate The Oklahoma Senate on Tuesday convened for an organizational day and, on a unanimous vote officially, elected Jackson County farmer Sen. Mike Schulz of Altus as President Pro Tempore. Schulz is the first senator from western Oklahoma to lead the Senate in more than 50 years. Senate Majority Floor Leader Greg Treat, R-Oklahoma City, made the motion nominating Schulz as President Pro Tempore and, in a show of bipartisan support, the motion was seconded by Minority Leader John Sparks, D-Norman. "I'm very humbled that my colleagues would place their confidence in me as leader of the Oklahoma Senate. The Senate has a group of very talented men and women from both sides of the aisle and from all parts of the state. Oklahoma is a great state, blessed with natural resources and hardworking, industrious people. Our job as senators is to make sure Oklahoma is a place where, with hard work and determination, anyone can achieve success. We're going to need the experience, insight and knowledge of all our members to pass laws that are helpful in the short-term, but also set us on a long-term path to economic growth and prosperity. It's time to get to work, and I look forward to leading the Senate and serving the great people of Oklahoma," Schulz said. The organizational meeting is mandated under the State Constitution to be held in January following an election year. In addition to electing the President Pro Tempore of the Senate for the next two years, Senators on Tuesday also adopted the rules for conducting legislative business for 2017 and 2018 and certified the results of the 2016 senate races. The 2017 legislative session will convene on February 6. Source - Oklahoma State Senate WebReadyTM Powered by WireReady NSI Top Agricultural News Agricultural News Trump Hits a Home Run for Agriculture with Scott Pruitt Nomination - But will Dems Block the Plate? President-elect Donald Trump has proven he has a knack for turning heads this year. Even after his dramatic campaign, Trump's recent actions have still managed to conjure strong emotions from different interest groups. One of his latest controversies - nominating Oklahoma's Attorney General Scott Pruitt to lead the Environmental Protection Agency. National Cattlemen's Beef Association's Vice President of Governmental Affairs Colin Woodall told Radio Oklahoma Ag Network Farm Director Ron Hays in a recent conversation, this move is a "home run" in his book. "We're actually excited about a lot of the names we have seen including Scott Pruitt as EPA Head," Woodall said. "We know that he is going to bring probably a much different approach than what we have seen for quite some time and that's spanning multiple administrations." Woodall says he and his colleagues are excited about this fresh opportunity to work with an ag-friendly EPA, to roll back many of the environmental rules and regulations the agency passed over the last eight years that many consider to be bold measures of governmental overreach, such as the Waters of the United States rule. Still, there are hoops that must be jumped through before Pruitt can officially take the reins. Congress must first approve all of Trump's nominees before they can be formally installed to their appointed positions. Pruitt has a long track record of fighting the Obama administration on environmental policy and Woodall says he expects the Democrats on his hearing committee will not make it easy for him. "They're absolutely going to throw up every kind of road block out there," Woodall predicted. "He has done a lot of good things for agriculture and that's one thing we are all going to have to do is link arms and get behind him, because we expect that his nomination hearing will be a hairy one." Listen to Hays and Woodall discuss Scott Pruitt's nomination to head the EPA, 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. Click below to listen to Hays and Woodall discuss Scott Pruitt's nomination to head the EPA WebReadyTM Powered by WireReady NSI Top Agricultural News Ten children from six different families living in the Fremont area were able to have memorable Christmas celebrations thanks largely in part to the thoughtfulness and generosity of a local business. Jaycees Closet, 517 N. Broad St., hosted its first ever giving campaign the Jaycees Angels Project, as a way to reach out to area youth in need of a little extra help during the Christmas season. While many children view Christmas gifts as a guarantee each year, for some, this isnt the case. Some families struggle to keep their children warm and well-fed during the holiday season, and spending much-needed dollars on gifts simply isnt a viable option. Because of this, Tarrah Hovendick, owner of Jaycees Closet, decided to use her business as an outlet for 10 children to have a better holiday season. In mid-November, Hovendick reached out to the community with a Facebook message inquiring about who could benefit from donated gifts. After receiving more than 40 replies, Hovendick selected 10 children who she believed would benefit most from the project, which gave the 10 children their own toys and goodies. Several local businesses donated to the cause, and one Fremont business donated 72 toys to the store, which purchases lightly-used clothing and accessories targeting children in the youth and toddler phases. Businesses who contributed monetarily or with donated toys include: Staples, Learning Express Toys of Fremont, Blair Seed Services and Blairs Woodhouse Auto Family. In total, $600 was raised and more than 70 toys were donated. In addition, customers purchased clothing items from the store to have donated, as well. Donated cash was used primarily to purchase clothing items, diapers, winter coats and toys, Hovendick said through an email statement. From 11 a.m. through 1 p.m. Christmas Eve, people stopped by Jaycees Closet to enjoy a store Christmas gathering which included visits from Santa Claus and the Disney character Cinderella. One free picture with Santa Claus was available for each family in attendance. From 12:30 to 12:45, the 10 angels were recognized and received their donated gifts. Hovendick was pleased with how the inaugural Jaycees Angels Project turned out. The overall goal of the project was to bring the community together to help make a great holiday for a few families, she wrote. We cant wait to see what next year brings and hope even more businesses and customers get involved so we can sponsor a few more kids. For our first year, we are thrilled with the outcome and know that we really helped out families who needed and appreciated it. The American Red Cross on Wednesday issued an emergency call for blood and platelet donations, after collecting about 37,000 fewer donations nationally than needed in November and December. Hectic holiday schedules kept many regular blood donors from contributing, and severe weather forced the cancellation of nearly 100 blood drives across the country in December, Red Cross officials said. The Red Cross is extending hours at many donation sites. Nearly three dozen such opportunities will be available in Douglas and Sarpy Counties. Nebraska and Iowa residents can find a blood donation opportunity and schedule an appointment online or using the free blood donor app. Donors also can call 1-800-733-2767. Making a donation appointment and completing an online health history questionnaire are encouraged to help speed the donation process. After Spartan Motors, Inc., announced Dec. 13 its wholly-owned subsidiary, Spartan Motors USA, Inc, agreed to acquire Smeal Fire Apparatus Co. and its subsidiaries for $36.3 million, business agreements were finalized Tuesday morning, information released by Spartan says. Smeal, based in Snyder, is a manufacturer of fire apparatus. Spartan Motors designs, manufactures and assembles specialty chassis and vehicles. The two companies have a longstanding relationship that spans more than 30 years, released information says. Spartan officials did not say whether the acquisition will affect any jobs at the Snyder location. There is nothing to announce in terms of employee changes, a representative said in an email to the Tribune. The newly combined Spartan Emergency Response business unit is expected to rank as one of the top-four North American fire apparatus manufacturers. Smeal generated 2016 revenues of approximately $100 million, which includes approximately $30 million of Spartan chassis sold to Smeal, released information says. With its expanded geographic reach spanning 44 states in the U.S., 10 provinces and 3 territories in Canada, the company is even better positioned to deliver a robust and respected portfolio of leading products, services, and technologies to its broad range of customers, including original equipment manufacturers and dealers. This transaction marks a significant event for our Company, and we are excited to add Smeals industry-leading product portfolio and manufacturing expertise to Spartan Motors, said Daryl Adams, president and chief executive officer of Spartan Motors. The addition of Smeal complements our own Spartan Emergency Response business unit while also allowing us to provide an expanded, innovative product offering to both new and existing customers. We expect the transaction to be accretive to 2017 earnings and accelerate the turnaround of the Spartan Emergency Response business unit. Adams added: We are pleased that Smeal chose Spartan Motors as their partner to carry on their brands legacy, as we take our supplier relationship to the next level. Spartan Motors is prepared to lead the consolidation charge in the fire apparatus market as strategic opportunities present themselves, and this acquisition represents a deliberate and strategic decision to accelerate the turnaround of Spartans Emergency Response business unit. Founded in 1955, Smeal and its subsidiaries, U.S. Tanker Co. and Ladder Tower Co., are leaders and innovators in fire truck manufacturing and vehicle technology, offering a full line of aerial ladders and platforms, pumpers, stainless steel tankers and wildland urban interface vehicles (WUI). In addition to its Snyder plant, Smeal operates facilities located in Neligh; Delavan, Wis.; and Ephrata, Pa. Spartan Motors is the perfect fit for Smeal, our customers, our employees, and our operational leadership team, as we combine with a proven ally and industry leader to help solidify our future and preserve the legacy of the Smeal organization, said Rod Cerny, Smeals chairman of the board. As part of a larger, profitable and well-capitalized public company, we will have the working capital necessary to ensure continued investment in product development and make sure the Smeal brand is able to deliver the exceptional products and service our dealers, departments, and municipality customers have come to expect. Smeal is expected to add approximately $70 million in annual revenue (excludes $30 million of Spartan chassis sold to Smeal) to the companys Emergency Response segment. The transaction will be initially financed with Spartan Motors recently amended $100 million line of credit. We are proud of this significant milestone for Spartans Emergency Response business, and welcome Smeals knowledgeable and respected operational management team and employees to the Spartan Motors family, Adams said. This transaction will bring together some of the best talent in the industry and provides an opportunity for all employees to pursue a broader and more diverse career path. Spartan Motors employs approximately 1,800 associates, and operates facilities in Michigan, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Kansas, South Dakota, Saltillo, Mexico; and Lima, Peru. Spartan reported sales of $550 million in 2015. That 10 p.m. email from your boss? Its your right to ignore it. That Saturday ping from a colleague with just one quick question? A response on Monday should suffice. If youre in France, that is. When French workers rang in a new year, they could also celebrate a right to disconnect law that grants employees the legal right to ignore work emails outside of typical working hours, according to the Guardian. The new employment law requires French companies with more than 50 employees to begin drawing up policies with their workers about limiting work-related technology usage outside the office, the newspaper reported. The motivation behind the legislation is to stem work-related stress that increasingly leaks into peoples personal time and hopefully prevent employee burnout, French officials said. Employees physically leave the office but they do not leave their work. They remain attached by a kind of electronic leash, like a dog, Benoit Hamon, Socialist member of Parliament and former French education minister, told the BBC in May. The texts, the messages, the emails: They colonize the life of the individual to the point where he or she eventually breaks down. France has had a 35-hour workweek since 2000, but the policy came under scrutiny recently given Frances near-record-high unemployment rate. The right to disconnect provision was packaged with new and controversial reforms introduced last year that were designed to relax some of the countrys strict labor regulations. The amendment regarding ignoring work emails was included by French Labor Minister Myriam El Khomri, who reportedly was inspired by similar policies at Orange, a French telecommunications company. There are risks that need to be anticipated, and one of the biggest risks is the balance of a private life and professional life behind this permanent connectivity, Orange Director General Bruno Mettling told Europe1 radio in February. Professionals who find the right balance between private and work life perform far better in their job than those who arrive shattered. The legislation passed the French lower parliamentary house in May. Similar legislation banning work-related emails after work hours had been introduced in France and Germany before but never made it to law. The move received criticism from some who worried that French workers would get left behind by competitors in other countries where such restrictions did not exist. Still others objected to government interference. In France, we are champions at passing laws, but they are not always very helpful when what we need is greater flexibility in the workplace, Olivier Mathiot, chief executive of PriceMinister, a Paris-based online marketplace, told BBC News in May. Mathiot told the news site its company had implemented no-email Fridays and felt the problem should have been handled through education. However, supporters of the bill said it would be an important move toward minimizing work-related stress. At home the workspace can be the kitchen or the bathroom or the bedroom, Linh Le, a partner at Elia management consultants in Paris, told BBC News. Youre at home but youre not at home, and that poses a real threat to relationships. French companies are expected to comply with the law on a voluntary basis, and there are no penalties yet for violating it, BBC reported. Newly widowed, Kay McCowen quit her job, sold her house, applied for Social Security and retired to Mexico. It was a move she and her husband, Mel, had discussed before he died in 2012. I wanted to find a place where I could afford to live off my Social Security, she said. The weather here is so perfect, and its a beautiful place. She is among a growing number of Americans who are retiring outside the United States. The number grew 17 percent between 2010 and 2015 and is expected to increase over the next 10 years as more baby boomers retire. Just under 400,000 American retirees are now living abroad, according to the Social Security Administration. The countries they have chosen most often: Canada, Japan, Mexico, Germany and the United Kingdom. Retirees most often cite the cost of living as the reason for moving elsewhere, said Olivia S. Mitchell, director of the Pension Research Council at the University of Pennsylvanias Wharton School. I think that many people retire when they are in good health and they are interested in stretching their dollars and seeing the world, Mitchell said. McCowens rent in Ajijic, a community outside Guadalajara near Mexicos Lake Chapala, is half of what she was paying in Texas. And since the weather is moderate, utility bills are inexpensive. In some countries, Mitchell said, retirees also may find it less expensive than in the United States to hire someone to do their laundry, clean, cook and even provide long-term care. McCowen has a community of other American retirees nearby and has adjusted well. But for others there are hurdles to overcome to adjust to life in a different country. Viviana Rojas, an associate professor at the University of Texas at San Antonio, said the biggest obstacle is not speaking the language or knowing the culture. Many of the people we interviewed said they spoke Spanish, but they actually spoke very little Spanish, said Rojas, who is writing a book about retirees in Mexico. They didnt have the capacity of speaking enough Spanish to meet their basic needs like going to the doctor or to the store. Access to health care also can be a challenge. While retirees still can receive Social Security benefits, Medicare is not available to those living abroad, Mitchell said. Joseph Roginski, 71, said that while the cost of living is higher in Japan, access to health care is not a problem. Things are very expensive here. It is impossible to live off Social Security alone, said Roginski, who was stationed in Japan in 1968. But health insurance is a major factor in staying here. The former military language and intelligence specialist said he pays $350 annually to be part of Japans national health insurance. His policy covers 70 percent of his costs. The rest is covered by a secondary insurance program for retired military personnel. Japan experienced bigger growth in American retirees, 42 percent, than any other country between 2010 and 2014, according to data from the Social Security Administration. The large U.S. military presence in the country may be a factor. There are more than 50,000 U.S. military service members stationed in Japan. The presence is so large that on the island of Okinawa, the U.S. military occupies about 19 percent of the area, according to Ellis S. Krauss, professor emeritus of Japanese politics and policy-making at the University of California, San Diego. Roginski, who volunteers for the Misawa Air Base Retiree Activities Office, said he helps connect more than 450 retirees and their families living in northern Japan with resources. He said he would never move back to the United States. We have a real strong sense of security here, he said. I can leave my door unlocked and no one will take anything. When I go to another country I feel nervous, but when I come back I feel like Im home. Mexico has become home for retired firefighter Dan Williams, 72, and his wife, Donna, 68. The couple have been living near the same retirement community in Lake Chapala for 14 years. The climate and the medical services are very good, Dan Williams said. Williams teaches painting to adults and children and puts together a monthly magazine for the local American Legion. He is also a member of the Lake Chapala Society, which offers daily activities for American retirees. It was those same services that attracted McCowen to the region. Before moving, I found out how many widowed and divorced women lived here, she said. There is comfort in numbers. She says she loves being in a lively community. I see older people walking year-round. I see them all over the place even in their wheelchairs. If they were in the U.S., they would probably be in a nursing home, she said. I dont think I could move back. Hunters have illegally killed two of the elegant trumpeter swans that are wintering south of the Omaha area, a disappointment to those who love the massive creatures. An iconic species, trumpeter swans are the largest waterfowl on Earth and were hunted nearly to extinction in the early 1900s. After a concerted effort to protect them, the population numbers in the tens of thousands in North America, including dozens wintering in southeast Nebraska and southwest Iowa. The swans were killed in separate incidents near Schilling Wildlife Management Area by hunters who said they mistook them for geese, according to Heath Packett and Dan Evasco, conservation officers for the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission. Packett ticketed a 36-year-old Omaha man on Dec. 26 and Evasco ticketed a 24-year-old Bellevue man on Dec. 15. Each hunter faces about $1,000 in fines and court costs, Evasco said. Federal and state law prohibit hunting the trumpeter swan, Evasco said. About three dozen trumpeter swans have been resting and eating in the Schilling area near Plattsmouth. In the metro area, flocks can be found at Carter Lake and near Valley. Noted area birders Ross Silcock and Clem Klaphake said the shootings are unfortunate, but wont set back the species. Silcock said the North American population had jumped by a third from the 2005 to the 2010 census, the most recent available. In 2010, the number stood at slightly more than 46,000, Silcock said. Its one of the rare birds in U.S. thats made a good comeback, said Silcock, who has authored with two others the book Birds of Nebraska. Available habitat food and bodies of water to roost on will be the key to the trumpeter swans continued success, Silcock said. Theyre a beautiful bird, said Klaphake, past president of the Nebraska Ornithologists Union and Audubon Society of Omaha. This isnt going to threaten the existence of the trumpeter swan. Still, its hard to believe, those interviewed said, that a careful hunter would mistake a trumpeter swan for a goose. Trumpeter swans can have a wingspan of almost 10 feet and weigh 25 to 30 pounds. (He) thought it was a snow goose, which is about 10 times smaller than a trumpeter swan, said Evasco of the Dec. 15 shooting. He did what he did, he shot the swan. In both instances, others witnessed the men shooting the swans, and the hunters were caught with the dead birds. On Dec. 15, the manager of Schilling wildlife area was watching through binoculars as the flock lifted off the lake for the morning to head out to the fields to forage. As he did so, a hunter fired and a swan dropped to the ground, Evasco said. In the Dec. 26 shooting, other hunters saw a man shoot a swan, and they contacted authorities to report him, Packett said. Since the shootings, signs have been erected at Schilling warning waterfowl hunters about protected trumpeters in the area, Packett said. Packett also had a few words of advice for hunters taking aim at waterfowl: Be sure to identify your target before you shoot. World-Herald staff writer Jay Withrow contributed to this report. Council Bluffs police arrested two juveniles Wednesday following a small explosion in the Lewis Central High School cafeteria. Officers were called to the school about 12:45 p.m. to assist the fire department with the explosion, said Sgt. Mark Stuart of the Council Bluffs Police Department. No injuries were reported. Investigators determined that a commercial grade firework detonated under a table in the cafeteria where several students were eating lunch, Stuart said. Officials initially described it as a homemade explosive device. The school quickly returned to normal following the explosion. The names of the juveniles were not released, One was arrested on suspicion of first-degree arson and the other was arrested on suspicion of possession of a explosive or incendiary device. A 42-year-old man has been charged with motor vehicle homicide in connection with an Interstate 80 pileup in August that killed a man. Jeffrey Kluck, of Rogers, Nebraska, has pleaded not guilty to the misdemeanor charge and is scheduled to have his next hearing in March. Deputy Douglas County Attorney Jameson Cantwell filed the charge on Tuesday. Kluck waived his arraignment hearing Wednesday. If convicted, Kluck faces a maximum of one year in prison. About 5:20 p.m. Aug. 25, police have said, Kluck was driving a 2015 Freightliner semitrailer truck west on I-80 near 84th Street when the truck rear-ended a 2002 Chevrolet Malibu. The car was stopped because of backed-up traffic. The collision caused a chain-reaction pileup involving four other vehicles, including a 2013 Subaru Impreza. Nicholas Moneymaker, 24, driving the Impreza, suffered a head injury and died five days later. Cantwell said that based on the physical evidence, the truck rear-ended both Moneymakers car and the Malibu. It does appear (Moneymakers) vehicle was likely the first vehicle struck, Cantwell said. James Martin Davis, Klucks attorney, said one witness saw Moneymaker abruptly change lanes twice before the collision. Davis said Kluck, who still is employed as a truck driver, didnt violate any traffic law. My client wasnt following too close he had the appropriate distance, Davis said. There wasnt much he could do ... trucks cant stop on a dime. In December, relatives of Moneymaker filed a negligence lawsuit against Kluck, the trucking company and the insurance company, alleging negligence. Court documents claim Kluck did not slow down and slammed directly into Moneymakers car, causing it to crash into another car, off the Interstate and into a concrete wall. The lawsuit asks for an unspecified amount to compensate the family for damages. NORTH PLATTE, Neb. It was the trip of a lifetime. Brenda Robinson of North Platte, Nebraska and her daughter, Jennifer, were invited to visit Cuba on a Humanities Nebraska excursion with Jonathan Benjamin-Alvarado, Ph.D., a professor at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. The week-long trip, Dec. 11-18, gave Robinson an exciting opportunity to get a glimpse of a changing culture. Its kind of an odd place to be, Robinson said. It is a communist country, but they are sure turning into capitalists fast. She said there are two kinds of money in Cuba. They have the kind of money they get paid with and another kind that tourists get, Robinson said. The Cubans cant buy luxury goods with the pesos they get paid in; you need the higher-valued money that tourists get. The Cuban citizens find ways to make money from tourists. They turn their cars into cabs, they rent out a bedroom, they find something they can sell, Robinson said. They do something that youll tip them for. Benjamin-Alvarado, a board member with Humanities Nebraska, has been to Cuba 30 times all with students. This was his first trip taking non-students to the island country. You have to have a reason to go to Cuba and they have 12 reasons you can come there, Robinson said. The reason we went, they call it People to People, Education and Culture. We had many conversations with professionals within Cuba. The group spoke with an economist, an architect, an urban planner and people from the Cuban film industry. We talked with the directors of the ballet school and the university of fine arts, Robinson said. We got to listen to what they were doing and ask them questions, which was very informative. They face a lot of problems and their goal is to remain in control of their own country without foreign involvement. Robinson said when the group first made its arrangements for the trip last spring, there was only one air carrier available. It was kind of a semi-charter affair, Robinson said. But since then, there are several U.S. airlines. We saw Frontier down there, Southwest, United, we saw several U.S. airlines in the airport. Robinson said Cubans are very welcoming and friendly. They really seem to be happy people, Robinson said. They really love to dance, and if theres music anywhere, little kids and old people, they start dancing when they walk down the sidewalk and theres music everywhere. Robinson said the hotel where they stayed was in fairly good condition, but the rooms definitely needed remodeling, as did many of the housing units across the city of Havana. A lot of their buildings are in tough shape, Robinson said. The urban planner we talked to said on average about three houses fall down every day. After meeting with various people throughout the day, the group spent the evenings enjoying the culture and food of Havana. One such excursion was to the opening night of the Havana Jazz Festival, which on its opening night featured a performance from pre-revolution Cuban jazz legend Omara Portuondo. It was pretty amazing, Robinson said. Robinson said the one thing that stood out the most was the kindness of the people. They seem genuine; it doesnt seem to be like a waitress trying to get a better tip, Robinson said. They seem genuinely happy with their jobs and with their lives. Theyre nervous about their future. It seems that they might be moving away from communism a little bit, although that was never said out loud. She said the food was either really good or really bad. Robinson said she would definitely go back if given the opportunity. They have a lot of seafood and they do raise cattle and hogs, Robinson said. The pork is really good; their national dishes are pork dishes. They dont have anything hot, no spicy food. GRAND ISLAND, Neb. Tawana Grover said it was a little surprising when she visited Howard Elementary in Grand Island, Nebraska, during the students first day of school this past July 11 and heard several teachers tell their kids that Grover was the boss of the school. Grover said she realized that the Howard students certainly knew what their teacher does in the classroom each and every day, and most were equally familiar with the schools principal, Julie Schnitzler, and her role in making Howard a welcoming place for them and their parents. She believes that it was Deb Glovers first-grade classroom at Howard where the teacher very enthusiastically introduced her as the boss, with Glovers first-graders seemingly impressed by the fact they were meeting the boss of an entire school system. However, Grover said she also thought that although young students might understand the idea of a boss, they still might have difficulty understanding what a boss does in a big school system like Grand Island, which has many schools scattered throughout the city. Grover, who was just 11 days into her first job as a school superintendent, also realized that she was not accustomed to being described as a boss. In addition to introducing herself to GIPS students, she also was in the process of introducing herself to community members, as well as all the teachers, administrators and other staff members. She said that even though she may be the so-called boss, I do believe in a shared vision, as well as a collaborative working relationship with all of our stakeholders. I thought I have to do something about this. She wanted both students and teachers to know more about her. Teachers have no idea of what type of personality Im going to bring, and whats my leadership style, Grover said. Many teachers participated in the interview process to select the new superintendent for the district, but that is still different from having the new superintendent actually on the job and being part of the school district every day. She said all those thoughts inspired her to write a poem to help describe her, as well as what she views as the duties of a school superintendent in todays world. One portion of those duties is ensuring that tests and curriculum are aligned, which seems to be an issue that increasingly preoccupies superintendents, as well as building principals and teachers. Grover said she delivered that poem during the annual all-staff assembly that welcomes all teachers, counselors, administrators and other staff members back for the start of another school year. She then decided to turn it into a childrens book called Super-Boss-Intendent ... Where the Journey Begins. That timing meant that she created the book in about a month. She noted that the tenure for superintendents sometimes is very short in todays world. So superintendents have a responsibility as leaders in the field to be able to share as much information with aspiring superintendents and educational leaders as possible by describing their experiences at work. Although the illustrated paperback is written in the form of a childrens book, Grover said she thinks both kids and adults can read it to get insight into the job of a school superintendent. I oftentimes use childrens books in my training or presentations, she said. Its just a way that you can connect with the audience before you in a very engaging way. Grover noted that when she was interviewed by the Grand Island school board for the superintendents job, she read from the childrens book Youre Here for a Reason. She thought the book was appropriate for the occasion as she was seeking to make a move to a new state and a new opportunity. She said she recently shared the childrens book What Do You Do With a Problem? with building principals and district administrators. One of that books themes is that the longer a problem is ignored, the bigger it usually becomes. Another theme is that problems can be turned around and made into opportunities. Grover said she only had to make minor changes in her Super-Boss-Intendent poem to get it to fit into the books 20-page format for illustrations and story. That does not count the copyright and dedication page, as well as the front and back covers of the book. In Super-Boss-Intendent, she uses verse to describe the duties of a new superintendent as she sees them. Although the poetry describes the role all superintendents play in their school districts, Super-Boss-Intendent is in many ways a very specific description of Grover and the Grand Island school district. The book opens by noting that a lady came from miles and miles away. Grover came to Grand Island from her job as an administrator with the DeSoto Independent School District in DeSoto, Texas, which is a suburb on the southwestern side of Dallas. The book then describes Grovers initial listening tour as she met with Grand Island residents in schools, churches and other locations. Her book refers to the Super-Boss-Intendent working with the board of education and making classroom visits to see both teachers and students. It also describes meeting with students of many languages, which certainly describes the Grand Island school district, as well as meeting with boys and girls who have come to this school from many places another accurate description of the Grand Island Public Schools. During her narrative, Grover used a six-word phrase that could only come from the Grand Island school district: Every student, every day, a success. Through her book, she hopes she makes it clear that students should always be the center of any superintendents focus. That focus on students includes not just the time they spend in the school district, but also who they will become as adults after high school graduation. Grover said the next-to-last illustration of students crossing a stage to receive their high school diplomas as well as the verse that accompanies that illustration is a culmination of everything she has described in the book to that point. GLENWOOD, Iowa The Iowa Department of Human Services has fired six employees at the Glenwood Resource Center, and six others resigned after an investigation into abuse and neglect. The department started its investigation in late September after allegations of client mistreatment and staff failure to report incidents in a timely manner. An inquiry that ended recently found that seven clients were the subject of physical abuse, according to the Human Services Department. Thirteen clients were subjected to verbal abuse or neglect. No clients required medical treatment, the department said. The former staff members are accused of hitting a client, allowing peer-to-peer aggression, neglecting client personal care needs, talking abusively to and around clients, and teasing clients. The clients reside at four of the 17 homes on the 230-acre campus in Glenwood in Mills County. Weve taken aggressive employee action and dramatically increased supervision to ensure our clients are safe and treated properly in their homes, Richard Shults, administrator of mental health and disability services for Human Services Department, said in a release. State facilities do not tolerate mistreatment of clients, and we require staff to report concerns immediately. After the allegations were made, the former employees were placed on administrative leave pending an investigation. Families and guardians of clients who were subject to mistreatment were also notified of the investigations. The department said that it took additional disciplinary action against five other staff members and that one action is pending. The majority of the incidents involved employees working the evening shift. A message left with the Glenwood Police Department regarding possible criminal charges was not immediately returned Wednesday. Action will be taken should any additional findings conclude client mistreatment or failure to report incidents timely, the release said. If any new incidents are brought to us, well continue to investigate those, said Amy McCoy, public information officer with the Human Services Department. Since the investigation began, Human Services officials said the Glenwood Resource Center has taken the following steps to correct the problem: Increased supervision of staff, including doubling supervision on weekends and evenings. More rounds by middle and top managers, at varying times, to check on clients at their homes. Retraining supervisors and managers on the signs and symptoms of mistreatment. Requiring all staff to be retrained on the standards of client treatment and on reporting suspected client mistreatment. The resource center serves about 230 clients with intellectual or developmental disabilities who are admitted because of significant behavioral challenges or medical conditions that require intensive, complex active treatment, the department said. The facility employs more than 770 people. LINCOLN Nebraska lawmakers could take a month or more to decide whether Omaha State Sen. Ernie Chambers qualifies to continue serving in the Legislature. The veteran lawmaker faces a challenge of his legal residency by John Sciara, who filed the challenge in November after Chambers defeated him in the Nov. 8 election. Because of the challenge, Chambers was seated conditionally when the newly elected and re-elected senators were sworn in on Wednesday, said Sen. Bob Krist of Omaha, the outgoing chairman of the Legislatures Executive Board. The next step in the process will be for the new Executive Board to create a special legislative panel to investigate the legitimacy of the challenge. Under legislative rules, the committee is to consider evidence and make a determination about the residency challenge as expeditiously as possible, while giving due process to both sides. Krist said he expects the board to name a committee, which must have at least five members, on Monday or Tuesday. The group will have legal counsel and legislative staff. There is no deadline for the committees work, so Krist said he does not know how long it may be before the group issues findings and recommendations. There will have to be a reasonable amount of time taken, he said. I would think, if they do a good job, that there will be clear evidence. The committee will be asked whether Chambers meets the state constitutional requirement that senators live for at least a year in their district before they can serve. Sciara filed a petition in November claiming that Chambers lives in Bellevue and not in the north Omaha district that he represents. Sciara said he plans to present witnesses to make his case. But Chambers, who owns a home at 1825 Binney St., called rumors about his residency busybody, gossipy, vengeful cud that already has been chewed. He pointed to bills mailed to his north Omaha address as evidence of his residency. Krist said Chambers, who is a member of the Executive Board, will recuse himself from any discussion or votes on the matter. The committees final recommendation will go to the full Legislature, which can accept or reject the decision. In the last election challenge presented to the Legislature, after the November 1990 election, senators rejected a committee recommendation on a 25-24 vote. At issue was whether to seat Sen. Dennis Byars of Beatrice as a member of the Legislature or to seat his opponent, Beatrice attorney Paul Korslund, instead. Byars, the incumbent, was seated conditionally when the Legislature convened because Korslund had challenged the results of the election. The challenge was based on questions about whether to count 508 absentee ballots, which Gage County officials had initialed on the front rather than signing them on the back as required by law. If the ballots were counted, Byars was the winner. If not, Korslund had the edge. The Lancaster County District Court initially ruled that the ballots should not count, but the State Board of Canvassers, meeting two weeks later, voted to certify Byars as the winner. The court then said the matter should be decided by the Legislature. Lawmakers voted to put the matter in the hands of the Executive Board, which recommended not counting the absentee ballots. Byars cast the decisive vote when the matter came to the full Legislature. He retained his seat. Sciara said he has been planning the challenge since 2012, when voters returned Chambers to the Legislature after a four-year hiatus. In the 2016 election, Chambers got 7,763 votes to Sciaras 1,726. LINCOLN The Nebraska Legislature will face a wealth of issues and a shortage of experience when the 2017 session kicks off Wednesday morning. Seven of the 49 state senators were in office when the state faced a budget shortfall as large as the one it faces now. Fifteen have been through the twists and turns of more than two legislative sessions. Seventeen senators were just elected in November. Yet together, lawmakers need to close the gap and produce a balanced state budget by the end of their 90-day session, as required by the state constitution. They also will have to wrestle with conflicting demands for tax cuts and ongoing efforts to fix the state prison system and proposals to provide state support of private school students, legalize medical marijuana, ease occupational licensure requirements, rework state tourism efforts and more. Here are five things to watch for this session: How will lawmakers close the budget gap? The state faces a nearly $900 million gap between projected revenues and spending for the two-year budget period ending June 30, 2019. Tax increases are a political no-go. That means senators will be forced to make difficult decisions about cutting state spending, while addressing costly priorities, including the troubled Department of Correctional Services. Senators could get some help from the states cash reserve fund, which has been protected by previous lawmakers and is projected to be at $630 million by 2019. How will lawmakers respond to calls for tax reductions? The states budget woes have not dampened the demands for property tax and income tax cuts that most senators want to accommodate. But finding a way to reduce taxes during a budget shortfall will be difficult. Spending cuts would need to be more severe unless lawmakers want to shift taxes raising one type of tax to replace revenue lost from cutting another. Nor is there agreement on which tax to tackle. Agricultural groups have pushed hard for property tax cuts. Business leaders want income taxes reduced. How will lawmakers move forward on fixing the state correctional system? Nebraskas prison system remains a work in progress, as corrections officials struggle to turn around overcrowding, employee turnover and past mismanagement. Lawmakers responded in the past by passing sentencing changes and increasing funding for mental health and rehabilitation programs, community housing and staff-retention efforts. Now the department wants to build a $75 million prison addition and add 164.5 staff positions over the next two years. But a legislative oversight committee called for rethinking the new construction and speeding up the staff hires. How will lawmakers work through two bitter internal issues? The Legislatures Executive Board took no action during the summer to discipline State Sen. Bill Kintner of Papillion for using a legislative computer for cybersex, and Kintner has refused all calls to resign. That leaves a question hanging over the new Legislature about whether to impeach, expel or censure him. Lawmakers also could do nothing at all. Sen. Ernie Chambers of Omaha has vowed to keep the issue alive using the legislative process, if lawmakers drag their feet on taking action. But Chambers himself faces the potential of being ousted from the Legislature. The candidate he defeated in November is challenging whether the legislative veteran lives in his district. A special legislative committee will investigate the residence question and report to the full Legislature, which will have to decide the issue. How much influence will the governor have with lawmakers? Gov. Pete Ricketts flexed his political muscle during last years election, spending more than $116,000 on legislative races and targeting incumbents who had voted against him on the death penalty, the gas tax and immigration. Ricketts had mixed success: eight of the candidates he backed won election, including three who defeated more moderate Republican incumbents. Eight candidates supported by the governor were defeated. The message was not lost on lawmakers thinking about re-election or possible future office: Crossing the governor can carry a political cost. On the other hand, the governors involvement could strengthen the resolve of lawmakers who saw it as overreach. World-Herald staff writer Emily Nohr contributed to this report. LINCOLN Conservatives ruled the opening day of the 2017 Nebraska Legislature, defeating moderates and Democrats to hold leadership positions. State lawmakers Wednesday elected Sen. Jim Scheer of Norfolk as speaker to replace outgoing Speaker Galen Hadley of Kearney. Scheer prevailed 27-22 over Sen. Matt Williams of Gothenburg. They also chose three members of the freshman class to lead legislative committees, ousting two Democratic incumbent chairs and defeating a Democratic challenger. Scheer was the candidate considered friendlier to the agenda of Gov. Pete Ricketts. Scheer, a Republican, promised to work with the other branches of government but also to protect the autonomy of the Legislature. Williams placed more emphasis on legislative independence. Theres a difference between partisanship and political philosophy, Scheer said when asked whether senators had just witnessed a partisan takeover in the Legislature. The majority of the body is conservative. Ricketts in a statement congratulated Scheer, saying that the gravity of the responsibility of what is before us this session is humbling and that work to balance the budget, control spending and deliver tax relief needed to take priority. Nebraska Democratic Party Chairwoman Jane Kleeb said in a tweet that the results of the elections showed that the governor bought the Legislature. Folks dont want 1 party control, she wrote. Ricketts millions bought it. Some predict that the shift to a more conservative-led body may have poisoned the 90-day session. State Sen. Burke Harr of Omaha said the leadership posts went to people who share an ideology of not working across party lines and of favoring partisanship over the best interests of Nebraskans. My fear is that today is the day the music died, that we became a partisan body, said Harr, a Democrat in the officially nonpartisan Legislature. The elections, however, will not change the issues facing the Legislature, he said. It simply changes how lawmakers work on those issues. By the sessions end, scheduled for June 2, lawmakers are expected to create a new two-year state budget and address taxes, work to fix the troubled state prison system and hear proposals to ease occupational licensing requirements, among others. Today will be the first day to introduce bills. Day 1 wasnt all successful for conservative lawmakers. No state senator made a motion Wednesday morning to change the closed practice of electing legislative leadership, though Sen. John Kuehn of Heartwell rose to explain his vote against adopting the temporary rules. He said he would not try to change the rules to require open ballots. The temporary rules that include the use of secret ballots then were adopted 45-4, with Sens. Bill Kintner of Papillion, Lou Ann Linehan of Elkhorn and John Lowe of Kearney voting with Kuehn against their adoption. But Wednesday afternoon, before the days last election, Kuehn filed a motion to require a recorded vote for chair of the Legislatures Rules Committee. That attempt failed when lawmakers voted 29-19 to maintain secret ballots. Kuehn said he waited to take formal action until the last contested race so as to not interrupt the traditional nature of the sessions first day, which included the swearing in of newly elected and re-elected senators, flanked by their families and friends. I felt that it was an important enough issue to the people of Nebraska that the body needed to make a decision, and the body made a decision, he said. But Omaha Sen. Ernie Chambers, the bodys lone independent and a strong opponent of opening ballots for leadership, called Kuehns move an effort to undercut the Legislatures integrity for the sake of the Republican Party. Kuehn, he said, was acting in bad faith and some members allowed themselves to be used as pawns. And Harr took issue with a ruling by Lt. Gov. Mike Foley, the Legislatures presiding officer and member of the Executive Branch, to let Kuehns motion go forward, saying we have a separation of powers issue. Think about what has happened today, Chambers said before senators voted to maintain secret ballots. Think of how youve poisoned the well already. Do you need to add insult to the legislative process to the injury youve done to your colleagues? Lawmakers elected 17 Republicans, one Democrat and one Libertarian to committee leadership. That compares to last years 15 Republicans and four Democrats. Veteran lobbyist Walt Radcliffe said it is not unusual to see a coalition of senators come together on the first day of a session. But Wednesday marked the first time he could recall having a freshman senator elected committee chairman, let alone three freshmen. The freshmen senators elected to lead committees are Mike Hilgers of Lincoln (Rules), Joni Albrecht of Thurston (Business and Labor ) and Justin Wayne of Omaha (Urban Affairs). Radcliffe said the leadership votes dont necessarily guarantee success for a more conservative agenda, however. There were 27 or 28 votes for most senators who won legislative leadership positions, but it takes 33 votes to end a filibuster. These votes today serve to further polarize the Legislature, he said. Kuehn disagreed, saying each Legislature is different. This years body has 17 new members. Its part of the natural process, he said. While change can be uncomfortable for some, its the basis for new ideas and new innovations. Sen. Tyson Larson of ONeill said he didnt see the changes as a shift to more conservatism because three different political parties now represent leadership. Said Sen. Mike Groene of North Platte: In democracy theres winners and losers. The Democrats were never nonpartisan. Theyve always voted as a block. Sen. Dan Watermeier of Syracuse said now that leadership has been decided, senators will move forward to work through bills and issues. I disagree with Sen. Chambers that this is going to bring the house down, he said. But others saw the day as a threat to the Legislatures unique nonpartisan system. George Norris is turning in his grave right now, said Sen. John McCollister of Omaha, referring to the architect of the Nebraska Legislature. The divisiveness carried over into the evening as a 13-member committee met to assign individual senators to the 15 standing committees. A skirmish erupted over the political makeup of the Education Committee Among the leadership surprises was the election of Watermeier as chair of the Legislatures Executive Board, defeating incumbent chair Sen. Bob Krist of Omaha. Though Watermeier previously had said hed run for vice chair of that committee, he entered the race Wednesday at the urging of members of the body, he said. They just wanted a choice, he said. It wasnt about personalities. It wasnt about what Sen. Krist has done. Hes done a good job of guiding the body. *********** Senators elected to legislative leadership: Sen. Jim Scheer of Norfolk was elected as Speaker of the Legislature to replace term-limited Speaker Galen Hadley of Kearney. Scheer prevailed over Sen. Matt Williams of Gothenburg. Both are Republicans. Both Republicans in the officially nonpartisan Legislature, Sen. Dan Watermeier of Syracuse ousted incumbent Executive Board chair Sen. Bob Krist of Omaha. Watermeier nominated himself Wednesday, though he had previously declared to be vice chair of the committee. Sen. John Kuehn of Heartwell won vice chair of the Executive Board. Kuehn, a Republican, was unopposed. Sen. Lydia Brasch of Bancroft was elected chair of the Agriculture Committee. Brasch, a Republican, was unopposed. Sen. John Stinner of Gering was named leader of the budget-crafting Appropriations Committee. He was unopposed. The Republican succeeds term-limited Heath Mello, a Democrat. Republican Sen. Brett Lindstrom of Omaha was elected to lead the Banking, Commerce and Insurance Committee. Lindstrom follows Scheer. Incumbent Business and Labor Committee Chairman Burke Harr, a Democrat, lost to newcomer Republican Sen. Joni Albrecht of Thurston. Albrecht threw her name into the race Wednesday. Sen. Mike Groene of North Platte was named chair of the Education Committee over Sen. Roy Baker of Lincoln. Both are Republicans. Groene replaces term-limited Democrat Kate Sullivan of Cedar Rapids. Incumbent General Affairs Chair Sen. Tyson Larson of ONeill defeated a challenge from Omaha Sen. John McCollister. Both are Republicans. Going into the election, McCollister was the only declared candidate. Larson nominated himself from the floor. The Government, Military and Veterans Affairs Committee will again by chaired by Sen. John Murante of Gretna. The Republican was unopposed. Republican Sen. Merv Riepe of Ralston defeated Sen. Sara Howard of Omaha, a Democrat, to chair the Health and Human Services Committee. Riepe replaces Republican Kathy Campbell, who was term-limited. The Legislatures lone Libertarian was elected to lead the Judiciary Committee. Sen. Laura Ebke of Crete follows Republican Les Seiler, who lost in the November election. Ebke, who changed her party affiliation from Republican over the summer, was unopposed. Republican Sen. Dan Hughes of Venango won against Democrat Sen. Rick Kolowski of Omaha to lead the Natural Resources Committee. Hughes replaces term-limited Republican Ken Schilz. The Retirement Committee will again be led by Republican Sen. Mark Kolterman of Seward. He was unopposed. Sen. Jim Smith of Papillion will chair the Revenue Committee. Smith, a Republican who was unopposed, replaces term-limited Mike Gloor, a Republican. The Transportation and Telecommunications Committee will be led by Republican Sen. Curt Friesen of Henderson. He was unopposed. He replaces Smith,. Freshman Sen. Justin Wayne of Omaha prevailed over Sen. Sue Crawford of Bellevue to chair the Urban Affairs Committee. Both Democrats, Crawford was the only candidate to declare for the position. Wayne, who was viewed as more conservative than Crawford and received support from conservative senators, entered the race Wednesday. New Sen. Mike Hilgers of Lincoln defeated Lincoln Sen. Matt Hansen to chair the Rules Committee. The committee was previously chaired by Republican Tommy Garrett, who lost in the November election. Hilgers, a Republican, supports ending secret ballots, an issue the Rules Committee deals with. Hansen is a Democrat. Republican Sen. Joni Craighead of Omaha was elected to chair the Committee on Committees. She was unopposed. Also read: 5 hefty challenges facing Nebraska lawmakers On horseback or motorcycle, Saundra Sandy Deepe enjoyed living life to the fullest. She was a true renaissance woman who could accomplish anything she tried to do, said Deepes husband, Tom Paltani of Malvern, Iowa. She was very honest, unassuming and a hard worker. Deepe, 61, died surrounded by family Monday at Nebraska Medicine-Bellevue. Paltani said his wife had battled influenza since Dec. 18 and later developed pneumonia. A private memorial service will be held today in Omaha. In lieu of memorials, Deepes family suggested well-wishers be kind to someone you love. Being kind was just who Sandy was, Paltani said. Its a celebration of her spirit. Deepe was born in Deshler, Nebraska, and graduated from Bruning High School in 1973. She received an accounting degree in 1976 from Peru State. She also earned a license as a certified public accountant and worked as a financial controller for Primus Sterilizer Co. of Omaha. Deepe was working as an accountant at Hill Brothers Transportation of Omaha at the time of her death. Deepe loved horses and was honored to participate in 1996 in the National Pony Express Association re-ride, her husband said. The re-ride is an annual event involving hundreds of riders retracing the 2,000-mile mail route between California and Missouri. Six years ago, Deepe found a love of iron horses when she bought a motorcycle and began riding with her sister Beverly Hargett of Omaha. The sisters, accompanied by Deepes son Lucas Krakow and his wife, Moranda, of Dixon, California, took extended trips to Alaska, across the South and to Niagara Falls. Sandy was very proud of her Iron Butt patch, Paltani said. She got it for riding over 1,000 miles from Columbia, Missouri, to Virginia Beach, Virginia, in 24 hours. In addition to her husband of 10 years, Hargett and Krakow, Deepe is survived by her mother, Bernice Deepe of Bruning; sisters Bonnie Boccitto of Long Beach Island, New Jersey, and Betty Deepe of Omaha; brother John Deepe of Deshler; son Levi W. Krakow of South Lake Tahoe, California; and beloved dog Jack. WASHINGTON The Senate Agriculture Committee lacks a Nebraskan for the first time in nearly half a century, even as the panel prepares to kick off hearings on a new farm bill. Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., announced Tuesday that he will leave his seat on the panel in the new Congress and is also relinquishing his spot on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. Instead, the freshman senator has secured positions on the Armed Services and Judiciary Committees, and hes keeping his seat on the Banking Committee. In an interview with The World-Herald, Sasse said he will be just as active in the farm bill process regardless of his committee assignments and that his new ones position him well for the 115th Congress. This allows us to participate in two of the three biggest debates at the committee level in the next 18 to 24 months, Sasse said. That includes the Judiciary Committees handling of Supreme Court vacancies and the Armed Services Committees work on developing a national security strategy that addresses Islamic jihad and cyberwarfare, he said. The third issue he referred to was repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act, which he said is likely to be handled in the coveted Finance Committee difficult for a relatively junior senator to join. Sasses moves mean that he wont be on the Agriculture Committee as it begins debate on what could be a highly contentious farm bill. Nutrition assistance programs, commonly referred to as food stamps, always produce fireworks. In addition, some fiscally conservative groups have signaled that they also are gunning for the fundamental underpinnings of the farm safety net. That could put Sasse in a tough situation. Hes a farm-state senator, but he also is a favorite of groups like the Heritage Foundation that could oppose the farm bill. Committee Chairman Pat Roberts, R-Kan., has indicated that the panel will first take up President-elect Donald Trumps nominees and then dive straight into the farm bill. We have immediate problems to address, Roberts said in a statement. We will listen to producers, Main Street and others concerned with the current economic climate in farm country. We have immediate supply and demand challenges. We need to hear from those on the ground what works in the current farm bill and what can be adjusted. Its a striking change to have no Cornhusker representation on the Agriculture Committee. Its membership has included at least one Nebraska senator since Sen. Carl Curtis joined in 1969. For a time, in fact, both Nebraska senators Democrat Ben Nelson and Republican Mike Johanns served on the committee together. Gosh, said John Hansen, president of the Nebraska Farmers Union, when he learned of Sasses move. That is disappointing. We lost Ashford to the election, and now Sasse. I dont remember when Nebraska had neither a House or Senate member on the Ag Committee. Former Rep. Brad Ashford, D-Neb., just lost his re-election bid and was the only Nebraskan on the House Agriculture Committee. It remains to be seen whether his GOP successor, Rep. Don Bacon, will get a spot on the House panel. After his election in 2014, Sasse touted his position on the Senate committee, particularly his role as head of the subcommittee on livestock, marketing and agriculture security. It is a tremendous honor to serve as the chairman of this important subcommittee, Sasse said at the time. And the position was hailed by groups such as the Nebraska Farm Bureau Federation and the Nebraska Cattlemen as a way for him to look out for Nebraska producers interests. Still, Steve Nelson, president of the Nebraska Farm Bureau Federation, on Tuesday downplayed the impact of Sasse leaving the committee, saying there are lots of areas outside that particular panel where lawmakers work on issues important to farm country. Its certainly a good thing when you have your senators and representatives on ag committees, Nelson said. Its not a bad thing when theyre not, either, because theres lots of other ways that they can serve. Nelsons organization is already hashing out its priorities for the farm bill, including maintaining safety net programs such as a robust crop insurance system. Sasses moves are also interesting given that Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb., already is a senior member of the Armed Services Committee. She also will remain on the Commerce Committee and Environment and Public Works Committee. Sasse had to get a special waiver to serve on a committee with his home-state colleague. He defended that decision, saying its a uniquely powerful committee because it crafts a sweeping defense authorization bill every year. He said cyberwarfare will receive much-needed focus in the new Congress. As for the Judiciary Committee, Sasse said that he hears from Nebraskans all the time about the Supreme Court and that nobody understands the burden of executive overreach more than farmers and ranchers. He suggested that his work on Judiciary will include putting people on the bench who will rein in agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency. He said his Banking assignment will include work on pushing back regulations such as those related to the Dodd-Frank law and the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. As for the oversight that he was doing on the Governmental Affairs Committee, Sasse said he was confident that the Senate will continue efforts to push back on executive powers. I believe there will be lots and lots of opportunities for bipartisan oversight of the executive branch, Sasse said. LINCOLN A special prosecutor has been appointed to look into an alleged assault involving several high school students in Valentine, Nebraska. One or more minors were the victims of assault by a group of students on Oct. 30, according to court records. The Valentine Police Department and the Cherry County officials have declined to release any information regarding the report of the assault. Cherry County Attorney Eric Scott, whose law office is in Valentine, requested a special prosecutor, citing a conflict of interest in reviewing the case. On Dec. 19, Custer County Attorney Steven Bowers was appointed by District Judge Mark Kozisek as the special prosecutor. Bowers will decide whether any charges should be filed. He did not respond immediately to a request for comment on Tuesday. Valentine public schools officials and Scott have declined to comment on the incident, saying only that it was under investigation by law enforcement. WASHINGTON Arriving for his first day as the Omaha areas congressman, Rep. Don Bacon was greeted by calls pouring into his office from constituents. They were anxious to share a piece of their minds about a closed-door vote by Republicans Monday night in favor of weakening an independent ethics watchdog. Three guys on the phone at once, Bacon said in describing the situation. Bacon, who hadnt even been sworn in at that point, said he explained to the callers that he had opposed the changes during that Monday night meeting. The GOP move quickly ran into a buzz saw of criticism with Democrats hammering away on the issue as evidence that President-elect Donald Trumps pledge to address Washington cronyism was nothing but hot air. Republicans claim they want to drain the swamp, but the night before the new Congress gets sworn in, the House GOP has eliminated the only independent ethics oversight of their actions, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said in a statement. Evidently, ethics are the first casualty of the new Republican Congress. Trump himself took a shot at Congress, describing the watchdog office as unfair but suggesting that Congress had better things to do. By midday, the proposal had been withdrawn. It was a busy day as the House re-elected Paul Ryan as speaker. The five Republican members from Nebraska and western Iowa all supported the Wisconsin Republican for the job. Bacon and the rest of his new House colleagues then raised their right hands and took the oath of office, pledging to support the Constitution, without mental reservation or purpose of evasion. The retired Air Force brigadier general said he got a little emotional taking that oath, so similar to the one he took upon first entering the military many years ago. Bacon said he was glad to see his fellow Republicans abandon the proposed changes to the Office of Congressional Ethics. I just thought we should have made an effort to find some Democrats who agreed with us and go forward that way, he said. A lot of Democrats agree that this has gotten out of hand. Objections to the ethics offices current structure include that complaints can be made anonymously and that false accusations have damaged reputations and required the accused to spend significant sums on lawyers, even when the complaint is baseless. Rep. Jeff Fortenberry, R-Neb., said he was among those who supported the proposal when the Republican conference voted on it Monday night. The American people deserve the highest ethical standards from their lawmakers, he said, and there was a valid concern eight years ago that a more robust office was needed. But he said the current structure represents a lack of due process for the accused. This is almost guilty until proven innocent, Fortenberry said. Still, Fortenberry said later that he supported the withdrawal because he thought it was preferable to tackle such a complex and misunderstood issue on a bipartisan basis. Rep. Adrian Smith, R-Neb., wrote on Twitter that he had opposed the proposal on Monday night. Open, bipartisan reforms are key to restoring faith in Congress, Smith tweeted. Rep. David Young, R-Iowa., declined to discuss the issue and how he voted Monday night. Instead, he pointed to a statement released by his office saying that he had supported the successful effort to prevent the proposal from moving forward on Tuesday. He believes reforms are needed, but the process needs to be done in a bipartisan way, and must be debated in an open and honest process not behind closed doors, according to the statement. New and returning Iowa and Nebraska lawmakers said they were excited to get to work. Its the first time in years that Republicans have had a united government to work with, and they are expected to dive into their top priorities. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, was sworn in for his seventh term and talked up his work as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Bacon said hes particularly keen to tackle an overhaul of federal regulations. Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, was quick to introduce a slew of legislation related to immigration and the Affordable Care Act. Fortenberrys primary job as a member of the Appropriations Committee will be to tackle the budget, which he said he hopes to bring back to regular order. He also said there will be a debate over whether to bring back the practice of earmarks. Fortenberry said that earmarking money to specific projects that lawmakers want could make it easier to move legislation but that it has to be done in a way the public can support. But to go back to the former system, to even use the word earmark, he said. Youve got to get rid of it. The credibility is shot. In other areas, Fortenberry said a push to boost spending on infrastructure could draw bipartisan support, but that it must come with a plan to pay for it. He said that health care needs an overhaul that works for everyone and that corporate tax cuts are a possibility as long as theyre not a giveaway to multinational corporations. And the Lincoln lawmaker marveled at the national renewal that comes with the election of a new government. As messy and difficult and controversial as it can become, this constant ability for our system to replenish itself with new people, new ideas or election processes that bring about new ideas is really, really fascinating and a great gift, Fortenberry said. Ricketts control problem We have a problem: Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts and his need to control. He has an obsession with the death penalty, which is state-sanctioned murder. His need to control the situation drove him to disregard the Legislatures 2015 override of his veto of a bill that ended Nebraskas death penalty, and he personally helped fund the petition drive to put it on the ballot where it was restored by voters. He disregards Nebraskas nonpartisan Legislature. He called out the registered Republican senators who voted to override that veto and helped fund their opponents in last years election. He also personally targeted Democratic senators. This need to control will destroy the unique and unifying nature of our nonpartisan Legislature. We see this now in efforts to do away with secret ballot elections of legislative leaders. This is not the Nebraska way. Peg ODea Lippert, Papillion Support a constitutional convention I want to thank State Sen. Laura Ebke of Crete for sponsoring a bill calling for an Article V Convention of States. I see no reason that the governor or enough, if not all, of our state legislators shouldnt support this effort. Larry Storer, Omaha Big step in combating climate change State Sen. Ken Haar of Malcolm, along with Sens. Tyson Larson of ONeill, Heath Mello of Omaha, John Stinner of Gering, Patty Pansing Brooks of Lincoln, John Kuehn of Heartwell and Ken Schilz of Ogallala, put aside partisan politics and actually got something done involving climate change (Bipartisan panel unanimously endorses wide-ranging climate plan, Dec. 29 World-Herald). Their committee produced an action plan recommending that the Legislature promote more renewables, as well as measures for farmers and improved infrastructure. Haar was justified in boasting, maybe Congress could take a lesson from us on this important issue. Well done, and well said. Kathleen Ann Hughes, Omaha Suspect graduation rates Everyone should be very careful when cheering for increased high school graduation rates (Omaha graduation rates up, Dec. 17 World-Herald). For educators whose continued employment is threatened in the name of school reform, there are two methods available to accomplish the appearance of the academic improvement demanded by some politicians and by all corporate school reformers. One is test fraud. The other method is to graduate a student whose academic performance does not deserve a diploma. Just issue a pass when an academic performance deserves a fail. Consider some recent history. In April 2014 the U.S. Department of Education reported an increase in the national graduation rate. One month later, the same agency reported that the nations high school seniors have shown no improvement in math and reading performance since 2009. That is a mighty fishy combination. Rob Bligh, San Antonio More PC run amok As I read Matthew Hansens Dec. 30 front page admonition to men demanding that they stop telling women to smile, I searched in vain for the punchline. Hansens article was insulting because it attributed sinister meaning to an otherwise mild comment. People are tired of being called racist, sexist, misogynistic, homophobic or patriarchal by crybabies desperately searching for a reason to be offended. I could not believe that this self-indulgent, whiny topic would be significant enough that it consumed so much space on the front page of the newspaper. Tim Hall, Papillion U.S. right to stand against settlements President Barack Obamas resistance to Israeli hardliners insistence on expanding settlements is exactly right. It does not mean that he or the United States are anti-Israel but that we are anti-settlements. Palestinian terrorism of the past and possibly the future is a separate issue. The settlements are wrong and have been from the beginning. Many American Jews and Israeli citizens agree with Obamas policy. Ordinary Palestinian people need the chance to improve their lives. The settlements are a big obstacle. Susan Beeghly, Omaha Congress priorities I think it is telling that the first two congressional priorities were trying to restore pork-barrel earmarks and gut the independent ethics office. After that will likely come the use of a procedure called budget reconciliation to pass legislation with a simple majority vote, essentially making filibusters obsolete. Joseph Slattery, Omaha Quite a way to ring in the New Year As a visitor to your city for the holidays, we were fortunate to witness your marvelous fireworks display on New Years Eve. Thank you, and we will be back again next year. Dick Johnson, Kearney At the beginning of each new year, I usually write about the foreign policy issues the president will confront in the next 12 months. But 2017 wont be a normal political year just as 2016 was a stunner. So it isnt enough to forecast the fate of the Islamic State, or the rise of China, or the next Mideast conflict. This years dominant theme will be something much more existential: the fate of Western liberal democratic systems as we have known them since World War II. The cracks in Western democracies have been widening for years as economic inequality has risen and factory jobs shifted abroad or to computers. But it took the Brexit vote in Britain and the victory of Donald Trump to lay bare a level of public fear and discontent that goes beyond the economic. Those unhappy with the pace of change or on the losing end of globalization and even some whove done well are seeking leaders who promise to roll back the clock. That provides fertile terrain for rabble rousers who offer voters a list of enemies migrants, Muslims, international (Jewish) bankers to blame for everything that has gone wrong. Social media magnifies their message, and facts have become irrelevant. Conspiracy theories are in. So last year was a great one for demagogues in democratic countries. This year could be worse. The 2016 crop starred Britains Nigel Farage, leader of the Brexiteers who campaigned for Britain to leave the European Union, and demonized Muslims. The British demagogue has started a domino process that could lead to the end of the European Union, which, for all its flaws, has kept the peace in Europe since World War II. Of course, the victory of Trump who endorsed Brexit and has hosted Farage at Trump Tower has more far-reaching implications for democracies in the West. Trumps win reflects the bitterly political polarization that has paralyzed Congress. The president-elect has encouraged his followers to regard political opponents as the enemy and has demonized minorities and Muslims. Such extreme polarization makes it almost impossible for a democracy to function. The United States was once viewed abroad by friend and foe alike as the exemplar of democratic institutions. But as Ive traveled abroad, in Europe, the Mideast and China, I have repeatedly heard the same kinds of questions from ordinary people: What has happened to American democracy? How did it collapse? If the U.S. democracy is no longer seen as a role model, indeed is viewed as a failure, this raises questions worldwide about the efficacy of democracy as a system. Such questions are fodder for the propaganda of Russia and China, both of which are trying to promote an alternative governing model: one in which a strongman and a single party control the system. Such a system may or may not permit a cosmetic veneer of democratic institutions. Already, illiberal democracy is making headway in Europe, as Hungary and Poland move closer toward this model. Austria came close to electing a neo-fascist president. Meantime, Turkeys Recep Tayyip Erdogan, now working closely with Vladimir Putin, has turned his countrys once flourishing democracy into a virtual police state. Russia, for its part, is encouraging populist parties and demagogues across Europe, offering reams of publicity and cash and no doubt secret cyber-assistance. So what should you look for in 2017 to measure how democracy is faring in the West? One key will be the results of April-May presidential elections in France, where Trumps win may have boosted the chances of right-wing nationalist Marine Le Pen, who wants France to leave the European Union. Were that to happen, the EU would collapse. A second key factor will be how well the party of Germanys Angela Merkel does in parliamentary elections, which must be held by October. The widely admired Merkel has rightly been billed as the last man (or last strong leader) still standing in Europe and the last firm defender of liberal democracy. But she has lost popularity since letting 1 million refugees into Germany in 2016, in large part because she considered it her countrys moral duty. The most important factor, however, will be the governing choices made by Donald Trump. The president-elect has made clear he has little interest in the network of the post-World War II international political and economic institutions that America created and led for decades. No doubt they need overhaul, but if they crumble, the vacuum will be filled by others, notably China and Russia. Moscow will also be trying to expand its geographical sphere of influence. It will be greatly emboldened if NATO and the European Union crumble. But neither prospect seems to dismay Trump, who finds Putin praiseworthy and may dream of real estate deals in Moscow. The key to Western democracys fate in 2017 will be whether, once in office, the president-elect moves to strengthen alliances with democracies in Europe and Asia. If he retreats to the America First stance he embraced in the election and prefers to pal with Putin rather than Merkel, Western democracy will be in even deeper trouble. So in 2017 watch whether President Trump chooses to defend democratic principles abroad (and at home) or whether he finds such principles irrelevant and prefers to focus solely on the art of the deal. Forecasters are calling for another day of bitter cold and a decent chance of light snow tonight in the Omaha area. Today should be partly sunny with a high in the midteens and a 30 percent chance of snow after 6 p.m. Tonight, the snow chances increase to 60 percent, mainly before 9 p.m. The National Weather Service office in Valley forecast around one inch of snow and a low in the upper single digits tonight in the Omaha area. A KMTV meteorologist, Ryan McPike, said the Omaha area should receive less than an inch of snow to maybe just a dusting. Wind-chill readings tonight in the Omaha area and locations to the north could be 10 to 15 below zero, the weather service said. In central and southeast Nebraska, and southwest Iowa, wind chills could slip to 5 to 10 below zero. Thursday will be partly sunny with a high in the mid-teens, forecasters said, and Thursday nights low will drop to around zero. Elsewhere, a winter weather advisory was issued for 6 p.m. until 6 a.m. Thursday for western, central, south-central and southeast Nebraska and extreme southwest Iowa. Those areas could receive 1 to 3 inches of snow, McPike said. Included in the advisory were Grand Island, Hastings, Kearney, Lincoln, Beatrice, Falls City and Nebraska City. The weather service said accumulating snowfall will gradually expand east out of western Nebraska into eastern Nebraska and southwest Iowa by late this afternoon and early tonight. McPike said conditions in the Omaha area should begin to warm up soon. We should start to pull out of this cold spell on the weekend, he said. By Tuesday, Ive got us with maybe a rain shower and a high in the 40s. The rest of the Omaha-area forecast, according to the weather service: Friday Mostly sunny with a high in the low 20s. Friday night Partly cloudy with a low around 7. Saturday Mostly sunny with a high in the low to mid-20s. Saturday night Partly cloudy with a low around 5. Sunday Mostly sunny with a high in the mid-20s. Sunday night Partly cloudy with a low in the upper teens. Monday Mostly sunny with a high in the upper 30s. Monday night Mostly cloudy with a low in the upper 20s. Tuesday Mostly cloudy with a high in the mid-40s. 'Delhi may get relief from pollution after Nov 5': Safar chief Delhi MCD Polls 2022 dates likely to be announced today at 4 pm AAP has no issues with Punjab, Goa going to polls same day: Kejriwal India oi-IANS By Ians English Chandigarh, Jan 4: The AAP has no objection to Punjab and Goa going to polls on the same day, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Wednesday. Punjab and Goa are the only two states where AAP is contesting elections. Kejriwal said the people were waiting for the announcement of the polling schedule for a long time to bring the Aam Aadmi Party to power in the two states. "Now people will openly support and work for the AAP in Punjab and Goa," Kejriwal told reporters here. He added that the AAP won't name any chief ministerial candidate in Punjab, which along with Goa would vote on February 4. He said a new chief minister would be elected by legislators after the polls. In Goa, the AAP has named former Inspector General of Prisons Elvis Gomes as the Chief Ministerial candidate. Kejriwal said his party had no objection to both Punjab and Goa voting on the same day. The AAP leader claimed his party was poised to win more than 100 of the 117 seats in Punjab. "The countdown has started for the ruling parties in Punjab and Goa." IANS For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Wednesday, January 4, 2017, 15:23 [IST] Assembly polls 2017: Model Code in force with immediate effect India oi-Oneindia By Oneindia Staff Writer With the poll dates being announced for five states, the model code of conduct comes into effect. The Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi announced the dates at a press conference in Delhi on Wednesday. Elections dates were announced for Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand Manipur, Goa and Punjab. The ECI's model code of conduct is a set of guidelines issued for political parties and candidates. During this period no major decisions can be taken. No policy decisions can be announced as well. The elections will be a closely watched affair and the stakes are high especially in the states of Uttar Pradesh and Punjab. It may be also recalled that the Supreme Court had on Monday passed a landmark verdict in which it declared illegal seeking votes in the name of religion, caste, language and caste. Counting for all the five states that go to elections will be held on March 11. Earlier, Zaidi announced that Uttar Pradesh would poll in seven phases. Elections at Punjab, Uttarakhand and Goa will be held in single phases. Manipur would poll in two phases, Zaidi announced. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Wednesday, January 4, 2017, 13:21 [IST] Budget should not be linked to poll cycle: BJP India oi-PTI New Delhi, Jan 4: With opposition parties protesting the move to present Union Budget on February 1, BJP today rubbished their claims saying it is a constitutional exercise that should not be linked to election cycle. A senior party leader also did not rule out announcement of sops for different segments of society in the budget, saying Union budgets have been presented in the past during elections and it cannot be any different this year. "Union Budget's timing and announcements cannot be subject to schedule of various elections. It has never been like this," he said. Several opposition parties have sought postponement of the budget, alleging that the government may use this to influence the upcoming Assembly polls in five states. Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi today said the Election Commission is examining the representation of various political parties for not allowing the presentation of the Union Budget during the poll process of five states and will take a call on it soon. PTI No more politics? Irom Sharmila plans to lead a peaceful life as an ordinary woman post marriage At 46, Iron Lady of Manipur Irom Sharmila gives birth to twins on Mother's Day Irom Sharmila to contest against Manipur CM India oi-Oneindia By Oneindia Staff Writer Imphal, Jan 4: Manipuri activist Irom Sharmila announced on Wednesday that she will be contesting from the Thoubal constituency against Manipur chief minister Okram Ibobi Singh in the upcoming assembly elections. The 'Iron Lady of Manipur' ended her 16-year fast against the Armed Forces Special Powers Act on August 9, 2016. Addressing a press conference, Sharmila said that her decision to contest the election was based on to have AFSPA repealed from the state as she felt her prolonged fasting 'campaign' was not yielding any results. She also accused Okram Ibobi Singh for not changing anything to repeal AFSPA during his 15 years of leadership. In October 2016, Sharmila formed her own party, the Peoples' Resurgence and Justice Alliance, to fight against the elections. Sharmila, born on March 14, 1972, began her hunger strike on November 2000 and vowed not to eat, drink, comb her hair or look in a mirror until AFSPA was repealed. Assam Rifles, a unit of the Indian Paramilitary Forces allegedly shot civilians dead while they were waiting for buses at a bus stand in Malon, a town in Imphal valley on November 2, 2000. Okram has been the chief minister for the last three terms after getting elected from Thoubal constituency. The tenure of the current Manipur assembly ends on March 18, 2017. OneIndia News (with inputs from agencies) ISRO to launch record 103 satellites in one go in February India oi-PTI Tirupati, Jan 4: ISRO will launch a record 103 satellites in one go using its workhorse PSLV-C37 in the first week of February, while Prime Minister Narendra Modi's pet South Asian satellite project will take off in March. As many as 100 of the satellites set for launch in February belong to foreign nations, including the US and Germany. "We are making a century by launching over 100 satellites at one go," said S Somnath, Director of the Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre of the ISRO. The space agency had earlier planned a launch of 83 satellites in the last week of January, of which 80 were foreign ones. But with the addition of 20 more foreign satellites, the launch was delayed by a week and will now take place in first week of February, Somnath said. He, however, did not specify the number of countries that would launch its satellites in this mission, but said it includes nations like the US and Germany. "These will be 100 micro-small satellites, which will be launched using a PSLV (Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle)- C37. The weight of the payload will be 1350 kgs, of which 500-600 kgs will be the satellite's weight," Somnath added. The launch will be a major feat in country's space history as no exercise on this scale has been attempted before. Last year, ISRO launched 22 satellites at a go and this launch will have almost five times the number of crafts. The South Asian satellite will be a part of GSAT-9, which will be launched in March this year, said M Nageshwara Rao, Associate Director of ISRO. The communication satellite was to be launched in December 2016, but was slightly delayed as some other satellites are to be launched before that. Sources said talks with Afghanistan to have the country on-board for the project is in its final stages. Envisaged as a gift to its neighbours, the project, earlier known as SAARC satellite, faced stiff resistance from Pakistan. The neighbouring country wanted it to be launched under the aegis of the South Asian regional forum. It later backed out of the project. Apart from India, the satellite will benefit Sri Lanka, Maldives, Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan. PTI Manipur CM meets President, rubbishes MHA report to EC India oi-PTI New Delhi, Jan 4: Manipur Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh today met President Pranab Mukherjee to discuss the Ministry of Home Affairs' report to the Election Commission that termed the law-and-order situation in the state as "grave". Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Singh rubbished the report saying it "wrongly" concluded that the prevailing situation was "not conducive" to conduct free-and-fair polls there. However, just ahead of Ibobi's meeting with the President, the EC declared that the Assembly election will be held in two phases -- on March 4 and 8 -- in Manipur. Ibobi, who was accompanied by Congress' Manipur election in-charge Ramesh Chennithala at the meeting, welcomed the decision. "I am told that there is a negative report sent by the MHA to the EC that the law-and-order situation in Manipur is not conducive to conduct a free-and-fair election. It is totally wrong and baseless," he told reporters. The chief minister said issues such as insurgency, blockades, strikes are not unique to Manipur but they affect the entire north-east and that even in 2012, the state Assembly polls were boycotted by hill and valley-based underground organisations including the PLA and the UNLF. "The Congress in particular is not allowed to hold public meetings. But, ultimately the people support the party. They gave it a thumping majority in the last polls and even this time, there will not be any problem. "We had suggested to the EC that just like earlier, the polls should be conducted in two phases. We are grateful to the commission for the announcement and hope that our party will win this time as well," the Congress leader said. Manipur has been witnessing an unrest since November 1 last due to the imposition of an indefinite economic blockade by the United Naga Council (UNC) on the lifeline of the landlocked state, two national highways, and violence following the creation of seven new districts by bifurcating the existing ones. PTI For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Wednesday, January 4, 2017, 17:32 [IST] Comedian Atul Khatri's joke on seatbelt becomes one on him as Mumbai Police responds 'Ram Setu' 1st week box office collection: Here's how much Akshay-starrer earned, so far 'Two-finger test' should be banned in matrimonial dispute cases too, says Maharashtra doctor Mortal remains of Indians killed in Istanbul attack arrive India oi-PTI Mumbai, Jan 4: Bodies of film producer-realtor Abis Rizvi and fashion designer Khushi Shah, who were among 39 people killed in the Istanbul terror attack, arrived in Mumbai early on Tuesday. "The Turkish Airlines plane carrying the bodies landed at Mumbai airport shortly after 5 AM," BJP MP Kirit Somaiya, who received the bodies at the airport, told PTI. While Rizvi's body has been taken to his home in suburban Bandra, Khushi's body was flown to Vadodara for cremation later today, he said. Rizvi's burial will also take place today. The flight carrying the bodies left Istanbul last night. Khushi and Rizvi were among the 15 foreigners who were killed when a gunman went on a rampage at the waterside Reina nightclub in Istanbul where revellers were celebrating the New Year. PTI For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Wednesday, January 4, 2017, 10:18 [IST] Now TMC burns BJP office in Hooghly, West Bengal India oi-Vicky The BJP's office in Hooghly, West Bengal was set on fire allegedly by TMC workers. The incident comes just a few hours after the house of a BJP leader was bombed in Uttarapura again by TMC workers. West Bengal: Alleged TMC workers set BJP office in Hooghly on fire pic.twitter.com/v6QrCl9tEe ANI (@ANI_news) January 4, 2017 The BJP has cried foul and says that these incidents are deliberate and the state police is looking the other way. Earlier in the day residence of BJP leader Krishna Bhattacharya in Uttarapura was allegedly attacked by TMC workers. A case has been registered in this connection. On Tuesday TMC workers attacked the BJP's office in Kolkata. The TMC has been protesting the arrests of it two MPs. They were arrested in connection with the Rose Valley scam. The TMC has termed these arrests as an agenda by the BJP against the TMC. On Tuesday the BJP's Kolkata office was attacked after the arrest of TMC MPs Sudip Bandyopadhyay and Tapas Pal. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee accused the Narendra Modi government of vindictive politics. She said after Note Bandi it was now Trinamool Bandi. The BJP accused the TMC of stage managing the attacks on its office. The BJP said that the police looked the other way when their office was being attacked. This is nothing but state sponsored vandalism the BJP also said. However after the incident the CRPF was deployed outside the BJP office. OneIndia News UP: SP leader's car hit by truck, dragged for more than 500 meters in Mainpuri | VIDEO Mulayam Singh Yadav passes away; Prez Murmu, PM Modi join leaders in mourning the death of SP founder Mulayam Singh Yadav: A quick look at his controversies that made headlines SP patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav to be cremated at native village on Tuesday Samajwadi Party crisis: Azam Khan positive about Mulayam-Akhilesh patch up India oi-Oneindia By Oneindia Staff Writer Lucknow, Jan 4: At a time when a split in the Uttar Pradesh ruling party, Samajwadi Party, looks imminent, senior leader Azam Khan is 'positive' about a patch-up between the two camps. While one camp is headed by party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav, the second led by son and state chief minister Akhilesh looks 'stronger' to take over the reins of the SP. "I spoke to Netaji, he's positive and wants to solve the issue," Azam told ANI on Wednesday. He added that both Akhilesh and Mulayam spoke. "The talks between father and son should not stop, as it's a special relationship." On Tuesday, Akhilesh met his father and spent three hours with him. However, it seems both the camps are yet to arrive at an agreement. The latest round of conflict in the party started after Akhilesh announced his own list of candidates for the upcoming UP assembly elections 2017. In fact, Akhilesh was suspended from the party for six years by his father and was immediately taken back into its fold. In a show of strength, more than 90 percent of SP legislators expressed their support for the chief minister. OneIndia News SC tells Karnataka to release 2,000 cusecs of water to TN India oi-Vicky The Supreme Court on Wednesday directed Karnataka to release 2,000 cusecs of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu till it decides on the order of the Cauvery Waters Tribunal. On the last date of hearing the court had agreed to hear appeals filed by the states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu which had challenged the order of the Cauvery Waters Tribunal. The court had ruled that the appeals filed by Karnataka and Tamil Nadu challenging the award of the Cauvery Waters Tribunal are maintainable. Both states had challenged the order of the Cauvery Waters Tribunal dated February 5, 2007. The Centre had opposed the appeals stating it is not maintainable. The tribunal in its final award had determined the usable quantum of water of the Cauvery at 740 tmcft. Karnataka is entitled to 270 tmcft, Tamil Nadu to 419 tmcft, Kerala 30 tmcft, Puducherry 7 tmcft, and 14 tmcft is meant for environmental purposes, the tribunal had said. OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Wednesday, January 4, 2017, 15:38 [IST] Son rise in DMK, M K Stalin appointed working president India oi-Anusha By Anusha Ravi M K Karunanidhi's political heir apparent, M K Stalin was appointed working president of DMK on Wednesday. The post was announced recently only for him to lead the party owing to party patriarch Karunanidhi's worsening health condition. Along with M K Stalin being appointed the working chief of the party, 15 other resolutions were also passed. Breaking image of arch rivalry, the party passed a resolution to condole late J Jayalalithaa's death. For a party that has been extending its support to Jallikattu, the DMK passed a resolution asking the Prime Minister and the centre government to lift the ban on what they termed 'traditional sport' of Tamil Nadu. DMK raised concerns over issues that the government should have ideally raised. Resolutions on demonetisation, NEET, concerns on drought hit Tamil Nadu farmers, urging the government to ensure safe return of Tamil Nadu fishermen arrested by Sri Lankan security forces also found place in the DMK general body meet. The DMK asked the government to mitigate hardships faced by people as an effect of demonetisation. Already the leader of opposition in the Tamil Nadu assembly, M K Stalin will now lead the party as well. He had been running the party eversince M Karunanidhi's health took a blow earlier this year. M Karunanidhi had already paved the way for M K Stalin to lead the party when he had declared Stalin as his political heir apparent. The statement came as a clear snub to his other son M K Azhagiri who had been contending for the post of DMK's next chief. OneIndia News Some CBI officers had 'setting' with TMC, so ED was sent to probe Bengal scams: Dilip Ghosh 'Won't bow my head before BJP': TMC's Abhishek Banerjee after ED interrogation in cattle scam Sudip Bandyopadhyay's wife cries foul over arrest India oi-Oneindia By Oneindia Staff Writer Trinamool Congress MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay's wife has cried foul over his arrest and blamed the CBI of not informing the family about it. She has also registered a complaint with the Bidhan Nagar Police Station alleging that she was not informed about his arrest. TMC MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay's wife registers a complaint in Bidhan Nagar (WB) against CBI alleging that she was not informed of his arrest. ANI (@ANI_news) January 4, 2017 Meanwhile, Bandyopadhyay's legal counsel has claimed that allegations against the TMC MP were totally baseless and politically motivated. "Allegations are totally baseless, it is political vendetta. So far as Mr Bandyopadhyay is concerned, there's no evidence," news agency ANI quoted Bandyopadhyay's lawyer Rajdeep Majumdar. TMC's Chandrima Bhattacharya has also filed a complaint in Anandpur, West Bengal, against CBI over Bandyopadhyay's arrest. Bandyopadhyay was arrested in connection with the Rose Valley chit fund scam. TMC has come out in support of their leader and taken to streets in protest. "Sudip da is absolutely fine. He is confident, he is healthy and he is happy. We are going to Delhi tomorrow. By doing all this, you cannot stop TMC and Mamata Banerjee," Trinamool's Rajya Sabha leader Derek O'Brien said on Tuesday Bandyopadhyay alleged that the arrest was the result of political vendetta against him and the TMC by the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance government. Last week the CBI arrested actor-turned-TMC MP Tapas Pal in connection with the Rose Valley chit fund scam. Also, Pal's daughter Sohini appeared before the CBI for interrogation in Bhubaneswar for the second time. OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Wednesday, January 4, 2017, 13:58 [IST] TMC has no moral right to speak against black money: Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee India oi-PTI Kolkata, Dec 3: In his first public appearance since the humiliating defeat of the CPI(M) in Assembly polls last year, senior party leader and former Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee today said the Trinamool Congress has no moral right to speak against black money when its MPs were arrested in Rose Valley Chit fund scam. Bhattacharjee alleged that the Mamata Banerjee government was full of "anti-social elements" and the entire Trinamool Congress was "corrupt". "The Mamata Banerjee government is full of anti-social elements and one of them was arrested today," he said referring to the arrest of Trinamool Congress leader Sudip Bandopadhyay by CBI in the Rose Valley ponzi scam case. "From top to bottom, the entire party is corrupt. This government does not have the moral right to speak against black money. Instead of searching elsewhere, they should search their own houses for black money," Bhattacharjee said. He was speaking on the occasion of 50 years of CPI(M)'s mouthpiece 'Ganashakti'. CPI(M) state secretary Surjyakanta Mishra asked the CBI to arrest the "big fishes" allegedly involved in the scam. "We all know that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was present in the meeting with Rose Valley chairman Gautam Kundu in Delo bungalow in Kalimpong. There is no need to raise a hue and cry over the arrest of two MPs. The CBI needs to arrest the big fishes instead of arresting the small fries," Mishra said. He also dared Banerjee to arrest CPI(M) leaders who she named earlier in the day claiming to be involved in the Rose Valley scam if she found concrete evidence against them. "She has named a few of our leaders today. However, there was no need to take names as none of our leaders are involved in the scam and they are not in the list of probables who are likely to be questioned," he said. The CPI(M)'s Kolkata District Committee has organised a rally on Wednesday to demand the arrest of "big fishes" in the Rose Valley scam. PTI For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Wednesday, January 4, 2017, 9:41 [IST] Sushma Swaraj shuts down a troll who said she will be remembered like Sheila Dikshit Delhi loses two of its former CMs in span of two weeks Final Goodbye: From Sushma Swaraj to Sheila Dikshit - A look at politicians that India lost in 2019 UP assembly polls 2017: Congress CM face Sheila Dikshit has a tough time ahead India oi-Oneindia By Oneindia Staff Writer Lucknow, Jan 4: At a time when the old guard of most of the political parties are pushed aside into oblivion, often relegated to be margdarshak (guide), it came as a surprise to many when veteran Congress leader Sheila Dikshit was declared as the chief ministerial candidate for the 2017 Uttar Pradesh assembly elections by her party. In the battleground of Uttar Pradesh, where the Congress has been out of power for the last 27 years, things seem bleak for the former Delhi CM and her party. Who is she? Birth and education: Dikshit was born on March 31, 1938, in Kapurthala, Punjab. She did her Masters in History from Miranda House College of University of Delhi. She also has a doctorate in philosophy from the University of Delhi. Political career: In an old interview, the 78-year-old politician admitted that her entry into politics was 'purely accidental'. Dikshit was brought into politics by former prime minister Indira Gandhi. After heading Delhi for three consecutive terms from 1998 to 2013, as its CM, she also served Kerala as governor from March to August 2014. Controversies: Diskhit is not new to controversies. During her decades long career, the veteran Congress leader's name has been dragged in a couple of corruption cases, the most prominent one was the 2010 Commonwealth Games scam. She also faced flak for her insensitive remarks towards women during Nirbhaya gang-rape and murder case in 2012. OneIndia News In India terror down by 34%, civilian deaths by 90% since Art 370 scrapped: Shah Only those from political families can eye a CMs post in Congress: Amit Shah UP assembly polls 2017: Rise of Amit Shah, from RSS volunteer to BJP president India oi-Oneindia By Oneindia Staff Writer Shah, who has been seeking votes for the BJP has left no stone unturned for the upcoming elections. Here is a look at his profile: Date of birth: October 22, 1964 Education: Shah has a Bachelor's Degree in Bio-Chemistry from CU Shah Science College, Ahmedabad. Political career: Shah became a member of the RSS at the age of four, where he used to attend the local shakhas and later on became a volunteer during his college days. He met Narendra Modi in 1982 when Modi was a RSS Pracharak. Shah officially joined the BJP in 1986. Even as Shah continued to rise within the party ranks, he campaigned for LK Advani during the 1991 General elections from Gandhinagar. Amit Shah became the Minister of State during Modi government in Gujarat, holding portfolios like transport, housing, police, and more. Shah played a crucial role during the 2014 Lok Sabha elections where BJP won a massive majority. Following BJP's win, he was appointed as the party president , replacing Rajnath Singh. Controversies: Amit Shah has had his share of controversies after his name cropped up in the Sohrabuddin Fake encounter and Ishrat Jehan encounter case. During the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots, it was alleged that Shah had tried to polarise the voters in UP. UP polls: How Mayawati is reaching out to Muslims, Dalits India oi-Vicky Lucknow, Jan 4: Caste, appeasement and religion will always be an integral part of politics. An analysis of the list that has been filed by the Bahujan Samaj Party for the Uttar Pradesh elections shows that the party is depending very heavily on both the Muslim and Dalit votes. [Also Read: Mayawati, defiant of SC verdict, lures Muslims, Dalits to vote for BSP] The party's strategy is to stitch together the Dalit and Mulsim votes. This was done taking into consideration the fact that the Dalit and Muslim votes constitute 40 per cent of the electorate. The number of Muslim candidates has gone up from 85 in 2012 to 97 this year. The BSP's supremo, Mayawati, had said on Monday that the Dalits and Muslims should not waste their votes on the Samajwadi Party which has split. BSP's seat break-up: If one were to look at the seat break-up, it is clear that Mayawati is reaching out heavily to the Muslims in Uttar Pradesh. She has fielded 28 per cent from the upper castes, 24 per cent Muslims, 21 per cent Dalits and 26 per cent OBCs. This is a clear indicator that Mayawati is relying very heavily on the Muslim votes and she is aware that if she manages to grab a lion's share of these votes, the BJP and the SP would be in trouble. The number of Dalit seats has fallen from 88 to 87 when compared to the 2012 polls. She has also nominated 66 Brahmins, 36 Kshatriyas and 11 from the Vaishya and Khatri communities. The number of Brahmins has decreased considerably from the 2007 elections. In 2007 the BSP had 86 Brahmins while in 2012 and 2017 it is 74 and 66 respectively. The number of OBC candidates being fielded too has fallen from 113 in 2012 to 106 this year. OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Wednesday, January 4, 2017, 6:47 [IST] Some CBI officers had 'setting' with TMC, so ED was sent to probe Bengal scams: Dilip Ghosh 'Won't bow my head before BJP': TMC's Abhishek Banerjee after ED interrogation in cattle scam WB: TMC workers block NH-2 in protest against Bandyopadhyay's arrest India oi-Oneindia By Oneindia Staff Writer The Trinamool Congress workers on Wednesday blocked National Highway 2 near Asansol, West Bengal, in protest against their MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay's arrest, said reports. West Bengal: TMC workers block NH-2 near Asansol in protest against the arrest of TMC MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay. Vehicles stranded. ANI (@ANI_news) January 4, 2017 Bandyopadhyay was arrested in connection with the Rose Valley chit fund scam. TMC has come out in support of their leader and taken to streets in protest. "Sudip da is absolutely fine. He is confident, he is healthy and he is happy. We are going to Delhi tomorrow. By doing all this, you cannot stop TMC and Mamata Banerjee," Trinamool's Rajya Sabha leader Derek O'Brien said on Tuesday Bandyopadhyay alleged that the arrest was the result of political vendetta against him and the TMC by the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance government. Last week the CBI arrested actor-turned-TMC MP Tapas Pal in connection with the Rose Valley chit fund scam. Also, Pal's daughter Sohini appeared before the CBI for interrogation in Bhubaneswar for the second time. OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Wednesday, January 4, 2017, 11:28 [IST] COLUMN: What is Indian Secularism? India oi-Oneindia By Sanjal Shastri The recent Supreme Court judgement forbidding the use of religion, caste or creed to seek votes did not come as a surprise. The preamble of our constitution clearly marks India as a 'Sovereign, Socialist, Secular, Democratic Republic'. In the ideal sense in a 'secular' democracy, religion must be kept out of all political discourse. On the face of it the debate will appear to be an open and shut case. Indian democracy however is anything but straightforward. The system has multiple layers and is a highly complex process. The Supreme Court judgement forces us to relook at what Indian secularism really is. Secularism has multiple meanings and interpretations. Given India's multi-cultured, multi-religious and multi-linguistic makeup, can we afford to divorce religion and politics? More than sixty years after Independence, there has been no national consensus regarding what Indian secularism would entail. The Supreme Court verdict spells out secularism as divorcing state and religion. The verdict also exposes several contradictions. Firstly, we have separate Hindu, Muslim and Christian family laws. Going by what the court has said, if secularism means divorcing state and religion, then we cannot be having separate family laws for different religions. The debate over triple talaq touched on this aspect of the discourse. The demand for a universal civil code is based on this very idea of secularism. In this sense in a secular democratic country, one cannot have laws, which are derived from religious teachings. The second contradiction arises from the reservation system. Going by the Supreme Court verdict, along with religion, caste and creed should also be kept away from election campaigns. The reservation system, however, allocates a certain number of seats for SCs, STs and OBCs. This goes against the Supreme Court's interpretation of secularism. An idea open to interpretation While making sense of these contradictions, one needs to take into account that not all interpretations of secularism have advocated a complete divorce of state and religion. Maulana Husain Ahmed Madani, proposed a form of secularism were the state would be impartial and support all religions equally. The popular perception of secularism in India also looks at secularism as a system where the state engages all religions impartially. When drafting separate family laws for Hindus, Muslims and Christians, the idea of secularism was that the state would not divorce itself from religion totally, but would rather be impartial and give equal space to all religions. The Supreme Court's vision of secularism follows the American and French interpretation that a secular state has noting to do with religion. In France, the ban on burqa in public places stems from the idea that religion is something that is restricted to the private sphere. Since the burqa is seen as a religious symbol it cannot be worn in a public space like a beach or a shopping mall. Deciding what Indian secularism means will require us to understand which of the two interpretations would be most suited for the Indian context. Compared to France or US, India is a far more diverse country with several layers of identity. In India's cultural context, the division between the private and public sphere, on which French secularism is based on, is different. The Supreme Court's interpretation of totally segregating religion and politics poses several challenges. In a religiously heterogeneous state like India, the democratic system is what guards the rights and liberties of minority groups. By taking religion away from politics, the court is taking away an important tool in the hand of minority groups to ensure their rights are not trampled upon. Democracy is about representation, in a multi-religious society like India, it will be difficult for a minority group to have a political voice if the state and religion are separated. Development and economic prosperity has not been evenly distributed. Certain castes and communities have had enjoyed the benefits of India's progress while others have not enjoyed their share. When introducing the system of reservation, the goal was to ensure groups that had previously not had a chance to gain access to education and government jobs get a chance. While there are challenges faced with the reservation system, there is no doubt that some element of positive discrimination is going to be key to ensure that all groups of people enjoy the benefits of India's progress. If religion, caste and creed is divorced from the state, then it is will be difficult to ensure equitable progress. For this the government will have to introduce policies, which are targeted at specific regions or communities. A matter of distinction In Indian culture there is very little distinction between the public and the private. The personal life of a person holding a public office is carefully scrutinised. Personal habits or behaviour impacts the social image of an individual. Social or group identities often are as important as individual identity. In a country were the line between private and public does not exist, the French model of secularism, which restricts religion to the private sphere, will not be feasible. If we are to define an Indian model of secularism, it would be one were the state gives all religions equal importance. It is not a system where the religion and the state are two separate entities. It is not a system where religion is restricted to the personal space. Given the layers of diversity and identities Indians have, interaction between religion and political discourse will be here to stay. For any minority groups, the democratic system is the means by which their rights are safeguarded and their voice is heard. Removing religion entirely from the political discourse will not be in the interest of our representative system. India's secular democratic system will be one where different religions have a separate family law. Our current civil code is the most suited to ensure the freedom to practice one's religion. Positive discrimination and reservation system are here to stay. Successive governments in the future will have to device special policies which target specific groups in order to ensure that benefits of India's rise is distributed amongst all. While it is tempting to adopt the American or French brand of secularism, we have to account for their adaptability in the Indian context. Indian democracy has been designed as a secular system where the state gives equal space to all religions. Over the past seventy years, this system has served us well. If there is any way Indian secularism can be defined, then this must be the way. The author is an academic associate at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad. He can be contacted on sshastri93@gmail.com. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Wednesday, January 4, 2017, 16:59 [IST] 2017 will be a year of massacre for Europe? International oi-Vicky Berlin, Jan 4: It would be a bad idea to pay a visit to Europe in 2017 as the entire region is under the threat of lone wolf attacks by members of the Islamic State. intelligence agencies from across the world have been rating the threat perception very high and say that all of Europe remains extremely vulnerable to lone wolf attacks by the IS. [Also Read: Germany hunts possible accomplices of Berlin suspect Amri] Attacks at Nice and Berlin demonstrate how vulnerable Europe is to lone wolf attacks. Running a crowd over with a truck is an easy option available to IS recruits and they will try and replicate more such attacks, the intelligence agencies warn. While the threat perception remains A-grade and extremely high, the IS too issued a warning stating that 2017 would be the year of most deadly attacks for Europe. This is just the beginning the IS handles posted on Twitter. One person wrote on Twitter that 2017 will be the year of massacre for Europe. To add to the fears of such warnings, the Europol went on to state that the threat of the IS looms large. Intelligence agencies say that there is no doubt that the IS would step up the attacks. The pattern that we are studying indicates that there is heavy recruitment and promotion of IS ideology on the web with a specific focus on Europe, one intelligence official says. They will look to replicate the same pattern and stage attacks. Attacks by lone wolves would be the highest, but one must also note rule out coordinated strikes as well, the officer also noted. OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Wednesday, January 4, 2017, 7:29 [IST] After criticising UN, Trump speaks with UN head Antonio Guterres International oi-IANS By Ians English United Nations, Jan 4: After scathing criticism of the UN, US President-elect Donald Trump spoke on Wednesday with Antonio Guterres, its new Secretary-General. The Secretary-General's deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq told reporters that Guterres called Trump and described it as an "introductory calla that "went quite well." Trump spokesperson Sean Spicer in answer to a question at his briefing about the criticism of the UN and moves in Congress to cut US contributions to it, said that as the biggest contributor to the UN budget, Washington can demand some "reforms and changes" to make it more efficient. The US contributes about 22 percent of the UN's budget and about 25 percent of its peacekeeping expenses. Spicer did not give any specifics about their meeting and said that Trump will work with his UN Ambassador-designate Nikki Haley on the US agenda at the world body. They discussed a number of issues and how the UN and the US can work together, Haq said. They will get into the specifics when they meet, he added. He said that he did not think that the Paris agreement on climate change came up in their conversation. Trump has been sceptical about the Paris pact as well as about the UN version of climate change dangers. Last month the Security Council passed a resolution critical of Israel and condemning the construction of settlements in occupied territories with the US refusing to veto it as it has in the past with resolutions criticising the strong ally of the US. Trump attacked President Barack Obama for allowing the resolution to pass and said in a tweet, "As to the UN, things will be different after Jan. 20th," the day he takes over as President. Efforts have also started in the US Congress to cut funding to the UN as a fallout of the resolution. In another tweet, Trump mocked the UN as a "just a club for people to get together, talk and have a good time." But he also added, "The United Nations has such great potential." Last month Guterres told the Portuguese television channel SIC last month that he hoped to have an excellent working meeting with Trump and it was in his interest to meet him. He also acknowledged that Washington was a major contributor to the UN and has a fundamental role in its activities. IANS Germany: Agencies search two locations linked to Berlin attacker International oi-PTI Berlin, Jan 3: German police have searched two locations in Berlin linked to the man suspected of carrying out a deadly truck attack on a Christmas market in the capital last month. Federal prosecutors said that police conducted one of the searches at a refugee shelter where a 26-year-old Tunisian man lived. The unnamed man allegedly knew Anis Amri, the 24-year-old Tunisian suspect ,who was shot dead by police in Milan days after the attack. Prosecutors say the other man was in contact with Amri until shortly before the December 19 attack. They suspect he knew about plans for the attack and may have helped him. A separate search was conducted at an apartment where a former roommate of Amri's once lived. The attack killed 12 people and left dozens more injured. PTI Government attacks rebel-held river, Damascus goes thirsty International oi-PTI Beirut, Jan 3: Residents of Damascus are scrambling for clean water after the government attacked rebels holding the city's main source in a nearby valley, producing an outage that has stretched on for nearly two weeks. The cut-off is a major challenge to the government's effort throughout the nearly 6-year-old civil war to keep the capital as insulated as possible from the effects of the conflict tearing apart much of the country. The battle for resources has always been an undercurrent to the war. The government, in particular, has advertised its efforts to keep electricity and water flowing to areas under its control, while it blocks the UN and other relief agencies from supplying opposition zones. But rarely has that struggle been so starkly felt inside the capital. "I have stopped cleaning the house, washing dishes or clothes. We no longer take showers," said Mona Maqssoud, a 50-year-old resident of Damascus. She said residents have relied on water tankers that come by occasionally and give 20 liters (5 gallons) of water to each house, but that hasn't been enough. "We begged the drivers (to return) to our neighborhood, but they refused." The opposition has long controlled Wadi Barada, the valley northwest of Damascus through which the river of the same name flows to the capital. The government and the opposition had previously had an understanding to keep water services running. But that modus vivendi ended when forces of President Bashar Assad and his allies, the Lebanon Hezbollah guerrilla force, attacked the valley, home to some 100,000 people. The cut-off, since December 22, is the longest Damascus has seen, say residents, who are accustomed to intermittent outages. The Barada River and its source, the Ain al-Fijeh spring, supply 70 per cent of the water for Damascus and its environs. An activist-run media collective in the Barada Valley said government and Russian aircraft had bombed the Ain el-Fijeh water processing facility, puncturing its fuel depots and contaminating the water stream. The collective said the plant's electrical control systems had been destroyed as well. Images showed the roof of the facility collapsed into its main water basin. An activist with the group, Abu Mohammed al-Bardawi, said it would take at least two months to get the facilities working again. Damascus officials said they shut off the water after opposition forces poured gasoline into the river. The government denied attacking the water processing facility, saying it would not set out to harm its own population. Still, it would not be the first time it strikes its own facilities: government strikes hit pumping stations in the northern city of Aleppo in April, September, and November. Damascus, the seat of Assad's power, has been spared from the widespread destruction in other parts of the country, though rebels on the outskirts occasionally fire mortar rounds into the city. AP For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Wednesday, January 4, 2017, 14:32 [IST] PFI ban 'dangerous' as every Muslim who speaks his mind can now be arrested: AIMIM chief Owaisi Muslim man can't remarry if he's unable to take care of family: Allahabad HC Why a terror angle should not be ruled out in the Coimbatore cylinder blast case What if Owaisi had? Muslim users on Twitter blast Kejriwal for asking for Hindu God images on currency notes Muslim rebel group men free 132 from jail in Philippines International oi-IANS By Ians English Cotabato City, Jan 4: Armed men believed connected to a Muslim rebel group stormed a jail facility in North Cotabato in the Philippines early on Wednesday and freed at least 132 inmates, officials said. Supt. Peter Bungat, warden of Amas of Kidapawan District jail, told radio station that gunmen led by a certain Commander Derbie opened fire at his men guarding the facility around 1.00 a.m. local time, leaving one of his men dead and another wounded, Xinhua news agency reported. Bungat confirmed that 132 out of their 1,511 inmates managed to escape. "It's well planned. Escapees used blanket as their getaway. There's ongoing clearing operation. We have manhunt operation," he said. Bungat said Commander Derbie belongs to the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. "We have no idea right now if there were any high profiles in the 132 inmates that escaped. We are still accounting our prisoners," he said. IANS For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Wednesday, January 4, 2017, 8:53 [IST] Suspected IS scout for Berlin attack sites goes on trial International oi-PTI Berlin, Jan 4: An alleged Islamic State jihadist accused of scoping out potential targets for an attack in Berlin, including the Brandenburg Gate and Reichstag building, went on trial in Germany today. It was the country's first trial of a suspected IS militant deployed to Germany from Syria during the chaotic 2015 refugee influx -- in contrast to "lone wolf" attacks or plots by extremists who were radicalised elsewhere. The defendant, identified only as 19-year-old Syrian national Shaas al-Mohammad, allegedly fought with the Islamist militia in his war-torn homeland for two years before arriving in Germany as a refugee in August 2015. Dressed in a blue pullover and a black cap, Mohammad hid his face behind a folder as he took his seat in the courtroom. Two police trucks were parked outside the entrance, with officers armed with machine guns guarding the proceedings. Mohammad was standing trial at a special state security court in Berlin on charges of membership of a foreign terrorist organisation, which carries up to 10 years in jail, and military weapons law violations. The trial comes just over two weeks after an IS extremist from Tunisia allegedly ploughed a truck through a Berlin Christmas market in an attack that killed 12 people. Prosecutors claim the defendant joined the jihadist group as a teenager in mid-2013, taking part in combat operations, handling an AK-47 assault rifle and supplying food to fighters. He arrived in Germany near the peak of a mass influx of people fleeing Syria, Iraq and other crisis-torn countries that brought almost 900,000 asylum seekers to Europe's biggest economy in 2015. He allegedly stayed in "close contact" with IS and repeatedly visited the German capital until February 2016 to scout out landmark targets and busy tourist sites for an attack. Among the suspected targets was the area around the glass-domed Reichstag parliament building, the nearby Brandenburg Gate monument and the busy shopping square Alexanderplatz. He then allegedly "passed the information about the potential attack targets onto his contacts at the IS", said the court in a statement. "In addition, he arranged to send at least one person to Syria as a fighter and offered his services as a contact person for potential attackers in Germany," it added. The young Syrian was arrested on March 22 last year and has been in pre-trial detention ever since. The court has set 25 hearings until April. PTI International news brief: Series of earthquakes rattle Hawaii and more Turkey: Emergency period extended for another three months International oi-IANS By Ians English Ankara, Jan 4: The Turkish parliament on Tuesday approved to extend the state of emergency for another three more months, Dogan News Agency reported. [Also Read: 5 reasons why a military coup was staged in Turkey] Turkey declared a state of emergency on July 20, 2016, days after a failed military coup, which Ankara blames on the US-based exiled cleric Fethullah Gulen, Xinhua news agency reported. Under emergency rule, the government can bypass the parliament to enact new laws and limit or suspend rights and freedoms. Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said on Tuesday that debates on a bill to change the Turkey's constitution will start in parliament next week. The draft will be submitted to the General Assembly on January 9 and is expected to be approved by the end of the month. The bill grants extended power to the President and allows the President to remain the head of his or her political party. The Turkish government said it would put the constitutional changes to a referendum, even if the proposals had gained enough support from lawmakers to pass through the parliament. IANS COLUMN: Turkeys bid to join the EU: Have we reached a point of no return? International oi-Oneindia By Sanjal Shastri 2016 has been a testing year for Turkey's relations with the European Union. With Austria's foreign minister threatening to freeze talks regarding Turkey's EU membership bid, irreparable damage might be done to the relationship between the two sides. Turkey, a land that is described as a natural meeting point between the East and the West, is increasingly finding itself out of favor in Europe. This commentary attempts to look at the possible fallouts of the turbulent year in EU-Turkey ties. Has irreparable damage been done to Turkey's membership bid? And finally what could we expect in 2017? The migrant deal inked in March was the high point to EU Turkey relations in 2016. While many critics lambasted the deal for its total disregard for human rights, the fact that the two groups were able to come to the agreement was a major milestone in Turkey's attempt to join the EU. From this high point in March, the journey has gone steadily downwards, now threatening to permanently derail Turkey's bid for EU membership. For Turkey, 2016 has been a particularly testing year. A series of terror attacks and an attempted coup has pushed President Erdogan's government to employ emergency powers to deal with the situation. It is the use of emergency powers that has been the bone of contention in the EU. From the alleged ill-treatment of the deputy leader of Turkey's parliament in Germany to the many verbal battles between the two sides, several pressure points have arisen. Ultimately, the EU voted to freeze all talks of Turkey's membership bid, which is where the situation currently stands. What could possibly be the fallout of this tension? The immediate victim of this could be the migrant deal the two sides struck in March. President Erdogen has already sent to feelers that he would not hesitate to scrap the deal with things spiral out of control. Much more than a battle over the use of emergency powers, for President Erdogen, this is become an, us versus them situation. In such situations, pragmatism and foresight falls prey to jingoism and hyper-nationalism. Looking at how things have panned out over the past few months, one cannot but help fear that the migrant deal would be the first victim in the whole process. Scrapping the migrant deal would have drastic consequences across Europe. The influx of migrants has been a very volatile topic across the 27 EU member states. Right wing parties in several countries including France, Germany and Austria had been receiving a lot of support for their anti-migrant stand. The migrant deal put breaks on the number of migrants entering Europe, which halted the growth in popularity of the various right wing parties. With elections coming up next year, a return of a large number of migrants anywhere near the 2015 numbers, will mean that right wing parties will begin to see more support. Popular support for Angela Merkel, which had fallen in late 2015, had picked up again after a fall in the number of refugees. If there is an increase in the number of refugees, it may seriously damage Merkel's chances of getting re-elected. With Turkey's future with the EU in jeopardy, there could be changes in the regional balance of power and security calculations. Currently, Turkey, which is a member of the NATO, is a crucial ally for the West. The US and the EU have been cooperating closely with Turkey regarding the fight against ISIS. If the tensions with the EU continue, Turkey will be pushed to look for a future alliance somewhere else. There have already been sights that the Turkish leadership has begun to look elsewhere. Talks have commenced over a possible partnership with the Shanghai Cooperation Group. The last thing the EU would want is for Turkey to move towards Russia. A possible Turkey, Iran, Russia and Syria alliance will not be a bright possibility for the EU. While we are still very far away from getting here, if things deteriorate further between the EU and Turkey, this possible re-alignment would not be too farfetched. The question comes, have EU and Turkey gone to a point of no return? There is still some light at the end of the tunnel. European leaders like Angela Merkel understand the importance of the migrant deal on the upcoming elections. They realize that pushing Turkey too far will jeopardize the migrant deal. The hope is therefore, some sort of understanding would be reached over the next couple of months. There is a lot at stake for the EU to mend fences with Turkey. That being said, the outcome of the French, German and Dutch elections next year will have a lot to say. If right wing parties come out stronger, chances are that Turkey will be pushed beyond a point of no return. This however depends on the right wing parties winning a significant number of votes in the upcoming elections. As of today, there is light at the end of the tunnel. For many in the EU, Turkey's bid to join the Union has always been a very contentious issue. Despite constant tensions with Greece and Cyprus, promising progress had been made. 2016 has however, bought about doubts if such a membership would ever be possible. A debate over emergency powers adopted by President Erdogan is quickly turning to an, us versus them debate. It puts in the all-important migrant deal between the two sides in jeopardy. If this does happen, Europe may again witness an influx of migrants, which will have an impact on the elections planned next year in Germany, The Netherlands and France. Turkey, which has already begun looking for greener pastures with the Shanghai Cooperation Group, may be forced to look towards Russia for a possible alliance. A change of this sort is bound to have serious consequences for the security calculations in the region. While a lot that could go wrong has gone wrong, while have not yet reached a point of no return as far as EU and Turkey are concerned. For EU, there is a lot at stake and one should not be surprised if a deal is struck between the two sides in early 2017. The author is an Academic Associate at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad. He regularly rights about issues linked to the Middle East and South Asia. He can be contacted on sshastri93@gmail.com. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Wednesday, January 4, 2017, 16:53 [IST] US talking to Pakistani leaders to shut down safe havens for Taliban along Pak-Afghan border: Pentagon Concerns on terrorist safe havens in Pakistan an honest one: US US hits back at N.Korea over ICBM claims, asks to refrain from provocation International oi-PTI Washington, Jan 3: The Pentagon on Wednesday asked North Korea to refrain from provocative actions amid reports that Pyongyang is planning to test an intercontinental ballistic missile that is capable of reaching the United States. On Tuesday, US president elect Donald Trump took to Twitter to comment on North Korea's claims on ICBM missiles. North Korea just stated that it is in the final stages of developing a nuclear weapon capable of reaching parts of the U.S. It won't happen! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 2, 2017 "We further call on all states to take steps to show that there are consequences to the DPRK's unlawful conduct," Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook told reporters at his daily news conference. DPRK is the official name of North Korea. Cook made the remarks while responding to questions on statements coming from the North Korean leadership on launching an ballistic missile capable of reaching the US. "We call on the DPRK to refrain from provocative actions and to make the strategic choice to fulfil its international obligations and commitments and return to serious talks. We reaffirm our iron-clad commitments to defend our allies to utilising the full spectrum of US extended deterrence capabilities," Cook said. Multiple UN Security Council resolutions, he said explicitly prohibit North Korea's launches using ballistic missile technology or further development of a ballistic missile programme. "We call on all states to use every available channel and means of influence to make clear to North Korea and its enablers that launches using ballistic missile technology or efforts to advance North Korea's ballistic missile capabilities are unacceptable," he said. The UN resolution, Cook said, explicitly prohibits North Korea from engaging in ballistic missile tests and from developing this technology. "We would call on the North Koreans to refrain from provocative actions," he said, adding that there are ample reasons why North Korea should not carry out something of a provocative nature. Cook said the United States is working closely with the South Koreans to install and deploy a missile defence system as quickly and efficiently as possible. "We will do everything we can working with the South Koreans to do that. We think it's an important part of our broader missile defence efforts in support of our ally and in support of the region as well," he said. Cook said the international community is uniformly challenging North Korea to once again not carry out provocative actions. "This is a country that has demonstrated an unwillingness to be part of the international community, and we're once again calling on all players, all countries to use what influence they have to get North Korea not to engage in these kind of provocative actions," he reiterated. PTI OK! Magazine 04 Nov 2022 Queen Mother 'would have been absolutely horrified' at Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's Oprah interview, an expert said. Hacer Aydin, ITE Turkey Tourism & Travel & Fashion Group Director answered questions of ftnNEWS. ftnNEWS: Can you please give us information about EMITT 2017? This year well be organizing East Mediterranean International Tourism and Travel Exhibition EMITT for the 21st time. EMITT is organized by EUF E Uluslararas Fuarclk, an affiliate of ITE Turkey, organizer of leading exhibitions in leading sectors in Turkey. Recognized as one of the top 5 tourism exhibitions in the world, EMITT will be held between 26-29 January 2017. The exhibition will be held in a total of 12 halls representing a total exhibition space of 70 thousand sqm and will be joined by national pavilions, Turkeys holiday destinations, winter and outdoor tourism destinations, hotels and tourism centers, tour operators, agencies and hotels who will showcase and promote a wide range of holiday destinations to visitors. With this exhibition well bring together holiday destinations for all 4 seasons both from Turkey and 80 countries. ftnNEWS: What is EMITTs significance for the sector? The exhibition which will be held in a total of 12 halls representing a total exhibition space of 70 thousand sqm will host national pavilions, Turkeys holiday destinations, winter and outdoor tourism destinations, hotels and tourism centers, tour operators, agencies and hotels as exhibitors and give information to visitors about a wide range of holiday destinations. Companies from around 80 countries will get access to new procurement, business development, new business and partnership opportunities. Thus, we can say that EMITT makes a great contribution to the sector. On the other hand, economic contribution of EMITT, which is also a major platform that facilitates interaction between different cultures in Turkey and between international cultures, cant be underestimated. Hundreds of international exhibitors that come to our country for EMITT and thousands of visitors and exhibitors coming to Istanbul from other parts of our country enliven the tourism in the city. And those coming from abroad also enliven the economy. The biggest deals and partnerships of the tourism industry in our country are being made here. Business deals that will benefit our country are being signed thanks to EMITT. Turkeys position as a transit country due to its geographical location, and its proximity to Europe and Middle East also makes EMITT distinguished exhibition. While the Eastern Mediterranean Region as mentioned in our exhibitions name- is considered to be easily accessible for many countries, it also nests many different holiday destinations as well. ftnNEWS: Can you please give us information about EMITT 2017s supporters and business partners? EMITT, which will be organized at Tuyap Fair Convention and Congress center between 26 - 29 January 2017 will be held with the corporate sponsorship of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Turkish Republic, Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality and Turkish Airlines, with support of KOSGEB and in association with Turkish Hoteliers Federation (TUROFED) and Turkish Tourism Investors Association (TYD). ftnNEWS: What changes will this years EMITT be offering? Recognized as one of the top five tourism exhibitions in the world, EMITT will be featuring the Health Tourism Special Section geared towards the health tourism industry, which has become very popular in recent years. In the Health Tourism Special Section, which will be joined by around 30 countries including Turkey, there will also be numerous health centers for treatment and plastic surgery. Ministry of Health of Turkish Republic as well will be joining the exhibition with a large exhibition space. ftnNEWS: Will Russia join this year and what other countries will join? As we do every year, this year as well, well have a Hosted Buyer International Buyer Delegation Program for EMITT. This year well be organizing this program in association with TravelShop Turkey. Weve already received applications from 60 countries that wish to join the program. Russia is among these countries. And we believe that the number of companies from Russia that wish to join this program will increase until the exhibition. In addition to companies from Russia, companies from Azerbaijan, United Arab Emirates, Philippines, South Africa, India, Spain, Italy, Kuwait, Lebanon, Macedonia, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Jordan and Greece as well show great interest in EMITT and apply to this program. ftnNEWS: What will be the advantages of visiting EMITT exhibition? With such a diverse exhibitor profile, the visitors of the exhibition will get the chance to discover new destinations and plan their 2017 holidays in detail. EMITT Tourism exhibition will help its visitors choose their holiday destinations at bargain prices, with Early booking campaigns and with holiday drawings. Holiday consumers will be hosted on the third and fourth of the exhibition which is 28 to 29 January 2017. Free online invitations for EMITT will be available on www.fuardavetiyesi.com for both before and during the exhibition. ftnNEWS: Do you think there is sufficient state support for the tourism industry in general and for EMITT? EMITT, which will be opening its doors for the 21st time between 26 29 January 2017, received great support from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Turkish Republic regarding holiday sales for summer of 2017 and 2018. The ministry sent a letter of incentive to tourism companies and tour operators to encourage them to offer EMITT visitors holiday deals at lower prices. The early booking campaigns stated with support from the ministry with the goal of supporting the tourism industry in our country, creating holiday awareness in our citizens, help our citizens to travel across and discover their country and benefit from touristic facilities at lower prices, has come a long way in recent years. If the travel agencies and hotels that will join EMITT take into account the incentive of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Turkish Republic and prepare their discounted holiday package deals in advance, then our people will get the chance to enjoy holidays at prices that match their budgets. And this will both enliven the tourism industry and have a positive impact on the national economy. We believe that players of the tourism industry will do their best in that sense. ftnNEWS will participate EMITT at S&M Publication stand at Hall 2 Stand D203 by Graham Pierrepoint Its 2017, and yet the drama that 2016 year wrought upon the world doesnt seem to be dissipating just yet. This was a year in which we saw Donald Trump get elected, several of our favorite stars pass away, and Britain choose to leave the European Union. This last story has been reverberating around the British Isles for some time and, ahead of preliminary talks set to take place regarding exactly how the UK will disembark from the Union, it seems that a whole new can of worms has been opened up. Sir Ivan Rogers, British Ambassador to the EU and arguably one of the UKs best experts on the Union and the ways in which an exit strategy could have been negotiated has made a surprise resignation from his role just days from talks being set to get underway. Rogers departure has not been delved into too deeply at the time of writing, however, as a staunch supporter of the Remain side of the referendum vote, many commentators have come forward to suggest that the Ambassador may have felt forced out of the role. This, it is suggested but not confirmed may have been as a result of Rogers conflicting stance on exit matters with the Brexit Means Brexit approach that the government is pressing ahead with. Its a very interesting development particularly as it is not yet clear exactly where this will leave the UK in terms of its position on negotiating. For many who support the idea of a hard Brexit or even Brexit altogether Rogers departure may be seen as something of a positive change. However, there is little doubt that the negotiating table has lost one of its most brilliant brains and it is not yet clear exactly why. It also continues a concerning trend of resignations and changes behind political doors in the wake of the Brexit referendum results with rumors circulating regarding which result the government genuinely predicted, and with Leave campaigner Boris Johnson allegedly having sided with Remain in private, the whole affair remains rather tentative and not particularly clear. With Prime Minister Theresa May due to find out soon whether or not MPs will be required to offer their consent on the activation of Article 50, it will prove to be a very important year for negotiating an exit strategy and for Theresa May, one which will prove pivotal in the cementing of her leadership. 2008-2022 One News Page Ltd. All rights reserved. One News is a registered trademark of One News Page Ltd. Rumble 29 Jan 2022 Wealth, Health, and Relationships are linked. Messing up with one can have a significant effect on the other two. We post videos.. 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Learn more If you do not want to serve your nation with pride, you can leave the forces, says Prime Minister Peter ONeill.If you do not serve your uniform with honour, you have no right to wear it."The PMs statements follow at the back of reports of a clash between the PNG Defence Force and Police at New Year.He has issued a direction to the Nations disciplined forces to immediately enforce the one-strike and you are out policy for unacceptable behaviour."The public expects better from our service personnel and there are many young committed men and women who want to join the forces, ONeill said in a statement.The report I have on the incident at Boroko over the weekend is very concerning.It is now up to relevant commanders to finalise their investigation and take very firm action against any individual who has broken the law and violated their service codes of conduct.PM ONeill said the Government has invested significant resources into restoring the disciplined forces."Over the past five years, we have brought back training programs, we are rebuilding service housing and pride is being restored."There is increasing public confidence in our Police, Defence and Correctional Services and we will not see this tarnished by a selfish few."There are still some individuals who are living in the past, who had thrived on the dysfunction in the disciplined services over the past decades.Times are changing and these ways of the past are being eradicated from our disciplined services.The Prime Minister has further urged young men and women to consider joining one of the three disciplined services.We are continuing to recruit more people into Police, Defence and Correctional Services.I urge young Papua New Guineans to consider career opportunities with our disciplined services, to serve the Nation and to gain skills that will serve them a lifetime.As our nation develops, our economy improves and our communities become even safer, our disciplined services will continue to improve and serve the nation with pride. Komfie Manalo, Opalesque Asia: During the last two weeks of December, hedge funds delivered positive returns and outperformed both equity and bond benchmarks. For the full month of December, the Lyxor hedge fund index was up 1.3% (-0.4% YTD), Lyxor Asset Management said in its latest briefing. Global macro managers outperformed in December on the back of the rebound in European equities and the depreciation of the EUR and GBP vs. USD. CTAs experienced a healthy rebound over the recent weeks, which contributed to reduce their negative performance in 2016. L/S equity managers underperformed towards the end of December as market conditions turned less supportive and the rebound in cyclical stocks paused. Philippe Ferreira, Senior Strategist at Lyxor AM, commented, "It would be an understatement to say that active investing has been challenged in 2016. Political risks loomed large and the switch from deflation fears to reflation hopes in H2 led to sizeable trend reversals across the board. This took most investors by surprise." He added that hedge funds underperformed global equity and bond indices in 2016, while active mutual funds failed to beat their benchmarks. A very small proportion of both European and US equity mutual funds outperformed their benchmarks in 2016. Active investors in the fixed income space also struggled. "On a positive note, we find that Asian equity mutual funds delivered al...................... To view our full article Click here Opalesque Industry Update - Global independent fund administrator, Apex Fund Services, today announces the appointment of investment expert Daniel Strachman. Strachman, who joins Apex Fund Services (US) Inc. as Head of US Business Development, is a well known industry expert who boasts an impressive background in the investment management industry. He brings with him more than twenty years of in-depth financial services experience having held positions at Cantor Fitzgerald & Company, Morgan Stanley & Company and having led A&C Advisors LLC for sixteen years delivering strategic guidance, counsel and support to investment management companies and institutional investors. Strachman is the author of nine investment strategy books including The Fundamentals of Hedge Fund Management and Getting Started in Hedge Funds. In his new role at Apex he will drive U.S. growth initiatives and deliver fund management clients with proactive fund administration solutions. Peter Hughes, Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Apex Fund Services, said: Daniel is a really important addition to our US team at this time and he brings with him unrivaled experience of the local asset management space. The appointment of such an experienced investment expert demonstrates our commitment to expanding Apexs US market presence and providing clients with the best and most knowledgeable local support available. Daniels career speaks for itself and his background and subsequent knowledge base will help drive our North American presence forward as we continue to expand our local footprint. Daniel Strachman, Head of US Business Development, Apex Fund Services (US) Inc, said: I am truly excited and thrilled to be joining Apex at this pivotal time in the fund management industry. Never before has the industry been under so much market, fee, performance and regulatory pressure where a truly independent fund administrator is needed and warranted by investors and managers alike. I look forward to expanding Apexs reach in the market by delivering exactly what the market needs. Apex Fund Services, established in Bermuda in 2003, is one of the worlds largest independent fund administration and middle office solutions providers. Apex has continually improved and evolved its product suite by surrounding these core administrative services with additional products spanning the full value chain; from information delivery and regulatory products to capital introduction services. The globally distributed service model is delivered by over 600 staff, across 23 full service centres and an additional 10 sales offices. Apex now administers the investments of some of the largest funds and institutional investors in the world by Brian Curran, Hogan Lovells As unpredictable as Donald Trump was as a candidate, the impact of his presidency seems equally difficult to forecast. As a candidate, Trumps economic and fiscal policies lacked detail, shifted frequently, and at times, were contradictory. As President-elect, he has already walked back several of his more signature campaign promises. Once his cabinet appointments are made and confirmed, and Republican leadership in the House and Senate galvanize around a set of legislative priorities, his administrations policy objectives may become clearer. In the meantime, early signs of consensus between the incoming administration and Republicans on Capital Hill suggest significant changes could be looming for the U.S. private equity industry and deal-makers more generally. Tax Changes Donald Trumps electoral win and Republican control of Congress make it likely that significant tax reform is coming, perhaps in 2017. If passed via Congress budget reconciliation process, the bill could conceivably be enacted without Democrat support. Key features of President-elect Trumps business tax proposals include: Reducing the corporate tax rate to 15%. Limiting the top individual tax rate on pass-through income to no more than 15%. A limit on the deductibility of interest expense (as a trade-off for full business expensing for manufacturers). Simplified individual income taxes, with a top income tax rate of 25% and a top rate of 20% for capital gains and long-term dividends. Taxing carried interest at ordinary income, rather than capital gains, tax rates. The tax reform Blueprint released in June 2016 by Speaker Paul Ryan and House Ways and Means Chairman Kevin Brady is similar in many respects to the Trump plan, though with smaller rate cuts. Highlights of the Blueprint include: Reducing the corporate tax rate to 20%. Reducing the top rate for pass-though business income to 25%. A limit on deductibility of interest expense to no more than interest income. Full expensing for capital business expenditures. Simplified individual income taxes, with a top rate of 33%. Significant cuts in rates on investment income, allowing individual filers to exclude half of their income from capital gains, dividends and interest. The Blueprint is silent on carried interest. The proposed rate cuts to pass-through income could be a focal point of debate, even among Republicans. Some observers note that if passthrough income rates fall dramatically lower than ordinary income rates, or even capital gains rates, taxpayers will restructure their business and income generating activities to take advantage. According to the Tax Policy Center, a consequence would be that, carried interest would be taxed at a much lower rate than under current law, notwithstanding its reclassification as ordinary income (rather than capital gains), because the entities that earn carried interest income are organized as partnerships. Carried interest is currently taxed at a rate of up to 23.8%, while under the Trump plan (absent higher rates for carried interest) it would be taxed at a maximum rate of 15%. Trumps campaign advisors, including Wilbur Ross, the announced nominee for Commerce Secretary, insisted during the campaign that a set of rules would be adopted to exclude carried interest from eligibility for the 15% rate. So far, it remains unclear what these rules will be and when they will be advanced. Whatever emerges on tax reform will likely involve a compromise of both the Trump Plan and the Ryan-Brady Blueprint. Even Senate Democrats appear prepared for compromise. Incoming Senate Minority Leader, Senator Chuck Schumer, has signaled a desire to compromise on a plan that would cut corporate taxes if proceeds from Trumps proposal for a one-time tax on accumulated foreign earnings -- an estimated $2.6 trillion -- are reinvested in infrastructure improvements. Nonetheless, it remains unclear the extent to which Democrats in the House and Senate will be involved in shaping any compromise tax reform legislation and what any final reforms will ultimately entail. Financial Services Deregulation Dismantling regulation of the financial services industry is also likely to be an area of particular focus for the incoming administration. During his campaign, candidate Trump repeatedly pledged to get rid of Dodd-Frank, the set of sweeping financial services reforms passed in the wake of the 2008-9 financial crisis without a single House Republican vote and only three Senate Republicans supporting it (Senators Scott Brown of Massachusetts, and Olympia J. Snowe and Susan Collins of Maine). Title IV of the Dodd-Frank Act mandated that many previously unregistered advisers to private funds (such as hedge funds and private equity funds, but not venture capital funds) register with the SEC, making them subject to its oversight and enforcement jurisdiction. In 2012, after the SECs Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations launched a Presence Exam Initiative, examining more than 150 private equity firms, the SEC very publicly intensified enforcement activity over fund expenses, expense allocation, undisclosed fees, conflicts of interest, and issues related to the marketing and valuation of private equity funds. This left many private equity funds, particularly those in the middle market, to view themselves as having been unwittingly swept up in an impulse to over-regulate. In a July 2015 article in The Hill marking the 5-year anniversary of Dodd-Frank, the Association for Corporate Growths President, Gary LaBranche wrote: Regulating private equity has not enhanced the robust and highly rigorous due diligence process already performed by PEs sophisticated investors, before committing to a ten-year partnership. This due diligence is precisely why private equity outperforms most other investments over 3, 5, and 10 year periods Dodd-Frank has caused small and midsize private equity firms to divert resources from investing activities to navigating the Acts complex regulatory framework. Instead of focusing on what private equity does better than any other investment class providing returns for investors private equity firms have been forced to spend roughly $100,000 annually on compliance. Another cornerstone of Dodd-Frank that has impacted private equity is the Volker Rule. Among its restrictions, the rule restricts banks and their affiliates from investing in and sponsoring private equity funds. Notwithstanding his opposition to Dodd-Frank, when asked about the rule during the campaign, Trump was noncommittal. House Financial Services Chairman Jeb Hensarling introduced legislation earlier this year that could become the foundation of a body of financial services deregulation moving through Congress in early 2017. Hensarlings proposals, referred to as the Choice Act, include repealing the Volcker Rule and lifting the threshold for bank regulation by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau from $10 billion in assets to $50 billion. The Volker Rule is blamed (rightly or wrongly) for hurting institutional fundraising by virtue of its restricting investment capital from banks. The Volker Rule is also widely credited with leading to the significant growth of the secondaries market after banks were forced to divest their higher risk investments. Many fund managers point to these regulatory changes as having had a negative impact overall on general lending activities among banks, leading to a decline in loan origination for buyouts and the corresponding rise of unregulated institutional investors lending via private markets funds and business development companies. In light of the above, it is reasonable to expect a roll-back of Dodd-Frank, or at least portions of it, though timing, and the fate of some of its more controversial aspects remain unknown. Antitrust Enforcement Deal-makers in the private equity industry will be keeping an eye on the direction of antitrust enforcement under the new administration. Under President Obama, antitrust review and enforcement was widely regarded as more aggressive than in prior administrations, as evidenced by an increasing willingness by regulators to challenge transactions that fell below filing thresholds of the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976. While Republican administrations are generally viewed as less aggressive in their enforcement posture, the Trump administrations populist orientation could mean a more idiosyncratic antitrust posture. Citing AT&Ts bid to acquire Time Warner as an example of the power structure Im fighting, Trump famously pledged during his campaign that he would seek to block the deal.7 Moreover, if Trump makes good on pledges to clamp down on global trade, U.S. companies could be forced to find M&A opportunities at home, leading them to buy their domestic competitors, and potentially complicating competition regulation. National Security Review The incoming Trump administrations approach to foreign direct investment (FDI) in the United States and to national security reviews conducted by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) is difficult to predict, but private equity investors would be well advised to keep an eye on developments in this area in the coming months. CFIUS is an inter-agency committee with the power to review the national security implications of transactions that could result in control of a U.S. business by a foreign person. CFIUS member agencies include the Departments of Treasury, Justice, Homeland Security, Commerce, Defense, State, and Energy, as well as the White House Offices of the U.S. Trade Representative and Science & Technology Policy. Therefore, the individuals selected to head these agencies may be the best early indication of the direction of CFIUS reviews under a Trump presidency. Mr. Trump has criticized certain foreign investments in the United States8, but his trade-related critiques have focused largely on U.S. free trade agreements and the loss of U.S. manufacturing jobs to foreign countries. Nonetheless, according to CNN9, a Trump transition team draft memorandum outlining Mr. Trumps trade policy for the first 200 days of his presidency indicates that Mr. Trump would mandate that CFIUS reviews be expanded to consider food security and reciprocity by foreign countries in their treatment of U.S. investments abroad. Members of Congress previously have made similar proposals related to food security, including in connection with Chinese acquisitions of pork producer Smithfield Foods, Inc.10 and the U.S. subsidiaries of Swiss agribusiness Syngenta AG.11 In a September 15, 2016 letter12, members of Congress, noting the upcoming presidential transition, called for the U.S. General Accountability Office (GAO) to examine whether CFIUSs regulatory and statutory powers have effectively kept pace with the growing scope of foreign acquisitions in strategically important sectors in the U.S. and to consider whether CFIUS should (i) use a net economic benefit test in its reviews of foreign investments and (ii) mandate reviews of Chinese government-backed investments. GAO agreed to conduct the review. Last month the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, created by Congress in 2000, advocated outright barring Chinese state-owned enterprises from acquiring or otherwise gaining control of U.S. companies. Under existing law, CFIUS reviews are focused on threats to U.S. national security. National security is not a defined term under the relevant regulations and statute, so even without regulatory or statutory changes, the Trump administration could seek to expand the scope of CFIUSs reviews by interpreting national security to include food security and reciprocity in cross-border investments. Chinese media reports and our discussions with Chinese investors suggest that, at least in the short term, some Chinese investors might be cautious about certain investments in the United States until they better understand the Trump administrations likely approach to FDI in the United States. For more information on the incoming administrations approach to FDI and potential CFIUS changes, please see our most recent information here. It remains too early still to predict the precise contours of Trumps policy agenda, and because of that, the impact he will have on private equity and deal-making generally. Nonetheless, changes are coming, many potentially profound. We will continue to monitor these developments closely and inform you of their potential impacts. PILES AND PILES OF THIS KIND OF MONEY FILTERED TO SOLAR COMPANIES BY OBAMA. Need four more years of this waste of your tax dollars instead of small business loans that create REAL jobs? (Image by roberthuffstutter) Details DMCA The man knew what he wanted and went out and got it! Walked into a jungle and comes out at the age of twenty-one, and he's rich! - Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman Show Me The Money! Is it true that anyone living in America can get rich? A popular myth* promoted in everything from best-selling books to TV sitcoms says that it is. We are told that America is the land of endless opportunity, and anyone who works hard can come out of the jungle rich. There is even the suggestion by some that refusing the call to passionately pursue wealth is un-American. The reality, however, is quite different. The promise of untold wealth - and the personal power that supposedly comes with it - is dangled like a carrot on a stick, enticing the aspiring rich to keep focused on reaching for something the already rich know full well is forever beyond their grasp. The myth, therefore, is part of an elaborate deception, a con. While it's true that many people do rise above humble beginnings to attain a degree of wealth and social standing, it is not at the same level as the few who inhabit the mountain top. Even among the rich there is a wealth hierarchy, as evidenced by the disdain "old" money displays for "new" money. The success and endurance of the myth and its associated con is based on embedding the idea that all one needs to be happy is lots of money. And while people will sometimes pay lip service to this not actually being true, no one actually buys into the transparent denial. And how can they in a culture that lusts after lifestyles of the rich and famous, and values wealth above all else? Ironically, the Declaration of Independence originally contained the phrase, "Life, liberty and the pursuit of wealth". Why then was "happiness" substituted instead? Could it be the founders had a flash of insight, recognizing that while happiness could include wealth, it didn't exclude other definitions? It's unfortunate that for many, the original sentiment remains the only meaning. The Fatal Flaws But upon even just a cursory inspection, three fundamental flaws underpinning the scheme are exposed. First, the numbers themselves reveal that relatively few can ever actually achieve great wealth (apart from the fact that by global standards the average American is very well off). Most Americans have become aware of the 1/99 ratio of rich to not rich that represents the stark reality. Second, not everyone is driven to become monetarily rich. As previously pointed out, there are those who have an entirely different definition of wealth and seek riches in other forms, such as art, knowledge, discovery, promoting a cause, the satisfaction of helping others, etc. Some even see earning money to live as a needless distraction from more important pursuits. The third and most basic flaw in the myth gets to the very heart. There is a quote attributed to Author, David Mitchell: "Whoever dies with the most stuff wins". Whether it's stuff or money, this sums up the attitude of many regarding what they understand the purpose of existence to be. But why is that? Where is it written that the meaning of life is to become as rich as possible? On what stone? The Ten Commandments? The Bill of Rights? The Hollywood Walk of Fame? Fact is, the closest we have to authoritative guidance on this issue comes from the world's great wisdom traditions (religion and philosophy), and what they have to say directly contradicts the myth's rationale. These traditions tell us that acquiring wealth is not the goal of human existence. Enlightened teachers from different times and cultures have emphasized this truth over and over. Along with iconic literary works, fine art and music, these wisdom traditions have cast light on the deepest needs and desires of the human soul. The quest for material wealth is a misdirected attempt to obtain the most basic of human needs: love and security. The myth suggests that the need for love and security can be satisfied by having lots of money. However, this is based on two mistaken beliefs. First, by itself, being wealthy may induce admiration in some and idol worship in others, but it doesn't guarantee being genuinely loved by anyone. Second, it assumes that just having enough money can guarantee safety and security. A Simple Truth Next Page 1 | 2 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). Duluth, Minnesota (OpEdNews) January 4, 2017: My favorite scholar is the American Jesuit polymath Walter J. Ong (1912-2003; Ph.D. in English, Harvard University, 1955) of Saint Louis University (SLU), the Jesuit university in St. Louis, Missouri. Over the years, I took five courses from Fr. Ong at SLU, starting in the fall semester of 1964 when I was twenty years old. I have published a book-length study of Ong's life and work (2000; rev. ed., 2015), and I have co-edited five volumes of his essays (1992a, 1992b, 1995, 1999, and 2002) and contributed introductory essays to four of those five volumes (1992a, 1995, 1999, and 2002). In addition, I have co-edited anthologies of essays by diverse hands about Ong's thought (1991 and 2012), and I have contributed essays to anthologies of essays by diverse hands about his thought (1987, 1991, 1999, and 2012). I regard Ong's body of work as a goldmine worthy of studying carefully -- and a very great blessing for understanding our Western and American cultural history. For bibliographic information about Ong's publications, including information about reprinted items, see Thomas M. Walsh's "Walter J. Ong, S.J.: A Bibliography 1929-2006" in the book Language, Culture, and Identity: The Legacy of Walter J. Ong, S.J., edited by Sara van den Berg and Walsh (Hampton Press, 2011, pages 185-245). Ong's most original and creative contribution to our understanding of Western and American culture is his massively researched book Ramus, Method, and the Decay of Dialogue: From the Art of Discourse to the Art of Reason (Harvard University Press, 1958). Briefly, Peter Ramus (1515-1572) was a French logician and educational reformer and Protestant martyr. When Harvard College was founded in 1636, Ramus' work in logic (also known as dialectic) dominated the curriculum. In addition, Ramus' logic dominated the curriculum at Cambridge University in England, where almost all college-educated men in New England had studied it. Years earlier, Ong had first learned about the influence of Ramus' dialectic from Perry Miller's book The New England Mind: The Seventeenth Century (Harvard University Press, 1939). When Ong later proceeded to undertake doctoral studies at Harvard University, Miller served as the director of his doctoral dissertation about Ramus. Fr. Ong died more than a decade before the brash developer Donald J. Trump of New York ran for president of the United States in 2016. Nevertheless, hints in Ong's publications and certain related publications can help us establish a conceptual framework for understanding President-elect Trump's appeal to the Trump voters in the thirty states who gave him a decisive electoral victory over the Democratic Party's candidate, former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. In Ong's first book, Frontiers in American Catholicism: Essays on Ideology and Culture (Macmillan, 1957), he discusses the threefold schema of character typology that the American Jewish sociologist David Riesman (1909-2002) of Harvard University works with in his widely known book The Lonely Crowd: A Study of the Changing American Character (Yale University Press, 1950): outer-directed (also known as tradition-directed), inner-directed, and other-directed. Even though Riesman acknowledges that outer-directed people have always been present in American culture, he sees inner-directed people as the classic kind of American people. Riesman's way of characterizing inner-directed people is consistent with and compatible with Ong's way of describing people (more often than not males) educated in formal logic in Western and American cultural history. But with the memory of the Holocaust under Adolf Hitler and the Nazis in Germany fresh in his mind, Riesman was understandably worried about the then-emerging other-directed character type in American mass culture -- which Ong eventually came to refer to as secondary oral culture, the cultural constellation under the influence of the various communications media that accentuate sound. However, Ong in his 1957 book was not as worried as Riesman in his 1950 book was about the possible negative implications of the then-emerging other-directed character type in postwar American mass culture. In connection with Riesman's threefold character typology, I should mention that the Swiss psychiatrist and psychological theorist C. G. Jung, M.D. (1875-1961), at an earlier time became known in the prestige culture in American culture for the far more detailed personality typology he worked out in the book Psychological Types, translated by H. G. Baynes (London, 1923; New York, 1926; orig. German ed., 1921; later, R. F. C. Hull revised Baynes' translation for the edition of the book published by Princeton University Press in 1971). On the occasion of the 300th anniversary of the founding of Harvard College in 1636, Harvard University conferred an honorary doctorate on Jung in 1936. In 1937, Jung delivered the prestigious Terry Lectures at Yale University -- published as the book Psychology and Religion (Yale University Press, 1938). Ong delivered the Terry Lectures at Yale in 1964, the expanded version of which was published as the book The Presence of the Word: Some Prolegomena for Cultural and Religious History (Yale University Press, 1967). In 2009, Norton published an over-sized art-book edition of Jung's The Red Book: Liber Novus, edited by Sonu Shamdasani and translated by Mark Kyburz, John Peck, and Shamdasani. That elegant edition has spurred a renewal of interest in Jung's work and related work. I will say more about Jung's thought momentarily. At a later time, Ong published three important books with Cornell University Press (1971, 1977, and 1981). In two of those books, Rhetoric, Romance, and Technology: Studies in the Interaction of Expression and Culture (1971) and Fighting for Life: Contest, Sexuality, and Consciousness (1981), the published version of Ong's 1979 Messenger Lectures at Cornell University, Ong discusses the masterwork of the German-born-and-educated Jewish Jungian analyst and theorist Erich Neumann (1905-1960) -- the book The Origins and History of Consciousness, translated by R. F. C. Hull (Pantheon Books, 1954; orig. German ed., 1949). In certain earlier publications, Ong also refers to Jungian thought. See, for example, Ong's article "St. Ignatius' Prison-Cage and the Existentialist Situation in the Jesuit-sponsored journal Theological Studies, volume 15, number 1 (March 1954): pages 34-51, which Ong includes in his book The Barbarian Within: And Other Fugitive Essays and Studies (Macmillan, 1962, pages 242-259). (St. Ignatius Loyola was the founder of the Jesuit order.) 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). Joe Libertelli and young friend (Image by Mike Grossman) Details DMCA My guest today is Joe Libertelli a long-time grassroots progressive activist. Joan Brunwasser: Welcome to OpEdNews, Joe. You wrote a headliner article, The Opportunity in this Crisis . It's quite a comprehensive piece and clearly took a lot of time and effort. Why did you write it? Joe Libertelli: Ha - well, most of the ideas in the article have been percolating in my mind and among my activist friends for many years, but I suppose I will have to thank the - alleged - election of Donald Trump for forcing my writing hand! JB: First things first. Why do you say "alleged" when referring to the recent election? JL: Well, since 2004, I have been involved with what is called the "Election Integrity" movement, which has uncovered some strong evidence that the so-called "official" vote totals have been doctored electronically by those with access - which are the Republican-supporting electronic voting companies. In 2004, there was a pronounced "red shift" - a phrase borrowed from physics, but which we use to describe the unexplained change in the Republican (red) direction from the exit polls (which prior to 2004 had always been extremely accurate) to the so-called official results. The 2016 presidential election fits this pattern. Thus, in addition to the fact that Mr. Trump lost the popular vote by nearly three million - despite all the well known voter suppression techniques employed by Republicans nationally - there is much evidence that he did not fairly win the Electoral College tally either. I came to be involved with the Election Integrity movement in an odd way. In 2004, one of my best friends, a guy I met in 7th grade Spanish class, Steve Freeman, was stunned by the shift from the presidential exit poll predictions to the supposed official result. Based on his understanding of what exit polls are, Steve, who has a PhD in Business Systems from MIT and is quite fluent with numbers, thought that such a shift was not at all likely. Searching the web, he found the work of Jonathan Simon, who had captured the unadjusted exit polls online on election eve. Steve crunched the numbers, saw that the chances for such a shift were WAY beyond the expected margin of error, and became convinced that fraud had occurred. Having just helped another friend, Tim Carpenter, start Progressive Democrats of America (largely from the energy of the Kucinich primary campaign), I was able to work with PDA to help Steve publicize a monograph on the subject that became quite widely distributed, and which eventually became the basis for his book, "Was the 2004 Presidential Election Stolen?" Bobby Kennedy Jr. went into the issues and quoted Steve here. JB: Exit polls are considered to be the gold standard for evaluating elections worldwide. How is it that what works well everywhere else is so off here? 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). Just in time for the Trump Administration's official embrace of brutality, we have another book defending torture: Enhanced Interrogation by psychologist James Mitchell. For those unfamiliar with the author, he's a central figure in the Senate Intelligence Committee's scathing 2014 report summary on CIA abuse. And he's a co-defendant -- for having "designed, implemented, and personally administered an experimental torture program" -- in the ACLU's lawsuit on behalf of three war-on-terror detainees (Suleiman Abdullah Salim, Mohamed Ahmed Ben Soud, and the estate of the deceased Gul Rahman). Although subtitled "Inside the Minds and Motives of the Islamic Terrorists Trying to Destroy America," Mitchell's implausible and self-serving account actually reveals much more about him than it does about the men he helped torture. Here are several reasons why. Mitchell's dubious claims about the CIA's abusive and torturous "enhanced interrogation techniques" (EITs) are reason enough to doubt his credibility. Consider this preposterous defense of the EITs: "Although they were unpleasant, their use protected detainees from being subjected to unproven and perhaps harsher techniques made up on the fly." Apparently being locked in a coffin-like box for hours, or deprived of sleep for days, or repeatedly slammed into a wall is merely "unpleasant," somewhat akin to getting caught in the rain without an umbrella. Indeed, perhaps the victims should have offered thanks for not having had their fingers crushed or their fingernails pulled out. Mitchell's suggestion that his EITs were somehow "proven" -- in contrast to other techniques -- is equally absurd. Proven not to be harmful? Not true. Proven to "work"? Also false. Consider as well Mitchell's deceptive description of waterboarding, the king of the hill when it comes to EITs: "The waterboard induces fear and panic. It is scary and uncomfortable but not painful." There's really no need to puzzle over how the experience of controlled drowning and near suffocation could possibly be pain-free. It's certainly not, except perhaps for the person who's pouring the water. The Senate report on CIA torture provides this account of Mitchell's first waterboarding session: "Over a two-and-a-half-hour period, Abu Zubaydah coughed, vomited, and had 'involuntary spasms of the torso and extremities.'" Not painful? Just as disturbing are Mitchell's self-protective efforts to humanize the proponents and practitioners of torture. As one example, he describes a scene in which he and fellow contract psychologist Bruce Jessen waterboard Abu Zubaydah as a demonstration for a group of higher-ups from the CIA's Counterterrorism Center. Here's Mitchell's description of what happened when that interrogation session came to an end: "[We] told him we never wanted to do that again. He cried and promised to work for the CIA. Everyone, even those observing, was tearful." Perhaps they then passed around a box of tissue, followed by a round of hugs? There's also a rather inconvenient truth that makes Mitchell's posturing as a self-sacrificing patriot unconvincing: he took home a small fortune from his years of involvement with CIA torture and abuse. In his book, Mitchell makes no mention of the reported $1,800-a-day consulting fees (tax-free) he initially received for his work. He also downplays his own haul from the $81 million CIA contract his firm Mitchell Jessen & Associates later received, writing: "The percentage of profit I earned from the contract was in the small single digits." Well, let's use "3" as a representative "small single digit." That works out to about $2.5 million for Mitchell alone. Not bad for such selflessness. Elsewhere in Enhanced Interrogation, Mitchell makes it clear that he cast aside professional psychology's do-no-harm ethics in developing his gloves-off EITs. Obviously. By his reckoning, torturous techniques were "justified as long as those methods were lawful, authorized, and carefully monitored." Mitchell's personal calculus as a psychologist wasn't unique: similar thinking apparently prompted leaders of the American Psychological Association (APA) to collude with the Bush Administration, thereby enabling psychologists to play key roles in abusive U.S. detention and interrogation operations. APA's tragic choices, made over the course of a decade, caused grievous harm. The verdict is still out on the organization's current efforts aimed at institutional reform. Next Page 1 | 2 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). 1. We will stop referring to ourselves as a "civil rights" organization defending "human rights." It is a sacrilege to people actually killed or harmed by civil and human rights abuses including the 9 killed at a Charleston church. 2. We will admit "Obama's going to take your guns" was an eight year lie to sell guns and raise money. (P.S. Any ideas for fundraising under Trump?) 3. We will concede criminals do obey guns laws and 85% of mass shooters were legal gun owners, according to Mother Jones, including the last 19 mass shooters. That means better laws would work. Many ignore .well-regulated. and .militia. in the Second Amendment (Image by Martha Rosenberg) Details DMCA 4. We admit that the Chattanooga terrorist was a legal gun owner who passed his background check despite many red flags that indicated he could perpetrate violence. We admit that service members fired back in one location according to Military Times--it was not a "gun-free zone." 5. We will stop yelling only good guys with guns stop bad guys with guns in light of the 18 police officers shot in July in Dallas and Baton Rouge who were clearly good guys with guns (and, unlike citizen "carriers," highly trained). We admit the killers were legal gun owners. 6. We will cease blaming gun violence on "gun-free zones." Boardrooms of top US corporations ban guns and have exactly zero shootings. 7. We will admit that even though we say gun safety activists are afraid of guns it is us who have a major fear problem. We are actually afraid to go where women, children and the elderly go unless we have our guns. Next Page 1 | 2 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). This piece was reprinted by OpEd News with permission or license. It may not be reproduced in any form without permission or license from the source. From Consortium News Occasionally a New York Times writer like Mark Landler will be permitted to step up to the plate and write a sensible article about President "No Guts Obama" and how he caved in to folks whom he lacked the political courage to cross. Landler's Jan. 1 article shows, among other things, how Obama's bowing to heavyweights like Gen. David Petraeus, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ended up getting thousands of people killed and prolonging the fool's-errand Afghan war. The pity, of course, is that Landler's piece, "The Afghan War and the Evolution of Obama," comes eight years too late. There is a lot of numbness out there today about how we were all had by "NGO," together with attempts to blame bad decisions on his benighted advisers. But you know where the buck is supposed to stop. And a number of us, including Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS), spared no effort to get through to him in "real time." I can understand that some of you will not want to risk being further depressed. Others, however, may wish to be reminded of our efforts to warn President Obama before he let himself be conned into doubling down on the Afghan folly. Those others may want to skim through the re-runs (linked below) of early warnings in March 2009 and January 2010, together with some retrospective comments. On March 28, 2009, as Obama was beginning his plunge into the Afghan War swamp, I wrote an article entitled, "Welcome to Vietnam, Mr. President," which Consortiumnews.com republished last year with the intro: "With still no end in sight for the Afghan War, President Obama can't say he wasn't warned. Barely two months into his presidency in 2009, ex-CIA analyst Ray McGovern welcomed Obama to his own Vietnam quagmire." Included in that piece was this passage: "Equally relevant to Obama's fateful early decision on Afghanistan, Gen. Douglas MacArthur told another young President in April 1961: 'Anyone wanting to commit American ground forces to the mainland of Asia should have his head examined.'" The truth of that advice even eventually sunk into the fellow whom we at the CIA used to call "windsock Bobby Gates" in the days when he was starting his bureaucratic climb to the top by tailoring his positions to please his superiors. Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on May 1, 2011, watching developments in the Special Forces raid that killed Osama bin Laden. Neither played a particularly prominent role in the operation. (Image by (White House photo by Pete Souza)) Details DMCA Though Gates helped maneuver Obama into a pointless Afghan "counterinsurgency surge" in fall 2009, Gates later told aspiring officers at West Point: "Any future defense secretary who advises the president to again send a big American land army into Asia or into the Middle East or Africa should 'have his head examined,' as General [Douglas] MacArthur so delicately put it." My "Welcome to Vietnam, Mr. President" article of March 28, 2009, also noted: "When JFK's top military advisers, critical of the President's reluctance to go against [MacArthur's] advice, virtually called him a traitor -- for pursuing a negotiated solution to the fighting in Laos, for example -- Kennedy would tell them to convince Gen. MacArthur first, and then come back to him. (Alas, there seems to be no comparable Gen. MacArthur today.)" Leaked Doubts On Jan. 27, 2010, I was back at it again, citing the belated disclosure that U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan Karl Eikenberry had tried to warn President Obama against escalating the Afghan War. I wrote: "I imagine that in years to come, Eikenberry will proudly show his cables to his grandchildren. Or maybe he won't, out of fear that one of them might ask why he didn't have the guts to quit and let the rest of the country know what he thought of this latest March of Folly." Eikenberry is an interesting case study showing, among other things, that lack of guts on the part of a commander-in-chief can be contagious. A retired Lt. General and then Obama's ambassador in Kabul, Eikenberry knew more about Afghanistan than the so-called "Gang of Five" -- Gen. Petraeus, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, Defense Secretary Gates, Secretary of State Clinton, and special envoy Richard Holbrooke -- put together. Next Page 1 | 2 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). From Wallwritings (Image by nydailynews) Details DMCA A New York Daily News headline published October 30, 1975, is one of the most famous headlines in modern journalism. The headline did not quote President Gerald Ford, but it editorialized exactly what the Daily News wanted to convey. The headline read: "Ford to City: Drop Dead." The succinct reference was explained by writer Frank Van Riper in his opening Daily News paragraph: "President Ford declared flatly today that he would veto any bill calling for 'a federal bail-out of New York City' and instead proposed legislation that would make it easier for the city to go into bankruptcy." Van Riper's second paragraph from 1975, conveyed more of Ford's distress over the city: "In a speech before the National Press Club, Ford coupled repeated attacks on the city's fiscal management with a promise that, if default came, the federal government would see to it that 'essential public services for the people of New York City' would be maintained." President Ford was not dismissing the people of New York. He was dissing their political leadership. The headline on this posting (above) does not quote former Clinton Labor Secretary Robert Reich. It is intended, rather, in the spirit of the New York Daily News, to convey Reich's meaning. What provoked Reich and led to his counsel, was Donald Trump's final 2016 tweet: "Happy New Year to all, including to my many enemies and those who have fought me and lost so badly they just don't know what to do. Love!" Robert Reich explains why that Trump tweet is so dangerous and so wrong: "The man who is about to become President of the United States continues to exhibit a mean-spirited, thin-skinned, narcissistic and vindictive character [who] sees the world in terms of personal wins or losses, enemies or friends, supporters or critics." Reich's closing word to Trump was his hope that the president-elect would simply "grow up" and discover the missing maturity of an adult soon to be president. Reich wrote: "You have 20 days in which to learn how to act as a president. All of us -- even those who oppose your policies and worry about your character -- sincerely hope you do." Based on Trump's compulsive adolescent tweeting and his crony-inspired cabinet choices, Reich's counsel is badly needed. Unfortunately, everything we have heard or seen from president-elect Trump assures us the counsel will be rejected. The man we elected as our next president is a former TV reality-show rich guy who defeated 15 Republican wanna-be presidential candidates, and then outran his establishment-blessed Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton, to become the 45th president of the United States. 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). As the saying goes, when we enter a New Year; "out with the old and in with the new"; in this case, the old Democratic Party has seen its day and now it needs to be transformed into a new, dynamic progressive party that will turn this country in a new positive and exciting direction. Ronald Reagan may have been on the right track when he said, ""In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem." Let me alter that quote somewhat and state that government in itself is not the problem, but a highly dysfunctional, corrupted, do-nothing government and this current Congress, in particular, is 'the problem. The Democratic Party has allowed itself to become a part of that problem and now it's time that it and its members break away from that dysfunctionality and return to a strong liberal/progressive agenda. The departure of Hillary Clinton gives the Democratic Party the great opportunity to truly reinvent itself and move into the future with a new sense of purpose and direction. The same can be said of Barack Obama who presented himself as an agent of change but most certainly wasn't up to the task by any stretch of the imagination. These two should be like the last of that breed of politicians within the Democratic Party. The new Democratic leadership that emerges after this transformation must assure the American people that it will never again, as it did under the President Obama and Hillary Clinton's tenure, take misguided military actions against nations such as Libya, conduct relentless bombing in Syria, and launch unjustifiable drone attacks on the sovereign nations of Somalia, Yemen and Pakistan, The Democratic Party must totally renounce that form of extreme foreign policy. Here's an excellent observation about Mr. Obama's very aggressive use of drones that continues to cause havoc and misery in these countries and the deaths of hundreds of innocent civilians. These attacks are greatly tarnishing America's image around the world and creating many enemies who are motivated to seek deadly revenge; and then we wonder why we are facing this terrorist threat. In this process of transformation here's what, in my opinion, the Democratic Party must do: *Attack GOP voter suppression; and I mean attack! Do it now, don't wait until the next election when it will be too late. It is absolutely incomprehensible how Democrats, time and time again, have watched the GOP prevent qualified voters from casting their ballots and just haven't found the ways to put a stop to this politically evil process. How incompetent can they possibly be? *Expose the Republican Party for what it is; an albatross around the neck of America, a party with no vision, possessing a badly damaged moral and directional compass. *Stop the current Democratic movement toward the Right and move back to the center left where Democrats do best; acting like a more liberal version of Republicanism is certainly not working; ask Hillary Clinton about that; see where it got her. This is, in reality, a liberal/progressive party and it's way past time that the Democrats returned to that role. That's what the majority of the American people want and they will respond with their increased support. One thing that Democrats need to do is to find the ways to flush out of their ranks those party members that we might refer to as pseudo-Democrats, those who call themselves Democrats but, in reality could never be called liberals or progressives. *Never, ever allow someone like the overly aggressive war hawk, Hillary Clinton, to be the party's candidate for president. When the people can see that this country's most critical problems are not being solved they don't want to listen to someone who keeps telling them that everything is just fine and we just need to stay the course. *Democrats must be far more proactive in connecting with the American people; communicate, communicate and communicate. Speak to them constantly about how Republicans are hell bent on destroying Americans' social safety nets. Question: what kind of gutter level, twisted politicians "lick their chops", as has been reported in the news, as they prepare to destroy the medical coverage of 22 million Americans rather than fixing its problems and making it better for those same fellow citizens? Answer: gutter level, twisted, sociopathic politicians of the highest order. *Never again let someone like the incompetent Debbie Wasserman Schulz head the DNC; pick someone like former Gov. Howard Dean who used his "50-state strategy," to strengthen the Democratic Party's infrastructure and recruitment of solid candidates in all levels of organization in every state. It worked back then and will work again if someone with real leadership skills leads the efforts. Next Page 1 | 2 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). The roots of most political problems exist where there is an economic disparity between the two divided nations. The greater the disparity, the greater the political problem. Thus when the problems are not cultural or language, rather economic disparity, it makes little difference what the names or world locations of neighboring countries. So North Korea is to China what Mexico is to the US; Lesotho is to South Africa what Mexico is to the US; Guatemala is to Mexico what Mexico is to the US, and on it goes. When there is no economic disparity, the political problems between countries are mostly based on historical issues, commercial rivalries and in modern times, environmental issues. The economic disparity between the peoples of Canada and the US is of little consequence thus the political problems based on the border as a dividing line were, prior to the 9/11 terrorist attack, for the most part non existent, though there are Canadians living and working illegally in the US, as well as US citizen working illegally in Canada, and arguments regarding environmental protection or lack thereof. Along the US-Mexico border the situations is dramatically different. . . Unskilled or semi-skilled factory workers in the US earn $16.30 an hour; in Mexico $1.13. A US skilled factory worker earns $21.90 an hour; in Mexico $2.79. An office building janitor in the US earns $9.37 an hour; in Mexico $0.87. A US store clerk earns $8.91 an hour; in Mexico $1.67. A US plumber earns $28.97 an hour; in Mexico $3.50. How long do workers in the above job examples have to work for some basic staples like: half-gallon milk; 10-tortilla pack; 1-lb butter; 1-lb Cheddar cheese; 1.42-liter corn oil; 1-lb potatoes; 1-whole chicken; 1-dozen eggs? The US factory worker: 1-hour 45-minutes - Mexican worker: 9-hours 16-minutes . . . For millions of Mexicans their earnings, if they have jobs, do not provide sufficient income to provide the basic necessities to support a family, so they cross the political line without official permission in search of economic opportunity, and most find it rather easily. Due to the historical massive numbers crossing, though the numbers eased in the last few years, a political problem has been created in the US exhibited by tense dislike of Mexican people in some regions of the US. The economic disparity in wages coupled with job availability in the US are the root problems of the political problem between the US and Mexico. So what does America, the country made great by immigrants, propose doing to solve the root problems? Build fences and militarizes the border; declare those desperate souls felons, famously advocated by now President-elect Donald Trump describing them as criminals and rapists; criminalize aiding them in any way; deny their children education; prohibit renting them shelter and classify them as terrorists all to ease the American conscience while avoiding facing the reality of the nation's broken immigration system. A significant segment of the US population, supported by a great number of Republican elected officials, clamor for complete border security before considering immigration reform. This argument lends itself to accusations of racism due to the concentration of such efforts are to take place only along the 2000 mile US-Mexico border without consideration to the 4000 mile border between the US and Canada. Further there is no definition or benchmark as to what is border security. Does it mean total non-illegal crossings? Does it include the complete stopping drug smuggling, which has nothing to do crossers looking for work? The further problem causing accusations of racism is the use of the number of illegal immigrants in the US tending to place the total as coming from Mexico and Central America. There are educated estimates indicating the presence of 11.5-million illegal immigrants used by politicians mostly always in conversations regarding the southern border. But the fact is that of the 11.5-million around 5-million are from countries other than those in our southern western hemisphere. They are from a multitude of other countries including from Europe, Asia and Africa, including the Middle East. Additionally discussions on stopping illegal immigration does not include arrivals through airports and sea ports as well as those gaining access to and arriving through Canada. In short, as long as political hypocrisy and racism are part of the debate the issue will continue to fester and drive more wedges between our people and those of other countries, who are not fooled by our holier than thou preaching while practicing anti-immigration rhetoric regarding people of color but allowing them to work for miserable wages and poor working conditions in jobs few Americans will accept. From Our Future President-"elect" Donald Trump today announced his nomination of Robert Lighthizer for the cabinet-level office of US Trade Representative (USTR). Lighthizer, who served as deputy USTR under President Ronald Reagan, is known for criticizing Republican "free trade" ideology. Before serving in the Reagan administration he was chief of staff for the Senate Finance Committee. Lightizer's nomination signals that Trump is likely to oppose the wide-open "free trade" ideology and policy that ruled the last several decades, enriching the Wall-Street "investor" class while wiping out US-based industries like textiles and electronics manufacturing, devastating entire regions and communities like the "Rust Belt" and Detroit, as well as much of the American middle class. But Lightzinger and Trump's public positions are at odds with most of Trump's nominees to other positions, most Republicans in Congress and with the billionaires, "investors" and giant corporations that usually line up behind and fund the Republican party. How will Trump handle the expected opposition from these elements of the Republican coalition? If Trump would give a press conference perhaps we could know more. Meanwhile, according to Fox News, Trump said, "'Ambassador Lighthizer is going to do an outstanding job representing the United States as we fight for good trade deals that put the American worker first,' Trump said Tuesday in a statement announcing his pick. 'He has extensive experience striking agreements that protect some of the most important sectors of our economy, and has repeatedly fought in the private sector to prevent bad deals from hurting Americans. He will do an amazing job helping turn around the failed trade policies which have robbed so many Americans of prosperity.'" Reuters reports that Lightizer has been fighting China's unfair trade practices, "Lighthizer has argued that China has failed to live up to commitments made in 2001 when it joined the World Trade Organization and that tougher tactics are needed to change the system, even if it means deviating from World Trade Organization rules. "'Years of passivity and drift among U.S. policymakers have allowed the U.S.-China trade deficit to grow to the point where it is widely recognized as a major threat to our economy,' Lighthizer wrote in 2010 congressional testimony. "'Going forward, U.S. policymakers should take these problems more seriously, and should take a much more aggressive approach in dealing with China,' he wrote." Lori Wallach Statement Lori Wallach, director of Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch, issued a statement on the expected nomination, and noted that it contrasts with most of Trump's appointments so far, who have been public supporters of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) that Trump campaigned against... "Lighthizer is very knowledgeable about both technical trade policy and the ways of Washington, but what sets him aside among high-level Republican trade experts is that for decades his views have been shaped by the pragmatic outcomes of trade agreements and policies rather than fealty to any particular ideology or theory. I don't know that he would agree with progressive critics of our status quo trade policies about alternative approaches, but he also has had quite a different perspective on trade policy than the Republican congressional leaders and most of Trump's other cabinet nominees who have supported the TPP and every past trade deal." Public Citizen's press release continued, "President-elect Donald Trump has filled many top administration posts with proponents of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a pact that Trump railed against during his campaign. Trump appointees who publicly advocated for the TPP include Wilbur Ross (Secretary of Commerce), Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerman (Secretary of State), Gov. Terry Branstad (Ambassador to China), Gen. James Mattis (Secretary of Defense) and Goldman Sachs President Gary Cohn (Director of National Economic Council) -- not to mention Vice-President-elect Mike Pence. "'Thankfully there was never a congressional majority for the TPP in the 10 months after it was signed so the TPP was dead before the election,' said Wallach. 'But even so, most of Trump's cabinet members will be inclined to grab the shovel from Trump's hands before he can bury the TPP's moldering corpse by formally withdrawing the U.S. as a signatory.' Next Page 1 | 2 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). Intel Network Graph (Image by George Eliason) Details DMCA In the wake of the JAR-16-20296 dated December 29, 2016, about hacking and influencing the 2016 election, the need for real evidence is clear. The joint report adds nothing substantial to the October 7th report. It relies on proofs provided by the cyber-security firm Crowdstrike that is clearly not on par with intelligence findings or evidence. At the top of the report is an "as is" statement showing this. The difference between Dmitri Alperovitch's claims, which are reflected in JAR-1620296, and this article is that enough evidence is provided to warrant an investigation of specific parties for the DNC hacks. The real story involves specific anti-American actors that need to be investigated for real crimes. For instance, the malware used was an out-dated version just waiting to be found. It makes it easier when it's an old known version. Another interesting point is that the Russian malware called Grizzly Steppe is from Ukraine . How did Crowdstrike miss this when it's their business to know Later in this article, you'll meet and know a little more about the real "Fancy Bear and Cozy Bear." The bar for identification set by has never been able to get beyond words like probably, may be, could be, or should be in their attribution. The article is lengthy because the facts need to be in one place. The bar Dimitri Alperovitch set for identifying the hackers involved is that low. Other than asking America to trust them, how many solid facts has Alperovitch provided to back his claim of Russian involvement? The December 29th JAR adds a flowchart that shows how a basic phishing hack is performed. It doesn't add anything substantial beyond that. Noticeably, they use both their designation APT 28 and APT 29 as well as the CrowdStrike labels of Fancy Bear and Cozy Bear separately. This is important because information from outside intelligence agencies has the value of rumor or unsubstantiated information at best according to policy. Usable intelligence needs to be free from partisan politics and verifiable. Intel agencies noted back in the early '90s that every private actor in the information game was radically political. The Hill.com article about Russia hacking the electric grid is a perfect example of why this intelligence is political and not taken seriously. If any proof of Russian involvement existed, the US would be at war. Under current laws of war, there would be no difference between an attack on the power grid or a missile strike. According to the Hill, "Private security firms provided more detailed forensic analysis, which the FBI and DHS said Thursday correlated with the IC's findings. "The Joint Analysis Report recognizes the excellent work undertaken by security companies and private-sector network owners and operators, and provides new indicators of compromise and malicious infrastructure identified during the course of investigations and incident response," read a statement. The report identifies two Russian intelligence groups already named by CrowdStrike and other private security firms. In an interview with Washington's blog, William Binney, the creator of the NSA global surveillance system, said, "I expected to see the IPs or other signatures of APT's 28/29 [the entities which the U.S. claims hacked the Democratic emails] and where they were located and how/when the data got transferred to them from DNC/HRC [i.e., Hillary Rodham Clinton]/etc. They seem to have been following APT 28/29 since at least 2015, so, where are they?" According to the latest Washington Post story, CrowdStrike's CTO tied a group his company dubbed "Fancy Bear" to targeting Ukrainian artillery positions in Debaltsevo as well as across the Ukrainian civil war front for the past 2 years. Alperovitch states in many articles the Ukrainians were using an Android app to target the self-proclaimed Republics' positions and that hacking this app was what gave targeting data to the armies in Donbass instead. Next Page 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). Progressive Content Not Found Sometimes, authors delete their progressive content after publishing. To see if the progressive content was renamed or re-published, please click here. Urinary Tract Infection Treatment Market to Reach US$ 10 Billion by 2022 https://www.marketresearchengine.com/requestsample/urinary-tract-infection-treatment-market https://www.marketresearchengine.com/reportdetails/urinary-tract-infection-treatment-market https://www.marketresearchengine.com/ New York, January 02: Market Research Engine has published a new report titled as Urinary Tract Infection Treatment Market: Global Industry Analysis and Forecast 2016 2022How Big is the Global Urinary Tract Infection Treatment Market?The global urinary tract infection treatment market is expected to exceed more than US$ 10 Billion by 2022; Growing at a CAGR of more than 2% in the given forecast period.Download Free Sample Report:Urinary tract infection (UTI) arises in the kidneys, ureter, urethra and bladder because of microbial pathogens in these parts. Urinary tract infections will be uncomplicated or complicated depends on the severity of infection. The penicillin antibiotic that is amoxicillin is used to treat urinary tract infections and it is mainly used as prescribed antibiotic for uncomplicated urinary tract infection. UTI is common bacterial infections affecting many of peoples globally. Continuing urinary tract infection is a main health problem in females worldwide. Patients with spinal cord injury or urinary catheter are mainly contract complicated urinary tract infections.The urinary tract infection treatment market is segmented on the lines of its drug type, indication, distribution channel and regional. Based on drug type segmentation it covers sulphonamides, azoles and amphotericin B, tetracycline, nitrofurans, aminoglycoside antibiotics, cephalosporin, quinolones and penicillin & combinations. Aminoglycoside antibiotics is further segmented into amikacin and gentamicin. Cephalosporin segmentation covers ceftriaxone, cefuroxime, cefixime and cephalexin. Under quinolones segmentation it covers ciprofloxacin, levofloxacin, nalidixic acid, norfloxacin and others. Penicillin and combinations covers amoxicillin, amoxicillin & clavulanate potassium and others.The urinary tract infection treatment market is segmented on the lines of its indication like into complicated UTI, recurring complicated UTI, uncomplicated UTI and neurogenic bladder infections. Under distribution channel segmentation it covers hospital pharmacies, gynaecology and urology clinics, drug store, retail pharmacies and online drug stores. The urinary tract infection treatment markets geographic segmentation covers various regions such as North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, Middle East and Africa. Each geographic market is further segmented to provide market revenue for select countries such as the U.S., Canada, U.K. Germany, China, Japan, India, Brazil, and GCC countries.This report provides:1) An overview of the global market for urinary tract infection treatment and related technologies.2) Analysis of global market trends, with data from 2013, estimates for 2014 and 2015, and projections of compound annual growth rates (CAGRs) through 2020.3) Identifications of new market opportunities and targeted promotional plans for urinary tract infection treatment.4) Discussion of research and development, and the demand for new products and new applications.5) Comprehensive company profiles of major players in the industry.Browse Full Report:REPORT SCOPE:The scope of the report includes a detailed study of global and regional markets for Urinary Tract Infection Treatment Market for variations in the growth of the industry in certain regions.The report covers detailed competitive outlook including the market share and company profiles of the key participants operating in the global market. Key players profiled in the report include Johnson and Johnsons Private Ltd., Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH, Cipla Ltd., Bayer AG, GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals Ltd., Pfizer Inc., F.Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd., Novartis AG. and AstraZeneca plc. Company profile includes assign such as company summary, financial summary, business strategy and planning, SWOT analysis and current developments.The Top Companies Report is intended to provide our buyers with a snapshot of the industrys most influential players.The Urinary Tract Infection Treatment Market has been segmented as below:By Drug Type Analysis Sulphonamides Azoles and Amphotericin B Tetracycline Nitrofurans Aminoglycoside antibioticso Amikacino Gentamicin CephalosporinCeftriaxoneCefuroximeCefiximeCephalexin QuinolonesCiprofloxacinLevofloxacinNalidixic acidNorfloxacinOthers Penicillin & CombinationsAmoxicillinAmoxicillin & Clavulanate PotassiumOthersBy Indication Analysis Complicated UTI Recurring Complicated UTI Uncomplicated UTI Neurogenic Bladder InfectionsBy Distribution channel Analysis Hospital Pharmacies Gynaecology and Urology Clinics Drug Store Retail Pharmacies Online Drug StoresBy Regional AnalysisNorth AmericaEuropeAsia-PacificRest of the WorldAbout MarketResearchEngine.comMarket Research Engine is a global market research and consulting organization. We provide market intelligence in emerging, niche technologies and markets. Our market analysis powered by rigorous methodology and quality metrics provide information and forecasts across emerging markets, emerging technologies and emerging business models. Our deep focus on industry verticals and country reports help our clients to identify opportunities and develop business strategies.Media ContactCompany Name: Market Research EngineContact Person: John BayEmail: john@marketresearchengine.comPhone: +1-855-984-1862, +91-860-565-7204Country: United StatesWebsite:Address: 3422 SW 15 Street, Suite #8942, Deerfield Beach, FL 33442, United States Global Biopsy Devices Market Share Analysis, by Key Players 2018 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=797 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/biopsy-devices-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com https://tmrresearch.blogspot.com/ The global biopsy devices market is highly consolidated with four major players collectively accounting for 91% of the total global market, reports Transparency Market Research (TMR) in a new study. The key players are CareFusion Corporation, C R Bard, Inc., Devicor Medical Products, Inc., and Hologic, Inc. A number of small local players supply devices such as forceps, needles, and punches in their respective countries via a crude network of distributors.The threat from new entrants is low due to stringent regulatory environment and low financing conditions, says the author of the study. These factors do not pose a threat to the contribution of aforementioned key players in the global market.Rising Incidence of Cancer Cases Worldwide Helps Uptake of Biopsy DevicesA growing prevalence of cancer has become a critical issue for governments and international organization such as the WHO. According to a report by the WHO, the number of deaths due to cancer across the globe will show a constant rise and will reach nearly 13.1 bn in 2030. This has led to the initiation of various patient awareness programs by such organizations. As a result, increased number of patients are undergoing biopsies, thereby driving the growth of the market.Download Exclusive Global Strategic Business Report:Additionally, with a rising geriatric population, the incidence of cancer is also likely to increase. This will serve the global biopsy market as a driver due to the fact that aging increases a persons susceptibility to cancer.A surge in the demand for minimally invasive biopsy procedures has been registered owing to the shorter patient recovery span, lesser post-surgery complications and side effects, and minimal pain. They are useful in accurate cancer diagnosis and provide great assistance to physicians to determine the best suitable treatment plan for the patient. This growth driver will have a deep impact on the biopsy devices market.Reduced Affordability to Restrain Demand for Biopsy DevicesTechnological advancements have transformed biopsy devices into higher accuracy products. However, this has also reduced the affordability of these devices. Additionally, the lack of interest of medical practitioners to invest in the capital-intensive market has elevated the cost of these devices. Moreover, the introduction of taxes such as the Medical Device Excise Tax (MDET) of 2.3% in the U.S., will lead to further price hike of products.Medical reimbursement issues further increase the reluctance of patients to opt for biopsy devices. Insurance companies do not grant reimbursements for every biopsy procedure as they consider it to be only investigating technique and not a surgical technique, says a TMR analyst. These issues will negatively influence the growth rate of the global biopsy devices market.North America Maintains Substantial Lead Owing to Large Pool of Cancer PatientsAccording to the report by TMR, the valuation of global market for biopsy devices was US$1.34 bn in 2011 and is anticipated to rise to nearly US$2.11 bn by 2018.The biopsy guidance systems form the leading segment by value in terms of product types. The segment was valued US$767 mn in 2015 and is expected to reach at US$913.5 mn in 2018. However, the needle- based biopsy guns form the fastest growing segment due to their increasing use in biopsy procedures.By geography, the global biopsy devices market is segmented into Asia, Europe, North America, and Rest of the World (RoW). The growing incidence of cancer has made it the largest regional market by value and is expected to retain its leadership by the end of 2018. The unmet medical needs in Asia coupled with the growing pool of cancer patients has made it the fastest growing region by revenue.The information presented in this review is based on a Transparency Market Research report, titled, Biopsy Devices Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast, 2012 - 2018.Browse Full Research Report on Biopsy Devices Market:About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. We have an experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants, who us e proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.ContactTransparency Market Research90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:Browse market research blog: Rubella Testing Market Global Industry Research 2024 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=2935 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/rubella-diagnostic-testing-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com https://tmrresearch.blogspot.com/ Rubella Testing Market: OverviewRubella or German measles is a serious condition (disease) caused by the infection of rubivirus (genus). Sometimes rubella when passed from pregnant mother to her baby then it is termed as congenital rubella. Rubella is a contagious disease and can spread through air or close contact between patient and a healthy individual. Signs and symptom of rubella include fever, headache, inflammation of the eyes and muscle or joint pain.Culture test (nasal or throat swab culture) and blood test to check the function of immune system are the major tests performed for the detection of rubella. Women who are pregnant must undergo rubella test to know the functioning of immune system against rubella virus. There remains chance of miscarriage or stillbirth for those pregnant mothers who are suffering from measles as the child may be born with birth defects.Presently there is no treatment option available in the market for the treatment of rubella. Patients are prescribed acetaminophen for reduction of rubella fever. Rubella can be prevented with the utilization of measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine. Rubella vaccine is recommended for all children and is routinely given when children are 12 months to 15 months old. Almost everyone who receives the vaccine has immunity to rubella for his lifetime.Download Complete Healthcare Analytical Brochure:The global market for rubella testing is being driven primarily due to increasing awareness among people and advancement in diagnostic test. Moreover, government initiatives and support also accounted for the growth of the global rubella testing market. Pregnant mother who are suffering from rubella and are unaware about the high risk of passing the disease from her to unborn baby also contributes significantly in the market growth.Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) stated that more than 100,000 infants are born with congenital rubella syndrome (CRS) annually worldwide. World Health Organization (WHO) revealed that in 1996, the number of countries that have incorporated rubella-containing vaccines into their routine national immunization program was 83. Later in 2011, the number was increased to 130 for the incorporation of rubella-containing vaccines into their routine national immunization.Rubella Testing Market: Region-wise OutlookNorth America dominates the global market for rubella testing due to strong demand of diagnostic test in this region. Moreover increasing awareness among people and initiative taken by the federal government also accounted for the market growth in North American region. Europe represents the second position in the global rubella testing market due to increasing awareness among people and extensive government initiative taken by the European government. For an instance, in October 2010, WHO Region of the America and Europe has established rubella elimination and CRS prevention goals for the year 2010 and 2015.Asia - Pacific is considered as an untapped market due to lack of awareness among people about rubella testing. Asian market growth will be fuelled by the presence of untapped opportunities due to extensive increase in the healthcare infrastructure and growing market penetration in this region.Rubella Testing Market: Key PlayersMajor market players contributing in the global market share of rubella testing market includes Abbott Laboratories, Inc., Becton, Dickinson and Company, Biomerica, Inc., bioMerieux, Inc., Novartis Diagnostics, Johnson & Johnson Diagnostics, Inc., Olympus Corporation, Qiagen N.V., Siemens AG, Thermo Fischer Scientific, Inc., and Zenith Healthcare Ltd.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.Browse Full Research Report on Rubella Testing Market:About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. We have an experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants, who us e proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.ContactTransparency Market Research90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:Browse market research blog: Cancer Diagnostics Market Share by Global Industry Research 2024 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=11501 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/hospital-cancer-diagnostics-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com https://tmrresearch.blogspot.com/ Cancer is one of the leading causes of death across the globe. The World Health Organization (WHO) states that the number of new cases is anticipated to increase by nearly 70% over the next two decades. The increasing prevalence of different types of cancer is paving way for continuous development in the field of hospital cancer diagnostics. A new research report by Transparency Market Research (TMR), titled Hospital Cancer Diagnostics Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2016 2024, presents a detailed description of the various critical parameters of the market. These parameters include its dynamics, regional segmentation, and competitive landscape.The increasing initiatives taken by governments and eminent health organizations to spread awareness regarding cancer are playing an instrumental role in the growth of the global hospital cancer diagnostics market. Other than these initiatives, measures taken to offer best-in-class healthcare services with high efficiency and accuracy to patients is also providing a fillip to the market. One such measure is the partnerships between public and private healthcare sector to improve the infrastructure of diagnostic imaging centers. Moreover, the introduction of personalized medicines and launch of new flow cytometry reagents for diagnostics and drug discovery are augmenting the market. Furthermore, the green light given by the FDA for the development of biomarker is providing a significant boost to the growth of the market.Request a PDF Brochure with Report Analysis:However, the high cost of diagnostic imaging systems is adversely affecting the rate of adoption in emerging markets. Complicating matters is the lack of insurance coverage for novel technologies for hospital cancer diagnostics. Moreover, the high capital requirements for the production of biomarkers and low benefit-cost ratio associated with them are hampering the growth prospects of the market. The shortage of skilled and experienced personnel and presence of stringent regulations are also limiting the market from realizing its full potential. Nevertheless, the availability of miniaturized and technologically advanced diagnostic devices and the growing popularity of companion diagnostics are likely to augur well for the growth of the market.Some of the most common types of cancer are lung cancer, liver cancer, breast cancer, bladder cancer, leukemia, skin cancer, oral cancer, stomach cancer, prostate cancer, ovarian cancer, uterine cancer, colon and rectal cancer, and lymphoma. The most prevalent forms of cancer are lung and liver cancer, accounting for nearly 1.6 mn and 750 thousand deaths respectively every year. Geographically, North America and Europe will collectively command a large share in the market owing to the presence of favorable policies encouraging cancer diagnosis. Asia Pacific is likely to rise at a promising pace due to the rising prevalence of cancer and improving healthcare infrastructure in emerging economies.Some of the key players in the global hospital cancer diagnostics market are Abbott, Applied Genetic Technologies Corporation, Becton Dickinson and Company, Beckman Coulter/Danaher Corporation, Bio-Rad Laboratories Inc., Dako, bioMerieux SA, Cepheid, Inc., Myriad Genetics Inc., diaDexus Inc., Hologic Corporation, QIAGEN N.V., F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd., Ortho Clinical Diagnostics, Sequenom, Inc., Thermo Fisher Scientific Corporation, and GE Healthcare.Browse Full Research Report on Hospital Cancer Diagnostics Market:About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. We have an experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants, who us e proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.ContactTransparency Market Research90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:Browse market research blog: Specialty Coating Market-Technological Advancements, Evolving Industry Trends and Insights 2015 2021 http://www.syndicatemarketresearch.com/request-for-sample.html?flag=S&repid=87277 https://goo.gl/5XLRHB http://www.syndicatemarketresearch.com/market-analysis/specialty-coating-market.html http://www.syndicatemarketresearch.com The report covers forecast and analysis for the Specialty Coating market on a global and regional level. The study provides historic data of 2015 along with a forecast from 2016 to 2021 based on volume and revenue (USD Million). The study includes drivers and restraints for the market along with the impact they have on the demand over the forecast period. Additionally, the report includes the study of opportunities available in the Specialty Coating market on a global level.In order to give the users of this report a comprehensive view on the Specialty Coating market, we have included a detailed competitive scenario and product portfolio of key vendors. To understand the competitive landscape in the market, an analysis of Porters five forces model for the Specialty Coating market has also been included, strategic development along with patents analysis is included in this report. The study encompasses a market attractiveness analysis, wherein type segments are benchmarked based on their market size, growth rate, and general attractiveness.Get a copy of free Sample Report @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 the Middle East and Africa with its further bifurcation into major countries including U.S. Germany, France, UK, China, Japan, India, and Brazil.The report covers detailed competitive outlook including company profiles of the key participants operating in the global market. Key players profiled in the report include Ashland, Axalta, Specialty Coating Systems, Nico, Specialty Polymer Coatings Inc., PPG industries, Evonik, U.S. Specialty Coatings, Inc., and NV Specialty Coatings Srl.Inquire more before buying this report @This report segments the Specialty Coating market as follows:Specialty Coating Market: Regional Segment AnalysisNorth AmericaU.S.EuropeUKFranceGermanyAsia PacificChinaJapanIndiaLatin AmericaBrazilMiddle East and AfricaBrowse detail report @About Us:Syndicate Market Research provides a range of marketing and business research solutions designed for our clients specific needs based on our expert resources. The business scopes of Syndicate Market Research cover more than 30 industries including energy, new materials, transportation, daily consumer goods, chemicals, etc. We provide our clients with the one-stop solution for all the research requirements.Contact Us:Joel John3422 SW 15 Street, Suite #8138Deerfield Beach, Florida 33442United StatesToll Free: +1-855-465-4651 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-386-310-3803Email: sales@syndicatemarketresearch.comWebsite: Global Flame Retardant Market: Potential and Niche Segments, Geographical regions and Trends to 2021 www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/3507 www.persistencemarketresearch.com/toc/3507 www.persistencemarketresearch.com Flame retardants are the compounds which when added to materials such as plastics products, electrical devices, construction materials or textiles delays the production of flames to prevent the spread of fire. There are various types of flame retardant such as aluminum trihydrate, antimony oxides, brominated flame retardant, chlorinated flame retardant, organophosphorus flame retardants, and other flame retardant chemicals. Usage of flame retardant market is increasing in the electronic industry due to its property of decreasing the flammability of combustible substances. Some of the major end user applications of flame retardant market include building & construction, electronics, automotive & transportation, wires & cables, textiles & other applications.Request for Sample Report:Some of the major factors driving the flame retardant market are high demand from current & emerging applications, demand from emerging economies, advancement in technology, increased security measures and the new regulatory guidelines for reducing toxic chemicals. Governments across the globe are setting improved safety standards for smoke and flammability range in different products. The growth in automotive, construction and other major end use industries are increasing the demand of flame retardant market globally. Nanotechnology is expected to play a major role in improving performance of a flame retardant market in the years to come.The major growth opportunities for the flame retardant market includes equipment & electronics, automotive & construction, in the emerging economies especially the one which are expanding in the infrastructure applications. The growth in these segments in emerging economies is likely to increase the market demand for flame retardant and the products based on it.A major factor restraining the market growth is rise in the prices which may lead to further decrease in demand. The key producers are raising the prices of flame retardant market due to the rise in feedstock costs. In addition, there is a toxicity issue at the time of flame retardant production process which could hamper the market further.Asia Pacific is the largest sales market for flame retardant. China alone accounts for about 24% of the global demand of flame retardant. High demand in China is driven by growth in the chemicals and automobile industry in the country. India is also expected to increase its share in the global market on the basis of increasing foreign investment which will result in increasing number of new industries in the country. Asia Pacific is expected to continue in its leadership position in the forecasted period due to the growing end-user markets in countries such as China and India. North America continues to be the second largest sales market followed by Western Europe. Currently, the Middle East and South American countries have a very low market share; however it is expected to increase in the coming years.Request for Table of content:Some of the major companies operating in the global flame retardant market include Akzo Nobel NV, Albemarle Corporation, Almartis GmbH, BASF SE, Borealis GmbH, Budenheim Iberica SLSC, Campine NV, Chemtura Corporation, China Antimony Chemicals, Clariant International Limited, Cytec Industries Incorporated, Daihachi Chemical Industry Company, Dover Chemical, and Glencore International AG. Among which, Albemarle Corporation, Chemtura Corporation, and Clariant International Limited are the most active companies in the flame retardant chemicals market.About Us:Persistence Market Research (PMR) is a third-platform research firm. Our research model is a unique collaboration of data analytics and market research methodology to help businesses achieve optimal performance.To support companies in overcoming complex business challenges, we follow a multi-disciplinary approach. At PMR, we unite various data streams from multi-dimensional sources. By deploying real-time data collection, big data, and customer experience analytics, we deliver business intelligence for organizations of all sizes.Contact Us:Persistence Market Research305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA - Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.commedia@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb: Shale Gas Market Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends & Forecast 2019 Shale Gas Market http://bit.ly/2iy5KBV http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/shale-gas.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/ As the focus on unconventional gas sources intensifies, the global shale gas market will be the key beneficiary, finds a latest report published by Transparency Market Research. According to the report, the production of shale gas worldwide stood at 10,138.2 Bcf in 2012, and will exhibit a 7.9% CAGR from 2013 to 2019, by which year it will stand at 17,201.6 Bcf.The report, titled Global Shale Gas Market - Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2013 - 2019, states that measures to address the depletion of conventional gas reservoirs has prompted sizeable investments in shale gas exploration. The key challenges standing in the way of the markets growth are the high cost of shale gas exploration and extraction and concerns about surface water being contaminated.Download the Exclusive report Sample :These efforts have already borne fruit with a shale gas revolution being seen in the U.S., which has put the country firmly on the path to becoming a net exporter of natural gas by 2017, marking an evident change from its status as a modest net importer. In the hope to emulate the U.S.s success, countries such as China have also pumped in billions of dollars worth of investments into shale gas exploration.As of 2014, however, the U.S. was the leader in both production of and revenue from shale gas. The landscape of the global shale gas market, however, could likely see a shift in the coming years with many more countries showing massive potential for shale gas production with the discovery of new reserves worldwide.As is the case with natural gas, shale gas too finds various applications, which include: power generation, industrial, residential, commercial, transportation, and others. With each of these applications needing more power with every passing year, the demand for shale gas from all application areas is expected to rise steadily.According to TMRs findings, in 2012, unconventional gas constituted 44% of all technically recoverable gas. Shale gas comprised two-thirds of all unconventional sources. About 60% of all conventional gas resources occur in Eastern Europe and Eurasia and these regions hold 16.5% of all unconventional gas sources. An appreciable part of the remaining reserves of technically recoverable unconventional gas occurs in the U.S. and China, both of whom are currently net gas importers. The report states that although massive shale gas reserves exist in Europe, the stringent regulatory scenario will prevent the shale gas market from exhibiting dramatic growth.By application, the report segments the shale gas market into power generation, commercial, industrial, residential, and transportation. As of 2012, the industrial sector constituted the largest application segment of the shale gas market with a share of 30%, and is expected to rise to about 35% by 2019. Power generation is yet another major application segment. The report conducts an in-depth technology analysis of the shale gas market by studying techniques such as horizontal drilling, hydraulic fracturing, and water usage issues.With sectoral majors such as Anadarko Petroleum Corporation, BP plc, BHP Billiton Limited, Cabot Oil and Gas, ConocoPhillips, Chesapeake Energy Corporation, ExxonMobil, and Total SA investing aggressively in setting up new platforms and refineries and midstream activities, the competitive scenario in the global shale gas market will continue to see new events and developments.Shale Gas Market: Technology Analysis-Horizontal DrillingHydraulic Fracturing-Water Usage IssueShale Gas Market: Application Analysis-Industrial-Power Generation-Commercial-Residential-TransportationBrowse the full Global Shale Gas Market - Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2013 - 2019 report atShale Gas Market: Regional Analysis-North America-U.S.-Canada-Asia Pacific-ChinaTransparency 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.Transparency Market Research90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:Visit Blog : http://cmfeglobalreports.blogspot.com/ A powerful provincial governor and a key backer of the Afghan chief executive is now seen as trying to undercut his standing within Afghanistans national unity government by striking a new power-sharing deal with the president. Governor Atta Muhammad Noors support for Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah ensured that Abdullah claims near 50 percent share for their Jamiat-e Islami party in Afghanistans national unity government. Noor, the powerful governor of northern Balkh Province, however, is now negotiating a separate power-sharing deal with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani. These talks have clouded Abdullahs future and plunged Jamiat-e Islami into turmoil by seemingly pitting supporters of Noor and Abdullah against one another. Farhad Azimi, an Afghan lawmaker close to Atta, told Radio Free Afghanistan that Atta entered the talks because Abdullah failed to implement the provisions of the national unity governments political deal. Concluded in September 2014, the power-sharing deal between Abdullah and Ghani, brokered by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, called for the convening of the Loya Jirga or grand assembly to deliberate on a constitutional amendment for creating the post of an executive prime minister. Atta personally questioned Abdullahs competence. He is a good personality, he is learned and experienced, but [with the unity government] he played weakly and could not represent us properly, he told BBC Persian. This prompted me to change the situation and engage in direct negotiations [with the president]. Daud Asaas, an adviser to Abdullah, told Radio Free Afghanistan that Atta is engaging in the power-sharing talks for personal gains. "The talks between Atta Mohammad Noor and the presidential palace are personal, he said. [The Afghan presidential palace] Arg has pledged them a number of ministries and provincial posts, and I don't think the talks have reached any conclusions yet." Fazel Sancharaki, another Abdullah supporter, also said Attas main aim is to safeguard his personal interests. The talks are his own initiative and [are aimed at] solving his personal problems. Such talks can never represent the entire chief executive office or the political agreement [he concluded with the president], he said. Now Atta can talk about his personal matters with the presidential palace about his bank accounts, his foreign trips, or the issue of his acting-governorship of [northern] Balkh [Province], but regarding the provisions of the political agreement only Abdullah can speak. The talks, which seemingly circumvented Abdullah, have garnered criticism from among many leaders of Jamiat-e Islami. Last week, Shah Waliullah Adeeb, the former governor of northeastern Badakhshan Province, accused Noor of entering the talks without properly consulting party members. "All members of the party should have been asked for their views. I think that entering into talks with the government on an individual basis creates confusion," he said. Another senior Jamiat-e Islami leader, Saleh Mohammad Registani, echoed similar concerns. "As far as I know, the leadership council has not held any meeting in this regard and is not involved in these talks, he said. But there is no doubt he [Noor] would become distant from our movement." But Zabiullah Fetrat, a party spokesman, rejected Adeebs claims. He said all senior leadership members including current Foreign Minister and acting party Chairman Salahuddin Rabbani, presidential envoy Ahmad Zia Massoud and former minister Ismail Khan were in the picture about the negotiations. "The talks have been conducted in consultation with the leadership council and with the respectable chief executive of our national unity government and with the allies of Jamiat-e Islami, he said. This is not a personal issue. Adeeb is not in a position to talk about such major issues. His remarks are irresponsible." Noor was the key backer of Abdullah during the controversial 2014 presidential elections. He was a staunch opponent of Ghani and often publicly criticized the Afghan leader. The relations between the two leaders dramatically improved late last year after Ghani met Noor during a visit to his northern powerbase Mazar-e Sharif. The city is the capital of Balkh Province, where Noor has been the governor since 2004. His supporters such as lawmaker Azimi are optimistic direct talks between Ghani and Noor have yielded constructive results. But he refused to elaborate on the details of their power-sharing arrangements. But critics such as Registani remain doubtful. Our fear is that this would prove a mistake, he said. as/fg Isostearyl Alcohol Market Expected to Exhibit CAGRs of 4.4% by 2016 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/11617 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/market-research/isostearyl-alcohol-market/toc http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/checkout/11617 The global isostearyl alcohol market was pegged at 14,700.0 tons in 2015 and is anticipated to increase at a CAGR of 3.2% over an eight-year forecast period to reach 19,594.4 tons by the end of 2024. Persistence Market Research in a latest report titled Global Market Study on Isostearyl Alcohol: Increasing Demand for Isostearyl Alcohol as an Ingredient in Personal care Products and Cosmetics Likely to Boost Market Growth? focuses on the growth of the global isostearyl alcohol market from 2016 to 2024 and provides useful insights into key market dynamics impacting this growth.A sample of this report is available upon request @A rising demand for isostearyl alcohol as an ingredient in personal care products and cosmetics is expected to boost growth of the isostearyl alcohol market over the forecast period. However, increasing demand for multifunctional personal care ingredients and development of natural ingredients for anti-aging skin care products are major challenges likely to affect the global isostearyl alcohol market. Isostearyl alcohol is basically derived from isostearic acid and globally, 16%18% of isostearic acid produced is captively consumed for production of isostearyl alcohol. However, isostearic acid producers are moving towards development of environmentally friendly emollients and surfactants, which could reduce the percentage of conversion of isostearyl acid into isostearyl alcohol over the forecast period. The report focuses on the key drivers and trends likely to impact the global isostearyl alcohol market over the forecast period.The global isostearyl alcohol market is segmented on the basis of application, end use, and region. On the basis of application, the emollient and solvent segments collectively accounted for 49.5% share of global consumption of isostearyl alcohol in 2015 and are expected to exhibit CAGRs of 3.9% and 3.5% respectively over the forecast period. The glossing agent and dispersing agent segments collectively accounted for 28.0% share of global consumption of isostearic alcohol in 2015 and are expected to exhibit CAGRs of 4.4% and 3.9% respectively over the forecast period. On the basis of end use, personal care is currently the most prominent segment in this market in terms of volume while the cosmetics segment is expected to gain traction over the forecast period due to a rising demand for anti-aging products. Increasing per capita consumer expenditure on personal care and cosmetics products and a growing demand for skin care products in the Asia Pacific geography especially in China are some of the factors driving demand for anti-aging products, in turn anticipated to boost growth of the isostearyl alcohol market.By region, the market is segmented into Asia Pacific, Europe, North America, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa. The Europe and North America markets collectively accounted for 57.5% share of global consumption of isostearyl alcohol in 2015 and are expected to exhibit CAGRs of 3.0% and 2.5% respectively over the forecast period. Asia Pacific accounted for 22.4% share of global consumption of isostearyl alcohol in 2015 and is expected to exhibit a CAGR of 4.2% over the forecast period to account for 24.0% share by the end of 2024. Latin America accounted for 15.2% share of global consumption of isostearyl alcohol in 2015 and is expected to exhibit a CAGR of 3.7% over the forecast period to account for 15.9% share by the end of 2024.Request to view Table of content @Croda International Plc., Oleon N.V (Avril Group), Jarchem Industries Inc., and Nissan Chemicals America Corporation are the top producers of isostearyl alcohol. While isostearic acid is the basic raw material for the production of isostearyl alcohol, most producers are shifting their production to other isostearic acid derivatives due to the monotonic properties of isostearyl alcohol as compared to other fatty alcohols.To Buy Full Report for a Single User @About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a third-platform research firm. Our research model is a unique collaboration of data analytics and market research methodology to help businesses achieve optimal performance.To support companies in overcoming complex business challenges, we follow a multi-disciplinary approach. At PMR, we unite various data streams from multi-dimensional sources. By deploying real-time data collection, big data, and customer experience analytics, we deliver business intelligence for organizations of all sizes.Persistence Market Research Pvt. Ltd.305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA - Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.com Oilfield Drilling Additives Market Explores New Growth Opportunities By 2021 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/7205 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/toc/7205 Oilfield chemicals play a significant role in the oil and gas industry. Most common oilfield chemicals used by the industry are organic chemicals and solvents, surfactants, transition metal compounds, inorganic salts, water-soluble and oil-soluble polymers. These chemicals control the bacterial growth, foam & wax formation and corrosive action in oils and gases. Drilling additives is one of the major applications in the oilfield chemicals market.A sample of this report is available upon request @Chemical formulations used for multiple functions in oil processing are termed as oilfield drilling additives. The additive technologies excel with emulsification and thinning or dispersion of oil-based muds. They help to create proper fluid weighting to balance pressure formation and optimize fluid flow. Other functions include maintaining strong boundary lubrication films in silicate-based mud systems specialized for shale drilling, which is done by lubricating agents. Other functions include wettability, dispersant, detergency and clay stabilization. Selection criteria of drilling additives require careful consideration of several aspects, such as pressures and temperatures, rock composition, well design, protection of the producing zone, reservoir chemistry, and environmental regulations. The focus is on performance, temperature stability and tolerance of products from contamination for drilling fluid systems.While there are many types of components and additives currently being used in the industry, usually the classification of fluids is based on the formulation of coatings as water based, oil based and synthetic based. Each type varies greatly and the composition is different with different technical specifications. The major chemicals used in the industry are sulfurized or chlorinated compounds, polyglycols, acrylics, esters polyamides, glutaraldehyde, alcohols and many more.In a recent merger by The Lubrizol Corporation, a Berkshire Hathaway company, signed an agreement with Weatherford, stating that the companys drilling fluids and additives business will now be a part of the Lubrizol Corporation. The Lubrizol Corporation has introduced a new mobile application called the Oilfield Drilling Fluids Product Guide, which is designed to help formulators of Oilfield Drilling Fluids to identify advanced Lubrizol chemistries that help achieve a wide range of performance needs. Arabian Drilling Corporation launched three new products AD41, AD42 and AD43; which have special drilling control systems equipped with Amphion Integration, a technology that provides compact and comfortable rigs.Increasing demand from energy sector is creating thrust to drilling deeper for more oil extraction, the protection of oil from various harmful organisms in the biocides industry are some of the key factors driving the growth of the oilfield drilling additives market.Request to view Table of content @Total cost to target with environmentally acceptable fluid systems, European environmental concerns, strict environmental regulations are probable factors restraining the growth of the oilfield drilling additives market.The global oilfield drilling additives market is broadly classified on the basis of formulation of coatings, type and geographies.About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a third-platform research firm. Our research model is a unique collaboration of data analytics and market research methodology to help businesses achieve optimal performance.To support companies in overcoming complex business challenges, we follow a multi-disciplinary approach. At PMR, we unite various data streams from multi-dimensional sources. By deploying real-time data collection, big data, and customer experience analytics, we deliver business intelligence for organizations of all sizes.Persistence Market Research Pvt. Ltd.305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA - Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.com Polyoxymethylene Market Revenue Predicted To Go Up by 2022 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/8989 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/toc/8989 Polyoxymethylene (also known as POM) is a high performance engineering plastic that is derived from formaldehyde. It finds its applications in various end user industries such as electrical and electronics, automotive industry, consumer goods and electronics, and others. Polyoxymethylene is a preferred material in the category of high performance engineering plastics due to its various desirable properties such as excellent dimensional stability, impact resistance, fatigue resistance, and high strength. Polyoxymethylene is majorly used in electrical & electronics industry to make insulators, capacitors and various other electronic components. The use of this material makes the product more efficient and effective to deliver better performance.A sample of this report is available upon request @Polymers are considered as an important material in the food industry due to factors such as mechanical strength, low cost and ease in manufacturing and processing. As a result, the demand for plastic from the food industry is expected to strengthen the market for Polyoxymethylene, thereby creating new opportunities in the coming years. Polyoxymethylene is also used as a replacement for metal as it weighs lighter than metal and also possesses high impact strength.Polyoxymethylene is an engineering thermoplastic that is used because of its excellent physical properties which make it a metal replacing light weight material. The drivers for this market include superior properties, increasing demand in end use industries, and replacement for plastics among others. New applications in the food packaging industry along with non-crude oil derivate based raw materials would act as opportunities for Polyoxymethylene. Use of Polyoxymethylene in various industries such as automotive, electrical and electronics, others in the form of metal replacement plastic due to its light weight and high strength is expected to drive growth of the Polyoxymethylene market.Polyoxymethylene manufacturers are investing heavily in plant capacity expansion or regional expansion by creating new subsidiaries to penetrate into new markets and to improve the reach of their products in various regions. Major players in this market are engaged in R&D efforts to develop newer applications and new products to fulfill the demand from various end use industries. Also, the companies are engaged in new product launch, and mergers & acquisitions. The companies are expanding their geographical footprints by setting up plants at new locations. These strategies are helping the companies to increase their market share and expand their reach.The global Polyoxymethylene market is estimated to witness significant growth for the forecast period (2015 to 2025). Asia-Pacific is the leading market in terms of consumption and it accounts for nearly half of the total market for Polyoxymethylene. Western European market for polyoxymethylene is also expected to grow at moderate rate in the coming years. According to FMIs forecasts, this market in Asia-Pacific is expected to show the fastest CAGR over the forecasted period as huge amount of investment are made in this region.Request to view Table of content @Some of the major players of the global Polyoxymethylene market are: E. I. Du Pont De Nemours and Company, BASF SE, A. Schulman, Korea Engineering Plastics, Asahi Kasei Chemicals Corp., Celanese Corporation, Mitsubishi Engineering-Plastics Corporation, and others.About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a third-platform research firm. Our research model is a unique collaboration of data analytics and market research methodology to help businesses achieve optimal performance.To support companies in overcoming complex business challenges, we follow a multi-disciplinary approach. At PMR, we unite various data streams from multi-dimensional sources. By deploying real-time data collection, big data, and customer experience analytics, we deliver business intelligence for organizations of all sizes.Persistence Market Research Pvt. Ltd.305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA - Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.com Global Mobile Payment Transaction Market is Expected to Account for US$ 2,849,231.4 Mn in the Year 2020 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/12937 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/market-research/mobile-payment-transaction-market/toc http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/checkout/12937 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/ he mobile payment is an integrated system linked by various components of value chain which typically includes the merchant, the consumer, the financial institution involved and not to forget the payment gateway and the telecom network.In terms of revenue, the global mobile payment transaction market revenues valued at US$ 549,917.7 Mn in 2015 will possibly reach US$ 2,849,231.4 Mn in the year 2020.A sample of this report is available upon request @Mobile payment transaction volume will grow by a massive 41.7% during the forecast period 2015-2020. In terms of volume, the global mobile payment transaction market volume was 18,969.8 million transactions in the year 2015 and this is projected to increase by 106,001.5 million transactions by the year 2020.Persistence Market Research forecasts the global mobile payment transaction market to register a CAGR of 39.1% through 2020 and reach US$ 2.89 trillion in revenues.Even though there will be tremendous growth in mobile payment transactions market, there are many challenges that are obstructing the growth of this market. A major challenge is the slow adoption of smartphone compatible POS systems by the retailers. If taken at face value, a 41.7% volume growth looks amazing, but there is something to be concerned about. One of the major concerns is that apart from few countries, consumers haven't fully accepted the concept of mobile payments, even though the facility is much more secure. However, given the inherent nature of the product, it wouldn't be long before consumers all over the world use the facilities provided by mobile payments, as per the research report of Persistence Market Research.By technology, SMS and WAP/WEB will continue to account for most of the transactions conducted worldwide. Mobile payments conducted through SMS will witness a robust CAGR of 24.5% over the forecast period. In the year 2015, the revenue from the SMS segment was US$ 238,884.3 Mn and this is going to be at the value of US$ 678,117.1 Mn by 2020 end.Mobile payments conducted through WAP/WEB will witness a CAGR of 48.0% during the forecast period. In the year 2015, the revenue from the WAP/WEB segment was US$ 164,386.1 Mn and this is going to be valued at US$ 1,725,209.6 at the end of the forecast period in the year 2020.Money transfer and merchandise purchases account for over 90% revenue share of the global mobile payment transaction market on the basis of end-use 'purpose'. Mobile payments made for merchandise purchases will be worth US$ 323.73 Bn in 2016, up from US$ 228.32 Bn in 2015. Money transfer, the largest end-use purpose in the mobile payment transaction market, will grow by over 38% to surpass US$ 381 Bn in revenues.The market for mobile payments will continue to be robust in APEJ and Africa, as majority of people there don't own a credit card, in contrast of the situation in Europe and United States. So, consumers in APEJ and Africa are making a direct shift from using cash to using mobile payments. Growth in the mobile payments market will be particularly strong in China. This is due to the entry of major market players like Apple and Samsung in the Chinese market, making the competition more fierce and interesting.Due to a strong showing in China, the market for mobile payment will continue to grow in the Asia Pacific region and this region will be the leading market in the world in terms of volume. However, in terms of value, it is Africa that will maintain its number one position in the mobile payment transaction market. This is due to the spectacular success of M-Pesa in Kenya and this has influenced consumers and businesses in other regions of Africa to adopt the technology of mobile payments. This has boosted the market of mobile payment transaction market in Africa. Currently, Africa has nearly 32% revenue share of the global mobile payment market, and boasts of a subscriber base of over 100 million. Other than Asia Pacific and Africa, Western Europe and United States are other lucrative regions for mobile payment transaction market the world over.Request to view Table of Content @Leading players operating in the global mobile payment transaction market are PayPal, Visa, MasterCard, Google Wallet, Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, and Alipay.To Buy Full Report for a Single User @About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. We have an experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants, who use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Each PMR Syndicated Research report covers a different sector - such as pharmaceuticals, chemical, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With a wider scope and stratified research methodology, our syndicated reports strive to serve clients and satisfy their overall research requirement.For information regarding permissions, contact:Persistence Market Research305 Broadway,7th FloorNew York City, NY 10007United StatesTel: +1 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.comWebsite:media@persistencemarketresearch.com Geotextiles Market to Maintain Healthy CAGR By 2025 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/11050 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/toc/11050 Geotextiles are been used for agriculture and civil applications for thousands of years. In past, materials such as natural fibres and vegetation mix were used to produce geotextiles. Now a days, synthetic and natural fibres/polymers are used to produce geotextiles. The synthetic polymers that are used in the production of geotextiles are polyamides, polyethylenes, polypropylene and polyester. Geotextile fabrics are used to produce grids, mats, nets and webs. Vegetation or plant based geotextiles have less shelf life as compared to synthetic fibres/polymer. Synthetic fibres do not get affected by the biological or chemical reactions/processes. The geotextiles have evolved and currently geotextiles are largely used in the civil engineering applications, due to their properties such as flexibility and texture suitable. Synthetic geotextiles materials are petrochemical based products, due to which, they are not environment friendly as they are responsible for carbon emission. Synthetic geotextiles are non-renewable as well.A sample of this report is available upon request @Separation, filtration, reinforcement and drainage are four functions of geotextiles. Geotextile is also used with soil, and rock to increase the stability and lessen the wind and water erosion. As per the type of applications, the fabric composition varies. Geotextiles can non-woven, woven or knitted. The non-woven geotextiles are used in applications such as roads, payment overlays and aggregate drains. For application where high strength geotextile is required, the woven geotextile is used. Though, geotextiles are largely used in filtration of rocks, geotextiles are not apt for filtration of liquid barriers.Geotextiles are inexpensive and thus preferred for various functions such as separation, filtration, reinforcement, protection and drainage in civil engineering applications, due to which the global geotextile market is expected to grow during the forecast period. Global geotextile market is forecast to propel during the forecast period due to expected growth in the construction and agriculture industries. Properties such as flexibility and permeability of geotextiles are expected to fuel the growth of the global geotextiles market during the forecast period. Durability and cost effectiveness is also expected to fuel the growth of the global geotextile market during the forecast period. Geotextiles industry players are constantly innovating the geotextiles, due to government push and to increase their market share in the global market, which is expected drive the global geotextile during the forecast period.Though, the importance of the geotextiles is on the rise globally, as synthetic geotextiles are petrochemical based products, they cause carbon emissions, due to stringent government regulations to reduce the carbon footprint, the growth in the global geotextile market is inhibited.The global geotextiles market by value is expected to expand at a CAGR of around 79% during the forecast period (2015-2025), due to increasing demand from industries such as construction and agriculture.Some of the key market participants in global geotextiles market are Royal Ten Cate (TenCate), Geosynthetic Lining Systems (GSE) Environmental, NAUE Gmbh & Co. KG, Propex Global, Fibertex Nonwovers, Fiberweb PLC and Global Synthetics.Request to view Table of content @The research report presents a comprehensive assessment of the market and contains thoughtful insights, facts, historical data, and statistically supported and industry-validated market data. It also contains projections using a suitable set of assumptions and methodologies. The research report provides analysis and information according to categories such as market segments by geographies and by end-use application, by materials and by type.About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a third-platform research firm. Our research model is a unique collaboration of data analytics and market research methodology to help businesses achieve optimal performance.To support companies in overcoming complex business challenges, we follow a multi-disciplinary approach. At PMR, we unite various data streams from multi-dimensional sources. By deploying real-time data collection, big data, and customer experience analytics, we deliver business intelligence for organizations of all sizes.Persistence Market Research Pvt. Ltd.305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA - Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.com Global Cardiac Rhythm Management (CRM) Devices Batteries Market: Improved Power Sources Ensure Swift Uptake, says TMR http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=17678 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com Transparency Market Research states that the competitive landscape in the global cardiac rhythm management devices batteries market is mildly fragmented. The leading players such as Medtronic, Boston Scientific Corporation, St. Jude Medical, Inc., Greatbatch, Inc. (Integer), and EaglePicher Technologies, LLC are focusing on developing unmatched quality of batteries through state-of-art technological development. Furthermore, companies are also expected to strengthen their position across the globe through geographical expansion. In the coming years, these players are expected to increase their investments to develop products that are aimed toward increasing streamlining clinical workflow, therapy efficacy, and improving quality of life, states the lead author of this research report.According to the research report, the global CRM devices batteries market is expected to worth US$518.4 mn by the end of 2024 as compared to US$397.3 mn in 2015. During the forecast years of 2016 and 2024, the global market is estimated to progress at a CAGR of 3.0%.cardiac rhythm management devices batteries marketHigh Prevalence of Chronic Conditions across Asia Pacific Boosts Regional DemandThe various products available in the global CRM devices batteries market are implantable cardiac pacemakers (ICPs), implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICDs), and cardiac resynchronization therapy devices (CRT-Ds). Of these, the CRT-Ds are expected to show the maximum growth in the forecast period as the segment surges at a CAGR of 4.1%. The ability of these devices to manage heart failure cases and reduce the number of risks associated with irregular heartbeats are expected to boost their demand in the forecast period. Analysts projected that ICD will also be a lucrative segment for the global market in the coming years.In terms geography, the global CRM devices batteries market is segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and the Middle East and Africa. Of these, North America is the most attractive market for CRM batteries as the region is slated to acquire a share of 38.2% by the end of 2024. Analysts estimate that Asia Pacific is also expected to gain a significant share in the overall market due to high prevalence of health conditions such as high cholesterol, diabetes, and hypertension that have spiked the number of cardiovascular disease cases in recent years.Aging Population Triggers Demand for CRM Devices Batteries for Disease ManagementThe demand for CRM devices batteries has grown to a significantly in the past few decades as power sources have graduated from nickel-cadmium batteries to lithium ones. These sophisticated batteries are capable of powering complicated pacing devices such as CRT devices and ICDs. These batteries are known to be light weight, highly predictable and reliable, high energy density, small in size, and come with a long service life. Owing to these regions, several CRM devices manufacturers are using them in ICD, CRT devices, and pacemakers. The demand for CRM devices batteries is also being fueled by the increasing need for data logging, biventricular pacing, and telemetry.Product Recalls Lead to Declining Sales of CRM Devices BatteriesThe report indicates that growing pool of geriatrics is also likely to boost the demand for ICD, CRT devices, and pacemakers, which, in turn, is expected to reflect positively on the sales of CRM devices batteries. These devices will be extensively used for managing diseases such as bradycardia, tachycardia, and congestive heart failure amongst the ageing population.Though the batteries have gained popularity and demand over the past few years, the growing number of product recalls have resulted in decline of sales of these devices. Failure of device batteries have been the predominant reason for recalls in recent past. The market is also likely to suffer due to the changes in purchasing patterns. These are attributable to the declining reimbursements, lower patient volumes, and a significant drop in capital expenditure since the economic recession of 2008.This review is based on Transparency Market Researchs report, titled Cardiac Rhythm Management (CRM) Devices Batteries Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecast, 2016 - 2024.The cardiac rhythm management devices batteries market has been segmented as follows:Global Cardiac Rhythm Management (CRM) Devices Batteries Market, by Product TypeImplantable cardiac pacemakers (ICPs)Implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICDs)Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy Devices (CRT-Ds)Global Cardiac Rhythm Management (CRM) Devices Batteries Market, by Power SourcesLithium-iodine cells (Li/I2)Lithium-silver vanadium oxide cell (Li/SVO)Lithium-carbon mono-fluoride cells (Li/CFx)Lithium-manganese dioxide cells (Li/MnO2)Global Cardiac Rhythm Management (CRM) Devices Batteries Market, by GeographyNorth AmericaEuropeAsia PacificLatin AmericaMEA (Middle East & Africa)Download Free exclusive Sample of this report: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.Each TMR syndicated research report covers a different sector - such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With wider scope and stratified research methodology, TMRs syndicated reports strive to provide clients to serve their overall research requirement.90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: Packaged Explosive Market Expecting Worldwide Growth by 2026 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/11062 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/toc/11062 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.A sample of this report is available upon request @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 @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 UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a third-platform research firm. Our research model is a unique collaboration of data analytics and market research methodology to help businesses achieve optimal performance.To support companies in overcoming complex business challenges, we follow a multi-disciplinary approach. At PMR, we unite various data streams from multi-dimensional sources. By deploying real-time data collection, big data, and customer experience analytics, we deliver business intelligence for organizations of all sizes.Persistence Market Research Pvt. Ltd.305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA - Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.com Fluorocarbon Gases Market to Record an Impressive Growth by 2026 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/11161 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/toc/11161 The compounds and the products utilizing fluorocarbons subsidize significantly to the quality of life while. Over the years many new technologies are being introduced that are fuelling investments in industrial in fluorocarbon gases market to utilize its properties to produce electrical equipment and products at a large scale. The improved technologies in air conditioning in buildings, food-preserving refrigeration, insulation systems, motor vehicles and others.A sample of this report is available upon request @There are numerous recent attempts wherein businesses are working to make alterations to compounds with more environment protection without disturbing its basic attributes such as low toxicity, non-flammability and lot more. The market is being majorly driven by the growing electronic appliances and electronics manufacturing. There are numerous industries where a fluorocarbon gases is a prerequisite. Some other prominent industries where fluorocarbon gases are used are automotive, chemicals, semiconductors among others. CFCs emanates a very prominent usage in aerosol format products, as sterilants of equipment of medical usage, and in a lot of diverse applications including tobacco expansion, food freezing, cancer therapy and fumigation. The rising demand from different end use sectors is driving growth in global fluorocarbon gases market.The industry is entering into a fast moving phase. Growing number of industry players is rising the competition into unprecedented heights. Many fluorocarbon gases have a very high global warming potentials. Fluorinated gases are removed only in the upper atmosphere when they are damaged by sunlight. In general, fluorinated gases are the most long lasting type of gases emitted by human activities.The growing need of high-end industrial activities in different industrial applications is pushing the end users to invest in and deploy fluorocarbon gases, subsequently growing the global fluorocarbon gases market. The demand is growing in industrial applications such as electronics manufacturing, semiconductors, home appliances etc. which is acting as one of the biggest driver for the increasing demand of the fluorocarbon gases and global fluorocarbon gases market dispersion.In spite of of being in flammable, compact, and reliable source raw material/compound the fluorocarbon suffers from some challenges such as the changing legislations and strict mandates upon its usage. The gases are ozone depletion substances whose production and usage are controlled under an international agreement called Montreal Protocol. In some of the regions, usage of CFCs and HCFCs is phased out under this international agreement, and are being replaced by HFCs. This is expected to restrain the global fluorocarbon market from growing.The global fluorocarbon gases market is projected to register a favourable growth for the forecast period, 2015?2025. APAC is projected to withstand its control on the global fluorocarbon gases market. The region is anticipated to uphold its dominance in the global fluorocarbon gases market due to consistently growing demand for fluorocarbon gases from developing economies such as China and India. China is the largest market opportunity in terms of revenue in APAC region. North American and Europe are likely to follow the Asia market in terms of growth in global fluorocarbon gases market.Request to view Table of content @Some of the key market participants in global fluorocarbon gases market are Daikin Industries, Electronic Fluorocarbons, LLC, INOX Group, Hindustan Flurocarbons Limited, Fluorocarbon, among others.The research report presents a comprehensive assessment of the market and contains thoughtful insights, facts, historical data, and statistically supported and industry-validated market data. It also contains projections using a suitable set of assumptions and methodologies. The research report provides analysis and information according to categories such as market segments, geographies, types, technology and applications.About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a third-platform research firm. Our research model is a unique collaboration of data analytics and market research methodology to help businesses achieve optimal performance.To support companies in overcoming complex business challenges, we follow a multi-disciplinary approach. At PMR, we unite various data streams from multi-dimensional sources. By deploying real-time data collection, big data, and customer experience analytics, we deliver business intelligence for organizations of all sizes.Persistence Market Research Pvt. Ltd.305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA - Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.com Technology Spending on Core Administration in Healthcare: Rising Investments in Administrative Systems Slated to Reduce Healthcare Delivery Costs, predicts TMR http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/technology-spending-administration-healthcare-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=16961 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com The field of core administration solutions for the healthcare industry is highly fragmented owing to the presence of a large number of established players offering hardware, software, and services, says Transparency Market Research in a recent report. Considering the vast growth opportunities in developing regions such as India, Brazil, and China, players are focusing on diversification opportunities across these countries through mergers, acquisitions, and consolidation practices. To encash the vast growth opportunities in the core administration segment in the healthcare industry, owing to various government norms like Obamacare or Affordable Care Act (ACA), competitors are also focusing on extensive product development to offer differentiated services.According to Transparency Market Research, the global technology spending on core administration in healthcare market sector will exhibit a 5.7% CAGR over the period between 2016 and 2024, rising from US$25,900 mn in 2015 to US$42,317 mn by 2024.Of the key end users of core administration solutions in the healthcare industry, the payers segment accounted for over 88% of the overall market in 2015 and is expected to remain the key driver of technology spending on core administration in the healthcare industry throughout the forecast period. Geographically, North America dominated, accounted for over 50% of the overall funds spent on enabling technologically advanced core administration solutions in the healthcare industry in 2015. The trend is expected to remain strong over the forecast period as well.technology spending on core administration in healthcare marketRising Demand for Value-based Reimbursement Modules to Drive adoption of IT Solutions in HealthcareRising convergence of a variety of digital platforms for managing and processing the ever-expanding healthcare data, continuously changing healthcare reimbursement reforms and regulations, and digitally empowered consumers are collectively making the healthcare administration space increasingly complex. While at one point cost competition is at the peak in the healthcare industry, payers (insurance agencies) are pressing healthcare providers to switch from a volume-based (payment for service) to a value-based reimbursement module (payment for value).By requiring that healthcare providers deliver services at lowest costs to patients, value-based reimbursement modules entail more financial risks for providers and critically necessitate the effective management of core administrative processes to cut costs. The situation demands a robust IT infrastructure and an integrated platform wherein the payers can streamline workflows for provider contracting and engagement. In the next few years, the increased need for such platforms will emerge as one of the key drivers of technology spending on core administration in the healthcare sector.Outdated Technology and Applications Discourage Technological Advancements in Healthcare IT InfrastructureHowever, the overall global spending on technology for core administration in the healthcare sector is expected to be negatively impacted due to factors such as the presence of outdated technology and applications across several data collection and delivery nodes, continuously changing healthcare reforms, and ever-changing ways of financial transactions.The inability of healthcare professionals in using complex or time-consuming features in technologically advanced digital healthcare applications is another key factor deterring the adoption of IT solutions for managing core administrative processes in the healthcare sector. The use of IT solutions by health professionals is growing at a steady pace globally, but it is not uniform. A substantial gap exists between the numbers of providers, which is relatively small presently, the number of consumers who actively use the Internet for any purpose, which is on rise at a rapid pace, and the much larger group of patients and healthcare providers that has not used it or cannot use it.This review of the present and future scope of technology spending on core administration in healthcare is based on a recent report by Transparency Market Research, titled Technology Spending on Core Administration in Healthcare Market - Global Industry, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2016 - 2024.View exclusive Global strategic Business report :Global Technology Spending on Core Administration in Healthcare By SolutionIn-HouseHardwareSoftwareServicesOutsourceGlobal Technology Spending on Core Administration in Healthcare By DeploymentCloud-BasedOn-PremiseGlobal Technology Spending on Core Administration in Healthcare By End UsersPayersInsurance CompaniesGovernmentOthersProvidersHospitalsOthersGlobal Technology Spending on Core Administration in Healthcare By RegionNorth AmericaU.S.CanadaEuropeGermanyU.KFranceItalySpainRest of EuropeAsia Pacific (APAC)ChinaIndiaJapanAustraliaNew ZealandRest of Asia PacificLatin AmericaBrazilMexicoRest of Latin AmericaMiddle East & Africa (MEA)Saudi ArabiaUAERSARest of Middle East & AfricaDownload Free exclusive Sample of this report: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.Each TMR syndicated research report covers a different sector - such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With wider scope and stratified research methodology, TMRs syndicated reports strive to provide clients to serve their overall research requirement.US Office Contact90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: Power over Ethernet (PoE) Chipsets Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Forecast 2024 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=12182 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/power-over-ethernet-chipsets-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com Global Power over Ethernet (PoE) Chipsets Market: OverviewThe Power over Ethernet (PoE) technology enables the transfer of electrical signals and data over cables, thereby avoiding the usage of separate power cords. Demand for fast and cost-effective communication is rising due to the increase in the number of internet users. Under the PoE technology, power is supplied through two or more differential pair of wires seen in Ethernet cables. Implementation of the PoE chipsets for the transfer of data signals saves the cost for setting up separate network of cables.Get Sample Report Copy :On the basis of product type, PoE chipsets have been classified into proximity sensors, VoIP phones, Ethernet switches, wireless radio access points, and pan-tilt-zoom cameras. The VoIP applications contribute significantly toward the growth of the global PoE chipsets market. PoE chipsets are deployed in majority of business-class IP phones. The PoE technology provides value proposition for wireless LAN access points, as it can be deployed without tethering to an AC outlet. Network security cameras are anticipated to hold the maximum growth potential for the market in the next few years.Global Power over Ethernet (PoE) Chipsets Market: OverviewIncrease in adoption of IP telephony has driven the demand for Power over Ethernet (PoE) chipsets. Rise in the deployment of network security cameras and Ethernet-based RFID readers will further boost the global PoE chipsets market. Introduction of industrial Ethernet PoE solutions is expected to contribute significantly toward the expansion of the market. The overall market has an opportunity to grow in the near future, with the rising popularity of PoE for digital signage.Increasing costs of energy have pushed energy-efficient PoE solutions into the spotlight. Introduction of upgraded PoE plus is anticipated to propel the applications of PoE in high-power devices. However, non-standard PoE chipsets cast a long shadow of worry over the growth of the market. Deployment of PoE technology requires high capital investment on electrical and data infrastructure. Lack of awareness about the benefits of the technology and insufficient power requirements will also impede the global PoE chipsets market.Introduction of standards such as IEEE 802.3 for the PoE technology has expanded the applications of PoE chipsets, including wireless access points and security surveillance cameras. When integrated into application and switching infrastructure, the PoE technology offers reduced deployment costs and increased control and monitoring capabilities across large enterprises and businesses.Global Power over Ethernet (PoE) Chipsets Market: Region-wise OutlookThe global PoE chipsets market has been segmented into four key regions: Europe, North America, Asia Pacific, and Rest of the World. Due to the availability of technologically advanced infrastructure, North America has been contributing significantly toward the growth of the market. In the near future, Asia Pacific is expected to emerge as a potential market for PoE chipsets, as a large number of players are operating in the region.Key players in the global PoE chipsets market include Shenzhen Quanma Industry Co. Ltd., Silicon Laboratories, STMicroelectronics, Flexcomm Technology, VISIX, Maxim Integrated, Akros Silicon Inc., Microsemi Corporation, and ON Semiconductor. The market has witnessed an influx of a number of vendors from various other sectors such as semiconductors, power infrastructure, network infrastructure, and cabling and network devices.Browse Market Research Report with ToC & Free Analysis :Market players are primarily focusing on product development and innovations. Furthermore, the key vendors are seeking mergers and acquisitions to expand their business. For example, U.S.-based chipmaker Microsemi Corporation acquired Zarlink Semiconductor, a specialty chip manufacturer, and AML Communications, a manufacturer of microwave and microelectronic assemblies, to enhance its expertise in the manufacture of PoE chipsets.About Us :Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.TMRs data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With extensive research and analysis capabilities, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques to develop distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.Contact Us :-Transparency Market ResearchState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: DES MOINES How the state delivers funding to Iowas public schools could be altered dramatically this year when Republicans assume control of the states law-making agenda. Republicans for the first time in 20 years will hold the governors office and majorities in the Iowa House and Senate. They are poised to consider legislation that would expand so-called school choice programs that give families greater flexibility to enroll in private schools, often at the expense of funding to public schools, and alter the timeline for when the state sets public school funding levels. Conservative state legislators have long supported school choice programs, but have faced opposition from Democrats, who in recent sessions held a majority in the Iowa Senate. Iowa Republicans grab hold of a Statehouse in flux DES MOINES In 2011, Republican Gov. Terry Branstad marked his triumphant return to the Sta The Nov. 8 election results could change that. Im pretty confident were going to come out of this session with some type of school choice bill that hopefully is signed by (the governor), said Walt Rogers, R-Cedar Falls, the new chairman of the education committee in the House. Rogers said proposals could range from a pilot project to something more substantial, like state-funded education savings accounts, in which state dollars are earmarked for parents to use toward education costs like private-school tuition. Im a believer in them, Rogers said. Im taking an approach of, lets look at everything and see what we can afford, see what type of transition period it would take to implement more choice for parents. Thats where Im at. Im willing to take a look at everything. Im going to give everything a fair hearing in education. Democrats and public school advocates have opposed such programs because typically they result in less state funding for public school districts. Iowa Legislature likely to have minimum wage debate or two CEDAR RAPIDS Its all but certain the Iowa Legislature will have a minimum wage debate thi Supporters of educational savings account say they give families the freedom to determine which school is best for their children. An ESA program will allow true universal choice and inject the positive force of market competition into the Iowa educational system, Susan Fenton, a lobbyist for Iowa Advocates for Choice in Education, told Gov. Terry Branstad at a recent public hearing on the state budget. Branstad, whose three children attended Catholic schools in the Des Moines area, told reporters after the hearing he is a strong supporter of private schools but said there are a lot of issues to consider in the tight budget. That tight budget has led Republican leaders to say they plan to budget for a 2 percent increase for public school funding for the 2017-2018 school year. If approved, it will be the seventh time in eight years state funding to public schools has increased by roughly 2 percent or less. Intensive, ongoing oversight essential: Ragan DES MOINES One big Medicaid question has been hanging in the air since Republicans took co Funding increases dipped to those levels only four times in the previous 38 years. It is a fact that these are the worst six years in Iowa history for education funding, said Sen. Jeff Danielson, D-Waterloo. There are a lot of us who believe that at a time when we had the resources, at least a cost of living (increase) averaged out over those six years was reasonable. That was not achieved. I dont think we have invested in education like it matters to our future, and it does. Mark Smith, leader of the minority House Democrats, said more of state spending, as a percentage, should be going to public education. We havent had our priorities straight, which is to put Iowas children first, Smith said. I would hope that the (funding increase), because of underfunding, would not ever be below 4 percent this year, but clearly Im very doubtful that we will get to that point. Iowa Democratic leaders visit Mason City MASON CITY | Iowa Senate Minority Leader Rob Hogg said during a visit to North Iowa Tuesday Republicans also may repeal the portion of Iowa law that requires state legislators to set school funding levels more than a year before schools set their budgets. The law which does not include any punitive measure for when legislators fail to adhere by the timeline was written to ensure public school funding gets the first bite of the state budget pie and so schools can plan their own budgets. Republicans who want to repeal the measure say it is difficult to predict state revenues that far in advance, so setting such a big budget number so early is bad practice. Linda Upmeyer, a Republican from Clear Lake who is going into her second session as Iowas first-ever woman Speaker of the House, said schools still can get their state funding numbers first and early if legislators act swiftly during the legislative session. Iowas legislative sessions begin in early January, and schools must present a certified budget by mid-April. I think if youre setting (school funding levels) in the first 30 days (of the session), youre still getting it done early, Upmeyer said. The whole goal is so we can actually deliver on what we promise. And were committed to that. Global Ethyl Benzene Market: Size, Share, Industry Analysis & Outlook 2016 to 2021 Get All Market Research Reports and Study http://bit.ly/2he48L2 http://atozresearch.com/global-ethyl-benzene-market-size-share-growth-segment/ http://atozresearch.com/ Ethyl Benzene Market for Plastic, Electronics, Paints & Coatings, Agriculture, Rubber and Other End-user Industries: Global Industry Perspective, Comprehensive Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Segment, Trends and Forecast, 2015 2021Global ethyl benzene market revenue to reach USD 23.31 billion by 2021, growing at a CAGR of 4.2% during 2016 and 2021.The report covers forecast and analysis for the ethyl benzene market on a global and regional level. The study provides historic data of 2015 along with a forecast from 2016 to 2021 based on both volume (Kilo Tons) and revenue (USD Billion). The study includes drivers and restraints for the ethyl benzene market along with the impact they have on the demand over the forecast period. Additionally, the report includes the study of opportunities available in the ethyl benzene market on a global level.Request Free Sample copy of Report @In order to give the users of this report a comprehensive view on the ethyl benzene 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 ethyl benzene market has also been included. The study encompasses a market attractiveness analysis, wherein end-user segments are benchmarked based on their market size, growth rate, and general attractiveness.The study provides a decisive view on the ethyl benzene market by segmenting the market based on end-user industries. All end-user 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 the Middle East & Africa with its bifurcation into major countries including the U.S., Germany, France, UK, China, Japan, India, and Brazil. This segmentation includes demand for individual end-user in all the regions.The report covers detailed competitive outlook including the market share and company profiles of the key participants operating in the global ethyl benzene market. Key players profiled in the report include BASF SE, BP PLC, The Dow chemical company, CPCC, CNPC, TOTAL S.A, SABIC, Exxon Mobil Corp, Jx Nippon Oil and Energy group, Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Qufu Xindi Chemical Research Limited Company, Tianjin Jixin Industrial & Trade Co., Ltd., Zhejiang Weishi Biotechnology Co., Ltd., and others.Browse detail report with in-depth TOC @This report segments the global ethyl benzene market as follows:Global Ethyl Benzene Market: End-user Segment AnalysisPlasticElectronicsPaints & CoatingsAgricultureRubberOthersGlobal Ethyl Benzene Market: Regional Segment AnalysisNorth AmericaU.S.EuropeGermanyUKFranceAsia 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: Viscosupplementation Market- Evolving Industry Trends and Insights 2016 - 2023 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=10232 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/viscosupplementation-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com Viscosupplementation is a minimally invasive procedure that involves injection of gel-like substances into a joint to assist the viscous properties of synovial fluid. As of now hyaluronate injections are only approved viscosupplementation treatment of osteoarthritis of the knee. Hyaluronic acid (HA) or hyaluronate is a non-sulfated glycosaminoglycan that is distributed throughout the body in epithelial, connective tissues, and neural tissues. Hyaluronic acid is observed to be an integral component of the extracellular matrix as it contributes significantly to migration and cell proliferation. Hyaluronic acid acts as a joint lubricant and elastic in nature that allows it to act as a shock absorber because of its viscous nature. Chemical modification allows Hyaluronic acid to transform into several physical forms such as soft or stiff hydrogels, non-woven meshes, flexible sheets, viscoelastic solutions, electrospun fibers, macroporous, fibrillar sponges, and nanoparticulate fluids for use in a range of preclinical and clinical applications. According to the WHO, osteoarthritis is a degenerative joint disease that mainly affects the articular cartilage and is related with aging. This condition affects the joints that have been continually stressed over the years including the hips, fingers, lower spine and knees. According to the WHO, globally, around 9.6% men and 18.0% women are above the age of 60 years and suffer from symptomatic osteoarthritis, which is one of the top disabling diseases in developed countries. Osteoarthritis is mostly classified in two types: primary and secondary where primary osteoarthritis occurs due to aging and wear and tear of joints and secondary osteoarthritis occurs due to an accident or obesity at an early stage.Download exclusive Brochure of this report:Factors driving the growth of viscosupplementation market are increasing geriatric population, increasing demand for minimally invasive surgical procedures, high patient awareness about new drugs and devices for the treatment of osteoarthritis and rising obese population globally. However, lack of safety and inefficiency of the products might hamper the market growth. The product innovation and process development is an opportunity window for market players as safety and efficacy are the major concerns of viscosupplementation products. Thus, introduction of products that helps to overcome these concerns have an opportunity to enter and establish in the global viscosupplementation market.The FDA approved hyaluronates currently available in the viscosupplementation market are Hyalgan (Sanofi), Euflexxa (Ferring Pharmaceuticals, Inc.), Orthovisc (Anika Therapeutics), Supartz and Gel-One (Seikagaku Corporation), and Synvisc, Synvisc One (Genzyme) and Durolane (Q MED AB).View exclusive Global strategic Business report:North America is the largest viscosupplementation market globally accounting for high product demand, high awareness in the region and acceptance of high priced products. Europe experienced an economic downturn that created problem in the hyaluronic acid products market as reimbursement policies turned out to be difficult but still the premium priced products were accepted in some of the countries. Although European market is expected to review and provide essential opportunity for viscosupplementation products as the economical conditions are reviving. Asia-Pacific and RoW observed to be the emerging markets for viscosupplementation and Asia-Pacific viscosupplementation market is especially driven by economic development, healthcare facility enhancements and high demand for minimally invasive surgeries.Some of the key players of viscosupplementation market are Alcon, Inc., F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd., Allergan, Inc., Fidia Farmaceutici SpA, Anika Therapeutics, Inc., Ferring Pharmaceuticals, Inc., GALDERMA S.A., LifeCore Biomedical LLC, Hyaltech Ltd. and others.Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: De-aromatic Solvents Market Anticipated to Grow US$ 2,918 Mn by 2022 - PMR Report http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/9926 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/market-research/dearomatic-solvents-market/toc http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/checkout/9926 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com According to the latest market report published by Persistence Market Research titled Global Market Study on De-aromatic Solvents: Increasing Demand for Paints and Coatings, Metal Working Industries to Drive the Growth of Market During the Forecast Period 2016 - 2022, globally, the revenue generated from sales of de-aromatic solvents has been estimated to be valued at US$ 1.56 Bn by 2016 end, and is expected to increase at a CAGR of 5.9% during 2016 - 2022.A sample of this report is available upon request:De-aromatic solvents, also called dearomatized hydrocarbon solvents or ultra-low aromatic solvents, are a class of hydrocarbon solvents that are characterized by the presence of paraffinic, iso-paraffinic, and naphthenic components with very low aromatic content. De-aromatic solvents market are of three types, namely low flash point, medium flash point, and high flash point. These dearomatized hydrocarbon solvents find application across various industries and are used as solvents for printing inks, paints & coatings, metal working fluids, industrial and institutional cleaning, adhesives and sealants, drilling fluids, and in consumer products. They are effective alternatives to conventional solvents such as mineral spirits and mineral turpentine.Major players in de-aromatic solvents market have channelized efforts towards developing eco-friendly or green product offerings that employ bio-based raw materials for their synthesis and, thus, eventually do away with the use of conventional solvents in certain applications. Owing to the increasing demand for greener alternatives, the bio-based solvents market is slated to register a steady CAGR of around 67% over the forecast period. Another major factor that is projected to impede growth of the de-aromatic solvents market, especially in paints & coatings application segment, is increasing demand for water-based paints & coatings, powder coatings, among others across the globe. Consumption of de-aromatic solvents is expected to increase from 1,718,100 metric tons in 2015 to 2,230,972 kilotons by 2022, increasing at a CAGR of 3.8% during the forecast period.Asia-Pacific accounted for the largest revenue share of the global de-aromatic solvents market in 2014, and the market in the region is anticipated to increase at the highest CAGR over the forecast period. Consumption of de-aromatic solvents in Asia-Pacific is projected to increase by 1.4X between 2014 and 2022. Mature markets, i.e. North America and Europe, are expected to register relatively slower growth during the forecast period.Request to view Table of Content:Exxon Mobil Corporation, Royal Dutch Shell plc., Total S.A., and Idemitsu Kosan Co., Ltd. are among the leading players in the global de-aromatic solvents market. Other market players include CEPSA, Gandhar Oil Refinery India Ltd, Neste Oyj, and SK Global Chemical Co., Ltd.To Buy Full Report for a Single User:About Us:Persistence Market Research (PMR) is a third-platform research firm. Our research model is a unique collaboration of data analytics and market research methodology to help businesses achieve optimal performance.To support companies in overcoming complex business challenges, we follow a multi-disciplinary approach. At PMR, we unite various data streams from multi-dimensional sources. By deploying real-time data collection, big data, and customer experience analytics, we deliver business intelligence for organizations of all sizes.Contact Us:Persistence Market Research305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA - Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.commedia@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb: Analysis of Kiosk Market in Global Industry : Insights, Development, Research and Forecast 2016-2020 http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=228519 http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=E&repid=228519 Albany, NY, 4 JAN : A kiosk is an electronic device that provides information which is basically interactive in nature. Modern consumers demand more interactive features and the liberty while purchasing a commodity. Hence, a major section of the retail companies are contemplating incorporating kiosks in their businesses.This research report on the kiosk market provides detailed analysis of the kiosk devices and helps understanding the driving forces behind the popularity of kiosk in the market. It also provides analysis of major sub-segments of the global kiosk 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 type, end-use, and geography.Get PDF for more Professional and Technical insights @Other important points covered in the research study include:Definitions, estimates, and forecast (revenue) of the kiosk 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 kiosk market. The report includes competitive analysis of various market segments based on type and end-use for kiosks, and in-depth cross-sectional analysis across different geographical segments of the kiosk market. The report segregates the kiosk market based on different geographies into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle-east and Africa and Latin America.For detailed understanding of the kiosk market, all these segments have also been estimated in terms of revenue (US$ Mn) for the geographies mentioned above. The market research study analyzes the kiosk market worldwide, and provides historical revenue 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 growthEnquiry @The kiosk market is segmented as followsKiosk MarketBy TypeVendingSelf-Service KiosksATM (Automated Teller Machine)Locker KioskCharging KioskOthers (Web Payphone, Gaming)By End-useRetailerTransport (Airport/Railway/Bus) OperatorBanks, AdvertisersPetrol StationCommercial Complex (Education, Hospital)GovernmentBy GeographyNorth AmericaEuropeAsia PacificMiddle East and AfricaLatin AmericaResearchMoz 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.ResearchMoz90 State Street,Albany, NY 12207,United States Aluminium Heat Sinks The Benefits You Need to Know GD Rectifiers are one of the UKs leading aluminium extrusion suppliers and have extensive experience in designing and creating aluminium profile solutions. GD Rectifiers are experts in alloy requirements and advise the best extrusion shapes and sizes to produce aluminium profiles in order to meet exact requirements.Why Choose an Aluminium Heat Sink? The most common heat sink materials are aluminium alloys Aluminium alloy has one of the higher thermal conductivity values but is mechanically soft Aluminium is a good heat conductor and reflector, making it very useful in heat transfer applications and as a highly reflective heat shield Aluminium has a low density copper is three times denser than aluminium Reduce cost - aluminium is much more cost effective than copper, on average copper costs 4-6 times more than Aluminium Aluminium can be more easily extruded than other materials Its easier to create custom aluminium heat sink profile variations When extruded in a fin, profiles can easily be attached to a copper base, conducting a large amount of thermal energy to the lighter, less expensive aluminium alloy cooling fins Aluminium is a lighter metal and is made up of all fans and radiators on the device Aluminium heat sinks usually require low maintenance Aluminium has almost twice the specific heat of copper Aluminium heat sinks are highly resistant to corrosion Heat sinks made from aluminium can be significantly exposed to air by suddenly forming a protective layer, it is a suitable heat sink for many applications and environments due to the exposure to moisture and other elements Aluminium provides a more consistent surface by eliminating the air pockets and also offers the most efficiency in cooling The product shape can easily be adapted Aluminium provides an Increased service life Aluminium provides the quickest form of assemblyAluminium heat sinks are used to tackle the heat problems generated in semiconductor devices. The primary purpose of using this heat sink is to dissipate the heat that helps to maintain the heated surface in the electronic parts.Engineers can use the heat sink made of aluminium metal because it likely to increase air in the surface area to dissipate the generated heat. This process has an ability to cool the surface area with the natural sir or forced air convection by using a fan.In order to avoid heat problems, the aluminium metal can be mounted on to an electronic component, this allows the sufficient air to be applied to the surface area which slows down the contact resistance.GD Rectifiers are the UKs leading manufacturer of standard and custom built Aluminium Heat Sinks, heat sink accessories and heat sink assemblies. They stock and machine a large range of heat sinks suitable for stud, modules and capsule semiconductors.GD Rectifiers offer technical support on all heat sinks including specific heat dissipation requirements.For further information on all GD Rectifiers heat sink products call: 01444 243 452 or email: enquiries@gdrectifiers.co.uk.GD Rectifiers is a Global Manufacturer and Distributor of products, services and solutions to commercial and industrial users of power electronic components.Established in 1964, GD Rectifiers has over 50 years of extensive experience across a large range of markets, specialising in new and current technologies for industrial power control applications. An extensive product offering has built GD Rectifiers exceptional reputation as the go-to power specialist with innovative experience across: Aviation, Automotive, Rail, Medical, Industrial and Electronics markets.GD Rectifiers are an ISO 9001:2008 registered company that design and develop bespoke power semiconductor assemblies to control voltage, current and frequency for international industrial markets.GD Rectifiers designs and manufactures Selenium and Silicon Rectifiers, Suppressors, Converters, Inverters, Regulators and all other power products for Industrial power control applications. The company distributes state of the art Diodes, Thyristors, IGBTs and MOSFETs from the worlds leading manufacturers including: IXYS, IXYS UK Westcode, Semikron and EDI.GD Rectifiers manufacture an extensive range of power components and assemblies. The company also supplies a wide range of Heat Sinks suitable for Power Semiconductors, LED Lighting and similar applications. GD Rectifiers also offer a repair and replacement service for faulty or ageing Semiconductor Rectifiers, Converters, Inverters and Regulators.GD RectifiersBentley House2 William WayBurgess HillWest SussexRH15 9AG Tire Pressure Monitoring Systems Market 2015-2022 Growth Trends and Forecasts http://www.decisiondatabases.com/contact/download-sample-8010 http://www.decisiondatabases.com/ip/8010-tire-pressure-monitoring-systems-market-report http://www.decisiondatabases.com/contact/buy-now-8010 www.decisiondatabases.com DecisionDatabases.com offers Tire Pressure Monitoring Systems Market Research Report. This Report covers the complete Industry Outlook, Growth, Size, Share and Forecast Till 2022.Get Free Sample Copy @The global tire pressure monitoring systems (TPMS) market research report provides detailed information about the industry based on the revenue (USD MN) for the forecast period. The research study is a descriptive analysis of this market emphasizing the market drivers and restraints that govern the overall market growth. The trends and future prospects for the market are also included in the report which gives an intellectual understanding of the tire pressure monitoring systems industry. Furthermore, the report quantifies the market share held by the major players of the industry and provides an in-depth view of the competitive landscape. This market is classified into different segments with detailed analysis of each with respect to geography for the study period.A glimpse of the major drivers affecting this market is mentioned below:A. Drivers> Strict safety norms> Increasing health and safety awareness among consumers> Technological advancementB. Restraints> Lack of standardization> High prices of tire pressure monitoring systemsThe report offers a value chain analysis that gives a comprehensive outlook of the tire pressure monitoring systems market. The attractiveness analysis of this market has also been included to evaluate the segments that are anticipated to be profitable during the forecast period.The tire pressure monitoring systems market has been segmented based on vehicle types such as light commercial vehicle (LCV), heavy commercial vehicle (HCV), and passenger vehicle. The study incorporates periodic market estimates and forecasts. Each vehicle type has been analyzed based on the market size at regional and country levels.The tire pressure monitoring systems market has been segmented based on technology such as direct TPMS, and indirect TPMS. The report provides forecast and estimates for each technology in terms of market size during the study period. Each technology has been further analyzed based on regional and country levels.The tire pressure monitoring systems market has been segmented based on channel type such as OEM, and aftermarket. The study incorporates periodic market estimates and forecasts. Each channel type has been analyzed based on the market size at regional and country levels.Access full report at:C. Major players assessed in the report are:> Schrader Electronics> TRW Automotive> AVE technologies> Bartec USA LLC> General ElectricGeographically, the tire pressure monitoring systems market has been segmented into regions such as North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and the Middle East & Africa. The study details country-level aspects based on each segment and gives estimates in terms of market size.Major Table Of Contents:1. INTRODUCTION2. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY3. MARKET ANALYSIS OF TIRE PRESSURE MONITORING SYSTEMS4. TIRE PRESSURE MONITORING SYSTEMS MARKET ANALYSIS BY VEHICLE TYPE5. TIRE PRESSURE MONITORING SYSTEMS MARKET ANALYSIS BY TECHNOLOGY6. TIRE PRESSURE MONITORING SYSTEMS MARKET ANALYSIS BY CHANNEL TYPE7. TIRE PRESSURE MONITORING SYSTEMS MARKET ANALYSIS BY GEOGRAPHY8. COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE OF TIRE PRESSURE MONITORING SYSTEMS COMPANIES9. COMPANY PROFILES OF TIRE PRESSURE MONITORING SYSTEMS INDUSTRYPurchase Complete Global Tire Pressure Monitoring Systems Market Research Report At:DecisionDatabases.com is a global business research reports provider, enriching decision makers and strategists with qualitative statistics. DecisionDatabases.com is proficient in providing syndicated research report, customized research reports, company profiles and industry databases across multiple domains.Our expert research analysts have been trained to map clients research requirements to the correct research resource leading to a distinctive edge over its competitors. We provide intellectual, precise and meaningful data at a lightning speed.3rd Floor,Fountain chambers,Nanabhai Lane,Fort, Mumbai - 1E-Mail: sales@decisiondatabases.comPhone: +91 99 28 237112Web: DarkMindFX adds complete FRED(c) databases support http://www.darkmindfx.com/freedownload.html https://fred.stlouisfed.org https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/CPIAUCSL http://www.darkmindfx.com/source.fred.html DarkMindFX significantly extends the number of and quality of supported economic indicators. Starting from release 2017.01.02 DarkMindFX will be providing an access to the complete sets of data from different data sources. In this release the indicators from Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis (FRED) are added and available on all three major platforms supported MetaTrader, NinjaTrader and cTrader.What is in FRED(c) Databases?The database of Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis is invaluable source of economic information about United States and others countries. DarkMindFX provides the support of more than 50 000 indicators from all the main categories of the database Money, Banking & Finances; Population, Employment , & Labor Market; National Accounts; Production & Business Activities; Prices.How to access the data using DarkMindFX indicators package?In order to get an access to the FRED(c) in their trading terminal traders and analysts need to perform the following steps:1. Download and install DarkMindFX indicators package for their platform 2. Navigate to the list of newly added indicators and find the one call US.FRED under DataSources3. Add an indicator to the chart and specify the FRED series identifier as an indicator parameter.The FRED series identifiers can be easily found on FREDs official web site the user just need to find the data set needed and use the code which is placed next to the data set name. For example, if CPI index is needed the user goes to the data series page - and uses value CPIAUCSL specified right next to the series name.Future Developments and EnhancementsDarkMindFX plans to extend the support of FRED(c) data bases to cover even more data. A U.S. regional data which consists of more than 240 000 indicators and data series will be added. A complete list of supported FRED(c) categories and datasets can be found on DarkMindFX website -DarkMindFX is a service which serves as an aggregates and provider of the official financial and economic data. We are offering a plug-and-play solutions for popular trading platforms which allows retail traders and analyst to gain an access to the data sources around the world.Grunwaldska 441, Gdansk, Poland, 80-288 Solid growth ahead for Hyperspectral Imaging Market by 2015 to 2021 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/4494 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/toc/4494 Hyperspectral imaging is the process of collecting and processing of information across the electromagnetic spectrum. It is the combination of spectroscopy and digital imaging, implemented to create a spectral based contrast within the image. Hyperspectral images are formed with the help of an instrument called imaging spectrometer. These images are obtained at multiple wavelengths and shaped into a three-dimensional hyperspectral data cube with two spatial dimensions and one spectral dimension. Hyperspectral imaging also measures absorption of electromagnetic radiation, emission, and reflection; and provides a unique spectral signature for every pixel, used by processing techniques to identify and discriminate materials. Some of the advantages of hyperspectral imaging are the non-requirement of prior knowledge of the sample and the acquisition of entire spectrum at each point. In addition, it is an emerging imaging modality for the diagnosis of diseases and image guided surgeries. It provides extensive information for processing and analysis of the image. It also provides a continuous spectrum for each image cell and offers diagnostic information regarding tissue composition, morphology, and physiology. In addition, during the progression of the disease, the absorption, scattering, and fluorescence characteristics of the tissue change, and hyperspectral imaging helps in the diagnosis of the tissue pathology. It helps in diagnosis and treatment of diseases. It also helps improve the quality of life and reduces medical cost. It is also used in industries such as agriculture, mining, environmental monitoring, food, mining and mineralogy, military surveillance, life-science and medical diagnostics, and process vision. In the agriculture industry, hyperspectral imaging is used to monitor the development and health of crops.A Sample of this Report is Available Upon Request @North America dominates the global market for hyperspectral imaging due to the increase in research activities carried out using hyperspectral imaging and its growing adoption in areas such as military surveillance, mining, life sciences, and diagnostics in the region. Asia is expected to show a high growth rate in the next five years in the global hyperspectral imaging market, with China and India being the fastest-growing markets in the region. The key driving forces for the hyperspectral imaging market in the developing countries in Asia Pacific are: the presence of a large pool of patients, growing number of research projects, rising pharmaceutical industries, increasing usage of hyperspectral imaging in environmental testing, mining explorations and research activities, increasing health care awareness, increasing health care expenditure, and rising government funding for research activities in the region.Increasing adoption of hyperspectral imaging in ophthalmology, gastrointestinal tract, surface tissue, vascular system and mucosal membrane analysis; technological advancements in hyperspectral imaging, and the increasing use of hyperspectral imaging for carrying out various research activities are fuelling the growth of the global hyperspectral imaging market. In addition, growing adoption of hyperspectral imaging in military surveillance, mining, life sciences, and diagnostics; increasing health care awareness, increasing demand for diagnosis, increasing health care expenditure, rising government initiatives, and demand for data accuracy and consistency are some of the key factors driving the growth of the global hyperspectral imaging market. Meanwhile, high installation cost, lack of skilled professionals, and reimbursement issues act as the major restraints for the growth of the global hyperspectral imaging market.To View TOC of this Report is Available Upon Request @The major companies operating in the global hyperspectral imaging market are Applied Spectral Imaging, Ltd., Brandywine Photonics LLC, ChemImage Corporation, Cubert-GmbH, CytoViva, Inc., Gilden Photonics Ltd., HyVista Corporation Pty Ltd., Headwall Photonics, Inc., Specim Spectral Imaging Ltd., Norsk Elektro Optics A/S, and TELOPS, Inc.About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a U.S.-based full-service market intelligence firm specializing in syndicated re-search, custom research, and consulting services. PMR boasts market research expertise across the Healthcare, Chemicals and Materials, Technology and Media, Energy and Mining, Food and Beverages, Semiconductor and Electronics, Con-sumer Goods, and Shipping and Transportation industries. The company draws from its multi-disciplinary capabilities and high-pedigree team of analysts to share data that precisely corresponds to clients business needs.PMR stands committed to bringing more accuracy and speed to clients business decisions. From ready-to-purchase market research reports to customized research solutions, PMRs en-gagement models are highly flexible without compromising on its deep-seated research values.ContactPersistence Market Research Pvt. Ltd305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.com Medical Laser Technology Market is Expected to Gain Popularity Across the Globe http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/4518 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/toc/4518 Medical laser technology generates a specific wavelength and strong beam of light. It is used in applications such as cosmetic, diagnostic, surgical, and therapeutic. Besides, the technology is used in various areas such as ophthalmology, dermatology, urology, and cardiovascular diseases. Increasing eye related diseases and rising aging population are some of the major factors driving the growth of the global medical laser technology market.Medical laser system exists in several forms and its major types include diode laser system, solid state laser system, dye laser system, and gas laser system. Diode laser systems are used in numerous aesthetic treatments. Solid state laser systems are used in tattoo removal, dentistry, treatment of vein related diseases, and skin treatment. Dye laser systems are used to treat vascular lesions such as red spots and marks on skin. The gas laser system includes the argon gas laser, which is used in the treatment of ulcers, lesions, and polyps. Meanwhile, the carbon dioxide laser is used to treat certain skin conditions such as hirsuties papillaris genitalis.A Sample of this Report is Available Upon Request @The global medical laser technology market is categorized based on product types, diseases, and applications. Based on product types, the report covers solid state laser systems, diode laser systems, dye laser systems, and gas laser systems. Based on diseases, the market covers areas such as ophthalmology, dermatology, gynecology, dentistry, urology, cardiovascular, and others. Based on the application, the market covers cosmetic, diagnostic, surgical, and therapeutic applications.North America occupies the largest market for medical laser technology, followed by Europe. This is due to the advancements in medical laser technologies, rising elderly population, increasing prevalence of eye diseases, rise in incidences of chronic diseases, and improved health care infrastructure in the region. The medical laser technology market in Asia is also expected to experience high growth rate in the next few years. This is due to the increasing aging population, rising awareness about therapeutic applications of medical lasers in various chronic diseases, increasing disposable income, developing health care infrastructure, increasing prevalence of eye diseases, and growing demand for laser treatment in the region. In addition, rising demographics and economies in developing countries, such as India and China, is expected to lead to the growth in the medical laser technology market in Asia.Increasing prevalence of eye disorders and growing aging population are some of the major driving factors for the global medical laser technology market. Moreover, advancement in medical laser technologies, increasing number of patients using advanced laser-based treatments, rising awareness about the use of laser treatment in various diseases such as skin diseases, eye diseases, diabetes, and cancer; and the availability of cost-effective laser based medical treatment are also supporting the growth of the global medical laser technology market. However, strict laser protection rules inhibit the growth of this market.To View TOC of this Report is Available Upon Request @Increasing number of mergers and acquisitions and rapid product launches are some of the latest trends that have been observed in the global medical laser technology market. Some of the major companies operating in the global medical laser technology market are Lumenis Ltd., PhotoMedex Inc., Spectranetics Corporation, BIOLASE, Inc., Iridex Corporation, Novadaq Technologies Inc., AngioDynamics Corp., Syneron Medical Ltd, IRIDEX Corporation, Alcon Laboratories, Inc., Cardiogenesis Corporation, American Medical Systems, Inc., and Bausch & Lomb Holdings, Inc.About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a U.S.-based full-service market intelligence firm specializing in syndicated re-search, custom research, and consulting services. PMR boasts market research expertise across the Healthcare, Chemicals and Materials, Technology and Media, Energy and Mining, Food and Beverages, Semiconductor and Electronics, Con-sumer Goods, and Shipping and Transportation industries. The company draws from its multi-disciplinary capabilities and high-pedigree team of analysts to share data that precisely corresponds to clients business needs.PMR stands committed to bringing more accuracy and speed to clients business decisions. From ready-to-purchase market research reports to customized research solutions, PMRs en-gagement models are highly flexible without compromising on its deep-seated research values.ContactPersistence Market Research Pvt. Ltd305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.com Global Hepatitis E Diagnostic Tests Market: Fueled by Lack of Potable Water, Hepatitis E Hyperendemicity to Drive Growth, reports TMR http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=16859 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com Driven by a small number of players, the global market for hepatitis E diagnostic tests exhibits a highly competitive landscape, finds a new report by Transparency Market Research (TMR). With a share of nearly 31%, Beijing Wantai Biological Pharmacy led the global market in 2015 and was distantly followed by Mikrogen. Competitive pricing strategy among the leading players is expected to intensify the rivalry within the market in the forthcoming years.According to the research report, the global hepatitis E diagnostic tests market stood at US$43.7 mn in 2015. Expanding at a CAGR of 3.80% during the period from 2016 to 2024, the opportunity in this market is likely to increase to US$60.4 mn by the end of the forecast period. Being the primary test for the detection of hepatitis E, the kits used for ELISA HEV IgM tests have been the most valued diagnostic kits in this market in the recent past and will continue to be so due to the same reason.hepatitis e diagnostic tests marketHepatitis E Hyperendemicity in Asian Economies to Ensure Dominance of Asia Pacific RegionThe research report has also analyzed the worldwide market for hepatitis E diagnostic tests on the basis of geography. According to the study, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, North America, and the Middle East and Africa have surfaced as the main regional markets for hepatitis E diagnostic tests across the world.Due to the hyperendemicity of hepatitis E in various Asian economies, such as Nepal, Pakistan, India, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Burma, Kazakhstan, and Thailand, Asia Pacific has surfaced as the leading regional market for hepatitis E diagnostic tests and is expected to remain so over the forecast period. The Asia Pacific market for hepatitis E diagnostic tests is likely to acquire more than 48% of the overall market by 2024.Besides, the Middle East and Africa is also projected to witness a significant rise in the market for the hepatitis E diagnostic tests over the next few years due to the increasing prevalence of hepatitis E in various countries in this region, such as Kenya, Morocco, Uganda, and Nigeria, owing to lack of safe drinking water and poor sanitation facilities.Growing Prevalence of Hepatitis E to Boost DemandThe growth of the global market for hepatitis E is directly proportional to the prevalence of hepatitis E across the world, says the author of this study. As per the WHO, nearly 20 million people suffer from HEV infections every year, worldwide, among which around 3.3 million are symptomatic cases.With the increasing scarcity of potable water and the lack of sanitation, the cases of hepatitis E infection is likely to increase considerably over the forthcoming years and will result in a substantial rise in the need for hepatitis E diagnostic test in the near future, states the research report.Rising Incidence of Asymptomatic Diseases to Hamper Markets GrowthAlthough the worldwide market for hepatitis E diagnostic tests currently looks teeming with opportunity, it may face a severe challenge over the years to come from the rising incidence of asymptomatic diseases, which are difficult to diagnose. The low level of awareness among consumers is also expected to emerge as a restraining factor for the growth of this market in the long run, notes the study.The study presented here is based on a report by Transparency Market Research (TMR) titled Hepatitis E Diagnostic Tests Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Volume, Growth, Trends, and Forecast 2016 - 2024.The Hepatitis E Diagnostic Tests Market has been segmented as follows:By Test TypeELISA HEV IgM Test kitsELISA HEV IgG Test kitsRT-PCR Test kitsOthersBy End UserHospitalsResearch CentersDiagnostic LaboratoriesPoint of CareBy GeographyNorth AmericaU.S.CanadaEuropeU.K.GermanySpainFranceItalyRest of EuropeAsia PacificChinaJapanIndiaAustraliaRest of Asia PacificLatin AmericaBrazilMexicoRest of Latin AmericaMiddle East and AfricaA.E.South AfricaRest of Middle East and AfricaDownload Free exclusive Sample of this report:About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Each TMR syndicated research report covers a different sector - such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With wider scope and stratified research methodology, TMRs syndicated reports strive to provide clients to serve their overall research requirement.US Office Contact90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: MASON CITY Mayor Eric Bookmeyer told the City Council Tuesday night he will not run for re-election this year. Bookmeyer, who is starting the last year of his second term, made the announcement subtly at the beginning of his annual "state of the city" message. "I am humbled and honored to come before you this evening for the last time," he said. He made no further mention of it in his speech but confirmed to the Globe Gazette he will not be a candidate for re-election in November. Bookmeyer was elected in 2009 and re-elected in 2013. His tenure has seen much economic growth but has also had some notable setbacks. One came last year when the council declined to support a development agreement he supported with Prestage Foods to build a pork processing plant that would have created nearly 2,000 jobs in the next four years. The plan met with much public opposition and a 3-3 council vote killed it. The city is now involved in another potentially big project, a $36.2 million downtown renovation plan that is still in the works. Bookmeyer acknowledged in his speech "we had a rough 2016" but said there were many successes and more to come. He said the city is strong "but in a state of reassessment." "We believe in and love Mason City," he said. "I recognize a lot of the opposing voices we hear love Mason City also. We will need to reconcile that to address what is possible." He said the achievements reached by the city are part of the legacy of Alex Kuhn, the councilman who died last July. It is a legacy Kuhn would have been proud of, said Bookmeyer. "Because in a very short time, we have truly transformed Mason City in a way that can positively go forward on a firm foundation." He said the city administration has pursued opportunities for growth but recognizes the challenges ahead because of the high senior population. "We recognize the impact it will have on our schools and the tax rate. We recognize our declining population and revenue to support our existing unused infrastructure, increasing insurance and the enormous water capacity our citizens have been burdened with. We have been focused like a laser on this for seven years," said Bookmeyer. He said seven years ago, the council was discussing downtown strip clubs as a means of economic development and prohibiting the city administrator from attending a conference in Des Moines on government efficiency. Today, said Bookmeyer, the city has approximately $280 million in projects before the Iowa Economic Development Authority Board. He said city government has gone from one of the least transparent in the state to one of the most transparent with listening posts after every meeting, live-streaming council meetings and having online packets for every board and commission. Bookmeyer said the council has kept taxes in line, lowered the debt levy four out of the last seven years and offered rebates to residents who improve their homes. Downtown improvements over the years have included the Vision Iowa project including the renovated public library and Historic Park Inn Hotel and the Streetscape. He said the unemployment rate has gone down from 8 percent in 2010 to 3.2 percent today. Looking to the future, Bookmeyer said a reassessment will begin in February. "The council had planned to put together a 2025 plan, but our experience last year caught us by surprise, so we are going to support a much larger effort to develop an economic development strategic plan," he said. The immediate goal, said Bookmeyer is to make the River City Renaissance project, for which the city is seeking state funds, a reality. This is a project Kuhn worked tirelessly on, he said, and the city wants to see it through. "Let's go forth this year and be civil to one another," said Bookmeyer. "When opposing ideas lack civility, it is easy to dismiss them. This has to cool if we want to heal up and grow. "We need to consider all opportunities seriously and be seen considering them seriously," he said. Elastomeric Infusion Pumps Market Worth US$ 644.0 Million By The End Of 2024 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/11032 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/market-research/elastomeric-Infusion-pumps-market/toc http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/checkout/11032 Persistence Market Research (PMR) delivers key insights on the global elastomeric infusion pumps market in its upcoming report titled, Elastomeric Infusion Pumps Market 2016-2024. In terms of revenue, the global elastomeric pumps market is projected to expand at a CAGR of 5.8% during the forecast period in terms of value. The global elastomeric pumps market value is expected to increase to US$ 644.0 million by the end of 2024.A Sample of this Report is Available Upon Request @Global Elastomeric Infusion Pumps Market: Asia Pacific to Witness Highest Growth by 2024, Growth is expected to be driven by Favorable Reimbursement Policies for Infusion Therapy in Homecare Settings over the Forecast Period.The market is segmented based on product type, treatment type, end users, and regions. Based on product type, the market has been segmented into continuous rate elastomeric pumps and variable rate elastomeric pumps. Variable rate elastomeric pumps segment is expected to grow at the fastest CAGR over the forecast period, driven by increasing adoption of patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) elastomeric pumps, i.e. elastomeric pumps with a bolus. The segment is expected to register a significant CAGR of 6.9% during the forecast period. Whereas continuous rate elastomeric pumps segment is anticipated to grow at CAGR of 5.1% over the forecast period.The market has been segmented based on different types of treatment such as pain management, antiviral/antibiotic, chemotherapy, and chelation therapy (iron chelation for thalassemia patients) to provide deeper insight into the pattern of demand for elastomeric infusion pumps. The pain management segment is expected to expand at the highest CAGR of 6.7% over the forecast period.Based on end users, the market has been segmented into hospitals, ambulatory surgical centres, home care, clinics and, others (long-term care units, elderly care units). The hospitals segment is anticipated to account for the highest demand for elastomeric infusion pumps over the forecast period, registering a CAGR of 6.6% due to cost attainment models adopted by the hospitals, increasing the demand for disposable ambulatory home infusion therapy. Secondly, better reimbursement options for home infusion in developed economies, is expected to push demand for elastomeric infusion pumps in home care segment over the forecast period.A key trend in elastomeric infusion pumps market is the development of better designs for pumps ensuring greater patient safety. In addition, it has been noted that the market is fragmented with few established brands and many regional and local players in global elastomeric pumps market.This report assesses trends, that drive growth of each segment on the global as well as regional levels, and offers potential takeaways, that could prove substantially useful to start-up and other medical device manufacturing companies who wish to enter the market. North America is expected to dominate the elastomeric infusion pumps market with the maximum market share in 2016. North America and Western Europe collectively, have been expected to account for more than 65% of the total elastomeric infusion pump market share in terms of value in 2016. Among emerging markets, Asia Pacific is estimated to exhibit the highest CAGR of 7.1% over the forecast period, due to increase in the regional and local players.Request to View Tables of Content @Some key players in the global elastomeric infusion pump market identified in the report include B. Braun Melsungen AG., Fresenius Kabi AG, Baxter International Inc., Halyard Health, Inc., Nipro Corporation, and Woo Young Medical Co. We have discussed individual strategies of these companies in terms of enhancing product designing, creating new manufacturing facilities, and enhancing distribution base. The report has been concluded with strategic recommendations for players already present in the market and new players planning to enter the market, which could help them in the long run.To Buy Full Report for a Single User @About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a U.S.-based full-service market intelligence firm specializing in syndicated re-search, custom research, and consulting services. PMR boasts market research expertise across the Healthcare, Chemicals and Materials, Technology and Media, Energy and Mining, Food and Beverages, Semiconductor and Electronics, Con-sumer Goods, and Shipping and Transportation industries. The company draws from its multi-disciplinary capabilities and high-pedigree team of analysts to share data that precisely corresponds to clients business needs.PMR stands committed to bringing more accuracy and speed to clients business decisions. From ready-to-purchase market research reports to customized research solutions, PMRs en-gagement models are highly flexible without compromising on its deep-seated research values.ContactPersistence Market Research Pvt. Ltd305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.com Institutional Buildings Denmark Forecast and Analysis Research Report to 2020 https://www.wiseguyreports.com/sample-request/861036-institutional-buildings-construction-in-denmark-to-2020-market-databook https://www.wiseguyreports.com/checkout?currency=one_user-USD&report_id=861036 https://www.wiseguyreports.com/reports/861036-institutional-buildings-construction-in-denmark-to-2020-market-databook Synopsis'Institutional Buildings Construction in Denmark to 2020: Market Databook' contains detailed historic and forecast market value data for the institutional buildings construction industry, including a breakdown of the data by construction activity (new construction, repair and maintenance, refurbishment and demolition). The databook provides historical and forecast valuations of the industry using the construction output and value-add methods.Request a Sample Report @SummaryThis report is the result of extensive market research covering the institutional buildings construction industry in Denmark. It contains detailed historic and forecast market value data for the institutional buildings construction industry, including a breakdown of the data by construction activity (new construction, repair and maintenance, refurbishment and demolition). 'Institutional Buildings Construction in Denmark to 2020: Market Databook' provides a top-level overview and detailed insight into the operating environment of the institutional buildings construction industry in Denmark. It is an essential tool for companies active across the Danish construction value chain and for new players considering to enter the market.Scope Overview of the institutional buildings construction industry in Denmark. Historic and forecast market value for the institutional buildings construction industry by construction output and value-add methods for the period 2011 through to 2020. Historic and forecast market value by construction activity (new construction, repair and maintenance, refurbishment and demolition) across the institutional buildings construction industry for the period 2011 through to 2020.Reasons to Buy This report provides you with valuable data for the institutional buildings construction industry in Denmark. This report provides you with a breakdown of market value by type of construction activity (new construction, repair and maintenance, refurbishment and demolition). This report enhances your knowledge of the market with key figures detailing market values using the construction output and value add methods. This report allows you to plan future business decisions using the forecast figures given for the market.Buy now @Table of Contents1 INTRODUCTION1.1 What is this Report About?1.2 Definitions1.3 Summary Methodology2 INSTITUTIONAL BUILDINGS CONSTRUCTION: CATEGORY DATA2.1 Institutional Buildings Construction Output: Historic Market Value2.2 Institutional Buildings Construction Output: Historic Market Value by Cost Type2.3 Institutional Buildings Construction Output: Forecast Market Value2.4 Institutional Buildings Construction Output: Forecast Market Value by Cost Type2.5 Institutional Buildings Construction Value Add: Historic Market Value2.6 Institutional Buildings Construction Value Add: Forecast Market Value3 INSTITUTIONAL BUILDINGS CONSTRUCTION: ACTIVITY ANALYSIS3.1 New Construction Output3.2 New Construction Output by Cost Type3.3 New Construction Output Forecast3.4 New Construction Output Forecast by Cost Type3.5 Repair & Maintenance Output3.6 Repair & Maintenance Output by Cost Type3.7 Repair & Maintenance Output Forecast3.8 Repair & Maintenance Output Forecast by Cost Type3.9 Refurbishment Output3.10 Refurbishment Output by Cost Type3.11 Refurbishment Output Forecast3.12 Refurbishment Output Forecast by Cost Type3.13 Demolition Output3.14 Demolition Output by Cost Type3.15 Demolition Output Forecast3.16 Demolition Output Forecast by Cost Type4 APPENDIX4.1 Methodology4.2 About4.3 Our Services4.4 DisclaimerComplete Report@Contact Us:Norah TrentPartner Relations & Marketing ManagerSales@Wiseguyreports.ComPh: +1-646-845-9349 (US)Ph: +44 208 133 9349 (UK)Wise Guy Reports is part of the Wise Guy Consultants Pvt. Ltd. and offers premium progressive statistical surveying, market research reports, analysis & forecast data for industries and governments around the globe.WISE GUY RESEARCH CONSULTANTS PVT LTD75 Arlington Street, Suite 500,Boston, Massaachusetts - 02116United States of AmericaPh: +1-339-368-6938info@wiseguyreports.com California Proposition 65 Settlements Reached for Consumer Products www.sgs.com/en/consumer-goods-retail/hardgoods/diy-tools-and-hardware/california-proposition-65 www.sgs.com/en/news/2016/12/safeguards-18616-california-proposition-65-settlement-agreements-for-certain-consumer-products www.sgs.com/subscribesg www.sgs.com/hardlines During the second quarter of 2016, a variety of California Proposition 65 (Prop 65) settlements were agreed on a number of different consumer products. In some cases the agreement called for a reformulation, in others, a clear and reasonable warning, known as a Prop 65 warning, has been allowed.The settlements require: The reformulation of di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) and diisononyl phthalate (DINP) to levels 1000 ppm in vinyl/PVC audio cables The reformulation of DEHP, to levels 1000 ppm, and lead, to a level 90 ppm, in hardware tape measures with vinyl/PVC hand straps The use of a Prop 65 warning for carbon monoxide in hexamine fuel tablets The use of a Prop 65 warning for carbon monoxide and soot in charcoal lighter fluids The use of a Prop 65 warning for nitrous oxide in nitrous oxide chargersCalifornia Proposition 65 is the Safe and Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986, a unique consumer right-to-know law which was passed by Californian residents in November 1986. The law requires the state of California to maintain a list of chemicals known to cause cancer, birth defects and other reproductive harm. Currently, the list contains around 800 substances.The Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986 has led to numerous lawsuits, which have resulted in a reduction in exposure to toxic chemicals, by requiring reformulation and/or labeling. The law states that, unless exempted, a business must not expose individuals to the chemicals on the list without giving a Prop 65 warning. In addition, companies must also refrain from discharging listed chemicals into sources of drinking water.Businesses not named in specific Prop 65 settlement are not legally bound by that agreement. However, due to the unique nature of Prop 65, companies are advised to use settlement reformulation limits as a reference, in order to avoid possible future litigation. SGS, with its global network of laboratories, has the expertise to help manufacturers conform with all national and international regulations.SGS Prop 65 ServicesThrough a global network of laboratories, SGS can offer comprehensive testing, product assessments and consultancy services related to California Proposition 65 to assist your risk management in your supply chain for consumer goods such as DIYs, electrical and electronics, hardgoods products, juvenile products, and textile & toy products. Learn more about SGSs Prop 65 Services (SGS SafeGuardS keep you up to date with the latest news and developments in the consumer goods industry. Read the full California Proposition 65 Settlement Agreements for Certain Consumer Products SafeGuardS. (Subscribe here,, to receive SGS SafeGuardS direct to your inbox.For further information contact:Hing Wo TsangGlobal Hardlines Information and Innovation ManagerTel:(+852) 2774 7420Email: cts.media@sgs.comWebsite:About SGSSGS is the worlds leading inspection, verification, testing and certification company. SGS is recognized as the global benchmark for quality and integrity. With more than 85,000 employees, SGS operates a network of over 1,800 offices and laboratories around the world.1, Mons CalpeChitcombe RoadBroad OakRyeEast SussexTN31 6EU Refrigerated Vehicles Market to Maintain Healthy CAGR During 2021 Refrigerated Vehicles Market, Refrigerated Vehicles, Refrigerated Vehicle, Refrigerated Vehicle market http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/3595 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/toc/3595 www.persistencemarketresearch.com Refrigerated vehicles include a large types of vehicles used in several transportation requirements based on loading requirement. Some of their types include refrigerated vans, refrigerated trucks, refrigerated trailers, refrigerated railcars, refrigerated ships, refrigerated transport by air, refrigerated containers, atmosphere controlled containers, intermodal refrigerated containers, insulated containers, integral reefer containers and multimodal temperature containers. The increasing consumer awareness about fresh products is one of the important factors which have been escalating the demand for refrigerated vehicles globally.Sample of this report is available upon request @Refrigerated vehicles are used for transportation of vulnerable food, pharmaceutical and healthcare products. The increasing population and consumer spending on food products has surged their production globally. Among food products, dairy products and fresh fruits and vegetables require cold storage and transportation for their sustainability. The increasing global warming has been emerging as a matter of great concern for the food producers globally which is reducing the shelf life of these products in non-refrigerated conditions. Most of the pharmaceutical and healthcare products need protection from heat and light to maintain their chemical and biological formulation. All these concerns have been driving the refrigerated vehicles market globally and are expected to increase in terms of growth rate during 2014-2020.The developing and underdeveloped countries have an underdeveloped cold-supply chain infrastructure which leads to destruction of a large quantity of food products every year. This also increases warehousing charges of the food manufacturers and the distributors as they have to maintain local distribution points in the area of demand. The growing population and increasing per capita income in these countries is boosting the demand for food products which is further creating demands for the refrigerated vehicles in these countries. The dairy product consumption in Asia Pacific countries have also been increasing to a great extent in recent times. The pharmaceutical and healthcare industries have also been growing at a rapid pace in these developing countries which is creating demand for the refrigerated vehicles in this domain as well. The shortage of skilled labor and unstable fuel prices are the key hurdles for the refrigerated vehicles market. The companies operating in the refrigerated vehicles market are improving the fuel efficiency and noise reduction of these vehicles.There have been several technology development and introduction in the recent times by the refrigerated vehicle manufacturers. They include CorroGuard and ThermGuard by Great Dane, Strip door solution for refrigerated trucks by R.O.M, GRIPTM by RTE, LED based indicator by Carrier, economical cold plates by Johnson, reefer monitoring system by PAR, reefer-trak sentry solutions by Star-Trak, Secureseal system by OEM Group, new alternator by Robert Bosch and Fleetview by Terion.TOC of this report is available upon request @Among regions, North America dominated global sales of refrigerated vehicles market, followed by Europe. There are a large number of market players in the refrigerated vehicles market which are operating in a particular country or globally through their subsidiaries. The global refrigerated vehicles market is fragmented however; it is increasingly advancing towards consolidation with a number of companies engaged in merger and acquisition activities.The key market players include Great Dane Trailers, Ingersol Rand Company Limited, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Limited, Schmitz Cargobull, R.O.M., Thermo King, Carrier Transicold, Johnson, PAR, Star-Trak, GE, OEM Group, Robert Bosch, Terion, Northgate Plc and Fraikin Limited.Key geographies evaluated in this report are: North Americao U.So Canada Europeo France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the UKo Eastern Europeo CIS APACo Chinao Indiao Japano Australiao Others Latin Americao Argentinao Brazilo OthersKey features of this report Drivers, restraints, and challenges shaping the Refrigerated Vehicles market dynamics Latest innovations and key events in the industry Analysis of business strategies of the top players Refrigerated Vehicles market estimates and forecasts(2015 -2021)About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a full-service market intelligence firm specializing in syndicated research, custom research, and consulting services. PMR boasts market research expertise across the Healthcare, Chemicals and Materials, Technology and Media, Energy and Mining, Food and Beverages, Semiconductor and Electronics, Consumer Goods, and Shipping and Transportation industries. The company draws from its multi-disciplinary capabilities and high-pedigree team of analysts to share data that precisely corresponds to clients business needs.PMR stands committed to bringing more accuracy and speed to clients business decisions. From ready-to-purchase market research reports to customized research solutions, PMRs engagement models are highly flexible without compromising on its deep-seated research values.Contact UsPersistence Market Research305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA - Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.commedia@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb: Research and Markets: Cobb Electric Membership Corporation - Power Plants and SWOT Analysis, 2016 http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/analysis/895975 http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/sample/sample/895975 http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/ "The Report Cobb Electric Membership Corporation - Power Plants and SWOT Analysis, 2016 Update provides information on pricing, market analysis, shares, forecast, and company profiles for key industry participants. - MarketResearchReports.biz"The report contains a detailed description of the power generation companys business operations, history, corporate strategy, and business structure. This report contains a detailed SWOT analysis, information on key employees (executives), and major products and services.View Report at:Scope- Major Power Plants (assets) - summarized and detailed information about the power plants (assets).- Operational Metrics (capacity, generation, revenue, sales, number of consumers).- Business description - A detailed description of the companys operations and business divisions.- Corporate strategy - GlobalDatas summarization of the companys business strategy.- SWOT analysis - A detailed analysis of the companys strengths, weakness, opportunities and threats.- Company history - Progression of key events associated with the company.- Major products and services - A list of major products, services and brands- Key employees - A list of the key executives and personnel heading key departments/functions.- Executive biographies - A brief summary of the executives employment history.- Financial deals - Coverage of key financial deals from 2006 onwards, depending upon information availability- Important locations and subsidiaries - A list of key locations and subsidiaries of the company, including contact details.Get Sample Copy Of This Report @Reasons to buy- Gain key insights into the company for academic or business research purposes. Key elements such as SWOT analysis, corporate strategy and major products and services are incorporated in the profile to assist in various business decisions (M&A and JV).- Identify potential customers and suppliers with this reports analysis of the companys business structure, operations, major products and services and business strategy.- Understand and respond to competitors business structure and strategies with GlobalDatas detailed SWOT analysis. In this, the companys core strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats are analyzed, providing an up to date objective view of the company.Table of ContentsTable of Contents 2List of Tables 3Company Snapshot 4Key Information 4Company Overview 4SWOT Snapshot 4Operational Metrics 5Cobb Electric Membership Corporation, Operational Metrics, By Transmission 5Cobb Electric Membership Corporation, Operational Metrics, By Customers 5Cobb Electric Membership Corporation, Operational Metrics, By Segmental Information 5Cobb Electric Membership Corporation, Operational Metrics, By Sales 6Cobb Electric Membership Corporation, Solar PV Parks 7Cobb Electric Membership Corporation, Solar PV Parks, United States 7Cobb Electric Membership Corporation, Thermal Power Plants 8Cobb Electric Membership Corporation, Thermal Power Plants, United States 8Business Description 9Business Overview 9Major Products and Services 10History 11SWOT Analysis 13Overview 13Cobb Electric Membership Corporation Strengths 13Major Electric Distributor 13Focus on Reliability 13Strategic Partnerships 13Cobb Electric Membership Corporation Weaknesses 14Working Capital Deficit 14Cobb Electric Membership Corporation Opportunities 14Demand for Alternative Energy Sources 14Growth Initiatives 14Prospects for Growth in Demand for Electricity: the US 14Cobb Electric Membership Corporation Threats 14Seasonal Variations and Climate Conditions 14Volatility in Electricity Prices 14Distribution Network Security 15Key Employees 16Company Statement 17Locations And Subsidiaries 18Head Office 18Other Locations & Subsidiaries 18Financial Deals Landscape 19Cobb Electric Membership Corporation, Deals Summary 19Cobb Electric Membership Corporation, Power, Deal Details 20Asset Transactions 20Power4Georgians, Cobb, Central Georgia, Pataula, Snapping Shoals, Upson And Washington Electric To Invest US$2,100 Million For Coal Fired Power Plant In Georgia, US 20Appendix 21Report Scope 21GlobalData Coverage 21Benchmarking 21GlobalDatas Methodology 21Secondary Research 21Primary Research 21Contact Us 22Disclaimer 22MarketResearchReports.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.Mr. Nachiket90 Sate Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-621-2074Website:E: sales@marketresearchreports.biz Single-Family Housing Denmark Construction Global Forecast and Analysis Research Report to 2020 https://www.wiseguyreports.com/sample-request/861039-single-family-housing-construction-in-denmark-to-2020-market-databook https://www.wiseguyreports.com/checkout?currency=one_user-USD&report_id=861039 https://www.wiseguyreports.com/reports/861039-single-family-housing-construction-in-denmark-to-2020-market-databook Synopsis'Single-Family Housing Construction in Denmark to 2020: Market Databook' contains detailed historic and forecast market value data for the single-family housing construction industry, including a breakdown of the data by construction activity (new construction, repair and maintenance, refurbishment and demolition). The databook provides historical and forecast valuations of the industry using the construction output and value-add methods.Request a Sample Report @SummaryThis report is the result of extensive market research covering the single-family housing construction industry in Denmark. It contains detailed historic and forecast market value data for the single-family housing construction industry, including a breakdown of the data by construction activity (new construction, repair and maintenance, refurbishment and demolition). 'Single-Family Housing Construction in Denmark to 2020: Market Databook' provides a top-level overview and detailed insight into the operating environment of the single-family housing construction industry in Denmark. It is an essential tool for companies active across the Danish construction value chain and for new players considering to enter the market.Scope Overview of the single-family housing construction industry in Denmark. Historic and forecast market value for the single-family housing construction industry by construction output and value-add methods for the period 2011 through to 2020. Historic and forecast market value by construction activity (new construction, repair and maintenance, refurbishment and demolition) across the single-family housing construction industry for the period 2011 through to 2020.Reasons to Buy This report provides you with valuable data for the single-family housing construction industry in Denmark. This report provides you with a breakdown of market value by type of construction activity (new construction, repair and maintenance, refurbishment and demolition). This report enhances your knowledge of the market with key figures detailing market values using the construction output and value add methods. This report allows you to plan future business decisions using the forecast figures given for the market.Buy now @Table of Contents1 INTRODUCTION1.1 What is this Report About?1.2 Definitions1.3 Summary Methodology2 SINGLE-FAMILY HOUSING CONSTRUCTION: CATEGORY DATA2.1 Single-Family Housing Construction Output: Historic Market Value2.2 Single-Family Housing Construction Output: Historic Market Value by Cost Type2.3 Single-Family Housing Construction Output: Forecast Market Value2.4 Single-Family Housing Construction Output: Forecast Market Value by Cost Type2.5 Single-Family Housing Construction Value Add: Historic Market Value2.6 Single-Family Housing Construction Value Add: Forecast Market Value3 SINGLE-FAMILY HOUSING CONSTRUCTION: ACTIVITY ANALYSIS3.1 New Construction Output3.2 New Construction Output by Cost Type3.3 New Construction Output Forecast3.4 New Construction Output Forecast by Cost Type3.5 Repair & Maintenance Output3.6 Repair & Maintenance Output by Cost Type3.7 Repair & Maintenance Output Forecast3.8 Repair & Maintenance Output Forecast by Cost Type3.9 Refurbishment Output3.10 Refurbishment Output by Cost Type3.11 Refurbishment Output Forecast3.12 Refurbishment Output Forecast by Cost Type3.13 Demolition Output3.14 Demolition Output by Cost Type3.15 Demolition Output Forecast3.16 Demolition Output Forecast by Cost Type4 APPENDIX4.1 Methodology4.2 About4.3 Our Services4.4 DisclaimerComplete Report@Contact Us:Norah TrentPartner Relations & Marketing ManagerSales@Wiseguyreports.ComPh: +1-646-845-9349 (US)Ph: +44 208 133 9349 (UK)Wise Guy Reports is part of the Wise Guy Consultants Pvt. Ltd. and offers premium progressive statistical surveying, market research reports, analysis & forecast data for industries and governments around the globe.WISE GUY RESEARCH CONSULTANTS PVT LTD75 Arlington Street, Suite 500,Boston, Massaachusetts - 02116United States of AmericaPh: +1-339-368-6938info@wiseguyreports.com Pharmaceuticals Report On Partnerships, Licensing, Investments and M&A Deals and Trends for September 2016 http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/analysis/879237 http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/sample/sample/879237 http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/ "The Report Partnerships, Licensing, Investments and M&A Deals and Trends for September 2016 in Pharmaceuticals provides information on pricing, market analysis, shares, forecast, and company profiles for key industry participants. - MarketResearchReports.biz"GlobalData's Partnerships, Licensing, Investments and M&A Deals and Trends for September 2016 in Pharmaceuticals report is an essential source of data and trend analysis on partnerships, licensing, mergers and acquisitions (M&As) and financings in the pharmaceuticals industry. The report provides detailed information on partnership and licensing transactions, M&As, equity/debt offerings, private equity, and venture financing registered in the pharmaceuticals industry in September 2016. The report portrays detailed comparative data on the number of deals and their value in the last six months, subdivided by deal types, various therapy areas, and geographies. Additionally, the report provides information on the top financial advisory firms in the pharmaceuticals industry.Data presented in this report is derived from GlobalDatas proprietary in-house Pharmaceuticals eTrack deals database and primary and secondary research.View Full Report at :Scope- Analysis of the market trends for the pharmaceutical industry in the global arena.- Review of deal trends in the cardiovascular, central nervous system, dermatology, ear nose throat disorders, gastrointestinal, genito urinary system and sex hormones, hematological disorders, hormonal disorders, immunology, infectious disease, male health, metabolic disorders, mouth and dental disorders, musculoskeletal, oncology, ophthalmology, respiratory, toxicology, and women's health segments.- Analysis of partnerships, licensing, M&As, equity/debt offerings, private equity, and venture financing deals in the pharmaceutical industry.- Analysis of therapy areas which are very active in terms of venture capital financing, partnerships, licensing agreements, equity/debt offerings, and M&As.- Analysis of deals based on different payment modes, including upfront and milestone payments, primarily in partnerships and licensing agreements in the pharmaceutical industry.- Analysis of partnership and licensing deals based on clinical stage of development of products.- Summary of the pharmaceutical deals globally in the six months.- Information on the top deals happened in the pharmaceutical industry.- Geographies covered include - North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, South & Central America, and the Middle East & Africa.- League tables of financial advisors in M&As and equity/debt offerings. This includes key advisors such as Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse, and Goldman Sachs.Get Sample Copy Of This Report @Reasons to buy- Enhance your decision making capability in a more rapid and time sensitive manner.- Find out the major deal performing segments for investments in your industry.- Evaluate the types of companies which are entering into partnership or licensing agreements; divesting and acquiring assets.- Identify companies that are aggressively looking to raise capital in the market- Evaluate niche therapy areas that are receiving majority of the upfront and milestone payments in the pharmaceutical industry.- Identify the key venture capitalists, who are financing the pharmaceutical and biotech companies.- Evaluate the clinical development stages where majority of the partnerships and licensing agreements are happening.- Do deals with an understanding of how competitors are financed, and the mergers and partnerships that have shaped the pharmaceutical industry.- Identify growth segments and opportunities in each region within the industry.- Look for key financial advisors where you are planning to raise capital from the market or for acquisitions within the industry.Table Of Content1 Table of Contents 21.1 List of Tables 51.2 List of Figures 92 Pharmaceuticals & Healthcare, Global, Deal Summary, 122.1 Pharmaceuticals & Healthcare, Global, Deal Analysis, September 2016 122.2 Pharmaceuticals & Healthcare, Global, Major Deals, September 2016 142.2.1 Shire Raises USD12.1 Billion in Public Offering of Notes 142.2.2 Gilead Sciences Raises USD5 Billion in Public Offering of Notes 152.2.3 Johnson & Johnson to Acquire Abbott Medical Optics from Abbott Laboratories for USD4.32 Billion 152.2.4 Sanofi Prices Public Offering of Notes for USD3.3 Billion 162.2.5 Allergan to Acquire Tobira Therapeutics in Tender Offer 162.3 Pharmaceuticals & Healthcare, Global, by Type, Number of Deals, September 2016 192.4 Pharmaceuticals & Healthcare, Global, by Type, Deal Values, September 2016 203 Pharmaceuticals and Healthcare, Global, Deals, Summary, by Type 213.1 Pharmaceuticals & Healthcare, Global, M&A, September 2016 213.1.1 Top M&A Deals in September 2016 223.1.2 Pharmaceuticals & Healthcare, Global, M&A Deals by Therapy Area, April 2016 - September 2016 233.2 Pharmaceuticals & Healthcare, Global, Equity Offering Deals, September 2016 253.2.1 Top Equity Offering Deals in September 2016 263.2.2 Pharmaceuticals & Healthcare, Global, Equity Offering Deals by Therapy Area, April 2016 - September 2016 273.3 Pharmaceuticals & Healthcare, Global, Private Equity and Venture Capital Deals, September 2016 283.3.1 Top PE/VC Deals in September 2016 293.3.2 Pharmaceuticals & Healthcare, Global, PE/VC by Therapy Area, September 2016 303.3.3 Pharmaceuticals & Healthcare, Global, Venture Capital Deals by Stage of Financing, September 2016 313.3.4 Pharmaceuticals & Healthcare, Global, Top Venture Financing Firms, April 2016-September 2016 333.3.5 Pharmaceuticals & Healthcare, Global, Top VC Backed Companies, April 2016-September 2016 343.4 Pharmaceuticals & Healthcare, Global, Partnership Deals, September 2016 353.5 Pharmaceuticals & Healthcare, Global, Partnership Deals by Therapy Area, April 2016 - September 2016 373.6 Pharmaceuticals & Healthcare, Global, Partnership Deals by Upfront and Milestone Payments and Deal Values (US$ m), September 2016 393.6.1 Pharmaceuticals & Healthcare, Global, Top Partnership Deals by Payment Mode, September 2016 403.7 Pharmaceuticals & Healthcare, Global, Partnership Deals by Therapy Area, by Upfront and Milestone Payments and Deal Values (US$ m), April 2016 - September 2016 413.8 Pharmaceuticals & Healthcare, Global, Partnership Deals by Phase, Number Of Deals, April 2016 - September 2016 433.9 Pharmaceuticals & Healthcare, Global, Partnership Deals by Phase, Deal Values (US$ m), April 2016 - September 2016 443.10 Pharmaceuticals & Healthcare, Global, Partnership Deals by Phase, by Upfront & Milestone Payments and Deal Values (US$ m), April 2016 - September 2016 464 Pharmaceuticals & Healthcare, Global, Licensing Agreements, September 2016 484.1 Pharmaceuticals & Healthcare, Global, Licensing Agreements, September 2016 484.2 Pharmaceuticals & Healthcare, Global, Licensing Agreement Deals, Upfront and Milestone Payments and Deal Values (US$ m), September 2016 504.3 Pharmaceuticals & Healthcare, Global, Licensing Agreement Deals by Therapy Area, Total Deal Values (US$ m), April 2016 - September 2016 524.4 Pharmaceuticals & Healthcare, Global, Licensing Agreement Deals by Therapy Area, Upfront Payments and Milestone Payments (US$ m), April 2016 - September 2016 544.5 Pharmaceuticals & Healthcare, Global, Licensing Agreement Deals by Phase, Total Deal Values (US$ m), April 2016 - September 2016 56MarketResearchReports.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.Mr. Nachiket90 Sate Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-621-2074Website:E: sales@marketresearchreports.biz Global General Lighting Market to grow at a CAGR of 5.45% during Forecast period 2016-2020 http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=794178 http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=E&repid=794178 http://bit.ly/1TBmnVG Albany, NY, Dec 04: The lighting industry includes general lighting, automotive lighting, and backlighting. The general lighting market is the major revenue-generating segment, followed by automotive lighting and backlighting. The general lighting market includes lighting applications for residential, industrial, commercial, architectural, and outdoor purposes. The commercial and residential segments are the major drivers for the general lighting market. The general lighting can be either traditional or LED lighting. The traditional lightings are categorized into LFLs, CFLs, and others which include incandescent bulbs, halogens, and high-intensity discharge (HID) lights. The traditional lighting market will observe a decline in the sales due to the rising popularity of LED.The global general lighting market to grow at a CAGR of 5.45% during the period 2016-2020. The report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the global general lighting market for 2016-2020. To calculate the market size, the report covers the revenue generated from the sales of general lighting products across these five segments: residential, commercial, outdoor, industrial, and architectural.The market is divided into the following segments based on geography:- APAC- Europe- MEA- North America- South AmericaGet a Sample Research PDF with TOC:Technavio's report, Global General Lighting 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 vendors- General Electric- Koninlijke Philips N. V.- OSRAM- Panasonic- Schneider ElectricOther prominent vendors- Acuity brands- Advanced Lighting Technology- Bridgelux- Citizens Electronics- Cooper Lighting- Cree- Dialight- Dongguan Kingsun Optoelectronic- Energy Focus- Everlight Electronics- Intematix- Lemnis Lighting- LG Innotek- Luminus Devices- Nichia- NVC Lighting Technology- Seoul Semiconductor- Toshiba- Toyoda GoseiEnquiry at:Key questions answered in this report- What will the market size be in 2020 and what will the growth rate be?- What are the key market trends?- What is driving this market?- What are the challenges to market growth?- Who are the key vendors in this market space?- What are the market opportunities and threats faced by the key vendors?- What are the strengths and weaknesses of the key vendors?ResearchMoz is the worlds fastest growing collection of market research reports worldwide. Our database is composed of current market studies from over 100 featured publishers worldwide. Our market research databases integrate statistics with analysis from global, regional, country and company perspectives. ResearchMozs service portfolio also includes value-added services such as market research customization, competitive landscaping, and in-depth surveys, delivered by a team of experienced Research Coordinators.Albany NY - 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-621-2074Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Email: sales@researchmoz.usFollow us on LinkedIn at: Global Smart Home M2M Market to grow at a CAGR of 37.69% during Forecast period 2016-2020 http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=794176 http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=E&repid=794176 http://bit.ly/1TBmnVG Albany, NY, Dec 04: A smart home comprises an internal network, home automation, and intelligent control. It is equipped with advanced and automated digital devices, home appliances, and equipment that are interconnected to each other, facilitating sophisticated monitoring and control over the building's functions. It performs three actions: remote status checks, remote information, and remote control to implement any action from a remote location.The global smart home M2M market to grow at a CAGR of 37.69% during the period 2016-2020. The report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the global smart home M2M market for 2016-2020. To calculate the market size, the report considers the revenue generated from solutions that have a smartphone application or a web portal for user interface.The market is divided into the following segments based on geography:- Americas- APAC- EMEAGet a Sample Research PDF with TOC:Technavio's report, Global Smart Home M2M 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 vendors- AT&T- British Gas- China Mobile- Comcast- Deutsche Telekom- Honeywell International- Samsung- VodafoneOther prominent vendors- Amdocs- Arris Enterprises- August- Bosch- BT- China Telecom- China Unicom- CHN Smart- Cisco- Control4- Crestron Electronics- Currys- Cyber Homes- Dacor- EE- Electrolux- Emerson ElectricEnquiry at:Key questions answered in this report- What will the market size be in 2020 and what will the growth rate be?- What are the key market trends?- What is driving this market?- What are the challenges to market growth?- Who are the key vendors in this market space?- What are the market opportunities and threats faced by the key vendors?- What are the strengths and weaknesses of the key vendors?ResearchMoz is the worlds fastest growing collection of market research reports worldwide. Our database is composed of current market studies from over 100 featured publishers worldwide. Our market research databases integrate statistics with analysis from global, regional, country and company perspectives. ResearchMozs service portfolio also includes value-added services such as market research customization, competitive landscaping, and in-depth surveys, delivered by a team of experienced Research Coordinators.Albany NY - 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-621-2074Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Email: sales@researchmoz.usFollow us on LinkedIn at: Earthmoving Equipment Market to Register a Strong Growth By 2021 Earthmoving Equipment Market, Earthmoving Equipment, Earthmoving Equipments Market, Earthmoving Equipments http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/3723 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/toc/3723 www.persistencemarketresearch.com Earthmoving equipment operates through the mechanical advantage of a simple machine where the ratio between input force applied and force exerted is multiplied. Most earthmoving equipment uses hydraulic drives as a primary source of motion. Technically skilled worker are able to operate heavy equipment, these individuals are provided with special training before they operate any heavy equipments.Sample of this report is available upon request @Earthmoving equipment is referred to heavy equipment (heavy-duty vehicles designed specially for executing construction operation, mostly which involves earthwork operation). These heavy equipments are used in the construction industry to move large amounts of earth or to dig foundations and landscape areas. Earthmoving equipments are known with different name in different region such as heavy trucks, heavy machines, construction equipment, engineering equipment, heavy vehicles and heavy hydraulics.On the bases of operation performed by the machine the global earthmoving equipments market can be bifurcated into excavators (compact excavator, dredging, dragline excavator, front shovel and others), loaders (skip loader and wheel loader), construction tractors and others (grader, scraper, track loader, material handler and others). Earthmoving equipments are majorly applied in the construction industry (private or government). Other major application of earthmoving equipments includes mining, digging and other heavy duty work. Construction industry is expected to maintain its dominance in the global earthmoving equipment market.Asia-Pacific has the largest market share for earthmoving equipment accounting for more than two fifth of the global earthmoving equipments market, followed by Europe and North America. China leads the global earthmoving equipments market. Asia-Pacific region is expected to maintain its dominance in the forecasted period. Europe and North America region are expected to witness average growth in the coming future. Global recession hampered the construction industries particularly in the western countries. But the industry is expected to show growth in the coming future helping the global earthmoving equipments market.Growth in the construction industry after the global recession is driving the global earthmoving equipments market. Additionally, increasing urban population demands for better dueling facilities proving growth opportunity for the construction industry, which in turn increases the demand for heavy machines including earthmoving equipments especially in the developing countries such as India and China. According to the 2009 revision of World Urbanization Prospect, the level of urbanization in the world crossed the 50% mark in 2009. According to the United Nations, urban population is expected to increase from 3.4 billion in 2009 to 6.3 billion in 2050. Also, governments and private sectors across the globe are investing in better infrastructure facilities. Construction of roads, residential buildings, healthcare centers and educational institutes is expected to increase the demand for earthmoving equipments to some extent. For infrastructure development, the U.K governments public sector investment is expected to rise by USD 4.9 billion to about USD 77.7 billion in 2013-14 over 2012-13. It is further expected to increase to about USD 83.0 billion in 2014-15.TOC of this report is available upon request @Increasing investment for improvement of infrastructure facilities in the countries governments and private sector are investing heavily in the construction industries, providing growth opportunity for the manufacturers to invest more in the global earthmoving equipment market. Some of the major players operating in the global earthmoving equipments market are Atlas Copco, Bobcat Company, Bharat Earth Movers Limited, Ingersoll Rand, CASE, New Holland and Track Marshall.Key geographies evaluated in this report are: North Americao U.So Canada Europeo France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the UKo Eastern Europeo CIS APACo Chinao Indiao Japano Australiao Others Latin Americao Argentinao Brazilo OthersKey features of this report Drivers, restraints, and challenges shaping the Earthmoving Equipment market dynamics Latest innovations and key events in the industry Analysis of business strategies of the top players Earthmoving Equipment market estimates and forecasts(2015 -2021)About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a full-service market intelligence firm specializing in syndicated research, custom research, and consulting services. PMR boasts market research expertise across the Healthcare, Chemicals and Materials, Technology and Media, Energy and Mining, Food and Beverages, Semiconductor and Electronics, Consumer Goods, and Shipping and Transportation industries. The company draws from its multi-disciplinary capabilities and high-pedigree team of analysts to share data that precisely corresponds to clients business needs.PMR stands committed to bringing more accuracy and speed to clients business decisions. From ready-to-purchase market research reports to customized research solutions, PMRs engagement models are highly flexible without compromising on its deep-seated research values.Contact UsPersistence Market Research305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA - Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.commedia@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb: BRITT | A Britt man accused of leading police on a high-speed chase with marijuana in his vehicle was sentenced this week to up to five years in prison. Antoine Lamont Smith, 42, received the sentence after pleading guilty in December to felony eluding and controlled substance violation charges and a misdemeanor charge of operating while under the influence. Hancock County chase leads to arrest BRITT A man was taken into custody Wednesday, July 27, after a high-speed chase in Hancock He received another five-year prison sentence for the controlled substance violation and a two-day jail sentence for OWI. All three sentences are to be served concurrently. He received a $750 fine on each of the felony convictions and a $1,250 fine for OWI. A felony drug stamp violation charge as well as misdemeanor charges of carrying weapons and assault on a peace officer causing bodily injury were dismissed. Smith fled a traffic stop on Highway 18 east of Garner July 27 and drove more than 100 mph in an attempt to evade police, according to court documents. Police say the chase ended when Smith's pickup ran over a spike strip and was hit by police in a "controlled collision" a mile west of Britt. He was accused of trying to hit one of the law enforcement vehicles with his truck and kicking a sheriff's deputy during the arrest. Police said just under a pound of marijuana was found in Smith's vehicle and that more marijuana and a loaded assault rifle were found in a work area of his home. Next Generation Bullet Proofing Market: High Velocity Projectiles's Prevention to set High Growth of Industry Globally http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=16736 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/next-generation-bullet-proofing-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com Bullet proofing helps prevent high velocity projectiles or bullet from penetrating the surface. Bullet resistant materials are often used to protect personnel from death or serious injuries in law enforcement and military field. Bullet resistance is more precise than bullet proof as there are few practical materials which can provide thorough protection against all types of bullets even after several hits at identical location. Bullet-resistant materials also known as ballistic materials can be rigid or supple. They can be complex, such as carbon fiber, Lexan,Kevlar and composite materials, or a basic material, like titanium or steel. Bullet proofing is used in aerospace, liquid armor, armored fighting vehicle, bulletproof vest, military vehicle, panic room, bulletproof glass, plastic armor, bank vault, bomb suit, riot shield, safe, armored car. Presently available bullet proofing lacks coverage from high speed projectiles, cracking of shield materials from bullet strikes and shock proofing.Get Sample Report Copy for this Report atDefense expenditure around the world has been increasing. This is visible in arms and ammunition market. It is expected government defense agencies will invest in acquiring higher efficient bullet proofing in form of- vest, military vehicle and aerospace. These demands will be directly proportional to the advancements of arms industry and innovations in bulletproofing technology.Based on the type, the next generation bullet proofing market is segmented into bullet proof jackets, explosion-proof blankets, body armor, bulletproof glass and others. In 2015, the bulletproof glass segment anticipated to be the major market and anticipated to be the same during the forecast period of 2016 2024. The major factor boosting the demand of the bulletproof glass is due to uses in the different end user industries such as automotive industry, financial services industry, construction industry, marine industry and aerospace industry. In addition, bulletproof glass is also used in various places such as armored cash trucks, bank security glass, ATM booths, residential buildings, premium vehicles and display case among others.Based on the raw material, the next generation bullet proofing market is segmented into kevlar, polycarbonate, polyurethane, ceramic, titanium and thermoplastic among others. In 2015, the titanium segment anticipated to be the major market and anticipated to be the same during the forecast period of 2016 2024. The major factor boosting the demand of the market is due to uses in the different product such as explosion-proof blankets, body armor and bulletproof glass among others.Browse Report:Based on the end user industries, the next generation bullet proofing market is segmented into financial services industry, bank vault, bomb suit, riot shield, automotive industry, armored fighting vehicle, construction industry, aerospace industry and marine industry, bulletproof vest, and military vehicle among others. Growth of the next generation bullet proofing market has been increasingly driven by increasing automotive industry globally. In addition, rising automotive industry coupled with growing demand for value-added automobile products from tech-savvy consumers is anticipated to further fuel the demand for next generation bullet proofing in the automotive industry segment. Moreover, the revenue from increasing financial industry is estimated to dominate due to growing development of financial institutions and services in developing countries such as India and Brazil among others due to rising need for capital.Based on the regions, the next generation bullet proofing market is segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, South America and Middle East and Africa. North America holds the major market share followed by Europe. This is due to increased consumption of bulletproof glass as a security purpose in the region. However, Middle East and Africa is anticipated to record maximum CAGR during the forecast period of 2016 2024.Key manufacturer of bullet proofing are Saint-Gobain (France), China Glass Holdings Limited, S.A (Hong Kong), China Glass Specialty AG (China), Armormax (USA), Texas armoring, Asahi Glass co. Ltd. (Japan), Nippon Sheet Glass (Japan), GKN Aerospace (UK), International Armoring Corporation (IAC) and Chongqing Dameng Group (China) among others.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: Wireless Communications/Technologies In Healthcare Market Research, New Study, Advances, Innovation, Overview and Forecast Report 2016 http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/sample/sample/906571 http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/category/53 http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/pressreleases http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/ MarketResearchReports.Biz is providing you Latest Market Research report of "Global Wireless Communications/Technologies In Healthcare Market Research Report 2016".This report studies Wireless Communications/Technologies in Healthcare in Global market, especially in North America, Europe, China, Japan, Southeast Asia and India, focuses on top manufacturers in global market, with production, price, revenue and market share for each manufacturer, coveringAlcatel-Lucent SaApple, Inc.Allscripts Healthcare Solutions, Inc.Cerner Corp.Cisco Systems, Inc.Philips HealthcareHewlett-Packard CompanyIBM Corp.Intel CorpSiemens HealthcareVerizon Communications, Inc.Market Segment by Regions, this report splits Global into several key Regions, with production, consumption, revenue, market share and growth rate of Wireless Communications/Technologies in Healthcare in these regions, from 2011 to 2021 (forecast), likeNorth AmericaEuropeChinaJapanSoutheast AsiaIndiaSplit by product type, with production, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, can be divided intoWi-FiBluetoothRadio-frequency identificationUltra WidebandOthersSplit by application, this report focuses on consumption, market share and growth rate of Wireless Communications/Technologies in Healthcare in each application, can be divided intoE-prescriptionAlarm NotificationsReal-time Waveform DeliveryOthersGet The Sample Copy Of This Report:Table of ContentsGlobal Wireless Communications/Technologies in Healthcare Market Research Report 20161 Wireless Communications/Technologies in Healthcare Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Wireless Communications/Technologies in Healthcare1.2 Wireless Communications/Technologies in Healthcare Segment by Type1.2.1 Global Production Market Share of Wireless Communications/Technologies in Healthcare by Type in 20151.2.2 Wi-Fi1.2.3 Bluetooth1.2.4 Radio-frequency identification1.2.5 Ultra Wideband1.2.6 Others1.3 Wireless Communications/Technologies in Healthcare Segment by Application1.3.1 Wireless Communications/Technologies in Healthcare Consumption Market Share by Application in 20151.3.2 E-prescription1.3.3 Alarm Notifications1.3.4 Real-time Waveform Delivery1.3.5 Others1.4 Wireless Communications/Technologies in Healthcare Market by Region1.4.1 North America Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.2 Europe Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.3 China Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.4 Japan Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.5 Southeast Asia Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.6 India Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.5 Global Market Size (Value) of Wireless Communications/Technologies in Healthcare (2011-2021)2 Global Wireless Communications/Technologies in Healthcare Market Competition by Manufacturers2.1 Global Wireless Communications/Technologies in Healthcare Production and Share by Manufacturers (2015 and 2016)2.2 Global Wireless Communications/Technologies in Healthcare Revenue and Share by Manufacturers (2015 and 2016)2.3 Global Wireless Communications/Technologies in Healthcare Average Price by Manufacturers (2015 and 2016)2.4 Manufacturers Wireless Communications/Technologies in Healthcare Manufacturing Base Distribution, Sales Area and Product Type2.5 Wireless Communications/Technologies in Healthcare Market Competitive Situation and Trends2.5.1 Wireless Communications/Technologies in Healthcare Market Concentration Rate2.5.2 Wireless Communications/Technologies in Healthcare Market Share of Top 3 and Top 5 Manufacturers2.5.3 Mergers & Acquisitions, ExpansionBrowse More Surgical Equipment Market Research Reports:3 Global Wireless Communications/Technologies in Healthcare Production, Revenue (Value) by Region (2011-2016)3.1 Global Wireless Communications/Technologies in Healthcare Production by Region (2011-2016)3.2 Global Wireless Communications/Technologies in Healthcare Production Market Share by Region (2011-2016)3.3 Global Wireless Communications/Technologies in Healthcare Revenue (Value) and Market Share by Region (2011-2016)3.4 Global Wireless Communications/Technologies in Healthcare Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2011-2016)3.5 North America Wireless Communications/Technologies in Healthcare Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2011-2016)3.6 Europe Wireless Communications/Technologies in Healthcare Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2011-2016)3.7 China Wireless Communications/Technologies in Healthcare Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2011-2016)3.8 Japan Wireless Communications/Technologies in Healthcare Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2011-2016)3.9 Southeast Asia Wireless Communications/Technologies in Healthcare Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2011-2016)3.10 India Wireless Communications/Technologies in Healthcare Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2011-2016)4 Global Wireless Communications/Technologies in Healthcare Supply (Production), Consumption, Export, Import by Regions (2011-2016)4.1 Global Wireless Communications/Technologies in Healthcare Consumption by Regions (2011-2016)4.2 North America Wireless Communications/Technologies in Healthcare Production, Consumption, Export, Import by Regions (2011-2016)4.3 Europe Wireless Communications/Technologies in Healthcare Production, Consumption, Export, Import by Regions (2011-2016)4.4 China Wireless Communications/Technologies in Healthcare Production, Consumption, Export, Import by Regions (2011-2016)4.5 Japan Wireless Communications/Technologies in Healthcare Production, Consumption, Export, Import by Regions (2011-2016)4.6 Southeast Asia Wireless Communications/Technologies in Healthcare Production, Consumption, Export, Import by Regions (2011-2016)4.7 India Wireless Communications/Technologies in Healthcare Production, Consumption, Export, Import by Regions (2011-2016)5 Global Wireless Communications/Technologies in Healthcare Production, Revenue (Value), Price Trend by Type5.1 Global Wireless Communications/Technologies in Healthcare Production and Market Share by Type (2011-2016)5.2 Global Wireless Communications/Technologies in Healthcare Revenue and Market Share by Type (2011-2016)5.3 Global Wireless Communications/Technologies in Healthcare Price by Type (2011-2016)5.4 Global Wireless Communications/Technologies in Healthcare Production Growth by Type (2011-2016)6 Global Wireless Communications/Technologies in Healthcare Market Analysis by Application6.1 Global Wireless Communications/Technologies in Healthcare Consumption and Market Share by Application (2011-2016)6.2 Global Wireless Communications/Technologies in Healthcare Consumption Growth Rate by Application (2011-2016)6.3 Market Drivers and Opportunities6.3.1 Potential Applications6.3.2 Emerging Markets/CountriesAbout usMarketResearchReports.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.To View The Latest Industry Press Releases:ContactTel: +1-518-621-2074E-Mail: sales@marketresearchreports.bizWebsite:MarketResearchReports.biz supports your business intelligence needs with over 100,000 market research reports, company profiles, data books, and regional market data sheets in its repository. Our document database is updated by the hour, which means that you always have access to fresh data spanning over 300 industries and their sub-segments.State Tower90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948(USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-518-621-2074E: sales@marketresearchreports.biz Container Shipping Market Would Register a Healthy Growth Rate During the Forecast 2015 - 2021 Container Shipping Market, Container Shipping http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/3798 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/toc/3798 www.persistencemarketresearch.com Containers are generally made up of aluminum and steel . The size and type built of each container comply with specifications and regulations formulated by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).Sample of this report is available upon request @Containers are used to transport objects from one place to another. Unlike conventional shipping, container shipping uses containers of various standard sizes20 foot (6.09 m), 40 foot (12.18 m), 45 foot (13.7 m), 48 foot (14.6 m), and 53 foot (16.15 m)to load, transport, and unload goods or objects. As a result, containers can be moved by trains, ships and trucks. Most commonly and important container sizes are 20-foot and 40-foot lengths. The 20-foot container is generally referred to as a Twenty-foot Equivalent Unit (TEU) and the 40-foot container is known as the Forty-foot Equivalent Unit (FEU).Shipping containers are of various types . The most important type of container is dry cargo . Dry cargo containers are often referred to as special containers. These special containers include open side, open end, open top, half-height, flat rack, refrigerated, liquid bulk, and modular. These containers are built as a same exterior lengths and widths as the standard dry cargo containers.In addition, open top containers are used for easy loading of cargo such as odd-sized goods and machineries. Flat racks are used for vehicles, boats, machineries and industrial equipment . Open side containers are used for transporting vegetables such as onions and potatoes. Tank containers are used to transport liquids such as chemicals, wine, and vegetable oils.Each container has its own unique unit number , often known as box number. Box numbers are used by crew members, ship captains, coastguards, customs officers, dock supervisors, and warehouse managers to identify the owner of a container and who is using it to ship goods, and to track the container's location across the world.The container sizes need to be standardized so that they can be stacked most efficiently. It transport one on top of the other in trains, ships, trucks and cranes at the ports can be specially fitted or built to a single size specification. Container size standardization is carried out by the ISO whose primary work is to set standard sizes for all containers .The most important step in container shipping is proper loading of containers in trucks, ships, and trains. Several government associations such as the World Shipping Council (WSC), together with the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS), published the Transport of Containers by Sea - Industry Guidance for Shippers and Container Stuffers. It provides specific guidelines to shipping companies to transport containers in a safe and efficient way.In terms of geography, North America dominates the global container shipping market . This is due to improved transportation services in this region. The U.S. represents the largest market for container shipping followed by Canada in North America. In Europe, Germany, the U.K., Spain, Italy, and France hold the major share of the container shipping market. Asia is expected to witness high growth rates in the next five years, as many companies are constructing manufacturing facilities in this region. The rising number of manufacturing units would result in significant rise in demand for containers. Improving transportation services are boosting growth of the container shipping market in this region. Japan, China, and India are expected to be the fastest-growing container shipping markets in Asia.Increasing demand for transportation services is a key driver of the global container shipping market. Rising number of factories and manufacturing units has fueled growth of the global container shipping market. In addition, several government associations are also boosting growth of the global container shipping market by providing specific guidelines to shipping companies.However, high shipping freight rates obstruct growth of the global container shipping market.TOC of this report is available upon request @Some of the major companies operating in the global container shipping market are China Shipping Container Lines, HANJIN, China Ocean Shipping Company, HAPAG-LLOYD, Mediterranean Shipping Company, and MAERSK.Key geographies evaluated in this report are: North Americao U.So Canada Europeo France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the UKo Eastern Europeo CIS APACo Chinao Indiao Japano Australiao Others Latin Americao Argentinao Brazilo OthersKey features of this report Drivers, restraints, and challenges shaping the Container Shipping market dynamics Latest innovations and key events in the industry Analysis of business strategies of the top players Container Shipping market estimates and forecasts(2015 -2021)About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a full-service market intelligence firm specializing in syndicated research, custom research, and consulting services. PMR boasts market research expertise across the Healthcare, Chemicals and Materials, Technology and Media, Energy and Mining, Food and Beverages, Semiconductor and Electronics, Consumer Goods, and Shipping and Transportation industries. The company draws from its multi-disciplinary capabilities and high-pedigree team of analysts to share data that precisely corresponds to clients business needs.PMR stands committed to bringing more accuracy and speed to clients business decisions. From ready-to-purchase market research reports to customized research solutions, PMRs engagement models are highly flexible without compromising on its deep-seated research values.Contact UsPersistence Market Research305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA - Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.commedia@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb: Global Cosmeceuticals Market Analysis, Shares, Size, Trends, Growth and Forecast Report 2016 http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/sample/sample/898097 http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/category/53 http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/pressreleases http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/ MarketResearchReports.Biz is providing you Latest Market Research report of "Global Cosmeceuticals Market Research Report 2016".This report studies Cosmeceuticals in Global market, especially in North America, Europe, China, Japan, Southeast Asia and India, focuses on top manufacturers in global market, with Production, price, revenue and market share for each manufacturer, coveringL'OralP&GShiseidoUnileverBeiersdorfAmwayAVON Beauty ProductsBurberryINVERSIONES AVI AMERICAChanelClarinsCombeEdgewell Personal CareHenkelHelen of TroyJohnson & JohnsonKaoLVMHMary KayBoticrioRevlonTom's of MaineWorld Hair Cosmetics (Asia)ConairCotyMarket Segment by Regions, this report splits Global into several key Regions, with production, consumption, revenue, market share and growth rate of Cosmeceuticals in these regions, from 2011 to 2021 (forecast), likeNorth AmericaEuropeChinaJapanSoutheast AsiaIndiaSplit by product type, with production, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, can be divided intoType IType IIType IIISplit by application, this report focuses on consumption, market share and growth rate of Cosmeceuticals in each application, can be divided intoApplication 1Application 2Application 3Get The Sample Copy Of This Report:Table of ContentsGlobal Cosmeceuticals Market Research Report 20161 Cosmeceuticals Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Cosmeceuticals1.2 Cosmeceuticals Segment by Type1.2.1 Global Production Market Share of Cosmeceuticals by Type in 20151.2.2 Type I1.2.3 Type II1.2.4 Type III1.3 Cosmeceuticals Segment by Application1.3.1 Cosmeceuticals Consumption Market Share by Application in 20151.3.2 Application 11.3.3 Application 21.3.4 Application 31.4 Cosmeceuticals Market by Region1.4.1 North America Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.2 Europe Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.3 China Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.4 Japan Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.5 Southeast Asia Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.6 India Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.5 Global Market Size (Value) of Cosmeceuticals (2011-2021)2 Global Cosmeceuticals Market Competition by Manufacturers2.1 Global Cosmeceuticals Production and Share by Manufacturers (2015 and 2016)2.2 Global Cosmeceuticals Revenue and Share by Manufacturers (2015 and 2016)2.3 Global Cosmeceuticals Average Price by Manufacturers (2015 and 2016)2.4 Manufacturers Cosmeceuticals Manufacturing Base Distribution, Sales Area and Product Type2.5 Cosmeceuticals Market Competitive Situation and Trends2.5.1 Cosmeceuticals Market Concentration Rate2.5.2 Cosmeceuticals Market Share of Top 3 and Top 5 Manufacturers2.5.3 Mergers & Acquisitions, ExpansionBrowse More Surgical Equipment Market Research Reports:3 Global Cosmeceuticals Production, Revenue (Value) by Region (2011-2016)3.1 Global Cosmeceuticals Production and Market Share by Region (2011-2016)3.2 Global Cosmeceuticals Revenue (Value) and Market Share by Region (2011-2016)3.3 Global Cosmeceuticals Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2011-2016)3.4 North America Cosmeceuticals Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2011-2016)3.5 Europe Cosmeceuticals Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2011-2016)3.6 China Cosmeceuticals Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2011-2016)3.7 Japan Cosmeceuticals Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2011-2016)3.8 Southeast Asia Cosmeceuticals Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2011-2016)3.9 India Cosmeceuticals Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2011-2016)4 Global Cosmeceuticals Supply (Production), Consumption, Export, Import by Regions (2011-2016)4.1 Global Cosmeceuticals Consumption by Regions (2011-2016)4.2 North America Cosmeceuticals Production, Consumption, Export, Import by Regions (2011-2016)4.3 Europe Cosmeceuticals Production, Consumption, Export, Import by Regions (2011-2016)4.4 China Cosmeceuticals Production, Consumption, Export, Import by Regions (2011-2016)4.5 Japan Cosmeceuticals Production, Consumption, Export, Import by Regions (2011-2016)4.6 Southeast Asia Cosmeceuticals Production, Consumption, Export, Import by Regions (2011-2016)4.7 India Cosmeceuticals Production, Consumption, Export, Import by Regions (2011-2016)5 Global Cosmeceuticals Production, Revenue (Value), Price Trend by Type5.1 Global Cosmeceuticals Production and Market Share by Type (2011-2016)5.2 Global Cosmeceuticals Revenue and Market Share by Type (2011-2016)5.3 Global Cosmeceuticals Price by Type (2011-2016)5.4 Global Cosmeceuticals Production Growth by Type (2011-2016)About usMarketResearchReports.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.To View The Latest Industry Press Releases:ContactTel: +1-518-621-2074E-Mail: sales@marketresearchreports.bizWebsite:MarketResearchReports.biz supports your business intelligence needs with over 100,000 market research reports, company profiles, data books, and regional market data sheets in its repository. Our document database is updated by the hour, which means that you always have access to fresh data spanning over 300 industries and their sub-segments.State Tower90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948(USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-518-621-2074E: sales@marketresearchreports.biz Aircraft Tyres Market is Expected To Generate Huge Profits by 2021 Aircraft Tyres Market, Aircraft Tyres, Tyres Market http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/4260 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/toc/4260 www.persistencemarketresearch.com Aircraft tyres have cords which serve as the reinforcing materials in the tyre that provide dimensional stability, supporting the aircraft weight, as well as keeping the tyres in shape different road conditions. Aircraft tyres play a vital role in the performance of the aircraft. Various reinforcement constructions are needed for different types of aircrafts based on their applications and load bearing requirements. They have different requirements of tyre fabrics and tyre cords as compared to other modes of transport such as light and heavy commercial vehicles, two wheelers, agricultural vehicles as they work on different road conditions, where each tyre has a different load bearing requirement. Aircraft tyres are one of the most highly engineered products having significant complexity which require large number of raw materials pertaining to steel, cord fabric, artificial and natural rubber and other chemicals.Sample of this report is available upon request @The global demand for aircraft tyres has been significant due to growth from the aircraft industry, particularly commercial aircrafts, which have witnessed huge surge in demand for advanced and new aircraft, which are largely influenced by certain factors such as network expansion by new airlines as well as entry of new airlines. Other prominent factors such as replacing obsolete aircrafts, rise air passenger traffic, growing demand for fuel efficient aircrafts and healthy economic growth shown by emerging markets has also contributed towards the growth of the aircraft tyres market. Large scale corporations such as Goodyear, Bridgestone Corporation, and Dunlop are significantly involved in the manufacturing of aircraft tyres that are eco-friendly, more intelligent, economical, safer and less noisy. They are consumed in significant quantities for various civil and military applications, where military operation hold huge demand on aircraft tyres where loads can be highly substantial with speed going more than 225 miles per hour.Large scale companies such as Dunlop have been involved in the industry as a key player which manufactures tyres used in military aircrafts from the well known Vulcan and Spitfire to the modern F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, Heavy military aircraft such as C-130, the Tornado and the Hawk, and the latest A400M. The company serves various segments of the military aviation industry such as marine corps, naval forces and air forces across the world with tyres designed to give maximum operation characteristics in the fluctuating environmental conditions as well. In addition, Dunlop was awarded three year deal supply of aircraft tyres in July 2014 to Chinas privately owned airlines for the purpose of expending its footprint in regional airlines. Under the contract, Dunlop would be providing tyres for China Express Airlines Bombardier CRJ900 NextGen aircraft. In terms of agreements and joint ventures, The Triangle Group in 2012 collaborated with the Harbin Institute of Technology to design and manufacture arcraft tyres. Regionally, developed regions such as North America accounted for the largest market share in the aircraft tyres market, followed by Europe. Emerging regions such as Asia Pacific is likely to exhibit the fastest growth in the market owing to certain factors such as increasing disposable incomes of the individuals leading to rising air travel expenditures, entry of low cost airlines and infrastructure developments in economies such as India, Singapore and China.TOC of this report is available upon request @Bridgestone Corporation, Dunlop Aircraft Tyres, Goodyear, Michelin, and The Triangle Group are some of the key players present in the aircraft tyre industry.Key geographies evaluated in this report are: North Americao U.So Canada Europeo France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the UKo Eastern Europeo CIS APACo Chinao Indiao Japano Australiao Others Latin Americao Argentinao Brazilo OthersKey features of this report Drivers, restraints, and challenges shaping the Aircraft Tyres market dynamics Latest innovations and key events in the industry Analysis of business strategies of the top players Aircraft Tyres market estimates and forecasts(2015 -2021)About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a full-service market intelligence firm specializing in syndicated research, custom research, and consulting services. PMR boasts market research expertise across the Healthcare, Chemicals and Materials, Technology and Media, Energy and Mining, Food and Beverages, Semiconductor and Electronics, Consumer Goods, and Shipping and Transportation industries. The company draws from its multi-disciplinary capabilities and high-pedigree team of analysts to share data that precisely corresponds to clients business needs.PMR stands committed to bringing more accuracy and speed to clients business decisions. From ready-to-purchase market research reports to customized research solutions, PMRs engagement models are highly flexible without compromising on its deep-seated research values.Contact UsPersistence Market Research305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA - Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.commedia@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb: Rising Purchasing Power of Consumers to Fuel Consumption of Cooking Oil in Qatar and GCC http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=15008 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com The rapidly growing population and increasing affluence of consumers have given a significant push to the GCC and Qatar cooking oil market. However, the high extraction cost and adverse climatic conditions are hampering the growth of the market. As per a report by Transparency Market Research (TMR), the GCC and Qatar cooking oil market stood at US$988.2 mn in 2015 and is estimated to reach US$1.7 bn by 2024, rising at a CAGR of 6.6% from 2016 to 2024.Changing Lifestyles and Increasing Demand for Processed Food to Boost Demand for Cooking OilThe rising demand for processed food is fuelling the growth of the cooking oil market in Qatar and other GCC countries. Increasingly busy lifestyles and rising purchasing power of the consumers residing in the GCC region are positively influencing the consumption patterns, which in turn is propelling the growth of the market. Companies operating in this market are investing heavily in research and development activities to produce high-quality cooking oils that can meet the growing requirement for healthy food.Download exclusive Sample of this report:Growing Health Consciousness among Consumers to Drive Qatar Cooking Oil MarketOn the basis of geography, the market is segmented into Qatar and other GCC countries, including the U.A.E., Saudi Arabia, and Oman. Due to low population and unfavorable arid climate, the cooking oil market in Qatar is currently experiencing sluggish growth. Nevertheless, the market in this region is likely to gain traction in the next few years due to rising consumer spending and growing health consciousness. On the other hand, the cooking oil market in other GCC countries is anticipated to experience steady growth during the forecast period. The rising demand for different types of cooking oil owing to the increasing presence of expatriates from European countries such as Greece, Italy, and Spain.Some of the key players in the GCC and Qatar cooking oil market are Asia Africa General Trading L.L.C, Al Ghurair Resources Oils and Proteins, Hayel Saeed Anam Group and Co., Savola Group, Omani Vegetables Oils and Derivatives Co. LLC, and United Foods 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: Newborn Screening Market is estimated at $540.4 million in 2015 and is projected to reach $1,240.2 million by 2022 growing at a CAGR of 12.6% from 2015 to 2022 http://www.researchbeam.com/newborn-screening-global-outlook-2015-2022-market/request-sample http://www.researchbeam.com/newborn-screening-global-outlook-2015-2022-market/purchase-enquiry http://www.researchbeam.com/newborn-screening-global-outlook-2015-2022-market/enquire-about-report http://www.researchbeam.com/ Research Beam added a report Newborn Screening - Global Market Outlook (2015-2022)According to Research Beam MRC, the Newborn Screening Market is estimated at $540.4 million in 2015 and is projected to reach $1,240.2 million by 2022 growing at a CAGR of 12.6% from 2015 to 2022. Rising awareness and demand for newborn screening in developed nations, presence of federal bodies for organizing awareness programs, rising paranoia of parents and government initiatives are some of the key factors driving the market growth. Additionally, technological advancements, increasing benefits related to newborn screening and growing array of new born diseases are some of the factors contemplated to fuel the market growth. However, lack of skilled professionals and lack of awareness in developing regions are the major restraints inhibiting the market growth. Furthermore, Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS) is anticipated to provide growth opportunities for the newborn screening market.Download Sample Report @Dry blood spot test segment is expected to witness highest growth on account of rapidly launching new and advanced products. Due to cost effectiveness and time effectiveness provided by mass spectrometry, tandem mass spectroscopy market dominated the global newborn screening technology market. North America accounted for the largest share in newborn screening market followed by Europe. Rapid technological advancements due to considerable R & D activities, enhanced insurance coverage and stable healthcare infrastructure are the major factors favoring the North American market over the forecast period. However, Asia Pacific is expected to witness highest growth on account of rapidly expanding healthcare industry and rising awareness.Some of the key players in this market include GE Healthcare, Covidien, Plc., Agilent Technologies Inc., Masimo Corp., Perkinelmer, Inc., AB Sciex LLC, Natus Medical Inc, Waters Corporation, Trivitron Healthcare, Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc., Quest Diagnostics Inc, Illumina, Inc. and Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings.Request for Discount @Test Types Covered: Critical Congenital Heart Disease (CCHD) Dry Blood Spot Test Hearing ScreenProduct Covered: Reagents and Assay Kits Pulse Oximetry Instruments Newborn Disorder Screening Instruments Hearing Screening Instruments Hearing Screening Accessories Hearing Screening DevicesTechnologies Covered: Hearing Screen Enzyme Based Assays Tandem Mass Spectrometry Pulse Oximetry Electrophoresis DNA-based Assays ImmunoassaysRegions Covered: North America Europe Asia Pacific Rest of the WorldWhat our report offers:- Market share assessments for the regional and country level segments Market share analysis of the top industry players Strategic recommendations for the new entrants Market forecasts for a minimum of 7 years of all the mentioned segments, sub segments and the regional markets Market Trends (Drivers, Constraints, Opportunities, Threats, Challenges, Investment Opportunities, and recommendations) Strategic recommendations in key business segments based on the market estimations Competitive landscaping mapping the key common trends Company profiling with detailed strategies, financials, and recent developments Supply chain trends mapping the latest technological advancementsEnquire about Report @Table of Content:-1 Executive Summary2 Preface3 Market Trend Analysis4 Porters Five Force Analysis5 Global Newborn Screening Market, By Test Type6 Global Newborn Screening Market, By Product7 Global Newborn Screening Market, By Technology8 Global Newborn Screening Market, By Geography9 Key Developments10 Company ProfilingAbout Us:With the arsenal of different search reports, Research Beam helps you here to look and buy research reports that will be helpful to you and your organization. Our research reports have the capability and authenticity to support your organization for growth and consistency. With the window of opportunity getting open and shut at a speed of light, it has become very important to survive in the market and only the fittest and competent enough can do so. So, we try and provide with latest changes in the market that can suit your needs and help you take decision accordingly.Contact Us:5933 NE Win Severs Drive,#205, Portland, OR 97220United StatesU.S. & Canada Toll Free: + 1-800-910-6452International: + 1-503-894-6022UK: + 44-845-528-1300India: +91 20 66346070Fax: +1 (855) 550-5975Email: help@researchbeam.comWeb: Professional And In-Depth Study On The Current State Of The CIGS/CIS Solar Cells Module Market http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=736124 http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=E&repid=736124 http://www.researchmoz.us/ http://bit.ly/1TBmnVG Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Global CIGS/CIS Solar Cells Module Consumption 2016 Market Research Report" to its huge collection of research reports.The Global CIGS/CIS Solar Cells Module Consumption 2016 Market Research Report is a professional and in-depth study on the current state of the CIGS/CIS Solar Cells Module marketThe report provides a basic overview of the CIGS/CIS Solar Cells Module industry including definitions, classifications, applications and industry chain structure.Development policies and plans are discussed as well as manufacturing processes and cost structures are also analyzed. This report also states import/export consumption, supply and demand figures, cost, price, revenue and gross margins.The report then analyzes the global CIGS/CIS Solar Cells Module market size (volume and value), and the sales segment market is also discussed by product type, applications and region.The major CIGS/CIS Solar Cells Module market (including USA, Europe, China, Asia (Ex. China), etc.) is analyzed, data including: market size, import and export, sale segment market by product type and applications. Then we forecast the 2016-2021 market size of CIGS/CIS Solar Cells Module.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @The report focuses on global major leading brand providing information such as company profiles, sales, sales revenue, market share and contact information. Then the CIGS/CIS Solar Cells Module OEM market and CIGS/CIS Solar Cells Module production market status is discussed.Finally the marketing, feasibility of new investment projects are assessed and overall research conclusions offered.With 172 tables and figures the report provides key statistics on the state of the industry and is a valuable source of guidance and direction for companies and individuals interested in the market.Table of Contents1 Industry Overview 11.1 Definition and Specifications of CIGS/CIS Solar Cells Module 11.1.1 Definition of CIGS/CIS Solar Cells Module 11.1.2 Specifications of CIGS/CIS Solar Cells Module 21.2 Classification of CIGS/CIS Solar Cells Module 31.2.1 CIGS Solar Cell Module 31.2.2 CIS Solar Cell Module 31.2.3 Global Sales Market Share of CIGS/CIS Solar Cells Module by Types in 2015 41.3 Applications of CIGS/CIS Solar Cells Module 51.3.1 Residential 51.3.2 Commercial 61.3.3 Ground Station 71.3.4 Global Sales Market Share of CIGS/CIS Solar Cells Module by Applications in 2015 81.4 Industry Chain Structure of CIGS/CIS Solar Cells Module 91.5 Industry Overview and Major Regions Status of CIGS/CIS Solar Cells Module 91.6 Industry Policy Analysis of CIGS/CIS Solar Cells Module 111.7 Industry News Analysis of CIGS/CIS Solar Cells Module 122 Manufacturing Cost Structure Analysis of CIGS/CIS Solar Cells Module 142.1 Raw Material Suppliers and Price Analysis of CIGS/CIS Solar Cells Module 142.2 Equipment Suppliers Analysis of CIGS/CIS Solar Cells Module 162.3 Labor Cost Analysis of CIGS/CIS Solar Cells Module 172.4 Other Costs Analysis of CIGS/CIS Solar Cells Module 202.5 Manufacturing Cost Structure Analysis of CIGS/CIS Solar Cells Module 212.6 Manufacturing Process Analysis of CIGS/CIS Solar Cells Module 223 Global Copper Indium Gallium Selenide (CIGS/CIS) Solar Cells Module Sales, Sales Price and Market Size (Volume and Value) 2010-2015 Analysis 233.1 Global 2011-2016E Copper Indium Gallium Selenide (CIGS/CIS) Solar Cells Module Market Size Analysis 233.2 Global 2010-2015 Copper Indium Gallium Selenide (CIGS/CIS) Solar Cells Module Sales Price Analysis 253.3 Global 2011-2016E Copper Indium Gallium Selenide (CIGS/CIS) Solar Cells Module Sales by Companies 253.4 Global 2011-2016E Copper Indium Gallium Selenide (CIGS/CIS) Solar Cells Module Sales by Product Type 263.5 Global 2011-2016E Copper Indium Gallium Selenide (CIGS/CIS) Solar Cells Module Sales by Applications 283.6 Global 2011-2016E Copper Indium Gallium Selenide (CIGS/CIS) Solar Cells Module Sales by Region 294 USA Copper Indium Gallium Selenide (CIGS/CIS) Solar Cells Module Sales, Sales Price, Market Size (Volume and Value) and End Users Analysis 324.1 USA 2011-2016E Copper Indium Gallium Selenide (CIGS/CIS) Solar Cells Module Market Size Analysis 324.2 USA 2010-2015 Copper Indium Gallium Selenide (CIGS/CIS) Solar Cells Module Sales Price Analysis 344.3 USA 2011-2016E Copper Indium Gallium Selenide (CIGS/CIS) Solar Cells Module Sales by Companies 344.4 USA 2011-2016E Copper Indium Gallium Selenide (CIGS/CIS) Solar Cells Module Sales by Product Type 354.5 USA 2011-2016E Copper Indium Gallium Selenide (CIGS/CIS) Solar Cells Module Sales by Applications 374.6 USA 2011-2016E Copper Indium Gallium Selenide (CIGS/CIS) Solar Cells Module Regional Import Export Analysis 395 Europe Copper Indium Gallium Selenide (CIGS/CIS) Solar Cells Module Sales, Sales Price, Market Size (Volume and Value) and End Users Analysis 405.1 Europe 2011-2016E Copper Indium Gallium Selenide (CIGS/CIS) Solar Cells Module Market Size Analysis 405.2 Europe 2010-2015 Copper Indium Gallium Selenide (CIGS/CIS) Solar Cells Module Sales Price Analysis 425.3 Europe 2011-2016E Copper Indium Gallium Selenide (CIGS/CIS) Solar Cells Module Sales by Companies 425.4 Europe 2011-2016E Copper Indium Gallium Selenide (CIGS/CIS) Solar Cells Module Sales by Product Type 435.5 Europe 2011-2016E Copper Indium Gallium Selenide (CIGS/CIS) Solar Cells Module Sales by Applications 455.6 Europe 2011-2016E Copper Indium Gallium Selenide (CIGS/CIS) Solar Cells Module Regional Import Export Analysis 476 China Copper Indium Gallium Selenide (CIGS/CIS) Solar Cells Module Sales, Sales Price, Market Size (Volume and Value) and End Users Analysis 486.1 China 2011-2016E Copper Indium Gallium Selenide (CIGS/CIS) Solar Cells Module Market Size Analysis 486.2 China 2010-2015 Copper Indium Gallium Selenide (CIGS/CIS) Solar Cells Module Sales Price Analysis 506.3 China 2011-2016E Copper Indium Gallium Selenide (CIGS/CIS) Solar Cells Module Sales by Companies 506.4 China 2011-2016E Copper Indium Gallium Selenide (CIGS/CIS) Solar Cells Module Sales by Product Type 516.5 China 2011-2016E Copper Indium Gallium Selenide (CIGS/CIS) Solar Cells Module Sales by Applications 536.6 China 2011-2016E Copper Indium Gallium Selenide (CIGS/CIS) Solar Cells Module Regional Import Export Analysis 55Make an Enquiry of this report @About ResearchMozResearchMoz is the one stop online destination to find and 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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 Private and Public Cloud Market in the Financial Services Industry to grow at a CAGR of 13.12% during the period 2016-2020 http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=800316 http://www.researchmoz.us/ict-market-reports-96.html http://bit.ly/1TBmnVG http://deep-research-report.blogspot.com/ ResearchMoz added Latest Research Report titled " Global Private and Public Cloud Market in the Financial Services Industry 2016-2020 " to it's Large Report database.About Financial ServicesFinancial services are the services offered by the financial sector to help credit companies, insurance companies, account companies, banks, investment fund firms, and finance firms to manage capital. The financial services industry is shifting toward the adoption of cloud for business operations to avoid IT infrastructure costs and operational expenditure. Cloud improves performance, increases efficiency, and ensures the security of business operations and business data. There are many vendors offering cloud-based solutions to financial services based on their business requirements. Both private and public cloud solutions are used in the financial services industry. Private cloud solutions are used more often by financial institutions as they offer better security of financial data, flexibility when expanding their operations, and customization based on business requirements.Technavios analysts forecast the global private and public cloud market in financial services industry to grow at a CAGR of 13.12% during the period 2016-2020.Download free Sample PDF report with TOC:Covered in this reportThe report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the global private and public cloud market in financial services industry for 2016-2020. To calculate the market size, the report considers the revenue generated from solutions and the fee charged for subscription of the public and private cloud for financial services.The market is divided into the following segments based on geography:AmericasAPACEMEATechnavio's report, Global Private and Public Cloud Market in Financial Services Industry 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.Read All ICT Market Research Reports @Table of ContentPART 01: Executive summaryHighlightsPART 02: Scope of the reportMarket segmentationVendorsReview periodPART 03: Market research methodologyResearch methodologyEconomic indicatorsPART 04: IntroductionKey market highlightsPART 05: Market descriptionServices offered by financial companiesTypes of financial servicesSteps of cloud implementation in financial services organizationsCloud adoption in financial services industryAdvantages of cloud adoption in financial services industryPART 06: Market landscapeMarket overviewMarket size and forecastGlobal private cloud market in financial services industryGlobal public cloud market in financial services industryPART 07: Market segmentation by service typeGlobal private and public cloud market in financial services industry by service typePART 08: Geographical segmentationGeographical segmentation of global private and public cloud market in financial services industryAmericasEMEAAPACAbout ResearchMozResearchMoz is the world's fastest growing collection of market research reports worldwide. Our database is composed of current market studies from over 100 featured publishers worldwide. Our market research databases integrate statistics with analysis from global, regional, country and company perspectives. ResearchMoz's service portfolio also includes value-added services such as market research customization, competitive landscaping, and in-depth surveys, delivered by a team of experienced Research Coordinators.Contact Us:Mr. Nachiket90 State Street, Albany NY, United States - 12207Tel: +1-518-621-2074 / Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Email: sales@researchmoz.usFollow us on LinkedIn at:Follow me on Blogger at: Global Cancer Vaccine Partnering Available Deals And Contract Documents For Over 210 Cancer Vaccine Deals 2010-2016 http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=686350 http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=E&repid=686350 http://www.researchmoz.us/ http://bit.ly/1TBmnVG Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Global Cancer Vaccine Partnering 2010-2016: Deal trends, players, financials and forecasts" to its huge collection of research reports.The Global Cancer Vaccine Partnering 2010-2015 report provides an understanding and access to the cancer vaccine partnering deals and agreements entered into by the world's leading healthcare companies.- Trends in cancer vaccine partnering deals- Disclosed headlines, upfronts, milestones and royalties by stage of development- Cancer vaccine partnering contract documents- Top cancer vaccine deals by valueThis report provides details of the latest Cancer Vaccine agreements announced in the life sciences since 2010.The report takes the reader through a comprehensive review Cancer Vaccine deal trends, key players, top deal values, as well as deal financials, allowing the understanding of how, why and under what terms, companies are entering Cancer Vaccine partnering deals.The report presents financial deal term values for Cancer Vaccine deals, listing by headline value, upfront payments, milestone payments and royalties, enabling readers to analyse and benchmark the financial value of deals.The middle section of the report explores the leading dealmakers in the Cancer Vaccine partnering field; both the leading deal values and most active Cancer Vaccine dealmaker companies are reported allowing the reader to see who is succeeding in this dynamic dealmaking market.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @One of the key highlights of the report is that over 210 online deal records of actual Cancer Vaccine deals, as disclosed by the deal parties, are included towards the end of the report in a directory format - by company A-Z, stage of development, deal type, therapy focus, and technology type - that is easy to reference. Each deal record in the report links via Weblink to an online version of the deal.In addition, where available, records include contract documents as submitted to the Securities Exchange Commission by companies and their partners. Whilst many companies will be seeking details of the payment clauses, the devil is in the detail in terms of how payments are triggered - contract documents provide this insight where press releases and databases do not.The initial chapters of this report provide an orientation of Cancer Vaccine dealmaking. Chapter 1 provides an introduction to the report, whilst chapter 2 provides an overview of the trends in Cancer Vaccine dealmaking since 2010, including details of headline, upfront, milestone and royalty terms.Chapter 3 provides a review of the leading Cancer Vaccine deals since 2010. Deals are listed by headline value. Where the deal has an agreement contract published at the SEC a link provides online access to the contract.Chapter 4 provides a comprehensive listing of the top 25 most active companies in Cancer Vaccine dealmaking with a brief summary followed by a comprehensive listing of Cancer Vaccine deals announded by that company, as well as contract documents, where available.Chapter 5 provides a comprehensive and detailed review of Cancer Vaccine partnering deals signed and announced since Jan 2010, where a contract document is available in the public domain. Each deal title links via Weblink to an online version of the deal record and contract document, providing easy access to each contract document on demand.Chapter 6 provides a comprehensive and detailed review of Cancer Vaccine partnering deals signed and announced since Jan 2010. The chapter is organized by specific Cancer Vaccine technology type. Each deal title links via Weblink to an online version of the deal record and where available, the contract document, providing easy access to each deal on demand.A comprehensive series of appendices is provided organized by Cancer Vaccine partnering company A-Z, stage of development, deal type, and therapy focus. Each deal title links via Weblink to an online version of the deal record and where available, the contract document, providing easy access to each deal on demand.The report also includes numerous tables and figures that illustrate the trends and activities in Cancer Vaccine partnering and dealmaking since 2010.In conclusion, this report provides everything a prospective dealmaker needs to know about partnering in the research, development and commercialization of Cancer Vaccine technologies and products.Report scopeGlobal Cancer Vaccine Partnering 2010-2016: Deal trends, players, financials and forecasts is intended to provide the reader with an in-depth understanding and access to Cancer Vaccine trends and structure of deals entered into by leading companies worldwide.Cancer Vaccine Partnering Terms and Agreements includes:- Trends in Cancer Vaccine dealmaking in the biopharma industry since 2010- Analysis of Cancer Vaccine deal structure- Access to headline, upfront, milestone and royalty data- Case studies of real-life Cancer Vaccine deals- Access to Cancer Vaccine contract documents- Leading Cancer Vaccine deals by value since 2010- Most active Cancer Vaccine dealmakers since 2010In Global Cancer Vaccine Partnering 2010-2016: Deal trends, players, financials and forecasts, the available deals are listed by:- Company A-Z- Headline value- Stage of development at signing- Deal component type- Specific therapy target- Technology typeEach deal title links via Weblink to an online version of the deal record and where available, the contract document, providing easy access to each contract document on demand.The Global Cancer Vaccine Partnering 2010-2016: Deal trends, players, financials and forecasts report provides comprehensive access to available deals and contract documents for over 210 Cancer Vaccine deals.Analyzing actual contract agreements allows assessment of the following:- What are the precise rights granted or optioned?- What is actually granted by the agreement to the partner company?- What exclusivity is granted?- What is the payment structure for the deal?- How aresalesand payments audited?- What is the deal term?- How are the key terms of the agreement defined?- How are IPRs handled and owned?- Who is responsible for commercialization?- Who is responsible for development, supply, and manufacture?- How is confidentiality and publication managed?- How are disputes to be resolved?- Under what conditions can the deal be terminated?- What happens when there is a change of ownership?- What sublicensing and subcontracting provisions have been agreed?- Which boilerplate clauses does the company insist upon?- Which boilerplate clauses appear to differ from partner to partner or deal type to deal type?- Which jurisdiction does the company insist upon for agreement law?Global Cancer Vaccine Partnering 2010-2016 report provides the reader with the following key benefits:- In-depth understanding of Cancer Vaccine deal trends since 2010- Access to headline, upfront, milestone and royalty data- Analysis of the structure of Cancer Vaccine agreements with numerous real life case studies- Detailed access to actual Cancer Vaccine contracts entered into by leading biopharma companies- Identify most active Cancer Vaccine dealmakers since 2010- Insight into terms included in a Cancer Vaccine partnering agreement, with real world examples- Understand the key deal terms companies have agreed in previous deals- Undertake due diligence to assess suitability of your proposed deal terms for partner companiesMake 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 @ CHARLES CITY | A man accused of raping a woman in Charles City eight years ago pleaded guilty Wednesday to a reduced charge and received probation. Eric M. Hill, 31, received a deferred judgment for misdemeanor assault causing bodily injury. He was put on probation for one year and ordered to pay a $315 civil penalty. He also was ordered to undergo a psychiatric sexual evaluation and follow any recommendations for sex offender treatment or counseling. Hill was arrested in February 2016 and charged with felony second-degree sexual abuse, which is punishable by up to 25 years in prison. In July 2013 his DNA information was entered into a database after an unrelated incident in Illinois. The database indicated a possible match with DNA evidence from a rape kit done after a Charles City woman reported being raped in her home on Aug. 15, 2008. Sexual assault trial of Charles City man underway CHARLES CITY The trial of a Charles City man accused of sexually assaulting a woman in her A swab was collected from Hill in 2015 after he received a court order to do so. Authorities determined his DNA matched the DNA from the rape kit. Hill's first trial in June 2016 ended in a mistrial due to a hung jury. Mistrial declared for Charles City man being tried for rape CHARLES CITY A mistrial due to a hung jury has been declared for a Charles City man accuse During the trial the state claimed Hill entered the woman's home, held a metal object against her neck and sexually assaulted her. When he took the stand Hill claimed he and the woman, who knew each other, had consensual sex in her home on the day she said he raped her. He denied having a weapon and threatening her with it. Mistrial declared for Charles City man being tried for rape CHARLES CITY A mistrial due to a hung jury has been declared for a Charles City man accuse Hill also testified he was wearing a condom when he and the woman had sex, but during closing arguments Floyd County Attorney Rachel Ginbey questioned how his sperm could have ended up on a vaginal swab from his accuser if he was telling the truth about the condom. Ginbey reduced the charge against Hill to third-degree sexual abuse, punishable by up to 10 years in prison, in advance of his second trial, which was scheduled to begin this week. Ginbey did not immediately return a phone call from the Globe Gazette requesting comment. Attendee List Released for #pharmasocialmedia 2017 www.social-media-pharma.com/OpenPR http://www.social-media-pharma.com/openPR http://www.smi-online.co.uk Registration for the 9th Social Media in the Pharmaceutical Industry conference closes in 2 weeks.SMis Social Media in the Pharmaceutical Industry conference opens in London on 18th & 19th January.The 2017 event has attracted a global audience of HCPs, marketers and social media experts from nations including Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, India, Italy, UK, USA and more.A list of attendees has been released which includes representatives from companies pioneering digital healthcare innovation such as AbbVie, AstraZeneca, Chiesi, CREATION, Daiichi Sankyo, Dexcel Pharma, Digital Health and Care Alliance, Doctors.net.uk, Eli Lilly, Facebook, GE Healthcare, GE Healthcare, Grunenthal, GS1, LEO Pharma, Lundbeck, Medicines for Europe, MHRA, MSD, NSF Health Sciences, Pfizer, Pulsar, Stevanato Group, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, and more. The full roster can be found onSocial Media in the Pharmaceutical Industry 2017 extends a platform to explore key topics such as leveraging social media to build stronger brands, digital content marketing; advancements in technology, mHealth apps, regulatory updates, patient engagement, and building social networks for HCPs.Event highlights include the following: Social media giant Facebook to showcase how to optimise the channel for evidence-based healthcare conversations to reach and engage the right patients and creative best practices for branded and unbranded campaigns. Social media guru Julie O' Donnell to discuss understanding the big players and emerging opportunities on social channels and how to future proof digital strategies from content to platform to distribution. A spotlight onthe EU Innovative Medicines Initiative's WEB-RADR project and current mobile apps used for data collection and pharmacovigilance, as well as policies and ethical guidance on appropriate use with MHRA. Pfizer explores opportunities and challenges for dedicated social media digital services within the sector featuring case studies on how digital services can deliver value within pharma brands. AbbVie, Leo Pharma, Pfizer to discuss the benefits of using digital cross-platform strategies as a resource for clinical trial engagement and recruitment. Case studies and a panel discussion on the success of building online communities for HCPs and employee activation from GE Healthcare, MSD, Doctors.net.uk, Lupus UK, and Health Unlocked.A detailed agenda and full speaker line-up can be viewed on the website.For more updates on the conference, follow SMi Group on @smipharm and join the conversation using #pharmasocialmedia on Twitter.Social Media in the Pharmaceutical Industry18 & 19 January 2017Holiday Inn Kensington Forum, London, UK---end ---Contact Information:For sponsorship and exhibition queries please contact Alia Malick at amalick@smi-online.co.uk. For delegate queries please contact Fateja Begum at fbegum@smi-online.co.uk. For media queries please contact Honey de Gracia at hdegracia@smi-online.co.uk.About SMi Group:Established since 1993, the SMi Group is a global event-production company that specializes in Business-to-Business Conferences, Workshops, Masterclasses and online Communities. We create and deliver events in the Defence, Security, Energy, Utilities, Finance and Pharmaceutical industries. We pride ourselves on having access to the worlds most forward thinking opinion leaders and visionaries, allowing us to bring our communities together to Learn, Engage, Share and Network. More information can be found at1 Westminster Bridge RoadSE1 7XW Organic Pet Food to Emerge As Booming Trend as Owners Become Increasingly Concerned about Pet Health http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=4365 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com The pet food market is thriving with fads and trends that are no different from the marketing campaigns for human food. The demand for pet food is growing steadily after the largest recall in 2007, resulting in a rapid inclusion of organic and natural ingredients in pet foodstuff. Pet owners have the options of choosing from free-range, human-grade, organic, pure, holistic, and natural pet foods. The need for companionship is rising rapidly in the Middle East and Latin America owing to a growing inclination towards nuclear family. This has given rise to a number of people adopting pets and thus, leading to the growth of the pet food market.According to a recent study published by Transparency Market Research (TMR), the Middle East and Latin America pet food market was valued at US$239.6 mn in 2013 and is expected to reach US$350.5 mn by 2020. The market in the Middle East is projected to expand at a CAGR of 5.6% from 2014 to 2020. The Latin America pet food market was valued at US$8,202.1 mn in 2013 and is expected to reach US$10,361.0 mn by 2020. The market is expected to expand at a CAGR of 3.4% from 2014 to 2020.View exclusive Global strategic Business report:In this blog post, TMR answers three critical questions about the Middle East and Latin America pet food market:Q. What factors are leading to a rise in the demand for pet food in the Middle East and Latin America?The heightened demand for companionship and owing pets for security reasons are primary reasons behind the growing number of people adopting pets, subsequently giving rise to the demand for pet food. The growing trend of nuclear families is another factor driving the demand for pet foods. The rising concern and care for pets and rapid urbanization have led to an increase in the demand for pet foods. The increasing demand for branded and packaged food is also causing the pet food market in the Middle East and Latin America to grow to some extent. An overall increase in the disposable income among the people has also encouraged people to adopt pets and is boosting the pet food market.Q. Which will be the pet food type that will witness the fastest growth rate?The dry pet food segment led in the Middle East and Latin America pet food market among the different food types in 2013. Owing to the ease of handling and lesser cost, the dry pet food segment led in the market in 2013. Moreover, dry food can be stored for a longer time and feeding pets is easier.However, the nutritious food segment is expected to be the fastest growing segment in the Middle East and Latin America. The growth of the nutritious food segment is due to increasing concerns among pet owners regarding pet health. The growing incidences of diseases such as canine parvovirus infection and Lyme disease will also lead to a rise in the demand for nutritious food segment.Q. What are the recent trends in the pet food industry in the Middle East and Latin America?Organic pet food is one of the emerging trends in the pet food industry. For instance, Natural Planet Pet Foods has choices for organic foods and have products containing exotic protein sources such as duck, rabbit, and kangaroo.Soups are another emerging space and accelerating the value of pet food. A case in point would be Mars Petcare. In June 2016, the company launched Sheba Classic Soups for cats. Moreover, investments for expansion of facilities, with a vision to give pets better and more nutritious food are some of the other trends that are catching up with market players. For instance, Royal Canin has announced the investment of US$100 mn for expanding their facility in South Dakota.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: Growth Rate (CAGR) Of Overall NDDS in Cancer Therapy Global Market During 2017-2020 ResearchMoz http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=228495 http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=E&repid=228495 http://www.researchmoz.us/ http://bit.ly/1TBmnVG ResearchMoz presents this most up-to-date research on "Growth Rate (CAGR) Of Overall NDDS in Cancer Therapy Global Market During 2017-2020".This study on novel drug delivery systems (NDDS) in cancer therapy comprises study of technologies such as embolization devices, liquid embolics and nanoparticles that offer unique approaches in cancer remedy. Several embolic agents are used by interventional radiologists for the selective occlusion of arteries supplying blood to tumors. The selection of an embolic agent depends on various factors including size of the vessel to be embolized, desired clinical outcome, duration of the vessel to be occluded, and also the intrinsic properties and behavior of the embolic agent. Nanoparticles as drug delivery systems have emerged as a promising technology to treat patients suffering from various types of cancer. Owing to their small size, nanoparticles exhibit unique physicochemical and biological properties, and thus help in overcoming several limitations such as poor bio-distribution, non-specific drug delivery, low therapeutic indices, and lack of water solubility which are mostly associated with conventional drug delivery.This report studies the global market for NDDS in cancer therapy encompassing three major technologies: embolization particles, liquid embolics and nanoparticles. Each of these technologies has been analyzed in detail from product analysis, market trends, recent developments, future outlook and opportunities, to the competitive landscape. The report provides market size in terms of USD million for each technology for the period 2012 to 2020, considering the macro and micro environmental factors. In addition, the compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of the overall NDDS in cancer therapy market and the segments has also been provided in the report for the forecast period 2014 to 2020, considering 2012 and 2013 as the base years. This report includes an elaborate executive summary, which covers a market snapshot representing key findings from the study.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @Geographically, the NDDS in cancer therapy market has been classified into four regions namely, North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and Rest of the World (RoW). The market size and forecast for each of these regions along with CAGR for the forecast period from 2014 to 2020 have also been provided in the report. A detailed qualitative analysis of the major factors determining market dynamics such as drivers, restraints and opportunities, along with the market attractiveness analysis are discussed in the market overview section of the NDDS in cancer therapy market report. A section describing the U.S. and EU regulatory pathways has also been included. The study on NDDS in cancer therapy suggests a list of recommendations for new companies willing to enter the market and for existing companies to accentuate shares, which is likely to help in the decision-making process. ANSOFF matrix analysis has also been provided for the key players in this market. The competitive landscape section has been provided for each technology separately and presents the market revenue share of key players in terms of percentage for the year 2013. The market share analysis of key players involved the study of company product portfolio, sales revenue, and geographical presence along with market developments such as new product launch, brand recall, regulatory approvals, etc.The global NDDS in cancer therapy market is segmented as follows:NDDS in Cancer Therapy Market, by TechnologyEmbolization ParticlesCurrent TechnologiesDrug Eluting BeadsOthers (PVA particles, microspheres, gelatin-based)Emerging TechnologiesSelective Internal Radiation Therapy (SIRT)TheraSphereNDDS in Cancer Therapy Market, by GeographyNorth AmericaEmbolization ParticlesLiquid EmbolicsNanoparticlesEuropeEmbolization ParticlesLiquid EmbolicsNanoparticlesAsia PacificMake 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 @ Pumps Market In India To Grow At A CAGR Of 9.66% during 2018-2021 ResearchMoz http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=E&repid=800311 http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=800311 http://www.researchmoz.us/ http://bit.ly/1TBmnVG Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Pumps Market In India To Grow At A CAGR Of 9.66% during 2018-2021" to its huge collection of research reports.The global pump market is projected to grow at a CAGR of 5.47% during the forecast period, and is likely to reach $55.32 billion by the end of 2020. Though the global growth of the market is expected to be robust, the factors that fuel this growth will vary from region to region. In emerging economies such as India and China, growth in the pump market will primarily be the result of rapid industrialization as investments in the water infrastructure and power generation sectors grow. In the developed countries, improving manufacturing output will enable the growth of process manufacturing industries. In the US, improving economy and the boom in hydraulic fracking (fracturing) in the countrys oil and gas sector will accelerate the demand for pumps.Technavios analysts forecast the pumps market in India to grow at a CAGR of 9.66% during the period 2016-2020.Covered in this reportThe report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the pumps market in India for 2016-2020. To calculate the market size, the report considers the demand for pumps from various end-users. The average price of pumps has been taken into consideration for estimating the market revenue.The market is divided into the following segments based on geography:Andhra PradeshDelhiGujaratKarnatakaMadhya PradeshMaharashtraMumbaiPunjabRest of IndiaTamil NaduUttar PradeshWest BengalTechnavio's report, Pumps Market in India 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.Make an Enquiry of this report @Key vendorsC.R.I. PumpsFlowserveGrundfosKirloskarKSBTexmo IndustriesOther prominent vendorsBest PumpsFalcon PumpsSam Turbo IndustrySulzerJyotiShakti PumpsWPILFalcon PumpsBest PumpsSam TurboV-GuardMarket driverDemand for energy-efficient pumps in agriculture sectorFor a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket challengePoor quantity and quality of electricity supplyFor a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket trendEmergence of intelligent pump systems and micro disc pump technologyFor 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?To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @About ResearchMozResearchMoz is the one stop online destination to find and buy market research reports & Industry Analysis. We fulfill all your research needs spanning across industry verticals with our huge collection of market research reports. We provide our services to all sizes of organizations and across all industry verticals and markets. Our Research Coordinators have in-depth knowledge of reports as well as publishers and will assist you in making an informed decision by giving you unbiased and deep insights on which reports will satisfy your needs at the best price.Mr. NachiketState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesEmail: sales@researchmoz.usWebsite @Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Follow us on LinkedIn @ Industry Trend and Forecast 2021: Global Magnetic Drive Pumps Market 2017 ResearchMoz http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=736117 http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=E&repid=736117 http://www.researchmoz.us/ http://bit.ly/1TBmnVG Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Industry Trend and Forecast 2021: Global Magnetic Drive Pumps Market 2017" to its huge collection of research reports.The Global Magnetic Drive Pumps Market 2016 Industry Trend and Forecast 2021 is a professional and in-depth study on the current state of the magnetic drive pumps industry.Firstly, the report provides a basic overview of the industry including definitions, classifications, applications and industry chain structure. The magnetic drive pumps market analysis is provided for the international market including development history, competitive landscape analysis, and major regions development status.Secondly, development policies and plans are discussed as well as manufacturing processes and cost structures. This report also states import/export, supply and consumption figures as well as cost, price, revenue and gross margin by regions (North America, Europe, China and Asia (Ex. China)), and other regions can be added.Then, the report focuses on global major leading industry players with information such as company profiles, product picture and specification, capacity, production, price, cost, revenue and contact information. Upstream raw materials, equipment and downstream consumers analysis is also carried out. Whats more, the magnetic drive pumps industry development trends and marketing channels are analyzed.Finally, the feasibility of new investment projects is assessed, and overall research conclusions are offered.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @In a word, the report provides major statistics on the state of the industry and is a valuable source of guidance and direction for companies and individuals interested in the market.Table of Contents1 Industry Overview of Magnetic Drive Pumps 11.1 Definition and Specifications of Magnetic Drive Pumps 11.1.1 Definition of Magnetic Drive Pumps 11.1.2 Specifications of Magnetic Drive Pumps 11.2 Classification of Magnetic Drive Pumps 71.3 Applications of Magnetic Drive Pumps 81.4 Industry Chain Structure of Magnetic Drive Pumps 91.5 Industry Overview and Major Regions Status of Magnetic Drive Pumps 102 Manufacturing Cost Structure Analysis of Magnetic Drive Pumps 152.1 Raw Material Suppliers and Price Analysis of Magnetic Drive Pumps 152.1.1 Polypropylene (PP) and ETFE 152.1.2 Stainless Steel and Carbon Steel 172.2 Equipment Suppliers Analysis of Magnetic Drive Pumps 262.3 Labor Cost Analysis of Magnetic Drive Pumps 27Make 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 @ Middle East and Africa Defibrillators Market is Outsourcing at a Value Price and will Reach to US$0.3 bn by 2020 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=4459 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/middle-east-africa-defibrillators-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/ A defibrillator is a device used to rectify an abnormal heartbeat by sending a high energy pulse to restore a normal heart rhythm. It is mainly utilized in the cases of ventricular fibrillation, cardiac arrhythmia, and pulseless ventricular tachycardia in humans. The increasing incidence of cardiovascular diseases in the Middle East and Africa has fueled the demand for defibrillators significantly in this region.Browse the Sample Containing the Upcoming Market Analysis of Middle East and Africa Defibrillators at:Additionally, the technical advancements in defibrillators such as the addition of inbuilt telemedicine and remote patient monitoring features in these devices are likely to boost the Middle East and Africa market for defibrillators during the forecast period, states the report.The research report evaluates the Middle East and Africa market for defibrillators on the basis of the product, end user, and the regional spread of this market. Based on the product, the market has been classified into automated external defibrillators (AED) and advanced life support (ALS) defibrillators.The ALS defibrillators segment led the overall market in 2013. The increasing application of these defibrillators for the monitoring of various kinds of bodily functions such as heart and pulse rhythm and blood oxygen levels has boosted this segment significantly over the past few years. However, the AED segment is projected to register the highest growth rate over the forecast period on account of rising incidences of cardiac arrhythmias across the world, states the report.Based on the end user, the market for defibrillators in the Middle East and Africa has been classified into hospitals, emergency medical services, public access defibrillation, and business workplaces. The hospitals segment emerged as the leading end user of defibrillators in 2013, holding a share of more than 80% in the overall market.On the regional basis, the report has segmented the market into the UAE, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Algeria, South Africa, and Qatar. In 2013, the UAE and Saudi Arabia led the defibrillators market in the Middle East while South Africa dominated the defibrillators market in Africa.The rapid infrastructural development in the medical and healthcare industry and the growing awareness regarding the utility of defibrillators in cases of cardiac arrhythmias in these economies have fueled the demand for defibrillators remarkably in the recent times.Analysts predict Qatar and Saudi Arabia to record the fastest growth in the Middle East and Africa market for defibrillators over the forecast period, notes the research study.Read the Current Market Analysis of Middle East and Africa Defibrillators at:Zoll Medical Corp., Welch Allyn, Schiller AG, Physio-Control Inc., Philips Healthcare, Nihon Kohden Corp., and HeartSine Technologies Inc. are the major producers of defibrillators in the Middle East and Africa, profiled in this market report.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.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.90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: X-ray Market Prospects are Better than Ever, Reaching US$11.79 bn by 2022 fueled by Recent Technological Advancements in Diagnostics Iandustry http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=194 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/x-ray-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/ The recent commercialization of highly sophisticated X-ray systems and techniques has helped companies enrich their product portfolio and given buyers the ability to invest in more effective products. Moreover, a rapidly aging population, which has caused an increase in the demand for healthcare products and services, will help the X-ray market expand.Obtain the Future Market Analysis of X-ray at:Among the key market restraints identified by TMR analysts are: High costs that could hinder widespread adoption and the enforcement of legal provisions that promote healthcare facilities to cut service costs. Market players can benefit from emerging opportunities in countries in Latin America, Africa, and Asia Pacific. The report also conducts a Porters five forces analysis to provide clarity on the bargaining power of suppliers and buyers as well as threats posed by substitutes and new market entrants.The global X-ray market is segmented on the basis of product type, technology, type, applications, and geography. Based on product type, the global X-ray market is segmented into portable and stationary X-rays. Stationary X-ray systems held a sizeable share (60.1%) of the global X-ray market by product type in 2013 as they have been in use since several decades in both mature and developing markets. Over the reports forecast period, it is expected that portable X-rays will show better growth, more so as portable X-rays find application in home health care.Likewise, by technology, the report divides the market into digital and analog x-ray. Of these, digital X-ray systems made up the dominant segment with a share of 69.1% in 2013, and were trailed by analog systems in the same year.By type of X-ray, the market segments studied are: photostimulable storage phosphor detectors, flat panel detectors, and others. Similarly, the X-ray market by application is composed of dental X-ray, cardiovascular X-ray, mammography (X-ray), respiratory X-ray, and other applications.In 2013, North America was the largest X-ray market in the world, with an impressive share of 34.6% in the global market. Asia Pacific and Europe trailed North America. The presence of developed economies such as Canada and the United States in North America has helped the region consolidate its leading position in the global X-ray market. The high geriatric population and rising prevalence of diseases requiring X-rays as part of the diagnostic process have created growth opportunities for market players in this region.In terms of growth rate, however, Asia Pacific will take the lead and emerge as the fastest-growing region in the global X-ray market. Much of this growth will be made possible by the enormous demand for healthcare from China and India, where people increasingly suffer from numerous diseases.Read the Current Market Trends of X-Ray at:The reports Company Profiles section assesses market players such as: Carestream Health, Inc., Shimadzu Corporation, Fujifilm Holdings Corporation, Canon, Inc., Philips Healthcare, Agfa-Gevaert N.V., Konica Minolta, Inc., GE Healthcare, and Hitachi Medical Corporation.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.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.90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: Global Solar Control Window Films Market 2016 - Eastman, 3M, Saint Gobain, Madico, Hanita, Haverkamp, Sekisui http://www.fiormarkets.com/report-detail/20013/request-sample https://goo.gl/E7Df9r www.fiormarkets.com Market Research Report on Solar Control Window Films begins with definition, application, classification, industry chain analysis, news analysis, region, revenue, forecast, demand, growth, trends and policy analysis of the market.A conventional form of solar control window film consists of a substantially transparent flexible polymer substrate, some of which having a thin layer of reflective metal deposited thereon, for example, by vapor deposition or sputter deposition. The film is customarily affixed to the interior surface of a window by a substantially transparent layer of pressure sensitive adhesive. The adhesive customarily contains ultraviolet energy absorbers to protect from ultraviolet damage the contents of the room or space in which the window is located.Download Free Sample Report @Scope of the Report:This report focuses on the Solar Control Window Films in Global market, especially in North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific, South America, Middle East and Africa. This report categorizes the market based on manufacturers, regions, type and application.Market Segment by ManufacturersEastman3MSaint GobainMadicoJohnsonHanitaHaverkampSekisuiGarware SunControlWintechEricksonKDXAccess Full Report:Market Segment by RegionsNorth America (USA, Canada and Mexico)Europe (Germany, France, UK, Russia and Italy)Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, Korea, India and Southeast Asia)South America, Middle East and AfricaMarket Segment by TypeClear (non-reflective) solar control window filmDyed (non-reflective) solar control window filmVacuum coated (reflective) solar control window filmMarket Segment by ApplicationsCommercialResidentialAutomotiveOthersThere are 13 Chapters to deeply display the global Solar Control Window Films market report.Chapter 1, to describe Solar Control Window Films Introduction, product scope, market overview, market opportunities, market risk, market driving force;Chapter 2, to analyze the top manufacturers of Solar Control Window Films, with sales, revenue, and price of Solar Control Window Films, in 2015 and 2016;Chapter 3, to display the competitive situation among the top manufacturers, with sales, revenue and market share in 2015 and 2016;Chapter 4, to show the global market by regions, with sales, revenue and market share of Solar Control Window Films, for each region, from 2011 to 2016;Chapter 5, 6, 7 and 8, to analyze the key regions, with sales, revenue and market share by key countries in these regions;Chapter 9 and 10, to show the market by type and application, with sales market share and growth rate by type, application, from 2011 to 2016;Chapter 11, Solar Control Window Films market forecast, by regions, type and application, with sales and revenue, from 2016 to 2021;Chapter 12 and 13, to describe Solar Control Window Films sales channel, distributors, traders, dealers, appendix and data source.Fior Markets is a leading market intelligence company that sells reports of top publishers in the technology industry. Our extensive reseorts cover detailed market assessments that include major technological improvements in the industry. Fior Markets also specializes in analyzing hi-tech systems and current processing systems in its expertise.Contact UsMark StoneSales ManagerPhone: (201) 465-4211Email: sales@fiormarkets.comWeb: dancingwiththestars_ap.jpeg Popular ABC shows include "Dancing with the Stars." KATU, Portland's ABC affiliate, has dropped off Frontier's cable TV network. (ABC photo) Frontier Communications says it's continuing talks to restore Portland's ABC affiliate to its cable TV lineup, three days after it dropped KATU and two related channels. Frontier'and KATU's owner, Sinclair Broadcast Group, are in a dispute over the broadcast rights. The cable provider says Sinclair wants a 200 percent increase for KATU (Channel 2) and other channels. KATU didn't return a call seeking comment, but in a statement on its website the station says it "is simply asking to be treated fairly, based on the popularity of our programming, in the amount the station is compensated." Viewers' voice KATU is off Frontier's cable network in the Northwest while the two sides fight over terms for carrying Portland's ABC affiliate. If you want to weigh in, here's who to contact: Frontier Communications : Headquarters in Connecticut -- 203-614-5600 Sinclair Broadcast Group : KATU's owner is based in Maryland - 410-568-1500 Federal Communications Commission : The FCC has intervened in such disputes in the past. . Rep. Greg Walden : Powerful congressman from Oregon is chairman of the House Subcommittee on Communications and Technology, which has oversight of the FCC and cable TV. Reach his office at (202) 225-6730 or . Frontier spokesman Javier Mendoza said in an email the company won't offer refunds to customers over the dispute and will not allow subscribers under contract to opt out of their deal. Cable regulators say Frontier's local franchises require only that it give customers notice before dropping channels. That leaves viewers like Jerry Younger in the lurch. The Gresham retiree is flummoxed by the behavior of both companies and says he cannot understand why they cannot reach agreement on a deal that would evidently benefit both. "I'm a longtime fan of Channel 2. I like all the people. After a while, they become family," Younger said. "I can understand Frontier wanting to be greedy. They all are. But why would Channel 2 want to leave their customers? Because now I'm watching Channel 8. Make a new family, I guess." Disputes between TV networks and cable and satellite companies are increasingly common, but it's very rare for a local station to drop off a cable system for this long. ABC carries a number of popular ABC shows, including "Modern Family," "Grey's Anatomy," "Scandal," "The Bachelor" and "Dancing with the Stars." Frontier also has dropped ABC affiliate KOMO from its cable system in Seattle's suburbs. Frontier and KOIN, Portland's CBS affiliate, were in a similar dispute last fall but agreed to keep the station on Frontier's system during their negotiations. The current spat between Frontier and Sinclair irritates Beaverton retiree Rick LeRoy, who enjoys watching reruns of "MASH" and "Gunsmoke," which KATU broadcasts on a digital affiliate. Though he's being deprived of shows he likes now, LeRoy said that he expects to be saddled with a higher bill if the two sides strike a deal. "The rates are already high enough," he said. "Everybody pays a fortune for cable. When things like this go on it's an excuse for everybody to raise rates." Frontier advertisers its cable TV service for about $76 a month following a $4 increase in November. Frontier offers its FiOS TV service in east Multnomah County and much of Washington County. Local cable regulators say it has 20,000 cable TV subscribers in Oregon. That compares with the 600,000 Comcast says it has in Oregon and Southwest Washington. Although Frontier is a large phone and internet company, it operates primarily in rural areas and only provides cable TV service in a handful of markets. It began operating in the Portland area seven years ago, when it purchased Verizon's local operations. Frontier's relatively small size may put it at a disadvantage when negotiating with Sinclair, which is the country's largest operator of local TV stations. Sinclair describes itself as "the nation's largest producer of local news." "It seems that Frontier's bargaining position isn't very strong in that they don't bring a lot of customers to the Sinclair family," said Fred Christ, regulatory affairs manager for the Metropolitan Area Communications Commission in Washington County. KATU broadcasts over the air, so viewers with an antenna can pick up its programming for free. But reception quality is often poor in the suburban communities where Frontier operates. In another era, Christ said, it would have been hard to imagine a cable company getting by without carrying all the broadcast networks' local affiliates. But as viewers' tastes migrate toward premium cable and streaming services, Christ said, that may be changing. "Hopefully they'll get it fixed," he said. "But maybe this is an indication of things to come." -- Mike Rogoway; twitter: @rogoway; 503-294-7699 Aerial photos over the Columbia River Looking west at Longview, Washington where the Cowlitz River meets the Columbia. Bruce Ely / Oregonian file photo The state of Washington may have killed a controversial plan to build a coal export terminal on the Columbia River west of Longview. Outgoing Public Lands Commissioner Peter Goldmark said Tuesday he will reject a request by Millennium Bulk Terminals to sublease state-owned land that once housed an aluminum smelter. The company was looking to build a terminal with the capacity to export 44 million tons of coal annually to buyers in Asia. That would have involved bringing some 16 coal trains a day down the Columbia River Gorge from Wyoming and Montana. Tribes, community members along the route, and conservationists weighed in by the thousands against the project, which was first proposed in 2010. But it also attracted some support from organized labor. In a statement, Goldmark said the decision was informed by years of study and represented "the best way to protect and conserve our state's waterways." The statement cited a "chronic pattern of failure" by Millennium to provide accurate information, including details about the agreement between Millennium and the primary leaseholder of the state aquatic property, Northwest Alloys, as well as information about the financial viability of Millennium and the international coal export business. "To date, none of this information has been provided," the statement said. The decision continues a winning streak for opponents of fossil fuel export terminals in the Northwest. Federal, state and local authorities have rejected more than a dozen proposals in Oregon and Washington to export coal, oil, natural gas and propane. There are still three proposals pending on the Columbia, including an oil export terminal in Vancouver and two methanol export terminals at the Port of Kalama and Port Westward near Clatskanie. "This is a huge victory for tribes and communities that have fighting this proposal for years," said Lauren Goldberg, an attorney for the conservation group Columbia Riverkeeper. "It's an exciting way to start the new year." Millennium Bulk Terminals could not be reached for comment. There is no administrative process to appeal the decision, Goldberg said, though the company could sue the state. - Ted Sickinger 503-221-8505; @tedsickinger CEDAR RAPIDS | A Charles City man who dodged a life sentence on firearms charges in the slaying of a retired grocer has been sentenced to 20 years in prison. Authorities said they suspect Randy Lee Patrie, 44, killed Carl "Ken" Gallmeyer with a sawed-off shotgun after breaking into his home in search of a safe in 2012. No one has been charged in Gallmeyer's death, but Patrie was convicted of federal gun charges, and prosecutors had earlier used Patrie's prior burglary convictions and Armed Career Criminal laws to enhance his punishment and land a life sentence. Life sentence overturned for Charles City man suspected of murder NASHUA A Charles City man suspected of killing a retired Clarksville grocer has had his li But Patrie won an appeal last summer after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Iowa's burglary laws were too vague to meet the definition of a violent crime to be used with Armed Career Criminal statues. The decision overturned his life sentence and sent the matter back to district court for resentencing. On Wednesday, Judge Linda Reade sentenced Patrie to the two consecutive 10 year prison terms for a total of 20 years behind bars. Jeff Reinitz The chairman of Portland Community College's board resigned from his elected position to protest what he called a political decision to classify the school a "sanctuary" for undocumented students. Gene Pitts, who represented eastern Washington County and Southwest Portland on the board, submitted his resignation letter before Christmas, school officials confirmed Wednesday. PCC, the state's largest post-secondary institution, had voted to adopt the sanctuary campus label at the urging of its student body, and with the support of first-year president Mark Mitsui. The board held a special meeting Dec. 20 at its Sylvania campus to consider the largely symbolic gesture. PCC was just one of several Oregon colleges and universities - including Portland State, Oregon State, the University of Oregon, Linfield College, Lewis & Clark College and others - to publicly declare the schools would not help enforce federal immigration laws. Pitts did not attend the meeting, according to vice-chair Kali Thorne-Ladd, and he had apparently already made up his mind on the issue. "I have spoken to each of you, so it should not be a surprise that I was not aligned with the College's decision to deem itself a 'sanctuary college,'" Pitts wrote in his resignation letter sent on the same day as the special meeting. Gene Pitts was PCC's board chair. "As I've shared with you, I felt that the decision to use the term 'sanctuary college' politicizes the college, places risk on the backs of the 40+ percent of the college's students that receive Pell grant monies (and ultimately on the college's Federal funding), and alienates a percentage of voters as we approach the college's next bond campaign." Willamette Week first reported Pitts' resignation. Pitts did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The longtime Intel manager now works for Blount International Inc. as a manager of electrical engineering. Thorne-Ladd is expected to step in as the board's chair. "I have a lot of respect for Gene," she said in an interview. "He's had great service and dedication to the college, and I respect him for that. While we saw differently on this issue, I think his dedication to the college has been consistent." Kate Chester, a PCC spokeswoman, said school did not release information about his resignation over the holidays because board members needed to discuss it. "They weren't all in town," she said. "Timing was challenging, as you can imagine." The board will vote to appoint Pitts' replacement when it meets Jan. 19, but that person could be stepping in for just a few months. Pitts, who was elected to four-year terms in 2009 and 2013, would've been up for re-election in May. -- Andrew Theen atheen@oregonian.com 503-294-4026 @andrewtheen purplesock.jpg I don't know about you fine folks, but I'm starting 2017 off right - by knitting myself a pair of purple socks. All hail January, aka Selfish Knitting Month! (Mary Mooney/Staff) The Naked Sheep Knit Shop is celebrating January, aka Selfish Knitting Month. "No specific knit-a-long project, but we'll gather on Saturdays throughout January, from 1-4 p.m., to knit and/or crochet whatever our hearts desire," writes Cheri. "Bring a snack to share!" The Naked Sheep Knit Shop is at 2142 N. Killingsworth in Portland. Northwest Wools has a special trunk show from 2-7 p.m. Friday, Jan. 6. "Come meet Francisco Bautista and his son David - fourth and fifth generation weavers," the store writes. "They will give weaving demonstrations and show their work, some of which is for sale. Meet wife Laura, who also weaves, and daughter Cynthia, who draws original artwork that Francisco weaves into unique pieces. They will be showing both their heritage weaving from Oaxaca, Mexico, as well as their own striking original styles." Northwest Wools is at 3524 S.W. Troy St. in Portland. Dublin Bay Knitting Co. is hosting a Susan B. Anderson trunk show. "Her cute critters are on display & ready to cuddle for the next two weeks," the store writes. Dublin Bay Knitting Co. is at 1227 N.W. 11th Ave. in Portland. Knotty Lamb has a slew of sale items with which to tempt you. "Lots of yarn, roving and our Addi Olive wood needles at our sale table are all 20 percent off!" the store writes. "Come grab some before the sale is done. The sale is available online too!" Knotty Lamb is at 2003 19th Ave. in Forest Grove. Brooklyn Tweed is hiring! "We are seeking a qualified Wholesale Specialist in Portland, Oregon, for a full-time position beginning in February 2017," the yarn company writes. Get the details here. Happy New Year, and Happy Selfish Knitting Month, yarnies! What's on your needles/hook this month? -- Mary Mooney mmooney@oregonian.com 503-412-7020; @MaryKnitsPDX MASON CITY | Iowa Senate Minority Leader Rob Hogg said during a visit to North Iowa Tuesday that "a lot of soul-searching" is going on in the Democratic Party following the 2016 elections. "There's a lot of healing that needs to be done," said Hogg, D-Cedar Rapids, who joined Iowa House Minority Leader Mark Smith, D-Marshalltown, and state legislators representing North Iowa for a public forum at the Mason City Public Library. Robb said this was the first of six such forums he and Smith are holding across the state before the Legislative session begins in Des Moines later this month. For the first time in many years, Iowa will have Republican majorities in both the Iowa House and Senate as well as a GOP governor, Hogg noted. The GOP also controls the U.S. House and Senate, in addition to the White House. Hogg said it is important to remember that "this country is bigger than one person. It's bigger even than the President of the United States." He said Iowa needs to avoid the "dangerous ideological experiments" going on in other states with GOP-controlled governments, such as Wisconsin and Kansas and focus on real issues. Smith said one sign of hope is Democrats in Iowa did a better job of retaining legislative seats than in some other states. Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds will soon succeed Gov. Terry Branstad, who has been appointed as U.S. Ambassador to China. She will complete the last two years of Branstad's term. Hogg said this means privatization of the state's Medicaid system looks like it is here to stay at least for the next few years. Senate Democrats need to push for better oversight of Medicaid, according to Hogg. When it comes to education funding, Hogg isn't optimistic about what the Republicans will propose. He said the past six years have been the worst in the state's history as far as state funding for schools, and this year could be even worse. Smith said when a school closes, "that community dries up and blows away." He also said he doesn't anticipate any action in the Legislature on stronger regulation of confined animal feeding operations. However, Smith said there could be an opportunity to work on water quality issues overall. State Rep. Sharon Steckman, D-Mason City, said she was pleased with the turnout at Tuesday's forum. She said she was expecting just a few people to show up, but more chairs had to be brought into the room and a few people still had to stand. Steckman said the environment, health care and education were among the topics those who attended the forum were most concerned about. So was "rebuilding the party," said State Sen. Amanda Ragan, D-Mason City. State Rep. Todd Prichard, D-Charles City, said those who attended the forum were disappointed in the way Democrats performed in the 2016 elections and "they want a way forward." He said Democrats have to stay positive, avoid inter-party bickering and focus on working people and the economy. "We can ask for good jobs to come to North Iowa," Prichard said. MASON CITY | A Mason City man police say was found damaging a furnace in someone else's basement early Wednesday has been charged with felony second-degree theft. Joel Donaldson, 43, is also charged with misdemeanor possession of a burglar tool, according to the Mason City Police Department. The department received a call from a resident in the 1100 block of Ninth Street Southwest shortly after 5 a.m. The resident reported hearing what he believed to be grunting and knocking sounds coming from the basement, according to the police. When officers arrived, they reportedly found Donaldson damaging the furnace, duct work and exhaust vents. There was no estimate on damages. Police say Donaldson, who did not know the residents of the home, told officers he was looking for a friend who was inside the furnace. He was arrested and taken to the Cerro Gordo County Jail, where he was being held Wednesday on $10,000 cash/surety bond. -- Mary Pieper MASON CITY | The North Iowa Diversity Appreciation Team (NIDAT) is sponsoring its 12th annual art/writing contest for North Iowa students. The contest is open to children from kindergarten through 12th grade, including public, private and home-schooled students. For the contest, the North Iowa area spans west to Britt, east to Charles City, south to Hampton and as far north as Northwood/Kensett and Lake Mills. The art/writing entry should express what diversity means to the student. There will be first- and second-place prizes in art and in writing for each level K-5, 6-8 and 9-12. First-place winners will receive $50 and a poster made from the entry. Second-place winners will receive $25 and a poster made from the entry. All winners will receive a copy of a book with all contest entries included. An award program is scheduled for 5 p.m. March 9 at The Music Man Square. Entries may be mailed to Mason City Schools HR Director Jodie Anderson, 1515 S. Pennsylvania Ave., Mason City, Iowa 50401. Entries must be received by Feb. 10. Call Jane Ginapp at 641-425-3307 for more information. MASON CITY | A Lake Mills man charged with murdering two people in Mason City in November will undergo a psychiatric evaluation to determine if he is mentally fit to stand trial. Peter Veal, 30, was scheduled to go to trial Jan. 24 on two counts of first-degree murder and one count of the attempted murder of a witness at the scene at a residence in the 1600 block of North Hampshire Avenue. Quiet Mason City neighborhood rattled by double homicide MASON CITY Residents in the Highlands area of Mason City were stunned by a double homicide However, court proceedings against him have been postponed until after an evaluation is conducted to determine if he has the mental capability to understand court proceedings and participate in his own defense. Court officials say it could be two months or more before the results of the evaluation are available. Veal's mother, Leann Veal, testified during a hearing Wednesday that her son who had been living with her for about a year when he was arrested in connection with the Nov. 17 deaths of Mason City residents Mindy Kavars and Caleb Christensen showed many signs of paranoia and had hallucinations. Police: Witness in Mason City double homicide called 911 MASON CITY A man considered a witness to a double homicide in Mason City earlier this mont "He was always thinking someone was after him," she said. Leann Veal said her son accused her of trying to poison him when she put salt and pepper on his food. When Steven Kloberdanz, one of her son's attorneys, asked her if he would take things apart because he thought someone was spying on him, she said he would take apart remote controls and telephones. She also said she would hear him act like he was carrying on a conversation with someone who wasn't there. Leann Veal said her son once called his sister and asked her to come by right away because "there was a blue angel with wings outside the door." She said Peter Veal was committed three years ago and taken to Mercy Medical Center-North Iowa, where he stayed for three days and was then released. He has not received any mental health treatment since, his mother testified. She also said he is not on any mental health medication. She said when her son called her from the jail shortly after his arrest, she told him, "I'm your mother and I love you." She said he replied, "I'm not crazy," and hung up. Leann Veal said her son called her again more recently to wish her a Merry Christmas. Andrew Steenblock, Cerro Gordo County Jail administrator, testified no one on staff reported any unusual behavior from Peter Veal or any disciplinary problems with him. He also said beyond the initial assessment every inmate receives upon entering the jail and a follow-up visit for a hand injury, neither Veal nor a staff member requested he receive any additional treatment. Steenblock said Veal was on suicide watch for a time after being booked into the jail, but that was a precautionary measure taken due to the nature of the charges against him. District Court Judge Rustin Davenport ruled probable cause exists for a psychiatric evaluation for Veal. He is to remain in the Cerro Gordo County Jail until bed space is available at the Iowa prison system's Oakdale Medical and Classification Center. The states Department of Natural Resources plans to jettison public lands it says are difficult to manage, provide limited public recreation benefit and are isolated from other DNR-managed public land. Fifty-six parcels across 15 counties, including Midland, Gladwin, Clare and Arenac, are included in the DNRs surplus land auction. They range in size from less than an acre to 77 acres. Photos of items abandoned in the desert along the U.S.-Mexico border - a stuffed toy lion, a laminated prayer card, ragged underwear, a small tin of Vicks VapoRub - are poignant in themselves. Knowing that the owners died attempting to enter the U.S. illegally gives their possessions a profound quality. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 3 1 of 3 Show More Show Less 2 of 3 Show More Show Less 3 of 3 Two people are in jail following an investigation into methamphetamine production in Gladwin County. The Gladwin County Sheriffs Office reports that its deputies and an agent from the Michigan Department of Corrections were conducting a probation check at a Hay Township residence on Sept. 19 when they located several components and items which are commonly used in the production and use of methamphetamine. A new state mandate to teach CPR in schools has the potential to save lives across Michigan and beyond. Under the law, which was recently signed by Lt. Gov. Brian Calley, students between grades seven and 12 will be required to learn the lifesaving methods as part of the health curriculum starting with the 2017-18 school year. Without a doubt, there is a need for CPR training. The American Heart Association says nearly 357,000 people suffer cardiac arrest outside of a hospital every year and only 8 percent survive. CPR can nearly triple survival rates for cardiac arrest by providing assistance until EMTs arrive, according to the association. Public Act 388 of 2016 states that instruction would have to either be developed by the American Red Cross or American Heart Association or be based on nationally recognized, evidence-based guidelines for CPR. Students would need to be present for instruction, but are not required to obtain a certificate and may learn a simpler hands-only technique of CPR. The bill passed in the state House by a 98-8 vote. The state Senate voted unanimously in support. While unfunded state mandates can take control out of local hands both things we dont tend to favor this lesson in CPR has real life-saving potential. One local school district, Coleman, has provided CPR training for freshman students since 2013. The majority of students are happy to learn CPR, Coleman physical education and health teacher James Cronk told the Daily News in May. The program initially was funded through a Midland County Youth Action Council grant and some funding has come from a small fee students pay to get a CPR certification card. There are ongoing costs for materials and mannequins that will need to be funded. With at least 30 other states having similar requirements for students, schools will find ways to meet the new laws requirements. Were confident local communities will see the benefits of it for decades to come. BLOOMINGTON The Macy's store at Eastland Mall in Bloomington is among 68 stores the national retail chain plans to close this year. The closure of the 154,000-square-foot store, open since 2006, will affect 55 employees. It is one of five anchors at the east-side shopping center. The 68 closures, announced by the retailer Wednesday, are among about 100 closings first announced in August as the company continues to grapple with competition from online shopping and discount chains. They will eliminate more than 10,000 jobs. Of the 68 stores, 63 will be closed in early spring and two more will close midyear. Three other locations were sold or are to be sold and leased back. CBL & Associates Properties, the company that owns Eastland Mall except for Macy's, said it expects the store to close March 31. It intends to purchase the location and two others in Kentucky and Texas that also will be closed from Macy's for $5 million. The Macy's store location was added to Eastland in the 1990s by St. Louis-based Famous-Barr and later was purchased by Macy's. CBL said the purchases will allow it to "take space that is underperforming and convert it into new retail, dining and entertainment" options. It has already had some discussions with prospective tenants. The closure "is unfortunate news for the employees who work at Macys and its many local loyal customers," said Austin Grammer, the city of Bloomington's economic development coordinator. Grammer said the city will be working with CBL to assist with the redevelopment of the space. "The closure of Macys presents many new opportunities for CBL to attract multiple new, top-tier national retailers to Eastland Mall that are not currently in Bloomington, retailers that have long wanted to be in Bloomington and retailers which have been requested by area residents for many years," Grammer added. In light of recent redevelopment of the former Kmart and Colonial Plaza, which includes Dicks Sporting Goods and PetSmart, across Empire Street, Grammer said he is "highly optimistic" about CBL's ability to redevelop the Macys space. Nationwide, the Macy's closures are estimated to generate annual savings of about $550 million, beginning in 2017, enabling the company to invest an additional $250 million in growing the digital business and store-related growth strategies. Macy's also plans to reorganize its structure to support its remaining stores by "reinforcing the strategy of fewer stores with better customer service," the company said in a news release. The retailer said sales at established stores fell 2.1 percent in November and December compared to the same period last year. NORMAL Orvid V. Lancaster, 93, of Normal, passed away Dec. 25, 2016, at Heritage Health in Normal. Orvid (O.V.) was born on Jan. 29, 1923, in Stanford, the son of Clarence and Mary Mammen Lancaster. He married Doris Mason on July 8, 1945, in Armington after his return from Europe as a captain in the Army Air Corps. She preceded him in death on Aug. 24, 2016. Survivors include their children: Steven (Jane) Lancaster of Normal; and Susan (Bob) Downen of Gridley; grandchildren, John Lancaster; Sara (Jeremy) Lorance; Jonathan (Jill) Frost; Kenneth (Kristen) Whitesell; Shari (Greg) King and Laura Price; seven great-grandchildren; seven great-great-grandchildren; and a brother, Stanley (Marcia) Lancaster of Minier. He was preceded in death by his parents; five brothers, Kenneth, Milberne, Dwayne, Clarence Jr. and Leonard; and one sister, Lavonne. O.V. served from 1941 to 1945 as a decorated pilot in the 385th Heavy Bombardment Group and 3rd Scouting Force, stationed in England. In 1949, he joined the Masonic Lodge and subsequently the Scottish Rite, York Rite, and Order of the Eastern Star, serving as master, sovereign prince, petition captain, and degree master in these organizations. O.V. received the Masonic 33rd Degree in 1971 at Philadelphia. O.V. and Doris were members of the American Passion Play door staff for many years. In 1964, he joined the Shrine, serving as president of the McLean County Shrine Club in 1994 and as a founding member and captain of the Tin Lizzie Patrol Unit. He was a 70-year member of the American Legion. O.V. retired from the Illinois State University Physical Plant in 1983 as supervisor of building trades. He also owned and operated Hilltop Electric for 40 years. O.V. attained life member status in the Masonic Lodge, Scottish Rite, American Legion, 385th Bomb Group Memorial Association, and 8th Air Force Historical Society. A celebration of life for O.V. and Doris will be held at a later date. Extended family and friends will be invited. A private family memorial service will be held at East Lawn Funeral Home. Memorial contributions may be made to the First Christian Church, 401 W. Jefferson St., Bloomington, IL, 61701 or Shriner's Hospital for Children, 4201 Industry Drive, Bartonville IL, 61607. Online condolences may be shared with the family at eastlawn-bloomington.com. Nowadays, gays have sex in their apartmentssometimes even in bedsbut back in the old days, lots of gays went to all kinds of raunchy locales to carry on, from clubs to parks to trucks to bath houses. Let me bring it all back to you in a pre-Grindr whiff of Poppers and protein. THE TRUCKS Yes, trucks. In the West Village in the '60s and '70s, gays congregated in various large vehicles that had been unloaded, as it were, and were left open in the back, poetically enough. In the 1950s, it was all about "necking" in the back seat but in the '70s, the spotlight was on fisting in the back of a large vehicle. What a ride! THE GLORY HOLE (11th Avenue between 21st and 22nd Street) Talk about truth in advertising. This nightspot was exactly what it sounded like. Gays went into a booth, stuck their business in a slot as if mailing a COD package, and then waited for someone to nibble on it. Or, they simply sat there and waited for someone else to stick their business in the slot. It was sort of like a dirty version of the Horn and Hardart automat. The former Everard Baths, now a wholesaler. Via Google Streetview THE BATHS The Club and the Everard were hopping with gays in towels, but maybe the most famous of all was the Continental Baths (2109 Broadway), where the gays went to see Bette Midler performthough more often, they were performing their own acts (sex acts, that is) in the rooms they rented. In this legendary shtupp palace in the basement of the Ansonia Hotel, males would check their clothes, don a towel, and lay down on a bed in a way that would suggest what their preference was. Or they'd just go to the communal room and prepare to be mass-groped. THE INTERNATIONAL STUD (117 Perry Street) I've mentioned places like this, as well as the Anvil and the Mine Shaft, where sex was king in the uninhibited, post-Stonewall 1970s. At the Stud, the back room was a gigantic cluster fuck, with everyone grabbing, sucking, and sucking some more. It was the wurst of times. J'S (675 Hudson Street) As huzbears.com remembers, this cavernous club started in 1977 and had a lively backroom as an X-rated attraction. In 1987, the place became J's Hangout, and later on, it evolved into a jackoff haven with events hosted by the New York Jacks. J's Hangout was closed by the health department in 2002. THE MEAT RACK This sandy area between two Fire Island communitiesthe Pines and the Grovetraditionally was more than just a convenient walking route between the two places. It was a wanton sex site, where gays stood around getting naked and sandyand blown (by the sand and by other guys). The Meat Rack even provided the setting for parts of the legendary gay porn film Boys in the Sand. But those days are as gone as some of the sand dunes. Today, you might occasionally see some light frottage, but basically the Meat Rack has resorted to just being a walking route again. The Ramble today Via Google Streetview THE CENTRAL PARK RAMBLE A lushly wooded area between 73 rd and 78th Streets, the Ramble was sort of Manhattan's answer to the Fire Island Meat Rack--a rustic retreat which became a real-life porn movie as guys grabbed each other and went for it. But eventually, that all died down and the Ramble reverted to being a lovely spot for tourists to birdwatch in. But then, amazingly enough, the birds turned to cocks again. I hear there's steamy action going on there once more. I'm guessing there are a lot of guys with boyfriends who simply can't fuck strangers at home. THE STUDIO 54 BALCONY (254 W. 54 th Street) The ultimate 1970s disco, 54 had three spectacular environs, as insiders intimately learned. The basement was where celebs and other VIPs went to do enough coke to earn them a brochure from Betty Ford. The street level was the dance floor, where sets moved, people bumped, and eternity never came. And the balcony was where revelers would sit down and feel loved. Can any Wal-Mart really top all that? THE CHRISTOPHER STREET BOOKSTORE (Christopher and Hudson) Barnes & Noble this wasn't. Though it was fraudulently billed as "the largest bookstore in America," the 24-hour establishment sold videos, toys, magazines, and lube, but we're still not even warm when it comes to what their main attraction was. It was sex! There were a few booths upstairs and a whole bunch more downstairs. Gays went into these booths to carry on with strangers, and when they left, all moist and sticky, they weren't the least bit more literary than when they came in. No, really. THE PIERS LGBTs still get together and hang on the West Village pier, but they used to do way more than that. Back when the pier was a big, old rotting piece of wood, gays would hang out there looking for hot hookups, and totally getting them. The river -- like the woods -- seems to turn gays on, in addition to the fact that these relatively remote urban areas always provided a sort of taboo but convenient space for doing it. In today's New York, they're just a memorybut that's OK because trust mama, sex will never go away. Splash photo screenshot from Youtube. Azealia Banks' official Facebook page--her headquarters since getting banned from Twitter this summer--has mysteriously vanished. The only ones remaining include verified "Azealia Banks Germany" page, and an unofficial profile--both mostly inactive and fan-run. Banks made headlines again in the past few days after posting videos to her Instagram page of her sand-blasting a blood-stained, feather-riddled room in her New York apartment, where she claimed to sacrifice chickens for Brujeria practices. Azealia Banks via instagram, cleaning the closet she's been performing brujeria for 3 years in. pic.twitter.com/0OsoSdJynw AZEALIA BANKS VIDEOS (@AzealiaVideos) December 30, 2016 The development, once again, divided the internet, with many--including Sia and the Church of Satan--condemning violence against animals, while others supported Banks right to religious freedom. It remains unclear if/why Azealia was banned from Facebook, or if it was voluntary; just Sunday, Banks took to her page to denounce the bots trolling her timeline with racist comments. "I was more of a cigarette-coffee breakfast," Michael Zee, the London-based mastermind behind the SymmetryBreakfast Instagram account, explains of his eating habits before meeting his fiance, Mark. But "then the first time I ever met him, which was in a nightclub in East London, we went home and made breakfast the next day. I made him these Dutch pancakes because I'd just gone to Amsterdam the week before and bought all the syrups and pouches and sprinkles and so when I met Mark, I said, 'This guy's Dutch. I'll make him a Dutch breakfast.'" At the time, Zee was working at the Victoria and Albert museum while Mark was working as a designer at Burberry. Their relationship progressed but during the frenetic fashion week seasons when Mark was pulling long hours in the studio, the two would rarely get to spend time together except for a few moments in the early morning. Gradually their mornings began to include elaborate breakfasts Zee would whip up because, as he says, "I just had this urge to make those mornings a bit more special." Zee, whose grandfather had immigrated to the UK from Shanghai and had opened a few Chinese restaurants in Liverpool, grew up in his family's kitchens and was comfortable experimenting with recipes and ingredients. After a few of his breakfasts turned out so well, so symmetrical and so photogenic that he couldn't resist taking a pic, he started getting feedback from friends to set up a separate account dedicated to his elaborate meals. And so @SymmetryBreakfast was launched, featuring mouth-watering photos of Persian herb omelettes, kimchi corn fritters or Nepalese momo dumplings. Zee says these elaborate creations don't usually have much advance planning -- he often decides what to cook the morning of, after a quick early hours trip to his nearby market. This was back in 2013 and now, nearly four years later, the account has ballooned into 655k follower, over a thousand entries, and a new cookbook, Symmetry Breakfast: 100 Recipes for the Loving Cook, out now. The cookbook cover Inside the book are one hundred recipes that span numerous countries and continents, all grouped together and organized by time zone. It's this last feature that Zee is eager to share more about. "The chapters are in time zones because the idea is that somewhere in the world right now, it's breakfast," he says. "I thought every other system of organizing it felt really kind of sad. [Going by] continent felt really colonial and by ingredient, there was always something left out...So the time zone idea was the best way to not be judgmental of the food or the people or the culture or the history of those places." He goes on to add, "The first chapter is the United Kingdom, Portugal, Morocco and Nigeria. I wanted to have that ability to have a cross-selection going from the North to the South Pole that would make people work out common things or maybe go, 'Wow, they're so different.'" Previous Next Onsen Tamago / Hot Spring Eggs Michael Zee / SymmetryBreakfast Previous Next Dutch Puff Michael Zee / SymmetryBreakfast Previous Next Magic grits Michael Zee / SymmetryBreakfast Recipe: Ingredients 12 cup milk 1 34 cups water 1 tsp salt 12 tsp black pepper 12 cup grits (Palmetto Farms is my favorite) 12 cup grated sharp or mature Cheddar 2 tbsp butter Add the milk, water, salt, and pepper to a heavy saucepan and bring to a boil. Turn the heat down to low and add the grits, stirring continuously for 5 minutes. The aim here is low and slow. If the grits start to bubble, then your heat is too high. Cover with a lid and continue to cook on low for 20 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes. Taste to check if they are tender and cooked. Take off the heat and add the cheese and butter, stirring until melted. Serve the grits as they are with an extra knob of butter, or with crispy bacon and fresh grilled jumbo shrimp, egg, or perhaps with chorizo or spicy merguez sausage. The beauty of grits is that they're a vehicle. Go to town with the flavors: perhaps make them with half milk and half stock, or add some chili paste and a teaspoon of honey. Previous Next Indian Slapjacks Michael Zee / SymmetryBreakfast Previous Next Granita and brioche Michael Zee / SymmetryBreakfast Previous Next Knekkebrd Norwegian Crispbread Michael Zee / SymmetryBreakfast Previous Next Idli -- South Indian fermented rice pancakes with masala chai spiced tea Michael Zee / SymmetryBreakfast Recipe: Ingredients, Makes about 20 idli 3 cups rice (longgrain is fine) 1 tsp fenugreek seeds 12 cup water 1 cup black gram lentils (urad dal) 3 tsp salt Oil for greasing the pans Start in the morning of the day before you'd like to eat as I said, some forward planning is required. In a bowl, mix the rice with the fenugreek seeds and cover with the water. In another bowl, put the urad dal and cover with water. Leave both bowls for a minimum of 5 hours. The evening of the day before eating, drain the water from the rice but don't discard it. Put the wet rice in a blender and add 12 cup of the water. Blend until you have a smooth batter, adding extra water, a little at a time, until it flows easily. Decant this into a large bowl and repeat with the dal (start with 14 cup of water this second time, as you should have some residual liquid in the blender). Add the liquid dal to the rice with the salt and mix together using your hands. The bacteria on your skin will help kickstart the fermentation. Leave this covered overnight to ferment in a warm oven; I leave the oven light on. Depending on the time of year, this process will give different results, but you should have a huge, bubbling white mass. The day of eating, give the batter a good stir. The consistency should be that of thick cream. Prepare your idli pan by lightly oiling each of the sections with either a brush or a paper towel. Fill the bottom of the pan with water, making sure it doesn't touch the idli holder. Ladle in enough batter to reach just beneath the edge; you'll get some rise but not lots. Steam the idli for 20 minutes with the lid firmly clamped on. Remove the idli with a wet spoon, running it round the edge of each pancake. Repeat with the remaining batter. Serve with sambar and coconut chutney. Leftovers can be transformed into idli fry, a delicious snack of deep fried idli served with a dip, chutney, or sauce of your choosing and a cup of tea. Previous Next Sfinz, Libyan Doughnuts Michael Zee / SymmetryBreakfast Previous Next Matcha Hong Kong Egg Waffles Michael Zee / SymmetryBreakfast Previous Next Pastel de nata -- egg custard tarts Michael Zee / SymmetryBreakfast Recipe: Ingredients, Makes 12 tarts 1 pack readyrolled puff pastry (13.8 oz is standard in most supermarkets) 1 whole egg 2 egg yolks 23 cup superfine sugar 2 tbsp cornflour 1 23 cups whole milk Zest of 12 lemon Take the pastry out of the fridge and packaging at least 30 minutes before unrolling. In a cold pan, place the egg and egg yolks, sugar, and cornflour, and mix until combined. Pour in the milk and gently whisk until you have a smooth liquid. Place the pan on a mediumlow heat whilst continuing to whisk. The secret to smooth custard is to take your time; if the heat is too high you risk making scrambled eggs. Once it starts to thicken you can turn the heat up very slightly and continue to stir for another 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and add the lemon zest. The custard should have a thick yet pourable consistency. Pour the custard into a glass bowl and cover with cling film to prevent a skin from forming. Preheat your oven to 425F. Unroll the pastry and remove the plastic. Cut it in half lengthways and place the sheets on top of each other. With the long side facing you, roll the pastry tightly into a long sausage and cut it into 12 discs. Place each disc in a lightly greased muffin tin. Dip your thumbs into some water and press into the middle of each round. You want to flatten the bottom and push the pastry up the edges. It is OK if the edges come up a little above the tin. Divide the cooled custard between the 12 pastry cases and bake for 2025 minutes. You want the tops of the tarts to be burnished with black spots and the insides still to be soft, with a little wobble. Leave the nata to cool and enjoy them like the Portuguese do, with a small coffee um pingo (espresso with a touch of milk) and eat with a teaspoon. That way it seems to last longer. Previous Next Roht, Afghani Bread Michael Zee / SymmetryBreakfast Previous Next Kaiserschmarrn with red currants Michael Zee / SymmetryBreakfast Previous Next Cassava Porridge Michael Zee / SymmetryBreakfast Previous Next A Japanese Breakfast GohanShoku / Salmon With Green Beans And Tofu Michael Zee / SymmetryBreakfast Previous Next Tapioca Pancakes Michael Zee / SymmetryBreakfast Previous Next Churros y jamon con cajeta churros with ham and caramel dipping sauce Michael Zee / SymmetryBreakfast Recipe: Ingredients for the Churros Makes 8 churros 1 cup water Oil for deep frying 3 tbsp light brown sugar 1 stick butter 1 cup plain flour 12 tsp salt 2 eggs 1 tsp vanilla extract 13 cup minced Serrano ham 1 cup superfine sugar 2 tsp cinnamon 8 squares of baking parchment, 4 x 4 in Ingredients for the Cajeta Makes 3 jam jars of sauce 2 quarts goats milk 2 cups grated panela, or light muscovado sugar 1 tsp vanilla 12 tsp baking soda To make the cajeta, place the milk, sugar, and vanilla in a large, heavybottomed pan (large is important and you'll see why later). A copper pan is traditional in Mexico, but any heavy based enamel or steel pan will work fine. I'd advise against using cast iron because of the risk of damaging the pan. Over a low heat, slowly melt the sugar into the milk and add the vanilla extract. Bring to a gentle simmer, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, so you don't burn your hand. Dissolve the baking soda in a tablespoon of water and quickly add this to the milk, still stirring. Within seconds the liquid will double in volume, so quickly turn the heat down if you need to. Now, for the next 45 hours, with the heat on low, it is a matter of stirring occasionally and making sure it doesn't burn. Perhaps use this time to finish those odd jobs around the house you've been putting off. Sterilize three jam jars. The easiest method is to wash them in hot soapy water, rinse but not dry them, and then bake them in the oven at 350F for 15 minutes. The cajeta should now be glossy and caramel colored. It will thicken as it cools. Carefully pour into the sterilized jars, screw on the lids, then immediately turn the jars upside down and leave to cool completely. This will create a vacuum seal and it simply means that you'll be able to keep the cajeta for longer. You can store it in a cupboard until opened, then keep it in the fridge and use within 6 months (if you can manage it; it's more likely that you'll scarf the lot). To make the churros, you'll need to invest in a heavyduty piping bag with a star nozzle or a specialist churro gun, which you can find online. Gently heat the oil in a heavy pan. You want the oil to be at least an inch deep. In a separate pan, add the water, light brown sugar, and butter, and melt. Bring it to a boil and add the flour and salt. Combine the lot with a spoon and some elbow grease until you have a batter that looks like wallpaper paste. Beat the eggs in a bowl with the vanilla and combine this with the flour mix. You will now have a smooth, glossy batter. Finely mince the Serrano ham and add this to the batter. Combine the superfine sugar and cinnamon and set aside. Load up your churro gun or piping bag with the nozzle already inserted. Test the temperature of the oil with a peasized ball of the batter. If it browns fully in 90 seconds then it's ready. To create the classic teardrop shape, pipe the mix on to a sheet of the baking parchment and, using a pair of scissors, snip the batter clean from the nozzle. Gently lower the churro, paper attached, into the hot oil. After 30 seconds it will come free of the paper; using tongs, carefully discard the paper. Continue to cook for 1 minute, then flip and cook for another minute. Remove from the oil and drain on kitchen paper. Repeat with the remaining batter. Leave to cool for a minute so that you don't burn yourself, then sprinkle each churro gently with cinnamon- sugar. Serve with cajeta and coffee. Throughout the recipes are chatty references and anecdotes, not unlike the captions found on Zee's Insta, which sprinkles self-deprecating British charm and mentions here and there of Zee's travels with Mark around the world (they've since launched a spin-off Instagram account, @symmetrytravel). In one post last month, Zee revealed that he and Mark had gotten engaged and that his marriage proposal could be found in the book. But there's one thing he doesn't post on Instagram -- recipes. Though you'll find recipes in his cookbook (four of which we were given permission to reprint here), Zee says the Instagram "is meant to be purely inspirational" and "it's not meant to be 'this is how you make it.'" This past Saturday, Zee made a special announcement beneath a photo of rhubarb and egg custard waffles to say that he and Mark were leaving London to move to Shanghai in February. It's safe to assume Zee's new homebase -- and its proximity to new cities and countries -- will inspire endless recipes and -- who knows? -- maybe even a follow-up book. "I had maybe 4-5 entries on China," Zee says of his current book. But "I was in a bookshop with books on China that are 4-5 inches thick!" But while we wait to see what's next from Zee, there's no better pre-work ritual than pulling up his Instagram or, for the more ambitious, taking a crack at one of his SymmetryBreakfast cookbook recipes. Maybe even take a page from Zee and Mark's story and consider whipping up a Dutch Puff or matcha Hong Kong egg waffles after the next time you have a special guest stay over. You could wind up engaged. All photos courtesy of Michael Zee/SymmetryBreakfast To pick up a copy of SymmetryBreakfast: 100 Recipes for the Loving Cook HERE. Rachel Park made headlines last year for giving birth to extremely premature triplet girls. But the world was recently taken by surprise when she unexpectedly died while her girls survived premature birth. After six years of trying to get pregnant with her husband Steven Park, Rachel got pregnant with triplets. But just when she was so close to her happiness, death took Rachel away at the age of 39, just days after she welcomed her 9-month-old triplets at home in time for Christmas. According to the reports, Rachel started having symptoms as soon as her pregnancy period began. Rachel was a Type 1 diabetic and during her pregnancy, she developed pre-eclampsia. The condition began to fail her liver and kidneys because her blood pressure got extremely high and out of control, Fox News reported. When she was 24 weeks pregnant, Rachel's severe condition was the reason why she was rushed to a hospital in Newcastle, which was 100 miles from her home. Due to her serious bleeding, the doctors at Newcastle found a problem with Rachel's bloodflow. Rachel's blood stopped flowing to her placenta like it should have. Due to this serious situation, the doctors were forced to deliver the babies prematurely. Originally due June 12, the triplets were only 26 weeks and 5 days along when an emergency C-section was performed. They were born on March 11 and the combined weight of the triplets was 5 pounds. As soon as they were born, the babies were put on ventilators, after which they fought for their lives for a tough period of two months. Once they were out of danger, the media approached Rachel Park to know more of her story. She told the news that all three of her children suffered serious problems and even almost died. The media also reported that Rachel idolized her little girls, telling them they were her entire world. Meanwhile, to help Steven and the girls, a GoFund Me page has been set up for donations. BBC News also reported that dozens of tributes posted on social media. In other related reports, a mother of newborn triplet babies has also died in Kansas, just days before Rachel Park's death. Big companies that are implementing new pilot programs are making a difference for persons with autism spectrum. Through this program, American companies are beginning to discover the benefits of having employees that are neurodiverse or those with varying cognitive abilities. Drexel University conducted a study that shows while young adults with autism spectrum are highly skilled, up to 58 percent of them have remained unemployed. Among the companies that are starting to build a more talented, diverse and productive workforce are Microsoft and Ernst & Young, which have hired four such employees providing accounting support. "This program leverages the skills that people with high functioning autism often have: looking at data, dealing with mathematical concepts, attention to detail, the ability to focus over long periods of time, and looking at large bodies of information and spotting anomalies," said Lori Golden, Abilities Strategy Leader at Ernst & Young. Ernst & Young made its recruitment and training process more suitable for persons with autism spectrum, according to The Atlantic. The company managers soon found out that having neurodiverse employees made them more conscious of the effectiveness of the company's management and communication strategies. Several businesses, according to Autism Speaks, are leading the way in the hiring of individuals with autism spectrum. Web Team Corporation and Rangam Consultants, Inc. have been credited for the creation of TheSpectrumCareers.com job search website that aims to provide a solution to the high unemployment rate among those with autism. Technology giant Microsoft has started to hire persons in the autism spectrum on a full-time basis, thanks to Mary Ellen Smith, Corporate Vice President of Microsoft's Worldwide Operations. Smith's 19-year old son has autism. One of those who has successfully been integrated into the workforce, as per Microsoft, is Kyle Schwaneke, a developer with Asperger's Syndrome who was unemployed for more than a year before he was hired under Microsoft's new program for new employees in the autism spectrum. The company has so far hired 11 employees with autism and eyes to expand the number for those who will qualify for job opportunities in data science, software engineering and even customer service. LOS ANGELES, Jan. 03, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Company would like to note that Dr. Enrique Lavernia has resigned as a director of California Nanotechnologies Corp., effective January 1, 2017. "Dr. Lavernia has made a tremendous contribution to Cal Nano over the last several years. While stepping down as a Director, it is hoped that the strong collaborative efforts that were initiated years ago will continue," stated David Grant, Chairman of the Board. "I'm sure I speak for the entire Board in thanking Dr. Lavernia for his multifaceted support of the Company." For further information, please contact: Mr. Mikel Damke, Executive Assistant to the CEO Tel. No. (403) 660-7770, or (888) 660-7770 Email: m.damke@calnanocorp.com Website: www.calnanocorp.com For additional information, please contact: Mr. David Grant, Interim CEO Tel. No. (562) 404-8510 or (800) 577-6664 Fax. No. (562) 926-6913 Email: d.grant@omni-lite.com Website: www.calnanocorp.com Reader Advisory Except for statements of historical fact, this news release contains certain "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities law. Forward-looking information is frequently characterized by words such as "plan", "expect", "project", "intend", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate" and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur. In particular, forward-looking information in this press release includes, but is not limited to the expected future performance of the Company. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking information are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. We cannot guarantee future results, performance or achievements. Consequently, there is no representation that the actual results achieved will be the same, in whole or in part, as those set out in the forward-looking information. Forward-looking information is based on the opinions and estimates of management at the date the statements are made, and are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking information. Some of the risks and other factors that could cause the results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking information include, but are not limited to: general economic conditions in Canada, the United States and globally; industry conditions, governmental regulation, including environmental regulation; unanticipated operating events or performance; failure to obtain industry partner and other third party consents and approvals, if and when required; the availability of capital on acceptable terms; the need to obtain required approvals from regulatory authorities; stock market volatility; competition for, among other things, capital, skilled personnel and supplies; changes in tax laws; and the other risk factors disclosed under our profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Readers are cautioned that this list of risk factors should not be construed as exhaustive. The forward-looking information contained in this news release is expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. We undertake no duty to update any of the forward-looking information to conform such information to actual results or to changes in our expectations except as otherwise required by applicable securities legislation. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Gun violence was rampant in Chicago even after the New Year celebrations. The reason? A total of 12 people, three of them were teenage boys, were recorded to be injured after shootings took place at noontime of New Year's Day. The record was until Monday morning and was based on reports in Chicago only. Chicago Tribune reported that for the first six hours of Jan. 1, three people have died and 16 were injured. This was not part of the latest recording regarding the 12 people injured from shooting. For the details of the 12 shootings at noon of Jan. 1, reports said one man was critically wounded and two others were injured during a drive-by shooting at around 10:55 p.m. on Sunday. The crime scene was in the first block of South Leamington Avenue in the South Austin neighborhood. All of the victims were on the street when the drive-by shooting took place. As for the other shootings, a 26-year-old man was shot multiple times. He's listed under critical condition at Mount Sinai Hospital. Another man, 31 years old, was grazed in the head and a 19-year-old man was shot in the buttocks and his right arm. Both of them were taken to Stroger Hospital. Other shootings took place at Gage Park Neighborhood. Two people were shot at around 1:40 in the morning on Monday. A 26-year-old man and a 21-year-old man were shot while they were inside their car and were on their way to 2500 block of West 55ft Street. According to the reports, a white Nissan Murano pulled up beside them and then someone from the backseat began shooting. The man suffered an injury at the right hand while the woman was grazed in her right shoulder. Another teenager was shot in the right leg while walking at the 5300 block of South Fairfield Avenue in the Gage Park neighborhood. Another shooting took place at 4100 block of West 15th Street in the Lawndale neighborhood. The person shot was a 48-year-old woman. Both of her legs were shot as well as her buttocks. A 16-year-old was also shot while he was in a corner in the 3900 block of West Madison Street after a sedan drove by and a passenger inside the car shot him in the hand. ABC News reported that in Chicago alone last year, there were 762 homicides recorded. Authorities believe that these homicides have gone out of control. Authorities are saying that increased gang activities, increase in the availability of illegal guns, and the increase in the reluctance of police officers to engage in violent prevention policies are factors in the 762 recorded homicides in 2016. Over Christmas, there were 12 killings and it is believed that 90 percent of the victims were related to gangs. The City Life Learner is a program in Franklinton that helps teenage mothers and other pregnant teenagers to complete their high school education and receive a diploma, as well as teaching them basic life lessons and information about meals. The organization operates in Ohio and in the future, 10 more locations are expected to house this program, according to Central Ohio Youth for Christ director Scott Arnold. According to The Columbus Dispatch, the program is very important since pregnant teens are often bullied at their school and this program allows them to acquire an education to avoid poverty after giving birth. In addition, the program is likely to decrease the chance of a subsequent pregnancy. Some organizations account for a lower number of teen pregnancies while others report the cases are only increasing. Hence, such programs are highly beneficial. The program has already graduated 73 teen mothers and around 30 of them even have a degree equivalent to the high school diploma. Most of these ladies have jobs too and some are even studying at colleges. The program does not only provides a great place for the teenagers to leave their kids while they are at college or work. But it also allows them to have some close friends for both the mothers and the children. One of the attendees of the program, Kaelyn, largely supported it and recommended it to other pregnant teenagers as well. The program even helps the girls earn points, which can be exchanged for necessary items. As Brainy Child says, the organizer aims to help girls from ages 11 to 19 years and even offers catholic services in the program, which are of course, not mandatory to attend. The owners of the program stated that they had special love for people in distress and they understood the stress on a teenager's social and spiritual life during pregnancy and that is why they are openly willing to help. A senator from Iowa is proposing that school districts must regularly visit families who homeschool their children. Senator Matt McCoy believes that such a check-up is necessary following an incident involving a teenager who died from parental abuse and neglect. The senator was referring to the case of Natalie Finn from De Moines whom authorities determined experienced starvation and torture at the hands of her parents last October. When Senator McCoy was given details of what the 16-year-old girl went through, he said it made him want to vomit. "This young woman was essentially put through one of the most torturous forms of death I could think of," the senator said, according to Des Moine Register. Thus, he wants to ensure that nothing like this ever happens again. He is seeking to propose the quarterly visits for families who homeschool when the Legislature Oversight Committee opens again in January. State Senator Matt McCoy has requested the Iowa Fatality Review Committee convene to investigate. https://t.co/mLG80ktBGS Matt McCoy (@mccoyforsenate) December 22, 2016 It was unclear when Finn stopped coming to classes. But a neighbor, Becca Gordon, related to KCCI how the young girl used to knock on their door to ask for food. The mother has a son who goes to the same public school as Finn when she used to attend it. According to Caffeinated Thoughts, the girl was not currently enrolled this school year. It was also unclear if her parents have registered to homeschool her and her two other siblings. Gordon added that neighbors reported the situation at the Finn household to authorities numerous times and there have been records of it with the Iowa police. She thought that agencies have taken a look at their case. "We trust that something is going to happen, that they're going to follow up, that they're going to keep these kids safe," Gordon said. Unfortunately, that didn't happen for the teenager and she eventually died. Finn's parents, Nicole, 42, and Joseph, 45, were recently charged with murder, kidnapping, child endangerment with serious injuries and neglect. PJ Media notes that the problem, in this case, is child abuse and the neglect of authorities to verify and give credence to the reports made on the Finns. It has nothing to do with homeschooling and the proposal from Senator McCoy might only be an invasion of privacy of families who have no incidence of neglect or abuse. Are you a homeschooling parent? What can you weigh in on this issue? Share your thoughts in the comments! A mother from Michigan is calling on grocery stores to become more family-friendly. Jane Kramer, who lives in Bath Township, has set up a petition for the removal of candies, junk food and tabloid magazines at the checkout line. She believes that doing so will reduce the number of the kids and parents who pick up these items at the last minute. Kramer's petition was lodged via Change.Org, where she specifically names Meijer, a superstore chain in Ohio, as well as Wisconsin, Kentucky, Illinois and Indiana. She plans to deliver her petition to its CEOs Hendrik Meijer and Mark Murray, and company president Rick Keyes, once it has reached her target number of signatures. The mother said that she didn't use to have problems with these items at the checkout lines in the store that is near her home. But things changed when she realized how this has influenced grocery habits when she became a parent of an adopted boy. "Our only options were junk and I wanted to be able to buy a banana or carrots," she told ABC News. Apart from the food, she said that the tabloids at the checkout lines have "horrible titles" that prompted her son to ask questions. Michigan mom launches petition to remove candy and magazines from Meijer checkout aisles - WXYZ https://t.co/bKzPeo1OXi pic.twitter.com/4Zi5NjqkcF Dora Wurth (@DoraWurth) January 3, 2017 Jane Kramer could always say no to her son when he would pick up the junk food but not every mom does the same. For her, stores should make shopping experience more family-friendly and this is one way of ensuring buying healthy habits - if stores also become proactive about it, Freep reports. Jane Kramer's son was only 5 when he became part of the family. Now, he's 13-years-old and the mother said that she had called Meijer's selling practice over five years ago through their customer service department. The chain store didn't act on her complaint. The mom was adamant about this and called up the store again in 2016 and was told there is no way she can have an audience with the corporate heads. "I thought the only way I can get people to listen is to get other people who feel the same way I do," she said. As her drive has been picked up by media, Meijer has not given its response regarding the issue as of press time. A professor who teaches political science at a Chicago university is suing the school for racial discrimination. Seung-Whan Choi claims that his superiors at the University of Illinois at Chicago forced him to teach statistics courses when he has no qualifications in math. He claims that he was chosen only because he is Asian. Choi, who was born in Korea but is now a U.S. citizen, filed his lawsuit against the school at the Chicago courts on Tuesday. He stated in the document what the school officials told him about his teaching assignment. "Asians, especially Koreans are very good at mathematics and statistics," Choi recounted, according to Chicago Tribune. The school apparently also assigned him to teach Korean politics even as he knows he lacked the formal education for the specific subject. Choi's problems with the school actually started after he was fired then rehired with tenure in 2011. Since then, he claims to have been excluded and denied of salary raises, promotions and other opportunities compared to other professors of political science at the university. The school's official website indicates that Choi has been part of the faculty since 2004, after receiving his PhD in political science in 2002 at the University of Missouri. He has also worked on several articles, papers and books about international politics. Professor from Korea sues University of Illinois at Chicago, alleging race discrimination. https://t.co/XetmqGYz4q Chicago Tribune (@chicagotribune) December 28, 2016 "They don't like Korean-Americans," Choi told news outlets, adding that it was expected of him to submit to his former Caucasian supervisor, Dennis Judd. Choi alleged that Judd also changed the grade of one of his Korean-American students without informing him. The university has a new political science department head in Evan McKenzie. He has yet to respond to the lawsuit and the reports, according to Next Shark. The professor's lawyer has not divulged what type of restitution he is demanding from this lawsuit. Apparently, Choi's health also suffered as a result of the office politics in his department. The professor has been unmotivated to report to work a few times. The rate of suicide attempts among students is increasing and educators in Massachusetts are taking action to help curb the incidents. They have set up a commission that will ensure the students' mental health care and needs are attended. The education leaders are hoping that this will be applied in all schools in the Bay State. The Safe and Supportive Schools Commission was formed based on the 2014 Act Relative to the Reduction of Gun Violence in response to mass school shootings. The commission is composed of 19 members from both the health and education sector. The panel's job is to draft a recommendation for Massachusetts schools on what steps to take to improve mental health services to students, including the training of teachers. The commission is expected to submit its report in a few weeks, the Boston Herald report. Mental Health In Schools: A Hidden Crisis Affecting Millions Of Students. #SEL https://t.co/xvz7y1FrZc SEL4MA (@SEL4MA) December 23, 2016 According to the Youth Risk Surveillance 2015 report from the CDC, over 17 percent of students in America try to take their life yearly. From these, 11.9 percent of students from Massachusetts have taken some steps to commit suicide. The suicide attempts in this state have grown to 38 percent since 2013. More female students are likely vulnerable to suicide thoughts than male students and some of the factors as to why this is rampant include family problems, stress and school bullying. These students are also exposed to violence, sexual abuse and poverty. Some Bay State schools put more emphasize on academic improvements, further contributing to the stress. Dr. Melissa Pearrow told the Boston Herald that kids today have 10 times the stress and pressure than in previous decades. Worse, the students do not get the proper support and guidance that would have help prevent suicide attempts. Education leaders now acknowledge that students also need social development as well as a good support team from their second home - the school. Thousands of parents who have enrolled their children in chartered public schools may not be aware of how this educational reform is set to change their children's future for the better. The law creating the charter school was signed 25 years ago by former Minnesota Governor Arne Carlson. Charter schools are much like the traditional public schools that are publicly funded and thus are able to provide free tuition fees for its students. These schools are non-sectarian and are allowed to design their own curriculum and to independently operate from the traditional district public schools. Students are accepted on the basis of the principle of "first come, first serve" and not on the basis of any audition or entrance examination. The Buffalo News said charter schools have become popular because it has proven to be a better alternative to the dangerous and decaying school systems in the United States. Because of this popularity, parents who have chosen to send their children to charter schools have multiplied with the number of students enrolled at public charter schools already reaching three million in a span of 11 years. Most of those from charter schools have recorded higher scores on state proficiency tests. What makes the charter schools unique, according to Public Charters, is its ability to be more innovative even if they are made accountable for producing student achievers. And even if the charter schools do not charge tuition fees, it holds the belief that it is responsible for the quality of education that its students are getting. These schools are not only closing the gap on the achievement of students because of social and economic classes. But they are also raising the bar on public education. Rethinking Schools said the idea of establishing charter schools was hatched as early as the 1980s. The concept follows that of a school run by teachers but which will operate beyond the control of the administrative bureaucracy and the politics of school boards. Despite the challenges, the charter school concept was transformed from a mere community-based school to something unique in each state. Californians may have voted to restore bilingual education this school year. However, that is only half of the problem as the program is still challenged by the issue problem of finding bilingual teachers. Bilingual education has been banned for almost 20 years. But with the affirmative votes last November of 73.5 percent of the voters, parents who want their English-speaking children to become globally competitive will now have the chance to learn Mandarin, Spanish and other languages. There is already a high demand for teachers who have the credentials to teach bilingual education but the impending implementation of bilingual programs is expected to double if not triple this demand. Some of the schools in California, Oregon and Utah, which already offer the bilingual program, have hired trained teachers from abroad to narrow the gap. "There is already a shortage for bilingual teachers with just the demand we have right now," California Commission on Teacher Credentialing spokesperson Joshua Speaks said. Also known as Proposition 58, the bilingual education program is a turnaround from the ban sometime in the 1990s when annual waivers have to be signed by parents so their English-learner children would be able to participate in bilingual education, as per Washington Post. With the passage of the measure, LA Times said English-Only instruction have not only been repealed but California public schools are now empowered to develop their own multilingual programs for education. Supporters of Proposition 58 said the trend now is for employees to speak different languages, which is defeated by an earlier law requiring students to speak and learn only in English. Its opponents, however, claim that it will only bring back the old problems of having students who speak Spanish but who do not speak English. According to EdSource, the overwhelming vote for the measure proposing bilingual education is a significant shift from the racial resentments that engulfed California in the 1990s. It is a signal that California has shifted from a racial to a multiethnic and multiracial society which in the end will benefit its people, especially with global economics. A police officer in North Carolina has been placed on administrative leave after a video of him slamming a female student from Rolesville High School has gone viral. The investigation on the matter has started. The officer was identified as Officer Ruben De Los Santos. In the video posted on Twitter on Tuesday, which lasted for nine seconds, he was seen lifting a female student into the air then dropping her to the ground. He also took her away from a group of students at the aforementioned high school. The News & Observer reported that De Los Santos is the school resource officer assigned to the high school. Rolesville Police Chief Bobby Langston said in a statement that he asked the State Bureau of Investigation to look into the matter. According to CBS News, the Wake County Public Schools said in a statement that they are aware of the video but could not comment on the matter since they are investigating the incident. They are working with Rolesville Police regarding the investigation. A witness claimed that a fight took place before the officer slammed the female student. The girl who was slammed was said to be trying to break up the fight as one of the females involved in the earlier scuffle is her sister. This information has yet to be confirmed. Other witnesses are saying that the cop came out of nowhere and the girl slammed to the ground did nothing to provoke the cop. It is unclear if the cop knew about the earlier fight. Rolesville High School students took to Twitter to demand answers about the incident. They also called the incident a disturbing use of force. The American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina also said that they are investigating as they were very disturbed with what they saw, noting that such use of force is not justified, especially when children in schools are involved. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has proposed to make tuition fees free for the students at the City University of New York (CUNY) and State University of New York (SUNY). The tuition fee costs around $6,400 annually. According to the proposal, Cuomo wants tuition fees to be free at CUNY and SUNY community colleges for two years and four years in CUNY bachelor's programs. However, it will be limited to low and middle-income families, which are earning $125,000 annually or lesser, New York Daily News reported. According to The Wall Street Journal, the plan, once approved, will provide additional scholarship programs in order to accommodate around 940,000 New York households with college-age children who will qualify in the planned assistance. The program will be costing the government around $163 million per year once the program has unfolded. The plans on how the proposal will be funded have not been explained yet. However, Cuomo made it clear that the goal of the program was to provide a better path for middle-class students to graduate without the burden of having to pay debts. Cuomo announced his plan at LaGuardia Community College in Queens, New York. Former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders was at the event. Sanders pushed for free college during his campaign for his presidential bid. Sanders believes that the plan of Cuomo will materialize soon and is optimistic about other states following the program. At least nine other states have passed the same program but are still under consideration. If the program will really be available, 64 SUNY campuses and 20 CUNY schools would have to ensure sufficient capacity in all classes at a higher cost. It is projected that an additional 10 percent admission increase will take place if the project will be available so sufficient classroom resources should also meet the demand. Dublin, Jan. 04, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "Strategic Review of Corn Starch Industry & Markets - Starch, Sweeteners, Bioprocessing & Co-Products" report to their offering. This 2017 revision has comprehensive newly revised starch, sweeteners, ethanol, bioprocessing, bioplastic, co-products; has several improvements, new information, insights since we are now in a global economy. In 2017 report we have made major changes to this report to reflect several changes in the US and worldwide. We present latest data and markets for starch derivatives. Every chapter has been updated with much new information, insights and data. How this industry operates, investments, costs, markets, margins among many other areas. Some of the major changes and additions are: Excellent review of cost, markets and technologies and how this industry operates with opportunities in transferring corn processing facilities into modern bioprocessing operation to diversify into new specialties CWM (Corn wet milling) co-products technical and commercial perspective including potential markets for corn gluten feed (CGF), corn gluten meal (CGM) and corn germ. A new chapter focused on corn ethanol, Chapter IX Bioprocessing, bio-based chemicals and bioplastics chapter X has the most recent information with markets, capacities and opportunities for bio-based chemicals and polymers from starch and the sugars as feedstock. CWM players have entered arena of converging their facilities in to biorefineries with products such as ethanol, lactic acid, citric acid, amino acid lysine, and other monomers for new value added polymers to replace the petroleum based compounds. Each chapter also has major revisions to reflect most recent information on the business, markets and technologies as we continue to evolve in this global carbohydrates economy. Brand new list of starch and sweeteners manufacturers from corn, wheat, potato and tapioca primary starch crops in different regions of the world. Excellent material on maltodextrins and other hydrolysis, enzyme processed products A great addition to the library as reference, training tool and a strategy tool to starch processing industry members, customers and suppliers. Report also has excellent in-depth insights from our associates and I with combined experience of > 200 yrs in starch/sweetener and bioprocessing. New global list of starch processors is provided in Chapter XVI. Global List of Corn Processors Several updates to each chapter to reflect currently situation and opportunities going forward. Key Topics Covered: I. Executive Summary II. Brief Overview Of Corn And Wet Milling Process III. Markets IV. Sweeteners And Maltodextrins V. Companies In The Us VI. Costs, Investments And Margins VII. Industry Capacity And Investment VIII.Corn Wet Milling Co-Products Current Situation And Potential Markets IX. Corn Ethanol Brief Review X. Bioprocessing: Fermentation, Specialty Chemicals, Bioplastics - Current Situation And Opportunities XI. Future Trends XII. Global Issues, Policies And Plant Locations XIII. Summary XIV. List Of References XV. List Of Figures And Tables XVI. Global List Of Corn Processors For more information about this report visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/dnfd6f/strategic_review Videos Sorry, there are no recent results for popular videos. By Donald Zuhn - After reflecting upon the events of the past twelve months, Patent Docs presents its tenth annual list of top patent stories. For 2016, we identified twenty stories that were covered on Patent Docs last year that we believe had (or are likely to have) a significant impact on patent practitioners and applicants. Yesterday, we counted down stories #20 to #16, and today we count down stories #15 to #11 as we work our way towards the top five stories of 2016. As with our other lists (2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, and 2007), links to our coverage of these stories (as well as a few links to articles on related topics) have been provided in case you missed the articles the first time around or wish to go back and have another look. As always, we love to hear from Patent Docs readers, so if you think we left something off the list or disagree with anything we included, please let us know. In addition, we will be offering a live webinar on the "Top Patent Law Stories of 2016" on January 18, 2017 from 10:00 am to 11:15 am (CT). Details regarding the webinar, which will focus on a handful of the most important stories on this year's list, can be found here. 15. Magistrate Finds Method Claims Patent Eligible and Kit Claims Patent Ineligible In one of several patent eligibility determinations that we reported on in 2016, Magistrate Judge Donald L. Cabell of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts recommended in August that Defendants' joint motion to dismiss under Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6) in Oxford Immunotec Ltd. v. Qiagen, Inc. be allowed in part and denied in part. Oxford, which develops tests to diagnose and monitor patients with auto-immune diseases, asserted that Qiagen's development, use, and sale of a tuberculosis ("TB") test infringed six of Oxford's patents. Oxford's patents relate to a claimed method using eight peptides from ESAT-6, a unique protein produced by Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the bacterium that causes TB. Finding that Oxford "discovered a law of nature -- namely which specific peptides in ESAT-6 are most likely to induce a recognition response by the T-cells of patients who have TB without creating false positive responses by the T-cells of those who have merely been vaccinated," but also determining that the peptides are "contained in an intact ESAT-6 strand," Judge Cabell recommended that Qiagen's motion to dismiss be allowed with respect to infringement of the kit claims and denied with respect to infringement of the method claims. For information regarding this and other related topics, please see: "Oxford Immunotec Ltd. v. Qiagen, Inc. (D. Mass. 2016)," September 5, 2016 14. Federal Circuit Provides Some Clarity on BPCIA's Notice of Commercial Marketing Provision In 2015, the Federal Circuit described the Biologics Price Competition and Innovation Act ("BPCIA") in Amgen v. Sandoz as "a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside of an enigma." And one of the provisions of the BPCIA that was still shrouded in mystery after Amgen v. Sandoz was the notice of commercial marketing provision found at 42 U.S.C. 262(l)(8)(A). While describing the provision as both mandatory and stand-alone (independent of the information-disclosure and patent-exchange provisions that comprise the rest of 262(l)), the Court limited the holding to cases in which the biosimilar applicant failed to comply with disclosure provision of 262(l)(2)(A). In July, the Federal Circuit provided some clarification regarding this provision in Amgen Inc. v. Apotex Inc., noting that the notice is always mandatory -- even when the biosimilar applicant engaged in the so-called "patent dance." The Court also held that this provision is enforceable by injunction. In our report on the decision, we noted that it may not solve the entire riddle that is the BPCIA, and in fact may end up creating more confusion. For example, the opinion suggests that the FDA may begin providing tentative licensure for a biosimilar product, although such action is not specifically provided for in the BPCIA and the FDA has not suggested that it would take such action. For information regarding this and other related topics, please see: "Amgen Inc. v. Apotex Inc. (Fed. Cir. 2016)," July 11, 2016 "Does the "Notice of Commercial Marketing" Provision in the BPCIA Stand Alone? -- Amgen v. Apotex Case Preview," March 2, 2016 13. Massachusetts Court Finds No Per Se Ethical Violation for Simultaneous Representation of Clients Competing in Same Technology Area Although technically issued in late December 2015, our report on Maling v. Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner, LLP was posted at the start of 2016, and therefore narrowly missed the "deadline" for making last year's Top Stories list. Nevertheless, the determination by the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts in Maling that the simultaneous representation by a law firm in the prosecution of patents for two clients competing in the same technology area for similar inventions is not a per se violation of Rule of Professional Conduct 1.7 is of significance to many firms performing patent prosecution on behalf of their clients. Although the decision likely came as a relief to most practitioners working in private practice, the Massachusetts Court warned about the significant financial and reputational risks of violating Rule 1.7, noting that "[n]othing we say here today, however, should be construed to absolve law firms from the obligation to implement robust processes that will detect potential conflicts." Although this case involves the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court's application of Rule 1.7 of the Massachusetts Rules of Professional Conduct, and therefore is not binding authority in any other jurisdiction that has adopted Rule 1.7 of the Model Rules, the decision nevertheless could have had a chilling effect on all intellectual property law firm practices had it come out differently. For information regarding this and other related topics, please see: "No Per Se Ethical Violation for "Subject Matter Conflicts"," January 12, 2016 12. Federal Circuit Finds Patent Agent-Client Privilege In March, the Federal Circuit addressed the issue of whether communications between a patent agent and a client are privileged. The Court had not previously addressed the subject, although there had been a split between district courts that had considered the issue. A divided panel, however, determined in In re Queen's University at Kingston that there is a patent agent-client privilege. In October, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office proposed to amend the rules of practice before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board "to recognize that, in connection with discovery conducted in certain proceedings at the [USPTO], communications between U.S. patent agents and foreign patent practitioners and their clients are privileged to the same extent as communications between clients and U.S. attorneys." However, the Office's notice makes it clear that "communications between clients and U.S. patent agents relating to patent application matters would be protected as privileged under the rule, but communications between these parties regarding litigation strategies would not be protected." For information regarding this and other related topics, please see: "PTAB Update -- Patent Office Proposes Rule Amendment to Recognize Patent Agent-Client Privilege," October 26, 2016 "In re Queen's University at Kingston (Fed. Cir. 2016)," March 16, 2016 11. PTAB Must Articulate Its Reasoning in Final Written Decisions In January, the Federal Circuit determined in Cutsforth Inc. v. MotivePower, Inc. that the Patent Trial and Appeal Board must provide a thorough explanation of its reasoning when it issues Final Written Decisions. The Court indicated that "[w]hen the Board determines that modifications and combinations of the prior art render a claimed invention obvious, the Board must fully explain why a person of ordinary skill in the art would find such changes obvious." In December, the Federal Circuit vacated and remanded another PTAB decision in In re NuVasive, Inc., reiterating the need for the Board to enunciate a reasoned basis for finding obviousness. For information regarding this and other related topics, please see: "In re NuVasive, Inc. (Fed. Cir. 2016)," December 8, 2016 "Cutsforth Inc. v. MotivePower, Inc.," January 31, 2016 Gartner is the bearer of bad news if their forecast for 2017 plays out. Gartner sees 2017 being a flat year for PC's and Mobile Phones by projecting a total of 2.3 billion units in 2017, the same as it was for 2016. Ranjit Atwal, research director at Gartner states in the report that "The global devices market is stagnating. Mobile phone shipments are only growing in emerging Asia/Pacific markets, and the PC market is just reaching the bottom of its decline." This is why Samsung introduced new Galaxy A-series right out the gate to start off the New Year gunning for emerging market customers with excellent specifications for the mid-tier market starting at $400 or about half of what a premium device sells for. Apple competitors Huawei, Oppo and Vivo all sell mid-tier smartphones with 5" displays in the $250-400 range. Apple's iPhone SE sells for between $400 and 450 with a 4" display. It's been rumored that Apple would attend the Mobile World Congress this year and if so, perhaps we'll see Apple introduce a 4.7" display for the iPhone SE and bump their entry unit to 32GB data to better compete in this important segment serving emerging markets. With Apple pushing into Indonesia this year, this would be the time to beef up their SE model. If Apple could strengthen their entry iPhone and deliver a hot anniversary model this fall, I think that Apple will be able to beat the stagnation that Gartner is forecasting. Mr. Atwal added in Gartners report that "Consumers have fewer reasons to upgrade or buy traditional devices. They are seeking fresher experiences and applications in emerging categories such as head mounted displays (HMDs), virtual personal assistant (VPA) speakers and wearables." It was rumored back in September that Apple may have a Siri-centric Home Automation Device like Google Home and Amazon's Echo in the works for this year. An Apple HMD is also reportedly in the works but no time frame is known at this time. Finally, the Gartner report notes that "Device vendors are increasingly trying to move into faster-growing emerging device categories. 'This requires a shift from a hardware-focused approach to a richer value-added service approach." . The services area is one that Apple's CEO has championed at Apple to the dismay of Wall Street. During Cook's opening statement covering their last financial conference in October, this is some of what he said on this topic: "We had a record setting quarter for services with revenue growth accelerating by 24% reaching 6.3 billion. App store revenue continued to skyrocket where music revenue grew by 22% thanks to the growing popularity of Apple Music. We remain very confident about the future of our services business given the unmatched level of engagement, satisfaction and loyalty of our growing installed base. We have almost doubled the size of our services revenue in the last four years, and as we've said before, we expect it to be the size of a fortune 100 company in fiscal 2017." Apple seems to have all the bases covered for 2017 and only time will tell if they'll be able to stand above their competition that will be battling it out to just break even in a very tough year that Gartner is projecting. 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. A legal publication reported today that Apple has won at least a moral victory in a fight with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office over touchscreen technology. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit agreed with Apple on Tuesday that the patent office failed to sufficiently explain why Apple's method for reconfiguring touchscreen icons is unpatentable due to obviousness. Apple applied for a patent in 2009 on its method of using a sustained touch to activate an icon, which then allows a person to drag the icon to a new location on the screen. A patent examiner found the claim obvious in light of separate prior inventions on sustained touch and dragging. Combining the two inventions "would be an intuitive way" to rearrange touchscreen icons, the examiner concluded and the Patent Trial and Appeal Board affirmed. Apple and its appellate counsel at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe argued that the claims are not obviousor at the very least that the PTO should have to provide a more reasoned explanation. The Federal Circuit agreed. Judge Kimberly Moore wrote that "Absent some articulated rationale, a finding that a combination of prior art would have been 'common sense' or 'intuitive' is no different than merely stating the combination 'would have been obvious. Such a conclusory assertion with no explanation is inadequate to support a finding that there would have been a motivation to combine." Moore ordered the case sent back to the PTO for reconsideration. Judge Evan Wallach concurred. Judge Pauline Newman dissented, saying the PTO should not get a do-over. "On our affirmance that the PTO has not established unpatentability, Apple is 'entitled to a patent,'" she wrote. Apple's win follows a similar decision last summer, In re Lemay, in which the Federal Circuit found no evidence supporting the PTO's decision to refuse Apple a patent on streaming video display menus. In that case the court fully reversed the PTAB's decision. About Comments: Patently Apple reserves the right to post, dismiss or edit comments. Those using abusive language or behavior will result in being blacklisted on Disqus. I recently came upon an article titled What Buddhism Learned from Christianity, by Marvin Olasky, editor of World Magazine. World Magazine covers national and international news from a distinctly evangelical perspective; I grew up reading the magazine. Intrigued, I perused Olaskys article and was struck by this paragraph: We also need to learn more about movement the other way: What from Eastern religions found its way into pseudo-gospels such as the Gospel of Thomas? Did monasticism and doctrines concerning purgatory, indulgences, and the efficacy of saintly merit come to Christianity from the East? Take my suppositions and run with them, please. There is so much going on here. In its development, Christianity was dramatically influenced by other religions. Beyond Judaism, Zoroastrianism, which originated in Iran, may have had the most significant influence on the new religion. Many scholars believe that Christianity obtained its extreme good and evil dichotomy from Zoroastrianism, for example. But of course, Olasky cant accept that. For Olasky, Christianity is only founded on the unchanging Word of God. In this brief paragraph, Olasky demonstrates not only his unwillingness to accept that his own beliefs include aspects of eastern religions but also his anti-Catholicism. He suggests that Catholic practiceswhich he does not believe are based on Gods Wordmay have come from eastern religions, all the while denying (both to himself and to his audience) that any evangelical practices could have come from other traditions. One of the most fascinating things I did when I began sorting through my parents beliefs for myself was read a collection of scholarly books about early Christianity. In addition to this, I read through a broad collection of writings by early Christians leaders and writers. It became clear to me that every religion, including Christianity, has changed over time, adapting to the time, confronting and being molded by new ideas, and being influenced by other religions. Olasky has decades of experience as the editor of a premier evangelical publication. I suspect that he, too, could learn a lot by reading the books I did. Perhaps if he read them, his last paragraph would look slightly different. But then, its possible that hes already read them, or others like them, and has de facto rejected the idea that eastern religions could have fundamentally influenced the early development of Christianity in ways that continue to affect his beliefs and practices today. Being open to material that challenges your beliefs is difficult, but important. I have a Patreon! Please support my writing! by Kerry Pimblott When I began writing Faith in Black Power almost a decade ago I was spurred by a series of perceived neglects in the stories we tell about Black Power. Movement histories often focused on a small number of nationally recognizable organizations and leaders at the expense of a more complex rendering of the diversity of grassroots Black Power initiatives that flourished in communities across the nation during the late 1960s and early 1970s. I wondered what kinds of stories we would uncover if we trained our lens on obscured sites of struggle and little known activists, particularly Black workers and women of all generations. Taken collectively, how might these stories serve to transform prevailing interpretations of Black Powers character and legacy? In my early conversations with former activists the small town of Cairo, Illinois, repeatedly emerged as one such site of struggle. Despite the citys diminutive size (pop. 2,626 in 2013) and inauspicious location at the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, activists insisted that Cairo was a key flashpoint for national debates over racial injustice, economic inequality, and state violence during the long Sixties. Perhaps most compellingly, former activists offered tantalizing insights into the Cairo movements unique blend of radical politics and religious fervor. Under the leadership of Rev. Charles Koen, the United Front Cairos foremost Black Power organization used Black congregations as staging grounds for a struggle grounded in the rhetorical and ritualistic world of the Black church. The United Fronts symbol a gun placed atop a King James Bible jarred against portrayals of Black Powers anti-clericalism and jettisoning of the religious discourses that had shaped earlier civil rights campaigns. In Faith in Black Power I provide the first detailed account of the Cairo Black freedom struggle using a wide-range of documentary sources and interviews performed with former United Front members. What emerges is a story that challenges dominant assumptions of Black Powers de-Christianization, revealing the sustained role of Black churches and African American Christian traditions at the local level. Among the most important findings is the dynamic engagement of local activists with the emergent Black Theology. Koen and other United Front leaders embraced the thought of James Cone, Albert Cleage, Jr. (later Jaramogi Abebe Agyeman) and others, using it to frame local Black Power campaigns and recruit mass participation. In turn, the United Front reached outward to form alliances with Black church executives in the newly established National Conference of Black Churchmen (NCBC) to leverage more than half-a-million dollars in funding from predominantly white denominations. These religious resources and networks afforded the United Front the ability to mount a concerted Black Power struggle and weather the tide of extralegal violence and state repression that ensued. However, funding Black Power proved controversial with churches coming under intense pressure to halt their support for local Black Power organizations from both governmental agencies and laity. As churches withdrew their support, the Cairo United Front lost an important coalitional partner with diabolical effects for activists working on the ground. Kerry Pimblott is the author of Faith in Black Power: Religion, Race, and Resistance in Cairo, Illinois This spring, Pimblott will join the faculty at the University of Manchester as a lecturer in American history. Her research interests include African American history, Black social movements, and religious cultures and institutions. Pimblotts most recent scholarship focuses on the role of the Black Church and Black Theology in the Black Power Movement published in Christopher D. Cantwell, Heath W. Carter, and Janine Giordano Drake, eds.,The Pew and the Picket Line: Christianity and the American Working Class (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2016). Follow Kerry on Twitter @DrPimblott Donate to the Work of R3 Patna: Hundreds of non-resident Sikhs living in the USA, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and many other countries joined hands at various 'langars' (community kitchen) in Patna on Tuesday to offer their services, or 'seva', by serving or helping cook food for thousands of visitors who arrived in the state capital to take part in the weeklong celebration to celebrate the 350th birth anniversary of Guru Govind Singh, the 10th religious leader of the Sikhs. {gallery}newsimages2017/jan/010317{/gallery}Devout Sikhs coming from various parts of the globe and many living in India as well were seen making themselves available for any kind of community service that would make their stay in Patna a little more comfortable and convenient. With tens of thousands people to feed three times daily besides serving tea and other drinks throughout the day, the three 'langars' are the place where most NRIs and other visitors have offered to help the administration and the local Gurudwara Management Committee. "There is a great satisfaction in being a part of the community where everyone is so helpful and friendly. It is amazing to see both men and women who otherwise live a very comfortable life on any other day volunteering to offer their services to ensure no one went hungry or thirsty from any of the many camps set up for the Prakash Utsav in Patna and Patna Saheb, the home of the Takht Shri Harmandir Saheb Gurudwara and the birth place of Guru Govind Singh. With the state government declaring the next three days (Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday) as official holidays, the crowd at all Tent Cities, including the one at Gandhi Maidan, is expected to swell as more and more people continue to arrive at the Patna Junction and Patna Airport. Meanwhile, special sessions of religious hymns and prayers were held throughout the day at the Tent City at Gandhi Maidan where a group of UK visitors also impressed the crowd with their songs highlighting the divinity of Guru Govind Singh and his message of peace and harmony. Iran Approves European, Asian Companies For Oil, Gas Projects 01/03/17 Source: RFE/RL Iran has issued a list of 29 companies from Europe and Asia that have the government's approval to bid for oil- and gas-development projects in the energy-rich country. The Iranian Oil Ministry said on January 3 that the National Iranian Oil Company will soon hold tenders for energy exploration and production, something made possible due to Tehran's signing of a nuclear deal with six world powers in 2015. The historic deal lifted economic sanctions against Iran in exchange for Tehran curbing its controversial nuclear program. European companies that were approved by the Oil Ministry include Anglo-Dutch giant Shell, Italy's Eni, France's Total, Russia's Gazprom and LUKoil, and the Dutch company Schlumberger. Asian companies on the list were China's CNPC and Sinopec International, the Japanese Mitsubishi Corporation and Japan Petroleum Exploration, Malaysia's Petronas, and South Korea's Korea Gas Corporation and Posco Daewoo. Several preliminary agreements between Iranian and international companies have been signed. Total signed a tentative agreement with Tehran in November for a $4.8 billion project to develop an offshore gas field at South Pars. And in mid-December, Tehran signed a memorandum of understanding with Gazprom on the development of two major oil fields. Based on reporting by AFP and Shana.ir DALLAS, Jan. 04, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Rocky Mountain High Brands, Inc. (OTCQB:RMHB), a fully reporting consumer goods company specializing in brand development of health conscious, hemp-infused food and beverage products and a naturally high alkaline water announced today that Uptick Newswire interviewed the Companys President and CEO Michael Welch before the New Years Holiday. In addition to the Companys goal of competing in the $60 billion worldwide energy drink market, Mr. Welch discussed the Companys major achievements within the past year and tells the fascinating story behind RMHBs unique, high-alkaline water, Eagle Spirit Spring Water. Mr. Welch also talked about the importance of the LSW Holdings LLC, a Chinese investment group represented by Mrs. Lily Li, RMHBs new Vice President of International Sales to the Companys growth plans and reported that Jerry Grisaffi, the Companys Founder and Chairman of the Board, was meeting with the group the first week in January to discuss expansion plans and funding. For the full interview, follow Uptick Networks Stock Day Podcast on AudioBoom, iHeart Radio, iTunes, or click the following link: https://upticknewswire.com/michael-welch-rocky-mountain-high-brands-talks-niche-market-and-their-asian-market-sales-initiative/. About Rocky Mountain High Brands: ROCKY MOUNTAIN HIGH BRANDS, INC., is a consumer goods company specializing in brand development of health conscious, hemp-infused food and beverage products. The Company currently markets a lineup of four naturally flavored hemp-infused beverages (Citrus Energy, Black Tea, Mango Energy and Lemonade) and a low-calorie Coconut Lime Energy drink. Rocky Mountain High Brands also offers hemp-infused 2oz. Mango Energy Shots and Mixed Berry Energy Shots, as well as a new Relaxation Brownie. The Company recently launched a naturally high alkaline spring water, Eagle Spirit Spring Water. For interested investors, our stock symbol is RMHB. For ordering information please visit: LiveRockyMountainHigh.com For corporate information please visit: RockyMountainHighBrands.com For information on our high alkaline water visit: EagleSpiritWater.com For Rocky Mountain High Distribution Contact: Chuck Smith (972) 955-0964 chuck@rockymountainhighbrands.com Visit us at our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/rockymountainhighbrands?fref=nf Visit us on Twitter: #GetYourHempOn Visit us at Investors Hangout: http://investorshangout.com/Rocky-Mountain-High-Brands-Inc-RMHB-69150/ Investors Hangout is the only authorized Investors blog page for Rocky Mountain High Brands, Inc. Safe Harbor Act: This release includes forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 that involves risks and uncertainties including, but not limited to, the impact of competitive products, the ability to meet customer demand, the ability to manage growth, acquisitions of technology, equipment, or human resources, the effect of economic business conditions and the ability to attract and retain skilled personnel. The Company is not obligated to revise or update any forward-looking statements in order to reflect events or circumstances that may arise after the date of this release. Imprisoned Iranian Civil Rights Activist Released After 65-Day Hunger Strike, With a Catch 01/04/17 Source: International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran Azeri rights advocate Morteza Moradpour has been hospitalized in Tabriz, East Azerbaijan Province, while he recovers from the 65-day hunger strike that led to his conditional release from prison. However, his legal battle is far from over because his release order requires him to report back to prison every night. Morteza Moradpour "The decision by the Tabriz judicial officials to release Morteza under Article 7 occurred because they wanted to show that they had not surrendered to his legitimate demands and didn't care about his hunger strike," his brother, Fardin Moradpour, told the Campaign for Human Rights in Iran. Morteza Moradpour was conditionally released on December 29, 2016 under Article 7 of Iran's Prison Organization's Procedural Regulations, which is normally applied to prisoners who have been authorized to work outside of prison in the day as long as they return to prison every night. Morteza Moradpour ended his hunger strike on December 28-one day after his mother begged him on YouTube not to further endanger his life. The judicial authorities in Tabriz granted him conditional release the next day. He was initially arrested at a rally in Tabriz on May 22, 2009 for peacefully advocating Azeri ethnic and environmental demands, including protecting Urmia (Oroumiyeh) Lake and maintaining the right to speak the Azeri mother tongue. He was sentenced to one year in prison for "propaganda against the state" and two years for "assembly and collusion against national security." Iranian Azerbaijanis, also known as Azeris and Turks, are Iranians of Azerbaijani ethnicity originating from East Azerbaijan Province. Morteza Moradpour began his hunger strike on October 25, 2016 to demand early release according to Article 134 of Iran's Islamic Penal Code. The Appeals Court's decision to deny the application of Article 134 to his case was "unlawful and arbitrary," said Morteza's lawyer, Jafar Afsharnia, via Facebook on December 24, 2016. On December 23, a group of prominent political and civil rights advocates expressed deep concern for Moradpour's deteriorating health and called for his immediate release. "Mr. Morteza Moradpour has been jailed for more than two years for seeking his legal rights," they said in a joint letter, a copy of which was obtained by the Campaign. "Now he is asking for the Islamic Penal Code to be applied to his case." The letter was signed by well-known figures including Ahmad Montazeri, Nasrin Sotoudeh, Taghi Rahmani, Mehdi Aminzadeh, Mehrzad Boroujerdi, Mohammad Heydari, Hassan Yousefi Eshkevari, Yasser Mirdamadi, Noushabeh Amiri, Morteza Kazemina, Reza Alijani, Abdolali Bazargan, Mohammad Maleki, and Ammar Maleki. The signees also pointed out that Moradpour's peaceful demands were not illegal. The lives of at least four political prisoners on extended hunger strikes in Iran to demand reviews of their unjust sentences are currently in serious danger. Civil rights activist Arash Sadeghi ended his 71-day hunger strike on Jan. 3, 2017 after learning that his imprisoned wife and fellow rights activist has been conditionally released. Iranian political prisoner ends his hunger strike after his wife is granted temporary furlough 01/04/17 Source: Radio Zamaneh Arash Sadeghi, a political prisoner who was on hunger strike for 72 days, has ended his strike after his demands were met and his wife, Golrokh Ebrahimi Iraee was granted a temporary leave of absence from prison. Arash Sadeghi with his wife Golrokh Ebrahimi Iraee On 3 Jan 2017 Iraee was released temporarily on a $150k (600 million Toman) bail and Sadeghi was taken to prison hospital to receive parenteral nutrition intravenously. Sadeghi, a civil and political activist is serving a 19 year sentence; Golrokh Ebrahimi Iraee is serving a six year sentence merely for an unpublished story. Amir Raiisian, Sadeghi's lawyer expressed the hope that Sadeghi will be taken to hospital for examination outside of prison grounds. However, latest reports confirm that Sadeghi is still in ward 8 of Evin prison. Arash Sadeghi's health has deteriorated during the 72 day hunger strike; he has been coughing up blood and is in need of medical care in facilities outside of prison. Sadeghi has maintained that the security authorities of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards have arrested and sentenced his wife to six years in prison as pretext to punish them more. Nassim Papayianni, who is a researcher with Amnesty International, welcomed the furlough but in a statement said: "neither she nor her husband Arash Sadeghi should have ever been forced to spend a single minute behind bars. They were unjustly detained and treated like criminals for peacefully exercising their right to freedom of expression and standing up for human rights." Golrokh Iraee's furlough was granted after as many as seven Iranian political prisoners started a hunger strike for various demands; including her husband who denied his body food for 72 days on the condition that his wife's case is re-evaluated in court. At the same time a social media campaign and a silent protest in front of Evin prison in Tehran demanded that the lives of Sadeghi and other political prisoner on hunger strike be saved. Hundreds of people took to the streets in front Evin prison in Tehran and on the palms of their hands they had written down hashtags including #SaveArash, #SaveAli and #SaveSaeed. Ali Shariati and Saeed Shirzad, two other political prisoners who are on hunger strike demanding an end to discrimination against political prisoners and access to healthcare are still on strike for 65 days and 29 days respectively. Arash Sadeghi has been in and out of prison since 2009. Sadeghi objected to the 2016 imprisonment of his wife and went on hunger strike on 24 Oct 2016. Ebrahimi Iraee was sentenced to six year in prison in 2015 for an unpublished short story she had written on the subject of stoning women for adultery in Shiite jurisprudence. Iranian Revolutionary Guard, the National Security Division had confiscated the unpublished story during a raid on Sadeghi and Iraee's apartment when they went to arrest Sadeghi on 6 September 2014. Arash Sadeghi is a former student of Allameh Tabatabai University who was expelled and arrested in relation to the 2009 disputed presidential election in Iran. Golrokh Ebrahimi Iraee and Arash Sadeghi were arrested one more time in 2014 and sentenced to respectively 15 and Six years in prison. Sadeghi who has been a political activist was charged with assembly against the state, insulting the founder of the Islamic Republic, propaganda against the state and establishing an illegal group. Iraee was charged with insulting religious sanctities and propaganda against the state. Four years were still remaining on Sadeghi's previous sentencing and so the judge in the appeals court sentenced him to 19 years in prison in total. Seven other prisoners are still on hunger strike including Ali Shariati (65 days), Saeed Shirzad (29 days), Iranian-Turkish citizen Hassan Rastegari Majd (35 days), Lebanese IT specialist Nizar Zaka (16 days), a Shiite cleric Ayatollah Mohammad Reza Nekounam (14 days) and Mehdi Kukhyan (14 days). (This program is no longer available for online streaming.) Five years after the earthquake and tsunami that triggered the unprecedented trio of meltdowns at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, scientists and engineers are struggling to control an ongoing crisis. Whats next for Fukushima? Whats next for Japan? And whats next for a world that seems determined to jettison one of our most important carbon-free sources of energy? Despite the catastropheand the ongoing risks associated with nucleara new generation of nuclear power seems poised to emerge the ashes of Fukushima. NOVA investigates how the realities of climate change, the inherent limitations of renewable energy sources, and the optimism and enthusiasm of a new generation of nuclear engineers is looking for ways to reinvent nuclear technology, all while the most recent disaster is still being managed. What are the lessons learned from Fukushima? And with all of nuclears inherent dangers, how might it be possible to build a safe nuclear future? mSecure password manager review TechRadar Pro Updated In our mSecure password manager review, we take an in-depth look at this password manager to help you decide if its the most secure way to handle your sensitive data. Putnam Legislature Approves 2023 Budget by 8-1 The Putnam Legislature concluded its budget process Friday night by approving a 2023 county budget that was $54,000 more than... Brief Budget Hearing Before Legislators It took as long to read the public notice and lay the ground rules for the 2023 budget hearing as... Minor Changes in Putnam Budget for 2023; The Putnam Legislature has concluded its budget review of County Executive MaryEllen Odells fiscal spending plan for 2023 minor modifications.... Get ready: Qualcomm executives say the companys next-generation Snapdragon 835 processor has entered production, and will soon power smartphones and augmented-reality devices beginning in the first half of 2017. While performance gains are always appreciated, the main thrust behind the Snapdragon 835 is conservative power consumptionand thats a battery-preserving benefit we all can appreciate. The company expects the Snapdragon 835 to meet or exceed the market saturation of the current flagship mobile chip, the Snapdragon 820. During a Tuesday presentation at CES, Keith Kressin, senior vice president of Snapdragon product management, noted that the Snapdragon 820 powers more than 200 different designs. Currently, Qualcomms Snapdragon chips compete with the A-series chips that Apple uses in its iPhones, as well as the Exynos chips that appear in some of Samsungs Galaxy phones. But Qualcomm silicon powers the vast majority of the remaining market, with some share going to Mediatek in the budget phone sector. On Tuesday, Qualcomm executives announced the first design wins for the 835and they arent phones. One design is an augmented-reality/virtual-reality headset manufactured by ODG, while the other is the Mattel Aristotle, described as a sort of an Amazon Echo for kids. Snapdragon 835 marketing manager Cisco Cheng said its likely that Qualcomm will announce design wins in the phone space at the end of February during Mobile World Congress. IDG / Mark Hachman ODGs AR-VE headset, powered by the Snapdragon 835. (Low) power is the point Details of the Snapdragon 835 leaked before the event, with the key benefits of the chips architecture and Kryo CPU core summed up in PowerPoint slides. Though Qualcomm didnt talk about the Snapdragon 835s logic blocks on stage, the company confirmed that they include the Qualcomm Kryo 280 CPU to power basic processing; the Qualcomm Adreno 540 GPU to handle graphics and display processing; and the Qualcomm Hexagon 682 DSP for machine learning and other repetitive tasks. IDG / Mark Hachman A summary of Qualcomms CES announcements. Qualcomm executives didnt confirm the speeds and feeds of the 835 on stage, however. Instead, Kressin prioritized power consumption: The 835, the first Snapdragon manufactured at 10 nm, will be 35 percent physically smaller than the 820, and consume 25 percent less power. Kressin said that improvement will be good enough for about two additional hours of battery life. Even better, the 835 will ship with a technology called QuickCharge 4.0, which will be designed for quickly delivering power on the go. Kressin said QuickCharge 4.0 will deliver power for five hours of talk time in just five minutes. That doesnt mean that performance is being ignored, mind you. On the contrary, graphics performance will increase by about 20 percent over the 820part of the app uplift between the older and newer generations, Kressin said. Executives also said that the latency between motion to photon would decrease by about 20 percentbasically meaning that lag will decrease in AR and VR as a benefit from the new chip. One noteworthy addition is the inclusion of native 3D audio support, so that gamers will be able to hear sounds of explosions and other effects positioned around their head. The Snapdragon 835 will also include 22 MIMO 802.11ac Wi-Fi, which Qualcomm chose to integrate in the die this time around, rather than leaving it as a separate, bulky chip. A complementary X16 gigabit modem is also included. This is the same modem that Qualcomm is building into cars to give vehicles the same (or better) connectivity than what users find in the home, executives said. IDG / Mark Hachman The connected car is a priority for Qualcomm and the 835, as well. Qualcomm said it will partner with Volkswagen for the companys 2018 and 2019 model years, providing basic connectivity and compute capabilities. The next step is autonomous driving, which Qualcomm and a host of different companies are attacking from different directions. Qualcomm, with its emphasis on connectivity, plans to partner with Ericsson to engage in V2X field trials this year. V2X, or vehicle-to-everything, uses cellular radios to communicate routes and velocity to allow cars to sense threats that the driver cannot see. Intel has a disastrous history with smartphones. It fumbled a chance to be in Apples first iPhone, and then quit making its Atom smartphone chip to focus on modems. But the company is now set to ship a groundbreaking modem that will deliver data transfer rates many times faster than most wired internet connections. The chipmaker will start shipping its first 5G modem for testing in the second half this year. Beyond mobile devices, the modem could also be used in autonomous cars, servers, base stations, networking equipment, drones, robots, and other internet-of-things devices. In name, 5G is the successor to 4G in todays mobile devices, but its significantly faster and more versatile. It will combine multiple wireless high-speed and low-bandwidth technologies and enable communications across an array of spectrum bands. New 5G networks are expected to be deployed starting in 2020. The Intel 5G Modem, as its called, is designed to provide download speeds in excess of 5Gbps, which is five times faster than todays fastest 4G modem. Its also five times faster than Google Fiber, which offers speeds of up to 1Gbps. But dont expect the modem to be installed in smartphones immediately. It will be used mainly for testing on 5G network deployments. It will also be used to test possible 5G applications, still being explored in areas like automotive tech. The benefits of 5G are enormous. Download and upload speeds will go up for devices like drones, robots, smart devices, and industrial equipment. Faster networks will help autonomous cars intercommunicate over long distances about weather and road conditions. The technology will improve mobile health-care services, which need reliable connections for patient monitoring. It will also help IoT devices remain in constant contact with servers running analytics. Intel believes as wireless becomes ubiquitous, there will be more opportunities to put its 5G modems in devices. The 5G Modem is a big move for Intel when its mobile chip future was in question after many false starts. Intels effort to put Atom chips into smartphones was a colossal failure, and the company wasted billions of dollars on the lost cause. Last year, it bailed out of the smartphone chip market and refocused on modems. Apple will reportedly use Intels 4G modems in its next iPhone, and thats a major win for the company. Apple also uses modems from Qualcomm, which is considered ahead of Intel in modem technology. Qualcomm announced its first 5G modem, the Snapdragon X50, in October. Intel is slowly catching up, but Qualcomm also has the advantage by integrating high-speed modems inside its Snapdragon chips that power smartphones. Intel does not plan to offer Atom chips for smartphones anytime soon, though it has hinted that it could make such chips if opportunities arise. Intel until now provided FPGAs (field programmable gate arrays) that could be programmed to mimic modems. But the 5G modem will be needed to obtain results from real-world testing. The new 5G technology will be important for autonomous cars, which may make driving decisions by consulting remote servers to recognize objects, signs, and lights, said Kathy Winter, vice president and general manager of the automated driving division at Intel. Intel also announced autonomous vehicle development kits ready for 5G at CES. Intel is also building an autonomous car with BMW and Mobileye that could be ready to hit the streets by 2021. Its possible that Intel will put its 5G modem in that car. Intels 5G Modem supports the sub-6GHz band, where cellular networks typically operate. It also supports the 28GHz millimeter-wave band, which should enable deployment trials in U.S., South Korea, and Japan, Intel said. The 28GHz band allows for faster data transfers and is expected to be used for 5G networks. Car makers Ford and Toyota have announced the SmartDeviceLink Consortium, a nonprofit to manage open source software for the interface of Android and iOS smartphone apps with their vehicle infotainment systems. Mazda Motor, PSA Group, Fuji Heavy Industries and Suzuki Motor are the first automaker members of the consortium. Elektrobit, Luxoft, and Xevo have joined as the first supplier members, while Harman, Panasonic, Pioneer and QNX have signed letters of intent to join, according to an announcement Wednesday by Ford and Toyota. BlackBerry subsidiary QNX Software Systems already powers Fords Sync 3 infotainment system, as the Canadian company moves its focus to software, including for automotive applications. By using an open source platform, the car makers hope to give themselves and their suppliers a standard with which to integrate apps with the vehicle display screen, steering wheel controls and voice recognition. Having a common platform adopted by many car makers would attract developers, who can benefit by integrating one linking technology used by all participating automakers. The open source project will be managed by Livio, a software startup Ford acquired in 2013, which will work with early adopters to build the interfaces for each vehicle environment. Apple and Google are already offering technologies that integrate smartphones with the infotainment systems of cars, and these have been adopted by many car makers. Ford itself said in January last year that it was increasing the number of smartphone functions that can be controlled from car interfaces by adding support for Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and introducing more apps for its Sync in-vehicle connectivity system for some of its vehicles. SmartDeviceLink is based on Fords contribution of its AppLink software to the open source community in 2013. The AppLink connectivity interface, released to the Genivi Alliance, allowed drivers to take control of compatible smartphone apps through dashboard buttons or voice commands, and is already available on more than 5 million vehicles globally. Toyota Motor said in January last year it would adopt SmartDeviceLink technology for its vehicles. Automakers PSA Peugeot Citroen, Honda, Mazda and Subaru were also considering adding the software, Ford said at the time. Toyota plans to launch a telematics system that integrates SmartDeviceLink by about 2018. The U.S. Department of Labor has filed a lawsuit against Google, with the companys ability to win government contracts at risk. The agency is seeking what it calls routine information about wages and the companys equal opportunity program. The agency filed a lawsuit with its Office of Administrative Law Judges to gain access to the information, it announced Wednesday. Google, as a federal contractor, is required to provide the data as part of a compliance check by the agencys Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP), according to the Department of Labor. The inquiry is focused on Googles compliance with equal employment laws, the agency said. Like other federal contractors, Google has a legal obligation to provide relevant information requested in the course of a routine compliance evaluation, OFCCP Acting Director Thomas Dowd said in a press release. Despite many opportunities to produce this information voluntarily, Google has refused to do so. Google said its provided hundreds of thousands of records to the agency over the past year, including some related to wages. However, a handful of OFCCP data requests were overbroad or would reveal confidential data, the company said in a statement. Weve made this clear to the OFCCP, to no avail, the statement added. These requests include thousands of employees private contact information which we safeguard rigorously. Google must allow the federal government to inspect and copy records relevant to compliance, the Department of Labor said. The agency requested the information in September 2015, but Google provided only partial responses, an agency spokesman said by email. Google refused to provide some wage information requested by the agency, according to the lawsuit. The agency is asking the court to cancel all of Googles current government contracts and to bar the company from entering into future contracts if it does not comply with the information request. This story has been updated to include Googles comments on the lawsuit. LAGUNA HILLS, Calif., Jan. 04, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- PharmaCyte Biotech, Inc. (OTCQB:PMCB), a clinical stage biotechnology company focused on developing targeted treatments for cancer and diabetes using its signature live-cell encapsulation technology, Cell-in-a-Box, today announced that it will be meeting with the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER) of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Tuesday, January 17, 2017. The meeting is to discuss numerous aspects of PharmaCytes planned clinical trial in locally advanced, inoperable pancreatic cancer (LAPC). PharmaCytes Chief Executive Officer, Kenneth L. Waggoner, commenting on the meeting said, "We are pleased that PharmaCyte will be starting out the New Year with a meeting with CBER. PharmaCyte has submitted a list of important questions to the FDA that will be essential to the design of our trial and how it is to be conducted. The questions also touch on the need for any additional information to be developed or submitted to the FDA before PharmaCyte files its Investigational New Drug application (IND). We are looking forward to CBERs responses so that we can continue with our product development of an effective and safe therapy for LAPC. PharmaCyte recently submitted questions to the FDA as part of its pre-IND submission package. With answers to these questions and any additional information provided by CBER during the January 17 meeting, PharmaCyte will address any open issues or requests of CBER before preparing its IND. Once the IND is submitted and found to be acceptable to the FDA, PharmaCyte can proceed with its planned clinical trial in LAPC and enroll patients at the selected trial sites throughout the U.S. PharmaCytes clinical trial in patients with LAPC is designed to meet a clear unmet medical need for those whose cancer no longer responds after 4-6 months of treatment with the combination of Abraxane plus gemcitabine. The trial will be open-label and multi-site in nature - with sites in the U.S. and Europe. Patients with LAPC will be randomized equally into two groups. One group will receive gemcitabine chemotherapy alone, and the other group will receive PharmaCytes pancreatic cancer therapy (encapsulated genetically modified live human cells that can activate the cancer prodrug ifosfamide plus low doses of ifosfamide to eliminate side effects from the chemotherapy). In addition to comparing the anticancer activity and safety of the two therapies, a major aspect of the trial will be to determine if, and how well, PharmaCytes therapy can shrink inoperable tumors so that they become operable. About PharmaCyte Biotech PharmaCyte Biotech a clinical stage biotechnology company developing therapies for cancer and diabetes based upon a proprietary cellulose-based live cell encapsulation technology known as Cell-in-a-Box. This technology will be used as a platform upon which therapies for several types of cancer and diabetes are being developed. PharmaCytes therapy for cancer involves encapsulating genetically engineered human cells that convert an inactive chemotherapy drug into its active or cancer-killing form. These encapsulated cells are implanted as close to the patients cancerous tumor as possible. Once implanted, a chemotherapy drug that is normally activated in the liver (ifosfamide) is given intravenously at one-third the normal dose. The ifosfamide is carried by the circulatory system to where the encapsulated cells have been implanted. When the ifosfamide comes in contact with the encapsulated cells they act as an artificial liver and activate the chemotherapy drug at the source of the cancer. This targeted chemotherapy has proven effective and safe to use in past clinical trials and results in no side effects. In addition to developing a novel therapy for cancer, PharmaCyte is developing a treatment for Type 1 diabetes and insulin-dependent Type 2 diabetes. PharmaCyte plans to encapsulate a human cell line that has been genetically engineered to produce, store and release insulin in response to the levels of blood sugar in the human body. The encapsulation will be done using the Cell-in-a-Box technology. Once the encapsulated cells are implanted in a diabetic patient they will function as a bio-artificial pancreas for purposes of insulin production. Safe Harbor This press release may contain forward-looking statements regarding PharmaCyte Biotech and its future events and results that involve inherent risks and uncertainties. The words "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "expect", "intend", "plan" and similar expressions, as they relate to PharmaCyte or its management, are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Important factors, many of which are beyond the control of PharmaCyte, could cause actual results to differ materially from those set forth in the forward-looking statements. They include PharmaCyte's ability to continue as a going concern, delays or unsuccessful results in preclinical and clinical trials, flaws or defects regarding its product candidates, changes in relevant legislation or regulatory requirements, uncertainty of protection of PharmaCytes intellectual property and PharmaCytes continued ability to raise capital. PharmaCyte does not assume any obligation to update any of these forward-looking statements. More information about PharmaCyte Biotech can be found at www.PharmaCyte.com. It can also be obtained by contacting Investor Relations. There have been 11 schools superintendents since Riverside County was formed in 1893. All have been white men. That could change when county trustees replace departing Superintendent Kenn Young this month. Moreno Valley Unified Superintendent Judy White, an African-American woman, could make history if shes named to the post. White and Paul Jessup, county schools deputy superintendent and chief administrative officer, appear to be front-runners as they are the only two candidates on the suggested interview list. Riverside County school board members are set to meet Wednesday, Jan. 4, to discuss the applicants. Tucker said he will recommend the board interview White and Jessup at a special meeting Wednesday, Jan. 11. Jessup and White are the only two candidates with the desired administrative experience and who are current Riverside County residents and registered voters, a requirement at the time of appointment, Tucker said. The others simply dont rise to the level of qualifications that would make them a finalist, he said. All previous county schools chiefs were white men, said Craig Petinak, spokesman for the Riverside County Office of Education. Of the 10 people who applied, seven met the minimum qualifications of having a teaching or services credential and an administrative services credential, officials said. The appointee will serve the remaining two years on Youngs four-year elected term, which ends in January 2019. Young, whose last day is Wednesday, Jan. 4, took a senior director position with Advancement Via Individual Determination, AVID, a San Diego-based nonprofit that aims to prepare high school graduates for college. Before he became deputy superintendent in July 2007, Jessup was superintendent of the Alvord Unified School District, which serves west Riverside and part of Corona, for four years. His nearly four-decade education career includes many years as a teacher and administrator in the Yucaipa-Calimesa Joint Unified School District. The depth and breadth of my experience and successes are rare, and, in total, make me uniquely qualified for the county superintendent job, Jessup wrote in a letter expressing interest in the position. White, who has served as Moreno Valley Unified schools chief almost six years, previously worked as a teacher and administrator, including deputy superintendent, in the San Bernardino City Unified School District. If you are searching for stability and innovation, experience and competence, with a servant leaders heart, then I am the one, White wrote in her interest letter. The superintendents responsibilities include fiscal and academic oversight of the countys 23 school districts and leading the Riverside County Office of Education, which has more than 1,600 employees and a $285 million annual budget. The county school board sets the superintendents salary. The other applicants are Susan Bobbitt-Voth, a special education administrator for the San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools; Mina Hutchins, pupil personnel and special education director for the El Monte City School District; Micheline Miglis, executive director of the non-profit Get FocusedStay Focused! National Resource Center; Christopher Lee Schiermeyer, assistant superintendent for the San Lorenzo Valley Unified School District near Santa Cruz; and Patrick Traynor, superintendent of the Alpine County Office of Education and Alpine County Unified School District in northern California. Contact the writer: 951-368-9292 orstwall@scng.comTwitter: @pe_swall Ontario police are turning to the public for help in finding two children allegedly abducted by their father nearly a decade ago. Detectives have exhausted all investigative leads in this case and hope the public can help generate new leads in an effort to locate the missing children, an Ontario Police Department news release issued Wednesday says. In October 2007, Francisco Flores failed to return his children, then 3-year-old Tammy Flores, and Diego Flores, then 2, to their mother, Griselda Gonzalez Flores, police officials said in the release. Gonzalez Flores took the children, who lived in Victorville, to the Ontario Police Department to exchange custody with her estranged husband, Flores. The children were to spend the week with their father and then be returned to the mother, in accordance to the court custody order, police officials said. The day following the exchange, Gonzalez Flores tried to call her husband to check on the children, but police say she was not able to complete the call, and it appeared the number had been disconnected. The mother tried several additional unsuccessful calls throughout the week, and when Flores failed to return the children, she filed a police report. Detectives learned only a few days prior to the exchange, Flores had received more than $100,000 in cash when he refinanced his home and sold his car, according to police. A court granted Gonzalez Flores full custody of the children and the San Bernardino County District Attorneys Office has issued a $1 million kidnapping and child abduction warrant for Flores arrest. Ontario police say Francisco Flores and the children may be living locally, or they may be in Mexico. Flores is Hispanic, now 42, standing 6 feet tall and weighing about 210 pounds. He has black hair and brown eyes and has a mole on each cheek and under his nose. Police released Wednesday age-progressed photos of what the children and Flores may look like today and ask anyone who may have information on where they may be to call Ontario police Detective Jeff Crittenden at 909-395-2734 or Detective Byron Lee at 909-395-2746. Like the Daily Bulletin on Facebook. Authorities determined on Wednesday the female body found 325 feet down an embankment off Pacific Coast Highway Northern San Luis Obispo County was Olivia Hannah Gonzalez, the missing 20-year-old woman from North Hollywood. CHP Officer Patrick Seebart made the announcement in an emailed statement and added that our condolences go out to the family and friends of Olivia. There was no information on the still missing Brian Fernandez in the statement or release. Additionally, there was not going to be a vehicle recovery on Wednesday because of the weather, CHP officials said in a separate release. We are looking at a possible recovery day of this Thursday or Friday, depending on when we can get a break in the weather, the CHP said in the release. Previously, authorities were trying to determine if a tan-colored sedan with a female body and a deceased light brown Labrador retriever mix nearby all found 325 feet down a steep embankment on the Central Coast are connected to a missing North Hollywood couple. The California Highway Patrol reported a traffic death at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday off of Pacific Coast Highway, just south of Ragged Point in northern San Luis Obispo County. Tony Cipolla of the San Luis Obispo County Sheriffs Department previously said Wednesday that coroners investigators are trying to identify the female, but challenging conditions have made it tough. You have to understand the severity of the crash, Cipolla said. The body most likely had been at that location for several days. And its raining very heavily right now. The decomposition process has begun, and that makes it a challenge to determine the identity. The dog had no identifying tags, Cipolla added. Gonzalez, 20, and Fernandez, 21, went missing during a holiday road trip to Big Sur, the Los Angeles Police Department reported last week. The duo, who had been dating on and off for months, were last seen Dec. 23, and it is unclear if they reached their destination or headed somewhere else. The couple was traveling with Fernandezs large dogs, a brown husky and a golden retriever named Scooby and Luno, family members said. Cipolla said it was raining heavily on Wednesday in the area, and numerous rocks and boulders, combined with steep terrain, are making the search and recovery operation very treacherous and hampering rescuers efforts. Additionally, Cipolla said there was an ongoing search to try and find other possible victims. In a statement, Seebart said rescue personnel had to be extremely careful as they made their way to the vehicle and recovered the bodies of the woman and the dog. After learning of a report about a vehicle off the road Tuesday, a CHP helicopter and ground units found a car about 25 feet down a steep embankment resting near the shoreline of the Pacific Ocean, the CHPs Seebart reported. The helicopter described the vehicle as a tan sedan and saw a deceased person and a dead dog about 15 feet away from the vehicle, officials said. Fernandez, the LAPD previously said, was last seen driving a 2002 four-door tan Honda Civic with California license plate 5VUD295. Because of the terrain and bad weather, the CHP reported, the helicopter had to leave the scene as rescue personnel made their way to the vehicle. The vehicle could not be recovered Tuesday night because of the darkness, weather and terrain, authorities said, and will be recovered as soon as the weather allows. While the CHP is investigating the traffic crash, the San Luis Obispo County Sheriffs Department is conducting the search and rescue operations, and the San Luis Obispo County coroners office will identify the recovered body. Fernandezs mother, when reached by phone Wednesday morning, said I dont want to talk with anybody right now and hung up. Three people were displaced Tuesday, Jan. 3, after a fire tore through a mobile home in Eastvale. Flames were reported at 11:17 p.m. at the Swan Lake Mobile Home Park in the 5800 block of Hamner Avenue, according to a news release from the Cal Fire/Riverside County Fire Department. The flames were contained in under 30 minutes. The American Red Cross was called to assist those who were displaced. Time to make the chimichangas. It looks like 2016 was the year of the pool. Deadpool that is. The Writers Guild of America announced its nominations for screenplays Wednesday, Jan. 4 and the Marvel Comics action-comedy scored a nod for Best Adapted Screenplay. Other adapted screenplay nominations include Arrival, Fences, Hidden Figures and Nocturnal Animals. Writers of the films Hell or High Water, La La Land, Loving, Manchester by the Sea and Moonlight were nominated for best original screenplay. The WGA Awards will be presented Feb. 19 at the Beverly Hilton in a ceremony hosted by actor-comedian Patton Oswalt. A separate ceremony will be held simultaneously in New York. WGA nominations were announced last month in the television, new media, news, radio and promotional writing categories. Videogame writing nominations will be announced Jan. 12. The nominations announced Wednesday were: Original Screenplay Hell or High Water, written by Taylor Sheridan La La Land, written by Damien Chazelle Loving, written by Jeff Nichols Manchester by the Sea, written by Kenneth Lonergan Moonlight, written by Barry Jenkins, story by Tarell McCraney Adapted Screenplay Arrival, screenplay by Eric Heisserer; based on the story Story of Your Life by Ted Chiang Deadpool, written by Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick; based on the X-Men comic books Fences, screenplay by August Wilson, based on his play Hidden Figures, screenplay by Allison Schroeder and Thoedore Melfi; based on the book by Margot Lee Shetterly Nocturnal Animals, screenplay by Tom Ford; based on the novel Tony and Susan by Austin Wright Documentary Screenplay Author: The JT LeRoy Story, written by Jeff Feuerzeig Command and Control, telescript by Robert Kenner and Eric Schlosser; story by Brian Pearle and Kim Roberts; based on the book Command and Control by Eric Schlosser Zero Days, written by Alex Gibney Maybe fish and chips (and some pub games?) can solve the riddle that is the corner of Third and Mercedes streets in Old Town Temecula. A team of investors, which includes Craig Puma of The Bank, is opening up a new British pub restaurant concept called The Bridge on Third at that location, which has been the home in recent years to a comedy club restaurant, 3rd Street Live; a motorcycle-themed BBQ place, Third Street Smokehouse and a down-home BBQ outfit, Sweet Lumpys. Im very hopeful, very excited for it, Puma said Tuesday. According to the restaurants Facebook page, there has been a lot of work done on the interior of the building, a tidy structure fronted by an expansive patio, to get ready for a grand opening later this month. The Bridge is getting primed and readytwo coats at a time..lolbut what a difference. The British are coming! an admin posted on its page. Prospective customers have already submitted requests for the menu, which will reportedly be handled by an experienced top local chef, and diversions, a list that includes prawn crackers, sausage rolls, decent cider and pub games. There are no similar dining establishments in Old Town and if the place is able to survive for a couple of years it may be situated in a great spot in front of the luxury hotel planned for opposite corner of Mercedes and Third. http://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js Retirement is not in Ryan Dungeys immediate plans. The motorcycle racer had a lot of time to think while recovering from his first serious injury. The 27-year-old suffered a broken vertebra during the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Thunder Valley Nationals in June in Lakewood, Colorado. He returned to racing at the Monster Energy Cup in October and begins a push for his third consecutive AMA Monster Energy Supercross title on Saturday at Angel Stadium. In his eighth season in the top supercross class, Dungey is reaching a point where many motocross racers start to consider retirement. He enters the 2017 season in the last year of a contract with Red Bull KTM. During the time off, he told RedBull.com, Ill use this time to rejuvenate and come back for one good push in the sport in all areas, on the track, off the track, for my team and for the acceleration of KTM. Did that mean retirement is imminent? I dont know, thats the thing, he told Red Bull. Right now, I want to take it one year at a time; its hard to look any further past that, but right now thats where my minds at. Fast-forward six months. Dungey, who tested last week at the KTM track in Corona, said he has had plenty of time to rethink his thoughts of retirement. Why was I thinking like that? Dungey said after the practice session. Honestly, I have not even thought about that. I know I am no spring chicken and this is not the first year for me. As long as my heart is in it, I want and will race. It was hard at times. But hard times makes you better and stronger. For a sport in which racers are seemingly riddled with season-ending injuries, Dungey had gone through seasons relatively unscathed until he went over the handlebars in the second moto at Thunder Valley. He finished the race in fourth place, second overall, and then discovered he had broken the C6 vertebra in his neck, near the spinal cord. It was a blessing in disguise, he said. I could refresh physically and mentally. My schedule is pretty busy with a lot of race volume and over time, like anything, you just get overloaded and it wears on you. So, was there truly a change of heart? A little time away and I could rejuvenate, he said. At the time, I was kind of in it so deep I could not see myself getting out. I had a little time away to reflect and look at different things and I said, Wow! I could not be better. Dungey and his wife, Lindsay, could travel from their home in Tallahassee, Florida, to visit his family in Belle Plaine, Minnesota. I was able to use the time to do things I normally could not do, he said. I could see people and family I do not see much. Dungey won his first supercross title as a rookie in 2010 for Suzuki. He did not win another title until 2015, the longest stretch between a rider winning supercross championships. He won nine supercross races last year and had 16 podium finishes in the 17 races for his second consecutive title. The melding of Dungey, general manager Roger DeCoster, trainer Aldon Baker and KTM, which had never won an American supercross title until two years ago, has been a hit. Dungey has won 31 supercross races, sixth most in the series. He also won the motocross title in 2015. He was second in points when he got hurt at Thunder Valley. Its time to go racing, he said. Time to focus on ourselves. I feel comfortable, confident and excited for what is to come. I am ready for the challenge. I feel with my body everything is well. Ive put in a lot work and a hard load. My body feels good. Dungey said he has not talked to DeCoster or KTM about a contract extension. Honestly, I have not even thought about that, Dungey said. I am focusing on one contract at a time. This year is my main focus. Those other things well get around to. I feel like Im in a great position to win. Dungey did not need a neck brace to recover from his injury. Only rest. He was back on his bike in August and raced in the Monster Energy Cup on Oct. 15 in Las Vegas, getting three podium finishes and taking second overall. Every year you think it gets easy and then you get a big reality check, he said of the competition. You always want to be on top of things. Youre pushing to get better and you do not want to get beat. Racing is pretty intense these days. Dungeys loyalty to his friends and teammates could easily spread to more years with KTM. It was a risk when he joined the Austrian company six seasons ago. It took some years, he said. We had some ups and downs and hard times that makes you stronger. When I came on to KTM, it was very accomplished in Europe, but here in America, nobody wanted to have a factory ride with KTM. I took a gamble and so did Roger and the team. I knew it was the right people. I wanted to do something unique. A lot of people thought I was crazy and it would never work. I never listened to those voices. I am not so much proud of what we have done, but rather thankful to be a part of it. KTM keeps investing into the team and the program. Now all the top motocross riders want to ride for the brand. http://launch.newsinc.com/js/embed.js ANAHEIM It was the last chance to drop for the Tower of Terror before it disappeared forever into the Twilight Zone of yesterland and many fans dropped in at Disney California Adventure on Monday to take a final ride. Caitlyn McNulty drove in from Las Vegas for the last day. I wouldnt miss the funeral of my favorite ride, she said. The ride is getting a makeover to a more sci/fi fantasy theme. When it reopens this summer, it will be called Guardians of the Galaxy Mission Breakout! It will feature characters from the Marvel movie series and a whole new look. The makeover was announced last summer by Marvels producer Kevin Feige at the San Diego Comic-Con, and is the first ride at the Disneyland Resort based on a movie from the Marvel Comics universe. It will retain the elevator-drop that has been a key part of Tower of Terror. var _ndnq = _ndnq || []; _ndnq.push([embed]); Many people visited the park to ride it one last time before its closure and were lamenting its departure. We drove four hours just to get here and ride it today, said Lynn Merritt of Visalia. She was there with her husband Dan. RELATED Changing Twilight Zone Tower of Terror into Guardians of the Galaxy makes sense We dont want it to go and we want to write to someone and dont know who to write to, she said. It was added to the theme park in 2004 as a major attraction, three years after Disney California Adventure opened to disappointing business. It became an anchor to Hollywood Land, and was based loosely on The Twilight Zone television series, similar to its sister attraction at Disney Hollywood Studios in Orlando. While some lamented the loss of the current version, others were looking forward to the first Marvel-based ride at the Disneyland Resort. Im optimistic for the change, I think it will be cool, said Jayna Bosse of Dana Point. Cast members running the attraction on Monday were busy dealing with long lines with wait times of more than two hours. People are being pretty good about the wait, said Christine Tran, a lead on the ride. This is one of the attractions where you can really immerse yourself. The new version is scheduled to open with the release of the sequel to the Guardians of the Galaxy movie in May. The movie stars Chris Pratt as Star-Lord, and will feature Disney Legend Kurt Russell. Contact the writer: meades@scng.com or follow on twitter @markaeades The conflict in Iraq and war with the Islamic State are the scheduled topics of a talk Thursday, Jan. 12 in Riverside. World Affairs Council Inland Southern California is sponsoring the speech by Bayan Sami Abdul Rahman, Kurdistan regional government representative to the United States. Abdul Rahman is set to discuss the Kurdistan region geographically and culturally as it relates to the complex situation in northern Iraq, including a financial and humanitarian crisis that has swelled the regions population by 30 percent. She also is expected to address the United States battle against ISIS that spans 600 miles. The event begins at 5:30 p.m. with a reception and the talk starts at 6:15 p.m. at Marriott Hotel Riverside Convention Center, 3400 Market St., Riverside. Admission is $45 for World Affairs Council members and $55 for non-members. Students arriving at 6:15 p.m. are free. Contact the writer: 951-368-9292, stwall@scng.com, @pe_swall Sage College students are starting the year with a loss. The Moreno Valley school that specializes in training court reporters shut its doors Tuesday, stranding about 350 students. Those students had received emails about the closure Friday. It feels like a slap in the face, said Serenity Rodriguez, 24, of Redlands, who was only a few months shy of completing what she and others described as a strenuous program. She and other students said they had been assured, despite recent problems, the school would remain open. Sage College is the latest in a series of private for-profit colleges to abruptly quit the business. Unlike some other such institutions, however, there were no claims that the school had a bad actor. Instead, it fell victim to the actions of its accrediting agency, the Accrediting Council of Independent Colleges and Schools. The ACICS came under scrutiny as the accreditor for Corinthian Colleges. That Santa Ana-based company was accused by the government of deceptive recruiting practices and of inflating its graduation and placement numbers, among other things. Corinthian was fined $30 million by the Department of Education and, shortly after, closed its chain of colleges in April 2015. ITT also was accused of deceptive practices and of issuing students unnecessary loans. It closed its 130 campuses in 38 states in September. On Dec. 16, ACICS lost its final appeal to retain its standing with the Department of Education. All of the schools under its purview, including Sage College, lost accreditation. Under DOE rules, those schools had 18 months to find another accrediting agency. In November, Executive Director Lauren Somma, who reportedly had been meeting with other accrediting agencies since June, posted a quote from Walt Disney on her Facebook page: Its fun to do the impossible. But Sages FAQ page on Tuesday told a different story. We learned that Court Reporting programs do not meet required benchmarks to qualify for the approval process, the material says, therefore moving forward in that direction was not a viable option for us. Robert Rasha is Sages information technology director and one of a handful of staffers still working. Most, including the schools 50 faculty members, were laid off at the same time students got the email about the closure. My phone has been blowing up since this all happened, Rasha said. Rasha said the school had pared back its operation just over a year ago. It has offices in San Diego, but it stopped training students at that site in October 2015. Moreno Valley was its only campus. We had a great reputation in the industry, he said. We send more court reporters to the state exam than any other school. Andrea Rinker, a district representative for the Deposition Reporters Association of California, agreed with that assessment. She said only 100 court reporters pass the state exam annually they must score 97.5 percent or higher and Sage College was a top producer. Rasha said the impact of the closure is not limited to Sages students. This is something that affects all the (California) court reporting schools, he said. They have all lost their accreditation. Actually, only one other Southern California private court reporting college lost its accreditation when ACICS lost its standing. A woman at South Coast College in Orange, who identified herself only as Sharon, said the school was working with two agencies on gaining accreditation and that she expected the school would remain open. Rinker said Sages closure would impact the industry. There is already a shortage of court reporters in California, she said. She was at the Moreno Valley campus Tuesday, encouraging the students to continue their education. She said most other court reporter schools would accept the credits students had earned at Sage not always the case with private for-profit colleges. Jocelyn Epperson, coordinator for the court reporting program at Downey Adult School in Downey, said her program would most definitely accept such credits and has space for students. Downey is one of the closest of a limited number of options for the students. With the closure of Sage, there are only 12 schools in the state recognized by the California Court Reporters Association. But even Downey is too far for Jessica Davis, 25, of Menifee. She is a single mother with two children. Commuting more than an hour to school is not possible, she said. She planned to look into online programs to complete the nine tests she had left to take out of the 42 required by her program. Disheartened at first by the email she received I thought it was a joke she said shes now determined. I feel more fired-up than anything, Davis said. Im just going to practice harder and finish faster. Ashley Hirsch, 31, of Beaumont said she also would figure out a way to go forward. Still, she said, its a hard way to begin the year. They just blindsided us with this, she said. We dont have any guidance. Thats whats so hurtful about it. Officials with the Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education plan to meet with students later this week to discuss their options for continued education and financial assistance. No meeting time has been announced. Contact the writer: 951-368-9595 or mmuckenfuss@scng.com NEW YORK and BANGKOK, Thailand, Jan. 04, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Translations.com, a division of TransPerfect, the world's largest privately held provider of language services and translation-related technologies, today announced an engagement with major Thai air carrier Bangkok Airways. Translations.com will support the launch and ongoing maintenance of the airlines booking site in Simplified Chinese with more language sites pending release in 2017. To further establish its growing presence in Asia, Bangkok Airways launched its Simplified Chinese booking site using TransPerfects GlobalLink OneLink; a proxy-based website localization solution that automates many of the manual tasks associated with the translation of global content. With more languages to come, OneLink will simplify the ongoing maintenance of www.bangkokair.com by automatically routing new content to TransPerfects production department for translation and placing the translated content back on the localized site. According to Prote Setsuwan, Vice President of Marketing at Bangkok Airways, OneLink has helped us to kick-start our global expansion in a manner which is both cost-effective and low maintenance from an internal resources perspective. I am confident our newly localized sites will be key to increasing our market share. Bangkok Airways has a clear vision for international expansion, and fully embraces the benefits of establishing their presence in Asia, added TransPerfect Co-CEO Liz Elting. We are excited to be their partner of choice to help meet the needs of their growing passenger base. Phil Shawe, Co-CEO of TransPerfect commented, We are pleased to be able to partner with a respected airline like Bangkok Airways. As they begin their globalization journey, we look forward to providing support for their efforts to reach new customers abroad. About Bangkok Airways First established as Sahakol Air in 1968, Bangkok Airways operates routes to more than 20 destinations in Thailand and Asia. The airline services many of the region's popular tourist spots, including Siem Reap in Cambodia, the Maldives, Yangon and Mandalay in Myanmar, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Mumbai in India, Dhaka in Bangladesh, Danang in Vietnam and Phuket, Koh Samui and Chiang Mai in Thailand. About Translations.com With annual revenues of over $500 million, Translations.com is a leading provider of enterprise localization services and technology solutions. From offices in over 90 cities on six continents, Translations.com offers a full range of services in 170+ languages to clients worldwide. More than 3,000 global organizations employ Translations.coms GlobalLink Product Suite to simplify management of multilingual content. Translations.com is part of the TransPerfect family of companies, with global headquarters in New York and regional headquarters in London and Hong Kong. For more information, please visit www.translations.com. President John Mahama has urged the international community to offer the incoming Nana Akufo-Addo administration same support he received during his tenure, as he receives credentials from three envoys. According to Mr. Mahama, Ghana needs same support from its foreign counterparts even as the country transitions into a new administration. Mahama is leaving office on January 7, 2017 having lost the December elections to opposition leader Nana Akufo-addo. Speaking at the Flagstaff House on Tuesday after receiving credentials of the Indian High Commissioner, Iranian and Moroccan ambassadors, Mahama lauded the three countries for their continuous support for the development of the West African country. India has been one of the greatest and closest friends of Ghana We wish to express our appreciation to India, Mahama stated. He added: We are in transition from one government to another and Ghana has consolidated her democratic credentials. We are on the task of completing the transition. Im sure India is going to continue to be a strong and important partner and you are going to get as much cooperation in your new role from the incoming administration. President Mahama had earlier chaired his last cabinet meeting before receiving the envoys. The meeting was used to wrap up his four-year tenure as president and eight years of the National Democratic Congress administration Source: starrfmonline.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 Parliament reconvenes today (Wednesday) to conclude activities of the 6th Parliament of the Fourth Republic. Key on the agenda will be the presentation of the State of the Nation address by outgoing President John Dramani Mahama on Thursday which will be his last, with Parliament expected to dissolve on the midnight of Friday January 6. What is not certain is whether the Right to Information (RTI)Bill which is scheduled for Third Reading will be passed before the dissolution. The right to information which is a fundamental human right guaranteed by the countrys 1992 Constitution and recognized as a right under International Conventions on Human rights has been on the desk for many years awaiting the final passage.. The current parliament, though has made progress with the Bill, there are currently 24 proposed amendments left to be made to the Bill. The Majority caucus accused the Minority side of dragging its feet in the consideration of the remaining amendments left to be worked on before passage of the substantive Bill. But the Minority in Parliament rejected such claims by the majority caucus. 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 President John Mahamas adviser on corruption Daniel Batidam has described the incoming administrations decision to appoint a special prosecutor to deal with corruption as an exercise in futility. Nana Akufo Addo who is set to be officially sworn-in on Saturday has pledged to set up the office of the special prosecutor to fight the menace. But Mr. Batidam told Starr News, no special office created to fight corruption will be effective if the attorney generals position is not decoupled from the minister of justice. For me its not the way to go in setting up a special prosecutor, whoever does any kind of work under the present constitution that we have, it will end on the desk of the attorney general. Unless you amend the constitution to take the powers that are granted the attorney general, it will be an exercise in futility. Source: starrfmonline.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 It is largely believed Ministers who attend Cabinet meetings are under an oath of secrecy never to divulge to the public issues discussed during their sitting; but Peacefmonline.com can confirm that several ministers, who attended President John Dramani Mahamas last cabinet meeting couldnt hold back their tears. The outgoing president held his last Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, and when he announced to the gathering that it would be his last time with them as president, a doleful atmosphere took over, leading to some ministers being drowned in their own tears. Minister for Youth and Sports, Hon. Nii Lante Vanderpuije made this startling disclosure on Radio Gold in an interview Wednesday. According to the out-going minister who also represents the people of Odododiodio in Parliament, it only took words of encouragement from President Mahama to cheer them up again. He added that after President Mahamas speech during the sitting, they all exchanged smiles and hugs to demonstrate their happiness. President Mahama and his vice then stood at the corridor after the meeting and each minister went to them to greet them, he said. The Cabinet Established by Articles 76(1), 76(2), and 77(1) of the Constitution, the Cabinet assists the President in the determination of the general policy of government. The history of the Cabinet dates back to 1957, when Ghanas founding President Kwame Nkrumah formed the first government. Established by Articles 76(1), 76(2), and 77(1) of the Constitution, the Cabinet assists the President in the determination of the general policy of government. The Cabinet consists of not less than 10 and not more than 19 Ministers of State. The President, who chairs Cabinet, reserves the right to withdraw a decision of Cabinet prior to its submission to Parliament for approval. In the absence of the President, the Vice-President chairs Cabinet meetings. (Source: presidency.gov.gh) The Cabinet includes the President, the Vice President and 19 Ministries the Ministers of Finance, Foreign Affairs & Regional Integration, Defence, Justice and Attorney General, Interior, Education, Lands and Natural Resources, Local Government & Rural Development, Water Resources, Works and Housing, Communications, Gender, Children and Social Protection, Health, Trade and Industry, Environment, Science, Technology & Innovation, Roads and Highways, and Power, as well as Food and Agriculture. 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 The Ashanti Regional Chairman of the victorious New Patriotic Party (NPP) Mr. Bernard Antwi Boasiako has begun a campaign to redefine the historical tradition of the party. The young and energetic Regional Chairman of the party wants the party's tradition, currently known as Danquah-Busia-Dombo to be known and called Danquah-Busia-Dombo-Akoto tradition, in recognition of the invaluable role played by the late Chief Linguist of the Asante Kingdom, Baffour Osei Akoto. The late Chief Linguist (Akyeamehene) is credited with the formation of the National Liberation Movement (NLM) which together with the Northern People's Party later metamorphosed into the now New Patriotic Party. The late Baffour Akoto, who was incarcerated by the CPP regime headed by Ghana's first President, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, was said to have sacrificed his life for the survival of the UP tradition. History has it that the seed money of 7,000.00 pounds was donated by the then Ashanti King to set the tone for the formation of the NLM whose idea was masterminded by the late Baffour Osei Akoto. Since then the NPP tradition has been known and called Danquah-Busia-Dombo with the name of Baffour Akoto Osei conspicuously missing. However, several years down the line, it appears that history maybe rewritten with the Ashanti Regional Chairman pushing an agenda to get the facts corrected. The young and energetic Chairman Wontumi is reportedly preparing to send petitions to the various hierarchies of the party including the National Executive Committee, National Council of Elders, Office of the President-elect, Regional Executive Committee and all other hierarchies within the party. Chairman Wontumi, in justifying his decision, alluded to the famous speech made by the National Chairman of the Council of Elders, Mr. C. K Tedam, during the party's National Congress in Tamale, where he played glowing tribute to the late Chief Linguist for his role and influence resulting in a successful alliance leading to the formation of the NPP. Mr. Tedam in his speech made reference to how both leaderships of the NLM and the Northern People's Party unanimously agreed to make the late Chief Linguist the leader of the alliance because of his political experience and organizational competence. 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 Former President of the Ghana Bar Association (GBA) is asking President John Mahama to render an apology to ex-President and founder of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Jerry John Rawlings. Sam Okudzeto says the outgoing President in his last State of the Nation Address Thursday must express regret for the way in which he caused the NDC an embarrassment in the just ended December 7 elections. In an interview with Joy News Wednesday, he argued that Mr Mahama's loss constitutes a vote of no confidence on his leadership. Mr Okudzeto advised the outgoing president not to be lured into running as a presidential candidate of the party in 2020 According to him, although the 1992 Constitution which prescribes two four-year term limits for presidents, it would be politically unwise if Mr Mahama runs as he can only govern for one term, which will be a continuation of his first term in official which ends on January 7. Source: Joy News 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 Mr. Samuel A. Jinapor is a famous young New Patriotic Party (NPP) Politician and a Qualified Barrister and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Ghana. He graduated from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Physics with specialisation in Biomedical Physics. His intellectual thirst and political aspirations led him to enrol to be trained as a lawyer, which aspiration he successfully accomplished. Consequently, he was called to the Ghana Bar in the year 2012. As a newly enrolled lawyer, he had his pupillage with a reputable commercial and corporate law firm, Messrs. Kulendi @ Law from October 2012 to August 2013 where he studied under the tutelage of Yonny Kulendi, a renowned Lawyer in Ghana. His eager desire for personal advancement and diligence saw him being hired as an Associate of the law firm Messrs. Kulendi @ Law. Whilst with Kulendi @ Law, Mr. Jinapor acted as a transactional lawyer for several complex commercial negotiations. He is one of the finest advocates for the firm in the law courts across the country. As a lawyer, Mr. Jinapor has developed a great capacity for quick thinking and oratory; he has acted as an advocate in prime commercial and corporate Litigation. Notable among them was his participation as a member of the team of lawyers who acted for the National Communications Authority (NCA) in a dispute relating to the NCAs policy for Inter-Connect Clearing House. He has risen to become a Senior Associate and in that capacity he periodically gets assigned to manage a team of lawyers from diverse backgrounds. Over the years he has had the rare responsibility for representing major foreign companies in Ghana as a Solicitor and legal advocate. Mr. Jinapor skilfully and diligently led a team of lawyers to successfully negotiate a commercial dispute between a reputable Emirati Company and the State Housing Company of Ghana (SHC) in a very complex commercial dispute. He is highly respected and admired by his juniors, colleagues and seniors at the firm due to his excellent inter personal relations as well as his consummate leadership skills. His interest in Public issues encouraged him to join politics in 2004 and he has since been a widely known Political Activist. His first International Political exposure came when he had the privilege and honour to accompany the then President of the Republic, His Excellency John Agyekum Kuffour on his famous State visit to the United Kingdom in 2007 as a Communication Aide. Subsequently, he became a Campaign Aide to His Excellency Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo in the famous 2007 NPP Presidential Primaries. He held this position to the NPP Presidential Candidate for both the 2008 and 2012 General Elections. In the recently held 2016 General Elections, Mr. Jinapor played a major Political Advocacy and Activism role for the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and its Presidential Candidate Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo. He was seen and heard on the major media and campaign platforms across the country, taking on the Mahama administration and promoting the policies of his party. A task he executed brilliantly with enormous courage and tenacity, thereby earning the admiration of many. Mr. Jinapor is reputed as a highly driven and dynamic rising young man, energetic, intelligent and resourceful; he combines effective communication skills with detailed legal knowledge to identify commercial opportunities and deliver a satisfactory outcome whilst working alone and as part of a larger team. Mr. Jinapor is expected to earn a Masters Degree in Law (LLM) in Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) from the Faculty of Law, University Of Ghana, sometime in May, 2017. In the course of his current studies, he has successfully undertaken academic sessions in International Commercial Arbitration, Labour law, Law and Society amongst many others. He is happily married to Mrs. Naada B.D. Jinapor, a Lawyer with the Corporate Law Department of the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT). Their marriage is blessed with a daugther. 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 Following recent calls on John Dramani Mahama to reappear for the 2020 flagbearership of the NDC, it is unclear whether he will make a comeback or not in the future. Recent comments from the partys National Organizer, Kofi Adams and MP for Odododiodoo, Hon. Nii Lante Vanderpuije, seem to suggest that President John Mahama would be forced to run for the presidency in the next general elections. Mr. Kofi Adams in his submission on a radio station based in Accra made it known that he will be leading a campaign to ensure President John Mahama is made candidate for election 2020. In his view, the outgoing president is the NDCs sure bet for power in the 2020 general elections. Just after his submission, Hon. Nii Lante Vanderpuije also served notice that President John Mahama will return as the NDCs presidential candidate in the 2020 elections, despite a humiliating defeat in the December polls. But attempts by aforementioned individuals to forcefully get the outgoing president to lead the NDC is nothing but rather, an attempt to impose John Mahama on us, Alhaji Dori has told Peacefmonline.com. According to Alhaji Dori who is a former parliamentary aspirant for Bawku Central, considering the magnitude of defeat the NDC suffered in the hands of the NPP at the just ended elections, its imperative for their leaders not to make any move of imposing any candidate on the rank and file of the party. He added that what the party needs now is serious introspection and reorganization. This in his view should be done if they want to make any significant progress ahead of 2020. He explained to Peacefmonline.com that power, has moved from the dictates of leadership to the core supporters of the party and this was exhibited with the high apathy among NDC members during the just ended general elections. Alhaji Dori is therefore calling on the leadership of the NDC party to be circumspect in the mode of selecting a candidate who will lead the NDC in 2020 and urges that the contest must be a free for all competent candidates who wish to show up for the flagbearership of the party. 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 New York, NY , Jan. 04, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The New York City Regional Center 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 New York City Regional Center offerings to date. The $60 million of EB-5 capital helped fund a key phase of redevelopment at the Brooklyn Navy Yard (Navy Yard), an industrial park owned by the City of New York. 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 Citys plan to refurbish its industrial manufacturing sector and create additional jobs. The $60 million loan from the New York City Regional Center provided much needed capital for the renovation of a 215,000 square foot industrial building that 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. The repayment of the $60 million loan is a major event for the 120 EB-5 investors in this offering, said Paul Levinsohn, Managing Principal of the New York City Regional Center. We take seriously our role in spurring job creation and economic development in New York City as well as our responsibility to assist our EB-5 investors and their families. We extend our best wishes to them on their continued journey. We are pleased that our first loan in the Navy Yard has been repaid, added George L. Olsen, Managing Principal of the New York City Regional Center. This repayment is a milestone for our company and for our EB-5 investors and their families. The repaid $60 million loan is one of seven New York City Regional Center EB-5 loans totaling $339 million being used for critical projects in the Navy Yard. Since 2009, EB-5 capital from the New York City Regional Center 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 in the Navy Yard. Over the past eight years, the New York City Regional Center has provided over $300 million of financing to fund a series of job-creating projects in the Navy Yard. We are pleased to play an integral role in the transformation of this industrial park. said Mr. Levinsohn. The New York City Regional Center 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. It 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 New York City Regional Center 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 New York City Regional Center is providing capital for the redevelopment of a new cargo facility at JFK International Airport and the construction of Fresh Directs new headquarters in the South Bronx. New York City Regional Center 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 New York City Regional Center 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, New York City Regional Center 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 its 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 New York City Regional Center offerings have also received conditional residency in the United States. We are extremely proud of our 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 New York City Regional Center, please visit www.nycrc.com. In whats got to be a record-setting breakout story, over one hundred and fifty Filipino inmates have escaped following a violent prison raid on the southern island of Mindanao overnight. The breakout at a Kidapawan City prison, located near President Rodrigo Dutertes home town of Davao, has already claimed the life of one guard and injured one prisoner. Officials say the majority of escapees left out the back of the jail, which housed a total of 1,511 inmates, while guards fought armed intruders out the front. Two of the escaped 158 prisoners have since been recaptured, and the Philippine army has now police in hunting down remaining prisoners and attackers. The leader of a village several kilometres from the prison, Alexander Austria, has claimed responsibility for one of these recaptures. He said he immediately posted guards after hearing gunfire: We heard the gunfire and we sprang into action to guard our village. We were afraid the escapees could try to enter our village to hide or take hostages. While previous insurgents have ranged from communist to Islamist rebels, authorities have yet to reveal who is responsible for the raid. However, Xinhuas news agency quotes a witness saying that black-suited and heavily armed attackers stormed the jail in a bid to free specific inmates serving sentences for murder and illegal drugs. Duterte, it needs to be said, has been especially brutal (and arguably inefficient) in his war on drugs: over 5000 people have been legally killed by police since he came into office on June 30. The resulting fear has led to hundreds of thousands of addicts and drug dealers turning themselves into already over-crowded prisons like Kidapawan jail and stretching treatment centres thin. Source: ABC. Photo: Getty. Dreams Gentlemen Club has been inundated with angry messages after news broke yesterday that a British dancers body was left inside the Melbourne strip club for up to 12 hours before the authorities were alerted. Stacey Tierney, 29, from Manchester, was found dead inside the strip club on the Monday before Christmas (December 23) last year, but news only broke after her family in the UK had been informed this past Monday. Its believed shed been partying with several unidentified men in the club which is closed on Sundays and Mondays the night before. Since news broke of Tierneys death, Dreams Facebook page has been flooded by angry comments. Putting your reputation and appearance over the value of that young womans life? wrote Eleanor Norma. Im disgusted that you havent even acknowledged what has happened, shame on you. Stop deleting peoples posts RE: the death of Stacey Tierney, wrote Mao Bedford. Your establishment has so far made zero public acknowledgement of the fact that this has even happened. This is a beyond shameful and beyond disrespectful way for you to be responding. Shame on you all carrying on like nothing has happened, wrote Lorraine Smith-Ngamoki. Rest in peace beautiful lady. The club has yet to make a public statement about Tierneys death, despite repeated requests (including from PEDESTRIAN.TV) to do so. However, it has updated its Facebook page once since news broke, to advertise its Sexy Poker Tuesdays. Despite News Corp reports this morning that the homicide squad had joined the investigation, a spokesperson for Victoria Police confirmed to P.TV that the investigation is still being carried out by the crime squad. Detectives are waiting for toxicology reports to determine the cause of death, which could take to six weeks from when Tierneys body was found. Photos: Facebook. It was very depressing to see One Nation make a surprising resurgence in the 2016 election, but weve been able to take comfort in one simple fact: they are wildly, wildly terrible at their jobs. Since July, their supposed mighty return to power has been plagued by infighting and surprise discoveries that their huge swathe of unvetted candidates was full of people even too weird to join their elite cadre of climate-change-denying halalophobes. December saw them experience a steep 25% decrease in Senators, as the well and truly embattled Rod Culleton pulled up stumps due to an ongoing clash with Pauline Hanson and also pretty much everything around him. Culleton was yesterday taken to hospital after an incident that took place after a court visit in which he attempted to secure a restraining order against two of his former associates. He injured his wrist after falling over in a fracas caused by former WA parliamentarian Anthony Fels attempting to serve him bankruptcy documents, which very nearly resulted in a biff: Former One Nation senator Rod Culleton has been taken to hospital after a fight outside the Perth Magistrates Court #7News pic.twitter.com/IdhqL0KaCs 7 News Queensland (@7NewsQueensland) January 4, 2017 Because this could barely get more farcical, it turns out Anthony Fels had nominated as a One Nation candidate for Western Australia which was really only a matter of time, as he has previously run for the Liberal Party, Katters Australian Party, Family First, the Mutual Party and as an independent. In an attempt to maintain some of the trace amounts of dignity the party has left, Pauline Hanson heavily distanced herself from Fels: I heard about it, I heard about it last night and I am not impressed with it all. Anthony Fels, let me just make it quite clear, Anthony Fels had a meeting with me, at the request of people who know him, to actually stand as a candidate no one has been endorsed as a candidate in Western Australia, because the party has not been registered yet. I am not impressed with it all. He was serving papers, it was nothing to do with One Nation, it is a civil matter. What a time to be alive. Source: The Age. Photo: Getty Images / Lisa Maree Williams. PEDESTRIAN.TV has partnered with Paramount Pictures to herald the ~explosive~ release of xXx: RETURN OF XANDER CAGE, in cinemas January 19. Keep reading to find out how you could score an epic trip to one of the flicks filming locations, the Dominican Republic. Exhibit A: Look, were not complaining about it quite the opposite in fact. All things marvellously mediocre only make more impressive feats all the more, yknow, impressive. One such example of something thats so impressive youd get on the blower to mum and tell her about it is the third release in the xXx franchise, xXx: RETURN OF XANDER CAGE. To celebrate this anything-but-mediocre release, weve partnered with Paramount Pictures to giveaway a trip to one of the locations the movie was filmed at, the Dominican Republic. If youre yet to see what xXx: RETURN OF XANDER CAGE is all about, then prepare to crack a sweat over its yugggeeeeee trailer below: As you can see the movie stars more A-Listers than you could poke a bloody stick at, including: Vin Diesel, Samuel L. Jackson, Toni Collette, Donnie Yen, Deepika Padukone, Nina Dobrev, Ruby Rose & Tony Jaa. KEEN. Anyway, reckon youre interested in winning an ace vaycay to the Dominican Republic ft. 2 x flights, 8 x nights accommodation in Cabarete, a scenic dirt bike adventure, a 4,500 zipline through the mofking jungle with a 60-feet free fall into an ancient cave, a 4X4 back road excursion, fly boarding + insurance for all the aforementioned and soooo much more? OF COURSE YA ARE (its valued at over $12K which is insanity), but we need a lil something from you first. Heres how to enter: 1. Film a Fully S!ck Stunt. This can be anything ranging from the aforementioned water bottle throw, to standing on your head whilst surfing (just do us a solid and not hurt yourself in the process, aight?). 2. Upload your Fully S!ck Stunt to Instagram using the hashtag #PTVxXxStuntz. 3. Sit around the house all day imagining yourself running amuck in the Dominican Republic while waiting to see if youve won or not. Simples, right? Fantastic. We look forward to laughing at your ridiculous entries in the near future. GOOD LUCK, FAM. Terms & Conditions: HERE. Photo: @Mike_senatore / Twitter. Re: The antique violins found in the man's attic in northern France were [ #permalink 1 Bookmarks Join us as we look back on some of the most-impactful testimonies shared with us this year on VOM Radio. Well hear from Dale Rhoton of Operation Mobilizationone of the first Westerners to visit VOMs founder, Pastor Richard Wurmbrand, after Richards release from prison in Romania. Well hear how God used a nameless woman walking along a road in Kenya to grab the heart of an American woman, Jami Staples, to reach Muslims for Christ. Well hear from Bob and Kasey, who left behind an American-dream retirement to serve Muslims half-a-world away. Well hear from two gospel workersHannelie Groenewald and Nik Ripkenwho experienced gut-wrenching loss while serving overseas, yet found God faithful even in that loss. And well hear how a passion for Gods Word kept John and Karen Short connected to Him and to each other, even while John was detained in the worlds most-closed country. Your faith will be inspired by the faithfulness and courage of these brothers and sistersand by how God worked through each of them to further His Kingdom aims. (Note that you can hear our entire conversations with each of these guests by searching in the VOM Radio archives.) Never miss an episode of VOM Radio! Subscribe to the VOM Radio podcast on iTunes or Google Play Music. One Man's Opinion: In a sea of spam, where are our true leaders? columns Analysts bullish on 2017 Natural Gas prices Some analysts see bullish case on Mexico pipelines, LNG export NEW YORK Petroleumworld.com 01 04 2017 Here's why analysts are bullish on gas despite new year jitters Natural gas prices may have faltered in the first trading day of the year, but some analysts are still bullish on the outlook for 2017. With demand for the power-plant fuel surpassing coal for the first time in the U.S. and exports soaring, a years-long glut from shale formations has finally been erased. Now, all natural gas needs is a good, cold winter. Traders are watching closely to see how the commodity, which recorded its biggest rally in 11 years after stockpiles fell below their five-year average, holds up against a warm weather forecast running through Jan. 17, typically the coldest time of year. Tim Evans, an analyst at Citi Futures Perspective in New York, said he believes the stockpile deficit could even grow as winter plays out through the end of January and into February. Demand is up and supply is down," Evans said in a telephone interview. It pays to watch the details of what we've got going on the supply side, on the export levels to Mexico and the exports of LNG. Gas futures on Tuesday plunged by the most in almost three years after forecasts released earlier for a deep freeze across the U.S. suddenly turned milder. Prior to that point, gas prices were expected to average $3.18 per million British thermal units, a 25 percent increase over 2016, based on median of 22 analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Gas futures traded little changed at $3.330 per million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange at 12:53 p.m. in Hong Kong. Still, Evans remains unfazed. If we do get another cycle of cold this winter, say later in January or into February, then natural gas prices are going to go back on the upswing in a volatile fashion. This is what natural gas trading entails: we rally for three weeks and drop like a rock." In 2016, gas deliveries to Mexico swelled by 31 percent from January through October year- over-year, to a record 1.1 trillion cubic feet, according to the most recent Energy Information Administration data. This occurred as Mexico deregulated its energy market, making it easier to develop pipeline projects to meet the demand of power companies seeking to switch to a lower cost, less dirty fuel. In May, low-cost shale gas began heading south via Petroleos Mexicanos's Los Ramones Phase II pipeline, projected to boost U.S. gas deliveries south of the border by as much as 22 percent, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance. Forget about Mexico paying for a border wall," said Stephen Schork, president of the Schork Group Inc., an energy consulting company in Villanova, Pennsylvania. "They're building pipeline infrastructure to import more U.S. gas. We're finally getting around to a really robust demand scenario for U.S. gas supply. Meanwhile, gas cargoes from Cheniere Energy Inc.'s Sabine Pass terminal in Louisiana, which became operational in February, have headed to South America, the Middle East and Asia, the world's biggest LNG market. More than half of U.S. LNG export capacity slated to be online by 2020 has been contracted to Asian buyers as a recent expansion of the Panama Canal cuts travel time to the region, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance. Domestic U.S. gas use is also on the rise. The nation's power plants are burning record amounts of the fuel as coal-fired plants shut in response to environmental regulations and competition from cheap gas and renewable energy. New plants that produce fertilizer and methanol, used to make plastics and other chemical products, are also cropping up along the Gulf Coast, sending gas consumption higher. While warmer winter temperatures will continue to be a major risk to a 2017 gas rally, shale supply also is a concern. Production dropped last year as drillers cut costs after prices tumbled to historic lows in March, but output has started to recover. The number of rigs drilling for gas in the U.S. has jumped more than 60 percent after sliding in August to the lowest in data going back to 1987, data from Baker Hughes Inc. show. Still, the stockpile deficit won't disappear anytime soon, according to Bank of America Corp. The U.S. natural balance is tightening rapidly on falling production and strong structural demand growth, especially from LNG export facilities, Bank of America analysts led by Francisco Blanch in New York said in a note to clients Dec. 8. Stocks will likely normalize by the end of this winter and then move to a large deficit by end of October, which may last well into 2018. Moody's: Global oil, natural gas prices to remain volatile in 2017 Reuters/Sergei Karpukhin Moody's Investors Service said in a press release that global oil and natural gas prices are expected to remain volatile again in 2017. WASHINGTON Petroleumworld.com 01 04 2017 Global oil and natural gas prices are expected to remain volatile again in 2017, but fluctuate within the $40-60 per barrel range, Moody's Investors Service said in a press release on Tuesday. "The rating agency's oil and natural gas price estimates within a medium-term oil price band of $40-$60/bbl for both Brent and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude globally and in North America remain unchanged for 2017-19 from its November 2016 update," the release stated. "Moody's expects prices to remain volatile within this band." In North America, the incoming Trump administration is expected to prioritize domestic oil and coal production, benefiting energy infrastructure projects in the short-term. Russia's agreement to cut oil production is unlikely to hurt its oil companies, but Latin American companies will continue to face funding risk for several years due to tight market conditions, according to Moody's. The oilfield services and drilling sector will likely be constrained globally by weak demand, overcapacity and high debt levels, the release also said. Amber Robles-Gordon's My Rainbow is Enuf at the African American Museum's 'i found god in myself: the 40th anniversary of Ntozake Shange for colored girls' Read more The African American Museum in Philadelphia is giving us another chance to see the i found god in myself: the 40th anniversary of Ntozake Shange for colored girls exhibit. But this is your last chance to go see it. And you should definitely go. The show celebrates the 40th anniversary of Ntozake Shange's award-winning for colored girls who have considered suicide / when the rainbow is enuf, the landmark poem and play featuring women of color, represented by various hues, reciting monologues that touch on race, gender, sexuality, and love. i found god in myself was created by Harlem journalist and curator Souleo, who first put on the show in 2014 with only 20 works. In collaboration with the African American Museum, the show expanded to more than 40 pieces in which the artists take on their own interpretations or translations of Shange's pieces. In addition to the exhibit, the African American Museum will host a screening Friday of For Colored Girls, a 1982 PBS video version of for colored girls, featuring Alfre Woodard and Lynn Whitfield. We sat down with Souleo and asked him about the must-see pieces in the exhibit. "Pickin'," Lauren Kelley It's a strong, powerful image of a black woman that made me think of a fighter and an activist. It also highlights the major issue in the black community when it comes to how we define "good hair." "The Market," Gregory Saint Amand I selected it because I wanted to reference these global issues that face women, when we talk about economic disparity and unequal pay. Gregory was born in New York but raised in Haiti. He understands firsthand the effects of poverty on the psyche. Her face is stoic, somber, but there's a strength and vulnerability within that as well. He surrounds her with pastels and light colors that juxtaposes with her and the overall heavy subject matter. "Isolation Refreshed 4," Noelle Lorraine Williams w/Stafford Woods There's a sense of hope. When you look at postindustrial or postriot places, women from these communities get seen as poor and rundown. You see this woman going through this place that's dilapidated, but she finds the beauty within her community and herself. "A Night with Beau Willie Brown," Michael Paul Britto This poem is powerful. It's about Beau Willie Brown coming from the war. He has PTSD and he's violent. He's abusive to his woman. Through these bottles, [Britto] narrates their story. From when they fall in love, to the abuse, and when he throws the kids out the window. ... He did a really powerful job of staying true to the text and highlighting the issues of mental health, violence, and alcoholism. "no assistance," Kathleen Granados Lady in Red is ending a love affair where she felt devalued. I love that Kathleen touched on this universal notion of heartbreak. The piece with the heart open and crochet strings dangling shows that she's been broken apart, but she's putting herself back together. "Harlem Elder Diva Speaks," Dindga McCannon A lot of times, the older you get, the more invisible you get to society. What Dindga did was highlight the strength and wisdom from a woman who has been through things but can share her wisdom with others. "Teamo mas que," Melissa Calderon This is a powerful image of rebirth and renewal, hope and passion. Dr. Shange's text always references music, and this was a great way to highlight that. "darkmuskoilegyptiancrystals&floridawater," Beau McCall It represents Lady in Red after she's been with her lover. She asks her lover to leave and has a spiritual bath. Beau brings it to life with decorative buttons. It's a sanctuary of inner peace and self-love. From a technical standpoint, to sew buttons through a caste-iron bathtub is mind-boggling. "My Rainbow is Enuf," Amber Robles-Gordon If there's any piece that represents the entire concept [of the exhibit], it is this. All of the different ladies are represented by the different colors in the rainbow. When people look at it, they immediately want to jump in front of it and embrace it and hopefully embrace themselves. It's a rainbow of hope. I also think of the LGBT community, which played a large part in ushering in for colored girls. "Stuff," Dianne Smith She has three video pieces. In one of them, she's reciting the poem while showing images of the stuff in her studio/apartment that she uses to express herself. The second video has her interviewing women talking about what has been taken from them financially or healthwise. The last one shows images of [Diane] after domestic violence. She shows her bruised eye and stats on domestic violence. [The piece is] surrounded by butcher paper and cardboard, thrown-away things that get taken for granted. It makes me think of the black woman's body and how it's viewed in society. She's taking these things and finding beauty and strength in them. [It's the] journey of unpacking and understanding of our lives and not taking ourselves for granted or letting anyone else do it. Through Sunday, African American Museum of Philadelphia, 701 Arch St. Free with admission, 215-574-0380 ext. 225, www.aampmuseum.org. Well, the last ditch Electoral College flipping effort went nowhere. So at the end of the month, Donald Trump will be sworn in as president at an inauguration that, I don't know, RATT will play at. Take a little time to consider the idiocy of it all, but don't forget that the actual work of resisting a Trump presidency begins now. To help you along with that, here are a few actions you can get involved with in January: Dump Trump Crawl Soon, Donald Trump will control America's vast nuclear arsenal and massive security apparatus. Even before he gets sworn in though, he also controls a whole bunch of real estate around the city. The Dump Trump Crawl will therefore march past a number of Trump-branded and affiliated buildings uptown, including Trump Tower, the East 57th Street Niketown and the Vornado Partnership building to "highlight his conflicts of interests, and his inappropriate and dangerous cabinet picks." FREE, 5 p.m., January 5th, Trump Park Avenue, 502 Park Avenue Bridges and Powerlines, The Aye-Ayes, Stereo Off Planned Parenthood/ACLU Benefit Planned Parenthood and the ACLU will be two groups in need of your help during the coming wave of repression of both reproductive and free speech rights. Helping them out can be more fun than filling out an online donation form though, and in the first of many benefits for both organizations this month, you can listen to some good old fashioned indie pop live while also getting a nice warm feeling in your chest knowing that the proceeds from the show will be split between both groups. $8/$10, 8 p.m., January 6th, Union Hall, 702 Union Street Bystander Intervention/De-escalation Workshop Did you miss last month's class on what to do if you see someone getting harassed on the street? Lucky you, here's a second chance to learn from the same organizer, Rachel S Blum Levy. Like last month, you can learn the four D's of intervention: direct, distract, delay, and delegate, so that you can help out your fellow New Yorker without having the situation devolve into violence and chaos. Just make sure you RSVP, people are real interested in this for some reason. FREE, 6 p.m., January 7th, SOHO20 Gallery, 56 Bogart Street Day Against Denial Denial...it's not just a river in Egypt! It's also a shortsighted worldview that puts profits ahead of human survival as people say "Well if it's snowing I sure can use some of that global warming" as if it's funny or original. Climate justice organization 350 is sponsoring rallies against Trump's Cabinet picks who are friendly to Big Oil, like Rex Tillerson and Rick Perry. Here in NYC you can either join up with crowds putting pressure on Chuck Schumer in front of his Park Slope home, or get slightly less personal by rallying outside of the Manhattan office he shares with fellow New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand. Either way, the message will be the same: keep climate change skeptics and deniers out of the decision-making process. FREE, 12:30 p.m. (Manhattan rally) or 7 p.m. (Brooklyn rally), January 9th ResistTrumpTuesdays: Senator Schumer: Resist Trump If you can't make it out to the rallies against Trump's Cabinet picks on Monday, there's also one on Tuesday. This march, from Grand Army Plaza down past Schumer's home, will be less focused specifically on people like Rex Tillerson and more focused on a general message of telling Schumer to keep that spine he seems to have found. FREE, 6 p.m., January 10th, Grand Army Plaza Decolonize the Resistance On the other hand, maybe you aren't a huge Chuck Schumer fan and instead of rallying on his turf to let him know you want him to stand strong against Trump, you just want to tell him to get out of the way and let more marginalized people take the lead. In that case, there's this other march that's also going from Grand Army Plaza to Schumer's home that's happening in order to let Schumer, and the people putting their faith in him, know that it isn't just Trump and Schumer who are the problem but that "white supremacy, patriarchy, capitalism, and imperialism are the problem." FREE, 6 p.m., January 10th, Grand Army Plaza NASTY WOMEN Exhibition Put the claim that a Trump administration will mean there's some great art to the test at this four day art exhibition featuring "artists who identify with being a Nasty Woman in the face of recent and ongoing threats to womens rights." Self-identifying nasty women are invited to submit artwork to the show to be sold for $100 or less, with all the proceeds going towards Planned Parenthood. While the exhibition will be free during the day, Friday and Saturday nights will feature concerts that benefit the Callen-Lorde Community Heath Center and the New York Immigration Coalition on Friday and Girls for Gender Equity and SisterSong on Saturday. January 12th - January 15th, Knockdown Center, 52-19 Flushing Avenue Health Care Justice Rally Donald Trump and Paul Ryan might be plotting to dismantle ObamaCare and Medicare to replace it with a series of coupon books for all Americans, but that doesn't mean you still can't rally for a single payer option. Medicare for All advocates will be gathering in front of Trump Tower to do just that, and who knows, it might even scare a few Republican legislators into defecting. A boy can dream... FREE, January 13th, 4 p.m., Trump Tower, 725 5th Avenue Queens United Against Trump Rally What better way to make an egoist like Trump feel some shame then by joining up with a rally where his home borough tells him to go screw? So head to the Jamaica Colosseum Mall for a rally against the rhetoric that Trump and America's resurgent far-right have turned mainstream, and meet up with some like-minded folks you can build a larger movement with. FREE, 1 p.m., January 14th, Jamaica Colosseum Mall, 89-02 165th Street Poets Against Trump So, you know, reading poetry about how Trump is a piece of shit and you hope Jared Kushner gets cholera isn't the same as marching in the streets against the police state. On the other hand, damn, look at this inspiring picture of Woody Guthrie. Maybe you've got something inspiring to say, maybe you just want to hear some inspiring things said to you. Either way, Poets Against Trump will be gathering folks on the front steps of City Halls across the country, and New York is no exception. Go forth and snap, man. FREE, 1 p.m., January 15th, City Hall Plan B: A Benefit For Planned Parenthood It's going to be a challenging four years, so you may as well get your laughs in while you can. In the first of the month's two big comedy benefits, the likes of 2 Dope Queens' Phoebe Robinson, SNL's Julio Torres, and The Chris Gethard Show's Jo Firestone will tell you some jokes, some of which might not even be about our coming right-wing nightmare, with proceeds from the show going towards your friends at Planned Parenthood. $20, 7 p.m., January 16th, The Bell House, 149 7th Street Bay Ridge March Against Hate Hate crimes are up in the city since the election, so the people of Bay Ridge are joining together with their neighbors to speak out against them on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Starting at the Islamic Society of Bay Ridge, marchers will move up Fifth Avenue, all to show that "Trumps rhetoric against Muslims, immigrants, women, people of color, people with disabilities, the LGBTQ community, workers and the environment do not represent the values of the Bay Ridge community." FREE, 1 p.m., January 16th, Islamic Society of Bay Ridge, 6807 5th Avenue #GetOrganizedBK Like he's been doing since the election, Councilman Brad Lander will be getting together with any citizens who want to show up and talk through ideas on how to resist the Trump agenda or meet other activists. FREE, 7 p.m., January 16th, Congregation Beth Elohim, Corner of Garfield Place and 8th Avenue No More Deaths Benefit Art Auction Could you sad bare walls use some nice art to spruce things up a bit? Well, even if that's not the case because you've already got a ton of art, buying one more piece at this benefit couldn't hurt. The night's proceeds from ticket sales and art sales will go towards No More Death/No Mas Muertes, a group that directly assists migrants as they cross the border rather than just leaving them there to die. Plus, beyond the chance to hobnob with Downtown art people for a good cause, you can also eat and drink courtesy of Roberta's, Bloomer Creek Vineyards and Alphabet City Brewing Company. $25, 7 p.m., January 18th, Salon 94 Freemans, 1 Freeman Alley Stand Up With Mary Review Mary Review, a magazine written and produced completely by women invites you to hear stories about defiance from writers and activists like Subway Book Review creator Uli Beutter Cohen and the New York State Youth Leadership Council's Angy Paola Rivera. Then, stick around to hear a panel discussion about how the press can hold the government accountable featuring journalist Masha Gessen and others. FREE, 7 p.m., January 18th, The Ace Hotel, 20 West 29th Street Resist Trump: Student walkout and rally on Inauguration Day The Democrats are alright I guess, but if you're sick of compromise, you can do worse than joining up with the Socialist Alternative for a march against the border wall, DAPL, and sexism, and in favor of Black Lives Matter and taxing millionaires. FREE, 5 p.m., January 20th, Foley Square (111 Worth Street) The UNaugural Ball Down in DC, oil lobbyists and weapons salesmen and other merchants of deaths will be eating little cocktails weenies and posing for pictures with each other as they talk about how they'll get rich off of human suffering at one inauguration party or another. Where there's darkness, there must be light though, so if you've got the scratch for a fancy black tie ball and want it to go towards something good, hit up the UNaugural Ball, where 100% of the money from ticket sales will support the ACLU, the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, the National Resources Defense Council and Planned Parenthood. $100-$250, 9 p.m., January 20th, The Bowery Hotel, 335 Bowery Nasty Women and Bad Hombres That being said, if you don't have black tie-ball money, I get it. If you want to help Planned Parenthood and still have a good time though, you can hit up the back room at Freddy's, where $20 gets you in to a burlesque and comedy performance. Just think about how much Mike Pence hates the open celebration of human sexuality. He hates it so much. $20, 8 p.m., January 20th, Freddy's Bar, 627 5th Avenue, Brooklyn Anti-Inauguration Ball If you were wondering how the city's free jazz and experimental jazz community, this anti-Trump party on Inauguration Day should tell you. This marathon concert and dance party featuring the city's best free and experimental jazz artists is free to attend, but will have laptops set up allowing you to donate to organizations like the ACLU, LAMDA Legal, Planned Parenthood, Hollaback!, and the Southern Poverty Law Center. FREE, 7 p.m., January 20th, DiMenna Center for Classical Music, 450 West 37th Street WHAT A JOKE: A National Comedy Festival Supporting The ACLU Inauguration Weekend The month's other big comedy benefit will help out the ACLU, which can usually use a helping hand anyway and will really need more funding to fight a president who is openly contemptuous of press freedoms. You've got three chances to get some laughs and help out the cause, at shows around the city. First, on Friday January 19th, you can catch Janeane Garofalo, Emily Winter and more comics at The Stand for $40. On Friday, January 20th, the likes of Josh Gondelman, Jo Firestone and Brett Davis will help you look for laughs on Inauguration Day at The Annoyance Theater for $15. And finally, for $20 you can see six comedians, including Laurie Kilmartin and Dave Hill, who'll help you laugh through your dark thoughts on day two of the Trump administration at Rough Trade. Women's March On NYC Can't make it down to DC for the big march? Don't worry, you can participate in this localized version of the Women's March on DC. The Women's March on NYC will start in Midtown East and move up to Trump Tower, where protestors will make themselves heard non-violently. There are also plans for speakers and music according to the organizers, so look for more information on that going forward. Also make sure you register, so you know what time to show up exactly. FREE, 11 a.m., January 21st, One Dag Hammarskjold Plaza Tower, Tournament, Fur Helmet, Fostercare, The Wilful Boys At this Planned Parenthood Benefit not only can you listen to a bunch of rock and roll for pretty cheap, but you can also benefit yourself by winning a variety of raffles (which will also benefit Planned Parenthood, like some kind of virtuous cycle). Raffle sponsors include places like Allied Tattoo, The Levee, Anchored Inn and Worship, so if you want to help out but you also want to look cool or get drunk, this is the benefit for you. $12, 8 p.m., January 27th, Shea Stadium, 20 Meadow Street Before The Wall: A Benefit To Support Immigrant Communities Shilpa Ray is a great rock and roll artist, and ordinarily I would always recommend going to see her. But especially when she's rocking out to benefit SAPNA, an organization that assists South Asian immigrant women with their health and economic opportunities, and Women for Aghan Women, a group that advocates for Afghan women both in Afghanistan and New York City. $12 - $50, 7 p.m., January 27th, Littlefield, 622 Degraw Street Are we missing YOUR anti-Trump organizing effort? Shoot a message to dave@gothamist.com and I'll thrown it on the list. Photo by Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images We rely on your support to make local news available to all Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2022. Donate today Must-Read Travel Guides EAST ASIA SOUTHEAST ASIA Featured Articles Contact Copyright Disclosure If you wish to contact me for questions, collaboration inquiries, comments, suggestions, reviews or just about anything, please send an email to. I will try my best to reply quickly! Unless, of course, I'm on a trip! :D All rights reserved. All photos and content in this blog are owned by(unless otherwise stated). Parts of the articles may be excerpted (a link to this site should be provided), but not reproduced as a whole. Photos may not be used without permission. Thank you very much!Unless otherwise stated, I personally write my blog posts and it expresses my own thoughts and opinions. I pay for all the expenses of my trips (unless otherwise stated). I welcome collaborations and reviews as long as they are beneficial to my readers. All reviews on collaborations contain my own views and opinion and were not influenced by anyone. For inquiries, you may contact me here . Thank you very much! 2. Psyche is heading to a wicked-cool metal world. In the main asteroid belt resides a one-of-a-kind (at least, so far as we've discovered) metal world named Psyche. It is composed of metallic iron and nickel, like Earth's core, and might have splatters of solid metal jutting off its surface. Is Psyche the exposed inner core of what used to be a much larger planet that was battered by drive-by asteroid collisions? That's what Lindy Elkins-Tanton, the mission's principal investigator at Arizona State University in Tempe, hopes to find out. "Out of our initial excitement, we just named our mission directly after what we're going to visitPsyche," she said. Psyche launches in 2023 and arrives in 2030. Unlike Lucy, it will slow down and enter orbit. 3. Lucy and Psyche are NASA's first competitively selected planetary missions in more than four years. The last time NASA greenlit a competitvely selected planetary science probe was 2012. In August of that year, the agency announced the selection of Insight, a Mars geophysical monitoring station originally slated to launch in 2016. Due to a leaky vacuum seal in its main science instrument, Insight's launch was pushed to 2018. If you're wondering what a competitively selected mission is, scroll ahead to number five. 4. As a refresher, here's a little background about planetary science mission types. There are three classes of planetary science missions: Discovery, New Frontiers and flagship missions. Lucy and Psyche are Discovery missions. These are the least expensive items on NASA's mission menu, and are cost-capped at less than $500 million, not including launch and operations costs. Twelve Discovery missions have flown thus far, starting with the Near-Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR) probe in 1996. New Frontiers missions are mid-tier, and have included New Horizons, Juno and OSIRIS-REx. The latter, now on its way to visit asteroid Bennu, has a price tag of about $800 million, including the cost of its Atlas V carrier rocket. Finally, there are flagship missionsbig, agency programs that take a lot of resources. The Curiosity and Mars 2020 rovers are flagships, as is the proposed Europa mission. 5. Lucy and Psyche were competitively selectedmeaning some scientists got left out. Lucy and Psyche were selected from an initial field of 27 Discovery mission contenders that was whittled down to five last year. As Casey Dreier and Emily Lakdwalla wrote at the time, the Discovery program was originally supposed to offer flight opportunities every two years, but ongoing budget cuts to the agency's planetary science division have slowed that cadence. The triumph of Lucy and Psyche, unfortunately, means three other missions were left on the table. One, the NEOCam asteroid hunting telescope, will continue to receive study funding for another year because it could be used to fulfill other NASA asteroid objectives. The other two proposed missions would have headed to Venus, where an American probe has not been since Magellan entered orbit in 1990. 6. Lucy and Psyche are scientist-led missions. Unlike flagship missions such as Curiosity, Discovery missions are managed more directly by their proposing teams. Lucy PI Hal Levison is a scientist at the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado. SwRI will lead the overall science investigation. NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center is providing mission management, systems engineering, and safety and mission assurance, and the spacecraft will be built by Lockheed Martin. Psyche's science team is located at Arizona State University; as is PI Lindy Elkins-Tanton. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California manages the Psyche mission. The spacecraft structure will be built by Space Systems / Loral. 7. Both spacecraft make use of heritage technologies. When practical, NASA likes to use flight-proven hardwareoften referred to as heritage technology. There are multiple benefits; it's usually cheaper if you don't have to develop new components from scratch, and it's always good to know that something has already flown in space successfully. Lucy uses enhanced versions of science instruments that flew on the New Horizons and OSIRIS-REx missions, and some of Lucy's team members also come from those programs. The Psyche spacecraft itself is very Dawn-like in appearance, and uses solar-electric propulsiona technology vetted thoroughly during Dawn's ten-year mission. 8. The new missions have a Planetary Society connection. I'd be remiss not to mention a Planetary Society connection to both missions: Our president, Jim Bell, is the deputy principal investigator for Psyche, and a co-investigator on Lucy. Congratulations, Jim! Ines Papert and Luka Lindic pull off first repeat of Pizzo Badile Nordest Supercombo Winter mountaineering: Ines Papert reports about the first repeat of the ice and mixed climb Nordest Supercombo' (800m, M7, R) up the NE Face of Pizzo Badile, carried out on 30/12/2016 together with Luka Lindic When conditions are ideal, you have to grasp the opportunity. In particular in winter, when a thin ice line may be perfect for only a couple of days a year. Germanys Ines Papert and Slovenias Luka Lindic know this all to well, and at the end of 2016 they lost little time to make the first repeat of Nordest Supercombo up the huge NE Face of Pizzo Badile. First climbed on 16 December 2016 by the Swiss duo David Hefti and Marcel Schenk, this line combines Via Cassin with Memento Mori. Papert and Lindic, who in autumn travelled to Kyrgyzstan to make the first ascent of Lost in China on Kyzyl Asker, descended via the North Ridge route. It is worth noting that along the Cassin route the two were joined by Luca Godenzi and Charly Micheli who made a rare winter repeat of this classic alpine outing. So Piz Badile, which generally speaking sees little action in winter, is suddenly the hotbed for feverish activity. NORDEST SUPERCOMBO by Ines Papert Luka and I have dismissed our family duties after Christmas for a short while and "escaped" to the NE Face of Piz Badile. Thanks to the great report wed read on planetmountain.com! Of course, were always on the lookout for new routes, but making a repeat can often be rewarding. And lines on steep north faces like this one are few and far between in the Alps. David Hefti and Marcel Schenk really came up trumps with Supercombo! At first light on 30 December we set off up the Cassin route and followed this to where Supercombo branches off. We could hardly believe our eyes. Perfect ice all the way up to the summit, just enough to follow a thin sliver up the granite slabs. Conditions as perfect as these are a real Christmas present. For Luka and myself 2016 was quite a year, with plenty of alpine highs but also some private lows, So watching the year come to an end together on one of the most beautiful summits in the Alps was all the more special. We reached the top at 17:00 with the last rays of light, below us the Alps unfolded glowing deep red. These are moments that help us understand why we continue to take to the mountains, again and again. There is no better place on earth to share plans for the upcoming year. RELATED NEWS 23/12/2016 Pizzo Badile Nordest supercombo, new mixed combination by David Hefti and Marcel Schenk On 16/12/2016 the two Swiss mountain guides David Hefti and Marcel Schenk climbed the ice and mixed combination 'Nordest supercombo' (800m, M7, R) a demanding line that joins Via Cassin with via Memento Mori up the NE Face of Pizzo Badile. The following blog post was originally posted on the Association for Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs (ALADS) website. A painting depicting law enforcement as "pigs" and chosen by Congressman Lacy Clay is currently hanging in public space in the United States Capitol. Since Congressman Clay has refused to remove this piece of hate, the Association for Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs (ALADS) is calling on House Speaker Paul Ryan to remove this piece of hate from the public space. Hatred of law enforcement should not be displayed in the halls of the United States House of Representatives. The repulsive piece was selected following an "art competition" by Congressman Lacy Clay. The Congressman hailed the hate piece as containing "symbolic characters representing social injustice" and "events in Ferguson, Missouri." In his opinion, it was "the most creative expression that I've witnessed in the last 16 years." In this past year, we have seen unprecedented assassinations of multiple police officers in Dallas and Baton Rouge, with the killers motivated by hatred of police. Sadly, the number of officers killed in ambush attacks in 2016 is more than double the average of the previous decade. This painting or other public displays of hatred of police like chants from groups like Black Lives Matter of "Pigs in a blanket, fry 'em like bacon" deserve only condemnation, not praise, from public officials. This isn't a matter of free speech. In just the past year, Congress removed Confederate battle emblems from the tunnels at the Capital following controversy over their display. Congressman Bernie Thompson lauded the removal, stating he was pleased there would no longer be displayed "symbols of hatred and bigotry in the esteemed halls of the United States House of Representatives" and that Congress should "refuse to condone symbols that seek to divide us." Joe Patterson, President of the St. Louis County Police Association, said it best, "we are not about censorship, but good art and good taste are sometimes not the same thing. This is an extraordinarily disrespectful piece at a minimum. We in the law enforcement community have been continuing to work to build bridges and come to a better understanding with our minority community...and then we have irresponsible leadership from elected officials pouring gasoline on bridges haven't even finished being built yet. He's picking at these wounds that we're trying to heal." Everyone should be alarmed when those whose job it is to fight crime on a daily basis are being depicted as pigs. Why do otherwise reasoned individuals-despite evidence before them to the contrary-become reflexively critical of police? How can a member of Congress jump to the twisted conclusion that it is okay to hang a painting that adds to the divide in our country and attacks law enforcement? Public safety requires a strong two-way partnership. At a time of our country facing rising crime and a shortage of those willing to work the streets as police officers and deputy sheriffs, we need to make it clear that depictions of law enforcement officers as pigs in our Nation's Capital are not acceptable. The dedicated men and women who put on a uniform daily, who serve to protect our communities, deserve all the support the community can possibly provide. On behalf of law enforcement officers across this great country, we call on Speaker Ryan to ensure the prompt removal of this painting from general public display at the Capital. If Congressman Clay thinks it should remain at the Capital, then he should move it inside his office, where those who choose to visit the Congressman or his staff can be subjected to a visual display of the Congressman's contempt towards law enforcement. To repeat and paraphrase Congressman Thompson, this piece of hate should not hang in the "esteemed halls of the United States House of Representatives." The Association for Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs (ALADS) is the collective bargaining agent representing more than 7,900 deputy sheriffs and district attorney investigators working in Los Angeles County. One of the most violent years in Chicago history ended with a sobering tally: 762 homicides, the most in two decades in the city and more than New York and Los Angeles combined, reports CBS. The nation's third largest city also saw 1,100 more shooting incidents in 2016 than it did in 2015, according to data released Sunday by the Chicago Police Department. New York, the nation's largest city, logged 334 homicides in 2016, according to the New York Daily News, while the country's second-largest city, Los Angeles, saw 294, reports the L.A. Times. The increase in Chicago homicides compared to 2015, when 485 were reported, is the largest spike in 60 years. Police and city officials have lamented the flood of illegal guns into the city, and the crime statistics appeared to support their claims: Police recovered 8,300 illegal guns in 2016, a 20 percent increase from the previous year. Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson said during a news conference Sunday that Chicago is among many U.S. cities that have seen a spike in violence, including in attacks on police. A Broward County (FL) Sheriffs Office motor deputy crashed near Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL) Tuesday afternoon, reports CBS Miami. The crash reportedly happened in the return loop of the airport around 4 p.m. An airport spokesperson said the deputy was coming into the airport when he or she slid on the return loop. The deputy did not hit any other car. A Broward Sheriffs Office spokesperson said the deputy has non-life threatening injuries. Photo: Facebook Five to 10 armed men escaped police Monday night after robbing a home in north Harris County, TX, and firing dozens of rounds toward responding officers, police said. Three children escaped the robbers who pistol-whipped their father and stole more than $50,000 in cash from the home, which contained large quantities of drugs, a police spokesman said. About 6 p.m. Monday a teenage girl called police from a home near the Greenspoint area and said her father was being beaten by armed men, Harris County Sheriff's Office spokesman Sgt. Cedrick Collier said. The girl and her two siblings younger than 10 managed to escape to a neighbor's house, reports the Houston Chronicle. Sheriff's deputies responding to the call about the home invasion and robbery were met with a hail of gunfire, Collier said -- at least 20 or 30 rounds. No one was injured. The armed men escaped through the back door and are believed to have left in a white Jeep or SUV, the spokesman added. The Harris County SWAT team arrived to the scene and used a robot to search the house, and police used K-9s to search the area but found no suspects. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Print Donald Trump infamously put trust in Putin-pawn and hi-tech terrorist Julian Assange over his own countrys intelligence agencies this morning. Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, who has had a lukewarm relationship with Trump dating back to the election, refuses to go along, calling Assange a sycophant for Russia. Appearing on Wednesdays Hugh Hewitt Show, Ryan said of the noted provocateur that He leaks, he steals data and compromises national security. Though Ryan would not address Trumps tweet directly, he appeared to be allowing Trump some lee-way, saying, the last thing Im going to do is start commenting on every little tweet or Facebook post. That is just not what I do with the president-elect or when hes president. Per MSNBCs Kyle Griffin: Paul Ryan to @hughhewitt on Julian Assange: "I think the guy is a sycophant for Russia." pic.twitter.com/pUN1QwXc35 Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) January 4, 2017 Unless its President Obama, of course. Or, you can be certain, Hillary Clinton. Typical of Ryans passive-aggressive response to Trump, he said, I think he has not received his Russia briefing yet. No mention of the briefings Trump willfully skipped in order to focus on his uninformed Twitter and Saturday Night Live addictions. I believe that is scheduled for Friday, so hopefully hell get to up to speed on what has been happening and what Russia has or has not done. And hell be better informed on that. Right. A man who has resisted every attempt to inform him for the past year is suddenly going to be swayed by intelligence from the agencies he has spent weeks denigrating. Trump, of course, has claimed the briefing was moved to Friday, casting doubt on the whole affair by suggesting it was so intelligence sources could massage their facts and build a case, as usual outright lying since according to a senior intelligence official the briefing was always supposed to take place on Friday. This is just one more sign of the dysfunction headed our way, a demoralizing miasma of lies and obfuscation from people who care more about personal power than they do about the country they were elected to serve. Paul Ryan famously took issue with Donald Trump during the campaign without withdrawing his endorsement. This is just more of the same, with Ryan disagreeing with Trump while making excuses for him. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Print *The following is an opinion column by R Muse* The archaic proverb, birds of a feather flock together is universally understood to mean that people with the same tastes and interests will be found together is beginning to have some 21st Century relevance respecting the cozy relationship between Israels Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and reality show celebrity Donald Trump. And no, not because each man is considered a head of state, but because each leader is prone toward actions that are considered criminal and worthy of a state-level investigation. Many people had wondered why Trump glommed on to the Israeli Netanyahu after his presidential campaign, and his supporters, began promoting decidedly anti-Semitic views, and although there is yet no proof, it might well be because both Netanyahu and Trump are as corrupt as the proverbial day is long. In precisely the same manner that Trump is dogged by controversy over his widespread business interests that make him guilty of violating the Constitutions Emoluments Clause the second he is sworn in office, Netanyahu has been facing his own problems with accepting illegal gifts from business tycoons, including those who are foreigners. Also like Trump, Netanyahu has been dodging reporters and investigators who want to question him over allegations that he used his high political office for personal financial gain. As reported in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, Israeli Attorney General Avichai Mendelblit began examining allegations against Netanyahu last July over credible reports that the Israeli leader took gifts from wealthy business barons in violation of Israeli law. But now, after months of maintaining that he was only conducting an inquiry, Mr. Mendelblit announced yesterday that the probe has been upgraded to a full-fledged criminal investigation. That designation eliminates Netanyahus ability to avoid investigators making inquiries and allows Israeli police to question Netanyahu regardless his high political office. Of course, like his new BFF Trump, Netanyahu automatically denied there has ever been, or is even a hint of impropriety in his office and denied all of the reports. Reports, by the way, that he happily accepted gifts as Israeli Prime Minister worth hundreds of thousands of shekels including high-cost suits from an American businessman named Ron Lauder who has already confessed to Israeli police that he gave Benjamin Netanyahu several gifts while he is prime minister. As Haaretz reported, Netanyahu has been deftly avoiding police all week, while officials are telling local media that they are unable to find a time to meet with him for lengthy questioning; because he is avoiding police investigators like plague all week. Netanyahus office said that All the supposed affairs have proved baseless, and the same will be with the claims now being published in the media. There will be nothing because there is nothing. Nothing except Ronald Lauders admission that there is something and it was in the form of several high-value gifts from an American business tycoon to Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu. There are already Israeli claims that what started out to be just a controversy in July will soon escalate into a major scandal that is no doubt foreshadowing the major scandals about to haunt Trump beginning on day one of his administration. Remember, unless Trump sells off his vast business entanglements prior to being sworn in as president, he will be in conflict of interest. And if he or any of his business interests, including his children or his hotels, receives even a penny of funding originating from any foreign governments he definitely will be guilty of violating the Emoluments Clause of the U.S. Constitution. It is something Trump has already done as reported here, and his corruption exceeds anything Netanyahu has done. It is not immediately clear what kind of rules the Israeli Attorney General is citing to investigate Netanyahu, but if he accepted gifts in office similarly to Trump accepting payment from foreign tenants in any of his hotels, then he is violating something akin to the Constitutions Emoluments Clause. It is why legal scholars have railed against Trump for not already completely divesting all of his business interests. Remember, if the reprobate Trump refuses to sell his business assets like the Wall Street Journal called for and simply transfers operational control to his children, he will be in violation of the U.S. Constitution the second he is sworn in office. It remains to be seen if the Republicans in Congress who so want to be like the nation of Israel will take a hint from the Jewish states attorney general and immediately begin a thorough criminal investigation into Trump, his businesses and his intimate relationship with Vladimir Putin. However, based on the Republican attempt to eliminate the House Ethics Committee, it is questionable if there will ever be any investigations into the Trump. It is all but certain that Trumps designee for the American attorney general job does not share the Israeli attorney generals belief that no politician is above the law; especially after being an early supporter of the man he would be investigating and when there are African American communities and civil rights laws to undermine. Perhaps the loving embrace between Netanyahu and Trump has more to do with than just opposing President Obama for not praising Israels illegal incursions into and aggression against Palestine. Birds of a feather do flock together, and it appears that heads of state flock together as well and in Netanyahu and Trumps case, they are apparently cut from the same corrupt cloth. But at least in Netanyahus situation, there is an attorney general on the job who doesnt care if he is Israels prime minister and is going forward with a criminal investigation that one hopes is a preview of what awaits corrupt Donald Trump immediately upon taking the oath of office. In the wake of multiple hit-and-run deaths in the past month, Manhattan Councilmember Ydanis Rodriguez today introduced legislation that would create a hit-and-run reward fund of up to $1,000 per tip. Cash rewards would go to civilians with information leading to the arrest, prosecution or conviction of a suspected hit-and-run driver who kills or seriously injures a person. "Hit and runs occur with far too great a frequency," Councilmember Rodriguez said in a statement. "Today we are sending a message that we're willing to put our money where our mouth is to catch and prosecute cowardly individuals who leave people for dead as they flee the scene." Rodriguez has already tested the reward fund approach, according to his office. Following the December hit-and-run death of La Mega DJ Jinx Paul, the councilmember announced a $1,000 reward for information leading to the driver's arrest. Thomas Bradley, Jr., 52, was fatally struck while crossing South Conduit Avenue at Rockaway Boulevard in Queens around 2:30 a.m. on New Year's day. No arrests have been made. Several days prior, 39-year-old Evedette Sanchez was killed by a hit-and-run driver while she was in a crosswalk at Louisiana and Flatlands avenues in East New York. These early 2017 fatalities set an ominous tone, following Fiscal Year 2016 NYPD statistics that show relatively low arrest rates for fatal hit-and-run crashes. Of 38 fatal hit-and-run crashes between July 2015 and June 2016the most up-to-date NYPD statistics available13, or 34 percent, have resulted in an arrest. In 22 hit-and-run crashes where the victim was "seriously injured" by the NYPD's estimation, 14 arrests have been made. Taking all fatal and injurious crashes during that time period into accountincluding those that resulted in what the NYPD classified as non-serious "personal injuries"the NYPD made 450 arrests in 5,066 crashes. That's an arrest rate of about 8 percent. For comparison, the arrest rate for murder and non-negligent manslaughter in 2015 was 86 percent308 arrests out of 335 incidents. Also on Wednesday, Councilmember Rodriguez said that he would "advocate" for more officers in the NYPD's Collision Investigation Squad [CIS]a priority that was not included in the NYPD's 2016 budget. Two other bills are still in the draft phase: one that would create a city-wide hit-and-run alert system to inform the public of the make and model of cars involved in hit-and-run crashes, and a second that would increase resources for investigations into hit-and-run crashes that result in property damage. Mayor de Blasio passed legislation in December 2015 doubling hit-and-run fines. But some say stronger measures most be taken, at the state level. Currently, the maximum penalty for a DWI exceeds that for a hit-and-runa discrepancy that advocates say motives drivers to flee. Under current law, it is a C felony to kill someone while driving under the influence, but only a D felony to leave the scene of a fatal crash. In response to advocates' concern about hit-and-run arrest rates in FY 2016, mayoral spokesman Austin Finan has stressed that CIS focuses its resources on the most serious crasheswhere the arrest rates are higherallocating crashes deemed less serious to precinct detectives. "Hit and runs are serious, unacceptable crimes which is why the police department investigates every reported case and works hard to make arrests, including dispatching CIS investigators for all instances where an individual is seriously injured or killed," he stated Wednesday. Attorney Steve Vaccaro, who primarily represents cyclists and pedestrians injured and killed by reckless drivers, has countered that the definition of "serious" is too narrow. Citing his experience litigating against the NYPD on behalf of hit-and-run victims, he told us last fall that the non-serious category "may include everything from scrapes and bruises and road rash, all the way up to any serious injury that doesn't involve the person needing life support. You can lose a limb and not need life support." Vaccaro has suggested that the NYPD use the penal code definition of "serious personal injury" to determine which hit-and-run cases get CIS investigations. According to the code, "protracted impairment of health or protracted loss or impairment of the function of any bodily organ" falls into the serious injury category. Councilmember Rodriguez's reward fund legislation specifically uses the penal code definition of "serious injury." The Mayor's Office is reviewing the legislation, which states that the reward would be paid out by that office, based on a recommendation from the NYPD. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Print Donald Trump, when he was done blaming not Russia but Hillary Clinton and the DNC for the collapse of American democracy, returned his attention back to Obamacare and its many alleged failings: Republicans must be careful in that the Dems own the failed ObamaCare disaster, with its poor coverage and massive premium increases Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 4, 2017 like the 116% hike in Arizona. Also, deductibles are so high that it is practically useless. Don't let the Schumer clowns out of this web Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 4, 2017 massive increases of ObamaCare will take place this year and Dems are to blame for the mess. It will fall of its own weight be careful! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 4, 2017 These are constant themes in Trumps attacks on the healthcare reform that, for the first time, gave many Americans a chance of seeing a doctor and of not being denied needed care. The system is perfect by no means, but it is a lot better than what we had before, and to what Republicans want to return us to. Media Matters for America provided 10 facts reporters should mention when they cover Obamacare, and none of them will be mentioned by Donald Trump or congressional Republicans, or indeed, by the mainstream media: 1. Passage Of The ACA Has Resulted In The Lowest Uninsured Rate In Recent History 2. The ACA Medicaid Expansion Provided Health Care Access For Millions Of The Most Vulnerable Americans 3. The ACA Tangibly Improved Womens Health Care Coverage 4. The ACA Helped America Take Huge Steps Toward LGBTQ Equality 5. Contrary To Popular Belief, The ACA Extended The Solvency Of Medicare By Over 10 Years 6. The ACA Reduced The Budget Deficit, Reined In Medical Costs, And Reduced Economic Inequality 7. The ACA Improved Health Care Access For Minority Communities. 8. The ACA Banned Discrimination Against Those With Pre-Existing Conditions 9. The ACA Provided Crucial Insurance To Young Adults 10. The ACA Resulted In The Biggest Expansion Of Mental Health Care Services In Decades These are just plain facts, and they are beyond dispute. Every American, whether they have obtained coverage on the marketplace or not, benefit from eliminating limitations based on pre-existing conditions and this list does not even include the elimination of lifetime limits which would render care of expensive medical conditions all but impossible. Donald Trump made opposition to Obamacare central to his campaign, but as usual, his attacks are lacking a factual basis. When Donald Trump speaks of poor coverage, it needs to be remembered that were talking about an additional 20 million + who have coverage and didnt have it before. When Mike Pence tweeted this morning, Were going to keep our promise to the American people. Our 1st order of business will be to repeal & replace Obamacare, he was doing nothing less than attacking the health and in some cases, the lives of millions of Americans. Leave it to Donald Trump and the GOP to politicize healthcare. Nancy Pelosi deems the repeal of Obamacare with no alternative an act of cowardice. As Chuck Schumer says, the GOP Obamacare repeal plan would Make America Sick Again. It sure wont make America great. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Print Donald Trump called Senate Democrats clowns as Republicans are trying to blame Obama and Democrats while their ACA repeal efforts are sinking in political quicksand. Trump tweeted: Republicans must be careful in that the Dems own the failed ObamaCare disaster, with its poor coverage and massive premium increases Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 4, 2017 like the 116% hike in Arizona. Also, deductibles are so high that it is practically useless. Don't let the Schumer clowns out of this web Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 4, 2017 The real clowns here are the Republicans and Trump who promised to repeal the ACA on day one, only to find out that passing a repeal bill may take months, and full repeal may be delayed for five years. Bloomberg described the glacial pace and thorny situation that Republicans have put themselves in, A Republican senator on condition of anonymity said the details of the repeal bill remain very uncertain. Originally, Republicans were planning to simply bring back the bill they put on Obamas desk last year for his veto. But that bill was written knowing it wouldnt become law, and now some Republicans want to make tweaks to soften the blow of repeal. The Republican Senator admitted that the previous repeal bills passed by Republicans were junk that werent intended to become law. Faced with being in charge of repealing Obamacare, Senate Republicans are looking the American people in the eyes and saying, weve got nothing. The real clowns are the Democrats who expanded access to health care for nearly 30 million Americans. The clowns are the people are so inept that they cant come up with a replacement bill. Republicans are sinking under the weight of ACA repeal, as the real clown was the presidential candidate who promised a repeal and replace that he cant deliver. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Print The top-ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) has accused president-elect Trump of damaging national security with a series of treacherous tweets praising Putin and Assange. Rep Schiff tweeted: With every conspiracy theory-laden tweet Trump does damage to national security, while raising concerns about his capacity to grow into job. Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) January 4, 2017 When Trump belittles the Intelligence Community, he impairs our national security and prospects for the success of his own Administration. Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) January 4, 2017 What has Schiff so alarmed are these tweets from Trump: The "Intelligence" briefing on so-called "Russian hacking" was delayed until Friday, perhaps more time needed to build a case. Very strange! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 4, 2017 Julian Assange said "a 14 year old could have hacked Podesta" why was DNC so careless? Also said Russians did not give him the info! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 4, 2017 The United States is faced with an unparalleled national security threat. The US president-elect is endangering national security but mocking the nations intelligence community while cozying up to dictators and criminals. The evidence is mounting that Trump is never going to grow into the job of being president. Instead, Trump is expressing a preference for using his power to protect those who helped him win the White House. Rep. Schiff was correct. Tweets praising Putin and Assange in combination with attacks on intelligence community serve to make America less safe. Under the banner making America great again, Trump is weakening the worlds only superpower. How America deals with a president who is a national security risk will determine the strength of the United States for decades to come. South State Corp. is listed on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol SSB. It shares were up about 1.6 percent to $88.75 mid-afternoon Wednesday. File The massive amount is unusual for a local school board race and thousands more than any of the other 31 candidates have managed to raise. Read moreA CCSD board candidate has raised almost $100K in campaign funds Emanuel AMEs former secretary is suing the church and the Rev. Norvel Goff for ending her employment after she questioned the handling of donations that poured into the church after a gunman killed nine worshippers. Read moreFormer secretary at Emanuel AME sues for unpaid wages All of us have local and national issues that we worry about: gender-related and race-related issues, education and social welfare issues, pump prices and what to do about Confederate monuments. Thats usually how we vote whats worrying us at the moment. But older adults, of all people, may be capable of standing back from whats in our face to take a longer perspective on politics. Read moreAging for Amateurs: Elections make us get clear on priorities Though the clock is falling back, fun is still springing up all around the Lowcountry. Immerse yourself in Scottish heritage at the Charleston Scottish Games and Highland Gathering, head to Summerville for the Timrod Library's 125th birthday, or spend a night with friends celebrating Charleston Beer Week. Read moreMy Charleston Weekend: Beer, Bagpipes, and a Birthday Bash Early on the drizzly morning of October 2nd, 2015, NYPD officers and Parks Department employees in white hazmat suits rousted two small groups of homeless men and women asleep under an overhang at Choir Academy, a public school in East Harlem. The authorities told the group they were no longer welcome underneath the overhang, and began to toss their possessions into a waiting sanitation truck. Surveillance footage acquired by the New York Civil Liberties Union (see below) shows the police and park workers destroying the group's possessions, and was grounds for a lawsuit against the city filed in December 2015. Today, the NYCLU announced that the city will provide compensation to three homeless men named in the suit. Floyd Parks, Timmy Hall and Jesus Morales lost birth certificates, social security cards, blood pressure medication, winter clothing and contact information for city shelters during the raidas detailed in a 2015 Gothamist feature. "Homeless people deserve to be treated with dignity like all New Yorkers, and the city acknowledged that it had no right to treat their few possessions like garbage," said NYCLU Executive Director Donna Lieberman. "It's important that these three people were compensated, but some of the personal items they lost were worth far more to them than just their monetary value." The NYPD initially claimed that Parks and his companions were told to take their personal belongings and leave the school property, and that everything "left behind" was thrown into Parks Department trucks. But in the surveillance footage, Parks employees are seen shining flashlights on men sleeping on the ground and dragging their possessions to the sanitation trucks. Parks will receive $500, Hall $800, and Morales $215the estimated value of their possessions. "Finally someone is listening, and thank God we have proof showing what has been done to us," Parks told Gothamist on Wednesday. But Nikita Price, an organizer for Picture the Homeless (of which Parks, Hall and Morales are members), said the payouts amounted to an "insult." While the men's claims had initially called for additional compensation for "mental and emotional distress," this was excluded from the settlement. "I would like to think that these cases would set a precedent," Price said. "Government officials, whether they are NYPD, or work for the city, can be held accountable for abusing people's rights. But the dollar amount, without sounding crass, is an insult. What you are saying is the targeting of these folks, frightening them, that's all it's worth. People have gotten more for stubbing their toes." Asked to comment on the size of the settlement, the NYCLU said that these cases are often settled as soon as there is an offerin part because, "Even if you prevail in a court case, you wont see any money for a long time." Norman Siegel, a civil rights attorney and former director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, outlined the group's rights in the aftermath of the raid. "If you're on private property the cops can tell you the owner doesn't want you here, and you have to leave," he explained. However, "If they threw out people's papers, [that's] destruction of private property. What they're supposed to do is take the property and voucher it, and let people pick it up later." Destruction of property is one of several tactics that police officers use to discourage homeless men and women from congregating in public spaces, like sidewalks and parks. Last spring, the NYCLU filed a complaint against the city calling on the New York City Commission on Human Rights to investigate the NYPD's "move along" practice. The complaint stresses that homeless New Yorkers have every right to sit, stand or sleep in public, so long as building entrances and pedestrian traffic are not obstructed. It was brought under the 2013 Community Safety Act, which prohibits profiling based on housing status, as well as age, gender, sexual orientation, immigration status, and disability. NYCLU Staff Attorney Jordan Wells said Wednesday that the city should be focusing its efforts on steering the NYPD away from legally-dubious encounters with homeless New Yorkers. "Rather than having to pay out individual claims like those of our clients, the city should move away from targeting and criminalizing the homeless," Wells said in a statement. "This incident underscores the need for the NYPD to implement consistent policies to ensure officers treat homeless residents with professional courtesy and respect." Following the October 2015 raid, Parks and many of his companions started carrying cards that state their legal right to be in public so long as they are not blocking street trafficpart of a Siegel initiative to reduce NYPD arrests of street homeless. "They still arrest us, tell us to move," Parks said Wednesday. "We stop on the corner and they'll say, 'Yo, you guys can't stand here. You gotta move, you gotta move, you gotta move, you gotta move.'" In December 2015, with homelessness on the rise, Mayor de Blasio launched HOME-STATan initiative to canvass the homeless populations in Manhattan daily, increase homeless outreach staff, and up the number of police officers on the NYPD's homeless outreach unit. City Hall said at the time that the Choir Academy raid was unrelated to that initiative. "This incident involves individuals trespassing on school grounds. It is illegal for individuals to trespass and sleep on school grounds, and we will not tolerate it for security and safety reasons," said then-spokeswoman Karen Hinton after the lawsuit was filed. However, she added, "we will review our protocols concerning the seizure and disposition of personal property." City Hall deferred comment on today's announcement to the Commission on Human Rights; a spokesman for that office commented on the "move along" complaint, saying, "The NYC Commission on Human Rights continues to investigate this case." Additional reporting by Erica Siudzinski. [Update: 5:15 p.m.]: This piece has been updated with comment from a Picture the Homeless spokesperson. Paul Bowers is an education reporter and father of three living in North Charleston. He previously worked at the Charleston City Paper, where he was twice named South Carolina Journalist of the Year in the weekly category. The pandemic stressed us all, but its impact was compounded among pregnant women and those who had just given birth; their rates of mood and anxiety problems doubled during that time. That should not come as a major surprise, given how the stresses around this life-giving, life-changing even Read moreEditorial: Important outreach to SC's expectant and new mothers There are five candidates vying for three open seats on Clemson City Council. We asked the two incumbents and three newcomers what they think is most important for Clemson's residents and council. Read moreMeet the candidates: 5 vying for 3 seats on Clemson City Council OK, the holiday season is over. Retail small businesses are thankful for the holiday sales and also are thankful they survived. My basic question in last week's column was, "What are you going to do this new year?" I hope you have had time to think about that. You owe it to your business to do that. I shared my challenge with a group of small-business CEOs. What will your small business look like in 2017? Will you grow? Have you thought about what you will need to change? Maybe nothing needs to change? Will same old-same old give your business the kind of leadership it needs for the new year? The one question I didn't share in my column was this, what does your business plan say? Yes, I got some blank stares, some heads down and some heads nodding because they knew they hadn't looked at it for a while. So, I will address some items in this column related to that business plan. Regular readers know I volunteer my time to mentor small businesses through SCORE. The most often asked topic for help is "business plan." Unfortunately, so many small-business CEOs think of the business plan as a sort of "rite of passage" and they let out a sigh of relief when it is over and then put it in a drawer. Although the process you went through to do the plan was important because it forced you to think about and focus on key elements of starting your business, if you stop the process, you miss a lot of value of the plan. ADVERTISEMENT The business plan never is done. It should be thought of as a "living document" that always needs updating and refining. While writing a business plan is important for new entrepreneurs, it has great value for existing business owners. If you see your business starting to drift from the original plan you set for it, you can make choices to put your plan back on course or to forge a new path. So this is a good time for existing CEOs to revisit your business plan. Maybe it'll only take you an hour, or maybe you can set aside a whole afternoon. In one sense, this is a review exercise. You'll go over what you've achieved, and you can, of course, congratulate yourself as you observe how far you've come. But your business plan also can serve as a planning tool for the coming year. I asked a SCORE colleague, Bridget Weston Pollack, what she suggests business owners look for as they review their business plan. Here are some of her thoughts. What are my overarching goals for 2017?Does my original business plan set out to meet the same goals, or do I need to adjust? What are my financial projections for 2017?If you've been in business for several years, you may be able to look at this part of your business plan to compare your 2016 prediction to reality. Where were you accurate? Where did you fall short? Can you tell why your projections didn't match up with your business performance, for better or for worse? Let the numbers guide you toward an ambitious, but pragmatic, 2017 projection. What do I need to do to help me succeed next year?This question also can be aided by examining your projected and real finances. Do you always say you need a clone of yourself? Maybe it's time to hire an employee. Maybe you hoped to improve the packaging of your products but never had the time to investigate vendors for the task. Can you make time and find funds to do that now? What are my weaknesses, and how can I work around them in the future?Your business plan should/could include a SWOT analysis, evaluating the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats for your own business compared to your competition. Go back to the "weaknesses" portion of that report. Do you still agree with what you listed for your business? Are those weaknesses still true for your business, yourself as the boss, or both? Whether you've added skills and strengths to your business endeavor or you're still struggling, think about how you can grow or call in more help in 2017. When you're finished, you'll probably have a lot of ideas for your business for 2017 and years to come. The beginning of the year is a great time to set up a meeting with a SCORE mentor to talk about how to help your business grow. MINNEAPOLIS When Susan Carrigan got married 34 years ago, she vowed a lifetime of love to her husband, Steve. She did not, however, make that same commitment to her ring. To mark her 25th wedding anniversary, Carrigan did what more and more women are doing: She upgraded her wedding ring. "I wanted something that better reflected 25 years of marriage," the Little Canada woman said. "My original ring was used as part of the design for my daughter's wedding ring. It was meaningful to pass it along." It was an age-old idea that rings were a symbol for eternity. But today they're being upgraded like some people trade in cars. ADVERTISEMENT "It seems to be happening more often and earlier than it used to," said Bob Moeller, president and co-owner of R.F. Moeller Jeweler in the Twin Cities. "It used to happen at 25 or 30 years. Now it's not uncommon to see that upgrade happening at 10 and even five years." Moeller estimates that as many as a quarter of his customers mostly women have upgraded their wedding rings. "It's more of a generational thing," he said. "The younger generations don't feel the same attachment for them, the wedding ring is more of a dynamic experience than a one-time thing." Trade-in programs While Carrigan passed her original wedding ring down to her daughter, the decision for other women to trade their rings is driven by changes in taste, income or to mark meaningful milestones in a relationship, such as an anniversary or the birth of a baby (also known as a "push present" among women of current childbearing age). At many jewelry stores, the idea of an upgrade is promoted when a ring is purchased. Some jewelers offer a trade-in program for couples whose budgets have grown since they first purchased an engagement ring and will adjust the price of a new diamond or gemstone based on the price of the original engagement purchase. "There is no downside to upgrading a diamond," said Eugene Gittelson, owner of Gittelson Jewelers in Minneapolis. "Their value is always going up." Alyssa DeRusha married WCCO-TV anchor Jason DeRusha in 1998 when she was 22. Since then, DeRusha discovered Stephen Vincent Design, a Minneapolis custom jeweler, and fell in love with Vincent's signature modern aesthetic, particularly his tension-set diamond rings. ADVERTISEMENT "[We] had come a long way since our college days and my tastes had changed," she said. "In 2012, I finally pulled the trigger and I have no regrets." The center diamond from DeRusha's original ring was made into a pendant and some of the side stones were made into stacking rings. "Wearing a ring symbolizes our love, but to me that love is not just represented by the original ring," she said. "When we go on vacation, I sometimes just wear a cheap band. I want to wear a wedding ring, but to me it doesn't need to just be one ring." Daunting discussion While DeRusha says her husband was supportive of the idea, approaching a spouse with the idea of an upgrade can be a daunting discussion. Sometimes, it's the man who makes the first move. "[My husband] has asked me to upgrade mine, but I can't bring myself to do it," said Heather Weirich, of Plymouth. "We were engaged at 21 and he worked hard to buy me the ring he did. It means so much to me, I just can't upgrade." Weirich isn't alone in her attachment to sentimentality. For many, the symbolism contained in the original ring trumps both carat size and cost. ADVERTISEMENT Last April, a Minnesota woman wrote on Facebook in defense of her "small" wedding ring after hearing from friends and family that the size of her ring didn't represent the level of success she and her husband had achieved. "Since when did the size of someone's ring become an indication of success?!" Rachel Pederson of Eden Prairie wrote. "For me, the ring is so much more. My ring symbolizes a whirlwind, storybook, 'make you sick' love story." Sentimental value? HGTV's "Fixer Upper" star Joanna Gaines also publicly decried an upgrade. In her book, "The Magnolia Story," Gaines revealed that she turned down a recent opportunity to upgrade her wedding ring because of the sentimental value attached to the original. "This is the original diamond I picked, and it's perfect just the way it is," wrote Gaines. A changing of the wedding rings isn't just for women and doesn't always cost more, either. Andy Borne has been married for 16 years, but says it might be time to update his ring finger. "I have often toyed with the idea of downgrading my wedding ring from platinum/gold to some other metal, perhaps molybdenum or titanium just because it's cool and unusual and gold is so common," the Eagan man said. "Iridium would be my first choice and it would be an upgrade." Minneapolis resident Jessica Reipke adores the sapphire solitaire engagement ring her husband proposed with, she just doesn't love to wear it. "I just did not find it to be practical for a pretty low-maintenance person like myself," Reipke said. The sapphire ring is worn for special occasions or around her neck on a chain, but Reipke now dons a simple gold band on her ring finger. "I actually downgraded," she said. "Simple is where it's at for me." For the first 16 years of my life, I was home-schooled. Almost every morning I would wake up, shower, and then go into my parents' room, where my mom and I would go over the schoolwork I did the day before, take any tests that I needed to take, and explain anything that I wasn't understanding. After this, I would go down to my room, where I would do what was assigned for that day. From fifth grade on through 10th, I would also have to go to the public school for an hour each day, since I was in the orchestra. Ideally this routine would happen every morning, but in practice that wasn't always the case. I tended to try anything I could to get out of going over the previous day's work. I didn't always get out of it, but when I did, everything would pile up and snowball, which only exacerbated the problem for me. Part of what I hated most going over my schoolwork was the fact I could never seem to do well in certain subjects. Math was an endless nightmare for me. Science could be easy or awful, depending on what was being covered. And my mom recently reminded me of how in fourth grade I was still having trouble spelling four-letter words. (In my defense, I have gotten a lot better earlier, I spelled "exacerbated" right on my first try.) My mom would always tell me that I couldn't keep putting things off, and that once I got into college I wouldn't be able to talk my way out of things like I could with her. ADVERTISEMENT She was right, of course. A little over a year ago, I started taking post-secondary enrollment options (PSEO) classes at the community college, and I had to get used to suddenly having much stricter deadlines and due dates for all of the work I had to do. To be honest, it was a little scary. I knew going in that I could probably handle almost anything that I was going to see there academically, but in terms of making sure I was prepared to take every test and getting every assignment done on time, I was unsure. Looking back at it all now with three semesters down and heading into my last one next month, I feel like I have managed to adapt to it all. The first semester was rough. I had an online class that I ended up missing an exam for that put me at an F by the midterms, but I stayed at it and struggled to bring it up to a B in the end. In each of the two semesters after that, I have managed to get straight A's. I am still nervous about what the future might hold, and how I will have to adapt to the changes that it will bring, but I feel confident now after thinking back on how I have already grown in just the past year and a half. I have come a long way from where I was when I began I can even spell most four-letter words. By the time Natasha Santos, now 28, was adopted, she was 16 and had lived with six foster families. To would-be adoptive parents, the New York City resident says, "It's not too late. You'll make a difference in their lives. And parenting doesn't stop when we turn 18. I group-text with my mom and siblings every day." Although she spent years in foster care, Santos counts herself as one of the lucky ones. About 60,000 foster-care kids, newborn to 18, await adoption, said Children's Rights, a national advocacy group. Another 355,000 foster kids are not candidates for adoption because their birthparents haven't terminated their parental rights. And this, said Ed Anderson, 59, of Newport News, Va., is why he spent his summer vacation riding his bicycle across the U.S., during his "Tour de Adoption." "Kids are in foster homes through no fault of their own," Anderson told folks he met along the way. Raised $340K ADVERTISEMENT The co-owner of 11 Wendy's restaurants, Anderson has long supported the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption, named for and established by the Wendy's founder to increase the number of adoptions of kids from foster homes. By riding across the country, Anderson could encourage people to donate to the foundation, he predicted. So far, $340,000 has been raised, and the money is still rolling in. Anderson started his ride July 25 in Virginia Beach, Va. Ten weeks later, Oct. 4, he reached the Pacific Ocean in San Diego. His wife, Judy, and two of their three sons, Eddie and Joey, took turns following him in their van and lining up motels and pit stops that included 21 Wendy's restaurants whose owners asked to be on his map. Anderson praised Judy for packing "an extra everything, from bike tire to helmet." Even at the most remote stops, Anderson was a magnet for foster and adoptive families who saw his Tour de Adoption logo on the van. "Despite what we see on the news every night, our country is filled with kind, friendly people," said Anderson. "We met so many people like Curt and Rhonda, mom-and-pop motel owners who did our laundry. Or, the front-desk guy at another place who saw my legs and switched us to a room with a tub, so I could soak." 3 in 5 relate The Donaldson Adoption Institute's 2015 Adoption Perceptions Study found that 60 percent of Americans have a friend or family member who is part of the adoption triad: adoptee, adoptive parent or birth parent. After Anderson threw out the first pitch for the River City Rascals in O'Fallon, Mo., a little boy introduced himself and his soon-to-be adoptive parents. When Anderson had food poisoning in Anton, Colo., the owner of the rural motel where he and Judy stayed one night drove Judy 60 miles round-trip to buy him ginger ale and saltines. She and Judy had plenty to talk about. She was a foster mom. ADVERTISEMENT Anderson's timing of his tour was right-on, said Adam Pertman, president of the National Center on Adoption and Permanency in Boston and Los Angeles. "The demographics of adoption have changed dramatically in the last few decades," said Pertman. No longer is the average adoptee a healthy infant. Now, the median age is 6.8 years, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and, often, the child is part of a sibling group. Adoptive parents are not necessarily young, heterosexual same-race couples. "Closed adoption" is becoming a thing of the past, said Pertman. Today, most adoptions of babies are open. "That means, in the vast majority of cases, you know who the birth mom is and probably other family members as well," said Pertman. "And, increasingly, even international adoptions are becoming open too," he said. Rethinking adoption Adoption social services and laws are playing catch-up. Laws vary greatly from state to state. But more than that, said Pertman, it's a matter of rethinking where adoption is today. "The old model is 'child placement,'" said Pertman. "How many kids did we place in adoptive homes today? The new model is 'family success.' Did we provide the family with pre-, during-, and post-adoption services to ensure the child or sibling group has a forever home?" Like many older adoptees, for example, Santos had learned to live with scars in her case, from emotional and verbal abuse from a former foster mom. Finally, adoption gave her the security she needed, said Santos. That, in turn, gave her confidence, which she said is valuable socially and professionally. ADVERTISEMENT Despite a small army of volunteers like Anderson who make adoption their mission, about 22,000 foster children "age out" of foster care each year because they turn 18 without having been adopted, according to Children's Rights. As adults, they're much more likely than their adopted peers to become homeless, unemployed or incarcerated, and much less likely to earn a college degree. While Anderson raises money for the foundation to tackle aging out and other adoption concerns, Santos (a professional community organizer) cuts right to the chase. "Are you an adoptive parent?" she asks you when you meet. If your answer is "No," she fires back: "Why not?" To you, her community looks like New York City. But to her, it is one huge pool of potential adoptive parents. A Chatfield man had his initial appearance Tuesday in Olmsted County District Court, where he's been charged with promoting prostitution, a felony. Jamil Lamon James, 22, remains in custody in lieu of $40,000 conditional bail and is due back in court Jan. 24. The charge stems from an incident Dec. 16, when officers with the Rochester Police Department conducted an undercover prostitution operation at a local hotel. That day, an undercover officer responded to an advertisement in the escort section of a website that offers adult services. Members of law enforcement often monitor the site and place false ads to target people involved in prostitution, or respond to ads placed by others. The woman who answered the text arranged to meet the undercover officer at the hotel. She arrived in a vehicle driven by James, the complaint says, who backed the car into a spot near the front entrance and stayed in the car when the woman got out. Inside the room, the woman and undercover officer discussed services and prices as other officers listened through radio surveillance, the reports say. When a deal was struck, the officers entered the room. The woman said her boyfriend, James, gave her a ride to the hotel. ADVERTISEMENT She said he "somewhat knows" what she does and has provided rides for her to meet men at hotels in the past. When the "meeting" is over, she gives half of the money she earned to James, the court document says. The woman and James allegedly have an understanding as to how much time she should be spending in the hotel rooms, and if he "senses there's a problem, he'll come and get her." James was reportedly present at many of her encounters with men at hotels, but he told investigators he isn't "making" the woman engage in prostitution and he has no control over her. When asked if it bothers him that she's involved in prostitution, James allegedly said, "yeah," then added, "I don't know what she does." New year, new school board members The school board welcomed two new board members, Don Barlow and Mark Schleusner, and a re-elected incumbent, Deborah Seelinger, at Tuesday's meeting. Three seats were up for grabs in November's election; each of the new members will serve a four-year term, which officially began Tuesday. The board selected new officers with Julie Workman becoming the board's chair. Jean Marvin was selected as vice chair, Don Barlow as clerk and Anne Becker was elected treasurer. Each of these new officer positions will last one year. School board members Richard Hinds and Dan O'Neil finished out their terms as school board members in December. ADVERTISEMENT O'Neil, an innovation and communications project manager with Mayo Clinic, served two terms on the board. Hinds, a respiratory therapist and Mayo Clinic researcher, served one. HR director position now staffed After about eight months without a human resources director, the district introduced an internal hire who will fill the position Tuesday. Karl Bakken will transition to the cabinet-level position from his current post as assistant director of student services in the district. More details on that here . Rhodes Scholarship announcement Ahmed Ahmed, a 2013 John Marshall graduate, and Rhodes Scholar was honored Tuesday night. At the end of November, Ahmed was selected by the Rhodes Trust as one of 32 students who will attend Oxford University next fall. Ahmed is majoring in biology at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y. He will pursue a master's degree and research at Oxford in medical and organic chemistry. He is a first-generation immigrant whose family came to the U.S. from a refugee camp in Kenya. ADVERTISEMENT "Thank you for making our district look mighty fine," Superintendent Michael Munoz said. Ahmed thanked the district, noting he was grateful for the education he received here. "It was here that I really found the beauty in education and all the doors that it could open," Ahmed said. "So for me, I tried to reciprocate that in any way that I could at my institution in the local communities I've been apart of. So I sincerely thank all of the people who have helped me make it to this point and I'm sincerely excited for all the future has to hold." Mighty Oaks to open Renovations are nearly complete on the former Burr Oak school, now known as Mighty Oaks Early Learning School . In March, Rochester Public Schools decided to reopen the building, which closed in 2010, because of a space shortage. The district invested $3.9 million to renovate the building and it should house about 320 early childhood general education and special education students. Some of the building's classrooms will open at the end of January and in February, and the school will be fully operational in the fall of 2017. It will act as a "formal center" for early education, said Amy Eich, the district's director of community education. ADVERTISEMENT Golden Hill purchase agreement amended again An agreement to sell the former Golden Hill school was changed for the fourth time. The district is dropping the price by $100,000, making the price of the building now $1.7 million, and expects to close before Feb. 28. The district approved the sale in September 2015 to Ryan Cos. of Rochester for $1.8 million, but the due diligence period was extended to December 2016. After some back-and-forth with the buyer, "we decided that a price reduction of $100,000 would be fair," said John Carlson, the district's director of finance. He added that the property includes about 283,000 square feet of land, which he said, after checking with local real estate experts, has been going for about $6 a square foot in Rochester. "We felt if we're looking at this as just a land deal, because the building's coming down anyway, that that's a fair price for land," Carlson said. The property, located at 2220 Third Ave. SE, last served the district as an alternative learning center, but programming was moved to another site after Golden Hill suffered heating and ventilation problems. Olmsted County Sheriff's Office deputies could be wearing body cameras by next month, Sheriff Kevin Torgerson said during an Olmsted County Board of Commissioners meeting Tuesday. The county has worked for more than a year to prepare a budget and body camera policy. Here are four things to know about the program: 1. Olmsted County Sheriff Kevin Torgerson hopes to have his law enforcement deputies and Adult Detention Center officers training in the use of the new equipment at the end of this month and into early February. The department will make a public announcement before the cameras go live, soon after training is completed. 2. The Sheriff's Office purchased equipment identical to that used by the Rochester Police Department. Vendor Taser Int. has delivered the cameras and other equipment. The three-year cost to purchase the equipment, maintain it and store data using an online service was $148,681, approved by the county board in November. 3. A body camera will be issued to "all licensed law enforcement staff" in the sheriff's office, Torgerson said, as well all employees at the Adult Detention Center who work with detainees. The sheriff hopes using the cameras will improve public relations with law enforcement. "I believe these systems and policies we have in place will show the public the good work and restore the honor of what our deputies are doing," Torgerson said. ADVERTISEMENT 4. The sheriff's office created a policy for body camera use based on Minnesota state statute, and the Olmsted County Attorney's Office reviewed the draft. The public hearing Tuesday was the last step in establishing the policy. The policy sets terms for public access to video data and data retention. In general, body camera video will be retained for 90 days and will be considered public data in the case of an officer discharging a weapon, when an officer uses force that results in bodily harm to a subject, or when the subject of a video requests it be made public. How the heck in this New Year, I ask rhetorically, did three hermit crabs end up harbored in an aquarium in my breakfast nook, the place nowadays where I am obliged to compose my weekly column? As I sit and write, I sense their tiny, unblinking eyes fixed upon my back. I quickly turn to catch them looking at me, but they must hastily recede into their brightly painted shells. Yet, I know they are looking at me. How's that for a disconcerting mental picture? Before I get to crab questions, however, I must fulfill my promise to illuminate from last week's column, where I announced continued publication of my weekly column from a permanent return to Joliet. New column ADVERTISEMENT Initially, I was troubled that an iteration of my former "Publisher's Pick" column, oft-based on inspiration gleaned from comings-and-goings in and about southeast Minnesota, would be of little interest once I became disconnected from Rochester society. However, I became persuaded by well-intentioned readers to give a continued column a chance. Even then, I was at a loss to conjure a column-writing focus until I received a farewell gift a book of spiritual insights sent my way in the waning weeks of PB publisher-hood. Friends Susan and David Ahlquist wrote in the notecard inserted into "To Bless the Space Between Us" that the slim volume was one of their favorites. In perusing and selecting particular poems and short essays, I very much appreciate their thoughtfulness as I entered into an unmapped life journey. I appropriated part of the book's title for my new column. As another good friend counseled, the distance between us you in Minnesota and me in Illinois creates fresh column-writing opportunities. For burnishing sterling memories. For reflection and retrospection on the past 10 years. For grasping the pride and prejudice of progress. For thoughtful analysis of times grand and not-so-grand gleaned from shared experiences. The space between us about 400 hundred miles is richly peopled with folks who care about one another. Indeed, it was the sense of caring community that initially drew me to the Post Bulletin publisher's role and subsequently endorsed me to be an information conduit thus the Post-Bulletin to become an unrestrained voice of and for the people it serves. What should you know about Joliet, Ill., and how it might relate to Rochester? Joliet, nearing 150,000 population, is situated on significant crossroads: "Main Street USA," Interstate 80; and Interstate 55, the redoubtable Chicago-Springfield link. This self-proclaimed "City of Champions" is peopled by good folks who care about one another, just as I found people to be in Rochester. Similar to Rochester and the Destination Medical Center initiative, Joliet is entering a modern-day economic renaissance. Once a steel-and-stone industrial city, it is endeavoring to reinvent itself with a robust and diversified economy, not unlike Southeast Minnesota's Journey to Growth enterprise. Time will tell if the lofty visions of either community are destined to be met. From my two-state vantage and for a long while, I have opportunity to observe and prattle weekly upon my perceptions of people and progress in print. ADVERTISEMENT Crab encampment I must return to my promise to prattle about the unwelcome hermit crab encampment in my breakfast nook. You first must understand this: Daughter Allison is a creative, indulgent and impractical gift-giver to her two nieces and nephew. All that had to happen this Christmas-tide was for bright-eyed, 7-year-old Lizzy to mention how much she enjoyed caring for the hermit crabs in her first-grade classroom. Allison was off and running. Allison has proclivity for foisting the most awesome gifts intended to delight children without considering the consequence to the sanity of unwary parents and grandparents. I recall gifts like the immense, seven-foot plush giraffe (long-abandoned), an elaborate, too-delicate-for-toddlers lighted doll house and several extraordinary fantasy costumes, suitable for masked grand balls rather than backyard romps. The hermit crab enclave of Christmas 2016 caps all of Allison's past indulgences. The aquarium and its three semi-lively crabs in painted shells, is a wonder to behold, apparently from the distance between Joliet and Wheaton, Ill., where the grandchildren reside. You must understand, our beautiful daughter-in-law Megan, a trained classroom teacher and nurturing mother, normally is all-in for our grandchildren. Yet she doesn't do "icky" (her word), and hermit crabs define icky for her. Megan adamantly wouldn't welcome the icky threesome into her home. Not even the over-the-moon happiness on sweet Lizzy's face as she peered into the aquarium could sway Megan. Of course, Sheryl and I made it much easier for crab abandonment when we decided to host Christmas gift-giving this year. When Allison, Seth, Megan, Lizzy, Charlotte and Nathaniel departed, the crabs Bobsey, Hide & Seek and Carol remained, seemingly to do nothing much but watch my back when I'm not looking. ADVERTISEMENT In my household, I don't "do" pets of any persuasion, icky or otherwise. I leave that hobby and chore to Sheryl, who would no sooner disappoint the grandchildren than anything. My function vis-a-vis crabs is to bear up, graciously grit my teeth, and aspire to outlive the crabs. Knowing Sheryl's reputation for careful pet care, the crabs likely will be to live out their optimum 23 years. If you have stuck through reading these words, you have first taste of The Space Between Us. After a few weeks, please let me know what you think. Randy Chapman is publisher emeritus of the Post Bulletin. He welcomes feedback to his column at letters@postbulletin.com Many readers will recall the Trump rally in North Carolina where a 79 year-old elbowed a young African-American protester. The old man, John Franklin (Quick Draw) McGraw was unapologetic. We dont know if hes ISIS; we dont know who he is, McGraw said. The next time we see him, we might have to kill him. The next time McGraw saw the protester, Rakeem Jones, was in a Fayetteville, North Carolina courtroom at a hearing on a charge of assault. The Washington Post has the story. When the judge asked Jones (the victim) to speak, he complained that McGraw had not been arrested on the spot, but instead was allowed to go home. He said that he knew McGraw wasnt going to get jail time, but he has a friend who is facing five years for involvement in what Jones characterized as at the root of it, a fight. McGraw, through his attorney, said that his elbowing of Jones was not racially motivated. The attorney added that his client believes this country needs to heal as it relates to racial tensions that have been generated as a result of this case. Jones responded that he has never mentioned race in connection with the incident. As far as race, its not my concern. I got hit by a man, period. Then, according to the Post: The judge asked McGraw whether he wanted to say something, too. Im extremely sorry this happened, McGraw said, and when the judge told him to explain it to Jones, not him, he turned to Jones and took a step toward him. It was the closest theyd been to each other since the rally. This was between two men. You know what you did. And I know what I did. Im not going to say you were wrong or I was wrong, McGraw said. You and I both know what occurred, and I hate it worse than anything else in the world. He stepped closer to Jones and raised a finger. We got caught up in a political mess today, he said. His jaw began to tremble. And you and me, we got to heal our country. All right, man, Jones said after a moment. He reached out to pat McGraw on the shoulder, and he seemed surprised by the contact. He put out his hand. Jones grasped it, and, as a few claps in the audience grew into an applause, the two men embraced. The judge sentenced McGraw to one year of probation. After receiving his sentence, McGraw said this to Jones: Weve got to stick together. We cant let them come between us. (Emphasis added) Theres plenty to like about this semi-reconciliation, but theres also something missing. McGraw didnt apologize for assaulting Jones. Instead, he blamed the incident in part on heightened political tensions an accurate but insufficient explanation and in part on them. Who, in this context, is them? Neither illegal immigrants, greedy capitalists, nor swamp-dwelling lobbyists caused Rakeem Jones to disrupt a political rally and Quick Draw McGraw to slug him. Jones, assuming he wasnt paid, acted as he did out of disdain for an orderly political process and a desire to silence a voice with which he disagrees. McGraw, assuming he wasnt racially motivated, acted as he did out of mean streak coupled with a desire to punish someone with whom he disagrees. McGraw first tried to excuse his conduct by claiming that Jones might be a terrorist. Now, still not willing to say he was wrong, he blames it on them. McGraw is unwilling to accept responsibility for his action. Its an all-too-familiar feature of contemporary American life. Its also consistent with the tenor of the Trump campaign to which McGraw attached himself. Americans arent winning anymore not through any fault of their own, but because the system is rigged in favor of illegal immigrants, greedy capitalists, swamp-dwelling lobbyists, or whomever. Donald Trump promises an America that will win again. But can America really win if Americans are so quick to evade personal responsibility? Ford CEO Mark Fields announced today that Ford has canceled plans to invest $1.6 billion in a new plant in Mexico. Instead it will produce the vehicles the Mexican plant would have manufactured at facilities in Michigan and Illinois. The move is expect to create approximately 700 jobs in the U.S. The Washington Post buries this news in an article about Trump targeting American automakers, especially General Motors, by threatening to impose new tariffs on imports. At the same time, Post reporters Ylan Mui and Steven Overly decline to attribute Fords decision, and the American jobs it will create, to Trump. In the Posts telling, Fords decision is down to a decrease in the demand for small vehicle due to lower fuel costs. This trend rendered the new facility unnecessary. The Post also notes that, according to Ford, the decision to produce the cars in the U.S. was made without consulting Donald Trump or his team. The article takes a few additional shots at Trump. It refuses to credit Trump with any role in Fords decision. Yet the Ford CEO, Mark Fields, gave Trump considerable credit. He said that Fords decision was influenced by the expectation, based on statements by the president-elect, that under Trump conditions for doing business in the U.S. will be favorable. Indeed, Fields called Fords decision literally a vote of confidence in the pro-business environment being created by Donald Trump. He added that Ford is really encouraged by the regulatory and tax policies that Trump says he intends to put in place. The dishonest Washington Post chooses to ignore this. Yet, there can be little doubt that Fords decision was influenced by Trumps threat to impose a huge tariff on Ford, his promise to create a more favorable environment for businesses, or both. Donald Trumps America First approach stands in marked contrast to the America-effacing approach President Obama has pursued for the past eight years. Whether its in dealings with U.S. businesses, Americas allies, or our foreign adversaries (acknowledged by Obama or not), the current administration has left plenty of chips on the table. President Art of the Deal will aggressively attempt to collect those chips. Left-wingers associated with the NAACP are occupying the Mobile, Alabama office of Senator Jeff Sessions to protest Sessions nomination as attorney general. The protesters, apparently a dozen or so in number, say they will continue their sit-in until Sessions withdraws as a nominee for attorney general or they are arrested. As usual, the left is breaking new ground in incivility. I cant recall this tactic ever being used against a presidents nominee for an administration job. Now that its being tried against Sessions, we can expect it to become fairly common (normalized, to use the lefts new favorite word). Theres a good reason why this tactic hasnt been used, or probably even considered, before. It is anti-democratic. If protesters genuinely consider a nominee of an elected president unfit and/or racist, prove it at the Senate hearing. Dont try to preempt that discussion by trespassing. The protesters obviously dont expect Sessions to withdraw. They are just looking to be removed forcibly from his office, presumably while singing We Shall Overcome a song that, in it original meaning, has been irrelevant for decades. In other words, the sit-in is a publicity stunt. The publicity likely will turn off most Americans, but make its seekers feel better about themselves. One of my failings here is not bringing regular attention to the important work of Prof. Judith Curry of Georgia Institute of Technology, and her terrific website Climate, Etc. Prof. Curry was the chair of Georgia Techs School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, and was for a long time a member in good standing of the so-called consensus on climate change. Her CV shows a long list of accomplishments and publications at the highest level of scientific inquiry. But as she looked closer at some of the details of the case for catastrophic climate change, she began to change her mind. And for her public expression of honest doubts about the fine points of the scientific evidence and computer models the predictable thing happened: she was excoriated, in the most appalling ad hominem way, by the climatistas (Michael Mann in particular, which is ironic since the un-manly Mann is suing National Review and Mark Steyn for defamation). Needless to say, Curry deserves to be regarded as one of the heroes of climate realism. I guess Ill offer the excuse that the main reason I havent shared more of her excellent work here is that it is often very dense and very long, and not easy to adapt to our relatively shorter form. Curry gets off into the weeds of climate science, always in a calm and respectful way, unlike her climatista critics. Ive only met Judith once, but my impression from reading and listening to her is that she is not much interested in politics, and like many scientists just wants to do good scientific work. She may be largely apolitical for all I know, though for what its worth she once testified before a congressional committee as a Democratic expert witness. Unfortunately the furies of the neo-Stalinist climate science and policy community demand absolute conformity to the party line. Hence it is melancholy news to read today that Judith is resigning from Georgia Tech: Effective January 1, I have resigned my tenured faculty position at Georgia Tech. Before reflecting on a range of things, let me start by answering a question that may have popped into your head: I have no plans to join the Trump administration (ha ha). Technically, my resignation is a retirement event, since I am on the Georgia State Teachers Retirement System, and I need to retire from Georgia Tech to get my pension (although I am a few years shy of 65). I have requested Emeritus status. So, I have retired from Georgia Tech, and I have no intention of seeking another academic or administrative position in a university or government agency. However, I most certainly am not retiring from professional life. Why did I resign my tenured faculty position? Im cashing out with 186 published journal articles and two books. The superficial reason is that I want to do other things, and no longer need my university salary. The deeper reasons have to do with my growing disenchantment with universities, the academic field of climate science and scientists. Like most of Judiths posts, this one is quite long and detailed and excellent. Heres one more important highlight if you dont have time for the whole thing: A deciding factor was that I no longer know what to say to students and postdocs regarding how to navigate the CRAZINESS in the field of climate science. Research and other professional activities are professionally rewarded only if they are channeled in certain directions approved by a politicized academic establishment funding, ease of getting your papers published, getting hired in prestigious positions, appointments to prestigious committees and boards, professional recognition, etc. How young scientists are to navigate all this is beyond me, and it often becomes a battle of scientific integrity versus career suicide (I have worked through these issues with a number of skeptical young scientists). Let me relate an interaction that I had with a postdoc about a month ago. She wanted to meet me, as an avid reader of my blog. She works in a field that is certainly relevant to climate science, but she doesnt identify as a climate scientist. She says she gets questioned all the time about global warming issues, and doesnt know what to say, since topics like attribution, etc. are not topics that she explores as a scientist. WOW, a scientist that knows the difference! I advised her to keep her head down and keep doing the research that she thinks interesting and important, and to stay out of the climate debate UNLESS she decides to dig in and pursue it intellectually. Personal opinions about the science and political opinions about policies that are sort of related to your research expertise are just that personal and political opinions. Selling such opinions as contributing to a scientific consensus is very much worse than a joke. Prof. Curry is going to pursue private sector ventures now, and wont disappear from the climate world completely. You canand shouldfollow her on Twitter, @curryja. Its always cute when liberals re-discover the virtue of constitutionally limited government. Strange, though, that it only seems to happen when theres a Republican president. The correlation here comes in at the statistically significant .95 level, though anyone versed in situational ethics neednt consult a statistician to recognize the phenomenon or understand its cause. The latest case in point is an article in the current issue of the lefty journal of thought Dissent, in which the author, N. Turkuler Isiksel of Columbia University, argues that policy change under Trump is the least of things to worry about: Dont count on the elaborate system of checks and balances instituted by the founders. James Madisons ingenious machine was designed to withstand the mundane incompetence, greed, and short-sightedness of politicians, but it cannot weather the onslaught of an aspiring tyrant hell-bent on destroying it. Consider that the separation of powers, the primary mechanism Madison envisaged for holding tyranny at bay, is all but irrelevant while Republicans control the House, the Senate, and the presidencyparticularly once they get their hands on key federal judicial appointments. All autocrats set about dismantling countervailing power structures, but with the inauspicious ideological alignment of all three branches of government, Trump wont even have to try. Now just stop right there! Who was it, for a century now, who has worked to undermine the separation of powers and aggrandize executive policy-making power? Yesit was so-called Progressives. Breaking down the obsolete separation of powers was an explicit goal of Woodrow Wilsons political science. Roscoe Pound, one of the leading legal theorists of the Progressive Era, wrote: No one will assert at present that the separation of powers is a part of legal order of nature or that it is essential to liberty. And if Progressive-taught judges hadnt gone along with this weakening of the separation of powers, then there would be less to worry about from three-branch control by one party. But thats not the best part of the article. Better is the rehabilitation of Ted Cruz: Progressives err in assuming that the worst danger of a Trump presidency is the reversal of Obama legacy, including the Affordable Care Act, the vindication of the constitutional rights of LGBTQ people, the Iran deal, and progress on climate change. There will surely be an all-out assault on these achievements. But it would a grave mistake to see the obliteration of the progressive policy agenda as the chief danger of a Trump presidency. What we confront is not the usual dogfight between liberals and conservatives. It is a struggle between those who believe in preserving the imperfect but serviceable constitutional system of the republic, and those who will try to undermine it. For all his abhorrent policy positions, a President Cruz could have been counted on to observe the strictures of constitutional democracy, such as the peaceful alternation of power through free and fair elections. Funny, but I recall during primary season lefties were saying Trump was preferable to Cruz because of Trumps indistinct and therefore more pliable ideology. I guess liberals do mean it when they talk about change. Reminder: Turkeys parliament voted overnight to extend emergency rule by three months in a move which the government said was needed to sustain a purge of supporters of the U.S.-based Muslim Cleric accused of orchestrating Julys failed coup. This was disclosed on Wednesday in Istanbul by the state media. Emergency rule, first imposed in Turkey after an attempted putsch on July 15 and then extended in October, enabled government to bypass parliament in enacting new laws and to limit or suspend rights and freedoms when deemed necessary. It said the extension, effective from January19, came as Turkey reels from a series of attacks by Islamist or Kurdish militants, most recently on Sunday when a lone gunman shot dead 39 people in an Istanbul nightclub during New Year celebrations. Ankara accuses Pennsylvania-based preacher, Fethullah Gulen, and his supporters, whom it terms the Gulenist Terror Organisation (FETO), of being behind the July coup attempt. Gulen denies the allegations. Deputy Prime Minister, Numan Kurtulmus, said in parliament ahead of the vote that the purge of FETO from the state has not been completed. He stressed the need to implement the emergency rule until FETO and all terror groups have been purged from the state. More than 41,000 people have been jailed pending trial in connection with the attempted coup out of 100,000 who have faced investigation. Some 120,000 people, including soldiers, police officers, teachers, judges and journalists, have been suspended or dismissed since the coup, although thousands of them have since been restored to their posts, he said. Share this: Twitter Facebook Donald Trump, the incoming U.S. President, has said that the opposition Democrats were to be blamed for the hacking of their email during the 2016 presidential election. Mr. Trump in his tweets on Wednesday described the Democrats as careless. The president-elect also again, cast doubt over the culpability of Russia in the hacking of the email of Democratic National Committee (DNC). He supported the views expressed by Wikileaks founder, Julian Assange. Julian Assange said a 14-year-old could have hacked (John) Podesta why was DNC so careless? Also, said Russians did not give him the info! @FoxNews: Julian Assange on U.S. media coverage: Its very dishonest. #Hannity More dishonest than anyone knows. Somebody hacked the DNC but why did they not have hacking defense like the RNC has and why have they not responded to the terrible things they did and said (like giving the questions to the debate to H). A total double standard! Media, as usual, gave them a pass, Trump tweeted. NAN recalls that Trump had on Tuesday, slammed the intelligence agencies over the delayed briefing on Russias involvement in the hacking. Trump, who took to twitter to express his displeasure, said the delay was very strange. The Intelligence briefing on so-called Russian hacking was delayed until Friday, perhaps more time needed to build a case. Very strange! Trump said on his Twitter handle. The President-elect, who is due to be sworn-in on January 20 as the 45th U.S. President, also said that he would address a news conference on January 11, a day after outgoing President Barack Obama is expected to have delivered his valedictory speech. I will be having a general news conference on JANUARY ELEVENTH in N.Y.C. Thank you, the President-in-waiting said. NAN recalls that Trump had also said on Sunday that he knew things that other people dont know about the Russian hacking. Trump, on Wednesday, also took a swipe at the Democrats over what he termed the failed ObamaCare disaster. Republicans must be careful in that the Dems own the failed ObamaCare disaster, with its poor coverage and massive premium increases like the 116 per cent hike in Arizona. Also, deductibles are so high that it is practically useless. Dont let the Schumer clowns out of this web massive increases of ObamaCare will take place this year and Dems are to blame for the mess. It will fall of its own weight be careful! Trump, who had repeatedly said that repealing and replacing the ObamaCare would be his first assignment at the Oval Office, tweeted. The President-in-waiting also commended automobile giant, Ford, for announcing that it is scrapping its Mexico plant for the U.S. Thank you to Ford for scrapping a new plant in Mexico and creating 700 new jobs in the U.S. This is just the beginning much more to follow, Trump said on Twitter. (NAN) Ousman Badjie, Gambias army chief, has reaffirmed his loyalty to embattled President Yahya Jammeh, as the deadline given by the West African regional bloc, ECOWAS gets closer. May I please seize this opportunity to renew to your Excellency the assurance of the unflinching loyalty and support of the Gambia Armed Forces, Mr. Badjie, a general, wrote in a letter to Mr. Jammeh published today in a pro-government newspaper. Mr. Jammeh initially accepted his defeat in the December 1 election, but a week later reversed his position, vowing to hang on to power despite a wave of regional and international condemnation. West African regional bloc ECOWAS has placed standby forces on alert in case Jammeh attempts to stay in power after his mandate ends on January 19. Mr. Jammeh has called the blocs stance a declaration of war. Many Gambians, who have lived through 22 years of Mr. Jammehs increasingly authoritarian rule, were stunned when the elections commission declared opposition figure Adama Barrow the winner of last months election. Mr. Jammehs initial acceptance of the result sparked nationwide celebrations. Mr. Badjie declared his allegiance to Mr. Barrow soon after the poll results were announced, according to a spokesperson for the president-elect. However his position remained unclear following Mr. Jammehs dramatic about-face. In an illustration of the growing pressure on Gambian officials as the January 19 deadline looms, Alieu Momarr Njai, the head of the elections commission, fled Gambia on Friday due to fears for his security, family members said. Last month, Gambian security forces seized control of the commissions headquarters, which holds the original poll records and told staff, including Mr. Njai, to leave. Over the weekend Gambian security agents closed three private radio stations, making it harder for the incoming government to communicate with its supporters. It is a sign of weakness for any side of the political spectrum to resort to media closures rather than engagement to put ones position across, Mr. Barrows office said on Wednesday in a statement that also called for the release of detainees. Leaders of ECOWAS member nations have dismissed Mr. Jammehs move to challenge his election defeat before Gambias Supreme Court on January 10 and say they will attend Mr. Barrows swearing-in this month. Share this: Twitter Facebook Security operatives, Wednesday evening, laid siege to an Abuja house belonging to a brother-in-law to Nigerias former president Goodluck Jonathan, sources close to the former leader confirmed to PREMIUM TIMES. The house is located in Maitama, one of the enclaves of Nigerias rich in Abuja. The spokespersons for the headquarters and Abuja command of the police said they were not aware of the operation, but security sources confirmed that police officers in uniform carried out the raid. According to our sources, the operatives searched all the rooms in the house. The house was allegedly bought for her brother by Patience Jonathan, who was said to be in Port Harcourt when the raid occurred on Wednesday. Although Mrs. Jonathan has been having a running battle with the anti-graft agency, EFCC, over the ownership of a controversial $15 million, sources at the commission said the EFCC did not carry out the raid. More details to follow Share this: Twitter Facebook One of Dearborn Heights own became a state police trooper as part of the Michigan State Police Academys latest graduating class Dec. 22. Annapolis High School alumnus Jake Yacuone is one of 41 new recruits from the 131st graduating class. After reporting for duty July 17, Yacuone endured the 22-week program, which consisted of a paramilitary type structure. The troopers report for training from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. every Sunday and dont return home until Friday night once their tasks are completed. Every day consists of a 5 a.m. revelry with a wake-up call, followed by a 10-minute breakfast, or chow break; inspection; classes that are rotated in squads; another 10-minute chow break for lunch; study time and more classes until 5 p.m., and another 10-minute chow break. At 8 p.m., the troopers are given the night to themselves until lights out at 10 p.m. Its physically grueling, Yacuone said. It really teaches you how to manage your time. Being the new father of a 1-year-old son, Yacuone said his hardest part was leaving every Sunday. Ive left home before, but never like that, he said. Now that I have a son, it made it a lot harder to wait for the phone call on Sundays of when we were to report. Both he and his family knew since he was young that he would one day be a police officer. Before joining the academy, hed already had some experience with the City of Wayne Police Department being a police service aide and dispatching non-emergency calls. My mom and sister are nurses and I have cousins that are police officers, Yacuone said. I wanted to do something where I helped people, too. Ever since I was little all I talked about was becoming a police officer. I knew I wanted to be a MSP officer because of how they conducted themselves. Having expected Yacuone to become a police officer and follow his dreams, he said his family being so supportive helped him get through his 22-week training. Theyre happy for me and they are incredibly supportive, he said. Family is what got me through because I have such a great support system. Still being relatively new to the force,Trooper Yacuone says his training really has prepared him for many different types of situations. Ive learned to really pay attention to details and follow concerning cues, he said. The training really ties into different scenarios so its really great to be able to actually use what I was taught. And there is always more to learn. He said being passionate is also very important to becoming a member of the Michigan State Police. You have to try your best and be passionate, Yacuone said. You have to take it day by day, but if you pick a goal, anything you want to do is possible with any amount of work you put into it. Being stationed at the Metro South Post in Taylor, Yacuone hopes to give people good encounters with police and grow with the community. I want to earn the uniform everyday, he said. I dont want to rest on the reputation that the great troopers before us built, but to build onto it. Its late October and downtown Hammonton is bustling with people looking to grab a quick meal and a hot beverage to cuddle during the soon-to-begin Halloween parade. A huge night for business, main street shop-owners will not have time to enjoy the festivities among them Ricky Alverio, whose new business the Funky Cow Cafe is just beginning to make a name for itself. Alverio works the room, cleaning up tables, checking on diners, doling out cups of homemade hot chocolate and greeting every potential customer who wanders in. Welcome to the Funky Cow Cafe! Have you been here before? he asks. If the answer is no, he walks them through the menu, explaining the difference between his savory and sweet waffles a welcome distinction for many who dont know what to make of such pairings as braised shredded beef, pickled onions, horseradish mousse, sharp cheddar cheese and a waffle. Try some of my soup, he says, rushing to the back to bring out a hearty sample of his homemade funky beef soup. A thriving arts scene and family-owned stores make downtown Hammonton a friendly place to shop There are so many unique and interesting pockets of South Jersey. Sure, individual shops, restaurants and venues are nice to visit, but someti Needless to say, Alverios approach to owning a restaurant is anything but hands-off. His zeal is refreshing and perhaps necessary for one attempting to open a new business. Downtown Hammonton has transformed over the past few years, blossoming from nothing-special to a travel-worthy destination, but this has not been without a few casualties the town has seen many promising businesses shutter before their time. That said, the Funky Cow Cafe seems poised for success. Alverio and his entrepreneurial partner Jeff Geiger have made a splash with their savory and sweet waffles, having sold over 13,000 waffles since opening in September. With a splashy sign and eyebrow-raising cow benches outside, funky is exactly the word. The concept behind the cafe came to Alverio in a moment of inspiration while on a trip to Cape May. The name Funky Cow came up as I was driving down Route 9, Alverio explains. I got a call saying a there was a viable space in Hammonton that was a former self-serve frozen yogurt place. I said to myself, I would be buying ice cream machines. We arent going to be able to sustain ice cream on main street Hammonton. I need a cafe. I thought it would be nice if I served sandwiches, but I didnt want to do it on typical bread. I thought, oh my god, Im going to do sweet and savory waffles. I used the f-word then, and I thought I needed something along the lines of fing cow. Thats where the Funky Cow came from. I immediately called Jeff and told him. Alverios love of cooking goes back to his grandmothers kitchen when he was just 9 years old. Armed with his Childcraft Encyclopedia which Alverio keeps at the Funky Cow with him he began to hone his skills in the kitchen at a young age. Since then, hes gone on to create such specialties as Lolas Cuban Waffle: fresh roasted pork, ham, pickles, Swiss cheese and funky mustard on a homemade savory waffle; the Funkn Chicken: grilled chicken, bacon, a cheddar cheese blend, lettuce, tomato and creamy sriracha on a savory waffle; and the Holy Cow: roasted turkey, lettuce, tomato, bacon and mayo on you guessed it a savory waffle. Beyond the sandwiches, the Funky Cow also offers a variety of soups, salads and healthy bowl dishes like their Funky Lane: blended organic Sambazon acai with blueberries and apple juice topped with banana, organic granola and honey. Their desserts are just as exciting as their savory concoctions, and put the cow the cafes name. Thought up by Geiger, they include Apple-Ala-Mooooo: warm glazed apples with a cinnamon sugar crumb topped with vanilla custard on a sweet waffle; and the PB-n-J Explosion: peanut butter and grape jelly sandwiched between two sweet waffles. More waffle and ice cream sandwiches are soon to be released, thanks to Geigers sweet contributions to the menu. Elbow-deep in waffle batter, Alverio has become somewhat of a waffle expert, able to pull out dates and figures as to when the first waffle maker was made and the history of this sweet-now-savory food. Although they have been dined on since just about the beginning of time, with the opening of the Funky Cow, Alverio has begun a waffle renaissance, at least in South Jersey. Seaside Cheese opens Cafe Fromage to the delight of turophiles everywhere Chances are you may be a turophile or know someone that is a true cheese connoisseur. If s All the old is new now. Everything from years ago is the new trend, he says of his decision to center his cafe on waffles. The Funky Cow fills a void in the downtown area with its energetic, casual vibe. Hammontons Bellevue is fringed with eateries among them beloved standards, cozy cafes and swanky restaurants. What was formerly missing from this tapestry was a place to grab a quick, quality meal that doesnt break the bank. With its modern, clean, inviting atmosphere, the Funky Cow Cafe fits the bill. With every New Year comes a clean slate and a fresh perspective. Shake off those 2016 blues with our round-up of things to look forward to in 2017. The Steel Piers observation wheel There are precious few family-friendly attractions in Atlantic City, so the addition of the Steel Piers soon-to-be-opened observation wheel will be a refreshing addition to Americas playground. The 220-foot wheel will feature 40 climate-controlled gondolas, making it a viable attraction all year round. Construction on the wheel has been delayed a few times, but Anthony Catanoso, the Piers president, has assured that the $14 million project will be finished in time for summer. Steel Pier.com.(tncms-asset)ef604422-c933-11e6-95f0-00163ec2aa77(/tncms-asset) Big-name headliners As fun as it is to see musicians from yesteryear come to Atlantic City and prove to the world theyve still got it, its refreshing to see some young stars roll through. Fortunately for 2017, Boardwalk Hall is the place to be for headliners still in their prime. The All Stars of Hip-Hop show on Jan. 15 will feature such names as Ludacris, Busta Rhymes, DMX and more. Florida Georgia Line will cruise there on March 17 after having their A.C. beach concert cancelled due to Hurricane Hermine last year, and The Weeknd perhaps the biggest name well see in Atlantic City this year brings his Starboy: Legend of the Fall tour to Boardwalk Hall on May 19. Boardwalk Hall.com.(tncms-asset)c858b374-9f84-11e6-9585-00163ec2aa77(/tncms-asset) Michael Symons Angeline Borgata dominates the Atlantic City scene when it comes to star chefs, with restaurants like Wolfgang Puck American Grille, Geoffrey Zakarians Sunroom and Bobby Flay Steak. Even so, this year theyll add another feather to their cap with Michale Symons Angeline. The Iron Chefs newest venture will focus on the food Symon grew up eating Italian. Angeline, named after Symons mother, will occupy the 8,200-square-food space formerly taken up by Michael Minas Seablue.(tncms-asset)fbae7604-a5cf-11e6-8733-00163ec2aa77(/tncms-asset) My mother is Greek and Sicilian, so they are the foods I grew up eating as a kid and where a lot of my food memories started, so this restaurant is a love letter to my mom, Symon says. Symons Borgata endeavor makes the resort the only place in the world with four Iron Chefs under one roof. The Borgata.com. Linwood food hall A concept akin to Phillys Reading Terminal Market will come to Linwood in 2017. Developer Gerry Bird is spearheading the project, where independent restaurants will occupy a 17,000-square-foot space on Route 9, all clustered around one bar. The specifics of the eatery remain vague, with an opening date pinned at mid-year, but it has the potential to be groundbreaking for South Jersey. TEN (maybe) There have been a lot of empty promises about the former Revel. Owner Glenn Straub has made some wild claims about the property in the past that it would become a school for geniuses, that it would house Syrian refugees, that it would open in mid-June 2016 despite having inadequate permits, and that he would give $10,000 to anyone who could come up with a compelling name for it. He even disowned the building after getting frustrated with CRDA officials, saying, Ill go back to Miami, go back to Palm Beach, go back to Ohio, go back to West Virginia. How many other people are spending money? But after all that, it seems that Revel, rebranded as TEN will open in the first half of 2017. Whether the property will include a ropes course, high-speed rail lines and a water park, all plans formerly laid out by Straub, remains to be seen. TENACNJ.com. Manco & Manco superstore One of Ocean Citys most popular pizza joints Manco & Manco will open a huge new flagship location this year. The former Strand Theatre on 9th Street and the Boardwalk, which closed in 2014, will house the mammoth Manco & Manco. It is expected include a boutique retail store and more seating, something sorely needed in a place as popular as Manco & Manco. Additionally, they will also sell more than just pizza for the first time. The 8th and 12th streets locations will remain open, in addition to the superstore. MancosPizza.com. Chef Jose Garces at Tropicana Borgata isnt the only casino scoring big names in the culinary world. Philly-based Chef Jose Garces will open up a restaurant in Tropicana Atlantic City in the New Year, amidst a $40 million casino-wide renovation. Set to snuggle in among the casino floor, the restaurant will focus on offering varied, high-quality seafood dishes. Garces will bring with him the Latin-inspired hospitality that he has come to be known for, adding yet another culinary great to Atlantic City. Tropicana.net.(tncms-asset)d62e89da-c205-11e6-bb1b-00163ec2aa77(/tncms-asset) Flogging Molly at Beer Fest The 2017 A.C. Beer and Music Fest is reason alone to look forward to the New Year. With almost 200 breweries offering up nearly 1,000 different kinds of beer, this festival, taking place March 31 and April 1, is not to be missed. Sweetening the pot is Celtic punk band Flogging Molly, who will supply the latter element of the Beer and Music Fest 8 p.m. to 12 a.m. March 31. Flogging Molly is perhaps the biggest band to ever play the festival a fantastic addition to the massively popular event. ACBeerfest.com. The Atlantic City and Wildwood beach concerts There have been no announcements yet as to who will perform at either the Atlantic City or Wildwood beach concerts but, regardless, theyre always something to look forward to. The 2015 beach concerts brought such names as Jimmy Buffett, G Love and the Zac Brown Band to South Jersey. Wildwood, specifically, upped their game this year with Tim McGraw as their headliner and special guests Hunter Hayes, Maggie Rose and Shot of Southern. Hopefully 2017 brings even bigger names to the sands. ACBeachConcerts.com, WildwoodBeachConcerts.com.(tncms-asset)ccaf5cb5-99bb-5324-a528-c3e222e24cff(/tncms-asset) Somers Point Beach Concert Series turns 25 One of the most popular and consistent beach concert series around is turning a quarter of a century old this year. The Somers Point Beach Concert Series is a beloved summer tradition for many, bringing local, national and international musicians to the beach. Guests are invited to set up their beach chairs and coolers, kick back and enjoy the wide-ranging musical lineup provided by the series all summer long. SomersPointBeachConcerts.com. Thursday night music series in Smithville The legendary bar Tony Mart will live on in a music series called Rockin with the Jersey Devil, set to premiere in the Smithville Square this summer. The Tony Mart team will produce this endeavor, which aims to bring both international and local musicians to Smithville, recreating the feel that once existed within the walls of Tony Mart. The concept is similar to its Somers Point Beach Concert Series: insanely talented musicians in a laid-back venue. TonyMart.com. Irish brunch at Hard Rock Atlantic Citys Hard Rock Cafe is still rocking, despite the closure of Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort. Every Saturday and Sunday from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. during the off-season, and regularly during the summer, they offer an acoustic brunch, which is exactly what it sounds like a special brunch menu paired with a live acoustic act. They held one of these brunches last year just before the kick off of the St. Patricks Day parade, to much success. So, the Irish brunch will be back in 2017, coupled with an acoustic act with Celtic flair. Guests can expect dishes like steak and eggs, chicken and waffles and their Rockin Corn Flake Crusted French Toast, paired, of course, with cocktails like their Bloody Mary and Mango Tequila Sunrise. HardRock.com. The Pool After Darks update To celebrate its 10th birthday, The Pool After Dark at Harrahs Resort is getting a facelift a multi-million dollar facelift. Closing after its Jan. 11 Wet n Wild Wednesday party and slated to reopen in early March, The Pool will receive a new stage, an elevated DJ booth with and LED video wall, an updated sound system, a redesigned loft gaming area, new cabanas, daybeds and lounge furniture, and an open floor plan, along with refreshed jacuzzis and pool. Frequent Pool-goers may see this as a downside of the New Year, but the payoff will be more than worth the temporary closure. Harrahs, too, will receive a $30 million renovation. By summer the resort is likely to have revamped rooms and suites, a new fitness center and an enhanced food court. Harrahs.com. Somers Points Gateway Playhouse to reopen Somers Points Gateway Playhouse has been shuttered since 2006. However, the Theater Collaborative of South Jersey has been working hard to raise enough money to reopen the theater, utilizing donor contributions to finish the job. Because of their dedication, after a seven to eight month renovation, Somers Point will soon have a new outlet for the arts in 2017 when the Playhouse reopens, most likely during the summer. GatewayByTheBay.org.(tncms-asset)78675926-c7be-11e6-ab97-00163ec2aa77(/tncms-asset) Atlantic City Weeklys Wing Wars Our sister publication Atlantic City Weekly has a full year of exciting events ahead the Nightlife Awards, Top 40 Under 40, Burger Bash, the Health, Wellness & Fitness Expo and 50 Bites, to name a few. However, this year theyre spicing things up, quite literally, at the first ever Wing Wars. A.C. Weekly has rounded up 15 restaurants known for their top-notch wings for a battle of the birds, 3 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 28, at Haven in Golden Nugget Atlantic City. A $25 ticket gets you access to all the wings you can eat and a vote for your favorite. The spot with the most votes will be crowned king of the wings. For tickets go to ACWeekly.com/WingWars.(tncms-asset)0898d174-c796-11e6-a5a5-00163ec2aa77(/tncms-asset) Stocktons 48 Blocks Stockton University and the Atlantic City Arts Foundation have teamed up to create an art initiative called 48 Blocks. Throughout the last weekend in June, they will produce eight projects in each of the six wards of the city, totaling 48 events. Each ward will participate in two specific projects: a collection of oral histories and the creation of a unique Adirondack chair. The other six events will be up to residents, to encourage creativity within the community. Anything goes with 48 Blocks varied art forms and productions are encouraged. Stockton.edu. Coastal Craft Kitchen + Bar Its out with the old and in with the new at Harrahs Resort, as the restaurant Sammy Ds will be revamped and rebranded as Coastal Craft Kitchen + Bar. With the departure of Chef Sam DeMarco, Harrahs decided to fill a void in their culinary offerings by bringing in a restaurant that will feature modern bar food, coastal cuisine and an expansive beer and cocktail menu. Set to open Presidents Day weekend, the menu has been put together by Executive Chef Robert Schoell and Coastal Crafts Chef Nicolas Faucher, with help from Harrahs seasoned mixologists. Coastal Craft Kitchen + Bar will have an aesthetic to match the menu a modern, casual, coastal vibe complete with TVs and free pool tables. ATLANTIC CITY As the local school district begins the process of hiring a new superintendent, the school board Tuesday unanimously ap-proved a teacher to lead them for the next year. Walter Johnson, who teaches TV and media in the Ocean City School District, was unanimously elected president of the board, replacing John Devlin. Allen Thomas was unanimously elected vice president. Michael Harvey was absent. Johnson, who has been on the board since 2012, was also sworn in for his second elected term, along with Constance Days-Chapman and new member Sharon Zappia, who were the top vote-getters in the November election. Former board member Patricia Bailey is also back on the board to re-place Julius Anderson, who re-signed for health reasons. The New Jersey School Boards Association, which is assisting the district with its superintendent search, will host a meeting for parents and the public at 7 p.m. Jan. 10 at the Martin Luther King. Jr. School Complex on Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. They will outline the process and answer questions. A short survey has also been posted on the district website. The survey asks for input on the districts strengths and weaknesses, the critical issues facing the district in the next three to five years, what characteristics and leadership style they would like to see in the new superintendent, and what questions they would ask candidates for the job. The survey is also online at www.Surveymonkey.com/r/ACSuperintendentSearchCommunityInput Johnson said he will talk with board members to see who will serve on the search committee. He, Ruth Byard and Sharon Zappia cannot participate in the search because they have family members working in the district. Johnson said major goals will be keeping the district on solid financial footing while also being competitive with other schools. He said he be-lieves his experience as a teacher will be a benefit. Tickets for "A Conversation with Bruce Springsteen" at Monmouth University in West Long Branch look to have been sold out half an hour after they went on sale Wednesday. Tickets for the event were to go on sale at noon, but by 12:30, the website selling the tickets displayed a message, "This event is soldout. Please check with the venue for more information." "A Conversation with Bruce Springsteen" will take place at 7:30 p.m. on Jan. 10 at the Pollak Theatre at the university. The discussion will be moderated by Robert Santelli, executive director of the Grammy Museum, and former Monmouth University professor. There were a limit of two tickets per household, to be available for pick up at 6:30 p.m. before the event, with no exceptions. Monmouth University houses the Bruce Springsteen Special Collection, an amalgam nearly 35,000 items strong of books, press materials, concert memorabilia and more. It is also one of nine universities associated with the Grammy Museum. Springsteens connections with New Jersey, particularly the Jersey Shore, have been well-documented for decades (just take a look at his debut album, Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J.). In August of 2016, Springsteen made history in performing the longest U.S. concert at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, which he quickly beat a week later in Philadelphias Citizens Bank Park. Sara Tracey Growing up in Rhode Island, I never heard of wearing your pajamas inside out to help cheer on a snow day, although its much less labor-intensive than the way I chose to help the cause. My contribution involved waking up early, often before 5 a.m., then changing out of my pajamas and dressing in full winter battle gear. My main weapon was a snow shovel. My army was the rest of the neighborhood kids, well, at least the ones I could rile out of bed to battle that early in the morning. Our enemy: the town of Cumberland, Rhode Island, Public Works Department. More specifically, the snowplow. Let me explain. The superintendent of the Cumberland Public Schools lived on our street. My theory, which seemed perfectly logical at the time, was that he would simply look out the window to see how the roads are and make the decision to cancel school based solely on what he saw. And what he saw, thanks to some ill-advised yet determined neighborhood kids that called themselves the Highland Road gang, was a snow-covered road. If the plow had not come just yet, our task was to shovel even more snow on the already-covered road. If we arrived to find the plow had regrettably done its work, our task was to undo it. No, not the entire road. But, rest assured, the street in front of our beloved superintendents house was covered with as much snow as our bodies could shovel onto it. Of course, if school was canceled, our gang would proudly take the credit and consider the battle won. If there was no snow day to be had, we promised to shovel harder and faster the next time to successfully earn a coveted snow day. Thankfully, the inside-out pajamas superstition didnt make its way to Highland Road in Rhode Island, or I may have been the only kid outside shoveling. Do you have your own way to ensure a snow day? Leave your methods in the comments, and we can add it to our online story. Here are readers rituals to make sure a snow day occurred. Winter wardrobes Patti Barnett Wythe: PJs inside out and backwards. Barbara Blackman: I worked in the public school system for over 35 years. Superstition was that wed have a snow day if the kids wore their pajamas inside out and chanted something (cant remember). Chris Corona Moses: I used to have my son wear his pajamas inside out! Sometimes it worked! Ice cubes in where? Heather Hoffman Wieland: Pjs inside out. Spoons under the pillows and ice cubes in the toilet. Bring on the snow. Useful utensils Whitney Katz Poppert: PJs inside out and backwards, snow dance, spoon under pillow and ice cubes in the toilet. Elizabeth Price Maurer: Kids always sleep with the PJs inside out and a spoon under their pillows. Out-of-the-box methods Heather Sudol: Snow dance. Vicki Biggs: Pray! Diane Pannelli: When I was a child and it started to snow during the school day, it was always said that you dont tell the teacher because it would stop snowing. If you keep the secret, it would continue into the night. Al Heston: I was a second-grade teacher and would do a Native American war chant and dance up and down my hallway, seemed to really work! PLEASE BE ADVISED: Soon we will no longer integrate with Facebook for story comments. The commenting option is not going away, however, readers will need to register for a FREE site account to continue sharing their thoughts and feedback on stories. If you already have an account (i.e. current subscribers, posting in obituary guestbooks, for submitting community events), you may use that login, otherwise, you will be prompted to create a new account. MAYS LANDING Atlantic County freeholders raised the stakes Tuesday in an ongoing tax battle against Atlantic City, voting 8-1 to authorize County Executive Dennis Levinson to withhold $12.8 million in tax-appeal refunds due to the city until the county gets 13.5 percent of casino payments in lieu of property taxes. City and county officials have long fought over how much money should go to the county when a state law letting casinos collectively pay $120 million per year takes effect. The county wants a 13.5 percent piece of the PILOT pie, which reflects the countys historic share of city tax receipts. But city officials say the county should get just 10.3 percent, which is in line with what the county has received recently. Its a difference of $40 million over the life of the decadelong law. Amy Gatto sworn into freeholder board after successful election MAYS LANDING Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno on Tuesday swore in Atlantic County freeholders Amy Gat Freeholder Chairman Frank Formica said the measure is intended to spur dialogue between the city and county. County officials have said the 13.5 percent PILOT share is needed to avoid a county tax hike. The stress on the Atlantic County budget, and therefore on the residents of Atlantic County, has the potential to be tremendous if the county does not receive its fair share, Formica said. This is not something to step on the necks of the people of Atlantic City. It is to get the governances to come together to create a resolution. The loss of $12.8 million would be significant for the city, which has an annual budget deficit of about $100 million. In a statement, Mayor Don Guardian said if the county illegally withholds Atlantic Citys tax appeal money, it would be the equivalent of stealing directly from the residents and children of Atlantic City. Trump Taj Mahal to surrender gaming license but not for sale ATLANTIC CITY Casino gaming might not be returning to the shuttered Trump Taj Mahal Casino With Atlantic City already facing financial difficulties, to kick us while we are down is truly reprehensible, Guardian said. Atlantic City continues to pay the highest percentage of the countys budget. We dont mind paying our fair share, as long as its fair for everyone. Freeholder Ernest Coursey, whose district includes Atlantic City, was the lone no vote on the resolution. He called the measure a slap in the face to Atlantic City residents who are facing a nearly 13 percent tax increase this year. Youre holding the folks of Atlantic City hostage, Coursey said. We cant take this fight out on those folks. I would agree to some extent that yes, negotiations are good. But Im not sure we should have done it here today. The PILOT law allows the state Local Finance Board, if it chooses, to decide what percentage of the PILOT the county will receive. But Levinson and Formica said Tuesday the state has left it to the county to negotiate with the city. A spokeswoman from the Department of Community Affairs, which includes the Local Finance Board, declined comment. Levinson struck a deal with Guardian last year to get the county its desired 13.5 percent share. In April, Gov. Chris Christie said in a news conference the county would get 13.5 percent. Atlantic City, county fight over PILOT money ATLANTIC CITY The city and Atlantic County are still fighting over $4 million. But since then, the citys proposed recovery plan gave the county just 10.3 percent of the PILOT. State officials have said the county will get a 13.5 percent share only if it takes on more services and responsibilities for the city. The 13.5 percent was in stone for six months, Levinson said. Suddenly when the PILOT passed, everyone got amnesia. Thats not the way its done. In his statement, Guardian said the county should use the tax formula provided by the state and county to determine the countys share. Or if the county is really pressed about taking unwarranted monies from municipalities, they should just ask every municipality to give them $4 million more than they are legally required to give, he said. Lets see how many municipalities would agree to that. Atlantic City Council will hold its reorganization meeting Wednesday. Councilman Kaleem Shabazz, who attended the freeholder meeting, said the resolution unnecessarily pits the city against the county. To suggest the county may withhold payment to the city, I think that puts us at odds when we shouldnt be, Shabazz told the freeholders. Though leadership on both sides of the aisle emphasized working together on day one of Montana's 2017 legislative session, the announcement of an education caucus by Republican Superintendent of Public Instruction Elsie Arntzen was met with opposition by a Democratic leader on day two. Arntzen announced a bipartisan education caucus as one of her legislative priorities during the Indian Education For All Rotunda Day. Tom Facey, the Democratic senate minority whip and member of the senates Education and Cultural Resources Committee, said he would not participate. Arntzen said the caucus, which will meet weekly starting next Wednesday, will bring politicians together to serve 145,000 public school students. Facey said the caucus is ironic considering Arntzens legislative voting record. She was here for 12 years and was not an enthusiastic supporter of public education for kids, Facey said. He said Democrats and Republicans have a long history of working together to improve public education, but pointed out Arntzens votes against Early Edge funding for public preschool and expanding funding for students with disabilities. When she says words matter but actions do too, her history doesnt back that up, he said. Shes been one of the major forces of privatizing Montana schools and getting public money into private hands. Facey has been a teacher for 38 years. In addition to announcing an education caucus, Arntzen said she would host an education council with tribal members, and hosted the Indian Education For All event to acknowledge the efforts made by schools and tribal members to make the program possible. Educators from across the state set up exhibits on Native American culture and Montanas history in the rotunda. Arntzen didnt announce plans to make funding or legislative changes to the program. Putting Montana students first is the focus of this superintendent, Arntzen said. A Philadelphia man was arrested at a Toms River motel last week on drug possession and distribution charges, authorities said Wednesday. Farid Brown, 24, was arrested Dec. 28 at the Howard Johnsons Motor Lodge following a joint investigation by the Ocean County Prosecutors Special Operations Group, Northern Enforcement Unit and members of the Toms River Police Special Enforcement Team. A search warrant was executed in the room Brown was staying and authorities found 40 grams of a white powder believed to be unpackaged, raw heroin, according to the Ocean County Prosecutors Office. Drug packaging paraphernalia including rubber bands, wax folds, a scale and a small spoon also was found, the Prosecutors Office said in a press release. Brown was charged with possession of a controlled dangerous substance, possession of CDS over half an ounce, intent to distribute and possession of drug paraphernalia. He was taken to the Ocean County jail on $150,000 bail. Ganiel Howard, 25, of Philadelphia, was also arrested and charged with conspiracy to possess a controlled dangerous substance with intent to distribute. Howard was released on a summons pending future court dates. BRIDGETON The first Superior Court appearance for the man who allegedly killed his estranged wife Dec. 19 in Commercial Township came via a video screen Wednesday. Jeremiah Monell never left the Cumberland County jail, where he was incarcerated Tuesday after being released from Inspira Medical Center Vineland, where he was taken following his arrest Monday. The Cumberland County courthouse was filled with family members of the victim, 35-year-old Tara OShea-Watson. They sat quietly as a tired-looking Monell answered most questions posed by Judge Cristen DArrigo in a monotone, Yes, your honor. The only time Monell provided an extended answer was when DArrigo asked if he intended to apply for a public defender. Not from inside here, Monell replied. Monell, of the Cedarville section of Lawrence Township, is charged with murder. Authorities found Monell on Monday after a two-week manhunt. Cumberland County Prosecutor Jennifer Webb-McRae said the decision to use the video system was up to the court. He is being held without bail, which was originally set at $1 million. Bail will be one of two issues to be decided during a preventive-detention hearing scheduled for 9 a.m. Monday. The court will also hear arguments as to whether to continue Monells incarceration, with one of the considerations being whether Monell represents a danger to the community, Webb-McRae said. Details of Monells arrest could also be revealed during the hearing, she said. After Wednesdays proceeding, OShea-Watsons cousin, Bryan Dunn, said the family wants Monells fate to be decided appropriately by the states justice system. He also said many of OShea-Watsons family members hold the justice system partially to blame for her death. OShea-Watson wanted to leave New Jersey to live with family in Tennessee, but the courts required her two youngest children to remain in the state, Dunn said. She wasnt going to leave them behind, he said. Dunn said family members are holding onto each other and staying in constant communication to help make it through this difficult time. State Police were called to OShea-Watsons house in the 7900 block of Raymond Drive in the Laurel Lake section of Commercial Township shortly after 8 a.m. Dec. 19 after a neighbor found her wrapped in a blanket on the living room floor. State Police said OShea-Watson was unconscious and unresponsive when they arrived at the house, later saying she died from multiple stab wounds. State Police quickly named Monell their suspect. Authorities have yet to comment on a motive for the slaying. Friends of OShea-Watson alleged Monell physically abused her for more than a decade. They also said OShea-Watson had a court-issued restraining order against Monell and had recently filed for divorce. The search for Monell eventually became a nationwide manhunt. Monell was arrested without incident Monday in a patch of woods near Routes 322 and 54 in Folsom, Atlantic County. State Police said they were alerted to his whereabouts at 2:45 p.m. by a person who recognized him. Jeremiah Monell, wanted in the slaying of his estranged wife, Tara OShea-Watson, nearly two weeks ago, was found Monday behind a Folsom shopping center, in a patch of woods laced with trails and known to attract homeless squatters. Monell, 32, had been on the run since Dec. 19, and a manhunt ensued after OShea-Watson, 35, was found stabbed multiple times in her trailer home in Laurel Lake, a lakefront community in Commercial Township, Cumberland County. He was found about 27 miles away, near routes 322 and 54 in Folsom in western Atlantic County, by someone who had recognized him, State Police said. State Police got the call at 2:45 p.m. OShea-Watsons friend Penny Morey was at an Atlantic City casino when her cellphone rang with news shed been waiting for. I literally fell to my knees, crying in the middle of the casino, They got him, they got him, they got him, Morey said. I didnt care where I was. Morey said she knew Monell would slip up sometime and get caught. The bad part is that New Jersey doesnt have the death penalty, said the resident of the Cedarville section of Lawrence Township. Sgt. Gregory Williams said State Police received several tips regarding Monell during the past two weeks. The public is key in most of our investigations, Williams said. See something, say something. Its something that actually works. Monell was taken to a hospital Monday for medical observation before being transferred to the Cumberland County jail in Bridgeton. He is scheduled to appear before Superior Court Judge Cristen DArrigo at 2 p.m. Wednesday in the Cumberland County courthouse on charges that include murder. Bail is set at $1 million. Residents near Liberty Square Center in Folsom said the woods behind the shopping center where he was found are laced with trails and frequented by homeless people. Merchants at the center declined to comment. At Dinos Restaurant in Cedarville, Lawrence Township Committeeman Skip Bowman said residents were calling the municipal building for information about the search for Monell. They were very concerned, he said. One of the initial major search sites was a wooded area bordered by Saw Mill and Factory roads and Main Street. The site is just a short distance from downtown Cedarville. Bowman said one calming influence was the number of marked and unmarked State Police vehicles in the area. We felt well protected, he said. Cedarville resident Steelman Peterson said his major concern was for his 5-year-old daughter. You have to worry with someone like that running around, he said. Another customer, Laurel Lake resident Ron Zuggi, said he met Monell last summer when Monell was looking for work to raise money for his family. Zuggi said he hired Monell to rake leaves at his property and that Monell appeared fine. He didnt show any kind of condition that would lead us to be concerned, Zuggi said. Morey and Jennifer Messeck, another friend of OShea-Watson, both said Monell physically abused OShea-Watson for more than a decade. Both women said they saw the bruises and other injuries she suffered in those alleged incidents. They also said OShea-Watson had a court-issued restraining order against Monell and that she recently filed for divorce. Messeck said she at first didnt believe media reports of Monells arrest. She said she called State Police to make sure he was in custody. I cried, Messeck said after getting confirmation. I cried like a baby. I am unbelievably grateful and thankful that he is finally arrested. It makes me feel like some sense of hope and justice will be served. Authorities said OShea-Watson died from multiple stab wounds. Neighbors found her wrapped in a blanket on her living room floor. The neighbor told State Police he went to OShea-Watsons house after her son told him she was dead, according to a 911 call. A Rutgers University professor who specializes in sea-level research will make one of about 100 presentations at the Delaware Estuary Science and Environmental Summit in Cape May this month. Almost 300 people have registered, leaving about 35 seats available. Organized by the Partnership for the Delaware Estuary, the summit will be held Jan. 22-25 at the Grand Hotel in Cape May. PDE Science Director Danielle Kreeger called it a rare chance for people with different environmental interests to share data and ideas. The summit is unique in bringing scientists, managers, educators and restoration professionals together from across the area to share their latest findings and problem-solve in a retreat-like setting, Kreeger said. Rutgers professor Ben Horton, the sea-level rise expert, will be the keynote speaker. All are welcome, from amateur naturalists to professionals in environmental fields, the PDE said. There will be five presentations on lessons from Hurricane Sandy, describing how engineers, land managers and others are making sites more resilient against storms. Connecting Youth to the Environment will focus on innovative programs such as UrbanTrekkers and PowerCorps work in Camden. The Delaware River and Bay are divided among four states, so its really important we get folks on all sides collaborating, said Jennifer Adkins, executive director of the PDE. We feel were best suited to do that, because were the only organization focused on the entire environment affecting the tidal river and bay. Delaware and New Jersey share the bay, while New Jersey shares the river with Pennsylvania and New York. Summit on Delaware Estuary set for Cape May The Partnership for the Delaware Estuary is holding a three-day summit in Cape May on the he The registration cost (not including lodging) for the entire summit is $135 for students and $380 for nonstudents. Attendees can pay $200 per day. Registration is required by Sunday. Kellyanne Conway, counselor to President-elect Donald Trump, rode in the Hammonton Christmas Parade under a bright media spotlight and to loud cheers from residents of a town that largely voted Republican. A week later, the local Hispanic community held a large posada, a re-enactment of Mary and Josephs search for lodging that first Christmas. The event, held to much less fanfare, was inspired in part by Conways parade participation, as an attempt to celebrate the communitys diversity after a harsh presidential campaign. Civil rights and environmental activists in the region are beginning to mobilize with the Jan. 20 inauguration of Trump. The campaign unnerved people in minority communities, while the president-elects agenda has dismayed environmentalists. In Hammonton, posada organizer Ivette Guillermo-McGahee said she has already felt a change in how people are interacting. Guillermo-McGahee cited a float during the parade that had a wall built around it with the word Trump spray-painted on the side as an example of a topic that could lead to discrimination against Hispanics. We feel that people are feeling a little bit freer to make jokes about Hispanics, she said. This is a celebration to open our hearts and open the doors and welcome others. Steve Young, president of the National Action Networks South Jersey chapter, said membership has doubled from 50 to 100 people since the election. Everybody wants to know how to mobilize, said Young. The campaign of Donald Trump had a lot of discriminatory rhetoric, but we know how to protest that in a peaceful manner. Interest in the Atlantic City chapter of Black Lives Matter has also risen, according to the Rev. William M. Williams, who is affiliated with the group. Williams said people have been contacting the group via social media asking how they can participate. Not everyone is alarmed. In Hammonton, new resident Sophia Melendez, who moved to the area from Mexico about a year ago, said the election or the possibility of a wall going up at the U.S.-Mexico border arent really big topics when she talks to family and friends still living in Mexico. I would say it is about 50/50 in terms of people who care or talk about it, she said. Richard Helfant, president of the Greater Atlantic City GLBT Alliance, said he doesnt recall Trump ever saying anything derogatory toward the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. Helfant also said he hasnt seen an increase in money, volunteers, members or interest in his organization since the election. But environmental activists are worried the incoming presidents agenda could threaten the coastal areas of New Jersey in the wake of rising sea levels and climate change. Jeff Tittel, chapter director of the New Jersey Sierra Club, said his group has seen an increase in members and volunteers in South Jersey since the election. People have also been volunteering over concerns about two natural-gas pipelines that have been proposed to run through parts of the Pinelands, one of them from Maurice River Township to the B.L. England Generating Station in Upper Township. When it comes to climate change, Tittel said he has heard from people who fear Trump will do nothing or make matters worse. A silver lining, he said, is that more people believe the environment is under threat. People are upset about the election and want to do something, he said. I think it shows that people are committed to the environment. The countrys soldiers face challenges that many people cant even begin to understand, both during and after their military service. Too many of them end up in jail or in prisons as a result of invisible wounds they suffered on the battlefield that are not properly treated when they return home. In 2017, we must resolve to end the incarceration of soldiers who are in need of mental health services and treatment. I am proud that New Jersey has taken important steps toward doing that. At its last voting session of the year, the state Senate approved legislation unanimously that will drastically change the way veterans and enlisted military who served in combat, and have been diagnosed with or show symptoms of a mental health condition, are treated in the criminal justice system. The bill, which I sponsored, will create a Statewide Veterans Diversion Program to divert these men and women away from the criminal justice system as early as possible following an interaction with law enforcement. When a person is taken into custody for an eligible offense, the responding law enforcement officer will inquire as to whether the person is a service member or has ever served in the U.S. military. If he or she answers yes, the officer would operate with a preference for diverting an eligible service member to a county Veterans Diversion Resource Center or other community-based mental health services in lieu of filing a criminal complaint. The program would provide appropriate case management guiding individuals toward mental health services and helping them to find housing or employment. It would be available to defendants charged with a non-violent petty disorderly persons offense, disorderly persons offense, crime of the fourth degree or the third degree. Veterans would be paired with a mentor, a volunteer veteran recruited by the state Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, and if they comply with the program could have the charge dismissed. Rather than allowing them to fall into the criminal justice system, this will better ensure that combat veterans who have found themselves headed down the wrong path are given treatment and a second chance. They deserve it. The U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics reports that 77 percent of veterans in prison and jail received an honorable discharge or a general discharge under honorable conditions. About half of all veterans in prison and in jail have been told by a mental health professional they had a mental health disorder. As someone who serves in the Legislature alongside two military veterans, Assemblyman Bob Andrzejczak and Assemblyman Bruce Land who between them have three Bronze Stars, a Soldiers Medal and a Purple Heart I know that the nations soldiers have encountered very difficult conditions during their service that we cannot begin to imagine unless weve literally walked in their shoes. Creating this program is the right thing to do. And weve already taken a big step toward meeting the goal of ensuring that military personnel and veterans have the resources they need to live a healthy and productive life. I look forward to continuing to advance the effort in the weeks and months ahead. Sen. Jeff Van Drew, D-Cape May, Cumberland and Atlantic, is chairman of the Senate Community and Urban Affairs Committee and vice chair of the Senate Military and Veterans Affairs Committee. We write in our capacity as members of the Montana Public Defender Commission. We are an all-volunteer commission, formed pursuant to the 2005 Montana Public Defender Act. We are charged with administering and managing a statewide agency that consists of 247.44 FTE attorneys and staff, and 252 contract attorneys as of the end of fiscal year 2016. The agency had a budget of over $35 million (about 2 percent of the states total budget) in FY 2016. In recent weeks, statewide news outlets have reported on certain struggles and challenges facing the Office of the State Public Defender. Specifically, media sources have noted that, due to unprecedented increased caseloads, the system faces an anticipated budget shortfall. Public defenders, it is claimed, have failed to collect fees from their clients. Further, three members of the governors commission, and the recently hired chief administrator, have resigned. We wish to assure the public that we are taking fiscally responsive steps to address the challenges the system faces, while recognizing the legal responsibilities associated with effective representation. The staggering caseloads that public defenders take on illuminates the problems inherent in our justice system. Last year state public defenders were appointed to more than 36,000 cases. Since 2012, OPDs caseload in homicide and other felony cases has increased by approximately 32 percent. Similarly, caseload for misdemeanors has increased by approximately 11 percent and the dependent and neglect caseload has increased by approximately 53 percent. These increases in workload are not addressed through corresponding increases in funding, staff or attorneys. Thus, all of our attorneys are working extraordinarily high caseloads in many regions, their caseloads exceed the amount they can ethically take on and maintain effective representation. Public defenders cannot legally refuse to take a case when assigned by the courts, which creates unique ethical dilemmas for these attorneys. Pursuant to state law, the OPD commission has developed a mitigation plan that addresses many of these challenges. We have enacted a hiring freeze on certain positions, and discontinued the use of contract investigators in certain regions. We have begun hiring modified, part-time attorneys to replace contract attorneys as a more cost effective means of providing required representation. The plan directs that all 11 regional public defender offices work to reduce expenditures wherever possible. Offices are striving to reduce requests for investigators, psychiatric evaluations and chemical dependency screenings, all in an effort to save money. We have noted the significant ethical challenges and associated expenses involved in collecting fees from public defender clients, and have recommended that this effort be taken on by the Department of Revenue a recommendation adopted by the task force that is now the subject of specific legislation. We are committed to working with the Governors Office and the Legislature during the upcoming session to assure that the public defender system continues to function efficiently, and admirably to fulfill this legal representation obligation. Despite the staggering caseloads, public defenders work with great dedication and dignity. They believe wholeheartedly in the constitutional and statutory provisions that guarantee all clients deserve effective legal representation. Many public defenders work in excess of a 40-hour week. They work against great odds, without complaint. Montanas public defenders are among the finest attorneys that can be found anywhere. They deserve our appreciation, our respect and our support. OPD Commission Chair Mark Parker, Vice-Chair Ann Sherwood, and members Roy Brown, Larry Mansch, Dr. Michael Metzger, Margaret Novak and Maylinn Smith Montana has made progress in recent years, but we need to continue to work hard this legislative session to shore up our economy and create good paying jobs across our state. We know that in 2017, well face some serious challenges. Weak oil and gas prices led to a drop in revenue, so money is tight. And unpredictability in the federal government threatens to reverse much of the progress weve made. At the same time, we are facing increasing needs for infrastructure improvements across the state. Montana Democrats have a plan to rebuild our crumbling roads, bridges, sewer systems and community buildings. We are putting forward bills to address these needs and create good paying construction jobs in the process. These projects will ensure that we have the foundation to attract new businesses to Montana and keep our economy growing. We also know that better education means a better economy down the road. In 2017, Montana Democrats are committed to crafting a responsible state budget that properly funds our public K-12 schools, supports our public safety workers, cares for our most vulnerable, protects good-paying jobs, and helps us train for the jobs of the future. Montana Democrats have always fought for working and middle-class families, and we will continue to do so. Well fight for a fair tax code in which everyone pays their fair share and hardworking families arent unjustly burdened. Theres no reason a millionaire should pay the same tax rate as a janitor or a nursing home attendant; but right now, thats what our tax code says. Well fight for legislation to provide equal pay for equal work, so women arent paid less than men for the same jobs. We're working toward a system of paid leave, so workers dont have to decide between earning a paycheck and taking time off to care for a sick loved one. Our values mean keeping our air, land and water clean so future generations will continue to enjoy public access to our world-class outdoors. Were working to establish early education. Montana is one of just five states that does not support pre-Kindergarten education, which has proven to be one of the smartest investments a state can make. It would help free young families from the incredible costs of childcare, and give children the best chance to succeed in an ever-changing economy. To craft laws and a budget that reflect our values requires compromise and a willingness in both parties to make tough decisions. It wont work if one side digs in, issues ultimatums and insists it cant be done. In just the past few weeks, faced with a surprise threat of violence from mostly out-of-state white supremacists, Montanans across the political spectrum showed that we can come together. Democrats and Republicans let these agitators know that their un-American ideology is not welcome here. We made clear to the world: Hate is not a Montana value. That hate movement, we hope, will fade away. But exercising our Montana values continues, and what we do at the Legislature will have lasting impact on our entire state. So as we make decisions over the next 90 days, we call on all lawmakers to remember what unites us, not what divides us. Thats how well make Montana even greater in 2017 and beyond. Rep. Jenny Eck is the House Minority Leader, and Sen. Jon Sesso is the Senate Minority Leader in the Montana Legislature. 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. Sunday's Helena Independent Record discussed the budget balancing challenge facing the Legislature. I have to be optimistic that legislators on both sides of the aisle will seek bipartisan creative ways to balance the budget without harming those least able to weather cuts in services or programs. We, as citizens, have a responsibility to keep up to speed on what's going on. However, it's not easy. Bills are often complicated. Legislators, advocates, and the press hopefully will keep us informed of both the intended and unintended consequences of any proposed legislation. For example, sometimes cuts in state funding jeopardizes federal funding. During times of diminishing state revenues, is it wise to be "penny-wise, but pound foolish"? I remember President Bush after 9/11, encouraging Americans to go out and shop. "Shared sacrifice" is essential for good citizenship. His failure to ask us to make sacrifices for the common good was a missed opportunity. Bless all Montana's legislators with both wisdom and compassion as they address budgetary challenges, while identifying opportunities to enhance the lives of those who struggle to juggle health care, housing, education, and other such costs. Last but not least, welcome to Helena and stimulate our home town economy! John Ilgenfritz Helena MISSOULA -- Cody Marble starts the new year as a free man. On Tuesday retired District Court Judge Ed McLean issued an order overturning Marble's conviction in a 2002 rape case involving a 13-year-old boy who was in juvenile detention with Marble in Missoula. Marble said his attorney, Colin Stephens, called him Tuesday morning, but he didnt pick up the phone. Then he heard Stephens on the line with his father Jerry, who has spent the years since Marbles conviction working to prove his son is innocent. I heard him telling my dad, 'Its over, we won,' Marble said. Im just speechless. I dont think Ive seen him that relieved in 15 years. In his order, McLean wrote that the testimony provided at a Dec. 12 evidence hearing "undermines the confidence the Court has in Mr. Marble's criminal conviction" and ordered it vacated, setting the stage for a new trial. Stephens, who for the last eight years has worked as Marble's attorney in his quest to have his conviction overturned, said he thinks it's unlikely the case will go to trial, given the county attorney's view of the allegations. Missoula County Attorney Kirsten Pabst "has always been on board with putting an end to this," Stephens said. Deputy County Attorney Matt Jennings confirmed Tuesday that prosecutors have filed a motion asking for the charge against Marble to be dismissed. They expect the request to be granted within the next few days, removing the need for another trial. Marble, now 32, has maintained his innocence since being charged. In August 2015 the Montana Supreme Court sent his case back to Missoula County District Court, asking it to re-examine a decision to deny Marble a new trial, instructing the lower court to use a broader interpretation of how new evidence that has come out since his conviction should be viewed. After the case was remanded, Pabst reviewed it and last spring filed a motion asking for the conviction to be dismissed, saying it "lacked integrity." The county attorney cited a recantation by Marble's since-deceased accuser, as well as testimony from others as casting doubt that the alleged rape ever occurred. Former county attorney Fred Van Valkenburg, who was in office during Marbles conviction, objected to Pabsts motion, and was eventually invited by McLean to act as an adviser to the court while the judge considered the matter. Marble has been living in Conrad since McLean released him from custody in April, pending the ruling in the case. He said Tuesday that after he and his dad celebrated the news, he left the house for a bit and took a drive. I went out and got some coffee. I just wanted to clear my head. Finally, after all this, its over, he said. Now free of any probation restrictions from the case, Marble said he wanted thank his attorney and the Montana Innocence Project, which has likewise championed his case, for years of fighting in court for him. Im hoping to be able to go back to school, stay away from drugs and make my life worth the work they put in on my behalf, he said. He also thanked Missoula County Attorney Pabst for conducting a thorough review of his case when it was sent back down by the high court. Im not sure this would be happening without her. Thank God for Kirsten, he said. Jennings, the deputy county attorney, acknowledged that while a push to overturn a conviction and exonerate someone was an interesting and unusual position for their office to take, it fell under their responsibility as prosecutors. Our obligation goes beyond fighting for convictions and putting people in custody but fighting for justice, and in this case justice demanded that Cody Marbles conviction be overturned, he said. PARADISE A small twin-engine airplane made an emergency landing just west of Paradise on Tuesday morning, with both occupants taken to the hospital. Sanders County Sheriff Tom Rummel said the plane went down just before 9:30 a.m. between the railroad tracks and the Clark Fork River just west of town. The pilot and passenger, the only occupants of the plane, were able to walk away from the crash, but were taken to Clark Fork Valley Hospital in Plains. This was a good ending to a bad deal, Rummel said. The plane itself is trashed. Rummel said the site of the crash was secured by deputies, and an investigator from the National Transportation Safety Board was called in to determine the cause of the crash. Marlin Cooper, assistant chief of the Plains-Paradise Rural Fire Department, said as a pilot himself, he knows most of the other pilots in the area but didnt recognize the brand of the plane. The cabin area and wings remained intact but the plane appears to be totaled, he said. Rummel said he believed the plane was on its way from Missoula to Seattle. The Federal Aviation Administrations records show the aircraft, a Softex-Aero V-24L, is registered to Summit International American Ltd. in Bellevue, Washington. Missoulian reporter Dillon Kato contributed to this story. NEW YORK, January 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- China Will Continue to be the Most Lucrative Market for Peracetic Acid in Asia Pacific A study conducted by Persistence Market Research (PMR) on "Asia Pacific Peracetic Acid (PAA) Market 2016-2024," projects the APAC peracetic acid market to surpass 164 Million, expanding at over 8% CARG over 2024. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161114/438683LOGO ) Growing preference for peracetic acid over chlorine across various industrial domains in Asia pacific is expected to influence the overall growth of the peracetic market in the region. In recent years, the application base of peracetic acid has expanded to a significant extent. On the contrary, demand for peracetic acid from food & vegetables processing aids, healthcare textiles (HCT), industrial cleaning, aseptic filling & packaging, meat & poultry processing aids and water treatment industries is scaling at a healthy pace. Browse Full Market Overview and Research Methodology@ http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/market-research/asia-pacific-peracetic-acid-market.asp Key factors expected to shape the peracetic acid market in Asia Pacific during the next eight years A better alternative to chlorine as an oxidant agent for industrial cleaning, textile industry and in other purification purposes. Peracetic acid is an effective disinfectant and finds robust use in various industries in the form of purifiers, cleaners and as sanitizing agents. In addition, growing demand for peracetic acid as sanitizing agents in packaged food and vegetables for prevention of microbial contamination is likely to play a major role in stimulating the market growth in Asia Pacific. Peracetic acid contains properties of bleaching agent, easy environmental degradation, and non-toxicity. Hence, making the product a safe sanitizer that can be used in consumable products. In contrast, high volatility of PPA above 17% and associated risks with logistics can restrain the growth of the market. Likewise, adverse side-effects on health due to excessive exposure of peracetic acid on the surface of the skin, through oral intake or inhalation. Based on PPA grade, demand for PAA- grade above 15% is expected remain high as compared to other PAA grades. While, growth in demand for other PAA grades will be sluggish during the forecast period. By 2016 end, the PAA- grade above 15% segment is estimated to occupy for over 46% value share of the market and is anticipated to gain 130 BPS over 2025. By end-use, food and beverage is anticipated to be the leading segment during the forecast period. In addition, the segment is projected to account for over 27% value share of the market by the end of 2016, gaining a BPS of 210 over 2025. This is primarily owing to the growing demand for peracetic acid from the F&B industry for sterilizing food contact surface equipment. In addition, the segment is set to witness a value CAGR of over 9% between 2016 and 2024. A sample of this report is available upon request@ http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/12955 Region-wise, the market in China is projected to present lucrative business opportunities for leading players. The China peracetic acid market is projected to increase by 350 BPS during the forecast period. By 2016-end, China is estimated to account for mammoth 59.6% share of the market in terms of value. The market growth in China is largely attributed to the existence of a strong manufacturing and supply chain in the country that is comprehensively sustaining the growing demand for peracetic acid in the country as well as in the region. Likewise, India is another country were the market is estimated to exhibit a significant growth over the next couple of years. In the recent past, the country has attracted a healthy number of foreign investors who are planning to setup production plants in the country as demand for eco-friendly alternative chemicals is on the rise. Request to View Report Table of Contents, Figures, and Tables@ http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/market-research/asia-pacific-peracetic-acid-market/toc Key stakeholders in the peracetic acid market in the Asia Pacific region include Tianjin Xinyuan Chemical Co., Ltd., Evonik Industries AG, National Peroxide Limited, Aditya Birla Chemicals Limited, Acuro Organics Ltd., Solvay Peroxythai Ltd., PeroxyChem LLC, Mitsubishi Gas Chemical Company, MGI Chemicals Pvt. Ltd., and Qingdao Hisea Chem Co.Ltd. To Buy Full Report for a Single User @ http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/checkout/12955 PMR Overview Persistence Market Research (PMR) is a third-platform research firm. Our research model is a unique collaboration of data analytics and market research methodology to help businesses achieve optimal performance. To support companies in overcoming complex business challenges, we follow a multi-disciplinary approach. At PMR, we unite various data streams from multi-dimensional sources. By deploying real-time data collection, big data, and customer experience analytics, we deliver business intelligence for organizations of all sizes. Contact Persistence Market Research U.S. Sales Office: 305 Broadway, 7th Floor New York City, NY 10007 United States USA - Canada Toll-Free: 800-961-0353 Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.com Web: http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com Blog: http://www.pmrblog.com/ SOURCE Persistence Market Research Pvt. Ltd. LONDON, January 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Global Kinetics Corporation, leader in digital health technology for people with Parkinson's has secured CE marking on its new second generation Parkinson's KinetiGraph (PKG) system, indicating that the product complies with European health and safety requirements and legislation. The Parkinson's KinetiGraph (PKG) system is a patient-friendly, algorithm-based system that records body movements and other symptoms over the course of seven days and creates data-driven reports that empower more personalised treatment and management decisions-with the goal of leading to a higher quality of life for patients. The first generation PKG system is already used in a number of countries throughout Europe including Sweden, Finland, Germany, France, Netherlands and the UK. The second generation system boasts technological enhancements which could ultimately allow patients themselves (in addition to their clinician) to monitor their condition 24 hours a day, 365 days a year (or "anytime, anywhere") in order to better manage and control their symptoms. CEO and President of Global Kinetics Corporation, Timothy I Still, said the CE marking of the new technology underpins the company's aggressive expansion into new product and service offerings to meet the needs of the Parkinson's community worldwide. "Global Kinetics continues to deliver on its strategic business objectives while remaining steadfast in our mission to make a meaningful difference for people with Parkinson's. We recently celebrated delivery of our 13,000th PKG report - and look forward to a new era of impact for patients around the world with our second generation PKG system. "The second generation PKG platform enables us to capitalise on our growing telehealth and clinical trial services businesses, and to build upon our already substantial partnerships with global pharmaceutical and device leaders in the area of Parkinson's." Steve Ford, CEO of Parkinson's UK, has partnered with Global Kinetics since 2014 to enable access to the first generation PKG system for people in the UK living with Parkinson's. "The second generation PKG system is an exciting development which potentially provides a powerful platform enabling people with Parkinson's to take control of their Parkinson's," Mr Ford said. The new technology will be introduced to patients and clinicians in twelve leading European movement disorder clinics in the next two months, with a full rollout to follow thereafter. For more information, visit: http://www.globalkineticscorporation.com SOURCE Global Kinetics LAS VEGAS, January 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- SMI's robust and reliable eye tracking demonstrated with the Qualcomm Snapdragon VR820 reference platform set the stage for a superior VR experience SensoMotoric Instruments (SMI), leaders in eye tracking technology, will bring robust and reliable eye tracking to future standalone virtual reality (VR) platforms as demonstrated with the Qualcomm Snapdragon VR820 reference platform at CES 2017. (Photo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/453736/PRNE_SMI_Qualcomm_Image.jpg ) SMI eye tracking is a proven technology in computer and tablet screens, eye tracking glasses, and will help the next generation augmented reality (AR) and VR headsets - both standalone VR head mounted displays (HMDs) and smartphone slot-ins. The Snapdragon VR820 reference platform is designed to allow customers to quickly develop standalone HMDs optimized for VR content and applications, while meeting the processing and performance demands of an all-in-one (AIO), dedicated VR headset. "We believe that our eye tracking technology and Snapdragon reference platforms will have significant implications for the future of mobile standalone VR," said SMI Director OEM Business Christian Villwock. "The Snapdragon VR820 reference platform can help accelerate the development of new standalone VR devices and content, and our eye tracking technology is a key component for next generation products." "With Qualcomm Technologies' great engineering support we have significantly optimized our technology, and we are confident we will be able to achieve even lower processing loads with shorter latency for the eye tracking. Both of these factors are expected to be instrumental in attaining the very best eye tracking performance in standalone VR," added Mr Villwock. "Eye tracking is an important technology for the future of VR, as it can potentially improve immersion through more intuitive interactions and visual quality enhancements when paired with Snapdragon processors," said Hugo Swart, senior director, product management, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. "Eye tracking has a roadmap of benefits in mobile and standalone VR headsets. Gaze interaction, social presence, foveated rendering, personal display calibration and analytical insights are all potential uses that OEMs and application developers will be able to utilize." Mr Villwock concluded: "Eye tracking is set to become a 'must have' in VR systems. We are proud to work with Qualcomm Technologies, a leader in VR and AR, to bring these benefits to the mobile VR community of the future." SMI's eye tracking technology, working along the Snapdragon VR820 platform, will be demonstrated at the Qualcomm Technologies booth at CES, Central Hall #10948. About SMI SensoMotoric Instruments (SMI) has been a world leader in eye tracking technology for 25 years, developing and marketing eye & gaze tracking systems for scientists and professionals, as well as OEM and medical solutions for a wide range of applications. Find out more at http://www.smivision.com. Follow @SMIeyetracking on Facebook, Flickr, YouTube and Twitter. Media Contacts SensoMotoric Instruments GmbH (SMI) Tim Stott +49 (0) 162 271 61 66 tim.stott@smi.de ### Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. is a subsidiary of Qualcomm Incorporated. Qualcomm and Snapdragon are trademarks of Qualcomm Incorporated, registered in the United States and other countries. Other product and brand names may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners. Qualcomm Snapdragon is a product of Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. SOURCE SensoMotoric Instruments GmbH (SMI) SAN JOSE, California, January 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- CloudByte Names Evan Powell, Former CEO of StackStorm, Nexenta and Clarus Systems, as its Chairman CloudByte Inc., a leading software-defined storage company, today announced the appointment of Evan Powell as its new Chairman. Evan is a well known serial entrepreneur and builder of open source communities with successes at Clarus Systems, Nexenta and recently StackStorm. (Photo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/453665/PRNE_EvanPowell_CloudByte.jpg ) Since its inception in 2011, CloudByte has successfully delivered storage solutions to service providers and enterprises deploying private clouds. CloudByte's flagship product ElastiStor's unique capabilities include per volume QoS management, enabling it to eliminate the noisy neighbor problem. A free 25TB edition of the ElastiStor virtual storage appliance is available at http://www.cloudbyte.com; all flash hardware solutions are also available as are other solutions from partners including Q5 and Wipro. CloudByte recently released an early version of OpenEBS, an Apache Licensed 100% open source storage project addressing the needs of today's DevOps environments with native container integration and other capabilities. The OpenEBS project leverages some of the technology developed by CloudByte including the ability to control QoS from and for containerized storage controllers. Evan said, "The next wave of storage disruption is upon us and over the months and years to come you'll see CloudByte and the OpenEBS project delivering a new combination of technology, business model, and community to improve the lives of DevOps architects and operators. I'm already enjoying working with the CloudByte team and the growing OpenEBS community." "We are excited to have Evan join us as Chairman," said Uma Mukkara, Co-founder and CEO of CloudByte. "Storage requirements have changed with containers reaching mainstream. I am looking forward to working with Evan in building CloudByte and specifically in growing the OpenEBS community." About OpenEBS (http://www.openebs.io) OpenEBS (@openebs) is a new containerized storage platform for container-based environments. It addresses the challenge of large scale storage management faced by many container users and provides ease of use in part through its close integration with Kubernetes, Docker and other orchestration projects. About CloudByte (http://www.cloudbyte.com) CloudByte is the provider of Software-defined storage software and appliances. CloudByte's patented technology has been helping large storage deployments to realize significant cost savings. Established in 2011, CloudByte has development offices in India and Switzerland and customers world-wide. About Evan Powell Evan has been the founding CEO of three enterprise infrastructure software companies, Clarus Systems (RVBD), Nexenta Systems, and most recently StackStorm (BRCD). As founding CEO of Nexenta Systems, he helped to reimagine the storage industry as one in which the value of software and freedom from vendor lock-in would predominate. Under his leadership, Nexenta became the leader of the OpenStorage movement and the software-defined storage sector, with thousands of customers and hundreds of millions of dollars of annual partner sales. As founding CEO of StackStorm, Evan helped to create the event driven automation category, building a vibrant open source community leveraging and improving upon approaches used by the largest operators such as Facebook. Prominent StackStorm users include Netflix, Cisco, and Dimension Data. Brocade purchased StackStorm in early 2016. Currently Evan serves as an advisor and investor in a number of start-ups, including the emerging leader of intelligent object storage, Cloudian (http://www.cloudian.com), as well as Keewi, TextIQ, Journey Software and others. CloudByte Media Contact: Niti Suryawanshi niti.suryawanshi@cloudbyte.com 4300 Stevens Creek Boulevard Suite 270 San Jose, CA 95129 SOURCE CloudByte Inc. HATFIELD, England, January 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Fycompa (perampanel) is now licensed for adjunctive treatment of partial-onset seizures, with or without secondarily generalised seizures in Jordan, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.[1],[2],[3] Additionally, it is indicated in the United Arab Emirates for the adjunctive treatment of primary generalised tonic-clonic seizures in patients with idiopathic generalised epilepsy (IGE) aged 12 years and older. Perampanel was discovered and developed by Eisai and is available in these countries through a partnership with Hikma Pharmaceuticals PLC. Perampanel is the only licensed anti-epileptic drug to selectively, non-competitively, target AMPA[*] receptors, a type of receptor that plays a critical role in the onset and spread of seizures.[4] An estimated 724,000 people in the Arab world currently live with epilepsy,[5] and between 20-40 per cent of people with newly-diagnosed epilepsy can become refractory to available treatments, requiring further adjunctive medication.[6] "Many patients need multiple anti-epileptic drugs to achieve optimal seizure control. The availability of a new treatment option will be welcomed by healthcare professionals and by people living with epilepsy alike," comments Bernhard J Steinhoff, Primary Investigator for perampanel and Professor, Medical Director and Executive Chief Physician, Kork Epilepsy Centre, Germany. "We are delighted to be working with Eisai to enable access for this first-in-class anti-epilepsy drug in Jordan, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, which aligns with our focus on delivering high-quality medicines to patients," says Mazen Darwazeh, Executive Vice Chairman and CEO of MENA and Emerging Markets, Hikma. "Eisai is committed to the therapeutic area of neurology and to addressing the unmet medical needs of people with neurological conditions and their families. Ensuring access for patients to novel treatments underlines Eisai's human health care (hhc) mission, the company's commitment to innovative solutions in disease prevention, cure and care for the health and wellbeing of people worldwide," explains Neil West, Vice President, Global Neurology Business Group, Eisai EMEA. Notes to Editors About Fycompa (perampanel) Perampanel is a first-in-class, non-competitive AMPA (alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid) glutamate receptor antagonist on post-synaptic neurons.[1] AMPA receptors, widely present in almost all excitatory neurons, transmit signals stimulated by the excitatory neurotransmitter glutamate within the brain, and are believed to play a role in central nervous system diseases characterised by excess neuroexcitatory signalling, including epilepsy.[7] Since launch, approximately 52,000 people living with epilepsy have been treated with perampanel.[8] About Epilepsy Epilepsy is one of the most common neurological conditions in the world, affecting approximately six million people in Europe, and an estimated 50 million people worldwide.[9] Epilepsy is a chronic disorder of the brain that affects people of all ages. It is characterised by abnormal discharges of neuronal activity which causes seizures. Seizures can vary in nature and severity, from brief lapses of attention or jerking of muscles, to severe and prolonged convulsions. Depending on the seizure type, seizures may be limited to one part of the body, or may involve the whole body. Seizures can also vary in frequency from less than one per year, to several per day. Epilepsy has many possible causes but often the cause is unknown. About Eisai EMEA in Epilepsy Eisai is committed to developing and delivering highly beneficial new treatments to help improve the lives of people with epilepsy. The development of anti-epileptic drugs is a major strategic area for Eisai in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Russia and Oceania (EMEA). About Eisai Co Ltd Eisai Co Ltd is a leading global research and development-based pharmaceutical company headquartered in Japan. We define our corporate mission as "giving first thought to patients and their families and to increasing the benefits health care provides," which we call our human health care (hhc) philosophy. With over 10,000 employees working across our global network of R&D facilities, manufacturing sites and marketing subsidiaries, we strive to realise our hhc philosophy by delivering innovative products in multiple therapeutic areas with high unmet medical needs, including Oncology and Neurology. For more information about Eisai Co., Ltd., please visit http://www.eisai.com * AMPA=alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazole-propionate References 1. Fycompa Product Summary of Characteristics. Jordan. 2. Fycompa Product Summary of Characteristics. Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. 3. Fycompa Product Summary of Characteristics. United Arab Emirates. 4. Rogawski MA. Revisiting AMPA receptors as an antiepileptic drug target. Epilepsy Currents 2011;11:56-63 5. Benamer, H. T. S. and Grosset, D. G. (2009), A systematic review of the epidemiology of epilepsy in Arab countries. Epilepsia, 50: 2301-2304. doi:10.1111/j.1528-1167.2009.02058. 6. French JA. Refractory Epilepsy; Clinical Overview. Epilepsia 2007: 48 (Suppl1) 3-7 7. Lee K et al. AMPA Receptors as Therapeutic Targets for Neurological Disorders. Adv Protein Chem Struct Biol. 2016;103:203-261 8. Eisai. Data on File 2016. DOF PER112 9. Epilepsy in the WHO European Region: Fostering Epilepsy Care in Europe. Available at: http://www.ibe-epilepsy.org/downloads/EURO%20Report%20160510.pdf [http://www.ibe-epilepsy.org/downloads/EURO Report 160510.pdf] Accessed November 2016 December 2016 Fycompa-EU0196 SOURCE Eisai DUBLIN, Jan. 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "Strategic Review of Corn Starch Industry & Markets - Starch, Sweeteners, Bioprocessing & Co-Products" report to their offering. This 2017 revision has comprehensive newly revised starch, sweeteners, ethanol, bioprocessing, bioplastic, co-products; has several improvements, new information, insights since we are now in a global economy. In 2017 report we have made major changes to this report to reflect several changes in the US and worldwide. We present latest data and markets for starch derivatives. Every chapter has been updated with much new information, insights and data. How this industry operates, investments, costs, markets, margins among many other areas. Some of the major changes and additions are: Excellent review of cost, markets and technologies and how this industry operates with opportunities in transferring corn processing facilities into modern bioprocessing operation to diversify into new specialties CWM (Corn wet milling) co-products technical and commercial perspective including potential markets for corn gluten feed (CGF), corn gluten meal (CGM) and corn germ. A new chapter focused on corn ethanol, Chapter IX Bioprocessing, bio-based chemicals and bioplastics chapter X has the most recent information with markets, capacities and opportunities for bio-based chemicals and polymers from starch and the sugars as feedstock. CWM players have entered arena of converging their facilities in to biorefineries with products such as ethanol, lactic acid, citric acid, amino acid lysine, and other monomers for new value added polymers to replace the petroleum based compounds. Each chapter also has major revisions to reflect most recent information on the business, markets and technologies as we continue to evolve in this global carbohydrates economy. Brand new list of starch and sweeteners manufacturers from corn, wheat, potato and tapioca primary starch crops in different regions of the world. Excellent material on maltodextrins and other hydrolysis, enzyme processed products A great addition to the library as reference, training tool and a strategy tool to starch processing industry members, customers and suppliers. Report also has excellent in-depth insights from our associates and I with combined experience of > 200 yrs in starch/sweetener and bioprocessing. New global list of starch processors is provided in Chapter XVI. Global List of Corn Processors Several updates to each chapter to reflect currently situation and opportunities going forward. Key Topics Covered: I. Executive Summary II. Brief Overview Of Corn And Wet Milling Process III. Markets IV. Sweeteners And Maltodextrins V. Companies In The Us VI. Costs, Investments And Margins VII. Industry Capacity And Investment VIII.Corn Wet Milling Co-Products Current Situation And Potential Markets IX. Corn Ethanol Brief Review X. Bioprocessing: Fermentation, Specialty Chemicals, Bioplastics - Current Situation And Opportunities XI. Future Trends XII. Global Issues, Policies And Plant Locations XIII. Summary XIV. List Of References XV. List Of Figures And Tables XVI. Global List Of Corn Processors For more information about this report visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/89phl4/strategic_review 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 Sean Kearney is a seasoned emerging markets banking professional with a 23-year career devoted to identifying and managing risk. His key responsibilities will include Operations team leadership, lead-managing the implementation of internal control framework enhancements, running regulatory processes and overseeing strategic change management. Prior to joining Greenstone, Mr. Kearney worked for a decade at UBS AG, in London and Dubai. In his last position with the firm, as Group COO, Middle East and North Africa (MENA), Mr. Kearney held the regulatory appointment of Senior Executive Officer (SEO) for the regional hub, UBS Dubai Branch, in which capacity he fostered and sustained excellent relations with the DFSA and the DIFC Senior Management team. He was also heavily involved in the management of relations with the many other financial regulators throughout the region with jurisdiction over UBS's offices or operations. Throughout his career at UBS, Mr. Kearney built an impressive track-record of successfully leading complex, multi-disciplinary, cross-divisional business development projects, across a diverse range of initiatives, in very challenging global emerging markets environments. Reflecting his academic and professional qualifications in law, he also dealt extensively with legal and compliance work and policy formulation, as well as with litigation and audit matters. Mr. Kearney holds a UK honors degree in Law and was called to the Bar by the Honorable Society of Lincoln's Inn. He also holds an MSc (with Distinction) in Air Safety Management from City, University of London. Alex Gemici, Chairman of Greenstone, stated, "Sean's wealth of experience and industry knowledge have already made him a key addition to Greenstone. We view his appointment as a sign of our commitment to being the leading fund placement firm in the Middle East. I'm confident that Sean will play an important role in providing and implementing high quality solutions for Greenstone." Khalid Alkelabi will be responsible for enhancing Greenstone's investor relationships as well as contributing to improving Greenstone's marketing capabilities. Prior to joining Greenstone, Mr. Alkelabi worked at AL FOZAN HOLDING GROUP, a Saudi Arabian conglomerate and family business office, as the Chief Administrative Officer where he had multiple responsibilities, including the creation and development of various business units. Prior to working at Al Fozan, Mr. Alkelabi worked for MBC GROUP, a regional media company, where he was appointed Country Marketing Manager in Saudi Arabia. Mr. Alkelabi was responsible for creating and maintaining relationships with local corporate clients. Between 2001-2007, Mr. Alkelabi worked for SAUDI ARABIAN MONETARY AGENCY (SAMA) - INSTITUTE OF BANKING as a Faculty Member, where he was responsible for preparing bankers in Saudi Arabia for the TADAWUL (Saudi Stock Exchange) system by training and certifying them to get their brokerage license. Mr. Alkelabi is a Saudi Arabian national and holds a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration from King Saud University in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Mr. Alkelabi also holds an MBA degree, MSIT degree and a Diploma in Data-Warehousing and Business Intelligence from Daniels College of Business at the University of Denver, Colorado, USA. Omar Al Gharabally, the President of Greenstone, stated, "We are very excited to welcome Khalid to our team at Greenstone. He brings years of experience dealing with the most demanding, sophisticated and discerning investors in the region. Not only will he bring a tighter focus and discipline to investor relationship development and management within our fund placement team, he will also be a great role model for our employees and a tremendous ambassador for the firm with investors who come into contact with him." Greenstone Equity Partners Greenstone is the largest fund placement firm in the Middle East, with a team of industry professionals fully dedicated to raising capital from MENA-based investors. Since its inception, Greenstone has raised $2.5 billion dollars for its clients across a variety of mandates and strategies and prides itself on fostering deeply rooted relationships with key institutional and family offices across the region to include corporate entities, family offices, ultra-high net worth individuals, financial institutions and sovereign wealth funds. Greenstone has built over 4,000 MENA investor relationships and works with investment managers across various asset classes including private equity, real estate, private debt financing and hedge funds in both primary and secondary placements. Greenstone's business growth success stems from its approach and commitment to providing institutional grade service to its clients with a concerted and relentless desire for excellence coupled with continual investment in operational development. SOURCE Greenstone Equity Partners STOCKHOLM, January 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The electronic music festival "Into the Valley" has for two years attracted visitors from all around the world up to Dalhalla in Sweden. In 2017, the festival will be held in the new amazing place: an underwater prison of Rummu in Estonia, outside Tallinn. (Photo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/453695/Rummu_quarry.jpg ) Moreover, new festivals "Into the Factory" (Stockholm Couty, Sweden) and "Into the Castle" (Cape Town, South Africa) are revealed. All together, six new festivals will be established by 2019. These new experiences are arranged by "Music Goes Further" promo group and are based on seven key principles: unique locations, advanced electronic music, pioneering technology, innovative art, food and bar architecture, holistic awareness and social equality. Rummu, there Into the Valley takes place, has unique history. Since the late 1930s, it functioned as a limestone quarry, founded alongside with the Soviet prison Murru, in purpose of mining of limestone and marble. Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the mine has been closed and the quarry soon enough became a quarry lake. Some parts of the prison, mining machinery and equipment were covered by crystal clear water. Since few years back the prison was also closed and the quarry was abandoned, becoming an attractive place for hikers, scuba divers, bikers, photographers, and film-makers because of its unique landscape. There are rumours that the former prison used to be the one of the worst of its time, promoters however believe that it is now time for music and joy to seize the place and update the history. Into the Valley Festival will take place between June 29- July 1, 2017. The confirmed artists so far: Andrey Zots Kim Ann Foxman Anna Hanna Kink feat. Answer Code Request Rachel Row (live) Anthea Marcel Dettmann Bella Sarris Midland Cassy Nastia Cobblestone Jazz (live) Olga Korol Dixon Praslesh Hunee Recondite (live) Janina Regis Jeff Mills Renaat R & S Kask The Black Madonna The festival is about 45 km away from Tallinn, and two accomodation packages are available: hotel package for those who want to stay in Tallinn, and the camp package for visitors with private cars and caravans for staying at the festival area. Shuttle bus tickets for travelling between Tallinn and the festival are also available. The age limit for the festival is 23 years, but limited amount of "Under 23" tickets is available. SOURCE Music Goes Further BioControl's established rapid detection technology and third-party validated testing platforms complement Merck's portfolio of instruments and consumables in its applied solutions business geared to the food pathogen testing workflow. "BioControl's acquisition strengthens our ability to help customers protect the global food supply by providing an expansive portfolio of state-of-the-art testing technology," said Udit Batra, Member of the Merck Executive Board and CEO, Life Science business. "BioControl's innovative assays and validated kits, when combined with Merck's strengths in microbiology, filtration and e-commerce will create a strong global provider aimed at solving tough challenges in the food pathogen testing space," he added. The global spotlight on the importance of food safety has grown given the increased incidents of outbreaks and recalls with foodborne diseases often caused by consuming a wide range of foods including undercooked meat, eggs, fresh produce and dairy products contaminated by Salmonella, Listeria, E.coli O157H7 and Campylobacter. BioControl's product portfolio includes pathogen detection kits to identify these food poisoning bacteria in food and ingredients and its key customers include meat producers. "Merck is the best home for BioControl, our customers and our employees," said Phil Feldsine, President and Chief Executive of BioControl. "Merck's global market presence as a leader in laboratory sciences will introduce BioControl's innovative, customer oriented solutions to a much broader base worldwide while providing existing customers with access to Merck's food safety product portfolio and expertise. The opportunity for BioControl to become part of a world class 350-year-old organization with a reputation for doing it the right way is very rewarding." The acquisition is in line with the strategy of Merck's life science business to expand in key geographies, and provide a differentiated experience to customers in applied settings, including food and beverage safety testing. While the business will continue to focus on microbial quality control solutions for pharmaceutical production processes and products, an area where the business currently has leading market share, the acquisition will enable Merck to offer a complete food pathogen testing platform to its customers in the food and beverage safety testing market. Achelous Partners acted as financial advisor to BioControl on this transaction. Nixon Peabody LLP represented Merck in the transaction. About BioControl BioControl is one of the leading companies in innovative rapid microbiology tests for food safety for more than 30 years. It offers a diverse third party validated product portfolio lines, which include industrial microbiology testing, rapid detection methods for food-borne pathogens, the quantitative measurement of microorganisms, and hygiene monitoring. The company primarily sells its products to food manufacturers, ingredient suppliers, contract testing labs and government labs. BioControl is based in Bellevue, WA (U.S.), with over 100 employees worldwide. In FY 2015, it generated revenue of USD 34 million. For further details: visit www.biocontrolsys.com All Merck news releases are distributed by email at the same time they become available on the Merck website. Please go to www.merckgroup.com/subscribe to register online, change your selection or discontinue this service. About Merck Merck is a leading science and technology company in healthcare, life science and performance materials. Around 50,000 employees work to further develop technologies that improve and enhance life from biopharmaceutical therapies to treat cancer or multiple sclerosis, cutting-edge systems for scientific research and production, to liquid crystals for smartphones and LCD televisions. In 2015, Merck generated sales of 12.85 billion in 66 countries. Founded in 1668, Merck is the world's oldest pharmaceutical and chemical company. The founding family remains the majority owner of the publicly listed corporate group. Merck holds the global rights to the Merck name and brand. The only exceptions are the United States and Canada, where the company operates as EMD Serono, MilliporeSigma and EMD Performance Materials. Related Links http://www.merckgroup.com SOURCE Merck SAN FRANCISCO, January 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The global n-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) market is expected to reach USD 1.79 billion by 2025, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. The NMP market is expected to witness significant growth over the forecast period owing to the increasing demand from Asia Pacific region. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150105/723757 ) NMP is used in a various applications including oil & gas, pharmaceutical, electronics, paints & coatings, agrochemicals and others. Emerging economies such as India are witnessing increasing FDI which is fueling the growth of industrial sector. Asia Pacific region is expected to witness higher growth rates owing to rapid urbanization in these countries coupled with per-capita disposable income levels. Oil & gas dominated the market for NMP globally. The other key applications include electronics, pharmaceuticals, paints & coatings and agrochemicals. Browse full research report with TOC on "N-Methyl-2-Pyrrolidone (NMP) Market Analysis By Application (Oil & gas [Butadiene Recovery, BTX Extraction], Pharmaceuticals [Solvent, Penetration Enhancer], Electronics, Paints & Coatings, Agrochemicals), By Region, And Segment Forecasts, 2013 - 2025" at: http://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/n-methyl-2-pyrrolidone-nmp-market Further key findings from the report suggest : Globally, electronics and oil & gas application segments are expected to witness significant volume growth during the forecast period, growing at CAGRs of over 4% during the forecast period. This growth can be attributed to rapid growth from the end-use verticals such as petrochemical refineries, and electronics & telecommunication. Asia Pacific dominated the NMP market in 2015 with an estimated revenue of around USD 450 million , and is projected to grow significantly over the coming years owing to the increasing investments from the application industries. China is expected to witness an increase in demand and expected to be the largest consumer of petrochemical products owing to presence of large capacity manufacturing units and favorable export-oriented government policies. Russian oil company Transneft has constructed Eastern Siberia Pacific Ocean (ESPO) Pipeline which provides Russia an option to supply crude oil to China . dominated the NMP market in 2015 with an estimated revenue of around , and is projected to grow significantly over the coming years owing to the increasing investments from the application industries. is expected to witness an increase in demand and expected to be the largest consumer of petrochemical products owing to presence of large capacity manufacturing units and favorable export-oriented government policies. Russian oil company Transneft has constructed Eastern Siberia Pacific Ocean (ESPO) Pipeline which provides an option to supply crude oil to . Key participants in the N-Methyl-2-Pyrrolidone market include BASF SE, E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company, Eastman Chemical Company, Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation, and Ashland Inc., among others. In recent years, new product developments have been the major growth strategy adopted by key market players for strengthening their market positions. Browse related reports by Grand View Research: Locust Bean Gum Market - http://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/locust-bean-gum-market Beeswax Market - http://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/beeswax-market Japan Wax Market - http://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/japan-wax-market Pyrrolidone Market - http://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/pyrrolidone-market Grand View Research has segmented the global NMP market on the basis of application and region: NMP Market Application Outlook (Volume, Kilo Tons; Revenue, USD Million, 2013 - 2025) Oil & gas Butadiene recovery BTX extraction Lube oil purification Pharmaceuticals Solvent Penetration enhancer Electronics Solvent Photoresist stripper Paints & Coatings Agrochemicals Others NMP Market Regional Outlook (Volume, Kilo Tons; Revenue, USD Million, 2013 - 2025) North America U.S. Europe Germany UK Asia Pacific China India Japan Latin America Brazil Middle East & Africa Read Our Blogs - http://www.grandviewresearch.com/blog/n-methyl-2-pyrrolidone-nmp-market-size-share-outlook About Grand View Research Grand View Research, Inc. is a U.S. based market research and consulting company, registered in the State of California and headquartered in San Francisco. The company provides syndicated research reports, customized research reports, and consulting services. To help clients make informed business decisions, we offer market intelligence studies ensuring relevant and fact-based research across a range of industries, from technology to chemicals, materials and healthcare. Contact: Sherry James Corporate Sales Specialist, USA Grand View Research, Inc Phone: 1-415-349-0058 Toll Free: 1-888-202-9519 Email: sales@grandviewresearch.com Web: http://www.grandviewresearch.com SOURCE Grand View Research, Inc. DECATUR As Wilmer Otto tries to impact changes on a global scale, he turns back to lessons learned early during his business career in the Arthur area. Otto, 69, learned about the value of partnerships and learning from others when establishing his first businesses. It's a lesson he has tried to take with him while recently starting to do business in parts of Africa. Sending in business people is something that hasn't often been done, Otto said. They can benefit from having mentors. Otto spoke about his experience during the Decatur Power Lunch held Tuesday at the Beach House. The monthly luncheons started as an outreach of Maranatha Assembly of God church, said Glen Nordholm of W.G. Nordholm Insurance, who lines up the speakers for the events. The different speakers, including Otto, are inspirational in their messages, said event organizer Brenda Reynolds of Re/Max Executives Plus. Otto's business experience started in the local real estate industry. He has recently remained involved with the Amish community, helping to organize efforts to establish a new Illinois Amish Museum and Heritage Center. His interests expanded internationally by taking advantage of opportunities to export new and used farm equipment to Central and Eastern Europe through the dealership now known as Farm Pride in Arthur. Other companies didn't think outside of the box, Otto said. It developed into a nice business for us. Otto has also been involved with acquiring and restoring historic buildings in Romania as part of a developing tourism industry. Since 2010, Otto has been working in Africa with his Ukrainian business, Agro Capital Management LLC, providing financing for aid efforts primarily in Tanzania. While many worthwhile efforts are under way to help in those areas, Otto said developing more of a middle class can really make a difference in the economy of Tanzania. To do so, he said providing resources to develop financial literacy is necessary. Being able to reach places farther away from his home in Arcola has increased as the ease of traveling and communicating has improved the ability to do business over the years, Otto said. Travel isn't as much a hurdle, Otto said. It's much easier to make global connections. Soybeans are becoming a valuable resource to boost the African economy, Otto said. He said soybeans can be a huge source of protein, so he is involved with efforts to increase soybean growing and discontinue reliance on fish meal. OSLO, Norway, Jan 04, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Kvantel AS, a 100% owned subsidiary of NextGenTel Holding ASA, and Nordic Choice Hotels (NCH) have signed a letter of intent to enter a partnership agreement for the delivery of a solution for unified communication that includes a new voice platform, mobile and fixed voice for deliveries to NCH headquarters and hotels in Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark. The final agreement will have a 3 year term with an option for NCH to extend the agreement with additional 1+1 year. The parties aim to finalize the agreement within 31 January 2017. Under this agreement, Kvantel will use Telia in the Nordic region as a partner for the delivery of mobile services. "As the largest mobile operator in the Nordics, this agreement is important for Telia to further grow with partners like Kvantel to be able to digitalize the future," says Vice President Kristian Renaas, Telia Norge AS. "Kvantel is very proud and pleased with the trust that NCH has given Kvantel to deliver these solutions for unified communication in the Nordic countries," says Ole Jacob Moldestad, CEO in Kvantel. According to Eirik Lunde, CEO in NextGenTel Group; "This agreement strengthens the NextGenTel strategy to further grow within the partner business market." CONTACT: This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com http://news.cision.com/nextgentel-holding-asa/r/kvantel-signed-letter-of-intent-with-nordic-choice-hotels,c2160301 SOURCE NextGenTel Holding ASA SAN FRANCISCO, January 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The speech analytics market is expected to reach USD 1.64 billion by 2025, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. The market is estimated to witness a robust growth exceeding a CAGR of 10% over the forecast period. This growth is ascribed to the increasing emphasis by organizations on improving the market intelligence capabilities along with the growing prominence of voice in the multi-channel world. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150105/723757 ) The number of contact centers is increasing, resulting in industry players to innovate speech analytics solutions, which help companies understand the changing customer requirements. The technology has been increasingly adopted in consumer electronics devices, including laptops, smartphones, and tablets, as it significantly increases the enterprise's scope as well as improves performance. This, in turn, has resulted in elevating adoption of speech analytics solutions worldwide. In addition, upcoming technologies, such as voice print authentication, are estimated to spur growth over the coming years. Furthermore, the rising demand for risk management solutions and cloud analytics is also anticipated to favorably impact growth over the next nine years. These solutions offer several growth opportunities as this solution helps optimize performance and enhance customer experience. However, issues pertaining to lack of awareness and rise in cost may pose a challenge to the speech analytics market growth in the near future. Browse full research report with TOC on "Speech Analytics Market Analysis By Type (Solution, Service), By Deployment (On-Premise, Cloud), By Enterprise Size (Small & Medium Enterprise, Large Enterprise), By End-Use (BFSI, Telecom, IT, Retail, Healthcare, Hospitality) And Segment Forecasts, 2014 - 2025" at: http://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/speech-analytics-market Further key findings from the report suggest: The service segment is anticipated to grow at a CAGR exceeding 8.0% from 2016 to 2025, which is attributed to the wide product and solution portfolio offerings by service firms operating in the market. The cloud-based deployment segment captured over 25.0% of the total revenue share in 2015 and is anticipated to exhibit growth of over 9.0% from 2016 to 2025, primarily ascribed to the cost benefits and improved performance offered by cloud over the on-premise solutions, along with the increasing adoption of cloud analytics in contact centers. Speech analytics allows organizations to work on unstructured data obtained through customer interactions to enhance customer experience and gain a competitive advantage on account of which the small & medium-sized enterprise segment is expected to gain prominence over the forecast period. The telecommunication segment accounted for a significant market share in 2015, capturing over 15% of the entire revenue share in the same year, which is majorly due to the integration of speech analytics into enterprise systems to enhance efficiency as well as customer experience. Asia Pacific is expected to emerge as the fastest growing region with a CAGR exceeding 12.0% over the forecast period, which is mainly on account of rapid industrialization, and since, organizations have become more competitive and are focusing on better customer service. Browse related reports by Grand View Research: wifi Hotspot Market- http://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/wi-fi-hotspot-market Desktop Management and Helpdesk Services Market- http://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/desktop-management-helpdesk-services-market Data Analytics Outsourcing Market- http://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/data-analytics-outsourcing-market Messaging Platform Market- http://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/messaging-platform-market Grand View Research has segmented the speech analytics market on the basis of type, deployment, enterprise size, end-use, and region: Type Outlook (Revenue, USD Million; 2014 - 2025) Solution Service Deployment Outlook (Revenue, USD Million; 2014 - 2025) On-premise Cloud Enterprise Size Outlook (Revenue, USD Million; 2014 - 2025) Small & Medium Enterprise Large Enterprise End-Use Outlook (Revenue, USD Million; 2014 - 2025) BFSI Telecommunication IT Retail Healthcare Government Hospitality Others Regional Outlook (Revenue, USD Million; 2014 - 2025) North America U.S. Canada Europe UK Germany France Asia Pacific China India Japan Latin America Brazil Mexico Middle East & Africa Saudi Arabia UAE Access research insight: http://www.grandviewresearch.com/research-insights/speech-analytics-market-need-decipher-insights-customer-data About Grand View Research Grand View Research, Inc. is a U.S. based market research and consulting company, registered in the State of California and headquartered in San Francisco. The company provides syndicated research reports, customized research reports, and consulting services. To help clients make informed business decisions, we offer market intelligence studies ensuring relevant and fact-based research across a range of industries, from technology to chemicals, materials and healthcare. Read Our Blogs - grandviewresearch.com/blogs/technology Contact: Sherry James Corporate Sales Specialist, USA Grand View Research, Inc Phone: 1-415-349-0058 Toll Free: 1-888-202-9519 Email: sales@grandviewresearch.com Web: http://www.grandviewresearch.com SOURCE Grand View Research, Inc. DUBAI, UAE, January 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The Honourable Prime Minister of St. Lucia, Allen Chastanet has announced new improvements made to the citizenship by investment program. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160329/348711LOGO ) The changes will take effect from 3rd January 2017, which when all fees are calculated will make St. Lucia's Citizenship-by-Investment program the least expensive ahead of the popular Commonwealth of Dominica passport program. Jeremy Savory, CEO & Founder of Dubai based Citizenship Processing Firm, Savory and Partners welcomed additional cost-effective options for his firms' clients: "Dominica currently leads the way in terms of cost effectiveness in particular for single applicants. With the new changes in St. Lucia, although the difference in price is minimal, at least Immigrant Investors have another option at half the price of other similar second passport programs. As we are St. Lucia Government Authorised Promoters, but also accredited for Grenada, Antigua and Dominica it means we can remain impartial in the advice we give to families considering Second Citizenship in 2017." The key changes are the following: The requirement for an affidavit to declare financial resources of at least US $3,000,000 has been removed. has been removed. The contribution amounts to the Economic Fund have changed. The new qualifying contribution amounts are as follows: Single Applicant: US$100,000 (Used to be US$200,000 ) Applicant with spouse: US$165,000 (Used to be US$235,000 ) Applicant with spouse having up to 2 dependents : US$190,000 (Used to be US$250,000 ) Additional dependents: US$25,000 each (Same as before) The Government Bond Option has been reintroduced and the new administration fee is US$50,000 The maximum of 500 applications per year has been removed which means more investors are welcome to apply for the program. The other key criteria remain the same: A minimum investment amount of US$300,000 in government approved real estate project. in government approved real estate project. An investment in an approved enterprise project starting from $1,000,000 Purchase of Government Bonds starting at $500,000 . More information can be found here: http://www.savoryandpartners.com Savory & Partners is a British family-owned company with roots reaching back as far as 1794 when the Savory family were the pharmacists to the British Royal Family. Today the company has established itself as the leading second citizenship firm in the Middle East with Authorized Agent status granted by the Governments of St. Lucia, Dominica, Grenada, and Antigua and Barbuda. Savory & Partners are trusted by governments around the world to source individuals of the highest caliber by providing the highest level of service through experience, knowledge and trust, guaranteeing successful applications. Savory & Partners are St. Lucia Government Authorised Promoters in the Middle East. Please contact Savory and Partners at +97144301717 today for a free pre-qualification consultation. SOURCE Savory And Partners Brunswick strengthens public affairs expertise with addition of former U.S. House Ways and Means member WASHINGTON, Jan. 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Brunswick Group, a leading corporate advisory firm, announced today that Tim Griffin has joined the firm as senior counselor. During his more than two decades of experience at the intersection of business, law, government, and politics, Tim worked on some of the most complex and critical policy issues of our time. His insights and expertise will further enhance the firm's capabilities and benefit clients. Tim will focus his time on public affairs, corporate reputation, and crisis matters as well as digital campaign strategies. The current lieutenant governor of Arkansas, Tim was previously elected to the U.S. House of Representatives where he served on the Ways and Means Committee, was Deputy Majority Whip for the Republican caucus, and was Vice Chair for Strategy and Communications at the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC). Earlier in his career, he was Special Assistant to the President and Deputy Director of the Office of Political Affairs for President George W. Bush. An attorney by training, Tim was also U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas and is currently serving as a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army JAG Corps. "We are delighted to welcome Tim Griffin to Brunswick. Helping our clients navigate the regulatory and policy landscape has never been more complex or important. Tim's experience and knowledge at the highest levels of politics will be a great asset to our U.S. and global clients," said Group Chief Executive Officer Susan Gilchrist. On joining the firm, Tim said: "I'm honored and excited to work with a world-class network of global advisors from a variety of disciplines." Tim Griffin Tim Griffin is currently serving as lieutenant governor of Arkansas. Tim was elected lieutenant governor of Arkansas on November 4, 2014, and took office on January 13, 2015. The Office of Lieutenant Governor for the State of Arkansas has historically been a part-time position, with many of its former occupants holding simultaneous public and private employment. From 2011-2015, Tim served as the 24th representative of Arkansas's Second Congressional District. For the 113th Congress, he was a member of the House Committee on Ways and Means while also serving as a Deputy Whip for the Majority. He also served as Vice Chair for Strategy and Communications at the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC). In the 112th Congress, he served as a member of the House Armed Services Committee, the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, the House Committee on Ethics, and the House Committee on the Judiciary. He also served as an Assistant Whip for the Majority. Tim has served in the U.S. Army Reserve for 20 years, was deployed to Iraq with the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), and holds the rank of lieutenant colonel. He is currently pursuing a master's degree in strategic studies from the U.S. Army War College, Carlisle Barracks, Pa. He also served as U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas and Special Assistant to the President, and Special Assistant to the President and Deputy Director of Political Affairs for President George W. Bush. Tim grew up in Magnolia, Ark., and is a fifth generation Arkansan and the youngest son of a minister and teacher. He graduated from Magnolia High School, Hendrix College in Conway, Ark., and Tulane Law School in New Orleans and attended graduate school at Pembroke College of Oxford University in England. His wife Elizabeth is from Camden, Ark., and they currently live in Little Rock, Ark. with their two children, Mary Katherine, 9, and John, 6. They are members of Immanuel Baptist Church of Little Rock. About Brunswick Group Brunswick Group LLP is an advisory firm specializing in critical issues and corporate relations. Founded in 1987, Brunswick is an organically grown, private partnership with 23 offices around the world. For more information, visit: www.brunswickgroup.com. Contact Cecilia Arradaza Tel: +1 202 393 7337 Email: carradaza@brunswickgroup.com Related Links http://www.brunswickgroup.com SOURCE Brunswick Group LAS VEGAS, Jan. 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Taking the CES 2016 award-winning pantry-inspired design a step further, the latest Whirlpool French Door Refrigerator boasts a door-within-door feature that delivers what families want most organization, flexibility and easy access to family favorites. The new door-within-door design features a designated "Cold Space" that keeps milk and other drinks extra cold. With an anticipated industry first door-within-door active cooling system, the door-within-door stays colder than those without a designated cooling feature. In addition, the refrigerator features an innovative, pantry-inspired shelving system that stores 30 percent more than the rest of its class1. This appliance, the latest in Whirlpool refrigeration, took home honors in the 2017 CES Innovation Awards in the Home Appliances category. "We study the way families care for each other and develop features that solve a common problem," said Ryan Morand, senior brand manager, Whirlpool brand. "Refrigerator doors are typically warmer than the rest of the fridge, and families tend to store their milk in the door for easy access. We developed this dedicated 'Cold Space' so milk can be stored properly at an ideal temperature and right at families' fingertips like they are used to." Every section, every shelf and every bin in the refrigerator is purposefully designed to deliver resourceful organization to change the way families think about refrigerator organization. A recent survey2 commissioned by Whirlpool found 95 percent of homeowners who've purchased or plan to purchase home appliances in the near future said overall space inside a refrigerator is important, while 92 percent said adjustable shelves are important. Other key features of the refrigerator include: A full-width "platter pocket" shelf The ideal space for families' favorites like salad dressings, bottled drinks and condiments, the door-within-door design intends to reduce cold air loss, providing quick access that puts the family's go-to picks front and center. design intends to reduce cold air loss, providing quick access that puts the family's go-to front and center. Families can keep milk and other drinks extra cool in the " Cold Space ," a specially designed lower compartment in the door-within-door where the refrigerator feeds the coldest air. ," a specially designed lower compartment in the door-within-door where the refrigerator feeds the coldest air. Infinity slide shelves line the perimeter of the fridge, so families can move small items to the edges to make room for big, high-use items in the center. The shelves are precisely spaced apart based on common sizes of food packaging so that yogurts, spaghetti jars, 12-pack soda boxes and egg cartons fit perfectly. And, the adjustable center pane glides just as far as needed to accommodate taller items like corked wine bottles and pitchers. line the perimeter of the fridge, so families can move small items to the edges to make room for big, high-use items in the center. The shelves are precisely spaced apart based on common sizes of food packaging so that yogurts, spaghetti jars, 12-pack soda boxes and egg cartons fit perfectly. And, the adjustable center pane glides just as far as needed to accommodate taller items like corked wine bottles and pitchers. With an understanding of what families buy most, the PerfectPlaces TM system has just the right spot reserved for every item, so the refrigerator and freezer spaces no longer become a dumping ground with overflowing bins. Gallon door bins give families ample gallon door bin storage. From chocolate to cheese to kids' snacks, a small items bin and Treasure TM bin help keep the little items in clear sight. Asymmetrical crispers are designed with dividers to display fresh produce like bell peppers up front, and store bags of apples in the back. The biggest crispers in the market 3 were thoughtfully designed to hold common foods and packaging like unwieldy long and wide celery stalks and large plastic lettuce containers. has just the right spot reserved for every item, so the refrigerator and freezer spaces no longer become a dumping ground with overflowing bins. , is designed for wide, flat items like brownie pans, lasagna and pizza boxes, so they stay tucked out of the way, kept safe from stacking. From January 5-8, CES attendees can experience this innovative refrigerator and other Whirlpool brand innovations at booth #41730 in the Smart Home section, located at the Sands Expo Center. For more information on the company's care-centric product innovations and to join the conversation, visit ces.whirlpool.com and follow #EveryDayCare. 1 Models WRF954, WRF964, WRF974, WRF984, WRFA94 among leading counter depth French door bottom mount refrigerator brands. 2 Online survey conducted by Survey Sampling on behalf of Whirlpool of 1,000 nationally representative individuals in the United States. 3 Compared to all Whirlpool French door refrigerators including WRX988SIB, WRF997SDD, WRF757SDE, and WRF736SDA with In-Door-Ice system only. About Whirlpool Brand For more than one hundred years, Whirlpool (NYSE: WHR) brand has been inspired by how people care for their families. Whirlpool brand is designing home appliances that are focused on improving how families give and get the care they need with the latest technologies and innovations whether that means most flexible refrigerator storage for all types of family needs, induction technology for efficient cooking and easier cleaning, or laundry pairs that sense and adapt to clothes with the latest in connected technologies. Whirlpool brand is part of Whirlpool Corporation, the world's leading manufacturer and marketer of major home appliances. Whirlpool Corporation is also one of Habitat for Humanity's largest corporate partners for over 15 dedicated years, donating a refrigerator and range to every new Habitat for Humanity home built in North America. For more information on Whirlpool, please visit whirlpool.com /everydaycare or find us on Facebook at facebook.com/whirlpoolusa or Twitter at @WhirlpoolUSA. Additional information about the company can be found at whirlpoolcorp.com. SOURCE Whirlpool Brand Related Links http://www.whirlpool.com NEW YORK, Jan. 4, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- AJC is calling on Israeli leaders to implement without further delay the government-approved agreement on pluralistic prayer at the Western Wall (Kotel). The latest obstacle to implementation is legislation sponsored by the Shas political party that would ban and penalize non-Orthodox prayer at the Kotel area. "The Shas bill essentially declares the Kotel compromise to be dead. It would be a tragedy for the Jewish people if the Knesset adopts it," said Steven Bayme, AJC Director of Contemporary Jewish Life. "Jews of differing religious persuasions need to find ways to cooperate for the greater collective good of the Jewish people. Ignoring that spirit of social contract over Judaism's holiest site signals intolerance and contempt for non-Orthodox expressions of Judaism, and poisons relations between Jews." Under the agreement announced in January 2016, and approved by the Cabinet in a 15-5 vote, the egalitarian section at the wall near Robinson's Arch would be expanded and placed under the authority of a pluralist committee. The plan called for solidifying haredi Orthodox control over the site's traditional Orthodox section. AJC welcomed the government-approved agreement as historic, but over the past year "history has been allowed to stand still, as efforts by those opposed to the compromise have repeatedly raised obstacles harmful to Jewish peoplehood," said Bayme. The Shas measure has been sharply criticized by Nathan Sharansky, head of the Jewish Agency and one of the principal advocates for the compromise, and 30 Members of Knesset recently wrote to Prime Minister Netanyahu asking him to stop the proposed legislation. However, a senior Likud member, David Amsalem, who chairs the Knesset Interior Committee, also has called for the Israeli government to cancel the Western Wall egalitarian prayer agreement. "It's not the end of the world if American Jews get offended," said Amsalem. Prime Minister Netanyahu stated to AJC, in a September 2015 letter, his commitment "to strengthening the unity of the Jewish people," and pledged "to unequivocally reject any attempt to divide us or to delegitimize any Jewish community Reform, Conservative or Orthodox." "The Kotel historically represents the national treasure and heritage of the entire Jewish people," said Bayme. "Maintaining an Orthodox monopoly there serves only to offend non-Orthodox lovers of Israel and the Jewish people. Moreover, many Orthodox Jews as well will be similarly offended by the culture of intolerance suggested by the bill and its supporters. As such, we count on the Prime Minister to oppose the measure." SOURCE American Jewish Committee Related Links http://www.ajc.org WALTHAM, Mass., Jan. 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Alere Inc. (NYSE: ALR), a global leader in rapid diagnostics, today announced that its forensic toxicology division, Alere Forensics at Redwood Toxicology Laboratory, has received accreditation from the American Board of Forensic Toxicology (ABFT). The accreditation, effective December 1, 2016, encompasses post-mortem and human performance toxicology analysis, and covers driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol (DUID) testing. With ABFT accreditation, and Title 17 recognition from the California Department of Public Health, Alere's forensic laboratory will deliver innovative and timely testing services. "ABFT accreditation allows us to launch a vital service for agencies requiring DUID and post-mortem toxicology," said Albert Berger, Vice President and General Manager. "By offering accurate results in a timely manner, we are well positioned to help criminal justice agencies and laboratories overwhelmed by backlogs." Alere Forensics at Redwood Toxicology Laboratory will offer screening and confirmation of more than 100 drugs and drug metabolites, using fully validated analytical methods performed by highly qualified toxicologists. Alere laboratories process millions of specimens for hundreds of government, forensic, and criminal justice organizations each year. About Alere Alere believes that when diagnosing and monitoring health conditions, Knowing now matters. Alere delivers reliable and actionable information by providing rapid diagnostic tests, enhancing clinical and economic healthcare outcomes globally. Headquartered in Waltham, Mass., Alere focuses on rapid diagnostics for cardiometabolic disease, infectious disease and toxicology. For more information on Alere, please visit www.alere.com. SOURCE Alere Inc. Related Links http://www.alere.com DALLAS, Jan. 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Alliance Data Systems Corporation (NYSE: ADS), a leading global provider of data-driven marketing and loyalty solutions, will host a conference call on January 26, 2017, at 8:30 a.m. ET to discuss the Company's fourth-quarter and full-year 2016 results. Hosting the call will be Ed Heffernan, president and chief executive officer, and Charles Horn, chief financial officer. The conference call will be available via the Internet at www.alliancedata.com. Additionally, there will be several slides accompanying the webcast. Please go to the website at least 15 minutes prior to the call to register, download and install any necessary software. Please contact FTI Consulting by e-mail: [email protected] with any questions. About Alliance Data Alliance Data (NYSE: ADS) is a leading global provider of data-driven marketing and loyalty solutions serving large, consumer-based industries. The Company creates and deploys customized solutions, enhancing the critical customer marketing experience; the result is measurably changing consumer behavior while driving business growth and profitability for some of today's most recognizable brands. Alliance Data helps its clients create and increase customer loyalty through solutions that engage millions of customers each day across multiple touch points using traditional, digital, mobile and emerging technologies. An S&P 500 and Fortune 500 company headquartered in Plano, Texas, Alliance Data consists of three businesses that together employ more than 15,000 associates at approximately 100 locations worldwide. Alliance Data's Card Services business is a leading provider of marketing-driven branded credit card programs. Epsilon is a leading provider of multichannel, data-driven technologies and marketing services, and also includes Conversant, the leader in personalized digital marketing. LoyaltyOne owns and operates the AIR MILES Reward Program, Canada's premier coalition loyalty program, and holds a majority interest in Netherlands-based BrandLoyalty, a global provider of tailor-made loyalty programs for grocers. Follow Alliance Data on Twitter, Facebook, Linked In and You Tube. Contacts: Investors/Analysts Tiffany Louder Alliance Data 214-494-3048 [email protected] Media Shelley Whiddon Alliance Data 214-494-3811 [email protected] SOURCE Alliance Data Systems Corporation Related Links http://www.alliancedata.com The vintage cars taking part in the journey include a '57 Chevy Nomad, '61 Chrysler 300G and '66 Ford Mustang, all of which will be alongside an antique 1917 Crane Simplex originally owned by J.D. Rockefeller, in Grand Rapids, Traverse City, Lansing, Birmingham and Detroit. "Celebrating the past while looking into the future is exactly what The Drive Home and our partnership with America's Car Museum is about," said NAIAS Executive Director Rod Alberts. "Whether it be highlighting revolutionary technology from a century ago, or showcasing future mobility innovations unveiled from our global stage at NAIAS." TDHII's caravan will be driving throughout Michigan and stopping off for receptions and enthusiast events in Grand Rapids, Traverse City, Lansing and Troy before arriving in the Motor City. Further information on each individual event can be found at americascarmuseum.org/TheDriveHome. The final leg of the trip will see the caravan take off from a NAIAS- and Lincoln of Troy-sponsored cars and coffee gathering and head down the famed Woodward Avenue before ending at a cruise-in at Cadillac Square. All four of the vehicles will be on display during press and consumer days at NAIAS. "The idea for The Drive Home came about a few years ago when I sat down for cocktails and cigars with Rod Alberts," said AAT President and CEO David Madeira. "We thought the concept of three vintage cars journeying across the country at this time of year a battle against Mother Nature would be something that truly highlights America's automotive heritage and, importantly, gives context to the amount of innovation in the vehicles debuting at the auto show. "Now The Drive Home is in its second year and we're once again looking forward to a full schedule in Michigan, which thanks to a great partnership with NAIAS and support from our great sponsors State Farm, Michelin, Plycar, Shell, Quicken Loans, Hagerty and Montecristo allows us to continue honoring this nation's motoring legacy by holding unforgettable enthusiast gatherings." To follow TDH II as it makes its way throughout the Northeast, follow @LeMayACM on Twitter and look for updates from participating sponsors. About LeMay America's Car Museum (americascarmuseum.org ) America's Car Museum (ACM), an entity of America's Automotive Trust, is an international destination for families and auto enthusiasts to celebrate America's love affair with the automobile and learn how it shaped our society. Based in Tacoma, Wash., the stunning 165,000-sq.-ft. facility has been recognized as one of MSN's 10 Best Automotive Museums worldwide, USA Today's 10 Best Museums in Seattle and KING5's 2015 Best Museum in Western Washington. ACM serves as an educational center for students of all ages, features 12 rotating exhibits and hosts five annual Signature Events. For more information, visit americascarmuseum.org. About the North American International Auto Show Now in its 29th year as an international event, the NAIAS is among the most prestigious auto shows in the world, providing unparalleled access to the products, technologies, innovations, people and ideas that matter most up close and under one roof. Administered by Executive Director Rod Alberts, the NAIAS is the largest media event in North America, and the only auto show in the United States to earn an annual distinguished sanction of the Organisation Internationale des Constructeurs d'Automobiles (OICA), the Paris-based alliance of automotive trade associations and manufacturers from around the world. For more information, visit naias.com. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram for highlights and updates. 2017 NAIAS Dates: The Gallery Saturday, January 7, 2017 AutoMobili-D Sunday-Thursday, January 8-12, 2017 Press Preview Monday-Tuesday, January 9-10, 2017 Industry Preview Wednesday-Thursday, January 11-12, 2017 Charity Preview Friday, January 13, 2017 Public Show Saturday-Sunday, January 14-22, 2017 SOURCE North American International Auto Show Related Links http://naias.com "I grew up in Southern Tennessee and cut my teeth fishing in Alabama, near the headquarters of Vision Wheel," said Dunkin. "We put a lot of miles on our trucks around here and I'm excited to add some new rims to my rig and show the fishing world what Vision Wheel is all about." The 33-year-old angler has competed at almost every level of the sport, from the Bassmaster Opens starting at the age of 19, to competing on the Walmart FLW Tour. In 2017, he will be entering his second year as a professional on the tour. During his rookie pro season in 2016, Dunkin made two Top 20 cuts, and earned a Top 10 finish in the FLW Rookie of the Year race. As a co-angler in 2015, he took a win at Beaver Lake and qualified for the Forrest Wood Cup. The personable angler has also been featured as a guest host on Bassmaster LIVE, and was an On The Water analyst for FLW during the 2016 Forrest Wood Cup. "We're thrilled to have Luke on our team this season," said John Mathew, COO at Vision Wheel. "It's important to us as a company to support the pros that believe in our products and the sport fishing community puts our wheels to the test: they make long-haul tows through tough terrain to follow their passion and we're pleased to be along with Luke for the ride in 2017." Dunkin joins pro angler Mike Iaconelli, and off-road legend Rob MacCachren as one of the latest pros to join the Vision Wheel family. ABOUT VISION WHEEL Founded in 1976 and located in Decatur, Alabama, Vision Wheel is a manufacturer and distributor of quality aftermarket wheels for cars, SUVs, and light trucks, as well as ATVs and UTVs. The product range is available in a wide selection of styles and sizes, including dually fitments and styles suitable for lifted trucks and toy haulers. SOURCE Vision Wheel DECATUR When Forrest Suycott was living in a retirement community in Madison, Wis., a fellow resident kept trying to talk him into giving a presentation on music for the rest of the residents. Suycott a former music teacher, professor and Dean of Fine Arts at Western Illinois University resisted at first, but eventually relented. She was really on me about it I figured I better do it or shed kill me, the 94-year-old Suycott said, laughing. Two years ago, Suycott and his wife Joan moved to Primrose Retirement Community in Decatur. Soon after arriving, Primrose Sales Director Kate Stankovic approached Suycott about starting a similar music presentation at Primrose. After some initial technical difficulties, Suycotts monthly Music Talk is one of the Primrose theaters biggest draws. We have room for 18 to 20 people in the theater, but we have to bring in 10 more chairs for Forrest, Stankovic said. Suycott was born in Granite City and grew up in Villa Grove as the son of a railroad worker. He graduated from Eastern Illinois University, though his college years were interrupted by World War II, during which Suycott served in the Air Force as an aerial navigator. I wound up spending four years trouncing around all the sunny Pacific isles, Suycott said. Before graduating from Eastern, Suycott also married Joan she was a French horn player in Easterns band and he played trumpet. Suycott had the chance to join a jazz band and travel, but chose to teach instead. He began his career in Carmi, then later ended up at earning his doctorate at the University of Iowa before landing a job as a professor and band director at Western in 1955. Through the years, as jazz musicians came through Macomb to play to the WIU crowd, Suycott had plenty of memorable nights and stories to tell. These outfits would come through campus and we would have big parties with them it was a lot of fun, Suycott said of run-ins with several jazz greats, including members of Ellington's band. There were a lot of characters and we got to meet a lot of good people. Suycott retired from his position as WIUs band director and teaching at age 65, going back to school for postgraduate work at Stanford. When he returned to WIU, he was made acting Dean of Fine Arts. I called the university president up to discuss my contract and his wife put him on the phone with me and he said, Suycott, the reason Im calling you is , and Im thinking, wait a second, I called him, Suycott said, laughing. But I didnt say that to him. He said the board of governors had met two weeks ago, formed a college of fine arts and appointed me the acting dean. I wasnt expecting anything like that, but I couldnt say no. Suycott also dabbled in politics, becoming a member of the Chalmers Township Board and helping form a volunteer fire district. After retiring from WIU for good in 1987, the Suycotts stayed in Macomb for awhile, but eventually moved to Decatur in 2008 to be closer to Joans family in Mount Pulaski. They lived in Arbor Meadows Condominiums across the street from Primrose for a couple years before moving to Elkhart, Ind., then Madison, Wis., to be close to their daughters family. Thats where Suycott met a fellow resident at their retirement community named Katie who pulled him back into teaching music. She was a well-traveled, brilliant lady, and she was tough as nails, Suycott said. She knew I had been in music and she kept after me to do a presentation. I didnt think anyone would be interested, but she kept telling me to do it. I finally set one up and did it, but she died two days before the first one. That one always hurt me she was such a great person. The Suycotts didnt like the senior living conditions in Madison, so they returned to Decatur in 2014 and found Primrose, which Suycott said was a mansion compared to the places in Wisconsin. After learning Suycotts background, Stankovic talked him into doing similar presentations at Primrose that he did in Madison. Suycotts son and daughter have helped him with the technological side of it, using a projector system to play music clips most of which Suycott finds on YouTube of whatever songs or musical acts his presentation will feature. Sometimes, the language gets a little out of control in the computer room when Im working on it, Suycott said, laughing. Suycott, who quit playing the trumpet just a few years ago, gives his Music Talk the last Tuesday of every month. Though hes strayed from the Big Band Era at times his most recent presentation was on the music of New Years he knows the names that draw the biggest crowd. All you have to do is say, Glenn Miller, and you have a crowd there right now, Suycott said. I can remember being on a tour through Germany when I was younger and we were playing in this big festival and these German soldiers were there. One of them starts punching me and saying excitedly, Glenn Miller, Glenn Miller. Even in spite of the war, Glenn Miller penetrated Germany. Its the same thing here hes a beacon for most of the people in my age group. Other artists Suycott features include Benny Goodman, Tommy Dorsey, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Harry James, Artie Shaw and Gene Krupa. People get tired of hearing you talk, so I try to let the music do most of the talking, Suycott said. And thats the kind of music the people here remember dancing to when they were younger. Though Suycott is modest, Stankovic said he fields plenty of questions about the music and the bands, and his knowledge is endless. Stankovic said residents like Suycott make the experience at Primrose richer for everyone. "We really focus on the whole lifelong learning aspect, and he helps us provide that," Stankovic said. "An active mind and active body go hand and hand, and when we can integrate residents like Forrest into that, it's an exchange that makes it a better place for everyone to live." "Innovation is a constant focus at Ansell, both for our products and in the way we communicate through visual design," said Jeyan Heper President & General Manager, Sexual Wellness Global Business Unit at Ansell. "We are so pleased with the work of our partners at Dark Horse Agency, and are proud to be recognized." For more than 50 years, GDUSA has sponsored competitions to spotlight areas of excellence and opportunity for creative professionals. The American Graphic Design Awards honors outstanding new work of all kinds, including print, packaging, point-of-purchase, internet, interactive and motion graphics. The awards are sponsored by Verso Corporation and Pantone, and in 2016 received over 10,000 entries worldwide. The organization's Health + Wellness Design Awards program honors the importance of design in communicating the value of health and wellness, and the organizations, people, products and services that foster better health. The awards have quickly emerged as one of the most selective design competitions for the wellness industry, receiving over 1,000 entries in 2016. "We're always proud of the work that we do for our clients, and we're so honored to have that work recognized in both large and specialized competitions," said Christine Rusin, co-owner of Dark Horse Design. All LifeStyles and SKYN Condoms are triple tested to meet the highest U.S. reliability standards and are available at a wide range of big box retailers, drugstores, grocery and convenience stores across the US. Products are also available at online retailers such as drugstore.com, soap.com, amazon.com and on the Company's e-commerce platform: BuyCondoms.Online To connect with the brand and discover new content, sex tips, condom giveaways, unique stats and more, please visit: http://www.lifestyles.com/ and http://www.skyn.com/. About Ansell Ansell is a world leader in providing superior health and safety protection solutions that enhance human well-being. With operations in North America, Latin America/Caribbean, EMEA and Asia, Ansell employs nearly 15,000 people worldwide and holds leading positions in the personal protective equipment and medical gloves market, as well as in the sexual health and well-being category worldwide. Ansell operates in four main business segments: Medical, Industrial, Single Use and Sexual Wellness. Information on Ansell and its products can be found at www.ansell.com. Ansell, and are trademarks owned by Ansell Limited or one of its affiliates. US Patented and US and non-US Patents Pending: www.ansell.com/patentmarking 2016 Ansell Limited. All Rights Reserved. About Dark Horse Design Dark Horse Design is a full-service advertising and design agency that specializes in print and package design in Central Jersey. A vision of two creatives breaking free from the confines of traditional advertising, they pride themselves on superior customer service and understanding the needs of their diverse clients, creating killer designs that are not only captivating but also functional. To learn more about Dark Horse's capabilities and services: www.darkhorsepower.com SOURCE Ansell Healthcare Related Links http://www.ansell.com (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160303/792302 ) Browse 152 market data Tables and 27 Figures spread through 235 Pages and in-depth TOC on "Antimicrobial Coatings Market" http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/antimicrobial-coatings-market-1297.html Early buyers will receive 10% customization on this report. With the increased penetration of antimicrobial coatings in end-use applications in North America and Europe, it is anticipated that the market will register slightly higher growth than the Asia Pacific region, Middle East & Africa, and South America, during the forecast period. Medical, the largest application in the antimicrobial coatings market Medical is the biggest end-use application of antimicrobial coatings. These are extensively used in the medical / healthcare industry for applications such as, catheters, medical devices, medical electronics, and trays among others. The demand for antimicrobial coatings is increasing due to the rising demand from North America and Europe, where governments are creating greater awareness about antimicrobial coatings in the medical / healthcare industries. Governments in all the countries are focusing on the requirement of decreasing hospital acquired infections, which is a major concern in recent years. Stringent regulations have been imposed by governmental agencies to reduce these infections, which require the use of antimicrobial coatings. Make an Inquiry @ http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Enquiry_Before_Buying.asp?id=1297 Silver, the leading product type in antimicrobial coatings market Silver has the largest consumption among all antimicrobial coatings. Silver has been known to be a potent antibacterial agent and is toxic to germs, fungi, and algae; and in the past few years, the use of silver in coatings has experienced a dramatic revival. Inorganic silver antimicrobial coating systems based on colloidal silver, silver salts, silver zeolite/ion exchange resins, complex glasses containing metal ions, and nanosilver have been in high demand in the healthcare arena. The antimicrobial property of silver has not displayed any adverse effects on humans unless excessive silver is consumed. Purchase Report at http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Purchase/purchase_report1.asp?id=1297 Growing demand in North America, the major driver for growth of antimicrobial coatings market North America had the largest demand for antimicrobial coatings in 2015. The region has rapidly growing end-user industries in the U.S. The growth is led by increased demand from the indoor air / HVAC and medical application segments. Regulations by governmental authorities and healthcare agencies are driving the Antimicrobial Coatings Market in the region. The foods & beverages and textiles applications in the U.S. and Canada are also supporting the market growth of antimicrobial coatings. Browse Related Reports: Antimicrobial Plastic Market by Type (Commodity Plastic, Engineering Plastic, and High Performance Plastic) by Application (Healthcare, Packaging, Consumer Goods, Automotive, Construction, and Others) & by Region - Global Forecast to 2020 http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/antimicrobial-plastic-market-20591555.html Antimicrobial Additives Market by Type (Inorganic (Silver, Copper, Zinc), Organic (OBPA, DCOIT)), Application (Plastic, Paints & Coatings, Pulp & Paper), End-Use Industry (Healthcare, Packaging, Food & Beverage, Construction) - Global Forecast to 2021 http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/antimicrobial-additives-market-68703174.html 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: [email protected] Visit MarketsandMarkets Blog @ http://www.marketsandmarketsblog.com/market-reports/chemical Connect with us on LinkedIn @ http://www.linkedin.com/company/marketsandmarkets SOURCE MarketsandMarkets SAN DIEGO, Jan. 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Astute Medical, Inc., developer of biomarkers for better healthcare, today announced that Methodist Dallas Medical Center, one of North Texas' leading providers of quality, compassionate and integrated healthcare, is the first in the state to begin biomarker-based testing of patients at risk for acute kidney injury (AKI). AKI is a stealthy, unpredictable and dangerous complication known to strike up to half of the 5.7 million people admitted to intensive care units in the United States each year.1 Clinicians at Methodist Dallas are using Astute Medical's NephroCheck Test to quickly identify patients at risk of developing moderate to severe AKI so that intervention can occur early enough to reduce the threat of irreparable kidney damage. If left undetected, AKI can quickly lead to permanent kidney damage that can result in long-term complications and death.2 "Many of our cases involve patients susceptible to AKI, which is common, prevalent, expensive and deadly," said Roberto Collazo-Maldonado, M.D., F.A.C.P, program director, nephrology fellowship program at Methodist Dallas. "For us, AKI risk assessment is a game-changer. Having a biomarker test allows us to identify high-risk early in the process and come up with a strategic plan to help prevent AKI." The first-of-its-kind test quantitatively measures two urinary biomarkers tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase 2 (TIMP-2) and insulin-like growth factor binding protein 7 (IGFBP-7), which are associated with kidney stress.3 In high-risk hospital patients, elevated levels of the biomarkers can signal that patients are at risk of developing moderate to severe AKI in the 12 hours following test administration. Earlier detection of AKI risk will allow nephrologists at Methodist Dallas to get involved with patient care sooner rather than later. "Current methods are slow and rely on tests that only inform us that damage is already underway. Consequently, we are often not called in until AKI has caused severe damage," said Dr. Collazo. "At that late point, the decision is about whether or not to start dialysis. Now we will be able to discuss preventative changes, such as avoiding drugs that are toxic to the kidney." "We are delighted that Methodist Dallas Medical Center has implemented our technology with the aim of achieving earlier identification of patients at risk for AKI," said Paul McPherson, Astute Medical's chief scientific officer. "Earlier identification enables the physician to take steps that can prevent potentially deadly or debilitating AKI complications." About AKI AKI is as common and life-threatening as a heart attack. But unlike a heart attack, it lacks symptoms that guide risk assessment and can progress silently for hours to days, sometimes causing irreversible damage before it is detected.4 Patients recovering from major surgery or being treated for infection, trauma, and systemic illness are among the most vulnerable to the condition.5 Each year, AKI claims approximately 2 million lives worldwide.6 The financial burdens of AKI are also significant. If a patient develops the complication, the length of stay in the ICU,7 hospital costs7 and 30-day readmissions8 have been shown to double or triple. It has been estimated that annual healthcare expenditures attributed to hospital-acquired AKI could exceed $10 billion.9 Important Information About The NephroCheck Test The NephroCheck Test System is intended to be used in conjunction with clinical evaluation in patients who currently have or have had within the past 24 hours acute cardiovascular and or respiratory compromise and are intensive care unit (ICU) patients as an aid in the risk assessment for moderate or severe AKI within 12 hours of patient assessment. The NephroCheck Test System is intended to be used in patients 21 years of age or older. About Astute Medical, Inc. Astute Medical is devoted to improving patient healthcare outcomes through the identification and validation of novel biomarkers. The company's focus is community and hospital-acquired acute conditions that require rapid diagnosis and risk assessment. Astute Medical's current areas of interest include abdominal pain, acute coronary syndromes, cerebrovascular injury, kidney injury and sepsis. Astute Medical has developed the NephroCheck Test for use in determining whether a hospitalized patient is at risk of developing moderate to severe AKI in the 12 hours following test administration. Early knowledge that a patient is likely to develop AKI may prompt closer patient surveillance and help prevent permanent kidney damage or death. The company is a founding corporate partner of 0by25, a human rights initiative aimed at eliminating preventable and treatable deaths from AKI worldwide by 2025. Astute Medical's NephroCheck Test received 510(k)-clearance through the FDA's de novo classification. The test is CE-marked and available in Europe. For additional information, please visit AstuteMedical.com. Astute Medical, Inc., Astute Medical, the AM logo, Astute140, NephroCheck, the NephroCheck logo and AKIRisk are registered trademarks of Astute Medical, Inc. in the United States. For information regarding trademarks and other intellectual property applicable to this product, including international trademarks, please see www.AstuteMedical.com/US/About/IntellectualProperty. PN0614 Rev B 2017/01/03 1 Critical Care Statistics. Society of Critical Care Medicine [accessed January 25, 2016]. Available at www.sccm.org. 2 Lewington AJ, Cerda J, Mehta RL. Raising awareness of acute kidney injury: a global perspective of a silent killer. Kidney Int. 2013;84(3):457-467. 3 Kellum JA, Chawla LS. Cell-cycle arrest and acute kidney injury: the light and dark sides. Nephrol Dial Transplant (2015) 0: 17doi: 10.1093/ndt/gfv130. 4 Ronco C, Ricci Z. The concept of risk and the value of novel markers of acute kidney injury. Crit Care. 2013;17:117-118. 5 Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO) CKD Work Group. KDIGO 2012 Clinical Practice Guideline for the Evaluation and Management of Chronic Kidney Disease. Kidney inter., Suppl. 2013; 3:1-150. 6 Chawla L, Kimmel P. Acute kidney injury and chronic kidney disease. Kidney Int. 2012;82(5):516-524. 7 Dasta JF, Kane-Fill SL, Durtschi, AJ, Pathak DS, Kellum JA. Costs and outcomes of acute kidney injury (AKI) following cardiac surgery. Nephrol Dial Transplant. 2008;23:1970-1974. 8 Brown JR, Parikh CR, Ross CS, et al. Impact of Perioperative Acute Kidney Injury as a Severity Index for Thirty-Day Readmission After Cardiac Surgery. Ann Thorac Surg. 2014;97(1):111-117. 9 Chertow GM et al. Acute kidney injury, mortality, length of stay, and costs in hospitalized patients. J Am Soc Nephrol. 2005;16:3365-3370. SOURCE Astute Medical, Inc. Related Links http://www.AstuteMedical.com LOS ANGELES, Jan. 3, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Cortney Shegerian of the Los Angeles-based employment discrimination firm Shegerian & Associates recently issued a statement regarding the discrimination allegations made against Bayer by the company's former Vice President, Irene Laurora. Ms. Laurora claims she was fired after arguing her pregnant co-worker should not be taken off of a project just because she wanted to take maternity leave. "Pregnant women should never fear that they are missing out on a job opportunity by taking the maternity leave they are legally owed," Shegerian says. "And no employee should feel they will be harshly and unfairly penalized for voicing their concerns over unethical and illegal discrimination." "If these allegations are true, Ms. Laurora has demonstrated incredible bravery in the face of adversity, not once, but twice," Shegerian continues. "She had the courage to defend her pregnant co-worker in front of her superiors, and then to defend all employees' rights by taking legal action against Bayer." "Unfortunately, these allegations are very similar to the gender discrimination claims made against another pharmaceutical giant, Merck, earlier this year," Shegerian states. "These cases show it is possible for victims to seek justice against their employers, regardless of the company's size or perceived power within the industry." Located in Santa Monica, Shegerian & Associates is a law firm specializing in protecting the rights of employees who have been wronged by their employers. Richly experienced in labor and employment law and possessing an unparalleled success record as litigators, Shegerian & Associates is passionately dedicated to serving the needs of its clients. For more information about the firm, visit www.ShegerianLaw.com. Located in Los Angeles County, Shegerian & Associates is a law firm specializing in employment law and personal injury litigation. Shegerian & Associates is dedicated to serving the needs of its clients, and has won over 73 jury trials, including over 31 seven and eight figure verdicts. For more information, visit www.ShegerianLaw.com or www.GotFired.com SOURCE Shegerian & Associates, Inc. Related Links http://www.ShegerianLaw.com RYE, N.Y., Jan. 3, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Avon Products, Inc. (NYSE: AVP) (the "Company" or "Avon") Chief Executive Officer Sheri McCoy will present at the 19th Annual ICR Conference held at the JW Marriott Orlando Grande Lakes in Orlando, Florida on Tuesday, January 10, 2017 at 11:00 AM Eastern Time. Also in attendance will be Jamie Wilson, Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer, and Jim Scully, Executive Vice President, Chief Operating Officer. The webcast and related slide presentation can be accessed at http://www.avoninvestor.com/ and will be archived at that site for one year. About Avon Products, Inc. Avon is the Company that for 130 years has proudly stood for beauty, innovation, optimism and, above all, for women. Avon products include well-recognized and beloved brands such as ANEW, Avon Color, Avon Care, Skin-So-Soft, and Advance Techniques sold through nearly 6 million active independent Avon Sales Representatives. Learn more about Avon and its products at www.avoncompany.com. SOURCE Avon Products, Inc. Related Links http://www.avon.com MEMPHIS, Tenn., Jan. 3, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The law firms of Baker Donelson and Ober|Kaler have completed their previously announced combination, resulting in one of the 50 largest law firms in the country. The combined firm, which maintains the name of Baker Donelson, boasts more than 800 attorneys and advisors across 25 offices in ten states as well as Washington, D.C. Baker Donelson Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Ben C. Adams said, "The initial integration process has gone smoothly due in large part to the similar cultures of our firms and a lot of hard work by numerous people with both firms. Moving forward, there's more to be done but we look forward to working with our new colleagues as one firm to bring our clients all the advantages and benefits that were the motivation behind our decision to join firms." Joining from Ober|Kaler were nearly 110 attorneys and more than 100 staff members, giving the combined firm more than 800 attorneys and advisors, including around 380 shareholders and nearly 1,600 total employees. There were no layoffs at either firm as a result of the merger. S. Craig Holden, who previously served as Ober|Kaler's chair and CEO, said, "We are very proud to officially be part of Baker Donelson. We are focused now on collaborating with our clients and getting them integrated and aware of the additional resources this combination brings." The combination of Baker Donelson with Baltimore-based Ober|Kaler also results in the third largest health practice in the country. The combined health practice, now known as Baker Ober Health Law, has nearly 200 attorneys, including some of the most prominent leaders in the field of health law. The merger also gives Baker Donelson a strong presence in three crucial markets that drive the nation's health care industry: Baltimore, which is home to the headquarters of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services; Washington, D.C., the center for health policy and regulation; and Nashville, the nation's center for for-profit health care. The combination has also created a predominant financial services practice, joining Ober|Kaler's strengths in commercial finance and representation of community banking institutions with Baker Donelson's reputation as a leader in regulatory, transactional and litigation matters for financial institutions. Among other practices that are enhanced by the combination are construction, litigation, tax and intellectual property. Members of Ober|Kaler's leadership now hold various leadership roles in Baker Donelson. Mr. Holden and Patrick Cameron , who served as chair of Ober|Kaler's transactional practices, have joined Baker Donelson's board of directors. , who served as chair of Ober|Kaler's transactional practices, have joined Baker Donelson's board of directors. Darlene Davis , previously Ober|Kaler's president and COO, is serving as managing shareholder of the Baltimore office. , previously Ober|Kaler's president and COO, is serving as managing shareholder of the office. Ober|Kaler attorneys also now hold practice group leadership roles in the combined firm, including Julie Kass , previously Ober|Kaler's health law group co-chair, who now serves as co-chair of Baker Donelson's health law group; Frank Bonaventure , previously chair of Ober|Kaler's financial institutions group, who now serves as vice chair of Baker Donelson's tax group; Stuart Schabes , previously co-chair of Ober|Kaler's tax and business groups, who now serves as vice chair of Baker Donelson's Business Department; and Joseph Kovars , previously co-chair of Ober|Kaler's construction group, who now serves as co-chair of Baker Donelson's construction group. In addition to serving on Baker Donelson's board of directors, Patrick Cameron is also serving as vice chair of the Firm's Financial Services Department. Baker Donelson Chair and CEO Ben Adams and President and COO Jennifer P. Keller are maintaining their leadership positions in the combined firm. Recognized by FORTUNE magazine as one of the "100 Best Companies to Work For," Baker Donelson is among the 50 largest law firms in the country, with more than 800 attorneys and public policy advisors representing more than 30 practice areas to serve a wide range of legal needs. Clients receive knowledgeable guidance from experienced, multi-disciplined industry and client service teams, all seamlessly connected across 25 offices in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and Washington, D.C. SOURCE Baker Donelson Related Links http://www.bakerdonelson.com Mr. Roach was a founding shareholder of BBG. Under his leadership, BBG has expanded its national footprint by adding offices in Orange County, Phoenix and San Diego; completed the acquisition of Commercial Valuation Consultants, a leading appraisal services firm in Denver; invested in additional resources to expand the firm's Assessment Services capabilities; and launched a new Advisory Services practice. "With some of the best talent in the industry and a unique, partnership-oriented culture, BBG is poised for strong continued growth," said Mr. Roach. "I am grateful to our Board for the opportunity to lead BBG and look forward to working with them and our management team to build upon our recent success." Mr. Roach began his career as a commercial real estate appraiser. Prior to BBG, Mr. Roach was Vice President - National Client Manager for LandAmerican Valuation Corporation. He currently holds the MAI designation from the Appraisal Institute along with the ASA and CCIM. He is actively involved in The Real Estate Council (TREC) and was elected into the Associate Leadership Council, class of 2010-11. Mr. Roach is also an active member of the North Texas Chapter of Appraisal Institute where he currently serves as Vice President. Additionally, he is an active member of the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC), National Multi-Housing Council (NMHC) and Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA). Mr. Roach has also served as an expert witness in numerous states and has testified in multiple courts regarding real estate valuation matters. Mr. Leitner is a veteran commercial real estate appraiser with over 27 years of experience. Previously, he was the founder and CEO of Leitner Group Inc., a leading Tri-state area commercial real estate appraisal firm that was acquired by BBG in 2014. Mr. Leitner's experience includes analyzing various real estate markets within the Tri-state area, and he has testified as an expert witness in multiple local and federal courts regarding real estate valuation matters. Mr. Leitner was recently appointed to the panel of neutral arbitrators by the American Arbitration Association. About BBG BBG is a leading independent national commercial real estate valuation, advisory and assessment firm headquartered in Dallas with more than 20 offices in key US markets. BBG has achieved a reputation for personal attention, on-time delivery and deep expertise in multi-family, office, retail and industrial sectors. For more information about BBG, please visit www.bbgres.com. Media Contact Marc Weinstein Ascent Communications (908) 967-9958 [email protected] SOURCE BBG Related Links http://bbgres.com To help deliver the toys and spread a holiday joy, Liset Meruelo brought along a few surprise guests including costumed characters from Party Princess Productions dressed as "Frozen's" Elsa and Anna, and "Star Wars'" Darth Vader, Jedi and a Stormtrooper. This is the 19th year teddy bears and stuffed animals were collected for the "Bear Hugs Toy Drive," but this year came with an extra special delivery. During the visit, Liset and Alex Meruelo made a donation of $20,000 to support the Music Therapy Program part of the Child Life Program at Miller Children's. Studies have shown that patients who receive music therapy in conjunction with traditional therapies may need less pain medication, go home earlier, and have decreased levels of anxiety compared to patients who do not receive music therapy. "From our tiniest patients in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit to our teen patients, our Music Therapy Program is instrumental in helping our patients heal," says Laurel Terreri, MA, MT-BC, board-certified music therapist, Miller Children's. Through their generous donation, the Music Therapy Program will expand to the Infusion Center at Miller Children's. The majority of the patients who use the Infusion Center are children and adolescents with cancer and other serious blood disorders, who need to come back to the hospital on a regular basis for chemotherapy treatment or blood transfusions. "Treatments and procedures done in the Infusion Center can take anywhere from one to eight hours," says Terreri. "Music therapy can be used as a distraction for patients that may be experiencing anxiety or pain during prolonged treatments." Liset and Alex Meruelo are longtime supporters of Miller Children's. This is their second donation to the Music Therapy Program. Liset Meruelo also volunteered as a NICU cuddler, where she supports the development and growth of premature babies by interacting with them during times when their parents can't be with them. "Music heals the soul and when these kids are going through transfusions or chemotherapy, we want to be able to provide them with the support, hope and reassurance that they need to heal," says Liset Meruelo, philanthropist and friend of Miller Children's. SOURCE Miller Childrens & Womens Hospital Long Beach MINNEAPOLIS, Jan. 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Benjamin Jealous, the youngest-ever president and CEO of the NAACP, will be the keynote speaker at Walden University's 57th Commencement Ceremony on Saturday, January 7, 2017. Jealous has been a leader of successful state and local movements to ban the death penalty, outlaw racial profiling, defend voting rights, secure marriage equality and free wrongfully incarcerated people. Under Jealous' leadership, the NAACP grew to be the largest civil rights organization online and on mobile, experienced its first multiyear membership growth in 20 years and became the largest community-based nonpartisan voter registration operation in the country. A builder of robust coalitions, Jealous brought environmental organizations into the efforts to protect voting rights and convinced well-known conservatives to join the NAACP in challenging mass incarceration. "Ben Jealous personifies positive social change. He is a powerful example for our graduates of how they can take actions every day that have a positive impact on their communities and workplaces," said Jonathan Kaplan, president of Walden. Prior to leading the NAACP, Jealous spent 15 years as a journalist and community organizer. While at The Jackson Advocate newspaper in Mississippi, his investigative stories were credited with exposing corruption at a state penitentiary and proving the innocence of a black farmer who was being framed for arson. He also served as the founding director of Amnesty International's human rights program in the United States, where he led successful efforts to outlaw prison rape, expose the increasing trend of children being sentenced to life without the possibility of parole and draw attention to expanded racial profiling. Jealous is currently a visiting professor at Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs and a partner at Kapor Capital. At Kapor, he invests in high-growth companies that have a positive social impact. He is a graduate of Columbia University and Oxford University as well as a Rhodes Scholar. Jealous is the past president of the Rosenberg Foundation and has been named to the "40 Under 40" lists of both Forbes and Time magazines. The Walden University community gathers to honor its graduating students twice a year at summer and winter commencement ceremonies. The 2017 winter commencement ceremony will be held at 10 a.m. Eastern time on January 7 at the Gaylord Palms Resort in Orlando, Florida. The ceremony and address can be viewed live via webcast at www.WaldenU.edu. About Walden University For more than 45 years, Walden University has supported working professionals in achieving their academic goals and making a greater impact in their professions and their communities. Today, more than 52,600 students from all 50 states in the U.S. and more than 155 countries are pursuing their bachelor's, master's or doctoral degrees online at Walden. The university offers more than 80 degree programs with more than 400 specializations and concentrations. Walden University is accredited by The Higher Learning Commission. Walden is the flagship online university in the Laureate International Universities networka global network of more than 70 campus-based and online universities in 25 countries. Laureate Education, Inc. is a public benefit corporation, and both Laureate and Walden completed a rigorous, independent assessment to become a Certified B Corp. For more information about Walden and Laureate, visit www.WaldenU.edu and www.laureate.net. SOURCE Walden University Related Links http://www.waldenu.edu DECATUR There are several new laws going into effect this year, including an addition to a law to further protect anyone pulled over on the highway. In 2001, Illinois passed Scott's Law, also called the "Move Over" law, which requires motorists to slow down or change lanes when approaching a stationary emergency vehicle with its emergency lights activated. Beginning in 2017 this law will also apply to any vehicle on the side of the road with hazard lights activated. Illinois State Police District 10 Safety Education Officer Tracy Lillard said the law requires drivers to change lanes if possible, but to slow down if changing lanes isn't possible. Lillard said there's no exact speed to drive when encountering a car with its flashers on the side of the road, but said the National Safety Council recommends slowing to 20 miles under the speed limit. "Speed can really depend on the conditions there's no hard and fast rule, but we recommend using common sense depending on the situation," Lillard said. "Being parked on the side of the road with a flat tire can be terrifying when cars are flying by at 70. If you were parked on the side of the road with a flat tire, how fast would you want people driving past you? "Or, if it was your 87-year-old grandma out there stranded on the side of the road wouldn't you want people to slow down for her?" Lillard said cars unable to change lanes when approaching a vehicle with flashing lights should turn their hazard lights on to alert the cars behind them they're slowing down and to use caution. She also said extra care should be taken in ice, snow, rain and fog. Scott's Law was enacted in memory of Lieutenant Scott Gillen of the Chicago Fire Department, who was killed in 2000 by an intoxicated driver. The law has made it safer for first responders on the highway, and Lillard said the addition to the law will extend that safety to all motorists in emergency situations on the highway. "We can write a citation if we observe a violation where no attempt to get over or slow down is made," Lillard said. "We're hoping it will eliminate the crashes we're having with motorists being struck in emergency situations on the side of the road." Lillard said some state troopers have noticed an increase of people pulling over on the side of the interstate and turning their hazard lights on to make calls, texts or emails on their cell phones. "The side of the road on an interstate isn't the safest location to make phone calls, texts or emails that aren't emergency situations," Lillard said. "If you do want to use your phone, we suggest pulling off to the side on an exit ramp." Another addition for 2017 involves speeding. Driving 26 miles per hour or more above the speed limit, but less than 35 MPH above, is now a Class B misdemeanor, and 35 miles per hour or more in excess of the posted work or school zone speed limit is now a Class A misdemeanor. Another new law requires officers to tow vehicles of anyone convicted of driving without insurance within the prior 12 months who are receiving another citation for driving without insurance. NEWPORT BEACH, Calif., Jan. 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Bodyfriend, the biggest massage chair company in the world headquartered in Seoul, South Korea, today announced plans to open nearly 150 retail stores in the US by 2022, starting with California. Bodyfriend has shown incredible sales growth since its inception in 2007. In its first year the company's sales only amounted to around $2.7 million. Just nine years later the company closed 2016 reaching the stunning $360 million making Bodyfriend the highest grossing massage chair company in the world for 2016. Today, Bodyfriend launches the "VISION2020" campaign which entails goals of reaching $1 billion in sales per calendar year. To do this, Bodyfriend will continue to maintain its domestic and global leadership position by further expanding into the global market starting with the US. Bodyfriend recently acquired factories in China and Italy, and plans to concentrate its efforts on conquering the Asian and North American markets starting this year. By launching Aventar, a massage chair with a sporty look and stylish design inspired by supercars, Bodyfriend is making its first step into maintaining its global number one spot in 2017. The percentage of households that have massage chairs in the US is still relatively low. However, with both quality of life and the average life expectancy increasing, there is a need to be fulfilled. Starting tomorrow customers and potential business partners will be able to experience Bodyfriend's premium technology healthcare products at CES. The company's booth will be located at Sands, Halls A-D 44363 (Family & Technology Marketplace). About Bodyfriend Founded in 2007, Bodyfriend is the world's leading massage chair company. It focuses on user experience and avant-garde thinking processes, unparalleled to other competitors in the field. Bodyfriend has received numerous awards for their design including theiF Design Award for Innovative Design and the Red Dot Award. The company continuously revolutionizes the way massage chairs are being experienced and the company's visionary outlook has allowed it to grow rapidly reaching sales of $360 million in 2016. Bodyfriend is headquartered in Seoul, South Korea. Press Contacts: Emil Bachev at Bacheff Communications | Telephone +1 (949) 667-3645 | Email: [email protected] Grace Hwang at Bodyfriend | Email [email protected] SOURCE Bodyfriend FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., Jan. 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- South African Airways Vacations (SAA Vacations) is inviting travelers to visit South Africa in the new year with its special, "South Africa Safari 2017" package that offers Cape Town and a luxury African safari, starting at just $2,017 * (restrictions apply) per person. This package is designed to provide an affordable opportunity to immerse visitors in the magnificence that consistently ranks Cape Town as one of the most beautiful cities in the world by leading consumer travel publications and combines a game safari to view spectacular wildlife, including Africa's Big 5. The "South Africa Safari 2017" package includes round-trip air transportation from New York-JFK International Airport or Washington Dulles International Airport to Cape Town on South African Airways, Africa's most awarded airline, 4-nights hotel accommodations at the SunSquare Hotel in Cape Town, 2-nights accommodations at the Kwa Maritane Bush Lodge, adjacent to South Africa's Pilanesberg National Park, all airport transfers and meet & greet service by SAA Vacations representatives. Also included is a full-day Cape Peninsula tour to enjoy the rugged beauty of Cape Point and the Cape of Good Hope, and half-day Cape Winelands tour to visit some of South Africa's award-winning wineries. The itinerary starts with accommodations at the hip and trendy SunSquare Hotel, conveniently located in heart of Cape Town, adjacent to the foot of the iconic Table Mountain and minutes from the cable tramway. Travelers will enjoy the splendour and beauty of Cape Town by visiting the historic Victoria & Alfred Waterfront or take an optional tour to Robben Island, the site where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for 18 years during South Africa's apartheid era. After discovering the Western Cape region of South Africa, the journey continues with an African safari in the Pilanesberg National Park and accommodations at the luxurious Kwa Maritane Bush Lodge. Days will be filled with safari game drives viewing wildlife and exploring the South African bush country. Opportunities to relax, indulge in a spa treatment or participate in additional nature activities abound at this luxury retreat. "The South Africa Safari 2017 package is the perfect vacation for a first time visitor to South Africa, since it provides both the quintessential Cape Town and a safari adventure that so many travelers from North America seek to experience," said Terry von Guilleaume, president of SAA Vacations. "This package offers an incredible value to those who have limited time, but yet, want to enjoy a truly affordable South African luxury vacation. " SAA Vacations - "South Africa Safari 2017" includes: Round-trip air transportation on South African Airways Four-nights accommodations at the SunSquare Hotel in Cape Town with breakfast each morning with breakfast each morning Full-day Cape Peninsula tour Half-day Cape Winelands tour Two-nights accommodations at the Kwa Maritane Bush Lodge with all meals included Two safari game drives in the Pilanesberg National Park Round-trip airport transfers in South Africa Destination meet and greet service by SAA Vacations' representatives The "South Africa Safari 2017" package is available to book through January 31, 2017 for travel April 01-May 31, 2017. Travelers are encouraged to contact SAA Vacations' Africa Specialists at 1-855-FLY-SAAV or their professional travel consultant. Tailor made itineraries are their forte and the team of Africa Specialists are standing by to assist you in creating a vacation of a lifetime. For additional information on the, "South Africa Safari 2017" package, visit www.flysaavacations.com. About South African Airways Vacations A division of South African Airways (SAA), South African Airways Vacations (SAA Vacations ) is highly regarded for its wide array of affordable luxury packages to Africa and uses SAA's extensive route network to create packages for travel throughout South Africa, Botswana, Victoria Falls, Namibia, Mozambique, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Tanzania and the Indian Ocean Islands. Offering more than 80 air-inclusive packages, which range from value to superb luxury. Our specialty-themed programs offer unique experiences, whether you are interested in safaris, culture, cuisine, romance and adventure. The program is managed and fulfilled by Destination Southern Africa (DSA), which was founded in 2001 and offers an extensive portfolio of tour programs with a variety of hotels, game lodges and safari companies throughout Southern Africa. About South African Airways South African Airways (SAA), South Africa's national flag carrier and the continent's most awarded airline, serves over 75 destinations worldwide in partnership with SA Express, Airlink and its low cost carrier Mango. In North America, SAA operates daily nonstop flights from New York-JFK and direct flights from Washington D.C.-IAD (via Accra, Ghana and Dakar, Senegal) to Johannesburg. SAA has partnerships with United Airlines, Air Canada and JetBlue Airways, American Airlines and Virgin America, which offer convenient connections from more than 100 cities in the U.S. and Canada to SAA's flights. SAA is a Star Alliance member and the recipient of the Skytrax 4-Star rating for 14 consecutive years. Like South African Airways Vacations on Facebook here. Follow South African Airways on Instagram here. Like South African Airways on Facebook here. Follow South African Airways Vacations on Twitter here. Follow South African Airways on Pinterest here. Follow South African Airways on Twitter here. *Terms & Conditions South Africa Safari 2017 Price is per person based on double occupancy and limited to availability. Prices valid as of January 1, 2017 for departures from New York (JFK) or Washington, DC (Dulles) between the dates of April 01 & May 31, 2017, with the same itinerary available at higher prices during other travel periods. Package must be booked by January 31, 2017. Other departure points and domestic flights within the U.S. can be booked. Price for other departure cities and/or travel dates may vary. Subject to availability and currency exchange rate fluctuations. Prices are valid for new bookings only, are not retroactive and may change without notice. Package includes all government and airline imposed taxes and fees. Baggage and optional service fees, cancellation charges and other restrictions may apply. Contact: Todd Neuman, South African Airways; Tel: 954-769-5001 [email protected] Terry von Guilleaume, South African Airways Vacations; Tel: 520-882-3600 [email protected] SOURCE South African Airways Vacations The "Bringing Happiness Home" project has been lasting for six years. As an innovation-pursuing brand that is supported by young people, PepsiCo has been striving to enrich the connotation of "happiness" and "family" from different dimensions over the past five years, thus delivering the positive energy of happiness to all consumers. In 2017, PepsiCo reunited the family and shoot a mini movie, taking advantage of number "17", a homophonic word of Chinese word "Yi Qi", which means "being together". With this innovative visual form, PepsiCo hopes to deliver the happiness of being together during Spring Festival to every corner of the world and prompts consumers to bring happiness to their families. Besides, PepsiCo plans to join hands with China Women's Development Foundation to carry out the public welfare project "Bringing Happiness Home-Mother Post Parcel", and send best wishes to those mothers who are suffering from poverty, so that everyone can have a happy new year. Developing from "Bringing Happiness Home" activities before, PepsiCo wishes to further fulfill the world with happiness and invite more customers to share and deliver happiness through this "Happy Spring Festival-Bringing Happiness Home". "Happy Spring Festival" is a leading project held by the Ministry of Culture of China. Its goal is to celebrate the Spring Festival with all Chinese and share Chinese culture with foreign countries. It is the common wish of bringing the joy of the Spring Festival to every corner of the world that brings PepsiCo and the Ministry of Culture together. Apart from bringing Spring Festival wishes to all Chinese both at home and overseas, PepsiCo still wants to express the deep connotation of the Spring Festival, that is, the traditional culture of family and being together. Enjoying the happiness of the reunion of family is the essence of the Spring Festival, which is also the foundation and core of PepsiCo's "Bringing Happiness Home". The most well-known Chinese family Five isolated people construct an on-screen family, accompanying generations of Chinese people with their joys and sorrows. Off the screen, they develop a relation much deeper than that displayed in the sitcom. To many Chinese, they are the most famous Chinese Family and carry too much memory and emotion. About PepsiCo PepsiCo products are enjoyed by consumers one billion times a day in more than 200 countries and territories around the world. PepsiCo generated more than USD $63 billion in net revenue in 2015, driven by a complementary food and beverage portfolio that includes Frito-Lay, Gatorade, Pepsi-Cola, Quaker and Tropicana. PepsiCo's product portfolio includes a wide range of enjoyable foods and beverages, including 22 brands that generate more than USD $1 billion each in estimated annual retail sales. At the heart of PepsiCo is Performance with Purpose -- our goal to deliver top-tier financial performance while creating sustainable growth and shareholder value. In practice, Performance with Purpose means providing a wide range of foods and beverages from treats to healthy eats; finding innovative ways to minimize our impact on the environment and reduce our operating costs; providing a safe and inclusive workplace for our employees globally; and respecting, supporting and investing in the local communities where we operate. For more information, visit www.pepsico.com. SOURCE PepsiCo Related Links http://www.pepsico.com/ "These will be the most technologically-advanced blood pressure monitors on the market," said Terry Duesterhoeft, President and CEO of A&D Medical. "We designed the new products based on feedback from consumers, who wanted simplified products with easy-to-use wireless capability, while also delivering accurate measurements that can be seamlessly shared with healthcare providers." The new A&D Medical ULTRACONNECT blood pressure monitors offer an unmatched set of features and capabilities including: A sleek, tubeless design that slips easily on the wrist or arm; Light-weight, compact design allows users to effortlessly transport the device wherever they go, ensuring they can consistently track and share blood pressure readings; Smart Connect feature which allows the company's A&D Connect App to automatically detect and connect to the monitor for unparalleled ease of use; An offline, stand-alone operation, allowing for the subsequent transfer of up to 100 readings to the A&D Connect app at a later time; A bright OLED display to provide illuminated feedback of measurement results; Multi-user support functionality for 5 users plus a guest; and Robust compatibility with both iOS and a wide range of Android devices. As with existing A&D Medical WellnessConnected devices, users will be able to operate the smart blood pressure monitors with their mobile device using the company's free companion app A&D Connect designed to enhance the end-user experience with engaging and easy-to-use features such as graphing, trending, unlimited memory, reminders, and goal setting. "The new product line leverages our deep experience in designing and delivering connected products to both consumer and healthcare spaces," said Mr. Duesterhoeft. About A&D Medical Since 1977, A&D Medical has manufactured and distributed a full line of advanced biometric monitoring solutions including blood pressure monitors, weight scales, activity monitors, and other health monitoring devices for consumer and professional use. A&D Medical is the worldwide leader in connected health and biometric measurement devices and services for consumer wellness and chronic condition management, marketing under the A&D brand globally and also the LifeSource brand in North America. A&D Medical is a division of A&D Company, a global manufacturer of measurement equipment, with operations in around the globe. For more information about WellnessConnected, please visit www.wellnessconnected.com. For general information about A&D Medical, please visit www.andonline.com. SOURCE A&D Medical NEW YORK, Jan. 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- China Southern Airlines, the largest airline in China and a member of the SkyTeam Airline Alliance, is hosting a #ChinaSouthernFoodies social media contest to find the next inflight food sensation. Whether you are a professional or home cook, foodies and flyers across the world are encouraged to enter their own original recipe via social media. A number of entries will be chosen to compete in the final taste-testing event at BREAD restaurant in the Nolitan Hotel on January 26, 2017. BREAD, Winner of the TIME OUT New York's Most-Loved Restaurant Award 2016, the restaurant chefs will convert the winning entries into airline-friendly options to be tasted and voted on. "This is a very modern project so we love being part of it," says Lia Comandatore, Owner of Bread. "We are looking to open Bread in China, so this partnership looks like destiny," China Southern Airlines has partnered with Nik Loukas and James Mellor of The Inflight Food Trip documentary. They are highlighting not just airlines but also the cabin crews, inflight caterers and general public that have experience or interactions with inflight meals. "This is something that has never been done before. By inviting the general public, China Southern Airlines will substantially upgrade the transparency surrounding airline food, where all decisions are typically made behind closed doors", says Loukas. Why does food taste different on the plane? Research in my lab and others suggests that loud environments can alter how we perceive the taste of foods, delivering them to us with a different profile than the chef intended." says Professor Dando of Cornell University. In order to simulate this effect, China Southern has partnered with Sennheiser. Sennheiser's superior quality headphones "channel the sound into your ear in a distinct way, making you imagine as if you were totally engulfed by sound," says Stephanie Reichert, Director of Trade Marketing at Sennheiser. Attendees of the event will enter the taste-testing wearing Sennheiser headphones, creating a realistic and immersive experience for the taste-testers. "China Southern Airlines started this campaign to directly engage with travelers and learn more about local flavors. Partnering with these companies for this event will allow us to provide a better inflight experience," says Kevin Hou, General Manager at China Southern Airlines New York. Contact: Chih-Chin Sun EMMA WORLDWIDE 646-952-8556 [email protected] chinasouthernfoodies.com SOURCE China Southern Airlines DOVER, Del., Jan. 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, the more than 2,200 Delaware business leaders, TransPerfect employees, and community activists who comprise Citizens for a Pro-Business Delaware (CPBD) announced the launch of an aggressive advertising campaign centered around a 6 figure television advertising buy. Today's announcement comes on the heels of significant momentum and growing public support for CPBD's efforts to save TransPerfect jobs while protecting the incorporation revenue that is vital to Delaware's economy. The ad will run beginning the first week of January through the last week. It will run nationally on stations including Bloomberg and Fox Business, and will run locally in Delaware on stations include CNBC, CNN, MSNBC and FNC. The ad can be found here: http://www.delawareforbusiness.org/seeourad. "We're taking to the airwaves because we want to make sure folks understand just what's at stake for thousands of workers and their families, and what's at stake for Delaware's economic competitiveness," said Chris Coffey, Campaign Manager for CPBD. "The more our neighbors learn about the Chancery Court's unprecedented judicial overreach, the more inclined they are to stand with the thousands of employees, business leaders, and concerned citizens who don't want to see the Court sell off Delaware's ability to attract businesses to incorporate within its borders." In October, the Wilmington News-Journal, Delaware's largest newspaper, editorialized about the potential fallout from the Delaware Court of Chancery's actions regarding the forced sale of TransPerfect. "Already, states that compete with Delaware for incorporation revenue like Nevada, Oklahoma and Rhode Island are circling like sharks looking to wrest the business away from us," the Editorial Board wrote. "With a state budget shortfall estimated at $167 million, Delaware cannot afford to let this revenue stream dry up." The television blitz will coincide billboards going-up along Martin Luther King Boulvard in the middle of January and with a direct mail campaign that CPBD commenced earlier this month. To date, the group has distributed full-page mailers to more than 55,000 Delaware households, and it plans to mail additional pieces in January and February. In addition, CPBD has been engaged in an aggressive grassroots organizing program, focusing on the upcoming legislative session. CPBD was formed after the Delaware Court of Chancery ordered an appointed custodian to sell TransPerfect amid an internal dispute among company owners. Over the past few months, CPBD has been involved with court proceedings, submitting an amicus brief and arguing that the Court of Chancery appoint a custodian to act as a provisional director until the dispute is resolved. The group intends to introduce legislation that would amend the law to require a three-year waiting period before the forced break-up of a company. Citizens for a Pro-Business Delaware is a group made up of more than 2,200 members including employees of the global translation services company TransPerfect, as well as concerned Delaware residents, business executives and others. They formed in April of 2016 to focus on raising awareness with Delaware residents, elected officials, and other stakeholders about the issue. For more information on Citizens for a Pro-Business Delaware visit DelawareForBusiness.org. Contact: Kate Leisner, [email protected] Julijana Englander, [email protected] SOURCE Citizens for a Pro-Business Delaware Related Links http://DelawareForBusiness.org NEW YORK, Jan. 3, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Cohen & Steers MLP & Energy Opportunity Fund, Inc. (symbol MLOAX) is celebrating its three-year anniversary. The Fund offers investors access to an important real asset class: midstream energy. Since inception, it is ranked in the top quartile versus 85 funds across all share classes of its Energy Limited Partnership Morningstar Category peer group. "We believe a fundamental upcycle is emerging in midstream energy," said Tyler Rosenlicht, Vice President and Portfolio Manager. "We expect the oil market re-balancing to continue, which will lead to a resurgence in North American shale production and improve the midstream industry's fundamental drivers. In the meantime, rapidly evolving industry dynamics are creating opportunities for high-conviction active managers to generate alpha in the midstream sector." Cohen & Steers MLP & Energy Opportunity Fund affords a tax advantage over many of its peers, in our opinion. The Fund is structured as a registered investment company (RIC) and therefore qualifies for tax treatment that eliminates the burden of double taxation. Many MLP funds are organized under a C-corporation structure, which accrue deferred tax liabilities on any return of capital and unrealized capital gains. At the current corporate tax rate, the deferred tax liability from a C-corp fund entity can erode as much as 35% from an investor's total return in a rising market environment and potentially result in substantially higher fees to the investor. In addition, unlike many of its peers, the Fund's investable universe goes beyond securities structured as MLPsinvesting also in general partner C-corps, midstream corporations, Canadian midstream businesses and other energy infrastructure businesses with predictable cash flows and growth opportunities. "We believe the RIC fund structure combined with the broad investment universe is an attractive way to invest in midstream energy space, with the potential to enhance the overall risk-adjusted return profile of an investor's portfolio." said Joseph Harvey, President and Chief Investment Officer. The Fund's investment objective is to provide attractive total return, comprised of current income and price appreciation, through investments in midstream energy-related master limited partnerships (MLPs) and securities of companies that derive at least 50% of their revenues or operating income from the gathering, processing, transportation, storage or distribution of natural gas, crude oil and other energy resources. COHEN & STEERS MLP & ENERGY OPPORTUNITY FUND AVERAGE ANNUAL TOTAL RETURNS NET OF FEES, AS OF 12/31/16. Fund Alerian MLP Index (a) Alerian Energy Infrastructure Index (b) 1 Year 39.73% 22.86% 47.03% 3 Year 2.02% 5.67% 1.10% Since inception (12/20/13) 1.13% 4.48% 1.97% Performance data quoted represents past performance, which is no guarantee of future results. Returns are net of fees. Current performance may be lower or higher than the performance quoted. The investment return and the principal value of an investment will fluctuate and shares, when redeemed, may be worth more or less than their original cost. An investor cannot invest directly in an index and index performance does not reflect the deduction of any fees, expenses or taxes. Since inception for the Alerian MLP Index and Alerian Energy Infrastructure Index is calculated from nearest month-end. Periods greater than 12 months are annualized. Returns are historical and include change in share price and reinvestment of all distributions. Month-end performance information can be obtained by visiting our website at cohenandsteers.com. Gross Expense Ratio (Class A): 1.91%; Net Expense Ratio (Class A): 1.46% as disclosed in the April 1, 2016 prospectus as amended May 4, 2016. Through June 30, 2018, Cohen & Steers has contractually agreed to waive its fee and/or reimburse the Fund so that total annual Fund operating expenses (excluding acquired fund fees and expenses, taxes and extraordinary expenses) does not exceed 1.46%. Absent such arrangements returns would have been lower. (a) The Alerian MLP Index is a composite of the 50 most prominent energy Master Limited Partnerships (MLPs) that provides investors with an unbiased, comprehensive benchmark for this emerging asset class. The index is calculated using a float adjusted, capitalization-weighted methodology. (b) Alerian Energy Infrastructure Index. The Alerian Energy Infrastructure Index is a composite of 30 core North American energy infrastructure companies that engage in the transportation, storage, and processing of energy commodities. Index constituents are equally weighted within five categories. The comparison of the RIC v. C-corp structure pertains primarily to open-end funds. Closed-end funds with RIC or C-corp tax status face a similar tax impact on returns, however a number of closed-end funds that invest in midstream energy and MLPs employ leverage in order to meet their income targets, which amplifies the market returns and tax impact. This information is provided for illustrative purposes only and should not be construed as legal or tax advice. You should consult your financial or tax advisor regarding your individual circumstances. The Overall Morningstar Rating is derived from a weighted average of the risk-adjusted performance figures associates with a fund's 3-, 5-, and 10-year (if applicable) Morningstar Rating metrics. Each share class is counted as a fraction of one fund within this scale and rated separately, which may cause slight variations in the distribution percentages. Please consider the investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses of the Fund carefully before investing. A summary prospectus and prospectus containing this and other information may be obtained from your financial advisor, by calling 800-330-7348 or by visiting cohenandsteers.com. Please read the summary prospectus or prospectus carefully before investing. Risks of investing in MLP Securities An investment in MLPs involves risks that differ from a similar investment in equity securities, such as common stock, of a corporation. Holders of equity securities issued by MLPs have the rights typically afforded to limited partners in a limited partnership. As compared to common shareholders of a corporation, holders of such equity securities have more limited control and limited rights to vote on matters affecting the partnership. There are certain tax risks associated with an investment in equity MLP units. Additionally, conflicts of interest may exist among common unit holders, subordinated unit holders and the general partner or managing member of an MLP; for example a conflict may arise as a result of incentive distribution payments. This material represents an assessment of the market environment at a specific point in time, should not be relied upon as investment advice, is not intended to predict or depict performance of any investment and does not constitute a recommendation or an offer for a particular security. We consider the information in this announcement to be accurate, but we do not represent that it is complete or should be relied upon as the sole source of suitability for investment. Cohen & Steers Capital Management, Inc. (Cohen & Steers) is a registered investment advisory firm that provides investment management services to corporate retirement, public and union retirement plans, endowments, foundations and mutual funds. Cohen & Steers MLP & Energy Opportunity Fund is distributed by Cohen & Steers Securities, LLC. Cohen & Steers U.S.-registered open-end funds are only available to U.S. residents. Symbol: (NYSE: CNS) About Cohen & Steers. Cohen & Steers is a global investment manager specializing in liquid real assets, including real estate securities, listed infrastructure, commodities and natural resource equities, as well as preferred securities and other income solutions. Founded in 1986, the firm is headquartered in New York City, with offices in London, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Seattle. SOURCE Cohen & Steers MLP & Energy Opportunity Fund, Inc. WASHINGTON, Jan. 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The Corporate Whistleblower says, "We are urging an employee who works for a company providing services to the US Department of Defense, Department of Energy or any federal agency to call us anytime at 866-714-6466 if they have proof their company has over billed the government in a very substantial way. The kind of overbilling we are talking about includes the following: Corrupt Government Contractors America's Watchdog "A contractor billing the DOD or DOE for services that were never rendered. "A contractor billing the Department of Defense or Department of Energy for materials or equipment that did not meet the specifications of their government contract. "Company executives receiving bonuses for cheating or overbilling the federal government for services never rendered and or employees who are threatened to say nothing about the overbilling or fraud-or they will lose their job. "A contractor that has falsely claimed to be a minority or woman owned business to get a leg up in the bidding process for a DOD, DOE or any type of federal contract. To be worthwhile the type of overbilling or fraud needs to exceed a million dollars." http://CorporateWhistleblower.Com In a recent example the United States alleged that a company improperly billed the Department of Energy for materials and services from vendors that did not meet quality control requirements. The settlement exceeded one hundred million dollars and while the whistleblower reward has not yet been announced it is expected to be in the millions of dollars. The Corporate Whistleblower is saying, "We are convinced contractors providing services to the Department of Defense, Department of Energy, HUD and or the Department of Transportation routinely over bill the federal government out of tens of millions of dollars each year. If your employer is ripping off a federal agency or department out of millions-please call us anytime at 866-714-6466 so we can talk about whistleblower rewards and the level of proof required to get rewarded. If you have specific information about significant over billing frequently we can build the information out to potentially increase the reward. Please don't sit on a winning lotto ticket without ever knowing what the payout could have been." http://CorporateWhistleblower.Com Simple rules for a whistleblower from the Corporate Whistleblower Center: Do not go to the government first if you want to become a whistleblower: The Corporate Whistleblower Center says, "Major whistleblowers frequently go to the government thinking they will help. It's a huge mistake. Do not go to the news media with your whistleblower information either. Any type of public revelation of a whistleblower's information could destroy the prospect for a reward. Do not try to force any kind of company defrauding or over-billing the federal government for work not done-to come clean about their wrongdoing. Come to us first, tell us what type of information you have, and if we think it's sufficient, we will help find the right law firms to assist in advancing your information-to do everything possible to make certain you get rewarded." The Corporate Whistleblower Center is the premier advocate for whistleblowers in the United States. Unlike any group in the US, they assist potential whistleblowers with packaging their information and providing the whistleblower with access to the most accomplished whistleblower attorneys in the nation. For more information a potential whistleblowers in any state can contact the Corporate Whistleblower Center anytime at 866-714-6466 or visit http://CorporateWhistleblowerCenter.Com. For attribution please refer to a recent Department of Justice press release:https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/united-states-settles-lawsuit-against-energy-department-contractors-knowingly-mischarging Media contact: Thomas Martin [email protected] 866-714-6466 SOURCE Corporate Whistleblower Related Links http://corporatewhistleblower.com HOUSTON, Jan. 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- CRG, a global healthcare investment firm with more than $3 billion in assets under management, today announced the final closing of CRG Partners III L.P. (together with its parallel investment vehicles, "Fund III"). Fund III reached its hard cap of $1.25 billion of capital commitments from investors, exceeding its original target by 25 percent. Total investable capital for Fund III is expected to approach $2 billion, including debt financing. "The market opportunity for healthcare private credit investing remains strong," said Nathan Hukill, president of CRG. "Fund III provides us with additional capital to partner with management teams and offer highly-customized, minimally-dilutive growth financing solutions. Management teams have increasingly turned to debt financing as an alternative source of capital as they have recognized the high cost and dilution associated with equity financing markets." Fund III experienced strong demand from both existing and new investors, demonstrating confidence in CRG's proven credit-focused investment strategy. Fund III secured commitments from a diverse mix of global institutional investors across North America, the Middle East, Europe and Asia. Participants in Fund III include public and private pensions, university endowments, sovereign wealth funds, insurance companies, wealth management firms and family offices. Investors who have participated in previous CRG funds increased their commitments by 35% in Fund III, further reinforcing conviction in CRG's model, management team and historical returns. "CRG appreciates the support of our longstanding partners and welcomes several new institutional investors that maintain stringent due diligence and return criteria," said Mike Weinmann, managing director of CRG. "Investors were drawn to Fund III based on CRG's compelling risk-adjusted returns and cash yields, coupled with considerable downside protection and minimal correlation to other asset classes." Fund III is targeting investments between $20 million and $300 million in public and private commercial-stage healthcare companies. The firm's strategy is focused on companies that are commercializing innovative products, technologies, and services that address significant unmet medical needs. Based on growing demand for CRG's customized and flexible financing solutions, Fund III has committed more than $900 million of capital across 16 public and private, commercial-stage healthcare investments since its initial closing. Fund III has built a diverse portfolio to date, including investments in the medical devices, tools and diagnostics, biopharmaceuticals, and healthcare IT and services sectors. Ropes & Gray acted as the legal counsel to Fund III, and Probitas Partners served as placement agent. About CRG Founded in 2003, CRG (previously known as Capital Royalty L.P.) is a healthcare-focused investment firm that delivers pioneering growth capital financing solutions to the global healthcare industry. With over $3 billion of assets under management across 47 healthcare investments, CRG provides growth capital primarily through structured debt and senior secured loans. CRG works across the spectrum of healthcare products, technologies, and services and targets investment sizes ranging between $20 million and $300 million. The firm partners with innovative, commercial-stage healthcare companies that address large, unmet medical needs who are seeking flexible financing solutions with a committed, value-add partner to achieve their growth objectives. CRG is headquartered in Houston, Texas with offices in Boulder, Colorado and New York. For additional information, please visit www.crglp.com. Media Contact: Nick Rust 212.279.3115 ext. 252 [email protected] SOURCE CRG LP Related Links http://www.crglp.com CHICAGO, Jan. 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Technomic has been tracking trending flavors for quite some time now, watching as they evolve from the introductory stage into a menu mainstay. As we look beyond flavor, we now wonder which ingredients are emerging on the innovation scale? Chicken and bacon are, by far, the most popular proteins on sandwiches, but what's next? "The Technomic Lifecycle is pushing the envelope by showing us real-time ingredient innovation," says Bernadette Noone, vice president at Technomic. We've noticed with the growth of consumers' desires to remain healthy, that tofu is the leading cutting-edge protein used in sandwiches. Other ingredients like Muenster cheese, truffle aioli and English muffins were also identified as innovators in the sandwich category. On the other hand, Technomic often finds that ingredients can be mainstream in some meal categories, while being unique and competitive in others. A perfect example would be "chipotle mayo." When paired with chicken sandwiches, it is often found in the mainstream part of the lifecycle, while adding it to steak sandwiches places it on the introductory and growth scale. The Technomic Lifecycle tracks flavor and ingredient penetration levels across concept categories with varying levels of innovation, from chef-driven restaurants to national chains. It dynamically projects trends for thousands of menu categories, and helps operators find the right ingredient type before they go mainstream. Technomic's MenuMonitor analyzes more than 7,000 commercial and noncommercial menus tracked quarterly to identify menu opportunities, including seasonal promotions, new menus and LTOs. For over 5 years, Technomic's Lifecycle has been tracking flavors through their stages of adoption, and now proudly boasts an additional 30+ ingredient types to analyze. As a dynamic part of MenuMonitor, it can pull predictive insights on a limitless range of dishes in seconds. To learn more, please visit Technomic.com or contact one of the individuals listed below. For Technomic updates, please follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn or our blog. Contacts: Press Inquiries: Bernadette Noone, 312-506-3853, or [email protected] Report Details: Bri Borchardt, 312-506-4075, or [email protected] Purchasing Details: Patrick Noone, 312-506-3852, or [email protected] About Technomic Only Technomic, a Winsight company, delivers a 360-degree view of the food industry. We impact growth and profitability for our clients by providing consumer-grounded vision and channel-relevant strategic insights. Our services range from major research studies and management consulting solutions to online databases and simple fact-finding assignments. Our clients include food manufacturers and distributors, restaurants and retailers, other foodservice organizations, and various institutions aligned with the food industry. Visit us at technomic.com. About Winsight, LLC Winsight, LLC is a business-to-business media and information services company specializing in the convenience-retailing, restaurant and noncommercial foodservice industries. Winsight has an extensive media portfolio including four publications, CSP, Restaurant Business, FoodService Director and Convenience Store Products, a suite of digital products including websites, e-newsletters (Restaurant Business Daily and CSP Daily News) and webinars, plus video products, mobile and tablet apps, custom marketing solutions and the convenience-retailer intelligence tool, CSPedia. The Winsight Events group produces six exclusive, large-scale executive-level conferencesRestaurant Leadership Conference, FARE Conference, Outlook Leadership, Convenience Retailing University, FSTEC and MenuDirectionsin addition to more than 12 major EduNetworking conferences and advisory meetings. In Aug. 2015, Winsight acquired Technomic Inc., a food industry provider of primary and secondary market information and advisory services. Winsight is a recognized leader in the markets it serves. For more information on Winsight and its brands, go to WinsightMedia.com. SOURCE Technomic Related Links http://www.technomic.com DECATUR Firefighters spent three hours Tuesday at the scene of a residential fire that caused significant damage to the home. The department was dispatched to the one-story house at 603 S. Jackson St. at 8:13 a.m., according to a news release from the department. Crews arrived four minutes later to find heavy smoke pouring from all openings in the house and fire in the rear bedroom area. An injured person was found next door and taken by Decatur Ambulance to HSHS St. Mary's Hospital. Battalion Chief Dan Kline said Tuesday afternoon that the person's injuries were not life-threatening and not caused by the fire itself. No one else was located in the house. While the blaze was controlled by 8:45 a.m., firefighters spent three hours on the scene because of what Kline described as a lot of content in several rooms. One firefighter was also treated and released at St. Mary's Hospital for a medical issue, Kline said. The cause remains under investigation by the Decatur Fire Department and Decatur Police Department. NEW YORK, Jan. 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Dash Financial announced today that Dash and Convergex have signed a definitive agreement to merge Dash and LiquidPoint (Convergex's Options Trading and Technology business), creating a leading financial technology company in the options and equities markets. Dash Financial is a leading institutional trading technology, execution and analytics provider devoted to bringing unfettered transparency and superior performance to the U.S. options and equities markets. LiquidPoint is a leader in advanced options technology and routing services with deep penetration into the sell-side and exchange communities. Private equity firm GTCR, which owns a controlling interest in brokerage firm Convergex, will be contributing LiquidPoint from Convergex to merge it with Dash. This merger brings together two highly complementary businesses to create a clear leader in the U.S. options agency execution space with 13% market share. The combined entity will operate as Dash Financial Technologies and be majority owned by GTCR. The independent company will be led by Peter Maragos as CEO and Ben Londergan as President. "Our core mission is to deliver highly transparent trading technology and pure agency execution solutions to the institutional community," said Peter Maragos, CEO of Dash. "Together we are uniquely positioned to offer the widest range of solutions to help the buy side, sell side and exchanges navigate the ever-evolving market structure and regulatory environment." "We are very excited to be joining forces with Dash," said Ben Londergan, Executive Managing Director and Head of Options Trading and Technology, Convergex/LiquidPoint. "The increase in human, technology and financial assets that we will share through this merger will help keep our products and services ahead of the rapidly evolving market microstructure and the demands of our clients." "It has been very gratifying working with an exceptional team whose hard work resulted in impressive growth over the past three years and whose efforts were critical to this exciting transaction," said Eric W. Noll, Convergex President and CEO. "On behalf of Convergex, I would like to congratulate all of the parties involved in this deal and look forward to working with Dash Financial Technologies in the upcoming months on a smooth transition." Collin Roche, Managing Director at GTCR commented, "This merger creates a well-capitalized, growing financial technology firm that is able to deliver the next generation of trading and transparency solutions to the largest and most sophisticated clients. There are also great synergies between these two firms, and we believe this merger will unlock the full potential of both businesses." "We are thrilled to be working with the very talented teams at Dash and LiquidPoint," said Dean Mihas, Managing Director at GTCR. "We have great confidence in their ability to deliver exciting product innovations and raise the bar in terms of what clients can expect from their trading technology partner. GTCR is excited to participate in this transformative merger which creates a truly unique and scalable business. We also want to express our gratitude to the full Convergex and LiquidPoint teams for their hard work and success over the last three years." The transaction is expected to close in Q1 2017 subject to customary closing conditions including regulatory approvals. Dash was advised on the transaction by Raymond James and Sidley Austin LLP served as Dash's legal counsel. Kirkland & Ellis LLP served as legal counsel for GTCR and Convergex. About Dash Financial Dash Financial is a leading trading technology provider. Its advanced, pure agency execution and analytics platform offers unmatched levels of transparency and control, empowering buy-side traders to analyze and adapt their trading strategies. Launched in 2011, Dash's flexible and performant next-generation system was designed from the ground up to tackle the structural deficiencies inherent in today's ever-evolving market microstructure, as well as provide the highly-trained team of experts necessary to help navigate it. About LiquidPoint LiquidPoint currently operates as the Options Trading and Technologies business of Convergex. LiquidPoint offers advanced proprietary options routing and technology, high-touch services and clearing solutions. The firm has deep penetration within the sell-side and exchange technology space and their experienced team helps create value for clients by seeking and managing liquidity while also minimizing market impact and latency. About Convergex Convergex is an agency-focused global brokerage and trading related services provider that takes on the industry's toughest challenges, from complicated trades to complex businesses. With clients' interests as the top priority, Convergex delivers comprehensive solutions that span global high-touch and electronic trading, options technologies, prime brokerage, clearing, commission management and beyond. Headquartered in New York with a presence in several other locations including Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Orlando, San Francisco and London, the company serves nearly 3,000 clients accessing over 100 global market centers. About GTCR Founded in 1980, GTCR is a leading private equity firm focused on investing in growth companies in the Financial Services & Technology, Healthcare, Technology, Media & Telecommunications and Growth Business Services industries. The Chicago-based firm pioneered The Leaders Strategy finding and partnering with management leaders in core domains to identify, acquire and build market-leading companies through transformational acquisitions and organic growth. Since its inception, GTCR has invested more than $12 billion in over 200 companies. For more information, please visit www.gtcr.com. Mark Dowd, Forefront Communications, (201) 376-9687 [email protected] SOURCE Dash Financial VISTA, Calif., Jan. 4, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Dr. Bronner's, family-owned maker of the top-selling natural brand of soap in North America, will host a record release party and press event on Wednesday, January 25, 2017, at the Music Box in San Diego, to launch its spoken-word album, Sisters & Brothers, on long play vinyl record. Sisters & Brothers contains recently unearthed historical recordings of soapmaker and company founder Emanuel Bronner discussing his Moral ABCthe eclectic, philosophical text that is found on the company's iconic product labels. The launch party will feature special music performances by The B-Side Players, Jill Sobule, Wayne Kramer of MC5, Iron Sage Wood, and Rafi El. The event will showcase the company's mission to support progressive social change by highlighting the prison reform work of Jail Guitar Doors. WHAT: Record Release, Listening Party, and Press Event to celebrate Dr. Bronner's new Sisters & Brothers record and highlight the work of Jail Guitar Doors. WHEN: Wednesday, January 25, 2017 Media and VIP Party*: 6:30pm 8pm Meet and greet with the Bronner family, performers, and other special guests. Featuring organic plant-based fare by Cafe Gratitude, and organic beer and wine. Exclusive listening stations and DJ mixes of Sisters & Brothers. General Admission and Performances: 8pm 12am WHO: Performances by The B-Side Players, Jill Sobule, Wayne Kramer of MC5, Iron Sage Wood, and Rafi El. Speeches by David and Michael Bronner, and others. WHERE: Music Box, 1337 India Street, San Diego, CA 92101 Tickets for sale through Music Box. General admission tickets are $15.00 each. VIP Party tickets to non-media or non-invited guests are $50.00 each. For more information, go to: http://www.musicboxsd.com. VIP guests and media attendees will receive a free copy of the Sisters & Brothers LP. Sisters & Brothers is a long-play record that features original recordings of Dr. Emanuel Bronnervisionary, soapmaker, grandfather and founder of Dr. Bronner's Magic Soaps. Recorded between 1970 and 1995, on a variety of home-recording devices, the newly re-mastered tracks reveal poignant, inspiring monologue of Emanuel Bronner's personal contemplation of the All-One philosophy, and its potential to unite humankind across Spaceship Earth. Emanuel Bronner died in 1997. Still family-owned and run by his grandchildren and other family members, Dr. Bronner's honors its founder's vision by continuing to make socially and environmentally responsible products of the highest quality, and by dedicating profits to help make a better world. The company has grown from $4 million in annual revenue in 1998 to over $100 million in 2016. The vinyl LP is a tribute to the legacy of the company's founder. Sisters & Brothers contains 16 tracks. A limited edition pressing of 1,000 copies will be available through the launch event and for purchase on the company's website starting Jan. 25, 2017. Sisters & Brothers will also be available to stream online, and to purchase digitally at Bandcamp.com. All proceeds from sales of the album will benefit the non-profit organization Jail Guitar Doors, an international non-profit founded by Billy Bragg, Wayne Kramer, and Margaret Saadi Kramer in 2009. The organization provides prisoners with instruments and access to music education and programming while behind bars to help rehabilitate and empower prisoners serving their time. The Sisters & Brothers LP was created in concert with Dr. Bronner's 2016 All-One Report. The report was designed to be an insert similar to liner notes for the album, printed in the form of a large 12" by 12" full color booklet that folds into a gigantic poster inspired by The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album artwork. The report is also available in digital format on the company's website. It includes a timeline detailing the progress and achievements made in 2015 across the broad range of issues Dr. Bronner's supports, and insight to the brand's growth worldwide. It shares sales data, internal company metrics, revenue growth, fair trade supply chain impact, estimated environmental footprint, a complete list of 2015 social contributions, and much more. To view the second annual All-One Report, visit: https://www.drbronner.com/all-one-report/. Dr. Bronner's is a family business committed to honoring the vision of founder Emanuel Bronner by making socially and environmentally responsible products of the highest quality, and by dedicating profits to help make a better world. Dr. Bronner's commitment to social justice, environmental sustainability and progressive business practices is part of the company's mission to put into practice the principles that inform the philosophy printed on the company's iconic soap labels written by founder Emanuel Bronner. The company is the top-selling natural soap maker in North America and a major brand worldwide. Based on 2015 sales, a bottle of Dr. Bronner's soap was sold, on average, every 3 seconds throughout the year. For further information on Dr. Bronner's, please visit: http://www.drbronner.com. To learn more about Jail Guitar Doors, please visit: http://jailguitardoors.org. SOURCE Dr. Bronners Related Links http://www.drbronner.com NEW YORK, Jan. 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The endoscopy equipment market is poised to reach USD 35.36 billion by 2021, growing at a CAGR of 6.2% during the forecast period of 2016 to 2021. Over the years, the global healthcare industry has witnessed a paradigm shift and is now increasingly focusing on minimally invasive therapies that not only cure serious illnesses but also have fewer side effects. In the past decade, the demand for endoscopy has increased significantly, largely because of patient preference for minimally invasive surgeries, low-risk procedures, and favorable health insurance coverage. Technological advancements and breakthroughs in the field of endoscopy are expected to drive the growth of the global endoscopy equipment market in the coming years. Advancements in technology have also resulted in several improvisations, including increased angles in the field of view in endoscopes, reduced outer diameters of scopes, endoscopy systems that are integrated with high-resolution technologies such as 3D systems, and miniaturized endoscopy systems. The majority of leading players in the endoscopy equipment market are launching innovative products using advanced technologies to address the specific demands of their consumers, thereby stimulating the sales of their endoscopy equipment. Other factors that are driving the growth of the global endoscopy equipment market include a favorable reimbursement scenario in select geographies and increasing prevalence/incidence of diseases requiring endoscopy procedures. In 2016, the endoscopes segment is expected to account for the largest share of the global endoscopy equipment market, by product. In 2016, the gastrointestinal endoscopy segment is expected to account for the largest share of endoscopy equipment market, by application. The hospitals segment is expected to account for the largest share of the endoscopy equipment market, by end user. In 2016, North America is expected to account for the largest share of the global endoscopy equipment market, followed by Europe, Asia-Pacific, and the Rest of the World (RoW). North America's large share can be attributed to the favorable reimbursement scenario in the U.S., increasing incidence of cancer in the U.S. and Canada, research on new technologies in the U.S., and the implementation of a new funding model for Canadian hospitals. In the coming years, the endoscopy equipment market is expected to witness the highest growth in the Asian region, with emphasis on India, China, and Japan. The high growth in India and China can be attributed to government and venture capital investments in China in the field of endoscopy, endoscopy research support in Japan, and increasing number of endoscopic surgeries & improving endoscopy infrastructure in India. The market witnesses high competitive intensity, as there are several big and many small firms with similar product offerings. These companies adopt various strategies (agreements, partnerships, joint ventures, collaborations, geographic expansion, new product launches, and acquisitions) to increase their market shares and establish a strong foothold in the global market. - By Company Type: Tier 1: 52%, Tier 2: 39%, and Tier 3: 9% - By Designation: Director Level: 19%, C-level: 28%, and Others: 53% - By Region: North America: 33.3%, Europe: 28.2%, APAC: 23.1%, and RoW: 15.4% The report includes the study of key players offering endoscopy equipment such as Ethicon, Inc. (U.S.), Olympus Corporation (Japan), Fujifilm Holdings Corporation (Japan), KARL STORZ GmbH & Co. KG (Germany), Medtronic plc (Ireland), Stryker Corporation (U.S.), Boston Scientific Corporation (U.S.), Pentax Medical Corporation (Japan), Smith & Nephew plc (U.K.), Richard Wolf GmbH (Germany), and Cook Medical Incorporated (U.S.). Research Coverage: The report provides a picture on endoscopes, visualization systems, other endoscopy equipment, and accessories across different applications and regions. It aims at estimating the market size and future growth potential of this market across different segments such as product, application, end user, and region. Furthermore, the report also includes an in-depth competitive analysis of the key players in the market along with their company profiles, recent developments, and key market strategies. Key Benefits of Buying the Report: The report will help the market leaders/new entrants in this market by providing them the closest approximations of the revenue numbers for the overall endoscopy equipment market and the subsegments. This report will help stakeholders to better understand the competitor landscape and gain more insights to better position their businesses and make suitable go-to-market strategies. The report also helps the stakeholders to understand the pulse of the market and provides them information on key market drivers, restraints, challenges, and opportunities. Read the full report: http://www.reportlinker.com/p04523631-summary/view-report.html About Reportlinker ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place. http://www.reportlinker.com __________________________ Contact Clare: [email protected] US: (339)-368-6001 Intl: +1 339-368-6001 SOURCE Reportlinker Related Links http://www.reportlinker.com Pretzelmaker, is known for fresh delicious pretzels and product innovation. With stores across the U.S., the bakery has thousands of loyal fans and is the original creator of the Pretzel Dog, Pretzel Bites and Mozzarella Cheese Stuffed Bites. The $1 Customer Appreciation pretzel is a hot deal as Original Salted and Unsalted are regularly priced at $3. "Our customers are the best and Pretzelmaker's Customer Appreciation Month celebration is our way of thanking them for making us one of the country's most popular pretzel shops," said Lisa Cheatham, Director of Marketing, Pretzelmaker. "It's difficult to find anything for $1 these days, but every Tuesday in January, customers can receive a delicious fresh-baked pretzel for just that. Come enjoy this great deal and let us show you our appreciation for your patronage." For more information and store locations, visit our website www.pretzelmaker.com or join us on social media: follow @pretzelmaker on Twitter; add @pretzelmakerpics on Instagram; follow "Pretzelmaker" on Snapchat; or become a fan of the brand on Facebook www.facebook.com/pretzelmaker. Pretzelmaker is managed by Global Franchise Group, LLC, the strategic brand management company and franchisor behind Pretzelmaker, Great American Cookies, Marble Slab Creamery, MaggieMoo's Ice Cream & Treatery and Hot Dog on a Stick. *Valid for Salted or Unsalted pretzels only. Offer valid on 1/3, 1/10, 1/17, 1/24, 1/31. Valid at participating locations only. Not valid with any other offer. Customer responsible for applicable taxes. About Pretzelmaker - www.pretzelmaker.com Since 1991, Pretzelmaker has specialized in serving fresh baked, hand-rolled soft pretzel products, dipping sauces and beverages. Long recognized as an innovator in their industry, the brand is credited with inventing the popular Pretzel Dog, Mini Pretzel Dogs, and the portable Pretzel Bites. Following integration in 2010, the Pretzelmaker brand now also includes Pretzel Time. Pretzelmaker is currently the second largest soft pretzel concept in the United States and is also rapidly expanding worldwide with locations in Canada, Guam and Mexico. About Global Franchise Group, LLC - www.globalfranchise.com Global Franchise Group, LLC is a strategic brand management company with a mission of championing franchise brands and the people who build them. The company owns a portfolio of franchise brands that includes five primary quick service restaurant (QSR) franchise concepts: Great American Cookies, Hot Dog on a Stick, Marble Slab Creamery, MaggieMoo's Ice Cream & Treatery, and Pretzelmaker. The brands are managed by GFG Management, LLC, a subsidiary of Global Franchise Group, LLC. Global Franchise Group, LLC is a portfolio company of Levine Leichtman Capital Partners, an independent investment firm, with approximately $7 billion of capital under management and substantial franchise management experience. SOURCE Pretzelmaker Related Links http://www.pretzelmaker.com HARRISBURG, Pa., Jan. 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Geneia, an analytics and emerging technology leader in transforming healthcare delivery, announced today that Rochester, N.Y.-based Excellus BlueCross BlueShield has agreed to partner with Geneia to deliver value-based analytics and insights to the health plan's 1.5 million members using the company's Theon platform. "We are committed to improving the quality and affordability of healthcare and have chosen to partner with Geneia to drive insights to achieve just that," said Excellus BlueCross BlueShield CEO Chris Booth. "We were impressed with Geneia's capability to drive effective interventions and the breadth of the Theon solution that we expect will grow with our needs." Geneia has in particular highlighted its track record of helping other customers succeed in value-based cost and quality arrangements through the use of the Theon platform. Such notable achievements with improved outcomes and member satisfaction include: Achieving a 7.2 percent reduction in inpatient admissions and a nearly 15 percent reduction in readmissions for Medicare plan customers Achieving an 8 percent reduction in emergency department visits for employer group and Medicare plan customers Exceeding the regional average for Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set [1] (HEDIS ) measures for some of the leading chronic diseases ) measures for some of the leading chronic diseases Realizing a 2 percent reduction in claims expense as the result of leveraging the Theon platform to take a holistic approach to population health management "We are excited to be working with Excellus BlueCross BlueShield," said Geneia CEO Mark Caron, CHCIO, FACHE. "This upstate New York health plan is taking a strong leadership role to improve collaboration with its provider partners and ensuring the sustainability of healthcare in the community. We look forward to helping them achieve their goals." ABOUT EXCELLUS BLUECROSS BLUESHIELD Excellus BlueCross BlueShield, a nonprofit independent licensee of the BlueCross BlueShield Association, is part of a family of companies that finances and delivers vital health care services to about 1.5 million people across upstate New York. Excellus BlueCross BlueShield provides access to high-quality, affordable health coverage, including valuable health-related resources that our members use every day, such as cost-saving prescription drug discounts and wellness tracking tools. To learn more, visit excellusbcbs.com. ABOUT GENEIA Geneia specializes in the development of advanced clinical, analytics, and technical solutions for healthcare transformation. Our team of physicians, nurses, technologists, analytics experts, and business professionals have created a suite of solutions that enable health plans, hospitals and employers to better understand, evaluate and manage the health of their populations. Using our advanced analytics platform, remote patient monitoring tool, and education and research institute, we work with healthcare organizations to improve outcomes, lower cost and restore the Joy of Medicine. The company has offices in Harrisburg, PA, Manchester, NH, and Nashville, TN. To learn more, visit geneia.com or connect with us Twitter and LinkedIn. [1] HEDIS is a comprehensive tool used by most health plans to measure performance on important aspects of care and service. SOURCE Geneia Related Links http://www.geneia.com AUBURN HILLS, Mich., Jan. 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Ram Truck brand sales increase 10 percent compared with same month last year Sales of the all-new Chrysler Pacifica up 18 percent compared with previous month of November; the minivan's best sales month of 2016 Four Jeep brand vehicles record sales increases in December; Jeep Renegade sales up 39 percent Ram Truck and Jeep brands both record full-year sales increases in 2016 versus 2015 FCA US LLC today reported U.S. sales of 192,519 units, a 10 percent decrease compared with sales in December 2015 (213,923 units). For the full year, the Ram Truck and Jeep brands each recorded year-over-year sales gains versus sales in 2015. FCA US full-year sales were flat in 2016 compared with sales in 2015. In December, fleet sales of 36,532 units were down 34 percent year over year as FCA US continues its strategy of reducing its sales to the daily rental segment. Fleet sales represented 19 percent of total FCA US sales in the month. FCA US retail sales of 155,987 units were down 2 percent year over year in December, and represented 81 percent of total sales for the month. Ram Truck brand sales were up 10 percent in December as the Ram pickup truck and the Ram ProMaster van posted year-over-year increases. Four Jeep brand models recorded increases in December, led by a 39 percent increase in Jeep Renegade sales. With its 13 percent increase, the Jeep Grand Cherokee turned in its best sales month of the year. The all-new 2017 Chrysler Pacifica minivan posted an 18 percent sales gain compared with the previous month of November. Ram Truck Brand Ram Truck brand sales, which include the Ram pickup, Ram ProMaster and Ram ProMaster City, were up 10 percent in December versus the same month in 2015. The pickup truck posted a 15 percent year-over-year sales gain while the ProMaster recorded a 13 percent increase in December, the large van's second best sales month of 2016. For the full year, Ram Truck brand sales were up 11 percent compared with sales in 2015. The pickup truck turned in a 9 percent year-over-year increase in 2016, while the ProMaster and ProMaster City vans each posted a 45 percent increase in 2016 versus 2015. Jeep Brand Jeep brand sales were down 6 percent in December compared with the same month a year ago. However, four Jeep brand models posted sales increases in the month, led by the Jeep Renegade and its 39 percent year-over-year sales gain. The Jeep Grand Cherokee, with its 13 percent increase, turned in its best sales month of 2016. The Jeep Wrangler and Jeep Compass posted December increases as well. For the full year, Jeep brand sales were up 6 percent compared with sales in 2015. Four Jeep brand vehicles the Jeep Grand Cherokee, Jeep Compass, Jeep Patriot, and Jeep Renegade posted year-over-year increases for the full year. With sales of 212,273 units, the Grand Cherokee was the volume leader of the Jeep brand in 2016. Dodge Brand Dodge brand sales were down 21 percent in December compared with the same month a year ago. However, Dodge Challenger sales increased 15 percent in December versus the same month in 2015, while Dodge Journey sales were up 25 percent. The Dodge brand last month unveiled the new 2017 Dodge Challenger GT, the world's first and only all-wheel-drive American muscle coupe. The Challenger GT joins the Dodge Charger AWD to complete the Dodge lineup of all-wheel-drive muscle cars, delivering unparalleled year-round performance. For the full year, the Dodge Grand Caravan minivan and the Dodge Durango full-size SUV each posted sales increases compared with sales in 2015. Chrysler Brand Chrysler brand sales were down 32 percent in December compared with the same month a year ago. However, sales of the all-new 2017 Chrysler Pacifica minivan posted an 18 percent sales increase compared with the previous month of November. It was the Pacifica's best sales month of the year. In addition, the Pacifica in December landed on the Car and Driver "10Best" list and earned a 2017 Top Safety Pick+ rating from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). In its first year on sale, the Pacifica posted sales of 62,366 units. Also, the new 3.6-liter Pentastar V-6 hybrid propulsion system used in the Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid last month made the Wards 10 Best Engines list for 2017. FIAT Brand FIAT brand sales, which include the Fiat 500, Fiat 500L, Fiat 500X and Fiat 124 Spider, were down 54 percent in December. For the full year, the 500X posted a 3 percent sales increase compared with sales in 2015. The 500X delivers the Italian design and engaging driving dynamics that are synonymous with the FIAT brand. The 500X offers an advanced all-wheel-drive system, functionality, and a full array of safety, comfort and convenience features. FCA US LLC Sales Summary December 2016 Reflects New Methodology Month Sales Vol % CYTD Sales Vol % Model Curr Yr Pr Yr Change Curr Yr Pr Yr Change Compass 7,954 7,260 10% 94,061 71,448 32% Patriot 7,809 12,306 -37% 121,926 121,274 1% Wrangler 15,721 15,431 2% 191,774 202,266 -5% Cherokee 16,380 24,652 -34% 199,736 220,744 -10% Grand Cherokee 23,250 20,566 13% 212,273 196,312 8% Renegade 12,045 8,653 39% 106,606 60,864 75% JEEP BRAND 83,159 88,868 -6% 926,376 872,908 6% 200 2,643 9,663 -73% 57,294 167,368 -66% 300 3,584 4,269 -16% 53,241 53,025 0% Town & Country 266 10,622 -97% 59,071 97,530 -39% Pacifica 10,283 0 New 62,366 0 New CHRYSLER BRAND 16,776 24,554 -32% 231,972 317,923 -27% Dart 1,525 5,867 -74% 43,402 87,908 -51% Avenger 0 32 -100% 45 1,326 -97% Charger 7,237 8,309 -13% 95,437 96,633 -1% Challenger 5,257 4,564 15% 64,433 66,377 -3% Viper 59 63 -6% 630 690 -9% Journey 9,768 7,829 25% 106,759 108,085 -1% Caravan 6,687 11,720 -43% 127,678 101,553 26% Durango 5,796 7,826 -26% 68,474 64,723 6% DODGE BRAND 36,329 46,210 -21% 506,858 527,295 -4% Ram P/U 47,556 41,398 15% 489,418 450,122 9% Cargo Van 0 26 -100% 21 2,183 -99% ProMaster Van 4,694 4,154 13% 40,440 27,812 45% ProMaster City 1,347 3,038 -56% 15,972 11,053 45% RAM BRAND 53,597 48,616 10% 545,851 491,170 11% Giulia 29 0 New 36 0 New Alfa 4C 23 56 -59% 480 659 -27% ALFA BRAND 52 56 -7% 516 659 -22% 500 1,411 1,737 -19% 15,437 23,980 -36% 500L 102 310 -67% 3,118 7,585 -59% 500X 843 3,572 -76% 11,712 11,357 3% Spider 250 0 New 2,475 0 New FIAT BRAND 2,606 5,619 -54% 32,742 42,922 -24% TOTAL FCA US LLC 192,519 213,923 -10% 2,244,315 2,252,877 0% Total Car & MPV 39,356 57,212 -31% 585,143 704,634 -17% Total UV's 99,566 108,095 -8% 1,113,321 1,057,073 5% Total Truck & LCV 53,597 48,616 10% 545,851 491,170 11% Method of Determining Monthly Sales. FCA US's reported vehicle sales represent unit sales of vehicles to retail customers, deliveries of vehicles to fleet customers and to others such as FCA US's employees and retirees as well as vehicles used for marketing. Most of these reported sales reflect retail sales made by dealers out of their own inventory of vehicles previously purchased by them from FCA US. Reported vehicle units sales do not correspond to FCA US's reported revenues, which are based on FCA US's sale and delivery of vehicles, and typically recognized upon shipment to the dealer or end customer. As announced on July 26, 2016, FCA US has modified its methodology for monthly sales reporting as follows: Sales to retail customers by dealers in the U.S. are derived from the New Vehicle Delivery Report ("NVDR") system and are determined as the sum of (A) all sales recorded by dealers during the month net of all unwound transactions recorded to the end of that month (whether the original sale was recorded in the current month or any prior month); plus (B) all sales of vehicles during that month attributable to past unwinds that had previously been reversed in determining monthly sales (in the current or prior months). Fleet sales are recorded as sales upon the shipment of the vehicle by FCA US to the customer or end user. to the customer or end user. Other retail sales are recorded either (A) when the sale is recorded in the NVDR system (for sales by dealers in Puerto Rico and limited sales made through distributors that submit NVDRs in the same manner as for sales by U.S. dealers) or (B) upon receipt of a similar delivery notification (for vehicles for which NVDRs are not entered such as vehicles for FCA employees). About FCA US LLC FCA US LLC is a North American automaker with a new name and a long history. Headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan, FCA US is a member of the Fiat Chrysler Automobiles N.V. (FCA) family of companies. FCA US designs, engineers, manufactures and sells vehicles under the Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge, Ram and FIAT brands, as well as the SRT performance vehicle designation. The company also distributes the Alfa Romeo 4C model and Mopar products. FCA US is building upon the historic foundations of Chrysler, the innovative American automaker first established by Walter P. Chrysler in 1925; and Fiat, founded in Italy in 1899 by pioneering entrepreneurs, including Giovanni Agnelli. FCA, the seventh-largest automaker in the world based on total annual vehicle sales, is an international automotive group. FCA is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "FCAU" and on the Mercato Telematico Azionario under the symbol "FCA." Follow FCA US news and video on: Company blog: blog.fcanorthamerica.com Company website: www.fcanorthamerica.com FCA360: 360.fcanorthamerica.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FiatChrysler.NorthAmerica/ Flickr: www.flickr.com/photos/chryslergroup/ Media website: media.fcanorthamerica.com Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/fcacorporate Instagram: www.instagram.com/FiatChrysler_NA Twitter: www.twitter.com/FiatChrysler_NA Twitter (Spanish): www.twitter.com/fcausespanol YouTube: www.youtube.com/pentastarvideo SOURCE FCA US LLC Related Links http://www.fcanorthamerica.com TAMPA, Fla., Jan. 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Florida Animal Friend, an organization dedicated to saving the lives of unwanted cats and dogs throughout the state of Florida, announced their grant application process for 2017 is now available online. Grants are awarded to organizations from around the state that are striving to make a difference in the pet over-population problem by providing free or low-cost spay and neuter programs. Each grant application is reviewed by Florida Animal Friend's Grant Review Committee and scored for strengths in the following areas: target of important animal populations, ability to increase surgery numbers above the existing baseline, the cost-benefit ratio, the track record of the applicant and the applicant's sustainability. Once applicants make it past the Grant Review Committee, the Florida Animal Friend Board of Directors reviews applications. "Over the past ten years, Florida Animal Friend has provided approximately $5,000,000 in funds to assist spay and neuter programs throughout the state," said Lois Kostroski, Executive Director of Florida Animal Friend. "We are excited to yet again offer grant opportunities to help these incredible organizations in Florida that are contributing to the pet-overpopulation problem in our state." This past year, the Florida Animal Friend specialty license plate was re-designed with the goal to increase sales which, in turn, can provide more funds to the organizations' critical mission statewide. Previous winners of Florida Animal Friend grants are invited to apply; however, they cannot apply during the year when they are completing a grant. The grant winners will be announced in August with funds being released to the winners in mid-to-late August. For additional information on how to apply, how funding is awarded and for examples of previous winners' entries, visit FloridaAnimalFriend.org. Applications are only available online and must be submitted electronically by 8 p.m. on April 1, 2017 for grant consideration. ABOUT FLORIDA ANIMAL FRIEND Incorporated in 2005, Florida Animal Friend's mission is to help save the lives of countless unwanted cats and dogs by supporting organizations that offer free or low-cost spay and neuter services across the state of Florida. The organization strives to reduce the pet overpopulation problem by increasing awareness of programs available to pet owners and homeless pets. Grants are awarded annually and are funded through the sale of the Florida Animal Friend license plates. For more, visit www.floridaanimalfriend.org. SOURCE Florida Animal Friend Related Links http://www.floridaanimalfriend.org Former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom David Cameron also Keynotes Registration Early Bird Pricing Ends Jan. 15 TEMPE, Ariz., Jan. 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Institute for Supply Management (ISM) today announced General Colin L. Powell, USA (Ret.) will speak at the supply management profession's largest global event: ISM2017, joining former Prime Minister David Cameron as a keynote speaker. Like supply managers everywhere, General Powell is no stranger to delivering short term supply solutions - and leadership - during a time of crisis. As former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Powell assembled a multibillion dollar supply chain involving 42 nations during Operation Desert Storm in the Persian Gulf. Powell and his team pulled together millions of coordinated supplies: military goods, machinery, food, weaponry, and critical spare parts. General Powell will inspire and motivate ISM2017 attendees with stories of leadership under fire - and how to deliver complex supply systems when facing immovable deadlines. "As Secretary of State, General Powell used the power of diplomacy to build trust and forge alliances, while also having the grit and experience forged by his military career in delivering results when it matters most," said Tom Derry, ISM CEO. "Powell's insight will be critical to ISM members and other purchasing and supply chain professionals as they focus on the challenges of working in a tough, ever-changing global economy." Registration is now open for ISM2017, which will be held May 21-24, 2017, at the Disney Coronado Springs Resort in Orlando, Florida. Focused on "Critical Insights, Powerful Results," the event expects to draw more than 3,000 attendees from around the world. Managing change during turbulent times requires discipline, strategy, and focus. ISM 2017 features keynotes, learning tracks, and sessions about leading in times of stress. More than 75 interactive sessions will be part of six learning tracks at ISM2017, and executives from firms such as Google, Toyota, Pfizer, Direct Energy, Zimmer Biomet and others will present. All sessions are mapped to the ISM Mastery Model, so attendees can enhance their Conference experience by selecting sessions specifically designed to improve their personal supply management acumen. David Cameron, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, who stepped down from the position in 2016 in the wake of the Brexit decision, will also keynote ISM2017 conference attendees about his experience navigating geopolitical and public policy issues and their impact on the global supply chain. He will address a range of events in Europe and worldwide, and what they could mean to supply managers everywhere. ISM2017 is a must-attend event for supply chain professionals from entry-level to the C-suite to gain the knowledge and insights needed to proactively manage supply chains in the ever-changing global economy. For groups of five or more, special pricing is available: If groups register by January 15, they can receive up to 50 percent savings compared to on-site registration. For individuals registering, they can save 40 percent by registering by January 15 compared to on-site registration. About Institute for Supply Management Institute for Supply Management (ISM) serves supply management professionals in more than 90 countries. Its 50,000 members around the world manage about US$1 trillion in corporate and government supply chain procurement annually. Founded in 1915 as the first supply management institute in the world, ISM is committed to advancing the practice of supply management to drive value and competitive advantage for its members, contributing to a prosperous and sustainable world. ISM leads the profession through the ISM Report On Business, its highly regarded certification programs and the ISM Mastery Model. For more information, please visit: www.instituteforsupplymanagement.org. Media contacts Mike Scott 248.766.9482 [email protected] Riley Conover 480.752.6276 ext. 3121 [email protected] SOURCE Institute for Supply Management Related Links http://www.instituteforsupplymanagement.org BOSTON, Jan. 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Gawker Media has paid Dr. Shiva Ayyadurai a $750,000 settlement payment and later this month will permanently remove its libelous article about him, which denied Dr. Ayyadurai's invention of email. Victory over Gawker Media "This is a historic victory for truth," declared Dr. Ayyadurai. "Americans have no tolerance for fake news, lies or cyberbullying. A 14-year-old kid working in Newark, New Jersey in 1978 invented email. This settlement honors that innovation." There is no reasonable dispute that Dr. Ayyadurai is the inventor of email. The full press kit contains more than 20 testimonials from leading technology experts and numerous Ph.D.s. The press kit also includes two extensive research papers prepared by well-respected academic university professors and scientists explaining why Dr. Ayyadurai is the inventor of email, and how the few doubters are wrong. New Lawsuit against TechDirt.com On January 4, 2017, Dr. Ayyadurai filed a new lawsuit against TechDirt.com for defaming him in 14 different articles published from September 2014 through November 2016. Dr. Ayyadurai seeks a minimum of $15 million in damages in the new lawsuit. Dr. Shiva Ayyadurai Dr. Shiva Ayyadurai holds four degrees from MIT, including a Ph.D, and is a world-renowned systems scientist, inventor and entrepreneur. He is founder and CEO of multiple successful businesses including CytoSolve, Systems Health and EchoMail. He has published in major scientific journals such as IEEE, Nature Neuroscience and CELL's Biophysical Journal, and has authored ten books, including the just-released The Future of Email (General Interactive, LLC, Nov. 2016) which discusses the history of email, its present and its future. Dr. Ayyadurai is represented by attorneys Charles J. Harder of Harder Mirell & Abrams LLP in Los Angeles, California, and Timothy Cornell of Cornell Dolan, P.C. in Boston, Massachusetts. Full Press Kit: www.InventorOfEmail.com/PressKit SOURCE Harder Mirell & Abrams LLP Related Links http://www.InventorOfEmail.com TUKWILA, Wash., Jan. 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Genoa, a QoL Healthcare Company (Genoa), announced today the acquisition of Advanced Pharmacy Solutions (APS), based in Southaven, Mississippi. Through this addition, Genoa will expand its footprint throughout Mississippi, Tennessee, Arkansas, and South Carolina and serve an additional 50 clinics. This combination brings together two organizations specialized in the behavioral health and addiction treatment communities, built on bringing innovative solutions around medication utilization, adherence and other programs that improve consumer care and reduce costs in the system. Genoa is the nation's leading behavioral health pharmacy and telepsychiatry company, integrating pharmacists into the care team to improve outcomes and reduce costs. Genoa currently operates over 340 pharmacies nationally serving over ten million individuals with mental illnesses and addictions. Both companies have strong reputations for providing high-touch care and outstanding service to consumers, and true value to their partners. "Genoa and APS share a common mission of improving the lives of individuals living with mental illness, while providing solutions to our clinic partners who serve them," said John Figueroa, Genoa's chief executive officer. "This addition allows us to combine our expertise and best practices to better serve consumers and our partner mental health centers. We look forward to bringing even more value and innovative solutions to our partners and consumers." APS' chief executive officer Mark Bradford further explained why the combination is a fit. "Over the past seven years APS has worked to build a team that is passionate about and committed to serving the unique needs of patients with mental illness, Community Mental Health Centers, and behavioral health hospitals. During that time we've grown from caring for a few hundred patients in Mississippi to several thousand patients throughout the Mid-South and Southeast. We're pleased to be partnering with Genoa. Our core values are in alignment, and we share the same passion and commitment to patient care and client service. We're particularly excited to know our employees, patients, and clients will have access to more resources and cutting edge technology than ever before." This announcement comes on the heels of the release of a study published in the November issue of the Journal of Managed Care & Specialty Pharmacy, citing higher rates of medication adherence and lower rates of behavioral health-related hospitalizations and emergency department visits among CMHC patients utilizing Genoa on-site pharmacies compared to community pharmacies. "This peer-reviewed study validates Genoa's positive impact on patients' lives and reflects our team's commitment to working with our community mental health center partners to improve outcomes and reduce healthcare costs," commented Figueroa. "The APS acquisition allows Genoa to expand our reach to help more of the over 40 million Americans with mental illness." About Genoa, a QoL Healthcare Company Genoa has been serving the behavioral health community for over 15 years. The company provides pharmacy and telepsychiatry services to more than 500,000 individuals annually in 44 states and the District of Columbia, filling more than 10 million prescriptions per year. Genoa is the sixth largest drug chain in the United States with over 340 pharmacies located onsite within community mental health centers. About Advanced Pharmacy Solutions, LLC Advanced Pharmacy Solutions, LLC opened in 2003 for the purpose of helping people with mental illness find access to their therapy in a caring, respectful environment. Today, APS has helped over 50,000 clients and works with over 50 clinics throughout the South. For more information, please visit www.genoa-qol.com or contact the Public Relations/Marketing Department at: (651) 583-7099 or [email protected]. Contact: Melissa Odorzynski (952) 657-7481 [email protected] SOURCE Genoa Related Links http://www.genoa-qol.com DECATUR A 37-year-old Decatur man was arraigned Tuesday on three felony charges for allegedly threatening a woman with a butcher knife and holding her against her will. Police were sent to a house on the city's west side about 10 p.m. Dec. 26, on the report of a domestic violence incident, in which Antoine White pulled a knife on a woman, said a probable cause affidavit by Decatur patrol officer Eric Havens. The victim told police that White argued with her for several hours during that day. During the argument, Antoine used both the 5-inch and 10-inch knives to threaten her, by walking up to her and pointing the knives at her, Havens wrote in his statement. When the victim decided to withdraw from the argument, she sat on a bed. Antoine then used the 10-inch cleaver and placed the blade of the knife on (the victim's) right thigh as she was seated, she told police. He then asked her, Would you even bleed? There were two witnesses to that incident, Havens wrote in his statement. Officers found a 10-inch cleaver in the hall, outside the bedroom, a 10-inch knife beneath sheets on the bed and a 5-inch knife on the floor, at the foot of the bed. White was arrested that night and booked into the Macon County Jail, where he is being held without bond. He was arraigned Tuesday on felony counts of aggravated battery, domestic battery with a prior domestic battery conviction and unlawful restraint. White, who was trembling as he entered the courtroom wearing a jail jumpsuit, agreed to have Associate Judge Phoebe Bowers read the charges to him. The defendant threatened (the victim) with a knife and placed a cleaver against her leg, making her fear she could not move from the bed, Bowers read from the information sheet on the unlawful restraint count. White was found to be indigent and assigned an attorney from the public defender's office. He is due in court Jan. 18 for his preliminary hearing. A registered sexual predator, White was convicted in 2003 of felony indecent liberties with a child in Leavenworth County, Kan., for which he was sentenced to 47 months in prison. He was also previously charged in three domestic battery cases and one narcotics case in Kansas, as well as a narcotics case and a case of sex with a minor in San Diego County, Calif., according to court records. LAS VEGAS and LONDON, January 3, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- - Industrial/Professional sector set to be bolstered by the entrance of HP and expansion of GE into the space from 2017 and beyond Worldwide shipments of 3D Printers rose +25% year-to-date (YTD) through the first three quarters of 2016 thanks again to shipments of low priced Personal/Desktop 3D Printers, according to figures released today by CONTEXT, the IT market research company. Of the total 217,073 3D printers shipped year-to-date, 96% of these were Personal/Desktop printers, carrying an average price of just under $1,000. This represents a 27% year-on-year growth for this sub-category compared to a decline in shipments of -12% YTD in the Industrial/Professional segment which saw only 7,726 units shipped through the first three quarters of 2016. While the market is still largely defined by the shipment of Industrial/Professional printers - which accounted for 78% of the global revenues - the market is clearly settling into two distinctive segments. In the Desktop/Personal 3D Printer segment, Taiwan's XYZprinting remained the global leader so far in 2016, seeing its share grow to 22% through the first three quarters. This side of the market saw the exit by the #3 global overall player 3D Systems and the continued repositioning of the #1 global 3D Printer market Stratasys of its MakerBot line away from the lowest end. The market did not see the entrance of Mattel into the market as anticipated nor did it see other IT/CE household brands enter in 2016 with the exception of Polaroid. It did however again see successful Crowdsourced efforts and new brands such as Monoprice and Wanhao emerge on the global scene. "While Stratasys and 3D Systems continued to shift away from the mainstream Personal/Desktop 3D Printer market, other brands - especially XYZprinting, filled the void" noted Chris Connery, VP for Global Analysis at CONTEXT. "Demand continues to be seen for these devices across the globe as evidenced by rising shipments, the emergence of new brands and large crowdsourced start-ups continuing to come on the scene." Figure 1: Top 5 Vendor 3D Printer Market Share by Unit Volumes and Printer Revenues, Global Desktop/Personal Printers, YTD 2016 (Q1-Q3) Q1-Q3'16 Q1-Q3'16 YTD YTD YTD YTD 2016 Global 2016 Global Rank Q1-Q3'16 Share Rank Q1-Q3'16 Share Unit Printer Unit Units Company Units Units Revenue Company Revenue Revenues 1 XYZprinting 46,300 22% 1 Ultimaker $33.2M 14% 2 Ultimaker 17,999 9% 2 Stratasys/MakerBot $31.4M 13% 3 M3D 15,060 7% 3 XYZprinting $22.5M 9% 4 FlashForge 13,462 6% 4 Formlabs $22.3M 9% 5 Monoprice 13,023 6% 5 3D Systems $14.5M 6% The Industrial/Professional segment was marked by the official entrance of HP into the space but printers did not begin shipping until the end of the year. Their long-anticipated entrance actually contributed to a slowdown in the market as many end customers held off fully committing to additive manufacturing technology until more was known about the impact of HP's technology to the market. While the Industrial/Professional segment has, in general cooled off in the past few years, the shipment of additive manufacturing devices capable of printing in metal materials was one major bright spot within this category. This Metal side was not immune to market changes in recent quarters either however, with a slow-down seen in this sub-segment as well in the 2nd half as General Electric (GE) acquired two of the top five metal making 3D Printer companies (Arcam and Concept Laser). As seen on the Plastics side with the "HP effect" end-markets for metal 3D Printers likewise put their purchases on hold until the new GE Additive company is fully formed and the market has fully shaken out. Stratasys again enjoyed the top market share positon with a 35% share in Industrial/Professional 3D Printer Revenues YTD'Q3, followed by privately held EOS with a 19% share. Figure 3: Top 5 Vendor 3D Printer Market by Revenue from Machines shipped, Global Industrial/Professional 3D Printers, YTD 2016 (Q1-Q3) Revenues from Machines Q1-Q3'16 YTD YTD 2016 Rank Company Sold ($M) Global Share 1 Stratasys $ 305M 35% 2 EOS $ 163M 19% 3 3D Systems $ 86M 10% 4 SLM Solutions $ 49M 6% 5 Concept Laser $ 44M 5% Projections for the full year 2016 remain reserved for the Industrial/Professional market and bullish for the Desktop/Personal market, largely in-line with trends seen through the first three quarters. Forecasts turn more bullish in the Industrial/Professional sector in 2017 and beyond as the HP and GE ramp results in a return of growth; the Desktop/Personal market is expected to continue its unfettered growth. "Beyond just printer shipments" noted Connery, "the total 3D Printing market, consisting of Printers, Materials and Services, is projected to rise from under $5B in 2016 to $16B by 2020 mostly dependent on the industry's ability to move beyond prototyping and into finished good production not just with metals but with plastics as well." About CONTEXT "Headquartered in London with approximately 250 staff across the world, CONTEXT specialises in tracking technology sales and pricing globally. Supported by the largest Distribution Channel Database in the world and coupled with our extensive experience in managing and reporting on large data sets, we provide the highest quality data that has been helping our clients make business-critical decisions for over 30 years. CONTEXT also works with Government Statistical Services and key Trade Associations globally." SOURCE CONTEXT WASHINGTON, Jan. 3, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), representing U.S. leadership in semiconductor manufacturing, design, and research, today announced worldwide sales of semiconductors reached $31.0 billion for the month of November 2016, an increase of 7.4 percent compared to the November 2015 total of $28.9 billion and 2.0 percent more than the October 2016 total of 30.4 billion. November marked the market's largest year-to-year growth since January 2015. All monthly sales numbers are compiled by the World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS) organization and represent a three-month moving average. "Global semiconductor sales continued to pick up steam in November, increasing at the highest rate in almost two years and nearly pulling even with the year-to-date total from the same point in 2015," said John Neuffer, president and CEO, Semiconductor Industry Association. "The Chinese market continues to stand out, growing nearly 16 percent year-to-year to lead all regional markets. As 2016 draws to a close, the global semiconductor market appears likely to roughly match annual sales from 2015 and is well-positioned for a solid start to 2017." Month-to-month sales increased modestly across all regions: the Americas (3.3 percent), China (2.7 percent), Europe (2.5 percent), Asia Pacific/All Other (0.7 percent), and Japan (0.4 percent). Year-to-year sales increased in China (15.8 percent), Japan (8.2 percent), Asia Pacific/All Other (4.8 percent), and the Americas (3.2 percent), but fell slightly in Europe (-1.6 percent). To find out how to purchase the WSTS Subscription Package, which includes comprehensive monthly semiconductor sales data and detailed WSTS Forecasts, please visit http://www.semiconductors.org/industry_statistics/wsts_subscription_package/. For detailed data on the global and U.S. semiconductor industry and market, please consider purchasing the 2016 SIA Databook here: https://www.semiconductors.org/forms/sia_databook/. November 2016 Billions Month-to-Month Sales Market Last Month Current Month % Change Americas 6.06 6.26 3.3% Europe 2.82 2.89 2.5% Japan 2.89 2.90 0.4% China 9.78 10.04 2.7% Asia Pacific/All Other 8.88 8.94 0.7% Total 30.43 31.03 2.0% Year-to-Year Sales Market Last Year Current Month % Change Americas 6.07 6.26 3.2% Europe 2.93 2.89 -1.6% Japan 2.68 2.90 8.2% China 8.67 10.04 15.8% Asia Pacific/All Other 8.53 8.94 4.8% Total 28.88 31.03 7.4% Three-Month-Moving Average Sales Market Jun/Jul/Aug Sept/Oct/Nov % Change Americas 5.43 6.26 15.2% Europe 2.71 2.89 6.4% Japan 2.73 2.90 6.1% China 8.99 10.04 11.8% Asia Pacific/All Other 8.35 8.94 7.1% Total 28.22 31.03 10.0% Media Contact Dan Rosso Semiconductor Industry Association 202-446-1719 [email protected] About SIA The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) is the voice of the U.S. semiconductor industry, one of America's top export industries and a key driver of America's economic strength, national security, and global competitiveness. Semiconductors microchips that control all modern electronics enable the systems and products we use to work, communicate, travel, entertain, harness energy, treat illness, and make new scientific discoveries. The semiconductor industry directly employs nearly a quarter of a million people in the U.S. In 2015, U.S. semiconductor company sales totaled $166 billion, and semiconductors make the global trillion dollar electronics industry possible. SIA seeks to strengthen U.S. leadership of semiconductor manufacturing, design, and research by working with Congress, the Administration and other key industry stakeholders to encourage policies and regulations that fuel innovation, propel business and drive international competition. Learn more at www.semiconductors.org. About WSTS World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS) is an independent non-profit organization representing the vast majority of the world semiconductor industry. The mission of WSTS is to be the respected source of semiconductor market data and forecasts. Founded in 1986, WSTS is the singular source for monthly industry shipment statistics. SOURCE Semiconductor Industry Association Related Links http://www.semiconductors.org (Photo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/453724/Khalid_Alkelabi.jpg ) (Photo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/453725/Sean_Kearney.jpg ) Sean Kearney is a seasoned emerging markets banking professional with a 23-year career devoted to identifying and managing risk. His key responsibilities will include Operations team leadership, lead-managing the implementation of internal control framework enhancements, running regulatory processes and overseeing strategic change management. Prior to joining Greenstone, Mr. Kearney worked for a decade at UBS AG, in London and Dubai. In his last position with the firm, as Group COO, Middle East and North Africa (MENA), Mr. Kearney held the regulatory appointment of Senior Executive Officer (SEO) for the regional hub, UBS Dubai Branch, in which capacity he fostered and sustained excellent relations with the DFSA and the DIFC Senior Management team. He was also heavily involved in the management of relations with the many other financial regulators throughout the region with jurisdiction over UBS's offices or operations. Throughout his career at UBS, Mr. Kearney built an impressive track-record of successfully leading complex, multi-disciplinary, cross-divisional business development projects, across a diverse range of initiatives, in very challenging global emerging markets environments. Reflecting his academic and professional qualifications in law, he also dealt extensively with legal and compliance work and policy formulation, as well as with litigation and audit matters. Mr. Kearney holds a UK honors degree in Law and was called to the Bar by the Honorable Society of Lincoln's Inn. He also holds an MSc (with Distinction) in Air Safety Management from City, University of London. Alex Gemici, Chairman of Greenstone, stated, "Sean's wealth of experience and industry knowledge have already made him a key addition to Greenstone. We view his appointment as a sign of our commitment to being the leading fund placement firm in the Middle East. I'm confident that Sean will play an important role in providing and implementing high quality solutions for Greenstone." Khalid Alkelabi will be responsible for enhancing Greenstone's investor relationships as well as contributing to improving Greenstone's marketing capabilities. Prior to joining Greenstone, Mr. Alkelabi worked at AL FOZAN HOLDING GROUP, a Saudi Arabian conglomerate and family business office, as the Chief Administrative Officer where he had multiple responsibilities, including the creation and development of various business units. Prior to working at Al Fozan, Mr. Alkelabi worked for MBC GROUP, a regional media company, where he was appointed Country Marketing Manager in Saudi Arabia. Mr. Alkelabi was responsible for creating and maintaining relationships with local corporate clients. Between 2001-2007, Mr. Alkelabi worked for SAUDI ARABIAN MONETARY AGENCY (SAMA) - INSTITUTE OF BANKING as a Faculty Member, where he was responsible for preparing bankers in Saudi Arabia for the TADAWUL (Saudi Stock Exchange) system by training and certifying them to get their brokerage license. Mr. Alkelabi is a Saudi Arabian national and holds a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration from King Saud University in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Mr. Alkelabi also holds an MBA degree, MSIT degree and a Diploma in Data-Warehousing and Business Intelligence from Daniels College of Business at the University of Denver, Colorado, USA. Omar Al Gharabally, the President of Greenstone, stated, "We are very excited to welcome Khalid to our team at Greenstone. He brings years of experience dealing with the most demanding, sophisticated and discerning investors in the region. Not only will he bring a tighter focus and discipline to investor relationship development and management within our fund placement team, he will also be a great role model for our employees and a tremendous ambassador for the firm with investors who come into contact with him." Greenstone Equity Partners Greenstone is the largest fund placement firm in the Middle East, with a team of industry professionals fully dedicated to raising capital from MENA-based investors. Since its inception, Greenstone has raised $2.5 billion dollars for its clients across a variety of mandates and strategies and prides itself on fostering deeply rooted relationships with key institutional and family offices across the region to include corporate entities, family offices, ultra-high net worth individuals, financial institutions and sovereign wealth funds. Greenstone has built over 4,000 MENA investor relationships and works with investment managers across various asset classes including private equity, real estate, private debt financing and hedge funds in both primary and secondary placements. Greenstone's business growth success stems from its approach and commitment to providing institutional grade service to its clients with a concerted and relentless desire for excellence coupled with continual investment in operational development. SOURCE Greenstone Equity Partners Matlock comes to Heffernan with over 10 years of sales experience in technology and finance. He began his career at Wells Fargo holding various roles in business banking. Matlock also consulted for many companies, focusing on enhancing sales productivity with new technology and streamlined operations. This wide range of experience has cemented Matlock's expertise in fundraising, business finance, private equity, transportation, technology development, and start-ups. "I am excited to welcome Paul to our Heffernan North Bay team," said Liz Bishop, Managing Senior Vice President at Heffernan. "His background in finance sets the stage for helping CFOs hone their risk management strategies. His can do spirit, competitive nature, and positive attitude will help our clients develop winning strategies on their insurance programs." Paul looks forward to helping grow Heffernan's presence in Northern California while providing excellent service and innovative solutions to clients. Paul Matlock Assistant Vice President [email protected] direct: 707.789.3010 cell: 808.542.8200 About Heffernan Insurance Brokers Heffernan Insurance Brokers, formed in 1988, is one of the largest independent insurance brokerage firms in the United States. Heffernan provides insurance and financial services products to a range of businesses and individuals. Headquartered in Walnut Creek, Calif., Heffernan has offices in San Francisco, Petaluma, Menlo Park, Los Angeles and Orange County, CA; Portland, OR; and St. Louis, MO. Employee-owned, Heffernan Insurance Brokers was named the Top Mid-Sized Broker in the United States to work for in 2009 by Business Insurance Magazine. The firm has been among the Top Greater Bay Area Philanthropists since 2003, donating more than 13 percent of profits to charity in 2015. For more information, visit www.heffins.com. License #0564249 SOURCE Heffernan Insurance Brokers Related Links http://www.heffins.com The board of directors selected Lassiter as incoming CEO in 2014 as part of a planned transition. He served as a system president since December 2014 and has worked closely with the organization's leadership team on a comprehensive strategic planning effort resulting in some of Henry Ford's largest growth initiatives. This included successful mergers with HealthPLUS in Flint, Michigan and Allegiance Health in Jackson, Michigan. "I have been so proud to be part of Henry Ford, a vital and storied institution known on the world scale for its innovation and discovery," Lassiter said. "Henry Ford has an exceptional legacy of treating and serving the southeast Michigan community and beyond with superior care and value. I look forward to working with all employees to ensure our second 100-years are even better than our first 100." System board chair Sandra Pierce said Lassiter's talent and leadership were apparent from their first conversation. "During the past two years, our system board has had the pleasure to work with Wright and has found him to be a creative and compassionate leader with the right skills and experience to lead Henry Ford into our second century," said Pierce. "Wright engaged actively with our community from the start and has a deep passion for our city's history, culture and determination to rebound." "I believe that healthcare institutions should be true partners in their customers' health and wellbeing, and, that the right to a healthy life should be accessible to all," Lassiter said. "Under my leadership, we will continue to spread our roots deep in the community to improve the quality of life for all citizens." Prior to Henry Ford, Lassiter was CEO of the $865 million Alameda Health System in Oakland, California. He led Alameda through both an expansion and turnaround, resulting in nearly 10 years of positive financial performance and significant increases in patient safety and engagement that earned the system Top Performer Status by The Joint Commission. He also has more than 25 years of experience with large, complex health systems, including Methodist Health System in Dallas, and JPS Health Network in Fort Worth, Texas. Lassiter's work has earned him several national recognitions, including Modern Healthcare's "100 Most Influential People in Healthcare in 2016" and the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Disparities Solutions' "Top Blacks in U.S. Healthcare" in 2014. Lassiter currently serves on several boards, including the American Hospital Association, America's Essential Hospitals, and the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago Detroit Branch. He received his master's degree in healthcare administration from Indiana University and bachelor's degree in chemistry from LeMoyne College in Syracuse. Lassiter is a native of Tuskegee, Alabama. About Henry Ford Health System and Henry Ford Health System Innovations Henry Ford Health System is a six-hospital system headquartered in Detroit, Michigan. It is one of the nation's leading comprehensive, integrated health systems, recognized for clinical excellence and innovation. Henry Ford Health System provides both health insurance and health care delivery, including acute, specialty, primary and preventive care services backed by excellence in research and education. The system is a 2011 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award recipient. Visit HenryFord.com to learn more. Established in 2011, Henry Ford Health System Innovations engineers the future of healthcare through identifying and commercializing the health system's technologies and know-how. Its main arms include Research and Education, Technology Management, Corporate Innovation, and International Programs. To learn more, visit HenryFord.com/Innovations . SOURCE Henry Ford Health System Related Links http://www.henryford.com BATESVILLE, Ind., Jan. 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Hillenbrand, Inc. (NYSE: HI) President and Chief Executive Officer Joe Raver will be presenting at the 17th Annual CJS Securities "New Ideas for the New Year" Investor Conference, on Wednesday, January 11, 2017 in New York City, NY. Raver will provide an overview of the company and discuss its strategies for growth. The presentation will be archived on the company's website: http://ir.hillenbrand.com/investor-relations. Also attending the conference for Hillenbrand will be Kristina Cerniglia, Chief Financial Officer, and Chris Gordon, Director Investor Relations. About Hillenbrand Hillenbrand (www.hillenbrand.com) is a global diversified industrial company with multiple market-leading brands that serve a wide variety of industries across the globe. We pursue profitable growth and robust cash generation in order to drive increased value for our shareholders. Hillenbrand's portfolio is composed of two business segments: the Process Equipment Group and Batesville. The Process Equipment Group businesses design, develop, manufacture and service highly engineered industrial equipment around the world. Batesville is a recognized leader in the North American death care industry. Hillenbrand is publicly traded on the NYSE under "HI". SOURCE Hillenbrand, Inc. Related Links http://www.hillenbrand.com AUSTIN, Minn., Jan. 3, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE:HRL) today announced it has completed the sale of Clougherty Packing, LLC, owner of the Farmer John and Saag's brands, along with PFFJ, LLC farm operations in California, Arizona, and Wyoming to Smithfield Foods, Inc. The purchase price was $145 million in cash, adjusted for working capital. Farmer John harvests approximately 7,400 hogs per day and, in fiscal 2016, the businesses accounted for approximately $500 million in sales and earnings per share of approximately 3 cents. About Hormel Foods Inspired People. Inspired Food. Hormel Foods Corporation, based in Austin, Minn., is a global branded food company with over $9 billion in annual revenues across 75 countries worldwide. Its brands include SKIPPY, SPAM, Hormel Natural Choice, Applegate, Justin's, Wholly Guacamole, Hormel Black Label and more than 30 other beloved brands. The company is a member of the S&P 500 Index and the S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats, was named one of "The 100 Best Corporate Citizens" by Corporate Responsibility Magazine for the eighth year in a row, and has received numerous other awards and accolades for its corporate responsibility and community service efforts. In 2016, the company celebrated its 125th anniversary and announced its new vision for the future - Inspired People. Inspired Food. - focusing on its legacy of innovation. For more information, visit www.hormelfoods.com and http://2015csr.hormelfoods.com/. FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS This news release contains forward-looking information based on management's current views and assumptions. Actual events may differ materially. Factors that may affect actual results include, but are not limited to: whether and when the required regulatory approvals will be obtained, whether and when the closing conditions will be satisfied, and whether and when the transaction will close. Topics: Company, Financial Contact: Rick Williamson 507-437-5345 [email protected] SOURCE Hormel Foods Corporation Related Links http://www.hormel.com NEWTON, Mass., Jan. 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Attivio announced today that they achieved the Hortonworks industry certification for Financial Services. Attivio was previously certified on the Hortonworks Data Platform (HDP), and earned three additional product integration badges for governance, security, and YARN. With this certification, enterprises in financial services can increase the agility of their Big Data initiatives by combining HDP with Attivio's capabilities in aggregating and correlating structured and unstructured information. The Attivio Semantic Data Catalog enables organizations to find, unify, and act on the information stored in HDP. The Attivio Platform provides a single infrastructure for provisioning data to information-intensive applications. "This new industry certification demonstrates Attivio's leadership in Hadoop-based Big Data solutions for the financial services industry," said Stephen Baker, Attivio CEO. "This integration with Hortonworks offers organizations with strict regulatory requirements the security and governance they require, while also providing a single foundation for reuse of data structured and unstructured so they can offer risk and compliance solutions at scale." Big Data and Governance, Risk, and Compliance Solutions Attivio has a solid track record of delivering Big Data solutions for financial services customers so their risk and compliance initiatives are more scalable, reliable, and efficient. Data-intensive solutions such as eCommunications Surveillance, Anti-Money Laundering, and Know Your Customer rely on a flexible, scalable platform for data storage and the agility to unify disparate data sources across silos. Attivio will showcase the value of an agile data infrastructure for governance, risk, and compliance applications in a live webinar on January 11th at 2pm ET, Solving Compliance Complexity. About Attivio Attivio provides software that empowers its customers to get their hands on the right data and to work with it to quickly get it to the point of informing decisions. Attivio releases the untapped value within enterprise information ecosystems. Many of the world's leading brands rely on Attivio to gain immediate visibility into all of their information, not just the data sitting in known databases. Attivio's data obsession means that customers don't just manage their data; they achieve true Data Dexterity to crush deadlines, transform productivity, achieve global impact, and act with certainty. For more information, please visit www.attivio.com. Hortonworks and HDP are registered trademarks or trademarks of Hortonworks, Inc. in the United States and other countries. Media Contact Jane Zupan [email protected] SOURCE Attivio HOUSTON, Texas, Jan. 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Houston American Energy Corp. (NYSE MKT: HUSA) today announced that it has entered into a Participation Agreement with Founders Oil & Gas III, LLC ("Founders") pursuant to which Houston American will acquire from Founders a 25% working interest in two lease blocks covering approximately 800 acres in Reeves County, Texas. The purchase price for the interest is $5,500 per net mineral acre, or a total of $1.1 million. Founders will serve as operator of the acreage with drilling of an initial well expected to commence by July 1, 2017 targeting potential resources in the Delaware Basin (which is a sub-basin of the Permian Basin) located in west Texas. John P. Boylan, CEO and President of Houston American stated, "After evaluating numerous opportunities over the past year, we are excited to have identified and agreed to participate in this Delaware Basin prospect and to develop a long term relationship with Founders. We expect to initially target the Wolfcamp shale and Bone Springs formations, commonly referred to as the WolfBone play." The transaction is expected to close during mid-January 2017, subject to customary closing conditions, including Houston American's ability to secure necessary financing. About Houston American Energy Corp. Based in Houston, Texas, Houston American Energy Corp. is a publicly-traded independent energy company with interests in oil and natural gas wells, minerals and prospects. The Company's business strategy includes a property mix of producing and non-producing assets with a focus on Texas, Louisiana and Colombia. Forward-Looking Statements The information in this release includes certain forward-looking statements that are based on assumptions that in the future may prove not to have been accurate, including statements regarding the Houston American's ability to secure necessary financing to complete the acquisition, the timing of commencement of drilling operations and the ultimate results of drilling operations. Those statements, and Houston American Energy Corp., are subject to a number of risks, including the potential inability to secure financing to satisfy the closing conditions and to fund Houston American's share of drilling costs, timing of drilling operations and ultimate drilling results, potential changes in price based on operations and fluctuations in energy prices, changes in market conditions, effects of government regulation and other factors. These and other risks are described in the company's documents and reports that are available from the company and the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. For additional information, view the company's website at www.houstonamericanenergy.com or contact the Houston American Energy Corp. at (713) 222-6966. SOURCE Houston American Energy Corp. Related Links http://www.houstonamericanenergy.com IGT currently provides over 70 percent of printing for the Idaho Lottery's Scratch Games TM , resulting in responsible, incremental sales growth year after year. Together, IGT and the Idaho Lottery have worked closely to deliver a portfolio of games with fun, new play styles to benefit the people of Idaho. In 2016, the Idaho Lottery broke records, returning $49.5 million to Idaho public schools and the Permanent Building Fund, a 10 percent increase from 2015. "The Idaho Lottery has a positive and productive relationship with IGT for the development and delivery of Idaho Scratch Games. We are pleased to continue this partnership," said Jeff Anderson, Idaho Lottery Director. "IGT's lottery industry expertise and leadership, along with their ability to develop new and innovative products, has helped us deliver a portfolio that produces an appealing mix of games for our players and benefits for the people of Idaho." "IGT values the opportunity to continue collaborating with the Idaho Lottery," said Michael Chambrello, IGT Chief Executive Officer, North America Lottery. "Together we will work to deliver pioneering games and solutions to Idaho Lottery players which drive sales and maximize funds generated for Idaho's good causes." About IGT IGT (NYSE:IGT) is the global leader in gaming. We enable players to experience their favorite games across all channels and regulated segments, from Gaming Machines and Lotteries to Interactive and Social Gaming. Leveraging a wealth of premium content, substantial investment in innovation, in-depth customer intelligence, operational expertise and leading-edge technology, our gaming solutions anticipate the demands of consumers wherever they decide to play. We have a well-established local presence and relationships with governments and regulators in more than 100 countries around the world, and create value by adhering to the highest standards of service, integrity, and responsibility. IGT has over 12,000 employees. For more information, please visit www.IGT.com. Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This news release may contain forward-looking statements (including within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995) concerning International Game Technology PLC and other matters. These statements may discuss goals, intentions and expectations as to future plans, trends, events, dividends, results of operations or financial condition, or otherwise, based on current beliefs of the management of International Game Technology PLC as well as assumptions made by, and information currently available to, such management. Forward-looking statements may be accompanied by words such as "aim," "anticipate," "believe," "plan," "could," "would," "should," "shall," "continue," "estimate," "expect," "forecast," "future," "guidance," "intend," "may," "will," "possible," "potential," "predict," "project" or the negative or other variations of them. These forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties, many of which are outside International Game Technology PLC's control. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should any of the underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may differ materially from those predicted in the forward-looking statements and from past results, performance or achievements. Therefore, you should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements include (but are not limited to) the possibility that the businesses of International Game Technology (Nevada) and GTECH S.p.A. will not be integrated successfully, or that the combined companies will not realize estimated cost savings, synergies, growth or other anticipated benefits or that such benefits may take longer to realize than expected; unanticipated costs of integration of International Game Technology (Nevada) and GTECH S.p.A.; the possibility that International Game Technology PLC will be unable to pay future dividends to shareholders or that the amount of such dividends may be less than anticipated; the possibility that International Game Technology PLC may not obtain its anticipated financial results in one or more future periods; reductions in customer spending; a slowdown in customer payments and changes in customer demand for products and services as a result of changing economic conditions or otherwise; unanticipated changes relating to competitive factors in the industries in which International Game Technology PLC operates; International Game Technology PLC's ability to hire and retain key personnel; the impact of the consummation of the business combination on relationships with third parties, including customers, employees and competitors; International Game Technology PLC's ability to attract new customers and retain existing customers in the manner anticipated; reliance on and integration of information technology systems; changes in legislation or governmental regulations affecting International Game Technology PLC, including as a consequence of the announced withdrawal of the U.K. from the EU; international, national or local economic, social or political conditions that could adversely affect International Game Technology PLC or its customers; conditions in the credit markets; changes in the top management team; risks associated with assumptions International Game Technology PLC makes in connection with its critical accounting estimates; the resolution of pending and potential future legal, regulatory or tax proceedings and investigations; and International Game Technology PLC's international operations, which are subject to the risks of currency fluctuations and foreign exchange controls. The foregoing list of factors is not exhaustive. You should carefully consider the foregoing factors and the other risks and uncertainties that affect International Game Technology PLC's business, including those described in International Game Technology PLC's annual report on Form 20-F for the financial year ended December 31, 2015 and other documents filed from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"), which are available on the SEC website at www.sec.gov and on the investor relations section of International Game Technology PLC's website at www.IGT.com. Except as required under applicable law, International Game Technology PLC does not assume any obligation to update the forward-looking statements. Nothing in this news release is intended, or is to be construed, as a profit forecast or to be interpreted to mean that earnings per International Game Technology PLC share for the current or any future financial years will necessarily match or exceed the historical published earnings per International Game Technology PLC share, as applicable. All forward-looking statements contained in this news release are qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. All subsequent written or oral forward-looking statements attributable to International Game Technology PLC, or persons acting on its behalf, are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. Contact: Robert K. Vincent, Corporate Communications, toll free in U.S./Canada (844) IGT-7452; outside U.S./Canada (401) 392-7452 James Hurley, Investor Relations, (401) 392-7190 Simone Cantagallo, (+39) 06 51899030; for Italian media inquiries SOURCE IGT Related Links http://www.IGT.com DECATUR A memorial service will be held for Richland Community College political science professor Larry Klugman, who died Dec. 27. The service will be 2 p.m. Friday, Jan. 6 in the Shilling Community Education Center at Richland. Klugman, 74, was a founding faculty member of Richland and professor of political science. The service will be streamed online. For more information, go to www.richland.edu. MIAMI, Jan. 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- IMTC, the premier events of the International Money Transfer & Payments Industry, has announced today that its first remittance & migration conference of 2017 will be held in Antigua, Guatemala at the Porta Hotel. IMTC LATAM 2017 will be its first conference in Central America and will draw attendees from the Americas & Europe. Remittances to Guatemala will surpass US 7 Billion for 2016, an all-time high. Remittances to Guatemala have grown steadily since 2010 with an average growth of 6% per year, outperforming most of the countries in the region. But also El Salvador, Honduras and even Mexico has seen remittances grow in 2016, all of them reaching all-time highs. Remittances to Honduras are expected to reach 4 billion while El Salvador could reach 4.5 B when year-end statistics are published. Higher incomes in the US and Trump fears are cited as reasons for the increases. The main objective of this event is to explore the remittance market in the region, learn what bank and non-bank institutions are doing to serve the families of migrants, the financial inclusion efforts, the technological innovations that are slowly reaching this market as well as the migration-related laws and regulations implemented in several countries (anti-coyote laws) and the humane treatment of migrant minors. Hugo Cuevas-Mohr, Director at IMTC, states: "Now that migration & remittances are at the center of the political debates in Europe & the US, it is important for the industry to work together with the civil society, regulators & politicians. The importance of remittances to every country in the region is enormous and we must work together to defend the right of migrants to help their families back home. The industry has always been part of the solution." Mr. Cuevas-Mohr will be visiting Guatemala on January 15-18 to meet with representatives from the industry, the government and the media to increase awareness on the coming event and discuss agenda topics with potential speakers and panelists. IMTC (http://imtconferences.com/) organizes IMTC WORLD in Miami Beach, the largest industry gathering in the world, IMTC USA in San Francisco (June), IMTC EMEA in Madrid (April) and IMTC AFRICA in Nairobi, Kenya (September). Information Claudia Avila ([email protected]) +1 3057420759 + SOURCE IMTC Related Links http://imtconferences.com (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130122/589162 ) Following the release, the leadership team will be part of a common television interaction at 10:00 a.m. IST. The participating executives will address questions from the media during this interaction which will be streamed live on the Investor Relations section of the Infosys website. An archive of this event will be uploaded on www.infosys.com after 2:00 p.m. IST on January 13, 2017 (after 3:30 a.m. US ET on January 13, 2017). Earnings call I (11:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. IST; 1:00 a.m. - 2:00 a.m. ET) The company will conduct a 60 minute conference call at 11:30 a.m. IST (1:00 a.m. US ET; 10:00 p.m. PST on January 12, 2017; 6:00 a.m. London time; 2:00 p.m. Singapore/Hong Kong time) on January 13, 2017 (open to investors / analysts in all regions), where the senior management will discuss the company's performance and answer questions from participants. To participate in the conference call, please dial the numbers provided below 10 - 15 minutes before the scheduled start time of the call. During this time, the operator will provide instructions on how to ask questions. As participation in the call is limited, early registration (by calling the numbers 10 - 15 minutes before the scheduled start time) is encouraged. This event will be webcast live on the Investor Relations section of the Infosys website, following which it will be archived at www.infosys.com. The archive will be available after 3:30 p.m. IST on January 13, 2017 (after 5:00 a.m. US ET on January 13, 2017). In addition, a transcript of the conference call will be available at www.infosys.com. Earnings call II (7:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. IST; 8:30 a.m. - 09:30 a.m. ET) The company will also conduct a 60 minute conference call at 8:30 a.m. US ET (7:00 p.m. IST; 5:30 a.m. PST; 1:30 p.m. London time; 9:30 p.m. Singapore/Hong Kong time) on January 13, 2017 (open to investors/analysts in all regions), where the senior management will discuss the company's performance and answer questions from participants. To participate in the conference call, please dial the numbers provided below 10 - 15 minutes before the scheduled start time of the call. During this time, the operator will provide instructions on how to ask questions. As participation in the call is limited, early registration (by calling the numbers 10 - 15 minutes before the scheduled start time) is encouraged. This event will be webcast live on the Investor Relations section of the Infosys website and an archive can be accessed at www.infosys.com after 11:30 a.m. ET on January 13, 2017 (after 10:00 p.m. IST on January 13, 2017). A transcript of the conference call will be available at www.infosys.com. Summary of events Event Earnings release over the wire services Date and Time 8.45 a.m. January 13, 2017 (IST) 10:15 p.m. January 12, 2017(ET) Web-site/Channel - http://www.infosys.com Event Live broadcast of management's comments on the results Date and Time 10:00 a.m. January 13, 2017 (IST) Web-site/Channel - Business television channels Event Archived webcast of management's comment on the results Date and Time 2:00 p.m. January 13, 2017 (IST) 3:30 a.m. January 13, 2017 (IST) Web-site/Channel - http://www.infosys.com Event Earnings conference call I (open to questions for investors/analysts in all regions) Date and Time 11:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. January 13, 2017 (IST) 1:00 a.m. - 2:00 a.m. January 13, 2017 (IST) Questions during the call can be addressed to [email protected] Web-site/Channel - http://www.infosys.com Telephone/Fax No. India Toll, Mumbai: 022 6746 5898 022 3938 1098 Toll, Bangalore: 080 3940 3977 Singapore Toll-free: 800 101 2045 Toll-number: +65 3157 5746 Hong Kong Toll-free: 800 964 448 Toll-number: +852 3018 6877 Japan Toll-free: 0 053 116 1110 Toll-number: +81 3 4589 9421 UK Toll-free: 0 808 101 1573 Toll-number: +44 203 478 5524 Germany Toll-free: 00 8001 424 3444 Canada Toll- free: 011 8001 424 3444 France Toll-free: 0 800 914 745 US Toll-free: 1 866 746 2133 Toll-number: +1 323 386 8721 Event Replay of conference call Date and Time Till January 19, 2017 Web-site/Channel - http://www.infosys.com Telephone/Fax No. Toll-free: USA 1 855 436 0715 US International toll: +1 863 949 0105 Toll, Mumbai: 022 6181 3322 022 3065 2322 Toll, Bangalore: 080 3940 3988 Passcode:4636# Event Earnings conference call II (open to questions for investors/analysts in all regions) Date and Time 7:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. January 13, 2017 (IST) 8:30 a.m. - 9:30 a.m. January 13, 2017 (IST) Questions during the call can be addressed to [email protected] Web-site/Channel - http://www.infosys.com India Toll, Mumbai: 022 6746 5898 022 3938 1098 Toll, Bangalore: 080 6000 1221 080 3940 3977 Singapore Toll-free: 800 101 2045 Toll- number: +65 3157 5746 Hong Kong Toll-free: 800 964 448 Toll- number: +852 3018 6877 Japan Toll-free: 0 053 116 1110 Toll- number: +81 3 4589 9421 UK Toll-free: 0 808 101 1573 Toll-number: +44 203 478 5524 Germany Toll-free: 00 8001 424 3444 Canada Toll free: 011 8001 424 3444 France Toll-free: 0 800 914 745 US Toll-free: 1 866 746 2133 Toll-number: +1 323 386 8721 Event Replay of conference call Date and Time Till January19, 2017 Web-site/Channel - http://www.infosys.com Telephone/Fax No. Toll-free: USA 1 855 436 0715 International toll: +1 863 949 0105 Toll, Mumbai: 022 6181 3322 022 3065 2322 Toll, Bangalore: 080 3940 3988 Passcode:4637# About Infosys Ltd. Infosys is a global leader in technology services and consulting. We enable clients in more than 50 countries to create and execute strategies for their digital transformation. From engineering to application development, knowledge management and business process management, we help our clients find the right problems to solve, and to solve these effectively. Our team of 199,000+ innovators, across the globe, is differentiated by the imagination, knowledge and experience, across industries and technologies that we bring to every project we undertake. Visit www.infosys.com to see how Infosys (NYSE: INFY) can help your enterprise thrive in the digital age. Safe Harbor Certain statements in this release concerning our future growth prospects are forward-looking statements regarding our future business expectations intended to qualify for the 'safe harbor' under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, which involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in such forward-looking statements. The risks and uncertainties relating to these statements include, but are not limited to, risks and uncertainties regarding fluctuations in earnings, fluctuations in foreign exchange rates, our ability to manage growth, intense competition in IT services including those factors which may affect our cost advantage, wage increases in India, our ability to attract and retain highly skilled professionals, time and cost overruns on fixed-price, fixed-time frame contracts, client concentration, restrictions on immigration, industry segment concentration, our ability to manage our international operations, reduced demand for technology in our key focus areas, disruptions in telecommunication networks or system failures, our ability to successfully complete and integrate potential acquisitions, liability for damages on our service contracts, the success of the companies in which Infosys has made strategic investments, withdrawal or expiration of governmental fiscal incentives, political instability and regional conflicts, legal restrictions on raising capital or acquiring companies outside India, and unauthorized use of our intellectual property and general economic conditions affecting our industry. Additional risks that could affect our future operating results are more fully described in our United States Securities and Exchange Commission filings including our Annual Report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2016. These filings are available at www.sec.gov. Infosys may, from time to time, make additional written and oral forward-looking statements, including statements contained in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission and our reports to shareholders. In addition, please note that the date of this press release is mentioned at the beginning of the release, and any forward-looking statements contained herein are based on assumptions that we believe to be reasonable as of this date. The company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements that may be made from time to time by or on behalf of the company unless it is required by law. Contact Investor Relations Sandeep Mahindroo +91-80-3980-1018 [email protected] Media Relations Sarah Vanita Gideon +91-80-4156-3998 [email protected] Pete Daly +1-857-600-6839 [email protected] SOURCE Infosys (Logo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/452308/PRNE_TrianzUpdated_Logo.jpg ) Speaking on this recognition, Chris Mullaney, Director - Information Security at Trianz, said, "Businesses tend to disable information access to their employees to reduce threats by eliminating access points, restricting device usage, limiting application development and deployment, and denying third party services in support of business programs. This sets an organizational 'Culture of No'." Our security consulting services are, however, focused on helping clients foster the 'Culture of Yes' by implementing a governance program that is in line with clients' business goals and objectives, current security posture, risk analysis, risk management profile, architectures supported and technology strategy." Trianz has an experienced Security Practice team with an exceptional execution capability in assessments, architectures, implementation, analytics and operations. Trianz strongly believes that information security is key to roll out applications and manage business transactions, and that security is not an impediment. Prashant Bhavaraju, Director - Marketing at Trianz, expressed, "We are pleased to have this recognition from the Insights Success magazine. I believe that this is a great validation for our capabilities in implementing security strategies for our global clients." 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. Contact Prashant Bhavaraju Director, Marketing +1-408-387-5800 http://www.trianz.com [email protected] SOURCE Trianz CLEVELAND, Jan. 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Dr. Mahmoud Ghannoum, the scientist who named the "Mycobiome" after discovering how bacteria and fungus work together to affect digestive health, will be taking an operative role with leading health initiatives and medical journals as his research continues to underscore the critical role fungus plays in overall health and wellness. Within the past two months Dr. Ghannoum has been invited to serve on the editorial board of the National Institute of Health's (NIH) Journal of Gastroenterology. He has also been invited to present at the Functional Foods Center's 21st International Conference and Expo (March 2017) as well as the NIH's workshop on "the Human Microbiome: Emerging Themes at the Horizon of the 21st Century," (August 2017). "In some respects, the role of the fungus in the human biota has been the ignored gorilla in the room," stated Dr. Ghannoum. "The goal with my research is to force the scientific community to look more seriously at fungus as a critical instrument in health and wellness." Important research highlights from Dr. Ghannoum's recent presentation to the NIH on the role of fungus in digestive system include the following: Historically, fungi were considered passive colonizers of the microbial community. Recent profiling of the Mycobiome is providing a new perspective showing that: Fungi have a complex multifaceted role in humans and are active participants in directly influencing health and wellness Fungi cooperate with bacteria It is not bacteria or fungi alone. They work together. The gut is colonized with 10 fungal species dominated by C. tropicalis (65%) Fungi and NOT bacteria is responsible for aggravating digestive health issues Soon, Dr. Ghannoum's research will not be limited to the medical community. He has been working on the next generation of probiotics called BIOHM. BIOHM, is a tri-action probiotic that combines good bacteria, good fungus and powerful enzymes to neutralize the newly discovered gut biofilm that disrupts the balance of the gut's microbiome. BIOHM will launch online early in 2017. Dr. Ghannoum, Ph.D., MBA, FIDSA, joined Case Western Reserve University and University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center in 1996 from his prior position at the UCLA School of Medicine. As the acclaimed scientist who named the Mycobiome, Dr. Ghannoum has spent his entire academic career studying medically important fungi. He has published more than 400 peer-reviewed articles and has been cited over 16,000 times by other scientists, with coverage in CBS News, Forbes, Scientific American, USA Today, ABC News. Dr. Ghannoum lectures to the National Institute of Health (NIH) and has been a NIH-funded researcher since 1993 with over $25 million in funding to date. Media Contact: BLAZE PR / Matt Kovacs [email protected] 310-395-5050 SOURCE Dr. Mahmoud Ghannoum PITTSBURGH, Jan. 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- JazzHR, the leading recruiting solution for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), today announced it has been awarded two industry honors for top SMB recruiting services. The honors include the 2016 Brandon Hall Group Gold award for "Best Advance in Talent Acquisition Technology for Small and Medium-Sized Businesses," as well as the 2016 Best in Biz Gold award for "Small and Medium Business Service of the Year." Both industry accolades affirm the company's SMB recruiting leadership position, and recognize JazzHR's recruiting platform for helping businesses improve their recruiting results through a powerful and affordable solution that simplifies and automates time-consuming, manual hiring processes. Successfully attracting and hiring high performance candidates is a common challenge for companies. This is especially true for small businesses lacking the resources and manpower of larger organizations. JazzHR's recruiting solution has three primary focal points: Streamlined hiring activities, exceptional candidate experience and improved results for both who and how a company hires. "These awards are significant as they highlight our continued commitment to providing SMBs with the tools they need to exceed their recruiting goals," says Don Charlton, founder and CPO of JazzHR. "Hiring shouldn't be painful. With JazzHR's suite of timesaving features, SMBs reclaim their hiring process and focus on what really matterspeople." JazzHR was selected as a Brandon Hall Group honoree by a panel of senior industry analysts and executives based on competitive differentiators, market challenges solved and end-user results. The sixth annual Best in Biz honors were presented in 60 total categories, with winners from an array of industries and geographic regions determined by an independent panel of 50 judges. To learn more about JazzHR, or to conduct a live demo and free trial, please visit www.jazzhr.com or contact [email protected]. ABOUT JAZZHR JazzHR is powerful, user-friendly, and affordable recruiting software that is purpose-built to help growing SMBs exceed their recruiting goals. JazzHR's groundbreaking software replaces time-consuming, manual hiring processes with intuitive hiring tools that help recruiters and hiring managers build an effective recruiting process that results in great hires. To learn more about JazzHR, visit www.jazzhr.com or follow us at twitter.com/JazzDotCo. SOURCE JazzHR Related Links http://jazzhr.com BOSTON, Jan. 3, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The ten John Hancock closed-end funds listed below announced today that the Board of Trustees of the funds appointed Hassell H. McClellan to serve as Chairperson of the Board, effective January 1, 2017. Mr. McClellan succeeds James M. Oates, who will continue to serve as a Trustee. In addition, the following changes to committee composition have been made: (i) Grace K. Fey has joined the Compliance Committee as Chairperson, succeeding Mr. McClellan, who is no longer a member of the Committee; (ii) Mr. Oates has joined the Contracts, Legal, & Risk Committee; and (iii) Mr. Oates has joined an Investment Sub-Committee as Chairperson, succeeding Ms. Fey. Each fund's proxy statement for the Joint Annual Meeting of Shareholders ("Annual Meeting") has been supplemented to reflect these changes. The Annual Meeting will be held on January 24, 2017, at 2:00 p.m., Eastern Time, at the offices of the funds, 601 Congress Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02210. John Hancock Closed-End Funds John Hancock Financial Opportunities Fund (NYSE: BTO) John Hancock Hedged Equity & Income Fund (NYSE: HEQ) John Hancock Income Securities Trust (NYSE: JHS) John Hancock Investors Trust (NYSE: JHI) John Hancock Preferred Income Fund (NYSE: HPI) John Hancock Preferred Income Fund II (NYSE: HPF) John Hancock Preferred Income Fund III (NYSE: HPS) John Hancock Premium Dividend Fund (NYSE: PDT) John Hancock Tax-Advantaged Dividend Income Fund (NYSE: HTD) John Hancock Tax-Advantaged Global Shareholder Yield Fund (NYSE: HTY) Statements in this press release that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements as defined by the United States securities laws. You should exercise caution in interpreting and relying on forward-looking statements because they are subject to uncertainties and other factors which are, in some cases, beyond a fund's control and could cause actual results to differ materially from those set forth in the forward-looking statements. An investor should consider each fund's investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses carefully before investing. About John Hancock Investments John Hancock Investments provides asset management services to individuals and institutions through a unique manager-of-managers approach. A wealth management business of John Hancock Financial, we managed more than $136 billion in assets as of September 30, 2016, across mutual funds, college savings plans, and retirement plans. About John Hancock Financial and Manulife Financial John Hancock Financial is a division of Manulife Financial, a leading Canada-based financial services group with principal operations in Asia, Canada and the United States. Operating as Manulife Financial in Canada and Asia, and primarily as John Hancock in the United States, the Company offers clients a diverse range of financial protection products and wealth management services through its extensive network of employees, agents and distribution partners. Funds under management by Manulife Financial and its subsidiaries were C$966 billion (US$736 billion) as of September 30, 2016. Manulife Financial Corporation trades as 'MFC' on the TSX, NYSE and PSE, and under '945' on the SEHK. Manulife Financial can be found on the Internet at manulife.com. The John Hancock unit, through its insurance companies, comprises one of the largest life insurers in the United States. John Hancock offers and administers a broad range of financial products, including life insurance, annuities, fixed products, mutual funds, 401(k) plans, college savings, and other forms of business insurance. Additional information about John Hancock may be found at johnhancock.com. SOURCE John Hancock Investments Related Links http://www.johnhancock.com BELLEVUE, Wash., Jan. 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- K2 Software today announced the launch of its global partner program, K2 Ascend Partner Program. The program solidifies K2 as a channel-focused and channel-friendly company with a program that will bolster partner bottom lines and help customers rapidly foster digital transformation within their businesses through low-code application development. "We are excited about the momentum and energy in the partner ecosystem over the past year. As we wrap up a record revenue year, we are looking forward to launching an updated partner program for 2017 to enable our partners' success in anticipation of the release of great new products in 2017," said Adriaan van Wyk, CEO, K2. "While we continue to provide innovative low-code solutions to drive much- needed business transformation and digitization in the market, it will be our partners that help us scale and ensure our customers are successful. This program will ensure they are set up to prosper at every turn." K2 Ascend Partner Program, which officially went live Jan. 1, is built on three essential pillars: Transparency: Proactive and preemptive communication to create simple transactions, clear requirements and specific measurements. Proactive and preemptive communication to create simple transactions, clear requirements and specific measurements. Enablement: Tools to help partners build skills and promote offerings to achieve the highest level of customer success. Tools to help partners build skills and promote offerings to achieve the highest level of customer success. Profitability: Opportunity registration designed to protect partners and provide incentives as fuel for future growth. "Since K2 brought me on in May, I've made it my mission to listen to our partners and apply their feedback to create a program that partners want to invest in," said Tom Evans, vice president of Global Channel Sales, K2. "The K2 Ascend Partner Program will provide our partners with greater customization, training, certifications and incentives that significantly benefit our varied partner needs." Through the launch of the K2 Ascend Partner Program, K2 will provide its channel partners with improved benefits in several key areas, including multiple partner levels that are customized to specific partner needs, opportunity registration for financial incentives, knowledge-building opportunities to enhance the partner and customer experience, and customizable toolsets to strengthen partner communication. "Avanade is excited about K2's new channel program and looks forward to jointly helping clients digitize their businesses with these innovative capabilities," said Tom Hoglund, vice president Digital Workplace, Avanade. Information about the K2 Ascend Partner Program is available on K2's website. Partners are encouraged to contact K2 via [email protected] to get more information about converting to or joining the program. ABOUT K2: With K2's business process application platform, organizations can use visual designers to rapidly build and deploy low-code applications that are agile, scalable and reusable, resulting in modern processes that quickly and easily connect people, data, decisions and systems. K2 delivers information to the right people at the right time, empowering them to accelerate their work and become more efficient online, offline and from any device. K2 has more than 1,500 customers in over 84 countries, with 30 percent of customers being Fortune 100 companies. K2 recently received $150 million in funding from Francisco Partners. SOURCE K2 Software Related Links https://www.k2.com DALLAS, Jan. 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Kimberly-Clark and its Digital Innovation Lab, or D'Lab, has renewed its global call for open-source innovation to help solve the biggest challenges facing the consumer package goods category. The company's annual K-Challenge invites the best start-ups, entrepreneurs and makers from around the world to help create consumer-driven technology solutions for its well-known global brands such as Kleenex, Huggies, Depend and Kotex. "Consumer adoption of new technologies is increasing at an unprecedented rate, and brands must look to the forward edges of innovation to identify new ways to connect with their digitally savvy consumers," said Scott Usitalo, Kimberly-Clark's Chief Marketing Officer. "Startups represent a large part of this forward edge and the K-Challenge is an ideal interface for agile entrepreneurs and makers to connect with Kimberly-Clark's global brands." The K-Challenge program is primarily focused on inviting start-ups, entrepreneurs and makers with proven solutions in six key areas: Omni-channel Shopper Experiences Data & Predictive Analytics Content & Media Experiences Internet-of-Things/Wearables/Connected Devices Supply Chain/Operations Solutions Cyber Security "Today's consumer wants a personalized approach, not a segmented approach, so we're applying the principles of maniacal consumer centricity, rich user experiences, and algorithmic capabilities throughout the enterprise to create those connection points across consumer, customer, operations and business services," said Suja Chandrasekaran, Kimberly-Clark's Chief Information Officer. "By partnering with technology entrepreneurs through the D'Lab, our brands can more quickly leverage the very best innovation in the market." Selected solutions will work on pilot programs with Kimberly-Clark and its brands in one or more of its regions around the world. They will also benefit from Kimberly-Clark's global CPG experience, distribution, and mentorship to develop their companies further while testing their products on a global scale. To be eligible for the K-Challenge, a start-up, entrepreneur or maker must have a working tech solution, and be funded at seed level or above. The application deadline is January 17, 2017 for the K-Challenge event to be held in Austin, TX at SXSW (March 8-9, 2017). For applications and more information about the K-Challenge, please visit kcdlab.com. About Kimberly-Clark Kimberly-Clark (NYSE: KMB) and its well-known global brands are an indispensable part of life for people in more than 175 countries. Every day, nearly a quarter of the world's population trust Kimberly-Clark's brands and the solutions they provide to enhance their health, hygiene and well-being. With brands such as Kleenex, Scott, Huggies, Pull-Ups, Kotex and Depend, Kimberly-Clark holds the No. 1 or No. 2 share position in 80 countries. To keep up with the latest news and to learn more about the company's 144-year history of innovation, visit http://www.kimberly-clark.com or follow us on Facebook or Twitter. [KMB-B] SOURCE Kimberly-Clark Related Links http://www.kimberly-clark.com BALTIMORE, Jan. 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- LifeMark Partners, Inc., one of the nation's largest independent national insurance marketing organizations, has added a new Broker General Agent (BGA) partner, Colorado Brokerage Group, LLC, privately-owned wholesale financial services organization based in Denver, Colorado. This new addition now makes an impressive 38 BGA partners for LifeMark. "Colorado Brokerage Group is a fantastic agency, one we are excited to reintroduce to our partnership. They have a great reputation and always put their clients first, something we at LifeMark value and a philosophy we hold strongly," said William Shelow, CLU, ChFC, CPCU, LLIF, president and chief executive officer, LifeMark Partners. "We pride ourselves on simplifying the life insurance sales process for financial advisors. This is accomplished by making everything from the case design process, the underwriting process and the delivery process as easy and uncomplicated as possible. By partnering with LifeMark, we can now make these processes even easier for our advisors, and we look forward to reintroducing our clients to LifeMark's resources and helping them continue to grow and improve their business," said John McWilliams, CLU, president of Colorado Brokerage Group, LLC. "And I should knowI worked with LifeMark for over 12 years previously and realize just how much easier they make it for us to work with our clients." LifeMark Partners works to provide affiliated brokerage general agencies with the partnership, expertise and access to industry-leading resources needed to enhance their life insurance distribution and grow their agencies. This includes the most expansive underwriting resources in the industry, providing access to the Swiss Re and Hanover Re underwriting manuals, a medical director and exclusive reinsurance programs to help place jumbo capacity and more difficult cases. Advanced marketing and sales support, product knowledge and case design, and ongoing educational and training opportunities round out the service offerings provided to partner BGAs. LifeMark recognizes that its greatest asset is the intellectual capital of its partner agencies, which represent the best in class in brokerage, and the company places a significant focus on collaboration and sharing of best practices. Colorado Brokerage Group, LLC is a full service, consultative boutique life insurance general agency in Denver, Colorado who works with financial consultants. With a uniquely skilled, tight-knit staff every client becomes part of the CBG team who are solely dedicated to helping client's grow their business. Offering exclusive marketing and product support through point of sale and underwriting assistance, CBG is a partner every step of the way to its affiliated agents. CBG helps its financial advisors secure their client relationships for more information visit www.coloradobrokerage.com or call 303.321-0565. About LifeMark Partners, Inc. LifeMark Partners exists to leverage partner, carrier and industry resources and expertise to enhance and expand life insurance distribution for the benefit of all stakeholders. As an independent insurance marketing organization, LifeMark is dedicated to the ongoing development and enhancement of BGA partner resources to help undeniably differentiate partner agencies from the competition. Affiliates benefit from some of the most robust service offerings in the market today, including expansive underwriting capabilities, advanced case design support, sales and product benchmarking tools, and turnkey sales and marketing systems. At its core, LifeMark Partners was founded as a study group more than 40 years ago and is celebrating more than 20 years as a leading IMO. This foundation provides a unique opportunity to form strategic alliances and share best practices for partners to grow their agencies together through regular training, networking and educational opportunities. With unparalleled partnership, expertise and access to these industry-leading resources, LifeMark Partners provides affiliates The strength of many. The power of one. To learn more about the qualifications necessary to become a LifeMark partner, visit www.LifeMarkPartners.com or call 410.837.3022. MEDIA CONTACT: AdvisorPR O: (702) 685-7450 SOURCE LifeMark Partners, Inc. Related Links http://lifemarkpartners.com PHILADELPHIA, Jan. 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Lockton, the world's largest privately held insurance broker, announced that it has opened an office in the heart of Center City Philadelphia, Pa. The new Lockton office will complement the company's Blue Bell, Pa., operation, which has experienced significant growth over the past few years. Property and casualty, employee benefits and retirement clients will also be served out of the new office. "Lockton entered the Philadelphia market five years ago by opening an office in Blue Bell. Now we are excited about adding a downtown office as a key part of the company's continued expansion in the northeast," said Tim Ryan, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer for Lockton. Lockton's northeast region now consists of seven offices, including Center City and Blue Bell, spanning from Boston to Washington, D.C. "The addition of the Center City office further solidifies our commitment to our associates, clients and communities" Ryan added. "This move downtown brings us closer to our clients, markets and potential employees in the greater Philadelphia area," Chris Keith, President of Lockton Philadelphia, said. "We plan to significantly expand our operations within the greater Philadelphia metro area and the addition of the Center City office is just the first step." The Center City office address is 1800 John F Kennedy Blvd, Suite 1110, Philadelphia, PA 19103. About Lockton More than 6,000 professionals at Lockton provide 50,000 clients around the world with risk management, insurance, employee benefits consulting, and retirement services that improve their businesses. From its founding in 1966 in Kansas City, Missouri, Lockton has attracted entrepreneurial professionals who have driven its growth to become the largest privately held, independent insurance broker in the world and 9th largest overall. For eight consecutive years, Business Insurance magazine has recognized Lockton as a "Best Place to Work in Insurance." To see the latest insights from Lockton's experts, check Lockton Market Update. SOURCE Lockton Related Links http://www.lockton.com As reported by WisPolitics.com, the Joint Finance Committee approved redirecting more than $21 million in bonding to offset rising costs for Milwaukee and Racine counties as they build new facilities for young offenders. Meanwhile, one committee member warned inflation will likely raise the LONDON, January 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- LSBF students in Singapore to receive UK Bachelor's degree thanks to a partnership with The London Institute of Banking & Finance London School of Business and Finance (LSBF) in Singapore is proud to announce the launch of a new Bachelor's degree in Banking Practice and Management, which will provide students with globally-recognised British degree. The 3-year programme will be awarded by The London Institute of Banking & Finance, and will cover the essential elements of the financial services industry and the external environment in which it operates. London to Singapore and back The Bachelor of Science (Honours) Banking Practice and Management will be delivered by LSBF in its Singapore campus, starting from January 2017. The partnership between LSBF and The London Institute of Banking & Finance gives students in Asia the opportunity to study close to home, while enriching their curriculum with a global qualification awarded by a British higher education institution. "As a global institution with years of international experience, we want to help students make the most out of their academic choice. While studying abroad gives many people the possibility to enhance their career opportunities, at times they might be discouraged if the qualification they achieve doesn't hold any relevance in another country," said Rathakrishnan Govind, Managing Director of LSBF in Singapore. "By partnering with The London Institute of Banking & Finance we will be able to deliver in Singapore a bachelor's programme that ticks all the boxes when it comes to preparing to enter the global financial services industry." Alex Fraser, CEO, The London Institute of Banking & Finance said: "it is our goal to support the career development of banking and finance professionals both at home and abroad and as such we are delighted to be working with LSBF to promote our degree in Singapore. By combining our joint expertise, we can develop the skills and knowledge of the city's professionals, to ultimately support growth in one of the world's leading financial centres." A partnership for the students "We are delighted to have two of the best institutions from the UK bringing The London Institute of Banking & Finance degree programme into Singapore, thereby adding further interest in supporting the educational hub. This partnership is a great starting point to explore future regional expansion together," commented Michael Chow, President of The London Institute of Banking & Finance (Alumni Singapore) and Board Director of UK Council of Association of International Accountants. Alongside their undergraduate degrees, graduates will also earn the Chartered Associate status with The London Institute of Banking & Finance, an internationally-recognised professional qualification in the banking and finance industries. The collaboration will allow LSBF Singapore to further expand its portfolio of programme. "We have been waiting to start an undergraduate programme for the past three years," said Rathakrishnan Govind. "This will be our first, and we believe that it will be very successful with our students." Flexible studying and specialised knowledge The BSc Banking Practice and Management degree is designed to cater for a variety of different requirements including those starting out in a management career in financial services, particularly in retail and commercial banking. Providing essential core knowledge of the industry, the programme enables students to apply specialised, up-to-date knowledge within specific areas of the banking sector, utilising a work based learning approach where relevant. The undergraduate programme will be delivered through a wide range of activities and teaching methods, which will be accessible to both part-time and full-time students over four intakes every year. - ends - About London School of Business and Finance Singapore With two campuses in the heart of the city, LSBF in Singapore welcomes students from all over the world offering many programmes targeted for the Asian market. Having taught students from more than 20 countries since its establishment in 2011, LSBF in Singapore prides itself on its relatively short but already very successful history. The school is a Singapore QP Accredited Learning Organisation, and holds the Platinum Approved Learning Partner Status by the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA). Over the past five years, LSBF in Singapore has helped a total of 138 students to become ACCA Prize Winners, an award only given to the best performing ACCA candidates. In 2016, LSBF was awarded the Asia Enterprise Award, the School Green Lotus Award and the Spirit of Enterprise Award respectively, and received three prizes at this year's Training & Education Development Awards, establishing itself as one of Singapore's best providers of private sector education. About The London Institute of Banking & Finance Formerly known as ifs University College, The London Institute of Banking & Finance advances banking and finance by providing outstanding education and thinking, tailored to the needs of business, individuals, and society. Its focus is on lifelong learning; equipping individuals with the knowledge, skills and qualifications to achieve what they want throughout their career and life. It provides a balance of experience, insight and thought leadership into today's financial world, delivered by industry leaders, thinkers and members of our community. SOURCE London School of Business and Finance (LSBF) NEW YORK and ANN ARBOR, Mich., Jan. 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Lycera Corp., a privately held biopharmaceutical company developing breakthrough immune modulatory medicines, announced today the initiation of a Phase 1/2a clinical trial of the Company's novel immuno-oncology therapeutic candidate LYC-55716, in patients with advanced, relapsed, or refractory solid tumors. "We continue to make rapid and significant progress in the development of our novel immune modulators. This is Lycera's third clinical trial initiated in the past 12 months and our first immuno-oncology compound to enter the clinic," said Paul Sekhri, President and CEO of Lycera. "The promising results of our preclinical program have provided confirmation that LYC-55716 modulates gene expression of RORgamma expressing T lymphocyte immune cells, resulting in enhanced effector function, as well as decreased immunosuppression, resulting in decreased tumor growth, and improved survival in in vivo preclinical models. This process of reprogramming immune cells is unique from other currently approved immunotherapies, and based on this, as well as the ability to deliver this agent orally, we believe LYC-55716 could be a significant advancement for patients." "Unlike many immunotherapies that either stimulate the immune system or reduce immune suppression, Lycera's RORgamma agonist has demonstrated in preclinical models that it can simultaneously enhance T-cell function and reduce mechanisms of the immune suppression. Therapy with an oral RORgamma agonist may be able to demonstrate single agent activity, as well as show synergy in combination with other immunotherapies," said John Nemunaitis, a principal investigator and Director of the Mary Crowley Medical Research Center, Dallas, TX. "We are excited to be working with Lycera and to be working on a compound with such a novel mechanism of action." The ARGON trial (Tri a l of R ORgamma A gon ist LYC-55716 in Advanced Cancer) is a Phase 1/2a study of LYC-55716 in patients with advanced, relapsed or refractory solid tumors. The initial Phase 1 portion of the study is designed to find the biologically active or maximum tolerated dose of LYC-55716. The study will utilize a 3+3 study design, in which LYC-55716 will be administered orally in subjects with relapsed or refractory solid tumors. The primary endpoints are safety and tolerability, and the study is designed to determine the maximum tolerated dose (MTD) and the recommended Phase 2 dose. Upon dose determination, LYC-55716 will enter Phase 2a, which is expected to enroll approximately 40 patients. The primary efficacy endpoint of the Phase 2a portion of the study will be objective response rate according to response evaluation criteria in solid tumors. About LYC-55716 LYC-55716 is a first in class oral, selective RORgamma agonist. The retinoic acid-related orphan receptor gamma (RORgamma) is a nuclear receptor transcription factor that acts as an immune cell master control switch. RORgamma agonists modulate gene expression to reprogram immune cells for improved function, as well as decrease immunosuppressive mechanisms, resulting in decreased tumor growth and enhanced survival in in vivo preclinical models of cancer. Essentially, Lycera's RORgamma agonist approach "removes the brake" and "pushes on the accelerator" of immune function. About Lycera Lycera is a biopharmaceutical company developing novel oral immune modulators for the treatment of autoimmune diseases and cancer. Based on successful progress of its world-class R&D platform, including expertise in immune metabolism, cell signaling, and immune cell differentiation, Lycera has commenced multiple clinical programs in 2016. The company is advancing a wholly owned, oral, gut-directed ATPase modulator, designated LYC-30937-EC, for the treatment of autoimmune disease, and has entered Phase 2 clinical studies in patients with ulcerative colitis and psoriasis. A second product candidate, LYC-55716, an oral RORgamma agonist, has progressed into Phase 1/2a testing in patients with advanced solid tumors. Lycera has an exclusive strategic collaboration with Celgene Corporation to advance Lycera's proprietary pipeline for cancer and immune-mediated diseases. In addition, Lycera had previously established collaborations with Merck to discover, develop, and commercialize small molecule therapies for autoimmune disorders. Lycera's leadership possesses deep experience in drug discovery, development, and commercialization and has established close relationships with renowned thought leaders and clinical researchers worldwide. Lycera was founded in 2006 based on an initial scientific platform in-licensed from the University of Michigan. Lead investors in Lycera include InterWest Partners, ARCH Venture Partners, Clarus Ventures, and EDF Ventures. CONTACT: Justin Jackson, Burns McClellan, 212-213-0006, ext. 327, [email protected] SOURCE Lycera Corp. Related Links http://www.lycera.com HOUSTON, Jan. 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The Sterling Group, a middle market private equity firm based in Houston, Texas, today announced that its platform company, Lynx FBO Network, has completed two acquisitions at Anoka County-Blaine Airport serving the Minneapolis/St. Paul metropolitan area, with prime access to US Bank Stadium and downtown Minneapolis. Lynx simultaneously acquired both Cirrus Flight Operations and Key Air Twin Cities. "We look forward to bringing the Lynx level of service and our extensive FBO expertise to the Minneapolis/St. Paul area," said Chad Farischon, a Partner with Lynx. In August 2016, Sterling launched Lynx, a buy-and-build effort in the FBO industry, and is executing a plan to build a leading FBO network providing general aviation services. The Cirrus and Key locations at Anoka mark the third and fourth acquisitions for Lynx during the first four months of operations. "Key Air Twin Cities has developed world class FBO terminal and hangar facilities, a state of the art fuel farm, and a large ramp capable of handling significant aircraft activity in a safe and efficient manner. Those attributes combined with the Lynx team's experience in handling special events, the ease of access to US Bank stadium, and a group of talented employees joining our team from both Cirrus and Key make Lynx the optimal location to serve our customers during the 2018 Super Bowl," stated Tyson Goetz, a Partner with Lynx. Sterling has assembled a strong and experienced team to build the new network. Greg Elliott, a Partner at The Sterling Group, has been involved in building several FBO networks in the past fifteen years, including roles as the Chairman of Encore and Trajen, and Board member of Landmark Aviation. Chad Farischon and Tyson Goetz are former members of both the Trajen, Atlantic Aviation, and Landmark Aviation management teams and have purchased and integrated over 50 FBOs over the course of their careers. The pipeline for further acquisitions remains strong. "Anoka County is an excellent addition to our rapidly growing network," said Greg Elliott. Lynx currently operates locations near Destin, Florida, Portland, Oregon and now Minneapolis, Minnesota. Lynx and Sterling are actively seeking acquisitions in North America. About The Sterling Group Founded in 1982, The Sterling Group is a private equity investment firm that targets controlling interests in basic manufacturing, distribution and industrial services companies. Typical enterprise values of these companies range from $100 million to $750 million. Sterling has sponsored the buyout of 50 platform companies and numerous add-on acquisitions for a total transaction value of over $10.0 billion. Currently, Sterling has over $2.2 billion of assets under management. For further information, please visit www.sterling-group.com. SOURCE The Sterling Group Related Links http://www.sterling-group.com IRVINE, Calif., Jan. 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Wrapping up a year focused on long-term growth objectives, Mazda North American Operations (MNAO) today reported December U.S. sales of 28,754 vehicles, representing a decrease of 1.8 percent versus December of last year. There were 27 selling days in December 2016, versus 28 the year prior. As such, on a Daily Selling Rate (DSR) basis, the company posted an increase of 1.8 percent. The company also reported calendar year (CY) 2016 total sales (combined fleet and retail) today, totaling 297,773, down 6.7 percent, following a 20-year-high record sales year in CY2015. There were 307 selling days in CY 2016, versus 308 in CY2015; the full-year DSR represented a decrease of 6.4 percent. "In 2016, we developed a more defined focus on brand value management, which steered our business away from fleet sales and incentive pricing," said Masahiro Moro, president and CEO of MNAO. "Rather than chasing sales simply for the sake of growth, we will continue to focus on transforming our business operations to deliver an experience that will result in higher customer and dealer loyalty, improved long-term residual value and increased satisfaction at all levels of our business, independent from sales volume numbers." Key December and CY2016 sales notes: As part of the overall sales strategy, MNAO significantly reduced fleet sales, with 20,359 vehicles sold in CY2016 representing a decrease of 28.0 percent YOY. Backing the fleet numbers out of the total vehicles sold, MNAO posted a slight decline in retail-only sales for CY2016, with 277,414 vehicles sold. This number represents a 4.6 percent decrease in sales YOY. With crossover SUV sales dominating the sales landscape in CY2016, Mazda's crossover lineup shone this year. Overall, CX-3, CX-5 and CX-9 posted an increase of 13.6 percent in December. For the year, the three vehicles posted sales up 8.0 percent, with 146,843 vehicles sold in CY2016. With much of the U.S. now in the winter months, Mazda's i-ACTIV All-Wheel Drive system available optionally on all Mazda crossover SUVs continues its popularity among crossover SUV buyers, with 63 percent of buyers choosing the option. Mazda CX-5 posted its best-ever month in December with 11,989 vehicles sold, making this its fifth best-ever month in CY2016. For the full year, CX-5 sold a record 112,235 vehicles, an increase of 5.0 percent YOY and CX-5's best-ever sales year. Mazda CX-3 completed its first full year of sales, ending the year up 189.7 percent, with 18,557 vehicles sold. The all-new 2016 Mazda CX-9 launched during CY2016 and posted its best December since 2012, with 2,594 vehicles sold. This number represents an increase of 115.5 percent YOY. The Mazda MX-5 Miata finished December up 3.8% YOY, with 733 vehicles sold. Continued interest in MX-5, and early deliveries of the 2017 MX-5 RF, resulted in full-year sales of 9,465 vehicles in CY2016, an increase of 10.2 percent YOY. The 2017 MX-5 RF recorded 314 vehicles sold in the month of December. Major changes impacting sales in CY2016 included the discontinuation of sales of the Mazda2 and Mazda5, as well as the introduction of the 2016 CX-9 and 2017 MX-5 RF, and refreshed versions of the Mazda3 and Mazda6. Mazda's December sales of 28,754 vehicles add up to more than $4.3 million in donations ( $150 for every vehicle sold during the month) as part of the Mazda Drive for Good program in 2017. Total results for the 2016 charity event, which ran from November 21, 2016 to January 3, 2017 , will be released at a later date. Mazda Motor de Mexico (MMdM) reported December sales of 6,651 vehicles, down 19.0 percent versus December of last year. Total CY2016 sales for MMdM were 54,891 vehicles, representing a decrease of 12.7 percent when compared to CY2015. Mazda North American Operations is headquartered in Irvine, California, and oversees the sales, marketing, parts and customer service support of Mazda vehicles in the United States and Mexico through nearly 700 dealers. Operations in Mexico are managed by Mazda Motor de Mexico in Mexico City. For more information on Mazda vehicles, including photography and B-roll, please visit the online Mazda media center at InsideMazda.MazdaUSA.com/Newsroom. Month-To-Date Year-To-Date December December % % MTD December December % % YTD 2016 2015 Change DSR 2016 2015 Change DSR Mazda2 - 1 (100.0)% (100.0)% 3 297 (99.0)% (99.0)% Mazda3 8,102 9,838 (17.6)% (14.6)% 95,567 107,884 (11.4)% (11.1)% Mazda5 2 299 (99.3)% (99.3)% 375 8,609 (95.6)% (95.6)% Mazda6 3,688 4,168 (11.5)% (8.2)% 45,520 57,898 (21.4)% (21.1)% MX-5 Miata 733 706 3.8% 7.7% 9,465 8,591 10.2% 10.5% CX-3 1,646 1,663 (1.0)% 2.6% 18,557 6,406 189.7% 190.6% CX-5 11,989 11,417 5.0% 8.9% 112,235 111,450 0.7% 1.0% CX-9 2,594 1,202 115.8% 123.8% 16,051 18,048 (11.1)% (10.8)% Total Vehicles CARS 12,525 15,012 (16.6)% (13.5)% 150,930 183,279 (17.7)% (17.4)% TRUCKS 16,229 14,282 13.6% 17.8% 146,843 135,904 8.0% 8.4% TOTAL 28,754 29,294 (1.8)% 1.8% 297,773 319,183 (6.7)% (6.4)% Selling Days 27 28 307 308 SOURCE Mazda North American Operations Related Links http://www.mazdausa.com ANN ARBOR, Mich., Jan. 4, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Michigan's expansion of Medicaid health insurance coverage has boosted the state's economy and budget, and will continue to do so for at least the next five years, according to a new University of Michigan study. The expansion's total economic impact will generate more than enough funds for the state budget to cover the cost of the program in the current fiscal year, the researchers report in the New England Journal of Medicine. The expanded Medicaid program will continue to have this self-paying effect even as the state's share of its cost increases every year until fiscal 2021 under federal law, they project. Over the next five years, the state will end up with more money in its coffers because of the program than it actually spends on the program. A wide range of economic effects The analysis looks at the total economic impact of the Healthy Michigan Plan, which began in April 2014 and currently covers about 600,000 low-income Michiganders. Most were uninsured before enrolling in the plan, which is mainly supported by federal funds under the Affordable Care Act. The maximum income a single adult can have to enroll in the Healthy Michigan Plan is about $16,400. But besides the enrollees, other Michiganders are benefiting from the expansion, the U-M team shows. The ripple effects generate more than 30,000 new jobs every year one-third of them in health care and 85 percent in the private sector. These jobs yield about $2.3 billion more in personal spending power each year for Michigan residents. The new jobs and related personal spending are generating approximately $150 million in income and sales tax revenue annually for the state. The state will also continue to save money it would have spent on other safety net programs if Medicaid had not expanded. "The economic impact of Medicaid expansion extends well beyond health care providers and the wallets of those who formerly had no insurance," says John Z. Ayanian, M.D., M.P.P., lead author of the new study and director of the U-M Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation. "We hope that our findings will provide needed evidence to Michigan lawmakers as they consider the future of the program, as well as informing decisions about Medicaid expansion in other states." Ayanian and U-M health economist Helen Levy, Ph.D., conducted the study with Gabriel M. Ehrlich, Ph.D., and Donald R. Grimes, M.A. from the Research Seminar in Quantitative Economics, a U-M economic modeling and forecasting unit. The team used the same economic model that this unit employs to advise the state for fiscal planning. Under Ayanian's direction, IHPI is also leading the federally required independent evaluation of how the Healthy Michigan Plan is affecting enrollees, health care providers and the state. That effort is funded by a state contract. The new study was supported by a grant from the Commonwealth Fund and conducted separately from the evaluation project for the state. "The Healthy Michigan Plan has not only covered more than 600,000 Michiganders most of whom had been uninsured it has also lightened the economic load on the state, on families and businesses, and on health care providers. Federal spending through Medicaid gives a big boost to the state's economy," says Levy, a research professor in the U-M Institute for Social Research. Five-year forecast The study modeled the impact of the Healthy Michigan Plan from its launch in April 2014 through the end of fiscal year 2021. Starting in the 2017 fiscal year that began in October 2016, the state will pay five percent of the cost of care for those enrolled. By 2020, that share will rise to 10 percent of the total cost of the program. For 2017, the researchers find, the economic impact of expansion means the state will finish with $432 million more than its share of the program's cost, because of new tax revenue and avoided spending. In 2021, the state will end up with $162 million more than its share of the cost. The researchers accounted for $20 million that the state spends to administer the program, and $235 million a year that it saves on selected health services that it previously funded but are now covered through the Healthy Michigan Plan. Those services include some health care for prisoners, community mental health services, and prior programs for extremely impoverished adults. Hospitals and many other providers previously absorbed the cost of caring for uninsured people, so their ability to spend those dollars in other ways was included as were the contributions they make to the state to support part of the cost of the expansion. Increased taxes paid by the privately run health plans that enroll Healthy Michigan Plan participants were also included. The increase in personal spending power includes the estimated $490 that each uninsured person likely spent, on average, for his or her health care every year before the expansion took effect. Spending power also takes into account the premiums on employer-sponsored or private insurance plans that some Healthy Michigan Plan participants had before transitioning to the new option. The law that authorized Medicaid expansion in Michigan allows the program to be ended if the state's costs exceed new revenue and savings for the state budget. Nineteen other states have not expanded the program, under an ACA provision that allows for coverage for all adults with incomes under 138 percent of the federal poverty level. Author affiliations: Ayanian is the Alice Hamilton Professor of Medicine at the Medical School. He and Levy both hold joint positions at the U-M Ford School of Public Policy and the U-M School of Public Health and are members of IHPI. Ehrlich is an assistant research scientist and Associate Director of the Research Seminar in Quantitative Economics in the U-M Department of Economics. Grimes is a senior research area specialist at the U-M Institute for Research on Labor, Employment, and the Economy. Reference: NEJM, DOI 10.1056/NEJMp1613981 SOURCE University of Michigan Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation MILWAUKEE, Jan. 4, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW) has received initial accreditation for a new family medicine residency program in southeastern Wisconsin, with a planned start date of July 1, 2017. The residency program will train six family medicine residents per year during a three-year period with a total of 18 by 2019. MCW will begin recruiting residents for the program immediately. This new program will have a significant impact on MCW's current medical students, who must receive training from residents, per the Liaison Committee for Medical Education. In addition, the citizens of Southeastern Wisconsin will benefit, as studies show that where residencies are completed usually determines where physicians will eventually live and practice. Thus, these new residents are likely to remain in the state to provide family medicine health services. Plus, due to the current and projected shortfall of family medicine physicians, the new residency program is a step to shorten the gap. Current data from Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) indicated there is a current deficit of 187 primary care physicians in Wisconsin. According to the Wisconsin Hospital Associations' 2013 report "100 New Physicians per Year" and the Wisconsin Council on Medical Education & Workforce's update of the report in 2016, the estimated deficit of physicians in Wisconsin by 2035 will be between 883 and 3,756, vastly within primary care and psychiatry. "This residency program further demonstrates MCW's commitment to addressing needs for greater access to family medicine physicians across the state," said Joseph E. Kerschner, MD, executive vice president of MCW and dean of the school of medicine. "In 2016, MCW received the DeWitt C Baldwin, Jr. Award, recognizing our excellence in fostering a respectful, supportive environment for medical education. This family residency program showcases and prepares the next generation of healthcare providers to serve our state with great distinction." Medical College of Wisconsin Affiliated Hospitals, Inc. (MCWAH) is the sponsoring organization and will employ the primary family medicine residents. The key training site for the residents is Community Memorial Hospital in Menomonee Falls, Wis. The program will offer specialty and inpatient rotations at the hospital, while also featuring an outpatient clinic across the street on the fourth floor of Town Hall Health Center in Menomonee Falls. "This initial accreditation of a family medicine residency program is a win for the citizens of Southeastern Wisconsin," said Kenneth B. Simons, MD, executive director and designated institutional individual, MCWAH, Inc., senior associate dean for Graduate Medical Education and Accreditation, professor of ophthalmology and pathology at MCW. "Physicians who complete residency in Wisconsin have a better than 70 percent chance of remaining in the region to practice medicine. We are committed to eliminating the family medicine physician deficit in Wisconsin and this residency will make a significant impact toward that goal." The residency program will be under the leadership of Jason Domagalski, MD, filling the role of program director. Having served as a faculty member and instructor at a variety of military and public hospitals throughout his career, Dr. Domagalski is board certified in family medicine. A native of this area, Dr. Domagalski graduated from medical school at MCW. In his recent past, Dr. Domagalski assisted in the development of a new family medicine residency in California. In addition, Dr. Domagalski brings several years of service as a physician in the United States Army. About the Medical College of Wisconsin The Medical College of Wisconsin is the state's only private medical school and health sciences graduate school. Founded in 1893, it is dedicated to leadership and excellence in education, patient care, research and community engagement. More than 1,200 students are enrolled in MCW's medical school and graduate school programs in Milwaukee, 56 medical students enrolled at MCW-Green Bay, and 26 students matriculated to MCW-Central Wisconsin in 2016. MCW's School of Pharmacy will open in 2017 or 2018 with an initial class size of 60 students. A major national research center, MCW is the largest research institution in the Milwaukee metro area and second largest in Wisconsin. In FY 2014-15, faculty received approximately $158 million in external support for research, teaching, training and related purposes, of which approximately $139 million is for research. This total includes highly competitive research and training awards from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Annually, MCW faculty direct or collaborate on more than 3,200 research studies, including clinical trials. Additionally, more than 1,500 physicians provide care in virtually every specialty of medicine for more than 525,000 patients annually. SOURCE Medical College of Wisconsin Related Links http://www.mcw.edu BioControl's established rapid detection technology and third-party validated testing platforms complement Merck's portfolio of instruments and consumables in its applied solutions business geared to the food pathogen testing workflow. "BioControl's acquisition strengthens our ability to help customers protect the global food supply by providing an expansive portfolio of state-of-the-art testing technology," said Udit Batra, Member of the Merck Executive Board and CEO, Life Science business. "BioControl's innovative assays and validated kits, when combined with Merck's strengths in microbiology, filtration and e-commerce will create a strong global provider aimed at solving tough challenges in the food pathogen testing space," he added. The global spotlight on the importance of food safety has grown given the increased incidents of outbreaks and recalls with foodborne diseases often caused by consuming a wide range of foods including undercooked meat, eggs, fresh produce and dairy products contaminated by Salmonella, Listeria, E.coli O157H7 and Campylobacter. BioControl's product portfolio includes pathogen detection kits to identify these food poisoning bacteria in food and ingredients and its key customers include meat producers. "Merck is the best home for BioControl, our customers and our employees," said Phil Feldsine, President and Chief Executive of BioControl. "Merck's global market presence as a leader in laboratory sciences will introduce BioControl's innovative, customer oriented solutions to a much broader base worldwide while providing existing customers with access to Merck's food safety product portfolio and expertise. The opportunity for BioControl to become part of a world class 350-year-old organization with a reputation for doing it the right way is very rewarding." The acquisition is in line with the strategy of Merck's life science business to expand in key geographies, and provide a differentiated experience to customers in applied settings, including food and beverage safety testing. While the business will continue to focus on microbial quality control solutions for pharmaceutical production processes and products, an area where the business currently has leading market share, the acquisition will enable Merck to offer a complete food pathogen testing platform to its customers in the food and beverage safety testing market. Achelous Partners acted as financial advisor to BioControl on this transaction. Nixon Peabody LLP represented Merck in the transaction. About BioControl BioControl is one of the leading companies in innovative rapid microbiology tests for food safety for more than 30 years. It offers a diverse third party validated product portfolio lines, which include industrial microbiology testing, rapid detection methods for food-borne pathogens, the quantitative measurement of microorganisms, and hygiene monitoring. The company primarily sells its products to food manufacturers, ingredient suppliers, contract testing labs and government labs. BioControl is based in Bellevue, WA (U.S.), with over 100 employees worldwide. In FY 2015, it generated revenue of USD 34 million. For further details: visit www.biocontrolsys.com All Merck news releases are distributed by email at the same time they become available on the Merck website. Please go to www.merckgroup.com/subscribe to register online, change your selection or discontinue this service. About Merck Merck is a leading science and technology company in healthcare, life science and performance materials. Around 50,000 employees work to further develop technologies that improve and enhance life from biopharmaceutical therapies to treat cancer or multiple sclerosis, cutting-edge systems for scientific research and production, to liquid crystals for smartphones and LCD televisions. In 2015, Merck generated sales of 12.85 billion in 66 countries. Founded in 1668, Merck is the world's oldest pharmaceutical and chemical company. The founding family remains the majority owner of the publicly listed corporate group. Merck holds the global rights to the Merck name and brand. The only exceptions are the United States and Canada, where the company operates as EMD Serono, MilliporeSigma and EMD Performance Materials. SOURCE Merck Related Links http://www.merckgroup.com MERIDIAN, Idaho, Jan. 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- MJP International (OTCPK: MJPI) ("the Company") today announced that as part of its 2017 growth strategy, the company will be moving into the distribution and sale of its own brand of solar power consumer devices. "We are pleased to announce that MJPI will order the manufacturing and branding of its own range of exciting solar devices targeted at the burgeoning consumer retail market," said Christopher Hudson, COO of MJPI. "MJPI firmly believes that in today's digital age, convenient and affordable access to solar power for our daily electronic devices is a market there for the taking that promises tremendous growth." MJPI reached an agreement with Shenzhen Hopepower Technology Co. Ltd., ("SHTECH") to manufacture "HEAL" solar power banks which the company will sell in the US. These portable solar devices can be used to charge electronic devices on the go, and will represent MJPI's first foray into distribution and sale of its own consumer products. "We look forward to expanding our manufacturing arrangement with SHTECH to encompass more consumer-oriented products this year," added Mr. Hudson. About Shenzhen Hopepower Technology Co Ltd Shenzhen Hopepower Technology Co Ltd is a leading manufacturer located in China for solar devices, specializing in power bank design and OEM manufacturing, including solar devices and mobile phone batteries. Hopepower Technology is fully ISO9001 certified, as well as having BSCI and TUV certification. About MJP International MJP International is a company that specializes in green energy products and services, including rapidly advancing green technologies such as solar and wind installations. The company is built on the fundamental belief that green technology is the way to a clean, profitable and energy-rich future. MJP International continually pushes the envelope to find ways for clients to use green technologies in a cost-efficient and user friendly way, firmly believing that renewable and clean energy sources will continue to come to the forefront as viable and economical alternatives to fossil fuel. Investors can visit the company's website at http://www.mjpinternational.com. SOURCE MJP International Related Links http://www.mjpinternational.com There are three major highlights of the selfie drone that help it stand out among its kind; its patented (appearance received domestic patent), intricate design makes the vehicle looks small, creative and intelligent. First, the MOLA-UFO is portable and intuitive enough so users can easily launch their drones from their palms. Meanwhile, MOLA-UFO is displayed as a shape of UFO just as its name suggests and houses a triple-axis structure, which, along with the camera's advanced image algorithm, ensures that images are stabilized and captured clearly even in windy environments. In addition, the selfie drone also features a unique recognition technology that can identify the subjects and lock them in frame, to intelligently track them. It can follow the subjects and shoot with a range of 360-degreeswith its high resolution 4K camera. Furthermore, the photographer is equipped with a powerful app that features beauty selfie, time-lapse shooting and instant sharing via social networks. "By creating MOLA-UFO, we hope to meet the needs and add a bit more fun to people's everyday life. It leverages the world's trendiest technology today and we also wish to achieve a perfect combination between the innovative concepts and art while we are designing our product. The shape is quite compact, unique and functional, and it will be a smart photographer along with our users," commented Peter Li, International marketing and sales director of Nine Eagles. At the show, Nine Eagles will set their booth at No. 25629, South Hall 2 of the Drone Marketplace at LVCC at Las Vegas from Jan. 5-8 to showcase MOLA-UFO and other latest achievements. Audience will have the opportunity to preview the company's upcoming releases before they hit the market. About Nine Eagles Established in 2004, Shanghai Nine Eagles Electronic Technology Co., LTD, is a high tech enterprise based in Shanghai, China that integrates research, design, manufacturing and sales. There are two brands under the company, Nine Eagles, which covers all types of aerial products; and MOLA, a high-end brand specially focusing on developing the UAV series for consumers. The company has its businesses covered all over the world, including China, America, Russia, Japan and the European markets. SOURCE Nine Eagles WASHINGTON, Jan. 4, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- NASA is assigning veteran astronaut Andrew Feustel and first-flight astronaut Jeanette Epps to missions aboard the International Space Station in 2018. Feustel will launch in March 2018 for his first long-duration mission, serving as a flight engineer on Expedition 55, and later as commander of Expedition 56. Epps will become the first African American space station crew member when she launches on her first spaceflight in May 2018. She'll join Feustel as a flight engineer on Expedition 56, and remain on board for Expedition 57. "Each space station crew brings something different to the table, and Drew and Jeanette both have a lot to offer," said Chris Cassidy, chief of the Astronaut Office at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. "The space station will benefit from having them on board." A native of Lake Orion, Michigan, Feustel was selected as part of the 2000 astronaut class and, in 2009, flew on the space shuttle Atlantis for the final servicing mission of NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. He made his first trip to the space station in 2011 as a member of the STS-134 crew on space shuttle Endeavour's final mission. Feustel has a bachelor's degree in solid Earth sciences and a master's degree in geophysics from Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. In 1995, he completed his doctorate in geological sciences, with a specialization in seismology, from Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Epps earned a bachelor's degree in physics in 1992 at LeMoyne College in her hometown of Syracuse, New York. She went on to complete a master's of science in 1994 and a doctorate in 2000 in aerospace engineering from the University of Maryland. While earning her doctorate, Epps was a NASA Graduate Student Researchers Project fellow, authoring several journal and conference articles on her research. After completing graduate school, she went on to work in a research laboratory for more than two years, co-authoring several patents, before being recruited by the Central Intelligence Agency. She spent seven years as a CIA technical intelligence officer before being selected as a member of the 2009 astronaut class. Feustel and Epps will join a long and distinguished line of astronauts who have crewed the International Space Station since November 2000. With the help of the more than 200 astronauts who have visited, the space station enables us to demonstrate new technologies and make research breakthroughs not possible on Earth. Its convergence of science, technology and human innovation provide a springboard to NASA's next giant leap in exploration, including the Journey to Mars. Follow Jeanette Epps on Twitter at: http://www.twitter.com/Astro_Jeanette Andrew Feustel will post updates on social media at: http://twitter.com/space_station and http://www.instagram.com/iss/ Get the latest Twitter updates from all NASA astronauts at: http://www.twitter.com/NASA_Astronauts SOURCE NASA Related Links http://www.nasa.gov Agriculture is a seasonal business. Planting season. Harvest season. Bookwork season. Meeting season. Marketing season. No, strike that last one. Marketing is a year-long process, and good farm marketers will look ahead even more than one crop year to begin their marketing. When ethanol fueled the 2007 launch of high commodity prices, marketing was put on the back burner. Less time was spent because every sale was profitable.Young farmers starting their career in from 2007 through the drought year of 2012 only saw prices well above breakeven levels. Ag economists, who touted the new price era, convinced farmers that prices were at a new level that was well above the point of breaking even. That isn't the case anymore. Soybean prices have been above breakeven for most farmers, thanks to Chinas voracious appetite and the El Nino drought in Southeast Asia that pushed up prices for palm and other vegetable oils, including soybean oil. Beans have now come well off their early December highs by 75 cents per bushel and are trading below the psychologically important $10 mark. A cadre of marketing specialists project soybean prices in the $8 range in the not-too-distant future, which means they would be under breakeven levels for most farmers. Since the agricultural economy has cut farm income in half over the past three years, many farmers have used up their working capital and see equity eroding further as debt piles up. Many are making visits to lenders for the first time in years, and the first time ever for some. Farm loan officers at commercial banks, and their counterparts at Farm Credit, aren't only willing to loan less and demanding more collateral, but are asking hard questions about a farmers marketing plan for 2016 crops and what will be raised in 2017. Uh, marketing plan? Sell at the highest price? Is that what you mean? Not really. A marketing plan needs to be well thought-out, written and implemented at trigger points, not by seat-of-the-pants decision-making. One needs to know the exact cost of production, so a breakeven price is known and sales can be based on profitability. Family cost of living has to be included. That not only includes monthly food and electric bills, but college tuition, nursing home expenses and the extraordinary high cost of health insurance. To build a marketing plan, look at yield expectations, gauged from a 5-year average for a farm, and, the lender really likes to use the term conservative. Target dates for commodity sales or price points make it easier to pull the trigger on implementation. Knowing that highest prices frequently are in the spring, knowing the basis makes it easier to write a basis or hedge-to-arrive contract, and knowing the cost of carry makes forward contracting more confident. For farmers who feel lost in doing that, there is an information support group, of sorts, that meets monthly in Assumption, known as the Central Illinois Marketing Club. It has been around for a few years, but is renovating its purpose beginning with the Jan. 17 meeting at 6:30 p.m., when the discussion will turn to calculating breakeven prices. Leaders will distribute a simple electronic spreadsheet with typical numbers for a Central Illinois corn and soybean farm, which can be modified at home by attendees inserting their own numbers. A subsequent meeting on Feb. 7 will introduce details of a mock farm the group has created to demonstrate how various marketing plans will impact a farm budget and its revenue prospects. Monthly meetings are typically at 6:30 p.m. on the first Tuesday of the month at GSIs Shuler Center. While there are no guarantees of how a lender will react, it is the type of information that a lender wants to see a loan customer learning and implementing. See you there. BOSTON, Jan. 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- National Geographic Learning (NGL), a Cengage company, today announced a partnership with Ediciones SM to launch a new collection of authentic Spanish fiction for K-6 classrooms. NGL's Coleccion Ventanas represents over 100 titles of Spanish literature by authors worldwide, including many from Ibero-American countries. Designed for use in Spanish language arts or bilingual classrooms, the series' titles use authentic, rich language and high quality writing to foster student engagement, improve comprehension skills and build student confidence. The collection will be available in January 2017. The Coleccion Ventanas series spans a variety of genres, including poetry, science fiction, fantasy, realistic fiction, and mythology, and provides connections to other areas of curriculum, such as science and social studies. Accompanying lesson plans provide comprehension questions, thematic connections, and suggestions for reinforcing reading skills and strategies. "We are thrilled to be partnering with Ediciones SM to introduce this new collection of exceptional Spanish literature. Ediciones SM joins us in our commitment to provide students with high-quality, engaging language education materials that enable students to gain confidence and achieve success," said Vincent Grosso, Senior Vice President of National Geographic Learning. "Education is everything. With this program, we project our enthusiasm for collaborating with Cengage on this masterful project around Literature. Our commitment to educate children extends to new frontiers. Our alliance will succeed in educating thousands of children and will awaken in them the desire to travel on great adventures," said Juan Reyes, Managing Director of Ediciones SM Puerto Rico. Coleccion Ventanas titles include El Barco de Vapor award winners. SM Foundation's El Barco de Vapor Awards recognize exceptional children's literature and authors in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Columbia, Spain, Mexico, Peru, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. For more information visit: ngl.cengage.com/ventanas About Cengage and National Geographic Learning Cengage is the education and technology company built for learners. The company serves the higher education, K-12, professional, library and workforce training markets worldwide. National Geographic Learning, a Cengage company, is a provider of quality core and supplemental educational materials for the PreK12, adult education and ELT markets. Cengage Learning and National Geographic Learning distribute a variety of content from the National Geographic Society to the academic and library markets worldwide. Visit us at www.cengage.com or ngl.cengage.com. About Ediciones SM SM Group is an educational and cultural organization with two principal areas of influence in 10 countries. The editorial services, dedicated to young adult and children's literature, textbook printing, religious publications, teacher's professional development, and digital content development. The social and cultural intervention managed and directed by Fundacion SM for the sustainability of disadvantaged social groups. For more information visit: http://www.grupo-sm.com Media Contact: Kate Jennings 617-757-8147, [email protected] SOURCE Cengage Learning Related Links http://www.cengage.com Dan Iosifescu, MD, MSc, will be joining NYU Langone in March 2017 to lead a number of research initiatives both at the medical center and at its research affiliate, the Nathan Kline Institute (NKI) in Rockland County, NY. He also will provide clinical care within the department's faculty group practice. Specifically, Dr. Iosifescu will serve as director for clinical research at NKI where he will lead the inpatient clinical research units and the outpatient clinical research. Using neuroimaging (MRI, MRS) and neurophysiology (quantitative EEG) techniques, he will investigate structural, molecular and functional brain abnormalities in refractory depression and related mood disorders and their impact on clinical treatment. Dr. Iosifescu also has a particular interest in the impact of medical diseases that are often associated with mood disorders, such as vascular disease. His research has been funded by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) and through other sources, including industry. At the medical center, Dr. Iosifescu will lead outpatient clinical studies utilizing magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) to better understand persistent depression and mood disorders. He also will spearhead new initiatives in utilizing transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and novel pharmacological treatments for severe mood disorders. "Recruiting Dr. Iosifescu is a great opportunity for us, and it is indicative of the well-regarded reputation for excellence the department enjoys," says Charles R. Marmar, MD, the Lucius Littauer Professor and chair of Psychiatry at NYU Langone. "He brings the combined talents of a senior researcher and a fine clinician. Equally important, he will wear many hats for us serving in leadership positions at NKI and NYU Langone." It has been a highly productive end to 2016 for NYU Langone's Psychiatry Department, particularly on the recruitment front. Last month, it was announced that Naomi Michele Simon, MD, MSc, who has led seminal research in complicated grief and other anxiety disorders during a distinguished 20-year career at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), will join NYU Langone in July 2017 to oversee its new Anxiety and Complicated Grief Program. This new service will focus on investigating and treating panic disorder, social anxiety, generalized anxiety disorder, PTSD and complicated grief. About Dr. Iosifescu Dr. Iosifescu joins NYU Langone from Mount Sinai, where he was director of the Mood and Anxiety Disorders Program since 2010. Previously Dr. Iosifescu has served at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) as Director of Translational Neuroscience and as Site Director of the NIMH Bipolar Trials Network. He also was Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Iosifescu earned his medical degree from the Institute of Medicine and Pharmacy in Bucharest, Romania, and completed his psychiatric residency at MGH and McLean Hospital, serving as chief resident in consultation-liaison psychiatry. His research training included a neuroimaging fellowship in the Neuroscience Laboratory at Harvard Medical School, a psychopharmacology fellowship in the MGH Mood and Anxiety Disorders Institute, and a fellowship in the Clinical Investigator Training Program at Harvard and MIT. Dr. Iosifescu also holds Master's degree in Medical Science from Harvard University. Media Inquiries: Jim Mandler (212) 404-3525 [email protected] This news release was issued on behalf of Newswise(TM). For more information, visit http://www.newswise.com. SOURCE NYU Langone Medical Center Related Links http://nyulangone.org NEW YORK, Jan. 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Outten & Golden LLP, a preeminent employee rights law firm, is pleased to announce that Melissa E. Pierre-Louis has been promoted to Counsel and that Erin M. Pressman has joined the firm's growing San Francisco office as an associate, representing individual employees in litigation and negotiation in all areas of employment law. Melissa E. Pierre-Louis will continue to build her growing successful practice in the area of individual discrimination and wage-and-hour matters, including her focus in the area of disability and leave laws. She is Co-Chair of firm's Family Responsibilities and Disability Discrimination Practice Group. Before promotion to Counsel, Ms. Pierre-Louis was an associate in the New York office. Before joining Outten & Golden, Ms. Pierre-Louis worked as a public interest fellow at Beldock, Levine & Hoffman LLP, where she worked primarily on labor and employment matters. She received her J.D. from Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law in 2008. Ms. Pierre-Louis is a member of the National Employment Lawyers Association (NELA) and its New York affiliate; the American Bar Association; and the New York City and State Bar Associations. In the ABA, she is the Co-Chair of the FMLA subcommittee of the Federal Labor Standards Legislation Committee of the Section of Labor & Employment. She is also the former Chair of the National Employment Lawyers Association's Lawyers of Color Committee. Before joining the firm as an associate in the San Francisco office in 2016, Erin M. Pressman worked as an associate at The Grey Law Firm. While attending law school, Ms. Pressman worked as a law clerk at Outten & Golden, Campins Benham-Baker, and the East Bay Community Law Center. Ms. Pressman also served as a judicial extern to Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye of the California Supreme Court. A 2015 graduate of University of California, Hastings College of the Law, Ms. Pressman represents individual employees in litigation and negotiation in all areas of employment law. "We are very pleased to promote our long-time colleague Melissa and to welcome Erin as a new colleague," said Wayne N. Outten, the firm's managing partner. "The experience and capabilities of these attorneys will contribute to the firm's ability to represent individual employees and to advocate effectively for their rights through advice, counseling, negotiation, and litigation." Outten & Golden LLP focuses on advising and representing individuals in employment, partnership, and related workplace matters both domestically and internationally. The firm counsels individuals on employment and severance agreements; handles complex compensation and benefits issues (including bonuses, commissions, and stock/ option agreements); and advises professionals (including doctors and lawyers) on contractual issues. It also represents employees with a wide variety of claims, including discrimination and harassment based on sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, race, disability, national origin, religion, and age, as well as retaliation, whistleblower, and contract claims. The firm handles class actions involving a wide range of employment issues, including economic exploitation, gender- and race-based discrimination, wage-and-hour violations, violations of the WARN Act, and other systemic workers' rights issues. Outten & Golden has nine practice groups: Executives & Professionals, Financial Services, Sexual Harassment & Sex Discrimination, Family Responsibilities & Disabilities Discrimination, Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ) Workplace Rights, Discrimination & Retaliation, Whistleblower Retaliation, Class & Collective Actions, and WARN Act. Outten & Golden has offices in New York, Chicago, San Francisco, and Washington, DC. For media inquiries, contact Managing Partner Wayne N. Outten at (212) 245-1000. www.outtengolden.com SOURCE Outten & Golden LLP Related Links http://www.outtengolden.com LAS VEGAS, Jan. 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Panasonic Automotive Systems Company of America, a Division of Panasonic Corporation of North America, and Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., a subsidiary of Qualcomm Incorporated, announced today that they are working together to develop a next-generation Android-based in-vehicle infotainment (IVI) system. As part of the demonstration, Panasonic Automotive and Qualcomm Technologies have integrated state-of-the-art Android 7.0 features to give drivers a unified experience across an automaker's entire vehicle lineup, adjusting for different applications, screen sizes and resolutions. This adaptive user interface design concept is a cost-saving feature that will allow OEMs to optimize their system engineering investments and customize the infotainment system across vehicle lineups. Using a Qualcomm Snapdragon 820Am processor, this concept system is based on the latest version of the Android operating system (7.0 Nougat), which is designed to provide automakers with a superior, high-performing platform to quickly develop cloud-connected infotainment systems, helping accelerate the rate of innovation in both the in-vehicle infotainment experience as well as the connected car. The concept system will demonstrate how new connected services and applications will deliver a safety-focused and intuitive driving experience to consumers. The next-generation infotainment demonstration takes advantage of the high-performing connectivity, multimedia and graphics capabilities integrated into the Snapdragon 820Am automotive processor, including integrated X12 LTE modem supporting up to 600 Mbps downlink and 150 Mbps uplink speeds, integrated location services, power-efficient, custom-built quad-core Qualcomm Kryo CPU, Qualcomm Hexagon 680 DSP, Qualcomm Adreno 530 GPU for video processing capabilities and support for multiple high-definition displays. "From the beginning, our goal was to create an in-vehicle infotainment system that shortened production time, minimized development cost for major OEMs globally, and allowed for more efficient evolutions as time and technology changes in mobility," said Tom Gebhardt, President, Panasonic Automotive Systems Company of America. "By working with Qualcomm Technologies and Google, we were able to accomplish that goal, resulting in an infotainment system concept that is innovative and future proof. This concept should be considered 'skip generation' technology, meaning that we expect it include features beyond that of the next two IVI generations ahead." During CES 2017, Panasonic Automotive and Qualcomm Technologies are planning to showcase this latest IVI system built upon Android's automotive features that control in-vehicle functions such as HVAC, and demonstrate the integration of Google's services and popular Android applications with the system. "This has been an exciting collaboration of industry leaders where our combined technologies, innovations and engineering efforts have enabled us to demonstrate superior, highly intuitive, in-car infotainment systems," said Patrick Little, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Automotive, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. "We look forward to continuing to work with Panasonic Automotive and Google to continually advance our Snapdragon automotive solutions to bring to life the advanced features and services of the Android experience." "Android has evolved into a turn-key automotive platform that enables automakers and suppliers to build powerful next-generation IVI systems," said Patrick Brady, Director of Android Engineering, Google. "We are excited to see industry leaders like Panasonic Automotive and Qualcomm Technologies integrate Android deeply with the car to provide drivers with a seamless connected experience." This next-generation IVI system concept features the Panasonic Automotive passenger application, which is designed to address the challenges that passengers have when entering navigation destinations or controlling music. Car manufacturers, automotive suppliers and developers can create Android-powered infotainment solutions initially with Qualcomm Technologies' Automotive Development Platforms (ADP), which utilizes Qualcomm Snapdragon automotive system-on-chips, followed by production systems developed and manufactured by Panasonic Automotive. The concept IVI system will be on display at the Panasonic Booth (LVCC, Central Hall, 12908) throughout the duration of CES 2017, and also at the Qualcomm automotive booth (North Hall, #5609). About Panasonic Automotive Systems Company of America Panasonic Automotive Systems Company of America is a division company of Panasonic Corporation of North America and is the top supplier of automotive infotainment systems globally, according to IHS. Panasonic Automotive Systems Company of America acts as the North American operating company of Panasonic Corp.'s Automotive & Industrial Systems Company, which coordinates global automotive and industrial systems and components operations. Panasonic Automotive is headquartered in Peachtree City, Georgia, with sales, marketing and engineering operations in Farmington Hills, Michigan. For more information on Panasonic Automotive Systems Company of America, please visit: us.panasonic.com/automotive. About Panasonic Corporation of North America Newark, NJ-based Panasonic Corporation of North America is a leading technology partner and integrator to businesses, government agencies and consumers across the region. The company is the principal North American subsidiary of Osaka, Japan-based Panasonic Corporation and the hub of Panasonic's U.S. branding, marketing, sales, service and R&D operations. Panasonic was featured in Fortune Magazine's 2016 ranking of 50 companies that are changing the world and doing well by doing good. Specifically cited were its smart and sustainable technologies, including its contributions to smart cities and the electric vehicle revolution. Learn more about Panasonic at us.panasonic.com/news. Connect with Panasonic: Twitter, LinkedIn, Google Plus, Facebook, YouTube About Qualcomm Incorporated Qualcomm's technologies powered the smartphone revolution and connected billions of people. We pioneered 3G and 4G and now, we are leading the way to 5G and a new era of intelligent, connected devices. Our products are revolutionizing industries including automotive, computing, IoT and healthcare, and are allowing millions of devices to connect with each other in ways never before imagined. Qualcomm Incorporated includes our licensing business, QTL, and the vast majority of our patent portfolio. Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., a subsidiary of Qualcomm Incorporated, operates, along with its subsidiaries, all of our engineering, research and development functions, and all of our products and services businesses, including our semiconductor business, QCT, and our mobile, automotive, computing, IoT and healthcare businesses. To learn more, visit Qualcomm's website, blog, Twitter and Facebook pages. Qualcomm, Snapdragon, Kryo, Hexagon and Adreno are trademarks of Qualcomm Incorporated, registered in the United States and other countries. Other product and brand names may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners. Qualcomm Snapdragon, Qualcomm Kryo, Qualcomm Hexagon and Qualcomm Adreno are products of Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. SOURCE Panasonic Automotive Systems Company of America Panasonic's Countertop Induction Oven calls upon the company's more than 40-years history of innovation in induction heating technology. It quickly grills, bakes, re-heats and requires little or no preheating, resulting in perfectly cooked meals. With pre-set menu options and adjustable temperature control, the Panasonic CIO takes the guesswork out of grilling steaks, cooking chicken and vegetables all-at-once but with results that are more flavorful -- crispy on the outside and tender and moist on the inside. The secret to appetizing results delivered by the Panasonic CIO is the combination of direct induction heat, a sealed, compact interior and circulating steam to enhance the taste. The CIO's unique, dishwasher-safe grill reduces excessive moisture and oil while producing BBQ-quality sear and sizzle. "Our one-of-a-kind Countertop Induction Oven will change the consumer's kitchen," said Persia Tatar, Senior Marketing Manager. "The CIO is an example of food-tech innovation at its best. It delivers a quick, yet high-end and healthy cooking experience to consumers in a compact, easy-to-use design." Panasonic will be demonstrating the CIO throughout the show, serving up delicious food and featuring recipes created in partnership with AllRecipes.com. The Panasonic Countertop Induction Oven is now available for $599.95. For more information on the CIO please visit Panasonic.com/CIO About Panasonic Consumer Electronics Company Based in Newark, NJ, Panasonic Consumer Electronics Company is a division of Panasonic Corporation of North America, the principal North American subsidiary of Panasonic Corporation. The company offers a wide range of consumer solutions in the U.S. including products from VIERA Life+ Screens, Blu-ray players, LUMIX Digital Cameras, Camcorders, Home Audio, Cordless Phones, Home Appliances, Beauty, Grooming, Wellness and Personal Care products and more. In Interbrand's 2014 annual "Best Global Green Brands " report, Panasonic ranked number five overall and the top electronics brand in the report. To learn more about our products, visit panasonic.com. Follow Panasonic on Twitter @panasonicUSA; additional company information for journalists is also available at www.panasonic.com/pressroom. SOURCE Panasonic Related Links http://www.panasonic.com RESTON, Va., Jan. 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- With the generous permission of the Rockingham County NC Sheriff's Office (RCSO), Parabon NanoLabs (Parabon) announces the company's participation in the agency's successful investigation of the murders of Douglas "Troy" and LaDonna French. On 4 February 2012, the Frenches were fatally shot by an intruder in their home in Reidsville, NC. Although DNA evidence was found at the crime scene, it failed to produce a match in any database or among the more than 50 individuals known to have been in or near the French home. In January 2015, nearly three years into the investigation and only a month after the debut of Parabon's Snapshot Phenotyping Service, RCSO Captain Tammi Howell and Detective Marcus Marshall contacted Parabon about the case. Parabon CEO Steve Armentrout remembers the call: "This was an early case for Snapshot. I recall the investigators' frustration at having such solid DNA evidence, but no one to match it to. Those are exactly the types of cases for which Snapshot was created." The investigation ultimately led to the arrest of Jose Alvarez, Jr. on 25 August 2015. Details of Snapshot's critical role in the investigation are presented in a case summary, available at Parabon's website (French Case Summary). Prior to his arrest, Alvarez's DNA was matched to the crime scene using traditional DNA analysis. On 8 July 2016, he pled guilty to two counts of first-degree murder and was sentenced to two consecutive life terms without the possibility of parole. "Snapshot analysis helps investigators in many ways. In this case, it helped focus the investigation onto a suspect who might have been logically discounted because of results from another type of DNA analysis," said Parabon's Director of Bioinformatics, Dr. Ellen Greytak. "Interestingly, both analyses were correct; it was the surprising relationship between the DNA sources that provided the twist in this case." Although Snapshot has helped investigators on scores of cases, most often by enabling them to conduct their work more efficiently, details of such cases cannot be publicly released until they have been fully resolved in the criminal justice system. About Parabon NanoLabs, Inc.: Parabon NanoLabs is a vertically integrated DNA technology company that develops next-generation forensic and therapeutic products, which leverage the enormous power of DNA. SOURCE Parabon NanoLabs, Inc. Petcube Bites is the third product from the San Francisco based technology leader Petcube. In November, the company commercially released Petcube Play , the next-gen HD pet camera with interactive laser toy, on Petcube.com and with major retailers Amazon, Petco, Best Buy, and Bed Bath and Beyond. Both Petcube Play and Petcube Bites were first revealed on Kickstarter in late July as a pre-order campaign, receiving design and engineering recognition as Kickstarter's featured technology project and staff favorite. The company's first product, Petcube Camera is the original, bestselling pet cam that first broke crowdfunding records for a pet technology product on Kickstarter. Petcube's entire product lineup comes in three colors: Matte Silver, Rose Gold and Carbon Black. "We couldn't be more excited to showcase our latest innovation in pet technology at CES. We continually challenge ourselves to disrupt and build products that connect people and their pets," said Yaroslav Azhnyuk, CEO and Co-Founder of Petcube. This marks the 3rd year that Petcube has exhibited at CES in a fast-growing technology category of Connected Pet. According to Euromonitor, the global pet industry is estimated to be a $104 Billion market with pet ownership outpacing childbirths in major markets. "As pet parents, we're always committed to designing products for pets with as much care as products for people. Since we began in 2012 and coined the category Connected Pet, we've seen huge growth in the space, providing validation of how technology can shape the way we interact with our pets." Planned for February, all new and existing Petcube camera owners will receive 4 hours of free video cloud storage on a daily basis accessible through the Petcube App. This is a new lite feature of the popular Petcube Care, a video cloud recording service that helps owners look after the safety of their pets and home. A Petcube Care subscription provides 24/7 video cloud storage with 10 or 30 day history. A 10 or 30 day subscription plan provides owners with a complete solution for on-the-go pet care, including recorded video clips, timeline history, and triggered sound and motion event recording of what's happening in the home. Petcube Bites will rollout commercial distribution starting in late April on Petcube.com and participating retailers in US, Canada, Europe and Asia. Petcube Play currently sells at $199 at Petcube.com and participating retailers. Petcube is exhibiting and showcasing its new product lineup at CES, Booth #40750, in Las Vegas. About Petcube Petcube is reimagining pet care. We are dedicated to improving the lives of pet parents and their pets through technology. Petcube products include Petcube Play, the next-generation interactive pet cam with built-in laser toy, Petcube Camera, the original, best-selling interactive pet cam, and forthcoming Petcube Bites, an interactive treat cam. All three products enable pet parents to see, talk to and have fun with their pets from their smartphone anytime, anywhere. Petcube is headquartered in San Francisco with offices in Kyiv, Ukraine and Shenzhen, China. For more information visit the website and online media kit, and follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube. Media contact: Brad Wells [email protected] 415-230-0610 SOURCE Petcube Related Links http://www.petcube.com MALMO Sweden, Jan. 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The PolyPeptide Group announced today that the acquisition of the peptides business and operations of Lonza in Braine-l'Alleud, Belgium has been completed. The Braine facility, with approximately 280 employees, was the center for peptide chemical development and manufacturing within Lonza. The acquisition will enhance PolyPeptide's manufacturing capacity and capabilities and will enable seamless support for its broad portfolio as many products progress toward regulatory approval and commercial supply. The Braine facility will provide immediate access to additional large-scale capacity in synthesis, purification and isolation of peptides, while PolyPeptide's existing, complementary portfolio of late-stage products offers opportunities for synergies and continued growth for the Company. "The addition of Lonza's Braine facility to PolyPeptide is a great fit and will offer customers an even more comprehensive range of services for every stage of development," said Jane Salik, CEO of the PolyPeptide Group. "With this acquisition we will be expanding our capacity to meet the needs of customers who demand the highest quality products with the most robust, scalable and cost-efficient peptide manufacturing processes at every scale. This means we can provide even greater value to our global base of customers." Both PolyPeptide and Lonza have long and distinguished histories in peptide manufacturing. Lonza acquired the Braine peptide business in 2006 from UCB, while PolyPeptide's corporate roots in peptide therapeutics date back to the 1950s. Both companies became successful in peptide manufacturing by building excellent reputations for quality, service and GMP support. The acquisition will not affect ongoing activities at the Belgian facility and the integration process is expected to be seamless to customers. PolyPeptide Group announced that the harmonization of procedures to ensure consistency, continuity and quality within its expanded Group will be implemented in the coming months. With this acquisition the PolyPeptide Group will employ close to 800 people worldwide with GMP facilities in the United States (Torrance and San Diego, California), France (Strasbourg), India (Ambernath), Belgium (Braine-D'Alleud) and Sweden (Malmo). The financial terms of the transaction are not disclosed. About Peptides Peptides, like proteins, are naturally occurring chains of amino acids involved in virtually every life process. They help regulate body functions such as the release of hormones and the regulation of blood-sugar levels. Advances in formulation and delivery platforms have boosted the demand for peptides, particularly in the development of pharmaceuticals. Synthetic peptides serve as the active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) in peptide-based drugs that treat diabetes, obesity, various types of cancer, endocrine and nervous system disorders, and other health conditions. About the PolyPeptide Group The PolyPeptide Group is a privately held leading provider of custom and generic GMP-grade peptides for a range of pharmaceutical and biotechnology applications. With corporate roots that began in the 1950s, the Group was formally launched in 1996. Today, it operates a growing international network of peptide manufacturing facilities. With its multinational organization, exclusive focus on peptides and solid financial base, the PolyPeptide Group offers a unique guarantee of quality, service and security of supply to its customers. More information about the PolyPeptide Group is available at www.PolyPeptide.com. PolyPeptide Contact Information: CEO Global Director, Sales Jane Salik Jan Christensen Tel +1 310 782 3569 Tel +45 20 74 70 73 Fax: +1 310 782 3645 Fax: +46 40 36 63 86 [email protected] [email protected] SOURCE PolyPeptide Group Related Links http://www.PolyPeptide.com TUCSON, Ariz., Jan. 3, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The right to contract is fundamental, and the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS) applauds the strong defense of that right by Florida Supreme Court Justice Charles Canady. He is on the list of candidates being considered by President-elect Donald Trump for nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court. Justice Canady properly dissented from a decision by the Florida Supreme Court on December 22, which invalidated a contractual agreement for dispute resolution that had been entered into by an adult patient with a medical group. See Hernandez v. Crespo, No. SC15-67. While the court majority paid lip service in respect of the right to enter into private contracts, the court then invalidated the contract as void and unenforceable based on issues like the parties agreeing to share arbitration costs equally. The court majority declared it to be somehow against public policy for a physician and a patient to agree to bear equally the costs of arbitration for dispute resolution. Instead, the court ruled that physicians must pay the lion's share of those costs. "Out-of-control medical expenses are exacerbated by one-sided incentives that trial attorneys have for bringing frivolous malpractice cases," observes Jane M. Orient, M.D., Executive Director of AAPS. "Patients should have the right to contract with physicians and agree that dispute resolution costs be borne equally," she added. The Florida legislature had passed its Medical Malpractice Act to encourage use of arbitration to help limit the costs. "Consenting adults should be allowed to do as the legislature encouraged, by entering into private agreements to reduce expenses in malpractice cases," states Andrew Schlafly, General Counsel of AAPS. In a compelling dissent, Florida Supreme Court Justice Canady criticized the illogical irony of the majority's ruling. "Nothing in the Medical Malpractice Act can be read to support the conclusion that the purpose of the statute is thwarted by voluntary pre-dispute agreements ... designed to limit the cost of litigation and the amount of paid claims. Instead, such voluntary agreements are designed to cure the same mischief that the statute seeks to address," Justice Canady astutely wrote. Justice Canady was recently endorsed by approximately 85 organizations, including AAPS, for nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court by President-elect Trump. Unlike other candidates, Justice Canady has experience that includes service in both a state legislature and in Congress. Justice Canady would be the first native Floridian to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court. The Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS) is a national organization representing physicians in virtually all specialties and every state. Founded in 1943, AAPS has the motto "omnia pro aegroto," which means "all for the patient." SOURCE Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS) Related Links http://www.aapsonline.org Tusk, whose mission is to work with local communities to protect African wildlife, will honor renowned paleoanthropologist, conservationist and Kenyan politician, Richard Leakey with the 2017 Tusk Legacy Award . Leakey initially gained fame for the discovery of the 1.6-million- year-old skeleton of a homo erectus youth. As the first Chairman of Kenya Wildlife Service, he reorganized Kenya's national park systems and dramatically reduced poaching levels. Leakey continues to tirelessly campaign against the slaughter of African wildlife. This year's Game Changer Award will be given to Richard Ladkani and Kief Davidson in recognition of their Oscar shortlisted Netflix film The Ivory Game. From executive producer Leonardo DiCaprio, The Ivory Game is an epic documentary that goes undercover into the dark and sinister world of ivory trafficking. The directors filmed for 16 months in China, Vietnam, the U.K. and Africa to infiltrate the corrupt global network of ivory trafficking. The film, which premiered at the Telluride and Toronto film festivals in September and globally launched on Netflix in early November, makes a compelling case that the only way to save Africa's elephants is to completely ban the ivory trade in China. In fact, Jane Goodall congratulated the directors for their courageous work and said she believed the film "may have influenced the timing" of China's recent announcement that they would shut down their legal commercial ivory trade by the end of 2017. David Yarrow, Europe's best selling wildlife photographer, and long-term partner of Tusk, will join the dinner as a featured guest. Yarrow has built an unrivalled reputation for capturing the beauty of the planet's remote landscapes, cultures and endangered animals. His most recent book 'Wild Encounters', was named '2016 art book of the year' by Amazon. Executive Director, Ellen C. O'Connell Tusk USA is a 501(c)(3) registered charity whose headquarters are in New York City. Tusk Wildlife Gala 2017: www.tuskwildlifegala.com The Ivory Game Movie: www.theivorygame.com David Yarrow Photography: www.davidyarrow.photography Media Contact: Ellen C. O'Connell 646-321-3995 Tusk USA 525 East 89th Street Courtyard Office New York, NY 10128 Tel: 212-602-1588 SOURCE Tusk USA Dear Dr. Roach: I am a 71-year-old grandmother who is very concerned about the health of my 18-year-old granddaughter. She has had the following symptoms for the past seven years, at least: earache, headache, swollen glands, sore throat and cough. I have accompanied her to many doctor visits, and talked to the doctors and the ear specialist about how often our granddaughter has had to miss school due to her symptoms. She has been out of school about once a month for years. In the beginning, she was prescribed antibiotics, which did not seem to help her much. She then was told to take ibuprofen, and that is basically what she does when these symptoms occur. Two years ago, she had bloodwork done, and the doctor reported that her white blood cells were normal. I asked both the specialist and her doctor just last week if they have any idea why she continues to have these symptoms. The stock answer is that most children get sick from being in contact with students at school. I cannot, in good faith, accept these responses, but I do not know where to turn, particularly when she will be going off to college in September. I write this with tears in my eyes due to sheer frustration at not being able to do anything for her. Can you help, please? -- A.M. A: The symptoms she has are very common and are not specific to any particular disease. However, the frequency with which she has had them is not. While her doctors may be correct that this is just from being exposed to many different germs (both bacteria and viruses), I would be concerned about the possibility of common variable immunodeficiency. CVID should be considered in any child or adult with a history of recurrent bacterial infections, especially those involving the sinuses, lungs, ears or bronchi. The screening blood test is simple: an immunoglobulin level. IgG levels are always low in this condition, and IgA and IgM also might be affected. There are other, rarer kinds of immune deficiencies with these symptoms. An immunologist is the expert in evaluating these conditions. Heart disease Dear Dr. Roach: My doctor tells me that I have valvular heart disease with "trace MR and trivial TI." She doesn't seem too worried about it. Could you explain? Should I worry about it, and is there anything I can or should do? -- B.R. A: There are four valves in the heart: the mitral and aortic valves on the left side, and the tricuspid and pulmonic valves on the right. Valves can fail to open completely, which we call "stenosis," or they can allow blood to leak back the wrong way, which we call "regurgitation" or "insufficiency." The degree of valvular disease usually is characterized as trivial, mild, moderate, severe or critical. "MR" in this context is "mitral regurgitation," and "TI" is "tricuspid insufficiency." Both of these indicate backward flow from the ventricles into the atria. A small amount of regurgitation is very common. In a study from 1990, 58 percent of people over 50 had trivial or mild mitral regurgitation, and 74 percent had trivial or mild tricuspid insufficiency. This degree of valvular insufficiency rarely if ever causes any problem; there usually is nothing that needs to be done, and I don't think you should worry about it. Readers wishing for more information on heart valve disorders can order the booklet on that subject by writing: Dr. Roach, Book No. 105, 628 Virginia Dr., Orlando, FL 32803. Enclose a check or money order (no cash) for $4.75 with the recipient's printed name and address. Please allow four weeks for delivery. The intent behind the new store is twofold: first and foremost, to provide a superior laundry experience to members of the South Gate community and, secondarily, to gather data to allow PWS to enhance the user experience for existing and future laundromats. In furtherance of the first goal, the new laundromat, located next to PWS's newly renovated headquarters, was painstakingly constructed to enhance the customer experience. Specifically, the interior, which more closely resembles a coffee shop than a traditional laundry, includes couches, large TVs, countertop space for laptop usage, 25 feet high exposed wood ceilings and free wi-fi. While it may have the feel of a local coffee shop, the high quality of the equipment cannot be overstated. The 3,400 square foot store is equipped with the latest Speed Queen washers and tumble dryers, the world's premier commercial laundry equipment, and includes over 1,400 pounds of wash capacity. The sophisticated machine controls feature the best technology in the industry with large graphical displays and options to modify and customize wash cycles based on personal preferences. In furtherance of the second goal, PWS has taken a number of measures to ensure that this laundry is a learning platform for the company. To this end, the laundry is equipped with smart technology which gathers market intelligence. This technology will provide PWS with invaluable data which will be utilized to best serve the nation's laundry customers. Additionally, the store is equipped with two-way mirrors so PWS can observe customers' use of the space and interactions with equipment and store staff. These observations will be used to develop tools to help laundromat owners improve their customers' experiences, incorporate new revenue streams, and train and manage store employees. Lastly, all employees of PWS's South Gate office will spend time working in the laundromat and interacting with laundry customers. PWS believes that the best way for a business to differentiate itself is through providing an exceptional customer experience, which starts with a deep comprehension of customer behaviors and expectations. "Today's laundry customer is much more selective than in years past," said Brad Steinberg, Co-President of PWS. "It is a competitive retail environment and the stores that will flourish are the ones that provide the best experience for the customer. Being able to observe consumers in the laundromat and gauge their response to new services and amenities will help us provide our PWS customers, who own and operate coin laundries, market insights that will help them be more successful." "We appreciate the investment PWS is making in our community," said South Gate Mayor W.H. (Bill) De Witt. "Since deciding to relocate its headquarters here, PWS has demonstrated a real commitment to the City of South Gate by completely renovating a city block, commissioning a piece of public art, contributing funds to our local library and now providing our residents with this remarkable, modern laundry." The art Mayor De Witt mentions is a 55-foot mural titled Azalea Pride by artist Don Lampkin, which highlights the unique and storied history of the city of South Gate. PWS was established in 1968 by three of the most influential entrepreneurs in the coin laundry industry: Morton Pollack, the pioneer of coin laundry resale; John Wickham, the exclusive distributor of Speed Queen commercial laundry equipment in Southern California and Southern Nevada; and Bernie Steinberg - the originator of Launderland "turn-key" coin laundries. In the decades since then, under the current leadership of Brad Pollack and Brad Steinberg, PWS has grown to become the largest distributor of commercial laundry equipment and parts and the largest broker of existing laundromats in the United States. And, at 3,000 and counting, PWS is assuredly the most successful developer of new laundromats in North America. PWS is also the exclusive California and Nevada Speed Queen distributor. PWS and Speed Queen, two iconic American brands in the laundry industry, have been partners for more than 48 years and together have had a significant impact on the laundry industry. For more information visit www.pwslaundrywest.com. About PWS: Founded in 1968, PWS is the largest distributor of commercial laundry equipment and commercial laundry replacement parts in the United States. Additionally, PWS is the nation's premier developer of new laundromats and broker of existing laundromats. With offices in South Gate, Redwood City, San Diego and representation in Nevada, PWS exclusively sells Speed Queen washers and dryers and parts from all major manufacturers through their industry leading website pwslaundrywest.com. SOURCE PWS - The Laundry Company Related Links http://www.pwslaundrywest.com BATH, Maine, Jan. 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Rafael Peralta (DDG 115) returned to the Bath Iron Works shipyard Dec. 16 after successfully completing a nearly week-long series of demonstrations for Navy reviewers. Based on the performance during the sea trials, the Navy's Board of Inspection and Survey recommended DDG 115 join the U.S. Navy fleet. DDG 115 is the first Arleigh Burke-class destroyer built by Bath Iron Works after a four-year break in the Navy's DDG 51 program and demonstrates the versatility and craftsmanship of the shipyard's workers. "The ship looked great and performed well. It's a ship Bath Iron Works can be proud of," said Bath Iron Works President Dirk Lesko. The Navy will take delivery in February and the ship will depart Bath later this spring. She joins the other 34 active Bath-built DDG 51's in active service, including DDG-51 itself, USS Arleigh Burke. DDG 115 is named for Marine Sergeant Rafael Peralta who was killed in Iraq in the second battle of Fallujah, falling on an enemy grenade thereby shielding other members of his squad from the blast. He was awarded the Navy Cross posthumously. There are currently three other DDG 51 destroyers in production at Bath Iron Works: Thomas Hudner (DDG 116), Daniel Inouye (DDG 118) and Carl M. Levin (DDG 120). More information about General Dynamics Bath Iron Works, a subsidiary of General Dynamics (NYSE: GD), can be found at www.gdbiw.com. SOURCE General Dynamics Bath Iron Works Related Links http://www.gdbiw.com HONG KONG, Jan. 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Reolink, a global innovator in home security and camera solutions, is headed to the upcoming CES 2017, and will showcase its innovated and cutting-edge home security cameras and systems on January 58 in Las Vegas, NV. Global Innovator in Home Security and Camera Solutions Visitors are encouraged to meet Reolink at CES 2017 at Booth #40167 in Sands, Halls A-D in Smart Home Marketplace, to see the full lineup of innovated Reolink (registered by Shenzhen Reo-link Digital Technology Co, Ltd.) home security products. Reolink is looking for partners worldwide, and would love to exchange ideas with all CES visitors. Please refer to the exhibitor details for the exact booth location and info of Reolink: http://ces17.mapyourshow.com/7_0/exhibitor/exhibitor-details.cfm?ExhID=T0003067. CES (Consumer Electronics Show) is one of the biggest global consumer electronics and consumer technology tradeshows. More than 165,000 people (consumer technology innovators) plan to gather in Las Vegas this year to get some serious business done. And as an innovator in home cameras, Reolink will be there, too. With 4 product lines unfolded and refreshed, namely: wire-free security cameras, indoor smart home cameras, PoE&WiFi cameras & NVRs, and security camera systems, Reolink is about to roll out the new and improved home security products to dealers and trade press during the Consumer Electronics Show 2017. Here are some highlights: C1 Smart A 1080p indoor smart home pan-tilt camera. With up to 180 days stand-by time, and 100% wire-free, Reolink C1 Smart makes it simple for homeowners to place and move within any indoor environment. The external PIR Sensor helps to accurately trigger alarms by automatically detecting human motions. Other excellent features include 355 pan and 105 tilt, 2-way audio, SD card slot for inserting external Micro SD card and more. ArgusCam A battery-powered wireless smart home cube camera. Reolink ArgusCam features up to 180 days long stand-by time, and guarantees no-hassle peace of mind. It is 100% wire-free and has built-in PIR sensor for smarter and more accurate peace of mind. Two-way audio and waterproof IP65 are enabled, and also works great with WiFi NVR for 24/7 recording. RLK16-410B8 A 1440p PoE security camera system. It captures 4MP super HD videos/images. A 16-channel PoE NVR with 3TB hard disk drive preinstalled offers no-hassle 24/7 reliable video recording. A complete DIY security system! RLK4-210WB4 A 1080p WiFi security camera system. Sees 2MP Full HD videos and images, and allows 24/7 continuous recording via a 4-channel WiFi NVR with preinstalled 1TB HDD. Completely plug and play! ADK8-20B4 Reolink's first all-in-one 1080p video smart alarm system, including a 8-channel HD-TVI/AHD DVR with built-in 2TB HDD for video recording, HD-TVI cameras, Window/Door Sensors to protect every entrance points, PIR Movement Sensors to trigger more accurate alarms, and Key Fob remote control. Go to Reolink official website to view the complete list of security cameras (systems) for CES 2017. And Reolink will also push out breaking news and CES pics on its Twitter and Facebook account, for real-time coverage. About Reolink Reolink has spent years creating the leading-edge products with great features, which are distinguished from other security products in the market. Over the years, Reolink has made great progress in PoE/WiFi IP cameras, NVR kits, baby monitors, etc., providing the perfect security solution to make home a more secure and cozy place. Its products are sold in numerous countries and popular in the US, Canada, UK, Germany and more. For more information about Reolink and its products, please visit https://reolink.com. Media Contact Amanda Li/PR manager Email: [email protected] Reolink Digital Technology Co.,Ltd. This content was issued through the press release distribution service at Newswire.com. For more info visit: http://www.newswire.com/. SOURCE Reolink Digital Technology Co.,Ltd. Related Links https://reolink.com LOS ANGELES, Jan. 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Rexford Industrial Realty, Inc. (the "Company" or "Rexford Industrial") (NYSE: REXR), a real estate investment trust focused on owning and operating industrial properties located in Southern California infill markets, today announced that, under its "At the Market" stock offering program ("ATM"), the Company issued an aggregate of 571,368 shares of common stock during the quarter ending December 31, 2016. The shares were issued at a weighted average offering price of $23.14 per share, receiving gross proceeds of approximately $13.2 million and net proceeds of approximately $13.0 million. The Company used the net proceeds of the ATM for working capital, general corporate purposes and to fund future acquisitions. A registration statement relating to these securities has been declared effective by the Securities and Exchange Commission. This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy these securities, nor will there be any sale of these securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of such state or jurisdiction. The offering of these securities will be made only by means of a prospectus supplement and related base prospectus. Copies of the prospectus supplement and the related base prospectus may be obtained from the Internet site of the Securities and Exchange Commission at http://www.sec.gov. About Rexford Industrial Rexford Industrial is a real estate investment trust focused on owning and operating industrial properties in Southern California infill markets. The Company owns 136 properties with approximately 15.0 million rentable square feet and manages an additional 19 properties with approximately 1.2 million rentable square feet. Forward-Looking Statements This press release may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws, which are based on current expectations, forecasts and assumptions that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual outcomes and results to differ materially. Forward-looking statements relate to expectations, beliefs, projections, future plans and strategies, anticipated events or trends and similar expressions concerning matters that are not historical facts. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "may," "will," "should," "expects," "intends," "plans," "anticipates," "believes," "estimates," "predicts," or "potential" or the negative of these words and phrases or similar words or phrases which are predictions of or indicate future events or trends and which do not relate solely to historical matters. While forward-looking statements reflect the Company's good faith beliefs, assumptions and expectations, they are not guarantees of future performance. For a further discussion of these and other factors that could cause the Company's future results to differ materially from any forward-looking statements, see the reports and other filings by the Company with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2015. The Company disclaims any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement to reflect changes in underlying assumptions or factors, of new information, data or methods, future events or other changes. Contact: Investor Relations: Stephen Swett 424 256 2153 ext. 401 [email protected] SOURCE Rexford Industrial Realty, Inc. Related Links http://www.rexfordindustrial.com NEW YORK, Jan. 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Sands Brothers Asset Management, LLC (Sands Brothers), and Genesis Merchant Partners, LP (Genesis Merchant Partners), are pleased to announce the sale of the assets of Viactiv Holdings, LLC (Viactiv), to Adare Pharmaceuticals (Adare), a Portfolio Company of Texas Pacific Group. Viactiv, the #1 doctor recommended calcium supplement chew, was originally purchased from the McNeil Nutritionals division of Johnson and Johnson in December of 2012. "Viactiv is a high-quality brand with great distribution across multiple retail chains. It was a wonderful investment for us and we continue to believe that it has a great deal of potential. We believe that Adare's commitment and understanding of the market opportunity will allow them to leverage Viactiv's tremendous brand equity to grow the business in this extremely competitive industry," said Martin Sands, Co-Chairman of Sands Brothers and Senior Portfolio Manager of Genesis Merchant Partners. Steven Sands, Co-Chairman of Sands Brothers and Senior Portfolio Manager of Genesis Merchant Partners also added, "As the nutraceutical segment of the female health and nutrition market continues to expand, we believe Viactiv is well positioned to capture a significant portion of this attractive and growing category. We look forward to working with Adare over the course of the next few months through this transition in ownership to help maximize value." Sands Brothers Asset Management is a provider of investment management and advisory services to institutional and high net worth clients around the world. Sands Brothers is registered as an investment advisor with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission since the firm's founding in 1999. Martin Sands and Steven Sands have created a firm that provides investment management and advisory services for equity, venture and credit strategies. Genesis Merchant Partners, LP ("GMP") is focused on making strategic and opportunistic asset-based and secured loans in underserved markets. GMP makes loans to both US and non-US companies as well as both public and private companies. GMP offers financing to companies with strong assets and cash flows in niche markets that are often overlooked by banks and other traditional providers of capital. GMP may also make other types of opportunistic investments. SOURCE Sands Brothers Asset Management Related Links http://www.sandsbros.com SANTA BARBARA, Calif., Jan. 3, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- SelfEcho announces a free 1-year subscription to Mobile Therapy for all military veterans or clinicians providing mental health counseling to Veterans. Mobile Therapy is the award winning smartphone app and Web platform that empowers clinicians to provide better mental health care. Interested and eligible clinicians and individuals should visit www.mobiletherapy.com/veterans to apply and learn more. From the Military Times, "roughly 20 veterans a day commit suicide nationwide, according to new data from the Department of Veterans Affairs." This speaks to the disturbing mental health crisis facing our veterans. A movement knowns as #22kill has embarked to raise awareness about military suicides. Mobile Therapy is the first of its kind smartphone and Web based system that empowers clinical psychologists and mental health professionals to gain key insights into patients' emotional well-being in between therapy visits. The software is currently used by clinicians nationwide and in research programs at University of North Carolina, Harvard, and in progress at University of California Santa Barbara. "Veterans need the best mental health counseling available and there are simply not enough clinical psychologists available," explains SelfEcho CEO, Jacques Habra. Habra continued, "By offering Mobile Therapy at no charge to veterans and those serving veterans, we can provide a tool that not only provides valuable emotional well-being data to the professional, but also engages the veteran in daily check-ins on their mental health." Studies have shown that simply checking in regularly on one's emotional well-being leads to improved outcomes. When asked Why SelfEcho doesn't partner directly with the Veterans Administration, Habra replied, "We would love to create a partnership with the VA, but getting to the right person has been challenging; we'll keep trying." Mobile Therapy is prescribed by clinical psychologists. The individual patients/clients download an iPhone or Android app and the system passively and actively captures emotional well-being data that is available to clinicians in a Web based platform. The system has been in the marketplace since early 2014 and over 300 clinicians and 1000 end users have used the system. Clinicians have touted Mobile Therapy as a "valuable tool that brings me closer to my patient", and "a very effective way for Clinicians to track key emotional metrics in between therapy visits." Habra explains that, "Mobile Therapy has built in triggers and alerts that provide insights to clinicians right when patients are showing signs of beginning a downward spiral." "This can be of particular importance for any patient suffering from suicidal tendencies, or withdrawing towards problematic behavior. The clinician can provide therapy right when it is needed even if the scheduled therapy is days or weeks away," Habra continues. The Mobile Therapy Veterans program begins on January 3rd 2017 and entitles any Veteran or validated Clinician serving Veterans to 12 months of Mobile Therapy at no charge. "Helping veterans is important to our team, investors, and stakeholders and the free use of Mobile Therapy will hopefully add value to address veterans suffering from PTSD, depression, and other mental health conditions," Habra added. About SelfEcho: SelfEcho, a Santa Barbara based start-up, applies technology in creative ways to enhance well-being, mental health, and productivity. The company is committed to the technological application of subject matter experts in the fields of psychology and mental health and seeks to bridge the gap between these individuals and the business sphere. SelfEcho's management team includes four PhD Psychology leaders including the world renowned Dan Gilbert of Harvard University. More information on the company is available at www.SelfEcho.com. For more information, please contact SelfEcho CEO - Jacques Habra - [email protected] or calling 866-745-3555. Related Files SE_Free for Veterans.pdf Related Images image1.png image2.png Related Video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4Be6ooeSEs This content was issued through the press release distribution service at Newswire.com. For more info visit: http://www.newswire.com/. SOURCE SelfEcho, Inc Related Links http://www.SelfEcho.com LOS ANGELES, Jan. 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Social Native, a platform for creating high performing content on demand, has officially moved out of stealth mode by announcing their technology platform built to reimagine the antiquated creative process by tapping into the power of the gig economy. Branded Content created for Polaroid Branded Content created for Coca-Cola Social Native's SaaS platform connects brands with global content creators to create high performing, cost-efficient branded content on demand. Chief Executive Officer David Shadpour explains: "According to Intuit, 40% of American workers will be independent contractors by 2020. The trend towards a 'gig economy' has enabled companies like Uber & Airbnb to reinvent age-old industries like transportation & hospitality." Joining David on the executive team are Co-Founder of Buddy Media, acquired by Salesforce for $745M, Jeff Ragovin & Co-Creator of AdSense, acquired by Google for $104M, Eytan Elbaz. With Jeff's track record of creating high growth SaaS businesses & Eytan's history of building scalable technology platforms, the team has reimagined the creative process. "We mapped out 396 human touch points in the creative development process, then we automated them," explains Eytan, Social Native Chief Strategy Officer. There are 3 billion smartphones on this planet with high-resolution cameras. Social Native evaluated billions of people & identified the top 14 million content creators in the world. The technology profiles these creators based on historical content performance, demographics, brand affinities & interests, to automate the pairing of brands with epic creators. The result, a content engine that produces a wide array of branded content, on demand. Over the past three years alone, content consumption grew by 713% according to KPCB. Marketers are increasingly looking for ways to maintain mindshare without increasing costs. "Brands need to adjust to the pace of content creation in a socially driven world. Operating with speed & cost-effectively. Yet they can't afford to do it at the expense of great, authentic creative. Very few content creation models are able to answer that dilemma. Social Native does. Brilliantly," states Emmanuel Seuge, 20-year marketing veteran, prior SVP of Content at Coca-Cola & now founder of Cassius. Social Native content has had a direct impact on ROI. "When we started using Social Native content across eCommerce, we earned a 180% lift in sales. Consumers need authentic personalized content that evokes an emotion. Brands need a cost-effective content engine. Social Native is the solution," said Aaron Paine, Director of Social Media & Digital Strategy for Polaroid. Coca-Cola & Polaroid join 50 other blue-chip brands that have partnered with Social Native to create high performing content on demand. ABOUT SOCIAL NATIVE Social Native is the technology platform for creating high performing branded content. Social Native connects brands with over 14 million content creators, globally, to create custom content on demand. Headquartered in Los Angeles, California, Social Native is backed by veterans of Google, Salesforce, Scopely, Applied Semantics, & Buddy Media, whose past startups have created over $6B in equity value. Visit socialnative.com to learn more. Media Contact: David Bray [email protected] 917-685-2841 SOURCE Social Native Related Links http://socialnative.com NEW YORK, Jan. 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- S&P Global (NYSE: SPGI) announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to sell Quant House SAS (QuantHouse) to a company owned by Pierre Feligioni, one of QuantHouse's original founders. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed. QuantHouse provides end-to-end systematic trading solutions including ultra-low latency market data, algo trading development frameworks, proximity hosting and order routing to hedge funds, market makers, proprietary desks, brokers and sell-side firms. "We are pleased to have agreed to sell QuantHouse to one of its original founders, Pierre Feligioni," says S&P Global Market Intelligence President, Mike Chinn. "Mr. Feligioni's extensive familiarity with QuantHouse provides the business and its employees with the best opportunity to invest in product enhancements and even more effectively serve clients while allowing S&P Global Market Intelligence to focus its resources on growth opportunities that most closely align with our vision." "QuantHouse is an innovative next generation company that has changed how capital markets participants trade, and I am delighted to have the opportunity to lead QuantHouse again," says Pierre Feligioni. "While we leveraged S&P Global's reach together for several years, we collectively believe that the time is right for QuantHouse to regain focus and flexibility to exploit growing market opportunities in North America, Europe and Asia. I am very excited to work with our staff and partners to make QuantHouse the leading provider of ultra-low latency trading solutions, and I look forward to connecting with our customers around the world to present the roadmap for our core solutions and our plan to invest in new products and services." QuantHouse has developed a strong global platform in recent years, with its expansion into new geographies such as Asia and the delivery of a series of market innovations in ultra-low latency market data and algorithmic trading. QuantHouse's talented management team will remain with the company as it enters this new phase of its growth. The close of the transaction is anticipated by mid-January. About S&P Global Market Intelligence At S&P Global Market Intelligence, we know that not all information is importantsome of it is vital. Accurate, deep and insightful. We integrate financial and industry data, research and news into tools that help track performance, generate alpha, identify investment ideas, understand competitive and industry dynamics, perform valuation and assess credit risk. Investment professionals, government agencies, corporations and universities globally can gain the intelligence essential to making business and financial decisions with conviction. S&P Global Market Intelligence is a division of S&P Global (NYSE: SPGI), which provides essential intelligence for individuals, companies and governments to make decisions with confidence. For more information, visit www.spglobal.com/marketintelligence. SOURCE S&P Global Market Intelligence Related Links http://www.spglobal.com/marketintelligence LONDON, Jan. 3, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- About Spa The spa market in Europe contributed about 40% of the global spa market by retail value in 2015. Countries in Western Europe experienced healthy growth despite unfavorable economic environment. Specialized urban spas and boutique hotels in the region offer differentiated services to customers at different pricing options. Rising investments in the hospitality and spa sector have significantly helped the growth of the market in this region. Technavio's analysts forecast the spa market in Europe to grow at a CAGR of 8.60% during the period 2016-2020. Covered in this report The report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the spa market in Europe for 2016-2020. To calculate the market size, the report considers the revenue generated from the spa services. Technavio's report, Spa Market in Europe 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 vendors - Lanserhof - Ritz Carlton - Clarins - Fonteverde Other prominent vendors - VILA VITA VITAL SPA - Clinique La Prairie - Lefay Resort & Spa Lago di Garda - Chelsea Day Spa - Nirvana Spa - Four Seasons Spa - The Bulgari Spa - Thermae Bath Spa - Terme di Saturnia Market driver - Innovative service offerings by spa players - For a full, detailed list, view our report Market challenge - Low point of differentiation compared to salons - For a full, detailed list, view our report Market trend - Personalization of products and services - For a full, detailed list, view our report Key questions answered in this report - What will the market size be in 2020 and what will the growth rate be? - What are the key market trends? - What is driving this market? - What are the challenges to market growth? - Who are the key vendors in this market space? - What are the market opportunities and threats faced by the key vendors? - What are the strengths and weaknesses of the key vendors? You can request one free hour of our analyst's time when you purchase this market report. Details are provided within the report. Methodology Research methodology is based on extensive primary and secondary research. Primary research includes in-depth interviews with industry experts, vendors, resellers and customers. Secondary research includes Technavio Platform, industry publications, company reports, news articles, analyst reports, trade associations and the data published by Government agencies. Download the full report: https://www.reportbuyer.com/product/4539036/ About Reportbuyer Reportbuyer is a leading industry intelligence solution that provides all market research reports from top publishers http://www.reportbuyer.com For more information: Sarah Smith Research Advisor at Reportbuyer.com Email: [email protected] Tel: +44 208 816 85 48 Website: www.reportbuyer.com SOURCE ReportBuyer Related Links http://www.reportbuyer.com Four years in a government-issued uniform and without your family can make a person do odd things. Just look at Rod Blagojevich, imprisoned for trying to sell President Obama's former Senate seat. Ruminating in federal prison apparently left Illinois' former governor thinking it would be dandy to ask Mr. Obama yep, same Obama to commute his 14-year sentence before the president leaves office in January. If stir crazy is that bad, perhaps social justice supporters have a point about making sure sentences are appropriate for the crime. The Blagojevich case, the Chicago Tribune wrote, is "regarded as one of the most shocking instances of corruption in U.S. history." For that, 14 years seems just to us, but not to No. 40892-424. Illinois has a long history of sullied politicians, before and after Blagojevich. But even with that history, it's hard to tell, even at this date, what (or if) the former governor was thinking when he offered to fill the Senate seat with a person named by the highest bidder. "I've got this thing, and it's ... golden," he was recorded saying an FBI wiretap. Now, the public has a golden opportunity to see a convicted felon a former elected official serve a prison sentence in its entirety. Blagojevich as governor, interestingly, had one of the state's lowest numbers of commutations or pardons, addressing only 25 percent of the requests that came across his desk in six years. The Chicago Tribune reported that Obama's focus on commutations has been on drug cases and that he, too, has granted only a small percentage. Many (us included) think Blagojevich's request should be ignored by the president and any future president, for that matter. The former governor is supposed to stay imprisoned until 2024, his punishment for conviction of an original 18 counts of corruption. Five counts later were dismissed but the 14-year sentence remained in place. In recent decades, high-profile presidential pardons/commutations have included names such as Jimmy Hoffa (Richard Nixon); Nixon (Gerald Ford); Peter Yarrow (Jimmy Carter); George Steinbrenner (Ronald Reagan); Caspar Weinberger (George H.W. Bush); and Patty Hearst (Bill Clinton). While the final decision on a pardon/commutation for a federal offense rests solely with the president, we see no overriding reason for Rod Blagojevich to serve a shorter term. Blagojevich was trained as a lawyer and once served as a prosecutor. He was a state lawmaker, a U.S. congressman and was governor. He, more than most, should have realized the illegality of his actions. He, more than most, succumbed to the greed of politics, position, power and money. Maybe, in 10 years, he'll have learned his lesson. CHICAGO, Jan. 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- SPINS, the leading provider of retail consumer insights, analytics, and consulting for the Natural, Organic, and Specialty Products Industries, announces the addition of Kelly Marion as Senior Vice President of Customer Experience to its team. Marion's leadership at TABS Analytics, Playtex Inc., and CPG Sales Network factor into the exceptional expertise he brings to SPINS clients. In addition to extensive experience in business development, marketing, and sales, Marion has a long history of delivering actionable insights and solutions from data, including working with brands and retailers to launch unique products ahead of their peers across a variety of channels and segments of the market. "Kelly deeply understands how to help both brands and retailers win with business intelligence. His experience applying analytics and technology to build successful marketplace strategies affords our clients an exclusive competitive advantage," said SPINS CEO, Tony Olson. "2017 is truly our year of the customer, centered on customized solutions. With the addition of Kelly's vision and expertise, SPINS will deliver an unparalleled client experience. About SPINS SPINS is a passionate advocate of brands and retailers that promote healthy living. As the leading provider of retail consumer insights, analytics reporting, and consulting services for the Natural, Organic, and Specialty Products Industry, its business offerings are helping retailers in this high growth area to connect people with the brands that they need and love. Learn more at www.spins.com. SOURCE SPINS Related Links http://www.spins.com Subaru of America, Inc. today reported record-breaking sales of 615,132 vehicles for the 2016 calendar year; an increase of 5.6 percent over the previous annual record of 582,675 vehicles set in 2015. This is the eighth consecutive year of sales records for Subaru of America and ninth consecutive year of sales increases. The December sales total of 63,177 vehicles marks the company's best-ever sales month, eclipsing the previous best month of August 2016 (60,418). December also marks the sixth consecutive month of 50,000+ vehicle sales for the company which continues to outpace the industry. Many of the company's current models contributed to its sales success in 2016. The Forester, Legacy, Outback and Crosstrek sales were notably strong as each carline achieved new annual sales records. The Forester and Outback mid-size CUVs finished the year with sales of 178,593 and 182,898, up 1.9 percent and 20.1 percent, respectively. The small CUV entrant, Crosstrek, added 95,677 sales to the year-end total, while the Legacy sedan achieved 65,306 sales in 2016. The Impreza, all-new for 2017, added 55,238 annual sales. On the performance side, the company's WRX and STI models achieved annual sales of 33,279. "We are thrilled to close 2016 with our eighth consecutive sales record for Subaru," said Thomas J. Doll, president and chief operating officer, Subaru of America, Inc. "We would like to thank all of our retailers for their continued commitment in making these record-breaking sales results possible and we look forward to making 2017 our next record year." "December represented the best month ever for Subaru of America, topping off the best year in the company's history, in both sales and market share," said Jeff Walters, senior vice president of sales. "Subaru is well positioned to continue its success into 2017," added Walters. Carline Dec-16 Dec-15 % Chg Dec-16 Dec-15 % Chg MTD MTD MTD YTD YTD YTD Forester 18,015 16,797 7.3% 178,593 175,192 1.9% Impreza 5,126 6,059 -15.4% 55,238 66,785 -17.3% WRX/STI 2,938 3,089 -4.9% 33,279 33,734 -1.4% Legacy 5,960 5,759 3.5% 65,306 60,447 8.0% Outback 20,695 16,067 28.8% 182,898 152,294 20.1% BRZ 214 413 -48.2% 4,141 5,296 -21.8% Crosstrek 10,229 8,090 26.4% 95,677 88,927 7.6% TOTAL 63,177 56,274 12.3% 615,132 582,675 5.6% About Subaru of America, Inc. Subaru of America, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. of Japan. Headquartered at a zero-landfill office in Cherry Hill, N.J., the company markets and distributes Subaru vehicles, parts and accessories through a network of more than 620 retailers across the United States. All Subaru products are manufactured in zero-landfill production plants and Subaru of Indiana Automotive Inc. is the only U.S. automobile production plant to be designated a backyard wildlife habitat by the National Wildlife Federation. For additional information visit media.subaru.com. Michael McHale Subaru of America, Inc. 856-488-3326 [email protected] Diane Anton Subaru of America, Inc. 856-488-5093 [email protected] SOURCE Subaru of America, Inc. Related Links http://www.subaru.com NEW YORK, Jan. 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Use this report to: - Analyze the developing market for superconducting applications, materials and other enabling technologies. - Assess expected technological and market trends in the longer term. - Evaluate superconducting technologies that are expected to influence the market through 2021. - Describe key players in the emerging superconductivity industry. Highlights - The global market for superconductivity technologies should reach $5.3 billion by 2021 from $3.4 billion in 2016 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9.4%, from 2016 to 2021. - The superconducting magnets market should reach $3.4 billion by 2021 from $3.3 billion in 2016 at a CAGR of 0.9%, from 2016 to 2021. - The superconducting electrical equipment market should reach $1.7 billion by 2021 from $63.3 million in 2016 at a CAGR of 92.5%, from 2016 to 2021. STUDY BACKGROUND Superconductivity is a unique and powerful tool in scientific research that has led to important strides in healthcare such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Other superconducting technologies on the cusp of commercialization will increase the efficiency with which electricity is produced and usedand will indirectly benefit the environment. In the future, superconducting technologies may be used to predict earthquakes, map the magnetic fields produced by the brain and produce ultrahigh-performance computers. These are only a few examples of the wide range of superconductivity technologies and applications analyzed in this report. This report is an updated version of an earlier BCC Research report published in 2014. STUDY GOALS AND OBJECTIVES The overall goal of this report is to provide an up-to-date understanding of the developing market for superconducting applications, materials and other enabling technologies. Specific objectives include: - Identifying superconducting applications with the greatest commercial potential in the near to medium term (2015 to 2021). - Analyzing the key drivers and constraints that will shape the market for these superconducting applications as the basis for projecting demand over the next five years. - Estimating current and future consumption of superconducting materials and other key enabling technologies. - Identifying the companies that are best positioned to meet this demand because of their proprietary technologies, strategic alliances or other advantages. INTENDED AUDIENCE This report is intended for marketing executives, entrepreneurs, investors, venture capitalists and other readers with a need to know where the superconductivity field is headed over the next five to 10 years. Other readers who should find the report particularly valuable include government officials associated with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and other national and state-level programs charged with advancing the development of the nanotechnology industry. Although the report addresses specific superconductivity technologies and materials, it is generally nontechnical in nature and coverage. This analysis is less concerned with theory and jargon than with identifying the developments that work, assessing the amount of technologies the market is likely to purchase, and projecting the price of such technologies. Although the report is not written specifically for scientists and technologists, many of these professionals will be interested in its findings concerning the market for their work, including the availability of government and corporate research funding for different technologies and applications. SCOPE AND FORMAT The report addresses trends in superconductivity technology and the global market for superconductivity applications during the period from 2015 through 2021, including: - Science, research and technology development. - Healthcare. - Electric utilities. - Computing. - Transportation. - Communications. - Military/defense. - Other applications. The study format includes the following major elements: - Executive summary. - Overview (i.e., definitions, brief history, superconductivity characteristics, market summary). - Developments in superconducting technology that are expected to influence the market through 2021. - Detailed market estimates and projections for each technology, application and end use during the period from 2015 to 2021. - General assessment of expected technological and market trends in the longer term. - Description of key players in the emerging superconductivity industry. INFORMATION SOURCES AND METHODOLOGY The findings and conclusions presented in this report are based on information gathered from primary sources within the industry, including vendors and users of superconductivity products. Interview data were combined with information gathered through an extensive review of secondary sources such as trade publications, trade association literature, company literature and online databases to produce the market projections contained in this report. The base year for analysis and projection is 2015 and market projections were developed for 2016 to 2021. These projections are based on a combination of a consensus among the primary contacts and BCC Research's understanding of the key market drivers and their impact from a historical and analytical perspective. The analytical methodologies used to generate the market estimates are described in detail in the section titled "Detailed Market Projections." The documentation is intended to enable the reader to evaluate the projections and, if desired, substitute alternative assumptions. All dollar projections presented in this report are in 2015 constant dollars unless otherwise noted. ANALYST'S CREDENTIALS Andrew McWilliams, the author of this report, is a partner in 43rd Parallel LLC, a Boston-based international technology and marketing consulting firm. He is the author of the previous edition of this report, as well as a number of other BCC Research market opportunity studies on advanced materials topics, including: - AVM078A New Electronic Materials and Device Technologies: Global Markets. - AVM025G Diamond, Diamond-Like and CBN Films and Coating Products. - AVM015H High-Performance Ceramic Coatings: Markets and Technologies. - AVM038F Advanced Structural Carbon Products: Fibers, Foams and Composites. - AVM067D Metamaterials: Technologies and Global Markets. - AVM064A Geosynthetics: Materials, Applications and Markets. - AVM075D Graphene: Technologies, Applications, and Markets. - EGY053C Advanced Materials and Devices for Renewable Energy: Global Markets. - IAS029D Terahertz Radiation Systems: Technologies and Global Markets. - EGY065C Enabling Technologies for the Smart Grid. - NAN015H Advanced Ceramics and Nanoceramic Powders. - NAN021G Global Markets for Nanocomposites, Nanoparticles, Nanoclays, and Nanotubes. Read the full report: http://www.reportlinker.com/p096597-summary/view-report.html About Reportlinker ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place. http://www.reportlinker.com __________________________ Contact Clare: [email protected] US: (339)-368-6001Intl: +1 339-368-6001 SOURCE Reportlinker Related Links http://www.reportlinker.com SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., Jan. 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- SutroVax, a biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the delivery of best-in-class conjugate vaccines and novel complex antigen-based vaccines to prevent deadly infectious diseases, today announced the appointment of Elaine Sun as Chief Financial Officer and the additions of Peter Hirth, Ph.D., to the company's Board of Directors and Jeffrey Almond, PhD. FMedSci, to the Scientific Advisory Board. Ms. Sun is a veteran strategic financial and business advisor with more than two decades of experience in the life sciences industry. Prior to joining SutroVax, she served as Managing Director and head of West Coast health care for Evercore Partners, a leading independent investment banking advisory firm, where she led biotechnology coverage. Prior to Evercore, Ms. Sun was a Managing Director at Merrill Lynch and Co. in the Healthcare Investment Banking Group, advising large-cap pharmaceutical, biotechnology and specialty pharmaceutical companies on a range of strategic and financing transactions. During her investment banking tenure, Ms. Sun advised on M&A and financing transactions representing over $50 billion in aggregate transaction value. Most recently, Ms. Sun built a successful consulting practice, advising venture-backed companies on a range of strategic, financing, partnering and M&A decisions. Ms. Sun received a B.A. in Economics and Japanese Studies from Wellesley College and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School. "Elaine brings a wealth of experience and a track record of closing major financial transactions that will be of great value in her new role at SutroVax as we continue to grow and expand our activities both internally and in partnership with other industry leaders," said Grant Pickering, CEO of SutroVax. Dr. Hirth co-founded and led Plexxikon, Inc. as its CEO as it built a novel, structure-guided drug discovery platform that advanced several new chemical entities into the clinic, including Zelboraf, which was FDA approved and led to the company's 2011 acquisition by Daiichi Sankyo for $935 million. Prior to Plexxikon, Dr. Hirth was President of SUGEN, Inc., where he was instrumental in building the company from its inception as well as advancing several kinase inhibitors through clinical trials, including Sutent, which was FDA approved and led to the company's 1999 acquisition by Pharmacia & Upjohn, Inc. for $728 million. Prior to SUGEN, Dr. Hirth was Vice President of Research at Boehringer Mannheim where he successfully led the company's erythropoietin program to approval in 1989, which was sold under the name Recormon. Before moving into industry, Dr. Hirth was a research scientist with the Max Planck Institute following his post-doctoral work at University of California, San Diego and obtaining his Ph.D. in molecular genetics from Heidelberg University, Germany. "Drs. Almond and Hirth are truly giants in their fields of expertise. Dr. Hirth's ability to harness the potential from cutting-edge development platforms at emerging biotechnology organizations to deliver novel drugs to the market will be highly valuable to SutroVax, as we advance our lead program into the clinic," said Mr. Pickering. "Dr. Almond helmed both internal and external R&D at Sanofi-Pasteur, one of the world's leading vaccine companies, for over a decade. His insights will be fundamental to ensuring that we fully leverage our proprietary platform as we focus on creating and developing potential best-in-class vaccines." Dr. Almond is Visiting Professor of Microbiology at the William Dunn School of Pathology, University of Oxford and is an Oxford Martin Fellow with the Oxford Martin Programme on Vaccines. Before that he was Vice President and Head of Discovery Research and External R&D at Sanofi Pasteur. His scientific contributions include the first demonstration that a single gene can determine the host range of influenza virus a finding highly relevant to understanding evolution of new pandemic strains; completion of the genetic map of an avian influenza virus, and the first detailed description of the proteins of Influenza B virus. He has also made major contributions to our understanding of poliovirus and its vaccines. In 1985 as a young academic Dr. Almond won the Fleming Award for outstanding contribution to microbiological research by a young microbiologist in the UK, and the pace and extent of his contributions have not diminished. In his previous role at Sanofi Pasteur, he was responsible for the scientific rationale underpinning approximately 30 vaccine projects covering viruses, bacteria and eukaryotic parasites. He is an elected Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology and in 1999 was awarded the Ivanovsky Medal for "Contributions to the Development of Virology" by The Scientific Council of Virology of Russian Academy of Medical Sciences. He is a Fellow of the UK Academy of Medical Sciences and has served on numerous scientific committees in the UK and beyond, including the governing body of the Medical Research Council. "The SutroVax platform is the ideal technological approach to use for precision conjugations to deliver a new quality of vaccines, and it is being built to create an engine for multiple product opportunities," said Dr. Hirth. "I am delighted to join SutroVax in their quest to develop new and improved vaccines using their exciting new technology," said Dr. Almond. "I am hugely impressed by their recognition that vaccine R&D includes building the ability to scale-up and industrialise as well as solving problems at the molecular level with their platform." About Conjugate Vaccines Conjugate vaccines comprise the largest segment of the vaccine industry, with annual sales approaching $10 billion across multiple licensed indications, including pneumococcus, meningitis, and H flu. By far the largest of those indications is the pneumococcus market, with annual sales of nearly $7 billion. Despite the successes to date, there are not only a significant number of additional bacterial strains that have yet to be incorporated into current conjugate vaccines, but also many infectious diseases that have yet to be addressed using this potent modality. About Xpress CF The Xpress CF platform allows for efficient conjugation of antigens to precise positions on carrier proteins via the incorporation of multiple non-native amino acid (nnAA) substitutions to permit click chemistry attachment. This precise and robust technique has been designed to produce homogeneous and consistent vaccines that have the potential to confer important immunological and clinical benefits relative to current conjugate vaccines. Pinpointing the placement of the antigen on the carrier has the potential to improve host immune responses by avoiding the discrete sites on the carrier responsible for T-cell help, which are often impinged by current conjugation methods. Furthermore, the precise optimization of antigen positioning on the carrier protein allows the attachment of multiple antigenic constructs to a single protein carrier, which will facilitate the production of broader spectrum vaccines. These improvements, along with our high-yield, streamlined and industrialized production process, have the potential to deliver best-in-class conjugate vaccines to the market with heightened immunity and broader protection. About SutroVax SutroVax is an independent vaccine platform and development company whose mission is to deliver best-in-class conjugate vaccines and novel complex antigen-based vaccines to prevent deadly infectious diseases. The company is leveraging its exclusive license to Sutro Biopharma's Xpress CF platform to perform cell-free protein synthesis and site-specific conjugation for the field of vaccines. SutroVax is financed by an international syndicate of experienced, blue-chip venture capital and corporate venture investors. For more information, visit www.sutrovax.com. SOURCE SutroVax Related Links http://www.sutrovax.com Giamo joined TD Bank in 1998 as the head of its middle market lending group in New Jersey. After successfully growing and building the local middle market business, he held various positions of increasing responsibility in commercial and retail banking. Most recently, Giamo served as Regional President of TD's New York Metro region, where he oversaw an aggressive de novo growth strategy that resulted in the opening of more than 250 TD Bank stores and ran day-to-day commercial and retail banking activities. Prior to joining TD Bank, Giamo worked at Bank of New York and CoreStates Financial Corp. Giamo's appointment follows the retirement of Fred Graziano, who worked at TD Bank for 25 years and most recently served as Head of the Regional Commercial Bank. "Chris has a long track record of success across the banking industry and understands how to build and develop winning strategies and teams," said Greg Braca, Chief Operating Officer, TD Bank. "He is passionate about serving customers and driving results, and is well-positioned to lead our growing commercial banking business." "The Commercial Bank at TD Bank continues to expand, providing great opportunity for us to serve businesses of all sizes," Giamo said. "I look forward to working with the commercial team to accelerate our growth within the marketplace." Giamo holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Rhode Island. He serves on the boards of several organizations, including the Long Island Association, Global Gateway Alliance, Huntington Hospital and TD Private Client Wealth, LLC. Giamo resides in Long Island, New York, with his family. About TD Bank, America's Most Convenient Bank TD Bank, America's Most Convenient Bank, is one of the 10 largest banks in the U.S., providing more than 8.9 million customers with a full range of retail, small business and commercial banking products and services at more than 1,275 convenient locations throughout the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, Metro D.C., the Carolinas and Florida. In addition, TD Bank and its subsidiaries offer customized private banking and wealth management services through TD Wealth, and vehicle financing and dealer commercial services through TD Auto Finance. TD Bank is headquartered in Cherry Hill, N.J. To learn more, visit www.tdbank.com. Find TD Bank on Facebook at www.facebook.com/TDBank and on Twitter at www.twitter.com/TDBank_US. TD Bank, America's Most Convenient Bank, is a member of TD Bank Group and a subsidiary of The Toronto-Dominion Bank of Toronto, Canada, a top 10 financial services company in North America. The Toronto-Dominion Bank trades on the New York and Toronto stock exchanges under the ticker symbol "TD". To learn more, visit www.td.com. SOURCE TD Bank Related Links http://www.TDBank.com SHANGHAI, Jan. 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- TE Connectivity (NYSE: TEL), a world leader in connectivity and sensors, announced today that the company has been named one of China's 50 Most Innovative Companies for 2016 by Fast Company China. "We are honored to be recognized amongst the most innovative companies in China," said Chao Zhang, TE Connectivity global vice president and president of TE in China. "TE Connectivity has been leading the field of connectivity for 75 years and we are committed to driving innovation in China, helping engineers bring amazing new ideas to life." China's 50 Most Innovative Companies is an annual award hosted by globally renowned business publication Fast Company's Chinese issue. Every year, Fast Company China invites a panel with experts from different industry backgrounds to analyze more than 800 companies from the perspectives of innovation, leadership, innovation value, design, and technology, aiming to identify the top 50 most innovative companies in China. Credited by Fast Company China for "enabling innovation from concept to mass production through intelligent and reliable connector and sensor solutions," TE has always been at the forefront of innovation - inventing the sensors and connectors that advance how people live, move, make things and communicate. This is also a great testament of TE's strong presence and commitment to the China market. TE has more than 7,000 engineers around the world and invests nearly $650 million annually in research, development and engineering. In China, the company's 2,000 engineers are working with local customers and expanding the possibilities of IoT, smart factory, electric vehicle, medical care, drone technology and digital engineering. ABOUT TE CONNECTIVITY TE Connectivity (NYSE: TEL) is a $12 billion global technology leader. Our connectivity and sensor solutions are essential in today's increasingly connected world. We collaborate with engineers to transform their concepts into creations redefining what's possible using intelligent, efficient and high-performing TE products and solutions proven in harsh environments. Our 75,000 people, including over 7,000 engineers, partner with customers in close to 150 countries across a wide range of industries. We believe EVERY CONNECTION COUNTS www.TE.com. SOURCE TE Connectivity NEW YORK, Jan. 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- TreasuryXpress, the global leader in frictionless and on-demand treasury management solutions recently announced that TECOM Group, a Dubai-based strategic business enabler that contributes to the realization of the Emirate's economic aspiration by creating sector-focused communities and innovative business solutions, has gone live with the firm's enterprise treasury management solution, C2Treasury. This was selected by TECOM Group to help automate the bank reconciliation and achieve deeply integrated straight-through processing with the firm's ERP, Oracle, and Yardi. TreasuryXpress As a significant contributor to Dubai's sustainable economic growth, TECOM Group's 11 business communities have attracted companies and talent from around the world, covering seven vibrant industries. The communities host over 5,100 companies, ranging from start-ups to multinational corporations and this breadth and reach translates into complex bank account and treasury management requirements. Having to manage many bank accounts across different banks, TECOM Group needed to find a way to simplify and economize their bank connections and bank account statement reconciliations. Michael Wunderbaldinger, Chief Financial Officer at TECOM Group said: "As our business has expanded, we have had a growing need to streamline our bank reconciliation processes all through one central system. We knew this would require a good deal of customized integration to fully automate our bank account reconciliation with Oracle and Yardi. C2Treasury will help facilitate business partner activity through the automation of payments received, creating a smoother process for all the parties involved". "We chose TreasuryXpress as our partner because of their reputation for quality solutions and support. Their expertise in cutting-edge technology development and their responsiveness to customer needs has exceeded our expectations," he added. The solution is highly unique and innovative and includes the following capabilities: Deep integration between SWIFT, Oracle, and C2Treasury for automatic data synchronization between all the systems Automatic standardization of all transactions from bank statements and payments to invoices Fully automated reconciliation The custom solution was developed and fully delivered in less than one month. "We are so pleased that TECOM Group chose TreasuryXpress as their partner for innovation. We know that each client is unique and we make it our priority to create solutions that are fully responsive to their requirements," said Anis Rahal, CEO and founder of TreasuryXpress. "Our technology and approach to development is built to scale quickly, affordably, and securely." ABOUT TREASURYXPRESS TreasuryXpress, a global FinTech provider, specializes in delivering innovative solutions that deliver 100% bank visibility, consolidate cash information, manage end-to-end payment processing, and achieve automated custom reporting. Our solutions centralize 10,000+ bank accounts daily and process electronic payments for over 7 billion USD each year. Visit www.treasuryxpress.com or email [email protected]. About TECOM Group TECOM Group, a member of Dubai Holding, is a strategic business enabler that contributes to the realisation of Dubai's economic aspirations, by creating sector-focused communities and innovative business solutions. TECOM Group's 11 business communities have attracted companies and talent from around the world, reinforcing Dubai's position as a global hub for business and commerce. Covering seven vibrant industries, the communities host over 5,100 companies, ranging from start-ups to multinational corporations, and employ 76,000 creative workers. TECOM Group's free zone business communities include Dubai Internet City, Dubai Outsource City, Dubai Media City, Dubai Studio City, Dubai Production City, Dubai Knowledge Park, Dubai International Academic City, Dubai Science Park and Dubai Design District (d3). The Group's newest business community, Dubai Wholesale City (DWSC), is the region's first integrated wholesale trading and industrial hub that features sector focused pavilions including Dubai Industrial Park. http://tecomgroup.ae/ For media enquiries please contact: Khaled Ramadan Executive Director Corporate Communications, TECOM Group +1.347.920.1673 [email protected] SOURCE TreasuryXpress Related Links http://www.treasuryxpress.com AUSTIN, Texas, Jan. 4, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Texas ranked second in the nation for relocation activity in 2015, according to the Texas Relocation Report released today by the Texas Association of REALTORS. Analyzing statewide and national migration data from the U.S. Census Bureau, the report showed that Texas continues to be a high-demand destination for U.S. residents relocating across the country. "The diverse job opportunities and high quality of life in Texas continues to drive in-state and out-of-state migration to Texas cities and counties, both big and small," said Vicki Fullerton, 2017 chairman of the Texas Association of Realtors. "This is the third consecutive year that Texas has gained more than 500,000 new residents from out of state." According to the report, Texas experienced a net gain of out-of-state residents in 2015, with 107,689 more people moving to Texas than Texas residents moving out of state. This is a 4 percent increase in the net gain of Texas residents from 2014 (103,465 residents). The total number of residents moving to Texas from out of state in 2015 increased 2.8 percent year-over-year to 553,032 incoming residents. The highest number of new Texans came from California (65,546), followed by Florida (33,670), Louisiana (31,044), New York (26,287) and Oklahoma (25,555). Texas once again ranked third in the nation for number of residents moving out of state (445,343) in 2015. The most popular out-of-state relocation destinations for Texans were California (41,713), Florida (29,706), Oklahoma (28,642), Colorado (25,268), and Louisiana (19,863). This is the first Texas Relocation Report to feature comparative relocation data by Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA). Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim and New York-Newark-Jersey City recorded the highest number of resident migrations to Texas in 2015. Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington recorded the highest number of incoming residents from out-of-state (117,982), followed by the Houston-The Woodlands-Sugarland (101,604) and Austin-Round Rock (46,598). At the county level, Harris County led the state with a net gain of 18,945 residents relocating to the county from out of state, but four of the top 10 counties with the highest net gain of residents from out of state were located in North Texas (Dallas, Tarrant, Collin and Denton counties). Fullerton concluded, "As thousands more people choose Texas to further their careers, grow their businesses and raise their families each year, the need for initiatives that protect our state's affordability, mobility and economy becomes increasingly critical. In the upcoming legislative session, Texas REALTORS will be actively advocating for sustainable, long-term policies that will support our state's enduring population growth." About the Texas Relocation Report The Texas Relocation Report is based on data from the 2015 American Community Survey and the 2010-2014 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates by the U.S. Census Bureau as well as the U-Haul 2015 National Migration Trend Reports. The report analyzes county relocation data for the 43 largest demographic areas in Texas. The Texas Association of REALTORS distributes insights about the Texas housing market each month, including quarterly market statistics, trends among homebuyers and sellers, luxury home sales, international trends, and more. To view the Texas Relocation Report in its entirety, visit TexasRealEstate.com. About the Texas Association of REALTORS With more than 110,000 members, the Texas Association of REALTORS is a professional membership organization that represents all aspects of real estate in Texas. We advocate on behalf of Texas REALTORS and private-property owners to keep homeownership affordable, protect private-property rights, and promote public policies that benefit homeowners. Visit TexasRealEstate.com to learn more. CONTACT: Danielle Urban Pierpont Communications 512-448-4950 [email protected] SOURCE Texas Association of Realtors Related Links http://www.TexasRealEstate.com "Through advancements and innovations including fetal MRIs, ultrasounds and genetic testing, we are able to diagnose birth defects much earlier than ever before," said fetal surgery pioneer and pediatric surgeon N. Scott Adzick, MD, medical director of the hospital's CFDT, and Surgeon-in-Chief. "However, birth defects still remain the leading cause of infant mortality in the United States. It is our mission to change that statistic while continuing to provide expert care to the mother and child facing a diagnosis." The CFDT at CHOP is a global leader in fetal medicine and are one of only a few programs worldwide to offer comprehensive prenatal diagnosis, fetal surgery and therapy, and the option of delivering at a top pediatric hospital. The Center was also the focus of a three-part, documentary series called "TWICE BORN: Stories from the Special Delivery Unit," that aired on PBS in 2015 and was awarded an Outstanding Science and Technology Programming Emmy at the 37th Annual News and Documentary Emmy Awards this past September. "They told me that she wasn't going to survive," recalls Lesly, mother of Lilly who was treated in the CFDT. Lesly's doctor in California offered little hope when an enormous tumor growing outside of the baby's mouth was spotted on an ultrasound. "They told me that if I kept the baby, I was putting my life at risk. They basically declared her dead in a sense." After receiving the grim news, Lesly decided to move home to New Jersey and seek care at CHOP. Here, our team quickly put into place a treatment plan, and today Lilly is a happy, healthy three-year-old. Read Lesly and Lilly's full story here: http://www.chop.edu/stories/lesly-s-leap-faith This is just one example of the thousands patients, from all 50 states and over 60 countries, cared for by the CFDT. Each week, highly sophisticated surgical teams repair spina bifida and other birth defects both in and out of the womb, place fetal shunts to treat life-threatening congenital conditions, or perform minimally invasive procedures in the mother's uterus to treat complications in fetal twins. Of approximately 5,000 fetal surgeries done worldwide, a quarter of them have been performed at CHOP, more than any other hospital. The Center staff has also managed thousands of pregnancies complicated by birth defects in which newborns need immediate specialized medical care or surgery after delivery. About Children's Hospital of Philadelphia: Children's Hospital of Philadelphia was founded in 1855 as the nation's first pediatric hospital. Through its long-standing commitment to providing exceptional patient care, training new generations of pediatric healthcare professionals, and pioneering major research initiatives, Children's Hospital has fostered many discoveries that have benefited children worldwide. Its pediatric research program is among the largest in the country. In addition, its unique family-centered care and public service programs have brought the 535-bed hospital recognition as a leading advocate for children and adolescents. For more information, visit http://www.chop.edu Contact: Ashley Moore Children's Hospital of Philadelphia [email protected] Cell: 215.630.4683 SOURCE The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia Related Links http://www.chop.edu For 2017's challenge, ICE partnered with celebrity chefs and food stars Marcus Samuelsson, Ted Allen, Donatella Arpaia and Duff Goldman to challenge the nation to enter and win a scholarship to attend ICE. A worldwide public vote will determine the finalists, and the winners will be chosen by an exclusive panel of ICE instructors. "What started out as a creative way to award scholarships became a viral sensation last time we ran the challenge. This time, we've taken things to a whole new level with even more scholarships and the industry behind us," said Rick Smilow, ICE's president and CEO. "At ICE, our mission is to enable the creative light within each individual, empowering them to find rewarding careers in the culinary and hospitality industries. We've helped more than 13,000 alumni find their culinary and hospitality voices, and with the nation's help, we hope to change the lives of 18 more people, meet thousands of others and have some fun in the process." Entrants upload an original one-minute video to ice.edu/CulinaryVoice demonstrating their creativity, their passion for food or service or their entrepreneurial flair. In the video, contestants should explain who they are, who or what inspires them and what they hope to achieve in the culinary or hospitality industries. Entrants should tell the world why they deserve one of 18 scholarships and the chance to study at the award-winning Institute of Culinary Education in New York City, widely recognized as the nation's premier, state-of-the-art center for culinary education. "ICE has become so much more than just a culinary school. Their programs, their facility, their creativity and their entrepreneurial approach really help develop and nurture young talent in this industry," said Donatella Arpaia, celebrity chef and restaurateur behind Prova Pizzabar. "I hope the next generation of culinary and hospitality hopefuls take advantage of the opportunity this challenge offers and enters, so they too can study at such an amazing place." The top 50 #CulinaryVoice Scholarship Challenge finalists in each category will be determined by public vote, and for every vote, ICE will make a donation to Careers Through Culinary Arts Program (C-CAP) to fund even more scholarships. One full scholarship and two partial scholarships will be awarded for each of ICE's six award-winning career training programs: Culinary Arts, Pastry & Baking Arts, Restaurant & Culinary Management, Hospitality Management, Bread Baking and Cake Decorating. Important Dates: January 4 : Entries Open Entries Open January 17 : Voting Begins (new entries are still accepted during voting) : Voting Begins (new entries are still accepted during voting) February 15 : Entries and Voting Close Entries and Voting Close February 23 : Winners announced "Access to education is extremely important to me, especially in the culinary arts, so I am thrilled to partner with the Institute of Culinary Education on this scholarship challenge," said Ted Allen, host of Food Network's Chopped. "I'm looking forward to seeing the creativity of the entrants and hope to see 18 deserving lives changed through culinary education in the process." For more information and to enter the challenge, visit ice.edu/culinaryvoice About the Institute of Culinary Education The Institute of Culinary Education (ICE) is one of the largest and most diverse culinary schools in the world. Established in 1975, ICE offers award-winning six to 13-month career training programs in Culinary Arts, Pastry & Baking Arts, Restaurant & Culinary Management, Hospitality Management, Bread Baking and Cake Decorating with more than 13,000 successful alumni, many of whom are leaders in the industry. ICE also offers continuing education for culinary professionals, hosts more than 500 special events each year and is home to one of the world's largest recreational cooking, baking and wine programs with more than 26,000 students annually. In 2015, marking the school's 40th anniversary, ICE moved to a new, modern 74,000-square-foot facility at Brookfield Place in downtown Manhattan, designed for inspiration, creativity and community. Visit us at ice.edu or join us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter @iceculinary to find your culinary voice CONTACT: Stephanie Fraiman Public Relations Director Institute of Culinary Education (212) 847-0703 [email protected] SOURCE The Institute of Culinary Education Related Links http://www.ice.edu New Braunfels, TX (78130) Today Mixed clouds and sun with scattered thunderstorms. High near 85F. Winds S at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 50%. Higher wind gusts possible.. Tonight Some clouds early will give way to generally clear conditions overnight. Low 52F. Winds NNW at 10 to 15 mph. QUINCY, Ill., Jan. 3, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- In an effort to take advantage of production capacities, Titan International will relocate key wheel production from its Saltville, Virginia manufacturing facility to its North American wheel division headquarters in Quincy, Illinois. As the world's leading off-the-road wheel manufacturer, Titan continues to be committed to the mining industry. "We're consolidating production in order to more effectively serve our key mining customers, providing them the innovative wheel solutions they've come to depend on," stated Paul Reitz, Titan President and CEO. "During this transition, our customer service and support teams are committed to ensuring that our customers experience minimal service or production interruptions. As the mining market returns, Titan will evaluate moving production back to the Saltville, Virginia facility." Company description: Titan International, Inc. (NYSE: TWI), a holding company, owns subsidiaries that supply wheels, tires, assemblies and undercarriage products for off-highway equipment used in agricultural, earthmoving/construction and consumer applications. For more information, visit www.titan-intl.com. SOURCE Titan International, Inc. Related Links http://www.titan-intl.com SINTON, Texas, Jan. 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- After several years of anticipation, touchscreen voting is coming to San Patricio County. County Commissioners approved the purchase of Hart InterCivic's new Verity Voting system, the most advanced system certified for elections in the U.S. Recently certified by the Texas Secretary of State's office, and recommended by the county's election office, Verity has passed rigorous testing at the state and federal levels. The move to all electronic voting in time for the May 2017 election helps clear the way for gaining approval of Vote Centers to serve the growing number of registered voters in San Patricio County. Voters appreciate the convenience of Vote Centers, and Elections Administrator Pam Hill has sought approval for the updated system since she learned that Texas was testing the latest version of Verity. Vote Centers will require additional approval and public input once the new technology is in use. Verity will replace San Patricio County's 11-year-old legacy system from Hart, which employs both electronic and paper ballots. Wanting to upgrade as quickly as possible, Hill urged county officials to adopt the technology as soon as it was certified in Texas. "We're excited to move to the touchscreen," said Elections Administrator Pam Hill. "We're excited Verity is smaller and lighter; it will be great for our poll workers. Our expectations are high for the administrative software to be even easier to work with than what we're using now. We're looking forward to a good 2017, starting with Verity." Staying with Hart, a trusted elections partner, while moving to the easy-to-use Verity system makes sense for San Patricio County. "We've always enjoyed working with Hart because of our relationship with the company's personnel," Hill added. "We know Hart is there to help us with whatever we need. I couldn't ask for a better company to work with at election time and throughout the year." Phillip Braithwaite, President and CEO of Hart InterCivic commented, "When the Texas Secretary of State's office certified this newest release of Verity, San Patricio was one of the first counties in line for the new technology. They've made a good move. We have worked with this county since 2005, and we look forward to a long future of successful elections together." Verity is a flexible, transparent and trustworthy solution with the most up-to-date hardware and software available in the U.S. The Verity touchscreen is bigger and easier to read, and the complete system weighs less than other options. Its portable, briefcase style simplifies transport, setup and storage. Since Verity Voting's first release was certified by the federal Election Assistance Commission in May 2015, jurisdictions in eight states have adopted the system. Hart, which provides voting system solutions for 111 Texas counties, has headquarters in Austin and more than 100 years of history in the election business. Braithwaite anticipates more Verity announcements from Texas counties in the coming weeks. Learn more about Verity in Texas: http://www.hartintercivic.com/texas4verity. About Hart InterCivic, Inc. Austin-based Hart InterCivic is a full service election solutions innovator, partnering with state and local governments to deliver secure, accurate and reliable elections. Working side-by-side with election professionals for more than 100 years, Hart is committed to helping advance democracy one election at a time. The Hart mission fuels passionate customer focus and a continuous drive for technological innovation. The company's new Verity Voting system makes voting more straightforward, equitable and accessibleand makes managing elections more transparent, more efficient and easier. SOURCE Hart InterCivic, Inc. Related Links http://www.hartintercivic.com MONTREAL, Jan. 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Luxury Retreats has announced today that Robert Eastman has joined the company in a business development consultancy role in support of strategic trade partnerships. Eastman, who will be based in New York, will play an active role to further increase the company's reach within the travel agency sector. As a resource in strategic trade partnerships, Eastman will be responsible for increasing the presence of Luxury Retreats in the travel agency community by cementing existing relationships and creating new strategic partnerships with key agency groups. "Robert is a terrific addition to our team and will focus on growing our presence amongst travel agencies worldwide," said Luxury Retreats founder and CEO, Joe Poulin. "Robert brings exceptional experiences and unique access to holistic partnerships; we are thrilled to welcome his support." Eastman has nearly 30 years of experience in the luxury villa industry on a business-to-business basis. Formerly, Eastman was a Managing Director for the luxury villa division of American Express. Most notably, Eastman founded Villas of Distinction, which became a leader in the field of Vacation Villa Rentals. He also previously worked as a Chief Operating Officer for Overseas Properties where he developed a significant number of residential properties in the New York area. "After competing with Luxury Retreats for so many years, I am thrilled to be working with a company that has a portfolio with an unmatched breadth and depth," said Eastman. "Besides being the largest private villa company in terms of sales volume, I truly believe that they are the best at what they do with the finest service for their clients and most efficient interaction with supplier partners." About Luxury Retreats Luxury Retreats is the world's leading luxury vacation rental company, offering over 3,000 homes in 95 destinations. A global team of passionate travel enthusiasts and partners handpick and personally inspect each property, ensuring that guests are offered only the very best. Luxury Retreats provides 24Seven concierge service as well as dedicated villa specialists to help guests find the perfect villa all without charging membership fees. For more information, visit www.LuxuryRetreats.com. Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest | Google+ | LinkedIn SOURCE Luxury Retreats Related Links http://www.LuxuryRetreats.com BIRMINGHAM, Ala., Jan. 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- HealthSouth (NYSE:HLS) today announced the appointment of Troy DeDecker as president of the Company's central region effective immediately. DeDecker will transition into the position from his current role as the Company's vice president for the central region, which includes 17 inpatient rehabilitation hospitals in Kansas, Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Ohio and the western and central regions of Tennessee. "I have had the privilege of working alongside Troy for a few years now, and he has proven himself to be the best fit to lead our hospitals in this region," said Barb Jacobsmeyer, executive vice president of operations for HealthSouth and immediate past president of HealthSouth's central region. "Troy's knowledge of HealthSouth's operations and his expertise as a healthcare leader and physical therapist will be invaluable assets that will allow us to continue delivering strong outcomes for our patients." DeDecker joined HealthSouth in January 2013 as the chief executive officer of HealthSouth MidAmerica Rehabilitation Hospital in Overland Park, Kansas. His first career in healthcare as a rehabilitation tech led to many opportunities in varying clinical and hospital leadership positions throughout the years and prior to joining HealthSouth. DeDecker achieved an undergraduate degree in physical therapy from the University of North Florida and a master's degree in health services administration from the University of Kansas School of Medicine. About HealthSouth HealthSouth is one of the nation's largest providers of post-acute healthcare services, offering both facility-based and home-based post-acute services in 35 states and Puerto Rico through its network of inpatient rehabilitation hospitals, home health agencies, and hospice agencies. HealthSouth can be found on the web at www.healthsouth.com. Media Contact Casey Lassiter, 205 641-1118 [email protected] Investor Relations Contact Crissy Carlisle, 205 970-5860 [email protected] SOURCE HealthSouth Related Links http://www.healthsouth.com BOSTON, Jan. 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Julia Collin Davison and Bridget Lancaster will take center stage as hosts of America's Test Kitchen, the most popular instructional cooking show on television. Both Davison and Lancaster are original cast members of the show, which debuted in 2001. They will be stepping into their new roles in January 2017, check your local public television station listings or www.americastestkitchen.com/schedule for dates and times in your area. Julia is the executive editor for the book division of America's Test Kitchen and began working as a test cook for Cook's Illustrated in 1999. Bridget is the executive editor for new media, television, and radio at America's Test Kitchen and joined the Cook's Illustrated team in 1998. As original cast members of America's Test Kitchen, Bridget and Julia have each appeared in more than 300 episodes of the show and have been teaching cooks the secrets to success for 16 years. "Bridget and I are both so thrilled to assume these new roles with America's Test Kitchen," said Julia Collin Davison. "We cannot wait to grab the figurative torch and run with it, continuing the momentum that has been garnered over the course of the past 16 years through to season 17 of the TV series." "Julia and I love to teach and our new television roles allow us to help home cooks develop and master new cooking techniques," said Bridget Lancaster. "Julia and I are ecstatic at the opportunity to host the show." "We are incredibly excited to see our two stars take center stage for America's Test Kitchen 2017," said David Nussbaum, Chairman & CEO of America's Test Kitchen Inc. " Julia and Bridget have been preparing for the co-host roles for many years and have the cooking experience and on air talent to really wow our cherished audiences." "Bridget and Julia are dynamic hosts with a passion for teaching home cooks the secrets to success in the kitchen," said Jack Bishop, Chief Creative Officer of America's Test Kitchen. "I'm confident the audience will connect with their energy, intelligence, and playful humor." America's Test Kitchen is still dedicated to giving fans the high quality content they have come to expect: unbiased equipment reviews, taste tests, and foolproof recipes from our test kitchen. Viewers will continue to see cast members they know and love in the 17th season, including Jack Bishop in taste testings, and Adam Ried in equipment testing. And you'll also meet some new test cooks who bring their own unique style to the test kitchen. About America's Test Kitchen America's Test Kitchen, filmed in a real working test kitchen just outside of Boston, is dedicated to finding the very best recipes for home cooks. Fifty full-time (admittedly obsessive) test cooks spend their days testing recipes 30, 40up to 100 times, tweaking every variable until they understand how and why recipes work. They also test cookware and supermarket ingredients so viewers can bypass marketing hype and buy the best quality products. As the home of Cook's Illustrated magazine, which debuted in 1992, and publisher of 12 14 cookbooks each year, America's Test Kitchen has earned the respect of the publishing industry, the culinary world, and millions of home cooks. The America's Test Kitchen television show was launched in 2001; and the company added a second television program Cook's Country in 2008. Learn more at https://www.americastestkitchen.com/. About Julia Collin Davison Julia Collin Davison is executive editor for the book division of America's Test Kitchen and an original cast member of both the America's Test Kitchen and Cook's Country television shows. She began working as a test cook for Cook's Illustrated in 1999 and is responsible for the food and recipe development for all America's Test Kitchen cookbooks. She holds an A.O.S. degree from the Culinary Institute of America and a B.A. in Psychology and Philosophy from SUNY Albany. Before coming to America's Test Kitchen, Julia worked in Albany, the Berkshires, San Francisco, and the Napa Valley at several restaurants, catering companies, schools, and wineries. About Bridget Lancaster Bridget Lancaster is the executive editor for new media, television, and radio at America's Test Kitchen and an original cast member of both the America's Test Kitchen and Cook's Country television shows. She joined the Cook's Illustrated team in 1998 and has become familiar voice as co-host for America's Test Kitchen Radio. She also is the lead instructor for the America's Test Kitchen Online Cooking School. Her earlier career led her to cook in restaurant kitchens in the South and Northeast, concentrating on pastry. Media requests: Julia, Bridget, and the rest of the America's Test Kitchen staff are available for interviews upon request. For more information contact [email protected] America's Test Kitchen is co-presented by WETA Washington D.C. and American Public Television, and distributed by American Public Television. SOURCE America's Test Kitchen Related Links http://www.americastestkitchen.com LAS VEGAS, Jan. 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- For the fourth year running, Valeo will be at the CES in Las Vegas, where it will give five major innovations their world debut. The technologies on display at the Gold Lot Circuit and the Central Plaza booth show what the car of tomorrow will look like, in line with new ways of getting around: it will be more autonomous, more connected and more environmentally friendly. The five major innovations demonstrate Valeo's ability to offer complete, innovative technology systems: Valeo eCruise4U, a real technological feat that fully meets the needs of city dwellers. On board the demonstration vehicle, attendees can experience automated driving in electric mode. a real technological feat that fully meets the needs of city dwellers. On board the demonstration vehicle, attendees can experience automated driving in electric mode. Valeo XtraVue, a set of connected computer-vision cameras that show drivers what is happening on the road, even outside their line of sight. a set of connected computer-vision cameras that show drivers what is happening on the road, even outside their line of sight. Valeo 360AEB Nearshield, a new autonomous emergency braking system that eliminates blind spots, alerts drivers to any potential obstacles and brings the vehicle to an automatic halt to prevent impact if necessary. a new autonomous emergency braking system that eliminates blind spots, alerts drivers to any potential obstacles and brings the vehicle to an automatic halt to prevent impact if necessary. Valeo C-Stream, the new Valeo dome module that replaces the central rearview mirror and maps out the vehicle's cabin. It can determine the number of people traveling in the car and ensure that drivers are suitably alert. the new Valeo dome module that replaces the central rearview mirror and maps out the vehicle's cabin. It can determine the number of people traveling in the car and ensure that drivers are suitably alert. Valeo Cockpit, the Experience of Traveling. The technology demonstrator is a unique and original solution that combines a groundbreaking and innovative range of products designed to shape the sensory experience associated with new ways of using cars. All of these innovations combine to form a new, more electric and therefore more environmentally friendly type of mobility that offers greater vehicle autonomy, improved comfort thanks to enhanced intelligence and better shareability thanks to extended connectivity. Given that the total number of vehicles worldwide is expected grow, Valeo is committed to making the car safer, more energy efficient and more automated while also equipping it with cognitive abilities. In short, vehicle usage and the driving experience are about to be totally reinvented. WIDELY ACCESSIBLE INNOVATIONS Valeo's innovations are marketed at competitive prices so as to be widely accessible throughout the world. Valeo is an automotive supplier, partner to all automakers worldwide. As a technology company, Valeo proposes innovative products and systems that contribute to the reduction of CO2 emissions and to the development of intuitive driving. In 2015, the Group generated sales of 14.5 billion and invested over 10% of its original equipment sales in research and development. Valeo has 148 plants, 19 research centers, 35 development centers and 15 distribution platforms, and employs 88,800 people in 32 countries worldwide. Valeo is listed on the Paris stock exchange and is a member of the CAC 40 index. www.valeo.com SOURCE Valeo GAITHERSBURG, Md., Jan. 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Vtesse, Inc., a company committed to developing medicines to benefit patients with ultra rare, life-threatening diseases, announced today the appointment of Jason Meyenburg as Chief Commercial Officer. Mr. Meyenburg joins the company from Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc., where he most recently served as Senior Vice President, Commercial Operations, The Americas. "As we near completion of enrollment in our pivotal Phase 2b/3 clinical trial of our lead drug candidate, VTS-270, our primary goal is to advance regulatory submissions. Assuming we receive favorable responses from U.S. and European regulatory agencies, our next goal will be to rapidly provide access to VTS-270 for the children suffering from NPC and its debilitating symptoms," said Ben Machielse, Drs., President and Chief Executive Officer of Vtesse, Inc. "As someone with deep experience supporting the roll out of rare disease medicines, Jason has the know-how, passion and dedication required to help us to quickly make VTS-270 available for patients in need, pending regulatory approvals." Mr. Meyenburg's primary responsibilities at Vtesse center on leading commercialization activities for the company. He has extensive experience in the launch of therapies for ultra-rare diseases including direction of new market entry, organizational development, and market access. At Alexion, he led operations in the U.S. and Latin America including responsibility across the company's hematology, nephrology and metabolic disorder businesses. Jason held commercial roles of increasing responsibility at Alexion, expanding access to the company's products in new markets, including Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Japan. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry from the University of Maryland and a Master's of Business Administration from Duke University's Fuqua School of Business. "As someone who has dedicated most of my career to providing patients with access to medicines for rare and ultra rare diseases, I'm thrilled to be a part of Vtesse as we prepare to complete our pivotal clinical trial for VTS-270 and to move it forward as a potential treatment for NPC," said Mr. Meyenburg. "I'm committed to working with my Vtesse colleagues and the NPC community to provide a therapeutic offering to the thousands of individuals living with NPC throughout the world as this is a very important unmet medical need." Clinical investigators are now enrolling patients with NPC in Vtesse's ongoing study at sites in the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Spain, Turkey and Australia. NPC is a progressive, irreversible, chronically debilitating and ultimately lethal genetic disease. About NPC NPC is caused by a defect in lipid transportation within the cell, which leads to excessive accumulation of lipids in the brain, liver and spleen. The NIH's National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) and Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) in close collaboration with parents and patient support groups, conducted the preclinical research and initiated the drug development phase for VTS-270. Vtesse is leading the late-stage drug development process for VTS-270. Visit www.theNPCstudy.com to learn more. About Vtesse Vtesse, Inc. is a rare disease company dedicated to developing drugs for patients suffering from diseases that are underserved. Vtesse is working collaboratively with the NIH, other leading academic centers, parents, and patient advocacy groups, to advance a pivotal clinical study of VTS-270 (a well-characterized mixture of HPCD with a specific compositional fingerprint that distinguishes it from other HPCD mixtures) to treat NPC, and to conduct pre-clinical discovery and development of other novel drugs for NPC and other lysosomal storage diseases (LSDs). The company is led by a highly experienced management team that has been involved in the development of more than 20 approved drugs. Alexandria Venture Investments, Bay City Capital LLC, Lundbeckfond Ventures, New Enterprise Associates, and Pfizer Venture Investments, have committed initial funding adequate to bring VTS-270 through a pivotal clinical trial. Vtesse is based in Gaithersburg, Maryland and is the first spin-out company from Cydan Development, Inc. For more information, visit www.vtessepharma.com. SOURCE Vtesse, Inc. Related Links http://www.vtessepharma.com CLEVELAND, Ohio, Jan. 3, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Historically, solvent-based coatings have maintained the largest share of protective and specialty coatings. However, solvent-based coatings are projected to be surpassed by water-based coatings by 2020 as regulatory concerns continue to impact the protective and specialty market. Solvents will continue to lose share to other formulations, with trends favoring the use of water-based, high-solids, and other coatings, which have lower or no VOC emissions. These and other trends are presented in Protective & Specialty Coatings Market in the US, a new study from The Freedonia Group, a Cleveland-based industry research firm. The study is available here http://www.freedoniagroup.com/industry-study/protective-specialty-coatings-market-in-the-us-by-market-formulation-and-substrate-3496.htm Demand for water-based coatings in the protective and specialty segment is predicted to expand at an annual rate of 2.5 percent to 85 million gallons in 2020, supplanting solventborne coatings as the market leader. The trend toward waterborne coatings in the automotive refinish market, which historically has widely used solventborne coatings in an array of applications, is of particular importance for this formulation. End users of automotive refinishes have increasingly adopted waterborne coatings due to their improved color matching capabilities and faster drying times than their solvent-based counterparts. Water-based coatings are also gaining a foothold in protective marine coatings as several worldwide treaties and US regulations have put stringent limits on harmful emissions produced by marine coatings. Waterborne coatings provide good adhesion to the market's primary substrate -- metal -- and offer solid resistance to weather, chemicals, and other harsh conditions in which all varieties of watercraft are exposed. Related studies include: #3492 Manufacturing (OEM) Coatings Market in the US (December 2016) http://www.freedoniagroup.com/industry-study/manufacturing-oem-coatings-market-in-the-us-by-market-formulation-and-substrate-3492.htm #3461 Global Emulsion Polymer Market (November 2016) http://www.freedoniagroup.com/industry-study/global-emulsion-polymers-market-by-product-market-and-country-7th-edition-3461.htm About The Freedonia Group The Freedonia Group, a division of MarketResearch.com, is a leading international industrial research company publishing more than 100 studies annually. Since 1985 we have provided research to customers ranging in size from global conglomerates to one-person consulting firms. More than 90% of the industrial companies in the Fortune 500 use Freedonia Group research to help with their strategic planning. Each study includes product and market analyses and forecasts, in-depth discussions of important industry trends, market share information and profiles of the leading industry players. Reports can be purchased at www.freedoniagroup.com and are also available on www.marketresearch.com and www.profound.com. Press Contact: Corinne Gangloff +1 440.684.9600 [email protected] SOURCE The Freedonia Group Related Links http://www.freedoniagroup.com LOS ANGELES, Jan. 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Wingsland Technology, the premiere drone manufacturer, opened their first international office in Los Angeles, CA in October 2016 to service the growing US market. "We understand the importance of a local US presence for the largest consumer drone market in the world and want US consumers to have a strong customer service, dedicated sales support, and US based marketing for the Wingsland brand," said Jessica Lui, President and COO for Wingsland Technology. Wingsland Technology also brought on board Drone industry veteran, Brian Chacone, Director of Sales and Marketing to help head up the development of the sales, market direction, and strategy for the US market. "I have seen many changes in drone industry in the last four years and creating a market leading product with innovative features isn't a guarantee of success in the competitive drone market. Customer service and reputation are paramount in gaining a loyal customer," said Brian Chacone Director of US Sales and Marketing of Wingsland. Wingsland has created a local US tech support/ customer service @ 866-944-8840 and email support at [email protected]. Customers can call Wingsland up and get a live person right away. No need to hold on the phone to get a live person to speak to during office hours. The Wingsland office located at 17583 Railroad St, City of Industry, CA 91748. The new office and warehouse will house local inventory of Wingsland product, customer service team, dedicated marketing and sales team. As we expand our US sales distribution into various retail channels and increase our social media footprint, we expect to grow our office quickly. The Wingsland US market will also develop a new US based website to help US customers connect with Wingsland. For additional information, please contact: Brian Chacone, Director of Sales and Marketing of North America - [email protected] About Wingsland Technology Inc. Parent company, Shenzhen Wingsland Technology Co. Ltd, is a technological innovation company that is held by CNLIGHT Co., Ltd (Stock Code: 002076) and was founded in 2014, headquartered in Shenzhen, China with market cap of $700 million. Wingsland has developed into a globalization brand specializing in R&D, manufacturing of handheld gimbals, and recreational drones. With a strong team of developers, Wingsland strongly believes that better technology brings a better life. SOURCE Wingsland Technology Inc. Related Links http://www.szsungreen.com We have taken the impossible and put many sensors and high quality optics in a foldable design that's easy to store in your purse or pocket. "It's the ultimate selfie accessory for ladies because they just need to place their Wingsland S6 on the ground and take off with their smartphone and take selfies with the auto-follow feature," said Jessica Liu, VP of Wingsland USA. The Wingsland S6 will also appeal to drone enthusiasts with the later release of the Wingsland S6 remote with smartphone connectivity which will allow users to get tactile joystick feel and fly the Wingsland S6 with precision. The add-on accessories further enhance the Wingsland S6 allowing younger audiences to play games with the foam cannon accessory, emoji screen, and spotlight function. In development for later release will be the object detection that will avoid objects from the forward direction. The Wingsland S6 pocket drone is ready for shipment now in the US and we have partnered with the best drone retailers and distributors at launch. B&H Camera and Photo (https://www.bhphotovideo.com/) in NY will be our US launch retailer along with Drone Nerds (http://www.dronenerds.com/) in Florida, our premiere drone retailer and distributor. The Wingsland S6 pocket drone is shipping today with a retail of $399 and will be on demo at the CES trade show in Las Vegas. The Wingsland S6 remote will be available in Q2 2017. For additional information, please contact: Brian Chacone, Director of Sales and Marketing North America - [email protected] Click the link below for full features and specs: https://www.dropbox.com/s/bpnxjgbcsoq3o12/S6%20features%20final.png?dl=0 About Wingsland Technology Inc. Parent company, Shenzhen Wingsland Technology Co. Ltd, is a technological innovation company that is held by CNLIGHT Co., Ltd (Stock Code: 002076) and was founded in 2014, headquartered in Shenzhen, China with market cap of $700 million. Wingsland has developed into a globalization brand specializing in R&D, manufacturing of handheld gimbals, and recreational drones. SOURCE Wingsland Technology Inc. What a grand and awe-inspiring sight the fifteen hundred residents of the little Town of Pelham experienced on Saturday, July 7, 1866. Those lucky ones who gazed skyward saw the great Thaddeus Sobieski Constantine Lowe, known as Professor T.S.C. Lowe, in his massive hot air balloon as it descended from the heavens directly above the little town. Clearly the famous and massive balloon was descending. The question buzzing through Pelham at the time must have been "w here would Professor Lowe and his balloon come down?" Professor Lowe was an internationally-renowned American Civil War "aeronaut" ( , balloonist), scientist, and inventor. Born on August 20, 1832, by the 1850s Lowe already was widely-known for his advances in the fields of meteorology and aeronautics. His scientific career, however, was cut short by the onset of the American Civil War. During that war, Lowe offered his services as an "aeronaut" and helped develop the concept of aerial reconnaisance as part of military operations. In July, 1861, President Lincoln appointed Lowe the "Chief Aeronaut" of the Union Army Balloon Corps. According to one brief biography of Lowe: "Though his work was generally successful, it was not fully appreciated by all members of the military, and disputes over his operations and pay scale forced him to resign in 1863. Lowe returned to the private sector and continued his scientific exploration of hydrogen gas manufacturing." Source: " Thaddeus S.C. Lowe " in Wikipedia - The Free Encyclopedia (visited Jan. 2, 2017). After the Civil War, Professor T.S.C. Lowe opened an "Aeronautic Amphitheatre" on the west side of Manhattan near Central Park. The extensive facility with grandstands, concessions, and other amenities, was located at West 59th Street and 6th Avenue. There Lowe staged hot air balloon exhibitions, offered tethered balloon rides for a fee ranging from $1 to $3, offered sky-high gymnastics performances by trapeze artists and others hanging from balloons, and presented concerts, military parades, fireworks, and other crowd-pleasing antics to the delight of thousands of New Yorkers. At the time, interest in aeronautics and ballooning was becoming a passion among New Yorkers. Professor Lowe leveraged that passion into a business that attracted attention throughout the world and made him even more famous. Indeed, in July, 1866, "Lowe's Aeronautic Amphitheatre" and the science of aeronautics were becoming so successful that Lowe began publishing a monthly newspaper known as Lowe's Balloon Pictorial (see cover of first issue below). On Saturday, July 7, 1866, Professor Lowe invited a reporter (likely from the New York Herald) to join him in an untethered balloon flight taking off from Lowe's Aeronautic Amphitheatre. The day was quite hot and, as usual, crowds gathered to watch the spectacle of balloon flight. Lowe's balloon was christened the "United States." It was a giant gas bag about eighty feet in diameter, emblazoned with an image of the globe with an American Eagle perched atop the earth and with Lowe's likeness plastered across the image of the globe and an image of the American Flag draped down the side of the globe. The gas bag was covered in cord-netting that extended downward beneath the balloon to a massive gondola capable of carrying a group of people. The image immediately below, from an issue of Harper's Weekly published only months before the July 7th voyage, shows the "United States." Professor Lowe is standing in the middle of the group depicted in the inset on the upper left of the image. Engraving of Professor Lowe and His Balloon, United States, Taking Off from Lowe's Aeronautic Ampitheater Near Central Park. Prof. Lowe is the Tallest Figure of the Three in the Upper Left Inset. "THE BALLOON BRIDAL PARTY STARTING ON ITS AERIAL TOUR FROM PROF. LOWE'S AMPITHEATRE, CENTRAL PARK, NOVEMBER 5, 1865." Source: Harper's Weekly, Nov. 25, 1865, p. 745. NOTE: Click on Image to Enlarge. Professor Lowe and the reporter took off in the balloon on that Saturday afternoon and began drifting high above the hustle and bustle of Manhattan. The balloon floated off toward the northeast. Lowe had told colleagues that he would fly the balloon for the afternoon and land the airship by 6:00 p.m. Rising quickly, the "United States" floated high into the sky and drifted out over the East River. Soon the balloon floated high above Long Island Sound where, according to some reports, it next hung motionless for several hours. Surely residents of City Island and Pelham, as well as residents of much of Long Island, stood gazing at the skies above Long Island Sound, mouths agape and shaking their heads at the marvel of modern technology. After a time, the balloon began to descend until it reached an "undercurrent" that blew it toward Fort Schuyler at the tip of Throggs Neck, adjacent to Eastchester Bay and near Pelham Bridge. The appointed time for landing, 6:00 p.m., came and went. Still, the balloon floated above Long Island Sound. As the balloon continued its descent toward the calm waters below, Professor Lowe joked to the reporter that he could land the balloon in the waters of the Sound and use the gas bag to "sail" the balloon across the water. According to multiple accounts, the pair agreed to try the stunt and fortified themselves with bottles of "refreshments" they had brought on board at the start of their journey. Once the balloon had descended to a point about one hundred feet above Pelham Bay, Professor Lowe used a valve to allow sufficient gas to escape and lowered the balloon into the waters of Pelham Bay. The balloon landed in the midst of the "white sails of a hundred pleasure boats" while "along the shore tourists in costumes light as air lazily held fishing rods" while watching the spectacle. Immediately a "dozen skiffs were put off with friendly offers of assistance to the balloonists." The pair waved off the boats as Professor Lowe handled the now-water-borne craft. As the wind caught the partially deflated gas bag, the airship began skimming the surface of the water "with the grace of a bird." According to one account, "[d]espite the trifling inconvenience of wet jackets and spoiled provisions, the sail, although of short duration, was thoroughly enjoyable." Back in Manhattan and on much of the mainland, observers grew alarmed as they watched the airship descend toward the waters of Long Island Sound. Many feared Professor Thaddeus Sobieski Constantine Lowe and his famous airship, the "United States," were lost. What those spectators could not see was the rescue that followed. Within minutes of the water landing and the brief "sail" of the airship, "the balloon was surrounded by boats." The boats and their occupants rowed Professor Lowe, the reporter, and the waterlogged balloon to City Island where the group prepared themselves and the balloon for a return to New York City and Lowe's Aeronautic Amphitheatre. Some newspapers reported breathlessly that Lowe, his balloon, and passenger were "lost." One reported that although Lowe had agreed to land by 6:00 p.m., the balloon was still floating above Long Island Sound well into Saturday evening and, by Sunday, no one had yet heard from Professor Lowe or the reporter. City Island in the Town of Pelham may have seemed distant from Manhattan to most New Yorkers, but it was only about fourteen miles from the Aeronautic Amphitheatre. Thus, Professor Lowe, his balloon, and the reporter soon returned to New York to the relief of all who had tickets to attend upcoming balloon exhibitions at Lowe's Aeronautic Amphitheatre. . . . Cover of the First Issue of Professor Lowe's Balloon Pictorial, Vol. 1, No. 1 (Jul. 1866). Professor Lowe is Depicted on the Cover with a Tethered Balloon at His Ampitheater in the Background. NOTE: Click on Image to Enlarge. Undated Photograph of Professor T.S.C. Lowe Taken in About 1890. Source: Huntington Digital Library, 1946), The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens, Photo Archives, Unique Digital Identifier 35009 . NOTE: Click on Image to Enlarge. "Harry Leslie's Gymnastic Feat Over Lowe's Aeronautic Ampitheatre, New York City, September 30, 1865, Artist's Impression." Source: Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, Oct. 21, 1865, p. 68. NOTE: Click on Image to Enlarge. July 11, 1866 Advertisement for Professor Lowe's subscription required to access via this link). NOTE: Click on Image to Enlarge. To facilitate search, the text of the advertisement immediately above appears immediately below: "PROF. LOWE'S AERONAUTIC AMPHITHEATRE. 59th-st. and 6th-av., Central Park. BALLOON ASCENSION. Prie of Ascension from $1 to $3. HARRY LESLIE in his wonderful feats. Orchestral concert on WEDNESDAY, at 2 P.M. Open every day. Admission 25 cents." * * * * * Below is the text of a number of articles that form the basis of today's posting to the Historic Pelham Blog. Each is followed by a citation and link to its source. BY AIR AND WATER. ----- Novel Experiences in a Balloon It Lands in the Water and Sails Along the Bay The Sound, the Ships, the Scenery, &c. The tuft-hunting Boswell posed Dr. Johnson completely when he asked, Pray, sir, what should you do if you were shut up with a baby in a tower? It wasnt the tower that bothered the crusty old Doctor so much as the baby, and so, not having had much experience in the management of infants who pass their monage in a chronic state of stomach-ache and congestion of the brain, he replied, Hold your tongue, sir! But what if he had been asked how he could manage a balloon? Bozzy would have had him there. And not alone Dr. Johnson, for there are thousands who never see a balloon in the air without indulging in such epithets as rash and foolhardy, and thanking Heaven for leaving them just sufficient sense to remain on the earth. And yet ballooning is simple enough; and the concise narrative which follows will show that under any probable circumstances the risk to life and limb is comparatively slight: -- On Saturday last Professor Lowe and anther gentleman the pup Alexander was at Saratoga for the benefit of his health started on an aerial excursion in the balloon United States from the Aeronautic amphitheatre, at the Park. The day was favorable in every respect, and the weather was so hot that the prospect of a cool breeze in mid air lent an additional charm to the ascent. Rising with stately grace from among the trees of the Park, the voyagers had the satisfaction of seeing with gradually expanding beauty the magnificent panorama which lay at their feet. The mighty city, throbbing through all its daedalian [sic] arteries with the giant pulsations of business life; the winding rivers, glittering like a myriad of diamonds in the rays of the sun, and gradually converging into one vast expanse of shining sea; the beautiful Park, studded with trees and temples, and intersected by shining white pathways which looked no wider than a string of whipcord; the noble mountains seemingly incorporate with clouds and lining the horizon like the background of a picture; the skies themselves alternate white and blue, reflecting here and there the gleaming of the setting sun all these gave to the travelers sensations of wonder and delight. The littleness of man is a legitimate subject of his own speculation, and the only reason why he does not more frequently derive profit from the exercise is that he prefers, for the most part, to consider the littleness of others. But in this respect alone a voyage in a balloon is of inestimable value. When mighty buildings and noble bridges begin to appear insignificant nay, when a whole capital lies, as it were, within a span at his feet, man is apt to bethink him of his trifling self. Going swiftly in a northeasterly direction, the good air-ship United States, with its dauntless skipper ever at its helm, rapidly passed the bounds of the city, and at a height of two miles and a half crossed the East river and stood motionless over Long Island Sound. Here it commenced to descend slowly, when, striking the under current, it was again driven towards the neighborhood of Fort Schuyler. Then the Professor jocularly proposed to his companion to try a sail in the balloon on the water, and, after having refreshed themselves from divers [sic] bottles which had been provided for the contingency of either of the voyagers getting thirsty not an improbable one on such a day they decided to attempt the sail. Gradually losing its buoyancy as a consequence of the valve being opened, the inflated monster neared the earth. Trees, houses, ships, and the water itself, which had appeared so insignificant a minute before, gradually grew in size and importance, until it seemed as though the balloon were about to sink into the bowels of the earth; but when within a hundred feet of the surface the buoy was lowered into Pelham bay. Here one of the most picturesque sights it is possible to imagine was presented. The white sails of a hundred pleasure boats were moving slowly along the calm surface of the water, while along the shore tourists in costumes light as air lazily held fishing rods with quiet enjoyment. A dozen skiffs were put off with friendly offers of assistance to the balloonists; but the air ship itself skimmed the surface of the water with the grace of a bird. Despite the trifling inconvenience of wet jackets and spoiled provisions, the sail, although of short duration, was thoroughly enjoyable. In a few minutes after this peculiar landing, the balloon was surrounded by boats, and, taking advantage of the friendliness of their occupants, the aerial travellers got into one of them and were rowed in triumph to Island City [sic], Westchester county. "PROFESSOR LOWE SAFE. -- We announced a day or two ago that Professor Low had made an ascent in his balloon, and had not since been heard of. The New York Herald says that, going swiftly in a northeasterly direction, the good air-ship United States, with its dauntless skipper ever at its helm, rapidly passed the bounds of the city, and at a height of two miles and a half crossed the East river and stood motionless over Long Island sound. Here he commenced to descend slowly, when, striking the under-current, it was again driven towards the neighborhood of Fort Schuyler. Then the Professor jocularly proposed to his companion to try a sail in the balloon on the water; and after having refreshed themselves from divers [sic] bottles, which had been provided for the contingency of either of the voyagers getting thirsty not an improbable one on such a day they decided to attempt the sail. Gradually losing its buoyancy us a consequence of the valve being opened, the inflated monster neared the earth. Trees, houses, ships, and the water itself, which had appeared so insignificant a minute before, gradually grew in in size and importance, until it seemed as though the balloon were about to sink into the bowels of the earth; but when within a hundred feet of the surface the buoy was lowered into Pelham bay. Here one of the most picturesque sights it is possible to imagine was presented. The white sails of an hundred pleasure boats were moving slowly along the calm surface of the water, while along the shore tourists in costumes light as air lazily held fishing rods with quiet enjoyment. A dozen skiffs were put off with friendly offers of assistance to the balloonists; but the air-ship itself skimmed the surface of the water with the grace of a bird. Despite the trifling inconvenience of wet jackets and spoiled provisions, the sail, although of short duration, was thoroughly enjoyable. In a few minutes alter this peculiar J landing, the balloon was surrounded by boats, and, taking advantage of the friendliness of their occupants, the aerial travellers got into one of them, and were rowed in triumph to Island City [sic], Westchester county. "A BALLOON ON THE WATER. -- On the 7th inst. Professor Lowe and another gentleman started on an aerial excursion in the balloon 'United States,' from the Aeronautic Ampitheatre, at the Park, New York. After some time, while the balloon was over Long Island Sound, the professor jocularly proposed to his companion to try a sail in the balloon on the water, and after having refreshed themselves from divers bottles which had been provided for the contingency of either of the voyagers getting thirsty -- they decided to attempt the sail. 'Gradually,' the account says, 'losing its buoyancy as a consequence of the valve being opened, the inflated monster neared the earth. Trees, houses, ships, and the water itself, which had appeared so insignificant a minute before, gradually grew in size and importance, until it seemed as though the balloon were about to sink into the bowels of the earth; but when within 100 feet of the surface the buoy was lowered into Pelham Bay. Here one of the most picturesque sights it is possible to imagine was presented. The white sails of 100 pleasure boats were moving slowly along the calm surface of the water, while along the shore tourists in costumes light as air, lazily held fishing rods with quiet enjoyment. A dozen skiffs were put off with friendly offers of assistance to the balloonists; but the air ship itself skimmed the surface of the water with the grace of a bird. Despite the trifling inconvenience of wet jackets and spoiled provisions, the sail, although of short duration, was thoroughly enjoyable. In a few minutes after this peculiar 'landing,' the balloon was surrounded by boats, and taking advantage of the friendliness of their occupants, the aerial travellers got into one of them, and were rowed in triumph to Island City [sic], Westchester county." "NEW YORK LETTER. . . . On last Saturday the great aeronaut, Professor LOWE, made a grand detached balloon ascension, and went up pretty high. He remained up for several hours, and then coming down in Pelham Bay, was himself again, being once more low. The Professor was picked up by the crew of a little skiff and conveyed in safety to Island City [sic], Westchester County. . . ." Ballooning is the rage in New York just now. Lowe makes daily ascensions; Mr. Andrews tries his flying ship, to see if his improvements will enable him to sail against the wind; Mons. Buislay ascends with his fire balloon, and entertains the people with curious gyrations in the air. Professor Wood was to go up from Brooklyn yesterday, and propose to return in three days. How he will keep his balloon in the air so long, and control it, is not apparent. Professor Lowe, who, as reported, was supposed to be lost on his recent trip, has returned to the city. His balloon remained nearly stationary for three hours over Long Island Sound; and much gas having escaped, he was let down into the water of Pelham bay, but was rescued by men in boats, who took him and his balloon to Island City [sic]. "On Saturday afternoon, Lowe, the poor balloonist, made an ascension in his mammoth balloon from near the Central Park, N.Y., accompanied by a reporter. When he left the understanding was that he would descend at 6 p.m. of that day. When last seen by the agent on Saturday evening the balloon was thought to be over Long Island Sound. At a late hour on Sunday night nothing had been heard of either the balloon or the party who went up in it." Labels: 1866, Balloon, Balloonist, Hot Air Balloon, Long Island Sound, Professor T.S.C. Lowe, Thaddeus Sobieski Constaintine Lowe, Transportation Genomic workshops recently held across the country gave dairy farmers, veterinarians, and students the latest information on genomics past, present, and future. At the heart of the meetings . . . the great opportunity of boosting dairy cattles fertility through genomic selection. That hasnt always been the case. The national average for Daughter Pregnancy Rate (DPR), or the pregnancy rate of a bulls daughters, stands 16 percent, according to baseline data from a variety of sources. However, some newly collected data suggests that number has climbed to 19 percent. For years those focused on improving dairy cattle genetics have focused on production traits while health traits stood on the sidelines with no good way to measure traits like reproduction. As that took place, milk, fat, and protein continue to improve while traits DPR declined for decades. The question arises, Can both fertility and high milk production be selected for using genomics? That was the focus of conversation at the Tulare, Calif., genomics talk. It was the last stop on the genomic workshop road trip that traveled to Idaho, Washington, Florida, and Texas to present research, answer questions, and provide information on genomic testing. The research projects goal is to identify the novel genetic markers for fertility, currently in both Holstein heifers and cows. Management and the health of the cows on a dairy operation also contribute to pregnancy rates. Ricardo Chebel explained another grant research project that incorporates common lactating cow diseases into fertility rates. With fertility of dairy cattle becoming increasingly more important on dairy operations nationwide, these USDA grants presented at the workshops are vital towards the future of genomic selection. Genomic research has advanced quickly in recent years and is becoming a successful management tool for dairy producers. For more information about the research project . . . more formally known as USDA NIFA AFRI Grant No. 2013-68004-20365 . . . as well as video presentations of previous workshops, go to: Washington State Universitys Veterinary Medicine Extension. 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 Washington, Dec 30 : To protect astronauts from the harsh Martian environment, the best building material for a new home on the Red Planet may lie in ice, say NASA researchers. The surface of Mars has extreme temperatures and the atmosphere does not provide adequate protection from high-energy radiation. The researchers believe that their "Ice Home" design provides a sound engineering solution to offer astronauts a safe place to call home. The Mars Ice Home is a large inflatable torus, a shape similar to an inner tube, that is surrounded by a shell of water ice. This is just one of many potential concepts for sustainable habitation on the Red Planet in support of NASA's journey to Mars. "After a day dedicated to identifying needs, goals and constraints we rapidly assessed many crazy, out of the box ideas and finally converged on the current Ice Home design, which provides a sound engineering solution," Kevin Vipavetz from NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, said in a statement on Thursday. The Mars Ice Home design has several advantages that make it an appealing concept, according to the scientists. It is lightweight and can be transported and deployed with simple robotics, then filled with water before the crew arrives. It incorporates materials extracted from Mars, and because water in the Ice Home could potentially be converted to rocket fuel for the Mars Ascent Vehicle, the structure itself doubles as a storage tank that can be refilled for the next crew. Another critical benefit is that water, a hydrogen-rich material, is an excellent shielding material for galactic cosmic rays -- and many areas of Mars have abundant water ice just below the surface. Galactic cosmic rays are one of the biggest risks of long stays on Mars. This high-energy radiation can pass right through the skin, damaging cells or DNA along the way that can mean an increased risk for cancer later in life or, at its worst, acute radiation sickness. The Ice Home concept balances the need to provide protection from radiation, without the drawbacks of an underground habitat. The design maximises the thickness of ice above the crew quarters to reduce radiation exposure while also still allowing light to pass through ice and surrounding materials. "All of the materials we've selected are translucent, so some outside daylight can pass through and make it feel like you're in a home and not a cave," Kevin Kempton, part of the Langley team, said. NASA has set a goal of sending humans to the Red Planet in the 2030s. It is important for astronauts to have something to look forward to when they arrive on the Red Planet, Kempton said. "After months of travel in space, when you first arrive at Mars and your new home is ready for you to move in, it will be a great day," he noted. Kozhikode, Dec 30 : With the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) indicating that there is going to be a shortage of currency notes, Kerala Finance Minister Thomas Issac on Friday said the withdrawal of December salaries could be a problem. Interacting with the media here on Friday morning, Issac said while the state government will credit the entire amount required for payment of salaries and pensions for the month of December into the bank and treasury accounts of the people, it could be a problem for people to withdraw the money. "The requirement for disbursement of salaries and pensions every month is around Rs 1,400 crore, but the RBI and other banking officials have already indicated to us that they are able to provide only around Rs 600 crore. And hence, the permissible withdrawal which now stands at Rs 24,000 could be hit," said the economist turned Finance Minister Isaac. "We have not agreed to it and asked all the officials (RBI and other banks) that they are duty bound to see currencies are made available," he said. Issac also said that given the present scenario, presenting the budget in January, would be a "difficult". "The situation is such that none is able to gauge what the revenue and expenditure is going to be in the light of the demonetisation," Issac said. "While Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley claims that tax collections have gone up, we will have to wait for some more time to see what the actual position is," Issac added. He also said: "For a budget to be realistic, one should be able to reasonably estimate. We will wait for the union budget to be presented and once that's done, I will present my budget either at the end of February or early March." New Delhi, Dec 30 : Queues were short and crowds thin here on Friday, the 50th day of demonetisation -- the day Prime Minister Narendra Modi's self-imposed deadline for normalisation of situation kicked in. The scenario was more comforting than earlier, with queues outside the banks and at ATM kiosks reduced by a considerable margin in comparison to what those were even a week back. The usual 'serpentine' queue outside the ICICI Bank ATM in Connaught Place 'A' Block was morphed into a straight line, with not more than 20 persons awaiting their turn. Earlier, many more note seekers lined up here. Likewise, only a handful of people were seen waiting outside the Punjab National Bank ATM in the same block. Both ATMs, however, dispensed only 2,000-rupee notes. Although ATMs at last seemed to hold some cash, the opinion inside the banks was mixed. "Nothing much has changed as yet. We are still getting a reduced amount from the RBI (Reserve Bank of India), so we are still not giving more than Rs 10,000 to customers," a PNB official told IANS, declining to be named. However, the Manager at Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC) said that the situation is pretty smooth and that worst days are now behind us. "You take a round of the block, you won't see many queues. Even though our ATM is filled with cash, I don't see a long queue before it," Mousami Mukherjee, Manager of the Connaught Place branch of the Overseas Bank of Commerce (OBC), told IANS. The OBC ATM, however, did not give out any options for withdrawal of cash -- when people tried it for cash, its screen only offered 'statement', 'balance inquiry' and 'pin change' to the customers. In the capital's suburban Noida, the situation wasn't all that good -- a string of ATMs were non-functional and the rest had mostly long queues. Out of about 20 ATMs on a two-km stretch from Noida Sector 15 to Noida Sector 18, only two machines had any cash. Three ATMs of ICICI Bank, three of HDFC Bank and two of Induslnd Bank were shut. A Kotak Mahindra Bank ATM was functional in Noida Sector 15, where people stood in a long queue awaiting their turn to withdraw cash even on the 50th day of the scrapping of the Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes. The ATMs of Axis Bank, Syndicate Bank and RBL Bank were also non-functional. Friday was also the last day for the deposit of old, scrapped currency notes and their exchange with new ones. After Friday, people can deposit old notes only at the RBI offices, until March 31. New Delhi, Dec 30 : A court here on Friday extended the judicial custody of two persons arrested in multi-million-dollar AgustaWestland VVIP helicopter scam. Duty Metropolitan Magistrate Sumeet Anand extended the judicial custody of Sanjeev Tyagi and Delhi-based lawyer Gautam Khaitan for 14 more days. They were arrested on December 9. Sanjeev Tyagi is a cousin of former Indian Air Force chief S.P. Tyagi, who too was arrested and is out on bail in the case. The verdict on the bail of Sanjeev Tyagi and Khaitan will be delivered on January 4 by a Special Court of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). They were allegedly involved in irregularities in the procurement of 12 AW-101 VVIP helicopters from Britain-based AgustaWestland, although both Sanjeev Tyagi and Gautam Khaitan have denied the charge. The CBI alleges that Tyagi and the other accused had received bribes from AgustaWestland, helping the manufacturer to win the $556.262 million contract for purchase of its helicopters for the Communication Squadron of the Indian Air Force to carry the President, the Prime Minister and other VVIPs. The accused had allegedly hatched a conspiracy to reduce the service ceiling of the helicopters from 6,000 metres to 4,500 metres to make AgustaWestland eligible to bid for the contract. A first information report was registered against them on March 12, 2013, under various charges dealing with criminal conspiracy, cheating and for violations of the provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act. New Delhi, Dec 30 : Delhi Police arrested three persons, including a graphic designer, here for shooting at a rape victim's mother with the intention to kill her, police said on Friday. Those arrested are Faisal Hussain, 36, the key conspirator and resident of Shaheen Bagh, Wasim, 30, a resident of Jasola village, and Mohd Iqbal, 46, a resident of Okhla village, police said. They were arrested by separate police teams following raids on Wednesday and Thursday nights at Batla House and nearby areas in Jamia Nagar. "Wasim and Iqbal worked for Hussain, a graphic designer. Wasim and Iqbal admitted that they shot the rape victim's mother on the instruction of Hussain. They had no personal enmity with the rape victim's family," Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Romil Banniya said. However, interrogation of the accused gave an altogether new twist to the tale, which initially seemed to be one of bumping off the complainant. According to the DCP, the main accused Sajid, a local builder, who had gang-raped the victim along with three others, had made some investments in real estate with the help of one Bunty, also a local builder and broker. Hussain also had some stake in the deal struck by Sajid and Bunty. But later, Hussain developed some differences with Sajid over the deal. Taking advantage of the circumstances, Hussain hired Wasim and Iqbal to get the rape victim's mother eliminated, so as to implicate Sajid in the murder case. This would have solved his own problems with Sajid, DCP Banniya said. Hussain also told interrogators that he hatched the plan after he came to know that Sajid was involved in a rape case and that the rape victim's mother had filed a complaint of life threat against him a couple of weeks ago. Wasim and Iqbal on December 23 opened fired at the woman when she was on her way to a hospital, along with her daughter (the rape victim), in Jamia Nagar area. The bullet pierced her back, and amid the chaos, the shooters managed to escape, police said. Police later arrested Sajid from his hideout in Uttar Pradesh. During the interrogation, he confessed to have raped the victim but denied shooting at her mother. He hinted that Hussain could be behind the attack as he would have benefited if he (Sajid) is sent to jail for a long period, the officer said. Kochi, Dec 31 : Into its third week, the third edition of the country's only biennale -- Kochi Muziris Biennale -- has won the hearts of international curators too. A number of curators have by now had a close look at the premier event. Liverpool Biennial founder-director Lewis Biggs and Aichin Triennale curator Shihoko Iida opined that India's only biennale is unique thanks to its geography, history, spaces and people, that make it stand out from every other art event in the world. "KMB 2016 is not a replication of any other biennial or art festival happening around the world. This is my first experience and I am happy that more people are joining in because this edition has included performing arts with the visual art works," said the curator who helmed the Liverpool Biennial for a decade till 2011. He highlighted the importance of the KMB 2016 theme -- 'Forming in the pupil of an eye'. "We curators always try innovative titles to attract the art crowd. India has a very strong culture and heritage that add advantage to the festival. Moreover, Fort Kochi is geographically beautiful as well," he said. Tokyo-based curator Shihoko Iida talked about the historical relevance of KMB in rebuilding a consciousness among the local people of the multiple cultural influences on this ancient town and its evolution into a vibrant place. "A lot of change and mobility have happened since the 15th and 16th centuries. People tend to forget what has happened in the past, but KMB will function as a reminder to the past and build the future," said Iida. "Also, the tropical and eco-friendly surroundings provide a very dynamic and organic atmosphere. I have become a great fan of KMB and am already looking forward to the next edition," she said. The event that began here at multiple venues on December 12 will go on for 108 days. United Nations, Jan 1 : Antonio Guterres began on Sunday his five-year term as the new United Nations Secretary-General with a call for peace. "On this New Year's Day, I ask all of you to join me in making one shared New Year's resolution: Let us resolve to put peace first," Efe news agency quoted Guterres as saying in his first message as the head of the United Nations. Without mentioning any particular conflict, the former Portuguese diplomat called for a ceasefire and compromises at negotiations, in order to achieve political solutions. "Peace must be our goal and our guide," he said in a video message recorded in English, French, Spanish and Portuguese. The new Secretary-General put a poser before the international community: What can it do to help the millions of people "caught up in conflict, suffering massively in wars with no end in sight?" "No one wins these wars, everyone loses," lamented Guterres, who denounced the impact they have on the civilian populations. "I appeal to you all to join me in committing to peace, today and every day. Let us make 2017 a year for peace," Guterres concluded. New Delhi, Jan 2 : A constable shot himself dead inside the Supreme Court premises on Monday, police said. Chand Pal Singh, 45, was deputed at the court for the last one-and-half-years, a police officer said. "He killed himself with his service rifle between 8 a.m. and 9 a.m.," the officer said. Lucknow, Jan 2 : BJP President Amit Shah on Monday sought the support of the people of Uttar Pradesh to bring about a "parivartan" in the state in the coming assembly elections. Addressing the 'Maha Parivartan' rally at Ramabai Sthal here, Shah said the state had been ruined by both the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the Samajwadi Party. The time had come to change the destiny of the country's most populous state, he said. Take potshots at the ongoing feud in the Samajwadi Party, Shah said the "chacha" and "bhatija" were squabbling while the development of the state had taken a backseat. And referring to BSP chief Mayawati, he said even the "bua" had not contributed positively to the state and it was because of these two parties that Uttar Pradesh remained backward. He said an all round development of Uttar Pradesh would become possible only when the BJP was voted to power. New Delhi, Jan 2 : A court here on Monday sent to judicial custody, till January 16, hawala trader Paras Mal Lodha who was arrested for converting demonetised notes worth Rs 25 crore linked to industrialist J. Sekhar Reddy and lawyer Rohit Tandon into new currency. Additional Sessions Judge Raj Kumar Tripathi sent Lodha to 14 days judicial custody after Enforcement Directorate told court that he is not required for further custodial interrogation. Lodha was presented before the court after expiry of his four day ED custody. Meanwhile, as Lodha's defence counsel Rebecca John moved the bail plea, the court has asked ED to file its reply on the plea and listed the matter for January 6. The Kolkata-based businessman was arrested on December 21, after hours of questioning by the ED officials and booked under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). Lodha, a leading businessman with interests in real estate and mining, had been intercepted by a team of ED sleuths at the Mumbai airport while he was trying to flee to Malaysia. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had last month 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 crore, including Rs 2.60 crore in new currency notes, was seized from the office of Tandon in south Delhi's Greater Kailash-I area 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 12 locations in the southern state including the house of Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary P. Rama Mohana Rao. ED officials 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. AsunciAn, Jan 3 : Qatari driver Nasser Al-Attiyah has claimed the first stage of the Dakar Rally as he aims to win the off-road endurance race for a third time. The 46-year-old finished the 38.5km Asuncion-Resistencia special stage in 25 minutes 41 seconds in his Toyota on Monday, comfortably ahead of former world rally champion Xevi Pons, who was 24 seconds behind in his Ford Ranger, reports Xinhua news agency. Pons' fellow Spaniard Nani Roma was third in his Toyota, a further five seconds off the pace. Nine-time world rally champion Sebastien Loeb was sixth - 55 seconds behind Al-Attiyah - while last year's champion Stephane Peterhansel crossed the line in 12th, 1 minute and 34 seconds adrift of the leader. After the stage, Al-Attiyah revealed that he had to content with a fire in his vehicle. "About a dozen kilometres out from the finish we smelt smoke by (co-driver) Matthieu's (Baumel) seat and there was a bit of a fire," Al-Attiyah told reporters. "We slowed down to finish the stage and were able to put it out at the finish." Earlier, Australia's defending champion Toby Price clinched the opening stage of the motorcycle event on his KTM. The 2017 Dakar Rally will feature 12 stages, covering more than 9,000km in Paraguay, Bolivia and Argentina before ending in Buenos Aires on January 14. New Delhi, Jan 3 : Google's India-born CEO Sundar Pichai is all set to address a domestic technology market with a focus on small and medium businesses in the country on Wednesday. Information Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad will also join Pichai and other senior Google leaders during the event here, the company said in a statement. "At Google, we are excited about partnering the businesses to help them unlock exponential growth through the power of digital," the statement said. Seven Indian startups recently joined the third batch of Google "Launchpad Accelerator" -- a platform which brings together mentors and experts from Google and outside to help the startups see success -- along with startups from other countries. Over the last one year, 13 Indian startups have participated in the programme and some of them have successfully raised funding. Pichai, who has a BTech degree from IIT - Kharagpur, will also visit his alma mater on Thursday, according to sources. "Sundar Pichai, CEO Google and distinguished alumnus of IIT Kharagpur, has expressed his desire to visit the campus in the first week of January 2017," Director P.P. Chakrabarti said last week. Pichai passed out from IIT - Kharagpur in 1993 with a BTech in metallurgical and materials engineering. New Delhi, Jan 3 : Three days into the New Year, the ATMs in the Delhi-NCR region are yet to catch up with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's promise of normalcy, as on Tuesday many of these machines were still found either defunct or cashless. Although many more ATMs are filled with cash now, compared to a week ago, it still requires a bit of scouting around before one can chance upon a machine that may dish out any money. There was not a single ATM working on the way, starting from Vikas Marg to Sansad Marg (Parliament Street) when an IANS reporter visited them. Many ATMs in Connaught Place in New Delhi area -- within a radius of barely two km from the Prime Minister's residence on the newly-christened Lok Kalyan Marg -- were found to be working while almost an equal number of them were either devoid of cash or non-functioning. The ATMs of Standard Chartered and State Bank of India in 'B' and 'C' blocks were found with their servers down. The cash machines of Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC), Punjab National Bank, Bank of Maharashtra, and ICICI Bank in 'A' Block had cash, with an average 15-20 persons queuing up for money at each one of them. None of the ATM machines of IndusInd, SBI, Over seas Bank of Commerce, and Yes Bank at the Rajiv Chowk Metro Station had cash in them. Modi had asked the people for a grace period of 50 days for relief from the cash drought, which swamped all public sector and private banks as well as ATMs post-demonetisation. Although the Prime Minister's self-imposed 50-day deadline ended on December 30, what people get at the bank counters and through ATMs is only a trickle of cash. Most of the ATMs in the capital are still dry, while many machines remain even to be calibrated to dole out the differently sized new currency notes. United Nations, Jan 4 : The new Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, defended on Tuesday the role of the United Nations as the "cornerstone" of the multilateral approach to solving the worst problems affecting the international community. Guterres, on his first day as head of the UN, delivered a brief message to United Nations employees in the main lobby of the organisation's headquarters, in which he repeated some of the principles he stood up for in his message last Sunday, EFE news reported. The Secretary-General said he feels proud to take the place of South Korean Ban Ki-moon for an initial term of five years, and also promised to do everything possible to rid the United Nations of its "straightjacket of bureaucracy". The Portuguese Guterres added that countries acting separately cannot possibly resolve the challenges currently facing the international community, which makes multilateral action positively essential. "We need to recognise that only global solutions can address global problems and the UN is the cornerstone of that multilateral approach," he said. The UN Secretary-General promised to promote a dialogue with the organisation's personnel and insisted that only working as a team can the United Nations' goals be accomplished. Chennai, Jan 4 : Veteran Telugu filmmaker Dasari Narayana Rao, who has expressed his desire to work on a biopic on late actress and former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa, says the project is yet to enter the scripting phase. Jayalalithaa, aged 68, passed away on December 5 last year. "The biopic idea has just started to take shape. The scripting work is just getting started. Jayalalithaa's story is fascinating, inspiring and it deserves to be told. I haven't thought about whom to cast yet as I can't zero in on anyone without completing the script first," Rao told IANS. He also said that the film will be made in Tamil and Telugu. Will he meet V.K. Sasikala, a confidante of Jayalalithaa, to take help in the scripting process? "It's too early to even meet anyone. I just want to concentrate on writing for now," he said. Southern actresses such as Ramya Krishnan and Trisha have expressed interest to play 'Amma' on screen in the past. Chennai, Jan 4 : Actor Vikram, who was last seen sporting a thick beard for Tamil actioner "Irumugan", has undergone a makeover for Gautham Vasudev Menon's upcoming spy-thriller "Dhruva Natchathiram". According to a source, he will be seen in salt-and-pepper look in the film. "For most part of the film, he will be seen in a salt-and-pepper getup. There might be some flashback portions where he will be required to look younger. The film's shoot will commence later this week in Coonoor," a source from the film's unit told IANS. Tipped to be a high-octane action-thriller, the film will be shot on an international scale. The makers are even ready with the film's first look. "Over the New Year weekend, Gautham and Vikram met in Dubai to shoot the first look. The poster will be unveiled in a few days," he said. Actress Aditi Rao Hydari is under consideration for the leading lady's role. "She is one of the options. Nobody has been finalised yet. The official announcement will be made soon," the source added. New Delhi, Jan 4 : The Election Commission of India on Wednesday said that it will implement the Supreme Court ruling that seeking votes in the name of caste, creed, religion, community and language is illegal. "EC is committed to abide by the apex court order. The order of the Supreme Court will be implemented effectively," Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi said while answering questions on the January 2 ruling. A Constitution bench headed by the then Chief Justice of India T.S. Thakur had ruled that seeking votes on the basis of religion, race, caste or language of a candidate or his rival or even that of the voters is illegal and could jeopardise the electoral process. The apex court's decision was termed as "historic and bold" by all the political parties. Mumbai, Jan 4 : Actors Shraddha Kapoor and Aditya Roy Kapur, who are gearing up for the release of "Ok Jaanu", will be seen promoting the romantic drama film on ace comedian Kapil Sharmas "The Kapil Sharma Show". The actors, who were last seen onscreen together in superhit 2013 film "Aashiqui 2", shot for the special episode on Tuesday night. "Promoting last night on one of my favourite shows 'The Kapil Sharma Show' with the most fun gang. 'Ok Jaanu'," Shraddha posted on Twitter on Wednesday alongside a photograph in which she and Aditya can be seen pouting alongside Kapil's gang. Directed by Shaad Ali, the film is an official remake of Mani Ratnam's Tamil film "Ok Kanmani", which revolves around a young couple in a live-in relationship here. "Ok Jaanu", which also stars Leela Samson and Naseeruddin Shah, is slated to release on January 13. Mumbai, Jan 4 : Bollywood star Akshay Kumar has praised his wife Twinkle Khanna, saying he doesn't feel shy in calling her the 'yodha' (warrior) of his home. "I don't feel shy calling my wife as a 'yodha' at all," the actor said at a launch event for Tata Motors' latest offering Xenon YODHA on Tuesday. "Yodha does not -- Not -- necessarily mean one who is holding a gun. Yodha is a person who holds his own family. A soldier who fights a war, isn't only a yodha. It is all about holding your family and close ones. Everybody is a 'yodha' in his life," he added. "It is a big responsibility when a person calls himself a fighter. He must be a person whom you can trust and rely on, no matter whatever happens. You have that feeling that he won't break your trust. So, that is a big responsibility," he said. Akshay is looking forward to a happening new year with "Jolly LLB 2", "Toilet - Ek Prem Katha", "2.o" and "Pad Man". He will also feature in a film co-produced by Salman Khan and Karan Johar. Talking about the new project, the 49-year-old actor said: "Being an actor, signing a film for another big actor is something new for this industry because it only happens in Hollywood, where an actor signs another actor for his production. I hope this trend starts in Bollywood too." New Delhi : Electorally, 2017 is billed as the year of the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, with commentators arguing that this is a crucial election for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Indias most populous state. True to its billing, as elections were announced on January 4, 2017, the theatrics continue in the Samajwadi Party (SP), which rules Uttar Pradesh, over a father-son duel triggering a vertical split in the party. The overwhelming narrative is that the Uttar Pradesh elections will be a harbinger for the general elections of 2019. The drama aside, the only result of the elections that should be surprising is a BJP loss. Let's understand why. In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP won 71 parliament seats by winning 328 (81 per cent) of 403 assembly segments. This was unprecedented in the recent history of Uttar Pradesh elections. To put that in context, the last time a political party won more than 80 per cent of all constituencies in the state was in 1977, when the Janata Party won 80 per cent of the seats in a post-Emergency landslide Not only did the BJP win 81 per cent of seats in 2014, but it did so with a massive margin. There are four major political parties in the fray in Uttar Pradesh -- the ruling SP, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), the Congress and the BJP. These parties have historically contested elections in the state independently. In a four-cornered, first-past-the-post system, the winning party needs only a 25-30 per cent vote share in each constituency. The BJP won 253 out of the 403 constituencies with greater than 40% vote share in the 2014 elections. This suggests that even if there had been opposition unity, the BJP may have still won well more than half of all seats. Further, it won an outright majority (more than 50 per cent of votes) in 94 constituencies. There has been no political party that has won so many seats in Uttar Pradesh with such huge margins in recent history. It was this victory in Uttar Pradesh that enabled the BJP to be the first to win an outright majority in Parliament since 1984. The enormity of the BJP victory in the state just three years ago should ideally mean only one very predictable outcome of the 2017 state elections -- a BJP majority. Yet, there is palpable excitement over other possible outcomes. For the BJP to get less than 200 seats and lose Uttar Pradesh in 2017, it would have to lose nearly 40 per cent of its seats from 2014. For that to happen, it would take nearly 15 per cent of BJP voters in the 2014 election to switch loyalties en-masse to another political party. To put that in context, the BJP lost the Bihar elections of 2015 after winning it in 2014, by having no more than 4 per cent of its voters switch loyalties. The BJP would need a performance nearly four times worse than Bihar to lose Uttar Pradesh, given its magnitude of victory in 2014. If any two of the opposition parties get together, the BJP would still have to lose more than 10 per cent of its voters to lose the election. Whichever way one looks at the data, it would take a massive shift of loyalties of 2014 BJP voters for the party to lose the 2017 election. The standard counter to this analysis will be that the 2017 election is a state election while the 2014 election was a national election and hence voting patterns will be very different. That voters choose differently for state and national elections is one of the long-held myths about Indian elections for which there is little evidence. The typical evidence dished out in favour of this argument is comparison of national and state elections across different time periods when many other changes have occurred to be able to attribute outcomes solely to voters choosing differently for the state and national elections. The 2015 loss of the BJP in Delhi to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) coming on the heels of a BJP sweep of Delhi in the 2014 elections is another popularly cited example. This again misses the fact that it was primarily the collapse of the Congress vote share that helped propel AAP to victory as opposed to any conclusive evidence of voters choosing BJP in the national elections and AAP in the state elections. To the contrary, my research has shown that when elections are held simultaneously to state and Centre, 77 per cent of the voters choose the same party and do not differentiate between a state and a national election. Further, in five of the last six state and national elections in Uttar Pradesh since 2002, the two regional parties have won a greater majority of the votes combined than the two national parties -- BJP and Congress -- except in 2014. The SP won the 2002 state election and the subsequent 2004 national election. The BSP won the 2007 state election and was the leading party in the 2009 national election. Despite all this, even if one were to accept that voters may vote slightly differently for state elections vis-a-vis national, this difference alone cannot explain a BJP loss in Uttar Pradesh, if it were to occur. The BJP's performance in the state in 2014 is so far ahead of the other parties that an outright majority in the 2017 elections should have ideally been par for the course. This is also the reason why the speculation about the Prime Minister's demonetisation initiative being motivated by the Uttar Pradesh elections is, perhaps, misplaced. Should the BJP secure less than 200 seats in the coming election, it would only mean that a large number of people changed the decision they made in 2014 and would also, perhaps, go down as among the most significant vote-share swings in India's electoral history. Only under this scenario can the 2017 electoral outcome be a true harbinger for the 2019 national elections, not otherwise. (In arrangement with IndiaSpend.org, a data-driven, non-profit, public interest journalism platform. Praveen Chakravarty is Senior Fellow in Political Economy at IDFC Institute & Founding Trustee, IndiaSpend. The views expressed are those of IndiaSpend. Feedback at respond@indiaspend.org) New Delhi, Jan 4 : From increase in the base price of food items, creating chaos and dispute during billing, increase of tip culture and an affect in the operating cost of the restaurants and employment -- these will be some of the ramifications in the food and beverage sector if paying of service charge is made optional, say restaurateur. Eatery owners, who have their outlets in different parts of the nation, are in a fix since the Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA) issued a statement saying that customers dissatisfied with service at any hotel or restaurant can opt for the service charge not being levied as this is optional or discretionary. Priyank Sukhija, who owns Lord of the Drinks, Tamasha, The Flying Saucer cafe and Warehouse cafe, told IANS: "Making service charge optional or discretionary will affect employment. Service charge is not a way for us to earn money, but it's for staff welfare and motivation. Leaving it on customer discretion, in my opinion, is not right. "The decision should have been clear enough in the way that either the government should have completely waived it off or make it mandatory. They could have been better way like may be reduction of service tax." The decision by DCA was taken in lieu of complaints received from consumers that many hotels and restaurants charged "service charge in the range of 5-20 per cent, in lieu of tips" and consumers were "forced to pay irrespective of the kind of service provided". Varun Puri, owner of Imly, feels the step will lead to unnecessary chaos and disputes during the billing. "Who is going to decide why guests shouldn't be billed with service charge. This is also going to affect the operating cost for the restaurants. Earlier what the customers paid as service charge, will now fall upon the head of the company to increase staff's salary," Puri told IANS. Bhuvnesh Bhalla, director of Delhi-based restaurant Aanch, said: "With the implication of this rule, our staff will ask for more hikes as this income was purely their incentive apart from their monthly income. As any waiter earns approximately Rs 3000-4000 through this service charge per month in addition to their monthly income, it will come onto the owners of restaurants." For Laurent Samandari, founder of L'Opera, one consequence could be an increase in the base prices at restaurants, to make up for the lost revenue." Some restaurant owners feels that the service charge used to "omit the iridescent behaviour of the server (staff) who would demand tips with their body language", but now things won't be same. Prashant Khurana, executive Chef at Andrea's Eatery, told IANS: "The service charge was also helpful for making up for restaurant breakages of crockery and glassware. Also, the most important thing was that the compulsory service charge has almost omitted the indecent behaviour of the server (staff) demanding the tip from a guest with his most inappropriate body language." The move could also have a positive effect. "This rule will bring in a little positive approach in the F&B industry as now every restaurant and hotel authorities will improvise on their services and quality, which will help them to get more customer footfall and revenue generation," Ashish Massey, director, The Ancient Barbeque, told IANS. Inderjeet Banga, owner of Prankster and The Pirates of Grill, agreed. "For restaurants and hotels who take guest satisfaction for granted, this is a big wake-up call. Also, if we see the long-term effect, this shall make better relations between service boys and guests on the floor. The others who don't want to perform, have to perish," Banga told IANS. Umang Tewari, who owns The Junkyard Cafe, Garam Dharam, Vault Cafe and more under Big Fish Ventures, has already removed the service charge from all his restaurants as he does "not believe in over-burdening our consumers". But there's also Ajay Sharma, franchise owner of Playboy Cafe, who said: "As long as service charge is mentioned in our menu, it cannot be termed as unfair." (Nivedita can be contacted at Nivedita. s@ians.in) New Delhi, Jan 4 : Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Manipur and Goa will pick new assemblies between February 4 and March 8 in the biggest popularity test since the Lok Sabha polls of 2014. The results from all the states will be known on March 11, Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi said on Wednesday while unveiling a slew of new election-related rules. The exercise will involve 160 million voters and a total of 690 assembly seats, 403 of them in Uttar Pradesh alone. Zaidi said the Model Code of Conduct would come into effect from now and would be applicable to all candidates, political parties, concerned state governments as well as the central government in as much as its decisions relate to the five states. Almost all the main parties in the fray - the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Congress and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) - welcomed the much awaited election schedule. This will also be the first electoral contest since the November 8 demonetisation, which has triggered an unprecedented cash crunch, leading in turn to an opposition onslaught on the Narendra Modi government. While polling in Goa, the smallest of the five states, and Punjab will take place on February 4, Uttarakhand will vote on February 15 and Manipur in two phases on March 4 and 8. Uttar Pradesh, the country's most populous state, will go to the polls in seven phases: February 11 (73 seats), 15 (67 seats), 19 (69 seats), 23 (53 seats) and 27 (52 seats) and March 4 (49 seats) and 8 (40 seats). Goa has 40 seats, Punjab 117, Manipur 60 and Uttarakhand has 70 seats. All eyes will be on Uttar Pradesh, where the BJP is determined to take power by ousting the ruling Samajwadi Party -- now in the throes of a huge crisis -- and beating back a strong challenge from the BSP. While the BJP rules Goa, it is a junior ally to the Shiromani Akali Dal-led government in Punjab. The Congress governs Uttarakhand and Manipur. The AAP, the country's youngest political outfit and which rules Delhi, will contest for the first time in Punjab and Goa. "We are committed to conduct the elections in a free and fair manner," Zaidi said. The Election Commission would also check the "misuse of black money and liquor". For the first time, there will be separate polling stations for women and photographs of the candidates will be displayed on the electronic voting machines. The poll panel would also insist on a certificate from candidates to show they owe no arrears to any government department vis-a-vis utilities bills and rent on official accommodation. BJP spokesperson Siddhartha Nath Singh said: "Development will remain our plank but the opposition would like to attack demonetisation policy. Per se I think this will be very good for us." Congress spokesman Manish Tewari said the issues in each states will be different and "it is not going to be a single issue on which the elections will be fought". Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said the AAP was confident of taking power in both Goa and Punjab. Agartala, Jan 4 : The opposition Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Wednesday reiterated its demand for a probe by the CBI and ED into the activities of all illegal NBFCs and chit fund organisations in Tripura and warned of a stir on the issue. The state TMC announced an agitation from January 19 to force the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED) to probe the illegal activities of Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) and chit fund organisations. The party claims that Chief Minister Manik Sarkar as well as ministers and leaders of the ruling Left Front in Tripura are involved in the activities of these organisations. "Sarkar promoted the business of Rose Valley; his party colleagues, including two ministers, are either involved or promoted the business of NBFCs and chit fund organisations," TMC leader Sudip Roy Barman told reporters here. He said: "The CBI and the ED are taking action against TMC parliamentarians and leaders in West Bengal but both the agencies are not acting in Tripura." Alleging a tacit understanding between the CPI-M and the Bharatiya Janata Party-led central government, Barman said they will soon meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi to ask for CBI and ED probes into NBFCs and chit fund bodies' activities. Denying the TMC charges, CPI-M state Secretary Bijan Dhar said Tripura's Left Front government was the first in India to enact laws to curb unlawful activities of chit fund companies and NBFCs and repeatedly asked the CBI to investigate their activities. "The TMC leaders have no issue and they are playing an old record just to misguide the people," Dhar told reporters. The Communist Party of India-Marxist is a dominant partner in the Left Front that comprises four Left parties. The Tripura High Court last year asked the state government to set up a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe illegal NBFCs and chit fund organisations. Meanwhile, SIT head and Tripura's Inspector General of Police (Law and Order) K.V. Sreejesh told the media on Wednesday that the SIT is now probing 78 cases involving 48 NBFCs and chit fund organisations and had arrested 112 persons. "We have seized bank accounts and attached properties of most of these organisations. We will soon complete our probe," the IPS officer added. In 2013, the Tripura government referred 37 cases relating to chit fund companies and NBFCs to the CBI. The central probe agency, however, took up only five cases. Lucknow, Jan 4 : The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) on Wednesday said it will contest assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Uttarakhand on its own. BSP chief Mayawati said this was being done so as not to compromise the interests of the Bahujan movement. She also urged the Election Commission to tell the central government not to present the annual budget on February 1 and to wait until elections in all five states end on March 8. The budget announcements could influence the voters and take away the level playing field, the four-time Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh said in a statement. She also demanded a larger presence of paramilitary forces and a tight vigil on the working of state government officials and police force in the states. The Bahujan Samaj Party leader also welcomed the seven-phase polling to the Uttar Pradesh assembly. New Delhi, Jan 4 : The United Naga Council (UNC) on Wednesday said that they will continue with the economic blockade despite the announcement of Manipur assembly elections by the Election Commission. According to the UNC -- apex body of the Nagas based in Manipur -- elections cannot be held peacefully in the Naga-inhabited areas of Manipur until the prevailing problems are resolved. "The blockade will continue. Solving of Manipur's problems has to be done through dialogue between the parties in conflict. So far, the government of Manipur has failed to respond politically. "We have no other option but to intensify the blockade, no matter what the Election Commission has announced regarding the polls in the state," K.S. Paul, former President of the UNC, told IANS from Manipur. The Election Commission of India on Wednesday said five states, including Manipur, will go to polls to elect their new assemblies between February 4 and March 8. Manipur will vote in two phases -- March 4 and 8. Paul -- an active member of the UNC -- said the Manipur government has betrayed the Nagas of Manipur. "We have been betrayed by the Manipur government, as it did not consult us on the creation of seven new districts out of our ancestral land. We do not know whether the situation will be conducive for holding free and fair elections in the Naga areas of the state," said Paul. "Bulldozing the interests of the Nagas, particularly on the issue of our ancestral land, won't be compromised under any circumstances. We do not consider the Manipur government as a popular government, as the districts were created without consulting us," added Paul. Tension has been simmering in Manipur due to an economic blockade called by the UNC in the state. National Highways (NH) 37 and NH 2 have been badly affected due to the blockade. Although the blockade started on November 1 when the state government was planning to create new districts by bifurcating the existing Naga-dominated areas, it intensified after the government ignored the agitation and went ahead to declare Jirbam as a full-fledged district. The state government also created new districts of Kangpokpi, Tengoupal, Pharzol, Kakching, Noney and Kamjongin. According to the UNC, the creation of new districts out of Naga territory without their consent is a deliberate act to suppress the rights of Nagas in the state. In December last year, Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju said the central government will extend all assistance to restore normalcy in the state. Apart from sending 150 companies of para-military forces to Manipur when the blockade started, the central government also sent seven additional companies of para-military forces, a step condemned by the Nationalist Socialist Council of Nagalim-Isak-Muivah(NSCN-IM). Washington, Jan 4 : Sealing a historic breakthrough for Indian-Americans, five were sworn-in on Tuesday as members of the US Congress -- one of them, Kamala Harris, becoming the first to become a Senator. Ami Bera, who was the only Indian-American in the 435-member House of Representatives and re-elected in the November elections, was joined by the four others, increasing the Indian-American contingent to five members in the Congress. All five are Democrats and three of them -- Harris, Bera and Representative Ro Khanna -- are from California. The other two Representatives are Raja Krishnamoorthi from Illinois and Pramila Jayapal from Washington state. Harris, whose mother was from Chennai and father from Jamaica, has a dual identity as both an Indian-American and an African-American. Vice President Joseph Biden administered her the oath of office which she swore on a Bible copy held by her husband Doug Emhoff. Afterwards her family and friends gathered around the couple in celebration. Two of them were dressed in saris, although Harris wore a two-piece western outfit in blue. In 1956, Democrat Dalip Singh Saund became the first Indian-American elected to Congress. Forty-eight years later, Republican Piyush Bobby Jindal was elected to the House in 2004 and re-elected in 2006. But in 2007 he was elected governor of Louisiana and left Congress. After a five-year gap for Indian-Americans, Bera was elected to Congress in 2012. Republicans have the majority in both chambers. In the House of Representatives, they have 241 seats to Democrats' 194 and Republicans control the Senate with 52 seats to the Democrats' 46 with two Independents allied with them. The opening of the new session of Congress was overshadowed by the Republican Representatives' decision on Monday to restrict the independence of the ethics monitors. Faced with a firestorm of criticism led by their own party's President-elect Donald Trump, they backed down on Tuesday and agreed to not make any changes to the Office of Congressional Ethics, which was set up in 2008 following corruption scandals that ended with three members of Congress ending in jail. Baghdad, Jan 4 : An Iraqi woman journalist and activist kidnapped from her Baghdad home by unidentified gunmen last week has been freed, the media reported on Wednesday. "The militant group kidnapped Afrah Shawqi and set her free late last night (Tuesday) in Baghdad and the incident is under investigation," Xinhua news agency quoted an unnamed source as saying. The kidnappers also returned Shawqi's personal jewels and her car after they stole them earlier from her house. On December 26, masked armed men broke into the house of the journalist in Saidiya district in southern Baghdad and kidnapped her. The journalist was deliberated as one of the critics of the country's corruption, and recently wrote an article which tackled the consequences of the proliferation of armed groups beyond the law. Shortly after her release, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi phoned Shawqi to reassure her about her safety and promised to pay her a visit later, according to local media. Iraq is considered one of the most dangerous countries for journalists, who have been frequently targeted following the chaos and insecurity since the 2003 US-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein. New Delhi, Jan 4 : President Pranab Mukherjee will send on Thursday a New Year message to the Governors and Lt. Governors of states and Union Territories through video conferencing from Rashtrapati Bhavan. The message will be delivered through the National Knowledge Network (NKN) platform. The NKN project is aimed at establishing a strong and robust Indian network, capable of providing secure and reliable connectivity. Beijing, Jan 4 : China supports the Philippines in assuming the rotating presidency of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) in 2017, said a Foreign Ministry spokesman on Wednesday. "China hopes to push relations with Asean to a new level," Xinhua news agency reported spokesman Geng Shuang as saying. The Chinese government has always regarded Asean as a priority in its diplomacy with neighbouring countries, said Geng. China and Asean commemorated the 25th anniversary of dialogue relations between the two sides in September 2016. During the meeting, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and leaders from the 10 Asean members agreed to lift China-Asean cooperation to a new level, which demonstrated the firm resolve of the two sides to deepen mutual trust and enhance cooperation, said Geng. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the founding of Asean and it is also the China-Asean year of tourism cooperation. Kathmandu, Jan 4 : Nepal Parliament Speaker Onsari Gharti Magar on Wednesday requested Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' to forge consensus with the opposition parties before the next session of Parliament, the media reported. The Speaker, who went to the Prime Minister's residence in Baluwatar, made the request in order to resume the house meetings, which had been disrupted since November 29, the Himalayan Times reported. In response, Prachanda expressed his commitment to end the stalemate and forge consensus with the agitating political parties. Meanwhile, the leading political parties have begun fresh talks after the Supreme Court's order to let Parliament endorse the second Constitution amendment bill. The main opposition Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist also hinted it would not obstruct the house meetings anymore. The Speaker also held separate meetings with the leaders of other political parties to make her request for running the house. Next house meeting has been scheduled for January 8. New Delhi, Jan 4 : The Supreme Court on Wednesday issued notices to the Centre and the Election Commission on a plea for disclosure of sources of income by candidates for parliamentary and assembly elections. Citing instances of exponential increase in assets held by lawmakers in just five years, the petitioner Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) said assets of four sitting Lok Sabha members had increased by 1,200 per cent. There was 500 per cent increase in assets of 22 other Lok Sabha members. Rajya Sabha member Anil Madhav Dave declared an asset growth of over 2,100 per cent, the petitioner pointed out. The ADR cited the example of an Assam state legislator with declared increase of over 5,000 per cent in his assets. In the case of another legislator, from Kerala, the increase in assets is over 1,700 per cent since the 2011 assembly elections. The ADR, in its application to be impleaded as co-petitioner in an earlier plea filed by Lucknow-based NGO Lok Prahari, contended that a number of people filing self-attested affidavits on their assets were not disclosing details of Income Tax returns. The petitioner said an analysis of assets declared during the 2014 Lok Sabha elections and 2016 Rajya Sabha elections as well as elections to Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Kerala, Assam and West Bengal assemblies revealed "abnormal increase" in assets of many members of Parliament and assemblies. The Supreme Court on July 19, 2016, issued notices to the Centre and the Election Commission on a plea by Lok Prahari that candidates should disclose sources of income and whether they hold stakes in entities with business transactions with the government. Lok Prahari told the court that candidates filing nomination papers were disclosing their assets and those of their spouse, children and other dependents but not sources of income through which they came to possess these. The NGO said some lawmakers were thriving on easy money and of the 542 Lok Sabha members, 113 have described their profession as housewife, social worker, social service and politics. The court directed the next hearing on the matter on February 20. New Delhi, Jan 4 : Former Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit on Wednesday said she favours a pre-poll alliance with the Samajwadi Party led by Akhilesh Yadav, and that she is ready to step aside as Congress chief ministerial candidate for Uttar Pardesh. "I am in favour of an alliance with the SP. I am ready to withdraw from contention as CM candidate if there is an alliance," Sheila Dikshit told the media here. "Akhilesh Yadav is a much better chief ministerial candidate than me. Would be happy to step aside for him," Dikshit added. The senior Congress leader said nobody in her party had spoken to her about a possible alliance in the state where elections will be held in seven phases from February 11. There have been speculations about ongoing parleys between the Congress and the Samajwadi Party for alliance in Uttar Pradesh ahead of the assembly elections. Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Manipur and Goa will elect new assemblies between February 4 and March 8. Uttar Pradesh -- the country's most populous and politically significant state -- will go to elect its 403-member state assembly in seven phases: February 11 (73 seats), February 15 (67 seats), February 19 (69 seats), February 23 (53 seats), February 27 (52 seats), March 4 (49 seats) and March 8 (40 seats). New Delhi, Jan 4 : The Congress party on Wednesday said that the Delhi government was "intentionally" delaying the file pertaining to delimitation of municpal wards of Delhi as it fears defeat in polls. The Congress said that it will approach courts if the file on the delimitation of the wards was not cleared within three days. "AAP (Aam Aadmi Party) government is sitting on the file of the final draft order on delimitation of MCD wards for the last two months, instead of forwarding it to the Lt. Governor for his approval," Delhi Congress leader Sharmistha Mukherjee told media. "It is done in a bid to delay the MCD (Municipal Corporations of Delhi) elections, which are due in April 2017 as the AAP fears its defeat in the elections," she alleged. Mukherjee also said that "it has been learnt that the AAP government has sent back the file of the final draft order on delimitation to the Delhi Election Commission, seeking some changes in the draft order." "According to rules, no changes can be made in the final draft order on delimitation of the MCD wards," the Congress leader said. Mukherjee said the Congress has demanded that Lt. Governor Anil Baijal ask for the file and accord his sanction to the order on delimitation of MCD wards within in three days. Panaji, Jan 4 : Goa Deputy Chief Minister Francis D'Souza on Wednesday said there is a strong possibility of a Christian becoming the next Chief Minister of the coastal state. D'Souza, one of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)'s senior-most minority faces in the state, said that having a Christian Chief Minister is wish of the people, so the BJP as well as other political parties could accordingly nominate a chief ministerial candidate. "I was asked if there can be a Christian Chief Minister for Goa in the future. I said it is possible. I did not say it will happen, but it may happen. It is the wish of the people," D'Souza told a press conference in Panaji. "It can be from any party... It's not that there is a ban on Christians becoming the Chief Minister," he said, adding that eventually it is up to the elected legislators to select their leader in the legislative assembly. D'Souza was one of the contenders for the Chief Minister's post after Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, then Chief Minister, was elevated to become a central minister in 2014. Eventually, D'Souza was beaten in the race to the Chief Minister's post by legislator from Mandrem and former state BJP President Laxmikant Parsekar, but was appointed as the Deputy Chief Minister some months later. Christians account for nearly 26 per cent of the state's 1.5 million population. D'Souza also said that the BJP-led coalition government in Goa has faced hurdles in fulfilling its 2012 poll promise of doing away with the offshore casinos in the state. But, he added, his party is still toying with the idea of closing down the casinos. "On the issue of casinos, we have already spoken about our difficulties. Attempts are being made to relocate. But we are also in need of revenue. Hence, we have let casinos continue and when possible, we will shut those down," he said. There are five operational offshore casinos parked in the Mandovi river off Panaji and nine onshore casinos functioning from various five-star resorts located in the coastal fringes of the tourism-oriented state. New Delhi, Jan 4 : Indian Coast Guard Director General Rajendra Singh met his Sri Lankan counterpart Rear Admiral Samantha Wimalathunga here on Wednesday and discussed more maritime cooperation, especially in the context of fishermen from both countries. A three-member delegation led by Wimalathunga is on a three day visit to India for a high-level meeting with the Indian Coast Guard. It aims at furthering cooperation between the two countries on maritime issues of mutual concern and formulate a cooperative approach, an official statement said. "Of late, the Sri Lankan Coast Guard has been proactive in meeting the challenges in the new global safety and security regime in this region. The recent visit is significant in providing continued impetus to the existing ties between the two organisations," the statement said. The focus of the meeting was on further strengthening operational interaction for search and rescue, preservation and protection of marine environment and revalidating operational and communication procedures between the two Coast Guard. The Sri Lanka delegation also called on Defence Secretary G. Mohan Kumar and deliberated on issues of common maritime interest. It was mutually agreed to strengthen cooperation on evolving collaborative approach, in addressing a spectrum of maritime issues concerning safety and security and further streamlining the procedure for release/repatriation of fishermen, the statement added. New Delhi, Jan 4 : With opposition parties demanding to postponing the presentation of the Union Budget during the poll process for five states, the Election Commission of India said on Wednesday that it is examining the matter and will take a call on it soon. "The Commission has received one representation sent by some political parties. This representation is with regards to presentation of the budget. The Commission is examining this representation and in due course of time will take a call on this," Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi told reporters here. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, however, said presenting the Budget is a "constitutional requirement". Without naming anyone, Jaitley said: "These are the same parties which say there has been no positive effect of demonetisation, so why are they are worried about date of budget." The minister said an interim budget was presented even before the 2014 Lok Sabha polls and earlier too budgets had been presented ahead of elections. Apart from Congress, the Left parties, Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party, Nationalist Congress Party, Rashtriya Janata Dal and Janata Dal-United signed a memorandum submitted to President Pranab Mukherjee and Election Commission on December 14 requesting that the union budget must be postponed till assembly elections. Congress on Wednesday reissued the copy of the memorandum to the media and expressed apprehensions that voters could be influenced through announcements in the union budget. "Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad had written to the Election Commission and President on this. We are clear that the budget has to be postponed, you can take the vote in account, and have the budget presented after the final election day is over," Congress spokesperson Ajoy Kumar told reporters here. "The norm of any parliamentary democracy is if there is election, you take the vote on account and have it after the election results are out. That has been the tradition. You don't argue on it or no debate on it," Kumar added. Even BJP ally Shiv Sena demanded to postpone union budget till polls get over. "A delegation of Shiv Sena MPs will meet the President of India for this soon. We feel that ruling Bharatiya Janata Party may try to manipulate and mislead people in the union budget," Shiv Sena President Uddhav Thackeray said, addressing a meeting of district party leaders, in Mumbai. He questioned why should the union budget be announced when the dates for the elections to five state assemblies - Goa, Manipur, Punjab, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh - were announced by the Election Commission earlier on Wednesday. Delhi's ruling Aam Aadmi Party said it will be wrong to present Budget just three days before polling in five states. "It gives undue advantage to the BJP as their government is at the centre. Election is all about level playing field. It is now upto the Election Commission. It should take cognisance and issue appropriate instructions," AAP spokesperson Ashutosh told IANS. Another AAP leader Deepak Bajpai said : "It's EC responsibilty to provide level playing field to all political parties. Announcing the Union Budget just three days before elction is bound to effect electorate." Asked if AAP would approach EC, Bajpai said, "We will explore all options available to us." Moscow, Jan 4 : The Russian Defence Ministry said on Wednesday that the US-led coalition has caused serious damage in Syria, refuting the head of the Central Intelligence Agency's accusation that Moscow uses a "scorched-earth" policy in the Middle Eastern country. CIA Director John Brennan said on Tuesday that Russia was pursuing scorched-earth tactics that have led to devastation and the deaths of thousands upon thousands of innocent people. The US-led international coalition has since 2012 systematically and consistently destroyed all economic infrastructure in Syria to weaken its legitimate government, long before the start of the Russian forces' operation in the country, said Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov, a spokesman for the Russian Defence Ministry. He blamed the coalition for the hardships being suffered by Syrian civilians that had created millions of refugees. The oil production facilities captured by the Islamic State allowed the militants to earn tens of millions of dollars in illegal oil sales every month and recruit mercenaries from all over the world, the spokesman added. "Sooner or later, for all this, (the United States and the coalition) will have to answer," Konashenkov said. Last Saturday, the UN Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution supporting a Syria ceasefire arrangement brokered by Russia and Turkey, as well as a new peace talks plan among Syrian conflict parties. The nationwide ceasefire in Syria, agreed upon by the Syrian government and major opposition groups, came into force at midnight local time last Thursday, as the latest attempt to end nearly six years of civil war. The chronic conflict in Syria has killed more than 300,000 people and displaced nearly 11 million others. 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. New Delhi, Jan 4 : Admitting that the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council was racing against time on the government's implementation target of April 1, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Wednesday said it is hoping to resolve the vexed issue of dual control over assessees in its next meeting on January 16, even as states indicated a September timeline for GST. "We know the difficulties, we are moving against time. Dual control is a complex issue. We started a discussion that was inconclusive. We have decided to meet on January 16 to untie the knots in this issue," Jaitley told reporters here after the two-day GST Council meet. "We will be meeting to conclude the discussion on the gaps in draft laws. The gaps are on two issues. The first pertains to the definition of the word territory (in Integrated GST) and the second is on dual control and cross empowerment," he said. Even after eight meetings of the GST Council, the deadlock continues between the Centre and the states on the vexed issue of "cross empowerment", or dual control of assessees and who will exercise control over them. The states want exclusive control on businesses with turnover below Rs 1.5 crore (the current threshold for central excise), including the service taxpayers. The impact of demonetisation on states' tax revenues was also brought up at the meeting and Jaitley said that the states presented their estimates of December revenue figures based on collections made in November, the month of the demonetisation announcement. "A number of state finance ministers gave details of how revenue has actually increased in their states during this period. We've asked for detailed data in this regard," he said. To a query on the impact of the November 8 demonetisation of high-value currency, Jaitley said that excepting the next quarter of the fiscal, the demonetisation-led process of "integrating the informal economy into the formal one" will actually result in higher revenues. "We will end this year with higher revenues...in both direct and indirect taxes we'll exceed the budget estimates," he added. Instead, declining to set a dateline for implementing the Goods and Services Tax (GST), West Bengal Finance Minister Amit Mitra said demonetisation has hugely impacted states' tax revenues, while Indian industry itself required more time to prepare for the new indirect tax regime. "States are making presentation to the Union Finance Minister, saying we're not geting any money from the Centre," Mitra told reporters. "We could not pass the iGST law. There was no discussion on the dual control issue... the states' right to jurisdiction over small businesses with less than Rs 1.5 crore turnover. All that has still to be discussed. "We cannot have a GST that is non-sustainable, a GST that does not work," he added. Pointing out that Indian industry has said it is not fully ready for the roll-out of the GST regime, Mitra told reporters that the question on a GST timeline was better addressed to Jaitley. "A number of steps have to be taken for business to prepare, of which there is no sight. Upgrading of companies' ERP (enterprise resource planning) is yet to take place. "Besides, no fitment has happened," he said, referring to the alignment required to the GST tax rate structure that has been decided. The possibility of roll out of GST has moved further to September as a new issue has cropped up - the states' demand for an increased share in the new indirect tax collections, Kerala Finance Minister Thomas Issac said. "I am not very optimistic about GST rolling in June or July. It is better to move to GST after all the preparations are done. To my understanding it will be implemented September onwards," he told reporters here. Raising new issues between the Centre and the states, Issac said that the Council members discussed the four tax slabs under the GST and the states felt that the states and Centre share in the taxes should be 60:40 and not 50:50. "Over the years, states' rights have been curtailed. This presents a historic opportunity to correct the states' share to 60 per cent and Centre's share would be at 40 per cent. The states today (on Wednesday) supported this understanding," he added. Four tax rates of 5 per cent, 12 per cent, 18 per cent and 28 per cent have been decided under the GST regime. New Delhi, Jan 4 : The CBI on Wednesday said it has so far registered 32 cases of violation of demonetisation and detected over Rs 200 crore across India during its probe against gross anomalies in banking sectors after the demonetisation announcement. Out of 32, three to four case are against Reserve Bank of India (RBI) officials, five against Post Office employees and the remaining cases are against those employed with different banks, said a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) official. They have been charged with illegally exchanging old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes into new currency after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's demonetisation announcement on November 8. "We have so far registered 32 cases of violation of demonetisation and detected about Rs 200 crore illegal transaction. During raids at the office and residential premises of the arrested accused persons, we have recovered Rs 15 crore," said the official. New Delhi, Jan 4 : A mechanical engineer and his accomplice were arrested on the charge of cheating various persons to the tune of Rs 50 lakhs by masquerading as Reserve Bank of India (RBI) officials, police said on Wednesday. Accused Vikas Jha, 25, of Delhi and Ashutosh, 23, of Bihar were apprehended on December 31 near the Hyatt Hotel here on a tip-off. On December 17, 2016, S.K. Nair of R.K Puram's Sector 6 said he had lodged an online complaint regarding non-issuance of a cheque book by his bank, a senior police officer said. "A day after, Nair received a call from a person who identified himself as an RBI official and asked for his bank account number and details of his debit card. Afterwards, Nair received an SMS regarding debit of Rs 1,57,000 from his account," Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Ishwar Singh said. During investigation, the amount was found to be transferred to various e-wallet channels like Paytm and Free Charge. "This led to the arrest of the accused," the DCP said. Jha and Ashutosh told police they used to get details on their potential victims from online portals. Posing as RBI officials, they called the victims and got their bank account details to fraudulently transfer money through their e-wallets, he added. "They said they spend the conned money on shopping on online portals and further sell these articles again through online portals," Singh said. New Delhi, Jan 4 : The Congress on Wednesday said the rise of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is directly linked to the rise of abuses and hate-mongering in the digital media by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The party also dared the Prime Minister to constitute a special committee under judicial supervision to identify and punish the troll army, involved in suppression of opinion, promoting hate, communal polarisation and scandalous content, and issuing threats. "...creating and propagating fake news and attacking individuals based on their race, gender, religion, region and caste has been the modus operandi of the BJP," said Congress spokesperson Ajoy Kumar. "While the Prime Minister talks about "Beti Bachao" movement, his party members and supporters keep on attacking, trolling and threatening opponents, particularly women online," he added. Kumar said: "It is unprecedented that the Prime Minister of the country follows, meets and actively encourages such trolls." He claimed that a Bengaluru businessman, Rajesh Jain, had set up a campaign centre for Modi, directly under the instruction and supervision of the Prime Minister. It later became famous as 'Nadiad Army' or 'Namo Brigade'. "Jain has since been rewarded by the Prime Minister by appointing him a member of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI). "Later, this expanded to many other cities, with multiple people, with many directly run by the BJP's IT cell, earlier headed by Arvind Gupta and now by Amit Malviya," he alleged. The Congress said it wants to know from Modi as to who are these individuals and organisations whom the Prime Minister hosts, follows, encourages and protects. "Why does Narendra Modi act as the benefactor, protector and nurturer of these hate mongers and misogynists?" New York, Jan 4 : A Long Island Rail Road commuter train derailed in Brooklyn here at the height of Wednesday's morning rush, injuring 103 people, media reported. The incident happened around 8.30 a.m. at the Atlantic Terminal in Brooklyn, where a LIRR train from Far Rockaway, Queens failed to come to a stop, slammed into the bumper block and its first couple of cars derailed, Xinhua reported. One hundred and three people suffered non life-threatening injuries, according to the New York City Fire Department. Photos posted by passengers on social media showed the first cars of the train slightly leaning out from the tracks, with damaged doors and broken glass. About 600 passengers were on board the train when the accident happened, according to local media. New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo said on the scene that the incident was "minor" comparing to the Hoboken train crash in September 2016, when a New Jersey transit train crashed into the Hoboken Terminal and caused one fatality and massive damage to the terminal structure. Investigations were underway, Cuomo said. New Delhi, Jan 4 : The VHP on Wednesday said Manoj Verma and Sohan Singh Solanki will be the new national convener and co-convener respectively of its youth wing, the Bajrang Dal. Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) spokesperson Vinod Bansal also said, in a press release, that Milind Parande will be the organisation's joint general secretary. United Nations, Jan 4 : After scathing criticism of the UN, US President-elect Donald Trump spoke Wednesday with Antonio Guterres, its new Secretary-General. The Secretary-General's deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq told reporters that Guterres called Trump and described it as an "introductory calla that "went quite well." Trump spokesperson Sean Spicer in answer to a question at his briefing about the criticism of the UN and moves in Congress to cut US contributions to it, said that as the biggest contributor to the UN budget, Washington can demand some "reforms and changes" to make it more efficient. The US contributes about 22 percent of the UN's budget and about 25 percent of its peacekeeping expenses. Spicer did not give any specifics about their meeting and said that Trump will work with his UN Ambassador-designate Nikki Haley on the US agenda at the world body. They discussed a number of issues and how the UN and the US can work together, Haq said. They will get into the specifics when they meet, he added. He said that he did not think that the Paris agreement on climate change came up in their conversation. Trump has been sceptical about the Paris pact as well as about the UN version of climate change dangers. Last month the Security Council passed a resolution critical of Israel and condemning the construction of settlements in occupied territories with the US refusing to veto it as it has in the past with resolutions criticising the strong ally of the US. Trump attacked President Barack Obama for allowing the resolution to pass and said in a tweet, "As to the UN, things will be different after Jan. 20th," the day he takes over as President. Efforts have also started in the US Congress to cut funding to the UN as a fallout of the resolution. In another tweet, Trump mocked the UN as a "just a club for people to get together, talk and have a good time." But he also added, "The United Nations has such great potential." Last month Guterres told the Portuguese television channel SIC last month that he hoped to have an excellent working meeting with Trump and it was in his interest to meet him. He also acknowledged that Washington was a major contributor to the UN and has a fundamental role in its activities. (Arul Louis can be reached at arul.l@ians.in) Syracuse (Italy), Jan 4 : Italian authorities on Wednesday expelled a Tunisian accused of belonging to a jihadist terror cell in the Sicilian town of Pachino. The 46-year-old Tunisian, J.M.B., was deported on the orders of the Italian government's top representative in the nearby Sicilian city of Syracuse. J.M.B. came to the attention of Italian intelligence services in December due to monitoring activities by French counterparts, Italian officials said. The French intelligence services reported that members of the alleged Pachino cell often visited jihadist chat-rooms on the Internet where they were in contact with a young French militant of Italian origin who intended to travel to Iraq and Syria. On December 23 last year, Italy deported another Tunisian terrorism suspect. The 37-year-old man had alleged tried to convert fellow inmates to radical Islam while he was in jail for minor offences, the Interior Ministry said in a statement. Italy has expelled over 130 Islamic extremists since January 2015 according to the Interior Ministry. New Delhi, Jan 4 : A nine-year-old boy accidentally consumed poison here, police said on Wednesday, adding he was hospitalised and is now out of danger. Police said the victim has been identified as Muneer is a resident of Shaheen Bagh in south Delhi and a class four student. He was admitted to Alshifa hospital after he complaint of acute abdominal pain. "The victim is fit and out of danger now. His father, Azhar Dilshad has given in writing to police that his son had accidentally eaten some poisonous substance and he wants no legal action," said Deputy Commissioner of Police Romil Banniya said. Muneer's mother also said that her son had eaten rat poison by mistake, Banniya added. Shillong, Jan 4 : A court in Meghalaya on Wednesday issued non-bailable warrant against Independent legislator, Julius Dorphang, who has been accused of raping 14-year-old girl. Dorphang, a former rebel leader of the outlawed Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council and now supporting the Congress-led government, went into hiding after police registered a case against him. The district session court issued the non-bailable warrant against Dorphang after he failed to appear before the Investigating Officer, probing into the case, Public Prosecutor I.C.Jha told IANS. Among other things, Dorphang was charged under the Prevention of Immoral Trafficking Prevention Act. On Tuesday, two civil society groups, including the powerful women's group Civil Society Women's Organisation, had asked police to issue a red alert for Dorphang. The groups also reiterated their demand for the resignation of Home Minister H.D.R. Lyngdoh after his son's guest house was used for sexual exploitation. They also asked Assembly Speaker Abu Taher Mondal to take action against Dorphang, while asking Chief Minister Mukul Sangma to take full responsibility and ensure action against the two legislators who are members of the Meghalaya United Alliance government. Police have arrested five persons, which include three women pimps. A waitress at the Home Minister's family-run guest house has also been arrested. John E. Brachna, Executive Vice President, Corporate Living; Randy Wilson, CRP, Chief Executive Officer, NEI Global Relocation; Michelle Anton-Brooks, National Account Manager, Corporate Living. Both NEI and Corporate Living strive to deliver an unprecedented relocation experience. NEI Global Relocation recognized Corporate Living for demonstrating their mission of service exceeding expectations. Corporate Living met all of NEIs requirements in the areas of administration, compliance and quality assurance. As a result of their accomplishments, Corporate Living has been recognized as an NEI Certified Global Partner. We are honored to have earned GPA+ status with NEI, says Corporate Living President and CEO, Karen Baldridge. Its a great fit as both NEI and Corporate Living strive to deliver an unprecedented relocation experience. NEI Global Relocation is a full-service relocation and international assignment management company that prides itself upon financial stability, a focus on accuracy and fiscal responsibility, ethical standards of excellence, and independence from formal supplier affiliations. NEI Global Relocation partners with clients to distribute world class relocation management and consulting services. Corporate Living has been a proud partner of NEI for over 12 years, adds Baldridge. Earning GPA+ recognition is due to our focus on delivering NEIs mission of service exceeding expectations. Customer satisfaction is crucial to NEIs success, and the partnerships they form with clients and suppliers are the result of successful collaboration, communication and truly caring about the people they serve. Corporate Living demonstrates this mission of customer service and has been recognized for their exceptional performance in the relocation services industry. About NEI: NEI Global Relocation partners with its clients to deliver world class location management and consulting services, resulting in talent agility for those they serve. The company is a single point of coordination that manages any and all relocation services. NEI works to get the right people in the right place at the right time. Visit http://neirelo.com/ to learn more. -more- About Corporate Living: Corporate Living is a temporary housing company providing corporate furnished apartments throughout North America. A certified Womens Business Enterprise through the Womens Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC), Corporate Living has a successful 23-year history in the corporate housing/furnished apartment industry. The company continues to deliver high-quality products, backed by exemplary service throughout the U.S., Canada, India and the UK, with stays of 30 days and longer. Corporate Living is headquartered in Twinsburg, OH, with regional offices in New York City, NY and Phoenix, AZ. Please visit our website at http://www.corporateliving.com to learn more. # # # Our blogs are compiled by our research team, and are timely and often thought-provoking. What we really value is the feedback given by our blog readers, particularly on what can sometimes be controversial topics. Concept Searching, the global leader in multi-term metadata generation, auto-classification, and taxonomy management software, and developer of the Smart Content Framework, has compiled the list of its most read blogs and thought leadership articles in 2016. The readership of Concept Searchings blog, Smart Content Discussions, has increased each year for the past six years, with readers numbering in the thousands each month. Smart Content Discussions is platform and product agnostic, deals with the major topics of the day, and offers practical and independent assessments. According to Martin Garland, President, As a vendor, our company focuses on the needs and requirements of our clients. Our blogs are compiled by our research team, and are timely and often thought-provoking. What we really value is the feedback given by our blog readers, particularly on what can sometimes be controversial topics. There is a certain amount of anonymity in blog responses, and it is through our blogs, we are able to learn what is important to our readers and the IT community. The top read blogs and articles include the following: The Digital Workplace Brand New or a Has-been? If you havent heard about the digital workplace, trust me, you will. Everything old is made new, and comes around again, and with a few tweaks, voila, its new. And so the digital workplace is new again, almost by just renaming it. If we eliminate the fluff around the digital workplace, it boils down to Read more Home on the Range Keep it Safe. Data Sovereignty and Security The recent Microsoft versus the US Department of Justice (DoJ) is an interesting development in individual privacy, some laud it as a resounding victory on behalf of all citizens who still hold on to hope that our information will be kept private. That is yet to be seen. But lets take a look at Read more Solve Your Search Nightmare. Stop Your End Users Tagging Content Enterprise search. The perennial nightmare. It doesnt have to be. If 91% of SharePoint organizations would stop making their end users tag documents. As shown in the results from Concept Searchings recently published fourth SharePoint and Office 365 State of the Market survey, and also from surveys by AIIM, SharePoint organizations will not give up Read more Lets Give In to the Millennials and Update or Rewrite All Our Processes I can now see IT teams cringe, stomp their feet, or maybe cry. All that hard work and understanding, tricks of the trade dealing with difficult tools reinvented again, although probably not difficult for the IT folks. If you are an expert, your boss will of course ask how fast processes can be written. It Read more Technology and Information Governance A Match Made in Heaven Several years ago, we were already concerned about Information Governance long before it became a persistent and sometimes annoying subject. Almost all the articles and analyst viewpoints consist of definitions, whats involved, why you should do it, but rarely the how to do it. Although it is quite the subject of the day, not that many Read more Concept Searching authors a variety of technical and business material throughout the year, which were well received. Those most accessed was: About Concept Searching Concept Searching is the industry leader specializing in semantic metadata generation, auto-classification, and taxonomy management. Platform agnostic, Concept Searching also has a Microsoft Gold Application Development competency, and offers a complete suite of SharePoint and Office 365 solutions. The award winning technologies integrated with Concept Searchings Smart Content Framework encompass the entire portfolio of unstructured information assets in on-premises, cloud, or hybrid environments. Clients have deployed the intelligent metadata enabled solutions to improve search, records management, identification and protection of privacy data, migration, text analytics, eDiscovery, and enterprise social networking applications. Concept Searching is headquartered in the US with offices in the UK, Canada and South Africa. All product and company names herein may be trademarks of their respective owners. I appreciate the entrepreneurial spirit our organization was built on under Randys leadership THINK Together, one of the largest educational nonprofits in California serving K-12 public schools, announced that Tia Dwyer has been named their Chief Operating Officer. Dwyer will work closely with Chief Executive Officer, Randy Barth, and the Executive Team as a full partner in THINK Togethers mission, vision and growth. Dwyer will be working with Barth to establish THINK Together objectives, paying attention to key performance criteria with accuracy, urgency and insight, and lead strategic goals for the organization. Ensuring that proper leadership and support is provided to the Regional Leaders and their teams is imperative so that the numerous program models delivered across hundreds of sites will have consistent quality. Dwyer will work with regional leaders across the state and the executive team on an ongoing basis to review services being offered and to develop new programs as needs for THINK Together school customers emerge. Tia holds such an integral role at THINK Together and has done significant work in her former position as Chief Program and Operations Officer. As THINK Together moves into our 20th year in 2017, I look forward to seeing her work and her team continue to flourish under her leadership as Chief Operating Officer, says Barth. Dwyer, a credentialed teacher who holds a Bachelors degree in music from University California, Irvine and a Masters degree in education, oversaw the expanded learning programs in the Lawndale School District prior to joining THINK Together. Dwyer joined THINK Together in 2009 as Director of Learning Programs where she led the building of THINK Togethers nationally recognized summer learning program in Santa Ana. It wasnt long before she was promoted to Orange Countys Regional General Manager, overseeing THINK Togethers largest region in both students served and revenue. Dwyer was promoted to Chief Program and Operations Officer (CPOO) in 2015 where she directly supported regional leaders as well as High School and Early Literacy and Math programs. Dwyer believes her new position will allow her to tie together the mission and the people at THINK Together and is excited about her newly developed role for the organization. She will be working more closely with the Human Resources team and learning new aspects of THINK Together while creating strategies to support their good work. I believe 100% in what we are working to accomplish and have dedicated my professional career to working with undeserved students supporting their academic endeavors, says Dwyer. I appreciate the entrepreneurial spirit our organization was built on under Randys leadership and the opportunity to work collaboratively in shaping the future of THINK Together. THINK Together is celebrating their 20th anniversary in 2017 and Dwyer is excited to celebrate the vision of where THINK Together is headed for the next 20 years and is grateful for the opportunity to contribute to such impactful work. The people who work at THINK are amazing, I have so much respect for each person who comes to work every day to support the mission of THINK. I am looking forward to continuing the journey with the best teams across our organization, says Dwyer. THINK Together THINK Together is a nonprofit organization collaborating with communities, parents, teachers, administrators and other stakeholders to help transform and galvanize the K-12 educational system, creating excellence and equity for all kids. THINK Together is Californias largest provider of Expanded Learning Time programs. Through its affiliate, Principals Exchange, THINK Together also provides research, professional development and consulting to underserved schools. Combined, THINK Together and Principals Exchange serve over 130,000 students at 451 locations across 45 school districts from San Diego to San Mateo counties. Partnering with school administrators and teachers, THINK Togethers dedicated team of more than 2,500 employees are helping students statewide reach their full potential. THINK is an acronym: Teaching, Helping, Inspiring & Nurturing Kids. For more information, call 888.485.THINK or visit THINKtogether.org or Facebook.com/THINKTogether. Dr. Katharine Hayhoe speaks alongside President Obama at recent climate change summit. Evangelicals are usually the biggest skeptics when it comes to climate change but one Evangelical congregation and one scientist are teaming up to change that perception. Dr. Katharine Hayhoe, one of TIME Magazines 100 Most Influential People of 2014, will visit Christs Church of the Valley in suburban Philadelphia on Sunday, January 8, 2017, to speak on the topic, How Climate Change Affects The Poor. According to Dr. Hayhoe, addressing climate change is not just a matter of politics, but of justice for those who are globally the most vulnerable. According to Hayhoe, Climate change isnt just about the environment. Its about people. Climate change is affecting real people, and its affecting people who are poor and vulnerable. Dr. Hayhoe is widely considered one of the leading authorities on climate change in the country. In October 2016, she spoke on a panel with President Obama and Leonardo DiCaprio at the White House. During that discussion, Hayhoe stated, If we want to fix poverty, hunger, inequality, disease, and water scarcity, we are pouring all of our money, all of our effort, and all of our hope and prayers into a bucket. That bucket has a hole in the bottom. And that hole is climate change. At a time when climate change has become one of the most politicized issues in the country today, Dr. Hayhoe and Senior Pastor Brian Jones of Christs Church of the Valley believe its time for people of all faiths to step up and lead. This is not a liberal issue. This is not a Democratic issue. This is a life and death issue, and its time for the church to wake up from its slumber before it's too late," Jones said. Dr. Hayhoe is an Associate Professor of Political Science at Texas Tech University and serves there as the Director of the Climate Science Center. Katharine is also the CEO of ATMOS Research and Consulting, which helps companies measure the impacts of climate change on their infrastructure and shows them how to plan for the future. Hayhoe will speak during each of the church's three services that day: 9:00, 10:15, and 11:30 AM. This event is free of charge, and all perspectives are welcome. Christs Church of the Valley is located at 1560 Yeager Rd, Royersford, PA 19468, in the northwest suburbs of Philadelphia. For more information visit http://www.moviechurch.com/justiceday. Core dnas innovative platform allows us to extend our existing digital solutions for customers who desire pre-built, ready to use applications, Core dna, creator of the SaaS Digital Experience Platform (DXP) and Rightpoint, a leading national digital agency, have joined forces to provide a comprehensive technology, strategy and delivery platform for businesses seeking a turn-key Web Content Management System (WCMS) for digital marketing, content and commerce. Core dna is a consumption-based platform that provides clients with a solution that simplifies both website development and ongoing management. Combining Rightpoints team of digital marketing experts with the Core dna DXP will enable delivery of fully managed solutions for corporate marketing, e-commerce, intranets and online communities to a mutual customer base. In a world where websites have become increasingly complex assets, Core dnas innovative platform allows us to extend our existing digital solutions for customers who desire pre-built, ready to use applications, said Wendy Karlyn, Senior Vice President of Rightpoints Digital Marketing and Commerce Practice. Our agency can offer clients a broad range of technology that can be tailored to the entire digital ecosystem. Sam Saltis, Founder & CEO of Core dna added, Rightpoints approach of rethinking the typical consulting model aligns well with the way we have shaped our perspective on website development and maintenance. We look forward to maximizing this synergy with Rightpoint as we pursue mutual endeavors to create sustainable value through smarter project delivery. About Rightpoint Rightpoint is a customer experience agency with technology at its core. Serving Fortune 1,000 companies, Rightpoint is the only agency driving transformational change from the inside out. Founded on the belief that great customer experiences are fueled by the people who deliver them, Rightpoints mission is to remove barriers and uncover new possibilities to connect companies with their customers across every touchpoint. From web, mobile and social to IoT, eCommerce and cloud, Rightpoint brings a holistic point of view that enables exceptional experiences with lasting impact. With a client base of more than 250 companies, Rightpoint was named to Forbes 2014 list of America's Most Promising Companies and Crain's 50 Fastest Growing Companies in Chicago in 2016. For more information, visit rightpoint.com and follow @Rightpoint. About the Core dna Core dna DXP is a fully managed all-in-one SaaS website platform that helps agencies with the build and ongoing management of website properties. Founded in 2000 Core dna has been deployed in thousands of websites, for hundreds of customers across over 20 industries. Core dna customers include Nintendo, Staples, Langham Hotels, Frontier Touring, Freedom Foods, and Tribeca Flashpoint College. For more information, visit http://www.coredna.com and follow @coredna Contacts: Alec Schidlovsky +1 (617) 274-6660 alec.schidlovsky(at)coredna.com Celia Jones 312-638-6056 cjones(at)rightpoint.com Morrison & Foerster, a leading global law firm, is pleased to announce that Dennis Jenkins, a financial restructuring lawyer with 20 years of experience, has joined the firm as a partner in its New Yorkheadquartered Business Restructuring & Insolvency Group. Mr. Jenkins comes to the firm from WilmerHale. Mr. Jenkins is the fourth new business restructuring and insolvency partner to join Morrison & Foerster over the last year, following the arrival of Jonathan Levine in New York, and Peter Declercq and Sonya Van de Graaff in London. I am pleased to welcome Dennis to our growing global restructuring team, said Brett Miller managing partner of the New York office and a partner in the Business Restructuring & Insolvency Group. Dennis is a well-respected bankruptcy and reorganization lawyer with an exceptional reputation. His understanding of complex issues will be invaluable to our clients, particularly at a time of continued global economic uncertainty. The outstanding expertise and diverse experience that Dennis has with bondholders and indenture trustees deepens our already strong business restructuring and insolvency bench, and is an ideal complement to our existing platform, said James Peck, global co-chair of the Business Restructuring & Insolvency Group and a former bankruptcy judge who presided over the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy. We are confident that Dennis will be instrumental in further enhancing our practices footprint globally. During his career, Mr. Jenkins has represented ad hoc committees, creditors committees, indenture trustees, debtors, and other interested parties in highly contested U.S. and international corporate and debt restructurings, distressed mergers and acquisitions, and bankruptcy cases. Mr. Jenkins has also represented lenders, borrowers, and lessors in connection with some of the most complex and innovative debt-financing facilities and transactions. Additionally, he has extensive experience advising technology companies in connection with counterparty risk affecting intellectual property. Mr. Jenkins received his B.A. from Brigham Young University and his J.D. from Boston College Law School. Morrison & Foersters global platform and highly respected restructuring group will be of great benefit to my clients, said Mr. Jenkins. Ive seen the firms restructuring practice significantly grow over recent years. I look forward to collaborating with my new colleagues to build on that momentum. Morrison & Foersters Business Restructuring & Insolvency Group has one of the strongest practices in the industry and has advised on many of the most complex matters in recent years, including: The creditors committee in the chapter 11 cases of Energy Future Holdings Corp., Peabody Energy, Inc., Patriot Coal Corporation, Walter Energy Inc., and UCI International, LLC; Residential Capital, LLC, as the debtor in its chapter 11 case; The chapter 11 trustee for MF Global Holdings Ltd.; and The winding-up board of LBI (formerly Landsbanki) through its cross-border restructuring and composition. ABOUT MOFO We are Morrison & Foerster a global firm of exceptional credentials. Our clients include some of the largest financial institutions, investment banks, Fortune 100, and technology and life sciences companies. The Financial Times has named the firm to its lists of most innovative law firms in Northern America and Asia every year that it has published its Innovative Lawyers Reports in those regions. In the past few years, Chambers USA has honored MoFos Bankruptcy and IP teams with Firm of the Year awards, the Corporate/M&A team with a client service award, and the firm as a whole as Global USA Firm of the Year. Our lawyers are committed to achieving innovative and business-minded results for our clients, while preserving the differences that make us stronger. By joining VGH, we will be able to dedicate even more time to our patients, reaching more people than ever before and spreading the gift of sight throughout New York. Vision Group Holdings (VGH) announced today that it has acquired New York Eye Specialists. Renowned surgeon Dr. Ken Moadel will continue to serve his patients as the company is incorporated under the auspices of VGH. VGH is the largest provider of LASIK vision correction in North America, and the well-known brands it operates include the LASIK Vision Institute and TLC Laser Eye Centers. Known for its professional service and top-notch eye care, VGH surgeons have performed more than 3.3 million successful procedures. Dr. Ken Moadel now joins the ranks of these experienced surgeons with more than 100,000 laser vision correction procedures already under his belt. Dr. Moadel is truly an expert in his field, having dedicated his practice to LASIK. New York Magazine has recognized him as one of the nations top specialists in refractive surgery. Like all VGH facilities, New York Eye Specialists is equipped with the latest FDA-approved technology. The staff will continue to attend to the centers patients in both English and Spanish to ensure continuity throughout the transition. Dr. Ken Moadel is one of the most recognized and experienced providers of LASIK in the country, and it is an honor to have him join our team, said VGH CEO Ben Cook. He has built a great vision correction center and quite a following based on his superior care and his commitment to his patients. I have been performing LASIK procedures and helping people across New York City see better for more than 20 years, said Dr. Moadel. By joining VGH, we will be able to dedicate even more time to our patients, reaching more people than ever before and spreading the gift of sight throughout New York. New York Eye Specialists will continue to operate from its current location at 110 East 40th St, 6th Floor, New York, NY, 10016. To learn more or to schedule an appointment, English-speakers can visit http://www.ny2020.com/about.htm and Spanish-speakers can visit http://www.ahoraveo2020.com/. About Vision Group Holdings Vision Group Holdings, based in West Palm Beach, Florida, oversees and manages two of the leading LASIK surgery providers in the world: The LASIK Vision Institute and TLC Laser Eye Centers. Between the two brands, the company has performed over 3.3 million LASIK eye procedures. Vision Group Holdings, the largest LASIK provider in North America, serves multiple markets in the United States and Canada, making it extremely convenient for patients to find a location that is both nearby and well suited to their specific needs. ABC Family Fund 757 "We are excited to offer this unique, premier event to select guests who are interested in learning more about this exciting new market, while at the same time enjoying a ultra-exclusive six-star luxury travel experience says L. Gregory Loomar, Esq., CEO Ancillary Business Consultants, Inc., a professional business advisory service and CannaServe, in association with the ABC Family Fund, Inc., (ABCFF), which provides assistance to children afflicted with severe forms of epilepsy, announced today an ultra-exclusive private jet tour for participants to learn about the enormous potential and opportunities occurring in the rapidly emerging legal cannabis and related business markets. The ABCFF private Boeing 757 executive configuration jet will transport 50 guests on a unique 8 night travel adventure featuring 6-star accommodations, dining and select events with leading cannabis and related industry pioneers. Pairing prime cannabis strains with gourmet dining, this trip will include lectures by industry experts, tours of state-of-the-art facilities for cultivating, processing and distributing the finished product and the opportunity to meet some of the new leaders in the industry. The current itinerary includes the cannabis-compliant US states of Colorado, Washington and California as well as Toronto, Canada, where the Canadian pharmaceutical approach to cannabis will be showcased. "We are excited to offer this distinct, premier event to select guests who are interested in learning more about this exciting new market, and at the same time enjoying an ultra-exclusive six-star luxury travel experience says L. Gregory Loomar, Esq., CEO of Ancillary Business Consultants. This innovative ABC Family Fund (ABCFF) Jet Tour leverages two rapidly expanding markets the legal cannabis industry and luxury travel , which is the fastest growing sector in leisure travel. The event is targeted at high net worth individuals who want to learn more about potential investment opportunities in the cannabis and ancillary business market space, while experiencing an unparalleled, luxury vacation. Many high net worth clients are passing up long journeys to Europe and are instead looking for quick adventures closer to home. Coupled with the tremendous interest and evolution of the legal cannabis and ancillary business markets to a much higher branding scenario, the ABCFF Jet Tour presents a novel and incomparable travel experience. Getting Ready to Open! Having the opportunity to bring our family to Florida and open a BumperDoc is the beginning of our long-term success plan! said Karla Mata, Co-Owner of the new BumperDoc BumperDoc, an auto body paint shop franchise, (BumperDoc Franchises) is celebrating the grand opening of shop number six in the state of Florida, located in Oakland Park, FL. BumperDoc officially began welcoming customers to their newest Florida location on Thursday, December 1, 2016. The new BumperDoc is located at 793 NE 45th Street, Oakland Park, FL. Having the opportunity to bring our family to Florida and open a BumperDoc is the beginning of our long-term success plan! said Karla Mata and Rommel Rojas; owners of the new BumperDoc. BumperDoc auto body paint shops provide a multitude of services and work with all major insurance companies. By repairing plastics before replacing them and using eco-friendly products, BumperDoc continues to set the standard in the auto body industry. BumperDoc leverages partnerships with SolarGard, LKQ and Akzo Nobel to provide quality results backed by industry leaders. BumperDoc offers many services to help customers maintain the value and appearance of their automotive investment. With same day bumper repair service and 2-3 day express collision repair, BumperDoc is saving retail customers time and money on a daily basis. Receive a free estimate anytime without an appointment and BumperDoc is open 6 days a week to serve the Oakland Park community. In addition to auto body and paint repairs, service offerings include window tinting, auto detailing, dent removal, wheel repair, windshield chip repair and headlight restoration. In a time of high stress and anxiety, Bloomlife gave me peace of mind. CES Booth # BT118 (PRWEB) January 03, 2017 -- Bloomlife, which has designed the first and only wearable for pregnancy, announced today that its namesake offering has added iOS support, is coming out of beta and is available for expectant parents to reserve now. The Bloomlife wearable is the first consumer-accessible sensor to measure pregnancy-specific parameters, starting with contractions. From the comfort of home, Bloomlife provides a clinically-validated second opinion to help expectant moms understand what contractions feel like and for the first time easily track changes in contraction patterns throughout the 3rd trimester to see how her body is preparing for labor. Bloomlife also makes it easier to share her pregnancy journey with partners and family, while facilitating data driven conversations with care teams. I learned firsthand that every pregnancy is unique and each baby is on their own timeline, says Sarah Bylsma, a Bloomlife beta user. With my third pregnancy, I started having preterm contractions at 25 weeks and was in the hospital three times. Hospital visits are expensive and disruptive, and despite being a neonatal nurse practitioner, and experiences with two previous pregnancies, the contractions were so frequent that I was having trouble deciding when I needed to go in. With Bloomlife I was able to see whether what I was feeling was actually contractions or just uterine irritability, and was able to quickly determine the regularity and frequency. In a time of high stress and anxiety, Bloomlife gave me peace of mind. While empowering moms with accurate actionable information on her pregnancy, Bloomlife also looks to impact prenatal health on a global scale. Bloomlife is committed to using its technology to accelerate long overdue advancements in prenatal health research with a particular focus on preterm birth. In support of its mission to improve birth outcomes, and in partnership with the Bloomlife community of moms, Bloomlife intends to crowdsource the largest and most comprehensive data set on maternal and fetal health parameters to identify biomarkers for pregnancy complications. Despite one in eight women delivering preterm, the underlying causes and triggers of preterm birth are poorly understood, says Eric Dy, co-founder and CEO of Bloomlife. Traditional approaches to clinical research are fraught with red tape when it comes to pregnancy. Naturally, anything that is perceived to risk a mother and her baby remain strictly off limits. Bloomlife has developed a better way to move beyond the clunky inconvenient 40-year-old technology that is used in hospitals today that requires strapping women to beds. In doing so we improve the overall usability, and, since we dont use ultrasound, allow for longitudinal recordings necessary to collect the missing data to advance our understanding of pregnancy and complications such as preterm birth. We see an opportunity to revolutionize medical discovery and innovation, leveraging the power of citizen science and crowdsourced consumer generated data, which is particularly needed in underserved areas such as pregnancy. After nine months in beta, incorporating feedback from hundreds of users that were part of the early access program and four clinical studies, Bloomlifes commercial product can now help todays expectant parents as well as move the mission forward. Key features available today include: Real-time contraction view: Bloomlife delivers an accurate second opinion, no more guessing. Users can visualize each contraction as it occurs and learn how it corresponds to the sensations felt. Automated counting and timing: Bloomlife calculates the frequency and duration of contractions so women can more easily communicate with their birth team. Contraction patterns and trends: Bloomlife tracks changes in contraction patterns to see how her body is preparing for labor and easily visualize if contractions are becoming regular and increasing in duration and frequency. Bloomlifes smartphone-connected sensor is offered for both iOS and Android and is available to reserve now at http://www.bloomlife.com. Bloomlife offers tiered pricing starting at $149 for the sensor and one month of service. Orders received today are expected to be shipped within Q1 2017. For more information on the company or the Bloomlife pregnancy wearable, visit the website at http://www.bloomlife.com. For media inquiries, or to schedule a demo at CES, please contact Kimberly Angell of Wish Public Relations at kim dot angell at wishpr dot com or (415) 471-7272. About Bloomlife Bloomlife offers the first and only pregnancy wearable for expectant parents to measure pregnancy specific parameters, deliver prenatal insights and ultimately support its mission to improve birth outcomes. Bloomlifes clinically-validated pregnancy wearable automatically tracks contractions by safely and passively picking up electrical signals from the uterus, unlocking information for consumers previously only available at a doctors visit. In partnership with the Bloomlife community of moms, Bloomlife is crowdsourcing the largest dataset on maternal and fetal health to identify biomarkers for pregnancy complications to improve birth outcomes. Founded in 2014, Bloomlifes team has over a decade of experience developing advanced wearables for consumer and medical markets. Bloomlife has strategic partnerships with Stanford researchers and UCSF's Preterm Birth Initiative and was winner of Richard Bransons 2016 Extreme Tech Challenge and 2016 CES Innovation Award honoree. A comprehensive telemedicine offering, SnapMD will now be integrated with athenaClinicals (EHR) and athenaCollector (revenue cycle management) services. Telemedicine technology innovator SnapMD today announced a partnership with athenahealth, Inc. through athenahealths More Disruption Please (MDP) program, making SnapMDs Virtual Care Management (VCM) private-label, cloud-based telemedicine platform available on the athenahealth Marketplace. A comprehensive telemedicine offering, SnapMD will now be integrated with athenaClinicals (EHR) and athenaCollector (revenue cycle management) services. SnapMDs VCM Telemedicine Platform is a white-label software platform with all the features and functions to practice any form of medicine suitable for virtual care. With comprehensive workflows and a robust tool set accessible from a single intuitive interface, the VCM platform delivers an easy-to-use experience for the patient encounter, suitable for most departments across a health system and with powerful back-end systems to manage the digital health enterprise. SnapMDs partnership with athenahealth will make the companys enterprise-level VCM telemedicine technology available to a growing network of more than 85,000 healthcare providers. The end-to-end VCM platform enables healthcare providers to offer telehealth services to their patients, under their brand and using the clinicians they choose. Developed to enable healthcare providers to directly engage patients remotely using readily available consumer-based devices, the robust, HIPAA-compliant platform easily extends care delivery. SnapMD has been widely regarded for its fully integrated intuitive interface, providing a meaningful experience for patient encounters with a powerful back-end system that enables truly integrated care delivery, said Dave Skibinski, president and CEO of SnapMD. With the athenahealth relationship and integration, healthcare providers delivering single or multiple telehealth services can now effectively deliver care remotely in a convenient digital environment under their operating umbrella. athenahealth is a network-enabled services company with a vision to build a national health information backbone to help make healthcare work as it should. As an MDP partner, SnapMD joins a network of like-minded healthcare professionals who are looking to disrupt established approaches in healthcare that simply arent working, arent good enough, or arent advancing the industry and help providers thrive in the face of industry change. To learn more about SnapMDs VCM platform, please visit SnapMDs product listing in the athenahealth Marketplace. About SnapMD SnapMD is the Virtual Care Management (VCM) telemedicine software leader, enabling healthcare providers to engage their patients via a secure, HIPAA compliant, cloud-based telemedicine platform. SnapMDs robust, private-label, VCM application is specifically designed to give healthcare organizations another option to improve access to care by launching virtual care Telehealth services under their brand utilizing their highly qualified, patient-trusted providers. For more information, please visit http://www.snap.md. Steven Lonergan, CPCU, Director of Business Development - Midwest Capstone Associated Services, Ltd. welcomes Steven Lonergan, CPCU to its team as Director of Business Development - Midwest. Lonergan brings over 30 years of insurance, reinsurance, and captive experience to Capstone. Lonergan is based in the greater Minneapolis area, expanding Capstone's local presence into the Midwestern markets. Were excited to have Steven on board to assist clients on captive insurance / alternative risk planning opportunities, commented Capstones CEO, Stewart A. Feldman. Steven brings a wealth of captive insurance knowledge to our company, bolstering our talent pool. Capstone will continue to hire the industrys best professionals to spearhead our turnkey captive programs. Lonergan holds the Chartered Property & Casualty Underwriter (CPCU) professional designation and is a licensed Minnesota agent for Property, Casualty, Life, & Health insurance. Lonergan was the managing director of General Motors captive, General International Ltd in Bermuda, and also has a strong background in Property and Casualty as well as Accident & Health reinsurance. He will be working to expand Capstones reach in health related captives, an area we see as a significant growth opportunity as the regulatory landscape evolves in 2017. "In just the last few weeks, weve seen the benefits of having Steven Lonergan on our team," commented Feldman. "His experience and knowledge of captive insurance planning have had a direct and positive impact on relationship-building and new-client onboarding. We look forward to Stevens contributions in the months and years to come. In furtherance of Capstone's continued growth, Lonergan will concentrate on establishing new business relationships for the Company, connecting directly with mid-market business owners and their advisors. Steven Lonergan holds a B.A. in Economics and Psychology from Macalester College. About Capstone Capstone Associated Services, Ltd. is among the most integrated and largest outsourced providers of captive insurance services for the middle market. In association with The Feldman Law Firm LLP (http://www.FeldLaw.com), Capstone administers property & casualty insurance companies that provide alternative risk financing services throughout the U.S. Now in its 19th year, Capstone provides turnkey services usually under a joint engagement with its affiliated law firm to manufacturers, distributors, and professional organizations. Capstone's staff of insurance professionals includes Chartered Property & Casualty Underwriters, Associates in Risk Management, accountants and administrators, in addition to the affiliated The Feldman Law Firm LLP's tax, corporate, financing and regulatory lawyers, and outside CPAs, risk managers, property & casualty professionals, and actuaries. Together, this team offers middle market companies the most comprehensive risk planning solution available. Today, captives are the premier risk management and risk-financing tool for qualified middle market companies. To learn more about how alternative risk planning and captive insurance can protect your business from uninsured risks, please visit us at http://www.CapstoneAssociated.com or contact us at 800.500.3190. NOTICE: To the extent this communication contains any statement of tax advice, such statement is not intended or written to be used, and cannot be used, by any person for the purpose of, or as the basis for, avoiding tax penalties that may be imposed by the Internal Revenue Service. Unless expressly stated otherwise in writing, this communication is not intended to be used, and cannot be used, for the purpose of promoting, marketing, or recommending to another party any matter addressed in this communication. Senseware's wireless hardware Three new smart building patents issued Senseware, Inc. (Senseware), an Internet of Things (IoT) company, announced today that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has issued three patents that cover the smart building solution trends sweeping the commercial real-estate industry. The patent for invention number 9,534,929 covers wireless control networks that add building automation functionality to commercial buildings of any size as part of a low-cost, retrofit strategy for improving building sustainability. With this invention, building owners and operators can augment their legacy infrastructure to improve the operational efficiency of their buildings by adding intelligent controls to critical facility equipment. The patent for invention number 9,534,930 covers the remote configuration of sensors for rapid, low-cost installation of a wireless sensor service in a building. With this invention, customers can reduce installation time and costs and accelerate the delivery of real-time sensor data to a customer dashboard. The patent for invention number 9,538,578 covers system status tools that allow monitoring of the operation and configuration of a sensor service delivered via a wireless sensor network. With this invention, customers can take control of their sensor service without relying on specially trained technicians to make needed adjustments in the reconfiguration of a sensor service. These three patents represent the first returns on the Intellectual Property strategy we pursued from the outset of Sensewares entry into the booming Intelligent Building sector, said Serene Almomen, CEO, Senseware. We knew that Sensewares innovations would be recognized and rewarded. As a technology company, we are constantly looking to add value to our shareholders by developing strategic patent assets that cover features critical to the delivery of smart building solutions, she said. Like other business sectors, the Intelligent Building sector is becoming increasingly data dependent. Building owners and operators are increasingly recognizing that their facility management operations can benefit greatly from actionable insights derived from real-time monitoring data. Efficiency gains in facility management operations reduce costs and have a direct impact on the bottom line. About Senseware: Senseware, located in McLean, VA, is a leader in developing commercial and industrial IoT solutions that combine hardware, software and cloud data solutions into a tightly integrated, full-stack solution. Additional information about Senseware can be found at senseware.co Were looking forward to building on that foundation and more closely aligning Radio Systems strengths in product design and supply chain with CCDCs local expertise in sales and marketing. Invisible Fence Brand announced that its parent company, Radio Systems Corp. of Knoxville, Tenn., has acquired New York-based Canine Containment Distributing Company (CCDC) including Invisible Fence dealerships in the Northeast region: Invisible Fence of Harrisburg (Pa.) and Invisible Fence of the Mohawk Valley (N.Y.). Based in Rochester, N.Y., CCDC has been an exclusive distributor for Invisible Fence for 27 years. Its territory includes most of upstate New York, Delaware, parts of Pennsylvania (outside of Pittsburgh), and includes both independently owned and directly owned dealerships. CCDC has done a tremendous job marketing, selling and servicing Invisible Fence Brand solutions over the last three decades, said Lance Tracy, Chief Commercial Officer for Radio Systems Corp. Were looking forward to building on that foundation and more closely aligning Radio Systems strengths in product design and supply chain with CCDCs local expertise in sales and marketing. CCDC is always looking to evolve what we do best for the good of our dealer partners, our customers and for the brand, said Larry Lenick, President of CCDC. This acquisition will help to continually advance the dealerships that serve pet owners in New York, Pennsylvania and Delaware. Customers in this region will experience no disruption in the service and support that they have come to expect from their local Invisible Fence dealers as Radio Systems Corp. and CCDC work closely together for a seamless transition. For additional information or questions, customers can call (800) 578-3647. About Invisible Fence Brand Invisible Fence Brand is the original electronic pet containment system. It offers a comprehensive family of containment, avoidance and access products that are combined with a scientifically based training program. Owned by Radio Systems Corp. in Knoxville, Tenn., Invisible Fence Brand solutions are sold predominantly in the U.S. and Canada by professional, authorized dealers. These authorized dealers provide Perfect Start Plus Pet training and custom installation that have safely contained over 3 million pets. Invisible Fence Brand has taken pet care beyond the home and founded the Project Breathe program. To date, Project Breathe has donated more than 12,000 pet oxygen masks to fire departments and first responders throughout the U.S. and Canada. For more information on Invisible Fence Brand or to find a local dealer, visit invisiblefence.com or follow the company on Facebook or Twitter. Attorney Daniel Gigiano Child Support Whitepaper In determining whether spousal support is reasonable and in determining the amount and terms of payment of spousal support, each party shall be considered to have contributed equally to the production of income. The Ohio spousal support laws provide a number of factors for calculating spousal support payment amounts. Details of these factors are discussed in the white paper by Attorney Daniel Gigiano, which include: The parties actual incomes or historical incomes. Ages, and physical, mental and emotional conditions of the parties. The length of the marriage. The standard of living of the parties during the marriage. The tax consequences of spousal support for each of the parties. The white paper also discusses how courts will assume certain income levels for purposes of calculating spousal support. People cannot just quit their jobs and claim that they make less; the courts will often use the higher income the person used to make. IRS definitions of spousal support are also discussed in the white paper. Usually, spousal support is taxable to the recipient and deductible to the person paying the support. However, some spousal support payments look like property divisions or some other creative way of moving money. This is where it is important to go back to the definition of spousal support and IRS regulations. The white paper by Attorney Daniel Gigiano also discusses how spousal support ends. While the divorce decree may simply list a termination date which controls many circumstances, factors listed in Ohio law may cause it to end sooner. One common way spousal support ends is when the recipient gets remarried. About Attorney Daniel Gigiano Daniel F. Gigiano, Esq. graduated from Loyola University Chicago School of Law and has practiced law since 1993. Attorney Gigiano is the owner of Daniel F. Gigiano Co., L.P.A. located in downtown Wadsworth, Medina County, Ohio. Attorney Gigiano practices law in the following areas: OVI/DUI, Bankruptcy. Business Law Civil Litigation, Collections, Criminal Defense, Divorce & Family Law, Estate Planning, Foreclosure Defense, Personal Injury, Probate, and Real Estate. Brainsy, Inc. today announced the addition of (Ms.) Tra My Nguyen to its All-Star Advisory Board. Brainsy powers online knowledge sharing networks for private companies, trade associations, professional societies and other membership organizations. Brainsy is honored to have Tra My Nguyen join our advisory board, stated Brian Christie, CEO of Brainsy, Inc. Tra My is an accomplished entrepreneur and she has helped build successful companies in multiple industries some listing publicly, employing thousands of employees and reaching markets of South East Asia, Japan, Europe and North America. Her guidance, as we explore consumer demand from international markets, will be greatly valued. Social media platforms around the world continue to grow with Facebook claiming nearly 1.8 billion monthly active users, TenCentsWeChat (China) boasts approximately 850 million users, Twitter has nearly 320 million monthly active users and LinkedIn (acquired by Microsoft) counts over 100 million monthly visitors (450+ million total members). Brainsys Expert Calling Network (ECN) platform integrates with many leading platforms but stands in stark contrast to them all by offering the only identity-verified network with a direct pathway to monetization for participating experts. Im pleased to be advising a company pushing the boundaries of the knowledge economy and working to make right, broad expertise and knowledge much more easily sought for, stated Tra My Nguyen. Brainsys unique revenue sharing model ensures that membership organizations can earn non-dues revenue when deploying a Brainsy ECN under the organizations own brand and these branded networks can be accessible to consumers anywhere in the world. For experts, ECNs are by invitation-only, so expert participants require authorization by an ECN Network Sponsor. For consumers, a list of publicly accessible ECNs can be found at: https://expertcallingnetwork.com/Pages/Find-an-ECN About (Ms.) Tra My Nguyen: Tra My Nguyen is a global entrepreneur and Vice Chairperson of the 7,000-employee Pan Group, Chairperson of Pan Farm and Pan-Saladbowl, Board Member of National Seeds Corporation, Ben TreAquatex JSC and BioSpring JSC. Since 2007, she has been the founder, CEO, and Chairperson of CSC Vietnam Holdings. Her professional work and interests span agricultural businesses, real estate, and educational ventures. She holds a Bachelors Degree from the Foreign Trade University of Vietnam and an Executive MBA Degree from the Shidler College of Business, of the University of Hawaii, where she received a Hall of Honor Awards in 2016. About Brainsy, Inc.: Brainsy offers patented Software as a Service (SaaS) to power knowledge sharing networks for private companies, trade associations, professional societies and other membership organizations. Deploying a Brainsy powered Expert Calling Network (ECN) under their own brand, organizations can showcase mentors or subject matter experts while earning non-dues revenue. Brainsy is backed by successful entrepreneurs-turned-Angels and is a portfolio company of TomorrowVentures, founded by Alphabet (formerly Google) Chairman, Eric Schmidt. More information is at: http://www.brainsy.com Barbara Dodson of Canton, OH, has joined quality and environmental management system consulting firm simpleQuE as Operations Manager, Executive Vice President and Chief Operations Officer Deanne Sparr announced today. With over 25 years of experience in quality, manufacturing and certification, Dodson has an extensive management and quality background. Prior to simpleQuE, she was with the certification body, Smithers Quality Assessments for 15 years, where she was responsible for all activities concerning development, application, and maintenance of quality standards and accreditation requirements. Sparr has this to say: Were thrilled to have Barb as part of the simpleQuE team! Her attention to detail and knowledge of certification requirements is exactly the support we are excited to add to our staff and to provide to our clients. Early in her career, Dodson worked and audited in the metals, plastics, chemical and service industries. As Inside Sales/Quality Coordinator at Ohio Cast Projects (a Tier 1 supplier to Ford, GM and DaimlerChrysler), and during her time at Baerlocher USA and Dover Chemical Corporation, Dodson developed her ISO and quality system expertise. Barbara has come full circle beginning with her quality system experience on the supplier/manufacturing level; then working for a registrar to assist companies with the maintenance of their quality standards and certification requirements; and now joining simpleQuE to coordinate the consulting and internal auditing services for companies seeking to implement or maintain their certification. SimpleQuE Inc. performs consulting, training and internal auditing of management systems with a focus on quality excellence made simple. With certified experts in ISO 9001, ISO/TS 16949 & IATF 16949 (automotive), AS9100 (aerospace), ISO 14001 (environmental), ISO/IEC 17025 (laboratory), and OHSAS 18001 (health and safety), simpleQuE can help customers achieve their certification management objectives in the simplest, most efficient, and sustainable manner. Quality Excellence Made Simple is what simpleQuE offers its clients. For case studies and other press releases, please visit http://www.simpleque.com. Being the longest standing self storage search engine with the largest membership base in the industry, we always want to add programs that will benefit our member base and help them get the most out of their online efforts. USstoragesearch.com is the 1st self storage marketplace to now offer facility NAP (facility name, address, phone number) information on the storage facility member listings. This solution is offered to help our members see increased placement within local search and organic search results for their own websites. Having NAP information accurate across all online citation sources is key to getting the most out of local search results. Being the longest standing self storage search engine with the largest membership base in the industry, we always want to add programs that will benefit our member base and help them get the most out of their online efforts, says Michael Kucera, President and CEO of USstoragesearch.com. If our directory can help increase rentals whether it be through our own sites or our members websites, we are providing even more value to our customers. Seeing how local search results are consuming more and more of the 1st page on search engines, we wanted a way to help provide a boost for our members in this key area of search, says Mike Jones, VP of Operations. Giving our members the ability to display their actual facility information on our listings is an invaluable resource which helps reinforce to the search engines that their facility information is correct and consistent. The NAP solution will help our members with increased local SEO and visibility. Our focus has always been to boost online traffic for our clients and by adding the NAP information to our member listings, we are doing just that, says Nick Bilava, Director of Sales & Marketing. A facilitys website should be their number one online source for new tenants, so however we can help supplement that, we will. The USstoragesearch.com Network includes the additional directory sites of Storage.com and Storageunit.com. With over 8,000 member facilities across the United States, the USstoragesearch.com Network has been helping operators of all sizes capture more tenants from their online efforts since being founded in 2004. To find out more, contact 866-880-0742 or email info(at)usstoragesearch(dot)com. Ronald Pillsbury, COO of UAS Labs We are thrilled to have Ron join our team of dedicated probiotic experts. He will play an instrumental role in fostering our continued vibrant growth and global success in this exciting market Past News Releases RSS UAS Labs, a leading manufacturer of probiotic supplements for the global market, announced today that Ronald Pillsbury has joined the company as the new Chief Operating Officer. Ron brings a wealth of experience in leading complex enterprises and striving for continual improvement in all areas of responsibility. Mr. Pillsburys most recent endeavors have been specifically within the supplement industry, including the VP of Operations for Pharmavite and most recently as the COO of NOW Foods. We are thrilled to have Ron join our team of dedicated probiotic experts. He will play an instrumental role in fostering our continued vibrant growth and global success in this dynamic market, states Kevin Mehring, President/CEO of UAS Labs. Rons in-depth industry knowledge and extensive operations experience will prove to be invaluable as we look to the exciting future of our company. As Chief Operating Officer, Ronald will oversee the day-to-day operations and efficiency of UAS Labs state-of-the-art probiotic manufacturing facility located in Wausau, Wisconsin. He will also be responsible for managing the manufacturing and administrative functions of the organization in accordance with industry standards, regulatory requirements, and organizational goals and policies. About UAS Labs: Founded in 1979, UAS Labs, LLC has delivered the highest quality, science-backed probiotics to the natural products marketplace for more than thirty years. Strictly dedicated to probiotic manufacturing, UAS Labs is committed to designing innovative and effective formulations including strains such as Lactobacillus acidophilus DDS-1 and patented Lactobacillus reuteri NCIMB 30242 (LRC) for cholesterol support. UAS Labs products are sold to private label and contract manufacturing customers in the U.S., and over 45 other countries. This GMP and organic certified company is fully integrated from formulation through manufacturing, packaging and marketing, and adheres to the highest quality standards. Learn more at uaslabs.com. Leonard Perlmutter - Founder, The American Meditation Institute According to the U.S. government, 53 percent of all illness is caused by lifestyle choices. That makes a daily meditation practice the cheapest and most practical form of health insurance. --- Leonard Perlmutter The American Meditation Institute (AMI) begins the year with new classes to relieve stress and burnout, enhance creativity, and strengthen the bodys immune system. Available to the general public, the six-session Heart and Science of Yoga: Empowering Self-Care Program will be taught by AMI founder Leonard Perlmutter from January 11 through February 15, 2017, and will provide attending physicians and nurses 15 continuing medical education credits. The course curriculum is based on Leonard Perlmutters award-winning book, The Heart and Science of Yoga: The American Meditation Institutes Empowering Self-Care Program for a Happy, Healthy, Joyful Life. Each class from 6:30pm-9:00pm provides a complete training in following topics: AMI Meditation, easy-gentle yoga, therapeutic breathing, mind optimization techniques, Ayurvedic medical principles and the power of prayer. Noted medical, pioneer physicians Mehmet Oz MD (Dr. Oz), Dean Ornish MD, Bernie Siegel MD and Larry Dossey MD have endorsed this course curriculum. In 2008, AMI conducted a retrospective case study of participants who previously completed and practiced the material taught in Leonard Perlmutters course. The study found that students experienced the following positive, reproducible, long-term health-promoting changes: lowered blood pressure, lowered heart rate, reduced cholesterol levels, decreased chest pain, diminished or extinguished acute and chronic pain, weight loss, increased breathing capacity, increased exercise capacity, improved quality and quantity of sleep, improved energy levels, increased creative capacity, diminishment of migraine headaches, significant reductions in stress and fear, elimination of irritable bowel syndrome, a general sense of happiness and optimism in all facets of life for every participant According to recent course graduate, Joel M. Kremer, MD, who is Board Certified in Internal Medicine and Rheumatology in Albany, New York, This teaching has been an enormous benefit in my personal and professional life. I have less stress, more focus, and am able to serve my patients with greater clarity. It becomes surprisingly easy now to recognize the many clinical situations in which patients with somatic manifestations of 'dis-ease' could greatly benefit from Yoga Science. -30- About the American Meditation Institute The American Meditation Institute is a 501(c)3 non-profit educational organization devoted to the teaching and practice of Yoga Science, meditation and its allied disciplines as mind-body medicine. In its holistic approach to wellness, the AMI combines the healing arts of the East with the practicality of modern Western science. The American Meditation Institute offers a wide variety of classes, retreats, and teacher training programs. AMI also publishes Transformation a bi-monthly journal of Yoga Science as holistic mind-body medicine. Call 800.234.5115 for a mail or email subscription. Media Contact: Robert Washington 60 Garner Road Averill Park, NY 12018 Tel: 518-674-8714 Fax: 518-674-8714 NEW! SS207-5AX LaserSwiss Thread whirling is an ideal process for manufacturing bone screws because you can machine high quality threads directly from bar stock with a single pass. Its a huge time saver when compared to single or dual-point threading. Tsugami/Rem Sales, the exclusive North American importer of Precision Tsugami machine tools, announced today that it will demonstrate its new SS207-5AX LaserSwiss at the MD&M West Expo in Anaheim, CA in February. This will be the first time the company has displayed the Tsugami SS207-5AX LaserSwiss at an MD&M show. The machine combines Swiss style machining with laser cutting on one machine, allowing manufacturers to perform Swiss turning and laser cutting operations with a single setup. All operations are programmed and driven from the machines Fanuc 31i-B5 control. The laser nozzle standoff adjustment is NC controlled, and the lasers power level, frequency, pulse width, and lens focus are all adjustable on the fly. The SS207-5AX is a step up from the first LaserSwiss machines we introduced, Tsugami/Rem Sales Vice President Mike Mugno said. This machine is a 7-axis Swiss Turn with a Servo-driven B-axis. The B-axis live tools cut in coordination with the C axis, facilitating the ability to quickly cut precise angles and sculpted contours. The SS207-5AX LaserSwiss holds 33 tools, plus the SPI Fiber Laser, which is available in 250W or 400W configurations. Tsugami/Rem Sales will also demonstrate thread whirling on the S206 CNC Lathe at the show. The S206 has an electronic servo-driven guide bushing and up to 39 tool positions. The 20 mm 6-axis Swiss turn is convertible, meaning it can be run as a traditional sliding headstock machine with a guide bushing or as a chucker without the guide bushing. Thread whirling is an ideal process for manufacturing bone screws, Mugno explained, because you can machine high quality threads directly from bar stock with a single pass. Its a huge time saver when compared to single or dual-point threading. Tsugami/Rem Sales has an extensive background in thread whirling turnkey projects, Mugno noted, and the company holds a patent for a thread whirling milling head that one of its engineers developed. To see live cutting demos of these machines at MD&M West, visit the Tsugami/Rem Sales booth, #1177. The show runs February 7-9 at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, CA. Local manufacturers unable to attend the show are invited to schedule private machine tool demonstrations at the Tsugami Technical Center in Fullerton, CA, or at Tsugami/Rem Sales distribution partner Ellison Technologies California facilities in Santa Fe Springs and Freemont. About Tsugami/Rem Sales Tsugami/Rem Sales (http://www.remsales.com) has been the exclusive North American importer of Precision Tsugami machine tools since 1978. A division of Morris Group, Inc. of Windsor, Connecticut, Rem Sales sells new Tsugami machine tools via national distribution channels and direct sales agents. The company also provides application engineering, service and customer training. About Ellison Technologies Ellison Technologies (http://www.ellisontechnologies.com) is the largest machine tool integrator in North America, representing 70% of the metal cutting market. With 16 locations across the U.S., Ellison is committed to the survival and growth of the manufacturing industry. In addition to distributing the latest CNC machine tool technology, Ellison provides engineering solutions, service and parts support, turnkey solutions, robotic automation and machine financing. Hector Lujan (left) and Garland Reiter (right) I have had the great fortune of working directly with Garland for the last 14 years, and am honored to be his successor as CEO of RAC. Reiter Affiliated Companies (RAC) announces that current COO, Hector Lujan, will assume the new role of Chief Executive Officer starting January 1, 2017, as Garland Reiter , Co-Founder and CEO, transitions to the role of Executive Chairman. Under Reiters leadership, the organization grew from a small 5-person farm house on the Oxnard plains to an impressive expansion of farming acreage and investment in the United States, Mexico, Portugal and Morocco. Staying at the forefront of innovation and utilizing cultural farming practices allowed Reiter to revolutionize the berry industry; however, the companys history of investing in their people has left an indelible legacy of its own. Reiter established the first U.S. private primary health care clinic, La Clinica FreSalud, exclusively for farmworkers and collaborated with the University of California Davis and Berkeley to fund and implement an obesity and diabetes prevention program known as Sembrando Salud among Reiters ranch communities. Over the past 40 years, I have had the privilege to work alongside many great individuals and steward the company along the way, guiding, engaging and navigating a path to where we stand today, said Reiter. In my new capacity, I will be responsible for leading our Board of Directors and guiding strategy. I have great confidence in Hector and the accomplishments that he has achieved have allowed him to establish a great depth of knowledge and business acumen for our diverse international business. Lujan joined the company in 2002 as Vice President of Central Mexico for the companys Mexican affiliate, BerryMex. By 2005, due to Lujans strong leadership capabilities and development, his role expanded consolidating all of the companys Mexico farming operations in Jalisco, Michoacan, and Baja California. In 2011, Lujan and his family relocated to the U.S. to work for RAC as the Chief Operating Officer (COO). Before joining the company, Lujan worked for Bionova Fresh, a subsidiary of Grupo Pulsar, as Operations Manager in their farming and marketing companies. He is a graduate of the Instituto Tecnologico de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey, Mexico with a degree in Business Administration. I have had the great fortune of working directly with Garland for the last 14 years, and am honored to be his successor as CEO of RAC, said Lujan. My goal is to bring renewed growth and excitement into the business so that we can continue on our path of success. With that goal comes great challenges, but I believe we have a strong team here who are ready to drive us forward. To learn more about Reiter Affiliated Companies, please visit: http://www.berry.net About Reiter Affiliated Companies Reiter Affiliated Companies (RAC) is the largest fresh multi-berry producer in the world, growing Driscolls proprietary varieties of strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, and blackberries year round in the United States, Baja California, Central Mexico, Portugal, Morocco and Peru. The Reiter family began farming in the San Francisco Bay Peninsula and by the turn of the century had migrated south into Watsonville and the Santa Clara Valley. By the late 1970s, operations expanded into Southern California where the headquarters is today. The company values of Honesty, Fairness and Respect line the corridors of every office, guiding and leading business principles and decisions. Those decisions have resulted in the organizations position as an industry leader, adopting health and wellness programs, opening primary health clinics and partnering with local organizations to improve the quality of life for the farmworker community. Shulman According to Steve Hurley, VP of Sales for Tech Lighting and LBL Lighting, "Adrienne's background is very impressive. Shes been on the sales and client sides of the business so shell better understand our customers needs." Generation Brands, one of the largest manufacturers of decorative lighting and ceiling fans in North America, has hired lighting veteran Adrienne Shulman as Northeast Specification Sales Manager for brands Tech Lighting, LBL Lighting and Ambiance Lighting Systems in New York, New Jersey and Philadelphia. Were very excited Adrienne is joining our team, said Steve Hurley, Vice President of Sales for Tech Lighting and LBL Lighting, to whom Shulman will report. Her industry background is very impressive, shes been on the sales and client sides of the business so shell better understand our customers needs, and she has many strong relationships in the marketplace that will enable her to hit the ground running. Shulman has a proven track record in exceeding sales targets and fostering key associations with lighting designers, interior designers, architects, engineers and more. In her new role with Generation Brands, shell leverage these strengths to support current and new customer specification agencies with product sales, marketing and training programs. Shell also promote Tech Lighting and LBL Lighting through local industry affiliations such as the Illuminating Engineering Society, Designers Lighting Forum and the International Association of Lighting Designers. Prior to joining Generation Brands, she was Regional Sales Manager-Northeast Region at Eatons Lighting Solutions, where she was responsible for the evaluation and direction of the specification market. Before that, Shulman was Northeast Regional Specifications Sales Manager with GE Lighting. Her background also includes being an architectural and theater lighting designer, and she was the Exhibition Lighting Designer at New York Citys Guggenheim Museum. Shulman lives in Montclair, NJ, with her husband John Lasitera theatrical lighting designerand their two boys, Sam and Elliot. About Generation Brands As parent company to Tech Lighting, LBL Lighting, Feiss-Monte Carlo and Sea Gull Lighting, Generation Brands is one of Americas leading companies serving lighting retailers and the electrical wholesale, home improvement and building industries. The company has an outstanding portfolio of residential and commercial lighting fixtures and ceiling fans which provide value to its customers and end-users with superior service, leading edge design and outstanding quality. Netflix "Stranger Things: Vol 1" Nominated for 59th GRAMMY Awards Getting nominated for two GRAMMY awards is an amazing peak on our Stranger Things journey, said Dixon and Stein. The directors were previously fans of our synth band S U R V I V E. So to be a part of such a pop culture phenom is insane." The original score soundtracks to Netflixs cult phenom Stranger Things by composers Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein of Austin, TX, experimental synth band S U R V I V E -- have earned two GRAMMY Award nominations. Distributed by Lakeshore Records, Stranger Things: Vol 1 and Stranger Things: Vol 2 both are nominated for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media for the upcoming 59th GRAMMY Awards on Feb. 12, 2017. Also, iTunes chose Stranger Things: Vol 1 as #1 Soundtrack Pick of the Year and Rolling Stone named it the only soundtrack on its annual Top 50 Albums of the Year list. Getting nominated for two GRAMMY awards is an amazing peak on our Stranger Things journey, said Dixon. The directors were previously fans of S U R V I V E. They used a song from our first LP in a trailer they made to pitch their concept to Netflix. Once the show was picked up, they reached out to see if we were available to score the show. Stein added, We wanted a classic synth tone and feel to the music for the show, while offering a refreshing quality so it felt modern. Now were nominated for two GRAMMY awards which is insane. It's a great honor for Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein to be recognized for their work, which embodied the imagination and wonderful story telling of the Duffer Brothers, said Brian McNelis, SVP, Music & Soundtracks. Lakeshore Records is grateful to The Recording Academy and the Film/TV music community for its two GRAMMY nominations for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media for Netflixs hit show Stranger Things. These nominations reward TV and filmmakers for making the kinds of creative choices that we believe are important to the art form. There is no question that the shows soundtrack helped it become a cultural phenomenon. Stranger Things is the breakout Netflix original series set in 1983 Indiana where a young boy vanishes into thin air. As friends, family and local police search for answers, they are drawn into an extraordinary mystery involving top-secret government experiments, terrifying supernatural forces and one very strange little girl. A love letter to the 80s supernatural classics that captivated a generation, Stranger Things stars Winona Ryder, David Harbour, Matthew Modine, Finn Wolfhard, Millie Bobby Brown, Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin, Natalia Dyer and Charlie Heaton. The series is now streaming on Netflix globally. Formed in 2009, the prolific Austin, TX experimental synth quartet S U R V I V E has released two full-lengths and numerous EPs /singles since its inception, including recent contributions to the soundtrack for the acclaimed indie horror film The Guest. Additionally, two of the groups members recently scored the soundtrack for the first season of Netflixs breakout hit Stranger Things and received two GRAMMY Award nominations for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media. S U R V I V E has appeared at esteemed festivals across the US including Moogfest, Levitation Fest, Fun Fun Fun, Beserktown, Day in The Desert, Decibel, etc. and has played alongside acts such as Goblin, John Maus, Tame Impala, Lightning Bolt, This Will Destroy You, A Place To Bury Strangers, Max Cooper, and many others; Noisey called their live show transcendental. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aKb4Ks43oac For more information, visit http://www.lakeshorerecords.com. Rick Dreher, managing partner of Wipfli, said, Wipfli has been growing significantly in the Chicago area over the past five years and this combination with BIK will help us to further enhance our physical presence in this key market." Wipfli LLP (Wipfli), one of the top 20 accounting and consulting firms in the United States, announced that Chicago-based CPA and advisory firm, BIK & Co., LLP (BIK) has joined the firm effective January 1. This combination marks Wipflis third combination in the Chicago market in 12 months. As part of this combination, 58 BIK professionals, including 13 partners, have joined more than 1,700 professionals at Wipfli. The deal further expands Wipflis presence in the Chicago area. Rick Dreher, managing partner of Wipfli, said, We are excited to welcome BIK to Wipfli. Wipfli has been growing significantly in the Chicago area over the past five years and this combination with BIK will help us to further enhance our physical presence in this key market. Further, BIKs long history in Chicago, their strong reputation for providing exceptional client service, and their industry and service focuses, greatly complement Wipfli." Chicago-based BIK & Co., LLP is a CPA and advisory firm that provides a full range of audit, tax and advisory services to closely held businesses, organizations and individuals in the Chicagoland area and across the country. The firm has strong focuses in serving financial institutions, nonprofit organizations, schools and high-net-worth individuals, and provides a number of specialized services including fraud and forensics, employee benefit plan audits and estate and succession planning. Founded in 1968, BIK has three full-service offices in Chicagoland in Palatine, Vernon Hills and Burr Ridge, Illinois. Similar to Wipfli, BIK has established a history of success through building strong client relationships and helping our clients to overcome challenges that are constantly changing, said Larry Schmitt, managing partner of BIK. Through this combination with Wipfli, we will continue to provide our clients with the same exceptional service, but can also provide them with access to a larger network of experts and resources and deep industry experience to help them as they continue to evolve. This combination will also provide our employees with access to more extensive training and professional development opportunities. With 38 offices in the United States (including five offices in Chicagoland) and two offices in India, Wipfli ranks among the top 20 accounting and business consulting firms in the nation. For over 87 years, Wipfli has provided businesses and organizations in a number of industries with industry-focused assurance, accounting, tax and consulting services to help clients overcome their challenges today and plan for tomorrow. Since establishing their first Chicagoland office in 2011, a number of long-time, Chicago-based firms have joined Wipfli including The Condon Group, Ltd. (Tinley Park) in January 2014; Regulatory Compliance Associates (REGCOM) in January 2014; Steinberg Advisors, Ltd. (Northbrook) in January 2016; and Weltman Bernfield LLC (Buffalo Grove) in August 2016. Currently, Wipfli has approximately 160 associates based in Chicago who are serving clients throughout Chicago and the surrounding areas. The combined firm will have over 1,800 associates (including over 200 associates based in the firms Chicago offices) and 43 office locations in the United States and India. About Wipfli LLP With offices across the United States and India, Wipfli ranks among the top 20 CPA and business consulting firms in the nation. For over 87 years, Wipfli has provided private and publicly held companies with industry-focused assurance, accounting, tax and consulting services to help clients overcome their business challenges today and plan for tomorrow. The firms clients include manufacturing companies, financial institutions, health care organizations, construction companies, real estate companies, insurance companies, nonprofit organizations, units of government, agricultural businesses, dealerships and individuals. Through the firms membership in Allinial Global, Wipfli can draw upon the resources of firms from around the world, helping businesses whenever and wherever they need it. For more information, visit wipfli.com. ### Stoel Rives is pleased to announce that Vanessa Soriano Power is the new Office Managing Partner for the law firms Seattle location. Power will be responsible for the day-to-day management of more than 80 attorneys in the national law firms second-largest office and will serve on the firms Practice Management Committee. Power succeeds Jeffrey W. Leppo, who served as the Seattle Office Managing Partner for two years and will be retiring at the end of 2016. I am proud to lead the Stoel Rives Seattle office, said Power. We have a terrific team dedicated to providing our clients with unsurpassed service. I remain focused on the firms commitment to the broader community and fostering diversity. An experienced litigator, Power focuses her practice in trial and appellate work involving commercial contracts, intellectual property, and class actions. Stoel Rives Seattle office has served the Pacific Northwest for 30 years. The firm is focused on consistently enhancing client value through client services, knowledge management, efficiency and a continued commitment to diversity and innovation. Powers appointment and the hiring of the first OnRamp Fellow in the Seattle market, Sallie Lin, highlight the Seattle offices commitment to the firms objectives. Stoel Rives has deep roots in the Pacific Northwest, said James E. Torgerson, Stoel Rives Firm-wide Managing Partner. We have provided trusted counsel to businesses of all sizes for more than a century, and with Vanessa at the helm, we know that the Stoel Rives Seattle office will remain committed to the growth of business and the economy throughout the region. Power is an active member of the Seattle community. She currently serves as a member of the board of trustees for the King County Bar Foundation. She previously served as president of the board of directors of Legal Voice, and as a member of the board of directors for Crosscut Public Media and Washington Appleseed Center for Law in the Public Interest. Power regularly handles pro bono litigation cases, including work as a cooperating attorney for Legal Voice and the Child Rescue Coalition. Power earned a bachelors degree and a Master of Public Affairs at the University of Washington, before going on to earn her law degree from its law school. She joined Stoel Rives in 2003 after beginning her legal career at Dorsey & Whitney LLP. Before practicing law, she was a teacher in Oakland, California, as a part of the Teach for America program. Best known for its environmental, energy and commercial law practices, the Seattle-based Stoel Rives attorneys provide a wide range of business law and litigation services including full-service legal solutions in corporate and business services, labor and employment law, intellectual property, tax, employee benefits, and estate planning. Stoel Rives represents businesses at all stages of growth, from start-ups to Fortune 500 companies. In 2016, Stoel Rives Seattle office was recognized by the Best Lawyers in America, which rated 25 Seattle attorneys among the region's best, while Best Law Firms in America rates 15 of the Seattle attorneys practices as "metropolitan top-tier." About Stoel Rives LLP: Stoel Rives is a leading U.S. corporate and litigation law firm. One of the largest national firms focused on energy, natural resources, environmental law and climate change, Stoel Rives also serves the agribusiness, food and beverage, health care, life sciences and technology industries. With more than 350 attorneys operating out of 10 offices in seven states and the District of Columbia, Stoel Rives is a leader in regulatory and compliance matters, business, labor and employment law, intellectual property, land use, real estate development and construction law. # # # For years, Pita Pit has been a partner with its loyal fans in creating meaningful New Years resolutions through the brands annual Resolution Solution campaign. This year, Pita Pit is making a resolution of its own by stepping away from the idea that better choices can only be made by individuals. Instead, Pita Pit is taking a stand against tired and boring restaurant options in 2017 by highlighting its Fresh Grilled, customized menu of healthy-on-your-terms choices, and imploring Canadians to refuse to settle for anything less. As part of the innovative new campaign, launching January 2, Pita Pit locations across Canada will be asking customers to join the brand by posting their pledge to Refuse to Settle in one of two ways: online with the #RefuseToSettle hashtag, tagging @PitaPitCanada on Facebook and Instagram, or by posting a decal on a Pita Pit locations Refuse to Settle wall. Each post will have a chance to win one of 500 $50 gift cards. All entries will be pooled and winners drawn weekly throughout the month of January. 2017 will mark a turning point in Canadas QSR industry, because it will mark the year that Canadians stop accepting bland wilted veggies, soggy bread, microwaved meats and food thats been sitting under a heat lamp as acceptable options, said Kevin Pressburger, Pita Pit Canada President. At Pita Pit, our menu is made to-order, so you know its fresh, because you watch it as its made. Our customers get exactly what they want, customized to their unique tastes. Once youve had that fresh alternative, anything less truly is settling. For the last two decades, Pita Pit has rapidly become the industry leader in healthy alternatives to traditional fast food. By providing consumers with customized solutions and choices when dining out, Pita Pit has discovered a unique new way to turn New Years resolutions into an ongoing commitment, pushing Canadians to demand the best from their food and from themselves all year long. By demanding fresh, grilled taste and refusing to settle, we are helping Canadians to battle back against mediocrity, monotony and sameness. This year, were not just going to resolve to demand better, were going to actually do it. And, those efforts wont stop in January. Well be focusing on the demand for fresher, better food all year long, said Pressburger. Pita Pit offers 10 unique pitas under 500 calories, along with countless delicious combinations of freshly grilled meats, vegetables and zesty sauces all wrapped up into one delicious pita. Pita Pit also specializes in 6-inch snack-sized Petitas, delicious Fresh Fuel smoothies and salads. This craveable combination of healthy alternatives has helped to jump-start millions of active, healthy, lifestyles, and the brand now has its sights set on the next level of success. By Refusing to Settle, Pita Pit stands apart from its competition, satisfying each customers unique flavor demands. Pita Pit was founded on the promise of never settling for anything less than fresh, customizable options. Now, the brand is asking Canadians to join them in demanding more from their QSR choices in 2017. Every year we all make extreme and unrealistic healthy resolutions for the New Year and then by February weve already tapped out and given up, said Chris Fountain, CEO of Pita Pit Canada. Being better shouldnt be that stressful, and it shouldnt be a goal we have to accomplish on our own. 2017 will be the year that Canadians will demand more from their food and all restaurants should take notice. We want fresh ingredients, healthy choices and meals customized just the way we want them and well Refuse to Settle for anything less. ABOUT PITA PIT Founded in 1995 in Kingston, Ontario near Queen's University, Pita Pit was a QSR restaurant with a new and unique approach. The goal was to offer quality, healthy, fresh food fast. After seeing great success, franchising began across Canada in 1997 and in 1999, the brand expanded to the United States. With more than 475 stores across North America and an additional 143 stores internationally across 11 countries, Pita Pit connects healthy food with people seeking alternatives to the typical fast food choices. Pita Pit's motto is "fresh thinking - healthy eating," and features a menu based on the customer's choice of grilled meats, fresh vegetables, zesty sauces and a pita rolled into a unique and convenient package. For more information about Pita Pit, visit http://www.pitapit.ca or http://www.facebook.com/pitapitcanada. ### A new report from the University of Arkansas Department of Education Reform claims that Texas voucher legislation would reduce crime and thereby save the state a cumulative $194 million by the end of 2035. This claim is not warranted and has, in fact, already been discredited. The reports calculations arise from another University of Arkansas analysis, by the same authors. The Arkansas researchers had argued that some subgroups of voucher-receiving students in Milwaukee, Wisconsin were less likely to commit crimes as adults. That earlier analysis was reviewed in April 2016 by Clive Belfield, Professor of Economics at Queens College, City University of New York. There exist multiple errors and limitations in the two Arkansas analyses, but perhaps the most important are the poorly grounded claims regarding causation. As Professor Belfield explained, no causal inferences can be drawn from the type of data and analyses used by the researchers. This means that the researchers cannot responsibly make claims about results and impacts, as they do in their Texas report. Professor Belfield observed that, far from establishing a causal relationship between voucher program participation and a reduction in criminal behavior, the Arkansas researchers had not even established meaningful and consistent correlations. As Belfield pointed out, one valid interpretation of the data and analyses presented in the earlier report is that vouchers and crime are, in fact, not correlated. Instead of engaging with Professor Belfields critique of their Milwaukee report, the Arkansas authors used the unconvincing results of that study, plugged in crime numbers from Texas, and estimated that if that states legislators were to create a type of voucher program called Education Savings Accounts they would (19 years from now) have, in the aggregate, saved their state almost two-hundred million dollars. This is a textbook example of garbage-in, garbage-out, said Professor Kevin Welner of the University of Colorado Boulder, who directs the National Education Policy Center. A figure derived from a study that does not allow for causal inference cannot then be brought back from the dead and magically support a causal inference in another study six months later. This sort of zombie causation could not possibly be of use to lawmakers looking for trustworthy information. Find Professor Belfields review on the web at: http://nepc.colorado.edu/thinktank/review-school-choice Find the recent Arkansas report on the web at: http://www.uaedreform.org/whether-to-approve-an-education-savings-account-program-in-texas-preventing-crime-does-pay/ Find Documents: Press Release: http://nepc.info/node/8408 The National Education Policy Center (NEPC), housed at the University of Colorado Boulder School of Education, produces and disseminates high-quality, peer-reviewed research to inform education policy discussions. Visit us at: http://nepc.colorado.edu Mirror Mirror Beauty Boutique is excited to announce their upcoming, annual New Year, New You Party on January 19th. This year, Houstons premier nonsurgical provider will host three, one-hour sessions full of beauty, education, treats and prizes. With individual sessions on Botox Cosmetic and CoolSculpting, guests are encouraged to look, touch, and experience the latest innovations for aesthetic rejuvenation. The New Year, New You Party at Mirror Mirror Beauty Boutique marks a special time for prospective clients, as well as long-time patients, to start off 2017 in style. Januarys event is bigger and more extensive than in the past, with three one-hour sessions, each with only 10 spots available. Mini-consultations will be provided for each participant to create a unique treatment plan to tackle his/her specific aesthetic needs in the coming year. Participants can RSVP for the informational hour that best meets busy schedule. Each session of the New Year, New You Party will start off with a live presentation of the latest noninvasive technologies and treatments available for physical rejuvenation. Beginning at 4:30, Mirror Mirror Beauty Boutiques first session will focus on Non-Surgical Body Contouring. Then at 5:30, we will change focus to Botox & Facial Aging. Finally, at 6:30, an additional Non-Surgical Body Contouring session will take place. Guests at the New Year, New You Party will enjoy music, champagne and food from Houstons Keep Catering, as well as a raffle for over $2,000 in prizes. Those participating in the Mirror Mirror Beauty Boutique event can purchase treatments and products with an unprecedented discount. Additionally, every purchase during the celebration will come with a complimentary gift. Paul Vitenas, MD FACS, founder of Mirror Mirror Beauty Boutique and Vitenas Cosmetic Surgery, is a board certified plastic surgeon and alumnus of Tulane University School of Medicine. Dr. Vitenas created Mirror Mirror Beauty Boutique as a state-of-the-art medi-spa, offering noninvasive services, such as CoolSculpting, Fraxel Skin Resurfacing, Botox Cosmetic, and the full range of dermal filler injectibles. For over 25 years, Dr. Vitenas and his renowned staff of aesthetic professionals have been bringing patients exceptional results in a safe, comforting environment. Mirror Mirror was recently awarded the highest level of accomplishment available to CoolSculpting practices by receiving the Diamond Crystal Award, which is presented to only a handful of practices in the US. The award is based on achieving the highest level in Crystal Rewards, a multi-tiered customer rewards program recognizing the most successful practices within the elite network of CoolSculpting Centers. For additional information on Mirror Mirror Beauty Boutiques New Year, New You Party, contact the office at 281.810.9083. Reservations are limited, so RSVP for free today. The New Year, New You Party will be held at Mirror Mirror Beauty Boutique, located at 4208 Richmond Avenue, on the corner of Drexel Street. Speak with a patient coordinator to reserve your seat at this coveted event. Driving directions and area accommodation suggestions are also available upon request. Spex has built a valuable technology solution for the insurance industry, a market in need of major disruption. I believe the business is poised for rapid growth the next few years and Im looking forward to supporting those efforts," said Chis Onan Spex--a digital property inspection and reporting platform--announced today the addition of Chris Onan to its board of directors as the business expands its team and operations for 2017. As a member of Spexs board, Onan will provide valuable financial guidance and company-building expertise to the business. Founded after Hurricane Sandy, Spex has developed the leading property inspection platform for the insurance market. Its solution is used today by insurance adjusters, restoration and engineering firms, P&C carriers and other leading organizations seeking more efficient, accurate property documentation, data capture and reporting. Onan brings over two decades of investing and operating experience to Spex, having served most recently as a founder and the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Galvanize. In his role with Galvanize, Onan was principally responsible for the financing of the business, which included raising over $70 mm in capital, culminating with a $45M Series B investment from ABS Capital. Prior to Galvanize, Onan has been investing in growing businesses for nearly 20 years. His investment and board participation includes a number of successful business exits including Auctionpay (acquired by Global Payments), Datalogix (acquired by Oracle for $1.2 billion) as well as a number of other Colorado early-stage businesses including Tendril, Wazee Digital and Active Junky (acquired by Purch). Spex expanded meaningfully in 2016, as the insurance technology landscape takes flight. Insurance carriers and their service providers increasingly seek technologies and better solutions to meet growing customer demands and identify new operational efficiencies in claims and underwriting. Spex grew its customer base by over 1,000% in 2016 and supported major catastrophes including Fort McMurray and Hurricane Matthew. Onan joins a board that also includes two original members of the Eagleview Technologies business, Bob Hawk and Bob Grant. Justin Douglas from Fullerton Investors became a Spex investor and board member recently as well. Douglas brings valuable investment and operations background to the business, including time spent in leadership roles at Corvis, a premier cleaning and janitorial franchisor based in Chicago. Im excited by the opportunity to join the Spex board and work with such a hiqh quality team, said Chris Onan. Spex has built a valuable technology solution for the insurance industry, a market in need of major disruption. I believe the business is poised for rapid growth the next few years and Im looking forward to supporting those efforts. Brett Goldberg, Spex CEO added, Chris brings significant financial and operational expertise to our business. Were very fortunate to have such a savvy, energetic executive and investor on our board as Spex continues to grow. For more information about Spex, visit spexreport.com. The addition of long-time equity partners Peter Lederman and James Paone to the firm name exemplifies the determination, perseverance and collaborative spirit that has been entrenched in what we have done for three decades, said Robert Munoz. Davison, Eastman & Munoz, a prestigious multi-specialty law firm headquartered in Freehold, NJ, has changed its name to Davison, Eastman, Munoz, Lederman & Paone, with the addition of Peter Lederman and James Paone as named partners, the firm announced today. The addition of long-time equity partners Peter Lederman and James Paone to the firm name exemplifies the determination, perseverance and collaborative spirit that has been entrenched in what we have done for three decades, said Robert Munoz, co-founder of the firm and chair of the Tax and Estate Planning Department. Mr. Paone, chair of the Business Law and Litigation Department, is an experienced litigator with extensive state and federal court experience and has been designated by the New Jersey Supreme Court as a Certified Civil Trial Attorney. His practice concentrates on commercial, corporate, construction and general liability matters with clients ranging from local closely held businesses to Fortune 100 companies. Mr. Paone, serves as a frequent speaker on civil and trial practice matters and as a Special Ethics Master for the Office of Attorney Ethics. He is also a member of the Defense Research Institute (Construction, Employment, Government Liability and Trial Committees). With the new name, the firm enters into its second generation of service to its clients, said Paone. I am proud of the entire team that has contributed to the growth of the firm over the last two years, and we look forward to continued success in 2017 and beyond. Mr. Lederman, who co-chairs the firms DWI-Criminal Defense Department, has represented drivers charged with driving while intoxicated across the state for the past 35 years. Certified by the New Jersey Supreme Court as a Municipal Court Trial Attorney, he has been representing defendants charged with DWI for the firm since 2002. He is a frequent speaker at seminars throughout New Jersey and writes a bi-monthly op-ed column on municipal courts for the New Jersey Law Journal. Were on a great trajectory now. Our focus over the past two years has been a more entrepreneurial and collaborative one that encourages growth, said Lederman. In addition to the name changes, the firm hired four new attorneys and promoted two more to partner status over the past several months. The firm also completed a technology infrastructure overhaul in 2016, which enabled significantly improved efficiencies, security and productivity for itself and its clients. Collectively, the moves are the culmination of a two-year effort by the firm to enhance its services through significant employee growth and a sweeping technology capabilities upgrade that has set the stage for continued success for many years to come. About Davison, Eastman, Munoz, Lederman & Paone, P.A. Founded in 1988, Davison, Eastman & Munoz, Lederman & Paone, P.A. represents clients in corporate litigation as well as in civil and criminal cases, business and employment law, trusts and estates, municipal, community associations, real estate and land use and DWI defense. Five of the firms attorneys hold the distinction of being certified by the New Jersey Supreme Court as trial attorneys in civil, criminal or municipal court. The attorneys are encouraged to be civic-minded, follow their passions and support their communities. Offices are located in Freehold and Toms River. For more information, visit http://demlplaw.com/. Cindi Morris What you put into your pets body has a real impact on their health and well-being. At Pet Wants, our food is made in small batches with all-natural ingredients and its fresh. Cindi Morris is proud to announce the launch of her new local pet food business, Pet Wants of Birmingham, Michigan. Pet Wants carefully developed proprietary pet food is slow-cooked in small batches with fresh, all-natural ingredients once per month, so every kibble is guaranteed to be fresh and packed with nutrition. Pet Wants of Birmingham offers free, personal pet food delivery to Birmingham, Bloomfield Hills, Royal Oak, Pleasant Ridge, Ferndale and the surrounding areas. I was always looking for a business that was related to the care of our animal companions, especially after relocating to the Metro Detroit area three years ago to be closer to family. When I learned about Pet Wants, I knew it was a brand I could bring to my community with confidence and that it would make a difference in the lives of pets and their families, Morris said. Morris, who spent most of her career as an executive retailer for Macys and used to own a Camp Bow Wow doggie daycare in Kentwood, learned about Pet Wants from a neighbor. Morris has had four rescue dogs all of whom suffered from major health issues so the idea of a fresh, all-natural pet food perked her interest. Her current rescue, 12-year-old Bailey, has been cancer-free for five years. With all the health issues my animals have had, Ive done a lot of research into pet food and the importance of quality nutrition. What you put into your pets body has a real impact on their health and well-being. At Pet Wants, our food is made in small batches with all-natural ingredients and its fresh. You can buy high-quality pet food at the pet store, but its still mass produced and, if you dont check the date on the bag, you have no idea how long its been sitting around losing nutritional value. At Pet Wants, you know exactly what youre getting and you know its fresh, Morris said. In addition to being made fresh monthly, Pet Wants only sources the best salmon, chicken, lamb, brown rice and other ingredients available. Theres no sugar added, no fillers and no animal by-products and Pet Wants never uses corn, wheat, soy or dyes, which makes the food great for animals with allergies. Pet Wants Birmingham which offers multiple blends of dog food and cat food also offers healing salve, calming balm, anti-itch spray and paw wax. Morris is also a huge advocate for no-kill shelters and animal rescue organizations. Shes looking forward to using Pet Wants philanthropic programs like Buy, Match, Give to give back to those organizations in the future, she said. She added that shes looking forward to getting to know the families and pets in her community and providing a one-of-a-kind pet food customer service experience. Im not here just to try to sell you a product. I want to get to know you and your animal companions. I want to understand your lifestyle and any issues your pets are having. And I want to support you as your pets needs change, Morris said. Let me bring you a sample so you can see the difference Pet Wants can make for your pets. Pet Wants originally launched in Cincinnati in 2010. Owned by Michele Hobbs, the business was built to provide proprietary crafted, fresh, slow-cooked, all-natural pet food delivered to customers through a retail store and a convenient home-delivery service. Hobbs, now the company founder, turned the business into a franchise in 2015 with the help of Franchise Funding Group, an investment and franchise-development company designed to help entrepreneurs scale their companies nationally as franchise systems. Stop in to see Morris at her store located at 33772 Woodward Avenue for your free trial sample for your favorite companion. To learn more about the company, call (248)733-5745, email CMorris(at)PetWants(dot)com or visit http://www.PetWantsBirmingham.com. About Pet Wants: Pet Wants was started by Michele Hobbs out of love for her pets and frustration. Veterinarians were unable to help relieve her dogs painful skin allergies. After doing much research, Michele discovered the national dog food brand she trusted was not fresh, not all natural, and lacked sufficient nutrition...and when pet food sits in warehouses and store shelves for months and months it loses even more nutritional value. She was committed to developing a better solution for all dogs and cats. Their food is exclusively crafted fresh, healthy, slow-cooked and all natural with no sugar added, no fillers and no animal by-products. They source only the best salmon, chicken, lamb, brown rice, and other ingredients. Fresh ingredients make for better food and better health for pets. And since they never use corn, wheat, soy or dyes, the common pet health problems associated with these ingredients are no longer worries. Their fresh food is conveniently delivered to the customer within weeks of production, not months. Roughly half of Pet Wants products are sold through their store and half through their convenient, home-delivery program. You can learn more at http://www.PetWants.com. I could thank you a million times plus and it still wouldnt be enough. So Ill just say there are not enough thank yous or ways to express my gratefulness and love to each of you. Alpha Omega Hospice brings new perspective to the last phase of life, offering superior quality of living to patients facing a terminal illness. Especially during the holidays, accepting death can add to the current stressors affecting patients and their loved ones. As the end of the year approaches, people everywhere are deeply affected by both seasonal stressors and current events that are being reported on in the national news media. Facing a terminal diagnosis only piles on the worry and angst for both the terminally ill and their family members. Local Texas hospice provider Alpha Omega Hospice note the increased need for emotional support during the holidays, for both their patients and those who love them. Alpha Omega provides spiritual guidance along with physical care and pain relief for hospice patients and those closest to them. Hospice nurses state that, Our main goal is to ensure that our patients and their families know theyre not alone. Hospice care at Alpha Omega puts a strong emphasis on family, and providing patients with the necessary levels of pain relief and comfort so they can effectively enjoy their last stage of life with their loved ones. In fact, Alpha Omega goes so far as to state that their patients become like family to hospice providers, and each patient is treated as a unique individual. Mourning the passing of a loved one after they have moved through hospice care onto a new beginning is never easy. Alpha Omegas care doesnt end with the death of a patient; their bereavement services provide necessary counseling and kindness during a very sensitive and emotional time. About: Alpha Omega Hospice is an interdisciplinary team of physicians, nurses, therapists and volunteers working to provide end of life care to terminally ill patients and support to their family members and loved ones. To learn more, visit their website: http://alphaomegahospice.com/. Entourage Account Manager, Ellen Sillery...was 'like a third member of the team.' Lynn Greenberg and Kary Stele, yearbook advisors for Five Points Elementary, in Centerville, Ohio, have envisioned a coloring-book-themed yearbook which is fun, interactive, and unlike any yearbook previously produced by Entourage. Ms. Greenberg said that she could not have done a book like this without Entourage. She explained that this innovative project was possible because the duo utilized Entourages flexible service options and the organization tools provided through Entourages Link website. Ms. Greenberg explained that yearbook advisors are able to submit yearbook content just weeks before their anticipated delivery date, and adjust these dates as needed, so working with Entourage has allowed Five Points Elementary to allocate more time during the development phase. Ms. Greenberg, who likes to do paper-crafts, said that this extra time enabled her to add personalized details to their digital book which reflect the interests of the individual classes. Inspired by the techniques she learned at the annual High School Advisors Conference hosted by Entourage, Ms. Greenberg added that the extra time provided the opportunity to explore design options with their Entourage Account Manager, Ellen Sillery, who she said was like a third member of the team. They decided to utilize special printing and paper options which enable the yearbook to function like a coloring book as well. When asked for suggestions for new yearbook advisors, Ms. Greenberg recommended having a rough timeline of creative milestones to improve organization in the long term as well as short term. However, Ms. Greenberg said that Entourages flexible submission deadlines have been helpful during the organization process of their yearbook since the yearbook team is able to spend more time collecting photos from busy teachers and class parents. Additionally, the extra time allowed them to obtain photos taken later in the school year which they otherwise could not include. Ms. Greenberg and Ms. Stele originally attempted to supplement their own photos with those taken from the teachers class web pages but found that they needed to rely heavily on the class parents due to teachers time constraints. The yearbook team was able to organize the collection effort through Entourages Link website which serves as an online community space for each school as well as a school store. Each teacher at High Points Elementary School Yearbook was assigned a folder on Link which enabled approved members to upload photos directly to the yearbook accounts media folders. These photo organization tools helped MS. Greenberg and Ms. Stele to verify that they had even coverage of students as well as important school events. For more information about Entourages services or how Entourage can help you to make your dream yearbook a reality, please contact Judy Jo via email at judy(at)entourageyearbooks(dot)com or 888-926-6571, ext.71. For more information about the annual High School Advisors' Conference, please contact yearbooks(at)entourageyearbooks(dot)com Today the National Development Council (NDC) announces the promotion of Daniel Marsh III to President and CEO of the organization effective January 1, 2017. Mr. Marsh started at NDC in 1986, and has been instrumental in growing the organization into the most comprehensive economic and community development nonprofit in the country. This is only the third leadership change in NDCs nearly fifty-year history. Founded in 1969 at the height of urban divestment in America, the National Development Council is guided by its core mission to bring capital investment to underserved areas, from urban to rural to inner-ring suburbs. Today NDC invests across all community development concerns: Homes, Jobs and Community. By delivering technical assistance, training and capital in the form of tax-exempt bonds, tax credit equity, as well as small business loans, NDC partners with communities and people that have been excluded from Americas economic mainstream. Under Mr. Marshs leadership, NDC developed the American Model, a unique public private partnership structure, which utilizes tax-exempt bonds to develop social infrastructure. Its unique in the world of public sector developers, because it possesses a group exemption letter from the IRS, Mr. Marsh explained to Bond Buyer in a recent article. We can incorporate any number of single asset standalone corporations. This powerful tool has enabled NDC to become a national leader in structuring complex financial transactions through its affiliate, the Housing and Economic Development Corporation (HEDC), which Mr. Marsh founded in 1988. HEDC secured a Group Exemption Letter from the IRS, which enables NDC to issue tax-exempt bonds in partnership with institutions such as universities and cities to develop or recycle real estate, or build and repair infrastructure. As federal funding for community development projects has declined by 75% since 1979, NDC has pioneered this approach to capture private investment on behalf of capital-starved communities. As a non-profit, NDC structures its partnerships to ensure local control of public assets. We have shown for decades that this model works, said Mr. Marsh, We believe it will become even more relevant as the new Administration takes shape. For example, most recently NDC closed a $39M transaction with Scranton, PA to repair and manage the citys financially troubled parking garages and on-street parking meters. By partnering with NDC, the City of Scranton is able to repay outstanding bonds and maintain ownership of its essential public assets while NDC oversees repairs and day-to-day operations. Whats more, due to NDCs unique non-profit model, Cash Flow is returned annually to the benefit of Scranton in the form of 501 (c)(3) grants. In addition to parking structures, NDCs American Model portfolio includes municipal offices, city halls, justice centers, laboratories, student housing, libraries, biomedical facilities, and hospitals. NDC has completed over 3.7 million square feet of usable development space valued at over $2.6 billion: In the late 1980s NDC developed one of the countrys first P3s when it financed and constructed a new fire station in Camden, New Jersey, which allowed locally owned businesses to secure fire insurance and stay in the community. In the early 2000s, NDC partnered with the City of Ithaca to revitalize its downtown, now considered one of the most livable small cities in America. The three-phase development began with a mixed-use building that provided new office space for Cornell, a Hilton Garden Inn and a parking garage. Subsequent projects included 17,000sf of office and retail space, a movie theater and public transit hub. The most recent phase, completed in 2012, resulted in the construction of 8,000sf of commercial space, and 39 market rate apartments. In the early 2000s, NDC began its partnership with the University of Washington to revitalize the long neglected South Lake Union neighborhood of Seattle, which is now one of the most dynamic job creation centers in the United States. In partnership with NDC, the UW School of Medicine has developed three state-of-the-art laboratory buildings and one administrative building in South Lake Union. In 2015 NDC and the UW School of Medicine announced a fourth biomedical building financed by a $143 million bond issue, bringing the developed square footage to 708,000 and total investment to just over half a billion dollars. In addition to NDCs P3 projects, Mr. Marsh established NDCs Office of Policy and Advocacy in Washington, D.C. in 2014; he supervises the offices advocacy and education efforts in Congress. Through its policy and training conference, known as the NDC Academy, the organization has equipped hundreds of government and private economic development professionals with the financial knowledge and development expertise to have an impact in their local communities. NDC has also worked directly with cities and nonprofits to train more than 70,000 practitioners in the art and science of economic and housing development finance by providing hands-on technical assistance. In Richmond, Virginia, for example, NDC worked with the Citys Economic and Community Development Department to move the Black History Museum and Culture Center to a long-neglected historic armory building. The museum moved into its new space in the spring of 2016. NDC continues to create new approaches to economic development. In December 2016, The Urban League of Greater Cleveland announced a unique partnership with NDC, the National Urban League, Morgan Stanley and Cuyahoga County to create the Capital Access Fund of Greater Cleveland (CAF). With a goal of creating or maintaining a minimum of 300 jobs within three years, this model program will provide minority and women business owners with access to capital offering 50 loans totaling $8 million as well as pre- and post-loan counseling to ensure the success of those small business borrowers. For more about this program, which NDC plans to expand to other cities, click here. More immediately, Mr. Marsh will be working with the NDC office in Washington, D.C. and a coalition of economic and community development experts to educate the incoming Administration and members of Congress about the impact of tax policies and other programs to realize challenging redevelopment projects in underserved communities. Cities are dependent upon tax-exempt municipal bonds to develop and repair critical infrastructure, a stated priority of the incoming Administration. Additionally, New Market, Low Income Housing and Historic Preservation Tax Credits are all essential to leveraging private investment to close the financing gap that persists for many community-based projects across the country. As the national public policy debate unfolds, Mr. Marsh will utilize his experience and new position as President and CEO of NDC to highlight the need for programs that promote investment in our poorest communities. We invest in people, places and projects that do not return an immediate profit, said Mr. Marsh. And yet communities could not function without affordable homes, small businesses and critical infrastructure. By leveraging every available financial tool, including the private sector, we are able to create value that accrues to the whole community. 919 Marketing, the nations leading franchise marketing agency serving franchise brands and non-profits, was featured in the November Forbes| Agency Council article titled "Six Underappreciated Traits or Skills That Will Give You A Competitive Advantage." The article explored unique business skills that content marketing and public relations agency executives use to better position their firms in the marketplace. Relying on over 20 years of agency leadership expertise, 919 Marketing CEO David Chapman shared that the most important differentiator is to connect on a personal level when doing business. Very few people take the time to make a person-to-person connection, but thats what makes you memorable, says Chapman, While nurturing that connection takes some time, it also makes doing business more rewarding because you tend to be more invested in and trusted by the people to whom you are providing service. Chapman echoed that same sentiment in the article featured on the Forbes website, one of the nations most well-read and respected business publications: Oddly enough, its little things like sending a thank you note, remembering birthdays, finding out what someones passion is and asking about it. Sounds simple, but very few people take the time to do it consistently. Moving forward, Chapman will be featured regularly by the Forbes | Agency Council an invitation-only organization of public relations, creative and advertising agency executives that offers industry insights and advice. The knowledge-sharing forum drives conversation around trends and best practices in the content marketing, public relations, advertising and marketing industries. Participants are pre-screened to ensure that they have a successful leadership background and can effectively share insights on todays pressing topics. Chapman was chosen as a leading expert due to his success growing 919 Marketing over the past 20 years. Chapmans company, 919 Marketing, is a franchise marketing firm that works with franchise and non-profit organizations to tell their stories through a variety of mediums, including public relations, video and digital content. Based in Raleigh, North Carolina, the firm provides nationwide service to its clients with satellite offices in Florida, Texas and Washington D.C. For more information about 919 Marketing, please visit http://www.919marketing.com. For more information on the Forbes | Agency Council, please visit https://forbesagencycouncil.com/. About David Chapman: David Chapman has over 25 years of senior-level marketing experience working with emerging and blue chip national brands. Prior to forming 919 Marketing, Chapman worked in the publishing industry and served for nearly a decade as an Account Manager for the Interpublic Group, the largest agency network in the world. His patented LINK planning process has been used by over 75 companies to date, including the Rosetta Stone, to build winning content marketing programs. LINK has been the catalyst behind a growing roster of successful franchise marketing and franchise PR campaigns. About 919 Marketing: Formed in 1996 and headquartered just outside of North Carolina's Research Triangle Park and the capital city of Raleigh, 919 is a national content marketing firm with a proven track record of helping franchised based companies increase revenue, create a competitive advantage and improve franchise marketing results. We provide high-powered strategic planning, franchise marketing, public relations, social media, digital marketing, business development support and full creative capabilities each utilizing proven processes refined over hundreds of client engagements. Our award-winning staff of marketing strategists, TV and print reporters, and social media trailblazers are seasoned experts, providing content marketing firepower needed to excite, motivate and engage your customers and prospects. 919 clients include startups, emerging growth companies and Fortune 500 corporations from high-tech to health care, hair care and elderly care. 919 Marketing is a proven, go-to source for national companies of all sizes that want to grow their businesses. For more information, please contact David Chapman, CEO at 919-557-7890 or email dchapman(at)919marketing(dot)com. MOAA has had the privilege of working closely with NAUS as longtime members of The Military Coalition. During this time, we have gained a great understanding of NAUS mission and position on key issues, which have been closely aligned with MOAAs. The Military Officers Association of America (MOAA) is pleased to welcome more than 2,000 former members of the National Association for Uniformed Services (NAUS) into its membership. The leadership of both organizations worked closely to ensure the needs and interests of NAUS officer members would continue to be well-served following NAUS cessation of operations on Dec. 31, 2016. The membership agreement with MOAA was first approved by MOAAs leadership last fall. NAUS membership then approved the measure by an overwhelming vote on Dec 27, 2016. MOAA membership was granted at no cost to the currently serving, retired, and former officers within NAUS membership. In welcoming the former NAUS members, MOAAs President and CEO Lt. Gen. Dana T. Atkins, USAF (Ret), said, MOAA has had the privilege of working closely with NAUS as longtime members of The Military Coalition. During this time, we have gained a great understanding of NAUS mission and position on key issues, which have been closely aligned with MOAAs. Atkins continued, Our Chairman of the Board Gen. John Jack Sheehan and I are confident MOAA will not only meet, but exceed, the needs of NAUS members. This membership arrangement enables former NAUS members to continue to serve the military community and as new MOAA members, take full advantage of all benefits such as first-in-class advocacy for the military community and access to all MOAA publications, member programs, and products and services. About MOAA: Military Officers Association of America (MOAA) is the nations largest officers association with more than 355,000 members from every branch of service, including active duty, retired, National Guard, Reserve, and former officers and their families and survivors. MOAA is a nonprofit and politically nonpartisan organization and an influential force in promoting a strong national defense. MOAA represents the interests of servicemembers and their families in every stage of their lives and careers, and for those who are not eligible to join MOAA, Voices for Americas Troops is a nonprofit MOAA affiliate that supports a strong national defense. For more information, visit http://www.moaa.org or http://www.voicesfortroops.org. Members of the news media who wish to be added to our media distribution list for MOAA news releases, please contact requestnews(at)moaa(dot)org. Visit MOAAs Multimedia & Press Room at http://www.moaa.org/media/default.htm. Outdoor experiences play a key role in addiction treatment Haggling is perfectly acceptable when paying cash for addiction treatment, says Teri Gault, CEO and Administrator for Oaks of Hope According to The American Society of Addiction Medicine heroin use more than tripled among adolescent Americans in 2015. With over 55,000 lethal drug overdoses in the past year, drug addiction is now the leading cause of accidental death in the US. Consequently, the addiction epidemic has lead families and friends of loved ones into the complex world of addiction treatment. While many are struggling with how to cover costs, there are a number of ways to save on addiction treatment. 1. Find no cost or low cost treatment through non-profit organizations or those subsidized by the state or federal funds. Eligibility hinges upon income and assets. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration offers a locator of addiction treatment providers and can be reached at (800) 662-HELP. Counseling for parents is available at the Partnership for Drug Free Kids or by calling 1-855-378-4373. 2. Apply for a scholarship - Many non-profit addiction treatment providers offer full or partial scholarships. Faith based organizations, such as Teen Challenge, may provide a limited number of need based scholarships to those who qualify. 3. Ask the courts for addiction treatment Theres a growing trend toward addiction treatment sentencing in lieu of incarceration. According to Dylan Rojas, Co-Founder and Clinical Supervisor for R & R Recovery in Huntington Beach, CA, When a court approved addiction treatment provider accepts an application, they will often appeal to the court on the defendants behalf and 'Uncle Sam' picks up the tab. 4. Use health insurance - The Affordable Care Act expands coverage for drug and alcohol addiction treatment in the same way as any other medical coverage. In varying degrees, plans should cover detoxification, inpatient care, doctors visits, therapy, counseling, medications, after care and sober living. Most addiction treatment providers accept insurance. 5. Compare costs, service and coverage - When shopping for an insurance policy, compare coverage and costs. Larry Marinelli, Co-Founder and Owner of True Intentions Sober Living in Tarzana, CA, advises choosing a policy that fits the insureds needs, The summary of benefits rarely shows PPO costs to the insured. For some PPO policies, costs could even double. 6. Negotiate the sticker price - Haggling is perfectly acceptable when paying cash for addiction treatment., says Teri Gault, CEO and Administrator for Oaks of Hope, a luxury addiction treatment provider in Southern California. Gault explains, Treatment providers jump through hoops and wait months to be paid by insurance. Gault says to expect at least a twenty five discount for paying cash. 7. Ask for a gift - Dont be afraid to ask for a gift to cover out of pocket expenses, such as copays, deductible or travel expenses. While some addiction treatment providers may offer to pay such expenses, many of these practices are unethical or illegal, Gault cautions, If an addiction treatment provider unethically fills beds, they may not be putting the client first. To cover your own expenses, dont be afraid to ask family or friends for help. We call these gifts of recovery, and they do happen. 8. Apply for emergency funding - Many colleges or universities have emergency fund applications that could cover some of the expenses like transportation to addiction treatment, Gault says. Long term recovery may benefit with a change in location, Marinelli explains, We know that its people, places, and things that can trigger relapse, so relocating for addiction treatment and after care could be one of the most powerful moves toward sobriety. About the writer - Teri Gault, known as Americas Smartest Shopper and author of 'Shop Smart, Save More', is featured in local and national media, television news, magazines, newspapers and across the web. After two decades of suffering loss and death due to family drug abuse, Teri made a bold move to make a difference. In November 2016, Teri founded Oaks of Hope luxury detox residential treatment in Southern California. Teri continually speaks to the press, teaches thrift and good living at Oaks of Hope and enjoys seeing the rewards of addiction recovery. Circlepixs suite of marketing tools work together to help agents sell more homes faster and for more money. "(With Circlepix,) we're able to use a single partner to execute a full suite of marketing services that both maintain our brand integrity and allow RE/MAX agents to focus on selling, says Casey Reagan, CTO of RE/MAX Northern Illionois. Circlepix, the leader in real estate marketing automation, has been selected as the exclusive marketing partner of RE/MAX Northern Illinois, providing print, digital and photography marketing solutions to more than 2,300 agents throughout the region. Providing the network of RE/MAX offices in the Northern Illinois region with effective and cutting-edge marketing technology is a key component of the RE/MAX brand, and we found Circlepix to be the most comprehensive solution available, says Casey Reagan, Chief Technology Officer of RE/MAX Northern Illinois. Instead of using multiple vendors to help offices and agents market listings, were able to use a single partner to execute a full suite of marketing services that both maintain our brand integrity and allow RE/MAX agents to focus on selling. Were thrilled to be partnering with RE/MAX Northern Illinois. Our automated marketing services will help their agents market more effectively, increase engagement and get the maximum amount of interest in their listings without the burden of extra work, says Robert Davis, Chief Executive Officer of Circlepix. RE/MAX is a pinnacle of excellence in real estate, and we look forward to partnering with the Northern Illinois region as they look to exceed an already exceptional track record. Circlepixs core marketing platform, PIXmarketing, is a comprehensive marketing automation tool that generates both print and digital marketing assets. Features include a mobile-friendly Property Site, a YouTube video, customizable print collections, automated MLS updates, lead generation tools, and more. About RE/MAX Northern Illinois RE/MAX Northern Illinois has been the leader in Chicagoland residential real estate since 1989. It is a network of 106 individually owned and operated, full-service real estate offices, with 2,300 Sales Associates that provide residential, commercial, referral and relocation real estate services. About Circlepix Circlepix is the leader in real estate marketing automation, with over 90,000 users across the US and Canada. Its three core platforms PIXmarketing, PIXsocial and PIXphotography give real estate agents the tools they need to sell homes faster and for more money. Eskaton is proud to announce nine of its senior living communities and its in-home care provider recently achieved national recognition by earning five-star consumer ratings for outstanding service excellence among the caring.com audience. The Caring Stars program from caring.com, the leading resource website for senior care, measures consumer reviews to honor the best senior living communities and home care agencies in the United States. Caring.com recognized five Eskaton independent living communities: Eskaton Hazel Shirley Manor, Eskaton Lincoln Manor, Eskaton Monroe Lodge, Eskaton Village Carmichael and Eskaton Village Placerville. Caring.com also recognized four Eskaton assisted living communities: Eskaton Fountain Wood Lodge, Eskaton Lodge Cameron Park, Eskaton Village Placerville and The Parkview at Pleasanton. Additionally, caring.com awarded Live Well at Home by Eskaton a Caring Star. All reviews were collected between October 2015 and September 2016 and averaged 4.5 stars or better. Eskaton received positive feedback that distinguished it as a Caring Star recipient from a plethora of people, including a resident at Eskaton Village Placerville who said, Since moving in years ago, I have been very satisfied with the care...My apartment is cozy and I feel at home. The staff is friendly and open to suggestions. I enjoy all the activities offered. In multiple caring.com research studies, the majority of family caregivers indicated they turn to the Internet and consumer reviews when researching and selecting a senior living community. These reviews help guide families when making these emotional senior care decisions. Finding professional senior care for an aging parent or ailing spouse can be overwhelming and time-consuming, particularly if your need is urgent and you have little-to-no knowledge of your options, said caring.com CEO Karen Cassel. At caring.com we are focused on helping ease that burden for family caregivers, and the annual Caring Stars recognition list is one of the free resources we offer to support them in the senior care search. Everyone wants the very best care for their loved ones, and Caring Stars helps family caregivers find the providers that have delivered excellent service for others like them. To learn more about the Caring Stars program and view the complete winners list, please visit http://www.caring.com/bestseniorliving. About Eskaton The vision of Eskaton is to transform the aging experience. Its dedicated team members provide services and support for nearly 12,000 individuals annually who live in Eskaton communities or participate in its comprehensive home-support services. Eskaton services include independent living, assisted living, memory care, short-term stays, rehabilitation and skilled nursing, adult day, home health, in-home care, and affordable housing. Eskaton is pet-friendly. For more information, please call (866) ESKATON, or visit http://www.eskaton.org. 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. Kelly Lindsay Rogers has joined Movement Mortgage, LLC as Branch Manager in its fast-growing Woodlands branch office. Movement Mortgage has been recognized as one of the fastest-growing private mortgage banks in the U.S., powered by its innovative process and culture. Movement believes real estate is a local business driven by individual agents and their local sphere of influence. The company has rapidly expanded nationwide by committing to upfront underwriting, seven-day processing on most of its loans and investing millions of dollars back into communities through its nonprofit Movement Foundation. Kelly is one of the premier experts on mortgage lending in the Houston area. Together with her team, she has guided many generations of families through their financing process and is repeatedly referred by past clients. She has been recognized repeatedly as a President's Circle Honoree, as well as a Five Star Professional, an Elite Woman in Mortgage, in addition to her recent honor as one of the top originators in the country. Despite her numerous awards and professional achievements, she considers the personal referral of her past clients as the highest compliment. Kelly was born and raised in the Houston area. She and her husband have 5 children that give her much joy in this fast-paced world. She is well known throughout the community for her involvement in charitable organizations and her commitment to giving back to her community. In 2011, Kelly co-founded Women of The Woodlands, a community based organization for professional women focused on building relationships, creating awareness & fostering community. Collectively, they have raised awareness and brought value to local charities and initiatives, while growing relationships among professional women within this special community. She gives of her time, talents and treasures, in hopes of making a difference in the lives of others. Kelly has demonstrated a commitment to excellence in mortgage lending and a concern for each of her clients and proven to be a wealth of local market knowledge. She is a perfect fit with Movement Mortgage, says Heather Cox, Market Leader at Movement Mortgage. Kellys office is currently located at Grogans Mill, with new offices to be announced soon. She can also be found online at http://www.KellyRogersTeam.com. About Movement Mortgage Movement Mortgage exists to love and value people by leading a Movement of Change in its industry, corporate culture and communities. Founded in 2008, Movement is one of the 10 largest residential purchase mortgage lenders in the U.S. It is committed to financing one out of every 10 U.S. homebuyers by the year 2025. Movement is known for its customer service-centric business model and innovative loan process, which begins with upfront underwriting and aims to finish the loan process in seven business days. In 2015, Movement originated more than $7.8 billion in residential mortgages and expects to exceed $12 billion in loan originations in 2016. The company employs approximately 4,000 people and has more than 500 branches in the U.S. The nonprofit Movement Foundation has reinvested more than $16.5 million in communities to date. For more information, visit http://www.movement.com ### Media Inquiries: press(at)movement.com Every college that made the overall ranking offers an annual tuition rate under $7,200. SR Education Group, an education research publisher founded in 2004, just launched the 2017 Most Affordable Online College rankings on OnlineU.org. The organization, which promotes tuition transparency in higher education, conducts extensive in-house research into program-specific tuition data and has compiled their research into affordability rankings covering 68 subjects. By the end of 2017, 102 subject-specific affordability rankings will be published. For the 539 schools currently included in the most affordable subject rankings on OnlineU, the average annual tuition rate is just $10,292. The new release includes an updated ranking of the top 25 most affordable online colleges overall, along with individual rankings for associate, bachelors, masters, and doctoral degrees. SR Education Group named Georgia Institute of Technology the #1 most affordable online college overall. To be considered for the overall ranking, colleges were required to offer at least 10 fully online degrees, with at least one degree at the bachelors or masters level. For the 739 colleges that met the criteria for inclusion, annual tuition rates were manually researched and calculated using data collected from schools official websites. The colleges were then ordered based on annual tuition rate, and the top 25 were named the 2017 Most Affordable Online Colleges Overall. Every college that made the overall ranking offers an annual tuition rate of $7,200 or less. Georgia Tech is ranked #1 on the overall list and the masters list, offering an annual tuition rate of just $2,550. The College of Southern Nevada and Aspen University round out the top three overall, and both offer tuition rates under $5,000. Allen Community College is the #1 most affordable online college offering associate degrees, and offers the lowest yearly rate out of all ranked colleges at only $2,070. One of the main considerations for prospective students is cost, but its not easy to find straightforward, standardized information about online college tuition, especially for specific programs said Sung Rhee, CEO of SR Education Group. Since the beginning of OnlineU in 2013, weve been working on developing the best way to research and present affordability data. These new college rankings, based solely on annual tuition rates for distance learning, provide students with concise, user-friendly resources to help with their search for a quality, affordable education. Throughout 2017, SR Education Group will continue to expand their coverage of affordable online education. The organization intends to compile updated tuition research into affordability rankings covering over 102 subjects. The upcoming rankings will employ manually-researched, program-specific data, and will provide prospective students with information regarding colleges committed to offering affordable online education. About SR Education Group Headquartered in Kirkland, WA, SR Education Group was founded in 2004 by CEO Sung Rhee. The companys mission is to create authoritative online resources for students seeking an online education program that best suits their budget and career aspirations. SR Education Group is passionate about making quality education attainable for everyone and believes that objective information about education, careers, and educational financing should be free and easily accessible. For more information, please visit http://www.sreducationgroup.org/. a2z, Inc. is pleased to announce that the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) will be utilizing two powerful and innovative technology solutions to offer networking, matchmaking, event promotion, time saving and planning tools to attendees and exhibitors for the 2017 NADA Convention & Expo. The event will be taking place on Thursday, January 26, through Sunday, January 29, 2017, in the New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center. The National Automobile Dealers Association is celebrating its 100-year anniversary at the 2017 NADA Convention & Expo in New Orleans (NADA100) this year. It is the world's largest international gathering of franchised new-vehicle dealers. The convention offers dealers a rare chance to meet face-to-face with executives of major auto manufacturers and features hundreds of exhibitors showcasing the latest equipment, services and technologies and dozens of workshops with the industry's best trainers. myNADAplanner is an online networking and matchmaking solution that is an integral part of NADA100. Attendees are matched with exhibitors, based on their preference selections, and can then add their favorites to their expo plan, send them direct emails to ask questions about their products and services, and request meetings with them at the Show. myNADAplanner also provides exhibitors the opportunity to create an online eBooth to showcase their latest products and services. In addition, each exhibitor is matched with registered attendees who indicate interest in the product categories associated with its company profile, giving them strong, qualified leads before they even hit the showroom floor. Exhibitors can connect with attendees via direct emails. The ChirpE eBooth Promotion Widget, a dynamic plug-and-play utility, is available to NADA exhibitors through their online eBooth console. Exhibitors can embed the widget anywhere on their website, blog or e-newsletter by copying and pasting a small block of code, making it one of the easiest and most effective ways of engaging prospective business leads and showcasing their attendance at the event. NADA100 attendees can add exhibitors as favorites to their personal show planners and register for the event with a single click. To learn more about NADA100, please visit: http://convention.nada.org/ About a2z, Inc. a2z provides powerful cloud-based event management and marketing tools that grow your brand by accelerating booth sales, helping boost revenue, and enhancing engagement and value for event participants. a2z's solutions are used by 1000+ leading trade shows and conferences across the globe every year. More than 45% of the TSE Gold 100 and TSNN Top 250 Events leverage a2z's innovative web and mobile solutions. About National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) NADA represents all franchised new-car dealers domestic and import before Congress, federal agencies, the media, and the general public. NADA also represents dealers' interests with automobile and truck manufacturers, and develop research data on the retail automobile industry. Extensive training programs are also offered to improve dealership business operations, sales and service practices; and a charitable foundation that distributes funds donated by dealers and friends to emergency/medical and educational organizations, and private-sector colleges and universities. Next Locksmith Now Offers Same-Day Lock Repair and Replacement Services in Chula Vista Next Locksmith, a reputable locksmith agency from Chula Vista, California, now guarantees same-day locksmith services to all the residents in the Chula Vista area, as well as to the residents of greater San Diego area. The locksmith company now offers prompt services to the nook and nooks and crannies of the greater San Diego area. The company now offers more than one way to get connected with them and offers same-day lock repair and replacement services, irrespective the type of the issue faced by the customers or the distance of the work site from their company in Chula Vista. The on-site locksmith services are now provided by the specialized team of locksmiths who work for Next Locksmith. The mobile team of Next Locksmith is now capable of reaching any corner of the San Diego area to offer their specialized services. Next Locksmith now offers residential, commercial and automotive locksmith services to the residents of the area. The owners said that they can now assure same-day services with no strings attached. They also added that their emergency locksmith service team is now committed to offering emergency locksmith services to Chula Vista and beyond. Sara Anderson, the owner of the locksmith in Chula Vista company, told that the primary objective of her business is to be as prompt as possible in terms of service delivery. Sara said that they have already hired some of the best locksmiths in Chula Vista area to deliver the best-in-class locksmith services at the most competitive prices. However, the focus of the Chula Vista locksmith agency is to become the most trusted local business in terms of average turnaround as well as service quality. We are committed to providing emergency locksmith services in and around the Chula Vista CA area as we believe that there are people who fall in lockout situations and other sorts of urgencies. Our mobile team is now able to serve all the areas surrounding Chula Vista and, of course, within the city borders, said Sara during a press conference. About the Company Next Locksmith is a leading locksmith company in Chula Vista, California. When talking about Chula Vista CA locksmith, Next Locksmith is always ready to serve. To know more, visit http://locksmith-chulavistaca.com/ Tracx all-in-one social media management software The caliber of the executive team and other investment partners is second to nonewe believe theyre well equipped to take advantage of the large and rapidly growing social media software space. Tracx is excited to announce today it closed a $12.5 million funding round led by Camden Partners, with participation by Edison Partners and Tracx CEO Rick Rudman. The funds will be used to support continued sales and marketing growth, as well as an expanded product footprint. Tracxs social media management software is an industry-leader for its social listening and analytics capabilities offering the largest social network coverage and conversation monitoring while providing an all-in-one solution for reaping socials full ROI potential. Were thrilled about our growth equity investment in Tracx, and supporting their continued innovation and market leadership, said Jason Tagler, Partner at Camden Partners who will join the Board of Directors as part of this round. The caliber of the executive team and other investment partners is second to none we believe theyre well equipped to take advantage of the large and rapidly growing social media space. With spending in the social media space expected to reach $25 billion by 2020, Tracx CEO Rick Rudman is optimistic about the companys future opportunities. We are uniquely positioned with the most comprehensive listening and analytics tool, seamlessly integrated with engagement and cross-network posting, said Rudman. Our customers are uncovering crucial insights about their business, products, influencers and industry trends on social using our platform. Tracx is expected to double new sales in 2017 and reach cash-flow positive on this round of funding. The company was recently listed on Deloitte Technologys Fast 500 for its 262% growth from 2012-2015; and was named a Top 100 North America Winner for Technology Innovation by Red Herring. About Tracx Tracx is an all-in-one social media management platform that helps social-savvy companies hear and react to the full conversation online. Tracx collects data from more sources than any other social listening platform, which is why companies like Sears, EA Games, Nestle, and BAE trust Tracx to help them navigate the social jungle. Learn more at http://www.tracx.com or request a demo. About Camden Partners Camden Partners, founded in 1995, is a multi-strategy private equity firm based in Baltimore, MD. This investment was made through its growth-equity strategy, which focuses on late-stage companies in the technology, business services, education, and healthcare sectors. For more information, please go to: http://www.camdenpartners.com. About Edison Partners For 30 years, Edison Partners has been helping CEOs and their executive teams navigate the entrepreneurial journey and build successful companies. Through the unique combination of growth capital and the Edison Edge platform, consisting of operating leverage, the Edison Director Network, and executive education, Edison employs a holistic approach to accelerating growth and creating value for businesses ($5 to $20 million in revenue) in financial, healthcare, enterprise and marketing technology sectors. Edison investment objectives also include: buyouts, recapitalizations, spinouts and secondary stock purchases. Edisons active portfolio has created aggregate market value exceeding $10 billion. Its long-tenured team based in Princeton, NJ manages more than $1 billion in assets throughout the eastern United States. We consider it a privilege to bring out the best smile in our patients. Our unique dental practice is equipped to provide a comfortable and highly rewarding experience for Wichita families, says Dr. Tanaka of Seneca Family Dentistry. Seneca Family Dentistry is proud to serve Wichita patients with a unique experience in dental care. The modern office environment is equipped with state-of-the-art dental technology and highlighted amenities for all ages. They offer full service dentistry, including general, cosmetic, sedation and restorative dentistry. Seneca Family Dentistry prides themselves on their unrivaled ability to address all types of dental needs, through all stages of life. The Wichita dental practice is led by Dr. Travis Tanaka, an esteemed dentist who understands the importance of providing top quality dental treatments with a compassionate, patient-centered approach. In fact, patient comfort is a priority at Seneca Family Dentistry. The office offers warm blankets, soothing music and sedation dentistry to ensure patients stay relaxed during their visit. Seneca Family Dentistry also adopts the most advanced dental technology for faster, safer and more effective treatments. The 3D Cone Beam CT scan allows for the most comfortable patient experience and the most accurate placement of dental implants. This is just one way that Seneca Family Dentistry pursues excellence in dental care for the benefit of their patients. From routine cleanings and professional teeth whitening to emergency dental care and special needs dentistry, Seneca Family Dentistry is a modern-day dental practice that can handle the entire family in one convenient location. We consider it a privilege to bring out the best smile in our patients. Our unique dental practice is equipped to provide a comfortable and highly rewarding experience for Wichita families, says Dr. Tanaka of Seneca Family Dentistry. More About Dr. Travis Tanaka: Dr. Travis Tanaka was born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii on the island of Oahu. He left the islands for California to receive a Bachelor of Science degree at Santa Clara University and then UMKC School of Dentistry for a Doctor of Dental Surgery degree. Dr. Tanaka loves the Wichita community and prides himself on serving others with compassion and quality while spreading the Aloha spirit. For more information about the practice or to schedule an appointment at Seneca Family Dentistry, please visit senecafamilydentistry.com or call the Wichita office directly at (316) 531-6303 If you are new to iQ you can schedule a demo and learn more about this opportunity. PSFK iQ - Where Innovators Turn for Research. Our professional-grade research platform is designed specifically for Retail and CX leaders who want to know whats next. Whether youre staying current on trends or need a real-time research partner to help you get ahead, count on PSFK iQ to deliver the info you need to make your next move. Welcome Guest! You Are Here: Welcome Guest! You Are Here: Home Regional News East Cookies What are cookies ? How do we use cookies? How to control cookies? Managing cookies in your browser see what cookies you have got and delete them on an individual basis block third party cookies block cookies from particular sites block all cookies from being set delete all cookies when you close your browser X A cookie is a small text file that a website saves on your computer or mobile device when you visit the site. Cookies are widely used in order to make websites work, or work more efficiently, as well as to provide information to the owners of the site.Website use Google Analytics, a web analytics service provided by Google, Inc. ("Google") to help analyse the use of this website. 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Bookstore and Bakery Swap Locations: Afterwords Bookstore and Bailey Cakes are changing places in Edwardsville, Ill. This will be the fourth move for the seven-year-old bookstore. It will hold a grand re-opening on January 14. NYCs Drama Bookshop Enters 100th Year: The bookstore, which received an Honorary Tony Award in 2011 for excellence in theater, is marking its centenary this year. Its big anniversary bash will be held on Sunday, October 1, on current owner Arthur Seelens birthday. The Griffon Turns 40: The South Bend bookstore, founded by Ken Peczkowski and Sarah Bird in 1976, has one of the oldest continuously-running dedicated game rooms in the country. Hester Books to Close, New Store to Open: Last weekend Renee Hester closed the bookstore that her father, Ross, started in 1997, so that she can become a hospice counselor. The good news is that she has a preferred potential buyer, who will reopen the Lubbock store in the spring. Obituary: Madeline (Mel) Bolen: Canadian bookseller Mel Bolen, founder of Bolen Books, one of Canadas biggest single-location independents with a 20,000 sq. ft. store in Victoria, passed away unexpectedly on December 21. She was 72 years old. Bolen retired in 2010 and sold the store to her daughter Samantha. In a letter sent to employees Tuesday, Hachette Book Group USA CEO Michael Pietsch said the company had accomplished its primary objective of growing in 2016. The purchase of the publishing division of the Perseus Books Group increased HBG's revenue by about 15% and added to the company's nonfiction and backlist offerings, Pietsch said. Excluding results from Perseus, Pietsch said revenue was down slightly from 2015 but earnings rose by 25%, which he attributed to costs savings and an increase in the number of bestsellers. When adding Perseus, "our revenues grew and our profits grew even more," Pietsch said. He said that the decline in revenue from HBG's core properties was due to a decline in e-book and paperback sales plus the transition of Yen Press to a joint venture with Kadokawa. Offsetting those trends was an increase in its Orbit publishing programs and the release of the first titles in the jimmy patterson, Goop Press, and Lee Boudreaux imprints. The company's distribution business had a good year, Piersch said, citing strong years from clients Disney and Abrams. HBG also added PIKids to its distribution list, and Pietsch said the company plans to continue to grow its distribution business. Much of the integration of Perseus was completed during the year, a process that was marked by some "difficulty," Pietsch said, pointing to the enormous IT efforts that slowed progress on several projects. More changes are coming in the first few months of 2017, as HBG relocates its customer service, claims, and manufacturing functions to Lebanon, Ind. and Boulder, Colo. Pietsch also pointed to the changes coming at Grand Central Publishing following the departure of president and publisher Jamie Raab. He said he expects to name a replacement for Raab soon. Looking ahead, Pietsch said that HBG's leadership teams are working on a number of "major strategic initiatives" in such areas as author partnership, cost control, risk management, consumer marketing, backlist sales, and content development. Commenting on recent current events, Pietsch said HBG will continue to publish books that contribute to the national discussion on politics from authors on all sides of the political spectrum. Those books, Pietsch noted, will uphold HBG's "culture of respect, openness, diversity, and fairness." With free speech more important than ever, Pietsch noted that until the end of February, HBG will pay half the cost of any full-time employee who joins PEN. Penguin Random House made a similar offer late last year. Pietsch said he was excited about the many opportunities that HBG has ahead in 2017, led by a rich array of books it plans to publish in the year. HarperCollins Publishers has purchased the remaining shares of HarperCollins Brasil, a 10-year joint venture with the Brazilian publisher Ediouro, and will take full ownership of the house, with plans to move its headquarters to Rio de Janeiros financial center. Based in Rio de Janeiro, HarperCollins Brasil will operate independently going forward, but will continue to partner with Ediouro for warehousing and logistics. On January 9, HarperCollins Brasil will move its headquarters to Rua da Quitanda, in Rios financial center. HarperCollins Brasil was originally formed as a joint venture that combined the existing operations of Thomas Nelson Brasil and Harlequin Brasil with Ediouros commercial trade publishing list and personnel. The house has more than 2,500 titles in print. Brian Murray, president and CEO of HarperCollins Publishers Worldwide, said: While we have enjoyed a successful relationship with Ediouro, we are very pleased to take full ownership of HarperCollins Brasil. We see Brazil as an area of growth both for titles from our global imprints being published into the region, as well as for local authors. We are excited about this new structure and the new home for the organization. Dorothy Day is, perhaps, one of the most controversial and fascinating figures in American Catholicism. Called everything from a communist to a great American (the latter by Pope Francis), the writer and activist abandoned her bohemian literary lifestyle and in 1933 co-founded the Catholic Worker newspaper and movementa movement that continues to advocate for the poor. Day was also a woman and a mother, and it is this woman-behind-the-saint that her youngest granddaughter focuses on in her book, Dorothy Day: The World Will Be Saved By Beauty (Scribner, Jan.). This book is as much a story of your mother and your mothers relationship with Dorothy as it is a biography of Dorothy. Why did you choose to write the book this way? There is no way I could have written a book about my grandmother without including my mother. Not only are they inextricably linked in my mind, but this is also one aspect of Dorothys life that I am able to provide that other biographers cannota portrait of her as a mother, which, after all, was the initial catalyst that put her on the path of conversion. How did your understanding of Dorothy change as you researched and wrote the book? When my mother died it became clear to me that if I did not write this story, an essential element of Dorothys lifethe story of her daughter and their relationshipwould forever be, if not lost, then severely limited. I knew this was going to be personally difficult, because I was still grieving the loss of my mother and there was much about the relationship between Dorothy and my mother that I didnt understand and struggled with. As I researched, I found myself falling in love with the two of them, their difficult relationship, their inexplicable choices, and their lives. With this deepening sense of love came greater understanding, not only of them as individuals but of their impact on me. Did you worry about including what some might call sins, such as her abortion? For me, there was never any point in writing a standard hagiography. That wouldnt represent the complex and paradoxical grandmother I knew. Often people who didnt know Dorothy would oversimplify her and her life, irritating my mother to no end. Separating Dorothy from her sins or her shortcomings does her, and us all, a disservice. These are essential elements of her life that helped make her who she was. Her formidable strengths came out of her failures and weaknesses. Does writing about Dorothy as a mother complicate our understanding of her or of sainthood in general? After years of listening to academics, theologians, clergy, and biographers speak of Dorothy, I have come to believe that one of the greatest impediments to understanding her is this desire to define her in ways that make us feel more at ease with herto make her less complicated and less complex, whether in order to revile or to praise her. If perfection were a requirement of sainthood, there would be no saints, and the same goes for motherhood. Our understanding of sainthood needs to be challenged. What do you think the impact of your grandmothers canonization would be on the Catholic world? It would certainly break the stereotype of traditional saints, and be controversial for many, not so much for her bohemian youth but for her radical views and activist life. Getting arrested, for example, is not normally considered saint-like behavior. Also, while Dorothy considered herself an obedient daughter of the Church in regards to Church teachings, she was not above chastising the Church on the behavior of its clergy. This distinction is sometimes difficult for people to understand, even though it is a trait to be found in many saints. However, for those who are inspired by her and try to follow her example, I think her canonization would be a tremendously hopeful gesture. She would be a saint for our time, a laywoman, and a mother in whom many, Catholic or not, could find paradoxically both comfort and provocation for change. Samsung ha pubblicato questa mattina l'elenco delle migliorie implementate nel Security Maintenance Release (SMR) di Samsung per il mese di gennaio, aggiornamento che vedremo attivare a partire dai prossimi giorni sui top di gamma piu recenti della casa coreana. L'ultimo SMR pone rimedio a ben 67 Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) scoperte su Android ed implementa inoltre 28 patch di sicurezza. E' interessante osservare che sono gia state adottate alcune patch relative ai processori Exynos 8895 e Snapdragon 835, che Samsung utilizzera sui prossimi top di gamma Galaxy S8 Galaxy S8 Plus attesi in primavera. SMR-JAN-2017 Samsung Mobile is releasing a maintenance release for major flagship models as part of monthly Security Maintenance Release (SMR) process. This SMR package includes patches from Google and Samsung. Google patches include patches up to Android Security Bulletin - January 2017 package. The Bulletin (January 2017) contains the following CVE items: CVE-2016-3843(C), CVE-2016-3869(H), CVE-2015-8961(C), CVE-2016-6738(H), CVE-2016-3904(H), CVE-2016-6743(H), CVE-2016-6748(M), CVE-2016-6749(M), CVE-2016-7917(M), CVE-2016-5195(C), CVE-2015-8966(C), CVE-2016-9120(C), CVE-2015-8967(H), CVE-2016-6782(H), CVE-2016-6783(H), CVE-2016-6784(H), CVE-2016-6758(H), CVE-2016-6759(H), CVE-2016-6760(H), CVE-2016-6761(H), CVE-2016-6755(H), CVE-2016-6788(H), CVE-2016-6791(H), CVE-2016-8391(H), CVE-2016-8392(H), CVE-2015-7872(H), CVE-2016-6756(M), CVE-2016-8401(M), CVE-2016-8402(M), CVE-2016-8403(M), CVE-2016-8404(M), CVE-2016-8405(M), CVE-2016-8407(M), CVE-2016-8398(H), CVE-2016-8398(H), CVE-2016-8437(H), CVE-2016-8439(H), CVE-2016-8440(H), CVE-2016-8441(H), CVE-2016-8438(C), CVE-2016-8442(C), CVE-2016-8450(H), CVE-2016-6754(H), CVE-2017-0381(C), CVE-2016-5180(H), CVE-2017-0382(H), CVE-2017-0383(H), CVE-2017-0384(H), CVE-2017-0385(H), CVE-2017-0386(H), CVE-2017-0387(H), CVE-2017-0388(H), CVE-2016-3911(H), CVE-2017-0389(H), CVE-2017-0390(H), CVE-2017-0391(H), CVE-2017-0392(H), CVE-2017-0393(H), CVE-2017-0394(H), CVE-2017-0396(M), CVE-2017-0397(M), CVE-2017-0398(M), CVE-2017-0399(M), CVE-2017-0400(M), CVE-2017-0401(M), CVE-2017-0402(M), and CVE-2016-6720(M). * Severity : (C)-Critical, (H)-High, (M)-Moderate, (L)-Low Please see Android Security Bulletin for detailed information on Google patches. Along with Google patches, Samsung Mobile provides 28 Samsung Vulnerabilities and Exposures (SVE) items described below, in order to improve our customer's confidence on security of Samsung Mobile devices. Some of the SVE items may not be included in this package, in case these items were already included in a previous maintenance release. SVE-2016-6362: out of bound read in gpu driver Severity: Low Affected versions: M(6.0), N(7.0) devices with Exynos AP chipsets Reported on: May 31, 2016 Disclosure status: Privately disclosed. Vulnerability in gpu driver does not properly check the boundary of buffers leading to a possible memory corruption. The applied patch avoids an illegal access to memory by checking the boundary. SVE-2016-6917: Forcing factory resets with a large manifest file on Samsung Android Devices Severity: Medium Affected versions: KK(4.4), L(5.0/5.1), M(6.0) Reported on: August 13, 2016 Disclosure status: Privately disclosed. A system crash at boot time can be triggered by a malformed manifest file during parsing of active install session APKs, resulting in a possible DoS attack. The applied patch avoids parsing active install session APKs. SVE-2016-7122: Unexpected SystemUI FC driven by arbitrary application Severity: Low Affected versions: L(5.0/5.1), M(6.0), N(7.0) Reported on: September 13, 2016 Disclosure status: Privately disclosed. Lack of appropriate exception handling in some applications allows attackers to make a systemUI crash easily resulting in a possible DoS attack. The patch prevents systemUI crashes by handling unexpected exceptions. SVE-2016-7183: Security issue patch that exposes path of files through log Severity: Low Affected versions: KK(4.4), L(5.0/5.1), M(6.0), N(7.0) Reported on: September 21, 2016 Disclosure status: Privately disclosed. The vulnerability exposes the lists of files stored in sdcard to the system protected log when receiving certain intent. The patch restricts the senders capable of broadcasting the intent by permission. SVE-2016-7340: Information disclosure via /dev/dsm_ctrl_dev Severity: Medium Affected versions: L(5.1), M(6.0), N(7.0) Reported on: October 8, 2016 Disclosure status: Privately disclosed. This vulnerability allows reading data outside of buffer boundary due to not checking the boundary. The applied patch avoids an illegal access to memory by checking the boundary. SVE-2016-7466: ko(Kernel Module) signature can be bypassed Severity: Low Affected versions: M(6.0), N(7.0) devices with Exynos5433, Exynos7420, or Exynos7870 chipset Reported on: October 4, 2016 Disclosure status: Privately disclosed. Assuming the device is rooted, a vulnerability allows an attacker to bypass kernel module confirmation by manipulating the count value of kernel modules required to check the integrity. The patch prevents the modification of the count value at the build time. SVE-2016-7484: Buffer overflow vulnerability in sensor hub Severity: Low Affected versions: KK(4.4), L(5.0/5.1), M(6.0), N(7.0) devices with Exynos54xx, Exynos7420, Exynos8890, or Exynos8895 chipset Reported on: October 18, 2016 Disclosure status: Privately disclosed. There is a potential buffer overflow problem due to not confirming boundary condition before memory copy. The supplied patch prevents buffer overflow by confirming the sizes of source and destination, but the Linux file permission already protects access to this code. SVE-2016-7500: Multiple Buffer Overflows in TSP sysfs cmd_store Severity: Low Affected versions: M(6.0), N(7.0) devices with Exynos8890 chipset Reported on: October 20, 2016 Disclosure status: Privately disclosed. There are some potential buffer overflow problems in TSP sysfs due to not confirming boundary condition before memory copy. The supplied patch prevents buffer overflow by confirming the sizes of source and destination, but the TSP sysfs is already protected by the Linux file permission. SVE-2016-7501: Race condition in sec_ts touchscreen sysfs interface Severity: Low Affected versions: M(6.0), N(7.0) devices with MSM8939, MSM8996, MSM8998, Exynos7580, Exynos8890, or Exynos8895 chipset Reported on: October 20, 2016 Disclosure status: Privately disclosed. There is no synchronization mechanism between getting the size of the readbuffer and its actual reading, which can result in buffer overflow by race conditions. The fix avoids race condition by using locking mechanism, but the sysfs is already protected by the Linux file permission. SVE-2016-7510: Buffer overflow in "fps" sysfs entry Severity: Low Affected versions: KK(4.4), L(5.0/5.1), M(6.0), N(7.0) Reported on: October 22, 2016 Disclosure status: Privately disclosed. There is a potential buffer overflow problem in 'fps' sysfs due to not confirming boundary condition before memory copy. The supplied patch prevents buffer overflow by confirming the sizes of source and destination, but the 'fps' sysfs is already protected by the Linux file permission. SVE-2016-7551: Exposure of Kernel Address on the Log Severity: Low Affected versions: All devices with Exynos5 chipset Reported on: October 25, 2016 Disclosure status: Privately disclosed. The vulnerability allows unprivileged users to get kernel addresses from the log due to using wrong format specifier. The fix shows '0' value for the kernel addresses to unprivileged users. SVE-2016-7650: VR Service Security Issue Severity: Low Affected versions: KK(4.4), L(5.0/5.1), M(6.0) Reported on: November 8, 2016 Disclosure status: Privately disclosed. There is no mechanism to limit to the number of active VR service threads, which can result in system crash by exceeding available number of system threads. The patch prevents system crash by limiting the number of VR service threads at a time. SVE-2016-7654: Secure data exposure in EAS autodiscover packet Severity: High Affected versions: KK(4.4), L(5.0/5.1), M(6.0), N(7.0) Reported on: November 4, 2016 Disclosure status: Privately disclosed. The vulnerability discloses user credentials to sub-domain whenever users log in at an email account under certain conditions. The patch avoids disclosure by removing code sending user credentials. SVE-2016-7751: Several Security flaws in libskia library Severity: Medium Affected versions: M(6.0) Reported on: November 29, 2016 Disclosure status: Privately disclosed. The vulnerability allows an attacker to trigger a crash when parsing malformed images. The patch prevents a crash by using fixed values instead of variable ones for buffers. SVE-2016-7897: Several RKP issues Severity: Medium Affected versions: M(6.0), N(7.0) devices with Exynos7420, Exynos8895, MSM8996, or MSM8998 chipset Reported on: October 24, 2016 Disclosure status: Privately disclosed. There are 6 vulnerabilities related with RKP, including memory corruption, information disclosure, privilege escalation, and authentication bypass. The adequate remedies are applied to each vulnerability. In addition, the following CVEs are included as part of Samsung security patches: CVE-2016-8655(C) * Severity : (C)-Critical, (H)-High, (M)-Medium, (L)-Low Some SVE items included in the Samsung Android Security Update cannot be disclosed at this time. Acknowledgements We truely appreciate the following researchers for helping Samsung to improve the security of our products. - James Fang and Anthony LAOU HINE TSUEI of Tencent Keen Lab : SVE-2016-6362 - Ryan Johnson and Angelos Stavrou of Kryptowire : SVE-2016-6917 - Quhe of Alipay unLimit Security Team : SVE-2016-7122 - Qing Zhang of Qihoo 360 and Guangdong Bai of Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT) : SVE-2016-7183 - Gal Beniamini of Google Project Zero : SVE-2016-7340, SVE-2016-7466, SVE-2016-7484, SVE-2016-7500, SVE-2016-7501, SVE-2016-7510, SVE-2016-7551, SVE-2016-7897 - Yaoguang Chen of Ant-financial Light-Year Security Lab : SVE-2016-7650 - Nesterov Ilya and Goncharov Maxim : SVE-2016-7654 WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Registration is open for Purdue Extensions 2017 Indiana Small Farm Conference and trade show, scheduled for March 2-4 at the Hendricks County 4-H Fairgrounds and Conference Complex, 1900 E. Main St., Danville. This years conference begins with a series of daylong workshops March 2. Topics include hops production, starting a small farm in Indiana, on-farm fresh produce food safety, and an urban agriculture tour in Indianapolis. Educational programs March 3 and 4 will cover topics ranging from vegetable and livestock production to farm management and marketing. Participants will also have an opportunity to network with Extension educators, expert speakers, other producers and vendors. Keynote speaker is Eliot Coleman, author of the books The New Organic Grower, Four Season Harvest and The Winter Harvest Handbook and one of the countrys foremost experts on organic farming. Other speakers include Sam Smith, farm business specialist with the Intervale Center, an organization promoting local food systems; Blaine Hitzfield, founder of Seven Sons Farms in Roanoke; Simon Huntley, founder and developer at Small Farm Central, a small-farm management services and technology provider; Collin Thompson, farm manager at the Michigan State University Upper Peninsula Research and Extension Center; and John Hendrickson, coordinator of the Wisconsin School for Beginning Market Growers. Vendors will display a range of agricultural equipment, products and services both days in the facilitys exhibit hall. The number of small-scale farming operations is increasing in Indiana and throughout the country, said James Wolff, Extension educator in Allen County and one of the conference organizers. About two-thirds of all Indiana farms are 200 acres or less. The Indiana Small Farm Conference brings together the small and medium-scale farming community to share practical knowledge and build relationships. Cost is $75 for one day, $135 for two days and $190 for three days for those who register before Feb. 6. Afterward, costs are $90, $162 and $228. Registration is available at https://www.conf.purdue.edu/INsmallfarm. For more information, go to the Purdue Extension Small Farm Team website at https://www.purdue.edu/dffs/smallfarms/indiana-small-farm-conference/ or visit https://www.facebook.com/PurdueExtensionSmallFarms/ on Facebook. Writer: Darrin Pack, 765-494-8415, dpack@purdue.edu Sources: Michael ODonnell, 765-747-7732, modonnel@purdue.edu James Wolff, 260-481-6826, jmwolff@purdue.edu Agricultural Communications: (765) 494-8415; Darrin Pack, dpack@purdue.edu Agriculture News Page CHICAGO (AP) The Rev. Jesse Jackson has met with Gov. Bruce Rauner to discuss violence and other issues in Illinois cities. Jackson says he asked for Wednesday's sit-down in Chicago because it's a new political season with President-elect Donald Trump set to take office. The Chicago civil rights leader says Illinois' governor should be part of the equation to remedy the spike in Chicago violence and overlapping issues like poverty. There were over 750 homicides in Chicago last year. That's the most in nearly two decades and more than New York and Los Angeles combined Jackson calls it Illinois' "shameful urban crisis." He says he's developing a plan, including ideas for creating jobs. He says he'll share it with the first-term Republican governor. Rauner's office declined immediate comment on the meeting. On a busy first day of the 115th Congress, U.S. Rep. Cheri Bustos, D-Moline, took a few moments to chat about topics ranging from Republicans' decision to not overhaul an ethics office to what Illinois must do to fix its financial woes. Rep. Bustos won a third term in Congress in November. During her four years in Congress, she has come to be seen as a rising presence for the Democrats. She has a new House leadership position, co-chair of the Democratic Policy and Communications Committee, tasked with "improving outreach to the heartland" on her party's "working families first" values, according to a new release from her office. She also was named one of Seven Rising Democratic Stars by The Hill, a U.S. political website, which noted she is the only Midwestern representative named to a new Democratic leadership post. The tumultuous start of the new Congress began the night before Tuesday's swearing in when House Republicans voted to weaken the Office of Congressional Ethics by putting it under the jurisdiction of the House Ethics Committee. They reversed that decision Tuesday after widespread criticism of the move, including a tweet from President-elect Donald Trump. "In the dark of the night, they made an attempt to cut off the proper process for us to do our work and thwart the democratic process," Rep. Bustos said. "Fortunately, they quickly realized the error of their ways." Emboldened by a Republican president, lawmakers also are expected to attempt a repeal of the Affordable Care Act. Despite past unsuccessful attempts, Rep. Bustos expects to see it taken up again and to fight it. "We can do it by talking about how this is going to hurt people," she said. "It's going to be harmful to millions of people in Illinois" alone, Rep. Bustos said. Women's health services would be devastated, she said, and insurance would be "cut off from patients who need it the most. "I'll be the first to say there are a lot of fixes that should be made," Rep. Bustos said. But the legislation was approved, she said, because "something had to be done." She said millions more have health insurance and the costs of health care are going up at a slower rate than the decade before." "That's a conveniently forgotten truth the other side is not sharing with the public," she said. In a Tuesday news release, Rep. Bustos said she will work with Republicans to improve the economy. "But I will not back down from a fight if they try to roll back the progress that generations of Americans have fought to achieve on behalf of working families, she said in the release. A Rep. Bustos aide has said she is "seriously considering" a run for the Illinois governor's office in 2018 against Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner. On Tuesday, Rep. Bustos said she's interested in "helping as many people as I can possibly help." Winning the governor's office would be a way to "address the terrible gridlock in Springfield," she said, adding that Gov. Rauner's "ego has gotten in the way to the point where he won't sit down to negotiate a budget." Sean Higgins, Rep. Bustos' press secretary, later sent an email saying, "I think its fair to say shes heard from a number of Illinoisans who have asked her to give (running for governor) consideration and she is doing so. "Cheris (Rep. Bustos's) approach to leadership has always been about bringing stakeholders together, listening to everyones concerns and working collaboratively to solve the challenges facing working families," he said. "Cheri is committed to doing whatever she can to help as many Illinoisans as possible and, regardless of what she decides to do, shell continue this same style of inclusive leadership." ROCK ISLAND Police and fire dispatchers could have just answered "10-4," when asked Tuesday if everything's going OK during a state-mandated decision to consolidate emergency call centers (Public Safety Answering Points). Many simply responded that "everything's going well," when asked for an update during an Emergency Telephone System Board meeting held in the Rock Island Police Department's community room. It was a good sign that everything's progressing, board chairman Steve Seiver said. Cities affected have all entered into inter-governmental agreements, and staff members have been attending to all the technical matters and doing their due diligence when it comes to liability, insurance and staffing concerns said Mr. Seiver, who also is Milan village administrator. A law signed by Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner on June 29, 2015, required emergency call centers across the state to consolidate by June 30, 2017. Rock Island County was tasked with cutting its six centers to three. Emergency telephone system board members decided to keep Rock Island and Rock Island County's centers open, but close a Centre Station center handling Moline and East Moline calls, as well as Milan and Silvis centers. Moline, East Moline, Silvis and Milan decided to create a new dispatch center to be housed in Milan. Consolidating centers were given until June 30, 2017, to finish developing specific operational guidelines. Mr. Seiver on Tuesday, said board members are expecting to get an extension to finalize specific plans, and will apply for the extension by mid-Spring, and complete the project by year's end or by early 2018. His biggest concern regarding plans is not knowing what money will be made available in the state's budget once created and approved. Port Byron trustees charged Green Committee Chairman Sarah Ford to come back with two detailed possible proposals to create a Freenotes Harmony Park in Port Byron. In her presentation to the board Tuesday, Mrs. Ford said that after seeing a Freenotes Harmony Park in Durango, Colo., along the Animas River, she knew she wanted to bring a park like it to her hometown someday. It was a magical experience of playing music along side of others, she said. Mrs. Ford and her committee were asked to come with ideas to make the prairie park into an attractive welcoming space. I believe a Music Park will be the perfect addition to this blank slate of a park," Mrs. Ford said. "We can install a variety of instruments along side a smaller selection of prairie plants to create an inviting atmosphere to families, bikers, day care providers, downtown patrons and any and all visitors who want to freely make harmonious music in our town. Trustee Wes Wells said he liked the idea. This park goes along with our goals, ties in with our music projects like Baby Blues Fest, and it will be something that only Port Byron has, Mr. Wells said. It also would expand recreational opportunities along the riverfront, Trustee Bruce Peterson said. Mrs. Ford said she believed the cost of the park would be approximately $18,000 and that much of the money could come from grants and contributions. The instruments are designed by a Grammy-winning composer, made in the USA, durable for all weather, appealing to all ages and abilities and produce concert quality sound, which I can attest to. The residents of Robinson, Ill., just got a music park, and Port Byron can be the next town in Illinois to offer this amazing experience to the community. Itd be the first of its kind in the Quad-Cities region. In other business, Finance Committee Chairman Scott Sidor was given approval to negotiate a $500,000 loan locked in at 2.75 percent for three years. The loan would not be used unless necessary and could be accessed by the mayor and the associate mayor. According to Mr. Sidor it is possible that the village could face a shortfall on the sidewalk project because of the way money could be coming in. We might need it for four months or for as long as a year, Mr. Sidor said. Mayor Kevin Klute told the board that the village is committed to produce the funds when everything was in place. The loan means we will have it (the money) if we need it, Mr. Klute said. Go To The Polls And Pull The Lever We hope everyone turns out to pull the lever next Tuesday (Nov. 8). Actually, new voters wont know what we are talking about, as the... Letters To The Editor Street Closure Dangers Neighbors, Friends, Citizens of NYC/QUEENS: Many may not know that NYC has decided to close off miles of streets to cars in... Were looking back on some of the cool stuff we brought you through the year, we spoke to Mickey Maher, and if you missed it, check it out here. Hes the guy got his break handing out icy cold cans of Coke some 26 years ago, Mickey Maher is the Head of Content for Regional Radio covering off 68 stations for Southern Cross Austereo. Part 1 Here and Part 2 Here The 1.5kV dc standard-gauge 5500 series trains will be equipped with VVVF traction and will have a maximum speed of 120km/h. There will be three sets of doors on each side of the 18m-long stainless steel cars. A pre-series train will be delivered during the 2017 fiscal year, entering service in spring 2018, with a further eight sets due to arrive during 2018. The entire fleet is due to be in service by 2021, enabling the withdrawal of 5300 series EMUs dating from 1990-1997. Union Pacific announced Jan. 3 its acquisition of Railex LLC's refrigerated and cold storage distribution assets in Delano, Calif.; Wallula, Wash.; and Rotterdam, N.Y. Acquisition does not include Railex Wine Services LLC. UP says, Railex, a refrigerated rail service and third-party logistics leader, plays a key role in Union Pacifics Food Network transporting fruits, vegetables and other temperature-sensitive cargo across the United States. The Railex team developed a fantastic business changing how fresh food arrives on Americas tables, offering food shippers fast, reliable door-to-door rail based transportation solutions, said Brad Thrasher, Vice President and General Manager, Agricultural Products. The integration of their highly efficient cross dock facilities and logistics capabilities into Union Pacifics broader Food Network allows us to offer our customers increased access to a wider range of capacity and service solutions in a rail-centric cold chain. Union Pacific Food Trains directly serve Railexs Delano and Wallula facilities, located in major agricultural production regions. The Food Train network provides a service from these growing regions to the Midwest consumer base via Chicago and further into the Northeast region via the CSX. Railex will continue managing facilities during the transition and integration of its operations with Union Pacific. 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 The Pardee RAND Graduate School (PardeeRAND.edu) is home to the only Ph.D. and M.Phil. programs offered at an independent public policy research organizationthe RAND Corporation. Subscriber growth in the past two years has led to record-breaking 2016 audience figures for Spanish pay-TV. During the past year, 20.4% of viewership time was spent on pay-TV options, almost two percentage points more than in 2015. According to an analysis published by Barlovento Comunicacion, this figure is the highest ever reached by pay-TV channels, with Spaniards traditionally preferring free-to-air (FTA) TV.And there is no doubt that audience figures are directly driven by a rising number of subscribers. According to recent reports, Spains pay-TV is going through its most expansive period ever, growing over 9% year-on-year and reaching 5.84 million households by June 2016, most of which have IPTV services.The quick expansion of fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) networks along with the increasing competition among telcos Movistar, Vodafone and Orange has driven pay-TV consumption, said the report.Regarding channels, FOX has been the most watched network during 2016, gathering 6.4% of the total pay-TV viewership. BeIN La Liga is second, followed by the film and series channels TNT, AXN and Canal Hollywood.However, pay-TV figures are still far below those for FTA. There are no pay-TV representatives among the 50 most watched broadcasts of 2016, all of which belong to Atresmedia, Mediaset and the public broadcaster RTVE. Find a great selection of commercial real estate, manufactured homes, timeshares and more for Sale Buy real estate. Find a great selection of commercial real estate, manufactured homes, timeshares and more for Sale in US and Canada. Search Real Estate In a 5-2 ruling, the conservative majority on the Wisconsin Supreme Court determined that the people of Wisconsin are not entitled to see training videos filmed back when Attorney General Brad Schimel, above, was the Waukesha County district attorney. The court's rationale for overturning rulings by lower courts was ridiculous and goes against Wisconsin's tradition of open government. PHOTO BY JOHN HART/STATE JOURNAL , We're sorry, this article is not currently available There are currently over 23,400 recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program in the state of Georgia, none of which are eligible for in-state tuition for colleges under the Georgia Board of Regents. Logan Square bar hoppers now have another place to keep the party going after 2 a.m. The folks behind second-floor nightclub East Room (2354 N. Milwaukee Ave.) announced in a release this morning that the bar is extending its hours until 4 a.m. Sunday through Friday and 5 a.m. Saturday. Owner Russ Grant (Boiler Room, Parts & Labor) and other partners have been working for more than a year to obtain a 4 a.m. liquor license, and DNAinfo reported last January that some neighbors were concerned about the immediate area becoming too rowdy if East Room obtained the late-night status. Advertisement East Room joins The Owl (2521 N. Milwaukee Ave.) as the neighborhood's only bars with late-night hoursthough The Owl's sister location Remedy (1910 N. Milwaukee Ave.), which opened this summer in nearby Bucktown, also has a late-hour liquor license. Since opening about three years ago, East Room has hosted DJ sets from Joey Purp and Best Coast, tattoo parties with downstairs tenant Logan Square Tattoo and bring-your-own vinyl nights. @OhItsHeather & @redeyeeatdrink on Twitter | Instagram Advertisement For more Eat & Drink news, click here. Prepare your replies with expert help, if necessary. Keep relevant documents ready to support your replies, experts tell Sanjay Kumar Singh. The government has asked banks to provide information to the Income-Tax (I-T) Department about savings accounts where deposits have exceeded Rs 2.5 lakh (Rs 12.5 lakh in the case of current accounts) after November 8. If the deposits are higher than past levels or deviate significantly from what a person's savings are expected to be, based on the I-T returns he has filed in the past, he could receive a notice from the tax department. As the government has gone into overdrive against black money, many more notices are expected this year. Type of notice received First, you determine the type of notice you have received. Sometimes the tax department sends enquiry notices, where the officer asks for specific information. A tax scrutiny notice is for examining your I-T return in great detail. "For black money-related cases, the department could issue enquiry notices anytime, asking people to explain the source of large deposits in their savings accounts. Scrutiny notices will be issued only after the return is filed," says Rahul Jain, partner-direct taxation, Nangia & Co. The seriousness of your problem also depends on whether you have received a limited or detailed scrutiny notice. In the former, the officer can ask you to provide information only regarding limited points, say, about a mismatch between the tax return you have filed and the Annual Information Return (AIR) filed by a bank or mutual fund (MF) house for high-value transactions. A detailed scrutiny is a more holistic investigation. "A tax officer can convert a limited scrutiny into a complete scrutiny but not merely on the basis of suspicion or guesswork. He can do so, with the approval of a high-rank officer, only if he forms a reasonable view to believe income exceeding Rs 5 lakh (Rs 10 lakh in a metro) has escaped assessment," says Kuldip Kumar, partner and leader (personal tax), PwC India. What should you do? Just because you have received a notice does not imply wrongdoing on your part. Instead, you should set about dealing with it methodically. First, understand the objective of the notice: Is it a scrutiny notice or only asking for specific information? Next, establish whether it is a valid notice and if the tax officer has the jurisdiction or power to issue it. "The notice ought to specify the nature of proceeding and relevant provision under which the information is being requested. Additionally, it needs to be checked whether the tax officer has appropriate jurisdiction to inquire about transactions of the taxpayer," says Jiger Saiya, partner -- direct tax, BDO India. Next, prepare your replies and provide relevant documents to support your claim. The notice usually specifies the information you have to provide. If required, seek the guidance of a chartered accountant. Under a new scheme that is being optionally tried out in seven cities, you can respond by e-mail. The taxpayer can also choose to respond and give supporting documents in physical form. Information should be properly vetted and only then submitted. Some notices require a personal hearing, where you are called upon to explain the submissions made. "The taxpayer needs to ensure he replies to the notice within the stipulated time. If he fails to do so, there could be a penalty. The tax officer also has the power to make a best-judgement assessment and there are also provisions for prosecution," says Saiya. After you have prepared and filed your returns for a year, store all the relevant documents, so that you can produce these in case of a scrutiny. "How long you need to preserve these documents depends on the source of income and limitation period to reopen assessments. In the case of income from foreign assets, you have to maintain records for 16 years. In case of income from a domestic source, where the income escaped is more than Rs 1 lakh, you have to preserve these documents for six years. In other cases, it is for four years," says Kumar. Get the paperwork right M aintain books of accounts. Keep documents to show vendors' genuineness aintain books of accounts. Keep documents to show vendors' genuineness Those who file returns under presumptive tax should preserve proof of sales and service tax paid. To justify inventory, have purchase bills, sales invoices, record of opening and closing stock. PPF passbook, mutual fund and home loan statements serve as proof for Section 80C deductions. For significant transactions like property purchase, preserve sale deed. Always keep a copy of your bank statement for the year. Ensure gift deeds are in place for large gifts. IMAGE: Sand artist Sudarshan Pattanaik's work of art in Puri, Odisha, seems to say it all. Photograph: PTI Photo The new army chief's highest priority must be to address the critical hollowness in the Indian Army's operational preparedness, says Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal (retd). As the head of perhaps the most potent instrument of the national will, a combat force that has held the nation together through many wars and insurgencies, General Bipin Rawat, the new army chief, has his work cut out. There must be synergy between the new COAS and the government to successfully defeat Pakistan's war against India through asymmetric means, manage periodic tensions on the Line of Actual Control with China and to continue to undertake effective counter-insurgency operations in Jammu and Kashmir and the North-Eastern states. Surgical strikes across the Line of Control and counter-insurgency operations in J&K took centre stage during the year gone by and engaged the attention of the nation and the army's top brass. However, it is operational preparedness and the improvement of the army's combat effectiveness that should be the highest priorities for General Rawat. Next in order of priority should be the modernisation of the force, the development of infrastructure, improvement in training standards and the resolution of organisational issues, including human resources management and the welfare of personnel. In March 2012, General V K Singh, then the COAS, had written to the prime minister about 'critical hollowness' in the army's operational preparedness. He had pointed out large-scale deficiencies in weapons systems, ammunition and equipment in service in the army and the fact that many of the weapons and equipment were obsolete or bordering on obsolescence. In particular, he had brought out that the artillery and air defence arms needed the infusion of modern guns, missiles and radars and the aviation corps required new helicopters to replace the ageing fleet. The infantry was sorely in need of a replacement for the 7.62 mm basic rifle in use. Two consecutive reports of the Comptroller and Auditor General of December 2011 and November 2012 brought out that the state of defence preparedness was a cause for serious concern. The Standing Committee on Defence in Parliament has also noted these developments with concern several times. In an unprecedented move, the Standing Committee on Defence insisted on meeting the three chiefs to take stock of operational preparedness. The Standing Committee on Defence has repeatedly urged the government to increase the defence budget to enable the armed forces to undertake meaningful modernisation. Weapons, ammunition and equipment shortages have persisted for long and several chiefs before General V K Singh had written to the PM and the defence minister for help to make up the shortfall. During the Kargil conflict in 1999, the nation had heard General V P Malik, the then COAS, make the chilling statement on national TV, 'We will fight with what we have.' Though the conflict was confined to Kargil district, 50,000 rounds of artillery ammunition had to be imported as an emergency measure because the stock holding was extremely low. If it had become necessary to open another front, the shortage of artillery ammunition would have seriously hampered operational planning. Military modernisation has two major facets: The replacement of obsolete and obsolescent weapons and equipment with modern ones, which results in increasing combat effectiveness; and, the qualitative upgradation of combat capabilities through the acquisition and induction of force multipliers. General Rawat, like his predecessors, faces a major dilemma: How should a meagre budget be parcelled between improving operational preparedness while simultaneously making concerted efforts to modernise, especially the induction of force multipliers like state-of-the-art intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance systems? Logically, operational preparedness should take precedence over modernisation. The art of military leadership lies in finding an optimum balance so that all efforts that are made to enhance operational preparedness also contribute substantively to modernisation. The new COAS will preside over the transformation of the army to a 'network centric' force capable of executing 'effects-based operations' over the full spectrum of conflict. General Rawat must forge a light, lethal and wired army that can fight and win India's wars on the battlefields of the 21st century -- jointly with the navy and the air force. The Transformation Study undertaken by army headquarters in 2009 will provide good pointers to the shortfalls in cutting edge operational requirements and the measures necessary to overcome these. For example, the army must improve its rapid reaction capability. Ahead of his time as he was, General K Sundarji had nominated an infantry division as an air assault division during Exercise Brass Tacks IV in 1987. Thirty years later, the army still does not have an air assault division. Now, of course, it needs at least two such divisions -- both for conventional conflict and intervention operations. The teeth-to-tail ratio needs substantial improvement. There is a requirement to reduce the costs incurred on manpower without cutting manpower itself; for example, by outsourcing routine maintenance assignments to trade. The logistics chain must be streamlined to provide just-in-time logistics, rather than being dependent on numerous depots with huge inventories. The troops engaged in providing perimeter security of army camps must be better trained to minimise casualties from terrorist attacks. The battle drills of quick reaction teams must be snappier. Training standards must keep pace with the induction of hi-tech weapons and equipment. In the present era of strategic uncertainty, where some threats are predictable while many others are not, the policy should be to train for certainty and educate for uncertainty. And, finally, General Rawat must pay attention to improving the welfare of the troops under his command, including improvement in combat gear, better rations and accommodation. He must spend time resolving personnel issues, such as the grievances regarding pay and allowances, which have been sapping morale. Civil-military relations have not been good in the recent past and the chief must work with civilian counterparts to improve relations by an order of magnitude. No army in the world can be effective if it does not have the unqualified support of the civilian leadership and the bureaucracy. Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal (retd) is Distinguished Fellow, Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA), New Delhi. LAKE GENEVA A downtown Lake Geneva resort was evacuated early Tuesday morning after a fire was discovered on the resorts roof. The Lake Geneva Fire Department was dispatched to the parking lot of The Cove of Lake Geneva, 111 Center St., at 5:23 a.m. Tuesday for a strong odor of natural gas, according to a release issued by the Lake Geneva Fire Department. After completing a systematic and thorough investigation, firefighters discovered elevated levels of gas, but were unable to identify a source. The gas company was also dispatched, the release stated. While crews continued their investigation, the automatic fire alarm began to sound. The hotel was then evacuated while firefighters reported to the area of the fire alarm. A fire on the roof in a heating and air conditioning unit was discovered and was extinguished with dry chemical extinguishers. The damage was limited to the HVAC unit, the release stated. A high-occupancy building like the Cove always has life safety issues when there is a fire, Capt. Mark Moller-Gunderson, public information officer of the Lake Geneva Fire Department, said in a statement. The Cove is the largest resort in the city. It has five swimming pools and numerous rooms. We are fortunate that we had crews already on scene when the fire alarm sounded. With the help of maintenance staff from the Cove, we were able to quickly gain access to the roof, locate the fire, and extinguish it before the fire spread to the rest of the building. Were glad that no one was hurt and that the Cove could return to operation. The cause and origin are under investigation and no injuries were reported. Guests were back in their rooms at 8 a.m., the release stated. 'Of course, I would like a world in which candidates don't ask for my vote on religious (etc) grounds.' 'But will we ever live in a world free of such appeals?' 'More important, will a Supreme Court verdict, by itself, ever deliver such a world?' asks Dilip D'Souza. Illustration: Uttam Ghosh/Rediff.com Not long ago, a bright young film student dropped in to have a chat about the way religion influences our lives. It was well-timed, because I was still seething over a line I had heard in a sermon just two nights earlier. After rattling off some (shaky) observations about his faith, this man concluded: 'And this is why our religion is greater than every other.' I mentioned this incident to the student, saying it encapsulates so much that bothers me about every religion. There's the constant yearning to feel superior -- check the use of phrases like 'only way' and 'most tolerant.' That is always coupled with the urge to belittle other faiths -- check the derogatory connotations of terms like 'infidel' and 'philistine.' There is the assumption that you can say these things in public. Admittedly, most of the sermoniser's audience shared his faith, but there were others present, including agnostics like me. What is such language supposed to make us feel? Yet despite the distaste I feel, I'm also fully aware that religion is never going to disappear, for it speaks to and expresses some deep, fundamental, ineluctable human longing. The challenge for agnostics like me -- and it is a stiff challenge -- is to understand and live with that. All of which might hint at the spirit in which I react to the recent Supreme Court decision holding that asking for votes on the basis of 'religion, race, caste, community or language' is a 'corrupt practice.' I mean, on the face of it, of course, I would like a world in which candidates don't ask for my vote on religious (etc) grounds. I think it is offensive and absurd for a candidate to say in a campaign speech: 'Vote for me because I am Christian.' Just as offensive would be: 'Vote for me because you are all Christian.' (If I need to say it: You can replace 'Christian' in those two sentences with 'Muslim', 'Parsi', 'Hindu', 'Jewish', 'Bah'ai' or your own favourite or not-so-favourite faith). Offensive, because these make the same empty assumption I heard in that sermon. What about your merely being Christian, I'd like to ask such a candidate, makes you deserving of my vote? Why should a Christian vote for you merely because you are one? Why don't you tell me about your record, or your plans for my constituency? But will we ever live in a world free of such appeals? More important, will a Supreme Court verdict, by itself, ever deliver such a world? You might as well ask, will we ever live in a world free of religion? There's a human reality out there that this Supreme Court judgment ignores. Simply put, we are naturally drawn to others of our kind. Throw a group of French speakers in the same room as a group of Hindi speakers, and even if everyone is comfortable with a common language like English, you will find Hindi gravitates to Hindi, French to French. Our matrimonial ads and sites tell the story of what's truly important to us when we select spouses. I'm yet to see a category like 'Long-haired' or 'Between 1.65m and 1.80m tall' or 'Car mechanics', like I see 'Kayastha' or 'Muslim' or 'Roman Catholic'. No: If I'm a Kayastha, somehow I'm persuaded that my spouse must be one as well. And political parties know these sentiments well. Which is why those that speak to caste, language, region or religion attract far more fervent support than those that pretend to cast wider nets. These realities won't change, and certainly not because of this Supreme Court judgment. Again, that's the challenge for agnostics like me. But finally, let's also remember that the judgment was actually a narrow 4-3 verdict. What that was about itself speaks of how far removed from our daily lived experience this judgement is. The split judgment hinged essentially on the meaning of the word 'his' in Section 123(3) of the Representation of Peoples Act. The Act makes it illegal for a candidate to ask for votes 'on the ground of his religion, race, caste, community or language' (emphasis mine). Question: Does 'his' refer to the candidate alone? Or to the electorate as well? You are flabbergasted that I'm asking? Well, the Court's dissenting minority judgment went with the former; the majority with the latter. To me, the language in the Act is clear. 'His' used like that is unambiguous. It refers to the candidate, just as it does in 'The candidate drove his bicycle into the river.' I can't imagine interpreting it any differently. Yet the Supreme Court majority judgment -- and thus the binding one -- has effectively suggested that in that sentence, the bicycle belongs to us all. This is the stuff on which I must rest my agnostic hopes of election campaigns free of religious appeals? Forgive my lack of enthusiasm. 'My election slogan will be, kaam bolta hai.' 'Those who have lined up outside the banks will also line up on voting day and vote against the BJP.' Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav speaks to Radhika Ramaseshan about the assembly elections, demonetisation and its aftermath in the state. (This interview was conducted before the current feuds that have torn the Yadav family asunder.) Are you set to return as chief minister? Yes, of course. I will be back with a full majority. What is the source of your confidence? You are up against anti-incumbency sentiments. My work. Right from day one after winning the election (in 2012), I started preparing for the next election. I was clear if I did not fulfil the promises I made to the people, what would I tell them five years hence? Today, I feel emboldened enough to say, my election slogan will be, kaam bolta hai (my work speaks).' But your laptop distribution scheme, the high point of your party's manifesto in the last election, was angled in favour of beneficiaries in Samajwadi Party strongholds. I challenge you: There was not a single complaint over procurement or distribution. In fact, the success of that scheme goaded me to announce the distribution of smartphones. The next big freebie before the elections? Maybe you think of it as a freebie, but there has been tremendous response to my proposal. Did you think of distributing smartphones after demonetisation and the Centre's propagation of a digital economy -- the phone as wallet? It started before demonetisation; in fact, more than 10 million people have already registered for the scheme. See, I wanted to shatter the myth that sarkari schemes are notional, they exist only on paper, and nothing translates into reality. At the end of the day, people should get relief. If there's a medical emergency in a village, the patient's family should get an ambulance immediately after calling 108 or 102 and not come running to my office. If a cow is ill, the doctor should reach the animal; the villager should not be forced to carry the animal to a vet. Smartphones will enhance connectivity. Let's come back to demonetisation. Many people I have met in Lucknow welcome it for its potential to wipe out corruption. Achcha? (really?) This BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) government at the Centre, what can I say? First, it did a surgical strike across the border in Pakistan. That obviously did not fetch the expected political dividends. Then came the surgical strike against black money. That's how it was initially projected -- as a way to weed out black money, counterfeit currency, terror funds. But did you see how Narendra Modi's confidence waned after his first aggressive speech in Japan? People are angry. So now the government talks about a cashless economy. Where is the preparation? Are people ready for net banking? I am certainly not. I am surprised, because your laptop drive across Uttar Pradesh's villages should have augmented Internet connectivity by now. Certainly young people, even in the rural areas, are comfortable with the mobile, the Internet.... I have to admit that Internet connectivity is uneven. Had I even an inkling about demonetisation, my government could have inserted the relevant app on laptops, trained people, who would have taught others how to do net banking, use Paytm and so on. This is not to say that I am against technology. Not at all. Technology can eliminate corruption, facilitate governance with the right software; but not in the way the BJP government has gone about it. What does the government think: Money will fall from the sky? Demonetisation is a bad decision and the government is looking for ways to save itself from a bad decision. Your state, like others, has seen protests over demonetisation. Those queuing up outside banks were lathi-charged after they turned unruly. Are you worried that law and order could go out of hand if the cash crunch persists? The Centre is sharing no information with us. I have been asking again and again that 'Please tell me how much money there is in which bank, so that we can help people procure cash?' I am pleading with the Centre to send more money to the district banks. But it seems the Centre is trying to offload its troubles on my head. There are law and order issues. I have a list of all the dharnas that were held. The rulers in Delhi have no idea of what's happening on the ground. Farmers have not been able to sow the next crop, development work has stopped, the Kanpur tanneries have closed and workers are unemployed. Do you fear you will have to answer for the aftermath of demonetisation in the polls? No, I don't have to. In a democracy, one who harasses the people will reap the consequences. Those who have lined up outside the banks, hoping to get some money, will also line up on voting day and vote against the BJP. I am confident of that. Will demonetisation dominate your election discourse? Yes, but it will be a part of my campaign, not the whole of it. To me, my development work is paramount. In the end, aren't the Uttar Pradesh elections about getting the caste arithmetic right -- selecting candidates who fit into a constituency's caste equation? Yes, of course. Social equations dominate elections in every democracy. You know what happened in the United States -- the Whites versus the minorities. We do not always give tickets on a caste basis. I do not want to, because this factor will detract from my emphasis on development, which I see as caste- and religion-neutral. Ambulances, hospitals, schools, roads and mandis (marketplaces) are meant for everyone. The feud in your family is out in the open. I believe every member of my family wants the SP to return. ... With Akhilesh Yadav as the CM? I am the CM. Maan na maan, main tera mehmaan (like it or not, I am your guest). 'Mulayam has by design cornered the people's attention back to the party and Akhilesh.' 'People were only talking of Modi and demonetisation, but now suddenly everybody is talking of Akhilesh and the SP.' 'My personal subjective impression is that the SP is neck and neck with the BJP.' IMAGE: Mulayam Singh Yadav's war with his son has ensured that it is the only thing that people talk of. Forget Modi, forget demonetisation. Shrewd, isn't it? Photograph: Pawan Kumar/Reuters As father and son continue to battle it out in the Yadav versus Yadav war in Uttar Pradesh, Dr A K Verma, director, Centre for the Study of Society and Politics, Kanpur, decodes the Samajwadi Party crisis and its impact on the UP assembly polls outcome, in an interview to Rediff.com's Syed Firdaus Ashraf. During our earlier conversation in September 2016, you had said 'Mulayam is an outdated ticket in the Samajwadi Party'. But he is still trying to prove that he is the boss and is going all out against son Akhilesh. What is happening? I would not buy this line of argument right now. I would rather subscribe to the original line that I took, that probably all this is to ensure that Akhilesh has full control over the party and the government. I see a very shrewdly schemed approach in all this. Though publicly it appears that Mulayam is demonstrating that he is against Akhilesh, his real intention is to ensure that the SP is in the right hands. Is this all drama, then? As a shrewd politician and the person who has laid the foundation of the SP, Mulayam has to ensure that the SP has to move forward after he has completed his innings. I do not think the people in his camp like Shivpal Yadav or his brand of politicians have any clout with the people. The only person who could move the party forward and its ideology is Akhilesh. Is there a secret understanding between Mulayam and Akhilesh? It is not a secret, it's very much in the open and it is openly talked about. The body language and other things are clearly demonstrative of that. In November, Ram Gopal Yadav's suspension from the party was revoked and it seemed that things were going fine. What went wrong in a month's time before the party split in December? As a patron of the SP, Mulayam has done a great service to the party by completely marginalising the prime minister and his demonetisation scheme. He has by design cornered the people's attention back to the party and Akhilesh. For the last two months, nobody was talking about anything but Narendra Modi and demonetisation. But today, people are only talking of Akhilesh and the party; that is a big advantage. Don't you think this will have a negative pushback from the voters because of all the infighting. Voters may not opt for Akhilesh. I think we are under-rating the wisdom of the voters. Probably, voters are already with Akhilesh and even the Samajwadi Party is behind the Akhilesh faction and not the Shivpal faction. Prime Minister Modi had a huge rally at Lucknow on Monday. Don't you feel the infighting in the Samajwadi Party will benefit the Bharatiya Janata Party as the mood seems to be swinging in the BJP's favour? As far as numbers and strength at the rally is concerned, it was mind-boggling. But somehow, I found the rally to be unresponsive. I would not call it a successful rally, but, of course, in terms of numbers. it was fine. However, with the kind of hype that was built around it, I could sense disappointment among the people. Why do you think Shivpal misread the mood in the party that all the MLAs were with Mulayam and him? In UP, Akhilesh in the last five years has developed a good, clean, image of a politician who is young and committed to development. You may buy it or not, that is a different matter, as per your political orientation. But there is consensus that Akhilesh Yadav is focused on development and has a clean image. These are the qualities people are looking in their chief minister. The only disadvantage about Akhilesh is that he was a little shy and was on a weak ticket while taking strong decisions. But now by eliminating his uncle Shivpal, who doesn't have a good image among the public, he has shown he has full control over the government. Now people think that he is not only clean and development focused, but also in complete power. That is a very important development. IMAGE: 'Though publicly it appears that Mulayam is demonstrating that he is against Akhilesh, his real intention is to ensure that the SP is in the right hands. Photograph: Kind courtesy Akhilesh Yadav/Facebook Why couldn't Mulayam build bridges between Shivpal and Akhilesh? The bridge was beyond repair. If you remember in 2012 there was high voltage drama in the SP and with great difficulty Mulayam could keep Shivpal away from the chief minister's post. He knew Shivpal's genuine desire to become chief minister, which was very natural. They have been together for a very long time. It was not easy for Mulayam to brush away Shivpal's ambition and therefore he understood that if he could not brush away his ambition, then it is better to stand by Shivpal and at the same time do something that is in the interest of the party and its future. Out of the 224 SP MLAs, only 22 turned up in support for Mulayam. Why is that? There are two approaches to this. One is that it has the internal blessings of Mulayam Singh and therefore this happened. Secondly, most of the people who are in politics clearly understand that Mulayam Singh's innings is at the fag end and therefore the future is with Akhilesh. Also, Akhilesh is the incumbent chief minister and head of the party, so they feel there is a future for them with Akhilesh. Is an alliance with the Congress possible for Akhilesh at this juncture? It is probably a little late for that. It will be good for Akhilesh to go all alone. If he falls short of certain numbers to form the government, then he can form a government with the Congress. IMAGE: The Samajwadi Party's war has now spilled over to Delhi with both warring factions fighting over the party's 'Cycle' symbol. Photograph: Jitendra Prakash/Reuters Why are they fighting over the symbol? Why is the 'cycle' so important? Mulayam's intention would be, if my analysis is correct, then I think he would try that the cycle symbol is seized by the Election Commission and not be allotted to him or the Akhilesh faction. He will not want his own faction to get the symbol because he would not want his own faction to get an advantage. If they go separately without the cycle, then no one will get an advantage. And whatever party symbol Akhilesh's side gets will become the symbol of the Samajwadi Party in the future. This is what Indira Gandhi did when she split from the Congress. She got the 'cow and calf' symbol whereas the Congress' original symbol was the bullock cart. Indira Gandhi split the Congress to form her Congress-R and the Nijalingappa Congress became the Congress-O. Indira Gandhi got the 'cow and calf' symbol, which later on was allotted as the hand symbol which till today continues to be the Congress symbol. Will Mulayam Singh end up like N T Rama Rao? (Laughs). Don't under-rate Mulayam Singh Yadav. Nobody can beat Mulayam without his own desire to be beaten. Will this internal politics benefit Akhilesh politically? He has already generated a lot of sympathy. People know that Mulayam Singh's innings is over. They also know if Mulayam Singh is running the party, then it is actually Shivpal who is running the party. Even party people went with Akhilesh and this means he is the real boss. Shivpal Yadav's innings is almost over. Do you feel Akhilesh will win the UP elections? I am curious now. This is because in the first week of December our study was showing the BJP at number one, but after this drama I feel Akhilesh has the advantage. People were only talking of Modi and demonetisation after November 8, but now suddenly everybody is talking of Akhilesh and the SP, which is a big electoral advantage. Things have changed and my personal subjective impression is that now the SP is neck and neck with the BJP. India will give a calibrated hard response to terror activities that will compel Pakistan to completely rethink its strategy on supporting insurgency and terrorism across the border, says new Army Chief General Bipin Rawat. Gen Rawat, who as the vice chief was actively involved in the surgical strikes on terror camps across the Line of Control, also feels while it has to be ensured that pain is felt by the terrorists and their supporters, the response need not be in the same manner always. He brushed aside Pakistans threat of use of tactical nuclear weapons, saying such statements will not deter India when it comes to defending its borders. While we do agree that we have to retaliate and ensure that the pain is felt by the terrorists and their supporters, the response need not be the same every time, the army chief told PTI in an interview in New Delhi. Gen Rawat, who took over as the 27th chief on December 31, said, We will calibrate the response in a manner it hits them hard and compels them to think in the long run whether they need to completely rethink their strategy on supporting insurgency and terrorism in our state. He was asked about Defence Minister Manohar Parrikars statement that enemy needs to feel the pain too. Gen Rawat also said that not every incident needs to be seen from the same perspective as there is a large number of terrorists operating in the valley who are always attempting to carry out some sort of violence against the security forces and citizens. Asked about Pakistan's threat of using tactical nukes, the army chief said nuclear weapons are weapons of deterrence. "And if Pakistan is reviewing their strategy on use of nuclear weapon, it is something that they have decided to strategise, he said, adding that Pakistans statements does not find favour either with India or with the international community. Gen Rawat said one will have to wait and see what call Pakistan takes finally. He said that the government, which decides the nuclear policy, may not be deterred by the threat in case India is forced to get into a confrontation with Pakistan along the borders. Any policy that is made is subject to analysis and review. If a review is necessitated and it is felt that this review is necessary, we will go along with the government. -- (On India s No First Use policy) Responding to a question on whether India needs to revisit the no first use policy, Gen Rawat said all policies are subject to review. Any policy that is made is subject to analysis and review. If a review is necessitated and it is felt that this review is necessary, we will go along with the government, he said. He said India is a democracy and nuclear policy is not decided at his level but by the government. There are various guidelines that have been formulated and it will be issued. But if a review has to be taken, directions will come from the hierarchy, he said. He also spoke extensively on modernisation of the army and said time has come to imbibe new technology and adapt them to weapon systems and equipment that we wish to bring and induct into the armed forces. Admitting that while not everything can be made in India, he said the army is also looking at collaborating with some of the international firms manufacturing weapons and finally looking at transfer of technology which will give a boost to domestic industry. Image: Army Chief General Bipin Rawat. Photograph: Atul Yadav/PTI Photo Coming close on the heels of the Trinamool Congress attack on the state party headquarters of the Bharatiya Janata Party in Kolkata on Tuesday, West Bengal BJP general secretary Krishna Bhattacharyas house was attacked with bombs in Hooghly district on Tuesday night. Three men, with their faces covered, came on a motorcycle to her house in Konnanagar Jorapukur Ghat at 9 pm and started hurling bombs. They barged into the house, smashed a windowpane, damaged furniture, and abused and assaulted her, Bhattacharya said in her police complaint. The BJP leader said in her complaint that it was the handiwork of anti-socials harboured by the TMC. She has been admitted to UttarparaStateGeneralHospital where her condition has been described as stable, hospital sources said. The police said they rushed to her house after getting the information, adding that investigation was on. District TMC leader Tapan Dasgupta said no party supporter was involved in the incident. Several BJP workers were injured on Tuesday when activists of the students wing of Trinamool Congress had attacked the state party headquarters here with stones to protest the arrest of the TMC MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay in the Rose Valley chit fund scam case. Three days after New Year eve revelry turned into a nightmare for several women who were allegedly molested at a large gathering in Bengalurus downtown area, police claimed to have found credible evidence of molestation and have registered an FIR. As the incidents drew widespread outrage with no action from the police, Bengalurus new commissioner of police, Praveen Sood through a series of tweets, said his team was working on the case silently. As promised we have found credible evidence repeat credible evidence in a case of wrongful confinement, molestation and attempt to rob, Sood had said in a tweet. We have taken action by registering an FIR. Investigation is in progress. Police is working.... though silently, he had said in another tweet. Stating that an enquiry is underway by an officer of deputy commissioner of police rank, he has said that they have gone through the feeds from 45 cameras on MG road, and unedited video is available with police. Eyewitness accounts had suggested that women were molested and groped and lewd remarks were also passed by miscreants late night on December 31 in the posh area even as it was claimed that 1,500 police personnel had been deployed to control the crowds. Police had earlier said that no one had come forward to file a complaint about the incident. If any woman lodges a complaint of molestation that took place on December 31 night, the police will not waste even a minute in registering a case and launch a probe, Sood had tweeted on January 2, adding even without a complainant if police finds credible evidence of molestation, a case will be registered suo motu without waiting. Sood took over as the city police commissioner from N S Megharikh, on January 1. Bengaluru incident shameful, says Aamir Khan Superstar Aamir Khan condemned the molestation incident in Bengaluru, terming it as extremely shameful and saddening. What happened in Bangalore was very sad. We all are saddened and feel ashamed when something like this happens in our country. Every state government should take a step for this, Aamir said. The 51-year-old actor feels it is high time the law and order becomes strong and works rapidly to set an example. You see in America, if an incident like this happens, within two-three months the guilty person is punished and the case is closed. When this happens, I feel there will be a big change. Aamir says it is important to punish the culprits so that a strong message is sent across. In todays age, people who misbehave with girls think nothing will happen to us. When such examples come in front of us, that whoever did this is behind bars within 2-3 months, and continuously if we see this, situation will change. There will be fear among people, which is a very important thing. Communist Party of India-Marxist leader Brinda Karat on Wednesday attacked Karnataka minister G Parameshwara over his objectionable remarks after women were molested en masse in Bengaluru, saying he has no right to continue in office after the reprehensible statement. With his utterly reprehensible statement, the home minister of Karnataka has forfeited the right to hold office, the CPI-M politburo member said. Parameshwara had blamed the western ways of youngsters for the Bengaluru molestation incident. The remarks were widely condemned. Questioning the law and order situation in the state, Karat said the mass molestation took place in the presence of police, yet there was not a single arrest. The CCTV footage of the incident shows the licence the molesters enjoy as they are certain they will get away with their sexual crimes instead of getting punished, she said. At the same time, the CCTV footage is a mirror to where India is today when citizens are so uncaring or afraid that they do not intervene to stop a crime against a young woman taking place before their eyes and instead many blame women for the crimes against them, she said. The former Parliamentarian urged citizens to speak out against such incidents or else the number of such cases would only increase. The incidents of molestation occurred on Saturday night in and around the junction of Brigade Road and M G Road, where thousands had gathered to herald the New Year. Eyewitness accounts said women were molested and groped and lewd remarks were also passed by miscreants late night on December 31 in the posh area, even as it was claimed that 1,500 police personnel had been deployed to control the crowds. Speaking to a TV news channel on the issue, Parameshwara had said, Unfortunately, what is happening is, as I said, days like new year, Brigade Road, Commercial Street, M G Road, large number of youngsters gather. Youngsters who are almost like westerners, they try to copy the westerners not only in the mindset, but even the dressing. Trinamool Congress workers on Wednesday took to the streets in various parts of West Bengal to protest arrest of party leader Sudip Bandopadhyay and staged a demonstration in front of union minister Babul Supriyos house demanding his arrest. IMAGE: TMC MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay being taken to court from CBI office in Bhubaneswar on Wednesday . Photograph: ANI/Twitter The Bharatiya Janata Party, whose office was attacked on Tuesday by the people carrying TMC flags, meanwhile, urged state governor K N Tripathi to send a report to the Centre demanding imposition of Presidents Rule in view of 'growing lawlessness' in the state. TMC activists staged protest in front of the housing society where Supriyos house is located, demanded his arrest and resorted to rail blockade at some places. Supriyo said the TMC activists burnt the BJP flag in front of the society and questioned the role of the police. My parents and other residents are scared. Let Didi (Mamata Banerjee) give proof of my involvement in the Rose Valley scam, I will be arrested, he said. TMC also took out processions at various places and organised rail blockade at Kankurgachi and staged a protest in front of the Central Bureau of Investigation office. A TMC delegation led by party secretary general Partha Chatterjee also met the governor and complained of political vendetta by the Centre against TMC which is opposing demonetisation. IMAGE: TMC supporters stage a rail-roko protest in Cooch Behar over arrest of TMC MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay. Photograph: ANI/Twitter Bandyopadhyay was on Wednesday remanded in six days of CBI custody by a special court in the Rose Valley chit fund scam case. Following the court order, his party activists staged a demonstration before CBI's Odisha headquarters in Bhubaneswar. The TMC MP's lawyer Rajiv Majumdar and others were present in the Chief Judicial Magistrate's court when judge P K Mishra remanded Bandyopadhyay for six days against CBI's appeal for a 12-day remand. The CBI lawyer argued in the court that the agency should be given maximum time to interrogate the MP as he was not actively cooperating with the investigation. The MP's petition for bail was also rejected by the court even as his lawyer pleaded that his client was unwell. "I am innocent. I have no involvement in the scam. I have placed my point of view before the court and will again appeal the court to consider my point of argument," Bandyopadhyay told reporters after appearing in the court. He was produced at the CBI-designated special court amid tight security after his medical examination at the Capital Hospital. IMAGE: TMC workers protesting outside Babul Supriyo's house. Photograph: Babul Supriyo/Twitter He also demanded that CBI arrest Supriyo in connection with Rose Valley chit fund scam. They (BJP) cannot stop TMC by conspiring and arresting our leaders, he said. On BJPs demand of imposition of Presidents rule, he said, They can demand anything. State BJP president Dilip Ghosh led a party delegation to Raj Bhavan and apprised the governor of the attack on their party office yesterday by TMC men. It was unthinkable. We did not expect this. Our party office was attacked at different places including Hooghly and Durgapur. Babul Supriyos house was attacked. We are concerned. It should stop," he said. The state BJP chief also accused Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of provoking her party workers to attack BJP offices and leaders. MPs marching towards PM's residence held IMAGE: TMC leaders, including Kalyan Banerjee and Saugata Roy, protest after being detained at Tughlaq Road Police Station in New Delhi on Wednesday. Photograph: ANI/Twitter In New Delhi, Trinamool Congress MPs took out a protest march towards the prime ministers residence but were taken into police custody before they could reach 7 Lok Kalyan Marg. "We were marching peacefully towards the prime ministers residence, but the police detained us mid-way and manhandled few of our MPs, TMC leader Saugata Roy told reporters. He added that as many as 36 MPs from the party took part in this protest march and they will continue to raise their voices against injustice done by the Modi government. The counting of votes for all five states will be held on March 11. Assembly elections in the politically-crucial Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur will be held between February 4 and March 8 in what will be the first major test for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's gamble on demonetisation. While polling will be spread over seven phases in Uttar Pradesh, it will be a one-day affair in Uttarakhand, Punjab and Goa, and a two-day exercise in Manipur. Counting of votes will be taken up together in all the states on March 11, the Election Commission announced on Wednesday setting in process the mega political exercise in the new year. Announcing the schedule, Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi said the Commission will keep a watch on the use of black money, which is expected to come down due to demonetisation. Steps will be taken up to ensure that other illegal inducements are not used to influence voters, he said. In Uttar Pradesh, which has a 403-member House, polls will be held on February 11 (73 constituencies), February 15 (67 constituencies), February 19 (69), February 23 (53), February 27 (52), March 3 (49) and March 8 (40). SEE HOW UP WILL VOTE Unlike last elections, Manipur, which recently witnessed violence raising questions whether elections would be possible now, will have a two-day polling on March 4 (38 constituencies) and March 8 (22 seats). Here, the Congress seeks to retain power. Polling will be held in Punjab and Goa together on February 4 and in Uttarakhand it will be held on February 15. The whole electoral process will begin with the issue of notification for polls in Punjab and Goa on January 11. The family feud and the split in ruling Samajwadi Party have injected a new dimension in the politics in Uttar Pradesh where the Bharatiya Janata Party hopes to capture power after 14 years on the back of a sweep in Lok Sabha elections in 2014. The Bahujan Samaj Party and the Congress, the other main challengers, hope to make it a quadrangular fight but for some alliances being made. Punjab, which a 117-member assembly, promises to be an essentially three-way fight between the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal-Bharatiya Janata Party combine, the Congress and the new entrant Aam Aadmi Party. After sensational political developments in Uttarakhand in 2016, where the Congress was temporarily dislodged from power due to defections, the party and the BJP are set for a virtual direct fight on 70 seats. In Goa, where the BJP seeks to retain most of the 40 assembly seats to remain in power, the AAP is being seen as a new player which plans to topple the applecart of national parties Congress and BJP. Over 16 crore people will participate in these polls for 690 constituencies in five states, for which the commission has set up 1.85 lakh polling stations, up 15 per cent from the number during the 2012 polls. "The model code of conduct will come into immediate effect and will apply on political parties and state governments concerned, besides the Central government in terms of announcements in these states," Zaidi said. The CEC said candidates will have to open a bank account for all election expenditures and expenses above Rs 20,000 will be made through cheques from the new accounts. He added that donations above Rs 20,000 will also be accepted through cheques. The maximum limit for expenses for each candidates in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Uttarakhand is Rs 28 lakh, while that in Goa and Manipur is Rs 20 lakh, he said. Responding to a question on poll funding, the CEC said the commission has already asked the government to cut down to Rs 2,000 the present Rs 20,000 limit on anonymous donations to parties. He said as part of reforms, the candidates will have to submit a 'No-Demand Certificate' from agencies providing amenities and government accommodation. The certificate will come from agencies dealing with electricity, water, telephone and also the rent certificate of the government accommodation which these candidates may have occupied in past 10 years. Defence personnel posted away from their homes constituencies can cast vote through one-way electronic transmission of ballot in the polls. But the facility may not be available in all the constituencies this time and could be extended in a select seats. The commission had first experimented the initiative in a Puducherry bypoll recently. Asked about suggestions that the Commission 'waited' for Prime Minister Modi's Lucknow rally before announcing the poll schedule, Zaidi said the poll panel "has its own mind." "It does not make its schedule according to the request of political parties," he said. The commission will issue photo voter slips to voters ahead of polls and will, for the first time, also distribute a colourful booklet that will guide the voters on date and time of polls and location of polling stations, besides Dos and Don'ts for them. To encourage more participation of women in election management process, the EC will also have some all-woman polling stations this time around, besides making all polling stations friendly for differently-able persons. The tenure of Punjab, Goa and Manipur assemblies are ending on March 18, while that of Uttarakhand's on March 26 and Uttar Pradesh assembly on May 27. Of the total 690 constituencies going to polls in these five states, 133 are reserved for Scheduled Castes and 23 for Scheduled Tribe. To ensure full secrecy of a voter and that facial expressions don't indicate their choice of candidate, the EC had decided to increase the height of the shield that covers the EVM to 30 inches. As per the schedule announced by the Election Commission, Punjab and Goa will go to polls on February 4 for which separate notifications will be issued on January 11 and the last date of filing nominations will be January 18. Scrutiny of nomination papers will be carried out on January 19 and candidates can withdraw from the electoral battle till January 21. In Uttar Pradesh, the notification for the first phase will be issued on January 17 and the last date of filing nominations would be January 24. The scrutiny will take place on January 25 and candidates can withdraw by January 27. The date of poll for phase 1 is February 11. For phase 2, the notification will be issued on January 20 and the last date of filing papers is January 27. January 30 is the date set for scrutiny of nominations and February 1 is the last date when candidates can withdraw from contest. The poll date for the second phase is February 15. For the third phase in UP, the notification will be issued on January 24 and January 31 is the last date for filing nominations. The scrutiny date has been set as February 1 and by February 3, candidates can withdraw from the poll process. The date of poll is February 15. The phase 4 notification will be issued on January 30 and February 6 is the date by which nominations can be filed. The scrutiny is the next day and withdrawal of candidature can be done till February 9. The polling date is February 23. For phase 5, the notification will be issued on February 2 and the last date of filing nominations is February 9. The scrutiny is scheduled for the next day and by February 13 candidates can withdraw. The date of poll has been fixed for February 27. For the penultimate phase, the nomination will be issued on February 7, and February 14 is the date by which nominations can be filed. The scrutiny of papers is on February 16 and candidates can withdraw from the race by February 18. The date of poll for the sixth phase has been fixed for March 3. The notification for the final phase of UP assembly election will be out on February 9. February 16 is the last date of making nominations and scrutiny will take place on February 17. Candidates can withdraw by February 20 and the date of poll is March 8. Uttarakhand will go to polls on February 15 for which the notification will be issued on January 20 and the last date of filing nominations is January 27. The scrutiny will be held on January 30 and candidates can withdraw from the race by February 1. The first phase of Manipur assembly election will take place on March 4 for which the notification will be issued on February 7. While nominations can be filed by February 14, the scrutiny will be held on February 16 and the candidates can withdraw till February 18. The election in the second phase will be held on March 8 for which notification will be out on February 9. While February 16 is the last date of filing nominations, the scrutiny will be held the next day. Candidates can withdraw by February 20. Click here to see which UP assembly constituency votes when Image used for representational purpose only. Christopher Scott Mueller was what some people might call a hermit. He lived alone in a rundown trailer in the town of Bear Creek, about 30 miles southwest of Baraboo. His mobile home didnt have working heat or septic systems, and was situated in a field about 600 feet from a rural road. Although some describe him as well-educated, Mueller also was strange and troubled by many accounts. If you talked to him, he didnt have problems, said Joseph Bauer, a neighbor. The whole rest of the world had problems. Mueller was 64 years old on Oct. 26 when he was found dead on a mattress inside his trailer. His passing was barely acknowledged by a two-sentence death notice in the Eau Claire Leader-Telegram that got his age wrong. The same day his remains were discovered, the coroner ruled that Mueller died of natural causes. But documents raise questions about whether environmental factors played a role, and whether a government official should have intervened. Jean Berlin, a member of the Sauk County Board whose district includes the town of Bear Creek, said a county attorney failed Mueller by not removing him from a dangerous environment. I dont think that was acceptable, Berlin said. Why should someone live without heat? He didnt have indoor plumbing. He lived like an animal. Health nuisance Documents contained in a Sauk County zoning file show officials had declared Muellers property a danger to public health at least as early as December 2014, nearly two years before his death. And although a county attorney had a legal obligation to enforce Muellers removal, he never did. A zoning inspector who repeatedly visited the 40-acre property off Cummings Road noted in reports that Muellers septic tank was broken. He alleged Mueller was using his front porch as a bathroom, with buckets and bottles holding waste that he illegally dumped. Aside from the alleged dumping of human waste, there were bags of garbage, unlicensed vehicles, and piles of scrap metal strewn about. The inspector, Steve Sorenson, saw the property as an illegal junkyard. Sorenson also determined that a permit for Muellers trailer approved under a 1970s zoning ordinance that allowed mobile homes for farm workers had expired. He wrote about his findings in memos to the countys chief legal counsel. Memos show poor conditions In one October 2015 memo to Sauk County Corporation Counsel Todd Liebman, Sorenson wrote about a conversation he had with Mueller during a visit to the property. The memo said Mueller spoke non-stop for 45 minutes, expressing concerns for his health that included suicidal thoughts. But he never answered Sorensons questions about whether he intended to clean up the property. Sorenson wrote that Mueller believed staying in the house for another winter would kill him. His feet were swollen, and he thought he had cancer. Its unclear whether there was an effort to remove Mueller from the property for mental health reasons. Such records are protected by privacy laws, and a Sauk County Human Services Department employee who worked with Mueller declined a request for comment. But the effort to remove Mueller due to a public health hazard was a separate matter. It didnt require the county to prove anything about his mental state, only that his property was a health nuisance. In November 2015, Liebman had Mueller served with an abatement order under the countys environmental health ordinance. The document demanded Mueller vacate the trailer and correct any violations. In a letter that accompanied the order, Liebman promised to commence action in Sauk County Circuit Court if Mueller didnt comply within 30 days. Sauk County has sought voluntary compliance to no avail, Liebman wrote in the letter. At this time, Sauk County directs that you discontinue habitation of the mobile home, have it removed from the premises, and that you remove the junk from your property within thirty days. A private detective who delivered the abatement order swore in an affidavit that Mueller was dirty, with sores on his left foot, when he arrived. Mueller told the detective, Im sick and I cant do this. Documents show Sorenson, the zoning inspector, revisited the property in December 2015, after the 30-day notice expired, and found that Mueller hadnt complied with the order. He sent another memo to Liebman to inform him that the matter was unresolved. No legal action taken In an interview, Sorenson said he could not discuss Muellers zoning case directly because it still is active. However, Sorenson said he gives violators many opportunities to correct problems before he suggests legal action. After a case has reached the stage Muellers was in, Sorensons involvement is minimal. Its out of my hands at that point, he said. The countys environmental health ordinance says Liebman has the duty of prosecuting those who violate abatement orders, and shall take steps that he deems appropriate to enforce them. Violators can be fined up to $200 per day and jailed. In the case of improper sewage disposal, the ordinance says, the county can enter the property to remove the nuisance, or contract with a state agency to do so. Ten months passed from when Liebman was notified that Mueller had not met the abatement deadline and the day he was found dead. Liebman never took legal action to enforce his removal. Liebman: He wouldve died elsewhere In an interview, Liebman said he stands by his handling of the case. The county bent over backward to help a competent individual who made poor lifestyle choices, he said, and further legal action would not have prevented Muellers death. We try to seek voluntary compliance with every individual, Liebman said. The steps taken were appropriate under the circumstances. If we had filed (legal action) earlier, what theoretically would have been the result? If we had ejected him, where would he have gone? He would have died in his car, or he would have died in a hotel somewhere. Liebman said the county had additional contacts with Mueller after serving the abatement order in which officials tried to get him to voluntarily comply. Evidence of such contacts is not contained in the zoning case file, and Liebman couldnt provide specific examples. Memos removed The Baraboo News Republic reviewed a group of memos from Muellers public zoning file before it was scrubbed. The memo that detailed Muellers poor health, and the one that showed Liebman was notified of his failure to comply with the abatement order, no longer are in the file. In a records request response form, a zoning employee wrote that the Sauk County Corporation Counsels Office directed that any attorney-client communications be removed. Call for help The neighbor, Bauer, described Mueller as a bright man who was stubborn and often behaved erratically. The two men had a relationship that was sometimes turbulent. Court documents outline one conflict between the neighbors that occurred in 1999, when Bauer notified law enforcement that Mueller had spray-painted something about him in the road. Mueller told a deputy he meant no harm, and only did it because he could not communicate his point adequately to Bauer. The Sauk County District Attorneys Office charged Mueller with a misdemeanor graffiti offense, but later dismissed the case after Bauer said he no longer wanted to prosecute. Despite their conflicts, Bauer looked out for his unusual neighbor. Mueller would hang an orange jacket on his trailer when he needed something. And when Bauer saw it, he would stop by to offer help. On Oct. 26, Bauer said, he saw the jacket hanging. He knocked on the trailer door, but didnt get an answer. So he contacted a social worker who advised him to call law enforcement. Bauer dialed up the Sauk County Sheriffs Department and asked that someone check on his neighbor. Natural causes declared Documents show a deputy arrived on scene and discovered Muellers decomposed body on a mattress in the bedroom. There was only a single walking path through the cluttered trailer. A detective noted in his report that it appeared the corpse had been there for some time. The deputys report notes that the last time Bauer saw his neighbor was in September, when Mueller talked to him through the trailer about how the county was trying to steal his money and trying to kill him. The death investigation went like this: The detective noticed no obvious signs of distress, assault, battery or robbery at the trailer. Later at the morgue, three law enforcement officers assisted Sauk County Coroner Greg Hahn in examining the body for signs of violence. They found none. Hahn then consulted with a Dane County forensic pathologist by phone, and they determined there should be no autopsy. There was no evidence that his death was anything other than of a natural manner, the detective reported. In an interview, Hahn said he was aware the property had been deemed a health hazard. Although he ruled the death was due to natural causes, he could not say whether environmental factors such exposure to the cold, or an infection played a role. It would have been expensive to find out, he said. You can get into details, but that costs a lot of money to do the studies, Hahn said. What would it have accomplished? It was him himself. This was all his choices. The Dane County pathologist who Hahn consulted with said he does not recall being informed that Muellers property was a health nuisance. I dont remember having been told anything about that, Dr. Michael Stier said. Those who live in squalor can die from factors associated with their environment, Stier said. But when someone has been dead for as long as Mueller, it becomes difficult to determine the true cause of death. When someone decomposes, the yield for an autopsy goes way, way down, Stier said. Tissues literally go away. Stier said listing the cause of death as unknown is an option, but took no position on whether that was a more appropriate designation than natural causes in Muellers case. Supervisor: System failed Mueller Mueller left no will. And his two siblings one from the state of Oregon and another from Maryland have been named as the only interested parties in an estate worth at least $50,000. Neither returned phone calls. His death notice said the Cremation Society of Wisconsin, in Altoona, handled arrangements. Berlin, the county board supervisor, said she thinks the system failed Mueller on multiple levels. And she questioned why Liebman didnt take legal action for 10 months when he knew about the state of Muellers living conditions and poor health. I think hes avoiding his moral obligation as a public official, Berlin said. He should have acted upon it. I feel he had a responsibility. After all, it is a human life. Berlin said she has heard from constituents familiar with Mueller who asked why the county didnt do more to help him. Moving forward Liebman said the property still must be brought into compliance with county ordinances. For now, he said, he will wait to seek a disposition until ownership of the property has been resolved. Until then, Muellers mobile home remains in the field off Cummings Road. The orange jacket has been removed. A Madison man arrested with a lighter in his pocket and starter fluid in his backpack was sentenced to three years in prison Wednesday for setting fire in April to a Southwest Side house where he had rented, and been kicked out of, a basement room. James T. Riendeau, 39, admitted setting fire to a house in the 1100 block of Sunridge Drive on April 24. As part of a plea agreement, charges of attempted first-degree intentional homicide and violating a restraining order were dismissed. At the hearing, Riendeau said he started fires outside the house because he was tired of sleeping outside as a homeless person and wanted to get arrested and put in jail. Dane County Circuit Judge William Hanrahan sentenced Riendeau to three years in prison and five years of extended supervision. He will be credited with 316 days already served in the Dane County Jail. The arson charge carried a maximum penalty of up to 40 years of combined prison and extended supervision. Dane County Assistant District Attorney William Brown asked for three years in jail plus 10 years extended supervision. Noting that Riendeau had been banned from the UW-Madison campus (from 2012 to 2016), where he was employed as a computer technician for 17 years, Brown said Riendeau clearly has serious problems with his thought processes. After he was fired in 2012, Riendeau made several threats in front of police that he would shoot people on campus, according to a search warrant issued at that time. In many respects he was a bad arsonist, but an arsonist nonetheless, Brown said in court Wednesday, and an extremely dangerous man. He not only made threats, but he acted on those threats, said Brown. The homeowner told police it appeared that Riendeau set three fires outside her house so they would burn the bedroom where she slept and the room where her computer sits at night, according to a criminal complaint. The fire melted the siding on the house. Burn damage was also found on a wooden fence and a bush. A boarder at the house for about three years, he had threatened weeks earlier, while in a mental health institution, to burn her house down, information relayed to the woman by police. The night of the fire, police located him a short distance away. He was carrying a 10-inch lighter in one pocket, a bottle of charcoal fire-starter fluid in his backpack and a GPS bracelet from the Dane County Bail Monitoring program. That showed the wearer had visited the burned house area a few minutes earlier. His lawyer, Murali Jasti, asked for 30 days of jail time and 5 years probation, recounted Riendeaus horrible childhood, a litany of institutional failures and resulting significant mental health issues. In a short statement, Riendeau, who slumped in his chair during the hearing, intently staring at the table top, said his actions were not a game for me, this is my life. I have no excuses for what I did. I dont like sleeping out in the cold, that is why I did it. Hanrahan also ordered Reindeau have no contact with the homeowner, make restitution, and not possess any weapons or lighters. 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. 2016 prison census - China: Jiang Yefei Publisher Committee to Protect Journalists Publication Date 1 December 2016 Cite as Committee to Protect Journalists, 2016 prison census - China: Jiang Yefei, 1 December 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/586cb8dda.html [accessed 4 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. Jiang Yefei, Freelance Medium: Internet Charge: Anti-State, Retaliatory Imprisoned: November 13, 2015 Jiang Yefei, a political cartoonist, was repatriated from Thailand alongside a Chinese activist, Dong Guangping, and detained by Chinese authorities on November 13, 2015 on suspicion of "assisting others to illegally cross the national border," according to the state news agency Xinhua. In May 2016, police in Chongqing city in southwestern China added the accusation of "inciting subversion of state power," according to the Ireland-based rights group Front Line Defenders. Jiang, who is also an activist, fled to Thailand in 2008 after being harassed by Chinese authorities, according to Human Rights Watch. The cartoonist was detained twice that year after giving interviews to the international press in which he criticized the government's handling of the Sichuan earthquake, according to Radio Free Asia. Jiang was granted refugee status by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and had been accepted for resettlement by Canada, according to Human Rights Watch and news reports. While in Thailand, Jiang used his social media accounts and articles published on the overseas Chinese-language news website Boxun to continue to speak publicly against China's human rights record and other policies. The journalist's wife, Chu Ling, told CPJ that since 2014, Jiang has been publishing political cartoons on his Facebook and Google+ page. In 2015, Jiang published a series of cartoons on Boxun, Chu said. She told CPJ that in 2015, as her husband's cartoons became more popular, she and Jiang received several anonymous phone calls from China demanding Jiang stop drawing. Chinese authorities also threatened Jiang's brother in China, asking him to tell his brother to stop drawing, Chu said. In October 2015, Jiang was arrested by Thai authorities for allegedly breaking immigration rules by helping Dong come to Thailand, according to reports. Dong had spent 10 months in a Chinese jail for participating in a commemoration of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre before being released in February 2015, according to the BBC. On November 13, 2015 the Thai government deported Jiang and Dong to China, despite objections raised by human rights organizations and the Canadian government, which had accepted their applications for asylum, according to news reports. On November 26, 2015 Jiang appeared on the Chinese state broadcaster CCTV, dressed in prison clothes, and confessed to human smuggling. He said he regretted his actions and pleaded for leniency. According to Chu, from the footage, Jiang looked as if he was in pain. "It was obvious to me that he had been beaten. A friend who was imprisoned for 13 years told me that from his experience in jail, it was clear to him that my husband was tortured," Chu told CPJ. CPJ was unable to verify her claims. Jiang is being held at the No.2 Detention Center in Chongqing, according to Radio Free Asia. Copyright notice: Committee to Protect Journalists. All rights reserved. Articles may be reproduced only with permission from CPJ. 2016 prison census - China: Ilham Tohti Publisher Committee to Protect Journalists Publication Date 1 December 2016 Cite as Committee to Protect Journalists, 2016 prison census - China: Ilham Tohti, 1 December 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/586cb8de4.html [accessed 4 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. Ilham Tohti, Uighurbiz Medium: Internet Charge: Anti-State Imprisoned: January 15, 2014 Tohti, a Uighur scholar, writer, and blogger, was taken from his home by police on January 15, 2014, and the Uighurbiz website he founded, also known as UighurOnline, was closed. The site, which Tohti started in 2006, was published in Chinese and Uighur, and focused on social issues. Tohti was charged with separatism by Urumqi police on February 20, 2014. He was accused of using his position as a lecturer at Minzu University of China to spread separatist ideas through Uighurbiz. On September 23, 2014, at the Urumqi Intermediate People's Court, Tohti was sentenced to life imprisonment. He denied the charges. Several foreign governments and human rights organizations protested the sentence. The European Union released a statement condemning the life sentence as unjustified. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said the U.S. was concerned by the sentencing and called on Chinese authorities to release him, along with seven of his students. Tohti's appeal request was rejected at a hearing in a Xinjiang detention center on November 21, 2014 that was scheduled at such short notice that his lawyer was unable to attend. Tohti's wife told Radio Free Asia in February 2016 that authorities allow family members to visit Tohti for only 30 minutes every three months. Seven of his students -- Perhat Halmurat, Shohret Nijat, Luo Yuwei, Mutellip Imin, Abduqeyum Ablimit, Atikem Rozi and Akbar Imin -- were charged with being involved with Uighurbiz during a secret trial held in November 2014, according to Tohti's lawyer Li Fangping. Many were administrators for the site, according to state media. According to the political prisoner database of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, an organization set up by the U.S. Congress to monitor human rights and laws in China, Rozi and Mutellip Imin wrote for the site. Imin, who is from Xinjiang and enrolled at Istanbul University in Turkey, has a blog, too. He was arrested when he tried to leave China. According to The New York Times, three of the students made televised confessions on the state-run China Central Television in September, saying they worked for the site. Halmurat claimed to have written an article, Nijat claimed to have taken part in editorial policy decisions, and Luo, from the Yi minority, claimed to have done design work. The seven students were sentenced to three to eight years in prison, according to the Global Times, a government-affiliated website. The length of sentence for each student was unclear and details of where they are being held were not disclosed. CPJ was unable to determine the names or contact details of the lawyers representing the students. Liu Xiaoyuan, who is also representing, Tohti, told CPJ he did not have information on the students' cases. Tohti is being held at the Xinjiang No. 1 Prison in Urumqi, the capital of the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, according to Radio Free Asia. Tohti is a member of the Uyghur PEN Center and an honorary member of the Independent Chinese PEN Center and PEN America. He was awarded the 2016 Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders. Copyright notice: Committee to Protect Journalists. All rights reserved. Articles may be reproduced only with permission from CPJ. A Madison man suspected of being a heroin dealer surrendered to police Wednesday morning at a residence on the city's Southeast Side. Jason Jordan, 31, was tentatively charged with four counts of delivery of heroin, being a felon in possession of a firearm, eluding, resisting/obstructing and possession with intent to deliver marijuana, Madison police said. The arrest came after a lengthy investigation into heroin dealing in the Madison area. "The suspect was in a rental car when spotted by the Dane County Narcotics Task Force," said police spokesman Joel DeSpain. "Members of the force attempted to pull him over but he sped off." Jordan was seen later on entering the Camden Road residence. "After about 10 minutes, he peacefully came out and gave himself up," DeSpain said. 2016 prison census - China: Hu Yazhu Publisher Committee to Protect Journalists Publication Date 1 December 2016 Cite as Committee to Protect Journalists, 2016 prison census - China: Hu Yazhu, 1 December 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/586cb8df27.html [accessed 4 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. Hu Yazhu, Nanfang Daily Medium: Print Charge: Retaliatory Imprisoned: June 21, 2013 The Shaoguan People's Procuratorate, a state legal body, issued a statement in June 2013 that said Hu and Liu Wei'an had been arrested in Guangdong province after confessing to accepting bribes while covering events in the northern city of Shaoguan. Hu and Liu were sentenced to 13 years and 14 years in prison respectively in June 2014 for accepting bribes and for extortion, according to Shaoguan Daily, a government-run newspaper. Hu, a staff reporter for the official Guangdong Communist Party newspaper Nanfang Daily, and Liu, a freelance writer, had both written articles published in 2011 in Nanfang Daily and on news websites about a dispute involving the illegal extraction of rare minerals in Shaoguan, according to news reports. The prosecutors' statement said Hu and Liu accepted 493,000 yuan (about US$82,200) in bribes. The pair were stripped of their press cards and banned from journalism for life, according to the state-run paper China Daily. Users on Weibo, China's microblog service, said they suspected the reporters' arrests were in retaliation for their reports that exposed problems in the government and judiciary. Details of the journalists' whereabouts were not included in local reports about their case. CPJ could not determine the state of their health in late 2016. Copyright notice: Committee to Protect Journalists. All rights reserved. Articles may be reproduced only with permission from CPJ. 2016 prison census - China: Huang Qi Publisher Committee to Protect Journalists Publication Date 1 December 2016 Cite as Committee to Protect Journalists, 2016 prison census - China: Huang Qi, 1 December 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/586cb8df4.html [accessed 4 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. Huang Qi, 64 Tianwang Medium: Internet Charge: No charge Imprisoned: November 28, 2016 Police detained Huang, publisher of the human rights news website 64 Tianwang, outside his apartment complex in Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province, on November 28, 2016, according to mediareports. More than 10 officers searched Huang's home and detained his mother, Pu Wenqing, who was in his apartment at the time. Police took Pu to her home in the nearby city of Neijiang. When Pu arrived, she found her residence had also been searched, according to media reports. CPJ's phone calls to the Chengdu Public Security Bureau seeking more information about Huang's detention in late November went unanswered. Police had not announced any charges against him as of December 1, 2016. Huang founded64 Tianwang in 1998 with his then wife Zeng Li, as a missing-persons service. The website started covering issues not reported on by China's mainstream news media, such as protests, allegations of government corruption and abuse of power, police brutality, and the detention of writers and activists. On November 23 and 25, 2016, 64 Tianwang reported on the arrests of demonstrators who were protesting the death of a petitioner allegedly beaten by government supporters. Huang told Radio Free Asia that such reporting "could bring him trouble." Huang and his staff have been subjected to police harassment since he founded 64 Tianwang. In October 2016, police briefly detained Huang ahead of a gathering of the Chinese Communist Party Congress. Huang was jailed from 2000-2005 on charges of "subversion of state power" for articles posted on 64 Tianwang, and from 2008-2011 on charges of "illegally holding state secrets." A volunteer for the site, Pu Fei, was detained for two weeks in 2008 after Huang was arrested. In April 2016, Wang Jing, a reporter at 64 Tianwang, was sentenced to four years and 10 months in prison for "picking quarrels and provoking trouble." She was arrested on December 10, 2014, while photographing protesters near the Beijing headquarters of the state-run broadcasting agency China Central Television, according to news reports. The website has been blocked in China since March 2003 and is frequently targeted by hackers, according to Radio Free Asia. Copyright notice: Committee to Protect Journalists. All rights reserved. Articles may be reproduced only with permission from CPJ. 2016 prison census - China: Gulmire Imin Publisher Committee to Protect Journalists Publication Date 1 December 2016 Cite as Committee to Protect Journalists, 2016 prison census - China: Gulmire Imin, 1 December 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/586cb8e013.html [accessed 4 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. Gulmire Imin, Freelance Medium: Internet Charge: Anti-State Imprisoned: July 14, 2009 Imin was one of several administrators of Uighur-language Web forums who were arrested after the July 2009 riots in Urumqi, in Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region. In August 2010, Imin was sentenced to life in prison on charges of separatism, leaking state secrets, and organizing an illegal demonstration, a witness to her trial told the U.S. government-funded broadcaster Radio Free Asia. Imin held a local government post in Urumqi. She contributed poetry and short stories to the cultural website Salkin and had been invited to moderate the site in late spring 2009, her husband, Behtiyar Omer, told CPJ. Omer confirmed the date of his wife's initial detention in a statement at the Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy in 2011. Authorities accused Imin of being an organizer of demonstrations on July 5, 2009, and of using the Uighur-language website to distribute information about the event, Radio Free Asia reported. Imin had been critical of the government in her online writing, readers of the website told Radio Free Asia. The website was shut down after the riots and its contents were deleted. Imin was also accused of leaking state secrets by phone to her husband, who lives in Norway. Her husband told CPJ that he called her on July 5, 2009, but only to check whether she was safe. The riots, which began as a protest over the death of Uighur migrant workers in Guangdong province, turned violent and resulted in the deaths of 200 people, according to the official Chinese government count. Chinese authorities blocked access to the internet in Xinjiang for months after the riots, and hundreds of protesters were arrested, according to international human rights organizations and local and international media reports. Imin was being held in the Xinjiang women's prison (Xinjiang No. 2 Prison) in Urumqi, according to the rights group World Uyghur Congress. CPJ could not determine the status of her health in late 2016. Copyright notice: Committee to Protect Journalists. All rights reserved. Articles may be reproduced only with permission from CPJ. 2016 prison census - China: Gheyrat Niyaz (Hailaite Niyazi) Publisher Committee to Protect Journalists Publication Date 1 December 2016 Cite as Committee to Protect Journalists, 2016 prison census - China: Gheyrat Niyaz (Hailaite Niyazi), 1 December 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/586cb8e113.html [accessed 4 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. Gheyrat Niyaz (Hailaite Niyazi), Uighurbiz Medium: Internet Charge: Anti-State Imprisoned: October 1, 2009 Security officials arrested Niyaz, a website manager who is sometimes referred to as Hailaite Niyazi, in his home in the regional capital, Urumqi, according to international news reports. He was convicted of endangering state security and sentenced to 15 years in prison. According to reports, Niyaz was punished because of an August 2, 2009, interview with Yazhou Zhoukan (Asia Weekly), a Chinese-language magazine based in Hong Kong. In the interview, Niyaz said authorities had not taken steps to prevent violence before ethnic unrest in July 2009 in China's far-western Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region. Niyaz, who once worked for the state newspapers Xinjiang Legal News and Xinjiang Economic Daily, managed and edited the website Uighurbiz until June 2009. A statement posted on the website quoted Niyaz's wife as saying that although he had given interviews to international media, he had no malicious intentions. Authorities blamed local and international Uighur sites for fueling the violence between Uighurs and Han Chinese in the predominantly Muslim Xinjiang region. According to the Hong Kong-based group Chinese Human Right Defenders, as of late 2016 Niyaz was being held in Changji prison in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region. CPJ was unable to determine the state of his health or the conditions under which he is being held. Copyright notice: Committee to Protect Journalists. All rights reserved. Articles may be reproduced only with permission from CPJ. 2016 prison census - China: Ekberjan Jamal Publisher Committee to Protect Journalists Publication Date 1 December 2016 Cite as Committee to Protect Journalists, 2016 prison census - China: Ekberjan Jamal, 1 December 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/586cb8e326.html [accessed 4 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. Ekberjan Jamal, Freelance Medium: Internet, Radio Charge: Anti-State Imprisoned: February 28, 2008 On two occasions in November 2007, Ekberjan used his cell phone to record sounds of riots in his home town of Turpan. The audio files, which included the noise of rioters, sirens, and a voice-over of Ekberjan describing what was happening, were sent to friends in the Netherlands, and later used in news reports by Radio Free Asia and Phoenix News in Hong Kong. Ekberjan posted links to the news reports on his blog, which was closed by authorities on December 25, 2007, according to the rights group World Uyghur Congress. In an April 2009 Radio Free Asia report, Ekberjan's mother said he made the recordings on two occasions, but at his trial he faced 21 counts of sending information abroad. She told Radio Free Asia she believed he might have been motivated to send the files to help achieve his ambition of studying abroad. The Turpan Intermediate People's Court sentenced him to 10 years in prison on February 28, 2008 for "separatism" and revealing state secrets, crimes under articles 103 and 11 of the Chinese penal code. As of April 2009, he was being held in the Xinjiang Number 4 prison in Urumqi, Radio Free Asia reported. Uighur rights groups contacted by CPJ in late 2016 said they had no new information in his case. Copyright notice: Committee to Protect Journalists. All rights reserved. Articles may be reproduced only with permission from CPJ. 2016 prison census - China: Gartse Jigme Publisher Committee to Protect Journalists Publication Date 1 December 2016 Cite as Committee to Protect Journalists, 2016 prison census - China: Gartse Jigme, 1 December 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/586cb8e33.html [accessed 4 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. Gartse Jigme, Freelance Medium: Print Charge: Anti-State Imprisoned: January 1, 2013 Police arrested Jigme, a Tibetan author and monk, at the Rebgong Gartse monastery in the Malho prefecture of Qinghai province, according to news reports. His family was unaware of his whereabouts until a Qinghai court sentenced him to five years in prison on May 14, 2013. The charges have not been disclosed officially, but the independent Chinese PEN Center said he was accused of separatism. The conviction was in connection with the second volume of Jigme's book, Tsenpoi Nyingtob (The Warrior's Courage), according to Voice of America and Radio Free Asia. The book contained chapters expressing Jigme's opinions on topics such as Chinese policies in Tibet, self-immolation, minority rights, and the Dalai Lama, according to news reports. Jigme was briefly detained in 2011 in connection with the first volume of his book, according to the Hong Kong-based group Chinese Human Rights Defenders and Tibetan rights groups. He had written the book as a reflection on widespread protests in Tibetan areas in the spring of 2008, Tibetan scholar Robert Barnett told CPJ. China has jailed scores of Tibetan writers, artists, and educators for asserting Tibetan national identity and civil rights since the protests. Authorities did not disclose any information on Jigme's health or whereabouts. According to the Independent Chinese PEN Center, he may be in prison in Xining, a city in Qinghai province. In late 2016, CPJ was unable to verify if he was in jail in Xining or determine the condition of his health. Copyright notice: Committee to Protect Journalists. All rights reserved. Articles may be reproduced only with permission from CPJ. 2016 prison census - China: Drukar Gyal (Druklo) Publisher Committee to Protect Journalists Publication Date 1 December 2016 Cite as Committee to Protect Journalists, 2016 prison census - China: Drukar Gyal (Druklo), 1 December 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/586cb8e413.html [accessed 4 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. Drukar Gyal (Druklo), Freelance Medium: Internet Charge: Anti-State Imprisoned: March 19, 2015 Tibetan writer Drukar Gyal, also known as Druklo, was detained on March 19, 2015, according to Radio Free Asia. Gyal's family discovered that he had been arrested after they reported him missing, according to Radio Free Asia, which cited an unnamed source. A court in Huangnan prefecture in China's northwestern Qinghai province sentenced Gyal to three years in prison on February 17, 2016 for inciting separatism and endangering social stability, according to news reports. Gyal was not allowed access to a lawyer during his detention or trial, Amnesty International reported, without citing sources. On March 16, 2015, police searched Gyal's room and pointed guns at him when he asked to see a search warrant, according to Amnesty International. The court verdict cited Gyal's posts on his blog and social media about this incident, his comments about religious freedom, and a repost of a news report about the Dalai Lama as evidence of "inciting separatism." Gyal denied the charges against him in court and wrote a letter to Qinghai High People's Court to appeal his sentence, according to Washington D.C.-based International Campaign for Tibet. Gyal was previously detained for more than a month in 2010 on allegations of conducting and instigating separatist activities, according to Radio Free Asia. Gyal had written about the Tibetan protests of 2008 and the harsh responses from the Chinese government. CPJ was unable to determine where Gyal is being held. Copyright notice: Committee to Protect Journalists. All rights reserved. Articles may be reproduced only with permission from CPJ. 2016 prison census - China: Dong Rubin Publisher Committee to Protect Journalists Publication Date 1 December 2016 Cite as Committee to Protect Journalists, 2016 prison census - China: Dong Rubin, 1 December 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/586cb8e513.html [accessed 4 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. Dong Rubin, Freelance Medium: Internet Charge: Retaliatory Imprisoned: September 12, 2013 Dong was detained in Kunming city, Yunnan province, on accusations of misstating his company's registered assets, according to statements from his lawyer. On July 23, 2014, he was sentenced by Wuhua Court in Kunming to six years and six months in prison on charges of illegal business activity and creating a disturbance, according to the Hong Kong-based group Chinese Human Rights Defenders. Dong, who runs an internet consulting company, used the name "Bianmin" on his microblog to criticize authorities and raise concerns about local issues. He also used the microblog to campaign in 2009 for an investigation into the death of a young man in police custody. Authorities had initially said the man's death was an accident but later admitted he had been beaten to death, according to news reports. In 2013, Dong raised safety and environmental concerns about a state-owned oil refinery planned near the city of Kunming and expressed support on his microblog for a protest against the project by Kunming residents in May 2013. Dong predicted his arrest when he wrote on his microblog, which had about 50,000 followers, that strangers had raided his office in late August and taken three computers. "What crime will they bring against me?" Dong wrote. "Prostituting, gambling, using and selling drugs, evading tax, causing trouble on purpose, fabricating rumors, running a mafia online?" Dong's friend, Zheng Xiejian, told Reuters in September 2013, "If they want to punish you, they can always find an excuse. They could not find any wrongdoing against Dong and had to settle on this obscure charge." Although Dong is not a professional journalist, CPJ determined that he was jailed in connection with his news-based commentary published on the internet. From August 2013, authorities detained scores of people in a stepped-up campaign to banish online commentary that, among other issues, casts the government in a critical light, according to Chinese media and human rights groups. During his trial Dong said he was questioned for seven to eight hours at a time for more than 70 days, while chained to a chair, according to Chinese Human Rights Defenders. He is in frail condition, the Hong Kong-based group stated. Dong is being held at Wuhua prison in Yunnan province, his friend and democracy activist, Li Huaping, told CPJ in late 2016. Copyright notice: Committee to Protect Journalists. All rights reserved. Articles may be reproduced only with permission from CPJ. 2016 prison census - China: Chen Wei Publisher Committee to Protect Journalists Publication Date 1 December 2016 Cite as Committee to Protect Journalists, 2016 prison census - China: Chen Wei, 1 December 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/586cb8e613.html [accessed 4 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. Chen Wei, Freelance Medium: Internet Charge: Anti-State Imprisoned: February 20, 2011 Police in Suining, Sichuan province, detained Chen alongside dozens of lawyers, writers, and activists who were jailed nationwide after anonymous online calls for a nonviolent "Jasmine Revolution" in China, according to international news reports. The Hong Kong-based group Chinese Human Rights Defenders reported that Chen was charged on March 28, 2011 with inciting subversion of state power. Chen's lawyer, Zheng Jianwei, made repeated attempts to visit him but was not allowed access until September 8, 2011, according to the rights group and the U.S. government-funded broadcaster Radio Free Asia. Radio Free Asia reported that police had selected four pro-democracy articles Chen had written for overseas websites as the basis for criminal prosecution. In December 2011, a court in Suining sentenced Chen to nine years in prison on charges of "inciting subversion of state power." Chen has been jailed twice before. He served a year and a half in prison for participating in the Tiananmen protests in 1989. In 1992 he was sentenced to five years in prison for organizing the Chinese Freedom and Democracy Party. He is being held in Jialin prison in Sichuan province, according to Boxun News. Copyright notice: Committee to Protect Journalists. All rights reserved. Articles may be reproduced only with permission from CPJ. 2016 prison census - China: Chen Shuqing Publisher Committee to Protect Journalists Publication Date 1 December 2016 Cite as Committee to Protect Journalists, 2016 prison census - China: Chen Shuqing, 1 December 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/586cb8e713.html [accessed 4 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. Chen Shuqing, Freelance Medium: Internet Charge: Anti-State Imprisoned: September 11, 2014 Chen, a freelance writer and member of the China Democratic Party and the Independent Chinese PEN Center, was detained on September 11, 2014, in Hangzhou city, Zhejiang province, on suspicion of subversion of state power, and his home was raided by agents from the Hangzhou Public Security Bureau. He had written several articles for the overseas Chinese-language website Boxun about pro-democracy advocates, many of whom are in the hospital or detention. On June 17, 2016, a Hangzhou court sentenced Chen to 10 years and six months in prison for "subversion of state power." Chen's lawyer, Fu Yonggang, told reporters the verdict read, "Chen Shuqing published 14 articles on overseas websites Boxun and Canyu," and "through aforementioned proclamations, statements and articles, Chen Shuqing attacked and smeared the state power and the socialist system." Chen lodged an appeal with Zhejiang People's High Court and was awaiting the court's verdict as of late 2016, another of his lawyers, Liu Rongsheng, told CPJ. Chen has been jailed before. He was placed under criminal detention on suspicion of inciting subversion of state power on September 14, 2006. On August 16, 2007, he was sentenced by Hangzhou Intermediate People's Court to four years in prison and one year's deprivation of political rights for subversion of state power. After the original verdict was upheld at the appellate court, Chen was jailed at Qiaosi prison in Hangzhou. He was released on September 13, 2010, after serving his term. Chen is being held at Hangzhou Detention Center, his lawyer, Liu, said. Copyright notice: Committee to Protect Journalists. All rights reserved. Articles may be reproduced only with permission from CPJ. Congressman Ron Kind of La Crosse was one of four Democrats to oppose re-electing Rep. Nancy Pelosi as U.S. House Minority leader, saying national Democrats need new leadership after a surprisingly poor showing in the November election. In Tuesday's leadership election, Kind voted for Rep. Jim Cooper, a Tennessee Democrat and member of the centrist "Blue Dog" congressional caucus, Roll Call and other publications reported. "I think someone new would be a breath of fresh air," Kind told the Wisconsin State Journal in an interview. Kind said another concern is the advancing age of House Democratic leaders. Pelosi, D-Ca., Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, D-Md., and Assistant Democratic Leader James Clyburn, D-S.C., all are at 76 or older. Kind's resistance to Pelosi is not new. Immediately after the closed-door vote that presaged Tuesday's public leadership election, Kind declined to say if he supported Pelosi. After the 2010 elections, when Democrats also took a drubbing and lost control of the House, Kind voted for Cooper in that leadership election. The congressional district Kind represents, western Wisconsin's 3rd district, is emblematic of the Democratic Party's struggles. Made up largely of small- to mid-sized cities and rural areas, the district voted twice for Barack Obama. This time it went for GOP President-elect Donald Trump. Kind said Democrats continue to fare well in areas with booming economies, such as the East and West coasts or, closer to home, places such as Dane County. But in rural areas and small towns, many of which struggled to recover from the Great Recession, Kind said voters increasingly feel overlooked by Democrats. Kind said Democratic elected officials and party leaders need more events and organizing efforts in those communities to understand their concerns -- and show those voters they care. "The Democratic Party has got to show up and listen to people, especially in rural areas," Kind said. After Hillary Clinton became the first Democratic presidential nominee to lose Wisconsin since Walter Mondale in 1984, many have questioned her campaign's decision not to visit the state after the primary election. Kind said Clinton's absence from Wisconsin was a clear misstep. "She didn't set foot in Wisconsin once after the primary. I knew that was going to be a problem," Kind said. 2016 prison census - China: Atikem Rozi Publisher Committee to Protect Journalists Publication Date 1 December 2016 Cite as Committee to Protect Journalists, 2016 prison census - China: Atikem Rozi, 1 December 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/586cb8e811.html [accessed 4 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. Atikem Rozi, Uighurbiz Medium: Internet Charge: Anti-State Imprisoned: January or February, 2014 Rozi is one of seven students connected to the imprisoned Uighur scholar Ilham Tohti, who were charged with being involved with Uighurbiz during a secret trial held in November 2014, according to Tohti's lawyer Li Fangping. Tohti, a writer and blogger, was taken from his home by police on January 15, 2014, and the Uighurbiz website he founded, also known as UighurOnline, was closed. The site, which Tohti started in 2006, was published in Chinese and Uighur, and focused on social issues. Tohti was charged with separatism by Urumqi police on February 20, 2014. He was accused of using his position as a lecturer at Minzu University of China to spread separatist ideas through Uighurbiz. On September 23, 2014, at the Urumqi Intermediate People's Court, Tohti was sentenced to life imprisonment. He denied the charges. Several foreign governments and human rights organizations protested the sentence. The European Union released a statement condemning the life sentence as unjustified. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said the U.S. was concerned by the sentencing and called on Chinese authorities to release him, along with seven of his students. Tohti's appeal request was rejected at a hearing in a Xinjiang detention center on November 21, 2014 that was scheduled at such short notice that his lawyer was unable to attend. Tohti's wife told Radio Free Asia in February 2016 that authorities allow family members to visit Tohti for only 30 minutes every three months. Rozi was charged alongside the students Perhat Halmurat, Shohret Nijat, Luo Yuwei, Mutellip Imin, Abduqeyum Ablimit, and Akbar Imin with being involved with Uighurbiz during a secret trial held in November 2014, according to Tohti's lawyer Li Fangping. Many were administrators for the site, according to state media. According to the political prisoner database of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, an organization set up by the U.S. Congress to monitor human rights and laws in China, Rozi and Mutellip Imin wrote for the site. Imin, who is from Xinjiang and enrolled at Istanbul University in Turkey, has a blog, too. He was arrested when he tried to leave China. According to The New York Times, three of the students made televised confessions on the state-run China Central Television in September, saying they worked for the site. Halmurat claimed to have written an article, Nijat claimed to have taken part in editorial policy decisions, and Luo, from the Yi minority, claimed to have done design work. The seven students were sentenced to three to eight years in prison, according to the Global Times, a government-affiliated website. The length of sentence for each student was unclear and details of where they are being held were not disclosed. CPJ could not determine the names or contact details of the lawyers representing the students. Liu Xiaoyuan, who is also representing, Tohti, told CPJ he did not have information on the students' cases. Copyright notice: Committee to Protect Journalists. All rights reserved. Articles may be reproduced only with permission from CPJ. 2016 prison census - China: Akbar Imin Publisher Committee to Protect Journalists Publication Date 1 December 2016 Cite as Committee to Protect Journalists, 2016 prison census - China: Akbar Imin, 1 December 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/586cb8e911.html [accessed 4 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. Akbar Imin, Uighurbiz Medium: Internet Charge: Anti-State Imprisoned: January or February, 2014 Imin is one of seven students connected to the imprisoned Uighur scholar Ilham Tohti, who were charged with being involved with Uighurbiz during a secret trial held in November 2014, according to Tohti's lawyer Li Fangping. Tohti, a writer and blogger, was taken from his home by police on January 15, 2014, and the Uighurbiz website he founded, also known as UighurOnline, was closed. The site, which Tohti started in 2006, was published in Chinese and Uighur, and focused on social issues. Tohti was charged with separatism by Urumqi police on February 20, 2014. He was accused of using his position as a lecturer at Minzu University of China to spread separatist ideas through Uighurbiz. On September 23, 2014, at the Urumqi Intermediate People's Court, Tohti was sentenced to life imprisonment. He denied the charges. Several foreign governments and human rights organizations protested the sentence. The European Union released a statement condemning the life sentence as unjustified. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said the U.S. was concerned by the sentencing and called on Chinese authorities to release him, along with seven of his students. Tohti's appeal request was rejected at a hearing in a Xinjiang detention center on November 21, 2014 that was scheduled at such short notice that his lawyer was unable to attend. Tohti's wife told Radio Free Asia in February 2016 that authorities allow family members to visit Tohti for only 30 minutes every three months. Akbar Imin was charged alongside the students Perhat Halmurat, Shohret Nijat, Luo Yuwei, Mutellip Imin, and Abduqeyum Ablimit, Atikem Rozi with being with being involved with Uighurbiz during a secret trial held in November 2014, according to Tohti's lawyer Li Fangping. Many were administrators for the site, according to state media. According to the political prisoner database of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, an organization set up by the U.S. Congress to monitor human rights and laws in China, Rozi and Mutellip Imin wrote for the site. Imin, who is from Xinjiang and enrolled at Istanbul University in Turkey, has a blog, too. He was arrested when he tried to leave China. According to The New York Times, three of the students made televised confessions on the state-run China Central Television in September, saying they worked for the site. Halmurat claimed to have written an article, Nijat claimed to have taken part in editorial policy decisions, and Luo, from the Yi minority, claimed to have done design work. The seven students were sentenced to three to eight years in prison, according to the Global Times, a government-affiliated website. The length of sentence for each student was unclear and details of where they are being held were not disclosed. CPJ could not determine the names or contact details of the lawyers representing the students. Liu Xiaoyuan, who is also representing, Tohti, told CPJ he did not have information on the students' cases. Copyright notice: Committee to Protect Journalists. All rights reserved. Articles may be reproduced only with permission from CPJ. 2016 prison census - China: Abduqeyum Ablimit Publisher Committee to Protect Journalists Publication Date 1 December 2016 Cite as Committee to Protect Journalists, 2016 prison census - China: Abduqeyum Ablimit, 1 December 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/586cb8eac.html [accessed 4 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. Abduqeyum Ablimit, Uighurbiz Medium: Internet Charge: Anti-State Imprisoned: January or February, 2014 Ablimit is one of seven students connected to the imprisoned Uighur scholar Ilham Tohti, who were charged with being involved with Uighurbiz during a secret trial held in November 2014, according to Tohti's lawyer Li Fangping. Tohti, a writer and blogger, was taken from his home by police on January 15, 2014, and the Uighurbiz website he founded, also known as UighurOnline, was closed. The site, which Tohti started in 2006, was published in Chinese and Uighur, and focused on social issues. Tohti was charged with separatism by Urumqi police on February 20, 2014. He was accused of using his position as a lecturer at Minzu University of China to spread separatist ideas through Uighurbiz. On September 23, 2014, at the Urumqi Intermediate People's Court, Tohti was sentenced to life imprisonment. He denied the charges. Several foreign governments and human rights organizations protested the sentence. The European Union released a statement condemning the life sentence as unjustified. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said the U.S. was concerned by the sentencing and called on Chinese authorities to release him, along with seven of his students. Tohti's appeal request was rejected at a hearing in a Xinjiang detention center on November 21, 2014 that was scheduled at such short notice that his lawyer was unable to attend. Tohti's wife told Radio Free Asia in February 2016 that authorities allow family members to visit Tohti for only 30 minutes every three months. Ablimit was charged alongside the students Perhat Halmurat, Shohret Nijat, Luo Yuwei, Mutellip Imin, Atikem Rozi and Akbar Imin with being involved with Uighurbiz during a secret trial held in November 2014, according to Tohti's lawyer Li Fangping. Many were administrators for the site, according to state media. According to the political prisoner database of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, an organization set up by the U.S. Congress to monitor human rights and laws in China, Rozi and Mutellip Imin wrote for the site. Imin, who is from Xinjiang and enrolled at Istanbul University in Turkey, has a blog, too. He was arrested when he tried to leave China. According to The New York Times, three of the students made televised confessions on the state-run China Central Television in September, saying they worked for the site. Halmurat claimed to have written an article, Nijat claimed to have taken part in editorial policy decisions, and Luo, from the Yi minority, claimed to have done design work. The seven students were sentenced to three to eight years in prison, according to the Global Times, a government-affiliated website. The length of sentence for each student was unclear and details of where they are being held were not disclosed. CPJ could not determine the names or contact details of the lawyers representing the students. Liu Xiaoyuan, who is also representing, Tohti, told CPJ he did not have information on the students' cases. Copyright notice: Committee to Protect Journalists. All rights reserved. Articles may be reproduced only with permission from CPJ. 2016 prison census - Cameroon: Ahmed Abba Publisher Committee to Protect Journalists Publication Date 1 December 2016 Cite as Committee to Protect Journalists, 2016 prison census - Cameroon: Ahmed Abba, 1 December 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/586cb8eba.html [accessed 4 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. Ahmed Abba, Radio France Internationale Medium: Radio Charge: Anti-State Imprisoned: July 30, 2015 Ahmed Abba, a correspondent for Radio France Internationale's (RFI) Hausa service, was arrested as he left a press briefing at the office of a local governor in Maroua, the capital of Cameroon's far north region, on July 30, 2015 according to RFI. He was taken to the capital, Yaounde. The journalist was denied access to his lawyer until October 19, RFI told CPJ. Officials did not take a statement from Abba until November 13, more than three months after his arrest, which is against the law, according to news reports that cited his lawyers. RFI cited one of the journalist's lawyers, Charles Tchoungang, as saying Abba was interrogated in relation to the activities of the extremist sect Boko Haram, which has renamed itself the Islamic State in West Africa. Formed in 2002, Boko Haram, which is based in northern Nigeria, has been increasing its presence in northern Cameroon since 2014, according to news reports. The group is known for mass kidnappings and targeted attacks on civilians. Abba's trial began on February 29, 2016, according to reports that cited Tchoungang and a second lawyer, Nakong Clement. A military tribunal charged the journalist with complicity in acts of terrorism and failure to denounce acts of terrorism under the country's 2014 anti-terrorism law, news reports said. According to prosecutors, Abba did not inform authorities he had been in contact with members of Boko Haram. The maximum sentence for the charges is the death penalty. Abba pleaded not guilty at a hearing on August 3, 2016, reports said. The next hearing was scheduled for December 7, 2016, according to news reports. RFI reported that Abba mostly covered refugee issues in the region but had also covered attacks carried out by Boko Haram. In a statement issued in June 2016, RFI said Abba's reporting had been professional and called for his immediate release. Copyright notice: Committee to Protect Journalists. All rights reserved. Articles may be reproduced only with permission from CPJ. 2016 prison census - Bangladesh: Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury Publisher Committee to Protect Journalists Publication Date 1 December 2016 Cite as Committee to Protect Journalists, 2016 prison census - Bangladesh: Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury, 1 December 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/586cb8eca.html [accessed 4 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. Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury, Weekly Blitz Medium: Print Charge: Anti-State Imprisoned: January 9, 2014 A Dhaka court sentenced Choudhury, an editor of the Bangladeshi tabloid Weekly Blitz, to seven years in prison in relation to his articles about the rise of Islamic fundamentalism in Bangladesh. Choudhury was convicted of harming the country's interests under section 505(A) of the penal code, having been found to have intentionally written distorting and damaging materials, reports said. Choudhury had written about anti-Israeli attitudes in Muslim countries and the spread of Islamist militancy in Bangladesh. The prosecutor in the case, Shah Alam Talukder, told Agence France-Presse that Choudhury was taken to prison after the verdict. The editor's family said that an appeal of the decision to the High Court is pending, news reports said. No details about his state of health, or where he is being held, had been disclosed as of late 2016. Choudhury was arrested in November 2003 when he tried to travel to Israel to participate in a conference with the Hebrew Writers Association. Bangladesh has no diplomatic relations with Israel, and it is illegal for Bangladeshi citizens to travel there. Choudhury was released on bail in 2005. He was charged with passport violations, but the charges were dropped in February 2004 and he was accused of sedition, among other charges, in connection with his articles, according to news reports. The editor was not convicted on the sedition charge, the reports said. He was arrested again in 2012 in connection with embezzlement charges, and the current charges relating to his writing were filed. In Bangladesh, judicial proceedings can take years to resolve. In February 2015, Choudhury was sentenced to four years in prison on the embezzlement charges, according to news reports. Copyright notice: Committee to Protect Journalists. All rights reserved. Articles may be reproduced only with permission from CPJ. 2016 prison census - Bangladesh: Abdus Salam Publisher Committee to Protect Journalists Publication Date 1 December 2016 Cite as Committee to Protect Journalists, 2016 prison census - Bangladesh: Abdus Salam, 1 December 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/586cb8eda.html [accessed 4 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. Abdus Salam, Ekushey TV Medium: Television Charge: Anti-State, Retaliatory Imprisoned: January 6, 2015 Salam, the owner of Ekushey TV, was accused of sedition and being in violation of Bangladesh's Pornography Act, according to reports. Some journalists said in news reports and to CPJ that the arrests were related to a speech by Tarique Rahman, the son of opposition leader Khaleda Zia, which was broadcast by the channel on January 5, 2015. Salam was arrested at Ekushey TV's offices in Dhaka on January 6, 2015, alongside Kanak Sarwar, a former senior correspondent for the privately owned broadcaster, according to local news reports. At a press conference in Dhaka after Salam's arrest, Information Minister Hasanul Haq Inu said police had charged the chairman of the channel under the Pornography Control Act of 2012. Police said a woman filed a complaint in November 2014 saying she had been vilified in a news program, according to reports. The police said Ekushey TV, which covers local and national news, aired pornographic images of the woman, news reports said. The channel denies the accusations, reports said. Salam was also charged with sedition, according to news reports. Authorities claim he confessed to being guilty of sedition in a statement before a judge on January 19, 2015, news reports said. In March 2015, Sarwar was arrested under the Pornography Act after Salam was said to have confessed to charges brought against him, reports said. According to news reports, Sarwar, who was fired from Ekushey TV in the days after the speech was aired, was later released on bail. In September 2016, authorities issued a warrant for the arrest of another former Ekushey TV correspondent, Mahathir Faruqui Khan, in relation to the broadcasting of Rahman's speech. Khan had not been arrested as of late 2016, according to news reports. In the speech aired by Ekushey TV on January 5, 2015 Rahman, the senior vice chairman of opposition leader Zia's party, called for the toppling of the Sheikh Hasina-led government, reports said. Rahman, who has been in exile since 2008 and faces corruption charges in Bangladesh, is a fierce critic of Hasina's father, the founder of the country. Ekushey TV was unavailable in some parts of the country after the airing of Rahman's speech, according to local and international news reports. Cable operators said they were instructed to take Ekushey TV off the air, according to Agence France-Presse. Authorities denied issuing any order, reports said. Zia, who had been confined to her office earlier in the year after calling on her supporters to topple the Hasina-led government, accused the government of interrupting Ekushey TV broadcasts. Copyright notice: Committee to Protect Journalists. All rights reserved. Articles may be reproduced only with permission from CPJ. 2016 prison census - Bahrain: Sayed Ahmed al-Mosawi Publisher Committee to Protect Journalists Publication Date 1 December 2016 Cite as Committee to Protect Journalists, 2016 prison census - Bahrain: Sayed Ahmed al-Mosawi, 1 December 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/586cb8ee4.html [accessed 4 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. Sayed Ahmed al-Mosawi, Freelance Medium: Internet Charge: Anti-State Imprisoned: February 10, 2014 Al-Mosawi was detained on February 10, 2014, during a raid by authorities to arrest his brother, Mohammed, according to news reports. Security forces spotted al-Mosawi's camera in the apartment and asked who it belonged to, someone who spoke with al-Mosawi after his arrest and who asked not to be named for fear of retribution, told CPJ. After conferring over the radio, security forces arrested al-Mosawi as well. The freelance photographer was transferred to Dry Dock jail after being questioned about his work. Al-Mosawi's internationally recognized photographs, most of which he posted on social networking sites, have won several awards. His work includes a range of subjects such as wildlife and daily life in Bahrain in addition to anti-government protests, a frequent occurrence in Bahrain since the government cracked down on large-scale demonstrations in 2011. The journalist told his family in a phone call from prison in 2014 that he had been beaten and given electric shocks, according to the Bahrain Center for Human Rights. On November 23, 2015, al-Mosawi, his brother, and 11 other defendants were found guilty of participating in a terror organization that committed acts of violence against police forces, according to court documents reviewed by CPJ in 2016. The court sentenced al-Mosawi to 10 years' imprisonment and revoked his citizenship. According to the prosecution, al-Mosawi and other employees at VIVA, a cell phone provider where he also worked, helped other defendants illegally procure SIM cards under false identities for terror purposes. According to the Bahrain Center for Human Rights, the government has frequently abused an overly broad definition of terrorism as a tool to suppress dissent and independent reporting. Since 2012, Bahrain has revoked the citizenship of more than 130 Bahrainis, including journalists, human rights defenders, and accused terrorists, according to local human rights groups. On June 13, 2016, the public prosecutor announced that an appeals court had upheld al-Mosawi's sentence. Al-Mosawi is being held in Jaw Central Prison. Copyright notice: Committee to Protect Journalists. All rights reserved. Articles may be reproduced only with permission from CPJ. 2016 prison census - Bahrain: Mahmoud al-Jaziri Publisher Committee to Protect Journalists Publication Date 1 December 2016 Cite as Committee to Protect Journalists, 2016 prison census - Bahrain: Mahmoud al-Jaziri, 1 December 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/586cb8f3c.html [accessed 4 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. Mahmoud al-Jaziri, Al-Wasat Medium: Print Charge: Anti-State Imprisoned: December 28, 2015 Police arrested Mahmoud al-Jaziri from his home in Nabih Saleh Island, south of the capital Manama, on the morning of December 28, 2015. He was allowed to call his brother later that day to say he was being held as part of a criminal investigation, local human rights groups and his paper Al-Wasat reported. The Interior Ministry named al-Jaziri, a reporter for the independent daily Al-Wasat, as among those arrested for allegedly plotting terrorist attacks funded by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and Hezbollah, according to a January 1, 2016 report by the official Bahrain News Agency. That announcement came amid a diplomatic rift between Iran and Saudi Arabia and its allies, including Bahrain, after Saudi Arabia executed prominent Shiite cleric Nimr Al-Nimr. It also followed years of official persecution -- including the 2011 death in custody of a founding investor -- of Al-Wasat staff. On January 4, 2016, two days after al-Nimr's execution, al-Jaziri was referred to a special prosecutor for terrorist crimes who charged him with supporting terrorism, inciting hatred of the regime, having contacts with a foreign country, and seeking to overthrow the regime by joining the banned political group, the Al-Wafaa Islamic Party, and the February 14 Youth Movement, which have organized anti-government protests since the 2011 uprising, according to news reports. The Interior Ministry statement carried by Bahrain News Agency listed al-Jaziri and three other co-accused as members of an armed wing of Al-Wafaa that was plotting bombings in cooperation with Iran's Revolutionary Guard and Hezbollah. Mansoor al-Jamri, editor-in-chief of Al-Wasat and CPJ's 2011 International Press Freedom Awardee, told CPJ that al-Jaziri denied the charges and told prosecutors his relationship with Al-Wafaa did not extend beyond proofreading the group's public statements, an activity he stopped after becoming a professional journalist in 2012. Al-Jamri said al-Jaziri covers parliamentary news for Al-Wasat. Al-Jaziri was arrested on the same day that a report he had written was published on a member of parliament's proposal to deny housing to Bahrainis whose citizenship had been revoked for political activities. Over the course of 2013-14, he wrote a series of opinion articles for Al-Wasat in which he blamed world and regional powers for what he called the "failures" of the 2011 uprisings collectively known as the "Arab Spring," criticized the lack of compromise in the region's conflicts, and called for closer relationships between predominantly Sunni and Shiite countries in the region. According to the Bahrain Press Association, al-Jaziri's family said he was blindfolded for an unspecified number of days after his arrest. The family said he was banned from sitting or sleeping for three days during questioning and before he signed a confession, unaware of its content. On June 28, 2016, the public prosecutor announced the commencement of a trial of 18 suspects, including al-Jaziri and another journalist, Ali Mearaj. The defendants are accused of belonging to an Iranian and Hezbollah-backed terror cell formed by the banned al-Wafaa party. As of late 2016, Al-Jaziri was held in Dry Dock jail pending the outcome of his trial. Copyright notice: Committee to Protect Journalists. All rights reserved. Articles may be reproduced only with permission from CPJ. 2016 prison census - Bahrain: Hussein Hubail Publisher Committee to Protect Journalists Publication Date 1 December 2016 Cite as Committee to Protect Journalists, 2016 prison census - Bahrain: Hussein Hubail, 1 December 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/586cb8f4c.html [accessed 4 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. Hussein Hubail, Freelance Medium: Internet, Print Charge: Anti-State Imprisoned: July 31, 2013 Hubail, a photographer who documented opposition protests, was sentenced to five years in prison on April 28, 2014, on charges of inciting protests against public order, according to news reports. Eight other individuals were sentenced in the same trial, including online activist Jassim al-Nuaimi and artist Sadiq al-Shabani, the reports said. In January 2016, Hubail was informed that he had been sentenced to an additional year imprisonment on a charge of participating in an illegal gathering, the Bahrain Press Association reported. Hubail was arrested at Bahrain International Airport and held incommunicado for six days before being transferred to Dry Dock prison on August 5, 2013, the Bahrain Center for Human Rights reported. The arrest came amid political tension in Bahrain over an opposition protest planned for August 14, 2013, modeled on the demonstrations that led to the ouster of Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi. Bahrain King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa decreed new measures to crack down on protesters who the government believed were engaging in terrorist activities. On August 7, 2013, Hubail was questioned by the public prosecutor, who accused him of incitement against the regime and calling for illegal gatherings. Hubail's lawyer, Ali al-Asfoor, said in a series of Twitter posts that investigators had questioned Hubail about his photography and purported posts on social media that had called for the protests on August 14. Hubail's work has been published by Agence France-Presse and other news outlets. In May 2013, the independent newspaper Al-Wasat awarded him a photography prize for his picture of protesters enshrouded in tear gas. Hubail said he was tortured in custody by the Criminal Investigation Department, according to the Bahrain Center for Human Rights. The center said Hubail told of being beaten, kicked, forced to stand for long periods of time, and deprived of sleep. The Bahraini Information Affairs Authority told CPJ on August 28, 2013, that the government was investigating the torture claims. CPJ sent a written request for comment in October 2016 to the Information Affairs Authority asking about the outcome of the investigation. As of late 2016, it had not received a response. The High Court of Appeals upheld Hubail's five-year sentence on September 21, 2014, according to news reports. In April 2015, someone familiar with Hubail's situation, who asked not to be named for fear of retribution, told CPJ that the photographer's health had deteriorated and he had been denied adequate medical care for a heart condition. The journalist is being held in Jaw Central Prison. His health had improved in 2016. Copyright notice: Committee to Protect Journalists. All rights reserved. Articles may be reproduced only with permission from CPJ. 2016 prison census - Bahrain: Ali Mearaj Publisher Committee to Protect Journalists Publication Date 1 December 2016 Cite as Committee to Protect Journalists, 2016 prison census - Bahrain: Ali Mearaj, 1 December 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/586cb8f6c.html [accessed 4 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. Ali Mearaj, Freelance Medium: Internet Charge: Anti-State Imprisoned: June 5, 2016 Bahraini security forces arrested Mearaj on June 5, 2016 at the Manama airport, only two months after he was released from prison where he had been serving a sentence on separate charges also related to his journalism, his brother Mohammed told CPJ. On June 28, 2016, Mearaj's trial began with 17 other defendants, including Al-Wasat journalist Mahmoud al-Jaziri, on charges of belonging to an Iranian and Hezbollah-backed terror cell formed by the banned al-Wafaa political party. The Bahraini Interior Ministry named al-Jaziri, a reporter for the independent daily Al-Wasat, as among those arrested for allegedly plotting terrorist attacks funded by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and Hezbollah, according to a January 1, 2016 report by the official Bahrain News Agency (BNA). On January 4, al-Jaziri was referred to a special prosecutor for terrorist crimes, who charged him with supporting terrorism, inciting hatred of the regime, contacting a foreign country and giving it information, and seeking to overthrow the regime by joining Al-Wafaa and the February 14 Youth Movement, which has organized protests since the 2011 uprising, according to news reports. During this time, Mearaj was in prison in relation to a different case, and his name was not mentioned in any of the public announcements concerning the case. According to his brother Mohammed, Mearaj was not questioned after his new arrest or informed of charges against him before the June 28, 2016 hearing. Before the new charge, Mearaj had been serving a two and a half year term on charges of "insulting the king" and "misusing communication devices" in relation to posts he was accused of writing on the opposition website Lulu Awal, according to news reports. Mearaj's appeal in that case was repeatedly postponed as the government claimed a witness failed to appear in court, according to his brother Mohammed. On April 5, 2016, the appeals court reduced his sentence to one and a half years in jail, the Bahrain Press Association reported. Having already served two years while waiting for his appeal, he was released on April 7. Mearaj is currently held in Dry Dock jail pending the outcome of his trial. By late 2016, the government had not publicly disclosed information or details of evidence as to why he had been added to the case. Copyright notice: Committee to Protect Journalists. All rights reserved. Articles may be reproduced only with permission from CPJ. 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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. Ahmed Humaidan, Freelance Medium: Internet Charge: Retaliatory Imprisoned: December 29, 2012 Humaidan, a freelance photojournalist, was sentenced to 10 years in prison on March 26, 2014, in a trial of more than 30 individuals charged with participating in a 2012 attack on a police station on the island of Sitra, according to news reports. The reports said three defendants were acquitted, and the rest were given three to 10 years in prison. Humaidan was at the station to document the attack as part of his coverage of unrest in the country after anti-government protests erupted in February 2011, according to news reports. His photographs were published by local opposition sites, including the online newsmagazine Alhadath and the news website Alrasid. Adel Marzouk, head of the Bahrain Press Association, an independent media freedom organization based in London, told CPJ that Humaidan's photographs had exposed police attacks on protesters during demonstrations. Humaidan's family said authorities had sought his arrest for months and had raided their home five times to try to arrest him, news reports said. The High Court of Appeals upheld Humaidan's sentence on August 31, 2014, despite calls by CPJ and other human rights organizations to throw out the conviction. In 2014, the U.S. National Press Club honored Humaidan with its John Aubuchon Press Freedom Award. Humaidan is being held in Jaw Central Prison. Copyright notice: Committee to Protect Journalists. All rights reserved. Articles may be reproduced only with permission from CPJ. 2016 prison census - Bahrain: Abduljalil Alsingace Publisher Committee to Protect Journalists Publication Date 1 December 2016 Cite as Committee to Protect Journalists, 2016 prison census - Bahrain: Abduljalil Alsingace, 1 December 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/586cb8f91a.html [accessed 4 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. Abduljalil Alsingace, Freelance Medium: Internet Charge: Anti-State Imprisoned: March 17, 2011 Alsingace, a blogger and human rights defender, was among a number of high-profile government critics arrested as the government renewed its crackdown on dissent after pro-reform protests in February 2011. In June 2011, a military court sentenced Alsingace to life imprisonment for "plotting to topple the monarchy." In all, 21 bloggers, human rights activists, and members of the political opposition were found guilty on similar charges and handed lengthy sentences. On his blog, Al-Faseela (Sapling), Alsingace wrote critically about human rights violations, sectarian discrimination, and repression of the political opposition. He also monitored human rights for the Shia-dominated opposition Haq Movement for Civil Liberties and Democracy. He was first arrested on anti-state conspiracy charges in August 2010 as part of widespread reprisals against political dissidents, but was released in February 2011 as part of a government effort to appease a then-nascent protest movement. In September 2012, the High Court of Appeal upheld Alsingace's conviction and life sentence, along with those of his co-defendants. Four months later, on January 7, 2013, the Court of Cassation, the highest court in the country, also upheld the sentences. In 2015, Alsingace began refusing all solid food to protest the conditions at Jaw Central Prison, where he is being held. He ended his protest on January 28, 2016 after refusing solid food for 313 days, according to Americans for Democracy and Human Rights in Bahrain. In November 2015, Alsingace was temporarily released to allow him to attend his mother's funeral. A family member, who asked for anonymity for fear of retribution, told CPJ in October 2016 that Alsingace was not receiving adequate medical care, including for injuries suffered during torture. According to findings by the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry, Alsingace was "sexually molested with a finger thrust into his anus" and repeatedly beaten with fists and batons. One officer placed a pistol in his mouth and said, "I wish I could empty it in your head." Security forces threatened to rape his daughter, the inquiry found. The commission was established by King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa in June 2011 to investigate the 2011 protest movement and subsequent crackdown, including allegations of abuse of prisoners, including Alsingace. Its findings and recommendations, based on interviews with inmates, officials, witnesses, and human rights defenders, were officially endorsed by King Hamad in November 2011. Copyright notice: Committee to Protect Journalists. All rights reserved. Articles may be reproduced only with permission from CPJ. 2016 prison census - Azerbaijan: Seymur Hazi Publisher Committee to Protect Journalists Publication Date 1 December 2016 Cite as Committee to Protect Journalists, 2016 prison census - Azerbaijan: Seymur Hazi, 1 December 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/586cb8fa13.html [accessed 4 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. Seymur Hazi, Azadliq Medium: Print Charge: Retaliatory Imprisoned: August 29, 2014 Police in the eastern Absheron district arrested Hazi, a reporter for the opposition newspaper Azadliq, over claims that he attacked a man at a bus stop, the independent regional news website Kavkazsky Uzel reported. The day after his arrest, the Absheron District Court ordered the journalist, who also uses the name Haziyev, to be held in pretrial detention for two months, the report said. He was charged with hooliganism. Authorities said that while waiting for a bus on his way to work, Hazi beat a Baku resident named Magerram Hasanov, according to Kavkazsky Uzel. Hazi said in court that he had acted in self-defense, Kavkazsky Uzel reported. He said Hasanov had insulted and attacked him. Elton Guliyev, the journalist's lawyer, told Kavkazsky Uzel that he believed authorities had orchestrated the altercation because police arrived moments after it started. Guliyev said he believes Hazi was imprisoned in retaliation for his journalism. Hazi often criticized the Azerbaijani government's domestic and foreign policies in his reports for Azadliq, according to Kavkazsky Uzel. As a host for Azadliq's online TV program "Azerbaijan Saati" (Azerbaijani Hour), he was critical of government corruption and human rights abuses. Hazi was sentenced to five years in jail on January 29, 2015. A court upheld the sentence on September 29, 2015, according to the local press freedom group, Institute for Reporters' Freedom and Safety. In 2016, Hazi received the Free Media Award, presented jointly by the Olso-based Fritt Ord and the Hamburg-based ZEIT-Stiftung Ebelin und Gerd Bucerius foundations, for reporting on corruption and the abuse of power. Hazi is being held at Baku Investigative Prison No. 1. In late 2016, CPJ could not determine the state of his health. Copyright notice: Committee to Protect Journalists. All rights reserved. Articles may be reproduced only with permission from CPJ. 2016 prison census - Azerbaijan: Nijat Aliyev Publisher Committee to Protect Journalists Publication Date 1 December 2016 Cite as Committee to Protect Journalists, 2016 prison census - Azerbaijan: Nijat Aliyev, 1 December 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/586cb8fb11.html [accessed 4 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. Nijat Aliyev, Azadxeber Medium: Internet Charge: Anti-State, Retaliatory Imprisoned: May 20, 2012 Aliyev, editor-in-chief of the independent news website Azadxeber, was detained near a subway station in downtown Baku and charged with possession of illegal drugs. Colleagues disputed the charges and said they were in retaliation for his journalism. Aliyev's deputy, Parvin Zeynalov, told local journalists that the outlet's critical reporting on the government's religion policies, including perceived anti-Islamic activities, could have prompted the editor's arrest. CPJ has documented a pattern in which Azerbaijani authorities file questionable drug charges against journalists whose coverage has been at odds with official views. Aliyev's lawyer, Anar Gasimli, told the local press freedom group Institute for Reporters' Freedom and Safety that Aliyev said investigators tortured him in custody and forced him to admit he had drugs in his possession. The institute quoted another lawyer for the journalist, Yalchin Imamov, as saying that two of Aliyev's teeth were broken and his ear injured. In January 2013, authorities brought additional charges against Aliyev -- illegal import and sale of religious literature, making calls to overturn the constitutional regime, and incitement to ethnic and religious hatred, the institute reported. In March 2013, investigators finished the investigation against the editor, according to local press reports. On December 9, 2013, the Baku Court for Grave Crimes sentenced Aliyev to 10 years in prison, according to the independent regional news website Kavkazsky Uzel. In June 2014, Azerbaijan's Court of Appeals denied Aliyev's appeal, reports said. In April 2016, the Supreme Court of Azerbaijan denied Aliyev's appeal, the independent TV station Meydan TV reported. In July 2016, the journalist's attorney told the independent Azerbaijani news agency Turan that he planned to file a complaint with the European Court for Human Rights, but authorities were withholding the text of the verdict, which is required to file a complaint. CPJ could not determine the state of the journalist's health in late 2016. Copyright notice: Committee to Protect Journalists. All rights reserved. Articles may be reproduced only with permission from CPJ. 2016 prison census - Azerbaijan: Ikram Rahimov Publisher Committee to Protect Journalists Publication Date 1 December 2016 Cite as Committee to Protect Journalists, 2016 prison census - Azerbaijan: Ikram Rahimov, 1 December 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/586cb8fca.html [accessed 4 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. Ikram Rahimov, Hurriyet Medium: Internet Charge: Defamation Imprisoned: November 25, 2016 An Azerbaijani court on November 25, 2016 convicted Rahimov, editor of the online news agency Realliq, of libel and sentenced him to one year in prison, according to news reports. The charge relates to a May 25, 2016, story in the opposition news website Hurriyet, where Rahimov worked at the time. The story alleged extortion by a Sumqayit city official and tax evasion at a local chain of stores, reports said. In the report Rahimov referred to a document that he said came from the state tax agency, and quoted an individual named Rahman Novruzov, who he said had informed him of the alleged wrongdoing. Novruzov was also sentenced to a year in prison for libel, according to reports. In the article, Rahimov alleged that the head of the city administration, Zakir Farajev, instructed the stores to be closed, and allowed them to open only after receiving a bribe. Among the defense witnesses was a head of the chain who sustained the accusations of extortion, according to media reports. When asked for comment by the news website Contact, the city administration denied Farajev was connected to the case and said that Farajev called the accusation "total nonsense." The website Hurriyet is no longer active. A message on its home page says the site has been suspended. Rahimov's lawyer, Elchin Sadygov, told CPJ that after the court hearing, the journalist wassent to the Sumqayit police department instead of to a prison, which is a violation of procedure. Sadygov said that the journalist was kept in the facility, which is meant for pre-trial detention, for three days and was tortured by police to extract an apology to Farajev. Police put a plastic bag over Rahimov's head and beat him, the lawyer said. Sadygov said Rahimov was left needing medical help. In a letter given to his lawyer during a prison visit November 29, Rahimov gave a detailed account of how he was tortured for three days, according to news reports. According to local media, the Interior Ministry denied the allegations of torture. Ministry spokesman Orkhan Mansurzada described the claims as "unfounded." Sadygov was transferred November 29, 2016, to a prison in Shuvelan, about 70 kilometers from Sumqayit. Copyright notice: Committee to Protect Journalists. All rights reserved. Articles may be reproduced only with permission from CPJ. 2016 prison census - Azerbaijan: Araz Guliyev Publisher Committee to Protect Journalists Publication Date 1 December 2016 Cite as Committee to Protect Journalists, 2016 prison census - Azerbaijan: Araz Guliyev, 1 December 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/586cb8fda.html [accessed 4 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. Araz Guliyev, Xeber 44 Medium: Internet Charge: Retaliatory Imprisoned: September 8, 2012 Guliyev, chief editor of news website Xeber 44, was arrested on hooliganism charges in September 2012 while reporting on a protest in the southeastern city of Masally, news reports said. Residents were protesting about dancers at a festival who they claimed were not properly clothed, reports said. Police arrested the demonstrators, who were calling on the festival organizers to respect religious traditions. During Guliyev's pretrial detention, authorities expanded his charges to include "illegal possession, storage, and transportation of firearms," "participation in activities that disrupt public order," "inciting ethnic and religious hatred," "resisting authority," and "offensive action against the flag and emblem of Azerbaijan." Guliyev's brother, Azer, told the independent regional news website Kavkazsky Uzel that his brother's imprisonment could be related to his coverage of protests against an official ban on headscarves and veils in public schools. Xeber 44 covers news about religious life in Azerbaijan and international events in the Islamic world. The journalist's lawyer told Kavkazsky Uzel that investigators claimed to have found a grenade while searching Guliyev's home, but his lawyer said the investigators had planted it. In April 2013, the Lankaran Court on Grave Crimes convicted Guliyev of all charges and sentenced him to eight years in prison. Guliyev's lawyer, Fariz Namazli, told the local press freedom organization Institute for Reporters' Freedom and Safety that the charges against the journalist were not substantiated in court and that the testimony of witnesses conflicted. The lawyer said that Guliyev had been beaten by authorities after his arrest and that he was not immediately granted access to a lawyer. News reports said that Guliyev filed an appeal, which was denied by regional courts. In July 2014, the Supreme Court of Azerbaijan upheld the journalist's sentence. In Azerbaijan, a case cannot be appealed once the Supreme Court has ruled. Guliyev was being held at Prison No. 14, outside Baku, according to Kavkazsky Uzel and an August 2014 report on political prisoners in Azerbaijan by a group of lawyers, human rights defenders, and non-governmental organizations. In late 2016, CPJ could not determine the state of his health. Copyright notice: Committee to Protect Journalists. All rights reserved. Articles may be reproduced only with permission from CPJ. 2016 prison census - Azerbaijan: Afgan Sadygov Publisher Committee to Protect Journalists Publication Date 1 December 2016 Cite as Committee to Protect Journalists, 2016 prison census - Azerbaijan: Afgan Sadygov, 1 December 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/586cb8fe7.html [accessed 4 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. Afgan Sadygov, Azel Medium: Internet Charge: Retaliatory Imprisoned: November 22, 2016 Sadygov, the founder and chief editor of regional news website Azel, was arrested outside the eastern city of Jalilabad on November 22, 2016, on charges of aggravated assault, and authorities ordered him detained for three months pending investigation, according to news reports. Sadygov reported on allegations of corruption in the local administration for Azel, and managed the Facebook page "Our Jalilabad" on which he often criticized local authorities. The charge relates to an incident on August 9, 2016, when the head of the city's executive branch, Aziz Azizov, summoned the journalist to the city administration, according to local and international media reports. Azizov allegedly asked the journalist to remove his critical reports and allegedly offered him money to cease reporting, his lawyer Elchin Sadygov (no relation) told the independent regional news website Kavkazsky Uzel. Azizov did not respond to CPJ's request for comment in late 2016. Afghan Sadygov refused the offer and left the office. In the hallway of the building, he was attacked and punched by a woman who then filed a complaint against him, according to news reports citing his lawyer and family. The journalist was charged with assault, according to the Azeri service of the U.S.-government funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. If found guilty Sadygov faces up to five years in prison. Sadygov's mother, Ulnisa, told Kavkazsky Uzel that the accusations against her son were related to his journalism. "My son has managed this website for many years practically alone. He covered issues related to lawlessness, injustice. He was warned and requested to stop criticizing local authorities in his reports. They wanted him to write only praising articles but my son refused," she said. Ulnisa Sadygova told Kavkazsky Uzel that police tortured the journalist but did not specify what had allegedly happened to him. She said that her requests to visit the journalist were denied. Sadygov is being held in the Kurdakhani pre-trial detention center in Baku, his lawyer told CPJ. The lawyer said that Sadygov needs medical assistance, but did not specify the reason why. Copyright notice: Committee to Protect Journalists. All rights reserved. Articles may be reproduced only with permission from CPJ. With needs for displaced in eastern Aleppo growing, UN renews calls for donor support Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 3 January 2017 Cite as UN News Service, With needs for displaced in eastern Aleppo growing, UN renews calls for donor support, 3 January 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/586cc10640c.html [accessed 4 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. 3 January 2017 - The United Nations today reiterated its call for "immediate and long-term support" for more than 100,000 people in the Syrian city of Aleppo, warning donors that it will not be able to provide life-saving assistance without it. In the first press briefing of the new year, the UN spokesperson in New York voiced continued concern for 116,000 people who have registered with its agencies and partners as "displaced" from formerly non-Government controlled neighbourhoods of eastern Aleppo. "The scale of destruction in Aleppo is massive and needs enormous help," the spokesperson said, citing a lack of water and sanitation, electricity and housing, among the immediate concerns. The UN and its partners are working closely with the Government to respond to these and other most urgent needs. Also today, the UN called help with water shortages in Damascus, where at least four million people in the city and surrounding area have been deprived of water since just before 25 December. The UN has rehabilitated and equipped a number of wells in and around the city, which since 22 December have been the sole source of water for the entire city, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). Meanwhile, water authorities had activated emergency places to meet the minimum demands in Damascus city, OCHA said from the UN office in Geneva, with water being delivered on a rotational basis. Iraq: UN envoy strongly condemns Baghdad terrorist attacks that kill many civilians Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 2 January 2017 Related Document(s) UN Casualties Figures for Iraq for the Month of December 2016 Cite as UN News Service, Iraq: UN envoy strongly condemns Baghdad terrorist attacks that kill many civilians, 2 January 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/586cc1e1412.html [accessed 4 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. 2 January 2017 - The United Nations envoy for Iraq has strongly condemned today's triple bombings in Baghdad in which dozens of civilians were killed and injured. This is outrageous. Terrorists of Daesh who are steadily losing ground in Iraq are now trying to sow terror and discord. They will fail here as they are failing at the frontlines, the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Iraq, Jan Kubis, said in a press release. I call on the authorities to do their utmost in order to speedily bring the perpetrators to justice, he added, extending his condolences to the families of the lost ones, as well as wishing the injured a speedy recovery. The attacks, which reportedly targeted a predominantly Shia Muslim neighbourhood, followed two bombings in Baghdad on New Year's eve that killed and injured scores of people. Meanwhile, the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) has announced that it recorded 19,266 civilian casualties in 2016: 6,878 killed and 12,388 wounded. These casualty figures do not include the civilian casualty figures for Anbar for the months of May, July, August and December. In December, 386 Iraqi civilians were killed and another 1,066 were injured in acts of terrorism, violence and armed conflict in Iraq, UNAMI said. Though the figures for December are lower than previous months, we are nevertheless noticing an increase in terrorist bombings towards the end of the month and in the last couple of days, targeting civilians, Mr. Kubis said. This is, no doubt, an attempt by Daesh to divert attention from their losses in Mosul and, unfortunately, it is the innocent civilians who are paying the price, he added. UN condemns terrorist attack in Istanbul on New Year's Day Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 1 January 2017 Cite as UN News Service, UN condemns terrorist attack in Istanbul on New Year's Day, 1 January 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/586cc2c040e.html [accessed 4 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. 1 January 2017 - United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres today condemned the despicable terrorist attack overnight on New Year celebrations at a nightclub in Istanbul, Turkey, in which dozens of people were killed and injured. He hopes that the organizers and perpetrators of this heinous act will be identified and brought to justice swiftly, said a statement issued by Mr. Guterres' spokesman. He extends his deepest condolences to the families of the victims and expresses his solidarity with the Government and people of the Republic of Turkey and of those countries whose nationals were impacted, the statement added. The UN Security Council also denounced the terrorist attack at a night club that reportedly killed at least 39 people and injured 69. The members of the Security Council condemn in the strongest terms the heinous and barbaric terrorist attack, said a press statement issued this afternoon, in which they also reiterated that any acts of terrorism are criminal and unjustifiable, regardless of their motivation, wherever, whenever and by whomsoever committed. The Council members reaffirmed that terrorism in all its forms and manifestations constitutes one of the most serious threats to international peace and security, underlined the need to bring perpetrators, organizers, financiers and sponsors of these reprehensible acts of terrorism to justice and urged all States to cooperate actively with the Government of Turkey and all other relevant authorities in this regard. They expressed their deepest sympathy and condolences to the families of the victims and to the Government and wished a speedy and full recovery to those who were injured. Joining the condemnation of the attack was the High Representative for the UN Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC), Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser. The horrific attack which killed and injured dozens of innocent revelers is a despicable and an unjustifiable act regardless of the motivation, he said, extending his deepest sympathies to the families of the victims and to the people and the Government of Turkey. UN welcomes signing of political agreement on elections in DR Congo Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 31 December 2016 Cite as UN News Service, UN welcomes signing of political agreement on elections in DR Congo, 31 December 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/586cc2df40c.html [accessed 4 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. 31 December 2016 - United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today welcomed the signing today in Kinshasa, by the opposition and the Majorite presidentielle, of a political agreement on the holding of elections in Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and transitional arrangements leading up to the polls. The Secretary-General commends all actors involved in this effort, including the leaders of the opposition and of the Majorite presidentielle, and the Conference episcopale nationale du Congo (CENCO) for leading the mediation, said a statement issued by Mr. Ban's spokesperson. He calls on them to abide by the agreement just signed. He underscores the commitment of the United Nations to support its implementation, in line with resolution 2277 (2016). According to the statement, this long-awaited development builds on an initial agreement signed on 18 October between part of the opposition and the Majorite presidentielle, and represents a significant step towards a peacefully managed transition consistent with the democratic principles enshrined in the country's Constitution. Noting that all political actors must work to ensure an environment conducive to free, fair, and credible elections, including by refraining from violence, the Secretary-General encouraged the Government to redouble its efforts to uphold fundamental rights and freedoms, which are essential to a credible electoral process, the statement said. On his final day at the helm of the United Nations, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon wishes continued success to the people and the Government of the DRC in their efforts to achieve peace and stability, the statement concluded. Syria: Security Council unites in support of Russia-Turkey efforts to end violence, jumpstart political process Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 31 December 2016 Cite as UN News Service, Syria: Security Council unites in support of Russia-Turkey efforts to end violence, jumpstart political process, 31 December 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/586cc3601aa.html [accessed 4 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. 31 December 2016 - The United Nations Security Council today unanimously adopted a resolution welcoming and supporting the efforts by Russia and Turkey to end violence in Syria and jumpstart a political process for the war-torn Middle Eastern country. Also in the Russian-drafted resolution, the 15-member Council takes note of the documents issued by Russia and Turkey about the agreements the two countries have brokered, including a nationwide ceasefire and a plan to convene political talks in Kazakhstan's capital, Astana, between the Syrian Government and opposition groups, in January. The Council looks forward to the meeting in Astana, viewing it as an important part of the Syrian-led political process and an important step ahead of the resumption of negotiations under the auspices of the United Nations in Geneva on 8 February 2017. Further in the text, the Council stressed the importance of fully implementing all relevant Security Council resolutions, particularly 2254 (2015) and 2268 (2016), which endorsed an inclusive and Syrian-led political process based on the Geneva Communique of 30 June 2012 as the only sustainable solution to the current Syrian crisis, now in its sixth year. Millions in Ukraine are in need of humanitarian assistance, UN relief wing reports Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 30 December 2016 Cite as UN News Service, Millions in Ukraine are in need of humanitarian assistance, UN relief wing reports, 30 December 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/586cc3c540d.html [accessed 4 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. 30 December 2016 - According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), an estimated 3.8 million people in Ukraine are in need of humanitarian assistance and 2.2 million are suffering as a result of no access to quality health services. Compared to 0.7 million people needing humanitarian assistance earlier this year, the dramatic rise is due to the ongoing conflict, which has brought about restricted movement for both people and goods, suspension of social payments and pensions, and unsafe returns to non-government controlled areas. Meanwhile, ongoing hostilities have wrought extensive damage to infrastructure, leaving 3.7 million people in need of water and sanitation support. Shelling occurring close to electricity and water installations has led to continuous interruptions in both water supply and heating systems. Due to freezing temperatures and a lack of clean water, some schools have been forced to close for days at a time. In additional to interruptions due to structural damage, there have been issues of non-payment, leaving some four million people under threat. However, this month, several local authorities announced a plan to provide financial assistance to Voda Donbasa, a water supply company, in order to cover consumers' unpaid bills and avoid supply cuts during winter. In order to respond to the crisis, OCHA and its partners are requesting $214 million from donors, which will cover the needs of the most vulnerable 2.6 million people. The 2017 Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) includes 94 projects and 215 partners, many of which are national non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Many homes on the front line in Ukraine have been so badly damaged by shelling that they remain abandoned. Photo: Daniel Gerstle/IRIN OCHA's latest bulletin reports that as of 30 November, 9,598 people were killed, 22,311 wounded, and 1.1 million fled the country. While the number of casualties has dropped slightly as winter sets in, the situation remains tense. OCHA reports that damage to housing and civilian infrastructure occurs on an almost daily basis, with the majority of incidents occurring in Mariupol, northwest of Donetsk, and Luhanska oblast, areas along the southern border. Security checkpoints remain a threat to civilians, as both casualties and injuries have been reported over the past few months. With fewer hours of daylight and winter conditions, fewer people have been able to cross. While efforts have been made, checkpoints still lack adequate health, sanitation, and shelter facilities, putting those who are exposed to wind, snow, and freezing temperatures at greater risk as they wait in lines. So far, the HRP has reached 33 per cent of its funding goal, compared to a 61 per cent funded plan in 2015. OCHA and other UN agencies are working to deliver humanitarian assistance alongside the Government of Russia. UN experts criticize Ecuador's 'strategy to asphyxiate' civil society human rights groups Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 30 December 2016 Cite as UN News Service, UN experts criticize Ecuador's 'strategy to asphyxiate' civil society human rights groups, 30 December 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/586cc49c40c.html [accessed 4 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. 30 December 2016 - Five United Nations human rights experts have condemned Ecuador for suppressing civil society following a Government order to close a non-governmental organization (NGO) that supports environmental and indigenous rights. "The Government of Ecuador seems to be systematically dissolving organizations when they become too vocal or challenge government orthodoxy," they said in a news release from the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). "This strategy to asphyxiate civil society has been implemented via two decrees - 16 and 739 - which give the authorities powers to unilaterally dissolve any kind of organization." "The direct consequences," they said, "are the progressive silencing of any group that challenges or offers alternative ideas to those of the government and thereby reducing visibility of the situation of vulnerable and marginalized people." Accion Ecologica, an NGO, has been supporting the Shuar, an indigenous people who is trying to halt mining on a territory they claim as theirs. On 18 December, the NGO called for a Peace and Truth Commission to investigate attacks on indigenous and environmental rights. Two days later, the Ministry of the Environment began a dissolution process, allowing the NGO only 24 hours to respond and 10 days to present evidence in their defence. "Dissolving groups is the most severe type of restriction on freedom of association," announced the human rights experts. The city of Quito, Ecuador, which was declared a World Heritage Site by the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), in the late 1970s. Photo: UNESCO/Francesco Bandarin The organization is only one of several who have recently been targeted by the government. Others include Pachamama, Union Nacional de Educadores, and Fundamedios, an organization that Ecuador has been trying to close over the past three years. The human rights experts have previously spoken out against the Government for these actions. "This latest action once again violates international human rights standards, including the legitimate exercise of freedom of association. It shows consistent disregard for repeated calls by the international community to end the policy," they said. "It is ironic that the same Government of Ecuador leading the positive international effort to make companies accountable through a binding treaty is itself reducing the space to be held accountable by domestic groups," they added. The experts are urging the Ecuadorian authorities to guarantee that all members of all groups, particularly those that defend human rights, are fully able to exercise their rights to freedom of expression, association, and peaceful assembly - including their right to criticize government policies and practices. They renewed an offer to assist the Ecuadorian Government in reforming the current restrictive legislation. Among the five Special Rapporteurs are Maina Kiai, the Special Rapporteur on freedom of peaceful assembly and association; David Kaye, Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression; Michel Forst, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders; John H. Knox, Special Rapporteur on the issue of human rights obligations relating to the enjoyment of a safe, clean, health, and sustainable environment; and Victoria Lucia Tauli-Corpuz, Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples. Special Rapporteurs and independent experts are appointed by the UN Human Rights Council. They work on a voluntary basis; they are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work and are independent from any government or organization, and serve in their individual capacity. In December alone, UN food relief agency assists one million people in northeast Nigeria Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 30 December 2016 Cite as UN News Service, In December alone, UN food relief agency assists one million people in northeast Nigeria, 30 December 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/586cc4de40e.html [accessed 4 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. 30 December 2016 - In December, the United Nations food aid agency has delivered food or cash to more than a million people in conflict-affected zones in northeast Nigeria, meaning that over half of those in need of urgent humanitarian assistance have now been reached. The needs are of course tremendous, and more has to be done. Even so, this is a dramatic expansion from the 160,000 people we were able to assist as recently as October, said Sory Ouane, Nigeria Country Director and Emergency Coordinator of the World Food Programme (WFP), in a news release issued today. The milestone came as WFP ramped up its response in Borno and Yobe States, where as many as four million people are food insecure. The region has been devastated by years of violence linked to the Boko Haram insurgency: in some areas, more than half of all children under five suffer from acute malnutrition. In areas with functioning markets, more than 170,000 people were assisted with cash. Nearly 800,000 people most of them internally displaced, in camps or in host communities benefited from food distributions; and almost 180,000 children under five were given specialized nutritious food. Under its new Rapid Response Mechanism, which includes extensive use of helicopters and the pooling of logistics and telecommunications resources across the humanitarian community, WFP has managed to reach areas that were previously inaccessible. Israel/Palestine: Some Officials Backing 'Shoot-to-Kill' Publisher Human Rights Watch Publication Date 2 January 2017 Cite as Human Rights Watch, Israel/Palestine: Some Officials Backing 'Shoot-to-Kill', 2 January 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/586cc52218.html [accessed 4 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. Some senior Israeli officials have been encouraging Israeli soldiers and police to kill Palestinians they suspect of attacking Israelis even when they are no longer a threat, Human Rights Watch said today in an analysis of those statements. Other Israeli officials have failed to repudiate the calls for excessive use of force. Human Rights Watch has documented numerous statements since October 2015, by senior Israeli politicians, including the police minister and defense minister, calling on police and soldiers to shoot to kill suspected attackers, irrespective of whether lethal force is actually strictly necessary to protect life. "It's not just about potentially rogue soldiers, but also about senior Israeli officials who publicly tell security forces to unlawfully shoot to kill," said Sari Bashi, Israel advocacy director at Human Rights Watch. "Whatever the results of trials of individual soldiers, the Israeli government should issue clear directives to use force only in accordance with international law. Elor Azaria, a 20-year-old Israeli soldier, is on trial for the March 24, 2016, fatal shooting of 21-year-old Abd al-Fatah al-Sharif. Al-Sharif stabbed and wounded an Israeli soldier in the West Bank city of Hebron. At issue in the trial is Azaria's shooting of Sharif after he had been shot and injured by Israeli security officials. There have been more than 150 instances since October 2015 in which security forces fatally shot Palestinian adults and children suspected of trying to stab, run over, or shoot Israelis in Israel and the West Bank. During that time, Palestinian assailants have killed 33 Israelis, including passersby and security officials, in Israel and the West Bank. Human Rights Watch has repeatedly condemned Palestinian attacks against Israeli civilians. International human rights law limits the intentional lethal use of firearms shooting to kill to circumstances in which it is strictly necessary to protect life, and in which no other, less extreme, option is viable. The Israeli open fire regulations do not note this limitation but do limit shooting at a person's torso or head to situations in which it is necessary to prevent an imminent threat of death or serious bodily injury. However, the calls by officials and the apparent conduct of some soldiers and police deviate from both international standards and the Israeli rules of engagement. With some notable exceptions, senior Israeli officials, including those who command security officers, have in some cases called for excessive use of force and in other cases failed to condemn such calls by others. In one example, following a stabbing attack that injured two Israeli passersby in West Jerusalem on October 10, 2015, police fatally shot the 16-year-old Palestinian suspect. Jerusalem Police District Commander Moshe Edri told reporters that those who carry out attacks should be killed: "The police are doing their job and arriving quickly. Within less than a minute and a half, the attacker had already been killed. Everyone who stabs Jews or harms innocent people should be killed." Whatever justification may or may not have existed for shooting the child, Edri's final statement appears to be a call to kill all persons who use violence, even after they no longer pose a threat. In October 2015, a radio interviewer asked Israeli Police Minister Gilad Erdan if he agreed with a statement by a lawmaker from an opposition party that "if a terrorist has a knife or screwdriver in his hand, you should shoot to kill him without thinking twice." Erdan said yes: "Definitely. The question of course depends on the circumstances. There are clear instructions to the Israeli police. As soon as a police officer feels danger to himself or any other citizen, he needs to shoot according to the regulations. It's clear. We don't want to endanger any citizen or police officer. And also, every attacker who sets out to inflict harm should know that he will likely not survive the attack." In contrast, the army Chief of Staff Maj. Gen. Gadi Eisenkot gave a clear admonition to follow the Israeli military's rules of engagement, telling a group of students on February 17, 2016, that "the IDF [Israel Defense Forces] cannot speak in slogans such as, 'if someone comes to kill you, arise to kill him first.' A soldier can only unlock the safety catch if there is a threat to him or his fellow soldiers ... I don't want a soldier to empty a magazine on a girl holding scissors." The next day, two 14-year-old Palestinians were arrested after allegedly fatally stabbing an Israeli soldier and injuring a passerby in a supermarket in the West Bank. Transportation Minister and cabinet member, Yisrael Katz, of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party, referred to the incident on Facebook, saying that: "The attackers were caught and remained alive. I hope that the statements of the chief of staff, whom I appreciate and commend, against the automatic shooting of minors, were not misunderstood, causing hesitation and endangering lives. Because sometimes the message is greater than the words. The restrictions and codes are clear, but we cannot let attackers remain alive, risking the lives of Jews." In the wake of the publication of a video of the al-Sharif killing, Israeli officials, including Netanyahu, then-Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon, and Eisenkot affirmed the need to obey the Israeli military's rules of engagement, which limit the use of force to situations in which there is a threat of death or serious bodily injury and, in some circumstances, to stop fleeing suspects. Yaalon, however, was soon replaced by the current defense minister, Avigdor Lieberman, who in October 2015, when he was an opposition member of the Knesset, the Israeli Parliament, wrote on his Facebook page that the government should adopt a policy that "no attacker, male or female, should make it out of any attack alive." Given the prevalence and prominence of statements encouraging security forces to shoot to kill even when not strictly necessary to protect life, and persistent and credible allegations of excessive use of force, Netanyahu and senior security officials should issue strong public and private admonitions to intentionally use lethal force only when strictly necessary to protect life. The authorities should regulate the use of force by soldiers and police and conduct credible investigations of all cases in which suspicions of excessive use of force, including extrajudicial killings, arise. The authorities should also change the rules of engagement to limit intentionally lethal use of force to situations in which it is strictly necessary to protect life, in accordance with international standards. "Now is the perfect moment for the top officials of the country to repudiate the shoot-to-kill rhetoric and clearly outline the limitations on soldiers and police opening fire to kill," Bashi said. The Use of Lethal Force Statements by senior Israeli officials, including those at the top of the chain of command, encourage violation of both the international standards regarding the use of force as well as the rules of engagement that Israel issues to its soldiers and police officers. In some cases, officials directly responsible for the conduct of law enforcement officers have publicly encouraged them to kill rather than to arrest suspected attackers when feasible. In other cases, senior political and religious officials who are employed and paid by the government have encouraged the killing of suspected Palestinian attackers, and other senior officials have failed to repudiate those statements. In many of the more than 150 cases since October 2015, in which Israeli security forces fatally shot Palestinians who allegedly attacked or tried to attack Israelis with knives, guns, or motor vehicles, video footage and/or witness accounts raise serious questions about the necessity of the use of lethal force. Amnesty International, the Palestinian human rights group Al Haq and a coalition of nine Israeli human rights groups have called on Israeli officials to rein in excessive use of force. Citing video footage, forensic evidence, and eyewitness accounts in many of the more than 150 cases in which security officials lethally shot suspected attackers, the groups have said that security forces appear to have killed Palestinians after they no longer posed a threat, killed Palestinians who did not appear to be carrying out an attack at all, or used lethal force to subdue attackers when non-lethal force would have sufficed. While the Israeli authorities conduct criminal investigations into every fatal shooting of Palestinians by security forces in the West Bank, Azaria is the only security officer to face trial for the shooting death of a Palestinian in the past year. In October 2015, the Association for Civil Rights in Israel wrote to Israel's attorney general, expressing concern about official endorsements of a shoot-to-kill policy and demanding investigations into two alleged cases of excessive use of force. In a response letter, the Attorney General's Office affirmed the need to follow the rules of engagement and said that the attorney general had reminded police and government officials to do so. "Shooting after the threat of harm to life or limb has already been thwarted would violate the provisions of the law," the letter said. Rabbis, Lawmakers Yet official endorsement of a shoot-to-kill policy continues. Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef, who holds the state-funded, statutory position of Israel's Chief Sephardic Rabbi, said in a March 12, 2016 sermon, partly in response to Eisenkot's admonition to limit the use of lethal force, that the Bible authorizes a shoot-to-kill policy: "'Whoever comes to kill you, rise up and kill him first.' let them afterward take you to the High Court of Justice or bring some military chief of staff who will say something else As soon as an attacker knows that if he comes with a knife, he won't return alive, it will deter them. That's why it's a religious commandment to kill him." The Sephardic Chief Rabbi does not command police or soldiers, but he heads the Supreme Rabbinical Tribunal and is tasked with advising on the interpretation of religious law. He is chosen by a committee composed of public officials and more junior state-appointed rabbis and is the state-appointed authority on religious law for the roughly half of Jewish Israelis of Arab or Eastern descent. Netanyahu did not publicly repudiate Yosef's statement. Such statements are also coming from politicians inside Netanyahu's government. For example, Bezalel Smotrich of the Jewish Home Party, part of Netanyahu's coalition, said in a February 2016 speech in the Knesset that: "An attacker who sets out to kill a Jew because he's a Jew, whatever his age, does not make it out alive. Period." Smotrich has repeated that statement multiple times since then on social media. Another lawmaker, Naavah Boker, from Netanyahu's Likud party, said in an interview on April 21, 2016 that: "A terrorist should simply be killed," also quoting the Biblical passage that "whoever comes to kill you, rise up and kill him first." In July, Eisenkot reaffirmed his support for the incoming Chief Military Rabbi, Eyal Karim, after records came to light showing that, in 2003, Karim told religious followers that "suicide attackers who have been injured, should be killed." Eisenkot distanced himself from that statement and others considered contrary to the military's policy but confirmed that he would still give Karim the army's top religious post. In August, female lawmakers from the left-wing Meretz party petitioned Israel's Supreme Court to block the appointment, citing Karim's statements against integrating women in the army and negative comments he made about the LGBT community and non-Jewish soldiers. The petition was withdrawn after Karim articulated more moderate positions consistent with IDF policy on the above-mentioned issues. He did not address or repudiate his statements about killing "attackers who have been injured". On December 2, 2016, he was sworn in as the Chief Military Rabbi. Public Opinion, Support According to Israel's Central Bureau of Statistics, about half of Jewish Israelis define themselves as religious or traditional, not including ultra-Orthodox Jews, who usually do not serve in the army. Conscription for non-ultra-Orthodox Jewish men is universal. Most soldiers are in their teens or early 20s, and after a few months of basic training, they can be sent to serve in the occupied West Bank. In an August 2016 poll by the Israel Democracy Institute, 47 percent of Jewish Israelis said they agreed with the statement that "any Palestinian who carries out a terror attack against Jews should be killed on the spot, even if he has been captured and clearly does not pose a threat." Among young people ages 18 to 24, the age of most soldiers, support for that statement stood at 69 percent. In addition, 72 percent of Israeli Jews of all ages who identified as religious or traditional agreed with that statement. In the past, most prominently during the 2005 "disengagement" from the Gaza Strip, soldiers who have refused to obey the orders of their commanders to withdraw from territory or dismantle Israeli settlements have cited rabbinical commandments as justification. Copyright notice: Copyright, Human Rights Watch Iraq: IS bombings in Baghdad demonstrate an appalling disregard for civilian life Publisher Amnesty International Publication Date 3 January 2017 Cite as Amnesty International, Iraq: IS bombings in Baghdad demonstrate an appalling disregard for civilian life, 3 January 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/586cc5ffd.html [accessed 4 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 armed group calling itself the Islamic State (IS) has claimed responsibility for Monday's bombings, that targeted civilians in the predominantly Shi'a neighborhood of Sadr city, Baghdad. In response, Samah Hadid, Deputy Director for Campaigns at Amnesty International's Beirut regional office.said: "The systematic targeting of civilians in busy neighborhoods during day time, shows the Islamic State's appalling disregard for human life and an intent to harm and terrorize a civilian population. By claiming responsibility for these horrific attacks, the Islamic State is boasting of committing war crimes. "Such deliberate attacks on civilians can never be justified and constitute a clear violation of international humanitarian law. They must be stopped immediately and those behind the attacks must be brought to justice." According to media reports, the multiple bombings left at least 35 people dead and more than sixty injured, with one targeting a busy market in the heart of Sadr city, another targeting the nearby car park of Al-Kindi hospital and the third exploding near the Jawader hospital. The IS also claimed the 31 December twin bombings in Baghdad that have claimed at least 28 lives and led to a further 50 injuries, according to media reports. Copyright notice: Copyright Amnesty International Four injured during Baghdad protest about journalist's abduction Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 3 January 2017 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, Four injured during Baghdad protest about journalist's abduction, 3 January 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/586cf02f4.html [accessed 4 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) roundly condemns the use of violence to disperse yesterday's demonstration in Baghdad in support of kidnapped journalist Afrah Shawqi and reminds the authorities of the urgent need to shed light on her disappearance. Shawqi was abducted from her home a week ago. The police fired shots in the air and beat four demonstrators with the butts of their Kalashnikov rifles, said Qais Qasim, one of the journalists participating in the protest, which coincided with a visit to Baghdad by French President Francois Hollande. One of the demonstrators was hospitalized in a critical condition. Around 200 people gathered yesterday near the main entrance to the governmental "Green Zone" to demand progress in the investigation into Afrah Shawqi's abduction. Although Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi promised to "do the utmost to protect her, find her and capture the group or groups responsible," her family and colleagues have yet to be given any information. Journalists have been gathering in central Baghdad's Tahrir Square at around 10 a.m. every day since her abduction. Yesterday, they decided to move closer to the government's headquarters to step up the pressure, and they were near the 14 July suspension bridge (on the route usually taken by official motorcades) at the very moment when Hollande was due to go to the presidential palace. The police asked the protesters to return to Tahrir Square, where demonstrations are usually tolerated, but some refused to leave, Qasim said. It was at this point that the police fired in the air to disperse them. The Baghdad-based Journalistic Freedoms Observatory confirmed that several journalists were beaten and were threatened with arrest. "Iraq is already one of the world's most dangerous countries for journalists, so the police should be protecting journalists instead of posing an additional threat to them," RSF secretary-general Christophe Deloire said. "We also remind the authorities that shedding all possible light on Afrah Shawqi's abduction is a matter of the utmost urgency, and we call on the prime minister to keep his promise to do whatever is necessary to locate Shawqi and those responsible for her abduction." Shawqi was kidnapped from her Baghdad home on the evening of 26 December by eight armed men in civilian dress claiming to be members of the security forces. They took mobile phones, computers, jewels and cash during a search of her home and finally also took her car as they left with her. There has been no news of her whereabouts since then. Saad al-Massoudi, Al Arabiya's Paris correspondent, said Shawqi's professionalism as a journalist was widely recognized. "Her articles often draw attention to the problems in Iraqi society and the corruption, and she is not scared to tackle the sensitive subjects that concern Iraqis," he said. Shawqi writes for many newspapers and websites including Aklaam (which means "Pens" in Arabic). Hours before being kidnapped, she posted an article on Aklaam that criticized how armed groups are able to operate with complete impunity in Iraq. According to RSF's latest annual round-up, seven journalists were killed in 2016 in Iraq, which is ranked 158th out of 180 countries in RSF's 2016 World Press Freedom Index. Bahrain: Human rights defender Nabeel Rajab re-arrested on other charges despite court order to temporarily release him Publisher International Federation for Human Rights Publication Date 30 December 2016 Cite as International Federation for Human Rights, Bahrain: Human rights defender Nabeel Rajab re-arrested on other charges despite court order to temporarily release him, 30 December 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/586cf0f74.html [accessed 4 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. Following the court's decision to temporarily release Bahrain's most prominent human rights defender Nabeel Rajab in a Twitter case, he was immediately taken into custody on another investigation in relation to televised interviews dating back to 2015 and January 2016. The pending charges are without substance and must be dropped and he must be immediately and unconditionally released, say the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders (FIDH-OMCT), the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI), Front Line Defenders and the Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR), who mandated a joint trial observation mission. On 28 December 2016, following an important mobilisation for his release, Manama's Fifth High Criminal Court acceded to an application for Nabeel Rajab's temporary release following a failure to give any basis or any sufficient evidence of a link between him and the Twitter account with respect to the Yemeni and Jaw prison tweets (see below). " The quality of the evidence from the purported computer forensic expert was very poor. It extended no further than a recital of the results of a basic google search, " said the trial observer. " The supposedly neutral expert witness is an employee of the Bahrain government Ministry of interior, " he added. According to defense submisisions made by Rajab's lawyer during the hearing: "There has never been any sound legal justification to hold Nabeel Rajab in detention in this trial because of a lack of evidence since the very start of this case. The evidence of the Ministry of Interior's so-called expert before the Court today makes it clearer than ever that at no point in time has there been, nor probably could there have been, any technical evidence to support this prosecution. Hence Nabeel Rajab's release should be ordered forthwith." The judge agreed and ordered the temporary release of Rajab until the next hearing scheduled on 23 January 2017 in which the court will allow the Public Prosecution to present new evidence against Nabeel Rajab, after such was requested by the Public Prosecution. Nabeel Rajab thus continues to face charges of allegedly "offending a foreign country" (Saudi Arabia) and "offending national institutions," for comments about the alleged torture of inmates in Bahrain's Jaw Prison in March 2015. He still faces up to 15 years in prison notably for tweets critical of Bahrain's participation in Saudi Arabia-led military operations in Yemen, which according to the United Nations, have so far been responsible for the deaths of thousands of civilians. A travel ban remains in place as it has been without a break for almost three years. Then Rajab was taken to the Criminal Investigation Directorate (CID) for temporary release. However, he was re-arrested later on the same day and referred to the Public Prosecution in relation to an investigation into televised interviews dating from 2015 and January 2016, which commenced in mid-June 2016. He will be held for seven days on these charges. It seems that these interviews were with television networks which support the Bahraini opposition: a Bahraini network (based in the United Kingdom), a Lebanese network and an Iranian network. " It is shocking that the Court has only ordered Nabeel Rajab's temporary release when there was a finding of no evidence after more than a year of the Twitter case. It is extraordinary that he has been immediately taken back into custody for investigation on charges relating to events that date back to 2015 and January 2016, in an investigation which has been completely dormant since mid-June 2016, " noted the trial observer. Nabeel Rajab is the co-founder and President of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR), Founding Director of GCHR, Deputy Secretary General of FIDH from 2012 to 2016, and a member of the Middle East advisory committee at Human Rights Watch. Comments on his Twitter account about the Saudi-led coalition airstrikes in Yemen first led to his arrest on April 2, 2015. He remained in custody until he received a royal pardon for health reasons and was thus released on July 13, 2015. Again on 13 June 2016 he was arrested for the televised interviews. During his detention in relation to the televised interviews' investigation he was referred for trial in the criminal court in relation to the Yemeni war Tweets. He remained in detention on these charges until December 28, 2016. He has suffered from poor health in prison including heart problems. Most worryingly, he has been held in solitary confinement for the vast majority of that period and denied access to proper care. It is reported that his cell is air conditioned but filthy and infested with cockroaches. On 3 October, 2016, he was taken to the Bahraini Defense Forces hospital for surgery to remove his gallbladder. Despite the risks of moving him back to jail, Rajab was taken from the hospital the day after his surgery and placed in solitary confinement in a dirty cell. Three days after surgery, he was taken back to court. " The practice of holding a person in solitary confinement for prolonged periods is internationally recognised [1] as a form of cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment that may amount to torture. Solitary confinement can have a devastating effect on a prisoner's mental health " remarked the trial observer. Charges regarding the Yemeni Tweets are based on Articles 133 and 160 of Bahrain's Penal code and provide for up to 10 years in prison for anyone who "deliberately announces in wartime false or malicious news, statements or rumors." Charges regarding the televised interviews are based on Article 134 of the Penal code, which provides between three months and three years of imprisonment for releasing deliberately "abroad false or malicious news or statements or rumours about domestic conditions or for exercising in any manner whatsoever activities that are harmful to the national interests." In September 2016, an additional investigation was initiated against Rajab following the publication on September 05, 2016 of an Op-Ed in The New York Times with his by-line, which discussed the conditions of his imprisonment and arrest. The pending charge of "intentionally broadcasting false news and malicious rumours abroad impairing the prestige of the State" carries an additional one-year prison term if he is convicted. On December 21, 2016, Rajab was interrogated in connection with a letter published in his name in the French newspaper Le Monde on December 19, which urged Paris and Berlin to "reassess their relationship with [members of the Gulf Cooperation Council], which actively work against democracy and human rights and fan the flames of violence and extremism." Human rights organisations, the UN and government representatives worldwide have all called for Rajab to be released, including through ANRI "Their Freedom is Their Right" Campaign which named him Prisoner of the Month in September, FIDH #RT4Freedom website, and a case history by Front Line Defenders. ANHRI, Front Line Defenders, GCHR and the Observatory (FIDH-OMCT) call on the Government of Bahrain to: 1. Immediately and unconditionally release Nabeel Rajab and drop all charges against him, as well as remove his travel ban; 2. Uphold international legal standards including ensuring that technical experts are independent; and 3. End all forms of reprisals against human rights defenders and other activists in Bahrain, including travel bans, to which they have been subjected in violation of their rights to freedom of assembly and freedom of expression. Conviction of Israeli soldier must pave the way for justice for unlawful killings Publisher Amnesty International Publication Date 4 January 2017 Cite as Amnesty International, Conviction of Israeli soldier must pave the way for justice for unlawful killings, 4 January 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/586d077c4.html [accessed 4 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 conviction of an Israeli soldier who shot dead a Palestinian man involved in a knife attack in Hebron as he lay wounded on the ground offers a small glimmer of hope amid the rampant impunity for unlawful killings in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, said Amnesty International today. The soldier, Elor Azaria, was found guilty of the manslaughter of Abed al-Fatah al-Sharif, one of two Palestinians believed to have been involved in the stabbing of an Israeli soldier on 24 March 2016 in Hebron, after a military court ruled unanimously that his actions violated the Israeli army's rules of engagement. "Today's conviction of a member of the Israeli forces is a rare occurrence in a country with a long record of using excessive and unwarranted force, and where soldiers who may have committed crimes under international law very seldom face prosecution. The verdict is a small step in the right direction and offers a glimmer of hope that soldiers who commit unlawful killings may no longer go unpunished," said Philip Luther, Research and Advocacy Director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International. Video evidence which emerged of the incident showed Elor Azaria appearing to shoot the injured man with no apparent justification, and the court ruled that the only reason for the shooting was his wish to take revenge for the previous knife attack. For a soldier to carry out the deliberate killing of someone who had been captured and posed no imminent threat to life would amount to an extrajudicial execution and is a crime under international law. Elor Azari's claims that he had acted in self-defence fearing the wounded man wore an explosive vest were firmly rejected by the court. A spike in violence in the West Bank since October 2015 has seen a rise in unlawful killings including stabbing and other attacks on Israeli soldiers, police and civilians by Palestinians and apparent extrajudicial executions by Israeli forces in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Over the past year at least 16 Israelis have been killed during attacks by Palestinians and at least 110 Palestinians killed by Israeli forces. Previous Israeli investigations into such violations have fallen far short of international standards. In several cases Israeli forces were not held accountable despite strong evidence that a crime had taken place. "Sadly, this case is just the tip of the iceberg. Time and again we have witnessed cases where Israeli forces appear to have carried out unlawful killings, displaying an appalling disregard for human life. The authorities' repeated failure to hold anyone accountable for flagrant violations has fostered a culture in which unlawful killings have become acceptable," said Philip Luther. "To end this bitter cycle of unlawful killings it is crucial that those responsible for violations are held accountable for their actions." In a memorandum sent to the Israeli authorities in September 2016 Amnesty International highlighted at least 20 cases of apparently unlawful killings of Palestinians by Israeli forces. In at least 15 of these cases those killed were deliberately shot dead, despite posing no imminent threat to life. Copyright notice: Copyright Amnesty International UN warns Myanmar that demolishing Rohingya homes will 'heighten tensions' Publisher IRIN Author Emanuel Stoakes Publication Date 2 January 2017 Cite as IRIN, UN warns Myanmar that demolishing Rohingya homes will 'heighten tensions', 2 January 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/586d0a234.html [accessed 4 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 UN has warned authorities that plans to demolish hundreds of homes belonging to ethnic minority Rohingya Muslims will "heighten tensions" in Myanmar's Rakhine state, where the military is accused of abusing civilians during counterinsurgency operations. The warning came in a 28 December letter, obtained by IRIN and addressed to Rakhine State Chief Minister Nyi Pu. It said that more than 100 structures have already been destroyed, and the UN has "received reports that the Border Guard Police have served orders to demolish 819 buildings owned by Muslims, including 696 houses." The UN is also concerned about a "household survey" underway in areas where tens of thousands of Rohingya have fled military operations, according to the letter. The survey could mean that the displaced are struck from the official list of residents, leaving them unable to legally return home once the violence stops. UN officials have confirmed the authenticity of the letter, which was signed by the UN's senior advisor on Rakhine State, Chris Carter. In the letter, Carter called the demolitions and the survey "provocative". The demolitions and survey are taking place in northern Rakhine State, where the military has been conducting "clearing operations" after a Rohingya insurgent group attacked border police posts on 9 October. Rohingya who fled over the border into Bangladesh have told journalists and rights groups that soldiers have committed widespread atrocities, including burning houses, as well as raping and killing civilians. Government confusion Demolitions are not unusual in Myanmar, where laws require the destruction of structures built without permits. But there is confusion among government officials as to why the survey and demolitions are taking place now, while the military is clashing with insurgents and about 80,000 civilians have been displaced. "We already told them to hold their plan in this very sensitive situation," said Zaw Htay, a spokesman for the office of President Htin Kyaw, referring to orders given to state officials. "The central government has already intervened." A UN official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told IRIN the UN has received similar assurances from the central government, but structures are still being destroyed. "We are still trying to determine whether the ongoing demolitions are just actions by rogue local officials... or a more calculated move by others," the official said. Tin Maung Shwe, the deputy director for Rakhine State at the central government's powerful General Administration Department, told IRIN there has been "a misunderstanding at the grassroots level". "We are making inquiries," he added. Growing tensions Rohingya Muslims comprise about a third of Rakhine State's population of just over three million, where the majority are ethnic Rakhine Buddhists. There have long been tensions between the communities, and violence in 2012 killed hundreds of people and displaced about 140,000. Almost all the victims were Rohingya, and about 100,000 still remain in camps. Almost all Rohingya are stateless, having had their citizenship stripped by Myanmar's former military rulers. Although Rohingya have lived in the area for hundreds of years, many in Myanmar consider them illegal immigrants from neighbouring Bangladesh. They are forced to live under an apartheid system in which their movements are strictly controlled. Rakhine State conducts the household survey on a yearly basis for the purpose of monitoring the Rohingya community. Only those on the "household lists" produced by this exercise are eligible to reside in their homes. "It usually takes place in January in northern Rakhine, but began in November this year," said the UN official. "It's not happening elsewhere in Rakhine at this time, only in the three northern townships." The three northern townships of Rathedaung, Buthidaung and Maungdaw have been highly militarised since 9 October. The townships are home to most of the state's Rohingya - and all of those displaced by the counter-insurgency operations. That means tens of thousands of people who have fled their villages could be made permanently homeless, since they can't take part in the survey. The decision to conduct a household survey now and destroy homes will have the effect of "heightening a state-led campaign of atrocity crimes and ethnic cleansing," said Matthew Smith, executive director of Fortify Rights, a group that has recently collected testimonies from Rohingya of atrocities committed by soldiers. "If they aren't on the list, they will have no choice but to flee to Bangladesh," he told IRIN. "Giving people no option but to flee the country can be considered forced deportation." The UN has similar concerns. The letter refers to reports that the "names of missing people identified by the new household survey are being permanently struck from the household lists." More than 50,000 Rohingya have fled into neighbouring Bangladesh in the past three months, according to the government there, while the UN has said another 30,000 people are internally displaced. As many as half a million Rohingya are already living in overcrowded camps Bangladesh, having crossed the border during attacks against their communities since the 1970s. The roots and risks of Myanmar's new Rohingya insurgency Publisher IRIN Author Jared Ferrie Publication Date 3 January 2017 Cite as IRIN, The roots and risks of Myanmar's new Rohingya insurgency, 3 January 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/586d0aac4.html [accessed 4 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. Proghyananda Vikkhu stood in his purple monk's robe in front of gleaming gold statues of the Buddha, recalling the night that a mob of nationalist Muslims attacked his monastery in eastern Bangladesh. "This monastery is 300 years old and it was totally demolished on that night in 2012," he said. "Within one year, the Bangladesh government totally rebuilt it with help from the army." The mob also sacked a village next door, motivated in part by twisted retribution for attacks by ethnic Rakhine Buddhists on ethnic Rohingya Muslims on the other side of the border, in Myanmar. The government and military responses to violence against Bangladesh's Buddhist minority and Myanmar's Rohingya Muslim minority couldn't be more different. Hundreds of people were killed in Myanmar's Rakhine State in 2012 and 140,000 were forced into displacement camps. Almost all the victims were Rohingya, burnt out of their homes by mobs of ethnic Rakhine Buddhists, and about 100,000 remain in camps today. The 157-year-old mosque in the state capital, Sittwe, is still damaged. It's now off-limits to worshippers, and instead serves as a police post. Unlike Buddhists who enjoy the rights of full citizens in Muslim-majority Bangladesh, Myanmar's Rohingya Muslims saw their citizenship stripped away during decades of military rule. Today, overwhelmingly-Buddhist Myanmar is led by a nominally civilian government headed by Nobel Laureate Aung San Su Kyi, but this shift away from direct military rule has not helped the Rohingya. They live under an apartheid system, with their movements severely restricted, along with their access to healthcare, education, and employment. Decades of oppression have fuelled anger in the Rohingya community, which has recently given rise to an insurgency that threatens stability in Myanmar as well as Bangladesh. Analysts warn that the insurgency could attract support from international Islamist militant groups, including the so-called Islamic State. "We cannot take this lightly, either as Bangladesh or members of the international community," said A.N.M. Muniruzzaman, a retired major-general who now heads the Bangladesh Institute for Peace and Security Studies. He said Bangladesh should sponsor a UN Security Council resolution that would aim to resolve the humanitarian crisis in Rakhine State and stop Myanmar from forcing Rohingya over the border. On 30 December, 11 Nobel Peace Prize Winners also urged the UN Security Council to take action, and they accused Myanmar of "ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity". Aung San Suu Kyi, who won a Nobel Peace Prize for her decades-long struggle against Myanmar's former junta, was not among the signatories. Rising insurgency It was in direct response to the 2012 violence that some Rohingya began organising the nascent insurgency, according to a recent report by the International Crisis Group. A committee of Rohingya in Mecca oversees the group, which is called Harakah al-Yakin ["Faith Movement" in Arabic], and 20 Rohingya with international experience in guerrilla warfare are leading operations on the ground, ICG said. Harakah al-Yakin struck first on 9 October, with hundreds of insurgents carrying out coordinated attacks on Myanmar police border posts that killed nine officers in Maungdaw, a frontier township. Four soldiers were killed in clashes on 11 October, while another soldier died and several more were wounded on 12 November before the insurgents retreated to a village, pursued by troops. "Several hundred villagers, armed with whatever they had to hand [knives and farming implements], supported the attackers, seemingly spontaneously," ICG said. The military called in air support after a lieutenant-colonel was shot dead, and two helicopter gunships "allegedly fired indiscriminately" at villagers trying to flee, according to the report. After the 12 November battles, "the military considerably stepped up its operations" in Maungdaw, said ICG. Since then, there have been reports of widespread military abuses against Rohingya civilians, including rapes, killings, and disappearances. Rohingya have been fleeing by the tens of thousands into Bangladesh. "Violence and abuses are likely to boost support for the armed group," ICG warned. "People pushed to desperation and anger, with no hope for the future, are more likely to embrace extremist responses, however counterproductive." Uncooperative Allegations of abuse have been met by flat denials from the government, which refuses to allow journalists and investigators into Maungdaw. Myanmar's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Aye Aye Soe told IRIN she did not believe the International Organization for Migration when it said at least 34,000 Rohingya had crossed into Bangladesh since military operations began. The new arrivals join as many as half a million Rohingya who have fled to Bangladesh during attacks on their communities over the past few decades. Impoverished and overpopulated, Bangladesh struggles to host the refugees, and it now faces the potential that the overcrowded camps could become recruiting grounds for Harakah al-Yakin. Already, hundreds of Rohingya refugees have crossed back into Myanmar to join the insurgency, according to ICG. Still, Myanmar continues to insist the situation in Rakhine State is "not an international issue", as a 19 December article posted to the Ministry of Information website put it. Muniruzzaman said Bangladesh has unsuccessfully tried to "woo" Myanmar into working together to resolve issues in Rakhine State. He noted that Aung San Suu Kyi has visited virtually every other country in the region aside from Bangladesh. Bangladesh's Foreign Ministry summoned Myanmar's ambassador in both November and December to offer its cooperation on resolving issues in Rakhine State so that the Rohingya can go home. On 23 November, the ministry urged Myanmar to consider allowing an "independent investigation" into allegations of military abuses. The ministry also requested that Myanmar "take urgent appropriate measures so that Muslim minorities in the Rakhine State are not forced to seek shelter across the border", according to a statement. Myanmar has thus far failed to do either. Complicated history Many of the problems facing the approximately one million Rohingya in Myanmar are rooted in one overarching issue - statelessness. Unfortunately, full citizenship is largely based on membership in one of the 135 "national races", which do not include the Rohingya. "It goes way, way past in history, whether they are citizens or not," said Aye Aye Soe. "And then it depends on a lot of issues. You have to consider both communities in Rakhine State." The other community - ethnic Rakhines who comprise about two thirds of the state's population - largely consider the Rohingya illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. It is a sentiment widely shared throughout Myanmar, but it's based on a false history that nationalists have propagated over decades: that the Rohingya, whom they call "Bengalis", arrived during the British colonial period or afterwards. Myanmar's Ministry of Religious Affairs and Culture even announced in mid-December that it would publish a treatise showing that the Rohingya are not from Myanmar. The ancient ancestry of the Rakhine and Rohingya people is the subject of much debate, but historians say that both identities emerged from the kingdom of Arakan, which encompassed much of today's Rakhine State, as well as areas that are now in Bangladesh. The identity of each is based to great extent on religion, and there is ample evidence of both a Buddhist and Muslim presence in the kingdom. Archeologists have unearthed coins from the 15th century that show Arakanese rulers using Islamic titles. But Michael Charney, a historian at the University of London School of Oriental and African Studies, argues that there were relatively few Muslims residing in Arakan until slave raids in the 17th century greatly boosted the population. "Although there is very little evidence of a rural Muslim community in Arakan prior to the 1570s, they clearly made up a substantial proportion of the population in the 1770s, prior to Burman rule," he a href="http://eprints.soas.ac.uk/6119/" target="_blank">writes. The Burmans, who comprise modern Myanmar's most populous and politically-powerful ethnic group, conquered Arakan in 1784. But Burma ruled for only 40 years before the British took it over, after which there was further migration into the region from what is now Bangladesh. Citizenship Myanmar insists that, in order to receive citizenship, Rohingya Muslims must provide evidence that their families were living in Rakhine State before the British conquest in 1824. From an international perspective, it is anomalous to disenfranchise the descendants of people who arrived 193 years ago or even later. If other countries were to impose similar restrictions, many people who fled Myanmar during half a century of military dictatorship would suddenly find themselves stateless too. It's also difficult for many Rohingya to prove their lineage, even if it does pre-date British rule. Identification documents have been lost throughout the years, including some that burnt along with their houses. The differences between citizenship policies in Myanmar and Bangladesh are striking. Minority Buddhists who find themselves living in a predominantly Muslim country - on one side of a border arbitrarily drawn by the British - do not have to prove their right to be citizens. They are born Bangladeshi. Buddhist teachings Even so, anti-Rohingya prejudice is also common in the Rakhine Buddhist minority community in Bangladesh, according to Kya Thein Aung, who is Rakhine and head of Cox's Bazar City College. "Our parents told us Rohingya means a floating culture: people who don't have a place," he said. In contrast: "We are the original people of this land." Kya Thein Aung said he doubted that most reports of abuses against Rohingya were true. "If Myanmar denied to give them citizenship, then you can take them to another country," he added. Proghyananda Vikkhu, the Buddhist monk who is associate director of the Sima Bihar monastery in Ramu, had a more enlightened view. "The Myanmar military is responsible for torturing Rohingya people," said Vikkhu, who is a member of the Barua ethnic minority. He said Buddhism teaches that all people have the right to be happy and live peacefully, and he condemned Buddhists who participated in attacks against Rohingya communities. "The people who take part in this kind of violence don't follow the rules of Buddhism," he said. "They are not real Buddhists." Oklahoma City, OK -- (ReleaseWire) -- 01/04/2017 --Metro Glass, Inc., a glass repair and replacement service provider to residential, commercial and automotive customers, announced it has entered into a partnership with BizIQ, a digital marketing company that provides services to small business clients throughout North America from its offices in Phoenix, Arizona. In teaming up with BizIQ, Metro Glass, Inc. looks to grow the size of its customer base through an improved and more modernized web presence. BizIQ's approach with clients like the glass company involves the establishment of new online content, ranging from updated websites to bimonthly company blog posts. The marketing firm places an emphasis on the use of search engine optimization, which makes it easier for customers to find companies like Metro Glass, Inc. when performing Google searches for local businesses. The new Metro Glass, Inc. website is slated to include a variety of timely, informative and relevant content related to the company's products and services, as well as information about glass repair in Oklahoma City, OK as an industry. All content on the new site will be written by trained copywriters, and will be updated on a regular basis to encourage customers to visit the site for the latest information. "We've built up a reputation for providing outstanding workmanship and customer service to area residents and businesses," said Chris Weeks, owner of Metro Glass, Inc., "but we also realize our web marketing approach could use some updates. We've been very impressed with what BizIQ has done for us so far in building our new website, and we're looking forward to enjoying a long-term partnership with their team." About Metro Glass, Inc. Metro Glass, Inc. is a family owned and operated company providing glass replacement and glass repair in Oklahoma City, OK. Founded in 1994, the company specializes in providing a variety of glass services to residential, commercial and automotive customers. For more information, please visit http://metroglassinc.com/. To learn more about BizIQ and its expertise regarding local search engine optimization, or to view its extensive list of service options, please visit http://www.ebiziq.com/. Center for Performance is finished, more to do at Hall of Fame Village Wang Qishan (C), head of China's Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, visits Shanxi Dayun Automobile Manufacturing Co. Ltd. in Yuncheng, northern China's Shanxi Province, Nov. 17, 2016. The discipline arm of the ruling Chinese Communist Party has aired a television propaganda film lauding President Xi Jinping's anti-corruption campaign, which he has vowed will target both high-ranking "tigers" and low-ranking "flies." A dramatization of the work of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI), "Fighting Iron With Iron" will air in three parts on state broadcaster CCTV through Thursday at peak viewing time in the evening. The film airs amid growing criticism of the CCDI's use of torture and extrajudicial detention of suspects and witnesses to cases under investigation. Based on interviews with more than 30 CCDI teams across China, the film has been hailed by state media as "though-provoking, alarming and a strong warning." Veteran journalist Xu Xiang said the movie is being seen as the political swan-song of CCDI chairman Wang Qishan, whose term in office is due to expire at the 19th Party Congress later this year. "Will the next congress endorse him to remain in his job, or will [they decide] that he has reached retirement age?" Xu said. "Now is a very good time for him to be publicizing his so-called achievements to the world, while he is still in office." "This is a showcase, a form of personal statement, from him," he said. Independent political commentator Liu Rui said the film is part of a slew of propaganda offerings that will increase in the run-up to the 19th Party Congress. "The main point of this attempt to clean up the party is to bolster its grip on power," Liu said. "There will be all kinds of changes in leadership at every level, and if they don't continue with the anti-corruption campaign during this time, they will find it extremely difficult to do so after the congress meets." He said the fact that the CCDI has made the movie is interesting, however. "Let me put it this way," Liu said. "Nobody is monitoring the monitors, and people will be asking who will be monitoring the central government in its supervision of governments and officials at local level." Selling a lie Beijing-based rights activist Hu Jia said there is a limit to what such a production can achieve. "If they are aiming to create a harmonious and stable political environment for the 19th Party Congress, of course it's important to get public opinion on their side," Hu said. "It's selling them a lie, and some people will build false hopes that are based on that lie, but more and more people are less willing to be brainwashed by party propaganda nowadays, in my view," he said. "All of this is just scratching the surface, if the system doesn't change," he said. The movie isn't the CCDI's first foray into film-making. In October, the graft-busting agency aired an eight-part television series titled "Forever On The Way," giving its account of investigations into eight "tigers" netted by the campaign, including former Chongqing party secretary Bo Xilai, former public security minister Zhou Yongkang and former top generals Xu Caihou and Guo Boxiong. Around the same time, President Xi Jinping was denouncing Zhou Yongkang, Bo Xilai, Guo Boxiong, Xu Caihou, and Ling Jihua for "engaging in political conspiracy activities," according to a copy of a speech made by Xi at a high-level political meeting last October and published by state-run news agency Xinhua this week. He told the meeting, which later described him as a "core leader," that the disgraced former leaders were also financially greedy and led corrupt lifestyles. Xi's ideological campaign intensified earlier this year with his tour of the country's leading state media outlets, and is intended to send out a strong message that "careerists and conspirators" and "cabals and cliques" won't be tolerated in party ranks. "There are careerists and conspirators existing in our party and undermining the party's governance," Xi said last January without naming any names. Attempts to neutralize rivals Political analysts said Xi's accusations were proof that the anti-corruption campaign has far more to do with the president's attempts to neutralize his political rivals than with genuinely cleaning up the party, however. Critics say the anti-corruption campaign is highly selective, while rights lawyers have slammed the party's internal investigation system for resorting to torture and other abuses to elicit forced confessions. Guangzhou-based writer Ye Du said the movie is being aired now, because it is crucial for Xi's administration to continue promoting the official narrative on the anti-corruption campaign. "I am hearing that they plan to continue with the anti-corruption campaign beyond the 19th Party Congress, and so this has to be established and supported as the key narrative," Ye said. "They are stepping up their propaganda about the campaigns with exhibitions and film and television, in the hope of improving the system and making it more effective," he said. "But it is precisely because this is an undemocratic system that this problem remains unsolved, even after several years of the anti-corruption campaign," Ye said. He said the only way the government has any control over what its officials do is to keep them in a state of constant fear. Last month, a new report from the New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) said that the shuanggui system run by the CCDI has no basis in Chinese law, but is the first to detain and question officials for suspected corruption, often holding them for long periods in secret and placing their family members under house arrest. Detainees under its "special measures" are often subjected to prolonged sleep deprivation, enforced stress positions, deprivation of food and water, and beatings, it said. HRW called on the Chinese government to abolish the shuanggui system, which is an extrajudicial process that takes place before any criminal charges are laid, and which sets a detailed blueprint for all the judicial processes that follow. Reported by Yang Fan for RFA's Mandarin Service, and by Lee Lai for the Cantonese Service. Translated by Luisetta Mudie. The stage is set for the ground breaking of the$6-billion project, but issues over compensation and jobs remain, Dec. 25, 2016. Work began on the controversial Laos-China railway as crews started clearing the right-of-way in the ancient Lao city of Luang Prabang late last month, but questions over who will get the bulk of the jobs building the $6 billion project and how much people displaced by the construction will get paid still linger. After the construction was officially opened in a ceremony on Dec. 25, the company is gearing up for construction, Fasanan Thammavong, director general of Luang Prabang province public works and transport department told RFAs Lao Service. It was not clear if the company he was referring to is the main Chinese partner, the state-owned China Railway Corporation, or the bilateral project. While Fasanan told RFA that his department was reaching out to the people affected by the construction, he admitted that they were still ironing out the final details. Our duty is to cooperate and negotiate with the affected people for the government, he said. In Luang Prabang, the number of affected families as well as compensations are not finalized yet, and more details are being collected and studied. The Lao parliament approved the high-speed railway project in 2012 amid hopes that it would lower the cost of exports and consumer goods while boosting investment in the poverty-stricken nation, but the project has faced numerous setbacks. Some of those setbacks are now in the railways rearview mirror, but residents who will lose land and other property to the rail project have yet to receive any compensation. And while officials told RFA that Lao workers would be hired to operate the heavy equipment, he declined to say how many Chinese workers will be employed to build the project. Who gets the work? They hired Lao workers to use heavy equipment to clear the land, he said. So far only the Chinese technical team is here. Their workers are not here yet. It has been previously reported that more than 50,000 mostly Chinese workers will be hired to build the project. A source in Oudomxay provinces Xay district told RFA that four villas are being built to accommodate Chinese workers in area, and that about 100 Chinese workers are already in the province, ant they are gearing up for the railways construction there. Fasanan told RFA that he was unsure how many Laos would be hired in his district. I do not know more details on the Lao workers who will work on the project, he said. Minister of Labor and Social Welfare Khampheng Saysompheng recently told local media that his ministry has yet to be told about the make-up of the workforce. We still don't know what kinds of skills are needed, he said after a December meeting in Vientiane of the cabinet, Vientiane mayor and provincial governors, according to the Vientiane Times. Labor issues have been a topic of debate since the plan to build the U.S. $6 billion railway was proposed, and compensation for people displaced by the railroad has also been a hot topic. Little is known about what the government plans to do, however. Another excuse for a government land grab? Lao villagers attending a meeting in October promoting the project were blocked from asking questions about compensation and where they will be moved when displaced from their land, Lao sources told RFA at the time. The Oct. 27 meeting brought together more than a hundred residents of Nathom, Nongviengkham, Donenoun, and other villages in the Xaythany district of Laos capital Vientiane, and was convened by a district-level committee formed to boost the project, sources said. Participants quickly came to feel that officials were ignoring their concerns, though, one woman who attended the meeting told RFAs Lao Service. When the villagers wanted to ask questions, the authorities would not allow them to do so, RFAs source said, speaking on condition of anonymity. So many of us became angry and left the meeting before it had really ended. Among the concerns that villagers had hoped to raise were questions over how their homes and property would be affected by the planned construction, when they would be forced to move, and how they would be compensated, the source said. The seizure of land for developmentoften without due process or fair compensation for displaced residentshas been a major cause of protest in Laos and other authoritarian Asian countries, including China, Cambodia and Myanmar. Landlocked Laos expects the railways 420-kilometer (261-mile) route through the country to lower the cost of exports and consumer goods while boosting socioeconomic development in the impoverished nation of nearly 7 million people. It is part of a longer railway that will extend southward through the Malay peninsula to Singapore. Political and financial setbacks have delayed the Lao-China stretch of the railway. The original construction plan called for work to begin in 2011 and be completed in 2015, but the plans now call for the railway to be completed in 2021. The planned single-track, standard- gauge rail network would have 33 stations, of which 21 would be operational initially, according to the Ministry of Public Works and Transport. There will be 72 tunnels with a total length of 183.9 km, representing 43 percent of the projects total length. The line will also have 170 bridges of 69.2 km, accounting for 15.8 percent. Passenger trains will travel at a speed of 160 km per hour, while the speed of rail freight will be 120 km per hour. Reported by RFA's Lao Service. Translated by Avary. Written in English by Brooks Boliek. The son of slain Myanmar journalist Soe Moe Tun pays his last respects to his father at his funeral in Monywa, northwestern Myanmar's Sagaing region, Dec. 14, 2016. Myanmar authorities have arrested three suspects in the murder of a local reporter who was badly beaten and left to die on the side of a highway in the town of Monywa in Sagaing region last December, a local police officer said. Soe Moe Tun, the Monywa-based reporter for Myanmar's Eleven Media Group who had been reporting on illegal logging and wood smuggling, the mining industry, and karaoke lounges serving as brothels in the northwestern part of the country, was found dead on Dec. 13. On Monday, police arrested a truck driver working in the local logging industry, local news reports said. About two weeks ago, police arrested two karaoke lounge employees in connection with the murder and questioned them between Dec. 19 and Jan. 2, on which day they were remanded until Jan. 16 because the questioning process remained incomplete, the reports said. We detained one more suspected man yesterday, Lieutenant Police Major Thein Swe Myint said. Now we have been interrogating the three of them. Soe Moe Tun, 35, had worked as a reporter in the town since January 2015, reporting news about Monywa and its surrounding areas, according to a previous statement issued by Eleven Media Group. Eleven Media Group is doing necessary work concerning the death of Soe Moe Tun and [has] urged the respective police station to investigate the case as quickly as possible, the statement said. His death marks the fifth killing of a journalist in Myanmar since 1999. Reported by Kyaw Thu for RFAs Myanmar Service. Translated by Khet Mar. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin. Nearly 7,000 Tibetans hoping to attend a major Buddhist ritual in India led by exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama have been barred by Chinese authorities from taking part in the event, ceremony organizers told reporters on Wednesday. More than 100,000 devotees from around the world have now assembled in Bodh Gaya, Indiasite of the enlightenment of the historical Buddhato participate in this years Kalachakra empowerment, which is set to run from Jan. 11 to 13, with preparatory teachings and other events already under way. Thousands of pilgrims from Tibetan-populated areas of western China who had hoped to attend have been forced to return home, though, while others have been blocked from leaving China, event organizers Karma Gelek Yuthok and Kalon Choekyong Wangchuk said. It is extremely unfortunate and sad that so many Tibetans who wanted to attend could not come, and that many others who were able to come have had to return to Tibet under strict deadlines, Karma Gelek said. These total nearly 7,000, Gelek said, adding, This raises serious questions concerning Chinas claim that it allows religious freedom. Kalachakra, which means Wheel of Time, is a ritual that prepares devotees to be reborn in Shambhala, a celestial kingdom which, it is said, will vanquish the forces of evil in a future cosmic battle. The ceremony and teachings are often conducted outside Tibet by the Dalai Lama, who is widely reviled by Chinese leaders as a splittist seeking to separate Tibet, which was invaded by Communist China in 1950, from Beijings control. Passports seized, families threatened In a bid to reduce attendance at this years ceremony, Chinese officials moved beginning in November to confiscate the passports of Tibetans authorized to travel abroad, at the same time ordering Tibetans already present in India and Nepal to return home. Many had been told their families would be harmed if they failed to go back, sources told RFA in earlier reports. Speaking at the end of December to Tibetan pilgrims in Delhi, India, the Dalai Lama assured those ordered home that he would keep them in his prayers, according to a Dec. 28 report by Tibets government in exile, the India-based Central Tibetan Administration (CTA). Distance cannot dampen the sacred ties between a lama and a disciple. You can all pray from the far-flung areas in Tibet and I assure you that you will receive the Kalachakra empowerment, the Tibetan spiritual leader said, according to CTA. From the Kalachakra ground, I will keep the Tibetans inside Tibet in my deepest prayers, the Dalai Lama said. Reported by Sangye Dorjee for RFAs Tibetan Service. Translated by Karma Dorjee. Written in English by Richard Finney. Russia launched more kamikaze drones on infrastructure and civilian targets in southeastern Ukraine, officials said on November 4, as extensive damage to the power grid left millions of Ukrainians without electricity, prompting President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to accuse Moscow of "energy terrorism." 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. Valentyn Reznichenko, the governor of the Dnipropetrovskov region, said the Ukrainian military destroyed eight Iranian Shahed-136 "kamikaze" drones in the region's southern Nikopol district. "Our air defense did a great job this night. Eight enemy Shaheds downed," Reznichenko wrote on Telegram. It was the second day in a row that Nikopol was targeted by Russian drones. Reznichenko said Russian troops also pounded four settlements in the same district -- Myrivska, Chervonogrigorivska, Marganetska, and Nikopolska -- with Grad rockets and artillery fire, damaging a gas pipeline and a power line and destroying residential buildings. Russian troops regularly bombard the Dnipropetrovsk region, one of Ukraine's steelmaking hubs, with various types of weapons. Moscow denies its attacks on civilians in Ukraine. Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address on November 3 that millions of Ukrainians were temporarily without power due to the Russian attacks. "Tonight, about 4.5 million consumers have been temporarily disconnected from energy consumption," Zelenskiy said. "The very fact that Russia is resorting to energy terrorism shows the weakness of our enemy. They cannot beat Ukraine on the battlefield, so they try to break our people this way." Russia has been targeting Ukrainian energy infrastructure and other civilian buildings with missile, drone, and artillery attacks for several weeks amid a Ukrainian counteroffensive that has driven Russian troops out of the northeast and pushed them back in the east and southeast. Over the past days, however, despite heavy fighting, there has been no significant change on the ground on the eastern and southern Ukraine fronts, with preparations building for a fight over the southern city of Kherson. The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry accused Moscow of forcibly deporting Ukrainian citizens from Kherson to Russia. "The Russian occupation administration has begun mass forced relocation of residents of the left bank [of the Dnieper River] of the Kherson regionto 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. Russia in September proclaimed to have seized the partially occupied Ukrainian regions of Kherson, Zaporizhzhya, Luhansk, and Donetsk following referendums condemned by Kyiv and the West as shams. Volodymyr Saldo, the Russia-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, the 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 to circulate about the alleged mining of the Nova Kakhovska hydroelectric power plant by Russian troops. Zelenskiy previously said that Ukraine suspects Russia has mined the dam and units of the power plant on the Dnieper River, and that 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. Russian forces also removed roadblocks in Kherson. The head of the Kherson regional military administration, Yaroslav Yanushevich, believes that they did this to create the illusion that Russian forces have left the city. WATCH: Near Bakhmut in Ukraine's Donetsk region, Ukrainian forces often rely on artillery from the 1970s and '80s. The front line there is one of the most hotly contested areas. The soldiers say that although the Soviet-era weaponry is old, it is still very effective. 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. The loss of Kherson, which Russian troops captured in March in the early days of the war, would signal a significant retreat. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, asked to comment on the battlefield situation in southern Ukraine, said he believes 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. With reporting by Reuters BRUSSELS -- Much ink has been spilled about a handful of pivotal elections in EU member states this year, and their potential to transform the European Union and its relations with neighbors and allies alike. The populist backlash that fueled the Brexit vote and Donald Trump's U.S. presidential victory in 2016 -- and the Greek debt crisis before them -- is likely to continue in Europe. The Dutch go to the polls in March, when the nativist, anti-Islam Freedom Party headed by Geert Wilders could win the biggest share of the vote and strongly influence coalition building. France selects a new president in April and May, and the right-wing populist National Front's Marine Le Pen appears all but certain to reach the second round. In September, the populist, Euroskeptical Alternative for Germany will enter the Bundestag in an election that threatens to weaken or unseat Chancellor Angela Merkel, who has become the public face of the current EU in many people's eyes. But there are a number of other events on the 2017 schedule -- seemingly symbolic or plainly decisive -- that are keeping diplomats, military minds, and Eurocrats awake at night and could alter Europe's course for years to come. The result could be a European Union, and possibly NATO, that look a whole lot more introverted and chaotic to most observers. NATO At 29? The biggest get-together in Brussels this year is likely to be the "Trump summit" in the spring. It is an official NATO leaders summit and is meant to welcome the new U.S. president to Europe and get him acquainted with the workings of the alliance. Similar meetings were organized for both Barack Obama and George W. Bush when they entered office, but expect other NATO leaders and diplomats to be a bit more nervous for this one. Will Trump be committed to the defense of NATO's eastern flank? Does he care about Afghanistan? Is he really that close to Vladimir Putin? Those are the questions they have been asking themselves ever since his election, and it is here that Europeans will get the first taste of what he really wants. The reason no firm date for the "Trump summit" has been set is that NATO officials are keen to inaugurate Brussels' new NATO headquarters by hosting the meeting there. Construction of the 1 billion-euro ($1.1 billion) building started in 2010 and should be ready in the next few months. Ironically, it might be inaugurated at a welcoming summit for a U.S. president (and billionaire developer) who has been bluntly transactional about U.S. obligations under the alliance. Around the same time, Montenegro will most likely become the alliance's 29th member (although some NATO countries, including the United States, must still ratify the accession). No diplomat who spoke to RFE/RL cited any major obstacles at this stage, but there is nervousness in the air. Montenegrin authorities have accused Russians of trying to destabilize their country during elections in October. Could such a move have been a desperate, foreign-backed effort to derail NATO accession, and, if so, is there more to come? Whatever the answer to those questions, one thing seems clear: This enlargement will almost certainly be the last for either NATO or the EU in a long time. Centrifugal Forces By the end of March, Brexit negotiations should be set in motion -- initially for two years, but it might take longer. The United Kingdom's withdrawal from the EU will consume a lot of attention and time for both British and EU diplomats, potentially leaving Brussels more inward-looking and toothless in the years to come. What impact will ongoing Brexit talks have, for example, on the renewal or expiration of the EU's economic sanctions against Russia, set to run out by the end of July? EU divisions will otherwise be on full display at two events early in 2017. By the end of February, the EU Commission wants answers from Poland concerning the rule of law in that country, particularly the functioning of its Constitutional Court. It is a battle that has been going on ever since the right-wing Law and Justice party came to power in Warsaw in late 2015. Expect Poland to ignore the EU Commission and the EU Commission to abstain from sanctioning Warsaw since it knows that countries like Hungary are covering Poland's back. It will be widely perceived as a victory for illiberal democracy in the newish EU member states and a final blow for EU enlargement enthusiasts who frequently touted Poland as a poster child for the successful reintegration of former Warsaw Pact countries into mainstream Western politics. Poland might also play a key role when it comes to renewing EU Council President Donald Tusk's mandate for another 2 1/2 years. The decision is likely to be made at an EU summit in March. But Tusk's archrival in Polish domestic politics, Law and Justice's Jaroslaw Kaczynski, has already signaled that he won't support a second term for his compatriot. Tusk can be reelected by a qualified majority, but questions over his standing could weaken one of Brussels' biggest Putin critics at a crucial stage in EU-Russian relations. And on the topic of Russia, it's hard to imagine a complete thaw between Brussels and Moscow anytime too soon. But it's easier to envisage a possible settlement between the European Commission and Gazprom this spring over how the Russian state-owned energy giant operates on the EU single market. In 2015, the European Commission accused Gazprom of overcharging customers in Eastern and Central Europe and unfairly blocking rivals. Moscow is keen to avoid a massive fine, and might let itself be persuaded to respect Brussels' interpretation of those particular EU rules. Shaken, Not Stirred Then, on March 25, EU leaders will gather in Rome to mark the 60th anniversary of the signing of the treaty to launch the European Economic Community -- an early forerunner of today's EU. The plan is for leaders to come up with a clear new vision for the future of the bloc. But the question is whether this meeting won't instead be fraught by bickering over refugee quotas and cures to solve the EU's economic ills. In November, the remains of the bloc's eastern policy will be scrutinized when the Eastern Partnership summit kicks off in Brussels. "Eastern partners" Georgia and Moldova already have Association Agreements with the EU; Ukraine is poised to have its Association Agreement sealed if the Dutch parliament manages to ratify the document in votes taking place in January and February. Moldovans will be joined by Georgians and Ukrainians in the spring for visa-free access to the EU. Another Eastern Partnership member, Armenia, should finish negotiations on a partnership deal that excludes a free-trade area in the first half of the year; at around the same time, negotiations with Azerbaijan might commence on a similar deal. Questions will meanwhile be asked about what more the EU can offer its "eastern partners" and what the point really is of the partnership. But the biggest headline could well be that Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka might show up after years as persona non grata during previous Eastern Partnership summits. The decision in February to lift sanctions against him and 169 other Belarusian officials (and several defense-sector companies) was criticized by Lukashenka detractors, who cited continued jailings and other repression targeting political dissidents and other regime critics. France's far-right leader and presidential candidate Marine Le Pen said on January 3 that Russia's annexation of Ukraine's Crimea in 2014 was "not illegal." In an interview with French television channel BFM TV, the leader of the National Front party sided with the Kremlin in a dispute that has contributed to the worst East-West ties since the Cold War. "I absolutely disagree that it was an illegal annexation: a referendum was held and residents of Crimea chose to rejoin Russia," said Le Pen, who is running in the April 17 presidential election on a platform of forging stronger ties with Russia. Russian forces swept into the Black Sea peninsula in February 2014 and a month later organized a referendum in which more than 95 percent of Crimean voters backed joining Russia. "I see no grounds whatsoever to question this referendum," Le Pen said, adding that she views Crimea as a part of Russia. The United States and European Union branded the referendum as "farcical" and have insisted that Crimea's annexation from Ukraine was illegal. They cited the takeover as the principle reason for hitting Russia with tough sanctions that remain in place today. Based on reporting by The Independent and TASS The commander of Iran's powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, Hossein Salami, warned protesters that October 29 would be their last day of taking to the streets. "Do not come to the streets! Today is the last day of the riots," Salami was quoted as saying by state media. Iran has been gripped by protests triggered by the death of a 22-year-old woman, Mahsa Amini, in the custody of Tehrans morality police. Since Aminis death on September 16, thousands have been demonstrating across the country against the clerical establishment. Protests were reported on October 29 at several universities across the country where students chanted, Death to the dictator, and, Woman, life, freedom. Iran has blamed its foreign enemies and their agents for the unrest. The U.S.-based Human Rights Activist News Agency (HRANA) posted videos on Twitter showing protests at several universities. One of the protests showed people holding hands in a large circle and chanting: "If we don't unite, we will be killed one by one." HRANA said 272 protesters had been killed in the unrest as of October 28, including 39 minors. Some 34 members of the security force have also been killed and nearly 14,000 people have been arrested, it said. The Oslo-based group Iran Human Rights also posted a video of a protest at a university campus and said that in the city of Arak state security forces fired tear gas as mourners gathered for the funeral of Mehrshad Shahidinejad, a young aspiring chef who reportedly was killed after being arrested during a protest. The IRGC warning on October 29 came as the United Nations expressed "increasing concern" about reports of deaths in the antiestablishment protests in Iran. "We condemn all incidents that have resulted in death or serious injury to protesters and reiterate that security forces must avoid all unnecessary or disproportionate use of force against peaceful protesters, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said in New York on October 28. Those responsible must be held to account, he said, adding that the UN was urging Tehran to address the legitimate grievances of the population, including with respect to womens rights. The United Nations urged the Iranian government in Tehran to respect human rights, noting that the crisis can and should be brought under control through dialogue. In a separate statement, World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus also expressed concern about "rising fatalities and injuries" to protesters in Iran. "Its essential that unfettered access to health care is provided to those in need, [including] the appropriate use of medical vehicles, facilities & the ability of health workers to help patients," WHO chief Tedros said on Twitter on October 28. Protesters clashed again with security forces on October 28 in Zahedan, a city in southeastern Iran were dozens of people were killed in clashes four weeks ago during anti-government protests. Activists posted videos on social media showing protesters in the city calling for the death of "dictator" Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and against the Basij militia, which has played a major role in a crackdown on the demonstrations. The United States and Albania will hold an informal UN Security Council gathering on November 3 that will focus on the protests in Iran, according to a note outlining the event seen by Reuters. Iranian Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi and Iranian-born actress and activist Nazanin Boniadi are set to address the gathering. "The meeting will highlight the ongoing repression of women and girls and members of religious and ethnic minority groups in Iran," the note said. "It will identify opportunities to promote credible, independent investigations into the Iranian government's human rights violations and abuses." Javaid Rehman, the UN special rapporteur on human rights in Iran, is also due to address the meeting, which can be attended by other UN member states and rights groups. "The meeting will underscore ongoing unlawful use of force against protesters and the Iranian regime's pursuit of human rights defenders and dissidents abroad to abduct or assassinate them in contravention of international law," read the note about the planned meeting. With reporting by Reuters, AFP, and dpa French police have arrested former Kosovo Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj on a Serbian war crimes warrant, Kosovos Foreign Ministry says. Haradinaj, a former guerrilla commander during Kosovo's 1998-99 war, is accused by Serbia of committing war crimes during the conflict in the former Serbian province that declared independence in 2008. Kosovo Foreign Ministry said on January 4 in a statement that "he was stopped by French authorities based on an arrest warrant issued by Serbia in 2004, which for us is unacceptable." The ministry said it was doing everything possible to secure Haradinajs release. The Reuters news agency quoted unnamed French police sources as saying Haradinaj was arrested upon his arrival at Basel-Mulhouse airport in eastern France on a flight from Pristina. Haradinaj served briefly as prime minister of Kosovo in 2004 and 2005. He was tried and acquitted twice of war crimes at a United Nations court in The Hague. In June 2015, Haradinaj was arrested in Slovenia on a Serbian warrant but was released two days later under diplomatic pressure. Based on reporting by Reuters and Balkaninsight.com Moldovan President Igor Dodon has met with the de facto head of the breakaway Transdniester region, Vadim Krasnoselsky, in the separatist-controlled city of Bendery. Russian news agencies quoted Dodon as saying that "there are some complicated issues and there are different visions, but it does not mean we should not sit at the negotiating table or discuss and resolve our citizens' problems." Krasnoselsky, the leader of the self-styled Transdniester Republic, said after the January 4 meeting that the talks behind closed doors focused on the free movement of people, railway connections, and recognition of documents, among other issues. Ahead of the talks, Dodon wrote on Facebook that the meeting was "necessary for intensifying talks on a Transdniester settlement," adding that the issue of the breakaway territory would be a main topic during January 17 talks in Moscow with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Krasnoselsky has said he favors independence for Transdniester and closer relations with Russia based on the results of an unrecognized poll taken in the region in 2006. Dodon, who was elected president on December 23, has pledged to resolve the Transdniester issue while in office. "We have a lot of issues that need to be addressed, and the situation where the talks have stalled for several years now is unacceptable," Dodon said. The breakaway territory has been self-ruling since 1992, when a brief war was fought between Moldova and separatists. Bendery is technically in a buffer zone along the administrative line dividing Moldova proper from the Transdniester region but it is controlled by the separatists. Krasnoselsky was voted Transdniester leader in a December election not recognized by Moldova or the international community. Based on reporting by TASS and RFE/RL's Moldova Service Pakistani police say they have arrested at least 150 hard-line Muslim activists at a rally in favor of the country's harsh blasphemy laws in the city of Lahore. The January 4 rally coincided with the commemoration for a former governor killed for supporting a Christian woman accused of blasphemy. Authorities said around 300 clerics attended two separate rallies in Lahore, blocking main roads and clashing with police. Officers used tear-gas to disperse the rally, police said. Governor Salman Taseer was shot dead in Islamabad by his own security guard on January 4, 2011, after he spoke out for Asia Bibi, a Christian mother on death row over blasphemy. On December 3, one of Taseer's sons, Shan Taseer, angered hard-liners by calling on social media for a review of the blasphemy laws and supporting Bibi. Under Pakistan's blasphemy laws, anyone found guilty of Insulting Islam can be sentenced to death. More than 100 people are charged with blasphemy and jailed each year in Pakistan, many of them Christians and other minorities. No one has yet been executed, but at least 65 people have been murdered by hard-liners in connection with blasphemy allegations since 1990. Based on reporting by AFP, AP, and Reuters Moscow is ready to become a "close friend of the Philippines" as the southeastern Asian country diversifies its foreign ties, Russia's ambassador has said. Since taking office in June, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has made repeated threats and verbal tirades against the United States, a long-time ally, while taking steps to boost relations with China and Russia. Two Russian warships are currently on a four-day visit to Manila -- the first official navy-to-navy contact between the two countries. "We don't interfere with your relations with your traditional partners and your traditional partners should respect the interest of the Philippines and Russia," Russian Ambassador Igor Khovaev told a news conference on board the Russian antisubmarine vessel Admiral Tributs on January 4. Khovaev also said Russia was ready to supply the Philippines with "sophisticated weapons," including aircraft and submarines. Based on reporting by Reuters and ABS-CBN News Russian police have briefly detained six people who staged a protest in Moscow demanding the authorities disclose the whereabouts of jailed activist Ildar Dadin, who has said he was tortured in prison. The protesters were released after spending about four hours in custody on January 4. Prominent opposition politician Aleksei Navalny tweeted two photos of a woman whom he described as a lone protester. One photo depicts the woman holding a placard reading "Where is Ildar Dadin?" and another condemning "torture in Russian concentration camps." The second photo shows the woman being escorted away by two policemen. Dadin, 34, became the first Russian citizen jailed for participating in more than two unsanctioned public gatherings in 180 consecutive days under a controversial 2014 law that critics say is part of a redoubled Kremlin effort to stifle dissent during President Vladimir Putin's third term. Dadin received a three-year sentence in December 2015, and it was later reduced by six months. Last month, Russian human rights campaigners draped a banner calling for Dadin's release from a St. Petersburg bridge. WASHINGTON -- President-elect Donald Trump has escalated his standoff with U.S. intelligence agencies over an alleged Russian cyber-campaign to meddle in the presidential election, ahead of congressional hearings and his scheduled briefing on the matter this week. In a January 4 tweet, Trump repeated WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange's assertion that Russia was not the source of leaked e-mails that were widely seen as having damaged Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton in the November 8 election. "Julian Assange said 'a 14 year old could have hacked Podesta' -- why was DNC so careless? Also said Russians did not give him the info!" Trump wrote, referring to Clinton campaign chief John Podesta and the Democratic National Committee, whose stolen e-mails were published by WikiLeaks before the vote. Assange repeated his claim in a January 3 interview with Fox News, contradicting the assessment of the U.S. intelligence community, which has publicly accused the Russian government of directing the campaign to influence the U.S. electoral process. Media reports quoted unidentified CIA and FBI officials as saying that intelligence assessments had concluded that the alleged Russian effort was aimed at tilting the election toward Trump. The New York real estate developer has repeatedly said he wants to repair ties with Moscow that were badly strained over the conflicts in Ukraine and Syria. Both the Russian government and Trump have dismissed that conclusion as absurd, and President Barack Obama's administration has yet to release details backing up the allegation that Moscow tried to help Trump with the stolen e-mails. 'Sycophant For Russia' The Republican president-elect's apparent endorsement of the WikiLeaks founder's assertion was his latest -- and to many in Washington, his most astounding -- public challenge of the U.S. intelligence conclusions on the affair. Trump has repeatedly cited the faulty CIA intelligence that led to the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003 as the basis for his skepticism about Russia's alleged role in the hacks. Defenders of Assange and Trump have deployed the same argument and said that the contents of the leaked e-mails -- including ones that showed some Democratic officials favoring Clinton over primary rival Bernie Sanders -- were more important than their provenance. Senior Republican officials criticized Assange, whose organization has been under investigation by U.S. authorities for publishing classified government documents. "I have really nothing [to say] other than the guy is a sycophant for Russia. He leaks. He steals data and compromises national security," Paul Ryan, the Republican leader in the House of Representatives, said in a January 4 radio interview. Current and former U.S. officials have expressed increasing concern at Trump's public dismissal of the conclusions of the intelligence agencies that he will oversee when he takes office on January 20. Evelyn Farkas, who resigned last year as the Pentagon's top Russia official and supported Clinton in the election, said career civil servants in the Defense and State departments were "really alarmed" by Trump's approach to the U.S. intelligence establishment. "The policy people who work in the Pentagon and in the State Department, they absolutely accept the intelligence assessments of their colleagues in part because they are also privy to some of the raw intelligence and other pieces of analysis that go into the ultimate findings," Farkas told RFE/RL. Senator Lindsey Graham (Republican-South Carolina) told CNN in a January 4 interview that it was "very disturbing" that Trump was giving credence to Assange's claims. The WikiLeaks founder "has a history of undermining American interests," said Graham, who has been a vocal critic of Trump's hesitance to believe Russia was behind the cyberattacks. "I hope no American will be duped by him. You shouldn't give him any credibility." Congressional Hearings And Trump Briefing The dust-up over Assange comes a day before a hearing into the Russian hacking allegations by the Senate Armed Services Committee. In an interview with RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service last week, the committee's Republican chairman, John McCain, urged tougher action against Moscow. "There are a lot more stringent measures we should take," McCain said. "After all, it was an attack on the United States of America and an attack on the fundamentals of our democracy. If you destroy the elections, then you destroy democracy." Also on January 5, Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland is set to brief a closed hearing of Senate Foreign Relations Committee on the Obama administration's newly announced sanctions in response to the hacking. The White House also expelled 35 Russian diplomats in response to what Washington calls a campaign of harassment of its diplomats in Russia. On January 6, Trump is slated to receive a formal briefing on Russia's alleged effort to interfere in the election. Tensions over the meeting emerged between Trump and U.S. officials on January 3, when the president-elect suggested it had been postponed due to deficient evidence of Russian involvement. "The 'Intelligence' briefing on so-called 'Russian hacking' was delayed until Friday, perhaps more time needed to build a case. Very strange!" Trump wrote on Twitter. U.S. officials, however, denied that the briefing had been pushed back, saying it had always been scheduled for January 6. Ryan, the Republican House speaker, said in his radio interview that the briefing will "hopefully" get Trump "up to speed on what has been happening and what Russia has or has not done. And he'll be better informed on that." Obama has ordered a full report on the alleged Russian cyber-campaign to be completed by January 20. CIA Director John Brennan said in a January 3 TV interview that the report "is in its final throes of production." "The intelligence in there will be exactly what the president asked for, a comprehensive and thorough review about what happened during our recent election and Russian involvement," Brennan told PBS. He added that the report "will address what Russia was doing, how it was doing it, and how we know that." With reporting by Politico, CNN, and PBS With his inauguration less than three weeks away, President-elect Donald Trump has made a fresh assault on the U.S. intelligence community. Trump said on Twitter that an intelligence briefing he was due to receive on alleged Russian interference in the 2016 election had been delayed until January 6, using quote marks around the word "intelligence." "Perhaps more time needed to build a case. Very strange!" he wrote on January 3. However, U.S. intelligence officials were quoted as saying there was no delay in the briefing schedule. U.S. intelligence agencies believe Russia directed hacks against the Democratic Party and the campaign of its presidential candidate, Hillary Clinton, releasing information through WikiLeaks and other outlets to help Trump win the election. In an interview aired on January 3, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange denied that he obtained thousands of leaked Democratic e-mails from the Russian government. "The source is not the Russian government. It is not state parties," he told U.S. network Fox News. Asked if he thought the leaks of Democratic Party e-mails led to Trump's victory in November, he said: "Who knows, it's impossible to tell." Based on reporting by AP and the BBC Turkish authorities say they have identified the perpetrator of the New Years Day massacre at an Istanbul nightclub, as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared that the country will not surrender to "terrorists." Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, speaking to the state-run Anadolu news agency on January 4, said the identity of the gunman had been established, without providing further details. The gunman burst into Istanbul's waterfront Reina nightclub with an automatic weapon and began shooting people celebrating New Year's early on January 1, killing at least 39 people and wounding 69 others. The dead included 27 foreigners, many from the Middle East. The extremist Islamic State (IS) group said a "soldier of the caliphate" had carried out the massacre, calling it an attack on an "apostate holiday" and revenge for Turkey's military involvement in Syria. The gunman, who fled after the attack, remains at large. "Efforts to capture him continue," Cavusoglu said, adding that the house the suspect lived in "has been searched" and that the attack had been "professionally" planned. Turkish media reported that the attacker rented a flat in the central city of Konya before moving to Istanbul to carry out the assault. Despite not revealing the name of the suspect, police released the images of the attacker earlier this week, including one taken by security cameras on the night of the massacre. A 28-year-old citizen of Kyrgyzstan whose name and passport have been circulated in Turkish and Italian media, as well as widely on social media, as the possible perpetrator was questioned by Turkish and Kyrgyz authorities in Bishkek but later released. Several Arrests Meanwhile, state news agency Anadolu reported that 20 suspected members of the IS group were detained in the western province of Izmir as part of the ongoing investigation. Reuters news agency quoted police as saying the suspects were thought to be of Central Asian and North African origin. They were also believed to have travelled to Izmir from Konya. Sixteen people had been detained earlier in the week in connection with the massacre, according to Anadolu. In his first public address to the nation since the attack, Erdogan claimed it was aimed at dividing Turkey, but said the country would not fall for the ploy. "The aim was clear: to create a fissure and polarize society," he said in Ankara. "Nobody's lifestyle is under systematic threat in Turkey," Erdogan also said. "We will never allow this." The president added that "to say Turkey has surrendered to terrorism is to take sides with the terrorists and terror organizations." Turkey has suffered dozens of deadly terror attacks in the past 12 months, including on its international airport in Istanbul, with some blamed on the IS group and others said to be the work of Kurdish militants. Late on January 3, Turkish lawmakers voted to extend by a further three months a state of emergency that was declared following a July 15 coup attempt. The state of emergency was declared to crack down on a network linked to U.S.-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, accused by Ankara of orchestrating the failed coup. Gulen denies any involvement. With reporting by Reuters, AFP, and AP WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has once again denied that he obtained thousands of leaked U.S. Democratic emails from Russian sources in an interview with U.S. network Fox News aired on January 3. Assange, in an interview at the Ecuadoran embassy in London where he sought refuge in June 2012, shed no light on who provided WikiLeaks with the hacked documents from the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and from Clinton campaign chief John Podesta. WikiLeaks released the documents during the U.S. election campaign in what U.S. intelligence established was an effort by Moscow to tip the election in favor of Clinton's Republican rival, Donald Trump, who went on to win the vote. Assange insisted, however, that Russia was not the source of the hacked material. "The source is not the Russian government. It is not state parties," he said. Asked if he thought the leaks of the Podesta and DNC emails led to Trump's victory in November, he said: "Who knows, it's impossible to tell." Based on reporting by AFP and AP Ward 3 Councilman Jason Messier and his son, Jacoby, smile for a photo before heading to the West Warwick Civic Center to distribute gifts last week. A veteran 6th Judicial Circuit Court judge found dead in his Prince George County Courthouse office on New Years Day committed suicide, the state medical examiners office has ruled. Judge Nathan Curtis Lee, 60, suffered a fatal gunshot wound in his mouth, the medical examiners office said Wednesday morning. Police, fire and EMS authorities were called to the Prince George Courthouse for reports of an unresponsive male at 9:46 p.m. Sunday, Prince George police said. Police immediately noted Monday that foul play was not suspected in the judges death but said the investigation was continuing. Reached Wednesday, Prince George Commonwealths Attorney Susan Fierro said she has been monitoring the police investigation into Lees death and that at this point, given all the evidence we have, including the medical examiners findings, its clear that theres no criminal action here. And my offices interests are closed in the matter. Fierro added that police have filed paperwork to trace the firearm Lee used a handgun to confirm the owner, if its on file. In response to a question whether Lee left behind a note that may have offered some explanation for his death, Prince George police Capt. Brian Kei cited a Virginia code section that exempts from mandatory disclosure such documents (that) contain personal information that would jeopardize the privacy of certain persons. Lee, a native of Hopewell, was appointed to the bench as a 6th Judicial Circuit Court judge by former Gov. Bob McDonnell in 2012 after the position was left unfilled by the General Assembly. He was subsequently elected to the position on a permanent basis by state legislators. He practiced law in Virginia for more than 30 years and started his legal career with a small firm and ran a private practice for 18 years before his appointment to the bench. He also served as a substitute judge in general district court. He and his wife continued to live in Hopewell and raised two daughters. Judge Lee was just a gentleman, through and through, Fierro said. Very fair, he had an excellent demeanor for the bench and for the courtroom. He loved his job as a judge and was an active member with our Crater Criminal Justice Board. He was the judge who handled drug court, and he was always concerned about the participants and their successful completion of the programs. He loved his family and spoke often of his daughters, she added. I think what Ill remember most about him is how he beamed with pride whenever he spoke about his daughters. Lee was one of two judges appointed by the General Assembly to serve the 6th Judicial Circuit, which includes Hopewell and the counties of Prince George, Brunswick, Greensville, Surry and Sussex. Lee and 6th Judicial Circuit Judge W. Allan Sharrett sat in all six localities. Open-government advocate Janice Denton officially traded her typical seat in the audience for one among Hopewell City Council members Tuesday. She also was the first to speak up during the councils first act of 2017, electing the citys mayor and vice mayor. It was a milestone moment for Denton, who a couple of years ago took issue with the way council members chose the mayor through a closed-door discussion. She eventually took her complaint to court, and won. Among open-government advocates, it was believed to be the first legal test of its kind. Just in case, Denton on Tuesday printed out Circuit Judge W. Allan Sharretts opinion that sided with Denton and carried it in a folder. This year, Denton said, there was no whisper of a closed-door discussion. It was very good to know that the discussion was all out in the open, Denton said. I had no idea two years ago that I would be sitting up here participating in this. Denton nominated Councilor Jackie Shornak, who was then elected Hopewells mayor by a split vote of 4-3. I hope this year that we make changes and we are a unit of one instead of seven individual members, Shornak said. Im tired of listening to citizens saying that we are not conducting ourselves the way that we should. And I apologize to those people who we have let down. She added that the council members are going to work together to get things done in the city. But rancor among some council members seemed to persist. Like the vote for mayor, the vice mayor selection was not unanimous: Council members elected Jasmine Gore as vice mayor by a 5-2 vote. I hope people stay true to what they have been saying this meeting, Councilor Christina Luman-Bailey said, her only comment of the evening other than her failed nomination of Councilor Anthony Zevgolis as vice mayor. Luman-Bailey was nominated by Denton to remain as vice mayor, but that nomination failed by a 3-4 vote. You see that, Denton said, pointing to the City Councils screen, where a large 2017 was shown. Weve got some work to do. Its 2017, whats behind us is behind us and weve got to look forward to the future. Shornak thanked former Mayor Brenda Pelham and Luman-Bailey for their leadership. Newly re-elected Pelham thanked the citizens and God for the past couple of years and being able to serve another four years. A man was dropped off at VCU Medical Center on Tuesday evening with life-threatening gunshot wounds, according to Richmond police. Investigators believe the shooting might have happened near the intersection of E. 16th Street and Gordon Avenue in South Richmond, police Capt. Gary Ladin said. Police received reports of random gunfire near that intersection about 6:10 p.m. While investigating the shooting, police were informed that a victim with gunshot wounds had been dropped off at VCU Medical Center. Police said they had no immediate information on suspects or a motive. The longest stretch of cold weather so far this winter is on the way to Richmond. The cold air is on track regardless of the snow chances. But if snow does blanket parts of Virginia this weekend, it could make some of the mornings even colder than the current forecast. Noticeably colder air arrives on Thursday, but it won't be bitter cold at first. Expect highs in the lower 40s. Variably cloudy skies may block most of the day's sunshine. Temperatures will drop another notch on Friday. It'll stay partly to mostly cloudy between weather systems and that shade would keep high temperatures in the upper 30s. The close approach of a snowy system on Saturday may be the main weather story, but an even colder air mass will arrive right on its heels. Most of Saturday will hover in the 20s, barely peaking with a high near freezing. Despite clear skies, a north wind will reinforce the cold air on Sunday. Most of Virginia will experience lows in the teens and a high close to 30 degrees. In areas where there's snow on the ground from Saturday, it could make Sunday's high and low several degrees colder. High pressure will settle overhead on Monday and keep the air below average, probably similar to Sunday's readings. Monday should be the last of the frigid days, but at least the sun will be out. Temperatures will turn the corner and return to seasonable levels on Tuesday and Wednesday of next week. Overall, the next work week is on track to bring near-average to above-average temperatures to Virginia. A Place for All Conservatives to Speak Their Mind. RICHMOND The Virginia Automobile Dealers Association is going to court to appeal a recent decision by the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles that would allow electric automobile maker Tesla Motors Inc. to open a company-owned dealership in the Richmond area. The action by the dealers group was expected. In a decision issued on Nov. 30, Virginia DMV Commissioner Richard Holcomb ruled that Tesla is eligible to operate its own dealership in the Richmond area. Under state law, that decision can be appealed to circuit court. The dealers association, a trade group that represents independent automobile dealers in the state, has filed notice that it will appeal the decision to Richmond Circuit Court by Jan. 22. Tesla, a California-based company founded by tech industry tycoon Elon Musk, sells its battery-powered cars directly to customers online and at company stores. Tesla applied to the DMV in January to open its second company retail store in Virginia. Its only store in Virginia, near Tysons Corner, opened in February 2015 after the company reached a legal agreement with the DMV and the dealers association. The dealers association opposed Teslas petition for a second location, arguing that under state law the company must sell its cars through independent, franchise dealerships, as other automobile manufacturers do. State law prohibits automobile makers from owning dealerships except under certain circumstances, such as when there are no independent dealers available in a community to sell an automakers cars in a manner consistent with the public interest. In deciding that Tesla is eligible to open another store, Holcomb rejected a recommendation by an appointed DMV hearing officer that Teslas request be denied. When Holcombs decision was announced, the dealers association charged that he had apparently bowed to political pressure and that the ruling ignores the entire hearing record, from three days of testimony given at DMV hearings in March, April and July. The auto dealer lobby continues to put its own financial interests before consumers, and we expect its latest attempt to harm Tesla and its Virginia customers to again fail, Tesla said in a statement released Tuesday after the appeal notice. The commissioners ruling clearly outlined the reasons why Teslas direct sales model serves Virginia consumers better. Fired up by Rep. Bob Goodlattes failed effort to remake the congressional ethics office, about a dozen people, including former Roanoke City Council and General Assembly candidate Freeda Cathcart, delivered New Years cards to the representatives Roanoke office Wednesday. Unlike the happy messages of typical greeting cards, these carried political points and suggestions for how Goodlatte should represent the 6th Congressional District in 2017. In her card, Ivonne Wallace Fuentes, an associate professor at Roanoke College and a Roanoke Times contributor, wished Goodlatte a happy new year and said she hopes they can work together to make the community stronger. While Fuentes considers herself politically motivated, she was propelled to become more of a political activist after Goodlattes actions earlier in the week. Her representative in Congress seemed to be leading the charge to make government accountability more difficult, she said. People want out of government a government that is clear, that is transparent, that works for their interests and if we take ethics review and we move it from an independent to a partisan tribunal conflict of interest becomes much more likely, she said. At the SunTrust building in downtown Roanoke, Fuentes and her cohorts handed their cards to Pete Larkin, Goodlattes chief of staff at the office. One woman handed him clear plastic wrap a symbol for more transparency in government. Larkin, who did not let the group enter Goodlattes locked district office, said he would pass on the messages to his boss. Two protests at the district office in the past six months have resulted in sit-ins in the office foyer. In both incidents, building staff called Roanoke police who escorted protesters out of the office at the end of the day. RICHMOND A federal judge on Tuesday said he will decide within a week whether to delay Ricky Javon Grays scheduled Jan. 18 execution over concerns about drugs the state intends to use if Gray dies by injection. Midazolam, a sedative, and potassium chloride, which stops the heart, are the first and third drugs used in Virginias three-drug procedure. The drugs were made by a compounding pharmacy and not by pharmaceutical manufacturers, which no longer provide drugs to states for executions. The state strongly disputes that the compounded drugs tested by a state laboratory and made by a licensed Virginia pharmacy and pharmacist are anything less than suitable for use in an execution. The alleged problems are wholly speculative, said Margaret Hoehl OShea with the state Attorney Generals Office. Under state law, Gray must choose execution by injection or electrocution by 15 days prior to the execution date. If he refuses to select a method, state law makes lethal injection the default method. The Virginia Department of Corrections did not immediately respond Tuesday when asked if Gray had made a choice. Grays lawyers also contend death in the states electric chair is cruel and unusual punishment. And they claim the use of compounded drugs have contributed to botched executions elsewhere and unnecessarily increase the risk of chemical torture. They are asking U.S. District Judge Henry Hudson who heard more than four hours of testimony and argument Tuesday to delay the execution so they can better make their case. An expert testified for Gray on Tuesday that execution by firing squad presents less risk of cruel and unusual punishment than Virginias proposed injection procedure. Gray was sentenced to die for the New Years Day 2006 slayings of sisters Ruby Harvey, 4, and Stella Harvey, 9. He also killed their parents, Bryan Harvey, 49, and Kathryn Harvey, 39, in their South Richmond home, which was set on fire. Less than a week later, Gray and accomplice Ray Dandridge, 39, killed Ashley Baskerville, 21, who had been a lookout when Gray killed the Harveys; Baskervilles mother, Mary Tucker, 47; and stepfather, Percyell Tucker, 55, in their Richmond home. OShea, in her closing argument, told the judge that what Gray did was a nightmare for the community, the Harvey family and the two little girls. Lisa Fried, one of Grays lawyers, asked the judge not to call off the execution, but to delay it so Grays concerns can be fully aired. In response to a question from Hudson, Fried conceded the Constitution does not require a pain-free execution. But she said that while the public has an interest in seeing that sentences are carried out, everyone in the state has an interest in making sure executions are carried out constitutionally. An expert, pharmacist Larry Sasich, testified that the testing performed by the state on the compounded drugs to identify them and ascertain their potency was inadequate. They should also been tested for sterility, acidity, and to see if there are any particulates in the solutions, which are injected into the inmate via an intravenous line. Asked by Fried how likely it was that the use of a compounded drug would lead to pain and suffering, Sasich said, It is more likely compared to the use of an FDA-approved product. However, a state expert pharmacist, Daniel Buffington, said the compounding of such drugs by pharmacies is common in the industry. Its done routinely, he said. Buffington said he was not aware of any botched execution caused by midazolam. He said the problems that he was aware of were caused by the drugs administration. Dr. Jonathan Groner testified there was less risk of pain in an execution by firing squad, which would be almost instantaneous if done properly, than in one using midazolam. Virginia has not used the firing squad, although Utah has twice since the death penalty was allowed to resume in 1976. A Department of Corrections official testified that no employees were trained to conduct a firing squad, there was no facility in which to do so, and the General Assembly would have to change the law to permit that form of execution. He conceded under cross-examination that prison employees are trained in the use of firearms. LYNCHBURG Lawrence Falwells brother had to beg and beg to get him to go to an air show. But once Calvin Falwell got his little brother into aviation the pair went to South Boston for an air show after the end of World War II he couldnt get enough. Each time he turned him down. And finally, one time, he accepted, said their sister, Edna Pee Wee Falwell Twiddy. And then Lawrence got hooked on flying. Lawrence Falwell, who died Saturday at age 94, made a career out of his passion, running Falwell Aviation with his elder brother from 1946 until 2009, when Liberty University bought the company to absorb into its aeronautics program. For a man as quiet and reserved as Falwell, there was some irony that his passions aviation and ham radio involved very specific verbal interaction. He didnt have a lot to say, recalled Falwells son, Jimmy. And so you cant talk about quiet, reserved Lawrence Falwell for too long without mention of his gregarious older brother. Calvin I look at him as the politician. Hes the talker. Hes all over town. Lawrence is quiet, and hes the businessman, said Bob Walker, who worked for Falwell Aviation for more than 30 years and was its chief flight instructor. Despite the dichotomy, Lawrence and Calvin Falwell were inseparable. I never heard them really have an argument. Ive never seen brothers like that before in my life, said Lawrence Falwells nephew and Calvin Falwells son Terry Falwell. Lawrence Falwells impact stretched far beyond aviation. From his early years, he helped his father, Charles Falwell, with the family businesses. They operated Falwell Fast Freight and the familys well-drilling operation. Lawrence Falwell ran Truck Body Corporation as well as Falwell Aviations charter airline service for the majority of his career. He was a smart businessman; he was a good pilot, Jimmy Falwell, a charter pilot now based in Raleigh, North Carolina, said of his father. You could learn a lot just by watching him. The company found creative ways to make a living, such as a U.S. Postal Service contract in the 1970s and a curious niche service transporting cadavers home to Lynchburg for local undertakers. At one time, Walker said, Falwell Aviation owned the largest private twin-engine charter fleet in the commonwealth. Through common sense and how they treated people, thats how they really made it, Walker recalled. Lawrence Falwell devoted himself to pilot education. First trained by international aerobatic champion Woody Edmondson in 1946, the more reserved Falwell had an estimated 600 to 800 pilots, Walker said. Falwell was inducted into the Virginia Aviation Hall of Fame in 1991, five years after his brother. In Liberty Universitys early years, Falwell would taxi his cousin, Jerry Falwell Sr., to engagements free of charge. In addition to the state hall of fame, Falwell served on the Virginia Advisory Committee on Aviation, was a Federal Aviation Administration-designated flight examiner, earned the Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award an FAA recognition for 50 years of accident-free flight and, along with his brother, the Virginia Aviation Lifetime Achievement Award. RICHMOND The four-legged partners who boost the officers of the Richmond Police Department Mounted Unit to a 10-foot-high view of the city live in a concrete-block building under Chamberlayne Avenue. The stables concrete floors are strewn with shavings to provide some cushion. Trains often rattle past, and the low-lying area frequently floods. An overpass shades the lot behind the building, so no grass grows. Despite less-than-ideal living conditions, the units horses Rio, Toby, Scooter and Sampson receive good care, said Sgt. Jeremy Nierman, who heads the unit. The city has set aside $328,721 in the current budget to build a new barn, but estimates for the 6,535-square-foot equestrian community center are about double that total. Police officials said they hope to secure the remaining money in the citys next budget, and Friends of the Richmond Mounted Squad is raising money to match the allocated portion. The new stables will be on about 7 acres the city owns in North Side. It will be near the new canine unit facility, which opened this year behind John Marshall High School and was funded completely by its nonprofit arm, Friends of Richmond K9. Deputy Chief Eric English, who is heading the project for the department, said that once the city pays for the new barn, its coffers will be tapped out. So the department will rely on donations from Friends of the Richmond Mounted Squad for other supplies including saddles, equipment and possibly even more horses. English said he hopes to have construction completed this year. The department also has teamed with the state Division of Capitol Police, which hopes to keep its mounted unit with the citys, and is in discussion with Virginia Commonwealth University about a partnership. Richmonds mounted unit, which dates to 1894, is one of the oldest in the country. Its an older style of policing but still an effective style, Nierman said. We do a lot of the same police work as officers in police vehicles. That includes making traffic stops and arrests. Nierman called them 10-foot cops who provide a highly visible presence for the units four officers while patrolling and the ultimate four-wheel drive, because they are able to access areas where cars cannot go. Its also one of the most beloved units in the department. People love horses, Chief Alfred Durham said. I cant think of a better way to engage the youth in our city than with animals and our officers. Durham said the horses, as well as the dogs of the canine unit, are an integral part of community policing. He envisions the new location to be part stables and training facility for the horses and unit but also a community center with space for groups to meet and visit the horses. Leslie Buck, a Friends of the Richmond Mounted Squad board member, said each horse requires $3,000 to $4,000 in annual upkeep. The nonprofit accepts donations to pay for saddles and other supplies and even has purchased horses for the unit. The members also hope to buy pads for the stalls in the new facility. These horses are not mistreated, Buck said. They are well taken care of, but their conditions could be better. They deserve for it to be better. International diamond experts and ALROSA will discuss coloured diamonds during a Mediterranean Gem Conference, which will be held in Syracuse, Italy on May 11-14, 2017. The event is to feature a range of discussions on coloured and fluorescent diamonds, cutting and jewellery. ALROSA, largest diamond producer in terms of volume, expressed its interest in participating as major sponsor and speaker of the conference. The major theme of the conference will be Colored Diamonds and 6 speakers will cover this topic. In addition, four international speakers will present their views on gems, cutting and jewellery. During the conference, a range of international gem and jewellery experts will organize several workshops on optical gem screening and identification methods, including mounted and loose small and melee synthetic diamonds; grading of treated and natural coloured diamonds; use of special gemological devices for screening. The conference will also feature a Round Table on "Coloured Diamondsdescribing and marketing and Fluorescence -Importance for ID and Value of Fluorescent Diamonds" moderated by John Chapman (Gemetrix) with experts from Aurora Gems, CGL-GRS, HRD, NCDIA, NAJA, Symmetry Jewellery Valuation answering questions from the floor. The success of the conference in Greece 2015 and Spain 2016 led to the next event organized in 2017. Theodor Lisovoy, Rough&Polished, Moscow North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper announced Jan. 3 the appointment of Jim Trogdon to lead the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT). Trogdon is an engineer with decades of experience in state government and the military. Trogdon will leave his current position of national transportation director at SAS Institute, a provider of business analytics software and services, to take the helm of NCDOT. He served as chief operating officer for NCDOT in 2013, prior to his retirement. He previously held the position of director of strategic transportation planning for the North Carolina General Assembly. Jim Trogdon knows North Carolinas transportation successes and challenges better than anyone, and he will bring technical know-how and smart solutions to the job, Cooper said. Our states growing population and business climate need good roads and smart mass transit, and he will lead the way. Trogdon received his masters degree in strategic studies from the U.S. Army War College and is an alumnus of North Carolina State University, where he earned two civil engineering degrees. Gov. Cooper also announced the appointment of NCDOTs chief engineer, Mike Holder, as NCDOTs interim secretary for the duration of the process of appointing cabinet secretaries. Were hitting the ground running by making sure veteran managers are in place across state agencies, Cooper said. Im grateful these experienced public servants have agreed to serve temporarily. J. C. Penney Company, Inc. (JCP) announced that it has completed the sale of its Home Office building and surrounding 45 acres of land in Plano, Texas to Dreien Opportunity Partners, LLC, general partner of Silos Opportunity Partners, LP, for a gross sale price of $353 million before closing and transaction costs. The Company previously announced that upon the transfer of ownership, JCPenney would lease back approximately 65 percent of the building, leaving the remaining square footage available for new tenants. The company noted that the building lease expense would be offset by a reduction in maintenance costs, property taxes and interest expense as a result of paying down debt with proceeds from the transaction. For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Business News NASA plans to launch a $188 million science mission in 2020 to study black holes and cosmic X-ray mysteries. In a statement, the space agency said the mission would allow astronomers to explore, for the first time, the hidden details of some of the most extreme and exotic astronomical objects, such as stellar and supermassive black holes, neutron stars and pulsars. The expected cost of the mission includes the cost of the launch vehicle and post-launch operations and data analysis. Principal Investigator Martin Weisskopf of NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, will lead the mission. Ball Aerospace in Broomfield, Colorado, will provide the spacecraft and mission integration. Further, the Italian Space Agency will contribute the polarization sensitive X-ray detectors, which were developed in Italy. According to NASA, objects such as black holes can heat surrounding gases to more than a million degrees. The high-energy X-ray radiation from this gas can be polarized, vibrating in a particular direction. The agency plans Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer or IXPE mission that will fly three space telescopes with cameras capable of measuring the polarization of these cosmic X-rays. This will allow scientists to answer fundamental questions about these turbulent and extreme environments where gravitational, electric and magnetic fields are at their limits. Paul Hertz, astrophysics division director for the Science Mission Directorate, said, "We cannot directly image what's going on near objects like black holes and neutron stars, but studying the polarization of X-rays emitted from their surrounding environments reveals the physics of these enigmatic objects." It was in 2014 that NASA's Astrophysics Explorers Program requested proposals for new missions. Three mission concepts, in the total fourteen submitted proposals, were selected for additional review by a panel of agency and external scientists. NASA noted that the IXPE proposal provided the best science potential and most feasible development plan. NASA's Explorers Program has launched more than 90 missions, including Explorer 1 in 1958, which discovered the Van Allen radiation belts around the Earth. The Cosmic Background Explorer mission led to a Nobel Prize. NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, manages the Explorers Program for the agency's Science Mission Directorate. For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Business News President-elect Donald Trump has warned against releasing any more terror suspects from the US detention camp in Cuba, but the White House says President Barack Obama intends to transfer more inmates out of the Guantanamo Bay military prison. Obama has a few days remaining to take executive actions. "There should be no further releases from Gitmo. These are extremely dangerous people and should not be allowed back onto the battlefield," Trump said on Twitter. But later, White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters that he would expect, at this point, "additional transfers." Obama had promised to close the Guantanamo Bay detention facility after releasing the detainees or bringing them to fair trial during his second term. But he later acknowledged that the deadline will likely be missed because of political and diplomatic hurdles. After releasing more than 600 detainees, currently, 59 men are held at the U.S. naval base in southeast Cuba. The military jail was set up in 2002 by former president George W. Bush to hold terror suspects from around the world who are suspected of committing terrorist activities against the United States. Five men charged with involvement in the 9/11 attacks are currently facing the death penalty after trial by military commission. The government is also seeking capital punishment for a sixth Guantanamo detainee in another trial. Due to the fact that the inmates are detained indefinitely without trial and some of them were severely tortured, this camp is considered as a major breach of human rights, but Trump is skeptical of potential threat posed by the release of terrorism suspects in GTMO. For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Political News Canadian stocks look to carry over positive momentum from the holiday period Wednesday morning, with Toronto's main index at its highest since April 2015. The S&P/TSX Composite Index surged up more than 100 points to 15,403 in the first trading day of the new year, powered yet again by gains in the financial and energy sectors. Bay Street will be paying attention later today when the U.S. Federal Reserve releases the minutes of its December meeting. The Fed may provide clues about the criteria for further rate hikes. Energy shares will be in focus this morning after some volatility in the oil . Crude oil has bounced between $52 and $55 a barrel over the past few days. Analysts point to doubts over whether OPEC and Russia are fully committed to slashing output. In corporate news, EnCana (ECA, ECA.TO) announced the company now expects to deliver a corporate margin of greater than $10 per barrel of oil equivalent (BOE) in 2017. The expected 25 percent improvement is a result of anticipated lower costs through the year and increased total volumes expected in the second half of 2017. BlackBerry (BBRY, BB.TO) announced QNX Software Development Platform 7.0, a 64-bit operating system for self-driving cars. At CES 2017, the technological capabilities of QNX SDP 7.0 will be demonstrated in BlackBerry QNX's 2016 Jaguar XJ and 2017 Lincoln MKZ concept cars. Boyd Group Income Fund (BYD_UN.TO) named Tim O'Day As President And COO. For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Market Analysis Finland embarked on a two-year long experiment this week to make regular payments to the unemployed in a bid to modernize the social security system and to explore if a basic income would help to boost employment. The first stage of the Finnish basic income experiment, launched on January 1, involves 2,000 persons aged between 25 and 58, the country's Parliament-supervised social security institution, Kela said. Participants were selected from a random sample of existing jobless benefit recipients. They are set to receive a monthly income of EUR 560 for two years, in addition to existing welfare benefits. The first payment will be made on January 9. The basic income encourages recipients to seek employment, removes disincentives to work, and reduces bureaucracy, Marjukka Turunen, head of Kela's Legal Affairs Unit, said in a statement. Unemployed persons may not gain any additional income even if they find work because earnings reduce social benefits, Kela said. In the present social security system, Finns can reject a low-paying job or temporary work if that will reduce their welfare benefits drastically. The new income scheme allows the beneficiary to receive both the salary and the basic income even if they get a job. Thus, temporary or part-time work and self-employment will not affect basic income payments. Kela said the basic income also helps to reduce bureaucracy as the recipients do not have to report the number of hours they work or to fill in various forms. Further, the benefit also helps recipients to plan their finances and provides a sense of security, Turunen said. The tax-free payment will be made in advance at the beginning of each month and hence, the recipients can count on having at least that amount of money at their disposal. Currently, recipients of the labor market subsidy have to claim it afterwards. The latest experiment is the first step in a series of experiments testing various basic income solutions, Kela said. The institution will recommend an increase in the sample size in 2018 to include other persons with small incomes. Finland's unemployment rate was 9.4 percent in 2015 and 8.7 percent in 2014. In November, the figure was 8.1 percent. Universal basic income was often dismissed as an 'utopian' idea, for it found first mention in Thomas More's Utopia, a work of fiction and political philosophy published in 1516. Later, American political activist Thomas Paine suggested the idea of a 'citizen's dividend' or basic income for everyone in his 1795 essay Agrarian Justice. A darling for the Left to reduce poverty and inequality, the idea is being embraced by libertarians and some conservatives as they worry over rising unemployment in the era of robotic automation. The Belgium-based Basic Income Earth Network is an international network that serves as a link between individuals and groups committed to or interested in basic income. The think tank defines basic income as "a periodic cash payment unconditionally delivered to all on an individual basis, without means test or work requirement." Last June, Switzerland held a nationwide referendum on a basic monthly income for every resident, which was rejected overwhelmingly. Elsewhere in Europe, Scotland is set to trial universal basic income schemes in Fife and Glasgow later this year. The Netherlands also will carry out a two-year basic income scheme experiment in Utrecht and surrounding cities this year. The Italian coastal city of Livorno launched a scheme to provide a guaranteed basic income to the city's 100 poorest families in June last year. In Canada, Ontario's provincial government also announced plans to run a basic income pilot scheme. Meanwhile, Alaska's Permanent Fund Dividend is described as a working example of guaranteed basic income for all. Countries such as Brazil, India and Namibia have also tried similar localized basic income schemes. For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Business News I have a journey with Saab that is now well into its second decade. Mine is a 9.3 convertible bought in 2003 and garaged in Perth, Australia. It is the only car I have owned which I thought the people who made the car liked their customers as opposed to being a calculated price/features trade-off. There is one photo of the car in the public domain, taken in 2008 with a boat I had: A few years later a girlfriend ran the boat onto rocks. That is a story that I can only tell if I am heavily sedated. The Saab story is far happier so I will continue with that one. As a hobby I took up climate science, in which I published books and papers predicting solar-driven cooling. As a consequence of those efforts I met some of the good and the great, including Vaclav Klaus, then President of the Czech Republic. I was also invited to give a lecture on climate science in a US Senate hearing room in 2011. That led to a role with a Washington think tank and the publication of a book on geostrategic issues entitled Twilight of Abundance. That led in turn to an interest in defence issues. One of the biggest issues in defence is the fighter aircraft that the western world will rely upon. I am not the only analyst who finds the F-35 highly deficient. The question then is What do we replace it with? Happily there is a fighter aircraft available now that does not have any shortcomings at all the Gripen E from Saab. The Gripen E has much the same capability as the Eurofighter Typhoon and the Dassault Rafale. They are all good aircraft but the Gripen E is half the price of the other two and costs a lot less to operate. I wrote about how good the Gripen E is in a book called Australias Defence published in 2015. Believe it or not, the Gripen E, if armed with the right missiles, is almost as good as the F-22 which would cost three times as much if you could get one. In late 2015, Saab sent two people to see me in Perth, Australia to discuss fighter aircraft design. One travelled from Linkoping and the other from Bangkok. They said, We like your work Mr Archibald. You just made some small mistakes and we hope you dont mind if we point them out. The journey from Linkoping was 30 hours of flights and connections each way. I told the Saab man from Bangkok that I would write a book entitled American Gripen: The Solution to the F-35 Nightmare. That process started with an article of the same name published online in early 2016. That article was well received and republished in a number of languages. So I persevered and the book, American Gripen: The Solution to the F-35 Nightmare, is now available on Amazon. I have not been to Sweden yet but I have been to Norway a few times. In the 1990s, I used to visit friends who were stationed in Stavanger. A couple of years ago I was invited to a climate workshop on Svalbaard. I have an ongoing interest in things that affect the climate of the Scandinavian countries. My Saab convertible is a happy car and my whole Saab story is a happy story. SANA'A, Jan. 04 (Saba) Vice President of the Supreme Political Council (SPC) Dr. Qasim Labuza met on Wednesday with charge d'affaires of the Russian Federation embassy to Yemen. The meeting dealt with the efforts and international exerted efforts to resume the peace talks and the recent developments in the international position on peace in Yemen as well as the Russian role which is a reliable that seek stability and peace in the world. The meeting also touched upon the repercussions of the Saudi-catastrophic aggression which increasing daily due to the continuous barbaric brutal massacres against the Yemeni people, especially after the decree of the Fugitive Hadi to transfer the Central Bank of Yemen to Aden province aimed at disrupting the bank's function as well as aggravating the humanitarian and economic situation on the Yemeni people. The meeting discussed the challenges posed by the aggression forces which supports terrorism in the country representing by al-Qaeda and Daesh aimed at destabilizing and destroying the international peace and security. At the meeting, Dr. Labuza reiterated the initial position of SPC and the Government of National Salvation with any peace initiative could lead to stop the aggression and to lift the siege, including reopening Sana'a International Airport for commercial and civilian air traffic and which also could lead to a political and peaceful and honorable solution that preserves the rights of the Yemeni people. Dr. Labuza hailed Russia's rejection of the aggression and the blockade on Yemen and its constructive efforts towards peace and justice sought by the Yemeni people. He pointed out the importance of Russia and the working peace-loving nations to stop the deterioration of the humanitarian situation in Yemen and to intensify efforts to prevent further collapse, especially in the health and service fields and to move forward with the initiatives that lead to stop the aggression and to lift the siege and to convince other parties to stop messing perpetrated against the Yemeni people. The Russian ambassador expressed his thanks and appreciation of facilities for the Russian embassy in Sana'a and its crew which reflect the depth of the Yemeni-Russian authentic and enduring and evolving relations. He reiterated his country's rejection of the continuation of a military solution in Yemen, stressing that a political solution would bring peace for the Yemeni people in order to achieve peace and stability for Yemen. HA Saba Transport Minister discusses with WFP acting resident representative support Hodeida port rehabilitation SANA'A, Jan. 04 (Saba) Transport Minister Zakaria al-Shami discussed on Wednesday with the World Food Programme ( WFP) resident representative in Yemen Adham Muslim the support that would be provided by the programme to rehabilitate Hodeida port. The meeting dealt with the possibility of renovating the fixed cranes at the port and purchase of large cranes which destroyed by the US-Saudi aggression warplanes on the port. In addition to maintenance roads and bridges between Sana'a and Hodeida provinces. The meeting reviewed the difficulties facing the transportation food and humanitarian aid provided by the WFP for Yemen's provinces, in particular Taiz province. The minister praised the humanitarian role played by the WFP in Yemen in support of food and other humanitarian aid. He pointed out the need to develop a mechanism of transferring food and coordination in advance to avoid a delay in the delivery of humanitarian aid provided by the programme' trucks to some provinces. The Minister of Transport affirmed the ministry's keenness to overcome the difficulties faced by programme, especially in human side. He called on all organizations and the international community, particularly the United Nations to lift the ban on Yemen at the forefront of air embargo and opening Sana'a International Airport. Meanwhile, chairman of General Authority of Civil Aviation and Meteorology Mohammed Abdul-Qader said that Sana'a International Airport is able to receive trade, commercial and humanitarian relief flights despite the constant bombardment on it. HA Saba Facebook Facebook Twitter Twitter Whatsapp Whatsapp Telegram Telegram Email Email Print Print [04/January/2017] By SA Commercial Prop News SAPOA CEO, Neil Gopal; SAPOA President, Amelia Beattie and, Henry Chamberlain, President and Chief Operating Officer of the Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) seen at the recent BOMA Annual Conference in Orlando, Florida. The appointment of Neil Gopal to chair the International Region Council (IRC) of the US-based Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) is a significant step in bolstering South Africa's commercial property industry on a global platform. Gopal is the current CEO of South African Property Owners Association (SAPOA) and will lead BOMAs International Region Council in 2014-15. BOMA is a federation of almost 100 building owner and manager associations throughout the U.S. plus 13 international affiliates. Gopal was elected to the position last month during a global gathering of BOMA members at its Annual Conference in Orlando, Florida. He served as Vice-Chair of the BOMA IRC in 2013-14. With its headquarters in Washington DC, BOMAs mission is to advance a vibrant commercial real estate industry through advocacy, influence, and knowledge. This mission aligns closely with SAPOAs own strategic goals, as Gopal points out. The role provides an exceptional opportunity to learn from colleagues around the globe, in addition to sharing our knowledge and experience from SA, says Gopal. The IRC is specifically tasked with facilitating more robust engagement between the international affiliates to share not only global best practice, but also information and knowledge resources. But given the scope of the Councils mandate, Gopal and his council colleagues will have their work cut out for them. BOMAs international affiliates include associations as far afield as Australia and New Zealand, Brazil and Mexico, and Finland and China. We will be working together on issues such as property management and operations, development, leasing, operating costs, energy consumption and legislation, he adds. BOMA President and Chief Operating Officer, Henry Chamberlain, says: We highly value our long standing relationship with the South African Property Owners Association and are very pleased that Neil has agreed to lead our international activities. Neil has been an effective leader within the international region for years and has been one of the architects of an exciting new strategic plan to expand our global collaborations around standards, best practices, research and more and collectively advance our industry. Manohar Parrikar ' title='Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar '>Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on Tuesday said set procedures were followed in the Army Chief General Bipin Rawat ' title=' appointment of Army Chief General Bipin Rawat '>appointment of Army Chief General Bipin Rawat and all candidates were equally good. The Defence Minister told media if seniority and date of birth were the only criteria, computers could have selected the service chief and there would be no need to have a cabinet process. Parrikar also said all candidates for the post were equally good. General Rawat was selected as the new Army Chief superseding Eastern Army Commander Lt. Gen. Praveen Bakshi and Southern Army Commander Lt. Gen. P. M. Hariz, both of whom have been in service longer than General Rawat. The Defence Ministry justified General Rawat's appointment saying he was found to be the "best suited among the eligible Lt. Generals to deal with emerging challenges, including a reorganised and restructured military force in the north, continuing terrorism and proxy war from the west, and the situation in the north-east". Trinamool Congress activists on Wednesday protested in front of the CBI office here to denounce the arrest of two of its MPs in connection with the Rose Valley group chit fund scam. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has brought two MPs -- Tapas Pal and Sudip Bandyopadhya -- to Bhubaneswar after arresting them in Kolkata. Party workers led by TMC MLA Akhil Giri staged a demonstration in front of the CBI office here. They also announced a mega rally on January 10 in Bhubaneswar. They alleged that the arrests were politically motivated and was a conspiracy of the central government. "The BJP has hatched a vain plan to eliminate our party after Mamata Banerjee took out a nationwide movement against demonetisation. The allegations against our MPs are completely baseless", Giri said. Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa, Punjab and Manipur will be held between February 4 and March 8, Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi announced on Wednesday. The results from all five states will be known on March 11, Zaidi told a press conference here. While polling in Goa and Punjab will take place on February 4, Uttarakhand will vote on February 15 and Manipur in two phases on March 4 and 8. Uttar Pradesh, the country's most populous state, will go to the polls in seven phases: February 11, 15, 19, 23 and 27 and March 4 and 8. This will be the single biggest electoral exercise since the 2014 Lok Sabha polls and will involve a total of 690 constituencies, 403 of them in Uttar Pradesh alone. Goa has 40 seats, Punjab 117, Manipur 60 and Uttarakhand has 70 seats. "We are committed to conduct the elections in a free and fair manner," Zaidi said. The Election Commission would also check the "misuse of black money and liquor". The main players in the five states include the Bharatiya Janata Party, Congress, Aam Aadmi Party, Shiromani Akali Dal, Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party and Manipur People's Party. Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi on Wednesday announced a number of new measures for the upcoming assembly elections in five states. Zaidi announced putting up of four posters at each polling station, informing the voters of locations of booths, and other Dos and Don'ts. The posters were a statutory requirement at all polling stations, he said. A voting assistance booth would also be kept at the polling stations. Taking note of complaints received by the Election Commission (EC) in previous elections, the CEC announced that the height of the voting compartment would also be raised to 30 inches this time. This was done to conceal the upper part of the body of the voters, the movement of which might giveaway the button they were pressing. "This measure is being taken to maintain secrecy," Zaidi said. The five states going to polls this year were Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa, and Manipur. The Election Commission of India on Wednesday said that the candidates will have to submit a 'No Demand Certificate' from agencies providing amenities and government accommodation. Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi said: "The candidates will be required to file a no demand certificate and this certificate will come from agencies dealing with electricity, water, telephone and also the rent certificate of the government accommodation which these candidates may have occupied in past ten years." Zaidi said this at a press conference while speaking on the additional affidavit required to be filled by the candidates in the upcoming state polls, in the light of an order of the Delhi High Court. Any failure to file these affidavits would be a defect of substantial nature inviting scrutiny by the returning officer, he added. Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi on Wednesday said any question about a possible freeze on the Samajwadi Party's election symbol 'cycle' was "hypotheical" and the poll panel would examine the matter before taking any decision. "Any query on freezing of Samajwadi Party poll symbol 'cycle' is hypothetical right now," Zaidi told reporters. "Let us first examine the documents submitted by both the groups," Zaidi said, referring to claims by warring factions of the Samajwadi Party led by its chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and his son and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav. Both factions of the ruling party in Uttar Pradesh have submitted their representations to the poll panel, claiming they were the "real" Samajwadi Party. Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Singh met Zaidi on Monday while Akhilesh Yadav's close confidant Ram Gopal Yadav met him on Tuesday. Both staked their claim to the party's election symbol. Parliamentarians from Europe and North America along with speakers from Jammu and Kashmir will attend a seminar in Islamabad to discuss the Kashmir issue, an official said on Tuesday. The two-day International Parliamentary Seminar organised by 'Young Parliamentarians Forum' of Pakistan's National Assembly will commence from January 5, a Foreign Office statement said. The seminar is scheduled to be held in Islamabad in which guests from various countries including top Hurriyat leaders from Jammu and Kashmir, Syed Ali Shah Gilani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Muhammad Yasin Malik have been invited. Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, the National Assembly Speaker, Advisor to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz and Special Assistant on Foreign Affairs Tariq Fatemi are also expected to address the seminar. The seminar would analyze "various dimensions of the Kashmir dispute with a particular focus on its humanitarian aspect". It will also look into the "prospects of its resolution in the larger interest of the global security," the statement said. The Turkish parliament will vote this week to extend the state of emergency for another three months starting from January 19, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said on Tuesday. The announcement came during a parliamentary group meeting of the ruling Justice and Development Party, Xinhua news agency cited private broadcaster NTV. The upcoming parliamentary vote will be for the third term of the state of emergency. Turkey declared a state of emergency on July 20, 2016, days after a failed military coup, which Ankara blames on the US-based exiled cleric Fethullah Gulen. Under emergency rule, the government can bypass the parliament to enact new laws and limit or suspend rights and freedoms. Yildirim also confirmed that debates on a bill to change the Turkey's constitution will start in parliament next week. According to the report, the draft will be submitted to the General Assembly on January 9 and is expected to be approved by the end of the month. The bill grants extended power to the President and allows the President to remain the head of his or her political party. The Turkish government has said it would put the constitutional changes to a referendum, even if the proposals had gained enough support from lawmakers to pass through the parliament. The US has signalled that it will not be drawn into the role of a mediator between India and Pakistan, saying both countries should work together to resolve their differences. Asked during the daily briefing on Tuesday if Secretary of State John Kerry had offered to mediate between the two neighbours on the Indus Waters Treaty dispute, State Department Spokesperson John Kirby replied bluntly: "As I said, we encourage India and Pakistan to work together bilaterally to resolve their differences." Kirby confirmed that Kerry spoke with Pakistan Finance Minister Mohammed Ishaq Dar last Thursday but would not give details of their conversation. A Pakistan Finance Ministry statement on Friday gave Islamabad' version of their talk. Asked if Kerry had discussed the Indus dispute with Indian officials and at what level, Kirby said: "We're in regular communication with the Indian and Pakistani governments on a wide range of issues. I just don't have any more details for you." "The Indus Waters Treaty has served, I think as you know, as a model for peaceful cooperation between India and Pakistan for now 50 years," he said. "We encourage, as we have in the past, India and Pakistan to work together to resolve any differences." According to Pakistan Finance Ministry, Kerry made the call to Dar. Seeming to invite that Kerry had asked for Washington's intervention, according to the ministry, "Dar indicated that US support on the principles and legal position of Pakistan will be greatly appreciated". According to the ministry statement, Dar also told Kerry that the "Indus Waters Treaty is an international commitment and it is the responsibility of the World Bank to make sure that India honours this." The statement said Kerry told Dar "that the President World Bank (Jim Yong Kim) had recently informed him about Pakistan's complaint against India on the subject of the treaty". A Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) aircraft hit an Air France plane while taxiing at Toronto Pearson International Airport, the media reported. The PIA flight from Toronto to Lahore was suspended on Tuesday evening after the plane clipped the wing of the Air France plane which was parked at Terminal 3, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) reported. No one was injured and the damage to the plane was minor, said the report. Confirming the incident, PIA spokesperson Danyal Gilani said the matter is under investigation, reported Pakistan's News International daily on Wednesday. There's some damage to the equipment which may need replacement, he added. "Apparently it was due to some error during marshalling by the ground personnel," he said. A night stop was declared at Toronto and flight passengers were provided hotel accommodation. All steps were being taken for making the aircraft serviceable as soon as possible, he said. Whether you celebrated the New Year in church, in the comfort of your home, or you maybe you enjoyed the company of your friends counting down with others at one of Samoas hip watering holes, welcoming the New Year was a joyous occasion in Samoa. On Saturday night, Apia was the place to be with the clubs pumping, people saying goodbye to 2016, police officers making sure everyone made it home safe, and yes, lets not forget all the many resolutions and promises for 2017. For some who celebrated at the Edge Cocktail Lounge, they kept their resolutions simple. Some just wanted to be kinder, others aiming to work harder and then there were those who just simply wanted to enjoy life. For Mary Tiumalu who is based in New Zealand, and works as an advisor for the Ministry for Pacific People and is also a solicitor for the High Court, she wants to just be more kind towards others. I havent had much time to think of my new years resolution, she told the Samoa Observer. One thing I know, is I will be more kind to people. I feel like sometimes, being in my industry, you have to be quite direct and I want to be more empathetic and compassionate towards others. She explains 2016 as a year full of challenges but looks forward to hopefully a great and prosperous 2017. My New Years is great, Samoa has put on quite a good show and we are enjoying it, Ms. Tiumalu said. To be honest, 2016 was quite a rough year, I didnt really enjoy it, and there were a lot of challenges that I wasnt able to overcome but I look forward to the New Year. As for Darren Mauiliu, a hard working staff member of Tanoa Tusitala, he has decided to take a wiser approach to his resolution. My New Years resolution is simple; I just want to continue my hard work, he began. Many people want to lose weight, others want to change their lives for the better but I believe that if we just focus on what we do best and just build on that then you will improve your personal life eventually. So thats all I want to do, I want to continue to do what I do best and allow God to do the rest. And for one of our guests from Australia, Toni (last name withheld), enjoying Samoa and welcoming the New Year with the locals is all she wants to do for now. I just want to be healthy, wealthy and wise, she explained. My night in Samoa has been very good, I love Samoa. The highlight of my trip is just being able to relax here with the people; they are beautiful. Enjoy unlimited access to all our articles on any device + free trial to e-Edition. You can cancel anytime. The Member of Parliament for Urban West, Faumuina Wayne Fong, has called for tougher laws to control the growing number of vendors on the streets of Apia. Faumuina also believes the time has come for the Police to charge parents, to hold them accountable for the behaviour of their children on the streets. The Member of Parliament was responding to questions from the Samoa Observer following a story about three young children beating up a homeless man at the Bartley building in Apia. According to Faumuina, the problem with street vendors is deteriorating. It is time for the government to get serious about addressing the issue. There are no laws to protect these kids and keep them off the streets late at night, said the M.P. Even their parents are just hanging around near the kids when they are out selling this stuff. Some parents say that they need quick money as the reason why their kids are out late but what they are doing is creating another problem that we are now seeing. We need to strengthen our laws to prevent this from deteriorating. We need to reach out to their villages to run programmes to keep the children away from trouble and the street. Faumuina also highlighted what he described as an illegal trend where young sellers are used by businesses to resell their goods on the streets. He urged the Ministry of Revenue to look into the problem. He suggested that perhaps its time for the authorities to register the vendors so Police can keep track of them. The M.P. said he had personally seen the young vendors causing trouble infront of McDonalds Restaurant. He recalled that one day when he didnt buy anything from a young vendor, the kid punched his car from the back. I got out to tell the kid off and the mother jumped in and I told her to discipline her child, said Faumuina. What that tells me is that the parents are around where these kids are and that is all the more reason for them to be charged. I also believe that education is not the problem but the fact that these parents are young and their mental state is not all there. Laws need to be put in place and be enforced. Looking ahead, Faumuina said the problem will only get worse and the impact on Samoa especially in the tourism area will be huge. He made reference to the governments Waterfront Project and how the young vendors will have a negative impact on it. He imagined the Waterfront being littered with young vendors night and day comparing the future of Samoa to the streets of Brazil. Can you imagine what will happen if this is not controlled? asked the M.P. I cannot imagine the things that we have not seen on video that these kids are doing. The reality is that people see this problem everyday but dont know what to do about it. They are depending on the Ministries who are not doing anything about it. Furthermore, Faumuina said most of the young vendors have adopted a quick change from vendors to being beggars. One kid would come up to you and say I have two more pens left and if you say you dont want it they will quickly ask you for a dollar or two and there you see the quick change of vendors to beggars at such young age. Its a serious situation that our government needs to address and the community to work together to resolve it. Remembering the past, the M.P. also believes that the lack of work done by pastors to conduct youth programmes and Bible studies after school is a factor. In our days there were people who did not have much but we didnt have this kind of problem, he said. We used to have bible studies after schools and other youth programmes that keep us occupied as opposed to now children just go to school and come home do nothingthis is a big problem that will affect our country especially in the tourism sector. Those that have also voiced their concerns about the problem are workers at the S.N.P.F. Plaza. A security guard at the Plaza, Faasalafa Masinalupe Tini described the young vendors as nuisances at their nightlife. Faasalafa said the young children roam the town area from night until morning. He stressed the need of addressing the problem before its too late to deal with them. They used to sleep infront of Coffee Bean and we would chase them away, he said. I was shocked when I saw them occasionally hanging around here with beer bottles and smoking. The youngest would be about 8 years old going up to their teenage years. I dont know where they buy their bottles from or if they scab it off drunks but its very dangerous and they are a problem at night that people dont see this ugly side of it. Faasalafa blames parents for the problem. Another security guard, Liki Ah Sam shared his view about the problem. He said the parents may say they are poor and the reason why their children are selling on the streets but he doesnt believe them. They say they are poor but if you hear what they say to people who do not buy from them and how they sound like young prisoners, said Mr. Ah Sam. I dont believe that they are out selling because they are poor. When someone is poor they have no food for months but what I see is they are using poverty as an excuse to harass people and steal from them. These parents are breeding and training their children to be young thieves and trouble makersin the next five years we wont be able to control this if we dont do something today. Mosooi Faatuuala also shared her experience with the young vendors. The mother who is a cleaner at the S.N.P.F. Plaza said everyday the vendors are always harassing people. She recalled a few weeks ago when a 10 year old was taken by police. That kid urinated in a plastic bag and threw it down where some adults were sitting here, said Mrs. Faatuuala. It was disgusting and if only I could catch him. The security officers chased him and when he was caught he was taken to police and saw him a few hours after. I dont believe that police taking them in do anythingthey just release them back to community without really disciplining them. Qualcomm unwrapped its latest integrated mobile processor chip on Tuesday the Snapdragon 835, which aims to deliver faster speeds and longer battery life to smartphones and other mobile gadgets without adding bulk to the devices. The news from the San Diego wireless chip giant came as part of an avalanche of product announcements coming out of CES 2017, a massive consumer electronics trade show that opens Thursday in Las Vegas. Several other San Diego companies also will be showing off their technology at CES, including 3-D headphone maker Ossic; senior-focused technology providers Great Call and Independa; and smart glasses start-up Aira, which offers an On-Star like service to help the visually impaired better navigate their surroundings. Advertisement RELATED: 5 things to watch at CES 2017 For Qualcomm, the new Snapdragon 835 chip is one of a handful announcements it will make at the show. Also Tuesday, Qualcomm touted the expansion of a partnership with managed health care giant UnitedHealthcare to offer certain health plan members discounts for using fitness trackers and hitting-steps-per-day targets. Qualcomm Life is providing the secure wireless backbone to collect exercise data from UnitedHealthcare policy holders, who can earn up to $1,500 in credits toward their out of pocket annual deductibles. The San Diego wireless chipmakers new Snapdragon 835 processor is expected to be the first chip to hit the market using leading edge 10-nanometer process technology from Samsungs semiconductor factories. The complex manufacturing technique cuts down chip size and power demands by packing more tiny transistors more than 3 billion onto a piece of silicon smaller than a penny. The mobile market especially Qualcomm is accelerating in being aggressive in new process node technology, said Keith Kressin, senior vice president of product development for Qualcomm Technologies. And 10 nanometers gets really, really small thousands of times smaller than a strand of hair small. Qualcomm said the Snapdragon 835 will begin showing up in devices in the first half of this year. Osterhout Design Group (ODG), a San Francisco start-up that in December raised $58 million, is the first to use the Snapdragon 835 in two new smart glasses products. The chip was designed to the ground up to support new and innovative products and experiences beyond mobile phones, said Raj Talluri, senior vice president of product management for Qualcomm Technologies. But Snapdragon 835 clearly will target flagship smartphones with its integrated features that include a data mobile capable of peak download speeds of 1 gigabit per second. It is also 35 percent smaller size than Qualcomms previous top-end Snapdragon 820 chip. The chip uses 25 percent less power, adding roughly 2.5 hours to a daily battery life on average. And it has a framework to enable fingerprint, eye and face-based biometric security. You get an advantage because the power is lower and the thermals are better at the 10 nanometer, and you also can put in a bigger battery while keeping your phone the same size or shrinking it, said Kressin. Rival chipmaker Intel also is expected to launch 10-nanometer products, but not until the second half of this year. The company hasnt said if 10 nanometer technology will be used for mobile semiconductors. Intel makes a variety of chips for everything from data center servers to PCs. In addition to Snapdragon, Qualcomm said it has expanded its work with UnitedHealthcare to give certain insurance plan members incentives to exercise while earning credits against their deductibles. In March, Qualcomm Life/UnitedHealthcare launched a pilot program in 12 states that included the custom built Trio Tracker wearable, which learned a users gait to prevent gaming the system. Now, UnitedHealthcare has expanded the program to 40 states and will allow participants to use off the shelf fitness trackers starting with the Fitbit Charge 2. Fitbit Charge 2 has the capability to be customized so users can see how they are tracking against UnitedHealthcares daily fitness goals which include walking 300 steps in under five minutes six times a day, walking 3,000 steps in 30 minutes and reaching 10,000 steps each day. Qualcomm continues to provide the connectivity to monitor steps through its 2net Platform from subsidiary Qualcomm Life. Wearable technology can help encourage employees to walk each day and earn financial rewards at the same time, using secure technology that we believe is intuitive and convenient, said Richard Migliori, chief medical officer of UnitedHealth Group, in a statement. Business mike.freeman@sduniontribune.com; Twitter:@TechDiego 760-529-4973 Newly elected Helix Water District Board member Luis P. Tejeda has announced his resignation effective immediately. In an email letter to Board President Joel Scalzitti, Tejeda said he was stepping down because new business opportunities could present a conflict of interest in his role as a board member. Tejeda, who earned 5,636 votes in the districts Division 1 area, beat Dan McMillan (5,451 votes), incumbent John Linden (3,963) and Aaron Zajac (795) in November. Advertisement Division 1 customers live north of Interstate 8 in El Cajon, and include the Fletcher Hills and Bostonia neighborhoods. Tejeda retired from Helix in 2015 after 28 years in the districts operations and engineering departments. He now works for a Santee-based company owned by his nephew that does asphalt and concrete work. The company, Anthonys Grading and Paving, has an annual contract with Padre Dam Municipal Water District for asphalt work. Tejeda said he resigned to protect the district and ratepayers and made his decision as quickly as possible to ensure transparency. Its a no-brainer, Tejeda said. I work for a contractor. If theyre going to want to do work for the district, it would be a conflict of interest. At the end of the day, I cant put the customers in that position, I cant put the district in that position. Its strictly a business decision. Opportunities for me could impact the company I work for now. Its going to cost the company money. I didnt know that it was going to be such an impact at this level. Board members will address Tejedas resignation and the next steps in filling the vacancy at tomorrows 2 p.m. meeting. Tejeda said the resignation had nothing to do with a complaint filed on Dec. 3 by McMillan and El Cajon residents David Burton and Jeff Nelson challenging Tejedas residency in the district. The complaint was sent to the California Fair Political Practices Commission, the San Diego County Registrar of Voters, the San Diego County District Attorney and the Helix Water District Board of Directors. The complaint cites a code regulating irrigation districts, including Helix, that directors need to vote and reside in the division they represent at the time of nomination and throughout their terms. Tejeda owns property on Grove Road in El Cajon in the districts Division 5 area; he also owns a home on Royal Road in Lakeside in the districts Division 1 area in which he was elected. Tejedas drivers license lists his Lakeside residence. Tejeda said he met with the District Attorneys Office representatives with all of his residential documentation, including his voters registration, and was found in compliance. He said Helix Water District General Manager Carlos Lugo called him to express disappointment at his resignation. I told him that Im just bummed. I didnt know all the ins and outs, Tejeda said. Tejeda has not ruled out running again in the future and said he expects to continue to speak out at board meetings. Helix serves 268,000 East County residents in an area of 50-square miles, including the cities of La Mesa, El Cajon and Lemon Grove, plus portions of the unincorporated county, monitoring over 55,500 water meters. National City recently began a pilot program that allows residents to eliminate or reduce their overdue library fines when they donate a nonperishable food item. One item is equal to $1 in overdue charges forgiven up to $10 per library card account. The Holiday Food for Fines program runs through Jan. 31 at the National City Library. All collected food items will go to a local food bank. Advertisement The library will also accept food donations from people who do not owe fines. Only overdue fines will be waived. Lost or damaged book charges and library card replacement fees are excluded from the waiver. Participating residents must bring food items to a library staff member at the checkout desk during regular business hours. Food items may not be opened, damaged or past their expiration date. If the program is successful, the library is expected to ask for City Council approval to turn it into an annual event, which would typically run from mid-November to the end of December each year. Nonprofit to make bike racks Last month the National City council approved a contract with a local nonprofit to create custom bike racks throughout the city. The citys public works department applied for and received $40,000 for whats called an Active Transportation Grant from the San Diego Association of Governments to oversee the creation, design and fabrication of the bike racks, which will then be installed by the city. The project will design and fabricate a minimum of 30 custom bike racks at parks, recreation centers, community centers, business districts and along bicycle corridors. A Reason To Survive successfully completed design and fabrication of about 40 custom bike racks through a previous active transportation grant. It is currently finishing Phase I of the 2016 National City Bicycle Parking Enhancements grant project under a smaller contract with the city. allison.sampite-montecalvo@sduniontribune.com Cross-border super chef Javier Plascencia has pulled out of Bracero, his high-profile Little Italy restaurant, according to a report from Eater San Diego. Eater called the move the first culinary bombshell of the year an apt description in light of the breathless buzz that surrounded the acclaimed, telegenic chefs 2015 arrival to San Diegos fiercely competitive and exceptionally expensive dining neighborhood. RELATED: Why did Baja star chef Javier Plascencia leave Bracero? Advertisement In a statement provided to Eater, Plascencia gave few specifics about his decision to split from his Mexiterranean Hospitality partnership. Bringing my cuisine to downtown San Diego with Bracero two years ago was an experience I truly enjoyed. It brought many unforeseen challenges and with that, learning and growth. The experience was equally rewarding as it was challenging for me, and I will be forever grateful to San Diego, he said. (See Plascencias full statement below.) With the opening of Bracero, a stylishly-designed, two-story restaurant at Kettner Boulevard and Beech Street, Plascencia entered Little Italys big-time restaurant scene. Among Braceros neighbors are some of the most-heralded, showcase eateries in San Diego, including Juniper & Ivy, Herb & Wood, Ironside Fish & Oyster and Kettner Exchange. Plascencias former Mexiterranean Hospitality partner, and brother-in-law, Luis Pena told Eater that Braceros menu is being revamped. Named in homage to Mexican laborers, Bracero featured earthy, albeit elevated, street food, including tostadas and sopes. Whether the restaurant could sustain mid-range fare in such a high-end location is unclear. When reach for comment Tuesday night, Plascencia said he would be available Wednesday. Updates will follow. Plascencia has also left Romesco, the 10-year-old restaurant in Bonita that marked the chefs first culinary entry in the county where he went to high school. His severed ties to Romesco are believed to have preceded the Bracero split. Plascencia, who recently represented San Diego on Bravos Top Chef and PBS Moveable Feast, told Eater is considering future projects here. Fellow chef Flor Franco called Plascencia the No. 1 Ambassador for the cross-border culinary scene. Javier is the leader for many of us that work cross-border, she said. We look up to him and we cant wait to see the new projects coming into his life. Below is the full statement Javier Plascencia gave to Eater San Diego: Entering 2017, I will be parting ways with Mexiterranean Hospitality which includes Bracero Cocina de Raiz as well as Romesco. Bringing my cuisine to downtown San Diego with Bracero two years ago was an experience I truly enjoyed. It brought many unforeseen challenges and with that, learning and growth. The experience was equally rewarding as it was challenging for me, and I will be forever grateful to San Diego for embracing myself, Bracero and Romesco. Together, we were nominated for a James Beard award as well as several other accolades from the San Diego community. I consider myself lucky to have been able to share my passion in the kitchen with Mexiterranean Hospitality; however, it is important for me to shift my focus into my independent projects. Going into the new year I will be taking time to focus on my restaurants in Tijuana, Valle de Guadalupe, as well as a new project I have in the pipeline in Todos Santos, Baja California Sur. Additionally, I will be further developing my boutique hotel concepts. San Diego will always be a second home to me and I have future plans to pursue new ventures there independently. I wish Mexiterranean Hospitality continued success in the upcoming years. Food & Wine Videos Twitter: @sdeditgirl michele.parente@sduniontribune.com Chubby Checker and Misty Copeland wont be performing as part of the San Diego Symphonys Our American Music series, but there will be some exciting twists and turns regardless. The concert lineup includes at least one gifted dancer, Cartier Williams, who co-starred in the touring production of the hip-hop-fueled Bring in da Noise, Bring in da Funk. We all know that music has the power to bring people together, to unite us and to connect us, and we have created this festival in that spirit, said San Diego Symphony CEO Martha Gilmer. Advertisement Aptly billed as a monthlong celebration of music inspired by America, the 15-concert program opens Thursday and concludes Jan. 29. It will include a number of firsts for the San Diego Symphony, which is Californias oldest orchestra, having launched in 1910. How unexpected? Let us count some of the ways. On Jan. 14, top San Diego trumpeter Gilbert Castellanos will lead a specially assembled band in an orchestra-free West Coast jazz tribute that will feature classics by Miles Davis, Dave Brubeck, Gerry Mulligan, Chet Baker and others. On Jan. 13, veteran rapper Talib Kweli will perform the first hip-hop concert ever presented by the symphony, although hell be accompanied by his own band, not the orchestra. Because of his sometimes blunt lyrics about everyday life, Kwelis performance is the first symphony-sponsored concert here in the orchestras history to be billed as recommended for mature audiences only. On Jan. 12, multiple-Grammy Award-winner Rosanne Cash the oldest of country music pioneer Johnny Cashs seven children will perform a celebration of American roots music with her band. On Jan. 11, fellow Grammy winners La Santa Cecilia will perform its exuberant, borders-leaping songs, also sans orchestra. Coming just nine days before the inauguration of president-elect Donald Trump, this eclectic Los Angeles groups concert should have added resonance. After accepting La Santa Cecilias 2014 Grammy for Best Latin Rock, Urban or Alternative Album, band co-founder Jose Pepe Carlos a native of Mexico disclosed to reporters backstage that he was an undocumented worker. The band further solidified our identity as bi-cultural people and as children of immigrant parents, and what that all means and continues to mean to us, La Santa Cecilia percussionist Miguel Ramirez told the Union-Tribune in a late 2014 interview. Megan Swan, who in June became the San Diego Symphonys associate director of artistic planning, booked La Santa Cecilia, Cash and Kweli for the Our American Music series. She chose them specifically to help reflect the diversity of homegrown American music. She also had direct discussions with all three artists to explain the goals of the monthlong series and explore how each fits in. Should their inclusion help draw listeners who dont usually attend San Diego Symphony-related concerts or lure longtime symphony attendees to their first hip-hop or Americana music performance so much the better. American music is a melting pot that reflects our community, said Swan, who previously worked as the Los Angeles Philharmonics Collaborative Learning Manager. So many styles of music have been born in this country because of the mix of people in America from so many different places and ideologies who talk to each other and interact. Once we started looking at that bigger picture of what American music is, and how diverse it is, we knew we wanted to represent as many genres as we could. Something that rings very true about La Santa Cecilia, Talib Kweli and Rosanne Cash is that they each have a very authentic voice. The orchestral concerts in Our American Music will showcase a similarly broad range of styles and approaches, often within the course of a single performance. To cite one example, the Jan. 11 concert by Art of Elan, conducted by La Jolla Symphony & Chorus Music Director Steven Schick, will include the world premiere of Hannah Lashs Tree Suite for Harp. It will also feature Aaron Coplands stirring Appalachian Spring and visionary minimalist composer Steve Reichs instrument-free Clapping Hands. Even more intriguing is the same concerts inclusion of I will not be sad in this world, a composition for bass flute and electronically treated voice by Michigan-born maverick Eve Beglarian. It is based on a haunting 18th-century ballad Ashkharumes Akh Chim Kashil by Armenian troubadour Sayat Nova, which was popularized around the world in in 1989 by Armenian duduk virtuoso Djivan Gasparyan. Another example of the scope of Our American Music within a single performance comes with the Jan. 20 and 22 concerts entitled LA/NY. Among the four pieces that will be performed are expatriate Russian composer Igor Stravinskys Symphony in Three Movements, which he completed in 1945 as his last work for full orchestra, and John Adams City Noir. Adams has accurately described his piece as jazz-inflected symphonic music that is inspired, in part, by French composer Darius Milhaud. By coincidence, in the 1940s Milhaud taught future jazz piano legend Dave Brubeck, whose work will be performed as part of Our American Music at the Jan. 14 Birth of the Cool: A West Coast Jazz Salute concert. Were not trying to answer any questions with this festival, stressed the symphonys Swan. But we are posing questions. What is American music? Is there an American music? What makes American music different? These are questions we want people to go through and recognize for themselves. These concerts will provide a pathway to these questions and an avenue to explore. Our American Music When: Thursday through Jan. 29; times vary. Where: Joan and Irwin Jacobs Music Centers Copley Symphony Hall, 650 B Street, downtown. Tickets: Prices for each concert are shown below. Phone: (619) 235-0804 Online: sandiegosymphony.org/ouramericanmusic/ (* Indicates concerts without the San Diego Symphony) 7:30 p.m. Thursday Art Connection: What is an American Composer? Discussion with American composers Gabriela Lena Frank and Andrew Norman, San Diego Symphony CEO Martha Gilmer and Chicago Symphony Orchestra programming advisor Gerard McBurney, moderated by James Chute. Music by Frank and Norman will be performed by San Diego Symphony musicians. Free, but online reservations are required: sandiegosymphony.org/ouramericanmusic/ 8 p.m. Friday and 2 p.m. Saturday Americans and Paris Andrew Gourlay, conductor, Inon Barnatan, piano, San Diego Symphony Program: Piano Concerto and Billy the Kid Suite (Aaron Copland), Suspend (Andrew Norman), An American In Paris (George Gershwin) $20-$96 8 p.m. Saturday Our American Music Festival highlights and musical surprises Program: The San Diego Symphony features musical highlights of works that will be performed throughout January as part Our American Music. Free, but online reservations are required: sandiegosymphony.org/ouramericanmusic/ 7:30 p.m. Tuesday Art Of Elan: Our American Chamber Music * Program: World premiere of Tree Suite for Harp (Hannah Lash), plus I will not be sad in this world (Eve Beglarian), Clapping Hands (Steve Reich) and the original 1944 version of Coplands Appalachian Spring for 13 players, conducted by Steven Schick. $35 7:30 p.m. Wednesday La Santa Cecilia * Program: Will be announced from the stage $24-$40 7:30 p.m. Jan. 12 Rosanne Cash * Program: A celebratory performance of her triple Grammy Award-winning album, The River and The Thread. Tickets: $35-$65 8 p.m. Jan. 13 Talib Kweli * Program: Will be announced from the stage $25-$40 (concert is recommended for mature audiences) 8 p.m. Jan. 14 Birth of The Cool: A West Coast Jazz Salute * Program: The music of Miles Davis, Dave Brubeck, Paul Desmond, Chet Baker and Gerry Mulligan, performed by Gilbert Castellanos, Chuck Berghofer, Charlie Shoemake, Jeff Hamilton, Graham Dechter, Tamir Hendelman and others. $20-$65 8 p.m. Jan. 20, 2 p.m. Jan. 22 LA/NY Cristian Macelaru, conductor, Andrea Overturn, English horn, Micah Wilkinson, trumpet, San Diego Symphony Program: Symphony in Three Movements (Igor Stravinsky), City Noir (John Adams), Quiet City (Aaron Copland), Symphonic Dances from West Side Story (Leonard Bernstein) $20-$96 8 p.m. Jan. 21 Bernstein, Perlman, Hollywood Cristian Macelaru, conductor; Itzhak Perlman, violin, San Diego Symphony Program: Symphonic Suite from On the Waterfront (Leonard Bernstein), (Erich Wolfgang Korngold), Hollywood Scores: Perlman Plays Hollywood (arranged by John Williams) $20-$96 8 p.m. Jan. 27, 2 p.m. Jan. 29 American Riffs and Rhapsodies Program: James Gaffigan, conductor, Cartier Williams, dancer, San Diego Symphony Hymn, from Hymn and Fuguing Tune No. 2 (Henry Cowell), Rhapsodies (Steven Stucky), Symphony No. 1, Op. 9 (Samuel Barber) Prelude, Fugue and Riffs (Leonard Bernstein), Tap Dance Concerto (Morton Gould), Harlem (Duke Ellington) $20-$96 8 p.m. Jan. 28 Beyond The Score: Things Our Fathers Loved James Gaffigan, conductor, members of the San Diego Symphony Program: Symphony No. 2 (Charles Ives) $20-$96 Twitter @georgevarga george.varga@sduniontribune.com Bracing for an adversarial relationship with President-elect Donald Trump, the California Legislature has selected former U.S. Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr. to serve as outside counsel to advise on the states legal strategy against the incoming administration. The unusual arrangement was announced as the Legislature returned to session on Wednesday, underscoring the extent to which the action in Sacramento in the coming months will be shaped by Trumps presidency. The agreement will give Holder, leading a team of attorneys from the firm Covington & Burling, a broad portfolio covering potential conflicts between California and the federal government. Former Los Angeles Rep. Howard Berman, a Democrat who is now a senior advisor to the firm, will also be part of the effort. Advertisement [Holder] will be our lead litigator, and he will have a legal team of expert lawyers on the issues of climate change, women and civil rights, the environment, immigration, voting rights to name just a few, Senate leader Kevin de Leon (D-Los Angeles) said in an interview. Such a task typically falls to the state attorney general. On Tuesday, Gov. Jerry Brown formally nominated Democratic Rep. Xavier Becerra to replace former Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris, who now serves in the U.S. Senate. Becerra, whose nomination hearings in the Legislature begin next week, is expected to be easily confirmed. A spokesman for Brown declined to weigh in on Holders hiring on Wednesday. Becerra could not be reached for comment. De Leon and Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon began contemplating hiring outside legal counsel for the Legislature almost immediately after Trumps election, in hopes of protecting existing state policies that are at odds with the president-elects stated positions. Legislators have already signaled an emphasis on protecting people in the country illegally, proposing legal aid in anticipation of stepped-up deportation action by Trump. They have also indicated that fights are on the horizon over expanded healthcare coverage through the Affordable Care Act and policies to combat climate change, two issues that mark a major departure from Trumps positions. While we dont yet know the harmful proposals the next administration will put forward, thanks to Donald Trumps campaign, cabinet appointments and Twitter feed, we do have an idea of what we will be dealing with, Rendon said in a statement. The Covington team will be an important resource as we work with the governor and the attorney general to protect Californians, he added. The two legislative leaders have taken an unabashedly combative posture against Trump in a state that voted for Hillary Clinton by a wide margin. Rendon, in remarks last month at a swearing-in ceremony for lawmakers, described the incoming administration as a major existential threat and asserted that Californians do not need healing. We need to fight. The incoming Trump administration did not respond to a request for comment. Republicans, who are outnumbered by Democratic supermajorities in both houses of the Legislature, chafed at the announcement. Assembly GOP leader Chad Mayes of Yucca Valley dismissed the hiring as a stunt. This is a distraction from the very real problems facing everyday Californians. Donald Trump did not cause Californias transportation crisis, nor did he play a role in our states sky-high housing costs. Democrats should focus on solving these real-world problems instead of wasting tax-payer money to score political points before the president-elect even takes office, Mayes said in a statement. He noted that Becerra, the states incoming Attorney General[,] has spent decades in Washington working on federal policies. Its not clear why legislative Democrats needed to hire a DC insider to litigate the exact same issues. De Leon said the additional counsel would offer more legal firepower that would complement and bring additional heft to the state attorney generals efforts. Bringing on outside counsel is not unprecedented for the Legislature. The state Senate hired special counsel for a select committee investigating price manipulation in the wholesale energy market by Enron in the early 2000s. The Senate also sought outside counsel to sort through the federal investigation of former Democratic state Sen. Ron Calderon, who later pleaded guilty to corruption charges. Updates from Sacramento But it is far more unorthodox for both houses to join together in retaining counsel in a preemptive bid to prepare for as-yet-unknown litigation and policymaking at the federal level. Much of the arrangement remains murky, including how Holders efforts will differ from or align with Becerras. Also unclear: the ultimate cost to the state. The initial contract, according to an engagement letter between the firm and the Legislature, totals $75,000 for three months, with the tab to be split between the two chambers operating budgets. The agreement is capped at a maximum of 40 attorney hours per month. A protracted legal battle would likely require far more manpower and resources, raising questions as to how the arrangement would proceed in the event of lengthy litigation. The cost of additional attorneys can quickly add up under an aggressive legal strategy. In Texas, former state Atty. Gen. Greg Abbott now governor sued the Obama administration at a relentless pace, racking up nearly $2.6 million in costs to the state in less than three years, according to the Associated Press. Of that, $1 million went to outside counsel and expert witnesses. Holder, who was a partner at Covington from 2001 to 2009 before rejoining the firm in 2015, will direct the efforts from the firms Washington, D.C., office. The firm, which has a long-established presence in the nations capital, has in recent years expanded its footprint in California. Covingtons Los Angeles office, which will play a major role in working with the Legislature, was launched in part by former federal prosecutor Dan Shallman, whose brother, John Shallman, is a prominent Democratic strategist whose clients include De Leon. I am honored that the legislature chose Covington to serve as its legal advisor as it considers how to respond to potential changes in federal law that could impact Californias residents and policy priorities, Holder said in a statement provided by De Leons office. I am confident that our expertise across a wide array of federal legal and regulatory issues will be a great resource for the legislature. Holder, a close friend of President Obama and one of the most liberal figures in the Obama administration, left the Justice Department in 2015. His tenure was defined by a focus on civil rights and criminal justice reform and was marked by a tumultuous relationship with Congress and scandal stemming from the failed gun-trafficking operation known as Fast and Furious. Representing California lawmakers against Trump wont be Holders sole involvement in politics in the coming years. He is also overseeing a Democratic campaign focused on redistricting, the process of redrawing political maps that, in recent years, has tilted state legislative and congressional landscapes in the Republicans favor. California Democrats hoped hiring the nationally known figure would provide an extra dose of credibility to their anti-Trump stance. Hiring the former attorney general, the nations top lawyer it shows that were very serious in protecting the values of the people of California against any attempt to undermine the policies that have made us the fifth-largest economy in the world, De Leon said. melanie.mason@latimes.com Follow @melmason on Twitter for the latest on California politics. ALSO California is itching to take on Trump. Here are the prominent figures leading the charge Texas was Obamas chief antagonist. In Trumps America, California is eager for the part Californias new legislative session begins with a message: Were ready to fight Trump UPDATES: 3:35 p.m.: This article was updated with additional details about the contract between the California Legislature and former U.S. Atty. Gen. Eric Holders law firm, and with comments from Republican legislative leader Chad Mayes. This article was originally published at 5 a.m. If ever there was any doubt Democrats in Sacramento were serious about the trench warfare strategy in the era of President-elect Donald Trump, look no further than the lawyer theyre hiring to help fight back in 2017. That lawyer is Eric Holder. You might recognize that name. Good morning from the state capital. Im Sacramento Bureau Chief John Myers, and legislators gather today for a new two-year session shaped, in so many ways, by their counterparts in Washington, D.C. Which explains why theyre bringing in a very big hired gun. Advertisement LEGISLATORS HIRE HOLDER TO WATCH TRUMP As the former attorney general of the United States, Holder brings gravitas to the effort by legislators to take the fight to Trump and the new GOP congressional dominance on Capitol Hill. Melanie Mason reports that Holder is expected to complement the efforts of Californias new attorney general in a whole host of policy areas in which Democrats differ from the incoming presidential administration. And speaking of that new attorney general HARRIS IS OUT, BECERRA IS ON DECK The oath of office taken on Tuesday by Sen. Kamala Harris also meant her official resignation from the job shes held since 2011 as attorney general. Gov. Jerry Brown wasted no time in officially nominating Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-Los Angeles) for the job, sending notice to legislative leaders in a brief letter. (And after that, Brown caught a flight to Hawaii for a short siesta.) Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon (D-Paramount) quickly announced that his houses select confirmation committee will meet to consider Becerras nomination on Jan. 10. And keep an eye on this nugget: Becerra was given a questionnaire to fill out by the end of this week. Lawmakers want him to opine on topics including immigration, civil rights, the environment, policing and consumer protection. The conventional wisdom is that Becerra is a shoo-in, but dont be surprised if next weeks hearing features some attempts by his fellow Democrats to set a baseline of whats expected once they sign off on his new job. HARRIS, HOUSE MEMBERS CELEBRATE THEIR NEW JOBS Californias new United States senator made history Tuesday by becoming the first black woman the Golden State has sent to the Senate and the first Indian American to ever serve in the body. Her guests at the swearing-in included more than two dozen family members and friends from across the world, and they all jumped in for a big group photo with Vice President Joe Biden. On the other side of the U.S. Capitol, the states five new House members were sworn in, calling the day a whirlwind and saying they are ready to start legislating. REPUBLICANS REVISE PLANS AS TRUMP TWEETS What otherwise would have been a first day full of Republican huzzahs on Capitol Hill was disrupted when President-elect Trump took to Twitter. How many times will we write that sentence in 2017? Trumps criticism was focused on the House GOPs decision to revamp its ethics operation. As Lisa Mascaro points out, the instant reversing of course by Republicans may be a sign of things to come for their relationship with the man who will soon be sitting in the Oval Office. AND THEN THERES OBAMACARE Meantime, congressional leaders are still debating how to handle the tricky policy and political calculus of dismantling the Affordable Care Act. That includes whether to scrap hundreds of billions of dollars in taxes that have helped provide health insurance to more Americans. In the era after Obamacare, the issue of money as in, how to pay for healthcare programs will be key. VICTORY FOR CALIFORNIA GUARD MEMBERS After more than two months of scrutiny over the efforts to require repayment of enlistment bonuses from members of the California National Guard, the Pentagon said Tuesday its changing course. More than 15,000 soldiers and veterans will have the repayment mandate waived, though about 1,000 service members will not. We think that the number of cases in which well be recouping will be a few hundred, as opposed to the many thousands of cases that are under the sword of Damocles right now, said personnel official Peter Levine. TODAYS ESSENTIALS House Speaker Paul D. Ryan was easily reelected on Tuesday, a sign of how hard hes worked behind the scenes to close ranks with the various GOP factions. The president-elect again challenged U.S. intelligence agencies on Tuesday on their evidence of Russian hacking. Trumps choice for U.S. trade representative is Robert Lighthizer, an advisor the president-elect may be talking to a lot if Tuesdays criticism of General Motors is any indication. And GM wasnt alone: Trump also jabbed at Ford Motor Co. as the week began, apparently with some success. Dream assignment as fly on the wall: The presidential inauguration platform on Jan. 20, as Hillary Clinton and former President Bill Clinton have confirmed they will be on hand for Trumps oath of office. Three prominent Democrats vying for governor in 2018 are bragging about the size of their campaign coffers. Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom said Tuesday hes raised $11.5 million, which would put him in the cash grab lead. Longtime Sacramento watchers are mourning the passing of John Keplinger, a former executive director of the state Fair Political Practices Commission. LOGISTICS AND SOME CHANGES You may have noticed weve shifted to a Monday, Wednesday and Friday schedule. It will be the same great newsletter, just not every day. You can keep up with breaking news on our politics page throughout the day for the latest and greatest. And are you following us on Twitter at @latimespolitics? Did someone forward you this? Sign up here to get Essential Politics in your inbox. Miss yesterdays newsletter? Here you go. Please send thoughts, concerns and news tips to politics@latimes.com. Whats in your pantry? Anthony Sinsay, executive chef of JSix, lists off all sorts of items in his some basic, others reflecting both his Filipino heritage and his training under famed Spanish chef Jose Andres. So theres unsalted butter, kosher salt, garlic and canned tomatoes. And also Filipino sea salt, soy sauce, a variety of vinegars, Spanish olive oil along with oils from local producer Temecula Olive Oil, smoked paprika and tons of teas. Both at the restaurant and home, Sinsay will forage through his pantry, searching for intriguing flavor combinations. But he doesnt mix them at random. When I think of developing a dish, I think of a key ingredient and supporting flavors, he explained. Recently, I was thinking about a dish inspired by raw fish. Chamomile is one of my favorite teas. I do word associations with food, so when I thought of chamomile, I thought of lemon. And when I thought of lemon, I then thought of butter. Now brown butters nutty aroma plays off the florality of chamomile. Its like a circle of flavor. Advertisement Then Sinsay thought to add mint. Mints herbaceousness plays into the chamomile. And, going back to the butter, the French love combining butter with radishes, which add a nice bite. By the end of this word/food association, Sinsay had drawn the outline of a dish sea scallop crudo with slices of Meyer lemon and radishes surrounded by brown butter and it would feature a bright, surprising chamomile salt and some mint leaves. Its a simple dish but with complex flavors that pop. Since every flavor pairing is different, Sinsay and his team had to test out proportions for the chamomile salt until they settled on 2 to 1, chamomile to salt. He chose flaky Maldon salt because its abrasiveness helps break down the tea using a simple mortar and pestle. Once the two ingredients were crushed together, he sifted the mixture onto parchment paper to get a smooth, consistent texture. Making this at home is just as easy. You just need the two ingredients, a mortar and pestle, and a sifter. You can sprinkle the chamomile salt on raw seafood, but also as a quick seasoning on vegetables, as they do at JSix. Not a chamomile fan? Check whats in your pantry. Maybe its Earl Grey tea or a Chinese green tea. Maybe you like other herbal teas. Would they necessarily work with raw fish? Maybe. Maybe not. But using Sinsays approach, you can develop a dish for which a tea salt or other ingredient from herbs or spices would turn up the volume. The concept works even for some unusual combination. Would you immediately think of pairing citrus with coffee? Sinsay was inspired by a drink he enjoyed at New Orleans restaurant Cafe Brulot. Orange peel was soaked in brandy, lit on fire, then doused in coffee. So, why not combine orange zest with maldon salt and ground coffee? Its perfect, he said, as a rub for steak or lamb. Sinsay is a fan of compound butters, something home cooks can easily create, but he thinks that people tend to focus more on what to combine with the butter than what the finished dish will be and using that as the inspiration for the butter. So, for example, if Sinsay was going to saute chanterelle and other mushrooms, which are the epitome of umami, how about adding miso to make a compound butter and really amp up the umami? He turned that into a dish with seared scallops topped with Asian greens and enhanced with a spicy Meyer lemon vinaigrette. Of course, you can use that miso compound butter in other ways. Its something to spread on bread. Take it further and make an umami-punched grilled cheese sandwich with truffle cheese and, of course, mushrooms. The circle of flavors can lead to other intriguing combinations. Do you have curry paste languishing in your pantry? Do you enjoy cauliflower? Curry is traditionally paired with cauliflower, so, Sinsay suggested, how about making a curry compound butter to drizzle over cooked cauliflower? Theres a yin and yang to melding flavors. By pantry foraging and associating one flavor with another to create a circle of flavor, you can elevate a simple roast chicken or stir-fried vegetable dish into something more unusual, more memorable, and far more enjoyable. And those pantry items wont languish until you finally toss them. Golden is a San Diego freelance food writer and blogger. Sea Scallop Crudo, created by JSix chef Anthony Sinsay. (Eduardo Contreras / U-T ) Sea Scallop Crudo Serves 4 Chamomile Salt 3 tablespoons loose-leaf chamomile tea 2 tablespoons Maldon Sea Salt For Crudo 2 tablespoons whole butter 4 sea scallops 2 Meyer lemons, peeled and cut into segments 2 farmers market radishes, shaved 1 ounce fresh mint leaves, picked and torn To make the Chamomile Salt: In a mortar and pestle, combine tea leaves and sea salt and grind until well incorporated. Then sift through a mesh strainer onto a piece of parchment paper. Pour the salt into a small bowl. To make the brown butter: In a saucepot melt butter and gently cook until it turns deep caramel color. Remove from heat. To plate the dish, slice scallops thinly into five slices and arrange like a flower on a plate. Season liberally with Chamomile Salt. Arrange the lemon segments over the scallop slices. Drizzle with brown butter. Garnish with sliced radishes and torn mint leaves. Chef Anthony Sinsays Seared Sea Scallops With Chanterelle Mushrooms, Miso Butter and Choi Sum. (Eduardo Contreras / U-T ) Seared Sea Scallops With Chanterelle Mushrooms, Miso Butter and Choi Sum This dish has a few components that need to be made separately and then will come together. You can make the Miso Butter and Meyer Lemon Vinaigrette in advance. Yu choi and sum choi are Chinese greens that are part of the mustard family and have lovely yellow flowers that you can use to garnish this dish. Serves 4 Miso Butter pound butter, softened pound white miso paste Meyer Lemon Vinaigrette 3 Meyer lemons, zested and juiced ounce serrano chilies, finely chopped Kosher salt to taste cup extra virgin olive oil Sauteed mushrooms 1 ounce olive oil 2 ounces chanterelle mushrooms 1 ounces maitake mushrooms 1 ounces shitake mushrooms 1 ounce white wine 1 1/2 ounces miso butter For scallops 1 ounce olive oil 3 sea scallops Kosher salt to taste 2 tablespoons whole butter To plate 1 ounce yu choi (can be found at Specialty Produce or Asian markets) 1 ounce sum choi (can be found at Specialty Produce or Asian markets) To make Miso Butter: In a mixer equipped with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and miso together until completely incorporated. Set aside. To make Meyer Lemon Vinaigrette: In a mixing bowl combine the Meyer lemon juice and zest with serrano chilis and salt and slowly drizzle in olive oil until emulsified. It will break again. Just whisk and stir each time you use to ensure even dispersion. Set aside. Chefs tip: Use a mason jar and just shake each time you need to use it after covering it tightly. To make Sauteed Mushrooms with Miso Butter: Add the oil to a hot saut pan. Watch for the oil to dance, then add the mushrooms and saut until they turn a golden brown. Deglaze with white wine and add Miso Butter to glaze. Prepare the scallops: Add oil to a hot saut pan. Season the sloped side of the scallops with salt and place them sloped side down into the pan. Apply even pressure to the scallop with a spatula to ensure that the sear is even. Once the color starts to peek through on the bottom side of the scallops gently flip them over with the spoon and add the butter to the pan. Immediately baste the scallops with the butter by tipping the pan slightly and repeatedly dipping a spoon into the melted butter and pouring the butter from the spoon over the scallops. Once the scallops are cooked, transfer them from the pan to a lined plate or sheet pan. To plate the dish: Place the sauted mushrooms with miso butter on the plate. Top with the scallops. Roll the yu choi and sum choi leaves and place around the scallops. Drizzle the ingredients with the Meyer Lemon Vinaigrette and garnish with sum choi flowers. Recipes from Anthony Sinsay, executive chef of JSix Update: Heres a photo of Chinas second aircraft carrier, under construction at the Chinese port of Dalian. Apparently, China is unhappy that the photo was published by a Japanese news service earlier this month. Chinese news outlets say the photo is an infringement on Chinas national security. ORIGINAL STORY: Advertisement Chinas first aircraft carrier performed its first drills with jets and other warships in the South China Sea on Monday, a sign of the nations rising naval air power. What can or should the United States do about it? (Take the poll below.) China bought the flattop, now called Liaoning, from the Ukraine in 1998. The Kuznetsov-class Soviet carrier started life in 1985 in a Ukrainian shipyard under the name Varyag. After the Soviet Union disintegrated, work stopped on the ship in 1992 because Russia couldnt afford to pay Ukraine to finish construction. The vessel was 70 percent complete but lacked engines or rudders. Welcome to The Intel, a blog examining the hot military news of the day It was towed to China amid international skepticism about whether it could ever be operational. But Chinas Defense Ministry has confirmed that J-15 Flying Shark fighter jets took off and landed from the flight deck of the aircraft carrier on Monday, while spending several days in the South China Sea, according to the Associated Press. Chinese media is reporting that, after performing well in heavy seas this week, plus other exercises in recent months, the ship has made the transition from testing platform to combat-ready status. The Chinese J-15, based on the Soviet-designed Sukhoi Su-33, practised inflight refueling and air combat, in addition to touch-and-go landings. This class of carrier does not use a steam catapult for launching fighters unlike the big U.S. carriers. It is equipped with a so-called ski jump at the bow to allow takeoffs by jets that dont require long runways. The situation has made Chinas neighbors nervous. Taiwan deployed its fighter jets to watch the Liaoning and its escorts as they passed passed south of Taiwan a few days earlier. The United States and the Philippines have voiced concern over Chinas construction of man-made islands in portions of the South China Sea. Chinese military planes have begun landing on the islands and there are reports that China has positioned weapons there. The move is seen as China asserting its dominance in areas also claimed by other Asian nations. Military scholars have long said that China getting an aircraft carrier capability could affect the balance of power on the seas, especially among its rivals in Asia. The flattop gives China a much longer range for its air power. A second Chinese aircraft carrier is reported to be under construction. jen.steele@sduniontribune.com Facebook: U-T Military Twitter: @jensteeley Rising addiction rates and disputes among street-level drug dealers were key factors in driving up homicides in Tijuana last year, making 2016 the most violent in the citys history, authorities said Tuesday. The total for the year came to 910 for Tijuana, according to figures for the Baja California Attorney Generals Office. That represents a 36 percent increase over 2015, when authorities registered 670 homicides. The 2016 tally surpasses the citys previous record in 2008, when authorities reported 844 killings. There is a tremendous conflict in the street over the sale of drugs, said Miguel Angel Guerrero, coordinator for special investigations in the Baja California Attorney Generals Office in Tijuana. Every day, we see more addicts, and as we see more addicts, there will be more drug consumption, more problems, and more deaths as a result. Advertisement With a population of more than 1.7 million residents, Tijuana is Baja Californias largest city and has traditionally led the state in homicides. Last year was no exception: By comparison with Tijuanas 910 killings, Mexicali, the state capital, had 112 homicides, Ensenada had 85, Rosarito Beach had 80 and Tecate had 77, according to the Attorney Generals figures. The violence has cast a cloud over Tijuana as it has struggled to shed its reputation for drug violence in recent years, with promoters striving to spread word of the citys innovative cuisine, rich cultural life, booming manufacturing industry, and burgeoning startup sector. Though homicides are higher than ever, the violence has not held the city in its grip as it did from 2008 to 2010, when rival drug gangs waged open warfare on the citys streets, leaving mutilated corpses and threatening messages to their rivals. This was a period when the dominant Arellano Felix Cartel was fighting off a challenge from the Sinaloa Cartel for control of the Tijuana plaza, a key smuggling corridor to reach the lucrative U.S. market for illicit drugs. In those years, the executions were with the clear intention of sending messages of uncertainty to society and to rival groups, said Victor Clark Alfaro, a Tijuana human rights activist who studies organized crime. As the Sinaloa strengthened its control over the region, the violence subsided for a few years, but then began rising again, as Sinaloa itself became the target of a group from central Mexico, the Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generacion in alliance with the remnants of the Arellanos. The violence of recent years has a different pattern, with most of the victims and perpetrators of the citys homicides the lowest-ranking members of the drug trade, many of them addicts themselves. The leaders of the three groups that are present here no longer have control over the street trade. There is an enormous army of street dealers that they can no longer control, Clark said. The homicide victims are people with a very low public profile, theyre drug dealers, not heads of cartels or important groups, Clark said. Guerrero of the Baja California Attorney Generals Office said that 85 to 90 percent of the homicide victims in 2016 were neighborhood drug dealers, often addicted to the drugs they sold. This is not going to end until there is a true policy in terms of addiction, he said. Until governments in large cities do something for addicts, this is going to continue. This is a health problem, its not a law enforcement problem. Tijuanas homicides rose just as Mexicos over-all homicide numbers increased in 2016, but every story is local in the sense that the particular dynamics are playing out differently in different places, said David Shirk, a political science professor at the University of San Diego who has studied trends of drug violence in Mexico. But Shirk also sees the arrest last January of the Sinaloa Cartel leader, Joaquin Chapo Guzman, as one factor driving a rise in drug violence in different parts of the country. Though nobody is talking about it it has to mean something in terms of the reaccomodation of drug trafficking networks in Mexico. Another factor that cuts across geographic regions, Shirk said, is youve got to figure out what to do with young men ages 18 to 30. Though civic groups have worked hard to improve Tijuanas reputation, and getting people to come out and shop and go to restaurants...what do you do with all those young men, and make sure that they are finding ways to engage either in their studies or gainful employment? Shirk said. Thats the heart of the matter for a lot of different parts of Mexico. The rise in violence has led business organizations in recent months to call for greater coordination among the local, state and federal law enforcement agencies in the state. The high numbers numbers put pressure on Tijuanas new mayor, Juan Manuel Gastelum, to come up with a plan to reduce the violence during his three-year term. The mayor, who took office on Dec. 1, has appointed a new public safety secretary, Marco Antonio Sotomayor. I feel hes good, hes got a good reputation, he has all the credentials to do a good job, said Roberto Quijano, a Tijuana attorney and member of the City Council. But in a month, I havent seen any strong plans or strong actions to fight crime. Quijano, who previously led the business group Coparmex and has been active in monitoring crime trends, said that many crimes are down, including kidnapping, extortion, car theft, bank robbery. The only one that went up is homicides, and that no question is related to drugs, Quijano said. To combat that problem, the citys residents have a responsibility as well, Quijano said. We dont have enough voices clamoring for security, he said. I dont feel society and in particular the business community has been strong enough in calling on the mayor to and asking him, What are you going to do about this? sandra.dibble@sduniontribune.com @sandradibble If only all crimes were so easy to solve. Alvin Lee Neal robbed a downtown San Diego bank, but before he did he inserted his ATM debit card at the teller window revealing his name and other personal information. Neal, 56, was sentenced in San Diego federal court Tuesday to three years and 10 months in prison for the robbery, the U.S. Attorneys Office said. Advertisement Neal entered the Wells Fargo branch on First Avenue on May 13 and approached a teller window, according to his plea agreement. He first swiped his card through the card reader at the window. When the teller asked how he could be helped, Neal replied: Youre being robbed. Dont make a mistake. He then handed the teller a note that had a similar statement. When the teller hesitated, Neal said: You dont want anyone to get hurt, dont make a mistake. The teller handed him $565 in $20s and $1s and Neal ran out of the bank, pulling a metal cart from the bank behind him, according to the complaint. With his debit card information on hand, investigators found his drivers license and address and discovered Neal is a registered sex offender. He was previously convicted of attempted rape and sexual battery, according to the California Megans Law website. FBI agents and San Diego police officers set up surveillance at a hostel on 10th Avenue downtown and stopped him as he left the building that afternoon. He agreed to a search of the room he was staying in, which turned up a checkered, double-breasted jacket that the robber appeared to have worn, as well as Neals debit card, the complaint states. He admitted to robbing the bank when questioned by investigators, according to the complaint. As part of his sentence, he was ordered to pay $565 in restitution to the bank. kristina.davis@sduniontribune.com Twitter: @kristinadavis In October, District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis said she was undecided about her future plans. She said she might run for another term in 2018, retire earlier or finish out this term and not seek re-election after serving as the countys top prosecutor for 16 years. Then three weeks ago, Dumanis told top administrators in her office that she has a definite succession plan in mind: She wants Chief Deputy District Attorney Summer Stephan to succeed her and David Greenberg, another chief deputy, to take over as the top assistant. That is what Dumanis said at a meeting of division chiefs, according to a Dec. 15 summary of the meeting provided to The San Diego Union-Tribune. Advertisement Dumanis future plans have been the subject of steady speculation in the legal community over the past year. At a training meeting with deputy district attorneys in October, she addressed the rumors that she was considering resigning in 2017. She said she was undecided about her future and it was possible she would seek a fifth term in 2018. In an interview with the Union-Tribune a few days after that training session, she said it was just speculation that she might resign midterm but that she would be very supportive of Stephan replacing her. If Dumanis were to resign, the San Diego County Board of Supervisors would appoint a successor. Her comments in December to her division chiefs were more explicit, according to an email obtained by the Union-Tribune. It was written by Rachel Cano, a former deputy district attorney and South Bay division chief who became a Superior Court judge last week. In the email, Cano told the deputy district attorneys in her office that Dumanis does not have a retirement date but her succession plan is to have Summer take over as DA and Dave Greenberg take over as ADA. She wants to make sure there is a smooth transition when she does decide to retire, Cano wrote. That appears to be a more definitive plan one that backs Stephan as the top choice to succeed Dumanis and favors Greenberg to be the offices top assistant, replacing Assistant District Attorney Jesse Rodriguez. Dumanis communications chief, Steve Walker, declined to say if the comments to the division chiefs on Dec. 15 represent a shift in how his boss is thinking about her future. Were declining to provide any comment at this time, he wrote in an email Tuesday. Stephan has handled high-profile cases, including prosecuting Brendan ORourke, who in 2010 opened fire on the playground of Kelly Elementary School in Carlsbad, wounding two students. ORourke had pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, but a jury found him legally sane and he was sent to prison. She also has led the district attorneys sex crimes and stalking division and been the head of the North County branch of the District Attorneys office. Greenberg is a veteran prosecutor who has served as a division chief under Dumanis since 2003. Twitter: @gregmoran greg.moran@sduniontribune.com Hundreds of students enrolled in court-reporting and paralegal training classes at Sage College were left in a lurch Tuesday, when owners of the for-profit school closed the business two weeks before the end of the quarter due to a long-simmering accreditation issue. Sage College officials say the action came in response to the schools accrediting agency, the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools, losing its authority under a U.S. Department of Education decision last month. Effective immediately, it is with great sadness that we announce the closure of Sage College, the company emailed students late last week. This situation affects every school that was formerly approved by ACICS. It is not Sage College specific in any way. Advertisement Jilted students are upset that other schools accredited by the council managed to stay open. They said Sage College withheld information and in some cases continued to collect federal student loan funds and tuition payments as recently as a few days before closing. They told us in October that we had 18 months and that they would take care of us, said Marissa Maginnis, a single mother from Spring Valley working toward her court-reporting certification. We were supposed to have finals next week. A lot of us feel like weve just been scammed. Maginnis said she owes $23,000 in student loans money she thought was a good investment because court reporters can earn $80,000 a year or more in San Diego. She hopes to get all or part of her loan forgiven. Sage College is one of about 250 schools accredited by the council, which was targeted by federal education officials for pervasive noncompliance with regulations over government-backed loans and grants for students. Last month, the Department of Education revoked the councils accreditation authority. The nonprofit group sought a restraining order to halt the process but a federal judge rejected the request. Most of the other colleges accredited by the council accepted a provisional certification, meaning they could remain in business if they secured an alternate accreditation under stricter operating standards within 18 months. The notice Maginnis received from Sage College three months ago assured students they had more time and advised them to keep up with their coursework. Although we dont know how long the ACICS appeal process will take, the ONE thing we do know is that if they are denied all schools will have 18 months to secure approval through another accrediting agency, Executive Director Lauren Somma told students on Oct. 4. Robert Rasha, who was the Sage College chief technology officer until he was laid off, said Tuesday he could not explain why company owners did not accept the governments offer of provisional certification. He said Somma and co-owner Sharon Goupil were concerned that Sage College could not immediately meet the new standards and were skeptical that another accrediting agency would approve them going forward. They dont want the burden of accepting an ACICS school, and the second thing is the standards are being modified to make them more rigid, Rasha said. About 350 students at the San Diego and Moreno Valley campuses of Sage College were affected by the school closure, Rasha said. About 50 employees also lost their jobs. Kimberly Myers of San Clemente was taking online courses in court reporting through the Moreno Valley campus when she learned the school closed unexpectedly. She paid $40,000 in tuition over the past three years as she worked up to the transcription speed required for certification. Im just devastated, Myers said Tuesday. Were kind of on hold because we dont know whos going to get the next rug yanked out from under them. The Accrediting Council of Independent Colleges and Schools, a nonprofit based in Washington D.C., said in a statement that it has a hearing scheduled Feb. 1 on its request for an injunction against the Department of Education revocation decision. The council says it wants to regain its government recognition and recover our historic role as a highly-regarded accrediting agency. According to the groups most recent federal tax filing, ACICS has $17 million in net assets and paid its chief executive $325,000 in the year ending June 30, 2015. It reported $3.6 million in travel costs for the year, its biggest expense after salaries and benefits. 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 Bail was set at $300,000 Tuesday for a Tijuana City Council member facing money laundering charges in San Diego Superior Court. Judge David J. Danielsen rejected the prosecutions request of $5 million bail for Luis Torres Santillan. The councilmans attorney, Anthony Colombo, said Torres had never been arrested before, has numerous local connections, and his wife is a teacher at a Montessori school in Chula Vista. The case is being heard by Judge Runston Maino. At a hearing following the bail decision, Maino noted this is a very complicated case. Prosecutors said the case involves several thousands of pages of discovery documents and hours of audio recordings. The next hearing has been scheduled for Feb. 9. Advertisement Torres had been in office for 16 days when he was arrested at the border Dec. 16. He was charged with 10 counts of money laundering. He has pleaded not guilty and is currently on leave from the council. The case is one of three resulting from an investigation and Torres is one of 12 defendants named in a complaint filed by the state of California. The investigation is headed by the Drug Enforcement Administrations Narcotics Task Force, in collaboration with other agencies. According to court documents, prosecutors say proceeds from illegal activity were being smuggled from Mexico into the United States, deposited into banks there and then wired back to Mexico. Earlier, 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. His attorney said that Torres had been living at a house in Coronado but that his primary residence is in Tijuana. A long-awaited fire station might finally be coming to the rapidly growing campus of UC San Diego, university and city officials said this week. The station was among 19 new facilities recommended in a 2011 independent consultants report that declared emergency coverage inadequate in several parts of San Diego, including the neighborhoods around UCSD. And the new station has become even more important in the wake of the City Councils decision last month to delete from planning maps the controversial Regents Road Bridge, which could have shortened emergency response times in the area. Advertisement Since the 2011 study, city and university officials have discussed a partnership where the university would provide land and pay for construction of the new station, while the city would fund operations and maintenance. But no formal agreement has ever been presented publicly, and community leaders in University City have called progress on the project frustratingly slow. A spokesman for the citys Fire-Rescue Department said this week that city and university officials are still discussing the project and expect to unveil a proposal this spring, most likely in April. Meanwhile, the university issued a statement on Wednesday including similar information. The city and UC San Diego are discussing the potential fire station project and look forward to bringing more details to the City Council for consideration, hopefully in April, the statement said. The city and the university declined to provide any additional details. The website for the universitys Physical and Community Planning division says the new station would be built in the northwest corner of the campus, just south of where Genesee Avenue and North Torrey Pines Road intersect. The site also estimates the station will be completed in spring 2020. City Councilwoman Barbara Bry, who was elected in November to represent University City, La Jolla and nearby areas, has listed the new station and another planned for southern University City among her public safety priorities. I look forward to working with UCSD and the city to ensure that the station is built on time and on budget, Bry said. She has praised the plan to have the university fund construction, which is expected to be $10 million to $12 million, and have the city cover personnel and operations, which is expected to be somewhere between $1.5 million and $4 million per year depending on a variety of factors. The other fire station planned for the University City area, slated for the intersection of Nobel Drive and Shoreline Drive near University City High School, is already funded by $14 million the city has collected from developers of projects in the area. Ground breaking for that station is expected in late 2017 or early 2018. The community was the second in the city last year to get a fast response squad, an experimental effort to use two-man crews to quicken emergency responses in poorly served areas. Janay Kruger, leader of the University Community Planning Group, said shes been frustrated there hasnt been more progress on the campus fire station. Weve thought it was a done deal for the last five years, she said. Kruger complained that university officials have made the new station a lower priority than many other recent projects, which have increased the demand for fire coverage on campus. City statistics show that roughly one third of the calls handled by city Fire Station 35, located near the eastern edge of UCSD, are incidents that take place on campus. City officials have said the biggest hurdle to solving the emergency response challenges identified by the independent consultant in 2011 isnt building new fire stations, but having enough money to operate them year after year into the future. It was primarily for that reason that the City Council declined to place on the ballot last year a proposed $205 million bond measure that would have paid for construction of nearly all of the stations recommended by the consultant, Citygate Associates of Folsom. The UCSD station was not included in the proposed bond measure because city officials expect the university to cover the construction costs. The citys Independent Budget Analyst said last summer that city expenses would increase $1.3 million per station for personnel and another $155,000 for finance charges to lease fire engines and other equipment. But the Citygate report said the UCSD station would need double staffing, so annual costs could approach $4 million if that recommendation is embraced. The report, however, is being revised at the request of the city, and the new recommendations may differ from 2011 based on changes in population and traffic patterns since then. RELATED: UCSD OPENS DOWNTOWN CAMPUS UC San Diego, which previously held classes in rented space, has announced a $42 million, 66,000-square-foot downtown outpost. Construction is expected to begin next year with completion by late 2020 or early-2021. (Carrier Johnson + Culture) david.garrick@sduniontribune.com (619) 269-8906 Twitter:@UTDavidGarrick A busy Bay Terraces intersection near two schools was cordoned off Wednesday morning after a 6-year-old girl was hit by a car, police said. The 6-year-old victim was near the intersection of Briarwood and Paradise Valley roads when she was struck about 8:05 a.m. The driver stopped after the crash, police said. Paramedics arrived, and the victim was taken to Rady Childrens Hospital with minor injuries. Advertisement Boone Elementary School is located nearby. Twitter: @LAWinkley (619) 293-1546 lyndsay.winkley@sduniontribune.com The 24-year-old woman who was gravely injured in a Mira Mesa crash that a witness said was fueled by road rage died Tuesday, police said. Denise Aragon said that she saw most of the Monday conflict and ended up trying to help the driver, identified by authorities as Tayler Tannenbaum. The Poway resident was 24, the Medical Examiners Office said. Advertisement Aragon said she was at a stop light across from a Target shopping center at Mira Mesa Boulevard and Camino Ruiz when she noticed two car drivers honking at each other as they left the parking lot about 6:30 p.m. The vehicles, a gray Toyota Camry with its lights off and a white Toyota Scion, turned left onto Mira Mesa Boulevard and soon stopped at a red light. The driver of the Scion continued to honk. Aragon hadnt seen any altercation between the two drivers, but said it was clear to her that the driver in the Scion was upset. When the light turned green, the cars took off. Aragon said the Camry sped away, with the Scion close behind. Both cut other vehicles off in the process, she said. It escalated really fast and turned into a dangerous racing situation, she said. In about five blocks, Aragon thought she saw the Camry clip the Scion. The Scion spun a couple of times before smashing into a tree in the center median near Aderman Avenue. She said the Camry driver appeared to brake quickly before speeding away. Police said they have found no evidence the Scion was hit by the Camry, and instead suspect the Scions speeding driver lost control. Investigators spoke with the second driver on Tuesday, and no criminal charges were forthcoming. Aragon parked her car and rushed over to the mangled Scion. The driver was unresponsive. I basically had a front row seat to the whole thing. It was surreal, Aragon said. You hear about these things or see them in movies, but to actually see it there are no words. The injured driver was taken to a hospital with critical injuries to her head, neck, spleen and liver, and later died. No one else was in the Scion at the time of the crash, but a car seat was in the backseat. Twitter: @LAWinkley (619) 293-1546 lyndsay.winkley@sduniontribune.com UPDATES: 10 p.m.: This article was updated with the identity of the driver who died. This article was originally published at 2:40 p.m. A man remains jailed on $1 million in bail, accused of murder in a Mira Mesa gang shooting even though he didnt fire the gun and it was one of his own companions who died. Chien Ngoc Pham, 22, was the getaway driver for James Martinez, 18, and a 17-year-old boy intent on killing a rival gang member, according to a criminal complaint and investigators. Authorities allege that on Dec. 19, Pham drove to Menkar Road and parked around the corner from where a gang rival and other people were standing in a front yard. Advertisement The 17-year-old is alleged to have armed himself with a pistol and walked up to a Markab Drive home with Martinez. The teen is suspected of opening fire on the gang rival, an 18-year-old. The rounds apparently missed the rival, but Martinez ended up wounded. Pham and the teen drove Martinez to a hospital, where he died, police said. Investigators have remained vague as to how Martinez was killed. The criminal complaint says the 17-year-old was armed and Pham was not, but San Diego police homicide Lt. Ray Valentine said they have not determined which person shot Martinez. There are no outstanding suspects, Valentin said Tuesday. Early on the day after the shooting, a SWAT team surrounded the Markab house, looking for the original target of the shooting. He was not there then, but was later found, questioned and released. Authorities have not said whether he might have fired a gun in self-defense, wounding Martinez. Pham and the 17-year-old then were arrested on murder and other charges in connection with Martinez death. Pham was arraigned Dec. 23 in San Diego Superior Court and pleaded not guilty to charges including conspiracy, attempted murder and shooting at an inhabited residence. Deputy District Attorney Christina Arrollado said an individual can be charged with any crime, including murder, if they aided and abetted or acted as a co-conspirator in that crime. California law allows a person to be charged with murder if a fellow conspirator to a crime kills someone, accidentally or on purpose. The complaint against Pham states that he committed the various felonies for the benefit of, at the direction of, and in association with a criminal street gang. It adds that although not personally armed with a firearm (Pham) was himself a principal and was vicariously liable for the shooting. Arrollando gave no specifics about the shooting at the arraignment. A preliminary hearing for Pham has been set for March 20, to determine whether he should stand trial. The juvenile faces a hearing to determine whether he should be charged in the case as an adult, authorities said. Consumers who use voice-activated, always-on digital assistants such as Amazon Echo and Google Home could soon learn whether outsiders notably attorneys, police and the courts can gain access to the audio thats recorded on the increasingly popular devices. Prosecutors in Benton County, Arkansas are pressuring Amazon to turn over electronic data that was recorded on one of its Echo smart speakers in November 2015. Authorities are hoping the recordings will reveal what led to the death of Victor Collins, who was found dead in a hot tub owned by one of his co-workers, James Bates. Bates has been charged in Collins death. Advertisement So far, Amazon has refused to give prosecutors the data, saying that it is protecting the privacy of a client. The privacy case is reminiscent of the unsuccessful attempt that FBI made last year to force Apple to unlock an iPhone that had been used by one of the assailants in the mass shooting in San Bernardino in December 2015. The FBI later hired professional hackers to unlock the phone. The Union-Tribune asked James Goodnow, a tech attorney at Fennemore Craig, P.C. in Phoenix, to put the latest privacy battle into perspective. Goodnow said: This case may indeed be illustrative of what these type of voice-enabled home assistants are recording and perhaps foreshadowing another legal battle over requests for technology-based evidence versus a consumers expectation of privacy very reminiscent of Apple vs. FBI. Up to this point, it been unclear what these devices are actually recording. What we do know is that devices like Echo are always listening. Once the device hears the wake word, it then records your voice and transfers it to a processor for analysis, so that it can accurately fulfill your requests. The Alexa app will also say your last query to make sure that it got it right. Its thus always listening, and the recordings are streamed and presumably stored remotely with a digital trail much like if you were typing an email. Technology and the Internet of Things (IoT) is obviously moving faster than the law where everyday objects are now sending and receiving data. We will see how this case proceeds and whether a subpoena will produce the requested data. And while consumers should expect privacy from these type of devices, if you have concerns, you should probably also know that retrievable data probably exists. Goodnow noted in an earlier email to the Union-Tribune: Weve seen a lot of concern in past years about what Google collects and what they do with it, and Apple is also reportedly jumping into the niche soon with a similar device. The Echo and Home work best when they know everything about you and they get that info by you (the user) allowing them access to it. Google especially will take everything that you feed to Google to allow Home to be as efficient and knowledgeable as possible. The Echo works the same way. For it to be good, you have to feed it a lot of data. And that data, whether youre using the Home or the Echo, is sent to a cloud-based server somewhere for analysis. Is it stored there? No one knows, but some of it must be for the Echo and Home to maintain and learn your habits to be as useful as possible. gary.robbins@sduniontribune.com Rep. Duncan Hunter used campaign funds to pay for $600 of airline fees to fly a pet rabbit, one of the more colorful expenses to surface in an ongoing review of his practices. Hunters staff told the Press-Enterprise newspaper that the House Office of Congressional Ethics questioned the bunny expenses offered as an example of over-reach by the agency. The ethics offices independence was nearly clipped this week as one of the first orders of business for the GOP-controlled House, until President-elect Donald Trump and others questioned the timing of the move. Advertisement Critics saw the proposal as weakening an important check on legislative abuses of power. Hunter spokesman Joe Kasper defended the proposed procedural changes, according to the Press-Enterprise. The concerns are strong enough that it nearly prompted a significant structural change, Kasper said. The ethics office last year conducted a review of Hunters campaign expenses. Release of the report, and any follow-up action by the House Ethics Committee, was recently postponed pending swearing-in of the new Congress. Hunter, R-Alpine, has reimbursed his campaign about $62,000 in campaign expenses that were personal in nature or lacked proper documentation, including oral surgery, a garage door, video games, resort stays and a jewelry purchase in Italy. The expenses came to light after inquiries by the Federal Election Commission and The San Diego Union-Tribune, and Hunter then hired a law firm to conduct a review that has not been made public. Use of campaign funds for personal benefit is prohibited by federal law, as it might give undue influence to contributors. Most of Hunters campaign funds come from defense and transportation companies whose business is affected by committees upon which he serves. In the Press-Enterprise, Kasper criticized the as-yet-unreleased ethics office report on Hunter, saying findings or implications are significantly misrepresented or even exaggerated. As an example, Kasper mentioned the rabbit transportation fees which were apparently charged to the campaign credit card by mistake, instead of using airline miles racked up on the campaign dime. (The office) has in their report $600 in campaign expenditures for in cabin rabbit transport fees, Kasper said. Since travel is often done on (airline) miles which is entirely permissible the credit card connected to the account was charged several times even when his children were flying. This was nothing more than an oversight. In fact, its such an obvious example of a mistake being made but (the office) wants to view it through a lens of possible intent, Kasper said. The same goes for many other expenditures. Many of Rep. Hunters repayments had to do with mistakes under specific circumstances, and in other cases there were bona fide campaign activities connected to expenditures that (the office) was not aware of and didnt account for. Hunter has previously explained problems with campaign spending that included the campaign charge card being blue and therefore confused with a more appropriate card. The congressman has repaid more than $6,000 to United Airlines for personal or undocumented uses of campaign funds. His accounting of the repayments did not itemize pet travel costs. Previously: Hunter Who would ever eat anything described as a wet envelope of cat food? Hundreds of millions of Americans, apparently. And thats good news for one San Diego company. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that San Diego-based Jack in the Box sells 554 millions tacos a year. Yep, the menu item that one person in that story called vile and amazing is eaten across the country more than 1,000 times a minute. Jack in the Box sells more monster tacos than any other menu item. The companys website describes the tacos like this: This is the taco that eats other tacos when its craving tacos. Because this large-and-in-charge, crunchy taco is topped with American cheese, shredded lettuce and taco sauce. Uh, huh. Youll want to sit down for this. The taco that EATS OTHER TACOS? What does that even mean? And why will we want to sit down? The nutrition facts also openly say that these tacos have soy in them. So who is eating these horrifying things? San Diegans are at least partly to blame because Jack in the Box was founded here in 1951. And a quick Yelp search of area locations show that people who live in the home of world famous fish tacos also like tacos that come from a hamburger restaurant. I love the dog food tacos! North Park The only thing Jack in the Box has ever really done right is tacos. Downtown I'm a sucker for their Monster Tacos. I have no idea what is in them, but they are delicious! Mission Valley Cat Food Tacos call my name when ever I get close enough to the entrance of a Jack in the Box Sherman Heights Dont be embarrassed, San Diego. The Wall Street Journal also pointed out several celebrities like Selena Gomez and Chelsea Handler who openly admit to loving these tacos. And now watch as people try to come to grips with Americas most shameful secret being revealed. And here are even more Americans expressing their love for Jack in the Box tacos. YOU ARE NOT ALONE. Send us your love (or hate) for Jack in the Box tacos to @sdutideas and we may retweet or add them to this story! Email: abby.hamblin@sduniontribune.com Twitter: @abbyhamblin Who has the best taco in town? Quest for the fish taco A Ramona man who was charged with wire fraud in the alleged defrauding of a homeowners association has pleaded not guilty in U.S. District Court in San Diego. Robert Walsh, 37, has posted $25,000 bond and remains free. A magistrate judge ordered him to appear in court on Jan. 27 to set a trial date. Walsh is the owner of Cornerstone Management Professionals Inc., which is also charged with him in a grand jury indictment of devising a scheme to defraud a homeowners association of $247,413 over the removal of asbestos in a project in San Diego. The U.S. Attorneys office is seeking forfeiture of $247,413 to be returned to the association if either Walsh or the company is convicted. The four wire fraud charges say the alleged scheme started in September 2012 and continued into June 2016. Each count represents separate email communications in the project and the use of email was wire communications. It was alleged the company obtained bids from contractors for various improvement projects for the homeowners association and submitted its bid without disclosing there were other lower bids for work on a clubhouse and a pavilion project. It was alleged the company falsely represented that the material involved was not asbestos and that services from an asbestos abatement firm were unnecessary. Both Walsh and the company denied the charges were true. Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT) revenue collected from Ramona lodging facilities during the 2015-16 budget year increased 31.5 percent from 2014-15. Lodgers in Ramona provided $182,801 of TOT payments during the fiscal year that ended June 30. Ramonas total was $138,427 the previous year. Collections in Ramona were $111,622 in 2013-14, $110,282 during 2012-13, and $105,516 in 2011-12. Countywide TOT revenue dropped from $4.16 million in 2014-15 to $4.13 million in 2015-16. A repayment from a previous fiscal year due to excessive payment dropped unincorporated Escondido net revenue from $481,441 to $239,148 and revenue from unincorporated San Marcos declined from $687,212 to $534,840. The Transient Occupancy Tax, which was reduced from 9 percent of the lodging unit rate to 8 percent in October 2007, is collected from occupants of hotels, motels, bed and breakfast venues, mobile home parks, private campgrounds, and other structures occupied or intended for occupancy by non-residents for lodging or sleeping purposes. Campgrounds at the eight county parks are not subject to the TOT, nor are lodging units on Indian reservations or other areas where the County of San Diego has no taxing power. A federal or State of California officer or employee on official business is exempt from the tax, as is any foreign government officer or employee exempt under federal law or international treaty. The tax is not collected if the regular rent is $4 a day or less or if the lodger receives a free room where the only consideration received is publicity for the lodging site. Units occupied or rented for more than 30 consecutive days are not subject to the tax. Tax payments are made to the county quarterly. The tax is collected only from hotels, motels and other lodging sites in the countys unincorporated area, but the revenue is used for the countys Community Enhancement program that may be given to organizations in incorporated cities as well as unincorporated communities. Community Enhancement funds, which are allocated during the countys annual budget process, are intended to promote tourism. A scholarship honoring slain student Nicolas Leslie will help future Torrey Pines High School graduates study global entrepreneurship. Leslie, a 20-year-old UC Berkeley student from Del Mar, died in the July terrorist attack in Nice, France. He was of 84 people killed when a Tunisian attacker drove a box truck through a promenade filled with people celebrating Bastille Day. On Saturday, a fundraiser at Powerhouse Park in Del Mar will help launch the scholarship in memory of Leslie, who hoped to make a difference in the world by founding a sustainable food business. Advertisement The scholarship will benefit Torrey Pines students who aim to study entrepreneurism as a means to social good and social justice, said Sharon Rosen Leib, the organizer of the scholarship drive and parent of a Torrey Pines senior. A graduate of Torrey Pines High School, Leslie was enrolled at UC Berkeley and hoped to found a sustainable food company, said his father Conrad Leslie. The younger Leslie was attending the European Innovation Academy in Nice last summer, when he was struck during the July 14 attack. The scholarship will provide between $500 to $1,000 to a Torrey Pines graduate with plans to study business and international affairs, Leib said. Organizers have raised about $2,000 so far, and aim to offer the scholarship annually. We hope to support the kind of endeavor Nick was interested in, which was global entrepreneurism, Leib said. I know he was specifically interested in food justice, which is very big at Berkeley, and is very important. Leslies parents, Conrad and Paola, are also involved in efforts to create an endowment through UC Berkeley for a foreign study scholarship to help other students study abroad. Leib said she shares their belief that foreign exchange is crucial to fostering peace and international cooperation. In this increasingly globalized world, its every important to understand other cultures, and other peoples lives, and how privileged we are in this country, and to have that empathy and compassion, Leib said. The fundraiser will take place from noon to 2 p.m. at Powerhouse Park in Del Mar. and will include sandwiches donated by Jersey Mikes and salads from Local Greens. Tickets are $20 in advance and $30 the day of the event, and may be purchased at www.tphssf.org. All proceeds will benefit the scholarship. For more information, contact Leib at (858) 775-9051 or srleib@me.com. deborah.brennan@sduniontribune.com Twitter@deborahsbrennan Valley Cottage, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 01/04/2017 -- Future Market Insights (FMI) announces the release of its latest report titled, "Asia Pacific Flexible Glass, Market Opportunity; 2014 to 2020 Forecast." According to the report, the Asia Pacific flexible glass market is expected to account for $612.7 Mn by 2020, registering a CAGR of 36.5% during the forecast period. Incorporation of flexibility threshold in displays is expected to contribute to the growth of the Asia Pacific flexible glass market over the forecast period. In terms of application, Asia Pacific flexible glass market is mainly segmented into display and solar PV (photovoltaic). Currently, display application segment dominates the Asia Pacific flexible glass market. The display segment was valued at US$ 74.2 Mn in 2013, and is expected to reach US$ 417.3 Mn by 2020, exhibiting a CAGR of 33.4% for the forecast period. Moreover, the development of Roll2Roll process is expected to create a demand for flexible glass in solar PV application. As a result, solar PV is projected to be the fastest growing application segment for the forecast period. Request Free Report Sample@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb--60 The display application is further sub-segmented as smartphones and tablets, curved TV, building mounted displays and, wearables. Among all the aforementioned sub-segments, smartphones & tablets segment is expected to dominate the market with 50.1% of the total revenue share by 2020. However, curved TV is anticipated to exhibit the highest CAGR of 37.1% during the forecast period. Additionally, influx of new entrants is predicted to fuel the growth of curved TV application segment over the forecast period. Country-wise, the Asia Pacific flexible glass market is segmented into Japan, China, South Korea and others. Japan is the most lucrative market, followed by South Korea and China. Moreover, Japan is expected to contribute 40.0% market share to the Asia Pacific flexible glass market by 2020. The growth of South Korea market is supported by the strong presence of smartphone & TV manufacturers along with growing number of R&D centres in South Korea. Send An Enquiry@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/askus/rep-gb--60 Assessing the various factors driving this market, FMI lead analyst, Abhishek S. said, "Incorporation of flexibility threshold in displays, development of Roll2Roll process for flexible PV and growing R&D investments in flexible glass by key glass manufacturers are expected to fuel the demand for Asia Pacific flexible glass market." Key players in the Asia Pacific flexible glass market are Asahi Glass Co., Ltd., Corning Inc., Schott AG and Nippon Electric Glass Company Ltd. Sarasota, FL -- (SBWIRE) -- 01/04/2017 -- Global Ascorbic Acid Market for Pharmaceutical, Food & Beverages, Personal Care and Other End-user Industries: Global Industry Perspective, Comprehensive Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Segment, Trends and Forecast, 2015 2021. The report provides analysis and forecast for the ascorbic acid market on a regional and global level. According to the report, the global ascorbic acid market was around 150.2 kilo tons in 2015. The global ascorbic acid market revenue accounted for USD 820.4 million in 2015 and is expected to reach USD 1083.8 million by 2021, growing at a CAGR of around 4.8% between 2016 and 2021. The study provides drivers and restraints for the ascorbic acid market coupled along with the impact they have on the demand over the forecast period. Moreover, the report also covers the analysis of opportunities existing in the ascorbic acid market on a global level. Request Free Sample copy of Report @ http://bit.ly/2fQXZFM With the objective to give the users of this report a complete view on the Ascorbic Acid market and to better understand the competitive landscape in the market, an analysis of Porter's Five Forces model for the Ascorbic Acid market has also been covered. The study shares a market attractiveness analysis, wherein end-user segments are benchmarked based on their growth rate, market size and general attractiveness. Ascorbic acid production is hugely dependent on availability of raw material. Thus, any fluctuation in availability and prices of raw material can severely affect ascorbic acid market. This is expected to curb the growth of ascorbic acid market over the years. However, investments in research and development by major industry players coupled along with exponential technological advancements in pharmaceutical industry is expected to act as a major opportunity for ascorbic acid market. Browse detail report with in-depth TOC @ http://atozresearch.com/global-ascorbic-acid-market-by-market-research/ In terms of geography, Asia-Pacific was largest consumer of ascorbic acid in 2015. The consumption in Asia Pacific is expected to grow at a rapid pace mainly due to availability of low cost manufacturing facilities in China. China is the largest consumer and producer of ascorbic acid. Moreover, the ever increasing demand for food and health supplements primarily in Asia Pacific is expected to boost the demand for ascorbic acid in this region. Europe and North America also consume ascorbic acid on large scale. The demand for ascorbic acid in this region is also expected to grow in coming years as a result of increasing demand from personal care and food & beverages end-user industry. Ascorbic Acid demand is increasing in emerging nations such as Brazil, India and China. The study provides a clear view on the ascorbic acid market by segmenting the market based on end-user segment and regions. All the segments have been analyzed based on present and future trends and the market is estimated from 2015 to 2021. Based on end-user segment, the Ascorbic Acid market has been segmented into pharmaceutical, food & beverages, personal care and other end-users. The regional segmentation includes the current and forecast demand for North America, Asia Pacific, Latin America, Europe, and Middle East and Africa with its further bifurcation into major countries including China, Japan, India U.S. Germany, France, UK, and Brazil. Related Reports: Global Isobutanol Market: Industry Analysis & Outlook 2015 to 2020: Major Players are BASF SE, Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation & others http://atozresearch.com/global-isobutanol-market-research-reports/ Global Predictive Analytics Market: Industry Analysis & Outlook 2015 to 2020: Major Players are Microstrategy Incorportation, SAP AG & others http://atozresearch.com/global-predictive-analytics-market-research-reports/ Global Natural Refrigerants Market: Industry Analysis & Outlook 2015 to 2020: Major Players are Linde Group, Airgas Inc., Engas Australasia & others http://atozresearch.com/global-natural-refrigerants-market-research-reports/ Global Polycarbonate Market: Industry Analysis & Outlook 2015 to 2020: Major Players are MaterialScience AG, Mitsubishi Engineering-Plastics Corporation & others http://atozresearch.com/global-polycarbonate-market-research-reports/ Some of the key players of the market include, DSM, DuPont, BASF SE, Northeast Pharmaceutical Group, Shandong Luwei Pharmaceutical, Hebei Welcome Pharmaceutical Co, North China Pharmaceutical Group, Bactolac Pharmaceutical Inc, CSPC Pharmaceutical Group, Dishman Group, Aland Nutraceuticals Group, NBTY Inc., GlaxoSmithKline Plc. and others. The thorough description of players includes parameters such as company overview, business, financial overview, and recent developments of the company. This report segments the global ascorbic acid market as follows: Global Ascorbic Acid Market: End-user Segment Analysis Pharmaceutical Food & beverages Personal Care Others Global Ascorbic Acid Market: Regional Segment Analysis North America U.S. Europe Germany UK France Asia Pacific China Japan India Latin America Brazil Middle East and Africa About A to Z Research A 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 US 3422 SW 15 Street,Suit #8138, Deerfield Beach,Florida 33442, USA Tel: +1-386-310-3803GMT Tel: +49-322 210 92714 USA/Canada Toll Free No.1-855-465-465 Email: martin@atozresearch.com Website: http://atozresearch.com/ Albany, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 01/04/2017 -- Implantable Medical Devices Market: Snapshot An implantable device is a "device that is placed into a surgically or naturally formed cavity of the human body if it is intended to remain there for a period of 30 days or more." In recent past, the global market for implantable medical devices has undergone rapid growth, and the expansion is expected to continue in the near future. The expansion of the market is attributed to the technical innovations in the field of implants, which is motivating implantable device manufacturers to infuse more capital in the research and development of their products. However, high price of sophisticated implantable devices often demotivates the end-users and in turn is hindering the growth rate of the market. The opportunity in the global market for implantable medical devices was valued at US$32.3 bn in 2015. Rising at a healthy CAGR of 4.9% during the forecast period of 20162024, the valuation is estimated to reach US$49.8 bn by the end of 2024. This substantiality and sustainability of the market is also attributed to factors such as rising geriatric population, and the rise in the incidences of musculoskeletal, dental, and other chronic degenerative health conditions. Read Full Report: http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/global-implantable-medical-devices-market.html Rising Geriatric Population Driving Reconstructive Joint Replacement Sub-segment Damage to the joint is highly painful and results in loss of agility and hampers the normal activity of an individual. Such damage can be treated through pharmacological therapies and arthroscopy. But depending upon the severity of the damage to the joint, physicians often prescribe joint replacement, which is the most in-demand sub-segment of the orthopedic implants segment in the global implantable medical devices market. The other sub-segments of orthopedic implants are spinal implants, orthobiologics, and trauma fixation implants. The market for reconstructive joint replacements is primed for the fastest growth rate during the forecast period due to the increase in the instance of orthopedic disorders and growth in aging population. In addition, focus on the development of less invasive surgeries for joint replacement and awareness about its advantages will spur the demand for reconstructive joint replacement. Pricing pressures by bulk buyers will be the major holdback of this market. However owing to the advantages of products such as cement-less implants, patients will continue to opt for reconstructive joint replacement. The other product segments of the global implantable medical devices market are cardiovascular implants, dental implants, intraocular lens (IOLS), breast implants, and other implants. Download exclusive Sample of this Report: http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=13946 Japan Emerging as Second Most-lucrative Market North America currently contributes to the most prominent demand for implantable medical devices, accounting for nearly 42% of the revenue in the global market in 2015. The demand is expected to sustain in the region due to factors such as the well-established healthcare infrastructure, effective reimbursement policies, rising geriatric population, increasing number of obese people, and high purchasing power. The U.S. currently is the most profitable country-market for implantable medical devices in the region of North America, serving 92% of the overall demand. However, the Asia Pacific implantable medical devices market is expected to expand at a faster rate due to a vast population base, of which major chunk is geriatrics, and investments by governments in the region toward improving their healthcare infrastructure. Japan is the second-most-prominent country-wise market globally. Factors that are augmenting the demand for implantable medical devices market in Japan are high life-span among the population, which is leading to rising prevalence of orthopedic conditions, and the demand for advanced technologies. This is a fairly consolidated market with the top five companies accounting for more than 50% of the share in 2015. These five companies are Johnson & Johnson, Zimmer Biomet, Medtronic plc, Institut Straumann AG, and Stryker Corporation. Other key vendors in the market include Abbott Laboratories, Smith & Nephew plc, Danaher Corporation, Dentsply Sirona, and Boston Scientific Corporation. Contact us: Transparency Market Research 90 State Street, Suite 700, Albany NY - 12207 United States Tel: +1-518-618-1030 USA - Canada Toll Free 866-552-3453 Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.com Website: http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/ [ISLAMABAD] A severe infestation of the papaya mealybug (Paracoccus marginatus) nearly wiped out papaya orchards in Pakistan before the largely farmed country decided to replace conventional chemical pesticides that were ineffective with natural predators that proved to be successful. The system was developed by agro-biotechnologists and entomologists at the Pakistani chapter of the UK-based Centre for Agriculture and Bioscience International (CABI) who introduced the use of Acerophagus papayae, a parasitoid (insects whose larvae parasite upon and eventually kill the host), to effectively control the mealybug infestation. Farmers are happy with this cost-effective, pesticide-free technique to deal with the mealybug and now see possibilities of recovering their papaya farms, says CABI research coordinator Abdul Rehman. He regrets though that by the time the biological method became available many farmers had already shifted to other crops. Papaya once covered some 921 hectares in the two coastal provinces of Sindh and Balochistan, according to the National Agriculture Research Council (NARC). But, after the first mealybug attack on papaya was reported in 2008, the area under papaya had shrunk to 307 hectares by 2014. Demonstration of the bio-control technique and awareness building among farmers helped wide-scale adoption and resulted in over 80 per cent control of the papaya mealybug. Amjad Pervez, NARC Rehman tells SciDev.Net that after the pest had gripped almost 80 per cent of the papaya orchards, CABI, US Development Agriculture and the US Agency for International Development initiated the biological control programme in close collaboration with NARC to stop the pests possible spread to other more important commercial crops. In 2014, under CABIs papaya pest management programme, A. papayae specimens were collected from the coastal areas near the port city of Karachi, reared in the laboratory and then released into papaya plantations after screening and environmental assessments. Field reservoirs of predators CABI researchers also set up a Natural Enemies Field Reservoir on the farmers fields to breed the A. papayae parasitoid as well as eight other natural predators of the papaya mealybug. Amjad Pervez, director-general at the NARCs Karachi-based regional office, says that the advantage of the bio-control approach lies in its simplicity and in the fact that it is self-sustaining. Demonstration of the bio-control technique and awareness building among farmers helped wide-scale adoption and resulted in over 80 per cent control of the papaya mealybug, Pervez says. Besides, the process was non-laborious, highly affordable and simple enough for farmers not to need support from government agencies. Rehmans team has hammered out a three-pronged plan to promote the field reservoirs through public-private partnerships. The bio-control approach has saved the papaya (farming) and also increased profits by reducing expenses on the pesticide sprays once used to fight the pest. Abdul Majeed Nizamani, Sindh Abadgar Board The plan shall be implemented to boost research and development to strengthen the bio-control process to completely contain papaya mealybug. Sindh and Balochistan provinces farmers organisations and vegetable and fruit traders associations will also be engaged in this regard as key stakeholders, Pervez explains. Controlling the papaya mealybug has helped contain its potential spread to commercial crops like citrus, tomato, aubergine, peppers, mulberry, beans and peas, sweet potato, mango, cherry, and pomegranate. Annual losses, had these crops been affected, would have run into millions of dollars, says Pervez. Rehman says Pakistans experience in safely controlling the mealybug has been shared with CABI chapters in the Asia-Pacific, European, and African countries. Entomologists and fruit pest experts have already communicated possibilities for replication of the bio-control approach, with some necessary modifications in countries like Congo, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nigeria, Sri Lanka, Taiwan and Thailand he says. Pesticide resistance Mealybugs have great resistance to most pesticides. For one thing they exude waxy secretions that can insulate them against chemicals and for another they have developed resistance to most commonly used chemical insecticides, according to a comprehensive Indian study published by Springer earlier this year. First detected in Mexico in 1955, the papaya mealybug had spread to the Caribbean and Latin America by the 1990s and to the Pacific and South Asian countries through the first decade of this century. Abdul Majeed Nizamani, president of the Sindh Abadgar Board, a farmers organisation, believes that papaya farming would have been completely wiped out in Pakistan if not for the bio-control measures. "The bio-control approach has saved the papaya (farming) and also increased profits by reducing expenses on the pesticide sprays once used to fight the pest, Nizamani says. This piece was produced by SciDev.Nets Asia & Pacific desk This article is part of a series on invasive species supported by CABI Severe thunderstorms swept across the southeast states that include Georgia, Alabama and the Florida Panhandle. The storms had killed five people and brought many damages in the regions. Chris Judah, the Houston County Emergency Management Director, said that it is a very dangerous scene. He further said that one of the trees cut the trailer in half. He added that those killed had huddled in one area of the mobile home, while the other three were in another part. At least 4 killed in Alabama, 1 in Florida after severe storms sweep through Southeast -- and the threat continues https://t.co/yfePwDcAY1 pic.twitter.com/ekh381DOhr CBS News (@CBSNews) January 3, 2017 According to Kris Ware, the spokeswoman for Dothan-Houston County Emergency Management Agency, four people were killed on Monday when a tree fell on their mobile home in Rehobeth, Alabama. She also said that most of the damage was in Rehobeth as winds damaged carports and other buildings. Alabama Governor Robert Bentley offered prayers for those impacted. Meanwhile, in Florida, it was reported that a 70-year-old man named Patrick Corley was found dead outside his home. The authorities said that the cause of his death could be an accidental drowning, according to Fox News. In Mississippi and Mount Olive, the storms were identified as tornadoes by the National Weather Service. These storms damaged the homes and farm buildings. In Louisiana, a serious damage in the southwestern parishes of Beauregard and Allen was reported. About tens of thousands had lost power in Louisiana and Mississippi. The National Drought Mitigation Center in Lincoln, Nebraska, stated that the rains in recent weeks have relieved the drought conditions across parts of the southeast. On the other hand, the large parts of north Alabama and north Georgia are in "exceptional drought," which is the most severe category. Meanwhile, a new report will be released on Thursday, according to CBS News. NASA shows its conceptual model of a building that may someday be a structure that is located on Mars. The model house, if it happens, would serve as a shelter for the astronauts on the Red Planet. It is part of the daring goal of NASA to send humans to Mars by 2030. NASA revealed that the structure called as "Mars Ice Home" would bank on a protective coating of ice coming from the planet's surface. The low-tech building would serve as a protection of astronauts from the harmful cosmic radiation found on the Red Planet. The researchers mentioned that the Red Planet is equipped with ice reservoirs beneath the surface. They compared it with the Lake Superior. Thus, experts look at the material while envisioning the future house for residents in Mars, according to The Huffington Post. Ann Thibeault, a researcher from Langley, said that, "The materials that make up the Ice Home will have to withstand many years of use in the harsh Martian environment, including ultraviolet radiation, charged-particle radiation, possibly some atomic oxygen, perchlorates, as well as dust storms - although not as fierce as in the movie 'The Martian'." The facilitator of the design session at NASA's Langley Research Center who produced the idea teams up with Clouds Architecture office Kevin Vipavetz said that, "After a day dedicated to identifying needs, goals and constraints, we rapidly assessed many crazy, out of the box ideas and finally converged on the current Ice Home design, which provides a sound engineering solution," according to Express. However, the design is not yet final as it is one of the potential concepts for buildings that will be sent to Mars. The idea still holds a different question. Just like it needs to be lightweight and be able to launch using robots and filled with water before the residents will arrive. Furthermore, the "Ice Home" is an amazing idea. However, it is not yet sure which design will NASA choose for the Red Planet. One of the drawbacks of the dome would be it would take them more than a year to fill it with ice. Kevin Kempton from the Langley Research Center said that the timeline does not worry him. He added that the design of the dome would make the astronauts feel like "in a home and not a cave. After months of travel in space, when you first arrive at Mars and your new home is ready for you to move in, it will be a great day." Astronauts are getting ready for two International Space Station (ISS) spacewalks scheduled in January. It is for the crucial update of the power generating system of the orbital lab. The Expedition 50 crew members are designated to venture outside the ISS on Jan. 6 and Jan. 13. They will replace the old nickel-hydrogen batteries with the new lithium-ion batteries in the truss structure of the station. Public Affairs Officer of NASA Dan Huot told the SpaceFlight Insider that, "The spacewalks will be an important upgrade to the station's power generation system." The first EVA or the extra-vehicular activity will be performed by Shane Kimbrough and Peggy Whitson, both are NASA astronauts. A week later, Thomas Pesquet from the European Space Agency (ESA) will join Shane Kimbrough. Dan Hout shared that, "The spacewalkers will have the task of installing adapter plates and hooking up electrical connectors, something that they have done extensive training on in the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory in Houston." This will be the first to happen that the adapter plates will be installed. Back in 2009, NASA astronauts Tom Marshburn and Chris Cassidy replaced four nickel-hydrogen batteries. The new batteries known as lithium-Ion battery Orbital Replacement Units (ORUs) were previously delivered to the ISS in December 2016 by the sixth Japanese H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV-6), according to SpaceFlight Now. The batteries weigh about 550 pounds each and were designed by Aerojet Rocketdyne and are manufactured by the GS Yuasa Technology Ltd. that is a Japanese company. In total, 24 new batteries will be installed on the ISS. The remaining ones will be scheduled to be delivered by the future HTV missions. Aerojet Rocketdyne CEO and President Eileen Drake said that, "Efficient, reliable and safe electrical power systems is absolutely critical for the astronauts who live on the International Space Station. It's also important for the research they conduct to better understand life in space and here on Earth. It's a privilege to know our lithium-ion batteries are helping to make that possible." The current 48 nickel-metal-hydride batteries on board the ISS that were made in the U.S. are needed to be replaced. It is because they are currently approaching the end of their service life, which is more or less 6.5 years. FLORENCE, S.C. The Rev. Vandroth Backus will be remembered for wearing many hats during his 91 years of life. The funeral home director, pastor and veteran or two wars died Dec. 26 following a brief illness. He is survived by his wife, Florence, and three children. Funeral arrangements have not yet been determined, according to Backus Funeral Home. Robert Jones, deacon at Monumental Missionary Baptist Church, knew Backus for more than 50 years and described him as an all-around man who was devoted to his business, his family and his community. He was one of the best people you could talk to, Jones said. He loved to work and be involved with the business. He loved being around people. He was always there for anybody. Backus son Vandroth Backus II works at the family funeral home as an apprentice and has learned many things from his father, including the value of a strong work ethic and being an honest person. He was a wonderful provider, the younger Backus said, welling up with emotion. He was a hard-working, loving man who cared for his family, the community of Florence and this great nation. Backus, a Florence native, served in World War II as a Montford Point Marine and later served in the Korean War. He was part of a select group trained out of Montford Point, North Carolina, who helped desegregate the military. Backus was assigned to the first all-black combat group. The men were assigned to defend an island in the south Pacific when the atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In June 2014, Oakland Avenue toward Norfolk Street was renamed Rev. Dr. Vandroth Backus Way as part of a resolution from the South Carolina House of Representatives, with a concurrence from the state Senate, to honor Backus. In October that same year, Backus was presented with the Congressional Gold Medal for his military service by U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C. Of the 20,000 African-Americans who trained at Montford Point alongside Backus, only 300 received recognition for their service. Before and after his time in the military, Backus worked as an officer for the Florence Police Department, one of the first American-Americans to do so. Backus also was employed as an educator in Darlington County for 14 years and was a member of the board of directors at Morris College and a Florence County councilman. He later retired to enter the ministry and founded the Monumental Missionary Baptist Church in Florence as well as Backus Funeral Home. FLORENCE, S.C. The Pee Dee Shrine Club will sponsor its 33rd annual Gospel Sing at 7 p.m. on Jan. 7 at the Pee Dee Shrine Club Auditorium at 3053 Crescent Circle in Florence. This concert originally was scheduled for October but was postponed because of Hurricane Matthew. All previously sold tickets for this event will be honored. This concert will feature four-time Grammy Award-nominated and four-time GMA Dove Award-winning Southern Gospel group Karen Peck & New River. Peck has more than 15 No. 1 hits, and her soprano voice has made its way into the hearts of gospel music lovers across the country and has garnered an unprecedented 11 Favorite Soprano Fan Awards from the readers of The Singing News Magazine, Southern Gospel Musics leading fan and trade publication. Tickets cost $15 in advance and $17 the day of the show. Call 843-766-6633 to order tickets. All seats are general admission. The Pee Dee Shrine Club contributes to the Greenville unit Shriners Hospital for Children. There are 19 Orthopedic Shriners Hospitals and three Shriners Hospitals dedicated to treating children with severe burns and one Shriners Hospital that provides orthopedic, burn and spinal-cord-injury care. Shriners Hospitals are located throughout North America 20 in the United States and one each in Mexico and Canada providing medical treatment to children of all races and religions at no cost to the children, their family or any third party. Since the first Shriners hospital opened in 1922, hundreds of thousands of children have been cured or substantially helped. Just as quickly as 2016 came, it is gone, and 2017 is upon us. Our country has a new president, and people will have a new way of looking at their lives. Most will look at the leadership change as either positive or negative, while some will remain neutral or partisan-oriented. In the bigger picture, we need to see leadership changes as an opportunity to form a clean slate. One aspect of our society we must continue is to evolve with creativity and camaraderie. The ability to innovate and develop new methods of thinking can stimulate the economy and encompass modes of thinking across party and socio-economic lines. The business community has an opportunity to push the limits of improving free enterprise. With a pro-business president, there is no better time than the present to oppose pricey regulations that, in many instances, restrict business movement and growth. Small businesses have a chance to advocate for the strategies that are best for business and will create generational wealth and growth for their respective families. At the same time, those interested in social change must be willing to objectively and subjectively engage the new administration, promoting the understanding that social equity and inclusion are also key benchmarks for economic success. Some people believe social change does not influence economic success, a feeling that many studies and statistics have proved to be false. Division is created by economic disparity and the tensions those disparities create, so to effect change, there must be a balance between the success of business and social aspects of development. To develop a proactive and robust economy, change must initiate circumstance, not the other way around. As a nation, we have a huge opportunity in front of us: a chance to advocate for both social and economic change on an unprecedented scale. We should take this opportunity very seriously as we move forward into 2017. Les Echols is a Greater Florence Chamber of Commerce executive with an emphasis on leadership, diversity and small business affairs. He is active in the community, serving on several local boards and organizations. Contact him at citizencolumnist@florencenews.com. The opinion column by Cal Thomas was heavy with misinformation and unsubstantiated opinions. He should read the book "Beyond Tribal Loyalties" that has articles by 20-plus disillusioned Zionists who deplore the treatment of the Palestinians by the Israeli occupation forces. They condemn the spread of settlements that involve the demolition of Palestinian homes and occupying more territory as well as destroying olive trees. Netanyahu comes from a line of terrorists and his actions show a complete disregard for human rights. ANZ also sold another 10% stake in SRCB for the same consideration to Shanghai Sino-Poland Enterprise Management Development Corporation Limited as part of the deal. Cosco Shipping is formed from the merger of Chinas two largest state-owned shipping conglomerates China Ocean Shipping (Group) Company and China Shipping (Group) Company. Chicago saw 762 homicides in 2016 and 3,550 shootings - a nearly 50 percent increase over last year and a record number of shootings since police began tracking them in 2011. The number of gunshot victims totaled 4,331, according to the Chicago Police Department. A new study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, may shed some light on how gun violence spreads through communities, and offers potential solutions. The study, conducted by researchers at Harvard and Yale, found that people who associate with victims of gun violence are more likely to be shot themselves. "A great deal of research in recent years has shown that many behaviors such as obesity, smoking and political opinions spread through networks due to social influence," Ben Green, Harvard graduate student and one of the study co-authors, told Seeker. "Since crime and violence are known to be social behaviors, they are likely candidates to also be intimately connected with social networks and contagious processes." RELATED: How 'Media Contagion' Fuels Mass Shootings Based on arrest records from 2006-2014, Green and his colleagues examined every gunshot injury that occurred in Chicago. They created social networks by identifying relationships between pairs of those who were arrested together for the same offense. For every gunshot victim who was influenced by social contagion, researchers identified which person in their network was primarily responsible for him or her becoming a victim of gun violence. "All of the individuals in our network are individuals who were arrested during the study period, although not necessarily for anything related to gun violence," Green said. "While such individuals are typically considered 'offenders' and therefore addressed with increased policing, our [findings] highlight how we should also recognize them as likely victims. Our study aims to shift the narrative toward saving lives and reducing trauma, regardless of other societal labels," Green said. Previous studies of gunshot violence have primarily focused on demographic factors such as race, gender and socioeconomic status, but Green and his team are some of the first to trace gun violence through social networks and track the spread. Over the Christmas weekend, police investigated 27 shooting incidents in Chicago, 12 of which resulted in fatalities. There were also six people slain and 49 people injured in various shooting incidents in the city over New Year's weekend. From Jan. 1-Dec. 25, 2016 there were 753 homicides in Chicago, but there were 3,495 shooting incidents. Gun violence is most often reported by the media only when it involves a fatality, but the number of incidents involving gun violence in Chicago is much greater than the number of fatal gun incidents alone. According to Green's study, Chicago's rate of gun violence is more than three times the national average, but from 2006-2014 more than 70 percent of all subjects of gun violence were located in networks containing less than 5 percent of Chicago's population. This indicates that not only is gun violence concentrated within certain communities, but it spreads specifically via social interaction. It may also explain why some individuals become subjects of gun violence, while others who encounter the same high-risk environments do not. "We observed that gunshot victims are highly clustered in particular pockets of the social network, and meanwhile there were other large segments of the network with few or no victims," Green said. "One potential explanation for this clustering is that victims influence those around them to also become victims, thus generating concentrated victims in the social network." Green's study is consistent with findings from another recent study out of Ohio State University, which also observed that violence spreads in disease-like epidemics, particularly among adolescents. Results showed that adolescents were up to 183 percent more likely to commit some act of violence if one of their friends had also committed the same act. Insights like these are particularly valuable in understanding how to create effective anti-violence initiatives. "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," Robert Bond, lead author of the Ohio State study told the University's news publication. RELATED: Does Gun Safety Tech Work? Based on their findings, Green and his team discovered a need for violence prevention to be a matter of public health, rather than exclusively a matter of law enforcement. "Our results suggest that approaches developed to curb other epidemics may be valuable for limiting gun violence," Green said. "Violence prevention efforts should focus on identifying and blocking the pathways of transmission." The study explains that offender-based intervention programs used in the past have often relied on law enforcement, but the subjects observed in the study are not often in direct contact with the criminal justice system. They are, however, very much embedded with housing, education, and other government programs, indicating that prevention efforts should target these systems more often. "The ability to identify individuals at high risk to be shot means that it is possible to target social services to individuals in new ways," Green explained. According to Green and his co-authors, an effective public health approach to gun violence reduction should focus on the specific networks that create these situations in the first place. "Previous approaches to predicting gun violence that focused on hotspot locations where violence was likely to erupt typically led to an increase in policing efforts in predominantly urban minority neighborhoods," he said, adding, "Our study allows for a more targeted approach that could provide coordinated services such as mental health and housing to potential victims at the exact times they face the highest risk." Photo: Wooden crosses with names of Chicago's murder victims in 2016 are marched down Michigan Ave. Credit: Getty Images WATCH VIDEO: Why the Government Stops Gun Violence Research Police in China's Sichuan province have seized more than two tons of animal parts and whole carcasses, in a large-scale wildlife poaching arrest in the city of Mianyang. According to the Huaxi City Daily, the seizure is the culmination of a six-month investigation and was 2016's largest wildlife parts arrest. In total, 193 animal carcasses or parts were seized, from a wide variety of animals. Included were 9 bear heads, 11 bear claws, 42 owl bodies, eagle bodies, 3 crocodile parts and a collection of pangolin scales. The investigation was kicked off in summer 2015 with a citizen's tip that Mianyang restaurants were selling bear meat. Police learned that all manner of wildlife parts were trafficked from within and without the province by the criminal network they shut down. The final illegal transaction before arrests commenced saw four live bears sold to the accused leader of the illegal parts scheme. The market for illegal wildlife parts in China can be a lucrative one for poachers, and the country is the destination for a wide range of poached animal parts. Pangolin scales alone - believed to have value in traditional Chinese medicine - can fetch some US $20,000 per kilo The news comes as China would seem to be stepping up its prosecutions of illegal wildlife traffickers. Last month came word of an enormous seizure of pangolin scales, and the country just announced a complete ban on illegal ivory. Top Photo: Police inventory animal parts, including limbs from slaughtered bears. Credit: Police Handout WATCH VIDEO: Just How Large Is The Black Market Wildlife Trade? Two drones powerful enough to carry passengers could usher in the era of autonomous flying taxis. A year after debuting its passenger drone at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Shanghai-based Ehang released video footage this week showing its Ehang 184 undergoing unmanned test flights. The Ehang 184 has been designed with an urban setting in mind. The single-passenger vehicle has eight rotors to accomplish vertical take-off and landings in narrows spaces. It can carry a payload of 220 pounds for about 20 miles or 23 minutes of flying time, just enough distance to make it to that meeting downtown. It flies by an app and so the passenger doesn't necessarily have to be a pilot - he just needs to plug in a pickup location and destination, ala Uber. As you might imagine, overcoming the regulatory hurdles will be quite a challenge in the United States, where commercial drones have received limited approval to take to the skies. Ehang has been working toward that goal, though. Last June, the company struck a deal with the state of Nevada to collaborate on flight testing and training at the state's FAA unmanned aircraft systems test site. But to date, no such testing has taken place, according to Engadget. It's possible Ehang might need to overcome some internal struggles before it can get its $200,000 passenger drone off to market. Earlier this month, the company laid off about 70 people from its staff of 300, reported the Chinese media site Xtechter. Those interviewed for the story told Xtechter that the layoffs were a scratch on the surface of bigger problems, including quality issues with the firm's smaller UAVs, executive infighting and improper use of funds. Perhaps to distract from those concerns, reports Engadget, Ehang released the video of the test flights, albeit with vague details. Company co-founder and CMO Derrick Xiong, told Engadget that a few 184s have undergone a total of 200 test flights in China to date, but offered no further information. In 1897, President Grover Cleveland established the Lewis and Clark Forest Reserve under the provisions of the Forest Reserve Act. At that time, the reserves were administered by the Department of the Interior. In 1905, the Forest Service was created along with the Department of Agriculture and in 1907 the Forest Reserves became known as National Forests. Until 1910, Glacier National Park was part of the Lewis and Clark National Forest Reserve; then the area was given national park status. On Aug. 16, 1940, Secretary of Agriculture Henry A. Wallace designated the 950,000-acre Bob Marshall... Press Release January 4, 2017 On 'pork' in the 2017 General Appropriations Act The Department of Public Works and Highways regained its slashed P8-billion "pork" in the General Appropriations Act of 2017. Not only that, it got an additional P497 million, at the expense of the Calamity Fund. Apparently, the P8.557 billion plus another P497 million added to the budget of the DPWH, which increased by P9.054 billion (from P445.766 billion to P454.721 billion), came from the huge cuts suffered by NDRRMF (National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Fund) or Calamity Fund under the Special Purpose Fund, which was reduced from an original budget of P37.255 billion (in the NEP) to a mere P15.755 billion (in the GAA), or a reduction of P21.5 billion. What is unfortunate is that with massive devastations brought by recent calamities starting with Pablo, Yolanda, Karen, Lawin, Nina, to name some, most of the victims might be left to fend for themselves instead of getting sufficient assistance from the government. Yolanda for example still needs at least P100 billion to fully recover. As then PARR, I recommended a funding of Php167.8 billion and up to now, looking at the annual budget being appropriated for that purpose since 2014, the amount has been a trickle in the bucket compared to the total budget required. What is sad here is the thought of sacrificing the victims of calamities for political favors and alliances. The details of the DPWH budget and other agencies are not yet out. Once we get hold of the budget books, we will diligently scrutinize. I and my team will continue to be the watchdog to guard against abuses in the use of public funds. I tell you - it is tiring and frustrating and not a few times, I have paused and felt resigned, simply step aside or abandon this advocacy. It is a lonely crusade, to say the least. I am quite sure that these realignments are all about pork. I'll tell you why. During the budget plenary debates, the ARMM congressmen came to see me to plead their case. Inabot nga kami ng 10 p.m. sa office ko explaining in so many words, thus - "buti nga daw sila, tig P1.5-B lang na projects, yung iba raw mga congressmen abot ng tig P5-B." Change is coming? Maybe, pero it's pork allocations changing hands from LP congressmen to those from Mindanao. At least two of my colleagues commented in the lounge during session suspensions, "Sobra naman sila... tayo ngang mga senador, tig P300-M lang... " By the way, I did not submit my P300-M list of projects. Senators Tito Sotto and Kiko Pangilinan approached me on separate occasions to inform me that they too did not submit. I don't know who else among my Senate colleagues likewise did not submit their list. There is no saying here that those who identified their projects in the 2017 national budget, both from the Senate and the House would get commissions from contractors. What I'm trying to say is, Filipinos are made to believe that PDAF is dead after the SC ruling in 2013. I am not stupid. Filipinos are not stupid. They are just resigned, I think. After all these years that I and my staff scrutinize the budget books year in and year out, I know pork when I see it. I believe our people, especially our taxpayers, should know the real score behind all these pretenses and denials about the existence of pork. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Street Spirit, the longtime newspaper voice of the homeless and their advocates in the East Bay, is taking a dip in the fountain of youth. On Friday, the monthly issue will hit the streets with a new look and a new energy infused by Youth Spirit Artworks, which is taking over the publication. The sheet will have the same mission of illuminating the struggles and victories of those without homes, but this time it will be principally overseen by about 20 homeless and low-income youths with a passion to include more narratives of young people in the mix. The American Friends Service Committee had funded the paper since its inception 22 years ago, but in July said budget cuts were forcing it to cut the publication loose. Thats when the paper swung full circle. Sally Hindman, executive director of Berkeleys Youth Spirit Artworks, had helped co-found the publication with editor Terry Messman back when she was working in a different poverty-aid nonprofit and when she heard it was in trouble, she stepped in. She negotiated a free handover of the publication to her nonprofit and led a drive for $27,000 in donations to keep the place open past the last pay date of Jan. 1. The American Friends Service Committee agreed to continue to loan out Messman a Friends staffer as editor through July, when he plans to retire. When about 20 members of Hindmans youth group stepped forward to help put out the paper, she was off to the races. She and an army of supporters are lining up steady donors, foundation grants and fundraising concerts to take the paper into the future. The financial situation looks stable for most of the coming year, Hindman said. We want the mission of Street Spirit to remain intact, she said. We would never in a million years want to change the principle or the prophetic mission that has meant so much for 22 years. But now were adding a youth voice, and their opinions and experience will be a new dynamic element of Street Spirit. Hindmans organization trains young people ages 16 to 25 in art, writing, marketing, social services and entrepreneurship with an aim toward employment. As a dozen of the newspapers new staffers all volunteers, though some could get small stipends gathered the other day at the nonprofits offices, the ideas were flying. We have to write about waiting lists for shelters, safety, how to get housing when youre a kid, said one new staffer, a 24-year-old writer who goes only by the name Zef. We have to really put a spotlight on whats going on in all those houses where kids are being kicked out, abused by their families, chimed in Devon Allen, 25. Michael Macor/The Chronicle I want new people to read this newspaper, said 17-year-old Malina King, a community organizer for Youth Spirit Artworks who intends to use that skill to gather support for the paper. It says its for the homeless, but I want everyone to read it. I want coloring pages for kids. I want it to continue to also speak to an older generation I want to break the generation gap. Messman, who was a longtime advocate for homeless and peace causes before starting the paper, sees the new ownership as a great thing. He will bring his stable of about 20 steady writers with him, and because they include everyone from homeless people to doctors, he believes hell have a terrific mix to work with. I have always been very impressed by the young people Sally brings together in her organization, Messman said. I thought it was a perfect match with Street Spirit. They are creative artistically, but they also have been full of dedication and life at the protests for homeless rights that I have seen them at. Im really glad for this partnership. He said he will continue to edit as a volunteer if the paper still needs him after July. The masthead of the newly recharged Street Spirit will be redesigned, but it will still carry the motto: Justice News and Homeless Blues in the Bay Area. Messman, who has conducted many interviews with civil rights leaders and mounted campaigns against mental health hospital abuses and homeless crackdown laws, said his mission was never more urgent. 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. Theres more poverty and less housing than ever now, and there are constant police attacks on homeless people and encampments, he said. Homeless vendors need the income Street Spirit provides, and the whole homeless community needs the support and the voice that we give. The paper prints about 20,000 copies a month and is distributed by about 100 vendors, most of them homeless, who sell the paper for $1 a copy on the streets of Berkeley, Oakland and other East Bay cities. This paper is my lifeline, Donald Cistrunk, 51, said as he hawked Street Spirits near Ashby and Telegraph avenues the other day. Hes been a vendor since 2002, he said, and since losing his steady housing in June, he and his wife depend on the $80 or so he makes each eight-hour day to help pay for a motel room. I can take care of myself and my wife because of this paper, and it speaks the truth to people, Cistrunk said. We all need it. Leaders in poverty-aid agencies all over the Bay Area said they breathed collective sighs of relief upon learning that Street Spirit was not dying. When we heard they were having trouble, but that Sally was getting involved, I thought, OK, itll be all right, said Paul Boden, organizing director of the Western Regional Advocacy Project, which advocates for homeless people. Thats Sallys gut. Thats her heart. He said Messmans continued involvement will be crucial, because hes a true investigative journalist and knows what hes doing. But keeping that and adding the young people? That is just going to make it all better. Kevin Fagan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: kfagan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @KevinChron House Republicans stumbled on their first day of unified control of Congress Tuesday as they abandoned a planned gutting of an independent ethics office after the move drew a public backlash and a Twitter scolding from President-elect Donald Trump. California also got its first new senator in 24 years, as Democrat Kamala Harris took the oath of office on her family Bible and walked down the Senate aisle with her California colleague, Sen. Dianne Feinstein. Republicans had voted 119-74 in a secret House GOP Caucus meeting Monday night to hobble the Office of Congressional Ethics as part of new rules to govern the incoming Congress. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Bakersfield, told reporters Tuesday morning that he was one of the first to urge his colleagues against the change, defending the plan on the merits but conceding that it was generating bad publicity. Republicans quickly dropped the provision after Trump tweeted that they had better things to do. With all that Congress has to work on, do they really have to make the weakening of the Independent Ethics Watchdog, as unfair as it may be, their number one act and priority, Trump tweeted. Focus on tax reform, healthcare and so many other things of far greater importance! The tweets hit Republicans like a shock wave, said Rep. Lou Barletta, R-Pa. Weve never seen a president like this who has this kind of following, he said. He comes here with a tool of communicating directly with the American people, and it sends shivers down the spine of Congress. The Office of Congressional Ethics is an independent, nonpartisan entity established in 2008 to review allegations of misconduct against House members, officers and staff. It operates independently of the House Ethics Committee, which is composed of members of Congress. Set up after complaints that the Ethics Committee buried allegations of misconduct, the independent offices findings must be made public in most cases, and it can investigate anonymous charges from the public. The ethics office was responsible for investigating San Jose Democrat Mike Hondas alleged use of his House office staff and other resources in his campaigns. The office referred the allegations to the Ethics Committee, and they played a role in Hondas November defeat by fellow Democrat Ro Khanna, who was sworn in Tuesday. The reversal on gutting the office came before Republicans had even opened the new Congress on its first day in session. After abandoning the ethics changes, Republicans voted to re-elect House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis. San Francisco Democrat Nancy Pelosi was re-elected minority leader, this time losing only a handful of Democratic votes compared with the 63 who voted against her leadership in a secret caucus ballot after the November election. Pelosi sat with two grandchildren as Democrats registered their outrage over the attempted ethics change during the open roll call. Many called out Pelosis name as their choice for speaker, citing their belief in ethical behavior, open debate and the Constitution. Pelosi had blasted the rule change after it was made Monday night, saying, evidently, ethics are the first casualty of the new Republican Congress. Democrats were pleasantly surprised that the barrage of activity they have been expecting from Republicans got off to such a rocky start, but they were still furious that Republicans retained a rule change prohibiting members from taking photos or video from the House floor. The new video ban is Ryans rebuke to Democrats spontaneous, all-night sit-in last fall, when they commandeered the House floor to protest lack of action on gun control. Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Dublin, was part of a team feeding video of the protest from the floor after Republicans ordered C-Span cameras to go dark. C-Span soon picked up the Democratic video feed and broadcast it on national television. I dont think its an auspicious start, Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-San Jose, said of the Republicans. It shows they really dont want to be held accountable. Democrats still dont really know what the incoming president is going to do, since hes said contradictory things on many subjects, Lofgren said. The congressional agenda is much clearer, which is to dismantle programs that Americans rely on, and our job is to try to stop them. Political scientist Jack Pitney of Claremont McKenna College, said he thought House Republicans were reacting as much to a backlash from their own constituents as to Trump on the ethics changes. Two-thirds of House Republicans werent in office during the GOP scandals of the early George W. Bush administration that forced out former House Republican Majority Leader Tom DeLay of Texas and Florida Republican Mark Foley, Pitney noted. 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. They may not realize that ethical laxity is bad politics, he said, adding that he expects more stumbles and more scandals. Republicans will be able to get certain things done. Theyll be able to repeal Obamacare. The hard part is replacing it. The same will hold true for tax reform, Pitney predicted, treacherous terrain that requires not just cutting tax rates, but eliminating popular tax breaks. Tuesday afternoon, Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, introduced a resolution to repeal the Affordable Care Act. Harris, filling the seat vacated by retiring Democrat Barbara Boxer, took the oath from Vice President Joe Biden, along with six other freshman senators, five of them Democrats: Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, a wounded Iraq War veteran who walked to her oath-taking on artificial legs; Chris Van Hollen, D-Md.; Todd Young, R-Ind.; Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev.; and Maggie Hassan, D-N.H. Harris promised that one of her first acts would be to co-sponsor a bipartisan bill that would protect young Dream Act immigrants from being targeted for deportation by the incoming administration, her office said in a statement, referring to immigrants who were brought into the country by their parents without authorization. Democrats netted an additional two seats in November, narrowing the Republican majority to 52-48, far short of a filibuster-proof 60 votes. The GOP majority may be stronger than it looks, however, because 23 Democrats and two independents are up for re-election in 2018, including 10 in states that voted for Trump. How those Democrats vote in the year ahead is one of the big unknowns of Republican-dominated Washington. Senate Republicans also appeared ready Tuesday to drop any notion of an independent investigation of Russias alleged interference in the November election. Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and John McCain, R-Ariz., backed off their demand for an independent panel, which Pelosi supports. The two Republicans lacked support from their caucus for the probe, which now will be left in the hands of the Intelligence committees, chaired in the House by Tulare Republican Devin Nunes and in the Senate by Richard Burr, R-N.C. Carolyn Lochhead is The San Francisco Chronicles Washington correspondent. Email: clochhead@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @carolynlochhead Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf has named Venus D. Johnson the citys new director of public safety, a position intended to bring principled law enforcement to a city that hasnt had a police chief for seven months. Johnson, 37, born and raised in Oakland, began her career in the Alameda County district attorneys office, prosecuting homicide and sexual assault cases and bringing Oaklands most violent offenders to trial before moving on to advise Attorney General Kamala Harris in 2014. She will assume her post on Monday. The city, meanwhile, is expected to name a new police chief soon. Johnson is the first head of public safety in the Schaaf administration, though not the first in Oakland City Hall Mayors Ron Dellums and Jean Quan also appointed people to fill the role. The new public safety director is expected to help steer the city in what Schaaf hopes is a new era of holistic law enforcement. In a statement issued Tuesday, the mayor said she hoped to beef up sworn and civilian personnel, boost early intervention programs, and provide more employment services for ex-offenders. Suzy Loftus, who heads San Franciscos Police Commission, said Johnson is a brilliant pick to help achieve those goals. Shes a former prosecutor, and she comes with those credentials, but also with the understanding that public safety is about looking at neighborhoods where people work and go to school, Loftus said. This is Schaafs way of saying that public safety is more than just arresting and prosecuting people its much broader. Schaaf, who ran for office on a platform that emphasized public safety, was dogged earlier this year by a massive sexual misconduct scandal that began in Oaklands Police Department and spread to several other Bay Area agencies. The scandal led to the abrupt resignation of Police Chief Sean Whent, whose two replacements each lasted only days one was fired and the other resigned. City Administrator Sabrina Landreth has run the beleaguered department since June. As the city cycled through chief after chief, it also struggled to chip away at its homicide rate. Oakland ended the year with 85 homicides, a slight increase from 83 in 2015. While many residents are pushing Schaaf and other city leaders to end the bloodshed, others are demanding more transparency and accountability from law enforcement. In November, voters overwhelmingly approved a new citizen-led police commission that would have broad powers to discipline officers and even fire the chief, if five of its seven members voted to do so. The city is also conducting an audit of its recruitment and hiring practices to determine what caused a string of disciplinary cases last year, which culminated with the misconduct scandal. In an effort to build trust with constituents, Schaaf began an exhaustive, community-oriented hiring process in the fall in which she conducted a series of town hall meetings to find out what residents desire in their new police chief. She said the new chief would start early this year, and on Tuesday her spokeswoman, Erica Terry Derryck, said the city is on track to meet that goal. Rachel Swan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: rswan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @rachelswan Theres a lot of glass in the Pauley Ballroom at UC Berkeley, and campus officials hope it holds when the explosive provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos delivers his message to students there on Feb. 1. He typically aims his barbs and taunts at women, people of color and anyone left of Donald Trump. But it isnt Yiannopoulos that campus officials are so worried about. Its the people he infuriates and there are plenty of them who are causing the administration to consider hiring 40 extra police officers on top of the usual seven, said UC Berkeley spokesman Dan Mogulof, whos been bombarded with emails from students demanding that the university cancel the invitation. Yiannopoulos, a gay conservative, is a public speaker and editor for the right-wing opinion site Breitbart News Network. Hes been making the rounds at college campuses across the country with his Dangerous Faggot talks, specializing in remarks meant to insult, offend and disgust those who disagree with his ideas. A What to Do About Milo instruction sheet is circulating that tells critics how to express their outrage in writing and where to show up in person including a protest at UC Davis on Jan. 13, when activists hope to shut down Yiannopoulos talk there. A No Milo Yiannopoulos at UC Berkeley Facebook page had been shared 1,800 times by Monday, with 529 clicks from people saying theyll attend the protest. Thats compared with the 500 sold-out seats to the event, hosted by the Berkeley College Republicans. Even if there were a specific threat (of disruption), that would not be grounds to cancel the event, Mogulof said, adding that the students hosting the event are required to help the university pay for basic security. Their contribution is estimated at $7,500 to $10,000 for about seven officers. And although high security fees required at Yiannopoulos events have led to cancellations on some other campuses because students couldnt afford them, Mogulof said UC Berkeley may not set fees with the intention of blocking the event and will pay for any additional officers needed. What would be grounds to cancel would be if the speaker said, Im going to come to your campus and break the law. On the contrary, Yiannopoulos has gotten a good workout exercising the law that distinguishes the United States from countries that dont have a First Amendment, such as his native Britain. But private companies set their own rules, and Twitter banned him in July for repeatedly breaking harassment and abuse policies. Yiannopoulos, who has called feminists the most easily offended group of people on the planet, took such offense at his banning from Twitter that he devoted a speech at Florida State University in September to a eulogy for the company. He also accused college students in August of running for safe spaces at the slightest hint of a challenge to their coddled worldview, and defended Internet trolls perpetrators of the kind of activities for which Twitter banned him as harmless pokers and prodders of the most vulnerable among us. Trolls are experts at finding soft targets, he wrote, offering a euphemism for what is usually called bullying. Yiannopoulos found a soft target on Dec. 13 at the University of Wisconsin in Milwaukee, where in front of 350 people in the Student Union and countless others watching on the Web, he mocked and identified by name a student who had protested a new rule requiring students in locker rooms to cover their nonconforming genitalia. The rule was imposed after the student, who was making the physical transition from male to female, used the sauna in the womens locker room last January, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. The newspaper reported that Yiannopoulos held up the students photo, accused her of being a man trying to go into womens bathrooms, and said: The way you know hes failed is I can still bang him. In September, he took a dig at people who protest the disproportionate use of excessive force by police against black people, suggesting that no such imbalance exists and that protesters should focus on weight loss instead. If Black Lives Matter cared about black people, in addition to their fact-free musings about police officers they would be organizing aerobics classes, not protesting the police, he told students at Louisiana State University. The apparent joy Yiannopoulos takes in making young adults feel bad then mocking them for feeling bad has prompted an array of student protests. Hes joined some of them incognito, carrying a sign that reads Milo Sucks. Seven people were arrested for blocking the entrance to his speech at Michigan State University on Dec. 7, the Lansing State Journal reported. And on Dec. 15, some 40 protesters showed up at Minnesota State University chanting, Yiannopoulos, out of Minneapolis! reported the Minneapolis Star Tribune. Its enormously good fun, he told the paper. All of the very worst people in the world get triggered by the mere mention of my name. Among those worst people are UC Berkeley students, including about three dozen so far who have emailed campus spokesman Mogulof with requests to cancel the speech. The What to Do About Milo paper also recommends contacting at least a dozen other campus leaders, from Chancellor Nicholas Dirks to Nailah Nasir, vice chancellor of equity and inclusion. Yiannopouloss visit would very likely pose a direct physical threat to individual students on this campus, a student identified only as Gerard wrote Mogulof, calling the speech at the University of Wisconsin an act of sexual harassment. Echoing the claims of other critics, Gerard urged the university to prohibit the College Republicans from holding this event on campus property on the ground that, in his view, harassment of that kind is not protected free speech. Meanwhile, the Berkeley College Republicans have found themselves in the ironic position of championing what they call the New Free Speech Movement on the same campus where students of the political left gave it life a half century ago. Club members could not be reached for comment. Mogulof has been sending out a four-paragraph response to those asking UC Berkeley to cancel the event. It says that registered students groups like the Republicans can invite speakers onto campus and that the university has no authority to disapprove the speaker. Nor can opponents use the hecklers veto to shut down a speaker they dont like. The courts have made it very clear, contrary to widely held beliefs, that there is no general exception to First Amendment protection for hate speech or speech that is deemed to be discriminatory, says the response, which adds that officials and campus police will not hesitate to act if there is a threat to security. Some private universities have barred Yiannopoulos. In July, DePaul University banned him from returning because his presence had created a hostile environment in May, when protesters took over the stage, grabbed his microphone, and hit him in the face. Campus President Dennis Holtschneider later called Yiannopoulos a self-serving provocateur and unworthy of university discourse. NYU canceled in October, citing physical altercations at Yiannopoulos events. At some public universities, students rescinded invitation because of costs. The College Republicans group at North Dakota State uninvited Yiannopoulos on Dec. 2, saying it didnt have enough money for security. And Students 4 Trump at Iowa State canceled after the campus tacked an extra $1,900 on to the security fee. These cancellations suggest that UC Berkeley should find a way to do the same, Lisa Hofmann-Kuroda, a doctoral student there in the department of east Asian languages and cultures, told Mogulof. In order to preserve student safety, I urge the university to do everything in its power to cancel this event, she wrote. If not, students and community members will take the initiative. Yiannopoulos schedule calls for eight campus stops before UC Berkeley, including the UC Davis event, UC Santa Barbara on Jan. 17, and Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo on Jan. 31. His tour ends at UCLA on Feb. 3. Nanette Asimov is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: nasimov@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @NanetteAsimov This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Molly Cruit attached a small device to her pregnant belly, and a few minutes later, a graph on her smartphone suddenly spiked. Oh my god! the 38-year-old Portrero Hill resident exclaimed. She was having a contraction. But without the device, a small sensor she stuck to her belly called Bloomlife, and its corresponding app, she probably would have just passed the faint tightness in her belly off as nothing, she said. Bloomlife is a digital pregnancy wearable that helps women track the frequency and duration of their labor contractions. On Wednesday, the San Francisco startup announced that the product had completed trials and is commercially available. An update, expected this year, will be able to track the babys movements, heart rate and position, and the mothers stress levels. You go through so much of this so blindly, and you lose complete control of your body, said Cruit, a jewelry designer who is 8 months pregnant. The device gives me more peace of mind, and I know that things are working, and doing what they are supposed to be doing. Bloomlife, which has been tested by doctors, is one of a crop of apps focused on womens health care, such as birth control, fertility and pregnancy. These types of apps have proliferated over the past few years, according to Rock Health, a venture fund and research firm dedicated to digital health. When Cruit became pregnant this year, she had hundreds of apps to choose from, ranging from one that helped her create a registry, to another that would periodically tell her how big her baby had become. In 2011, no company focused on womens health raised more than $2 million, according to Rock Health, which has not invested in Bloomlife. By late 2015, nine such companies had collectively raised $82 million. Pregnancy-focused apps alone raised $26 million in that period, according to the most recent Rock Health data available. Bloomlife has raised $4 million from investors including Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff and Kapor Capital. The wearable can be leased at a cost of $149 for one month; those using it for longer can get a lower per-month price. Eric Dy, one of the two male founders of Bloomlife, touts the device as the first and only pregnancy wearable that allows women to measure pregnancy-specific parameters. It can currently only measure contractions and be used with an Android device, but a February update will expand to iPhones, Dy said. Since Dy cannot use the device himself, he relied on feedback from women who tested it many of whom complained about the antiquated technology that hospital maternity wards currently use. Some of the women he signed up to test the device, he said, were still using pen and paper to track their contractions. The idea of Bloomlife, Dy said, is to provide reassurance to pregnant women. Its a way to connect with her pregnancy a little more, and a way to decode those weird pregnancy sensations she might be feeling, Dy said. Bloomlife said the majority of testers are in their early to mid-30s, with a handful in their 40s, and live across the United States. While Dy said pregnancy is an area of health care ripe for disruption, the idea has its skeptics. Laurie Green, a partner at the Pacific Womens OB/GYN Medical Group, said that while tracking ones pregnancy closely may be interesting and beneficial in some cases, having too much information can bring its own kind of stress and and confusion. If a patient is accumulating the data and trying to interpret it themselves, that could be a problem, Green said. Anything pregnancy-related is the most anxiety-provoking area. Contractions late in pregnancy, for example, are common and do not necessarily signal that birth is imminent. Bob Wachter, an expert on digital health care and chairman of the Department of Medicine at UCSF, said the market for digital health care is oversaturated. While thousands of devices and apps related to health care have popped up over the past few years, Wachter warned, just because you can measure it doesnt mean that is useful data. There is a lot of stuff in medicine that we dont know what it means, and (how) to understand and interpret it correctly, he said. There is a reason why people go through years of training. Despite that, Erica Hager, a mother who went through two pregnancies without Bloomlife, said she loved being able to track the information herself during her third one especially because the hospital closest to her in North Dakota is 20 miles away. She said the device and app helped ease the constant worries. The most trying act of patience is your last month of pregnancy, and your mind constantly plays tricks on you, she said. It was a nice way of knowing it was not just in my head. Trisha Thadani is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: tthadani@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @TrishaThadani Four men killed in separate shootings over a violent four-day stretch in San Francisco, including two gunned down on the first day of 2017, were identified by authorities on Tuesday. The string of slayings happened in neighborhoods throughout the city including the Mission District and the Tenderloin. No arrests have been made. The first shooting occurred at 5:14 p.m. Thursday on the 200 block of Golden Gate Avenue, just north of the Civic Center and U.N. Plaza. Laurice Barrett, a 39-year-old San Francisco resident, was shot near the front entrance of the Service Employees International Union. He was pronounced dead at the hospital. A 41-year-old man was also hit in the shooting, but his injuries were not life-threatening, police said. A little over an hour after Barrett was slain, 39-year-old Mathew Fiame was killed by gunfire outside the Burma Love restaurant on the 200 block of Valencia Street in the Mission District. Fiame of San Francisco was pronounced dead at the scene, police said. Police continued their search Tuesday for a 35-year-old suspect in that killing. On Sunday, shootings claimed the lives of two men. 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. Ernesto Rosales, a 21-year-old San Francisco resident, suffered a gunshot wound to the chest in San Franciscos first killing of 2017, police said. The shooting occurred at about 2 a.m. at 26th and Shotwell streets in the Mission District. Later that day, Mitchell Smith, 35, was killed in the Bayview neighborhood. The San Francisco resident was found with a gunshot wound to his face at about 11:25 a.m. at Third Street and Oakdale Avenue. Sarah Ravani is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: sravani@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @SarRavani In 2008, when Carrie Fisher was performing Wishful Drinking at Berkeley Rep, fine art and documentary photographer Rebecca Martinez and I were there on opening night. I thought about that last week when I heard of Fishers death, and I called Martinez and asked for her recollections of the evening and what ensued. Martinez had recently started preTenders, a project in which she had photographed a community of people who loved startlingly lifelike life-size baby dolls. The first part of the project was community. At a convention where the babies were displayed and on sale the sellers called it putting them up for adoption Martinez purchased several. In the outsiders part of the project, she focused on reaction to the babies. When a friend, director Amy Glazer, mentioned she needed a baby for a production being rehearsed, Martinez volunteered to let her borrow one. She brought it to the theater that night to give it to Glazer, who had said shed be at the opening, too. She kept it wrapped up, but at one point, when I saw Carries mother, Debbie Reynolds, said Martinez this week, I went up to her and asked her if she could hold this doll. She snapped a quick picture, but I wasnt there to take pictures and just had a little camera. Martinez gave the doll to Glazer at a post-performance reception, where I wasnt even planning on talking to Carrie. But Carrie saw the baby and she rushed up, and she became mesmerized by it. Fisher, fascinated, walked around with the baby and finally asked me if she could spend the night with the baby. She told Martinez she could retrieve it the next morning at the Claremont Hotel. The next morning Martinez brought her camera, and Fisher really got into posing, stretching her imagination, pretending to nurse the baby, blowing smoke in its face, flinging it around. She really understood performance art. ... It was me just following her around because she had so many ideas, I could barely keep up with her. ... She was outrageous, bold. I thought she was brilliant, fabulous with the baby. That session went so well that after Martinez gave the doll to Glazer, she returned for another session with more dolls, and she did more things with them. She looked different. ... We worked together; she was my main photo muse. Martinez worked on the digital images, sent them off to be printed, and then received a phone call from the printers. They asked me about these babies being abused, she recalls, telling her theyd have to inform authorities if it couldnt be explained. I had to explain that they werent real, Martinez says, and referred them to an item Id written describing the project. When the photos were printed, Martinez gave Fisher prints. Unbidden, she signed a bunch and gave them back to me, says Martinez. But she kept a whole set. She liked the outrageous ones. ... At the end of the last session, I gave her a doll. I lined them up for her, and she picked one. And I heard she carried one around for a while. Martinez has shown a few of the photos, sold a few at auction, but never promoted them. They seem so personal, she says. The photographer is intent on being respectful. I dont want her to sound wacky. I admired her freedom to do and say what she wanted. She was just there. She just saw it as an opportunity to perform in a different way. ... She was just present all the time. I found her to be so brave and open and generous to me. ... And my biggest regret is that I was going to contact her to be a subject for another project, but I let life get in the way. P.S.: Also, during that run of Wishful Drinking, Fishers father, Eddie Fisher, not in great shape, dropped in several times to see Carrie perform. After one Friday night performance, according to a report, Pop Fisher was brought onstage in his wheelchair. Daughter knelt down to father, and at Carrie Fishers suggestion that they sing, they performed If I Loved You, gazing into each others eyes. They received a standing ovation. Happy new year 2017, which began with a New Years Eve bang in North Oakland, where Laura Ingram read a Nextdoor notice from a man who said he had a wife, a baby and two dogs at home. Dear person shooting your gun in the air right now, he said. Just stop. Its not even goddam midnight yet. Its a few days after goddam midnight now, but the message bears repeating. Just stop. Leah Garchik is open for business in San Francisco, (415) 777-8426. Email: lgarchik@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @leahgarchik Public Eavesdropping He lacks the ability to pretend other people arent idiots. Justine Burt calls herself borderline vegetarian. The Palo Alto resident makes an exception for lionfish, which she first tried during a community service trip to Belize, where the invasive species has taken over barrier reef habitats. I dont normally eat sentient creatures, but this one needs to be eaten, she said. Because its really destroying life down there. It didnt hurt that the fish tastes light, flaky and buttery. Thanks to Burts year-and-a-half campaign since returning from that trip, lionfish achieved Best Choice status from the Monterey Bay Aquariums Seafood Watch program, which helps consumers make more sustainable food choices, and is available by special order from Whole Foods. At Fish restaurant in Sausalito, executive chef Douglas Bernstein recently began bringing in another invasive species, Asian carp, from the Mississippi River Basin to serve in fish tacos. New to the region, the two species are part of a growing sustainable seafood movement that unites Caribbean divers and Kentucky fishers with Bay Area diners through a simple idea: Eat invasive fish to help eradicate them. Asian carp is the generic name for four species of fish that originally were brought from Asia decades ago to filter aquaculture ponds in Arkansas. Lionfish arrived around the same time from its native Indo-Pacific region as an aquarium pet. In a scene seemingly out of Finding Nemo, the fish either escaped or were released into local waterways: the carp into the Mississippi River Basin and the lionfish into the Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean. With staggering rates of reproduction and no natural predators, each has taken over its adopted habitat, devouring native fish and plant life. Creating a viable market for these invasive fish is one sure way of removing at least some of them from the environment. Both Asian carp and lionfish have been on menus in the East Coast for several years, via purveyors like Normans Lionfish who are closer to the source, but theyre new to the Bay Area. Scott Strazzante/The Chronicle During the winter we usually have a hard time finding a lot of fin fish to keep the menu diverse. This is a perfect plug-in for our fish tacos, said Bernstein of Asian carp. The pink, meaty fish almost tastes like tuna but has a flaky, tender texture. He goes through about 400 pounds of it a week. The Bay Area has plenty of invasive marine species of its own, brought in by container ships, but they arent good to eat. For example, the overbite clam has colonized the San Francisco Bay and Delta, consuming more than its share of phytoplankton and filtering pollutants not what youd want to put on your pasta. But lionfish and Asian carp are another story. Fisher Ronnie Hopkins, who lives in Ledbetter, Ky., has been catching Asian carp in local lakes and rivers since the 1980s, when he saw how the fish, which originally escaped into Southern waterways during flooding, began crowding out the native species that his father and grandfather caught for a living. I seen how fast these things were going to grow and how good they were to eat, said Hopkins, 66, in a growly Kentucky drawl. I started fighting to build a market for them. He originally shipped them to Asia, and then his market grew to New York, California and Chicago. The Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife has encouraged fishers like him by helping establish three new local processing plants for Asian carp in 2015, which led to the harvest of 1.2 million pounds of it that year. Bighead carp, one type of Asian carp, is already found in 23 states, while silver carp has been found in the waters of 17 states, according to the National Wildlife Federation, which monitors the invasive species steady movement toward the Great Lakes. There are some electrical barriers to try to keep the carp from entering the lakes via the Chicago water system, but the organization has proposed creating physical barriers that it says are more effective. Marc Smith, policy director for the National Wildlife Federation, said preventing the fish from entering new environments is more of a priority than encouraging fishing. Youre never going to fish them down to extinction, he said. We think its fine for states to encourage fishing them. We just dont think a lot of money should be going to that. Yet with so many types of protein problematic from a sustainability standpoint, it can be a boon for a seafood purveyor to find a product whose consumption has a positive impact, rather than a negative one, on the environment. One lionfish, for example, can produce 2 million eggs a year. Scientists believe they were originally released into the Western Atlantic by pet owners, and it didnt take long for them to begin eating up the phytoplankton native fish depend on and the native fish, too. Food Guide Top 25 Restaurants Where to eat in the Bay Area. Find spots near you, create a dining wishlist, and more. The downside to serving lionfish is its venomous spines, which resemble billowing red and white feathers underwater. The spines do not cause the fish to be unsafe to eat and are removed when you buy lionfish at the store but can cause severe pain and swelling. We brought it in whole once and my fishmonger got stung, said Bernstein, who had to send him home and finish the job himself, very slowly. Ultimately, that made it too cost-prohibitive to serve on a regular basis, which is a shame, Bernstein said. (However, its relatively affordable at Whole Foods, at $11.99 a pound for whole cleaned fish.) Lionfish is one of the most amazingly delicious fish Ive tried, said Bernstein, describing it as clean and sweet, perfect for ceviche. I wish I could have it on the menu every day. Asian carp, though very bony and also difficult to clean, costs less and is more reliable. But it could take a while for it to be fully accepted. When Susan Lindsay of Corte Madera came into Fish for tacos on a recent December day, she said the Asian carp tasted great, but she wasnt sure about the name. Carp sounds like garbage fish, she said. Hopkins points out Asian carp is not a bottom feeder like common carp. But he understands the attitude. After all, the fish did kind of come out of nowhere. Theyre clean. Theyre freshwater fish. Theyre all-natural. Theyve got everything going for them, he said. Its just getting the public to try something new. Tara Duggan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: tduggan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @taraduggan Some of the changes that Eric Kim has made to Woori Food Market in San Franciscos Fillmore neighborhood since buying the business 18 months ago are easy to notice: The lights are brighter, the floors less gray. The produce looks more taut and crisp. Kim has added new refrigerated cases on both the right and left sides of the narrow store, and crowded more products onto the shelves. What isnt obvious to shoppers is that theyre only seeing half of the store. A door at the back leads into a deep commercial kitchen wide enough to march the Stanford marching band through. At one end, chef Basilio Gang cleans fillets of flounder to make a pot of saengseon jjim, a chile-red stew. Further back, one cook carefully blanches spinach and lays out the stems in parallel stripes. Two more assemble gimbap stout, nori-wrapped rice rolls that Westerners usually call Korean sushi to restock the case in front. And this is a slow time for the kitchen. For many years, San Francisco has had only two small Korean groceries, both around for several decades: Seoul Market, a.k.a. First Korean Market, in the Richmond, and Woori in San Franciscos Fillmore District. Yet they both operate like the larger Korean supermarkets east and south of San Francisco, preparing pickles and dishes in house. Kim, who also owns Hollywood Cafe, a successful diner near Fishermans Wharf, took over Woori Market because he wanted to run a Korean restaurant. It took him six months to clean up the store, replace leaking refrigerators and hire a chef. For that last task, he traveled to Seoul, bringing back Gang, who has spent the bulk of his 20-year culinary career in the South Korean capital, most recently at the Kyungnam and Bupyeong Hotels, cooking Korean, Chinese and Western food. The reason Kim wanted to hire a proper chef for the market lies in his definition of Korean food. Korean food is analog, he says. A lot of Korean restaurants in San Francisco make food mechanically. The taste is OK. But the real Korean food is like my moms and grandmas: very homemade. The scope of the analog food at Woori is only partially visible in those new refrigerated cases. Gang doesnt set a menu as much as respond to the meat and produce that arrive: The pint-size tubs in the refrigerator case could contain fish stew, seaweed soup or soybean-paste stew. The pancakes range in size from savory seafood ones, no bigger than a quarter, to kimchi jeon that cover a mans palm. Russell Yip/The Chronicle If Gang has a specialty, the stores staff say, its jokbal, a pork shank that is braised with soy and aromatics, boned and sliced into even quarter-inch half-moons. The cooks make a half-dozen kinds of pickles, including the standard crimson-red cabbage kimchi, but also seasonal young-radish water kimchi, whose light, tart brine is meant for sipping. The eight or 10 banchan, or side dishes, are just part of a roster of 20: garlic stems, perilla leaves preserved in fermented soybean paste, tiny dried anchovies, dried radishes with sweet chile. Dishes like this lend themselves to half-scratch cooking, a mix of dishes from the market and ones made at home. But many of the customers waiting in line have stuffed a few trays of Wooris gimbap into their baskets, ready for a snack or light lunch. Gimbap resembles a futomaki those familiar Japanese sushi rolls in its girth and the multicolored makeup of its fillings. Standard versions contain shredded carrots, spinach, yellow radish pickle and egg. It is the only area where Kim permits a little artistic license, which he calls editing. Traditional gimbap sticks to beef, or perhaps all vegetables, but his edited gimbap can center around salmon and avocado, eel, dried cuttlefish strips coated in chile paste or even cheddar cheese. New batches hit the shelves every two hours throughout the day, to avoid letting the rice seize up into pebbly grains. Kim has ambitious plans for Woori: Eventually, he wants to swell the market to supermarket size, with more banchan, more dishes, more analog food. Perhaps then, hell be able to start up the machine that the markets former owners used to make tteok, or fat rice noodles. They had to stop making them when the only woman who knew how to operate the machine properly, who was 90, had grown too old to walk. Woori Food Market, 1528 Fillmore St. (at OFarrell), San Francisco. (415) 673-9887, www.woorisf.com. Jonathan Kauffman is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jkauffman@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @jonkauffman Virtually every movie award youve ever heard of is chosen in one of two ways. Theres the peer group model, used by the Oscars, in which members vote in two waves of secret balloting, the first to nominate candidates and the second to choose the winner from among them. And then theres the critics group model, in which a collection of people who like or merely tolerate each other lock themselves in a room and argue for hours. These arguments are sometimes so badly reasoned that they can leave members depressed for days. But out of such meetings, selections are made, and theyre often not bad. But for the Mickies Ive devised a much more efficient model. I pick everything. The Mickies are my annual chance to show what movies and performances I would acknowledge if I were the only one who did the choosing. A word about what follows: This fourth annual installment contains most of the traditional awards categories, but also a few novel ones, such as awards for performances in small roles; in bad or not very good movies; and by newcomers. The newcomer awards dont necessarily go to novices, but to people who emerged from obscurity during the year. Finally, because the Mickies are independent of heavily financed Oscar campaigns, quality movies released in the beginning or middle of the year can find their way onto this list. And thats a good thing. Best supporting actress: The nominees are Viola Davis (Fences), Naomie Harris (Moonlight), Anna Kendrick (Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates), Octavia Spencer (Hidden Figures) and Michelle Williams (Manchester by the Sea). And the winner is ... Viola Davis for Fences. Its a full-bodied performances with great depth and nuance, something that will be looked at with admiration for decades. Keith Bernstein/Photo by Keith Bernstein, courtesy of Bleecker Street. Best supporting actor: The nominees are Ralph Fiennes (A Bigger Splash), Martin Freeman (WTF), Tracy Letts (Indignation), the late Alan Rickman (Eye in the Sky) and Jason Sudeikis (Race). And the winner is ... Alan Rickman in Eye in the Sky. Rickman played a general, sitting around a boardroom in London, watching politicians debate whether to order a drone strike on terrorists. Rickmans last screen performance showed how the actor could be a kind of genre unto himself. Though the film was a drama, he injected notes of wry comedy and yet rose to the great dramatic moment at the films conclusion, when he admonishes a politician, Never tell a soldier that he does not know the costs of war. Special citation for the years most memorable moment (drama): The scene between Michelle Williams and Casey Affleck in Manchester by the Sea, in which she apologizes for terrible things she has said to him. Honorable mention: Parker Sawyers as the young Barack Obama, addressing a community group in Southside With You. RJ/DreamWorks Pictures Best newcomer (female): The nominees are Ruby Barnhill (The BFG), Haley Bennett (The Girl on the Train), Lily Collins (Rules Dont Apply), Sarah Gadon (Indignation) and Haley Lu Richardson (The Edge of Seventeen). And the winner is ... Haley Bennett in The Girl on the Train. This is a strong category, and a case could have been made for any of these nominees. Bennett takes it for her complicated performance as a woman with a tragic personal history and conflicted impulses. Best newcomer (male): The nominees are Michael Barbieri (Little Men), Blake Jenner (The Edge of Seventeen), Jharrel Jerome (Moonlight) and Parker Sawyers (Southside With You). And the winner is ... Blake Jenner in The Edge of Seventeen. As the oldest sibling in a fatherless household, Jenner suggested a whole personality forged out of family necessity. Gemma LaMana/Associated Press Special citation for the years most memorable moment (comedy): Kumail Nanjiani and Sugar Lyn Beard in the massage scene from Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates. Honorable mention: The performance of Finest Girl (Bin Laden Song) in Popstar. Best actress in a small role: The nominees are Sugar Lyn Beard (Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates), Rebecca Ferguson (Florence Foster Jenkins), Sidse Babett Knudsen (A Hologram for the King), Gugu Mbatha-Raw (Free State of Jones) and Keri Russell (Free State of Jones). And the winner is ... Keri Russell in Free State of Jones. This was a drama about a free state that was set up in Mississippi in the last years of the Civil War. Russell, as a farm woman made destitute by the pillage of two armies, suggested a 19th century essence, as well as the spine of simple folk who wont be defeated. Best actor in a small role: The nominees are Irrfan Khan (Inferno), Gary Oldman (Criminal), James Purefoy (Equity), Hayden Szeto (The Edge of Seventeen) and Hugo Weaving (Hacksaw Ridge). And the winner is ... Hugo Weaving. He was the father from hell in Mel Gibsons war drama, but Weaving made us understand why: Hed actually been through hell, in World War I, and the experience was before his eyes every minute of every day. Bruno Calvo/Associated Press Special citation for carrying on despite epic miscasting: Peter Sarsgaard as Bobby Kennedy in Jackie. Best documentary: The nominees are Amanda Knox, Cameraperson, De Palma, O.J.: Made in America and Weiner. Jody Shapiro And the winner is ... a very tough call. Theyre all great. Ultimately, it goes to Jake Paltrow and Noah Baumbachs De Palma, about the career of Bryan De Palma. In addition to raising De Palma to his rightful stature as one of the important living film directors, its one of the most entertaining films of the year. Special citation for including a completely unnecessary and perplexing nude sex scene: The Bronze. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 2 1 of 2 David Lee/Associated Press Show More Show Less 2 of 2 David Lee/Associated Press Show More Show Less Best director: The nominees are Damien Chazelle (La La Land), Mel Gibson (Hacksaw Ridge), Barry Jenkins (Moonlight), Terrence Malick (Knight of Cups) and Denzel Washington (Fences). And the winner is ... Denzel Washington. You could say, But the material was so strong that it couldnt fail. Really? How about August: Osage County, another great play, which was destroyed when brought to the screen? Washington put together a world-class ensemble and directed them to the performances of their lives. And he did it while guiding himself to one of the best self-directed dramatic performances in history. (Great self-directed comic performances are common, but dramas are notoriously tricky.) There was a sense of place, a sense of era and a command of the plays very specific tone, a kind of poetic hyper-realism. And there was a generosity about it, too, a feeling of actors collaborating as equals. This was beautiful work. Murray Close/AP Special citation the third time is the charm award: With Allegiant Part 1, the world of the Divergent series, now in its third installment, finally made sense. Best actress in a bad or not very good movie: The nominees are Emily Blunt (Huntsman: Winters War), Dakota Johnson (How to Be Single), Elizabeth Olsen (I Saw the Light), Kristen Stewart (Cafe Society) and Kristen Wiig (Masterminds). Sam Emerson/AP And the winner is ... Elizabeth Olsen in I Saw the Light. As Hank Williams untalented, jealous wife, Olsen made it easy to see what drove the poor man to drink. She was pitiless and scary, alert to every slight and resentful of any hint that Williams singing career was ascending while hers was remaining earthbound. Best actor in a bad or not very good movie: The nominees are Steve Carell (Cafe Society), Will Ferrell (Zoolander 2), Zach Galifianakis (Masterminds), Tom Hiddleston (I Saw the Light) and Christoph Waltz (The Legend of Tarzan). And the winner is ... Steve Carell. This is an actor with such a hold on truth that he can play extreme and contradictory impulses, so that even as hes nasty and lashing out, he is suggesting an inner state of total helplessness. And he makes it funny. Special citations for first film: Kelly Fremon Craig for an honest and specific presentation of a teenagers struggles in The Edge of Seventeen and James Schamus for Indignation, which somehow maintained an undertone of unease throughout, even during lighthearted scenes. Claire Folger/Associated Press Best original screenplay: The nominees are Damien Chazelle (La La Land), Guy Hibbert (Eye in the Sky), Kenneth Lonergan (Manchester by the Sea), Mike Mills (20th Century Women), and Gary Ross and Leonard Hartman (Free State of Jones). And the winner is ... Kenneth Lonergan, who did what is seemingly impossible. He took a static character, a character who is defined by the very fact of his being static, and fashioned a drama around him, through strong scenes and the careful arranging of backstory revelation. Best adapted screenplay: Nocturnal Animals (Tom Ford), James Schamus (Indignation), Whit Stillman (Love & Friendship), August Wilson (Fences) and Erin Cressida Wilson (The Girl on the Train). And the winner ... depends on how you think adapted screenplay should be awarded. If its an award for great writing, then it has to go to the late August Wilson. If its about fashioning an unexpected adaptation in a compelling way, then it should go to Whit Stillman (Love & Friendship), for taking an unpublished epistolary novel by Jane Austen and making it into a successful comedy. I choose to split the difference between the two, and so the Mickie goes to Erin Cressida Wilson, who lent Paula Hawkins novel a compelling element of moody eroticism. Sony Pictures Classics/TNS Best actress: The nominees are Amy Adams (Nocturnal Animals), Kate Beckinsale (Love & Friendship), Emily Blunt (The Girl on the Train), Jessica Chastain (Miss Sloane) and Isabelle Huppert (Elle). And the winner is ... Isabelle Huppert. Her performance in Elle is so rich; so fun; so full of wit and genuine feeling; and so thoroughly twisted, arresting and odd, that it can be watched and savored again and again. Its one of the acting marvels of the last few years. Claire Folger/Sundance Institute/TNS Best actor: The nominees are Casey Affleck (Manchester by the Sea), Andrew Garfield (Hacksaw Ridge), Jake Gyllenhaal (Nocturnal Animals), Viggo Mortensen (Captain America) and Denzel Washington (Fences). And the winner is ... a tie. After several recounts, Casey Affleck and Denzel Washington emerged with the same number of votes (one each). Choosing between their performances in these films is like choosing between Bob Dylan and an opera. Theyre doing something very different and theyre doing it at the absolute summit of achievement. Broad Green Pictures/TNS Best picture: The nominees are Fences, Hacksaw Ridge, Knight of Cups, La La Land and Moonlight. And the winner is ... Knight of Cups. Terrence Malicks film about an emerging screenwriter in Hollywood was like walking into someones mind. It simulated the experience of memory and consciousness. No one else is taking chances like Malick is, and no one (besides Malick) has ever made a movie like this. Its not for everybody, but in the right frame of mind, Knight of Cups is a spiritual encounter. Mick LaSalle is The San Francisco Chronicles movie critic. Email: mlasalle@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @MickLaSalle And thus started nearly six decades of official animosity. The Chronicles front page from Jan. 4, 1961, covers the breaking of diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Cuba. President (Dwight D.) Eisenhower issued a statement at 8:30 p.m. EST saying, There is a limit to what the United States in self-respect can endure. That limit has now been reached, the story read. Mr. Eisenhower gave as his reason for severance of relations the ultimatum delivered by Cuba this morning which ordered the U.S. to cut the personnel in its embassy and consulate in Havana to 11 persons within 48 hours. The bad blood lasted decades. Fidel Castro and a succession of U.S. leaders traded barbs and threats from the 1960s through the beginning of the 2000s. With the Cold War as a backdrop, the tension peaked with the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. In 2015, President Obama announced that diplomatic relations between the two countries had resumed. Less than a year later, he would visit Cuba, the first U.S. president to step foot on the island since 1928. See more front pages: Go to SFChronicle.com/covers to search a database of hundreds of Chronicle Covers articles that showcase the newspapers 151-year 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 is a yearlong project 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) The dawn of a new conservative era in Washington is looking a little cloudy. On Monday night when much of Washington was closed in observance of the federal holiday House Republicans overrode their leadership and voted to significantly minimize the power of the independent ethics office that serves as a watchdog on the congressional membership. The office was created in 2008, in the aftermath of corruption scandals that sent multiple members of Congress to jail. The most famous of these events was the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal. These are strange times, because one of the first people to slam the House Republicans move was Jack Abramoff. Abramoff, who emerged from federal prison as a self-styled ethics reformer, called the move exactly the opposite of what Congress should be doing, in an interview with Politico. He wasnt alone the vote, which happened without advance notice or debate, met with immediate bipartisan criticism. House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., and Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Bakersfield, both opposed the measure. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco, said that ethics are the first casualty of the new Republican Congress. Even President-elect Donald Trump criticized the timing of the measure Tuesday morning on Twitter. With all that Congress has to work on, do they really have to make the weakening of the independent ethics watchdog, as unfair as it may be, their number one act and priority? Faced with a lack of support from leadership and facing, in the case of many Republican legislators, a barrage of irate voters calls GOP lawmakers changed plans to target the ethics panel just before noon Tuesday. The swift development is good news. But since so many members of Congress are so opposed to the independent ethics watchdog, its worth discussing why its so important for voters and for the democratic process. Unlike many congressional committees, the ethics panel is composed equally of the majority and minority parties. That means the panel has been able to act effectively in investigating members of both parties. The Bay Area recently had a high-profile Congressional race turn on the results of one of the ethics panels inquiries, into now-former Rep. Mike Honda, D-San Jose. But it also means that a majority party has a difficult time acting to protect its own members from an ethical inquiry. If youre a voter, thats exactly what you want an independent panel that can investigate anyone in leadership for wrongdoing. But thats exactly whats made the ethics panel a threat to many power-hungry members of Congress. With their reckless action Monday, rank-and-file House Republicans alerted the public that they dont think ethics are important. Fortunately, the public and Washingtons leadership knew better. The November election caused shock throughout the nation, but there was an underlying story that was not shocking at all. As expected, seven more states legalized marijuana in some form. In 2017, 60 percent of Americans will have legal access to medical marijuana, and 20 percent will also reside in areas where recreational marijuana is legal. Given this new reality, I am renewing my call for Congress to remove its outdated and harmful federal prohibition on marijuana. Every Congress since 2013, I have introduced legislation that removes marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act and leaves the decision to legalize up to the states, where it belongs. I plan to reintroduce the Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol Act in the next Congress. This legislation removes marijuana oversight from the jurisdiction of the Drug Enforcement Administration and gives that authority to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. It does not require any state to change its existing policies, but rather allows states to set their own policies on recreational and medical marijuana without interference from the federal government. It is past time for Congress to acknowledge that there has been a resounding shift in the way Americans think about marijuana, and science supports this shift. For some, the shift is about access to medicinal marijuana, which is used by patients who suffer from everything from cancer to post-traumatic stress disorder. For others, its about choice and the freedom to use marijuana. Still for others, its an economic argument, as estimates say it will contribute more than $17 billion to the U.S. economy in 2016. On a national security level, its about the need to fight crime and diminish the power of criminal cartels by decreasing underground sales. On a human level, conflicting state and federal laws mean that in Colorado you can buy and grow marijuana with little risk, but possession of 1 or more pounds of marijuana in Utah can result in a felony conviction. On a business level, because the DEA unscientifically and unfairly classifies marijuana as a Schedule I substance (on par with heroin), legal marijuana retailers operate in a gray area. For example, marijuana distributors and dispensary owners are ineligible for federal tax deductions, and employees in the marijuana industry lack basic workplace protections, such as health insurance. I am hopeful that the new Congress and the new administration will support removing the federal ban on cannabis. Time and again, President-elect Donald Trump has said that marijuana legalization should be left for each state. My legislation does exactly that. While its discouraging to see that the president-elect has picked an attorney general who is hostile to marijuana reforms, it is the president who sets the policies. We must hold Trump accountable to what he has said in the past about marijuana legalization. It is time for the federal government to get out of the way of states that have voted to legalize cannabis. Law-abiding businesses and customers in the states that allow the regulated sale of marijuana should not be forced to worry constantly about federal enforcement actions. Congress should look to states like Colorado as an example where allowing responsible adults to use marijuana generates money for classrooms, not cartels; creates jobs, not addicts; and boosts our economy, not our prison population. Rep. Jared Polis, D-Colo., has served in the U.S. House of Representatives since 2009. He has authored legislation to lift the federal prohibition on marijuana and advocated for amendments to prohibit the DEA from undermining state medical marijuana laws. A couple visiting California for the holidays has an amazing vacation story to tell, after a falcon hitched a ride on the hood of their car! Marie Kubin and her husband were driving to Anza Borrego Desert State Park near Palm Springs Sunday when they slowed down to take a picture of a rainbow. That's when a falcon dove down out of the air and straight toward their car, then landed on the windshield wiper, Kubin told SFGATE. Oaklands new police chief, Anne Kirkpatrick, promised to create a culture of accountability and earn residents respect in her first public address at City Hall Wednesday. Kirkpatrick is the first woman to head the embattled department, which for years cycled through chief after chief and has been without a leader for seven months. Schaaf deemed her the reform-minded leader that Oakland has been searching for. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate CORCORAN, Calif. A California prison official says cult killer Charles Manson is alive following reports that he was hospitalized. TMZ reported Tuesday that Manson was taken to a hospital in Bakersfield, about 60 miles south of the California prison where he has been incarcerated. California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation spokeswoman Terry Thornton declined to say whether the leader of the notorious Manson family has been hospitalized. Thornton says Manson is still assigned to the prison in Corcoran but declined to say whether he's there, citing safety and security protocols. She says privacy laws prohibit her from discussing an inmate's medical situation. Manson was convicted of orchestrating the 1969 murders of pregnant actress Sharon Tate and six others. Manson has been back in the news recently as a state parole panel put off a decision on whether to release Patricia Krenwinkel, convicted in the 1969 murders. Krenwinkel's lawyer contends that as a teenager Krenwinkel was browbeaten and intimidated by Manson. Krenwinkel, 69, California's longest-serving female prisoner, has been denied parole 13 times. After a hearing that lasted all day and into the evening Thursday at the California Institution for Women in Chino, a panel of the Board of Parole hearings postponed a decision "because they felt information discussed at the hearing was cause for an investigation," said the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. The only Manson acolyte to be paroled is Steve Grogan, who took part in the 1969 slaying of movie stuntman Donald "Shorty" Shea and helped police find Shea's body in 1977 at the Spahn Ranch in Chatsworth, west of Los Angeles. Grogan was freed in 1985, three years before California voters empowered the governor to override parole decisions. Manson himself has never been approved for parole. Krenwinkel was convicted of the murders of actress Sharon Tate and four others, at Manson's orders, in August 1969, and of the murders of supermarket executive Leno LaBianca and his wife, Rosemary, the next day. Prosecutors said Manson hoped the killings would trigger a race war that he called Helter Skelter, after the Beatles song. Witnesses said the words "Death to Pigs" and a misspelled "Helter Skelter," scrawled in blood at the LaBiancas' home, were written by Krenwinkel. Krenwinkel, Manson and three others were sentenced to death for the murders, but the sentences were reduced to life with the possibility of parole after the state Supreme Court struck down California's death penalty law in 1972. Legislators reinstated capital punishment over Brown's veto in 1977, but the law does not apply retroactively. Foul-smelling water and fecal matter flowed into the San Francisco district attorneys offices in the Hall of Justice on Tuesday, the latest sewage flood in the aging home of courtrooms, police bureaus, legal offices and jail cells. The surge of sewage began about 3 p.m., forcing at least 30 employees to evacuate the premises at 850 Bryant St. The district attorneys computer network was knocked offline when the water seeped into the server room. As the mess oozed into at least a dozen offices on the third floor and dripped into the domestic violence unit on the floor below, prosecutors scrambled to save their files and belongings, with some wrapping plastic bags around their feet before wading into the pond. They would never allow this to happen at City Hall, an employee muttered as a putrid odor permeated through the entire third floor, including several Superior Court rooms. The Hall of Justice dates from the 1950s and has long been considered the ugly stepchild of city buildings, with its outdated decor, often-broken elevators, pest problems, asbestos and dust. The hundreds of courtroom workers, prosecutors, sheriffs deputies and police officers in the building are constantly on the lookout for mice and rats and the fecal matter they leave behind. In September, one of District Attorney George Gascons staffers stepped outside an office on the fourth floor to find feces that was described by office spokesman Alex Bastian as unequivocally human. The origin of Tuesdays flood is unknown. In the past, officials believed that urine dripping from the ceiling on the third floor came from the jailhouse toilets located on the floor above. Unfortunately, its a new year, but we are still encountering the same problems in our building, Bastian said. He wouldnt venture a guess for how often sewage water leaks into the district attorneys office because it has happened so many times. I myself have had sewage impacting me directly, Bastian said. Ive had it drip on me before, as well as today. Its really disgusting, but those are the conditions that we work in. Vivian Ho is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: vho@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @VivianHo It is perhaps the most significant artifact documenting the arrival of Jews in the New World: a small, tattered 16th century manuscript written in an almost microscopic hand by Luis de Carvajal the Younger, the man whose life and pain it chronicled. Until 1932, the 180-page booklet by de Carvajal, a secret Jew who was burned at the stake by the Inquisition in Spains colony of Mexico, resided in that countrys National Archives. Then it vanished. The theft transformed the manuscript into an object of obsession, a kind of Maltese Falcon, for a coterie of Inquisition scholars and rare-book collectors. Almost nothing was heard about the document for more than 80 years until it showed up 13 months ago at a London auction house. The manuscript was on sale for $1,500, because the house had little sense of its value. But last year, the relic caught the eye of a prominent collector of Judaica, Leonard Milberg, when it showed up for resale at Swann Galleries in New York City, priced at more than 50 times what it had sold for just a few months earlier. Milberg consulted a variety of experts, who told him it might be the actual manuscript, and worth as much as $500,000. They also warned him to be careful the original had been reported stolen. After a swirl of activity unleashed by Milbergs inquiries, and financed by his generosity, the manuscript will be returning to the Mexican archives in March. As part of the arrangement Milberg coordinated, the manuscript is on display through March 12 at the New-York Historical Society, part of an exhibition depicting the experience of the first Jews in North and South America. It is the earliest surviving personal narrative by a New World Jew, said David Szewczyk, an expert in ancient books of the Americas, and the earliest surviving worship manuscript and account of coming to the New World. The manuscripts odyssey from its creation in Mexico to its recent arrival in Manhattan is a tale laced with intrigue. De Carvajal was a Jew who posed as Catholic in New Spain, now Mexico, during a period when the Inquisition ruthlessly persecuted heretics and false converts with deportation, imprisonment, torture and grisly public executions. De Carvajal, a trader, was arrested around 1590 as a proselytizing Jew and, while in prison, began writing a sometimes messianic memoir, the Memorias, on pages roughly 4 by 3 inches. In it, he called himself Joseph Lumbroso Joseph the Enlightened. It begins: Saved from terrible dangers by the Lord, I, Joseph Lumbroso of the Hebrew nation and of the pilgrims to the West Indies in appreciation of the mercies received from the hands of the Highest, address myself to all, who believe in the Holy of Holies and who hope for great mercies. The memoir tells how he learned from his father that he was Jewish, circumcised himself with an old pair of scissors, secretly embraced the faith and persuaded siblings to embrace it. He was freed for a time possibly so that the authorities could track his contacts with other secret Jews and finished his autobiography, stitching it together with a set of prayers, the Ten Commandments and 13 principles of the Jewish philosopher Maimonides. Scholars believe he made it miniature so he could conceal it inside a coat or pocket. In 1596, after having been found guilty again of observing Jewish practices, he was burned at the stake. He was 30. His manuscript, discovered in his clothing, eventually ended up in the National Archives, which by the 1930s was located in a building adjacent to the presidential palace. How the book disappeared remains a matter of conjecture. At the time, at least three scholars were delving into the atlas-size volumes of the Inquisitions proceedings against de Carvajal. They have all been suspects of one kind or another over the years. One of them, a historian on the archives staff who was writing a book on the de Carvajal family, accused a rival of the theft. The rival, Jacob Nachbin, a Yiddish-speaking Polish and Jewish history professor who had taught at Northwestern University in Illinois and what is now New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, spent roughly three months in jail but was released for insufficient evidence. Some scholars think his accuser may have actually been guilty. The whereabouts of the manuscript remained a mystery until its emergence in London. One scholar, Rabbi Martin Cohen of Hebrew Union College in New York, said in an interview that he believes he read the manuscript at the Mexican archives in the 1950s while doing research for The Martyr, a 1973 book on de Carvajal. Other scholars think it more likely that what he saw was a transcription. In London in December 2015, Bloomsbury Auctions listed the de Carvajal materials in its catalog as three small devotional manuscripts. The catalog did not mention de Carvajal. It described the manuscript as a 17th or 18th century work and said it had come from the library of a Michigan family, and in their possession for several decades. Timothy Bolton, Bloomsburys Western manuscripts chief, said he could not identify the family because one of the fundamental cornerstones of the auction world is our clients privacy. The subsequent Bloomsbury buyer, described by a Swann official only as a rare-book dealer, brought the manuscript to Swann, which priced it at $50,000 to $75,000. Though some experts value it closer to $500,000, Swann thought the de Carvajal manuscript to be a transcript a very old copy not the original in de Carvajals hand, and listed it as such in its catalog. Thats where it was spotted last summer by Milberg, 85, a Brooklyn-reared owner of a Manhattan commercial finance company who collects Judaica and Irish poetry. He decided to buy the manuscript copy and include it in the planned exhibition at the New-York Historical Society, which was to include many pieces from his Judaica collection. Then he was going to donate it to Princeton University, his alma mater. But experts he consulted, like Ilan Stavans, a professor of Latin American culture at Amherst College, convinced him that it was both authentic and stolen. (One reason Milberg believes it to be the original: No transcriber, he said, would have bothered to make the handwriting so tiny.) Swann ultimately pulled the manuscript from the sale, and Mexican curators confirmed its authenticity. Rick Stattler, head of Swanns rare-book department, said that when he realized he had de Carvajals original, I actually had the hairs go up on my arm. Milberg told Diego Gomez Pickering, Mexicos consul-general in New York, that he would try to arrange a return of the manuscript. But he needed a few months so that it could be displayed in New York. Gomez Pickering agreed. To avoid any argument over rightful possession, Milberg agreed to pay Swanns consignor $10,000 still a tidy profit. Swann got $2,500 for its trouble from Milberg. And a dealer who helped him coordinate the transactions, William Reese, received $25,000 for his labors. Milberg also insisted that digital copies be made for Princeton and the Spanish-Portuguese Synagogue in Manhattan. He said that highlighting such objects is his way of getting back at anti-Semitism. I wanted to show that Jews were part of the fabric of life in the New World, he said. This book was written before the Pilgrims arrived. The U.S. Department of Labor said Wednesday it filed a lawsuit against Google because the company failed to provide compensation data, which it had agreed to do as a federal contractor. The data requested include job and salary history of employees as of Sept. 1, 2014 and 2015, as well as the names of employees and their contact information, the department said in the suit, which was filed with its Office of Administrative Law Judges. The department said it is requesting this data as part of its efforts to make sure there is no employment discrimination by its contractors and subcontractors. For U.S. tech behemoths like Google and Facebook, Europe can be both a blessing and a curse. The region and its 500 million consumers represent one of the companies most important overseas markets. And in cities like Lisbon, Portugal, and Ljubljana, Slovenia, people often cant get enough YouTube videos, Amazon purchases and Twitter messages. Yet policymakers in the 28-member European Union have also become some of the most ardent critics of how Silicon Valley companies dominate much of the digital world. The criticisms include the companies perceived failure to pay local taxes and their collection of reams of personal information. These tensions took center stage in 2016: Apple was ordered to pay about $13.7 billion in back taxes to the Irish government; Google was accused of unfairly favoring some of its digital services over those of rivals; and Uber was prohibited from operating some of its ride-booking services in the region. The companies deny wrongdoing. The next 12 months are shaping up to be potentially even more painful. Many of the investigations that started in 2016 will be decided in the coming year. If Silicon Valley companies lose the battles, they could be forced to change how they operate not only in Europe, but also farther afield. Here is what awaits in 2017. Google: The Mountain View company is facing three sets of antitrust charges in Europe related to some of its search services and Android, its popular smartphone operating system. The first set of charges linked to accusations that Google unfairly promoted its shopping product over those of rivals could be decided by early spring and might lead to a fine of up to 10 percent of the companys global revenue, or about $7.5 billion (though most penalties are significantly less). The company has repeatedly denied that it favors its own services over those of others, and it is spending close to a half-billion dollars across Europe to endear itself to locals. Any appeal of the decision would take years. Googles European woes also extend to taxes, and French officials will most likely decide this year if the company must pay more than $1 billion in back taxes on its operations there. It also has appealed a decision by Frances data protection regulator that it must apply the Right to be Forgotten rule across its global domains, including those in the United States. That allows people with connections to Europe to ask search engines to remove links to online content about themselves, under certain circumstances. The appeal will be heard in this year. Apple: On the top of Apples agenda in 2017 will be its appeal of the $13.7 billion tax bill. Lawmakers in Ireland are also appealing the decision, claiming that the European Commission, the executive arm of the European Union, overstepped its jurisdiction and that the Cupertino company did not receive preferential tax treatment. Both appeals are expected to be heard by Europes top courts in late 2017, at the earliest. The cases will most likely take on an increasingly political angle. President-elect Donald Trump has suggested that U.S. companies with significant cash held overseas might be able to repatriate these nest eggs at a reduced tax rate. If Trump goes ahead with this plan, expect a standoff between American and European lawmakers over where such money including from Apple should be taxed. Facebook: The social media giant is becoming an increasing target for European officials because of its ever-expanding role in the regions economy. In 2017, Facebook will face the outcomes of investigations in France, Spain, Germany and the Netherlands about how it tracks both members and nonmembers who use the companys services and visit third-party websites with embedded Facebook like buttons. The Menlo Park company won a similar case on appeal in Belgium. Facebook also has until the end of January to respond to European charges that it misled regulators when it sought approval for its $19 billion takeover of WhatsApp, the Internet messenger it now owns. Amid concerns that Facebook did not sufficiently clamp down on fake news during the U.S. presidential election, the company has faced similar worries in Europe, where some officials have called for it to be held responsible for such content, and for hate speech. In March, a German task force will report on how Facebook and other social media companies have responded to these issues. Legislation could follow if lawmakers believe the companies have not done enough. Uber: The San Francisco ride-hailing company has been locked in a years-long struggle to operate freely across Europe after some taxi associations and policymakers accused it of flouting local rules and promoting unfair competition. In April, the European Court of Justice, the regions highest court, is expected to rule on whether Uber is a transportation service or a digital platform a decision that will have far-reaching consequences. If Uber is deemed a transportation service, it will have to comply with Europes tough taxi rules and would not be able to offer some of its low-cost services. If the court rules Uber is a digital platform, the company will have greater ability to expand aggressively in the region, one of its more important international markets. Amazon: The Seattle e-commerce giant is awaiting the results of a lengthy investigation into whether it received unfair tax treatment from authorities in Luxembourg, where it has its European headquarters. Amazon denies the charges and says it complies with the tax rules where it operates. An outcome is expected by early summer at the earliest and follows similar tax cases against U.S. companies like McDonalds and Starbucks. In a sign that it was trying to get ahead of the issue, Amazon announced in 2015 that it would start paying taxes in a number of European countries where it has large operations, instead of funneling nearly all of its sales through Luxembourg. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate A Corte Madera woman was arrested Tuesday for allegedly stabbing her 72-year-old mother. Tegan Alisa Shipp, 48, was booked to Marin County Jail on suspicion of attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon and elder abuse, said Margo Rohrbacher, a spokeswoman for the Central Marin Police Authority. The victim drove herself to the Kaiser hospital in Terra Linda part of San Rafael around 2 a.m. and told hospital staff that her daughter had attacked her with a knife, waited about 15 minutes, then attacked her again. It wasnt clear what motivated the stabbings or what happened in the interlude, Rohrbacher said. The mother and daughter live together in the Corte Madera home on the 100 block of Edison Avenue. The woman suffered multiple stab wounds. She was in stable condition following treatment, Rohrbacher said. Police officers later arrested Shipp without trouble at the home. They were in the process of securing a search warrant for the residence Tuesday afternoon. Shipp is being held on $500,000 bail, and her first court appearance was scheduled for Thursday morning, Rohrbacher said. Kimberly Veklerov is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: kveklerov@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @kveklerov Some interns slave away working long days for zero pay. Others earn a paycheck by traveling the world for free. Royal Caribbean UK & Ireland is currently in search of an Instagram user, aged 21 and up, who wants to embark upon the Ovation of the Seas, Anthem of the Seas, and Freedom of the Seas this summer. The lucky winner will debark at various ports in New York, the Caribbean, Asia and the Mediterranean, including Beijing, Barcelona and New York. WASHINGTON Members of the 115th Congress were sworn in at noon Tuesday, setting off an aggressive campaign by Republicans who control the House and Senate to dismantle eight years of President Obamas Democratic policies. The first and biggest target is Obamas signature health care law, which Republicans have long sought to gut and blamed as a primary cause for a lackluster economic recovery. President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday encouraged a wholesale overhaul of the system, tweeting hours before the new Congress convened that Obamacare just doesnt work, is unaffordable and, it is lousy health care. Majority Republicans also are targeting decades-old programs that millions of Americans rely on every day, such as Social Security and Medicare as they seek to shrink both the size of the federal budget and the bureaucracy in Washington. We have a lot to do and a lot to undo, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Bakersfied., said in a letter to fellow Republicans. Democrats will try to block the far-reaching conservative agenda by swaying public opinion and using the power they have in the Senate to filibuster legislation. What we will always do is hold the president-elect and his Republican colleagues in Congress accountable, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York said in prepared remarks Tuesday. We will be a caucus that works to make sure the president-elect keeps his commitment to truly make America great, in its finest sense and tradition. In the Senate, seven new members joined those who won re-election, taking the oath of office administered by Vice President Joe Biden. The Senate will be controlled 52-48 by the GOP and includes two new Republicans and five new Democrats. They include Illinois Tammy Duckworth, a double-amputee Iraq war vet, who walked to the dais and stood for the oath. The House will number 241 Republicans and 194 Democrats; among the members are 52 freshmen. On Wednesday, Obama plans a rare trip to Capitol Hill to meet with congressional Democrats and discuss strategy for saving the health care law. Vice President-elect Mike Pence will meet with Republicans. The first week of the new Congress will be a preview of the hectic pace planned by Republicans. Votes also are expected on resolutions to denounce the United Nations for condemning the construction of Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Republicans blasted the Obama administration for refusing to veto the decision. House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., who was re-elected to another term by the House on Tuesday, pledged to rebuild our alliance with Israel. NEW YORK A Long Island Rail Road train crashed at a major transportation hub in Brooklyn during the morning rush Wednesday, injuring more than 100 people and disrupting the commute for thousands, authorities said. Officials said the train rammed into a bumper as it pulled into the Atlantic Terminal station in downtown Brooklyn around 8 a.m., knocking at least the front two cars off the tracks. Donette Smith, 55, who was on board, said people had begun to stand in the aisle as the train moved into the station. Then an extremely hard jolt sent everyone falling to the floor. People just went flying, she said. Bodies were everywhere. It was very scary. The passengers emerged to find the station filled with smoke. I couldnt see, Smith said. People were removed from the train on stretchers, and one person had a bloody mouth, she said. Fire Department officials said the crash could have been far worse. One rail of Track 6, on which the train was traveling, sliced through the floor of a train car, they said. And the train crashed into what the officials characterized as a small waiting room or workroom beyond the track, causing substantial damage. Most of the injuries occurred when the train, which was traveling from the Far Rockaway neighborhood in Queens, came to an abrupt stop after crashing into the bumper block at the end of the track, said Thomas Prendergast, chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which oversees the Long Island Rail Road. Prendergast said the trains operator had been supposed to brake before the train reached the bumper block; there are no other mechanisms on the train to prevent it from hitting the block at that point. He said that he did not know whether the train had been fitted with a camera, and that the trains operator was being interviewed. Most of the passengers, who numbered 600 to 700, were able to walk off the train. Officials said 106 people had been taken to hospitals. The most severe injury appeared to be a woman who may have broken her leg, Gov. Andrew Cuomo told reporters on the scene. Photographs and videos shared by commuters on social media in the moments after the crash showed the train askance on the platform, its windows broken. Firefighters escorted injured passengers away from the train while police worked to disperse the crowd on the platform. Steben Medina, a doorman from Sunset Park, was having a coffee at Atlantic Terminal when he heard a loud crash followed by a series of screams. The entire structure started shaking, Medina, 47, said. I thought a bomb had gone off or something. The derailment was reminiscent of a New Jersey Transit train crash in September that killed a woman who was standing on a platform at the terminal in Hoboken and injured more than 100 others. As villains go, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange once found little sympathy in the Republican Party, not after he leaked U.S. military secrets from Iraq, published purloined diplomatic cables that could have gotten U.S. sources killed or sought refuge in the Ecuadoran Embassy in London, fleeing charges of rape. But now, President-elect Donald Trump appears to be siding with Assange over the conclusions of Americas intelligence services. Assange appeared on Fox News on Tuesday night with Sean Hannity, one of Trumps biggest media boosters, to declare once again that the Russians were not the source of the purloined emails that WikiLeaks released from the Democratic National Committee and the personal account of Hillary Clintons campaign chairman, John Podesta. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 3 1 of 3 Kirsty Wigglesworth/Associated Press Show More Show Less 2 of 3 Evan Vucci/Associated Press Show More Show Less 3 of 3 Trump followed that appearance with a series of Twitter posts Wednesday that appear to be preparing his followers for battle once more information on intelligence findings is released, likely by Thursday. There were actually two separate hackings that the Obama administration has said came from Russian intelligence with 100 percent certainty. As he has previously, Assange said: Our source is not the Russian government. It is not state parties. But Assange has often said that the organization does not always know the identity of its sources. It is highly unlikely that anyone approaching WikiLeaks with the emails obtained by Russian government hacking would acknowledge the source, so it is likely that Assange himself cannot be sure of the origin of the emails. Assange and Hannity did not address the fact that in addition to WikiLeaks, the leaked Democratic material was published by two other mysterious websites, DCLeaks.com and a blog written by someone called Guccifer 2.0. U.S. intelligence agencies say they believe both were created by Russian agents. In addition to U.S. intelligence agencies, most private researchers also say they believe that the DNC and Podesta hacks were carried out on orders of Russian government officials, although a few skeptics believe the case is unproven by evidence made public. Assanges statement is unlikely to change that conclusion. On Twitter, Trump posted: The Intelligence briefing on so-called Russian hacking was delayed until Friday, perhaps more time needed to build a case. Very strange! The Obama administration quickly let it be known that, in fact, intelligence leaders always intended to brief Trump on Friday in New York. And intelligence officials were not amused. Nor were some Republican political consultants. As recent questionable expenses paid by Rep. Duncan Hunter's campaign fund are now being clarified and defined, the California public is getting a closer look at the things the San Diego County Republican has been buying during his tenure. One of the more "colorful" items reported thus far: $600 in "cabin rabbit transport fees." In other words, $600 was spent to fly the family's pet rabbit in an airplane, according to a report by the San Diego Union-Tribune. Hunter was under investigation in 2016 for $62,000 in personal campaign expenses not clearly documented, for which he reimbursed his campaign fund. The $600 spent on the family pet is merely a small portion of the previously unaccounted-for expenses. Hunter's staff, however, maintains that the House's Office of Congressional Ethics overstepped during its investigation, and is not looking at the expenses in an appropriate context. As they told the Tribune, they believe such expenses like the rabbit air travel are being viewed by the OCE as potentially malicious. "This was nothing more than an oversight. In fact, it's such an obvious example of a mistake being made but [the OCE] wants to view it through a lens of possible intent," said Hunter's spokesman Joe Kasper. "The same goes for many other expenditures. Many of Rep. Hunter's repayments had to do with mistakes under specific circumstances, and in other cases there were bona fide campaign activities connected to expenditures that [the OCE] was not aware of and didn't account for." In the past, Hunter attributed improper use of campaign funds in part to the fact that two of his credit cards look similar. The OCE's report has not yet been formally released, but in the meantime, Hunter did vote yes on gutting the independent office in a controversial political move earlier this week. According to the Union-Tribune, however, his staffers said he "didn't mind" when the plan was later pulled after criticism by President-elect Donald Trump. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Fundraising is already ramping up for Californias 2018 gubernatorial race, and Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom has an early lead over his announced competitors. According to memo his campaign sent to donors Tuesday, Newsom raised $2.7 million in the second half of 2016, giving him a total of $11.5 million cash on hand. Thats far more than his major announced rivals, who include state Treasurer John Chiang, former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and former state Superintendent of Public Instruction Delaine Eastin. Newsoms camp reported having more than 30,000 individual donors. Thanks in part to winning two statewide races and having a national profile, Newsom also led the field of announced and potential 2018 candidates in a November Field Institute of Governmental Studies at UC Berkeley Poll, with 23 percent of the registered voters surveyed. In second place was San Diego GOP Mayor Kevin Faulconer, who has said last May that he wouldnt run, with 16 percent support. In this very early temperature-taking, 25 percent of the polls respondents were undecided. Nearly two years before Election Day, the Newsom camp sounded optimistic Tuesday about the depth of its support and its early fundraising. Thanks to you, we have exceeded our goal and we start the new year with a significant resource advantage, the memo read. We have a long way to go and much more to do (and much more $ to raise!), but thanks to you, we are in a very strong position. Villaraigosas campaign was also upbeat Tuesday, noting that it had raised $2.7 million over the holidays, he officially announced his candidacy in mid-November. Antonio is humbled by this significant early support for his campaign to give voice to every Californian, spokeswoman Michelle Jeung said. Chiangs campaign spokesman, Parke Skelton, said Tuesday the treasurer raised in excess of $1.93 million over the last six months. The campaign now has $7 million in cash on hand, including the $3.2 million in the treasurers account (from his last campaign) which can be transferred to the campaign fund, Skelton said. Eastins operation just completed its official campaign paperwork this week and will begin fundraising later this month, campaign chair Katherine Welch said Tuesday. And while Newsoms camp sounded sunny Tuesday, the memo also included a foreboding note. The breadth and depth of Newsoms support is the only way to compete with the possibility of a self-funded candidate jumping into the race, as has happened in every California governors race for the past 20 years, the Newsom campaign memo said. It was perhaps a nod to billionaire Democratic environmentalist and former hedge fund manager Tom Steyer of San Francisco, who has long been considered a potential candidate. However, after Novembers presidential election, Steyer told KQEDs California Report that President-elect Donald Trumps victory is giving him second thoughts about how to focus his political energy. Steyer said Trump has flashed fascist tendencies that need to be contested. Steyer spent $52 million on Democratic on progressive campaigns during the fall election season, $17 million on a voter registration drive and millions more on TV ads aimed at turning out the vote. A spokesman said Steyer hasnt decided whether to run. Joe Garofoli is The San Francisco Chronicles senior political writer. Email: jgarofoli@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @joegarofoli HAMDANIYA, Iraq With the offensive to reclaim the Iraqi city of Mosul now in its third month, smartphones are everywhere on the battlefield, where the appetite for selfie photos is proving to be irresistible and problematic. Troops and commanders pose atop tanks, Humvees, checkpoints and even on the front lines with bullets flying. They snap pictures of themselves with a mix of generals, civilians, reporters, priests, doctors, babies and anything associated with the Islamic State, including flags, detainees and bodies. They document themselves with reality-show glee clearing Islamic State tunnels, hoisting salvaged weapons, pointing to graffiti, prisoners and corpses. The photos are far from an official archive of events. But as questions arise about the Iraqi militarys treatment of detainees and the bodies of dead fighters, amateur images may become evidence. Human Rights Watch has cited the amateur photos and videos in complaints about extrajudicial executions of prisoners and other abuses during the offensive. The organization posted photos and video stills online in accusing Sunni militias and allied Iraqi Security Forces of dragging the bodies of at least five dead militants and executing at least one after he surrendered in Qayyarrah, about 40 miles south of Mosul, on Oct. 3. On video, a fighter could be seen stepping on the militants body and posed for a photo, the group said. A man in an Iraqi special forces uniform calls for a razor, saying he wants the head of the dead fighter. It never ceases to amaze me, nor stops disturbing me, that armed forces take pleasure in photographing themselves during or after committing an abuse. Over the last year, we were able to document the most serious abuses because of forces own photos, said Belkis Wille, senior Iraq researcher at Human Rights Watch. Last week, troops snapped selfies with the top U.S. and Iraqi commanders as the top brass arrived at an army post east of Mosul for an update on the offensive, which began Oct. 17. Among the most popular: Lt. Gen. Stephen Townsend, commander of U.S. forces in Iraq; Maj. Gen. Najim Jabouri, Iraqi commander of the Mosul offensive, and Lt. Gen. Abdul Wahab Saadi, Iraqi Special Forces commander, recognizable thanks to Facebook. I dont have a Facebook account, but because of the selfies they are posting, I became like a hero, Saadi said as he stood among the uniformed crowd. Many held cell phones aloft. Saadi said the photos are good for morale, and help reassure families back home. But they can be risky. U.S. forces are allowed to take selfies in Iraq, as long as their commanders approve, but they may be restricted based on security classification, operational security, safety, or force protection, officials said. JAKARTA, Indonesia Indonesia said Wednesday that it has suspended military cooperation with Australia over an alleged insult of Indonesian state ideology. Indonesian military spokesman Maj. Gen. Wuryanto said that cooperation has been suspended indefinitely, and that the decision was made after considering many matters. Although Wuryanto, who like many Indonesians uses one name, declined to give the exact reason for the decision, he said among the factors were reports of an Indonesian instructor saying that a laminated paper displayed at the Australian Special Forces base where he worked was insulting. This is not a protest ... we would like to establish a useful cooperation for the two nations based on mutual respect, Wuryanto said. Technically, it is not running well. The suspension will remain in effect until the technical matters are corrected. There is no time limit. The Australian side has responded very well, and they claim to understand. Australian Defense Minister Marise Payne said in a statement that Indonesia had informed Australia of the decision. Some interaction between the two militaries has been postponed until the matter is resolved. Cooperation in other areas is continuing, Payne said. According to Indonesian media reports, the allegedly insulting paper displayed at the Special Forces base contained words that demeaned Pancasila state ideology that mandates belief in monotheism and unity among Indonesias 250 million people. Indonesia is the worlds most populous Muslim nation, and blasphemy is illegal there. Payne said Australias army has looked into the serious concerns that were raised and the investigation into the incident is being finalized. Indonesia and Australia have developed close military and economic ties, with Jakarta receiving hundreds of millions of dollars in development aid annually from Australia. The two nations have cooperated on fighting terrorism ever since bombings on the Indonesian resort island of Bali in 2002 killed 202 people, including 88 Australians. The two countries are also seen by the United States as a bulwark against Chinese naval expansion in the region. More recently, military ties between the two nations had been improving since 2013, after Indonesia downgraded its relations with Australia over the alleged bugging of phones belonging to Indonesias then-President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, his wife and members of his inner circle in 2009. The New York Times contributed to this report. 1 Impeachment trial: South Koreas Constitutional Court formally opened President Park Geun-hyes impeachment trial on Tuesday, despite the absence of Park, whose lawyers said she was unlikely to attend any of the proceedings. The nine-member court has until June to decide whether Park, whose powers have been suspended since the National Assembly voted on Dec. 9 to impeach her over a corruption scandal, will be reinstated or removed from office. By law, Park cannot be compelled to testify. If she declines to appear for a second time, the court can proceed without her. Park has been accused of conspiring with a longtime friend and confidante, Choi Soon-sil, to extort $69 million from South Korean businesses. 2 Britain police shooting: An investigation has been started after British police fatally shot a man during an operation in which five other people were arrested. West Yorkshire police said the operation related to information received about criminal possession of a firearm, and was not related to terrorism. The man who was killed was identified as 27-year-old Mohammed Yassar Yaqub of Huddersfield. His family issued a statement through a lawyer saying they are in shock and distraught. Police shootings are rare in Britain and there is an automatic investigation when someone is killed. KIDAPAWAN, Philippines More than 100 suspected Muslim rebels stormed a jail in the southern Philippines before dawn Wednesday, allowing 158 inmates to escape in what officials said was the biggest jailbreak in the country. Six of the inmates were killed in firefights with pursuing police and army troops, while eight others have been caught and were being returned to the facility, said Senior Inspector Xavier Solda, spokesman for the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology. Solda said the heavily armed gunmen emerged from a forest and attacked the North Cotabato District Jail in Kidapawan under the cover of darkness. Kidapawan city in Cotabato Province is about 580 miles southeast of the capital, Manila. To my knowledge, this is the biggest jailbreak in the history of the bureau, Solda said. Acting Provincial Jail Warden Superintendent Peter John Bongngat Jr. said one of the about 20 prison guards on duty was killed, and an inmate was wounded in an initial gunbattle. Kidapawan Police Chief Superintendent Leo Ajero said gunfire continued for hours after the attack as army troops and police, some in armored tanks, hunted through the surrounding forests for the escaped inmates and the gunmen who freed them. Bongngat said the attackers were suspected to include members of the outlawed Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters and guerrillas who broke away from the main Moro Islamic Liberation Front, which has signed a peace deal with the government. He said the assault was believed to have been led by a bandit known as Commander Derbie, who once led a faction of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the Philippines largest rebel group. The jail held 1,511 inmates, including Bangsamoro members facing murder charges for a series of bombings in the province, officials said. It was the third attack on the provincial jail facility since 2007. Local village leader Alexander Austria said he and his men captured one escaped man. He said the gunfire woke his village, which is several miles from the prison, and he immediately posted guards because of worries the attackers and escaped inmates could enter the village. We heard the gunfire and we sprang into action to guard our village, Austria said. We were afraid the escapees could try to enter our village to hide or take hostages. ISTANBUL Police increased security around Istanbul on Wednesday and detained about 20 people with suspected links to the deadly New Years nightclub attack as the hunt for the gunman stretched into a fourth day. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said the gunman who killed 39 people during New Years celebrations at the Reina club before reportedly escaping in a taxi had been identified, but did not name him. Police set up checkpoints across Istanbul as security levels remained high. They stopped cars and taxis, with passengers and drivers holding up their identifications while officers inspected the vehicles. The city has been on edge since the attack on the upscale club popular with local celebrities, and on Wednesday residents beat up a man said to resemble the wanted gunman before handing him over to police, the Dogan news agency reported. About 20 people, including 11 women, were taken into custody in police raids in the Aegean port city of Izmir, the state-run Anadolu agency said. The suspects, from the largely Muslim Russian republic of Dagestan, as well as members of Chinas Muslim Uighur minority and from Syria, were believed to have lived with the gunman in an alleged Islamic State cell house in the central Turkish city of Konya, the agency reported. About 20 children who were with the detainees were also taken to a police station. At least 16 people were previously detained in connection with the massacre. Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it was in reprisal for Turkish military operations against their fighters in northern Syria. Of those killed, 27 were foreigners many from the Middle East. In his first public address to the nation since the killings, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that the attack aimed to set Turks against each other and deepen fault lines, but warned the country would not fall for this game. His comments followed a campaign before the attack by some ruling party supporters and pro-Islamic groups who warned against New Years celebrations they depicted as Western or Christian traditions, as well as some social media postings that seemed to support the attack on the New Years revelers. The campaign and social media postings were condemned by more secular-minded Turks who said their lifestyles were being threatened. The government has said authorities were taking measures against social media accounts that allegedly support terrorism and foster divisiveness in society. Meanwhile, details about the suspected gunmans movements trickled in on Wednesday. The Hurriyet newspaper said he had previously entered Turkey twice, in 2014 and in 2015. He is believed to have slipped illegally into Syria, where he received training in the use of guns and bombs and fought. The pro-government Sabah newspaper identified the suspect as a Kyrgyz national who was born in 1988. Mayor Javier Gonzales loves La Plazuela. He dined at the restaurant housed at La Fonda Hotel 19 times in 2016. And he almost always ordered a table for two: Coffee with Alan Webber, the former gubernatorial candidate and founder of the magazine Fast Company. Breakfast with former district attorney Jennifer Padgett in the midst of her election bid. Lunch with Lee David Zlotoff, the producer behind MacGyver. "They have this great spinach salad with grilled chicken," Gonzales tells SFR of La Plazuela, adding that the city doesn't foot the bill for his lunch meetings. "It's usually a guest check whenever I go." Meet The Press Heres a look at the mayors media appointments in 2016. Gonzales national profile rocketed after Nov. 15, when he went on Fox News to defend sanctuary cities. The City Council last year established an independent salary commission to decide how much the mayor will make when the position officially becomes full-time with the arrival of "strong mayor" power changes in 2018. An ordinance approved by voters three years ago bumped the mayor's salary from $29,600 to $74,000 until the commission completes its work. With the upcoming salary discussions, we felt it appropriate to inspect how our current mayor spends his time. SFR reviewed about 1,200 scheduled blocks from Gonzales' 2016 calendar, obtained through a public records request. Notably, it only took one day for his office turn over an hour-by-hour breakdown of his working hours. (We're still waiting for Gov. Susana Martinez' daily calendar, which we asked for five years ago.) Also to Gonzales' credit, the results of our request mostly bored us. Local Big-Wigs Gonzales, former chair of the states Democratic Party, occasionally dines with big donors. He says these meetings have nothing to do with a potential run for governor in 2018. Heres the value of recent state and federal political donations: $19,533 Sande Deitch 2 Meetings $114,789 Charmay Allred 5 meetings $314,383 Earl and Deborah Potter 5 meetings He already treats the mayorship like a full-time job, often working 40-hour weeks, including weekends. About 25 percent of his appointments were meetings with city employees. He sat down for bi-weekly meetings with heads of his tourism, arts and youth services departments. He also checked in regularly with the police and fire chiefs, parking director and asset development manager. The mayor spent roughly another quarter of his working hours making appearances at ribbon-cutting ceremonies, art shows, trade fairs, benefit dinners, weddings and funerals. When he wasn't taking care of city business or showing his face for the public, Gonzales chatted with business owners, journalists, political operatives, foreign consuls, consultants, union leaders, nonprofit directors, artists, and officials from the state and federal government. Some of his most frequent visitors reflect his policy priorities. Of non-city employees, Gonzales met the most (14 times) with Beth Beloff, chair of the Sustainable Santa Fe Commission, which worked with the city to establish the Verde Fund to take aim at climate change and poverty. He met five times with Jeannie Oakes, a senior fellow at the Learning Policy Institute who helped devise a soda tax plan to fund early childhood education. (Gonzales later also consulted with Bloomberg Philanthropies, the nonprofit project of former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg, who championed a beverage tax during his tenure.) One-On-One Meetings The mayor doesnt hold many one-on-one meetings with his city council colleagues. When he does, its most likely with Councilor Peter Ives. Mayor Gonzales, a former state Democratic Party head, also met with prominent locals who happen to contribute large sums to political campaigns. Charmay Allred, a prominent art collector and big-time donor, met with Gonzales at least five times this year. "She is a big patron of the arts and regularly introduces me to artists or people who have contributed to the city," he says. Why did you meet? Richard Mares Realtor, three meetings My visits with the mayor were to find out his agenda with regards to infill. Matthew Chase-Daniel Co-founder of Axle Contemporary, one meeting There was a bill before the governing body to restrict mobile vendor access to Canyon Road, so we talked about that. Yasmin Glanville CEO of Rethink Sustainability (based in Toronto), one phone call Youre a reporter. Why would I tell you why I met with him? He met with either Earl or Deborah Potter, the proprietors of Five & Dime General Stores, five times. (Deborah Potter sits on the city's film commission.) Combined, the couple has given more than $300,000 to state and federal political campaigns since 1997. Given that Santa Fe has a public campaign finance system, he's not likely fundraising for the next mayor's race. Asked whether meetings with Democratic donors could have any relation to a potential run for governor, Gonzales says, "Absolutely not. These are individuals that significantly invest in the city of Santa Fe and nonprofits. Santa Fe is a big Democratic town. There are people who participate in civic organizations that also participate in politics." Gonzales took 15 trips during the year, spending 73 days out-of-state or racking up airline miles. The city paid for travel on six of the mayor's out-of-state forays. Grants, fellowships and federal funds covered the rest. His longest trip was to Harvard University, where he spent 23 days (including travel) participating in a fellowship for LGBT leaders, which he called "an incredible opportunity." He also journeyed to the Middle Eastern country of Qatar on a junket with the US Conference of Mayors and to Paris for a meeting about "inclusive growth." "There's a list of questions we go over before I'll agree to a trip. Is it going to help me build upon some of the initiatives I've said are priorities? Is it a place I can advocate on the needs of Santa Fe at a federal level?" Applications for the independent salary commission must be submitted to the city by Monday, Jan. 9. The mayor will nominate seven members for approval by City Council. Table for Two The mayor says he tries to bring his lunch to work, if possible, but heres a sample of his restaurant meals. WHO WHERE Al Lucero and Greg Templeton, Southern Wine and Spirits The Compound James Whipkey, Real estate developer Santacafe Alan Webber, Founder, Fast Company La Plazuela Andrew Fleming, Film director The Bull Ring Lee Zlotoff, Television producer La Plazuela Larry Burke, Chairman/editor, Outside Magazine La Plazuela John Bingaman, Investor La Plazuela Judith Cantu, Taos City Councilor La Plazuela Veronica Garcia, Superintendent of SFPS Santacafe Chip Chippeaux, CEO of Century Bank, Santa Fe Santacafe New York, New York On the mayors first trip to the Big Apple in 2016, he met with close friend Bill de Blasio. He also spoke with several Hillary Clinton operatives, none more important than campaign chair John Podesta. New York, New York On the mayors first trip to the Big Apple in 2016, he met with close friend Bill de Blasio. He also spoke with several Hillary Clinton operatives, none more important than campaign chair John Podesta. Bill de Blasio Mayor of New York City March 29 John PodestaChairman of the 2016 Clinton Campaign Sept. 13 Bloomberg PhilanthropiesNov. 15 Where in the world is The Mayor? Gonzales took 15 trips in 2016, including two international trips. Where in the world is The Mayor? Gonzales took 15 trips in 2016, including two international trips. January 10-11, Des moines 19-22, Washington, DC February 22-24, Kansas City March 27-30, New York City April 12-17, Doha, Qatar May 5-9, Beijing, China (OVERBOOKED FLIGHT) 22-24, Washington, DC 24-27, Indianapolis July 10-1, Harvard September 12-13, New York City 14-16, Washington, DC 20-22, Chicago October 29-2, Oklahoma City November 13-17, New York City 18-22, Paris December 7-11, Washington, DC 10-11, Des moines 19-22, Washington, DC 22-24, Kansas City March 27-30, New York City April 12-17, Doha, Qatar May 5-9, Beijing, China (OVERBOOKED FLIGHT) 22-24, Washington, DC 24-27, Indianapolis July 10-1, Harvard September 12-13, New York City 14-16, Washington, DC 20-22, Chicago October 29-2, Oklahoma City November 13-17, New York City 18-22, Paris December 7-11, Washington, DC Santa Fe Reporter After the Fire A historic Albuquerque church community is reeling from a suspected electrical fire that heavily damaged the building's interior. The Joy of Light Church of God in Christ was the former home of the Grant Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church, one of New Mexico's oldest predominantly black congregations and a hub for the civil rights movement in the city in the 1950s. Bottom Feeders Our state's schools have earned another sad grade from Education Week magazine's "Quality Counts" report. No states earned an A grade in the analysis, but nine are labeled with B or B-. New Mexico has a D. Here's a that breaks it down. The Santa Fe New Mexican analyzed the Wednesday report on today's . Action! SFR's Alex De Vore takes a deep dive on the status of that helped New Mexico lure productions and their spending. The story re-introduces Eric Witt, the director of the new regional film office opened by the city and county of Santa Fe. Election Question Did Breaking Bad actor Steven Michael Quezada fill out his own candidacy paperwork before his recent election to the job of Bernalillo County commissioner? Breaking reports indicate State Police are looking into the question as part of a criminal investigation. A civil case about the election is already pending. Benefits Blunder The City of Santa Fe says it has updated its HR policies after an internal audit showed temporary and seasonal employees were despite being eligible. Schools Sued A new alleges gender discrimination and nepotism at the Mora Independent Schools. Dora Romero, former superintendent, says the board fired her to make way for Charles Trujillo, a nephew of a board member who later stepped down from the job after reports in the Las Vegas Optic that Trujillo faked his credentials to obtain his administrative license. Dozen Club Police dashcam footage published this week by KRQE News 13 shows a man near Las Vegas chase before getting nabbed on his 12th DWI. It's the kind of repeated news story that's right on time for the upcoming legislative session, in which Gov. Susana Martinez says she will push for . Bad Idea Even though it appears massive social media outcry stopped the madness, the big news of the last couple days has been the Republican plan to gut the independent ethics office. New Mexico Political Report says New Mexico Rep. Steve Pearce was . Santa Fe Reporter THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala figures at number eight in the "12 destinations to watch in 2017" by Britain's largest and prominent travel and tours operators association. The Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA) has ranked Kerala higher than premier destinations like the U.S., Sardinia (island of Italy), South Africa and Vietnam. The list also features Andalucia (Spain), the Azores islands (of Portugal), Bermuda, Chile, Croatia and Denmark. The rankings consist of locations that are expected to capture traveller's imaginations over the next year. "This latest recognition of Kerala's stature as a must visit destination is a matter of pride for us and bodes well for the year ahead," said state Tourism Minister Kadakampally Surendran. Among the not to miss experiences of the state mentioned in the report is a journey through the placid backwaters in the traditional houseboat, the life of the local people, spice plantations and forests. There is also a special mention of the rejuvenating touch of Kerala's traditional ayurveda therapies. "Making the list signifies an excellent start to the year and will add momentum to our ongoing efforts to promote and showcase Kerala around the world. This is especially important in Britain, which is our primary source market for tourists," said Principal Secretary, Tourism, V. Venu. In 2015, Kerala received 1,66,792 tourists from Britain, which accounted for a 17.06 pct share of the total foreign tourist arrivals to the state. The predictive ranking by ABTA, whose members reportedly sell 32 billion euros worth of holidays and other travel arrangements every year, suggests the outlook for the state will remain bright. "Kerala's prominent ranking in the ABTA list suggests that the trend of higher tourist footfalls from Britain to continue this year," said Kerala Tourism Director U.V. Jose. Read Also: Tata Xenon Yodha Launched; Price Starting At 6.05 Lakh CNG Fueled Two-Wheeler Launched In Mumbai Donovan de Blasio.jpg Congressman Daniel Donovan and Mayor Bill de Blasio are on opposite sides of the aisle but both expressed a desire to work together to get the city some green. (Advance composite photo) STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. - Rep. Daniel Donovan will go to bat for New York City and try to recover the rest of the $35 million it expects to spend on protecting Trump Tower until the Jan. 20 inauguration, he said Wednesday. As Mayor Bill de Blasio's administration continues its criticism of Donald Trump and the Republican Congress, Donovan, the sole GOP congressman from New York City, is working with the mayor to forge a productive relationship with the new administration and is hopeful in the mayor's recent gracious comments. De Blasio appeared on Errol Louis' NY1 show during the segment "Mondays with the Mayor" and spoke about his hopes for the new Congress, including getting the rest of the $35 million it is costing the NYPD to patrol Trump Tower. When Congress was wrapping up its funding bill last year, the city requested the money, getting only $7 million. They're hoping for the additional $28 million. That's where Donovan comes in. Louis asked the mayor specifically about his relationship with the GOP congressman. "He has certainly been very very helpful to New York City," de Blasio said. "I commend Congressman Donovan particularly on the issue of security funding." When President Obama proposed cutting the city's federal anti-terrorism funding in half, Donovan was one of the members of Congress who opposed the cuts, which were restored in the final budget. De Blasio testified about the cuts in March in front of the subcommittee that Donovan chairs. "Congressman Donovan stood up and was a very effective advocate," de Blasio said Monday. "We've worked closely together on that; I know we'll work closely together on getting reimbursement for the city for the security costs at Trump Tower. He's already been supportive. So I think he'll play an important role." The mayor said he has also been working with upstate GOP Rep. Chris Collins to get reimbursed. "I'm ready to work with anyone who will help New York City, whether again it's on those day-to-day issues, the smaller things, or whether it's on the big picture issues like saving Obamacare and making sure that the tax code is fair to New Yorkers." That's music to Donovan's ears. "It's good to hear the mayor speaking in that tone rather than criticizing the administration and criticizing Congress," Donovan told the Advance in an interview. He has spoken with the mayor about the reimbursement, and once the city provides documentation to back up the $35 million estimate, Donovan will request the federal funding, he said. But it hasn't helped that de Blasio's office has been critical of Trump and Congress, criticizing the $7 million reimbursement. The funding bill that pays for the government through April 28 was already completed when Washington got the request from New York City. "We were quite fortunate" to get the $7 million at all, Donovan said. That figure was the amount that was given to the Chicago Police Department in 2008 when then-President-Elect Barack Obama's residence was protected. The cost, paying for overtime for NYPD, should "not fall on the city of New York and our taxpayers," Donovan said. But blaming partisan politics or alleging it was an intentional slight isn't going to get the city closer to the other $28 million, Donovan noted. "That rhetoric wasn't going to be helpful in my efforts to get that other [money] that I believe the federal government owes the city of New York," he said. He will advocate for the funding, the GOP congressman said, and hopes the mayor's comments on Monday were a turning point, "where the criticism turns into constructive, productive negotiations between the city and Congress. I am certainly in a position to advocate for that." No left turn.jpg A "no left turn" sign like this was posted -- and promptly removed -- in Arden Heights in November. The DOT said they didn't authorize the sign and removed it but a cop ticketed several residents for turning left. (Advance file photo) STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. - An unauthorized "no left turn" sign in Arden Heights has resulted in traffic tickets and headaches for several residents who must pay even though the sign shouldn't have been there in the first place. Residents noticed the sign, at the corner of Woodrow Road and Arden Avenue, the third weekend in November down the street from where construction had been ongoing months before. Several ignored -- or didn't see -- the non-regulation sign, which was smaller than an official Department of Transportation sign and was posted to a telephone pole. Councilman Joe Borelli said about 10 people contacted his office about getting tickets from a police officer posted there. A DOT review of the sign concluded it was not the agency's sign and was not authorized to be there. It was removed after a day or two of being posted. It's unclear who put up the sign, although some suggest it may have been the contractor in charge of construction down Arden Avenue. Contractors doing work on city streets can post informational signs about the work, but cannot place street signs like the one posted without DOT permission. While the sign is long gone, people who received tickets for their moving violations must still go through the system, either pleading guilty on paper and paying the fine -- and getting points on their license -- or going to court and pleading not guilty. Those who have fought the charges brought with them a letter from the DOT, explaining that the sign is not theirs. "This is in regard to the traffic controls at the intersection of Woodrow Road and Arden Avenue," the DOT letter from borough Commissioner Tom Cocola reads. "A review of our Borough Engineering Office's records does not indicate a left turn restriction at this intersection." The letter was dated Dec. 1, 2016. Carl Sansone lives in the area and got a ticket for violating the "No left turn" sign on Nov. 19, 2016, when he made the turn from Woodrow Road to Arden Avenue. During the Dec. 29 court date, Judge Brian Levine told Sansone that the dates don't line up and the sign may be the contractor's, either ignoring or unaware that it's not permissible. The judge ordered Sansone to pay the $125 for the ticket. Levine has been known to be disrespectful and mean and has the highest conviction rate of any traffic court judge in New York City. Sansone hadn't noticed the sign up previously. "I go down that road a hundred times a day," he said. He has heard from drivers like him who travel there all the time and never noticed it, blowing past it that weekend and getting a ticket. "An hour after I got the ticket, they came down and took the sign down," he said. Borelli said, "Once again, Judge Levine proves to be a notorious headline maker, this time by now intimidating and convicting people of violating unauthorized signs. He has long disregarded all common sense in his decision making, but can now add ignorance of the evidence to his repertoire. This is not the end and we will continue to try to rectify the situation for those innocently and wrongly ticketed." The councilman posted on his Facebook page in late November about the sign, warning drivers that it wasn't authorized and to contact his office for a copy of the DOT letter if they got tickets at the intersection. Several people on the Facebook thread commented they too got tickets and were surprised the sign was there. Besides Sansone, it's unclear whether other people going to court with the letter to fight the ticket had any success. "There's many people in my area that's really upset about this whole thing," he said. The NYPD's public information office didn't answer questions about why a police officer was stationed at the unsanctioned sign to ticket drivers. This story has been updated to include a comment from Borelli. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Maria Pappas, who owned Staten Island's once-iconic Victory Diner, has died. Mrs. Pappas, a native of Cyprus and a long-time Dongan Hills resident, passed away Tuesday at home. She was 87 years old. For more than 30 years, Mrs. Pappas greeted patrons with a warm smile from behind the counter of the diner, a classic Staten Island institution. It was a 24-hour, seven-days-a-week home-away-from-home, where folks looking for a homestyle meal, a hot cup of coffee and a family-friendly atmosphere could congregate. The Victory Diner was purchased by Mrs. Pappas' husband, the late Paris Pappas, and Angelo Sbiliris in 1965. In 1982, when her husband passed away, Mrs. Pappas and her son, Steve, with the help of another son, Andrew, continued to operate the establishment. "My mom was very warm and hospitable. She made everyone feel welcome," said Andrew, who noted that his mother really enjoyed working at the diner. The shiny blue and chrome building, which started out on Victory Boulevard and Manor Road in Castleton Corners in 1932, remained a popular meeting and dining place until 1964, when it was moved to 1781 Richmond Rd. in Dongan Hills. There the diner served as a backdrop for many special occasions, including marriage proposals, wedding receptions -- and it even made appearances in several Hollywood films and television shows. When Mrs. Pappas retired in 2007, the diner was slated to be demolished and the property sold to a developer. Through joint efforts -- led by then-Borough President James Molinaro and the Staten Island Advance -- the Victory Diner was saved from demolition. Using jacks and an an oversized flat-bed truck, the diner was moved ever-so-slowly to Capodanno Boulevard in Midland Beach, near the Ocean Breeze fishing pier. Plans called for the diner to be refurbished and become an attraction on the Island beachfront as part of the planned Splash Plaza at the foot of the South Beach Boardwalk and the Midland Beach promenade. Groundbreaking for the project took place in May 2012, but sadly, months later, in October 2012, the diner was hit hard by Hurricane Sandy. Though not completely destroyed during the storm, it was damaged beyond repair, so much so that it had to be dismantled. Mrs. Pappas was a long-time member of Holy Trinity-St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church in Bulls Head. Surviving are three sons, Nick, Andrew and Steven; two grandchildren and a great-granddaughter. The funeral will be from Casey Funeral Home, with a service on Tuesday at 11 a.m. at Holy Trinity-St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church. A burial will be at Cypress Hills Cemetery in Brooklyn. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- He's sweet, he's loving, but on the job he's all business. K-9 Timoshenko, named after slain Staten Island Officer Russel Timoshenko, is featured as "Mr. January" in the newly-released 2017 NYPD K-9 Unit dog calendar. "Timmy thinks it's no big deal that he's Mr. January," tweeted his partner, NYPD Detective Benny Colecchio of Pleasant Plains. Timoshenko has been helping to solve crimes as part of the K-9 unit for over five years. Tatyana Timoshenko, mother of the slain officer, attended the promotion ceremony in September, where both Colecchio and K-9 Timoshenko, who is nicknamed Timmy, received a gold detective shield. Mrs. Timoshenko put a detective's shield on the canine's collar during the ceremony at 1 Police Plaza. Russel Timoshenko was one of two officers shot during a routine traffic stop in Brooklyn in July 9, 2007. He died five days after the attack Members of the NYPD's K9 unit are the stars of the first-ever calendar published by the New York City Police Foundation, a nonprofit that raises money and conducts research on behalf of the NYPD. In addition to "Timmy" as Mr. January, other dogs in the K-9 unit are pictured on the job, with tasks including sniffing for bombs and tracking down missing persons. The police foundation is sending copies of the 13-month calendar, which runs through January 2018, to contributors who donate at least $20. That money will "directly benefit new and ongoing NYPD programs and initiatives," according to the organization's website. nws Apostol-Marius Philippe-Edner Apostol-Marius taking part in a state Senate model legislative session in 2012. (Photo from Apostol-Marius) Philippe-Edner Apostol-Marius supported and volunteered for Sen. Bernie Sanders. He wants to unseat Councilwoman Debi Rose on the North Shore. (Photo from Apostol-Marius) STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A 26-year-old Stapleton resident is the second person jumping into the Democratic primary race for later this year, hoping to unseat Councilwoman Debi Rose. Philippe-Edner Apostol-Marius recently filed campaign papers with the state Board of Elections a few weeks after North Shore activist Kamillah Hanks filed her papers. Hanks filed with the city Campaign Finance Board for the 2017 election and neither of the two of have officially announced their candidacies for the North Shore's 49th Council District. Rose was first elected in 2009, re-elected in 2013 and is running for her third and final term this year. She was elected when, for a short time, Council members had a three-term limit -- those elected after the three-term limit was overturned were held to the two-term limit. Apostol-Marius, a registered Democrat, has never run for public office before and isn't involved in the local Democratic Party or other political or community organizations. He volunteered on the Bernie Sanders campaign for president. He moved with his family from Forest Hills, Queens, to Staten Island in 2004, attending Frank Sinatra School of the Arts in Queens and CUNY for his undergraduate degree. He got his master's degree from the School of Public Policy at Central European University in Budapest, Hungary. A 2012 internship with state Sen. Bill Perkins (D-Harlem) and a one-year fellowship in Albany with then-Sen. Ruth Hassell-Thompson (D-Bronx) between 2014 and 2015 led to a job working as a legislative assistant for Perkins. He married his college sweetheart, Victoria Apostol, in July, taking her last name to hyphenate with his, Marius. He is running not because he thinks Rose is doing a poor job -- he had no criticism of the councilwoman other than to say he wished she could do more for affordable housing needs and funding higher education -- but because he dislikes how government functions. "I would like to change how policy makers and how policy making operates," he said. "People in the community are thought of and spoken of as numbers, with which to aluminate, forecast, instead of human beings" who should inform public policy. People have become alienated and see no reason to vote and participate in civics because of it, he argued. His priorities would include "making it a living hell for landlords who abuse tenants," making housing more affordable and providing access to better education. His proposals for how he would go about those things will come later, he suggested. "I hope Cuomo's announcements yesterday will bear fruit for making higher education affordable," he added. He wants to see easy access to affordable health care and wants to see the Affordable Care Act repaired, not repealed. He dislikes the penalties imposed on people not buying health insurance. Apostol-Marius is putting together a campaign team now and expects to officially announce in February or March. Rose said in a statement, "Competition is a great part of the democratic political process, and I am excited to run for re-election to build on my many successes and gains for the North Shore of Staten Island." trump.JPG President-elect Donald Trump is using WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to cast doubt on the U.S. intelligence community's case that Russia was behind hacking of the Democratic National Committee ahead of the 2016 election. (Associated Press) NEW YORK -- President-elect Donald Trump is using WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to cast doubt on the U.S. intelligence community's case that Russia was behind hacking of the Democratic National Committee ahead of the 2016 election. And he's suggesting that the DNC is to blame for the hacking of its computers and emails, including those of top Hillary Clinton adviser John Podesta. Trump continued his tweetstorm Wednesday by arguing the DNC did not have a "hacking defense" and questioning why the Democratic Party had not responded "to the terrible things they did and said." He appeared to be referring to information in the DNC emails that was made public and led to the resignation of the DNC chairwoman and other officials. "Julian Assange said 'a 14 year old could have hacked Podesta' -- why was DNC so careless? Also said Russians did not give him the info!" Trump tweeted early Wednesday. Assange has said his source for the hacked emails WikiLeaks published during the campaign was not a government, but his assertion has left open the possibility they came from a third party. The American intelligence community and Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill insist that Russia was behind the hacks, but Trump has repeatedly dismissed that allegation, challenging the intelligence experts who will help him make the weightiest possible decisions once he becomes president Jan. 20. Trump has insisted that the government doesn't really know who's behind the attacks. He has said he'll release more information this week. In a series of tweets Tuesday and early Wednesday, Trump wrote without evidence that the timing of an upcoming intelligence briefing on suspected Russian interference in the 2016 election had been delayed. "Perhaps more time needed to build a case. "Very strange!" he wrote, using quote marks around the word "intelligence." Trump's tweets, in line with repeated criticism of his nation's intelligence leaders, caused confusion among intelligence officials, who said there was no delay in the briefing schedule. The fresh clash came as Trump took further steps to fill his Cabinet and key White House positions, with his attention shifting toward the challenges of governing. Trump's plans for repealing President Barack Obama's signature health care law are expected to be the focus as Vice President-elect Mike Pence and secretary of state choice Rex Tillerson meet with top Republicans on Capitol Hill on Wednesday. Pence issued a direct challenge to Washington Republicans Tuesday: "The president-elect has a very clear message to Capitol Hill. And that is, it's time to get to work." Trump signaled he would not bless all of the GOP's priorities on Capitol Hill, openly questioning the timing of the House Republican push to gut an independent ethics board just as the new Congress gathered. The House GOP later dropped the effort. The president-elect promised late Tuesday to hold his first formal news conference since his Nov. 8 election victory next week in New York. He has already waited longer than any other president-elect in the modern era to hold his first exchange with journalists. Most have held such events within days of their elections. It was unclear if the news conference would be the venue for his delayed announcement on how he plans to avoid potential conflicts of interest involving his businesses after taking office. Transition officials said multiple topics could be covered, but would not specifically say whether they included Trump's businesses. Trump was supposed to detail the arrangements at a mid-December news conference, but postponed the event. His Cabinet nearly full, Trump also picked a handful of new White House aides. Omarosa Manigault, a contestant from the first season of "The Apprentice," is expected to focus on public engagement in the White House. Trump also hired Rick Dearborn as a deputy chief of staff and Marc Short as White House legislative director. Both previously served in chief of staff positions on Capitol Hill. The new hires were confirmed by two people familiar with the decision, who insisted on anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the hiring process publicly. Trump spent time interviewing prospects for the Department of Veterans Affairs as well, including Leo MacKay, a senior executive at a military contractor who previously served in the VA under President George W. Bush. trump.jpg Not going to change a thing. (AP photo) STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. - Maybe now we can get down to business. The new Congress has been sworn in, just weeks before Republican Donald Trump takes over as president of the United States. And even though I'm not one of those people that's burning see Obamacare repealed, it'll be better to hear a debate about that than to keep hearing about how the Russians hacked the election and cost Democrat Hillary Clinton the White House. Because even if the Russians did hack the Democrats (and we're still waiting to see all that proof we've been promised), it's still not the reason why Clinton lost the election. It wasn't even the actual election that was hacked, even though there are plenty of people out there who continue to believe it was. And even thought there are plenty of better-informed people who don't mind that others believe that the election itself was hacked. Because it serves their purposes. Does the hacking-doomed-Hillary narrative qualify as fake news yet? Probably not. But here's something that does: The supposed Russian hack of a power grid in Vermont. Turns out one laptop at the utility had some malware on it, likely because somebody visited a questionable website. Yep, that's why they tell you not to look at porn on your work computer. But we're sort of getting used to fake news. A Muslim woman in New York claimed that three men yelling Trump's name tried to rip off her hijab in December. Police said she made the story up to cover for the fact that she'd been out late drinking with friends. There was an outcry when an African-American church in Mississippi was burned and had "Vote Trump" spray-painted on it. Another hate crime? Doesn't appear so. Police said a member of the church's congregation was to blame for the blaze. Police also said that a University of Michigan's student's claim that a man threatened to set her on fire if she didn't remove her hijab was false. And we're still waiting for D-lister Tom Arnold to pony up those tapes from "The Apprentice" that have Trump using racist and sexist language. Maybe the footage is in the same vault as the KKK documentary that got cancelled by A&E because producers paid participants to take part and in some instances to do things to make the episodes more lively and dramatic. We thought America was crawling with KKKers. These documentary producers had to pay people to gild the lily? In other words, there's plenty of fake news to go around. You really do have to be careful, no matter what side of the political spectrum you're on. President Barack Obama got tough on the Russians, sanctioning Russian individuals and entities for the Dem hacks. Obama also tossed 35 Russians diplomats out of the country and closed two of their clubhouses. But those folks didn't actually have anything to do with the hacking. They were tossed for being spies. Not that we like spies, but if they were such a danger, why did Obama wait until the closing days of his presidency to expel them? Maybe Hillary can talk to Trump about it all at the inauguration on Jan. 20. Both she and former President Bill Clinton will attend. So are former Presidents Jimmy Carter and George W. Bush. So at least some folks haven't been bullied into staying away from the Trump swearing-in. And if they really can't get any entertainers to perform, maybe Bill can blow a few notes on the saxophone. Meanwhile, Istanbul saw another deadly terror attack over New Year's weekend, thanks to ISIS. This after ISIS took responsibility for the Berlin Christmas market terror attack as well. The terrorist organization may have been weakened, but it still seems capable of striking at will as well as inspiring others to carry out its bloody agenda. But who's got time to talk about all that? 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 "The House Republican plan to give away America's public lands for free is outrageous and absurd," Grijalva said in a statement. "This proposed rule change would make it easier to implement this plan by allowing the Congress to give away every single piece of property we own, for free, and pretend we have lost nothing of any value. Not only is this fiscally irresponsible, but it is also a flagrant attack on places and resources valued and beloved by the American people." 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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(0x5612f084bbc8)', 'main') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 948 HTML::Mason::Request::call_dynamic('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x5612f06a4390)', '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(0x5612f084bbc8)') 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(0x5612f06a4390)') 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(0x5612f0883510)') 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(0x5612f06a4390)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 165 HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x5612f06a4390)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 831 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handle_request('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x5612e9281570)', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x5612f0828a70)') called at (eval 592) line 8 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handler('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x5612f0828a70)') 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(0x5612f02245e8)', 'main') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 948 HTML::Mason::Request::call_dynamic('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x5612f01191b8)', '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(0x5612f02245e8)') 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(0x5612f01191b8)') 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(0x5612f0216328)') 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(0x5612f01191b8)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 165 HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x5612f01191b8)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 831 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handle_request('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x5612e9281e50)', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x5612f0118ae0)') called at (eval 592) line 8 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handler('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x5612f0118ae0)') called at -e line 0 eval {...} at -e line 0 The Summernats City Cruise will strut (read: roll) its stuff down Northbourne Avenue and the Federal Highway on Thursday, causing some delays and closures throughout the day. Cruisers will leave from Exhibition Park in Canberra at midday on Thursday and will head down the Federal Highway and Northbourne Avenue, before turning back at London Circuit. The Summernats City Cruise down Northborne Avenue in 2016. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen The cruise will go for approximately one hour, with police out in force to maintain the large crowds expected and an alcohol ban in place across the entire parade route. Transport Canberra's traffic and safety senior manager Rifaat Shoukrallah said Northbourne Avenue and the Federal Highway will see rolling closures as Roads ACT coordinates traffic lights with the cruise to minimise delays to other drivers. As you contemplate the coming year, what it might bring, and your own personal goals and hopes, here's a little fact to help orient your thoughts: planet Earth has just experienced its warmest year since records began. If that news sounds familiar, it might be because that the same was also true for 2015. And 2014. Temperatures are now more than 1 degree above pre-industrial levels and on current trends are set to pass the 2 degree mark agreed to in Paris within two decades. In other words, if you're lucky enough to have a newborn child, by the time it reaches adulthood our prospects of keeping a lid on global warming will be nil - unless dramatic changes to greenhouse gas emissions take place. The issue of climate change has put roots down in the business pages for good reason. Everything we stand to lose due to climate change, and everything causing the problem has a value of some kind, is owned by somebody and sitting on a balance sheet somewhere. The Coca-Cola Company is being sued by activists who compare the beverage giant's advertising tactics to the tobacco industry's past efforts in minimising the health effects of its products and targeting children to replenish the ranks of its customers. The non-profit Praxis Project seeks to stop Coke and the Washington-based American Beverage Association from deceptive advertising of sugary drinks, particularly to children, and for the disclosure of documents related to their impact on health. Studies have linked sugary drinks to obesity, type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease, the group said. The lawsuit comes as drinks' manufacturers seek to fend off regulatory assaults on multiple fronts. The UK is pressing ahead with a tax on sugary drinks over the objections of the producers, following the example of France, Mexico and Hungary. In the US, cities including San Francisco and Chicago have also introduced taxes on sweet drinks, citing what they say is a disproportionate impact on residents' health. Praxis, a California non-governmental organisation, is being represented by the Center for Science in the Public Interest, another non-profit with a long history of litigation targeting the food and beverage industries. Starbucks is poised to overtake McDonald's as the world's most valuable restaurant chain, and the coffee giant could ultimately have a staggering 50,000 locations. That's the prediction of Nomura analyst Mark Kalinowski, who named Starbucks his top restaurant stock for 2017 in a report on Tuesday. He estimates that the company will increase its worldwide restaurant count by 8.4 per cent this year and boost same-store sales by more than 5 per cent. There's more room for growth in the beverage industry - and less competition - giving Starbucks an edge over McDonald's and other more food-focused rivals, Kalinowski said. Political comment and analysis is rife with labels, such as "right", "left", "wet", "dry", "conservative", "progressive", "liberal", and a multiplicity of others, and their variants and shades. Indeed, there has almost been an obsession with trying to fit individuals and parties under some particular label, even though none can ever be defined completely by any one label, nor do such classifications remain static. The Liberal Party is generally seen to be conservative, along with the National Party, Family First Party, One Nation, Democratic Labor Party, Shooters Party and Katter's Australian Party. However, not conservative enough for the likes of Cory Bernardi, George Christensen, Tony Abbott and others in these parties who are threatening, more or less, to break away, perhaps even forming yet another "purer" conservative force. Of course, there is no specific set of policies that could be regarded universally as conservative, let alone even among these proponents. Much of the recent momentum has been emboldened by Brexit, the Trump victory, and the resurgence of Hanson, allowing these proponents to cherry-pick the anti-immigration, anti-Islam, anti-Muslim, anti-climate elements of these events as fundamental elements of their "new conservatism". These days the butt of jokes, the Leyland P76 started out as a good car. The only one specifically designed for Australia, it had a roomy interior, good stability, excellent fuel economy for a car of its size and excellent prospects. In 1973 Wheels magazine named it car of the year. In part that was because of the fanatical devotion of its quality control team. Nothing left the yard unless it was perfect. But then its parent, British Leyland, ran into financial troubles. It sent over a new Australian chief who over-ruled the quality control team and released onto the market a flood of cars with faults. British Leyland got the cash, destroyed the car's reputation, and wound up the entire operation, costing 5000 jobs. The Centrelink robo-debt debacle won't cost as many jobs, but its impact will be worse. It'll dwarf that of the bungled census, for which the Prime Minister declared that heads would roll. In the lead-up to Christmas tens of thousands of Australians received notes embossed with the Centrelink logo telling them the income their employer had reported to the Tax Office was different to the income they had reported to Centrelink. Unless they explained why within 14 to 21 days, they would have an assessment made against them and be hit by a 10 per cent recovery fee. Vesna Vulovic, who has died aged 66, was a Yugoslav flight attendant who miraculously survived a fall of 33,333 feet without a parachute when her airliner exploded above Czechoslovakia in January 1972. Then 22, Vulovic was not supposed to be aboard the JAT DC-9 on January 26, but a mix-up with another stewardess with the same first name meant she joined the Belgrade-bound flight at Copenhagen. The last thing that she could remember was greeting the passengers. An hour into the journey the aeroplane disintegrated above Srbska Kamenice, now in the Czech Republic. A Czech secret service investigation concluded that a bomb had been planted in the baggage hold, supposedly by Croat nationalists. Vulovic fell in the central piece of fuselage, her body pinned into place by a food trolley. Pine trees and snow cushioned the final impact. Her screams were heard by a woodsman who had served as a German Army medic in the war and knew how to treat her bleeding. None of the other 27 people aboard survived. Heavy rains, thunderstorms and hail are expected; it is Thursday afterall. A breakdown of the big El Nino in the Pacific - one of the three largest on record - saw Australia transition from drier than average to wetter than average conditions by midway through the year. Internationally, 2016 is expected to be declared as the hottest year on record, pipping 2015 for the title, and making it three years in a row of new highs. Record rainfall reached to the Red Centre during 2016, including the Christmas storms over Uluru. Credit:Parks Australia Averaged across Australia, rainfall was 544.99 mm, or 17 per cent above the 1961-'90 average, leading to the 15th wettest year on record. The Murray-Darling Basin had its record wettest May to September period, filling reservoirs and helping produce what is likely to be Australia's biggest wheat crop. A young boy prepares to dive into the water at Bronte Baths a rock pool at Bronte Beach in the early morning before the temperature soars to 37 degrees. Bronte, Sydney. Credit:Kate Geraghty Dr Braganza said the El Nino influence came on top of background warming from climate change. In the past year, conditions favoured the dominant influence of warm oceans, leading to unusually - at times record - levels of atmospheric moisture over Australia. The bureau's near-term forecast is for a warmer-than-average January-March period for eastern Australia, but also a drying out. Fire authorities are particularly concerned about grass fires, given the strong growth in vegetation since the spring. A fresh burst of heat is also heading across the country, with temperatures set to soar progressively through the week across the south. Adelaide is forecast to reach 39 degrees on Friday and Saturday, while Melbourne will see 36 degrees on Saturday. For Sydney, the mercury should reach the 30s by the weekend and nudge above 40 degrees in the city's west by the middle of next week. Hot spots Wyndham in the Kimberley set a new high mark for Australian temperatures, with an average daily maximum through the year of 37.5 degrees, Blair Trewin, the bureau's chief climatologist, said. Among the hot cities, Sydney was notably warm through 2016, with each month beating mean maximum temperature averages by at least 1 degree, the bureau said. For maximum temperatures, a typical Sydney day in 2016 reached 23.9 degrees, or 2.2 degrees above average. For nights, the average minimum temperature was a mild 15.2 degrees, or 1.6 degrees above the long-run norm. About 151 days reached at least 25 degrees, the most on record and not far short of double the average of 89 such days. Only 50 nights fell below 10 degrees at its Observatory Hill site, the second fewest on record, and well short of the 88 such nights of a typical year in records going back to 1858. It was also Sydney's wettest year since 2007, thanks in part to several east coast lows bringing heavy falls. For NSW, it was the warmest year on record for minimum temperatures, while record-breaking rains west of the Divide in May to September moderated maximum temperatures. Victoria had its warmest year on record for minimum temperatures too, while 2016 ranked fifth for mean temperatures. For Melbourne, rainfall was close to average and all three temperature measures - mean, minimum and maximum, were very much above average at most site across the city. Brisbane broke its mean temperature records for both its current site and an older one at Ann Street. Western Australia split between a mild year in the south and record heat in the north, while Perth was generally cooler than average. Hobart beat its mean temperature record, previously set in 2014, by 0.2 degrees, while the state as a whole had its hottest year. Big wet spots 2016 was also Tasmania's second-wettest year on record, trailing only 1956. That result came despite a very dry start to the year, which also included bushfires in regions usually spared such blazes. Rain was South Australia's notable feature, with several severe storms, including one that led to widespread blackouts in September. 2016 was the state's fourth wettest and Adelaide's second-wettest year. Overall, the hottest national temperature readings came in the Pilbara, with 47.8 degrees set in consecutive days in February. Coramba on the NSW Mid North Coast, posted the highest 24-hour rainfall total, collecting 430 mm in June. Another notable wet spot was the Australian territory of Christmas Island, which posted its wettest year on record with 5120.8mm, exceeding the previous record set in 1978 by more than one metre. Across the Top End, the wet season was relatively dry and the dry season unusually wet. Northern Australia also had its lowest number of tropical cyclones on record, with just three in the 2015-16 summer. One Nation leader Pauline Hanson has distanced herself from a potential party candidate, after he was involved in a scuffle with rogue West Australian senator Rod Culleton, as the party seeks to establish itself ahead of the upcoming state election. Senator Culleton said he was recovering from an "unexpected attack" outside a Perth courthouse on Tuesday, after falling during a confrontation with Anthony Fels, a former WA parliamentarian and One Nation hopeful. Mr Fels had attempted to serve Senator Culleton with court papers, as part of an ongoing financial dispute between the Senator and his former business partners. Senator Culleton took to Twitter to release a statement alleging he had been assaulted outside the court, with "no warning" before he was "ambushed and knocked to the ground from behind", adding he had "growing concerns" for his family safety. Newly released emails show former prime minister Kevin Rudd skirted senior US officials in an attempt to secure a meeting with then secretary of state Hillary Clinton, surprising her powerful senior adviser Huma Abedin and diplomats. The latest release of the former Democratic presidential candidate's State Department emails show Ms Abedin warned Mrs Clinton about Mr Rudd's unusual approach in December 2011, saying the then Labor foreign minister had directly sought a bilateral meeting through her office. The move, 18 months after Mr Rudd was deposed as prime minister by Julia Gillard, surprised then US ambassador to Australia Jeffery Bleich and assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Kurt Campbell, as an apparent departure from protocol. In an email titled "Warning", Ms Abedin said Mrs Clinton's staff had said no to Mr Rudd's request and were trying to "buy some time to figure out" the situation. Leslie Jones has spoken out after the man who bullied her off Twitter (and was subsequently banned from the website) received a book deal. White nationalist and alt-right poster boy Milo Yiannopoulos has landed a massive book deal with a reported US$250,000 ($346,000) advance, prompting many to criticise publisher Simon & Schuster for elevating the voice of the notorious Breitbart editor. Leslie Jones temporarily left Twitter after being targeted by torrents of vile abuse. Credit:Michael Tran Yiannopoulos made headlines last year when he was permanently banned from Twitter for organising a targeted racist and sexist harassment campaign against Ghostbusters and Saturday Night Live star Leslie Jones. The website's technology editor was responsible for drumming up hatred against the star, with his followers sending in tweets comparing her to a gorilla and insulting her appearance in mid-July. Since divorcing the now 85-year-old Rupert Murdoch in 2013, after 13 years of marriage, it's clear that businesswoman Wendi Deng has been living her best life. When rumours weren't circulating about her dance card in 2016 (she supposedly dated Vladimir Putin and Tony Blair), Deng won the year with her own Eat, Pray, Love journey that peaked when she attended the famous Burning Man festival. Wendi Murdoch attends the MoMA Film Benefit presented by CHANEL. Credit:Nicholas Hunt And now Deng has opted to take her relationship age gap in the opposite direction, with the 48-year-old reportedly dating 21-year-old Hungarian model Bertold Zahoran since last May. The New Year brought a new level of visibility to their romance, with the pair photographed holding hands and hugging while vacationing in St. Bart's last week. Both daughters from her relationship with Murdoch - Grace, 15, and Chloe, 13 - joined their mother on the holiday, along with model and friend of Deng, Karlie Kloss. Chopper pilot Matt O'Brien says: "There's a lot to go through before the decision to put your crewman in any danger." Credit:Nick Moir The view from the camera mounted on Molnar's helmet shows a picture-perfect day. But a powerful swell has swept a fisherman into the water and is dashing him against the rocks in front of his distressed friends. "I didn't spot the [patient] at first for a while," Molnar says. "The wash makes it difficult to spot [him]." There are two aerial surf rescue helicopters that operate along Sydney's coast and southern NSW, and perform an average of 600 rescues each year. Credit:Nick Moir Molnar is knocked over by waves, pushed onto rocks and has a fin ripped off before he is finally able to secure a harness around the unconscious 30-year-old man and signal to the air crewman to haul them up to the helicopter. The crewmen, who later received bravery awards, resuscitated the man and handed him to paramedics who were able to get his heart beating again. But he later died as a result of brain injury following oxygen deprivation. The surf rescue helicopter is often busiest on days when the ocean is deceptively calm. Credit:Nick Moir Molnar plays other footage of swimmers in conditions over their heads and even walkers who have taken a wrong turn and ended up stranded on a cliff. Inside the Sydney Westpac Life Saver Helicopter Base at Cape Banks. Credit:Nick Moir One of the most dangerous spots for rock fishing is in front of the Sydney Westpac Life Saver Helicopter Base at Cape Banks. A sign, which features a skull-and-crossbones and is translated into Korean, Vietnamese and Chinese, warns in uncompromising terms of the perils of rock fishing, with a changeable death tally that currently reads four. Anglers who do not wear safety gear risk a $100 fine. New laws came into operation on December 1. "Most of our rescues are right along here," O'Brien says, including a rock fisherman who was winched to safety at Yellow Rock in December. However, the rescuers were unable to find his friend, who was not wearing a lifejacket. His body resurfaced some days later. Seventeen rock fishers have drowned in the Randwick Council area in recent years. Surf Life Saving NSW recorded 80 drownings from rock fishing between 2006 and 2016, second only to 125 swimming fatalities. A 2015 NSW coronial inquest into the deaths of nine anglers was told each rock fishing fatality costs the community between $450,000 and $600,000. There are two aerial surf rescue helicopters (known as Lifesaver21 and Lifesaver 23) that operate along Sydney's coast and southern NSW. They perform an average of 600 rescues each year. High winds and storms do not prevent a chopper rescue although heavy fog can cause difficulties. Sometimes a rescue crewman may be dropped in to stay with a patient if conditions become too dangerous for the aircraft. Once a call is received, the response of the aerial surf rescue team is lightning-quick. "If it's a water job, the [rescue swimmer] will go straight in and put his wet suit on," O'Brien says. "As that's happening, the crewman is wheeling the helicopter out. I'll finish up the phone call and follow the helicopter as it goes out. The rescue swimmer will come out, jump on board and we're gone in three to four minutes." With a top speed of 100 knots (or around 185 km/h) and a tail wind, O'Brien, an emergency services pilot with more than two decades' experience, says he can fly to a rescue site in as little as 30 seconds. Once there, the crew devises a rescue plan, which O'Brien says they must all agree: "There's a lot to go through before the decision to put your crewman in any danger." Rescue methods include the "snatch and grab", which involves the chopper hovering directly over the patient while the rescue crewman descends and plucks them out of the water. If access is impeded or a person is close to cliffs, the rescue swimmer is attached to the aircraft with a floating line that allows them to swim towards a patient. On rare occasions, O'Brien says a patient will also be asked to jump into the water if a vessel is about to be smashed into rocks. During the summer months, the aerial surf rescuers respond on average to two or three calls every day. O'Brien says the surf rescue helicopter is often busiest on days when the ocean is deceptively calm, rather than roiling with huge swells and big surf. "It will be rock fishermen, surfers and sometimes the swells just get up and they're just not prepared for it," he says. "A rogue wave will come through, grab someone and pluck them into the water. And when you're fully clothed, that's when you're really going to struggle to swim." In contrast, he says: "When you have these horrendous conditions most people tend to be smarter now and they don't go out." However, the wild weather and huge waves that pummelled the NSW coast in June eroding about 50 metres of Narrabeen and Collaroy beaches, and damaging the Coogee Surf Life Saving Club created plenty of work for the aerial surf rescue. In one day O'Brien piloted 13 rescues including surfers at Manly, kayakers at Bundeena and body boarders at Little Bay. "We bounced from one rescue to the next and the next," he says. "It was one of the busiest days we've had in a long time. "At Manly unfortunately there were people thinking 'What an opportunity to get the big wave'. I'm not one to say everyone out of the water. There are guys who can surf 60-foot [18-metre] waves." Surprisingly, the rescuers are not always met with gratitude. Patients may be embarrassed or worried about the cost of being plucked from the water even though the rescue service is a not-for-profit. "And in the aircraft they're thinking, 'When's the credit card machine coming out?' That never happens," O'Brien says. Townsville residents are so afraid of young thugs committing crimes they've called for all youths to be banned from venturing outdoors at night. Two petitions with almost 7000 signatures asked for a street curfew in the Townsville area for people aged 16 and under between 11pm and 5am, unless accompanied by an adult, parent or guardian, or unless they had a valid reason. Almost 7000 people have signed a petition calling for young people to be subject to a curfew in Townsville. Credit:Angela Wylie The petitioners pleaded for help with the "continual issue of juveniles out on the streets of Townsville causing havoc and committing crimes against the residents, ranging from, but not excluded to assault, break and enter, and vehicle theft." They suggested exceptions could be for children going to work, if they were "granted permission to attend movies, friend's place etc", waiting for pick up by an adult or travelling directly from point A to point B. Two teenage boys have been charged over a serious assault at Surfers Paradise, which has left a 21-year-old man in hospital fighting for his life. The young man was walking with a friend about 2am on Tuesday along Ferny Avenue, when another group of males verbally abused them. Police allege two boys from that group, aged 14 and 16, followed the 21-year-olds and assaulted them. One of the 21-year-olds was allegedly punched in the back of the head and he fell, hitting his head on the concrete. Gold Coast Acting Assistant Commissioner Drew Hebbron said Queensland Ambulance Service's acute care paramedics and a critical care paramedic were on the scene just six minutes after receiving the call. After 15 years of development, an Israeli tech firm hopes it will finally get its 1500 kg passenger-carrying drone off the ground and into the market by 2020. The Cormorant, billed as a flying car, is capable of transporting 500kg of weight and travelling at 185 km/h. Rafi Yoeli, founder and CEO of Urban Aeronautics, stands next to a prototype of the Cormorant, a drone, at the company's workshop in Yavne, Israel. Credit:Reuters It completed its first automated solo flight over terrain in November. Its total price is estimated at $US14 million ($19.4 million). Developers Urban Aeronautics believe the dark green drone, which uses internal rotors rather than helicopter propellers, could evacuate people from hostile environments and/or allow military forces safe access. Looking for bags in the rarefied atmosphere of the Chanel shop on the Avenue Montaigne in Paris, the shop assistant told me only the men's Chanel bag range was designed for a laptop. So this is what a '50s mindset looks like. There is a gap in the luxury market for laptop bags, particularly for women, specifically ones that provide protection against bumps and drops. Most high-end carriers are made from good quality sturdy leather, and have protective metal feet, but typically no padded sections or compartments suspended off the floor for extra protection. When appearance is more important that function: Gucci's laptop bag. But if you are intent on spending an outrageous amount of money on a high-end container for your lappy, here are some options. All are leather, all fabulous quality, and all fit a 28-centimetre MacBook Air. Fendi's DotCom bag (about $3200) has two zippered compartments divided by a stiff partition. It's a beautiful sturdy bag with clean lines, and comes in a range of gorgeous colours from baby pinks and blues to classic black, with a pleasingly thick cross-body strap. Three popular beaches in Melbourne's suburbs will have their water quality tested daily until they can be declared fit for swimming after preliminary testing found storm water pollution and faeces has not dissipated as quickly as experts hoped. Waters tested at St Kilda, Port Melbourne, Frankston Life Saving Club, Mentone and Werribee South - all located near storm water outlets or large waterways - were declared "poor" and unsuitable for swimming by the Environment Protection Authority on Wednesday morning. By Wednesday evening, the water at St Kilda and Werribee South beaches had been declared "fair" rather than "poor". EPA group manager of applied sciences Dr Anthony Boxshall said the authority would test daily, instead of weekly, until it could be declared safe for swimming. The goal of most VCE students is to study at a local university, but students who finish the globally recognised International Baccalaureate diploma can look further afield. The 2282 Australian students who received their IB results on Wednesday have completed a program that can secure them a place at some of the world's best universities. Tintern Grammar IB student Rory Shepherd hopes to study at Cambridge. Credit:Darrian Traynor Tintern Grammar student Rory Shepherd wants to follow in the footsteps of his mother and study at Cambridge University in England. "Throughout my childhood, I knew that was where she had gone and that was something that was possible to aspire to in my family," he said. "If she can go there, then I can put my mind towards it and go there as well." While his score of 39 out of 45 was one below the entrance cut-off to study psychology, he is confident he will get to Cambridge. "There's always a way," he said. West Australian Senator Rod Culleton and his wife on Wednesday afternoon took aim at anyone and everyone they believed was to blame for the fracas that enveloped them outside a Perth court on Tuesday. The senator was at Perth Magistrates Court to file violence restraining order applications against former associates in addition to existing orders. Outside, potential One Nation candidate Anthony Fels had attempted to serve Senator Culleton with court papers, as part of an ongoing financial dispute between the Senator and one of the associates. But an altercation broke out, footage of which shows Mr Culleton tripping and falling to the ground before getting up and heading over to Mr Fels, pulling off his jacket in an apparently aggressive manner. Indonesia's defence minister has sought to play down a suspension of military ties between Australia and Indonesia, stressing it was important to keep a good relationship between the two countries. Defence Minister Ryamizard Ryacudu stressed that Indonesia's relationship with Australia was "fine" after the shock announcement that defence co-operation had been halted after an Indonesian military officer was offended by material at an Australian military base in Perth. The offensive material is understood to include homework that suggested West Papua was part of Melanesia and should be given independence and material that ridiculed Indonesia's national ideology, Pancasila. Mr Ryamizard said he was yet to speak to Defence Minister Marise Payne about the issue but planned to visit Australia at the end of the month. Repubican Representative Dana Rohrabacher, an ally of President-elect Donald Trump and a longtime enthusiast of Russian President Vladimir Putin, said Wednesday that he is planning to lead a congressional delegation to Russia next month and expects to meet with Russian officials to discuss "how we can work with the Duma." "We're going to look at certain goals we can set with our Congress and the Duma," the Russian legislature, Rohrabacher said in an interview. "What could we actually set in the legislature of Russia and in Congress? Could we work together, for example, and cooperate on space activities?" Rohrabacher went on to list the rise of the Islamic State and President Obama's latest round of sanctions against Russia as additional agenda items that he expects to come up during the talks in Moscow. Rohrabacher, a former White House speechwriter for Ronald Reagan who represents Orange County, said Russian leaders are eager to meet with US lawmakers to talk directly about the sanctions and many other lingering political tensions. Slain Bali police officer Wayan Sudarsa. "Christmas and New Year are just other days, it is hard every day," Ms Connor said. "I am innocent and still I have spent the last four months in jail, far from my kids. I want to see them, hug them, be with them." Sara Connor and David Taylor take a walk in Kerobokan jail. Credit:Alan Putra Despite desperately missing her two sons, with whom she is sometimes able to speak on the phone with her lawyer, Ms Connor does not want them to come to Bali. "I don't think it is a good idea to see your mother behind bars," she said. Sara Connor outside Denpasar District Court on Tuesday. Credit:Amilia Rosa At times Ms Connor reaches through the bars and holds hands with her long-time friend, Ambra Bertoldi, who is supporting her in Bali. Ms Connor said she had doubted Mr Sudarsa was a real police officer when he turned around and bit her after she tried to separate the fight. The couple stroll in Kerobokan jail. Credit:Alan Putra "After Dave said he [Mr Sudarsa] was a fake policeman, I really believed maybe he was, because you don't expect a policeman to turn around and attack you." Last month in court Ms Connor questioned whether Mr Sudarsa had been drinking on his shift after a report in the case dossier said his urine had tested positive for ethanol, an indication of alcohol. Sara Connor awaits her fate. "It was a weird reaction to attack us like this," she told Fairfax Media. "It is only supposition, I don't want to make an assumption." Mr Taylor is being tried separately to Ms Connor, although they both face the same alternative charges murder, fatal group assault or assault leading to death. Sara Connor in court n November. Credit:Amilia Rosa The British DJ has admitted to hitting the police officer with binoculars and a beer bottle, but insists he was acting in self defence. Ms Connor has said she was searching for her missing handbag at the time and did not see the blows being laid. However she "never doubted" Mr Taylor when he told her Mr Sudarsa has just "passed out" on the beach. "It was just an exchange of punches. Also David had no idea this was such a serious outcome," she said. Ms Connor says the couple were accused of running away after Mr Sudarsa's death but insists they were completely oblivious to what had happened. Initially, police had been searching for Ms Connor, whose cards were found at the crime scene, and another man, who it was later revealed had not even been in Bali. "They were not even looking for David," Ms Connor said. "When I talked to my friends that's when they told me: 'You are on all the news, they found your card and now they are looking for you and [the other man]'. I was so confused and I couldn't put these two things together ... let alone that a person had died." On August 19 Ms Connor and Mr Taylor went to the Australian Consulate in Bali. "They said we have to go to the police to explain and I said: 'Of course'." Ms Connor's trial was adjourned on Tuesday until next week after prosecution witnesses failed to show up. She told reporters outside the court she was disappointed the case was taking so long. "I just can't wait until everything is over and done and the truth finally comes out. "I am worried because it is a different legal system but I want to believe the judges will be fair and will judge by the facts and the evidence and not by other influence and other pressures." Washington: If you want to send a message, the first one is the most crucial. House Republicans appeared to forget this simple notion about the power of first impressions when they moved to rein in the independent Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) created eight years ago - at least until they reversed course less than 24 hours later and decided to back off their plan. The original vote was made during a GOP conference meeting behind closed doors on Monday and was slated to be publicly voted on during the first day of the Republican-controlled 115th Congress. Before their stunning reversal on Tuesday, House Republicans sought to rename the office, put it under the oversight of the House Ethics Committee, prohibit it from employing a spokesman, and not allow the office, the Washington Post reported, to "investigate anonymous tips or refer criminal wrongdoing to prosecutors without the express consent of the Ethics Committee, which would gain the power to summarily end any OCE probe". For full functionality of this site it is necessary to enable JavaScript. Here are the instructions how to enable JavaScript in your web browser BONAIRE:--- A 23-year-old man identified only as J.T who is wanted on the island of Bonaire for a shooting was captured by police January 3rd, 2017 says the spokesman for the Prosecutors Office Gino Bernadina. Bernadina said the suspect was born on the island of Curacao and he was arrested around 5 pm in the neighborhood of Tera Kora in Bonaire. He is suspected of being involved in a shooting incident whereby another male was injured. The victim to taken to Maria Del Hospital around 2:30 pm on January 3rd. According to Bernadina, the vehicle that transported the victim to the hospital had several bullet holes. Police have confiscated the vehicle in connection with the ongoing investigation. Prosecutor's Press Release. Minister of Finance met with Council General of China to discuss Pearl of China and other matters. PHILIPSBURG:--- Prime Minister William Marlin expressed his concerns to the family of the 14-year-old boy who was badly injured during the year-end celebrations when a firecracker exploded in his hand leaving him severely injured. Marlin said on December 30th, 2016 he along with the Minister of VROMI spend most of the day regulating some issues with Firefly, yet someone managed to bring in fireworks and sold them illegally. The Prime Minister said that while he does not know who sold the firecracker that did not meet the regulations and also did not have a permit to bring in firecrackers government now have to investigate who brought in the firecrackers and who gave it to the 14-year-old. He said on that day the Prosecutors and the fire department spent an entire day to regulate the sale of fireworks that falls under the law. He said Firefly followed the procedures in order to sell fireworks. Marlin said despite all of that someone managed to import illegal fireworks and sold it, leaving a young man with lifetime injuries. While a 14-year old is severely injured neither the Prosecutor's Office or the Police (KPSM) have taken the lead in investigating the case. Spokesman for the Prosecutors Office Gino Bernadina told SMN News on Wednesday afternoon that no investigation into this case is being conducted, the same was also confirmed by Police Spokesman Ricardo Henson. Apart from that, the Prime Minister told members of media on Wednesday that the current coalition government is hoping that they will last the full four-year term and such they expect to work much harder on several issues affecting the people. Marlin said one of the things he intends to discuss with the incoming Minister of TEATT is the issuance of a hulp chauffeur license. He said these past weeks he has been filling in for that Minister he realized that several persons requested such a license months ago and only now he is signing off on them. The Prime Minister said that this is something that could be processed in a day or two. He made clear that a hulp chauffeur license is not the same thing like giving out lease land, however, its a license that is given to holders of bus and taxi licenses that needs a hulp chauffeur probably for health reasons. The Prime Minister also announced that the Minister of Finance Richard Gibson Sr traveled to Curacao to meet with the Council General of China to further discuss the cooperation between the two countries and the Pearl of China project. Marlin said he also had to attend the meeting but could not thus leaving the Minister of Finance to attend the meeting alone. Marlin said that even though the island is small there are some challenges with the Pearl of China project but he does believe that the project will kick off soon and it will do St. Maarten good since the types of investment will bring more monies and create jobs for the country. PHILIPSBURG:--- SMCP wishes the people of Sint Maarten a blessed New Year and good governance throughout 2017. We pray that our Parliamentarians will raise the bar in Parliament and that the Council of Ministers will adhere to the principles of transparency, accountability, integrity, responsiveness, efficiency, effectiveness and the rule of law that result in good governance. After a relatively long government formation process, Sint Maarten got a new government or Council of Ministers almost three months after the parliamentary elections that were held on September 26th 2016. In the six-member Cabinet (the seventh member still being screened) four of the Ministers were, up until December 20th, active parliamentarians until they tendered their resignations in order to accept the position of minister. Three of these ministers namely, the Honorable William Marlin, Silveria Jacobs and Emil Lee, functioned simultaneously as Ministers and Members of Parliament, since October 31st 2016, when the recently elected parliamentarians were sworn in by the Governor. According to article 34 sub 4 of our State Regulation or Constitution, a minister elected as a Member of Parliament may combine the office of Minister with membership of Parliament for a maximum of three months following his admission to Parliament. However, since Ministers Marlin, Jacobs and Lee tendered their resignations as members of Parliament and were sworn in on December 20th as Ministers in the new Marlin Cabinet, their three seats in Parliament have since become vacant. In other words, with their resignation and immediate their appointment of ministers, the NA/USP/DP coalition now only has the support of seven members in parliament. Hence, we can conclude that the current Government does not have the support of the majority in parliament. The fourth parliamentarian, who was sworn in as minister in the 2nd Marlin Cabinet, is the Honorable Christopher Emmanuel. As he also resigned as a member of parliament his seat in parliament therefore also became vacant as per December 20th 2017. Conclusion! There are currently four parliamentary seats that are vacant which means that the NA/USP/DP Government, after the resignation of the Honorable Christopher Emmanuel, now only has the support of six parliamentarians. Consequently, any decisions that need to be taken in Parliament will require the support and cooperation of the UP parliamentarians. A similar scenario is currently playing out in the parliament of Curacao which politicians are referring to as a constitutional crisis. On December 27th 2016, the Curacao Chronicle reported that there was a constitutional crisis in Government, due to the fact that the vacant seats in the Parliament of Curacao had not yet been filled by new parliamentarians and as such the governing coalition did not have a majority in parliament. The Chronicle went on to say that according to political experts, the ministers should have given up their seats in Parliament first and then waited until the new MPs are sworn in before taking the oath as the new government. The experts also indicated that the solution is very simple, but the government will need the help of the opposition. Parliament could call a public meeting where the new MPs could present their credentials and take the oath. Such meeting was planned for Wednesday, but the opposition must be part of a quorum. Indeed, the situation on Sint Maarten is very similar. Four members of parliament have tendered their resignations and subsequently have been sworn in as ministers, leaving four seats vacant in parliament that are yet to be filled. Consequently, the NA/USP/DP coalition government no longer enjoys the support of a majority in parliament and therefore will need to depend on the opposition, namely the UP parliamentarians, in order to be able to conduct the peoples business in the House of Parliament. Conclusion: in truth and in fact the situation on Sint Maarten can also be considered a constitutional crisis. It seems to me that the time period between the resignation of a parliamentarian and the filling of his/her vacant seat needs to be better regulated in the Election Ordinance. This is definitely an item that should to be included in the much needed electoral reform. Without the cooperation of the UP parliamentarians this constitutional crisis could have serious consequences for the functioning of parliament and the continuity of government. For example, just to be able to hold a public meeting, the six-member NA/USP/DP coalition will need to have at least eight members sign the attendance list. Of course, according to the Rules of Order of Parliament, article 29 sub 3, a meeting, called for the third time, can be held, regardless of the number of members in attendance. If the five-member UP-Party Opposition in Parliament would choose not to cooperate with the Coalition, governing the country could become a tedious process. In order not to impede the governing process the SMCP is calling on the UP parliamentarians to cooperate with the current minority NA/USP/DP coalition so that the vacant NA seats can be filled and the government can once again enjoy a majority in parliament. Sint Maarten is not ready or willing to go back to the polls so soon. Wycliffe Smith Leader of the Sint Maarten Christian Party Claim: Glen Eagles hospital issued an urgent warning because seven women have died after sniffing perfume samples received in the mail. Rating: About this rating False Advertisment: A warning about women killed by poisoned perfume samples surfaced in e-mail in mid-October 2001, a month after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and versions of it have periodically circulated since then in various online forms: Very Important ! URGENT News from Glen Eagles Hospital URGENT !!!!! Seven women have died after inhaling a free perfume sample that was mailed to them. The product was poisonous . If you receive free samples in the mail such as lotions, perfumes, diapers etc. throw them away . The government is afraid that this might be another terrorist act . They will not announce it in the news because they do not want to create panic or give the terrorists new ideas. Send this Fwd: to all your friends and family members. Diane J. Ford Office of the Chief of Police Office of Risk Management 101 M Street, SW Washington, DC Anthrax poison in Tide detergent packs coming through the mail. Do not open or use, 7 dead already. This is real not a chain letter. Alert !!!!!DO NOT OPEN ANY FREE Colonges, lotions, soaps or any products, such as this, that might be in your mailbox or offered to you free, anywhere in public places. If you smell these you could die. I had a text alert come to me through my Verizon Phone from a Goverment Agent, just as probally a lot of you have. It is serious!! They think this is another terrorist attack. It Is legit TO ALL FACEBOOK FRIENDS : CNN has issued a warning!!!! If you get anything in the mail pertaining to Tide (Detergent) DON'T OPEN IT! Toss It immediately (ANTHRAX) 7 people have died !!1 Please do not take this lightly !!! There was nothing to the claim, and no such deaths occurred. Its premise that the government was keeping such news from the public so as not to cause panic was rather far-fetched, given that at the time Attorney General John Ashcroft was repeating vague warnings about further terrorist activity to come and the media's fascination with reporting the anthrax spore mailings that eventually killed five people. Even if the government had the power to keep such news under wraps, is it at all reasonable to believe seven grieving families would have stayed completely silent about the deaths of their loved ones? By 2010, the alert had morphed into one warning against all manner of samples offered to consumers, either placed in their mailboxes or handed to them directly. At that time as well, Tide detergent samples were particularly singled out, usually with the assertion that they contained anthrax. By January 2012, the warning about Tide detergent samples was being spread by cell phone text message. These subsequent rumors were also false. This baseless bit of scarelore appeared to be a combination of two older, equally unfounded pieces of the same genre: the perfume robbers tale (women in parking lots lured into sniffing cut-rate perfume lose consciousness and are robbed while they're out) and the Klingerman virus scare (blue virus-laden sponges mailed in envelopes marked "A gift for you from the Klingerman Foundation" have caused 23 deaths). But lore moves forward with the times, so this newer caution incorporated "terrorists" (presumably Middle Eastern) into the mix. One of the ways we cope with terrifying times is to try to fill in the gaps of the unknown. In frantic pursuit of this goal, misinformation and information are accorded almost the same weight, and rumors and "warnings" speed along on very fast feet indeed. Such heads up as this fallacious e-mail express not only fears about deadly substances arriving by mail, but they also help us feel better about having to live in such dangerous times through the reduction of a nebulous lurking threat to a matter of something that can be dealt with. "Beware of perfume samples" is far less indistinct (and thus far less unsettling) than "Beware of all mail," let alone the anxiety-ridden reality of "We don't know where, when, or how the next attack will occur, so be wary of everything." In early 2002, this particular warning received a shot in the arm from having been passed through the County Attorney's office of Harris County, Texas. Franchell Plummer, an administrative assistant working for that service received the e-mailed warning from a friend and unthinkingly forwarded it to others in the manner that so many do. Her signature block became incorporated into the alert, with many taking its presence there as a sign that the information contained in the warning had been vetted by a state attorney's office and that indeed this was an official warning about a real and verified threat. It wasn't real; it was a case of a low-level employee's forwarding baseless scaremail to others. Ms. Plummer was officially reprimanded for her act, and the Harris County Attorney's office disavowed the e-mail and told everyone who called to ask that it was a hoax. A version that completed with the tagline "JHU Office of Communications & Public Affairs" has been similarly disclaimed by that institution. According to Dennis O'Shea, executive director of communications and public affairs at The Johns Hopkins University, "This warning message was not issued by my office nor has my office in any way authorized it or any message like it." In June 2010 a version of this hoax prefaced with an "URGENT News from Gleneagles Hospital" headline surfaced and was disseminated not only via e-mail but also through cell phone text messages and Facebook posts. The rumor spread widely enough that Gleneagles Hospital and Medical Centre (which is based in Singapore) posted a disclaimer on their web site: Recently, an email and short message service (SMS) has been circulating amongst members of the public pertaining to a poisonous perfume sample which caused the death of seven women upon inhalation and exposure. It was purportedly sent by a person who claimed to be an employee of Gleneagles Hospital Limited, on behalf of the hospital, in order to warn the public as these seven women were supposedly admitted and treated at Gleneagles Hospital. We understand the panic and mystification that this email has caused and the public's need to seek verification and consolation from a reliable medical institution such as ours. Thus, we would like to highlight that we have never admitted or treated such patients and have never been aware of such incidences. We would also like to categorically state that this email did not originate from our Hospital and / or any of our employees, current or otherwise. In addition, we declare that no one was ever at any time commissioned or authorised by the Hospital to deliver and circulate such warnings. Further to this, we would also like to point out that our registered company name is Gleneagles Hospital (Kuala Lumpur) Sdn. Bhd. (Co. No. 198498-T) and we were never at any point known as Gleneagles Hospital Limited as claimed in the email. This email hoax first surfaced five years ago, and we had posted a statement on the GIMC website to clarify and inform members of the public that the contents of the email were a hoax. In view of the above, we sincerely hope that all members of the public who had read this email and our clarification will inform everyone around them that this is a hoax and urge everyone to ignore and delete such emails in the future. Thank you. A variant of this scare which began circulating in mid-2010 cautioned about mailed samples of Tide brand detergent supposedly containing anthrax. In January 2011, that scare was spread by text messages sent to cell phones, some of them asserting "It was on CNN today!" Those warnings were equally spurious no such incidents have been reported (on CNN or elsewhere), and Tide company representatives stated that: I can 100% confirm that the text message going around is not true. From time to time people do this kind of thing as a prank, unfortunately there is little we can do other than to share the fact that this is completely unfounded. If you are concerned or want further reassurance please contact our Consumer Relations team on: 1-800-879-8433 On or around 12 April 2016, the warning (reproduced as images above) began circulating on Facebook. Once again, it held that "Glen Eagles" hospital had warned that seven women had died after inhaling perfume samples sent to them via mail. The warning was widely shared across the United States, despite most sharers not knowing what or where "Glen Eagles" hospital might be. Many versions of the claim added speculation that ISIS might be behind the attacks, or that the news media had kept a lid on the seven deaths so as not to inspire terrorism or cause panic. No dates, cause of death, mechanism of poisoning, or other details were provided about the purported tainted perfume samples and their relationship with "Glen Eagles," nor did those warnings anyone explain why seven women and one hospital had been targeted in the scheme. In 2013, Malaysia's My Star published an article about the recurring e-mail hoax and its move to social media: FireMon Announces Future Support for Check Point R80 Devices OVERLAND PARK, KS and DALLAS, TX (Marketwired) 01/03/17 FireMon, the global leader in Network Security Policy Management (NSPM), today confirmed its intention to support Check Point R80 security management. It is the latest addition to the list of supported technologies that also includes Cisco, F5 Networks, Fortinet, Intel Security (McAfee), Juniper, and Palo Alto Networks. FireMons Intelligent Security Management is a comprehensive approach to policy and risk analysis, automated change management through our industry-leading framework and security analytics and monitoring. FireMon anticipates that customers with Check Point R80 will gain the ability to centrally manage their multi-device, multi-vendor environments within FireMon Security Manager to: monitor rule usage and network traffic behavior, track and plan changes more intelligently, assess policies for compliance with industry regulations and best practices and analyze policies for potential vulnerabilities and attack paths. FireMon continues to lead the industry and stay on the cutting edge of development working with the widest range of security products to reduce the complexity experienced by enterprise IT security teams, said Jeremy Martin Vice President of Product Development, FireMon. We will keep the long-standing commitment to our customers and support their security environments, regardless of the security products they have in place and plan to deliver complete support for R80 policy management with the release of the APIs scheduled for February 2017. FireMon solutions deliver continuous visibility into and control over network security infrastructure, policies, and risk. Using Intelligent Security Management from FireMon, todays enterprise organizations, government agencies, and managed services providers dramatically improve effectiveness of network defenses, optimizing investments and speeding response to changing business demands. For more information, visit . PRESS CONTACTS: US: Paula Brici UK: Bethany Smith Smart Night Lighter Charger Adapter Puts a New Light on Apple and Android Phone Charging LAS VEGAS, NV (Marketwired) 01/03/17 Smart Red Limited, a developer of innovative devices for mobile phones will preview Smart Night Lighter, the first charger adapter with dual lights that make it easy to connect and charge your mobile device in the dark. Smart Night Lighter (SNL) features both Android and Apple MFI certified (made for iPhones/iPad) versions. SNL is an economic breakthrough. People wont need to buy expensive product specific charging cables ever again, said Don Baker, vice president of marketing for Smart Red Limited. In addition, forward lighting on the adapter makes connecting and charging at night easier and safer, no tripping on cords in the dark. The product doubles as a night light, and was developed to help prevent trips and falls for people who need to get up often at night, like my parents, added Baker. The Smart Night Lighter utility patent distinguishes it from other charging adapters by allowing users to connect to any Android cable, flat or round, at any length and to over 1900 types of Apple or Android based Smart phones worldwide. The 1500 lumens forward four white LED light also has a secondary Ambiance/Mood light in the sides that is relaxing and can lead to deeper sleep. Smart Night Lighter cables will also be available that are Android based only, but will fit either the Android or Apple adapter version. Smart Cables include more copper wiring for higher charging speed. Cables will be available in PVC white, or braided nylon black and white in readymade sets of three different sizes convenient for either home, office or car. The Android tip can also charge all USB micro chargers such as power banks, digital cameras, handheld GPS, and millions of electronic gadgets with a USB micro charger outlet, stated Baker. The Smart Night Lighter will be on display during CES at Smart Red Limited booth, Sands Hotel Exposition, Hall G-52607. For more information or advance orders for this innovative product, visit . The product launched January 2, 2017 on Kickstarter, the worlds largest funding platform for tech products. Demonstration of the SNL can be seen on a video located at . SMART RED LIMITED (SRL) is a manufacturer based in Hong Kong, China, known for branding, trademark, design and utilities patents, copyrighting, and global licensing. Embedded Video Available: Company Contact Smart Red Limited Don Baker Vice President, Marketing 805-795-3778 Media Contact Carol Bardia Bardia International 949-370-8255 Phenom People Reports Strong Performance in 2016 HORSHAM, PA (Marketwired) 01/04/17 , the leader in Talent Relationship Marketing, today shared details of the strong momentum it has achieved throughout 2016. With a growing client base, major product releases and updates, new high-level talent, and industry recognition for its solutions, the company is well positioned for continued growth and success in 2017. Phenom People was founded to make the crucial connections between people looking for their dream jobs, and progressive companies seeking the best talent possible, said Mahe Bayireddi, CEO of Phenom People. As we continue to expand the possibilities of what Talent Relationship Marketing can be, creating new ways for companies to deliver a more intuitive recruiting process, more employers and the industry at large have taken notice. We are thrilled to report such positive results in 2016 and look forward to building on this momentum in the year ahead. Throughout 2016, Phenom People welcomed many new, high-profile clients eager to leverage the , its advanced platform to help provide candidates with a better experience in their job search and application process, while enabling recruiters and talent acquisition professionals to be more productive in their candidate searches. New clients added in 2016 include The Hershey Company, AMN Healthcare, IPG Media, General Motors, Delaware North and Mitchell Martin. Key to their selection of the Phenom TRM Cloud is Phenom Peoples commitment to continually improving the platform and adding new features to further enhance the end-to-end recruitment experience. In 2016, the company unveiled three major features, including: : This feature enables employers to easily edit their career sites and add new pages and drag-and-drop text, images and videos. As a result, companies can better highlight their unique employer brands, helping to attract right-fit candidates. : With this new mobile app, recruiters can view candidates and communicate with them directly from their mobile devices to drive the recruiting process forward, anywhere and at any time. : Through this browser extension, users can easily clip profiles directly into the Phenom People Real-time CRM, bringing additional efficiency to how they find and advance the best talent. Phenom People also made significant updates to its existing functionality, introducing the second version of its CRM platform, which includes a new user interface. The company also enhanced its analytics platform, offering new metrics and features to help clients continually fine-tune and improve their recruiting strategies. The TRM Cloud Platform received significant recognition in 2016, most notably being named a by Human Resource Executive magazine. The platform received this distinction for providing candidates with an easy and intuitive experience, while enabling recruiters and hiring managers to streamline key recruiting processes throughout the entire talent relationship lifecycle. To further guide the companys growth, Phenom People appointed highly accomplished business leader as vice president of International Business & Partnerships. Leveraging an extensive background in business development for companies including Kenexa and IBM, Carey is responsible for developing and executing Phenom Peoples international sales and partnership strategies, a key initiative as the company looks toward 2017. Overall, 2016 was a tremendous year for us as we continue our mission to redefine what it means to search for a job and recruit top talent, said Bayireddi. Our successes in 2016 from product enhancements and industry recognition to new clients and team members set the stage for continued momentum. We look forward introducing even more cutting-edge product enhancements and further growth throughout 2017 and beyond. Phenom People, the leader in Talent Relationship Marketing, helps companies attract phenomenal talent through personalized digital experiences. The Phenom People Talent Relationship Marketing Platform automates the complex process of driving awareness, interest, engagement, and acquisition for qualified talent. Phenom People helps some of the largest brands in the world attract phenomenal talent including AMN Healthcare, Citrix, Deloitte, General Motors, Hershey, Informatica and IPG Media. For more information, please visit or learn more about Talent Relationship Marketing. Chipolo Introduces the Worlds Tiniest and Thinnest Bluetooth Trackers, Chipolo Sticker and Chipolo Clip, for Small But Important Belongings LAS VEGAS, NV (Marketwired) 01/04/17 At the 2017 International Consumer Electronics Show, , announces the launch of Chipolo Sticker and Chipolo Clip. With a smaller and a thinner Bluetooth tracker than any competitor on the market, these two new Internet of Things tags minimize the bulky feel of Bluetooth trackers and help consumers keep tabs on compact items like glasses or a wallet. In addition to expanding its line of hardware, Chipolo is also launching the Chipolo Platform, which allows any company to integrate its products with Chipolos Lost & Found Network. At about the size of a paper clip, Chipolo Sticker is the worlds smallest wireless tracking device. It is perfect for users who want to track items that have a small surface area and cant easily attach to a traditional Bluetooth tracker, like a pair of glasses, a remote or headphones. While Chipolo Sticker is 63 percent smaller than its predecessor, the , its 85-decibel melody still packs a punch. Chipolo Sticker is the first tracking device with built-in wireless charging capabilities powered by Energous Corporations . WattUp is a revolutionary radio frequency (RF)-based charging solution that provides over-the-air power to quickly charge Chipolo Sticker. Chipolo Clip, the second new product launching at CES, is the worlds thinnest battery-powered tracking device, which is 28 percent slimmer than competitor Tile Slim. It has a 90-decibel volume and is designed to easily attach to a student ID or passport. Users can take off the removable clip so its fits comfortably into a wallet too. Its non-replaceable battery lasts 12 months, and after that time, users can replace their Chipolo Clip with a new one for 50 percent off. Both products pair with the Chipolo app, which is available on and . When a user misplaces an item that is synced with Chipolo, the app can play a loud melody to guide them to the missing item as long as they are within 200 feet of it. If the item is out of Bluetooth range, the Last Known Location feature on the app displays where it was last seen. If a Chipolo is marked as lost and someone in the Chipolo Lost & Found Network comes within range of it, users are notified of its new location. To expand its Lost & Found Network, Chipolo is introducing Chipolo Platform and inviting any company to join its tracking community. With the white-labeled platform, companies can easily extend the value of its products by adding intelligence that lets users locate its product on a map or with sound. Chipolos firmware can be integrated into products that have built-in Bluetooth technology and a speaker, while products without built-in Bluetooth technology can use Chipolos hardware to experience the benefits of the technology. Companies looking to use the Chipolo platform can use Chipolos API to integrate with a company-branded app. By opening our Lost & Found Network for any company to use, customers can take advantage of Chipolos community search feature and join the more than 1 million Chipolo users to be a part of the worlds largest lost and found community, said Tadej Jevsevar, CEO and co-founder of Chipolo. We challenge the ordinary by solving simple problems. Our secure, scalable solution enables every item to have the power of smart location, which brings peace of mind to our users in their everyday lives. Visit Chipolo for a demonstration of its new products at booth 43160 in Sands Hall. Chipolo develops devices that make finding lost items including phones on silent easier. Active in 150 countries worldwide, Chipolo helps users find more than 50,000 misplaced items per day and is building the worlds biggest lost and found community. The company was founded by six high school friends in 2013 and is headquartered in Slovenia. Lauren Jaeger Uproar PR for Chipolo 312-878-4575 x 246 Magento Commerce Receives Investment from Hillhouse Capital to Accelerate Global Expansion and Growth CAMPBELL, CA (Marketwired) 01/04/17 Magento Commerce, the worldwide leader in cloud digital commerce innovation, today announced that Hillhouse Capital will make a $250 million investment in the company to fuel Magentos growth strategy, worldwide expansion of sales, marketing & client support, new product innovation and future acquisitions. Hillhouse is a leading investor known for its long-term investments in companies across all equities stages in China and around the world. Hillhouse is partnering with the Magento management team and the Permira funds, who will continue to own a majority stake in the company, in backing the long-term vision of the company. Since becoming an independent company only one year ago, Magento is already the largest global commerce platform in the world, said Mark Lavelle, CEO of Magento Commerce. Our powerful, cloud-based open platform is supported by a vast global ecosystem of solution integrators and technology partners to enable over 250,000 clients who collectively generate more than $50 billion in annual merchandise volume. But we are only just getting started. Lavelle added, In addition to the capital that will accelerate our growth, this investment brings the experience and long-term perspective of another marquee investor. Both Hillhouse and Permira see that in nearly every industry, there is a major secular acceleration taking place driving demand for digital commerce technology. Yet clients have few options when looking for a company whose sole focus is on digitizing the customer experience across all channels where commercial transactions occur. Magentos goal is to be the leading company for the next generation of commerce innovators, and it is a privilege to have two prominent technology investors backing our vision. Mr. Lei Zhang, Hillhouse Chairman and CEO, said, We see tremendous growth opportunities for Magento globally and specifically in Asia. We are excited to be partnering with such an exceptional management team to continue to build and grow the business over the long-term. Phil Guinand, Partner at Permira, said, Hillhouse is a leading global investor with an incredible reputation and track record of successful investments in some of the worlds fastest growing technology companies. The Permira funds look forward to partnering with Hillhouse to continue supporting the Magento management team as the company builds on its industry-leading brand position and executes its global growth strategy. Following its separation from eBay in November 2015 with the backing of the Permira funds, Magento has assembled a world-class management team and shifted its business strategy with the release of the Magento Commerce Cloud, an advanced public-cloud platform that optimizes the performance, security and extendibility of the popular Magento Enterprise Edition for digital commerce. The platform offers seamless integration with the companys SaaS-based product portfolio; , which enables advanced omni-channel catalog, payment and fulfilment capabilities and the newly acquired . Fueled by the success of the youngest, most flexible and advanced product portfolio on the market today, Magento was again named the number one digital commerce platform on the 2016 Internet Retailer Top 1000, for the fourth consecutive year. Trusted by more than 250,000 businesses worldwide, Magento Commerce is the leading provider of cloud commerce innovation to merchants and brands across B2C and B2B industries. In addition to its flagship open source digital commerce platform, Magento Commerce boasts a strong portfolio of cloud-based omni-channel solutions empowering merchants to successfully integrate digital and physical shopping experiences. With over $50 billion in gross merchandise volume transacted on the platform annually, Magento Commerce is the #1 provider to the Internet Retailer Top 1000, counting more than double the clients to the next closest competitor, the B2B 300, and the Top 500 Guides for Europe and Latin America. Magento Commerce is supported by a vast global network of solution and technology partners, a highly active global developer community and the largest eCommerce marketplace for extensions available for download on the Magento Marketplace. More information can be found at . Permira is a global investment firm that finds and backs successful businesses with ambition. Founded in 1985, the firm advises funds with a total committed capital of approximately EUR31 billion. The Permira funds make long-term investments in companies with the ambition of transforming their performance and driving sustainable growth. In the past 31 years, the Permira funds have made over 200 private equity investments in five key sectors: Consumer, Financial Services, Healthcare, Industrials and Technology. Permira employs over 200 people in 14 offices across North America, Europe and Asia. The Permira funds have a long track record of successfully investing in technology companies around the world. Since 1997, over a third of the Permira funds investments have been in the core sector of Technology. For more information, visit: . Founded in 2005, Hillhouse Capital is a leading global investment management firm, active across both public and private equity. Hillhouse invests for the long-term and is focused on partnering with leading entrepreneurs to deliver sustained value creation. Independent proprietary research, supported by its global network of operating advisors and portfolio development professionals, is key to Hillhouses investment approach. Hillhouse focuses on consumer, TMT, healthcare and business services sectors and invests in companies across all equity stages. Based in Asia, Hillhouse manages over $20 billion in assets on behalf of institutional clients such as university endowments, foundations, sovereign wealth funds, and family offices. Lite Access Technologies Provides Update on United Kingdom Expansion VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA (Marketwired) 01/04/17 Note to editors: There is a photo associated with this press release. LITE ACCESS TECHNOLOGIES INC. (the Company) (TSX VENTURE: LTE)(OTC PINK: LTCCF), a total integrated fibre optic solutions provider, is pleased to provide an update on its international expansion to the United Kingdom. In its first 100 days in operation in the UK, Lite Access Technologies UK Ltd. (LATUK) has been incorporated as a company, set up offices and storage facilities, hired and trained staff in North Wales and invested significant capital in new plant and equipment to support its first customer deployments in connection with a major operator rolling out superfast, fibre to the home in the UK. LATUK has completed over 100 homes of a large-scale project for a major UK network operator in a new roll out area in Wrexham, Wales. The Company is also pleased to announce the appointment of Dylan Griffiths to the position of Managing Director of Lite Access Technologies UK Ltd. Mr. Griffiths, formerly the Companys Chief Operating Officer, is currently establishing the Companys business to provide advanced network installation services to the telecommunications industry in the United Kingdom. A former British Telecommunications Engineer with more than 25 years of fibre optic experience, Dylan has established a strong track record of securing long-term relationships with telecoms, internet service providers (ISPs) and municipalities, and of successfully establishing construction teams that strive to be innovative and professional in their approach to fibre network implementation. Our decision to enter into the UK market has proven to be a successful and ever expanding initiative, stated Mike Plotnikoff, CEO of Lite Access. After extensive due diligence and forming strategic relationships with flexible and forward thinking companies, our proven technologies and method of installation, namely micro-trenching, is regarded as the solution of choice for fibre connectivity and enables rapid installation for aggressive fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) rollouts that are underway in many parts of the world. About FTTX Fibre to the Premise (FTTX) and Fibre to the Home (FTTH), sometimes referred to as the last mile, is the delivery of a communications signal over optical fibre from the operators switching equipment all the way to a home or business, thereby replacing existing copper infrastructure such as telephone wires or coaxial cable. FTTX is a rapidly growing method of providing vastly higher bandwidth to consumers and businesses, and thereby enabling more robust video, internet and voice services. Billions of dollars are being spent to upgrade communications systems and the demand for the Fibre-Optic cable manufacturing and deployment industry has surged as downstream customers upgrade infrastructure that was delayed during the recession. Wireless carriers are expanding their fiber-optic cable networks as more carriers upgrade their networks and consumers increasingly demand high-speed internet on their mobile phones, necessitating more fiber-optic cable purchases. Communications Internet speed (or lack of) has been described by some industry experts as the single greatest economic issue facing North America today, and an ever increasing demand for bandwidth caused by streaming video and music services, smartphone usage, and consumers and businesses using cloud based and real time communication services has created a surge in investment into last mile infrastructure by internet service providers, businesses, government and educational institutions. The Fiber to the Home Council Americas states that Fiber-enabled applications and solutions have the potential to create value for service providers and their customers, promote economic development and enhance quality of life for communities. About Lite Access Lite Access is a world leader in Microduct and fibre optic technologies. Using its specially designed and innovative micro-trench and alternate methods of deployment, Lite Access proprietary Microduct technology extends a network providers ability to deliver true broadband connectivity directly to end-users, such as homes, government and educational institutions, and emergency response facilities. Providing a full portfolio of fibre connectivity solutions for many types of Telecom infrastructure, Lite Access has successfully deployed thousands of kilometres of Microduct networks throughout North and South America, the United Kingdom, the Caribbean, Australia and Asia. Lite Access products have been deployed in many high-profile communication networks including the Whistler 2010 Winter Olympic facilities, builds within the state of New York including Central Park, the Las Vegas strip and surrounding areas of Nevada, fibre to the home at Stanford University and numerous other locations around the globe that have adopted Lite Access as the solution of choice for future proof fibre optic connectivity. Forward Looking Information This news release contains statements that, to the extent they are not recitations of historical fact, may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. Lite Access uses words such as may, would, could, will, likely, expect, believe, intend and similar expressions to identify forward-looking statements. Any such forward-looking statements are based on assumptions and analyses made by Lite Access in light of its experience and its perception of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments. However, whether actual results and developments will conform to Lite Access expectations and predictions is subject to any number of risks, assumptions and uncertainties. Many factors could cause Lite Access actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements contained in this news release. Such factors include, among other things: risks and uncertainties described in the Companys most recent Management Discussion & Analysis (MD&A) dated August 29, 2016 which can be accessed at . The forward-looking statements contained herein speak only as of the date of this press release and, unless required by applicable law, the Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise such information, 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. To view the photo associated with this press release, please visit the following link: Contacts: Lite Access Technologies Inc. 1-604-247-4704 For investor relations please contact: Contact Financial Corp. Rob Gamley 1-604-689-7422 StreamSets Data Collector Innovation Powers Fortune 500 Pipelines to Help Them Harness Data in Motion SAN FRANCISCO, CA (Marketwired) 01/04/17 StreamSets Inc., a provider of innovative , today announced the addition of several powerful capabilities to its award-winning StreamSets Data Collector software for building and operating modern dataflows. These capabilities help enterprises accelerate time-to-value for their big data initiatives by being able to continually ingest data with high quality and reliability to feed next-generation data-driven applications. After just over a year in the market, StreamSets Data Collector is exhibiting accelerating momentum as companies seek to harness their data in motion. The open source software recently passed 100,000 downloads, with 400% quarter-over-quarter growth. Adoption has been especially strong in the worlds largest companies, with over one third of the Fortune 100 downloading the product, including leaders in financial services, healthcare and technology. Key new features found in the most recent release make it easier than ever to modernize data architecture and take advantage of new data sources for digital products and customer experiences. The problem of data drift frustrates enterprise data architects as unexpected semantic and schema changes lead to broken pipelines and lost or squandered data. Data Drift Synchronization takes StreamSets Data Collectors ability to handle data drift to the next level by detecting schema changes and then generating and updating downstream metadata stores on-the-fly. This feature is applicable for relational databases; big data stores, such as Apache Hive, Apache Impala, Apache Kudu and Presto; as well as cloud stores such as Amazon Athena, Amazon Redshift and Microsoft Azure. To effortlessly bridge streaming data between transactional databases and Big Data stores, StreamSets Data Collector now supports Change Data Capture (CDC) for major database platforms including Oracle, MySQL, Microsoft SQL Server and NoSQL systems such as MongoDB. With CDC, enterprises can cost-effectively maintain sanitized, synchronized copies of their transactional databases in cloud and on-premise big data stores, with minimal operational overhead. A new event framework amplifies the power of StreamSets Data Collector by triggering asynchronous tasks in external systems in response to dataflow events. For instance, writing to HDFS could trigger an analytics pipeline or data lifecycle actions, such as compaction and archival; an update to a Hive metastore could trigger a Hive Query or an Impala metadata refresh; and, an update to a traditional DBMS could trigger a SQL query. The feature comes packaged with a number of commonly used triggers and executors and allows for user-defined extensions. Data Drift Synchronization, Change Data Capture and Dataflow Triggers, used in combination, enable a powerful new paradigm for data-driven enterprises to build dataflow topologies that remain resilient in the face of constant change. One StreamSets Fortune 500 customer in the automotive industry has utilized StreamSets Data Collectors new features to create an enterprise-wide data exchange providing universal access across dozen of business units. The company has been able to automate data onboarding and dataflow maintenance, plus add hundreds of data sources to their data lake in a matter of weeks. Automating dataflows using StreamSets Data Collector lowers their data engineering costs and provides the company a platform to become truly data-driven. The past year has been a whirlwind for StreamSets, marked both by widespread adoption and fast-paced improvements in functionality and performance, said Girish Pancha, CEO and co-founder, StreamSets. StreamSets Data Collector is not only a vast improvement to developer efficiency, it makes dataflows dramatically more powerful while ensuring continuous delivery of timely and trustworthy real-time data. Its power is amplified when combined with the new StreamSets Dataflow Performance Manager for operational management and governance of complex dataflow topologies from a single pane of glass. StreamSets Data Collector can be downloaded here: Learn more about StreamSets Dataflow Performance Manager (DPM) here: StreamSets provides innovative data-in-motion middleware that reinvents how enterprises deliver timely and trustworthy data to their critical applications. StreamSets Data Collector is award-winning, open source software for the development of any-to-any dataflows. StreamSets Dataflow Performance Manager (DPM) provides a comprehensive control panel for managing the day-to-day operation of complex dataflow topologies. Founded by Girish Pancha, former chief product officer of Informatica, and Arvind Prabhakar, a former engineering leader at Cloudera, StreamSets is backed by top-tier Silicon Valley venture capital firms, including Accel Partners, Battery Ventures and New Enterprise Associates (NEA). For more information, visit Brittney Timmins BOCA Communications Arthur Manuel is a Secwepemc-Ktunaca activist and co-author of Unsettling Canada: A National Wake-Up Call. He discusses colonization in Canada and how this systemically impoverished Indigenous Peoples for generations. Watch video Arthur Manuel (1951 2017) was a Secwepemc-Ktunaca activist and co-author of Unsettling Canada: A National Wake-Up Call . He discusses colonization in Canada and how this systemically impoverished Indigenous Peoples for generations. If Canada is going to renew its relationship with Indigenous Peoples it must recognize the colonial relationship it has with Indigenous Peoples. Canada must recognize that this colonial relationship gives Indigenous Peoples the right to self-determination. This will become clearer when Canada celebrates 150 years of its settler colonial relationship with Britain in 2017. This was part of the Indigenous Education Week at the University of Toronto. Recorded in Toronto, 22 February 2016. By Press Trust of India: Beijing, Jan 4 (PTI) At least 12 school children were injured today when a man with a knife attacked them at a kindergarten in Chinas Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. The man slashed the children with a kitchen knife after entering the Xiaocongzai kindergarten in Youyi Township, Pingxiang City local police said. The suspect claimed he was at the kindergarten to pick up his child, state-run Xinhua news agency reported. advertisement Three seriously injured children have been sent to a hospital in Nanning, the regional capital, for treatment. The suspect is in police custody. Social revenge attacks by disgruntled people targeting kindergarten schools have become common in China. PTI KJV ZH ASK --- ENDS --- Akshay Kumar returned to India from vacationing in Cape Town with wife Twinkle Khanna and daughter Nitara. They were accompanied by Ajay Devgn and Kajol along with their kids. By India Today Web Desk: Stars do it in a star-like way. While common people were stuck with such happening places as Bengaluru on new year's eve, half of Bollywood was vacationing abroad on the last day of 2016. Akshay Kumar, his wife Twinkle and daughter Nitara were spotted at the Mumbai international airport returning from a lovely vacation in Cape Town. advertisement ALSO READ: Can Raees, Kaabil and OK Jaanu beat the January jinx at the box office? ALSO READ: 15 Bollywood films of 2017 you just cannot miss ALSO READ: Salman's Tubelight releases in 2017 but that's not all he has in store this year Meanwhile, Ajay Devgn with wife Kajol and children Nysa and Yug were also seen at the Mumbai international airport returning from London. While Akshay-Twinkle's four-year-old daughter Nitara stuck her tongue out, walking behind her mother, being a goofy bachcha, the six-year-old Yug and her sister Nysa walked alongside mother Kajol while leaving the airport. Photo: Yogen Shah Photo: Yogen Shah Photo: Yogen Shah Photo: Yogen Shah Photo: Yogen Shah ALSO WATCH: Koel Purie's top male performances films of 2016 < --- ENDS --- 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. Amit Mitra, after making his presentation in the meeting, walked out in protest against what he called the "financial emergency and the political environment of fear" under the Narendra Modi government. By India Today Web Desk: The Centre-Trinamool Congress bad blood continued today with West Bengal Finance Minister Amit Mitra walking out of a crucial pre-Budget meeting called by Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. Mitra, after making his presentation in the meeting, walked out in protest against what he called the "financial emergency and the political environment of fear" under the Narendra Modi government. advertisement Mitra's Trinamool Congress chaired by Mamata Banerjee has led a spirited campaign against Modi's demonetisation move, calling it a scam. "I am saying with a heavy heart that I walked out of the pre-Budget meet after my presentation. The country's growth is being sacrificed," Mitra told reporters in New Delhi. "The diamond workers have come back to our state from Gujarat, the leather industry in West Bengal has collapsed. The Centre is not bothered," he said. TMC PROTEST OUTSIDE PM MODI'S HOUSE Incidentally, Mitra's protest came shortly after his party led a protest march to Modi's official residence in New Delhi against the arrest of one of their Members of Parliament in a chit fund scam. On Tuesday, Sudip Bandyopadhyay, TMC's leader in the Lok Sabha, was arrested by the CBI in the Rose Valley chit fund scam case, triggering clashes between TMC and BJP workers across West Bengal. Bandyopadhyay is the second TMC MP to be arrested in a week in connection with the alleged scam. Last Friday, actor-turned-politician Tapas Pal was arrested. Mamata has called the arrests "political vendetta", accusing the government of targetting Opposition leaders for their protest against the banning of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes. ALSO READ: Chit fund scam: BJP office in Kolkata attacked after TMC MP Sudip Bandopadhyay's arrest Rose Valley chit fund scam: TMC leaders' nexus with the investment firm --- ENDS --- By Press Trust of India: New Delhi, Jan 4 (PTI) The AYUSH Ministry has initiated a study covering 60 districts on how yoga can help control diabetes, which has become the "biggest" health hazard and spreading at a fast pace in of the country. Inaugurating a three-day International Conference on Yoga for Diabetes, AYUSH Minister Shripad Naik said that his ministry has initiated programmes to target diabetes, including setting up an experts panel which has evolved a common yoga protocol for prevention, management of diabetes. advertisement "Diabetes mellitus has become one of the biggest health hazard in the world. A sizable amount of resources is drained for combating diabetes. The major causes of the disease is modern lifestyle, food habits and increasing stress levels. "Researchers in the field of yoga have shown that the disease can be managed through a regular yoga regime combined with healthy lifestyle," he said. "The AYUSH Ministry has initiated a few programmes that target diabetes. A multi-centric research study on yoga and diabetes is being held in support of Health Ministry. "A series of diabetes awareness programmes covering the entire country has been launched and 2,000 of such events were conducted on October 2 last year," Naik said. AYUSH Ministry officials said the study will cover more than 50,000 people across 60 districts of the country and the result is expected by June this year. The result is likely to be announced by the Prime Minister on June 21 the International Yoga Day. Noting that yoga is no longer restricted to the "privileged minority of hermits", Naik said it has found a place in everyday life and is practiced widely for promotion of health and management of various medical problems. "Today yoga is accepted as a viable alternative to conventional healthcare systems for many diseases," he said, adding UNESCO has recently included yoga in its list of intangible cultural heritage, which recognises yogas universal relevance. Naik said the conference on Yoga for Diabetes aims to generate discussions on the role of yoga in the prevention and management of diabetes and to draw up a road map to be adopted for the control of the disease through this ancient practice. It will provide a common platform for allopathy and AYUSH practitioners, researchers, academicians, policy makers and students to come together in the fight against diabetes, he said. Approximately 400 delegates and 50 experts from India and abroad, including experts of conventional medicine, AYUSH systems as well as yoga are participating in the conference. The three day conference will comprise sessions on different aspects of yoga and diabetes including research, policy making and panel discussion. (MORE) PTI TDS NSD --- ENDS --- advertisement Georgetown, SC (29440) Today Sunshine and a few clouds. Slight chance of a rain shower. High around 75F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Some clouds. Low 66F. Winds light and variable. 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 By Press Trust of India: New Delhi, Jan 4 (PTI) CBI has furnished its report to National Human Rights Commission in connection with allegations of torture levelled on its DIG by the then Director General Corporate Affairs B K Bansal who had committed suicide. CBI sources said a detailed report has been submitted to NHRC which had issued notice to the agency. advertisement Bansals wife and daughter had committed suicide in July, nearly three days after Bansal was arrested by CBI while allegedly accepting bribe to favour a pharma company Two months later, Bansal who was released on bail also committed suicide along with his son. In the suicide note, Bansal made serious allegations against CBI DIG Sanjeev Gautam and his team members for torturing his wife and daughter and also threatening action against him and his son. The CBI which received a notice from National Human Rights Commission in this regard had set up an internal inquiry under a joint director to look into allegations. PTI ABS RG --- ENDS --- PT Scientists, a German team in the Google Lunar X Prize competition, says it doesn't expect to know if its launch contract announced in November will be verified by the X Prize Foundation until some time in January. WASHINGTON Teams competing in the Google Lunar X Prize, facing an end-of-the-year deadline to obtain a verified launch contract, may not know until some time in January if they will be able to continue in their race to the moon. The competition, which offers a $20 million grand prize to the first private team to land a spacecraft on the moon, travel at least 500 meters, and transmit video and other data, requires the 16 remaining teams to submit a launch contract to be verified by the X Prize Foundation, which runs the competition, by Dec. 31. Teams that fail to do so will be dropped from contention, while those who continue will have until the end of 2017 to launch their missions. To date, four teams have verified launch contracts: Moon Express, which will launch on an Electron rocket from Rocket Lab; SpaceIL, which will launch its spacecraft on a SpaceX Falcon 9; Synergy Moon, which will use a Neptune rocket being developed by Interorbital Systems; and TeamIndus, which will launch on a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle from the Indian space agency ISRO. A fifth team, Hakuto, announced Dec. 20 it had a verified agreement to fly its rover on the TeamIndus lander. [Google Lunar X-Prize: The Private Moon Race Teams (Images)] A German team, PT Scientists, announced Nov. 29 it had a launch contract to fly its lander and rover as a secondary payload, likely on a Falcon 9, through a deal arranged by Spaceflight Industries, the same company that arranged the SpaceIL contract. At the time, the Berlin-based team said its contract was pending verification by the X Prize Foundation. Team spokesman Sven Przywarra said Dec. 28 that PT Scientists was still awaiting word on the status of their launch contract, and did not expect to hear from the X Prize Foundation until next month. "X Prize is still verifying our launch contract and will make their decisions public later in January," he said. "We have no further details so far and are awaiting the results." In a Sept. 27 talk at the International Astronautical Congress (IAC) in Guadalajara, Mexico, Andrew Barton, the director of technical operations for the prize, said the Dec. 31 deadline for launch contracts was the deadline for the X Prize Foundation to verify them, not for teams to submit them. It's not known how many launch contracts besides the one PT Scientists submitted are being evaluated. Neither Barton nor X Prize Foundation spokesman Eric Desatnik responded to inquiries Dec. 28 about the status of the competition. At least two teams are dropping out of the competition. In an op-ed published in SpaceNews Magazine Dec. 19, John Thornton, chief executive of Astrobotic, announced it was leaving the competition. Thornton said the company would continue to develop a lander for a 2019 launch, but said it was unwise for the company to be "chasing unrealistic prize deadlines" to remain in the Google Lunar X Prize. Also leaving the race is Budapest-based Team PuliSpace. Tibor Pacher, team leader and chief executive of Puli Space Tecnologies, said Dec. 29 that his team was retaining an option to fly its rover on Astrobotic's lander and was not planning to find another ride to the moon in order to remain in the competition. The status of eight other teams remains unknown. Synergy Moon, in a Dec. 24 statement posted on Google Lunar X Prize web site, said it was joining forces with four other teams: Independence-X, Omega Envoy, Team SpaceMeta and Team Stellar. In the statement, Synergy Moon team representative Kevin Myrick said the arrangement was not a merger of the teams but instead a partnership "such that each team remains a separate entity and retains their current status as an official Google Lunar X Prize team." The statement didn't explain the details of the partnership that would allow the teams to remain in the competition as separate entities without launch agreements of some kind. The four teams mentioned in the statement as partnering with Synergy Moon did not respond to requests for comment about their status. Four other teams that have yet to announce launch contracts or other arrangements AngelicvM, Euroluna, Plan B and Team Italia also did not respond to inquiries about their status. One of the four, AngelicvM, had previously planned to fly its rover on Astrobotic's lander. Pacher said that he was skeptical that any team would be able to claim the prize before it expires at the end of 2017. "I think there is little chance for whatever team to meet the current deadline," he said. "Signing a contract mere one year before the planned launch date looks anyway extremely risky." Barton, speaking at the IAC in September, said there were no plans to further extend the competition, whose deadlines have been stretched out several times. When the Google Lunar X Prize was unveiled in 2007, the competition's grand prize was set to decrease from $20 million to $15 million if no team won it by the end of 2012, and would expire at the end of 2014. Pacher said he accepted the X Prize Foundation's plans not to extend the deadline again, but added that, should the foundation reconsider that view, it should "consider a fair reopening of the contest" for all 16 teams currently in the race. PT Scientists' Przywarra said his team would likely continue developing their lunar mission regardless of whether their launch contract is verified in time for them to continue in the Google Lunar X Prize. That mission plans to land near the Apollo 17 landing site, with their two rovers approaching the lunar rover left behind by that mission, the last human expedition to the moon to date. "Our mission to the moon will take place in any way and as it stands today has a good chance of being highly competitive to be the first private mission to the moon," he said, "with the added scientific value of visiting Apollo 17." This story was provided by SpaceNews, dedicated to covering all aspects of the space industry. (Left) Artists illustration of the Lucy spacecraft flying by the Trojan asteroid Eurybates. Trojans are fossils of planet formation and so will supply important clues to the earliest history of the solar system. (Right) Psyche, the first mission to the metal world 16 Psyche, will examine a landscape unlike anything explored before. Psyche will teach us about the hidden cores of the Earth, Mars, Mercury and Venus. NASA's next low-cost planetary missions will attempt to unravel the mysteries of some seriously bizarre asteroids. The space agency has selected projects called Lucy and Psyche via its Discovery Program, which funds highly focused space missions to destinations throughout the solar system. The Lucy project will investigate the Trojan asteroids, which share an orbit with Jupiter, while Psyche will journey to the asteroid belt to study a huge, metallic asteroid named 16 Psyche that resides there. "This is what Discovery Program missions are all about boldly going to places we've never been to enable groundbreaking science," Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington, D.C., said in a statement today (Jan. 4). [NASA Mission to Metal Asteroid Psyche (Images)] Lucy is scheduled to launch in October 2021. If all goes according to plan, the probe will visit an asteroid in the main asteroid belt located between Mars and Jupiter in 2025, and then go on to study six Trojan asteroids between 2027 and 2033, NASA officials said. (Left) Artists illustration of the Lucy spacecraft flying by the Trojan asteroid Eurybates. Trojans are fossils of planet formation and so will supply important clues to the earliest history of the solar system. (Right) Psyche, the first mission to the metal world 16 Psyche, will examine a landscape unlike anything explored before. Psyche will teach us about the hidden cores of the Earth, Mars, Mercury and Venus. (Image credit: SwRI and SSL/Peter Rubin) This SPACE.com infographic takes a look at the strange magnetic asteroid Psyche, which may be all that remains of what was once a protoplanet in the early solar system. See the full Psyche asteroid explainer infographic here (Image credit: by Karl Tate, Infographics Artist) There are two streams of Trojan asteroids. One trails Jupiter, and the other leads the giant planet around the sun. Scientists think both streams may be planetary building blocks that formed far from the sun before being captured into their current orbits by Jupiter's powerful gravity. "This is a unique opportunity," Lucy principal investigator Harold Levison, of the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado, said in the same statement. "Because the Trojans are remnants of the primordial material that formed the outer planets, they hold vital clues to deciphering the history of the solar system. Lucy, like the human fossil for which it is named, will revolutionize the understanding of our origins." Psyche will explore one of the oddest objects in the solar system a 130-mile-wide (210 kilometers) metallic asteroid that may be the core of an ancient, Mars-size planet. Violent collisions billions of years ago might have stripped away the layers of rock that once lay atop this metallic object, scientists say. "This is an opportunity to explore a new type of world not one of rock or ice, but of metal," said Psyche principal investigator Lindy Elkins-Tanton, of Arizona State University. "16 Psyche is the only known object of its kind in the solar system, and this is the only way humans will ever visit a core. We learn about inner space by visiting outer space." Psyche is scheduled to launch in October 2023 and arrive at the asteroid in 2030, NASA officials said. Lucy and Psyche were among five Discovery finalists that NASA announced last year. One of these other finalists, the dangerous-asteroid-hunting Near-Earth Object Camera (NEOCam), will get an additional year's worth of funding for continued development, NASA officials said. The Discovery Program, which was founded in 1992, supports relatively low-cost planetary missions; development costs for the current crop are capped at about $450 million apiece, NASA officials said. The agency has funded 12 other Discovery missions in addition to those announced today, including the planet-hunting Kepler space telescope, the Dawn mission to the huge asteroids Vesta and Ceres, and the InSight Mars lander, which is due to launch next year. Follow Mike Wall on Twitter @michaeldwall and Google+. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook or Google+. Originally published on Space.com. Two American astronauts, one a spaceflight veteran and the other a rookie, will launch to the International Space Station in 2018, NASA announced today (Jan. 4). NASA astronaut Andrew Feustel. (Image credit: NASA) Veteran NASA astronaut Andrew Feustel and first-time flyer Jeanette Epps will each visit the space station next year as part of the Expedition 55-56 and Expedition 56-57 crews, NASA officials announced in a statement. Feustel will launch to station in March of 2018 as an Expedition 55 flight engineer, then take command of the station's Expedition 56 crew a few months later. Epps, meanwhile, will launch to the station in May 2018 as an Expedition 56 flight engineer and then stay on during the Expedition 57 mission. Feustel is from Lake Orion, Michigan and a veteran of two NASA space shuttle missions. He joined NASA's astronaut corps in 2000 and flew aboard Atlantis on STS-125, the last mission to the Hubble Space Telescope, in 2009. Feustel returned to space in 2011 on STS-134, the final flight of the shuttle Endeavour. which visited the International Space Station. He has degrees in Earth sciences and geophysics (from Purdue University) and a doctorate in geological sciences from Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario in Canada. NASA astronaut Jeanette Epps. (Image credit: NASA) Epps is from Syracuse, New York and will make spaceflight history during her Expedition 56-57 mission when she becomes the first African-American crewmember of an International Space Station expedition. She will join Feustel during the Expedition 56 phase of her flight. Epps joined NASA's astronaut ranks in 2009 after serving seven years as a technical intelligence officer with the Central Intelligence Agency. Before joining the CIA, Epps earned a bachelor's degree in physics from LeMoyne College in Syracuse, followed by a master's of science (in 1994) and doctorate (in 2000) in aerospace engineering. "Each space station crew brings something different to the table, and Drew and Jeanette both have a lot to offer," NASA Chief Astronaut Chris Cassidy at the agency's Johnson Space Center in Houston said in a statement. "The space station will benefit from having them on board." The International Space Station is currently home to a crew of six; three Russian cosmonauts with Roscosmos, two Americans representing NASA and one French astronaut from the European Space Agency. The crew makes up Expedition 50, the 50th mission to the space station since the first crew Expedition 1 took up residence in November 2000. Email Tariq Malik at tmalik@space.com or follow him @tariqjmalik. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com. 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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Even before Bigg Boss rings the buzzer to start the task, Swami will get inside the Malgaadi in an attempt to sabotage the task. advertisement Manu and Nitibha will be upset with his behaviour and will end up getting into a fight with him. Swami will snatch Nitibha's umbrella, but will get hurt and start bleeding. Also read: BB10: Swami Om is back in the house, becomes a contender for captaincy Bigg Boss will call Swami Om inside the confession room and after giving him first aid will rebuke him for breaking the rules and barging in the task even after being ousted. After the task starts, Manveer will be released and delivered to Bigg Boss. After that only Manu and Nitibha will be left in the task. Manu will be the next to be released. Also read: Prize money for Bigg Boss 10 has just been revised; details inside Manveer and Nitibha will take out time to sort out their differences tonight. While the conversation will be going in the right direction, Manveer will leave it mid-way. In the end, housemates will be successful in adding Rs 28 lakh to the winning amount, by completing the task successfully. Bani and Om will be declared the contenders for captaincy. The winning amount will now be Rs43,99,206Bigg Boss 10 airs Mon-Fri at 10:30pm and Sat-Sun at 9pm on Colors TV --- ENDS --- Police today confirmed that they have found "credible" evidence of the Bengaluru's New Year's eve mass molestation. By India Today Web Desk: Women left the pubs after celebrating New Year's eve when they soon came across drunken revelers who tried to molest and accost them. Their New Year's eve soon turned into a nightmare after several women who were allegedly molested at a large gathering in city's downtown area. Girls were pawed, groped and abused by revellers at Bengaluru's MG Road and Brigade Road. Many women ran towards police seeking protection from drunken men who tried to molest them. Despite women going through what many called an appalling state of affair, no cases of molestation were registered with the Bengaluru police. advertisement Watch - Bengaluru mass molestation: Victim recounts ordeal According to a recent report, police today claimed to have found "credible" evidence of molestation and have registered an FIR. Also Read - Bengaluru nightmare: On New Year's Eve, women molested in police presence As the incidents drew widespread outrage with no action from the police, Bengaluru's new Commissioner of Police, Praveen Sood through a series of tweets tonight, said his team was working on the case silently. "As promised we have found credible evidence repeat credible evidence in a case of wrongful confinement, molestation and attempt to rob," Sood had said in a tweet. "We have taken action by registering an FIR. Investigation is in progress. Police is working, though silently," he had said in another tweet. Stating that enquiry is underway by an officer of DCP rank, he has said that they have gone through the feeds from 45 cameras on MG road, and unedited video is available with police. Eyewitness accounts had suggested that women were molested and groped and lewd remarks were also passed by miscreants late night on December 31 in the area even as it was claimed that 1,500 police personnel had been deployed to control the crowds. Police had earlier said that no one had come forward to file a complaint about the incident. If any lady lodges a complaint of molestation that took place on December 31 night, the police will not waste even a minute in registering a case and launch a probe, Sood had tweeted on January 2, He added that even without a complainant if police finds credible evidence of molestation, a case will be registered suo motu without waiting. Sood took over as the City Police Commissioner from N S Megharikh, on January 1. Also Read - Bengaluru mass molestation survivors: First time ever we felt unsafe --- ENDS --- Optimization Are you frustrated with a slow pc or a hard disk not performing as it should? Try SLOW-PCfighter to speed up boot time on a slow PC, or try a free scan of FULL-DISKfighter to recover space on a full disk. The latest offering is DRIVERfighter to update your driver updater. Get complete PC optimization and extend the life of your PC with these must-have software tools. Washington, January 03, 2017 (United States)- US Department of State's latest list of independent states, including territories with specific sovereignty, has confirmed once again that the United States administration does not recognize the alleged Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara. The Department of State, which introduced in late 2016 some change on the list, has maintained its position over the Saharawi territory, affirming that its sovereignty is yet to be determined. Things cannot be more obvious, as the US administration has categorically rejected Morocco's false claims about Western Sahara. In the details provided by the Department of State's Intelligence and Research (INR) office, the US administration confirms it recognizes no administrative power over the Saharawi territory, which means a scathing rejection of the kingdom's claim that Western Sahara is Moroccan, a claim Rabat seeks to impose forcibly. The position of the United States is in line with that of the United Nations, which considers Western Sahara as a non-autonomous territory that is subject to decolonization.SPS 125/090/700 Scotlands Beef Event 2017 is being hosted by Douglas and Kelda Stewart, and their family, at Fans, Earlston, Berwickshire, on Thursday, June 8, and is being organised by a local committee under the chairmanship of Sion Williams, farm manager at Bowhill Estate, on behalf of the Scottish Beef Association. Adopting the theme Beef Up Your Profits, the focus of the one-day event will be on technical efficiency to help beef producers ensure the long-term sustainability of their businesses. We are delighted to have Clydesdale Bank as main sponsor for what is the leading event for the beef industry in Scotland, said Mr Williams. The bank has always been a key player in Scottish agriculture and continues to give the industry strong support in these uncertain times. SBA chairman, Neil McCorkindale, welcomed the banks sponsorship which would enable the association to mount a first-class event for the beef industry in Scotland. The support of the Clydesdale Bank as main sponsor is very much appreciated and the local organising committee in the Borders must be congratulated on securing the support of the bank and other sponsors, said Mr McCorkindale. We are extremely fortunate to have such an excellent venue as Fans and the enthusiastic participation of the Stewart family as host farmers. Clydesdale Bank area manager agri and commercial for South Scotland and North Cumbria, David Hannon, said Scotlands Beef Event 2017, was a truly major event for the beef industry and he urged all beef producers to make every effort to attend. We are delighted to again be supporting this important biennial event, having experienced the technical and professional excellence of the 2015 programme and having already seen the quality of producer and business involvement lined up for 2017, said Mr Hannon. As the beef industry approaches the UK and EU changes of the next few years, it is vital that producers focus on the parts of their business which they can influence personally, whatever political and economic decisions are taken. That will include sourcing the best breeding stock, implementing efficient production and marketing systems and maintaining close awareness of consumer requirements. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate STAMFORD Jack Bryant, who begins his fifth two-year term this week as president of the Stamford NAACP, will make police relations and educational opportunities his top priorities in 2017 amid turbulent times for U.S. race relations. The Stamford native said the new term will allow him to move forward with projects he helped launch with law enforcement and other community leaders that are crucial to improving the lives of African American families. There still a lot of work that needs to be done, especially with relationships that weve formed with the police department and the board of education, he said. I want to make sure that continues as a key point. Such efforts include the Community Outreach Program, a coalition formed by the NAACP and the police department to build better trust between the community and police officers. The relationship between police and African Americans has been a hot topic in recent years following a series of police-involved shootings across the country some of which targeted unarmed black men. Meanwhile, police officers have also been killed or injured in gunfire. In Stamford, Bryant said the NAACP always has a seat at the table when officials discuss community policing, which he said is exemplary in the city. Bryant, who was re-elected by his peers in November after running unopposed, has held the organizations top post since 2008. He has also served as second vice president at the states NAACP Conference since 2014 and is a familiar face at meetings and events across the city sometimes in the audience and others behind the podium. A member of the Faith Tabernacle Missionary Baptist Church, Bryant said his faith is one of the most important aspects of his life. For me, you have to be spiritually based, he said. This job is not always easy. It helps if you have a spiritual base. Rev. Tommie Jackson, the churchs senior pastor, said Bryant is responsible for tremendous programs with the citys youth and has dedicated countless hours to the organization. Hes made numerous sacrifices to the benefit of the NAACP, Jackson said, and he has not asked for any accolades. Its out of commitment and concern for the people. Bryant said he hopes to help recruit more minority educators in Stamford as part of a campaign the NAACP started last year. We want to make sure that we continue the momentum in recruiting and retaining minority teachers and administrators, he said. Most city public school teachers 80 percent are white, while just a third of the student population is Caucasian. The NAACP, which has more than 200 members in Stamford, is part of a task force that will meet this month to discuss how to recruit minority educators to city schools. The organization also presents an annual scholarship to public school students in Stamford. Last year, five high school seniors each received a $1,000 scholarship through the program. Besides police relations and education, Bryant expects to tackle at least two other areas housing and any potentially negative policies by President -elect Donald Trumps incoming administration. He worries that the citys increasingly high cost of living is pushing out working-class black families. That is a challenge, Bryant said. Were going to continue to work with that. As for Trump, Bryant said hell make sure African Americans are treated with respect. We want to make sure everyone is treated fairly, everyone has the same opportunity, he said. Im hoping that it doesnt change. Its not going to be an easy ride, he added. Were up to the challenge. Were going to keep pushing and pushing. noliveira@hearstmediact.com, 203-964-2265, @olivnelson The following is Gov. Dannel P. Malloys 2017 prepared State of the State address delivered at the state Capitol on Jan. 4, 2017. Mr. President, Mr. Speaker, Lt. Governor Wyman, and my fellow state officials, ladies and gentlemen of the General Assembly, honored members of the judiciary, members of the clergy, and all the citizens of our great state: thank you for the honor of inviting me once again into the people's House. Let me offer my sincere congratulations to those of you taking on new and important leadership roles, as well as those who have been reelected into leadership positions. I also want to congratulate the new members sworn in earlier today. I look forward to working with all of you. Let me note, since we were here last together, we have lost some dear friends, including Mary Fritz and Betty Boukus, both of whom served in this house. Our hearts are heavy as we continue to mourn their passing. As always, let us thank Connecticut's brave men and women serving our nation around the globe. Thank you, as well, to my dear friend and the best Lt. Governor in the country, Nancy Wyman. And finally thank you to my wife Cathy and our three sons for their love and support. Sikorsky jobs This past September, the Connecticut General Assembly met in a special session. You met to take historic action in support of our states economy and our incredible workforce. The legislation you voted to support - and that I signed into law - protected 8,000 jobs at Sikorsky Aircraft. Equally importantly, it shored up thousands more jobs up and down Sikorskys supply chain, and across every corner of our great state. It nearly doubled their spending with local suppliers to almost $700 million per year over the next decade and beyond. Thank you for that work. In recent years weve secured similar investments from United Technologies and Electric Boat. Taken together, these agreements cement our leadership in advanced manufacturing around the globe. A decade ago, if any of us had told our constituents that in 2017 not only would Electric Boat would be ramping-up their production rather than winding it down, not only would Pratt and Whitney be planning to put thousands more people to work, but that Sikorsky would be committed to Connecticut for another generation to come well, they wouldnt have believed us. They would have told us that we were overly optimistic at best, and naive at worst. And yet, here we are today. Working together, we have turned what many once considered impossible, into a reality. Together weve protected Connecticuts aerospace and defense industries for a generation and likely beyond. More importantly, weve given these employers, and the tens of thousands of employees who work for them, something that is vital in todays world: Weve given them predictability. We know that predictability creates confidence. And we know that confidence creates growth. When we give people reason to believe that their job is here to stay, were giving them the confidence to purchase a home, to buy a new family car, or to start a college fund. In other words, were giving them confidence to take part in our state economy. And its equally true for their employers. Predictability allows businesses to expand, to make new hires, to put down new roots right here in Connecticut. This is what companies and their workers are looking for. They deserve it, and its on us to provide it. Thats what I want to talk to you about today - about what weve done in recent years to make our budget more predictable, and our economy more sustainable. And about how we can continue that important work this legislative session. Im going to discuss three key areas that I believe we should focus on this year in order to balance our current budget, and also continue our progress towards long-term prosperity. The good news is that, for each of these three areas, positive change has already begun. Leaner, cost-effective government To start, we need to continue making state government leaner and more cost-effective. The responsible way to do that is by setting priorities, and allocating our resources where they are needed most. Because the truth is, we simply cant afford to continue doing everything weve done in the past. In recent years, commissioners and state employees have been hard at work finding creative ways to continue providing essential services while also saving money. These cuts were not painless. Important work had to be phased out so that other vital services could continue. But the results are plain to see. Last year we cut nearly $850 million to bring our current fiscal year in balance. In so doing, we spent less in the General Fund than we had in the previous year for the first time since 2002. Weve reduced the number of state agencies by 28 percent since 2011 shrinking from 81 agencies down to 58. During that same time period, we reduced the size of our executive branch workforce by nine and a half percent. We now employ 5,000 fewer full-time employees than we did in 2008. And dont let anyone tell you that these reductions are only in front-line employees. Weve reduced the number of state management positions by 28 percent. While we had to go through the unfortunate, but necessary, process of layoffs last year, the vast majority of these reductions have come through attrition. Were also spending less on overtime. With your strong partnership and encouragement, overtime costs dropped 14.5 percent last year, saving the state $37 million. All told, excluding higher education, the executive branch workforce is at the smallest it has been since Ronald Reagan was president. And now, in this biennium, we need to continue that work, ensuring we reduce spending responsibly and with great care. Commissioners will need to once again work with their staff - and with you, our legislative partners - to find additional savings. Like families across Connecticut, just because we responsibly managed our budget in recent years doesnt mean we can take this year off. We must continue to live within our means, spending only as much revenue as we have, and no more. In September, my administration asked agencies to begin thinking about what additional cuts would mean. Having further explored these options, many of their recommendations will be included in the budget I present to you next month. Cuts in specific areas, or outright eliminations, should not be taken to mean that certain work is not valued. It simply means that we can no longer afford to do it all, and that our spending must be focused on the very core, essential services for our residents. And to be clear, saving money isnt just about cutting line-items, or reducing headcount. Agencies will continue to modernize systems, reduce waste, and increase productivity in order to cut costs as much as possible before impacting services, or the valuable employees who provide them. Together, we can continue to make state government more efficient, more sustainable, and more reflective of our economic reality. Honoring - and paying for - state pensions The second area Id like to talk about are the obligations we have to Connecticuts state workers, educators, and retirees. Connecticuts state pension systems were created 80 years ago, but not a single dime was deposited into the account during the first 30 years of its existence. It was a pay-as-you-go system. Over many decades, legacy costs, insufficient contributions, lower-than-assumed returns, and early retirement packages left us with a significant unfunded liability in the states employee and teacher retirement systems. The stark reality is that, after 80 years, the state has set aside only one-third of the money necessary to responsibly fund its obligations. Let me put it in context. Of the $1.65 billion that we will pay next year into the state retirement systems, 78 percent of that - or nearly $1.3 billion - is what were paying to make-up for what past administrations and past legislatures failed to do. Simply put, our generation is paying for Connecticuts past mistakes. Is it frustrating to do that? Of course. Is it necessary? Absolutely. It's also the right thing to do. Our state retirees dedicated their lives and careers to public service. We need to pay them the pensions they were promised. Lets also acknowledge and thank todays state workers for their efforts in support of Connecticut residents and businesses. In 2011, we worked at the bargaining table to help put Connecticut on a more sustainable fiscal path. Together we changed benefits, reduced longevity pay-outs, restructured state pensions, raised the retirement age, and required all employees to pay for a portion of their post-employment benefits. We saved the state $1.6 billion on our unfunded liability in the immediate two years following that agreement - and a total of $21.5 billion over the following 20 years. Had we not realized that level of savings, our current $1.5 billion projected deficit would be much, much worse. Since making this agreement in 2011, the state has honored its commitment to fully fund the pension obligations each and every year - finally doing together what should have been done for the prior 80 years. Building upon these years of work, my administration recently came to a crucial agreement with our state employees and our retirement commission, an agreement which will make our pension payments more affordable, and yes, more predictable. Independent analysts are taking note. Moodys Investors Services, a national credit rating agency, deemed this to be a credit positive step for our state. And the plans actuaries say these changes will enhance the stability of our pension system. I urge you to support these important reforms. Today, despite all this hard work and real progress, its clear we have more work to do to make our short and long-term labor obligations more affordable. Fixed costs continue to increase every year, hampering our ability to maintain vital public services. Pension obligations for both state employees and teachers are on track to cost the state an additional $360 million in the next fiscal year compared to this current year. Clearly, the fiscal challenges we face during the next biennium are very real. In the weeks ahead, my administration will continue working with labor leaders to find solutions for bringing employee costs in line with our economic reality. These talks have been frank and direct so far, and Im appreciative that state workers are taking part in them. Its very hard, but we must reach an agreement on how to make our pensions and benefits more affordable, as we face these fiscal challenges together. We must recognize that a responsible and balanced solution to our budget problem is one that includes state employee concessions. These changes can and should be reached respectfully, and at the bargaining table. Our state must honor its legal obligation to our public servants and state retirees, while at the same time keeping our promises to Connecticut taxpayers. Here's another promise: We will not remake the poor decisions of the past. We will not saddle future generations with fiscal cliffs and unpayable fixed costs. Responsible changes must be made and they must be made this year. As our past record demonstrates, when we come together, hold realistic expectations, and seek common ground, we can deliver results. A more equitable system for aid to towns The third and final area Id like to focus on with you today is how we go about distributing aid to our towns and cities - primarily how we fund public education. The state provides a total of $5.1 billion in municipal assistance. Thats more than one fifth of our overall budget this year, making it our biggest single expense - not state employee pensions, not Medicaid, not debt service, not salary and benefits of our employees; town aid accounts for the largest portion of our state budget. It simply would not be fair for us to talk about continued state agency reductions, or talk about the need for labor concessions, without talking about new ways to provide town aid. Of the $5.1 billion distributed to municipalities, 81 percent of that - or $4.1 billion - is educational funding. That doesn't include school construction financing, which accounts for approximately one quarter of Connecticuts bonded debt. Now that Ive put what we spend into context, let me say this - of course Connecticut should be spending lots of money on local education. We all believe that investments in education are a down payment on our states future. Our budget must reflect those values. The question is, in a time of scarce state resources, are we spending this money in the best way possible? Are we ensuring that all students, regardless of the life circumstances into which they are born, regardless of what town or city they live in - can receive a quality public education? I dont believe we are meeting that standard. And I will point out that a recent court decision says that, as well. Its why I have long-advocated that we direct our support to those municipalities that are struggling the most so that we can level the playing field for our students and our taxpayers. While we have made progress on this front in recent years I still believe we have not gone far enough. Connecticut needs a new way to calculate educational aid - one that guarantees equal access to a quality education regardless of zip code. Our state constitution guarantees it, and our moral compass demands it. We need a formula that appropriately measures a given communitys burden. A formula that recognizes specific challenges faced by local property taxpayers. And a formula that takes into account the impact those challenges have on the education provided to our children. The budget that I will present to you next month will outline a more equitable system for providing town aid. It will be based on the local property tax burden, student need, and current enrollment. The system will be designed to be more fair, transparent, accountable, and adaptable - meaning that it will provide flexibility to fit the needs of a given community. The result will be a fairer distribution of our states limited funds. And if we are successful in this effort, there will be an important ancillary benefit - we can help ensure that no Connecticut city or town will need to explore the avoidable path of bankruptcy. To be clear, that kind of help shouldnt come without strings attached. If the state is going to play a more active role in helping less-affluent communities - in helping higher-taxed communities - part of that role will be holding local political leadership and stakeholders to substantially higher standards and greater accountability than theyve been held to in the past. We should do it so that increased aid doesn't simply mean more spending on local government. Those are the steps I believe we need to take on town aid funding. The budget I propose next month will lay out a detailed path for getting there. Now, based on prior experience, I can assume that the proposal I put before you will not be exactly what arrives on my desk a few months later. I understand that. That's how it works. And Im ready to partner with you. But understand this - we need real change. Change that leads to a better, more equitable system for town aid. For the sake of our collective future, there is no reason to wait. So lets get to work. Keeping and creating new jobs I began today by talking about our recent historic partnership with Sikorsky. But of course, its not just about the aerospace industry. Regardless of region, employment, or income, people in every industry and at every income level are counting on us to get it right. A family in Farmington where both parents work in the insurance industry deserves the reassurance of a more stable business climate - one that keeps their jobs here in Connecticut. A math teacher in Norwalk should have the peace of mind that her pension and benefits will be intact when she retires after decades of hard work. A New London High School graduate, following in his fathers footsteps building submarines here in Connecticut, is owed a stable job with livable wages - enough to buy a home and raise a family. If you dont think we can do it for these people, and for all people in our state, if you dont think we can help our constituents and make their lives and their careers more positive and more predictable, I ask that you look no further than the progress we've made in recent years to see exactly what is possible when Connecticut works together. Years of good economic development are helping to grow jobs. In fact, since the end of the Great Recession, we have recovered 85,000 jobs. Through the Small Business Express program, more than 1,600 companies have retained 18,000 good jobs and are now creating even more. The Manufacturing Assistance Act has helped 150 companies since 2011, retaining 34,500 jobs and growing 8,500 more jobs. All told, unemployment is now at 4.7 percent - its lowest level since 2007. Reforms and advancements in the state In 2012, we worked across party lines and passed comprehensive education reforms. Today, thanks to great teachers and principals, our students are some of the best readers in the country. And after years of decline, our graduation rates have risen for five years in a row and are now at their highest point in Connecticuts history. Weve made monumental advancements for our most vulnerable children in Connecticut, as well. Many people have doubted that we would finally be in a position to resolve the 25-year-old Juan F. case, which has kept DCF under federal oversight. For too long, this has been an embarrassment for our state, and an unacceptable situation for our children. But today, the end of that federal oversight is within reach. We are finally ready for Connecticut state government to reclaim its responsibility for Connecticut kids. Please join me in support of this progress. We are also improving our transportation system as we speak, thanks to the investments we've made together. The on-time and on-budget completion of the Q Bridge project means that, on a daily basis, 140,000 motorists are getting to where they need to go with greater ease. And with CTfastrak, more people are riding Connecticut transit buses to work. Exceeding all initial projections, average ridership on CTfastrak is as high as 19,000 people per weekday. And finally on the criminal justice front, Connecticut is leading the nation, and is now safer than it has been in fifty years. Our prison population has dropped significantly, and high-risk, violent offenders are serving more of their sentence than ever before. Recidivism has declined substantially. This progress has allowed us to save taxpayers $70 million in the current fiscal year. All of this work - all of it - is making Connecticut a better, more desirable place to work and live. A changing national landscape I need to do one other thing. I would be remiss if I didnt take a moment to stress the importance of predictability and stability in the wake of Novembers presidential election. I have no desire to rehash or re-analyze the results - we all get plenty of that from cable news. But I do want to offer two brief thoughts on what we can learn from November, and how it might impact our work here at home this session. First, it is now more clear than ever that too many Americans feel disconnected from their government. They feel the system isnt working for them - that they arent able to take part in the American Dream. While we might disagree on the role of government in that effort, on whether it should be more active or less, I offer to you that a greater degree of predictability in government - in all government, at all levels - will help reengage and reinvigorate our democracy. Second, regardless of your party or who you voted for, most of us can agree that this presidential transition has been nothing if not unpredictable. It has left some people and some communities feeling anxious and uncertain. But let me remind you of this - our state has a long legacy of acceptance, compassion, and fairness. Regardless of whether your family settled in Connecticut 300 years ago or three days ago, you are welcome here. As the people of Connecticut navigate a changing national landscape, we will continue to ensure that every state resident is treated with dignity and respect. That will not change. Not now. Not ever. In parting words, asks for a partnership This year, here in Connecticut, we must focus on these historic strengths as we also work to make our budget and our economy more vibrant. We must continue our progress together. Im asking for your partnership. Im asking that we approach this session and this budget in a spirit of authentic, bipartisan collaboration. Next month, I am going to come back to you with more details on the topics I laid out today: about how government should continue to become smaller and more effective; about how we can continue working with our partners in labor to create a sustainable benefit system that we can afford not just now, but into the years ahead; and about why we should find a fairer way to fund public education, so that we can ensure dollars are going to where they are needed most. All of it will be geared toward building a more predictable budget and a more sustainable Connecticut economy. We are in this together, and together we shall prevail. Thank you. God bless you, and may God bless the great State of Connecticut. By Press Trust of India: From Seema Hakhu Kachru Houston, Jan 4 (PTI) Microsoft founder Bill Gates charity foundation has invested USD 140 million in the development of HIV-preventing drug implants that could revolutionise the treatment of the life-threatening infection. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is providing this funding for the groundbreaking new technology which could revolutionise HIV prevention. advertisement Currently prevention drugs are available in the form of a pill that, if taken daily, can reduce a persons chances of being infected with HIV. The drugs are recommended by the World Health Organisation for use by at-risk groups including men who have sex with men ? but are only effective if the pills are taken consistently. There are hopes that implant technology, similar to systems available for birth control, could be used to deliver a consistent supply of drugs, aiding people vulnerable to HIV. According to The Wall Street Journal, their latest investment has placed their backing firmly behind a biopharmaceutical company located in Boston. They believe that this company could yield one of the largest revelations in HIV treatment yet. This treatment takes the form of a pump that was initially designed for type two diabetes patients. It works by continuously delivering medication throughout the body. The pump is reportedly capable of administering drugs throughout the body for as long as 12 months. It could also be easily filled by a clinician annually or bi-annually. Researchers believe that the pump could work similarly, for HIV prevention, in healthy patients. Delivering treatment such as PreP continuously and, therefore, working to prevent HIV and AIDS. PreP is a daily drug that has been critical in preventing HIV infections in sexually active adults. The Gates invested USD 50 million in equity stakes at Intarcia Therapeutics ? the company responsible for the pump. They then provided a further USD 90 million in company grants towards the goal of developing the HIV preventing device. PTI SHK UZM --- ENDS --- The ruling-BJP has claimed that properties worth Rs 15000 crore owned by wanted underworld don Dawood Ibrahim have been seized in the UAE. By Press Trust of India: Citing a media report, BJP has claimed that properties worth Rs 15000 crore owned by Dawood Ibrahim, one of India's most wanted criminals, have been seized in the UAE on the basis of a dossier provided by the Indian government. INDIA TODAY EXCLUSIVE: India media has already painted me black, says Dawood Ibrahim "Major diplomatic success of PM Modi: One of India's most wanted criminals, Dawood Ibrahim's properties worth Rs 15,000 crore seized in UAE," the official Twitter account of the party claimed. Major diplomatic success of PM Modi: One of India's most wanted criminals, Dawood Ibrahim's properties worth Rs. 15,000 crore seized in UAE. pic.twitter.com/MMERwLoPO1 BJP (@BJP4India) January 4, 2017 advertisement "Master stroke diplomacy by PM Narendra Modi hits at the right place. Prime Minister had handed handed over the list of his (Dawoods) assets to the UAE government during his 2015 visit and demanded action," a graphic put out by it said. The saffron party quoted a media report to make the claim. Efforts are on to bring Dawood to face law in India, it added. ALSO READ: Revealed: PM Modi's Mission Dawood in UAE Dawood Ibrahim's money was not swindled, Indian government had it seized --- ENDS --- A s the rest of us dread returning to the office after the Christmas break, the feeling for many London bankers is a mixture of fear and excitement. Why? Because, for the Citys biggest US investment banks, back to school means bonus time that moment when a long walk to the department bosss office results in you being given your number, the figure of how much youve made for 2016. The comp (compensation) figure can dictate which car bankers will be driving for the next 12 months, the holidays theyll be having, even what school the children will be attending. Traditionally, Goldman Sachs comes out of the blocks first after it announces full-year profits in the next week or two. Its the biggest-paying, ballsiest bank in town, and some say it sets the bonus benchmark for Wall Street rivals. After a shaky start, 2016 turned out to be a strong year for most departments, meaning bonuses should follow suit. Says one investment banker: If youd asked me nine months ago, youd have got a pretty miserable response but since that horrible first quarter, things have picked up nicely. For the first time in years, bond traders should be getting decent bonuses, while the suave investment bankers advising clients on takeovers also had a healthy second half of 2016. In the bond world stuck since the early years of the financial crisis with what one trader describes as shite bonuses confidence came back with a bang even before Donald Trumps US presidential election victory triggered hopes of interest-rate rises and a borrowing boom. The Federal Reserves positive signals through much of the year gave credit investors a reason to bet again. Donald Trump named Time's Person of the Year At last, bond traders arent cowed by feeling theyre lucky just to have a job. The old implied threat to the boss pay me right or Im going down the street to our biggest competitor just might re-emerge. As one veteran puts it: In the old days, the best tactic when getting your number was always to be furious. Whatever it was, youd say: I dont call that a bonus, I call that a tip. You had the power to keep the boss on his toes. But then, for years, it was just thank you for not firing me, sir. This year, though, perhaps those old days might be coming back again. Banks say the percentage of profits they pay out in bonuses is sharply down on a decade ago, that theyve been through a major retrenchment since the financial crisis, and that their trading arms have cut back on the risk-taking that spurred the bonuses of old. But recent profits suggest many traders should still expect some decent payola. At $2.7 billion (2.2 billion), Goldman earned $1 billion more in its market-making division in the third quarter of 2016 than a year earlier. JPMorgans markets arm surged by a fifth to $6.5 billion, fuelled by a 48% increase in bond trading revenues, while Morgan Stanleys bond income leaped from $583 million to $1.5 billion. So expect a $2 million-$5 million bonus for Goldmans trading boss Isabelle Ealet, plus more for outgoing bond veteran Michael Sherwood, co-head of Europe, who should for the sake of appearances beat last years $21 million. Morgan Stanleys fixed-income boss Jakob Horder will also be in for a big package, as will JPs Charles Bristow. Some trickle-down economics to boost their staffs pay by hundreds of thousands is on the cards, too. A flurry of heavyweight mergers and acquisitions perhaps spurred by Brexit will be great news for the bank accounts of Goldmans big dealmakers, including Karen Cook and Mark Sorrell who can both bank on picking up a few million after advising on big deals such as the bumper Shell-BG merger, which completed during the year. Paul Bakers team at Morgan Stanley will have pulled in big money for advising Sainsburys on its takeover of Home Retail Group, while Jonathan Bewes crew at Bank of America Merrill Lynch will have been major earners after squeezing out a top price for the other side on that deal. Anthony Gutman, who with Sherwood was forced to testify to MPs over Goldmans embarrassing entanglement with Sir Philip Greens sale of BHS, will be set for another multi-million-dollar pay cheque for advising ARM Holdings on its takeover by SoftBank. At Morgan Stanley, second after Goldman in the Dealogic M&A league tables for Europe, headhunters predict top dollar for publicity-shy Irishman Colm Donlon. JPMorgan, number two for takeovers in the UK behind Goldman, had a decent year, too expect heady bonuses for new European vice chair Isabelle Seillier and UK M&A chief Dwayne Lysaght. Notice how theyre all American banks in the roster? No surprise. When it comes to the bulge-bracket banks bonuses, Europes will be struggling to keep up. Deutsche Bank has been holding back in light of its US fines and Barclays is still sorting out its corporate and investment banking arm. UBS and Credit Suisse, meanwhile, may have been racing up the M&A league tables but theyre still in sackcloth and ashes where bonuses are concerned. Barclays is revamping its investment bank (AFP/Getty Images ) / Niklas Halle'n/AFP/Getty Images As one Brit working for a US firm says: For the last few years, US banks have been eating the lunch of European firms in their own backyard. Were gaining market share, and the share of customers wallets that goes with it. Even in US firms, the poor folks running or not stock-market flotations will not have a bonus to remember this year. Revenues have been lousy as uncertainty before and since the Brexit vote has made investors wary of backing new share sales. Pity IPO bankers like Goldmans Richard Cormack and JPMorgans Nicholas Hall, whose names were on the ticket for Misys and TI Fluid Systems, two of the big pulled floats of the year. But they will be in the minority when it comes to the bonus season. For most, there will be plenty to cheer about as 2017 gets under way. And the taxman, with his 45% cut of all cash paid out, should be raising a glass as well. Boutiques eye rich pickings, too The UK mergers and acquisitions bonuses gold mine hasnt all gone Wall Streets way. Boutique advisory firms set up by veteran investment bankers fleeing their old institutions (and the compliance burden that goes with them) have continued to make big gains on M&A mandates. Thats undoubtedly sucked some of the big European M&A fees from the Wall Street giants. Robey Warshaw, which advised Japans SoftBank on buying ARM and the London Stock Exchange on its Deutsche Borse deal, is increasingly being joined in the rankings by Evercore, where Jane Gladstones team advised Michael Spencer on selling Icaps voice broking business to Tullett, and Centerview, which is advising BAT on its Reynolds merger. A relatively new boutique team burst into town just before Christmas in the form of PJT Partners, where former Morgan Stanley rainmaker Scott Matlocks long relationship with Sky led to his boutique being hired to advise on the Fox takeover. Says one boutique banker: Robey Warshaw are brilliant, but its good that theres some proper competition emerging to tackle their dominance on the London boutique scene. M asterCards 700 million deal to buy VocaLink, the company behind 6 trillion of payments a year, was thrown into doubt today by the competition watchdog. The Competition and Markets Authority warned the acquisition could make the Link ATM network from which Britons withdraw 10 billion per month from more than 70,000 free hole-in-the-wall machines less competitive. VocaLink and MasterCard are two of the three most credible technology providers to the network, the CMA warned. As such, the merger would limit the ability of Link to obtain good value when tendering for an infrastructure provider. There are already fears the UKs number of Link ATMs will be slashed as Britons switch to contactless payments and more online shopping. VocaLink is currently owned by 18 banks and building societies including Santander, Barclays, Lloyds Banking Group, HSBC and Royal Bank of Scotland who would share a windfall if the CMA backs MasterCards acquisition. But MasterCard already owns credit and debit card schemes Maestro and Cirrus as well as its eponymous card and Vocalink also operates the technology that processes some 90% of Britons salaries, all state benefits and more than two-thirds of household bills. Its also behind Bacs, the clearing system allowing payments between bank accounts. The CMA said the two companies could avoid full investigation if they respond by next Wednesday. Andrea Coscelli, acting chief executive of the CMA, added: The Link ATM network provides an essential service for millions of customers. These concerns warrant a closer investigation [if] MasterCard cannot address them at this stage. When US giant MasterCard announced its VocaLink deal in July, weeks after Brexit, Chancellor Philip Hammond claimed the takeover showed that Britain remains an attractive destination for international investors. I t takes a talent approaching genius to pull off the dismal combination that characterises Jeremy Corbyns leadership of Labour: to be both impregnable and irrelevant. In September he saw off a coup backed by 172 of his own MPs, defeating the challenger, Owen Smith, with a higher percentage of the vote than he had won in the leadership contest of 2015. Corbyn now heads a movement of more than half a million members the largest party in the European Union. He is more or less unassailable. Yet to what purpose? Yesterday the Fabian Society one of the most venerable organisations affiliated to Labour published an analysis concluding that the party has next to no chance of winning the next election outright, and might win fewer than 150 seats. Not surprisingly, this report has strengthened the conviction of many within the movement that Labour must build a progressive alliance with other Left-of-centre parties if the Conservatives are to be defeated in the foreseeable future. The opinion polls fluctuate, but not much. In the latest YouGov/Times survey, the Tories are 15 points ahead of the Opposition compared with 17 points last month. In Scotland, Labour has been eclipsed by the SNP, and faces a serious challenge from Ukip in its northern heartlands. Meanwhile, a knife-edge by-election, forced by the resignation of Jamie Reed just before Christmas, looms in Copeland, Cumbria. It is now self-evident that the principal party of the Left is flirting with electoral catastrophe. In the past month I have spoken to two prominent figures from the New Labour years, both of whom expressed the fear that the party was finished. This you might expect (though their concerned were not voiced with relish). Less predictable and more significant are the publicly expressed doubts of those who supported Corbyn most vociferously in 2015. Last month Ken Livingstone told the BBCs Sunday Politics: If its as bad as this in a years time, we would all be worried. In the Mirror this week Len McCluskey, leader of the Unite union, asked, What happens if we get to 2019 and opinion polls are still awful? The truth is everybody would examine that situation, including Jeremy Corbyn and [shadow chancellor] John McDonnell. Both Livingstone and McCluskey are unambiguously men of the Left. Their respective interventions were not Blairite pleas for Labour to make an ideological shift to the centre but the survival reflexes of an organism facing extinction. Accordingly, a new yearning is gaining strength in Labours upper echelons: namely that Corbyn will accept that he is never going to be Prime Minister and go voluntarily that honour might accomplish what an attempted coup could not. According to this narrative his replacement would restore credibility and stability to the party, as Michael Howard did for the Tories in 2003, preventing an electoral meltdown in 2020 and paving the way for a Labour revival during the next Parliament. Jeremy Corbyn: One year as Labour leader The catch is that Corbyn is as we have seen a proud and stubborn man. He also genuinely and sincerely believes that his brand of socialism is an idea whose time has come. Confronted with the far-Right populist revolution sweeping the West, he resorts to the old Marxist notion of false consciousness: the voters may think they want the demotic solutions of mean-spirited nativism but what they really crave, subconsciously, is the politics of the Left, long-denied to them by technocratic centrists. Why would a man who believes this, who has won two thumping victories in hard-fought leadership contests, forego the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to test his thesis in a general election? Protesters disrupt Jeremy Corbyn speech with Syria protest In any case, Corbyn is the prime symptom of Labours predicament rather than its fundamental cause. The very fact that he is leader and was re-elected to that post shows that the party has advanced not a jot since the New Labour era. Which is ironic, given the broader political context and the opportunities waiting to be seized by a Left-of-centre movement that has imagination as well as intellectual courage. Automation, outsourcing, the changing face of work: the party ought to be thinking deeply about the very nature of citizenship and the extent to which rampant consumerism is threatening to crowd out the dignity of labour. What jobs, if any, will there be for the children of todays Amazon depot workers, Starbucks baristas and Uber drivers? Successful politics depends upon the mapping of timeless values on to contemporary circumstances. But this is precisely what Labour is not doing. Instead of grappling with the challenges of the 21st century it has reverted to type, reviving its belief in the magical money tree that always bears fruit, confusing the voters with its pronouncements on (for instance) the EU and the nuclear deterrent, and embracing a spectacularly old-fashioned liberation politics. When Tony Blair delivered his eulogy to the Peoples Princess in 1997 he captured the spirit of a year. When Corbyn paid tribute to Fidel Castro he did the same. The trouble is that the year in question was 1959. Political parties are not intrinsically important. Their core purpose is not to campaign righteously at the fringes of public life but to acquire and retain power, and to use it to improve the wellbeing of the nation. Labours growth as a club may indeed be prodigious but it is also a matter of supreme irrelevance to those whom the party was founded to represent and protect. Doubtless the moral high ground is a pleasant place to be. But the only location that should matter to a Labour leader who really cares about the vulnerable, the struggling and the left-behind is No 10. In Theses on Feuerbach, Karl Marx posed the great challenge of politics thus: The philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways; the point is to change it. Right now, Labour shows no sign of doing either. T he right to individual privacy and the freedom of the press is a delicate balancing act and one that deserves a structure that provides equal rights for both sides [We must fight to prevent the coming attack on press freedom, Comment, December 22]. Without investigative journalism, many issues would never reach the public domain. Much of the work journalists do is vital to informing the public and challenging unassailable issues in a way that an individual citizen would be unable to. The majority of newspapers have signed up to the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO) and enforce the Editors Code of Practice. If we go beyond this and curtail the freedom to look at and investigate the actions of businesses, institutions and elected individuals on the basis of fear of financial retribution, we stand to lose a vital independent function that works in the interest of us all. Equally, the right to privacy and the methods by which investigative journalism impacts on an individuals privacy should be at the heart of the way the press operates. If IPSO takes a vigilant and effective stand against improper methods to break the news then financial fines could still be applied to support it, an aggrieved individual and the press. Gerald Bowey, chief executive, International Building Press One does not have to be a member of the pressure group Hacked Off to feel that the argument on the follow-up to Leveson is less one-sided than our newspapers would clearly have us believe. It hardly inspires confidence in the independence of IPSO that its chairman, Sir Alan Moses, an individual who cannot possibly fail to understand the importance of rigorous examination of both sides of a case, can produce a comment article in the Standard (December 22) which might as well have been written by a newspaper editor. It might be argued on Moses behalf that speaking in favour of the process does not prejudice the impartiality of its proceedings but it is the process itself about which many have doubts. I Cunningham The freedom of the press must work both ways; reporters should be free to do their jobs and remain unrestricted in their pursuit to report facts and investigate where necessary. Reporters and editors have a responsibility to abide by journalistic standards and, if they breach them, must be brought to justice, while those who have had their reputations tarnished should receive compensation. But if the proposed press regulations are passed, which could lead to more severe legal costs being paid, I believe it may deter newspapers from pursuing potentially crucial stories. Is this what we want for our newspapers? J Curton May needs a Brexit plan, not soundbites Theresa Mays rhetoric is all about unifying the nation but the reality is she cannot even unify her Brexit Cabinet. This is due to her own rudderless leadership, which, six months on from the EU referendum, is all over the place on fundamental questions such as whether we will remain in the European Single Market. The Prime Minister alluded, quite rightly, to those who voted Leave in part because they felt locked out of economic prosperity. But far from addressing this aching problem, her Government is becoming ever more divisive. Where is her regional strategy to bring prosperity to the countries and regions of the so-called United Kingdom? Her bungled mismanagement of Brexit has resulted in economic uncertainty and there is no evidence to suggest that she intends on helping the jams (just about managing). Far from uniting the capital and other Remain areas with the rest of the country, she is deepening divides. Her premiership cant survive forever on soundbites. Sooner or later, she is going to have to provide a strategy. Tom Brake MP, Liberal Democrat foreign affairs spokesperson Voter ID checks are long overdue It can only be good news that the Government is considering rolling out voter ID checks at polling stations to crack down on electoral fraud [Online, December 27]. Democracies all over the world are shocked at the absence of formal voter checks here in the UK. It is fair to say we are well behind the times, especially when Northern Ireland already carries out such checks with ease and voting participation remains high. Why Labour and Ken Livingstone are against introducing it is mind-boggling. Their argument that it somehow restricts certain groups from accessing polling stations is nonsensical given that there are so many ways a voter can provide ID, whether it is a driving licence, passport or utility bill. In an age where our local post office requires you to bring ID to pick up a parcel, I am sure we should be able to adapt. Mo Metcalf-Fisher, director, Conservative Progress Will the Governments plans, which could force electors to produce ID in order to vote, stop the kind of behaviour that Conservative Party candidates apparently indulged in during the 2015 general election? Some 29 Tory candidates allegedly went over their legal spending limit, with 20 police forces investigating the claims. Why arent the Tories planning to stop this from happening again instead? Sasha Simic Prevention is key to ending knife crime The knife attacks that blighted London over the festive period bring home the urgent need to curb this violence. The Mayor has made tackling these offences a priority. The focus must be on prevention and talking to young people about the dangers of carrying knives, peer pressure and the need to report violent acts. We also have to consider how to use stop-and-search both appropriately and effectively. The use of body cameras should help to achieve this. It is a minority that carries out knife crime, but they do so with devastating effect. We must act now. Unmesh Desai, Labours London Assembly policing and crime spokesperson A t the newly refurbished Victoria Inn in Peckham, the January compromise has been cracked. You can still have a glass of wine theres no need to make the start of the year harder than it already is by going cold turkey on booze but you can make a concession to healthiness with your food. The menu is a feast of health, featuring poke, avocado, brown rice and lean steaks. London is easing off the glutton button. So instead of stodgy steak and ale pies, baked camembert and deep-fried sharing platters, pubs are offering lighter options. Youre just as likely to find dishes packed with superfoods as you are supersized steaks. The Victoria Inns head chef, Dan Smith, wanted to introduce some challenging new ideas to traditional pub menus. He says: The Detox Spa salad (blueberry, pomegranate, spinach, crunchy chick peas, seaweed, avocado, almonds, mixed seeds, goats yoghurt, cider dressing) is my favourite, understanding that conscious eating is not a trend but here to stay. The use of nutritional ingredients such as the mixed seeds and nuts help make a dish that gives back. Theres also tuna avocado poke with spring onions, pickled ginger, crispy noodles, brown rice, soft herbs and a miso dressing. Or start your meal with pea, mint and lovage soup with a soft-poached hens egg and light truffle oil before trying a crushed avocado wrap with chilli, coriander and crunchy chick pea hummus. They still do burgers. Smith says: Feedback has been really interesting from our customers. Whether you fancy a burger with bone marrow in the patty for that extra beef hit or to simply have a soup that will get you through a cold winters day, we hope to have all hungers covered. If the thought of even being in a pub after a heavy Decembers drinking fills you with horror, when the temperatures drop in January pubs are still the cosiest places to spend a weekend afternoon. Classic pub grub tends towards traditional British favourites but at The Great North Wood in West Norwood, the menu is more adventurous. Try tuna ceviche with avocado, pineapple, pomegranate and radish or the miso-glazed aubergine with mushroom gyoza and soy broth. The best craft beer pubs in London 1 /26 The best craft beer pubs in London The Old Red Cow Smithfield A hefty range of interesting beers spans two bars at this Long Lane pub, with significantly more keg than cask on offer. Should the 10-15 on tap not suffice, there are countless more available in bottle. Decent pub grub also features, while the wine list is notably excellent by craft beer pub standards. theoldredcow.com The Queens Head Kings Cross Tucked away around the corner from the station, just off Grays Inn Road, this charming old pub does more than just good beer. On top of three rotating, interestingly stocked hand pumps and more taps it also offers more than 12 whiskies, several ciders, serves platters of cheeses and cured meats, and has board games galore. queensheadlondon.com The Earl of Essex Islington Around 18 beers feature at this pub near the Regents Canal, including many from local London breweries such as Beavertown and Redemption. The pub food menu, which comes with recommended beer pairings, is also decent. Theres a small but sweet beer garden to boot. earlofessex.net Crown and Anchor Brixton Set almost equal distance between Stockwell, Brixton and Oval, this pub offers 20-odd beers on keg and cask. The beers are eclectic, but south London brews feature particularly prominently. Its fairly bustling of an evening, and youll also find a decent roast dinner. crownandanchorbrixton.co.uk The Understudy South Bank This relative newcomer from the National Theatre is the South Banks best pub bar none. Its package includes in excess of 10 beers on tap, a tank of brewery fresh Meantime lager, a decent spirit, wine and cocktail offering, and some pretty sweet views over the Thames to boot. nationaltheatre.org.uk Cock Tavern Hackney Central Originally the home of Howling Hops brewery (before they outgrew the space and launched their own tank bar), this Hackney Central boozer is now home to Maregade Brew Co.. As well as serving their brews, it also specialises in great beer generally. More than 20 lines of it in fact, including a fair bit of Howling Hops stuff. Be aware that its cash only. thecocktavern.co.uk Old Fountain Old Street Theres usually upwards of 15 craft beers on the taps at this comfy (unless its rammed) Old Street boozer, and it has the added bonus of a rather nice terrace. A decent number of the beers available tend to be London brews, with Five Points, Hammerton and Kernel among the regulars. Looking for another point of difference? It has a fish tank. oldfountain.co.uk The Southampton Arms Kentish Town This pub set about equal distance between Gospel Oak, Tufnell Park and Kentish Town stations has resisted going too craft despite stocking around 20 varieties just that it still feels like a local boozer. Theres a particular prevalence of brews from Londons smaller breweries as well as those from around the UK, while fans of craft cider are also well catered for with five or six on tap at all times. thesouthamptonarms.co.uk The Harp Covent Garden This characterful but cramped old pub a stones throw from Charing Cross station offers a rotating selection of 20 or so brews, main focusing on real ales. And as a regular CAMRA award winner, you can rest assured theyre in good condition. Only problem? It gets absolutely rammed. harpcoventgarden.com Mother Kellys Bethnal Green This Paradise Row beer bar from the team behind The Queens Head in Kings Cross has over 23 numbered taps which correspond to a changing selection of brews like a Chinese restaurant for beer. Its inspired by a New York taproom, so dont expect a cosy pub but if the weathers nice, you can count on an outdoor barbecue and plenty of atmosphere on the terrace. motherkellys.co.uk The Lyric Soho The best thing about this characterful pub near Piccadilly Circus is the way it merges the music, fun and frivolity youd expect from a Soho boozer with a surprisingly stunning selection of beers theres never far off 20 on tap. Oh, and there are open fires. lyricsoho.co.uk Hack and Hop City The latest pub from the team behind The Dean Swift and The Old Red Cow (also in this list), this decent-sized venue just off Fleet Street has more than a decent beer list more than 20 split between cask and keg. Theres also a gastropub-style food menu, though thats not what brings most people in. thehackandhop.com The White Horse Parsons Green This west London institution affectionately(ish) known as The Sloaney Pony due to its location and clientele serves a lot of great British beer, but really comes into its own when it comes to foreign imports particularly from Belgium, Germany and the USA. Options include Pilsner Urquell tank beer alongside eight hand pumps and around 10 taps, plus more than 130 bottles. The gastropub food is good quality and it boasts a particularly sizeable beer garden along with a calendar packed with beer festivals. whitehorsesw6.com Euston Tap Euston Housed in a teeny stone building just in front of Euston station which was built in 1870 as a form of passenger information kiosk, the Euston Tap is not blessed when it comes to space. Neither is it in any way comfy. However, it does stock an impressive range of beers 20 keg, 8 cask and 150 by bottle, to be exact. Those with an affection for apples should also check out sister site Cider Tap across the road. eustontap.com Dean Swift Bermondsey A rotating selection of more than 15 cask and keg beers are almost always available at The Dean Swift. What makes the place particularly great is that despite this great beer selection, and some very good Sunday roasts served upstairs, it maintains a real local boozer vibe. thedeanswift.com The Fox Haggerston This east London longtimer offers a regularly-changing selection of between 15 and 20 beers on tap at all times, plus some very decent booze-absorbing pizzas. Brews from London makers such as Kernel, Beavertown and Pressure Drop tend to get top billing alongside plenty of international offers. Theres a beer garden out back, too. Cask Pub & Kitchen Pimlico Theres a constantly changing selection of 25 beers on tap at this tucked-away Pimlico pub, not to mention multiple fridges full of interesting bottles. Its the original from the group behind the Craft Beer Co chain, and we reckon its still the best. caskpubandkitchen.com Craft Beer Co Various locations The original Clerkenwell branch of this mini-chain was one of the first proponents of craft beer in London. Its still going strong, while there are now also sites in Brixton, Islington, Clapham, Covent Garden and the City. The Islington branch, which comes with a large beer garden and comfier seating, is a favourite. thecraftbeerco.com BrewDog Various locations Youll no these guys. They do beer for punks, apparently. Whatever you make of BrewDogs marketing gimmicks, they make some bloody good beer. Find it at their bars in Camden, Clapham Junction, Clerkenwell, Angel, Shepherds Bush, Shoreditch and Soho, along with plenty of guest beers from other brewers. The Shepherds Bush branch usually has the biggest selection of beers, totalling more than 30. brewdog.com Draft House Various locations The Draft House group is far removed from the kind of minimalist, vaguely uncomfortable craft beer pub where its all about beer. Expect quirky design, good music and burgers, hot dogs and pub staples served throughout the day. Find sites in Battersea, Fitzrovia, Hammersmith, Tower Bridge, the City and Bethnal Green. drafthouse.co.uk At The Canonbury Tavern in Islington, swap a vast portion of fish and chips for the cod loin with smoked bacon and tomato lentils, winter greens and hollandaise. Also in Islington, The Drapers Arms is switching battered haddock and fries for more sophisticated fishy dishes such as lemon sole with rainbow chard and lemon or hake with spiced chickpeas and aioli. So dont worry about that glass of wine too much while everyone is abstaining around you the high protein and leafy vegetables will soak it up. Weve had enough of roasts... at least for a few weeks. @littlewondering Visit standard.co.uk/restaurants for the latest news and reviews from Londons food scene. Follow Going Out on Facebook and on Twitter @ESgoingout D o you ever find yourself wishing that Edinburgh Fringe could just be in London? Well, wish no more. Vault Festival, Londons answer to the summertime theatrical bonanza, returns to kickstart the year with a whole line-up of treats. Six weeks of comedy, theatre, film and music will fill the underground space at The Vaults in Waterloo from January 25 to March 5. If you are feeling a bit spoilt for choice, dont fret weve round up the highlights to make things easier. A Year From Now One company asked people where they saw themselves a year from now, and then put the answers together in a verbatim performance. Containing the hopes and dreams of everyone from children to 90 year olds, its bound to be moving. (January 25-29) This Must Be The Place Upcoming writers Brad Birch and Kenneth Emson have been generating some buzz with their work, and they have collaborated on two short ballads about being alive and not. (February 8-12) VAULT Festival preview Hip The producer of the hit show Backstage in Biscuit Land, Jolie Booth, has created an interactive show about the parallel lives of two women one squatting in a Brighton flat, the other the buildings original tenant. Its based around found objects so dont leave your hip bone lying around, or it will end up in a show. (February 1-5) Chorus This work-in-progress comes from the brilliant Katie Bonna, who had an Edinburgh Fringe hit last year with All the Things I Lied About. Her show Dirty Great Love Story, co-written with Richard Marsh, is also about to move into the West End. Wed say that makes an early draft of her new show worth watching. (March 4-5) Adele Is Younger Than Us Double act Stiff and Kitsch will perform a musical stand-up lamenting the fact that someone younger than them has won 8 Brits, 10 Grammys, an Academy Award and had three double platinum selling albums. We hear ya. (January 25-29) Todd & God Richard Marsh, Katie Bonnas collaborator on Dirty Great Love Story, is offering a scratch production of a guy called Todd who meets God, and finds out that God is in fact A Woman. Huge if true. (February 16) The Litterati Shrapnel Theatre had a hit show at Vault last year and now theyre back. Their new play, The Litterati, is about a wannabe journalist doing an investigative piece on an enigmatic underground community which all seems a bit hairy. The things we do to achieve our dreams. (January 25-29) Prom Kween This show describes itself as Grease meets Hairspray meets a Trumpy rally meets RuPauls Drag Race. That sounds like something worth seeing. Inspired by the true story of the first boy ever to be crowned prom queen, its written by actress and very funny writer Rebecca Humphries. (February 15-19) Princess Suffragette The little known story of the aristocratic daughter of an exhiled Maharajah who became the first British-Asian suffragette. Go to see a defining moment of history that no one teaches you about at school. (February 22-26) My World Has Exploded a Little Bit A radically honest, farcical performance lecture and true story about how everyone you love is going to die. It still promises to make you laugh though. (February 8-12) Notflix Does your Netflix homepage keep suggesting you watch LOL starring Miley Cyrus? Then you might like Notflix, an improvised musical based on the best and worst of Netflixs audience suggestions. (January 25-29) Crocodile Bringing a human into the world is a terrifying enough prospect imagine giving birth to a crocodile. Share this rather different parenting journey from writer and performer Joe Eyre and try not to be put off procreating. (February 1-5) Mme Bovarys Communist After-Party Ana is the daughter of political refugees from Communist Romania, getting back in touch with her mother after seven years. It turns out her mother has become a Tinder-addict. It can happen to anyone. (January 26) Eleanor Conways Walk of Shame This critically acclaimed comedy about sex, sambuca and sobriety explores a life of extremes, and the search for moderation. (February 15) Balancing Acts This show attempts to offer a deeper emotional insight into what its like experience depression, using film, verbatim and physical theatre to tell six intimate stories on how different people cope. (January 25-29) I Need to Vent Loren OBriens play tells the story of Allies return from a trip that she spent finding herself, only to find that shes lost her friends and family, and needs to go to extreme measures to get their attention. (February 8-12) Exactly Like You This one-woman show offers a cure for boredom and loneliness conjure up the ghost of Nina Simone and have a chat with her. (January 25-29) Astronauts of Hartlepool Channel 4 writer-in-residence Tim Foley has written this dark comedy about broken Britain, in which Hartlepool is under attack by astronauts. Has anyone seen Tim Peake lately? (February 8-12) Fcukd Spoken word fans, listen up: this show about two brothers fleeing their council flat in search of a better life is told entirely in verse. (January 26 and February 2) Frontal Lobotomy Beat poetry fused with a Tom Waits-inspired soundtrack, set amidst stories of having a lobotomy. And you thought you were having weird dreams. (February 1-5) Vault Film Festival Vault also features a film festival, including great feature-length films like The Cult of JT Leroy and The Library Suicides, as well as lots of new shorts. And screenings are only 5 result. Vault Festival runs from January 25 - March 5; listings for all the shows can be found at vaultfestival.com Visit standard.co.uk/theatre for the latest news and reviews from Londons theatre scene. Follow Going Out on Facebook and on Twitter @ESgoingout A powerful image of the scarred chest of a cancer survivor who ditched her silicone breast implants is the centrepiece of a startling New Year advertising campaign from a London gym. The picture shows US artist Samantha Paige, who had explant as opposed to implant surgery eight years after an elective double mastectomy, baring her torso while being tattooed. It is one of a series of photographs in the advertising campaign from the 200-a-month lifestyle club Equinox, which opened its first London branch in Kensington in 2012 and has two more planned in St Jamess and Shoreditch. The campaign has the theme Commit to Something and claims to tackle topics rarely addressed in advertising including a womans decision to embrace a new perspective on beauty after a double mastectomy. Ms Paige, 41, who lives in California and has also battled thyroid cancer and had a hysterectomy, told the Standard: Shooting this image provided an opportunity to encourage everyone to commit to what matters most to them and stand up for those beliefs. We are faced with decisions, or last cuts as I call them, where we can commit to ourselves to show up more fully in life... Equinox [is] taking a stand for a broader definition of commitment. The mother of one chose to have the double mastectomy eight years ago after tests showed she carried the BRCA1 gene mutation associated with a high risk of developing breast cancer. She had reconstruction surgery but became disillusioned with her implants, which she described as sacks of poison sitting above her heart and lungs, and had them removed last January. She said: My implants served me well for a while, but the day I opted to say goodbye to them was one of the most beautiful days in my life. Fashion photographer Steven Klein, who shot the images and is known for his work with Madonna and Lady Gaga, said: It is brave on both Equinoxs and Samanthas part, to show a woman who decided that the physicality of having breasts was not important to feel good about yourself. Today people are over-consumed with exterior physicality. Follow us on Twitter @eslifeandstyle C elebrities have long been surprising us with unusual baby names, from Brooklyn and Apple to North and Ace. But Tatlers annual list of top 'posh' baby names has taken the quest to dizzy new heights, advising its readers on some of the more unusual titles that will make your little one seamlessly fit into high society later in life. If you want a name that stands out on the school register, it suggests naming your son Euripides, Innsbruck or Npeter (the N is silent FYI). Top posh names for girls include Figgy, Gethsemane, Queenie and Debonaire. The magazine insists that theyre some of poshest names known to man. These are the real deal. Some are even centuries old. Let's make them popular again! Luckily there are some more commonplace names on the list, such as David, Una, John and Kenneth. However, it might be a while before the likes of Tansy, Vervain and Ra catch on across the country. Last year the UKs most popular baby names for girls included Amelia, Olivia and Isla while Oliver topped the list for boys. Baby monitors - in pcitures 1 /8 Baby monitors - in pcitures Scroll to see our pick of the best baby monitors... Shutterstock Philips uGrow Smart Baby Monitor An impressive app controlled device that connects via WIFI to provide live footage of your little one to your mobile phone or tablet. A range of helpful features allows you to see, hear and communicate with your tot with ease. A built in sensor measures room temperature and humidity. It also includes a soothing nightlight, a selection of lullabies and a reassuring talk back function all of which can be controlled by the user-friendly app. You are also able to share a secure and private video stream with up to ten other family members so grandma can check in too. This is a terrific option for parents who are frequent travellers, as you can see your child from wherever you are in the world. 180, Amazon, Buy it now Vtech Pan & Tilt Video Baby Monitor This digital video monitor has a long 300-metre range, which is perfect for larger homes. It works on mains power, so theres no need to worry about interference from other frequencies. Its large 4.3 inch colour LCD screen has a handy pan, tilt and zoom camera that spans a large area a useful feature for parents who have more than one child sleeping in a room. It also comes with an in-built temperature sensor and the talk back function that allows you to soothe your little one from anywhere in the house. 109, Amazon, Buy it now Motorola Smart Nursery 7 Just launched, this sophisticated monitor has it all. The portable, large 7-inch touch screen camera features remote pan, tilt and zoom Wi-Fi connectivity and allows convenient, wire free movement from room to room. A specialised app called Hubble lets you view the camera on compatible smartphones and tablets you can also receive sound, motion, humidity and temperature alerts, along with HD video streaming. Other useful features include sleep quality monitoring - a clever feature that tracks your babys snooze habits. Two-way communication, infrared night vision and a selection of lullabies are also built in. 349.99, John Lewis, Buy it now Angelcare AC1300 Movement, Video and Sound Monitor With plenty of features, investing in this well-designed digital monitor will give you complete reassurance when baby is sleeping. The large 3.5 inch portable, colour screen offers quality video transmission and crystal clear sound quality. It also comes with an innovative sensor pad that is designed to be placed under-the-mattress to detect movement. This is a great feature for newborns or tots who have just started to reach and stand. Operated with mains or battery, the monitor also boasts infrared night vision, allowing you to see you see your little one in the dark; a soothing night-light and room temperature display is also on offer. 127.79, Amazon, Buy it now Mamia Advanced Digital Audio Monitor If youre looking for a basic, cost-effective monitor, look no further. This practical, audio option has excellent sound quality and a 250-metre range. Its super easy to set up and has an intelligent talk-back feature so you can settle baby without going into their room, plus a choice of two soothing lullabies. It also includes a temperature sensor and belt clip. 24.99, Aldi, Buy it now Want a name thats a little more upmarket for your bundle of joy? Here are Tatlers poshest baby names for 2017: Top posh girls' names: Alfreda Blanche Czar-Czar Debonaire Estonia Figgy Gethsemane Hum Idabelle Jori Koala Lark Monaveen Power Queenie Rara Scar Tansy Vervain Yellow Top posh boys' names: Aubyn Barclay Euripides Fenston Gustav Hickman Innsbruck Ludlow Mao Npeter (the N is silent) Ormerod Quail Ra Stourton Uxorious Victory Wigbert Yak Zebedee Follow us on Twitter: @eslifeandstyle B rexit begins to bite Nick Clegg, Lib-Dem Europe spokesman This will be the year when Brexit reality starts to bite: higher prices, a contorted Government approach and an uncompromising response from the rest of the EU. Watch out for Brexiteers blaming everyone foreigners, Brussels, civil servants, Remoaners other than themselves. I think the Government will get through the current legal challenge and trigger Article 50 on time. With by-elections, the situation plays into the hands of the parties with the clearest position on Brexit Ukip and the Lib-Dems. Thats one of the reasons Theresa May probably wont trigger a general election. The problem for the Government is what little opinion-poll evidence there is shows that people are not willing to make an economic sacrifice for Brexit. When it becomes increasingly obvious that there isnt a pot of gold at the end of the Brexit rainbow that the claims of the pied pipers of Brexit Michael Gove, Boris Johnson and Nigel Farage just arent materialising the 48 per cent will swell in numbers. I also think well see more anger from the young. Any country which makes a momentous decision about its future without the support of those who will inherit it is on a perilous path. Oh, and Vince Cable will finally win Strictly. Kimye splits and Kendall quits Perez Hilton, US gossip columnist Kanye West is going to divorce Kim Kardashian this year. Kim will move on very quickly and start dating someone else famous, of course. Kanye West's 10 most controversial tweets Rihanna will come out with her own line of weed, as it becomes legal in more US states. Britney Spears is going to start dating a woman. Bella Hadid will actually eat an entire grilled cheese sandwich this year. Kendall Jenner will quit Keeping Up With the Kardashians because shes the most normal of the whole bunch and shes making pots of money from modelling. Adele is going to go into hiding. The day after the Grammy awards she will disappear and you wont see her for the rest of the year. Adele teases new single Send My Love.mp4 Calvin Harris will get back together with Rita Ora because shes not as famous as Taylor Swift and he doesnt like feeling threatened. The Weeknd will start dating another model and go on double dates with Leonardo DiCaprio. Perez Hilton thinks Rihanna will release her own line of weed this year Gender gets an agenda Jack Monroe, cook and activist The Womens Equality Party now has more members than Ukip and had a hugely successful first conference. They are like modern-day suffragettes. So 2017 should be the year of the gender revolution, as Catherine Mayer and Sophie Walker lead the way, alongside prominent transgender campaigners. People are starting to understand what we mean when we say gender is a construct. And now, when someone comes out as trans or queer, it doesnt shock anyone. HUSTINGS SOPHIE WALKER OPENING SOT More women will be encouraged to go into politics to get up and stand and fight for their rights. We lost one of our best politicians in 2016 in Labour MP Jo Cox no one will ever replace her or fill her shoes but I hope there are women out there who will see who she was, what she did, and think I want to be like her. Jack Monroe thinks more women will get into politics this year / PA London stays open all hours Amy Lame, night tsar With the Night Tube now running on five lines I think 2017 is going to be a pivotal year for Londons nightlife as venues open later, punters stay out longer and we all come to see London as a truly 24-hour city. The reopening of the nightclub Fabric is a hopeful sign and Im going to be working with Philip Kolvin, chair of the Night Time Commission, to see what lessons can be learned to ensure that we dont reach that point with a much-loved club again. Meet London's first ever Night Czar, Amy Lame I urge all readers to make a New Year resolution to support their local venues and discover the amazing nightlife London has to offer. I would keep my eye on the Printworks a spectacular new venue in Canada Water and Im really excited to see how the Sound Lounge project in Tooting develops. London's best late-night restaurants 1 /21 London's best late-night restaurants Balans Soho Last orders: 6am Friday and Saturday, 5am Monday - Thursday, 2am Sunday This late-night stalwart of Soho is the place to be for a post-club fry-up in the early hours or late night cocktails, burgers and beers for that matter. balans.co.uk The Big Easy Covent Garden Last orders: 12.30am Thursday - Saturday, 11.30pm Monday - Wednesday, 11am Sunday Big, bold barbecue dishes will offer smoky sustenance until past midnight at the weekend, ideal whether youre soaking up an evenings drinking or setting yourself up for a long night ahead. bigeasy.co.uk Bob Bob Ricard Soho Last orders: Midnight Thursday - Saturday, 11.30pm Sunday Glamorous, fun and endlessly impressive if not at all cheap. The kiev is a highlight from the Russia-meets-Europe menu, while the press for Champagne button is the stuff of legend bobbobricard.com Brasserie Zedel Piccadilly Circus Last orders: Midnight Monday - Saturday, 11pm Sunday Escargot, onion soup and steak frites are on the menu at this oh-so Parisian grand brasserie from restaurant royalty Corbin and King. Its possibly Londons best value restaurant, too. brasseriezedel.com Dishoom Covent Garden, Kings Cross, Soho, Shoreditch Last orders: Midnight Thurs, Fri and Sat, 11pm Sunday - Wednesday (Shoreditch, Kings Cross); Midnight Fri and Sat, 11pm Sunday - Thursday (Covent Garden, Soho) Modern Indian food in a Bombay-style Brasserie from chilli cheese toast and spicy lamb chops to black lentil dhal, byrianis and curries. By the time it gets late, the inevitable queues have even gone down. dishoom.com The Delaunay Covent Garden Last orders: Midnight Monday - Saturday, 11pm Sunday Another restaurant from Corbin and King, this stylish European-inspired grand cafe serves exemplary schnitzels, Stroganoff and steaks, as well as a wiener or three. thedelaunay.com Dirty Bones Kensington, Soho Last orders: 1am Friday and Saturday, 12am Monday - Thursday, 10pm Sunday (Kensington); 12.30am Friday and Saturday, 12am Monday - Thursday, 11pm Sunday Fried chicken, burgers and ribs headline the dirty line-up, along with indulgent puds and punchy cocktails. dirty-bones.com Duck & Waffle City Last orders: serves 24 hours You cant be too late for this sky-high spot. Even in the middle of the night it serves a pretty comprehensive reduced menu, including the signature Duck & Waffle crispy leg confit, fried duck egg and mustard maple syrup. duckandwaffle.com El Camion Soho Last orders: 2am Wednesday - Saturday, 11pm Sunday - Tuesday This good-times Mexican serves tacos, burritos, quesadillas into the early hours for the latter half of the week, while its downstairs Pink Chihuahua bar is open for drinks until 3am every day but Sunday. elcamion.co.uk Hakkasan Mayfair, Fitzrovia Last orders: 00.30am Thursday - Saturday, 23.15pm Sunday - Wednesday (Hanway Place in Fitzrovia); 00.45am Thursday - Saturday, 00.30 Monday - Wednesday, midnight Sunday (Mayfair) If only a Michelin-starred late-night meal will do, Hakkasans beautifully presented modern Cantonese food is ideal. The Mayfair branch is open a tad later than the original near Tottenham Court Road. hakkasan.com Hubbard and Bell Holborn Last orders: 1am Thursday - Saturday, midnight Sunday - Wednesday This restaurant within Holborns Hoxton hotel serves its meaty grills and other dishes into the early hours, and remains open for drinks even later. hubbardandbell.com MEATLiquor Marylebone Last orders: 2am Friday and Saturday, midnight Monday - Thursday, 11pm Sunday The original branch of MEATLiquor keeps the burger action going until early. A slightly reduced menu will be on offer for the last hour of service. meatliquor.com Polo Bar Liverpool Street Last orders: serves 24 hours Breakfasts, Benedicts and burgers are order of the day and available at any point of the day or night at this hole-in-the-wall eatery, which is handily located opposite Liverpool Street station. polo24hourbar.co.uk Pizza East Shoreditch Last orders: 1am Friday and Saturday, midnight Thursday, 11pm Sunday - Wednesday The Shoreditch branch of this pizza restaurant from Soho House dishes out its dough until the early hours. Try the fiery nduja, pickled peppers, red onion and scamorza pizza for a late-night pick-me-up. pizzaeast.com Spuntino Soho Last orders: 1am Thursday - Saturday, midnight Monday - Wednesday, 11pm Sunday Russell Normans New York-style small-plates bar dishes up pizzette, fried chicken and sliders into the night, along with the offer of a Negroni or three. spuntino.co.uk The Wolseley Piccadilly Last orders: Midnight Monday - Saturday, 11pm Sunday This opulent Corbin and King restaurant always comes complete with a sense of occasion even if that occasion is a late-night bite on a Tuesday. Schnitzel and grilled calf's liver with bacon are among the highlights. thewolseley.com Second act of protest Rebecca Front, actress and author of Curious My greatest fear for 2017 is that itll be so dire well look back on 2016 with misty-eyed affection. Can things get any worse? Yes they can, and Im afraid they will. But it might also be the year that many of us find our voice and the courage to protest. It may turn out to be a great year for protest songs its your call whether thats a positive or not. My prediction? Fasten your seatbelt, its going to be a bumpy ride. Rebecca Front thinks things will get worse this year / Spencer Platt/Getty Images Religion roars back Tom Holland, author and historian After a century in which most people in the West assumed that God was dead or dying, his 21st-century comeback will continue into 2017. A variety of strongmen Putin in Orthodox Russia, Modi in Hindu India, Erdogan in Muslim Turkey will flaunt their religiosity. The sectarian conflict in the Middle East will turn ever more bloody. Christians will continue to be more persecuted by Muslims than vice-versa. Across the world, in unreported obedience to the promptings of their respective religions, billions of people will continue to do good to their fellow men and women. Putin powers up Peter Frankopan, historian and author of The Silk Roads When Time magazine crowned Donald Trump as its Person of the Year 2016, everyone knew the real winner had been kept hidden from view Vladimir Putin. This year will see more of the same. Putin will capitalise on his reputation as a Machiavellian genius. He does not need to do that in Russia, where his approval ratings are off the chart. But in the Middle East, the Balkans, Central Asia, Iran, the Gulf and China, Russia looks increasingly like the only show in town. With the Trump presidency already looking like an elaborate parody reality show, Britain torn in two by Brexit and the EU fiddling while everything burns, it has become painfully obvious that the lack of leadership in the West might just have a terrible price. Big vacuums are opening up that others (Putin is not alone, by the way) will happily fill. I hope someone remembers to turn the lights off. Happy 2017! Peter Frankopan thinks Russian President Vladimir Putin will have a successful 2017 / REUTERS The new reality show James Palumbo, entrepreneur This year will be a return to reality. Remember earning interest on your bank account? Trump will start raising rates, returning the world to financial reality. Francois Fillon will be elected President of France on the ticket of cutting public-sector jobs, raising the retirement age and making people pay for healthcare. A new, strident Theresa May will change the debate from Brexit to reforms of housebuilding, industrial policy and striking unions. All good, hard reality-facing stuff. Films to look forward to in 2017 1 /13 Films to look forward to in 2017 Jackie T2 Trainspotting Toni Erdmann I Am Not Your Negro The Lego Batman Movie Beauty and the Beast Wonder Woman Dunkirk The Commuter Star Wars Episode VIII More Labour pains Ayesha Hazarika, comedian and former Labour adviser Its going to be a very difficult year for Labour. Brexit will continue to dominate everything. I suspect if Theresa May loses the Article 50 court case she will go to the people to get a mandate, so there will be a general election. That will be very tough for Labour, as its position isnt clear on issues such as freedom of movement and immigration. Labour is being squeezed on Brexit by the Lib-Dems, who are pro-Remain and by Ukip in traditional Labour strongholds where people voted Leave. Ukip wont necessarily get many of those seats but by taking Labour votes it could help Conservative candidates. Jeremy Corbyn visits Centrepoint I dont think there will be a challenge to Jeremy Corbyn Owen Smiths bid last year was such a disaster. I can see Labour MPs getting increasingly frustrated, though. It wouldnt surprise me if some more throw in the towel. Ayesha Hazarika thinks there will be no challenge to Jeremy Corbyn / Getty Images Never cook dinner again Will Shu, CEO of Deliveroo This will be a pivotal year for how we live and eat in our homes. Catered parties will make a comeback as more people realise high-quality even Michelin-starred dinner parties no longer mean a second mortgage. On-demand will increasingly mean on-command, with more people using the internet or connected devices to order-in their favourite food or shopping. And were going to see more delivery-only restaurants popping up around us. I truly believe a corner has been turned in terms of what people want (and expect) to be able to access at the touch of a button. Lunch Delivery Services - in pictures 1 /10 Lunch Delivery Services - in pictures Cookoo eatcookoo.com Eat First eatfirst.com Potage potage.co.uk Karma Cans karmacans.co.uk Detox Kitchen detoxkitchen.co.uk Tossed tosseduk.com City Pantry citypantry.com Martina O'Shea Tiffin Planet tiffinplanet.co.uk Europe remapped Kwasi Kwarteng, author and Conservative MP In France, the far-Right Front National leader Marine Le Pen will lose the election. Self-styled Thatcherite and Catholic family man Francois Fillon will win instead. TODO: define component type brightcove The German Right-wing populist AfD party will underperform and the recently resigned Italian centrist Prime Minister Matteo Renzi will come back to power somehow. Kwasi Kwarteng thinks Marine Le Pen will lose the French election / AFP/Getty Images Troll on Kay Burley, Sky News anchor The Twitter trolls wont go away but I love Twitter trolls, I get bored if I dont get to eat half-a-dozen for breakfast every day, so bring them on! And Prince Harrys going to marry and have twins. Follow Frankie McCoy on Twitter: @franklymccoy Follow Rosamund Urwin on Twitter: @rosamundurwin "Police was a mute spectator when our party men were being attacked. Finally central force had to be deployed," BJP national secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya said. By Indrajit Kundu: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has slammed the Kolkata police for failing to provide adequate security to its state headquarters in Kolkata following Tuesday's attack by Trinamool Chatra Parishad workers. The attack resulted in a dozen party workers getting injured. BJP national secretary and state observer Kailash Vijayvargiya, who met the injured workers in Kolkata today, questioned the role of Kolkata's police commissioner, Rajiv Kumar. "His police was a mute spectator when our party men were being attacked. Finally central force had to be deployed," he said. HERE IS WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: The CBI on Tuesday arrested Trinamool Congress MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay in connection with the Rose Valley chit fund scam. The arrest sparked protests by TMC supporters, with the BJP's state headquarters coming under attack. Kailash Vijayvargiya rubbished West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's allegations that the CBI was being used for "vendetta politics" in response to her party's opposition to demonetisation. Vijayvargia called the charges baseless, saying that the central agency is probing the Rose Valley chit fund scam on the orders of the Supreme Court. Vijayvargiya added, "If we had to use CBI politically we could have done it during the Bengal Assembly elections. We could have benefited had their leaders been arrested then." The veteran BJP leader also questioned current Kolkata police commissioner Rajiv Kumar's role while investigating the Saradha chit fund scam. "We want to know from the CBI what role did he play in the Saradha scam," he said. Opposition parties in West Bengal have long alleged that Kumar destroyed crucial evidence while heading the probe team as the then Bidhan Nagar police commissioner. Vijayvargiya also slammed the Congress over its support for the TMC, urging the Congress leadership to come clean on where it stands on corruption. "We are amazed how the Congress's leader of opposition in Bengal Assembly appeals before the Supreme Court to expedite the chit fund probe against TMC and at the same time their high command stands in support of TMC when their leaders are arrested for corruption," he said. advertisement ALSO READ: Protests over TMC MP's arrest lead to highway blockade in West Bengal ALSO READ: TMC-BJP clashes across Bengal over MP Sudip Bandhopadhyay's arrest in Rose Valley chit fund scam --- ENDS --- W e slipped on our cashmere pyjamas, we lit our scented candles and we bundled up in blankets on the sofa. Yes, 2016 was the year we all truly embraced hygge as a way of life. It was cute for a while. We enjoyed spending our Saturday nights sipping on hot chocolates while the rain poured outside and the fire warmed our feet. But somewhere between a book called Keep Calm and Hygge appearing in Waterstones and The Spectator naming it as the most annoying word of the year, we all suddenly got sick of hearing about hygge. If the mere mention of the word is now like nails on a chalkboard to you, we have some good news: it probably wont be around for much longer. Apparently, theres a new Scandi trend thats set to take over in 2017 - and its less about face planting on the sofa for a few hours and more about taking a holistic overview to your entire life. Enter 'lagom'. Pronounced lar-gohm, the word is translated to mean just the right amount. When applied to a busy life, it means being frugal and striking the perfect balance between work and play. In an interview with the BBC, Kathleen Bryson a PhD graduate in evolutionary anthropology at UCL described 'lagom' as a state of having 'not too much of one-or-the-other, but more a Goldilocks 'just right'.' So while hygge is all about catching a few hours of indulgent solitary bliss amid an otherwise stressful schedule, Lagom is all about striking a perfectly pleasant balance throughout the day by living modestly and avoiding extremes. 10 of the best Hygge home ideas 1 /14 10 of the best Hygge home ideas Snuggle up with a little piece of Hygge. Here's our pick of the best... Skandinavisk Hygge Printed Candle Skandinavisk have hand poured this candle with a unique mix of stearin and paraffin that helps to create a deep glow within the candle and allows for a slow, smokeless burn. It has up to 70 hours of life in it and the print will remind you to relax once in a while. 15, Cloudberry Living, Buy it now Sparkle Knitted Slouch Boot Slippers Putting on a set of slouchy slippers helps to make you feel immediately Hygge. This pair from The White Company is sparkly and can be worn rolled up or down. 40, The White Company, Buy it now Linea Mocha Faux Fur Throw Spread this over your sofa or bed and you will feel an immediate sense of Hygge when you sit down. Luxuriously soft, itll feel like being hugged by a giant polar bear. 60, House of Fraser, Buy it now Holographic Fairy Lights Twinkling lights make everything feel magical and dont have to be saved for Christmas. These pyramid and cube lights throw out holographic light when switched on, creating that sparkly glow that makes any room feel cosy. 20, Habitat, Buy it now Brora Mohair Icelandic Jumper A casual knit such as this mohair Icelandic number is perfect to throw on for relaxing at home. The grey and ice blue tones hark back to Nordic winters and the plus side is you can pull this out for the obligatory Christmas jumper day without embarrassing yourself. 125, Brora,Buy it now Elle Original Cosy Bed Socks Elle MacPherson may be famous for The Body but has actually given us a much greater gift in the form of these cosy bed socks. Fluffy on the inside, your feet will thank you for these after a hard day at work. 9, Sock Shop, Buy it now Jo Malone Pomegranate Noir Diffuser Fill your home with the iconic Pomegranate Noir fragrance. Enigmatic and sensual, this is a rich aroma with a smoky undertone. Perfect for evoking the feeling of cosy evenings in front of the fire. 62, John Lewis, Buy it now Icon Luxury Faux Fur Bean Bag Just looking at this bean bag will make your limbs ache with the unnoticed need to relax. Read in it, sleep on it or run the world from it- there really is no need to get up from this for anything other than a steaming cup of tea. And even that can be brought to you. 90, Bean Bag Bazaar, Buy it now Emma Bridgewater Pink Hearts Teacup Speaking of cups of tea, theres something about drinking it from a proper cup and saucer that makes you more appreciative. This set features the classic Emma Bridgewater hearts design and is a little piece of Hygge all on its own. 21, Emma Bridgewater, Buy it now Letters of Note: Correspondence Deserving a Wider Audience This nostalgic compilation brings together some of the greatest letters ever written. From Virginia Woolf to Winston Churchill and the Queen, this tome is filled with unusual, hilarious and pivotal correspondence just waiting for you to delve in to. 20, Amazon, Buy it now This restrained pleasure is related to fairness, the need for consensus, and equality. The idea is that youll gain more pleasure from indulging in sharing a box of chocolates with friends rather than scoffing the whole lot alone. According to the BBC, the term has seen a steady increase in Google searches and has been tweeted more than 13,500 times in the past three months alone. Swedish furniture store IKEA has even created its own project 'Live Lagom', as part of a campaign to teach people how to make life more sustainable over the coming years. The furniture giant is handing out gift vouchers to customers to encourage them to purchase its range of eco-friendly products. This is a way of life for most households in Sweden. Scandinavians are greener than Britons because theres a feeling of collective action everyones doing their bit, IKEAs head of sustainability, Joanna Yarrow told the Evening Standard. Want to find a tiny slice of lagom in the new year? Start by making small changes to save money, resolve to reduce waste and living a healthier lifestyle. More money and less hangovers? Lagom sounds pretty good to us. Follow us on Twitter: @eslifeandstyle A London drug gang led by an electrician and a company CEO smuggled cocaine and cannabis into the UK by disguising the drugs as fruits and vegetables. Crack cocaine was dyed orange to look like pieces of dried papaya and cannabis was hidden in fake yams from Jamaica during the massive smuggling outfit. Five men - including a painter and decorator, electrician and recording studio owner - were jailed for a total of more than 38 years after being busted in a big police operation. Police seized boxes containing bags of dried fruit labelled fancy island mix but found they contained two kilograms of rocks of crack cocaine which had been coloured orange to look like papaya. Yams?: The cannabis was disguised in shipments of the exotic vegetable. / Met Police Officers arrested the painter and decorator who was carrying the boxes and later raided the north London home of another gang member where they found 33.8kg of cannabis disguised as yams. The cannabis, camouflaged as yams, was hidden among real yams in the boxes. Drug smuggler: Tazio Heath, 24, an electrician from Turkey Street in Enfield, was jailed for seven years. / Met Police In the coming months, border force officials at Gatwick airport seized a shipment of 36kg of cannabis disguised as yams as well as 40kg of herbal cannabis. Further inquiries led the police to the owner of a recording studio in Reading, where officers seized 1.8kg of herbal caanabis. Jailed: Company director Jarnail Singh, 39, of New Gun Wharf in east London and Clayhall Avenue, Ilford, was jailed for 19 years. / Met Police Detective Constable Catherine Pearson said: "This police operation successfully dismantled a sophisticated crime network that was regularly importing drugs into the UK disguised as food. "The gang demonstrated their sophistication by using encrypted mobile devices in a bid to frustrate any police investigation but despite their efforts, we were still able to piece together enough evidence to leave them little choice other than to plead guilty at court." Exotic fruit?: Rocks of crack cocaine were coloured orange to look like papaya. / Met Police Four of the men were sentenced on Tuesday, January 3 at Isleworth Crown Court after all having pleaded guilty to drugs importation and drugs supply offences. Company director Jarnail Singh, 39, of New Gun Wharf in east London and Clayhall Avenue, Ilford, was jailed for 19 years. Sniffer dog: A police drug dog searching for cocaine. / Met Police Tazio Heath, 24, an electrician from Turkey Street in Enfield, and Luis Restrepo, 40, from Beresford Road in north London, were both jailed for seven years. Donovan Bailey, 50, of Palmer Park Avenue who owns a recording studio, was sentenced to two years in prison. Jailed: Donovan Bailey, 50, of Palmer Park Avenue in Reading, was seen with drug cash in the recording studio he owns. / Met Police Barrington Bennett, 58, a painter and decorator of no fixed abode, was sentenced on December 2 to three years and nine months. DC Catherine Pearson said: Jarnail Singh and Tazio Heath were central to this criminal network that had gone to great lengths to conceal cocaine as papaya pieces and hide cannabis inside fake yams, in a clear bid to evade detection by UK Border Force. DIY: Painter and decorator Barrington Bennett, 58, was jailed for over three years for his part in the drug operation. / Met Police Detective Sergeant Nicola Hawkins, of the Organised Crime Command, said: "I am extremely proud of the diligence and professionalism of my team that has resulted in the sentences handed down today. Behind bars: Luis Restrepo, 40, from Beresford Road in north London. / Met Police Working with our colleagues from Thames Valley Police and UK Border Force we have stopped the activities of this gang and prevented a large amount of drugs from being sold on the streets of London." A former French government adviser who was caught trying to arrange an erotic photoshoot with three young sisters has been spared jail. Christophe Bejach, 53, bought girls underwear from Amazon as he plotted on an extreme pornography website to live out his sordid fantasies with girls aged 12, 10 and eight. The businessman, who has advised the French industry minister of economy and industry, wanted sex with the eldest girl and believed he was chatting to her mother when he asked for erotic nudes of the children. He was actually talking to an undercover police officer from the Mets cyber-crime team. At Southwark crown court yesterday, Bejach was given a nine-month prison sentence suspended for two years after admitting arranging the commission of a child sex offence and three counts of possessing indecent photographs of children. Judge Joanna Korner QC also imposed 100 days on a sex offenders treatment programme and 20 days rehab. He was given a Sexual Harm Prevention Order, told to pay 1,200 costs and will sign the Sex Offenders register for 10 years. T he father of Damilola Taylor today warned that rising knife crime is making Londons streets even more dangerous for young people than when his son was stabbed to death nearly two decades ago. Richard Taylor said that carrying a blade had become normal for some young Londoners and that children as young as 10 were roaming the streets with knives in an extremely dangerous trend. He added that many appeared unafraid of the consequences and that if anything the situation is worse than when his 10-year-old son was killed in 2000. Damilola bled to death in a stairwell on a Peckham estate after being stabbed in the leg with a broken bottle on his way home from the library. Mr Taylor, 68, leads a charity in his sons name, the Damilola Taylor Trust, which seeks to steer young people away from a life of crime and find them educational and employment opportunities. He said the charity is more relevant than ever as young victims fall prey to knife attacks. Warning: Richard Taylor says youngsters stand in groups in public and take drugs with impunity / Lucy Young There are now boys as young as 10 roaming the streets with knives and carrying a knife has become normal, said Mr Taylor. It is extremely dangerous and has become part of everyday life for these young people. In this way things have not got better since Damilola died. If anything the situation is worse. A lot of it is young people saying they need knives to protect themselves. But a lot of the problem is down to drug-selling and drug use. Young people stand in groups in public and use drugs with impunity. They do not worry about repercussions. It makes things very dangerous on the streets. The Government in many ways provided the mechanisms to try to help young people but sometimes they are taking the wrong path. He claimed the vote to leave the European Union in June had contributed to hate crime on the streets of London and fuelled more tension between youngsters. Hate crime has gone up after the Brexit vote, he said. There is more animosity between people of all ages and a lack of tolerance has sparked problems. It has not helped and causes more problems. A total of 11 teenagers were killed with knives in London last year. The figure for under-25s was 27. They include Khalid Safi, 18, who was stabbed in the heart at Acton last month. He came to the capital via the Calais Jungle camp in search of a better life. The latest victim Ernest Kalawa, 24, died on Friday after being found with multiple stab wounds in Peckham, not far from where Damilola died. 'Positive and energetic': Stab victim Ernest Kalawa was found not far from where Damilola died / PA Concern about knife crime has been further fuelled by figures showing a rising level of such offences in London. Mayor Sadiq Khan, who cited figures showing a 16 per cent rise over two years, responded by hosting a knife crime summit last year and promising a new strategy to tackle the problem. The Damilola Taylor Trust faced closure two years ago due to lack of money until telephone fund-raising agency Listen stepped in with a cash lifeline. It was alerted to the charitys plight by an article in the Standard. Now, two years on, the trust is flourishing. It has helped to train doctors who have come from relatively impoverished communities and struggling families. Mr Taylor, given an OBE for his work, said: There is some light and optimism. These doctors are a beacon and, given the funds, we can help more. I am very optimistic things will get better. Id like to thank Listen, who helped to save us when we faced collapse, and the Evening Standard for highlighting the problem. We still need funds but that saved us. Tony Charalambides, Managing Director of Listen, said: "The Trusts tireless work in improving life chances for young people in London is inspirational. We are delighted to hear it has achieved so much in the last two years." People wishing to donate funds to the Damilola Taylor Trust can visit justgiving.com/ListenFundraising. A 50-year-old man has been arrested at Heathrow Airport on suspicion of a terror offence. The man was detained by officers from the Mets Counter Terrorism Command as he disembarked a plane from Cairo, Egypt, this afternoon. The Met said he was arrested on suspicion of possessing articles containing "information of a kind likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism". A home in north London was searched by police officers as part of the investigation. The man is currently in police custody. A Met spokesman said: The arrest was pre-planned and not in response to any immediate danger but as part of an ongoing investigation into allegations of terrorist activities overseas. This arrest is not related to ISIS or Syria. A 22-year-old man was rushed to hospital after being shot in a residential street in south east London. Armed police rushed to reports of a gun being fired in Earl Rise, Plumstead, shortly before 9pm on Tuesday. Eyewitnesses reported seeing a police helicopter circling the area as officers hunted for a suspect. Police did not initially find a victim but, after a search of the area, a 22-year-old with gunshot wounds was discovered at a nearby property. He was rushed to an east London hospital for treatment. His injuries are not thought to be life-threatening, police say. A Scotland Yard spokesman said detectives are now investigating the shooting and are asking for any witnesses to come forward. He said: On Tuesday, police were called at around 8.45pm following reports of shots fired in Earl Rise. Officers, including armed officers, attended but no victim was initially found. Following a search a 22-year-old man was found suffering gunshot wounds. He was taken to an east London hospital, his injuries are described as not life-threatening. There have been no arrests at this stage and enquiries are ongoing. Any witnesses can contact police via 101 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111. T he family of a man struck by a train two days after being admitted to hospital as a high risk mental patient are hoping that an inquest will provide answers to his death. Peter Docherty, 54, a father of one from Southall, was killed at Ealing Broadway station on January 7, 2015, the morning after leaving Hammersmith and Fulham Mental Health Unit. He struggled to live independently after moving from supported care and is said to have become distressed at the feared closure of the Solace Centre, an out-of-hours support facility. Mr Docherty had been admitted to the mental health units Ravenscourt ward at about 1am on January 5 after attending Ealing hospitals urgent care centre the previous evening and telling staff he was hearing voices and was considering jumping in front of a train. He was said to have been assessed as high risk and admitted for care. But on the morning of January 6 he told staff he was feeling better and was granted leave. He returned briefly to the unit that evening and maintained he was feeling fine. It was agreed he would return for a review with a consultant in the morning. He did not return and was found dead at the station. A two-day inquest at West London coroners court is due to start tomorrow. Assistant coroner Sarah Ormond-Walshe is expected to be asked to consider the risk assessment processes in place at the unit, run by West London Mental Health NHS Trust. Agata Usewicz, medical negligence lawyer at Hodge Jones & Allen, who is representing Mr Dochertys family, said: We hope the coroners investigation will review all the events leading up to his death and in particular, will give answers on why he was deemed to have changed from being a high risk patient to being safe to leave. The Solace Centre was later saved by Ealing council but moved to premises half the size. West London Mental Health NHS Trust said: Our thoughts are with Peters family at this difficult time. Unfortunately we are unable to comment further due to the forthcoming inquest proceedings. Marc Docherty, Mr Dochertys son, said: "Peter Docherty was a lover of people with a kind and generous spirit. He was a fantastic father and a loving husband and he will be sorely missed by all his family." For confidential support on mental health call the Samaritans on 116 123, email jo@samaritans.org or attend a local Samaritans branch. T he devastated family of a teenager who died taking MDMA at Fabric have vowed to use his tragic death to educate young people on the dangers of drugs. Jack Crossley, 18, from Worcester Park, south London, collapsed outside the world-famous club in Farringdon on August 6. An inquest heard he died after smuggling drugs into the venue and buying more from a stranger at the bar. Following the hearing at Poplar Coroners Court on Wednesday, a verdict was recorded of death by MDMA toxicity. Coroner Mary Hassell said the teenager had just been on a night out with friends and made a mistake. Jack Crossley: His family said he had "his whole life ahead of him" She said: "The death was drug related but it does not mean the person was mainlining heroin. Jack was a youngster who had had only taken MDMA twice before. He did what so many youngsters do without any consequences. A naive drug user is someone who goes out to a nightclub with friends and does a foolish thing that ends up in tragedy." She said the problem was not specific to the club but wider society and that the teenagers could have gone elsewhere and taken drugs. The coroner said she wanted the family and the police and club owners to speak together to try to come up with ideas for a safer club environment and attitude to drugs in future. Speaking outside, Jacks uncle Paul Allum said: The last five months have been devastating for all of us to come to terms with Jacks death. Devastated: The teenager's family at court / Jeremy Selwyn At only 18, Jack had his whole life ahead of him, planning his first holiday, getting an apprenticeship in electrics, watching his favourite team Chelsea play, having a beer with his friends at the weekend and spending time with all the family. He said: We hope that in the future we can use Jacks tragic death as a way of educating young people on the dangers of using illegal substances in the hope that no other family needs to go through this traumatic ordeal. A friend, who was there on the night on the tragedy, told the inquest Fabric seemed to be the type of place that accepted drug taking. Another friend said doormen had searched them around the ankles but nowhere else - and had not asked them if they were carrying drugs. Jacks death, which followed the death of another teenager in June, triggered the closure of the club. However it is due to reopen on Friday with a stricter door policy. Fabric boss Cameron Leslie: decision to reopen is important, but we must rebuild the scene The inquest at Poplar Coroners Court was told that Mr Crossley and two friends had headed to the club for a night out. He had bought some MDMA near his home. Friend Joe Ryan, who was with him on the night, told the inquest that the music and drug culture at the club had attracted them. He said: It (Fabric) did seem to be the type of place that accepted drug taking. The second friend, Josh Green, told the inquest: Jack was really funny. He had an attitude to take a challenge. We had been to Fabric before. We had had good nights. He said the friends smuggled the drugs into the club hidden in their boxer shorts. Staff on the door searched them around the ankle area but nowhere else and had not asked them if they were carrying drugs, said Mr Green. He added that Jack ran out of MDMA and bought some more from a stranger. The teenager seemed fine until around 5am but then started acting a a bit dazed and was not acting like himself. He died later the same day despite the efforts of paramedics and was found by doctors to have suffered a massive overdose. Fabric manager Luke Laws apologised to the teenagers family in court for what he described as an horrific event. But he said the club had a zero tolerance policy to drugs and many new measures had been introduced including better lighting so drug users could not take substances in dark corners. He added: There is a lack of fear over drug taking with young people because of education. They think they can take ten pills. The court heard that the teenager was trembling uncontrollably and his teeth chattering as the massive overdose took its toll and later sent him into cardiac arrest. The partner of Jack's mother asked Mr Laws "how many deaths does one club have to have to stay closed?" He replied that he could not answer the question. The inquest heard 82 people were arrested for intent supply drugs at the club over a four-year period. Mr Laws said: "They are far higher than in other clubs." He said: "If we had the silver bullet which would stop people using MDMA we would use it." L ondon City Airports claim that it is the only airport actually in London has been upheld by the advertising watchdog. The airport originally made the claim in a radio advert which aired last summer, but a complaint was quickly lodged with the Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) saying the commercial was misleading. On Wednesday the independent advertising regulator ruled in the favour of London City Airport concluding that the ad was unlikely to mislead. A spokeswoman for Heathrow told Campaign, the advertising industry magazine, that it would not challenge the decision, but maintained that Heathrow was the best connected airport in London. Heathrow can be reached in 15 minutes on the Heathrow Express train from London Paddington, while London City Airport is a 21-minute ride on the DLR from Bank station. City Airports defence was based on the fact that it lies within the London postal district E16 while Heathrow, though part of Greater London, has a Twickenham postcode. The three other large airports that serve the capital - Gatwick, Stansted, and Luton - are in Sussex, Essex and Bedfordshire, respectively. The original radio advert read: Business or pleasure, time is on your side when you fly from London City Airportthe only airport actually located in the city of London. Get closer to the heart of London. From landing to the City or the West End in under 40 minutes. "London City Airport. Fast, punctual and actually in London. In a statement explaining its decision, the ASA said: We noted that it was the most central airport servicing London, and the only one that might reasonably be described as being within inner London. For that reason, we concluded that the ad was unlikely to mislead. C ourts in London face an explosion in the number of legal battles over the validity of wills, as top judges prepare to make a landmark ruling on a womans fight over an inheritance, lawyers have warned. The Supreme Court is due to rule on whether benefits claimant Heather Ilott is entitled to 146,000 from the estate of her estranged mother, who died in 2004. Since then, Ms Ilott, from Great Munden, Hertfordshire, has been in a bitter legal battle with animal charities which received a bequest of almost 500,000, arguing that she is entitled to some money despite her mothers final wishes. The Supreme Court heard final submissions in December and reserved judgment. Inheritance legal experts are warning that the Ilott effect was fuelling an already rapid rise in disinherited children challenging wills and that a Supreme Court ruling in her favour would bolster such claims. Alison Regan, a partner at Russell-Cooke, said: The possibility of bringing a claim and having a go will be more visible to people. People are getting generally more litigious and more inclined to take a risk. There has been a huge explosion of inheritance disputes. More people will be aware that they can do something about it when they are cut out of their parents will. She said that in 2005 her firm had just one disputed will case, but now employed six full-time staff on the issue. Geoffrey Kertesz, of Bircham Dyson Bell, said charities would bear the brunt if the Supreme Court ruled in Ms Ilotts favour. We are seeing an increase in Inheritance Act claims brought by adult children and against charitable beneficiaries. Unless the Supreme Court overturns the decision, claims of this nature will only become more common, he said. The Ministry of Justice said the High Court heard 178 disputes over inheritance in 2014, up from 97 in 2013. Ms Regan said an ageing population, rising levels of dementia and a generation of people unable to get on to the property ladder had fuelled a sharp rise in will disputes. People are living longer and we have a generation of children who are reliant on their parents. They are starting to pass away and the generation below them has not got on to the property ladder, she said. Children are also borrowing money from their parents, taking loans to get on to the property ladder, and when the parent dies there are disputes among siblings about whether the money was a gift or a loan. She warned that a rise in court fees was leading more people to try to represent themselves. She said: A lot of people dont realise how long it can take and how expensive it can be the end result could be catastrophic for some. During the attack, the leader was allegedly beaten up by a group of people before ransacking her house. By Manogya Loiwal : Former Hooghly district BJP President Krishna Bhattacharya was injured when her house was attacked by Trinamool Congress workers on Tuesday night. Miscreants also hurdled bomb in front of her house. At around 9.30 pm, TMC-led miscreants attacked Bhattacharya's house. During the attack, the leader was allegedly beaten up by a group of people before ransacking her house. advertisement Bhattacharya was rushed to hospital. The BJP leader said, "They have beaten me up badly. I was senseless." TMC WORKERS ATTACK BJP CADRES OVER VENDETTA POLITICS Several BJP workers were also injured when activists of the students wing of Trinamool Congress on Tuesday attacked the state party headquarters with stones to protest the arrest of the TMC MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay in Rose Valley chit fund scam case, police said. BJP national secretary Rahul Sinha alleged that 10-15 party workers were injured when Trinamool Congress Chhatra Parishad activists pelted them with stones. Carrying TMC flags and shouting slogans against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the agitated party workers accused the BJP of pursuing vendetta politics. ALSO READ:TMC-BJP clashes across Bengal over MP Sudip Bandhopadhyay's arrest in Rose Valley chit fund scam Watch the video here --- ENDS --- A burst water main has left a residential road in west London submerged in several inches of water - sparking chaos for morning commuters and causing a sinkhole to open up. Footage taken first thing on Wednesday morning shows fast-flowing water gushing down Breakspear Road South in Ruislip. Hillingdon police have issued an alert warning people to avoid the area and attributing the flood to a burst main. They tweeted just after 5.30am: "*WARNING* Breakspear Road South CLOSED **Major Flooding** Avoid area." Police said the London Fire Brigade were also on the scene trying to help residents and commuters. Those travelling to work first thing were forced to opt for a different route and roads are due to remain closed for much of the day. Hillingdon police tweeted again at 8am, saying: "The flow of water has subsided, however; Breakspear Road South will be *CLOSED* for the foreseeable #PleaseHavePatience #WetFeet." They then added at 9am: "Breakspear Rd South, Ruislip is closed for a while, due to a large sink hole which has been created by an pipe which has burst. Drive safely." Breakspear Road South, Tile Kiln Road and surrounding roads are closed as water company Affinity Water and London Fire Brigade work to stop the flooding. An Affinity Water spokesperson said: We are sorry for any inconvenience caused by a burst on an 18 main in Breakspear Road South, Ickenham on Wednesday 4 January. "Our technicians were on site by 6.30am to shut down the main and begin repairs. The flooding is now subsiding and water was restored by 8.15am. "The road is currently closed to ensure the safety of commuters and our technicians working to repair the main. The repair to the water main should be complete by the end of today and we are currently assessing the damage caused to the road before restoration begins. "We would like to thank our customers for their patience whilst we carry out these essential repairs. This latest flood comes just weeks after a burst main in Stoke Newington caused misery for residents leading up to Christmas. R EJOICE! Whistle on the stairs, put an extra sugar cube in your tea, and snooze the alarm the Queen is back on her feet. But with the recent concerns over her health and a slew of prominent deaths in 2016, thoughts have inevitably and nervously shifted to what is known in Buckingham Palace as The Bridge the Queens passing. Business Insider published a definitive guide to the mourning and accession process which reported that itll cost the British economy billions in lost earnings due to stock markets closing between her death and the funeral. In search of peace of mind, The Londoner contacted the London Stock Exchange to ensure a process of due respect is in waiting. Would trading cease on the occasion of the Queens death? No, came the response. Flabbergasted, The Londoner double-checked. London Stock Exchange would only cease trading if a UK bank holiday was called, a spokeswoman told us. So it wouldnt automatically halt in reaction to a specific event.How times have changed in an age of money over monarchy. Xavier Rolet, the current chief executive of the London Stock Exchange, might reflect on this: when George VI died in 1952 people cried in the streets and the exchange shut its doors. And when Queen Victoria died in 1901, not a single attempt was, of course, made to conduct business, as reported in the FT, and the then governing committee shut the exchange.As if the prospect of the stock exchanges proposed merger with Deutsche Borse werent enough, it seems that the only patriotism the London Stock Exchange knows is to the nation of stock-keepers. -- Nigel Farage isnt going to get the US Ambassador to the UK role but now that theres a vacancy within the EU he may be fine-tuning his CV again. Last night the former Ukip leader stood in for an absent host on LBC, and a caller suggested he file the application. Perhaps I will, he said. Id rather fancy the job. It would be fun, wouldnt it? I do know them all. I have been annoying them for the last 17 years. So at least they know who I am. Brussels off the menu after Sir Ivan Sir Ivan Rogerss resignation leaves a spacious gap for the UKs fourth Permanent Representative to the EU in as many years. But there may be few willing candidates for the post. The Londoners man in Brussels says: Its not seen as sexy or vital to our interests and is political dynamite for the most trivial issues so many want to stay away... the best diplomats cannot please a mother ship that has unrealistic expectations. The eventual successor will aim to emulate Rogerss reputation internally rather than that of his predecessor Jon Cunliffe, now at the Bank of England. The Londoner was told his nickname in the office: Silent T. Charming. A Late Late tribute to George Flying the flag for Britain in the US, actor turned CBS Late Late Show host James Corden paid tribute to the late George Michael last night. The pair met when Michael filmed a video for Comic Relief, which in turn inspired Cordens hit Carpool Karaoke.Michaels death has hit Corden hard. I feel like Ive loved George Michael as long as Ive loved music, in a way, and I know so many of his fans feel the same, Corden said. I can remember so many times where I might have felt on my own, and Georges music would feel like you would listen to a song and he would reach his hand out and tell you that you werent on your own. Youve gotta have faith, James. Gwynnies got a rival in recipe stakes ITS a tale of two tastebuds, as a pair of American actresses with impressive British connections square off with some very contrasting recipes. As the new year dawns and talk of resolutions and detoxes begins, its Paltrow v Markle. In the blue corner is Gwyneth Paltrows Goop Clean Beauty, a tome that promises the ultimate guide to a healthy body, a natural glow and a happy, mindful life. Its certainly worked for Paltrow herself: the Shakespeare In Love star looks radiant in white on the cover. One recipe in the book is for a warm, Italian tea. The ingredients? One unwaxed organic lemon and boiling water. Wash the lemon and carefully peel it, trying to leave as much white pith as possible on the lemon, the guide suggests. Place the lemon in a small teapot and fill with boiling water, then let sit for five minutes to steep before drinking. This rare concoction The Londoner has always called it hot water and lemon serves two. In the red corner, Meghan Markle has something different in mind. The actress and girlfriend of Prince Harry also runs a website with recipes and musings, called The Tig. Her most recent recipe? Red Wine Hot Chocolate. The recipe demands exactly what you expect: melt chocolate, heat red wine, and mix, adding marshmallows. No wonder some might dub her the new peoples princess. -- NEW Richmond MP Sarah Olney is aiming to raise a total of 1,200 each month to cover the costs of her office and of campaigning. On the areas Lib-Dem website, she says she donates the cost of a coffee to the fund and urges others to do the same. Lucky that shes in Richmond, a land of latte drinkers. Using coffee in a fundraiser may not go down so well with the Nescafe crowds of Neasden. Hughs metric conversion PITY the poor board game executive starting 2017 with a rollicking. It seems that the makers of Trivial Pursuit, the iconic board game which exchanges correct answers for colourful wedges, made a change to its house style ahead of a recent reprint, switching all mentions of km to kilometres. One would forgive the assumption that you can trim the administrative workload by simply pressing Ctrl + F to find and replace. But tweeter John Lewis noticed a flaw and posted an image of one of the question cards, which asks: The film Australia starring Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackilometresan is set during which war? Hugh Jackman, as he was previously called, featured in the critically-mauled film set during Second World War. Perhaps hell be pleased to no longer be associated with it. -- Flash of the day: author Julie Baird claims royal archives detail the moment Queen Victoria lifted her skirt to flash John Brown, her servant. We are not aroused. T heresa May will appoint a new British ambassador to the European Union in less than four weeks as she responds to an incendiary resignation letter by outgoing diplomat Sir Ivan Rogers. The Prime Minister will also use a keynote speech to set out her Brexit plans in more detail following his revelation that not even the Foreign Office knows what her objectives are. A lacerating resignation memo written by Sir Ivan emerged in full today. It hit out at ill-founded arguments and muddled thinking among politicians backing Britains exit from the EU. He said we do not yet know what the Government will set as negotiating objectives for the UKs relationship with the EU after exit and claimed serious multilateral negotiating experience is in short supply in Whitehall. Posted to Foreign Office staff and inevitably leaked to the media the memo hinted strongly that Cabinet members were not listening to the civil services views. Theresa May: The PM will outline plans for Brexit / PA I hope you will continue to challenge ill-founded arguments and muddled thinking and that you will never be afraid to speak the truth to those in power, Sir Ivan wrote. I hope that you will support each other in those difficult moments where you have to deliver messages that are disagreeable to those who need to hear them. Mrs May is not believed to have spoken to Sir Ivan since he announced his departure yesterday. No 10 sources insisted she had been clear on her key objectives, which included control over immigration, the ability to trade in the single market area, and ending the primacy of European courts. Theresa May's red, white, and blue Brexit They also said the Foreign Office would be in charge of choosing a successor although diplomatic sources said Mrs May would be heavily involved. Foreign Office sources said the new ambassador would be a career diplomat, scotching demands from some Tory MPs for an outsider. However, MPs were pushing hard for it to be someone who would be a Brexit believer. London business leaders said the views of the ambassador were not important compared with experience and negotiating skills to get a good deal for the City. John Dickie, at business group London First, said: We need an experienced negotiator with the credibility to speak truth to power. Playing politics with this appointment would be bad for business and bad for Britain. 18 months for Brexit deal, says EU's chief negotiator Colin Stanbridge, of London Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said: The background of Ivan Rogerss replacement here is not important. What is important is that we get the right person in the role in a timely fashion and that person is committed, hard-working and helps get the job done with the best possible result for London and the rest of the UK. Jonathan Powell, Tony Blairs former chief of staff, warned against choosing a patsy. But prominent pro-Brexit MP Iain Duncan Smith said too many civil servants had been briefing against Brexit. If you dont agree, and I have full respect for him, then you have to go, he said. Mr Duncan Smith suggested Sir Ivan had undermined his position by going public too often. A diminutive robot that can read to children and help protect your home is among the stars of the future hoping to hit the big time in Vegas. Kuri, a 50cm-tall creation from Bosch-owned Mayfield Robotics, will be unveiled alongside hundreds of gadgets when CES 2017 gets under way tomorrow in the US city. Costing 650, it has a personality and expressive eyes with a chest that changes colour depending on its mood. Behind one eye is an HD camera that responds to commands as the robot bleeps and buzzes its responses. The owner can instruct Kuri to read an audiobook to children, play music from a phone via Bluetooth or check in on their home while they are away. Star of the show: Kuri the robot The wheeled robot, which has sensors to stop it falling down stairs or bumping into furniture and can be instructed by phone, is anticipated to launch in the UK after its US release later this year. More than 100,000 people are set to attend the three-day 50th Consumer Electronics Show, with announcements expected from giants including LG, Panasonic, Samsung and Sony. Television screens that can be rolled up and the latest smartphones will be revealed alongside a new generation of drones. LG will showcase a vacuum cleaner, fridge, air conditioner and washing machine that use deep learning. The firm claims this allows unsupervised appliances to understand owners habits and routines to provide better service. Control: The robot can be controlled from a phone The fridge sensors analyse eating patterns to anticipate the type of work the unit is required to do, such as filling the ice tray or self-sterilising to extend food life. The system requires large amounts of personal data. GeniCan is unveiling a scanner that attaches to a bin and is linked up to Amazons Dash Replenishment Service. Empty items can be scanned before being thrown away so a new product is dispatched by the online retailer automatically. Whirlpools latest washers, dryers, fridges and oven can also be controlled by voice via Amazons Echo artificial intelligence home hub. Wearable technology includes the Mio Slice, a fitness tracker with optical heart rate sensors that it is claimed offer a better picture of health than recording steps or calories burned. Mark Blunden flew as a guest of Virgin Atlantic, which flies the Boeing 747-400 daily from Gatwick to Las Vegas. For more detail visit virginatlantic.com P rince Harry has met the dad of girlfriend Meghan Markle, the actresss older brother has revealed. The loved-up couple paid a visit to Ms Markles 72-year-old father, who is said to be proud of his daughters relationship with the royal prince. The Suits actress brother, Thomas Markle Jr, said: My dad knew about [the relationship] from the start. "He first met Prince Harry about six months ago out in Toronto. He goes once every couple of months [Meghan and Thomas Markle Sr] are very close and they stay in close contact. Meghan Markle - In pictures 1 /53 Meghan Markle - In pictures Actress/model Meghan Markle attends the pARTy! - celebrating 25 years of P.S. ARTS on May 20, 2016 in Los Angeles, California Getty Images Meghan Markle as Rachel Zane in Suits (Season 5) NBC Universal Media Street artist Pegasus' art work which appeared in Highbury and Islington. @pegasusart Meghan Markle in Ibiza Meghan Markle/Facebook Meghan Markle attends Glamour and L'Oreal Paris Celebrate 2016 College Women Of The Year at NoMad Hotel Rooftop on 27 April 2016 in New York City Nicholas Hunt/Getty Images Actress Meghan Markle attends P.S. Arts' The pARTy at NeueHouse Hollywood on 20 May 2016 in Los Angeles, California Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images Meghan Markle.. 'Today' Show, New York in 2016 MediaPunch/Rex Features Meghan Markle, Lexus-mosphere, Lexus Street Style, Day Two, MADE Fashion Week, New York in 1015 BFA/Rex Features Meghan Markle Meghan Markle/Facebook Meghan Markle Meghan Markle/Facebook Meghan Markle Meghan Markle/Facebook Meghan Markle attends the NBC's 2015 New York Summer Press Day at Four Seasons Hotel New York on 24 June 2015 in New York City Robin Marchant/Getty Images Meghan Markle attends Wes Gordon runway show during MADE Fashion Week Fall 2015 at Milk Studios on 13 February 2015 in New York City Getty Images Meghan Markle attends the 12th annual CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund Awards at Spring Studios in 2015 Getty Images Model Meghan Markle attends the Elton John AIDS Foundation's 13th Annual An Enduring Vision Benefit at Cipriani Wall Street on October 28, 2014 in New York City Larry Busacca/Getty Images Meghan Markle attends the Elton John AIDS Foundation's 13th Annual An Enduring Vision Benefit at Cipriani Wall Street powered by CIROC Vodka on 28 October 2014 in New York City Getty Images Meghan Markle poses backstage at the Herve Leger By Max Azria fashion show during Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Fall 2014 at The Theatre at Lincoln Center on 08 February 2014 in New York City Bryan Bedder/Getty Images Meghan Markle arriving for the World Premiere of The Hunger Games : Catching Fire, at the Odeon Leicester Square, London in 2013 Matt Crossick/PA Meghan Markle attends the London Global Gift Gala at ME Hotel on 19 November 2013 in London Getty Images Meghan Markle attends the ELLE Women in Television Celebration presented by Hearts on Fire Diamonds and Wella Professionals held at Soho House on 24 January 2013 in West Hollywood, California Getty Images Actress Meghan Markle attends the Rising Stars: 2012 Producers Ball during the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival on September 5, 2012 in Toronto, Canada Getty Images Meghan Markle Meghan Markle/Facebook Meghan Markle Meghan Markle/Facebook Meghan Markle as Rachel Zane in Suits Meghan Markle as Rachel Zane in Suits Meghan Markle as Rachel Zane in Suits Meghan Markle in Anti-Social: Special Edition - Trailer Meghan Markle in Anti-Social: Special Edition - Trailer Meghan Markle in Anti-Social: Special Edition - Trailer Meghan Markle in Anti-Social: Special Edition - Trailer Meghan Markle as Rachel Zane in Suits (Season 5) NBC Universal Media Meghan Markle as Rachel Zane in Suits (Season 5) NBC Universal Media Meghan Markle as Rachel Zane in Suits (Season 5) NBC Universal Media Meghan Markle as Rachel Zane in Suits (Season 5) NBC Universal Media Meghan Markle as Rachel Zane in Suits (Season 5) NBC Universal Media Meghan Markle as Rachel Zane in Suits (Season 5) NBC Universal Media Meghan Markle as Rachel Zane in Suits (Season 5) NBC Meghan Markle as Rachel Zane in Suits (Season 5) NBC Universal Media Meghan Markle as Rachel Zane in Suits (Season 5) Meghan Markle as Rachel Zane in Suits (Season 5) NBC Universal Media He told the Daily Mail: He's pretty happy about Harry and he's extremely proud of her. They have an amazing relationship, they're very close and they always have been." But Mr Markle said he was not sure whether Harry had met her mother yet. It is thought the 35-year-old American star stayed with Harry at his home in the grounds of Kensington Palace when she visited in November. The couples relationship began in the summer and was confirmed when his communications secretary criticised the media for the wave of abuse and harassment Ms Markle had received. Prince Harry has made several visits to see Ms Markle in Toronto where she lives and works. A man survived for six hours after being dragged into the sea by a marlin fish in western Australia. The angler was dragged into the water by the large creature around 55km off the North West Cape on Tuesday. Australian authorities were alerted when another fisherman spotted the mans boat moving at speed without a driver. The fisherman, believed to be in his 20s and originally from New Zealand, was found treading water in the middle of nowhere. After being pulled from the sea he was rushed to hospital suffering from shock and hypothermia. Commander of the Exmouth Volunteers Marine Rescue Group, Rusty Ellis, told the BBC: I think everybody is extremely relieved that he was found at all. "It could have quite easily been a disastrous situation. Mr Ellis said it was a reminder of the dangers of fishing alone. A fashion blogger has claimed she was chucked out of First Class on an aeroplane because her baby daughter was crying. Arielle Noa Charnas, who runs the Something Navy blog, said she booked a first class seat so her baby, Ruby, could lie down on the Delta flight from New York to LA. But when they boarded, her daughter began crying sparking eye rolls and head shakes from fellow passengers. And Ms Charnas claims that, 10 minutes into the flight, an air stewardess asked her to move to the back of the plane because passengers were complaining about Rubys crying. In an Instagram post, she wrote: On our way to LA a few days ago it was my first time flying with Ruby, I had a screaming crying sleepy baby who was so overwhelmed that she couldn't fall asleep. My husband and I paid for first class so that we'd have the extra space and could lay down with her - once we were boarded I was getting tons of eye rolls and head shakes from fellow passengers on Delta because my baby was crying (as if I could just look at Ruby and say okay now it's time to stop). I tried to ignore the people until 10 minutes passed and a flight attendant came over to me and asked me and my baby to move to the back of the plane (as if the people in the back didn't matter). Apparently I was upsetting and getting a lot of complaints from the first class passengers. I started crying because I was so stressed and anxious and instead of the stewardess being helpful and compassionate she instead made the situation worse. The bloggers post attracted a mixed response from her 942,000 followers. Some jumped to her defence, dubbing the move outrageous and so wrong but others pointed out that first class passengers pay for luxury and should enjoy a quiet trip. One person wrote: We were all babies once. Every adult needs to remember that when they give mothers and fathers eye rolls. You cant help it, keep up the hard work! And another added: Babies cry - it's the way it is. And you paid for first class. But is it any worse than some loudmouth that talks nonstop the entire flight? "No way should they have asked you to move - completely wrong reaction from flight attendant. But others argued: As hard as it may be to understand, it's actually not just about you. What about all those other passengers that paid extra for first class? They paid extra to have peace, quiet and space. If it were me, as soon as my baby was crying I would have moved myself. A spokeswoman from Delta said: "Delta flight attendants are trained to provide safe transport and excellent customers service. "We fully support all passengers travelling in the class of service for which they paid." A freight train has set out on the first direct rail service between China and the UK. The train is carrying millions of pounds worth of socks, cloth, bags, and household goods, and is expected to take 18 days to reach its destination of Barking, east London. The train departed from Chinas manufacturing capital Yiwu, in the countrys east, on Sunday and will travel more than 7,500 miles across seven countries and through the Channel Tunnel to reach the UK. The new weekly service is thought to be quicker than a container ship and half the price of air freight. China: The East Wind Train is on the Chinese leg of its journey / Rex London will be the 15th European city to be served by freight trains from China. The 34-carriage train reportedly contains 4 million of commodities coming directly from the factory floors of Yiwu, where over 60 per cent of the worlds Christmas goods are made or sold. The eastern city is the source of countless items in most British homes. Differing rail gauges in different countries means no single train can travel the whole route and the containers will have to be reloaded at various stages. The Chinese locomotive is named after a famous quote from the communist revolutionary leader Mao Zedong: The east wind will prevail over the west wind. Leader of Barking and Dagenham Council, Cllr Darren Rodwell, said: This is great news and, along with the plans for Barking Riverside and a Made in Dagenham film studios, its another sign that Barking and Dagenham is an emerging powerhouse of the capitals growing economy. T he gunman behind the Istanbul nightclub attack has been identified by authorities investigating the atrocity, Turkeys foreign minister said on Wednesday. The hunt for the on-the-run attacker intensified as police arrested five suspected Islamic State militants connected to the murder of 39 people at a New Years Eve party. Foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said: The identity of the person who carried out the attack has been determined. His announcement, which gave no other details, came less than 24 hours after state media, citing police sources, wrongly identified the attacker as Krgyzstan man Iakhe Mashrapov. The 28-year-old denied any involvement saying he had been questioned by Turkish police because of his physical resemblance to the alleged attacker, but was cleared and allowed to go home. Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the attack saying it was revenge for Turkish military involvement in Syria. Istanbul nightclub shooting 1 /12 Istanbul nightclub shooting People leave as medics and security officials work at the scene AP An ambulance arrives near at the nightclub REUTERS Young people leave the scene of the attack on the nightclub AP Armed: Police secure an area near an Istanbul nightclub, following a gun attack REUTERS Tributes: A man lays flowers outside the Reina nightclub REUTERS Grief: Mourners grieve for the victims of the nightclub massacre AP Photo Ambulances line up on a road leading up to the nightclub REUTERS An armoured police vehicle blocks a road leads to a nightclub where a gun attack took place during a New Year party in Istanbul REUTERS Gun massacre: Ambulance line the street at the scene of a mass shooting at a nightclub in Istanbul AP Turkish security sources said the gunman appeared to have been trained in guerilla warfare and may have been involved in the conflict. The gunman shot dead a police officer and a civilian at the entrance to the the Reina nightclub nightclub Ortakoy on Sunday then opened fire with an automatic rifle inside, reloading his weapon half a dozen times and shooting the wounded as they lay on the ground. Loading.... The Haberturk newspaper said police investigations revealed that the gunman had entered Turkey from Syria and went to the central city of Konya in November, travelling with his wife and two children so as not to attract attention. Police arrested 27 people, including five suspected IS militants, on Wednesday in the western city of Izmir, according to the Dogan news agency. Women and children were among those said to have been taken into custody. At least 14 people were previously detained in connection with the attack, including two foreigners stopped yesterday at the international terminal of Istanbuls Ataturk Airport. The bodies of Bollywood film producer Abis Rizvi, 49, and fashion designer Khushi Shah, 27, who were killed in the attack, arrived back in India today. MP Kirit Somaiya received the Turkish Airlines flight at Mumbai airport at 5am local time. Mr Rizvis funeral was due to take place today with Ms Khushis remains due to be flown to Vadodara for cremation. A man in Germany was stunned when he woke up to find he had been bricked into his own home. The homeowner in Mainhausen, near Offenbach, discovered a wall had been built overnight when he opened his front door on Monday. Police told local press the motive for the impromptu building work was unclear, and that it could have been a joke, revenge or a bet. They added that it could have been built within minutes, and said they were searching for several people. A police spokesman said: "It reminded me of the building of the Berlin Wall. That went up pretty quickly, too." But he added: "It's a crime and no joke." The damage to the property is estimated at around 425. The angered bouncer smashed a bottle on his head as the female DJ denied having the Punjabi song '3 peg' on her playlist. By Mail Today: The non-availability of a recent Punjabi number '3 peg' at a bar in the capital did not go well with a 23-year-old bouncer from Ludhiana as he allegedly killed himself for the song. The angered bouncer, Deepak Tandon smashed a bottle on his head as the female DJ denied having the song on her playlist. Tandon had come to ELF Cafe & Bar in Hauz Khas with two of his friends - Aman and Vikky to celebrate New Year. advertisement "Tandon was high and was bothering other customers in the cafe. Initially, he was warned, but then he started bothering the female DJ. He demanded a Punjabi song called '3 peg' by Sharry Mann. But, the DJ did not have it in her list. Despite several denials, he kept bothering the DJ," a senior police official told Mail Today. After several warnings, Tandon was asked to leave the caf and on his way out, he smashed a beer bottle on his head, said Rajiv Tiwari, general manager at the cafe. He was then rushed to the hospital where he was declared dead. During investigation, it was learnt that the CCTV camera installed inside the cafe was non-functional. Also Read: Assam villagers celebrate New Year in a bizarre way --- ENDS --- T he truck used to plough into a crowd at a Christmas market in Berlin, killing 12 people, could be put on display in a German museum. Bonn's Museum of Contemporary History said it was interested in adding the truck to its collection, but added that it was too early to make a final decision, local media reported. The president of the museums foundation Hans Walter Hutter said: The investigation is still on-going. We need more distance [from the event] to make the right decision. He said the attack would not be presented from the perspective of the attacker but as a topic of social relevance. 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 added: Its part of our history, whether we like it or not. Isis claimed responsibility for the terror attack which killed 12 people and injured 48 on December 21. The articulated Scania truck is similar to the one used in the Nice Bastille Day attack last year. A London mother being held behind bars in Iran has appeared in court to appeal against her incarceration. Charity worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, from Hampstead, was jailed for five years for allegedly plotting to topple the government in Tehran - but details of the charges against her have been kept secret. Her husband Richard Ratcliffe confirmed that the appeal hearing took place as planned on Wednesday and lasted three hours, but that they are yet to find out the verdict. He said: "Because it is a written verdict, we weren't necessarily expecting to get it back that day. "If there is controversy it might be delayed a while, but actually if there is no controversy it might be Saturday morning. "If it is not (in) by Sunday, it is obviously more complicated." Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe with her daughter Gabriella / AFP/Getty Images The 41-year-old said "lots" of revolutionary guards from the Kerman branch and the Tehran branch were in attendance at the court, describing this as "ominous". Mr Ratcliffe said he understands that only his wife and her lawyer were allowed into the hearing, saying it was the "same sort of secret arrangement as before". He said the "strong presence" at the court of revolutionary guards could mean there is a "considered view as to what is going to happen" to his 38-year-old wife. "There is obviously an agreed position, whether that is going to end happily or not is not clear at this point," he added. Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe with her husband Richard and daughter Gabriella "I think it is more ominous that there was such a presence from the revolutionary guard there. It is probably more of a revolutionary type of a hearing in that respect. "But I wouldn't want to over-read it beyond that. The advice from my father-in-law was to keep calm, and the advice from the lawyer was to keep calm." The Thomson Reuters Foundation worker was moved out of solitary confinement over Christmas and Mr Ratcliffe said his wife's condition had improved as previously she was feeling suicidal. Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe, from Hampstead, north-west London, was arrested at Tehran Airport on April 3 last year with her two-year-old daughter Gabriella. She has served nine months so far, two of which, Mr Ratcliffe said, have been in solitary confinement. Their daughter is also in the country and being looked after by family. Mr Ratcliffe said the Iranian government has taken Gabriella's passport, and it has not been given back despite a request from the British Government. "I have watched her grow up on Skype," he said. "She has lost her English, and she is now pretty much fluent in Farsi - with only a few words in English. "Conversations now either have to be translated through one of her aunts and uncles or they are very physical - so playing peekaboo and watching her dancing." Mr Ratcliffe said he is trying to get a visa number so documents can be eventually obtained so he can visit his wife and child. "Finding a way to do that is proving to be quite tricky. Let's see how these next few days go and next couple of weeks go and what the appeal means," he added. "Essentially, my basic strategy is to keep campaigning and to escalate campaigning." Additional reporting by the Press Association A 23-year-old American woman who made headlines when she was spotted being walked around on a dogs lead has gone missing. Anna Teshu, from New York, was last seen at around 10.30pm on Christmas Eve. She became known in May 2015 when her then-fiance was seen walking her around on a leash. The pairs hobby is part of what is known as puppy play, local media the Staten Island Advance reported. Ms Teshu, who called herself Xena, had previously faced animal cruelty charges but it was found she was unfit to stand trial. She went missing from her mums home, police said. W riters protesting at their publisher's $250,000 advance to outspoken alt-right figure Milo Yiannopoulos for his autobiography are threatening to find someone else to sell their work. The publisher's Simon & Schuster's conservative imprint Threshold Editions offered the deal in December. Earlier in the year, Mr Yiannopoulos, the tech editor of Breitbart News and a prominent supporter of Donald Trump, was banned from Twitter for allegedly encouraging a bombardment of abusive tweets towards Ghostbusters actress Leslie Jones. The book, entitled Dangerous, is due to be released in March and has already been propelled to number two on Amazons overall bestseller list. Black American television writer and author Danielle Henderson, whose memoir is due out from Simon & Schuster next year, tweeted: Im looking at my @simonschuster contract, and unfortunately theres no clause for what if we decide to publish a white nationalist. Karen Hunter, a black US radio talk show host and bestselling author, said that she was rethinking her relationship with the publisher. The Chicago Review of Books called the decision to publish his book a disgusting validation of hate and announced that it would not review any of Simon & Schusters titles this year. The US branch of Simon & Schuster defended the controversial move with a statement on Twitter: We do not and have never condoned discrimination or hate speech in any form. While we are cognizant that many may disagree vehemently with the books we publish we note that the opinions expressed therein belong to our authors, and do not reflect either a corporate viewpoint or the views of our employees. Mr Yiannopoulos previously said: "I met with top execs at Simon & Schuster earlier in the year and spent half an hour trying to shock them with lewd jokes and outrageous opinions. I thought they were going to have me escorted from the building but instead they offered me a wheelbarrow full of money. "Im more powerful, more influential and more fabulous than ever before, and this book is the moment Milo goes mainstream. Social justice warriors should be scared very scared. Simon & Schuster's UK branch yesterday told The Bookseller it will not publish the autobiography. It has not yet responded to the Standard's request for comment. The announcement of state Assembly elections in five states has raised the big question: Should the government go ahead with its February 1 presentation of the Union Budget? By India Today Web Desk: The Election Commission today announced the dates for five state Assembly elections, including Uttar Pradesh, from February 4 to March 8, with counting of votes to be held on March 11. The announcement has raised a big question by the Opposition and even a ruling alliance partner at the Centre: Should the government go ahead with its February 1 presentation of the Union Budget? advertisement Almost every major party stands for a resounding no. They have questioned why should the Budget be announced when the dates for the elections to five state Assemblies - Goa, Manipur, Punjab, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh - have been announced. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, on the other hand, has rejected the call to extend the presentation of the Budget, calling it a "constitutional requirement". "Presenting the Budget is a constitutional requirement," Jaitley said. Jaitley said an interim Budget was presented even before the 2014 Lok Sabha election, and earlier too, Budgets had been presented ahead of elections. The first half of the Budget session is scheduled to be held from January 31 to February 9, with the presentation of the Budget by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley planned on February 1 - an advancement by a month from the conventional date of March 1. As many as 16 parties have written to President Pranab Mukherjee and Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi, arguing that the government's move to advance the Union Budget is an attempt to influence the voters. Opposition parties point toward the year 2012 when the first half of Budget session was postponed to the month of March in view of Assembly polls in five states. Here is what they have to say: Shiv Sena: Party chief Uddhav Thackeray has demanded that the Narendra Modi government should postpone the upcoming Union Budget till the state elections are completed. "A delegation of Shiv Sena MPs will meet the President of India for this soon. We feel that ruling Bharatiya Janata Party may try to manipulate and mislead people in the union budget," Thackeray said. Congress: "There is a precedent wherein the Union Budget was presented much after the polling and counting was over in the five states. The next Budget may carry sops which may influence voters. Budget needs to be postponed," former Union Minister and senior Congress leader Manish Tewari said. Bahujan Samaj Party: "In favour of clean and fair elections, we urge the central government to not present the Budget on 1 February," the BSP said today. Samajwadi Party: Senior SP leader Naresh Agrawal urged the Election Commission to see that the Budget session of Parliament announced by the central government be postponed to ensure that the voters do not get influenced. --- ENDS --- advertisement Deodhari Rai, one of the five convicts of the Buxur jailbreak has been nabbed by the police and is the first major breakthrough for the officials to reach the remaining five. By Rohit Kumar Singh: The police has finally managed to arrest one of the five convicts who escaped from the Buxur Central jail on December 31st, 2016. Deodhari Rai, convicted and serving life sentence in a rape cum murder case had carried out a jailbreak along with four other hard core criminals on New Year's eve sending the state machinery into a tizzy. advertisement Rai was arrested by the police from Chapra district, from where Rai belongs. He was apprehended by the local police in Chapra following inputs that a person having similar to Rai was seen in the area. Deodhari Rai has been handed over to the Buxur police. "The mastermind of the jailbreak case was Sonu Pandey, a convict who was also one of the escapee. These five prisoners had planned their escape three days back and executed their plan. We have arrested Deodhari Singh from his village in Chapra", said Upendra Kumar Sharma, Buxur SP. The arrest of Rai has come as a first breakthrough in the sensational Buxur jail break case, however, the remaining four convicts Pradeep Singh, Sonu Singh, Sonu Pandey and Upendra Sah are still at large. Incidentally, Pradeep Singh is a dreaded criminal who has been served death sentence by the Court and his mercy petition is still pending before the President. The administration suspended three jail officials in the case for maintaining laxity. The Buxur jail break has raised serious questions over the security of jails as it come within days of Nabha jailbreak in Punjab. --- ENDS --- Colourful voter guide with photo voter's slip to be introduced for the first time, says Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi By Indo-Asian News Service: The Election Commission on Wednesday said it was set to roll out a colourful voter guide for the first time. Colourful voter guide with photo voter's slip to be introduced for the first time, Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi told the media here while announcing the dates of the assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, Goa, Manipur, Uttarakhand and Punjab Assembly. advertisement Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa, Punjab and Manipur will be held between February 4 and March 8, Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi announced on Wednesday. The results from all five states will be known on March 11, Zaidi told a press conference here. While polling in Goa and Punjab will take place on February 4, Uttarakhand will vote on February 15 and Manipur in two phases on March 4 and 8. WATCH THE VIDEO ALSO READ: Uttar Pradesh election from Feb 11-Mar 8; Punjab, Goa to vote on Feb 4; results of all five states on March 11 Election Commission to announce Assembly poll dates for 5 states today --- ENDS --- By MARK EVANS STE. GENEVIEVE HERALD Scott Schmieder, county road and bridge foreman, reported to the county commission last Thursday that temperatures are getting too cold at night for much more asphalt work to be done. He said potholes had all been patched. His crews were working on Bodine Road and made call-ins to locate 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 (75) Hungarian Democratic Union of Romania (UDMR) chairman Kelemen Hunor on Tuesday said that the party he is running will vote in Parliament the governance programme and the government headed by Sorin Grindeanu, but he pointed out that this vote does not represent a "blank cheque." "After an assessment of the governance programme, we have cast an unanimous vote. As we have a parliamentary collaboration protocol with the PSD-ALDE [Social Democratic Party-Alliance of Liberals and Democrats] ruling coalition, tomorrow we will vote for the governance programme, the Government headed by Sorin Grindeanu. This doesn't mean we'll agree to all governmental projects. In the months to come, we also want to give a perspective to the parliamentary collaboration through weekly and to the point discussions in respect to each governmental initiative, each legislative initiative, as our purpose is to reestablish the role and weight of Parliament in respect to legislation and political decisions. Therefore, it is not a blank cheque at the moment, but it is, in order to embark on this path, a vote of confidence and we'll continue the discussions with this coalition every week on the level of group and party leaders," Kelemen Hunor said at the end of the UDMR parliamentary groups meeting. According to him, the UDMR MPs found that the PSD's governance programme includes "very many elements (...) identical" to proposals of the Union's electoral programme. agerpres. The Global Times editorial piece shows how two back to back missile tests, earlier Agni V with a range of over 5000 Km and now Agni IV, have rattled China. By Santosh Chaubey: Global Times, the mouth organ of China's ruling Communist Party, has dismissed India's missile programme saying 'India needs to cool its missile fever'. READ: 10 things to know about India's newly developed and successfully test-fired Agni-IV missile The Global Times editorial piece writes that 'India should realize that owning several missiles does not mean it is a nuclear power. Even though India does become a nuclear power, it will be a long time before it can show off its strength to the world.' advertisement Successful Agni IV missile test rattles China The write-up uses some harsh words for India after its successful Agni IV missile test yesterday that has a range of 4000 Km and can reach China. It shows how two back to back missile tests, earlier Agni V with a range of over 5000 Km and now Agni IV, have rattled China. These tests show India's prowess for its Inter Continental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) development programme. When India had test-fired its ICBM Agni V on December 26, China was quick to question India quoting an 18 year old UNSC resolution that seeks that India and Pakistan should shut their ballistic missile development programmes. Reacting on India's launch, Hua Chunying, spokesperson of the Chinese Foreign Ministry had said that 'the UN Security Council had explicit regulations on whether India can develop ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear weapons'. India treading on path that breaks the United Nations' protocols The editorial piece says that India is treading a path that breaks the United Nations' protocols, "India has broken the UN's limits on its development of nuclear weapons and long-range ballistic missile. New Delhi is no longer satisfied with its nuclear capability and is seeking intercontinental ballistic missiles that can target anywhere in the world and then it can land on an equal footing with the UN Security Council's five permanent members." India claims for permanent seat in UN Security Council India's claim for a permanent seat in the UN Security Council is another soar point for China and like India's bid to join the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), China tries to thwart the Indian efforts here as well. Though the editorial piece, that we can say conveys the official position of the Chinese Communist Party (CPC), speaks on the need of developing rapport between India and China, the tone is both patronizing as well as threatening. China's overall military industrial capacity is better than India Demeaning India, the editorial says that at present, India's GDP accounts for about 20 percent of China's whereas China's strategic nuclear missiles have long ago realized global coverage, and China's overall military industrial capacity is much better than that of India. advertisement India knows cost of posing nuclear threat to China Threatening India, the editorial says that India knows the cost of posing a nuclear threat to China. It says that China wants to better relations with India 'but will not sit still if India goes too far'. The editorial also brings in Pakistan in its sermonic run of commentary and advocates that the world community should treat India and Pakistan equally when it comes to their nuclear development programmes. Missile tests by India would see counter launches by Pakistan Repeating the Chinese rant of maintaining strategic balance in South Asia, the editorial says that these missile tests by India would see counter launches by Pakistan with missiles of longer ranges. Pakistan claims China is its all weather ally and China proves it by its acts time and again, like blocking the Indian proposal at the UN to declare Masood Azhar, Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) chief, a designated terrorist, in its most recent show of bonhomie with Pakistan. Why is China worried? We tell you: READ: Agni 5 is India's most potent nuclear-capable missile ever, and here's why China is worried advertisement READ: Agni 5 nuclear capable missile with 6000-km range - India's longest - launched off Odisha coast --- ENDS --- By Press Trust of India: New Delhi, Jan 4 (PTI) Days after China blocked its move to ban JeM chief Masood Azhar by the UN, India today asked Beijing to hear the "voice of the world" in dealing with terror and hoped it would be able to persuade the country to understand the "depth and evil" of the menace. Referring to Pakistans support to terror, India also hoped that as a "responsible and a mature" nation, China will understand the "double standards" and "simply self-defeating and suicidal" approach of Islamabad to terrorism. advertisement "We really do expect China to hear the voice of the world, not just voice of India on terrorism," Minister of State for External Affairs M J Akbar said at a joint press conference with his ministerial colleague Gen (retd) VK Singh, while presenting MEAs achievements in the last two-and-half years. On Chinas opposition to Indias membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group, Singh said government was engaging with all concerned to make them understand its "concerns" and "credentials", hoping that Beijing will end its resistance. Referring to China once again blocking Indias proposal at the UN to list Masood Azhar as a terrorist, Akbar said, "Terrorism is a snake that bites the hand that feeds it" and that Beijing needs to understand the reality. Hoping to persuade China to reverse its position on Azhar, the Minister said, "If we do not recognise the dangers of terrorism, we might hurt others a bit but we will wound ourselves far more." The press conference was addressed by Singh and Akbar as External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, who underwent a kidney transplant last month, has not fully recovered. "China has its own problem of terrorism. China recognises it. China addresses them in bilateral agreements. We hope and are sure that China can be persuaded to see the depth and evil of the menace," Akbar said, adding India will continue to point out "absurdity" of the decision of the 1267 sanctions committee of the UN of not designating Azhar a global terrorist. He said only China blocked Indias move as 14 out of 15 member countries agreed on taking action against Azhar. "There was only one hold out and we hope that the hold out disappears." Referring to terror infrastructure as well as the situation in Pakistan, Akbar said there has been instability in that country, adding these are "self-inflicted wounds". MORE PTI MPB ZMN --- ENDS --- Mallinckrodt Chief Executive Mark Trudeau's pay jumped 29 percent to $12.6 million as the company rewarded him for a year when profits more than doubled. Mallinckrodt, a drug company that is legally Irish but has its headquarters in Hazelwood, disclosed details of its executive pay in a proxy statement last week. Trudeau's pay included a salary of $1.04 million and a bonus of $1.6 million, which was 127 percent of the target amount. He also received $5.9 million in stock and $3.9 million in options, with some of the stock depending on Mallinckrodt's revenue growth and total shareholder return between 2016 and 2018. An earlier stock award, from 2014, paid out at 200 percent of its targeted amount. That brought Trudeau shares worth $2.5 million at current prices. Trudeau also received $101,003 in contributions to a supplemental savings plan and $16,535 in tax reimbursement. The tax reimbursement was for executives whose spouses or partners attended a national sales conference. Mallinckrodt's earnings per share more than doubled during fiscal 2016, which ended Sept. 30. Its share price rose 9 percent. Trudeau's golden parachute, the amount he would receive if he leaves Mallinckrodt after a takeover, is valued at $26.7 million. Tesla's closure of all its Missouri stores after it lost a lawsuit over its state licenses will be short-lived. On Wednesday, the Missouri Court of Appeals granted Tesla's motion to stay, or temporarily halt, a lower court's judgment that Tesla's licenses to sell vehicles should not be renewed in 2017. The stay allows Tesla to reopen all three of its Missouri stores while the company appeals the judgment. "Tesla appreciates the Court of Appeals decision to keep our Missouri stores operating," a Tesla spokesperson said in an email to the Post-Dispatch. "We are now arranging to reopen our doors and will do so as soon as possible. Again, we regret this temporary inconvenience to our customers." The California-based electric car maker closed its store in University City and two locations in the Kansas City area effective Jan. 1 after a circuit court judge ruled that the Missouri Department of Revenue should not renew its licenses to sell vehicles directly to customers in Missouri. Tesla's direct-to-consumer business model has drawn the ire of auto dealers across the country that operate in states with auto franchise laws. In January 2015, the Missouri Auto Dealers Association sued the Missouri revenue department and its director, alleging Tesla's direct-to-consumer model violates state law. Cole County Circuit Court Judge Daniel Green ruled in August that state law bars manufacturers from selling directly to consumers and must instead sell through a dealership franchisee. Last week, Judge Green denied Tesla's motion for a stay during the appeals process and Tesla's three Missouri stores were closed all this week. MADA's president Doug Smith said his group, a Jefferson City-based trade organization that represents new-car and new-truck dealers, will continue to fight Tesla. "There are 40 manufacturers who do business in the state of Missouri and they all use the franchise model," Smith said. "We want an explanation on why this one company gets to operate in an exclusive fashion that's different than all these other manufacturers." As president, Donald Trump wont be able to punish General Motors or other U.S. automakers for building cars in Mexico without violating the North American Free Trade Agreement. That may not stop him from taking such an unprecedented step. Trade experts agree that presidents have wide latitude to impose penalties on imports, at least temporarily, even if courts later find them unlawful. Targeting a single company with a tariff as Trump threatened to do with GM in a tweet on Tuesday is unheard of and barred under NAFTA, according to trade experts. Punishing GM with a tariff on its Mexico-made cars or any other U.S. company that has shifted production there could prompt a Mexican response that would hurt U.S. exports and raise the price of all goods from the country. The notion of using emergency tariff-raising authority to influence the investment location decisions of a single company would be an unprecedented use of that authority and far beyond what Congress ever intended, said Edward Alden, a trade expert at the Council on Foreign Relations. Turning those powers on a single U.S. company because you dont like its strategy just takes us to a whole new realm. The Republican rattled automakers this week when he tweeted that he would make General Motors pay a big border tax on Chevy Cruze models manufactured in Mexico and shipped across the border to U.S. dealers. On the same day, GMs competitor, Ford, canceled plans to expand in Mexico and said it would add jobs in Michigan instead. A GM spokesman said the company has imported to the U.S. only 4,500 of the Cruze hatchbacks it has manufactured in Mexico. Americans have bought about 190,000 Cruze sedans that were all built in Lordstown, Ohio, a second company spokesman said. The mere threat of a tariff or other punishment may be enough for Trump to get what he wants. The president-elect has repeatedly used the bully pulpit to pressure companies to change their business plans since winning election Nov. 8, as when United Technologies Corp. unit Carrier announced in November it would keep open a furnace plant in Indianapolis instead of moving about 850 jobs to Mexico. Doug Holtz-Eakin, a former director of the Congressional Budget Office who is president of the right-leaning research group American Action Forum in Washington, said that Trumps GM tweet might be better understood as the opening bid in the negotiations. A lot of this is about setting the agenda and getting people to talk about what he wants to talk about, Holtz-Eakin said. Its not something that in the end generates great policy. GM might be able to challenge any Trump tariff in court and win; the 1974 law that Trump would likely cite as the source of his trade authority allows presidents to target countries, not companies, said Gary Hufbauer, a researcher at the Peterson Institute for International Economics and a former U.S. government tax and trade official. Trump has vowed to renegotiate the two-decade-old NAFTA, which bars the U.S. from assessing tariffs on goods made in Canada or Mexico. As president, Trump would have the power to withdraw from NAFTA entirely, though no president has abandoned a trade treaty since the 1800s. But even pulling out of the three-nation pact wouldnt necessarily enable Trump to ratchet up tariffs to 35 percent, the level he pledged during his campaign. Duties on goods produced in Mexico would only rise to the rate for countries with most favored nation status in the U.S.: about 4 percent, said Doug Irwin, an economist and trade expert at Dartmouth College. Trump could impose 15 percent duties for 100 days on GMs cars, claiming a balance payments emergency, but that would fall short of the punishment hes threatened. Other fines, such as anti-dumping duties, require special and lengthy procedures to enact. For his 35 percent tariff to stick, Trump would likely have to ask Congress to include it in a broader overhaul of the U.S. tax code. Trump and House Republicans are aligned on much of their tax policy, but they differ starkly on how imports should be treated. Both want to lower the current top corporate income tax rate Trump to 15 percent and House Republicans to 20 percent. But the Republicans also propose a system known as border adjustments that would levy the 20 percent rate only on U.S. companies domestic sales. Their exports would be untaxed, and their imported goods would be taxed at 20 percent, much lower than Trumps 35 percent tariff. The Republicans border-adjustments plan also would probably violate NAFTA rules, said Steve Charnovitz, a professor of public international law at The George Washington University Law School. Trumps tariffs would likely result in additional negative economic effects. If taxes on exports were not simultaneously eased, all U.S. companies that buy or sell things abroad would be harmed, said Alan Cole, an economist at the Tax Foundation in Washington. There are right ways and wrong ways of doing this, Cole said in an interview. A tariff is discriminatory. And focusing on specific companies could cause damage by creating uncertainty about the rules and how they apply, he said though Washingtons influence industry may view that as upside. It just creates incentives for out-sized lobbying budgets, he said. Bloombergs David Welch, Keith Naughton, Justin Sink and Steven T. Dennis contributed to this report. By Press Trust of India: From K J M Varma Beijing, Jan 4 (PTI) Chinese smartphone vendors last year captured about 40 per cent share in India, the second largest smartphone market in the world, the official media here reported. Among all, Lenovo saw its shipment volume rise to the second only after Samsung in the third quarter last year, state-run China Daily quoted global research firm International Data Corporation (IDC) survey as saying. advertisement Xiaomi took the third spot with a market share of 10.7 per cent, whereas Chinese vendors collectively took up 40 per cent, according to the survey conducted across 30 major Indian cities. The forays by Chinese phone makers comes as Indias domestic brands saw decline in market share. Micromax reported a 16.7 per cent month-over-month sales drop in October, the survey said. Analysts noted that as smartphone giants look at India which has a population of 1.34 billion, to be the "new China" and the competition will be intense, the report said. Despite growth, price war remains fierce in what is becoming the worlds second-largest smartphone market where the price of a mobile averages only USD 100, the survey said. "Lenovo has retained its duo-brand strategy in India," Rahul Agarwal, the companys managing director, told state-run Beijing News, adding that Motorola is focused on high-end market, taking up a third of its sales, whereas Lenovo phones targeting lower end account for two thirds. Indian customers are even more price sensitive than Chinese users, Ni Fei, co-founder and CEO of Nubia Technology, said. Besides price war, patent rights and tariff could also hinder further growth in India, analysts said, citing patent disputes faced by Chinese smartphone makers OPPO, VIVO and Xiaomi in recent years. OPPO is planning to invest 1.5 billion yuan (USD 215 million) to build an industrial park in India to bring down manufacturing cost, according to media reports earlier last month. The company already has a factory in Greater Noida. PTI KJV AMS AKJ AMS --- ENDS --- BONNE TERRE, Mo. A man from Farmington who police say was high on drugs Tuesday when he crashed his car, killing one of his young sons and injuring another, has been arrested. This is the second time the extended family has lost a child to a driver accused of being intoxicated. The Missouri Highway Patrol said Chasen T. Luksza, 3, died in the crash just after noon Tuesday. James A. Luksza, 32, and James A. Luksza Jr., 5, were seriously injured. The elder Luksza was driving a 2002 Honda Accord north on Highway 67 about noon. The car ran off the right side of the road and struck a tree about 1.3 miles north of Highway 47, near Bonne Terre. Chasen, whose nickname was "Chug," died at Parkland Health Center in Bonne Terre at 12:27 p.m. Tuesday. The other boy was being treated Wednesday at Cardinal Glennon Childrens Medical Center in St. Louis. The father was treated at St. Anthonys Medical Center and was later arrested by the patrol on suspicion of driving while intoxicated, involuntary manslaughter and other crimes. The patrol says those crimes include possession of methamphetamine and marijuana, second-degree assault and endangering the welfare of a child. Neither child was properly restrained in an appropriate child-safety seat, police say. The coroner, Jim Coplin, said he went to the scene of the crash and later to the hospital where the boy died. He said he saw a booster seat on the floorboard of the car, and first responders said the father told them that the boys were in booster seats. Coplin said it appears that Chasen had been wearing a seat belt, based on the bruising Coplin saw on the boy's body, but that the belt didn't restrain him in the force of the crash. "He hit his head on the driver's seat," Coplin said. Police said Luksza was from Farmington, although Coplin said the family moved around a lot and that the car was still registered in Illinois. Second loss Joyce Ulrich, of St. Clair, Mo., is the maternal grandmother of Chasen and James Jr. She said Chasen was the second grandchild she had lost to an intoxicated driver. Her oldest grandchild, Donald R. Tipton, was 15 when he was struck and killed by a drunken driver on Sept. 12, 2014. The teen was standing by his mailbox on Highway 30, waiting for his school bus, when he was struck. The driver in that case was sentenced in June to eight years in prison. Ulrich said the family was struggling to cope. We just pray God will give us strength, she said. Ulrich said her daughter, Jessica Lowery, was the mother of Chasen and James Jr. Relatives of the elder Luksza could not be reached for comment. Ulrich said she last saw Chasen about five weeks ago when she brought new bicycles to the boys to celebrate their birthdays, days apart. From James Jr.s hospital room Wednesday, Ulrich said he is talking, hes coherent. She said his injuries were numerous, including a chipped vertebrae, fractured pelvis and fractured wrist. LINCOLN COUNTY The Missouri Supreme Court has ordered a six-month unpaid suspension for Lincoln County Presiding Circuit Judge Chris Kunza Mennemeyer, citing serious violations of the Code of Judicial Conduct and state Constitution. Mennemeyer did not contest the penalty, which was recommended in September by the Commission on Retirement, Removal and Discipline. The commission had found that she improperly delayed criminal cases during a dispute with the public defenders office, leading to extra months in jail for some defendants. It also said she tried to coerce and intimidate public defenders, including the filing of an unfounded disciplinary complaint. In a decision announced Tuesday, the Supreme Court wrote that, it is clear that (the judge) intentionally delayed the appointment of public defenders to subvert the rights of indigent defendants, and that their right to be heard according to law was delayed. The disciplinary inquiry acknowledged Mennemeyers limited experience. A 1997 law school graduate, she had never handled a jury trial when she was elected in 2012 as the countys only circuit judge. The dispute, over whether public defenders needed her approval to represent probation case defendants, began the following year. The suspension will start Feb. 1; Mennemeyer will keep her job and pension. Her lawyer, Paul DAgrosa, previously said that while some allegations were in dispute, she felt it was in her best interests to move on without a fight. Russell Faria, convicted by a jury in Mennemeyers court of murdering his wife, later won a new trial because the judge had refused to allow evidence against an alternate suspect, Pamela Hupp. Faria was acquitted by a different judge, and Hupp is awaiting trial in a related murder that occurred later in St. Charles County. BELLERIVE ACRES University of Missouri-St. Louis Chancellor Tom George has picked a new second in command. Kristin Sobolik, dean of the College of Liberal Arts at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio, will join UMSL as the provost and vice chancellor of academic affairs in June. The provost is the leader of academic operations, research and student affairs at UMSL, reporting directly to the chancellor. An archaeologist by training, Sobolik, 53, joined Wright State as dean in 2013. She previously spent 20 years at the University of Maine, starting as an assistant professor of anthropology before gaining tenure and climbing the leadership ladder from department chair to dean. UMSL will be "the perfect blend" of her experience at Wright State and in Maine, she told the Post-Dispatch. "Wright State and UMSL have the same mission," she said, explaining that both schools are young with similar student populations. "Everything about it smelled like home." Sobolik helped lead the Climate Change Institute as a researcher at the University of Maine. She still holds an adjuct appointed role as a researcher in the institute. She has great experience across a wide range of activities that are essential to being a successful provost, including strategic planning, reaccreditation, budgeting, student success, capital projects, fundraising and faculty development, UMSL Chancellor Tom George said in a statement. I was particularly struck by her successes in diversity and inclusion areas in which UMSL currently thrives but can continue to grow with Dr. Soboliks leadership. Sobolik replaces Glen Cope, who retired in June 2016. She has a bachelor's degree in biology from the University of Iowa, and her master's and doctoral degrees in anthropology from Texas A&M University. Her base salary is $260,000. JEFFERSON CITY The first bill out of the Missouri House will be a total ban on lobbyist gifts to elected officials, promised the newly re-elected House Speaker Todd Richardson in a speech to the House chamber. Richardson said he also planned to move right-to-work legislation to committee on Thursday, calling on lawmakers to then get it to the floor as quickly as possible. To build a more stable foundation, to grow jobs, to increase wages, we will put right-to-work legislation on the governors desk and he will sign it, said Richardson, R-Poplar Bluff. Making Missouri more business-friendly was a major theme of Richardsons remarks. He said hes already tasked house committees to examine the states regulation and licensing requirements, making it easier for ride-sharing companies like Uber and Lyft to operate in the state. He also vowed to increase access to charter schools and virtual schools, as well as make education savings accounts available to parents and students most in need, tying education reform to a transformation of the economy. I dont think the blueprint for economic success is that complicated: give kids access to a world class education and make sure there is a job available in a thriving public sector without government overreach, Richardson said. His speech was in line with the GOP agenda that has slowly emerged in recent weeks, as Republican supermajorities in both chambers plan for a new ally in the Governors mansion. Acknowledging their new favorable political reality, Richardson said it also comes with a responsibility to make the legislative process deliberative. That means we must respect the voices and viewpoints of every Missourian, as represented by each and every one of you, he added. Updated 1:25 p.m. Beyond taking an inaugural roll call, the Missouri Senate took no significant action Wednesday as legislative leaders prepare to usher an era of all Republican rule in state government. As expected, senators elected Ron Richard, R-Joplin, as Senate president pro tem and Mike Kehoe, R-Jefferson City, as Senate majority floor leader. Rather than a speech outlining his policy goals in the upcoming session, Richards address focused on the grandeur or the state Capitol and the importance of civility under the statehouse dome. Im not big on long windy speeches, Richard said. Im hoping we are remembered for respecting the institution of the Senate and each other; for restoring civility to the chamber; and that we were able to be passionate about our convictions without being combative with one another, Richard said. Republican Governor-elect Eric Greitens watched the proceedings in the Senate but did not answer questions as he departed the Capitol Wednesday afternoon. UPDATED AT 1:15 pm Missouris departing Secretary of State Jason Kander addressed House lawmakers after session convened, saying he wanted to use his final days in office to make a little bit of a point about voting rights. Referencing the photo ID law passed last session and the constitutional amendment approved by voters, he called on the chamber to not take further action. Already Ive heard some members of this body make public statements that the law needs to be revisited, Kander said. You can protect the integrity of elections without stopping anyone from voting. The amendment and corresponding law which requires Missourians show photo identification before voting was hailed by Republicans as a means to prevent voter fraud. Democrats raised concerns that voter ID laws disenfranchise people of color, seniors, students and the poor, and cited studies casting doubt on whether voter fraud is a problem at all. Courts struck down or threw out parts of similar laws in North Carolina and Wisconsin this summer. The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found North Carolinas law targeted African-Americans with almost surgical precision, and the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against reinstating it the following month. If you choose to follow the example of Wisconsin and North Carolina, Kander said, I guess well see you in court. Updated 12:30 p.m. Six new members of the Missouri Senate were poised to be sworn into office Wednesday with Governor-elect Eric Greitens watching on. Among the new members taking the oath of office are Sens. Andrew Koenig, R-Manchester, Bill Eigel, R-Weldon Spring and Jake Hummel, D-St. Louis. Koenig and Hummel previously served in the House. Greitens, who will be sworn into office on Monday, viewed the mostly ceremonial proceedings from a chair next to Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder, whom Greitens beat in a four-way primary in August. Republicans control the 34-member chamber with 24 members, but that number could change following a special election to replace Sen. Mike Parson, a Bolivar Republican who will become lieutenant governor on Monday. UPDATED AT 12:26 pm Lawmakers made their way back to the state Capitol Wednesday to kick off the new legislative session, a largely ceremonial first day when legislators are sworn in and leaders give speeches to highlight upcoming priorities. Already, a hint of largely GOP agenda has emerged, with Republicans in control of both chambers of the Legislature and Gov.-elect Eric Greitens set to become the states new chief executive next week. At the top of the list is making Missouri a right-to-work state, an item long on the GOPs wish list thats been repeatedly blocked by departing Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon. Greitens and other lawmakers have also stressed tort reform, school choice, protections for law enforcement and ethics reform as immediate issues to tackle. Greitens paid a visit to the House Republican caucus before returning to his statewide thank-you tour. By Press Trust of India: Bhopal, Jan 4 (PTI) After setting up Anand Vibhag to bring a smile on every face, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has put forth an idea of setting up Anandam, a centre to derive joy of giving, in some cities of the state. "Timely help to the needy and the person who helps others - both derive a sense of joy from this act. As a primary effort, Anandam should be established to transform this into activities," Chouhan was quoted as saying by a Public Relations Department official today. advertisement The CM floated the idea when he was holding a meeting of officials yesterday at the state secretariat. Anandam will be a place where people will derive joy of give and take. Chouhan said any person who wishes to donate material can keep the items at Anandam. On the other hand, the needy persons will get the same for their need from that centre. "Giving example of blankets, Chouhan said that getting a blanket during the winter gives pleasure. Similarly, it gives you satisfaction in a way that you contributed in protecting others from cold," the official informed. The CM further mentioned that the state government is making effort to bring happiness and joy in the lives of all. He also informed the meeting that an outline of various programmes has been prepared by the Anand department in this regard. "Chouhan told officials that thinking with peaceful heart brings new thoughts. He called upon the administrative officers to implement it in their lives. Live a joyous life with enthusiasm," the official informed. The state government had constituted a separate Anand Mantralaya in July last year. The department has already started functioning. PTI ADU MAS GK GK RYS --- ENDS --- JEFFERSON CITY With Gov.-elect Eric Greitens looking on, Missouri Republican lawmakers spent their first day back at the Capitol outlining pro-business goals for the new legislative session, many of which already have the blessing of the soon-to-be chief executive. Discussions Wednesday were in line with a GOP agenda that has slowly emerged in recent weeks, including a fast-tracked right-to-work bill that would limit the ability of labor unions to collect dues from members. Republican supermajorities in the House and Senate no longer have to contend with Gov. Jay Nixon, a Democrat, whose veto pen has been a roadblock to their efforts in the past. Acknowledging their new favorable political reality, House Speaker Todd Richardson reminded his caucus that greater power came with greater responsibility to make the legislative process deliberative. But as they relished their new ally in the Governors Mansion, one outgoing Democrat shared some parting thoughts. Missouri Secretary of State Jason Kander, vowing to use his final days in office to make a point about voting rights, urged lawmakers not to take further action on a controversial photo ID law passed last session and approved by voters, citing court challenges in other states. If you choose to follow the example of Wisconsin and North Carolina, Kander said in the House chamber, I guess well see you in court. The amendment and corresponding law which requires Missourians to show photo identification before voting was hailed by Republicans as a means of preventing voter fraud. Democrats raised concerns that it disenfranchised people of color, older people, students and the poor. Kanders lecture wasnt received favorably by Republicans, who called it a slap in the face to the democratic process and opted not to read a House resolution thanking Kander for his service. The first day of the legislative session is largely ceremonial. And beyond Kanders remarks, this year was no exception. For some, the swearings-in and the speeches are part of a familiar experience. But for freshmen legislators such as Sen. Bill Eigel, R-St. Charles, it was the first day on the job. Eigel said he was looking forward to working with Greitens to make the state more business-friendly. Whether its labor reform or tort reform, there will be support for change and it will be passed, especially with a governor whos willing to sign, Eigel said. He also supports Greitens call for a total ban on lobbyists gifts, which totaled more than $500,000 last year. Richardson promised that a total gift ban would be the first bill out of the House, and he expressed hope that the Senate, which has been a roadblock to bans in the past, would be on board. Thats an easy step we can take as a legislature to restore the publics trust in us, Eigel said. Its also a rare area of agreement between the states dwindling Democratic caucus and Greitens, who ran on a promise to clean up corruption in Jefferson City. Greitens spoke to House Republicans before the session began but declined to speak to reporters afterward, instead opting to watch proceedings in the Senate. The lone senator not to be sworn in Wednesday was Jacob Hummel, D-St. Louis. Hummel, who was elected in a special election in August to replace former Sen. Joe Keaveny, says he is waiting until next week in order to maximize his time in office. If he had been sworn in on Wednesday, he would only be allowed to serve a total of six years in the Senate. By waiting, he can serve up to 10 years. Senate President Ron Richards speech didnt focus on policy goals but rather the grandeur of the state Capitol and the importance of civility under the statehouse dome. Im hoping we are remembered for respecting the institution of the Senate and each other; for restoring civility to the chamber; and that we were able to be passionate about our convictions without being combative with one another, Richard said. By contrast, House Speaker Richardsons comments delved into policy details. In addition to labor reform, the speaker said he has tasked House committees with an overview of the states regulations and licensing requirements to ultimately make it easier for ride-sharing companies such as Uber and Lyft and home-sharing companies such as AirBnB to operate in Missouri. Richardson also vowed to expand access to charter schools and virtual schools and to explore education savings accounts controversial school choice legislation likely to be met with resistance from Democrats. He, too, also called for respect despite inevitable disagreement. This is the peoples House, and we are a body that is supposed to have a spirited discussion, but those discussions and that disagreement should stay professional and mindful of our fellow legislators and the constituents we serve, Richardson said. But even new Democrats understand theres a challenge ahead for the minority party. Rep. Bruce Franks Jr., a St. Louis Democrat who won a special 78th district election after the initial contest was marred with absentee voter irregularities, said ethics reform could provide some common ground depending on how serious Republicans are about it. But he pledged to fight to put right-to-work legislation to a public vote through a referendum. Twitter followers of a certain local critic of this newspaper might have seen a number of apoplectic posts last week linking to a story about a California law that allows victims of child sex trafficking to receive help rather than prosecution. Only thats not how the headline in the Twitter post portrayed this new law. The less-than-credible Washington Examiner headline screamed, California Democrats legalize child prostitution. The even bigger headline on Twitter, posted by our local conservative critic, screamed, Dear SEN @claircmc R U going 2 contact CAL Senators & do anything about this? Another Twitter post, with the same link, said, WOW sadly, this is NOT FAKE NEWS Calif to legalize child prostitution. Talk about DEPLORABLE. Yet another by the same conservative tweeter stated, Here is a story that U will never see reported by @AP or @stltoday PostDispatch. Shes right about that last part. You wont see it reported in any credible news outlet because the story is so badly distorted as to qualify as fake news. Its sad that some news consumers are gullible enough to believe it. Sadder that some are gullible enough to recirculate it via Twitter alongside criticism of this newspaper for keeping this explosive news item under wraps. The Washington Examiners website said that, beginning on Jan. 1, prostitution by minors will be legal in California. Yes, you read that right. SB 1322 bars law enforcement from arresting sex workers who are under the age of 18 for soliciting or engaging in prostitution, or loitering with the intent to do so. So teenage girls (and boys) in California will soon be free to have sex in exchange for money without fear of arrest or prosecution. Wow. Lets get outraged! Oh, wait a moment. In California, as in Missouri, an adult having sex with a minor constitutes statutory rape. Rape is rape, regardless of whether the rapist tosses money on the bed afterward. The minor is not the perpetrator of a crime. The minor is a victim. And the last time I checked, even conservatives dont believe that its right to prosecute crime victims. The criminals are the adults, not the kids. But the implication from this fake-news headline is that we need to be putting kids in jail for being sex-trafficked. And its those nanny-state Democrats in California who want to legalize child prostitution. This story makes a political issue out of a crime that destroys lives. Kids dont get involved with sex traffickers because they think its a fun alternative to flipping burgers or bagging groceries. Some are kidnapped and forced into the business. Others are runaways from abusive parents. Others are seeking refuge from having already been sexually abused. Predators are everywhere on the lookout for exactly this kind of child. They lure victims with promises of a good meal, warm shelter and a willingness to listen to the childs problems. Not long afterward, the childs photo appears on websites such as Backpage with promises of extra-special massages and real VIP treatment. Children dont post these web advertisements. Criminal adult sex traffickers do, and they create conditions of enslavement that make it virtually impossible for children to escape once theyre trapped in it. If you have a child in your home, just stop and look at her or him for a moment. Would any kids this young, this innocent, ever willingly submit their bodies for some disgusting stranger to ravage? Of course not. The Washington Examiner, along with misguided Twitter followers, are seeking some kind of political gain out of childrens sexual victimization. Why? This law also is not news. It was passed last year and signed by Gov. Jerry Brown in September, when he accurately declared, There is no such thing as a child prostitute. The Examiner is trying to hype it as an explosive new development only because the law took effect on Jan. 1. As the laws sponsor, state Sen. Holly J. Mitchell, a Democrat from Los Angeles, stated, The law is supposed to protect vulnerable children from adult abuse, yet we brand kids enmeshed in sex-for-pay with a scarlet P and leave them subject to shame and prosecution. This is our opportunity to do what we say is right in cases of sex trafficking: Stop the exploiters and help the exploited. The law cracks down on adults. It eliminates criminal penalties for minors who are exploited. It requires law enforcers to report the commercial sexual exploitation of juveniles so that the victims can receive counseling and protection. It helps get the kids back home or places them in court-supervised foster care. If someone wanted to play the Examiners low-life game, a nice screamer Twitter posting could say, Pro-exploitation conservatives denounce efforts to save children from predators. (Perhaps post it alongside fake news about child sex trafficking at Comet Ping Pong in Washington?) But lets not go there. You wont see this kind of nonsense in the Post-Dispatch or any other reputable newspaper because we dont play games with the facts. People have every right to read outraged tweets or seek information from bogus sources like the Washington Examiner. But, please, dont ever let those uninformed alarmists confuse you into believing their online musings constitute real news. The Get to know m.e. campaign recently announced its six 2016 scholarship winners, according to a press release. The campaign awarded two students from each of the following Get to know m.e. host sponsor universities: Lindenwood University, in Belleville, McKendree University, in Lebanon, and Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, in Edwardsville. The $2,000 scholarship recipients for the Get to know m.e. campaign are: Emily Donovan and Kaitlyn Dixon of Lindenwood University Allison Loehr and Kelsey Sutherland of McKendree University Katie Terziovski and Allie Sweatt of Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Each of the recipients submitted an essay highlighting why they love living in the Metro East. All recipients were required to be a resident of the Metro East at the time of application, enrolled as a full-time student at one of the host sponsor universities and be in good academic standing with the university or college. The purpose of this campaign is to positively impact our community," said Carol Bartle, campaign project manager. "These scholarships are a great opportunity for us to help continue to improve the educational experience for students throughout the Metro East. Get to know m.e. was created to bring the Metro East communities together, embracing the people who live and work here and the many attractions we all share and enjoy. It also showcases the many attractions and lifestyle the Metro East has to offer for those who live outside of this area. Host sponsors of the Get to know m.e. campaign for 2016 are: Ameren Illinois Anderson Hospital Archford Capital Strategies, LLC Auffenberg Enterprises of Illinois Belleville News-Democrat Cork Tree Creative, Inc. Gori Julian & Associates, P.C. Hospice of Southern Illinois, Inc. Illinois American Water Co. IllinoiSouth Tourism Lindenwood University- Bellville Campus McKendree University Mathis, Marifian & Richter, Ltd. Memorial Hospital Robert "Chick" Fritz, Inc. Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Strano & Associates Real Estate TheBANK of Edwardsville UMB Bank To read the winning scholarships or to learn more about the campaign, visit get2knowthemetroeast.com/. You may also follow the campaign on Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and Twitter. Two men entered the girl's house when she was alone, abducted her and raped her in a field in Churu. By Dev Ankur Wadhawan: A minor girl was allegedly gang raped and mercilessly beaten up after she threatened to reveal the incident. The accused even tried to mow her down. Two men had entered her house when she was alone at home and took advantage of the situation. The Churu police has registered an FIR against the two men and arrested them. advertisement The girl's statement has been recorded at the SMS Hospital in Jaipur, where she is undergoing treatment. HERE'S WHAT HAPPENED According to the girl's family, the incident took place on December 24. Two men allegedly entered the girl's home when she was alone, put a cloth on her mouth and abducted her in the dark of the night. The two allegedly took her on their bike to a field around 1.5 kilometres from the village and raped her. According to the girl's father, she had threatened the accused of revealing the incident to her family. This made them panic after which they beat the minor and mowed her down with their bike. "When she threatened to reveal the incident, they beat her and mowed her down. They told her that if she will be alive it will be difficult for them to survive hence; they will have to kill her. She then pleaded saying she will not tell anyone about the incident," the girl's father told India Today. "She has received 13 stitches above her eye, rib is broken and her spinal cord is damaged. She has also sustained injuries on her knee, foot and other parts of the body," he informed. "The girl is conscious. She has sustained injury in her spinal cord. We are taking complete care as required," said Dr Manprakash Sharma, Principal, SMS Hospital. The girl's father claims that he was in Gujarat for some work when the incident took place. She was initially taken to Sujangarh for treatment from where she was sent to Bikaner. She was then brought to Jaipur for medical aid. The Churu police has registered an FIR against the two men under sections 366 A, 457, 321, 323, 376 A and under Section 4 of the POCSO Act and arrested them. One of the accused has been identified as Rakesh Bhargava, teacher at a private school. He was accompanied by a friend. Child Rights Panel head, Manan Chaturvedi, who visited the girl at the hospital, said, "We have motivated the girl. She will continue with her studies once she is fit to join." According to Chaturvedi, an enquiry committee will be constituted in the matter. "The girl's family has alleged that the incident took place on December 24 while the FIR was registered on January 2. We have arrested the accused," said Churu superintendent of police Rahul Barhat while speaking to India Today. The girl's statement has been recorded at the SMS Hospital in Jaipur. She has made allegations of rape, kidnap and assault against the accused. "The accused maintain that they did not force the girl or abduct her and that they had met with an accident. Since a minor is involved in the matter, the Court will take the final call," he added. ALSO READ | 15-year-old student blackmailed, gang-raped for 6 months in southeast Delhi Delhi: American woman allegedly gang raped by 5, including tourist guide, in a hotel --- ENDS --- Bethany Marie Hill The trial of two people charged with the murder of a 20-year-old Bethany Hill last year, began at Warwick Crown Court today, Wednesday. Bethany, a former Bidford Primary and Stratford High School pupil, died after suffering stab wounds to her neck at a property on Hertford Road on 3 February 2016. Kayleigh-Louise Woods, 23, of Hertford Road, Stratford-upon-Avon and Jack Williams, 21, of Redlands Crescent, Stratford-upon-Avon both pleaded not guilty to the charge on 13 July last year during a previous court appearance. Outlining the prosecution's case, the jury were told Williams and Woods carried out a brutal and sadistic murder, tying Bethany's wrists with duct tape before cutting her throat. They were told Williams and his transgender partner Woods waited several hours before reporting Bethany's death, and 'spun a web of lies' in an attempt to cover up what they had done. Prosecutor Stephen Linehan QC said it was a sadistic killing by Williams, with Woods joining in in an attempt to please him. He said a blade was used repeatedly to inflict cuts to the back of Bethany's neck before she was killed by having her jugular vein cut through, bleeding to death in the bathroom. Mr Linehan said: Only these two defendants know precisely what happened and precisely what role each of them played, but they have never told the truth of what happened. Each has spun a web of lies in order to conceal the truth, but the evidence you will hear drives one to the conclusion that they took part together in the killing. Their trial at Warwick Crown Court is expected to last four weeks. For a full two-page report of the opening day of the trial read tomorrows Herald. By Press Trust of India: Thane, Jan 4 (PTI) The Bhiwandi crime unit officials in the last couple of days have arrested 13 persons and seized allegedly stolen property worth over Rs 55 lakhs, police said. Those arrested hail from various places like Virar, Pune, Gujarat, Dhule and Nashik, DCP (Crime) Parag Manere told reporters here today. "In the first case police arrested nine persons, of which five belonged to Sikalkar gang which operated in and around Thane. Police seized 755 grams of gold and 14.707 kgs of silver totally valued at Rs 26,02,767 from them," the officer said. advertisement They were wanted in various cases registered with Kapurbawdi police station and also with Mumbra police, said the official. Police also arrested three others from Vasai and seized allegedly stolen goods valued at Rs 20,94,389. The goods were stolen from Narpoli and the case was registered there, the DCP said. One person was arrested from Nalasopara and 100 allegedly stolen tyres of a popular brand worth Rs 8,87,315 were seized from him, the officer said. PTI COR RMT SDM --- ENDS --- Alibaba Group (NYSE: BABA) has filed with Shenzhen Longgang District People's Court a lawsuit against two fake Swarovski watch sellers on Taobao platform, claiming RMB1.4 million in damages for contract and goodwill violations. It is the first ever legal action taken by an e-commerce platform in China against counterfeiters. And it wont be the last as the Group has already compiled a list of counterfeiters against whom it will take similar actions. Last month, the company took a brushing operator to court suing it for RMB2.16 million yuan in damages. We want to mete out to counterfeiters the punishment they deserve in order to protect brand owners. We will bring the full force of the law to bear on these counterfeiters so as to deter others from engaging in this crime wherever they are, said Zheng Junfang, Chief Platform Governance Officer of Alibaba Group. With the help of big-data technology, Alibabas platform governance team detected a Taobao merchant suspected of selling fake Swarovski watches. The team then initiated its test-buy purchase program to buy a Swarovski watch, which was later confirmed by the right holder Swarovski to be a counterfeit. As a result of the leads provided by Alibaba, the Shenzhen Luohu District police raided the seller on August 10, 2016 and confiscated over 125 counterfeit Swarovski watches, valuing nearly RMB2 million. Another fake Swarovski seller on Taobao was founded related to the case during the action. "We take a holistic and technology-driven approach to IPR-enforcement," said Matthew Bassiur, Alibaba's head of global intellectual property enforcement. "Big-data analytics enhance our ability to identify and pursue counterfeiters, and make it increasingly difficult for these illicit sellers to hide in the shadows." Alibaba has spared no expense and manpower to invest in the Platform Governance Department since its launch in 2015. That year Alibaba spent over RMB150 million on test-buy purchase program to spot check the products on its platform. Today, the department boasts a roster of some 7,000 employees and volunteers in their fight against counterfeiting. The board of directors of Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE: XOM) has reached an agreement with Rex W. Tillerson, former chairman and chief executive officer, to sever all ties with the company to comply with conflict-of-interest requirements associated with his nomination as secretary of state. Under the agreement developed in consultation with federal ethics regulators, if Tillerson is confirmed as secretary of state, the value of more than 2 million deferred ExxonMobil shares that he would have received over the next 10 years would be transferred to an independently managed trust and the ExxonMobil share awards would be cancelled. The trust would be prohibited from investing in ExxonMobil and the trustee would manage the assets consistent with government ethics rules. Payments to Tillerson from the trust would be subject to the same 10-year schedule that the cancelled awards would have had if they had continued in place. Tillerson would also surrender entitlement to more than $4.1 million in cash bonuses, scheduled to pay out over the next three years, and other benefits such as retiree medical and dental benefits, and administrative, financial and tax support. The one-time payment to the trust would be equal to the value of Tillersons cancelled shares based on a volume-weighted average price per share. Consistent with guidance from federal ethics regulators, the value would be reduced by about $3 million. The trust would include forfeiture rules that would prohibit Tillerson from working in the oil and/or gas industry during the 10-year payout period. The trust rules dictate that in the event of forfeiture, the money would be distributed to one or more charities involved in fighting poverty or disease in the developing world. Neither Tillerson nor ExxonMobil would have any control over the selection of the charities. The net effect of the agreement is a reduction of approximately $7 million in compensation owed to Tillerson. Tillerson retired on Dec. 31 with more than 40 years of service with ExxonMobil. Separate to the agreement with ExxonMobil, Tillerson has also committed to the State Department that, if confirmed, he would sell the more than 600,000 shares in ExxonMobil he currently owns. GeoPark Limited (NYSE: GPRK) announced the appointment of Mr. Michael D. Dingman as a new member of the Board of Directors of the Company, effective January 1, 2017. Mr. Dingman is a respected and successful international investor, businessman and philanthropist, with more than 50 years of investment experience and an impressive track record of building companies and conglomerates in the U.S. and emerging markets. Mr. Dingman currently is Founder, President and CEO of the Shipston Group, an international private investment firm with diverse holdings around the globe. In addition to a successful career on Wall Street as a partner of Burnham & Company, Mr. Dingman has been Chairman and Chief Executive or President of several major US-based industrial corporations, including Wheelabrator-Frye, Signal, AlliedSignal, the Henley Group and Fisher-Scientific. His energy investment experience includes working with the Liedtke family of Pennzoil at Pogo Producing Company and as an early investor of Sidanco, one of Russias largest oil companies, where he spearheaded the introduction of best management practices. Mr. Dingman is a former director of Ford Motor Company (21 years), Time and then Time Warner (24 years), the Mellon Bank, Temple Industries, Temple-Inland, Continental Telephone and Teekay Shipping. He is the founder of the Michael D. Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship at the University of Maryland, a center that fosters entrepreneurship and provides mentoring services to emerging growth companies around the world. He is a benefactor and former trustee of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts and the John A. Hartford Foundation. Mr. Dingman said: I am pleased to be joining GeoParks Board of Directors and working with its management to support the Companys exciting expansion. GeoPark has high quality assets, a strong team, a proven operational track record and a unique platform across Latin America, a region that is poised for outsized energy growth and development. Gerry O'Shaughnessy, Chairman of the Board of Directors of GeoPark, said: We enthusiastically welcome Michael Dingman to our Board. We are fortunate to attract a businessman of such high caliber, who has such a big skill-set and deep experience. Mr. Dingmans experience building international businesses as an investor, executive and director will be invaluable as GeoPark continues forward with our ambitious growth plans. Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. (NYSE: HLT) (Hilton) today announced the completion of the spin-offs of Park Hotels & Resorts Inc. (NYSE: PK) and Hilton Grand Vacations Inc. (NYSE: HGV), resulting in three independent, publicly traded companies. Park and HGV will begin regular way trading on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) today, January 4, 2017, under the ticker symbols PK and HGV, respectively. Hilton also effected a previously-announced 1-for-3 reverse stock split, and will continue to trade on the NYSE under the ticker symbol HLT. Hilton will continue to be led by Christopher J. Nassetta, president and chief executive officer (CEO). Kevin J. Jacobs will continue to serve as Hiltons executive vice president and chief financial officer (CFO) and Michael W. Duffy will continue to serve as Hiltons senior vice president and chief accounting officer. Its portfolio of 13 distinct brands leads the industry in market share premiums, resulting in leading rates of organic net unit growth with very low capital requirements. Park, headquartered in McLean, Virginia, is led by Thomas J. Baltimore, Jr., chairman, president & CEO. Sean M. DellOrto serves as Parks executive vice president and CFO and Treasurer, and Darren W. Robb serves as Parks senior vice president and chief accounting officer. Park is now one of the largest lodging real estate investment trusts (REIT), with 67 premium-branded hotels and resorts with more than 35,000 rooms located in prime U.S. locations and international markets with high barriers to entry. HGV, headquartered in Orlando, Florida, is led by Mark Wang, president & CEO. James E. Mikolaichik serves as HGVs executive vice president and CFO and Allen Klingsick serves as senior vice president and chief accounting officer. HGV is a timeshare company that markets and sells vacation ownership intervals, and manages resorts in top leisure and urban destinations. HGVs 46 resorts are located in premier markets, including the Hawaiian Islands, New York City, Orlando and Las Vegas. These spin-offs are an important milestone in Hiltons continued evolution as the worlds most hospitable company, said Christopher J. Nassetta, president and CEO, Hilton. The new Hilton is a fee-based, capital efficient, and resilient business with tremendous growth potential around the world. We believe this will result in opportunities for our team members and meaningful returns for our hotel owners and shareholders. Todays transaction positions Park Hotels & Resorts as the second largest lodging REIT and a key player in the market, said Thomas J. Baltimore, Jr., chairman, president & CEO, Park Hotels & Resorts. We believe our size, scale, and high-quality portfolio will enable us to capitalize on meaningful growth opportunities. Hilton Grand Vacations is a premier operator and rapidly growing company in the timeshare industry, said Mark Wang, president & CEO, Hilton Grand Vacations. We are focused on adding value for our members, continued net owner growth, and delivering a strong return on our capital efficient business. The companies were provided financial advice by Deutsche Bank Securities, Goldman Sachs & Co. and BofA Merrill Lynch, legal advice by Simpson Thacher, Hogan Lovells and Womble Carlyle, and tax advice by Ernst & Young and KPMG. Wadsworth, Ohio (PRWEB) January 04, 2017 The Ohio spousal support laws provide a number of factors for calculating spousal support payment amounts. Details of these factors are discussed in the white paper by Attorney Daniel Gigiano, which include: The parties' actual incomes or historical incomes. Ages, and physical, mental and emotional conditions of the parties. The length of the marriage. The standard of living of the parties during the marriage. The tax consequences of spousal support for each of the parties. The white paper also discusses how courts will assume certain income levels for purposes of calculating spousal support. People cannot just quit their jobs and claim that they make less; the courts will often use the higher income the person used to make. IRS definitions of spousal support are also discussed in the white paper. Usually, spousal support is taxable to the recipient and deductible to the person paying the support. However, some spousal support payments look like property divisions or some other creative way of moving money. This is where it is important to go back to the definition of spousal support and IRS regulations. The white paper by Attorney Daniel Gigiano also discusses how spousal support ends. While the divorce decree may simply list a termination date which controls many circumstances, factors listed in Ohio law may cause it to end sooner. One common way spousal support ends is when the recipient gets remarried. About Attorney Daniel Gigiano Daniel F. Gigiano, Esq. graduated from Loyola University Chicago School of Law and has practiced law since 1993. Attorney Gigiano is the owner of Daniel F. Gigiano Co., L.P.A. located in downtown Wadsworth, Medina County, Ohio. Attorney Gigiano practices law in the following areas: OVI/DUI, Bankruptcy. Business Law Civil Litigation, Collections, Criminal Defense, Divorce & Family Law, Estate Planning, Foreclosure Defense, Personal Injury, Probate, and Real Estate. Read the full story at http://www.prweb.com/releases/2017/01/prweb13952976.htm STOCKHOLM, Sweden, Jan 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Husqvarna Group's Construction Division has signed an agreement to acquire Pullman Ermator AB, a market leader in dust and slurry management systems. The acquisition is expected to be finalized mid-January 2017. "The acquisition of the fast growing and highly profitable market leader Pullman Ermator is an excellent strategic fit to Husqvarna Group's Construction Division. It shall be seen in the perspective of our strategic intent to grow the Construction Division's share of the Group", says Kai Warn, President and CEO of Husqvarna Group. "By integrating Pullman Ermator's market leading dust and slurry management solutions into Husqvarna's concrete cutting, drilling and grinding systems, we can provide even more efficient total solutions for our customers. Growth is expected from utilizing Husqvarna's extensive geographical reach and dense distribution network. The acquisition also represents an important step in our strategy aiming to continue to increase our market share in the attractive surface preparation market", says Henric Andersson, President of Husqvarna Construction Division. Pullman Ermator, headquartered in Smedjebacken, Sweden, is a market leader in dust and slurry management solutions including dust extractor systems, dry/wet vacuums, and air scrubbers for the light construction industry. The about 50 employees are mainly located in Sweden and in the fully-owned subsidiary Ermator Inc. headquartered in Tampa, Florida in the U.S. "To utilize the strengths of both brands we will apply a multi-branding strategy", explains Henric Andersson. "Combined we will become an even stronger actor with the capability to innovate even more effective solutions offering our customers greater productivity and thus reinforce our market leading position." In 2016, the unaudited preliminary sales of Pullman Ermator amounted to approximately SEK 300m. The acquisition is expected to have a limited positive effect on the Group's operating income and net results for 2017. Pullman Ermator will be included in Husqvarna Group's accounts as of mid-January 2017. Further details will be included in the Group's year-end report 2016, which is released on February 9, 2017. CONTACT: For more information, please contact Henric Andersson, President Husqvarna Construction Division,Tel: +46 8 738 9133 Husqvarna Group Media contact: +46 8 738 90 80 E-mail: [email protected] "This press release contains insider information that Husqvarna AB is required to disclose under the EU Market Abuse Regulation. The information was submitted for publication, through the contact person set out above, at 08.30 CET on January 4, 2017." This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.comhttp://news.cision.com/husqvarna-ab/r/husqvarna-group-to-acquire-pullman-ermator---strengthening-its-position-in-the-light-construction-ma,c2160001 The following files are available for download: http://mb.cision.com/Main/996/2160001/610422.pdf Husqvarna Group to acquire Pullman Ermator_20170104 To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/husqvarna-group-to-acquire-pullman-ermator---strengthening-its-position-in-the-light-construction-market-300385287.html SOURCE Husqvarna AB VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 01/03/17 -- RYU Apparel Inc. (TSX VENTURE: RYU)(FRANKFURT: RYA), creator of "tailored innovation for the urban athlete", is pleased to announce the launch of its Up Down Program as part of their overall Athlete Members Program. The Up Down Program is designed to encourage athletes to achieve their fitness goals by providing an added incentive to facilitate their journey. If your size changes within one year of purchasing an item, either by adding muscle or losing weight, simply return it and you will be able to get the same or similar item in your new size at 50% the regular price. This program not only motivates athletes to start their goals early but equips them with a fantastic new RYU work-out wardrobe. Always striving to support their communities, RYU will be donating all items that are returned through this program to local organizations to help facilitate others to achieve their own fitness goals. For the month of January, RYU will run a contest at its retail locations to have athletes write down their goals for 2017 and enter in a draw to win a top from the RYU Vapor Program. The contest is now open and will be running until Jan 27th. Winners will be drawn on Jan 28th. "We see local athletes working hard to achieve their fitness goals everyday. As we are immersed in the fitness community, we are thrilled to do our part in supporting these athletes any way we can," said Marcello Leone, CEO, President and Chairman of the Board for RYU. The Up Down Program officially launches on January 3rd 2017 and is available to athletes in RYU's flagship store at 1745 West 4th Avenue and its newest location at 805 Thurlow Street and online at ryu.com. About RYURespect Your Universe is tailored innovation for the urban athlete. Designed without compromise, RYU engineers apparel and accessories for the fitness and training of the multi-discipline athlete. Created for athletes by athletes, RYU exists to facilitate human performance. For more information, visit: http://ryu.com On Behalf of the Board RYU APPAREL INC. Marcello Leone, CEO, President and Chairman of the Board Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Contacts: RYU Apparel Inc. Investor Relations Contact: Anna Brazier +1 844 535 2880 [email protected] www.ryu.com Media Relations Contact: Kelsi Carleton 604-738-2220 [email protected] Source: RYU Apparel Inc. New fund supports Samsungs efforts to build, grow and scale cutting-edge software and services companies worldwide LAS VEGAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Samsung NEXT (formerly Samsung Global Innovation Center) today announced at CES the creation of the Samsung NEXT Fund, a $150 million venture capital investment fund, to increase Samsungs global support of early stage startups pursuing advanced software and services innovation. The Fund enables Samsung NEXT to build upon its multi-stage global innovation platform to empower tech entrepreneurs with funding, resources and deep-domain expertise. We see software and services becoming a core part of Samsung Electronics DNA, and startups are key to achieving this vision, said David Eun, President and Founder of Samsung NEXT. Samsung continues to embrace entrepreneurship at all levels and this Fund shows our unwavering commitment to support great startups worldwide. The Fund targets pre-Seed to Series B investments with a focus on virtual reality, artificial intelligence, IoT and other new frontier technologies. Companies that have received capital from the Fund so far include: Converge Industries, Dashbot, Entry Point VR, Filament, Intezer, LiquidSky, Otto Radio, 2Sens, SafeDK and Virtru. Our investments bring the power of the Samsung platform to startups to accelerate their growth and ultimately their success, said Brendon Kim, VP and Managing Director of Samsung NEXT Ventures. The Samsung NEXT Fund expands our global reach and capabilities, while increasing Samsungs access to more great ideas, products and talent. In September, Samsung NEXT launched its newest office in Tel Aviv (Samsung NEXT Tel Aviv). The new location is the fifth for the organization, which currently has teams in Mountain View, New York, San Francisco and Korea. Samsung NEXT will open additional locations in 2017. Were very passionate about partnering with startups and developing meaningful relationships in startup ecosystems around the world, said Emily Becher, Managing Director of Samsung NEXT Start and head of Samsung NEXTs international expansion. We leverage local experts to fuel traction and drive scale for startups right where they are. To coincide with Samsung NEXTs international expansion and launch of the Fund, the company has initiated its first major rebrand effort which includes the renaming of its organization to Samsung NEXT and the release of a new logo and website. With the rebrand, the companys goal is to simplify its identity and clarify its message and mission. For the first time, at CES 2017 Eureka Park, Samsung NEXT will be showcasing startups from its investment portfolio that are pushing boundaries with new frontier technologies and innovative solutions. Visit Eureka Park booth: #50231 to meet founders and demo these unique products. Baobab Studios VR animation. baobabstudios.com BioBeats AI and digital health. biobeats.com Branch Mobile data linking. branch.io Filament IOT. filament.com LiquidSky Ultra low-latency cloud computing and gaming. liquidsky.tv Lotik Wireless water intelligence. lotik.io Mapzen Open source mapping services. mapzen.com Otto Radio Curates news and podcasts with the push of a button. ottoradio.com UniKey Alternative access control. unikey.com For more information, visit: SamsungNEXT.com and connect on social media: @SamsungNEXT. About Samsung NEXT Samsung NEXT partners with innovators around the world to build ideas into products, grow products into businesses and scale business that leverage and transform Samsungs ecosystem. samsungnext.com. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170104005561/en/ Samsung NEXT Sayo Martin [email protected] or Text100 Emily May, 415-593-8437 [email protected] Source: Samsung NEXT VANCOUVER, BC -- (Marketwired) -- 01/04/17 -- Smart job recruitment tech firm StartMonday Technology Corp. (CSE: JOB) (FRANKFURT: JOB) (XETRA: JOB) (the "Company" or "StartMonday") is pleased to announce the recent update of its trading symbol in Germany. Trading of its common shares on the electronic trading platform XETRA of the Frankfurt Exchange, formerly under the ticker symbol S56, has been changed to JOB. The national securities identifier (WKN) A2DF4H, and International Security Identification Number (ISIN) CA85572E1088 remain the same. BankM - biw AG helped facilitate the updated XETRA listing and continues to act as StartMonday's Designated Sponsor on the electronic trading platform. Designated Sponsors secure higher liquidity and better pricing by quoting binding bid/offer prices with a tight spread and enable trading on the electronic platform XETRA of Deutsche Borse AG. Company co-founder and CEO Ray Gibson comments, "We are pleased to announce this update, as the new trading symbol, JOB, more accurately reflects our area of business and we trust this will have a positive impact by more readily attracting interest in our efforts. We look forward to a great 2017 for StartMonday and its partners." About StartMonday (CSE: JOB) (XETRA: JOB) StartMonday helps employers select better candidates, faster, with the power of 15-second video introductions. StartMonday's video-led mobile and web applications deliver a better impression of personality and customer skills, ultimately helping employers decide which candidates they should talk to first -- making the process much more efficient. StartMonday is focused on becoming recognized as an innovative and trusted brand for job recruitment. The Company is dedicated to building powerful tools for the Mobile Generation. The mission is to make recruiting, and work itself, an amazing experience for everyone. For more information please visit www.startmonday.com. ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD "Ray Gibson" CEO & Director CAUTIONARY DISCLAIMER STATEMENT: The Canadian Securities Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of the content of this news release. This news release contains forward-looking statements relating to the completion of the listing of the Company's shares on the Canadian Securities Exchange and other statements that are not historical facts. Forward-looking statements are often identified by terms such as "will", "may", "should", "anticipate", "expects" and similar expressions. All statements other than statements of historical fact, included in this release are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the Company's expectations include the failure to satisfy the conditions of the Canadian Securities Exchange and other risks detailed from time to time in the filings made by the Company with securities regulations. The reader is cautioned that assumptions used in the preparation of any forward-looking information may prove to be incorrect. Events or circumstances may cause actual results to differ materially from those predicted, as a result of numerous known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of the Company. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking information. Such information, although considered reasonable by management at the time of preparation, may prove to be incorrect and actual results may differ materially from those anticipated. Forward-looking statements contained in this news release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. The forward- looking statements contained in this news release are made as of the date of this news release and the Company will update or revise publicly any of the included forward-looking statements as expressly required by applicable law. Contact: Walter Spagnuolo Invictus Investor Relations Office: +1.604.343.8661 Toll Free from North America: +1.800.274.8143 Toll free from Germany: +0800.180.6687 Toll Free From UK: + 0.800.014.8387 Email: [email protected] Website: www.startmonday.com Source: StartMonday Technology Corp. WASHINGTON, Jan. 4, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Following is the daily "Profile America" feature from the U.S. Census Bureau: PRECIOUS BODILY FLUIDS Profile America Wednesday, January 4th. At the beginning of this month 50 years ago, the first fluoridation law in the U.S. went into effect. Connecticut required fluoridation of public water supplies serving 20,000 or more population, to combat tooth decay. The requirement was extended to the whole state later that year. Water fluoridation began in 1945, when the cities of Newburgh, New York, and Grand Rapids, Michigan, began adding sodium fluoride to their public water systems. Today in the U.S., there are 1.2 million miles of water supply lines. Some 102-million of America's 116-million occupied housing units are connected to public water lines. As most urban areas fluoridate their water, some three quarters of the U.S. population have such treated community water on tap. You can find more facts about America from the U.S. Census Bureau online at www.census.gov. Sources: Connecticut and earlier fluoridation/accessed 11/14/2016: http://www.todayinsci.com/1/1_01.htm Connecticut law/accessed 11/14/2016: http://www.ct.gov/dph/lib/dph/drinking_water/pdf/Water_Fluoridation_Fact_Sheet.pdf U.S. water lines/accessed 11/14/2016: http://voices.nationalgeographic.com/2014/08/12/13-things-you-probably-dont-know-about-the-u-s-water-system-but-should/ U.S. households and public water supply/American Housing Survey: http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/AHS/2013/C04AO Population with fluoridated water/accessed 11/14/2016: http://www.cdc.gov/fluoridation/statistics/2014stats.htm Profile America is produced by the Center for New Media and Promotion of the U.S. Census Bureau. Statistics and accounts drawn from cited non-Census sources are employed for illustrative or narrative purposes, and are not attested to by the U.S. Census Bureau. These daily features are available as produced segments, ready to air, on the Internet at http://www.census.gov (look for "Audio" in the "Library" pull-down menu). To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/us-census-bureau-daily-feature-for-january-4-precious-bodily-fluids-300383044.html SOURCE U.S. Census Bureau By Press Trust of India: New Delhi, Jan 4 (PTI) Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) today filed a police complaint against Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara and Maharashtra MLA Abu Azmi for their "misogynistic" statements on Bengaluru mass molestation incident and demanded an FIR be lodged against them. "Their statements are extremely misogynistic and an attack on the modesty of women. Through their statements, these politicians have encouraged the act of molestation and sexual violence for they have put the direct onus of these criminal acts on women and girls," DCW chief Swati Maliwal said in a letter to Delhi Police commissioner Alok Verma. advertisement "Through their statements, they have emboldened rapists and molesters across the country. Their statements do not only constitute a congnizable offence but also have a direct and adverse impact on the women," she added. The Commission has also sought an action taken report from Delhi police on the same issue. Karnataka Home Minister had kicked up a storm on Monday blaming the "western ways" of the youngsters for molestation incidents such as the one which took place on the New Years eve in Bengaluru. "On days like New Years Eve, a large number of youngsters gather on Brigade Road, Commercial Street and MG Road. These youngsters, who are almost like Westerners, try to copy the westerners not only in the mindset, but even the dressing," he had said. Samajwadi Partys Maharashtra unit chief Abu Azmi had also reacted to the molestation incident yesterday, saying "ants will swarm the place where sugar is", drawing condemnation from women activists for his "misogynistic" comments and calls for his arrest. "Boys and girls should not be allowed to roam about together freely. Western culture has made its way into India. This should stop. The more the nudity, the more a girl is considered fashionable," he had said. The alleged incidents of molestation in Bengaluru occurred on Saturday night in and around the junction of Brigade Road and M G Road, where thousands had gathered to herald the New Year. Eyewitness accounts suggest that women were molested and groped and lewd remarks were also passed by miscreants late night on December 31 in the posh area even as it was claimed that 1,500 police personnel had been deployed to control the crowds. The National Commission for Women has already issued summons to Parameshwara and Azmi over their objectionable remarks. PTI GJS KIS --- ENDS --- LONDON, January 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- - David Inglesfield brings more than 30 years experience with him to the role - London remains as one of the world's most dynamic cities and serves as an important jurisdiction for ZEDRA's future growth plan under David's precise management ZEDRA, the independent specialist of corporate, trust and fund services, has announced the appointment of David Inglesfield to the newly created post of managing director for its London office. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161003/414270LOGO ) David is a highly experienced business leader, having successfully developed businesses within the high net worth wealth management sector across Africa, Asia, Russia and the Middle East. Previously, David held the post of regional director for the Asiaciti Trust group, where he was responsible for leading the development of the Singapore based Asiaciti Trust's business in Europe, where he positively built a strong portfolio of clients, prior to his current appointment. David has also held regional directorships at both Standard Chartered Private Bank and Barclays Wealth, which he joined as an international graduate in 1986. He served in a range of client relationship and business leadership roles across four continents. With approximately 380 staff worldwide based in 11 jurisdictions, ZEDRA is one of the fastest growing trust and corporate services providers. Independently owned, the Group aims to offer clients fresh thinking in a market which increasingly demands genuinely tailor made client solutions to global wealth structuring and administration challenges. "London has long been the destination of choice for the new wealth being created in the emerging market economies" explains David. "One of my key challenges will be to harness my experience of delivering growth across these markets. ZEDRA's offer of an open architecture platform which allows clients to select specific expert advisers, allied to its global network, means it is perfectly positioned to serve these fast growing markets." Niels Nielsen, Chief Executive Officer adds, "David comes to us with a proven track record across key growth markets. He has extensive operational, risk and regulatory management experience and joins us at an important time in our growth plans, as we expand our business in carefully selected jurisdictions around the world." David is a STEP qualified trust and estates advisor, holds the Chartered Institute of Tax's Advanced Diploma in International Tax and the Chartered Insurance Institute's Diploma in Regulated Financial Planning. For further information, please visit http://www.zedra.com Photography Please visit: https://www.dropbox.com/s/tvwpca1n2dc38w1/David%20Inglesfield%20managing%20director%20Zedra%20London.jpg?dl=0 About ZEDRA ZEDRA is an independent, global specialist in trust, corporate and fund services. The company was acquired from Barclays in January 2016 by an independent investor group, with an ambitious plan to grow the company, expanding and strengthening the services it offers to clients around the world. It currently has global offices in 11 jurisdictions, including Jersey, Guernsey, the Isle of Man, Luxembourg, the Cayman Islands, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Netherlands, Singapore, the UK and Switzerland. Based in offices across ten key jurisdictions, its 380-strong team of industry experts is dedicated to creating and delivering bespoke solutions for clients. The business is focused on the strong commitment of an experienced team, fostering an entrepreneurial approach to delivering exceptional client services. ZEDRA has a diverse client base including high-net-worth individuals and their families, international corporations, institutional investors and entrepreneurs. Under the ownership of a private independent investor group, ZEDRA have the flexibility, boldness and expertise to respond to complex needs whilst maintaining the highest standards of corporate governance in an ever-evolving regulatory environment. http://www.zedra.com SOURCE ZEDRA By Madeline Chambers BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany must grant federal police more powers to counter threats like terrorism and cyber attacks, Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said on Tuesday, two weeks after a failed asylum seeker rammed a truck into a Christmas market and killed 12 people. In his most detailed response yet to the Dec. 19 attack, de Maiziere said Germany lacks laws that other countries have, and police and intelligence bodies are too fragmented. "Our state must be better prepared for difficult times than it has been," de Maiziere said at the start of an election year in which immigration and security will be at the top of the political agenda. "The federal government needs to be able to steer all security authorities where central government and the states work together on national security," he wrote in a full-page newspaper article in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. Each of the 16 federal states has its own police force and intelligence agency, and the country's worst attack in more than 35 years has reignited debate about how best to prevent information from falling between the cracks. After the Christmas market attack, it emerged that Tunisian suspect Anis Amri had spent nearly a year and a half in Germany, using various names and moving between different parts of the country despite being identified as a security threat. For several days he evaded an intensive search, crossing three international borders before being shot dead in Italy. De Maiziere said the federal police agency should lead national manhunts, and a discussion about centralising intelligence agencies was needed. Better coordination was also required to monitor several hundred individuals believed to pose a threat, including many who have returned from Syria and Iraq. The minister said Germans should not fear installing more video cameras in public places to help prevent and solve crime. Germans have an aversion to such measures after mass snooping under the communist East German Stasi and the Nazis. He also said failed asylum seekers who are viewed as a danger should be held until they can be deported. Amri, whose attack was claimed by Islamic State, was due to be sent home after his asylum application was rejected but Tunisia refused to take him because of missing papers. Chancellor Angela Merkel, who is seeking a fourth term this year, is under growing pressure for allowing more than a million migrants into Germany over the past two years, which critics say has made the country more vulnerable to an attack. In the latest twist in a sensitive national debate, police in Cologne are coming under fire for alleged racial profiling and the coining of a new acronym, Nafri, meaning North African Repeat Offenders. Political parties are divided over immigration and security. Sigmar Gabriel, leader of the Social Democrats who are part of a grand coalition with Merkel's conservatives, voiced scepticism about de Maiziere's comments. "Mr de Maiziere is making a proposal that means nothing more than a big commission on federalism where the federal government and states sit together and discuss authorities," he said. The anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD), which has gained support at Merkel's expense, said the conservatives lacked credibility on security. "The party has promised too much in the last few years and not enough has been done," said senior AfD member Georg Pazderski. Germany is also concerned that it could be open to a cyber attack in the months leading to the election. The website of the federal police was hacked one day after the Christmas market attack. (Reporting by Madeline Chambers; Editing by Mark Trevelyan) JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa's ruling ANC party rebuked the opposition mayor of Pretoria for visiting Taiwan last month in what it called a violation of its foreign policy that recognizes only the People's Republic of China. The ANC said any officials making trips at odds with South Africa's foreign relationships should be stripped of their passports. China is South Africa's biggest trading partner. Africa's part in the long-running global diplomatic row over Taiwan's disputed independence from China drew new attention last month after the island nation of Sao Tome and Principe reversed its position and recognized only Beijing. Relations between Africa and Beijing are important in part because China is a major investor in many African economies. The mayor of Pretoria, Solly Msimanga, traveled to Taipei last month to woo investors, the country's main opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) party, which governs the South African capital, said late on Monday. The South African government, which was an ally of Taiwan during the era of white minority rule but which has recognized only Beijing since 1997, described the Msimanga's visit as "highly regrettable". "(We were) made aware of the visit and advised Mayor Msimanga not to undertake it as it would constitute a breach of our One China Policy," the foreign ministry said in a statement issued late on Monday. The ANC called on the Foreign Ministry to "confiscate all official and diplomatic passports from officials who are found to be wilfully undermining our foreign policy". The ANC also urged the ministry to issue a strong protest over Msimanga's Taipei invitation to Taiwan's liaison office in South Africa. But the Democratic Alliance rejected pressure not to have contacts with Taiwan. A DA statement said that "neither the ANC nor the national government it runs can dictate who DA mayors meet with in order to obtain job-creating investment". The ANC suffered its worst election results since the 1994 end of apartheid in an August vote that swept DA candidates including Msimanga to power as mayors in three major cities. U.S. President-elect Donald Trump put in question the "one-China" policy followed for decades by Washington and Beijing when he accepted a congratulatory phone call from Taiwan's leader shortly after his Nov. 8 victory. (Reporting by TJ Strydom; editing by Mark Heinrich) Choi Soon-sil, a long-time friend of South Korean President Park Geun-hye who is at the center of the South Korean political scandal involving Park, attends her first court hearing in Seoul, South Korea, December 19, 2016. Korea Pool/via REUTERS By Christine Kim SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korean authorities said on Tuesday they will proceed with steps to extradite Chung Yoo-ra, the daughter of a central figure in a South Korean political scandal that has led to a parliamentary vote to impeach President Park Geun-hye. Chung is being held in Denmark after police there arrested her on Sunday in the northern city of Aalborg. Denmark's public prosecutor told Reuters on Tuesday it was still awaiting a formal request from Seoul to extradite Chung and that it would take up to 30 days to address the issue. The prosecutor said on Monday Chung would remain in custody for four weeks after having been charged with committing economic crime in South Korea, but said on Tuesday that she had appealed against her detention to a higher court. Chung is the 20-year-old daughter of Choi Soon-sil, a long-time friend of Park accused of colluding with the president to pressure businesses to contribute to non-profit organisations. Both have denied wrongdoing. Choi is in detention as she undergoes trial in Seoul. "Chung has said she is willing to return to South Korea in three days if she is set free upon entry, which the government has declined to accept," South Korea's special prosecutor's office said in a statement on Tuesday. It added there was a chance Chung, an equestrian competitor who trained in Germany, may choose to return to South Korea voluntarily. The scandal has drawn hundreds of thousands of protesters onto the streets of Seoul for weekly demonstrations and could result in Park, 64, becoming the first democratically elected South Korean leader to leave office early. Park was impeached by parliament late last year, a decision that must be upheld or rejected by the Constitutional Court. Arguments were set to begin on Tuesday in a court process that could take several months. BUSINESS TRANSACTIONS Chung's state-appointed lawyer in Denmark, Jan Schneider, said he was likely to appeal any decision to extradite her. "I think it is disappointing Danish police and the Danish court has been drawn into a South Korean political conflict, which has nothing to do with Denmark," he said outside the courthouse in Aalborg in video carried by Danish TV. Chung told Korean reporters at the courthouse she had come to Denmark in late September and denied having knowledge about her mother's business transactions, and said the last time she saw Park was when she was in elementary school. Denmark's public prosecutor told Reuters on Tuesday that the extradition process may drag on for more than 30 days, because Chung can appeal a decision to extradite her to the courts. "I have been advising her, as her lawyer, that it would be better for her to be investigated in South Korea," Chung's Korean lawyer Lee Kyung-jae told Yonhap News Agency. "She is most concerned about where her baby will be if she comes back to South Korea and is detained," said Lee, who also represents Chung's mother, Choi. Chung has an infant son who was among those with her when she was detained. Reuters was not immediately able to reach Lee. South Korean authorities have sought Chung for alleged criminal interference related to her academic record and other unspecified charges. As part of their investigation, South Korean prosecutors are trying to ascertain whether Samsung Electronics <005930.KS> sought favors from Choi and Park in return for funding some of their initiatives. An element of the investigation has been Samsung's sponsorship of Chung's riding career. None of Samsung's officials have been accused of wrongdoing. Meanwhile, South Korea's ambassador to Denmark delivered a letter of intent to Chung to cancel her passport, Yonhap reported on Tuesday, citing unnamed diplomatic sources. As a result, Chung's passport will no longer be valid after Jan. 10, Yonhap said. In addition to cancelling her passport, South Korean authorities had requested Interpol place Chung on their red notice list. The request was put on hold, South Korea's police agency said on Tuesday, as Chung has been detained. (Reporting by Christine Kim; additional reporting by Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen; Editing by Michael Perry, Tony Munroe and Alison Williams) TAIPEI (Reuters) - Taiwan on Tuesday strongly objected to the deportation from Vietnam to China of four Taiwanese nationals suspected of telecommunications fraud, saying the move was carried out under pressure from Beijing. The latest deportation followed a series of similar cases this year where Taiwanese nationals in Kenya, Malaysia, Armenia and Cambodia have been arrested for alleged involvement in cross-border telecom scam groups and sent to China. The deportations arose from the "one-China" policy of most countries under which they maintain formal relations only with the People's Republic of China rather than Taiwan, a self-ruled island that Beijing regards as a renegade province. The four suspects, along with one Chinese national, were arrested in the northern Vietnamese city of Haiphong in December. Despite repeated requests from Taiwan envoys in Vietnam to have the four deported to Taiwan, they were "forcibly" sent to China, Taiwan's foreign ministry said. "China said that in this case the victims were mostly in China and demanded Vietnam to repatriate all of the suspects to China (based on a bilateral legal treaty), obstructing our efforts to understand the case and visit the Taiwanese suspects," it said in a statement. Taiwan's China policymaker, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC), urged Beijing on Tuesday to open dialogue as soon as possible, saying its actions were unhelpful in tracing the source of the cross-border fraud groups and affected mutual trust in joint Chinese-Taiwanese crime-fighting efforts. China has suspended dialogue with Taipei since June, a month after pro-independence Tsai Ing-wen took office as Taiwan's president, because Tsai has refused to accept Beijing's "one China" principle that deems Taiwan a part of China. "China and Vietnam maintain close cooperation in combating cross-border telecoms and internet fraud crime," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told a regular press briefing on Wednesday. Geng did not comment on Taiwan's objection, saying it was not a foreign affairs matter. According to MAC officials, there are over 200 Taiwanese suspected of telecom fraud who have been deported from third countries to China this year. Chinese authorities have sought to contain an explosion of telecom crime it says has led to huge financial losses, with callers often impersonating officials or authority figures and preying on the elderly, students or the unemployed. The fraud has spread overseas, with Chinese speakers recruited in neighboring self-ruled Taiwan increasingly setting up operations in East Africa or Southeast Asia. (Reporting by J.R. Wu; Additional reporting by Michael Martina in Beijing; editing by Mark Heinrich) Marine Le Pen, French far-right National Front (FN) party president, member of European Parliament and candidate in the French 2017 presidential elections, speaks during a New Year wishes ceremony to the media in Paris, France, January 4, 2017. REUTERS/Ch By Matthias Williams and Ingrid Melander KIEV/PARIS (Reuters) - Ukraine indicated on Wednesday it would bar French presidential candidate Marine Le Pen from entering the country after comments she made that appeared to legitimize Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014. Le Pen's office dismissed the threat, saying she had no intention of visiting Ukraine. Kiev is nervous about the shifting political landscape in 2017. U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has adopted a friendlier tone toward Russia while another French presidential candidate, Francois Fillon, favours lifting sanctions against Moscow. Relations between Ukraine and Russia soured after Russia's annexation of Crimea and the subsequent outbreak of pro-Russian separatist fighting in eastern Ukraine that has killed around 10,000 people, despite a ceasefire being notionally in place. Alluding to Le Pen, the Ukrainian foreign ministry said in a statement: "Making statements that repeat Kremlin propaganda, the French politician shows disrespect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine and completely ignores the fundamental principles of international law. "...Such statements and actions in violation of the Ukrainian legislation will necessarily have consequences, as it was in the case of certain French politicians, who are denied entry to Ukraine," it said. The far right leader was quoted by French television as saying Russia's annexation of Crimea was not illegal because the Crimean people had chosen to join Russia in a referendum, a position Kiev vehemently disputes. The referendum was also declared illegal by the United Nations General Assembly. Opinion polls have consistently shown Le Pen making it to the second round of the presidential election, to be held in May, but losing that run-off to a mainstream candidate, likely to be conservative Fillon. "Marine Le Pen had no intention of going there (to Ukraine) anyway. This issue will be solved via diplomatic channels when she becomes president of the (French) Republic," a spokesman for Le Pen said in an emailed response to Reuters. Earlier on Wednesday Le Pen said France should leave the euro but the shift to a new national currency could be accompanied by a framework similar to the pre-euro era of the ECU. (Additional reporting by Alexei Kalmykov; editing by Mark Heinrich and Dominic Evans) 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): January 4, 2017 Bonanza Creek Energy, Inc. (Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter) Delaware 001-35371 61-1630631 (State or other jurisdiction of incorporation) (Commission File Number) (I.R.S. Employer Identification No.) 410 17th Street, Suite 1400 Denver, Colorado 80202 (Address of principal executive offices) (Zip Code) Registrants telephone number, including area code: (720) 440-6100 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 1.03 Bankruptcy or Receivership. On January 4, 2017, Bonanza Creek Energy, Inc. (Bonanza or the Company) and certain of its subsidiaries (collectively with Bonanza, the Debtors) filed voluntary petitions (the Bankruptcy Petitions, and the cases commenced thereby, the Chapter 11 Cases) under chapter 11 of title 11 of the United States Code (the Bankruptcy Code) in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware (the Court) to pursue the Debtors Joint Prepackaged Plan of Reorganization Under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code (as proposed, the Prepackaged Plan). The Debtors have filed a motion with the Court seeking to administer all of the Debtors Chapter 11 Cases jointly under the caption In re Bonanza Creek Energy, Inc., et al. (Case No. 17-10015). No trustee has been appointed, and the Debtors will continue to operate their businesses as debtors in possession under the jurisdiction of the Court and in accordance with the applicable provisions of the Bankruptcy Code and orders of the Court. The Debtors expect to continue their operations without interruption during the pendency of the Chapter 11 Cases. To maintain and continue uninterrupted ordinary course operations during the Chapter 11 Cases, the Debtors have filed a variety of first day motions seeking approval from the Court for various forms of customary relief. The subsidiary Debtors in the Chapter 11 Cases are: Bonanza Creek Energy Operating Company, LLC; Bonanza Creek Energy Resources, LLC; Holmes Eastern Company, LLC; Rocky Mountain Infrastructure, LLC; Bonanza Creek Energy Upstream LLC; and Bonanza Creek Energy Midstream, LLC. A summary of the key features of the Prepackaged Plan was included in Item 1.01 to our Current Report on Form 8-K filed on December 23, 2016. That description of the Prepackaged Plan does not purport to be complete and is qualified in its entirety by reference to the Prepackaged Plan, a copy of which is attached to the Disclosure Statement for Debtors Joint Prepackaged Plan of Reorganization Under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code filed as Exhibit 99.2 to the Form 8-K filed on December 23, 2016. Item 2.04 Triggering Events That Accelerate or Increase a Direct Financial Obligation or an Obligation under an Off-Balance Sheet Arrangement. The filing of the Bankruptcy Petitions described in Item 1.03 constitutes an event of default that accelerated the Companys obligations under the following debt instruments (the Debt Instruments): Credit Agreement dated as of March 29, 2011, as amended, restated, supplemented or otherwise modified from time to time, among Bonanza, as borrower, KeyBank National Association, solely in its capacity as administrative agent and issuing lender, and the lender parties thereto (the RBL Credit Agreement and the credit facility memorialized thereby, the RBL Facility); Indenture, dated as of April 9, 2013, by and among Bonanza, as issuer, the guarantors named therein and Delaware Trust Company, as successor trustee (the 2021 Indenture and the senior notes issued thereunder, the 2021 Notes); and Indenture, dated as of July 18, 2014, by and among Bonanza, as issuer, the guarantors named therein and Delaware Trust Company, as successor trustee (the 2023 Indenture and the senior notes issued thereunder, the 2023 Notes). As of January 4, 2017, the Company had approximately (i) $191.7 million in outstanding obligations under the RBL Facility, (ii) $531.9 million in outstanding obligations under the 2021 Notes and (iii) $335.2 million outstanding under the 2023 Notes. The Debt Instruments provide that as a result of the commencement of the Chapter 11 Cases, the principal and accrued interest due thereunder shall be immediately due and payable. Any efforts to enforce such payment obligations under the Debt Instruments are automatically stayed as a result of the filing of the Bankruptcy Petitions, and the creditors rights of enforcement in respect of the Debt Instruments are subject to the applicable provisions of the Bankruptcy Code and orders of the Bankruptcy Court. Item 7.01 Regulation FD Disclosure. On January 4, 2017, Bonanza issued a press release announcing the filing of the Chapter 11 Cases, as described in Item 1.03. A copy of the press release is being furnished as Exhibit 99.1 and is incorporated into this Item 7.01 by reference. The information furnished pursuant to Item 7.01, including Exhibit 99.1, shall not be deemed filed for purposes of Section 18 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the Exchange Act), is not subject to the liabilities of that section and is not deemed incorporated by reference in any filing of Bonanzas under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the Securities Act), unless specifically identified therein as being incorporated therein by reference. Item 8.01 Other Events. The Company cautions that trading in Bonanzas securities during the pendency of the Chapter 11 Cases is highly speculative and poses substantial risks. Trading prices for Bonanzas securities may bear little or no relationship to the actual recovery, if any, by holders of Bonanzas securities in the Chapter 11 Cases. Forward-Looking Statements This Current Report on Form 8-K contains certain statements that are, or may be deemed to be, forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act and Section 21E of the Exchange Act. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, included in this Current Report on Form 8-K that address activities, events or developments that the Company expects, believes or anticipates will or may occur in the future are forward looking statements. We have based these forward-looking statements largely on our current expectations and projections about future events and financial trends affecting the financial condition of our business. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions, including, among other things, the risk factors discussed in this Current Report and in our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K as well as in other reports filed from time to time by the Company with the Securities and Exchange Commission, most of which are beyond our control. The words believe, may, estimate, continue, anticipate, intend, plan, expect, indicate and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. All statements other than statements of current or historical fact contained in this Current Report are forward-looking statements. Although we believe that the forward-looking statements contained in this Current Report are based upon reasonable assumptions, the forward-looking events and circumstances discussed in this Current Report may not occur and actual results could differ materially from those anticipated or implied in the forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements relate, in part, to (i) the Companys ability to obtain approval by the Bankruptcy Court of the Prepackaged Plan or any other plan of reorganization, including the treatment of the claims of the Companys lenders and trade creditors, among others; (ii) the Companys ability to obtain approval with respect to motions in the Chapter 11 cases and the Bankruptcy Courts rulings in the Chapter 11 cases and the outcome of the Chapter 11 cases in general; (iii) the length of time the Debtors will operate under the Chapter 11 cases; (iv) risks associated with third-party motions in the Chapter 11 cases, which may interfere with the Debtors ability to develop and consummate the Prepackaged Plan or other plan of reorganization; (v) the potential adverse effects of the Chapter 11 cases on the Debtors liquidity, results of operations or business prospects; (vi) the ability to execute the Companys business and restructuring plan; (vii) increased legal and advisor costs related to the Chapter 11 cases and other litigation and the inherent risks involved in a bankruptcy process; and (viii) other factors disclosed by the Company from time to time in its filings with the SEC, including those described under the caption Risk Factors in the Companys Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q. We do not intend to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law. Item 9.01 Financial Statements and Exhibits. (d) Exhibits. 99.1 Press Release dated January 4, 2017. 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. Bonanza Creek Energy, Inc. Date: January 4, 2017 By: /s/ Cyrus D. Marter IV Cyrus D. Marter IV Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary EXHIBIT INDEX Exhibit No. Description 99.1 Press Release dated January 4, 2017. Exhibit 99.1 NEWS RELEASE BONANZA CREEK ENERGY Initiates prepackaged Chapter 11 Proceedings PURSUANT TO RESTRUCTURING SUPPORT AGREEMENT EMERGENCE FROM chapter 11 eXPECTED BEFORE THE END OF Q1 2017 PREPACKAGED PLAN will reduce Debt by more than $850 million AND CONTEMPLATES $200 MILLION EQUITY INFUSION Employees, ROYALTY OWNERS, VENDORS AND TRADE CREDITORS to be Paid in THE ORDINARY COURSE OF BUSINESS DENVER, Colorado January 4, 2017 /Globe Newswire/ Bonanza Creek Energy, Inc. (NYSE: BCEI) (Bonanza or the Company) and certain subsidiaries today announced that they had filed voluntary petitions under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code in the Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware to pursue a prepackaged plan of reorganization (Prepackaged Plan), in accordance with the previously announced restructuring support agreement (the RSA) with certain of their noteholders and one of their crude oil purchase and sale counterparties, NGL Crude Logistics, LLC and its parent, NGL Energy Partners LP, to effectuate a comprehensive restructuring. The RSA and Prepackaged Plan provide for a substantial deleveraging transaction pursuant to which Bonanza will transform its balance sheet by equitizing approximately $867 million of its existing unsecured bond obligations and substantially bolster its liquidity position through a $200 million rights offering for new equity, to be backstopped by certain unsecured noteholders. Certain holders (the Supporting Noteholders) of its 6.75% senior notes due 2021 (the 2021 Notes) and 5.75% senior notes due 2023 (the 2023 Notes and together with the 2021 Notes, the Senior Notes) collectively holding 51.1% of its outstanding Senior Notes, and one of its crude oil purchase and sale counterparties, NGL Crude Logistics, LLC and its parent, NGL Energy Partners, LP (collectively, NGL) have agreed to vote in favor of the Prepackaged Plan. The Company began the solicitation of votes on the Prepackaged Plan prior to filing its petition. Subject to Bankruptcy Court approval of the Prepackaged Plan and the satisfaction of certain conditions to the Plan and related transactions, the Company expects to consummate the Prepackaged Plan and emerge from chapter 11 before the end of the first quarter of 2017. There can be no assurances that the Prepackaged Plan will be confirmed pursuant to the Bankruptcy Code. Bonanza will continue to operate its business as a debtor-in-possession under the jurisdiction of the Bankruptcy Court and fully expects to continue existing operations and maintain staffing and equipment as normal throughout the court-supervised financial restructuring process. Bonanza has filed a series of motions with the Bankruptcy Court requesting authority to continue normal operations, including requesting Bankruptcy Court authority to continue paying trade creditors, royalty interest holders, and employee wages and salaries in the ordinary course and providing employee benefits without interruption. The Company will continue to work closely with its suppliers and partners to ensure that it meets ongoing obligations, and business continues uninterrupted. Richard Carty, Bonanza Creeks Chief Executive Officer, commented, We look forward to completing the restructuring quickly with minimal disruption to our business, and anticipate meeting ongoing obligations to our employees, customers, vendors, suppliers and others throughout the Chapter 11 process. The filing of our prepackaged bankruptcy cases with the Bankruptcy Court is a significant milestone in the process to achieve financial stability and reposition Bonanza with a strengthened liquidity position to execute on our extensive asset development opportunities, Mr. Carty added. As noted above, the RSA anticipates that the restructuring would be implemented through the Prepackaged Plan, which remains subject to Bankruptcy Court approval and the satisfaction of conditions laid out in the Prepackaged Plan. The Company recommends that its creditors, including the holders of Senior Notes, refer to the information in the Companys Disclosure Statement, which attaches a copy of the Plan. A copy of the Disclosure Statement can be found at http://cases.primeclerk.com/bcei. Information contained in the Disclosure Statement is subject to change, whether as a result of amendments, actions of third parties or otherwise. For additional inquiries, the information call center can be reached at (855) 252-4427 (toll free) or 1+(917) 258-6104 (international). This press release is for information purposes only and is not intended to be, and should not in any way be construed as, a solicitation of votes of noteholders or other investors regarding the Chapter 11 Plan, and shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy securities nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state in which such solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification of these securities under the laws of any such state. Any securities to be issued pursuant to the Plan will not be or have not been registered under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from the registration requirements. Any solicitation or offer to sell will be made pursuant to and in accordance with the Disclosure Statement distributed to Noteholders and applicable law. 2 More detailed information on the restructuring can be found in the RSA which was included with a Form 8 - K previously filed with the SEC on December 23, 2016. Further information on the Company as well as the restructuring process and plan can be found on the Companys case information website, located at http://cases.primeclerk.com/bcei . The Company has posted FAQs on its website at www.bonanzacrk.com . The Company has been in contact with the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and anticipates the continued listing of its common stock on the NYSE throughout the bankruptcy process so long as the Company continues to meet the minimum continued listing standards set forth by the NYSE. Advisors Davis, Polk & Wardwell LLP is acting as legal counsel, Perella Weinberg Partners LP is acting as financial advisor, and Alvarez & Marsal LLC is acting as restructuring advisor to the Company in connection with its restructuring efforts. Kirkland & Ellis LLP is acting as legal counsel and Evercore Group L.L.C. is acting as financial advisor to the ad hoc committee of holders of the Senior Notes. About Bonanza Creek Energy Bonanza Creek Energy, Inc. is independent oil and Natural Gas Company engaged in the acquisition, exploration, development and production of onshore oil and associated liquids-rich natural gas in the United States. The Companys assets and operations are concentrated primarily in the Rocky Mountain region in the Wattenberg Field, focused on the Niobrara and Codell formations, and in southern Arkansas, focused on oily Cotton Valley sands. The Companys common shares are listed for trading on the NYSE under the symbol: BCEI. For more information about the Company, please visit www.bonanzacrk.com . Please note that the Company routinely posts important information about the Company under the Investor Relations section of its website. Safe Harbor Statement This release includes forward-looking statements and projections, made in reliance on the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements regarding the status of the negotiations and our liquidity. Bonanza has made every reasonable effort to ensure that the information and assumptions on which these statements and projections are based are current, reasonable, and complete. However, a variety of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from the projections, anticipated results or other expectations expressed in this release, including: (i) changes in demand for our services and any related material impact on our pricing and utilizations rates, (ii) Bonanza's ability to execute, manage and integrate acquisitions successfully, (iii) changes in our expenses, including labor or fuel costs and financing costs, (iv) continued volatility of oil or natural gas prices, and any related changes in expenditures by our customers, (v) competition within our industry, (vi) Bonanzas ability to comply with its financial and other covenants and metrics in its debt agreements, as well as any cross-default provisions, (vii) Bonanzas ability to obtain approval by the Bankruptcy 3 Court of the Prepackaged Plan or any other plan of reorganization, including the treatment of the claims of Bonanzas lenders and trade creditors, among others; (viii) Bonanzas ability to obtain approval with respect to motions in the Chapter 11 cases and the Bankruptcy Courts rulings in the Chapter 11 cases and the outcome of the Chapter 11 cases in general; (ix) the length of time the Debtors will operate under the Chapter 11 cases; (x) risks associated with third-party motions in the Chapter 11 cases, which may interfere with the Debtors ability to develop and consummate the Prepackaged Plan or other plan of reorganization; (xi) the potential adverse effects of the Chapter 11 cases on the Debtors liquidity, results of operations or business prospects; (xii) the ability to execute Bonanzas business and restructuring plan; and (xiii) increased legal and advisor costs related to the Chapter 11 cases and other litigation and the inherent risks involved in a bankruptcy process. Additional important risk factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations are disclosed in Item 1A of Bonanzas Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2015 and subsequent Form 10-Qs filed with the SEC. While Bonanza makes these statements and projections in good faith, neither Bonanza nor its management can guarantee that anticipated future results will be achieved. Bonanza assumes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements made herein or any other forward-looking statements made by Bonanza, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. Contacts: Prime Clerk Information Call Center (855) 252-4427 James R. Edwards Director, Investor Relations (720) 440-6136 UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Washington, D.C. 20549 SCHEDULE 14A (Rule 14a-101) INFORMATION REQUIRED IN PROXY STATEMENT SCHEDULE 14A INFORMATION Proxy Statement Pursuant to Section 14(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (Amendment No. 1) Filed by the Registrant Filed by a Party other than the Registrant Check the appropriate box: Preliminary Proxy Statement Confidential, for Use of the Commission Only (as permitted by Rule 14a-6(e)(2)) Definitive Proxy Statement Definitive Additional Materials Soliciting Material under 240.14a-12 PRUDENTIAL GLOBAL SHORT DURATION HIGH YIELD FUND, INC. (Name of Registrant as Specified In Its Charter) (Name of Person(s) Filing Proxy Statement, if other than the Registrant) Payment of Filing Fee (Check the appropriate box): No fee required. Fee computed on table below per Exchange Act Rules 14a-6(i)(1) and 0-11. (1) Title of each class of securities to which transaction applies: (2) Aggregate number of securities to which transaction applies: (3) Per unit price or other underlying value of transaction computed pursuant to Exchange Act Rule 0-11 (set forth the amount on which the filing fee is calculated and state how it was determined): (4) Proposed maximum aggregate value of transaction: (5) Total fee paid: Fee paid previously with preliminary materials. Check box if any part of the fee is offset as provided by Exchange Act Rule 0-11(a)(2) and identify the filing for which the offsetting fee was paid previously. Identify the previous filing by registration statement number, or the Form or Schedule and the date of its filing. (1) Amount Previously Paid: (2) Form, Schedule or Registration Statement No.: (3) Filing Party: (4) Date Filed: PRUDENTIAL GLOBAL SHORT DURATION HIGH YIELD FUND, INC. (NYSE: GHY) 655 BROAD STREET NEWARK, NEW JERSEY 07102 NOTICE OF ANNUAL MEETING OF STOCKHOLDERS TO BE HELD ON March 10, 2017 January 13, 2017 To the Stockholders: NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN THAT the 2017 Annual Meeting of Stockholders (the Meeting) of Prudential Global Short Duration High Yield Fund, Inc., a Maryland corporation (the Fund), will be held at 655 Broad Street, 17th Floor, Newark, New Jersey 07102, on March 10, 2017 at 11:00 a.m., Eastern Time, for the following purposes, all of which are more fully described in the accompanying Proxy Statement dated January 13, 2017: 1. To consider and vote upon the election of four (4) Class II Directors to the Funds Board of Directors, each to serve for a term ending at the 2020 annual meeting of the Funds stockholders and until his or her successor is duly elected and qualifies; and 2. To transact such other business as may properly come before the Meeting or any postponements or adjournments thereof. The Board of Directors has fixed the close of business on December 16, 2016 as the record date for the determination of stockholders entitled to notice of, and to vote at, the Meeting and any postponements or adjournments thereof. The enclosed proxy is being solicited on behalf of the Board of Directors of the Fund. Deborah A. Docs Secretary YOUR VOTE IS IMPORTANT. PLEASE RETURN YOUR PROXY CARD PROMPTLY OR AUTHORIZE A PROXY BY TELEPHONE OR OVER THE INTERNET. STOCKHOLDERS ARE INVITED TO ATTEND THE MEETING IN PERSON. EVEN IF YOU EXPECT TO ATTEND THE MEETING, EACH STOCKHOLDER IS URGED TO COMPLETE THE ENCLOSED PROXY CARD, DATE AND SIGN IT, AND RETURN IT IN THE ENVELOPE PROVIDED, WHICH NEEDS NO POSTAGE IF MAILED IN THE UNITED STATES. YOU MAY ALSO AUTHORIZE A PROXY BY TELEPHONE OR OVER THE INTERNET AS DESCRIBED IN THE MATERIALS PROVIDED TO YOU. IN ORDER TO AVOID UNNECESSARY EXPENSE, WE ASK FOR YOUR COOPERATION IN MAILING YOUR PROXY CARD PROMPTLY, NO MATTER HOW LARGE OR SMALL YOUR HOLDINGS MAY BE. INSTRUCTIONS FOR EXECUTING YOUR PROXY CARD The following general rules for executing proxy cards may be of assistance to you and may help avoid the time and expense involved in validating your vote if you fail to execute your proxy card properly. 1. INDIVIDUAL ACCOUNTS: Your name should be signed exactly as it appears on the account registration shown on the proxy card. 2. JOINT ACCOUNTS: Both owners must sign and the signatures should conform exactly to the names shown on the account registration. 3. ALL OTHER ACCOUNTS should show the capacity of the individual signing. This can be shown either in the form of account registration or by the individual executing the proxy card. For example: VALID SIGNATURE A. 1. XYZ Corporation John Smith, President 2. XYZ Corporation c/o John Smith, President John Smith, President B. 1. ABC Company Profit Sharing Plan Jane Doe, Trustee 2. Jones Family Trust Charles Jones, Trustee 3. Sarah Clark, Trustee u/t/d 7/1/85 Sarah Clark, Trustee C. 1. Thomas Wilson, Custodian f/b/o Jessica Wilson UTMA New Jersey Thomas Wilson, Custodian IMPORTANT NOTICE REGARDING THE AVAILABILITY OF PROXY MATERIALS FOR THE STOCKHOLDER MEETING TO BE HELD ON MARCH 10, 2017. The Proxy Statement is available at www.prudentialfunds.com/cefproxy. PRUDENTIAL GLOBAL SHORT DURATION HIGH YIELD FUND, INC. (NYSE: GHY) 655 BROAD STREET NEWARK, NEW JERSEY 07102 PROXY STATEMENT January 13, 2017 Annual Meeting of Stockholders to Be Held on March 10, 2017 This Proxy Statement is furnished in connection with the solicitation by the Board of Directors (the Board) of Prudential Global Short Duration High Yield Fund, Inc., a Maryland corporation (the Fund), of proxies to be voted at the 2017 Annual Meeting of Stockholders of the Fund to be held at 655 Broad Street, 17th Floor, Newark, New Jersey 07102, on March 10, 2017 at 11:00 a.m., Eastern Time, and at any postponements or adjournments thereof (the Meeting). The purposes of the Meeting and the matters to be acted upon are set forth in the accompanying Notice of Annual Meeting of Stockholders (the Notice). The Board knows of no business other than the election of the four (4) Class II Directors, and procedural matters relating to the Meeting or the election of Directors, that may properly be presented for consideration at the Meeting. If any other matter is properly presented at the Meeting, it is the intention of the persons named in the accompanying proxy to vote in their discretion on such matter. This Proxy Statement and the accompanying materials are first being made available to stockholders on or about January 13, 2017. The Fund is organized as a Maryland corporation and is a registered investment company. Prudential Investments LLC (PI or the Manager) serves as the Funds investment manager. PI and its predecessors have served as a manager or administrator to registered investment companies since 1987. PIs principal address is 655 Broad Street, Newark, New Jersey 07102. PGIM, Inc. (PGIM or the Subadviser) serves as the Funds subadviser, through its PGIM Fixed Income unit. PGIM is a registered investment adviser and, through its PGIM Fixed Income unit, is responsible for the day-to-day portfolio management of the Fund. PGIMs principal address is 655 Broad Street, Newark, New Jersey 07102. Both PI and PGIM are indirect, wholly owned subsidiaries of Prudential Financial, Inc. (Prudential). As of October 31, 2016, PI served as the manager to open-end investment companies, and as manager or administrator, as applicable, to closed-end investment companies with total aggregate assets of approximately $251.7 billion. The Board, in addition to overseeing the actions of the Manager and Subadviser, decides upon matters of general policy relating to the Fund. The Fund does not have a principal underwriter. Even if you plan to attend the Meeting, please sign, date and return a proxy card, or provide voting instructions by telephone or over the Internet. If you authorize a proxy by telephone or over the Internet, you will be asked to enter a unique code that has been assigned to you and which is printed on your proxy card. This code is designed to confirm your identity, provide access into the voting sites and confirm that your instructions are properly recorded. If you require additional information, please call toll free at 1-866-864-3926. All properly authorized proxies received prior to or at the Meeting will be exercised at the Meeting in accordance with the instructions marked thereon or otherwise as provided therein. Unless instructions to the contrary are given, votes entitled to be cast by stockholders represented by the proxies will be cast FOR the election of each nominee listed in Proposal No. 1 and in the discretion of the proxy holders on any other matter that may properly be brought before the Meeting or any postponement or adjournment thereof. Stockholders who authorize proxies may revoke them at any time before they are exercised by filing with the Fund a written notice of revocation at or prior to the start of the Meeting, by duly authorizing a proxy bearing a later date or by attending the Meeting and voting in person. In accordance with the Funds Bylaws, a quorum is constituted by the presence in person or by proxy of the holders of record of outstanding shares of the Funds common stock entitled to cast a majority of the votes entitled to be cast at the Meeting. For purposes of determining the presence of a quorum for transacting business at the Meeting, a stockholder who properly authorizes a proxy but instructs the proxy holder to abstain or withhold authority will be treated as present for determining the presence of a quorum. The Board has fixed the close of business on December 16, 2016 as the record date (the Record Date) for the determination of stockholders of the Fund entitled to notice of and to vote at the Meeting or any postponement or adjournment thereof. Each share of stock entitles the holder of the share as of the Record Date to cast one vote for as many individuals as there are Directors to be elected and for whose election the share is entitled to be voted and a fractional vote with respect to fractional shares, with no cumulative voting rights. At the close of business on the Record Date, the Fund had 40,923,879 shares of Common Stock, par value $0.001 per share, outstanding and entitled to vote at the Meeting. Annual reports are sent to stockholders of record of the Fund following the Funds fiscal year end. The Fund will furnish, without charge, a copy of its annual report and most recent semi-annual report succeeding the annual report, if any, to a stockholder upon request. Such requests should be directed to the Fund at 655 Broad Street, Newark, New Jersey 07102 or call toll free at (800) 451-6788 or visit the Funds website at www.prudentialfunds.com or on the EDGAR Database on the Securities and Exchange Commissions (SEC) Internet site at www.sec.gov. This reference to the website does not incorporate the contents of the website into this Proxy Statement. Please note that only one annual or semi-annual report or Proxy Statement may be delivered to two or more stockholders of the Fund who share an address, unless the Fund has received instructions to the contrary. To request a separate copy of an annual or semi-annual report or the Proxy Statement or for instructions as to how to request a separate copy of these documents or as to how to request a single copy if multiple copies of these documents are received, stockholders should contact the Fund at the address and phone number set forth above. The expenses of solicitation will include reimbursement of brokerage firms and others for expenses in forwarding proxy solicitation material to beneficial owners. The solicitation of proxies will be largely by mail. Vote Required and Manner of Voting Proxies A quorum of stockholders is required to take action at the Meeting. The presence of stockholders of record as of the Record Date entitled to cast a majority of the votes entitled to be cast at the Meeting, in person or by proxy, will constitute a quorum of stockholders at the Meeting. Votes cast by proxy or in person at the Meeting will be tabulated by the inspector of elections appointed for the Meeting. The inspector of elections will determine whether or not a quorum is present at the Meeting. A stockholder who properly executes a proxy but instructs the proxy holder to abstain or withhold authority, or who is present at the Meeting in person but who abstains from voting on any matter, and broker non-votes (i.e., shares held by brokers or nominees, typically in street name, as to which proxies have been returned but (a) instructions have not been received from the beneficial owners or persons entitled to vote and (b) the broker or nominee does not have discretionary voting power on a particular matter), if any, will be counted as present for purposes of determining a quorum. If you hold shares directly (not through a broker-dealer, bank or other financial intermediary) and if you return a signed proxy card that does not specify how you wish to vote on a proposal, your shares will be voted FOR the election of each nominee listed in Proposal No. 1. Broker-dealer firms or other nominees holding shares of the Fund in street name for the benefit of their customers and clients will request the instructions of such customers and clients on how to vote their shares on 2 each Proposal before the Meeting. A signed voting instruction card or other authorization by a beneficial owner of Fund shares that does not specify how the beneficial owners shares should be voted will be deemed an instruction to vote such shares in favor of the election of each nominee listed in Proposal No. 1. If you hold shares of the Fund through a service agent that has entered into a service agreement with the Fund, the service agent may be the record holder of your shares. At the Meeting, a service agent will vote shares for which it receives instructions from its customers in accordance with those instructions. A signed proxy card or other authorization by a stockholder that does not specify how the stockholders shares should be voted on a proposal may be deemed to authorize a service agent to vote such shares in favor of the election of each nominee listed in Proposal No. 1. Depending on its policies, applicable law or contractual or other restrictions, a service agent may be permitted to vote shares with respect to which it has not received specific voting instructions from its customers. In those cases, the service agent may, but may not be required to, vote such shares in the same proportion as those shares for which the service agent has received voting instructions. This practice is commonly referred to as echo voting. If you beneficially own shares that are held in street name through a broker-dealer or other nominees or that are held of record by a service agent and if you do not give specific voting instructions for your shares, they may not be voted at all or, as described above, they may be voted in a manner that you may not intend. Therefore, you are strongly encouraged to give your broker-dealer, other nominee or service agent specific instructions as to how you want your votes to be cast. Required Vote Directors are elected by the affirmative vote of the holders of a majority of the shares of the Funds common stock outstanding and entitled to vote thereon. For purposes of the election of Directors, abstentions and broker non-votes, if any, will not be considered votes cast, and will have the same effect as a vote against the election of a Director. In the event that a quorum is not present, or if proxies for sufficient votes to elect one or more of the nominees for election as Directors listed in Proposal No. 1 are not received by the time scheduled for the Meeting, the chair of the Meeting may adjourn the Meeting to another date and time without a vote of the stockholders present at the Meeting or the persons named as proxies may move for one or more adjournments of the Meeting to permit further solicitation of proxies with respect to such proposal. In determining whether to adjourn the Meeting, the following factors may be considered: the nature of the proposal that is the subject of the Meeting, the percentage of the stockholders present at the Meeting in person or by proxy, the nature of any further solicitation and the information to be provided to stockholders with respect to the reasons for the solicitation. Approval of any motion to adjourn the Meeting brought before the Funds stockholders will require the affirmative vote of a majority of the votes cast on such matter at the Meeting. If an adjournment is properly brought before the Meeting, the persons named as proxies will vote the shares that they are entitled to vote in their discretion. IMPORTANT NOTICE REGARDING THE AVAILABILITY OF PROXY MATERIALS FOR THE MEETING TO BE HELD ON MARCH 10, 2017 The proxy statement and related materials are available at www.prudentialfunds.com/cefproxy. 3 PROPOSAL NO. 1: TO ELECT FOUR (4) CLASS II DIRECTORS OF THE FUND In accordance with the Funds charter, upon completion of the Funds initial public offering, the Funds Board of Directors (the Board of Directors or the Board and the members thereof, the Directors) was divided into three classes: Class I, Class II and Class III. The Class I Directors were elected for a term expiring at the 2019 annual meeting of stockholders and until their successors are duly elected and qualify. The Class II Directors were elected for a term expiring at the Meeting and until their successors are duly elected and qualify. The Class III Directors were elected for a term expiring at the 2018 annual meeting of stockholders and until their successors are duly elected and qualify. Each Class II Director currently serving on the Board has been nominated by the Board of Directors for election at the Meeting to serve for a term expiring at the 2020 annual meeting of the Funds stockholders and until their successors are duly elected and qualify, or until they earlier resign or are otherwise removed. Any Director elected to fill a vacancy on the Board will serve for the remainder of the full term of the directorship in which the vacancy occurred and until a successor is elected and qualifies. The classes of the Funds current Directors and the Class II nominees are indicated below: Class I Directors Ellen S. Alberding Stuart S. Parker Richard A. Redeker Class II Director Nominees Kevin J. Bannon Keith F. Hartstein Stephen G. Stoneburn Grace C. Torres Class III Directors Scott E. Benjamin Linda W. Bynoe Michael S. Hyland The persons named as proxy holders intend to vote at the Meeting (unless directed not to so vote) FOR the election of each of the Class II Director nominees listed above (Kevin J. Bannon, Keith F. Hartstein, Stephen G. Stoneburn, and Grace C. Torres). Each of the Class II Director nominees is currently a Class II Director and has indicated that he or she will serve if elected. However, if any Class II Director nominee should be unable to serve, proxies instructing the proxy holders to vote FOR such Class II Director nominee will be voted for any other person determined by the persons named as proxy holders in their discretion. The Board of Directors is responsible for the overall supervision of the business and affairs of the Fund and performs the various duties imposed on the directors of investment companies by the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the 1940 Act), and applicable Maryland law. Information about the Board of Directors and the Funds officers is set forth below. Directors who are not deemed to be interested persons of the Fund, 4 as defined in the 1940 Act, are referred to as Independent Directors. Directors who are deemed to be interested persons of the Fund, as defined in the 1940 Act, are referred to as Interested Directors. Biographical Information for the Board of Directors. Certain biographical and other information relating to the Directors of the Fund is set out below. Independent Directors (1) Name, Address, Age Position(s) Portfolios Overseen Principal Occupation(s) During Past Five Years Other Directorships Held During Past Five Years Ellen S. Alberding (58) Director Portfolios Overseen: 88 President and Board Member, The Joyce Foundation (charitable foundation) (since 2002); Vice Chair, City Colleges of Chicago (community college system) (since 2011); Trustee, Skills for Americas Future (national initiative to connect employers to community colleges) (since 2011); Trustee, National Park Foundation (charitable foundation for national park system) (since 2009); Trustee, Economic Club of Chicago (since 2009). None. Kevin J. Bannon (64) Director Portfolios Overseen:88 Formerly Managing Director (April 2008-May 2015) and Chief Investment Officer (October 2008-November 2013) of Highmount Capital LLC (registered investment adviser); formerly Executive Vice President and Chief Investment Officer (April 1993-August 2007) of Bank of New York Company; President (May 2003-May 2007) of BNY Hamilton Family of Mutual Funds. Director of Urstadt Biddle Properties (equity real estate investment trust) (since September 2008). Linda W. Bynoe (64) Director Portfolios Overseen: 88 President and Chief Executive Officer (since March 1995) and formerly Chief Operating Officer (December 1989-February 1995) of Telemat Ltd. (management consulting); formerly Vice President (January 1985-June 1989) at Morgan Stanley & Co. (broker-dealer). Director of Simon Property Group, Inc. (retail real estate) (May 2003-May 2012); Director of Anixter International, Inc. (communication products distributor) (since January 2006); Director of Northern Trust Corporation (financial services) (since April 2006); Trustee of Equity Residential (residential real estate) (since December 2009). 5 Name, Address, Age Position(s) Portfolios Overseen Principal Occupation(s) During Past Five Years Other Directorships Held During Past Five Years Keith F. Hartstein (60) Director & Independent Chair Portfolios Overseen:88 Retired; Member (since November 2014) of the Governing Council of the Independent Directors Council (organization of independent mutual fund directors); formerly President and Chief Executive Officer (2005-2012), Senior Vice President (2004-2005), Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing (1997-2004), and various executive management positions (1990-1997), John Hancock Funds, LLC (asset management); Chairman, Investment Company Institutes Sales Force Marketing Committee (2003-2008). None. Michael S. Hyland, CFA (71) Director Portfolios Overseen: 88 Retired (since February 2005); formerly Senior Managing Director (July 2001-February 2005) of Bear Stearns & Co, Inc.; Global Partner, INVESCO (1999-2001); Managing Director and President of Salomon Brothers Asset Management (1989-1999). None. Richard A. Redeker (73) Director & Independent Vice Chair Portfolios Overseen: 88 Retired Mutual Fund Senior Executive (47 years); Management Consultant; Director, Mutual Fund Directors Forum (since 2014); Independent Directors Council (organization of independent mutual fund directors)-Executive Committee, Chair of Policy Steering Committee, Governing Council. None. Stephen G. Stoneburn (73) Director Portfolios Overseen: 88 Chairman (since July 2011), President and Chief Executive Officer (since June 1996) of Frontline Medical Communications (publishing company); formerly President (June 1995-June 1996) of Argus Integrated Media, Inc.; Senior Vice President and Managing Director (January 1993-1995) of Cowles Business Media; Senior Vice President of Fairchild Publications, Inc. (1975-1989). None. Interested Directors (1), (2) Stuart S. Parker (54) Director & President Portfolios Overseen: 88 President of Prudential Investments LLC (since January 2012); Executive Vice President of Prudential Investment Management Services LLC (since December 2012); Executive Vice President of Jennison Associates LLC and Head of Retail Distribution of Prudential Investments LLC (June 2005-December 2011). None. 6 Name, Address, Age Position(s) Portfolios Overseen Principal Occupation(s) During Past Five Years Other Directorships Held During Past Five Years Scott E. Benjamin (43) Director & Vice President Portfolios Overseen: 88 Executive Vice President (since June 2009) of Prudential Investments LLC; Executive Vice President (June 2009-June 2012) and Vice President (since June 2012) of Prudential Investment Management Services LLC; Executive Vice President (since September 2009) of AST Investment Services, Inc.; Senior Vice President of Product Development and Marketing, Prudential Investments (since February 2006); Vice President of Product Development and Product Management, Prudential Investments (2003-2006). None. Grace C. Torres* (57) Director Portfolios Overseen: 86 Retired; formerly Treasurer and Principal Financial and Accounting Officer of the Prudential Investments Funds, Target Funds, Advanced Series Trust, Prudential Variable Contract Accounts and The Prudential Series Fund (1998-June 2014); Assistant Treasurer (March 1999-June 2014) and Senior Vice President (September 1999-June 2014) of Prudential Investments LLC; Assistant Treasurer (May 2003-June 2014) and Vice President (June 2005-June 2014) of AST Investment Services, Inc.; Senior Vice President and Assistant Treasurer (May 2003-June 2014) of Prudential Annuities Advisory Services, Inc. Director (since July 2015) of Sun Bancorp, Inc. N.A. (1) Ms. Alberding and Mr. Hartstein joined the Board in September 2013. Mr. Parker and Ms. Torres joined the Board in January 2015. Each of the other Directors joined the Board in November 2011. (2) A Director is deemed to be Interested, as defined in the 1940 Act, by reason of his/her affiliation with PI and/or an affiliate of PI. * Note: Prior to her retirement in 2014, Ms. Torres was employed by Prudential Investments LLC. Due to her prior employment, she is considered to be an interested person under the 1940 Act. Ms. Torres is a Non-Management Interested Director. 7 Biographical Information for Officers of the Fund. Biographical and other information relating to the officers of the Fund is set out below. Fund Officers (1)(2) Name, Address and Age Position with Fund Principal Occupation(s) During Past Five Years Raymond A. OHara (61) Chief Legal Officer Vice President and Corporate Counsel (since July 2010) of Prudential Insurance Company of America (Prudential); Vice President (March 2011-Present) of Pruco Life Insurance Company and Pruco Life Insurance Company of New Jersey; Vice President and Corporate Counsel (March 2011-Present) of Prudential Annuities Life Assurance Corporation; Chief Legal Officer of Prudential Investments LLC (since June 2012); Chief Legal Officer of Prudential Mutual Fund Services LLC (since June 2012) and Corporate Counsel of AST Investment Services, Inc. (since June 2012); formerly Assistant Vice President and Corporate Counsel (September 2008-July 2010) of The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc.; formerly Associate (September 1980-December 1987) and Partner (January 1988-August 2008) of Blazzard & Hasenauer, P.C. (formerly, Blazzard, Grodd & Hasenauer, P.C.). Deborah A. Docs (58) Secretary Vice President and Corporate Counsel (since January 2001) of Prudential; Vice President (since December 1996) and Assistant Secretary (since March 1999) of Prudential Investments LLC; formerly Vice President and Assistant Secretary (May 2003-June 2005) of AST Investment Services, Inc. Jonathan D. Shain (58) Assistant Secretary Vice President and Corporate Counsel (since August 1998) of Prudential; Vice President and Assistant Secretary (since May 2001) of Prudential Investments LLC; Vice President and Assistant Secretary (since February 2001) of Prudential Mutual Fund Services LLC; formerly Vice President and Assistant Secretary (May 2003-June 2005) of AST Investment Services, Inc. Claudia DiGiacomo (42) Assistant Secretary Vice President and Corporate Counsel (since January 2005) of Prudential; Vice President and Assistant Secretary of Prudential Investments LLC (since December 2005); Associate at Sidley Austin Brown & Wood LLP (1999-2004). Andrew R. French (54) Assistant Secretary Vice President and Corporate Counsel (since February 2010) of Prudential; formerly Director and Corporate Counsel (2006-2010) of Prudential; Vice President and Assistant Secretary (since January 2007) of Prudential Investments LLC; Vice President and Assistant Secretary (since January 2007) of Prudential Mutual Fund Services LLC. Chad A. Earnst (41) Chief Compliance Officer Chief Compliance Officer (September 2014-Present) of Prudential Investments LLC; Chief Compliance Officer (September 2014-Present) of the Prudential Investments Funds, Target Funds, Advanced Series Trust, The Prudential Series Fund, Prudentials Gibraltar Fund, Inc., Prudential Global Short Duration High Yield Income Fund, Inc., Prudential Short Duration High Yield Fund, Inc. and Prudential Jennison MLP Income Fund, Inc.; formerly Assistant Director (March 2010-August 2014) of the Asset Management Unit, Division of Enforcement, SEC; Assistant Regional Director (January 2010-August 2014), Branch Chief (June 2006-December 2009) and Senior Counsel (April 2003-May 2006) of the Miami Regional Office, Division of Enforcement, SEC. 8 Name, Address and Age Position with Fund Principal Occupation(s) During Past Five Years Theresa C. Thompson (54) Deputy Chief Compliance Officer Vice President, Compliance, Prudential Investments LLC (since April 2004); and Director, Compliance, Prudential Investments LLC (2001-2004). M. Sadiq Peshimam (52) Treasurer and Principal Financial and Accounting Officer Assistant Treasurer of funds in the Fund Complex (2006-2014); Vice President (since 2005) of Prudential Investments LLC. Peter Parrella (58) Assistant Treasurer Vice President (since 2007) and Director (2004-2007) within Prudential Mutual Fund Administration; formerly Tax Manager at SSB Citi Fund Management LLC (1997-2004). Lana Lomuti (49) Assistant Treasurer Vice President (since 2007) and Director (2005-2007), within Prudential Mutual Fund Administration; formerly Assistant Treasurer (December 2007-February 2014) of The Greater China Fund, Inc. Linda McMullin (55) Assistant Treasurer Vice President (since 2011) and Director (2008-2011) within Prudential Mutual Fund Administration. (1) Mr. Earnst became a Fund officer in September 2014. Ms. Lomuti and Ms. McMullin became Fund officers in April 2014. Each of the other individuals became a Fund officer in November 2011. (2) Excludes Stuart S. Parker and Scott E. Benjamin, Interested Directors, who serve as President and Vice President, respectively. Explanatory Notes to Tables: Explanatory Notes to Tables: Unless otherwise noted, the address of all Directors and Officers is c/o Prudential Investments LLC, 655 Broad Street, Newark, New Jersey 07102-4410. There is no set limit on the number of terms of office that Directors or Officers may serve. The Directors have adopted a retirement policy, which calls for the retirement of Directors on December 31 of the year in which they reach the age of 75. Other Directorships Held includes only directorships of companies required to register or file reports with the SEC under the 1934 Act (that is, public companies) or other investment companies registered under the 1940 Act. Portfolios Overseen includes all investment companies managed by Prudential Investments LLC. The investment companies for which Prudential Investments LLC serves as manager include the Prudential Investments Mutual Funds, The Prudential Variable Contract Accounts, Target Mutual Funds, Prudential Short Duration High Yield Fund, Inc., Prudential Global Short Duration High Yield Fund, Inc., The Prudential Series Fund, Prudentials Gibraltar Fund, Inc. and the Advanced Series Trust. Compensation of Directors and Officers. Pursuant to a Management Agreement with the Fund, the Manager pays all compensation and expenses of officers and employees of the Fund as well as the fees and expenses of all management Interested Directors. The Fund pays each of its Independent Directors and non-management Interested Directors annual compensation in addition to certain out-of-pocket expenses. Independent Directors and non-management Interested Directors who serve on committees of the Board may receive additional compensation. The amount of annual compensation paid to each Independent Director and non-management Interested Director may change as a result of the introduction of additional funds on whose board the Directors may be asked to serve. 9 Independent Directors and non-management Interested Directors may defer receipt of their fees pursuant to a deferred fee agreement with the Fund. Under the terms of the agreement, the Fund accrues deferred Independent Directors and non-management Interested Directors fees daily which, in turn, accrue interest at a rate equivalent to the prevailing rate of 90-day U.S. Treasury Bills at the beginning of each calendar quarter or at the daily rate of return of any Prudential Investments mutual fund chosen by the Independent Directors and non-management Interested Directors. Payment of the interest so accrued is also deferred and becomes payable at the option of the Independent Directors/ non-management Interested Directors. The Funds obligation to make payments of deferred Independent Directors/non-management Interested Directors fees, together with interest thereon, is a general obligation of the Fund. The Fund does not have a retirement or pension plan for its Independent Directors and non-management Interested Directors. The following table sets forth the compensation paid by the Fund to the Independent Directors and non-management Interested Directors for service on the Board for the Funds fiscal year ended July 31, 2016, and the board of any other investment company in the Prudential mutual fund complex (the Fund Complex) for the calendar year ended December 31, 2015. Aggregate compensation received by Directors serving for the full calendar year ended December 31, 2016 is not expected to be materially different than the 2015 compensation detailed in the table below. With the exception of Grace C. Torres, who serves as a non-management Interested Director, Interested Directors do not receive compensation from PI-managed funds and therefore are not shown in the following table. Compensation Received by Independent Directors & Non-Management Interested Director Name and Position Aggregate Fiscal Year Compensation from Fund Pension or Retirement Benefits Accrued as Part of Fund Expenses Annual Benefits Upon Retirement Total Compensation from Fund Complex for Most Recent Calendar Year* Ellen S. Alberding $ 5,000 None None $ 220,000 (32/67) * Kevin J. Bannon $ 5,000 None None $ 220,750 (32/67) * Linda W. Bynoe** $ 5,000 None None $ 218,000 (32/67) * Keith F. Hartstein** $ 5,000 None None $ 220,000 (32/67) * Michael S. Hyland $ 5,000 None None $ 229,000 (32/67) * Richard A. Redeker $ 5,000 None None $ 283,000 (32/67) * Stephen G. Stoneburn** $ 5,000 None None $ 218,000 (32/67) * Grace C. Torres $ 5,000 None None $ 199,505 (30/65) * Explanatory Notes to Director Compensation Table * Compensation relates to portfolios that were in existence for any period during 2015. Number of funds and portfolios represent those in existence as of December 31, 2015, and excludes funds that have merged or liquidated during the year. ** Under the deferred fee agreement for the PI-managed funds, certain Board Members have elected to defer all or part of their total compensation. The total amount of deferred compensation accrued during the calendar year ended December 31, 2015, including investment results during the year on cumulative deferred fees, amounted to ($2,728), $3,928, ($11,952), and ($4,983) for Ms. Bynoe, Mr. Hartstein, Mr. Redeker, and Mr. Stoneburn, respectively. Ms. Torres serves as a non-management Interested Director. Non-management Interested Directors receive compensation from the Fund for their service on the Board. Ms. Torres joined the Board as of January 1, 2015. Ms. Alberding and Mr. Hartstein joined the Board as of September 1, 2013. Board Committees. The Board has established three standing committees in connection with governance of the Fundthe Audit Committee, the Nominating and Governance Committee, and the Dryden Investment Committee. Information on the membership of each standing committee and its functions is set forth below. Audit Committee. The Board has determined that each member of the Audit Committee is not an interested person as defined in the 1940 Act. The responsibilities of the Audit Committee are to assist the 10 Board in overseeing the Funds independent registered public accounting firm, accounting policies and procedures and other areas relating to the Funds auditing processes. The Audit Committee is responsible for pre-approving all audit services and any permitted non-audit services to be provided by the independent registered public accounting firm directly to the Fund. The Audit Committee is also responsible for pre-approving permitted services to be provided by the independent registered public accounting firm to (1) the Manager and (2) any entity in a control relationship with the Manager that provides ongoing services to the Fund, provided that the engagement of the independent registered public accounting firm relates directly to the operation and financial reporting of the Fund. The scope of the Audit Committees responsibilities is oversight. It is managements responsibility to maintain appropriate systems for accounting and internal controls and the independent registered public accounting firms responsibility to plan and carry out an audit in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States). The Audit Committee charter is attached as Annex A and is available on the Funds website. During the fiscal year ended July 31, 2016, the Audit Committee met four times. The membership of the Audit Committee as of the date of this Proxy Statement is set forth below: Kevin J. Bannon (Chair) Michael S. Hyland, CFA Stephen G. Stoneburn Richard A. Redeker Keith F. Hartstein (ex-officio) Nominating and Governance Committee: The Nominating and Governance Committee of the Board is responsible for nominating Directors to serve on the Board and making recommendations to the Board concerning Board composition, committee structure and governance, director education and governance practices. The Board has determined that each member of the Nominating and Governance Committee is not an interested person as defined in the 1940 Act. During the fiscal year that ended July 31, 2016, the Nominating and Governance Committee met four times. The Nominating and Governance Committee Charter is attached as Annex B and is also available on the Funds website. The membership of the Nominating and Governance Committee as of the date of this Proxy Statement is set forth below: Linda W. Bynoe (Chair) Ellen S. Alberding Richard A. Redeker Keith F. Hartstein (ex-officio) Dryden Investment Committee: The Dryden Investment Committee reviews the performance of the closed-end funds in the Fund Complex. The Dryden Investment Committee reports the results of its review to the full Board of the Fund at each regularly scheduled Board meeting at which the Dryden Investment Committee meets. During the fiscal year that ended July 31, 2016, the Dryden Investment Committee met three times. The membership of the Dryden Investment Committee as of the date of this Proxy Statement is set forth below: Michael S. Hyland, CFA (Chair) Linda W. Bynoe Stephen G. Stoneburn Grace C. Torres Leadership Structure and Qualifications of Board of Directors. The Board is responsible for oversight of the Fund. The Fund has engaged the Manager to manage the Fund on a day-to-day basis. The Board oversees the Manager and certain other principal service providers in the operations of the Fund. The Board is currently 11 composed of ten members, seven of whom are Independent Directors. The Board meets in-person at regularly scheduled meetings four times throughout the year. In addition, the Directors may meet in-person or by telephone at special meetings or on an informal basis at other times. As described above, the Board has established three standing committees Audit, Nominating and Governance, and Dryden Investment and may establish ad hoc committees or working groups from time to time to assist the Board in fulfilling its oversight responsibilities. The Independent Directors have also engaged independent legal counsel to assist them in fulfilling their responsibilities. The Board is chaired by an Independent Director. As Chair, this Independent Director leads the Board in its activities. Also the Chair acts as a member or as an ex-officio member of each standing committee and any ad hoc committee of the Board. The Directors have determined that the Boards leadership and committee structure is appropriate because the Board believes it sets the proper tone to the relationships between the Fund, on the one hand, and the Manager, the subadviser(s) and certain other principal service providers, on the other hand, and facilitates the exercise of the Boards independent judgment in evaluating and managing the relationships. In addition, the structure efficiently allocates responsibility among committees. During the fiscal year ended July 31, 2016, the Board met fourteen times. Each Director then a Board Member attended all of the meetings of the Board and the committees of which he or she was a member. The Fund does not have a policy regarding the Directors attendance at annual meetings of stockholders, and no Directors attended the Funds annual meeting of stockholders held in March 2016. The Board has concluded that, based on each Directors experience, qualifications, attributes or skills on an individual basis and in combination with those of the other Directors, each Director should serve as a Director. Among other attributes common to all Directors are their ability to review critically, evaluate, question and discuss information provided to them, to interact effectively with the various service providers to the Fund, and to exercise reasonable business judgment in the performance of their duties as Directors. In addition, the Board has taken into account the actual service and commitment of the Directors during their tenure in concluding that each should continue to serve. A Directors ability to perform his or her duties effectively may have been attained through a Directors educational background or professional training; business, consulting, public service or academic positions; experience from service as a Director of the Fund, other funds in the Fund Complex, public companies, or non-profit entities or other organizations; other experiences or a combination of the foregoing. Set forth below is a brief discussion of the specific experience, qualifications, attributes or skills of each Director that led the Board to conclude that he or she should serve as a Director. Messrs. Redeker and Stoneburn have each served as a Board Member of mutual funds in the Fund Complex for more than 14 years, including as members and/or Chairs of various Board committees. Mr. Stoneburn has more than 30 years of experience as senior executive officer of operating companies and/or as a director of public companies. Mr. Redeker has more than 47 years of experience as a senior executive in the mutual fund industry. Ms. Bynoe has been a Board Member of the Fund and other funds in the Fund Complex since 2005, having served on the boards of other mutual fund complexes since 1993. She has worked in the financial services industry over 11 years, has approximately 20 years experience as a management consultant and serves as a Director of financial services and other complex global corporations. Messrs. Bannon and Hyland joined the Board of the Fund and other funds in the Fund Complex in 2008. Each has held senior executive positions in the financial services industry, including serving as senior executives of asset management firms, for over 17 years. Ms. Alberding and Mr. Hartstein joined the Board of the Fund and other funds in the Fund Complex in 2013. Ms. Alberding has 30 years of experience in the non-profit sector, including over 20 years as the president of a charitable foundation, where she oversees multiple investment managers. Ms. Alberding also served as a Trustee of the Aon Funds from 2000 to 2003. Mr. Hartstein has worked in the asset management industry for almost 30 years and has served as a senior executive in an asset management firm. Mr. Parker, who has served as an Interested Board Member and President of the Fund and other funds in the Fund Complex since 2012, is President, Chief Operating Officer and Officer-in-Charge of PI and several of its affiliates that provide services to the Fund and has held senior positions at PI since 2005. Mr. Benjamin, an Interested Board Member of the Fund and other funds in the Fund Complex since 2010, has served as a Vice President of the Fund and other 12 funds in the Fund Complex since 2009 and has held senior positions in PI since 2003. Ms. Torres, a non-management Interested Board Member of the Fund and other funds in the Fund Complex, formerly served as Treasurer and Principal Financial and Accounting Officer for the Fund and other funds in the Fund Complex for 16 years and held senior positions with the Manager from 1999 to 2014. In addition, Ms. Torres is a certified public accountant (CPA). Specific details about each Board Members professional experience appear in the professional biography tables, above. Risk Oversight. Investing in general and the operation of a registered investment company involves a variety of risks, such as investment risk, compliance risk and operational risk, among others. The Board oversees risk as part of its oversight of the Fund. Risk oversight is addressed as part of various regular Board and committee activities. The Board, directly or through its committees, reviews reports from, among others, the Manager, subadvisers, the Funds Chief Compliance Officer, the Funds independent registered public accounting firm, counsel, and internal auditors of the Manager or its affiliates, as appropriate, regarding risks faced by the Fund and the risk management programs of the Manager and certain service providers. The actual day-to-day risk management with respect to the Fund resides with the Manager and other service providers to the Fund. Although the risk management policies of the Manager and the service providers are designed to be effective, those policies and their implementation vary among service providers and over time, and there is no guarantee that they will be effective. Not all risks that may affect the Fund can be identified or processes and controls developed to eliminate or mitigate their occurrence or effects, and some risks are simply beyond any control of the Fund or the Manager, its affiliates or other service providers. Selection of Director Nominees. The Nominating and Governance Committee is responsible for considering nominees for election as Directors at such times as it considers electing new members to the Board. The Nominating and Governance Committee may consider recommendations by business and personal contacts of current Directors and by executive search firms which the committee may engage from time to time and will also consider stockholder recommendations. The Nominating and Governance Committee has not established specific, minimum qualifications that it believes must be met by a nominee. In evaluating nominees, the Nominating and Governance Committee considers, among other things, an individuals background, skills, and experience; whether the individual is an interested person as defined in the 1940 Act; and whether the individual would be deemed an audit committee financial expert within the meaning of applicable SEC rules. The Nominating and Governance Committee also considers whether the individuals background, skills, and experience will complement the background, skills, and experience of other nominees and Directors and will contribute to the diversity of the Board. There are no differences in the manner in which the Nominating and Governance Committee evaluates nominees for the Board based on whether the nominee is recommended by a stockholder. A stockholder who wishes to recommend a person for nomination for election as a Director should submit his or her recommendation in writing to the Chair of the Board (Keith F. Hartstein) or the Chair of the Nominating and Governance Committee (Linda W. Bynoe), in either case in care of the Fund, at 655 Broad Street, 17th Floor, Newark, New Jersey 07102. At a minimum, the recommendation should include: the name, address and business, educational and/or other pertinent background of the person being recommended; a statement concerning whether the person is an interested person of the Fund as defined in the 1940 Act; any other information that the Fund would be required to include in a proxy statement concerning the person if he or she was nominated; and the name and address of the person submitting the recommendation, together with the shares of stock of the Fund held by such person and the period for which the shares have been held. The recommendation also can include any additional information which the person submitting it believes would assist the Nominating and Governance Committee in evaluating the recommendation. Stockholders should note that a person who owns securities issued by Prudential Financial, Inc. (the parent company of the Manager) would be deemed an interested person under the 1940 Act. In addition, certain other relationships with Prudential Financial, Inc. or its subsidiaries, with registered broker-dealers, or with the Funds outside legal counsel may cause a person to be deemed an interested person. Before the Nominating and 13 Governance Committee decides to recommend that the Board nominate an individual to the Board, committee members and other Directors customarily interview the individual in person. In addition, the individual is customarily asked to complete a detailed questionnaire which is designed to elicit information which must be disclosed under SEC and stock exchange rules and to determine whether the individual is subject to any statutory disqualification from serving on the board of a registered investment company. Share Ownership. Information relating to each Directors stock ownership in the Fund and in all registered funds in the Fund Complex that are overseen by the respective Director as of December 31, 2016 is set forth in the chart below. Name Dollar Range of Equity Securities in the Fund Aggregate Dollar Range of Equity Securities in All Registered Investment Companies Overseen by Director in Fund Complex Director Share Ownership: Independent Directors Ellen S. Alberding None Over $ 100,000 Kevin J. Bannon None Over $ 100,000 Linda W. Bynoe None Over $ 100,000 Keith F. Hartstein None Over $ 100,000 Michael S. Hyland None Over $ 100,000 Richard A. Redeker None Over $ 100,000 Stephen G. Stoneburn None Over $ 100,000 Director Share Ownership: Interested Directors Stuart S. Parker None Over $ 100,000 Scott E. Benjamin $10,001 $50,000 Over $ 100,000 Grace C. Torres None Over $ 100,000 As of December 31, 2016, none of the Independent Directors or any member of his/her immediate family owned beneficially or of record any securities in an investment adviser or principal underwriter of the Fund or a person (other than a registered investment company) directly or indirectly controlling, controlled by, or under common control with the Manager or Subadviser. Stockholder Communications with Directors. Stockholders can communicate directly with Directors by writing to the Chair of the Board, c/o the Fund, 655 Broad Street, 17th Floor, Newark, New Jersey 07102. Stockholders can communicate directly with an individual Director by writing to that Director, c/o the Fund, 655 Broad Street, 17th Floor, Newark, New Jersey 07102. Such communications to the Board or individual Directors are not screened before being delivered to the addressee. Report of the Audit Committee The Board of Directors of the Fund has an Audit Committee consisting of Kevin J. Bannon (Chair), Michael S. Hyland, CFA, Stephen G. Stoneburn and Keith F. Hartstein (ex-officio). Each member of the Audit Committee (i) is not an interested person of the Fund or of PI, within the meaning of Section 2(a)(19) of the 1940 Act and (ii) meets the independence requirements of Rule 10A-3(b)(1) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. The Audit Committee met four times during the fiscal year ended July 31, 2016. The Audit Committee has a charter, a copy of which is attached as Annex A and is also available on the Funds web site at http://www.prudentialfunds.com. The function of the Audit Committee is to oversee the Funds accounting and financial reporting processes, which includes the selection, retention, compensation and termination of the Funds independent registered public accounting firm. In connection therewith, the Audit Committee reviews with management and the Funds independent registered public accounting firm, among other things, the scope of the independent registered 14 accounting firms audit of the Funds financial statements, reviews and discusses the Funds annual audited financial statements with management, reviews the independent registered public accounting firms required communications regarding the scope and results of the audit, reviews and approves in advance the types of services to be rendered by the independent registered public accounting firm, reviews matters related to the independence of the Funds independent registered public accounting firm and in general considers and reports to the Board on matters regarding the Funds accounting and financial reporting processes. In performing its oversight function, at a meeting held on September 21, 2016, the Audit Committee reviewed and discussed the Funds audited financial statements as of and for the year ended July 31, 2016 with management of the Fund and the Funds independent registered public accounting firm and discussed the audit of such financial statements with the independent registered public accountants. The Audit Committee also discussed with the independent registered public accountants the matters required to be discussed by SAS 61 (Codification of Statements on Auditing Standards, AU Section 380). The Audit Committee received the written disclosures and the letter from the independent registered public accounting firm required by Independence Standards Board Standard No. 1 (Independence Discussions with Audit Committees) and discussed with the independent registered public accounting firm its independence. The members of the Audit Committee are not, and do not represent themselves to be, accountants or auditors by profession or experts in the fields of accounting or auditing, including in respect of auditor independence or internal controls notwithstanding the fact that one or more members may be designated an audit committee financial expert. Moreover, the Audit Committee relies on and makes no independent verification of the facts presented to it and representations made by management or the independent registered public accountants. Accordingly, the Audit Committees oversight does not provide an independent basis to determine that management has maintained appropriate financial reporting principles and policies, or internal controls, designed to assure compliance with accounting standards and applicable laws and regulations. Furthermore, the Audit Committees considerations and discussions referred to above do not provide assurance that the audit of the Funds financial statements has been carried out in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards, that the financial statements are presented in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles or that the Funds independent registered public accounting firm is in fact independent. Based on its consideration of the audited financial statements and the discussions and reports referred to above with management and the independent registered public accounting firm, and subject to the limitations on the responsibilities and role of the Audit Committee set forth in the Audit Committee Charter and those discussed above, the Audit Committee recommended to the Board of Directors of the Fund that the Funds audited financial statements as of and for the year ended July 31, 2016 be included in the Funds annual report to stockholders for the fiscal year ended July 31, 2016. Submitted by the Audit Committee of the Funds Board of Directors Kevin J. Bannon (Chair) Ellen S. Alberding Linda W. Bynoe Richard A. Redeker (ex-officio) 1 September 21, 2016 1 The membership of the Funds Audit Committee as of the September 21, 2016 meeting consisted of Kevin J. Bannon (Chair), Ellen S. Alberding, Linda W. Bynoe and Richard A. Redeker (ex-officio). 15 Board Recommendation and Required Vote Directors are elected by the affirmative vote of the holders of a majority of the shares of the Funds common stock outstanding and entitled to vote thereon. For purposes of the election of Directors, abstentions and broker non-votes, if any, will not be considered votes cast, and will have the same effect as a vote against the election of a Director. The Board of Directors, including the Directors who are not interested persons, unanimously recommends that stockholders of the Fund vote FOR each of the nominees for election as a Class II Director. SUBMISSION OF STOCKHOLDER PROPOSALS AND OTHER STOCKHOLDER COMMUNICATIONS All proposals by stockholders of the Fund that are intended to be included in the Funds proxy statement for, and presented at, the 2018 Annual Meeting of Stockholders must be received by the Fund for inclusion in the Funds proxy statement and proxy relating to that meeting no later than September 15, 2017. Stockholder proposals are subject to certain regulations under the federal securities laws. The Funds Bylaws currently provide that any stockholder who desires to bring a proposal at the 2018 Annual Meeting of Stockholders without including such proposal in the Funds proxy statement must deliver written notice thereof to the Secretary of the Fund (addressed c/o Prudential Investments LLC, 655 Broad Street, 17th Floor, Newark, New Jersey 07102) during the 30 day period from August 16, 2017 to 5:00 P.M. Eastern Time on September 15, 2017, accompanied by the information and certifications required by the Funds Bylaws. However, the Funds Bylaws currently provide that, if the Funds 2018 Annual Meeting of Stockholders is held earlier than February 8, 2018 or later than April 9, 2018, such written notice must be delivered to the Secretary of the Fund no earlier than the 150th day prior to the date of the 2018 Annual Meeting of Stockholders, as originally convened, and no later than 5:00 P.M., Eastern Time, on the later of the 120th day prior to the date of the 2018 Annual Meeting of Stockholders, as originally convened, or the tenth day following the public announcement of the date of the 2018 Annual Meeting of Stockholders, accompanied by the information and certifications required by the Funds Bylaws. A stockholder who wishes to send any communications to the Board should also deliver such communications to the Secretary of the Fund c/o Prudential Investments LLC, 655 Broad Street, 17th Floor, Newark, New Jersey 07102. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION Disclosure of Fees Paid to Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm KPMG LLP (KPMG), 345 Park Avenue, New York, New York 10154, has been selected to serve as the Funds independent registered public accounting firm for the Funds fiscal year ending July 31, 2017. A representative of KPMG will not be present at the Meeting, but will be available by telephone to respond to appropriate questions and will have an opportunity to make a statement, if the representative desires. Set forth in the table below are audit fees and non-audit related fees billed to the Fund by KPMG for professional services for the fiscal year ended July 31, 2016. Audit Fees Audit-Related Fees* Tax Fees** All Other Fees*** $50,147 None None None 16 * Audit-Related Fees include services related to consents, comfort letter and bring down letters in conjunction with the public offering of the Funds common stock. ** Tax Fees are those fees related to KPMGs tax consulting services, including primarily the review of the Funds income tax returns. *** All Other Fees include the aggregate fees billed for products and services provided by KPMG, other than the reported services. The Funds Audit Committee Charter requires that the Audit Committee pre-approve all audit and non-audit services to be provided by KPMG to the Fund, and all non-audit services to be provided by the independent accountants to the Manager and any entity controlling, controlled by or under common control with the Manager (Affiliates) that provides on-going services to the Fund, if the engagement relates directly to the operations and financial reporting of the Fund. Alternatively, the Audit Committee also may delegate pre-approval to one of its members subject to subsequent reporting to the Audit Committee. For the fiscal year ended July 31, 2016, all of the audit and non-audit services described above for which KPMG billed the Fund fees were pre-approved by the Audit Committee as required. The aggregate non-audit fees billed by KPMG for services rendered to the Fund and rendered to the Manager or its Affiliates that provide ongoing services to the Fund for the fiscal year ended July 31, 2016 is $0. Custodian, Dividend Paying Agent, Transfer Agent and Registrar The Bank of New York Mellon (BNY Mellon) is the custodian and foreign custody manager of the Fund and will maintain or arrange for the custody of the securities and cash of the Fund. The principal business address of BNY Mellon is 225 Liberty Street, New York, New York 10286. Computershare Trust Company, N.A. serves as the transfer agent and registrar and Computershare Inc. serves as the dividend paying agent of the Fund. The principal business address of Computershare Trust Company, N.A. is P.O. Box 43078, Providence, Rhode Island 02940-3078. Section 16(a) Beneficial Ownership Reporting Compliance Section 16(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and Section 30(h) of the 1940 Act, in combination require the Funds Directors and officers and persons who own more than 10% of the Funds common stock, as well as PI and certain of its affiliated persons, to file reports of ownership and changes in ownership with the SEC and the New York Stock Exchange, Inc. (NYSE). Such persons and entities are required by SEC regulations to furnish the Fund with copies of all such filings. Based solely on its review of the copies of such forms received by it, or written representations from certain reporting persons, the Fund believes that during the fiscal year ended July 31, 2016 that all such filing requirements were met with respect to the Fund. Credit Agreement On May 11, 2012, the Fund entered into a credit agreement with a financial institution. As of July 31, 2016, the Fund had $280,000,000 outstanding under the credit agreement. Broker Non-Votes and Abstentions Stockholders represented by properly authorized proxies with respect to which a vote is withheld, or for which a broker does not vote, will be treated as stockholders that are present and entitled to vote for purposes of determining a quorum, but will not constitute a vote FOR any proposal and will have the effect of a vote against the election of the nominees named in this Proxy Statement. 17 5% Beneficial Ownership At December 16, 2016, to the knowledge of management, the registered stockholders who owned of record or owned beneficially more than 5% of the Funds outstanding stock are noted below. As of the close of business on December 16, 2016, Cede & Co., a nominee for participants in the Depository Trust Company, held of record 40,915,951 shares, equal to approximately 99.99% of the Funds outstanding shares. Based on Schedule 13G filed jointly by the Charger Corporation, First Trust Portfolios L.P. and First Trust Advisors L.P. as of December 31, 2015 certain unit investment trusts sponsored by First Trust Portfolios L.P. (of which The Charger Corporation is the General Partner) beneficially owned 4,275,951 shares equal to 10.45% of the Funds outstanding shares. Expenses of Proxy Solicitation The costs of preparing, assembling and mailing material in connection with these proxies will be borne by the Fund. Proxies may also be solicited in person by officers of the Fund and by regular employees of PI or its affiliates, or other representatives of the Fund or by telephone, in addition to the use of mails. Brokerage houses, banks and other fiduciaries may be requested to forward proxy solicitation material to their principals to obtain authorization for the execution of proxies, and will be reimbursed by the Fund for such out-of-pocket expenses. Other Business The Board of Directors does not know of any other matter that may properly be brought before the Meeting. If any other matter properly comes before the Meeting, it is the intention of the persons named in the proxy to vote the proxies with their discretion on such matter. By Order of the Board of Directors, Deborah A. Docs Secretary January 13, 2017 STOCKHOLDERS WHO DO NOT EXPECT TO BE PRESENT AT THE MEETING AND WHO WISH TO VOTE BY PROXY ARE REQUESTED TO INDICATE VOTING INSTRUCTIONS BY INTERNET OR TELEPHONE OR BY DATING AND SIGNING THE ENCLOSED FORM OF PROXY AND RETURNING IT IN THE ENCLOSED ENVELOPE. NO POSTAGE IS REQUIRED IF MAILED IN THE UNITED STATES. 18 ANNEX A AUDIT COMMITTEE CHARTER OF THE PRUDENTIAL RETAIL MUTUAL FUNDS I. Qualifications for Membership on the Audit Committee The Audit Committee of each Prudential Retail Mutual Fund (each, a Fund) shall consist of a minimum of three Directors of the Fund, appointed by the Board of Directors of the Fund: (a) no member shall be an interested person of the Fund, as that term is defined in Section 2(a)(19) of the Investment Company Act of 1940 (1940 Act) and each member shall meet any applicable independence requirements of any national securities exchange or market quotation system on which Fund shares are or become listed or quoted; (b) no member shall accept directly or indirectly any consulting, advisory, or other compensatory fee from the Fund (other than in his or her capacity as a member of the Board of Directors or any committee thereof); (c) at the time of his or her appointment to the Audit Committee, each member shall be financially literate as such qualification is interpreted by the Board of Directors in its business judgment, or must become financially literate within a reasonable period of time after his or her appointment to the Audit Committee; and (d) at least one member must have accounting or related financial management expertise as the Board of Directors interprets such qualification in its business judgment. The Board of Directors shall determine (i) annually if simultaneous service on the audit committees of more than three public companies by a member of the Audit Committee would not impair the ability of such member to effectively serve on the Audit Committee and (ii) biennially whether any member of the Audit Committee is an audit committee financial expert, as defined in Item 3 of Form N-CSR. II. Purposes of the Audit Committee The purposes of the Audit Committee are: (a) to oversee the accounting and financial reporting processes of the Fund and its internal control over financial reporting; (b) to oversee the integrity of the Funds financial statements and the independent audit thereof; (c) to oversee, or as appropriate, assist Board oversight of, the Funds compliance with legal and regulatory requirements that relate to the Funds accounting and financial reporting, internal control over financial reporting and independent audits; (d) to approve the engagement of the Funds independent registered public accounting firm (independent accountants) and, in connection therewith and on an ongoing basis, to review and evaluate the qualifications, independence and performance of the Funds independent accountants; (e) to prepare an Audit Committee report as required by rules promulgated by the Securities and Exchange Commission to be included in a Fund proxy statement; and (f) to act as a liaison between the Funds independent accountants and the full Board. III. Role and Responsibilities of the Audit Committee The function of the Audit Committee is oversight; it is managements responsibility to maintain appropriate systems for accounting and internal control over financial reporting, and the independent accountants responsibility to plan and carry out a proper audit. Specifically, Fund management is responsible for: (1) preparation, presentation and integrity of the Funds financial statements; (2) maintenance of appropriate accounting and financial reporting principles and policies; (3) maintenance of internal control over financial reporting and other procedures designed to assure compliance with accounting standards and related laws and regulations; and (4) maintenance of procedures for the reporting to the Audit Committee of material findings by the internal audit department of Prudential Financial, Inc. relating to the operations of the Fund and/or its advisers or service providers. The independent accountants are responsible for planning and carrying out an audit consistent with applicable legal and professional standards and terms of their engagement letter. The independent accountants are accountable to the Board of Directors and the Audit Committee, as representatives of the shareholders. The Audit Committee and the Board of Directors have the ultimate authority and responsibility to retain and terminate the Funds independent accountants (subject, if applicable, to shareholder ratification). Nothing in this Charter shall be construed to reduce the responsibilities or liabilities of the Funds service providers, including the independent accountants. The review of a Funds financial statements by the Audit Committee is not an audit, nor does the Committees review substitute for the responsibilities of the Funds management for preparing, or the independent accountants for auditing, the financial statements. In fulfilling their responsibilities hereunder, it is recognized that members of the Audit Committee are not full-time employees of the Fund or management and, in serving on this Committee, are not, and do not hold themselves out to be, acting as accountants or auditors. As such, it is not the responsibility of the Committee or its members to conduct audits, to determine that the financial statements are complete and accurate and are in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, to conduct field work or other types of auditing or accounting reviews or procedures. In discharging their duties, the members of the Audit Committee are entitled to rely on information, opinions, reports, or statements, including financial statements and other financial data, if prepared or presented by: (1) one or more officers of the Fund whom the Director reasonably believes to be reliable and competent in the matters presented; (2) legal counsel, public accountants, or other persons as to matters the Director reasonably believes are within the persons professional or expert competence; (3) a Board committee of which the Director is not a member; and (4) representations made by management as to any information technology, internal audit and other non-audit services provided by the independent accountants to the Fund. Management means the Funds investment adviser or administrator, acting through its officers and employees, not the Funds officers as such. IV. Duties and Powers of the Audit Committee To carry out its purposes, the Audit Committee shall have the following duties and powers: (a) to select or retain independent accountants to annually audit and provide their opinion on the Funds financial statements, and recommend to those Board members who are not interested persons (as that term is defined in Section 2(a)(19) of the 1940 Act) to ratify the selection or retention; (b) to terminate, as appropriate, the independent accountants; (c) to monitor the independence and capabilities of the independent accountants; (d) to review and approve the independent accountants compensation and the proposed terms of their engagement, including the fees proposed to be charged to the Fund by the independent accountants for each audit and non-audit service; A-2 (e) to approve prior to appointment, the engagement of the independent accountant or any other independent accounting firms to provide other audit services to the Fund or to provide permissible non-audit services to the Fund, its investment adviser (which throughout this Charter includes the Funds subadviser(s), if any), administrator or any entity controlling, controlled by, or under common control with the investment adviser or the administrator (adviser/administrator affiliate) that provides ongoing services to the Fund, if the engagement relates directly to the operations or financial reporting of the Fund and as otherwise required by law; (f) to discuss with management the independent accountants proposals for implementing the rotation of the lead audit partner, the concurring partner and any other active audit engagement team partner and to consider periodically whether to rotate the audit firm itself; (g) to establish, to the extent deemed appropriate by the Audit Committee, policies and procedures for pre-approval of the engagement of the Funds independent accountants to provide any of the services described in the paragraph immediately above; (h) to consider the controls applied by the independent accountants and any measures taken by management in an effort to assure that all items requiring pre-approval by the Audit Committee are identified and referred to the Committee in a timely fashion; (i) to consider whether the non-audit services provided by the Funds independent accountants to the Fund, the Funds investment adviser, administrator or any adviser/administrator affiliate that provides ongoing services to the Fund, are compatible with maintaining the independent accountants independence; (j) to recommend to the Board of Directors the appointment of the Funds principal accounting officer and principal financial officer; (k) to review with the independent accountants the arrangements for and scope of the annual audit and any special audits; the personnel, staffing, qualifications and experience of the independent accountants, including any specialized knowledge or skill needed to perform the audits; any significant changes to the planned audit strategy or identified risks; and any significant issues that the independent accountants discussed with management in connection with their appointment or retention; (l) to oversee the work of the Funds independent accountants by reviewing, with the independent accountants, (i) the arrangements for, the scope of, and the results of, the audit of annual financial statements, including any significant changes to the planned audit strategy or identified risks; and (ii) the Funds accounting and financial reporting policies and practices, its internal controls and, as appropriate, the internal controls of key service providers; (m) to review and discuss the Funds annual audited financial statements, and, to the extent required by applicable law or regulations, the Funds semi-annual financial statements, with Fund management and the Funds independent accountants, including the significant assumptions underlying highly subjective estimates and any accounting adjustments arising from the audit that were noted or proposed by the independent accountants but were not implemented (as immaterial or otherwise); reviewing the Funds specific disclosures under Managements Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations, to review the independent accountants opinion on the Funds financial statements; and to review any matters relating to the other information in documents containing the audited financial statements of the Fund; (n) to review with the independent accountants all matters required to be communicated to the Audit Committee by the independent accountants including, but not limited to: (a) the results of the most recent inspection of the independent accountants by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB), including the independent accountants response to any identified accounting deficiencies; (b) the extent to which the independent accountants intend to use the internal auditors of the Funds or Management in the audit; (c) any A-3 complaints or concerns regarding accounting or auditing matters that have come to the attention of the independent accountants; (d) the detection of fraud or illegal acts; (e) any violations or possible violations of laws or regulations; (f) any significant issues or other contentious matters for which the independent accountants have consulted outside the engagement team; (g) any disagreements or difficulties with management; (h) any significant transactions that are outside the ordinary course of business or otherwise appear to be unusual; (i) any significant accounting policies in controversial areas or areas for which there is a lack of authoritative guidance or diversity in practice; (j) any consultations by management with other accountants, information about other accounting firms or other persons performing audit procedures, and the basis upon which the independent accountants can serve as principal auditor if significant parts of the audit will be performed by other auditors; and (k) any other matters required to be discussed pursuant to all applicable PCAOB or other applicable standards or other matters arising out of the audit that are significant to the oversight of the Funds financial reporting process; (o) [Exchange-listed closed-end funds only] to review major issues regarding accounting principles and financial statement presentations, including any significant changes in the Funds selection or application of accounting principles, and major issues as to the adequacy of the Funds internal controls and any special audit steps adopted in light of material control deficiencies; (p) to review, as appropriate and in consultation with management of the Fund and/or the independent accountants, reports or other communications submitted by the independent accountants and/or management, whether voluntary or mandated by law, including those relating to Fund accounting and financial reporting policies, procedures and internal controls over financial reporting (including the Funds critical accounting policies and practices and any judgments made in connection with the preparation of the financial statements), any matters of concern relating to the Funds financial statements ( [Exchange-listed closed-end funds only] including the effects of alternative generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) methods on financial statements and any adjustments to such statements recommended by the independent accountants), any material problems or difficulties in conducting the audit or reaching an unqualified opinion on the financial statements, any significant disagreements with management and, to the extent the Audit Committee deems necessary or appropriate, any matters to promote improvements in the quality of the Funds accounting and financial reporting, as well as any management responses to comments relating to those policies, procedures, controls and other issues; (q) to review with the Funds principal executive officer and/or principal financial officer in connection with required certifications on Form N-CSR any significant deficiencies in the design or operation of internal controls over financial reporting or material weaknesses therein and any reported evidence of fraud involving management or other employees or employees of the investment adviser who have a significant role in the Funds internal control over financial reporting; (r) to consider, in consultation with the independent accountants and management, the adequacy of the Funds accounting and financial reporting policies and practices, and their internal controls and procedures for financial reporting; (s) to establish procedures for (i) the receipt, retention and treatment of complaints received by the Fund relating to accounting, internal accounting controls, or auditing matters, and (ii) the confidential, anonymous submission by employees of the Fund and by employees of the Funds investment adviser, administrator, principal underwriter, and any other provider of accounting related services for the Fund of concerns about accounting or auditing matters; (t) to address reports from attorneys (in accordance with any attorney conduct procedures adopted by the Fund or its investment adviser from time to time) or independent accountants of possible violations of federal or state law or fiduciary duty; A-4 (u) [Exchange-listed closed-end funds only] to review the effect of regulatory and accounting initiatives, as well as off-balance sheet structures, on the financial statements of the Fund; (v) to review, periodically, reports to the Audit Committee regarding findings by the internal audit department of Prudential Financial, Inc. relating to the operations of the Fund and/or its advisers or service providers; (w) to investigate, or initiate an investigation, when the Committee deems it necessary, of reports (which may be submitted confidentially and anonymously) of potential improprieties or improprieties in connection with the Funds accounting or financial reporting Fund operations; (x) to meet periodically with management of the Fund (outside the presence of the independent accountants) and with the independent accountants of the Fund (outside the presence of Fund management) to discuss any issues relating to the Funds audited financial statements or otherwise arising from the Committees functions; (y) to resolve disagreements between management and the independent accountants regarding financial reporting or in Fund operations; (z) [Exchange-listed closed-end Funds only] to discuss, as appropriate, the Funds earnings press releases (including the type and presentation of information to be included therein, paying particular attention to any use of pro forma, or adjusted non-GAAP, information), as well as financial information and earnings guidance provided to analysts and rating agencies, if any; (aa) at least annually, to obtain and review a report by the Funds independent accountants describing: (i) such independent accountants internal quality-control procedures; (ii) any material issues raised by the most recent internal quality-control review, or peer review, of such independent accountants, or by any inquiry or investigation by governmental or professional authorities, within the preceding five years, respecting one or more independent audits carried out by such independent accountants, and any steps taken to deal with any such issues; and (iii) to assess the independence of the Funds independent accountants, all relationships between the Funds independent accountants and the Fund, the Funds investment adviser, administrator and affiliates thereof; (bb) to establish hiring policies and procedures for the Fund, its investment adviser or administrator relating to the hiring of employees or former employees of the Funds independent accountants; (cc) [Exchange-listed closed-end Funds only] to provide assistance to the Fund, if appropriate, in preparing any written affirmation or written certification required to be filed with any market quotation system or stock exchange on which Fund shares are or become quoted or listed; (dd) to report the Committees activities and conclusions on a regular basis to the Board of Directors ([Exchange-listed closed-end funds only] including reviewing any issues that arise with respect to the quality or integrity of the Funds financial statements, its compliance with legal or regulatory requirements and the performance and independence of the independent accountants) and to make such recommendations as the Committee deems necessary or appropriate; (ee) [Exchange-listed closed-end funds only] to evaluate the qualifications, independence and performance of the Funds independent accountants, including the lead partner of the independent auditor, in light of the opinions of management and internal auditors; (ff) to annually review the adequacy of, and, as appropriate, implement changes to, its Charter; (gg) to evaluate annually the performance of the Audit Committee; A-5 (hh) [Exchange-listed closed-end funds only] to discuss with management the Funds major financial risk exposures and the steps management has taken (including the guidelines and processes) to monitor and control such exposures, including the Funds risk assessment and risk management policies; (ii) [Exchange-listed closed-end funds only] to make the statement required by the rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission to be included in the Funds annual proxy statement, if any, and determine to its satisfaction that the Audit Committee has: (i) reviewed and discussed the audited financial statements with management; (ii) discussed with the independent accountants the matters required to be discussed by the statement on Auditing Standards No. 61, as amended (AICPA, Professional Standards, Vol. 1, AU section 380), as adopted by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board in Rule 3200T; (iii) received the written disclosures and the letter from the independent accountant required by applicable requirements of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board regarding the independent accountants communications with the audit committee concerning independence, and has discussed with the independent accountant the independent accountants independence; and (iv) made a recommendation to the Board of Directors as to whether the financial statements should be included in the Funds annual report for the past fiscal year, for filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission; and (jj) to perform such other functions and to have such powers as may be necessary or appropriate in the efficient and lawful discharge of the powers provided in this Charter. To the extent permitted by the Funds Articles of Incorporation/Declaration of Trust and bylaws, the Audit Committee may delegate any portion of its authority, including the authority to grant pre-approvals of audit and permitted non-audit services, to a subcommittee of one or more members in accordance with pre-approval policies and procedures developed by the Committee. Any decisions of the subcommittee to grant pre-approvals shall be presented to the full Audit Committee at its next regularly scheduled meeting. Pre-approval of the audit required by the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934 may not be delegated. The Audit Committee shall have the resources and authority appropriate to discharge its responsibilities, including appropriate funding, as determined by the Committee, for payment of compensation to the Funds independent accountants or any other accounting firm engaged for the purpose of preparing or issuing an audit report or performing other audit review or attest services for the Fund, the authority to retain and compensate independent counsel and other advisers as the Committee deems necessary, and the appropriate resources, as the Committee deems necessary, to pay for ordinary administrative expenses of the Audit Committee that are necessary or appropriate in carrying out its duties. V. Meetings of the Audit Committee The Audit Committee shall regularly meet, in separate executive sessions, with representatives of Fund management and the Funds independent accountants. The Committee may also request to meet with internal legal counsel and compliance personnel of the Funds investment adviser or administrator and with entities that provide significant accounting or administrative services to the Fund to discuss matters relating to the Funds accounting and compliance as well as other Fund-related matters. A-6 ANNEX B NOMINATING & GOVERNANCE COMMITTEE CHARTER The responsibilities of the Nominating and Governance Committee of each Fund include: Recommending to the Board of Directors of the Fund the slate of nominees for Independent Directors and Non-Management Directors to be elected (including any Directors to be elected to fill vacancies). The Committee will evaluate candidates qualifications for Board membership and their independence from management and principal service providers in terms of both the letter and the spirit of the Investment Company Act of 1940 and the Rules, Regulations and Forms under the Act. The Committee also will consider the effect of any relationships beyond those delineated in the 1940 Act that might impair independence, such as business, financial or family relationships with Fund managers or service providers. Interviewing (which will be done by the Committee Chair and at least one other member of the Committee) any candidates (Independent, Interested or Non-Management) whom the Committee anticipates recommending to the Board of Directors for service on the Board. The Committee will not consider any candidate for an Independent Director who is a close family member of an employee, officer or interested Director of any Fund or its affiliates. Reviewing the independence of Independent Directors then serving on the Fund Board. An otherwise Independent Director who served as an officer or director of the Funds manager, investment adviser, principal underwriter or any affiliate thereof will not be deemed independent, unless two years have elapsed since he or she severed all such affiliations. No close family member of an employee, officer or interested Director of any Fund or its affiliates will be deemed independent. No person who receives, or who in the preceding two years has received, any consulting, advisory or similar fee from Prudential Investments or any affiliate thereof, will be deemed independent. Recommending, as appropriate, to the Board the Independent Directors to be selected for membership on the various Board Committees. Reviewing the composition of the Board of Directors to determine whether it may be appropriate to add individuals with different backgrounds or skills from those already on the Board. Reporting biennially to the Board on whether the Audit Committee has at least one Audit Committee Financial Expert.1 Assisting the Board Chair with the development of Board meeting agendas. Reviewing each Directors beneficial investment in Fund shares. The Committee will encourage each Director to maintain, either directly, beneficially or through the deferred compensation plan, investments in one or more Funds in the cluster that are equal to the aggregate fees for one year that he or she receives for Board-related service to the Funds. Under ordinary circumstances, new Independent Directors will have two years to comply with this policy. Being available to assist the Board of Directors in evaluating the quality of Director participation on the Board, which may be measured, in part, by factors such as attendance and contributions at Board meetings and by a review of responses to the annual Board Assessment Questionnaire. The Committee will review, with the Board Chair, the summary of responses to the Board Assessment Questionnaire and report those responses to the full Board. A Director automatically will be ineligible for re-nomination to the Board, and the Board will request his or her resignation, if for health or any other reason the individual fails to participate, over any eighteen-month period, in (1) three consecutive regularly scheduled in-person meetings of the Board or (2) four in-person meetings of the Board. 1 Audit Committee financial experts were last designated April 2015. The Governance Committee will review this designation every year ending in an odd number. Recommending to the Board a successor to the Board Chair at the expiration of a term or when a vacancy occurs. Developing an annual education calendar that details the topics to be addressed in the Boards quarterly education sessions. The educational calendar for a year will be presented to the full Board at its last quarterly meeting of the prior year. The Committee Chair, in consultation with the Board Chair, may make adjustments to the educational calendar during the year as appropriate due to industry or regulatory developments or other factors. Annually monitoring the attendance by each Independent Director and Non-Management Director at educational seminars, conferences or similar meetings. The Board encourages each Independent and Non-Management Director to attend at least one such meeting per year. Any Independent or Non-Management Director who wishes to attend an educational seminar, conference or similar meeting must obtain the consent of the Board Chair before incurring expenses in connection with that educational seminar, conference or meeting. Developing and conducting orientation sessions for any new Independent or Non-Management Directors before or shortly after the new Director joins the Board. In collaboration with outside counsel and as required by law or deemed advisable by the Committee, developing policies and procedures addressing matters which should come before the Committee in the proper exercise of its duties. Reviewing, at least annually, the Boards adherence to industry recommended practices. Reviewing, at least annually, the performance of outside counsel to the Funds and of counsel to the Independent Directors, including fees and expenses. Reviewing Director compliance with the policy encouraging Directors to provide, when feasible, at least six months notice before resigning from the Board. Reviewing Director compliance with the requirement that a Director must retire from Board service by December 31 of the year in which he or she reaches the age of 75. Reviewing and making recommendations to the Board of Directors concerning Director compensation and expenses, including: annual Director fees; supplemental compensation for Committee service; supplemental compensation for serving as a Committee Chair; Board or Committee meeting attendance fees; daily Director service fees or per diem amounts, as contemplated by the Board Compensation Policy; and expense reimbursement. Annually reviewing and, as appropriate, recommending changes to its Charter. B-2 Process for Review of Operating Company Board Service From time to time, an Independent Director or Non-Management Director may be asked to serve on an operating company Board. Subject to confidentiality considerations, such Director is encouraged to notify the Chair of the Committee and Independent Directors counsel as promptly as possible. The Committee Chair will work with counsel to coordinate appropriate communications with management, the Board Chair and the Committee. At the conclusion of this process (and during the process, as appropriate), the Committee Chair will communicate with the Director. B-3 [THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK] [THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK] EVERY STOCKHOLDERS VOTE IS IMPORTANT EASY VOTING OPTIONS: VOTE BY MAIL Vote, sign and date this Proxy Card and return in the postage-paid envelope VOTE IN PERSON Attend Stockholder Meeting 655 Broad Street 17th Floor Newark, NJ 07102 on March 10, 2017 Please detach at perforation before mailing. PROXY PRUDENTIAL GLOBAL SHORT DURATION HIGH YIELD FUND, INC. PROXY 2017 ANNUAL MEETING OF STOCKHOLDERS TO BE HELD ON MARCH 10, 2017 THIS PROXY OF PRUDENTIAL GLOBAL SHORT DURATION HIGH YIELD FUND, INC. IS SOLICITED ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS. The undersigned stockholder of Prudential Global Short Duration High Yield Fund, Inc., a Maryland corporation (the Fund), hereby appoints Jonathan D. Shain, Deborah A. Docs and Raymond A. OHara, or any of them, as proxies for the undersigned, with full power of substitution in each of them, to attend the 2017 Annual Meeting of Stockholders of the Fund to be held at 655 Broad Street, 17th Floor, Newark New Jersey 07102, on March 10, 2017, at 11:00 a.m., Eastern Time, or any postponement or adjournment thereof (the Meeting), to cast on behalf of the undersigned all votes that the undersigned is entitled to cast at the Meeting and otherwise to represent the undersigned at the Meeting with all powers possessed by the undersigned if personally present at the Meeting. The undersigned hereby acknowledges receipt of the Notice of the 2017 Annual Meeting of Stockholders of the Fund and of the accompanying Proxy Statement, the terms of each of which are incorporated by reference, and revokes any proxy heretofore given with respect to the Meeting. THIS PROXY, WHEN PROPERLY EXECUTED, WILL BE VOTED IN THE MANNER DIRECTED HEREIN BY THE UNDERSIGNED STOCKHOLDER. IF THIS PROXY IS PROPERLY EXECUTED BUT NO DIRECTION IS MADE, THE VOTES ENTITLED TO BE CAST BY THE UNDERSIGNED WILL BE CAST FOR EACH OF THE NOMINEES PRINTED ON THE REVERSE SIDE OF THIS CARD AND IN THE DISCRETION OF THE PROXY HOLDERS ON ANY OTHER MATTER PROPERLY BROUGHT BEFORE THE MEETING OR ANY ADJOURNMENT OR POSTPONEMENT THEREOF. Note : Please sign exactly as your name appears hereon and date. Joint owners should each sign. When signing as attorney, executor, administrator, trustee or guardian, please give full title as such. If a corporation, please sign in full corporate name by president or other authorized officer, giving full title. If a partnership, please sign in partnership name by authorized person, giving full title. Signature and Title, if applicable Signature (if held jointly) Date PLEASE MARK, SIGN, DATE AND RETURN THE PROXY CARD USING THE ENCLOSED ENVELOPE. EVERY STOCKHOLDERS VOTE IS IMPORTANT Important Notice Regarding the Availability of Proxy Materials for the 2017 Annual Meeting of Stockholders of Prudential Global Short Duration High Yield Fund, Inc. to Be Held on March 10, 2017. The Proxy Statement and Proxy Card for this meeting are available at: www.proxy-direct.com/pru-26256 Please detach at perforation before mailing. The Proxies are authorized to vote in their discretion on any other business as may properly come before the Meeting or any adjournment or postponement thereof. TO VOTE, MARK BLOCKS BELOW IN BLUE OR BLACK INK. Example: The Board of Directors recommends a vote FOR the following nominees. 1. Election of Directors Class II: FOR ALL WITHHOLD ALL FOR A By Press Trust of India: New Delhi, Jan 4 (PTI) The Delhi government has sent to Lt Governor Anil Baijal a file pertaining to reduction in fares of DTC and cluster buses by 75 per cent for approval. Last month, Baijals predecessor Najeeb Jung had suggested the AAP government to reduce fares of DTC and cluster buses for one month to encourage people to use public transport and shun use of private vehicles in a bid to bring down the rising air pollution in the national capital. advertisement "We have sent the file to Lt Governor for his approval. We hope that LG will give his nod in a day or two. Government is slashing fares to cut down the pollution level," Delhi Transport Minister Satyendra Jain said. As per the proposal, there will be a flat fare of Rs 5 in all non-air-conditioned DTC and cluster buses and Rs 10 in all air-conditioned buses for a month. This is being done on a trial basis. At present, a ride in an AC bus can cost anywhere between Rs 10 to 25 while in non-AC buses Rs 5 to Rs 15. According to sources, some officers had raised objections on the governments proposal, saying the move may cause financial loss to the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC). A senior government official said DTC is already incurring losses, and reduction in fares will not have a big impact on its financial condition. The reduction in fares of DTC and cluster bus was scheduled to come into effect from January 1. However, it was delayed as the government had sought comments from various departments on the proposal. PTI BUN SMJ --- ENDS --- Commander of the National Guard of the Kingdom of Bahrain Lieutenant General Sheikh Mohamed Bin Isa Bin Salman Al-Khalifa on Wednesday called on Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee General Zubair Mehmood Hayat. According to ISPR, during the meeting, they discussed mutual cooperation and professional matters. It was agreed upon during the meeting that the both the countries will further promote cooperation in the field of defense. Meanwhile, allied officers and civilian participants of National Security Course 2017 from National Defence University (NDU) visited GHQ today where they briefed on contemporary security environment and the role of military, according to the Inter Services Public Relations. The participants of the course were given detailed briefing on national security environment and the role of Pakistan Army, the ISPR said in a statement. Later, the participants also had an interactive session with Chief of General Staff Lt Gen Bilal Akber. The course enables participants to develop a comprehensive understanding of national security, elements of national power, military, nuclear and operational strategies within the framework of contemporary security environment. The programme aims to prepare leaders for higher command and staff assignments in military as well as other government departments. The peace deal between the Afghan government and the Hizb-e-Islami Afghanistan (HIA) is facing challenges as Russia has reportedly opposed the process to lift sanctions against the HIA chief Gulbuddin Hekmatyar. Kabul formally recommended to the UN Security Council in mid-December that Hekmatyars name be removed from the blacklist that was part of the 25-point agreement inked in September. Dr Ghairat Baheer, head of the HIAs political committee, said a vote was earlier expected in 10 days after the Afghan government delivered a letter to the members of the Security Council. Baheer, who was also part of the negotiations with the Afghan National Unity government, told that the major powers had assured to help in lifting of the sanctions. The Wall Street Journal has reported that Russia opposes removal of Hekmatyars name from the UN sanctions list. Sections of the media have quoted Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova as saying that Moscow has suspended the process but not blocked the move. The surprising Russian decision on Hekmatyars sanctions came just days after Russia and China at the trilateral meeting with Pakistan announced to adopt a flexible approach to delisting Afghan individuals from the UN sanctions lists as their contribution to the efforts aimed at launching peaceful dialogue between Kabul and the Taliban. The Taliban were quick to welcome the outcome of the three-way talks, but it angered the Afghan government which insisted that it would take the decision on any individual under UN sanctions. The Moscow talks were held at a time when relations between the Taliban and Russia warmed up amid reports that a Taliban delegation recently visited Moscow. The Taliban denied reports about the visit. Russia and Kabul both are pursing contradictory approaches regarding the UN sanctions as Russia on one hand joined China to help in removal of sanctions on the Taliban but at the same time it has forced suspension of the process to clear Hekmatyar. Similarly, President Ashraf Ghanis administration has approached the UN Security Council to remove curbs on Hekmatyar but at the same time Ghani himself asked the UN to slap sanctions on the Taliban chief, Maulvi Haibatullah. It is widely believed that the Russian stance on Hekmatyar could create obstacles in the implementation of the peace deal as it would delay appearance of the Afghan leader. A six-member Hizb-government committee, which oversees implementation of the peace deal, has identified at least two places where Hekmatyar will live Kabul and the eastern Nangarhar province. Last month the Taliban insurgents attacked the house of Mir Wali a former senior HIA leader and a sitting MP in Kabul and killed several people including the son of another MP Ubaidullah Barakzai, also a Hizb leader. The HIA had not formally reacted to the Taliban attack on its leaders, but an article posted on the Facebook page of Hekmatyars son Habibur Rahman Hekmatyar, condemned the attack as barbaric and heinous crime by warmongers. Israeli forces demolished some 15 structures in Khirbet Tana on Tuesday morning, including homes and the only school in the small hamlet, which is located on the outskirts of the village of Beit Furik in the Jordan Valley in the northeastern occupied West Bank. The village was demolished at least four times over the course of 2016, leaving scores of Bedouin Palestinians homeless, sparking condemnation from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), who warned that the village was at risk of forcible transfer by Israeli authorities. A Palestinian official who monitors settler activities in the northern West Bank, Ghassan Daghlas, told Ma'an on Tuesday that several Israeli military vehicles stormed Khirbet Tana and declared the area a closed military zone. Bulldozers then demolished 15 improvised structures, including residences, barns, and the sole school of the village, which also serves other nearby communities. According to state-run Palestinian news agency Wafa, the school was built with funding from the Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection of the European Commission and was opened for students only in November. Israeli soldiers also reportedly confiscated three vehicles during the military raid. Majid Afif, a resident of Khirbet Tana, told WAFA after Israeli army bulldozers demolished his home: We now live in the open and cold air...(but) we are not going to give up. We are going to rebuild our village. "Palestinian communities like Khirbet Tana are amongst the most vulnerable in the West Bank," Robert Piper, the UN's humanitarian coordinator for the occupied Palestinian territory, said in a statement back in March 2016, after three separate demolitions in the first three months of that year left 87 of the village's 250 residents homeless. In April, 34 more structures in the village were demolished in a single day, displacing 69 Palestinians, 29 of them children. Many of the demolished structures had been provided by donors as relief after earlier demolitions. According to Wafa, demolitions in Khirbet Tana in 2016 targeted 150 structures, displacing a total of 214 people. Khirbet Tana lies in an Israeli-declared military training zone, known as a "firing zone," which rights groups say Israel intends to fully annex. Communities that find themselves inside declared "firing zones" face a high risk of losing their livelihoods, homes, and schools. "The destruction of the relief provided to these households in these harsh winter conditions adds insult to injury Piper wrote in his statement at the time. "Destroying homes and livelihoods in order to place pressure on households to move places communities at risk of 'forcible transfer,' a grave breach of the laws of occupation." Nearly 20 percent of the occupied West Bank has been declared "firing zones" since the 1970s, but according to the UN, recent research shows that nearly 80 percent of these areas are not in fact used for military training. However, when military training does take place, Israel forces families to leave their homes for hours or days at time until the drill is over. A spokesperson for the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), the Israeli agency responsible for implementing Israeli policies in Palestinian territory, confirmed to Ma'an that the three vehicles were confiscated and that the 15 buildings were destroyed for being built without the permits required by Israel to build in the area -- "fire zone 904." The spokesperson wrote that the structures had been built the "while endangering the residents lives that entered the zone," and added that the demolition came after the Israeli Supreme Court rejected a petition by residents to legalize their homes regarding the structures. "But the structures owners choose to build the structures again and with that to break the law" (sic). Demolitions in Khirbet Tana came amid the most extensive demolition campaign in the occupied West Bank in the last seven years. Israel demolished more Palestinian homes in the occupied territory in 2016 than in any year since the United Nations began documenting demolitions in 2009, OCHA said last week. The unprecedented demolition campaign left some 1,593 Palestinians homeless and affected the livelihoods of another 7,101, according to a conservative, preliminary analysis of the data. The vast majority of the Palestinian structures were destroyed or seized for lacking Israeli-issued building permits, according to the report. Israel almost never gives Palestinians permission to build in land classified as Area C -- the more than 60 percent of the West Bank under full Israeli control, leaving residents no choice but to build their homes without permits who live in constant fear of their homes and livelihoods being destroyed, Israeli rights group BTselem has said. Tuesday mornings demolition in Khirbet Tana was already the second to occur in the first days of the new year. On Monday morning, 87 were left homeless when 11 residential structures in the Bedouin community of Khan al-Ahmar were demolished, without allowing the owners to evacuate personal belongings and furniture. Like Khirbet Tana, Khan al-Ahmar is one of several Bedouin villages facing forced relocation. Residents of Khan al-Ahmar are targeted due to the villages location in the contentious E1 corridor east of Jerusalem, where Israel plans to build thousands of homes for Jewish-only settlements, with new legislation set to be proposed to annex the massive Maale Adumim settlement there. Radhika Menon, a Delhi University professor, jotted down the entire ordeal of getting beaten up in broad daylight by a bag snatcher on Facebook, expressing grave concern about women's safety in our country. By Neha Vashishth: The horrific incident of mass molestation that occurred on December 31 in Bengaluru sparked outrage among people and started a conversation about a topic that is often ignored - molestation. Just a couple of days after the Bengaluru incident came to light, another CCTV footage from Bengaluru showed a woman being groped and robbed by two men in a residential area, proving to women that this country is not safe for women. advertisement Also read: Bengaluru molestation happened because nudity is in fashion, says Samajwadi Party's Abu Azmi But since we believe only what we see, only these two incidents made headlines. There might have been hundreds of other cases of women being molested, raped and abused, but would be conveniently ignored, because no proof. As many people on social media triggered conversations where they drew parallels between the sad state of women's safety in Delhi and Bengaluru, and men trending #NotAllMen to distract people from discussing this serious issue of molestation and abuse women face in their daily lives, another harrowing incident was shared by a Delhi University professor -- Radhika Menon -- on her Facebook profile. Narrating the bitter experience of being beaten up by a bag snatcher in broad daylight at a petrol pump in Delhi's Mayur Vihar area, she expressed her concern about women who do not have enough resources to reach out to news organisations or enough knowledge about social media. Also read: Bengaluru mass molestation survivors: First time ever we felt unsafe Radhika was at the Vij Auto Centre (BP) petrol pump near Mayur Vihar phase-III yesterday morning. As she was entering her car, a man, wearing a hoodie, came from the wrong side on a bike, and pulled her bag and her along. She managed to not leave her bag and the man fell from the bike. The man got up, abusing and threatening Menon. He then punched, slapped and broke her spectacles while continuing to abuse and threatening her with death. Bystanders did not intervene, just saw the tamasha. Not a single person noted the man's vehicle number down and turned their faces away from a woman being brutally assaulted. The bag snatcher had the audacity to punch her again before fleeing the scene. Bystanders still did not act. Read her entire letter in her own words: "No safe space for women. All spaces are open for her assault, as thugs roam our streets. Friends, thank you for the concern. Your show of solidarity is much needed. I am bruised, scratched and carrying the pain of blunt injury. But more than the physical pain I am shocked and stunned at the ease with which a woman can be threatened with death, slapped about, abused and assaulted at a public place, while people watch around a spectacle of a woman being attacked and humiliated. advertisement I was going to college in the morning to take my classes, when I stopped at Vij Auto Centre (Bharat Petroleum), opposite SFS flats in Mayur Vihar Phase-III Delhi, for refuelling my car. As I was boarding the car a young man in an orange hoodie came from the wrong side towards the petrol bay, and dragged my bag and me along. As I pulled him and my bag back, he also fell and began abusing and threatening me. After that it was a blur of slapping, punches, wherein my spectacles were broken and flung away. I turned to the petrol agents and by standers to note his vehicle number. They simply looked away, even as the emboldened man came closer, punched me again and sped away. A few bystanders came to enquire and scolded the petrol pump agents and guards for not reacting. They claimed the CCTV would capture the footage. The police arrived after my call, and then it was informed by them that not all cameras worked, that there was no hard disk. A footage finally was taken down from a camera that conveniently did not capture the face of the man who attacked me. But which displayed how I was beaten up. advertisement I spent the whole morning, afternoon and early evening trying to get the footage, medical done and applying for an FIR to be filed. From whatever they saw of the footage the police think it was not bag snatching incident, but a deliberate act of rash driving towards me. So to cut a long story short, it appears, 1. Women are not safe in a public place even in the morning. 2. You don't really have to be a very young woman wearing fashionable clothes. You just have to be a woman for you to be abused and attacked. Boring teachers are not safe either. 3. It's not only the public transport systems that are unsafe, even a private vehicle cannot assure safety. 4. A closed public space such as a petrol bay can become a punching ground against a woman. 5. People working at public places still think it is okay for a woman to be beaten up and leave it for CCTVs to do the job. advertisement 6 Well, CCTVs just don't do enough and all this business of digital and technology shows only what has to be shown and doesn't intimidate goons and thugs. 7. If someone like me who has so many friends, and who can articulate fearlessly, can be beaten up in broad daylight with such ease, without much hope of getting my assaulter booked, imagine the plight of women who are less well connected and less resourced. Take a look at her original post here: --- ENDS --- After demonetisation, five states will have polls in the next two months. The upcoming elections will be a litmus test for the Modi government. By Reuters: The Election Commission today scheduled five state polls for the next two months that will test support for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's gamble to abolish high-denomination banknotes. Voting in Uttar Pradesh, the most populous state that is home to 200 million people, will begin on Feb 11 and finish on March 8, Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi told reporters. Polls will also be conducted in Goa, Manipur, Punjab and Uttarakhand in February and March, with votes in all five elections counted on March 11, Zaidi said. advertisement Modi has invested huge political capital in winning Uttar Pradesh, holding a series of rallies in the state and turning his demonetisation drive into the centrepiece of the election. On November 8, Modi made the radical move to withdraw all 500 and 1,000 rupee bills, accounting for 86 per cent of currency in circulation, to unearth untaxed or illicit cash held in the "shadow economy" and away from the taxman. The move has brought India's cash economy to a virtual standstill and impacted the lives of millions of people. But many Indians remain supportive of the policy framed as a fight against corruption and tax evaders. Also read: Uttar Pradesh election from Feb 11-Mar 8; Punjab, Goa to vote on Feb 4; results of all five states on March 11 Modi's BJP or its allies rule in 14 of India's 29 states after expanding their power base since his victory in 2014. The opposition Congress and regional parties control the remaining states. State elections, held every five years, are vital for the BJP to be able to gain control of the Rajya Sabha, where members are indirectly elected by state legislatures and opposition parties have held up the passage of some bills. More than 160 million people are eligible to vote in the five states headed to the polls, with Goa and Punjab currently ruled by the BJP or its allies. --- ENDS --- We have decided to allow the defence personnel and central para-military forces personnel to cast their votes through one-way electronic transmission system, Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi told before announcing the dates of the assembly polls in five states in 2017. By Indo-Asian News Service: The Election Commission (EC) today said that the defence personnel posted away from their homes can cast their votes through one-way electronic transmission in the upcoming state polls. "We have decided to allow the defence personnel and central para-military forces personnel to cast their votes through one-way electronic transmission system," Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Nasim Zaidi told before announcing the dates of the assembly polls in five states in 2017. advertisement Zaidi also said that the EC had first experimented the initiative in Puducherry in August 2016. Also read: Uttar Pradesh election from Feb 11-Mar 8; Punjab, Goa to vote on Feb 4; results of all five states on March 11 Also read: Assembly election dates announced: All you need to know --- ENDS --- Son of Abu Azmi and husband to Ayesha Takia, Farhan Azmi went on a vile, misogynist rant, attacking actors Esha Gupta and Farhan Akhtar. By India Today Web Desk: Like father, like son, right? Seems so. Samajwadi Party's Maharashtra Unit Chief Abu Azmi recently shared his mind on the mass molestation incident in Bengaluru on New Year's Eve. ALSO READ: Bengaluru Molestation happened because nudity is in fashion, says Abu Azmi ALSO READ: Abu Azmi's comments are choking, says son Farhan Azmi ALSO WATCH: SP MLA Abu Azmi blames women for Bengaluru molestation incident advertisement Speaking to India Today, Abu said that molestation is unavoidable because women consider being nude as fashion. "If a girl celebrates after dark she should go with her husband, father and not with strangers. There should be strict action against those going against our culture," Abu said. Earlier in 2014, Abu had gone on record to say that a raped girl should be hanged. A Deccan Chronicle report stated that according to Abu Azmi, "Rape is punishable by hanging in Islam. But here, nothing happens to women, only to men. Even the woman is guilty." Regarding her father-in-law's statements, Ayesha had expressed her grief and rage regarding them on Twitter. if wot im reading about my father in laws statements r true then me and Farhan are deeply embarrassed n ashamed... Ayesha Takia Azmi? (@Ayeshatakia) April 11, 2014 We surely do nottt share this mindset...its disrespectful to women.if these statements r true then its sad. Ayesha Takia Azmi? (@Ayeshatakia) April 11, 2014 Well, yesterday actor Esha Gupta took to a dig at Abu Azmi's rampant misogny and tweeted that the only woman to blame in regard to Abu Azmi's remarks is his mother for unknowingly giving birth to a "jerk". Abu Azmi's enraged son Farhan Azmi took to Twitter and attacked Esha in the most vile manner possible. Meanwhile, on a completely unrelated note, Farhan Akhtar had tweeted the following. But then, Farhan Azmi took offense to that as well and attacked Farhan Akhtar. Farhan Azmi's misogynist rant continued, wherein he compared Esha to a prostitute. Farhan Azmi also alleged that a few people were morphing his wife Ayesha Takia and his mother's images to insult his family. All said and done, before Farhan Azmi went berserk, he did condemn his father's statements by saying, "Women can roam around as they want, nobody has the right to touch them. Her rights should be protected. Why do we analyse such incidents. Nobody has the right to say such things. My father must have said this in stress. I will speak to him. I have seven sisters. We had a discussion after his previous comments and my father agreed not to say such things again. I support the girls who have faced the incident." --- ENDS --- advertisement Local businesses Powerco and Holland Beckett Lawyers are teaming up with Tauranga City Council as key sponsors for next years Paradox: Tauranga Street Art Festival. Not only will the 2017 festival showcase the Oi You! Collection, featuring works by the most elusive street artist Banksy, but also put street art on the citys cultural map with commissioned art work by international, national and local artists to appear on walls all around Tauranga. The festival consists of three parts: Paradox Inside at the Tauranga Art Gallery; Paradox Outside with artists creating a legacy in Taurangas streets; and Paradox Live & Local showcasing the work of local artists and encouraging interaction from across the community. Powerco acting corporate affairs manager Krysti Wetton is thrilled to see the power company involved in Paradox as part of their support for community events in the region. Its an amazing opportunity to support an initiative that will bring energy and colour to Tauranga outside of the peak summer season. Paradox has been created for the whole community to enjoy and we encourage everyone to take the time and experience this impressive event. The festivals Art Gallery component Paradox Inside will be proudly supported by Holland Beckett Lawyers, one of the citys fastest growing and largest law firms. It involves an exhibition hosted in the Tauranga Art Gallery and comprises the Oi You! Collection. Holland Beckett partner Simon Collett says they leapt at the opportunity to support Paradox and the firm is pleased its been able to help bring the festival to the city. It aligns with Holland Becketts focus on our community. An event like this gives real momentum to Taurangas maturing cultural scene and will help us to reimagine our city spaces. Paradox Inside is significant. Where else could you see world class street artists working within the confines of a gallery? This event is a real coup for the city. The Paradox: Tauranga Street Art Festival 2014 will take place across the city from March 28 to June 16, 2017. Tauranga Mayor Greg Brownless says with support from organisations like Powerco and Holland Beckett, council is bringing together international, national and local leaders of the Street Art movement to create wall art throughout the city and at the Tauranga Art Gallery. Festivals like this add to the citys vibrancy and make our communities incredibly proud. They would not be possible without the generous support we receive from our business community. We would like to thank our partners for their contribution in what is going to be a great event for the whole city. The Paradox: Tauranga Street Art Festival 2014 will take place across the city from March 28 to June 16, 2017. For more information and full programme of events visit: www.paradoxfestival.nz Te Puke residents up in arms over single-laning, parking, and other issues affecting their town will have the chance to have their say at a public meeting this Friday. The meeting will be held at 7pm in the Te Puke Memorial Hall, and follows the council meeting last month that saw a large contingent of Te Puke residents turn up to voice their concerns. A mix of local business owners and residents used the public forum to express their dissatisfaction with the way the towns main thoroughfare has been redesigned. Several people turned up to the Te Puke council offices instead, thereby missing the meeting at Barkes Corner. Giftrapt Te Puke owner Marge Martelletti says the Friday meeting is partly a chance for those people to have their say. Theres also talk that the next stage of the road redevelopment is going to start on January 9, so we thought it was probably a good idea to get together. Of the elected members of the Western Bay of Plenty District Council, only Kevin Marsh has thus far confirmed his attendance. But it is hoped as many of them turn up as possible. For Marge, the most important thing is the chance for Te Puke people to be heard properly. She can see both sides of the argument, but believes improvements need to be made regardless. Ive had so many people in my shop talking about their dissatisfaction. I think the saddest thing is people saying theyre just going to go to Papamoa now. Te Puke has always been a great service town. The shopkeepers have done their best to keep up, and it would be sad if people just gave up on us. There have been a number of additional factors, such as the eastern link, PSA, and the dairy downturn, which have also impacted on the township recently. But Marge and many others believe the single-laning project has not been a help. Not only has if affected their businesses, but there are also the safety issues many have raised. She says several people have told her of near-misses at the new roundabout something that was raised at the council meeting last month as well. This Fridays meeting will be run in an orderly fashion, with a chairman, giving everyone the chance to be heard fairly and equally. The floor will be available for people to speak, and Kevin Marsh will give information about where were at with council. For more information contact Marge on 573 7967, or email giftrapt2015@gmail.com Smokers will pay 10 per cent more for a pack of cigarettes this year, as part of the Governments annual tax increases on tobacco products. The cost of a pack is expected to rise to $30 in the next four years as part of the Governments plan to make New Zealand smoke-free by 2025. According to the 2013 census, 17.1 per cent of residents aged 15-69 in the BOPDHB area are regular smokers, although the number has been steadily decreasing over the years. SunMedia journalist David Tauranga recently quit smoking, and says price played a big part in the decision. If I was a millionaire Id still be smoking. The biggest factor in the decision to quit for me was you cant afford to raise a family and smoke. When I first started smoking it was around $11 for a packet of Marlborough Reds. Now 20 years later theyre around $25. For him, the hardest part about quitting has been the day-to-day adjustments, such as not having a couple of cigarettes on the morning drive to work. The hardest part has been adjusting my personality to being a non-smoker. I started at 13 or 14, so for two decades Ive considered myself a smoker. Hes gone the Champix route, which he highly recommends, as it stops the nicotine cravings. But if you can do it without [Champix], even better. For Tauranga resident Chris Parnell, it was health, rather than price, which informed his decision to quit. Health is the main thing. Unfortunately, the price increase probably wouldnt make a difference if I was still a smoker. His path to quitting began roughly a month ago, substituting cigarettes for a vaporiser, which he says is working great. I found the vaporiser excellent. I dont even use it that much anymore the habit is pretty much gone. Lately, Ive gone almost three or four days without using it. If I find myself hungry when I shouldnt be which is when I normally would have a cigarette I use the vaporiser. As with all smokers, social situations such as having a few drinks can be the hardest part, when everyone else is smoking and cigarettes are just an outstretched arm away. I still have them when theyre right in front of me, but it doesnt translate into buying a pack, he admits. He says they taste pretty gross when he does have one now, however, which must be a good sign. Davids the same he had one on New Years, and it wasnt that great either. Quitline New Zealand calls giving up cigarettes a journey, with most people taking a few attempts to quit. I think the key to success is finding what works for you, says David. By India Today Web Desk: Hollywood star George Clooney and his wife and international rights lawyer Amal Clooney are expecting twins this year, Lebanon's Daily Star reported on Tuesday. The Daily Star attributed the news to their source, a family friend of the Clooneys. Rumours have continued to swirl that Clooney, 55, and Amal, 38, are having a baby or getting divorced, allegedly in part because George doesn't want children but also due to their busy schedules. advertisement The Clooneys have never confirmed the reports. ALSO READ: George and Amal Clooney headed for a divorce? ALSO READ: George Clooney and Amal Alamuddin divorce - How they got together to what went wrong It was just a month ago that rumours of the Clooneys heading for a split began doing the rounds of the media. The couple tied the knot in a fairytale wedding in 2014. ALSO WATCH: Brangelina to the Clooneys - 2016, the year of celebrity splits --- ENDS --- IMG_0453.JPG Deputy Attorney General Peri Kadanoff stands next photos of the 72 people arrested during Operation Smackdown -- a 2016 drug-trafficking bust in Central New York. (Samantha House) Syracuse, NY -- After the dust settled on the state's "Operation Smackdown" drug busts in Central New York, more than 70 people had pleaded guilty or agreed to plead to everything from trafficking to conspiracy. Only one man, Luis Rivera, 51, of Syracuse, had rejected plea offers from the state Attorney General's Office. Each of the other 71 defendants had accepted or planned to accept punishments ranging from a conditional discharge to a decade in state prison. Authorities say the May 2016 drug busts stopped two major pipelines from New York City to Central New York supplying as many as three dozen drug dealers. Over 2 ounces of bulk heroin, 10,750 individual doses of heroin, over 1 pound of cocaine and dozens of prescription pills were found, Deputy Attorney General Peri Kadanoff said at the time of the arrests. Police also seized nine guns, a stun gun disguised as a flashlight and about $40,000 worth of cash, she said. Rivera is apparently accused of being in possession of 10,500 bags of heroin. Assistant Attorney General James Mindell didn't mince words today when summing up the case in criminal court. He noted all the "bottom-feeders" in the drug rings had pleaded guilty and all of the "top guns" had accepted responsibility as well. Only Rivera had refused to take a plea deal. "I do not know what the defense of 10,500 bags of heroin in your car is," Mindell told Rivera in court. State Supreme Court Justice John Brunetti said today was the last day Rivera could plead guilty. If he didn't, his case would head to trial whether he changed his mind later or not. The judge said he had to tell other defendants that their trials would be pushed back to accommodate Rivera's trial. Brunetti said he wouldn't entertain a plea deal after today because he'd rather work and give Rivera a trial than sit around doing nothing. Rivera had been offered a plea deal that would have sent him to prison for no more than 7 years. Under law, Rivera is facing up to 25 years in prison if convicted, though Brunetti said he wouldn't sentence him to the maximum. The lowest sentence Rivera could receive if convicted after trial of the felony narcotics charge is 12 years in prison, Brunetti said. That may be a higher sentence than any of the dealers who pleaded guilty. (As part of their deals, the others pleaded guilty to lesser charges, which is why their sentence could be lower than Rivera's mandatory minimum.) Rivera said had no second thoughts about going to trial. AUBURN, N.Y. -- Officials are asking for help finding a girl who has been missing since the day after Christmas when she ran away from the Cayuga Home for Children. Auburn police said Abigail McInnes, 14, was last seen Dec. 26 when she ran away from Cayuga Centers, 202 Franklin St., in the city of Auburn. Related: Missing boy who ran away from Cayuga Centers in Auburn found, police say McInnes is described as a 5-foot-2-inch white girl weighing 118 pounds. She has red hair and brown eyes. She was last seen wearing a black sweatshirt, gray Cornell sweatpants and gray or white Nike sneakers. Police said they had reason to believe McInnes was in Ithaca as recently as Friday and that she may be going toward Elmira. Officials asked anyone with information on McInnes's whereabouts to contact police at 315-253-3231. Previously called the Cayuga Home for Children, Cayuga Centers was established in 1852 as an orphanage. Now it provides a variety of counseling, residential and support services to children and families in Central and Upstate New York. 113000 Merrill 2 cw.JPG yracuse City Court Judge Jeffrey Merrill feeds one of his lizards in 2000 in his chambers. Merrill, who retired in 2013, died Friday, Dec. 20, 2016, at the age of 71. (C.W. McKeen | Syracuse.com, file photo 2000) Jeffrey Merrill Syracuse, NY -- Longtime Syracuse City Court Judge Jeffrey Merrill knew exactly what to do with arguments he found a waste of time. He'd open an app on his courtroom computer that made the sound of a toilet flushing. And that was the end of that. Merrill, who served three decades as a Republican City Court Judge, died Friday at the age of 71, several former colleagues confirmed. "It's a thin line between disrespectful and irreverent, and he was never disrespectful about the law, but he was irreverent," Onondaga County District Attorney William Fitzpatrick recalled. Lawyers and judges who went into Merrill's chambers entered a veritable jungle, with live rodents and lizards and preserved pterodactyls hanging from the ceiling. His gerbil while an assistant prosecutor was named the "Rodent of Justice." "His office was like a menagerie," lawyer Nicholas DeMartino recalled. "He had lizards, rodents, other live animals in his office. It was sensory overload." Merrill was the last Republican judge to be elected citywide in 2003. He retired at the end of his third 10-year term in 2013. All nine current City Court judges are Democrats. Merrll retired as the supervising judge of City Court. His successor, Judge Stephen Dougherty, remembered Merrill as a Renaissance man who had all sorts of plans for his retirement. "He had an interest in everything," Dougherty said. "He had plans for all the places he was going to go, all the things he was going to do. It's a shame he only had two good years to enjoy." After retiring, Merrill and his wife bought a log cabin in Jamesville. They'd jump in their vehicle with a canoe and go somewhere on a whim, Dougherty said. Merrill was famous for not revealing his health issues, former colleagues said. He had planned to attend Dougherty's swearing in as a County Court judge last month. But he called Dougherty to say he wasn't feeling well and hoped they could do lunch soon. Dougherty only learned his former colleague had been in the hospital after he had died. "No matter how he was, even if he was deathly sick, he would always say he was doing fine," City Court Judge James Cecile said. Judge Jeffrey Merrill presides over drug court in this 1995 photo. As a judge, Merrill was unorthodox, but cared about justice, colleagues said. "Your appearance in front of him was going to be fairly quick and your case was going to get resolved quickly," Cecile said. Merrill is credited with co-founding Syracuse's drug court and presiding over it for years. He felt strongly about its mission to get drug addicts the help they needed, Cecile said. "Sometimes you can joke around with them, sometimes you needed to be mean to them," Cecile said of the late judge's approach. "He definitely knew people, that's for sure." Merrill was proud of drug court's successes: former addicts getting their children back or getting married, for example, Cecile said. Cecile said the flushing toilet app wasn't Merrill's only quirk. If he had a prostitution case, he'd give the prostitute a map showing the area she couldn't go while under his supervision. And he'd interrupt talk about cases to introduce lawyers to his newest lizard or some interesting fact he'd read on the Internet about animals. Not surprisingly, he loved the zoo, Cecile said. Later in his career, Merrill gave up most of his animals from his chambers. But he still kept around fish and turtles. Fitzpatrick credited Merrill for advancing drunken driving programs, giving rise to the STOP-DWI campaign that raises awareness and seeks to reduce DWI injuries and deaths. Merrill helped develop a system for evaluating drunken drivers: determining who was a chronic offender and who had made an innocent mistake, Fitzpatrick said. "He's a guy that really loved lawyers and the law," Fitzpatrick said. "He loved helping people. He was no-nonsense, but he also saw someone who needed a break. There was no one ever like him." Antonacci.JPG Onondaga County Comptroller Bob Antonacci (Marie Morelli | mmorelli@syracuse.com) SYRACUSE, N.Y. - A member of Donald Trump's transition team wants Central New York's next top federal prosecutor to be an attorney with no experience prosecuting criminals. Tom Dadey, chairman of Onondaga County's Republican party, said this week he's favoring county Comptroller Bob Antonacci as the next U.S. attorney for the Northern District of New York. Dadey, a member of president-elect Trump's transition team, said he's interviewed three lawyers for the job: Antonacci and assistant U.S. attorneys Grant Jaquith and Ransom Reynolds. Antonacci has never worked as a federal or state prosecutor. Jaquith and Reynolds have years of experience prosecuting criminals. If he were appointed, Antonacci would be the Northern District's first U.S. attorney with no criminal prosecution experience in nearly a half-century. The last was Jim Sullivan, who was appointed in 1968, according to former U.S. Attorney George Lowe. Assistant U.S. Attorney Ransom Reynolds First Assistant U.S. Attorney Grant Jaquith All three have met with Dadey and expressed their interest in the job, he said. Antonacci said two weeks ago that members of Trump's transition team encouraged him to put his name in. "Bob Antonacci has an interesting resume - he's a lawyer and a CPA," Dadey said. "And he's proven he's not afraid to look at things involving both Republicans and Democrats." Antonacci sued Onondaga County last year over raises given to County Executive Joanie Mahoney and county legislators. A judge found the legislators' raises were improperly passed, but upheld Mahoney's. Jaquith, 59, would not comment. He's been an assistant U.S. attorney for 28 years, rising to second-in-command of the 45-lawyer office in 2010. Before that, he was a lawyer at the Syracuse firm of Bond, Schoeneck & King. He's a former judge-advocate-general in the Army. In 1993, Jaquith prosecuted the killers of Syracuse police Detective Wallie Howard Jr. in federal court. In 2000, he got enhanced sentences for three drug dealers on the grounds that evidence showed they were involved in a double murder in Rome for which they were never prosecuted. Reynolds, 45, said he's interested in the job. He's been an assistant U.S. attorney for the past 14 years. Before that, he was an assistant Onondaga County district attorney for six years. As a federal prosecutor, Reynolds has handled white collar, gun-trafficking, drug conspiracy and fraud cases. He now works in the office's civil division, defending the federal government against medical malpractices cases. Dadey said all three men are quality candidates for U.S. attorney. The job pays $160,300 a year. Antonacci said he's handled civil cases in federal court. His lack of criminal prosecution shouldn't be a problem, he said. "It's not just about criminal investigations," he said. "But more importantly it's the tone at the top. It's being the administrator of the office and setting the tone for the rest of the prosecutors to follow." Antonacci makes up for his lack of experience as a criminal prosecutor with his work as comptroller, and the fact that he's a certified public accountant, Dadey said. "Donald Trump's not afraid to think outside the box," Dadey said. Someone like Antonacci, who was a big Trump supporter, would be a good fit for the Trump presidency, Dadey said. Antonacci, 52, has twice been elected county comptroller. He ran unsuccessfully in 2014 for state comptroller. One reason he might be a favorite is that he was an early supporter of Trump. "Obviously with Trump winning the election, that has opened up opportunities for certain individuals like myself," Antonacci said. U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer, a Democrat, will have a say in who gets the job. Traditionally, the decision is left to the senior senator in each state. The Senate Judiciary Committee sends a blue slip to each senator in the home state seeking his or her approval of a presidential nominee. If neither Schumer nor Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand signs the slip, it's essentially a silent veto, and the Judiciary Committee would not consider the nomination. The president's nominee is usually approved by the senators, even when they're from an opposing party. But some nominations have been blocked. Schumer's office wouldn't comment. U.S. Attorney Rick Hartunian, a Democrat, said two weeks ago he had not heard from anyone on Trump's team. Only one sitting U.S. attorney, Preet Bharara, has been told by the Trump administration that he will stay on. If Hartunian leaves office before his successor is sworn in, Hartunian's second-in-command would be acting U.S. attorney during the interim. That's Jaquith, who's the first assistant U.S. attorney. Dadey said he's also talked to six people interested in being appointed U.S. marshal for the Northern District. They include Ed Bragg, a former Onondaga County sheriff's deputy, and Dan Brogan, a captain in the sheriff's office. The others: Gerard Kropf, a retired deputy superintendent of the state police; Bart Johnson, a retired state police colonel now working as the security director for the Transportation Security Administration in Upstate New York; David Krause, a state police major; and Christopher Reidy, an investigator with the state Attorney General's Office. Contact John O'Brien anytime | email | Twitter | 315-470-2187 ONEIDA, N.Y. -- Thirteen recovering drug addicts huddle in a circle at a group therapy session in Dr. James Follette's office in Oneida. There's a nurse, an electrician, a student, a saleswoman -- the type of people you see at work, school, PTA meetings or church. Two have driven 2 1/2 hours from Ogdensburg. Some are clutching coffee travel mugs. One woman says her addiction got so bad she couldn't go grocery shopping unless she popped pain pills. A man tells the group he recently stumbled upon a forgotten bottle of Xanax, a prescription sedative, he had stashed away at home. "I threw it away because if I left it in the house at some point it would call out to me," he says. Follette, an addiction medicine specialist running the session, knows what his patients are going through because he's been there. Addiction nearly ended doctor's medical career The former anesthesiologist's descent into drug addiction began in 1987 when he started injecting fentanyl, a powerful opioid painkiller commonly used in operating rooms to sedate patients. Drug dealers now mix an illicit version of that drug with heroin. Drug abuse cost Follette two jobs, including one at Upstate University Hospital in Syracuse, left him mired in shame and guilt, and nearly ended his career in medicine. Follette, who's been sober 10 years, has been treating patients hooked on heroin and other drugs in Oneida since 2009. He opened a second office in November in Fayetteville, his hometown, amid a worsening epidemic of heroin and painkiller abuse in Central New York and nationwide. The 68-year-old doctor shares his personal story of addiction and recovery with patients on their first visit and serves as a role model. "I know what it's like to have cravings," Follette says. "I know what it's like to put drugs ahead of everything else -- ahead of your profession, ahead of your family. It was awful." 'Sick getting well, not bad getting good' He runs the group therapy sessions for his patients based on the 12-step method that helped him and is used by many addiction support groups. He tells patients in recovery to be vigilant about staying clean because a part of their brain always wants them to keep using drugs. He views addiction as a disease, not a moral failing. "We are sick getting well, not bad getting good," he says. Follette was susceptible to addiction because his mother and an uncle were alcoholics. He grew up in New Paltz, went to Albany Medical College and completed his training in anesthesiology at Upstate in 1980. His drug problem began 29 years ago when he was the chief anesthesiologist at an Indiana hospital. He was making a lot of money, had kids in private school, owned three airplanes and a new 6,000-square-foot home with a pool and elevator. Went into withdrawal on vacation "There must have been a part of me that asked, 'Is that all there is?' and that's when I started using fentanyl," he says. "After a month I was using so much I couldn't keep up." At first his wife, Carol Follette, did not know what was going on. "His behavior became very bizarre," she says. He went into withdrawal during a week-long vacation in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. He considers it the worst experience in his life. "For me it felt like I had a spear going through my abdomen. Every nerve in my body felt like it was firing," he recalls. "I remember watching the second hand of a clock tick away wondering how long I could hold on, thinking I might die and almost hoping I would." An equal opportunity illness His wife called an ambulance which took Follette to a three-day detoxification program. The hospital in Indiana subsequently fired Follette after discovering he had been taking fentanyl from the operating room. Follette then entered a four-month drug treatment program for doctors in Atlanta. While he was in treatment some people told Follette's wife: "He's a doctor. He should know better." About 10 to 12 percent of physicians become addicted to alcohol and/or drugs, similar to the prevalence in the general population, said Dr. Brad Hall, president of the national Federation of State Physician Health Programs. "Addiction is an equal opportunity illness that does not discriminate based on titles or profession," he says. Addiction more prevalent among anesthesiologists Addiction is more prevalent among anesthesiologists than other medical specialties according to Hall. He says he hasn't seen any evidence-based studies explaining why, but offered a theory. "You can look at the access to very potent drugs in the anesthesia field and a misperception that the knowledge about these drugs is protective and anesthesiologists get very comfortable with using extremely powerful, potentially addictive substances and underestimate the addictive potential of these drugs," Hall says. After completing rehab in Atlanta, Follette returned to New York to work at Albany Medical Center and became medical director of the state Medical Society's Committee for Physician's Health, a program that identifies impaired doctors, refers them for treatment and monitors them. He left Albany Medical Center to become chief of anesthesiology at Park Ridge Hospital in Rochester, then worked three years at an urgent care center in Troy before returning to Upstate as an anesthesiologist in 1998. He had some relapses along the way. When he was working in Troy, Follette took samples of Tramadol and used the opioid pain medication every day for about a year. "My disease was active. I was still sick," he says. Drugs turned family life upside down When he was using drugs, Follette's family life was chaotic. "That's what addiction does," Carol Follette says. "It turns your life and the lives of those around you upside down." To cope, she began attending a 12-step program for spouses of people with drug and alcohol problems. "I had to come to the realization I didn't cause it, I couldn't control it and I couldn't fix it," she said. She left her husband a few times to take care of herself and protect their three children "from the horrors of the disease, the chaos, the fighting and the disappointment." The couple got counseling and are still married after 41 years. Carol said she gradually learned to redirect her anger away from her husband onto his disease. "Somewhere along the way we became a team to fight the disease," she said. She's proud of her husband's turnaround and his accomplishments. "He's a recovering addict first and he's a physician who practices addiction medicine to help other people," she says. The lure of fentanyl led to relapse Follette was sober when he returned to Upstate. He helped create a committee at Upstate to work with medical staff impaired by drugs and alcohol. But he relapsed within a year. "There was a vial of fentanyl sitting in the anesthesia office unaccounted for and unprotected and it went home with me," he says. Follette got caught in 2005 when he asked another doctor at Upstate to write him a prescription for Tramadol, a painkiller, to treat a toothache. The other doctor felt uneasy about Follette's request and reported him to the hospital, which asked him to resign and reported him to the state Board for Professional Medical Conduct. After resigning from Upstate, Follette went into treatment for three months at Marworth, an alcohol and drug treatment center in Pennsylvania. Permanently barred from operating room In 2007 the state board permanently barred him from working as an operating room anesthesiologist. A story about the state's disciplinary action against Follette appeared in The Post-Standard. The publicity embarrassed the Follettes, who had kept the drug problem a secret from friends. But Follette said some good came from the story. After reading it, a close friend with an addiction problem telephoned him and asked for help getting sober. After leaving Upstate, Follette was unsure if he'd ever practice medicine again. He built cabinets as a volunteer for Habitat for Humanity in Syracuse. He volunteered at the Rescue Mission and Meals on Wheels. "It helped me get sober and get outside myself," he says. Most patients hooked on heroin He took addiction counseling classes, opened the Oneida practice and, at age 62, passed the exam to become certified by the American Board of Addiction Medicine. About 85 percent of Follette's patients are addicted to heroin. They are part of the nation's unprecedented opioid epidemic. Opioids are a class of drugs that includes heroin and prescription painkillers like oxycodone. Since 1999 the national rate of opioid overdose deaths has nearly quadrupled. On an average day in the U.S., 78 people die from an opioid overdose and 580 people start using heroin. "What we are dealing with in this epidemic is not just people with a predisposition for addiction, but people doing it for fun," Follette says. The ones doing it for fun are most likely to die, he says. A deadly way to have fun That's because most addicts eventually use heroin to avoid withdrawal sickness, not to get high, he said. People using it just to get high are at greater risk of overdosing because much of the heroin sold today is laced with an illicit version of fentanyl which can be up to 100 times more potent than heroin. "Fentanyl is cheap and you only need a tiny bit to get the wow effect," Follette says. "A teeny bit more and you get the death effect." Follette is federally licensed to prescribe Suboxone, a drug that reduces withdrawal symptoms in people addicted to opioids. Suboxone contains buprenorphine, an opioid that does not make people high when taken appropriately. The drug helps addicts feel more normal while they are working on recovery, he says. The goal is to eventually wean them off Suboxone. "You can't get there overnight," he says. "I'd rather them be using Suboxone than out on the street using God knows what." Suboxone saves lives Some in the addiction treatment community disapprove of Suboxone and say recovering addicts should abstain from all drugs. Follette says Suboxone saves lives by preventing addicts from relapsing. "You can't get someone abstinent if they are dead," he says. Follette makes patients on Suboxone take random drug tests to make sure they are not using heroin or other opioids. Follette also requires patients to see him for counseling and attend his group therapy sessions. Some patients have been with him seven years. "I cushion their fall to a certain extent," he says. "I've got patients who've been in jail, who've lost families and jobs," he says. "It's amazing how they start that upward climb as they remain abstinent from street drugs." Doctor grateful he got caught Follette loves what he's doing. In retrospect, he's grateful he got caught and disciplined for misconduct by the state. "Whatever happened to get me to where I am today, it was worth it," he said. "I look at it as God doing for me what I couldn't do for myself." One of the recovering addicts at Follette's group therapy session is a nurse. She's been going to him for three years. She says Follette's personal struggle with addiction makes him more compassionate with patients. "We hold doctors to a higher standard and say, 'Oh that could never happen to them. They are way too smart for that," she says. Follette has helped her realize she's not a bad person, just someone like him with a disease. Contact James T. Mulder anytime: Email | Twitter | 315-470-2245 SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- There's one day left to submit 2016 records for consideration at the 2017 Syracuse Area Music Awards. The two-day event celebrates and recognizes the outstanding talent of local musicians, and the achievements of industry professionals with Syracuse roots. The first SAMMYs took place in 1993. Local musicians and bands can submit their commercially available recordings for consideration, if released between Jan. 1 through Dec. 31, 2016. Official submission forms and instructions are available online at syracuseareamusic.com/submissions. The submission deadline is Jan. 5. On Thursday, March 2, the SAMMY Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony will take place at Dinosaur Bar-B-Que. The SAMMY Awards Show will be Friday, March 3 at the Palace Theater. Tickets go on sale Feb. 7. The nomination/submission period for the SAMMYs "People's Choice" awards is currently open through Jan. 8. Central New York music supporters can nominate their favorites in three categories online: Local music artists Live music venue By Press Trust of India: New Delhi, Jan 4 (PTI) To further tap into the 51-million strong small and medium businesses (SMBs) market in the country, Googles India-born chief Sundar Pichai today announced a number of initiatives to help these enterprises go digital. Pichai, who is scheduled to visit his alma mater IIT Kharagpur tomorrow, said the company is working on products for India that can be expanded globally. advertisement "When we solve for a place like India, we solve for everyone around the world. That has led us to grow our team here and spend more time and ensure the products are useful for everyone," he said at a Google event here. He added that SMBs are a growth driver for the Indian economy. "It is important that they have the right tools and skills to digitise. We believe it is important for us to invest in training and equipping these individuals and small businesses to accelerate their journey of growth," he said. Over 8 million Indian SMBs are already using Googles platforms. A joint research study by Google-KPMG estimates that 68 per cent of the 51 million Indian SMBs are offline. It also states rising Internet penetration and greater uptake for digital by SMBs could help increase their contribution to Indias GDP by 10 percentage points, taking it up to 46-48 per cent by 2020. Profits of digitally engaged SMBs grow twice as fast (compared to their offline peers) and they are also able to grow their customer base significantly, it added. The report cited the lack of understanding of the benefits of digital technologies and technical skills as the essential reasons for being offline. To overcome these challenges, Google has launched Digital Unlocked -- a training programme to enable SMBs get online and start using Internet to grow their business. The training is being conducted with FICCI. Over the next three years, 5,000 workshops will be held across 40 Indian cities. The online training comprises a set of 90 self-paced video tutorials, curated specifically for India and will be available free of charge. The trainings are certified by Google, Indian School of Business and FICCI. Besides, it also launched Primer -- a free mobile app uniquely designed to teach digital marketing skills in an interactive way. Available for Android and Apple phones, Primer will also work offline and is currently available in English and Hindi with Tamil, Telugu and Marathi versions coming shortly. The US-based firm also previewed My Business Websites to help businesses to have a rich, mobile-optimised digital presence that will be launched later this year. advertisement "SMBs have always been key users of our platform right from the beginning," Google Vice-President India and South-East Asia Rajan Anandan said. IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and MeitY Secretary Aruna Sundararajan were also present at the event. PTI SR ABM --- ENDS --- Solitary1.jpg Walta Williams, holding microphone, speaks at a September news conference 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. Also pictured are Randy Pope, 16, Williams' son and attorney Joshua Cotter. (Yu Hua | Syracuse.com) SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- The civil rights division of the United States Department of Justice has given its endorsement to a lawsuit filed against the Onondaga County Sheriff's Office for its continued practice of placing 16- and 17-year-olds in solitary confinement at the county jail. The nine-page document filed in federal court yesterday, called a "statement of interest," outlines the DOJ's arguments about how the practice violate the U.S. Constitution. The statement also identified other instances nationwide -- like in Rikers Island in New York City -- of what it deems an unjust and unhealthy practice. Last year, the federal government stopped placing teenagers held in federal custody into solitary confinement. The federal, class-action lawsuit, filed in September by New York civil rights organizations, accuses the sheriff's office and the Syracuse City School District of failing the teens incarcerated at the Onondaga County Justice Center. The school district has asked to be removed as a defendant, saying the sheriff's office controls discipline and confinement at the jail. More than 80 teens, most of them of minority races, were held in solitary confinement at the Onondaga County Justice Center between October 2015 and August 2016, according to the lawsuit. The lawsuit argues the practice is unconstitutional and harms young minds. In a news release, the New York Civil Liberties Union said the DOJ's support "in a lawsuit where the United States is not a party indicates the significant consequences that could arise from the decision in the NYCLU's case." The lawsuit in Onondaga County comes as state lawmakers are being pressured to raise the age at which teenagers can be charged as adults in New York State. Do j Solitary by PatLohmann on Scribd 2016-01-28-mjg-CityAddress1.JPG Mayor Stephanie Miner delivers her 2016 State of the City address at the Southwest Community Center, Thursday January 28, 2016. (Michael Greenlar | mgreenlar@syracuse.com) SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Mayor Stephanie Miner will deliver her final State of the City address at the Hotel Syracuse next week. Miner will discuss plans for her final year in office on Thursday, Jan. 12 at the Marriott Syracuse Downtown, 100 E. Onondaga St. The event begins with a public reception at 5:30 p.m. and Miner will speak at 6:30 p.m. in the Persian Terrace. The event is free and open to the public. "The Marriott Syracuse Downtown is an historic icon in the heart of our City which has recently undergone a truly remarkable transformation - a story that is emblematic of the work we have undertaken renewing the promise of Syracuse," Miner said in a press release. "I look forward to delivering this important address at the historic Hotel Syracuse and sharing my vision for our community next week." The Hotel Syracuse reopened earlier this year as a Marriott after a massive renovation by developer Ed Riley. The Syracuse Industrial Development Agency provided some financial assistance for the project. Miner will finish her second and final term as mayor at the end of 2017. She was first elected in 2009 and won a reelection bid in 2013. In her speech, Miner will present her plans for 2017 and reflect on the work her administration has done to this point. At last year's event, Miner rolled out a new plan for detecting leaky pipes and mapping potholes on city streets, among other things. Her Office of Innovation outlined new, inexpensive technology the city planned to use to manage its infrastructure. Blog_2013-03-27-mjg-StationSeven.JPG Firefighter Andrew Carducci prepares for the night shift at Syracuse Fire Department's Station No. 7 at 1039 E. Fayette St. The station was closed later that year due to the cost of structural repairs to the building. (Michael Greenlar | mgreenlar@syracuse.com) To the Editor: On Dec. 14, 2016, more than 100 Syracuse firefighters were honored for their actions above and beyond the call of duty, including bravery and valor for the years of 2014-2015. All of them are to be commended for a job well done. These acts of bravery were all done during a time that included the reduction of personnel. In the spring of 2013, Fire Chief Paul Linnertz and Mayor Stephanie Miner made the irrational decision to close Fire Station 7. In their eyes, this would not impact the response of the Syracuse Fire Department. This decision has reduced the on-duty strength of responding personnel to an all-time low. Since the closure, this city has experienced 26 fire-related civilian deaths. This amount is higher than the cities of Philadelphia and Chicago. This should be a real eye-opener. Can this be related to the closure? The answer is unknown. Along with the fire fatalities, there are tragedies that occur nearly every day - structure fires, medical calls, drug overdoses and motor vehicle accidents. The burden of these tragedies is placed on fewer firefighters, and this has taken its toll both physically and emotionally. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder is a real concern and should be treated as such. The effects on the well-being of the Syracuse firefighters is a concern. These men and women have families and put their lives on the line regularly for the citizens of Syracuse, and without question their actions have saved many lives and preserved property. I am asking the fire chief and mayor to keep in mind the impact on your firefighters, not only from a financial view but a personal one, and to recognize the need of personal safety and training along with emotional and physical support for the men and women of the Syracuse Fire Department. The past four years has taken a toll on all involved. We must move forward. There is no doubt in my mind that the professionals that make up the Syracuse firefighters will and have moved forward. Please do not forget the human nature of this dangerous occupation and its effects. Paul K. Motondo President Local 280 International Association of Fire Fighters Syracuse Tenney.Ryan.JPG U.S. Rep. Claudia Tenney, R-New Hartford, shakes hands with House Speaker Paul Ryan after taking a ceremonial oath of office Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2017. Tenney's son Trey, a U.S. Marine, held the Bible. Melvin Phillips, 80, a Tenney friend and Oneida Indian, is at the far right. (Photo by Mark Weiner) (Mark Weiner | mweiner@syracuse.com) WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Rep. Claudia Tenney was sworn into office as a member of Congress on Tuesday, becoming only the fourth person to represent the Utica-based congressional district in the past 34 years. Tenney, R-New Hartford, is also the first woman to represent the district, which now covers all or part of eight counties in Central New York, the Mohawk Valley, and Southern Tier. Tenney, a former state Assemblywoman, was joined by more than a dozen family members and friends as House Speaker Paul Ryan presided over her ceremonial swearing in ceremony just before 5 p.m. Earlier in the afternoon, Tenney was among 52 new House members formally sworn into office along with returning House members for the 115th Congress. She also voted for Ryan to serve as House Speaker. Tenney said she planned to pursue a bold agenda for the 22nd Congressional District as she succeeds U.S. Rep. Richard Hanna, R-Barneveld, who retired after six years in the House of Representatives. "My priorities are trying to rebuild the business community, especially small businesses and family farms in NY-22," Tenney told Syracuse.com. "We are truly the rust belt of New York, and Donald Trump has made a big promise that he's going to restore jobs by renegotiating trade deals, which is something I have written about," Tenney said. "We want to make sure that we bring jobs back to Central New York." Tenney, who supported Trump in the presidential election, said she will support much of his agenda, including a repeal of President Barack Obama's landmark Affordable Care Act and a rollback of regulations on financial institutions and other businesses. "I'd like to see us reduce taxes, regulations, roll back Obamacare and repeal (it) and come up with a free-market solution that's consumer driven so we can have affordable health care once again and help our small business community grow," Tenney said. She also said she will support Trump and GOP plans to beef up the military while making conflict a last resort. "Obviously, peace through strength is something I have supported - reigniting the Reagan vision of having a strong national defense," Tenney said. "As I've always said, we don't need to be the world's policeman. As the mother of an active duty Marine it means a lot to me --I want to make sure our active duty military is well cared for and not put in harm's way unnecessarily." Tenney's son, Trey, wearing his Marine dress uniform, held a Bible for his mother as she took the oath of office administered by Ryan. She was joined by family members and a few friends for a photo with Ryan. One of the friends who joined her for the photo was Melvin Phillips, who she formerly represented as a lawyer in what turned into a bitter dispute with the Oneida Indian Nation. Phillips identifies himself as chief of the Orchard Party Band of Oneidas. Contact Mark Weiner anytime: Email | Twitter | Facebook | 571-970-3751 Paladino.jpg 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. -- The Buffalo school board is continuing its effort to oust businessman Carl Paladino days after he refused to voluntarily resign. Paladino, an outspoken conservative, came under fire in December after he openly wished for President Barack Obama's death. Paladino made racist, controversial comments about the President and First Lady Michelle Obama in a wishlist for 2017, submitted to a Western New York art magazine. Paladino has apologized not directly for his remarks but to "the minority community" who might have been offended. The school board called for his resignation in a 6-2 vote last week after the comments were published. The vote was a formal request for Paladino's resignation within 24 hours. Paladino has since refused to step down. As protests have continued in Buffalo, the board called a special meeting for Wednesday night to plan its next steps for an ouster, The Buffalo News reported. The board is planning to petition New York State Education Commissioner MaryEllen Elia to remove Paladino from office. For the board to oust Paladino itself, without the commissioner's help, it would have to prove during a hearing that Paladino committed official misconduct. Instead, the board is seeking to show that Paladino violated the rules of decorum set for board members in addition to New York's Dignity for All Students Act, an anti-discrimination, anti-bullying law. A spokeswoman for the State Education Department said it would monitor the situation in Buffalo. "Once we receive an application for removal, we will review it as quickly as possible," Emily DeSantis said. "We continue to review all of our options." The Buffalo News reports that it's believed the Dignity for All Students law has never been used to remove an elected official. The process for removal includes an initial petition and response, followed by legal briefs. That process usually takes about eight weeks, according to the Buffalo News. The State Education Department then takes another six to eight months to review the materials and issue a decision. According to the Buffalo News, board members are now seeking outside counsel to represent board throughout the process, to avoid conflicts of interest. The board is expected to meet privately at 5:30 p.m. tonight to discuss its options, before holding a public vote. Reporter Julie McMahon covers education. She can be reached anytime: Email | Twitter | 315-412-1992 ALBANY, N.Y. -- New York State Senate Republicans still need to examine the details, but on Tuesday their spokesman issued a statement tentatively supporting Gov. Andrew Cuomo's proposal that would provide free tuition to city and state university students. Cuomo announced the so-called "Excelsior Scholarship" on Tuesday in Queens to students and local Democratic leaders. He stood on stage alongside Bernie Sanders, the Independent Vermont Senator who calls himself a "democratic socialist." But the progressives' endorsement of the plan, which would cost an estimated $163 million, did not prompt the Senate GOP immediately shoot the plan down. A statement from GOP spokesman Scott Reif said the plan builds on work from State Sen. Kenneth LaValle, who has worked to expand a program offering tuition assistance to public college and university students. "Under Senator LaValle's leadership, Senate Republicans have been fighting for years to expand TAP eligibility to ensure more money goes to many more middle-class families," Reif said in the statement. "While we will have to review the specifics when the Governor releases his Executive Budget, this proposal appears to move us in a positive direction." Cuomo's plan would need legislative approval. The scholarship would be paid for with the state's existing Tuition Assistance Program -- which provides about $1 billion in grants to students statewide -- and other state funds, Cuomo's office said in a news release. The news release said the plan will cost the state about $163 million when it is fully implemented. Students who were accepted to SUNY or CUNY schools statewide would be eligible for the scholarship. About 940,000 students would qualify for the free tuition. Current in-state tuition for SUNY students statewide is $6,470, room and board is $12,590, and student fees are $1,590. The plan, if passed, would be phased in to include more and more families over three years. In the first year, households making up to $100,000 would qualify. That would increase to $110,000 in 2018 and $125,000 in 2019, according to the news release. ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) -- Authorities say a western New York woman has been charged with stealing more than $1 million from the auto dealership where she worked. Police in the Buffalo suburb of Orchard Park say 55-year-old Billie Becker of East Aurora is accused of embezzling the funds from Towne Automotive, where she had worked since 2001, the last eight years as controller. Billie Becker is accused of embezzling $1 million from Towne Auto. Charged w 1 ct of grand larceny 2nd. I'll have more at 10&11 on @WGRZ pic.twitter.com/7mWjSHwvDs Kelly Dudzik (@kellydudzikWGRZ) January 3, 2017 Officials say she had been stealing company funds since at least 2012. Investigators say the business discovered the thefts after a credit card company called to inquire about a credit card it wasn't aware of. Police say they believe Becker was using the credit card to pay personal accounts. Becker was charged with grand larceny and released after posting $10,000 bail. It couldn't be determined if she has a lawyer who could comment on the charges. The two-day meeting of the all-powerful GST Council, the 8th in a row, made little headway in brokering a solution even as non-BJP ruled states saw September as more likely deadline for the rollout of the indirect tax regime. By Press Trust of India: The deadlock over the Goods and Services Tax (GST) continued today with the Centre and states refusing to budge from their respective positions on issues like control of tax payers and taxing high sea trade, a stalemate that threatens to delay the rollout till September. The two-day meeting of the all-powerful GST Council, the 8th in a row, made little headway in brokering a solution even as non-BJP ruled states saw September as more likely deadline for the rollout of the indirect tax regime. advertisement The next meeting of the GST Council, headed by Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and comprising state representatives, on January 16 would discuss the issue of jurisdiction over assesses as well as try to reach a finality on taxation of territorial waters. NO HEADWAY IN GST COUNCIL MEET Kerala Finance Minister Thomas Isaac said the other remaining issues before the GST Council include ways to fund the compensation to states for GST rollout and states participation in Integrated GST (IGST). "Working overtime, it should be possible to meet the deadline of September. I am not very optimistic about rolling GST out in June/July. Because it is a new tax and lot of complexity involved, it would be better to move in after full preparation. So GST, to my understanding, will be implemented from September," he said. Isaac said some states wanted the GST revenue from the highest tax bracket to be shared in 60:40 ratio with the Centre, instead of the present 50:50 sharing. "There are 4 different rates that have been fixed. Highest bracket is 28 per cent and of this how much will be the Centre and state's share, nowhere in the law it defines and it seems to be taken for granted it is 50:50. Ever since the Independence in the Centre-state financial relation the imbalance has been growing wider and states' rights have been curtailed," he said. "That can be corrected by ensuring that state's share in GST will be 60 per cent. Many states also supported this. The Centre did not respond to the demand but it was decided to be discussed later," Isaac added. Isaac said convergence has been growing between the Centre and states. "The Centre seems to be in a mood to rethink some of the positions that the Centre has been adopting... On the whole the Centre has been taking a step backward and if it really takes one more step backward I think we will have a deal." ALSO READ: India's biggest tax reform: Demonetisation plays spoilsport for GST roll-out due in April advertisement What is the GST bill? Here's all you need to know about India's biggest tax reform --- ENDS --- Guavas are in season, and you need to try out this recipe to get a wholesome and yummy taste of the fruit. This easy guava barfi is absolutely delicious, and a must have this winter. Picture courtesy: Pinterest/lovefoodeat.com By Shreya Goswami: There's no dearth of the kinds of fruits we grow and consume in India. And yet, most of us only ever eat them raw. Of course we explore fruit chaats, and we like to top our cakes with fresh fruit sometimes--but that's it. Very few of us realise that we have a treasure of traditional recipes for barfis, halwas and kheers which we can adapt according to the available fruits! advertisement Also read: Why eat adulterated sweets when you can make this 6-step kaju katli at home? Case in point: Guavas are in season, and they taste best right now. We have a traditional peru (guava in Marathi) barfi recipe from Western India that is super-easy to whip up, and absolutely delicious. Give this one a try, and you'll see just how easy it is to transform fruits into gourmet Indian desserts. Ingredients: 2 ripe guavas 1 cup water 1 cup sugar 2 tbsp unsalted butter 1/2 tsp cardamom powder 1/2 tsp citric acid 1/2 tsp salt 1/2 tsp red edible colour These barfis will woo your taste buds, and you'll end up making quite a few batches of them. Picture courtesy: Pinterest/lovefoodeat.com Method: 1. Wash and chop the ripe guavas. Put them in a non-stick pan with the water, and boil it this the guavas become soft. Strain the soft guavas with a sieve to separate the seeds from the pulp. 2. Take a cup full of the guava pulp, and put it in a thick-bottomed pan with the sugar and butter. Mix it thoroughly, while cooking it on a low flame. 3. Once the mix turns thick, add the salt, cardamom powder, citric acid and red edible colour. Make sure it's spread out evenly through the guava barfi mix. 4. Pour the mix on a greased plate, and let it cool down completely. Cut it into equal-sized rectangular pieces. You can preserve these barfis for upto a week in the refrigerator. You can, of course, add a few nuts on top of the barfi while it cools down. These peru or guava barfis taste brilliant, and you can enjoy a few at leisure--or offer them up to unexpected guests at home. Trust us, they'll love it as much as you will! --- ENDS --- By Press Trust of India: Anna Hazare moved the Bombay High Court on Tuesday asking for a CBI probe into what he called a "Rs 25,000 crore sugar cooperative factories scam". The activist filed two civil PILs and one criminal PIL, claiming that "the scam" has pulled Maharashtra back by 50 years and has put the state under financial debts to the tune of hundreds of crores of rupees. The criminal petition is listed for hearing on January 6 before a bench headed by Justice Abhay Oka. advertisement The PILs allege that fraud had been committed in governance by first burdening sugar cooperative factories with debts and thereafter selling these sick units at a throwaway price, causing a loss of Rs 25,000 crore to the government, cooperative sector and members of public. Hazare demanded a CBI inquiry into allegations of corruption and misuse of public and cooperative funds. The petitions also sought the appointment of a court receiver to take possession of all properties held by people against whom a prima facie case exists over the alleged scam. PETITIONS NAME SHARAD, AJIT PAWAR Hazare's PILs also called for an inquiry by a Special Investigating Team (SIT) over the alleged role of "politicians into the sugar cooperative scam, including NCP President and former Union Agriculture [Minister] Sharad Pawar and his nephew and former (Maharashtra) Irrigation Minister Ajit Pawar". The petitions name both members of the Pawar family as respondents. The petitioner stated that the statistics and facts mentioned in the PILs have been collected from authorities through the Right to Information Act. ALSO READ: Anna Hazare meets CM Fadnavis, demands liquor prohibition in Maharashtra --- ENDS --- The work of one of Trinity Colleges most famous alumni will be recognised on the face of the new 50p piece, when it goes into circulation later this year. Sir Isaac Newton will be commemorated by the 2017 design alongside Jane Austen who will appear on a new 2 coin marking the 200th anniversary of her death. Austen will also appear on the new 10 note, replacing Cambridge alumnus and scientist Charles Darwin. A second 2 will feature the Royal Flying Corps, a predecessor of the Royal Air Force. The Royal Mint is also releasing a new 12-sided 1 coin, which it has billed as the most secure coin in the world. It isnt the first time Newton has appeared on legal tender. The Cantab featured on the 1978 1 note, which was withdrawn from circulation after the introduction of the 1 coin. As well as his significant contributions to science, Newton also served as Master of the Mint, where his work laid the groundwork for the introduction of the gold standard by which a currencys value was measured in Britain until 1931. Dr Kevin Clancy, director of the Royal Mint Museum, said: This is a particularly significant year in Royal Mint history as we welcome in the new 12-sided 1 coin, with its innovative security features. This year we also mark the achievements of Jane Austen, Sir Isaac Newton and the Royal Flying Corps all pioneers in their own field. The British public should start to see these coins appearing in their change from spring 2017. This is the second time Cambridge has hit headlines recently due to currency. In December, vegan restaurant Rainbow Cafe came under fire for refusing to accept new 5 notes after it was revealed that they contain traces of meat by-products. This article was last updated on 05/01/17 BJP projected to secure a majority by bagging between 206-216 seats in UP. This is about 30 seats more than the number of seats the BJP was projected to bag in the first UP opinion done by Axis My India in October. Samajwadi Party in its current avatar is projected to emerge as second largest party bagging between 92-97 seats. Despite the infighting in the Samajwadi Party, in the last three months the SP's graph seems to have risen while the BSP has slipped from second to third place. BSP is likely to bag between 79-85 seats. In the last Opinion Poll the BSP's tally was projected between 115-124. The reason behind the BSP's decline seems to be its inability to get incremental voters beyond its traditional Dalit vote bank. In 2007 the BSP had won on the back of upper caste Brahmins joining the BSP's Dalit bandwagon. In 2017, BSP's appeal among non-Dalits seems to be limited. Rahul Gandhi's high voltage campaign and Prashant Kishore's electoral strategising seems to have made no difference to the Congress' fortunes. The party's tally is projected to decline to between 5-9 seats from 28 seats in the 2012 polls. BJP's projected vote share has gone up to 33% from 31% in the Opinion Poll done by Axis My India in October. Even though both the SP and the BSP have 26% vote share, SP likely to bag more seats because it's vote share is concentrated, unlike the BSP who's votes are spread across the state. An overwhelming 76% of the respondents in the survey support demonetisation. But people are split on whether the aam aadmi is inconvenienced by DeMo. 58% report that they have been facing problems because of DeMo, 42% say they are not inconvenienced. The bump in the BJP's vote share in the new poll indicates that despite the inconvenience caused by DeMo, people believe that PM Modi's move will ultimately benefit the nation. More than half the respondents (51%) say that they believe that DeMo will help eliminate the menace of black money and fake notes. The BJP's attempts to break into the Yadav vote bank of the SP is not making much headway. 72% of the Yadavs polled say that they will vote for the undivided SP. One of the reasons behind the BSP's falling graph is that the Muslims of UP who were earlier divided between the SP and the BSP now seem to be gravitating towards the SP. 71% of the Muslims polled in December say they will vote for the SP. In October the SP's Muslim support stood at 58%. In the same period the the BSP's support among Muslims has fallen from 21% to 14%. Among all age categories the SP's support is highest amongst the youth, thanks to the image Akhilesh has been able to build among the youngsters in the state. The BJP's popularity is maximum among the 60+ voters of UP where it has 37% support, four percent more than its overall vote share. Young Akhilesh Yadav is the top choice to be the state's next CM, with 33% of the respondents backing him for the job. Mayawati comes in second with 25% support. Even though Home Minister Rajnath Singh has indicated that he's not in the race, he's still the BJP's best bet, with 20% of the respondents backing him to be the next CM. As has been the case in previous opinion polls, Mayawati has the highest approval ratings when it comes to the question of who's best placed to handle law and order in UP. 48% of the respondents thought that she would do the best job. 28% backed Akhilesh Yadav to best handle law and order in UP. This Opinion Poll has a sample size of 8480. The field work was done by a team of 35 surveyors between 12-24 December. This poll does not factor in the impact of any possible split in the Samajwadi Party nor does it look at the impact of an alliance among the SP, Congress and RLD. In a multi corner race with small margins, the coming together of 'secular forces' can change all current calculations. Explaining what could change from here on, Pradeep Gupta the lead pollster for Axis-My-India told India Today, "As of now Muslim votes are consolidated behind the SP. But if the Samajwadi Party splits, Muslims will have to rethink their support. Minorities could once again swing towards BSP or pick the Akhilesh and Congress alliance. A Dalit plus Muslim combination can pose a serious challenge to the BJP." Battling demonetisation headwinds, the BJP believes it will do even better than the India Today poll suggests. Party General Secretary in-charge of Uttar Pradesh Om Mathur told India Today, "For the last two and a half years BJP workers have been working on every booth in the state. Our efforts will deliver even better results than what your poll shows. Our own calculation shows we will get more than 300 seats. You can take this in writing from me." BSP representatives refused to comment on the findings of the Axis Opinion Poll saying that polls always tend to underestimate BSP's vote share and that the people would speak for their party. It seems like every other day, a new device gains Amazon Alexa integration. Now Amazons voice assistant can also control Whirlpools new washer-dryer pair, and Alexa will come to the rest of Whirlpools smart appliances later this year. The company is launching 21 new Wi-Fi-connected appliances that will respond to your voice with help from Alexa. For instance, if youre in the middle of mixing cookie dough and want to preheat the oven, you can just holler at Alexa to do it for you. Prepping for a big shindig? Ask Alexa to set the refrigerator to party mode so youll have tons of ice at the ready. The move is a natural progression for Whirlpool, who releases new smart models every year. In 2016, the big trend was Amazon Dash integration. Before that, it was Nest. Ryan Craig, Whirlpools senior manager of IoT, called the Alexa addition a purposeful innovation. Wouldnt it be easier to speak to your oven? he said. The Smart Cabrio Laundry Pair will be the first Whirlpool machines with Alexa capability, with 21 total Alexa-integrated appliances to launch in 2017. Whirlpool appliance owners with an Amazon Alexa device like the Echo or Echo Dot will be able to call on the voice assistant to help out in the kitchen and laundry room. Commands range from setting the oven timer or adjusting the temperature to asking how much time is left on a wash cycle or pausing the dryer. Whirlpool isnt the first appliance maker to jump on board with Alexa, although the company does provide a more seamless way to use Amazons assistant with its products. Rival GE announced last fall that it would put Alexa integration in its lineup of connected appliancessome 70-odd machines in totalbut GE is using the Geneva skill. That means you have to ask Geneva to tell Alexa to turn on the washing machine. With Whirlpool, you can query Alexa directly. Whirlpool has a few other announcements in the wings as CES unfolds, but one of its most interesting announcements is a little out of the box. The companys experimental W Labs is launching an Indiegogo campaign on Jan. 6 for the new Zera food recycler. The $1200 machine will turn a weeks worth of food, about 95 percent of a familys food waste, into fertilizer in under 24 hours. Its not as trendy as an Alexa-integrated appliance, but Zera could actually do some good. HP's train rolled into CES 2017 today with a load of new technology including a refreshed version of the company's popular 2-in-1 packing some curious changes. The updated Spectre x360 is actually slightly thicker than its predecessor by 1.9mm, or about the thickness of a nickel. It's unusual in the tech world to see a next-generation product add girth but as you'll see shortly, there's a reason for the extra heft. Sarah Murry, Newsroom Managing Editor for HP Inc., notes in a recent blog post that 65 percent of their customers prefer 15-inch notebook displays and a whopping 93 percent prefer a 4K panel. That, then, is exactly what HP has delivered with the 2017 Spectre x360. The 15.6-inch LED-backlit display is indeed of the 4K variety with a resolution of 3,840 x 2,160. It's also Windows Ink certified should you want to quickly jot down some notes or do some sketching. The customer-inspired changes didn't stop there, however, as HP also shifted to a "micro-edge" display that reduced the screen's bezel by 70 percent down to just 4.5mm on each side. Helping drive the high-res screen is Intel's seventh-generation Core i7-7500U Kaby Lake processor, a dual-core chip with four threads operating at 2.7GHz (up to 3.5GHz with Boost), and an outdated Nvidia GeForce 940MX GPU. Other notable specs include 16GB of DDR4 RAM, a 256GB PCIe NVMe M.2 solid state drive, dual-band 802.11ac Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Bang & Olufsen speakers, a USB 3.1 Type-C Gen 1 port, a Thunderbolt 3-enabled port, a USB Type-A 3.1 Gen 1 port, an HDMI port, a combination audio jack and a media card reader. The fact that there's no longer a 1080p display option necessitates a bigger battery and thus, explains the added thickness. HP claims the system is now good for up to 12 hours and 45 minutes between charges (stat courtesy MobileMark). The 15-incher measures 17.9mm thick and tips the scales at 4.42 pounds. The new 15.6-inch Spectre x360 is expected to be available for pre-order from today via BestBuy.com and HP.com. HP adds that it will be available for purchase later this month on BestBuy.com and in Best Buy stores in February starting at $1,499. If you can stand to wait, additional configurations starting at $1,279.99 will be available on HP.com come February 26. Nvidia has launched two new mobile GPUs at CES 2017, rounding out the GeForce 10 series with laptop counterparts for every desktop part. The GeForce GTX 1050 and GTX 1050 Ti aren't the most powerful parts going around, but their lower TDPs and respectable amounts of performance still offer something to mid-range gaming laptops and workstations. Both new parts are built using Nvidia's GP107 GPU. The GTX 1050 Ti is very similar to its desktop counterpart: there's 768 CUDA cores, 48 TMUs and 32 ROPs plus a clock speed of 1493 MHz with a rated boost clock of 1620 MHz. Interestingly, the clock speeds of the mobile GTX 1050 Ti are a good 200-230 MHz higher than the desktop part, which should provide some extra performance here. As for memory, the GTX 1050 Ti is equipped with 4 GB of GDDR5 on a 128-bit bus, clocked at 7 Gbps for 112 GB/s of bandwidth. With these specifications, the GTX 1050 Ti should provide similar performance to the GTX 970M at a lower price point and TDP. The GTX 1050 has 640 CUDA cores, 40 TMUs and, oddly, 16 ROPs. It has a base clock of 1354 MHz and a rated boost of 1493 MHz; identical to the desktop card in base clock and slightly higher in boost clock. The GPU will be available with up to 4 GB of GDDR5 on a 128-bit bus, again providing 112 GB/s of bandwidth. Performance will be similar to the GTX 965M. Both these new GPUs integrated upgraded BatteryBoost technology that will provide frame pacing while gaming on battery. Users will be able to set a frame rate cap, so that longer playtime can be achieved on battery, and this frame rate will be maintained in a smooth and consistent fashion. Previously, gaming on battery was a poor and janky experience, but this shouldn't be an issue with the GTX 1050 and GTX 1050 Ti. These new GPUs will be available immediately in a range of laptops, many of which will (or already have) been announced at CES 2017. Animal conservationists in Massachusetts have rescued 10 Risso's dolphins that got stranded in a local harbor at the beginning of the year. Members of the nonprofit group International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) responded to reports on Sunday, Jan. 1, about dolphins having been spotted in Wellfleet Harbor. At first, residents reported that there were three dolphins swimming in the harbor, but by the time the rescuers arrived, they discovered that there were actually more of the marine mammals. IFAW spokeswoman Kerry Branon said the animals may have been trying to catch some prey, leading them to get closer to the shore. Rescue Efforts According to Branon, rescuers tried to herd the dolphins using boats so that they could lead the animals back to open waters. When the tide went out, however, the dolphins suddenly found themselves stuck in a portion of the harbor. The rescuers then decided to enter the cold, muddy water, so that they could safely move the animals out of their predicament. Each one of the dolphins was placed on a stretcher then transported on trucks using special carts. Some of the Risso's dolphins were so large that it took 15 rescuers just to move them from the harbor and into the vehicles. "They are pretty big, and really quite heavy," Branon said. "It's a massive undertaking, 10 dolphins." Branon added that this was the largest stranding of dolphins that they have responded to. Before this, the IFAW had rescued another group of dolphins that became stranded in a cove close to Chequessett Neck Road in September. After securing the Risso's dolphins on the transport trucks, they were then taken to Corn Hill Beach in Truro, where they were set free in the ocean. The rescuers believe the favorable winds in the area will help the animals find their way back into open waters. Branon said the rescue teams received much helped from residents and local authorities in saving the stranded dolphins. Some even handed out mugs of hot cocoa to the rescuers so that they could make it through the cold winter day. Risso's Dolphins Risso's dolphins took their name after Nicard naturalist Giuseppe Antonio Risso. Risso was the first to provide a description of the animals to the public. While some people also refer to the dolphins as grampus, this name is more often associated with their fellow marine mammals, the orcas. Male and female Risso's are known to reach lengths of up to 8.5 feet to 13 feet (2.6 to 4 meters) and weigh between 660 to 1,100 pounds (300 to 500 kilograms). These dolphins have a bulbous head with a vertical crease, and a beak that isn't easily distinguishable. They also have a long, sickle-shaped dorsal fin found in the middle of their backs. Adult Risso's can be differentiated from other dolphin species through their pale gray skin and the heavy scarring on their bodies. These dolphins often end up in tussles with others of their kind and with lampreys and cookie-cutter sharks, which serve as their prey. Despite not being considered an endangered species, Risso's dolphins are still protected through the Marine Mammal Protection Act. 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Samsung's forthcoming flagship, the Galaxy S8, may arrive with a feature that'll surpass Apple's also-forthcoming iPhone 8. The feature, however, is not new. Microsoft has already done it with a feature called Continuum for the HP Elite x3, blurring the lines between the smartphone and the desktop experience. Galaxy S8 Could Have A Continuum-Like Feature Samsung may have taken a page from Microsoft's playbook and saw Continuum as a feature fit for its imminent flagship. If reports are correct, the phone could offer a PC-like, full desktop experience. For those uninitiated with Microsoft's phone-as-a-PC feature, Continuum lets users plug their handsets onto a docking station, whereby an external display, a keyboard, and a mouse may also be plugged alongside to output a complete desktop experience, essentially making the phone an ultra-portable PC, similar to how the HP Elite x3 works. The rumor comes from All About Windows Phone, which obtained a leaked slide from a source. Multitasking On Desktop Mode The slide, which purportedly hails from a Galaxy S8 presentation, features a workspace concept that's eerily similar to Continuum. The handset is tagged as the "main" component of the whole setup, with the display, keyboard, and mouse tagged as "extended workspace." The phone is directly plugged to a monitor with an Android logo beside it, and multitasking is depicted on the screen via multiple windows. For comparison, the current iteration of Continuum doesn't support multiple windows at a given time. The taskbar can show running apps, which allows users to switch between them, but only one window at a time can be run on a single workspace. If Samsung indeed comes up with its own Continuum-like feature that supports multi-window workspaces, then it could even surpass Continuum itself. Other Galaxy S8 Rumors A wellspring of rumors has been ascribed to the Galaxy S8 in recent months, now that it's officially headed for a Mobile World Congress unveiling late February in Barcelona, Spain. The latest Bluetooth technology, which stands at 5.0, is purportedly integrated into the handset. If true, the Galaxy S8 could allow for far-field communication with Bluetooth 5.0-enabled accessories far-field, as in, users can walk around their house donning Bluetooth headsets with the phone at a considerable distance. The phone, according to rumors, could also sport a rear-mounted fingerprint scanner and an iris scanner. Additionally, the Galaxy S8's screen could be manufactured under the Y-OCTA display technology, as was the case with the Note 7. In terms of internals, the phone could rock a Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 chip, be loaded with a staggering 6 GB of RAM, and feature a self-explanatory "beast mode," deftly suggestive that the phone could be a real powerhouse. We'll know more about the Galaxy S8 when the Mobile World Congress finally rolls around. Until then, it pays to take caution as these rumors fly about the radar. 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Is 2017 a time for space travel missions and programs to shine bright and outdo previous years in scale, magnitude, and ambition? One special focus of NASA, for instance, is a unique Earth science probe that seeks to study greenhouse gases and vegetation health from space. Aiming to better understand the natural exchanges of carbon between Earths land, atmosphere, and ocean, the mission has the satellite Geostationary Carbon Cycle Observatory at its core. In a new report, NBC News says that its truly an exciting time to be alive for space enthusiasts, as the space agency along with funding billionaires continues to push the envelope in space exploration. The proposed 2017 budget for NASA at $19 billion may be down $300 million from last year, but its still considered an upgrade from the past decade when the space shuttle program came to an end. Heres whats likely to happen this year in the arena of space travel. New US President President-elect Donald Trump is stepping into his new role as NASA continues eyeing a Mars missions in the 2030s and preparing to bolt away from Russia in riding to the International Space Station. The potential is there for Trump to do the same thing, said Vector Space Systems CEO Jim Cantrell, referring to presidents occasional tendency to step in and offer a change in leadership track. John F. Kennedy, for instance, decided to shoot for the moon, while George W. Bush installed a NASA administrator who ushered in partnerships with private space firms. SpaceX Returning To Flight The Elon Musk company is poised to return to flight this month, just four months after something unexpected destroyed the Falcon 9 rocket and the satellite it is supposed to bring to space. The exact date for launching Iridiums mobile communications fleet this January remains undetermined at present. Jeff Bezos Still Hush-Hush On Plans The Amazon CEO stays largely quiet on the plan of his space firm Blue Origin. His company has been going on a launch, land, and repeat cycle, its reusable New Shepard rocket launching into sub-orbital space. Cantrell cites Bezos inclination to surprise the public with a thoroughly functional vehicle that just blows your mind. Cassini Spacecraft Ends Mission After almost two decades it left in 1997 and arrived in its destination in 2004 NASAs space probe in Saturn will come to an end and will dive head-on into the giant ringed planet. Prior to fatally slamming into Saturn, the spacecraft will approach the planets clouds as near as 1,012 miles above. Space-Based Internet While hardly a new idea, a space-based internet is becoming a bright plan once again given new technologies and relatively more affordable launch costs. OneWeb, with investors including Coca-Cola and The Virgin Group, announced early on about receiving a $1.2 billion capital injection for supporting the production of a high-capacity satellite facility. Chinas Space Plans The superpower released Tuesday, Dec. 27, its white paper on planned space activities in the next five years, which includes landing a probe on the distant side of the moon next year and launching another one to planet Mars by 2020. Last Dec. 22, the country sent the TanSat designed to measure atmospheric greenhouse gas emissions and assist in scientific inquiry into space via the Long March-2D rocket. Photo: NASA/GSFC/SDO | Flickr 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Thinking of ignoring that late-night email from the boss? Go ahead the French governments got your back. Starting Jan. 1, France supports its workers right to disconnect from their work email during off-hours. The new employment law obliges companies of more than 50 workers to start negotiations with employees promoting their rights to ignore their phones and avoid compulsive after-hours email checking. The measure was created to address the always-on work culture, which has been blamed for health problems such as burnout and has led to rising rates of unpaid overtime, The Guardian reported. If the employer and employees cannot agree, the former must release a charter that would explicitly show the out-of-hours demands on, as well as rights, of the latter. The Scourge of Info-Obesity Labor Minister Myriam El Khomri introduced the bill after he commissioned and received a report in September 2015 that warns against the health repercussions of info-obesity happening in various workplaces. This new law although the only clause in a larger, more controversial labor law that appears to enjoy consensus is seemingly mum on any sanction for firms that fail to define it. "Employees physically leave the office, but they do not leave their work. They remain attached by a kind of electronic leash like a dog, Benoit Hamon, a Socialist Parliament member and ex-education minister in France, told the BBC back in May. Linh Le, a partner at a Paris management consultancy firm, cites that corners of the home, such as the bedroom or the kitchen, have become workspaces. She warns that this poses a real threat to relationships. A study from French researcher entity Eleas revealed that over one-third of French workers used their gadgets to work out-of-hours daily, with around 60 percent favoring regulation in order to clarify what their rights are. France has had a 35-hour workweek since 2000, but the rule came under fire in recent times as the countrys unemployment rate surged to near-record high. Baby Steps and Challenges Some large corporations have already taken steps in limiting after-hours communication with workers before the new law took effect. Germanys Volkswagen and Daimler, along with Frances insurer Axa and nuclear power firm Areva, have introduced relevant practices, including automatically destroying emails once they are sent to employees on holiday. PriceMinister, a Paris-based online marketplace, is also said to have implemented no-email Fridays. Its CEO Olivier Mathiot, though, felt the issue should be tackled through education, not the creation of more laws. Some experts remind about employees need not just for protection but also flexibility. Linh Le also thinks the law will quickly become outdated, as emails could cease to exist and be replaced by something else in a couple of years. Work-related stress does not seem to discriminate. Electronic health records (EHR), which provide doctors access to medical records even when they are at home and technically extend work hours, have been found to contribute to major burnout in doctors. On the contrary, a 2015 study shows that workgroups with higher affective organizational commitment (AOC) those who are more emotionally attached to their jobs had higher psychological well-being, as well as fewer sleep disturbances and absences from sickness. 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. The Center for Whale Research has revealed that the oldest known orca is considered dead. J2 Granny Not Spotted Since October Last Year Researchers do not know the actual age of the orca dubbed "J2 Granny" but she is estimated to be between 80 and 105 years old. When whale researchers spotted Granny in the summer of 2016, they considered the orca to be in high spirit but she was missing from the Southern Resident Killer Whale (SRKW) group J pod by the end of the year. Researchers think that the whale that swam in the seas near Washington State possibly passed away as she has not been seen with the J group for the last three months. The center's executive director Kenneth Balcomb said that they have seen J2 thousands of times over the past 40 years. The orca was also observed in recent years leading the J pod virtually everytime she was spotted but it has been a while since she was seen. The Center for Whale Research said that Granny was last spotted in October and the center now considers her deceased. "I last saw her on October 12, 2016 as she swam north in Haro Strait far ahead of the others. Perhaps other dedicated whale-watchers have seen her since then, but by year's end she is officially missing from the SRKW population, and with regret we now consider her deceased," wrote Balcomb. One Of World's Longest-Living Killer Whales Granny was considered among the world's longest-living orcas until she was considered dead. She is one of the few "resident" whales that researchers do not precisely know the age because she was born long before studies started. "We knew this day would come, and each year that she returned with the rest of J pod brought us closer to this inevitable moment," the Center for Whale Research said. "With heavy hearts we have to say goodbye to yet another southern resident, perhaps the most loved and known to all and the oldest orca to date." Three populations of killer whales are known to be in the northeast Pacific. Members of Granny's group has seen their population decline and the orcas are considered as endangered under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. Ripe Old Age The lifespan of orcas range between 60 and 80 years old but South Residents live extraordinarily long. The female K7 or Lumni, which passed away in 2008 was 98 years old at the time of her death, according to the Pacific Whale Watch Association (PWWA). L2, or Ocean Sun, also Southern Resident is believed to be 85 years old. Declining Orca Populations As of Dec. 31, the SRKW population is estimated to number 78 and the J pod has 24 individuals plus a wandering orca called L87. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said that declines in orca population may be associated with threats that include toxic pollution and noise caused by boat traffic. The killer whales also depend on healthy populations of salmon, particularly Chinook, which are also declining. 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Kamala Harris, whose mother was from India and father from Jamaica, was sworn in as the Senator from California by outgoing US Vice President Joe Biden. She is the first Indian-American to have ever served in the Senate. By Press Trust of India: A record five Indian-Americans took oath as members of the US Congress, scripting history for the minority ethnic community that comprises just one per cent of America's population. 52-year-old Kamala Harris, whose mother was from India and father from Jamaica, was sworn in on Tuesday as the Senator from California by outgoing US Vice President Joe Biden. She is the first Indian-American to have ever served in the Senate. advertisement She was accompanied by her husband Doug Emhoff, sister Maya Harris and other members of her immediate family during the swearing in ceremony. Harris, who before the swearing in held the position of California Attorney General, replaced Senator Barbara Boxer, who decided against seeking re-election. She is one of the seven new Senators to have taken office in the new Congress. "Today I was sworn-in to the US Senate. I am humbled and honoured to serve you and the people of California. Let's get to work," Harris said immediately thereafter. Also read: California's Kamala Harris first Indian-American to win a US Senate seat After her elections, she has made it clear that her top priority would be to fight out the alleged divisive policies of the Republicans who are now in majority in both the House of Representative and the Senate. Also read: Indian-origin Kamala Harris has potential to be the first woman US President: Report A few hours later, the focus of the community shifted to the House Chambers wherein as many as four Indian-Americans were sworn in as its members, including Congressman Ami Bera, who has been re-elected for the third consecutive term. In the process Bera, 51, equalled the record of Dalip Singh Saundh, who exactly 60-years ago became the first Indian-American to be elected as a member of the US Congress. Joining Bera was young and dynamic Ro Khanna (40) representing the Silicon Valley. He was sworn in on a bicentennial edition of the Constitution on loan from the rare books division of the Library of Congress. Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi, 42, who won the election from Illinois took the oath on Gita. He is only the second US lawmaker after Tulsi Gabbard from Hawaii to take the oath on a Gita. Gabbard, the first ever Hindu to be elected to the US Congress took the oath for third consecutive term. Having created a national niche for herself even before being sworn in, Pramila Jayapal (51) is the first Indian American woman in the US House of Representatives. Her 78-year-old mother, who especially came in from India, watched the proceedings from the gallery. --- ENDS --- advertisement SpaceX has announced the return of its flight services on Jan. 8 with a launch of new satellites. The company also announced the closure of the investigation into the September explosion that destroyed a Falcon 9 rocket and a commercial communications satellite. The company clarified that it would launch the new satellites on Jan. 8 pending approval by the Federal Aviation Administration. Under the plan, the Elon Musk-led company will launch 10 satellites on a Falcon 9 rocket for Iridium Communications from the Vandenberg Air Force Base. The constellation of satellites is aiming to provide mobile communications capabilities on land, ships and airplanes. At present, SpaceX has a backlog of 70 missions to execute and an estimated $10 billion is tied up with them. SpaceX suspended the flight services of Falcon 9 rockets after the explosion and was looking at resumption of services by November 2016. Detailed Investigation According to the latest anomaly update issued by the company, the probe team scanned nearly 3,000 channels of video and telemetry data and found the cause of failure in a pressure vessel inside the liquid oxygen tank. Noting that "buckles" have been found in the inner liners of composite overwrapped pressure vessels (COPVs), which are used in storing liquid helium, SpaceX said chilled liquid oxygen might have been trapped inside the vessels and triggered the blast. "Although buckles were not shown to burst a COPV on their own, investigators concluded that super-chilled liquid oxygen can pool in these buckles under the overwrap. When pressurized, oxygen pooled in this buckle can become trapped; in turn, breaking fibers or friction can ignite the oxygen in the overwrap, causing the COPV to fail," SpaceX explained in the anomaly update. September Setback The explosion of Falcon 9 on Sept. 1 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida destroyed the $62 million rocket and a $200 million communications satellite. The incident was a big setback for the company as it destroyed both the rocket and its payload. It also wrought significant damage to LC-40, the primary launch site of SpaceX. The destroyed satellite, AMOS-6 communications satellite, was manufactured by Israeli company Spacecom for Facebook, which was planning to expand internet access in the sub-Saharan region of Africa. The accident also cost the company as it lost a major order from the British satellite communications company Inmarsat. Remedial Measures SpaceX updated that to mitigate such incidents, it is looking to revamp fueling procedures to pre-empt the buildup of super-cold liquid oxygen between the helium canisters. "In the long term, SpaceX will implement design changes to the COPVs to prevent buckles altogether," the statement said. Meanwhile, Iridium welcomed the resumption of launch services by SpaceX. "Iridium is pleased with SpaceX's announcement on the results of the September 1 anomaly as identified by their accident investigation team and their plans to target a return to flight," said the company's spokeswoman Diane Hockenberry. 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Samsung won't let the recall of the Galaxy Note 7 kill off its Galaxy Note phablet series. The company will reportedly release the Galaxy Note 8 in the second half of 2017, and it will feature a 4K display, Bixby personal assistant, and more. Samsung has built up a loyal fan base for its S Pen-packing Galaxy Note smartphones and, even though it officially recalled the Galaxy Note 7 because of reports of the device catching fire, some owners just weren't willing to part with the phablet. We saw this first hand in the comments section of an article we published in October about claims that the company was considering offering Note 7 customers' discounts on the upcoming Galaxy S8, S8 Edge/Plus, and Note 8. Samsung Tries To Get Note 7 Owners To Part With Defective Device Since it was believed at the time that the Note 7's battery was the main culprit, Samsung decided to release a software update for the smartphone that would limit its ability to charge more than 60 percent but its main goal was to force owners who were still refusing to exchange the defective device to do so. There have been reports that Samsung may kill off the Galaxy Note completely due to the Note 7 debacle, but if you're one of the many Galaxy Note fans, you'll be happy to know that Samsung will indeed release an updated Galaxy Note 8 in the second half of this year with impressive specs. Samsung To Keep Galaxy Note Brand And Plans To Release Galaxy Note 8 A report from Business Korea notes that Samsung is planning to release the Galaxy S8 and S8 Edge/Plus in April, which will supposedly feature 2K displays. The publication claims Samsung will use higher resolution UHD (ultra-high definition) 4K Super AMOLED displays for improved VR (virtual reality), which will allow the smartphone to connect to a next-generation Gear VR wearable headset. "Samsung will introduce 2K resolution displays in the Galaxy S8, but it will use 4K resolution displays in the Galaxy Note 8 to realize improved virtual reality (VR) functions. I heard that it will connect with new Gear VR wearable," the source stated. The Samsung Galaxy Note 8 will also feature the company's upcoming Bixby personal assistant, thanks to its acquisition of the company Viv Labs, whose owners are credited with creating iOS's favorite assistant Siri. Bixby will make its debut on the Galaxy S8 series and is rumored to be much more advanced than Siri and on par with Android 7.0's Google Assistant. The Note 8 is also expected to gain enhanced S Pen functionality and updated iris scanner, which debuted on the Note 7. We'll keep you posted on any additional Samsung Galaxy Note 8 details as they become available. 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Intel has acquired a 15 percent stake on a mapping and navigation service company called Here and it is drawing an immense amount of interest. The move seems to bolster claims that the chipmaker is also eyeing the development of an autonomous vehicle technology. Here's Acquisition Value If the name Here rings a bell, that is because the Netherlands-based company has a storied background. It was first known as Navteq, which was bought and further developed by Nokia. The company was finally acquired by a German automakers consortium composed of BMW AG, Daimler AG and Audi AG. Intel will be joining this group as co-owner, and the relationship seems to go even further than business partners. There is no word yet both from Intel or Here that articulates the value of the acquisition. Based on the company's sale price back in 2015, according to TechCrunch, the 15 percent stake could be worth $390 million today. Intel: Why Here? In an official statement, both Intel and Here officials have indicated that the former's interest extends beyond the pursuit of profit. It will be collaborating with Here to develop its mapping platform further and work with its new carmaker partners to build an autonomous vehicle or at least a technology that can power a self-driving car "Cars are rapidly becoming some of the world's most intelligent, connected devices," Brian Krzanich, Intel's CEO, said. "We look forward to working with HERE and its automotive partners to deliver an important technology foundation for smart and connected cars of the future." Here's CEO Edzard Overbeek is more explicit. He pointed out that Intel's entry into the company will address the challenge of developing an autonomous system that requires powerful and capable computing technology. Proof Of Concept The official Intel release even cited a new initiative to develop a proof-of-concept architecture for autonomous vehicles and its partners will be testing the technology. One should note that this could be a boon to the automakers such as BMW, which for its part is poised to release its i3 electric vehicle this year. The company has already ended its research partnership with Baidu to develop a self-driving car technology. Interestingly, if successful, the output, which could be similar to Tesla's Autopilot, will be made available across the automotive industry. Specifically, accurate and comprehensive mapping data is critical for an autonomous vehicle to be successful. They are analogous to knowledge and experiences that provide insights to the way a self-driving car makes a decision and performs an action. In this respect, Intel has touted Here's mapping model, which is cloud-based. According to the company, this variable gives the service an advantage because it can provide an autonomous vehicle the ability to see obstacles that are not present in its field of vision. There is also Here's capability to receive real-time updates such as traffic and road conditions, among others. Intel and Here also revealed that they will also explore other technologies such as machine learning. 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Samsung's next-generation Galaxy S8 will apparently pack the same Samsung SDI batteries found in the explosive Galaxy Note 7, according to a new report. The Samsung Galaxy Note 7 made quite some waves in 2016 with its exploding batteries, prompting the company to recall the device not once, but twice. The Samsung SDI batteries, however, may not be at fault. Upon recalling the product the first time, Samsung initially blamed the explosive fiasco on the battery units made by Samsung SDI. Samsung then put the Galaxy Note 7 back on the market, this time with Amperex batteries on board, only to face the same issues and lead to a second recall. Galaxy S8 Battery From Samsung SDI Considering that the Galaxy Note 7 kept posing the same problems with both Samsung SDI and Amperex batteries, it seems that the issue lies elsewhere. Samsung has launched an internal probe into the Galaxy Note 7 disaster and is set to release its findings later this month, but it seems the company is still confident that Samsung SDI batteries are safe. With this in mind, a new report out of Korea now reveals that the battery for the next-generation Samsung Galaxy S8 will come from Samsung SDI. Samsung Galaxy S8 Production: 10 Million Units A separate report, meanwhile, claims that Samsung is gearing up to produce 10 million Galaxy S8 units in time for the smartphone's expected debut in April. This indicates that Samsung has not lost confidence in its products and it's expecting high demand for the Galaxy S8 flagship despite the Galaxy Note 7 fiasco. Samsung reportedly gave its suppliers a production plan earlier this month, detailing that the first batch of components will hit manufacturing plants in February and mass production will kick off in March. These plans would fall in line with the rumored April unveiling, potentially explaining why Samsung delayed the Galaxy S8 release. As for the 10 million units figure, it's not random. Samsung sold a whopping 10 million Galaxy S7 series smartphones during the first month of availability, setting a new record for the company. With 10 million units reportedly planned for the Galaxy S8 release, it seems that Samsung is confident that its new flagship smartphone will be at least as successful as its previous one. With many Galaxy Note 7 (former) owners looking for another high-end smartphone from Samsung, the Galaxy S8 could turn out to be a popular hit if it doesn't come with major issues like the ill-fated phablet. Samsung still enjoys strong brand loyalty, at least in the United States, and the right mix of powerful specs and features could be just what it needs to ride the Galaxy S8 to glory and recoup some of the money it lost over the Galaxy Note 7 fiasco. Meanwhile, Galaxy S8 rumors are piling up and hint at a real powerhouse with top-notch specs and features all around. After the Galaxy Note 7 failure, Samsung truly needs a powerful flagship to recover and it's reportedly going all in with the Galaxy S8, adding substantial upgrades in virtually every area. Nevertheless, keep in mind that Samsung has yet to make an official announcement in this regard, so a hefty grain of salt is advised. 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. CES 2017: Asus May Launch ZenFone 3 Zoom At The Event | TechTree.com We all know that Asus has an event to host on Jan 4 at CES 2017 and, the company has finally confirmed that people at the event would be witnessing the launch of a new smartphone. Asus has recently even put a post teasing the upcoming device, along with a message on Twitter. Heres the actual tweet by the company - Level up! World's best processor now fully unleashed the potential! Save the date: 01.04.17 #ASUS #ZenFone #Zennovation #CES2017! In-fact, if you observe the picture that accompanied the message in the tweet, you can see a ring box with a Qualcomm Snapdragon chipset inside it. While the company is touting that the smartphone would be featuring the worlds best processor, wide spread reports suggest that the chipset may be Qualcomms latest flagship Snapdragon 835. Interestingly, the chipset is also being said to make its debut at CES 2017. To recall, Asus had earlier released a video teasing two smartphones with unique symbols. While people started connecting those two smartphones with the Tango-powered device ZenFone AR and ZenFone 3 Zoom, we saw the ZenFone AR being leaked yesterday. Thus, this may be the ZenFone 3 Zoom, that has been rumoured for a long time now. However, curtains will be raised officially from the new smartphone today at the company's Zennovation event held at CES. TAGS: Asus, CES 2017 CES 2017: Faraday Future Unveils An Electric Supercar | TechTree.com Faraday Future (FF), an electric car company bankrolled by the Chinese brand Le Eco has unveiled its first production vehicle FF 91. Faraday Future promises to offer a fine blend of supercar's performance, precise handling, and luxury in its car. The FF 91 is based on FF's monocoque vehicle structure, in which the chassis and body are a single form. With its all-wheel drive system, the vehicle offers greater traction, control, and precise power distribution. In terms of design, the car seems straight out of a science fiction movie. It has a sleek rounded front fascia and curved back to aid the aerodynamic efficiency. The seats offer massage, heating, and ventilation for cooling. FF 91s roof includes smart dimming glass technology. It is also the first car that does not need a key. Owner can unlock the car using the face recognition technology. It can even sense your mood and play music accordingly. FF 91s powertrain features a multi-motor setup, enabling real-time torque vectoring to the rear wheels. Peak motor power is 783 kW, equating to 1050 HP, delivering a record-breaking 0-60 mph time of 2.39 seconds. To put things perspective, the FF 91 can generate power that's equivalent to a Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Super Sport. FF 91s 130 kWh battery achieves a range of 700 km. The high density battery is made in partnership with LG Chem. The systems compact design enables more cabin space. The company claims that using its charging station, the battery can be charged for 500 miles in an hour. The bundled home charger is relatively slower. It charges 50 percent in under 4.5 hours at 240V. Faraday Future's vehicle is high on security. It features complex sensor system including 10 high definition cameras, 13 long and short range radars and 12 ultrasonic sensors. Fused with a powerful CPU, the system can quickly extract data from all those sensors and correct driving decisions. The standard rearview mirror has been replaced by a high definition display that merges the live feed from the side mirrors and rearview camera into a single image. The camera placement is made to eliminate the blind spots. The car also features a driverless parking feature. Farady Future will begin accepting reservations for FF 91 through its official website FF.com. Reservations are $5,000 and are fully refundable. However, there's no word on the actual cost of the car. The first 300 orders will have the opportunity to upgrade to an exclusive launch series, the Alliance Edition, in March 2017. The production of FF 91 is planned to start in 2018. TAGS: electric cars This case may indeed be illustrative of what these type of voice-enabled home assistants are recording and perhaps foreshadowing another legal battle over requests for technology-based evidence versus a consumer's expectation of privacy very reminiscent of Apple vs. FBI. Up to this point, it's been unclear what these devices are actually recording. What we do know is that devices like Echo are always listening. Once the device hears the "wake word," it then records your voice and transfers it to a processor for analysis, so that it can accurately fulfill your requests. The Alexa app will also say your last query to make sure that it got it right. It's thus always listening, and the recordings are streamed and presumably stored remotely with a digital trail much like if you were typing an email. Technology and the Internet of Things (IoT) is obviously moving faster than the law where everyday objects are now sending and receiving data. We will see how this case proceeds and whether a subpoena will produce the requested data. And while consumers should expect privacy from these type of devices, if you have concerns, you should probably also know that retrievable data probably exists. Consumers who use voice-activated, always-on digital assistants such as Amazon Echo and Google Home could soon learn whether outsiders notably attorneys, police and the courts can gain access to the audio that's recorded on the increasingly popular devices.Prosecutors in Benton County, Arkansas are pressuring Amazon to turn over electronic data that was recorded on one of its Echo smart speakers in November 2015. Authorities are hoping the recordings will reveal what led to the death of Victor Collins, who was found dead in a hot tub owned by one of his co-workers, James Bates.Bates has been charged in Collins' death.So far, Amazon has refused to give prosecutors the data, saying that it is protecting the privacy of a client.The privacy case is reminiscent of the unsuccessful attempt that FBI made last year to force Apple to unlock an iPhone that had been used by one of the assailants in the mass shooting in San Bernardino in December 2015. The FBI later hired professional hackers to unlock the phone.asked James Goodnow, a tech attorney at Fennemore Craig, P.C. in Phoenix, to put the latest privacy battle into perspective. Goodnow said:Goodnow noted in an earlier email to the: "We've seen a lot of concern in past years about what Google collects and what they do with it, and Apple is also reportedly jumping into the niche soon with a similar device.The Echo and Home work best when they know everything about you and they get that info by you (the user) allowing them access to it. Google especially will take everything that you feed to Google to allow Home to be as efficient and knowledgeable as possible. The Echo works the same way.For it to be good, you have to feed it a lot of data."And that data, whether you're using the Home or the Echo, is sent to a cloud-based server somewhere for analysis. Is it stored there? No one knows, but some of it must be for the Echo and Home to maintain and learn your habits to be as useful as possible." Google Brazil hacked through DNS hijacking, Google.com.br unavailable to users In what seems to a case of DNS hijacking, the Googles Brazil website, Google.com.br was hacked by a lone hacker. This Google website hacking incident comes after Pakistani hackers had similarly hacked Google Bangladesh website in the 2nd week of December. The Google Brazil was hacked by a hacker going by the online handle of KuroiSH. KuroiSH defaced the official Google Brazil domain earlier Tuesday afternoon and left a message on the hacked website for Google. Google Brazil immediately tried to restore the hacked website but seemed unable to gain control as the domain, Google.com.br is still unavailable to visitors. According to reports in Brazil media, the Google Brazil users were getting the defaced message from KuroiSH for a whole 30 minutes before Google took the website offline. Other reports indicated that KuroiSH had also hacked and defaced Google Maps and Google Translate Brazil domains but these reports were not independently confirmed. Here is a full preview of the deface page It is a great moment to die. Hacked by KuroiSH! Two Google at once, I dont even care; f**k the jealous hates such as Nofawkx. Two Google at once world record idgaf :D. Greets to my friends Prosox & Shinobi h4xor. Google acknowledged the hacking through a tweet but refused to give reasons behind the hack. O Google nao foi hackeado. Servidores de DNS podem ter sofrido um ataque, redirecionando a outros sites. Sugestao: https://t.co/2vXuWKR0sK Google Brasil (@googlebrasil) January 3, 2017 KuroiSH told Hack Read that By two Google domains I mean Google Paraguay domain since I was able to deface it as well but didnt have time to make its mirror When asked why did he deface the Google Brazil domain KuroiSH added that Google brazil was defaced to show the world everything can be hacked and we should not underestimate our security risks. KuroiSH is not a new handle in the world of hacking. In 2015, he defaced NASA subdomains and left pro-Palestinian messages on their homepages. As many as 100 of the satellites set for launch in February belong to foreign nations, including the United States and Germany. By India Today Web Desk: The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is all set to launch a record 103 satellites in one go using its workhorse PSLV-C37 in the first week of February. As many as 100 of the satellites set for launch in February belong to foreign nations, including the United States and Germany. "We are making a century by launching over 100 satellites at one go," said S Somnath, Director of the Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre of the ISRO. advertisement That ambitious figure is an improvement on the space agency's statement last week that said it will launch 83 satellites in one go. With the addition of 20 more foreign satellites, the launch was delayed by a week and will now take place in first week of February, Somnath said. Of the 83 satellites planned earlier, 80 belonged to Israel, Kazakhstan, Netherlands, Switzerland and the US. They weighed about 500 kg.The three Indian satellites scheduled to be launched are Cartosat-2 series, weighing 730 kg as primary payload, and INS-IA and INS-1B, weighing 30 kg. 2016 ISRO'S GOLDEN YEAR 2016 saw ISRO putting into orbit 34 satellites -- 33 satellites with Indian rockets and one (GSAT-18) by French company Arianespace. Of the 33 satellites launched with Indian rockets, 22 belonged to foreign customers and the remaining 11 were owned by ISRO and a couple of Indian academic institutions. Calling 2016 a "good" year, ISRO chairman AS Kiran Kumar said ISRO would launch at least five communication satellites in 2017. In June last year, ISRO had sent another record when it successfully launched 20 satellites, including its earth observation Cartosat-2 series, in a single mission on board PSLV-C34 from the spaceport in Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh. The space agency had earlier sent 10 satellites into orbit in a single mission in 2008. Also read: ISRO to launch 83 satellites on single rocket in a world record bid --- ENDS --- Asked during the daily briefing on Tuesday if Secretary of State John Kerry had offered to mediate between the two neighbours on the Indus Waters Treaty dispute, State Department Spokesperson John Kirby replied bluntly, As I said, we encourage India and Pakistan to work together bilaterally to resolve their differences. Kirby confirmed that Kerry spoke with Pakistan Finance Minister Mohammed Ishaq Dar last Thursday but would not give details of their conversation. A Pakistan Finance Ministry statement on Friday gave Islamabad version of their talk. Asked if Kerry had discussed the Indus dispute with Indian officials and at what level, Kirby said, We are in regular communication with the Indian and Pakistani governments on a wide range of issues. I just don't have any more details for you. The Indus Waters Treaty has served, I think as you know, as a model for peaceful cooperation between India and Pakistan for now 50 years, he said. We encourage, as we have in the past, India and Pakistan to work together to resolve any differences. According to Pakistan Finance Ministry, Kerry made the call to Dar. Seeming to invite that Kerry had asked for Washington's intervention, according to the ministry, Dar indicated that US support on the principles and legal position of Pakistan will be greatly appreciated. According to the ministry statement, Dar also told Kerry that the Indus Waters Treaty is an international commitment and it is the responsibility of the World Bank to make sure that India honours this. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro assured on Thursday that the time has come for his country to return to the Andean Community of Nations with all the productive and commercial capacities... | Read More By Revathi Rajeevan: Former Chief Minister of Kerala Oommen Chandy has shot off a letter to the Prime Minister asking the central government to clarify the involvement of a blacklisted UK company to establish itself in the country and print plastic notes. The company De La Rue has been working in India as part of the Make in India initiative and is working with the department of Commerce, Chandy said in his letter. advertisement Chandy has also pointed out that the company was one of the platinum partners of the 2016 India-UK summit and alleged that the same was mentioned on the relevant websites but was removed after his press conference on the same on December 31. Here's the full letter: 3rd January 2017 I wish to bring to your notice a very serious issue with regard to the attempts made by the Government of India to involve a UK based company named "De La Rue" to work in tandem with the Central Government in expanding its operations in our country and printing plastic notes in India. Even though it was raised in public, there has been no response from the Government of India whatsoever in this matter. It is reported that the Union Finance Minister Mr. Arun Jaitely, in the month of December 2016 responding to a query, had stated that his ministry is no way connected with the British company. The documents clearly shows that the company De La Rue has been working in India as part of the Make in India initiative by the Prime Minister and has also been the collaborating with the department of Commerce. This has raised serious doubts among the people and I shall be very grateful if you kindly look into the following points and take suitable action. On November 7th to 9th 2016, the India- UK summit was held in New Delhi. The summit, organized by the CII and the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India was inaugurated jointly by the British Prime Minister Mrs. Theressa May and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The De La Rue Company, blacklisted by Government of India as per media reports was one among the platinum partners. I would like to know on why a blacklisted company in India was being made a platinum partner of the joint collaborate effort between UK and India, addressed by your good self. I would also like to bring to your notice that the relevant links of the website which showed that De La Rue was a platinum sponsor of the India - UK summit was summarily removed from website pages after my press conference on this issue on December 31st 2016. I am enclosing the screenshots of the site before and after my press meet. The removal of this link has created a lot of suspicion with regard to the involvement of the De La Rue Company in a summit addressed by your good self and Prime Minister of UK. The CEO of the De La Rue, Martin Sutherland in his interview (published in their official website) on September 2016 had stated that the company has established an office in New Delhi and is working closely with the Department of Public Finance and Promotion of the Government of India to participate in Make in India Initiative. The statement has not been contested by the Government till date. How a company reportedly blacklisted is able to establish an office in India and work closely with the Union Commerce Department, government of India is suspicious. advertisement The De La Rue Company in their annual report for the years 2013, 2014 and 2015 had stated that the company had no active trading in India. But, in the latest annual report of the company it has been stated that the De La Rue is trading actively in India in 2016. Surprisingly the company recorded 33% growth in the value of its share from the month April to November 2016. This sharp increase in the share value of the company cannot happen if the company is not trading in India. I would request the Government of India to clear the speculations about this issue advertisement In 2011, the then Finance Minister of State, Sri Namo Narain Meena had stated in Rajyasabha that the security clearance was denied to De La Rue after they failed to comply to the specifications in the contract. Whether the concerned ministry has lifted the ban on the company has not been explained till this date. Kindly enquire if there are any financial transactions or collaboration that exists between Government of India and the company De La Rue. The MOS Finance, Sri Arjun Ram Meghwal on December 9th 2016, had stated in the Parliament that India has taken steps to print plastic currency. The National newspaper "The Telegraph" in a report stated that three companies including De La Rue has been shortlisted for printing plastic notes. I request you to advice the concerned ministry to publish the list of companies that are shortlisted/qualified for printing plastic currency in India.For your kind perusal, I am hereby enclosing all the relevant documents I had circulated to the media in my press conference on Dec 31st 2016. advertisement I shall be very grateful if you can kindly enquire these matters and clear the doubts about this issue without further delay. With regards, Yours sincerely,OOMMEN CHANDY Former Chief Minister Kerala --- ENDS --- At the beginning of a new year, it's a useful time to reflect on the process of starting new creative work -- for no matter what stage we're in at the moment (beginning, middle, or end), when the work is done, it's back to square one and we're facing the blank page once more. Experience only goes so far. Unless we're writing the same book over and over, or painting the same image time after time, we must re-learn our craft and acquire the skills to bring each new piece to life. Dani Shapiro, in her excellent book Still Writing, reflects on the crucial moment of beginning, and where we find our entry point: "For some writers, it's character. For others, it's place. What's our way into the story? When do we have enough to begin? If we're climbing a mountain, we need something to grab on to. We wedge our foot into a crevice in the rock and pull ourselves up. We are feeling our way in the dark. "We have nothing to go by, but still, we must begin. It requires chutzpah -- the Yiddish word for that ineffable combination of courage and hubris -- to put one word down, then another, perhaps even accumulate a couple of flimsy pages, so few that they don't even start the smallest of piles, and call it the beginning of a novel. Or memoir. Or story. Or anything, really, other than a couple flimsy pages. "When I'm between books," Shapiro says, "I feel as if I will never have another story to tell. The last book has wiped me out, has taken everything from me, everything I understand and feel and know and remember, and...that's it. There's nothing left. A low-level depression sets in. The world hides its gifts from me. It has taken me years to realize this feeling, the one of the well being empty, is as it should be. It means I've spent everything. And so I must begin again. "I wait. I try to be patient. I remember Colette, who wrote that her most essential art was 'not that of writing, but the domestic task of knowing how to wait, to conceal, to save up crumbs, to reglue, regild, change the worst into the not-so-bad, how to lose and recover in the same moment that frivolous thing, a taste for life.' Colette's words, along with those of a few others, have migrated from one of my notebooks to another for over twenty years now. It's a wisdom I need to remember -- wisdom that is so easy to forget." Of course, waiting for a new idea to take shape is not an excuse for avoiding the studio altogether. "The advice I like to give young artists," says painter Chuck Close, "or really anybody who'll listen to me, is not to wait around for inspiration. Inspiration is for amateurs; the rest of us just show up and get to work. If you wait around for the clouds to part and a bolt of lightning to strike you in the brain, you are not going to make an awful lot of work. All the best ideas come out of the process; they come out of the work itself. Things occur to you. If you're sitting around trying to dream up a great art idea, you can sit there a long time before anything happens. But if you just get to work, something will occur to you and something else will occur to you and something else that you reject will push you in another direction. Inspiration is absolutely unnecessary and somehow deceptive. You feel like you need this great idea before you can get down to work, and I find that's almost never the case." Ann Patchett reminds us that in order to write we need to cross the line between thinking about creating and getting down to work: "The journey from the head to the hand is perilous and lined with bodies," she warns. "It is the road on which nearly everyone who wants to write -- and many of the people who do write -- get lost. If creative anxiety is what prevents you from beginning, Barbara Kingsolver has this advice: "Close the door. Write with no one looking over your shoulder. Don't try to figure out what other people want to hear from you; figure out what you have to say. It's the one and only thing you have to offer." Dani Shapiro concurs: "Remember, as you begin, that you are in a remote and exotic place -- the literary equivalent of far eastern Bhutan. It is a place where no one can find you. Where anything is possible. Where, for a time, you are free, liberated from the ideas and expectations of others. You are trekking, and vistas are infinite. This freedom is necessary whether you are working on your first book or your tenth. In order to create a world on the page, you need to push away from the world around you. You must forget its expectations and constraints." A new year is beginning. At this moment, it is all potential. The vista is infinite. Words: The passage by Dani Shapiro is from Still Writing: The Pleasures & Perils of the Creative Life (Atlantic Monthly Press, 2013); the quote by Ann Patchett is from The Getaway Car: A Practical Memoir About Writing & Life (Byliner, 2011); and I recommend both. The Close and Kingsolver quotes have been reprinted so often that I'm afraid I don't know the orignal context of either one. The poem in the picture captions is from Circles on the Water: Selected Poems of Marge Piercy (Alfred A. Knopf, 1982). All rights reserved by the authors. Pictures: The first drawing is by John D. Batten (1860-1932), for The Black Bull of Norroway (a Scottish variant of East of the Sun, West of the Moon). The second and third drawings are by W. Heath Robinson (1872-1944), picturing Gerda's quest in The Snow Queen. Further reading: For more on the subject of creative anxiety, go here and here. On procrastination, go here. By Press Trust of India: New Delhi, Jan 4 (PTI) Justice Jagdish Singh Khehar, who led the five-judge constitution bench in the Supreme Court which had struck down the controversial NJAC Act for appointment of judges, was today sworn in as the 44th Chief Justice of India. President Pranab Mukherjee administered the oath of office and secrecy to Justice Kehar at the Darbar Hall of Rashtrapati Bhawan. advertisement Khehar took oath in the name of God in English at the ceremony where the Opposition was conspicuous by its absence. Then CJI, T S Thakur had last month recommended the name of Justice Khehar, the senior-most judge of the Supreme Court, to be his successor. Justice Khehar, 64, will be the first Chief Justice from the Sikh community. Justice Thakur demitted office yesterday. Justice Khehar will hold the tenure for over seven months till August 27. Besides heading the bench in NJAC matter, Justice Khehar has also headed a bench which had set aside the imposition of Presidents rule in Arunachal Pradesh in January. He was a part of the bench which sent Sahara chief Subrata Roy to jail while hearing the matter relating to the refund of money invested by people in his two companies. Justice Khehar also headed a bench which recently gave a significant verdict holding that the principal of equal pay for equal work has to be made applicable to those engaged as daily wagers, casual and contractual employees who perform the same duties as the regulars. While the turf war between the judiciary and the executive over the appointment of judges for higher judiciary has intensified, Justice Khehar on the occasion of Constitution Day on November 26 had responded to the tirade from Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi by saying the judiciary was working within its "lakshmanrekha". "Judiciary is mandated to shield all persons, citizens and non-citizens alike, against discrimination and abuse of State power. Liberty, equality and dignity of citizen have flourished substantially in India due to the pro-active role of judiciary in the country," he had said. PTI NAB TDS DV --- ENDS --- By India Today Web Desk: So, Kim Kardashian is back on social media, doing her thing, after a three-month hiatus. Mrs West had gone off social media after her robbery in Paris three months ago. What she's also doing along the way is confusing us, and the rest of the world. The reality TV star has certainly made new beginnings in the new year, as she posted a picture of herself with her family on Instagram and Twitter on Tuesday. family A photo posted by Kim Kardashian West (@kimkardashian) on Jan 3, 2017 at 10:56am PST advertisement What had us confused, however, was the fact that she took her middle and last name-- Kardashian West--off of her social media name. So, Kim Kardashian West was just Kim on her Instagram and Twitter accounts, before she changed it back to Kim Kardashain West! While some rumours of Kim and Kanye heading for divorce did surface, TMZ thinks she's just trying to rebrand herself, by trying to adopt a one-name image. Confusingly enough then, Kim also went on to post a video of captured moments of her immediate family on her app. Check out the video here: Now, we don't know what to make of these two absolutely contradicting moves! --- ENDS --- In a repeat of earlier criticism, Legislative Auditor Daryl Purpera faulted the state Department of Transportation and Development for failing to comply with federal wage rules and and properly oversee federal grants. DOTD Secretary Shawn Wilson, who has run the agency for less than one year, acknowledged the criticism in a written response and said steps have been taken to correct the problems. The report, dated Dec. 28, marks the second consecutive year that DOTD's compliance with federal wage rules has been cited and the third time that it was faulted for a lack of oversight over a grant program for interstate improvements and other areas. Federal law requires that laborers and mechanics on federally-funded projects of more than $2,000 be paid at least the prevailing federal wage. But 45 percent of 40 projects tested by Purpera's office showed that DOTD failed to have the needed documentation linked to the rule. In addition, 41 percent of the projects scrutinized included expenditures approved for payment before DOTD officials received certified weekly payrolls required by law. Failure to follow the rules, Purpera said, could endanger future federal transportation aid for Louisiana. In his response, Wilson said one employee per transportation district will be in charge of ensuring compliance with the federal wage rules. In another area, the report said DOTD officials failed to monitor a federal grant program, increasing the risk that the grant would have to be repaid. Audit: Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development's failures might jeopardize future federal aid The state Department of Transportation and Development failed to win federal approval for ch One of those programs that lacked proper oversight totaled $2.1 million. Wilson said that program previously was a shared responsibility between DOTD and the state Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism. He said DOTD officials said last year that they would assume total control of the program called Recreation Trails and have since developed a work plan that will ensure the monitoring cited in the report. Louisiana public school achievement ranked 49th in a report done by Education Week magazine and released Wednesday. The 21st annual review, called Quality Counts, rates public school systems nationally in academic achievement, chance for success and financing. The state is often ranked near the bottom nationally in measurements of public school academic achievement. A long way to go: Louisiana gets a D, ranking 49th nationally in academic achievement for second straight year For the second consecutive year, Louisiana ranks 49th nationally in academic achievement by The state finished 46th overall and was given a D plus. The national average is a C. In the "chance for success" category, the state got a C minus and was rated 47th nationally. In "finance" the state got a C minus and was ranked 28th overall. Despite gains, Louisiana still lags in U.S. education rankings Earlier this month, state Superintendent of Education John White trumpeted the fact that Lou The latest findings come as state officials are preparing to revamp public school policies to comply with a federal law called the Every Student Succeeds Act. Sydni Dunn, press secretary for the state Department of Education, said in a prepared statement that the agency "is happy to see that the state's high school graduation gains were reflected in an increased score in that category, just as we are disappointed that stagnating funds in years of growing enrollments have combined to decrease our funding score.' "Moving forward, we are committed to continually raising the bar for our students, and we're confident we will improve over time," Dunn wrote. During the period measured 2002-12 Louisiana's high school graduation rate rose 7.6 percentage points. However, the 72 percent rate then was below the 81 percent national average. Dunn also noted that the NAEP data used this time is the same as the 2016 report since those results are released every other year. Louisiana's overall score is 68.3 out of 100. It finished ahead of Oklahoma, Idaho, New Mexico, Mississippi and Nevada in tabulations that also included the District of Columbia. The national average is 74.2. Massachusetts finished tops in the nation with a score of 86.5 and a B grade. In rating academic achievement, the review focused on 18 measures of math and reading performance. On a key test known as the nation's report card, 29.6 percent of fourth graders scored proficient in math in the most recent snapshot and 17.9 percent of eighth graders did so. The national averages were 39.4 percent and 32.1 percent respectively. In 2014, also the latest results available, 7.5 percent of high school students earned college credit through the Advanced Placement program. The national average is 29.3 percent. In reading, 28.5 percent of fourth graders were proficient and 23.3 percent of eighth graders. The national averages are 34.3 percent and 32.7 percent respectively. The chance for success category rates issues like pre-kindergarten enrollment, college participation and the percentage of adults who earned college degrees. Education spending is focused on how equitable the dollars are allocated, among other issues. A former longtime East Baton Rouge Parish Clerk of Court's Office employee claims he and other office administrators and supervisors were requ Children in areas affected by August flooding will receive donated books from the Louisiana Federation of Teachers and FirstBook. Receiving the books for temporary storage at LaFleur Printing, from left, are federation President Larry Carter, LaFleur Printings Ed White, federation Chief of Staff Marcus Fontenot and federation field representative Amy Richardson. Republicans in Congress on Tuesday abruptly backed away from an effort to gut an independent panel on congressional ethics after facing a stinging backlash from constituents, Democrats and even President-elect Donald Trump. The U.S. House eventually voted 234 to 193 in favor of a rules package that doesn't include controversial language that would have weakened the Office of Congressional Ethics and placed it under lawmakers' control. The GOP's dramatic about-face came as lawmakers convened for the first day of the new term. For a party that controls both the House and Senate, and soon the White House, the initial push to neuter the nonpartisan, independent ethics panel was viewed as a public misstep. Trouble viewing video below? Click here. The effort initially emerged from a surprise closed-door meeting of Republican members Monday night. There is no formal recording of the secret ballot that shows how each Republican voted on the amendment to change the Office of Congressional Ethics. The vote was reportedly 119-74 in favor. That would mean some 48 Republicans didn't vote on the proposal. U.S. House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, a Jefferson Republican who is Louisiana's ranking member in the chamber and third-in-command, said he voted against the amendment. He shared concerns expressed by other GOP leaders, including House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, who questioned whether changes to the independent ethics panel should be made in closed discussions and as one of chamber's first actions of the new term. Rep. Ralph Abraham, R-Alto, said he also voted against the proposal. "As Republicans, we need to be wise with the mandate the American people gave us and use this new Congress to focus like a laser on growing the economy, creating jobs and keeping our country safe," he said. A spokesman for U.S. Rep. Garret Graves, R-Baton Rouge, didn't immediately get back to The Advocate with details on his position on the proposed ethics changes. Attempts to reach Reps. Mike Johnson and Clay Higgins, both Republicans who were sworn in for the first time on Tuesday, for their positions were unsuccessful. Monday evening's vote initially in favor of the change drew swift criticism, prompting Tuesday's walk-back. Trump, in a series of messages posted to Twitter, criticized the timing of the effort but while also questioning fairness of the ethics office. "With all that Congress has to work on, do they really have to make the weakening of the Independent Ethics Watchdog, as unfair as it may be, their number one act and priority," the president-elect wrote. "Focus on tax reform, healthcare and so many other things of far greater importance!" By Tuesday morning, Republicans had reversed their position on the proposal in an emergency meeting before the rules package hit the House floor. The Office of Congressional Ethics is charged with investigating misconduct allegations lodged against House members and their staffs. It was created in 2008 in response to high-profile corruption allegations, including the bribery indictment of Louisiana's William Jefferson. Jefferson, a New Orleans Democrat, was convicted in 2009 and sentenced to 13 years in federal prison. Still, the ethics panel has come under bipartisan criticism. After the investigation was made public in 2015 into members of Congress who went on a 2013 trip to Azerbaijan that was paid for by that country's government, lawmakers said they had no idea the trip was paid for by Azerbaijan. The House Ethics Committee ultimately cleared the lawmakers. The changes backed by House Republicans on Monday would have changed the panel's name to the "Office of Congressional Complaint Review, and would have prevented the entity from releasing information not approved by the House Ethics Committee. The changes also would have barred the office from investigating anonymous tips. U.S. Rep. Bob Goodlatte, a Virginia Republican who pushed the amendment, said that the change would protect members from baseless anonymous accusations. "The bottom line is that if Congress wants the American public to have a venue to make complaints against Members of the House, an important goal that I share, then it needs to work, it needs to protect the rights of the accused, and it needs to remain confidential throughout the investigative process," he wrote in a column posted to TheHill.com. In the marbled halls of Capitol Hill, a new initiative came perilously close to reducing accountability for ethical misbehavior of members of the U.S. House of Representatives. A critical change, included as part of a larger resolution adopting rules for the new two-year term of the House members, could have made it less likely that members' infractions would see the light of day, or face punishment. The bad idea appears to have been shelved, albeit belatedly, after criticism from House GOP leaders and President-elect Donald Trump. The ethics change was pushed by U.S. Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., and would put the independent and nonpartisan Office of Congressional Ethics under the control of the ethics committee of House members. That was the old system, before a rash of scandals involving members of the House suggested that ethics enforcement was not high on the list of priorities for elected officials; the new office was created in March 2008. A senior member of the House from Louisiana had his role in showing the drawbacks of the old system. Former U.S. Rep. William Jefferson, of New Orleans, a Democrat, was convicted on a corruption charge, along with several prominent Republicans in the last decade. The old ethics committee set-up did not step up to the difficult challenge of identifying and reporting to law enforcement misdeeds by members of the House. The good news: GOP leaders appear to have carried the day, after protests over the rules change. The rule change divided the majority Republicans, who set the rules that are ultimately adopted by the votes of the whole chamber every two years. We agree with Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., and Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., who urged their colleagues on Monday not to make the change; Majority Whip Steve Scalise, R-Metairie, was said to share the leaders' concerns. Unfortunately, they failed to sway rank-and-file Republicans, some of whom have felt unfairly targeted by the OCE. The vote in the caucus was 119-74 in favor of the Goodlatte proposal on Monday, in a secret ballot during a closed-door GOP caucus. An uproar ensued, with Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi of California not missing a chance to criticize the move. "Draining the swamp," the Goodlatte proposal certainly was not. In Orwellian language, the Goodlatte plan would have created an Office of Congressional Complaint Review, and the rule change would have required that "any matter that may involve a violation of criminal law must be referred to the Committee on Ethics for potential referral to law enforcement agencies after an affirmative vote by the members," according to Goodlatte's office. "The amendment builds upon and strengthens the existing Office of Congressional Ethics by maintaining its primary area of focus of accepting and reviewing complaints from the public and referring them, if appropriate, to the Committee on Ethics," Goodlatte said in a statement. Instead, it would have put the foxes in charge of the henhouse, with members notoriously reluctant to discipline their own. The GOP leadership's view appears to have prevailed, and that's good for the institution of the U.S. House. We hope and expect that every member of the House, and every elected official, will hold themselves to the highest ethical standards. The people deserve and expect that from their representatives. With power, though, comes temptation to bend the rules for personal gain. An ethics office gutted on day one of the 115th Congress smacks of good ol' boy politics. By Press Trust of India: Srinagar, Jan 4 (PTI) A suspected militant belonging to the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) has been arrested from north Kashmirs Kupwara district, police said today. Acting on an intelligence input, a joint team of police and army arrested Ashiq Ahmed alias Abu Haider from Handwara area of the district, a police spokesman said here. A cache of arms and ammunition, including an AK-47 rifle, three magazines, a Chinese Pistol with a magazine, three hand grenades, a magazine pouch and a map, was seized from him. advertisement During interrogation, Ahmed said he was a close associate of Abu Bakar -? an LeT Commander who was killed in an encounter in Sopore township last month, the spokesman said. PTI SSB MIJ BSA --- ENDS --- The school's coat of arms features a pelican - a "mystic emblem of Christ" - as well as the school motto, . "Christus Lux Mea" meaning "Christ is my light" as well as other embellishments. The new coat of arms and a new school uniform featuring the updated emblem have been introduced for the 2017 school year following a review last year. The school says the review stemmed "from difficulties in reproducing and using the current crest in modern media". The design has been simplified, featuring a new pelican, a more streamlined shield and the removal of a rope embellishment "due to its intricacy and to make way for the Pelican which is now represented with its wings wide open". The main elements including the shield, pelican and motto remain. A report in the December issue of the school magazine Pelican maintained that "when the 'crest refresh' project began, extensive research and community engagement was undertaken to ensure that careful consideration was given to all decisions that were made relating to the crest". That has been pooh-poohed by correspondents on Facebook who say they weren't consulted about the changes. "Not sure you guys could have stuffed this up any more," one outraged post read. "It's bloody horrible and sitting next to Marist and Grammar, it's also embarrassing. Your reasoning for changing it is also rubbish and sets a bad example 'Too hard? Cut corners!' Bring the old logo back along with some dignity for yourselves and all current & former students." Another asked: "Did the yr 4s make this in paint?". Comments on change.org included "The design is cheap and nasty. Just like the revised school uniforms". And: "I think the new symbol ditches too much of the history of the school. Yes, the symbol has changed in the past but not this significantly and not into a cartoon that looks like it was made on MS paint". Eighteen-year-old Patrick Byrne, who graduated from Eddies last year, started the petition on change.org, calling for the original coat of arms to be restored, saying it held "more than 60 years of tradition". "The main thing is they've gotten rid of a lot of detail," Patrick said. "It looks like a cartoon and they've done it just to make it easier to put on the school uniform." But some Facebook users were taking the changes in their stride. "Everyone relax," one user wrote. "It could be worse - we could be going co-ed like Grammar!" College board chair Michael Cooney was contacted on Wednesday but said it was not for him to comment on behalf of the school. A spokeswoman for St Eddie's said the school wanted to be transparent about the changes and had sent out the first correspondence regarding them to existing students and parents last September. "Our aim with the renewed crest was to keep it similar to the current, with cleaner lines, less detail, defined colours and a clearer representation of the pelican," she said. The new coat of arms had been introduced into an updated school uniform, which would be gradually introduced, with the whole school expected to be kitted out with the new uniforms by January, 2018. Top executives in Britain were set to make more money by Wednesday, January 4, than the typical worker would earn all year, new figures reveal. Executives would pass the average salary of 28,200 ($47,700) by midday on what has been dubbed "Fat Cat Wednesday", the High Pay Centre said. The median pay for a chief executive in a FTSE100 company was almost 4 million in 2015 Credit:Arsineh Houspian The think tank said the figures confirmed how pay differed "dramatically" for senior bosses compared with everyone else. The median pay for a chief executive in a FTSE100 company was almost 4 million in 2015, or 1000 an hour, compared with the national living wage of 7.20, the report said. It would be fair to say that 2016 was a challenging year, particularly for children. Natural disasters, conflict, political upheavals, famine and disease always pose the greatest threat to the most fragile. Yet, every time I am in the field, I see children who, despite their often dire situation, have the capacity to play, to smile and above all, to hope. Looking into their eyes I see resilience, strength and determination for a better future. With nearly a quarter of the world's children now living in conflict or disaster-stricken countries and almost 50 million children uprooted from their homes, we are experiencing the largest refugee emergency since World War II. And the crises causing children and their families to flee are getting worse, not better. At first glance the Herald's photograph is baffling: a shape rests in the centre of a broad sweep of beach, while figures walk or stand along the water's edge looking out into the rolling surf. Then we realise what we are looking at. The shape is a woman, lying face down. Someone is bending to help her. From the accompanying report we learn she is the mother of a boy missing in the sea. While rescuers search for her son, she has collapsed in grief on the sand before the source of all her fear and her woe. She doesn't know it yet, but soon she will: the ocean has taken her child. For many Australians this drama of life and death by water, which has been played out in different ways too often these holidays, is also baffling. Australian culture is almost defined by the relationship between human beings and the water. We love to live by it, watch it, hear it, sail on it, swim in it, dive into its cool depths. Those born in this country learn early on of its dangers, and also the rules which can make this hazardous relationship safe. Swimming and water safety are or were basic skills in Australia. Swimming in particular is held to be a fundamental skill something that ranks alongside intellectual capacities such as reading and arithmetic. The fastest swimming stroke is called the Australian crawl, because Australians perfected and developed it. At Olympics after Olympics, our swimmers lead the world. Australia invented surf lifesaving so ocean beaches, from perilous margins of civilised life could become safe places to play. To have people drown in NSW in unprecedented numbers 18 so far since December 18 is thus not just an accumulation of personal catastrophes. It is more like a challenge to this country's identity. NSW Surf Lifeguards and Surf Rescue assist Tui Gallagher's mother. Credit:Kate Geraghty Not all those who died in the recent spate of drownings were non-swimmers. Too many, however, were. Once, we would teach our children early in life how to swim. That statement no longer holds true and it appears the trend is getting worse. As we have reported, according to Royal Life Saving NSW half the children in this state will finish primary school unable to swim 50 metres. That figure has risen from one quarter a decade ago. Royal Life Saving NSW found one western Sydney school where only four students out of 400 could swim 50 metres. Some no doubt will go on to learn to swim later, but the sudden rise in drownings suggests we are already paying the price for neglecting this basic skill. Royal Life Saving NSW puts forward several reasons for this failure. Cost is one. A 10-week swimming course can cost up to $300 too much for some families. Victoria recently made swimming lessons mandatory for primary school children but it has not backed the initiative with extra funding. Schools will have to pay for the lessons out of existing budgets a major shortcoming. Our state government should examine the feasibility of subsidising swimming lessons in NSW schools perhaps beginning in those where high immigrant numbers mean the need is likely to be greatest. Cultural distance is another barrier. Many recent immigrants to Australia come from countries with no swimming culture. Those families will feel no urgency about the need to learn to swim though they may spend plenty of leisure time near backyard pools or at the beach. In that circumstance, for those families, one of Australia's great attractions becomes one of its greatest perils. It was hard to miss the flurry of activity when road toll figures came out this week showing that 292 Victorians died on the state's roads in 2016. But another figure seems to slip beneath the radar every year. It's the number of people who die of drug overdoses. About 1400 people in Australia die of an overdose every year four a day. In 2015, 420 Victorians died of an overdose. There were 252 road deaths in the same year. The Age has for years argued that the "war on drugs" has failed. The state government spends more than double the amount on road safety that it does on services to prevent overdoses. It put $192 million towards drug and alcohol treatment services and harm reduction initiatives in its 2016-17 budget, of which $19 million went towards overdose prevention. Meanwhile, it spent more than $558 million on road safety. The investment in lowering our road toll over the past four decades has made a dramatic difference. Although the numbers have climbed in the past year, our roads are generally safer than they have ever been. It's time we seriously tackled the drug toll, too. Defence Minister Marise Payne has been forced to deny Australia has recruited Indonesian military officers as spies or agents of influence while defending the government's handling of a suspension of military ties between the countries. The shock announcement that defence co-operation was suspended after an Indonesian military officer was offended by material at an Australian military base in Perth has also seen claims from the country's military chief General Gatot Nurmantyo that Australia sought to "recruit" Indonesia's best and brightest as sources. The allegation, raised in a speech in November, came amid anger at material understood to include documents suggesting West Papua was part of Melanesia and should be given independence and ridiculing Indonesia's national ideology, Pancasila. Speaking on ABC radio on Thursday, Senator Payne said Indonesia had not taken part in some planned events because of the dispute but negotiations about the country's involvement in a multilateral military exercise planned for next month were ongoing. Not every NSW student who finished year 12 late last year did the HSC. International Baccalaureate students have had to wait almost a month longer for their results, which finally arrived in the early hours of Wednesday morning from the UK. Clare Leslie was among the happiest of those. The Queenwood student, from Mosman, received the highest possible IB mark of 45, which translates to an ATAR of 99.95. she was one of just 94 students worldwide to do so in this session. She chose to do the IB over the HSC because of the subjects she could do - Spanish and psychology - and because it would give her tiny, personalised classes of just two or three students. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has invoked his 'jobs and growth' slogan to justify his government's forced relocation of about 200 Canberra public servants to northern NSW. Mr Turnbull's deputy and Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce has been heavily criticised and accused of "blatant pork barrelling" over his plant to move the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority to Armidale, in the heart of Mr Joyce's New England electorate. Pressure is growing on the Turnbull government over the Centrelink debt controversy. Credit:Steven Siewert But in a letter to Canberra MP Gai Brodtmann, Mr Turnbull said the plan was about jobs and growth in regional Australia. "The government is relocating the APVMA as part of its commitment to boost jobs, increase growth and strengthen communities in regional areas," the Prime Minister wrote. Ten people have been taken to hospital after a "freak wave" swept a large group of people off rocks at Crescent Head, on the NSW Mid North Coast. Emergency services were called to Goolawah Beach at 12.30pm on Wednesday, after a group of swimmers were hit by the large wave, leaving 14 with various injuries. A 48-year-old man, believed to have a broken collarbone, was stuck at the bottom of a cliff before being rescued by paramedics. Large grazes were visible on his back, before he was loaded into an ambulance just before 2.40pm. A boy has been charged after a bus driver was assaulted in Benowa last night. The boy boarded the bus at Nerang about 11pm on Wednesday. Police allege the 16-year-old sat at the back of the bus and began yelling at the driver. He allegedly then punched the driver in the face and tried to steal his cash box. Police said the boy got off the bus at the Ross Street and Ashmore Road intersection, but then got back on and tried to assault the 36-year-old bus driver again. By Press Trust of India: New Delhi, Jan 4 (PTI) Manipur Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh today met President Pranab Mukherjee to discuss the Ministry of Home Affairs report to the Election Commission that termed the law-and-order situation in the state as "grave". Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Singh rubbished the report saying it "wrongly" concluded that the prevailing situation was "not conducive" to conduct free-and-fair polls there. advertisement However, just ahead of Ibobis meeting with the President, the EC declared that the Assembly election will be held in two phases -- on March 4 and 8 -- in Manipur. Ibobi, who was accompanied by Congress Manipur election in-charge Ramesh Chennithala at the meeting, welcomed the decision. "I am told that there is a negative report sent by the MHA to the EC that the law-and-order situation in Manipur is not conducive to conduct a free-and-fair election. It is totally wrong and baseless," he told reporters. The chief minister said issues such as insurgency, blockades, strikes are not unique to Manipur but they affect the entire north-east and that even in 2012, the state Assembly polls were boycotted by hill and valley-based underground organisations including the PLA and the UNLF. "The Congress in particular is not allowed to hold public meetings. But, ultimately the people support the party. They gave it a thumping majority in the last polls and even this time, there will not be any problem. "We had suggested to the EC that just like earlier, the polls should be conducted in two phases. We are grateful to the commission for the announcement and hope that our party will win this time as well," the Congress leader said. Manipur has been witnessing an unrest since November 1 last due to the imposition of an indefinite economic blockade by the United Naga Council (UNC) on the lifeline of the landlocked state, two national highways, and violence following the creation of seven new districts by bifurcating the existing ones. PTI SBR RC --- ENDS --- Queensland Rail management needs to change, according to Transport Minister Stirling Hinchliffe. The comment comes after the under-fire minister has complained about being misled and had information not passed on by QR. The operator has faced heavy scrutiny in recent months, following mass cancellations including one-third of services on Christmas Day. When asked if he wanted to see a "broom" go through QR's executive so he could get a team he could rely on, Mr Hinchliffe said there needed to be changes. A composite image of the field around FRB 121102. The dwarf galaxy from which the fast radio bursts originate is a barely visible green dot. Credit:Gemini Observatory But where did it come from? To answer that question, Chatterjee and his colleagues turned to the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array, a network of 27 radio telescopes spread over a 20-mile-wide area in the high grassland of New Mexico (Jodie Foster works there in the movie Contact). Each of the telescopes making up the VLA has a smaller diameter than the one at Arecibo, meaning they don't take in very much of the sky. But combining the data from all 27 gives a very high-resolution glimpse of one small swatch of space exactly what Chatterjee needed. He applied for 10 hours of telescope time, thinking that would be plenty to catch FRB 121102 flaring. But he saw nothing. He applied for 40 more hours. Nothing again. Finally, he asked for 40 more hours at the VLA, scheduled to coincide with 40 hours of time at Arecibo. During a trial run, the team caught its first flash from FRB 121102. Then it got eight more. "Nine pulses captured with two telescopes now we have enormous resolution," Chatterjee said. "We've pinpointed a speck, to a 10th of an arcsecond [a unit of angular measurement] ... where the burst is coming from." Next, scientists at the Gemini Observatory in Hawaii trained their optical telescope on the speck nailed down by Chatterjee. Their scan of the sky revealed that FRB 121102's source is 2.5 billion light years away, within a very faint dwarf galaxy with about 1 per cent of the mass of the Milky Way. The discovery allows researchers to rule out some proposed explanations for FRBs. They can't be cataclysmic, since their source needs to survive whatever causes them in order to repeat, and they definitely don't originate within our galaxy. Observations from the European VLBI network an array of telescopes spread all over the globe offered an even more precise snapshot of the FRBs' origin point, which seems to coincide with another, more persistent source of radio waves. Those signals resemble the radio emissions that come from supermassive black holes. But those types of black holes are typically found only in bright galaxies not small faint ones like that identified by the astronomers at Gemini. Another possible explanation involves active galactic nuclei (bright compact regions at the centres of galaxies) emitting jets that vaporise blobs of plasma. Chatterjee said he's inclined to believe FRBs are pulses emitted by magnetars neutron stars with an especially strong magnetic field. These stars are already known to emit high-energy radiation, like gamma rays and X-rays. It would be unusual for a magnetar to flare as brightly as an FRB suggests it must. But Chatterjee said that blobs of plasma surrounding the star could act as a lens, coalescing in just the right manner to focus the light toward Earth. "It's not a slam-dunk explanation," Chatterjee said, noting that scientists usually are drawn to the simplest possible interpretations of their results. But for now, he thinks it's the most compelling theory. It remains to be seen whether FRB 121102 the only one that is known to repeat is representative of all other fast radio bursts. Astronomers wonder whether there are two classes of FRB, some that repeat and some that come from cataclysms that can only happen once. All this uncertainty has hobbled previous attempts to identify a source of FRBs. One researcher at Australia's Parkes Radio Telescope spent months trying to track down what she thought were strange signals related to FRBs only to discover they were actually blasts from the microwave oven in the lab kitchen. In February, an international team of astronomers announced in Nature that they'd traced one of the flashes back to a galaxy 6 billion light years from Earth based on an "afterglow" they saw emanating from the host galaxy. But that identification quickly fell apart when other researchers observed that the glow persisted long after the bursts came and went; two months later they reported that the purported burst was actually a flickering black hole. During those same two months, the researchers looking at Arecibo data announced that FRB 121102 was repeating a discovery that shifted the field of FRB research under astronomers' feet. That's how science works it's surprising, sometimes silly and almost always messy, especially when it involves phenomena researchers don't fully understand. A police chopper has clocked a motorcyclist speeding at more than 150km/h as he travelled about 15 kilometres through Melbourne's western suburbs, police say. The Air Wing helicopter was overhead for another incident at West Sunshine on Fitzgerald Road when it spotted the motorcycle "flying" along, about 1am on Wednesday, a police statement said. Victoria Police Air Wing calculated a motorbike on Fitzgerald Road, West Sunshine was travelling at over 150km/h. Credit:John Woudstra Police were able to calculate his speed on the straight Fitzgerald Road before the motorcycle headed towards the Western Ring Road. The bike then rode the Western Ring Road to the Ballarat Road exit where it got off and sped down Ballarat Road towards Hampstead Road, Maidstone. An accused burglar charged over a crime spree in country Victoria left an eight-year-old girl too afraid to sleep in her bedroom when he allegedly stole her family's Christmas presents. Police have charged homeless man Lance Robert Nikkelson over six burglaries from homes in Horsham across the fortnight before Christmas, when gifts and jewellery were stolen. Prosecutor Joanne Daley told Melbourne Magistrates Court on Wednesday police suspected Mr Nikkelson stole Christmas gifts worth $2500 - including a GoPro action camera - from one home, which had left the girl scared. "The eight-year-old girl is now too frightened to sleep in her room," Leading Senior Constable Daley said. A woman living at another house, who is preparing to celebrate her 50th wedding anniversary this year, had also been left "distraught" at having her wedding ring stolen, Leading Senior Constable Daley said. An 18-year-old man from Hampton Park has been charged over a frightening Goldilocks-like scenario in which a Melbourne couple returned home to find a man in their bed. The man allegedly held a knife to the woman's throat after breaking into the couple's recently sold home in Heads Road, Donvale last Thursday. He allegedly had a shower, a spa and had even turned on the air-conditioning. Tony and Mel Christensen said he had dragged a bed into the living room before climbing into it and falling asleep overnight. Two police officers had to jump to safety when a man revved his car's engine and reversed into a stationary police car, a court has heard. The officers' evasive actions came moments after they sprayed capsicum foam over Dean Scott Chamberlain as he sat in his Holden Commodore and allegedly refused to get out in a car park in Sydenham on the night of June 25 last year. Mr Chamberlain faces 24 charges including reckless conduct endangering serious injury, dangerous driving, failing to stop when directed by police, failing to stop at the scene of an accident and possessing stolen goods. Credit:Scott Barbour The officers were unhurt. They had earlier followed Mr Chamberlain to the car park after seeing he was driving with stolen number plates on his car, Melbourne Magistrates Court heard on Wednesday. Detective Senior Constable Denai Fitzpatrick told the court that after reversing into the police car, Mr Chamberlain drove through bushes to get away and abandoned his car in Taylors Lakes. Melbourne: An 18-year-old man will face court on Thursday after a couple returned home to find an intruder in their bed. Police arrested the 18-year-old on Wednesday and charged him with burglary, criminal damage, assault with a weapon and threats to inflict serious injury over the break-in on December 29. CCTV footage shows the alleged intruder sleeping in the couple's bed. He was remanded in custody to appear before Ringwood Magistrates' Court on Thursday. The man allegedly pulled a knife on Mel Christensen when she returned to the Donvale home with her husband, Tony, last Thursday to find the intruder in their bed. A woman has been granted bail and ordered to live close to the site of a fire she allegedly started in parklands near Melbourne Zoo in Parkville. Police arrested Ashleigh-Sue Chatters, 23, about 200 metres from a grassfire in Parkville on December 29, the Supreme Court heard on Wednesday. A witness had reported seeing someone loitering there before the fire and while it was burning, wearing a dark coloured backpack and clothing. There was no one else in the area at the time. Police seized four deodorant cans, an empty spray-paint can and a cigarette lighter from Ms Chatters. She denied starting the small fire next to the Upfield bike path between Flemington Bridge and Royal Park stations, but admitted leaving behind other cans earlier that she said she used for "chroming" - inhaling substances. Ms Chatters was charged over the 20-metre by 10-metre fire and a separate fire at another Parkville address a day earlier. Lust. Revenge. Greed. Pride. Envy. Wrath. Motives for murder, which read like part of a list of the seven deadly sins, rarely change. But when we start talking about Victoria's homicide rate, it's harder to find rhyme or reason. Leny Verbunt holds a picture of her sister Karen Chetcuti-Verbunt, one of the women allegedly murdered in 2016. Credit:Darrian Traynor What we do know is that more men get murdered than women every year, but more women are killed because of family violence. The rate of women murdered has increased in the past year, which has attracted headlines, but over the past decade, the figures have remained steady, fluctuating only with moments of terrible tragedy. Batten down the hatches: parts of Victoria are bracing for heavy rainfall and large hailstones expected to hit on Thursday morning. The Bureau of Meteorology issued a severe thunderstorm warning just after 8am, saying the extreme weather conditions should affect Victoria's north-west and towns north-west of Melbourne in the next few hours. The State Emergency Service is advising people in areas expected to be affected such as Horsham, Bendigo, Maryborough, Castlemaine, Kyneton and Ballarat to stay indoors if possible. "Slow moving severe thunderstorms are likely to produce heavy rainfall that may lead to flash flooding and large hailstones in the warning area over the next several hours," the bureau's website warns. According to party sources, Tewari - former MP from Ludhiana is keen to contest from Ludhiana East constituency and has conveyed the same to party leadership. By Supriya Bhardwaj: Former union minister and senior spokesperson of Congress, Manish Tewari, has expressed his willingness to enter the political fray during upcoming Punjab assembly polls. According to party sources, Tewari - former MP from Ludhiana is keen to contest from Ludhiana East constituency and has conveyed the same to party leadership. Due to heart ailment, former Information and Broadcast Minister was not able to contest during Lok Sabha elections. advertisement Speaking to India Today, Tewari said, "I am more than willing to fight the poll. I was not able to contest in 2014 Lok Sabha polls and therefore my friends in both party and opposition had spread this rumour that I had invented some illness to skip election. Therefore I have offered for assembly election now it is for party to take the decision." --- ENDS --- Beijing: China's leaders thought they had a solution to the torrent of snark, jibes and condemnation on Twitter: They banned access to it at home. Yet China has become the country that President-elect Donald Trump seems to enjoy criticising the most on his open-all-hours Twitter feed. In bursts of 140 characters or less, he has jabbed at Beijing over Taiwan, trade, the South China Sea and, most recently, North Korea. "China has been taking out massive amounts of money & wealth from the U.S. in totally one-sided trade, but won't help with North Korea. Nice!" Trump said on Twitter on Monday. How and when President Xi Jinping reads about these broadsides remains a mystery to outsiders. Translating Trump's sarcasm "Nice!" could be tricky. But Chinese officials and the state news media want Trump to know that their leaders prefer doing diplomacy the old-fashioned way, behind closed doors and muffled in platitudes. Berlin: German investigators searched a refugee centre and a flat in Berlin on Tuesday which they believe were homes to associates of the Tunisian man who killed 12 people in an attack in the capital before Christmas, the federal prosecutor's office said. Anis Amri, 24, ploughed a truck through a Berlin Christmas market on December 19. Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack, calling the assailant a "soldier" of the militant group. A visitor looks at a memorial to victims of the December 19 terror attack at a Chrismas market in Berlin, Germany. Credit:Sean Gallup In the refugee home, investigators searched the refugee accommodation of a 26-year-old Tunisian who they believe knew Amri since at least late 2015 and who was in contact with him close to the date of the attack. "Therefore, there is the suspicion that the suspect knew of the attack plans and possibly helped Anis Amri," the prosecutor's office said in a statement. "The investigation into the incident is being finalised": Defence Minister Marise Payne. Credit:Andrew Meares When he went to the head of the academy in Australia to complain, the trainer reportedly found other writing insulting the Indonesian state ideology of Pancasila. Pancasila is the Indonesian state philosophy that lays out the nation's broad principles of religion, civilised humanity, social justice, democracy, and unity. Senator Payne said the Chief of the Defence Force, Air Chief Marshal Mark Binskin, wrote last year to his Indonesian counterpart, Commander Gatot Nurmantyo, promising to address the matter. "Indonesia has informed Australia that defence co-operation would be suspended. As a result, some interaction between the two Defence organisations has been postponed until the matter is resolved. Co-operation in other areas is continuing," she said. A source told Fairfax Media that some of the offending materials, if true, appeared to be truly insulting while others seemed to be scholarly critical assessments of the Indonesian military's past behaviour in 1965 or the East Timor invasion. The executive director of the Institute for Defence, Security and Peace Studies in Indonesia, Mufti Makarim, told Fairfax Media that after the trainer reported the offensive materials to his superiors when he returned to Indonesia, the military requested it be investigated. Kompas reported that a cable instruction, dated December 29 from Commander Gatot Nurmantyo, instructed that all military co-operation, including training with the Australian Defence Force, be suspended. Mr Mufti said that according to an unconfirmed notification on messaging app Whatsapp, believed to be circulated by the Indonesian military, the trainer's superior requested the investigation on December 9. He asked that joint training be suspended until the investigation was complete. According to the Whatsapp circular, the Kopassus Indonesian language trainer heard offensive material in class including that the late Indonesian military leader Sarwo Edhie Wibowo was a mass murderer and that a TNI police officer murdered his friend while drunk. He also reportedly saw a laminated piece of paper which said PANCAGILA, an offensive mockery of Indonesia's state ideology, Pancasila, which basically translates as "five crazy principles". "After he returned to Indonesia, he immediately made a report," the Whatsapp circular says. "It is a fair request by the Indonesian military that an investigation be held," Mr Mufti told Fairfax Media. "I believe, I hope, that this does not reflect the Australian attitude towards the Indonesian military and this just indicates a lack of oversight of teaching materials," he said. On December 29, Tribun news reported that Commander Gatot Nurmantyo said a co-operation program in which an Indonesian language lecturer had been sent to Australia, ended with an apology from Australia. He reportedly said the Indonesian language teacher had been asked to give homework to his students that included Free Papua propaganda. "That Papua is Melanesia, therefore it should be its own country. So I pulled (the teacher)," Commander Gatot reportedly said to applause from the audience. Senator Payne said the government was working with Indonesia "to restore full co-operation as soon as possible" and that the broader bilateral relationship is in "very good shape with extensive co-operation across a wide range of government agencies". Indonesian security analyst Yohanes Sulaiman said Indonesia valued its military links with Australia and had sought to rebuild the relationship after previous diplomatic rifts. In 2013 Jakarta pulled the plug on all military co-operation in retaliation for the Abbott government's refusal to explain the phone tapping of Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. In 2014 the countries struck a deal to resume military and intelligence co-operation. "I'm not sure this will mean a complete breakdown," Mr Sulaiman said. Indonesian Defence analyst Natalie Sambhi said the Indonesian military was treating this as a serious issue. "The Australian and Indonesian militaries have had a long yet complicated history of co-operation and tension over the decades," she said. "The current TNI (Indonesian military) chief, General Gatot Nurmantyo, has been critical of Australia during his tenure which appears to stem from sensitivities related to our role in East Timor. While this sentiment exists elsewhere in TNI leadership and has to be understood against the context of the military's experiences in the province, it is not the sole factor for Nurmantyo's decision, but could be a factor in the option to suspend ties as a stronger political statement." Loading Istanbul: Turkish authorities have identified the gunman who shot dead dozens of revellers at a nightclub in Istanbul on New Year's Eve, Turkey's top diplomat said on Wednesday, as police stepped up raids against suspected militant hideouts as part of the hunt for the attacker who is still at large. The rampage on Sunday, which killed 39 people from more than a dozen countries, was claimed by the Islamic State and marked one of the worst mass killings in Turkey in recent memory. It also put Turkey further on edge following a steady string of violence, including the assassination of the Russian ambassador last month and earlier bombings targeting police and tourist sites. Most recently, a gunman reportedly entered a restaurant in Istanbul's Fatih district and opened fire on diners. Los Angeles: Mass murderer Charles Manson has been taken from a California prison to a hospital for an undisclosed medical issue. Manson, 82, was seriously ill, a source told the Los Angeles Times on Tuesday, but could not provide further information. Manson about eight years ago and, right, how he appeared at his trial in 1970. Credit:AP TMZ reports that Manson was transported to a hospital in Bakersfield, California, about an hour from California State Prison in Corcoran, where he is being held. A spokesman for California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation had no comment, citing inmate privacy issues. As he has previously, Assange said: "Our source is not the Russian government. It is not state parties." But Assange has often said that the organisation does not always know the identity of its sources. It is highly unlikely that anyone approaching WikiLeaks with the emails obtained by Russian government hacking would acknowledge the source, so it is likely that Assange himself cannot be sure of the origin of the emails. Assange and Hannity did not address the fact that in addition to WikiLeaks, the leaked Democratic material was published by two other mysterious websites, DCLeaks.com and a blog written by someone called Guccifer 2.0. US intelligence agencies say they believe both were created by Russian agents. In addition to US intelligence agencies, most private researchers also say they believe that the DNC and Podesta hacks were carried out on orders of Russian government officials, although a few sceptics believe the case is unproven by evidence made public. Assange's statement is unlikely to change that conclusion. Credit:AP Intelligence officials will brief Congress on their Russia inquiry on Thursday, ahead of a briefing for Trump in New York on Friday. Senator John McCain, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, will hold the first hearing on the matter on Thursday as well. As for that "terrible" information mentioned by Trump, yes, CNN commentator Donna Brazile did send Podesta an email ahead of a Democratic presidential debate in Flint, Michigan, tipping him off that a woman in the audience would ask why the government was not doing more to help clean the city's lead-contaminated water supply, but that was hardly an unexpected query for Clinton or her rival, Bernie Sanders. It did cause Brazile to lose her CNN post. The president-elect appears to be getting a jump on the news. First, Trump said that the nation should move beyond talk of Russian interference in the presidential election, but that he would listen to what US intelligence experts had to say. Then, on New Year's Eve, the president-elect promised that by Tuesday or Wednesday, he would reveal information on the hacking that Americans do not know. And now, he seems to think the intelligence community hasn't quite gotten its story straight. The Obama administration quickly let it be known that, in fact, intelligence leaders always intended to brief Trump on Friday in New York. And intelligence officials were not amused. Nor were some Republican political consultants. But this is not the first time the president-elect has taken a swipe at the men and women of the intelligence community who have concluded that Russia tried to help get him elected president. The last time Trump held a real news conference was July 27, when he said Russian President Vladimir Putin had called him a genius and wrongly insisted that "many people" saw bombs strewn all over the floor of the San Bernardino attackers' home and failed to report it. That long stretch without a real media grilling did not do him much harm. He did, after all, win the presidential election. But he says he will hold a true, open news conference January 11. Loading The new logo brings the car icon front and center with a warm smile and a wink, demonstrating the playful joy that can be had when you find the perfect car quickly and easily. Edmunds also softened its overall color palette and is emphasizing lifestyle-focused imagery on all its platforms to continue the approachable theme. The Auto Channel EDITORS NOTE: Huh? SANTA MONICA, Calif., Jan. 3, 2017 Edmunds, a car shopping and information platform, is all-new in the New Year, debuting a refreshed logo and a completely reinvented online experience. This launch marks the most dramatic change Edmunds has ever made to its site design, and the first time it has changed its logo this century. The company is also dropping the ".com" from its name, and will now be known simply as "Edmunds", a reflection of the fact that Edmunds has grown beyond a pure website offering. "The world of automotive retail is evolving rapidly, and Edmunds is evolving right along with it," said Edmunds CEO Avi Steinlauf. "The changes we're making to our site and brand demonstrate our commitment to significantly improving the car shopping experience for consumers and our dealer partners." Edmunds new site was designed from a mobile-first perspective to ensure a seamless experience for car shoppers as they navigate between their desktop computers and mobile devices. Based on extensive feedback from consumers, designers simplified the overall look and feel to emphasize strong visuals and eliminate clutter. The result is a site that's engaging and attractive for consumers, and also gives advertisers attractive options to create meaningful, integrated messages that shoppers are more likely to interact with. The majority of pages on the Edmunds site rolled over to the new experience on January 1. More pages will be added on a rolling basis as the development team continues to monitor the new site's performance. "When we first set out to develop the new Edmunds site, our objective was to create an emotionally engaging experience that makes it easy for visitors to quickly discover all of the information they need to make smart car-buying decisions," said Eugene Park, Edmunds chief product officer. "In early testing, we've found that mobile users are twice as likely to return to our new site compared to our legacy experience and we've significantly improved bounce rates and page load times." The objective with the logo redesign was similar: create a refreshed brand icon that effectively conveys that Edmunds is a friendly, trusted source anyone can turn to for comprehensive car shopping expertise. The new logo brings the car icon front and center with a warm smile and a wink, demonstrating the playful joy that can be had when you find the perfect car quickly and easily. Edmunds also softened its overall color palette and is emphasizing lifestyle-focused imagery on all its platforms to continue the approachable theme. Edmunds developed its new brand identity in collaboration with Santa Monica-based RED Interactive Agency. Edmunds invites media, dealers and automakers to learn more about the new brand and site later this month at its booth at the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) Conference and Expo in New Orleans. The company is also planning to use the show to give a sneak preview of some of the other innovations it's developing in tandem with some of the world's most influential tech companies. "2017 will be a landmark year for Edmunds," Steinlauf said. "This is only the beginning." IRVINE, Calif., Jan. 4, 2017 -- Wrapping up a year focused on long-term growth objectives, Mazda North American Operations (MNAO) today reported December U.S. sales of 28,754 vehicles, representing a decrease of 1.8 percent versus December of last year. There were 27 selling days in December 2016, versus 28 the year prior. As such, on a Daily Selling Rate (DSR) basis, the company posted an increase of 1.8 percent. The company also reported calendar year (CY) 2016 total sales (combined fleet and retail) today, totaling 297,773, down 6.7 percent, following a 20-year-high record sales year in CY2015. There were 307 selling days in CY 2016, versus 308 in CY2015; the full-year DSR represented a decrease of 6.4 percent. "In 2016, we developed a more defined focus on brand value management, which steered our business away from fleet sales and incentive pricing," said Masahiro Moro, president and CEO of MNAO. "Rather than chasing sales simply for the sake of growth, we will continue to focus on transforming our business operations to deliver an experience that will result in higher customer and dealer loyalty, improved long-term residual value and increased satisfaction at all levels of our business, independent from sales volume numbers." Key December and CY2016 sales notes: As part of the overall sales strategy, MNAO significantly reduced fleet sales, with 20,359 vehicles sold in CY2016 representing a decrease of 28.0 percent YOY. Backing the fleet numbers out of the total vehicles sold, MNAO posted a slight decline in retail-only sales for CY2016, with 277,414 vehicles sold. This number represents a 4.6 percent decrease in sales YOY. With crossover SUV sales dominating the sales landscape in CY2016, Mazda's crossover lineup shone this year. Overall, CX-3, CX-5 and CX-9 posted an increase of 13.6 percent in December. For the year, the three vehicles posted sales up 8.0 percent, with 146,843 vehicles sold in CY2016. With much of the U.S. now in the winter months, Mazda's i-ACTIV All-Wheel Drive system available optionally on all Mazda crossover SUVs continues its popularity among crossover SUV buyers, with 63 percent of buyers choosing the option. Mazda CX-5 posted its best-ever month in December with 11,989 vehicles sold, making this its fifth best-ever month in CY2016. For the full year, CX-5 sold a record 112,235 vehicles, an increase of 5.0 percent YOY and CX-5's best-ever sales year. Mazda CX-3 completed its first full year of sales, ending the year up 189.7 percent, with 18,557 vehicles sold. The all-new 2016 Mazda CX-9 launched during CY2016 and posted its best December since 2012, with 2,594 vehicles sold. This number represents an increase of 115.5 percent YOY. The Mazda MX-5 Miata finished December up 3.8% YOY, with 733 vehicles sold. Continued interest in MX-5, and early deliveries of the 2017 MX-5 RF, resulted in full-year sales of 9,465 vehicles in CY2016, an increase of 10.2 percent YOY. The 2017 MX-5 RF recorded 314 vehicles sold in the month of December. Major changes impacting sales in CY2016 included the discontinuation of sales of the Mazda2 and Mazda5, as well as the introduction of the 2016 CX-9 and 2017 MX-5 RF, and refreshed versions of the Mazda3 and Mazda6. Mazda's December sales of 28,754 vehicles add up to more than $4.3 million in donations ( $150 for every vehicle sold during the month) as part of the Mazda Drive for Good program in 2017. Total results for the 2016 charity event, which ran from November 21, 2016 to January 3, 2017 , will be released at a later date. Mazda Motor de Mexico (MMdM) reported December sales of 6,651 vehicles, down 19.0 percent versus December of last year. Total CY2016 sales for MMdM were 54,891 vehicles, representing a decrease of 12.7 percent when compared to CY2015. Mazda North American Operations is headquartered in Irvine, California, and oversees the sales, marketing, parts and customer service support of Mazda vehicles in the United States and Mexico through nearly 700 dealers. Operations in Mexico are managed by Mazda Motor de Mexico in Mexico City. For more information on Mazda vehicles, including photography and B-roll, please visit the online Mazda media center at InsideMazda.MazdaUSA.com/Newsroom. LEARN MORE: 2017 NAIAS (Detroit Auto Show) Press Pass Coverage TACOMA, Wash., Jan. 4, 2017 -- LeMay America's Car Museum (ACM), an entity of America's Automotive Trust (AAT), and the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) will celebrate our nation's motoring heritage at classic car gatherings throughout Michigan from January 4 to 6. The events will take place as ACM's 12-day, 2,150-mile classic car rally "The Drive Home II: The Heritage Run" (TDHII) nears its final destination: Detroit. The vintage cars taking part in the journey include a '57 Chevy Nomad, '61 Chrysler 300G and '66 Ford Mustang, all of which will be alongside an antique 1917 Crane Simplex originally owned by J.D. Rockefeller, in Grand Rapids, Traverse City, Lansing, Birmingham and Detroit. "Celebrating the past while looking into the future is exactly what The Drive Home and our partnership with America's Car Museum is about," said NAIAS Executive Director Rod Alberts. "Whether it be highlighting revolutionary technology from a century ago, or showcasing future mobility innovations unveiled from our global stage at NAIAS." TDHII's caravan will be driving throughout Michigan and stopping off for receptions and enthusiast events in Grand Rapids, Traverse City, Lansing and Troy before arriving in the Motor City. Further information on each individual event can be found at americascarmuseum.org/TheDriveHome. The final leg of the trip will see the caravan take off from a NAIAS- and Lincoln of Troy-sponsored cars and coffee gathering and head down the famed Woodward Avenue before ending at a cruise-in at Cadillac Square. All four of the vehicles will be on display during press and consumer days at NAIAS. "The idea for The Drive Home came about a few years ago when I sat down for cocktails and cigars with Rod Alberts," said AAT President and CEO David Madeira. "We thought the concept of three vintage cars journeying across the country at this time of year a battle against Mother Nature would be something that truly highlights America's automotive heritage and, importantly, gives context to the amount of innovation in the vehicles debuting at the auto show. "Now The Drive Home is in its second year and we're once again looking forward to a full schedule in Michigan, which thanks to a great partnership with NAIAS and support from our great sponsors State Farm, Michelin, Plycar, Shell, Quicken Loans, Hagerty and Montecristo allows us to continue honoring this nation's motoring legacy by holding unforgettable enthusiast gatherings." To follow TDH II as it makes its way throughout the Northeast, follow @LeMayACM on Twitter and look for updates from participating sponsors. About LeMay America's Car Museum (americascarmuseum.org ) America's Car Museum (ACM), an entity of America's Automotive Trust, is an international destination for families and auto enthusiasts to celebrate America's love affair with the automobile and learn how it shaped our society. Based in Tacoma, Wash., the stunning 165,000-sq.-ft. facility has been recognized as one of MSN's 10 Best Automotive Museums worldwide, USA Today's 10 Best Museums in Seattle and KING5's 2015 Best Museum in Western Washington. ACM serves as an educational center for students of all ages, features 12 rotating exhibits and hosts five annual Signature Events. For more information, visit americascarmuseum.org. About the North American International Auto Show Now in its 29th year as an international event, the NAIAS is among the most prestigious auto shows in the world, providing unparalleled access to the products, technologies, innovations, people and ideas that matter most up close and under one roof. Administered by Executive Director Rod Alberts, the NAIAS is the largest media event in North America, and the only auto show in the United States to earn an annual distinguished sanction of the Organisation Internationale des Constructeurs d'Automobiles (OICA), the Paris-based alliance of automotive trade associations and manufacturers from around the world. For more information, visit naias.com. 2017 NAIAS Dates: The Gallery Saturday, January 7, 2017 AutoMobili-D Sunday-Thursday, January 8-12, 2017 Press Preview Monday-Tuesday, January 9-10, 2017 Industry Preview Wednesday-Thursday, January 11-12, 2017 Charity Preview Friday, January 13, 2017 Public Show Saturday-Sunday, January 14-22, 2017 ZF Launches ProAI, Production DRIVE PX 2 Self-Driving System ZF Launches ProAI, Production DRIVE PX 2 Self-Driving System for Cars, Trucks, Factories One of the industrys largest automotive suppliers, ZF, today launched the ZF ProAI self-driving system, based on our NVIDIA DRIVE PX 2 AI car computer, for cars, trucks and factories. Speaking at a packed press event at CES Wednesday morning, ZFs CEO Stefan Sommer outlined how the company is working with NVIDIA to take automated and autonomous driving systems beyond self-driving cars. Introducing ZF ProAI Germany-based ZF is the first tier 1 auto supplier to bring our DRIVE PX 2 AI Computing platform into production. Using the DRIVE PX 2 AutoCruise configuration, with a single Parker SoC, ZF ProAI is designed for companies building self-driving vehicles ranging from cars and trucks, to industrial applications such as forklifts and materials-handling vehicles. At ZFs event, Rob Csongor, vice president and general manager of Automotive at NVIDIA, spoke about how NVIDIA is working to bring deep learning, a form of artificial intelligence, to a wide variety of industries. Its not an exaggeration when we talk about artificial intelligence as the technology that will spark an industrial revolution, Csonger said. He added that, in transportation, AI promises to reduce traffic fatalities and congestion. These are immense business problems. ZF ProAI will be able to process inputs from multiple cameras, plus lidar, radar and ultrasonic sensors, in a process we call sensor fusion. This will enable the vehicle, whether it be a truck, a forklift or a commuter bus, to paint a 360-degree view around it, locate itself on an HD map and find a safe path through traffic. The DRIVE PX 2-based platform will also enable so-called V2X applications which enable vehicles to communicate with each other and their surroundings. ZF ProAI can make an entire fleet more capable by implementing swarm intelligence, which allows vehicles to share information, so they can learn faster than any one vehicle or driver can on their own. To learn more about ZF ProAI and its adoption from NVIDIA DRIVE PX 2 AutoCruise, see ZFs press release. By Press Trust of India: New Delhi, Jan 4 (PTI) Muthoot HomeFin (India) plans to raise up to Rs 800 crore from market next fiscal as it is expanding business in the southern part of the country. The housing finance company, a subsidiary of Muthoot Finance, lends only to affordable home loan customer with end users contributing nearly 90 per cent of its loan book. The average ticket size on the loan book is Rs 11 lakh. advertisement In an interview to PTI, companys CEO Ramratthinam S said that Muthoot HomeFin performed "exceedingly well" in the December quarter, in which the old Rs 500/1000 notes were demonetised and the country witnessed a cash crunch. "The company has performed exceedingly well in the December quarter by disbursing over Rs 100 crores. We have been able to achieve this disbursement number with a specific focus on end users and in lending more in ready to move in properties," he said. Muthoot HomeFin disbursed Rs 175 crore till December in the ongoing financial year and plans to disburse Rs 400 to Rs 450 crore during the entire fiscal, he said. Talking about growth plans, Ramratthinam said: "We would be raising funds anywhere between Rs 350-Rs 400 crore this fiscal. We plan to raise around Rs 750-Rs 800 crore in the next fiscal through bank borrowings and from capital market". The company is operating in Kerala, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan currently, and would be increasing the locational presence in these states. Muthoot HomeFin intends to enter new geographies in the South by commencing business operations in the states of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telengana and Karnataka in the next fiscal. Ramratthinam further said the company would be "aggressively marketing" the interest subsidy schemes on loans up to Rs 12 lakh for rural and urban housing announced by the Prime Minister on the eve of New Year. "We are also targeting builders who are executing projects in these ticket size and would enter into a tie up with them by approving their projects," he said. The company predominantly borrows funds from banks for onward lending to customers. PTI NKD ABI --- ENDS --- if the people of Biafra want Republic of Biafra, it will be a reality during my administration. ----Donald Trump Donald Trump I wi... By Press Trust of India: Washington, Jan 4 (PTI) NASA plans to launch a USD 188 million science mission in 2020 that will allow astronomers to explore, for the first time, the hidden details of some of the most extreme and exotic astronomical objects, such as stellar and supermassive black holes, neutron stars and pulsars. Objects such as black holes can heat surrounding gases to more than a million degrees. The high-energy X-ray radiation from this gas can be polarised - vibrating in a particular direction, NASA said. advertisement The Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) mission will fly three space telescopes with cameras capable of measuring the polarisation of these cosmic X-rays, allowing scientists to answer fundamental questions about these turbulent and extreme environments where gravitational, electric and magnetic fields are at their limits, it said. "We cannot directly image what is going on near objects like black holes and neutron stars, but studying the polarisation of X-rays emitted from their surrounding environments reveals the physics of these enigmatic objects," said Paul Hertz, astrophysics division director for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA. "NASA has a great history of launching observatories in the Astrophysics Explorers Programme with new and unique observational capabilities. IXPE will open a new window on the universe for astronomers to peer through. Today, we can only guess what we will find," said Hertz. NASAs Astrophysics Explorers Programme requested proposals for new missions in September 2014. Fourteen proposals were submitted, and three mission concepts were selected for additional review by a panel of agency and external scientists. NASA determined the IXPE proposal provided the best science potential and most feasible development plan. The mission, slated for launch in 2020, will cost USD 188 million. This figure includes the cost of the launch vehicle and post-launch operations and data analysis, NASA said. Principal Investigator Martin Weisskopf of NASAs Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama, will lead the mission. Ball Aerospace in Broomfield, Colorado, will provide the spacecraft and mission integration. The Italian Space Agency will contribute the polarisation sensitive X-ray detectors, which were developed in Italy. NASAs Explorers Programme provides frequent, low-cost access to space using principal investigator-led space science investigations relevant to the agencys astrophysics and heliophysics programmes. The programme has launched more than 90 missions, including Explorer 1 in 1958, which discovered the Van Allen radiation belts around the Earth, and the Cosmic Background Explorer mission, which led to a Nobel Prize. PTI SAR SAR --- ENDS --- Members of the alt-right, a loosely organized network of individuals with primarily white nationalist beliefs, have picked a new target for their wrath: the silver-haired, Trump-loving radio host Bill Mitchell. Mitchell, who is perhaps best known for predicting with 100 percent certainty that Trump would win, publicly disavowed the alt-right in a tweet on December 27, saying that hed prefer to ascribe the phrase America First to pro-Trump forcesa line co-opted from the president-elect himself. He then escalated his assault on the group, which Mitchell described to The Daily Beast as a racist fringe, with a tweet on Monday criticizing the Pepe the Frog meme, an image that was created for innocuous purposes and used by a number of Trump supporters on Twitter, Reddit and 4chan. You know what? Mitchell tweeted. Im really sick of this damned green frog. Who the hell ever thought that was a good mascot? It would appear that a lot of people did and still do. The tweets sparked a number of posts on R/The_Donald, a popular subreddit community for Trump supporters, where users argued about Mitchells place in the movement. Some were quick to say that he was no better than Crooked Hillary Clinton, while others implored the community to calm down and let this one slide. Inevitably Mitchell seemed to relent to the immediate backlash and apologized for offending anyone who appreciates the dear animated frog. Maybe its because Im an old dude, but I just never got Pepe, the 56-year-old tweeted on Tuesday. To those who love Trump and love Pepe, I apologize if I offended you. This difference of opinion, while seemingly pithy, underscores a rift in ideology that has bubbled to the surface among some Trump supporters. It was first brought to light when Richard Spencer, a white nationalist who popularized the alt-right term, took public issue with the organizers of an inaugural event called The Deplora-Ball. He called out one of the organizers, Mike Cernovich, a proliferator of conspiracy theories like Pizzagate, saying that he was an opportunistic egotist who wasnt defined by the same ideologies as Spencer. People like Mike Cernovich and Milo (Yiannopoulos) dont have an ideology; they dont even really have policies that you can point to, Spencer previously told The Daily Beast. They are Trump fans, who are vaguely conservative and a bit neocon-ish. They dont like feminists and SJWs (social justice warriors); in other words, they pick the low-hanging fruit. And now he seems to think the same thing of Mitchell, another big name social media star who is set to attend The Deplora-Ball. Bill Mitchel [sic] isnt even a populist, Spencer said in an email to The Daily Beast. Hes just a cuckservative. I really thought the Trump campaign was the death knell of official conservatism; I was overly optimistic. He added that Mitchell is a totally useless goofball. The fact that hes denouncing everything racist and sexist reveals this, Spencer said. The Left plays the tune, and he starts dancing. At what point will he denounce Donald Trump? It would appear that the men share disdain for one another. In a phone interview with The Daily Beast on Tuesday, Mitchell was unequivocal about his beliefs when it comes to Spencer, saying I think hes a racist. He also called out another prominent pro-Trump account @JaredWyand, who got suspended after making Anti-Semitic comments. He went so deep into this Jew-bashing and all this stuff, Mitchell told The Daily Beast. Jews are not your problem. If youre not succeeding in life, Jewish people are not your problem. Look in the mirror. It is unclear whether this recurring fightbetween people like Spencer, who appeared at an event with actual Nazi salutes and Mitchell, who seemingly wants to protect his brand and statusis going to last in the immediate future. But, then again, there are still two weeks until the Deplora-Ball. Call it a Red January. Russia will be subject to a flurry of investigations, hearings, and a renewed effort for sanctions over the coming weeksand that doesnt even include the coming confirmation vote on Rex Tillerson, a secretary of State nominee with close ties to Vladimir Putin and the recipient of the Order of Russia. Due to Russias election-related hacking, a country with an economy nearly 14 times smaller than Americas dominated the conversation as senators returned to the capital for a new yearchallenging even President-elect Donald Trumps primacy as a topic of chatter in the hallways. While the House of Representatives first act of the 115th Congress was to try and scuttle an independent ethics office that policed member misconduct, on the Senate side lawmakers are preparing an ambitious agenda to confront and investigate Russian misconduct. We expect this months congressional and national news to be dominated by coverage of this clearly malicious and hostile act and our countrys response, said Pavel Yarmolenko, co-founder of the Ukraine Freedom Support Group, a group of American citizens that supports a free and democratic Ukraine. All of us, regardless of party affiliation, must call our lawmakers and demand a full congressional investigation of Russias unprecedented and brazen subversion of our democracy. Following the Central Intelligence Agencys assessment that Russia intervened in the U.S. presidential election to help Trump win the White House, lawmakers will soon propose new sanctions as a response. Sen. Ben Cardin, the top-ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told The Daily Beast he expects to introduce bipartisan legislation this week that will find additional ways that we can sanction Russia for its activities and cyber-activities against the United States, it will deal with the individuals responsible [and] it will deal with how Russia finances these kinds of operations. This is on top of sanctions that the White House announced last week, which included the expulsion of some 35 Russian diplomats. Resigned Republicans expressed just muted support for the actions, charging that President Obama had waited too long to confront Russia. Im glad, but its too late, said Sen. Tom Cotton on Fox News Sunday. House Speaker Paul Ryan called it overdue. New sanctions could put the incoming president in an awkward position: The proposed legislation would create new ways for the president to punish Russian actors if Trump choses, but will also cement into law new punishments that the president would have to actively waive. Trump has dismissed Russia as the source of the election-related hacking, seemingly without evidence. The president-elect is expected to receive an intelligence briefing on Russian cyber hacks this week. Russia hawks Sen. Lindsey Graham and John McCain are the most likely Republicans to join in this legislative charge, and both of them have been sounding the alarm on Russias belligerence for years. As if to emphasize the current danger, the two visited Ukraine, Georgia, and the Balticscountries which have been threatened by encroaching Russian influenceover the Christmas holidays. The trip reinforced every narrative I had about Russia, Graham told The Daily Beast. These are young, emerging democracies [and] Putin is afraid of democracies in his backyard. The Senates foreign relations, intelligence, and armed services committees will all be investigating Russian influence on the American election in some waynot to mention that the Obama administration will issue a separate report on Russian influence before Trumps inauguration in less than three weeks. Its an issue that has divided Republicans who may be concerned that the topic reduces the legitimacy of the their partys electoral victory. I have never been concerned about doing the right thing, said a defiant McCain, when asked if he was concerned that the issue and his hearing might split his party. McCain will hold the Senates first hearings on cybersecuritywith an expected emphasis on Russias role in hackingon Thursday. In response to a deluge of questions about Russia, Republican senators pointed out that the United States is also involved in cyberhacking, and that a primary goal in the coming weeks was to educate the public about what it even means. Russias been doing this for a long time, and, frankly, we do it too, said Sen. Jim Inhofe, a senior Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee. This is something where the general public doesnt know what youre talking about, and yet the threat is so great. You understand that almost every sophisticated country in the world has a team of folks that are hacking right now, right? said GOP Sen. Bob Corker, Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman. Thats the world that we live in. People need to understand what other countries do, what our own country does. We need to focus on this in the appropriate context, and then discuss what actions needs to be taken. These responses seemed to dilute the problem. No other country other than Russia has been accused of hacking to influence the American election. But they also illustrate the paradox that many Republicans find themselves in: caught in between their longstanding disdain for Russian malfeasance, and Trump supporters that make up much of their base. Polling suggests that as Trump praised Putin, the Republican Partys membership has begun to warm to the Russian leader. For some Republicans, the smart move was to say nothing. On the first day of the new Congress, Sen. Ted Cruz exited the Senate chamber after the countrys newest senators were sworn in, giving long remarks about his predictions for the future of Obamacare. Asked directly whether Russia should be subject to new sanctions, Cruz simply responded, call our press office, gesturing to his spokesman nearby. Cruzs press office did not respond when asked about Russia. Taking a page from the locavore food movement, many craft distilleries around the country like to boast about the quality and local source of their ingredients. Some even go so far as to talk about how their liquor reflects the so-called terroir of the area. But there are just a handful of brands that are truly grain-to-glass (or farm-to-flask if you prefer). These producers are truly in control of every single step of the distillation process, actually going so far as to grow their ingredients themselves on-site. Here are a few of these hyper-local distilleries to check out. 1857 Spirits Since 1857, six generations of the Barber family have raised dairy cows and grown a variety of produce on a farm in Upstate New Yorks fertile Schoharie Valley. They added a distillery to the mix about five years ago, though its first product only hit the market in late 2016. 1857 Potato Vodka is made from, you guessed it, potatoes grown on Barbers Farm, along with water from the farms own spring. Its got that lovely rich-and-creamy texture typical of potato-based vodkas thats great in a Martini. 1857s products are currently available only in New York, and the brand plans to roll out a gin sometime later this year. Frey Ranch You probably associate Nevada more with an endless desert than with lush farm fields, but a 1,200-acre plantation just outside Reno called Frey Ranch has been growing grains for more than a century. In 2001, the ranch established Nevadas first estate winery, making Churchill Vineyards whites from grapes grown on-site. In 2014, it went into the spirits business, becoming what may be the worlds only distillery that grows four different grainscorn, wheat, rye, and barleyon-site. Today, the Frey Ranch distillery makes them into vodka, gin, and absinthe that you can buy in six different states at the moment. Theres also a batch of bourbon aging in the warehouse, but it wont be ready for at least another two years. Far North Spirits Far North Spirits name is no lie: This distillery is in Hallock, Minnesota, at the very northwestern corner of the state, less than an hours drive from the Canadian border. Founder Michael Swansons great-grandfather Gustaf built a rye farm here after emigrating from Sweden in the early 1900s. As rye whiskey sales have taken off in recent years, Swanson decided to turn the familys crop into something more spirited. Today, Far North offers two gins and a vodka made entirely from its own rye, as well as a rye whiskey made from 80 percent house-grown rye and 20 percent corn and barley sourced from elsewhere in Minnesota. You can find Far Norths spirits in nine states around the country. Harvest Spirits Derek Grout opened Harvest Spirits in 2008. It grew out of Golden Harvest Farms, an apple orchard and cider press opened by Grouts grandparents in the 1950s. He still uses an antique rack-and-cloth cider press to squeeze the juice out of the farms apples, which he ferments and distills into both Cornelius Applejack, a brandy aged in ex-bourbon casks, and Core Vodka, a uniquely floral vodka that requires 60 pounds of apples for each bottle. If you visit the distillery just outside of Albany, New York, you can also enjoy some fresh-pressed cider (alcoholic or non-) along with the delicious spirits. Corbin Cash Though delicious to eat, sweet potatoes are fairly difficult to ferment and distill, which is why there arent many spirits made from them out there. David Souza didnt care about that when he opened his distillery, though. The fourth generation of his family to grow sweet potatoes in Atwater, a speck on the map in central Californias San Joaquin Valley, Souza worked for years to refine his methods and create Corbin Vodka, made from his own sweet potatoes and named for his son, Corbin Cash Souza. Since then, the line has expanded into a gin and a sweet potato liqueur, plus a rye whiskey made from grain that Souza plants in between sweet potato harvests and a unique blended whiskey distilled from a mix of sweet potatoes and rye. Hillrock Estate Distillery If theres such a thing as a rock-star distiller, Dave Pickerell is it. In 2008, after 14 years as master distiller for Makers Mark, he left to become a consultant to the burgeoning craft-distillery movement and has since worked with many different brands. For Hillrock Estate, Pickerell teamed up with Jeff Baker, who grew up on farms and raised dairy and beef cattle before planting grains to make into whiskey on his family farm in the Hudson Valley town of Ancram, New York. The Hillrock Estate farm not only grows corn, rye, and barley but also malts the barley on-site, something done by only a handful of distilleries around the world. Hillrocks rye whiskey and peat-smoked single malt are both made from exclusively estate-grown grain, while its bourbon is a mix of whiskey made from Hillrock grain and whiskey distilled elsewhere. Today, you can find its products in about a dozen states all told. Wollersheim Winery & Distillery In 1849, a Hungarian nobleman planted one of the first vineyards in Wisconsin, on a slope overlooking the Wisconsin River in the town of Prairie du Sac. The grapes were used to make both wine and brandy. Prohibition killed the operation, turning the vineyard into a produce farm, but in 1972, the Wollersheim family bought the land, replanting the grape vines and building a winery thats grown significantly over the last four decades. But they didnt bring back distilling until 2015, when they released the first batch of Coquard Brandy, distilled from Wollersheim white wine and aged two years in barrels made from Wisconsin oak. The distillery also makes an apple brandy, an absinthe, and a gin, but only the Coquard comes from estate-grown grapes. Gardiner Liquid Mercantile There are lots of craft distilleries in New York using local ingredients, and thats by design: The states senate passed a series of laws allowing so-called farm distilleries that use mostly New York-grown ingredients to do things other alcohol producers cant, including operating on-site restaurants, bars, and retail stores. With Gardiner Liquid Mercantile, Gable Erenzo is taking full advantage. The former co-owner and chief distiller at the award-winning Tuthilltown Spirits, Erenzo partnered with the Hudson Valleys Dressel Farms to build a distillery next to the orchards cider house, which makes brandy from the orchards own apples, peaches, pears, strawberries, and grapes. Those spirits are available only at the restaurant/bar/shop Erenzo opened in late 2015 just five miles from the orchard. By Press Trust of India: Visakhapatnam, Jan 4 (PTI) Navy chief Admiral Sunil Lanba, arrived here today on a three-day visit to the Eastern Naval Command (ENC). The Admiral was accompanied by his wife Reena Lanba, a defence release issued here said. On arrival, Admiral Lanba was briefed on the activities of the Command and later held discussions with Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Vice Admiral HCS Bisht, and other Flag Officers, it said. advertisement Thereafter, the Admiral visited major establishments of the Command and addressed commanding officers, specialist officers, master chief regulators and defence civilians in separate meetings, said the release. Reena Lanba, President, Navy Wives Welfare Association (NWWA) visited various NWWA facilities, it added. PTI COR NRB JMF --- ENDS --- Greek diplomat Kyriakos Amiridis, 59, hadnt even been ambassador to Brazil for a year when he was murdered, stuffed into his rental car, and set on fire by Sergio Moreira, a 29-year-old military police officer who confessed to killing the ambassador and sleeping with the ambassadors 40-year-old wife. Amiridis was one of his countrys most well-known and respected diplomats, while his Brazilian wife, Francoise De Souza Oliveira, a socialite whom he met during a stint as consul general in Rio from 2001 to 2004, had also acquired a particular sort of notoriety: She had made her name as someone famous for being famous, a sort of Brazilian Kim Kardashian. Over the years, headlines noted her opulent spending on the Greek governments tab while Greeks languished in austerity-driven poverty back home. Now shes making headlines in Greece for allegedly killing one of their top diplomats. Based on her lover Moreiras confession and backed up by surveillance tapes, all of which was reported extensively in the Brazilian press, it appears that on the day after Christmas the ambassador had gone to the holiday home that he and Oliveira rented year round near Rio de Janeiro. (Their official diplomatic residence is in the capital, Brasilia, where they lived with their 10-year-old daughter.) The ambassadors wife reportedly had arranged for her lover to serve on the ambassadors personal security detail, and in that guise he had joined the Amiridis family in Rio. At some point during the dayaround the time Oliveira left with their young daughterthe ambassador, suspecting the love affair going on behind his back, confronted the younger man. Moreira, a military-trained police officer 30 years younger than Amiridis, said that the older man attacked him and tried to strangle him, and that a fight ensued in which he killed the ambassador in self-defense. Unsure what to do, Moreira told police he then called his cousin to help dispose of the body, which they did by wrapping it in one of the rental propertys Persian rugs and stuffing it into the front passenger seat of the rental car the ambassador had hired. Surveillance video shows Oliviera and her daughter arriving at the vacation cottage just as Moreira and his cousin were hauling out the rug-wrapped body. Then police say the two men drove the car with the dead ambassador swaddled in carpet to a river near the suburb of Nova Iguacu and pushed it down an embankment under a bridge. There they set it on fire, reportedly staying long enough to make sure the flames didnt rage out of control and alert the authorities prematurely. Evaristo Pontes, a police investigator in the Baixada Fluminense region near Rio de Janeiro, told reporters that the murder was like a macabre novel. When police discovered the charred remains four days later, there was nothing left of the ambassador, the rug, or much of the car, though they were able to tie the serial number to the rental company and Amiridis. They had to use DNA from the young daughter to match the burned bones of the ambassador, results that are expected by weeks end. "He says he got into a physical fight with the ambassador, Pontes said of Moreiras confession. And he had no choice other than to hit the ambassador and kill him. He says he was in desperation and didn't know what to do, given what had happened, so he asked a cousin for help and they went to make the ambassador's body disappear. Amiridiss wife reported her husbands disappearance on the 28th, two days after he was killed, telling police that she had tried desperately to reach him but that they had had a fight over the holidays and she thought he was just cooling off. Investigators say her story ran in circles, frequently contradicting her previous statements. She also failed to come up with a good reason for the presence of her husbands blood on the resort cottage sofa. Eventually, according to police, she admitted to being Moreiras lover, but not to the killing. He was then brought in for questioning, at which point he confessed to the crime and fingered his cousin Eduardo de Melo for helping. The cousin then turned the saga back to the ambassadors unfaithful wife, telling investigators that she offered him around $25,000 to ditch the body, which she would pay in 30 days time if nothing goes wrong, according to police testimony. Despite the wifes denials, police investigator Pontes told reporters that she was the intellectual author of the heinous crime. On Tuesday a court upheld her imprisonment for 30 days while prosecutors build a case and look to charge her formally with murder. All of our evidence suggests that her motivation was to use the financial resources left by the ambassador so she could enjoy life with Sergio, Pontes told reporters, claiming that she hatched the plan after she and Amiridis had a heated argument over the holiday period. She has denied all criminal allegations. According to Reuters, the area where the ambassadors remains were found was dominated by powerful and politically connected armed groups comprised mostly of off-duty or retired police and firefighters who control vast areas. It is unclear whether Moreira was involved in that criminal activity. Amiridis, a career diplomat, had moved to Brazil after serving as Greeces ambassador to Libya, where he was instrumental in evacuating his countrymen amid the chaotic fighting in 2014, according to a spokesman for the Greek government. Before that, he was the permanent representative for the Permanent Mission of Greece to the European Union as well as ambassador to Belgrade during the early days of the war in Yugoslavia. Michel Temer, the president of Brazil, sent a letter to Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras expressing sadness for what had happened to Greeces top diplomat in his country. On Tuesday, an envoy from Athens arrived in Rio de Janeiro to assist in the investigation and to see to the safety of the couples young daughter, who is in protective custody while her remaining parents saga plays out. As the lead guest on the first Late Show of 2017, Oprah Winfrey was ostensibly there to promote her new weight-loss cookbook, Food, Health, and Happiness: 115 On-Point Recipes for Great Meals and a Better Life. But there was no way Stephen Colbert was going to let her go without talking a little bit of politics. Winfrey raised eyebrows in the days following Donald Trumps victory when she suggested that the candidate had seemed humbled in his public meeting with President Obama. I think everybody can take a deep breath now, she said, to which many of her fans replied, Not so fast. Colbert declined to press Winfrey on what she meant when it came to Trump, but he did ask her about the exit interview she conducted with first lady Michelle Obama last month. The Late Show host admitted that he had not actually watched any of the interview, which also aired on CBS, telling her, Im saving it for when Im good enough to deserve it. Winfrey described the interview as bittersweet, recalling the first interview she did with Obama for her magazine back in 2008, when Malia and Sasha Obama were still baby children. She said that she told the first lady that she is just going to miss her presence in the White House. For me, you know, African-American woman, she said, being able to see that reflection of myself through the girls and through her, just their presence there, Im going to miss that. But it has meant so much to me. She didnt even have to specifically address the change that is about to come to the White House to make her point crystal clear. Asked if she thinks Michelle Obama will ever run for office, Winfrey replied, Never! Then, the host asked, to cheers from his audience, Is there any charismatic African-American woman that both sides of the political aisle really love? Never! Winfrey exclaimed in her signature scream. No, its not my thing. Back in June, on the same day she endorsed Hillary Clinton for president, Winfrey joked to Jimmy Kimmel that Trumps success had started to make her feel really qualified to be president. Yet even then, she said, The one thing that I know for sure, sure, sure, is I will never run for office. At that point, she never could have imagined that Trump would actually win the election. And apparently, that reality has not made her change her mind about her own plans for the future. Gloria Calderon Kellett is scrolling through pictures of her mother with Rita Moreno on her phone, and she is beside herself. She looks just like Rita Moreno, Calderon Kellett, the co-showrunner of Netflixs revival of Norman Lears One Day at a Time, says. All my life Ive been saying that! Shes very glamorous. Shes, like, 98 pounds, wet. Sitting next to her in a Manhattan hotel room, actress Justina Machado practically hoots with laughter. Oh my god, I just snorted, Machado, who plays the female lead in the all-Latino spin on the 1970s sitcom, apologizes. Well, non-apologizes. Shes having too much fun to be truly sorry. The Rita Moreno iPhone photo slideshow comes as Calderon Kellett is telling, gleefully, the story of her first meeting with Norman Lear about updating One Day at a Time, the Emmy-winning series about a recently divorced mother struggling to raise her kids in changing times. He told her to just talk about her family, and she mentioned how her mother always reminded her of Moreno. Lears bowl-over response: Oh, I know Rita. Months later, Moreno is about to make her debut playing Machados mother on the series, and Calderon Kellett is on a press tour gushing over photos of the EGOT-winner and her doppelganger together on her phone: Shes wigged in this! She has a wig on to look like my mom. Thats my mom, and thats Rita. Isnt that crazy? Its a story that bears telling because of the word that comes up time and again as Calderon Kellett, Machado, and I talk about the show, the Norman Lear tradition, and the stories that the Cuban-American Alvarez family are going to tell when One Day at a Time launches on Netflix Friday: authenticity. When Netflix and Lear came to Calderon Kellett about the revival, she said she could only do it if the family was Cuban-American, because thats her experience. The writers room she ended up hiring is half Latino and half women. The result is a tenet of a Norman Lear production: a series that lives in the specific stories of a family living in a very specific human conditionin this case, a Latino family raised by a single mother. Its through that specificity and, of course, humor, that our commonalities as people are exposed, all while we laugh. Specifically combatting the medias instinct to brand a show featuring non-white leads as for that race or audience, Calderon Kellett says, Our faces are brown faces. But the things they are going through are universal things. Lears trailblazing blend of commentary and comedy defined the sitcom genre in the 70s and 80s: All in the Family, Sanford and Son, The Jeffersons, Good Times, Maude. His Midas touch mints so much of the new One Day at a Time, which is confident enough to foray into tender, serious, and sincere places; tackle politicized issues, from depression to teenage sex to cultural identity; and have Rita Moreno sing a sexy happy birthday with a broad Cuban accent all at the same time. In fact, as Variety notes, Lear reviewed every script, attended run-throughs, and even warmed up the audience before tapings, vaulting the new One Day at a Time alongside The Carmichael Show among throwback multi-camera sitcoms that, through their commitment to conversation and understanding as much as comedy, are gloriously groundbreaking. And so with One Day at a Time premiering this week and critical accolades already pouring in, we spoke to an exceptionally energetic Calderon Kellett and her lead, Machado, about reviving Lears tradition, why his style of meaningful comedy has been missing, and the significance of telling the story with a Latino cast. Why is now a good time to bring back a Norman Lear kind of sitcom, but one that he actually did? Gloria: Look, we need Norman Lear sitcoms on television. Because he talked about stuff in a comedic way. He talked about real issues that were going on. He put the first prosperous African-American family on television. He talked about issues of abortion in this country on his shows. A character of his had an abortion in the 70s. Justina: Maude, yeah. Gloria: I mean the stuff that he was talking about in the 70s are still so relevant, and yet we moved away from talking about the stuff. I think with whats going on in this country, especially, its a great time to talk about real issues that people are facing, in a comedic way. Which is what we try to do on this show. Ive noticed that, too, that the issues we talked about on sitcoms in the 70s and 80s are things that in the next few decades were missing. There was this progressiveness, and then it went away. With shows like yours, that ethos is starting to come back again. But why do you think there was that gap for so long? Justina: I think the only person who really did that was Norman Lear. Im gonna say this: Its because he took a break. I really mean that. Its true if you look at all the other showsnot that there werent amazing showsthat were on in the 80s and the 90s. Thats his style. It didnt happen again. So thats my explanation for it. Gloria: I think different issues were happening. When our country goes through different things, people gravitate to different kinds of shows. I dont know if it was because of wartime. I dont know if it was because, politically, it was a more prosperous time in America. Whatever was going on, people are similarly more politically charged, clearly, in this particular moment in time. So Norman has had a total rebirth, in other shows as well, not just ours. I also think it might be time. Its interesting, too, that youre doing this on Netflix, when we normally associate multi-cam sitcoms and Lear-like shows with network television. Gloria: Advertisers are needed for network shows. When we were growing up, shows were 26 minutes long with four minutes of advertising. Now its 21 minutes of content that you get in 30 minutes. On Netflix we can give you 30 minutes of show. So it can be funny but it can also have plot points and drama. We can give you an emotional range because we have time to do it. Four minutes is a B-story on a sitcom. So when you dont have that you might be more motivated to do jokes, which I understand. I love traditional sitcoms on networks. Its just that theres not a lot of time to really hit a root and make it heartfelt but also be funny in that time frame. How much of a student were you of the original One Day at a Time? Gloria: The show premiered in 1975. We were too young to experience the show. Justina: When I started working on the show is when I visited and started watching it. I was kind of amazed at how many issues [the show dealt with]. Like I saw the heart attack one. (Laughs.) I saw all of these and how they dealt with these. Julie getting her first job, buying her first car. I thought, wow, this was stuff that was really happening then. It was so relevant. And I could see why people were so into it. It was like a slice of life that they could see. And I hope thats what our show is too for these times. Gloria: I also think advertisers have become scared of talking about certain issues because they dont want to upset an American family. I think its a shame because there are things we want to talk to our kids about. So to be able to talk about LGBT issues on our show. To be able to to talk about sex on the show. Now if youre like, Im going to do an episode talking to kids about sex, on a network thats hard to do! And we get to do that. We get to do that in a real, awkward, great way. Justina: You cant even smoke a cigarette on network television anymore. Not that everyone should be smoking cigarettes, but thats how crazy its gotten. You cant even do things like that that are real-life things. Gloria: In the first episode [Machado's character] talks about taking antidepressants. Mental issues are often not talked about in a real way on network television, unless youre a crazy person. Or an everyday way. Gloria: An everyday way, and have different opinions about that. The traditional experience of her mother that represents older generations in this country. The sort of moderate middle that can see both sides of the issue, and then these children that are growing up, these millennials that have a very different experience with social media and social justice warriors and reading everything and feeling like they are so knowledgeable about whats going on in the world without any real-world experience. You know? Justina: Thats so great. That was great. (Laughs) Gloria: All of that together we get to talk about in way that is organic to this family. So we have a lot of opinions about different issues. The show is rightfully being celebrated for featuring a Hispanic family. There also tends to be a branding of shows featuring non-white leads as for that race. Ive seen the show and its obviously universal Justina: THANK YOU! Gloria: We think so, too. But when there is that media instinct to segment its appeal or brand it in that way, how do you consider or maybe even combat thatif at all? Gloria: I think authenticity is everything. When they came to me and said they wanted to do this I said if were going to do this it has to be a Cuban family because thats my experience. Ive written on other shows where Ive obviously written for the gamut of human experiences and different ethnicities, but then I have to research the ethnicity. I know what growing up first-generation Cuban American is because I am that. So I can pull on things that are authentic from my life. I think thats what people want. They want stuff thats real. So, yes, like you said, our faces are brown faces. But the things they are going through are universal things. So if we deal with that in an organic way to us, we think that is what will translate. What is the makeup of the writers room? Gloria: Half Latino, which was very important to me. Justina: And half women. Gloria: And half women! Which was also important to me, and in TV today just doesnt exist. And they are powerful women. We have two gay writers, and were proud of that. Usually Im like, Im the one Latino person in the room. And the lesbians like, Usually Im the one gay person in the room. (They both laugh.) So its nice that theres more than one of all of us, and we feel represented. How did you staff the room? Gloria: What Im proud of with that is that [co-writer] Mike Royce and I wanted to get the best writers and we asked for specifically women and Latinos first. But we werent like, Were going to hire somebody just because their last names Gomez. Thats not the way this is going to roll. We wanted people who were overlooked, but amazing. So we read and read and read and read, and the team we got, we were so fortunate. People look at our room too and were like, Wow you guys really have everything. And it changes the conversation in the room. It does. It changes the conversation and the discussion. Justina: We have young writers, too. Two of them are like 22 or something, which is amazing because it gives great perspective for the Elena character. There are things Im like, What the hell? I barely do social media. So thats important, too. The storytelling of being a single mom raising a family, how is it different telling that story in 2016 than when the show aired in the 70s? Gloria: Technology. I think technology plays a huge impact in the differences. I didnt watch a ton of early episodes, just some from season one, and I was struck by things like, just a phone and a cord! I mean now theres just such a difference in how these kids communicate with each other. Cubans are so hands on, and its hard to keep that leash when there are so many variables. We talk about those variables. Justina: Im not a mom. But I was raised by a single mom. I dont know how different it is except for the fact that its common now, opposed to before. We have the added technology, but Im sure its all the same struggles and all the same worries. That doesnt change. Just the times were living in changes. That was the first time we saw a single mom raising a family on TV. Now weve seen that story told several times, to the point that an I dont know how she does it! trope birthed from it. How do you, telling this story now, fight against those tropes? Gloria: For me, Im a mom and I have two kids. I have family. Thats really important to me. How you do it? You have a lot of help. Thats the reality. Culturally, our families are pretty up in each others business. Justina: The only person who ever took care of me was my grandmother. Thats the only person who ever took care of me growing up. I cant remember staying with anybody else. That is something that happens on our show, too. Rita, thats the only person those kids stay with. So, yes, there is a lot of help. Gloria: [Machado's character] is not just a mom on this show. Shes a woman. She wants love, she wants passion, she wants a better career. And to take care of herself. Justina: Dont you love that? Because its always like, shes just a mom. No, shes a woman. Gloria: Shes a full character with flaws and dimension. Lets end on the best note: the casting of Rita Moreno. Gloria: Its insane. Its crazy. Listen, when Norman and I sat down he asked me to talk about my family. I told him parents are at my house every day. Thats just true. They have a key. Theyre there all the time. They pick up my kids from school. They take them to dance classes. Karate. Everything. He goes, Tell me about your mom. What does she look like? I said shes very glamorous. She looks Rita Moreno. All my life Ive been saying that! Shes, like, 98 pounds, wet. Justina: (Laughs.) Oh my god, I just snorted. Gloria: Glam all the time. Has an outfit on. Shes a woman that cares about the presentation. And Norman was like, Oh, I know Rita. The fact that it happened is crazy. I have photos of Rita and mom together I have to show you. Shes wigged in this. She has a wig to look like a mom. Look at this. Thats my mom. And thats Rita. Isnt that crazy? Look at that. Look at that lady. Isnt that insane? The entrance with the curtain Gloria: Listen, you gotta give Rita Moreno an entrance. New details about the suspect in the New Years attack in Istanbul emerged on Wednesday, according to the Turkeys Anodolu Agency. Officials say they have identified the man, but have not released his name. Police raided four addresses in the Turkish city of Izmirabout a seven-hour drive west from Konya, where the attacker was thought to have lived in the weeks before the attackand arrested 11 women and nine men, the state-run news agency reported, citing an anonymous official. Those arrested were reportedly from Dagestan, eastern Turkestan, and Kyrgyzstan. They also confiscated 41 fake passports from an assortment of countries, 15 fake Turkish identity documents, and a GPS device that police said was used by ISIS militants in conflict areas. Based on photographs, the forged identity documents seem to represent a variety of Central Asian republics, including Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, as well as Azerbaijan. Anodolu also reported that police found military and night vision equipment, and an ammunition belt during the raids. Twenty children were detained and put into temporary care. The Turkish newspaper Hurriyet reports that the suspect had close ties with Turkeys Uighur community. People from this Turkic ethnic group are found primarily in China, where they number in the millions, but also throughout Central Asian post-Soviet republics and within Turkey itself. A small population of Uighurs lives in Russia. Hurriyet reports that the attacker arrived in Istanbul on Nov. 20, and went to Konya on Nov. 22 after passing through Ankara. He paid three months rent, in cash, for a house, and left Konya several times before the attack on the Reina nightclub in the Ortakoy neighborhood of Istanbul in the early hours of Jan. 1. After the massacre, the shooter allegedly called an ISIS recruiter named Yusuf Hoca, according to Hurriyet. He also supposedly found his way to a Uighur restaurant and asked employees there to pay his taxi driver. Some Uighur citizens have been detained as part of the search, the Turkish newspaper also reported, adding that the attackers contacts in Konya had fled by the time police located their houses, and that two real estate agents had been detained in relation to the case. Earlier, Turkish authorities had said that their prime suspect was a Kyrgyz national, who arrived in Turkey with his wife and children weeks before the attack. Turkish media then named a 28-year-old man from the Central Asian republic as the suspect, but he was allowed to fly back to Kyrgystan after being questioned by Turkish agents. The man was in Turkey on business and is no longer a suspect in the attack, officials said. *** Turkey has a fraught terrorism history with ethnic minorities from the republics of the former Soviet Union, particularly the Caucasus. Chechen warlords and their families found refuge there over the course of two grisly wars, the second of which leveled the Chechen capital of Grozny. A large community of Caucasian refugees and guerrillas has thus been domiciled in Turkey for decades. Partly as a result, since the outbreak of the Syria crisis Turkey has suffered some of the worst blowback of any European country from Russian-speaking jihadists. To date, the bloodiest was the Istanbul Airport gun and bombing attacks in June of last year, the worst act of terrorism in modern Turkish history, in which 45 were killed and over 230 injured. The three assailants, as identified by the Turkish government, were a Russian (reportedly from Dagestan), a Kyrgyz, and an Uzbek, and the ringleader of the operation is said to have been Akhmed Chatayev, a Chechen, whom Russian security forces have named as the main recruiter of Russians for ISIS in the North Caucasus. Nicknamed Odnorukiy, or One-Armed because he lost the other one, Chatayevs recruits have so far included Varvara Karaulova, a convert to Islam and a student at the prestigious Moscow State University, who was caught at the Syrian border by the Turkish gendarmerie in 2015 and extradited back to Russia. She was sentenced to 4-and-a-half years for trying to join ISIS. Chatayev, who is on both the UN and U.S. Treasury Department sanctions lists, was formerly the deputy of Doku Umarov, the now-dead leader of the Caucasus Emirate, a longtime jihadist group that split a few years ago after a contingent pledged allegiance to ISIS. Chatayev was Umarovs representative in Europe before the latter was killed by Russian forces in 2013. Hes also been incarcerated in several countries, including Sweden in 2008 (on weapons possession charges), Ukraine in 2009 (at Russias request, although he was not extradited), Bulgaria in 2011 (ditto), then again in Georgia in 2012, after a firefight with Georgian special forces in Lopota Gorge. Eleven Islamists were killed in that skirmish, as were three special forces operators. Yet Chatayev was eventually released in January 2013 because a judge in Tbilisi believed his story, that he was never the leader of the militant band at all but rather an interlocutor sent by the Georgian Interior Ministry to negotiate their surrender to authorities. He was maimed, Chatayev claimed, as a mere onlooker to a battle he had nothing to do with. And because he had refugee status in Austria, which he obtained a decade earlier as an alleged victim of torture at the hands of Russian authorities, he was allowed to return there upon his release from custody. As The Daily Beast reported in July, Georgias former deputy interior minister did admit to recruiting Chatayev, whom he described as a good informer and negotiator between us and Islamist underground of the Northern Caucasus; with his help we prevented several terrorist attacks on Georgia. Gen. Giorgi Lortkipanidze, who recently resigned as the police chief of the Ukrainian port city of Odessa, says that Chatayev turned on his handlers and was arrested while trying to flee Georgia with his Islamist confederates. Lortkipanidze, who commanded the counterterrorism unit that fought the group at Lopota Gorge, also claims that the One-Armed also had his leg amputated after that exchange. The Chechens peregrinations were unknown until June 2015, when a video of him appeared on YouTube. Sitting next to Abu Jihad, a fellow Caucasian from the Republic of Karachai-Cherkessia, Chatayev was now evidently in Syria, heading the Yarmouk Battalion, a Chechen faction of ISIS. He was shown on camera welcoming Dagestani jihadists into the fold and cheering their pledge of allegiance to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Since the outbreak of the Syria crisis, Turkey has also caught and expelled those it claims are ISIS-affiliated Chechens, including several children. Its no coincidence that the largest Chechen jihadi site, the Kavkaz Center, is only available in four languages, and one of them is Turkish. In recent years, however, Ankara has had to push the Chechen issue to the background as it works to improve relations with Moscow, which apparently neither the assassination of the Russian ambassador to Turkey nor a spate of unsolved murders of Russian speakers within Turkey can derail. A dozen citizens of the ex-Soviet republics and stans of Central Asia have been killed in Turkey, most of them with ties to the Chechen conflict. Recent leaked Turkish state evidence indicates that at least three of them, all killed in 2011, were eliminated by five Russian hitmen with possible ties to Moscow Center. Valid Lurakhmaev, a mobbed-up Chechen hitman accused of killing a Chechen ex-militant in Turkey, has been identified by Russian crime reporter Sergei Kanev as working for the FSB, Russias domestic intelligence agency, in its anti-terrorism unit in the Caucasus. In December, the BBC reported that the assassins of Berg-Haj Musaev, Rustam Altemirov and Zaurbek Amriev, three Chechen militants accused of bombing Moscows Domodedovo airport that same year, left a wealth of information in a hired car, including their names and photos, and a USB stick illustrating their lifestyle, from the predictablefast cars, male friendship and whiskyto the bizarre a motorbike decorated with Nazi insignia. BBC correspondent Murad Batal Shishani pieced together the identity of one of the killers, the owner of the USB stick and rider of the Nazi motorbike, as Nadim Ayupov. He was known in Moscow as a gangster specializing in car theft, Russian organized crime beingfrequently contracted by Russias security services who dont want to get their own hands dirty or who want to maintain an air of plausible deniability to their overseas wet work. In another unsolved murder the BBC investigated, an Uzbek cleric was shot at point-blank range by a man who approached him at the door of a mosque in Istanbul. A former Turkish serviceman told the journalist that an ethnic Uzbek with a Russian passport, who says he was trained by the FSB, was offering $300,000 for each target assassinated. *** With the establishment of ISISs caliphate, veterans of the Caucasus or Central Asia insurgencies have found a new port of call, and ISIS has even gone so far as to declare a wilayat, or province, on Russian Federation territory, more out of bluster than anything approaching the medieval reality it has been able to impose on now-dwindling areas of Syria and Iraq. According to Jacob Zenn, a fellow at the Jamestown Foundation, not including al-Qaeda and also not including Uighurs, if youre looking at Russian-speaking jihadists, youre looking at mostly Uzbeks. And very few of them actually come from Uzbekistan but are rather cultivated as migrant laborers inside Russia. They get picked up by a jamaat, he said, referring to the Arabic word for an Islamic council, with professional ISIS recruiters in Russia who get money for each guy they send to ISIS in Syria. The route is through Turkey. There hasnt been much done about it. The reason for that, Zenn says, is that either Russia has willfully turned a blind eye to the exodus or because the FSB cant keep track of everyone leaving, particularly from networks in Siberia or the Russian regions away from Moscow. One of the fiercest battalions in ISIS is actually called the Uzbek Battalion; members from it were reported to have fought in Fallujah and kept the city from falling earlier to pro-Iraqi-government forces last year. A large number of the Uzbeks in Syria are actually Kyrgyz citizens. Their motivation is the Kyrgyz nationalist movement in Kyrgyzistan. Almost all Tajiks join ISIS as opposed to other Islamist or jihadist factions in Syria, according to Zenn. As for Russians, the total number fighting with ISIS in Syria and Iraq is impossible to know for sure, as official or semiofficial sources have given varying figures at varying points of time. Ilya Rogachev, director of the Russian Foreign Ministry's Department on New Challenges and Threats, put the total at more than 3,200 in November 2016. A year earlier, the FSB estimated that it was closer to 2,900. FSB Director Alexander Bortnikov said in December 2015, that of the 214 jihadists who had repatriated to Russia, They have all been placed under tight control in law-enforcement agencies: 80 have been tried, 41 more are under arrest. Meanwhile, Chechen intelligence, according to the New Yorker, claims that as many as 3,000 to 4,000 Chechens alone have joined ISIS, that is, not counting Russian citizens from other parts of the country. *** Indeed, some believe that Chechen republic leader Ramzan Kadyrov, himself a former Islamist insurgent turned Russian state hireling, saw the rise of ISIS as a convenient opportunity to solve his own domestic terrorism problem by exporting it to the Middle Eastan allegation that has already been leveled with increasing evidence against Russias security services, writ large. Elena Milashina, a reporter for Russias investigative opposition newspaper Novaya Gazeta, concluded in 2015, based on field research in Dagestan, that Russian special services have controlled the flow of jihadists into Syria in the lead-up to the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, when the Kremlin feared a terror atrocity would scandalize the international sporting competition it spent so many millions of rubles hosting. In our village there is a person, a negotiator, Akhyad Abdullaev, the head of a Dagestani village, told Milashina. He, together with the FSB, brought several leaders out of the underground and sent them off abroad on jihad. The FSBs so-called green corridor for transiting these violent fighters, as The Daily Beast reported, included helping them to obtain passports and other necessaries to migrate to Turkey and/or Georgia, and then ultimately to Syria. The belief was that theyd either be killed on a foreign battlefield and thus become one less headache for law enforcement to worry about, or theyd be picked up upon their return home. One unnamed FSB officer confirmed this policy to the International Crisis Group: We opened borders, helped them all out and closed the border behind them by criminalizing this type of fighting. If they want to return now, we are waiting for them at the borders. A year later, in May 2016, Reuters also, identified five other Russian radicals who, relatives and local officials say, also left Russia with direct or indirect help from the authorities and ended up in Syria. Many Russian-speaking jihadists have gone on to positions of great prominence in the organization. The most infamous was ISISs former war minister Abu Omar al-Shishani, a half-Chechen Georgian national and former U.S.-trained special forces operator in the Georgian military who fought against Russia in the 2008 summer war. Shishani was killed in a U.S. airstrike in July 2016. (One of his top confidants was Abu Jihad, Akhmed Chatayevs YouTube video co-star.) Shishanis anointed successor, Colonel Gulmurod Khalimov, is the former head of Tajikistans special police force. He was trained by U.S. State Department counterterrorism officials and has threatened to use the skills they taught him against the United States. Listen, you American pigs. Ive been three times to America, and I saw how you train fighters to kill Muslims. God willing, I will come with this weapon to your cities, your homes, and we will kill you, Khalimov said in a propaganda video. Meanwhile, as The Daily Beast reported last month, Russian President Vladimir Putins favorite Chechen, Ramzan Kadyrovperhaps tacitly acknowledging that it wasnt enough to ship out jihadists, and may not be possible to nab them when they head homehas sent hit teams to try to track them down in Syria. If they were on the trail of the Istanbul nightclub killer, they arrived far too late. Last Friday night, an hour and a half after arriving at the Westlight restaurant on the roof of the new William Vale hotel in Brooklyns hip Williamsburg neighborhood, I checked in with the hostess: Another 15 minutes, she chirped, promising that my name was at the top of the waiting list and my party of two would be seated shortly. The restaurant was fully booked by noon that day, but another cheerful hostess had assured me on the phone that the wait wouldnt be long, so I didnt expect to be ensconced at the Westlights industrial-chic bar for more than two hours. Yet with its sizable $16 artisanal cocktails (I ordered the not-too-sweet False Start, a tequila concoction with cardamaro, red vermouth, cynar, and cucumber) and floor-to-ceiling vistas of Manhattan, there are worse places to spend a few hours before being seated for dinner at one of the plush, yellow-golden sofas in the loftlike restaurant, which is warmly lit by globe lights overhead. In the summer, Andrew Carmellinis restaurant expands out onto the terrace, where guests can peer across the East River through telescopes or climb a flight of steps to the 60-foot pool at the very top of the towering, 21-story hotel. Halfway through my second False Start and eager for a cigarette, I stepped out onto the terracea smoke-free zone even in the dead of winter, I discoveredand looked down at the Wythe Hotels rooftop bar across the street, then further down to the ground floor of the new Williamsburg Hotel two blocks over. This mini-boom in cool hotels is happening within four blocksbetween North Ninth and North 12th streets, off Wythe Avenue. Later this year, the Hoxtona London-based chain with hotels in the citys Shoreditch and Holborn neighborhoods, as well as one in Amsterdamwill be the fourth hotel in this small stretch of north Williamsburg, part of the luxury hotel scene that has exploded there as the neighborhood continues to become a tourist destination preferable to SoHo and other hot areas in Manhattan or Brooklyn. The McCarren Hotel & Pool, which opened in 2011 (a tad east of the current geographical hotspot), led the charge of Williamsburgs fashionable hotels. Since opening in 2012and until the latest flurry of glossy openingsthe 70-room Wythe has been the most popular hotel in the neighborhood where tourists and out-of-town employees of the Williamsburg-located Vice Media offices could lay their heads for a minimum of $395 a night. The Wythe isnt just a hotel but an adult playground of sorts, complete with an in-house art cinema, gratuity-free Reynard restaurant (sister to Marlow & Sons), and cocktail bar. Located across the street from the Brooklyn Bowl and nestled among old factory buildings on the waterfront (the Wythe itself was once a factory building), Williamsburg's derelict industrial zone quickly became prime hotel real estate. Before the Wythe came along, a lot of these buildings were only semi-utilized, said Toby Moskovits, co-owner of the new, 150-room (starting at $375 a night) Williamsburg Hotel with Michael Lichtenstein. While the hotel is currently in its soft launch, with only one floor of rooms housing guests and its ground floor bar officially opening on New Years Eve, Moskovits and Lichtenstein acquired the property in 2012. Our goal is to be the neighborhood hotel, Moskovits said, adding that she grew up in Williamsburg (my family literally had a business across the street from the hotel) and is an active member of the community board. We also want to bring a bit of elegance to Brooklyn, though ours is more of a faded elegance, she noted of the hotels design aesthetic: part West Elm showroom and part Soho House, with lots of tufted furniture (even the walls in the elevator are tufted) mixed with mid-century modern inspired pieces. Hotel rooms and hallways are lit by filament lightbulbs, which are something of a Brooklyn cliche (youd be hard-pressed to find a popular restaurant in Williamsburg that doesnt feature them somewhere). Theres plenty of artful quirk, too, like the toile-inspired wallpaper depicting scenes and figures from Brooklynthe late rapper Notorious B.I.G.; Coney Islands famous Cyclone roller coaster; a group of Hasidic Jewish mendesigned by Mike Diamond of the Beastie Boys in collaboration with Revolver New York and Flavor Paper. A colorful yarn installation by the artist Eric Rieger hovers above the lobby bar. Its more warm and comforting than industrial, which is how we think a hotel should be, said Moskovits. Chef Adam Leonti of the Brooklyn Bread Lab is masterminding the hotels Harvey restaurant, which will open the first week in February and features a grain and vegetable-focused menu with a daily meat and fish option. The hotels ballroom, which accommodates up to 400 people, will open later this spring, along with its water tower bar and rooftop pool. Lichtenstein and Moskovits began working together on residential real estate in Williamsburg back in 2008, around the time the neighborhood landscape started changing, pricing out artists who had moved there because they couldnt afford to live on Manhattans Lower East Side. When I started developing in Williamsburg 15 years ago, it was a cheap alternative to Manhattan, Lichtenstein said. In the last three or four years its become a destination in and of itself, even more than Manhattan is for some people. SoHo is too corporate for a lot of tourists and residents, but Williamsburg still has that authentic feel that SoHo had until 10 years ago. Williamsburg certainly isnt a cheap alternative anymore, with some residential rents running as high as those in SoHo and the West Village. 2016 saw Whole Foods and Apple open stores on Bedford Avenue, the neighborhoods main drag, which is clogged with street vendors and Danish tourists taking pictures of graffiti. In addition to Vice, which recently moved its headquarters 10 blocks south on Wythe Avenue, companies like Kickstarter and Amazon have opened offices in Williamsburg. The neighborhoods music and arts scene is another big draw for both New York City residents and tourists. You have the old guard of people who have lived here for many years, as well as some really successful artists who moved here 10 years ago and stayed, plus the tech companies in this little pocket of an industrial area that was rezoned and has become a cultural incubator, said Moskovits. The close proximity of all this is what really draws people here. Of all the new luxury hotels in the area, the towering William Valea stilted monolith that rises from the ground like an alien mothership or a fantasy dreamed up by Paul Randis perhaps the one that forecasts the future of Williamsburg most. There were fewer bearded hipsters at the Westlight than casually dressed, middle-aged Italian women and gray heads in Dockers. By the time I left, the queue waiting for the elevator looked like the line outside the Boom Boom Room, the rooftop bar at the top of the Standard Hotel in the Meatpacking Districtonly less glamorous and slightly less affected. On Tuesday, Chuck Schumer gave his first speech as the Democrats leader in the Senate and then appeared on Rachel Maddows show last night. His remarks about how the Democrats plan to oppose President Trump make for quite a contrast with what the Republicans did eight years ago, and its an important point that must not be lost on people. Eight years ago, on the night of Barack Obamas inauguration, key Republicans gathered in an expense-account steakhouse just off Pennsylvania Avenue and committed themselves to a course of action: All opposition, all the time, on everything. Robert Draper broke the story in his book Do Not Ask What Good We Do, which I reviewed back in 2012. The money quote was from Paul Ryan, then the GOPs leader on fiscal issues, now the speaker of the House: The only way well succeed is if were united. If we tear ourselves apart, were finished. That meant every Republican had to vote against everything President Obama proposed. That is more or less what happened. Obama got three GOP votes on the stimulus bill, six on Dodd-Frank, just one on health care, and zero on a number of other measures (thats out of roughly 220 Republicans who were around at that time). And because Obama had been naive enough to think that he really could lessen partisan rancor, they made him look to casual observers like he was the one breaking his promise to unite the country, and he looked weak and ineffectiveand even partisan, because he relied almost wholly on Democratic votes for his major initiatives! It was a great racket. Act in a totally partisan fashion. Then let the American people see that Washington was still the same old bipartisan slaughterhouse. Then blame Obama for failing to change it! Now lets look at what Schumer said Tuesday. He had a lot of tough words for Trump and the Republicans. Well fight him tooth and nail, he said, when he appeals to the baser instincts that diminish America and its greatness, instincts that have too often plagued this country and his campaign. He called out Trump on his relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and he used the phrase hard right four times to describe the GOP agenda and warn that if thats what Trump embraced, the Democrats would do everything they could (which he admitted might not be that much) to try and defeat his proposals. On the Maddow show, promising to go after Trumps nominees: He said hes gonna clean the swamp. Whos his Cabinet? Billionaires, people who own huge businesses, people who have been part of that swamp for a very long time. He laid out a plan by which Democrats, even in the minority, could tie up Trumps nominees for the first two months of his presidency. There was plenty of fight in him. But he did also say this in his floor speech: If the president-elect proposes legislation that on issues like infrastructure and trade and closing the carried-interest loophole, for instance, well work in good faith to perfect and potentially enact it. And he followed up on Maddow, again using the example of the carried-interest loophole, saying Im not gonna vote against it [just because] he proposes it. Thats a very different position than the one the Republicans had against Obama. I know some on the left would call it #TeamSpineless, but it isnt. In fact, Schumer even went so far as to say to Maddow that the Democrats might try to keep Antonin Scalias Supreme Court seat vacant. Theres no big quote here, except the word absolutely in response to Maddow seeking to confirm that hed be prepared to hold the seat vacant, but its the kind of hardball on this point Democrats almost never play. (Schumer acknowledged that McConnell could get around Democratic opposition by changing the filibuster rule, but said it was his view that some old-line Republicans would resist that and McConnell might not be able to do it.) Democrats have a needle they have to thread here. They need to be much more aggressively oppositional than theyve ever been, certainly more than they were under George W. Bush, when enough of them supported his tax cuts, his No Child Left Behind bill, and of course his war, which Bush could claim bipartisan cover for and that Democrats were split over with no clear party message. If ever they needed one clear party message, its now. At the same time, they should not try to become the Republicans. Republicans wreck norms and institutions because they (this new breed of them) dont believe in those norms or institutions. Democrats do. And they should continue to. Its like this debate about whether Hillary Clinton should attend the inauguration. I guess I can see the anti- side, but well, Bill kind of has to go. Hes a former president. Should she make him go alone? Thats a terrible visual, and sore loser would be added to her already unfairly long list of deficiencies in the media. But the main point is, while this will be a painful thing for her to watch, she understands the importance of respecting the peaceful transfer of power; it doesnt mean she has to respect the man the power is being transferred to, and she can find appropriate times and ways to make that clear to the country. Thats the bottom line. Theres a way to be in opposition that burns the village down with it, and theres a way to be in opposition that saves the village from the bad guys. The Republicans are the former, the Democrats need to be the latter. In time, voters might even notice. Travelling, for Nidhi, is not just about self-gratification; it is a means to inspire the generation to achieve whatever it is they dream of. By Disha Roy Choudhury: Of the large population inhabiting the globe, there is a certain percentage of people that need to pioneer the concept of 'moving beyond ordinary existence' and head for adventures--to be able to tell the world that it's possible, believes Nidhi Tiwari. This lady, who is garnering admiration from all for completing the first solo overland drive to Siberia from India, spoke to India Today Online about her experience. advertisement 1. After your mega Delhi-London trip, what made you choose Siberia for this record-breaking expedition? I am basically an extreme overland driver. After the big Delhi-London mega expedition last year, I started thinking about what could be more challenging than that. This particular section from Yakutsk to Magadan (Siberia) is considered to be one of the most dangerous roads in the world, with the Pole of Cold located in the vicinity. When I started researching, I found that not even a single person from India had ever been up there. So, this had been on my radar and had to be done during the winter because the road is firm and frozen right now. So I started planning for the expedition and am happy that things worked out. It was perhaps the most intense experience ever for me. I also drove along one really extreme road here in India, from Killar to Kishtwar, last September. I still think that the Himalayan roads are far more extreme. 2. How did you plan the finances and equipment for the expedition? I realised that my vehicle needed to be significantly modified to suit weather conditions. I had approached a few car companies. Having weighed my options, I decided to go with a Toyota Landcruiser, very well-weathered, primarily with a lot of additional heating and insulation. I mapped out the route for the possible places to stay, fill up on fuel etc. What I did not expect, however, was the lack of daylight, which lasted for only 3 to 3.5 hours a day. I used to drive a minimum of 12 hours a day, which was quite taxing. So, it took a lot of stamina behind the wheel. Also Read:This woman is driving from Delhi to Siberia for the most epic solo trip of her life 3. Tell us about your experience during the journey. What I experienced was insane; something I had not bargained for when I was planning the trip. One would freeze in just 5 to 8 minutes of outdoor exposure there. By the time I was back in Moscow, my finger tips had literally blackened. advertisement One of the places that fascinated me was Kadykchan. It was apparently a settlement that got abandoned in the '80s but the infrastructure had been left absolutely intact--replete with kids' park with broken swings, houses of the Soviet era, schools, restaurant boards, all adding up to an extremely eerie experience. I found out that there was a coal mine in that place and later some 30-odd people had died in a blast. The mine was then shut down and people had to leave. Besides, I can't get over the way the landscape changes colour through the day. The play of light was something that was unbelievably beautiful. Photo courtesy: Facebook/Women Beyond Boundaries 4. You were also connected to certain schools in the country online, giving them live updates about your journey. How was the programme initiated? This was an expedition for education. I had earlier interacted with students and shown them pictures of my journeys. Every time I walked out, I realised my inability to transmit what one actually has to endure to be on that journey. I wanted to take students on the journey with me. I feel journeys like this have an immense educational value, simply to understand what the human spirit is capable of. advertisement I tied up with about 15 schools from all over the country, to form a three-part programme with two intentions--to show them what it takes to be an explorer and to expose them to an area on earth that they read very little about in regular curriculum. I had pre-expedition interactions with the students. A digital platform was created wherein students generated questions for me and I sent them periodic updates. Once during the journey, I also Skyped with them to help them get a sense of what my life was like during the journey. Now, after the journey, I am going to be meeting them again to initiate an exchange of learning. I am hoping to reach out to as many kids in the years to come. I have seen what it does to children who have been following it. They are at the right age, to be infused with the energy to explore. They need to see things for themselves and know that doing things out of the ordinary is actually possible. advertisement 5. For a lot of people, a woman travelling alone might sound like a big deal, in terms of safety and security. Do you think you have been too radical to take such a step? Personally, the question of gender with respect to travel is a bit overrated. One of my hosts during the journey told me that interestingly she had never seen any woman from any country drive there, forget India. I think it just takes a certain spirit. This binary between man and woman just conforms to a lot of stereotypes. In my opinion, driving is gender-neutral and it's only a skill that gets better with practice. As far as travelling solo is concerned, it only takes a bit of common sense and good planning. 6. In what ways is your organisation, Women Beyond Boundaries, influencing women to push their limits? Women Beyond Boundaries (WBB) started off as a thought, then became a platform and now an organisation. It was during the Delhi-London trip that I formally announced the platform. A lot of women showed interest in coming along for such drives with me or train under me. WBB became a place for women drivers who wanted to go out on such tours, or at least express the aspiration to do so. The thought behind this is that if a woman is mobile, the chances of her being able to integrate socially and economically is far greater. This holds true for both rural and urban areas. We are talking about empowerment schemes all the time but if the woman doesn't have mobility, how would she even have access to such facilities? I wanted to understand the connect that women in far-flung areas see between mobility and empowerment. WBB also trained eight women from across the country who wanted to train in extreme overland skills. I am hoping that some day WBB evolves into a platform where women can reach out to not only enhance their driving skills but also to use this empowering medium for bigger gains like education or jobs. Also, this is now becoming symbolic with an aspiration that women hold but are unsure if it truly will be realised. I want to inspire as many people out there, to make them trust their instincts and believe that everything is possible. 7. Finally, what is your overall feedback on the journey? This journey has been soul-stirring, because you are alone and there are so many moments when you are dealing with uncertainty, making decisions and coping with the consequences. When you come out of that situation, you feel overwhelmed. --- ENDS --- 30-year-old woman hailing from Odisha was raped and killed by two men in Idukki district of Kerala. By Revathi Rajeevan: In yet another incident of violence against women on New Year's Day, a 30-year-old woman was found dead in Idukki district of Kerala. The woman, a native of Odisha who was a migrant worker was found dead with bruises all over her body. The police said she was hit on the head with a sharp object on Sunday morning and her body was found at night behind a bush on the same day in Kuttikanam in the district. advertisement Two accused, natives of Odisha and Tamil Nadu have been arrested and are said to have confessed that they first raped the woman and then killed her.According to the police, the accused are said to be neighbours of the woman and were known to her. --- ENDS --- By Press Trust of India: Ahmedabad, Jan 4 (PTI) Over 1,400 poultry birds, mostly Guinea Fowls, kept at an animal care centre near the city have been culled by district administration after some of them brought here from Mumbai tested positive for avian influenza, commonly known as bird flu. The culling operation commenced last night and ended this morning at Hathijan village on the outskirts of the city, where city-based NGO Asha Foundation runs its animal care centre. advertisement Looking at the gravity of the situation, as the deadly bird flu virus can spread into humans, district Collectorate has formed 12 different teams to carry out surveillance of the area to find any other infected bird. "In all, our teams have culled and disposed of 1,481 birds kept in that centre in an operation which lasted till this morning. Another 191 birds kept in a poultry near the centre will be culled today. We have formed 12 teams to sanitise the centre and to carry out surveillance of the affected region," Ahmedabad Collector Avantika Singh said. The birds culled today included Guinea Fowls, turkeys and ducks. The authorities had yesterday sealed the premises and declared 1 km area surrounding the centre as affected zone. Besides, 10 km area has been declared as alert zone after avian influenza virus (H5N1) was detected in samples collected from the centre after the death of seven Guinea Fowls. Since bird flu can spread and infect humans as well, the authorities have swung into action and set up an isolation ward at Civil Hospital here to treat such patients. "As a precautionary measure to cope up with cases of bird flu among humans, we have created an isolation ward having seven rooms in the Civil Hospital. Till now, no such case has been detected. We advise people to avoid physical contact or going in crowded places," hospital superintendent Dr M M Prabhakar said. According to officials, the bird flu entered here through infected Guinea Fowls sent to the animal care centre from Mumbai on December 28. "Out of these 200-odd birds, mostly Guinea fowls and also turkeys and ducks, seven Guinea fowls had died within three days of their arrival. Laboratory tests confirmed that all of them had died due to bird flu," said deputy director of district Animal Husbandry Department, R N Patel, who has been supervising the culling and sanitising operation in Hathijan. Apart from these 200-odd birds, around 550 Guinea Fowls were also kept here by the authorities after they were rescued on January 1 when they were being off-loaded by a truck driver near Vastral area. (MORE) PTI PJT PD GK IKA --- ENDS --- advertisement Third has been the underplaying of the enormous cost and intractable nature of trying to clean up the mess. For example, people who are evacuated are told the move is only temporary, when it could last for decades, possibly generations. Again, the official estimate for' compensation' for the Fukushima accident rose from 5.4 trillion (40bn) to 8 trillion (70bn), a fact only slipped out at the end of November 2016, nearly five years after the accident. Technically insurmountable In each case, even after the Windscale accident 60 years ago, the clean-up of the actual nuclear pile that caught fire has several times started and then been abandoned as too difficult. They are not expected to be completed for decades. There is no hope of cleaning up Chernobyl or Fukushima this century. A new concrete shell over Chernobyl to replace the existing crumbling structure should be in place by 2017 at a cost of 2.1 billion - but this is designed only as a temporary structure, to last 100 years. Governments tried hard to cover up what happened. At Windscale, the British government subsequently admitted it had deliberately covered up the seriousness of the accidents to keep its nuclear weapons programme on track. In Chernobyl's case it was the sky-high radiation readings from as far away as Scandinavia and Germany that led the Soviets to admit what had happened. Thirty years later the real health effects of the accident are hotly disputed. Thousands of children have had their thyroids removed and there have been many birth defects and cancers. Belarus, worst hit by the disaster, is anxious to play down the long-term effects to avoid frightening potential foreign investors in the country. The nuclear industry has been trying hard to put all this in the past. In response to public concerns it has come up with a whole series of 'safer' designs for nuclear power stations. As a result, some countries like Finland and Britain are encouraging the building of a new generation of French, Japanese, Chinese and American designs. Nuclear power can only survive on taxpayer handouts This time, however, it is not just safety that is at issue. For the last 35 years not a single nuclear power station in the west has been built to time or on budget. It undermines the claim that nuclear power will be able to compete with other fuels on price. It has repeatedly been shown that, without government subsidy, nuclear power cannot survive. The latest evidence for this is the two new power stations being built in Finland and France, at Olkiluoto and Flamanville. Both are nearly 10 years behind schedule and have more than doubled in cost. The original claims that the price of the electricity the stations would produce would be competitive cannot be true. Wholesale prices must already have more than doubled before a single watt of power has been produced. Financial markets have also just witnessed the astonishing financial meltdown that has hot Toshiba, which has seen its market capitalisation fall by over $6 billion as a result of massive losses and growing liabilities in its CB&I Stone & Webster and Westinghouse nuclear construction subsidiaries. From 14th December to today, Toshiba's share price has fallen from 468 to 277 as news of problems with its flagship AP1000 nuclear reactor, and huge time and cost over-runs at construction sites in the US and China, has emerged. Yet, despite this track record, the nuclear industry hopes to keep on growing and claims it is expecting to do so - and many governments continue to pour money into research and development. They do so in the hope that one day nuclear power will provide a safe and economically viable method of producing electricity. So far, however, there is no sign of the long-predicted nuclear renaissance. The costs of a safe design continue to increase as the industry and governments attempt to live down the legacy of misleading the public for the last 60 years. It seems that if the climate is to be saved from overheating, we shall have to do this without the aid of new nuclear power. Paul Brown writes for Climate News Network, where this article was originally published. Some additional reporting by The Ecologist. Following up on Monday's post about the Maskin and Sen proposal to use Condorcet (preference) voting in presidential elections, I wondered whether Abraham Lincoln would still have won in 1860 if preferences had been aggregated, rather than giving each state's electoral votes to the plurality winner. As most readers no doubt know, it was a four-way contest -- among Lincoln, Douglas, Breckinridge, and Bell -- in which Lincoln got just under 40% of the tabulated popular vote. (In fact, his plurality was somewhat lower than that, given that South Carolina did not choose its electors by popular vote and Lincoln would have gotten zero votes there.) In any case, Lincoln carried the north, winning eighteen states with 180 electoral votes, and he was completely shut out in the sixteen southern and border states, with 123 electoral votes. It is pretty obvious that Lincoln was the bottom choice in every state he lost. His high-water mark was 23% of the vote in Delaware, and in most of the other states he got no popular votes at all (often because he was not on the ballot). But what about the states Lincoln won, where the anti-Lincoln popular vote was split among the other three candidates? Might Condorcet voting have moved any of those states out of Lincoln's column, perhaps swinging the election away from the Republicans? It is a fair assumption, after all, that nearly all Douglas voters would have named Breckinridge as their next choice, and vice versa (both were Democrats, after all), and that Bell's voters likewise would have put Lincoln last. If the anti-Lincoln votes had been aggregated, in other words, would that have been enough to tip the electoral college? It would not have. Lincoln won an absolute majority in fifteen states, which would have given him their electoral votes even under Condorcet rules. At most, Lincoln would have lost only three states (California, New Jersey, and Oregon) with 14 electoral votes combined -- reducing his total to 166, while he only needed 152 to win. Addendum: Lincoln's narrowest majorities were in Illinois and Indiana, at barely over 50%, with Stephen Douglas (also from Illinois) coming in second in both states. Losing both Illinois and Indiana would have been enough to throw the election into the House of Representatives. Although Republicans carried the house decisively in 1860, the president would have been chosen by the members who had been elected in 1858. The Republican caucus (which included a few Know Nothings and Whigs) also had a majority in that Congress, but the Democrats controlled 18 of the 34 delegations, which would have been enough to select the president, although it might have taken them a few ballots to agree on someone. United Way of Franklin County has introduced a new way for businesses to give back to the local community, while simultaneously helping themselves. For a dollar a day, businesses can become part of the new 365 Live United Small Business Circle, a group of local small business owners who are committed to investing in ongoing, impactful and meaningful work in Franklin County. While United Way has been bringing business, individuals and organizations together to advance the common good for the last 50 years, the new 365 Live United initiative is an effort to make philanthropy easier, more affordable and more rewarding for small businesses throughout Franklin County. The stronger your community is, the more revenue your business will see, said United Way Executive Director Pamela Chitwood. Small businesses are often sent multiple requests to support a variety of important causes that combat food insecurity, educational disparities and other local issues. Most people and companies rarely have the time to explore these requests in depth to determine which to give to or which will be the most sustainable and life-giving to the community as a whole. So now, local businesses are encouraged to commit to the 365 Small Business Circle by writing a one-time check for $365 or by making a pledge now and being billed monthly or quarterly. Donations are tax-deductible and will remain in Franklin County. Businesses that commit to the 365 Small Business Circle will receive a 2016-2017 United Way Community Partner window decal and be displayed as a Featured Business in The Franklin News-Post. They will also be offered discounted advertising with local media outlets and social media recognition. Pledge forms are available by emailing pchitwood@fcunitedway.org or mail donations to P.O. Box 446, Rocky Mount, VA 24151. Small businesses that invest in our community create a bright future for everyone, Chitwood said. One of the best decisions you can make to strengthen your business is to join United Way of Franklin County in our pledge to change the odds for children and families, regardless of their current situation or circumstance, giving them equal opportunity to succeed in school and life. When you give to United Way of Franklin County, your gift will support these efforts and more, allowing you to invest in initiatives and programs that create long-lasting, measurable and positive changes that will strengthen families and youth, promote self-sufficiency and aid in the wellness of Franklin County residents. We encourage small businesses to take advantage of this opportunity to help those in need in our community. And with large businesses in general decline, its really up to us to help the residents who support us every day of the year. By Press Trust of India: Toronto, Jan 4 (PTI) A Pakistan International Airlines plane has clipped the wing of an Air France aircraft at the Pearson International Airport here, the latest accident to hit Pakistans ailing flag carrier. The Air France plane was parked at a gate at Terminal 3 when the PIA plane taxiing towards a gate nearby when the airplanes wings touched last night, according to Natalie Moncur, a spokeswoman for the Greater Toronto Airports Authority. advertisement The wing of PK-789 clipped the wing of an Air France aircraft at Pearson International Airport. No injuries were reported and airport operations were unaffected, CBC News quoted her as saying. The PIA flight had taken off from Lahore and landed in Toronto at around 5:50 pm, said Usman Sherazi, a passenger on board who added that he did not feel the impact when the planes made contact. He said passengers had to wait for three hours for their baggage. A PIA spokesperson said the incident was under investigation. "The matter is under investigation. Apparently it was due to some error during marshaling by the ground personnel. Theres some damage to the equipment which may need replacement. Night stop has been declared at Toronto and passengers who had checked in for Toronto-Lahore flight PK-790 have been provided hotel accommodation. All steps are being taken for making the aircraft serviceable as soon as possible." Geo TV quoted the spokesperson as saying. This incident comes just a month after the fatal crash of PIA plane that killed all 47 people on a domestic flight, forcing the airline to briefly ground its entire ATR fleet (10 planes. The PIAs is now saddled with an accumulated loss of Rs 350 billion. PTI AKJ AKJ --- ENDS --- 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. Singh is leading a delegation of a majority of Congress MLAs on a day when the Election Commission will announce dates for several poll-bound states. By Indrajit Kundu: Amid speculation of an impending President's rule ahead of state assembly elections, Manipur Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh has rushed to capital New Delhi on Tuesday to meet President Pranab Mukherjee. Singh is leading a delegation of a majority of Congress MLAs on a day when the Election Commission will announce dates for several poll-bound states. The visit comes at a time when impasse continues in Manipur over the two-month long economic blockade imposed by the United Naga Council. advertisement With the Manipur government failing to end the impasse, the MHA in its recent report to the Election Commission had termed the situation in the state as "grave". Blaming the state administration for the impasse, the MHA said that despite it sending central paramilitary forces, state government failed to normalise situation on the ground. The tenure of the current Manipur assembly ends on March 18 this year and given the impasse on the ground, there is speculation that the polls may be deferred and President's Rule imposed in the state. During an emergency meeting In Imphal on Tuesday the Congress Legislature party decided to meet President Pranab Mukherjee and the Election Commission in order to oppose any possible chances of deferring the state polls to impose Centre's rule. Infact, the United Naga Council - the apex Naga tribal body in the state that is continuing the economic blockade of Imphal valley in protest against the Congress government in the state has been demanding imposition of President's rule in Manipur. The UNC has opposed to bifurcation of the Naga-inhabited areas for creation of new districts by the Ibobi Singh government. --- ENDS --- Instagram has become the place to find the trendiest everythingfrom fashion to travel, celebrities and food. That last one is what USA Today asked Instagram to do a little research on. With help from the social media site, USA Today rounded up the most geo-tagged restaurant in each state. In Connecticut, it may not come as a big surprise that the most Instagrammed restaurant is Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana in New Haven famous for its unique white clam pizza. Legalization of marijuana in host of new states has raised hopes in the cannabis industry that a more stable regulatory environment could emerge in 2107, according to an industry trade association. In a report issued at the end of 2016, the Cannabis Business Alliance offered a recap of the victories for the legal marijuana industry in 2016 and looked ahead to possible issues in the New Year. Mark Malone, executive director of the CBA, said the industry hopes to see more uniform regulation for the industry. That, in turn, will help the industry grow and aid law enforcement in policing the legal cannabis industry. Related: How Millennials Spend Their Money to Make Statements (Infographic) Rules are changing too fast and too often. Now that Colorados adult-use market has a couple of years under its belt, the industry would like to see stability in rules so that law enforcement can regulate industry in a more efficient way, Malone said in a prepared statement. The industry also wants to see more in-depth research that properly codes cannabis sources, so we can decipher between the regulated market and the black market. Marijuana issues in the New Year. The CBA also offered a look ahead at some of the issues that could face the industry in 2017. They start with President-elect Donald Trump, who has raised concerns in the cannabis industry that he could rollback gains made in legalized marijuana. Related: 10 Lessons From Daily Life About Making Habits Stick President Trump As with many issues, President-elect Trumps exact views on legalized marijuana remain unknown. Some have concerns about Trumps nomination of Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions, a long-time marijuana opponent, as attorney general. CBA said it looks forward to working with the administration and will emphasize that the legal cannabis business: Is compliant with local laws Creates thousands of jobs Generates tax revenue for states Fits into the long-held Republican belief in states rights Potency education The CBA likens attempts to regulate the potency of marijuana products to limiting the alcohol content in all liquor to 3.2 percent beer. The association plans to continue work on educating consumers on why various levels of potency remain necessary. For example, some with chronic pain might want a higher level of potency than someone using marijuana for other health problems. The CBA argues that the level of potency needed for medical marijuana users is a matter best left to patient and doctor. They have issued a long list of myths about marijuana potency. Those include the idea that marijuana is more potent today than it was years ago. Related: How Entrepreneurs Get Comfortable With Being Uncomfortable New testing rules Currently, marijuana products that fail pesticide testing end up destroyed. The CBA supports a move that would allow harvest batches of marijuana to be turned into solvent-based concentrates if they fail the test and regulators otherwise consider them to be safe. Such a move could save the industry millions, according to the CBA. Follow dispensaries.com on Twitter to stay up to date on the latest cannabis news. Related: Marijuana Industry Hopes for Regulatory Stability in 2017 Canada Takes Next Step Toward National Marijuana Legalization Thomas Jefferson University Receives $3 Million Marijuana Research Grant Copyright 2017 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved NORWALK A Norwalk man was arrested on a warrant Tuesday morning for allegely shoplifting video games in April 2016. Kevin Alphonse, 23, of Carothers Lane, was charged with sixth-degree larceny. His bond was set at $5,000 and he was given a court date of Jan. 12. Police say that on April 19, 2016, Alphonse was observed by loss prevention staff of Wal-Mart at 680 Connecticut Ave. entering the electronics department. Police said that Alphonse stuffed videos and PlayStation 4 games into a bag and attempted to leave the store through the main exit. Loss prevention staff engaged him in pursuit and police said that Alfphonse dropped the bag and ran off. The total value of those items was $270. On Nov. 12 police say that Alphonse was again spotted in the store by loss prevention personnel. A surveillance video of the car he was a passenger in was reviewed and the operator of the vehicle confirmed that Alphonse had been in the car. On Dec. 19 a photo lineup was conducted at police headquarters and a store loss prevention representative positively identified Alphonse, police said. A warrant for Alphonsess arrest was returned on Dec. 22 and on Jan. 3, he turned himself in to Norwalk police headquarters. llake@hearstmediact.com Restaurants get started for all kinds of reasons. Some present a distinctive international cuisine. Others showcase the cooking of a particular chef usually with his name on the sign out front. Filling a niche for folks who like sports, pizza, beer or even grilled cheese sandwiches have all been done. Special occasion, family dining, breakfast and lunch, or dinner only they all have their plan. There are even those optimists who think restaurants are an easy way to make money. Then there are a few establishments that are founded to express a certain point of view, support a particular cause, or make a social statement. Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver started his Restaurant Fifteen in London with the idea of taking on unemployed young people and training them to produce world-class cuisine. Since 2002 he has taken apprentices with no experience, taught them the ropes, and set them on careers in the food biz. Along the way, theyve made some great food and contributed to his popular restaurant. COLORS is a nonprofit New York restaurant dedicated to improving the lot of restaurant workers. It is part of Restaurant Opportunities Center, an organization founded to help restaurant workers after 9/11 and a leading advocate for restaurant workers rights. Their CHOW (COLORS Hospitality & Opportunities for Workers) program offers professional development to restaurant workers looking to move up the ladder. COLORS just closed its longstanding Greenwich Village location and will re-open this year at 178 Stanton St. featuring their acclaimed gluten-free menu. Theres a trend across the country for activist restaurants to put their political beliefs into action supporting homeless shelters, fighting food waste, supporting restaurant workers, and more. Pioneers in the trend, Selma Miriam and Noel Furie got together 40 years ago to create Bloodroot, a feminist bookstore and cafe. They were among the first to create a restaurant based on their life principals. On the water in Bridgeport, the cafe serves up a mix of vegan and vegetarian food, heartfelt cooking and hospitality, along with a cozy book nook and a comfortable cat that oversees it all. The cafe is at the edge of Black Rock Harbor looking out across the marshy shore toward the Captains Cove marina. Plug 85 Ferris St. into your GPS and youll think it cant be right a narrow road that dead ends into another lane. Then the water view opens up and Bloodroot is on the right. A few tables out front overlooking the water are much in demand in the outdoor season. As you enter, Selmas desk is on the right and the blackboard menus are on the left over the kitchen pass window. Consider your options from the creative, scratch-cooked, vegan and vegetarian offerings and tell Selma what you want. She writes up your choices on an old-fashioned order pad, totes up what you owe, and gives you a copy that you hand over to Noel and her cooks in the kitchen. When your name is called, come and get it! When youre done, clear your dishes! From the beginning, you are involved and integral to the process. No one is being served, and everyone is serving. Like everything at Bloodroot, its a little different, but quite satisfying. The restaurant is a gathering place for activists, vegans, vegetarians, and those who just like to eat well. Ingredients are carefully sourced from local and sustainable producers. The bread is fresh-baked right there. An eclectic collection of antique photos of women covers the wall opposite the water view. Supporting it all is a current of politics, activism, and thoughtful discussion around good food. At a quiet pre-Christmas lunch, three of us ordered across the menu. For me, a three egg omelette bursting with Port Salut cheese ($7). Selma brought me a brochure for Hot Chicks hometown eggs, raised nearby in small backyard flocks where the hens enjoy a natural life cycle and are treated as pets rather than commodities. The eggs sure make a tasty omelette. Get your own hometown Hot Chicks eggs from Patri Feher at rongorongo@aol.com. A trio of home-made breads are offered as a side: potato rye; oatmeal sunflower; and whole wheat ($1.50). Who could resist? Youll find the oatmeal sunflower on the menu at Norwalks Fat Cat Pie Co., too. Marsha opted for a vegan Portuguese kale and potato soup, steaming with chunks of potato and plenty of kale in a savory broth ($6), and a garlicky chickpea and avocado salad ($7.50). Joyce, our guest of honor, up for the holidays from Georgia, also chose the kale soup and with it a vegetarian mushroom quiche rich with mushroom flavor ($9). She thought the crust was one of the best shed ever had. Heading into the holiday eating season, we were ready to resist dessert, but I had to delve into the mysteries of a cranberry kissel with sliced almonds ($8). Described as a pudding, it looked more like a gelatin clear with a sparkling garnet color and tart, fresh cranberry flavor. Brown rice pudding with apricot and pistachios also justified the extra calories. The rich pudding was complimented by sweet-tangy apricot and crunchy nuts. Both vegan dessert bowls were scraped clean. Bloodroot is celebrating its 40th anniversary, a long, long time in restaurant years. Selma and Noel put their hearts into it every day. The stories behind the ingredients, the delicious and carefully prepared food, their two published cookbooks, their stellar reputation, and their allegiance to the restaurants founding principals are all due to them and their loyal staff. Im eager to go back and try the dinner menu and cant wait to eat by the water next summer. See you there! Frank Whitmans Not Bread Alone column runs every Thursday in The Hour. Frank can be reached at notbreadalonefw@gmail.com. NORWALK Gigi Priebe never set out to write a book. But on Monday, nearly a decade after spontaneously joining a writing group while living in London, she held her first published childrens book, The Adventures of Henry Whiskers, in her hand, a day ahead of the books official launch online and in stores. Im so new to this whole thing, Priebe said. I picked it up and flipped to the back and panicked because I thought theyd printed the wrong ending, but then I realized it was just the first chapter of the next book. Its been really fun and a little awkward. Published by Simon and Schuster, a Big Four publisher, and written for children ages 7 to 10, the book follows the life of a 25th generation mouse, Henry Whiskers, who lives with his family in the Windsor Castles most famous exhibit: Queen Marys Doll House. When the dollhouse undergoes unexpected repairs and his sister goes missing, Henry Whiskers must courageously risk everything in a race against time to save her. Before its all over, Henry and his best friend face scary rats, an evil cat and a tail-curling car ride, according to the books description. The book is illustrated by Daniel Duncan. Priebe came up with the idea for the story while living in England, walking distance to Windsor Castle. She visited the historic landmark often when visitors came from out of town, and became familiar with the famous dollhouse, which was a gift for Queen Mary in the 1920s. Built on a scale of one inch to one foot, the house is three feet tall with four floors, forty rooms, two working elevators hot and cold running water and electricity. It has toilets that flush, a garage filled with luxury cars and a grandfather clock that chimes. The library is filled with leather-bound books by famous authors and miniature portraits of Queen Mary and King George V. The house was certainly not meant for children, or even really dolls. More Information For more Information visit www.gigipriebe.com or www.simonandschuster.com. See More Collapse I got to know the exhibit pretty well, and one day I just thought, What if a family of mice lived in the storage drawers? Preibe said. I didnt really have a storyline but I wrote a lot of scenes and when I moved back (to the U.S.) I was encouraged to study with Patricia Reilly Giff ... I put the book aside a few times, but I kept coming back to it. I really loved the story. Signed to a two book contract with Simon and Schusters Alladin imprint, the same division that produced Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys books, Priebe has already written the second book in the Henry Whiskers series, and has started on the third. While the first book took eight years to complete, she had just nine months and a strict deadline to complete the second. For the third she plans to go someplace quiet for a few weeks to write without distraction. The second book was harder because I had a deadline, Priebe said. It definitely felt more forced. Some days stink ... writing is a lonely experience, and its hard for me. The craft is still very new, but Im learning and I love the challenge. Its really challenging and thats part of what kept me at it. The book is not Priebes first foray into the world of childrens learning. Shes the founder of Norwalks Stepping Stones Museum, though she shies away from the title, calling it awkward. The story behind the book is a little like the story behind the museum, Priebe said. I never consciously set out to start a museum and I never consciously set out to write a book. It happened with a lot of support and teamwork. Stepping Stones opened 17 years ago after about eight years in the making. With input from area parents, educators and museum professionals, Priebe sought to create an interactive museum designed to nurture curiosity and help teach young visitors something about the world around them. Priebe will return to the museum later this month for her first official book signing and launch event, a fitting location for the new author. The Adventures of Henry Whiskers was officially released Monday, and a daylong book release celebration is planned for January 21 at Stepping Stones. The event will begin with a members-only meet and greet from 10 to 11 a.m., followed by a public reception from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Activities include Henry Whiskers mask making, a photo booth, book sales with author signing, a welcome desk display and more. Attendees will also be able to purchase books for themselves, as well as to donate to Circle of Care, a Connecticut nonprofit that provides resources to families with children diagnosed with cancer. A lot of what this place does has very little to do with what happens on the (museum) floor, said Stepping Stones Community Advocacy Director Robert Townes. We do a lot to give back to the community so its great that this can be a part of that mission ... Our mission is also to serve children from birth to 10, and one of the things we have to try harder at is reaching older kids who see the museum as a place for babies. This is definitely helping us to reach that upper age range and engage them. KKrasselt@scni.com; 203-354-1021; @kaitlynkrasselt Protesters, angry over the CBI arresting TMC MP Sudip Bandhopadhyay, have shut down the national highway that links West Bengal and Odisha. By Manogya Loiwal : Massive protests by thousands of Trinamool Congress supporters in West Bengal have shut down the national highway that connects the state with Odisha. The protests were sparked by the CBI on Tuesday arresting TMC MP Sudip Bandhopadhyay in connection with the Rs 15,000 crore Rose Valley chit fund scam. The National Highway 60 is the only national road connecting West Bengal and Odisha, and protesters have blocked an entire stretch of the highway in the Gholai area of West Bengal's West Midnapore district. Over 100 trucks and vehicles have already queued up on the motorway due to the closure. advertisement A state highway linking West Bengal and Odisha has also been targeted, with protesters blocking the road in West Midnapore's Nayagram police station area. District leaders have said that they will continue blocking any highway or road that connects the two states until the party's higher leadership asks them to stand down. Protests over Bandopadhyay's arrest have swept the whole of West Bengal, with even the BJP's state headquarters being targeted. ALSO READ: Furious over MP's arrest, Mamata demands jail for PM Modi, Amit Shah for Gujarat riots ALSO READ: TMC-BJP clashes across Bengal over MP Sudip Bandhopadhyay's arrest in Rose Valley chit fund scam --- ENDS --- WILTON As 2017 rolls in, the principals of Wilton Public Schools share their reflections about 2016 and their hopes for the rest of the academic school year. Kathryn Coon, Miller-Driscoll School (pre-K to Grade 2) Coon said one of the greatest takeaways from the first half of the 2016-17 school year as the Miller-Driscolls new principal is the the collaboration of many people who have helped to make work light, in the midst of a busy schedule of school renovations. The renovations will continue throughout the year and is set to finish in time for the start of the 2017-18 school year. I think its been phenomenal. We've both settled into our new spaces and we had our additional move in November. So being in the new addition in the part of the school is wonderful, she said. I think the teachers and the kids have been troupers. As for the 2017, Coon said she hopes to hit the ground running with new and old school initiatives. We do want to continue with the work we've done around school climate ... with the staff, students and parents, she said. And then, as we move into the new year, we really are trying to collect some videos of some of the great work the teachers are doing so that we can kind of have a sharing as kids are transitioning into the next classroom. Jennifer Mitchell, Cider Mill School (Grades 3-5) Mitchell said 2016 has been a celebration of building school community at Cider Mill through school-wide high huddle meetings, the new Library Learning Commons, the 3 Rs of being respectful, responsible and ready to learn, and the new mascot, Buzzby the Bee. All of these things have been designed to build the culture and community climate here in Cider Mill, she said. I think its been a real success. Moving forward, Mitchell said one of the biggest goals for 2017 is to continue to support the learning that has already begun. I think that theres been so much work and growth made that nows the time to really focus and sit with this for a while before moving onto something new, she said. I think that theres been a lot of effort in the district to learning continually and consistently, specifically K-5, and to really let all of that gel. Lauren Feltz, Middlebrook School (Grades 6-8) Looking back on 2016, Feltz said the first thought that comes to mind is her gratitude for returning to Wilton as the new principal of Middlebrook School. I feel so lucky to come home to Wilton and to be able to join an administrative team thats so heavily engaged in the learning and refining practice, and I think that I am excited to continue the work with them and with the Middlebrook faculty, Feltz said. Theres a really exciting instructional shift, even more than ever before, of putting our kids in the drivers seat in taking an active role as problem solvers. Additionally, Feltz said the schools other main focus has been and will continue to be a full-on commitment to invest in developing meaningful relationships with students. I think the teachers have invested a lot in creating those bonds with those students and I think that those connections are firmly established, she said. We see them maturing and really coming into their own more and more as they not only grow in skill set but in their own personal maturity and awareness of themselves. Its exciting to hear teachers talk about how they want to use what they know and what theyre passionate about in the world both within and beyond the school, she added. Robert ODonnell, Wilton High School (Grades 9-12) ODonnell said 2016 has been year one of implementing exciting, new projects, including the freshmen FLIGHT (Future-focused Learning thats Individualized, Growth-oriented and helps provide a Healthy Transition) program, Lead the Way program, and other initiatives and courses focusing on school climate, diversity and academic performance. Were just extremely proud of all our students. They do so well academically, and thats the big part of it, but they also have so many interests in things that support a little outside of the classroom, he said. Beyond that, weve got a very hardworking and really talented faculty and staff here. What weve been working on, with and through them, is trying to focus on personalization of the school environment for our kids and building connections and strong interpersonal and academic connections with the students so we can maximize their learning. ODonnell said the school looks to maintain its growth and development with new courses in the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) Initiative, as well as entrepreneurship, among other subjects. SKim@hearstmediact.com; 203-354-1044; @stephaniehnkim Bernard Schaeffer, who was given a life sentence for first-degree murder in 1977, could eventually be a free man if he has a normal lifespan. In imposing a new sentence Tuesday, Hall County District Court Judge Teresa Luther sentenced Schaeffer to 70 to 90 years in prison. That sentence applies to the time since he committed the murder. Schaeffer, 56, has already been in prison for more than 39 years. In handing down the sentence, Luther said he will be given credit for the 14,472 days he has already served. In deciding upon Schaeffers release, the state will have to decide how to determine his good time behind bars using the current statute or the law that was in effect when he was originally sentenced. Luther used under the current law, which the Legislature passed as LB191, Schaeffer would receive mandatory discharge after 45 years, assuming maximum good time less any credit for time served. But Schaeffer still must serve time for three offenses committed while in prison. Those sentences total 13 to 42 years. The question of which good-time law to use will probably be determined by the Department of Corrections, said Jeffrey Pickens, Schaeffers lawyer. Pickens said he plans to file an appeal. And there might be an opportunity for the Nebraska Supreme Court to decide the issue, he said in an interview. The proper way to find out which good-time law applies, Pickens said, is to file a motion for declaratory relief in District Court in the county where the defendant is being imprisoned. After the District Court judge decides, the losing party would appeal to the Nebraska Supreme Court. Schaeffer was sentenced to prison for killing Donald Beery Jr. of Grand Island on May 18, 1977 Beerys 28th birthday. The Ace Hardware manager was shot 17 times in the back at a sand pit near Grand Island. A friend of Schaeffers, George Lanzendorf, was present at the killing, but did not take part. Schaeffer, who pleaded no contest to the offense, was 16 at the time. Pickens noted Tuesday that Schaeffer has been in prison 39 years, seven months and 13 days. He is one of many inmates nationwide who are being resentenced after receiving life sentences while juveniles. In a 2012 U.S. Supreme Court case called Miller vs. Alabama, the court ruled that keeping people in prison for life, beginning when theyre juveniles, without any chance of parole violates provisions against cruel and unusual punishment. Schaeffers original sentence was vacated on Feb. 24, 2016. Mitigation hearings in the case were held July 27, Sept. 19 and Nov. 22. Beerys death left his wife, Edith, with three children age 5 and younger. Three members of Beerys family spoke Tuesday before Schaeffer was sentenced. They read from the victim impact statements they had submitted to the court. Denise Pascoe, the youngest sister of Donald Beery, told Schaeffer he carried out a death sentence for someone else and now he wants a different result for himself. Killing her brother, she said, was a ruthless and cowardly act. Pascoe said that Schaeffer continued his violent life in prison, and you have never shown our family any remorse. The second person to speak was Amanda Scheeler, the youngest of Donald and Edith Beerys three children, who was 9 months old when her father died. I have lived my entire life without knowing my father, said Scheeler, who was crying. Beerys mother wasnt close to the family after her sons death, Scheeler said. She said her brother, Donovan, looks very much like his late father. It was a constant reminder of what she had lost, Scheeler said. She often wonders what went on in her fathers mind as they drove around for 45 minutes before he was killed. Schaeffer, she noted, was calm enough to save one bullet to shoot the lock on the money bag. Edith Beery said the day her husband was killed, she lost her best friend and my dreams for the future. She still lives in the home that she and Donald built. Its no longer a starter home, she said. But its a home that holds memories, and I will not leave those. Schaeffer once said that he killed Beery because hed never seen anyone die before, she said. That unremorseful statement still haunts me. Before sentencing, prosecutor Sarah Carstensen told Luther that Schaeffer should remain in prison for the rest of his life. He had a good upbringing and was taught right from wrong, she said. The killing was not a spur-of-the moment act, said the Hall County chief deputy attorney. Behind bars, Carstensen said, Schaeffer has been the opposite of a model prisoner. Even in a highly structured environment, He still cannot live a law-abiding life. Schaeffer, she said, has made many self-serving statements, some of them contradictory. Pickens said that Schaeffer was a good kid until he was about 15. As a 17-year-old, he plunged into horrific, crime-producing circumstances in prison, he said. He committed his earlier crimes and stabbed two men in prison, all before his brain was fully developed. When Schaeffer struck Beery on the head, the teenager was surprised the blow didnt render him unconscious, Pickens said. He panicked and mistakenly concluded that his only option was to kill Beery. He has a compulsive personality, his attorney said. Pickens told Luther she could impose life without parole only if Schaeffer is irreparably corrupt. Since the age of 26, he has steadily matured, Pickens said. He also said that Schaeffer has not been deceptive in court. On the contrary, Schaeffer bared his soul at a mitigation hearing, Pickens said. He also said that Schaeffer has shown remorse. Hes been a good person for an awfully long time, he said. Schaeffer spoke before he was sentenced. Not a day goes by, he said, that Beery and his family arent in my thought and prayers. As time goes by, the thought of what he deprived them of grows within him. Those thoughts create sorrow and pain, said Schaeffer, who was crying when he finished talking. 2016 was a landmark year for infrastructure investment in Nebraska. Concerned Nebraskans advocating on behalf of finishing the Nebraska Expressway System helped make it so. To honor that decades-old promise and position our state for new growth in this new year and beyond, the successes of 2016 should be viewed as a launching pad, not a finish line. In April, the Transportation Innovation Act, which directs $450 million (over 17 years) to the expressway system and other infrastructure projects, was passed on a vote of 48-0 in the Nebraska Legislature and signed by Gov. Pete Ricketts. Over the summer, the Nebraska Department of Roads (NDOR) held a series of public input sessions on project prioritization. In September, NDOR announced eight new road construction priorities, including Hwy 275 (Norfolk to Omaha) and the Panhandles Heartland Expressway, and 12 new design project priorities, including Hwy 81 (York to Columbus), Hwy 77 (Wahoo to Fremont), and Hwy 75 (Nebraska City to Murray). Lincolns East Beltway and I-80 interchanges in Omaha and Sarpy County will also begin planning stages. While its encouraging that a new playbook for modernizing our states infrastructure is in place after decades of executive-level neglect, the timeline for completion is slow. Besides Hwy 275, which is projected to begin expansion in 2019, new construction priorities wont see work until 2024. For the sake of growing our state and our local economies, we must press further. Look at a map of Nebraska. The places growing are located on the Interstate or connected with four-lane roadways. The expressway system, created in 1988, was a promise to Nebraskans that their major communities would be connected to each other and to the Interstate System with safe, efficient four-lane highways by 2003. Nearly 15 years later, major projects remain on hold. The long stall hamstrings our entire states growth potential. While discussions of tax structure and incentive packages are important, they are irrelevant without adequate infrastructure. Without four-lane access or the promise of modern roadways, many companies wont consider an area for investment or expansion. For these reasons, 4 Lanes 4 Nebraska will continue its work as a statewide business and industry advocate for policy reform and modernized infrastructure systems. We will engage in new opportunities to improve project delivery, fight efforts to divert transportation funding, engage new lawmakers on the significance of infrastructure development, and explore options for new federal support for key Nebraska transportation corridors. We look forward to continuing work with the Ricketts administration and the Unicameral, whove taken a commendably open approach on creative policy solutions, to build 21st century infrastructure throughout the state. Infrastructure modernization is economic development. The longer we wait to connect our communities, the more growth opportunities pass us by. In 2016 we brought new attention to the economic and public safety need for infrastructure investment in our state. The collective voices of businesses, farmers, and concerned taxpayers from all corners of Nebraska yielded results and created new momentum. Lets keep building on it. Punjab will vote for a new government on February 4. Congress, SAD-BJP and AAP has made it a nail-biting contest in Punjab. By Manjeet Sehgal: Exactly after a month, the nearly two crore Punjab voters (1,97,49,964) will decide who will be their next Sardar. The key in fact is in the hands of young voters as more than half of electorates are between the age of 18 to 39 years. The Punjab assembly elections this time will however, be different than what it used to be before. The emergence of Aam Aadmi Party as the third biggest political force in Punjab has not only changed the election scenario, but has also made it a nail-biting contest. advertisement While for Congress and Akali Dal it is a fight for survival, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) wants to fulfil its national dreams by winning the Punjab assembly elections. THREE CORNERED CONTEST Historically ,Punjab assembly elections have been a bipolar affair. The party in the opposition would claim the anti-incumbency votes. But this time the situation is different. However, the opposition is divided between the Congress and Aam Aadmi Party. Most of the candidates will be locked in a triangular contest as both Congress and AAP are eager to capitalise on the anti-incumbency votes. The fourth front has failed to mobilise itself as a force and will only weaken their parent parties . In other words, these parties will try to polarise the votes by raising the issues, mainly failures of the SAD-BJP government . However, a division in the anti-incumbency votes may not benefit these parties. However, both AAP and Congress are at a daggers drawn and have announced waiving off of farmer loans besides a host of other promises to woo the voters. CONGRESS WANTS TO STAGE A COMEBACK Congress, which lost two consecutive elections in 2007 and 2012, is making a last-ditch bid to stage a comeback. It was upbeat after the India Today Axis opinion poll said that it may emerge as the single largest political party in the state and may bag seats between 49 to 55. However, the party leaders who are fearing a backlash from the rebels were busy deciding on the party tickets. Most of the leaders have been camping in New Delhi and were missing from the battleground. The party has yet to decide tickets of 40 constituencies. Captain Amrinder Singh's political career is at a stake this time. He was also held responsible for the party's defeat in the last assembly elections following a rebellion in the party. AAP'S AGGRESSIVE MOOD FOR A NATIONAL GAME AAP, which is contesting assembly elections in Punjab first time has earned a place for itself among the state's youth with its anti-drugs and anti-corruption political stance. AAP had managed a vote share of 30.40 per cent during the 2014 general elections in the state and had emerged as second largest political party after Congress. advertisement Also read: Uttar Pradesh election from Feb 11-Mar 8; Punjab, Goa to vote on Feb 4; results of all five states on March 11 However, the party also received a setbacks after its state convenor Sucha Singh Chotepur parted ways, it was accused of disrespecting Sikh religion and women besides selling tickets for a price. If AAP continues its strides and wins majority of votes, its National Convenor Arvind Kejriwal will be able to fulfil its dream to become a national leader and pitch himself as a prime ministerial candidate in 2019. WILL AKALI DAL'S SOCIAL ENGINEERING WORK The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and BJP combine which defied the anti-incumbency wave with its social engineering is hoping for a windfall this time. Despite the failures to deliver, Akali Dal has left no stone unturned to woo almost all sections of voters during the past one year. Be it the free pilgrimage, free cycles, subsidised ration, power connections and regularisation of 27,000 temporary employees. The party has once again made development as its plank. advertisement Besides the Akali Dal, these elections will also be a litmus test for the BJP after the demonetisation drive. Both the parties are facing a decade's anti-incumbency. Also read: In big test for Modi's demonetisation, 5 states including UP go to polls Akali Dal has failed to get 'truckloads' of cash from Prime Minister Modi, which Chief Minister Badal had promised during the general elections. For SAD-BJP it is a fight for survival. If the party manages to keep the rivals Congress and AAP at bay, it will make a history by repeating the government. --- ENDS --- WASHINGTON If the Senate confirms one of its own, Alabamas Jeff Sessions, as the new attorney general, which appears likely, one of his first orders of business should be dealing with an FBI that seems under its current director to be growing more independent of the Justice Department. James Comeys outrageous disregard for the sanctity of the presidential election is one of the more urgent issues facing not only the next attorney general but also Trump, even if Comeys actions gave our then-faltering president-elect a significant boost just before Election Day. Hillary Clinton has put much of the blame for her defeat on that nearly unprecedented event. If anyone needs his or her memory refreshed, the bureaus director, after closing an investigation into Clintons email accounts on grounds there was no criminal activity, just extreme carelessness, took it on himself to reopen the volatile matter a few days before the election, ignoring the pleas of Justice attorneys. Comey rushed to the decision to notify Congress that new evidence might have surfaced in the email accounts of Clintons top State Department assistant, Huma Abedin, whose husband, Anthony Weiner, was being investigated. The problem was that no one knew whether there was evidence to support his warning. Turns out, there wasnt, and just three days before Americans streamed to the polls in what would be one of the most dramatic upsets in history, he conceded that the evidence didnt exist. Too late. The put her in jail crowd, including Trump, had made the most of things. It was an egregious act perhaps unlike anything seen in a previous presidential election, and an equal share of the blame belongs to Attorney General Loretta Lynch, who despite the best efforts of her staff lawyers to dissuade Comey from making his initial announcement, failed to use her authority to stop it. It was a clear abdication of her responsibility, setting the stage for the crisis we now face in dealing with not only the roguish actions of a director but what his example means for the bureau itself. Not even J. Edgar Hoover, the autocratic father of the modern FBI, would have dared to violate protocol so blatantly and openly. Although his relationship with the Justice Department and various presidents was at times edgy, it was always clear that his agency had its limits. While he opposed the internment of Japanese Americans at the beginning of World War II and other White House actions, Hoover kept his fences mended in the White House, Justice Department and Congress, many of whose members were literally afraid of him. To have stepped over the line into an election, at least openly, was not on his agenda. He understood what the risk of doing so might mean politically to the bureaus fortunes. The first mistake that Lynch committed was a friendly airport runway meeting with former president Bill Clinton while the investigation of his wifes use of her private emails for sensitive government business was underway. Lynch claimed it was just an exchange of pleasantries but later admitted the mere appearance of possible impropriety did put her in an awkward position. The second mistake was allowing Comey to make the announcement that he was recommending no action in the Hillary Clinton matter while simultaneously criticizing her for carelessness, which almost seemed to contradict his decision. Finally, of course, was the debacle on the eve of the election. Whatever her reasoning and it seems clear she was concerned about allegations that, as a Democrat, she could be accused of covering for her partys candidate the fact is those shouting about jailing Clinton already thought that. It was Lynchs reluctance to step in that let Comeys action stand without evidence of cause for nine days and tipped the undecideds against Clinton. This should be a cautionary tale for the president-elect with his international ties and the potential conflicts of interest in his domestic business dealings. An overzealous former prosecutor running a powerful bureau that increasingly sees itself above influence might make the White House nervous. What goes around can come around. Lynch was obviously not up to being attorney general, and we will wait eagerly to see if Sessions is. It probably is too much to ask for the Republicans in Congress to conduct proper oversight in this case. They should hope for the best, and the best isnt ignoring the situation. Forty-nine state senators will gather at the state Capitol in Lincoln today to begin a session full of challenges. Foremost will be heeding the cry for property tax relief, especially from farmers, while also dealing with an expected $900 million budget shortfall. That wont be easy, but Gov. Pete Ricketts and a number of state senators have said that they are determined to accomplish it. The desire for property tax relief and the budget shortfall will likely frame the entire session. In accomplishing property tax relief, senators are expected to look at a wide array of options, including eliminating most sales tax exemptions and also reducing income taxes. Theres little disputing that property taxes have become an unfair burden on ag producers. It has been especially burdensome the last few years when commodity prices have dropped and farmers are struggling to get by. High property taxes are just another cost that farmers cant afford right now. However, senators must be cautious that they dont upend the states tax structure so much that it cripples public schools and government services. This comes at a time when the states Department of Corrections needs more funds to hire corrections officers and to provide mental health services to a prison population that is over capacity. Where to squeeze the budget will be heavily debated, with special interests making their case. Any elimination of sales tax exemptions also will face obstacles. Senators will likely have to tap into the states cash reserve, which is at approximately $630 million. The Legislature will be facing this challenge with 17 new senators who were just elected in November. Only 15 of our state senators have been through more than two legislative sessions. New leadership will take over as speaker and in most committee chairman positions. This will make the session even more intriguing. The intrigue will start today as the leadership is selected. Will party politics come into play in the officially nonpartisan Legislature? Lets hope not. Leaders should be selected on merit and not because of their political affiliation. Knowledge of the issues and of the legislative process, as well as consensus building skills, are more important than whether a senator is a Republican or a Democrat and whether a senator was supported by the governor in the last election. Big decisions await. Will the senators be up to the challenge? Nebraskans are hoping that they are and that the senators will work together for the good of the state. By Press Trust of India: Washington, Jan 2 (PTI) A rare comet discovered by NASA scientists will be visible using just binoculars to skywatchers on Earth this week for the first time, before the object heads back into outer reaches of the solar system for an orbit lasting thousands of years. The comet, C/2016 U1 NEOWISE, "has a good chance of becoming visible through a good pair of binoculars, although we cant be sure because a comets brightness is notoriously unpredictable," said Paul Chodas, manager of NASAs Centre for Near-Earth Object (NEO) Studies at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in the US. advertisement As seen from the northern hemisphere during the first week of 2017, comet C/2016 U1 NEOWISE will be in the southeastern sky shortly before dawn. It is moving farther south each day and it will reach its closest point to the Sun, inside the orbit of Mercury, on January 14, before heading back out to the outer reaches of the solar system for an orbit lasting thousands of years. While it will be visible to skywatchers at Earth, it is not considered a threat to our planet either. NASAs NEOWISE mission has recently discovered some celestial objects travelling through our neighbourhood, including one on the blurry line between asteroid and comet. An object called 2016 WF9 was detected by the NEOWISE project on November 27 last year. It is in an orbit that takes it on a scenic tour of our solar system. At its farthest distance from the Sun, it approaches Jupiters orbit. Over the course of 4.9 Earth-years, it travels inward, passing under the main asteroid belt and the orbit of Mars until it swings just inside Earths own orbit. After that, it heads back toward the outer solar system. Objects in these types of orbits have multiple possible origins; it might once have been a comet, or it could have strayed from a population of dark objects in the main asteroid belt. 2016 WF9 will approach Earths orbit on February 25 this year. At a distance of nearly 51 million kilometres from Earth, this pass will not bring it particularly close. The trajectory of 2016 WF9 is well understood, and the object is not a threat to Earth for the foreseeable future. A different object, discovered by NEOWISE a month earlier, is more clearly a comet, releasing dust as it nears the Sun. NEOWISE is the asteroid-and-comet-hunting portion of the Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) mission. 2016 WF9 is relatively large: roughly 0.5 to 1 kilometre across. It is also rather dark, reflecting only a few percent of the light that falls on its surface. advertisement This body resembles a comet in its reflectivity and orbit, but appears to lack the characteristic dust and gas cloud that defines a comet. "2016 WF9 could have cometary origins," said Deputy Principal Investigator James Bauer at JPL. "This object illustrates that the boundary between asteroids and comets is a blurry one; perhaps over time this object has lost the majority of the volatiles that linger on or just under its surface," said Bauer. PTI MHN SAR MHN --- ENDS --- Over Christmas break, Jeremy Glik worked in the Edwardsville Gliks store selling Patagonia products. Just a few weeks earlier, he was in Patagonia as part of a study abroad program in Chile. He spent four and a half months in Chile and was able to spend time in Patagonia. Patagonia is in the south end of South America. The area is partly in Chile and partly in Argentina, and is known for its beauty and wildness. It is highly protected and is largely uninhabited and undeveloped. Jeremy is a junior at the University of Denver, where he is studying business. Hes an outdoorsman and he had the opportunity through the University of Denver his junior year to go abroad, said Jeff Glik, Jeremys father. He picked Chile for the university and for the country. He was studying in a town called Vina outside Santiago. Jeff Glik and his wife Pat met their son in Patagonia for a visit. It took us 33 hours to get from St. Louis to Patagonia, Jeff Glik said. Patagonia is a three hour flight from Santiago, then a four hour car ride. The Patagonia clothing that Gliks sells is from a company in the United States, Glik said. They got their name from the area because of how beautiful it is, he said. The logo is the Patagonia Mountains. Jeremy visited the area that includes the mountains used in the clothing logo. Glik said that development in the area is very restricted and even outside the area, it is highly regulated. There are certain areas you cant travel without a special guide, he said. The whole ecosystem is so fragile. Glik said that the trip was the fulfillment of a dream for his son. Jeremys dream has always been to go to Patagonia, he said. The trip was everything he wanted and more. He chose to live with a Chilean family and he got to digest the culture of the people and the country. Jeff Glik said Patagonia was indescribable. Its as beautiful as you think it is, he said. Its everything and then some. Just the way the mountains come out of the ground. Jeff Glik and his wife visited in November. That is the beginning of their high season. Antarctica is just south of there and as the weather warms in Patagonia, it collides with Antarctic air and you get high winds. Glik said that Jeremy normally works at the store on his school breaks. He has a shorter Christmas break than many students because the University of Denver is on a trimester system, Glik said. He spent two and a half weeks on the selling floor, Glik said. My dad, Joe Glik, thought it was something that Jeremy just came back from Patagonia and is selling Patagonia in Edwardsville. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 3 1 of 3 For the Intelligencer Show More Show Less 2 of 3 Show More Show Less 3 of 3 St. Louis District Dairy Council challenged Missouri and Illinois students to get into the holiday spirit and display their creativity in the 5th Annual Merry Dairy Holiday Card Contest. Over 1400 students rose to the challenge by submitting their dairy-themed drawings, with the hopes of their artwork being selected as the organizations holiday card. The contest included three different age groups: Kindergarten through 2nd grade, 3rd through 5th grade, and 6th through 8th grade. A grand prize winner, as well as a runner-up, was selected in each category. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Toriq Rahmansyah (The Jakarta Post) Lausanne, Switzerland Wed, January 4, 2017 13:03 2130 9b519824cb3263083aedb70a0b98748d 3 Opinion tax,Dispute,taxation,corporate-tax,multinationals Free In 2011, Rajul Awasthi, tax policy and revenue administration work stream leader for the Europe and Central Asia region of the World Bank, mentioned in his presentation that approximately two-thirds of world trade is a related-party transaction within Multinational Enterprises (MNEs) and this is likely to grow further in the future. The role of MNEs in world trade has dramatically increased over the last two decades. This is reflected by the increase in integration of nations where there is no longer a border between countries. The movement of goods, services, labor, capital and investment has never been easier. In doing business, MNEs have been trying to determine the best shape for their supply chains within their group in order to get maximum benefits, and tax is one of the key factors that will be considered by MNEs to determine their places of doing business. That is why in determining place of business, MNEs will usually choose a country that has a tax treaty with a country in which its affiliated companies are located. As sovereign countries, each country has a sovereign right to determine its fiscal regime. The interaction between domestic legal systems among countries often triggers double taxation. In the case of transfer pricing within the MNEs, double taxation will occur where the same object of income of the MNEs is taxed twice by two jurisdictions. Consequently, it will give disincentives for taxpayers and in the long run will hamper investment inflows. To cope with this situation, Indonesia should remove the existence of double taxation that has occurred and will occur. This is in line with President Joko Jokowi Widodos concept of boosting the Indonesian economy by reducing all barriers to investment. Removing double taxation to attract investment is among the challenges. Thus, international tax dispute resolution has to be strengthened. The mechanism of resolving double taxation issues are contained in bilateral tax treaties. International tax dispute resolution comprises two mechanisms. The first is Advance Pricing Agreement (APA) that, according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), is a kind of prevention procedure that determines in advance the transfer price between related parties. The second is Mutual Agreement Procedure (MAP), which is a mechanism between tax authorities to resolve disputes regarding double taxation. Both are mechanisms that can be used by taxpayers to eliminate double taxation. There are several benefits for both taxpayers and tax authorities in entering into MAPs and APAs. For the taxpayers, MAP is another dispute resolution mechanism other than tax courts. In contrast with tax courts, where taxpayers or tax authorities could win 100 percent the case, there will be no such thing in an MAP. The two tax authorities will negotiate the portion of taxpayer profit to be shared between the two countries. Thus, it is possible for neither taxpayers nor a tax authority to win 100 percent of the case. In other words, it will be impossible for taxpayers to lose 100 percent of the dispute. The benefit for taxpayers entering into an APA is certain. There will be no tax adjustment made for the covered transactions in a certain covered period, if the taxpayers follow the agreement between the two tax authorities and taxpayers in two jurisdictions. The benefits of APAs and MAPs are not only for taxpayers, but also for tax authorities. APAs will probably reduce a tax authoritys resources to audit, and thus resources can be used to monitor or to audit high risk taxpayers. Moreover, it may reduce the high load of objections and appeals in regional tax offices. In terms of tax revenue, tax authorities will have stable revenue from taxpayers who enter into an APA, since the transfer price has been determined in advance. Indonesia, particularly ITA, seems to handle the APA and MAP more seriously. It is proven by the existence of a new directorate and division under the Directorate General of Taxation, which handles these matters. In addition, as a member of the Forum on Tax Administration (FTA), Indonesia will be reviewed each year by the other members of FTA (peer review), and the statistics regarding the inventory of MAPs and APAs or those that have been settled will be published in 2017. This, of course, will generate tensions for the Indonesia government in handling these issues. Investors who invest their money in Indonesia of course will see how the government settles its international tax disputes. Thus, Indonesia is likely to speed up and make simpler the process of APA and MAP in the future. *** The writer is studying for a Masters of Advanced Studies in International Taxation at the University of Lausanne, Switzerland, and works at the International Tax Dispute Prevention and Settlement Sub directorate, Directorate of International Taxation. --------------- 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 Sabina Satriyani Puspita (The Jakarta Post) Evanston, Illinois Wed, January 4, 2017 09:38 2130 9b519824cb3263083aedb70a0b976e48 3 Opinion #212Rally,212Rally,feminism,Muslim,democracy,gender,gender-equality Free Lailatul Fitriyahs Dec. 15 article in The Jakarta Post that questioned the absence of women in the narratives related to the Dec. 2, or 212, protest raised several important issues pertaining to womens political activism and liberation from discrimination. She criticizes the narratives that dominate our society as having discounted the presence of women, who did contribute to the protest. Furthermore, she defines these narratives as patriarchal politicoreligious. Within this kind of narrative, she further explains that the protest had systematically excluded the female participants. An example that she provides is the inequality of the Friday prayer space, most of which was prioritized for men, such that many women were asked to give up their space to men. Finally, she claims that Islamic movements will potentially fail if these movements continue to marginalize Muslim women. There are at least three caveats to Fitriyahs critical analysis that merit our attention. First, investigating the mobilization of women in the 212 protest without fieldwork is an ambitious undertaking. In order to understand what role women played in the 212 protest, observing and not interpreting how these women organized or contributed to the protest in the field is absolutely necessary. Second, movements must not be conflated with protests. Movements organize protests. Protests are necessary tactics of a movement to achieve its political agenda. In other words, the two terms cannot be used interchangeably. Third, Fitriyah is exercising precisely the action that she is critical about: presenting Muslim women as passive subjects. Thus, she reinforces the patriarchal politico-religious narrative that she is against. Rather than determining a better answer to Fitriyahs question, I prefer raising our awareness to learn about the success of the 212 protest in attracting many Muslim women to participate. Especially for those of us who contend with patriarchy and aspire to advocate for womens rights or social parity with men, the question we need to reflect on now is how we can organize a political protest that emulates the success of the 212 protest in uniting and mobilizing that many women. Reifying patriarchal narratives and practices is unproductive because such a move only obscures the real issue at stake. Julia Suryakusumas book State Ibuism (1998) demonstrates how Indonesian women are deeply divided by class as a result of the New Orders political legacy. One major success of the 212 protest, nevertheless, was that it united and mobilized women of diverse socioeconomic backgrounds. These women could be living in one of the four household models: a single-woman household, husband as-sole-breadwinner household, dual-earner household, or singlemother household. Consequently, each household model generates different sets of social and economic challenges. Hence, uniting women as a group to mobilize politically is not an easy task because diverse socioeconomic backgrounds do not guarantee that all of these women embrace a singular political aspiration. The 212 protest, however, attracted these women to leave their paid work in offices or unpaid work at home, bring along their children and mobilize for the protest. It successfully converged the political aspirations of women across different socioeconomic backgrounds. Religious piety alone cannot be the driving force of the Muslim women who joined the 212 protest because there were still some devoted Muslim women who did not participate in, or agree with, the protest agenda. To end the perpetuation of patriarchal politico-religious narratives, we need to move beyond making assumptions about women, as those Fitriyah made. We should instead acknowledge and examine the autonomy of women as social actors. As autonomous social actors, women are capable of making choices based on their own political aspirations. In this sense, we should not be indulging ourselves in the assumption that all of the Muslim women participating in the 212 protest and Friday prayer experienced subjugation when giving up their spaces for the Muslim male participants to pray. Unless these women were evidently coerced physically or verbally, their action to give their spaces to their male counterparts may actually be one part of their many true aspirations for joining in the protest. In Politics of Piety (2005), which discusses the womens mosque movement in Turkey, Saba Mahmood shows how a womans aspiration to submit herself to a recognized authority for the common good is also a form of free will in its own right. In this sense, the relationship between the patriarchal politico-religious narratives and the action of women who are willing to submit to others is less causal and more mutually constitutive. A so-called patriarchal politicoreligious narrative does not simply shape the Muslim female participants submissive behavior, but is also constituted and perpetuated by the very actions of some women. To clarify, this article does not align itself with the existing patriarchal narratives that tend to marginalize or disregard the role of women in the 212 protest. Although I believe that completely annihilating patriarchy is a utopian notion, I am confident that delinking from patriarchal ideas and narratives is possible. However, grumbling about already longstanding and robust patriarchal practices is unproductive and will only hinder dialogues between the ruling and the ruled. Organizing a successful political protest, such as the 212 protest, within a patriarchal narrative necessitates offering an alternative to patriarchy that is extremely difficult work that contenders of patriarchy and womens rights activists need to undertake. The work that has yet to be finished and requires our attention now can be broken down into two important points for reflection. First, how has dialogue between women and men about social status parity been pushed? Second, at a more fundamental level, exactly how has the dialogue among women with contending views about politics and social norms been going? Ultimately, disunity among Indonesian women is fuel for patriarchal and misogynistic practices. Therefore, prior to demanding any political movements for the inclusion and recognition of women in their mobilization, addressing the autonomy of every woman as a social actor and uniting the aspirations of women across different socioeconomic backgrounds must first be resolved. --------------- 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. By Piya Hingorani: Akshay Kumar is in the news for having four films lined up in 2017, Aamir Khan is still basking in the glory of his mammoth blockbuster Dangal, which has already crossed Rs 300 crore in less than two weeks, Shah Rukh Khan is gearing up for the release of Raees this month, which will clash with Hrithik Roshan's Kaabil... But Salman Khan, who has no movies up for release till Eid 2017, has still managed to grab headlines, proving that he is the master of all trades. advertisement ALSO READ: Salman Khan, Akshay Kumar and Karan Johar to come together for a film ALSO READ: Ex-lovers Salman-Katrina bond over Tiger Zinda Hai. Other exes who came together professionally Salman Khan started the new year with a bang - sending his fans into a tizzy when he announced that Akshay Kumar has been roped in to act in his home production, in collaboration with Karan Johar. Now this is something unheard of in Bollywood - that a superstar signs on another when they both are on top of their game. We can expect fireworks at the ticket window, cause this combination is lethal. Is Bollywood going the Hollywood route? The West is famous for the bonhomie between actors. Remember how producer Brad Pitt let Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon and Mark Wahlberg take centrestage in The Departed? Producer George Clooney brought Ben Affleck on board as an actor as well as director for Argo. Interestingly, none of these films saw the celebrity producer on screen. This model has worked like magic in the West, and with Salman and Akshay playing their cards right, we won't be surprised if their move becomes a trend setter in Bollywood too. Meanwhile the actor Salman Khan has Kabir Khan's war-drama Tubelight up for release this Eid. And news is that Salman has given a nod to play father to a 13-year-old girl in a dance-drama to be directed Remo DSouza. This yet-untitled film revolves around the emotional journey of an ageing dancer, and while Salman had to bulk up to play wrestler in Sultan, he will have to go lean for this role. Interestingly, the last time we saw Salman play a reluctant father on screen was 18 years ago in Jab Pyaar Kisi Se Hota Hai. By the looks of it, Salman seems to be taking a cue from good friend Aamir Khan to opt for age-appropriate roles. But before this dance film goes on floors, Salman will start shooting for Ali Abbas Zafar's next, titled Tiger Zinda Hai in mid 2017. A sequel to Ek Tha Tiger, this one will also feature Katrina Kaif romancing Salman. Buzz is that Salman is back in former beau, Katrina's life as a guiding light - the 51-year-old actor has been counselling Kat about her film and career choices. That's not all, Salman has also been a shoulder to cry on when Katrina was going through a rough break-up with Ranbir Kapoor. Katrina has been spotted at various family get-togethers and wrap-up parties on the sets of Tubelight. advertisement On his 51st birthday on December 27, Salman unveiled his app, Being in Touch. This app gives access to his fans about his upcoming films, and a glimpse into his personal space. Salman has also added a foreign tour in his 2017 itinerary. Titled DA BANG, the tour will see a bevy of beauties like Sonakshi Sinha, Bipasha Basu and others travel across Australia and New Zealand with Salman in April and May. And there's more good news in store for Salman and Shah Rukh Khan fans. The two stars are all set to share screen space yet again in Bigg Boss Season 10. The last time SRK graced Bigg Boss was to promote his home production Dilwale, and the TV ratings for their episode went through the roof. However, this time, Shah Rukh will be a part of the finale episode on January 20, to promote Raees, which is set for a Republic Day release. --- ENDS --- Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Straits Times/Asia News Network) London Wed, January 4, 2017 Britain's Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton, has accepted a lifetime honorary membership of the Royal Photographic Society for her family portraits and tour photos, says the BBC. Chief executive Michael Pritchard praised the Duchess for her "talent and enthusiasm" behind the lens. Kate, 34, took the first official photograph of Princess Charlotte when her daughter was born in 2015. (Read also: Victoria Beckham to receive OBE from Britain's Queen) A photo posted by Kensington Palace (@kensingtonroyal) on May 1, 2016 at 3:06am PDT She had previously published photos from her and Prince William's Asian and Pacific tour in 2012. Since becoming a mother, the Duchess has released a number of family photos including Prince George's first day at nursery school and Princess Charlotte's first birthday. Older shots include a photo of Mount Kinabalu, the highest point in Borneo, and a black-and-white image of an orangutan from when she travelled there with Prince William in 2012. Mr Pritchard said the society chose to recognise Kate for her "long-standing" interest in photography and its history, said the BBC. (Read also: Ed Sheeran to drop new album, songs this week) A photo posted by Kensington Palace (@kensingtonroyal) on Jan 6, 2016 at 8:27am PST "She is latest in a long line of royal photographers and the society is pleased to recognise her talent," he said. Queen Victoria and Prince Albert were also patrons of the 1853-founded Royal Photographic Society. The Duchess joins fellow lifetime members Annie Leibovitz, who has photographed the Queen, along with the recently-knighted war photographer Sir Don McCullin. The Queen herself took cine films to capture family memories and royal trips. Kate, who graduated in History of Art from the University of St Andrews, is also a patron of the Natural History Museum and National Portrait Gallery. Her first commission was in 2008 for her parents' company, Party Pieces. (Read also: Researchers find Cumberbatch related to Holmes' creator) A photo posted by Kensington Palace (@kensingtonroyal) on Jun 6, 2015 at 1:02pm PDT This article appeared on The Straits Times 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 Jessicha Valentina (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, January 4, 2017 Italian art historian and writer Elisa Barbari was baffled upon finding out that Facebook had prevented her from promoting her Facebook page, "Stories, curiosities and views of Bologna" due to the photo of the nude Neptune statue. The Fountain of Neptune was constructed in the 16th century, located in Piazza del Nettuno in Bologna, Italy. The statue portrays the muscular nude sea god holding a trident. I wanted to promote my page, but Facebook deems the statue as a sexually explicit image. Really, Neptune? This is crazy! said Barbari, as quoted by The Telegraph. Barbari then posted on her Facebook page, "Yes to Neptune, no to censorship". (Read also: Facebook gets serious about fighting fake news) Facebook later told Barbari that the image was considered to be sexually explicit, as it revealed body parts unnecessarily. Having said that, the nude Neptune statue had violated Facebook's advertising guidelines. "The use of images or videos of nude bodies or plunging necklines is not allowed, even if the use is for artistic or educational purposes. Barbari is not the first person against Facebook's censorship policy. In January last year, Danish politician Mette Gjerskov claimed the social media network had blocked the photo of the Little Mermaid statue in Copenhagen, Denmark, as the statue features the mermaid's breasts. Facebook said it restricts nudity because some audiences within our global community may be sensitive to this type of content. (asw) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, January 4, 2017 France reportedly made a breakthrough in the working world by implementing "a right to disconnect" law starting Jan. 1. As reported by kompas.com, this new law obliged employers to clearly state when their employees were allowed to not check their emails as part of their office regulations, such as after working hours or during holidays. Those who supported the law said employees in this modern era were becoming stressed, suffered sleeping problems and other issues because of overtime work requirements without compensation. To stop this from happening, they said the government should take firm action. (Read also: Business professionals facing more stress now than 5 years ago: Survey) "All studies showed that there [is] far more work stress today compared to past years," Benoit Hamon, a socialist member of the French parliament, told the BBC, adding that employees physically left their offices but were actually not freeing themselves from their jobs. Although Hamon did not mention any specific study, there are indeed many studies that found the negative effects of working outside working hours. Even simply checking office emails outside working hours could ruin your emotional health, said studies from the University of British Columbia and Colorado State University. (kes) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Jocelyn Gecker (Associated Press) San Francisco, United States Wed, January 4, 2017 George Lucas is no stranger to epic struggles on the big screen, but he didn't expect one off-camera when it came to his art collection. For nearly a decade, the filmmaker has tried to build a museum to house an extensive personal collection that includes 40,000 paintings, illustrations and film-related items. But legal entanglements and other complications have thwarted his efforts. After several false starts, Lucas and his art team say they will decide later this month whether to put the museum in San Francisco or Los Angeles, a strategy that has stirred a California rivalry. The prize is big, and both cities want it badly. The concept design of George Lucas's Museum of Narrative Art in Los Angeles(lucasmuseum.org/File) "This is the largest civic gift in American history," LA Mayor Eric Garcetti told The Associated Press. "I think Los Angeles is the natural home for it" a notion that San Francisco officials enthusiastically contest. The Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, as it will be called, promises hundreds of jobs and a high-profile attraction and it's essentially free. The "Star Wars" creator is financing the project himself. He plans to spend more than $1 billion to build the museum, endow it and provide a trove of initial artworks valued at over $400 million. Together with Chinese architect Ma Yansong, Lucas has proposed a sleek, futuristic design looks like a cross between the Guggenheim and a galactic starfighter. The museum's bold design and concept make clear that the 72-year-old filmmaker sees it as part of his legacy, and he is increasingly impatient to break ground. "It's not just an enormous philanthropic gift to a city and to the world, but it is a unique museum in the way it is envisioned," said Don Bacigalupi, an art historian and respected museum director Lucas hired as its founding president. "Certainly, we'll be looking forward to the day we can move the art into a museum." The museum will not, as many assume, be a repository for "Star Wars" memorabilia. It will, however, show how Lucas spent some of his filmmaking fortune and that his interest in art extends beyond movies. In this Jan. 16, 2014, photo George Lucas speaks in Singapore. For nearly a decade Lucas has been trying to build a museum for his extensive personal art collection. In January, the legendary filmmaker is expected to decide whether he will put the museum in San Francisco or Los Angeles, after other attempts were upended by community opposition. (AP/Wong Maye-E) An avid collector for more than 40 years, Lucas is giving the museum some 10,000 paintings and illustrations that include dozens of Norman Rockwells and works from French impressionist Edgar Degas to American contemporary artist Keith Haring. There are illustrations for classic children's books by Beatrix Potter of "Peter Rabbit" fame and Jean de Brunhoff, who created "Babar." The museum gets its pick from some 30,000 film-related pieces including storyboards and costumes from "The Wizard of Oz," ''Casablanca," and, naturally, "Star Wars." There's art from comic books, graphic novels and other popular works that Lucas hopes will attract people who don't typically visit museums. In 2010, Lucas first pitched his project to San Francisco and considered a site in the Presidio, but the trust that oversaw the park ultimately rebuffed him. He then took his project to Chicago, his wife's hometown, but preservationists sued to keep it off the lakefront. Lengthy delays prompted Lucas to abandon that bid in June and change strategy. In October, Lucas unveiled similar but competing designs for Los Angeles and San Francisco sites, turning the project into a public competition. It seems to have worked. (Read also: Supervisors say George Lucas museum belongs in Los Angeles) In this Dec. 14, 2016, photo, a sign welcomes visitors to Treasure Island in San Francisco. For nearly a decade, George Lucas has been trying to build a museum for his extensive personal art collection. San Francisco has offered Lucas the site of Treasure Island, across the Bay from the city's popular Embarcadero neighborhood. (AP/Eric Risberg) Government leaders in both cities have unanimously approved it. And officials are quick to stress that this time there is no apparent opposition, and construction could begin quickly ahead of a projected 2020 finish date. Later this month, Lucas is convening the museum's board to decide between two distinct locations. In San Francisco, his project would virtually have an island unto itself. The city offered Lucas a 4-acre waterfront plot on Treasure Island, a man-made creation in the middle of the bay with cinematic views of the city skyline. The island was built for the 1939 World's Fair, then used as a World War II naval base. These days it's populated mainly by seagulls, boarded-up barracks, some art studios and old warehouses, but officials hope the museum triggers its transformation. A massive $6 billion redevelopment project includes apartments, hotels and a ferry terminal. "It's a risk they would be taking, but it's a bet on the future," said Adam Van De Water, project manager for the museum at San Francisco City Hall. "We think his heart is here in the Bay Area." In this Dec. 14, 2016, photo, sculptures from the 1939 Golden Gate International Exposition face a proposed site of the George Lucas Museum on Treasure Island in San Francisco. For nearly a decade, George Lucas has been trying to build a museum for his extensive personal art collection.(AP/Eric Risberg) Lucas has spent most of his life in the San Francisco area, and Lucasfilm was based in the city before he sold it in 2012 to Disney Co. "Put yourself in his shoes. You could be on Treasure Island, where you're visible throughout downtown San Francisco," said Van De Water, pausing to take a swipe at Los Angeles. "Or you could be a museum in a park with other museums." Los Angeles has offered Lucas a 7-acre spot in Exposition Park, a sprawling cultural compound that holds three other museums and the Coliseum, home to the LA Rams. It has its own light rail station and is near the main campus of the University of Southern California, where Lucas went to film school. "A museum should not be cloistered away from the people," LA Mayor Garcetti said. "We don't live life on islands." Exposition Park also is near eight public high schools and could help expose young people to Lucas' collection, Garcetti says. If Lucas has a favorite, Bacigalupi won't say. But Bacigalupi calls Treasure Island "sort of magical." Not only does it offer stunning views, but the island would give the museum an iconic location on the water's edge, which he compares to the Sydney Opera House. And, he says, Lucas is deeply devoted to the Bay Area. Los Angeles is exciting for different reasons, he said. Its proximity to schools and being part of a community of museums "is certainly attractive," he said. And, like San Francisco, Los Angeles is part of Lucas' history. "These are two spectacular places. Two great cities," Bacigalupi says. "It's a tough decision. But for all the right reasons." Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Corry Elyda (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, January 4 2017 The controversial reclamation of Jakarta Bay stole the national spotlight last year following a bribery case and the tug-of-war among interested parties. Graft, strong objections from local fishermen and experts and court verdicts, however, have not changed the governments stance. The government plans to proceed with the ambitious project. The project to create 17 man-made islets, which received support from Jakarta Governor Basuki Ahok Tjahaja Purnama, became a nationwide issue following the arrest of city councilor Muhammad Sanusi in April by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) for accepting a kickback worth Rp 2 billion (US$148,000) from Ariesman Widjaja, the former president director of property giant PT Agung Podomoro Land (APL). The bribery was related to the deliberation of the projects draft bylaws the North Jakarta Coast zoning plan and North Jakarta Coast Strategic Region Spatial Planning. The bribe was also meant to reduce the developers 15 percent contribution clause in the bill to only 5 percent, as court hearings have revealed. APL is the holding company of PT Muara Wisesa Samudra, which is developing Islet G. The company secured the construction permit from Ahok in 2014. 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 Wed, January 4, 2017 The government has expressed optimism that it will be able to cut dwell times to two days in 2017 from about 2.9 days in November last year. Our dwell time target is two days by the end of this year, said Coordinating Economic Minister Darmin Nasution as reported by kontan.com on Wednesday. President Joko Jokowi Widodo has instructed relevant ministries to continue the push for better services at seaports to help smooth the flow of goods. Darmin stressed that the current dwell time at Tanjung Priok Seaport had improved significantly, saying that in 2012, the average dwell time was still 6.5 days. To achieve the two-day target, Darmin said, coordination among the relevant ministers should be strengthened, including the implementation of an online system among ministries and other government institutions through the Indonesia National Single Window (INSW). Therefore, we agree with the Finance Ministry and Transportation Ministry about strengthening the function of the INSW as an institution, he added. Previously Transportation Minister Budi Karya said there were three aspects of dwell times at Tanjung Priok: pre-customs clearance of goods, customs clearance and post clearance. However, the Transportation Ministry said dwell time for certain goods such as explosive materials for the military would be longer than that of other goods because such materials needed longer checks before they were allowed to leave the port. (bbn) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Safrin La Batu (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, January 4, 2017 The body of a man suspected to be one of the 17 passengers missing after a fatal fire on board a Zahro Express ferry on Sunday has been found in the water not far from Tanjung Priok Port in North Jakarta. The body was found by a fisherman on Wednesday morning after the fourth day of searching for the missing people, Jakarta Police water police director Sr. Comr. Hero Hendrianto Bachtiar said in a statement. It was found near the tanker Gurddini located to the east of Tanjung Priok Port, Hero said. (Read also: Zahro Express captain named suspect for fatal boat accident) The body had been lifted from the water and taken to the National Police Hospital in Kramat Jati, East Jakarta, for further identification, he said. Police identified the body as George Bernard Christopher, 26, a passenger from Bogor, West Java. Along with the body, authorities found two cell phones and a pocket containing banknotes amounting to Rp 1.4 million (US$103), some dollar bills, an ID card, a drivers license and an ATM card. The Zahro Express boat caught fire while traveling from Muara Angke Port in North Jakarta to Tidung Island in Thousand Islands regency on Sunday morning. Twenty-three of the hundreds of people on board died, while 130 survived. Authorities previously announced that 17 people were missing. (dan) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Viriya P. Singgih (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, January 4, 2017 The government is putting high hopes in a revised tax regulation to boost oil and gas exploration activities and revenue from the sector in years to come. The Joko Jokowi Widodo administration is currently finalizing the revision of Government Regulation (PP) No. 79/2010 on cost recovery and tax treatment for firms working in the upstream oil and gas industry, which is expected to lure contractors to conduct exploration activities through various incentives. For instance, during the exploration phase, firms will be exempted from the requirement to pay import value-added tax (VAT), domestic VAT, import duty and property tax (PBB). Meanwhile, during the exploitation phase, firms will have the opportunity to avail of similar waivers, but only if their projects meet the governments economic valuations. (Read also: Oil and gas lifting, production slightly exceeds 2016 expectations) As there will be many incentives offered through the revised regulation, which we expect will eventually boost exploration activities in the country, Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry secretary-general Teguh Pamudji told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday. That way, he said, the government could gradually increase the countrys oil and gas production and lifting, or ready-to-sell production, and increase state revenue from the sector. From January to November 2016, the government invested US$10.43 billion in the upstream oil and gas industry, in which investment for exploration activities only accounted for 7 percent of the total figure. In 2017, the government plans to increase total investment to more than $13 billion. (bbn) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Prima Wirayani (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, January 4, 2017 A research note published by the local unit of global financial services giant JPMorgan Chase that downgrades Indonesia's sovereign bonds, is deemed improper given the firm's position as a primary dealer. "That's a conflict of interest. A primary dealer should've been to seek for the bonds' buyers instead of giving a sell recommendation," Scenaider Siahaan, director for the strategy and financing portfolio at the Finance Ministry's financing and risk management office, wrote in a text message on Wednesday. "We suffer losses because secretively it (JPMorgan) buys the bonds at lower prices and sells them back." He, however, said that the ministry could not project what the total losses were. (Read also: JPMorgan undeterred by Finance Ministry's partnership termination) The government terminated all of its deals with the JPMorgan Chase Bank, NA, a subsidiary of New York-based JPMorgan Chase, after it published a research note that downgraded the country two notches from the overweight to underweight position, following the victory of Republican Party candidate Donald Trump in the US presidential election. JPMorgan stated on Tuesday that its business in Indonesia would continue to operate as usual despite the termination. The impact on our clients is minimal and we continue to work with the Finance Ministry to resolve the matter, JPMorgan head of communications for Southeast Asia Li Anne Wong said. Scenaider asserted that his office was ready to work again with JPMorgan if it "could change" its attitude. (bbn) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Dylan Amirio (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, January 4, 2017 Struck by a saturated local beverage market and a lack of price control, tea distributor PT Kharisma Pemasaran Bersama Nusantara (KPBN) aims to drive its focus toward the international market in 2017, which has also fallen amid global economic conditions. Selling their supply of tea from PT Perkebunan Nusantara (PTPN), KPBN aims to move up to 40,000 tons of tea in 2017, compared to 36,000 tons in 2016. About 39 percent of Indonesian tea was exported, while 61 percent was for the local market. KPBN president director Iriana Ekasari said they aimed to restore Indonesias tea export levels to how it was back in 2008, when nearly 100 percent of Indonesian tea was exported to international markets. (Read also: Booming tea imports expose irony for Indonesia) During its first auction of the year on Wednesday, 397,000 tons of tea leaves went up for sale, with local tea exporter company PT Trijasa Prima International buying most of it. The prices, however, were still relatively low given the high production and planting costs that goes into producing tea, Iriana said. Indonesia is currently the seventh largest tea exporter in the world, falling behind heavyweights such as Kenya, Sri Lanka and Vietnam. Around 27 percent of Indonesian tea exports go to Malaysia, which is the largest buyer today, along with 14 percent to the United States. The strength of Indonesian tea exports also depend on trends overseas, such as the instant coffee and tea phenomenon of Starbucks in the United States, which is a major factor in keeping export numbers healthy in that market. (bbn) As Shah Rukh Khan is set to appear in Salman Khan's Bigg Boss 10 to promote his Raees, we celebrate the best bromantic moments of the two actors. By Samrudhi Ghosh: There was a time when the Baadshah and Sultan of Bollywood did not see eye to eye with each other, but that seems to be a thing of the distant past. Salman Khan and Shah Rukh Khan are the best of friends now, and Salman even said on Koffee With Karan that SRK was like a "part of (his) family." Fans are super-excited about SRK and Salman sharing screen space when the former will come on Bigg Boss 10 to promote Raees. advertisement PHOTOS: Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan party together all night We take a look at the top five Khan-tastic moments of bromance between the two leading men. SRK-Salman's Karan-Arjun moment at Arpita Khan's sangeet When Arpita Khan shared a photo of Shah Rukh and Salman kissing her on her sangeet, fans went into a tizzy. SRK expressed his fondness for Salman's sister, saying that she is like a sister to him and he does not even require a formal invite to be there on her big day. While the actor could not attend Arpita's Hyderabad wedding, he more than made up for it at her reception where he danced to Chaiyya Chaiyya. Salman's hug with SRK on the Baadshah's 50th birthday Shah Rukh Khan spent his 50th birthday receiving love from friends, family and fans. Salman made sure not to miss his buddy's birthday and paid him a late night visit. SRK took to Twitter to share pictures of their warm hug, and joked that Salman was teaching him the moves of Sultan. Earlier that day, both superstars expressed their fondness for each other during media interactions. Shah Rukh Khan's 'Bigg Dilwale' episode with Salman When SRK and Salman came together on the Bigg Boss stage, ratings went through the roof. Fans were excited to see Shah Rukh, who had come to promote his film Dilwale, and Salman share screen space. The two did not disappoint - while SRK tried his hand at Salman-isms, Salman nailed SRK's signature moves and dialogues. Salman and Shah Rukh's breezy cycle rides On July 1 this year, Mumbaikars were in for a treat when Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan went for an early morning cycle ride with SRK's son Aryan in tow. The trio rode their cycles on Bandstand, and SRK even took to Twitter to share a picture with Bhai which he captioned as "Bhai bhai on bike bike. No pollution...bhai says 'Michael Lal Cycle Lal." When SRK-Salman co-hosted Star Screen Awards 2016 Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan can give Sholay's Jai and Veeru stiff competition. Their camaraderie was at its best when they co-hosted the 2016 Star Screen Awards. Making fans remember their cycle ride days, SRK and Salman cycled to the stage and hosted a segment of "friendship in the film fraternity." As they exchanged jackets as a sign of friendship and joked about, we could not help but think back to their Karan-Arjun days. --- ENDS --- advertisement Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Callistasia Anggun Wijaya (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, January 4, 2017 Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) chairman Suwarjono expressed disapproval of the police action that hindered journalists in reporting the blasphemy trial implicating Jakarta Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama on Tuesday despite the judge's permit. "The police have surely hindered journalist work. The police action was too much despite that they did not have the authority to prohibit the journalists from covering the opened trial," Suwarjono told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday. (Read also: AJI expresses concern over violence against journalists at Jakarta rally) He added that presiding judge Dwiarso Budi Santiarto only banned the live broadcast of the trial, not the coverage. It was the police that blocked access, he said. Further, he said that he hoped judges, the district court and the police could coordinate regarding this matter. "If there is a room capacity problem, we hope [the court] can provide speakers outside the trial room to facilitate the journalists' work," he added. Suwarjono said further that the AJI was currently investigating the Tuesday incident and gathering data regarding the violation of the Press Law. The gathered information would determine AJI's next step, he said. (dan) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Fedina S. Sundaryani (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, January 4, 2017 President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo has instructed his ministers to help people gain wider access to capital this year so that the public becomes more "bankable". "I also ask for wider access to capital for the people. Micro-credit should reach more people and should also be easier to obtain. Access to insurance should also be increased," he said during the opening of a Cabinet meeting at the Bogor Presidential Palace in West Java. "This way, we can encourage more financial inclusion and make our people more bankable." (Read also: Jokowi coaxes start-ups to help make SMEs bankable) Only around 36 percent of Indonesia's 250 million people have bank accounts. The government hopes to increase this to 75 percent by 2019. The government recently introduced a program dubbed the National Strategy for Financial Inclusion (SNKI), which includes six main pillars: financial education, public financing facilities, financial information mapping, supportive regulations, distribution networks and intermediation facilities and consumer protection. If the program is successful, the government hopes it will help it channel money from its social assistance programs to the public more effectively. In addition to increasing financial inclusion, Jokowi also emphasized the importance of vocational training and education. "We need to increase the people's access to vocational training and education," he said. (bbn) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, January 4, 2017 The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has had to reschedule its plan to question House of Representatives Speaker Setya Novanto over an alleged graft case centered around the procurement of electronic identification cards (e-KTP). The questioning session with Setya Novanto as a witness has been rescheduled for next week because he is currently in the US, KPK spokesperson Febri Diansyah said on Wednesday. KPK investigators previously questioned Setya, who is also chairman of the Golkar Party, on Dec. 13 to seek clarification on his involvement in the Rp 6 trillion (US$445.5 million) project launched in 2010. (Read also: KPK to question House speaker Setya Novanto on e-KTP graft case) Setya served as treasurer of the Golkar Party and leader of the Golkar faction at the House when the project was introduced. The antigraft body has questioned nearly 200 witnesses so far, but has only named two suspects, the Home Ministrys former director general for population and civil registration Irman, and Sugiharto, a former managing director of population administrative information at the Directorate General of Population and Civil Registration. KPK chairman Agus Rahardjo, however, has repeatedly said there could be other suspects in the case. State losses as a result of the project purportedly reach Rp 2.3 trillion. Former Democratic Party treasurer Muhammad Nazaruddin, a witness in the case, alleged that Setya was one of the masterminds behind the project. Setya, however, has repeatedly denied the accusation. (fac/dmr) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Callistasia Anggun Wijaya (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, January 4, 2017 The Jakarta General Elections Commission (KPU Jakarta) will hold the first debate for the city's gubernatorial candidates at Hotel Bidakara on Jan. 13. "The debate will be about social, economic, education, health and transportation problems in the city," KPU Jakarta head Sumarno told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday. Sumarno said the debate would be broadcast by several television stations. KPU Jakarta will prepare several panelists to question the candidates. (Read also: Anies, Sandi to increase electability by attending TV debates) "The panelists are experts in their field who are well-known to the public," he said without revealing the names of the panelists. Sumarno added that the KPU Jakarta would only let 100 people witness the debate live at the venue. KPU Jakarta will hold three debates. The first will take place on Jan. 13, the second on Jan. 27 and the third on Feb. 10. All three candidate pairs, namely Agus Harimurti Yudhoyno-Sylviana Murni, Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama-Djarot Saiful Hidayat and Anies Baswedan-Sandiaga Uno, are obliged to participate in the debates. Previously, two private television stations conducted debates that were only attended by Ahok-Djarot and Anies-Sandiaga. The planned event will be Agus first appearance in a debate. Previously, he said he was only obligated to participate in the official debates that were initiated by the KPU Jakarta. (dmr) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, January 4 2017 The Maritime Security Board (Bakamla) has suspended its director for data and information, Commodore Bambang Udoyo, just days after the military police charged him with corruption for allegedly accepting billions of rupiah in kickbacks in relation to the procurement of a satellite sea surveillance system worth Rp 200 billion (US$14.8 million) at Bakamla. Bakamla chief Rear Adm. Ari Sudewo said Bambang had been temporarily stripped of his position at Bakamla to let him focus on dealing with his legal quagmire. I have appointed an acting official to replace him so he can focus on his legal case. While, at the same time, I have also asked the TNI for a replacement [should he later be found guilty in the case], Ari said 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 Marguerite Afra Sapiie (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, January 4 2017 The National Police have charged a little known author from Blora, Central Java, with defamation for writing a 436-page book they believe contains false information and baseless claims about President Joko Jokowi Widodo. Bambang Tri Mulyono, the author of Jokowi Undercover, was arrested by the police last Friday. The police decided to slap Bambang with a defamation charge as stipulated by the Criminal Code (KUHP), in addition to hate speech and racism charges as stipulated in the 2008 Electronic Information and Transactions (ITE) Law and a 2008 law on the elimination of racial and ethnic discrimination. 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 Farida Susanty (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, January 4, 2017 State shipping firm Pelni expects around a 50 percent profit increase to Rp 305 billion (US$22.7 million) this year following its freight liner service and efficiency measure. We will continue to carry out efficiency measures, especially with regard to fuel. We will also continue our cooperation with domestic and international ship liners for freight liner service, Pelni president director Elvin Guntoro said on Wednesday. The company also has high expectations for the maritime highway, for which it will operate six routes, expected to begin in January. (Read also: Jokowis maritime highway to be rerouted) The maritime highway is President Joko Jokowi Widodos flagship program to provide scheduled freight liners connecting major ports such as Tanjung Perak in Surabaya, East Java to ports in remote areas. The companys plan to expand into cruise ship tourism will also contribute to the income, Elvin added. The firm had booked Rp 195 billion in profit as of November, according to its unaudited report, while the December figure was still being calculated. We expect profit to surpass Rp 200 billion, Elvin stated. Meanwhile, Pelni finance director Wibisono said the company expected Rp 4.7 trillion in revenue next year from Rp 3.6 trillion this year. So far, 28 percent of our revenue is from our passenger service, he said. The company transported around 4 million passengers last year. The number is expected to climb to 4.2 million passengers this year. (bbn) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Callistasia Anggun Wijaya (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, January 4 2017 The police forcefully prevented reporters from all media organizations from entering the venue of the fourth hearing of Jakarta Governor Basuki Ahok Tjahaja Purnamas blasphemy trial on Tuesday, disregarding confirmation from the judges that print and online media journalists could cover the hearing. As a result, reporters relied on comments made outside the auditorium of the Agriculture Ministry on Jl. RM Harsono in Pasar Minggu, South Jakarta, which has been converted into a makeshift courtroom. Presiding judge Dwiarso Budi Santiarto said upon opening the session that the hearing was only closed to television journalists. 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 Marguerite Afra Sapiie (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, January 4, 2017 The National Police have added more charges to the dossier of Bambang Tri Mulyono, the author of a book titled "Jokowi Undercover", who is now under investigation over alleged defamation and hate speech against President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo. The National Police have named Bambang a suspect for writing the book about Jokowi, which the police have claimed is not based on valid data and references. The police arrested and interrogated Bambang on Friday and he is now being detained at the Jakarta Police detention center. National Police spokesperson Insp. Gen. Boy Rafli Amar said the police were now charging Bambang with violating Article 207 of the Criminal Code (KUHP) concerning defamation against the government and state institutions. [Bambang] has deliberately defamed the government and state institutions, and in this case, Jokowi, the President of the Republic of Indonesia, is the victim, Boy told a press conference. (Read also: Obscure author charged with defaming President Jokowi) Earlier, police investigators charged Bambang with hate speech, claiming that he had violated Article 28 of Law No. 11/2008 on electronic information and transactions (ITE) and Article 16 of Law No. 40/2008 on the elimination of racial and ethnic discrimination. Bambang, a resident of Jambangan village, Blora, Central Java, wrote in his book that Jokowi and Vice President Jusuf Kalla were elected in 2014 because of the success of press institutions in fooling the public. Bambang also said Jokowi had falsified data before registering as a presidential candidate. He also wrote that Giriroto in Boyolali regency, Central Java, was the basis of the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI), which was disbanded in 1966. Giriroto is the village where Jokowis mother, Sujiatmi Notomiatdjo, was reportedly born. In a separate occasion, Sujiatmi has strongly rejected all information written in the book, saying that the content is slanderous because it is not based on facts and truths, kompas.com has reported. Let's just hope that he [Bambang] will be forgiven by God and will soon realize [his mistakes], Sujiatmi said in Surakarta, Central Java. (ebf) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Margareth S. Aritonang (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, January 4, 2017 National Police chief Gen. Tito Karnavian said on Wednesday the police would pursue the masterminds behind the publication of the book Jokowi Undercover, which according to the police contains defamatory claims about President Joko Jokowi Widodo. Tito further said the police had concluded that the author listed in the book, Bambang Tri Mulyono, who was in police custody, lacked the capability to compile a book on his own. We have examined him [Bambang]. He couldn't provide reliable data for claims made in the book. He also couldn't cite any references or sources [used to support information in the book]. Thus, it is obvious that the book was based on his personal opinion, Tito said on the sidelines of a ceremony at the National Police's headquarters in South Jakarta. (Read also: Police charge "Jokowi Undercover" author with defamation) He further said the investigation had further found that the author had not attended university and had only graduated from senior high school. His writing skill is very poor. He lacks the capability to write a book. There is no way that he wrote the book. Thus, we will search for anyone who backed him. We will hunt down the mastermind, Tito said. Claims are made in the book that Jokowi had falsified data to register as a presidential candidate in 2014. It also claims that Giriroto in Boyolali regency, Central Java, the town in which Jokowi's mother Sujiatmi Notomiatdjo was reportedly born, had been an Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) stronghold. (ebf) Mumbai Congress Chief Sanjay Nirupam has criticised this decision and termed it as illegal. How can a state cabinet appoint a cabinet sub-committee to look into the issue of Hawkers. It is not only illegal but also unconstitutional as Parliament had cleared the hawkers law in 2014. By Mayuresh Ganapatye: Yesterday state cabinet took a decision which defeated objective of regulating hawkers in the city, the state government cleared the hawkers' policy and said that anyone with a domicile certificate will be considered for a hawking licence. Mumbai Congress Chief Sanjay Nirupam has criticised this decision and termed it as illegal. " How can a state cabinet appoint a cabinet sub-committee to look into the issue of Hawkers. It is not only illegal but also unconstitutional as Parliament had cleared the hawkers law in 2014. HERE IS ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW: The government has constituted a cabinet sub-committee that will finalise the modalities of the policy for implementation. The decision was taken in the state cabinet meeting yesterday. The government also decided to allow the sale of pre-cooked food on streets, after the high court prohibited roadside cooking. According to the policy, all those who are above 14 years of age with no other source of livelihood will be eligible for issuances of vending certificates. It has capped the number of licences to 2.5 per cent of the total population. The hawker will have the right to appeal against an order before a grievance redressal committee headed by the municipal commissioner and an appellate authority headed by the mayor. According to order sub section (3) of section 3 of Protection of livelihood and Regulation of street Vending Act 2014, No street vendors shall be evicted to whom the provision of the said act of 2014 are applicable and to whom the prohibition under sub section (3) of Section 3 is applicable. According to the law, vending committee should be formed by The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) which will protect these hawkers and do the survey to allot the hawking zone for them withing 6 months. Nirupam called this decision of Devendra Fadnavis government as political gimmick. "Decision of domicile for hawkers has been taken under pressure of Shiv Sena just to appease voters. Similar thing they did while giving auto-taxi permits, they looked for Marathi language skills and asked very tough questions to Non-Marathi people". advertisement Also read: Sanjay Nirupam alleges opening of the Shivaji Maharaj statue a political stunt by BJP with an eye on elections --- ENDS --- Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, January 4, 2017 Islam Defenders Front (FPI) Jakarta chapter secretary Novel Bamukmin has acknowledged that he once worked at a Pizza Hut restaurant and claimed it was the police that wrote Fitsa Hats in Jakarta Governor Basuki Ahok Tjahaja Purnamas blasphemy case dossier. His [Ahok] lawyers do not know. It was the police who wrote it. Obviously the dossier didnt write itself, Novel told kompas.com on Wednesday. Novel was among five witnesses, who earlier reported Ahok to the police for alleged blasphemy, who testified at the North Jakarta District Court on Tuesday. (Read also: Ahok's lawyers criticize witness' background, noting him as Agus supporter) Ahok said on Tuesday evening that Novel had likely changed the name of the restaurant because he was ashamed to have worked in a company owned by an infidel from 1992 to 1995. "Yes, I think probably he was ashamed because he is of the opinion that it is forbidden to be led by an infidel, [someone of] different faith, Ahok said. The FPI led several massive rallies in Jakarta last year, which were joined by hundreds of thousands of people, against Ahok, a Christian of Chinese descent. Im not ashamed. If I was ashamed, I wouldnt have mentioned the job, Novel said, adding that the Fitsa Hats part that was read during the hearing was missing when he rechecked the dossier. I will again report Ahok to the police for accusing me of manipulating [the dossier] under the belief that I am ashamed of having worked at an American company, he added. (jun) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, January 4, 2017 President Joko Jokowi Widodo has instructed his ministers to further reduce economic disparity by stepping up the implementation of the governments poverty eradication program. We have to work as hard as we can. [Economic] disparity should be further cut, both between the haves and have-nots and between the regions, said Jokowi while chairing a Cabinet meeting at the Bogor Palace on Wednesday as reported by kontan.com. Indonesia managed to reduce its Gini ratio to 0.387 in March 2016, from 0.402 in September, 2015, according to the Central Statistics Agency (BPS). (Read also: Inequality key factor in radicalization: Wahid Institute) The President also stressed the need to further cut the poverty rate from 10.86 percent in July 2016 to 10.5 percent next year. As part of the effort to cut the poverty rate, the President has ordered the Agrarian and Spatial Planning Minister to speed up the process of redistribution of land to the people through formalization of land ownership. This is needed to help the people, particularly farmers, use their land to improve their welfare, Jokowi added. Jokowi also ordered the Environment and Forestry Minister to support the Agrarian and Spatial Planning Minister to implement the program. The President instructed the ministers to set land certification and land concession targets for the next two years. (bbn) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Dylan Amirio (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, January 4, 2017 Local tea producer PT Perkebunan Nusantara (PTPN) says it promises to improve its manufacturing techniques to produce better quality tea as an effort to boost sales both in local and international markets. The manufacturing techniques to improve the quality [of tea] are things such as allocating more funds for fertilizer, PTPN III Holdings president director Elia Massa Manik said on Wednesday, adding that in 2016, the company spent approximately Rp 2.5 trillion (US$192 million) for fertilizer. The first weekly tea auction of the year took place on Wednesday at the Kharisma Pemasaran Bersama Nusantara (KPBN) headquarters, with PTPNs tea products CTC and Orthodox going on sale. (Read also: Indonesia to boost tea exports in 2017) In 2016, only 32 percent of Indonesian tea was exported, which was much lower if compared to 2008 at almost 100 percent. Imports, however, are still constant as the biggest bulk of imported tea to Indonesia comes from Argentina, India, Iran, Kenya and Vietnam. KPBN president director Iriana Ekasari said the reason that local tea had not been performing well even in the local market was mainly because of the lack of pricing controls. For one, the teas at this auction are pretty cheap. There isnt much appreciation for the price and therefore the whole process of production, she said. (bbn) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Farida Susanty (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, January 4 2017 The country will likely miss its yearly foreign tourist target again as the latest figures show unfavorable development. Central Statistics Agency (BPS) data said tourist numbers reached 10.4 million from January to November, while the country had expected to welcome at least 12 million tourists in 2016. 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 Zeina Karam (Associated Press) Beirut Wed, January 4, 2017 Syrian government forces pressed their offensive in a water-rich valley northwest of Damascus on Tuesday as 10 rebel groups announced they are suspending talks about planned peace negotiations because of what they described as government violations of a cease-fire deal. The truce, brokered by Russia and Turkey, is meant to be followed by talks later this month in the Kazakh capital of Astana between mainstream rebel factions and government representatives. The UN Security Council on Saturday unanimously adopted a resolution supporting efforts by Russia and Turkey, which back opposing sides in Syria's civil war, to end the nearly six-year conflict and jump-start peace negotiations. But the nationwide four-day-old cease-fire is looking increasingly shaky, with opposition factions angered in particular about the ongoing military offensive in the strategically-important Barada Valley. The government and the opposition disagree about whether the region is part of the cease-fire agreement, which excludes extremist factions such as the Islamic State group and al-Qaida's affiliate, known as the Fatah al-Sham Front. The text of the document was never released to the public. The Syrian government says the mountainous region is not part of the cease-fire because of the presence of the Fatah al-Sham Front. Local activists deny any militant presence in the area. Opposition activists, including the Barada Valley Media Center, on Tuesday reported heavy bombardment of villages there. The opposition's Civil Defense first responders reported at least nine government airstrikes since Sunday, as well as acute shortages of medical supplies. Six people have been killed and 73 have been wounded, it said. In a statement posted late Monday, 10 rebel factions said they were "freezing all discussions regarding the Astana negotiations or any other consultations regarding the cease-fire agreement until it is fully implemented." They include the powerful Army of Islam group, which operates mainly outside the Syrian capital. It said the violations in the Barada Valley are continuing and "threaten the lives of hundreds of thousands of people." The statement also said that the opposition will consider any military changes made on the ground to be a serious violation of the cease-fire agreement "that renders it null." The Barada Valley, which is controlled by rebels and is surrounded by pro-government forces, including the Lebanese Iran-backed Hezbollah group, is the primary source of water for Damascus and surrounding areas. The fighting has cut off the capital's main sources of water, resulting in severe shortages since Dec. 22. Images from the valley's Media Center indicate its Ain al-Fijeh spring and water processing facility have been destroyed, apparently by airstrikes. The government says rebels spoiled the water source with diesel fuel, forcing it to cut supplies to the capital. The cease-fire agreement, which went into effect early Friday, is supposed to pave the way for the government and the opposition to meet for talks for the first time in nearly a year in the second half of January. Those talks will be mediated by Russia, Turkey and Iran, though Russian officials have said other key players, including the United States, are welcome to participate. In the northern province of Idlib, al-Qaida's affiliate, the Fatah al-Sham Front, said more than 20 people were killed as a result of US-led coalition airstrikes that targeted one of its command centers. The statement released on the group's Telegram channel did not give further details, but opposition activists said dozens of people were killed and wounded in the airstrikes that struck the group's position near the village of Sarmada in the Idlib countryside. Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said he was unaware of the incident. The attack follows an air raid late Sunday that struck several cars traveling on a road leading from Sarmada to the Bab al-Hawa area near the border with Turkey, killing at least eight people, including al-Qaida-linked fighters and a senior commander with Chinese Islamic militant faction, according to opposition groups and a local jihadi commander. The US has killed some of al-Qaida's most senior commanders in Syria over the past two years in airstrikes. Those targeted include members of the so-called Khorasan group, which Washington describes as an internal branch of al-Qaida that plans attacks against Western interests. It was not immediately clear who was behind the Sunday and Tuesday attacks. ___ Associated Press writer Bradley Klapper in Washington contributed to this story. (**) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Margareth S. Aritonang (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, January 4, 2017 National Police chief Gen. Tito Karnavian has officially announced the extension of the Tinombala joint police-military operation, by three months until April this year, to root out what remains of the East Indonesia Mujahidin (MIT) terrorist group in Central Sulawesi. Tito told reporters the extended operation was aimed at hunting down the remaining 10 MIT members, including Ali Kalora, who has taken a leadership role in the group following the death of its former leader, Santoso aka Abu Wardah, during a raid in Poso in July last year. We will evaluate members [of the operation]. We will hunt down Ali Kalora and his friends," Tito said on the sidelines of a ceremony at the National Police headquarters in South Jakarta on Wednesday. (Read also: Operation Tinombala extended by three months as terror group still at large) Working to pursue remnants of the MIT terror group, Operation Tinombala concluded on Jan. 3. Originally named Camar Maleo, the operation was initiated in 2015 to hunt down and neutralize the MIT, a terrorist group operating in Poso, Central Sulawesi. The operation had been extended several times because of its failures to capture Santoso. Operation Tinombala commander Brig. Gen. Rudy Sufahriadi previously said the operation had managed to hunt down 32 MIT members, 10 of whom had been captured alive while the 20 others were killed during shootouts against security personnel. (ebf) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Callistasia Anggun Wijaya (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, January 4, 2017 The fourth court session for the blasphemy case implicating Jakarta Governor Basuki Ahok Tjahaja Purnama, which heard witness testimonies, lasted for 11 hours on Tuesday, with all the parties presented calling for the arrest of the non-active governor. Ahok said all four prosecution witnesses had asked the North Jakarta District Courts judge panel to detain him. They all asked the judges to detain me, although it is very unfair," Ahok said after the hearing, which was held at the Agriculture Ministrys auditorium in Pasar Minggu, South Jakarta, on Tuesday evening. The four witnesses were Jakarta-chapter Islam Defenders Front (FPI) secretary general Novel Bamukmin, Sharia Advocate chair Gus Joy Setiawan, FPI Jakarta head Muchsin and Antiblasphemy Forum head Syamsu Hilal. (Read also: Ahok's lawyers criticize witness' background, noting him as Agus supporter) Ahok further said all of them had reported him to the police after they watched the shortened video of his speech, in which he cited Surah Al Maidah 51 during a working visit to Thousand Islands on Sept. 27. I spoke for an hour and 40 minutes about fish cultivation but they cut my speech on the video to 13 seconds only, Ahok said. The governor said the accusation of blasphemy against him was untruthful because he had never intended to insult Islam. He was also confused by the accusation because at that time, none of the Thousand Islands residents were angry with his speech. Presiding judge Dwiarso Budi Santiarto adjourned the trial until Jan. 10 when the prosecutors witnesses will offer their testimonies. (ebf) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Winda A. Charmila and Corry Elyda (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, January 4 2017 The police named the helmsman of the ill-fated ferry Zahro Express, 51-year-old Mohammad Nali, a suspect on Tuesday for allegedly neglecting to confirm the actual number of passengers on the boat. The alleged offense violates the 2008 Sailing Law and the suspect could face a maximum 10 years in prison and Rp 1.5 billion (US$111,000) in fines, the head of the Jakarta Polices water police unit, Sr. Comr. Hero Hendrianto, said on Tuesday. According to him, the ship was reported to have been carrying 191 passengers, while the manifest submitted to the port master only showed it was carrying 100 passengers. 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 Raul Dancel (The Straits Times/ANN) Manila Wed, January 4, 2017 Russia said it is looking into holding naval exercises in the South China Sea with the Philippines, China and Malaysia to fight terrorism and piracy, as a Russian warship arrived in Manila on a "goodwill visit". "We really hope that in a few years, military exercises in your region and the South China Sea will take a very big part for the participants, not only Russia and the Philippines, but also China and Malaysia," said Rear-Admiral Eduard Mikhailov, deputy commander of Russia's Pacific Fleet. He was speaking at a news briefing in Manila on Tuesday after the anti-submarine destroyer Admiral Tributs docked in Manila. It was escorted by Russian oil tanker Boris Butoma. The two ships will leave on Saturday. Sidestepping questions on territorial disputes in the region, Rear- Adm Mikhailov said: "The main task is safety The biggest problems now are terrorism and piracy. Our exercises with you will help fight these problems. "We will show what we can do, and we will see what you can do and show us." Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has been upending decades-long security arrangements with the US, which are bound by a mutual defense pact, since he took office last June. He has said he wants all American troops out of the Philippines in three years and also halted all US-Philippine war games in the South China Sea - but is willing to hold military exercises with China and Russia. "I have given enough time for the Americans to play with the Filipino soldiers," he said last October, before going on a state visit to China, where he declared a "separation" with the US. Last year, China and Russia conducted military maneuvers in the South China Sea involving a significant number of warships, submarines, aircraft, helicopters and armored equipment. A simulated invasion of South China Sea islands was part of the exercise. China has laid claim to nearly all of the 3.2 million sq km sea, parts of which are also claimed by the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan. Duterte has taken a less hardline approach to the Chinese claim than his predecessor Benigno Aquino. With US lawmakers blocking arms deals and aid to the Philippines over opposition to the extrajudicial killings of thousands of drug suspects, the Philippine leader has turned to China and Russia for weapons instead. On Tuesday, Rear-Adm Mikhailov said Russia is keen to show the Philippines the arms and technology it can acquire to bolster its military. "We have a big range of equipment that we can demonstrate to you, maybe here, maybe in the future, in the sea, and in military exercises, and also in different exhibitions We can help you in every way that you need," he said. He said Russia wants to have arms deals with the Philippines on the scale it now has with Indonesia. Indonesia's air force uses Russian-made Su-30 and Su-27 warplanes. Jakarta is in talks to procure 10 Su-355 multirole fighters. The Philippines recently acquired a squadron of FA-50 jets from South Korea and a handful of Coast Guard cutter vessels from the US, but its military remains among Asia's most ill-equipped. At the invitation of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Duterte is scheduled to visit Russia in April or May this year. Russia has offered to sell a submarine, drones and sniper rifles to the Philippines, said Philippine Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana. This article appeared on The Straits Times 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 (The Nation/ANN) Bangkok Wed, January 4, 2017 The Thai military is in the midst of a full-bore pivot of its own towards China, to the detriment of our long-time Western allies. This has been particularly obvious in the realm of procurement, with Thai generals eyeing more Chinese military hardware in recent years, beginning with submarines. Now there is talk about replacing US-made battle tanks and with Chinese models, and we might even see a Sino-Thai joint venture involving the manufacture of weapons here. This dramatic shift in allegiances is taking place under the military-led government that came to power in the 2014 coup and, as such, will never completely be regarded as legitimate. Ruling by a dictatorial interim constitution, it is exempt from any meaningful public debate over its decisions, including its procurements. In Thailand for now and the immediate future, the generals are the sole shapers of public policy, accountable to no one. This is hardly the case in most advanced countries, where military programs have some degree of civilian oversight to ensure they reflect the needs of the nation and are genuinely beneficial to long-term security. Few Thais would suggest the country should be buying tanks and weaponry solely from the United States, but we do remain treaty allies with the US and it is widely accepted that such status should mean more than the paper bearing the treaty signatures. Instead, Thailands decade of political instability has brought criticism from the West, prompting our indignant leaders to adjust policy according to immediate need while ignoring the historical benefits of existing security and defense arrangements and the long-term consequences of their actions. The Chinese government, itself authoritarian, pays little heed to any of its trading partners proximity to democracy. Whether foreign leaders trade places by elections or by coups, Beijing will look beyond the politics to make the best of the economic outcome. From its perspective, betting on the Thai Army is a solid gamble, with a publicly endorsed draft constitution cementing the militarys supervisory role in politics for many years to come. For Thailand, though, the tendency to put all our eggs in the Chinese basket has a worrying drawback. Weve bought their military hardware before, but now we seem to be drifting into uncharted territory, the public uncertain whether the realignment with China or the individual purchases have been adequately assessed by all of the state agencies that should be involved as a matter of course. Have our security and diplomatic corps properly weighed this? Are they even allowed to comment? This is not a matter of bartering rice. When it comes to weapons procurement and the sources the foreign nations who benefit from our patronage and respond appreciatively our countrys long-term security is at stake. Choosing the overseas vendor requires fundamental understanding of defense doctrine and after-sales commitments that bring together the armed forces of seller and buyer in a partnership of mutual trust and defense. As a direct result of 13 years of political chaos and partisan violence that crippled the Thai economy, millions of citizens are willing to abide by military rule, the better to ignore the ideological gulf that still separates them from their countrymen. But do the generals understand that whats good for the junta is not necessarily good for the country? To continue conceding to them carte blanche on how the country is governed invites disaster. National defense and long-term security might not be subjects the average citizen can knowledgeably debate. Such matters are often best left to the experts. But when expertise is rendered in the service of the public, the public should at least have a say. This article appeared on The Nation newspaper website, which is a member of Asia News Network and a media partner of The Jakarta Post It is not Veer Pahariya, but Shahid Kapoor's younger brother Ishaan Khattar that Sara Ali Khan is reportedly dating. By India Today Web Desk: It's not just Sara Ali Khan's Bollywood debut that is making headlines. The daughter of Saif Ali Khan has also been in the news for her rumoured boyfriends. ALSO READ | Awww-dorable: Sara and Ibrahim cannot get enough of li'l Taimur? ALSO READ | Kareena prepping Sara Ali Khan for her Bollywood debut? While it was being said that Sara is dating former Union minister Sushil Kumar Shinde's grandson Veer Pahariya, recent reports suggested that she is seeing her good friend Orhan Awatramani. Sara Ali Khan was first linked with Sushil Kumar Shinde's grandson Veer Pahariya. Stories of Sara's romance with good friend Orhan Awatramani were also doing the rounds recently. advertisement However, if a report in Filmfare is to be believed, Sara is dating neither of the two, but Shahid Kapoor's half brother Ishaan Khattar. The two were rumoured to be making their debut with Karan Johar's Student Of The Year 2. Later, it was being reported that Sara and Ishaan will come together for the remake of The Fault In Our Stars. While it is confirmed that the two have chose Bollywood as a career, their launch vehicle is not yet confirmed. Ishaan has reportedly been finalised for the Hindi remake of Sairat opposite Sridevi's daughter Jhanvi Kapoor, while speculations about Sara's debut continue to do the rounds. --- ENDS --- Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, January 4, 2017 Electric vehicles are being developed at several Indonesian universities. The President University in Cikarang, West Java, for instance, established an electric vehicle program in 2016. Lydia Anggraini, head of the university's School of Mechanical Engineering, who helms the Electric Car Development Team, told tempo.co that the idea was related to the decreasing amount of fossil fuels in the world. During my undergraduate study, I developed alternative fuel sources like castor bean oil and jelantah [cooking oil and biodiesel], but the main materials became an issue, said Lydia. Based on these facts and the knowledge that I gained in Japan, where the burning process does not have to come from oil, Im trying to develop an electric car because its more affordable and eco-friendly, she said, adding that she received her postgraduate and doctoral degrees from Ritsumeikan University in Japan in 2008 and 2012, respectively. (Read also: Humanoid robot Pepper is amusing, but is it practical?) Dubbed the Electric Vehicle President University (EV PU), the vehicle is slated to be completed in August. Weighing 350 kilograms, the car will initially have two passenger seats and aims to become a vehicle that students can use. After we finish the prototype and its patent, the car will be developed on an industrial scale. To produce it on a large scale, the university plans to collaborate with Yamaha and several other Japanese companies, said Lydia. (wir/kes) Read the digital edition 2020-09-25 E-Edition The Jewish Advocate is a not-for-profit reader-supported 501(c)3 organization. We rely on your donations which are tax-deductible. Once again this year, Teatro Sea will be hosting a big celebration of Three Kings Day. The Lower East Sides Latino childrens theater will welcome the Three Kings with a festival at the Clemente, 107 Suffolk St. from 3-5 p.m. There will be a free gift for the first 1,000 kids. There will be live music by Los Pleneros de la 21 and Mariachi Academy of New York as well as free food and beverages. See Teatro Seas webssite for more information. Save Save By Press Trust of India: New Delhi, Jan 4 (PTI) Shipment of devices like PCs, smartphones and tablets is expected to remain flat this year to total 2.32 billion units, according to research firm Gartner. "Worldwide, combined shipments of PCs, tablets, ultramobiles and mobile phones are projected to remain flat in 2017. Worldwide shipments for these devices are projected to total 2.32 billion units in 2017, the same as 2016 estimates," it said in a report. advertisement Gartner added that shipment is expected to touch 2.35 billion units in 2018 and 2.38 billion units in the following year. There were nearly seven billion phones, tablets and PCs in use in the world by the end of 2016. "The global devices market is stagnating. Mobile phone shipments are only growing in emerging Asia-Pacific markets, and the PC market is just reaching the bottom of its decline," Gartner Research Director Ranjit Atwal said. He added that average selling prices of devices are also beginning to stagnate because of market saturation and a slower rate of innovation. "Consumers have fewer reasons to upgrade or buy traditional devices. They are seeking fresher experiences and applications in emerging categories such as head mounted displays (HMDs), virtual personal assistant (VPA) speakers and wearables," he said. The PC market is expected to see shipment of 266 million units this year, followed by 272 million (2018) and 278 million (2019), from 268 million units in 2016. The embattled PC market is expected to benefit from a replacement cycle towards the end of 2017, returning to growth in 2018. Attractive premium ultramobile prices and functionality will entice buyers as traditional PC sales continue to decline, Gartner said. Mobile phones shipment is expected to grow from 1.88 billion last year to 1.89 billion this year and 1.92 billion in 2018 and 1.93 billion in 2019. The mobile phone market is also expected to also benefit from replacements. There is, however, a difference in replacement activity between mature and emerging markets. "People in emerging markets still see smartphones as their main computing device and replace them more regularly than mature markets," Atwal said. PTI SR JM --- ENDS --- With a whole bunch of original releases included in this month's haul too, there's plenty to get excited about. So without much further ado, here are the most exciting new titles heading to Netflix UK this January.The first newbie of 2017 is actually an oldie. Spot the Pretty Woman-era hair of Julia Roberts in one of her earlier roles as she plays Julianne, who has a pact with BFF Michael to marry if they havent found someone else by the time they are 28. She inconveniently realises her love for him just before his wedding day. An absolute late-90s gem.Stefano Sollimas latest offering: expect a gripping criminal thriller. 2015s Suburra is based on the 2013 novel of the same name by Carlo Bonini and Giancarlo De Cataldo. Italian director Sollima has also brought us Soldado and Romanzo Criminale.Starring one of the stars of Netflix favourite Pretty Little Liars, Sasha Pieterse,follows four teen heroes who decide to raise $10 million to save their failing Philadelphia prep school. The first logical step for the unlikely squad is, of course, breaking into the US Mint. This is Pieterses first foray in to feature film and serves as a Netflix Original release, bypassing theatres altogether.Directorial debut of Iranian-born Babak Anvari, Under the Shadow has been hailed as one of the top horror movies of 2016 by critics from all over. A mother-daughter duo cope with the effects of the Iran-Iraq war whilst dealing with a possible supernatural threat.Another Netflix original thriller,follows a psychiatrist trying to rebuild her life after a traumatic attack, only to realise not everything can be fixed, and it comes from Alistair Legrand, director of 2015's underrated horrorIt may sound like anotherclone, with a possessed child and a heavy exorcism based plot, but dont be fooled. This ancient evil might just be the darkest one yet.Maisie Williams shakes herpersona clearly off in this modern thriller/action alongside Bill Milner as a teen boy that wakes up from a coma, only to discover that fragments of his smartphone have been embedded in to his head. Life may never be the same and we're thoroughly intrigued. 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. Sonam Kapoor's beau Anand Ahuja posted a video from their Amsterdam holiday on Instagram. The lovebirds brought in New Year together in the Dutch capital. By India Today Web Desk: Sonam Kapoor, who has always been hush-hush when it comes to her relationships, has thrown caution to the wind and is proudly flaunting her businessman beau Anand Ahuja. After partying together in London to celebrate Sonam's father Anil Kapoor's birthday on Christmas Eve, the lovebirds took off to Amsterdam to ring in the New Year. PHOTO | Sonam Kapoor and rumoured beau Anand Ahuja celebrate Anil Kapoor's birthday in London advertisement ALSO READ | Sonam-Anand 'keeping it real': Denial gives way to PDA on social media Anand took to Instagram to post a picture of Sonam having a gala time in Amsterdam. Little Girl + Littler Girl @sonamkapoor ??#Amsterdam A video posted by anand ahuja (@anandahuja) on Jan 2, 2017 at 5:03am PST Sonam had recently posted a picture of her and Anand from Amsterdam on Instagram, where she wished her fans a Happy New Year and urged them to 'keep it real.' Happy new year folks! #keepitreal ?????? A photo posted by sonamkapoor (@sonamkapoor) on Jan 1, 2017 at 12:22am PST Sonam and Anand's romance has been the subject of innumerable gossip columns, with some even speculating that she will soon tie the knot with her boyfriend. However, the Neerja actor scoffed at the idea. --- ENDS --- The Akhilesh camp has made two demands--expulsion of Amar Singh and keeping Shivpal Yadav out of the party's UP affairs. By Javed M. Ansari : A four hour one-to-one meeting between Mulayam Singh Yadav and his son and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh remained inconclusive. The two sides failed to find a solution to the two non-negotiable demands laid down by the Akhilesh camp--the expulsion of Amar Singh and keeping Shivpal Yadav out of the party's UP affairs. Senior Samajwadi Party leaders are still holding out hope that Mulayam Singh Yadav will even at this last stage make the concessions required and save the party from a split. advertisement ALSO READ: #PariwarSplit: All you need to know about the war over Samajwadi Party symbol SENIOR LEADERS STILL HOPEFUL Senior SP leaders working behind the scenes to avert a split managed to persuade the father and son to meet and try to resolve their differences. Though both sides have maintained their tough posturing in public, those involved in working the back channels believe there is still hope of averting a split. Mulayam Singh Yadav has now been persuaded to allow the chief minister a complete say in deciding the list of party's candidates for the forthcoming assembly elections. In a bid to save the party from a split, he is also amenable to the idea of his son taking up the reins of the party while he remains the patron. ALSO READ: Samajwadi feud: Mulayam-Akhilesh fight leaves Shivpal supporters in limbo AKHILESH PROVES HIS MIGHT Tuesday's meeting remained inconclusive as Mulayam was reluctant to be seen agreeing to the axing of his brother as the state party chief and the removal of his close friend and confidante Amar Singh. However, he now appears to be resigned to the fact that the only way of saving the Samajwadi Party from an almost certain split is to agree to Akhilesh Yadav's demands. The chief minister has managed to demonstrate in no uncertain terms the overwhelming support he enjoys in the party. Over 200 of the party's MLAs, MLCs and MPs have openly pledged their support to him. ALSO READ: No signs of thaw: Talks between Akhilesh, Mulayam break down over Shivpal, Amar Singh DIVISION WILL HIT BOTH CAMPS Intermediaries believe there is still a residue of goodwill between father and son. Having successfully staged a coup, Akhilesh is sensitive to not being seen as humiliating his father. They believe he could allow himself to be persuaded to not to press ahead for a formal split if he is given full control of the party and a free hand in the distribution of tickets. advertisement Both sides also realise that if they decide to go their separate ways, even though Akhilesh holds the sway, it will most certainly lead to a split in their votes, which will make their chances of retaining power all that more difficult. ALSO READ: In Samajwadi Pari-War for election symbol, cycle could be the biggest casualty --- ENDS --- By Press Trust of India: New Delhi, Jan 4 (PTI) Trinamool Congress MPs today took out a protest march towards the Prime Ministers residence, a day after Sudip Bandyopadhyay, TMCs leader in Lok Sabha, was arrested in an alleged corruption case. The parliamentarians from the West Bengal ruling party were taken into police custody before they could reach 7 Lok Kalyan Marg. advertisement "We were marching peacefully towards the Prime Ministers residence, but the police detained us mid-way and manhandled few of our MPs," TMC leader Saugata Roy told reporters. He added that as many as 36 MPs from the party took part in this protest march and they will continue to raise their voices against "injustice done by the Modi government". Yesterday, the Trianmool Congress (TMC) leader in the Lok Sabha Sudip Bandyopadhyay was arrested by the CBI in connection with the alleged Rose Valley chit fund scam case. Bandyopadhyay is the second TMC MP to be arrested within a week in connection with the alleged scam. Last Friday, actor-turned-politician Tapas Pal was subjected to questioning for more than four hours and arrested subsequently. Agitated by Bandyopadhyays arrest, a furious Mamata Banerjee accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of using central agencies like the CBI, Enforcement Directorate and Income Tax department against his political rivals who were raising their voice against demonetisation. Following the arrest of their leader, alleged TMC workers descended on the BJP office in central Kolkata chanting anti-Narendra Modi slogans and hurling stones. It left several people injured and half-a-dozen cars parked outside damaged. PTI ARU JTR TIR --- ENDS --- Brazil hunts escaped inmates after bloody prison riot BRAZIL: Brazilian police staged a massive manhunt yesterday (Jan 3) for scores of convicts who escaped during a prison riot that ended with 56 inmates killed by their rivals, many of them beheaded. deathviolencepolice By AFP Wednesday 4 January 2017, 10:08AM Military police hunt for fugitives of the Anisio Jobim Penitentiary Complex after a riot in the prison left at least 60 people killed and several injured, in Manaus, Amazonia state, Brazil. Photo: Jiji/AFP In all, 184 inmates escaped from two prisons in Amazonas state as a local drug gang took gruesome revenge on members of a rival gang, authorities said. Of those, 130 remain at large and 54 have been recaptured, according to the latest count. Police set up roadblocks in the area and deployed teams to track down the remaining convicts. We hope to have caught nearly all the prisoners by the end of the week, the state security minister Sergio Fontes told reporters. The initial riot at the Anisio Jobim Penitentiary Complex in the state capital, Manaus, was followed by uprisings at two other prisons. Authorities swiftly brought them under control in a crackdown but not before 72 had escaped from the nearby Antonio Trindade Penal Institute. They joined the 112 who had already escaped through a network of tunnels discovered at the Anisio Jobim prison. Besides the 56 inmates killed at Anisio Jobim, four were killed in fighting between prisoners at the Puraquequara Penitentiary Unit, also in Amazonas state. Prisoners desperate relatives gathered outside a forensic building where experts were working to identify the bodies yesterday. I want news of my son, whether he is alive or dead. They are not telling me anything, one of them, Ana Regina, 47, said. I dont know where he is or whether he fled. Fontes said the authorities would probably start handing over the bodies of the dead to their relatives yesterday. Despite the massive manhunt, one alleged escapee appeared to mock the authorities on Facebook. The man, Brayan Bremer, posted pictures of himself and other purported escapees giving the thumbs-up sign and feasting on fruit against a backdrop of thick vegetation. Im coming, watch out single ladies, said one post. Officials have not confirmed the account belongs to an escaped prisoner. But it went viral in Brazil, getting 14,000 likes on Facebook and inspiring instant memes of the prisoners face plastered on posters for famous jailbreak movies like The Shawshank Redemption and TV series Prison Break. The riot was no laughing matter, though. Authorities described a horrifying scene of decapitated and brutalized bodies strewn around the prison when they regained control Monday morning (Jan 2) after a riot that raged through the night. Bloodied and burned bodies were stacked in a concrete prison yard and piled in carts. My son and others were cut into pieces. They ended up without heads, said one of the weeping relatives outside the forensic building, Raimundo Castro Leal. I want them to identify him quickly and release him. The prisoners took 12 guards hostage, who were later freed. Prison authorities said they had transferred 130 gang members from various jails to a different facility after they received death threats. The federal government said it was releasing funds to create 20,000 new places in Brazils overcrowded jails. Authorities blamed the riot on fighting between the Family of the North (FDN), a powerful local gang, and rivals from the First Capital Command (PCC), one of Brazils largest gangs. The riot was the deadliest in more than a decade in Brazils underfunded and overcrowded jails. In October, prison riots triggered by fighting between rival gangs killed 33 people. And in 1992, a riot in Sao Paulos Carandiru prison left 111 people dead. Brazils justice ministry said in a 2014 report that the countrys prisons need 50 per cent more capacity to handle the current number of inmates: 622,000. That is the worlds fourth-largest prison population after the US, China and Russia, according to the report. Brazilian woman safe after dive shock PHUKET: A Brazilian woman is safe after she went into shock while on a dive tour off Koh Gai (Chicken Island), east of Phuket, yesterday (Jan 3). marine By Eakkapop Thongtub Wednesday 4 January 2017, 10:32AM Brazilian tourist Maria Auxiciadora Zoppy, 56, was brought ashore and taken to Krabi Hospital. Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub Brazilian tourist Maria Auxiciadora Zoppy, 56, was brought ashore and taken to Krabi Hospital. Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub Brazilian tourist Maria Auxiciadora Zoppy, 56, was brought ashore and taken to Krabi Hospital. Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub Brazilian tourist Maria Auxiciadora Zoppy, 56, was brought ashore and taken to Krabi Hospital. Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub Kanokwan Jansawang, Director of the Krabi Tourist Lifeguard, told The Phuket News that she received report from tour guide requesting help after a foreign tourist went into shock. A rescue boat from the Krabi Provincial Administration Organisation (OrBorJor) was dispatched to recover the tourist, Maria Auxiciadora Zoppy, 56, from Brazil. When she was brought ashore her hands and feet were still numb and locked into a fixed position, She could not move them, Ms Kanokwan said. Ms Zoppy was brought ashore at Ao Nang and taken to Krabi Hospital by local ambulance. Ms Zoppy is now safe. Apparently she went into shock from a pre-existing personal health issue, Ms Kanokwan said. Crash driver likely to have dozed off CHONBURI: The driver of the van involved in a horrific crash in Chonburi which left 25 dead on Monday (Jan 2) was likely to have dozed off behind the wheel as he had made five round trips within 31 hours, according to officials. accidentsdeathtransport By Bangkok Post Wednesday 4 January 2017, 09:12AM Crash investigators say the driver was on his fifth 500-kilometre round trip in 31 hours when he veered into the pickups path. Photo: Sawang Ban Bung Rescue Foundation The van, which was heading from Chanthaburi to Bangkok, a distance of 250 kilometres, when it swerved out of its lane and crashed into a pickup truck travelling in the opposite direction on a highway in Chonburis Ban Bung district. A fire broke out in the van following the crash, which subsequently killed 14 out of 15 people on board, including the driver. The collision also killed 11 of the 12 people in the pickup. Ponsak Thaijeam-aree, chief of the Chanthaburi Land Transport Office, said the van driver, Sumon Eiamsombat, 64, started work at 4am on Jan 1, when he left Chanthaburi for Bangkok. He began his second trip at 11:30am when he left the capital for the province. He later departed from Chanthaburi to Bangkok at 6pm. On Jan 2, he started working at 5am, when he left Bangkok for Chanthaburi, and set off to return from the province at 11.30am. The driver should have had more rest and this was likely to be the cause of the crash, Mr Ponsak said. The van did not check in at the Chanthaburi terminal as required and Transport Co was contacted for an explanation, he said. Meanwhile, Chonburi authorities organised a teleconference with Transport Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith to discuss the incident. Chonburi Governor Pakarathon Tienchai said officials who inspected the scene reported there were traces of the brakes being used at the spot where the van was seen losing control and crossing a ditch dividing the road before colliding with the pickup. The van driver was believed to have fallen asleep behind the wheel as he was 64 years old, the Gov Pakarathon said. When he regained consciousness, he tried to brake while the vehicle was moving at a high speed, causing the vehicle to veer off the lane and hit the pickup in the opposite lane, he said. However, Mr Pakarathon said this was only the most likely cause, based on initial investigation at the accident site and conversations with some witnesses. A more thorough investigation is still needed to determine and prove the cause of the accident, he added. Mr Arkhom said the labour law stipulates drivers for transport vehicles must not work more than eight consecutive hours and in this case, the investigation must look into how long the van driver had been working. The incident may have been caused by driver fatigue and the speed at which he was driving, he said. The van passed a check in September last year and no problem was found with its gas cylinder. It is probable that the fire was triggered by the fuel system, but further investigation is needed, the minister said. In foreign countries, vans are not designed to transport passengers, but to carry stuff, Mr Arkhom said. When we use this vehicle with a dual fuel system for this purpose, the focus must be on safety. Van drivers must also stick to the Department of Land Transports (DLT) regulations, which stipulate that drivers must rest for one hour before each four-hour drive. By 2019, efforts will be made to reduce the number of inter-provincial vans and increase the number of larger vehicles to ensure safety, according to the minister. Drivers must also undergo training every six months to remind them of the traffic laws and boost their awareness. Meanwhile, a conductor at the queue for the vans, run by Ploy Yok Partnership Limited, insisted the driver was well-rested before driving. Patarapong Sua-nak said Mr Sumon arrived at the queue at 10am and had had enough rest. The company checked if the driver was feeling okay before allowing him to drive the round trip at 11am from Chanthaburi to Bangkok, he said. Siwakon Buapong, chief of the Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Provincial Office in Chonburi, said the driver should have had more rest after the five-hour drive from Bangkok to Chanthaburi. Most van drivers earnings are based on round trips as well as a percentage from passenger fares. This gives drivers an incentive to drive fast in order to make more round trips, particularly during the New Year period, Mr Siwakon said, adding more safety equipment should have been installed in the vehicle. DLT Director-General Sanit Promwong said Ploy Yok has insurance coverage and B700,000 will be paid to the families of each victim. The Global Positioning System (GPS) had not yet been installed in the vehicle. All the vans must be installed with the system by this year, based on the DLTs announcement, he said. Mr Sanit said the DLT wrote to Transport Co demanding it revoke Ploy Yoks operating licence. The company, which has 18 passenger vans in service, will be monitored closely by provincial officials, he said. Read original story here. Forensic police step in to probe Patong hotel fire PHUKET: Police have declined to confirm or deny any possible cause for the major fire that broke out at the Beyond Patong hotel under construction in Patong on Monday night (Jan 2), sending plumes of black smoke billowing into the sky and forcing authorities to close the beach road. patongconstructionpolicetourism By Yutthawat Lekmak Wednesday 4 January 2017, 03:13PM Although the hotel is still under construction, many of the amenities at the resort are already complete. Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub Although the hotel is still under construction, many of the amenities at the resort are already complete. Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub The downstairs level, where much of the construction equipment was being stored, was destroyed by the fire. Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub Forensic police inspected the scene of the fire this morning (Jan 4). Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub Forensic police inspected the scene of the fire this morning (Jan 4). Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub Forensic Police inspected the scene this morning, Maj Teerasak Boonsang, the Patong Police officer leading the investigation, told The Phuket News today (Jan 4). They inspected the building and gathered evidence, he said. We expect them to take about one month before announcing their conclusions as to what they believe started the fire. Maj Teerasak confirmed that the contractor had told police that no work was being carried out at the time the fire started. Asked whether police believe a short circuit started the fire, Maj Teersak said, At this stage I cannot comment on any possible cause of the fire as the case is still under investigation. Three cars in the hotel car park on the downstairs level suffered only minor damage from the fire, he said, adding that he estimated the cost of damage from the fire at about B1 million. It would not be more than B2 million, he said. Maj Teerasak declined to name the contractor but confirmed the company has insurance coverage in case it is held responsible for the fire. More than 10 fire trucks and rescue teams took more than 10 hours to bring the flames under control at the four-storey hotel site on Monday night. People dining in the restaurant at the front of the hotel had already been safely evacuated from the building, when police were alerted the fire at about 7:30pm. No injuries were reported as a result from the fire. (See story here.) Additional reporting by Tanyaluk Sakoot No deaths reported on Day 6 of Phukets Seven Days of Danger PHUKET: The number of fatalities in Phuket during the Seven Days of Danger road-safety campaign for the New Year holidays remains at two dead after Day 6 of the campaign concluded with no further fatalities. accidentstourismtransportalcoholpolice By Yutthawat Lekmak Wednesday 4 January 2017, 10:57AM Traffic Police check a Phuket taxi driver at the Kathu checkpoint. Photo: Tanyaluk Sakoot The Phuket office of the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (DDPM-Phuket) reported today (Jan 4) that there were no deaths from road accidents during Day 6 of the campaign, on Tuesday, Jan 3 (midnight to midnight). However, nine people were injured in six accidents during the 24-hour period. Three of the accidents were in Muang District, which encompasses Phuket Town, Kata-Karon, Wichit, Chalong, Rawai and Nai Harn. One of the accidents was in Kathu District, which includes Patong, and the remaining two accidents were in Thalang District, which covers the northern half of the island. Five motorists were injured in Muang District, with two more injured in Kathu and the remaining two injured in Thalang. All people injured were in motorbike collisions with a variety of vehicles, including a pickup, the DDPM-Phuket reported. The DDPM-Phuket also noted that the main causes of the accidents and injuries as drunk driving, not wearing a helmet while riding a motorbike and cutting off other drivers in traffic. The first accident was at 12:30am during the 24-hour period, and the rest the accidents were between midday and 5:40pm, the report said. The Day 6 casualty report brings the total number of people injured in road accidents since the campaign began on Thursday, Dec 29 (midnight to midnight), to 76, but with two deaths. Police reported issuing 1,642 fines for moving violations during the day five, 24-hour period, as follows: 636 people fined for not wearing helmets 63 fined for reckless / dangerous driving 85 fined for not wearing seatbelts 504 fined for driving without a licence 79 fined for speeding 54 fined for running a red light 83 fined for ghost driving (driving opposite traffic flow) 62 fined for dangerously cutting off other motorists in traffic 51 fined for using mobile phones while driving. Of note, 25 people were arrested for drunk driving during Day 6 of the campaign. This year police in Phuket will seize the vehicles and drivers licenses of all people caught drunk driving. The vehicles and licences will be returned only after the Seven Days of Danger campaign has ended at midnight tonight (Jan 4). (See story here.) Phuket Chinese tourists safe after storm waves sink boats off Phi Phi PHUKET: National park officers have safely recovered 22 Chinese tourists stranded on Koh Mai Pai (Bamboo Island), northeast of Phi Phi Island, after their tour boat sank in rough seas east of Phuket earlier today (Jan 4). Chinesetourismmarineaccidentstransportweather By Eakkapop Thongtub Wednesday 4 January 2017, 05:25PM The Chinese tourists were brought safely ashore as their tour boat sank at Koh Mai Pai (Bamboo Island), northeast of Phi Phi Island. Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub The Chinese tourists were brought safely ashore as their tour boat sank at Koh Mai Pai (Bamboo Island), northeast of Phi Phi Island. Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub The Chinese tourists were brought safely ashore as their tour boat sank at Koh Mai Pai (Bamboo Island), northeast of Phi Phi Island. Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub The Chinese tourists were brought safely ashore as their tour boat sank at Koh Mai Pai (Bamboo Island), northeast of Phi Phi Island. Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub The Chinese tourists were brought safely ashore as their tour boat sank at Koh Mai Pai (Bamboo Island), northeast of Phi Phi Island. Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub The Chinese tourists were brought safely ashore as their tour boat sank at Koh Mai Pai (Bamboo Island), northeast of Phi Phi Island. Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub Chaiyan Chaikam, Chief of the Hat Noppharat Thara Mu Koh Phi Phi National Park, was alerted to the tourists' situation at 11:40am. We were informed that the boat Giant 121 had been hit by strong waves and was taking on water, Chief Chaiyan said. We dispatched a National Park rescue team to bring them safely on shore, which took about 30 mins. The boat later sank and we have marked the vessel with red flags, he said. Komkrit Arundet, 30, captain of the Giant 121 , told park officers that the tour itinerary was to take the Chinese tourists from Phuket to Koh Mai Pai, then on to Phi Phi Island for lunch. However, the boat starting taking on water after it was hit broadside by a large wave, he said. Soon after, at 12:10pm, the park officers received another distress call, this time from a longtail boat operator whose boat was pushed by strong waves onto rocks, which punched a hole in the hull, at Koh Moh. The engine stopped immediately and seawater flooded the boat, reported one park officer. The longtail driver reported six foreign tourists were floating in the sea, he said. Park officers stationed at the tourist-popular Thale Waek isthmus, which joins Koh Dam Hok and Koh Dam Kwan took a longtail boat to rescue the stricken tour party. They were all taken to Koh Gai (Chicken Island). They were now all safe, the park officer told The Phuket News. The Thai Meteorological Dept earlier today issued a weather warning for Heavy to Very Heavy Rain in Lower South and Strong Wind Waves in the Gulf of Thailand. The strong northeast monsoon prevails over the Gulf of Thailand and the South, the low pressure cell covers Sumatra and Andaman Sea. Severe rains are forecast for some of following provinces: Chumphon, Surat Thani, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Phatthalung, Songkhla, Pattani, Yala, Narathiwat, Ranong, Phang Nga, Phuket, Krabi and Trang. People should beware of the severe weather conditions and possible flash flood, said the warning. The strong winds force waves up to 2-4 meters high in the Gulf and Andaman Sea. People should beware of inshore surge and all ships should proceed with caution, and small boats keep ashore 1-2 days, the warning urged. (See here.) By Press Trust of India: Mumbai, Jan 4 (PTI) Countrys fifth largest software exporter Tech Mahindra today launched a majority-owned joint venture in Saudi Arabia in partnership with local conglomerate Al Fozan Group. The Mahindra group company will have a majority ownership of the JV named Tech Mahindra Arabia, a statement issued here said, adding the venture will focus on opportunities in Saudi Arabia. advertisement At present, TechM has 30 active customers in Saudi Arabia including its largest oil and gas company, major petrochemical companies, one of the largest manufacturing group, leading banks and telecom companies, it said. 1,600 associates of TechM are present in the country including those of its acquired company LCC and the joint venture, which has already set up a 10-seater delivery centre in Al Khobar, it said. The JV is also looking at majorly hiring local talents for the centre, it added. "As a global company, we are driven by the philosophy of ?think globally and act locally?. Through our JV, we will work towards localising technologies and building local services thus adding value to the local economy," its managing director and chief executive C P Gurnani said. The JV partner Al Fozan Group has a presence retail, manufacturing, real estate and trading activities. PTI AA RMT --- ENDS --- By Press Trust of India: Hyderabad, Jan 4 (PTI) Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao today told the State Legislative Assembly that two state-owned power discoms have signed a MoU with the Centre to join Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana (UDAY) scheme. Making a statement in the House, Rao said the two discoms in the state are having a long term debt of Rs 11897 crore (TSSPDCL- Rs 7392 crores and TSNPDCL - Rs 4505 crores) as on September 30, 2015 and under the Uday Scheme, the state government is taking over 75 per cent of the Discoms debt amounting to Rs 8923 crore. advertisement "The balance loan amount of Rs 2974 crore will be restructured by the discoms by issuing bonds with Government Guarantee. As a result of taking over the loan by the state government, there is a relief of interest burden of Rs 890 crore per annum to the two Discoms and consumers at large. Discoms will be able to raise funds with competitive rates from the financial institutions towards capital expenditures. The Government of Telangana is already providing a subsidy of Rs 4584 crore to the Discoms/Consumers,? he said. Taking a dig at the previous government for the state of affairs in power sector, KCR said the installed capacity of the state was 5863 MW as on June 2014 and his government initiated short, medium and long term measures to overcome the power problem. He hoped that with the completion of pending power projects, the total installed capacity of the state will be about 27187 MW by 2019. ?By 2019, 27187 mw power capacity will be there in our state. Then the state will become self sufficient in power sector. Additional power generation will be there even after meeting all the necessities (domestic requirement),? he stated. According to him, backed by better performance of Discoms, power finance companies such as Rural Electrification Corporation and Power Finance Corporation have reduced their lending rates to 9.95 per cent from 12 per cent benefiting Rs 200 crores interest per annum and overall Rs 2000 crores in a loan period of ten years. PTI GDK DK DK --- ENDS --- By Press Trust of India: Agartala, Jan 4 (PTI) Trinamool Congress today alleged that a "clandestine nexus" between Chief Minister Manik Sarkar and Prime Minister Narendra Modi has resisted the security agencies to investigate corruptions by Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) in Tripura. TMC MLA and former Leader of Opposition in Tripura Assembly Sudip Roy Burman and partys state unit president Asish Saha claimed that despite alerting the Sarkar government that chit fund companies and NBFCs were cheating depositors, it did not take any action as the leaders of the ruling CPI(M) were directly indulging with those companies. advertisement "It is clear that there is a clandestine nexus between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Manik Sarkar as a result of which the Prime Minister did not take any action against chit fund groups," Burman claimed during a press conference here. "We demand that the Centre engage ED (Enforcement Directorate) and CBI to investigate all matters against chit fund companies which have been referred to by the state government," he said adding, the arrest of TMC MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay in Kolkata by the CBI was "politically motivated". They alleged that Sarkar himself inaugurated the Rose Valley amusement park here in 2008 and that park was still open as the government did not take any action. Burman alleged that though the state government wrote to the CBI for investigating against 27 cases on May 12, 2013, the name of Rose Valley group was not included. Later, on May 27, 2013, the state government again requested the CBI to take up 10 more cases, where the name of Rose Valley group was included, but very meagre amount was shown as a result of which CBI did not accept the cases, he claimed. He claimed that he had requested the PM in April, 2015 to send a CBI team to investigate the activities of NBFCs in Tripura which Modi had acknowledged with the receipt of the letter, but did not take any action against any chit fund group in the state. PTI JOY DKB KIS --- ENDS --- "The way the incidents are unfolding in Bengal, no opposition leader is safe. In a place where the chief minister herself provokes her supporters and where TMC MLA's bring anti-socials to attack party offices, no one is safe," Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh said. By Indrajit Kundu: A day after Trinamool Congress workers attacked the state BJP headquarters in Kolkata, Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh has accused chief minister Mamata Banerjee of provoking violence herself. Leading a protest against Tuesday's incident in which more than a dozen BJP workers were injured, Ghosh claimed Mamata Banerjee was personally inciting her partymen to attack opposition members. "The way the incidents are unfolding in Bengal, no opposition leader is safe. In a place where the chief minister herself provokes her supporters and where TMC MLA's bring anti-socials to attack party offices, no one is safe," Ghosh said. advertisement TMC-BJP WAR Today, reports of sporadic attacks on BJP party offices emerged from across the state. Agitating TMC workers gheraoed union minister Babul Supriyo's Kolkata residence while crude bombs were hurled at the party's former Hooghly district president Krishna Bhattacharya's home. BJP party offices were allegedly vandalised in South 24 Pargana's Canning area and at Dumdum and Jadavpur in Kolkata. Slamming Kolkata Police Commissioner, Rajiv Kumar, for the attack on his party office, Ghosh said, "Everyone knows that the responsibility of investigating the Saradha scam was on Rajiv Kumar. It is because of him that the situation has become this complicated. Thus whichever post he is given, he will try and shield the Trinamool government." Also read: TMC-BJP bad blood continues, West Bengal Finance Minister walks out of pre-Budget meeting It is worth noting that chief minister Mamata Banerjee had appointed Rajiv Kumar as the head of the state government's probe committee to investigate the Saradha scam. Kumar was then the Bidhan Nagar police chief before being elevated to the post of Kolkata Police Commissioner. The opposition has often alleged that Kumar, in his capacity as the head of the probe committee was responsible for destroying a lot of crucial evidence in the scam. A BJP delegation also met West Bengal Governor Kesari Nath Tripathi to apprise him of the law and order situation in the state. In its deputation to the Governor, BJP termed Tuesday's attack on its party headquarter as "unprecedented and pre-planned" with a motive to trigger a sense of fear among its party men. Also read: Chit fund scam: BJP office in Kolkata attacked after TMC MP Sudip Bandopadhyay's arrest BJP DEMANDS PRESIDENT'S RULE Demanding imposition of President's rule in the state, the BJP deputation claimed that the "Kolkata Police, which is directly under the West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee stood as silent spectators and aided the Trinamool Congress goons in vandalizing the West Bengal BJP headquarters thereby failing to do their constitutional duty of protecting the democratic rights of the citizens." --- ENDS --- advertisement Actor Arjun Rampal has suffered an eye injury. He finds it "disorienting", but says it's "nothing serious". "Now I know how a one-eyed pirate sees the world. A minor eye injury. Nothing as serious as it looks. Hugely disorienting. See you soon," Arjun posted on his Instagram page. The 44-year-old actor posted an image featuring him with a bandage on one eye, and a stubble. The actor's last release was "Kahaani 2". He will next be seen in "Daddy," based on the life of gangster-turned-politician Arun Gawli. Actress Amyra Dastur, who will be seen sharing screen space with actor Jackie Chan in Kung Fu Yoga says she was starstruck to meet the Hollywood star for the first time. "The first thing I told him was I love him a lot and he said, 'Oh My God..!' It took me a week to be normal with him. I was starstruck," Amyra said. The Issaq actress says Chan helped her in doing the action sequences right in the film. "It is an action-comedy film, so most of the film has action sequences. I get frustrated when I don't get things properly on screen. I wasn't able to do a sequence in a graceful manner..I couldn't understand why I was not getting right," she said. "Jackie saw me struggling to do the scenes. He asked me to do a scene for him and he pointed my mistakes, explained where exactly I was going wrong. In the next shot, it was done perfectly," she added. Amyra said when she hurt her back, Jackie told her to rest. "I had sprained my back badly in one of the action sequences as I fell flat on a rod. When you are doing an action film you are bound to get some bruises. Jackie felt sad when I got hurt he told me to rest for two days." Amyra said she admires the quality of generosity in the actor. "He (Chan) doesn't act like a star. I have worked with Emraan Hashmi, he is a sweetheart but there is star quality in him. Jackie is chilled out and he is happy all the time. He is happy with his life. He says whatever you call me star or superstar, I am grateful to God and my family," she said. Also starring Sonu Sood, Disha Patni, Kung Fu Yoga releases this month in China. Microsoft founder Bill Gates' charity foundation has invested $140 million in the development of HIV-preventing drug implants that could revolutionise the treatment of the life-threatening infection. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is providing this funding for the groundbreaking new technology which could revolutionise HIV prevention. Currently prevention drugs are available in the form of a pill that, if taken daily, can reduce a person's chances of being infected with HIV. The drugs are recommended by the World Health Organisation for use by at-risk groups including men who have sex with men but are only effective if the pills are taken consistently. There are hopes that implant technology, similar to systems available for birth control, could be used to deliver a consistent supply of drugs, aiding people vulnerable to HIV. According to The Wall Street Journal, their latest investment has placed their backing firmly behind a biopharmaceutical company located in Boston. They believe that this company could yield one of the largest revelations in HIV treatment yet. This treatment takes the form of a pump that was initially designed for type two diabetes patients. It works by continuously delivering medication throughout the body. The pump is reportedly capable of administering drugs throughout the body for as long as 12 months. It could also be easily filled by a clinician annually or bi-annually. Researchers believe that the pump could work similarly, for HIV prevention, in healthy patients. Delivering treatment such as PreP continuously and, therefore, working to prevent HIV and AIDS. PreP is a daily drug that has been critical in preventing HIV infections in sexually active adults. The Gates invested $50 million in equity stakes at Intarcia Therapeutics the company responsible for the pump. They then provided a further $90 million in company grants towards the goal of developing the HIV preventing device. By Indrajit Kundu: Trinamool Congress ministers and senior leaders today joined in protest rallies organised by the state's ruling party across districts against the arrest of party's Lok Sabha leader Sudip Bandyopadhyay. Rally was led by state minister Sovandeb Chatterjee. Bandyopadhyay was arrested on Tuesday by the Central Bureau of Investigation after hours of grilling over the Rose Valley chit fund scam. Another Trinamool MP, Tapas Paul, is already under CBI arrest in connection with the scam. advertisement The Trinamool Congress activists blocked several roads and railway lines, and agitated at various blocks of districts. Meanwhile, TMC supporters garlanded the effigy of Prime Minister Narendra Modi with shoes and later burnt it at industrial town of Burnpur in Asansol. A group of Trinamool supporters blocked the gate and agitated at the CBI's regional office at the Central Government Organisations (CGO) complex in Salt Lake, demanding an answer for Bandyopadhyay's arrest. More than a hundred activists of Trinamool Congress's youth and student wings gathered in front of Union Minister Babul Supriyo's house here and shouted slogans, demanding the BJP leader's arrest for his alleged involvement in the ponzi scam. The agitators blocked National Highway 34 at Nadia district's Chakdaha and burnt the effigy of Prime Minister Narenda Modi. National Highway 2 was also lumped for more than an hour at Burdwan district's Asansol. A group of Trinamool supporters led by party leader Paresh Pal held a rally in north Kolkata's Kakurgachi. Train services were also disrupted by blockades at several railway stations, including Garia and Baraipur of Sealdah South section. BJP TAKES OUT COUNTER RALLY IN KOLKATA Countering the TMC's protest, the BJP's West Bengal unit too took out a rally. West Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh said, "Party has no confidence on Mamata Banerjee's police." He also slammed Kolkata Police Commissioner for attack on party headquarters. ALSO READ: BJP slams Kolkata police over attack on party office ALSO READ: Protests over TMC MP's arrest lead to highway blockade in West Bengal --- ENDS --- The Union Cabinet, at a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday, approved the signing of an MoU between India and Kenya on agriculture and associated areas, said an official release. "The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between India and Kenya on bilateral cooperation in the field of agriculture and allied sectors," said a Cabinet release. A Joint Working Group would be constituted, with representatives from both countries, to develop programmes for execution of the MoU and will also monitor their implementation, the release said. The MoU would cover various activities in the field of agricultural research, animal husbandry and dairy, livestock and fisheries horticulture, natural resource management, soil and conservation, water management, irrigation farming systems development and associated fields. "The MoU shall enter into force on the day of signing and shall remain valid for a period of five years and shall automatically be renewed for a subsequent period of five years unless either Party notifies the other in writing, six months before the expiry of the validity period of the intention to terminate it," the release added. Government on Wednesday approved an agreement between India and Uruguay on co-operation and mutual assistance on Customs matters. The decision was taken at a meeting of the Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi here. "The agreement will help in the availability of relevant information for prevention and investigation of Customs offences. The agreement is also expected to facilitate trade and ensure efficient clearance of goods traded between the countries," an official statement said. The draft agreement takes care of Indian Customs' concerns and requirements, particularly in exchange of information on the correctness of the Customs value declared, authenticity of certificates of origin of goods and description of the goods traded between the two countries. The Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) Chairperson Swati Maliwal on Wednesday sought action from Delhi Police against Abu Azmi and G Parameshwara for their alleged sexist remarks after the molestations by a mob on New Year Eve in Bengaluru. Maliwal shot off a letter to Delhi Police Commissioner Alok Verma and urged him to file an FIR against Samajwadi Party MLA from Maharashtra Abu Azmi and Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara under Section 509 of the Indian Penal Code. Speaking to the media, Parameshwara had blamed the influence of western culture for such crimes against women, while Azmi advocated more modest dressing for women. The DCW chief denounced both politicians for their comments on women's sartorial choices. "Parameshwara and Azmi have made extremely misogynistic statements on this incident which has caused national and international outrage," Maliwal wrote in the letter. "Parameshwara, despite being the Home Minister of Karnataka, casually referred to the molestation incidents as ones which happen usually, thereby implying that these are not big incidents," she wrote. Maliwal said: "Azmi crossed all boundaries by saying that women walking alone at night or not covering their bodies fully and ensuring a 'burka' or 'pallu' invite sexual violence." Puducherry Lieutenant Governor Kiran Bedi on Wednesday called on Union Minister of State Jitendra Singh to discuss new initiatives undertaken in the state. Giving a detailed report of the recent initiatives undertaken in the state, Bedi made a specific mention of the progress made in the sanitation drive and anti-encroachment work initiated in the union territory. Referring to Bedi's proposal for a space technology programme at Puducherry, Singh said he will convey to ISRO chairman, Professor AS Kiran Kumar for follow up and explore the possibilities. A low-intensity earthquake shook Arunachal Pradesh on Wednesday. According to reports of National Center for Seismology, the epicentre of the quake, which measured 4.3 on the Richter scale was reported at Kurung Kumey district of the state. The tremors were felt at 1:20 am. There was no report of any casualty or damage to property. Another moderate quake of magnitude 5.4 was recorded along the India-Myanmar border region at 12.20 am. Tremors were felt across Assam and Northeast, as an earthquake with a magnitude of 5.7 rocked Tripura, near the India-Bangladesh border on Tuesday. Manipur Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh and 49 Congress legislators will on Wednesday meet party President Sonia Gandhi over the economic blockade in the state and poll preparations. According to party sources, Singh will meet Gandhi at her residence here. "Manipur chief minister will meet the Congress President over the ongoing tensions in the state following the economic blockade and also for poll preparations," a source said. The Election Commission of India on Wednesday said five states, including Manipur, will go to polls to elect their new assemblies between February 4 and March 8. Manipur will vote in two phases March 4 and 8. Earlier in the day, Congress leader from Kerala Ramesh Chennithala met the chief minister at Manipur Bhawan here and expressed solidarity with the state government over the ongoing tensions. Ibobi Singh and the Congress legislators arrived here on Tuesday evening to meet President Pranab Mukherjee over ethnic tensions in the state. Nightlong rain and snowfall on Wednesday finally ended an over-six month long dry spell in Jammu and Kashmir, the weather office said. Moderate to light snowfall occurred in the higher reaches of the state while rain fell in the plains in the last 12 hours, it said. "Weather will remain wet with widespread rain and snow here from Wednesday to Saturday," said an official of the MET department. Snowfall in mountain passes closed the Srinagar-Leh, Bandipora-Gurez and the Mughal road that connects the valley with Rajouri in Jammu region. While snow in the ski resort of Gulmarg prompted many tourists to extend their stay, hoteliers at the resort said. There was snowfall in Pahalgam and Sonamarg hill stations while Srinagar received rain. Even the plains of Ganderbal, Bandipora, Kupwara, Shopian, Kulgam, Pulwama and Badgam districts received some snow during the night. The minimum temperature recorded in the night was minus 0.1 in Srinagar, minus 3.6 in Gulmarg, 12.1 in Jammu, 11.7 in Katra, 4.1 in Batote, 3.4 in Bannihal, and 3.0 degrees Celsisus in Bhaderwah, the official said. The United Naga Council (UNC) on Wednesday decided to intensify its protest in Manipur despite the Election Commission announcement for assembly elections. Former UNC president K S Paul said they are left with no option than to intensify the economic blockade as the state government has failed to respond politically. "The blockade will continue. Solving of Manipur's problems has to be done through dialogue between the parties in conflict. So far, the government of Manipur has failed to respond politically. We have no other option but to intensify the blockade, no matter what the Election Commission has announced regarding the polls in the state" Paul said. Alleging that the state government has betrayed the Nagas, Paul doubts if the situation will be right for free and fair elections in the state. "We have been betrayed by the Manipur government, as it did not consult us on the creation of seven new districts out of our ancestral land. We do not know whether the situation will be conducive for holding free and fair elections in the Naga areas of the state," Paul said. EC on Wednesday announced that five states- Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Manipur and Goa will go to polls between February 4 and March 8. Manipur will vote in two phases March 4 and 8. Maintaining that rights of the Nagas should not be compromised, Paul added that bulldozing the interests of the Nagas, particularly on the issue of our ancestral land, won't be compromised under any circumstances. We do not consider the Manipur government as a popular government, as the districts were created without consulting us," Paul said. The state has been in turmoil due to the economic blockade called by UNC since November 1 protesting against the state governments decision to upgrade Sadar Hills and Jiribam to full-fledged districts. The protest intensified when the state government ignored the agitation and went ahead to declare 7 new districts- Kangpokpi, Tengnoupal, Pherzawl, Noney, Kamjong, Jiribam and Kakching on December 8. UNC condemned the creation of the new districts terming it as a deliberate act to suppress the rights of Nagas. The creation of new districts out of Naga territory without our consent is a deliberate act to suppress the rights of Nagas in the state UNC said. (With inputs from agencies) Coming close on the heels of the TMC attack on the state party headquarters of the BJP in Kolkata on Tuesday, West Bengal BJP General Secretary Krishna Bhattacharya's house was attacked with bombs in Hooghly district on Tuesday night. Three men, with their faces covered, came in a motorcycle to her house in Konnanagar Jorapukur Ghat at 9 PM on Tuesday night and started hurling bombs. They barged into the house, smashed a windowpane, damaged furniture, and abused and assaulted her, Bhattacharya said in her police complaint. The BJP leader said in her complaint that it was the handiwork of "anti-socials harboured by the TMC". She has been admitted to Uttarpara State General Hospital where her condition has been described as stable, hospital sources said. The police said they rushed to her house after getting the information, adding that investigation was on. District TMC leader Tapan Dasgupta said no party supporter was involved in the incident. Several BJP workers were injured on Tuesday when activists of the students wing of Trinamool Congress had attacked the state party headquarters here with stones to protest the arrest of the TMC MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay in the Rose Valley chit fund scam case. Delhi Lt Governor Anil Baijal has announced a holiday on Thursday on account of 350th birth anniversary of Guru Gobind Singh, said an official statement. Thursday will be a holiday "in all government offices, autonomous bodies and public sector under-takings under the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi", as per the statement. By Press Trust of India: Ludhiana, Jan 4 (PTI) Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari today said that if people of Punjab want development to continue in the state, they would have to follow the path of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Addressing a public gathering here, he termed Modi as "Vikas Purush" (development man) and emphasised that if the Centre and state government are of same party, the development would be rapid. advertisement "The Akali-BJP coalition government in Punjab is a symbol of communal harmony and prosperity. With PM Modis government at the Centre and a coalition government in the state, unprecedented development has taken place in Punjab with numerous welfare schemes being rolled out for the poor and migrant labourers working here," he said. Pointing out that the victory of the coalition in the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation polls was a "stamp of approval" on Modis policies, Tiwari exhorted people to vote in a similar fashion and form an Akali-BJP government in the state for the third successive time. "I am a representative of Delhi and nobody knows the Congress and AAP better than me. AAP has betrayed the public of Delhi and I am sure Punjabs voters wont tolerate him (Kejriwal)," he said. PTI VJ ASV --- ENDS --- The Delhi government on Wednesday declared Aamir Khan starrer 'Dangal' tax free in the national capital for promoting sports. Dangal movie would be tax free in Delhi cinemas. Orders issued. It's an inspiring movie to promote sports-spirit by Aamir Khan, Delhi's Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia announced on Twitter. Based on the life of Commonwealth Gold medalist wrestler Geeta Phogat, 'Dangal' entered the Rs.100 crore club within the first week of its release. It is already tax free in Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. In a bid to reach out to maximum viewers, Aamir had applied for a tax redemption before the release of the film. Union Minister Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti on Wednesday likened Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav to Mughal emperor Aurangzeb for removing his father Mulayam Singh Yadav from the post of SP national president to don the mantle. "Akhilesh is popular in advertisements only. Even in his family he is not popular. With division in family, he has surpassed Mughal emperor Aurengzeb," she told reporters here. "The entire feud might be a well planned scheme of Mulayam and in the next one or two days they might unite also," she said. Referring to Mayawati, who released the castes of BSP candidates, the minister said the Supreme Court should take suo motu conginance of it. Jyoti claimed that BJP would form majority government in the state and fight the polls on the plank of development and law and order. On the Ram temple, she said it was a matter of faith and would not be made a political issue. BJP National General Secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya on Wednesday said the party had nothing to do with the ongoing CBI probe here. Vijayvargiya's statement came as Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee accused the Bharatiya Janata Party-led central government of "vendetta politics" over arrest of its Parliament members. Trinamool MP and Leader in the Lok Sabha Sudip Bandyopadhyay was on Tuesday arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation after hours of grilling over the Rose Valley chit fund scam. Another Trinamool MP, Tapas Paul, has already been under arrest in connection with the scam. "The CBI investigation was ordered as early as 2014. The agency sent notice to the two leaders in 2015. They were interrogated and later arrested as they failed to provide satisfactory reply to the inquiry. I want to know who from the BJP or the Prime Minister's Office is involved in this," Vijayvargiya told the media here. "It is extremely shameful for a Chief Minister to accuse the Centre of political vengeance for opposing the demonetisation. The chit fund probe is going on for many years, whereas the 'notebandi' happened just a couple of months back." The BJP leader said Congress's comments over Trinamool MPs' arrest proved the party's "political immaturity". "Before the election in West Bengal, Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi demanded strict CBI investigation on all chit fund scams. State leader Abdul Mannan also appealed for the punishment of the offenders in the scams." "The same leaders are now backing Trinamool's accusations when the full fledged investigation is going on. This shows the political immaturity of Gandhi and his party," he said. The Delhi High Court on Wednesday asked the Centre and a city-based TB hospital whether it can make available to a patient, suffering from an extensively drug resistant variant of the disease, a new medicine which is not available in the market and is only supplied by the manufacturer. Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva asked the Lal Ram Swarup (LRS) TB hospital to file an affidavit stating whether the 18-year-old female patient meets the requirements under the WHO guidelines and Revised National TB Control programme for being treated by Bedaquiline, made by US drug company Johnson and Johnson. The court asked the hospital to also respond to the contention, by an expert in the field of TB treatment, that it was not following the guidelines by calling for further drug sensitivity tests before administering the drug, which according to the patient's father is the last option for her. The father, Kaushal Tripathi, has sought that if the hospital was not willing to take the risk of administering the drug without further tests then he be provided the medicine and he will get it administered by some other hospital or doctor. The hospital, in its defence, said that it was following the protocols put in place for administering the drug and same cannot be flouted by it. The court, however, said that sometimes in the medical profession judgement calls are made after informing the patient about the risk and same can be done in the instant case. It said that in the case the patient was willing to take the risk. It also said that either the drug would cure her or will speed up the end-result of the illness. The court asked the central government and the hospital to file their affidavits within three days and listed the matter for hearing on January 9. Tripathi in his plea has also sought easier access to the medicine as it is available only at the six TB centres in India. According to the petitioner, there is a second drug Delamanid by Japanese drugmaker Otsuka Pharma but it is not available in India and would need to be imported. Days after China blocked its move to ban JeM chief Masood Azhar by the UN, India on Wednesday asked Beijing to hear the "voice of the world" in dealing with terror and hoped it would be able to persuade the country to understand the "depth and evil" of the menace. Referring to Pakistan's support to terror, India also hoped that as a "responsible and a mature" nation, China will understand the "double standards" and "simply self-defeating and suicidal" approach of Islamabad to terrorism. "We really do expect China to hear the voice of the world, not just voice of India on terrorism," Minister of State for External Affairs MJ Akbar said at a joint press conference with his ministerial colleague Gen (retd) VK Singh, while presenting MEA's achievements in the last two-and-half years. On China's opposition to India's membership of the Nuclear Suppliers' Group, Singh said government was engaging with all concerned to make them understand its "concerns" and "credentials", hoping that Beijing will end its resistance. Referring to China once again blocking India's proposal at the UN to list Masood Azhar as a terrorist, Akbar said, "Terrorism is a snake that bites the hand that feeds it" and that Beijing needs to understand the reality. Hoping to persuade China to reverse its position on Azhar, the Minister said, "If we do not recognise the dangers of terrorism, we might hurt others a bit but we will wound ourselves far more." The press conference was addressed by Singh and Akbar as External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, who underwent a kidney transplant last month, has not fully recovered. "China has its own problem of terrorism. China recognises it. China addresses them in bilateral agreements. We hope and are sure that China can be persuaded to see the depth and evil of the menace," Akbar said, adding India will continue to point out "absurdity" of the decision of the 1267 sanctions committee of the UN of not designating Azhar a global terrorist. He said only China blocked India's move as 14 out of 15 member countries agreed on taking action against Azhar. "There was only one hold out and we hope that the hold out disappears." Referring to terror infrastructure as well as the situation in Pakistan, Akbar said there has been instability in that country, adding these are "self-inflicted wounds". "You can see the situation in our neighbouring country. It is a regrettable situation," said Akbar of Pakistan. On the overall ties with China, Singh said the engagement has expanded significantly, and that "by and large, there has been peace and tranquility on the border too. It has been maintained and it has not been allowed to flare up or go beyond the recognised parameters on both the sides." Talking about the NSG membership issue, Singh said India's bid was discussed by the grouping at its meeting in Vienna in November and that consultations were going on with various countries including China. "We are sure that with our record and credentials, we will be taken as a member as per the procedures. We are engaging everybody equally to ensure our concerns and credentials are understood by everybody," he said. Singh said the relationship should be seen as a whole and not as some parts which often "get thrown" up for various reasons. "Certainly, there are areas of divergence between the two countries and as mature partners we need to look at this from a point of view where we can reduce areas of divergence and increase the areas of convergence," Singh said. He said India's engagement with China is "purely driven by national interests and (for) ensuring that the two big countries of Asia create the Asian century that everyone is talking about." Singh noted that economic and investment ties between the two nations have grown steadily and there has been greater Chinese investment coming into India in recent months. "We continue to expand the broad range of our ties with China, particularly through people-to-people connections and the expansion of Chinese investments in India, even as we seek common ground on concerns," he said. Referring to Swaraj's address at the UN General Assembly last year, Akbar said the central point of her speech was that if we do not recognise terrorism, then it will hurt ourselves far more, adding the world, by and large, understood India's views on it. The Election Commission on Wednesday announced the assembly election dates of five states, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Manipur and Goa. Making the announcement, Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi said the assembly elections for 403 seats in Uttar Pradesh will be held in seven phases 1. PHASE I Feb 11 2. PHASE II Feb 15 3. PHASE III- Feb 19 4. PHASE IV- Feb 23 5. PHASE V Feb 27 6. PHASE VI March 24 7. PHASE VII March 8 The assembly election for Punjab and Goa will be held on February 4 and Uttarakhand election on February 15. Manipur assemby election will be held in two phases. The first phase phase will be held on March 4 and second phase on March 8. The counting date for Uttar Pradesh election is set for March 11, the EC added. Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Nasim Zaidi on Wednesday announced a number of new measures for the upcoming assembly elections in five states. Zaidi announced putting up of four posters at each polling station, informing the voters of locations of booths, and other Dos and Don'ts. The posters were a statutory requirement at all polling stations, he said. A voting assistance booth would also be kept at the polling stations. Taking note of complaints received by the Election Commission (EC) in previous elections, the CEC announced that the height of the voting compartment would also be raised to 30 inches this time. This was done to conceal the upper part of the body of the voters, the movement of which might giveaway the button they were pressing. "This measure is being taken to maintain secrecy," Zaidi said. The five states going to polls this year were Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa, and Manipur. The Election Commission of India on Wednesday said that it will implement the Supreme Court ruling that seeking votes in the name of caste, creed, religion, community and language is illegal. "EC is committed to abide by the apex court order. The order of the Supreme Court will be implemented effectively," Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi said while answering questions on the January 2 ruling. A Constitution bench headed by the then Chief Justice of India TS Thakur had ruled that seeking votes on the basis of religion, race, caste or language of a candidate or his rival or even that of the voters is illegal and could jeopardise the electoral process. The apex court's decision was termed as "historic and bold" by all the political parties. India's space agency ISRO will launch a record 103 satellitesall but three of them foreignat one go on a single rocket in the first week of February in what will be a major feat not attempted by any country. As India looks to grab a larger slice of the lucrative commercial space market, 100 of the 103 satellites set for launch by ISRO's workhorse rocket PSLV-C37 in February from from its Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh belong to foreign nations, including the US and Germany. "We are making a century by launching over 100 satellites at one go," S Somnath, Director of the Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), told a plenary session on the second day of the ongoing Indian Science Congress here today. The space agency had earlier planned a launch of 83 satellites in the last week of January, of which 80 were foreign ones. But with the addition of 20 more foreign satellites, the launch was delayed by a week and will now take place in first week of February, Somnath said. He, however, did not specify the number of countries that would launch its satellites in this mission, but said it includes nations like the US and Germany. "These will be 100 micro-small satellites, which will be launched using a PSLV (Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle)- C37. The weight of the payload will be 1350 kgs, of which 500-600 kgs will be the satellite's weight," Somnath added. The launch will be a major feat in country's space history as no exercise on this scale has been attempted before. Last year, ISRO launched record 20 satellites at one go. The highest number of satellites launched in a single mission is 37, a record that Russia set in 2014. The US space agency NASA launched 29. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's pet South Asian satellite project, meanwhile, will take off in March. The South Asian satellite will be a part of GSAT-9, which will be launched in March this year, M Nageshwara Rao, Associate Director of ISRO said. The communication satellite was to be launched in December 2016, but was slightly delayed as some other satellites are to be launched before that. Sources said talks with Afghanistan to have the country on-board for the project is in its final stages. Envisaged as a gift to its neighbours, the project, earlier known as SAARC satellite, faced stiff resistance from Pakistan. The neighbouring country wanted it to be launched under the aegis of the South Asian regional forum. It later backed out of the project. Apart from India, the satellite will benefit Sri Lanka, Maldives, Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan. Bodies of film producer-realtor Abis Rizvi and fashion designer Khushi Shah, who were among 39 people killed in the Istanbul terror attack, arrived here early on Wednesday. "The Turkish Airlines plane carrying the bodies landed at Mumbai airport shortly after 5 am," BJP MP Kirit Somaiya, who received the bodies at the airport, said. While Rizvi's body has been taken to his home in suburban Bandra, Khushi's body was flown to Vadodara for cremation later today, he said. Rizvi's burial will also take place on Wednesday. The flight carrying the bodies left Istanbul last night. Khushi and Rizvi were among the 15 foreigners who were killed when a gunman went on a rampage at the waterside Reina nightclub in Istanbul where revellers were celebrating the New Year. By Press Trust of India: Pune, Jan 4 (PTI) A group of trekkers who were camping at fort in Lonavala near here were allegedly roughed up, and male members humiliated by being forced to strip, by 10 to 12 men and women, who claimed to be heritage buffs, on New Years eve, police said today. The victims, who had came to celebrate New Year at Visapur Fort, had registered through a website for the camp at Lonavala, about 50 kms from here. advertisement The incident comes close on the heels of an alleged mass molestation of women on December 31 night in Bengaluru. According to a police complaint registered by a 36-year-old woman from Pune, 10 to 12 men and women, who claimed to be members of a fort lovers group, allegedly roughed them up with sticks and belts. She also alleged that the accused humiliated the male trekkers by forcing them to strip and abused the women. "I along with my husband and other fellow couples had booked a camp, which was organised at Visapur Fort, through a website," said the complainant, a fitness trainer, who claimed she suffered a hand fracture in the incident. "We reached the spot at around 1 PM on December 31 and found that there were around 25 more couples, who too had come on New Years eve through the same organisers," the woman said in her complaint. "At around 9.30 PM, we were sitting around a camp fire when 10 to 12 persons came and accused us of littering the place," she said. "One of the women came near me and snatched a glass of cold drink. She thrashed me with a stick and kicked me and accused us of littering the fort," she alleged. Later, the other accused forced male trekkers to strip and thrashed them with sticks and belts, and hurled abuses at the women, the victim said in her statement to police. She said the accused also roughed up the event organiser and warned all of them not to come back to the fort. "The people who had attacked us even called our families and told them that we were indulging in obscene act by consuming liquor," the woman told PTI. The complainant said with the help of some villagers, they managed to leave the place and later reported the matter to police. "We have registered a case of rioting against 10 to 12 people, including women, belonging to a fort lovers group and investigation is on," Assistant Police Inspector at Lonavala Rural Police Station Sandip Yede-Patil said. advertisement Six of the accused have been identified so far, he said. (MORE) PTI SPK GK ANB --- ENDS --- Shiv Sena President Uddhav Thackeray on Wednesday demanded that the Narendra Modi government should postpone the upcoming union budget till the assembly elections to the five states are completed. "A delegation of Shiv Sena MPs will meet the President of India for this soon. We feel that ruling Bharatiya Janata Party may try to manipulate and mislead people in the union budget," Thackeray said, addressing a meeting of district party leaders here. He questioned why should the union budget be announced when the dates for the elections to five state assemblies Goa, Manipur, Punjab, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh were announced by the Election Commission of India earlier on Wednesday. Though India's bid for membership in the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) was stalled by China last year, Minister of State for External Affairs VK Singh on Wednesday expressed confidence New Delhi's bid will succeed eventually. "We are sure that with our record and credentials, we will be taken as a member as per the procedures within this particular group," Singh said in reponse to a question at a press conference organised by the External Affairs Ministry here. "We are engaging everybody equally to ensure that our concerns, our credentials, our way that we have taken our various issues forward are understood by everybody," he added. At the NSG plenary in Seoul in June last year, China blocked India's membership bid on the ground that for a country to be a member of the 48-nation bloc, it has to be a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). Singh said that since India was not a member of the NSG, it cannot comment on internal discussions within the group. "We do understand that a meeting took place in Vienna on November 11, 2016, where India's membership was discussed," he said. "Consultations on the issue are ongoing with the group including our engagement with China on this issue." Indian Army's new chief, General Bipin Rawat, on Wednesday said that India will give a calibrated and hard response to terrorism emanating from across the border. India will give a calibrated hard response to terror from across the border. We have to retaliate and ensure that the pain is felt by terrorists and their supporters, Rawat said. General Rawat, who assumed office of the army chief on the New Year's Day had said that the nation wanted peace and tranquillity but if necessary "will not hesitate to use force". With inputs from agencies The appointment of Anil Baijal as Delhis new Lt Governor is expected to bring National Security Advisor Ajit Doval into play in the affairs of the Capital. The PMs principal secretary Nripen Mishra was the go-to person for former LG Najeeb Jung. Political watchers believe that Doval will now take over the Delhi portfolio on behalf of the Centre and work closely with Baijal. The Baijal-Doval aixs is an old one. Both were part of L K Advanis core team when the BJP patriarch was union home minister in the Vajpayee government. Doval was a key person in the Intelligence Bureau while Baijal was Advanis trusted home secretary. Baijals shift to Vivekananda Foundation started by Doval was a natural progression. In fact, when Narendra Modi took over as prime minister, Baijals name figured prominently as one of the choices for principal secretary. Doval was one of his big backers. Although he lost out to Nripen Mishra, it was widely believed that Baijal would be given an important assignment sooner rather than later. His name came up again to succeed N N Vohra as J & K governor. But the situation in the Valley has been so volatile that the Centre decided against a change of guard at the top till normalcy returns. The first indication that Baijal was tipped for an assignment related to Delhi came when M M Kutty was appointed chief secretary. Kutty is known to be close to Baijal. Modi wanted Kuttys name to be run past Baijal before the appointment. Significantly, Jung was deliberately kept out of the loop on this. Doval has rarely attended a Delhi function. But he did make it a point to be present when Baijal was sworn in as LG. Pure friendship may have motivated him to come but for Delhi watchers, his presence was an indication of things to come as the Baijal era begins in the Capital. Youth troika? While there is much talk of a possible electoral pact between the Akhilesh faction of the Samajwadi Party, the Congress and RLD, not many know that scions of the families that run these three political parties have been in touch for a long time and are good friends now. Akhilesh, Rahul Gandhi and Jayant Chaudhary, who is heir-in-waiting to take over RLD, apparently talk to each other directly and regularly over phone and through SMS. This is independent of their parents who often have no clue what their kids are up to. And much to everyones frustration, they have not kept party elders in the loop either. The push for a grand SP-Congress-RLD alliance is coming from the three political scions. Now that Akhilesh Yadav has revolted, it remains to be seen whether the friendship will mature into a political alliance. Will the troika form a youth front to take on Modi and Mayawati? CBI director Suspense continues over the appointment of the next CBI chief as the Modi governments plans of confirming Gujarat cadre officer Rakesh Asthana in the post seem to be running into rough weather. Several hurdles have come up. One is that Asthana has not yet been empanelled as a special director. He remains an additional director and is therefore too junior to be appointed director of CBI. Another problem is a Supreme Court judgement that the choice of a CBI director should be from among serving officers of the four senior-most IPS batches. Asthana belongs to the 1984 batch. There are serving officers from the 1979, 1980, 1981 and 1982 batches who ought to be considered as per the SC order. This virtually rules Asthana out. A third issue that has cropped up is the mishandling of the arrest of former Air chief S P Tyagi in the Agusta Westland bribery case. Tyagi had to be released on bail after the Supreme Court rapped the CBI for not doing its homework and presenting substantive evidence of a money trail. This is being seen as a black mark against Asthana in his first big case as acting CBI director. The Modi government is now in a fix which is why it continues to postpone holding the meeting of the three-member appointment committee. The members of this committee are the Prime Minister, Leader of Opposition and Chief Justice of India. Congress leader in the Lok Sabha who is nominated to fill the position of LoP, Mallikarjuna Kharge, has written a protest letter to the PM asking why the meeting is not being held. This is the first time in 10 years that the CBI is led by an acting director. Backing out There was a minor ripple when President Pranab Mukherjee suddenly called off a visit to the Maulana Azad Urdu University in Hyderabad recently. He was to give a convocation address to graduating students of the university. He had accepted the invitation but cancelled at the last minute. Embarrassed university authorities put out a story that the President had taken ill and could not be present. Interestingly, the Presidents team released photographs of Mukherjee on his morning walk that day. It was done almost as if to contradict the version of the university. The move suggested that the President was unhappy about certain reports he had received about the university and thats why he dropped out at the last moment. The universitys chancellor is Zafar Sareshwala from Gujarat. Sareshwala is an unabashed Modi bhakt and had got into trouble with his community for praising the Prime Minister. Donald Trump will inherit at least eight active combat theatres with direct US involvement (Iraq/swathes of Syria, Yemen, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Nigeria, Cameroon, Somalia and Uganda), up from the three that Barack Obama inherited in 2009 (Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan). The war-related commitments have increased from $ 811 billion under the Presidency of George W Bush to $ 866 billion in the Obama tenure, while the overall annual Defence spending for 2016 would be approximately $ 600 billion. However, given the aggressive posturing and unpredictable nature of Donald Trumps position on dealing with terror and managing foreign policy, these Defence figures could spiral stratospherically. In the US context, the Secretary of Defence is the key executive whose powers over the US military are in the chain of command, second only to those of the US President. The US Secretary of Defence is also sixth in the Presidential line of succession. So, given the existing operational commitments and the foreboding portents owing to the growing belligerence of Chinese threats, the selection of the new Secretary of Defence in the Trump cabinet is keenly awaited, as the incumbent would have the definitive authority, direction and control over the Department of Defence. Historically, the US Secretary of Defence has always been a civilian, except in the case of General George Marshall who was the Secretary of Defence in 1950-51. He was brought in to resurrect the morale and confidence of the US forces in the aftermath of the recent demobilisation and to get them combat ready for Korea and the ensuing Cold War theatrics. Therefore, the choice of the Secretary of Defence is a sure-shot indicator of the tenor and approach that is sought to be adopted by the new Trump regime. Herein, the choice of retired Marine General James Mad Dog Mattis is a veritable statement of intent. While it is still subject to a Congressional waiver, as the federal law requires the Secretary of Defence to be off active duty for at least seven years, and General Mattis retired as the 11th Commander of the United States Central Command (USCENTCOM) at Tampa, Florida, in 2013. This 4-star General is part of the popular folklore with monikers like Mad Dog, Warrior Monk and the ubiquitous imagery of a stoic and expressionless General with the call-sign Chaos staring out of posters with statements like, Be polite, be professional, but have a plan to kill everybody you meet or Actually its quite fun to fight them, you know. Its a hell of a hoot. Its fun to shoot some people. Ill be right up front with you, I like brawling! Now, a certain amount of brouhaha and swagger comes naturally to the Marine Corps fraternity and it needs to be discounted. However, this life-long bachelor with a penchant for voracious reading is a cold-blooded intellectual, who became a legend much earlier as a Major-General commanding the 1st Marine Division during the 2003 Iraq war, when he immortalised the 1st Marine Division motto, no better friend, no worse enemy. Unlike the only other former veteran as Secretary of Defence, the Democrat appointee, General George Marshall, who was an inherent pacifist (recipient of the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1953 for his seminal Marshall Plan for the European Recovery Programme) and was also avowedly opposed to the idea of recognising the State of Israel, General Mattis, is, as the rightist Donald Trump introduced him, a true Generals General, an old-school American who still believes that Iran is the principal threat to US interests in the Middle East and not the ISIS, still cast in the anti-Russian mindset of the Cold-War era and is believed to be intrinsically confrontationist in his operational deployments. Already, the conciliatory tones of inclusiveness that were alluded to and invoked by Donald Trump after his electoral victory are falling apart with the prospective appointments of Jeff Sessions as the next Attorney General, Mike Pompeo as the CIA Chief and Michael Flynn as the National Security Adviser all of them come with taints of racism or xenophobia and a track record of regressive and incendiary statements. The proverbial walls Donald Trump promised are inevitable, at least in the crucial policy-making framework of the next Presidential governance. The quintessential Marine Corp General Mattis will have to make an unknown and uncomfortable transition from the familiar Semper Fi intonations and muscular Oorahs to the more stately sobriety of continuous engagement and disengagement of the American military footprint in such a way that the diminishing might and respect of the US military is both restored and protected from the heavy price it is paying in terms of personnel lives, material and sustenance investments. The recent thawing, from a decidedly hostile to a cautious status of frenemies, on both Cuba and Iran stands risked with Trumps advent as he threatens to reverse better deals for the US. Increased military spending, blunt speak and concern for the last US man standing would be logically expected from General Mattis, but at question is his ability to bring the requisite political astuteness to manage often contradictory strains and realities such as the Pakistan theatre with its duplicitous and selective stance on the war on terror. With a track record of undeterred and apolitical soldiering, the military commitments will have a more military rationalisation as opposed to the often obfuscated rationales professed by part-time civilian bureaucrats in the Defence set-up or by semi-informed politicos who have hidden angularities to their statements. While the US Secretary is akin to our Defence Minister, the formula of an ex-military man at the helm of military affairs will be put to test. The only parallel example of a veteran as the Defence Minister in India was Jaswant Singh, arguably among the finest, albeit, for a short period. If the appointment of General Mattis was to send an unmistakable message of deterrence to interests inimical to the US and to prop up the flagging morale of the over-stretched US forces, then on both counts, the result will be unambiguously achieved. However, the acid test for the Secretary of Defence goes beyond conventional combat Generalship and requires statecraft and protracted engagements with enemies that will require General Mattis to go beyond his practised instincts and inclinations. Herein lies the doubt about someone who famously said, I come in peace. I didnt bring artillery. But Im pleading with you, with tears in my eyes: If you (expletive) with me, Ill kill you all. The writer is LT GEN PVSM, AVSM (Retd), former LT Governor of Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Puducherry. When working hard at our workplace or travelling in difficult conditions, we comfort ourselves with the thought of resting after reaching home, but what if there is no home to go to? This is the cruel reality for millions of homeless people in our country. The precise number is difficult to provide as homeless people are most likely to be left out in census counts. Indications are that their number is well in excess of 3 million. This number is likely to go up significantly if those on the verge of homelessness or very precariously housed people are also included. Homeless people are most exposed to all weather extremes, cold waves as well as torrential rains, and this is just one of the reasons which exposes them more to illness and disease. Most homeless people also suffer from varying levels of hunger and malnutrition as assured or adequate income to meet basic minimum needs is not available to the overwhelming majority of them. While suffering the most from hunger they are the ones who are least likely to get subsidised food from ration shops due to lack of residence proof. Another reason is the denial of essential sanitation facilities and sometimes even clean drinking water. Vulnerability to mental health problems is also very high. The homeless are also most exposed to road accident injuries as well as workplace accidents. They are also the ones who are least likely to be able to access proper medical treatmentmany of them do not have the basic identity papers for obtaining care in government hospitals. The homeless face high levels of insecurity. This insecurity comes on the one hand from goons and criminals who exploit and terrorise them in various ways. On the other hand, some insecurity also comes ironically from policemen who often beat them indiscriminately or pick them up to send them forcibly to beggars homes. These problems are particularly acute for homeless women and children. Given the increasing insecurity generally of women in many cities, one shudders to think of what homeless women have to endure. They as well as homeless children are very vulnerable to sexual exploitation. Children are vulnerable also to substance abuse. The problems of homeless people have been generally discussed in the context of big cities such as Delhi and Mumbai, while the problems of homeless people living in smaller urban agglomerations have been almost completely neglected. However, as I found during a recent visit to Sumerpur town of Pali district (Rajasthan), migrant tribal workers from remote villages were spending their night in a most inhabitable part of the town, plunged in darkness, denied any facilities, exposed not just to mosquitos but even scorpions and snakes. With the accentuation of the livelihood crisis as well as increasing social disintegration, the number of homeless people in India is increasing. In some places the slum dwellers pushed to the outskirts of cities and far away from previous livelihoods as a part of slum demolition drives have been forced to start living as homeless people near their employment places. To give an example, a community engaged in the highly creative work of collecting used clothes in exchange for new utensils and then selling clothes after mending and cleaning them was based in Raghubir Nagar area of West Delhi where they had their huts as well as work sheds. Their huts were demolished creating a livelihoods crisis as they were sent far away. Finally, to save their work several of them had to stay back at night in the open as homeless people. Government efforts to help homeless people are confined mainly to providing them shelters at night, and even these efforts pick up mainly during the winter months. But when other government policies, sharp inequalities and social disintegration are causing an increase in the number of homeless people these efforts can have only a limited impact. Despite this limitation, however, a shelter-based approach can also give some good results if these shelters become a hub for integrating several needs of homeless people, combining safety, nutrition, health and information with shelter. Good results can be realised if volunteers from within the homeless people can be given important responsibilities and their close involvement is assured. They will need some training and motivational support, and with such modest help they can play a very important role in taking forward the programmes for helping the homeless. Giving such responsibility to carefully selected representatives of the homeless along with adequate budgetary support is possible once there is recognition of and respect for their rights. Most homeless work in very adverse conditions to not only support themselves but also to send badly needed economic support to elderly people, children and women in remote villages. These include villages affected by various disasters. Initiatives that help homeless people in cities also help their dependents in villages. Hence the needs of homeless people should get high priority in urban planning and governance. The writer is a free-lance journalist who has been involved with several social movements and campaigns. By Press Trust of India: Agartala, Jan 4 (PTI) Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar and Revenue Minister Badal Chowdhury today visited the quake-affected areas in Dhalai and Unakoti districts in state and asked the district administration to help the affected people. A moderate intensity earthquake measuring 5.7 on the Richter Scale and epicentred in Tripura jolted the state yesterday triggering landslides and leaving a woman dead and four others injured. advertisement Sarkar and Chowdhury first visited Shantipur village in Pencharthal block of Unakoti district where 48 mud houses collapsed and 155 houses partly damaged. Then he visited Chhoto Surma, Bali Gaon, Natun Bagan and Noagaon Junior Basic School of Dhalai district by helicopter. An estimated 174 people of 40 families were rendered homeless and took refuge in Noagaon J B School. They also visited the house of 50-year-old Kamalini Kanda who died of heart attack at Natun Bagan village during the earthquake. Altogether, 591 houses collapsed and one woman died in Dhalai district due to tremor. Sarkar assured the villagers that their houses would be either newly constructed or repaired soon and necessary financial help would be extended to them. According to the National Centre for Seismology, the epicentre of the temblor which occurred at 2:39 pm was in Dhalai district in Tripura at a depth of 28 km. PTI JOY SUS KIS PS --- ENDS --- China plans to conduct some 30 space launch missions in 2017, a record-breaking number in the country's space history, said China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation. Long March-5 and Long March-7 rockets would be used to carry out most of the space missions, the China News Service reported. Long March-5 is China's largest carrier rocket. The successful test launch of the vehicle in November in Hainan would pave the way for space station construction, analysts said. Wang Yu, general director of the Long March-5 program, said 2017 is a critical year for China's new generation of carrier rockets and the Long March-5 rockets would carry Chang'e-5 probe to space. The probe would land on the moon, collect samples and return to Earth. On the other hand, Long March-7, the more powerful version of Long March-2, would send China's first cargo spacecraft Tianzhou-1 into the space in the first half of 2017, according to Wang Zhaoyao, director of China Manned Space Engineering Office. Tianzhou-1 was expected to dock with Tiangong-2 space lab and conduct experiments on propellant supplement, People's Daily reported. China conducted 22 launch missions in 2016 and 19 in 2015. The country successfully tested its Long March-7 rocket in June 2016, and has gradually shifted to new generation rockets that reduce the use of toxic rocket fuels. Former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton will attend the inauguration ceremony of President-elect Donald Trump, her bitter rival from the 2016 campaign. Hillary will attend the inauguration with her husband and former US President Bill Clinton. The Clintons announced their decision to attend the inauguration shortly after former President George W Bush's office said he would attend along with former first lady Laura Bush, CBS reported. Bush has had a difficult relationship with Trump after his brother Jeb Bush contested in Republican primaries against Trump. Last month, former President Jimmy Carter, 92, announced that he would attend the inauguration. The report said that the Clintons decided to attend out of a sense of duty and respect for the democratic process. Trump won the Electoral College 306-232 while Clinton, the former first lady, senator and secretary of state, beat Trump in the popular vote by nearly 2.9 million votes. Since the election, Clinton has been lying low except for events for the Children's Defence Fund and a tribute to retiring Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, near the end of last year. Meanwhile, Trump said he would address a news conference in New York next week on January 11. This would be his first news conference after his electoral victory in the general elections. "I will be having a general news conference on JANUARY ELEVENTH in NYC Thank you," Trump said in a tweet. He was originally scheduled to have a press conference in mid-December, but postponed it. The news conference would be a little more than a week before his inauguration when he would be sworn in as the 45th President of the US. The Indo-US defence relationship is on an excellent path and will continue to be so in the next administration and beyond, the Pentagon on Tuesday said, days ahead of President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration. "The (Defence) secretary's (Ashton Carter's) commitment to this (India-US) is clear. We think the defence relationship with India is on an excellent path and will continue to be so in the next administration and beyond," Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook told reporters at a news conference. Known as a friend of India and strong believer in a robust India-US defence relationship, Carter is the only American defence secretary to have so many trips to India and included New Delhi in his farewell overseas trip as well. In his previous capacity, Carter was instrumental in the path-breaking India US Defence Technology and Transfer Initiative (DTTI), under which the two countries have started several joining development and co-production projects. "Our relationship with India, you've seen the commitment made by this department and this Secretary of Defence and this administration to improving our defence relationship with India," Cook said. Responding to a question on restrictions on technology transfer to India due to the outdated arms control act of the US, Cook said obviously there are several aspects to it. "There are limits on what we can do in terms of technology the export of technology to India or any other country," he said. "And we'll continue to abide by the law and to work with India in places where we can, where it's appropriate for that kind of for specific technology to be exported. Again, not just to India but to any country, but we're gonna follow the law," Cook said. Indonesia has suspended all forms of military cooperation with Australia due to the disrespect shown to its Pancasila national credo, an official said on Wednesday. Indonesia made the decision in mid-December 2016, Xinhua news agency quoted military spokesman Major General Wurjanto as saying. "We temporarily terminate all forms of cooperation with Australian military due to technical matters," he said. The disrespect shown toward Pancasila during a joint exercise between Indonesian special unit force (Kopassus) and Australia's Special Air Service in Western Perth "is one of the main causes of the termination", the general said. Authorities say a magnitude 7.2 earthquake hit near the Fiji Islands, causing a tsunami warning for parts of the pacific near the nation in the south Pacific Ocean. The US Geological Survey says the earthquake hit a part of the ocean about 227 kilometers southwest of Nadi. The agency says the quake is 10 kilometers deep. The agency says a tsunami warning has been issued for parts of the Pacific located within 300 kilometers of the quake. But no such warning has been issued for the Hawaiian Islands. A 2004 quake and tsunami killed a total of 230,000 people in a dozen countries, most of them in Aceh, Indonesia. Public registry officials in northern Mexico say they have registered the country's first baby named with the maternal surnames of both parents. The tradition in Latin America is to give babies two last names the father's surname, followed by the mother's paternal surname. So the baby Barbara born to Jose Gonzalez de Diego and Alicia Vera Zboralska would normally have been named Barbara Gonzalez Vera, losing the parents' maternal surnames. But to honor the maternal line, the couple won a court injunction allowing them to name their child Barbara de Diego Zboralska. The director of public registries in the northern state of Nuevo Leon says it was a first. Raul Guajardo said on Tuesday that "this kind of registry doesn't occur anywhere else in the world." The armed attacks in Myanmar's Maungtaw region were carried out by an extremist group linked with Rohingya Solidarity Organisation which operates in Rakhine state, investigators said on Wednesday. Myanmar's investigation commission, citing confession of three arrested men, said 12 persons infiltrated into Maungtaw and conducted terrorist training arranged by Havid Tuhar-led Aqa Mul Mujahidin group about five months ago. After the October 9 attacks, Havid posted propaganda videos calling for the launch of wars in Maungtaw, Xinhua news agency reported. Th October attacks in the state were different from previous ones in the area. These attacks were more complicated as they were conspired systematically by terrorists having connection with overseas organisations, and jeopardised the sovereignty of the state. According to confession of the arrested suspects, some people and organisations from abroad are providing financial aid to the attackers, with the intention of igniting riots and conflicts in the country. Regarding the external allegations, the commission made special investigation into the accusation and concluded that there were no cases of genocide, religious persecution, rape and torture in the region. The report said the situation in Maungtaw was gradually returning to normal. Nine policemen and five soldiers were killed in the October 9 attacks on three border posts in Kyikanpyin, Kotankauk and Ngakhuya in the state. The attacks were followed by some sporadic clashes. Myanmar government formed a 13-member investigation commission, led by Vice President U Myint Swe, on December 2 to probe the incident. The commission visited Maungtaw from December 11 to 13, inspecting and investigating in the 10 villages and four security camps where the attacks occurred. It also allowed the media to access the northern Rakhine state to refute the rumours. The commission is tasked to formally report to the President by January 31. A dusk-to-dawn curfew is being imposed in Maungtaw since October 10. Nepal Parliament Speaker Onsari Gharti Magar on Wednesday requested Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' to forge consensus with the opposition parties before the next session of Parliament, the media reported. The Speaker, who went to the Prime Minister's residence in Baluwatar, made the request in order to resume the house meetings, which had been disrupted since November 29, the Himalayan Times reported. In response, Prachanda expressed his commitment to end the stalemate and forge consensus with the agitating political parties. Meanwhile, the leading political parties have begun fresh talks after the Supreme Court's order to let Parliament endorse the second Constitution amendment bill. The main opposition Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist also hinted it would not obstruct the house meetings anymore. The Speaker also held separate meetings with the leaders of other political parties to make her request for running the house. Next house meeting has been scheduled for January 8. Sri Lanka's cabinet on Wednesday approved to launch a national programme to protect children from various threats, Cabinet spokesperson Rajitha Senaratne said. Senaratne said it had been decided to implement the "Let's Protect Children" programme from 2017 to 2019, reported Xinhua news agency. The programme will cover crime, health, nutrition and welfare, personality development, education and life skills. Budget is generally presented in March. How can budget be presented in February before states are going to polls? Isn't it a violation of model code of conduct? If the President has powers I request the President to stop them from throwing bluff through the budget and stop it from being presented till the results are out. It will lay a wrong precedent. Uddhav asks party workers that is there any support to demonetisation? Workers says No. "Achche din were promised and today we are told that you are alive that itself is achche din". Supreme Court(SC) said asking votes on religious ground is a poll violation but it's an old verdict. Shiv Sena supremo Balasaheb had to bear the brunt as he was not allowed to vote for 6 years. We have never asked for votes on religious ground, but no one can stop us from protecting Hindutva. And if it is considered a crime to protect hindutva we will commit it again and again. Niti Aayog Arvind Pangariya said, now we will also keep a watch on household savings of women. You call this democracy? I must reiterate what Balasaheb said, If this is what you call democracy then to hell with your democracy. He asked, are we taking the country towards communist dictatorship? Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha on Wednesday released his self-penned single, "Bridge", the latest of a series of songs penned by him after he took power in 2014. The song is to encourage his Cabinet and government workers in the New Year, asking them to work together for a stable, prosperous and sustainable Thailand, Xinhua news agency reported. According to Thai media Khaosod, the junta leader is famous for being a self-published songsmith. One of his most recognisable singles is "Returning Happiness to the People," a song released after Prayut took power in a coup in 2014. He also wrote a song as a New Year present for Thais in December 2015, named "Because You're Thailand", and released "Hope and Faith" last October to cheer Thais up after the death of revered late King Bhumibol Adulyadej. After scathing criticism of the UN, US President-elect Donald Trump spoke Wednesday with Antonio Guterres, its new Secretary-General. The Secretary-General's deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq told reporters that Guterres called Trump and described it as an "introductory calla that "went quite well." Trump spokesperson Sean Spicer in answer to a question at his briefing about the criticism of the UN and moves in Congress to cut US contributions to it, said that as the biggest contributor to the UN budget, Washington can demand some "reforms and changes" to make it more efficient. The US contributes about 22 percent of the UN's budget and about 25 percent of its peacekeeping expenses. Spicer did not give any specifics about their meeting and said that Trump will work with his UN Ambassador-designate Nikki Haley on the US agenda at the world body. They discussed a number of issues and how the UN and the US can work together, Haq said. They will get into the specifics when they meet, he added. He said that he did not think that the Paris agreement on climate change came up in their conversation. Trump has been sceptical about the Paris pact as well as about the UN version of climate change dangers. Last month the Security Council passed a resolution critical of Israel and condemning the construction of settlements in occupied territories with the US refusing to veto it as it has in the past with resolutions criticising the strong ally of the US. Trump attacked President Barack Obama for allowing the resolution to pass and said in a tweet, "As to the UN, things will be different after Jan. 20th," the day he takes over as President. Efforts have also started in the US Congress to cut funding to the UN as a fallout of the resolution. In another tweet, Trump mocked the UN as a "just a club for people to get together, talk and have a good time." But he also added, "The United Nations has such great potential." Last month Guterres told the Portuguese television channel SIC last month that he hoped to have an excellent working meeting with Trump and it was in his interest to meet him. He also acknowledged that Washington was a major contributor to the UN and has a fundamental role in its activities. Turkish Parliament approved a motion to extend Turkish armed forces troops' stay in Afghanistan as part of NATOs support mission, state-run Anadolu news agency reported. According to the report, Parliament on Tuesday empowered the government to continue Turkish troops' presence in Afghanistan for two more years under the NATO mission starting on January 6. A legislation put into effect on January 1, 2015, allowed the Turkish government to send troops to Afghanistan to support the NATO-led mission Resolute Support. As the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force ended its 13-year combat mission in Afghanistan at the end of 2014, the mission evolved into training and advising of the nascent Afghan security forces. Around 12,000 foreign troops from 28 NATO allies and 14 other partner nations agreed to support the NATO mission in Afghanistan. The Tukish legislation that was passed in 2015 also grants the government authority to permit foreign army personnel to be transported to and from Afghanistan through Turkey. Acknowledging that he is not a "miracle-maker", the new UN chief Antonio Guterres has said that conflicts in the world are multiplying and interlinked and have triggered "a new phenomenon of global terrorism". Speaking to his staff on his first day at the UN headquarters after taking over the world body's reins from Ban Ki-moon, 67-year-old Guterres said his election as the UN chief has generated a lot of expectations but he cautioned that there are no miracles. "I think we should have no illusions. We are facing very challenging times. On one hand, we see everywhere in the world conflicts that multiply, that are interlinked, that also have triggered this new phenomenon of global terrorism, conflicts in which international humanitarian law is not respected, situations in which we see massive human rights violations, even refugee law is no longer as respected as it was few years ago," he said. "I am sure I am not a miracle-maker. And the only way for us to be able to achieve our goals is to really work together as a team, and to be able to deserve to serve the noble values enshrined in the Charter (of the United Nations)," he said. The former Portuguese prime minister said "nations are failing to recognise that there is a unifying factor in everything we do." "And that factor is people. People is undivided. And when we look at the different areas of action in the UN, we need to integrate them, because people integrate them on the receiving end," he said. Guterres also stressed on the need to ensure that "we are able to reform the UN development system as Member States have asked us, and we need to try to get rid of this straight jacket of bureaucracy that makes our lives so difficult in many of the things we do. "This requires a lot of effort from ourselves, but this also requires a lot of discussion and dialogue and mutual understanding with Member States and we need to overcome many of the divides that still exist within the organisation." Guterres called for teamwork, saying it is not enough to the "do the right thing, we need to earn the right to do the right thing." "It is important for us to recognise our achievements but we also need to recognise our shortcomings, to recognise our failures and where we are not able to deliver as we should," he said, outlining the multitude of challenges ranging from complex conflicts to global terrorism confronting the world. Guterres' first day at UN Headquarters as Secretary General began with the laying of a wreath at the Memorial Wall. Shortly after taking office two days ago, he made an appeal for peace. "Let us make 2017 a year in which we all citizens, governments, leaders strive to overcome our differences," Guterres said Sunday morning, urging people to share his New Year's resolution: "Let us resolve to put peace first." The new Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, defended on Tuesday the role of the United Nations as the "cornerstone" of the multilateral approach to solving the worst problems affecting the international community. Guterres, on his first day as head of the UN, delivered a brief message to United Nations employees in the main lobby of the organisation's headquarters, in which he repeated some of the principles he stood up for in his message last Sunday, EFE news reported. The Secretary-General said he feels proud to take the place of South Korean Ban Ki-moon for an initial term of five years, and also promised to do everything possible to rid the United Nations of its "straightjacket of bureaucracy". The Portuguese Guterres added that countries acting separately cannot possibly resolve the challenges currently facing the international community, which makes multilateral action positively essential. "We need to recognise that only global solutions can address global problems and the UN is the cornerstone of that multilateral approach," he said. The UN Secretary-General promised to promote a dialogue with the organisation's personnel and insisted that only working as a team can the United Nations' goals be accomplished. The US has signalled that it will not be drawn into the role of a mediator between India and Pakistan, saying both countries should work together to resolve their differences. Asked during the daily briefing on Tuesday if Secretary of State John Kerry had offered to mediate between the two neighbours on the Indus Waters Treaty dispute, State Department Spokesperson John Kirby replied bluntly: "As I said, we encourage India and Pakistan to work together bilaterally to resolve their differences." Kirby confirmed that Kerry spoke with Pakistan Finance Minister Mohammed Ishaq Dar last Thursday but would not give details of their conversation. A Pakistan Finance Ministry statement on Friday gave Islamabad' version of their talk. Asked if Kerry had discussed the Indus dispute with Indian officials and at what level, Kirby said: "We're in regular communication with the Indian and Pakistani governments on a wide range of issues. I just don't have any more details for you." "The Indus Waters Treaty has served, I think as you know, as a model for peaceful cooperation between India and Pakistan for now 50 years," he said. "We encourage, as we have in the past, India and Pakistan to work together to resolve any differences." According to Pakistan Finance Ministry, Kerry made the call to Dar. Seeming to invite that Kerry had asked for Washington's intervention, according to the ministry, "Dar indicated that US support on the principles and legal position of Pakistan will be greatly appreciated". According to the ministry statement, Dar also told Kerry that the "Indus Waters Treaty is an international commitment and it is the responsibility of the World Bank to make sure that India honours this." The statement said Kerry told Dar "that the President World Bank (Jim Yong Kim) had recently informed him about Pakistan's complaint against India on the subject of the treaty". By Press Trust of India: From Aditi Khanna London, Jan 4 (PTI) UKs ambassador to the EU, Sir Ivan Rogers today asked civil servants to challenge "muddled thinking" in Brexit negotiations, a day after his surprise resignation amid indications that he quit due to differences with ministers ahead of crucial negotiations with the economic bloc. The senior diplomat had been expected to lead the UKs exit talks with the European Union (EU) but was recently in the eye of a storm following the leak of an internal memo in which he claimed leaving the union could take up to a decade. advertisement The UK Foreign Office had confirmed his resignation yesterday but declined to give any reasons. However, a resignation email Rogers addressed to his staff has emerged which indicates the resignation may have been sparked as result of differences with ministers. "We do not yet know what the government will set as negotiating objectives for the UKs relationship with the EU after exit," his note to his former colleagues in Britains mission in Brussels reads. "There is much we will not know until later this year about the political shape of the EU itself, and who the political protagonists in any negotiation with the UK will be," it added. "I hope you will continue to challenge ill-founded arguments and muddled thinking and that you will never be afraid to speak the truth to those in power. I hope that you will support each other in those difficult moments where you have to deliver messages that are disagreeable to those who need to hear them," he said in the letter. Rogers, a veteran civil servant, was due to leave his EU post in November 2017 and Downing Street has tried to play down the resignation by saying that he was merely leaving his post "a few months early". A spokesperson said: "Sir Ivan Rogers has resigned a few months early as UK permanent representative to the European Union. Sir Ivan has taken this decision now to enable a successor to be appointed before the UK invokes Article 50 by the end of March." While the Brexit camp has welcomed this resignation, those against Brexit believe Rogers exit marks a blow to the negotiations. "It gets to a point when a civil servant starts to go public on stuff that you as ministers can no longer trust that individual. You must have absolute trust and cooperation. You cannot have this stuff coming out publicly," said Ian Duncan Smith, former Cabinet minister and Conservative party MP who campaigned for Brexit. British Prime Minister May, who has said she plans to invoke Article 50 to trigger official Brexit talks by the end of March, is being pressured to appoint a pro-Brexit replacement for Rogers. Rogers occupied the post of theUnited Kingdom Permanent Representation to the European Union (UKRep), which represents the UK in negotiations that take place in the EU. PTI AK AJR AKJ AJR --- ENDS --- advertisement But the tribe has a long way to go Vijay Babu denied assaulting fellow actor and business partner Sandra Thomas and said that he was being framed. By India Today Web Desk: Malayalam actors Sandra Thomas and Vijay Babu, who are also business partners, are involved in an ugly spat. Vijay allegedly assaulted Sandra, and she has been admitted to a private hospital in Kochi. ALSO READ: Singer Yesudas' remarks on 'selfie culture' spark controversy The Elamakkara police have registered a case against him for assaulting Sandra at her office. Sandra and Vijay co-founded a production house called Friday Film House, which has produced films like Philip and Monkey Pen, Peruchazhi and Adi Kapyare Koottamani. Recent rumours suggested that Sandra wanted to end the partnership. advertisement However, Vijay took to Facebook to write that he is being framed. "Friends, a fake case is filed against me by my most trusted partner and her husband for the sake for taking over business property which I disputed. I shall prove it otherwise and will be fine. Thank you for the concerns. Shall update," he wrote. --- ENDS --- Actress Pamela Anderson has penned a letter to US President Barack Obama, urging him to consider "pardoning" Julian Assange after his website WikiLeaks leaked hacked Democratic emails in the run up to the US presidential election last year. The 49-year-old penned a letter to the politician, who will step down as the American leader later this week, pleading him to stop the investigation into the hacking scandal that revealed Russia had allegedly tampered with the results of the election by tapping into email accounts and sharing them with the website, reports femalefirst.co.uk. The actress posted the letter on her website. "I must request with urgency, humility, and as a lover of all beingsas I advocate for many important issues around the worldI see human rights are being violated in demeaning political ways that are not helpful to anyone... I'm asking you to remember the beginning of your political career," she posted. "When you had a dream, an idea, a cause worth the fight. When you had obstacles and fairness was not always in your favor. I request that you consider Pardoning Julian Assange in your last days in office. It would be a bold and exciting move for the time we live inthe information age generation. Please stop the grand jury investigation, and the bullying that is turning the world off America. "We must stop making Julian (or Russia) the scapegoatchildren are smarter than this, and it is very divisive and tearing generations apart. It simply must endand is doable by the stroke of your pen," she added. The former "Baywatch" actress went on to state that she accepts if President Obama made the decision to call off the investigation, it would cause uproar but thinks it's vital for the world going forward. "I understand Julian has been painted a bad guy - but he is not. He is a genius worth protection. the contents of the what he has published through Wikileaks are pure and uncensored. They are just the truththe distraction tactics are see throughit creates mistrust... Julian and Wikileaks are essential, especially in this political climate. We need truth tellers more than ever," Anderson posted, femalefirst.co.uk reported. Obama called for an investigation into the hacking scandal after it was claimed the leak benefited US President-elect Donald Trump, by making his competitor Hilary Clinton and her aides look back in the emails that were shared and later published on WikiLeaks. Anderson has been a close friend of Assange for some time now and regularly visits him with homemade vegan snacks when she's in London. Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Goa and Manipur will be held between February 4 and March 8, Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi announced on Wednesday. While Uttar Pradesh will see a seven-phase polling, elections in Manipur will be held in two phases and the remaining three states will go to single phase polls. The results from all the fives states will be declared on March 11. GOA Number of seats: 40 Election date: February 4 Number of voters: 1085271 Number of polling stations: 1642 Date of notification: January 11 Last date of making nomination: January 18 Last date for withdrawal of candidature: January 21 PUNJAB Number of seats: 117 Election date: February 4 Number of voters: 19214236 Number of polling stations: 22600 Date of notification: January 11 Last date of making nomination: January 18 Last date for withdrawal of candidature: January 21 UTTARAKHAND Number of seats: 70 Election date: February 15 Number of voters: 7381000 Number of polling stations: 10854 Date of notification: January 20 Last date of making nomination: January 27 Last date for withdrawal of candidature: January 30 MANIPUR Number of seats: 60 Election date: March 4, 8 (two phases) Number of voters: 1807843 Number of polling stations: 2794 Date of notification: February 8 (Phase 1), February 11 (Phase2) Last date of making nomination: February 15 (Phase 1), February 18 (Phase2) Last date for withdrawal of candidature: February 18 (Phase 1), February 22 (Phase2) UTTAR PRADESH Number of seats: 403 Election date: February 11, 15, 19, 23, 27, March 4, 8 (seven phases) Number of voters: 13,85,17,026 Number of polling stations: 147148 Date of notification: January 17(Phase 1), January 20 (Phase 2), January 24(Phase 3), January 30 (Phase 4), February 2 (Phase 5), February 8 (Phase 6), February 11 (Phase 7) Last date of making nomination: January 24(Phase 1), January 27 (Phase 2), January 31(Phase 3), February 6 (Phase 4), February 9 (Phase 5), February 15 (Phase 6), February 18 (Phase 7) Last date for withdrawal of candidature: January 27(Phase 1), January 30 (Phase 2), February 4(Phase 3), February 9 (Phase 4), February 13 (Phase 5), February 18 (Phase 6), February 22 (Phase 7) Other highlights Cash expenses limit: The Election Commission set the campaign expenses limit per candidate at between Rs 20 lakh and Rs 28 lakh in the five states where assembly polls will be held laster this year. Announcing the limit, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Nasim Zaidi said: "In Goa and Manipur the limit on election expenses per candidate is Rs 20 lakh." "In Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand the election expenses limit per candidate is Rs 28 lakh," the CEC said. Colourful voter guide: For the first time, the Election Commission will roll out a colourful voter guide. "Colourful voter guide with photo voter's slip to be introduced for the first time," Nasim Zaidi told the media. Posters in booths: Zaidi announced putting up of four posters at each polling station, informing the voters of locations of booths, and other Dos and Don'ts. The posters were a statutory requirement at all polling stations, he said. A voting assistance booth would also be kept at the polling stations. Hight of voting compartment: The height of the voting compartment will be raised to 30 inches this time. This was done to conceal the upper part of the body of the voters, the movement of which might giveaway the button they were pressing. "This measure is being taken to maintain secrecy," Zaidi said. Votes of jawans: The defence personnel posted away from their homes can cast their votes through one-way electronic transmission in the upcoming state polls. "We have decided to allow the defence personnel and central para-military forces personnel to cast their votes through one-way electronic transmission system," Nasim Zaidi said. He also said that the EC had first experimented the initiative in Puducherry in August 2016. SC ruling on caste, religion: The Election Commission said that it will implement the Supreme Court ruling that seeking votes in the name of caste, creed, religion, community and language is illegal. "EC is committed to abide by the apex court order. The order of the Supreme Court will be implemented effectively," Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi said while answering questions on the January 2 ruling. (With inputs from agencies) Senior BJP leader Subramanian Swamy has asked the Union government to impose Presidents Rule in West Bengal after Trinamool Congress workers attacked BJP offices in the state and assaulted party workers after the Central Bureau of Investigation arrested its senior leaders. Said Swamy to THE WEEK, The only cure for a ruling party in a state getting violent is to impose Presidents Rule. As the Union law minister, in 1991, I did the same to the DMK government in Tamil Nadu. In 1991, Presidents Rule was imposed in Tamil Nadu by the Chandra Shekhar government after the law and order situation in Tamil Nadu had deteriorated. On Tuesday, Trinamool Congress MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay was arrested by the CBI for his alleged involvement in a chit fund scam. Last week, the CBI had arrested Trinamool Congress leader and former actor Tapas Pal for his involvement in the same scam. Said Pal, I am innocent. Everything will be proved later. BJP leader Krishna Bhattacharyas house in Kolkata was bombed on Tuesday night by Trinamool Congress workers. The CRPF has been deployed outside the BJP office in Kolkata to prevent further attacks. It is official. 'If youre in trouble, think of us' is what the Ministry of External Affairs wants Indians abroad to believe. Public diplomacyfrom Twitter to rescue missionsare the guiding priority of the governmentone that it has listed proudly in its mid-term report. And in keeping with this philosophy, the government has been trying to do its best to rescue Tom Uzhunnali, a catholic priest abducted from an old age home in Yemen. It is not easy to find a solution in the fog of such a complicated war, said Minister of State for External Affairs M.J. Akbar at a press conference on the mid-term evaluation of the goals of the MEA. We have done everything. The minister also said Tom Uzhunnali had been specifically askedbefore he embarked on this tripnot to go, but decided to go ahead. The government is not giving up on the priest and had engaged other governments too in the hope of finding a way for his safe return. A core group has been formed headed by the Secretary Economic Relations, he said, adding, The bar on this problem had been set by the minister herself. Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swarajwho become a saviour for Indians in distress abroadhad earlier tweeted that no stone would be left unturned to rescue the priest. The security of India has gone hand in hand with the protection and safety of Indians abroad. The welfare of our citizens, whether they are in Baghdad or Brisbane, has been the guiding priority of the government over the last 31 months, and we have consciously placed it in front and centre of our foreign policy. We have let our action speak louder than our words ever could, said Minister of State for External Affairs V.K Singh. Reaching out to the world in general as well as its renewed and re-energised relationship with America are some of the positives the MEA is taking credit for. The achievements of reaching out notwithstanding, the government took a tough stance against Pakistan. The message is clear: talks and terrorism cant go together. All countries of the region, barring one, have demonstrated their willingness to stand together against the menace of terrorism that could undermine their collective hopes, said Singh. The aim of the surgical strikes that we conducted was to convey to Pakistan that we will not countenance continued terrorism as the new normal in our relationship. However, the government was committed to peace in the region. And that had been amply demonstrated time and time again, he said. The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, the principal opposition in Tamil Nadu, on Wednesday appointed its treasurer M.K. Stalin as party's new working president. A resolution to this effect was passed at the general council meeting of the party at its headquarters at Anna Arivalayam in Chennai. Stalin's elevation assumes significance as it came days after Sasikala Natarajan, a close aide of former chief minister Jayalalithaa, took charge as the general secretary of the ruling AIADMK. Necessary amendments were made in party rules facilitating 63-year-old Stalin's elevation to the post. This is the first time in the history of the over 60-year-old DMK that such a post has been created. Stalin, son of 92-year-old party President M.Karunanidhi, has been the No.2 in the DMK ever since his elder brother M.K.Alagiri was expelled in 2014. Karunanidhi, who is recuperating after illness, did not attend Wednesday's meeting chaired by party's General Secretary K. Anbazhagan Though Karunanidhi will remain the titular president of the party, Stalin will now move to the helm of the DMK which had suffered massive drubbing in the last two assembly elections in the state. "I consider the post of working president is a responsibility. I will function with responsibility," Stalin said after the meeting. Soon after Stalin was named working president, celebrations broke out with cadres bursting crackers and distributing sweets. The general council condoled the death of Jayalalithaa. It urged Sri Lankan government to immediately release arrested Tamil fishermen with their boats. The meeting also passed resolution urging the Central government to take action to lift ban on Jallikattu. (With inputs from agencies) Google has announced a new set of initiatives to digitally empower Indias 51 million strong small and medium business community. Google CEO Sundar Pichai on Wednesday announced Digital Unlockeda training programme to empower thousands of Indian SMBs with essential digital skills that will enable them to get online and start using the internet to improve their business prospects. Google also gave a preview of My Business Websites, an easy-to-use offering to help businesses to have a rich, mobile optimised digital presence that will be launched later this year. In keeping with the varied learning needs of the millions of businesses in India, the programme has been built to suit users across online, offline and mobile platforms. The offline training is being conducted in collaboration with Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry ( FICCI). In the next three years, 5,000 offline training workshops will be held across 40 Indian cities. The online training comprises a set of 90 self-paced video tutorials, curated specifically for India and available for free. The training programmes are certified by Google, Indian School of Business and FICCI. My Business Websites aim help the vast majority of small businesses to begin their digital journey by creating a free, mobile optimised website, easily and instantly. Available for Google My Business users later in the year, this new feature will provide simple, templated and editable websites for small businesses. My Business Websites will be available in English, Hindi, Bengali, Telugu, Marathi, Tamil, Urdu, Gujarati, Kannada, and Malayalam. According to a joint research study done by Google along with KPMG, 68 per cent of the 51million Indian SMBs are offline. Pointing out that internet is a powerful equalizer, Pichai said Google is motivated to bring the benefits of information and technology to as many people as possible. "Building for everyone and making it available in the hands of as many people is at the heart and core of what we do. And we do this by investing in open ecosystems, he said. The year 2016 saw a couple of landmark space missions, launch of the world's largest search for extraterrestrial life, and Juno's rendezvous with Jupiter, apart from remarkable milestones by ISRO. This year, too, looks promising for space science. Watch out for these space missions and major events in 2017: 1. ISRO's record launch: In January, ISRO plans to launch a record number of 83 satellites in one go, a first-of-its-kind feat for the Indian space agency. While three of the satellites are Indian, the remaining 80 belong to Israel, Kazakhstan, Netherlands, Switzerland and the US. 2. China's mission to the moon: China has unveiled an ambitious mission for 2017not just land a rover on the moon, but to collect samples and return to earth. The lunar probe, Chang'e 5, marks the third phase of China's lunar exploration project. China lags behind space giants like the US and Russia, and a successful lunar return mission will give China the much needed edge. 3. Cassini grand finale: NASA's Cassini probe, which has been orbiting Saturn since 2004, is set for a finale on September 15 this year. NASA plans to send it crashing into Saturn as the probe is running out of fuel and does not have enough to continue orbiting the planet. Also, by making the plunge, Cassini gets a chance to explore a region that no other probe has ventured into beforethe area between the planet and its rings. As part of the Grand Finale, as NASA calls it, Cassini will undertake 22 orbits between the planet and the rings, capturing a treasure-trove of information and images. After this, the probe will plunge into the planet's upper atmosphere, to end up in a spectacular ball of fire. 4. Tackling space debris: If messing up the earth with trash wasn't enough, we have piled up about 7,000 tonnes of hazardous trash in space, ranging from used rockets, dysfunctional satellites and debris from collisions. In an attempt to tackle space junk, harpoons, sails and net are to be sent to space. Dubbed RemoveDebris, the mission is led by the Surrey Space Centre, in collaboration with the European Space Agency. Among other techniques, the mission will test a fishing net-like device to capture orbiting space junk. Once captured, the rubbish could then be dragged back to earth by a spacecraft. 5. Test launch of Blue Origin: Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos's private space firm, Blue Origin, plans to get people into space this year. After the successful 'in-flight escape test' in October last year, the agency is hopeful of flying peopletest astronautsin 2017, and launching commercial space flights in 2018. It won't be long before the frontiers of space open up to the common man, the richer ones, that is. 6. Private mission to the moon: Private teams worldwide are competing to win the Google Lunar XPRIZE challenge, a $30-million competition to put a rover on the moon. What's interesting is that India is in the race, too. Bengaluru-based private entity TeamIndus has teamed up with scientists from ISRO to land a spacecraft on the moon, have it travel at least 500m and beam high-definition video, images and data back to the earth. The mission is planned for launch on December 28 this year. The Google Lunar XPRIZE aims to inspire entrepreneurs to create a new era of affordable access to the moon and beyond. US President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday urged the Obama administration to halt prisoner transfers from the Guantanamo Bay military prison in Cuba, calling the detainees "extremely dangerous people". "There should be no further releases from Gitmo. These are extremely dangerous people and should not be allowed back onto the battlefield," Xinhua news agency quoted Trump as saying on Twitter. US President Barack Obama had vowed to close the prison during his tenure and his administration has signalled it is trying to transfer more detainees before the President leaves office on January 20. During the presidential election campaign last year, Trump had opposed Obama's plan to shutter the prison, vowing to keep it open and "load it up with some bad dudes". And now youll be telling stories of my coming back and they wont be false, and they wont be true but theyll be real Mary Oliver The Taj Mahal Palace and Tower still stands tall in Mumbai. German Bakery in Pune and Gokul Chaat in Hyderabad still do brisk business. The Samjhauta Express continues to run between India and Pakistan. So do the local trains in Mumbai. Sarojini Nagar market in Delhi and the Varanasi Cantonment railway station are still thronged with people. They all seem normal, just going on as if nothing had ever gone wrong. There is, however, a day that all these places have been trying to forget; a day when a bomb went off at the peak hour of business or a maniac wielding a machine gun sprayed bullets at anyone who came his way. They all survived that day, and bounced back. And their comeback story is not just a narrative of reconstructing buildings or relaying railway tracks; it is the story of many people, and each one has a different version. Also read: The blast was a kind of rebirth for me About 2,000 people died in some 80 terror attacks in India in the past two decades. Many of them hardly made headlines and most were forgotten the next day. For the survivors and victims, however, the trauma is for the lifetime. The victims of terror attacks are different from the survivors of a natural calamity or an accident, said social worker Ashok Randhawa. These people undergo a complete change of personality and their outlook changes towards the same society of which they are a part. Their mental healing is much more important than the physical healing. Randhawa has fought cases for victims of the Samjhauta Express blast. Also read: These scars are mine While the government provided medical and monetary support to the victims, only a few were fortunate to get the help of a clinical psychologist to overcome the mental trauma. The media reporting of court proceedings of these terror attacks may have been a curious thing for others, but for me it was like reliving the bad experience again and again, said Mahendra Pitale, who lost his hand in the Mumbai train blasts in 2006. Also read: I am now beginning a new innings Many of these survivors have turned spiritual after the tragedy. But they feel what they need more is a social platform to share their sufferings with fellow victims. Lawyer Sumeet Singh, a survivor of the bomb blast in German Bakery in Pune in 2010, is planning to create such a platform. There is a dearth of organisations for terror victims, he said. Journalist Sourav Mishra, a survivor of the 2011 terrorist attack on Leopold Cafe in Mumbai, and Nidhi Chapekar, a survivor of the bomb blasts in Brussels airport this March, are also thinking about creating a platform which can make the rest of their lives more meaningful. By Press Trust of India: London, Jan 4 (PTI) The worlds oldest killer whale, a 100-year-old animal affectionately known as Granny, is missing and presumed dead, scientists say. Following Granny and other matriarch killer whales has shown their crucial role within the family group. They guide the pod as it forages, take care of other females young calves and even feed the larger males, researchers said. advertisement These post-reproductive female leaders help their families to survive, and the advantage they offer could show what drives a species to evolve to stop reproducing. "It was inevitable that this day was going to come but it is very sad news and a further blow to this population," said Darren Croft from the University of Exeter in the UK, who leads this evolutionary biology research. In her later years she had "been helping her family group to survive by sharing her knowledge of when and where to find food," said Croft. The orcas of an area known as the Salish Sea - close to Vancouver and Seattle - have been the subject of a four decades long study led by Ken Balcomb from the Center for Whale Research (CWR). He had first photographed Granny, official named J2, in 1976, BBC News reported. On the centres website, which first reported Grannys death, Balcomb wrote that he last saw her on October 12 last year as she swam north far ahead of the others. "Perhaps other dedicated whale-watchers have seen her since then, but by years end she is officially missing from the Southern Resident Killer Whale population, and with regret we now consider her deceased," he said. PTI MHN SAR MHN --- ENDS ---